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Probate Court: David Leslie assigned executor of Ewing Young's estate
This scrap of paper—handwritten, covered in centuries-old smudged fingerprints—is a remnant of the first significant attempt to create a functioning non-Native government in Oregon Country. …R.W. Tower Sawmill
These workers take a short break at the R.W. Tower sawmill to pose for this photo, circa 1912. The Tower Mill, located three miles south …Reservations & Tracts of Land Purchased from the Various Indian Tribes
By 1864, Oregon representatives of the U.S. government had bought up most of the traditional tribal land in Oregon. The government recognized Indian ownership of …Settlers to Siletz Reservation Agent Fairchild
This letter is indicative of the hostility that some early settlers had for Native people. A band of Athapaskan Indians, known as the Kwatami, lived …Sketch of the Wallamette [sic] Valley, 1851
Oregon became a United States territory in 1848, and the rapid growth of Euro American settlement in the Willamette Valley increased tension between the immigrants …Whale Butchering at Coos Bay
This sketch, published in an article in the June 1856 issue of Harper’s Monthly, depicts a group of Coos butchering a whale on the …A New Status for the American Indian
On March 23, 1957, the Oregon Historical Society held its Third Annual Historical Forum, a discussion of events that had influenced Oregon’s political, social, cultural, …BPA Office Takeover, 1975
On the morning of August 15, 1975, about 100 Indian protesters took over the Portland offices of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a federal agency …Cannon Beach Cannon
This photograph, taken by Arthur M. Prentiss, depicts the cannon that gave Cannon Beach its name. The cannon’s history includes a period as a U.S. …Capt. Bonneville to Secretary of War Lewis Cass
In September 1835, Captain Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville wrote this letter to Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, in an attempt to be re-instated to …Interpretive Essays
Interpretive essays use primary documents from the Oregon Historical Society archives to help readers imagine the events, people, and issues that shaped Oregon history.