Leona LaLakes

Leona was a Modoc Indian of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians

The Klamath Tribes comprise three groups: the Klamath, the Modoc, and the Yahooskin-Paiute. Before settling on the reservation, the Klamath people were divided into several tribelets or geographical sub-divisions:

• Ǎ'ukckni: The "Klamath Marsh People" or "Klamath Marsh-Williamson River People"
• P'laikni: The "Sprague River Valley People" or "Upland Klamath"
• Kowa'cdikni: The "Agency Lake/Marsh Lake People"
• Du'kwakni: The "[Lower] Williamson River People"
• Gu'mbǒtkni: The "Pelican Bay People"
• Iu'laloηkni: The "Klamath Falls (Link River) People"

Source:Klamath Indian Reservation.” Www.oregonhistoryproject.org,
www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/klamath-indian-reservation/.

Source:Native-Land.ca | Our Home on Native Land.” Native-Land.ca, Native-Land.ca, 2022, native-land.ca/maps/languages/modoc-3. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

The Modoc War
The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873.

The war was the result of the typical United States approach in those days regarding the westward expansion of white settlers. But in the end, the casualty lists for the Modoc War showed 73 whites killed and 47 wounded, compared to the Modoc who lost only 17 warriors. The Modoc War is estimated to have cost the United States over $400,000; a very expensive war in terms of lives and dollars, considering the small number of opposing forces. In contrast, the estimated cost to purchase the land requested by the Modoc for a separate reservation was $20,000.

Source:Native-Land.ca | Our Home on Native Land.” Native-Land.ca, Native-Land.ca, 2022, native-land.ca/maps/languages/modoc-3. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

In February 1874, one of the state’s first government-funded Native American boarding schools opened on the Klamath Indian Reservation in Southern Oregon. It operated as part of a larger federal policy of forced assimilation of Indigenous people that often resulted in neglect, abuse and trauma that lingers to this day. The Klamath Agency Boarding School remained in operation until 1927 — when students set it on fire.(1)

• The Yainax School is 40 miles distant (southeast) from the Klamath agency, and, although there are quite several Indians in its vicinity, they are compelled to go down to the agency for all the little articles that the government issues to them. It would seem nothing more than right that the superintendent at Yainax should be ‘permitted to draw a certain amount of all the supplies issued to the Indians and in turn issue them as called for and take receipts for them, instead of compelling the Indians to travel such a great distance for small but needed articles.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/dennis.n.partridge. “Klamath Reservation – Access Genealogy.” Access Genealogy, 9 July 2011, accessgenealogy.com/native/klamath-reservation.htm. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.

Biography:
Leona Williams was born in Oregon in 1888 to father Bryant 'Blind' Williams and his wife Caroline Williams (Drew). She was one of 11 siblings. She married first Hiram Moore in about 1906 and had her daughter Imogene in 1907. She and Hiram divorced before June 30, 1909. She partnered secondly with Dice Crain, with whom she had a second child named Furman Crain in c. 1910. Census reports do NOT identify this relationship as a marriage. Her final marriage was to David LaLakes before June 30, 1913, and David adopted her two prior children. They had none of their own. (Note: David appears to be a descendant of one of the original 27 signers of The Treaty of 1864, named simply La-lake.)

The annual census for 1899 indicates that Leona lived in the Yainax District nearby and probably attended the Yainax Indian school.

This photograph from 1890 shows students at the Yainax boarding school on the Klamath Reservation.
Courtesy of the Klamath County Museum

According to the book Vanished in Hiawatha, author Carla Joinson states that Leona was admitted from the Oregon State Hospital (originally called the Oregon State Insane Asylum until 1913) in Salem, Oregon, on August 7, 1920

Oregon State Hospital c. 1900 - Image courtesy of the Oregon State Library, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons

Leona died at Canton of tubercular meningitis on August 6, 1928. Her remains were returned to Klamath County for burial where she was buried at Masekesket Cemetery, aka Brown Cemetery, Klamath County, Oregon.

Her profile is part of the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Canton_Asylum.

Research Notes:
-Although age 5 in 1893 Leona does not appear in censuses before 1894 back to 1888 the year she was likely born
-In the 1898 census, she was categorized as Modocs and Snakes. In the 1897 census, she was categorized as Modocs and Piutes. One concludes therefore that Leona was Modoc.

Further Reading:
(1) Horton, Kami. “150 Years Ago, One of Oregon’s First Indian Boarding Schools Opened.” Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), 7 Feb. 2024, www.opb.org/article/2024/02/27/native-american-indigenous-klamath-boarding-schools-forced-assimilation-indian-school/. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
(2) OPB. “The Modoc War.” YouTube, 27 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv3NSN-8b3o. Accessed 31 Aug. 2022.
(3) “Klamath County Historical Society - Klamath Echoes Number 12 - 1974 Sprague River Valley, Bly.” Klamathcountyhistoricalsociety.org, 1974, klamathcountyhistoricalsociety.org/test-menu?view=article&id=57:klamath-echoes-new&catid=17:books. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
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Sources:

1894 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n348/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 349/663, line 921 (age 6), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Snake, Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1895 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n380/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 381/663, line 950 (age 7), census of the Klamath, Snake and Modoc, Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1896 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n411/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 412/663, line 834 (age 8), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1897 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n434/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 435/663, line 431 (age 8), census of the Klamath, Modoc, Pi-ute, and Pitt Rivera Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

(Curator Note: categorized by the agent as Modocs and Piute)

1898 Jul 1 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n460/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 461/663, line 1067 (age 11), census of the Klamath, Modoc, Pi-ute, and Pitt Rivera Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

(Curator Note: categorized by the agent as Modocs and Snakes)

1899 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n487/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 488/663, line 1114 (age 13), census of the Klamath, Modoc, Pi-ute, and Pitt Rivera Indians, Yainax District, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1900 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n509/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 510/663, line 1026 (age 13), census of the Klamath, Modoc, Pi-ute, and Pitt Rivera Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1901 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n544/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 545/663, line 1024 (age 14), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

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1905 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n622/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 623/663, line 986 (age 18), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1906 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll224unit/page/n640/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 641/663, line 422 (age 19, living with husband Hiram and his older sister (57!) no children), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1907 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll225unit/page/n18/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 19/660, line 429 (age 20), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

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1911 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll225unit/page/n158/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 159/660, line 433 (age 23 divorced with son Furman Crain age 1), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1912 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll225unit/page/n204/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 205/660, line 436 (age 25 divorced with son Furman Crain age 1 and daughter Imogene Moore age 5), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1913 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll225unit/page/n247/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 248/660, line 436 (b=1887 married to David LaLakes who adopted her two children), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1914 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll225unit/page/n293/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 294/660, line 351 (b=1887), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

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1918 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll225unit/page/n481/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 482/660, line 368 (b=1887), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

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1921 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll226unit/page/n47/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 48/721, line 697 (b=1887), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

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1922 Jun 30 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=1042, line 22, female census of the Canton Asylum

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1923 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=032, line 24, female census of the Canton Asylum

1924 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll226unit/page/n345/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 267/721, line 759 (b=1887), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1924 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, archive.org/details/indiancensusroll138unit/page/n137/mode/1up?view=theater. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 514/519, line 27, female census of the Canton Asylum

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1925 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=117, line 26, female census of the Canton Asylum

1926 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll226unit/page/n497/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg.422/721, line 758 (b=1887, Insane), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1926 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=168, line 27, female census of the Canton Asylum

1927 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll226unit/page/n497/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg.498/721, line 771 (b=1887, Insane), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1927 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=186, line 28, female census of the Canton Asylum

1928 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll226unit/page/n574/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 575/721, line 769 (b=1887), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Agency, Oregon

1928 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=211, line 28, female census of the Canton Asylum

1928 Aug 6 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27626261/leona-lalakes: accessed January 25, 2025), memorial page for Leona Williams LaLakes (1887–6 Aug 1928), Find a Grave Memorial ID 27626261, citing Masekesket Cemetery, Klamath County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by Michele (contributor 47496547).

1929 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll226unit/page/n674/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 675/721, line 769 (widow, died 8.6.1928), census of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin bands of the Snake Indians, Klamath Reservation, Klamath jurisdiction