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Charlie Tufti: first Indian to homestead in the Oakridge area

by SHEILA CHITWOOD | Jan 12, 2025 | Museum and History

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By SHEILA CHITWOOD/for The Herald  —  Charlie Tufti was the first Indian to homestead in the Oakridge area. This is his story.

In 1853, when Fred and Elizabeth Warner came across the plains and settled near Fall Creek, the Molalla Indians were already inhabiting the area. They were friendly and often traded with the new settlers.

Not long after the Warners homesteaded their land, a band of Molalla’s approached them with a trade. Tufti was a small boy of about seven or eight who had lost his parents and the aunt entrusted with his upbringing didn’t want another child to feed. Tufti was for sale. The bargain was made and the Warner’s had a new ward for the price of a pan of flour and two pumpkins.

In the Molalla tribe, orphans were given one name only. So, when the white settlers started calling him Charlie, the child became Charlie Tufti.

Charlie grew up in the Warner home with the same rights and privileges as the other children and was always considered as one of the family. He did, however, like to visit the other children of the Molalla Tribe and was permitted to do so as long as he didn’t go into their teepees. (It was well known that fleas and lice were usually infested in the Indian tents.)

He was never allowed to go to the white’s-only school, but Elizabeth began to teach him at home. He usually refused to speak the English language in public, but he understood everything said to him. He was witnessed on several occasions to have acted like he did not understand English during a business transaction. If Charlie got what he wanted, he would revert to comprehensive English. If he did not get what he wanted, he would continue to mutter in Jargon (a combination of two or more languages).

When Charlie was ready to marry, he chose a Klamath Indian maiden whose tribe had camped near the Warner property on their way to the valley for supplies. Since they were from different tribes, Charlie had to use jargon to propose. Across a crowded room, he shouted “Cli, hi, um nika kliichman” which means “How do you do, my woman.” She very quickly came back with “Cli, hi, um nika man” which means “How do you do, my man.” A few years after the wedding, she became very sickly and died.

In those days, it was unlawful for Indians to homestead. When Charlie married his second wife, a Molalla woman named Celia, they wanted to move to the Oakridge area to build a home. A man named Addison Black helped Charlie secure title to 80 acres of land that is near our present-day fish hatchery. After much difficulty, he only succeeded because Charlie had been raised by the Warner family as one of their own. It is almost a certain fact that no other full-blooded Indian had ever received a homestead claim in the Pacific Northwest under the Homestead Act of 1862.

Charlie loved Celia and treated her kindly. He was devastated when she never recovered from childbirth with their second child. Both she and the little boy died shortly after he was born. The Warner’s took in their older child, but the little girl died soon after.

Charlie owned the ranch for a year after Celia’s death but then sold it to A.C. McClane for $640. It was later sold again and became known as the Dunning Ranch.

Charlie’s third wife was a widowed Warm Springs Tribe woman with grown children. They went to live on the Warm Springs Reservation. They had two children of their own. The girl, Josephine, graduated from the Indian school at Chemawa. The boy, Jasper, ran the government commissary on the reservation.

While at the reservation, Charlie became one of the most prominent men of the Warm Springs Tribe and eventually became Chief. He died about 1914 after a logging accident.

Charlie was truly a unique individual. He navigated both the world of the white settlers and that of the Indians, and he did it well. He was honest, kind, and intelligent. He was well-liked and trusted by both the whites and the Indians.

We have remembered Charlie by naming Tufti Mountain, Tufti Creek and Tufti Wildlife Park with his name, to always remind us of his presence and good character.

 

SHEILA CHITWOOD
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Sheila Chitwood is a retired accountant and treasurer of the Oakridge Museum.  She lives with her husband Dwight and their cat, Callie.  She can be reached at [email protected].  If you have any interesting stories about your local ancestors, please contact her.

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Written by SHEILA CHITWOOD

January 12, 2025

Alpine Stream Construction Highway 58 Oakridge Oregon

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