Oregon and the Collapse of Illahee

Modern western Oregon was a crucial site of imperial competition in North America during the formative decades of the United States. In this book, Gray Whaley examines relations among newcomers and between newcomers and Native peoples — focusing on political sovereignty, religion, trade, sexuality, and the land — from initial encounters to Oregon’s statehood. He emphasizes Native perspectives, using the Chinook word Illahee (homeland) to refer to the indigenous world he examines. Whaley argues t