From 1855 to 1856 in western Oregon, the Native peoples along the Rogue River outmaneuvered and repeatedly drove off white opponents. In The Rogue River Indian War and Its Aftermath, 1850–1980, historian E. A. Schwartz explores the tribal groups' resilience not only during this war but also in every period of federal Indian policy that followed. Schwartz's work examines Oregon Indian people's survival during American expansion as they coped with each federal initiative, from reservation policies in the nineteenth century through termination and restoration in the twentieth. While their resilience facilitated their success in adjusting to white society, it also made the people known today as the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians susceptible to federal termination programs in the 1970s—efforts that would have dissolved their communities and given their resources to non-Indians. Drawing on a range of federal documents and anthropological sources, Schwartz explores both the history of Native peoples of western Oregon and U.S. Indian policy and its effects.

This is an edited and expanded version of the original history of the Indian Wars first written in 1894 by Mrs. Frances Victor, who had been commissioned in 1891, to write the history by the Oregon Secretary of State and was titled "The Early Indian Wars of Oregon." This was considered to be the most accurate and detailed of all histories portraying the early conflicts between the white man and Indian. Since the turn of the century, however, researchers have uncovered many documents that alter, enhance or contradict the original work. The authors have examined many documents and items not used in the original work. They have attempted to include this information, while endeavoring to preserve intact the excellent effort first presented in the 1894 work.