The Willamette Valley Sketch Map depicts purchases and reservations made by the Board of Commissioners with Native Americans in Oregon. The map was prepared by George Gibbs and Edmond A. Starling. Gibbs was a geologist and ethnologist who participated in treaty negotiations between the U.S. Government and native tribes. This collection consists of three reproductions of the original map, which is
held in the National Archives.
Biographical / Historical Notes
George Gibbs was a geologist and ethnologist who participated in treaty negotiations between the U.S. Government and native tribes because of his expertise on Native American customs and languages. A native of New York, Gibbs moved to Astoria, Oregon, in the 1840s and became a customs officer. He worked on the Northern Railroad Survey and the Northwest Boundary Survey in the 1850s and early 1860s. Gibbs spent the last decade of his life working at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Gibbs died in 1873.
Statement on Description: We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.
Materials in this collection may use racist, derogatory, or harmful language to describe places, bodies of water, landforms, and other natural or man-made features. A project to identify and describe specific instances of harmful language in this collection is underway.
Since this language is written or printed on the maps themselves, we have left it unchanged. We acknowledge the racism represented by this language and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein.
