Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 23.djvu/19

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RESERVATION POLICY PACIFIC NORTHWEST 9

Oregon. The Indians agreed to remove to the temporary res- ervation at Table Rock. They were to receive in payment for the cession $11,000 in twenty annual in stallments of beneficial objects, and $2,000 in presents and buildings. The other provisions were the same as those of the treaty with the Upper Rogue River Indians. These treaties were ratified by the Senate, April 12, 1854, but, due to the Senate amendment which was not agreed to by the Indians until November 11, 1854, they were not proclaimed until February 5, 1855. 22

The Indian Policy for Washington Territory. The Indian policy for Washington was identical with that adopted for the Territory of Oregon. This was not due to the action of the government but rather to the fact that Palmer and Stevens were, in general, of the same opinion as to the proper manner of conducting Indian affairs. The situation north of the Co- lumbia River and the forty-sixth parallel of latitude was similar to that south of the line except that there were fewer settlements and more powerful Indians, in Washington Ter- ritory.

The Indian situation in Washington Territory in 1853 was more serious east of the Cascade Mountains than west of those mountains although the settlements were almost exclusively in the western part of the territory. There was a movement, in this year, to make settlements in the interior of the terri- tory. The region had been practically closed to settlement since the Cayuse Indian War. The military commander in the Puget Sound region stated that the settlers were unjustly taking lands cultivated by the Indians. 23 Colonel Bonneville, Father Pandory, and Major Alvord, wrote that the Indian situation in eastern Washington was threatening the peace of the Pacific Northwest. Bonneville stated, February 23, 1853, that settlements were to be attempted in the Walla Walla Valley during the coming summer and that there would prob- ably be trouble with the Indians as they would not peaceably submit to the occupation of their lands. 24 It was stated by Father Pandory, April 1853, that during the winter of 1852-


22 Ibid., II, 606-7.

23 Floyd Jones to Townsend, Sept. i, 1853, Message front the President . . transmitting report in regard to Indian affairs on the Pacific. Feb. 14, 1857 (Serial 906, Doc. 76), p. 9.

24 B. L. E. Bonneville to Townsend, Feb. 23, 1853, ibid., p. 76.