East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-11-28

You say l can do great good wit
my people. You say white and re-
man brothers And yet when Fiv
Crows ask for white squaw, whit
man laugh. II what you tell me /
truth, why can not be like you an,
have white squaw? Answer M
right and l will be lieve you. l
you cannot answer me right 1 mus
not believe that you are my brothe
and one God is father of Five Grows
and DR.. Whit'an."
While the chieftain was making thli
impassioned plea, a fervent prayer
was whispered by the missionary. Tn,
whole great problem of religion ant
destiny and fate was wrapped up ii
the puzzllng and direct question:
propounded by this savage. Fol
twelve years the missionary had toll
ed among the Indians. Toll, prayer
pleading. tireless teaching, patience
devotion had lifted the savage mind
from its grovellng and had given IL
the first great glimpse Of the great
truths. But it had not yet attained
that degree OF enlightenment in
which 1t could grasp the human
problem in its entirety. The savage
fetters still clung to the mind.
What empty and meaningless things
were books, in the presence Of this
savage reasoning? or what avail
was logic or higher learning or criti-
cism in unraveling the intricate prob
lens at hand or in answering the
stubborn wisdom of this half civil
lied Thing?
Five Crows" said DR.. Whitman.
"Come tomorrow. Go to your lodge
and pray. l will pray here. The
Father will show US the way. He
will answer your questions. We are
but weak children. Good night"
He pressed the savage's hand
warmly and shut the door as the form
disappeared in the darkness.
The clatter OF hoofs over the shin
ing pebbles in the river bottom told
that Five Crows was going home.
The missionary knelt and prayed fer
vently as was his custom when puz-
zling problems beset his path.
At Five Crows lodge was 10 Lewis,
the half breed, scowling, surly, de-
fiant, skulking like a wolf in the
dusky shadows.
There also was Ta-ma-kas. whose
arm was destined to strike the blow
that killed the faithful Whitman a
few weeks later. There was Tam
sucky, whose wife was sick unto
death with measles, and who had
come to council war with Five
Crows There was Tom Hill. the
half breed Delaware, educated at
Dartmouth college, but now a muir
derous renegade, bent on murder and
robbery. There was Tau-it-tau.
friendly to Whitman, but one of the
leading men of the Cayuses and al
ways on the side of peace.
AS Five Crows dismounted at his
lodge, 10 Lewis taunted him with
the remark that the chief of the
Cayuses could not buy a white slave.
The assembled friends looked at
the chieftain to see how he received
the cruel stroke from Lewis. Not
word. glance or sign was given in
answer, by Five Crows.
It was a momentous council which
followed. The entire tribe was sick
with measles. Medicine and good
treatment and nursing were all un-
availing. At the Whitman mission
more than a dozen children were at
the point of death. DR.. Whitman
was on the point of collapse with
his arduous labors. Night after night
he rode from lodge to lodge minis
tering to the suffering Cayuses. Day
after day he carried on his work at
the mission, snatching a few hours
sleep as he could between tasks.
The half breeds encouraged the
belief that the whites had intro
duced the disease to destroy the tribe
and take the land. The entire tribe
was on the point of war, excepting
few faithful leaders.
Have l not seen the Indians kill
ed by the bad medicine of the white
man across the mountains many miles
to the east" said 10 Lewis did I
not see my father. who was white
man, whip my Indian mother? Did
1 not see him beat her until she
could not carry my little sister? 1t
was then that / seized a knife and
killed him, my own father, when
was but 13 "snows" and from that
day to this have not set my heart
against the white man and his God?
He will kill you all, Five Crows,
Tau-it-tau, Tamsucky, Tom Hill and
all of US. He wants our land.
Curse his Gods and kill him. He is
no brother to the Indian or he would
not beat Indian women as my father
did the day l killed him."
40 Lewis" said Tau-it-tau, "Dr.
Whit'an is a good man. He is not
coward. Did he not ride all night
through the rain and sleet and snow
to doctor you when you lay sick in
my lodge on the Umatllla7 Did you
not take his medicine and get we'll
10 Lewis?"
Lewis skulked out of the tepee.
His duplicityy had disarmed him.
Five Crows do not listen to 10
Lewis" said Tau-it-tau. HE is not
Cayuse. He should not sit in our
councils"
True" answered Tamsucky. "He
takes DR.. Whitan's medicine and then
curses him. This is not right"
II will talk to Pio-pio-mOx-mOx."
said Five Crows. HE is a wise
chief II he says DIR. Whlt'an is bad
medicine will go to war with
Taloukaikt. II he says the white
,..rs, GO 4. s-aos lin sto,, L. 49,,