The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-04-06

Mistakes OF Missionaries
Create New Problems
Tribes Remember S psloine
Incident
Lose Faith When Preacher
Turns Trader
s S WE continue the story OF
events concerned with the
progress OF Washington terri
srv toward statehood. there IS
regealed an interesting side
light which al least indirectly
affected COY. stevens dealings
with the Indians. Having COM
ple,ed the treaties with the
wes side tribes, he turned his
attation to the Upper Colum-
bia Indians.
These tribes presented a
much more difficult problem
than the coast Indians. There
were 10 powerful tribes
Perez, Cuyuse, Umatilla, Walla
Walla, Yakima. Spokane, Occur
d'Alene, Flathead, Pend Oreille,
and kootenai-representing APP
proximstely $4,000 individuals.
They owned about 10000
horses Each tribe occupied
its own well defined terri
tory. The streams, fields
and forests provided for
their needs. The white
settlers had not become the
menace that they were on
the west side. Everything
considered these tribes were
comfortably situated and
were not particularly in
terested n what Gov. Stew
ems had 10 offer.
There Was another cause for
their indifference. A great deal
has been aid. and rightly,
about the work done by the
Whitman and Spaulding party.
The massacre of DR.. Whitman
and several members Of his
party was one of the greatest
tragedies in the history of the
Northwest. But as the story is
reviewed. mistakes by some of
the early mission aries added 10
the difficulties Of Gov. Stevens
and others in dealing with the
Indians.
Indians who Participated in
the Whitman massacre believed
that DR.. Whitman was pos
sessed of an evil spirit. The
belief was first Inspired when
DR. Whitman, to break the In
dams of the habit of stealing
from his garden, teated some
of the water melons with a
preparation which made those
who ate them very i'll. Other
means used by Dr.. Whitman to
cure the Indian faults applied
with the best of intentions but
without full understanding of
the Indian nature, ADDED to the
i'll feeling. The climax came
when an epidemic q measles
broke out in several of the
tribes.
Severe penalties Inflicted
on Indians directly c@cern-
ed in the massacre and
some remotely connected
with the tragedy, let the
Indians in a none too
friendly attitude toward the
government. They waited
nothing 80 much as to be
let alone.
DR.. Spaulding. who separated
from the Whitman mission be-
fore the massacre and stab
lished his own over the IDAHO
line, also unwlttlngly added to
the difficulties. Dr.. SpauMng
did great work among the
Indians there. He taught them
to cultivate the land, he esub-
lished schools, built a grist mil
and sawmill. He had con-
pletely Won the respect nd
confidence of the Indians. There
was no more successful mission
in the west and none where the
prospects were better.
But DR.. Spaulding, with al
the admirable qualities which
had enabled him TO build UP
strong mission. also had a flair
for the commercial. probably
due to his Scotch and Yankee
ancestry In an unfortunate
decision he opened a store and
went 10 trading with the In
dians. Experience had made
the Indians believe that all
traders were greedy and dis
honest and existed solely for the
purpose OF robbine those with