I
Reservation Plan (continued)
In order to secure the acquiescence of the citizens In the removal of the
Indians to that point I am compelled to purchase and pay for several of
the land acquisition claims that will be occupied. This the Department
ay deem an unwarrented assumption on my part, but I can conceive of no
other means by which to aver an impending calamity Involving the
destruction of these bands and a blot upon our national reputation.
The prospective destruction of the bands was described in a letter which
Palmer sent in December 1855 to Major-General John Wool, Commander of the
Pacific Division:
The existence of a war of extermination by our citizens against all
Indians in Southern Oregon which by recent acts appears to evince a
determination to carry It out, in violation of all treaty stipulations,
and the common usages of civilized nations, has induced me to take steps
to remove friendly bands of Indians now assembled at Fort Lane and upon
Umpqua Reservation, to an encampment on the headwaters of the Yam Hill
River, distant about sixty miles south west of Vancouver and adjoining the
Coast Reservation.
This plan has been adopted with a view of saving the lives of such of
those Indians as have given just and reasonable assurances of friendship.
Grand Ronde Reservation History
Palmer's establishment of the Grand Ronde Reservation was reluctantly
acepted by the Indians and was vehemently opposed by some whites. On
January 8, 1856 a petition from Oregon citizens to President Franklin
Pierce protested the purchase of the land claims and the colonization of
"thousands of Indians in the "heart qf the Willamette Valley." Sentiment
against relocation of Indians at Grand Ronde was so threatening that
Palmer had to organize civilian protection and request the presence of
troops. On April 11, 1856 Palmer wrote to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs:
The threatening attitude of the community led me to apprehend a general
and combined attack upon the camp of friendly Indians, located at the
Grand Ronde, and the slaughtering or driving Into hostile position all who
might be residing In the valley. I accordingly deemed it necessary to
organize a force of armed citizens and place them on the eastern line of
the reservation, cutting off all communication between settlements and the
Indians. And whilst engaged In this line, to construct a fence from
mountain to mountain, as a line of demarcation, across which no one could