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Treaty

Umpqua (Cow Creek Band) at Cow Creek, Umpqua Valley, Oregon Territory (1853)

In 1853 the Cow Creek band of the Umpqua ceded their country for $12,000 and a temporary reserve on Cow Creek.

Signed
September 19, 1853
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 404,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On September 19, 1853, Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, signed a treaty on Cow Creek in the Umpqua Valley, Oregon Territory. The other parties were Quin-ti-oo-san, or Bighead, principal chief, and two subordinate chiefs of the Cow Creek band of the Umpqua. In Article 1 the band ceded and relinquished all its right, title and claim to lands bounded by lines along the south fork of the Umpqua River and the ridges around Cow Creek. The treaty states no acreage. In Article 2 the band could occupy a smaller tract on Cow Creek temporarily as an Indian reserve until the President selected a permanent home.

In Article 3 the United States agreed to pay $12,000. One thousand dollars was in goods by October 1, 1854, and the remaining $11,000 in twenty annual installments of $550. In Article 4 it promised two dwelling-houses costing no more than $200 each and a fenced and ploughed field of five acres. In Article 5 the band agreed to give safe conduct to people passing through its reserve. The treaty was ratified on April 12, 1854 and proclaimed on February 5, 1855.

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians' history says this treaty and the Rogue River treaty, signed nine days earlier, went through ratification side by side. It says that in them the Senate delegated the choice of a permanent reservation to the President.

Good to know. The Siletz history quoted here is another nation's account of the western Oregon treaties and is not specific to the Cow Creek band.

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

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. The Cow Creek band of Indians do hereby cede and relinquishTreaty with the Umpqua, Cow Creek Band, 1853 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. twenty equal annual instalments of five hundred and fifty dollars eachTreaty with the Umpqua, Cow Creek Band, 1853 (OSU Tribal Treaties Database)
  3. They were both ratified on April 12, 1854 and proclaimed on the 5th of February 1855.Creating the Coast (Siletz) Reservation (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians)
  4. the U.S. Senate delegated the authority to create a permanent “treaty” reservation to the PresidentCreating the Coast (Siletz) Reservation (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians)
  5. Quin-ti-oo-sanTreaty with the Umpqua Cow Creek Band, 10 Stat. 1027 (govinfo)

Research notes. The Siletz history is another nation's account of the western Oregon treaties and is not specific to the Cow Creek band; it is quoted for the ratification path only. The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians' own history is not cited here. The cited sources do not show how the band was brought to sign or what became of the Cow Creek reserve. The treaty states no acreage.

What the treaty did to the land

About 404,000 acres given up. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.

What happened next

Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.

Who is doing the work today

The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-umpqua-cow-creek-band-1853-0606reference work
    Treaty with the Umpqua-Cow Creek Band, 1853 Sept. 19, 1853. | 10 Stats., 1027.

Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.