Table Rock Reservation was a short-lived

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

north of the Rogue River in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was established by

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

with the

Rogue River Indians Rogue River Indians are a conglomeration of many tribal groups in the Rogue River Valley area, belonging to three language families: Athabascan, Takelma and Shastan. Groups The principal tribes grouped under the name Rogue River Indians were: * ...

in 1853. Following the conclusion of the

Rogue River Wars The Rogue River Wars were an armed conflict in 1855–1856 between the U.S. Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue River Valley area o ...

in 1856, the Native American inhabitants were moved to other reservations. The reservation was in

Southern Oregon Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oreg ...

, between Upper Table Rock and Evans Creek.

History

Conflicts between miners and Rogue River Indians began in the early 1850s, when gold was discovered in what is now Oregon. This conflict turned into open warfare and several treaties were signed in an attempt to end the hostilities resulting in the Native Americans ceding their land. They were moved to Table Rock Reservation before being moved to the Grand Ronde Reservation and the Coast Reservation (a small fraction of which is now the

Siletz Reservation The Siletz Reservation is a 5.852 sq mi (15.157 km²) Indian reservation in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. The reservation is made up of numerous non-contiguous parcels of land in east-centra ...

). Native Americans lost most of the Bear Creek Valley in exchange for the Table Rock Reservation. In October 1855, a lack of food, a cold winter, and disease devastated the families on the reservation, so a group of

Takelma The Takelma (also Dagelma) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Rogue Valley of interior southwestern Oregon. Most of their villages were sited along the Rogue River. The name ''Takelma'' means "(Those) Along the River". His ...

Indians returned to their old village at the mouth of

Little Butte Creek Little Butte Creek is a tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its drainage basin consists of approximately of Jackson County and another of Klamath County. Its two forks, the North Fork and the South Fork, both begin h ...

on the upper Rogue River. A volunteer militia then attacked them, killing 23 including women and children. A small group responded to this dire situation by fleeing to the Rogue River Canyon, attacking miners and settlers from Evans Creek to Galice Creek on the way. The militia and regular army troops caught up with them in the Grave Creek Hills, and the Indians inflicted heavy casualties on the poorly trained troops. What became known as the

Battle of Hungry Hill The Battle of Hungry Hill, also known as the Battle of Grave Creek Hills or Battle of Bloody Springs,{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObHpCAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Bloody+springs%22+oregon&pg=PT326, title=The WPA Guide to Oregon: The Beave ...

was a major victory for the Indians. In November, the militia and army again attacked, and again were defeated. The attack was meant to be a surprise, but the Native Americans heard them chopping trees to build rafts and were prepared. Several more battles were then fought. In the spring of 1856, a force of nearly 200 volunteers arrived at the mouth of Ditch Creek on the Rogue River, and fired on the Indians' settlement on the far shore. Up to 30 Indians were killed during the day-long assault, forcing the survivors to surrender. In the summer and following winter, licensed hunters killed and captured Indians who remained in the area. In the winter of 1856–57, 400 Indians were marched from Table Rock north to the new Grand Ronde Reservation in

Yamhill County Yamhill County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 107,722. The county seat is McMinnville. Yamhill County was named after the Yamhelas, members of the Kalapuya Tribe. Yamhill Cou ...

. The survivors of the Battle of Hungry Hill were loaded onto a steamboat at

Port Orford, Oregon Port Orford (Tolowa: tr’ee-ghi~’- ’an’ ) is a city in Curry County on the southern coast of Oregon, United States. The population was 1,133 at the 2010 census. The city takes its name from George Vancouver's original name for nearby Ca ...

then transported via the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

and

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

and then overland to the Siletz Reservation near the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

References

External links

1853 News Article, ''The Treaty for Sale of Lands''
from the

Oregon Historical Society The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preser ...

''The Fort Lane Archaeology Project: Historic Context''
from

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

Treaty with the Rogue River, 1853
from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Treaty with the Rogue River, 1854
from Oklahoma State University

from the Native American Document Project
1857 request to open Indian lands
from the

Oregon State Archives The Archives Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Oregon, or the Oregon State Archives, is an agency of the Oregon Secretary of State charged with preserving and providing access to government records. The Oregon State Archives is ...

{{authority control American Indian reservations in Oregon Former American Indian reservations Native American history of Oregon 1853 establishments in Oregon Territory Rogue River Wars

History

See also

References

External links