Land area
Land of the Rogue River Indians in California and Oregon, ceded 1853 (area 312)
- 1853
Ceded to the United States
In the record
Ceded by the Rogue River Indians in the 1853 Treaty of Table Rock, land in Oregon and California, while they kept a temporary reserve. The area covers about 2.1 million acres in what is now California and Oregon.
The 1899 record names Rogue River as the people of this land.
How it was taken: a treaty made under documented pressure. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians' history describes a cease-fire after open warfare and says its ancestors were "forced to sign" seven treaties.
Today, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians carry the history of the people named here.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.
Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.
Who is doing the work
Working with these nations
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Nation government Rocky Shores parcel near Yachats (about 7 acres, purchase pending as of Oct 2026)
- McKenzie River Trust Allied land trust Brokered and fundraised for Rocky Shores parcel near Yachats (about 7 acres, pending as of Oct 2026)
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Nation government Land conservation and return of coastal Sinkyone lands to tribal stewardship (nearly 5,000 acres protected) Give on their site Website
- Koy'o Land Conservancy (Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe) Nation government Restoring traditional homelands to tribal members Website
- Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy (KDLC) Nation government Acquiring and preserving sacred and culturally sensitive lands in Kumeyaay aboriginal territory Give on their site Website
- Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Nation government 450 acres (2026), first ancestral land return in the Big Chico Creek watershed
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named for this land 3
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indiansmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregonmatched by the Forest Service, under reviewsuggested
- Rogue Riveras named in the 1899 recordsuggested
Located in 2
Agreements recorded for this land 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1853-09-10primary record
- Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, text for 1853-09-10primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Oregon 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: California 2 (Library of Congress)primary record
- USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work
The record’s fields
- Area number in the 1899 record
- 312
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1853-09-10
- Kind of instrument
- Treaty or agreement
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Rogue River Indians
- States
- CA; OR
- Counties
- Jackson; Josephine; Siskiyou
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Oregon 1; California 2
- Geometry
- Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps
Research notes
geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.
- Kind
- Land area
- Confidence
- Medium