- Chief Comcomly
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Chief Comcomly or Concomly (1754? - 1830) was a Native American chief of the Chinookan people. He was the principal chief of the Chinook Confederacy, which extended along the Columbia River from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean.[1] Washington Irving described him in his book Astoria as "a shrewd old savage with but one eye".[1] He was friendly to the White explorers whom he encountered, and received medals from Lewis and Clark.[1] He also assisted the Astor Expedition and offered to help the Americans fight the British during the War of 1812, but Astoria was sold to the British instead.[1] Comcomly was friendly with the British as well.[1] He was entertained at Fort Vancouver by John McLoughlin and he piloted Hudson's Bay Company ships up the Columbia.[1]
Comcomly's daughter Raven, also known as Princess Sunday, married Duncan McDougall of the Astor Expedition, and after he left she married Archibald McDonald.[1] She was the mother of Ranald MacDonald.[1]
Comcomly died in 1830 when a fever epidemic struck his tribe.[1] His remains were interred in a canoe, per Chinook custom, in the family burial ground.[2] In 1834, Comcomly's skull was stolen from his grave by a Hudson's Bay Company physician and sent to England for display in a museum.[1] Although damaged in The Blitz, the skull was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in 1946.[citation needed] In 1972 it was finally repatriated to Chinook tribal members for reburial.[citation needed]
There was a station of the Oregon Electric Railway in Marion County named "Concomly" for the chief.[3]
Chinook elder and historian Catherine Troeh was a descendant of Comcomly.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cogswell, Philip Jr. (1977). Capitol Names: Individuals Woven Into Oregon's History. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society. pp. 103.
- ^ Mussulman, Joseph. “Chief Comcomly's Tomb”, ‘’Discovering Lewis and Clark’’. Retrieved on 2008-07-13.
- ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [First published 1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780875952772. OCLC 53075956.
- ^ Kamb, Lewis (2003-12-12). "Roommates discover a bond going back to Lewis and Clark". The Seattle Times. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/152198_roommates12.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
External links
- Leadership from trailtribes.org includes The Succession of Concomly
- Drawing of Comcomly's tomb from lewis-clark.org
Early History of Oregon (1500–1806) Topics Events - Bridge of the Gods
- 1700 Cascadia earthquake
- Nootka Convention
- Vancouver Expedition
- Entering the Columbia by Gray
- Lewis and Clark Expedition
Places People Oregon History - Native Peoples History
- History to 1806
- Pioneer History
- Modern History
Categories:- Native American leaders
- Native American history of Oregon
- History of Washington (state)
- Lewis and Clark Expedition
- 1750s births
- 1830 deaths
- Indigenous peoples of North America biography stubs
- Oregon people stubs
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