Copyright 2000 - 2003 - Janine M. Bork
This page is part of the
Union County, OR AGHP
solemnizing such marriage. The sale, exchange or gift of liquor to Indians was made a territorial misdemeanor, subjecting the party convicted to a penalty of not less than twenty-five nor more than five hundred dollars. Much of the session was devoted to the consideration of measures providing for the location of the public territorial buildings. A number of acts were generally passed whereby the university was located at Seattle, the penitentiary at Vancouver, and the seat of government at Olympia. The Penitentiary Bill located that institution at the county seat of Clark county, provided ten acres of land were donated to the territory free of expense, "the deed thereof to be satisfactory to the commissioners" to be appointed. An act followed appointing a commission to select the site and superintend construction, defined the duties of said commissioners, and prescribed the capacity of said institution: "Cells to confine separately one hundred convicts at night" (1).
The location of the university gave occasion for the passage of several bills. One established the university at Seattle, and located a branch upon Boisfort Prairie in Lewis county. Of the congressional reservation of two townships of land for university purposes, the act assigned one township to the main institution, the other to the branch. Both were placed upon the same footing, the difference alone being in the name. The act was an attempted location of two universities, the splitting of a grant wisely intended by Congress for one only. Commissioners were appointed to select and locate the two townships of land granted for university purposes; but they were restrained from selecting more than two sections each, prior to the meeting of the next session of the legislature (2).
The seat of government was established upon ten acres of land upon the Donation claim of Edmund Sylvester, immediately south of the platted townsite of Olympia. The places contending as sites for the capital were Olympia, Steilacoom and Vancouver. Having located the seat of government, the act to take effect fifteen days after passage of the bill, a joint committee consisting of three from the Council and two from the House were appointed to examine the title of the land donated. Alexander S. Abernethy, Benjamin F. Yantis and Henry Miles were appointed on the part of the Council. William H. Wallace and Timothy Heald were the House members of that commission. Colonel Wallace acted as chairman. He, with Messrs. Miles and Heald, reported the title unsatisfactory, and recommended the repeal of the Location law. Messrs. Abernethy and Yantis reported the title papers as exhibits, and suggested that the title was as good as any title to lands in the territory could be made. They appended to their report a supplementary bill, instructing the secretary of the territory to file the title deeds, and to repeal so much of the former law as made it operative after fifteen days. It declared the Location law in force from and after its passage. The supplementary bill passed. Olympia remained the seat of government. The Assembly then, by joint resolution, requested the governor to utilize the appropriation of $5,000, made for the purpose of erecting temporary capital buildings, which request was complied with; and, during the summer following, the building since used as a capitol was erected.
That legislature passed an act entitled, "An Act to prohibit the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits in the Territory of Washington." That law was in all respects a duplicate of what was then called the "Maine Law." It prohibited the manufacture, sale
(1). Under those acts the site was located, considerable material was collected upon the ground, and some progress made in foundation work. Later, however, that location was abandoned before any progress had been made in erecting buildings; nor was there very any judicial recognition of Vancouver as the place where territorial convicts should be incarcerated.
(2). Nothing whatever was ever attempted to be done under either of the university location laws passed during the session of 1854-55.
or gift of spirituous liquors. It provided for an agent to sell spirits for medicinal, mechanical and sacramental purposes, and no other, and prescribed the duties of, and manner of, qualification of such agent, imposed a penalty for violation of the law, and declared that all sales, transfers, conveyances or securities in payment for liquors null and void. The act was to go into effect from and after November 1, 1855, if the majority of voters at the general election in July, 1855, should vote in favor thereof, and prescribed the manner of voting. It never went into effect. At the election, 540 voted "for," and 610 "against."
The memorials passed were few in number and upon eminently practical subjects, which commended themselves to favor; and quite a number sooner or later secured favorable action. The extinguishment by purchase of the rights of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies; an urgent request to reimburse the emigrant road builders of 1853; that Olympia, San Juan Island and Shoalwater Bay might be created ports of delivery; that protective legislation be made in favor of the proprietors of townsites and purchasers of lots; for increased mail facilities, in which memorial the prayer was incorporated to pay the owners of the steamer Major Tompkins (1) for carrying the mails on Puget Sound from October 1, 1854; to allow the governor to accept the services of two companies of mounted volunteers, to serve for twelve months, to protect emigrants traveling westward from the South Pass to Oregon and Washington, and to reduce the military reserve at Fort Vancouver to twenty acres.
Governor Stevens, as superintendent of Indian affairs, and General Joel Palmer, had been appointed, by the Indian Bureau, commissioners to treat with the Yakima and Nez Perce nations, and with confederate tribes of the Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Umatillas. James Doty, late a member of the Northern Pacific Railroad survey, and who had been appointed by Governor Stevens secretary of the treaty commission, had in January been detailed to visit those tribes to ascertain whether they continued of the same mind that they had evinced to Governor Stevens in person, when he passed through their country late in 1853. Circumstances had recently occurred calculated to have alienated their then pretended loyal feelings. Gold had been found in paying quantities in the northern part of the territory, upon the bars of the tributaries of the Upper Columbia; and many miners had journeyed thither through territory hitherto untraveled by white men. The previous season Major Haller of the U.S. Army, with armed United States troops, accompanied by armed white settlers, had moved through their territory with intent to make war against Indians, to chastise those perfidious Shoshones who had in cold blood and without a cause murdered the immigrants of 1854 near Fort Boise. Many were soured and disaffected, some were quasi hostile; and yet to Mr. Doty they professed that continuing desire to treat for the sale of their lands. They rendered the same lip-service that they had accorded to the governor. They promised to meet him in grand council on the 20th of May.
On the 12th of May, Governor Stevens left Olympia for Eastern Washington. He stopped at The Dalles; and, as he believed that many of the Indians were restless, he requested Major Rains, U.S. Army, in command of Fort Dalles, that a small body of troops should be sent forward to the council ground to act as an escort to the commission, an also to guard the treaty goods which were to be carried thither and be distributed among the Indians. Major Rains detailed Lieutenant Gracie, U.S. Dragoons, with a force of
(1) The steamer Major Tompkins, a propeller, was brought to Puget Sound in September, 1854, by John H. Scranton and Captain James M. Hunt, and was the first steamboat to engage in regular trips between Olympia and Victoria via the Sound ports. She was lost in February, 1855, while coming out of Port Victoria in a dense fog.
forty men, including two half-breed packers, and a Cayuse Indian to act as guide, named Cutmouth John, who was so called by reason of having been shot in the mouth in a fight with Snake Indians. Lieutenant Gracie's command was reinforced before reaching Walla Walla by falling in with a detachment of ten men under command of a corporal, who had been dispatched in pursuit of Indian murderers but had failed to find them. The governor and Superintendent Palmer had arrived at the council ground before the military escort. That place of meeting had long been the traditional council ground for the meetings of those nations; and it had been designated by Kamiakin, head chief of the Yakima nation, in his interview with Mr. Doty, when he consented to meet in council. The goods for distribution had been stored at old Fort Walla Walla, a trading-post of the Hudson's Bay Company, then in charge of James Sinclair, a clerk in the company's service.
The Indians were tardy in making their appearance. On the twenty-fourth, the Nez Perces, twenty-five hundred strong (1), with Lawyer, their head chief, arrived. On the twenty-sixth came three hundred Cayuses. On the twenty-eighth, the Yakimas and the confederate bands of Umatillas and Walla Wallas swelled the assembled number to about five thousand. On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth, the council was formally opened by Governor Stevens in an appropriate speech, explaining briefly the purposes for which they were assembled. On the next day, both of the commissioners, in lengthy remarks, explained the objects of their presence there, which were, as the sentences were uttered, interpreted in turn in the Nez Perce and Walla Walla tongues, - a very tedious and protracted method. On the thirty-first, the commissioners again explained; but no words of response came from any Indian. On the 1st of June, the Indians declined to attend council with the commissioners, but held among themselves a council to discuss the propositions. Upon the 2d of June, the governor, in a brief speech, opened the council. He was followed by several chiefs in short addresses. A Cayuse chief closed with remarks unfavorable to the treaty. Briefly Governor Stevens closed the talk; and the council adjourned until Monday, the fourth. Upon that day, after the council had been opened by Governor Stevens, Lawyer, head chief of the Nez Perces, the first Nez Perce who had made a response, made a speech in favor of the treaty. He was followed by several chiefs; but there seemed to be but little headway made towards any understanding except with the Nez Perces, who, under Lawyer's lead, were ready to sign. On the fifth, Governor Stevens spoke more lengthily and forcibly than ever. General Palmer followed, speaking longer than an hour, attempting to illustrate to that motley horde how much satisfaction and benefit they would enjoy by civilization. He picture to them the advantages of railroads and telegraphs, - "pearls before swine;" for he received no encouragement for his eloquence but the return of a savage grunt, the customary token of the Indian's close attention. Stechus, an old Cayuse chief, responded briefly, but indicated no change of sentiment on the part of that surly people. That night the Cayuses manifested unmistakable indications of growing hostile feelings towards the soldiery who were on the ground as guards, whose presence there was to resist an uprising, to quell disturbance, to keep the Indians peaceable; nor would they allow the officers to enter their camps.
On the sixth, the Indians again refused to attend the council, but held a consultation among themselves. On the next day, several chiefs participated in the speaking. An attender of every session of that council has reported its proceedings. Except the Nez Perces, the other Indians were still disinclined to the treaty. The Cayuses, in a body,
(1) "The
Indian Council at Walla Walla," page 12. "A pamphlet printed, not published,"
yet graphically written, by Lawrence Kip, U.S. Army, who was the guest
and companion of Lieutenant Gracie.
were universally opposed to the treaty. Peu-peu-mox-mox, the old Walla Walla chieftain, had abandoned his usual caution, and openly denounced the sale of their lands. Kamiakin would have nothing to do with it. Joseph and Looking Glass of the Nez Perces opposed it. The Cayuses made no disguise of their bitterness of feeling against Lawyer for his advocacy of the treaty. Joseph refused to give his adherence unless it was pledged to him that he could retain his country, the Wallowa valley. Looking Glass, the war chief of the Nez Perces, would not be present at the council until the eighth (1).
Friday, June 8th. - To-day it was nearly three o'clock before they met. After a few remarks by Governor Stevens, General Palmer made a long speech addressed to those chiefs who refused yesterday to accede to the treaty. He told them, as they do not wish to go on the Nez Perces' reservation (the tribes never having been friendly to each other), he would offer them another reservation, which would embrace parts of the lands on which they were now living. After this offer had been clearly explained to them and considered, all acceded to it, with the exception of one tribe, the Yakimas. It seemed as if we were getting on charmingly, and that the end of all difficulties was at hand, when suddenly a new explosive element dropped down into this little political caldron. Just before the council adjourned, an Indian runner arrived with the news that Looking Glass, the war chief of the Nez Perces, was coming. Half an hour afterwards, he, with another chief and about twenty warriors, came in. They had just returned from an incursion into the Blackfoot country, where there had been some fighting; and they brought back with them, as a trophy, one scalp, which was dangling from a pole. Governor Stevens and General Palmer went out to meet them; and mutual introductions were made. Looking Glass then, without dismounting from his horse, made a short and very violent speech, which I afterwards learned was, as I suspected, an expression of his indignation at their selling the country. The council then adjourned.
"Saturday, June 9th. - This morning the old chief, Lawyer, came down and took breakfast with us. The council did not meet till three o'clock; and maters seem now to have reached a crisis. The treaty must either be soon accepted, or the tribes will separate in hopeless bad feeling. On the strength of the assent yesterday given by all the tribes, except the Yakimas, the papers were drawn up and brought into the council to be signed by the principal chiefs. Governor Stevens once more - for Looking Glass' benefit - explained the principal points in the treaty, and among other things told them there would be three reservations, the Cayuses, Walla Wallas and Umatillas to be placed upon one, the Nez Perces on another, and the Yakimas on the third, and that they were not to be removed to these reservations for two or three years. Looking Glass then arose and made a strong speech against the treaty, which had such an effect, that not only the Nez Perces, but all the other tribes, refused to sign it. Looking Glass, although nominally only the second chief, has more influence than Lawyer, and is in reality the chief of the different Nez Perce tribes. Governor Stevens and General Palmer made several speeches to induce him to change his decision; for, should he do so, the other chiefs would follow his example. But their efforts were in vain; and the council was obliged to adjourn until Monday.
"Monday, June 11th. - Before breakfast we had a visit from Lawyer, with some other Indians. At ten o'clock the council met. Governor Stevens opened it with a short speech, at the close of which he asked the chiefs to come forward and sign the papers. This they all did without the least opposition. After this was over, the presents which
(1) Lieutenant Kip's journal
of the Walla Walla council before cited.
General Palmer had brought with him were distributed; and the council, like other legislative bodies, adjourned sine die. We have now ended our connection with the council, and bid adieu to our Indian friends. It is therefore an appropriate place to say that we subsequently discovered we had been all the while unconsciously treading on a mine. Some of the friendly Indians afterwards disclosed to the traders that, during the whole meeting of the council active negotiations were on foot to cut off the Whites. This plot originated with the Cayuses, in their indignation at the prospect of being deprived of their lands. Their programme was first to massacre the escort, which could be easily done. Fifty soldiers against three thousand Indian warriors, out on the open plain, made rather too great odds. We should have had time, like Lieutenant Grattan at Fort Laramie last season, to have delivered on fire; and then the contest would have been over. Their next move was to surprise the post at The Dalles, which they could also easily have done, as most of the troops were withdrawn, and the Indians in the neighborhood had recently united with them. This would have been the beginning of their war of extermination upon the settlers. The only thing which prevented the execution of this scheme was the refusal of the Nez Perces to accede to it; and, as they were more powerful than the others united, it was impossible to make this outbreak without their concurrence. Constant negotiations were going on between the tribes, but without effect; nor was it discovered by the Whites until after the council had separated."
The official proclamation of the conclusion of the treaty bears date the 12th of June. By that notice it is recited that the terms were agreed upon on the ninth, though the signatures were exchanged on the eleventh. Care has been taken to exhibit all that was done, and how it was done, though "it were not done quickly" at that memorable council; for those lands ceded became the battle ground of the war, so soon thereafter initiated and waged for a number of years; and the perfidious wretches who signed it were the chief actors. The cessions of territory, together with the reservations, were as follows:
By the Yakima nation, fourteen
bands including the Palouse tribe, the land included within the following
boundaries was ceded to the United States to whit: Commencing at Mt. Ranier;
thence northerly along the main ridge of the Cascade Mountains to the point
where the northern tributaries of Lake Chelan and the southern tributaries
of the Methow river have their rise; thence southeasterly on the divide
between the waters of Lake Chelan and the Methow river to the Columbia
river; thence crossing the Columbia, on a true east course, to a point
whose longitude is one hundred and nineteen degrees and ten minutes; thence
in a true south course to the forty-seventh parallel of latitude; thence
east on said parallel to the main Palouse river; thence down the Palouse
river to the Snake river at the mouth of the Tukanon river; thence down
the Snake river to its junction with the Columbia river; thence up the
Columbia river to the "White Banks" below Priest's Rapids; thence westerly
to "La Lac"; thence southerly to a point on the Yakima river called Toh-mah-luke;
thence in a southwesterly direction to the Columbia river at the western
extremity of the "Big Island," between the mouth of the Umatilla river
and Butter creek; thence down the Columbia river to midway between the
mouths of White Salmon and Wind rivers; thence along the divide between
said rivers to the main ridge of the Cascade Mountains; and thence along
said ridge to the place of beginning.
There is, however, reserved from the land above ceded, for the exclusive use and occupation of said confederate tribes and bands of Indians, the tract of land included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing on the Yakima river at the mouth of the Attahnam river; thence westerly along said Attahnam river to the forks; thence along the southern tributary to the Cascade Mountains; thence southerly along the main ridge of said mountains, passing south and east of Mount Adams, to the spur whence flows the waters of the Klikitat and Pisco rivers; thence down said spur to the divide between the waters of said rivers; thence along said divide to the divide separating the waters of the Satass river from those flowing into the Columbia river; thence along said divide to the main Yakima, eight miles below the mouth of the Satass river; and thence up the Yakima river to the place of beginning. Also a tract of land, not exceeding one township of six miles square, situated at the forks of the Pisquouse or Wenatshapam river, and known as the "Wenatshapam Fishery;" which said tract shall be surveyed and marked out whenever the President may direct.
The country embraced in the cession, and included in the reservations, is opened to settlement, excepting that the Indians are secured in the possession of their buildings and improvements until removed to the reservation.
By the Nez Perces: Commencing at the source of the Wo-na-ne-she or southern tributary of the Palouse river; thence down that river to the main Palouse; thence in a southerly direction to the Snake river at the mouth of the Tukanon river; thence up the Tukanon to its source in the Blue Mountains; thence southerly along the ridge of the Blue Mountains; thence to a point on the Grand Ronde river midway between Grand Ronde and the mouth of the Wol-low-how river; thence along the divide between the waters of the Wol-low-how and Powder rivers; thence to the crossing of Snake river at the mouth of the Powder river; thence to the Salmon river, fifty miles above the place known as the "crossing of the Salmon river;" thence due north to the summit of the Bitter Root Mountains; thence along the crest of the Bitter Root Mountains to the place of beginning.
By the Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Umatillas, a tract of land having the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at the mouth of the Tukanon river in Washington Territory; running thence up said river to its source; thence easterly along the summit of the Blue Mountains, to the source of Powder river; thence to the headwaters of Willow creek; thence down Willow creek to the Columbia river; thence up the channel of Columbia river to the lower end of a large island below the mouth of Umatilla river; thence, northerly to a point on the Yakima river called Toh-mah-luke; thence to "La Lac;" thence to the "White Banks" on the Columbia river below Priest's Rapids; thence down the Columbia river to the junction of the Columbia and Snake rivers; thence up the Snake river to the place of beginning.
Provided, however, that so much of the country described above as contained in the following boundaries shall be set apart as Indian reservations.
For the Nez Perce tribe, to wit:
Commencing where the southern tributary of the Palouse river flows from
the spurs of the Bitter Root Mountains; thence down said tributary to the
mouth of the Ti-nah-pan-up creek thence southerly to the crossing of the
Snake river, ten miles below the mouth of the Alpowa river; thence to the
source of the Alpowa river in the Blue Mountains; thence to the crossing
of the Grand Ronde river, midway between the Grand Ronde and the mouth
of the Wol-low-how river; thence along the divide between the waters of
the Wol-low-how river and Powder river; thence to
the crossing of Snake river, fifteen miles below the mouth of the Powder river; thence to the Salmon river above the crossing; thence by the spurs of the Bitter Root Mountains to the place of beginning.
For the confederate tribes of Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Umatillas, to wit: Commencing in the middle of the channel of the Umatilla river opposite the mouth of Wild Horse creek; thence up the middle of the channel of said creek to its source; thence southerly to a point in the Blue Mountains, known as Lee's encampment; thence on a line to the waters of the How-tome creek; thence west to the divide between the How-tome and Birch creeks; thence northerly along said divide to a point due west of the southwest corner of Wm. C. McKay's claim; thence east along his line to the southeast corner; thence in a line to the place of beginning.
The country embraced in the cessions, and not included in the reservations, is open to settlement, excepting that the Indians are secured in the possession of their buildings and improvements till removed to the reservations.
Fourteen confederate tribes and bands, for the purposes of the treaty, acknowledged themselves as one nation under the name of "Yakima," with Kamiakin as their head chief (1). Among them may be noticed the Yakimas, Palouses and Klikitats, all of whom lived north of the Columbia and Snake rivers. The area of the country described as released from Indian claim comprised twenty-nine thousand square miles. This treaty embraced substantially all the provisions incorporated into the Medicine Creek Treaty (see ante), with the additions or modifications about to be noted. The personal privileges and immunities, the personal pledges, the pledge of allegiance, were the same. For the release of the Indian title to the country of those fourteen tribes and bands, the commissioners stipulated, on behalf of the government to pay to the Yakima nation, in addition to the goods and provisions issued to the Indians at the time of signing the treaty, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, payable as follows: The sum of sixty thousand dollars to be expended within the first year after the ratification of the treaty, in making provision for their removal to the reservation; for breaking up and fencing farms, building houses for them, supplying them with provisions and a suitable outfit; and the remainder in annuities, viz.: For the first five years after the ratification of the treaty, commencing September 1, 1856, $10,000 each year; for the next succeeding five years, $8,000 each year; for the next succeeding five years, $6,000 each year; and for the next succeeding five years, $4,000 each year.
Within one year after the treaty should be ratified, the government was also to establish two schools and erect necessary buildings, and keep them in repair, provide books, furniture and stationery; one of those schools to be an agricultural and industrial school to be located at the agency and to be free to the children of said tribes; to employ one superintendent of teaching and two teachers; to build two blacksmith shops, to one of which a tin shop shall be attached, and to the other shall be attached a gunsmith's shop; one carpenter shop, the necessary tools to be furnished; to employ, for the instruction of the Indians in trades, and to assist them in prosecuting the same, one superintendent of farming and two farmers, two blacksmiths, one tinner, one gunsmith, one carpenter, one wagon and plow maker; to erect a saw-mill and grist-mill and furnish the same with tools; to erect a hospital and provide the same with necessary medicines and furniture, and to employ a physician; and to erect and keep in repairs all necessary buildings required for employés; the said buildings to be maintained and kept in repair, and the employés to be retained in service for twenty years.
(1) United States Statues at
Large, Vol. XII, page 951.
"And it is distinctly understood and agreed that, at the time of the conclusion of this treaty, Kamiakin is the duly elected and authorized head chief of the confederate bands styled the Yakima nation, and is recognized as such by them. And in view of the fact that the head chief of the said confederate tribes and bands of Indians is expected and will be called upon to perform many services of a public character, occupying much of his time, the United States further agree to pay five hundred dollars per year, for the term of twenty years after the ratification of the treaty, as a salary for such person as the said confederate bands of Indians may select to be their head chief, to build for him at a suitable point on the reservation a comfortable house and properly furnish the same, and to plow and fence ten acres of land. The said salary is to be paid to, and the said house to be occupied by, such head chief so long as he may continue to hold that office." The same salary, house and farm were secured to the head chief of the Nez Perces, and to each of the head chiefs of the Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Umatillas.
The treaty with the Nez Perces, like the Yakima treaty, contained those provisions common to all the Western Washington treaties. The consideration for the ceded territory, and the duties imposed on the United States government were identical. It differed alone from all the others in this, that it contained a provision whereby it was agreed that "William Craig should continue to live with them, and that the tract of land now occupied by him, and described in his notification to the register and receiver of the United States land-office, on the 4th day of June last, shall not be considered a part of the reservation defined in the treaty, except that it shall be subject to the operations of the intercourse act."
In the treaty with the Walla Walla, Cayuse and Umatilla nations, as a rule the articles follow the language used in the other treaties. They are not exempted from any obligation imposed upon other tribes. They are guaranteed the same privileges and immunities. In its peculiar modified provisions or the additional articles, in the difference of phraseology or the additional sections, no departure from the general Indian policy adopted will be observed. The purchase money was to be paid as follows: For the five years commencing September 1, 1856, $8,000 each year; for the five years next succeeding, $6,000 each year; for the five years next succeeding, $4,000 each year; for the five years next succeeding, $2,000 each year.
"The United States further agree to expend the sum of $50,000 during the first and second years after the ratification of this treaty for the erection of buildings on the reservation, fencing and opening farms, for the purchase of teams, farming implements, clothing and provisions, for medicines and tools, for the payment of employés, and for subsisting the Indians the first year after removal. In addition there is to be erected upon the reservation one saw-mill, one grist-mill and hospital, two schoolhouses, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop, and a dwelling-house and necessary outbuildings for each of the following employés, viz.: two millers, one farmer, one superintendent of farming operations, two school teachers, one carpenter, the services and subsistence of each to be paid for the term of twenty years. To purchase and keep in repair, for the term of twenty years, all necessary mill fixtures and mechanical tools, medicines and hospital stores, books and stationery for school, and furniture for employés.
To Peu-peu-mox-mox (named in treaty
as Pio-pio-mox-mox) the first payment of salary as head chief commenced
with the signing of the treaty. It was not, as with all the other head
chiefs, contingent upon ratification, or at a distant day. To him were
also
granted other specialties: a dwelling-house was to be built for his son, with five acres plowed and inclosed; and one hundred dollars per annum, for twenty years, was to be paid to him, commencing with September 1, 1856. To that crafty old chieftain was granted the right to build and occupy a house near the mouth of the Yakima river for the term of five years, to be used as a trading-post in the sale of his bands of wild cattle ranging in that vicinity. Over and above all this he was to be given, within three months after the signing of the treaty, "three yoke of oxen, three yokes and four chains, one wagon, two plows, twelve hoes, twelve axes, two shovels, one saddle and bridle, one set of wagon harness, and one set of plow harness." In another article this proviso occurs: "That the head chiefs of the three principal bands, to wit: Pio-pio-mox-mox, Weyatenatemany, (head chief of the Cayuses) and Wenapsnoot (head chief of the Umatillas), shall each be secured in a tract of at least one hundred and sixty acres."
To the ordinary mind, this extra largess would seem the testimonial of the necessity to conciliate the influence of that seemingly sullen diplomat and veteran warrior. It shows at least that he had his way, and that his opposition to the treaty and to the surrender of the land at every stage had to be removed. It is questionable whether yielding to his arrogant demands did not have the contrary effect from the one intended. That the commissioners meant the best, and hoped to make the old chief a friend to the Whites is certain; but they seemed to lose sight of the fact, that this is not the age of miracles, that they were powerless to change the leopard's spots, or to remove the vengeful feeling in that old man's bosom for the slaying of his son some years previous in California. The sequel too soon proved that those old conspirators first opposed, then unwillingly signed, their pretended cordial satisfaction, merely to throw the Whites off their guard in the great conspiracy which for years had been forming, which had been discussed at that council ground, and which so soon culminated in war against the Whites from the boundary line of California to British Columbia.
This treaty further provided that, in consequence of the immigrant wagon road from Grand Ronde to Umatilla passing through the reservation, thus leading to disputes between immigrants and the Indians, and as a more feasible route existed south of the present line, a sum not to exceed $10,000 was to be expended by the government in locating and opening a wagon road south of the southern boundary of the reservation, from Powder River or Grande Ronde to the plain at the western base of the Blue Mountains.
The article relating to the allotment of land to individuals of the tribes furnishes an elaborate view of the intention of the commissioners, and is therefore quoted in extenso.
"Article VI. The President may,
from time to time at his discretion, cause the whole, or such portion as
he may think proper, of the tract that may now or hereafter be set apart,
as a permanent home for those Indians of the confederated bands as may
wish to enjoy the privilege, and locate thereon permanently. To a single
person over twenty-one years of age, forty acres; to a family of two persons,
sixty acres; to a family of three and not exceeding five, eighty acres;
to a family of six persons and not exceeding ten, one hundred and twenty
acres; and to each family over ten in number, twenty acres to each additional
three members; and the President may provide for such rules and regulations
as will secure to the family, in case of the death of the head thereof,
the possession and enjoyment of such permanent home and improvement thereon;
and he may at any time, at his discretion, after such person or family
has made location on the land assigned as a permanent home, issue a patent
to such person or family for such
assigned land, conditioned that the tract shall not be aliened or leased for a longer term than two years, and shall be exempt from levy, sale or forfeiture, which condition shall continue in force until a state constitution embracing such land within its limits shall have been formed, and the legislature of the state shall remove the restriction: Provided, however, that no state legislature shall remove the restriction herein provided for without the consent of Congress; And provided also, that if any person or family shall, at any time, neglect or refuse to occupy or till a portion of the land assigned, and on which they have located, or shall roam from place to place, indicating a desire to abandon his home, the President may, if the patent shall have been issued, cancel the assignment, and may also withhold from such person or family their portion of the annuities or other money due them, until they shall have returned, to such permanent home and resumed the pursuits of industry; and in default of their return the tract may be declared abandoned, and thereafter assigned to some other person or family of Indians residing on said reservation."
At the close of the council at Walla Walla, Superintendent Palmer of Oregon returned to the Dalles, where he concluded a treaty between the confederated tribes and bands of Indians of Middle Oregon, signed at Wasco June 25, 1855. The consideration was $150,000. The provisions in the main are similar to the other treaties, and, in the special clauses, follow more nearly the treaty with the Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Umatillas. Governor Stevens, with a number of Americans and a body guard of Nez Perces, started for Colvile; but the Indians in that vicinity declined to treat, and he was compelled to hasten forward. On the 16th of July, 1855, at Hellgate, in the Bitter Root valley, he concluded a treaty with the Flathead, Kootenai and Upper Pend d'Oreille Indians. The price for the extinguishment of the Indian title was $120,000. The features were similar to the other treaties. The head chiefs of the three tribes were allowed a salary of $500 per annum for three years, and were each provided with a house and farm of ten acres. That treaty concluded, Governor Stevens crossed the Rocky Mountains to Fort Benton.
Of the treaties negotiated during
the year 1855, not one was ratified by the United States Senate. Such delay,
however mala fide on the part of the United States, cuts no figure
as a provocative of the war which followed a few months later; for that
war in reality was inaugurated before the session of the Senate began,
to which most of those treaties would have been submitted for ratification.
Only one (Medicine Creek), which was signed December 26, 1854, had been
ratified (March 3, 1855). It has been quite extensively asserted that those
treaties caused the Indian war which so soon succeeded their conclusion.
Such allegation, so devoid of justice and truth, has rendered necessary
a full exhibit of the conduct of the contracting parties, the motives which
actuated their negotiation, the necessity demanding their having been made,
the methods used to procure their signing by the Indians, and finally the
language adopted, conditions imposed, immunities guaranteed, the mutual
obligations created. That liberality to the Indian, sympathy for and with
the race, and an ardent Christian philanthropic wish to civilize him, animated
Governor Stevens, must be evident from the policy underlying those documents,
his addresses to the Indians explaining their provisions and pointing out
their intended benefits, and the very treaties themselves. It is a cruel
slander to insinuate that the negotiation of those treaties, or the insertion
therein of any provision, was designed in the remotest degree to provoke
a war for selfish purposes, or for the gratification of any scheme of personal
ambition, or to give occasion for disaffection by the native population
with whom they were made.
Previous pages will have satisfied the reader that the real causes for a war between the Whites and Indians in this region had their origin and were being fostered long prior to the organization of Washington Territory; that a race prejudice had been instilled, which had in some sections intensified into unmitigated jealous hate through an anomalous condition of affairs and surroundings, without a parallel in the history of colonization. Extraneous causes will abundantly account for the sequel to the well-meant, perhaps unwise, attempts to establish sudden and spasmodic goodwill and amity with tribes of Indians with whom no previous relations of friendship had ever existed; in the breasts of many of whom an ineradicable prejudice had been instilled; a large mass of whom were hopelessly ignorant, and so preferred to remain, of the language, customs and laws of that stranger race, who, malcontents taught them to believe, sought to circumscribe their territorial limits for roaming, hunting and fishing; who, for the first time, were to be brought within restrictions of laws imposed by a different race, of which they had never heard, and the necessity for, or spirit of which, they could not possibly appreciate.
Still, those treaties are a part of the lifework of the eminent war governor of Washington. His policy may have been unwise, may have been too liberal to unappreciative savages, who mistook kindness for fear, who sold goodwill as Judas betrayed the Savior of mankind, to enable them immediately thereafter to accomplish their perfidious intent; but there is nothing in those treaties, nor in their surroundings, which does not reflect infinite credit on their distinguished author and his humane motive. Nor should it be averred that any attempt to have wronged the Indians appears because of his illiteracy, or to impose upon his judgment by misleading statements, or to drive an advantageous bargain for the government. Details, such as unfortunate selections of reservations, may be subjects of fair criticism; but the assertion cannot be successfully contradicted, that never, since the government adopted the policy of treating as its wards the aborigines of the country, has it been represented by one more thoroughly imbued with Christian love and parental, affectionate sympathy or broad humanity for that unfortunate race, than the negotiator and author of the treaties to extinguish the Indian title to lands in the territory of Washington.
Those treaties had provided for the extinguishment of Indian titles to all of Washington Territory except the soil watered by the Chehalis, Cowlitz and Lower Columbia rivers, as also the territory occupied by the Spokane nation and adjacent tribes and bands, and the extreme northeast portion of the territory drained by tributaries of the northern Columbia. With all those Indians not treated with, the understanding had been reached that, upon the return of Governor Stevens from the Blackfoot council at Fort Benton, councils would be convened to treat for the release of the Indian title to their respective territories at times to be fixed in the notice to be given. The breaking out of hostilities during the absence of Governor Stevens prevented the holding of those councils, and the conclusion of treaties with those bands and tribes at the times expected. Colonel Michael T. Simmons, the pioneer of Puget Sound (American) settlement had since March 9, 1854, been connected with the Indian department of the territory, acting as a special or sub-agent by appointment of the superintendent of Indian affairs (Governor Isaac I. Stevens), much of that time however acting as agent, and discharging all the duties pertaining to such office. He was appointed May 14, 1856, Indian agent for the territory of Washington.
There were three political conventions
held this spring at Olympia, to nominate a candidate for delegate to Congress
to be supported respectively by the Democratic Whig
and Free Soil parties. The first-named met on the 7th of May. Joseph S. Smith of Island county was selected to preside. That convention consisted of forty-seven delegates. As the two-thirds' rule was adopted before proceeding to ballot, thirty-two votes were required to nominate. On the first ballot, Columbia Lancaster, the then delegate, received eighteen votes, Isaac I. Stevens thirteen votes, Isaac N. Ebey seven votes, J. Patton Anderson seven votes, and Henry R. Crosbie two votes. With slightly varying votes, Lancaster's strength not increasing, on the sixteenth ballot Stevens received his highest vote of sixteen. Upon the tenth ballot, Lancaster received fifteen votes, Stevens ten votes, Edward Lander one vote, Charles H. Mason one vote. At the end of this ballot, Governor Stevens withdrew his name. The convention continued to ballot. On the twenty-ninth, J. Patton Anderson received thirty-eight votes, Isaac N. Ebey five, H.C. Mosely three, Stevens one. Colonel J. Patton Anderson (1) was then unanimously nominated. Upon the thirteenth ballot, Mosely received his highest vote of eighteen. On the seventeenth ballot, McFadden received twelve votes. Ebey's vote ran up to eighteen. Upon the twenty-fourth ballot, Edward Lander received his highest vote of twenty, the largest vote given to any candidate except the nominating vote of thirty-eight to Colonel Anderson.
The Whig convention met upon the 14th of May. Elwood Evans was made chairman. Forty delegates were in attendance. The names of Gilmore Hays, George Gibbs, William Strong, Alexander S. Abernethy, William H. Wallace, Hugh A. Goldsborough and Elwood Evans were presented to the convention. The contest for several ballots was close between Judge William Strong and Judge Gilmore Hays of Thurston county. The latter having received within a vote of nominating, and who would have received the nomination on the next ballot, withdrew. Several ballots followed, George Gibbs (2) of Pierce county receiving the largest vote. On the twenty-first ballot, William Strong received a majority of the votes, and was afterwards unamiously nominated. A small assemblage of Free Soilers presented the name of Joseph Cushman (3) of Olympia to the people of the territory as the Free Soil candidate.
Colonel Anderson and Judge Strong traveled together and canvassed the territory. Every precinct was visited, and the people addressed. Neither of them at any time forgot that they were gentlemen. J. Patton anderson was elected, receiving 857 votes to 681 for William Strong (4). The Democrats carried the legislature. The new Council consisted of six Democrats and three Whigs; while the House of Representatives was composed of eighteen Democrats and twelve Whigs.
(1) James Patton Anderson was a native of Tennessee. He was born in 1820, and was a lawyer by profession. On the breaking out of the Mexican War, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of a Mississippi regiment of cavalry. On the establishment of the territorial government of Washington, he accepted the appointment of U.S. Marshal of the territory and removed to Olympia where he also practiced his profession and attained a prominent standing at the bar. He was elected delegate to Congress in 1855, serving till March 4, 1857, but did not return to the territory. He was a state-rights democrat of the ultra school. With his associations and sympathies of that caste of character which forces a man to defend his convictions and belief at every sacrifice, it was natural and expected that he should follow the fortunes of his native state. He warmly espoused the Confederate cause, and at the outset of the rebellion was commissioned a Brigadier-General. He was present at Shiloh and at the battle of Stone river. Shortly afterwards promoted Major General, he assumed command in the district of Florida. On February 17, 1864, he was transferred to the command of a division in Polk's corps, Army of the Tennessee. He came out of the war armless to live till 1873, in Memphis, and there to be sacrificed by that terrible scourge, the yellow fever.
(2) George Gibbs was eminent as a scientist, ethnologist and Indian linguist, and was born at Sunswick, now Astoria, Long Island, July 17, 1815. He died at New Haven, Connecticut, April 9, 1873. He received his education at Round Hill School, Northampton, Massachusetts, under George Bancroft, and graduated at Harvard Law School, class of 1838. He practiced law in New York city several years in partnership with Prescott Hall, and at the same time wrote "Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and Adams," edited from the pages of his grandfather, Oliver Wolcott (signer Declaration of Independence, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States). He accompanied the regiment of Mounted Rifles in their overland march to Oregon in 1848. His first civil service in Oregon was as deputy collector of customs at Astoria. He acted as geologist on the Western Divisions of the Northern Pacific Railroad expedition in 1853. In 1854, he was with Governor Stevens in the negotiations of the Indian treaties west of the Cascades, winter of 1854-55, and on clerical duty at Fort Steilacoom in 1855-56, during the Indian war. In 1859, he served as astronomer and ethnologist on the Northwest Boundary Commission. He returned to New York in 1860. In 1863, he was secretary of the commission to adjust the claims of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies, for possessory rights in Oregon and Washington, under the treaty of 1846. He never was idle, and in all those years was an active contributor to the publications of the Smithsonian Institute. Among the many works of George Gibbs may be named his chief productions: "Judicial Chronicle," Cambridge, 1834; "Instructions for Research relative to Ethnology and Philology of America," Washington, 1863; "Dictionary of Chinook Jargon;" "Comparative Vocabulary;" "Subjects relative to objects of scientific investigation in Russian America."
(3) Joseph Cushman was a prominent merchant of Olympia, and one of her most generous, enterprising and public-spirited citizens. He came to the Sound in 1853 to manage the business of the Kendall Company, whom he subsequently succeeded in business. For a number of years he held the office of probate judge of Thurston county. In the spring of 1854, he was admitted to the bar of the third judicial district by Chief Justice Lander. In 1861, he was appointed receiver of the Olympia district land-office.
(4) Such was the official vote
as returned by counties: but, owing to the failure of the secretary to
receive the returns in time, that officer certified the vote: Anderson,
804; Strong, 603.
The reported discover of gold in the vicinity of Fort Colvile (the Hudson's Bay Company's post, situate on the east bank of the Columbia, south of Clark's Fork, latitude forty-eight degrees, thirty minutes north) had commenced to attract attention. Parties in considerable numbers, from all points on Puget Sound, from other portions of Washington Territory, from Oregon, and even from California, were journeying to the newly discovered gold fields. Colonel J. Patton Anderson, the delegate-elect, with the design of informing himself upon the resources of the territory before proceeding to Washington, accompanied quite a large party of prospectors; in fact, all the settlements contributed their quota to the band of gold hunters.
Never had there been more assured prospect for the future of the great Northwest, for Washington and Oregon. Till this time the settlers, especially of the former, had waited in vain for that promised "great immigration;" yet still it proved "the hope deferred." But now a "mining excitement" had been inaugurated. It would prove the inducement, the attraction. By those treaties just concluded, the friendship of the Indians was regarded as assured. Such was the hope, the genuine belief, of all. Nothing so well illustrates the reliance of the settlers in the friendly disposition of the Indians as the fact that the Whites traveled alone or in small bands unarmed through hitherto unfrequented territory, en route to the Colvile mines. They neither carried arms suitable for defense, nor were they in sufficiently large parties to secure self-protection; innocently they visited Indian camps to be surprised and immolated. On the 28th of August, 1855, Messrs. Wilbur and Bennett, two reliable Oregonians, who had visited the Colvile mines and returned to the settlements, published a card in which they represented, in language of the warmest confidence, that the Indians in the mining section and upon the route manifested a peaceable disposition, and that they professed an ardent desire for the Whites to settle in their country.
All these hopes were based upon a fanciful security. The people even in the settlements had been reposing on a slumbering volcano. At that period, indeed long prior thereto, even while attending the councils called by Governor Stevens, with professions of friendship and peace, the Indians had relinquished their territories, had acknowledged dependence upon the United States, and had agreed to live upon terms of friendship with its citizens. Embracing the opportunity afforded by so many being assembled, they had at that very time been conspiring and arranging for a combination for predatory war at the earliest moment, and had resolved on the murder of the white race. They were and had been assiduously collecting arms, ammunition, provisions and supplies, to be used in offensive war; and it was their determination to banish the Americans from the territory and prevent their settlement therein. At that juncture, they were to some extent unprepared to commence war. The plans were as yet immatured. But the advent of small parties of Whites to sections of territory hitherto untraversed by them hastened hostile acts on the part of the disaffected savages. That that immigration must be checked promptly was the Indian's determination. Besides, it gave color to the insidious assertions of the opponents of the treaties, who had made so much trouble at the councils, in their clamorous objection to the sale of their country. Those malcontents found the verification of their predictions that the Whites would get possession of their country, and they be confined upon the reservation, in the unexpected rush of miners across the territory en route to Colvile.
To beget Indian resistance, the
rumors were circulated through the disaffected region, that the expedition
of Major Haller, U.S. Army, sent out from Fort Dalles to Snake
river to chastise some Indians who had murdered immigrants, as well as to meet and escort the overland immigration of that year, had been cut off and Haller and his whole command murdered; that Governor Stevens and his party, on their journey to Fort Benton, had been cut to pieces by the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains; and that the Indian tribes in the interior, all the way south to the California boundary, were uniting in determined hostility to the Americans entering their country, and in a war of extermination of the settlements.
Colonel Anderson had returned to Olympia on the 19th of September, 1855, bringing with him (confirmation of) the sad intelligence of the murder in the Yakima country, and rumors, too reliable, of frequent massacres of small unarmed parties, and of individuals who had straggled from their companions. In consequence of these rumors, miners were discouraged from remaining in the mining country; and parties en route were returning, deterred from prosecuting their journey through fear of Indian hostilities. The fact appeared to be established that the Yakima nation had become hostile to the Whites entering or passing through their country, and were in a state of open war. It was also manifest that a combination of the tribes east of the mountains had already taken place; and all doubt was removed that Henry Mattice, Jamison, Walker, Eaton, Cummings, Huffman, Fanjoy and others had been murdered. The immolation and brutal cremation of Andrew J. Bolon, Indian sub-agent, by the direction of Kamiakin, head chief of the Yakima nation, displayed the perfection of Indian malignity, not alone the hostile attitude of the bands composing that nation of Indians, but carried with it the threat of extermination of the white race. That amiable gentleman had been apprised of the murder of eight white men by the Yakimas, and had officially visited the Yakima country, unarmed and unattended, to ascertain the truth, as also the circumstances, and if possible to adopt measures for the satisfaction of the Indians. He left The Dalles on the 18th of September for the Catholic Mission at Atahnam. General Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs of Oregon, on the 3d of October reported to the Indian Bureau: "He (sub-agent Bolon) was shot by the son of Sho-wah-way, and then, by the aid of three others, was seized and his throat cut. They then shot his horse, and made a fire over both and burned them up. Words was then conveyed to all the surrounding bands, informing them of what had been done, and requesting them to unite with them in hostility against the Whites; and that, if they declined such invitation, they would be treated as enemies and their children made slaves of" (1).
The receipt of the intelligence of the horrible murder of U.S. Indian Sub-Agent Bolon gave occasion for the fitting out of the expedition into the Yakima country to demand the delivery of the murderers, commanded by Major Haller, fourth infantry, the details of which will be found in a subsequent chapter specially treating of the Indian war.
About the middle of the month of November, 1856, a party of Northern Indians became exceedingly troublesome near Steilacoom. They became so annoying that Lieutenant-Colonel Casey, U.S. Army, in command at Fort Steilacoom, ordered them to leave, and return to their own country. He reported their predatory conduct to Captain Samuel Swartwout, U.S. Navy, in command of the U.S. steamship Massachusetts. On the eighteenth, Captain Lafayette Balch requested of Colonel Casey "that measures be taken to remove certain Northern Indians from the Sound." The Indians having ignored Colonel Casey's warning to leave the country, and that officer not having a steamer to assist in the enforcement of orders given to those Indians, Captain Balch's letter was
(1) Hon. L.F. Mosher writes the
history of Southern Oregon; and therefore matters relating thereto are
left for his treatment. See preface to this work.
inclosed to Captain Swartwout, with the request of Colonel Casey "that he take the matter in hand, and adopt such steps as were best calculated to advance the interests of all concerned." On receipt of the request of Colonel Casey, Captain Swartwout on the next morning, with his vessel proceeded to Steilacoom reservation and Swan's logging camp on Henderson's Bay, at which place the Northern Indians had but recently committed depredations. At the reservation, they had had a fight with the Sound Indians; and two of their number had been killed, and one canoe captured. The Northern Indians had left Henderson's Bay on the eighteenth, reaching Port Madison that evening and renewing their depredations there, thence going down the Sound. The Massachusetts followed, and, on arriving at Port Gamble on the twentieth, found the Northern Indians encamped there in large force. As soon as the Massachusetts anchored, Captain Swartwout dispatched ashore eighteen armed men, including the interpreter, commanded by Lieutenant Young, with orders to have a friendly talk with them, and persuade them to leave the Sound for Victoria, Vancouver Island, peaceably, in tow of the vessel, and to invite two or three of the chiefs to come on board and confer with Captain Swartwout, who also promised that all their previous depredations should be overlooked. The Indians approached the boats in large parties, armed and threatened to shoot any one who attempted to land, shaking their fists at the men in the boats, and defying them to come ashore and fight. In pursuance of Captain Swartwout's orders not to come in collision, Lieutenant Young and the boats returned.
A large expedition was immediately fitted out, consisting of the "launch," with a howitzer, and two cutters, with forty-five men and an interpreter secured from Port Gamble (the party being under command of Lieutenant Young), with the same orders, to communicate with those Indians by sending in advance the interpreter with a flag of truce. The same requests were made, the same conditions proposed. The orders were to return to the ship without landing if the Indians refused. The interpreter, as directed, informed the Indians of the force present, and that, if they left peaceably, all past misdeeds would be forgiven. The Indians were still defiant and intractable. They refused to leave till they were ready; and in no event would they accompany the ship. To Lieutenant Young their conduct was extremely insulting and defiant. That party also returned to the ship, as ordered, without attempting to make a compulsory landing. By this time daylight had gone.
During the night the ship was
moved as close as possible to the Indian camp, and abreast of it, with
her broadside to bear upon it, by springs upon the cable. At seven o'clock
in the morning, Lieutenant Semmes in the first cutter was sent to the steamer
Traveler, which little steamer, and the "launch" commanded by Lieutenant
Forrest, both having field-pieces on board, had been anchored the night
before above the Indian camp, in such a position that their guns had a
raking fire upon it, with orders to communicate through a flag of truce
with the Indians, and renew the demands made the day previous. They were
also duly advised of the preparations for attack if they still resisted.
Lieutenant Semmes, after some twenty minutes of unsuccessful parley, with
a force of twenty-nine sailors and marines, accompanied by Lieutenant Forrest
and Mr. Fendall, the captain's clerk, made a landing in a heavy sea, the
wind blowing fresh, wading up to their waists and carrying the boat howitzer
in their arms. The party having been formed on the beach, Lieutenant
Semmes approached alone to where the interpreter was delivering the message
of Captain Swartwout. The manner of those present was defiant. The Indians
commenced arming themselves, and carrying their goods into the woods. Not
until the Indians had taken positions behind logs and trees was the order given to fire the field-piece on the Traveler; and, simultaneously with that, the Indians fired a volley. The battery of the ship was then directed towards that part of the woods to which they had escaped, and where they appeared to be concealed; and a discharge of round shot and grape did great execution. Under cover of the ship's guns, a charge was made upon the Indians; and they were driven from their camp into the woods. Their camp was set on fire, their property destroyed, and their canoes, which had been hauled up to their camp, all disabled except one. Lieutenant Semmes held possession of the camp from about 7:20 A.M. till 10:00 A.M., when the party returned to the ship. During the whole day, the fire continued from the Massachusetts whenever any of them were seen in the woods. In the afternoon, the weather having moderated, in order to prevent the Indians escaping through the night, a party of thirty-seven sailors and marines went ashore and destroyed the good canoe, and made sure that all the rest were unseaworthy. During this act, the party were subjected to a constant fire from the Indians, under cover of the woods; but the duty was accomplished without the loss of a single man. During the afternoon, a squaw who had been taken prisoner was sent by Captain Swartwout with a message to the Indians demanding their surrender, and that they go with him to Victoria, and from there proceed to their homes, and never again return to the Sound; and that he would forgive them. To this they returned answer, that they "would fight as long as there was a man of them alive." On the morning of the twenty-second, however, two of the principal chiefs visited the ship, surrendered unconditionally, and begged for mercy.
When the fight commenced they had, exclusive of squaws and boys, one hundred and seventeen men. There had been twenty-seven killed and twenty-one wounded, one of the latter being a chief. They had been without food for forty-eight hours, and were entirely destitute. The number taken on board of the ship and carried to Victoria was eighty-seven. They were furnished with provisions, and faithfully promised they would go to their northern homes, and never return to these waters. The loss of the Massachusett's crew was one killed and one wounded (1).
Shortly after this chastisement, so thoroughly deserved and so well administered, that vessel left these waters, and, as the sequel shortly after proved (2), left the remote settlements more than ever liable to the attacks and raids of those perfidious and unrelenting savages, and the isolated settlers more than ever liable to be sacrificed, to atone for this official act of the United States government. Those Indians went away promising good faith to Captain Swartwout. With Indians, treaties or pledges of faith are merely cloaks to conceal their bad intent; but these Indians had not left the Sound before threatening revenge, and boasting that they would have a "tyee" American (a prominent man) for every one they had lost in that engagement.
The third session of the legislature (1855-56) convened at Olympia on the first Monday in December. Governor Stevens not having returned from the Blackfoot council at Fort Benton, Governor Mason delivered the message usual upon the assembling of that body. That able and interesting document is a faithful and patriotic exhibit of the condition of the territory, as also of its needs. It is proper to record the status of the people of the territory and the officials towards the Indians, as officially chronicled: "Since you were last assembled, an important, and, I regret to say, disastrous change has taken place in our social prospects. While peace and security seemed to reign about us,
(1) Official report of Captain S. Swartwout, U.S. Navy, in a letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Casey, November 23, and 24, 1856.
(2) The cold-blooded murder and
beheading of Isaac N. Ebey at his home on Whidby's Island, August 11, 1857.
and every person was, as usual, pursing his customary avocation, an Indian war breaks out in our midst, spreading alarm throughout the whole territory. Families are murdered, property is destroyed, claims are abandoned for the fort and blockhouse, and the whole country, instead of portraying the usual peaceful occupations of American citizens, had the appearance of desertion; and nothing but parties of armed men are to be seen in motion. How long this state of affairs is to continue, it is impossible to say; but from the energy which our citizens have shown, and the measures which have been adopted, it is earnestly to be hoped that the end is not far off."
The high personal character of Governor Mason entitles any official statement made by him to the greatest consideration. He had taken occasion to allude to the absence of Governor Stevens, and briefly to allude to the duties imposed upon that officer, - to treat with the Indians of the territory for the extinguishment of their title to lands, responsive alike to the urgent demands of the citizens of the territory and the orders of the national government. He referred in fitting terms to those well-performed duties by his friend as assuring confidence to the people in the future of the territory; and with what satisfaction they had hailed the promises by the Indians of friendship and amity with their white neighbors; and with what reliance and confidence they accepted those promises as an assurance of the maintenance of peace between the settles and their Indian neighbors. He continued:
"In the midst of this favorable appearance of things, while the ink was scarcely dry with which the treaties had been written, Indians, who had entered into these stipulations and solemnly pledged their faith to preserve amity and peace towards all American citizens, have risen in arms, treacherously surprised and barbarously murdered our unoffending citizens, killed an Indian agent while in the performance of his official duties, and, in defiance of all plighted faith and written obligation, waged a war, accompanied with all the horrid brutalities incident to savage life. The space allotted to this message will not justify the recital of the preliminary aggressions. Satisfactory evidence, however, has been afforded, indicating that both in Oregon and this territory, for a great length of time, preparations for war have been going on on the part of the Indians. Simultaneously with the murders committed in the Yakima valley, Southern Oregon became the scene of Indian warfare; and, the moment troops move from Puget Sound across the mountains, an outbreak takes place on the White river prairies. On the 23d of September, in addition to previously floating rumors, positive information was received that two of our citizens had been murdered in the Yakima valley while traveling on the military road across the Nahchess pass."
This was followed by a recurrence
to the poverty of the territory in arms and ammunition, as also the utter
inability of the United States military posts to supply either, and the
entire insufficiency of men and means to provide for the defense of the
settlements. In this exigency, Governor Mason had been compelled to appeal
to a foreign government for that aid which our own government had neglected
to furnish. It was humiliating to him, and to the settlers of his territory,
that he was compelled thus to acknowledge a helplessness which established
neglect by those who ought to have acted, - to ask of a foreign official
for arms and ammunition to defend American homes and firesides. But Sir
James Douglas, Governor of the colony of Vancouver Island, proved the friend
in need. Promptly and generously he embraced the opportunity to assist
his fellow-beings in their emergency, and also to impart the useful lesson
to savagery that, in a war against the white race, they need not expect
any sympathy whatever from that
great statesman and the company over the affairs of which he presided. They were unmistakably apprised that he had no sympathy with Indian rapine and murder.
Governor Mason thus acknowledged that invaluable service: "I deem it my duty here to make public acknowledgment of the services rendered by his excellency, James Douglas, governor of Vancouver Island. Upon the alarm naturally attendant upon a serious Indian outbreak, almost within arms' length of us, and owing to the scarcity of arms and ammunition, application was made to him for such an amount of the munitions of war as he could possibly furnish. That application was promptly and cordially responded to to the extent of his power, he at the same time regretting that he had at the moment no vessel-of-war at his disposal, and that his steamers, the Otter and Beaver, were both absent, but that, upon the arrival of either, she should be dispatched to the Sound, to render such services as might be required of her. Since then the Otter has visited this place. This movement on the part of the executive of Vancouver Island cannot fail to have its influence upon the Indians residing upon our waters, having a tendency to show to them that, whatever differences may exist between the Americans and Englishmen in their social and political organizations, as far as savages are concerned, they are but one."
The legislature promptly joined with Governor Mason in expressing, on behalf of the people of the territory, "grateful acknowledgment of the services rendered by his excellency, Sir James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island, in furnishing arms and ammunition to the executive of this territory in the present Indian war."
In this connection, it becomes proper to notice also the language of this message in regard to the generous conduct of Commander Isaac S. Sterrett, U.S. Navy, in command of the sloop-of-war Decatur, and of Captain William C. Pease, commanding the revenue cutter Jefferson Davis, in response to a requisition for arms and ammunition to arm the territorial volunteers. "By their assistance was the first company of Washington Territory volunteers armed and equipped, in time to take the field the moment their organization as completed. Captain Sterrett had but few arms and but little ammunition which eh could spare from his vessel; but he bought upon his private account all the arms and ammunition to be obtained in the stores of Seattle." These acts, so eminently patriotic, were properly acknowledged in the proceedings of that legislature.
Governor Mason then adverted to the policy adopted, and its effects: "The Indians west of the Cascades, with the exception of those before alluded to, still continue friendly. They have been collected at various points, disarmed and placed under the surveillance of local agents; and arrangements have been made for their support. The only fear at present entertained is that, by some act of indiscretion, they may be frightened into the hostile ranks. The disposition which has been subsequently made of the troops in the field in this portion of the territory has been with the design, while at the same time to keep the hostile Indians in check, that an adequate force should be moving on the outskirts of the settlements, in order that the farmers might be enabled to provide for the coming year's subsistence."
Allusion is made to the stagnation
of trade and industrial pursuits arising out of the continuance of the
Indian war, loudly calling for prompt and speedy action on the part of
the national government, deprecating the effect of an adjournment of Congress
without affording relief, and describing the emergency as one which, should
it continue would retard territorial growth and advancement. These considerations
demand an urgent memorial calling for a sufficient appropriation to compensate
the citizen soldiery
for their valuable and patriotic services, and to reimburse the citizens for advances made and supplies furnished, and for property destroyed by the hostile Indians.
As a motive for a memorial to the Navy Department for an armed steam vessel to be stationed on Puget Sound, he cites in appropriate language the fact that Northern Indians of fierce and warlike character are in the habit of descending into a settlement, ostensibly to procure employment, but that their raids are invariably attended by thefts and depredations in the remote settlements. If punishment is attempted, it results in isolated settlers being murdered by the Indians in revenge. The governor recommended that the legislature make it a penal offense to harbor or employ such Northern Indians. He also wisely suggested that further sales of arms and ammunition should be prevented by stringent legislative enactments.
Those suggestions of the governor were acted upon by the Assembly. The message devoted considerable length to informing the Legislative Assembly of matters of public interest, and of congressional aid: "During the past summer, rumors of discoveries of gold fields near Fort Colvile induced many enterprising and energetic citizens of the territory to visit that region. Many have returned on account of the war, and the impossibility of obtaining provisions there during winter. Although the extent of the gold-bearing district is not known, yet the fact is certain, that those who worked the bars and prospected the country near Fort Colvile found gold in sufficient quantities to pay well for working. Wherever the more experienced miners dug, either upon the bars or upon the hillsides, gold was found; and even with the rude mode of working with pans, an average of ten dollars per day has been made; and those who are still at the mines report profitable employment. I have no doubt that, with improved machinery and better preparations for working to advantage, these gold mines will prove amply remunerative to many citizens who may go there, whenever the state of the country will permit communication between the Columbia river and Puget Sound settlements and the gold-bearing region. The prosecution of the public surveys during the past year has developed large bodies of fertile lands, and made a great addition to the topographical knowledge of the territory, which will be useful to emigrants in search of the best lands. As to the amount of work thus far accomplished, the office of the surveyor-general shows the following results: Total amount surveyed while this territory was under the Oregon office, 1,876 miles; amount surveyed and under contract since the organization of the Washington office, 3,063 miles; proposed to be surveyed in 1856 and 1857, as per annual report of the surveyor-general, 5,688 miles, all lying west of the Cascade Mountains."
Congress had made liberal appropriations for public surveys; but the surveyor-general had failed to obtain surveyors willing to accept large contracts, even at the maximum rate per mile allowed by law, because of the difficult nature of the country, and the high prices of labor and provisions. The pending Indian war had suspended all field work; but Congress should have, in the interim, authorized an increased sum per mile for the surveys. The legislature were invited to and did, by an appropriate memorial, second the urgent request to that effect by Surveyor-General Tilton.
Appropriations had been authorized
by Congress for military roads from Fort Barton in Nebraska to Walla Walla,
and from The Dalles to Columbia barracks at Fort Vancouver, and one from
Columbia barracks to Fort Steilacoom. On the two latter, a reconnaissance
had been made during the fall; and the building would be commenced during
the coming spring
Under the act of Congress making appropriations for the army ending June 30, 1856, the Secretary of War was authorized to equalize the number of arms heretofore distributed and in possession of the several states, so that each state which had not received its pro rata should receive a sufficient number to make an equal pro rata, according to the number of representatives in Congress. Under this act the share belonging to Washington Territory was 2,000 muskets. The effort to draw the quota in rifles failed. The annual quota of arms is 137 muskets, giving a total of 2,137 muskets. On account of this, 1,980 muskets, one hundred rifles and accoutrements and thirty cavalry sabres (to which 208,000 caps had been added), by some singular fatality had been shipped to Fort Vancouver. In the conditions of roads, it was impracticable to transport them to Puget Sound; but efforts had been made to effect a shipment by sea from Vancouver to Olympia of such portion suitable for the Puget Sound section of country.
The matter of postal arrangements and increased mail facilities was also properly noticed, and legislative action invited. Since the adjournment of the last session of the Assembly, the site for the capitol building had been cleared, and the contract entered into for its erection; but, when the building had neared completion, the work was suspended in consequence of the breaking out of the Indian war. The mechanics employed had enlisted, and it was impossible to supply their places. Again was the attention of the Legislative Assembly called to the adjustment of the northern and northwest boundary, and to the extinguishment of the rights of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies.
Among the legislation of this winter not already adverted to should be noted the repeal of all laws heretofore in force by virtue of any legislation of the territory of Oregon, except that county seats and county lines established by law were not affected, nor were any proceedings commenced under such laws invalidated. The common law in all civil cases was declared to be in force when not modified by statute. A number of divorce laws were passed, several acts of incorporation, and a few unimportant amendatory acts.
The legislature passed a joint resolution instructing the delegate to request of the Secretary of War an investigation into the fact of Major Rains withdrawing troops from the Yakima country in November, 1855, and ordering them into winter quarters, and for disbanding the company of Washington volunteers, raised on the Columbia river, and mustered into the United States' service with the express understanding that they should be sent to the relief of Governor Stevens, at the time returning through the hostile Indian territory from the Blackfoot council. They also protested against the separation of the offices of governor and superintendent of Indian affairs, as recommended by the commissioner of Indian affairs. The number of memorials and joint resolutions was quite large. The subjects were roads, lighthouses, the establishment of ports of delivery, a hospital for the insane, a marine hospital, an additional land district, tendering thanks to Governor George L. Curry of Oregon, and the Oregon volunteers, and the regulars and volunteers, rank and file, on service in the Indian war, and a tribute to the gallant Lieutenant William A. Slaughter, Fourth Infantry, U.S. Army, killed by a band of hostile Indians December 4, 1855.
On Saturday, January 19, 1856,
Governor Stevens arrived at Olympia on his return from the Blackfoot council.
On the twenty-first, he was waited upon by a joint committee of the two
houses, and invited to meet them in joint convention. On that afternoon,
he delivered an address upon the situation, the existing war and its causes,
and the future purposes of his administration:
"We are, fellow citizens, and have been for the past three months, engaged in an Indian war. Our settlers, from the Cowlitz river to the Sound, have been obliged to abandon their claims, to live in forts. It is true that almost all the Indians are friendly, - that the number of Indian hostile does not exceed the number of one hundred and fifty or two hundred; but from the peculiarity of the country, if this force is not soon crushed, it will prove a source of serious annoyance upon this side of the Cascade Mountains, and upon the other. Several tribes have violated their plighted faith, and broken out into open hostilities.
"We are now in the midst of a war. What has brought it about? - and what is the remedy? Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly, it is due to you that I should enter dispassionately and fully into the policy which has marked the government in the making of treaties with the Indians of this territory. It is important that the honor and dignity of that government should be sustained, - that its course should be characterized by humanity and justice. Those who have done their duty, and maintained the dignity and honor of their country, should not be struck down. Let the blow be struck in the right quarter. If dignity and honor have been maintained, then has no citizen anything to blush for; and it is a bright page in the history of the country, and dear to every citizen.
"When this territory was organized, there was a population of about four thousand souls, widely scattered. No treaties had been made with the Indians occupying the lands of this territory, nor was there practically, an intercourse law. Congress had by law extended the provisions of the Indian intercourse act, so far as applicable, over this territory and Oregon. Congress had also passed a Donation law, inviting settlers to locate claims, first west and then east of the Cascade Mountains; and public surveys had been ordered to be made over this domain. But the Indian title had not been extinguished. This was a bitter cause of complaint on the part of the Indians. The Yakimas, Cayuses and Walla Wallas were anxious to make treaties, selling their lands to the government, and securing to themselves reservations for their permanent homes; and they asserted that, until such treaties were made, no settlers should come among them. These were the reasons of public policy which induced the government to enter into these treaties; and no time was lost in consummating them. The people of this territory urged upon congress the necessity of such a policy; and Congress made an appropriation to carry out their wishes. It fell to my lot to be appointed commissioner to negotiate those treaties. I entered upon those labors in December, a year ago, and during that and the following month successfully treated with all the Indians upon the Sound, the straits, and the Indians at Cape Flattery.
"In January, a year ago, I dispatched
Jas. Doty, Esq., east of the Cascade Mountains to ascertain the feelings
and views of the Indians. He visited the Yakimas, the Cayuses, the Walla
Wallas and the Nez Perces in their own country; and they were desirous
to treat and sell their lands. Kamiakin advised the tribes to meet in council
at Walla Walla, saying that was their old council ground. The council was
convened, and lasted fourteen days. All these tribes were present. The
greatest care was taken to explain the treaties, and the objects of them,
and to secure the most faithful interpreters. Three interpreters were provided
for each language, one to act as principal interpreter, the other two to
correct. At the close of that council, such expressions of joy and thankfulness
I have never seen exhibited to a greater degree among the Indians. Kamiakin,
Peu-peu-mox-mox, young Sticcas and Lawyer, all personally expressed their
joy and satisfaction. Kamiakin asserted that, personally, he was indifferent
about the treaty; but, as his people all wanted