USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. I, 1834-1848 > Part 67
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666
THE WHITMAN MASSACRE.
This was on Saturday. On Monday the 8th of December a messenger arrived from the Cayuses, who related what had occurred, stating the cause to be the belief that they were being poisoned. There was, as might have been expected, a division, the majority of the chiefs following the advice of Eagle and Jacob, while others evinced a readiness to join in the mur- dering and plundering course of the Cayuses.47
On the same day Mrs Spalding, who had remained over Sunday at the mission with a guard of two or three faithful Nez Perces, removed to Craig's. She desired to send an express to Chemakane to inform Walker and Eells of the massacre at Waiilatpu, and also one to her daughter at the latter place, but no one could be found who would undertake either errand. The missionaries were, however, safe at the Chemakane station, the principal chief of the Spokanes on first hearing of the Cayuse outbreak promising to defend the inmates against attack, a promise which he faith- fully kept 48 by mounting guard over them till their departure to the Willamette the following spring. At Lapwai, the Nez Percés, under Joseph, and some of James' band pillaged the mission buildings, but were otherwise held in check by the chiefs before named.
As in all the emergencies which overtook the Americans in colonial times, the fur company now came to their relief. As soon as possible after learn- ing what had taken place, McBean despatched a Canadian messenger to Vancouver to apprise Douglas and Ogden, and through them Abernethy. At the
47 Spalding gives the names of the friendly and hostile chiefs. Besides Eagle and Jacob, the latter of whom was about to be received into the church, there were Luke and two of his brothers, and James, a Catholic chief, who were friendly. But Joseph, a chief who had united with the church 8 years pre- vious, and up to this time with few backslidings had lived like a Christian, and whose people constituted a good portion of the sabbath congregation and school, 7 of them being church-members, deserted to the enemy. Oregon American, Aug. 16, 1848.
48 Atkinson, in Or. Pioneer Assoc., Trans., 1877, 70.
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CALL FOR AID.
Dalles he found in charge Alanson Hinman,49 with his wife and child.
Besides Hinman there were Perrin Whitman, Dr Henry Saffarans, and William McKinney and wife, of the late arrivals. To none of these persons did the messenger breathe a word about the massacre, not even to Hinman, who accompanied him to Van- couver to procure medicines for the sick about the Dalles, until they were below the Cascades, so careful was he not to spread any excitement amongst the natives before means could be taken to rescue the prisoners.50
49 Hinman was formerly of the state of New York. After coming to Ore- gon in 1844, he married a Martha Gerrish, whose father, an immigrant of 1845, resided in the Tualatin plains. Hinman was teacher in the Oregon Institute for a short time, but seems to have been engaged by Whitman to take charge of the station purchased from the Methodists at the Dalles.
50 Much capital was made out of this circumstance by the anti-Hudson's Bay writers, including Gray, who attempts to show that the intention of McBean was to allow the Indians to kill off those who were at the Dalles. The result showed that the caution used was justifiable and necessary. Had he alarmed the people at the Dalles, it would have informed the natives of what had happened, and have delayed him on his errand, whereas he was in the greatest possible haste to reach headquarters before the Dalles Indians should hear what the Cayuses had done. Gray points out that a letter written by Hinman to Abernethy after reaching Vancouver was dated De- cember 4th, while a letter from Douglas to Abernethy was not written until the 7th; making it appear that Douglas had delayed 3 days to inform him, while the truth was that Hinman did not learn the news till the 6th, and that his letter was wrongly dated. As it appears in the Oregon Spectator of Dec. 10, 1847, from which Gray must have copied it, the date is Nov. 4th, more than 3 weeks before the massacre occurred, which should have been cor- rected, as the month was wrong as well as the day. No time was lost either at Walla Walla or Fort Vancouver in acquainting the governor with the situation. The correspondence in full is contained in the Or. Spectator, Dec. 10, 1847, and in Gray's Hist. Or. Other authorities on the subject of the massa- cre are the A. B. C. F. M. Annual Report, 1848, 239-44; Californian, April 19, 1848; Kane's Wanderings, 317-22; Marshall's Christian Missions, ii. 266-7; Sandwich Island News, ii. 54-5; Deady's Hist. Or., MS., 2; Ford's Road- makers, MS., 32; Johnson's Cal. and Or., 183-4; Kip's Army Life, 32; Walla Walla Statesman, Feb. 9 to April 13, 1866; Evans, in Trans. Or. Pioneer Assoc., 1877, 35-6; Atkinson's Or. Colonist, 5; Crawford's Nar., MS., 160-3. Brouillet's Authentic Account of the Murder of Dr Whitman and other Mis- sionaries by the Cayuse Indians of Oregon in 1847, and the Causes which Led to that Horrible Catastrophe, is a pamphlet of 108 pages, in reply to a statement appearing in the Oregon American reflecting harshly on the Catho- lic priesthood in general, and the priests of the Umatilla camp particularly. It is not without the usual misrepresentations of sectarian writings, but is in the main a correct statement of events. A second edition, with some slight additions, was printed at Portland in 1869. Its first appearance, under the head of Protestantism in Oregon, was in the Freeman's Journal in 1853; being put in its present form in 1869. See also Catholic Magazine, vii. 490; Mul- lan's Top. Mem., 7; S. F. Daily Herald, June 1, 1850.
668
THE WHITMAN MASSACRE.
The messenger arrived at Vancouver on the even- ing of the 6th, and the following day Douglas wrote to Governor Abernethy, enclosing a copy of McBean's letter to the board of management, and informing him that Ogden would leave at the earliest possible mo- ment for Walla Walla with a strong party to endeavor to prevent further outrages.
CHAPTER XXIV
RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVES.
1847.
HIS HONOR THE INDIAN-PREPARATIONS FOR WAR-LEGISLATIVE PROCEED- INGS-JOSEPH L. MEEK, MESSENGER TO WASHINGTON-FORMATION OF MILITARY COMPANIES-APPLEGATE'S ATTEMPT TO REACH CALIFORNIA- PUBLIC APPROPRIATIONS AND PRIVATE SUBSCRIPTIONS-JOEL PALMER, SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS-CHIEF FACTOR OGDEN'S ADVEN- TURES AMONG THE CAYUSES-THE RANSOM EFFECTED-PRICE PAID FOR THE CAPTIVES-CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN OGDEN AND ABERNETHY- THE GENTLE SAVAGE IS WILLING TO FORGIVE THE WHITE MEN NOT YET MASSACRED- FURTHER DISPLAY OF HOT DISTEMPER BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS.
AFTER all, we must give the American settlers of Oregon, in common with the British fur-traders, credit for treating the natives fairly well. Both are entitled to the merit due from the performance of a good action from necessity. The servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were likewise the most obedient servants of the lordly aboriginal; for it was by the savage skin-catchers of America that the cour- teous adventurers of England lived. Likewise the poor emigrant, rendered yet more respectful by the presence of wife and children, was quite humble in the presence of a fierce band of painted warriors. But fifty well-fed and mounted riflemen together could massacre with the best of them, not omitting the women and children, or even the time-honored custom of scalping.
Oregon had now at hand her first Indian war. In the message of the governor delivered to the legisla- ture on the morning of the 8th of December, that
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670
RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVES.
body was reminded of their relations with the natives, how they were becoming every year more embar- rassed, by reason of the failure of the United States to send an agent authorized to treat with them. And thereupon they recommended an appropriation en- abling the superintendent of Indian affairs to take a small party in the spring and visit the disaffected tribes, making presents which would quiet their ap- prehensions, and also to demand from them restitu- tion of the property stolen from the new-comers during the autumn.
On the afternoon of the same day, having received the letter of Chief Factor Douglas, the governor communicated the facts of the massacre of the 29th, and submitted the correspondence of McBean, Douglas, and Hinman. The case, he said, was one that required prompt action, and he suggested that for the funds re- quired they should apply to the Hudson's Bay Com- pany and the merchants of Oregon City, as without doubt the United States government would assume the debt.1 A resolution was immediately adopted, requiring the governor to raise and equip a company of riflemen, not to exceed fifty men with their officers, to be despatched to the Dalles for the protection of that station, according to the prayer of Hinman, who was much alarmed for his family.
On the following day a bill to that effect was passed, and was signed by the executive on the 10th. Imme- diately afterward a communication was received by the house from Jesse Applegate, suggesting that a messenger be sent to Washington to urge the United States government to assume control of affairs. The suggestion was at once adopted, and notice of a bill to provide for a special messenger given the same day.2
The bill to raise troops required the governor to issue a proclamation to raise a regiment of mounted riflemen by volunteer enlistment, not to exceed five
1 Or. Spectator, Dec. 10, 1847.
2 Grover's Or. Archives, 225; Polynesian, iv. 206.
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PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
hundred men, to be subject to the rules and articles of war of the United States army, and whose term of service should expire at the end of ten months, unless sooner discharged by proclamation of the governor. The regiment was required to rendezvous at Oregon City on the 25th of December, and proceed thence to the Walla Walla Valley for the purpose of punishing the natives. The fifth section of this act authorized Jesse Applegate, A. L. Lovejoy, and George L. Curry to negotiate a loan not to exceed $100,000, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the act, pledging the faith of the territory for the payment of the sums obtained by them, unless sooner dis- charged by the United States; said loan to be nego- tiated in gold and silver, or such goods as should be required by the army; provided, however, that the holder of such goods should deduct from the loan the value of the goods remaining in his hands at the ces- sation of hostilities.3
A public meeting had been called by the governor immediately on receiving Douglas' letter, which was addressed by J. W. Nesmith, H. A. G. Lee, and S. K. Barlow, and at which forty-five names were enrolled for the rifle company, which was to proceed at once to the Dalles.4 The company organized with Lee as captain ; J. Magone, Ist lieutenant ; and J. E. Ross, 2d lieutenant. The other officers were: C. H. Devendorf, commissary ; W. M. Carpenter, M. D., sur- geon ; J. S. Rinearson, Ist sergeant; C. W. Savage, 2d sergeant; William Berry, 3d sergeant; Stephen
3 Or. Spectator, Jan. 6, 1848.
+ The names of the volunteers were as follows: Joseph B. Proctor, George Moore, W. M. Carpenter, J. S. Rinearson, H. A. G. Lee, Thomas Purvis, J. Magone, C. Richardson, J. E. Ross, I. Walgamoutts, John G. Gibson, B. B. Rogers, Benj. Bratton, Sam. K. Barlow, Wm Berry, John Lassater, John Bolton, Henry W. Coe, William Beekman, Nathan Olney, Joel Witchey, John Fleming, John Little, A. J. Thomas, Geo. Westby, Edward Robson, Daniel P. Barnes, J. Kestor, D. Everest, J. H. McMillan, Jno. C. Danford, Ed. Marsh, Joel McKec, H. Levalley, J. W. Morgan, O. Tupper, R. S. Tupper, C. H. Devendorf, John Finner, C. W. Savage, Shannon, G. H. Bosworth, Jacob Johnson, Stephen Cummings, Geo. Weston. Or. Spectator, Dec. 10, 1847. In the Salem Mercury, 1877, is tho list copied from the roll of the orderly sergeant, which is the one here quoted.
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RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVES.
Cummings, 1st corporal; J. H. McMillan, 2d corporal. By noon of the 9th the company were equipped as far as it was possible for them to be from the resources at hand, and assembling at the City Hotel, received a flag from the ladies of Oregon City, which was pre- sented by Mr Nesmith, with an appropriate address. Two hours afterward the company was on its way to Vancouver, having been cheered on its errand by the firing of the city cannon and the shouts of excited spectators. Governor Abernethy accompanied them, and also the commissioners appointed by the legisla- ture to negotiate a loan which should enable the gov- ernment of Oregon to prosecute, if necessary, a war with the natives by whom the settlements were sur- rounded.5
5 The letter of the loan commissioners is as follows:
'FORT VANCOUVER, Dec. 11, 1847.
'To James Douglas, Esq. Sir: By the enclosed document you will per- ceive that the undersigned have been charged by the legislature of our provis- ional government with the difficult duty of obtaining the means necessary to arm, equip, and support in the field a force sufficient to obtain full satisfac- tion of the Cayuse Indians for the late massacre at Waiilatpu, and protect the white population of our common country from further aggression. In pursuance of this object they have deemed it their duty to make immediate application to the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company for the required assist- ance. Though clothed with the power to pledge, to the fullest extent, the faith and means of the present government of Oregon, they do not consider this pledge the only security of those who, in this distressing emergency, may extend to the people of this country the means of protection and redress. Without claiming any especial authority from the government of the United States to contract a debt to be liquidated by that power, yet from all pre- cedents of like character in the history of our country, the undersigned feel confident that the United States government will consider the murder of the late Dr Whitman and lady as a national wrong, and will fully justify the people of Oregon in taking active measures to obtain redress for that outrage, and for their protection from further aggression. The right of self-defence is tacitly accorded to every body politic in the confederacy to which we claim to belong, and in every case similar to our own, within our knowledge, the general government has promptly assumed the payment of all liabilities grow- ing out of the measures taken by the constituted authorities to protect the lives and property of those residing within the limits of their districts. If the citizens of the states and territories east of the Rocky Mountains are jus- tified in promptly acting in such emergencies, who are under the immediate protection of the general government, there appears no room to doubt that the lawful acts of the Oregon government will receive a like approval. Should the temporary character of our government be considered by you sufficient ground to doubt its ability to redeem its pledge, and reasons growing out of its peculiar organization be deemed sufficient to prevent the recognition of its acts by the government of the United States, we feel it our duty, as private individuals, to inquire to what extent, and on what terms, advances may be had of the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company, to meet the wants of the force
.
673
APPEAL TO DOUGLAS.
On application to the chief factor at Vancouver for assistance of a monetary nature, and of such amount, the commissioners met with a difficulty which no doubt the better informed citizens of the country were pre- pared to anticipate, but which many were unable to understand, and which related to the order of the London directors to the company in Oregon, not to deal in government securities, after the experience they had had in the case of White, acting as Indian agent. In his reply to the loan commissioners, with- out an explanation of the origin of the order, which would have been quite as offensive as his refusal, Douglas declared his inability to make the required advance for the company.6
This answer, though not unexpected by the com- missioners, was a disappointment. To no other source could they look for such supplies as the army needed. At the same time, with the indebtedness of the set- tlers to the company, and their experience in collect- ing debts from the general government, there was
the authorities of Oregon deem it their duty to send into the field. With sentiments of the highest respect, allow us to subscribe ourselves, Your most obedient servants, Jesse Applegate, A. L. Lovejoy, Geo. L. Curry, Commis- sioners.' Or. Archives, 322-3; Gray's Hist. Or., 538.
6 Fort Vancouver, Dec. 11, 1847. To Jesse Applegate, A. L. Lovejoy, George L. Curry, Esquires. Gentlemen: I have had the honor of your com- munication of this date, and have given an attentive perusal to the documents accompanying it. With a deep feeling of the importance of the object which has procured me the honor of your present visit, and the necessity of the measures contemplated for the punishment of the Cayuse Indians and for the future protection of the country, I can on the present occasion only repeat the assurance verbally given in our conversation of yesterday, that I have no authority to grant loans or make any advances whatsoever on account of the Hudson's Bay Company, my orders on that point being so positive that I cannot deviate from them without assuming a degree of responsibility which no circumstances could justify to my own mind. It is, however, in accord- ance with the spirit and letter of my instructions from the Hudson's Bay Company, to exert their whole power and influence in maintaining the peace of the country, and in protecting the white population from Indian outrage. The force equipped and despatched, at their sole expense, to Walla Walla, under the command of Mr Ogden, immediately on receiving the intelligence of the disastrous event at Waiilatpu, is an earnest of our attention to the calls of humanity. The object of that expedition is, with the blessing of God, to prevent further aggression, to rescue the women and children who survived the massacre from the hands of the Indians, and to restore them to their afflicted friends. Trusting that these objects may be successfully accom- plished, I have the honor, etc., James Douglas, C. F. H. B. Co. Oregon Archives, MS., 66-7.
HIST. OR., VOL. I. 43
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RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVES.
reason to expect objections even had there been no positive order from the directors to guide them in their decision. It could hardly be doubted, either, that they deprecated the prospect of an Indian war which would be the ruin of their trade, and perhaps the destruction of their several interior posts. The policy of the company had always been one of peace; on peace depended their success. To be known to have assisted the Americans in making war would destroy their long-sustained good standing with the natives. From whatever point of view they regarded it, there was every reason to avoid being involved in the impending war. On the first intimation of what had happened, without a day's delay, they had despatched their ablest and most popular Indian trader to the country of the Cayuses, attended by a party of sufficient strength to defend Fort Walla Walla if necessary, but at the same time to secure, if possible, the safety of the prisoners in the hands of the In- dians; in short, to do what, in Mr Ogden's judgment, appeared to be best for all. Douglas probably thought that the matter might be safely left in Ogden's hands ; and that the appearance of an American army in the country might defeat his measures. Should he, then, wish to aid in doing what would be opposed to the best interests of both British and American citizens ? The question could have but one solution in his mind, and he may have thanked fortune for the order which enabled him to refuse to put an army in the Indian country.
But there was another side of the subject to be considered. The case was such that according to the usages of the company itself, the individual murder- ers must be punished. And by the same rule, the Americans must punish them. To refuse to assist them to do this was against their own sense of right. Besides, a refusal, under the provocation from which they were suffering, would be likely to exasperate the Americans against the company in which case there
675
MUSTERING RECRUITS.
might be trouble at home. Under all the circum- stances, Douglas did what was undoubtedly the wisest thing; he accepted the security of the governor and two of the commissioners, Applegate and Love- joy, and advanced the means to equip and put in the field the first company of Oregon riflemen, at a cost of about a thousand dollars.
On obtaining these supplies, the volunteers pro- ceeded without unnecessary delay to the Dalles, where they were to remain in charge of the mission property until reënforced.
But one company of less than fifty men could not make war upon several powerful tribes, likely to com- bine at the first intimation of hostilities on the part of the Americans. The business of the loan commis- sioners was, therefore, only begun. On the 13th of December they addressed a letter to the merchants and citizens of Oregon, in very much the same lan- guage in which they had addressed the Hudson's Bay Company.7
The success attending the labors of the commis- sioners was entirely inadequate to the demand for means to put in the field five hundred men in the winter season, the amount secured being only $3,600,8
7 It differed only in the concluding paragraph: 'Though the Indians of the Columbia have committed a great outrage upon our fellow-citizens passing through their country and residing among them, and their punishment for these murders may and ought to be a prime object with every citizen of Ore- gon, yet, as that duty more particularly devolves upon the government of the United States and admits of delay, we do not make this the strongest ground upon which to found our earnest appeal to you for pecuniary assistance. It is a fact well known to every person acquainted with the Indian character that by passing silently over their repeated thefts, robberies, and murders of our fellow-citizens, they have been emboldened to the commission of the appalling massacre at Waiilatpu. They call us women, destitute of the hearts and courage of men; and if we allow this wholesale murder to pass by as former aggressions, who can tell how long either life or property will be secure in any part of the country, or what moment the Willamette will be the scene of blood and carnage? The officers of our provisional government have nobly performed their duty. None can doubt the readiness of the patriotic sons of the west to offer their personal services in defence of a cause so righteous. So it now rests with you, gentlemen, to say whether our rights and our firesides shall be defended or not.' Or. Archives, 323-5; Victor's River of the West, 429-30.
8 Of this, $1,000 was obtained from citizens, $1,000 was a loan from Mr Roberts, superintendent of the Oregon Methodist Mission, and $1,600 from
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RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVES.
and after making their appeal to the people they resigned, and another board was appointed by legis- lative act, consisting of A. L. Lovejoy, Hugh Burns, and W. H. Willson. The new commissioners were not able to collect funds, but were obliged to take orders on the stores in Oregon City, in consequence of which it was impossible for the commissary-general to obtain articles for the use of the army, money being required to purchase axes and spades to make a road for the wagons to pass up the Columbia River ; and the commissioners were in some cases obliged to dis- count twenty-five per cent of the subscriptions, in order to obtain cash. What the commissioners could not furnish the volunteers and the citizens supplied out of their private resources, taking receipts for any considerable amount of property.
The company destined for the Dalles were chiefly from the late settlers. It took somewhat longer to move men located on farms far up the valley. They did move, however, with surprising quickness, consid- ering the difficulties to be overcome.
On the day following the departure of the Dalles company, the legislature proceeded to elect officers for the army, the election resulting in the choice of Corne- lius Gilliam, colonel commandant, James Waters, lieu- tenant-colonel, H. A. G. Lee, major, and Joel Palmer, commissary-general. Their next act was to pass a bill to provide for a messenger to be sent to the United States,9 their choice falling on Joseph L. Meek, who
the merchants of Oregon City. Report of Loan Commissioners, Grover's Or. Archives, 332-3. Waldo says in his Critiques, MS., 6, that he and Applegate contributed $1,000, and that he went around the valley soliciting subscriptions.
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