Peace Medals Still in Existence

Oregon Historical Society and Philadelphia Mint.

Some of the peace medals that Lewis and Clark istributed to the Native peoples are still in existence today. One is known to be within the collection of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla near Pendleton, Oregon. In 1899, the newly formed Oregon Historical Society acquired one of the small medals Lewis and Clark had handed out nearly a century before. Although in poor shape, the Jefferson Peace Medal was one of the few surviving material reminders that the Corps of Discovery had passed through the Pacific Northwest.

However, the provenance of this medal is not completely clear. It was given to the Society by Winslow B. Ayer, a prominent Portland businessman who had received it from Major Edwin MacNeill. MacNeill had worked in Oregon as a railroad executive in the 1890s. The limited written evidence suggests that a railroad survey crew found the medal sometime in the 1880s, perhaps on an island near Wallula, Washington, though a conflicting account reports that the medal was found on Idaho’s Nez Perce Reservation. In his archival research published in the “Oregon Historical Quarterly, “ Richard Engeman provides evidence that the medal was likely found by grave robbers, perhaps in the grave of Chief Yelépt (Walla Walla). Yelépt was presented with at least one medal when Lewis and Clark met with him and others in October 1805 near present-day Wallula. The Society returned the peace medal to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation in December 2009, under The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

It’s certainly possible other medals handed out by the Captains could be in private hands still today. Original Jefferson Peace Medals may be seen in various museums throughout the country, but probably have no connection with those handed out by Lewis and Clark during the Expedition.

Interestingly, the original, hand-cut dies used to make the large silver Jefferson Indian Peace Medals are in existence and are occasionally on display at the Philadelphia Mint.