After leaving Crater Lake National Park we headed south and set up camp at Walt’s RV Park in Chiloquin, about 30 miles north of Klamath Falls. The park is a rustic, bare bones type of place adjacent to the Klamath National Forest. Nice and quiet, and even the Black Bear mother and cub were laid back.  Chiloquin is where the Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Madoc, and Yahooskin) have their headquarters, and half of the town’s population of 800 is Native American. The town is named after the Klamath chief at the time of the Treaty of 1864 with the U.S government that recognized the sovereignty of the Klamaths, and gave them rights to their lands. While the federal government has tried to undermine the treaty several times, the Klamath Tribes have persevered in maintaining their hunting, trapping, and fishing rights free of state regulation. Their future plans for economic self-sufficiency center on the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino which generates a good deal of the tribes’ revenue. They have developed affordable housing, a health care center, after school programs, cultural preservation and education, and other social services.

Conflict over dams and water rights continues to this day and most of the tribes fisheries have been depleted of salmon. There is now federal legislation pending (Senate Bill 2379) that would provide for the restoration of these waters.  We visited the tribal headquarters on October 13th one day before the 150th anniversary of the signing of the treaty. The Klamaths were preparing for a big community celebration the next day.