In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States government, in its relations with Native Americans, implemented a policy of assimilation designed to detribalize Indian peoples and absorb them into the dominant society. Subjected to this colonial agenda, the Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla tribes of Oregon's Umatilla Indian Reservation, as a matter of survival, endeavored to maintain community cohesion and retain their indigenous identity. In this context, I argue that the tribes confronted federal initiatives with a strategy of adaptive resistance that allowed them to approach these onerous impositions on their own terms. This study examines their diverse responses to assimilation and colonialism, specifically accommodation, adaptation, and diplomacy. Employing the investigative frameworks of education, religion, and economics reveals the variety of tactics applied within these categories, which range from incorporation to evasion. Through these actions and reactions, the tribes reaffirmed their capacity to assert native agency.

xv, 137 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT GB565.O7 H84 2008 / This study examines the role of floods in shaping the geomorphology of the multichannel, gravel-bed upper Umatilla River, northeastern Oregon, USA. Three parts are presented: (1) the development and application of an error-sensitive aerial photo-based planform channel-change detection and measurement methodology, (2) an examination of the occurrence, variability, and landform impacts of channel widening, straightening, and lateral movement during two mid-to-Iate 20th century flood periods, (3) an investigation of the effects of these floods on channel complexity, a proxy of habitat quality and indicator of ecological health in multi-channel rivers. Floods in 1964-5 (17- to 37-year recurrence interval) scoured, widened, and straightened the active channel in conjunction with large lateral movements, bar accretion, and capture of marginal vegetated areas by lateral scour. Following the flood, lateral movements were smaller, the channel narrowed, and bars, scoured areas, and vegetation lapsed from the channel. A similar flood in 1975 also scoured, widened, and straightened the channel; however, lateral channel movement and changes in channellandforrns were less in 1975 due to latent adjustment of the channel to the first flood. Migratory straightening, meander cutoffs, and avulsions dominated lateral movements during flood periods, whereas episodes of migratory (lateral) extension and (downstream) translation of meanders dominated lateral movement between flood periods. Channel changes were spatially variable and generally greater in reaches with wide floodplains. Floods reduced the overall complexity of the river channel, although the magnitude of change was highly variable and some areas increased in complexity in response to flooding. By contrast, channel complexity increased in the period between floods, particularly in laterally confined areas where complexity loss was high during the first flood period. Two key processes appear to most affect channel complexity: (a) lateral scour and avulsions, which capture vegetation into the channel, and (2) migrations of the main channel, which reflect bar accretion and dissection. Results of this study are broadly congruent with theories (and their corollaries) emphasizing adjustment of channel dimensions, increased rates of change, and reduced complexity in response to flood disturbance, but only partially consistent with theories emphasizing large geomorphic changes in structurally confined settings. This dissertation includes both previously published and co-authored material. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Patricia F. McDowell, Chair; Dr. W. Andrew Marcus; Dr. Patrick J. Bartlein; Dr. Joshua J. Roering

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-137). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

An examination of the history of transportation in Umatilla County, Oregon, will provide an understanding of its role in the colonization and economic development of this remote and arid reg10n. This study begins with a description of the movement of Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse Indians in the Umatilla Country to establish the patterns of transportation at the beginning of the nineteenth century. From this basis, significant changes in transportation technology and patterns of movement can be identified and analyzed. Primary sources are reviewed to establish existing routes and conditions of travel. Immigrant accounts and pioneer reminiscences reveal that difficulties with transportation were identified very early as the major obstacle to the development of an agriculture-based market economy. Umatilla County archives provide a clear record of the actions taken by the county government to lay out and maintain wagon roads. Three significant changes are identified in nineteenth century transportation in Umatilla County: introduction of the horse, introduction of wheeled vehicles, and the coming of steampowered vessels and trains. Each of these three developments were revolutionary, adding to the capacity and range of the existing transportation system. The sudden demands for transportation as a result of gold strikes east and south of Umatilla County created the need to expand the regional transportation system. That expanded system was then available to new settlers. As the dominant land use was transformed from livestock grazing to dryland wheat farming, the need for railroads, in addition to Columbia River steamboats, became clearly evident. Feeder roads remained very important, as did animal traction to pull the wagons to the warehouses and loading docks along the rail lines. The location of major routes of travel across the Umatilla Indian Reservation resulted in significant problems for the transportation system. The system to establish and maintain county roads, mandated by state law, involved direct participation of individuals residing adjacent to the roads. Throughout the nineteenth century, the patterns of movement remained remarkably unchanged. Based on ancient Indian trails, the transportation system was the crucial element m the economic development of Umatilla County.

In the past decade considerable research in several disciplines has been oriented toward the design of optimal capacity expansion plans for water resource systems. The emphasis of most of these efforts has been directed toward minimization total cost outlays in project planning. This focus somewhat limits the full applicability of the optimal capacity expansion solutions since it is believed that the criteria of economic efficiency is not well addressed in this mode. This study explores the merits of scheduling water resource project facilities on the basis of anticipated economic benefits provided, an approach needed only infrequently in the systems engineering literature. Using the Umatilla River Basin in Northeast Oregon as a case study example, the facilities (and their alternatives) of a previously planned federal water resource development project in that area were carefully analyzed with respect to the magnitude and timing of anticipated benefits and costs. Irrigated agriculture and fishery development/enhancement benefits were the two principal purposes of the project considered. In addition, benefits arising from flood prevention, municipal and industrial water supply, and erosion control were also integral to the original overall evaluation. The design of the research was to first implement a basic scheduling model in the context of the case study area and then to explore the ramifications of exchange-theoretic and distribution-theoretic criteria on the timing of facilities and the ultimate allocation of water among purposes. The model implemented was aimed at maximizing the present value of net benefits inherent in an optimally timed set of facilities subject to an annual budget constraint. Having designed the model along integer programming lines, three different solution techniques were explored in order to realize a desirable level of efficiency in basic model solution. It was found that reasonably efficient solutions could be obtained. By optimally timing the facilities it was found that the total present value of net benefits of the project could be significantly enhanced when compared to the original schedule proposed in the project planning documents. Of even greater interest is the issue of incorporating into the planning process (and specifically into the capacity expansion mode of planning) considerations of tradeoffs or exchanges between project beneficiaries. Such exchanges and other distributional criteria can affect and be affected by the selection and timing of project facilities within an overall project design. These interrelationships are explored paying particular attention to the way in which exchanges of water (via water rights transfers) could establish higher levels of benefits in future years. Noneconomic exchange processes such as the enforcement of extant property rights relating to water resources are another issue which complicated the process of water planning. Such distributional criteria are difficult to incorporate into the capacity expansion mode of planning analysis. However, ways are explored by which the basic model may be modified and used by decision makers in order to take account of more realistic problems in water resource planning for individual river basins. / Graduation date: 1981 / Partially funded by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior as authorized under the Water Research and Development Act of 1978. / Final technical completion report for project no. A-046-ORE to U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

Tower Mountain Caldera is the main feature of an Oligocene volcanic field located in the Umatilla National Forest, eastern Oregon. It is perfectly suited to investigate models of rhyolite petrogenesis as all of the important rock components for evaluating generation models are present in a single location and thus are presumably related; basalts, intermediate igneous rocks (which consist of older plutons and younger volcanic rocks, which are ~coeval with rhyolites), metamorphic basement rocks of significant grade, and rhyolites of varying composition. The formation of the caldera produced the Dale Tuff, which comprises the intra-caldera and outflow facies. 40Ar/39Ar dating places the age of the tuff at 32.66 ± 0.36 Ma. Post-caldera rhyolites erupted along apparent ring fractures and elsewhere. Radiometric U-Pb dating of zircons from three of these rhyolites yielded ages of 32.167 ± 0.020 Ma (#CH07a), 31.798 ± 0.012 Ma (#TM5), and 31.426 ± 0.016 Ma (#CH08a). All rhyolites at Tower Mountain range from low to high silica varieties. Some of the post-caldera rhyolites are chemically similar to the Dale Tuff, such as sample CH07a, and have compositions typical of rhyolites of calc-alkaline volcanic centers (I-type rhyolites), while others are similar to A-type rhyolites (CH08a and TM5). The ages indicate that the calc-alkaline rhyolites were followed by the A-type rhyolites. The petrogenetic relationships between the various rocks types were evaluated. Partial melt modeling based on experimental melts produced from crustal material indicates that batch partial melting of metamorphosed high silica crustal material modified by the addition of more primitive mafic material by assimilation/contamination is the most likely source for the Tower Mountain rhyolites.

Until the 1990s, salmon had been extinct from the Umatilla River for over 70 years. The struggle to bring salmon back to this river is a compelling story that exemplifies some of the new relationships in Columbia River Basin salmon management. The Umatilla River and the disappearance of its salmon was a local issue. Irrigation interests had used the river so thoroughly it ceased to flow during the late summer and fall months-precisely when salmon needed it for migration. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation saw decided that they would change that: they would figure out a way to put both salmon and water back into the river. This thesis examines this process. First, it contextualizes the Umatilla River within the Columbia River Basin and Columbia Basin salmon management, and shows how a local salmon issue became a regional salmon issue. It then discusses the triangle of relationships that Indians, salmon, and hatcheries have come to form. Chapter III discusses the formation of the unique Umatilla Fish Restoration Program, which reintroduced fish into the river, and was paid for by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), as per the Northwest Power Act. Key elements within BPA's Fish and Wildlife Division resisted complying with the directives of the Northwest Power Planning Council to pay for the Program, setting the Program back years. I argue that this comes from two clashing ways of seeing the River: "cost-benefit analysis" versus "least cost." Chapter IV looks at the new partnerships formed in the Umatilla River Basin by the Tribes and irrigation districts in order to encourage the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to construct a water delivery system that would satisfy irrigators while allowing most of the Umatilla to flow freely. The last Chapter suggests that these new and somewhat ironic partnerships between federal and state governments, private irrigators and landowners, nongovernmental organizations, and Indian tribes are key to restoring ecosystems in the Columbia River Basin. It further argues that without tribal nations playing an active role and exerting their treaty rights, restoring rivers like the Umatilla is impossible.

Soils of 49 agricultural and 2 "native condition" sites in the Lower Umatilla Basin, Oregon were sampled for nitrate-nitrogen, ammonium-nitrogen, chloride, and pH beginning in Fall of 1992. Several sites were sampled in Spring and Fall 1993 in order to indicate movement or loss of residual soil nitrogen over time. This study was prompted by current concern over contamination of public drinking water supplies by nitrate and the designation of over 550 square miles of this region as a Ground Water Management Area. This study sought to identify links between agricultural management practices-primarily irrigation, fertilization, and crop rotation systems, and deep soil nitrate levels. Soil profiles were divided into 3 "management zones:" 0-3', 3-6', and beyond 6' in depth. These depths represent average rooting depths for the major agricultural crops of the study area. In general, the effective rooting depth of most area-crops does not extend beyond 6', therefore, it was determined that residual soil-nitrate found at this depth or beyond may be a potential source of ground water contamination if not managed correctly. Results of the study indicate that proper management of irrigation, fertilization, and cropping rotation can significantly reduce the potential for contaminating ground water. Deep soil nitrate levels under most agricultural fields were consistent with the concept that some loss of nitrate below the root zone is inevitable, however, this condition can be minimized through intensive crop management. This study concludes that responsible management of agriculture can minimize impacts on ground water, while providing quality food and fiber products to an ever-growing population. In addition, more research is needed in the area of crop physiology and response to intensively managed systems. Such research may provide insight into more efficient methods of crop production and environmental protection. / Graduation date: 1995

Excessive nitrates in drinking water pose a human health threat, especially to infants. Methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby syndrome, is a potentially fatal condition that inhibits the ability of red blood cells to bind and transport oxygen. Nitrates/nitrites have also been linked to such conditions as cancer, birth defects, and behavioral and developmental abnormalities. Nitrates are frequently found in wells in rural farming areas because synthetic fertilizers (containing nitrates) leach from the soil into the groundwater. The Lower Umatilla Basin (LUB) in Morrow and Umatilla counties of Oregon represents an intensively farmed and irrigated area in which relatively high amounts of nitrates are present in the groundwater and domestic well water. This study investigated population demographics for the rural Lower Umatilla Basin, comparing these data to identified well-water nitrate levels for the purpose of estimating nitrate exposures and potential risk of adverse health effects in the survey area. Results of the investigation revealed that 25 percent of the domestic-use wells in the survey area had nitrate levels that were in excess of the 10 ppm nN MCL for drinking water, as established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. From access to these wells, 23 percent of the surveyed population was exposed to nitrate concentrations in excess of the MCL standard. However, resident infants were neither exposed to well-water nitrates in excess of the standard, nor were they exposed to illness that could have increased the risk of methemoglobinemia. The LUB survey population was generally older than the populations from cities in the LUB or the combined populations of rural areas of Morrow and Umatilla counties. The population included few women of childbearing age, and it was not subject to an appreciable increase in the proportion of younger to older families. These factors reduced the likelihood of a significant increase in the infant population, which also minimized the risk of methemoglobinemia to this population. Even though the risk of methemoglobinemia to infants was low in the LUB area, it is recommended that exposures to well-water nitrates be prevented, if possible even for adults, to reduce the potential for chronic, adverse health effects from excess nitrate ingestion. Continued monitoring of private wells by state agencies is recommended, with attention directed at domesticuse wells with nitrate levels in excess of 10 ppm nN. This information should be shared with local health departments for follow-up, investigation, and educational efforts as needed. Future studies by the Oregon DEQ, or other agencies which seek to document the sources of well-water nitrate contamination in the LUB, should include an investigation of the influence of local sources of nitrate contamination. / Graduation date: 1993

Nitrate concentration in excess of national drinking-water standards (10 mg/l) are present in the shallow alluvial aquifer and Saddle Mountains Basalt (SMB) aquifer in the Lower Umatilla Basin, Oregon. To determine sources responsible for elevated nitrate concentrations in the SMB aquifer mass-balance and reaction-path models (NETPATH and PHREEQE) were used to understand observed geochemical trends. Nitrate-nitrogen isotopes were used to distinguish potential nitrate sources in the shallow alluvial aquifer. NETPATH-validated simple water/rock reactions in the SMB aquifers in Irrigon (dissolving glass, precipitating smectite, dissolving or precipitating calcite, and cation exchange) using constituents (calcium, magnesium, sodium and carbon). Diversity of composition for the shallow alluvial water and limited number of wells available made obtaining a mass balanced solution for the SMB aquifer near Boardman impossible. Irrigon basalt groundwaters were consistent with the PHREEQE models prediction of natural hydrochemical trends, where Boardman basalt groundwaters plotted consistently with impacted alluvial groundwater. Nitrogen-isotopic values of nitrate (o 15NNo3) were measured in the shallow alluvial groundwater from 17 wells in 4 land-use settings, 3 lysimeter samples and 1 surface water effluent sample. The landuse setting and corresponding average ranges for nitrate concentrations (as N) and 015NNo3 values for wells near: commercial fertilizer-irrigated fields range from 25-87 mg/l, +3.5 to +4.6 per mil; explosive washout lagoons ranged from 10-18 mg/l, +4.6 to +4.9 per mil; potato waste water application ranged from 6.4-17.8 mg/l, +4.4 to +35 per mil; past confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) ranged from 16-56 mg/l, +4.9 to 10.4 per mil; lysimeters 5.4-39.9 mg/l, +9.1 to +21.9 per mil; surface water effluent ranged from 60-61 mg/l, +3.5 to 6.5 per mil; and varying landuse ranged from 9.3-19.5 mg/l, +2.7 to +7.1 per mil. Commercial fertilizer 0 15NNo3 signatures are consistent for this source. Explosive 015NNa3 values are consistent with an atmospheric signature. CAFO o15NNo3 signatures probably result from mixing between currently applied commercial fertilizer and past CAFO's. High 015NNo3 Signatures (+22 to +35 per mil) imply denitrification. Potato waste water and varying land-use 015NNo3 signatures indicate probable mixing of nitratenitrogen sources in the groundwater.