History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 108

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134

USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 108
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 108
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 108

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As time rolled by, Weyallup's superior intelligence and force of character asserted sway among his people and won for him the highest honors. For years he was a member of the Tribal Court, a part of the time President, or Chief of that body. With Captain Eneas he was sent as a delegate to the Na- tional Capitol, and was the recognized chief of the Ahtanum clan of the Yakimas. As an orator, he stood pre-eminently above any of his tribesmen, and although uneducated and with but a slight knowledge of the English language, his strength was felt in the last hard fought battle for the preservation of the tribal water rights. His logic is in evidence in the archives of the Indian Office in many ways. The "Memorial of the Yakima Tribe of Indians," published in pamphlet form by order of Congress, 1913, is striking. The petition therein, signed by the chief and his colleague, Louis Mann, the watch dogs of their tribe, has been quoted in some of the leading magazines as a "wonderful Indian production." To this petition has been ascribed the final overthrow of the powerful and well organized attempt to wrest from the Yakima their water rights to the value of undetermined millions. It was these two men who held the Ahtanums aloof from the graft-fostered and pernicious "Brotherhood of North American Indians," so mysteriously launched during the hottest of the fight in behalf of justice for the tribe.

Although the hand of Chief Weyallup Wayacika was never against the white man, his friendship was often requited by uncharitable acts by the "higher" race. The confirmation of the theft of the Reservation waters on the Ahtanum by Secretary of the Interior, Garfield, to the tune of "Potlatch nika hiyu chuck" (give me plenty water), improvised and sung for his election by a chosen choir at an Ahtanum picnic, is a substance of record, and the taking over of the Indian Canal, built by Chief Weyallup and his "boys" under the supervision of Agent Erwin, and for which they received not a dollar's pay, has never been

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righted. The history of this crime is set forth in the chief's own language at the end of this sketch. But perhaps the most pitiful and unprovoked wrong suffered by the old chief was the destruction of his fishtraps in the Tieton River. For the offense of an unknown Indian giving a white woman a drink of whiskey, the Sheriff destroyed the traps of the chief and ordered him to refrain from ever fishing there again on pain of being arrested and jailed. This terminated for all time his fishing at that place, recognized as his right under the treaty of 1855. As a fact the chief had nothing to do with the whiskey-white woman episode.

During the alarm caused by the Peyute war in 1878, to which the unfor- tunate Perkins tragedy in the Rattlesnake Mountain can be traced, Weyallup continued on the most friendly terms with the settlers, mingling with them and joking freely as was his wont. He was at Yakima City for three or four days during the panic, watching the whites build the "Fort" at that place. There were hot heads among the men and it was proposed that they hang Weyallup, but cooler judgment prevailed and perhaps the friendly Indian never knew how near he came to stretching hemp. Mr. W. Z. York, then Deputy Sheriff, told me of this affair. He regarded the chief as a good man and with no hostile intentions towards the whites. Athletic in his younger days, the chief was a noted wrestler and once engaged in a wrestling bout with a white champion at Yakima City, when a bystander unprovokedly struck the Indian over the head with a piece of timber, for the time rendering him hors du combat. Weyallup never forgave this flagrant wrong as long as he lived.

On page 163, "History of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas Counties, Wash- ington," is to be found an account of the arrest and gun intimidation of Weyallup during the alarm in question, because of his alleged threat to a man who was harvesting his wheat on the Naches that, "the Indians will attend to that for you." Seemingly this is all a fanciful fabrication. There was an incident not unlike it which happened on the Ahtanum at that time. The settlers were con- structing a fort built of "mud and logs" on the Dickerson ranch, and Weyallup riding by called out to the workers: "Make the walls 'strong for the bull has long horns and will tear it down." For this, the old Indians tell me, the chief was "arrested and fined one horse worth $40." Whether this was through legal channels I do not know. The "fine" may have been imposed and col- lected by a private or self constituted tribunal, as was often the case on the border, and an Indian the victim. The chief was only jesting, for which he was ever noted.

In the work quoted, page 357, is an account of the headless trunk of "Tisanawa," a "witch doctor," found in the tepee of Weyallup on the Ahtanum in September, 1903. It might be infered that the chief had a hand in the mur- der of this woman, his mother-in-law, Tisunya, but such could not have been the case. He was at the time with his wife in the mountains gathering huckle- berries. The Indian who is supposed to have done the deed is still living. The body was found after hogs had devoured the head and was carried to the tepee 1. here it was later examined by the coroner.

Among his other accomplishments, the chief was a medicine man of en- viable reputation among his people and is reputed to have performed some won-

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derful cures. He understood the language of the Wahk-puch (rattlesnake) and gained occult power from his communication with them.

Following is the memorial of Chief Weyallup to the "higher officials," as dictated to me April 13, 1913, Louis Mann interpreter. The speech is redo- lent with the beauty of unconscious native oratory.

Ahtanum, Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington.

April 13, 1913.

"You are an adopted Yakima and a friend to the tribe. I, Weyallup Wayacika, Chief of the Ahtanum, will show you my mind that you may send it to Washington that justice will be given us.

"I hear that a committee is coming soon to learn how we are treated, and I want to know ahead when this committee will be here, that I may meet these gentlemen and consult about our business. Sometimes when the Inspector comes our Agent does not tell us that he is coming and we never are per- mitted to see him and tell him our wrongs. If I speak to the Agent about this he gets mad. After this, I find the laws have been passed and that it is too late to fight these wrongs.

"I am an old man and no longer a boy. I want everything carried out right while I am yet living. We want to meet these men and this is what I am telling you that you may write it for me.

"I am glad of our new Commissioner. He will be good to all the Indians. I want an eastern man for our Agent, also clerks. This I am telling you is for all my people. I talk for all the tribe. We want good eastern men to look after our affairs. Western men help to rob us.

"Regarding our irrigation, the Reclamation people want my money or I get no water. If I pay not, my ditch is kept dry. It was not always so. I claim the soil, the water. Water was always here. It comes from the moun- tains ; the boundary lines. Had these men brought this water from a distance, I would be willing to pay for it. This year they want $1 an acre for water. I am sick. I do not sleep. I can not understand why each year they want more money. I want you to write to the proper officers and learn why this is. When the treaty was signed the law was established that the land and water was Commissioner.' When we have done this in the past, the Commissioner slept. We were left to be robbed. This is bad.

"Now I want to talk of the Ahtanum ditches where I live. This is differ- ent from the Wapato Canal of the Jones Bill. The Reclamation Service took three-fourths of my water and now I must pay for the other fourth or go dry. I am a ward of the Government. They get after me for this water. When the treaty was signed the law was established that the land and water was given us. The law was satisfied. We were satisfied. This law is still there, but it is not regarded by the whites. I have not forgotten this law, but my people are passing away. I am grieved that the white man has not kept his word. When an Indian lies, Me-yay-wah (God) is angry. When the white man lies his God is not ashamed.

"That day when the treaty was set, 'the sun, the rivers and the white moun- tains' were witnesses of the words spoken by the Indians and the white man. The law agreed that when 'these witnesses disappear,' then will our reserva-

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tion be taken from us. You see those witnesses. The sun shines; the river flows. The mountains white with snow are there. The grass grows, but the white man's word has faded. He schemes our water and our country away. "Years ago when Mr. Irwin was agent, I went after him for a ditch on the Ahtanum. The Government agreed to build a ditch for me. Mr. Erwin said, 'You people have the Wenatche fishery money and that money will build your ditch.' He said, "You make the ditch and I will pay you.' He set me as a foreman and said, 'Make the boys work and keep count of the days.' I did so. All the Ahtanum Indians helped. We worked hard. I cut timber and brought it down for the dam. All Fall we worked, then came deep snow up to our hips. We shoveled the snow away and then plowed. I had two teams. I used to get $6 a day for team work. We camped too far to go home and too deep snow. We worked three weeks in the deep snow. The Agent said, 'When the boys quit, bring them to the Fort and I will pay them.' When too cold we quit and I took them to the Fort. Lots of them. Many are now dead. I said, 'Boys want pay.' Erwin said, 'No money now.' He ask if the boys work hard. I said, 'Yes; hard work in the snow.' The Agent told me that later on we would get pay. I took the boys home without pay. Three times I went with them to the Fort, but we got no pay. Never got pay. Towards Spring, we worked again. We do not care about pay, we want the ditch completed. It was for us. During the coming years I kept the ditch in repair and kept it good. I turned in the water and it came to my place. Erwin did not look after it. The ditch broke, we fix it. We took care of it for many years. One old man, Wal-li-li-ki, now blind, had his team there every year. We got no pay. We did not want pay. We were glad to get water for our crops.

'I do not want to lose all my labor. Nobody ever paid for my labor. I look at this ditch as alive today. It is mine; as God gave me water for my land. Now the Reclamation men steal my water and I want to see why I must pay for water which is mine. When they made the new canal, they took my old ditch. They rob me. I have nothing, but I own the water. I used it for years. Now it is gone. I have no money to pay for this water.

"The ditch we built is about five or six miles long. These two men here, John Grant and William Adams, helped build it when they were little boys. They drove teams. They got no pay. The ditch is ours. I want no lies in this letter. You write it good and send it to Washington, D. C. I can get no justice here. I want the high officials to know how we are treated and robbed. I want to hear from them.

"This is all."

Copies of this appeal were mailed to the Secretary of the Interior, Com- missioner of Indian Affairs and Hon. J. H. Stevens, chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs. Mr. Stevens acknowledged receipt, but nothing was ever heard from either of the other copies. The old Chief died waiting to hear from the "higher officials."

Yahpahmox, the wife of Chief Weyallup, died December 17, 1913.

CHIEF SLUSKIN WEOWIKT

Chief Sluskin Wcowikt, the primitive, was the opposite of Chief Weyallup

Copyrighted

Photo, 1911

CHIEF SLUSKIN WE-OWIKT

A true Yakima, one of a line of chieftains descended from a star. Died Dec. 26, 191; From Me Whorter's " The Crime Against the Yakimas"

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Wayacika, the progressive. Representing the non-progressive of his tribe, he opposed the stamping out of the ancient customs of his people with all the power of a stern, uncompromising will. He was born on the west side of the Yakima River, just east of the Washington State Fair grounds, where his father, Twinite, a secondary chief, had his village gardens enclosed with a fence. Traces of this Indian occupation were still in evidence when a part of the tract on the L. V. McWhorter ranch was plowed a few years ago. Also the excavations of five winter lodges were plainly discernable on a secondary "bench" near a fine spring-Pool-hl-"water pushed up"-located near the northeast corner of the fair grounds. These lodge pits were on the five-acre lot lately owned by Mr. Elijah J. Craft, and disappeared only within recent years. The Winters of Sluskin's boyhood were passed in such underground dwellings. The ruler of this Indian settlement was Twinite, the son of former Chief Sluskin, who had twelve wives. That Sluskin was the son of Chief Weowikt, the primal stock of the "Pishwanwapum" of Tolmi, as quoted by Lord ; but more generally known as "Yakima," a corruption of Yah-ah-ki-ma; a name which appears foreign to the tribe. It was, according to tribal legend, conferred on them by the Nespelems or Spokanes, or Indians of Idaho. None of the old tribesmen, including chiefs Weyallup and Sluskin, have been able to give me any definition, or meaning of the name. Space will not permit of further discussion as to its origin in this sketch.

With Weowikt, the genealogical table of the family-indeed of the tribe- ends and legend steps in. Two sisters were kidnapped and wed by two stars. To Tah-pql-lou, wife of the brighter star, a single son was born, and from this son sprang the warlike race of Weowikt. Owhi, the renowned War Chief of the Yakimas was a half brother of Twinite. The twelve wives of the father, selected after. the Indian custom from several different tribes, evinced diplomacy, securing a wide neutrality and immunity from hostile invasions.

Chief Sluskin's age is not known to a certainty, but compatible with his own statements he was old enough to accompany his tribesmen to the treaty grounds of Walla Walla, 1855, as caretaker of horses for his half-uncle, Chief Owhi. Later he was on the bluff, west side of Pah-qy-ti-koot, a boy warrier with the Indian forces ready to roll stones down on the soldiers had they attempt- ed to rush the pass. Holite, better known as Billie Captain, was also there. With- out guns, these lads could assist in dislodging the ready boulders and basaltic blocks on the advancing cavalry. This battle (?) declared the chief to me, was "no fight." But few of the Indians had guns and the one single shot fired from their side was by Qalchen. This intrepid warrior was stationed with a few chosen followers in a canyon in the west side of the pass and near the base of the hill to oppose the expected charge of the troopers. But the unforeseen flanking movement of the enemy disconcerted the Indians who precipitately fled without putting up any resistance. The only Indian hurt was Tow-tow-nah-hee, a noncombatant, who because of his inferior mount, was overtaken and shot (killed), by Ow-hah-tah-ma-so, a Columbia River Indian and Scout for the Government, about three miles north of the Pass. The victim was a young man, unarmed and defenseless.

Chief Sluskin went on the warpath once. It was in the '80's when his

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brother Columbus, filled with bad whiskey, was killed by two white men at a cabin on the Umptanum, Klickitat County. Mr. Richard Strobach gives me this vivid picture of the occurrence.

"I went to Ellensburg," said Mr. Strobach, "to look up some coal claims and had been 'stuffed' by John Clemans concerning the terrible warlike deeds of the Indians. Columbus, drunken and restless, perhaps unaccountable for his actions and with no hostile intentions, went to the cabin of the men and accord- ing to their story, attempted to break in. Not heeding their warning to desist, they fired through the door and killed him. Sluskin, then on the Cowiche, heard of the tragedy and immediately started for the scene. I was returning to the lower valley and met him on the road. I shall never forget his wild, savage appearance. Decked out in full war toggery, his headgear was a sort of cap with eagle feathers in it. and his entire garb was Indian. Streaks of bril- liant paint added ferocity to his countenance, blazing with anger. He was armed with a rifle and carried a big knife at his belt. His steed was a strong looking race horse which came at a plunging gallop, foaming with perspiration, yet pressing hard on the bit. I confess that I was startled by the sudden apparition of this grim warrior, but he passed on to my great relief. Arriving at the place of the killing. Sluskin found only a deserted field. The men had gone to Ellensburg and were acquitted of all blame. They very judiciously kept out of the sight of the enraged brother."

Chief Sluskin had the Indian's passion for good horses and up to near the time of his death kept some fine steppers. "Pencil" was a noted racer he owned just prior to the death of his brother Columbus. I have seen a tin-type of the brothers mounted on fine looking steeds. "Pencil" was in the picture.

The Chief was fearless and in his younger days very athletic. He engaged in many physical "arguments" with both whites and Indians and seldom if ever came out second best. Nor did his courage wane with the burden of age. Only a few years ago he engaged single handed three burly grave robbers at the Indian cemtery near the Union Gap. They had disentered a body, severed the head and were carrying it away in a gunny sack when the old chief overtook them and a fight ensued. He recovered the head which he then supposed to be that of his own son, but subsequent investigation proved that it was that of a nephew instead and on this technicality of law the ghouls went unpunished. The Chief afterwards declared that had he had a gun he would have killed them all.

Chief Sluskin was ever friendly with the whites and was known to befriend the early settlers on many occasions. In one instance he carried from his own scant Winter's store of dried berries and roots, supplies to a needy settler, who afterwards in his days of wealth and plenty, seemingly forgot his aged bene- factor, when in his last illness he was in sore need of medical attention and foods which he had not the means of procuring.

The Chief's reputation for veracity and honest convictions were well known. In a conversation the late Hon. A. J. Splawn said to me: "Sluskin is the only Injun I have ever known but what would both lie and steal. He will do neither."

His high sense of honor is well portrayed in his refusal to permit the con- fering of his name on a certain reservation postoffice. now named for a wealthy new settler. When questioned by me concerning the report that he had de-

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manded a monetary consideration for the use of his name, he vehemently denied the accusation. He regarded the town as the rendezvous of an unscrupulous trader who preyed on the Indians and he said :

"I did not want a thief town, a stealing town to have my name."

An orator of distinction, Chief Sluskin's council addresses were striking, if not always compatible with sound judgment. He stood high with his fol- lowing, and was several times sent to the National Capitol as a delegate of "The Brotherhood of North American Indians," with which he unfortunately became entangled. Well versed in the history and legends of his people, it is regrettable that more has not been proserved of him. It is owing to him, assisted by Holite, that many of the truly classical Indian appellations for objects and places surrounding the city of Yakima have been rescued from oblivion.

Chief Sluskin's last public talk was at the unveiling of the Towtownahhee monument at Pahqytikoot, November 6, 1917, the sixty-second anniversary of the so-called "battle" at that place. Owing to enfeebled health, his speech was brief, yet replete with pathos. He died of a malignant throat affection the following Christmas morning at his home on the Yakima River, near the pres- ent town of Parker, and in compliance with his request, was buried by the side of his son in the Indian Cemetery near the Gap, and within sight of the monu- ment where he last spoke. The obsequies were according to the ancient rites of his tribe, modified only to suit the modern mode of casket burial.

It is notable that at the unveiling of the A. J. Bolon monument in the Simcoe Mountains, November 6, 1918, General Hazard Stevens made his last public address, which, like that of Chief Sluskin's, was brief because of ill health. General Stevens died on the morning of the 11th of the same month.

Perhaps the most interesting and replete of the few narratives left by Chief Sluskin, is that of his guidance of two unknown explorers to Tahoma, the "White Mountain," not long after the close of the Yakima War. Owing to its historic importance it is here given with the annotations as prepared at the time of narration by the Chief, November, 1915, and later published in the "Washington Historical Quarterly." In the "Quarterly" a few typographi- cal errors in names appear, which are here corrected.

CHIEF SLUSKIN'S TRUE NARRATIVE OF HIS GUIDANCE OF TWO WHITE MEN TO THE "WHITE MOUNTAIN"

(By Lucullus V. McWhorter, November, 1916.)

In the correspondence and statements which went the rounds of some of the coast papers, October, 1915, a great injustice was done Chief Sluskin, of the Yakimas. The interview of the Chief by an over-zealous correspondent, reported that the aged Indian acted as guide for the Stevens-Van Trump ex- pedition to the great mountain in 1870. Chinook jargon is, at best, a very unsatisfactory medium of conversation when questions of importance are at stake, and unfortunately the Chief was credited with statements he did not make. Sluskin has never claimed to have acted as guide for the explorers of 1870. Inadvertently I was led to corroborate the published error, but when my attention was directed to it, I determined to sift the affair directly with the

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Chief. This I did in November, 1915, in four different interviews and with two interpreters. The narrative was given to a Tacoma paper, after which I had a fifth talk with the venerable tribesman, in which a few minor errors, mostly typographical, were corrected and some new data obtained. The result is here given in full. It is the clear, simple statement of the Sluskin of today, devoid of perversive injections. Those who are closely acquainted with Chief Sluskin, believe him incapable of wilful prevarication. Seemingly he had no knowledge of the 1870 expedition. To a direct query, he plainly stated that he knew nothing of this exploration of later years. That the Chief did act as guide for two white men who visited the mountain just subsequent to the Treaty of Walla Walla, should now be conceded. The facts are too obvious to be ignored.

A RIDDLE FOR THE HISTORIAN

Who were those mysterious strangers? While the Chief may be in error a year or two, either way, it is not at all possible that the explorers were either Dr. Tolmie, who visited the mountain in 1833, nor General Kautz, about twenty- four years later. The riddle is one for the student and historian to unmask.1 Chief Sluskin's narrative follows :

"I am thinking of my people-the old people who are no more-and of this country which once belonged to us. I was raised here since the sun was created and I do not want to speak the lie. You white people, you big men, I know what you are thinking, but you ought to listen to me. You were lucky to come here, but I am sorry the way you have treated us. You now have all but a little of our land. I wanted everything straight. Governor Stevens was to settle all the troubles, and for this, he called the big Indians to Walla Walla in council. I was there as a boy to care for the horses of Chief Owhi. After the treaty, Governor Stevens finished the work [arrangements] and in about four years we were to go on the reservation.

THE TALL AND SHORT STRANGERS

"It was, I think, one or two years after this, our people were camping above the [now] Moxee bridge [about two miles east of North Yakima]. For a long time a big topis [pine] tree stood there.2

"One day an old man, Yak-num-kun, came to me and said: 'Two King George men come.' I look and see them. Both were short [scarce] middle age. They came to us. One was a short man : black eyes like Indian. Fine looking man, clean face. Some old Indian said: 'He is Mexican.' His clothes looked like corduroy. He wore a hat, and had a big, banded flintlock pistol. It shot big bullets.

"The other man was tall, slender. Not good looking, but about right. He had brown, not quite red, hair on upper lip; light hair and brown eyes. He looked some mixed blood with white; just little mixed. He had grey clothes and cap. Had long flintlock gun with ilquis [wood] all along the barrel.3 Barrel was round and shot big ball wrapped in blanket [patching]. I found the short man had strongest mind.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 108

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1134

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134