Historical Notes
By MAX B R A IN A R D
In this issue of th e P ilot will
begin th e publication of a ra re
series concerning th e e a rly day
In d ian trib es of C u rry C ounty.
It is probably th e best account
av ailab le and is a v e rb a tim t r a n
script, m ade by M rs. K a th ry n
H a rris, th en county school s u p e r
in ten d en t, of a ta lk given by th e
late F red Moore, of Gold Beach,
in 1927. U n fo rtu n ately a m ap used
by Mr. Moore, and to w hich he
re fe rs in his talk , h as been lost,
so fa r as is known, b u t th e d e
scrip tiv e
m ateria l
su ffic ie n tly
covers th e m a tte r so all th e
trib es and fam ilies can be locat,
cd, even w ith o u t th e m ap.
Mr. Moore w as said to nave
been th e first w h ite boy born in
C u rry County, on w h at is now
known as the C h arles Doyle place,
in W ed d erb u m , on J u ly 10, 1869,
and d u rin g his e n tire life, w as
fa m iliar w ith such n atives as
stay ed on in th e county, and th e ir
descendants, as well as th e m any
w ho cam e back from elsew here
to visit th e ir old h a u n ts — and
F re d Moore.
In to Mr. M oore’s story, th e
com piler, M. S. B rain ard , has in
se rte d
notes b rin g ing c e rta in
points into a b e tte r focus m ade
possible by fu rth e r research.
n er of D ouglas C ounty, on the
w est by th e P acific O cean, and on
th e south by the 42nd., p arallel
of latitu d e . Y qu who have tra v e l
ed south in to Del N o rte C ounty,
C alifornia, along th e old road,
have noticed, about a q u a r te r of
a m ile south of th e W inchuek
River, a m onum ent about five feet
high, stan d in g w est of th e road
It has th e w-ord "O regon”, p ain ted
on th e n o rth side and "C a lifo rn ia”
on th e south side, w ith " S ta te
Line" on the east and w est sides.
T h at m onum ent stan d s on the
42nd., p arallel of latitu d e , w hich
is th e boundary betw een O regon
and C alifornia. In e a rly tim e, a
com fortable house stood ea st of
th e road, opposite th is m o n u
m ent. T he 42nd., p arallel of la ti
tu d e ran thro u g h th e c e n te r of
this house and it is said th e fa m
ily slept in the s ta te of C alifornia
and cooked and a te in th e s ta te
of O regon.
T he language or dialect of the
d ifferen t trib es shown on th e m ap
differed considerably but it w as
sim ilar enough for m em bers of
one trib e to converse w ith m em
bers of a n o th e r tribe. T herefore,
w'e m ight call it a language com
m on to all th e C oast Indians. You
w'ill notice th a t th ese Indian
w ords a re divided into syllables,
A ddress given by F red S ilas w ith hyphens betw een. T he Indian
M oore, a t Gold Beach. M arch 28, had a p ec u lia r way of dividing
1927, concerning his boyhood re w ords into syllables w ith an
collections of th e In d ian fam ilies
along the coast of C u rry C ounty.
T h e m ap re ferred to has been lost.
T he m ap on the proceeding
page shows th e n am es of th e
principal trib es who ow ned th e
co u n try a t th e tim e of th e com
ing of th e first w hite m an. It also
show’s th e ap p ro x im ate bound
in Automotive
arie s of th e ir holdings, th e loca
Design
tion of th e principal Indian vil
lages and gives th e In d ian nam es
of th e im p o rta n t s tre a m s alng
th e coast.
As w’e know C u rry
C o u n ty now, it is bounded on th e
e a s t by Josephine county, th e di
viding line being an irre g u la r line
follow ing ran g es of m o u n tain s
and stream s. It is bounded on th e
n o rth by Coos C ounty and a cor-
a b ru p t and d istin ct pause in be
tw een them . T he lan g u ag e w as
m ade up of a com bination of g u t
tural, g ru n tin g hissing, and c lu ck
ing sounds. T hese sounds w ere
j such th a t very few o th e r th an
th eir own people could im itate
them . F o r th a t reason, ea rly w rit-
1 ers d iffered very m uch in th e
spelling of Indian words. In m a k
ing the m ap, th e spelling adopted
w as used by Hon. J. L. P a rrish ,
an ea rly Indian agent, in m aking
his re p o rts to the governm ent. It
m ay be th a t his spelling would
no n e a re r re p resen t the a c tu a l
pronunciation of the w ords by the
Indians th an th e w ritin g o r sp ell
ing of others, but it has th e a d
v an tag e of at least being official.
which g razed in th e valleys,
p ra irie s and hills.
(N o te : T h ere is defin ite proof
th a t the In d ian s used th e "back
co u n try .” N u m ero u s signal fires
sites have been found on Mt.
Em ily, Snow C am p, at G am e L ake
am i Iron and S alm on m ountains.
It is also know n th e Ind ian s
tra v e rse d the area, m ain tain in g
a tra d e of co astal produets-shell,
m a te ria ls for fabrics, ehit tern,
T he first Indian trib e in the
N orth, the QUA-TO-M AS. w as
large and pow erful and ow ned
considerable te rrito ry n o rth of
w hat is now C u rry C ounty. T his
extended from n e a r th e N ES-A -
I IL-CO, or, to us, th e C ocquille
R iver, along th e coast to a point
south of P o rt O rford, known now
as H um bug M ountain. T h eir e a s t
ern boundary extended to th e
sum m it of th e C oast R ange of
m ountains.
The Indians placed
very little value upon the in te rio r
of the co u n try except as range
for the th o u san d s of d eer and elk
New
Brookings Harbor Pilot
d ried sea foods, at least, for pes-
les. obsidian, ag a te , etc. T he c o a st
al Indians of th is locality did not
m ak e any cooking u ten sils o th e r
th a n reed b ask ets covered w ith
clay, w hich w as bak ed on to
them .)
To Be Continued)
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5
THURSDAY. DEC. 10. 1953
BROOKINGS, OREGON