The Siletz Indian Reservation, 1855-1900 examines the forced geographic consolidation and subsequent survival of diverse Indigenous populations relocated to the rugged, heavily timbered coastal mountains of central Oregon. Kent details how the region's formidable physical barriers—specifically the steep, densely forested slopes of the Coast Range and the isolated, storm-battered Pacific shoreline—were intentionally utilized by the federal government to strictly dictate the confinement and marginalization of these displaced tribes. By mapping the arduous logistical realities of confining multiple distinct coastal and inland cultures within the remote, rain-drenched Siletz River basin, the narrative highlights the immense physical and cultural endurance required to adapt traditional subsistence practices to this highly restricted environment. The absolute geographic isolation of the Siletz Valley served to physically sever Native communities from their ancestral homelands across Western Oregon and Northern California, while the difficult, mountainous terrain severely limited the viability of the agrarian lifeways forced upon them by federal agents. Ultimately, this institutional and ethnohistorical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the severe topographical constraints and dense coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest inherently shaped the traumatic dislocation and enduring resilience of the confederated Siletz peoples.

Academic Dissertation, Academic theses, History, Indian reservations, Indians of North America, Indians of North America Oregon History, Lincoln County (Or.) History, Oregon, Oregon Lincoln County, Peuples autochtones Oregon Histoire, Thèses et écrits académiques, dissertations