In 1826 Peter Skeen Ogden, a fur trapper from the Hudson’s Bay Company, was the first white man to leave his footprints on our lands. One hundred and seventy-five years later those footprints have multiplied into the thousands, each leaving their marks on the lands and the Klamath Tribes. The newcomers came first as explorers, then as missionaries, settlers, and ranchers. After decades of hostilities with the invaders, the Klamath Tribes ceded more than 23 million acres of land in 1864 and we entered the reservation era. We did, however, retain rights to hunt, fish, and gather in safety on the lands reserved for us “in perpetuity” — for ever.

From the first, Klamath Tribal members demonstrated an eagerness to turn new economic opportunities to our advantage. Under the reservation program, cattle ranching was promoted. In the pre-reservation days, horses were considered an important form of wealth, and the ownership of cattle was easily accepted. Tribal members took up ranching and were successful at it. Today the cattle industry still remains an important economic asset for many of us. The quest for economic self-sufficiency was pursued energetically and with determination by Tribal members. Many, both men and women, took advantage of the vocational training offered at the Agency and soon held a wide variety of skilled jobs at the Agency, at the Fort Klamath military post, and in the town of Linkville. Due to the widespread trade networks established by the Tribes long before the settlers arrived, another economic enterprise that turned out to be extremely successful during the reservation period was freighting, in August of 1889, there were 20 Tribal teams working year-round to supply the private and commercial needs of the rapidly growing county. A Klamath Tribal Agency – sponsored sawmill was completed in 1870 for the purpose of constructing the Agency.