USA > Idaho > A history of Indian missions on the Pacific coast : Oregon, Washington and Idaho > Part 1
USA > Oregon > A history of Indian missions on the Pacific coast : Oregon, Washington and Idaho > Part 1
USA > Washington > A history of Indian missions on the Pacific coast : Oregon, Washington and Idaho > Part 1
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INDIANA MISSIONS
RSITAT
SIGILLUM .
IFORNIENSIS
LVX
FIAT
MD
·XVIII
EX LIBRIS
BANCROFT LIBRARY
151 2.5
52607
History of Indian Missions. - Frontispiece.
Grave of Dr. Whitman and companions, with houses in the distance at the place where they were killed.
HISTORY OF
INDIAN MISSIONS
ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
OREGON, WASHINGTON AND IDAHO.
BY REV. MYRON EELLS, Missionary of the American Missionary Association.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REV. G. H. ATKINSON, D.D.
PHILADELPHIA : THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, II22 CHESTNUT STREET. IO BIBLE HOUSE, NEW YORK.
E 18 NOE2
-
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
F.A.RINGLER &CO ELECTROTYPERS. ANEW YORK.
117568 encroft Library
DEDICATION.
TO MY FATHER, 1
REV. CUSHING EELLS,
The only surviving ordained Missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to the Indians of the North-west Coast,
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
BY THE AUTHOR.
.
CONTENTS.
Introduction, by Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D.D
PAGE.
vii
Preface
iii
PART I.
HISTORY AND RESULTS AMONG THE INDIANS.
CHAPTER I. Beginning .- Early Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1834-1847-of the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions, 1834-1852. 17
CHAPTER II.
Later Missions .- Nez Perces; Cayuses; Spokanes; Yaka-
mas.
.57
CHAPTER III.
Later Missions continued .- Warm Springs; Puyallups; Sko- komish; Quinaielt; Neah Bay; Klamath .102
PART II.
REFLEX INFLUENCE ON THE WHITES.
CHAPTER IV.
Missions and the Nation .- The Possession of Washington Territory, and the Government of Oregon ... . . . . 145
vi
Contents.
CHAPTER V.
Literature, Education and Religion .- Printing; Books and Pamphlets; Science; Geography; History; Geology; Ethnology; Language; Natural History and Meteor- ology; Railroad; Willamette University; Whitman Seminary; Other Educational Labors; Temperance; Religion. .. 202
CHAPTER VI.
Indian Wars .- Cayuse war; Yakama war; Nez Perce Mining trouble; War with the Snake Indians; Modoc war; War with Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces; Bannack war. .227 Conclusion .265
INTRODUCTION.
IT is a pleasant fact that the son of a mis- sionary, born where his parents long taught the Indians by precept and example, now writes the story of the work and its results.
It adds interest to the narrative that he ded- icates it to that father, who yet continues to sow the " good seed of the word," and to gather its fruits.
This history can be attested by living wit- nesses, and facts which are patent to many. The author's plan is to follow both the order of events and the logical relation of topics. As the subjects treated are intermingled with the entire history of the United States, the history of missions to the Indians of Oregon and Wash- ington is intensely interesting. Its germs are found in the first ideas of God, given by the earliest explorers, Lewis and Clarke, and by hunters and trappers. These living seed-
viii
Introduction.
thoughts prompted the mission of Indians to St. Louis in 1832, asking for more light and for teachers. It was the Macedonian cry repeated, "Come over and help us." It was the voice of God in a strange tongue, to which more than one, guided by the Spirit, were ready to re- spond.
These pages show how the coming of those missionary men and women and children over the plains and mountains, and round by the ocean, and their quiet, patient, self-denying work for the Indian, the trader and the trapper, the lonely traveler and the scattered settlers, in order to establish Christian homes, schools, and churches, were the real formative agencies . of what is best and noblest in our present so- ciety and self-government. The wandering hunter and trapper failed, and the speculating colonist also failed. The mere trader proved a poor builder of commonwealths. The traveling explorer was only a reporter. It remained for the missionary to be the centre of a permanent life, out of which might grow the future State.
The discovery and confession of this fact by the British, who sought to plant settlements
ix
Introduction.
here, and hold them as they do other colonies, is a strong testimony to the two-fold profit of the Gospel to men for "the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
With these pages before us, it is evident that the American missionaries, sent to the Indians of western and eastern Oregon from 1834 to 1840, became the founders of the United States settlements, and of the provisional government, and thus of holding this north-west coast for our nation years before the boundary question was settled by the treaty of 1846, or Congress had authorized the territorial government in 1849.
Rev. Jason Lee, while doing his full duty as a missionary, took measures to break the Brit- ish embargo on cattle, enforced by the Hud- son's Bay Company's refusal to sell, or allow an American settler to own a cow or an ox, and, with others, secured a band of 600 from Cali- fornia in 1837. These cattle were distributed among the subscribers to the fund through the valley, and thus their farms were stocked and their home comforts and improvements made sure, and so the scheme of the Hudson's Bay
x
Introduction.
Company, and their adherents, to exclude or drive out every United States settler, was foiled.
Dr. Marcus Whitman, as a missionary, with Gen. A. L. Lovejoy as his companion, and at the risk of losing their lives, made that ever- famous winter march of 1842-3, over the Rocky Mountains, for almost the sole purpose of in- troducing an immigration which would out- number and out-vote those brought from Eu- rope and the Red River country by the Hud- son's Bay Company. He returned to the East in 1843, and thereafter led about a thousand men, women and children, with their household goods, in wagons, to the Columbia River.
Thus Sir George Simpson's attempt at Wash- ington to buy Oregon for Newfoundland and the cod-fisheries, was defeated. The wagon route to the Pacific, before Fremont became the Pathfinder, was opened and demonstrated the truth of what had been previously denied- the possibility of taking wagons to the Colum- bia River, and the way was made plain for sub- sequent immigrations.
These missionaries were the first to estab- lish schools, seminaries, colleges and churches
xi
Introduction.
in Oregon and Washington, and the first to bring and use the printing press. They have been the first to describe the country, compile its history, trace the ethnology of its inhabit- ants, unfold the resources of its minerals, soil and climate. They early taught the Indians the use of letters, trained them to industrial pursuits, as farmers and mechanics, and pre- pared the way for the present higher cultiva- tion and better domestic life of many of the tribes.
They, more than any others, have diffused the spirit of peace among those in contact with their missions, and have often assuaged the war-spirit.
One finishes this brief volume with the strong impression that God provided and sustained these missions for great good to the long-neg- lected savages, many of whom now give evi- dence of a new life in Christ, and of better prospects in this world ; and of richer bless- ings to our own people and country.
G. H. ATKINSON.
PREFACE.
-
THE writer has no pet theories in regard to the civilization and christianization of the In- dians, unless the commands of the Bible to preach the Gospel may be called theories.
A native of the region about which he writes, a son of parents who devoted themselves to the work in 1838, a resident of Oregon, Wash- ington and Idaho for about thirty-five years, and an experience of more than seven years in the missionary work, have given him, he humbly trusts, some qualifications for the work.
In chapters two and three the figures given in regard to church membership and farm pro- ducts may be considered too large, but they have been taken from official reports, and the statements of credible witnesses. It is possi- ble that unwittingly they have been made larger than impartial persons would consider the facts warrant, but in the words of another,
xiv
Preface.
"if one-fourth of all that is reported has been accomplished, a great work has been done."
He feels largely indebted in the preparation of these pages to the following works, and gratefully acknowledges the assistance they have rendered :
The Reports of the Commisioner of Indian Affairs from 1865 to 1880; and of the Board of Indian Commissioners from 1872 to 1880; The Missionary Herald from 1834 to 1852 ; Tracy's History of the A. B. C. F. M .; The Annual Reports of the A. B. C. F. M. from 1837 to 1852; Parker's Exploring Tour beyond the Rocky Mountains ; Hine's Explorations in Ore- gon ; and Oregon and its Institutions ; Dr. White's Travels and Adventures beyond the Rocky Mountains ; Dunn on the Oregon Terri- tory ; Twiss on the Oregon Territory ; Mrs. Victor's River of the West; Thornton's Ore- gon and California ; Gray's History of Oregon; Meacham's Wigwam and Warpath ; Spalding's Congressional Pamphlet in answer to Bishop J. B. A. Brouillet ; Speeches by Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D.D., before the A. B. C. F. M. and New York Chamber of Commerce in 1868, and
XV
Preface.
before the Oregon Pioneer and Historical So- ciety in 1876; Speech by Hon. W. H. Gray before the Oregon Pioneer and Historical So- ciety in 1877 ; and two letters by the same to the Bureau of Education at Washington on the Indian Question ; C. Eells' Centennial Sketch of the Missions of the A. B. C. F. M. on the North-west Coast; and Report to the same So- ciety of the work of Dr. Marcus Whitman; The Council Fire 1879-1881, and Hon. Elwood Evans' Centennial Address on Washington Territory ; Oregon Archives ; General Howard's Chief Jo- seph, his pursuit and capture ; the Addresses before the Oregon Pioneer Society from 1873- 1881 ; H. H. Gilfry's Centennial Address on Oregon, and A Century of Dishonor, by H. H.
He is also indebted for favors to : Rev. A. L. Lindsley, D.D., Rev. H. T. Cowley, Gen. J. Lane, Gen. O. O. Howard, Rev. H. K. Hines, Mr. C. H. Walker, Mrs. B. W. Cooke, Miss S. L. McBeth, Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D.D., Rev. C. Eells, Captain C. Willoughby, and Colonel O. Wood.
The greater part of Chapter Six appeared in the Council Fire in 1880-'81.
xvi
Preface.
Most of the sketches of the work on the vari- ous reservations have been submitted to per- sons who are admitted to be most competent judges.
It is not claimed that all that has been done for the Indians has been done by missionaries, nor does the writer intend to convey that im- pression, or to place any disparagement on the labors of others. Much has been done by these not recorded here, because the author's aim has been to give simply a record of mission work, and its results.
If this little volume shall do any good to the great cause of missions, and the furtherance of Christ's Gospel, the author will be amply re- paid.
M. E.
Skokomish, Washington Territory,
October, 1882.
HISTORY OF INDIAN MISSIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY MISSIONS, 1834-1852.
"Clouds and darkness are round about him : righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne."-Psalm 97: 2.
" Look at the picture, half a century old !
" Four painted savages, not athirst for gold;
" Nor by ambition or revenge impelled,
" Stand pleading where the tide of traffic swelled,
" By the Missouri's mighty, restless flood !
" They seek the Christian's book, the white man's God." A. T. Hawley, 1880.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE asserted: " No mission has yet been an entire failure. We, who see such small segments of the mighty cycles of God's providence, often imagine some to be failures which God does not. * * * If we could see a large arc of the great providential cycles, we might sometimes rejoice when we weep. But God giveth not account of any of His matters. We must just trust to His wis-
18
History of Indian Missions
dom. Let us do our duty. He will work out a glorious consummation."*
When Lewis and Clark made their journey across the continent in 1804-6 they interested some of the Indians in the religion of the Bible, who desired to know more in regard to it. The explorers promised that they would use their influence to have religious teachers sent to the Pacific coast. The Indians waited in vain for such instructors. After the fur traders came, about 18II, some of them instructed the Indians fur- ther of the true God, so that previous to the arrival of missionaries, the Cayuses had learned to assemble on the Sabbath for worship. Anx- ious to get the Bible, other traders and trap- pers had sold them cards, telling them they were the Bible; but the Indians concluded that men who could get drunk and kill each other did not love the true God. Captain Bonneville states that among the most pleasant scenes of his life were the hours he spent in 1832 among the Nez Perces, while teaching them of Chris- tianity in answer to their earnest questions.
Their desire for more instruction became so great that in 1832 a deputation of five Nez Per- ces and other Indians journeyed eastward until they reached St. Louis. They found Captain Clark, the old explorer, then Superintendent of
* Pacific, San Francisco, Dec. 3, 1879.
-
19
On the Pacific Coast.
Indian Affairs for the whole north-west, and made known their wants to him; but, being a Catholic, he studiously avoided making the facts public. Having waited until they were wearied, one of them is said to have uttered a lament which was heard by a Christian man, and their request thus known, was answered by two missionary societies-that of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions .*
In June, 1833, Rev. Jason Lee, of Canada East, was ordained in New England, and ap- pointed by the Board of Missions of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church to superintend their missions in Oregon. In March, 1834, in com- pany with his nephew, Rev. Daniel Lee, and two lay members, Cyrus Shepherd and P. L. Edwards, he crossed the continent, aided by the expedition of Captain Nathaniel Wyeth, who was intending to engage in the fur trade in Oregon. It was their purpose to engage in missionary work east of the Cascade Moun- tains, but Dr. John Mclaughlin, Superintendent of the Hudson's Bay Company, persuaded them to settle in the Willamette Valley. Having
* The portraits of , two of these Indians, Hee-oh'ks-te-kin and H'co-a-h'co-a-h'cotes-min, or Rabbit Skin Leggings, and No Horns on his Head, are preserved in "Catlin's American Indians."
20
History of Indian Missions
reached that valley in September of the same year, they soon erected a log cabin ten miles north of where Salem, Oregon, now stands. One of them proceeded to Fort Vancouver, the chief post of the Hudson's Bay Company, and began a school composed of half-breed children and those three-fourths white, whose parents were connected with the company. The others gathered some dozens of the Indian children into a little log school-house at the mission station, and thus established "The Oregon Mission Manual Labor School." This soon be- came quite flourishing, promising great useful- ness to the Indians. In January, 1837, Captain W. A. Slocum, U. S. N., of the Brig Loriot, visited the school and reported very favorably in regard to it. "I have seen," he wrote, " children who two years ago were roaming over their own native wilds in a state of savage barbarism, now being brought within the knowl- edge of moral and religious instruction, becom- ing useful members of society, by being taught the most useful of all arts-agriculture-and all this without the slightest compulsion." The success of this union of mental and moral train- ing impressed him so favorably that he left fifty dollars as his donation to the school.
The missionaries also preached to the mem- bers of the Hudson's Bay Company and other
2I
On the Pacific Coast.
whites in the region, and so great was the de- mand for education and Christian labor that Mr. Lee earnestly asked for more laborers. Accordingly, Dr. E. White and wife, Mr. A. Beers, Mr. W. H. Wilson and three unmarried ladies in 1836 were sent out by way of Cape Horn, reaching Oregon in May, 1837, and in September following, Rev. David Leslie and family, Rev. H. K. W. Perkins and Miss Mar- garet Smith arrived.
In 1836, a Cayuse chief, Wai-l'ep-tu-leek, brought his family to the school; but in Febru- ary of the year following, three of his children died from fever. Other Indian children were sick and some died, which caused the chief to leave, and created a prejudice against the school among the Indians, which it was not easy to overcome.
In 1838, a new station was begun at the Dalles by Revs. D. Lee and Perkins, and preaching begun among the Calapooias. The call seemed so great that Rev. J. Lee, the Superintendent, returned East, overland, to se- cure a large addition of laborers. As soon as he reached the Shawnee mission he received a letter which had been sent to him by express, stating that his wife and infant son were dead.
He still proceeded with his work of urging a large reinforcement. In face of opposition
22
History of Indian Missions
on account of the expense, he succeeded in ob- taining all that he requested. Five mission- aries, one physician, six mechanics, four farmers, one steward or accountant, and four female teachers-thirty-six adults in all, together with seventeen children-were sent out in 1839 by way of Cape Horn, and they arrived in Oregon in May, 1840. Among these were : Rev. A. F. Waller, G. Hines, J. L. Parrish, L. H. Judson, and J. Olley, Dr. L. H. Babcock, and Mr. George Abernethy.
More was now done than ever before, both for the Indians and whites. A mission was begun at Clatsop under Mr. Parrish, another on Puget Sound near Nisqually, under Rev. J. P. Richmond. Mr. Waller was assigned to the Indians at the Willamette settlement, Mr. Les- lie to the whites at the same place, Mr. Hines to those at Oregon City and Tualatin Plains.
There was apparently a great awakening among the Indians at the Dalles, and nearly the whole tribe, about 1,000 in number, professed conversion, and were received into the church.
A few years later Mr. Hines reports : " Most have relapsed, a few keep up the outward forms, but their religion appears to be more of the head than the heart, though doubtless they are better than if there had been no missionaries."*
* Exploring Expedition to Oregon, page 159.
23
On the Pacific Coast.
Not long after the arrival of this last rein- forcement, affairs began to grow more discour- aging. The mission school near Salem dwin- dled to almost nothing. Captain Wilkes, of the United States Exploring Squadron, visited the mission in 1841, and says : "We hoped to get sight of the Indians of the Methodist mission, whom they were teaching, but saw only four servants. We however were told that there was a school of twenty or twenty-five scholars ten miles away. In a few days we visited the mill where the school was situated, but were told that it was not in a condition to be vis- ited." A tour was made into the Umpqua val- ley, by Messrs. J. Lee, Hines, and White.
They preached to the Indians on many occa- sions, but concluded that it was not wise to open a mission there, partly owing to the ra- pidity with which the Indians seemed to be wasting away. The station on Puget Sound was so unsuccessful that it was abandoned.
The Methodist Board in New York too, be- came dissatisfied with the small returns received from the large amount expended, and deter- mined, July, 1843, to send Rev. George Gary to supersede Mr. Lee as Superintendent, with full power to determine nearly everything in regard to the mission.
The charges were that they "had been misled
24
History of Indian Missions
as to the necessity for so great a number of missionaries in Oregon, and to them the unac- countable fact that they had not been able to obtain any satisfactory report of the manner in which the large appropriations to the late rein- forcement had been disbursed."
Mr. Hines defends the mission and Mr. Lee, by saying that the Indian population had been wasting away like the dews of the morning, be- tween the time the great reinforcement was called for and its arrival. Rev. S. Parker, of the American Board of Commissioners for For- eign Missions, had made a similar mistake in estimating the Calapooia tribe at 8,000 in 1836, but in 1840 only 600 could be found. The same was true of other tribes, so that Mr. Lee was not alone in his disappointment. In ref- erence to the pecuniary affairs, Mr. Hines says that on account of the large amount of business, Mr. Lee had transferred this department to Mr. George Abernethy, afterwards Gov. Abernethy, who had kept his books correctly, but that owing, doubtless, to the large amount of busi- ness, and the difficulty of transporting reports to the East, they had not found their way to New York .* Undoubtedly there must be truth in this defense, as both Mr. Lee and Governor
* Exploring Expedition to Oregon.
25
On the Pacific Coast.
Abernethy have earned for themselves a high reputation.
In May, 1844, Mr. Gary reached Oregon, but before that, Mr. Lee had returned East to at- tend to affairs connected with the mission, with the expectation of coming again to Oregon, not knowing that he had been superseded. He died in Lower Canada in 1845.
After a survey of the ground, and a full con- sultation with the mission, Mr. Gary determined to sell all the property at Clatsop, and abandon that station ; to dismiss all the laymen con- nected with the mission except one at the Dalles, and either pay their expenses to the East, if they wished to return, or to pay them an equivalent out of the mission property in Oregon, if they preferred to remain-an ar- rangement which was satisfactory to these lay- men, all but one of whom, Dr. Babcock, pre- ferred to remain.
Mr. Gary also determined to close the Indian school. In 1841 this school numbered 40 chil- dren and was too large for its building. The situation, however, was unhealthy, and it was removed south ten miles, to where Salem now stands. With the consent and advice of the Home Board a larger building was erected, which cost $10,000. In 1842 the school moved into it, and at first seemed to be flourishing,
26
History of Indian Missions
but after a few months a fatal disease carried off many of the children, others ran away, others were stolen by their parents, and the few that were left were mostly suffering from scrofula ; hence it was not strange that Mr. Gary closed the school. The property was sold to the Trustees of the Oregon Institute, for $4,000, an institution which has since grown into the Willamette University.
Only five clergymen were now connected with the mission: Messrs Leslie, Waller, Hines, Perkins and the Superintendent, and the Dalles was the only occupied station remain- ing. Messrs. Hines and Gary returned East soon after ; in 1847 the station at the Dalles was transferred to the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions, and thus that mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church was brought to a close.
About the time the Methodist Church began its work in Oregon, the A. B. C. F. M. also laid plans for work in the same region. At that time this Society was supported by Con- gregational, Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed churches.
In 1834, the latter denomination, having re- solved to sustain a mission west of the Rocky Mountains, requested the American Board to assume direction of it. The request was com-
27
On the Pacific Coast.
plied with, and Rev. Samuel Parker, Rev. J. Dunbar, and Mr. S. Allis, left Ithaca, New York, in May, to explore the country. They · arrived at St. Louis too late to join the annual caravan of fur traders, whose protection they needed in crossing the mountains. Messrs. Dunbar and Allis engaged in missionary labor among the Pawnees, but Mr. Parker, in April, 1835, was joined by Marcus Whitman, M.D., and they proceeded to St. Louis. Under the protection of the American Fur Company they traveled to Green River, a branch of the Colo- rado, the rendezvous of that Company. Here various tribes of Indians from both sides of the Rocky Mountains were accustomed annually to meet the whites for trade, and the informa- tion obtained from traders, trappers, travelers, and Indians, was such as warranted, in their opinion, the establishment of a mission. Ac- cordingly Dr. Whitman returned to make ar- rangements for it, while Mr. Parker went on to prepare the way, and having explored the region of the Columbia River, returned by way of the Sandwich Islands and Cape Horn in 1837, and published an instructive volume in regard to his journey.
Dr. Whitman returned, accompanied by two Nez Perces Indians. He reached his home at Rushville, N. Y., at a late hour on Saturday
28
History of Indian Missions
night, and the next morning first made known his return to the neighborhood by entering church with his two Indians, where they pro- duced a sensation, the people supposing him to be in the Rocky Mountains. As he had spent Saturday night at the residence of a brother, his own mother did not know of his return until he came down the aisle of the church es- corting his dusky companions. The Sabbath worshipers were no less startled by the strange appearance of the three travelers, than by the shrill cry of the missionary's mother: "Why, there's Marcus Whitman !" The next year, on the journey to the Pacific coast, these Indians were especially serviceable. At one time at the difficult crossing of a river, one of them took a small cord in his mouth and swam across; with this he drew a larger rope over, and thus at last all were safely transferred to the other side.
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