Canoeing the Yaquina, Coast Reservation, November 1856

The story of the Coast Reservation of Oregon is complicated. The Coast Reservation is created in 1855 by Presidential Executive Order and then for some months remains undeveloped by the Oregon Indian office. Joel Palmer, the Indian Superintendent for Oregon, planned to move all of the tribes of western Oregon to this reservation, because the 100 mile stretch of coastline and coastal mountains (100 miles long by 20 miles wide in most estimates) , were relatively unsettled, and were an intractable wilderness to the White settlers. The Coast Reservation extended from Siltcoos Lake at the south to about Cape Lookout … Continue reading Canoeing the Yaquina, Coast Reservation, November 1856

Andrew S. Charles, Siuslaw Informant 1931

In 1931, the coastal tribes were in the midst of a lawsuit against the federal government. The tribes of the southern coast, between the California border and North of Coos Bay, had never been paid for their lands. The tribes signed the 1855 Coast treaty but the treaty was never ratified by Congress, regardless of Joel Palmer’s promises. Many of the tribal members stated in their affidavits that they had trusted the federal government to keep heir word and they had moved to the reservation at Yahats but that the government never ratified the treaty so they were never paid. … Continue reading Andrew S. Charles, Siuslaw Informant 1931