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From Granville Arnold to his Father

From Granville Arnold to his Father

The 1850s were easily the bloodiest decade in the history of southwestern Oregon. While relations between whites and Indians in the Rogue Valley had long …

Oregon History Project
General Joseph Lane

General Joseph Lane

Joseph Lane was Oregon’s first territorial governor and one of the state’s leading citizens from the 1850s until his death in 1881. A politician, soldier, …

Oregon History Project
Kintpuash (Captain Jack)

Kintpuash (Captain Jack)

Kintpuash (also spelled Keintpoos, Keiintoposes), better known as Captain Jack, was a Modoc Indian chief during the 1860s and early 1870s. In a desperate attempt …

Oregon History Project
Klamath and Modoc Indians, 1860

Klamath and Modoc Indians, 1860

U.S. Army Lt. Lorenzo Lorain took this photograph of a group of Klamath and Modoc Indians in the summer or fall of 1860. The traditional …

Oregon History Project
Klamath Indian Reservation

Klamath Indian Reservation

When white explorers entered the Klamath Basin in the 1820s, the Klamath Indians occupied the Upper Klamath Lake area, which included Klamath Marsh and the …

Oregon History Project
Klamath Indians in Dugout Canoes

Klamath Indians in Dugout Canoes

The Klamath Indians traditionally lived in villages and seasonal camps in southern Oregon, near upper Klamath Lake, Klamath Marsh, and the lower Williamson River. Canoes …

Oregon History Project
Letter to the Editor, Difficulties in Oregon

Letter to the Editor, Difficulties in Oregon

John Beeson was a humanitarian activist who spent much of his life trying to protect Indian rights. He wrote this letter to the New York …

Oregon History Project
Looking Downstream to Celilo

Looking Downstream to Celilo

This undated photograph shows non-Indians fishing for salmon along the free-flowing and meandering Columbia River just upriver from Celilo Falls. Writing on the photograph indicates …

Oregon History Project
News Article, Klamath Indians Draw Spotlight

News Article, Klamath Indians Draw Spotlight

This newspaper article describes some of the early debates over the termination of southern Oregon’s Klamath Tribes. The complex politicking reported in this piece went …

Oregon History Project
Probate Court: David Leslie assigned executor of Ewing Young's estate

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. …

Oregon History Project

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.