USA > Idaho > A history of Indian missions on the Pacific coast : Oregon, Washington and Idaho > Part 12
USA > Oregon > A history of Indian missions on the Pacific coast : Oregon, Washington and Idaho > Part 12
USA > Washington > A history of Indian missions on the Pacific coast : Oregon, Washington and Idaho > Part 12
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In June, 1844, the Legislature of Oregon passed a law which forbade the importing or introducing of ardent spirits, imposing a fine of fifty dollars on any person who should break the law; also forbidding the sale, barter or trade of such spirits, under penalty of twenty dollars for each offense; and the erection of a distil- lery, with a fine of one hundred dollars for such an offense. This law, said Dr. E. White, sub- Indian agent, aided materially in managing the Indians, and he further added that the colony were indebted to the Methodist mission and the Hudson's Bay Company for it. The bill was introduced into the Legislature by Hon. W. H. Gray.
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CHAPTER VI.
MISSIONS AND INDIAN WARS.
THE Gospel is a gospel of peace. It aims to prevent war wherever it is carried. It has been successful in doing so among the Indians, by preventing wars between various tribes ; it has also had a reflex influence on the race which has carried it to them in two ways ; it has pre- vented some tribes from engaging in wars with the whites who otherwise would have done so, and also in nearly every war which has occur- red north of California and west of the Rocky Mountains, it has so influenced christian Indians as to largely aid our troops, save many valuable lives, and shorten such wars.
Ti-lau'-kait, one of the Cayuse Indians en- gaged in the Whitman massacre, said to Dr. Whitman, after the doctor had been some years among his tribe, substantially as follows: " Doc- tor, I am mad at you. Before you came, we fought with each other, killed each other, and enjoyed it. You have taught us that it is wrong, and we
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have in a great measure ceased. So I am mad at you for preventing our doing what we enjoyed." Ti-lau'-kait afterwards allowed his evil passions to overcome him, participated in the massacre, and for this he was hung at Oregon City. But the effects of the Gospel have been so manifest in our Indian wars, on those who have yielded themselves to its influence, that if Government had paid all the expenses of the missions, and yet if no Indian had been converted, no country saved to the nation, no literary or scientific knowledge gained, no institutions of learning established, no recompense obtained except that which has been received in these wars, the money would have been wisely invested. We will examine each war separately.
I. The Cayuse War .- This was caused by the massacre of Dr. Whitman and thirteen others, in November, 1847, when forty-seven captives were taken by the Cayuse, which were ransomed by Governor Ogden, of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany; after which about 400 volunteers went from the Willamette valley in 1848, fought and conquered the Indians, who escaped beyond their reach, as related in Chapter I. In 1850 Governor Lane succeeded in securing five of the murderers, who were tried, condemned and hung at Oregon City.
After Dr. Whitman's death, Mr. Canfield, an
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emigrant who was stopping at the mission that winter, escaped by night, and went to Lapwai, Mr. Spalding's station. There was great dan- ger that the Nez Perces would join the Cayuses in the war, as the two tribes were largely inter- married and quite intimate. Knowing this, Mr. Canfield, when he reached a camp of the Nez Perces, said nothing about the murderers, but procured a guide and proceeded to the mission, where he arrived the next day. Mr. Spalding had not then returned, but, as soon as Mr. Canfield was alone with Mrs. Spalding, he told her of the sad event, and they consult- ed what was best to be done. Mr. Canfield thought it best to wait until the Indians should learn of it, and then see what it would be wise to do. But Mrs. Spalding thought differently. She determined to tell the chiefs who were the most friendly, and throw herself under their protection. Jacob and Eagle, two friendly chiefs, were there at the time, and she immedi- ately told them. They advised her to leave her own house and go to their camp, as being a safer place in case hostile Indians should come, and gave orders to their young men to protect her. On Monday morning an Indian came from Walla Walla, and with him several Nez Perces from the camp where Mr. Canfield had procured his guide, ready for pillage and
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murder. They went to the mission buildings, which they pillaged, but the protection of the friendly Nez Perces most likely saved Mrs. Spalding from the fate of Mrs. Whitman.
Mr. Spalding returned the same afternoon, and they remained under the protection of the Indians until Governor Ogden reached Fort Walla Walla.
Mr. Spalding has also left the following statement : Some days after the murder of Dr. Whitman, Edward, son of a Cayuse chief, went up to the mission saw-mill, about twenty miles from. Dr. Whitman's station, and was bringing down Mr. and Mrs. E. Young and Mrs. Joseph Smith and their families, with the intention of murdering them, when Timothy, a Nez Perces chief, and Eagle, native christians, arrived from Lapwai, and said that no more Americans should be killed while they were alive. No more were killed.
When Governor Ogden reached Fort Walla Walla he immediately sent an express to Mr. Spalding, requesting him to join him. In forty- eight hours Mr. Spalding and wife and ten others were on their way, escorted by forty Nez Perces Indians. They soon reached Wal- la Walla, and for this the Indians received twelve blankets and other articles.
Mr. Spalding also added that in 1848, when
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the north-west tribes assembled at the Des- chutes, waiting for ammunition to be brought to them by priests, with which to cut off the Willamette settlements, the Nez Perces were strongly urged to join them. But instead of doing so, they refused, and, on the other hand, sent word to the combined camp, that if they attempted to fall upon the American settle- ments, they, the Nez Perces, would fall upon their rear, sweep their country of their herds of horses, and retire east of the mountains. This unexpected intelligence coming at the moment of the unexpected seizure, by Lieutenant Rogers of the army then at the Dalles, of the ammu- nition from the priests, completely checked the savages, and saved the settlements, then pe- culiarly exposed on account of the rush of the able-bodied Americans to the gold mines of California.
Says Governor Abernethy, Governor of Ore- gon from 1845 to 1849: "The strongest efforts were made, I believe, to induce the Nez Perces to join the combined hosts against the Amer- icans, and if they had done so the Americans would have been destroyed." And he also adds, " I firmly believe that the instructions the Nez Perces received from the missionaries kept them from joining in the wars against the Amer- icans.
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During the same war the Spokane Indians, where Messrs. Walker and Eells had labored, were even more friendly than the Nez Perces, for not even a part of the tribe became hostile, nor were any buildings pillaged, although great inducements were held out to them by the Cayuses to join in the war.
On the other hand, it was considered safe for the mission families to remain at their sta- tion, unprotected except by these Indians, until March 15, 1848, more than two and a half months after the station among the Nez Perces had been abandoned, and three and a half months after the death of Dr. Whitman. Dur- ing this time the Indians about Fort Colville grew so hostile, on account of rumors which came that some of their friends had been killed, that Mr. Lewes was obliged to keep the fort guarded night and day for two weeks. Thus the Indians, both to the north and south of the Spokanes, were hostile, yet they re- mained friendly. Rumors of danger from the hostile Cayuses at last became so startling that it was not thought safe to remain ; hence, Messrs. Walker and Eells, with their families, removed to Fort Colville, where they remained more than ten weeks, after which they were conducted to the Willamette valley. (See Chapter I.)
History of Undian Missions.
A Chief of the Yakama War.
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Very soon after their removal to Fort Col- ville, the gentlemen of the mission and one of the older boys returned to the mission station to look after the things. They spent the Sab- bath there, but towards night a war-whoop was heard in the timber not far distant. It was enough to startle a brave heart, for it proceed- ed from a band of Indians, mounted on horses, who were rapidly coming nearer. Still it seemed impossible to do anything except to await the result, and learn whether they were foes or friends. As they came closer, the white men were able to distinguish that they were friendly Spokanes. And now for the cause. They had been camped twenty or twenty-five miles distant, while the enemy was camped fifty or sixty miles from the mis- sion station. One of the Spokanes had visited the Cayuse camp, and had found that a few of the Cayuses were absent, but he could not learn where they had gone. He suspected, however, from tracks that he saw, that they had gone secretly to the station to murder Messrs. Walker and Eells. The spy returned to his camp and informed the chief, who gave orders immediately for his young men to rush to the station, twenty-one of whom did so. They had expected to find the Cayuses there, and their teachers murdered ; but, on nearing
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the place, they became satisfied that it was not so, and raised the shout as one of joy. Nor would they rest easy until, having guarded them during the night, they saw their teachers next day on the way to Fort Colville, accom- panied the whole distance by some of their number.
After the volunteers had driven the Cayuse Indians out of their own country, across Snake River, and more than half way to the Spokane mission, although the Spokane chiefs sent word to the Cayuses not to come to their lands, the reply was: "We shall not regard what you say"; consequently the Spokane and Flathead Indians prepared for war with them when they should come. They, however, did not come.
According to the unsolicited testimony of Chief Factor Lewes, of Fort Colville, Mr. Eells was indefatigable in his efforts to maintain a good understanding between the Indians near his station and the whites, amid "much per- sonal risk," as well as "bodily fatigue," and he had the privilege of seeing his efforts crowned with success.
During the ten weeks, less one day, while the families were at the fort, Mr. Eells slept there ten nights. The rest of the time he was visiting Indian camps, holding councils, looking after mission property, and keeping expresses
On the Pacific Coast. . 235
running to the officers of the volunteers. Ac- cording to his estimate, during that time he traveled on horseback 1,400 miles.
Instead of pillaging, these Indians protected the mission buildings until long after the re- moval of their teachers to the Willamette. Previous to the time when the mission families left, the only two sickles at the place were handed to the Indians, and they were request- ed to harvest the mission wheat when ripe, but were told that if their teachers did not return by winter, they might use it. They harvested it, but the chief said it must be reserved for the use of their teachers when they should return. On account of great need, a portion of the wheat was used by the Indians, but afterwards replaced. About two years after, arrangements were made for Mr. Walker to accompany Dr. Dart, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to the Spokanes. Quickly the Indians took some of the wheat and carried it to Fort Colville, sev- enty miles distant, where it was ground and brought back for the use of the expected party. Unexpected intelligence from Indians in South- ern Oregon, however, frustrated the plan of Dr. Dart and Mr. Walker, so that they failed to visit the Spokanes.
II. The Yakama War .- This occurred in 1855-6, and was the most widespread war
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which has ever devastated the coast, extend- ing from Rogue River on the south, 'to the Spokanes on the north, and from Puget Sound on the west, to the Nez Perces on the east.
Some, but not all, of the Spokane Indians were indeed engaged in it. When the council was held among them, in which it was decided to unite with the other hostile Indians, Big Star, chief of that portion among whom mis- sionary labor had mainly been spent, opposed the war as long as he could, and after the final vote was taken, he drew off with his band, say- ing that they would not fight against the whites.
At the beginning of this war, March 26, 1856, a massacre took place at the Cascades, Wash- ington Territory, and before the Yakama Indi- ans were driven back seventeen whites were kilied and twelve wounded. Among those killed was James Sinclair, of Fort Walla Walla, of the Hudson's Bay Company. Forty per- sons were besieged in a store for two days, until help arrived from the Dalles. Says L. W. Coe, in a letter describing this massacre: " We had no water, but during the first night a Spokane Indian, who was traveling with Sin- clair, and was in the store with us, volunteered to get a pail of water from the river. I con- sented, and he stripped himself naked, jumped out and down the bank, and was back in no
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time. On the next night a house near by was fired, and kept us in light until about four o'clock A. M., when darkness returning, I sent the Spokane Indian for water from the river, and he filled two barrels. He went to and fro like lightning."
As late as about 1863, it was their boast that no American blood had ever been shed on their soil; and when this did occur, by the hand of an Indian of another tribe, it made them very sad.
A part of the Cayuses also aided our troops. The battle of Walla Walla was fought in their country, and for a long period the Oregon vol- unteers were in that region; and during that time, says Col. T. R. Cornelius, who was then commanding the regiment, and afterwards President of the Oregon Senate, old Istikus, a Cayuse chief, who was always friendly to Dr. Whitman, with his band, rendered us valuable assistance. He furnished us scouts, which were of great use to us, and often also furnished us with provisions when we most needed them.
The Nez Perces also remained friendly. At one time, says Rev. H. H. Spalding, a great feast was made, and 37 oxen were killed by the hostiles, to which the Nez Perces were invited, so as to induce them to break with the Amer- icans and join the enemy; but they refused, fur-
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nished some provisions and cattle to our army, an express to go where no white man could live, and at one time remounted our army when its horses had given out.
The hostile Indians sent word to the Nez Perces, "Join us in the war against the whites or we will wipe you out." They also said: "We have made the whites run out of the country, and now we will make the friendly Indians do the same." Yet the Nez Perces remained friendly.
Col. Cornelius further states that if the Nez Perces, on the other hand, had joined the hos- tiles, if the American settlements had not been cut off they would have been involved in a most disastrous and expensive war.
When the war first began they flew to the rescue of Gov. I. I. Stevens and party, who were in danger of being cut off, and helped to take them to a place of safety.
The Oregon and Washington volunteers withdrew from the field in 1856, the war being "almost closed ; yet for some time afterwards there were Indian troubles in the region and regular soldiers were kept in the field. In May, 1858, a combination of Palouse, Spokane, Pend O'Reille, and Cœur D'Alene Indians surprised and badly whipped the command of Colonel Steptoe, in Eastern Washington. One-fourth
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of his command was killed or wounded, he was surrounded, his water and retreat were cut off, and his ammunition gone at sundown. The enemy, waiting for the morning to scalp the last American, spent a portion of the night in a war dance and uproar around their fires.
It was then that Timothy, the Nez Perces preacher, and two brothers who were fighting with the Americans, discovered an unguarded opening in the rocks. He said to Colonel Step- toe, "You are surrounded. Here is one way of retreat by leaving your heavy baggage, or if you choose to fight we will stand by you and die with you." The Colonel chose to retreat, and Timothy guided him and the remnant of his troops, amid the darkness of the night, past the noise of the enemy, with the stillness of death, on to his own country and furnished them with food. The little company, "after a ride of 90 miles, mostly at a gallop, reached Snake River," where others of this friendly tribe "received them with open arms, suc- ¿ cored the wounded men, and crossed in safety the whole command over the difficult and dangerous river."
The officer in command of the Nez Perce band wrote as follows:
" Allow me, while this general war is going on, to point you at least to a few green spots
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where the ravages of war do not as yet extend, and which thus far are untainted, with a view of so retaining them that we may hereafter point to them as oases in this desert of war. These green spots are the Nez Perces, the Flat Heads, and Pend d'Oreilles. Before leaving Walla Walla, Colonel Wright assembled the Nez Perce people, told them his object was to war with and punish our enemies; but as this great people were and ever had been our friends, he wanted their friendship to be as en- during as the mountains around which they lived; and in order that no difference of views or difficulty might arise, that their mutual promises should be recorded."
Consequently he then made a treaty of friendship with them, and thirty of them ac- companied him against the enemy. When he asked them what they wanted, they replied: "Peace, ploughs, and schools."*
It was, therefore, not strange, as General Benjamin Alvord wrote in a letter to Rev. G. H. Atkinson, D.D., that Colonel Steptoe "often descanted on the manly traits and christian perseverance of Timothy, a Nez Perce chief, and many of the Nez Perces." And the Gen- eral also added: "Accounts concur as to the remarkable preservation by the Nez Perces of
* Century of Dishonor, pp. 115, 116.
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the habits derived from the missionaries a dozen years ago."
The aid of this latter tribe was afterwards recognized by Government, and for it they re- ceived $4,665; and, in addition, a house was built for Timothy for his services.
III. The Nez Perces Mining Trouble .- The first treaty was made with the Nez Perces in 1855, but it was not ratified until 1859. The next year the gold mines of Orofino were discovered on their reservation, and the following year those of Florence and other places in Western Idaho, to the east of the reservation; but to reach the latter the miners were obliged to travel across the reservation; and men did rush on to it and across it very much as if it had not been set apart for the Indians. In order to avoid a conflict, a new treaty was made in April, 1861 (which, however, was never rati- fied), by which that part of the reservation lying north of Snake and Clearwater Rivers, the south Fork of the Clearwater, and the trail from the south Fork, by the Weipo root ground, across the Bitter-root Mountains, was opened to the whites in common with the In- dians for mining purposes. As long as the United States did not ratify it, it did not be- come binding on the Indians, and even if it had been, only a part of the reservation was opened,
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and that only for mining purposes. Yet, in de- fiance of law, and against the protestations of the Indian Agent, the town of Lewiston was laid out in 1861, on the reservation, and on that part of it which had not been thus opened. This town soon grew to be a place of twelve hundred people, and the first capital of Idaho; and the anomaly was seen of the Legislature of a Territory sitting on an Indian reservation, and even making laws, some of which were con- trary to the laws of the United States, in re- gard to intercourse with Indians.
By the spring of 1863 it was evident that a new treaty was needed, whereby the reserva- tion should be curtailed, if possible, and this was made in June of that year, but it was not ratified by the United States until 1867. Law- yer, the head chief, and fifty other sub-chiefs and head men agreed to it, but others did not, among whom were Joseph, White Bird, and Looking Glass, who lived on the part surren- dered to the United States; and this was the · main cause of the war with Joseph in 1877.
The tribe was thus in 1863 divided into the treaty and non-treaty Indians, and as Govern- ment failed either to ratify this treaty or even to pay all the money due under the first treaty, the division between the two parties grew wider and wider, and the non-treaty party
On the Pacific Coast. 243
grew constantly stronger, while the other side grew weaker. To add to the difficulty, the miners and others, of whom three or four thou- sand were on the reservation, carried a large amount of whisky with them, a considerable part of which was furnished to the Indians, enough at times to occasion serious trouble, had there been no other cause. Laws, too, were enacted by the Legislature of Idaho, and put in operation, in direct violation of the inter- course act of 1834, under which charters for bridges and ferries were granted, and roads laid off.
By 1866 nothing had been paid under the treaty of 1863, as it had not been ratified, while four installments of annuities, of ten thousand dollars each under the first treaty; four thousand six hundred and sixty-five dol- lars for horses and other material furnished during the Yakama War, about ten years pre- vious ; eleven hundred and eighty-five dollars and fifty cents for work done for Government, and Lawyer's salary for nine months, ending July, 1864, amounting to three hundred and seventy-five dollars, $46,125.50 in all, were all unpaid. These causes strengthened the non- treaty party and made them more hostile, for promises were nearly all they received from Government, and these, unfulfilled, soon grew to be almost worthless.
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Lawyer, notwithstanding, stood firm for the whites until June, 1867, more than six years after the miners had entered his reservation, and four years after the last treaty had been made. But by that time he seemed to tire of waiting, and at a council held that month he boldly demanded that justice be done; and such was the feeling of the tribe that if he had not done so, wrote the Agent, J. O'Neill, " he would not have lived forty-eight hours. I know this to be true," he added; "I know that some of his people would have killed him. As Little Dog, one of the chiefs of the Blackfeet, was killed for his friendship to the whites, so Lawyer would have been sacrificed."
News of the ratification of the treaty, how- ever, reached them soon after this; the prom- ises made soon began to be fulfilled, and trou- ble was averted. Had war once begun, accord- ing to the opinion of Hon. D. W. Ballard, Governor and Superintendent of Indian Af- fairs for Idaho at that time, all over the Terri- tory and around its boundaries would have blazed the signal fires and gleamed the toma- hawk of the savages. Kootenays, Pend O'- Reilles, Cœur-D'Alenes, Blackfeet, Flatheads, Spokanes, Palouses, Bannocks and Shoshones would have been involved.
It was such difficulties as these that were a
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prominent cause of the war with Sitting Bull and the Sioux in 1876, when the lamented General Custer fell; and why was a war pre- vented at this time ? The answer is, mainly by the efforts of Lawyer. Who was he ? He was one of the first to attend school when opened by Rev. H. H. Spalding in 1837, and he is said to have learned to read better than any other Indian. He was the teacher of Rev. A. B. Smith in the native language in 1839. He was appointed chief in 1855, and so remained until 1872, and was again chosen in 1874 for one year. In 1871 he made a profession of religion, and ever afterwards maintained a consistent christian character. He was chosen a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and in 1875 retired to his home at Kamiah, where he spent most of the remainder of his life in visiting among the Indians and exhorting them to aban- don their heathen practices, and embrace a christian life. He died a year or two later, aged about eighty years, having been eight or nine years old when Lewis and Clarke came to the country.
In addition to this evidence of the benefit of mission work during this troublous period, the following testimony is of value: Says J. W. Anderson, Indian Agent for the Nez Per- ces about 1862: " Although Mr. Spalding had
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