Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1861-11-02
Tie Outrage at Simcoe Reservation.

Tie Outrage at simcoe Reservation.
En-. STANDARD Our new Superin-
tendcnt of Indian Affairs has COM
Irncnccd hi, administration i'm very en1
,eryc,ic. if not 10 saw arbitrary manner
At the Simcoe Agency, which believe
was the first one lac visited. he dis
..l.arred from the service sin or seven of
liz persons employed there rs teachers
mcclanic-. etc. aud told the Agent
Sir. bancroft. that IL would iio; &c pr
+,nij,,-l Ia hire or discharge 4 man at tho
E,yency. lac kendall, intending To mak 4
EVERY appointment himself. do not
know where he gets tie authority ID
10 this. suppose he must posses i,
Ior lie would not use it: but ii is ccr7
rainlv strange if,he Indian Agents are
10 l,c placed hy the Department in II
anomalous position a To he rcspoEsi
| blc for the good conduct of the agenc,
willie they are not permitted In La,,l
] ny control over their subordinate
Ii seems TO me this is verify being r.
,uircd To make bricks without straw
1 Ii the power TO make the appointments
IS possessed only 10y the Superin'endl
yeni. why have none Of his predecessors
ever exercised il
But there Is a matter connected with
this particular agency, and the dis |
charges made there by MIR. Kendall, to|
which think it would be well TO cal
the attention of the public. Ii may mott
be generally known that the school at
the Simcoc Agency was by the dcsirc|
| of the former Superintendent, Mr.
|Geary, placed under the charge of thc|
Rev. Jas. ii. Wilbur, one of the Oldest
and most respected ministers of the Nj
+. Church, in this country, as tho super-|
|intenlcnt of instruc ton, with the hopc|
that through the labors of himself and
his excellent wife, and their assistants, j
good education might be secured to|
the Indians, combined with religious
obstruction. The school was organized
by Mr.. Wilbur little more than n year.
ago, and has been cmincntly successful
and constantly improving, so that strong)
hopes were entertained by all who wcrc|
interested in it, that many Of the Indi
ans would be permanently benefited
by being educated, civilized and Chris
|tianized.
In order to secure this object the Orr
yegon Annual Conference Of the Nj. f.!
Church appointed Mr.. Wilbur a MS
sionary to that reservation, thereby tax
ling him from the regular work of the,
Conference, where he had always BEEN
useful and successful, that he might
devote his entire attention to his dutics|
as SUPERINTENDENT of instruction to the
agency.
The evident intention of MIR. Kendall
in making the discharges of employees,
at the agency was to break up the re-!
iligious influences that were being used
there among the Indians. Indeed | be-
|licvc he so stated it while there. lie!
made no charges against them, no in
quiry as to whether they had faithfully
performed their duties, no examination
of the school, gave them no opportuni-''
Ity of explanation or defense, but on the,
contrary, seemed to avoid all such cX-!!
plantations. Mr.. Wilbur, on learning
he had arrived, sent him word that hc'
would be glad to havcan interview with!
him as soon as convenient, to which no,
answer was returned; and during his,
stay at the agency tho superintendent
would not comdesccnd to notice or an
swcr the usual salutations which all gen.!
tlcmca use in meeting or passing EACH
SOther.
lie arrived there on the evening off
the 10th Of this month, and without Wis
|iting tho school, or speaking to the
Agent or Mr.. Wilbur about it, he dis
charged Mr.. and Mrs. Wilbur and ALI
who were connected with the school, on!
the same evening, and also, bclicve,]
every person suspected Of being Chris
|tian that was employed on the agency!
and none others.
After he was discharged, Mr.. Wilbur
addressed MIR. Kendall u note stating, i'm
substance, that he was appointed by the
Oregon Annual Conference Of the NJ
Church AZ missionary to that rcserva-!
tion. and asking if nc might bc permit
ted to stay OH the reservation without,
expense to the department. lie was
answered that lac could not be permit
ted to stay. ms things would not hanno1
misc il he remained, 80 he left that day ]
Under the circumstances, the actiorl
of the Superintendent must have been
meant as an intentional, prcmeditxted
insult TO the Christian community Of
this Territory. What his religious
opinions may be. ! have no wish To en-
quire: whether he holds to any form
Of cbriS1innitv m vhefher he ~..,Ss. ~