Documenting the Past: The Paper Trail That Named Ella and Charles Depoe's Mother (Part 5)

(This is Part 5 of the series. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,  Part 4, Part 5 (current) and Part 6 to catch up on the full background of Ella Selsic and the Depoe family lineage.)

Series: Untangling the Threads: The Search for Ella Selsic and the Depoe Family

Every family historian knows the magic of the accidental discovery—the moment an elusive document surfaces not because you were actively hunting for it, but because the archives decided to reveal a secret just when you least expected it. While deep in the records tracing the lineage of Ella Selsic, I had already managed to find the name of Ella and Charles Depoe's father. But the surprises didn't stop there.

While searching for other records, I unexpectedly stumbled upon the name of Ella and Charles Aunt, Mary Charley (who had married John Charley). When I went back into the archives to pull up that specific record on Mary's estate, a completely different document was pulled up instead. 

The unexpected archival find that finally broke the brick wall and named Charles and Ella Depoe’s mother.

To A Siletz , Oregon , Reaumber 19 , 1903 . Mr. Jno . J. McKoin , May , 1904 . Superintendent and S. A. A. N Sir : in the Charles Roy , the hall of Mary Charley , deceased, who Charley, known , the in the month of July A.D. 1894 , age or of 80.32 acres and 88.45 acres , respectly, for its were issued by the United States Government of July 26 , A D. 1894 , Nos . 74 , 78 , respective last being in the County of Lincoln , state of Oregon , in township south of the base line in range west of the Willamette are as follows : Range Acres No. 74 . 34 - 11 the F Lot S. S. 50 , 32 herein petition that since with the regulations of the office for one of inherited Indian lands , dated October 2nd , 1902 . I do herein further state and represent that the said Mary Charley died intestate , leaving no lineal descendants , no husband , Father , sister or brother or mother ; that I , Charles Depoe am the other and nearest of kin of the said Mary Charley, deceased and entitled to the whole of her estate according to the laws of the State of Oregon ( Bellinger & Cotton 's Annotated Codes & Statutes of the State of Oregon, vol. 2, p. 1773, Sec. 5577 , sub - div . 5 ) That the said John Charley, deceased, died intestate, leaving no lineal descendants, and no children, but Mary Charley his wife who thus became vested with his estates ; that the said Mary Charley died intestate leaving no lineal descendants  no husband, no father mother, sister or brother or sister; that I, Charles Depoe, am the son of Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa , the deceased sister of Mary Charley deceased; that I am nephew and nearest of kin to the said Mary Charley, deceased and entitled to the whole of her estate according to the laws above cited; that neither the said Mary Charley nor the said John Charley, deceased, resided upon the lands herein petitioned to be sold as a homestead or cultivated the same immediately preceding her or his death. Charles Depoe mark Witnesses: George Wilbur his 104.

(Note on the records: This is the estate file for Mary Charley, which ultimately named our Euchre Matriarch, Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa, and also gave us the name of her sister/our Aunt Mary Charley—not to be confused with the other individual of the same name from the well-known historical Tolowa photograph).

Charles Depoe (Photo: Lincoln County Historical Society)

"that I, Charles Depoe, am the son of Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa, the deceased sister of Mary Charley deceased."

Decoding the Name of Charles Depoe’s Mother: Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa

Uncovering her name breaks through a long-standing genealogical brick wall, giving a real voice back to Ella Depoe-Selsic and Charles Depoe’s mother. Rather than a simple westernized noun, it is much more likely a phrase that described who she was, where her family came from along Euchre Creek, or her specific lineage.

 This isolated, beautiful stretch of shoreline sits directly where Euchre Creek empties into the Pacific Ocean (Ophir). 

The Search for Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa: Reclaiming a Pre-Removal Euchre Creek Matriarch

While our family waits for official word from the federal archives, we are documenting our journey to uncover the identity, history, and linguistic meaning behind one of our most profound ancestral grandmothers: Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa.

Here is a summary of who she was, why her name is a historical puzzle, and how we are actively tracking her down.

1. Who Was Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa?

Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa was a Yukichetunne (Euchre Creek) matriarch from the southern Oregon coast. Her people lived at the mouth of Euchre Creek (just north of Gold Beach) before the Rogue River Indian Wars.

• The Lineage: She is the biological mother of two deeply influential Siletz history makers: Charles Depoe (the legendary Siletz leader, spiritual judge, and namesake of Depoe Bay, Oregon) and Ella Depoe-Selsic (wife of Mikonotunne Chief En-sal-sun). Her children were born in the pre-removal era, around 1837.
• The Timeline: Tragically, Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa passed away in her traditional southern homelands before the devastating 1856 forced removal (the "Siletz Death March"). Because she died a free woman in her homeland, she never lived on a reservation.

2. The Legal Paper Trail (Why She Isn't Online)

Because she passed away prior to 1856, Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa was never given a Westernized name, assigned a reservation land allotment, or counted on a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) census. This is why a Google search for her name yields zero results.

However, her name survived because of her children. Between 1887 and 1920, Charles Depoe and Ella Depoe-Selsic had to legally defend their reservation land rights. To prove their lineage and blood quantum, they signed sworn legal Heirship and Relationship Affidavits before the Siletz Agency superintendent. In those handwritten depositions, they explicitly swore under oath to the traditional name of their mother: "She who walks dressed in coastal wealth (dentalium shells or trade beads) by the water."

3. Decoding the Meaning of Her Name

Because she was a Euchre Creek woman, her name belongs to the Lower Rogue River Athabaskan (Tututni) language family. These languages are polysynthetic—meaning a name isn't just a word; it is an entire sentence built from stacked prefixes describing an action or a lifelong trait.

By filtering her name through coastal matriarchal customs (where women's names historically centered on material wealth or traditional industries like weaving), linguists look at two major translation theories:

• Theory A (The Adorned Wealth Meaning):
• Phonetics: Naał- (wealth/currency) + -yee- (inside/amongst) + -taa-ł- (water/action) + -naa-aa (continuous action).
• Translation: "She who walks dressed in coastal wealth (dentalium shells or trade beads) by the water."

Computer Generated Image

• Theory B (The Traditional Industry Meaning):
• Phonetics: Focused on the meticulous matriarchal art of basketry.
• Translation: "She who prepares/soaks basketry materials in the creek." (A direct reference to gathering and soaking hazel sticks or spruce roots in Euchre Creek to keep them pliable for weaving)

Computer Generated Image

These ancestral ways weren't just abstract practices; they were the heartbeat of the Yukichetunne community, anchoring Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa and her family directly to the rhythm of Euchre Creek.

This isolated stretch of shoreline sits directly where Euchre (pronounced YOO-ker) Creek empties into the Pacific Ocean—the ancestral homelands of the Yukichetunne. Historically known as Eu-qua-chee, the village sat on the north side of the creek under the guidance of two chiefs, with traditional territory stretching from the Three Sister Rocks south toward the early mining town of Elizabeth (present-day Gold Beach) and just west of the Geisel Monument site. Unlike the rigid, fixed lines white settlers later attempted to draw on maps, Indigenous land use was fluid and overlapping—intertwined with neighboring bands through shared resources, kinship, and overlapping territories rather than hard borders.

Reconnecting the Threads: Ada Jim & Euchie James Jim

Ada Jim

Euchre Ada-Jim-Payne-Collins (wife of Peter Collins), c. 1920

Long before the archival paper trail finally uncovered the name of our Euchre Creek ancestors, the clues were already whispering to us from the past. I had previously shared this historic photo of Ada Jim— wife of Peter Collins, circa 1920 (whose father, Euchre "Euchie" James Jim, was born around 1835 and lived until 1931)—to our family Facebook page, wondering how our branch might connect.

When the DNA matches later pointed straight to Ada Jim, it felt like the archives and our own family's genetic map were finally shaking hands. Seeing her face here isn't just looking at a piece of Siletz history anymore; it's looking right at family.

Living until 1931, Euchre "Euchie" James Jim’s life spanned a bridge between eras. He could have personally known our ancestral grandmother, Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa—turning cold archival dates into a living, breathing thread of family history.

Following the Paper Trail: Uncovering the Estate Files That Led to Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa

76 I , Jacob Cook , 88 years old , being first duly sworn , depose and say that I am an Indian of the Tututni Tribe of Indians ;

That I knew the mother of Charles Depos ; That I also knew her sister , Mary Charley ; That I know that they had the same father and the same mother

; that there are no children of Mary Charley living at present ; that there are no descendants of any children of Mary Charley; That Charles Depot is a nephew of Mary Charley , that he has but one sister and no brothers by the same mother; that this sister is Ella Selsic; that I believe that Charles  Depot is the legal heir of Mary Charley, and should receive the patent for this land; That I have heard the affidavit of Charles Depoe read and know that the statements contained therein are true and correct; That I remember these things well for I am an old man and know these people well; that I am not in any way interested in this matter; and further deponents says not. Witnesses to mark May Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of April, 1902  --- 

--- I, John Morris, being first duly sworn, depose and say that the foregoing affidavits of Charles Depoe and Jacob Cook have been read and explained to me; that I know them to be true and correct; that I knew Mary Charley very well and she claimed to be the aunt of Charley Depoe; that I believe him to be the legal heir of Mary Charley; That I am not in any way interested in this matter ; and further deponents says not . witnesses to mark Exors Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of April , 1902 - tice S

1900 Siletz Census

When you read the 1902 testimony of elder Jacob Cook listed here as Tootootun and Joshua—born around 1819 in his ancestral homeland of —you realize he wasn't just filling out government paperwork.

He was a living library for our family

Because he knew our Euchre Matriarch and her sister Mary Charley firsthand, his affidavit bridges the gap between historical abstraction and real people who walked the land along Euchre Creek, turning cold archives into an enduring testament of family history.

Right alongside him in the record, witness John (Siletz) Morris—who was the third husband of Lavina Wilson, Sixes Mary's daughter—added his formal sworn statement. Just like Jacob Cook, they were both a living library for our family, proving that in tightly knit communities like Siletz, family by marriage stepping up to vouch for these lineages shows just how closely connected everyone truly was.

1900 Siletz Census

Looking at John Siletz Morris’s own family background reveals another layer of this deep regional network. Knowing that his mother belonged to the Cosutt-Henten band centered right at neighboring Mussel Creek—and seeing how closely that geography connects to the traditional Euchre homelands of Ella and Charles's mother—lays bare the profound interconnectedness of these communities.

These weren't just casual acquaintances thrown together by government relocation; they were actual neighbors whose ancestral villages sat just down the coast from one another. Sharing adjacent waterways, fishing grounds, and generations of kin, these bands maintained an enduring web of relations long before they ever reached the Siletz Reservation. When the disruptions of the 1950s and reservation life followed, those historic neighbor and band ties are precisely why they naturally stayed clustered together, preserving a living continuity of their ancestral world on the census rolls.

On the same pages where elders and relatives are recorded, we find Siletz Morris listed with his father's tribe as Euchre and his mother's band noted as Mussel Creek (recorded phonetically as 'Muscle Creek')—representing a neighboring band and village just down the coast.

As historical and ethnographic accounts note, this geography directly aligns with the traditional village site associated with the Coqutt-Henten (or gwi'sat huntun) band—where gwi'sat translates specifically to "mussels" along that creek.

Historical excerpt documenting the Cosutt-Henten (Coqutt-Henten) tribe and their traditional village site at the mouth of Mussel Creek—tying the local geography directly to the ancestral band names found in the early ethnographic records.

Because these ancestral villages sat just down the coast from one another—sharing adjacent waterways, fishing grounds, and generations of kin—these families maintained an enduring web of relations long before they ever reached the Siletz Reservation. When the disruptions of reservation life followed, those historic band and neighbor ties are precisely why they naturally stayed clustered together, preserving a living continuity of their ancestral world on the census rolls

When paired with our shared DNA matches who descend from Julia Skelley (and also  trace back through the Ada Depoe lineage)—listed on line 30 of that same census page as Euchre and Sixes—the documentary and genetic evidence converge.

Whether flowing through both family lines or rooted deeply in the Ada Depoe connections, These records confirm just how tightly woven these families remained, mapping out the enduring kinship ties that echo down into our modern DNA results.

Mussel Creek sits right along that same rugged southern Oregon coastline just north of Euchre Creek. When you look at how close those waterways and settlements were, it completely explains why these families weren't just distant tribal members—they were actual neighbors sharing the same coast, fishing grounds, and daily lives.

Looking Ahead: Waiting on the National Archives

We have officially initiated a formal search with the National Archives in Seattle (NARA) to pull the unindexed Bureau of Indian Affairs probate and land allotment files (Record Group 75) for Charles Depoe (Allotment #22) and Ella Selsic. Because her record is nested inside her children’s estate files, archivists are physically searching the stacks for the original handwritten affidavits that hold her name.

We will share an update as soon as the archives respond! Ultimately, reclaiming Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa isn't just about filling in a blank on a family tree—it is about honoring a matriarch who walked the Oregon coast as a free woman, ensuring her name, her band, and her legacy are preserved so they are never lost again.

(From the 1903 Siletz Agency estate proceedings of Mary Charley)

Sources:

• Siletz Allotment & Estate Files: U.S. General Land Office records and individual Indian allotment files for Mary Charley (featuring testimonies from Charles Depoe, Jacob Cook, and John Morris, April 30, 1902).

• Family History Research & DNA Analysis: Community collaboration, family oral history, and DNA matching data linking descendants to Ada Jim (Euchre Ada-Jim-Payne-Collins) and the Euchre Creek band of the Tututni people.

• Historical Reference & Documentation: Google Books Historical Reference

• Ophir Shoreline Photo: Posted by Mette I.

(Note: In untangling these records, it's worth keeping in mind that this Mary Charley is distinct from the other individual of the same name—associated with the well-known historical Tolowa photograph—ensuring our specific Siletz and Euchre Creek family lines remain clear and accurately separated.)

Visualizing the Past: The computer-generated images included in this post are artistic visualizations created to help bring our ancestors' daily life and coastal environment to life. They illustrate traditional practices—such as gathering materials along Euchre Creek or wearing traditional coastal wealth—offering a window into what life might have looked like for Nähl-ye-ta-ry-na-aa and her community.

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Feedback & Corrections: I strive to ensure the historical information shared here is as accurate as possible. If you spot an error, have additional documentation, or would like to share related family history, please let me know. I welcome any corrections or insights that help deepen our understanding of this shared past.