4 C. F. COAN
was based on the recommendations of agents and the superin- tendent of Indian affairs, in Oregon, and those of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs. The formation and the adoption of the reservation policy in Oregon, and in Washington, was largely the work of Joel Palmer. The plan of removing the western Indians to eastern Oregon had failed, and the plan of extinguishing the title, and leaving the Indians to roam as they pleased, which had been adopted in the treaties of 1851, had been rejected by the Senate. In commenting on the Indian situation in California and Oregon, November 30, 1852, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs said:
"Regarding the policy of the rejected treaties [in California] as finally abandoned, and considering the removal of the In- dians from the State as impossible, I suggest, as worthy of consideration, the plan of forming them into two grand col- onies, to be suitably located ; one in the northern and the other in the southern portion of the State. Like circumstances rec- ommend a like policy in relation to the Indians west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon." 10
Palmer's first recommendations were made, June 23, 1853, in which he outlined an Indian policy and suggested a region which he considered would make a good reservation for the Indians of western Oregon. He stated that the system adopted by Gaines and Dart of allowing the Indians to mingle with the whites would, if put into effect, speedily result in the extermination of the Indians. He laid down four principles of policy necessary for the preservation of the Indians, namely : a home remote from the settlements ; laws guarding them from degraded whites ; laws governing the Indians in their relations with one another; and the aid of schools, missionaries, and instruction in agriculture. 11 ;With the above views in mind, Palmer proposed that the Willamette Valley Indians be located in the small valleys along the Pacific Coast between the Yaquina and the Alsea River. A number of reasons were given for considering this a favorable location. These were: the friendliness, free intercourse, and similarity in customs and languages, of the Indians inhabiting the Coast region and the Willamette Valley; the abundance of game and fish west
10 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Annual Report, Nov. 30, 1852 (Serial 658, Doc. i), p. 301.
11 Palmer to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 23, 1853, C. I. A., A. R., Nov. 26, 1853 (Serial 710, Doc. i), p. 450.
