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Smoke Signals
MAY 1,2011
Grand Ronde group tours
Table Rocks near Med ford
By Michelle Alaimo
Smoke Signal photographer
"If they hadn't of moved us, we'd
probably still be here," was a thought
Tribal Council member Steve Bobb
Sr. had after a tour of Table Rocks
near Medford in southern Oregon
on Tuesday, April 26.
Tribal Vice Chair Reyn Leno and
Bobb agreed that the history of the
Tribe could have been different if
the Rogue River Indians were never
moved from the Table Rock Indian
Reservation, which was established
by a treaty in 1853 and was located
north of the Rogue River.
The Rogue River Indians were
force marched by federal troops from
that reservation to Grand Ronde in
1856. The 263-mile march is Grand
Ronde's Trail of Tears and resulted
in the creation the current Confeder
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Leno and Bobb are both Rogue
River Indian descendants, along
with Umpqua.
A contingent from Grand Ronde
traveled to Table Rocks, which
consists of Upper and Lower Table
Rock. The group included Leno,
Bobb and fellow Tribal Council
members Jack Giffen Jr., Chris
Mercier and Wink Soderberg, Trib
al Director of Operations and Tribal
member John Mercier, Tribal At
torney Rob Greene and Soderberg's
wife, Kathy.
It was the first visit to the Rocks
for Soderberg and John Mercier.
Giffen said he has been to the
Rocks many times and Bobb, Leno
and Chris Mercier had visited once
before in 2002 when Bobb, along
with Tribal member Brent Merrill,
departed from the rocks on a recre
ation of the Trail of Tears march.
Nine years ago, Leno was there
to see Bobb off and Chris Mercier
was covering it for Smoke Signals,
which he worked for at the time.
Visiting the Table Rocks was
something that Soderberg had been
looking forward to for some time
and that John Mercier had always
wanted to do.
The field trip, which came about
when Bureau of Land Management's
Medford District representatives
invited Tribal Council members on
a tour after coming to Grand Ronde
to meet with Tribal Council, began
with a quick stop near the location
of Fort Lane, which no longer exists.
The fort was built to overlook the
Table Rock Indian Reservation and
was constructed and occupied by
two companies of the 1st U.S. Dra
goons, U.S. Army units, to maintain
peace between settlers and Rogue
River Indians.
The next stop was the Lower
Table Rock trailhead where the
group took a walk through an oak
savanna at the base of the rock. On
the walk, Molly Allen, an environ
mental education specialist with
the bureau, talked about habitat
in the area, such as rattlesnakes,
buck brush, lichen and various flow
ers. Along the trail are interpretive
signs that were also pointed out and
talked about.
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
A portion of Lower Table Rock is soon
from the oak savanna trail at the bast of
tho rock.
Tribal Council mtmbcr Chris Mercier
looks into a varnal pool that has formed
from tha winter rain on tho masa of Upper
Table Rock during a tour of Table Rocks
near Medford on Tuesday, April 26. The
temporary pool, which will dry up in the
summer months, is home to many species,
including the fairy shrimp.
After that, it was onto Upper
Table Rock. The Table Rocks are
mesas, an elevated area of land
with a flat top and sides that are
usually steep cliffs. Because of the
flat top, vernal pools temporary
pools that are created in the winter
from the rain that then dry up in
the summer months form on the
top. This time of year the pools are
still present and habitat that lives
in these pools, such as fairy shrimp
and tadpoles, were discussed.
After the vernal pool and more
habitat talk, while still on the top
of Upper Table Rock, representa
tives from BLM and The Nature
Conservancy, who work together
in the Table Rocks area, shared a
map showing a number of outlined
areas that are currently owned and
managed by the organizations.
Then John Mercier shared a map
showing the Table Rock Reserva
tion as defined in the 1853 treaty.
He interpreted a portion of the
treaty to define and map out the
original reservation area and Tribal
GIS Coordinator Volker Mell cre
ated the map.
Before descending the Rock, a
walk was taken to one of the edges
to take in the view, which included
Lower Table Rock. On a clear,
sunny day, Mt. McLoughlin and
Crater Lake can be seen from the
top of the rock. Although it was a
nice day with a little cloud cover,
those sites were not visible.
During discussion among Tribal
Council members along the way,
the general consensus was that
the Rogue River Indians most
likely lived at the base of the rocks
and near the Rogue River and
are believed to have used the top
of the Table Rocks for ceremony.
The rocks are revered for spiritual
and cultural reasons by the Grand
Ronde Tribe.
Leno said he thinks that the
Tribe should look into performing
ceremonies once a year on the top
of either rock. He also thinks that
it's important for more groups from
Grand Ronde, especially Elders, to
visit the Table Rocks.
Chris Mercier said it is always
interesting to see an area where
ancestors roamed and he tried to
imagine what the area looked liked
pre-settlement, while Leno was
thinking about how many of his
ancestors walked there.
And for John Mercier, it was a
very personal experience; his great-great-grandmother,
Martha Jane
Sands, made the Trail of Tears
walk.
John Mercier said he could not
thank BLM enough for the invita
tion to Table Rocks and every mem
ber of the Grand Ronde contingent
said they thought it was a great trip
and had a good time, and said they
are likely to make another trip to
the site. D
A group, including representatives
from Grand Ronde, the Bureau
of Land Management's Medford
District and The Nature
Conservancy, walk the oak savanna
trail at Lower Table Rocks during a
tour of Table Rock.
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