During most of the nineteenth century, the policy of the United States was to settle all American Indians on reservations where they would be out of the way of the American settlers who wanted to claim their lands. In accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the federal government negotiated treaties (international agreements) with Indian nations. These treaties often established Indian reservations that were territories which the Indian nations reserved for themselves (please note that the United States did not “give” reservations to the Indian nations). The treaties indicated these reservations were to be for the exclusive use of the Indians.
Reservations were established by treaties, by Presidential Executive Order, and by act of Congress. Similarly, reservation boundaries could be changed, and reservations enlarged or reduced in this fashion. The Indians’ nations were sometimes, but not always, consulted about changes to their reservations. In addition, the Americans tend to view all Indians as one people and, blissfully unaware of cultural differences between tribes, to assign multiple tribes to a single reservation.
One of the purposes of reservations was to “civilize” Indians by acculturating them into American culture and destroying their Indian cultures. In an article in the Western Historical Quarterly, Christina Klein writes:
“Reservations were physical spaces designed to redefine the cultural space of Indians—to move them from savagery, a position wholly outside the social order, to quasi-citizenry, a position within the emerging social hierarchy, albeit on its lowest rungs.”
Historian Sherry Smith, in her book The View from Officers’ Row: Army Perceptions of Western Indians, puts it this way:
“United States Indian policy during the last half of the nineteenth century centered on the reservation system. On reservations, policymakers hoped, Indians would begin the acculturation process that would eventually usher them into the Anglo-American world.”
Corruption in the administration of Indian reservations was widespread. In an effort to stop corruption and to speed-up the assimilation of Indians, President Ulysses S. Grant instituted his Peace Policy in which the administration of reservations was given to Christian (primarily Protestant) churches. With no regard for aboriginal religious practices, it was assumed that all Indians should be forced to become Christian as a part of their assimilation into American culture.
Briefly described below are some reservation events of 150 years ago, in 1873.
Note: Modern state names are used even though some of these states did not attain statehood until after 1873. Also, events regarding reservations in some other states in the year 1873 are covered in other diaries.
Quinault Reservation, Washington
The Quinault Reservation was expanded by Presidential Executive Order. The expansion was intended to make room for other tribes to be placed on the reservation. The order to expand the reservation specified that the northern border of the reservation was to extend from the northwest corner of Lake Quinault.
Makah Reservation, Washington
The Makah reservation was expanded by Presidential Executive Order. The village of Ozette was still not included in the reservation even though the Makah continued to live there. In her book Voices of a Thousand People: The Makah Cultural & Research Center, Patricia Erikson explains the reason for the expansion:
“The civilization-through-farming policy provided ample motivation to include more of the traditional villages within the reservation because they were adjacent to land more suitable for farming.”
It should be noted that the Makahs had been a successful fishing and whaling people long before the European invasion, but these economic pursuits were discouraged by the American government whose Indian policy blindly demanded that all Indians become farmers even when their lands were not suitable for farming.
Chehalis Reservation, Washington
The Chehalis Indian agent, R. H. Milroy, asked that the reservation be enlarged and was informed that the land requested for the enlargement had already been given to the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Swinomish Reservation, Washington
The Samish found that they had been excluded from the Swinomish Reservation when the reservation’s boundaries left them outside of its confines. They moved to Guemes Island, Washington and established a village at an area known as Potlatch Beach.
Malheur Reservation, Oregon
The Malheur Reservation was settled by several Paiute bands: Winnemucca’s Paiute band, the Quinn River Paiute under the leadership of Natchez, the Snake River Paiute under Egan, and the Paiute bands of Leggins, Ochoco, and Oytes.
Nez Perce Reservation, Oregon
President Ulysses S. Grant issued an executive order establishing a reservation for the Nez Perce in the Wallowa Valley. Grant was concerned about the settlement of Americans in Oregon’s Wallowa Valley until Nez Perce title to the land was settled. However, the final boundaries for the reservation turned out to be very different from those originally proposed. Instead of giving the Nez Perce the lake and the upper part of the river and the American settlers the prairie, the opposite was recorded.
Siletz Reservation, Oregon
Indian Superintendent T. B. Odeneal recommended that Indians be removed from the land north of the Salmon River on the Siletz Reservation. He also recommended that Indians be removed from the southern portion of the Alsea portion of the reservation. He claimed that the removals were requested by non-Indians in the area. In his book The Rogue River Indian War and Its Aftermath, 1850-1980, E. A. Schwartz reports:
“Anyone living south of the Alsea River, six miles north of the subagency, was squatting on reservation land. Ordenal should have been concerned with evicting them, not satisfying their demands.”
In response to the removal request, Indian Service inspector Edward C. Kemble was sent to the reservation. He held a council with the Indians. George Harney, the head chief of the confederated tribes, told him:
“We were driven here, and now this is our home, and we want to stay.”
Tututni chief William Strong told Kemble that he would stay even if the soldiers came to evict him:
“If they want to hang me they can do so, but I will not leave.”
Hupa Reservation, California
Some Americans killed a Hupa man. The Hupas appealed to their new Indian agent, as they knew that the courts would do nothing. The agent found that the murderers had the backing of a trading company that had lost its license. While the old agent had allowed the unlicensed company to continue in business, the new agent had closed the store and the company was determined to stir up trouble on the reservation in order to have the new agent removed. The murderers, knowing that they could not be tried for killing an Indian, boasted to the agent that they would kill other Indians.
In 1873, soldiers from Fort Gaston on the Hupa Reservation broke into Indian homes, assaulted Indian women, and shot at the Hupas. When the Indian agent attempted to stop them, they attacked him. The Indian agent recommended that the fort be removed from the reservation and this suggestion created a violent protest among the Americans in the area. In spite of the fact that the Hupas had worked hard at maintaining peace in the valley, the Americans claimed that they were threatened by the presence of Hupa warriors and talked about raising a militia to take care of the problem.
More 19th century American Indian histories
Indians 101: The Early Years of the Coast or Siletz Reservation
Indians 101: The Methodists Run the Siletz Reservation
Indians 101: Greed and the Administration of Indian Reservations in the 19th Century
Indians 101: The Hopi Reservation in the 19th century
Indians 101: Religion on the Fort Hall Reservation, 1869 to 1899
Indians 101: The Creation of the Fort McDowell Reservation
Indians 201: The Pueblos and the United States, 1846 to 1876
Indians 101: An imaginary war