Some web-scraped information related to George Gibbs

Editor's note: You need to know that George Gibbs was a polymath, not only one of the leading geologists in North America at the time, but a specialist in the languages of the northwest coast's Indian Tribes and not incidentally one of the translators who accompanied Isaac Stevens on both his survey of the route for the Pacific (Great Northern) Railroad, but on his treatying adventures as well, and his dictionary of the Chinook Jargon was dissected by The Hon. George Boldt and provided an essential component of the Boldt decision.
"In 1854 he received the appointment of collector of Astoria, which he held for several years, and on the expiration of his term of office remained in the west, devoting his attention to the study of Indian dialects and to geology and natural history. Later he was attached to the United States government boundary commission, where his knowledge of natural history made his services of great value, and he was also geologist under General Isaac I. Stevens on the survey of the North Pacific railroad. In 1857 he was appointed to the northwest boundary survey, and at the close of its work prepared an elaborate report on the geology and natural history of the country. He returned to New York in 1860, and was active in his efforts toward preventing secession. In 1861 he volunteered and did military duty in Washington. During the draft riots in New York, two years later, he offered to defend the residence of General John C. Fremont when a night attack was threatened. Subsequently he was secretary of the Hudson bay claims commission in Washington, and also was engaged in the arrangement of a mass of manuscript bearing on the ethnology and philology of the American Indians. His services were used by the Smithsonian institution to superintend its labors in this field, and to his energy and complete knowledge of the subject it greatly owes its success in this branch of science. He was an active
member of the New York historical society, and was its secretary from 184.2 till
1848. His papers on Indian dialects contributed to the various Smithsonian publications include numerous titles, and his separate publications are " The Judicial Chronicle" (Cambridge, 1834);" Instructions for Research relative to the Ethnology and Philology of America " (Washington, 1863); "A Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon or Trade Language of Oregon " (1863); " Comparative Vocabulary " (1863) ; and "Suggestions relative to Objects of Scientific
Investigation in Russian America " (1867)."
http://famousamericans.net/georgegibbs/

Harvard Education
Gibbs had studied law at Harvard University, but was more inclined to literary pursuits, which led him to work as a librarian for the American Ethnological Society. In Oregon, he worked to draft treaties with the tribes in the Willamette Valley. Skilled in the study of languages, he compiled invaluable dictionaries of a number of native languages. His expertise in cartography produced the first accurate map of the region.

Stevens's Railroad Survey and Treaty Team
At age thirty-eight, Gibbs was hired by George McClellan, a family friend, to work on the Northern Railroad Survey. From 1853 to 1855, he studied rocks as a geologist and mapped the homelands and languages of native people as an ethnologist for the Pacific Railroad Survey under the command of Isaac Stevens.Gibbs was also instrumental in gathering and preserving geological specimens for the Smithsonian. He adhered to rigid procedures for the preservation of creatures of various sizes. The specimens he supplied to the Smithsonian became part of the zoological report of Stevens' survey report. In 1854, Gibbs reported to McClellan on the Indians of Washington Territory providing what he thought was comprehensive information on Native American societies prior to the treaty period. Once the railroad survey was done, he was hired by Governor Stevens to help with the treaties

The Treaty Process
Gibbs was by this time earning a reputation as the "most apt student of the Indian languages and customs in the Northwest," skills that earned him inclusion at the main table, with Governor Stevens, during the treaty councils. One issue placed before the treaty team and producing the most vigorous debate was the question of how many reservations should be created. Gibbs argued passionately that, due to the variety of the Indians' customs and languages, and their need for fishing rights, many small reservations should be created.

http://washingtonhistoryonline.org/treatytrail/context/bios/george-gibbs.htm

And what is truly remarkable, is that some of his most important writings are now online!

INDIANS TRIBES of WASHINGTON TERRITORY by George Gibbs originally published in the United States Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region Washington, 1877

including his census figures Estimate of Indian tribes in the Western district of Washington Territory - January, 1854. This is right before the Stevens Treatites

Names of tribes and bands.	Where located.	Men.	Women.	Total bands.	Total tribes.	Remarks.
Upper Chinooks - 5 bands, not including Cascade band.	Columbia river, above the Cowlitz	--	--	--	200	Estimate. - The upper of these bands are mixed with the Klikitats; the lower with the Cowlitz
Lower Chinooks - Chinook band, Four others, (estimate.)		32 ---	34 --	66 50	----- 116	One of these is intermixed with the Cowlitz - the rest with the Chehalis
Chihalis.	Gray's harbor and Lower Chehalis riverr	--	--	100	---	Estimate.
Do.		--	--	200	----- 300	Estimate.
Cowlitz and Upper Chihalis.	On Cowlitz river and the Chihalis, above the Satsop.	--	--	--	165	The two have become altogether intermixed.
Tai-tin-a-pam	Base of mountains on Cowlitz, &c..	--	--	--	75
Quin-aik, &c.	Coast from Gray's harbor northward.	--	--	--	500	Estimate.
Makahs	Cape Flattery and vicinity	--	--	--	150	Estimate.
S'Klallams	Straits of Fuca	--	--	--
Kahtai	Port Townsend	67	88	155
Ka-quaitl	Port Discoveryy	24	26	50
Stent-lum	New Dungeness	79	91	170
All others	False Dungeness, &c., westward.	--	--	475 ----	----- 850	The last estimated.
Chima-kum	Port Townsend..	---	---	---	70
To-an hooch	Hood's canal.	123	109	265	-----
Sko-ko-mish	Hood's canal - upper end.	---	---	200	-----	Sko-ko-mish estimated.
				----	465
Guak-s'n-a-mish	Case's inlet, &c.	19	21	40
S'Kosle-ma-mish	Case's inlet, &c..	14	13	27
Se-heh-wa-mish	Hammersly's inlet, &c.	11	12	23
Sa-wa-mish	Totten's inlet, &c.	2	1	3
Squa-aitl	Eld's inlet, &c.	22	23	45
Stell-cha-sa-mish	Budd's inlet, &c.	---	---	20	-----	Estimate.
Nov-seh-chatl	South bay.	---	---	12	-----	Estimate.
				----	170
Squalli-ah-mish - six bands	Nisqually river and vicinity..	84	100	184
Steila-coom-a-mish	Steilacoom creek and vicinity	---	---	25
				----	1700
Pu-yallup-a-msih	Mouth of Puyallup river, &c.	---	---	50	-----	Estimate.
T'Qua-qua-mish	Heads of ….do…….do……	---	---	50	-----	Estimate.
				----	100
Su-qua-mish	Peninsula between Hood's canal and Admiralty inlet.	215	270	485
S'slo-ma-mish	Vaston's island	18	15	33
				----	518
D'Wamish	Lake Fork, D'Wamish river.	89	73	162
Sa-ma-mish S'kel-tehl-mish	D'Wamish lake, &c.	71	30	101
Smul-ka-mish	Head of White river..	---	---	8
Skope-ah-mish	Head of Green river..	---	---	50
Se-ka-mish	Main of White river.	---	---	30
				----	351
Sin-a-ho-mish		161	138	350	-----
Qunk-ma-mish Sky-wa-mish	Upper branches, north side Sinahomish river.
Sky-wa-mish Sk-tah-le-gum	Upper branches, N. side Sinahomish river.	---	---	300	-----	Estimate.
Snow-qual-mook	South fork, north side Sinahomish river.	---	---	195
				----	275
Sto-luch-wa-mish	Sto-luch-wa-mish river, &c.	---	---	200
Kikiallis	Kik-I-allis river, L. Whidbey’s island	---	---	75
				----	275
Skagit	Skagit river and Penn’s Cove.	---	---	300	-----	Estimate.
N'qua-cha-mish Sma-lih-hu Mis-kai-whu Sa-ku-me-hu	Branches of Skagit river.	---	---	300	-----	Estimate.
				----	600
Squi-na-mish Swo-da-mish Sin-a-ah-mish	North end Whidby’s island.	---	---	----	300	Estimate.
Samish	Samish river and Bellingham bay.	---	---	----	150
Nook-sank	South fork of Lummi river.	---	---	----	450
Lum-mi	Lummi river and peninsula.	---	---	----	450
Skim-i-ah-moo	Between Lummi Point and Fraser’s river.	---	---	----	250
					7,559

Later Population

Estimate of Boas

Anthropologist Franz Boas, whose studies of Indian life are respected,
visited the Peninsula in the 1890's. He estimated in 1870 the number of Native
Americans living in the Olympic Peninsula area as follows:

• 400 Chimacum lived on the Quimper Peninsula and along what is now Hood
  Canal;


• 2,000 Clallam (along with their sub tribes) spread in 17 villages from
  Discovery Bay to Clallam Bay;


• 2,000 Makah and Ozette occupied the Neah Bay area and west of Lake
  Ozette;


• 500 Quileute lived where the village of La Push is located;


• To the south of La Push lived 250 Queet and Quaitso - both related
  linguistically to the Salish Clallam and Chimacum;


• Additional smaller tribes, such as Hoh and Tsooe, resided on the coast
  

Boas estimated the main tribes at nearly 6,000 strong in the Olympic Peninsula area in 1870.

Chimacum is the reanglicization of a previous anglicized word "chemakum"

Franz Boas noted
"When George Gibbs studied the Chemakum, they had a population into the 90’s."

Of course, this story has come once again to the light as the PUD's LOSS
project at Beckett Point has hit the almost inevitable human remains.