From Stories to Salt Cairns: Uncovering Indigenous Influence in the Formative Years of the Oregon Historical Society, 1898-1905

Abstract

Established in December 1898, the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) was founded to “collect and preserve a library of historical material related to the history of the state,” and Sarah Keyes notes that its mission also included “the gathering and preservation of Indians’ traditions.” In this research article, Keyes examines how “through their participation in the formative years of OHS, Native Americans shaped the archival and material collections as well as interpretive documents that continue to serve as the primary organs of preserving and disseminating Oregon history.” Keyes focuses on the first seven years of OHS’s existence shedding “light on early cross-racial and cross-cultural conflict and collaboration within OHS.” Building on scholarship on historical societies in the West and extensive research in OHS’s institutional archives, Keyes examines the close connections between Native and non-Natives in OHS’s formative years, which “contributes to our understanding of OHS and settler-colonialism in Oregon.”