Treaty with the Rogue River Indians (Table Rock), 1853

What happened

On September 10, 1853, Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, and Samuel H. Culver, Indian agent, signed a treaty at Table Rock near the Rogue River in Oregon Territory. The other parties were Jo-aps-er-ka-har, principal chief, two subordinate chiefs and other headmen of the Rogue River tribe. In Article 1 the tribe ceded all its right, title and claim to lands bounded by lines running from near the mouth of Applegate Creek to the Siskiyou and Cascade ranges. The treaty states no acreage. In Article 2 they could occupy a tract near the Table Rocks temporarily as an Indian reserve until a permanent home was chosen by the President.

In Article 3 the United States agreed to pay $60,000. Fifteen thousand dollars was kept to pay for white settlers' property destroyed in the late war. Another $5,000 was for goods and improvements. The remaining $40,000 was to be paid in sixteen annual installments of $2,500. Article 4 promised dwellings for three chiefs and equal-value improvements at any new reserve. The treaty was ratified on April 12, 1854 and proclaimed on February 5, 1855.

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians' history says Palmer arranged a cease-fire after open warfare in the Rogue Valley in the late summer of 1853. It says the treaty represented the Takelma, Shasta and Applegate River people, and that its ancestors were "forced to sign" seven treaties over two years, covering about 15 million acres. Later, it says, Palmer wrote that Table Rock could not be a permanent reservation, and the Rogue Valley tribes would have to remove to Siletz.

Good to know. The Siletz history's "forced to sign" wording and its 15 million acre figure refer to all seven treaties it describes, not this one alone.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error