Unlocking the 1933 Statement of Julia Meggison  (“Sixes Julia” / Kwatami)

First-person testimonies from 19th-century Indigenous elders offer an invaluable window into Pacific Northwest history. On October 17, 1933, a deposition was recorded at the Agency Office documenting the recollections of Julia Meggison—a member of the Sixes Tribe of Rogue River Indians—accompanied by Lucy Smith-Tom (acting as interpreter) and Mollie Carmichael (mother of Alex Catfish).

Archival statement of Julia Meggison (“Sixes Julia”), recorded at the Siletz Agency Office in 1933 detailing Sixes River tribal history and early land negotiations.

Page 2 of Julia Meggison's statement, detailing the June/July 1855 treaty meeting at Too-too-te-ny, key Rogue River chiefs present, and General Palmer's terms.

Page 3 of Julia Meggison's statement, identifying Stuart Rooney as the only other living member of the Sixes Tribe present at the time, signed by Agency Clerk Chas. E. Larson on October 17, 1933.

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The Voice Behind the Statement

• Birth & Heritage: Born in 1833 on Floras Creek, just north of the Sixes River. Known on the Siletz Reservation as “Sixes Julia.”

• Marriage & Family: In 1860, she met and married George Megginson, an English immigrant who was working as the Boss Farmer at Lower Farm on the Siletz Reservation. They established a cattle farm on a homestead at Yaquina Head on the north slope of Cape Foulweather and had three children: Jeffrey (1861–1887), William (1869–1894), and Janey (1872–1908).

• Later Life in Newport: Following George’s death in 1888, Julia moved to Newport and sold the coal mining rights to her Yaquina Head land holdings. She lived in Newport for the remainder of her life, outliving all three of her children before passing away on September 17, 1930, at the age of 97.

• Languages & Artistry: Fluent in Chinuk Wawa and English, and celebrated across the community as an exceptionally skilled basket maker.

Lucy Smith-Tom, daughter of Jim Tom and niece of Joshua Tom. She served as the official interpreter translating Julia Meggison's statement at the Siletz Agency.

• Official Interpreter Lucy Smith: Her statement was translated by Lucy Smith (a Tututni/Siletz linguist from Yah-shu-eh (Joshua) daughter of Jim Tom and niece of Joshua Tom, who married Dan Dann and whose family appears under both the Smith and Dann surnames).

Julia Meggison as a young woman at Agate Beach near Newport, Oregon, close to where she and her husband George established their homestead at Yaquina Head.

Julia Meggison (“Sixes Julia”) wearing traditional regalia and holding a handcrafted basket. Celebrated across the community as an exceptionally skilled basket weaver, she kept regional tribal traditions alive.

Julia Meggison in her later years in Newport, Oregon. An enduring keeper of tribal history, she lived to be 97 years old.

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Key Historical Takeaways

• Tribal Homeland: Julia defined the Sixes tribe's traditional territory as stretching between the Sixes River and Elk Creek in Curry County, Oregon.
  
  
• Captain Tichenor's Arrival: Julia recalled being roughly 14 years old when Captain William Tichenor arrived at present-day Wedderburn—the traditional location of the Joshua (Chemetunne) village named Che'-me’-dvn—in a two-masted vessel carrying supplies for soldiers. She emphasized that Tichenor was a boat captain, not an army officer, and made no binding promises to the tribe.

• Early Council Negotiations: She detailed early treaty negotiations led by an agent she called "Mr. Facile" (Superintendent Joel Palmer), who traveled from Salem to hold a council at Port Orford alongside interpreters and companions (including Chil-man, Mr. Smith, Coleman, and Ben Wright.
  
  
• 1855 Treaty Council at Too-too-te-ny: She noted a major council called by General Palmer and Ben Wright in June or July 1855, attended by several regional leaders:
  
  
• Ta-wah-ne-che  — Sixes Tribe
  
  
• Hos-ule-da  — Sixes Tribe (historical newspaper accounts also note Whiskers as a cousin of Tututni leader En-sa-lsun)

• To-hew-tyte — Chasta-Costa Tribe
  
  
• Dam-ne-hay-sh — Too-too-to-nays Tribe
  
  
• Unfulfilled Promises: General Palmer instructed the chiefs to sign their names, promising that each family would receive a white house, a team of horses, a wagon, citizenship after ten years, and financial compensation for their ancestral lands.

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Historical & Personal Connections

• Echoes of the 1856 Trail of Tears: Learning the precise river passage—taking steamboats down the Columbia, up the Willamette, and down the Yamhill River to Dayton as the first leg before reaching Siletz and Grand Ronde—brings a profound, heartbreaking weight to Dayton, Oregon. Trace routes reveal that both my ancestor Jennie McKay (with her mother and aunt) and Siletz ancestors endured this exact forced displacement along the same waterways.

• Genetic Confirmation & Stuart Rooney: Julia explicitly identifies Stuart Rooney as the only other living member of the Sixes Tribe present during her statement on Page 3. Modern DNA match clusters to Stuart Rooney’s descendants—overlapping directly with shared Umpqua and Shasta matches on my Grand Ronde lines—provide genetic proof of the deep kinship ties connecting these coastal and inland families across Siletz and Grand Ronde

Stuart Rooney, named on Page 3 of the deposition as the only other living member of the Sixes Tribe present during Julia Meggison's 1933 statement.

• The Joshua Village at Wedderburn: Julia’s account places Captain Tichenor’s arrival at present-day Wedderburn, the traditional home of the Joshua (Chemetunne) village known as Che'-me’-dvn. Lucy Smith's (Tom) father, Joshua Jim, and her uncle, Joshua Tom, rooted her heritage directly in this village lineage.

• Interpreter & Kinship Networks: Official interpreter Lucy Smith (daughter of Jim Tom and niece of Joshua Tom) represents another vital link across Siletz agency records, where her family is recorded under both the Smith (through William Smith) and Dann (through Dan Dann) surnames.

• Leader Relationships Across Records: The 1855 Treaty Council lists Sixes chief Hos-ule-da (Whiskers) alongside Ta-wah-ne-che; historical newspaper records further identify Whiskers as a cousin of the prominent Tututni leader En-sal-sun, showcasing interconnected leadership across Southern Oregon tribal nations.

• Kinship & Community Contemporaries & Reclaiming Sik-ses-tene: Julia Meggison (“Sixes Julia”) lived as a direct contemporary to my ancestor Sixes Mary. Both women shared the same ancestral homeland, endured forced displacement to the reservation system, and preserved the memory of their people across Siletz and Grand Ronde networks. While we often refer to this region and band as 'Sixes,' that remains a colonial designation—reclaiming our traditional name, Sik-ses-tene, honors the true history of the Kwatami of the Sik-ses-tene who lived here long before current maps were drawn.

Document Transcript

Statement of Julia Meggison

Member of Sixes Tribe of Indians

Rogue River

Julia Meggison called at the Agency Office in the morning of October 17, 1933, in company with Lucy Smith and Mollie Carmichael and the following history of the Sixes tribe was obtained from her with Lucy Smith acting as interpreter.

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The Sixes tribe of Indians were located between the Sixes River and Elk Creek in Curry County, Oregon. Julia Meggison claims to have been about 14 years of age at the time Captain Tichenor arrived at what is now Wedderburn in a small boat with two masts, with supplies for the soldiers consisting of provisions and clothing. He was captain of his boat and not an army man. Captain Tichenor made no promises to the Indians.

The first council or attempt to make a treaty with these Indians was made by a Mr. Facile, (maybe Palmer) who was the first Indian agent for Oregon and he lived at Salem, and he held a council with the Indians at Port Orford and of all of the Indians in the neighborhood. He had for his interpreter a half-breed by the name of Chil-man and other men who accompanied him were a Mr. Smith, Coleman and Ben Wright. Mr. Facile told the Indians that someone would buy their lands sometime in the near future and that they would receive money for it and that he wanted them to move away to the Umpqua reserve and that the government would give each family a white house, team of horses and wagon, and after they had lived there ten years that they would all be citizens and receive money for the lands they had left.

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Archival & Genealogical Note

Note on Record Dating: While the transcript header records this document under the date of October 17, 1933, primary vital records indicate that Julia Meggison passed away on September 17, 1930. In Indian Agency and BIA historical collections, document headers frequently reflect the date a clerk transcribed, typed, or filed field notes into official records rather than the exact date of the original interview.

Works Cited & Image Attributions

• Stuart Rooney Photograph: Courtesy of Yachats History, yachats-history.com.

• Primary Source Deposition: Archival Statement of Julia Meggison (“Sixes Julia”), October 17, 1933, Siletz Agency Office Records, Record Group 75, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

• Lucy Smith-Tom Photograph: Courtesy of Oregon Historical Society (accessed via Ancestry.com).

• Julia Meggison (“Sixes Julia”) Photographs: Courtesy of Ancestry.com community archives.