History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 8

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 8
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 8
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 8

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"'You all know well my father was killed by the enemy, when you all de- serted him like cowards; and, while the Great Master of Life spares me, no hostile foot shall again be set on our lands. I know you all; and I know that those who are afraid of their bodies in battle are thieves when they are out of it; but the warrior of the strong arm and the great heart will never rob a friend.' After a short pause, he resumed: 'My friends, the white men are brave and belong to a great nation. They are many moons crossing the great lake in coming from their own country to serve us. If you were foolish enough to attack them, they would kill a great many of you; but suppose you should succeed in destroying all that are now present, what would be the consequence ? A greater number would come next year to revenge the death of their relations, and they would annihilate our tribe ; or should not that happen, their friends at home, on hearing of their deaths, would say we were a bad and wicked people, and men would never more come among us. We should then be reduced to our former state of misery and persecution; our ammunition would be quickly expended ; our guns would become useless, and we should again be driven from our lands, and the lands of our fathers, to wander like deer and wolves in the midst of our woods and plains. I therefore say the white men must not be injured! They have offered you compensation for the loss of your friends; take it ;, but, if you should refuse, I tell you to your faces that I will join them with my own band of warriors; and should one white man fall by the arrow of an Indian, that Indian, if he were my brother, with all his family, shall be- (6)

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

come victims to my vengeance.' Then raising his voice, he called out, 'Let the Wallah Wallahs, and all who love me, and are fond of the white men, come forth and smoke the pipe of peace!' Upwards of one hundred of our late adver- saries obeyed the call, and separated themselves from their allies. The harangue of the youthful chieftain silenced all opposition. The above is but a faint outline of the arguments he made use of, for he spoke upwards of two hours; and Michel confessed himself unable to translate a great portion of his language, particularly when he soared into the wild flights of metaphor, so common among Indians. His delivery was generally bold, graceful and ener- getic. Our admiration at the time knew no bounds; and the orators of Greece or Rome when compared with him, dwindled in our estimation into insignifi- cance.

CLAIMANTS SATISFIED ; SCALP SAVED

"Through this chief's mediation, the various claimants were in a short time fully satisfied, without the flaming scalp of our Highland hero; after which a circle was formed by our people and the Indians indiscrimately : the white and red chiefs occupied the center, and our return to friendship was ratified by each individual in rotation taking an amicable whiff from the peace-cementing calu- met.

"The chieftain whose timely arrival had saved us from impending destruc- tion was called 'Morning Star.' His age did not exceed twenty-five years. His father had been a chief of great bravery and influence, and had been killed in battle by the Shoshones a few years before. He was succeeded by Morning Star, who, notwithstanding his youth, had performed prodigies of valor. Nine- teen scalps decorated the neck of his war horse, the owners of which had been all killed in battle by himself to appease the spirit of his deceased father. He wished to increase the number of his victims to twenty; but the terror inspired by his name, joined to the superiority which his tribe derived by the use of fire- arms, prevented him from making up the desired complement by banishing the enemy from the banks of the Columbia.

"His handsome features, eagle glance, noble bearing, and majestic person, stamped him one of nature's own aristocracy; while his bravery in the field, joined to his wisdom in their councils, commanded alike the involuntary homage of the young, and the respect of the old.

"We gave the man who had been wounded in the shoulder a chief's coat; and to the relations of the men who were killed we gave two coats, two blan- kets, two fathoms of cloth, two spears, forty bullets and powder, with a quau- tity of trinkets, and two small kettles for their widows. We also distributed nearly half a bale of tobacco among all present, and our youthful deliverer was presented by Mr. Keith with a handsome fowling piece, and some other valuable articles.

"Four men were then ordered to each canoe, and they proceeded on with the poles; while the remainder, with the passengers, followed by land. We were mixed pell-mell with the natives for several miles : the ground was covered with large stones, small willows, and prickly-pears; and had they been inclined to break the solemn compact into which they had entered, they could have destroyed us with the utmost facility.

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

"At dusk we bade farewell to the friendly chieftain and his companions, and crossed to the south side, where we encamped, a few miles above Lewis River, and spent the night in tranquillity.

"It may be imagined by some that the part we acted in the foregoing transaction betrayed too great an anxiety for self-preservation; but when it is recollected that we were several hundred miles from any assistance, with a deep and rapid river to ascend by the tedious and laborious process of poling, and that the desultory Cossack mode of fighting in use among the Indians, par- ticularly the horsemen, would have cut us off piecemeal ere we had advanced three days, it will be seen that, under the circumstances, we could not have acted otherwise."

And now we must turn to another phase of Indian life and character which is most worthy of record, and one in which more than anywhere else they show some of those "touches of nature which make the whole world kin." This is that phase exhibited in myths and superstitions. Here we shall find, as almost nowhere else, that Indians are, after all, very much like other people. In this portion of this chapter the author is incorporating portions of articles written by himself for the "American Antiquarian."

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

Like all primitive men, the Oregon Indians have an extensive mythology. With childlike interest in the stars and moon and sun and fire and water and forests, as well as plants and animal life and their own natures, they have sought out and passed on a wealth of legend and fancy which in its best features is worthy of a place with the exquisite creations of Norse and Hellenic fancy, even with much of the crude and grotesque. Yet it is not easy to secure these legends just as the Indians tell them. In the first place few of the early ex- plorers knew how or cared to draw out the ideas of the first uncontaminated Indians. The early settlers generally had a stupid tolerance in dealing with Indians that made them withhold all expression of their own ideas. Later the missionaries generally inclined to give them the impression that their "heathen" legends and ideas were obstacles to their "salvation," and should be extirpated from their minds. Still further the few that did really get upon a sympathetic footing with them and draw out some of their myths, were likely to get them in fragments and piece them out with Bible stories or other civilized conceptions, and thus the native stories have become adulterated. It is difficult to get the Indians to talk freely, even with those whom they like and trust. Educated Indians seem to be ashamed of their native lore, and will generally avoid talk- ing about it with whites at all, unless under exceptional conditions. Christian- ized Indians seem to consider the repetition of their old myths a relapse into heathenism, and hence will parry efforts to draw them out. In general, even when civilized, Indians are proud, reserved, suspicious, and on their guard. And with the primal Indians few can make much headway. The investigator must start in indirectly, not manifesting any eagerness, and simply suggest as if by accident some peculiar appearance or incident in sky or trees or water, and let the Indian move on in his own way to empty his own mind, never suspecting

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

any effort by his listener to gather up and tell again his story. And even under the most favoring conditions, one may think he is getting along famously, when suddenly the Indian will pause, glance furtively at the listener, give a moody chuckle, relapse into stony and apathetic silence-that is the end of the tale.

Our stories have been derived mainly from the reports of those who have lived much among the Indians, and who have been able to embrace the rare occasions when, without self-consciousness or even much thought of outsiders, the natives could speak out freely. There is usually no very close way of judg- ing of the accuracy of observation or correctness of report of these investiga- tors, except as their statements are corroborated by others. These stories sometimes conflict, different tribes having quite different versions of certain stories. Then again the Indians have a peculiar habit of "continued stories," by which at the teepee fire one will take up some well known tale and add to it and so make a new story of it, or at least a new conclusion. As with the min- strels and minnesingers of feudal Europe at the tournaments, the best fellow is the one who tells the most thrilling tale.

INDIAN NAMES

One confusing condition that often springs up with Indian names and stor- ies is that some Indians use a word generically and others use the same word specifically. For instance, the native name for Mount Adams, commonly given as "Pahtou," and Mount Rainier or Tacoma, better spelled "Takhoma," as sounded by the Indians, really means any high mountain. A Wasco Indian once told the author that his tribe called Mount Hood, "Pahtou," meaning the big mountain, but that the Indians on the other side of the Columbia River applied the same name to Adams. A very intelligent Puyallup Indian says that the name of the "Great White Mountain" was "Takhoma," with accent and pro- longed sound on the second syllable, but that any snow peak was the same, with the second syllable not so prolonged, according to height or distance of the peak. Mount St. Helens was also "Takhoma," but with the "ho" not so prolonged. But among-some other Indians we find Mount St. Helens known as "Lawaila- clough," and with some Mount Hood is known as "Yetsl." Still other names are "Loowit" for St. Helens and "Wiyeast" for Hood. Adams seems to be known to some as "Klickitat." "Koolshan" for Baker, meaning the "Great White Watcher," is one of the most attractive of Indian names and should be pre- served. There is "Shuksan" or "The place of the Storm Wind," the only one of the Northwestern peaks which has preserved its Indian name. In reference to "Takhoma," a Puyallup woman told the writer that among her people the name meant the "Breast that Feeds," or "the Breast of the Milk White Waters," referring to the glaciers or the white streams that issue from them. On the other hand, Winthrop in "Canoe and Saddle," states that the Indians applied the name "Takhoma" to any high snow peak. Mr. Edwin Eells of Tacoma has written that he derived from Rev. Father Hylebos of the same city the state- ment that the name "Takhoma" was compounded of "Tah" and "Koma," and that among certain Indians the word "Koma" meant and snow peak, while "Tah" is a superlative. Hence, "Tahkoma" means simply "the great peak."

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

We find something of the same inconsistencies in regard to the Indian names of rivers. Our maps abound with supposed Indian names of rivers and yet an educated Nez Perce Indian named Luke, living at Kamiah, Idaho, told the author that the Indians, at least of that region, had no names of rivers, but only of localities. He said that "Kooskooskie," which Lewis and Clark under- stood to be the name of what we now call the Clearwater, was in reality a repe- tition of "Koos," their word for water, and they meant merely to say that it was a strong water. On the other hand we find many students of Indian languages who have understood that there were names for the large rivers, even for the Columbia. In the beautiful little book by B. H. Barrows, published and distrib- uted by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, we find the name "Shocatilicum," or "Friendly Water," given as the Chinook name for the Columbia. It is inter- esting to notice that this same word for "friendly water" appears in Vol. II, of the Lewis and Clark Journal, but with different spelling, in one place being "Shocatilcum," and in another place "Chockalilum." Rev. Father Blanchet is authority for the statement in "Historical Magazine," 11, 335, that the Chinook Indians used the name "Yakaitl Wimakl" for the Lower Columbia. A Yakima Indian called William Charley gives "Chewanna" as still another Indian name for the Columbia.

To Yakima readers the native local names have a special interest. Most prominent of all is Yakima. As in many other cases this sonorous word is variously defined. It is said by some to mean "Great succotash garden," by others to mean "robbers," though that last meaning is by still others applied to Klickitat. Chief Stwires tells us that no one of the words Yakima, Klickitat, and Kittitas has any special meaning, but simply are names of the tribes. Frank Olney, of Toppenish, says that Yakima (which he gives as Yakeema) is a Spokane word, comparatively recent and that Tapteal or Tapteet is the real native name. The entire word from the Spokanes is Neeneeyakeema, and its meaning is in substance, "we meet and part," or "neutrality." The phrase came into existence as a result of a meeting between Spokanes and Yakimas at Union Gap. The Indians were using the phrase when the whites came and the latter finding it inconveniently long abbreviated it. Klickitat is defined by some as meaning "a cove of salmon," others say "runners," others say that it is an imi- tation of a horse galloping, while still others have it meaning "robbers." To. quote Frank Olney again, the word is a Cascade word, more nearly sounded as Tsuckitat. Kittitas is said by Mr. Olney to signify a "bench of land," but its- true sound is Klikitass, with a guttural difficult for white lips. The Klick means ground and tass is simply euphonic. In the "History of Central Wash- ington," page 323, Charles Splawn is quoted as saying that Kittitas comes from Kittit, "white chalk," and "tash," place of existence. He says that there is at the Manastash ford below Ellensburg a deposit of white chalk where the Indians painted themselves.

We derive from Frank Olney and from his brother William, who lives near White Swan, meanings of several additional names. Simcoe, better sounded as "Tsimquee," signifies "Mountain of the pass," from "tsim," stationary, and quee, hollow. Toppenish means a road or a stream coming down from the

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

mountain. The high-sounding word Pahotecute (which Yakima people ought to preserve instead of Union Gap) signifies "putting two heads together," as the two mountains meeting and forming the Gap. Good authorities tell us that Pahquytikoot would be more correct. Naches, which is better spelled, Mr. Olney says, Nachtchis, equals "one water." Cowiche, more nearly expressed by Tquiwitass (beyond a white man's mouth) means a "foot-log crossing." Wenas is the equivalent of a "coming in" or tributary, or, some say, a place for traveling. Mr. David Longmire tells the writer that the Indians say that Selah means "a still place." This might refer to the beautiful strip of placid water just below Selah Gap. It seems to be a mooted question as to the origin of the word Naches. Some old timers believe that the word comes from the city . on the Mississippi, and some have believed that this indicates that there was a movement to and fro across the continent by Indians prior to white discovery. It is, in fact, well known from Le Page's "Histoire de Louisiane" that a Yazoo Indian, Montcachabe or Moncacht Ape, crossed the continent early in the Eighteenth Century, making a three-year journey from tribe to tribe, reaching the Pacific Ocean. The fine story of the journeys of this Yazoo Columbus is found in all the standard histories. It would be indeed an interesting fact, if it could be substantiated, that the life-giving stream from which Yakima draws so much of its water supply derived its name through some Indian adventurer from the Mississippi, "Father of Waters." But in view of the foregoing state- ments of Mr. Olney it seems to the author certain that the word came from the native local tongue, and has been twisted into a resemblance to that of the Mississippi town.

There has been much discussion as to the origin of the names of the two fine young cities on the Columbia, Kennewick and Pasco. Kennewick has been said to be of Indian origin, meaning, some say, a "winter paradise." In a valu- able paper by Mrs. W. T. Mann, of which a part appears in this volume, the reader will find the statement that the name was first used by Mr. Houser, an engineer, in 1883, and that it meant a "grassy place." But in the fine contribu- tion to our chapter of Reminiscences by Mrs. Daisy Beach Emigh, the name is said to have been intended to be Chenoweth, from an early fur-trader, but the Indians could not get the proper sound, and "Kennewick" resulted. Rather curiously there is a "Konnewock" just below Union Gap. We will all agree that it is a "pretty word," whatever the origin. Frank Olney says that a word very similar in sound was used by the lower Yakima Indians to apply to "dried acorns." When they would make summer hunting trips up the river to the mountains they were fond of getting acorns from the belt of oaks that run through Simcoe and Tampico, and would take them home dried for winter use. Pasco has had many supposed origins. It has been stated that the first N. P. R. R. engineers gave the name from a town in South America meaning sandy. Some assert that the name of Senator Pascoe of Florida was the true source. There is a creek in the Satus region known as Pasco or Pisco. There is the name Paska or Pashki, or Paskau; used by the Indians to apply to the Mill Creek flats just above Walla Walla city, signifying "Sunflower." Frank

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

Olney says that the Yakima Indians have the word "Pashaka," meaning "dry fodder."

INDIAN MYTHS

We have many supposed Indian names for God, as "Nekahni," or "Sahalie," but Miss Kate McBeth, long a missionary among the Nez Perces, records in her book about them that those Indians had no native name for the deity. Indian myths often deal with the chief God as "Nekahni," "Sahalie," "Dokidatl," "Snoqualm," or "Skomalt," while others have to do with the lesser grade of the supernatural beings, as the Coyote god, variously named "Talla- pus," "Speelyi," or "Sinchaleep." Others may treat of "Skallalatoots" (Fair- ies), "Toomuck" (Devils), or the various forms of "Tomanowas" (magic). A large number of these myths describe the supposed origin of strange features of the natural world, rocks, lakes, whirlpools, winds and waterfalls. Some de- scribe the "animal people," "Watetash," as the Klickitats call them. Some of the best are fire-myths. These myths seem to have been common among all Indians of the Columbia Valley.

Among the native myths of the Yakimas and their neighbors we find two stories of a very different nature which we derive from a thorough investi- gator, Dr. G. B. Kuykendall, of Pomeroy, Washington, for several years physi- cian at Fort Simcoe. This is one: There is a legend among the Yakima Indians which seems to have the same root in human nature as the beautiful Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, showing the instinctive desire of people on earth to bring back the spirits of the dead and the impossibility of doing so. This myth sets forth how Speelyi and Whyama the eagle became at one time so grieved at the loss of their loved ones that they determined to go to the land of the spirits and bring them back. The two adventurers journeyed for a long distance over an unbroken plain, and came at last to a great lake, on the farther side of which they saw many houses. They called long and vainly for some one to come with a boat and ferry them over. But there was no sign of life and at last Whyama said that there could be no one there. Speelyi insisted, however, that the people were simply sleeping the sleep of the day and would come forth at night. Accordingly, when the sun went down and darkness began to come on, Speelyi started to sing. In a few minutes they saw four spirit men come to the bank, enter a boat and cross the lake to meet them. It seemed not necessary for them to row the boat, for apparently it skimmed over the water of its own accord. The spirit men having landed took Whyama and Speelyi with them in the boat and began their return to the island of the dead. The island seemed to be a very sacred place. There was a house of mats upon the shore, where music and dancing were in progress. Speelyi and Whyama begged leave to enter, and feeling hungry, they asked for food. The spirit land was so much less gross than the earth that they were satisfied by what was dipped with a feather out of a bottle. The spirit people now came to meet them dressed in most beautiful costumes, and so filled with joy that Whyama felt a great desire to share their happiness. By the time of the morning light, how- ever, the festivities ceased and all the spirit people became wrapped in slumber for the day. Speelyi, observing that the moon was hung up inside the great

HISTORY OF YAKIMA VALLEY

banquet hall and seemed to be essential to the ongoings of the evening, sta- tioned himself in such a place that he could seize it during the next night's meeting. As soon as night came on the spirits gathered again for the music and dance. While festivities were in progress as usual, Speelyi suddenly swal- lowed the moon, leaving the entire place in darkness. Then he and Whyama brought in a box, which they had previously provided, and Whyama, flying swiftly about the room, caught a number of the spirits and enclosed them in the box. Then the two proceeded to start for the earth, Speelyi carrying the box upon his back.

As the two adventurers went upon their journey toward the earth with the precious box, the spirits, which at first were entirely imponderable, began to be transformed into men and to have weight. Soon they began to cry out on account of their crowded and uncomfortable position. Then they became so heavy that Speeyli could no longer carry them. In spite of the remonstrance of Whyama, he opened the box. They were astonished and overwhelmed with grief to see the partially transformed spirits flit away like autumn leaves and disappear in the direction from which they had come. Whyama thought that perhaps even as the buds grew in the spring, so the dead would come back with the blooming of the next flowers. But Speelyi deemed it best after this that the dead should remain in the land of the dead. Had it not been for this, as the Indians think, the dead would indeed return every spring with the opening of the leaves.

The Klickitat Indians, living along The Dalles of the Columbia have an- other legend of the land of spirits. There was a young chief and a girl who were devoted to each other and seemed to be the happiest people in the tribe, but suddenly he sickened and died. The girl mourned for him almost to the point of death, and he, having reached the land of spirits, could find no happi- ness there on account of thinking of her.

And so it came to pass that a vision began to appear to the girl by night, telling her that she must herself go into the land of the spirits in order to con- sole her lover. Now there is near that place one of the most weird and funereal of all the various "memaloose" islands, or death islands, of the Colum- bia. The writer himself has been upon this island and its spectral volcanic deso- lation makes it a fitting location for ghostly tales. It lies just below the Grand Dalles or "great chute," and even yet has many skeletons upon it. In accord- ance with the direction of the vision, the girl's father made ready a canoe, placed' her in it, and rowed out into the great river by night to the memaloose island. As the father and his child rowed across the dark and forbidding waters, they began to hear the sound of singing and dancing and great joy. Upon the- shore of the island they were met by four spirit people, who took the girl but bade the father return, as it was not for him to see into the spirit country. Ac- cordingly the girl was conducted to the great dance house of the spirits, and there she met her lover, far stronger and more beautiful than when upon earth. That night they spent in unspeakable bliss, but when the light began to break in the east and the song of the robins began to be heard from the willows of the shore, the singers and dancers began to fall asleep.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 8

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