Siletz news /, June 01, 2000, Page 24, Image 24

TRIBAL HISTORY
A Piece of Siletz History
by Robert Kentta, Cultural Resources Director
This is the eighth in a series of articles on our Siletz Tribal
history. Each article focuses on a particular phase, era, or event in
our tribal history. The previous article was about how and why the
Coast (Siletz) Reservation was created by President Franklin
Pierce s executive order on Nov. 9 1855. This article will discuss
the close of the Rogue River Wars and our ancestors’ removal to
the new reservation.
Part VIII - End of the Wars and Removal
The president’s action in creating the Coast (Siletz) Reservation
did nothing to quell those in the mining camps and settlements who
were screaming for the complete “extermination” of our people. In
fact, the last portion of the Rogue River Wars was started by a totally
unjustified and bloody attack on one of our villages in the Rogue
Valley, just before the creation of the Coast (Siletz) Reservation.
As word of the attack reached our people on the Table Rock
Reservation, some of our people went to Fort Lane and pled for
protection from the Army. The majority, however, fled downriver into
the Rogue Canyon, attacking settlers who were not friendly to our
people. Open warfare then raged through the end of 1855 and into
the first half of 1856.
In the actual state of emergency that existed when word came
that the Coast Reservation had been established, Superintendent of
Indian Affairs Joel Palmer knew he needed to take quick action. With
that in mind, Palmer established a temporary camp on the south fork
of the Yamhill River (Grand Ronde).
He believed that removal to the Coast Reservation before the
Siletz Agency buildings were ready and the fields fenced and plowed
would be a complete disaster. A good deal of uncertainty also existed
about the best way to get supplies to the agency. To prepare for
arrival of much of the Native population of western Oregon, the United
States bought the improvements on lands occupied by a couple of
settlers on the South Yamhill River.
In January 1856, Palmer organized a removal of the Umpquas,
Kalapuyas, and Molallas to the temporary camp on the south fork of
the Yamhill River. In late February, the coastal tribes on and near the
Rogue River rallied with the inland tribes to chase the miners into
their fortified positions at Gold Beach, Port Orford, and other locations.
The retaking of the coast would be short-lived, however.
At about the same time as the attack on Gold Beach, Palmer
organized the removal of our people who had been staying at Fort
Lane since the attack in October 1855. As the group was moving out
to head north over the snowy passes, a miner rode up and shot one
of our men in the back, killing him. This nearly ended any hope of an
orderly removal, especially with settlers along the travel route issuing
open threats to kill any Indians passing by on their way to the
reservation, along with any white men who were with them.
It was apparent by this point that it would be impossible even
for the U.S. Army to control the more reckless elements in the miner
and settler populations. This is when Palmer wrote the letter
mentioned in the last article that stated that the Table Rock
Reservation could not be considered for a permanent reservation,
the miners would never leave our people alone there, and the Rogue
Valley Tribes also would have to remove to Siletz.
The warfare might have ended in early 1855 but for the
interference of the “volunteers” (miners/wannabe soldiers) that was
calculated to prolong the war. Many clearly thought of the war as a
monetary boon, which made it even easier to promote “clearing the
country of Indians.”
The correspondence between Palmer and General Wool,
24
commander of the Pacific Division during this period, is filled with
disgust for the volunteers. Neither Palmer nor Wool had any respect
for the motives or methods of the volunteers, who constantly foiled
any chance for peace talks. As our people were coming in for the
peace talks at Big Bend, the volunteers were busy ambushing as
many of us as they could. It was their meddling that made our people
afraid that the peace talks would be one big ambush, and swung the
vote toward a battle instead.
At the end of the Battle at Big Bend, the majority of the people
were willing to give up resisting removal. Tyee John’s Band, along
with the Pistol Rivers and Chetco people, were among the last to
surrender. Tyee John finally gave up at the end of June 1856 on the
headwaters of Rinehart Creek, having been chased many miles from
home. Many small groups and individuals hid out as long as they
could, but many were hunted down and shot as “hostiles.”
In the summer of 1856, two groups of approximately 600 to
700 each were loaded onto the steamship Columbia at Port Orford
and taken up the coast to the Columbia River and then into Portland.
The rest of the trip up the Willamette and Yamhill rivers to the
temporary camp at Grand Ronde took place on other boats and
barges, and on foot. All people removed after these two shiploads
were marched up the coast. Many were taken directly to Yaquina
Bay (where the Army built a blockhouse), the Salmon River, or the
Siletz Valley (as a blockhouse and other Agency facilities were built).
The way that the Siletz Agency buildings were established
gives people the idea that there was confusion from the start, so it’s
no wonder that the history of the reservation and its status as a
permanent reservation came into question. Of course, there is all
the confusion about establishing a temporary camp and by this time,
Palmer was actually promoting the idea that the Coast Reservation
be extended to include the temporary camp.
The first building at the new Siletz Agency was the requisite
Army blockhouse. It was first constructed in 1856 above (what’s now)
Logsden on a low hill near Mill Creek. This was not the most ideal
location, and the logs were dismantled, floated down to Siletz, and
dragged up to what we now lovingly refer to as Government Hill.
Phil Sheridan and his crew built a “road” from Ft. Hoskins to the
Agency and actually brought a wagon over it, but the wagon wasn’t
worth much by the time it arrived. The first shipment of supplies
included the year’s supply of flour and other staples. It wrecked on
Siletz Bay and virtually the whole cargo was lost. The government
had no money with which to purchase more supplies.
In May 1857, nearly all of the coastal people and two-thirds of
the Rogue Rivers and Cow Creek people arrived at the Siletz Agency
from the temporary camp at Grand Ronde. Approximately a month
later, President James Buchanon signed an executive order that
instead of permanently attaching the temporary camp to the Coast
(Siletz) Reservation, established the Grand Ronde Reservation as a
separate (but bordering) reservation.
Many of our ancestors decided to return to their old homes,
where they knew they could find acorns and other foods not found at
Siletz. Usually, they were doomed to make the long walk back to
Siletz (sometimes several times) as soldiers made their periodic
sweeps through southwest Oregon looking for runaways.
In the spring of 1857, starvation forced one group of about 75
people out of the hills downriver from Grants Pass. The settlers,
supposedly thinking them still “hostile,” shot all the men (about 10)
and penned up the surviving women and children until the agent
could send the soldiers down to march them to Siletz.
Yes, those early reservation days were full of hard times, but
our people were strong enough for some to survive so that we could
be here today.