USA > Idaho > The history of Idaho > Part 31
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Imagine yourself in a new country, with your little tent pitched among such surroundings, three, four or five hundred miles from any white settlement or military post, from which you could get any protection, with frequent yelps of coyotes and large wolves, and an occasional war whoop from the savage Indians ringing in your ears; then, you may catch a small idea of the frontier Pion- eer's life.
Often he seeks some lonely spot remote from the trail to camp for the night, and dares not build a fire to cook his meal for fear the smoke from his fire will reveal his camping place, and his hob- bled horses may be taken by the Indians; and possibly, if found, his body may be filled with arrows and he may never live to see
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the light of another day. This has been the sad fate of many Pioneers in the Northwest, where they went alone or in small par- ties with not sufficient numbers to protect themselves against these blood thirsty savages who claimed the whole Northwest and determined to exterminate all American white people who dared to attempt to make a settlement within what they called their coun- try. Often, these savages would not even allow white people to pass through their country without levying heavy toll on them by steal- ing and driving away their stock, and sometimes murdering whole families. The above is only a brief outline of what the first pio- neers, who came into the Northwest to explore and open up trails for others to follow, had to encounter.
Later men would bring their families. They usually built strong, rough cabins of logs, or made dugouts by digging and removing the dirt from some dry hill side, for a space large enough for the family to live in, and would roof it over with poles, and put a good supply of dirt upon the poles. The doors were made of poles, also. Often several families had to live together in one of the small cab- ins or dugouts for protection against the Indians. A strong corral had to be built near the cabin to keep the horses and cows in at night with a lock on the gate and a faithful watch dog, who stood guard near the door of the cabin at night, to give the alarm, if the Indians approached.
Without going into further details of what hardships these brave Pioneers had to endure in the early settling of this North- western country, we will state that Idaho forms a part of what was once known as the Northwestern Territory. Though settled at a later date than her sister states on the West and South, her early settlers had no less trouble with the Indians than her ad- joining states had, in fact, Idaho being the last part of the great Northwestern Territory to be settled by the white man, many of the hostile Indians had gathered in Idaho with the confident hope that the country now called "Idaho" would all be left for them.
By this time, the Indians had seen and learned that wherever the white men located in the surrounding territory and was allowed to remain, that they soon began to plow up and cultivate the wild land, kill off the wild game, and curtail the roaming limits of the Indians. Having seen the white man gain dominion over the surrounding territories, the Indians, or at least a large portion of them, took a very determined stand against the white man settling in Idaho. They would steal and drive off their stock, murder lone men or small parties at every favorable opportunity. They took a large amount of property, of which some was destroyed; and
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killed a number of good men. Several lengthy wars occurred, in which many of the pioneers were engaged.
With the assistance of a goodly number of United States troops, commanded by good and efficient officers, at last, after many hard fought battles with heavy loss of life, these Indians finally sur- rendered and accepted a fair portion of the country for their homes; and, also, accepted a liberal compensation from our Gov- ernment for their claim to the balance of the land not included within their reservations. This compensation to the Indians, for the right to the lands they abandoned, was to be paid in annuities for a number of years to assist them in starting in civilized pur- suits, education, agriculture, etc.
And in placing the Indian on his reservation, where he is mak- ing some considerable progress in civilization, education and in- dustrial pursuits, we turn back to the early Pioneers. Here we find that, while many of the young and middle aged men were out fighting Indians, the older men, boys, mothers and young wo- men were working hard to improve the little farm to raise some- thing to live on, and to take care of the few head of horses and cows. Often, several families lived together in one log house or picket fort for protection.
At last, when the cruel wars were over, no longer would they see the wild savage, with his war paint on swooping down on them, screaming his murderous war whoop. But, alas, when the family roll was called, a number were missing that have lost their lives by the hand of the savage red man, each one battling for the country that we now possess; where we now have our pleas- ant and happy homes; where we no longer have to band together and stand guard at night, nor go to war, nor live in dread of hear- ing the war whoop of the savage Indians.
These dear old Pioneers, after many years of hard work under many difficulties, at last succeeded in establishing American civi- lization in all its modern forms at a great sacrifice of life, prop- erty, and endurance of untold hardships. In short, the Pioneers have opened the roads, have cleared the country of all obstruction ; and have caused the way to come to be made easy, quick, cheap and without danger to all who wish to come to the good land of Idaho.
To our more fortunate friends, who came at a later date to help develop and improve Idaho, we extend a hearty welcome; hop- ing they will be content to remain and share in the great future that is in store for us; hoping that you will never meet with the many obstructions that the old Pioneers had to face and overcome as best they could in the early settling of our much beloved Idaho. His-22
CHAPTER LXIX.
SOME OF THE FIRST AMERICANS WHO CAME TO THE NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY.
In the year 1787, two sailing vessels were fitted out at Boston, Mass., by J. Burrel, S. Brown, C. Bulfish, J. Darby, C. Hatch and J. M. Pintard for the purpose of exploring the Pacific North- west and trading with the Indians. These ships were named "The Columbia," and "The Lady Washington." The "Columbia" was commanded by Captain John Kendrick. The "Lady Washington" by Capt. Robert Gray. These ships sailed from Boston, Mass., for the Pacific Northwest on September 30, 1787, each one carrying in addition to her supplies a lot of goods to trade with Indians. Captain Gray reached the Northwest coast in August, 1788, and Captain Kendrick came in a few days later, they having been sep- arated some time before. These ships anchored in Nootka Sound or Gray's Harbor, on the Washington coast. They remained there until the next spring, (trading some with the Indians for furs), when they returned to Boston, Mass., arriving there on August 10, 1790. Captain Gray remained only six weeks in Boston after his return from the Northwest until he started back on his re- turn trip. He was placed in command of the ship "Columbia," and the brig "Hope" commanded by Captain Joseph Ingraham, was sent along with the "Columbia." They sailed from Boston, Mass., for the Pacific Northwest, September 28, 1790, and reached their destination in June, 1791. Here they put in their time until the spring of 1792, trading some with the Indians and exploring the Northwestern coast. Captain Gray had for some time believed that he had discovered the place where some large stream of water emptied into the ocean from the interior country. He made several unsuccessful attempts to sail up into the supposed river ; finally on May 11, 1792, Captain Gray succeeded in sailing his ship across the bar and up in the great river, which he named Columbia, after the name of his ship. He sailed up the river some twenty or thirty miles, traded some with the Indians and re- turned.
In the fall of 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition that came overland arrived and spent the winter of 1805-06 near the mouth of this great Columbia river.
In 1811, a detachment of the John Jacob Astor Company of fur
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traders arrived from New York with a vessel and about sixty men with supplies and goods to trade with the Indians for furs and skins. They landed and established a post on the Columbia river near its junction with the ocean and called the post Astor. (It is now called Astoria.) The next year about fifty more of the As- tor company's men arrived at this post who had come overland, having had a hard trip and were more than one year on the route.
Between the years 1805 and 1811, quite a number of British Canadians came into this Northwestern country and established a large trade with the Indians. In 1814, Astor's men were compelled to sell their furs to a Russian company at a great sacrifice and abandon their trading post at Astor on account of the war between the United States and Great Britain, the British having sent a war vessel to the Columbia river to capture Astor's men and their post, furs and supplies. They succeeded in getting away before the war vessel got there.
In 1823, the British traders and trappers of the Northwestern territory, were organized into one company called the Hudson Bay company, and Dr. John Mclaughlin was selected and sent to the Columbia river to take charge and manage the affairs of this com- pany in the Northwest. He arrived and took charge in 1824. Soon after his arrival he established his headquarters at a point on the north side of the Columbia river and called it Vancouver. This company under the management of the Doctor, or as he was some- times called, Governor Mclaughlin, done a very extensive business in trapping and trading with the Indians. He employed many In- dians and seemed to cover the whole Northwestern territory with their trade having established trading posts at several convenient places to get the trade of the Indians. Americans had a poor show to try to compete. Dr. McLaughlin seemed to have complete control over all of his men and also over all the Indians. He certainly was possessed of rare executive ability. His commands were obey- ed as if they were law. He was a noble, generous, good man and in later years he helped many of the poor American Emigrants to provisions, seed, grain, etc.
In 1832, Captain Natalian Wyeth came overland to Oregon. He had some ten men with him. He had been sent out by a company of New York men to engage in the business of trading and trap- ping for furs and pelts. It is said that this company fitted out a ship and loaded it with supplies and goods for Captain Wyeth to use in trading with the Indians. This ship was expected to arrive at Vancouver on the Columbia river about the time Captain Wyeth would arrive there from his overland trip. The ship never came
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and was never heard from. It was supposed to have been lost at sea with all its crew.
Captain B. L. E. Bonneville, of the U. S. Army, procured a leave of absence from the government, for a few years to explore in the west at his own expense. He was fitted out in the spring of 1832, by New York merchants for trading and trapping in the Northwest. He started overland with about twenty wagons loaded with goods to trade with the Indians for furs and pelts, and a number of other wagons loaded with supplies, and about 100 men. Captain Bonneville and Captain Wyeth fell in together on the plains and traveled together until they arrived at Green river (now in Wyoming.) Here Captain Bonneville stayed and Captain Wyeth went on through to Vancouver on the Columbia river. Not finding his ship, after waiting until spring, he returned East overland. On his arrival his company outfitted another ship loaded with supplies and sent it around to the Columbia river with men and supplies, goods, etc., for Captain Wyeth. The ship arrived safely in good time and anchored at Wapato, now Sauves island, on the Columbia river. Captain Wyeth came back overland, leaving New York early in March, and outfitting at Independence, Missouri, for the overland trip. He was accompanied by Jason Lee, (the first American missionary that ever went to this Northwestern coun- try.) Cyrus Shepard, Philip L. Edwards and Courtney M. Walker, were engaged by the Board of Missionary to go with the Rev. Ja- son Lee and assist in establishing a missionary post in the North- western territory. There were, altogether, who started from Inde- pendence, Missouri, on April 28, 1834, about seventy men taking with them about 250 horses and mules. They divided in three sep- arate parties but kept near each other in case of danger. Cap- tain Wyeth traveled in the lead. On his arrival at Snake river, about July 15, 1834, he halted, looked the country over and con- cluded it was a good location for a trading post. He selected his location and commenced work building a fort on August 6. He named it Fort Hall after the oldest member of the company he represented. He left Mr. Evans and eleven men to complete the Fort. With fourteen horses and three cows he proceeded on his journey to the Columbia River with twenty-nine men.
The Rev. Jason Lee held religious services in a grove near the Fort on July 27, 1834, and on July 28 conducted funeral ser- vices over one of Capt. McKay's men. On September 16, 1834, they arrived at Vancouver on the Columbia river. Soon after this Jason Lee and his men and a few of the others that came, went up the Williamette river to a point about ten miles from where Sa-
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lem, the capital, now stands, and established a missionary post called Shampoeg. Captain Wyeth and his men went to Sauves is- land, where his ship was and engaged in an attempt to trade with the Indians but he soon found that the Hudson Bay Co., had a monopoly of the trade. He sold some of his goods to the Hudson Bay Co., and in 1835, packed the balance to his Fort Hall sta- tion. On his return trip to Fort Hall he found the Hudson Bay Co. had established a trading post near the mouth of the Boise river (later called old Fort Boise.) Arriving at his Fort Hall sta- tion he found that the Hudson Bay Co. had sent men all over the country and had succeeded in inducing all of the Indians to trade with them, so he could get no trade and was compelled to sell out his Fort Hall station to the Hudson Bay Co., at a figure that company fixed. Captain Wyeth then returned to the east.
Captain B. L. E. Bonneville appears to have made his head- quarters on Green river from the time of his arrival there in the summer of 1832, until the spring of 1833, at which time he moved and established headquarters in Bear River Valley, (now in Utah). From here Captain Bonneville sent detatchments of his men in different directions to explore the country and to trade with the Indians. He sent one party of about thirty men to go to Salt Lake and explore the country around the lake with the hope of finding some nice streams for trapping beaver and other fur bearing animals. This party failed to find any stream or even sufficient water to drink, so they wandered off west to the Humbolt river and finally into the Sierra Nevada mountains and on to the Sac- ramento river where they wintered and returned to the camp in Bear River Valley the next spring, by another route, further south. About all the returns they brought in was some knowledge of the country and a lot of hard experience.
Captain Bonneville did a great deal of exploring in different directions from his Bear River Valley headquarters. He, with a small party of his men, explored the Salmon River country, stayed one winter near Salmon River, made two trips to the Columbia River to old Fort Wallula, traveling down the south side of Snake River as far as Farewell Bend, thence up Burnt River to Powder River Valley, thence across to Grande Ronde Valley, thence across the Blue Mountains by Lee's Encampment, into the Umatilla Valley, thence to Walla Walla on the Columbia River. Captain Bonneville made maps of the country over which he traveled and furnished much valuable information for our Gov- ernment and people about the general character of the country, which was published in executive documents, Second Session, 38th Congress, 1854-1855. In 1855 Captain Bonneville returned home.
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In 1836, Reverends Marcus Whitman and H. H. Spaulding, two Presbyterian Missionaries, with their wives and a few others came across the plains to the Walla Walla valley. Messrs. Whitman and Spaulding brought their wagons through to Walla Walla valley. They were the first wagons that were ever hauled farther west than old Fort Hall on Snake river. Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spauld- ing were the first white women that ever crossed the great plains from the east to the west. The Rev. Dr. Marcus Whitman estab- lished a mission on the Walla Walla river six miles west of where the city of Walla Walla now stands, now in the state of Washing- ton.
The Rev. Henry H. Spaulding established a mission on the Clearwater river about thirteen miles above the junction of Clear- water river with Snake river, (now in Nez Perce county, Idaho.) These noble men established these missions for the purpose of civilizing, educating and Christenizing the Indians and to instruct and teach them in the arts of agriculture. They both succeeded well in their laudable undertaking for several years, when they met with serious reverses of which we have spoken before.
From this time on, 1836, a few emigrants came across the plains to this Northwest each year.
In the great contest between the different claimants for this northwestern country, the claim of the United States was based mainly :
1st. On the discovery of the Columbia river by Captain Robert Gray, 1792.
2nd. On account of the explorations made by Captains Lewis and Clarke in 1805-06.
3rd. The overland expedition made by John Jacob Astor's men in 1811-12, who were the first white men to explore the interior of the country after Lewis and Clark.
4th. Having secured Spain's claim in 1819.
These claims seem to constitute a stronger claim to this coun- try by right of discovery and exploration than any of the other contending nations could present.
CHAPTER LXX.
THE FREQUENT CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE IN NAMES AND GOVERNMENT IN WHAT IS NOW THE STATE OF IDAHO.
One hundred years ago, what is now Idaho, was a part of what was known and called the Northwestern Territory claimed by the United States, Great Britain and Spain, and Russia made claim to some portion. But prior to 1846, this Northwestern Territory, for which four nations had set up claims, the native Indian not only claimed the territory but were the rulers and masters over all of the Northwest.
Our government acquired Spain's right or claim to this North- western Territory by treaty made in 1819. Russia relinquished her claim by treaty in 1824. This Northwest Territory was occupied by joint occupation agreement with subjects of Great Britain and the United States without any settlement of title between these two nations from 1818 to 1846, in which year a treaty of settlement of title was made between these nations, in which Great Britain ceded all of her rights and claims to the United States south of the 49th parallel, excepting the holdings of the Hudson Bay Trapping and Trading Company and the holdings of the Puget Sound Agricul- tural Company (both British companies which the United States bought out at a later date.) In the same treaty, the United States ceded to Great Britain all of her claims north of the 49th par- allel. This gave to the United States the rights of all the con- tending nations except the original occupants, the Indians, who still laid claim to all, and would often assert their claims by kill- ing some of the American citizens and appropriating or destroying their property.
After securing title from the three different civilized nations to this Northwestern Territory, the Congress of the United States did not seem to care but little for the territory or for her people, who had braved all the dangers incident in traveling two thousand miles over a barren country (inhabited by none but wild savage Indians) to get this Northwest to settle and make homes. Congress gave them no protection, no organization, no laws; did nothing toward extinguishing the title of the aborigines to any part of the land; but left these few brave old pioneer men and women to de- fend and protect their lives and property as best they could against an overwhelming number of savage Indians, who claimed the whole country as their own property.
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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO
Not until several months after these savage Indians had massac- red Dr. Marcus Witman, his wife and a number of other good American citizens in 1847, did the Congress of the United States get aroused up to a sense of their duty to the people that had emigrated to this Northwestern Territory. On August 13, 1848, Congress passed an act organizing all of this Northwestern Terri- tory, west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific ocean between the 42nd and 49th parallel, into one territory called Oregon.
That noble, brave and good man, General Joseph Lane, of In- diana, was appointed Governor for the Oregon Territory. He ar- rived at Oregon City, March 2, 1849, and put the territorial gov- ernment in operation at once.
This organized territory included all of what is now Idaho, but, at that time, was occupied almost exclusively by the wild Indians. This was the beginning of an attempt to enforce the laws of the United States over this large territory, the Government of the United States claiming supremacy, but the Indians still contending that they were the sole owners.
The next change the future Idaho had was on March 3, 1853. Congress passed an act dividing the territory of Oregon and cre- ating Washington territory out of the eastern and southern portion of Oregon territory with the United States laws still over Idaho, but a new territorial government.
With the native Indian still contending for supremacy, at last on March 3, 1863, Congress passed an act creating Idaho territory of the eastern and southern portion of Washington; and, in addi- tion, loaded her down with nearly two hundred thousand square miles of territory east of the Rocky Mountain range, that was oc- cupied mainly by wild, hostile Indians.
At last Idaho, like the slave that had been sold with the old farm and was compelled to serve under many masters without moving away, reached partial freedom, but was heavily handicap- ped by others who claimed the whole country. The same native In- dian claimed all of Idaho. The people had a hard struggle to sat- isfy the native Indians that they had a right to live and earn a living by their labor in Idaho like the freed slave. They had a dif- ficult row to hoe to satisfy their former masters that they had a right to earn their living without a master. Since freedom came, some of the former slaves have moved; Idaho has remained station- ary, but had her boundary lines changed in 1864 and 1868, so that all that was loaded onto her from the east side of the Rocky Mountains has been taken off and given to Montana and Wyom- ing, together with a small amount from the west side of the moun-
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FREQUENT CHANGES
tains. Still the native Indian would often, like the old slave master, try to assert his right to the country. But, like the slave, after a hard struggle, with the assistance of the strong arm of the United States government, the American pioneers of Idaho were able to assert and maintain their rights to occupy the larger portion of the Territory of Idaho; and peaceably work, reclaim, develop and utilize many of the wonderful resources of this country, which was once thought to be worthless.
Later on, after much hard struggling, in the year 1890, the old pioneers had so improved and developed the country that Con- gress freed us from the bondage of territorial government by giv- ing us Statehood.
A sufficient amount of land has been set apart at suitable places, for the Indians to live on. They have been paid fair compensation for their claim to the balance of the land; and, after having felt the power of the United States government in the way of several severe chastisements, they have at last learned to recognize the rights of the Americans and have settled on their Reservations, and seem to be making some considerable advancement in civiliza- tion and improvements in the line of agriculture.
CHAPTER LXXI.
THE PROGRESS I HAVE SEEN MADE IN THE PAST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS.
When I look back and bring to mind how the country west of the Missouri river looked, and by whom it was inhabited fifty-five years ago, and compare its present looks, condition and inhabitants with the past, the changes that have been brought about by the kind- ness of Providence and the untiring energy and industry of men and women, it seems almost incredible.
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