Native Americans and Bridlemile
When Did They Come Here:
Native Americans lived in Oregon at least 14,300 years ago, according to radio-carbon dating of human feces found in a cave in south-central Oregon. For more information on these dates, click on these links:
https://phys.org/news/2014-10-cave-earliest-human-dna-dubbed.html#google_vignette
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_Caves
The natives lived in the Portland West Hills/Tualatin Mountains at least 6,000 to 9,000 years ago, based on archeological research recorded sites with artifacts. Source: Houle, Macy Cottrell. Forest Park: Exploring Portland’s Natural Sanctuary. Oregon State University Press. Corvallis, Oregon. 2023. P. 9.
Who Were They:
The Indian tribe likely to have been in and/or around Bridlemile before the 1850’s was the Tualatin/Atfalati tribe, which was the most northern of the Kalapuya group of tribes. The Tualatin lived on the west bank of the Willamette River and at times occupied most or all of what is now Washington County and some of southern Portland.
They are known to have occupied 16 or 24 villages, including those around present-day Beaverton and Hillsboro.
Source for 16 villages: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/tualatin_peoples/
Source for 24 villages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atfalati
In the early 1800’s a Tualatin/Kalapuyan community was located near Fanno Creek. Source: https://www.beavertonoregon.gov/1114/Our-City-Our-Stories-An-Expanded-History# Note: Since Fanno Creek also traverses present-day Bridlemile, perhaps native people followed the creek upstream from Beaverton to Bridlemile.
Mostly, the Tualatin Indians lived on the flat Tualatin plains. However, “They crossed the western hills to trade with Chinookan people in the winter.” Source: Abbott, Carl. Portland in Three Centuries. Oregon State University Press. Corvallis, Oregon. 2nd edition. P. 13.
Note: The Tualatin Indians’ trading partner, the Chinookan people, lived along the Columbia from the Dalles to the river mouth near present-day Astoria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinookan_peoples
“The Tualatin lived throughout the Tualatin Valley and used trail systems that took them over the Tualatin Range (Portland Hills now) and into what is now the Portland Metro area.” Quote comes from: https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/2017/02/06/tualatin-kalapuyans-and-seasonal-rounds/
“The Tualatin Mountains appear on an 1855 “Sketch Map of Oregon Territory”, describing the location of lands owned by various Indian tribes and their territory. The map includes the Tualatin Mountain Range and the Tualatin Valley as being the lands of the Atfalati/Tualatin Kalapuyan Indians.” Quote comes from: https://tualatinlife.com/history/tualatin-mountain-range/
"The Kalapuya Communities" map, c. 1850. Center for Columbia River History. Source: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/kalapuya_treaty/
What Was Local Indian Life Like:
The local Tualatin/Atfalati people lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They hunted deer, fished, and gathered roots and berries for sustenance. They lived in rectangular multi-family houses. For more information on Tualatin/Atfalati Indian lifestyles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atfalati
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/tualatin_peoples/
https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/costume-of-a-callapuya-indian/
What Happened to the Native Peoples:
Few, if any, Indians likely remained around Bridlemile (or anywhwere else in the Portland area) when the first Euro-American settlers arrived in the 1850’s. The reason was the negative effects on the Indians of introduced diseases.
“Smallpox had come upriver in 1781, 1801-1802, and 1824-1825. The first outbreak was the most devastating, and the three together substantially reduced the Native American population. Then the “Ague” or “Intermitting Fever” appeared in Chinookan and Kalapuyan villages and raged for the next three years. Circumstantial and epidemiological evidence strongly suggest that the disease was malaria, brought by traders from eastern North America or Pacific ports. … It killed most inhabitants of Wapato Valley villages … leaving … a virtually unoccupied Lower Columbia and Willamette Valley landscape.” Quote comes from: Abbott, Carl. Portland in Three Centuries. Oregon State University Press. Corvallis, Oregon. 2nd edition. PP. 14-15.
More information about the effect of introduced diseases on local Indians is at:
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/disease_epidemics_1770s-1850s/
“only about 60-70 Tualatins survived in the 1850s … there were at least 1,000 Tualatins living around the year 1800. There might have been many more than that a century earlier. … ” https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1050460&p=7625221
“It is estimated that the band was reduced to a population of around 600 in 1842, and had shrunk to 60 in 1848.”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atfalati#:~:text=The%20tribe%20had%20already%20experienced,to%20only%2060%20in%201848.
Another source states that only about 65 Tualatin natives were left in 1855 when the survivors signed a treaty with US Government, which led to their removal from the Willamette Valley and on to the Grand Ronde Reservation. https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/tualatin_peoples/
In the Kalapuya Treaty of 1855, “the Kalapuyans, who had been decimated by disease and whose population had declined to about 400 people, ceded nearly the entirety of the Willamette Valley to the United States government. In return, they were promised a permanent reservation; annuities; supplies; educational, vocational, and health services; and protection from violence by American settlers. The U.S. Senate quickly ratified the treaty in March 1855.” Quote comes from: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/kalapuya_treaty/#.U-O-7WPGuZg
For more information on Willamette Valley Indian Treaties: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/willamette_valley_treaties/
If you have more information on native peoples and Bridlemile or if you have Bridlemile-area native people’s artifacts (e.g. arrowheads), the BNA would like to hear from you. Contact: hello@bridlemilepdx.org.