A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 Part 28

Individuals were severely punished for crimes which, from time immemorial, had been committed by the people with impunity. This occasioned suspicions in the minds of the Indians generally that the whites designed the ultimate subjugation of their tribes. They saw in the laws they had adopted, a deep-laid scheme of the whites to destroy them, and take possession of their country. The arrival of a large party of emigrants about this time, and the sudden departure of Dr. Whitman to the United States, with the avowed intention of bringing back with him as many as he could enlist for Oregon, served to hasten them to the above conclusion. That a great excitement existed among the Indians in the interior, and that they designed to make war upon the settlement, was only known to the whites through the medium of vague report, until a letter was received from H. K.

W. Perkins, at the Dalles, in which he informed us that the Wascopum and Wallawalla Indians had communicated to him in substance the following information: That the Indians are very much exasperated against the whites, in consequence of so many of the latter coming into the country, to destroy their game and take away their lands; that the Nez Perces dispatched one of their chiefs last winter on snow-shoes, to visit the Indians in the buffalo country east of Fort Hall, for the purpose of exciting them to cut off the party that it is expected Dr. Whitman will bring back with him to settle the Nez Perce country; that the Indians are endeavoring to form a general coalition for the purpose of destroying all the 'Boston' people; that it is not good to kill a part of them, and leave the rest, but that _every one_ of them must be destroyed. This information produced a great excitement throughout the community, and almost every man had a plan of his own by which to avert the impending storm. In the estimation of some, the Indians were to be upon us immediately, and it was unsafe to retire at night, for fear the settlement would be attacked before morning. The plan of the agent was to induce men to pledge themselves, under the forfeiture of one hundred dollars in case of delinquency, to keep constantly on hand and ready for use either a good musket or rifle, and one hundred charges of ammunition, and to hold themselves in readiness to go at the call of the agent to any part of the country, not to exceed two days' travel for the purpose of defending the settlement, and repelling any savage invaders. This plan pleased some of the people, and they put down their names; but many were much dissatisfied with it; and as we had no authority, no law, no order, for the time being, in the country, it was impossible to tell what would be the result, if the Indians should attempt to carry their threats into execution."

We have before us, in these quotations, the facts of the change of policy of the Hudson's Bay Company, the combining of the Nez Perce tribe, the supposed ground of complaint against the Americans, and the failure of the sub-Indian agent to get the settlers to adopt his plan for protecting the settlement against the Indians. We will now give the reasons the company had for adopting the dividing and cutting-up policy among the Indians.

The reader is requested to observe Mr. Hines' description of Ellis, Dr.

White's Indian chief. It was this same Indian that drove the Rev. A. B.

Smith in 1840 from his land, as stated by old Toupin on 15th page of Brouillet's history of the Whitman ma.s.sacre. Up to this time he was not considered an important character by the company, on account of his self-importance and insolence. In this respect he resembled Tawatowe, of the Cayuses, who, when he had been promoted to the head chieftainship of that tribe, became insolent, and going so far as to get possession of Fort Wallawalla, had tied Mr. P. C. Pambrun, and kept him tied till he agreed to give the Indians better prices for their horses and furs. As soon as they had liberated him, Mr. Pambrun made a few trades with them and treated them kindly, and induced them to leave the fort. He sent at once to Vancouver and increased the number of his men, and told the chiefs that had had him tied, that he no longer regarded them as chiefs, and at once commenced to destroy their influence by refusing to give them the accustomed presents, and gave them to lesser chiefs, and in that way divided them up and broke their power as princ.i.p.al chiefs.

While the American fur trader, Captain Wyeth, was in the country, the company had increased their tariff, and paid the Indians more for their horses and furs, but as soon as he had been driven from the country, they reduced it to their own prices. The Indians did not understand why the company gave them so much less than the Americans, or Bostons, did for the same things.

The princ.i.p.al chiefs of the Nez Perces and Cayuses were together in the attempt to get better pay for the property they sold to the company, whose policy was to keep all the princ.i.p.al men down, and divide their power and influence, and prevent any large combinations among the tribes,--thus making it easy to control them. This statement of facts and policy I had from Mr. Pambrun and Mr. Ermatinger, both of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Mr. Hines, on page 143, in speaking about the laws adopted by the Indians, seems altogether to ignore the fact that a desperate effort was then being made by the Hudson's Bay Company, as the conduct of the Indians plainly indicated, to drive all Americans from the country. The unreasonable punishments inflicted, and all other odious inferences, were the legitimate instruments to accomplish a specific object. The same was the case in the inferences drawn about Dr. Whitman's visit to the States. While Governor Simpson sends on his Red River settlers, and goes to Washington to secure the country to the British crown, Dr.

Whitman and his mission become the special objects of misrepresentation and hate among the Indians. His mill and all his grain are burned, while a large immigration of British subjects and the Jesuit missionaries are received with open arms. Dr. Whitman and the American settlement must be stopped at all hazards. An Indian is sent on snow-shoes to the Buffalo Indians east of Fort Hall, for the purpose of exciting them to cut off the party that is expected with Dr. Whitman.

The American government, according to Dr. White, is about to take possession of the country, and had sent him out as its first governor.

He, to conciliate the Indians, adopts all the suggestions of the Hudson's Bay Company, and succeeds to his entire satisfaction, with the aid of Mr. McKay. While he can do nothing to unite the settlers for their own defense, the divide-and-weaken policy of the company is changed from Indians to the American settlers. White and Hines are equally useful to the company in doing the one, as they had been successful in the other. That the transaction related by Mr. Hines on his 145th page, under date of April 17, may be better understood, we will, in the next chapter, give a copy of the pet.i.tion referred to. This doc.u.ment is mostly the work of Robert Shortess, and was signed by nearly every American in the country who had an opportunity.

CHAPTER x.x.xVII.

Whitman's visit to Washington.--A priest's boast.--A taunt, and Whitman's reply.--Arrival in Washington.--Interview with Secretary Webster.--With President Tyler.--His return.--Successful pa.s.sage of the Rocky Mountains with two hundred wagons.--His mill burned during his absence.

In September, 1842, Dr. Whitman was called to visit a patient at old Fort Wallawalla. While there, a number of boats of the Hudson's Bay Company, with several chief traders and Jesuit priests, on their way to the interior of the country, arrived. While at dinner, the overland express from Canada arrived, bringing news that the emigration from the Red River settlement was at Colville. This news excited unusual joy among the guests. One of them--a young priest--sang out: "Hurrah for Oregon, America is too late; we have got the country." "Now the Americans may whistle; the country is ours!" said another.

Whitman learned that the company had arranged for these Red River English settlers to come on to settle in Oregon, and at the same time Governor Simpson was to go to Washington and secure the settlement of the question as to the boundaries on the ground of the most numerous and permanent settlement in the country.

The Doctor was taunted with the idea that no power could prevent this result, as no information could reach Washington in time to prevent it.

"It shall be prevented," said the Doctor, "if I have to go to Washington myself." "But you can not go there to do it," was the taunting reply of the Briton. "I will see," was the Doctor's reply. The reader is sufficiently acquainted with the history of this man's toil and labor in bringing his first wagon through to Fort Boise, to understand what he meant when he said, "_I will see_." Two hours after this conversation at the fort, he dismounted from his horse at his door at Wailatpu. I saw in a moment that he was fixed on some important object or errand. He soon explained that a special effort must be made to save the country from becoming British territory.

Every thing was in the best of order about the station, and there seemed to be no important reason why he should not go. A. L. Lovejoy, Esq., had a few days before arrived with the immigration. It was proposed that he should accompany the Doctor, which he consented to do, and in twenty-four hours' time they were well mounted and on their way to the States. They reached Fort Hall all safe; kept south into Taos, and thence to Bent's Fort, on the Arkansas River, when Mr. Lovejoy became exhausted from toil and exposure, and stopped for the winter, while the Doctor continued on and reached Washington.

Thus far in this narrative I give Dr. Whitman's, Mr. Lovejoy's, and my own knowledge. I find an article in the _Pacific_ of November 9, from Mr. Spalding, which gives us the result:--

"On reaching the settlements, Dr. Whitman found that many of the now old Oregonians--Waldo, Applegate, Hamtree, Keizer, and others--who had once made calculations to come to Oregon, had abandoned the idea because of the representations from Washington that every attempt to take wagons and ox-teams through the Rocky and Blue Mountains to the Columbia had failed. Dr. Whitman saw at once what the stopping of wagons at Fort Hall every year meant. The representations purported to come from Secretary Webster, but were from Governor Simpson, who, magnifying the statements of his chief trader, Grant, at Fort Hall, declared the Americans must be going mad, from their repeated fruitless attempts to take wagons and teams through the impa.s.sable regions to the Columbia, and that the women and children of those wild fanatics had been saved from a terrible death only by the repeated and philanthropic labors of Mr. Grant, at Fort Hall, in furnishing them with horses. The Doctor told these men, as he met them, that his only object in crossing the mountains in the dead of winter, at the risk of his life, and through untold sufferings, was to take back an American emigration that summer through the mountains to the Columbia, with their wagons and their teams. The route was practicable. We had taken our wagon, our cattle, and our families through, seven years before. They had nothing to fear; but to be ready on his return. The stopping of wagons at Fort Hall was a Hudson's Bay Company scheme to prevent the settling of the country by the Americans, till they could settle it with their own subjects from the Selkirk settlement. This news spread like wildfire through Missouri. The Doctor pushed on to Washington and immediately sought an interview with Secretary Webster,--both being from the same State,--and stated to him the object of his crossing the mountains, and laid before him the great importance of Oregon to the United States. But Mr. Webster lived too near Cape Cod to see things in the same light with his fellow-Statesman who had transferred his worldly interests to the Pacific coast. He awarded sincerity to the missionary, but could not admit for a moment that the short residence of six years could give the Doctor the knowledge of the country possessed by Governor Simpson, who had almost grown up in the country, and had traveled every part of it, and represents it as one unbroken waste of sand deserts and impa.s.sable mountains, fit only for the beaver, the gray bear, and the savage. Besides, he had about traded it off with Governor Simpson, to go into the Ashburton treaty, for a cod-fishery on Newfoundland.

"The Doctor next sought an interview with President Tyler, who at once appreciated his solicitude and his timely representations of Oregon, and especially his disinterested though hazardous undertaking to cross the Rocky Mountains in the winter to take back a caravan of wagons. He said that, although the Doctor's representations of the character of the country, and the possibility of reaching it by a wagon route, were in direct contradiction to those of Governor Simpson, his frozen limbs were sufficient proof of his sincerity, and his missionary character was sufficient guaranty for his honesty, and he would therefore, as President, rest upon these and act accordingly; would detail Fremont with a military force to escort the Doctor's caravan through the mountains; and no more action should be had toward trading off Oregon till he could hear the result of the expedition. If the Doctor could establish a wagon route through the mountains to the Columbia River, p.r.o.nounced impossible by Governors Simpson and Ashburton, he would use his influence to hold on to Oregon. The great desire of the Doctor's American soul, and Christian withal, that is, the pledge of the President that the swapping of Oregon with England for a cod-fishery should stop for the present, was attained, although at the risk of life, and through great sufferings, and unsolicited, and without the promise or expectation of a dollar's reward from any source. And now, G.o.d giving him life and strength, he would do the rest; that is, connect the Missouri and Columbia rivers with a wagon-track so deep and plain that neither national envy nor sectional fanaticism would ever blot it out[10]. And when the 5th of September, 1843, saw the rear of the Doctor's caravan of nearly two hundred wagons, with which he started from Missouri last of April, emerge from the western shades of the Blue Mountains upon the plains of the Columbia, the greatest work ever accomplished by one man for Oregon was finished. And through that great emigration during that whole summer, the Doctor was their everywhere-present angel of mercy, ministering to the sick, helping the weary, encouraging the wavering, cheering the mothers, mending wagons, setting broken bones, hunting stray oxen, climbing precipices; now in the rear, now at the front; in the rivers, looking out fords through the quicksands; in the deserts, looking out for water; in the dark mountains, looking out pa.s.ses; at noontide or midnight, as though those thousands were his own children, and those wagons and flocks were his own property. Although he asked not, nor expected, a dollar as a reward from any source, he felt himself abundantly rewarded when he saw the desire of his heart accomplished, the great wagon route over the mountains established, and Oregon in a fair way to be occupied with American settlements and American commerce. And especially he felt himself doubly paid, when, at the end of his successful expedition, and standing alive at his home again on the banks of the Wallawalla, these hundreds of his fellow summer pilgrims, way-worn and sunbrowned, took him by the hand and thanked him with tears for what he had done.

"During the Doctor's absence, his flour mill, with a quant.i.ty of grain, had been burned, and, consequently, he found but a small supply at his station on his return, raised by Mr. Geiger, a young man. But what he had in the way of grain, garden vegetables, and cattle, he gladly furnished the needy immigrants at the very low figure of the Wallamet prices, which was six hundred per cent. lower than what they had been compelled to pay at Forts Hall and Boise, and one half lower than they are to-day in the same country. And this was his practice every year till himself and wife and fourteen immigrants were murdered in the fall of 1847, because, as Vicar-General Brouillet says, 'they were American citizens', and not, as I am bold to say and can prove, because he was a physician.

Shame on the American that will intimate such a thing! This vicar-general of the Papal hosts on this coast does not thank you for such an excuse. He tells you plainly it was to break up the American settlements on this coast.

"Often the good Doctor would let every bushel of his grain go to the pa.s.sing immigrants in the fall, and then would have to depend upon me for breadstuffs for the winter and the whole year till next harvest, for his own large family and the scores of immigrants who every year were obliged to stop at his station on account of sickness or give-out teams. Although the Doctor had done so much for his country, it seems his blood was necessary to arouse the government to take formal possession of this coast, as it was his death by savages that sent the devoted J. L. Meek over the mountains to Washington, in the spring of 1848, to beg the government, in behalf of the citizens of this coast, to send us help, and to extend its jurisdiction over us."

[Footnote 10] They reached Fort Hall in safety, but there, in the absence of Dr. Whitman from their camp, they were told by Captain Grant, in the interest of the Hudson's Bay Company, as others had been told before, that it was idle for wagons to attempt to reach the Columbia. For a time there was a heaviness of spirit among those families, which, like the Israelites of old, had penetrated the depths of the "great and terrible wilderness." But Dr. Whitman, on ascertaining what had happened, rea.s.sured them by his bold and manly words, saying to them, "My countrymen! you have trusted me thus far; believe me now, and I will take your wagons to Columbia River;" and he did so, and Oregon was saved by his patriotism to the Union.

CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.

Pet.i.tion of the citizens of Oregon in 1843.--Complaints against the Hudson's Bay Company.--The Milling Company.--Kicking the half-bushel.--Land claims of Dr. McLaughlin.--Names of the signers.--Reasons for not signing.--Notice, deed, and bond of John McLaughlin.--Claim of Alvin F. Waller.

_Pet.i.tion of Citizens of Oregon in 1843._

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled:--

We, the undersigned, settlers south of the Columbia River, beg leave respectfully to represent to your honorable body:

As has been before represented to your honorable body, we consider ourselves citizens of the United States, and acknowledge the right of the United States to extend its jurisdiction over us; and the object of the present memorial is to ask that the protection of the United States may be extended to us as soon as possible. Hitherto, our numbers have been small, and the few difficulties that arose in the settlement were speedily and satisfactorily settled. But, as our settlement increases in numbers, so our difficulties increase in number and importance; and, unless we can have laws to govern us that will be respected and obeyed, our situation will be a deplorable one. Where the highest court of appeal is the rifle, safety in life and property can not be depended on.

The state of the country, its climate, resources, soil, productions, etc., has already been laid before your honorable body, in Captain Wyeth's memoir, and in former memorials from the inhabitants of this place.

Laws are made to protect the weak against the mighty, and we feel the necessity of them in the steps that are constantly taken by the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company, in their opposition to the improvement and enterprise of American citizens. You have been apprised already of their opposition to Captain Wyeth, Bonneville, and others; and we find that the same spirit dwells with them at the present day. Some years ago, when the Hudson's Bay Company owned all the cattle in Oregon, they would not sell on any conditions; but they would lend their cows to the settler--he returning to the company the cows loaned, with all the increase; and in case of the death of a cow, he then had the privilege of paying for it. But after the settlers, at great risk and expense, went to California and purchased for themselves, and there was a fair prospect of the settlement being supplied, then the Hudson's Bay Company were willing to sell, and at lower rates than the settlers could sell.

In the year 1842, feeling the necessity of having mills erected that could supply the settlement with flour and lumber, a number of the inhabitants formed themselves into a joint-stock company, for the purpose of supplying the growing wants of the community. Many of the farmers were obliged to leave their farms on the Wallamet, and go six miles above Vancouver, on the Columbia River, making the whole distance about sixty miles, to get their wheat ground, at a great loss of time and expense. The company was formed and proceeded to select a site. They selected an island at the falls of the Wallamet, and concluded to commence their operations. After commencing, they were informed by Dr.

McLaughlin, who is at the head of the Hudson's Bay Company's affairs west of the Rocky Mountains, that the land was his, and that he (although a chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company) claimed all the land on the east side of the Wallamet, embracing the falls down to the Clackamas River, a distance of about two miles. He had no idea, we presume, that the company would succeed. However, he erected a shed on the island, after the stuff was on the island to build a house, and then gave them permission to build under certain restrictions. They took the paper he wrote them, containing his conditions, but did not obligate themselves to comply with the conditions, as they did not think his claim just or reasonable.

Many projects had been started by the inhabitants, but, for want of means and encouragement, failed. This fate was predicted for the Milling Company. But, after much labor and difficulty, they succeeded in getting a saw-mill erected, and ready to run, and entered into a contract to have a grist-mill erected forthwith. And now, as they have succeeded, where is the Hudson's Bay Company? Dr. McLaughlin employs hands to get out a frame for a saw-mill, and erect it at Wallamet Falls; and we find, as soon as the frame is up, the gearing, which has been made at Vancouver, is brought up in boats; and that which cost a feeble company of American citizens months of toil and embarra.s.sment is accomplished by the chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company in a few weeks. He has men and means, and it is said by him that in two weeks his mill will be sawing. And what will be the consequence? Why, if the Milling Company sell for $15 per thousand, he can sell for $12; if they reduce the price to $10, he can come to $8, or $5, or $2 per thousand. He says he will have a grist-mill started as soon as he gets the saw-mill in operation.

All the wheat in Oregon they are anxious to get, as they ship it to the Russians on the northwest coast. In the first place they measured the wheat in a half-bushel, called by them imperial measure, much larger than the standard measure of the United States; this not answering, they next proceeded _to kick the half-bushel with the foot to settle the wheat_; then they brought up a measure larger than the former one; and now they fill this measure, then strike it _three times with a stout club_, and then fill up, and call it fair measure. Against such proceedings we need law that will be respected and obeyed.

About twelve or fourteen years ago, the Hudson's Bay Company blasted a ca.n.a.l a few feet to conduct water to a mill they were going to build, the timber for which is now lying at the falls rotting. They, however, abandoned the thing altogether, and built their mills on the Columbia, about six miles above Vancouver, on the north side of the river.

In the year 1837, agreeably to orders left by Mr. Slac.u.m, a house was erected at the falls, to secure the claim for him.

In 1840, the Methodist Mission erected buildings at the falls, and stationed two families there, and made a claim to sufficient land for their buildings, not interfering with any others who might wish to build. A short time previous to this, Dr. McLaughlin had a storehouse erected for the company, not occupied, however, further than to store wheat and other articles in, and as a trading-house during the salmon season.

After this, in 1841, a shanty was erected, and a man kept at the falls, whose business it was to trade with the Indians for furs and salmon, and look out for the doctor's claim, he said, and to forbid persons building at the falls, as some had built, and others were about building. This man was, and still is, a servant of the Hudson's Bay Company.

During the years 1841 and 1842, several families settled at the falls, when Dr. McLaughlin, who still resides at Fort Vancouver, comes on the ground, and says the land is his, and any person building without his permission is held as a trespa.s.ser. Without reference to any person's right or claim, he employs a surveyor to run out the plat; and as a bill was before the Senate of the United States to grant to every white male inhabitant a mile square, he has a mile run out to suit his views, and lays out a town plat at the falls, and calls it Oregon City. Although some, for peace's sake, asked him for the lots they had already in possession, and which he appeared very willing to grant, the doctor now felt himself secure, and posted up the annexed paper (marked A), which is the original; and all who had lots were required to pay Mr. Hastings five dollars for a deed of land which they knew very well the grantor did not own, but that Congress will pa.s.s a special act granting to each man his lot and improvements. Those that applied received (if they had a house on the lot) a deed, a copy of which is annexed (marked B); if they had no house, a bond was given for five dollars, a copy of which is annexed (marked C). To those that applied and paid their five dollars all was right with the doctor; while those who considered his t.i.tle to the land not good, and that therefore he had no right to direct who should build and who should not, had their lots sold to others. In one case the purchaser came to the original claimant and ordered him to stop digging the ground which he was preparing for a garden, and commanded him to remove his fences, as he had Dr. McLaughlin's bond in his pocket for the lots; and if he did not move the fence he would, and take forcible possession. Those who desired to have no difficulty, and did not apply for a deed, have lost their lots, the doctor's promise, and all. And Mr. Hastings (the doctor's agent) is now offering for sale the lots on which part of the mission buildings stand; and if he succeeds in finding a purchaser, they must either contend or lose their buildings.

Dr. McLaughlin has held claims in other places south of the Columbia River: at the Tualatin Plains and Clackamas Plains he had huts erected, to prevent others from building; and such is the power of Dr.

McLaughlin, that many persons are actually afraid to make their situation known, thinking, if he hears of it, he will stop their supplies. Letters were received here from Messrs. Ladd & Co., of the Sandwich Islands, in answer to a letter written by the late Mr. Ewing Young, for a few supplies, that orders were received forbidding the company's vessels carrying any goods for the settlers of Oregon. Every means will be made use of by them to break down every thing that will draw trade to this country, or enable persons to get goods at any other place than their store.

One other item, and we are done. When the United States government officers of distinction arrive, Vancouver is thrown open, and every facility afforded them. They were even more condescending to the settlers during the time the exploring squadron was in the Columbia; nothing was left undone to give the officers a high opinion of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company. Our Indian agent is entirely dependent on them for supplies and funds to carry on his operations.

And now your memorialists pray your honorable body that immediate action of Congress be taken in regard to this country, and good and wholesome laws be enacted for our Territory, as may, in your wisdom, be thought best for the good of the American citizens residing here.

And your memorialists will ever pray.

Robert Shortess, A. E. Wilson*, W. C. Remick*, Jeffrey Brown, E. N.

Coombs, Reuben Lewis, George Davis, V. Bennett, J. Rekener, T. J.

Hubbard, James A. O'Neil, Jer. Horregon, William McCarty, Charles Compo, John Howard*, R. Williams, G. Brown, John Turner*, Theodore Pancott, A. F. Waller, J. R. Robb, J. L. Morrison, M. Crawford, John Anderson, James M. Bates, L. H. Judson, Joel Turnham*, Richard H. Ekin, H. Campbell*, James Force, W. H. Wilson*, Felix Hathaway*, J. Lawson, Thomas J. Shadden*, Joseph Gibbs, S. Lewis, Jr., Charles Roy, William Brown, S. Davis, Joseph Yatten, John Hopstatter*, G.

W. Bellomy*, William Brown, A. Beers, J. L. Parish, William H.

Gray, A. D. Smith*, J. C. Bridgers*, Aaron Cook, A. Copeland, S. W.