Honored by Tradition: Jennie McKay and the Last Sacred Alliance at Grand Ronde (Part 8 )
Series: Beyond the Paper Trail: Unlocking Jennie McKay’s Roots in Oregon History
When looking back at tribal history, government records and early newspaper accounts often reduced complex Indigenous traditions down to simple commercial terms, using labels like "buying" or "selling" a bride. But in traditional Native law, bride wealth exchanges were not transactions—they were solemn, respected agreements between families that honored high-born lineage.
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Note on the Record: In official reservation logs and local press clippings, Jennie was frequently recorded under the name "Jane Riggs"—a common colonial spelling variation for the same woman.
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Tracing Jennie McKay’s life timeline alongside her father’s smashes through old family assumptions and newspaper myths. She wasn't an adult or a seventeen-year-old during these major turning points; she was remarkably young—just thirteen years old—navigating immense loss while carrying the weight of a powerful ancestral line.
The Historical Record & Timeline
Noble Lineage and Early Loss
Ancestral Honor: Jennie was a great-granddaughter of the renowned Chinookan leader Chief Comcomly. In Northwest Coast tribal culture, high-born lineage commanded deep respect, and marriage gifts were a direct reflection of a woman's social standing.
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Chief Concomly. Courtesy Rosenbach Museum & Library,
Philadelphia; Duncan McDougall, Astoria Journal. Astoria, Oregon, 1811-1813 |
Birth Year Context (1848): Tracing Jennie’s timeline confirms her birth year around 1848. She was only about 8 years old during the forced removal to Grand Ronde in 1856.
Loss at Agency Creek: Her mother was Klickitat, originating from traditional homelands north of the Columbia River in Washington. Shortly after arriving near Agency Creek, her mother passed away, leaving young Jennie isolated from her mother's people.
The Father's Connection & Heritage Line: While Jennie lost her Klickitat mother early at Agency Creek, her survival and identity were anchored through her father’s lineage and regional network. This powerful heritage made her instantly recognizable to elders and extended relatives—like Frank Norwest—when she arrived in the unfamiliar setting of the Grand Ronde Reservation.
Dual Royal Lineage (Chinook & Métis Cree): Jennie’s high-born standing did not stem from her Chinook lineage alone. Through her paternal line, she traced back to Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin, a formidable woman of Métis and Cree descent known as the "Grand Dame" of the Columbia fur trade era. Carrying the bloodlines of both Chief Comcomly and Marguerite McLoughlin gave Jennie a unique, powerful heritage bridging two major worlds of Pacific Northwest history.
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| A young Jennie McKay, descendant of Chief Comcomly and Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin, whose independence and sharp instinct guided her through early reservation life. |
The Frontier Encounter at Fort Yamhill (c. 1861)
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| The 1858 Gardner Map of Fort Yamhill (National Archives). The red highlight indicates Lieutenant Philip Sheridan’s quarters along Officer’s Row, where the 1861 looking glass encounter took place. |
An Aunt Steps In: Facing severe reservation poverty, late government rations, and harsh Oregon winters, Jennie’s aunt took on the responsibility of protecting the orphaned girl. One morning, her aunt told Jennie an arrangement was being made because they desperately needed "ginghams for our dresses" and basic supplies. It presents a striking contradiction: a young girl carrying the highest noble lineages of the Columbia Basin being offered in exchange for simple bolts of trade cloth—a measure born not of cultural custom, but of sheer survival amidst reservation poverty
The Journey on Horseback: The Journey on Horseback: Around 1861, her aunt rode on horseback with young Jennie just three to five miles over to Lieutenant Philip Sheridan’s house at the edge of the Army post.
The Looking Glass Incident: Upon entering the house, Jennie saw her image in a mirror for the first time. Having never seen a mirror, she immediately concluded that Sheridan already had a wife in the room. Refusing to go through with her aunt's bargain, she bolted out the door, climbed back onto the horse, and confronted her aunt, saying: "You said white man have only one wife!" The deal was canceled on the spot.
Timeline Correction (Age 13): While later newspaper articles claimed Jennie was 17, military service records confirm General Sheridan departed Fort Yamhill permanently in September 1861 for the Civil War. Born in 1848, Jennie was actually only around 13 years old at the time of the encounter—a young girl acting with remarkable independence and sharp instinct.
The Union with Chief Solomon Riggs (1867 & 1871)
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Yellowhammer (Northern Flicker) shaft feathers, highly prized across
Northwest tribal traditions and given as sacred gifts of honor
and bride wealth in high-status marriage alliances. |
Chief Solomon's Legacy: Chief Solomon Riggs (Gun-Conna-Cli) was a long-reputed leader of the Grand Ronde people. He had suffered immense loss during the forced march of the Umpqua people from southwestern Oregon, where his first wife died on the trail.
The Traditional Union (c. 1867): Seeking a new union worthy of his status, Chief Solomon came for Jennie. Under traditional custom, a marriage to a descendant of Chief Comcomly called for kanum—gifts such as horses, trade beads, and prized yellowhammer feathers to honor her high rank. While severe reservation poverty, log cabins, and government restrictions meant families often had to rely on whatever modest gifts or symbolic offerings were available, this traditional alliance restored deep ancestral honor to her lineage, making Jennie the last girl carrying that Oregon City line married in the traditional custom.
- The Catholic Ceremony (Sept 8, 1871): As federal reservation policies banned traditional Native unions, Solomon and Jennie remarried in a Catholic ceremony at Grand Ronde to legally protect their union under American law.
A Lasting Legacy & Resilient Lineage
Family & Descendants: Jennie and Chief Solomon Riggs went on to have 10 children together. Among them was their son Sam Riggs, a skilled carpenter, and his wife, Clara Riggs, who helped preserve these family stories in oral history interviews. In her later years, Jennie lived with Sam and Clara at Grand Ronde, surrounded by family until she passed on.
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Brothers Sam Riggs (right) and Johnny Riggs (left), sons of Jennie McKay and Chief Solomon Riggs, carrying forward their ancestral lineage at Grand Ronde.
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| Brothers Andrew Riggs and Edward Riggs, sons of Jennie McKay and Chief Solomon Riggs. |
Distinguishing Fact from Myth: While early newspaper accounts often exaggerated Native elders' ages and claimed Jennie reached 100, her 1848 birth year confirms she lived into her mid-to-late 80s when she passed in the 1930s—a remarkable life spanning nearly a century of profound historical change. Chief Solomon Riggs was long-reputed to be well over 100 when he passed early in the 20th Century.
In the Spirit of Kanum
In our traditions, kanum isn't just reciting facts—it's giving a voice to our history so our ancestors remain alive in our hearts. While the records give us dates and names, we can imagine this is how Jennie herself might sit by the fire at Agency Creek, look back over her long life, and tell her story to the younger ones:
When you look back at the official records and old newspaper articles, they try to measure my life in dates and trade goods, but numbers on a piece of paper could never capture what it was like to live it.
They write down that I was born in 1848, but to me, it meant coming into the world carrying the weight of two incredible legacies. I carried the high-born Chinook blood of my great-grandfather, Chief Comcomly, and the deep resilience of my paternal Métis and Cree line through Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin. I didn't measure my life in calendar numbers—I measured it by how small I was when the world changed, and by the cold winters, late government rations, and hard times we had to endure. I was just a little girl, only about eight winters old, when they took us away from our homes in 1856 and brought us to Grand Ronde. Not long after we settled near Agency Creek, my mother passed away. She was Klickitat, and losing her left me far away from her people across the river.
Even in that foreign place, I was never truly lost. My identity and survival were deeply anchored through my father’s lineage and regional connections. Elders and extended kin—like Frank Norwest—recognized me right away, knowing the bloodline I carried. In our way, when a mother leaves, the family steps up. My aunt took me under her wing, doing her best to look after an orphaned girl in a world that was changing way too fast
When winter came, rations were scarce, and my aunt was terrified of what would happen to me. One morning, my aunt told me an arrangement had been made over at Fort Yamhill because we desperately needed ginghams and cloth for our dresses. It was about sheer survival. Looking back, it seems unthinkable that a grand-daughter of Chief Comcomly and Marguerite McLoughlin would be offered for a few yards of cloth, but severe poverty forced our people into impossible choices.
I’ll never forget the day she put me on horseback and we rode over to Lieutenant Sheridan’s house at the edge of the post. I couldn't have been more than thirteen years old. The moment I stepped through that door, I stopped dead in my tracks. Right there in front of me was another Native girl staring straight back at me! I had never seen a looking glass in my entire life, and I immediately thought, 'There is already a lady of this house!' I didn't wait another second—I bolted straight out the door, scrambled back up onto my horse, and told my aunt right then and there: 'You said white man have only one wife!' I refused to go through with her bargain. It wasn't until long afterward that it finally dawned on me that the girl in the glass was just me.
We can laugh about it now, and thank goodness that first match crumbled right then and there, because my path was meant for something greater. A few years later, around 1867, Chief Solomon Riggs—Gun-Conna-Cli—came for me. He was a great Umpqua leader who had suffered his own deep loss when his first wife and father died on that terrible forced march from southwestern Oregon. To show respect for my family and honor my bloodline as a great-granddaughter of Chief Comcomly, he didn't just come asking for a trade cloth deal. In our traditional way, a marriage to a high-born woman called for kanum—horses, fine beads, and prized yellowhammer feathers. Even though reservation life was hard and resources were scarce, his offering was made in that sacred spirit of honor and respect. Settlers misnamed it being 'sold' or 'traded for,' but they didn't understand. It was our ancient way of forging an alliance and showing deep respect. I was the last girl carrying that Oregon City line to be married in our traditional custom.
When the reservation agents told us our traditional ways weren't legal anymore, Solomon and I stood in the Catholic church in 1871 and married again under their law. We built a good home and were blessed with ten children. Solomon lived a long, strong life before he went to join the ancestors, and I lived on into the 1930s into my late eighties, blessed to watch my children and grandchildren thrive—like my son Sam with his carpentry and his wife Clara keeping our stories alive. In my heart, I always knew who I was, where I came from, and how deeply I was honored.
Clearing Up Colonial Myths
Looking back through the lens of colonial record-keepers—and even through a modern casual reading—it is easy to mistake these early reservation arrangements for mere commercial transactions. Settlers saw trade cloth and concluded a deal had taken place; local journalists saw a young girl and reported a quaint frontier anecdote. They failed to see the profound contradiction at play: extreme reservation poverty had pushed her family to consider trade goods for a high-born child, yet Jennie’s inherent sense of noble heritage gave her the conviction to reject it.
Resilience Across Generations
What makes Jennie McKay’s story so remarkable is that her bloodline could never be erased by forced relocation or hardship. She was forcibly ripped from her homelands as a child, endured the sudden loss of her mother at Agency Creek, and was isolated far from her mother's Klickitat people. Yet, her identity remained anchored through her father’s network and ancestral connections. In that foreign setting at Grand Ronde, extended kin like Frank Norwest instantly recognized her, knowing the formidable lineages she carried—not only as a descendant of the great Chinook leader Chief Comcomly, but also through her paternal Métis Cree line tracing back to Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin.
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| Frank Norwest on his favorite horse at Grand Ronde in 1938—a key relative whose recognition anchored young Jennie McKay to her father's lineage during her early days on the reservation. |
The True Meaning of Kanum
The horses, fine trade beads, and prized yellowhammer feathers brought by Chief Solomon Riggs were never a price tag. They were an exact reflection of a woman carrying two of the most powerful ancestral lines in Pacific Northwest history. In traditional law, bride wealth was a solemn affirmation of a woman’s intrinsic worth, her family's rank, and the honor owed to her lineage.
For generations, Jennie's true story was almost lost under settler misinterpretations and newspaper myths. By peeling back those colonial misnomers, restoring her true timeline, and honoring her paternal heritage, Jennie McKay emerges not as a passive subject of reservation trade, but as a resilient keeper of ancestral dignity—a high-born woman whose dual bloodlines survived trauma to anchor a proud, enduring legacy for her descendants today.
Sources:
1858 Gardner Map of Fort Yamhill & Military Records: Confirms the layout of Officer's Row at Fort Yamhill and General Philip Sheridan’s departure date in September 1861, verifying Jennie's age at approximately 13 during the encounter. (National Archives / U.S. War Department)
Reservation Logs & Death Records: Primary records for "Jane Riggs" documenting her death and citing the primary handwritten note: "Last woman to be sold or traded for—came from Oregon City." (Grand Ronde Census Logs & Regional Records)
Grand Ronde Oral History Interviews: Preserved family testimonies from Sam Riggs and Clara Riggs documenting Chief Solomon Riggs' leadership, the Umpqua forced march, family lineage, and the tradition of kanum.
1811–1813 Astoria Journals: Documents detailing Chief Comcomly’s diplomatic stature, marriage wealth customs, and high-born Chinookan lineage along the Columbia River. (Duncan McDougall Journals, Rosenbach Museum & Library)
Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) Archives: Fur trade era records documenting Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin’s lineage and status across the Pacific Northwest region.
Living in the Great Circle (Grand Ronde Tribal History): Photo archives documenting extended family lineages, including images of Frank Norwest and the children of Chief Solomon and Jennie McKay Riggs (Sam, Johnny, Andrew, and Edward Riggs).
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