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…
Tag: Oregon indians
The Temporary Cow Creek Umpqua Reservation
The Cow Creek Umpquas were a Takelman speaking tribe of native peoples related to the Takelma peoples of the Rogue river valley. The Cow Creek peoples resided in…
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…
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…
Estuaries Saved the Coastal Tribes: Section 2- Removal and Exposure
Removal of the western Oregon tribes to the reservations was a tumultuous affair. Caravans from the Umpqua and Table Rock reservations to place in the dead of winter…
Ethnographic Molalla Homelands in Historic Scholarship
The Molalla tribes and bands, were native peoples lived in Western Oregon within the Willamette Valley, and within the Umpqua valley. Historic studies of the Molalla have assigned…
William Slacum’s Chart of the Columbia River 1837
As a spy in the Oregon Territory, and a Navy man, William A. Slacum was tasked with documenting the possessions of the British, but he also worked extensively…
We are Treated like Slaves and are Starving: Siletz Chiefs send their Remarks to the President 1862
In the 1860’s the western Oregon reservations were still struggling with feeding all the Indians despite promises by Indian agents, and the treaties, that when they removed,…
Fort Yamhill in Maps and Plans
Fort Yamhill, on the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, was established in March 1856. A detachment of troops, dragoons -mounted infantry- were assigned to the fort to keep the…
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…
Meacham’s Final Appeal to Fairly Pay the Tribes Removed to the Coast Reservation.
Albert B. Meacham was an Indian agent in the 1860’s and 70’s and oversaw some changes in the reservations. He attempted to give the tribes some voice in…
Estuaries Saved the Coastal Tribes: Joel Palmer’s Plan in 1855
I have previously written about how the coastal tribes were relocated to several river estuaries within the Coast Reservation (Siuslaw, Yachats, Alsea, Nashesne, Siletz and Umpqua). There the…
A Short History of Oregon Tribes in the Contemporary Era
(Draft Modified 2018) In, Murphree, Daniel S. editor, Native America: A State-by-State History, Greenwood Publishing group,…
Did the non-ratification of the Coast Treaty cause Grand Ronde to become permanent?
The Grand Ronde Indian reservation was a sudden change in plans for Joel Palmer in 1855. When the Rogue River war began, and other conflicts with tribes north…
History in the Vouchers: Joel Palmer’s Expense Journal
I have spent much time on Palmer’s and other early settler’s and explorer’s letters that I have gained a good understanding of the history of the tribes. Some…
Joe Lane’s Report of the Rogue River battle at Evans Creek, 1853
In 1853, the Oregon Territorial militia commanded by General Joseph Lane was fighting a series of battles in the Rogue River valley, the main battle at Evans Creek.…
Popular American Cultural Theft of Totem Poles
The story of the Ritz Sauna Totem pole is rich with cultural history. The Ritz Sauna has been associated with the Oregon Country Fair since the beginnings of…
Clackamas Fishing Culture
The Clackamas were major fisher people in the Willamette and Columbia. The Willamette Falls is second only to Celilo in the lower Columbia for fishing for salmon.…
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…