Many scholars of Oregon tribal history have assumed, as have I, that Anson Dart, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon from 1850 to 1852 was responsible for negotiating treaties with the western Oregon tribes. In fact, numerous histories of this time intimately describe these responsibilities, but this may not have been originally Dart’s responsibility … [Read more…]
Robert Shortess was an early pioneer settler and Indian agent on the Columbia River. He is drawn to Oregon after witnessing a speech given by Jason Lee who is on a tour of the east working to get more white men and women to come to the Willamette Valley. He leaves Missouri in 1839, and … [Read more…]
The Rogue River War – a series of conflicts between a confederation of tribes – loosely around the Rogue River Valley- and the American Ranger Militias and United States Army, is addressed historically (by many) as a single war. However, the Rogue River area had two periods of war separated by barely a year of … [Read more…]
Between 1853 and 1855 the federal government negotiated treaties with the Tribes who came to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. These tribes were promised what amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in money, services, security and a permanent reservation forever. I have already established in other essays that the tribes were not correctly paid … [Read more…]
Three days after signing the Willamette Valley Treaty (January 22, 1855) with the tribes of the Willamette Valley and Columbia River, Joel Palmer Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, sent the treaty to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Manypenny. Palmer sent with the treaty an accompanying letter explaining the treaty and documenting the other promises … [Read more…]