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 at all. I recently wrote an essay about Dart’s orders. His orders were to manage whiskey trade, aid in the assimilation of the tribes, set up tribal jurisdictions, maintain the peace, and undermine Hudson’s Bay Company among the tribes. In fact, there is no mention … Continue reading Anson Dart and the Willamette Treaty Commission