Oregon Historical Society, Davies Family Research Library
Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205
Phone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
E-mail: libreference@ohs.org
Mss
442
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz.
Confederated Tribes
of Siletz records
1855-1957
11 cubic feet (25 document
cases, 3 flat boxes, 4 reels microfilm)
Records of the Siletz Indian Agency in
Oregon, along with records of the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon, and a
small group of records of the Grand Ronde reservation. Included is
correspondence with the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs from the late 19th and
early 20th centuries; subject files; financial records; Indian census records;
and records relating to students and the management of the Chemawa Indian
School. Included is correspondence of Edwin Chalcraft, superintendent of the
Siletz Agency in the early 20th century. Microfilmed records include vital
statistics, 1910-1918; Yaquina vocabulary; property inventories; and an
unpublished manuscript titled "Visit to the tribes of the Siletz Agency," by
James Owen Dorsey.
Materials in the collection are in English and Yaquina.
History of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz:
An 1855 directive from the U.S. Federal government called for the
establishment of the Siletz Indian Reservation in western Oregon. As a result
of the Rogue River Wars and other Indian conflicts, the Federal Government
placed several tribes on the reservation, including members from the Coos,
Umpqua, Siuslaw, Rogue River, Tututni tribes, and the Athapascan, Yakima,
Kusan, Takilman, Shastan, and Shahaptian linguistic families.
After the close of the Rogue River War, the Federal Government
established the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation in 1856. Large numbers of the
Rogue River Indians were placed there, but they were later removed to the
nearby Siletz Indian Reservation because of a decrease in population. The
function of the Siltez Reservation was, ostensibly, to transform the Indians
into industrious and substantial farmers. The reservation originally
encompassed over a million acres, but by 1892 its size had shrunk to 47,000
acres, and in 1908 the land was divided among the Indian descendants. The
agency's headquarters were originally located at Siletz, near Kernville, but
they were later moved to Salem. The agency was closed 1925, but the community
remained. Among the superintendents was Edwin Chalcraft, who served during the
early decades of the 20th century.
The Chemawa Indian School was located northwest of Salem, Oregon, in
the area of Lake Labish. It opened in 1886 and was the successor of the Indian
Manual Training School at Forest Grove. The Chemawa school emphasized
vocational education and operated a large student farm. By the 1950s it was the
largest such school in the northwestern U.S.
The collection consists primarily of two distinct groups of records:
those of the Siletz agency in general, dating from the late 19th and early 20th
centuries; and those of the Chemawa Indian School near Salem, dating mostly
from the 1930s. Also included are a small number of records from the Grand
Ronde agency.
A substantial part of the Siletz Agency records consists of
correspondence between the agency and the U.S. Office of Indian Affiars in
Washington, D.C., 1875-1899,with a gap between 1884 and 1889. Also among the
Siletz records are checkbook stubs (1890-1917), Indian court cases (1873-1895),
Indians' bank registers (1906-1928), census records of Siletz (1885-1929) and
Grand Ronde (1885-1909) agencies, marriage and death records from the early
20th century, and financial records of the reservation. The Chemawa School
records include correspondence files; surveys of former students, with
information on the students' lives and work histories; supply records; Civil
Works Administration records; and materials relating to a vote on the tribal
constitution, 1936-1937.
Microfilmed records include: register of vital statistics (1910-1918);
physician's semi-annual report (1914); fiscal year summary (1909-1915); Siletz
Indian Reservation school vouchers (1908-1910) and inventory of all property;
list of students at Chemawa School (1926-1935); Yaquina vocabulary; unpublished
manuscript, "A visit to the tribes of the Siletz Agency," by James Owen Dorsey;
reservation constitution and bylaws; tribal council minutes (1931-1954) and
resolutions; business correspondence (1935-1955); budgets (1950-1955);
congressional bills (1948-1955); Department of the Interior information service
releases and conferences; and historical notes.
The collection is arranged in the following series:
- Series A: Siletz Agency general records, 1855-1936
- Series B: Siletz Agency financial records, 1873-1932
- Series C: Census records, 1878-1929
- Series D: School records, 1898-1937
- Series E: Microfilmed records, 1855-1957
The collection is open to the public.
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the
Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication,
and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library
before any publication use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to
all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Confederated Tribes of Siletz records, Mss 442, Oregon Historical
Society Research Library
Origin of the collection is unknown.
Digital copies of the "Grand Ronde Agency--Original land allotments
(ledger book, old volume 42), 1889"; and "Grand Ronde Agency--Letters sent,
accounts, record of passes given, agriculture information (ledger book, old
volume 40), circa 1862-1874," available in the Oregon Historical Society
Research Library.
Originals of microfilmed records were in the possession of Leonard
Whitlow and Arthur Bensell when filmed, circa 1965. Originals of some census
records in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
The collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings:
Chalcraft,
Edwin L.--Correspondence.
Dorsey,
James Owen, 1848-1895
Chemawa Indian
School.
Confederated Tribes of Siletz--Archives.
United States. Office of
Indian Affairs--Archives.
Grand Ronde Indian
Reservation (Or.)
Siletz Indian Reservation
(Or.)
Indian
reservations--Oregon.
Indians of North
America--Oregon--Census.
Indians of North
America--Oregon--Education.
Indians of North
America--Oregon--Fishing.
Indinas of North
America--Oregon--Languages.
Indians of North
America--Oregon--Politics and government.
Siletz Indians.
Takelma Indians.
Tututni Indians.
Shasta Indians.
Umpqua Indians.
Native Americans
Oregon
Administrative
records.
Budgets.
Census
records.
Judicial
records.
Letters.
Minutes.
Reports.
Series A
Siletz Agency general
records
1855-1936
Correspondence, primarily with
the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs
1/1
1875 August
1/2
1875 September-October
1/3
1875 November-December
1/4
1876 January-February
1/5
1876 March
1/6
1876 April-May
1/7
1876 June-August
1/8
1876 September-December
1/9
1877 January-February
1/10
1877 March-May
1/11
1877 June
1/12
1877 July-August
1/13
1877 September-December
1/14
1878 January-February
1/15
1878 March
1/16
1878 April
1/17
1878 May
1/18
1878 June-July
1/19
1878 August-September
1/20
1879 September-November
2/1
1879 December-1880 February
2/2
1880 March-April
2/3
1880 May-July
2/4
1880 August-October
2/5
1880 September-December
2/6
1881 January
2/7
1881 February
2/8
1881 March-April
2/9
1881 May-July
2/10
1881 August-November
2/11
1881 December
2/12
1882 January-February
2/13
1882 March-April
3/1
1883 June-July
3/2
1883 July-August
3/3
1883 September
3/4
1883 September-October
3/5
1883 September-November
3/6
1883 November-December
3/7
1883 December-1884 January
3/8
1884 January
3/9
1884 January
3/10
1884 January-February
3/11
1884 February-March
3/12
1884 March-April
3/13
1884 March-May
3/14
1884 June-July
3/15
1884 July
3/16
1884 July-September
3/17
1884 September
3/18
1884 September-October
3/19
1884 October
3/20
1884 October-November
4/1
1884 November-December
4/2
1884 December
4/3
1884 December
4/4
1884 December-1885 January
4/5
1885 February-March
4/6
1885 March-April
4/7
1886 October-December
4/8
1887 January-February
4/9
1887 March-April
4/10
1887 May-June
4/11
1887 September
4/12
1887 October-November
4/13
1887 December-1888 February
4/14
1888 March-June
4/15
1888 August-December
4/16
1889 January-March
5/1
1889 April
5/2
1889 May-August
5/3
1897 January-December
5/4
1898 January-February
5/5
1898 March-April
5/6
1898 May-June
5/7
1898 July-August
5/8
1898 September-December
5/9
1899 January
5/10
1899 February-March
5/11
1899 April-August
Subject Files
5/12
Allotments outside of
reservation
circa 1892-1914
Photostatic copies of ledger pages.
5/13
Annual report of Siletz
Agency
1919
5/14
Annual report of Siletz
Agency
1920
5/15
Annual report of Siletz
Agency
1921
5/16
Annual report of Siletz
Agency
1922
26/1
Building evaluation and
description (ledger, old volume 54)
1925
5/17
Congressional bills and
regulations
1912-1932
6/1
Congressional bills,
regulations, and related materials
1916-1933
6/2
Contracts
1911-1925
6/3
Council of the Walla Wall
Valley, proceedings (typescript copy)
1855
6/4
Delayed shipments
1916
6/5
Department of the Interior,
published materials
1924
6/6
Estimation of needs for fiscal
year
1920
6/7
Forest guards
1916
6/8
General materials
1915-1928
6/9
Grand Ronde Agency--Letters
sent, accounts, record of passes given, agriculture information (ledger book,
old volume 40)
circa 1862-1874
6/10
Grand Ronde Agency--Original
land allotments (ledger book, old volume 42)
1889
7/1
Grand Ronde Agency--Indian
court cases
1886
7/2
Grand Ronde Agency--Indian
court cases
1887-1889
7/3
Grand Ronde Agency--Indian
court cases
1873-1895
26/2
Grand Ronde
allotments
1915
7/4
Inheritance issues
1915-1924
7/5
Internal Revenue, statement of
narcotics
1916
7/6
"Issues and
expendable"
1922
7/7
Land record ledger
1902-1906
7/8
Letters received
register
1914
8/1
Letters received register (old
volume 53)
1919-1920
8/2
List of descendants,
administrators, guardians and heirs (ledger, old volume 46)
circa 1900-1910
8/3
Marriages and divorces record
(ledger, old volume 43)
1902-1904
8/4
Meat preservation
forms
1934
8/5
Property returns
1915-1917
8/6
Proposals for unbleached flour
for families in the Indian service
1926
8/7
Published materials, including
circular no. 688
1912
26/3
Receipt book
1905-1910
27/3
Receipts and disbursements
(ledger, old volume 51)
1914-1917
8/8
Reclassification
reports
1923
27/1
Record of births and deaths
(ledger), Grand Ronde Agency
1899-1938
27/2
Record of births and deaths
(ledger), Siletz Agency
1902-1937
28/1
Record of births and deaths
(ledger, old volume 47), Siletz and Grand Ronde Agencies
1901-1937
9/1
Red Cross
Correspondence
1918
9/2
Restricted payments to
contractors
1923
9/3
Reports, general
1918-1926
9/4
Reports of supervisor and
inspections of school
1914-1922
9/5
Request for
supplies
1920
9/6
Return of medical
property
1917
9/7
Salary list and estimate for
funds
1917
9/8
Salary list
1926
9/9
Simpson,
Ben--Correspondence
1875-1877
9/10
Surplus property
1910-1925
9/11
Wheeler-Howard bill, Siletz
absentee voters
1935-1936
Series B
Siletz Agency financial
records
1873-1932
Financial ledgers
9/12
Apportionment ledger (old
volume 52)
1916
10/1
Indian accounts, individual
(old volume 44)
1876-1878
10/2
Indian accounts, individual
(old volume 45)
1880-1887
10/3
Indian school support record
(old volume 50)
1914-1916
Financial records,
general
11/1
Abstract of moneys and special
deposits
1919
11/2
Apportionment ledger
pages
1925-1926
11/3
Articles issued to
Indians
1915
11/4
Authorities for calendar year
(check requests)
1915
11/5
Banking
1920
11/6
Bills of lading
1920
11/7
Bills of lading
1920
11/8
Bills of lading
1926
11/9
Cash records (ledger, old
volume 41)
1873-1877
11/10
Check authorization
1913
11/11
Check authorization
1914
11/12
Check authorization
1914
28/4
Check register, Roseburg
National Bank
1917-1918
28/5
Check register, U.S.
Treasury
1913 Febuary-1925 November 12
28/6
Check register, Umpqua Valley
Bank
1917-1922
11/13
Employees
compensation
1908-1923
11/14
Encumbrances
1917-1918
1922-1923
11/15
Encumbrances
1918
11/16
Encumbrances
1925 July-November
11/17
Financial records,
general
1919
12/1-4
Financial records,
general
1919-1924
12/5-7
General expenses
1919-1920
28/2
Individual Indian money
ledger
1925-1928
12/8
Journal vouchers
1917 July 1-1918 June 30
12/9-10
Journal vouchers
1919
12/11
Journal vouchers
1920 July 1-1921
June 30
13/1
Journal vouchers
1921 July 1-1922 June 30
13/2
Journal vouchers
1924 July-1925 June
13/3
Journal vouchers
1925 July 1-November 12
13/4
Journal vouchers
1925 July-November
28/3
Ledger of account, Merchant's
National Bank
1906-1927
13/5
Medical supplies
1919
13/6
Memorandum of
vouchers
1920
13/7
Memorandum of
vouchers
1923
13/8
Official receipts
1917 July-1918 June
13/9
Official receipts
1918 July-1919 June
13/10
Property accounting
1919
13/11
Property
sales/returns
1910
13/12
Purchases
1910-1925
13/13
Report of un-liquidated
encumbrances
1918
14/1
Requisition for
store
1927
14/2
Requisition for
stores
1931-1932
14/3
Sale of land
1928
14/4
School property
1917
14/5
Supplies
1910
14/6
Supplies Committee
1925
14/7
Supplies for Siletz
Indians
1925
14/8
Supply schedule
1926
14/9
Supporting papers
1921 July-1922 June 30
14/10
Supporting papers
1924
14/11
Supporting papers
1924 July-1925 June 30
14/12
Tax exemption
certificates
1919-1920
14/13
Typewriters
1911
14/14
Voucher of receipts
1925
Check stubs
14/15
Old volume 7
1890
14/16
Old volume 8
1890-1891
14/17
Old volume 9
1892
15/1
Old volume 10
1893-1901
15/2
Old volume 11
1897
15/3
Old volume 12
1898 June-December
15/4
Old volume 13
1898-1899
15/5
Old volume 14
1900 March-November
15/6
Old volume 15
1900-1901
9/13
Old volume 16
1901-1903
16/1
Old volume 17
1901-1902
16/2
Old volume 18
1903
16/3
Old volume 19
1903-1904
16/4
Old volume 20
1904
16/5
Old volume 21
1904
16/6
Old volume 22
1905
16/7
Old volume 23
1905-1906
16/8
Old volume 24
1906-1907
17/1
Old volume 24[A]
1907
17/2
Old volume 25
1907
17/3
Old volume 26
1908
First National Bank of Newberg, with list of names of
depositors
17/4
Old volume 27
1908-1909
17/5
Old volume 28
1908-1909
17/6
Old volume 29
1908-1910
Individual Indian money account, Roseburg National Bank
17/7
Old volume 30
1910 June
18/1
Old volume 31
1910-1911
18/2
Old volume 32
1910-1911
Individual Indian money accounts, Roseburg National Bank
18/3
Old volume 33
1911 March-July
18/4
Old volume 34
1912-1913
Individual Indian money accounts, Roseburg National Bank
18/5
Old volume 35
1911-1912
18/6
Old volume 36
1912-1913
19/1
Old volume 37
1913-1914
19/2
Old volume 38
1914-1916
19/3
Old volume 39
1916-1917
19/4
Old volume 49
1909-1917
Individual Indian money land sales fund No. 18, Roseburg
National Bank
Series C
Census records
1878-1929
Records in this series are original, unless otherwise noted.
Siletz censuses
19/5
Heads of families and
individual Indians (photostats from U.S. National Archives, record group
75)
1878
19/6
Census (photostats)
1885-1887
19/7
Siletz Indian census
(photostats)
1888
19/8
Census of Siletz Indian
Reservation
1890
19/9
Census of Siletz
(photostats)
1891
20/1
Siletz census
1892-1899
20/2
Siletz census
1900-1908
20/3
Siletz census
1909-1915
20/4
Public domain
census
1916-1921
20/5
Siletz census
1916-1923
20/6
Public domain
census
1922-1929
21/1
Siletz census
1924-1929
Grand Ronde censuses
21/2-7
Census (photostats)
1885-1890
21/8
Census
1891-1900
21/9
Census
1901-1909
Series D
School records
1898-1937
Siletz School records
22/1
Attendance of school
children
1925-1926
22/2
Books used by
school
1923
22/3
Deposits
1918-1931
22/4
Dispensary records
1924-1925
22/5
Employee and quarterly
report
1893
22/6
Employee records
1919-1920
1934
22/7
Employment changes
1917
22/8
Financial records
1920
22/9
Indian day schools
1918
1927
22/10
Inventory of property, Siletz
School
1918
22/11
Monthly reports
1898-1901
22/12
School calendars
1915-1919
22/13
School census and teacher
evaluation
1915
1917
22/14
Supplies for Indian
school
1925
Chemawa Indian School,
Salem
22/15-16
Civil Works Administration
Correspondence
1934
23/1
Civil Works Administration
requisition forms
undated
23/2
Constitution and by-laws of the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
1936
23/3
Constitution and by-laws (extra
copies returned)
1936
23/4
Contracts and contractors
Correspondence
1922-1933
23/5
Correspondence,
general
1911-1939
Includes some Siletz School materials)
23/6
Employment
1926-1933
23/7
Employment
1928-1933
23/8
Employment
1928-1931
24/1
Employment
1928-1933
24/2
Employment--Teachers
1928-1931
24/3
Employment--Teachers
1931-1933
24/4
Financial records
1936
24/5-6
Former student survey
forms
1936-1937
24/7
General materials
1921-1934
24/8
General materials--Primarily
contracts and land sales
1910-1934
24/9
Indian referendum
ballots
1934-1936
25/1
Requisitions for
stores
1933
25/2
Roads--Siletz
1937-1938
25/3
Sheep
Correspondence
1934-1936
See also microfilm, reel 2, for additional materials regarding
sheep and livestock.
25/4
Sheep data
1936-1937
25/5
Statistics and names of
students
1928-1932
25/6
Survey of ex-students in
Portland
1937
25/7
Survey of Indian arts and
crafts
1934
25/8-10
Telegrams sent and
received
1928-1933
25/11
Telephone system
1929-1933
25/12
Transmittal sheets
1934
Series E
Microfilmed records of the Siletz
Agency and Chemawa School
1855-1957
Materials in the possession of
Leonard Whitlow, filmed by the Oregon Historical Society in 1965
The Society did not film all records in Mr. Whitlow's
possession. The complete accounts for fiscal year 1909 were filmed as an
example; Mr. Whitlow had other records through 1926. Bills and receipts,
routing business papers, etc., were not filmed; nor were printed materials
issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other governmental agencies.
Indians on the
reservation--personal statistics
1
Authorities on form
5-139
July-December 1914
With comments on the character and personal habits of
various Indians on the reservation, 1914
1
Register of vital
statistics
1910-1918
1
Physician's semi-annual
report
1914 December
1
Miscellaneous letters
regarding tribal membership
1954-1957
1
Letters on Larkey Logan
Indian murder case
1908-1909
Siletz Agency
1
Descriptive state of
government buildings
1905 March 31
1
Fiscal year-end
summaries
1910
1911
1913
1915
2
Continuation of above
files
1910-1915
2
Abstract of individual Indian
monies with special deposits, third quarter
1920
Siletz Indian Agency
School
2
Vouchers
1908-1910
2
Invoices, general property,
fiscal year
1915
2
Inventory of all property on
hand
1925 November 12
2
Analysis of operating
income
1926 February
Chemawa School, Salem,
Oregon
2
List of students
1925-1935
2
Book invoices and library
lists
1925
2
Letters concerning school's
dealings in sheep pelts and meat
1934-1937
2
Yaquina vocabulary and
account of a visit to the tribes of the Siletz Agency, by James Owen
Dorsey
1884
Materials microfilmed January
1965 by the Oregon Historical Society from papers on loan from Mayor Arthur
Bensell, Siletz, Oregon, through Leonard Whitlow, Portland.
3
Constitution and by-laws (1
folder)
1948-1950
3
Tribal Council minutes (3
folders)
1931-1954
3
Tribal Council resolutions (1
folder)
1950-1955
3
Business correspondence and
papers (7 folders)
1935-1955
4
Continuation of above
materials
1935-1955
4
Budgets (1 folder)
1950-1955
4
Congressional bills (1
folder)
1948-1955
4
Department of the Interior,
information service releases (1 folder)
1949-1954
4
Programs, conferences,
addresses (1 folder)
1950-1955
4
Historical notes and general
materials (1 folder)
1855-1900
undated
Includes genealogies for some Indian families.