To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (16017 ) 4/27/2003 9:35:27 PM From: Brumar89 Read Replies (1) | Respond to My land does not encompass "Treaty" land. grandronde.org In 1850 the Federal government offered free land to settlers who would open up farms in Oregon. Prior to the passage of the Oregon Donation Land Act of September 27, 1850 (9 Stat. 496) there was no legislation by which settlers could acquire title to their lands. The Donation Land Act was passed by the Congress before treaties had been negotiated providing for extinguishment of Indian title to the land. There was growing conflict between Indians attempting to defend their homes and non-Indians who coveted Indian farms and village sites and who demanded that the Indians be removed. By 1855 lawless frontier elements were advocating extermination of the Indians. Land cession treaties were hurriedly concluded with a view to clearing the legal impediment to white settlement.<<<<<<grandronde.org The Indians who were removed to the Grand Ronde Reservation in 1856 were forced out of their ancient homelands in desperate circumstances. Joel Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon Territory, negotiated the seven ratified treaties concluded with these bands. In November 1855, before the treaty with the Molalla was negotiated, he selected the site of the Grand Ronde Reservation and initiated purchase of the Donation Claims in the area. In a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Palmer wrote: I can conceive of no other means by which to avert an impending calamity involving the destruction of these bands and a blot upon our national reputation. The prospective destruction of the bands was described in a letter which Palmer sent in December 1855 to Major-General John Wool, Commander of the Pacific Division: grandronde.org ;Where is the settlement? It is already valuable, but what is given in return is not so valuable.
