In Oregon’s past there were 12 nations or Indian stocks that lived within the present boundaries of the state and were grouped into some 80 tribes. Although the approximate areas of their residences are known, the exact locations of only a little over 1/2 of their villages or bands have been identified. Of the 58 Indian languages spoken within the U.S., Alaska, and British possessions of North America, there were only three spoken in Oregon – the Coos, Yaquina and Calapooya. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their famous expedition of 1805-06 made extensive notes about the language differences that existed between the various tribes. Their early reports substantiated the first Indians that inhabited Oregon.
In bygone days, there was an Indian trail from Oswego down to the Willamette River which later was used for pack horses and later still for farm wagons. It was the main trail and great highway of the Indian world and led to a spot on the north side of Lake Oswego which later became called Diamond Head. That road came down from Mt. Hood and wound through forest slopes that terrified wagon-train drivers. It was the forerunner of the scenic road that we still use today through Mt. Hood.
An old Indian fortress sat atop rugged Iron Mountain in Lake Oswego that looked directly down the length of the lake. Arrowheads were found in great quantity in the early days on Mine Hill where the earth was penetrated for the iron mine. No written verification of this story, however, has ever been found.
Antlers of elk have been found in the vicinity of Elk Rock giving credence to yet another old story which was told and retold to successive generations. The Indians used to station themselves near this spot while some of their tribe went into the forest (known today as Dunthorpe) to drive the elk toward the river where they became easy game for hunters.
There was an old Indian trail that led to the southeast side of the Shipley farm butte on Stafford Road when Adam Shipley acquired it in 1860. Legend has it that it was an Indian burial ground and Mr. Shipley would never allow anyone to dig on the property.
Indians crossed the Willamette River which today is marked by the first house in Portland. Several branches of this road led out through Willamette Valley with one main fork going north to Portland and one south to Oswego. It was the lake that drew the Indians. Indian boys gathered at the little island near Diamond Head for games of chance, diving and other competitions to settle the supremacy of skills. The Indians created a main highway leading to California that crossed the upper part of the lake and led off to Hazelia through Stafford.
Arrowheads, mortars and pestles have been found to substantiate some of these stories. All their roads led to the Willamette Falls during the salmon season which became a gathering place for the Indian fishermen clustered on rocks to spear fish. Squaws were there grinding the nuts they had gathered and camas root was dried in the grist mill high on the west bank of the Willamette River overlooking the falls.
The Lake Oswego area was also the roaming ground of the powerful Clackamas tribe, a member of the Chinookan family. They claimed the land along the Clackamas River and the west bank of the Willamette River to its mouth as well as the east bank of the Willamette River from a few miles above its mouth to Willamette Falls.
Indians roamed the shores of the Tualatin and Waluga, now known as Lake Oswego. Historians have tried to estimate the number of Indians living in Oregon and it’s been calculated that there were 100,000 Indians living here at one time.
Since the 1970s, many Native Americans have succeeded in restoring their tribal governments. According to the 2000 census, Native Americans in Oregon number at 48,341. There are currently 10 Federally-recognized tribes in Oregon still today.
There’s a lot more history in Oregon, however, I thought it would be interesting to read about the Indians in Lake Oswego. You see the casinos and think perhaps the Indian tribes didn’t actually live here in our own backyards, yet they were here long before we ever even knew about Lake Oswego!
When I was a little girl, my family and I took the train from back east to our new home in the west. On the train there was a young Indian girl around my age dressed in her tribal garb. She sensed I was afraid of her as I had never seen a “real” Indian before and gave me her Indian doll whose costume was hand-beaded just like hers. I don’t know whatever happened to that doll but I sure wish I had her today!
(References: “Oregon’s Iron Dream” by Mary Goodall, “Dictionary of Oregon History” Edited by Howard McKinley Corning, and “Bathroom Book of Oregon Trivia – Weird, Wacky and Wild” by Mark Thornburn and Lisao Wojna).
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Betty Jung
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