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Treaty

Chasta, Scoton, and Umpqua at Council Ground Opposite Mouth of Applegate Creek, Rogue River, Oregon Territory (1854)

In November 1854 Chasta, Scoton and Grave Creek Umpqua bands ceded their Rogue River country and agreed to remove to Table Rock.

Signed
November 18, 1854
Senate
Ratified
Land given up
about 543,000 acres
The land in this treaty’s record. Open on the map

What happened

On November 18, 1854, at a council ground opposite the mouth of Applegate Creek on the Rogue River, Joel Palmer signed an agreement with chiefs and headmen of the Quil-si-eton and Na-hel-ta bands of the Chasta, the Cow-nan-ti-co, Sa-cher-i-ton and Na-al-ye bands of the Scoton, and the Grave Creek band of the Umpqua. They ceded all of their country, described by landmarks south of the Rogue River to the Oregon boundary. They agreed to "remove to such portion of the Table Rock reserve" as the superintendent chose, or to any reserve the President directed.

The United States agreed to pay $2,000 a year for fifteen years and to spend a further $6,500 on provisions. It also set aside $5,000 for claims of settlers for lost property.

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians' history says the ancestors of its members were forced to sign seven treaties in two years, ceding about 15 million acres. The Siletz history says Superintendent Palmer then wrote that the Table Rock reservation could not be permanent and that the Rogue Valley tribes would have to remove to Siletz also. The OSU treaty database lists ratification on March 3, 1855.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 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. they will remove to such portion of the Table Rock reserve as may be assigned themTreaty with the Chasta, etc., 1854 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)
  2. our ancestors would be forced to sign a total of seven treatiesThe Western Oregon Treaties of 1853-1855, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
  3. the Rogue Valley Tribes would have to remove to Siletz alsoThe End of Wars & Removal, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

Research notes. The Siletz history does not discuss this specific treaty; its removal account is for the Rogue Valley and neighboring peoples generally, and the cited sources do not trace the later history of the Chasta, Scoton and Grave Creek bands. The treaty states no acreage. The OSU page lists the signers' band names as printed.

What the treaty did to the land

About 543,000 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.

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Working with these nations

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Sources

  1. treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-chasta-etc-1854-0655reference work
    Treaty with the Chasta, etc., 1854 Nov. 18, 1854. | 10 Stats., 1122.

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