River of Life - Josephine County, Oregon - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Marker Name: River of Life
Marker Text: For thousands of years the Takelma and Athapascan Indians lived, hunted and fished along the banks of Takelam (Takelma name for the Rogue River).
Living Off the Land
The Indians spent winters in their villages along the river mending tools, fishing and storytelling. The rest of the year they gathered camas and acorns in the lowlands, and deer, bear and other wildlife in the mountains.
Culture Clash
The cry of gold brought a flood of miners and settlers into southern Oregon beginning in the 1850s. These new arrivals settled on choice land and took it, usually by force, until the U.S. Governemtn took action to secure the rights of its citizens. Brutal attacks were carried ou by self-proclaimed militia to exterminate the Indians, escalating into the Rogue River Indian Wars.
Reservation Life
In 1853, Indians were placed on the Table Rock Reservation in Jackson County. By 1856, they were forcibly relocated to the Coast Reservation. Reservation life was devastating. Between 1856 and 1900 more than 9,000 Indians died. Today’s descendents are members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz and of Grand Ronde, and the Cow Creek Bands of Umpqua Indians.

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