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Grand Ronde is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Polk and Yamhill counties, Oregon, United States. Historically noted as a village in Polk County, the sphere of influence and community is in both Polk and Yamhill counties.[1] The name of the community is a variation of the French Grande Ronde or "Grand Round" which could be in reference to the large round up of Native Americans peoples in the area who were settled on what was known as the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, or possibly referencing the shape of the valley in which the community is located. As of the census of 2010, there were 1,661 people in 658 households are residing in Grand Ronde. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. [edit] History
On January 4, 1855, a treaty between the various bands of Kalapuyans and Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs Joel Palmer was effected, calling for the various bands to remove to a reservation to be established by the government. For this purpose the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation was opened on June 30, 1857, covering 60,000 acres in northwest Polk and southwest Yamhill counties. A census conducted in 1870 reported only 47 Yamels and 36 Luckiamutes on the reservation; in 1910 the Yamels numbered five, the Luckiamutes, eight. By the end of the historic period the Kalapuyan people no longer existed as a distinct cultural-racial entity. According to a Cultural Resources Report from the Oregon Department of transportation, the town of Grand Ronde began as "New Grand Ronde" in about 1908 when the first large groups of Indians were leaving the Reservation and establishing their own farms and ranches under the Dawes Act. In 1921, International Harvester laid out a town site. In 1922 the company built nine miles of track from Willamina to Grand Ronde, calling it the Willamina and Grand Ronde Railroad. The short railroad connected the area with the Southern Pacific railroad at Willamina. The railroad helped the timber industry to flourish and made it possible for lumber mills to grow and to dominate the economy of the area. Grand Ronde became the center of support services for mill workers and a train depot, store, hotel, movie theater, diner, gas station, bank, post office, church and a small residential area were built. The Spaulding-Miami Lumber Company created and owned the town proper in the early 1920s as part of its logging operations. A rail line and several related buildings were built as well as a hotel. A spur of the railroad headed south out of the town across Rock Creek and into the coastal range. Electricity was brought to the town in 1922 according to the Lumber World Review, Volume 42, published in January 1922.[2] The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community own and operate Spirit Mountain Casino, which is a major local employer. In 1997, the casino created the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, which supports a number of charities both within Polk County and throughout Oregon from the casino's gambling revenue. In January 2010, the CDP was expanded to include areas located inside Yamhill County. There was quite a bit of communication about the name of the town going back and forth between the Oregon Geographic board and the United States Geographic Board starting in 1919. Initially the State was calling for the town to be officially named "Grande Ronde" using the typical French spelling, (possibly due to the history of French Canadian fur trapping in the area via the Hudson Bay Company), though through research and correspondence lasting into the early 1940s, the name as spelled currently, "Grand Ronde", was made official.[1] [edit] Research Tips
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