The Trials of Tom Gilbert, Convicted of Murdering Wapato Dave and Wife.
On about December 8th 1882, Tom Gilbert, a native man enrolled in the Grand Ronde tribe allegedly murdered Wapato Dave and his wife on their allotment on the…
Tag: Kalapuya
Selquia’s Charges Against Indian Agent McClane At Grand Ronde
Some letters from the Natives at Grand Ronde are remarkable in the details they reveal of how the people are being treated by the Indian Agents. Shilequa’s…
Eliza Young: Brownsville Basketweaver
Eliza Young (Indian Eliza, Liza), was a native of the Mohawk Valley. The Mohawk Indians, were originally called the Peyu (Pee-you, Pe-u) Kalapuyans and were re-named by…
Timeline of Treaties and Removals in Western Oregon
1850 June, the First treaty in the North West Coast and West Coast, a Treaty of Peace negotiated with General Joseph Lane and the Takelma- Rogue River Tribes…
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…
The 1855 Umpqua Reservation Census
Some recent census research revealed a census I had not yet analyzed. Luckily, a brief search of my records found that I had previously collected the census, enabling…
When the Southern Molallas Moved to the Umpqua Reservation
In 1853, Joel Palmer Indian Superintendent for Oregon established the Umpqua Reservation in the inland Umpqua Valley. The September 19, 1853 Treaty with the Cow Creek Band of…
Surviving Indigenous Landscapes in the Willamette Valley: the Mid-Valley Buttes
In my short life, I have spent some 30 years traveling the Willamette Valley from north to south and east to west, and not really giving the buttes…
Traditional Sharing of the Cascades Range by Tribes
The assignment by anthropologists, historians, and linguists of the whole of the Oregon Cascades to the Molalla peoples since 1846 (Hale 1846) needs to be critically rethought. I…
Tribal Environmental Health Summit 2018: presentation and video link
I participated in the last tribal Environmental Health Summit at OSU. Tuesday, June 26, 2018 11:40-1:00 pmLunch plenary (starting at 12pm) Lunch and Regional PlenarySpeaker: David Lewis, Ethnoh…
Chelamela and Chemapho Kalapuyans
The Long Tom River and its tributaries was the original homelands to two major tribes of Kalapuyan Indians, the Chelamela and Chemapho tribes. The Chelamela occupied the upper…
Stories of Change Among the Clackamas at Grand Ronde
The Clackamas Come to Grand Ronde Reservation Preparing to Leave The Clackamas are addressed in letters as living in small encampments near Oregon City. They likely had a…
Lt. William A. Slacum, United States Spy in the Oregon Territory, & Chief Slacum of the Clowewalla
Lt. William A. Slacum, a Navy purser, was sent by the President, through the Department of State, as a special investigator to the Oregon Territory to investigate the…
Drucker’s Records of Clackamas Villages
The Clackamas (Tlakamas) lived along the Clackamas river and along the lower Willamette. Their villages and associated territorial claims extended from Willamette Falls to the Willamette Slough. Schol…
Native Kinships and Wealth among the Middle Chinookans
Native kinships are incredibly complex. They do not follow the nice neat patterns of kinship that Americans have adopted from their European ancestors. Native peoples did not only…
Bison of the Western Rockies
For years, I have stated that the tribes did not have bison in Oregon, so they would not have made tipis. This is why the tribes have…
Ethnography of Oregon Indians 1841: Horatio Hale of the U.S. Exploring Expedition
Horatio Hale’s created what may be one of the earliest ethnographies of the tribes of the Pacific Coast. Remarkable as it is, Hale’s ethnography is both interesting and…
A Stable Kalapuyan Anthropogenic-Environmental Model?
It is noted that humans have had an extreme effect on the environment everywhere they have lived. These changes became much more radical some 12,000 years ago when…
Lost Horses & Rights of Native Peoples in Salem, Oregon 1875
In 1875 a good number of letters were sent around to Indian agents about Indians who had “illegally” left the reservations and who were living Continue reading
War on the Umpqua Tribes and Removal to the Umpqua Reserves
Much has been written and published of the Rogue River, Modoc, and Yakima Wars in the Oregon Territory. These wars were, by-and-large, reactions of the Continue reading
They Were of Good Character and Industrious, Kalapuya and Umpqua Off-Reservation Allotments
Indian Off-Reservation Allotments Members of the Halo Family of Yoncalla Indians, were allotted with off-reservation Indian Allotments in 1892. Most…
Henry B. Nichols recalls the Calapooians, 1903
Henry Brainard Nichols, was a school teacher and state legislator from Benton County, in Oregon. He was born 1821 in Lyme, Connecticut, and attended Wesleyan University at Middletown.…
Treaty with the Umpqua and Kalapuya, Negotiated November 29, 1854, Ratified March 3, 1855
On November 29th 1854, the tribes of the upper Umpqua River (Umpqua) and Yoncalla Kalapuyans signed a treaty with the United States for their lands. This was the…
Treaty with the Umpqua – Cow Creek Band, Negotiated September 19, 1853, Ratified April 12, 1854
The Treaty with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua is the first treaty in Oregon to be negotiated and ratified. The treaty establishes the Umpqua Reservation for…