# The Early Indian Wars of Oregon/Cayuse/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III.
Dr. White Called to the Cayuse Country—Disturbances Among the Indians—Personnel of the Party—White's Policy—Council with Nez Perces—Speeches of White, McKinlay, Rogers, and McKay—Replies of Five Crows, Bloody Chief—Dr. White's Code—Its Acceptance—Election of a High Chief—Advice to the Nez Perces—Spalding's Report—Talk of the Cayuses—A Council Appointed—Return of White to The Dalles—Trouble at Clatsop—Fresh Alarms in the Spring of 1843—Brewer's Letter—White's Embarrassment—Memorial Against Dr. McLoughlin—How he Repaid the Memorialists—Complaints of The Dalles Indians—White Proceeds to Waiilatpu—Effect of his Visit—The Cayuses Show Him their Farms—An Extraordinary Cavalcade—Perkins' Visits to Tauitowe's Camp—White Goes to Lapwai—Nez Perces Received into the Church—Joseph Welcomes Ellis—Effect on Their Guests—Lawyer—The Nez Perces Accompany White to Waiilatpu—Grand Reception—Council—Speeches of the Chiefs—Laws Accepted—White Returns to The Dalles to Teach the Indians—Mrs. Whitman Leaves Waiilatpu.
In the foregoing chapters we have presented to us the stage, and the dramatis personæ on which, and by whom, was enacted the great tragedy of colonial Oregon, and have been given a view of its gradual unfolding. From this point the story proceeds more rapidly.
Up to the time that Dr. White returned from the states invested with the authority of a sub-agent of Indian affairs in Oregon, and before Dr. Whitman had taken his departure for the east, there had been enacted no other hostilities than those above narrated; trifling if viewed in the light of actual warfare, yet of a threatening nature when the circumstances of the white inhabitants and the characteristics of the natives were considered.
The colonists in the Wallamet valley, glad to be recognized as belonging to the United States, even by the unwarranted commissioning of a nondescript government officer, were proceeding to the discussion of steps towards a political organization, when they were startled by intelligence from Fort Vancouver that the Cayuses had become openly hostile, having entered the mission-house at ​midnight, and proceeded to the chamber of Mrs. Whitman, who escaped out of their hands only by the timely aid of Mr. Geiger. A few days later the mission flouring-mill was burned down, and a large quantity of grain destroyed. Mrs. Whitman had been compelled to take refuge with the Methodist families at The Dalles, which place she reached by the kindness of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Walla Walla, accompanied by Geiger.
The Nez Percés also had insulted and ordered out of her house Mrs. Spalding at Lapwai; and after stealing Mr. Spalding's horse, had pointed a gun at, and further menaced him.
These were acts of an unmistakable character, and Dr. White felt called upon to exhibit the authority in him vested. He secured the services of Thomas McKay, a noted leader of the Hudson's Bay Company's trading parties, and much respected as well as feared by the Indians, with six other picked men, to go to the scene of the disturbances. To this party were added Cornelius Rogers, late of Waiilatpu, and Baptiste Dorion, as interpreters. They were also joined by Mr. and Mrs. Littlejohn, who wished to go to the aid of the Spaldings at Lapwai, as they had agreed to do before Dr. Whitman's departure. At The Dalles it was thought best for Mrs. Littlejohn to remain until the temper of the Indians became better known; but Mr. Geiger accompanied the excursion to look after the mission property at Waiilatpu.
It was already the sixteenth of November when the expedition set out from Vancouver. Owing to adverse winds on the Columbia it did not reach The Dalles until the twenty-fourth, where it made a short stay to procure horses, arriving at Waiilatpu, after having been joined at Walla Walla fort by Mr. McKinlay, on the first day of December. The Cayuses appeared shy, evidently unable to believe that this small party was all whom the agent of the United States had brought with him into a hostile country, and fearing a surprise. White took little notice ​of them, but proceeded to Lapwai, where he arrived on the third, and had to wait for the upper Nez Percés, to whom a courier had been sent, to meet him. In the meantime he visited the chiefs in the vicinity, and the school, adroitly expressing surprise at the advancement of the pupils in reading and writing. "Next day," he says, "I visited their little plantations, rude, to be sure, but success fully carried on, so far as raising the necessaries of life were concerned; and it was most gratifying to witness their fondness and care for their little herds; pigs, poultry, etc."
Dr. White possessed some qualities which eminently fitted him to deal with Indians, as well as white men, among which was suavity of manner, and a desire to please as well as to be pleased. Accordingly, when the chiefs of the Nez Percés were assembled to the number of twenty-two, with a large number of their people, all giving a grave attention to his words, he stated the object of his visit, and that he had been sent by the great chief (president of the United States), to assure them of the kind intentions of his government, and the sad consequences that would ensue to any white man, from that time, who should invade their rights by stealing, murder, or selling them damaged goods, or alcohol. "Without threatening," he says, "I gave them to understand how highly Mr. and Mrs. Spalding were prized by the numerous whites, and with what pleasure the great chief gave them a paper (passport) to encourage them to come here to teach them what they were now so diligently employed in obtaining, in order that their children might become good, wise, and happy."
McKinlay addressed them briefly, alluding to his several years residence among them, and the good understanding that had existed between the Hudson s Bay Company and themselves, and assured them that all the white people, whether Boston, King George, or French (Indian designa tions for Americans, English, and Canadians) were one, as ​the Nez Percés and Cayuses were one in their interests and affections. This hint that the Hudson s Bay people would not approve of any abuse of the missionaries, was softened by praise of their unexpected advancement in arts and sciences, as shown by their farms and schools.
Then came Mr. Rogers who had done so much for them in helping to shape their written language, and who was a favorite with the Nez Perces. He reminded them of the good accomplished, and carefully brought them to remember the unhappy consequences which had followed a rupture between the United States and the tribes east of the mountains, exhorting them to be reasonable and accept such measures as were for their advancement.
McKay reserved his remarks to the last, knowing that his mixed blood would appeal strongly to his auditors. He reminded them of the tragedy of the Tonquin, whereby he was left an orphan, since which time he had for many years constantly traveled through and mixed with the Oregon tribes; had mingled in their bloody wars with the Blackfoot Indians, and had enjoyed their seasons of peace; had suffered the pangs of hunger with them, and enjoyed their feasts and sports, until weary at last he had retired upon his plantation in the Wallamet valley, and was as one dead. But he was aroused by the call of his white brother, and now was again in their midst, and was glad. He had come at the bidding of the great chief whose children were more numerous than the stars of heaven or the leaves of the forest. "Will you hear what he says?" asked the orator, his tall figure and dark impassioned face tense with meaning. "You will! Your wonderful improvement in the arts and sciences prove you are no fools. Surely you will hear; but if disposed to close your ears and stop them, they will be torn wide open, and you. will be made to hear."
A proposition appears to have been made in reference to the choosing of a high chief, the other chiefs to be his aids in carrying out his commands. It is not easy to ​derstand the action of McKinlay and McKay in supporting this measure, as the policy of the Hudson s Bay Company had been to destroy the chieftainships, thus to lessen the danger from combined action among the Indians. They may have seen that the rivalry that would be called into play would be an effectual check on combination, or they may have feared to injure White s influence by objecting.
After an impressive silence, Five Crows of the Umatilla branch of the Cayuses, a wealthy chief about forty-five years of age, and dressed in English fashion, arose apologizing for doing so on account of his youth when compared with other chiefs present, saying he had hopes of better days before him, seeing the white men united in the matter; his people had much wanted something, they hardly knew what, and had been groping in darkness; but here was something: Should they accept it?
After Five Crows, the oldest of the Nez Percés, the Bloody Chief, who had been high chief of his tribe when Lewis and Clarke explored the country, arose and referred to the friendship between him and the first white men who had visited this region. "I showed them," said he, "my many wounds received in battle with the Snakes; they told me it was not good; it was better to be at peace; gave me a flag of truce; I held it up high; we met and talked, but never fought again. Clarke pointed to this day, to you, and this occasion. We have long waited in expectation. We sent three of our sons to Red-river school to prepare for it. Two of them sleep with their fathers; the other is here, and can be ears, mouth, arid pen for us. I can say no more. I am quickly tired; my voice and limbs tremble. I am glad I live to see you this day, but I shall soon be still and quiet in death."
Following this speech, which was affecting from its simplicity and pathos, several of the younger chiefs spoke, ​after which there was an adjournment of three hours to allow them to deliberate among themselves. On reässembling White alluded to some of the offenses committed by the young men, and not sanctioned by the chiefs or old men, as he hoped; but, where the chiefs had done wrong, he attributed it to a misunderstanding of what they had been taught, or other mitigating causes. He then advised them to choose a high chief; and that all the chiefs should have a bodyguard to execute the laws. The code prepared by him was then presented for adoption, as follows:—
Article 1. Whoever wilfully takes life shall be hung.
Article 2. Whoever burns a dwelling shall be hung.
Article 3. Whoever burns an outbuilding shall be imprisoned six months, receive fifty lashes, and pay all damages.
Article 4. Whoever carelessly burns a house, or any property, shall pay damages.
Article 5. If any one enter a dwelling, without permission of the occupant, the chiefs shall punish him as they think proper. Public rooms are excepted.
Article 6. If any one steal, he shall pay back two-fold; and if it be the value of a beaver skin or less, he shall receive twenty-five lashes; and if the value is over a beaver skin, he shall pay back two-fold, and receive fifty lashes.
Article 7. If any one take a horse and ride it without permission, or take any article and use it without liberty, he shall pay for the use of it, and receive from twenty to fifty lashes, as the chief shall direct.
Article 8. If any one enter a field and injure the crops, or throw down the fence so that cattle or horses go in and do damage, he shall pay all damages, and receive twenty-five lashes for every offense.
Article 9. Those only may keep dogs who travel or live among the game. If a dog kill a lamb, calf, or any domestic animal, the owner shall pay the damages and kill the dog.
Article 10. If an Indian raise a gun or other weapon ​against a white man, it shall be reported to the chiefs, and they shall punish it. If a white man do the same to an Indian, it shall be reported to Dr. White, and he shall punish or redress it.
Article 11. If an Indian break these laws, he shall be punished by his chiefs; if a white man break them, he shall be reported to the agent, and punished at his instance.
To these laws the Nez Percés gave their assent with apparent willingness, even advocating making some of the penalties more severe, and adding the dog law. The chiefs were astute enough to see how much power it placed in their hands, although each law had been framed for the protection of the white race. But to find a man among them willing to assume the responsibility, together with the power, was not so easy as might have been expected.
The election was to be unanimous, and to be closed by the next day at ten o clock, after which, if all should be amicably settled, a fat ox was to be slaughtered, and they were to dine with the white chiefs. As a feast will settle knotty questions in most quarters of the globe, so this one in anticipation put the Nez Percés in high good humor, and after referring many times to McKay and Rogers for advice, very sparingly given, they made choice of Ellis, of Kamiah, who was possessed of much influence among the whole Nez Percé nation. This was the same Ellis who started with Gray for the states, and whom Mr. Spalding would have had whipped for deserting him. He was now thirty-two years of age, and having been sent to school at Red river, spoke and wrote English passably well, being also the owner of a plantation, some sheep and neat stock, and eleven hundred head of horses.
The election being announced the multitude partook of fat beef, corn, and pease to repletion, smoking afterwards the friendly pipe until evening, when a special meeting of the head men was called to consider the grievances of which Mr. Spalding or the Indians had to complain. Ellis throughout conducted himself in a sensible manner, and ​these difficulties were disposed of. Finally, on the follow ing day, another meeting was held, at which questions were asked and answered with a view to enlightening the Indians concerning the sentiments and laws of white people.
"I advised in many matters," says White, "especially in reference to begging, or even receiving presents without in some way returning an equivalent; pointed out in strong language who beggars are among the whites, and how regarded; and commended them for not once troubling me during my stay with this disgusting practice; and as a token of respect now, at the close of our long and happy meeting, they would please accept, in the name of my great chief, a present of fifty garden hoes, not for those in authority, or such as had no need of them, but for the chiefs and Mr. Spalding to distribute among their industrious poor."
Before leaving, White prepared some medicines to be given the poor as they should be required; and exhorted all to be in obedience to their chiefs, and to look upon Mr. and Mrs. Spalding as their father and mother, reserving all points of difference to be settled when he returned in the spring. He was then escorted several miles upon his way, when the chiefs parted from him in high good humor; and Mr. Spalding afterwards wrote that the Nez Percés were quiet during the winter; so easy was it, apparently, for a man with some tact to secure the good will and confidence of these adult children.
A report sent to the sub-agent by Mr. Spalding in the spring contains many interesting facts concerning the Nez Percés at this time, in which he commended their industry and quickness of intellect, though giving an unflattering summing up of their moral characteristics as observed by him in his intercourse with them; but confesses that when he attempts to hold it up as an exception to other nations without the wholesome restraints of law, and strangers to the influence of enlightened society, he is unable to do it.
Returning to Waiilatpu, Dr. White found awaiting him ​Tauitowe (sometimes called the young chief), head man of the Cayuses on the Umatilla, and brother of Five Crows; and Feather Cap, belonging to Tiloukaikt s camp at Waiilatpu, with a few other chiefs from the three principal Cayuse camps, the third of which was half way be tween the two just mentioned, and governed by Camaspelo. It was at once evident that much disaffection existed here, which it would be difficult to cure, and White put forward Rogers and McKay as better informed how to deal with it than he. "They had not proceeded far," says White in his report, "before Feather Cap, for the first time in his life, so far as we know, commenced weeping, and wished to see me; said his heart was sick, and he could not live long as he now felt." The cause of Feather Cap s tears was the knowledge of his own guilt, the information that the Nez Percés had accepted the laws, and the fear that the Cayuses would do the same, when he would be in a bad case. Tauitowe had at first no tears to shed, and he had some charges to bring against the white race,—three-fourths of whom, he said, though teaching the purest doctrines, were in practice bad men,—an opinion founded upon what he had observed among mountain men when he had been on the buffalo hunt. He was shown that such examples did not apply in the present instance, and finally admitted it, and in a speech in which he related his troubles as high chief, wept freely. He had flogged his young men, and reproved the middle-aged, until having none to sustain him, his popularity had so declined he was "left alone to say his payers and go to bed to weep over the follies and wickedness of his people."
When Rogers and McKay had aroused the chiefs to remorse, they were sent to Dr. White, who magnanimously promised to refrain from punishing any but the actually guilty. The settlement of the count against them—the offense against Mrs. Whitman and the destruction of Dr. Whitman s property, was allowed to stand over until ​spring, when a final adjustment would be made if a majority of the principal men could be brought together by the tenth of April. The Cayuses were then left to their reflections.
At The Dalles, on returning, White held a four days' meeting with the Indians of Mr. Perkins mission, whom he found in a state of great excitement, all kinds of rumors being afloat among them of the intentions of the sub-agent towards them, and having a well-founded conviction that individually and collectively they had broken, and should continue to break the white men's laws. But at the end of the four days they were persuaded to accept the code, and in the winter H. B. Brewer, farmer of The Dalles mission, reported them living up to the regulations, and cutting logs for houses. "For the least transgression of the laws," wrote Brewer, "they are punished by their chiefs immediately. The clean faces of some, and the tidy dresses of others, show the good effects of your visit."
White had hardly reached the Wallamet before he was called to Astoria to settle a difficulty created by a deserting sailor from some vessel in the Columbia, who had instigated the Indians to threaten the life of one of the missionaries at Clatsop. The man was arrested, and the matter settled by the Hudson's Bay Company allowing him to be sent out of the country in charge of one of their trading parties.
Thus passed the winter of 1842-3, when in the spring a fresh agitation disturbed the American colonists. Whether justly or unjustly, Baptiste Dorion, son of that Madam Dorion, celebrated in Irving's Astoria for her courage and endurance in crossing the mountains and plains with Hunt s party, was charged with being the incendiary spirit who influenced the minds of the Indians with tales of the intended seizure of their country by people from the United States.
It seems that Dorion, who acted as one of White's interpreters, remained in the upper country, and it may have ​been quite true that he, with half-caste cunning and suspicion, lit the smoldering fires in the haughty hearts of the Cayuse chiefs and their allies, which threatened to break out into a raging conflagration. But Hines, in his Oregon, remarks upon other causes for discontent and suspicion: "The fulfillment of the laws," he says, "which the agent recommended for their adoption was required by Ellis with the utmost vigor. Individuals were severely punished for crimes which, from time immemorial, had been committed by the people with impunity. They saw in the laws a deep laid scheme of the whites to destroy them, and take possession of their country." This suspicion received confirmation when they recollected that Dr. White himself brought a large party into the country with him; and by the threat of Dr. Whitman that he would bring many people to punish them for their misdeeds, a calamity they were looking forward to, at the end of summer. So firm was their conviction, that many of the Cayuses refused to cultivate their plantations in the spring of 1843, and were full of suppressed excitement.
So much had their belief in the treachery of the white people grown upon them during the winter that they pre vailed upon the Walla Walla chief, Peu-peu-mox-mox (Yellow Serpent), to visit Fort Vancouver, and ask advice from the head of the Hudson's Bay Company. The reply of Dr. McLoughlin was that he did not believe the Americans intended to go to war, and that if they should do so incredible a thing, the company would not support them in it; and the chief returned comforted, after which the Cayuses began again to hoe their little gardens.
It appears that Dr. White did not keep his appointment with the Nez Percés, probably for want of means; but about the time he should have done so, such news was received from the upper country relative to the designs of the Indians in that region that he was forced to make an effort to go among them. According to Mr. Hines, the Wall am et settlements were "thrown into a panic," the Cay​
uses, Nez Percés, and Waila Wallas having "threatened the destruction of the whites." A letter was received from H- K. W. Perkins of The Dalles, containing the information furnished by the Walla Walla and Wascopum or Dalles Indians, that all these tribes were much exasperated against the white people on account of the belief that they were corning to take away their lands; and it was stated that the Nez Percés, during the winter, had dispatched one of their chiefs on snowshoes, to visit the Indians east of Fort Hall to incite them to cut off the party which Dr. Whitman had told them he would bring back with him "to settle the Nez Percés country;" and that a coalition was forming for the destruction of the Americans not a part of them only, but every one.
The terror of the Americans, thus, for the first time, brought actually to face a danger they had before only vaguely imagined, was very great. "In the estimation of some," says Hines, " the Indians were to be upon us imme diately, and it was unsafe to retire at night, for fear the settlement would be attacked before morning. The plan of the agent was to induce men to pledge themselves, under the forfeiture of one hundred dollars in case of de linquency, to keep constantly on hand and ready for use either a good musket or rifle, and one hundred charges of ammunition, and to hold themselves in readiness to go at the call of the agent to any part of the country, not to ex ceed two days travel, for the purpose of defending the settlement, and repelling any savage invaders. This plan pleased some of the people, and they put down their names; but many were much dissatisfied with it, and as we had no authority, no law, no order, for the time being in the country, it was impossible to tell what would be the result if the Indians should attempt to carry their threats into execution."
To increase the excitement, it was reported that the Klikitats were collecting on that portion of the Wallamet plains which now constitutes Washington co ​unty, and the
people, about thirty families, residing there, were much alarmed. A Calapooya chief also living near the Metho dist mission, incensed because one of his people had been Hogged, by order of Dr. White, for stealing a horse from the missionaries and flour from the mill at Salem, had gone away declaring he would return with a force to drive away the Americans.
"The colony is indeed in a most defenseless condition," remarks Hines; "two hundred Indians divided into four bands might destroy the whole settlement in one night."
White had no less than eight prisoners, white and red, on his hands at this time, and the adjustment of these affairs was occasioning no little trouble; but happily the Indians in the vicinity of the settlements were more brawl ers than fighters, and the dreaded outbreak was averted for the time being.
On the twentieth of April, 1843, another letter was re ceived from Mr. Brewer at The Dalles, stating that the Indians in the interior still talked much of war between themselves, and that the white people in their midst had much to fear from their moocl. White then hastened to keep his appointment made in December, in order, if pos sible, to remove from their minds the excitement origi nating in Dr. Whitman s promise, and confirmed, it was said, by what Dr. White had told them in the council of December this latter being by inference only.
But now the United States agent found himself in a very delicate position. United States authority and the national treasury were a long way off. No government of any kind existed in Oregon; no force was there with which to intimidate the Indians, should force be necessary; no public funds to draw upon for presents to pacify the sus picions of the Cayuses and Nez Percés; and to add to the hopelessness of the situation, the settlers had just previ ously dispatched to congress a memorial, charging the Hudson's Bay Company in Oregon with every species of tyranny and injustice towards the Americans, and particu​
larly accusing Dr. McLoughlin of intending to injure them.
Now, as in all their necessities past, or likely to come for some time, the Hudson's Bay Company, governed by Dr. McLoughlin, had been and still was an ever-present help in time of trouble, this memorial was but a poor return for kindnesses; but at this particular juncture of affairs it seemed likely to prove a serious blunder, as Dr. McLough lin was much incensed that such a document should be laid before the congress of the United States, and in his just wrath had declared he would extend no more favors to its authors.
Dr. White did not consider that he came under the ban, being neither an author or signer of the memorial he was rather under the ban of his countrymen for not being one or the other. He determined to try his persuasive powers at Vancouver, 3 and accompanied by Rev. Gustavus Hines, and G. W. Le Breton, an enthusiastic young Amer ican, proceeded to that place on the twenty-filth, attended only by one Indian boy, and one Kanaka, neither Cana dians nor American colonists being found to undertake the dangerous service. The former, it was alleged, and with reason, were ordered by the Hudson's Bay Company to remain quiet at home; while the latter found this advice good as concerned themselves.
There being no roads in Oregon at this period, travel was usually performed, in a leisurely manner, by canoe. On the way the agent s party was met at two different points by a courier with letters from Dr. McLoughlin, dis couraging the undertaking. One enclosed a communica tion from Rev. Demers, Catholic priest, just returned from
    i White's salary was seven hundred and fifty dollars, with the guaranty that when
Linn's bill passed it should be doubled ; and with verbal permission to draw upon government funds to meet his necessary expenses. He had difficulty afterwards in collecting for himself; and the board of management of the Hudson's Bay Company found nobody in Washington to honor White's order. The London managers sar castically informed the company in Oregon that they " did not understand govern ment securities," arid advised them to "stick to their beaver skins." After several years congress made an appropriation to discharge both obligations on account of the Indian service in Oregon, and White was given another appointment on the Pacific coast. ​
a mission to the interior, who reiterated what was known before, that the Indians were angry only with the " Boston r people or Americans, who they had declared, should not have their lands or take away their liberties. Such being the truth beyond doubt, Dr. McLoughlin still urged the policy of keeping away from them, and it was evident he feared an uprising, so easily brought about by slight indis cretions among these ignorant people.
But White and Hines kept on, arriving at Vancouver on the evening of the twenty-eighth. Says Hines con cerning what followed : " Called on Dr. McLoughlin for goods, provisions, powder, balls, etc., for our accommoda tion on our voyage up the Columbia, and though he was greatly surprised that, under the circumstances, we should think of going among these excited Indians, yet he ordered his clerks to let us have whatever we wanted. However, we found it rather squally at the fort, not so much on account of our going among the Indians of the interior, as in consequence of a certain memorial having been sent to the United States congress implicating the conduct of Dr. McLoughlin and the Hudson's Bay Company, and bearing the signatures of seventy Americans. I inquired of the doctor if he had refused to grant supplies to those Ameri cans who had signed that document. He replied that he had not, but that the authors of the memorial need expect no more favors from him. Not being one of the authors, but merely a signer of the petition, I did not come under the ban of the company; consequently I obtained my out fit for the expedition, though at first there were strong indications that I would be refused."
Thus the Americans in Oregon were furnished with the means of protecting themselves against the alleged hostile influence of the company whose acts they continually denounced in their memorials, furnished at a long credit besides, and the risk of disturbing the company s relations with the Indians and the home board, because Dr. McLoughlin was too magnanimous to oppose himself to a ​
helpless community, however undeserving his favor it might be.
On the twenty-ninth Dr. White, Hines, and Le Breton made a final start from Vancouver. At The Dalles, where they arrived May fourth, they were met by delegates from the tribes in that vicinity, who had accepted the laws in the previous December. They complained that the high chief elected, and his aids, had them punished for trifling offenses, for doing what they had always been in the habit of doing, and there had been broils among themselves in consequence.
" Those appointed by Dr. White," says Hines, " were de sirous that his regulations should continue, because they placed the people under their absolute control, and gave them the power to regulate all their intercourse with the whites, and with the other Indian tribes. But the other influential men who were not in office desired to know of Dr. White of what benefit this whipping system was going to be to them. They said they were willing it should con tinue provided they were to receive shirts, and pants, and blankets as a reward for being whipped. They had been whipped a good many times and got nothing for it, and it had done them no good. If this state of things was to continue, it was all cultus. (good for nothing), and they would throw it away. The doctor wished them to under stand that they need not expect pay for being flogged when they deserved it. They laughed at the idea and separated."
From this it would appear that no more serious trouble existed among these Indians than from their worthless character might be expected at any time. But nothing is more difficult than to learn the truth of an Indian rumor. The difference between the stories told to White present, and carried to White absent, was the difference be tween a tragedy and a comedy.
The agent did not tarry long at The Dalles, but pro ceeded next day on his journey, accom ​panied by Mr.
Perkins. Mrs. Whitman had returned to Waiilatpu a month before with Mr. Geiger, thinking, perhaps, to reassure the Cayuses by her presence in their midst, and was anxiously looking for the agent.
The effect of the appearance among them of so small a party, who they knew must have been informed of their threatened hostilities, was. to excite both admiration and doubt in the minds of the Cayuses. It was difficult for them to believe that there was not a large party concealed somewhere near, which only waited for them to assemble to rush upon them and cut them off at a blow. It did not take long to learn that the young men of the tribe had been in favor of raising a war party to go down to the Wallamet and take the settlements by surprise. But the older chiefs held them back by pointing out the lateness of the season, and the depth of snow in the mountains. They also added that it would be wiser to remain on the defensive than to attempt to cut off all the white people on their own ground ; and they recalled what Mr. McKln- lay and McKay had said that in case of insurrection there would be no difference of nationality between the English, French, and Americans, but they would all stand together. They fully expected, however, at one time, and were still full of the suspicion that they would be com pelled to go to war.
" On convincing them of my defenseless condition," says White, "and pacific intentions, they were quite astounded and much affected, assuring me they had been under strong apprehensions, having learned I was soon to visit them with a large armed party with hostile intentions, and I actually found them suffering more from fears of war from the whites, than the whites from (fear of) the In dians."
This attitude of the Cayuses at this time is confirmed by Hines also, who says, "They frequently remarked to Mr. Geiger that they did not wish to go to war; but if the Americans came to take a way their lands and ma ​ke slaves
of them, they would fight so long as they had a drop of blood to shed."
The agent s party felt much uneasiness in view of the rumors that were afloat, on learning that seven hundred Nez Percés, fully armed, were preparing to come to the rendezvous of Waiilatpu; and it was feared that unless the Cayuses should first have submitted to the regulations offered, a quarrel might arise, which would terminate in hostilities. To prevent such a catastrophe, an effort was made to gain the consent of the Cayuses to hold a council at once. But no arguments or persuasions availed any thing they would hold no council without the presence of their allies. So suspicious were they that they would not at first accede to White's proposal to go himself to Lapwai and hasten the arrival of the Nez Percés; and they were right in thinking he had some other motive, for he was anxious to learn the -temper of the Nez Percés before allowing the two nations to meet.
There were also jealousies to be overcome, some fearing Ellis, with his large following, might be used to subjugate them. At the same time that a part of them insisted on Ellis presence at a council, another faction opposed a council on any terms whatever. Thus several days were spent in studying the situation from all points of view.
During the period of parleying, the Cayuses invited Dr. White and his party to make an excursion among their plantations, and see what they had done, to which propo sition the agent willingly acceded.
Hines has described, with some humor, Feather Cap, the leader. He says he possessed a countenance extraordi narily savage, but a dignified mein, and a voice of com mand. He was dressed in skin breeches, a striped shirt, which he wore over his breeches, and a scarlet coat trimmed to imitate the uniform of a British general. On his head was first a cotton handkerchief," thrown over loosely; this was surmounted by an otter-skin cap, on top of which was fastened the long hair of a white horse-tail, ​
which hung in ringlets down his neck. Mr. Geiger, who was a small man, was mounted on a donkey, also very small and very antic, which gave the Indians much cause for laughter. Mrs. Whitman accompanied them on horse back, as did Mr. Perkins, whose legs were as long as Geiger s were short. Two Indian women in calico dresses, riding astride, one with a child before her, and three Indian men, with Hines and White, completed the party.
The Indians were pleased to show their farms. They realized that their condition as to food was vastly improved over what it was when the first Americans visited them. It was found that sixty Cay uses were cultivating each a small piece of ground in wheat, corn, pease, and potatoes; arid they were pleased to be commended for their industry.
Rather late in the day Mr. Perkins left the party to go to the camps of Tauitowe and Five Crows, and also that of Peu-peu-mox-mox, to invite them to a conference at Waiilatpu. He spent the night at the lodge of the latter dignitary, whose son Elijah Hedding had been for a time in the Methodist mission school in the Wallamet valley. The chief and the missionary had evening prayers together, all the family joining in the exercises; and in the morning Perkins was so early in the saddle that he surprised Tauitowe in the act of calling his people together for the daily religious service by ringing a bell. His prayer, according to the report of Perkins, was, as he slipped his beads, "We are poor, we are poor, we are poor," ten times, closing with "Good Father, good son, good spirit," until the beads were all counted a petition which meant as much to the Indian as the long orations addressed to the Infinite in thousands of enlightened pulpits.
The chiefs invited by Perkins declined to meet for the purpose of considering the laws without the presence of Ellis, whose approbation of any course they might pursue appeared to be by them considered of the highest im portance. Finding them immovable, White finally relin quished the effort to have the Cayuses committed to the ​
adoption of the laws before being joined by the Nez Percés, and, set out for Lapwai, as he told the Cayuses, to hasten their coming, but really to gain from them a pledge to use their influence for the laws with this people, or to stay at home.
The agent and his party were warmly welcomed at Lap wai by Mr. and Mrs. Spalding, and Mr. and Mrs. Littlejohn, whom White had sent to the assistance of the mission dur ing the winter. Ellis, who was at Kamiah, sixty miles away, was sent for. Meanwhile the agent was informed of the progress of the people in learning and religion. Two hundred Indians attended religious services on Sun day. Joseph, the second chief of the Nez Percés, had already been received into the church ; also Timothy, an other chief, and thirty others stood proposed for member ship. Accordingly, Mr. Spalding determined to strengthen the hands of the agent by receiving these into the church, and on Sunday, May 14, 1843, the Presbyterian church at Lapwai was augmented by thirty Nez Percé members. At the end of three days, which were employed by White in visiting the chiefs, and administering to the sick, it was announced that Ellis, with his braves, was approaching, and preparations made to receive the high chief with due ceremony.
Joseph s band, seven hundred strong, was drawn up with the agent s party in the center. On came Ellis men, about equal in number, mounted on good horses decorated with scarlet belts and headdresses, and when about fifty rods apart, Ellis forces rushed forward with a roar of mus ketry, the ear-piercing sound of the war-whistle, the beat ing of drums, the horrible yelling of savages in attack, the dashing to and fro on their mettlesome horses, while the froth from their nostrils flew in the faces of their pale-faced guests pale with a shock they were illy able to conceal.
Says Hines: "The savage pomposity with which they were caparisoned, and the frightful manner in ​which they
were daubed with paint, their fiery visages being striped with red, black, white, and yellow, were all calculated not only to inspire terror, but a dread of savage fury in the mind of every beholder. At the very height of the ex citement, when it appeared that the next whirl of the savage cavalry would trample us all beneath their feet, Ellis stretched himself up to his utmost height upon the back of his splendid charger, and waving his hand over the dark mass, all was quiet."
All then dismounted to shake hands with the agent and his party, to whom they furnished horses to ride to a plain where the ceremony of honoring a brave who had killed twelve Blackfoot foes was to be performed. The honored warrior occupied the center of a large circle, and recited to an attentive audience the manner of killing each with the same particularity that Homer celebrated the deeds of his heroes, exhibiting the scalps and the arms taken. Then followed a rehearsal of a recent battle with the Blackfoot tribe, in which the Nez Percés were victorious, after which a war dance was performed, conducted by a chief called Lawyer, "in whom," says Hines, "is combined the cunning and shrewdness of the Indian, with the ability and penetration of the statesman."
Lawyer, like Ellis, had received the rudiments of an English education at Red river. He was possessed of remarkable shrewdness, and had from the first meeting with the missionaries at the rendezvous of the fur compa nies in the mountains in 1836, remained their friend, and used his influence to quiet the Nez Percés in the vicinity of Lapwai, where he had his home, whenever such influ ence could be of advantage to them, and moreover to him self. Though inferior in rank at this time, his power in the tribe was nearly equal to that of Ellis.
It had been White's intention to prevent Ellis from going down to Waiilatpu if possible, but on learning from him that he would act in favor of a reception of the laws, his objections were withdrawn; and a thousand horses ​
wore required to transport the escort of men, women, and children which attended the agent on his return. Says Hines, in speaking of the journey, "I was greatly sur prised, in traveling through the Indian country, to find that the outward forms of Christianity are observed in almost every lodge. The Indians, generally, are nomi nally Christians, and about equally divided betwixt the Protestant and Catholic religions."
As the Nez Percés approached, the Cayuses formed in ranks to receive them, the warriors of each nation in front. When within a convenient distance, there was a simultaneous rush forward "like two clouds meeting on a height," followed by maneuvers similar to those witnessed at Lapwai, the Indians working themselves into such a state of excitement that the white spectators began to fear a real engagement might result; and to give them time to recover themselves, Mr. Spalding, who had accompanied the Nez Percés, announced a prayer meeting at Dr. Whit man s house. To this Dr. White repaired, followed by the principal men, and quiet was restored.
Mr. Hines relates that Tauitowe came forward in a very boisterous manner, inquiring "what all the disturbance was for?" and implies that it was because he was a Cath olic that he was incensed at the display made to receive a Protestant chief. It was far more reasonable to believe that Tauitowe s irritation was in consequence of a suspicion justly founded indeed that Dr. White had brought all these people to force the laws upon the Cayuses, by argu ment if not vi et arm/is.
No council was called until the twenty-third, when the chiefs met Dr. White and his party to hear what might be said to them. It should be remembered that the only written reports we have of the proceedings are those of the United States agent, made to the government in terms general, and n altering to his own success; and the story as told by Mr. Hines, who expresses himself guardedly, but who entertained at the time a feeling of scarcely concealed ​
contempt for the as he regarded him intriguing United States sub-Indian agent and would-be-governor of the colony of which Hines was a member.
There is nothing to show that White was not as con scientious in the discharge of his duties as any man would have been in his place. At an early period in the history of the Wallamet colony he had a quarrel with Jason Lee, the superintendent of the mission, as he himself said, on account of an honest difference of opinion as to the best way of carrying forward the objects of the mission. The quarrel was a bitter one, and he* resigned, the home board, on his return to the states, disapproving of his leaving the mission. But the superintendent had the more or less cordial support of some of the most prominent men in the colony, of whom Mr. Hines was one, a cause sufficient, under the circumstances, to explain his attitude towards the sub-Indian agent.
The council was called to order in a few grave words by Tauitowe, and his speech being interpreted, the subject that was uppermost in all minds began immediately to be discussed. "They were told," says Hines, "that much had been said about war, and we had come to assure them that they had nothing to fear from that quarter," and the pres ident of the United States had sent an agent only to regu late their intercourse with his people. They were assured that the government agent was not there to catch them in a trap like beaver, but to do them good ; and that if they would lay aside certain practices and prejudices, cease quarreling, cultivate the ground, and adopt good laws, they might become a great and happy people.
So far, so good. But they were also informed that they were few in comparison with the white people; and that in order to accomplish anything, they must be united advice that was good for the Indians, but dangerous for the colonists. The chiefs were counseled to culti vate friendship towards each other, and to be considerate towards their people; and the people were told to be ​
obedient to their chiefs, and remember them in their morning and evening prayers. This too, was good talk, but it did not touch the subject tying nearest the Cayuse heart, which was: Would Dr. Whitman return with many white people to take away their lands.
An invitation was extended to the chiefs to address the meeting. Ellis declined, saying it would not be proper for the Nez Percés to speak before the Cayuses had adopted the laws thus signifying his desire that they should do so and the Cayuses replied that they would see the laws before adopting them.
Hines says : " A speech was then delivered to the young men to impress them favorably with regard to the laws. They were told they would soon take the places of the old men, and they should be willing to act for the good of the people; that they should not go here and there and spread false reports about war; for that this had been the cause of all the difficulty and excitement that had prevailed among them during the winter."
Gray, in his History of Oregon, remarks that this state ment was untrue; and so it was, not because it did riot assign a sectarian cause for the disturbances, as he would have done, but because it ignored the cause behind all, and laid the blame upon one of its natural consequences.
When the laws had been read in the English and Nez Percé languages, Yellow Serpent (Peu-peu-mox-mox) arose. An Indian speech seldom is logical, seldom has any beginning, middle or ending, but often touches of unconscious eloquence or sharply pointed truths. The oratory on this occasion was a fair example of aboriginal rhetoric. Thus the Walla W^alla chief: "I have a mes sage to you. Where are these laws from? I would I might say they were from God. But I think they are from the earth, because from what I know of white men they do not honor these laws."
It was then explained to him that the laws were recog nized by God and imposed on men in all civilized coun​
tries. With this Yellow Serpent professed to be satisfied, saying that it was in accordance with such instructions as he bad received from Others, adding that he was glad it was so. because many of his people had been angry with him when he whipped them for crime, and had told him Clod would send him to hell for it, and he was glad to know it was pleasing to God."
Tiloukaikt, on whose land Whitman lived, next spoke, saying, impatiently, "What do you read 4 the laws for be fore we take them? We do not take the laws because Tauitowe says so. He is a Catholic, and as a people we do not follow his worship."
To this Dr. White replied that his religious views had nothing to do with the laws; that white people had differ ent modes of worship while obeying the same laws an entirely new idea to the Indians, who had only been given religion as law.
Here a chief called The Prince arose. He had once been a man of influence among the Cayuses, but having been concerned in an effort to make Mr. Pambrun, in charge of Fort Walla Walla, pay higher prices for furs and horses, by seizing that gentleman, throwing him down, and stamping on his breast, had been deposed by the Hud son s Bay Company, and his power had dwindled to noth ing. "I understand," said The Prince, "You gave us liberty to examine every law all the words and lines and as questions are asked about it, we should get a better understanding of it. The people of this country have but one mind about it. I have something to say, but perhaps the people wall dispute me. As a body we have not had an opportunity to consult; therefore you come to us as in the wind, and speak to us as to the air, as we have no point, and we cannot speak because we have no point
4 The word "read" here should undoubtedly be "receive." The sentence is without sense otherwise. Tiloukaikt was a haughty Cayuse, and would not brook the Walla Wallas taking precedence. He was also a thorough Presbyterian, on whom Dr. Whitman had spent much time and labor, and as his speech betrayed, resented any interference by Tauitowe, who was a Catholic. In this he copied his teachers ​closely.
before us. The business before us is whole, like a body; we have not dissected it. And perhaps you will say it is out of place for me to speak, because I am not a great chief. Once I had influence, but now I have but little."
When he would have sat down he was told to go on, and said further: " When the whites first came among us we had no cattle; they have given us none. What we have now got we obtained by an exchange of property. A long time ago Lewis and Clarke came to this country, and I want to know what they said about us did they say they found friends or enemies here?"
Being answered that they had been well spoken of, The Prince continued : " That is a reason why the whites should unite with us, and all become one people. Those who have been here before you have left us no memorial of their kindness by giving us presents. We speak by way of favor; if you have any benefits to bestow, we will then speak more freely. One thing that we can speak about is cattle, and the reason why we cannot speak out now is because we have not the thing before us. My people are poor and blind, and we must have something tangible. Other chiefs have bewildered me since I came; yet I am from an honorable stock. Promises which have been made to me and my fathers have not been fulfilled, and I am made miserable; but it will not answer for me to speak out, for my people do not consider me as their chief. One thing more; you have reminded me of what was prom ised me some time ago, and I am inclined to follow on and see, though I have been giving my beaver to the whites and have received many promises, and have always been disappointed ; I want to know what you are going to do."
To this demand there being no answer, Illutin (Big Belly) arose and said, the old men were wearied with the wickedness of the young men, and that if he were alone he should say "Yes" at once to the laws; and that the reason the young men were not willing was because they had stolen property in their possession, and the laws con​
demued them. He advised them, however, to accept the laws, for their own good.
Here The Prince interrupted, desiring that the good the laws were to do them might be put in a tangible form. It was a long time, he said, since the whites had come into their country promising to do them good; but all had passed by without leaving any benefits behind. He re ferred to the competition between the Hudson's Bay Company and the American traders in 1832-1834, and said the company had then told them not to go after the Americans that they would not give them presents that they talked well, but did not perform, while the company both promised and performed.
To this Dr. White replied that he was not come either as a missionary or a trader; and the council ended for that day without arriving at any definite conclusion.
During the evening White was approached by Ellis and Lawyer, who informed him they expected pay for being chiefs, and desired to know how much salary would be given them, Ellis saying he thought he had already earned enough to make him rich. He received, however, no answer to his demand at that interview.
On the next day, before resuming the business of the council, it became necessary to put the laws in practice, J the Kanaka who had accompanied the expedition as(f servant having been shot, though not fatally, in a quarrel f with a Nez Percé. The offender fled, but was pursued, arrested, and punished by forty lashes on his bare back.
This matter attended to, the council proceeded, and after a number of speeches in effect like those of the previous day, a majority being in favor of the laws, the code was adopted by the Cay uses; and after some electioneering. Tauitowe was chosen high chief.
It is said, in Gray'ssHistory of Oregon, that Tauitowe was concerned with The Prince in the attack on Mr. Parnbrun, and that since that time he had been discountenanced by the Hudson's Bay Company, and dissensions sown among ​
his people. This may have been the reason that before accepting the office of high chief he addressed the Cay uses, and inquired if they would lay aside their differences, and give him their cordial support, which they promised.
But, on the following day, the people being reassembled, he resigned his office, giving as a reason the difference between his religion and that of most of his nation an evidence of his good sense, seeing how little it tpok to stir up strife among them. 5
His brother, Five Crows, was proposed in his stead, when the Cayusss exclaimed, "our hearts go out towards him with a rush," and his election was nearly unanimous, a proof of popularity which affected him to tears.
A feast, at which all sat down, red men and white men, Mrs. WhitH&an and the Indian women, closed the proceed ings, and /law as well as religion had become engrafted upon barbarism. The Indians went their way and the white men theirs. Mrs. Whitman returned with the agent s party to the lower country, being offered a place in one of the Hudson's Bay Company s boats.
At The Dalles, Dr. White spent two months instructing the several tribes which resorted to this ancient trading center of the Columbia river Indians. "I begged money," he says, " and procured articles for clothing to the amount of a few hundred dollars, not to be given, but to be sold out to the industrious women for mats, baskets, and their various articles of manufacture, in order to get them clothed comfortably to appear at church; and enlisted the cheerful cooperation of the mission ladies in instructing them how to sew and make up their dresses." He also
    > White had to settle an account with the Cayuses, which reminds one of Bonne-
ville s narration of his experience with them. When Jason Lee first passed through the Cayuse country in 1834, he was presented with some horses, which he received as a token of friendship, not knowing that pay for presents was expected. As he had been in the country for nine years without making any return, during which time they had often reproached Dr. Whitman for the omission by his white brother to pay his debts, it was thought best to settle with the Cayuses at this time, which was done by agreeing to give tiiem a cow for each horse Lee had received. At the price cows were then bringing in the colony, this was magnificent pay. ​
visited the sick, of whom there are always a large number in an Indian camp, and by these means secured the observ ance of the laws among them. 6
"Concerning White's pay for these services, it transpires, through his Ten Years In Oreijon, that he had considerable trouble. He wrote to he secretary of war Hon. J. M. Porter in November that he had kept within the limit of three hundred dollars for interpreters the last year, and had built himself an office at the expense of two hundred and twenty-five dollars. His traveling expenses, the cost of feeding the Indians, and his bills at Vancouver, he asks shall be paid, otherwise "pray call me home at once." He further notifies the secretary that he " cannot sell drafts payable in Washington," and asks for an order to draft on London. White's treatment under the administration which succeeded that under which he was appointed, was cer tainly very unfair; and it was only after many years that his claim was recognized and compensation made. In the meantime, until he left Oregon in 1845, his seven hundred and fifty dollars salary was pieced out by loans from the company s officers at Vancouver, and made to carry on the trying and dangerous intercourse of the Indians and white people in Oregon for three years.
* ↑ This is undoubtedly an error of the interpreter's. Lewis and Clarke gave this chief a United States flag, explaining to him its meaning. Hence, he says, "I held it up high." He was called Twisted Hair by the explorers.
* ↑ Flogging was a punishment first instituted by the Hudson's Bay Company.