Oregon indians – NDNHISTORY RESEARCH

by Ethnohistory Research, LLC | David G. Lewis, PhD

Methodists in Oregon

Reverend Jason Lee established the first Methodist Mission near Champoeg in 1835. By 1839 the mission had been damaged by flood waters and Lee established another farm and school in what is now downtown Salem. Lee had the sawmill built first, and with the sawed timbers built first the grist mill then his house on Broadway […]

Dart’s Instructions of Colonization and Assimilation in 1850

In 1850, the United States passed The Oregon Donation Land-claim Act. This act gave American men 640 acres, one square mile of free land in Oregon, allowed other claims by wives (160 acres), and children, and proved up on the previous land claims of other Americans. A recent manuscript by Julius Wilm (2017) points out […]

The 1851 Treaty Commission: the Ya-su-chah at Port Orford

This second treaty at Port Orford was with a tribe south of the Rogue River, likely the Chetleshin tribe. This is another athapaskan speaking tribe that already had several problems with miners on the coast. The emphasis on maintaining the peace and access of Americans across their lands suggests there were many problems in the […]

The 1851 Treaty Commission: Coquille, Euchre, and Tototan at Port Orford

The Coquille are a Miluk speaking tribe and the other tribes, Euchre Creek and To-to-tan, are athapaskan speaking tribes that already had several problems with explorers and miners on the coast. In fact, T’Vault, who had a role in this treaty, had the majority of his exploratory party killed when he first encountered the […]

Depredation Claims: Everyone Gets Paid Except Natives

In the story of the American West, the notion of depredations is significant. Depredations in the West refers to the conflicts when Native peoples attacked American settlements and caused damage, or stole the settler’s belongings. These actions resulted in depredations claims by the settlers, ranchers or miners within the next few years, to the Bureau […]