John Webster Perit Huntington was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1831. He emigrated to Oregon around 1849, residing first in Oregon City and in Polk County, where he was a farmer and teacher. He moved to Yoncalla in Douglas County (then Umpqua County), where he took a land claim and returned to farming, and married Mary Applegate in 1857. Huntington was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1860. He was appointed as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and subsequently moved to Salem. He was reappointed by President Andrew Johnson in 1867. During his tenure as superintendent, he wrote an 1865 treaty with the tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation amending the 1855 agreement that had established the reservation. The later treaty contained provisions restricting tribal members' movements off the reservation and relinquishing off-reservation hunting and fishing rights that the tribes had negotiated in 1855. The treaty was ratified in 1867 but never enforced by the government or observed by the tribes. Federal courts later found the restrictions to be unenforceable, and the treaty was nullified by the U.S. Congress in 2020.
In addition to serving as superintendent for Indian Affairs, Huntington acquired a stake in the Oregon Statesman newspaper in Salem in 1863, and briefly operated the Salem Unionist, which he had purchased in 1868. Huntington died in Salem in 1869, at age 37.
Sources: Collection materials; "Death of Mr. Huntington [From the Unionist of Friday]," Oregonian, June 5, 1869, Page 2; "Yoncalla, Home of the Eagles," by Anne Applegate Kruse (1950); "Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon," by Ward Tonsfeldt and Paul G. Claeyssens, Oregon History Project, 2004,
This collection of John Webster Perit Huntington's papers consists mainly of correspondence and financial records created during Huntington's term as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon. Among these materials are sub-vouchers, bills, receipts, and other financial papers; a manuscript treaty with the "Snake or Shoshone Indians," dated December 10, 1868; a photostatic copy of an 1865 treaty with the confederated tribes and bands of Middle Oregon; affidavits relating to the death of Indian Agent William Logan in the wreck of the steamer Brother Jonathan, while he was carrying a large quantity of funds for the Indian Department; a document signed by Huntington concerning a land claim by a Klikitat man, Dick Johnson; and a letter from Jesse Applegate concerning Johnson's murder. Correspondents represented in the collection include Applegate, Benjamin Alvord, William Barnhart, B. F. Dowell, George S. Hinsdale, B. N. Huntington, William C. Johnson, William Kelly, John Kelsay, James W. Nesmith, Simeon G. Reed, and Benjamin Simpson, among others.
Other materials in the collection include Huntington's will; documents relating to the Unionist, his newspaper and printing business; and a scrapbook, titled "Life and Times of Eminent Oregon Politicians / Beautifully Illustrated / In Fragments," containing clippings of newspaper illustrations with handwritten satirical captions.
Collection is open for research.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
John Webster Perit Huntington papers, Mss 759, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was initially processed in 1996 by Timothy G. Eslton, and an online collection guide was prepared by Geoffrey B. Wexler in 2005. The guide was revised in April 2025 to clarify information about the content of the collection and in biographical information about Huntington, and to conform to current standard.
Scrapbook leaves, bound in top left corner, containing pasted-in clippings of newspaper illustrations with handwritten satirical captions regarding Oregon political figures, including Asahel Bush. Dates probably from 1850s.
Includes Huntington's certificate of appointment as superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1863.