Harney County Oregon TTTP Genealogy and History Project 

Fort Rock

Don Kelly, NW district, state and county administrator

Images of Harney County

Warner Wetlands Chief Winnemucca

Bannock  Indians Burns Paiute Tribe   Paiute Indians   Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon is a recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians living in Harney County, Oregon.   They belong to the Wahatika band of Paiute who traditionally lived in Central and Southern Oregon. Reservation The tribe has a reservation in Harney County, the Burns Paiute Reservation and Trust located north of the city of Burns. The reservation comprises 11,944 acres. These Paiutes spoke the northern Paiute language which is part of the Western Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Today the tribe is governed by a five-person tribal council. For economic development, the Burns Paiute created the Old Camp Casino, the Sa-Wa-Be Restaurant, and an RV park.

The Native Americans living in this region befor settlers came were the Northern Paiute, enemy of  the Tenino and Wasco tribes. Peter Skene Ogden was the first white to explore this area when he led a fur trapping crew for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1826. Harney County evolved from the southern two-thirds of Grant County on February 25, 1889. Harney was the original county seat, but fierce political battles ended with Burns as the county seat in 1890. The Malheur River Indian Reservation was created by on March 14, 1871 and the Northern Paiutes within the Oregon state boundaries were settled there. Descendants of these people form a tribal entity, the Burns Paiute Tribe, with 341  members, about 35% of which live on the reservation near Burns.  A small casino, the Old Camp Casino, and renting out tribal lands to local ranchers contribute to the tribal economy NOTES: Edited for content by Don Kelly The ancestors of these Paiutes originally had a million acre reservation in Mulheur County, but  the Bannocks came recruiting braves to drive all white paople out of Oregon. They engaged in battle with the army many times, and eventually lost the war and half of their braves, and the government closed their very reservation and moved what was left of the tribe to the reservation near Burns. Indian Wars