USA > Washington > Spokane County > Spokane > History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
The old chief next addressed the young Indian, and his persuasions induced him to relinquish his claim on the young squaw, in consideration of a gun, 100 rounds of ammunition, three blankets, two kettles, a spear, a dagger, ten fathoms of tobacco and a quantity of smaller articles. In return for all this wealth, he bound himself never to injure the girl or annoy her or her new husband.
Notwithstanding these demands were considered exorbitant, the traders thought it wise to accede to them rather than disturb the friendly relations which had hitherto existed between them and the Spokanes.
After the Indian had been put in possession of his reward, the pipe of peace was solemnly smoked, pereeiving which the objeet of all the controversy, knowing that it signified her safety, eame out from her place of concealment and walked boldly by her former lord. No sign of recognition passed between them, "and neither anger nor regret seemed to disturb the natural serenity of his cold and swarthy countenance."
The interpreter here mentioned was none other than Pierre Michel, son of a reputable Canadian by an Indian mother, and a fine fellow withal. He was held in high esteem by the Flatheads, and like the big, red-headed MeDonald, had aeeom- panied this tribe on two of their war excursions against the Blackfeet, where he had won great fame by his courage and marksmanship. Many a trader and voyageur had aspired to an alliance matrimonial with these superior natives, but in every instance, with the sole exception of young Michel, their overtures had been rejected. Cox, Vol. 1-3
.
34
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
who passed the greater part of one winter among the Flatheads, thus describes the success of the interpreter :
"Michel wanted a wife, and having gained the affections of a handsome girl about 16 years of age, and nicec to the hereditary chieftain, he made a formal pro- posal for her. A council was thereupon called, at which her unele presided, to take Michel's offer into consideration. One young warrior loved her ardently, and had obtained a previous promise from her mother that she should be his. He, therefore, with all his relations, strongly opposed her union with Pierre, and urged his own claims, which had been sanctioned by her mother. The war-chief asked him if she had ever promised to become his wife. He replied in the negative.
"The chief then addressed the council, and particularly the lover. in favor of Michel's suit, pointing out the great services he had rendered the tribe by his bra- very, and dwelling strongly on the policy of uniting him more firmly to their interests by assenting to the proposed marriage, which, he said, would forever make him as one of their brothers. His influence predominated, and the unsuccessful rival inme- diately after shook hands with Michel, and told the young woman as he could not be her husband. he hoped she would always regard him as her brother. This she readily promised to do, and so ended all opposition.
"The happy Pierre presented a gun to her unele. some cloth, calico and orna- ments to her female relatives, with a pistol and handsome dagger to the defeated suitor. He proceeded in the evening to the chief's lodge, where a number of her friends had assembled to smoke. Here she received a lecture from the old man, her mother and a few other ancients on her duty as a wife and mother. They strongly exhorted her to be chaste, obedient. industrious and silent: and when absent with her husband among other tribes, always to stay at home and have no intercourse with strange Indians.
"She then retired with the old women to an adjoining hut, where she underwent an ablution, and bade adieu to her leathern chemise, the place of which was supplied with one of gingham, to which was added a calico and green cloth petticoat. and a gown of blue cloth.
"After this was over she was conducted back to her unele's lodge, when she re- ceived some further advice as to her future conduct. A procession was then formed by the two chiefs, and several warriors carrying blazing flambeaux. to convey the bride and her husband to the fort. They began singing war-songs in praise of Michel's bravery, and of their triumphs over the Blackfeet. She was surrounded by a group of young and old women, some of whom were rejoicing and others crying. The men moved on first, in a slow, solemn pace, still chanting their warlike epi- thalamium. The women followed at a short distance; and when the whole party arrived in front of the fort, they formed a circle and commenced dancing and singing, which they kept up about twenty minutes.
"After this the calumet of peace went round once more, and when the smoke of the last whiff had disappeared. Michel shook hands with his late rival, embraced the chiefs, and conducted his bride to his room, While I remained in the country they lived happily together."
Other Indian women of the Spokane country were not so fastidious as the Flat- head girls about taking up domestic relations with the white men. Many of them were eager for such an alliance, considering that it elevated them above their
35
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
sisters and assured them a life of less drudgery and slavish obedience to lord and master. Many a elerk, voyageur and even partner was pleased to take an Indian woman to his bosom, and a gay life of extravagance some of these Indian wives led, to the everlasting impoverishment of their white consorts.
The first attempt at cultivation of the soil at Spokane House was made in the spring of 1813, when turnips, potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables were planted and returned a good crop. The quantity was inereased the following spring, and by the autumn of 1814 the post boasted of an abundance of the good things of the garden. . That year. also, the brigade from Astoria brought up a cock, three hens, three goats and three hogs, to the great astonishment of the Indians, who called the poultry the white men's grouse, the goats the white men's deer, and the hogs the white men's bear. They inquired if all such animals were tame in the white men's country, and when answered in the affirmative, asked, if they should eateh some wild animals in this country, could the white men domestieate them. They were told to make the effort, and the traders would see what could be done, whereupon they brought in a young bear, which was tied in the sty with the hogs and cared for by one of the Can- adians, who taught him to danec, beg and play many trieks, much to the delight and entertainment of the Indians.
In their trading expeditions the men from Spokane House roved widely over the vast interior, and some of their expeditions took them to the Kettle Falls of the Co- lumbia, about 90 miles north of Spokane. As the basin at the foot of the falls there resembled a boiling ealdron, the French gave it the designation "La Chaudiere," and the Indians living in a nearby village, "Les Chaudieres." It was remarked that "cleanliness could not be ranked among their virtues ; their habitations are filthy in the extreme. and the surrounding atmosphere is impregnated with the most noxious effluvia, produced by the piseatory offals which lie scattered about their dwellings."
About midway between Kettle Falls and Spokane House was found a small tribe of some fifteen families, speaking a mixed dialcet akin to both the Kettle Indians and the Spokanes, but more closely approaching the Spokane tongue. They were inoffensive and received the white men with marked demonstrations of friendship. The chief of this tribe was deseribed as an extraordinary being, the Indians alleging that he belonged to the epicene gender. He wore a woman's dress, garnished with beads, thimbles and small shells, and dressed his hair after the feminine fashion, but possessed a rough beard and maseuline voiee. The visitors were informed that he never gambled or associated with either sex, and by both men and women was regarded with fear and awe, who looked upon him as a being supernatural. He was usually attended by two or three children. to whom he paid great attention, and it was their chief oeeupation to catch his horses, of which he possessed a great number, collect provisions, make fires and cook his meals. When these wards attained a suit- able age, he gave them a portion, secured their marriage and dismissed them, after which he selected from the largest and poorest families the needed number of new recruits, the parents offering no opposition and apparently being glad to have them so well placed.
From this strange chief the visitors purchased a number of horses, and found him liberal and candid in his dealings. Hle entertained a profound seorn for falsehood, and if one of his wards was detected in a lie, the chief promptly dismissed him from his service, and under no consideration would he ever take baek the delinquent.
36
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
This chief seldom visited Spokane House, but when called upon by the traders there, he exhibited a courteous hospitality which, they declared, was superior to anything they had ever met elsewhere.
"He was communicative and inquisitive and ridiculed the follies of the Indians in the most philosophical manner. Of these he inveighed principally against gam- bling, and their improvident thoughtlessness in neglecting to provide, during the summer and autumnal months, a sufficient quantity of dried salmon for the spring, which is the season of searcity, by which neglect they have been frequently reduced to starvation. He had heard of McDonald's quarrel with the Indian, which he adduced as one of the bad effects of gambling and added. 'Had the Spokane been foolish enough to follow the foolish custom of your countrymen, it is probable one of you would have been killed about a foolish dispute arising out of a bad practice which every wise man should avoid.'"
This strange but wise personage inquired minutely about the laws and customs of the white people, their form of government. marriages and ideas of a future state, and approved most of them as they were explained to him; but he could not recon- cile his judgment with the British law of primogeniture and the custom of dueling. The first he pronounced gross injustice, according there with the American idea. and as for the code. he thought no one but a man bereft of his sense would resort to a duel in settlement of real or faneied wrongs, an opinion which has since come to be generally shared by civilized nations.
This strange being was a person of unusual thrift and prevision. His lodge was completely covered with deerskins, and was quite waterproof; and the interior was neat and orderly, the floor spread over with clean mats. In one corner were stored his provisions, carefully preserved in leather and mat bags, and these he shared with a generous hand in periods of scarcity and destitution. "In fact he wanted nothing that could add to his happiness or comfort," remarked an observer, "and possessed a degree of calm contentment uncommon among savages. and which would put to the blush much of the philosophical wisdom of civilized man."
We are given to a belief that the Spokane country is a new land, whose history and development were not brought in touch with civilization until a generation ago; and while this conception is in a measure true, it nevertheless is equally true that a hundred years ago, men who had shared in ancient wars-in France, in Scotland, in Canada and the American colonies-were here in commerce and adventure, and looked out upon the valleys, the mountains and the waters that form our pleasing prospeet of today.
Of these was Jacques Hoole, who, at the advanced age of 90, was still active as a "free trader" in the regions around Spokane House, and bartered here the furs taken by his skill, industry and prowess. He was a native of France, and when a youth served in the French army. He fought on the fatal field of Culloden. nearly 170 years ago, and was there wounded and taken prisoner. After an ex- change of prisoners he was sent to Canada. was present when the noble Wolfe suffered his death wound on the plains of Abraham, and helped to carry the Mar- quis de Montcalm into Quebec after he had received his death wound.
Upon the conquest of Canada by the British, Jacques retired from the French army, married and took to farming ; but on the breaking out of the war of the revo- lution, he left the plough and enlisted with the British arms, and from a wound
37
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
suffered at that period he carried in his old age a slight lameness that was percep- tible in his long tramps by these western woods and waters.
After the revolution, troubles fell thick on the head of the old veteran. The patriot forces had destroyed his farm, his children were disobedient and his wife faithless, and he sought surcease from his sorrows in the wild life of a free trapper in the remote northwest. Even to the hour of his tragic death he retained much of the elasticity and all of the sprightly temperament of his youth and the character- istic volatility of the French. By the Canadians he was held in high respect, and their daily salutation of "Bon jour, père," was always acknowledged by a bow and a responding "Merci, merci, mon fils." ("Good morning, father;" "Thanks, thanks, my son.")
While trapping beaver, in a wild and sequestered valley on the western slopes of the Rocky mountains, he was surprised and slain by a predatory band of Black- fect. His body was found by some friendly Flatheads, close by a beaver-dam. They had fired a bullet through his head, and in accordance with their inhuman custom had torn the few remaining white hairs away with the scalp. His clothes were left upon him, but his horses, traps and arms had been appropriated by his slayers.
CHAPTER V
TRAVEL BETWEEN SPOKANE AND ASTORIA
NAVIGATING THE COLUMRIA A CENTURY AGO-FRENCH AND IROQUOIS VOYAGEURS -- RANGING OVER THE VAST INTERIOR-MELONS AND CUCUMBERS GROWN AT SPOKANE- THE GRAND COULEE-INDIAN METHOD OF IHUNTING DEER-HORSE-RACING IN SPO- KANE VALLEY-DELIGHTFUL TIMES IN 1815-ICE-BOUND ON THE COLUMBIA- SHOCKING TRAGEDY ON THE UPPER RIVER-VICTIMS RESORT TO CANNIBALISM- NORTHWEST COMPANY ABSORBED BV ITS HUDSON'S BAY RIVAL.
1 N TRANSPORTING supplies from Astoria to Spokane, or furs from this post to the lower Columbia, the brigades resorted in part to navigation and in part to pack-trains, the sharp and foaming descent of the Spokane river between the trading post and the Columbia making impossible the use of canoes and bateanx at this end of the voyage.
A more inspiring sight it would be difficult to imagine than the passing, on some bright day of summer, of one of these brigades as it was swept swiftly along by the mighty current of the Columbia. One of the larger canoes or bateaux would be manned by a crew of eight or even a dozen motley voyageurs. These, with the Astor company and the Northwesters, were usually French Canadians, half breeds or Iroquois Indians; but with the later coming of the Hudson's Bay company and its absorption of the Northwest, a number of Orkney island men were brought into the country. The positions which called for the greatest skill and dexterity were in bow and stern, and these men were known respectively as foreman and steersman ; the others as middlemen.
The French Canadians were a joyous, kindly-hearted lot, and it was a particu- larly dark and depressing day when their spirits flagged or the rough music of their boat songs (the chansons l'avirons) were not heard rolling across the water and echoing baek from cliff and mountain-side. When engaged in the hard service of working these brigades against wind and current, or portaging around the many obstruetions in the stream, these voyageurs were most voracious eaters. Incredible statements are made of their gastronomie capacity; their daily allowance, it is said, was ten pounds of meat to the man, or eight pounds if the ration were free of bone. Allowanee should be made, however, for the fact that they had neither bread nor vegetables, and for weeks at a time their sole subsistenee was meat, soup and occasionally tea.
Some of the expeditions to the interior would proceed in mass to the post at the month of the Okanogan, and there break up into smaller expeditions to Spokane
39
10
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
House, to the Kettle falls of the Columbia. or perhaps even to the higher reaches of the Columbia bordering on the Arrow Jakes; and once a year a brigade worked its way beyond the Arrow lakes to the Canoe river, and thence over the Rocky mountains to the headwaters of the Athabasca. down which stream they glided on their way to the great rendezvous of Fort William.
Occasionally a detachment would leave the main body at the confluence of the Columbia and the Snake, to ascend the latter stream to outposts in the Clearwater regions.
At other times the Spokane brigade would leave the Columbia forty miles above the mouth of the Snake, transferring the canoe lading to paek-train, and then march across the great plains to the Spokane. Reporting one of these expeditions, Cox leaves an interesting description of one of the deep coulees of the Big Bend coun- try, obviously Moses or Grand.
"During this journey, which occupied five or six days, we did not meet a single native: and with the exception of a few stunted red cedar trees, and some juniper. birch and willow, the country was divested of wood. Early on the morning of the second day we entered a remarkable ravine, with high, bold and rocky sides, through which we rode upwards of twenty miles, when we were obliged to leave it in order to follow our direet course. The soil in this ravine is a fine, whitish col- ored clay, firm and hard. There is little vegetation except on the sides, where clusters of willow and choke-cherry are occasionally met with. While we rode through it we passed several small lakes, round the shores of which I picked up some very fine pebbles of the agate species, exceedingly hard and possessing great delieaey and variety of shading. The banks of the Columbia, from the falls up to Lewis river (the Snake) abound with pebbles of the same description; some of which I brought home and had cut. They take a beautiful polish, and in the opin- ion of lapidaries far exceed the carnelian in value.
"The following day we passed two warm springs, one of which was so hot that in a short time water in a saucepan might be easily boiled over it. They were both highly sulphurie, but we had not time, nor indeed were we prepared to analyze their properties.
"On leaving the canoes we expected to have reached Spokane on the third day ; but in consequence of having no guide, joined to the difficulty of finding water, we took double the time on which we had calculated. Our provisions had failed, and we were about killing one of our jaded horses, when we came in sight of some lean deer, two of which we shot. This supply brought us to Spokane House, which place we reached on the 12th of May."
Stewart, McMillan, Cox. Mackenzie and Montour passed a most pleasant sum- mer that year. 1815. at Spokane House. Their garden throve "like a green bay tree," and in addition to potatoes and other roots and csculents, experiments with melons and eneumbers gave gratifying results. "The Indians, who at first would not touch any thing which we planted, began at length to have such a relish for the produce of the garden that we were obliged to have sentinels on the watch to pre- vent their continual trespasses."
Much as the natives relished these products of the deep, rich soil of the Spokane country, all efforts by the traders to induce them to cultivate gardens of their own proved ineffective. When they were told that by these means they could insure
41
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
an abundance of food in winter and spring and thus prevent the recurrence of famine, they replied that such work would interfere with their hunting and fishing, and moreover would discourage their squaws from collecting wild roots and fruits in autumn, and render them lazy.
Several excursions were made that summer for the purpose of becoming better acquainted with the neighboring Indians and to acquire a closer knowledge of the country ; and, spurred by a lively curiosity to know more about the deep eoulee, which they had encountered while traveling across the Big Bend region, a second trip of exploration was made out to that vast fissure in the erust of the earth.
"It is computed to be about eighty miles in length," runs the report of that excursion, "and presents all along the same roeky and precipitous sides. The path- ways are so steep and dangerous that even Indians in passing them are obliged to dismount, and loaded horses must be partly lightened. Some of the horses, by missing their footing, have been killed, and many severely injured in descending these precipices. The bottom throughout consists of the same firm, white soil, interspersed with small lakes. Several bold insulated roeks are scattered here and there throughout the ravine, some of which exceed a quarter of a mile in circum- ference and are partially clothed with choke-cherry and other inferior kinds of vegetation.
"From small horizontal channels worn on the sides of the rocks, and which seemed to indicate the aetion of water, we were led to imagine that this valley was formerly one of the channels of the Columbia, the course of which we supposed must have been changed by one of those extraordinary convulsions in the natural world, the eanses of which are beyond human knowledge."
At that time on the broad plateau between the Spokane and the Okanogan, hunters found, at certain seasons, numbers of small deer. Lewis and Clark had noted the presence of these animals and classed them as antelopes, which they closely resembled in form and swiftness, but the fur traders questioned the correet- ness of this classification, since the antlers were quite different from the horns of the antelope as described by naturalists. They were found in prime condition by early autumn, when excellent sport was had in hunting them, and their flesh was pronounced sweet and delicate.
In hunting these deer the Indians had a method of their own. After a herd had been located, some members of the hunting party, by making a long detour, oh- tained a position in front of it, while those in the rear fired the dry bunch grass. Running before the flaming wind, the deer were intercepted by the hunters, and great numbers were killed with arrows.
The wolves, too, according to the traders, had a concerted plan for preying on these defenseless creatures of the plains. It was declared that a band of wolves would form a semi-eireular line and drive a herd to the edge of the Grand coulee; and then, by drawing in their fang-snapping cordon, would so completely hem in the vietims as to leave them no alternative between leaping to death and destruction over the rocky cliffs or falling an easy prey to the ravenous band of four-footed hunters.
That was a warm summer on the Spokane. During the days of mid-summer the temperature ranged from eighty-four to ninety-six degrees, and on the fifth of July, when a great horse-race was the attraction, the thermometer recorded 111 in the shade.
12
SPOKANE AND THE INLAND EMPIRE
Horse-racing was then royal sport on the Spokane gravel plains, before baseball had been invented or league teams were disporting before thousands of enthusiastic "fans."
The precise location of the race-course is lost in the mists of antiquity, but it could not have been far from the present site of the city. Ross Cox locates it "on the plains between the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane lands." and in addition to speedy horses owned by these tribes other racers were there from the land of the Flatheads. and several had been brought down from the Colville country by the Chaudieres. "There were some capital heats and the betting ran high." The horses were ridden by their owners, and it was no uncommon sight for twenty-five or thirty to run in a straightaway five mile heat. "The course was a perfect plain, with a light gravelly bottom, and some of the rearward jockies were occasionally severely peppered in the face from the small pebbles thrown up by the hoofs of the racers in front."
Franchere informs us that these Indians were passionately fond of horse-races. and bet their possessions with a recklessness that often reduced them to poverty. The women rode as well as the men. For bridle they used a cord of horschair, which they attached around the animal's mouth. With that he was easily checked, and by laying a hand on his neck, was made to wheel to this side or that. The saddle was a cushion of stuffed deerskin, very suitable for the purpose for which it was de- signed, rarely hurting the horse and not fatiguing the rider so much as the Amer- ican saddles. The saddles for women were furnished with the antlers of a deer, and resembled the high pommeled saddles of the Mexican women.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.