"On June 12, 1912, The Centralia Weekly Chronicle reported the Cowlitz Tribe did not want to move onto a reservation far from their homeland.

“The Cowlitz Indians are opposed to accepting land and settling on the Quinault reservation, this decision having been practically reached at a meeting of the tribe which was concluded in Chehalis yesterday,” the newspaper wrote. “The settling on the reservation would take the Indians away from their present homes and bring them in contact with Indians with whom they had nothing in common. The general opinion was expressed that unless the government can give them land nearer their homes, a money settlement would be preferable. A committee of eight was appointed by Atwin Stockum, aged chief of the tribe, to act at any future meeting for the discussion of the reservation question. This will eliminate the necessity of again bringing the tribe together.”"

Get the Story:
From the Files: Tribe Does Not Want Reservation in 1912; ‘Up the Chehalis and Down the Still Water’ (1887) (The Centralia Chronicle 6/12)