PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — June 25 marks a milestone. On this date in 1855, a treaty paved the way for what would become the state of Oregon, and land ownership as it exists today. Louie Pitt Jr., director of government affairs and planning for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, told Oregon Public Broadcasting, “This was the real story of the West.” Throughout history, the United States has signed hundreds of treaties with tribal nations across North America. The Treaty of 1855 created the Warm Springs Reservation on a small fraction of the tribes’ original 10 million-acre territory. Oregon became a state in 1859, in part, by using that land.
Warm Springs treaty turns 166: ‘The real story of the West’
