Land area
Land of the Paiute, Shoshone and others in Oregon, ceded 1883 (area 646)
- 1872
Set aside as a reservation
The 1899 record: “President sets apart reservation known as Malheur, and bounded as follows: Beginning at the mouth of the N. fork of Malheur river”
- 1875
Set aside as a reservation
The 1899 record: “President sets apart an addition to reserve established by Executive order Sept. 12, 1872”
- 1876
Set aside as a reservation
The 1899 record: “President supersedes order of May 15, 1875, and sets apart a new reserve on Malheur river”
- 1883
Taken back by the United States
The 1899 record: “President restores to market all the Malheur Indian reservation in Oregon, except a tract of 320 acres”
In the record
Set apart as the Malheur reservation in 1872, enlarged in 1875 and redrawn in 1876; a May 1883 executive order returned it to the public domain, except 320 acres. The area covers about 397 thousand acres in what is now Oregon.
The 1899 record names Shoshone (Shoshoni) as the people of this land.
Today, Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation and Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada (Four constituent bands: Battle Mountain Band; Elko Band; South Fork Band; and Wells Band) 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
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming
- Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation
- Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation
- Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada (Four constituent bands: Battle Mountain Band; Elko Band; South Fork Band; and Wells Band)
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Nation government Rocky Shores parcel near Yachats (about 7 acres, purchase pending as of Oct 2026)
- Indigenous Land Relationship Fund (Oregon Land Justice Project / Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts), allied host Native-led Funds Indigenous-led projects to reclaim and reconnect to land and First Foods in Oregon Give on their site Website
- Na'ah Illahee Fund Native-led Indigenous-led regranting for Land Back (building on E'lip Tilikum Land Conservancy), land and water protection,… Give on their site Website
- Potlatch Fund Native-led Native philanthropy and grantmaking to Native individuals and Native-led organizations Give on their site Website
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 1, as named in the 1899 record
- Shoshone (Shoshoni)suggested
Located in 1
Sources
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1872-09-12primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1875-05-15primary record
- Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1876-01-28primary record
- Royce’s map sheet: Oregon 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
- 646
- Dates in the 1899 record
- 1872-09-12; 1875-05-15; 1876-01-28; 1883-05-21
- Kind of instrument
- Executive order
- Peoples as named in the 1899 record
- Paiute; Shoshone; Snake
- States
- OR
- Counties
- Grant; Harney; Malheur
- Map sheets in the 1899 record
- Oregon 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