USA > Washington > Spokane County > An illustrated history of Spokane county, state of Washington > Part 4
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HISTORY OF SPOKANE COUNTY.
ners, nine clerks, with some mechanics, and an assorted cargo for the Indian and Chinese trade. Mr. Ross was born at Nairnshire, Scotland, in 1783. He came to Canada when twenty-two years old, and taught school until he joined the Astor expedition. He continued a fur-trader until 1824, the most of the time in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. About 1825 he removed to the Red River set- tlement and was sheriff of the settlement for several years. Died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 26, 1856.
Mr. Franchere was born November 3. 1786, at Montreal, and spent his early years in school and behind the counter of his father's mercantile establishment. When he entered the employ of the Pacific Fur Company he agreed to serve the company for five years as a clerk. On April 12th the party were landed on the south side of the Columbia, ten miles from its mouth, and the company's principal port, called Astoria, was founded. Franchere exhibited a wonderful talent for acquiring the Indian languages of the country. He made several excursions up the Columbia and other directions. After the abandonment of the Pa- cific Fur Company, he was for some time in the employ of the Northwest Company, but he improved the first opportunity to return to Montreal by the Canadian overland route, up the Columbia, and across the Rocky moun- tains. He pleasantly surprised his parents by arriving home September 1, 1814. He died at St. Paul, at the age of seventy. In his book he refers to a post of the Northwest Company on a river which they called Spokan. ( Page 119). He refers to the transference of the Pacific Fur Company's post on the Spokan to the Northwest company. He also refers to the arrival from the post at Spokan of Messrs. J. Stuart and Clark while encamping at Kettle falls. (Page 200). Another work is that of Ross Cox, entitled, "Adventures on the Columbia River, including an account of a Six Years Residence on the Western Side of
the Rockies." Mr. Cox was on the second ves- sel, the Beaver, fitted up by Astor, and engaged himself as a clerk for the Pacific Fur Company. The Beaver sailed from New York in 1811. His book gives account of experiences while serving the Pacific Fur Company and North- west Company, a period of five years, also his journey across the continent. In his work are found many facts relative to the Indians, which have been extensively copied by later writers. He spent a season among the Spokane Indians. In chapter 9, page 99, he refers to the arrival of the party at Spokan. In describing the location of a post, by the Pacific Fur Company, he says, "The spot selected for forming our establishment was a handsome point of land, formed by the junction of the Spokan and Pointed Heart rivers, the Little Spokan thinly covered with pineand other trees, and close tola trading post of the Northwest Company." "In February we took immense quantities of carp in Spokan river." "The Spokanes we found to be a quiet, honest, inoffensive tribe, and although we had fortified our establish- ment, we seldom closed the gates at night." "Their country did not abound in furs, and they were rather indolent in hunting. Their chief, Illinspokanee, or the Son of the Sun, was a harmless old man, who spent a great portion of his time between us and Mr. McMil- lian." Irving, in his Astoria, refers to the Spokan posts. "The place on which he (Clark) fixed for a trading post, was a fine point of land at the junction of the Pointed Heart and Spokan rivers. His establishment was intended to compete with a trading post of the Northwest Company, situated at no great distance, and to rival it in the trade with the Spokan Indians, as well as with the Coo- toonas and Flatheads." It was the Northwest Company of Canada that established the first post on Spokane river, near the mouth of the Little Spokane. The Pacific Fur Company followed, and, as already intimated, was trans- ferred to the former company.
CHAPTER IV.
WHITMAN MISSION AT WAI-IL-AT-PU.'
A history of any portion of the "Inland Empire" cannot be complete that fails to give a prominent place to the heroic and martyred Missionary, Marcus Whitman. He estab- lished the first. missionary station in eastern Washington, six miles from Walla Walla. From his station, Wai-il-at-pu, came the first missionaries to the Spokane Indians. Rev. Samuel Parker was instrumental in leading Dr. Whitman to become a missionary to Ore- gon, and Whitman led Rev. H. H. Spalding.
Marcus Whitman was born at Rushville, Yates county, New York, September 4, 1802, and descended from a New England stock characterized by a proportionate blending of the intellectual and moral, and remarkable for longevity. He was reared amid the environ- ments of a pioneer home, and was made famil- iar with the privations incident to such life, which, other things being equal, tend generally to promote true manliness. His father dying when he was but eight years old, necessitated on his part the early exertion of physical and intellectual powers, resulting in a well devel- oped body, and a wholesome degree of self- reliance, independence, determination and pur- pose in life.
He was a man of medium height, squarely built, of mighty endurance and iron nerve ; in- domitable pluck, inflexible resolution, great practical sagacity and genuine religious devo- tion.
"He was as silent as Grant, as resolute as Thomas, as prophetic as Wendell Phillips, as daring as Custer : he entered life quietly and took up first the task which lay nearest to his hand, that of a physician. His earnest desire was the ministry, but the way did not
scem to open. Later in his leisure hours, he built a sawmill and gained the knowledge of tools. He worked and waited. developing himself for whatever call his country or the world might have for him." The call came to go to the unknown regions of the west. Start- ing in the spring of 1836. we find Marcus Whitman, M. D., and wife, Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife, of whom we shall have more to rec- ord, and Mr. W. H. Gray ready to start on their long journey to the far away Oregon. It was a scene that would have delighted the heart of angelic beings. Five brave hearts with the power of the Holy Spirit upon them, undertaking a task that seemed to need super- human courage. In the name of the Most High God, and relying upon His grace, they are determined to face obstacles and perils in- describable, and enter upon a great and glori- ous mission, nothing less than the civilizing and christianizing of the wild savages of the far west. For though three had preceded them as missionaries, yet they were the ones that in- troduced Christian civilization among the na- tives of the Pacific Northwest. They were the primary agencies in destroying the mon- strous monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, which for a century and a half utilized the northern portion of this continent for fur and pelfry. They were the John the Baptist preparing the way for the coming multitudes. and the heralds of the great coming immigra- tion of family life. At St. Louis they found the American Fur Company preparing for its annual expedition to the mountains. At Council Bluffs they joined the great caravan with about two hundred persons in all and six hundred animals. They had been repeatedly
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HISTORY OF SPOKANE COUNTY.
warned on the way of the presumption of at- tempting to take their wives across the plains and over the mountains. The officials of the American Fur Company remonstrated against assuming the responsibility of protecting them, and only yielded because of the service ren- dered them by Dr. Whitman during their trip the previous season.
On they went, day by day, the monotony of the journey being broken by interruptions of various kinds and scenes of perpetual varia- tions. Who can conceive of the obstacles they had to encounter as they moved along the vast prairies where the antelopes and buffalos roved, through the dense forests, across swamps and wide and deep rivers overflowing their banks, But the courage of the women never failed them. Mr. Spalding, on account of the fre- quent misfortunes and the feebleness of his wife, was sometimes ready to give up in de- spair, but Mrs. Spalding would invariably ex- press the determination to press on towards their destination or die in the attempt. She gave evidence of phenomenal endurance. Being feeble when they started she suffered much on the way. At one time she failed to keep up with the company and it was thought that she could not live, but she rallied again and was spared to do a great work among the Indians, especially in translating portions of the Scriptures and some hymns into the Nez Perce language. The mountain men acted especially gallant towards these women.
The true nobility of the women seemed to impress them. They felt honored in having them in the country. AA mountain man is re- ported to have said, pointing to them : "There is something the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company can not expel from the country.' How true these words proved to be, for the advent of these women was the beginning of a new era in the history of the Pacific Northwest. In this company we truly find the elements or germs of Christian civilization. Something that cannot be expelled or suppressed. With
them we find a quart of wheat, the Bible, and two wives. This meant the tilling of the soil, cultivated farms, harvest fields, flour mills, pure morality, light of the Gospel. family life, the Christian home and nurture.
The journey lasted from March to Sep- tember, 1836, marked not only by the presence of the women but also by the successful effort of Dr. Whitman to take with them, on its wheels, the first wagon into this country.
By these two events was the scale turned to- wards the civilization of this then far-off coun- try.
Dr. Whitman established a mission on the Walla Walla river. This is no place to give particulars as to this mission or enter into any controversial points, but to deal with facts, for despite the cavil and slur and doubts of some historians, it is a fact as "clear as the noon-day sun" that Dr. Whitman, moved by patriotic motives, did make the long ride from Oregon to Washington, D. C., in the winter of 1842 .and 1843. The praise of that famous ride de- serves to be sung in all languages. It was certainly one of the most remarkable feats of history and many have declared it as unparal- leled, and the results of it are still operative and will continue through the progress of his- tory. As already mentioned, the first mis- sionaries to the Spokanes first came to the Whitman mission, became a part of it. and continued connected with it in some respects. They were members of the church at Wai-il- at-pu while laboring at Tshimakain, Walker's Prairie, and in many ways received aid, coun- sel and encouragement.
Dr. Whitman's name is more widely known probably to-day than any person connected with the Pacific Northwest, and he has been instru- mental in advertising the country to a greater extent than any other person or agency.
The facts connected with the massacre of Dr. Whitman, his noble wife and nine others on November 29. 1847. are well known. For many years the grave of the martyred mis-
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HISTORY OF SPOKANE COUNTY.
sionaries was neglected, but November 29 and 30, 1897, on the fiftieth anniversary of the mas- sacre, a monument was dedicated near the grave at Wai-il-at-pu. The ceremony was conducted under the auspices of the Oregon Pioneer Association.
The monument is made of Barre granite and cost over two thousand dollars. It is placed on the highest knoll in the vicinity of the Whitman mission, over five hundred feet above the valley, and about five hundred feet distant from and two hundred higher than the original grave. A mausoleum of brick, encased in Vermont marble, and sur- mounted by a slab of polished marble, eleven feet by five and one-half feet, by four inches, on which is carved the names of the martyred band, is placed on the spot where the remains were until the monument was erected. This is enclosed by a neat iron rail four feet high.
The monument is placed on a foundation of concrete. eight feet square and eight feet deep. The first base is six feet square by one foot, eight inches; the second, four feet. ten
inches square, one foot, four inches deep; the third, three feet, ten inches square by one foot. two inches, all rough faced and having a mar- ginal draft. On the third base in raised let- ters is the name Whitman. Rising from the third base is a die of polished marble three feet square by three feet, three inches deep. This is surmounted by a cap three feet, ten inches square by one foot, six inches, which is also rockfaced and has marginal draft; then tower- ing for eighteen feet above is the polished marble shaft, a square two feet thick and slightly tapering towards the apex. The mon- ument in position weighs eighteen tons, one of the bases, the lower, weighs seven tons.
But the college bearing his name, founded by the Apostolic Cushing Eells, D. D., is the intrepid missionary's most worthy and per- manent memorial. It is making wholesome progress under the presidency of Rev. S. B. L. Penrose, and is rapidly asserting its place as the most prominent institution of learning in the great Inland Empire of the upper Col- umbia country.
CHAPTER V.
THE SPOKANES.
There is a tendency to judge the Indians 1 by their conduct in time of war. And on ac- count of cruelties and revengeful tendencies ex- hibited at such times, the almost unanimous verdict is that ascribed to a certain general, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." Pioneers necessarily become engaged in con- flicts with the natives, which bring to the sur- face the latter's savage nature. Such circum- stances are not favorable to form a right esti- mate of the Indian character. It might be said
that there has existed a mutual misunderstand- ing between the pioneer and the Indian, the former coming to the conclusion that all In- dians are bloodthirsty and unworthy of any rights or existence, while the latter come to the conclusion that all the whites are robbers and interlopers. As the natives are slowly passing away and their myths and legends to a large degree obliterated, it tends to increase the interest of the student of ethnology in their ' character, habits, customs and traditions. It
Indian Presbyterian Church, Spokane Reservation- Built by Themselves About 1880
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Indian School at Spokane Reservation
The Oldest Spokane Indians on Spokane Reservation in 1898
Spokanes
Indian Home on Spokane Reservation
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HISTORY OF SPOKANE COUNTY.
seems to me that the most thorough student should be satisfied with the elaborate treatment found in these lines from Bancroft's five vol- umes on the "Native Races." To said vol- umes the student is referred. Among all the Indians of the Pacific coast or Northwest terri- tory the inland natives, those dwelling between the Rockies and the Cascades, have been almost unanimously pronounced by explorers, and mis- sionaries, and historians, in character, morals, physique and nobility, as far superior to the dwellers on the coast. And judging from the testimonies of the most reliable authorities, we come to the conclusion that the Spokanes com- pare favorably with the rest of the inland na- tives. "The Spokans are an honest, friendly tribe. They are good hunters, but somewhat indolent, fond of gambling, despotic hus- bands and indulgent fathers. Their women are great slaves and most submissive to marital authority. They did not exhibit the same indifference to the comforts of the white man's wife as that displayed by the Flathead women, and some of them consequently became partners of the voyag- eurs. They made excellent wives and in gen- eral conducted themselves with propriety. Al- though the Spokane men are extremely jealous and punish severely any infidelity on the part of their wives, they are themselves not over scrupulous in their own conduct. We learned from the wives of the voyageurs that female violation is by no means uncommon among them. The frequent journeys that the women in the execution of their laborious duties are obliged to make alone in the woods in search of fuel, roots, etc., afford great facility to the commission of this offence, and the ravisher depends on impunity from the well-known fear of the woman to tell her husband, who might either abandon her, or, by taking the offender's life, enbroil their respective families in a san- guinary contest."-Ross Cox. page 231.
"The Spokans are far superior to the In- (lians of the coast in cleanliness, but by no
means equal in this to the Flatheads. The women are good wives and most affectionate mothers ; the old, cheerful and complete slaves. to their family; the young, lively and confid- ing, and whether married or single free from the vice of incontinence. Their village was situated on the point formed by the junction of the two rivers. Some houses were oblong. others conical, and were covered with mats or skins according to the wealth of the proprietor. Their chief riches are their horses. which they generally obtain by barter with the Nez Perces. in return for the goods which they receive from us for furs : each man, therefore, is the founder of his own fortune and their riches and poverty- are generally proportionate to their activity or indolence. The vice, however, of gambling is prevalent among them and some are such slaves. to it that they frequently lose all their horses. The spot where 'The rude forefathers of the- hamlet sleep' is about half way between the village and the fort and has quite a picturesque- appearance at a distance. When a man dies. several horses are killed and the skins are at- tached to the ends of long poles, which are planted in the graves; the number of horses. sacrificed is proportioned to the wealth of the individual. Besides the horse-skins, buffalo and deer robes, shirts of leather, blankets, pro- visions, warlike weapons, pieces of blue, green and scarlet cloth, strips of calico, moccasins. etc., are placed in and about the cemetery ; all. of which they believe will be more or less nec- essary for the deceased in the land of spirits." -Ross Cox, page 105.
The expressions and estimates of the au- thorities referred to may be somewhat con- tradictory, but on the whole they agree. Ac- cording to tradition the Spokanes were once among the most powerful and numerous tribes west of the Rocky mountains. Balch, "Bridge- of the Gods."
The Rev. S. Parker says, "The Spokane Indians denominated themselves the 'children of the sun,' which in their language is Spoke-
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HISTORY OF SPOKANE COUNTY.
in." Ross Cox also says that the chief of the region was named Illum-Spokanee, which means "Son of the Sun." Further treatment is found in other chapters. Mr. Bancroft has collected an array of facts relative to the Spo- kanes from the works of Lewis and Clarke, Ross Cox, Alexander Ross, Rev. S. Parker and government reports. They are found in Volume I, "Native Races." We shall give the result of his investigations without wearying the reader with all the references to original sources. "The Spokanes live on the Spokane river and plateau, along the banks of the Co- lumbia from below Kettle falls nearly to the Okanogan." "The Spokihnish, or Spokanes, lie south of the Schroolyelpi and chiefly upon or near the Spokane river." "The name given to a number of small bands is that given by the Cœur d'Alenes to the one living at the forks." "They are also called Sinkoman by the Koo- tonies." "These bands are eight in number. The three on the Columbia all speak a different language from the rest."-Stevens. "This tribe claim as their territory the country com- mencing on the large plain at the head of the Slawntehus, the stream entering the Columbia at Fort Colville, thence down the Spokane to the Columbia and down the Columbia halfway to Fort Okinakane, and up the Spokane and Coner d' Alene to some point between the falls and the lake on the latter." "Inhabit the coun- try on the Spokane river from its mouth to the boundary of Idaho."-Paige. "At times on the Spokane, at times on the Spokane plains." -Mullan. Spokanes differ very little from the Indians at Colville either in language, habits or appearance.
CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS.
Mr. Ross Cox in the book referred to in another chapter deals more with the Indian life than any author we know of. He gives valu- able information regarding the Spokanes as he found them from 1811 to 1816, having spent
considerable time among them during those years. Wilkes says, "There is no regularly recognized chief among the Spokanes, but an intelligent and rich man often controls the tribe by his influence." Bancroft in treating of courtship among the Indians says, "Courtship in some nations includes certain visits to the bride before marriage, and the Spokane suitor must consult both the chief and the young lady as well as her parents; indeed the latter may herself propose if she wishes." Runaway matches are not unknown; they take place oc- casionally these days. Among the Spokanes a man marrying out of his own tribe joins that of his wife, because she can work better in a country to which she is accustomed, and in the same nation all the household goods were con- sidered the wives' property. In latter times the so-called chiefs could with propriety be called leaders, finding their places as such not from inheritance as much as on account of intel- lectual ability or strength of character. As one who has lived among thie Indians many years said, "Talent counts with the Indians as much as among the whites."
INDIAN HONOR AND HONESTY.
As to these qualities in the Indian. opin- ions differ greatly, with evident tendencies on both sides to entertain extreme views. Among the Indians, like other nations, are both good and bad, noble and ignoble. "Worthless as some have been disposed to regard the Ameri- can savage, he has some traits which compare with the best of what we call our superior civ- ization. It is well established that the Indian is not necessarily by nature treacherous and bloodthirsty. These are qualities which ad- verse circumstances have entailed upon him. The struggle for existence has developed feroe- ity among all nations."-H. T. Cowley in Spokesman Review. We have evidence of no- bility of character among the Spokanes. those who have proved themselves thoroughly trust- worthy. Ross Cox tells that the Spokanes were
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HISTORY OF SPOKANE COUNTY.
so honest that there was no need of closing the gates at the post. Rev. Cushing Eells testi- fied that during a fire at Walker's Prairie not an article was lost. Articles that could have easily been taken were returned to the missionaries. Rev. S. Parker was particu- larly impressed with the honor of a Spokane In- dian. The missionary had lost his way in the Palouse country and finally found a Spokane Indian who was hired as a guide. After reach- ing a lake the Indian said that the trail was on the east side of it. But Mr. Parker was some- what nervous and offered quite a price for fur- ther guidance, but the Indian could not be persuaded to do so, arguing that it would be wrong for him to take pay for doing that which was not neces- sary. Rev. Parker says in his book that his horses and nearly all his worldly goods in charge of Indians, to meet him at Fort Walla Walla. He went in a boat on the Columbia with two Indians. In due time the Indians in charge of the horses and goods arrived at the fort bringing every thing with them in good order. On the other hand Rev. E. Walker, who may have pessimistic tendencies. wrote : "During the five years that I have been among this people, I never yet have found one who, in the strict sense of the term, could be called hon- est. Nor have I found one whose word could be depended upon, when his interest was con- cerned." He pronounced them "extremely sel- fish and apparently without principle." "It seems to me a fixed opinion among them that if you give once you are under obligations to continue giving and to double the amount every time." See Missionary Herald. 1844. page 386. Notwithstanding these representations the Spokanes proved themselves thoroughly loyal to their teach- ers after the Whitman massacre. "When the terrible news came by runner to the Spo- kanes in November. 1847. that the Cayuses had killed Dr. Whitman and family, and that a party was coming to cut off the family at
Tshimakain, the head chief at once came to Messrs. Walker and Eells and said 'Do not fear, we will protect you.' He collected his warriors, who, all armed and mounted, on some signs of the danger, rode to their house. surrounded their dwellings and became a body- guard to them and their households during that long winter until a company of volunteer cavalry under Major Magone, came to rescue and escort them to the Willamette valley in the early summer of 1848. Such was the way in which they cherished their teachers, even claiming their children as in some sort belong- ing to their country and tribe. They have been true to bible lessons in many respects ever since. Witnesses to their honesty and faith- fulness, and desire to improve themselves and their children, come from various sources. Rev. Mr. Cowley, who has charge of a church of Spokanes, testifies to their superior Christian character." Dr. G. H. Atkinson's funeral ser- mon after the death of Rev. E. Walker, 1877.
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