The Chetco River Massacre occurred on February 15, 1854, near the mouth of the Chetco River in southwestern Oregon. Here are the key details:

Background

• A settler named A.F. Miller and associates claimed land near two Cheti Indian villages in fall 1853.

• The land was already occupied by about 40 Cheti lodges.

• Miller threatened to destroy the villages if the Cheti didn't cede the ferry site to them.

The Attack

• Miller hired experienced Indian fighters from California.

• On February 15, 1854, 8-9 armed men attacked the village at daylight.

• They set fire to the village on the south bank of the Chetco.

• Villagers were shot as they fled their burning lodges.

Casualties and Aftermath

• Over 26 men and women were murdered.

• Two Cheti were burned alive in their houses when they tried to resist.

• Most victims were shot in the back while fleeing.

• The next day, lodges on the north bank were burned.

• The following day, all lodges on the south bank, except two, were destroyed.

Consequences

• Miller was arrested but later declared innocent by a justice of the peace.

• Superintendent Joel Palmer reported that "no act of a white man against an Indian, however atrocious, can be followed by a conviction."

• By 1857, the surviving Cheti were forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation.

• Miller continued to occupy the area until at least the 1870s 1, 2.

This massacre was part of a larger pattern of violence against Native peoples in the mining regions of northern California and southern Oregon during the mid-19th century 2.