How "Depot Charley" Became Depoe: The Story Behind Our Family Name
How "Depot Charley" Became Depoe: The Story Behind Our Family Name
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Depot Charley (Ki’sa), respected spiritual leader, ghost dancer, and tribal judge. Photo courtesy of the Lincoln County Historical Society, Lincoln City, Oregon (Catalog #1316).
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"The Siletz reservation was supplied (with some difficulty & after some trial & error) through Yaquina Bay. Schooners would bring supplies into the bay and they would be loaded off onto barges, which would then be brought up the Depot Slough to a government shed. Teamsters would bring the supplies over the hill in a buckboard wagon. Many of our tribal members drove team & wagon, Depot (or DePoe) Charlie probably being the most notable. In fact he got his name (which became the family name DePoe) from his job of driving supplies from the Depot to the Agency."
— Siletz Tribal Language Project
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| Historical Pacific coast schooner similar to the vessels that brought reservation supplies into Yaquina Bay.  Historic steamboats and barges on Yaquina Bay, which transported freight and supplies offloaded from ocean schooners inland toward Depot Slough.  Early 1900s view of flat-bottomed barges delivering cargo inland toward Depot Slough.
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Historic view of Depot Slough in Toledo, Oregon—the origin of the Depoe family name. Picturing Ki’sa out on those rough coastal trails, working a heavy buckboard wagon with a team of horses, is truly wild to imagine. Yet, driving supply wagons was only one part of his extraordinary life. There is still so much to discover about him—from his deep involvement in the Ghost Dance movement to his service as a respected tribal judge for the reservation. |
Every family tree has a moment where a single discovery transforms a list of names into a living story. For our family, that moment came when we finally pieced together how we acquired our ancestral surname through my 3rd great-grandmother, Ella Depoe, and her brother, Charles Depoe. For years, tracing our roots felt like navigating a labyrinth of shifting census records and government documents—especially because early on, Ella was documented as Ella Selsig (and sometimes Ellen Selsic). Without the Depoe surname attached to her name in those records, we had no obvious written reference connecting us to the Depoe family.
When I first discovered DNA matches linking us to this line, I reached out to older cousins to ask if they knew how we were related to the Depoes. They knew there was a connection but the exact connection remained a mystery.
A major breakthrough came when I discovered a document titled "A History of Little Whale Cove" by Jodi Weeber in 2024. Not only did it piece our family relationships together, but it also offered a fascinating look at how Charles received his name and how our family was tied to the land.
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| The breakthrough document from Little Whale Cove that brought our family history together, connecting Ella Selsig to her brother Charles Depoe. |
The paper trail was further confirmed through genetic research. DNA matches first connected us to descendants of Ada Depoe, who we learned was Ella and Charles’s half-sister. The final, definitive piece of the puzzle fell into place when my mother took a DNA test, revealing direct matches to descendants of Charles Depoe himself—confirming our direct lineage and cementing these relationships beyond doubt.
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| Ada Depoe, half-sister of Ella Depoe Selsig and Charles Depoe (Ki’sa). Genetic matches to her descendants provided the initial DNA link to our ancestral line. |
At the heart of this discovery is the remarkable story of how our last name came to be. Long before written records standardized our family's surname, Charles—whose Native name was Ki’sa—and his sister Ella were Joshua, born to their father, Old Joshua. Their mother was Nähl-’yē-ta-rv’-na-aa, a Tututni woman from the Euchre band (though Ella’s original Native name remains lost to history).
Unable to pronounce Ki’sa, the locals and reservation agents simply referred to him by his wagon-driving role: Depot Charlie.
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| Archival census records documenting "Charly Depot |
When reservation allotments were handed out, Depot Charlie, his wife, and children were allotted the area around what is now Depoe Bay harbor. His sister Ella and her husband, Frank Selsig, received the southern portion of Little Whale Cove. For allotment purposes, census and government documents recorded his name as Charles DePoe—the very moment our ancestral surname was formalized in government records. That vital job and lasting legacy gave birth to the very name our family carries today.
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| Little Whale Cove logo: Marking the historical land allotment granted to Ella Depoe and Frank Selsig. |
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| Close-up of Ki’sa (Depot Charlie) in traditional regalia. |
A Closer Look at Ki’sa’s Regalia
This striking portrait of Depot Charley (Ki’sa) captured by the Lincoln County Historical Society showcases traditional Pacific Northwest tribal regalia of extraordinary cultural significance:
Dentalium Shell Chest Piece: The multi-strand chest ornament made of dentalium shells represents immense status, leadership, and wealth, as dentalium was a highly prized form of currency and trade along the Pacific Coast.
Nose Piercing (Septum Ornament): The distinct shell or bone pin worn through his septum is a traditional adornment reserved for respected tribal leaders and high-ranking figures.
Feathered Headdress & Sacred Feathers: His headpiece and sacred feathers reflect his role as a deeply respected spiritual leader and figure in the Ghost Dance movement.
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