Chehalis Tribe

United States

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Washington

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Information

Guide to Chehalis Tribe ancestry, family history and genealogy, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and other agency records.

Tribal Headquarters

Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation
420 Howanut Road / P.O. Box 536
Oakville, WA 98568
Phone: 360-273-5911
Chehalis Tribal web site

History

Brief Timeline

1788: John Meares explores Shoalwater Bay

1830: Epidemics depopulate the tribe.The Lower Chehalis merge with the Chinook and the Upper Chehalis with the Suwal.

1846: Treaty of Washington

1855: Governor Isaac Stevens arrives in Washington

1864: Chehalis reservation established

1866: Shoalwater Bay Reservation established

1960: Federal recognition of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation

The Chehalis tribe was under the following jurisdictions

Agency

The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:

• Allotment records
• Annuity rolls
• Census records
• Correspondence
• Health records
• Reports
• School census and records
• Vital records

Tahola Agency

Reservations

Chehalis Reservation

Shoalwater Bay Reservation

Superintendencies

Washington Superintendency

Oregon Superintendency

Additional References

Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Chehalis tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Records

Correspondence and Census

Tribe	Agency	Location of Original Records	Pre-1880 Correspondence M 234 RG 75 Rolls 962 Roll Number	FS Library Film Number	Post-1885 Census M59 RG 75 Rolls 693 Roll Number	FS Library Film Number
Chehalis	Taholah Indian Agency, 1878-1952	Seattle	-		93, 302, 407-09, 564-69

Important Websites

• Official Chehalis Tribal web site
• Chehalis Tribe Wikipedia

For Further Reading

For background information to help find Native American ancestors see For Further Reading.