KNOW YOUR TREATY, PART 2 -----------------------
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< A Series by Cynthia Stowell — ———
---------TREATY GREW FROM TENSION BETWEEN SETTLERS-------
AND MIDDLE OREGON INDIANS
It was not just summer that
was making things hot in Oregon
Territory in the year of the
treaty. Hostilities were mount
ing between Indians and the
ever-increasing numbers of set
tlers. Even the relatively peace
able Columbia River Indians
were being pressed to their
limits as white people took up
claims on lands traditionally oc
cupied by the natives.
The flurry of treaties in 1855
reflected Oregon’s new Indian
policy: to extinguish Indian title
to lands and remove tribes to
reserved areas. Viewed as the
only salve for the rising tension,
treaty-m aking was embraced
enthusiastically by Indian
agents and tolerated, at best, by
the tribes.
Early contact
On their exploratory journey
down the Columbia River in
1805, Lewis and Clark realized
they were not the first white
men to make contact with thé
local Indians. They found evi
dence of trade in the copper
kettles, robes and multi-colored
beads that the Indian prized.
Apparently these prior con
tacts had been positive because
the Columbia River Indians dis
played hospitality to the over
land explorers and even helped
them thro u g h the tric k y
“ shutes” or narrows of the
river.
The fur trade brought com
peting companies to the Oregon
territory in the next ten years.
Except for squabbles among the
fur-trading nations, these settle
ments were made in a largely
peaceful atmosphere.
The “Great Emigration” to
the northwest along the Oregon
Trail begining in 1843 was a
turning point in Indian-white re
lations. Pressure was brought to
bear on the original inhabitants
as newcomers claimed land and
imposed their laws.
Oregon established the Ore
gon Territory as a political unit
in 1848. In that sam e year the
office of Superintendent of In
dian Affairs was established in
the new territo ry and a sub
agency was set up at The Dalles
to handle Columbia River Indian
affairs.
Two years later in 1850 the
Oregon Donation Land Act was
passed, providing th at each
adult U.S. citizen could receive
320 acres of land in Oregon Ter
ritory, resulting in another in
flux of settlers. The issue of
prior Indian title had apparently
been overlooked.
PREAMBLE
TO THE
TREATY WITH THE TRIBES OF MIDDLE OREGON
1855
Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at
Wasco, near the Dalles of the Columbia River, in Oregon Territory,
by Joel Palm er, superintendent of Indian affairs, on'the part of the
United States, and the following-named chiefs and head-men of the
confederated tribes and bands of Indians, residing in Middle Oregon,
they being duly authorized thereto by their respective bands, to wit:
Symtustus, Locks-quis-sa, Shick-a-me, and Kuck-iip, chiefs of the
Taih or Upper De Chutes Rand of Walla-Wallas; Stocket-ly and Iso,
chiefs of theWyam or Lower De Chutes band of Walla-Wallas; Alexis
and Talkish, chiefs of the Tenino band of Walla-Wallas; Yise, chief of
the Cock Spus or John Day’s River band of Walla-Walla’s; Mark,
William Chenook, and Cush-Kella, chiefs of the Dalles band of the
Wascoes; Toh-simph, chief of the Ki-gal-twal-la band of Wascoes;
and Wal-la-chin, chief of the Dog River band of Wascoes.
The failure of courts and law
enforcement officers to punish
offenses on either side contri-i
buted to the tension.
In 1854, Oregon’s Superin-!
tendent of Indian Affairs Joel
Palm er recommended Indian
policy in a le tte r to Commis
sioner Manypenny when he
wrote: “The crisis of the destiny
of the Indian race in the Oregon
and Washington territories is
now upon us. . .
“ Much of the present dif
ficulty is traceable to the mis-i
taken policy of perm itting the
settlement of this country prior
to the extinguishm ent of the
Indian title and the designation
of proper reservations.
“This mistake might now be
partially rem edied by the im
mediate gathering of the Indian
population on their several
reservations. . .”
Treaty-making had been a
popular means of resolving land
disputes but it was a method
that Oregon Territory had yet to
perfect. Treaties made with In
dians in the Willamette Valley
between 1851 and" 1853 were
never ratified by the Senate
because they did not follow the
established policy of cession and
rem oval. Instead the treaties
allowed Indians to retain sover
eignty over scattered portions of
the land they already occupied.
The journey to the treaty table Not only were the treaties not
Incidents such as the mas accepted but the antagonism be
sacre of the Whitman mission in tween Indians and settlers was
Walla Walla in 1847 dramatized not relieved.
The 1855 treaties revitalized
the growing conflict and brought
Indian agents closer to the the treaty-making process but in
line with Supt. P a lm e r’s new
treaty table.
At Ft. Dalles Major Gabriel policy.
Rains made note of the hostility
between Indians and white set Treaty preparations
tlers in the vicinity of the fort.
June was treaty month
Five Indians had been killed along the Columbia River inj
within a short time before Janu 1855. Three separate but almost j
ary 29, 1854 and the m ajor identical agreements were made j
predicted an Indian war involv back to back with the Yakimas, j
ing all the tribes and bands the Walla Walla, Cayuse and
between the Cascade Range and U m atilla, and the Nez Perce
the Rocky Mountains if immedi tribes in a few busy days be-
ate action was not taken.
tween June 9 and June 11, 1855.
R.R. Thompson, Indian
On June 12 Superintendent
Agent at The Dalles, also report Palmer penned a letter from the
ed that immigrants were being Walla Walla Council Grounds,
robbed along the trail and that where he had just met with the!
whiskey dealers were aggravat Nez P erce, ordering Indian
ing the problem.
Agent R.R. Thompson to “pro
Z
ceed without delay” to The
Dalles to “ effect Treaties of
purchase” with the middle Ore
gon Indians.”
Thompson’s instructions
were to “collect all the Indians
inhabiting the country between
Willow Creek and the Cascade
falls, and between the Columbia
River and the 44th parallel of
North Latitude,” an estimated
1377 people from a 10 million-
acre area.
Included in this population
were various bands of the Wasco
and Walla Walla Tribes as listed
in the treaty introduction. The
Wascoes were a Chinookan
people who lived on the south
side of the Columbia River
downriver from the Walla Wal
las, who were Sahaptain people
inhabiting the upper Columbia.
The two peoples represent dif
ferent language and cultural
groups but were tied by trade
and shared resources.
The Sahaptian bands, who
became known after the treaty
as the Warm Springs Tribe, laid
claim to the area east of the
Deschutes River and south of
the Columbia. The lower Des
chutes or Wyam band had it
head village at Celilo. The Taih
(Tygh) or upper Deschutes band
roamed between Tygh Creek
and White River, feeling a bond
with the lush valley around the
creek. The Tenino band had
driven the Snake Indians out of
the Deschutes River Valley and
settled there. The John Day
band were identified with the
area around the lower John Day
River near the Columbia.
The Wascoes referred to in
the treaty as the Ki-gal-twal-la
band are known to the current
Wasco Chief Nelson Wallula turn
as the lower Chinook or Cascade
band. The so-called Dog River
band is from the present-day
Hood Riyer area.
The Indians of Middle Ore
gon depended heavily on the*
salmon of the Columbia River
for their subsistence and spent a
good p a rt of the year on the
banks of the river, fishing and
trading with one another. Also
im portant to them were the
roots found in the open country
to the south, berries in the
mountains, and game through
out the ceded area. It is not
always certain where the tribes’
permanent homes were, because
of the migratory way of life they
led.
The Council
On the day before the coun
cil, Palmer sent warning to the
Commandant at Ft. Dalles that
a man had been inciting local
Indians to resist the land “rob
bery” that was about to take
place. But members of the sum
moned tribes and bands began
arriving peacefully at Wasco, or
Wascopam Springs, the chosen
site of the council, to give the
agents a chance to speak.
Palm er didn’t expect to
spend a lot of time talking —
just a few days — so that “ no
very extensive p re p a ra tio n s
need be made for subsisting the
Indians.” Nevertheless he
brought with him to the council
800 lbs. of flour, 200 lbs. sugar,
32l b s .t e a ,168 (lbs.?) tobacco
and half a barrel of crackers.
According to minutes pre
served in the original longhand,
the council began a t 5:30 p.m.
Friday June 22 with the “usual
routine of smoking.” Represent
ing the government were P a l
m er and Thompson, R.B. Met
calf (agent and Commissary),
and William McKay (Secretary).
Chiefs, head-men and other
members of the six bands of the
Wasco and Walla Walla tribes
were present in numbers ap
proaching 500.
Of necessity the first item on
the agenda was the swearing-in
of interpreters. Selected for the
job of translating the discussions
were Mathew Dofa, John Flett
and Dominick Jondron.
Joel Palmer then proceeded
to launch what appears to have
been a two-day monologue, be
ginning with, “Our great chief,
the President of the United
States, has directed me to treat
with his red children and by his
order I come among you.”
Amid assurances that he did
not intend to deceive his “child
ren ” and that he had come
“ with a good h e a rt,” Palm er
presented the following obser
vation and proposal:
“ We have found that the
white man and Indian cannot
long live together in peace, that
it is better that lines should be
drawn so that the white man will
know where his land is and the
Indian where his land is, we
may then live without quarrel
ing. The white man has come
among you, others are coming. I
want you to make a bargain so
that we may always live in
peace. I want you to sell our
great chief your country and we
will designate a tract of land
where you may reside and no
white man but such as are
working for you shall be allowed
to live on it, but the balance of
the country will be for the whites
to live on. If we can agree upon
the terms of a Treaty you will be
permitted to fish and hunt and
gather berries on all land unoc
cupied by whites . . .’’
The treaty was read and
explained on both Friday and
Saturday, with Palm er posing
the question: “ It will be but a
few years before the whole
country will be filled with
whites, then where will the
Indian have his home?” The an
swer was that the government
had selected a home for them, a
600-acre reservation to the south.
Sunday was a day off and on
Monday, the last day of the
council, the chiefs spoke. Al
though Sim-tus-tus, chief of the
Tygh band, said, “Our hearts is
soft, not so hard as it was,” he
and the other chiefs drove a
hard bargain.
Every chief seem ed to have
a favored and fam iliar area
where he felt the reservation
should be, but the consensus was
that the selected site to the west
of the Deschutes River was un
known and unwanted. Sim-tus-
tus was quick to point out the
necessity of retaining access to
the accustomed fishing, hunting
and gathering places in the
ceded territory, provisions for
which are contained in the
treaty.
According to Nelson Wal
lula turn, at least two bands
signed the treaty on the 23rd of
June, one being the Tyghs. But
the bulk of the chiefs signed on
the 25th only after Palm er
lamented, “I have been talking
and you have been talking, now I
am tired...I am going home with
a heavy heart...those that have
signed will be provided for.”
Protection of their old
people, women and children,
the promise of payment in cash
and goods, and a characteristic
desire to be cooperative seemed
to be deciding factors in the
chiefs’ unanimous, albeit reluc
tant signing of the treaty., They
signed with their backs to the
wall.
Wallulatum points out that
only the fourteen chiefs and Pal
mer were official, duly author
ized signators of the treaty. The
other 137 tribal mem bers who
left their X-marks on the treaty
could be considered witnesses to
the event.
The treaty was not ratified
by the Senate until March 8,
1859, but rem oval of the bands
and tribes to the new land was
accomplished well before that
time. The site of Warm Springs
was chosen ip 1856 at which time
the slow settlement began.
NEXT: Ten million acres ceded,
reservation established