USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I > Part 22
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In 1890 there were on various reservations 133,417 Indians actually under the charge of the Indian Office ; and to 57,960 of these subsist- ence was regularly issued by the Government. Rations are now drawn regularly by probably 40,000 Indians-among thiem being a large number who are too old or too feeble to work, and who have been deserted by their young relatives. The reservation system and the ration scheme are doomed !
From the first settlement of this country mich zeal and dis- interested philanthropy have been exercised in attempts to convert the Indians to Christianity, and induce them to adopt the manners and customs of civilized men. Also, at an early day, efforts were begin here and there in the different Colonies to educate the Indians in schools and colleges. The work, both of christianizing and educat- ing the Indians, has been continued up to the present time, and has gradually and constantly grown in extent and importance. It 11111st be admitted, however, that the results desired and expected in the earlier days of this work by its supporters and laborers were not reached, except in a small proportion of cases. Only here and there, in the long line of Indians who received the benefits of religious and scholastic training in those days, could be found one who-like Samp-
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son Occum, for instance-made good use of his acquirements and was of benefit to his fellow menl.
Apaumet was a Mohegan, who was carefully educated at Princeton College, where he was named John Calvin. He acquired a good knowledge of the classics and of English literature, of which, as he had a retentive memory, he was on occasions not a little vain. He returned to his tribe on the Housatonic and accompanied them to the banks of the Oneida in western New York, where, as he was neither a hunter nor a fisherman, he became a schoolmaster. Being disappointed with civiliza- tion and disheartened by the life he led, he attempted to drown his sor- rows in the intoxicating bowl. Often, while inebriated, he would recite some of the finest passages of Homner. He said that his knowledge was useless to him because he had no letters to write and no accounts to keep ; and that his study of history had taught him that his people were savages and he himself a lettered savage, alike unfit for Indian or civilized life.
In July, 1787, John Ledyard *- then in far-off Siberia-wrote in his journal as follows : "In the United States of America, as in Russia, we have inade an effort to convert our Tartars to think and act like us; but to what effect? Among us Sampson Occuin was pushed the farthest within the pale of civilization. * The Marquis de Lafayette had a young American Tartar, of the Onondaga tribe, who caine to see him, and the Marquis at much expense equipped him in rich Indian dresses. After staying some time he fled, and sought his own elysium in the bosom of his native forests. When I was at school at Mount Ida [Dartmouth College] many Indians were there, most of whom gave promise of being civilized, and some were sent forth to preach ; but as far as I myself observed, and have been since informed, they all returned to the homes and customs of their fathers, and followed the inclinations which Nature had so deeply enstamped on their characters."
Only a few weeks before Ledyard wrote the foregoing lines, the following stanzas were printed in The Pennsylvania Packet, a Phila- delphia newspaper. So far as the present writer is aware, they have never been republished until now.
"THE INDIAN STUDENT ; OR, FORCE OF NATURE."
"From Susquehanna's utmost springs ( Where savage tribes pursue their game), His blanket tied with yellow strings, A shepherd of the forest came.
"From long debate the Council rose, And, viewing Shalum's tricks with joy, To Harvard's Hall-o'er wastes of snows- They sent the tawny-colored boy.
"Awhile he writ, awhile he read, Awhile he learned their grammar rules- An Indian savage, so well bred, Great credit promis'd to the schools.
"Some thought he would in law excel, Some said in physic he would shine, And one, that knew him passing well, Beheld in him a sound divine.
"The tedious hours of study spent, The heavy-moulded lecture done,
He to the woods a-hunting went, But sighed to see the setting sun.
* See page S6.
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"'And why,' he cried, 'did I forsake My native wood for gloomy walls ; The silver stream, the limpid lake, For munsty books and college halls !'
" 'Where Nature's ancient forests grow, And mingled laurel never fades, My heart is fixed, and I must go To die among my native shades.'
"He spoke, and to the western springs (His gown discharg'd, his money spent, His blanket tied with yellow strings) The shepherd of the forest went !"
In 1775 the Continental Congress made a spasmodic effort in the direction of the education of Indian children. Treaty agreements with the various Indian tribes, relative to the education of their children, began to be made as early as 1794, and continued to be made down to only a few years ago. The actual work of Indian education, however, was practically in the hands of various religions denominations until July, 1870, when Congress appropriated $100,000. for Indian schools. Since then the work of education has been conducted by means of schools located on and off the various Indian reservations, and known as (1) nonreservation boarding-schools, (2) reservation boarding-schools and (3) day-schools. The first class, not being on the reservations, are 11sually located near the centers of civilization, and are, as a rule, large institutions. Reservation boarding-schools are the home schools of the Indians, in which their children are collected from the reservations. Day-schools are near the camps of the Indians, and within easy reach of their homes. Various Churches also maintain in the Indian country denominational schools whose educational methods are valuable aids to the work done by the Government.
Prior to 1878, when a contract was made with Hampton Institute, Virginia, for the education of certain Indian pupils, all the efforts of the Government were directed to the education of Indians on their reserva- tions. In 1879 the old United States Army barracks at Carlisle, Penn- sylvania, were turned over for Indian school purposes, and the first non- reservation school was established. There are now twenty-five of these schools, the one at Carlisle being the largest. The latter is admirably equipped, and from 1,000 to 1,200 boys and girls, representing more than eighty Indian tribes, are enrolled in the school and receive practical instruction in farming, gardening, dairying and the everyday affairs of life (by means of the onting system), in addition to instruction in the school-room and shops. At Hampton the average number of Indian youth enrolled as students is from 140 to 150, representing more than twenty tribes. The literary training and the industrial work at this school are well correlated, and both are of the most practical and effective character. Of the second class of schools-reservation board- ing-schools-there are ninety now being conducted, only five of which were in operation prior to 1870. The number of day-schools now in operation is 134-making the total number of Indian schools in the country 249, with an average enrolment of 24,757 pupils. The cost of maintaining these schools for the year ended June 30, 1902, was $3,437,785.
While many of the students who return from the schools to their homes seemingly relapse into their old ways, the majority profit by the
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training they have received. There are some Indian Agents, however, who seem to be of the opinion that all "Indian education is a failure." Representative of those who thus believe is the Agent of Ponca Agency in Oklahoma, who, in his annual report for 1902 to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, said :
"Under the rules governing the management of Indian schools we are compelled to send many of the children to the higher or nonreservation schools, which is, in my opinion, in most cases useless, as very few Indians possess the necessary receptive facul- ties to be benefited by higher education. The children should and can receive sufficient education, both literary and industrial, at the reservation boarding-school to serve them for all practical purposes. To continue the education further is, in about nine cases out of every ten, a waste of effort and money. I have yet to see a single Indian educated for any profession or trade who is able to compete with white people in his line. As he can- not compete, he must of necessity return to his reservation on completion of his school life ; and as his education has tended rather to unfit than to fit him for making a living on his allotment, he must inevitably become an idler and so degenerate.
* * "Hardly any of the young Indians-those who have graduated from the non- reservation schools, as well as those who have attended for a number of years-do any work at all. It can be set down as a perfectly safe rule that, as a class, the young edu- cated Indians are the most worthless ones in the whole tribe. Nearly all of the work done by these tribes [at the Ponca Agency] is that performed by the middle-aged, able-bodied ones, who cannot write or speak English. When an educated Indian, after coming from the schools, is urged to strike out for himself and work his own land, he usually gives the excuse that he has nothing with which to work-neither money, implements nor stock of any kind, and therefore cannot accomplish anything."
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in an official letter to Indian Agents early in 1902, wrote :
"The returned male student far too frequently goes back to the reservation and falls into the old custom of letting his hair grow long. He also paints profusely and adopts all the old habits and customs which his education in our industrial schools has tried to eradicate. The fault does not lie so much with the schools as with the conditions found on the reservations. * *
* On many of the reservations the Indians of both sexes paint, claiming that it keeps the skin warm in Winter and cool in Summer, but instead this paint melts when the Indian perspires and runs down into the eyes. The use of this paint leads to many diseases of the eyes among those Indians who paint. * * * You are therefore directed to induce your male Indians to cut their hair, and both sexes to stop painting. * * The wearing of citizens' clothing, instead of the Indian costume and blanket, should be encouraged. Indian dances and so-called Indian feasts should be prohibited. In many cases these dances and feasts are simply subterfuges to cover degrading acts and to disguise immoral purposes."
In February, 1902, in a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs wrote :
"Dances that are degrading and so-called religious rites that are immoral, though gradually disappearing, still prevail. It is these and similar practices, and the customs that are incident to them, that the Indian must relinquish if he is to succeed. *
* * The Indian must work out his own salvation. To do that he must learn to labor. He must put aside all savage ways that are inimical to that. He must adapt himself to the ways of the civilization around him, and cease to be a mere curiosity and a show. * It is not that long hair, paint, blankets, etc., are objectionable in themselves-that is largely a question of taste-but that they are a badge of servitude to savage ways and traditions which are effectual barriers to the uplifting of the race. *
* It is a · familiar saying that error lies at two extremes and truth in the middle, and a striking illustration of the truth of this is found in the Indian question. At one extreme there is a cold brutality which recognizes the dead Indian as the only good Indian, and at the other a sickly sentimentalisin that crowns the Indian with a halo and looks up to him as a persecuted saint. Between the two will be found the true friends of the Indian, who, look- ing upon him as he really is and recognizing his inevitable absorption by a stronger race, are endeavoring in a practical way to fit him under new conditions for the struggle of life."
In October, 1680, a great comet appeared in the heavens, and a sachem of one of the New Jersey tribes of Indians, who was observed to be looking with solemn attention at the wonderful object, was asked what he thought it portended. He gravely answered : "It signifies that we Indians shall melt away like the snow in Spring, and this country be inhabited by another people."
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In the judgment of the best authorities* "it is not probable that the present [1890] area of the United States since the white man came has contained at one time more than 500,000 Indians. High estimates were made in early days, but the average even then was about 1,000,000." In the Summer of 1774 Governor Hutchinson of Massachusetts, who was supposed to be well informed as to the condition of affairs in the American Colonies, was in London, where, in an audience with the King, he stated that it looked "as if in a few years the Indians would be extinct in all parts of the Continent-owing in part to their being dispirited at their low, despicable condition among the Europeans, who have taken possession of their country and treat them as an inferior race of beings; but [owing] more to their immoderate use of spirituous liquors."
In June, 1822, the Rev. Jededialı Morse, Special Indian Cominis- sioner of the United States, mnade a detailed report relative to the Indians then within the limits of the United States together with what is now the State of Texas. The report gives the names of 230 tribes, witli a total population of 471,417. The censuses prior to 1850 did not include Indians, and they were not stated in the total of population. In 1853, under the Seventh Census (1850), it was reported that there were 400,764 Indians in the country-but accuracy was not claimed by the framers of this report, as, confessedly, there were a good many "estimates" included in the report. The census of 1870 showed a total of 313,712 civilized and uncivilized Indians, exclusive of those in Alaska; and that of 1890 a total of 248,253. Both of these totals in- cluded the "Five Civilized Tribes" of Indian Territory-the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles, 111111bering 50,055 souls in 1890.
The Indians of the "Five Civilized Tribes," or Nations, are not taxed and are not under the control of the Indian Office. They are fairly indus- trious, entirely self-supporting, and a law-abiding people, living on pat- ented lands, with a large surplus of cash each year from payments made by the United States Government, and the results from an almost primi- tive system of agriculture. They have large herds of cattle, horses and sonne sheep. They have several large towns and villages, composed of substantially-built brick, frame and log houses. No liquor is allowed to be sold in the Territory. Ninety per cent. of the "Five Tribes" prac- tise the white man's ways and have his customs. They wear citizens' clothing. Now and then a man can be found with an Indian pipe, and sometimes one wears moccasins, and shawls as well as blankets are
worn. Some individuals of the tribes are still classed as "old-time" Indians and maintain a sturdy adherence to the old Indian faith. Medicine men are still to be found among them. The number of Church communicants among the "Five Tribes" is large, although there are still some pagans remaining. As a whole their condition is not the civilization of the Anglo-Saxon. A large number of each Nation are quarter and half-breeds-in fact, are white men in features- and the majority of them still use the Indian language. Each Nation is governed by a "Principal Chief," and has an elective legislature, elective courts, officers and police.
According to the Eleventh Census (1890) there were then in the State of New York 726 civilized and self-supporting Indians of various
* See "Report on Indians in the United States at the Eleventh Census, " page 57.
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tribes, living off reservations, taxed, and counted in the general census; also, 5,309 Indians of the Six Nations occupying seven reservations, comprehending 87,327 acres of the lands they originally occupied. In 1902 these last-mentioned Indians numbered 5,272. Many of them are pagans-that is, they hold to the beliefs of their fathers and are opposed to the white man and his methods. They are self-sustaining and much farther advanced in civilization than any other reservation Indians in the United States, and as much as an average number of white people in many localities. On all their reservations crimes are few, and quarrel- ing, resulting in personal assault, is infrequent.
At the Eleventh Census there were living in various parts of Pennsylvania 983 civilized, self-supporting and taxed Indians (not including the pupils in the Carlisle school or in Lincoln Institution, Philadelphia, who were enumerated with the populations of the respect- ive reservations to which they belonged) ; also, eleven Onondaga Indians and eighty-seven Senecas-representing twenty-four families- residing on the Cornplanter Reservation in Warren County. This reservation is the property of the heirs of Chief "Cornplanter"* (referred
* JOHN O'BAIL, or Gy-ant-wa-hia ("The Cornplanter"), the half-breed son of an old Indian trader named Abiel, or O'Bail, and a woman of the Seneca tribe, was born in New York about the year 1733. Before the age of nineteen or twenty he began to evince superior sagacity and unusual bravery, and in 1753 was selected by Sir William Johnson to serve as his orderly. In the Summer of 1760, in the cam- paign against the French, resulting in the surrender of Montreal, Sir William Johnson commanded a "brigade" of Indians. The "western regiment" of this "brigade" was composed of 700 Iroquois-mainly Senecas and Cayugas-led by the redoubtable chief of the Senecas, Hi-o-ka-to, aided by Capt. Jean Montour and the young "Cornplanter." In 1765 "Cornplanter," already acknowledged to be a "great war-chief," dwelt at Old Castle Town, at the foot of Seneca Lake, near the present site of Geneva, New York. Ezra Buell, a surveyor, visited this town in 1765, and in his "Narrative" (see Buell's "Sir William Johnson," page 239) thus refers to the Seneca chief: "Cornplanter's wife is a white woman, young and neat. He does not allow her to work, but keeps two or three squaws to be servants for her. He is a fine, stalwart fellow, very sensible ; keeps open house for his friends, and is true to the King as steel."
During the Revolutionary War "Cornplanter" was in league with and fought on the side of the British. Immediately on the close of hostilities, being deserted by his British allies, he became con- vinced that he had been on the wrong side in the contest, and that the true policy for his tribe and race was to accept the situation and make friends with the victors. In October, 1784, "Cornplanter," then chief of the Senecas located on the Allegheny River, was present at the treaty held at Fort Stanwix, between the United States commissioners and the Six Nations, and it was mainly through "Cornplanter's" efforts that the Indians were induced to sign the agreement by which the Six Nations were to relinquish a large part of the territory they claimed to own; to restore all prisoners in their possession. and to perform other obligations. In December, 1790, a delegation of Senecas headed by "Cornplanter"-who was then the head-chief of his nation-visited Philadelphia for the purpose of laying some grievances before Congress and asking for aid in introducing agriculture and the arts of civilized life among the Senecas. The Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who, as their adviser and counsellor, was with this delegation during their stay of several weeks at the capital, was instrumental during that time in converting the chief to the Christian faith. In his journal Mr. Kirkland wrote (see Sparks' "American Biography," XV : 303) : "I think I never enjoyed inore agreeable society with any Indian than Captain Abiel ["Cornplanter"] has afforded me. He seems raised up by Providence for the good of his nation. He exhibits uncommon genius, possesses a very strong and distinguishing mind and will bear the most mental application of any Indian I was ever acquainted with. * * * He is an exception in regard to sobriety and temperance to the generality of Indians, never having been once intoxicated during the whole course of his life."
During the troubles with the Indians in the years 1790-'94 "Cornplanter" maintained his allegiance to the United States most faithfully, and rendered valuable assistance to the General Government and in the protection of the western frontiers of Pennsylvania. For these services he received permission from the authorities of this State to select from its unappropriated territory 1,500 acres of land for himself and his posterity. For his own occupancy he selected a tract of land two miles long and one-half mile wide on the west bank of the Allegheny River (and including two islands in the river), in the north-east corner of what is now Warren County. The remainder of the lands selected by him lay in what is now Venango County, Pennsylvania, and included the site of the present Oil City. All these lands were patented to "Cornplanter" by the Commonwealth in March, 1796. Upon the smaller of the two tracts (the one first mentioned, and now known as the Cornplanter Reservation) the famous chief located with his family in 1797, and here he lived until his death in 1836, at the age of about one hundred and three years.
In April, 1822, "Cornplanter" addressed a letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania, in which he com- plained that the whites had broken the treaty of Fort Stanwix by destroying all the wolves, by stealing his melons and vines, by destroying the pine trees and by bringing among the Indians great quantities of whisky, by which his people became drunken. He also protested against being compelled by the authorities of Warren County to pay taxes on his land, and in conclusion requested that a commissioner might be sent to the Allegheny to inquire into his situation and "to instruct the white people how they should conduct themselves towards the Indians."
"Cornplanter" was a half-brother of "Handsome Lake," mentioned on page 122. For a number of years "Cornplanter" and the famous Seneca chief and orator, "Red Jacket," were strong rivals. It is stated in "Chambers' Encyclopedia" (edition of 1897, I : 225) that ""'Cornplanter' * * is said to have been the earliest temperance lecturer in America." In 1866 the Legislature of Pennsylvania. authorized the erection of a monument to the memory of the old chieftan, which was done at a cost of $550., "and now marks the grave of one of the bravest, noblest and truest specimens of the aboriginal race."
In 1903 Prof. Frederick Starr (see page 166) originated "The Cornplanter Medal," a silver medal- named in honor of the great Seneca chief-to be annually presented to that person in the United States who during the year shall have most distinguished himself in research work among the American Indians.
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to on page 135), and consequently is not mentioned by the Commnis- sioner of Indian Affairs in his annual reports. The conditions of the Indians on this reservation are similar to those of the Six Nations who occupy the Allegany Reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York (immediately adjoining Warren County, Pennsylvania), and they are duly considered and treated of in the official reports relative to that reservation. The "Coruplanter" Senecas belong to the Seneca nation, voting with them for officers annually, and having a representative in the nation's council. They own a common interest in all the Seneca lands in New York, and share in the annuities that are paid. They have been admitted to the privileges of citizenship in Pennsylvania.
It is a common belief, among those who have not given the sub- ject any special attention, that there are now very few Indians-particu- larly uncivilized ones-existing in this country; and that the few who are here are either cooped up on reservations or traveling with "Wild West" shows or taking a college course. The report of the Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs for the year ended June 30, 1902 (the latest report now available), shows that there were then 270,238 untaxed Indians in the United States exclusive of Alaska and the Cornplanter Reservation in Pennsylvania. Of this number 84,500 were members of the "Five Civilized Tribes" (including some 21,000 persons of negro descent), and 5,272 of the Six Nations, as previously noted. These 270,238 "wards of the Nation" were located in twenty-seven different States and Territories, and all of them, with the exception of 21,673, occupied reservations. Twenty-seven of these reservations were "allot- ted," and 132 of them (comprehending 75,148,643 acres of land) were wholly or in part "unallotted." Of the 185,738 Indians exclusive of the "Five Civilized Tribes" there were 102,300 who wore citizens' dress wholly, and 41, 844 who wore it in part; and there were 47,081 who could read, and 62,616 who could use English enough for ordinary purposes.
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