The history of Idaho, Part 30

Author: Hailey, John, 1835-1921
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Boise, Id., Press of Syms-York company, inc.
Number of Pages: 428


USA > Idaho > The history of Idaho > Part 30


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35


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STORY OF BRICE


was found and rescued by soldiers eleven days later, having sub- sisted on raw turnips from the fields in spite of many wounds. He died, however, some two years later of exposure and the injuries received at the time.


"The child tried to escape from me at first, but when I talked to her and assured her that I would take care of her she nestled down in our hiding place and went to sleep. I thought the morn- ing would never come as I tried to look out for danger known and unknown. The sun rose at last and then I discovered that Mag- gie's arm was broken and that she had been struck on the head. Her clothing was in tatters and I bound her wounds with my outer shirt and made a dress of the under shirt, as that was warmer. My coat and vest had gone to one of the Indian captors of the previous day.


"During the morning of that first day there was a commo- tion among the Indians that were all about us and soon I learned the cause. They were attacked by a small company of soldiers under Colonel Perry, who was trying to drive them back. He was outnumbered and finally had to retire. The Indian force was between us and the soldiers and I looked in vain for a way to join the bluecoats, that I could see and occasionally hear, until they were forced to abandon the unequal contest.


"We had nothing to eat that day, but we had plenty of water from the creek. It was thus that we passed three days, though each night I would make cautious efforts to get away. Every time I was driven back by the barking of the dogs in the Indian camp that warned me it was unsafe. The third day I was getting des- perate. Something must be done or the child would perish of hunger; and besides her broken arm was swelling and torturing her with pain that was almost as severe to me who had to see her suffering without being able to give her any relief. I crawled through the brush to reconnoiter, and coming to a rise of ground I saw three chieftans of the Nez Perce tribe a few hundred yards away, walking up and down in front of the cabin. I then decided to make a bold front, and rising to my feet I threw up my hands and approached the house. (On his bared breast was a tattoo cross.)


"Whitebird was one of the Indians and I did not know the others, though I have often wondered if one was not Chief Jo- seph himself. I told them my story, who I was and about the baby in the brush and asked them to let me go on my way to Mt. Idaho.


"They held a council and by their gestures it seemed that two of them were for my instant death. I demanded then that they shoot me, and declared that I was ready to die but wanted to die


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like a man. This stand seemed to surprise them, and the taller of the three stepped forward and grasped my hand, saying:


" 'You brave! you good man! Go get papoose, take her to til- likums,' meaning that I should take the girl to her friends.


"I lost no time in setting out and covered five miles, carrying the girl in my arms. Toward nightfall we came to a cabin on Camas Prairie. It was deserted by the owners and the Indians had ransacked it of everything, and the only thing that was like food at all was a crust of bread that was so hard that the Indians had left it, so you may imagine what condition it was in. I broke off a small portion and soaked it in water in the spring near the house for Maggie, and well do I remember how she cried because I would not let her eat it all. My supper? Oh, I took a big drink of water.


"Do you know," said he, "a man may go a long time without eating, but he must have water. For the first day or two I was terribly hungry, but after that there was such a fever that water seemed to satisfy my cravings and I must have drunk a quart at a time.


"Well, I saw that I could not make progress with the child in my arms, so I made a chair out of an old ax box that I found in the barn and slung it over my shoulders with a piece of halter rope, and the next day carried her like a peddler carries his pack. Every mile or two I saw traces of the Indians and their bloody work along the road. Sometimes it was smoking ruins, and again it was a dead body, mutilated and scalped. At one place I saw bodies of three men in a group, stripped of all clothing and ghastly wounds showing how they had died.


"I staggered on till at last I climbed a hill and saw a short distance away the little cluster of buildings that constituted Mt. Idaho. The town was fortified and guarded, for the inhabitants were in constant fear of attack. The citizens saw me coming and a delegation came out to meet me. They took the burden of the child from me and one of them, who must have been a preacher, gave me a Prince Albert coat that was too small for me, so that I might go into town.


"Nothing was too good for us there. We were fed and clothed and a Mrs. Lyons set the broken arm of Maggie. There was no doctor in the camp, but the job was well done, that I know.


"Maggie's grandfather was among the refugees and he took care of her for a time, until her father partially recovered. Since then I lost track of her until a few years ago, when I heard from her by letter. The little girl is now a woman grown and mar- ried to a man named Bowman, who runs a sawmill at Grange-


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STORY OF BRICE


ville, Idaho, not far from the scene where her mother was slaugh- tered and we had that terrible adventure. She has five little chil- dren, and I have no doubt has often told them the story of our escape from Chief Joseph's band."


CHAPTER LXVI.


SPAULDING MISSION, ESTABLISHED 1836-REV. HENRY SPAULDING, PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY, WHO FOUNDED THE MISSION AT FORT LAPWAI ON THE CLEARWATER RIVER, TWELVE MILES ABOVE ITS JUNCTION WITH SNAKE RIVER IN IDAHO.


The Rev. Henry Spaulding, his wife and Rev. Dr. Whitman and his wife and a few others, came across the plains in the year 1836 to what was then called the Northwest Territory, out of which territory the States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, a part of Montana, and Wyoming have since been created. They were among the first Americans that came from the eastern States to this Northwest territory to found missions, civilize, educate and Chris- tianize the Indians, and to make permanent settlement in the coun- try. Though several other expeditions of men had been sent out to explore the country, to trap, etc., none had come with the calcu- lation of making permanent settlement.


Mrs. Spaulding and Mrs. Whitman, wives of these two mission- aries, were the first white women that ever came across the then great desert plains to the Northwest. Up to that time, 1836, no wagon had ever been hauled farther west than Green River (now in Wyoming). Notwithstanding that the missionaries were told at Green River by some old trappers and also by the Indians that they could haul their wagons no farther and would necessarily have to leave them and pack the remainder of the trip, they answered, "We want to take our wagons through if possible; we will need them when we get to our destination, and we desire to open up a wagon road so that others who come may follow our road. We will try it." They did, and they succeeded in hauling their wagons all the way and over the Blue Mountains on into the great Walla Walla Valley. The trip that these people made at that time re- quired an exercise of good judgment, bravery, patience and untiring energy, all of which they possessed.


Rev. Dr. Whitman, his wife and a few of his followers located and established what has ever since been known as the Whiman mission, six miles west of Walla Walla on the road leading to Wallula on the Columbia River, now in the State of Washington, which country was at that time occupied exclusively by the Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla tribes of Indians, save and except the


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British Hudson Bay Company maintained a small trappers' sta- tion at Wallula on the Columbia.


Rev. Mr. Spaulding, his wife and a few others, proceeded to go about 110 miles farther in a northeasterly direction, at a point on the Clearwater River about twelve miles above the junction of the Clearwater with the Snake River, and there established a missionary station, commonly called the Lapwai Mission. This place is now in Nez Perce County, Idaho. At that time, 1836, that country was occupied exclusively by the Nez Perce Indians. These Indians were very friendly to Mr. Spaulding and his family. They seemed anxious to learn all about the ways and customs of the white men and women, including education and the "Book of Heaven," as they called the Bible.


Mr. Spaulding succeeded with the help of his co-laborers and some of the Indians, in getting comfortable buildings erected to live in through the winter. Some provisions and seeds were pur- chased of the Hudson Bay Company, and with the wild game they killed and fish, they managed to live fairly well.


Mr. Spaulding was untiring in his efforts to civilize, educate and Christianize the Indians, while his good wife was equally untiring in trying to educate them. They were successful, even more so than they had hoped for. The Indians all seemed anxious to learn the white man's ways, and always treated Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding with great respect. Everything seemed to move along well. The mission building was improved, and church and school house were erected. In the ycar 1840, a white man named William Craig with a half-breed wife, came in from the western States and settled on a piece of land a few miles from the mission. He proved to be a good neighbor and everything seemed to move along in a progres- sive and satisfactory way. Mr. Spaulding succeeded in having a small printing press sent from the Presbyterian mission at Hono- lulu to his mission, which was the first printing press that was brought to the Northwest. He (Spaulding) had not only learned to speak what was called the Jorgan language, but had also learned to speak the native Nez Perce language. He printed some school books for the Indians, some in English, some in Jorgan and a portion of the Testament in the native Nez Perce Indian language, so that the young Indians that had learned to read might read from the Good Book in their native language to the older ones.


Mr. Spaulding and his noble wife seemed to be successful in all their labors. They were married only a short time before they started west in 1836. Before the first ten years had passed, their union had been blessed with three nice, bright children. The oldest, a girl, had been sent to the Whitman Mission to school


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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO


where Mrs. Whitman was teaching a school attended only by white children of emigrants, most of whom had lost their parents crossing the plains, and Dr. Whitman and his good wife had taken them to raise and educate.


In the Spring and Summer of 1847, everything looked bright and nice at both the Lapwai and Whitman missions. Good crops had been raised at both missions. Schools for educating the In- dians at both missions were in successful operation. The Indians appeared to be contented. Many of them were adopting the hab- its and customs of the white man. Late in the Summer and early Fall quite an emigration of people came rolling along from the East, bound for the Willamette Valley. Some of them had the measles. The Indians caught the disease and applying their igno- rant methods of doctoring, the cold water bath in the river, caused many of them to die. This treatment they continued against the earnest protest of Dr. Whitman, who was doing all in his power to save and protect them. At last some of the more superstitious ones raised the cry that Dr. Whitman was the cause of all their trou- bles. He had caused the emigrants to come with the measles to kill them off, so the white man could get their land. At this time, November 29th, 1847, Dr. Whitman had at his mission many young Indian school children, and, including himself and wife and eleven orphan children, there were seventy-two whites at the mission, the larger portion of whom were children. On this day, November 29th, 1847, those cruel Indians swooped down upon them and mas- sacred Dr. Whitman, his wife and eleven others, making thirteen in all. Forty-eight women and children were taken prisoners; elev- en made their escape through the brush down the Walla Walla River. To Peter Skeen Ogden, the second officer in command of the Hudson Bay Trading Company, is due the credit and the honor of ransoming these captives and also of gathering up the eleven who made their escape in the brush.


A few days before this tragedy took place, the Rev. Spaulding had been called from his mission at Lapwai to go down into the Umatilla Indian country to adjust some little differences between the Nez Perce and Umatilla Indians. Soon after he had started on his return to his mission, he was met by a friendly Cayuse Indian and was told of the massacre of Dr. Whitman and others and of the prisoners taken by the Indians, among whom was his little daughter Eliza, who was attending school at the Whitman mission. This not only surprised, but nearly set Mr. Spaulding wild. This friendly Indians advised him to get to his mission as soon as possible, for if the party of Indians that had murdered Whitman saw him, they would kill him on sight; also advised him


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to hide in the brush in day time and travel by night to escape their sight. He concealed himself the balance of that day, but deter- mined to go near the camp of the hostile Indians that night and see if he could learn anything of the fate of the prisoners. He went as near as he dared to go and listened for a long time, saw no one but became satisfied from what he could hear that the pris- oners had not been killed. Here, Mr. Spaulding says, was the most trying ordeal of his life. To go into that Indian camp where the hostile Indians were, to attempt to rescue his dear child, would be sure death to him and of no benefit to his daughter and the other prisoners. At last he concluded he would try to make his way back to his Lapwai mission, which was about one hundred twenty miles distant. He rode his horse as far as he could the re- mainder of the night, turned him loose, hid himself in the brush for the day. Hungry, cold, tired and almost heart-broken, he pushed ahead at night, hiding in day time, and arrived at Snake River, near where Lewiston now stands, early the third morning. Here he found a few friendly Nez Perce Indians that gave him some- thing to eat and set him across the river in a canoe. He could learn nothing from them about his family. During this trip, Mr. Spaulding says that the coarse boots he wore hurt his feet so badly that he pulled them off and left them and went barefooted. His feet got very sore. After crossing Snake River, he started on foot for his mission, twelve miles distant, knowing nothing of what had become of his wife and two little children, and the few others he had left there a few days before. He had only traveled a few miles, feeling sad and weary, when two friendly Nez Perce In- dian women on horseback overtook him and recognized him. He inquired about his family and was told that a friendly Indian from the Cayuses had come up there several days before and brought the news of the Whitman massacre and that Col. William Craig (of whom we have spoken) had come down and taken Mrs. Spaulding, her children and the other whites to his house, and they were all safe and that the Nez Perce Indians were friendly and would not go to war, but there was danger from marauding bands of the Cayuses who had already been up there and plun- dered his mission after Mr. Craig had moved his family away. One of these Indian women, riding a strong horse, invited Mr. Spauld- ing to get up behind her on the horse and she would take him to Col. Craig's home, where he found his wife, two children and others well and being well cared for by Mr. Craig and his family.


During this time, Peter Skeen Ogden, of the Hudson Bay Com- pany, was busy with his half-breed and Indian employes, negotiat- ing with the hostile Indians to get back the captured white women


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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO


and children. In the mean time, he sent some of his men to the Lapwai mission to bring Mr. Spaulding, his family and the few other whites. Not long after Mr. Spaulding arrived at Mr. Craig's home, Mr. Ogden's men came after them. They procured canoes from the Nez Perce Indians, and all of them, except Mr. Craig and his family, paddled out down the Snake River for the Hudson Bay fort, which was ten miles below the junction of the Snake River with the Columbia. Arriving there in two and a half days, they found that Mr. Ogden had succeeded in negotiating for all the forty-eight captured women and children, and had also found all of the eleven that had made their escape at the time of the mas- sacre at the Whitman Mission. Of course, this lifted a part of the great load of grief from the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding when they met their daughter, Eliza, and other friends. Mr. Og- den had provided small boats and competent men to man them, and they were all loaded into the boats with a small amount of provisions and blankets, and pulled out down the river, Mr. Ogden going in person to superintend the management of the expedition down a dangerous river where there were many rapids and several portages where the boats and baggage had to be taken out and car- ried or pulled around. It is said that Mr. Ogden did not get away from Wallula with his valuable cargo any too soon, for within three or four hours a large band of hostile Indians came into Wallula station, who were dissatisfied with the surrender of the captives, determined to retake them. But on learning from the men left in charge that Mr. Ogden had been gone several hours and that his small boats would travel about as fast down stream as their horses could over a rough trail, besides there was danger of meeting the volunteers who were even then on their way up from Oregon City to meet the hostile Indians, they abandoned further chase.


Mr. Ogden landed all of his passengers safely in a few days in Oregon City, which place was then headquarters for the provisional government of Oregon. Here they were all taken care of. Mr. Spaulding and family remained in the neighborhood of Oregon City for a year or two, then moved up and settled in Willamette Valley near Albany where Mrs. Spaulding taught school for quite a time and after some years, this noble, good woman passed away to her reward. After some time, Mr. Spaulding married again, and later, in 1871, he went back to Nez Perce County, Idaho, and spent the last three years of his life, laboring most of the time to civilize and Christianize the Nez Perce Indians, several hundred of whom he took into and baptized into his, the Presbyterian church, before he passed away, August 3, 1874. Near a small grove of trees where


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he first taught these Indians, near his old mission, built in 1836, his remains were laid.


I may add to this that the organic act passed by Congress in August, 1848, organizing all this Northwest into a Territory called Oregon (which was later divided up) provided that all missions that had been established in any part of the Northwest Territory be- fore the passage of the act, should be entitled to hold one mile square of land at such place for missionary purposes. The Lap- wai mission having been abandoned in 1847, on account of Indian troubles, and not having been reoccupied by Mr. Spaulding before the passage of the act referring to the mission lands, reverted to the Government. An Indian Agency was established at the old mis- sion site in 1861, and a military post in 1862, which was abandoned in 1885, but the Indian Agency is still located there. There was a long contest about this land, but the Government won out in the courts.


CHAPTER LXVII.


LIST OF THE NAMES OF MEMBERS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVEN- TION-NAMES OF FIRST STATE OFFICERS.


This constitutional convention convened (in response to a pro- clamation issued by Governor E. A. Stevenson) at Boise on July 4, 1889, and adjourned August 6, 1889. The names of the mem- bers were as follows:


John S. Gray Ada County


A. B. Moss


Ada County


Edgar Wilson Ada County


John Lemp Ada County


W. C. Maxey


Ada County


Chas. A. Clark Ada County


I. N. Costin


Ada County


P. J. Pefley


Ada County


Frank Steunenberg . Ada County


Jas. H. Beatty


Alturas County


A. J. Pinkham


Alturas County


O. R. Batten


Alturas County


L. Vineyard


Alturas County


P. McMahon


Alturas County


J. W. Ballentine


Alturas County


J. L. Underwood


Bear Lake County Bingham County


F. W. Beane


Bingham County


H. B. Kinport


Bingham County


J. T. Morgan


Bingham County


H. O. Harkness


Bingham County


Ralph Anderson


Bingham County Bingham County


Fred Campbell


Boise County


George Ainslie


Boise County


John H. Meyer


Boise County


H. S. Hampton


Cassia County


J. W. Lamereaux


Cassia County Custer County


O. J. Salisbury


A. J. Pierce


Custer County


A. J. Crook


Custer County


Jas. M. Shoup


Custer County


W. H. Savidge


Sam F. Taylor


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FIRST STATE OFFICERS


F. P. Cavanah


Elmore County


A. M. Sinnott


Elmore County


Homer Stull


Elmore County


Henry Melder


Kootenai County


Albert Hagan Kootenai County


W. A. Hendryx


Kootenai County


Willis Sweet


Latah County


W. J. McConnell


Latah County


J. W. Brigham


Latah County


W. D. Robbins


Latah County


H. B. Blake


Latah County


A. S. Chaney


Latah County


N. I. Andrews


Lemhi County


Thos. Payeatt Lemhi County


John Hagan


Lemhi County


J. M. Howe


Lemhi County


Jas. W. Reid


Nez Perce County


J. W. Poe Nez Perce County


J. S. Whitton Logan County


Henry Armstrong Logan County W. C. B. Allen Logan County


S. J. Pritchard


Owyhee County


C. M. Hays


. Owyhee County Owyhee County


J. I. Crutcher


Shoshone County


W. H. Clagett


Shoshone County


Wm. H. Hammel Shoshone County


S. S. Glidden


Shoshone County


W. W. Woods


Shoshone County


A. B. Bevan


Shoshone County


A. E. Mayhew


Shoshone County Shoshone County


Sol Hasbrouck


Washington County


E. S. Jewell Washington County


Frank Harris Washington County


A. F. Parker Idaho County


Chairman of Convention, W. H. Clagett.


First State Congressional Representation 1891, U. S. Senators, George L. Shoup and W. J. McConnell. Representative in Con- gress, Willis Sweet.


First State Officers :


N. B. Willey, Governor, from Warrens, Idaho.


John S. Gray, Lieut. Governor Boise


W. B. Heyburn


G. W. King


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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO


A. J. Pinkham, Secretary of State Ketchum


Silas W. Moody, State Auditor Boise


Frank R. Coffin, State Treasurer Boise


George H. Roberts, Attorney General Hailey Joseph E. Harroun, Supt. Public Instruction Albion


Judicial Department :


I. N. Sullivan, Chief Justice Hailey


John T. Morgan, Associate Justice Oxford


Joseph W. Huston, Associate Justice


Boise


Sol Hasbrouck, Clerk.


District Court :


First District, Kootenai and Shoshone counties,


J. Holleman, District Judge. . Coeur d'Alene City


C. W. O'Neil, District Attorney Wallace


Second District, Idaho, Latah and Nez Perce Counties.


William G. Piper, District Judge Moscow


J. H. Forney, District Attorney . Moscow


Third District, Ada, Boise, Canyon, Owyhee and Washington counties.


Edward Nugent, District Judge Boise


Charles M. Hays, District Attorney Silver City


Fourth District, Alturas, Cassia, Custer, Elmore and Logan


counties.


Chas. O. Stockslager, District Judge Hailey


G. C. Barnum, District Attorney . . Shoshone


Fifth District, Bear Lake, Bingham, Lemhi and Oneida Coun- ties.


D. W. Standrod, District Judge Malad City


S. C. Winters, District Attorney Idaho Falls


CHAPTER LXVIII.


A PIONEER OR PIONEER'S LIFE.


A Pioneer, as defined by Webster is, "One who goes before and prepares a way for others to follow by removing obstructions ; one who goes before to remove obstructions or to prepare a way for another; hence,-a backwoodman; a first settler."


The definition given by the learned Webster is certainly brief, and, if taken to cover the whole duties that a pioneer usually has to perform, is liable to deceive some, who may have engaged in the business of Pioneering in the early settling of this North- western county, under that definition of the word "Pioneer" or "Pioneering."


A Pioneer or Pioneers, in its true sense, means a man or sever- al men, and sometimes includes women and children, who leave a civilized community of people, and go out into the unsettled frontier country ; where the white man has never settled; where there is no civilization, no laws, no permanent settlement; where the country is inhabited by wild roving bands of savage Indians and wild animals, with no improvements save the temporary wick- iups, erected by the Indians, which may be hauled down and moved away before the next sun or moon; where there are no roads except the small Indian trails, no bridges or ferries across the streams, none of the soil in cultivation, nothing raised except what grows wild without the assistance of man; where the na- tive wild Indian lives by hunting, fishing, picking wild berries, and depredating on every white man that may chance to come in- to the country where he roams.




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