Oregon and the collapse of Illahee : U.S. empire and the transformation of an indigenous world, 1792-1859

Summary: Modern western Oregon was a crucial site of imperial competition in North America during the formative decades of the United States. Whaley examines relations among newcomers and between newcomers and Native peoples--focusing on political sovereignty, religion, trade, sexuality, and the land--from initial encounters to Oregon's statehood. He argues that the process of Oregon's founding is best understood as a contest between the British empire and a nascent American one, with Oregon's Native people and their lands at the heart of the conflict.

Record details

ISBN: 9780807833674
ISBN: 0807833673
ISBN: 9780807871096
ISBN: 0807871095
Physical Description: print
xi, 303 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Publisher: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, �2010.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction : historical constructions of Oregon and Illahee -- So many little sovereignties, 1792-1822 -- Disastrous times we had : expansions and epidemic, 1821-1834 -- A vital experimental religion : the Methodist mission colony of lower Oregon, 1834-1844 -- Trophies for God : from mission colony to American colony, 1840-1845 -- The colonization of Illahee, 1843-1851 -- Polaklie Illahee (land of darkness) : identity and genocidal culture in Oregon -- Extermination and empire: money, politics, and the Oregon wars, 1855-1856 -- Conclusion : Illahee, "Indian colonies", and the paternalist state.