Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 22.djvu/72



62 C. F. COAN

River and were not included in the treaties made at Port Orford. The Indians had had very little intercourse with the whites, and had very little knowledge of the value of goods or money, but it was believed that they would carry out the provisions of the treaty in every particular. About five hun- dred Indians were included in these treaties. Dart stated that it was important that these treaties should be made because the region would be rapidly settled due to the location near the gold mines, the agricultural advantages, the cedar forests, and the good harbors. 41

The treaty with the Clackamas Indians provided for the cession of lands lying along the south side of the Columbia River and east of the Willamette River. It included the valleys of the Clackamas and Sandy Rivers. This treaty was con- sidered the most important of those made by Anson Dart, be- cause the region was in the most thickly settled part of Oregon. There were twenty mills operating in this region in the fall of 1851. The town of Milwaukee was located on the cession. At the beginning of the negotiations, the Indians made unrea- sonable demands but finally agreed to accept the terms offered by the superintendent. 42

Three causes for objection to the thirteen treaties were mentioned by Dart. In the treaty with the Lower Band of the Chinook, the removal of Washington Hall, which the Indians demanded, was considered a possible objection. To this, Dart held that the removal of an obnoxious whiskey dealer was hardly a valid cause for non-ratification. The sec- ond objection was the reservation at Point Adams desired by the Clatsop band of Chinook Indians where two or three settlers had claims. The superintendent stated that the Indians refused to sell this region and he thought that they were en- titled to the district as a home. The third reason for non- ratification was the informality in the negotiation of the Clack- amas treaty, having been made by Dart acting alone. H. H. Spalding and Beverly S. Allen had been designated by the Act

41 Ibid., pp. 13

42 Ibid., pp. 13