Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-11-06
Bishop Whlpplc on the Indian Problem
and the Great Northwest.


upon the subject of Indian missions.
particularly the one with which he was
connected. The Bishop said he was
once told upon the steps of the Capitol
at Washington that his efforts i'll be-
half of the Indians would be failure.
But he was not discouraged. His
duty was plain before him, his trust
was in God, and the result has been
the conversion and civilization of thou
sands, and the gathering together of n
church property in his diocese valued
at 100000.
Many Of these converted Indians
were now preaching the Gospel, and
everywhere, even among the feathers
and war paint, there was respect for
religion. The speaker paid "A warm
tribute to the Indians he had labored
among regarding their honesty and
faithful observance of treaty obliga-
tions, and he more than intimated that
very many of the troubles with the
red men were not the result of uniaith-
fulness on their part, but wax of
honor on the part of ourselves.
On one occasion he visited an old
chief, 80 years of age, perhaps, or
over, from whose lips he heard "A sad
tale of the wrongs his people had suf-
fercd at the hands Of the pale-iaces.
Placing his hand in his bosom, the
aged chief drew therefrom a treaty
madejn 1923 or %, with the authori-
ties ut Washington, wh5ch the Indian
had religiously observed until it was
broken by the white man. "The
white man lied" said the chieftain,
and the same "lies" were repeated in
the successive treaties that followed.
81 do not blame the great father" said
he, "but those who represented him.
They have broken what was solcmnly
promised, and the BARN that has fol-
lowed the red man was not responsible
for Here" he continued, "you are
going to Washington take this pipe,
it is the pipe of peace. ! want you to
take it in person to the great father :;
enter door after door, until you find
him-trust it with no one elsc-and
tell him it represents a sacred oath of
peace on the part of the Indians.
Clusters massacre was the result of
treachcry on the part of the white
man. The speaker could not say pos
itively what was the cause Of the re-
cent trouble with the Utcs, but in his
own mind there was something that
required an inves tigation on our part
if we yould clear ourselves with hon
or. 80 far n his observation had ex-
tended, and wherever he had been, he
had heard the Utes spoken of in the
very highest terms n a race far above
the average Indian. In his own mind
he was not prepared TO say they were
guilty, and some of our officers in the
army held the same views. One OF
our commanders recently told him
that it was no hardship to fight an
enemy, but it was hard to fight against
the right.
The Bishop alluded to an Indian
fair to which he was invited and
which he attended There were the
representatives of many thousands Of
bushels of wheat. corn, potatoes and
other products, all raised by the civil
lied Indians. Indians waited upon
the fair, Indians were the doorkeepers
and Indians were the policemen, and
all were attired in the American dress.
A Senator of the United States wa
his companion at the fair, and both
were delighted with what they saw
but what struck the Senator still more
forcibly was the solemn reverence oil
the Indians soon after, when engaged
in the worship of the Great Spirit.
Regarding the fertility of the new
Northwest, the Bishop remarked that
were the grain crop of the Atlantic
States to be an utter failure, the new
Northwest could feed the whole coun
try and have plenty TO spare. And
he made this further remark that th'
day was not far distant when the peo
pie of the wonderful region Of which
he was the missionary representative
of the Episcopal Church would die
tate the government of the United
States.
The people of the Atlantic Statei
had no conception of the vast anc
powerful territory that lay beyond tn,
banks of the Mississippi, A whole
cluster of the Northern States put to
gether would be but as a town com
pared with even some of the mission
airy districts of the new Northwest
Emigrants were pouring in from ever
quarter-the States, England, Ireland
Russia, and even from Iceland. Nam
of these are men of broken-down for
tunes, but they soon recuperate anC
become valued citizens.
One Thing Demonstrated.