The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1871-05-14
Indian Adams.
VANcouvER, w. T., March 81, 1870.
Hon. n. Delsno Secretary Of the In terior.

Won have been recommended TO me 10
gentleman who, in his official caPsc.cy;;
and Justice to ali. Acting upon the recon. {
mendatiop. beg leave to call your earnest
attention to our Catholic Indian missions q
of Washington territory, and to lay oeiore
you q summary sketch OF their carry os
tablishment and onward growth.
dare say that careful perusal OF THESE
statements will make it at once evident to
your well-meaniDg views that, consistently
with the lately avowed Indian policy OF
the President, a larger share ought to be
accorded to the Catholic missionary au-
thorities in the assignment Of Goyernment
agents and teachers to the Indians, In JUS
tice both to the Indians themselves and TO
our Catholic missionaries, who have oeeps
| in most all cases, the original and true
teachers of civilization and Christianity to
| the poor Indiaps.
AS Catholic Bishop, came to this Ter
ritory in the year 1647, and my soiicitude
was Immediately directed towards the vel
fare Of our Indian population, and, for the |
furtherance of this object, sent that same |
year missionary priests among the Yaka-
mas, where q permanent mission was es-
tablished forthwith and, for eight con,
tinuous years, the work Of civilizing ana
Christianizing these Indians was carried on
with steady progress, when, unfortunately,
the war in 1855 obliged the Fathers to
abandon the field of their missionary Ia
bors. Yet the Yakima Catholic mission
|
, one or more of my priests tO visit these In
dams, for the purpose of confirming the
converts in the faith and of baptizing their
children, leaving it an nncontrovertlbie
fact that, from lS47 to 1860, the Yakama
nation was taught no UGher but Catholic
religions tenets, and by none but Catholic
priests.
In 1860, or thirteen years after we had
established the mission of the Yakima Val
. ley, at our own sacrifices and expenses, the
| ~ Tor h
9 sides for civilizing and Christianizing the
' Indians. Then suddenly competitor ap-
4 peared among us in the person of Mt
Wilbur, n Methodist minister, who, as
l. teacher, intrusively installed himself on the
o reserve at SimcOe. I demonstrated with
;. Superintendent Geary but he, being an
other Methodist minister, my rem0nstrance
. was, of course, disregarded, and the in-
= truder was formally confirmed and ap-
pointed as literary aud religious Superin-
tendept contrary to what he, Mr.. Geary,
R. had himself declared some time previous.
~ In a conv ersation afterwards submitted to
. writlng) with Very Rev. Father Bronlliet,
% Mr. G cary said &" All tribes formerly IN
Ar s,ructed and Christianized by the Catholic
~ clergy, should be placed again, when on
IN their reservations, under the care and IN
q charge of the Fathers, as to literary Tram:
~, ing" And lie added: "The literary anC
the religious instruction of none 6nt Two
III or, at most, three reservations would De IN
mt the Neg Perces, the Spokanes, and perhaps
IA the Grande Ronde; all the others shoul'
fall to the Catholic clergy, namely, TIL
-, reservations of Puget Sound, those o
W. Yakima, Warm Springs, Umatilia ant
. Pend 'Creilles."
IN This plain, ingenious statement, mad
er. by an official, perfectly aware OF the stat
,si- of affairs, is still more conclusive as eman
ID atlng from a member of the religious sec
nu which has invariably shown itself the mos
fnH afh
lay tholic rights. True, it was made prevlou
tie, to the intrusion of Mr.. Wilbur at Simco'
our After the preparation of this act OF lnJui
,.v tice, Mr.. Geary's sentiments of right an
~. justice seem to have undergone sudde
'n' transformation, since, in answer to nc
rne protest, he wrote officially as follows: -
was / can officially make no distinction on a.
get count of religious tenets or connexions,
ma appointing persons 20 positions, and as M
Wilbur has high intellectual and NOR
Cur onalifcations, fitting him for the pos'tit
the of a teacher, shall cheerfully confirm t.
hgn appointment, whenever submitted 10
be- by the agent"
soYn This same Mr.. Wilbur was afterwar
H.. Amounted to the Yakima agency anu
need not say how, in that capacity,
20 Oh threw every obstacle in the way to Pi
on vent Che Catholic missionary from glvi
,ver- religious instruction to Indians, even In
axes, own chapel, outside the limits OF the res
i. to walton nor of the threats he mace os
49,, against the priest and the Catholic lndis
'Ion Sbecause, 1 presume, all these facts
orkS' now we'll known to the Department.
ANN Can any unbiased mind say that til
CINE. ia not here an evident wrong done US y "
can not the field of our missionary laoors
, one Justly wrenched from our hands, apd CIV
49, to a man whose teaching was unknown
.ne these lndiansf Were not the Governm
that subsidies appropriated to such as had
or on right, while, for thirteen years, we ~
,osed. maintained that mission at great sacrih
tbout and expensesf These conclusions nee
ndlv sarily press upon US; but enough OF
matter.
What about the Puget Sound reser
mica tions7 1t is q fact we'll known to al!
y for old settlers that, from l849 Il should b
mmo- said from 1887 to the present day, Cath
tisf.d missionaries have been necessarily ia'
p laat inc to Christianize and civilize the lndi
and that whatever knowledge of eli
y aS Christianity or civilization they possess
roads, has been impaired to them by the Cath
'aving priests. This fact was admitted in ]
nd DR.. not only for the Indians en- Puget S0l
whole hut for nearly all the tribes both in W.
h nov incton territory and the State of Greg
mother Wltness Suo "".roharated bv a decl