The Washington Historical Quarterly, Volume V, 1914
by Various · English · Gutenberg #45779 · 813,076 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Washington Historical Quarterly, Volume V, 1914
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: The Washington Historical Quarterly, Volume V, 1914
Author: Various
Editor: Edmond S. Meany
Release date: May 27, 2014 [eBook #45779]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45779
Credits: Produced by Richard Tonsing, Bryan Ness and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
book was produced from scanned images of public domain
material from the Google Print project.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WASHINGTON HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, VOLUME V, 1914 ***
The Washington Historical Quarterly
VOLUME V.
1914
THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
UNIVERSITY STATION
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
The Washington Historical Quarterly
Board of Editors
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY, Seattle.
W. D. LYMAN, Walla Walla.
J. N. BOWMAN, Seattle.
T. C. ELLIOTT, Walla Walla.
FRANK A. GOLDER, Pullman.
CEYLON S. KINGSTON, Cheney.
EDWARD MCMAHON, Seattle.
THOMAS W. PROSCH, Seattle.
OLIVER H. RICHARDSON, Seattle.
O. B. SPERLIN, Tacoma.
E. O. S. SCHOLEFIELD, Victoria, B. C.
ALLEN WEIR, Olympia.
Managing Editor
EDMOND S. MEANY
Business Manager
CHARLES W. SMITH
VOL V, NO. 1 JANUARY, 1914
_ISSUED QUARTERLY_
Contents
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY George Wilkes 3
LEWIS H. ST. JOHN The Present Status and Probable
Future of the Indians of Puget
Sound 12
THOMAS W. PROSCH The Pioneer Dead of 1913 22
W. J. TRIMBLE American and British Treatment of
the Indians in the Pacific
Northwest 32
DOCUMENTS--An Indignation Meeting Over Chief Leschi 55
BOOK REVIEWS 57
NEWS DEPARTMENT 66
NORTHWESTERN HISTORY SYLLABUS 69
REPRINT DEPARTMENT--George Wilkes: History of Oregon, Geographical,
Geological, and Political (New York, Colyer, 1845) 72
THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
UNIVERSITY STATION
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Entered at the Post-office at Seattle as second-class mail matter.
The Washington University
State Historical Society
* * * * *
Officers and Board of Trustees:
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY, President
JUDGE JOHN P. HOYT, Vice-President
JUDGE ROGER S. GREENE, Treasurer
PROFESSOR EDMOND S. MEANY, Secretary
JUDGE CORNELIUS H. HANFORD
JUDGE THOMAS BURKE
SAMUEL HILL
PRINTING DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
_Vol. V. No. 1 January, 1914_
The
Washington Historical Quarterly
GEORGE WILKES
The republication of George Wilkes' History of Oregon, begun in the
Quarterly in October, 1906, is completed in the present issue.
In several ways the book or pamphlet is of much historical importance.
It was prepared by a journalist rather than a historian, and with
a sincere desire to give accurate information regarding the Oregon
Country and the best means of getting there, and without expectation of
gain in its publication.
At a time when railroads and railroading were in their infancy, Mr.
Wilkes was among the first to realize the importance of long and
connecting lines of rail communication, and so far as I have been
able to ascertain was the first to publicly advocate the building of
a line from the Atlantic to the Pacific by the National Government.
He argued against land grants or subsidies to private individuals or
corporations. The government ownership of the proposed road was the
central idea of part I of the book. It was published in New York in
1845. In 1847 he published another pamphlet entitled "Proposal for a
National Rail-Road to the Pacific Ocean, for the Purpose of Obtaining a
Short Route to Oregon and the Indies." The latter repeated many of the
arguments of the earlier work, in fact had little new material. Both
are exceedingly scarce at the present day.
In the preface to the book, Wilkes says: "The second part of the work
consists of a journal, prepared from a series of letters, written by
a gentleman now in Oregon, who himself accompanied the celebrated
emigrating expedition of 1843. They make no pretensions in their
style, but are merely simple, conversational epistles, which in their
familiar, offhand way, furnish a large amount of useful practical
information to the emigrant, and much interesting matter to the general
reader. The author has done scarcely more to this portion than to
throw it into chapters, and to strike from it such historical and
geographical statistics as had been drawn from other sources, and
arranged in the preceding portions of the work. These letters fell into
his hands after the adoption and commencement of his original design;
and adapting them to his purpose, by linking them with his own mss., a
deal of research was saved him by the valuable and peculiar information
they contributed."
Mr. Wilkes did not disclose the name of the writer of the letters, and
in fact their authorship was never formally announced, but internal
evidence proves they were written by Peter H. Burnett.
Mr. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee, November 15, 1807. The
family removed to Missouri in 1817. He was almost entirely self-taught,
as in his childhood and youth he had little opportunity of going to
school. When about 26 years of age he began the study of law, but
continued in other business until in 1839 he abandoned mercantile
pursuits and began the practice of law. In 1842 he determined to go to
Oregon. May 8, 1843, he left his home in Weston, Missouri, with two ox
wagons, one small two-horse wagon, four yoke of oxen, two mules, and a
fair supply of provisions. He had a wife and six children. They arrived
at the rendezvous, some twelve miles west of Independence, just across
the state line and in the Indian country, on the 17th of May. Five days
later a general start was made and this historic migration was begun.
An excellent account of the trip is given in Part II of Wilkes' History.
Mr. Burnett was quite prominent in Oregon affairs until 1848, when he
was attracted to California by its rich gold fields, and after a time
he sent for his family to join him there.
In August, 1849, he was chosen one of the Judges of the Supreme
Tribunal of California, and on the 13th of November of that year he
was elected Governor. The Constitutional Convention had been held in
September and October. California was admitted a state September 9,
1850. Governor Burnett sent in his resignation in January, 1851, and
resumed the practice of law. In 1857-8 he served as a Justice of the
Supreme Court of the State. Later he engaged in the banking business.
In 1880 there was issued from the press of D. Appleton & Co. the
"Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer," written by Mr. Burnett.
It is an extremely interesting narrative of his life in Missouri,
Oregon and California, and valuable for its history of pioneer life on
the Pacific Coast.
In the annual address before the Oregon Pioneers at Portland, in April,
1895, appears the following:
"Perhaps the demise of no one has attracted more widespread attention
nor caused deeper sorrow on the Pacific Coast than the death of the
late Peter H. Burnett, the first Governor of California, and an Oregon
Pioneer of 1843, who had served in the legislature and was one of the
justices of the supreme court."
Jesse Applegate was the only other gentleman who was with the 1843
immigration who might possibly have written the letters, but they
contain dates, locations and facts that make sure the declaration that
Burnett wrote them.
A discussion between William I. Marshall, the author of the
"Acquisition of Oregon," and Professor Schafer, of the University of
Oregon, regarding this book, the authorship of its letters, etc., was
published in the Oregonian in 1903. Both gentleman seem to have agreed
that letters written by Mr. Burnett and by him sent to the New York
Herald for publication formed the basis of Part II of Wilkes' book,
but they disagreed as to the value of the work as an "Original Source"
of history. References to places and affairs in Oregon were quoted in
substantiation of their conclusions. In this connection both gentlemen
seem to have overlooked a paragraph on page 113 that, to my mind, is
more nearly conclusive than the others, as follows:
"The more extended political organization of which I before spoke, is
about to take place, and I was waited upon two or three days ago by a
party from the Falls, to consult upon a plan of general territorial
government, with a legislature of two houses, and a Chief Justice
for its first executive officer. This arrangement will embrace
all the settlements of the valley into one common government, the
representatives of which will convene in general congress, at stated
periods, at Multnomah or Oregon City, and there transact all the
necessary business for our little body politic. When this plan is
adopted, (as it doubtless will immediately be) it will perhaps, be the
peculiar honor of your humble servant, to sit in a curule chair of the
first Republican Government beyond the Rocky Mountains. We shall then
be able to make our own laws, and likewise do our own voting and our
own fighting."
A few months later Mr. Burnett was chosen Chief Justice of Oregon,
under its provisional government, thus fulfilling the prediction in his
letter above quoted.
Wilkes must have written considerable of Part II of his book before
acquiring the letters, and then instead of rewriting it he tried to
work in the letters. In some places this was quite clumsily done.
The first chapter is nearly all fictitious, both in names and facts.
Robbins, Smith, Harris, Baker, Brown, McFarley, Wayne and Dumberton
were not members of the party, and near the bottom of page 65 Burnett
is introduced to Peter H. Burnett. Why Wilkes should have failed to
give the name of the writer is unexplainable. In minor details it
was often inaccurate, but in important facts and in giving intending
emigrants information about Oregon and those on the way there valuable
facts about roads, fords, grass, distances, etc., it was reliable.
Commenting upon the road from the upper waters of the Sweetwater to
Fort Hall, Professor Schafer says: "When we inquire into what motive
could have induced Wilkes to deliberately deceive his readers with
reference to this piece of road, only one natural answer suggests
itself. He evidently was doing it in the interest of his railroad
scheme."
The writer remembers vividly that part of the road in 1852. A lad of
eight years, in common with the women and other children of the party,
he trudged afoot along many weary miles of this road, up and down many
long and, to his mind, interminable hills, through the biting frost of
early morn and the torrid heat of midday, and he can testify to its
roughness and manifold difficulties.
Against Prof. Schafer's comment I wish to protest most emphatically.
Mr. Wilkes was a man of high ideals, of lofty public spirit. It was
impossible for him to "deliberately deceive" anyone. To attempt
deceit carries with it unworthy or dishonest motives. A reader of
Wilkes' writings, his books, pamphlets and newspapers, will find an
entire absence of selfishness or wish for private gain or personal
aggrandizement at the expense of anyone.
One writer has described the style of the book as "flamboyant," which
is doubtless true, but greater faults than this can readily be forgiven
one not more than twenty-seven years of age who devotes his splendid
talents, his time and his money to the exploitation of a colossal
national improvement that for the period of seventy years ago was of
infinitely more importance to the United States, and especially to
the Pacific Coast, than the Panama Canal of today. By most people his
proposal was thought more impossible of achievement than today would
be an effort to establish a line of airships between the earth and the
moon. He was a little more than twenty years in advance of his time.
The first transcontinental line was completed in 1869 and the scandals
that followed its construction served to prove Wilkes' contention about
the unwisdom of subsidizing railroads by land grants or money and still
permitting private ownership of them.
Particular importance attaches to this book for another reason. The
migration of 1843, consisting of about 900 men, women and children,
who brought with them large numbers of horses and cattle, fruit trees,
etc., was the first large one. It strengthened the hands of the men
who had at all times demanded that the claims of Great Britain to any
part of Old Oregon south of latitude 49 degrees should be resisted
at all hazards, by force of arms if necessary. The speeches of Linn,
Benton, Calhoun, Webster, Clay and nearly all the notable men of the
period between 1819 and 1846 show a surprising knowledge of the soil,
climate, productions of land and water, its commercial advantages and
all the varied details of the grazing and agricultural possibilities of
Old Oregon. The record shows that these matters were familiar to these
great men before an American missionary or American settler had reached
Oregon.
Until many years later no member of that migration published an account
of it except these letters to the Herald and fragmentary notes from
others. The journals of Burnett and others, so far as they have been
given to the public, were jotted down from time to time by men wearied
by unremitting toil, who had no time or disposition to record more than
the briefest itinerary of the day. Therefore, with all its faults,
Wilkes' book is of priceless value as a memorial to Congress about the
Oregon of that period and the history of its local events and men of
seventy years ago.
To one familiar, as was the writer of this paper, with the remarkable
editorials appearing in the Spirit of the Times during all the Civil
War period, with their vigorous English, their fervent loyalty and
lofty patriotism, the style of the book is not comparable, but in
giving the salient facts about the migration and the conditions then
existing in the Willamette Valley it is so accurate that an occasional
slip of the pen can be readily condoned.
At the time of his death, which occurred September 23, 1885, the New
York Herald and the Times each devoted nearly a column to his obituary
and other newspapers of that city and other Atlantic cities made more
or less extended mention of him and his life.
The Librarian of the New York Public Library has furnished me with
photostat reproductions of the obituaries of Mr. Wilkes published by
the New York Herald and Times and the Spirit of the Times. The latter
article, dated September 26, 1885, is given in full below:
"We regret to record the death, in this city, on Wednesday, of George
Wilkes, one of the founders and proprietors of The Spirit of The
Times, and for many years its sole editor. Mr. Wilkes joined the staff
of this paper when it was called Porter's Spirit. A division of the
proprietorship having occurred, he continued its publication under
the title of Wilkes' Spirit until 1866, when his name was dropped. He
lived abroad for several years, in the enjoyment of an ample income,
which enabled him to indulge his cultivated tastes, and returned here
a few months ago, as if he felt some premonition of his approaching
death, and desired to rest in his native land, which he loved
enthusiastically and served zealously.
"George Wilkes was, in his way, one of the foremost American
journalists. He not only founded the greatest paper of its class which
this country has ever possessed, but he made it, during the Civil War,
as tremendous a power in national politics as it has always been in
the departments to which it is more particularly devoted. Among such
giants of journalism as James Gordon Bennett, Horace Greeley, Henry J.
Raymond, Charles A. Dana and William Cullen Bryant--of whom only Mr.
Dana now remains to us--Mr. Wilkes held an equal place by virtue of
his remarkable talents. They had daily papers in which to address the
public; his paper was published only once a week; but they all conceded
the vigor and brilliancy of his writing and his articles in The Spirit
were republished so extensively that their circulation may be said to
have been world wide. His editorials during the War were regularly
reprinted in the Tribune and some of them were read in Congress. His
advice was asked and followed by President Lincoln and the members of
his famous Cabinet. Having convinced himself that General McClellan was
inefficient, Mr. Wilkes fairly wrote him out of the command of the Army
of the Potomac. He was largely instrumental in bringing Grant to take
charge of our Eastern armies. He was on most intimate terms with the
leading statesmen and generals of the Union.
"Mr. Wilkes went to the front at the outbreak of the Rebellion and
witnessed and described for The Spirit the battle of Bull Run. In the
concluding words of that report he gave the keynote for all patriots
by stating that the South had fought so well as to be worthy of being
brought back into the Union. Throughout the magnificent series of
letters and editorials which illuminated the pages of The Spirit this
was the text which Mr. Wilkes enforced. He never displayed toward
the misguided men who were trying to break up the Union the bitter
animosity with which he hunted down the incompetent leaders of the
Union side, whose incapacity delayed the restoration of peace and
unity. He never doubted the ultimate salvation of the Republic, but he
was righteously impatient with those who did not share his faith and
agree with him in his opinions of men and measures. He labored ardently
to hasten the triumph of the Union as any soldier in the field--as
General Grant himself. If he made any mistakes they were on the side
of patriotism and were due to his anxiety to hurry on the inevitable
victory. One mistake of his in regard to General Fitz John Porter cost
that officer his condemnation by Court Martial and nearly cost him
his life. But Mr. Wilkes lived to see this error redeemed by the full
justice done to General Porter in The Spirit, by Grant, by Congress
and by the American people. In the fever and fury of a Civil War such
injustices could scarcely be altogether avoided; but Mr. Wilkes went
with our armies, saw personally the matters which he criticised, and,
in McClellan's camp on the Peninsula, caught the disease which has
finally resulted in his decease.
"George Wilkes has been so long absent from editorial connection with
The Spirit that his death will not affect it in any way. But, like all
strong individualities, he has left a permanent impression upon the
paper which he so long conducted. His energetic and splendid style of
writing elevated the journalism of sports from the slipslop methods of
his predecessors. He attempted to banish slang from every department
of The Spirit and he succeeded. In Shakespeare he found a living well
of English undefiled and there he sought for strength and purity of
diction. After his retirement from practical journalism, he wrote a
commentary upon Shakespeare which is remarkable for its original views
and theories. But Mr. Wilkes felt that the work of his life had ended
with the Civil War and that thereafter he might take such enjoyment as
his broken health permitted. He made business arrangements which left
him free to live or travel wherever he pleased and independent of all
cares and responsibilities. Never afraid of death and boldly facing it
a hundred times in the discharge of what he believed to be his duty, he
finally died at home, peacefully and fearlessly."
Allibone's Dictionary of Authors, Vol. 3, p. 2720, quotes the
following: "New York, April 28, 1870.--George Wilkes, the proprietor of
the Spirit of the Times, has received from the Emperor of Russia the
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stanislas, as a recognition for the
suggestion made to the Russian Government in reference to an overland
railway to China and India by way of Russia. This mark of royal favor
entitles the holder to have his male children at the Military School of
Russia at the expense of the State."
This great honor from the Russian Government came to him about a
quarter century after he had been made the object of jest and ridicule
for a similar suggestion backed by sound argument for a railroad across
the United States. Scriptural comment: "A prophet is not without honor
save in his own country."
The New York Times said of him that when the Civil War broke out Wilkes
wrote a series of newspaper and magazine articles on the burning
question of the hour that attracted wide attention, and gained him the
friendship of many prominent men. Secretary Stanton took a personal
interest in him, and gave him a great deal of literary work to do
in Washington. His articles were very vigorous, well written, and
patriotic. They commanded a wide influence, and besides strengthening
the attachment of the author to people who had heretofore been
his friends, they had the effect of subduing the belligerence and
increasing the caution of his enemies.
In April, 1860, Frank Leslie's "Illustrated Newspaper" published a
photograph of him and a brief but complimentary note about him.
In 1849 Mr. Wilkes went to California with David C. Broderick, who
afterward became U. S. Senator from that State. Wilkes took great
interest in the political fortunes of Broderick, and rendered him
valuable services. In 1851 he returned to New York and resumed his
career as a journalist.
Early pioneers will remember the wave of indignation that swept over
the Pacific Coast when it was known that Broderick had been killed in
a duel with David S. Terry. The latter became widely known as Judge
Terry, whose tragic death while attempting to murder Justice Field is
comparatively recent California history.
The fatal meeting took place September 13, 1859, and Broderick died
three days later. Volumes have been written about this duel. It was
quite generally believed it was the result of a conspiracy among the
leaders of the ultra slaveholding wing of the then dominant party in
the State to get rid of Broderick at all hazards.
Broderick's great friendship became apparent when his will was made
public. An estate valued at $300,000 was all left to Wilkes, except one
legacy of $10,000. Considerable litigation between him and the State of
California ensued. The ultimate verdict was in favor of the legatee,
but the estate had shrunk a good deal on account of the heavy costs of
the law suit.
Under date of Washington, September 9, 1913, the Librarian of Congress
gave me the following list of the writings of George Wilkes so far as
he had been able to find them:
Europe in a Hurry. New York, H. Long & Brother, 1853. 449 pp.
The Great Battle, Fought at Manassas, Between the Federal Forces, under
Gen. McDowell, and the Rebels, under Gen. Beauregard, Sunday, July 21,
1861. From notes taken on the spot. New York, Brown & Ryan, 1861. 36 pp.
History of California. New York, 1845. (Note.--It is doubtful if this
book was published, as it is not in the Library of Congress and I have
never seen a reference to it.--C. B. B.)
The History of Oregon, Geographical and political. New York, W. H.
Collyer, 1845. 128 pp.
The Internationale; its principles and purposes. Being a sequel to the
Defence of the Commune. New York, 1871. 23 pp.
The Lives of Helen Jewett and Richard Robinson. New York, H. Long &
Brother, 1849. 132 pp.
McClellan; from Ball's Bluff to Antietam. New York, S. Tousey, 1863. 40
pp.
"McClellan"; who he is and "what he has done," and "Little Mac; from
Ball's Bluff to Antietam." Both in one. New York, The American News
Company, 1864. 14 pp.
Project of a National Rail-Road from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean
for the Purpose of Obtaining a Short Route to Oregon and the Indies.
2nd ed. Republished from the "History of Oregon." New York, The Author,
1845. 23 pp.
Proposal for a National Rail-Road to the Pacific Ocean, for the Purpose
of Obtaining a Short Route to Oregon and the Indies. 4th ed. Rev. and
repub. from the "History of Oregon." New York, D. Adee, 1847. 24 pp.
Shakespeare from an American Point of View. New York, D. Appleton, 1877.
The Mysteries of the Tombs, a Journal of Thirty Days' Imprisonment in
the New York City Prison for Libel. New York, 1844, 64 pp.
Wilkes, George, vs. John F. Chamberlin. N. Y. Supreme Court. The answer
of John F. Chamberlin to the complaint of George Wilkes in an action
to recover damages for defamation of character. New York, W. J. Reed,
1873. (Diplomatic Pamphlets, v. 16, p. 1.) 15 pp.
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY.
THE PRESENT STATUS AND PROBABLE FUTURE OF THE INDIANS OF PUGET SOUND
The central fact to be observed in dealing with this problem is that
the Indian of today is largely what the white man has made him. The
relationship between the whites and the Indians in the past has done
more than any other thing to bring about the present conditions of life
among the Indians; and it is only as we understand this relationship
of the past that we can fully grasp the present status and can catch a
glimpse of the probable future or learn to apply remedies to eradicate
existing evils. What progress the Indian has made, therefore, toward
civilization can be traced directly to his relations with the whites,
and similarly the evil conditions of life among a great number of our
Indians can be traced to the same cause. It is, then, essential to take
particular notice of some of these relations between the two races.
The Indians of Puget Sound were put on reservations by treaties
concluded between them and Governor Isaac I. Stevens in the latter part
of the fifties. These treaties established eighteen reservations, four
in the Neah Bay agency, nine under the Puyallup consolidated agency
and five under the Tulalip agency. The lands were set aside for the
use of the Indian, to make a home for him, and to protect it from the
encroachment of the whites. Under the federal act of July 4, 1884,
the Indian was allowed to take advantage, without severing his tribal
relations, of the Homestead Act of 1862. In 1887, Congress passed the
General Allotment Act, or the so-called Dawes Act, which had for its
purpose the breaking up of tribal life and establishing the Indians
on private farms according to the customs of the whites. This is by
far the most important piece of legislation enacted in the history of
Indian affairs, because many complications have arisen under it. This
law states, in part: "Every Indian born within the territorial limits
of the United States to whom allotment shall have been made under the
provisions of this Act, or under any law or treaty, and every Indian
born within the territorial limits of the United States, who has
voluntarily taken up, within said limits, his residence separate and
apart from any tribe of Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of
civilized life, is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States
and is entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities of such
citizens." (24 Stat. L. 390.)
It must be noted that this made such an Indian a citizen of the United
States, but not necessarily a citizen of the state in which he resided.
The Constitution of the State of Washington declares that Indians not
taxed shall not vote, and the penal code of the State makes it a felony
to induce an Indian to vote--in spite of the fact that such class
legislation and class restrictions are clearly not in harmony with the
intentions of this federal law.
This Act has worked inestimable harm and has been one chief instrument
of political and pecuniary graft through conferring citizenship under
conditions which in no way required or evidenced the slightest fitness
for citizenship. Charles M. Buchanan, Superintendent in charge of the
Tulalip agency, said: "I know of instances where allotments have been
made to an Indian without his application, without his knowledge, and
without his desire--where in twenty-five years he has never set foot
upon his alleged land, does not know where it is and does not want it.
He is in possession of land that he does not want and a citizenship
that he does not know, much less understand." It is difficult to
attribute mere sympathy for the poor unprotected red man, as the
only purpose for the enactment of such an ignorant, vicious piece of
legislation. This Act, probably more than any other one thing, has
determined the present-day status of our Puget Sound Indians.
Another complication which arose under this Dawes Act was the
conflicting and antagonistic procedure on the part of local courts in
regard to the transfer and sale of lands. Section 6 of that Act states
that allotments shall be held in trust for a period of twenty-five
years and the Indian allottees are to acquire citizenship at the time
of the approval of such allotments. Also the inheritance or entail of
allotments is made subject to the laws of descent and partition in
the respective states where such allotments might be located. This
provision, together with the Act of May 27, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 245),
authorizing and providing for the sale of allotments of deceased
allottees, has resulted in great confusion and conflicting procedure
in local courts, thus making still more difficult the already complex
administration of Indian affairs and impeding the progress of the
Indian as a whole.
These developments of the vicious conditions arising under the Dawes
Act pale into insignificance before the United States Supreme Court
decision, "In the matter of Heff," 1905. This, famous or infamous,
case arose in Kansas from the endeavor to enforce the federal law of
1897 relating to the sale of liquor to the Indians. A man named Heff,
in Kansas, was arrested, tried and convicted for selling two quarts of
beer to an Indian. He was sentenced to a fine and to a term in jail.
He had the case appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and that
body decided that if, under the Dawes Act of 1887, an Indian becomes
a citizen of the United States, he is entitled to all the rights,
privileges and immunities pertaining to such citizenship, and hence to
acquire and consume liquor at pleasure. Therefore, to that extent the
prohibitory provisions of the Act of 1897, affecting such privileges,
were declared to be null and void, and Heff was ordered to be released.
This has been the most vicious piece of legislation in the history of
Indian affairs. The worst enemy of the Indian is his overpowering love
for liquor. Congress has attempted again and again to protect him from
this weakness, and in the Act of 1897 it was thought that this trouble
was at an end with the enacting of such an ironclad law. It practically
prohibited the furnishing of liquor in any form, in any place, and
under any pretense to an Indian. The year following the Heff decision
saw an increase of the liquor traffic among the Indians of Puget Sound
undreamed of before. It spelled almost absolute ruin and prostration
for the Puyallup Indians. Other agencies report a similar striking
increase in the amount of drunkenness, crime, and death, and a marked
lowering of moral standards and civilization. Even some of the more
intelligent men of the Tulalip tribes express their sorrow over the
Heff decision and its results.
On May 8, 1906, Congress attempted to remedy these evil conditions
arising under the Dawes Act by passing the Burke Act. This amends the
Dawes Act to read, "At the expiration of the trust period and when the
lands have been conveyed to the Indians by patent in fee, as provided
in Section five of this act, then each and every allottee shall have
the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of
the state or territory in which they may reside; Provided, that the
Secretary of the Interior, may, in his discretion, and he is hereby
authorized, whenever he shall be satisfied that any Indian allottee
is competent and capable of managing his or her affairs at any time
to cause to be issued to such allottee a patent in fee simple, and
thereafter all restrictions as to sale, incumbrance, or taxation
of said land shall be removed and said land shall not be liable to
the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of
such patent." (34 Stat. L. 182). This postpones the acquisition of
citizenship until the termination (instead of the initiation) of the
trust period. This can, however, only apply to such allotments as have
been made, or shall be made, subsequent to May 8, 1906. It cannot undo
the evils resulting from the past.
It would be sad indeed if this were the only aspect of the Indian
question. There is, however, a brighter side. Great progress has been
made in civilization through contact with the whites. The simple,
primitive, uneducated child of Nature is a thing of the past. The Puget
Sound Indian of today has discarded many of his tribal customs and
habits and adopted those of the whites. Reservation reports show that
nearly all have adopted the white man's dress, can speak the English
language more or less, and have adopted a great many American customs,
manners of living, and institutions. The occupations of the men are
practically the same as those of the whites. They engage in fishing,
truck gardening, stock raising, and some work in the logging camps,
lumber mills, and hop fields. They are, however, as a rule, extremely
shiftless, preferring to sell their land outright and get the money
rather than to clear it and make it their home. Each year, however, a
few more homes are made. These are quite like those found among the
whites of a similar social status.
One of the big obstacles with which the Puget Sound Indian is
contending at the present time is found in the conditions of the
fishing industry. Owing to the very rapid increase in importance of
this industry, through the use of traps, together with concentration of
capital and consolidation of the canning plants, the salmon fisheries,
which are the chief means of subsistence of the coast Indians, are
being rapidly monopolized. The means of obtaining a living are,
therefore, becoming daily more precarious, particularly among the older
Indians. The stock of fish is being depleted so rapidly that there is
an increasing demand for more and larger hatcheries. The white man,
with superior intelligence and more capital, is gradually crowding
the unfortunate Indian out of his time-honored occupation. The same
thing may be said in regard to the logging industry. The ignorant
Indian, without capital, cannot compete successfully with the superior
intelligence and greater wealth of his white neighbor. This makes the
matter of employment and subsistence extremely precarious and forms one
of the biggest problems that confronts us today in regard to Indian
affairs.
Perhaps one of the best and most hopeful signs of progress is the
growing interest and rapid improvement in education. Each of the Indian
reservations is provided with one or more day schools and the Puyallup
and Tulalip agencies have industrial training schools. These latter
especially are doing very efficient and creditable work. They are
fitting the new generation of Indians for a life of usefulness. Very
few of the older generations can be induced to clear and farm their
lands, but the time has now come when this is the only practicable
thing for them to do and so the purpose of the schools should be to
fit the rising generation for a life occupation. These two industrial
schools are meeting this task very efficiently. The Tulalip school
ground was cleared mostly by the pupils themselves. Recently the
Government has provided them with a donkey engine. A large plot of
ground is set out to fruit and vegetables. A sufficient amount of
garden products is produced on this to supply the entire school, and
besides a large amount is sold. At the same time, valuable instruction
is given to the boys in fruit raising and truck growing. In 1908 a
large mill and manual training building were erected entirely by school
help. Pupil self-government is used in connection with the discipline
of the school. The officers include mayor, city clerk, city council,
health officer, policeman and judges. The system seems to be capably
managed and good results are produced.
The day schools are experiencing a great deal more difficulty. The
allotments are so far apart that there are, necessarily, but few
families close to the schools. The remainder of the children are
compelled to come a long way. This, together with the bad, rainy
climate of Puget Sound, makes the enforcement of attendance at day
schools a very difficult problem. These factors make the attendance
uncertain and irregular, and when the pupils do go they are often
compelled to sit all day long with wet clothing. Such conditions are
enough to break down the strongest constitutions. What wonder is it,
then, that the death rate is high among the Indian children, who are
often poorly fed, poorly clad and already predisposed. Then, too, to
be efficiently administered these schools require a strong, capable,
well-trained teacher, one imbued with the true missionary spirit. Such
teachers are not, as a rule, found in the Indian service, and the
salaries are not usually large enough to attract them into the service
from outside. On the whole, however, it must be said that progress in
the right direction is slowly being accomplished. Better teachers and a
larger number of well-equipped schools are being supplied.
In a great many cases, it is a difficult undertaking to influence the
older people to change their customs and habits, although the rising
generation do so very readily. Some progress can be noted among the
old people, however. For example, over three-fourths of the families
on the Lummi reservation use the English language exclusively at home,
and in a great many cases the children can speak nothing but English.
The Indians have given up a great many of their forms and ceremonies
and superstitions. Marriage is now performed according to the customs
of the whites. Licenses are obtained usually from the county officials,
seldom from the agency. Each reservation has individual courts of
Indian offenses, officered and administered by Indians. These, on the
whole, have done very careful, conscientious and helpful work, not only
in the administration of justice, but in maintaining law and order and
peaceably adjusting quarrels and disputes.
The morals of the Indians of Puget Sound are as good as could
reasonably be expected when we take into consideration our ignorant,
unwholesome legislation and the fact that, as a race, laxness in this
respect has been only too common. Contact with the lower class of
whites has unfortunately resulted in the copying of a great many of
their vices, as well as virtues. Some progress can be noted, however.
They are observing the marriage tie with much more faithfulness than
formerly, and where man and wife are not living together, they are
divorced by due process of law.
The Heff decision has undoubtedly done much toward sending the Indian
down to destruction. Since then it has been almost impossible to keep
drink and the Indians apart. The Puyallup Indians have nearly all
passed the trust period and become citizens, as, in fact, have a good
many on the other reservations. Since that time they have lost their
property, self-respect, and health to a large degree. The only thing
they haven't been able to get rid of is their citizenship, which has
been largely responsible for their present condition. Superintendent
Buchanan reports in 1907, in speaking of the enforcement of our state
laws in regard to liquor selling, "In thirteen years of life in
this vicinity I have yet to see or hear of the first case of actual
enforcement of any of these provisions. In six years of very vigorous
prosecution I have secured remarkably few convictions in such cases,
and these only on pleas of guilty, and in all of which the minimum
penalty was inflicted. Indeed, the situation is so very extraordinary
that one is not always sure of a conviction even when the defendant
admits his guilt and pleads guilty. In one such case, which went before
the federal grand jury on such a plea of guilt, the jury, with all the
facts before them, and with the defendant admitting guilt and pointing
out and identifying the confiscated bottles and flasks, turned the
prisoner loose as innocent, even though he insisted that he was guilty.
This very extraordinary event occurred in Seattle before the May, 1905,
session of the Federal Grand Jury." (Page 58, Report of Indian Agents
and Superintendents to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1907.) Is it any
wonder, then, that liquor dealers violate the law with impunity when it
is such a difficult matter to secure conviction?
In 1909, the State of Washington passed a very stringent law relating
to the selling of liquor to Indians and since that time, enforcement
has been somewhat stricter. This makes it a felony for anyone to sell
liquor in any form, at any time, and under any pretense, to an Indian,
to whom allotment has been made, while the title is held in the trust
period, or to an Indian who is held under guardianship of an Indian
agent or superintendent, or under the charge of the United States. This
law is being much more rigidly enforced than has hitherto been the
case, yet the Indians still get the liquor. Saloon keepers in towns
bordering on the reservations are wary about selling it to them, but in
towns some distance from the reservations open selling still goes on.
On the whole, our liquor laws are more honored in the breach than the
observance.
The consumption of such a large amount of liquor in the past has, in
a great many cases, absolutely destroyed the health of the Indians.
Their constitutions always have been weak, subject to tuberculosis,
pneumonia, and all pulmonary diseases, and when the consumption of
large amounts of alcohol is added to this, little wonder is it that the
death rate is high among them, and that so many weak, diseased Indian
children come into the world.
In the matter of religion, the Puget Sound Indians are in an
evolutionary stage. On the whole, the old form of religion, called
Tamahnous, in which the evil spirit was worshipped in order to appease
it, and hence not to be visited by it, has been replaced by the
Christian religion, or by a mixture of the Christian and the old.
The Puget Sound Indians are peculiar in one respect, viz: that they
are indolent and lazy, are easily persuaded to accept and follow any
belief, but are usually unwilling to make an effort to think or reason
out a question. They are indolently and willingly superficial. The
result of this has been that while a great many have been converted to
the Christian religion, still that conversion has been very superficial
in character. They have been satisfied with the content that external
forms and actions would make them right with God, and secure to them
a future happiness, and, at the same time, have utterly disregarded
the true inner spirit of religion. Hence, they have readily taken up
anything that appeals to the sensuous in their religious nature.
In 1882 or 1883, a Mud Bay Indian, named John Slocum, who had been
converted to Catholicism, but who had led a rather desultory life, fell
sick and apparently died. The usual death ceremonies took place. But
to the great surprise of the Indians, Slocum came to life again on the
second or third day after his death. He brought with him a wonderful
tale. He affirmed that he had indeed died, gone up to the pearly gates
and there met St. Peter, who refused him entrance on the grounds that
he had led too loose a life. There was one way, however, so St. Peter
informed him, by which he could yet earn his way into Paradise, and
that was to go back to earth and teach his fellow Indians a new form of
religion, which was to be the same as that in the white man's book, but
better adapted to the needs of the Indians. Hence his return to life.
Slocum immediately began to preach his new doctrine, a religion since
named "Shakerism," which has gathered together at least half of the
Indians of Puget Sound, who profess any religion at all. This is
a curious mixture of the old Tamahnous religion and Protestantism
and Catholicism. It is undoubtedly a decided step in advance of the
old religion, since it enjoins a worship of an all-powerful, good
God rather than malicious devils and evil spirits. The beliefs and
ceremonies differ among different tribes, and are more nearly in
harmony with the Christian religion where the missionaries have had
the most influence. The influence of Catholicism is to be seen in the
elaborate forms and ceremonies of worship and the cross and candle
sticks on the altar. Those afflicted with a guilty conscience remain
on their knees during the entire Sunday service, crossing themselves
repeatedly. The songs and prayers are translations into Indian or
Chinook done by the early missionaries.
The retained features of the old Tamahnous religion are to be seen
largely in the conversion ceremonies and the healing of the sick--the
so-called "Night Work." It is difficult for the Indians to give up
their old superstitions and barbaric rites. These still remain in their
minds and crop out with the more modern beliefs in their religion. To
quote from an article by Edwin L. Chalcraft, a teacher in one of the
Indian schools, "Every act tends to excitement. The weird Indian chant,
the dance music, the frenzied dances, the ringing of hand bells and the
rubbing of the patient's body to drive out sickness or the evil spirit,
as the case may be, and let in the new religion, all have a place, and
are sometimes continued through the night, or until the participants
become exhausted."
The introduction of this new belief among the Indians worked havoc in
the churches. From the first the new religion gained a large number
of converts at the expense of the Christian institution. A great many
of the Christian churches have had to close their doors and go out
of business, because of this keen competition. Especially among the
Puyallup reservation tribes is this true. This religion has taken such
a firm hold upon them that Christianity is making no progress at all at
the present time. For thirty-five years, up to 1901, Rev. Myron Eells
worked faithfully and perseveringly among them against innumerable
obstacles, but since his death in that year the work has almost ceased.
The Neah Bay agency is supplied with one Presbyterian mission, but
it is struggling along, fearing to have to go out of business every
day. The missionary work of the Tulalip agency is done entirely by
the Catholic church, and on the whole very good results have been
accomplished. Most of the reservations have churches of their own, and
the priests of neighboring towns minister to their welfare. Shakerism
has a very weak hold among them.
Taken altogether, this religion has had its place in helping the
Indians live better lives, especially where the Bible has been
faithfully taught. Where the old Tamahnous still bears sway, and the
old superstitions are still current, however, the effect has been
noticeably bad, showing itself principally in unfaithfulness in the
family life. As C. L. Woods, Superintendent of the Neah Bay agency,
says, "The Shakers, a peculiar religious sect, are seemingly doing
good, as there has been little or no law breaking by their members, and
no drunkenness whatever. Their professed creed is a model of orthodoxy,
and it would be bigotry to oppose their outlandish and queer manner of
worship."
I think it can be safely assumed that at least assimilation, if not
race fusion, between the Puget Sound Indians and the whites will
take place some time not very far distant. The younger generation
of Indians are showing a very marked capability of taking over our
habits, customs, institutions and manner of living. Nearly all can
speak and read the English language, a good many cannot speak their
native tongue. They come in contact with the white children a great
deal and so copy from them their games and amusements, and ultimately
their ideals and ways of doing things. This is one of the most hopeful
signs for the future of the race. If we can keep the Indian children
interested in their school work and keep them in contact with the
white children, assimilation will quickly be brought about. The closer
the contact with the better class of whites, the sooner will the
Indians reach our plane of civilization, and the easier will become
assimilation and fusion. Already there is quite a noticeable drift away
from the reservations, and I believe the time will come, and not very
long distant, when the reservations will be done away with entirely.
Assimilation will go on more easily and more rapidly because of the
relatively small number of Indians. There are but something less than
four thousand reservation Indians at the present time around Puget
Sound, and statistics show that they are just about holding their
own in numbers. If any change at all, there may be a slight natural
increase in population.
In early pioneer days, intermarriage of the whites and Indians was very
common and no especial social stigma was attached to it; at the present
time, however, intermarriage is commonly discountenanced, especially
among the better classes of whites and somewhat of a social degradation
goes with it. Young married couples of the Indians usually leave the
reservations and go out among the whites to live. Often, however,
they return to their reservations because of the poor social standing
they receive among the whites, and because they long to be with their
kinsmen.
On the part of the whites, two things must be insisted upon, first, a
stricter enforcement of our liquor laws, and, second, a more friendly
and helpful attitude toward the Indian. We have robbed the Indian of
his lands and waters by false and fair means; we have forced him to
live in an atmosphere of totally different customs and ideals; it would
be, therefore, far less than justice if we fail to do all we can to
help him fit himself for his new life.
LEWIS H. ST. JOHN.
THE PIONEER DEAD OF 1913
In the list of departed pioneers following, record is made only of
those that have come to the attention of the biographer. There were
others, no doubt, but of them he had no knowledge. Those are considered
pioneers who lived in the State of Washington, and who were on the
Pacific Coast before 1860. The number of such who died in 1913 was
greater than in any previous year. The average age, and the average
number of years on the coast, were also greater. The information here
presented was obtained principally from the newspapers of the day.
Regret is expressed that it was not in all cases equally full and
complete.
Neely, David A.--Born in 1823, died at Kent, in King county, Dec. 31st,
1912, aged 89 years. Mr. Neely came from Missouri, and in 1854 settled
on the land claim in White River valley, where he lived the following
almost fifty-nine years. In the Indian war of 1855-56 he was driven
from home by the savages, and he at once retaliated by enlisting in the
territorial military service against them. He was second lieutenant of
his company, and for a time was in command, owing to the retirement
of Captain Edward Lander and First Lieutenant Arthur A. Denny. He was
married in 1848. His wife, 87 years of age, survives him; also five
children, fourteen grandchildren, and sixteen great grandchildren.
[Note.--The foregoing went to the printer too late for publication in
the list of deceased 1912 pioneers, and is therefore placed here.--T.
W. P.]
Montgomery, Matilda Ann--Born in Illinois, died at Meyers Falls, Jan.
2, aged 80 years. She came to Oregon in 1850, and for a number of years
lived in Linn county. From there she moved to Dayton, Wash., where she
remained until she went to Meyers Falls in 1906. She is survived by
three daughters and two sons.
Heitman, Henry--Died at Ridgefield, Clark county, Jan. 13, aged 80
years. He came from the Eastern States in 1853. He was a farmer, and by
industry and economy was enabled to acquire 1,800 acres of agricultural
land. Four daughters and two sons survive him.
Darragh, John.--Born in New York State in 1830; died at Edmonds, Jan.
13, in his 83d year. He was an Oregon pioneer of 1851. He remained
there and in Washington until 1883, when he returned to New York. In
1902 he came back to the Pacific and made his home in Edmonds. He
participated prominently in the 1855-56 Indian war. A wife and daughter
were left.
Laws, Andrew Jackson--Born in Illinois, March 13, 1833, died at the old
soldiers' home at Orting, Jan. 15, aged 80 years. In 1852 he came to
Clark county, Washington, where he made his home. Like most other young
men of his time, he served in the Indian war, from Oct. 20, 1855, ten
months, its whole period, in the western half of the territory. Mrs.
Page, a daughter, of Vancouver, was left.
Newell, Therese--Born near Portland, Oregon, June 4, 1856, died at
Seattle Jan. 26, aged 57 years. She was a school teacher and unmarried.
Jaggy, John--Born Jan. 14, 1829, died at Vancouver, Jan. 30, aged 84
years. He came to California in 1857, and after a few months moved
to Washington Territory. He was long a leading citizen of his home
community. A wife, two daughters and a son survive him.
Caldwell, R. P.--Born in Tennessee, June 15, 1834, died at Everett
about Feb. 1, aged 79 years. He came to California in 1856, to Oregon
in 1859, and to Washington in 1901. His wife, two daughters and two
sons survive him.
Blanchet, John B.--Born in 1840, died at Vancouver, Feb. 4, aged 73
years. He came west in 1846, and lived all the following years at
Vancouver. He was a nephew of Bishop Blanchet and also of Archbishop
Blanchet, the two first high Catholic Church dignitaries in this state.
Livingston, David--Born in Pennsylvania, died in Seattle Feb. 5, aged
82 years. He came to Puget Sound in 1853, and thereafter made his home.
His wife died in 1906. They had three children--George W., Clara and
Josephine.
Boyd, Levi--Born in Ohio, September, 1812, died at Walla Walla, Feb. 6,
aged a little more than 100 years. He crossed the continent in 1843,
and remained in Oregon and Washington until 1861. He then went East
and joined the Confederates in their effort to divide the Union. Soon
after the conclusion of hostilities he returned to Walla Walla, where
he continued to reside to the end of his long life. He was a bachelor.
Anderson, Andrew--Died at Walla Walla Feb. 21, aged 85 years. He was a
pioneer of 1856, a farmer and a veteran of the Civil War.
Wood, Mrs. Helen R. M.--Born in Australia, died at Dungeness, March 1,
aged 55 years. She came to Puget Sound when a child one year old.
Tukey, John Fossett--Born in Bangor, Me., Aug. 6, 1830, died in
Jefferson county, March 1, aged 83 years. He came to the Pacific
Coast by ship in 1850, and two years later settled on a land claim on
Discovery Bay, where he made his home for sixty years. He served among
the volunteers in 1855. His wife died a year before him. They had no
children.
Pettygrove, Benjamin Stark--Born in Portland, Oregon, Sept. 30, 1846,
died at Port Townsend, March 7, aged 67 years. His father, Francis W.
Pettygrove, settled on the Portland townsite several years before, and
was one of the town projectors. He suggested the name and bestowed it,
his partner in the enterprise favoring Boston instead. When this boy,
this first white male child born there, came along, the question of
sovereignty in Oregon was not settled between Great Britain and the
United States, as far as known to the people of Oregon, though, as a
matter of fact, it had been settled three and a half months before.
A ship came in having on board a passenger named Benjamin Stark, who
had a newspaper in which was the first report of the conclusion of
the matter on the basis of the international boundary line on the
49th parallel. The Pettygroves were so pleased that they named their
boy after this stranger. Streets in Portland are named Pettygrove
and Stark. Benjamin Stark stayed there, became a prominent citizen,
and represented the state in the U. S. Senate. The Pettygrove family
removed to Port Townsend in 1852, and were among the founders of that
city. B. S. Pettygrove lived there almost sixty-one years. After a
married life of nineteen years, his wife died in 1893. They left one
son.
Watson, Phoebe C.--Born in Illinois, Feb. 19, 1840, died in Chehalis,
March 9, aged 73 years. She crossed the plains in 1848 with her
parents, Jacob Conser and wife. She was married in 1860, and in 1872
the family went upon a farm near Chehalis. She was survived by five
sons.
Sparks, Margaret I.--Born in South Carolina, died at Boisfort in March,
aged 93 years. Her first husband was Wm. A. Brewer. They came to Oregon
in 1853. He died in 1858. In 1860 she moved to Washington Territory,
where she married John G. Sparks. She left six children.
Hardison, James W.--Born in Polk county, Oregon, in 1845, died at
Wahkiakum in March, aged 68 years. His whole life was spent in Oregon
and Washington. A widow and four children survive.
Gale, Joseph Marion--Born in Illinois in 1836, died at Orting, March
17, aged 77 years. He came to Oregon in 1853. He served in two Indian
wars, and also the Civil War. He was a teacher and a newspaper editor.
Moore, A. C. H.--Died at North Yakima, March 29, aged 76 years. He
came overland to California in 1849. From there he moved on to Oregon,
and about thirty years ago came further north, to Long Beach, Wash. A
widow, five daughters and two sons survive him.
Shaw, James O.--Born in Maine, died at White Salmon, March 30, aged
86 years. He came by ship to California in 1849. In 1870 he took a
homestead in Klickitat county. A wife, a son and two daughters were
left.
Andrews, Lyman Beach--Born in New York State, Feb. 10, 1829, died at
San Diego, Cal., March 31, aged 84 years. He came to California in
1859, and in 1860 to Seattle, where his home was ever afterward. He was
a prominent citizen for half a century. Mrs. Andrews died in 1908. He
left one daughter and three sons.
Nelson, John M.--Born in Kentucky, April 14, 1824; died at The Dalles,
Oregon, April 4. He came to California in 1847, a few years later to
Oregon, and still later to Washington, his last home being at Valley,
this state. He was a remarkable linguist, being able to talk with
Indians of sixteen different dialects. Twenty-seven grandchildren and
eight great grandchildren are his living descendants.
McKinlay, David--Born in California in 1854; died at San Francisco,
April 10, aged 59 years. He came to Victoria, B. C., and from there
in 1873 to Seattle, which was his home to the end. Mr. McKinlay left
a valuable estate to found an orphans' home, upon the death of his
surviving wife.
Fisher, Lydia Ann--Born in Oregon, Jan. 30, 1848, died near Fisher's,
Clark county, April 10, aged 65 years. All her life--every hour--was
spent in Oregon or Washington, the last fifteen years in this state.
Three sons and a daughter were left.
Shaw, James O.--Born in Maine, died at White Salmon, April 11, aged
86 years. He was a '49er of California, but in the 1870s settled in
Klickitat county, Washington. A widow and three children survive.
Gatch, Thomas Milton--Born in Ohio, Jan. 29, 1833, died at Seattle
April 23, aged 80 years. He came to California in 1856, and to
Washington Territory in 1859. He was a teacher in the higher branches
of learning and in the higher schools of the country. He was principal
of the Portland Academy, twice president of Willamette University,
president of the University of Oregon, and president of the University
of Washington. Two daughters and one son survive him.
Rose, Alfred Percy--Born in Pennsylvania, died at Metaline, May 1,
aged 76 years. He came to California in 1858, and later lived in every
state and territory west of the Rocky Mountains, and Mexico and British
Columbia besides. A widow, a son and a daughter survive him.
Christ, Philip--Born in Germany, May 24, 1824; died at Vancouver,
Wash., May 6, aged 89 years. As a member of Company L, First U. S.
Artillery, he came by ship to the Columbia River in 1849, and under
Major Hathaway, was one of the men who established Fort Vancouver,
or Vancouver Barracks. Upon discharge he settled there, and there
spent the last sixty-four years of his life. Upon the same ship came
another company,--M, Captain Hill--which was sent to Puget Sound, and
established Fort Steilacoom, the same year, these two being the first
military posts in the State of Washington.
Goodridge, Gardner--Born in Maine, Feb. 28, 1833; died, at Florence,
May 10, aged 80 years. He came to California in 1853, to British
Columbia in 1858, and thence to Washington after a short stay. He left
four children.
Masterson, James--Died in Seattle, May 24. He came to Oregon in 1851,
and to Washington in 1873. He left three children.
Faucett, Rachel A.--Died at Auburn, May 27, aged 88 years. She came
from Missouri to Washington in 1854. The family lived ten years in
Pierce county and forty-nine years in King. She left three daughters,
one son, fourteen grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.
Cloquet, August--Died June 14, at Toledo, aged 87 years. He came to
Washington in 1851. For sixty years he dwelt in Lewis county. He left
seven children.
Little, Daniel--Born in Maine, died at Castle Rock, June 29. He came to
Washington in 1852, and has resided ever since in Cowlitz county. Six
children were left.
Jaggy, Margaret Wintler--Born in Switzerland, died at Vancouver,
July 4, aged 88 years. She came to the United States in 1852; and to
Washington Territory in 1857. For thirty-five consecutive years she was
treasurer of the Vancouver Methodist Church. Mr. Jaggy died Jan. 30,
1913. They left three children.
Whitworth, James Edward--Died in Seattle, July 11, aged 72 years. He
came to Oregon in 1853 and to Washington in 1854. Married in 1869, his
wife died several years ago. His descendants include ten children and
twenty-one grandchildren.
Loomis, Louis Alfred--Born in New York State, Oct. 9, 1830, died at
Loomis Station, Pacific county, July 19, aged 83 years. He was a
pioneer of 1852. He served among the Oregon volunteers in the Indian
war of 1855-56. Five children were left.
Rhoades, L. H.--Born in Illinois in 1844, died at Bay Center, July 14,
aged 69 years. He came to Oregon in 1850, and to Washington in 1862.
Probably no couple in the state were married younger than Mr. and Mrs.
Rhoades, he being 16 years and she 15 years old in 1860 when united.
She and ten children were left.
Latham, John--Born in England, June 22, 1837, died at Tacoma August 6,
aged 77 years. He came to Oregon in 1856, and to Washington in 1860. He
left a wife, five children and fourteen grandchildren.
Haley, John--Born in New York in 1840, died at Ellensburg, August 20,
aged 73 years. He came to California in 1856, and to Washington in 1879.
Gaillac, Malinda--Born in Missouri in 1837, died at Olympia August 22,
aged 76 years. She came with her parents (Packwoods) to Washington in
1845. Nine sons and daughters were left.
Russell, D. L.--Born in Virginia, died at Vancouver, Aug. 25, aged 78
years. He came to California in 1849. He engaged in the Civil War. In
1864 he came to Washington Territory. A wife and four children were
left.
Bersch, Mary--Born in Switzerland, Dec. 15, 1832, died in Vancouver,
August 27, aged 80 years. Mrs. Bersch came to the United States in
1851 and to Washington in 1853. Her living descendants included six
children, forty grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Scheule, Josephine--Born at Vancouver, died at Portland, Ore., Aug. 27,
aged 60 years. She was a widow, but had three children.
Dougherty, Thomas A.--Born in Pierce county, Washington, Jan. 3,
1853, died in Seattle Aug. 28, aged 61 years. His wife--born in 1853
and who came to Washington in 1870--died three weeks before him. Mr.
Doughtery's father, Wm. P. Dougherty, came to Oregon in 1843, and his
mother, Mary Chambers, in 1845, both coming to Pierce county before
1850. His mother, a brother and a sister survive him.
Freeman, Rosina--Died in Seattle, Sept. 5, aged 83 years. She was the
wife of Thomas P. Freeman, who came to California from Pennsylvania in
1849. She followed in 1850. They removed to Seattle in 1873. They were
colored people. He died about twelve years ago. A daughter is all that
is left of their family.
Krumm, John--Born in Germany, died at Kent, Sept. 6, aged 86 years. Mr.
Krumm came from Ohio to California in 1849, and ten years later moved
on to Washington, settling in White River valley. He left a wife, two
sons, two daughters and three grandchildren.
Phelps, Susan E.--Died in Seattle, Sept. 22, aged 81 years. She came
to California in 1849, and to Washington in 1889. One daughter was her
only descendant.
Clark, Elizabeth Frances--Born in Missouri, died in Seattle, Sept. 26,
aged 72 years. She came to Oregon in 1853, and to Washington in 1860.
She left eight daughters and two sons, besides sisters, brothers and
other relatives.
Walker, Cyrus--Born in Maine, died at San Mateo, Cal., Oct. 1, aged 86
years. He came to California in 1849, and to Washington Territory in
1853. He was identified as an employee with Messrs. Pope, Talbot and
Keller in the location and erection of the saw mills that have been
operating at Port Gamble for the last sixty years. When Keller retired
Walker took his place as the Puget Sound head, and for almost half a
century so remained. Under him the company acquired other saw mills at
Utslady and Port Ludlow, timber lands, ships and other properties. The
company in its early days built a steamer which it called the Cyrus
Walker, and which had a longer existence on Puget Sound than any other
craft. Mr. Walker acquired large personal properties, and became one of
the wealthiest men in the state. He left a wife and son.
Bagley, Susannah Rogers--Born in Massachusetts, May 8, 1819, died at
Seattle, Oct. 11, aged 94 years. Married in 1840 to Daniel Bagley, who
died in 1905, she and he removed to Illinois, where they remained until
1852, when they came to Oregon. In 1860 they moved on to the north,
to Washington, from Salem to Seattle. He was chiefly instrumental in
building the second church in the city--the Methodist Protestant--and
of the location and building of the Territorial University in 1861. A
son, the well known Clarence B. Bagley, survives them.
Greenlaw, Wilhelmina--Born in Pierce county, died at Tacoma Oct. 18,
aged 59 years. She was the daughter of Frederick Meyer, one of the
soldiers under Captain Hill, who established Fort Steilacoom in 1849.
She left six sons and four daughters.
Charlton, Charles Alexander--Born in Virginia, March 23, 1829, died at
Colville, Oct. 8, aged 85 years. He came to Oregon in 1850, where he
remained until his removal to Washington, a few years ago. He, like
the majority of the other men of the time, served in the Indian War of
1855-'56. His wife remains.
Williamson, John R.--Born in New York State, Feb. 16, 1827, died at
Seattle, Oct. 19, aged 87 years. He came to California in 1851; and
to Washington in 1853, with Cyrus Walker and the others who were here
to build a saw mill at Port Gamble. There he was employed for several
years, and a similar time at Seabeck in a like work, when, in 1863, he
joined with others in a saw mill enterprise at Freeport, now Seattle.
He was an engineer, a machinist, an iron founder--in fact, a master
mechanic. He left a son and a daughter.
Miller, Edward--Born at Syracuse, N. Y., May 25, 1832, died at Shelton,
Oct. 15, aged 81 years. He was a farmer, a trader, an early day Puget
Sound navigator. A widow, two daughters and a son were left.
Cook, James W.--Born Aug. 22, 1833; died in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 25,
aged 80 years. He came to Portland from Chicago in 1855. He was one of
the first men to go into the salmon canning business, more than forty
years ago. He had canneries on the Columbia river and at Blaine and
Port Townsend on Puget Sound. His surviving relatives include his wife
and two daughters.
Stangroom, Marc Lareviere--Born in England, May 22, 1832; died at
Bellingham, Oct. 25, aged 81 years. He came to California in 1855, and
to Bellingham in 1888. A son and two daughters were left.
Stevens, Margaret L.--Born at Newport, R. I., in 1816; died at Boston,
Nov. 4, aged 97 years. Mrs. Stevens was the widow of Isaac Ingalls
Stevens, the first Governor of Washington Territory, 1853 to 1857, and
who, as a Union General, was killed at the Battle of Chantilly, Sept.
1, 1862. She came to Washington Territory in 1854, and the house that
was built for her sixty years ago still stands in Olympia, one of the
oldest buildings in the state. She was in Washington City during his
Congressional and later military careers, but returned to the Territory
in 1867, with her then grown children. After some years the family
removed to Boston. A son, two daughters, five grandchildren and two
great grandchildren are her living descendants.
Bean, Sarah L.--Born at McMinnville, Oregon, Oct. 6, 1851; died at
Seattle, Nov. 9, aged 62 years. She came to Washington in 1875. Her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Bean, came to Oregon in 1845. Miss Bean's
mother and sister survive her.
Titus, Eliza--At La Center, Clark County, Nov. 14, Mrs. Eliza Titus
died. She crossed the plains with her parents, named Rice, who took a
donation claim sixty years ago. Eliza was twice married, first to John
S. Pollock, and in 1875 to M. Titus. She left four children by the
first marriage.
Prosch, Charles--Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1820;
died in Seattle, Nov. 22, in the 94th year of his age. He came to
California in 1853, and to Washington Territory in 1858. He published
a newspaper at Steilacoom and later one at Olympia, during the first
fourteen years of his residence in Washington. His was the first daily
paper in Olympia. He was also engaged in the first newspaper published
in Tacoma. He was a member and officer in four churches in Olympia,
Tacoma and Seattle, two of which, in 1873 and 1889, he assisted in
organizing. He was also more or less engaged in many other enterprises
and works of pioneer days. He left a son, six grandchildren, and two
great grandchildren.
Ross, Eliza Jane--Born in Illinois, Dec. 10, 1830; died at Puyallup,
Nov. 26, aged 83 years. She and her husband, Darius Mead Ross, came
to Oregon in 1851, and lived in that state for twelve years. In 1863
they came to Washington, and made their home on a farm in Puyallup
Valley. Two sons, two daughters, nineteen grandchildren and four great
grandchildren survive her.
Spooner, Thomas J.--Born in Kentucky, May 18, 1836; died near Portland,
Oregon, Nov. 30, aged 77 years. He came to Oregon in 1859. In 1882 he
moved to Tacoma, but in 1893 went back to Oregon. He left a widow and
four sons.
Miller, Eva L.--Born in California in 1859, died at Seattle, Dec. 5,
aged 54 years. She came to Seattle in 1882 as the wife of Dr. P. B. M.
Miller. A son and three stepdaughters were left.
Gendron, Eliza--Born at Nespelem, Washington, in 1821; died at Marcus,
Washington, Dec. 19, aged 92 years. Her father was one of the early
Pacific Coast trappers and fur traders. Her mother was an Indian woman.
All her own life was spent in this state, a longer time than that of
any other white or half white person known. She married Alexander
Gendron in 1844, her husband being a Hudson Bay Company employee. She
was the mother of fourteen children, grandmother of fifty-two and great
grandmother of twenty-one.
Brown, Mrs. Chandler--Born in Thurston County, Washington, Sept. 18,
1855; died at Centralia, Dec. 20, aged 58 years. She was the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Axtell, immigrants of 1852.
Newhall, William--Died in New York, Dec. 19, aged 84 years. Deceased
was a well-known Pacific Coast navigator, coming around the Horn first
in 1847. The barkentine Amelia was one of his latest and longest
commands. He was a Son of the American Revolution, a Pioneer and a
Mason, all at Seattle. Two daughters and a son are left, in addition to
relatives slightly more remote.
Parker, Gilmore Hays--Born at Sacramento, California, in 1859; died
in Seattle, Dec. 29, aged 54 years. He was the son of Capt. John
G. Parker, who came to Puget Sound more than sixty years ago, and
was one of the first steamboat men and first merchants of these
parts. The son followed the father into the steamboat business. He
was master of several steamers, including the T. J. Potter, Bailey
Gatzert, Greyhound, City of Everett and Telegraph. His ancestors on
the mother's side were the well-known Hays family, than whom none were
more prominent in Washington Territory from fifty to sixty years ago.
Captain Parker left a mother, two sisters and two brothers.
THOMAS W. PROSCH.
AMERICAN AND BRITISH TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
A series of large mining "rushes" during the decade following 1858
brought an energetic population into the interior of the old Oregon
country. Prosperous communities sprang up in eastern Oregon and
Washington. Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia came into being. But
the populating of these regions produced acute problems with regard
to the Indians, and the point of view of this article is that of
attempting to compare the British and American methods of attacking
these problems.
Let us turn our attention first to conditions and developments on the
American side.
To the usual causes of antagonism between the native and the white
man there was added in the interior of the Pacific northwest the
impossibility of any retreat of the former; for the frontier was
closing in from both directions. "An unprogressive being * * * *,
quite well satisfied with the present, unstimulated by the past,
non-apprehensive of the future" was here brought face to face with one
"in all things the reverse, a restless mortal dissatisfied with the
present, with a history pointing upwards, apprehensive of the future
and always striving for individual and social betterment."[1] "Now
that we propose to invade these mountain solitudes," wrote the builder
of the Mullan Road, "to wrest from their hidden wealth, where under
heavens can the Indian go?"[2]
The answer seemed patent enough to a good many thoughtful Westerners,
who were not cruel men. "The experience of those who have seen most
of the Indians," said the Oregonian, "has been neither flattering to
the efforts of the Government, nor consoling to the hopes of the true
Christian philanthropist; but the purposes of the red man's creation
in the economy of nature are well nigh accomplished, and no human hand
can avert his early extermination from the face of the North American
Continent. Silently but irresistibly the purposes of Providence take
their way through the ages, and across the line of their march treaties
would seem but shreds, and the plans of men on the tide of history
but waifs upon the sea."[3] A belief in such predestination, however
exculpatory for white men, would scarcely help in the working out of
any system looking toward the upraising of the Indians. Mullan's type
of predestination was more blunt: "The Indian," he said, "is destined
to disappear before the white man, and the only question is, how it
may best be done, and his disappearance from our midst tempered with
those elements calculated to produce to himself the least amount of
suffering, and to us the least amount of cost."[4]
The writer in the Oregonian, quoted above, held that it was a
fundamental error in the treatment of Indians to acknowledge their
rights to the soil and to make treaties with them as if they were
nations. Governor Ashley, of Montana, also declared that treaty-making
with Indians ought to cease.[5] To the same effect C. H. Hale,
Superintendent of Indian affairs in Washington Territory, wrote as
follows: "I am well satisfied that a radical change should be made
in our mode of treatment towards the Indians. I do not consider the
language as any too strong when I say, that for us to negotiate
treaties with them as it is usually done is little better than a farce.
We profess by such an act to recognize their equality in status and in
power, and to clothe them with a national existence that does not at
all pertain to them. Instead of thus exalting them in mere form, they
should be treated as they really are, the wards of the government."[6]
The rougher element among the whites, who were in contact with the
Indians, bothered themselves not at all concerning theories or treaties
and seldom showed towards Indians even ordinary human feeling. "A d--d
Indian," as was the usual expression, got no consideration at their
hands. Indians were killed by desperadoes in Montana with despicable
wantonness.[7] A farmer Indian of the Walla Walla tribe had taken some
wheat to mill at Walla Walla and had hitched his horses to his wagon
to feed, when a gambler came from a nearby saloon and took one of the
horses. The owner could not recover it, because men feared to testify
against one of the roughs: but the Indian was reimbursed by employes
of the Umatilla agency.[8] In southern Idaho Indian women and children
were killed in attacks made by volunteer soldiers, and it was charged
that many Indian women were violated.[9] In the former case, however,
it was claimed that the Indian women fought as hard as the men and that
they were indistinguishable from the men in a melee.
It is fair to remember, in judging of atrocities committed by whites,
that not a few of the frontiersmen were inflamed by memories of horrid
deeds committed by Indians upon relatives and friends.[10] We of the
present generation, indeed, can scarcely understand how ingrained was
racial hatred in the white frontiersman of that day. "From the cradle
up he was the recipient of folk lore which placed the Indian as his
hereditary and implacable enemy. To the childish request, 'Grandma,
tell me a story,' it was bear or Indian, ghost stories being too tame
for frontier life, and that the bear and Indian did not stand upon
the same plane as objects to be exterminated, seldom entered into the
thoughts of the grandmother or the little one soon to take part in the
conquest of the wilderness. * * * * Granny might bring tears to the
eyes of her little auditors by telling how the bear cubs moaned over
their dead mother, but no tears flowed for the Indian children made
destitute by this perpetual conflict."[11] "On the other hand, there
might have been in an early day a measure of truth in the assertion
that murder is merit; scalps enviable trophies; plunder legitimate; the
abduction of women and their violation, a desirable achievement."[12]
In judging of Indian populations, however, and of the relations of
whites to them, discriminations need to be made. There were within
tribes bad Indians and good Indians, just as there were bad whites
and good whites; and it was generally the bad men on both sides that
made trouble. Moreover, there was a great difference between such
comparatively well ordered tribes as the Coeur d'Alenes or the Nez
Perces and the scattered banditti of southern Idaho and southeastern
Oregon. This difference is dwelt upon in a report of the Committee on
Indian Affairs of the Idaho Legislature, which was made in 1866. In the
northern portion of the Territory, the report said, "the Nez Perces,
Coeur d'Alenes, Pend d'Oreilles, etc., have been for a long time
gradually adopting the pursuits of peace and habits of civilization,
under good influences, acquired property and permanent habitations and
rely for surer subsistence upon the cultivation of the soil and the
raising of stock. But in South Idaho, throughout that portion of the
Territory south of Snake River, your committee regret to say, a far
different condition of affairs has existed from the organization of the
Territory, and still continues. The scattered clans in all this region,
known as the Shoshones or Snakes, inhabit a country for the most
part destitute of timber and game, spreading into wide deserts, and
affording them secure retreats in rugged mountains and deep canyons.
Never having any fixed habitations, they acquire no property except by
plunder, and hold none except for temporary subsistence and plunder.
So, far from cultivating the soil, or any arts of peace, they have
to a great extent ceased to depend for food upon fish, grass seeds,
crickets, roots, etc., and rely upon what they seize by murder and
robbery on the public highways and frontier settlements. * * * * * They
have no recognized head, but simply leaders of clans, and know nothing
of treaty obligations. Nothing, therefore, but vigorous war, that will
push them to extremities of starvation or extermination, can ever bring
peace to our borders and security to our highways."[13]
If one tries to imagine himself in the conditions that then existed in
southern Idaho, he will, perhaps, better understand why even humane
people could have had stern and cruel opinions with regard to the
treatment of some classes of Indians. There was no danger of attack
upon settlements of any size; there was, in fact, no declared war.
But stock was constantly being stolen, lone men murdered, and pack
trains attacked. If a few men pursued the Indians, the latter would
turn and fight like fiends, and with the advantage of knowledge of the
country. To dwellers in secure homes, these enumerations may appear not
particularly significant, but to one with understanding of frontier
conditions they mean much. If travellers, for example, had their
animals stolen, it meant all the discomfort and danger of being left
afoot in a country of great distances. If a rancher had his stock run
off, it meant temporary impoverishment and disablement. For white men
to steal horses was quite generally recognized as a capital crime; why,
then, compunction for Indians? Men, moreover, who looked down upon the
mutilated remains of comrades, cut off in the unceasing assassinations,
were very likely to vow vengeance upon the whole murderous race.
Finally, there were wider considerations affecting the whole community;
Indian attacks deterred packers, freighters, and stage owners,
thereby raising freights, delaying mails, making supplies more scarce
and costly, impeding immigration, and hindering the investment of
capital,--in a word, checking prosperity in a way to which no civilized
community would submit.
The men who went out to find and to kill Indians who were thus damaging
the communities, were not always nice men; but they often showed
self-denial in leaving good-paying employments, and they endured
great privations and did a necessary work for civilization.[14] The
character of the United States troops, likewise, who served in these
regions during the Civil War was sometimes questionable; but frontier
communities were justifiably grateful to men like those of General
Conner's command, many of whom in the Bear River expedition endured
freezing, wounds, and death in corralling and fighting a large band of
predatory Indians.[15]
The exasperation of the southern Idaho communities, under continual
Indian harassment, became extreme. This was especially true in Owyhee.
A meeting of citizens offered rewards for scalps; one hundred dollars
for that of a buck, fifty dollars for that of a squaw and twenty-five
dollars for "everything in the shape of an Indian under ten."[16] When
fifty-five Indians were reported killed in Humboldt, the local paper in
Owyhee rejoiced that these were made "permanently friendly"; the next
item, in contrast, is an announcement of a Christmas Festival for the
Sunday School children at the Union Church, at which there were to be
an address, songs by the children, and distribution of gifts.[17] The
month previous, on report of seventy Indians being killed and scalped
in Nevada, the same paper burst out with,--"Here's seventy more reasons
for those safely-located, chicken-hearted, high-toned-treaty-moral
suasion philanthropists to ignorantly wail about, and we're glad of
it."[18] Since it was so extremely difficult to catch these Indian
marauders, a novel proposal was advanced, possibly not in real earnest:
"If some Christian gentlemen will furnish a few bales of blankets from
a small-pox hospital, well inoculated," the _Avalanche_ announced,
"we will be distributing agent, and see that no Indian is without a
blanket. That kind of peace is better than treaties." "These ideas suit
us exactly," commented the _Idaho World_.[19]
In the case of Indians such as these in southern Idaho, the reservation
system as yet was impossible; but for the more amenable Indians, who
lived farther to the west and north, this system seemed not only
possible, but necessary. For the mining advance was sweeping away the
native means of subsistence. Game was receding into the more remote
localities, and the camass and cous grounds were being continually
devastated by the hogs of settlers. The fish supply, to be sure, still
remained, but the location of the fisheries on the streams along which
most of the travel proceeded made necessary a contact with whites which
brought evil results to the Indians. It was fortunate, therefore, that
arrangements for the establishment of reservations were well under way,
when the mining advance began. For the Indians east of the Cascades
the treaties of 1855 (ratified in 1859) provided five reservations,
each the size of a large county. These were the Yakima, the Warm
Springs, the Umatilla, the Nez Perces and the Flathead. On all of these
reservations agents were to be stationed, mills were to be erected,
farming tools furnished, and schools and teachers provided. The policy
itself was conceived on generous, humane, and enlightened principles,
and it is doubtful if, under the circumstances, a better could have
been devised. But the test came in administration; the difficulties and
weaknesses, as the system worked out, proved to be many and formidable.
Among the first of these obstacles to become apparent was the natural
unfitness of the Indian for civilized life.
It was always a difficult task for a white settler in a new country to
get a start in the cultivation of the soil. He had to be able to gain
support in some manner while he was building his house, breaking up the
soil, and waiting for his crops to mature. Tools were generally scarce
and dear, and many shifts and ingenious devices had to be employed.
To be sure, the American frontiersman had become so expert in this
work, that he went at it with comparative ease; but how difficult such
work is for the untrained white man may be seen today in the case of
Englishmen coming direct from the old country to western Canada.[20]
Much more difficult it was, then, for the Indians. The ordinary Indian
was very poor, ignorant, and conservative. A few, it was true, had
large herds of ponies, but the average Indian might have two or three,
and these worthless for the stern work of breaking prairie sod. The
shrewd Indians who owned large herds, moreover, could see no reason for
raising crops when stock-raising paid better and was vastly easier and
more agreeable. And this was the more true when, as on the Umatilla
reservation, wheat had to be hauled long distances to be ground.
Furthermore, it was not at all the proper thing for a common Indian to
begin a new sort of enterprise without the consent and example of his
chief. Plowing, and like work, again, was for the Indian inexpressibly
awkward and hard to learn, and, moreover, contrary to his ideas and
to the ideas of his women of what a man ought to do. It was entirely
natural that he should prefer to such drudgery, the sport of hunting
and fishing and moving around. It was not his habit to stay in one
place, for when the camass was ripe he needed to be near the grounds
where it grew, and when the salmon were running it was necessary to be
at the fisheries. Moreover, it was not sanitary for those Indians with
their tepee habits to dwell long in one place; when Indians were forced
to do so, filth brought disease and death. So, it was a hard, long
task [the white man had been at it for thousands of years], this task
of settling down to the orderliness and laboriousness and anxiety of
civilized ways,--certainly a task not to be done in a year or decade,
according to the swiftness and impatience of Americans. Under the most
favoring conditions it was a task that demanded time for slow and
painful growth.[21]
The conditions were not the most favorable.
In the first place the Government that was finally responsible was
far away, at its best worked slowly, and was now handicapped by an
absorbing and expensive war. A new party, moreover, was in power, and
new men were at work. The financial problem, which this new party had
to face, was stringent; it was not to be wondered at, therefore, that
funds indispensable to the right working of the reservation system
reached their destinations tardily. On September 25, 1861, for example,
only a portion of the funds appropriated for the Oregon superintendency
in 1860 had arrived, and the remainder had been remitted so far behind
time as seriously to impair efficiency.[22] Agent Bancroft, and some
of his employes, in two years received pay for only one quarter.[23]
Moreover, when funds did arrive for the different agencies, they were
in checks, which were hard to cash and reckoned on a legal tender
basis, while the entire business of the Coast was on a gold basis.
It was, consequently, very difficult to secure and retain efficient
employes.[24] Native employes also, in particular, wanted their pay
promptly on doing their work and felt aggrieved if they did not
get it. Nor could the business of the Department be economically
conducted; merchants naturally asked higher prices for goods when paid
for in vouchers. The practice by agents of issuing vouchers itself
was a most pernicious and corrupting one, but it was the only way in
which the agency business could at times be carried on at all. Goods
which were bought were frequently long delayed for lack of cash for
transportation, or money was borrowed for transportation at the high
rates of interest which prevailed on the Coast.[25] Goods of all
sorts solemnly promised to the Indians, and improvements in the shape
of mills, etc., were delayed for months and years; it was natural,
therefore, for the Indians to feel that the Great Father was not
particular about keeping his engagements, and that they in turn need
not be particular about keeping theirs.
Furthermore, the Government did not provide adequate protection for
Indians who were on reservations. We have noticed before how the
Nez Perces reservation was invaded by miners in defiance of treaty
obligations. A still more conspicuous example of the failure to
provide protection occurred at the Warm Springs reservation, where
repeated raids of the Snakes terrorized and impoverished the agency
Indians and discouraged them from attempting the cultivation of the
soil. The Snakes on one occasion killed or captured many women and
children, drove off the cattle and horses, both of the Indians and
the Government, compelled the employes to flee for their lives,
and plundered the agency. Troops pursued them without effect; and,
moreover, hardly had the pursuers returned, when another raid took the
remainder of the stock.[26]
No feature of the reservation system was the cause of so much
dissatisfaction to Indians, agents, and superintendents as was the
payment of annuities. Not a few of the Indians of some tribes--notably
of the Nez Perces--were men of self-respect and shrewdness, who felt
insulted at being offered gewgaws and calico.[27] Calico and loss of
land became connected in the Indian mind.[28] Among the Yakimas it
was noted that there was great reluctance shown by many at receiving
annuities. A reported speech by Qui-tal-i-can, a Yakima Indian, on the
occasion of distribution of annuities at the Yakima agency, illustrates
the attitude of independence held by some Indians: "The white men
propose to bring all Indians to one land. Not good. Like driving horses
into a corral. Suppose Indians went to Boston and told all the Bostons
to go to one place. Would it be well? I am a poor man, but I will not
say to the Agent, I am a dog. The Great Spirit will take care of us. He
will always cause the grass to grow and the water to run. I am somewhat
ashamed to be here today. My land is not to be sold for a few blankets
and a few yards of cloth."[29] The Indians in general, moreover, quite
rapidly learned to prefer that which was substantial to that which was
trashy.
But the goods which they received were ill adapted to their needs,
since these goods were not sent in accordance with their own expressed
desires, nor according to the requisition of the agents. At the
Umatilla reservation, when Mr. Davenport distributed the annuities,
the total amount of goods had a "pretty fair appearance"; but for 91
men there were provided 59 flannel shirts, 22 coats, 23 pants, 51 wool
hats, 49 caps, and 65 pairs of brogans, and there were 122-1/2 pairs
of blankets for the total of 324 persons.[30] Many of the articles
received by the fishing Indians of the Sound country were those
suitable to the more agricultural Indians of the interior,--consisting
of "pitchforks, sickles, scythes without snaiths, frying pans, and
other loose ends of New York stores."[31] It was not to be wondered
at that the Indians traded off or gambled away these goods. Besides
lack of suitability, there was no telling when the goods would arrive
for distribution, and in consequence the Indians might have to go
without needed clothing in winter time: "Really, the worst part of the
annuity business was the uncertainty as to what kind of goods would be
furnished, and at what time, if at all."[32]
It was held by agents and superintendents that this sort of expenditure
was in itself not wise, since it tended to pauperism and indolence. It
would have been better, they said, to expend the money for improvements
such as would help the Indians to become self-supporting,--in
particular for the planting of orchards,--or to pay the Indians for
doing work, rather than to give them articles outright. At any rate, it
was urged, annuities ought not to be issued to all of each tribe, but
only to such as stayed on the reservation and showed inclination for
work and progress.[33]
The reason why there was so much mal-adjustment, so it was universally
claimed by superintendents and agents, was that the annuity goods were
purchased on the Atlantic coast. A newspaper correspondent said that
the fault lay with the "Great Father in New York who annually gets
contracts for furnishing things to poor Lo."[34] So important does this
aspect of the annuity problem seem, that I quote at some length from
the annual reports of three superintendents. Edward R. Geary reported
in 1860 from the Oregon Superintendency as follows:
"Reference to the several lately ratified treaties made with the
Indians in the interior of Washington and Oregon, shows that
the chief objects to which the large sums embraced in the first
payment for their lands ceded to the United States are applicable,
are such as 'providing for their removal to the reservations;'
'breaking up and fencing farms;' 'building houses;' 'supplying
provisions and a suitable outfit,' etc.
"The aggregate amount of these first payments, to be expended for
such objects as above specified, under the five treaties with
the Indians east of the Cascade mountains, and appropriated by
Congress at its last session, is $231,900. Of this, the sum of
$111,000 was expended in the purchase of drygoods, groceries and
hardware on the Atlantic side. This expenditure does not appear to
be in accordance with the spirit and intent of these treaties;
nor does it meet the just expectations of the Indians."
"The whole amount appropriated for first payment of annuities to
the Indians, embraced in four treaties, in Washington Territory,
west of the mountains, is $26,500; of which the entire amount has
been expended in the same market as above.
"Some of the dry goods are not adapted to the condition and habits
of the Indians on this side of the Rocky Mountains, and one-half
the amount would have sufficed for their present wants.
"Suitable goods of the best quality can be purchased in this
market at prices ranging but little above those paid for similar
articles in New York. Thus the freight might have been saved, and
the risk and exposure avoided, by which many articles have been
damaged in the transportation. * * * *"[35]
The successor to Mr. Geary, William H. Rector, wrote as follows in 1861
to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington:
"Your attention has been heretofore called by my predecessor
to the impropriety of disbursing in the Atlantic States the
appropriations made by Congress for beneficial objects. This
course has been pursued ever since the ratification of the
treaties, and still continues to be faithfully observed,
notwithstanding the objections and remonstrances of the
superintendents and agents thereto.
"The articles forwarded have invariably failed to give
satisfaction to the Indians. They are of inferior quality,
unsuited to their wants or tastes. Besides, it consumes the entire
annuity fund for 'beneficial objects,' and a large portion of
the 'incidental fund' to transport these articles to the place
of distribution. No good can possibly result from such a course,
but, on the contrary, great loss. Better articles can be obtained
in this market at a less price, and such as are adapted to their
wants. This fund should be husbanded and disbursed for objects
calculated to benefit the Indians, and not in such transparent
trash as has usually been received.
"One-half the amount, judiciously invested in the purchase of
articles actually required, suited to their tastes, and applicable
to their wants, would render more satisfaction, and would have a
greater tendency to promote their well-being and advance them in
civilization than the whole amount expended in the manner which it
is.
"The policy adopted at present only tends to embarrass the
operations of the agent, and create in the Indian's mind the
impression that there is a deliberate intention on the part of
the government to defraud them of their lands."[36]
Again, C. H. Hale, at the head of the Washington Superintendency,
reported in 1862 as follows:
"The attention of the department has so often been called, both by
agents and former superintendents, to the mistaken policy which has
so long obtained in the payment of annuities, that I forbear to dwell
upon the subject, being well satisfied that if the abundant evidence
which has heretofore been furnished, and forcible arguments which
have been employed, have not convinced the department of the folly
and injustice, not to say the fraud of the practice, it is useless
and vain for me to attempt it." Mr. Hale then advises that annuities
be paid only to Indians willing to reside at the reservations and as
incentives and aids to work; clothing might be furnished only for the
aged or infirm or children attending school. "Whatever may be furnished
in this way," he continues, "should be selected with the greatest
care, and with due reference to its intended application. Any article
needed, for all the purposes specified, can be obtained on this coast
at rates equally favorable as in the Atlantic cities; thus saving the
very large expenditures which have heretofore been made in the way of
freights."[37]
The local superintendents and agents, of course, might have been
in part influenced by desire to benefit the section in which they
were working, and, perhaps, by the design to get expenditures more
completely into their own hands; and the Government, on the other hand,
may have had good reasons for purchasing in New York. But the unanimity
and earnestness of the local officials indicate here a real and grave
source of trouble.
We come now to the important question as to how far the local officials
themselves were honest and capable. The answer to this question is
difficult.
Specific charges of peculation and wrong management are frequent. On
a visit to the Nez Perces reservation in 1861 Superintendent Kendall
found the only evidence of farming operations by the agency to consist
of about three tons of oats in the straw, although the agent had a
full force of treaty employes, and ten laborers besides, at an expense
of seven thousand dollars.[38] As the Superintendent fed his horse,
he sighed to think that each mouthful of the animal's feed cost the
Government at least one dollar. On the Umatilla agency there was an
expenditure called for during the first two years of sixty-six thousand
dollars; as a result there were in sight in 1862 "two log houses,
a half dozen log huts, an open shed for wagons and plows, about a
hundred acres of loamy river bottom fenced and in cultivation, a set of
carpenter's and blacksmith's tools, and farming implements insufficient
for an ordinary half section farm."[39] At the same reservation the
outgoing agent remarked to the special agent appointed to take his
position that the place of agent was worth there $4,000 per year,
although the salary was but $1,500.[40] We could wish, however, in such
cases to hear the accused agent's side of the story. Yet in 1858, Mr.
Dennison, Indian agent for eastern Oregon, according to his own report,
spent $13,500, which "was mostly expended in opening farms upon the
Warm Springs reservation"; the next year there were in cultivation on
this reservation 356 acres.[41] More convincing proof of fraudulent
practices, perhaps, is afforded in the attitude of merchants and others
towards agents. When Mr. Davenport, agent at the Umatilla reservation,
tried to get competitive bids at Portland, dealers were distrustful and
sarcastic, because they thought that he, as was common, was ostensibly
seeking bids while in reality having a deal on with some selected firm.
"The practice of combining against the Government for mutual profit
is so common," comments Mr. Davenport, "that all agents are regarded
in the same unenviable light. I said to one of the older merchants:
'It is easy to say that all the agents pilfer in this way, but what
do you know about it?' His answer was: 'I say all because all that I
know about are guilty.' The agent at Warm Springs, at the Grande Ronde,
at the Umatilla, at the Siletz does so, and I presume that the rest
of them do the same."[42] Another method whereby an agent might line
his own pockets was by allowing substitutions of inferior goods in
government invoices; Mr. Davenport was offered $1000 for the privilege
of exchanging annuity goods for others, item by item.[43]
But, indeed, how could it be expected that these administrators would
be efficient and honorable when we consider the system under which
they were appointed and did their work? No civil service rules were
applied. Men were generally appointed, not because of special fitness
either through natural aptitude or through administrative training, but
because of political partisanship and at the demand of some Senator or
Representative; or, later, they were appointed because of religious
affiliations at the suggestion of some religious body. No national
tests were applied, nor was there a sustaining esprit d' corps. There
could be no right spirit, indeed, when many government officials
considered that the agency system was merely a cheap way of keeping
the Indians quiet, and when the western population in general was
profoundly skeptical as to the possibility of civilizing the Indian.[44]
The outlook was the more discouraging since the great American
panacea--education--seemed a dismal failure when applied to these
Indians according to forms then in vogue. There might be quite a furore
when a reservation school was opened and the novelty was unworn; but
the white child's spelling book or reader soon proved very tame to the
young Indian, the more so because of the difficulties of pronunciation.
But the principal cause of failure of the day schools was the nomadic
habits of the parents; hardly had the Indian child started to school,
when away would go the family to the fishing or hunting grounds or to
the camass fields. Teachers who were in earnest met this difficulty
by establishing boarding schools, where the children could be kept
removed from the parental impulsiveness. The next step was natural.
These schools emphasized practical training, particularly agriculture
for the boys and housekeeping for the girls. This step, taken at a time
when in American educational methods, comparatively little attention
had been paid seriously to this phase of education, was significant and
produced good results.[45] Whatever the shortcomings of the American
method of dealing with the Indians in contrast to that of British
Columbia, in respect to education, at least, the American system
appears to advantage; for the colonial government of British Columbia
did practically nothing for the education of the natives.
There were two terrible evils, prevalent both in British Columbia
and in the territories, which weakened and degraded the Indians and
hindered efforts of every sort for improvement. These were prostitution
and the use of liquor.
No more pitiable condition can be imagined than that of the helpless
Indian women and girls who were devoted by their husbands and fathers
to prostitution among vile whites. The northern Indians brought down to
the Songish reserve at Victoria their young women, many of them girls
from ten to fourteen years of age, and remained all summer as pimps
and procurers.[46] Reports of American Indian agents along the Coast
make frequent mention of this practice. In the interior there is less
evidence of its existence, but wherever Indians had a chance to linger
around towns, they became demoralized. Employes agencies prostituted
Indian women or took them for concubines; the Superintendent of
Washington Territory issued a circular warning all employes from
such acts.[47] The results of prostitution are found in reports of
physicians of the various agencies, who almost always speak of venereal
diseases as common. It should very clearly be understood that these
facts were not true of all tribes in like degree; the tribes in the
interior were more robust physically and morally and farther removed
from contamination. Nor should the chastity of all the individuals
of a tribe be judged by specimens which hung about the towns. In the
interior, particularly, it was probably true that "unchastity among
Indians is the exception, as it is among the whites."[48]
Everywhere, both north and south of the Boundary, Indian welfare was
assailed by the liquor traffic, and everywhere the Government engaged
in a less or more futile struggle to combat it. Many of the Indians
undoubtedly believed, like an Indian orator at Ft. Simcoe, that they
had a right to drink whiskey if they wanted to, especially so long
as the white man made it,--and there were always white men ready to
sell it.[49] Local government took little part in suppressing the
trade in the United States, the work being regarded as belonging to
the officials of the general Government. These were hindered by lack
of summary powers, by the scarcity of jails, and by the reluctance
of juries to convict. Only on the reservations were the powers of
the agents ample, and even here they might, in part, be nullified by
the planting of resorts on the edges. The whole power of Government
in British Columbia, on the other hand, could be utilized for the
punishment of offenders. Magistrates had summary powers, and conviction
entailed heavy fines and, in the case of regular dealers, loss of
license. But the magistrates had the care of immense districts, and
the Indians were not localized as they were in the United States after
the reservation system was completely established. Yet this form of
lawlessness, in common with other forms, was better checked on the
whole in British Columbia than in the territories.
As we turn, now, to consider the efforts to solve the Indian problem
in British Columbia, quotations from two American administrators will
help to set before us the better ordered conditions under British
rule. The first is from General Harney: "Like all Indians they [the
northern Indians] are fond of whisky, and can be seen at all hours of
the day in the streets of Victoria drinking whenever they can get it,
yet they are not permitted to become disorderly. These Indians are
more obedient under British rule, which appears to be kind, but firm,
than their fellow men with us under any of the systems adopted by our
government."[50] The other is from an Indian agent, Mr. Davenport, to
whom we have before referred. "We have only to look across the line
into the British possessions of North America," he says, "to see that
their treatment of the Indian has been more promotive of peace and
good will than ours, and some people are swift to conclude that the
Canadians are of a higher moral tone than the people of the United
States. The true reason lies in the fact that their system has a more
constant and restraining influence upon the lawless class in society.
There is more individual freedom with us, and consequently more room
for departure from the normal line of conduct. This difference is
boldly in evidence to those of our citizens who have lived in mining
regions governed by Canadian officers, whose official tenure does not
depend upon the mood of the populace."[51]
The policy of the Colonial Government of British Columbia with respect
to the Indian population was distinguished by the following principal
features: (1) Title to the soil was not recognized as belonging to
the Indians; (2) No compensation, therefore, was allowed to Indians
either in the shape of payments, annuities, or of special educational
grants; (3) Indians were held to be fellow subjects with white men, and
entitled, as individuals, to the protection of law, and responsible
for obedience to law; (4) Sequestration of the native population upon
large reservations was not followed, but, as settlement progressed,
small reserves were assigned to families and septs, in proximity to
settlements of the whites.[52]
The adoption of this policy, so different to that of the United States,
was not due to differences between the Indian populations north and
south of the line. Some differences, it is true, there were: a great
part of the natives of British Columbia had been more uninterruptedly
under the tutelage of the Hudson's Bay Company than those across the
Boundary, and were somewhat more inclined to work; no one tribe in the
Colony was so powerful or so well organized as the Nez Perces; nor
did the Indians of the Interior of British Columbia possess so many
horses as did those to the south. Yet Kootenays, Pend d'Oreilles, and
Okanogans crossed the Line at pleasure; the Shuswaps were very like
the Coeur d'Alenes or the Cayuses; and the untameability of the nomads
south of the Snake was matched by the wildness and ferocity of the
Indians to the far north. In numbers, organization, and character it
is difficult to see why the natives of the one section were the more
adapted to any certain system than those of the other.[53]
The initiation of this policy (especially with respect to the
non-recognition of Indian title and the withholding of compensation)
was in part due to pressure for funds in the Colony and to the refusal
of the Imperial Government to assume any financial responsibility in
the matter. Governor Douglas before the founding of the Colony had
acted, apparently, on a different principle when, as agent for the
Hudson's Bay Company, he had bought in 1850-51 considerable areas
from various tribes in Vancouver's Island.[54] Compensation of some
sort to Indians on the mainland was at least tentatively endorsed by
the colonial office of the Home Government while it was in charge
of Sir E. B. Lytton; yet Lytton was careful to state that he did
not adopt the views of the Aborigines' Protective Society as to the
means for extending protection to the natives.[55] This society was
an organization in England which had "taken for many years a deep
interest in the welfare of the Indian Tribes to the west as well as
the east of the Rocky Mountains," and it may be looked upon as a
British manifestation of the same sort of philanthropic sentiment in
regard to Indians as existed among certain classes in the eastern
part of the United States. The Secretary of the Society, in a long
letter to Lytton, after quoting a long extract from a New York paper
relative to the extreme cruelty of miners to Indians in California
and characterizing the Indians of British Columbia as a "strikingly
acute and intelligent race of men," "keenly sensitive to their own
rights," and "equally alive to the value of the gold discoveries,"
claimed for them protection against wanton outrages and asked that "the
Native title should be recognized in British Columbia, and that some
reasonable adjustment of their claims should be made by the British
Government."[56] The policy of compensation to Indians was further
endorsed by Governor Douglas in regard to lands on Vancouver Island,
on the occasion of the transmission of a petition from the House of
Assembly of Vancouver Island, "praying for the aid of Her Majesty's
Government in extinguishing the Indian title to the public lands in the
Colony." The money then needed amounted to £3000, and Douglas proposed
that it be advanced by the Imperial Government, payment to be made
from the proceeds of sales of land. But the Duke of Newcastle, then
Secretary of State for the Colonies, replied tersely that he was "fully
sensible of the great importance of purchasing without loss of time the
native title to the soil of Vancouver Island; but the acquisition of
the title is a purely colonial interest, and the Legislature must not
entertain any expectation that the British taxpayer will be burdened to
supply the funds or British credit pledged for that purpose."[57]
Whatever the reason, however, for denying recognition of title to the
Indians both of the Island and of the Mainland, and for withholding
compensation, there can be no doubt of the fact: "The title of the
Indians in fee of the public lands, or any portion thereof," wrote an
eminent colonial official, "has never been acknowledged by Government,
but, on the contrary is distinctly denied."[58]
The beginnings of a positive Indian policy in British Columbia may be
traced in an early letter of Governor Douglas to Sir E. B. Lytton,
March 14, 1859. This letter was in reply to one from the latter (Dec.
30, 1858), in which Lytton inquired whether a plan for settling the
Indians in permanent villages, like the plan used by Sir George Grey
with the Kaffirs in South Africa, might not be feasible.[59]
Douglas endorsed the plan as of advantage both to the Indians and to
the Colony and then sketched the principles upon which he proposed to
establish reserves on the mainland. In the first place, the reserves
should "in all cases include their cultivated fields and village sites,
for which from habit and association they invariably conceive a strong
attachment, and prize more, for that reason, than for the extent or
value of the land."[60]. Such settlements, in the second place, were
to be entirely self-supporting. The Governor here adverted to the plan
pursued in the United States with regard to Indian reservations, but
stated that that plan was expensive to the Government and debasing to
the Indians. The system followed by the Spanish missions in California,
likewise, he regarded as defective, in that it kept the Indians in
a state of pupilage and did not train them to self-government and
self-reliance. He would avoid the evils of both these systems and, in
particular, cultivate the pride of independence. He proposed to that
end, that each family have title to its own plot of ground, but without
power of alienation; that they should be encouraged to add to their
possessions by purchasing property apart from the reserve; "that they
should in all respects be treated as rational beings, capable of acting
and thinking for themselves; and, lastly, that they should be placed
under proper moral and religious training and then be left, under the
protection of the laws, to provide for their own support."[61] "I
have impressed upon the miners," wrote Douglas to Lytton, "the great
fact that the law will protect the Indian equally with the white man,
and regard him in all respects as a fellow subject."[62] "The Indian
population," he wrote to another, "are considered by the laws of
England as fellow subjects, entitled to protection and punishable,
when guilty of offenses, through the sole action of the law."[63]
In a review of the Colonial Indian policy, written in 1875, the
Attorney General stated that that policy "was based on the broad and
experimental principle of treating the Indian as a fellow subject."[64]
It now remains for us to inquire how this Indian policy, so based,
was applied by the Colonial Government to this class of Her Majesty's
subjects; not omitting, as we do so, to notice contrasts to
administration in the United States.
In the administration of justice the courts of British Columbia
treated the Indian as the white man was treated. "When Indians commit
offenses," ordered Governor Douglas, "they are to be dealt with
impartially and to receive a fair trial before the proper authorities,
and not to be treated like the wild beasts of the forest."[65] We get
a glimpse of the way in which the law was administered with respect
to Indians from the terse records of the old Ft. Hope Police Book. An
Indian, for stealing money from another was sentenced to two days in
jail. Two Indians, for being drunk and disorderly, were sent to jail
for twenty-four hours. Simon B. McClure was charged by an Indian with
assaulting him and was fined forty shillings. William Welch, charged
by another Indian with the same offense, claimed that the Indian had
beaten his dog and attacked him with a knife; Welch was let off, and
the Indian was reprimanded. An Indian who struck an Indian woman in the
face with a gun had his hair cut off. J. Spencer Thompson, for selling
about one pint of liquor to an Indian had to pay a fine of $100, with
costs, and lost his license to sell liquor. The sentences, it will be
observed, were generally light for minor offenses, but not for selling
liquor to Indians. Whites and Chinamen, the records reveal, were
treated exactly as the Indians. Of course for grave offenses Indians,
as well as others, were bound over to the assizes. In a number of cases
Indians were hung for murder. This even-handed, carefully adjusted
dealing out of justice to Indians, whites, and Chinese alike, contrasts
plainly with the carelessness, ruthlessness, and lack of system in the
territories. One could scarcely imagine an event like the following
occurring on an American frontier: "May 28, 1862. Chas. Millard, Capt.
of the Ft. Hope (steamboat) appeared to answer the complaint of Jim (an
Indian) for having on the 16th inst. broken and otherwise damaged his
canoe at Union, valued at twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
"Ordered to pay four pounds ($20.00) being the damage sustained by the
Indian as sworn to by C. C. Craigie & Wm. Yates. Paid. P. O'Reilly, J.
P."[66]
It is difficult in the mining regions south of the Line to find
satisfactory records as to how justice was administered to the Indian.
The reservation system, as it was being applied in the Pacific
Northwest, weakened the ancient tribal authority; the "subsidy plan"
tended to alienate the people from the chiefs, and the presence of
Agents lessened their prestige in the eyes of the young or of those
inclined to be bad. The Agents, on their part, had no authority for the
punishment of criminal acts. If they had possessed magisterial powers,
both with regard to whites and Indians, justice might have been better
administered. Local authorities had no jurisdiction over Indians
who were on reservations, although they sometimes punished those who
were off of them.[67] Only United States courts had full power, but
these courts were slow in action, and could not be expected, moreover,
to take cognizance of minor cases. Indian criminals, finally, were
sometimes arrested by army officials and tried by army courts with
scanty consideration.[68] For the Indian, indeed, there seems to have
been at this period practically no real protection before the law in
the American procedure.
In case of Indian outbreak the British Columbia system aimed to punish
offenders as individuals and not to take revenge on tribes. One of
the marked features of the history of the Colony of British Columbia
is that there was but one serious Indian outbreak during the colonial
period.[69] This happened in April, 1864, when some Chilcotin Indians
killed roadmakers and settlers to the number of fourteen. The whole
tribe went on the warpath, but were subdued by volunteers from New
Westminster and Cariboo. Rewards of $250 each were offered for the
individual murderers, the aim being, as Governor Seymour expressed it,
"to secure justice, not vengeance."[70] Too often, south of the Line,
in case of Indian depredations, there was no discrimination between the
tribe and guilty members of the tribe.[71]
In the British Columbia Indian system, as we have before stated there
was no policy of bestowing annuities or subsidies, although gifts were
sometimes made for special reasons.[72] To the student of American
Indian history special interest attaches in this connection to the
judgment of Mr. William Duncan, a man of very great experience, wisdom,
and success in his dealings with Indians. Mr. Duncan wrote as follows
in 1875 from his mission at Metlakahtla: "In no matter affecting the
Indians can the Government do more good or harm than in the matter of
gifts.
"Money may be spent to a large amount upon the Indians and yet tend
only to alienate, dissatisfy, and impoverish them, if wrongly applied;
whereas a small sum rightly administered will yield much good both to
the Indians and the country at large.
"The policy of dealing out gifts to individual Indians I consider
cannot be too strongly deprecated, as it is both degrading and
demoralizing. To treat the Indians as paupers is to perpetuate their
baby-hood and burdensomeness. To treat them as savages, whom we fear
and who must be tamed and kept in good temper by presents, will
perpetuate their barbarism and increase their insolence. I would
therefore strongly urge the Government to set their faces against such
a policy." He recommended, on the positive side, that money be put into
Public Works for the benefit of the Indians. It will thus be seen that
Mr. Duncan held substantially the same views with regard to annuities
as did the Agents and superintendents south of the Line, whose
well-conceived ideas were nullified by the officials and contractors in
the East.[73]
As has before been remarked, the Colony of British Columbia made no
special effort for the education of the Indians. It was averred on
the part of the Government that "the Government merely deferred the
subject, believing that it was far more important in the interests of
the community at large to first reclaim the Natives from their savage
state and teach them the practical and rudimentary lessons of civilized
life."[74] Beyond establishing reserves, however, and placing the
Indians under law, one fails to see how the Government directly tried
to teach them these "practical and rudimentary lessons." Certainly
there was no effort by the Government to teach the Indians agriculture
or any of the practical arts, as there was south of the Line.
There were other ways, however, in which the Colonial Government did
help the Indians at considerable expense. In surveying reserves, and in
keeping whites off of them; in the suppression of the liquor traffic;
in exemptions from tolls, taxes, and customs; and in direct pecuniary
aid for the destitute and the sick, the aggregate expenditures and
rebates were considerable. Moreover, the Magistrates in the several
Districts were to act as Indian Agents, and to advise and protect the
Indian "in all matters relating to their welfare."[75]
We arrive now, finally, at the very important subject of reserves.
These Indian reserves of British Columbia are to be clearly
distinguished from the Indian reservations of the United States. The
latter were very large in area, were assigned to a tribe or to a
number of tribes, were founded on the principle of sequestration from
the whites, and were under the oversight of an agent; the reserves of
British Columbia were small, were assigned to septs or families, were
often contiguous to white settlements, and had no special agents. In
size the reserves of British Columbia varied in all degrees from one
acre to six thousand acres.[76] The total area of surveyed reserves
amounted in 1871 to 28,437 acres.[77] The general principle on which
reserves were assigned was that each head of a family should be given
ten acres, but in practice there was considerable variation.[78] It
seems strange to one accustomed to American reservations, that a
reserve of six hundred square miles for a tribe of 400 members should
have been regarded as entirely too extensive to be allowed.[79]
The principle of assigning land in so small amounts, on what we may
call a village system, may have been adopted with special reference
to conditions of life among the Coast Indians or among those of the
lower Fraser, for whose use (since they made their living by fishing
or working for whites) a small parcel of land was sufficient but for
the pastoral Indians of the interior it seemed manifestly insufficient.
So long as there was plenty of range, the smallness of the reserves
was not felt, but when whites acquired title to vacant lands and, at
the same time, the wants of the Indians increased, the latter felt
themselves unjustly treated.[80] When British Columbia entered the
Confederation, the Dominion Government wanted the Indians to have
eighty acres for each head of family. This the Province refused, but
it did consent to grant twenty. This amount still being considered
insufficient for the Interior Indians by the Dominion Superintendent of
Indian Affairs for British Columbia, he requested that it be raised to
forty acres (in accordance with the principle then recognized in the
preemption laws of British Columbia, which allowed 160 acres west of
the Cascades, but 320 east); but the request was not granted.[81]
In addition to their reserves, however, the Indians of British Columbia
had the right to acquire land outside the reserves on the same terms
as white men,--a right not possessed at that time by their kindred to
the South. This right was clearly stated by Governor Douglas: "That
measure," he said (referring to the reserve system) "is not, however,
intended to interfere with the private rights of individuals of the
future Tribes, or to incapacitate them, as such, from holding land;
on the contrary, they have precisely the same rights of acquiring
and possessing land in their individual capacity, either by purchase
or by occupation under the Pre-emption Law, as other classes of Her
Majesty's Subjects; provided they in all respects comply with the legal
conditions of tenure by which land is held in this Colony."[82] This
right, however, was afterwards modified to the extent that preemption
could be exercised by an Indian only by special consent of the
Government.[83] So late as 1872 an Indian received special permission
to pre-empt one hundred acres.
As to which system, that of British Columbia or that of the United
States, on the whole was the better, is a question difficult, if not
impossible to decide; and it would certainly involve extensive research
in the period subsequent to that of our study and beyond its scope.
W. J. TRIMBLE.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Davenport, T. W. Recollections of an Indian Agent. Quar Or. His.
Soc., Vol. VIII, No. 4, Dec. 1907, p. 352.
[2] Mullan--Report on Military Road, p. 52
[3] Id., p. 79.
[4] Id., p. 52.
[5] Con. His. Soc. Mont., Vol. VI, p. 284.
[6] Rpt. Com. Indian Affairs, 1863, p. 442.
[7] Langford, Vigilante Days and Ways, Vol. I, pp. 250 & 318.
[8] Recollections of an Indian Agent. Or. His. Quar. Vol. VIII, No. 1,
March, 1907, p. 389.
[9] The Pioneer Reminiscences of George Collier Robbins, Pacific
Monthly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Aug., 1911, pp. 288-9.
[10] An Incident of this nature is related in Hailey, History of Idaho,
p. 58.
[11] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quart. Or. His. Soc. Vol. VIII,
No. 4, Dec., 1907, p. 360.
[12] The Montana Post. Feb. 4, 1865
[13] Journals of the Council and House of Representatives of Idaho
Territory, 4th session, 1866-7, pp. 343-4.
[14] For different views of one expedition, contrast the account of the
expedition led by Jeff Standifer in Hailey's Idaho, pp. 49-60, with
that in the Pioneer Reminiscences of George Collier Robbins. Pacific
Monthly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Aug., 1911, pp. 198-9.
[15] General Conner's men marched several days in extremely cold
weather, in order to catch and surprise these Indians. Of the soldiers
in this expedition 15 were killed, 53 wounded, and 75 more or less
seriously frozen. An account may be found in Langford, Vigilante Days
and Ways, pp. 337-354.
[16] The Idaho World, Feb. 24, 1866.
[17] Owyhee Avalanche, Dec. 16, 1865.
[18] Id., Nov. 11, 1865.
[19] The Idaho World, Jan. 27, 1866.
[20] The Canadian Pacific Railway has a special plan for providing
for such settlers, by itself building houses and breaking land. It is
a well-known fact in Western Canada that new emigrants from the old
country find it much more difficult to get a start than do Americans
or people from Eastern Canada. This fact was recently called to my
attention, on a visit to Alberta, by an English farmer of several
years' experience.
[21] I am indebted for a number of the ideas and facts expressed in
this paragraph to Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His.
Soc., Vol. VIII, No. 1, March, 1907, pp. 12-18.
[22] Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1861, p. 160.
[23] Id., 1862, p. 419.
[24] Id., 1863, p. 52.
[25] Id., 1861, p. 160.
[26] Report Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1860, pp. 173-761.
[27] Rpt. Com. Ind. Affairs, 1862, p. 397.
[28] The Weekly Oregonian. Sept. 7, 1861.
[29] San Francisco Daily Bulletin, July 24, 1862.
[30] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Oregon His. Soc., Vol.
VIII, No. 2, June, 1907, p. 108.
[31] Report of Henry A. Webster. Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1862, p. 407.
[32] T. W. Davenport. Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His.
Soc., Vol. VIII. No. 2, June, 1907, p. 108.
[33] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1863, p. 459.
[34] San Francisco Daily Bulletin, Jan. 28, 1864.
[35] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1860, p. 185.
[36] Rpt. Com. Ind. Affairs, 1861, p. 159.
[37] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1862, pp. 400-401.
[38] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His. Soc., Vol. VIII,
No. I, March 1907, p. 14. {See transcriber notes}
[39] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Ore. His. Soc., Vol.
VIII., No. 1, March, 1907, p. 14.
[40] Id., p. 7.
[41] 36 Cong., 1st sess., Sen. Doc. I, p. 802.
[42] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His. Soc., Vol. VIII,
No 1, March, 1907, pp. 18-19.
[43] Id. No. 2, June, 1907, p. 105.
[44] Cf. on these points Id. No. I, pp. 4 & 5.
[45] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1860, p. 184; 1862, p. 263; 1863, pp. 52, 65,
82-84, 449-451, and 473; 1864, pp. 73-4, 85.
[46] British Columbia Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question,
Report of I. U. Powell concerning the Songish reserve, pp. 121-2.
[47] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1861, p. 77.
[48] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or., His. Soc., Vol.
VIII., No. 2, June. 1907, pp. 127-8.
[49] San Francisco Daily Bulletin. July 24, 1862.
[50] 36 Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. 11, No. 2, p. 108.
[51] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar., Or. His. Soc., Vol. VIII.
No. 4, Dec., 1907, p. 355.
[52] It should be carefully noted that this statement of policy has no
reference to the Canadian policy. The two are clearly distinguishable.
[53] Statements of numbers of population in both sections may be found
in Documents relating to Vancouver's Island Laid Before the House of
Commons, 1849, pp. 9 & 10, and Report from the Select Committee on
the Hudson's Bay Company, 1857, pp. 366-7. Some information as to the
grouping of natives in British Columbia may be obtained from Tolmie
and Dawson--Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British
Columbia.
[54] These conveyances are found in Papers Connected With the Indian
Land Question, pp. 5-11. A clause common to all papers was the
following: "The condition of or understanding of this sale is this,
that our village sites and enclosed fields are to be kept for our
own use, for the use of our children, and for those who may follow
after us; and the land shall be properly surveyed hereafter. It is
understood, however, that the land itself, with these small exceptions,
becomes the entire property of the white people forever; it is also
understood that we are at liberty to hunt over the unoccupied lands,
and to carry on our fisheries as formerly."
It was claimed by Hon. Joseph W. Trutch that these transactions were
merely "made for the purpose of securing friendly relations between
those Indians and the settlement of Victoria, * * * and certainly not
in acknowledgement of any general title of the Indians to the lands
they occupy." Id., Ap, p. 11.
[55] Sir E. B. Lytton to Governor Douglas, July 31, 1858, and Sept. 2,
1858,--Papers relating to Indian Land Question, p. 12: Carnarvon to
Governor Douglas, April 11 and May 20, 1859, Id., p. 18.
[56] Id., pp. 12-14.
[57] Id., p. 20.
[58] Memorandum, 1870, of Joseph W. Trutch, Commissioner of Lands
and Works, Id., ap. pp. 10-13. Cf. also The Indian Land Question in
British Columbia, a lecture delivered April 22nd, 1910, in Vancouver
by Rev. Arthur E. O'Meara, B. A., p. 13. This lecture is in opposition
to the policy which has been pursued. The Roman Catholic missionaries,
as well as some clergymen of other denominations, have been
actively sympathetic with the Indian point of view sometimes to the
embarrassment of officials; Papers Relating to Indian Land Question,
pp. 27-8, 86-91, 145-148.
[59] Id., pp. 16 and 17.
[60] This principle was acted upon, also, with regard to burial
grounds. In the establishment of the reserve system, as, indeed, in
all dealings with the Indians, the officials of British Columbia were
more considerate of the prejudices and attachments of the Indians than
officials in the United States usually were. An interesting example of
this consideration was an "Ordinance to prevent the violation of Indian
graves." This ordinance decreed that anyone damaging or removing any
image, bones, or any article or thing deposited in, on, or near any
Indian grave in the Colony, would be liable to a fine of £100 for the
first offense, and twelve months imprisonment at hard labor for the
second. In any indictment "It shall be sufficient to state that such
grave, image, bones, article or thing is the property of the Crown."
Ordinances of the Legislative Council of British Columbia, Sess.
Jan.-April, 1865, No. 19.
[61] Papers Relating to Indian Land Question, pp. 16 and 17.
[62] Oct. 11. 1858: Papers Regarding British Columbia, I, 39.
[63] Douglas to Mortimer Robertson Miscellaneous Letters, Ms., I, p. 37.
[64] Papers Relating to the Indian Land Question, p. 4.
[65] Miscl. Letters, Ms. I, 37.
[66] The old Police Book is the more trustworthy, because it was
not intended as a report, nor for publication. The officials whose
judgments were recorded were Chief Justice Begbie and Mr. O'Reilly.
[67] Some Indians were tried and convicted for murder in 1861, in the
Wasco County (Oregon) Circuit Court; Oregonian, Oct. 12, 1861.
[68] Two renegade Umatilla Indians on one occasion attempted to rob
a sleeping miner. He awoke, and in a scuffle one of them shot and
wounded him. These Indians called at the lodge of Howlish Wampo, a much
respected Cayuse chief, and then disappeared. Colonel Steinburger, in
command at Walla Walla, had the chief arrested, put in chains, and was
dissuaded from executing him only by the earnest solicitations of the
Indian Agent. The two Indians were afterward arrested and, after a
farcical trial by a military commission were executed. The miner had
not died. Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His. Soc., Vol.
VIII, No. 1, March, 1907, pp. 24-35.
[69] There was a disturbance in 1848 between Indians and miners along
the Fraser, before Government was established. Miners volunteered and
organized in true American fashion and compelled peace.
[70] Government Gazette, May 28, 1864, and Jan. 14, 1865.
[71] When Bolon, Indian Agent of the Yakimas, was murdered in 1855, the
Olympia Pioneer and Democrat said: "Chastisement can now be visited
upon the tribes instead of going to the trouble of ferreting out
individual guilty members." Oct. 12, 1855.
[72] In the Budget of 1864, out of a total of £135,639, there was
specified for gifts to Indian chiefs, £200, (Government Gazette, Feb.
20, 1864); out of a total appropriation of £122,250 in 1869, £100 was
appropriated for Indian expenses. (Papers Relating to the Indian Land
Question, p. 98.)
[73] It might have been well for the enthusiastic Eastern
philanthropists, who were so zealous in inveighing against wrongs
perpetrated by Westerners upon the Indians, to have directed some of
their efforts to their own neighbors.
[74] Papers Relating to Indian Land Question, Ap., p. 4.
[75] Id., p. 4.
[76] Schedule of Indian Reserves in the Province of British Columbia;
Papers Relating to Indian Land Question, pp. 104-5.
[77] Report of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, Id., p. 103.
[78] Id., p. 137.
[79] Id., p. 33.
[80] On this phase consult letter of Rev. Father Grandidier from
Okanogan, Id., pp. 145-147.
[81] Id., p. 124.
[82] Government Gazette, Jan. 30, 1864.
[83] Papers Relating to the Indian Land Question, Ap., p. 4.
DOCUMENTS
The prominence given to the name of the Indian Chief Leschi in the City
of Seattle is sufficient to lend an interest to the following record
of a meeting of pioneers in Pierce County. It was copied from the
Pioneer and Democrat of Friday, January 29, 1858, by Harry B. McElroy
of Olympia. Mr. McElroy has a fine series of old territorial newspapers.
Indignation Meeting
The citizens of Pierce County, W. T., after returning from witnessing
the disgraceful transaction enacted at Fort Steilacoom, the place
appointed for the execution of the murderer Leschi, on the 22nd
January, 1858, assembled at the church in Steilacoom City.
Mr. O. P. Meeker was called to the chair, and N. W. Orr was chosen
Secretary.
The chairman then stated the object of the meeting.
The meeting was addressed by Messrs. Sam McCaw, E. Cady and Henry
Bradley. On motion,
A committee of five were appointed, consisting of A. L. Porter, O. H.
White, W. R. Downey, E. M. Meeker and M. J. West, for the purpose of
drafting resolutions expressing the views of this meeting as regards
the conduct of Sheriff, Geo. Williams, U. S. Commissioner, J. M.
Bachelder, and such of the military officers at the Steilacoom Garrison
as assisted in evading the execution of the law, and likewise the
disgraceful course pursued by Frank Clark.
The committee, after retiring for a short time, reported the following
resolutions which were unanimously adopted.
WHEREAS, at connivance, as we fully believe, of sheriff Williams
and others, an arrest was made of said Williams for the purpose of
preventing the execution of Leschi, who had been tried, convicted of
murder, and sentenced to death, therefore,
RESOLVED, That we, as citizens of Pierce County, denounce the act
as being unworthy of honorable men. That the aiders, abetters and
sympathisers in this high-handed outrage, deserve the unqualified
condemnation of all lovers of good, order, and are no longer entitled
to our confidence.
RESOLVED, That the action of those of the officers of the U. S. A.
at Fort Steilacoom, who have participated, aided and abetted in the
arrest of sheriff Williams at the very hour he was to have executed
Leschi, and, as we believe, solely for the purpose of preventing him
from performing his duty as sheriff, deserve at our hands the severest
condemnation, that we consider it an act unworthy of the officers of
the U. S. Army, it being clearly their duty to assist in enforcing the
law instead of throwing obstacles in the way of its mandates.
RESOLVED, That the action of the U. S. Commissioner, J. M. Bachelder,
in issuing a warrant for the arrest of sheriff Williams, on the
affidavit of an Indian, and, as we believe, with full knowledge of the
object to be effected by the arrest, is without the least shadow of
excuse, and that the interest of the community demands his immediate
removal.
RESOLVED, That we believe that Frank Clark has done all that was in his
power to prevent the execution of the laws, and has been instrumental
in having an affidavit filed, which resulted in the arrest of the
sheriff and his deputy, and we brand the act as being unworthy of a law
abiding citizen of this Territory.
RESOLVED, That the representative of the foreign company in our midst,
W. F. Tolmie, has, by his own officiousness in this matter, rendered
himself more than obnoxious to the citizens of Pierce County, and that
we earnestly desire to see the day when our Country shall be rid of
this incubus on our prosperity.
On motion of A. C. Lowell,
A committee of three was appointed by the Chair, consisting of Henry
Bradley, A. L. Porter and Sam McCaw to circulate the above resolutions
to give such of our citizens as wish, the opportunity to endorse the
same.
On motion of A. C. Lowell, The proceedings [were ordered] published in
the Pioneer and Democrat. On motion the meeting adjourned.
O. P. Meeker, Ch'n
N. W. Orr, Sec.
BOOK REVIEWS
THE STORY OF THE PONY EXPRESS. By Glen D. Bradley. (Chicago, A. C.
McClurg & Co. 1913. Pp. 175. $.75.)
The Pony Express was an incidental enterprise of importance in the
attempts to establish rapid communication between the Missouri River
and the Pacific Coast during the early sixties. Before the middle
of the nineteenth century explorers and traders in the far West had
established three great thoroughfares across the continent. These
were the Santa Fe, the Salt Lake, and the Oregon trails. The Mormon
settlement of Utah and the discovery of gold in California led to
the establishment of mail routes across the country. In spite of
governmental subsidies, the difficulties occasioned by the Indians,
the severe weather, especially in the mountains, irregular highways
and absence of bridges made communication particularly difficult
and uncertain. Railroads and telegraph lines were being pushed east
and west, but had not connected when the Civil War approached, and
with it grave fears lest California be lost to the Union. Rapid
communication was essential and into this gap was pushed the Pony
Express, a thoroughly organized system of riders who carried the
mails on horseback between stations maintained along the route.
For sixteen months the daring men identified with this work with
unsurpassed courage and unflinching endurance kept the two sections
in communication with each other until, in October, 1861, telegraph
wires took the place of flesh and blood as means of communication,
and the Pony Express passed into history, and California was saved to
the Union. The Pony Express failed in a financial way to reimburse
its organizers, but it served the country well and gave another
opportunity for the exercise of "man-defying American pluck and
determination--qualities that have always characterized the winning of
the West." Mr. Bradley's theme has much in it of romance and heroism
and he has lost none of it in the telling.
EDWARD MCMAHON.
* * * * *
THE COMING CANADA. (The World Today Series.) By Joseph King Goodrich.
Sometime Professor in the Imperial Government College, Kyoto. (Chicago,
A. C. McClurg & Co. 1913. Pp. VIII, 309. $1.50 net.)
This book was written not for the specialist in history or political
science, but for the general reader, and should be judged from that
standpoint. It is largely a compilation from satisfactory authorities,
but the author relies upon direct knowledge gained by travel during
the past twenty-five years and he has also received suggestions and
statistics from the various departmental authorities at Ottawa. The
book has no independent historical value, but forms a good guide
for the general reader and is well worth perusal by one who is
contemplating a Canadian tour or desires a bird's view of present
conditions. The range of topics is broad, covering, with the exception
of present party politics and problems of racial and religious
assimilation, all subjects of major interest.
One excellent chapter is devoted to sources of Canadian wealth;
according to the view of the author, the greatness of The Coming
Canada is founded upon agricultural products, live stock and kindred
industries, rather than upon its mineral wealth. This seems to be
the keynote of the book. Subjects worthy of especial mention are
governmental policies for internal development, including the homestead
laws; railway, past, present and future; and brief discussions of the
social and economic relations of Canada and the United States. The
description of local and central institutions of government is adequate
for the purposes of the general reader.
The historical introduction, comprising the first quarter of the book,
is the least satisfactory. It has no independent historical value and
the facts may be obtained elsewhere in briefer and more satisfactory
shape. The notices, however, of official processes by which the present
boundaries of the Dominion were attained, are adequate.
The forty illustrations from photographs add greatly to the
attractiveness of the volume; but the reviewer regrets that at least
one of them could not have been replaced by a good map.
OLIVER H. RICHARDSON.
* * * * *
SUBJECT INDEX TO THE HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND OF ALASKA AS
FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS, CONGRESSIONAL SERIES,
IN THE AMERICAN STATE PAPERS, AND IN OTHER DOCUMENTS, 1789-1881.
Prepared by Katharine B. Judson, A. M., for the Seattle Public Library.
(Published by the Washington State Library, Olympia, 1913. Pp. 341.)
The compiling of this index involved the examining page by page of
over 2,000 volumes of documents. One can readily imagine the deadening
drag of such a piece of work unless it was done by a person with a
historical sense who saw what a help it would be to those making a
study of Pacific Northwest history from its original sources. Those who
have tried by themselves to dig out material from early documents know
how helpless they are and they will readily recognize the usefulness of
such a reference work as Miss Judson has compiled.
It may be interesting to note that the history of no other section of
the United States has been covered by such an index.
There may be some question why the index was not brought down to a date
later than 1881. This was unnecessary, as there are adequate general
indexes to government documents from that year to date.
One might be led to think from the title "Subject Index" that each
document included had been minutely indexed. This is not the case and
it would have been impractical to have attempted to do so, but on the
other hand when a document was found to include material on several
topics, such, for example, as mail service, fisheries, agriculture,
it has been listed under these various headings. Perhaps it is more
nearly a catalogue than an index to documents. Arranged as it is under
broad headings rather than specific ones, the index can scarcely be
considered a ready reference tool, but I am doubtful if it could have
been made so, at least not without greatly increasing the amount of
work entailed in compiling it.
The index covers a much wider range of topics than the word history
usually is taken to include. Banks and banking, missions, mail service,
education, roads, and cost of living are some of the subject headings
which are used. Accordingly it would seem that the index should prove
indispensable to any one who is studying the development of the Pacific
Northwest from a social, political, religious, economic, or historical
point of view.
Although the index is of primary use to the serious student, still it
makes available much thoroughly readable material for those who have
interested themselves in the history of the Pacific Northwest merely
for their own pleasure.
CHARLES H. COMPTON.
* * * * *
GUIDE TO THE MATERIALS FOR UNITED STATES HISTORY IN CANADIAN ARCHIVES.
By David W. Parker. (Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington,
1913. Pp. 339.)
Of the Papers thus far issued by the Department of Historical Research
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, none can prove of greater
service to American historical scholarship than the present volume. As
stated by Professor Jameson in the Preface: "The constant relations
between Canada and the English colonies, or the United States, during
two centuries of conflict and a hundred years of peace, across the
longest international line, save one, that the world has ever known,
have made it inevitable that the archives of Canada should abound
in documents useful, and sometimes highly important, to the history
of the United States." Students of our own regional history will be
astonished to find what a wealth of material is preserved in the
Canadian archives, particularly in the archives of the Archbishopric of
Quebec, that bears directly upon the history of Oregon and Washington.
It will be particularly regretted, by students in these states, that
the Archives of British Columbia located in the nearby city of Victoria
could not have been adequately listed. It is stated, however, that
"A complete annotated catalogue of the documents in the Provincial
Archives [of British Columbia] will be issued as soon as the Department
moves into the new quarters, now being built, and the material will
then be available to the student."
* * * * *
AN AMERICAN HISTORY. By Nathaniel W. Stephenson, Professor of History
in the College of Charleston. (New York, Ginn & Co. 1913. Pp. 604.)
AMERICAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT. By Willis M. West, Sometime Professor
of History in the University of Minnesota. (New York, Allyn & Bacon,
1913. Pp. 801.)
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. By John S. Bassett, Professor of
History in Smith College. (New York, The Macmillan Co. 1913. Pp. 884.
$2.50.)
These three new textbooks appearing within a few weeks of each other
bear eloquent witness of the activity of the teaching and study of
history. Prof. Stephenson's book is intended for use in the elementary
schools, and is eminently fair and well balanced. Very great care has
been exercised in the selection of illustrations and in some cases the
author has very wisely chosen those of representative men not usually
pictured in a textbook. A very large number of small maps are used to
elucidate the text, and in this respect the author has set a new mark
in efficient textbook making.
Bassett's Short History is a textbook for the use of college students
and for readers who desire a reliable account of United States history
in a single volume. In addition to these uses, it will no doubt have
a wide sale as a reference book in schools whose library facilities
are limited. Professor Bassett is always careful about his facts. The
emphasis is well proportioned and the maps well selected. There are
no illustrations. The subject matter of the volume is treated in a
purely conventional way and differs very radically in this respect
from Professor West's History and Government. If one could apply the
terms of politics to history writing Bassett's book is conservative
and West's progressive. Professor West is widely known as a textbook
writer and is just as careful of his facts and proportion as Professor
Bassett, but he has had a different purpose in mind. He views history
not merely as political history. "The growth of our political
democracy has been intertwined with the development of our economic
and industrial conditions. I have tried to make this interaction the
pervading principle in determining the arrangement and selection of
material. * * * [and] I should not have cared to write the book at all,
if I had not believed that a fair presentation of American history
gives to American youth a robust and aggressive faith in democracy.
At the same time, I have tried to correct the common delusion which
looks back to Jefferson or John Winthrop for a golden age, and to show
instead that democracy has as yet been tried only imperfectly among us."
West's selection of material has been well made with this end in
view. The book is stimulating and suggestive and will meet with
hearty approval from those who are disciples of the "new history" and
will throw a flood of new light upon the subject for those who have
studied and taught history in the conventional way. With the spread of
democracy, such books as West's are bound to grow in number and use.
EDWARD MCMAHON.
* * * * *
WRITINGS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Edited by Worthington Ford. (New York,
The Macmillan Company, 1913. Vol. 2, 1796-1801. Pp. 531. $3.50 net.)
Volume 1 of this important set was noted in the Quarterly for April,
1913, page 131. As noted there, the readers in the Pacific Northwest
are awaiting with interest the subsequent volumes containing the record
of John Quincy Adams in the diplomacy of Old Oregon.
* * * * *
DECISIONS, JULY, 1912, TO JULY, 1913. By United States Geographic
Board. (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1913. Pp. 54.)
There are here given 365 decisions on geographic names. Of this total a
surprising number of decisions (107) are devoted to geographic features
of the State of Washington. Of these there are 56 in Whatcom County
in the vicinity of Mount Baker and 49 are found in the Mount Rainier
National Park. The remaining two are Mount Spokane and Portage Bay, the
latter a part of Lake Union, Seattle.
* * * * *
EARLY AMERICAN MOUNTAINEERS. By Allen H. Bent. (Reprint from
Appalachia, Vol. XIII, No. 1. Pp. 45 to 67.)
Western mountains come in for a fair share of attention in this
interesting little monograph. There are a number of portraits, among
which may be seen those of David Douglass, the famous early botanist
who wrought in the Pacific Northwest, and General Hazard Stevens, who
made the first ascent of Mount Rainier with P. B. Van Trump.
* * * * *
MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS. Selected and edited by Katharine
Berry Judson. (Chicago, A. C. McClurg & Co. 1913. Pp. 205. $1.50 net.)
This is the fourth volume in the series of Myths and Legends edited by
Miss Judson. Earlier volumes covering Alaska, The Pacific Northwest,
and California and the Old Southwest have been noted in previous issues
of this magazine.
* * * * *
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF PEACE. By Henry Cabot Lodge. (New York, The
Macmillan Company, 1913. Pp. 136. $1.25 net.)
This timely book should find a welcome in the State of Washington,
where committees are already at work to celebrate the centennial
of peace by the erection of an arch or some other form of imposing
monument where the Pacific Highway passes from the United States into
Canada.
* * * * *
JAMES HARLAN. By Johnson Brigham. (Iowa City, The State Historical
Society of Iowa, 1913. Pp. 398.)
This latest volume in the very creditable Iowa Biographical Series
(edited by Benj. F. Shambaugh) is the well told story of one of Iowa's
best known sons. James Harlan was a typical Westerner, a man of rugged
sincerity, an orator and debater of no mean ability, an independent and
self-reliant leader of a pioneer people. The years of his political
career were entangled with the anti-slavery agitation, the Civil
War, and the confused and trying periods of Reconstruction. He was
not perhaps a statesman of first rank, but Iowa does well in setting
forth the work of her sons in the very excellent series of which this
volume forms a creditable addition. On the whole, the volume does not
measure up to the standard for fairness set by some of the earlier
volumes. On too many controverted points the opinion of the "Burlington
Hawk-Eye" and "the Iowa State Register" are quoted as if their judgment
was final. A good many states would reflect credit on themselves by
encouraging a similar excellent biographical series.
* * * * *
THE LIFE OF ROBERT TOOMBS. By Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Ph. D.,
Professor of American History in the University of Michigan. (New York,
The Macmillan Co. 1913. Pp. 281. $2.00.)
This volume from the pen of one of the ablest students of American
history gives in available form an interesting and instructive account
of one of the leading "fire-eaters" of the ante-bellum period.
Professor Phillips treats Toombs as an exponent of the social and
industrial history of his period and section and therefore emphasizes
these factors rather than those that are purely biographical. In
very large measure he allows Toombs to speak for himself through his
speeches and letters.
* * * * *
AN ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. By
Charles A. Beard, Associate Professor of Politics, Columbia University.
(New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913. Pp. VII, 330. $2.25 net.)
Professor Beard in this work is concerned with the "forces which
condition" a great movement in politics, viz., the making of our
national constitution. Rapidly sketching the economic interests in
1787, the movement for the constitution and the property-safeguards in
the election of delegates, he leads up to the most direct contribution
in the book, viz., a study of the personal and financial interests of
the framers of that document. Biographical sketches of the members
are given from this new angle. The basis being a careful study of
the extant records of the Treasury Department at Washington now used
for the first time in this connection. Emphasis is laid upon the
economic interests represented in "personality in public securities,"
"personality invested in lands for speculation," "personality in
the form of money loaned at interest," "personality in mercantile,
manufacturing, and shipping lines" and "personality in slaves." The
remaining chapters treat of the political doctrines of the "framers"
and the process of ratification. Professor Beard states frankly that
his study is fragmentary, but he has unquestionably made available to
students a body of facts that must be taken into account by anyone
desiring to understand the making of our constitution.
Other Books Received
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. Proceedings, New Series, Volume 23, Part
I. (Worcester, Society, 1913. Pp. 169.)
AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Publications, Number 21. (N. Y.
Society, 1913. Pp. 304.)
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. Annual Report, 1911. Volume 1.
(Washington, Govt. 1913. Pp. 842.)
AMERICAN SCENIC AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY. Eighteenth Annual
Report, 1913. (Albany, Lyon, 1913. Pp. 832.)
ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Transactions for the year 1911.
(Springfield, State Historical Library, 1913. Pp. 151.)
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Biennial Report, 1910-1912. (Topeka,
1913. Pp. 193.)
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Classification, Class E-F, America. (Wash., Govt.
1913. Pp. 298. 40 cents.)
ONTARIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Annual Report, 1913. (Toronto, Society,
1913. Pp. 78.)
ONTARIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Papers and Records, Volume 11. (Toronto.
Society, 1913. Pp. 81.)
Entire number devoted to a study of "Place Names in Georgian Bay
and North Channel," by James White.
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Proceedings, 1911-1913. (Providence,
Society, 1913. Pp. 92.)
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. The Seal, the Arms and the Flag of
Rhode Island, by Howard M. Chapin. (Providence, Society, 1913. Pp. 16.)
SEATTLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. In Memoriam--John Harte McGraw. (Seattle,
Chamber of Commerce, 1911. Pp. 84.)
THEABAUD, AUGUSTUS J. Three Quarters of a Century (1807 to 1882); a
retrospect written from documents and memory. (N. Y. United States
Catholic Historical Society, 1913. Pp. 204.)
VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY. Ninth Annual Report, 1911-1913. (Richmond,
State Printer, 1913. Pp. 49+335.)
Appendix contains a list of the Revolutionary soldiers of Virginia.
WASHINGTON BANKERS ASSOCIATION. Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual
Convention, 1913. (Tacoma, Association, 1913. Pp. 198.)
WASHINGTON STATE FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS. Seventeenth Annual
Report, 1913-1914. (Printed at Sunnyside, Wash. 1913. Pp. 114.)
WASHINGTON STATE HIGH SCHOOL DIRECTORY, 1913-14. (Olympia, Lamborn,
1913. Pp. 126.)
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Collections, Volume 20. Edited by Reuben
Gold Thwaites. (Madison, Society, 1911. Pp. 497.)
Devoted to a history of the fur-trade in Wisconsin.
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Death of Reuben Gold Thwaites
History interests of the Pacific Northwest, as well as those of other
parts of the United States, have sustained a severe loss in the
sudden death of Reuben Gold Thwaites on October 22. As Secretary of
the Wisconsin State Historical Society he worked out an international
reputation as editor and author of extensive works in the field of
history. His will be a most difficult place to fill.
Professor Turner's Visit to the Coast
Professor Frederick J. Turner, formerly of the University of Wisconsin,
but now of the Harvard faculty, will be in the Pacific Northwest next
summer, dividing his time between the Universities of Oregon and
Washington. He will deliver the commencement address at the University
of Washington in June.
Professor Golder Goes to Russia
Professor Frank A. Golder of the Washington State College will leave
for St. Petersburg on January 24, where he will catalogue the materials
in the Russian archives relating to America. This work is being done
for the Carnegie Institution, Department of Historical Research.
Professor Golder is one of the few American historians who is perfectly
at home with the Russian language. His selection for this work is
complimentary to the Pacific Northwest.
Death of Mrs. Isaac I. Stevens
Even the older pioneers of Washington were surprised to read on
November 6, 1913, that the widow of the first Territorial Governor,
Isaac I. Stevens, had just died. Since her husband's heroic death at
the Battle of Chantilly, September 1, 1862, she had been living at her
home, 8 Bowdoin Avenue, Boston. Her son, General Hazard Stevens, who
was with her to the last, writes that, though his mother had passed
the ninetieth milestone of an eventful life, she retained her cordial
interest in the children of men and just quietly went to sleep.
Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association
The Eleventh Annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American
Historical Association met at Los Angeles, November 28-29, as guests
of the University of Southern California. Prof. Frank J. Klingberg,
of the University of Southern California, opened the programme with
a paper on "The Anti-Slavery Movement in England," in which he traced
the history of the movement which led to freedom, but was unaccompanied
by any such upheaval as characterized our anti-slavery movement. In
the second paper, "The Movement of Population in Feudal and Modern
Japan," Prof. Y. Ichihashi, of Stanford University, examined the growth
and decline of Japanese population in the light of the well known
principles of Malthus. Prof. Ichihashi illustrated his statistical
tables by means of charts and concluded that movements of population
were far more intimately connected with economic development than
with the natural checks discussed by Malthus. The concluding paper of
the afternoon session was read by Prof. Robt. G. Cleland of Occident
College. In discussing "The Relation of Slavery to the Early Sentiment
for the Acquisition of California" he pointed out that the agitation
of the slavery question in connection with California came after the
acquisition and not before, and he made it clear to all that there is
abundant need to study Western history from the sources in order to
escape the bias of the more general historians who see the whole field
in terms of the slavery struggle.
The annual dinner was held at Christopher's and was presided over by
that "Prince of Toastmasters," Prof. H. Morse Stephens. President J. M.
Guinn delivered the President's Address, which was a study of the old
municipal archives of Los Angeles. The dry humor and keen wit of the
Nestor of California historians found an admirable field in commenting
on these quaint Mexican archives. Greetings were then heard from
various representatives in attendance "from Seattle to San Diego." No
one who knows Morse Stephens will need be told the dinner was in every
way a complete success.
Saturday morning's session was given over to a wide range of
discussion. Dean Bliss, of the San Diego Normal School, set forth the
contents and value of "The Hayes Collection in the Bancroft Library."
Prof. F. H. White, of Pomona College, summarized the history of "The
Development of the National Land Administration," confining himself
largely to the technique of administration. Professor Herbert E.
Bolton gave the results of his study in sources by tracing some of the
Spanish explorers in the West. At the business session which followed
the officers for the coming year were elected, as follows: President,
Edmond S. Meany, of the University of Washington; Vice-President, E.
B. Krehbiel, of Stanford University; Secretary-Treasurer, William
A. Morris, of the University of California. To membership on the
Executive Council the following were chosen: Edith Jordan, Los Angeles
Polytechnic High School; Robert G. Cleland, Occident College; Dean
Bliss, San Diego Normal; and Edward McMahon, University of Washington.
A complimentary luncheon given by the University of Southern California
initiated the members still further into the boundless hospitality of
that institution, and then the final session was held in cooperation
with the Southern California Social Science Association. Owing to
the absence of Professor Schafer of Oregon, Professor Bolton gave an
excellent talk on the value of local history, which compensated in
large measure for the absence of Professor Schafer. Miss Jane Harnett,
of Long Branch, led the discussion and laid emphasis upon many of
the points touched upon by Professor Bolton. The second paper, "An
Introduction to the Social Sciences," by Professor Emory S. Bogardus,
of the University of Southern California, was a discussion of a course
designed for students in the junior colleges and was reinforced by
Professor Bogardus' experience in giving the course. Professor Edward
McMahon, of the University of Washington, followed with a plea for
emphasis on "The Social Sciences in the High Schools." He contended
that the instruction now given is inadequate to meet the demands of
citizenship placed upon our citizens. Miss Anna Stewart, discussing
both papers dealing with the social sciences, told very interestingly
of the valuable work now being done in the Los Angeles High School with
classes in social problems, and demonstrated the necessity of serious
consideration of these questions by students who are passing out of the
high school to deal with them as citizens.
The meeting at Los Angeles was in every respect a complete success
and the large attendance and hospitality of the people made all the
delegates exceedingly anxious for an invitation to come again.
Marking an Old Historic Site
Led by W. H. Gilstrap, under the auspices of the Washington State
Historical Society, a number of pioneers assembled at Tacoma recently
and repaired to the site on the prairie near that city where a monument
was unveiled. It marks the end of the long journey of that famous party
of pioneers who in 1853 were the first to reach Puget Sound by crossing
the Cascade Range. Only a few of the original party survive, but it
is believed that every one of the survivors were assembled for the
interesting ceremony.
NORTHWESTERN HISTORY SYLLABUS
[The aim of this department is to furnish outlines that will
aid those who wish to study the subject systematically. It is
expected that its greatest use will be as a guide for members of
women's clubs, literary societies, and classes in colleges or
high schools. It will be a form of university extension without
the theses and examinations necessary for the earning of credits
toward a degree.]
VIII. Provisional Government of Oregon
1. Early Settlers.
a. Fur hunters.
b. Seekers for homes and lands.
c. The Oregon trail.
2. Petitions to Congress.
a. Seeking recognition and protection of government.
b. In nature of early census.
3. Death of Ewing Young, Feb. 15, 1841.
a. Possessing property but no heirs.
b. Action proposed at the funeral.
c. Committee to form some sort of government.
d. Property probated.
e. Temporary government abandoned.
4. Wolf Meetings.
a. Seeking united action.
b. Multnomah Circulating library.
c. Lyceum for debates.
d. Bounty for destruction of dangerous animals.
e. Proposal to secure protection for families.
f. Committee to frame temporary government.
g. Plan adopted by meeting in Champoeg field.
h. Legislative committee appointed.
i. Executive committee of three instead of governor.
5. Reorganization.
a. Influence of immigration of 1843.
b. Primitive State House.
c. Earliest laws enacted.
d. Legislative committee becomes a legislature.
e. Executive committee changed to governorship.
f. George Abernethy chosen governor, 1845.
g. Oath of office reveals "joint occupancy."
6. Results.
a. Laws of Iowa Territory adopted.
b. Prohibition.
c. Failure of postoffice.
d. Dwelling.
e. Currency, "Beaver Money" in gold.
f. Dominion up to 54-40 north latitude.
g. Federal organization of Oregon Territory, 1848-1849.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The above outline covers one of the most interesting
portions of Northwestern history. It reveals the natural aptitude of
Americans for self-government and shows a natural evolution of a state
from settlements of pioneers in a wilderness. The literature on the
subject is growing rapidly. The items following are among those most
readily accessible to those wishing to pursue the study:
BANCROFT, HUBERT HOWE. Works of. Vol. XXIX, chapters XII, XIV, XVI,
XVIII, XIX, XXII, XXVI. Here is found the story of the provisional
government told at considerable length.
CLARK, ROBERT CARLTON. How British and American Subjects Unite in a
Common Government for Oregon Territory in 1844. In the Quarterly of the
Oregon Historical Society, Vol. XIII, Number 2.
GROVER, LAFAYETTE. The Oregon Archives. This is a rare book, published
in 1853. It contains the early laws of the provisional government and
other source materials of prime importance.
HOLMAN, FREDERICK V. Dr. John McLoughlin, the Father of Oregon. While
this is intended as a biography of the grand old Doctor, it is a book
of much helpfulness to students of this period. At the end of the
volume there are nineteen documents illustrative of the text.
JOHNSON, SIDONA V. A Short History of Oregon, Chapters XVIII to XXIII.
The title of the book is well chosen, but many may find there the facts
needed.
MEANY, EDMOND S. History of the State of Washington. Chapter XVI deals
in part with the provisional government while Washington was yet a part
of Oregon.
SCHAFER, JOSEPH. History of the Pacific Northwest. In this interesting
and useful book, Chapter XIII is entitled "The First American
Government on the Pacific."
WOODWARD, WALTER C. Political Parties in Oregon, 1843-1868. This
book was published by the J. K. Gill Company of Portland. Oregon, in
1913. It is the newest, as well as the most extensive, work in this
particular field. Those who are collecting books on the Northwest
should not overlook this one. Anyone studying in the field of the above
syllabus will find the book helpful.
REPRINT DEPARTMENT
George Wilkes: History of Oregon, Geographical, Geological and
Political. (New York, Colyer, 1845.)
* * * * *
[The reprint of this rare work was begun in the first number of the
Washington Historical Quarterly and has been continued in portions of
varying lengths. The installment in this issue concludes the reprinted
book.--_Editor._]
* * * * *
But can such charters be considered an acknowledged part of the law
of nations? Were they any thing more, in fact, than a cession to the
grantee or grantees of whatever rights the grantor might suppose
himself to possess, to the exclusion of other subjects of the same
sovereign?--charters binding and restraining those only who were within
the jurisdiction of the grantor, and of no force or validity against
the subjects of other states, until recognized by treaty, and thereby
becoming a part of international law.
Had the United States, thought proper to issue, in 1790, by virtue of
their national authority, a charter granting to Mr. Gray the whole
extent of the country watered, directly or indirectly, by the River
Columbia,[84] such a charter, would, no doubt, have been valid in Mr.
Gray's favor, as against all other citizens of the United States. But
can it be supposed that it would have been acquiesced in by either of
the powers, Great Britain and Spain, which, in that same year, were
preparing to contest by arms the possession of the very country which
would have been the subject of such a grant?
If the right of sovereignty over the territory in question accrues to
the United States by Mr. Gray's discovery, how happens it that they
never protested against the violence done to that right by the two
powers, who, by the convention of 1790, regulated their respective
rights in and over a district so belonging, as it is now asserted, to
the United States?
This claim of the United States to the territory drained by the
Columbia and its tributary streams, on the ground of one of their
citizens having been the first to discover the entrance of that river,
has been here so far entered into, not because it is considered to be
necessarily entitled to notice, since the whole country watered by the
Columbia falls within the provisions of the convention of 1790, but
because the doctrine above alluded to has been put forward so broadly,
and with such confidence, by the United States, that Great Britain
considered it equally due to herself and to other powers to enter her
protest against it.
The United States further pretend that their claim to the country in
question is strengthened and confirmed by the discovery of the sources
of the Columbia, and by the exploration of its course to the sea by
Lewis and Clark, in 1805-6.
In reply to this allegation, Great Britain affirms, and can distinctly
prove, that, if not before, at least in the same and subsequent years,
her North-Western Trading Company had, by means of their agent, Mr.
Thomson, already established their posts among the Flathead and
Kootanie tribes, on the headwaters of the northern or main branch of
the Columbia, and were gradually extending them down the principal
stream of that river; thus giving to Great Britain, in this particular,
again, as in the discovery of the mouth of the river, a _title to
parity_ at least, if not priority, of discovery, as opposed to the
United States. It was from those posts, that, having heard of the
American establishment forming in 1811, at the mouth of the river, Mr.
Thomson hastened thither, descending the river, to ascertain the nature
of that establishment.[85]
Some stress having been laid by the United States on the restitution
to them of Fort George by the British, after the termination of the
last war, which restitution they represent as conveying a virtual
acknowledgment by Great Britain of the title of the United States to
the country in which that post was situated--it is desirable to state,
somewhat in detail, the circumstances attending that restitution.
In the year 1815, a demand for the restoration of Fort George was first
made to Great Britain, by the American government, on the plea that the
first article of the treaty of Ghent stipulated the restitution to the
United States of all posts and places whatsoever taken from them by the
British during the war, in which description, Fort George, (Astoria,)
was included.
For some time the British government demurred to comply with the demand
of the United States, because they entertained doubts how far it could
be sustained by the construction of the treaty.
In the first place, the trading post called Fort Astoria (or Fort
George,) was not a national possession; in the second place, it was not
a military post; and, thirdly, it was never captured from the Americans
by the British.
It was, in fact, conveyed in regular commercial transfer, and
accompanied by a bill of sale, for a sum of money, to the British
company, who purchased it, by the American company, who sold it of
_their own free will_.
It is true that a British sloop of war had, about that time, been sent
to take possession of that post, but she arrived subsequently to the
transaction above mentioned, between the two companies, and found the
British company _already in legal occupation of their self acquired
property_.
In consequence, however, of that ship having been sent out with hostile
views, although those views were not carried into effect,[86] and in
order that not even a shadow of a reflection might be cast upon the
good faith of the British government, the latter determined to give
the most liberal extension to the terms of the treaty of Ghent, and,
in 1818, the purchase which the British company had made in 1813 was
restored to the United States.
Particular care, however, was taken, on this occasion, to prevent
any misapprehension as to the extent of the concession made by Great
Britain.
Viscount Castlereagh, in directing the British minister at Washington
to intimate the intention of the British government to Mr. Adams, then
secretary of state, uses these expressions, in a despatch dated 4th
February, 1818:--
"You will observe, that, whilst this government is not disposed to
contest with the American government the point of possession as it
stood in the Columbia River at the moment of the rupture, _they are not
prepared to admit the validity of the title of the government of the
United States to this settlement_.
"In signifying, therefore, to Mr. Adams the full acquiescence of your
government in the reoccupation of _the limited position_ which the
United States held in that river at the breaking out of the war, _you
will at the same time assert, in suitable terms, the claim_ of Great
Britain to that territory, upon which the American settlement must be
considered as an encroachment."
This instruction was executed verbally by the person to whom it was
addressed.
The following is a transcript of the act by which the fort was
delivered up, by the British, into the hand of Mr. Prevost, the
American agent:--
"In obedience to the command of H. R. H. the prince regent, _signified
in a despatch from the right honorable the Earl Bathurst_, addressed
to the partners or agents of the North-West Company, bearing date
the 27th of January, 1818, and in obedience to a subsequent order,
dated the 26th July, from W. H. Sheriff, Esq., captain of H. M. ship
Andromache, We, the undersigned, do, in conformity to the first article
of the treaty of Ghent, restore to the government of the United States,
through its agent, J. P. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of Fort George,
on the Columbia river.
"Given under our hands, in triplicate, at Fort George, (Columbia
River,) this 6th day of October, 1818.
"F. HICKEY, _Captain H. M. ship Blossom_.
"J. KEITH, _of the N. W. Co_."
The following is the despatch from Earl Bathurst to the partners of the
North-West Company, referred to in the above act of cession:--
DOWNING-STREET, _27th January, 1818_.
"Intelligence having been received that the United States sloop of
war Ontario has been sent by the American government to establish a
settlement on the Columbia river, which was held by that state, on
the breaking out of the last war. I am to acquaint you, that it is
the prince regent's pleasure, (_without, however, admitting the right
of that government to the possession in question_) that, in pursuance
of the first article of the treaty of Ghent, due facility should be
given to the reoccupation of the said settlement by the officers of the
United States; and I am to desire that you would contribute as much as
lies in your power to the execution of his royal highness's command.
"I have, &c. &c.
BATHURST.
"_To the Partners or Agents of the North-West Company, residing on
the Columbia river._"
The above documents put the case of the restoration of Fort Astoria in
too clear a light to require further observation.
The case, then of Great Britain, in respect to the country west of the
Rocky Mountains, is shortly this:--
Admitting that the United States have acquired all the rights which
Spain possessed, up to the treaty of Florida, either in virtue of
discovery, or, as is pretended, in right Louisiana, Great Britain
maintains that the nature and extent of those rights, as well as of
the rights of Great Britain, are fixed and defined by the convention
of Nootka; that these rights are equal for both parties; and that, in
succeeding to the rights of Spain, under that convention, the United
States must also have succeeded to the obligations which it imposed.
Admitting, further, the discovery of Mr. Gray, to the extent already
stated, Great Britain, taking the whole line of the coast in question,
with its straits, harbors and bays, has stronger claims, on the ground
of prior discovery, attended with acts of occupancy and settlement,
than the United States.
Whether, therefore, the United States rest their claims upon the title
of Spain, or upon that of prior discovery, or upon both, Great Britain
is entitled to place her claims at least upon a parity with those of
the United States.
It is a fact, admitted by the United States, that, with the exception
of the Columbia river, there is no river which opens far into the
_interior_, on the whole western coast of the Pacific Ocean.
In the _interior_ of the territory in question, the subjects of Great
Britain have had, for many years, numerous settlements and trading
posts--several of these posts on the tributary streams of the Columbia,
several upon the Columbia itself, some to the northward, and others
to the southward, of that river; and they navigate the Columbia as
the sole channel for the conveyance of their produce to the British
stations nearest the sea, and for the shipment of it from thence to
Great Britain. It is also by the Columbia and its tributary streams
that these posts and settlements receive their annual supplies from
Great Britain.[87]
In the whole of the territory in question, the citizens of the United
States have not a single settlement or trading post. They do not use
that river, either for the purpose of transmitting or receiving any
produce of their own, to or from other parts of the world.
In this state of the relative rights of the two countries, and of
the relative exercise of those rights, the United States claim the
exclusive possession of both banks of the Columbia, and, consequently,
that of the river itself; offering, it is true, to concede to British
subjects a conditional participation in that navigation, but subject,
in any case, to the exclusive jurisdiction and sovereignty of the
United States.
Great Britain, on her part, offers to make the river the boundary;
each country retaining the bank of the river contiguous to its own
territories, and the navigation of it remaining forever free, and upon
a footing of perfect equality to both nations.
To carry into effect this proposal, on our part, Great Britain would
have to give up posts and settlements south of the Columbia. On the
part of the United States, there could be no reciprocal withdrawing
from actual occupation, as there is not, and never has been, a single
American citizen settled north of the Columbia.
The United States decline to accede to this proposal, even when
Great Britain has added to it the further offer of a most excellent
harbor, and an extensive tract of country on the Straits of De Fuca--a
sacrifice tendered in the spirit of accommodation, and for the sake
of a final adjustment of all differences, but which, having been made
in this spirit, is not to be considered as in any degree recognizing
a claim on the part of the United States, or as at all impairing the
existing right of Great Britain over the post and territory in question.
Such being the result of the recent negotiation, it only remains for
Great Britain to maintain and uphold the qualified rights which she now
possesses over the whole of the territory in question. These rights
are recorded and defined in the convention of Nootka. They embrace the
right to navigate the waters of those countries, the right to settle
in and over any part of them, and the right freely to trade with the
inhabitants and occupiers of the same.
These rights have been peaceably exercised ever since the date of
that convention; that is, for a period of near forty years. Under
that convention, valuable British interests have grown up in those
countries. It is fully admitted that the United States possess the same
rights, although they have been exercised by them only in a single
instance, and have not, since the year 1813, been exercised at all. But
beyond these rights they possess none.
To the interests and establishments which British industry and
enterprise have created, Great Britain owes protection. That protection
will be given, both as regards settlement and freedom of trade and
navigation, with every attention not to infringe the coördinate rights
of the United States; it being the earnest desire of the British
government, so long as the joint occupancy continues, to regulate its
own obligations by the same rule which governs the obligations of any
other occupying party.
Fully sensible, at the same time, of the desirableness of a more
definite settlement, as between Great Britain and the United States,
the British government will be ready, at any time, to terminate the
present state of joint occupancy by an agreement of delimitation; but
such arrangement only can be admitted as shall not derogate from the
rights of Great Britain, as acknowledged by treaty, nor prejudice the
advantages which British subjects, under the same sanction, now enjoy
in that part of the world.
(No. 7.)
_Convention between the United States and Great Britain, signed at
London, October 20th, 1818._
ARTICLE 2.--It is agreed that a line drawn from the most northwestern
point of the Lake of the Woods, along the 49th parallel of north
latitude, or, if the said point shall not be in the 49th parallel of
north latitude, then that a line drawn from the said point due north or
south, as the case may be, until the said line shall intersect the said
parallel of north latitude, and from the point of such intersection
due west along and, with the said parallel, shall be the line of
demarkation between the territories of the United States and those of
his Britannic majesty; and that the said line shall form the northern
boundary of the said territories of the United States, and the southern
boundary of the territories of his Britannic Majesty, from the Lake of
the Woods to the Stony Mountains.
ART. 3.--It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either
party on the northwest coast of America, westward of the Stony
Mountains, shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and
the navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open for
the term of ten years from the date of the signature of the present
convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects, of the two powers;
it being well understood that this agreement is not to be construed to
the prejudice of any claim which either of the two high contracting
parties may have to any part of the said country, nor shall it be taken
to affect the claims of any other power or state to any part of the
said country; the only object of the high contracting parties, in that
respect, being to prevent disputes and differences among themselves.
(No. 8.)
_The Florida Treaty, signed at Washington, February 22nd, 1819_....
ARTICLE 3.--The boundary line between the two countries west of the
Mississippi shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the
River Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank
of that river, to the 32d degree of latitude; thence, by a line due
north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of
Natchitoches, or Red River; then, following the course of the Rio Roxo
westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from London and 23 from
Washington; then crossing the said Red River, and running thence, by a
line due north, to the River Arkansas; thence following the course of
the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source in latitude 42 north;
and thence, by that parallel of latitude, to the South Sea; the whole
being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at
Philadelphia, improved to the 1st of January, 1818. But, if the source
of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or south of latitude
42, then the line shall run from the said source due south or north,
as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel of latitude 42,
and thence, along the said parallel, to the South Sea; all the islands
in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers, throughout the
course thus described, to belong to the United States; but the use
of the waters and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of
the said Rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent of the said
boundary, on their respective banks, shall be common to the respective
inhabitants of both nations.
The two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all
their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the territories described
by said line; that is to say, the United States hereby cede to his
Catholic Majesty, and renounce forever, all their rights, claims,
and pretensions, to the territories lying west and south of the
above-described line; and, in like manner, his Catholic Majesty cedes
to the said United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions, to
any territories east and north of the said line; and for himself, his
heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said territories
forever.
(No. 9)
_Convention between the United States and Great Britain, signed at
London, August 6th, 1827._
ARTICLE 1. All the provisions of the third article of the convention
concluded between the United States of America and his majesty the
king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the 20th
of October, 1818, shall be, and they are hereby, further indefinitely
extended and continued in force, in the same manner as if all the
provisions of the said article were herein specifically recited.
ART. 2. It shall be competent, however, to either of the contracting
parties, in case either should think fit, at any time after the 20th
of October, 1828, on giving due notice of twelve months to the other
contracting party, to annul and abrogate this convention; and it shall,
in such case, be accordingly entirely annulled and abrogated, after the
expiration of the said term of notice.
ART. 3. Nothing contained in this convention, or in the third article
of the convention of the 20th October, 1818, hereby continued in force,
shall be constructed to impair, or in any manner affect, the claims
which either of the contracting parties may have to any part of the
country westward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains.
(No. 10.)
_The Instructions of the Merchant Proprietors, to John Meares_:
"* * * * Should you, in the course of your voyage, meet with any
Russian, _English_, or Spanish vessels, you will treat them with
civility and friendship, and allow them, if authorized, to examine
your papers, which will show the object of your voyage. But you must,
at the same time, guard against surprise. Should they attempt to
seize you, or even carry you out of your way, you will prevent it by
every means in your power, and repel force by force. You will on your
arrival in the first port, protest before a proper officer against
such illegal procedure; and ascertain as nearly as you can the value
of your vessel and cargo, sending such protest, with a full account of
the transaction, to us at China. Should you in such conflict have the
superiority, you will then take possession of the vessel that attacked
you, as also her cargo, and bring both, with the officers and crew
to China, that they may be condemned as legal prizes and their crews
punished as pirates. Wishing you a prosperous voyage, etc.
(Signed) "THE MERCHANT PROPRIETORS."
FOOTNOTES:
[84] These Englishmen are crazy--the Columbia was not discovered by
Captain Gray till 1792. If the above is intended as an illustration
only, the instance is as weak as the previous arguments are
inconclusive.
[85] We have seen that Mr. Thomson came a year too late.
[86] Those views were carried into effect. The place was regularly
taken possession of in the king's name on the 1st December, 1813, and
the British flag was run up with all the formalities of conquest, in
place of the American standard.
[87] Here is an assertion that Great Britain has been accruing title,
through the operations of her Hudson's Bay Company, ever since the
treaty of 1818. This gives an additional significance to her grant
of the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the territory, to that
incorporation. It will be well for our readers here to recollect the
declaration of our Government made in 1823, that thenceforth no portion
of the American Continents were to be considered as subjects for
European Colonization.
The Washington Historical Quarterly
Board of Editors
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY, Seattle.
J. N. BOWMAN, Seattle.
T. C. ELLIOTT, Walla Walla.
FRANK A. GOLDER, Pullman.
CEYLON S. KINGSTON, Cheney.
W. D. LYMAN, Walla Walla.
EDWARD MCMAHON, Seattle.
THOMAS W. PROSCH, Seattle.
OLIVER H. RICHARDSON, Seattle.
O. B. SPERLIN, Tacoma.
E. O. S. SCHOLEFIELD, Victoria, B. C.
ALLEN WEIR, Olympia.
Managing Editor
EDMOND S. MEANY
Business Manager
CHARLES W. SMITH
VOL. V NO. 2 APRIL, 1914
_ISSUED QUARTERLY_
Contents
T. C. ELLIOTT Journal of John Work, June-October,
1825 83
ANNA SLOAN WALKER History of the Liquor Laws of the
State of Washington 116
RALPH R. KNAPP Divorce in Washington 121
DOCUMENTS--A New Vancouver Journal 129
BOOK REVIEWS 138
NEWS DEPARTMENT 152
NORTHWESTERN HISTORY SYLLABUS 156
HISTORY TEACHERS' SECTION 158
THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
UNIVERSITY STATION
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Entered at the post office at Seattle as second-class mail matter.
The Washington University
State Historical Society
* * * * *
Officers and Board of Trustees:
CLARENCE B. BAGLEY, President
JUDGE JOHN P. HOYT, Vice-President
JUDGE ROGER S. GREENE, Treasurer
PROFESSOR EDMOND S. MEANY, Secretary
JUDGE CORNELIUS H. HANFORD
JUDGE THOMAS BURKE
SAMUEL HILL
PRINTING DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
_Vol. V., No. 2 April, 1914_
The
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/45779