The San Francisco call., 1895-07-28

been apprised, piloted the companies
down Snake River and over the Blue
Mountains into Oregon. The latter, and
most difficult part OF the journey to Whit
mans station was entirely under the dl-
rection of the Indians, as Or. whitman
ried to Lapwai to attend Mrs. Spalding,
who was very i'll. All this is susceptible
of proof, and nothing which DIR. Whitman
reported to the board thereafter contra
diets it.
In letter to the Secretary of War he
uses these expressions: 81 have, since our
interview, been instrumental In plotting
across the route described in the accom-
panying bill, and which is the only eligible
wagon road, no less than 800 families, con-
sisting of 1000 persons of both sexes, with
their wagons, amounting to 120, 694 oxen
and 773 loose cattle. The emigrants are
from different States, but principally from
Missouri, Arkansas. Illinois and New York.
The majority of them are farmers, lured by
the prospect of bounty in lands Qong held
out by Congress), by the reported fertility
of the soil, and by the desire to be first
among those who are planting our institu-
tions on the Pacific Coast" Further on
he says: "They have practically demon
strated that wagons drawn by horses or
oxen can cross the Rocky Mountains to
the Columbia River, contrary to all sinis-
to be impossible"
I come now to consideration of the
real motives which LED Whitman to make
his winter journey to the States. Ny
Gray-NiXon opponents allege that it was
solely to "save Oregon" which was in no
immediate danger. | say, and abundant
proofs bear me out, that he went on his
own private business and the affairs of the
mission, and that whatever he said or did
while in the East that seemed to bear
upon National politics was simply as any
other person going from Oregon to the
East in those days might have said or
done these things. To come from the Pa
citic Coast in 1912 was to have
done something remarkable. To be
able to relate stories of adventure
and describe vast and wilderness country
was to gain an interested audience any
where. Especially were the President and
Cabinet alert to learn everything bearing
upon the value of a territory whose title was
in dispute between the United States and
Great Britain; and every man, whether he
was a mountain man or missionary, who
had been in Oregon was closely questioned.
Only the year before DR.. White, returned
missionary, had been sent for to go to
Washington and answer questions. He
answered them so intelligently that he was
told to proceed to the West and collect
as many as he could of the people
who were waiting for the bounty land act,
and lead them to Oregon that season. He
was made Sub-lndian agent, paid salary,
and commissioned with other extraor-
binary powers. At the same time Fre-
mont was sent to explore the country as
far as the Great Divide, IL being intended
that his reportseof the land passage should
connect with Comm odore Wilkes reports
on his explorations on the Pacific Coast.
Yet in the face of all this action by the
Gov ,o,N4r fN1l ho+ ,xYyCc
in danger of being traded off for a goldfish
cry on the Newfoundland coast.
DR.. White gathered up about 130 persons
by advertising and lecturing and proceeded
to lead them to Oregon. As he had only
pre- viously Travelled by sea to and from the
Colum bia River and knew nothing of the
road before him, he prudently left his
wagons at Fort Hall and depended upon
pack horses down Snake River and across
at Whitman's station by the middle of
September. Mr.. Grant, the Hudson Bay
Company's agent at Fort Hall, assured DR..
White that he could, if re wished to at
tempt it, take his wagons through
to the Columbia, and pointed out
the road. 1t ran, after leaving Fort
Boise, through Burnt River Canon and
Grand Rond Valley, thence over the
Blue Mountains to the Umatilla. This
route had been pointed out to Farnham in
1889 by the company's agent at Fort Boise
as feasible wagon route while comment
ing on DR.. Whitman's abandonment of his
wagon at the fort. These facts dispose of
the charge that Grant endeavored to dis
courage the taking of wagons to the Co.
lumbia. AS a matter of fact, this route
travelled by Whites company, and the fol- |
lowing year by the great wagon company, |
was fully described to them by Grant, who
furnished the captains of divisions with
chart of the country. No credits for ex
ploration, therefore, are due to DR.. Whit |
man, or the immigrants who performed |
the labor of opening the road to wagons
by grading or telling trees. As all this is
susceptible of proof, l beseech my oppo- |
nents to refra in from saying hard things |
about me for stating fact.
But to return to the motives which led |
DR.. Whitman TO go East as suddenly as he |
did. The cause lay, first of ALL in the un- |
tractable disposition of the Indians in |
general, and the Cayuses in particular. |
There is whole volume of evidence to |
show that from the earliest years of the |
missions the Indians were dissatisfied. |
While they were willing to receive mate |
rial benefits, they were unable to compre- |
hend spiritual truths. After some expert |
ence with them it was found necessary to |
use an arbitrary authority over them, |
even in some cases to whip them. |
This punishment was sometimes in |
ficted on the young chiefs at Lapwai, but |
the Cayuses would not submit to it. On |
the contrary, they on several occasions at |
tackled DR.. Whitman by striking him, |
knocking off his hat, throwing mud over |
him, and like hostile demonstrations. As |
there were usually at his place no more |
than three or four persons, including Mrs. |
Whitman, retaliation, if it had been Chris |
tian policy, would have been unsafe, and |
these insults were submitted to. The |
Indians, being only grown-up children, |
presumed more and more upon the i'm |
munity they enjoyed, until at last they |
were quite beyond control. In 1841 |
when Wilkes visited Waiilatpu he was in
formed of these troubles, which he reports |
in his narrative" Apparently all that |
held the Cayuses in check was the pres
ence of the Hudson Bay Company. When |
matters became too serious to be over
looked McKinlay, the agent in charge of |
Fort Walla Walla, firm and kind friend |
of DR.. Whitman, paid visit to the chiefs |
and gave them to understand that unless |
they conducted themselves in friendly |
manner toward the missionaries they |
might expect to lose the trade of the COM
pany, this argument usually being sutfi
cient to quiet them for that time.
But as they beheld the prosperity of |
Whitman, who by much labor and energy |
had built up comfortable home, farm and |