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HSi 
 
 A 
 
 PLEA FOR THE INDIANS; 
 
 WITU 
 
 FACTS AND FEATURES 
 
 or 
 
 
 THE LATE WAR IN OREGON, 
 
 BT 
 
 JOHN BEESON. 
 
 **Mot daim hereditar/— not the trnti 
 Of frank eleeUon~ • • • 
 Not eyen the high, anointing hand of He«?ea, 
 Can authorize opprenion, give a law 
 For lawless power, wed faith to violation. 
 On reason build misrule, or Justly bind 
 ▲lleglanee to injustice. Tyranny 
 Absolres all faith ; and who invades mig rlf^t, 
 Howe'er his own oonunence, ean never b« 
 But a Usurper.** 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN BEESON, 
 
 No. 16 LAIGHT STREET. 
 
 FOB BALE B Y ALL B OOKSgLLEBS. 
 
 1868. 
 

 65203 
 
 Bitered, MMrdlog to Aet of CrongreM, In the yew 180T, If 
 
 JOHN BEESON, 
 
 Ai tbe Glork'f Office of the DUtrict Court of the Soatheni Diitarlel «f 
 
 Mew York. 
 
 \l 
 
 I r 
 
 -,? r ■» 
 
 V' ^ •--,»' 
 
 '/ Ot 
 
 tioius Houuir, Printer and StereotTper, 
 Comer Centre «nd White Sta., N. T. 
 
 i 
 
 •^ 
 
PEEFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 In accordance with the wishes of several friends, those 
 portions of this work which relate to Therapeutics and 
 Theology, have been carefully revised, and so far modified 
 as a strict sense of truth, and the right of individual judg- 
 ment would allow. It was not written to please the fancy, 
 to gain honor or wealth, nor even merely to get up a be- 
 nevolent effort in behalf of the Indians. The object waa 
 rather to speak from their stand-point, and to make public 
 those hidden yet real reasons why they are perishing be 
 fore (what is called) the march of civilization. As there 
 are now clearer views of Religion — of human relations, 
 needs and capacities, than were known when Railroads 
 were not in use, and Telegraphs were unthought of, I had 
 hoped to indicate measures more consonant with this age 
 of progress, and by truthful adaptation to nature, at once 
 put a stop to Indian Massacres and Border Wars. 
 
 In regard to Therapeutics, it is demonstrable that, foi 
 practical purposes, the Indians have at least as good a sys 
 tern as we possess. So, kind Reader, I pray you to read 
 this Book in the spirit of that charity which is spoken oi 
 as not being " easily provoked, but gentle, and easy to be en- 
 treated, enduring all things, and full of mercy and good 
 works." JOHN BSESON. 
 
 Decefmher 16, 1867. 
 
OATTTION TO THB SICK. 
 
 On page 122, allasion is made to the Indians plunging into cold water, 
 to cure the Small-Poz. Lest any of my readers should ii^jure themselves 
 by adopting the practice, I would renund them that the following rules are 
 necessary to do it safely : 
 
 1. Take no general bath within an hour before or after a meal, other- 
 wise digestion will be pariially suspended by the withdrawal of the vital 
 energy fi'om the stomach to the surface, to sustain the necessary reaction. 
 
 2. Dyspeptics and consumptives, and all of low temperaments, should 
 not bathe in water much colder than the blood, and not continue longer 
 than a minute or two. Those of strong vital power can bathe with impu- 
 nity in water much colder, but in every case there is injury unless a speedy 
 reaction is insured, either by exercise, or, when this is impracticable, warm 
 clothes or to bed will answer. 
 
 With these rules observed, I see no reason why the Small-Pox or any 
 other curable disease, should not be cured as well now as when the Syrian 
 Captain was cured of liis leprosy, by bathing seven times in the river Jor- 
 dan. 
 
 One thing is certain, (as the case alluded to fully illustrates,) that drugs 
 are death on Indians, and as an advocate for their protection, I declaim 
 against their use and introduction among them. For instance, what benefit 
 can possibly result from such vile articles as the following, which Dr. Trail 
 aflBrms are among the remedial agencies of the profession. Mineral poisons 
 and vile excrescence of animals, insects and reptiles, such as the musk and 
 the skunk, and the virus of the rattlesnake and the spider. And what is 
 strange, these poisonous matters are approved of as remedies for diseases 
 in man, in proportion as they are known to produce diseases in brutes, 
 hence that which will occasion convukions and death in a well dog, is used 
 to produce harmony and health in a sick man I ! No wonder that the Indians 
 who bathe, get well ; while those who took such things, died. 
 
 I am firmly persuaded that the use of fine flour, which induces constipa- 
 tion, and the use of drugs to correct it, are among the principal civilized 
 habits before which the Indians so rapidly perish ; and if those who have to 
 do with their transition from the primal state, would keep the bolting 
 apparatus from the mills, and alcohol and drug medicines from the stores, 
 it would be found that more rapid and much higher development and 
 longer life would be the consequence. Even the well-meant practice of 
 vaccination is now Imown to be a tremendous evil, inasmuch as it transmits 
 scrofula and its horrors to those who were previously free from its taint. 
 If people would breathe only pure air and eat pure food, Small-Pox would 
 not hurt them, and they would turn with disgust from the very thought of 
 having the diseased excrescence of another infused into their blood.— ^Sbs 
 Dt' TroXVt Encyclopedia on Inoculation. 
 
eal, other- 
 r the vital 
 reaction, 
 its, should 
 ue longer 
 rith impu- 
 38 a speedy 
 ible, warm 
 
 *ox or any 
 the Syrian 
 river Jor- 
 
 that drugs 
 
 I declaim 
 
 liat benefit 
 
 1 Dr. Trail 
 
 ■al poisons 
 
 musk and 
 
 id what is 
 
 )r diseases 
 
 in brutes, 
 
 og, is used 
 
 he Indiana 
 
 constiptb- 
 1 civilized 
 10 have to 
 le bolting 
 the stores, 
 ment and 
 ractice of 
 
 transmits 
 
 its taint. 
 
 ox would 
 bought of 
 
 ood.— 5ee 
 
 TABLE OP CONTENTS. 
 
 M 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FIBST SIGHT OF THB IKDIAKS. 
 
 run 
 
 Bftasons for Writing— Gomme&eement of the Jonmey— Frontier Lidlan*— Pony and 
 Dog ▼ehlcle»— Sick Cow taken by Indians— Unjast demand of the Whites— The 
 treaehorous AasatUt— Indian Betaliation— Best means'of extending Christianity and 
 aviliiatton 9 
 
 ^ ., CHAPTER II. 
 
 CONTUIUED WRONGS. 
 
 Squatter Sovereigns— Hnnttng spirit develops Into Mnrde*— Destruction, ^mldity, 
 and Oratefol Cliaracter of the Indians— Advantage of Peaceful Arrangements— Dis- 
 covery of Canoe, and Seizure of Fish — Slanderous Stories against the Indian— IDs 
 Kght to be heard— Degrading names applied to the Baee, and the results— Titles of 
 Dignity-.Atrocions Murder, and abuse of the Bemains of an Indian — Slaughter of 
 Indians by California Traders— Policy of conciliating Indians— Vengeance on the 
 Emigrants— Revenge a Pointof Conscience— Testimonies of Distinguished Men— Dr. 
 McLaughlin and Captain Smith— Mail-carrier shot— ni\}u8t Betaliation of the 
 Whites— Retort of the Indians 15 
 
 CHAPTER III , 
 
 OPENING OF WAR. 
 
 Beauties and Poddon of the Valley— Early Confederacy— Joyfiil sensatiom ofc stor- 
 ing the Valley, and perceiving dgns of Civilization— Apprised of War— Emigrants 
 capture Women and Children— Their rescue by the Indians— Treaty of Peace- 
 Happy Besultft— Disturbing Elements — Misrepresentations of Indian Character and 
 Claims— Abuse of them a ground of Public Suffrage— Emigrants attracted by s 
 Prospect of Oaln— Circumstances tending to develop the War— Forced Seizure of 
 Indian Women— Sale and Purchase of thent— Indian Murders and Executions— No 
 account of Murdered Indians — Revolting Sentiments^Abuse of Freedom the most 
 dasccfons and destructive Despotism 91 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE WAR SPIRIT. 
 
 Alarm of the Indians— Chiefii plead for Pea^^By neglect of their Claims driven to 
 War — General Alarm — Letter in the Oregon jito^Mman— Governor Steveni^s Froo* 
 lamation— Governor Currey calls for Volunteers— General Wool refuses to take part 
 In the War— Is Denounced— Effort to Btmor* both Um and Gentnd Filmer— 
 
TABLE or CONTENTS. 
 
 Aiitlioi'i tnie intent nlMpprehended— HU Letten mipprewwd— CoiTMpondenee of 
 lh« Qvnraon and (Jeneral Wool— Illnitntlon of War Spirit— Mr. Olney'i Letter 
 —'Indian* Paaeeable until Platnrbe4 P artlew contend for the honor of eonduotlng 
 the War— Want of Moral Power— Unchristian Spirit— Qnotadont—Reriew— Indian 
 ChUdren— Intelligence and Good Scholamhlp— Digger Indiana— Testimony of Mr. 
 Cliamberlain— Bojr of Mr. lliomas — Testimony of Judge Thornton— Dr. McLaugh- 
 lin— Mr. Hoorer— Indians possess Social Affectiona— White Lady and her Daughter 
 -Authority of the Gospel aUll la force— Soldiers themselres disgusted with Bar- 
 UtitiM 
 
 VAOS 
 
 ST 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WAR IK THK SOUTH. ^ 
 
 Bonthem War distinct fW>m that in the North— Testimony of Messrs. CnlTer— Of • 
 TraTdler— Illiberal policy of the New Settlers — Dissatisfaction of the Indians — At- 
 tack upon an Aged Indian and a Boy— Danger of Free Speech— Lost Horses— A 
 Farty of Indians Accused, and Eleren Shot Down — Forty Indians, Men, Women, and 
 Children, Murdered on suspicion — Aged White Man Murdered, because friendly to 
 Indiana— Truth of these Barbarities confirmed by Author's experience— The Indian 
 robbed of his Home and made an Outlaw — ^These thoughts bias the Author's Mind 
 — Tyee Jim — His Kemonstrauee— War incited between the two Tribes — ^Renraants 
 retir»— Stolen Horse charged upon the Indians — Pursuit— Indian Camp attacked— 
 Commencement of bpen War — Indians advance nearer, to gather Berries— Charged 
 with iteaUng a Horse— Attacked in their Camp— Trivial Dispute 9b 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 FURTHER HOSTILITIES. 
 
 Indiana attack Teamsters— Three killed— Propagation of Excitement— False'Alsrm^— 
 General Frenzy— Court Week— Troubles of Mr. Jones— Author recommends Rome- 
 
 . dial Measures— Mijoi^ !'• — PIko of General Attack— Recommended Massacre— OfBi^^.f. 
 eial Opinions— Mr. Jones inclined to the Shooting Plan— Agrees to help muster a 
 Company— Author's sadness in view of the contemplated Massacre — ^Brnte Force- 
 Meeting of Citizens— Proposed Massacre sanctioned by Religious Men aad Minis- 
 ters—Author's Speech in behalf of the Indiana— Guilt of the War charged on 
 Ministers and leading Religious Men 44 
 
 i f t 
 
 \\ 
 
 li 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ATROOrriES GET 0OUUOin>LA0E. 
 
 Bitenae Bxeltement— The Attack— Horrible Barbarities— Death of M^Jor L.— Insult 
 to the Dead— Noble Conduct of Captain Smith — Causes him to be Condemned and . 
 Bated — ^A friendly Tribe assailed and mostly put to Death— Survivors avenge them- \ 
 lelvM by firing thirteen Houses and killing the Whitea— Mr. Jones and Family 
 among them— Temporary Pause— Sick and Wounded Indians find no Quarter- 
 Horrible Murders of Indian Children— Affair on Table Roek-^Soldiers themselvea 
 Di^n>ted— Ctovemor Currey's Alarm and Proclamation— Take the Wrongs Home — 
 Human and Official Power Inseparable— Governor Cnrrey recovers from his fit of 
 Humanly— Issues another Proclamatloo reorganizing the very men he had de* 
 nonneed—Unfairneasof these Measures as compared with International Policy— False 
 Bapreaentationa— Extract fk'om Report— Reatfons why General Government ia not 
 mMudr- Indian Magnanimity— SenM of Moral ObUgation— Tha Powar of an Oath 
 
 80 
 
TABLE OF 00KTENT8. 
 
 Til 
 
 OHAPTBB Till. 
 
 BATTUCa Ain> inTBDEBa 
 
 via 
 
 SjitemmtlQ OrganlKatlon— SpeenUtlon In Males rad Ponies— Wwte uid EztniTB- 
 gsnoe— nkes and Boatont— Disparity of Strength In the Beii!»:<(nt»— Pompeoi 
 P»nde— Battles In the Papers— Watching for a Chance to fight the " Red Skins**— 
 Remarkable IHetorjr— Defeat— Specnlatlon— Indian Brarery and Sagadtj— Old 
 John— His Captnre— Escape— Abduction of his Danghter— Mnrder of his Son-la* 
 lav— Protection and Promotion of the Mnrderer— Impeachment— Trial and Harder 
 of the Old Chiefs Son— Brarery and Magnanimity of Captidn Smith— Horror and 
 Dismay of the Old Chief— He retires with his People to the Mountains— Constraint 
 and probable Sufferings— Common terror of Old John— Indian Fort — Bombard- 
 ment—Wonderful Escape— Misgivings and Resignation of Yolnnteers M 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF PEACB. 
 
 Tolunteers more Dreaded than Indians— Many ashamed of the part taken— Call tar 
 Peace — Position of the 5«n«n«I— Pecuniary and other Interests In the way of 
 Peace— Whipping Defined— Exdtlng News— Captain Bruce and Company— Volun* 
 teers sent to the Rescue— Hand-bills— Meeting— Reyerend Doctor— Another Gen- 
 tleman with equally Mafuanimous IHews — One Tolee only pleads for Peace— Twd 
 Indian Women Clubbed to Death— Infant killed by Dashing its head against a Tree 
 — Resignation of the Reporters— Vengeance of the Indians 71 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONTINUED EFFORTS FOR PEAOR. 
 
 Snlferlngs fSrom Cold and Hunger— Battles Multiply— Chinamen Killed and Robbed— 
 Bate Indians— Settlors desire Peace— Other classes opposed— Inhuman Threat*— 
 Indians begg^g for Peace and ProteetioD— Letters sent Abroad^Suppressed— Let- 
 ter to the Sentinel— Refused by the Editor— Private Threats against the Author- 
 Friends become Cool and Distant— All Free Sentiment obnozlous to the Ruling 
 Powers— Murders in San Francisco — Spirit of Violence and Aggression one with 
 that Exhibited in Kan gas, and of the South everywhere— Aeenmulating Danger*— 
 Mo Apparent means of Escape T8 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE ESCAPE. 
 
 A White Ruffian— Invitation to a Public Meeting— Letters from the Anther read and 
 canvassed- Attempt to Speak — Silenced by the Chairman— Neighbors Presoit— No 
 one dared Speak in his Behalf— Resolutions— Increased Excitement— Volunteeri 
 threaten VeDgeauce— A ^ew of the Author's work suddenly opens— Resolves to go 
 to Fort Lane— Last Evening at Home— Arrives at the Fort— Bids adlen to hl« Son- 
 Obtains an Escort, and Moves on— Parts with his Ouard— Continues the Jonmey— 
 Arrives In Salem— Reflecttons W 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 RUNNIN0 THE aAUNTLET WITH PATBIOnO AND CHRISTIAM XDITOB& 
 
 Piayars— Caution— Letter to Governor— Un&vorable Reports— Popular ShnfBln^— 
 Names and Character disagree— OplnlonB of the People— 'ilfyus—<^bbles—> 
 Wrongs of Religious Pretension— Company of Indians— Violated Flag of Trac*-« 
 MorderedFamily— Indian Agest .7 *....* 1^1 
 
Yiii 
 
 TABLB OF 00NTXMT8 
 
 OHAPTEB ZIII. 
 
 SEPIUTBD AND SEPRATIKa OOlTDrnOira. 
 
 PAflB 
 
 Jod Fatlmer— Exp«IIed from OIBm— Kewlntioni in tail Faror— Ptrting with the 
 Tribe»— A Pithjr QuMtion— 0«neral Wool— Publle Slander— Noblen«i»—Modoeks 
 — SoouUnff and ShooUnic— Murder and Captur»— Soul-Mnrder— Footpadi— SpoU»— 
 Learen— UnfltnoM of SpIritaalTeaetaer»— Report on Miuiona— White Man's Bellf- 
 Ion B^eotad— Wh7 85 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. , 
 
 AfFAIRS AND ADYENTURES IN OALDrORNU. 
 
 Vkiaage from Portland— Two Young Indiana— Indignitiee— Beat niood— ArrlTal^ 
 Disturbanoes In San Franoiaeo— Vigilance Committee— Stringent Meaaurea— No 
 Luok with the PreH—IiOuitlofr—InBensibilitf— Rejected hj a Christian Paper- 
 Promised Amendment— A Good Hit— Open Sesame IM 
 
 OHATER XV. 
 
 1 1 VARIOUS OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 Adlen— The Jonmef—IndemnitT^-Aspinwall—Arrlvjil— Delays— Common Apathy- 
 Humiliating Concession — Popular SoToreignty^-Oenerons Brarery— Indians des- 
 tined to Perish— Oreat Wrong*— Doom Rerersed— Religious Disabilitiea— Splritnal 
 Ministries— Katnral Correspondences— Creeds and Faiths 106 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DRUaS AND DRUa MEDICINES. 
 
 Harder of Dr. Whitman— All Ages hare their Martyrft— Greater Crneltiei often prao- 
 tleed among us— Preaoriptions of Moses— Mission of Jesus one of Uealing^One- 
 aided Representation*— Testimony of Dr. Qilbert — Strong Testimonies of Eminent 
 Fhysinlans Killing an Act of Conscience and Justice— Father Pandosy lid 
 
 \f\ 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 REMEDIAL MEASURES PROPOSED. 
 
 Soltahle Reserrea— Proper Agents— Means of Eleration— An Extract— Phrenological 
 Signs— Family Influences— Arts— Natural Sciences— Oolden Bnlft— Drug*— Selfish 
 Foliar— Bad Symptoms — Common Wrongs 198 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 LiMirfironiEllsaW. Famham 184 
 
 •• «* maoMH.aiMD !» 
 
 ./ 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FIRST SIGHT OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 Hav^.to "been a three years' resident in the vicinity of 
 that class of our fellow-men, hundreds of thousands of 
 whom are under the control of our Government, and yet 
 have no voice in its administrations, and but little hold 
 on the sympathy of our people, I would offer a few 
 thoughts upon a subject which, as I conceive, has not here- 
 tofore received ttfSat just and impartial consideration which 
 its importance demands. 
 
 In the Eeport, just published, of the Secretary of the 
 Interior, it is declared that the object of the Government 
 throughout has been " to do ample justice to the Indians, 
 and to leave no room for complaint that they have been 
 overreached bj the White Man." The simple announce^ 
 ment of this object commends itself to every reflecting 
 and benevolent mind ; and yet it is to be lamented that 
 manv of our people, instead of realizing its justice, do so 
 much to thwart its purpose. 
 
 With a view of awakening a truer appreciation of the 
 Indians* rights, and a more thorough co-operation in the 
 views of the Government for securing them, I would now 
 lay before my fellow-citizens such facts as have come be- 
 fore me, which, with their results, have an important 
 bearing on these great questions. And I engage in this 
 work the more earnestlv, for the reason, that, while every 
 other class of suffering humanity has its specific organiza- 
 tions for relief we hear of nothing adequate to the necesiiii* 
 
 1* 
 

 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 ties of tliat Bace, whicli, from the very moment tlie White 
 Man set his foot upon our shores, has been constantly the 
 subject of monopoly and wrong, in every shape which the 
 overbearing and all-engrossing spirit of our people could 
 suggest or impose. 
 
 In the Beport already alluded to, as well as in the excel- 
 lent one of the Indian Department, the grievous injustice 
 and abuse to which the tribes are subject, are spoken of in 
 strong and truthful language. And yet, it must be ob- 
 served, that no general statement, however correct or im- 
 pressive it may be, can present so graphic a picture of the 
 reality as a detail of facts. I propose, therefore, to cor- 
 roborate the statements in the above-mentioned Eeports, 
 by presenting to the public, so far as memory serves, a 
 personal narrative of what I saw, and heard, and thought, 
 m reference to this matter, during my sojourn in Oregon 
 Territory. 
 
 I left Illinois in March, 1853, en route, across the plains, 
 for Oregon ; and, like many others, anticipated the pleasure 
 of seeing Humanity in its various phases of savage, bar- 
 baric, and semi-civilized life. 
 
 We encamped at Havensville, on the Missouri, and 
 waited several days, in order that the grass might afford 
 sufficient feed before we ventured beyond the possibility 
 of purchase. It was here that we had our first sight of 
 the Indians ; and truly our hearts sickened at the view. 
 There were men and women, with naturally fine forms, 
 and minds capable of development, yet evidently besotted, 
 and sunk below their original barbarism. Tobacco and 
 whisky, and the accumulation of civilized vices, had done 
 their work. Some of them were begging for bread, appar- 
 ently in great destitution ; and surely it would be but a 
 poor return for the lands of which we have deprived them, 
 to devise, and put in operation, some means by which 
 these poor outcasts may be saved &om beggary and utter 
 starvation. 
 
 At Fort Laramy, and for some miles around, we saw 
 several hundreds of the Sioux tribe. They appeared to be 
 a fine people ; they were clad in dressed skins, profusely 
 decorated with featherSi beads, and paint and most of 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 u 
 
 tliem mounted on fair and well-fed ponies. They also ap- 
 peared clean in tlieir persons and dress ; and the principal 
 article they begged of the emigrants was soap. Here it 
 may be suggested, that an article so conducive to cleanli- 
 ness and^elf-respect, should be liberally supplied as a part 
 of their annuity. From many things that I saw of them, I 
 could not resist the impression that a people so highly en- 
 dowed with sublimity and ideality — a sense of the grand 
 and beautiful — were naturally aspirants for refinement and 
 the arts. If a portion of the money now spent in building 
 forts, and supporting men and munitions of war, could be 
 laid out in the means of civilization, we should soon need 
 no warlike defenses to protect ourselves against them. Let 
 them have proper articles of clothing, dress-makers and 
 tailors, artistic musicians and painters, horticulturists and 
 farmers — in short, every thing of the useful and agree- 
 able, which they are now prepared to accept from civilized 
 life ; and they would, by the upward tendency of human 
 nature itself, inevitably be attracted to higher and truer 
 conditions. In order to preserve and maintain these, they 
 would soon have local homes, into which would ultimately 
 flow all the varied currents of refinement and civilization. 
 These means would be more economical to Government, 
 and vastly more persuasive arguments in favor of Chris- 
 tianity and good citizenship, than ever yet spoke to them 
 either from bowie-knife, nfle, or patent revolver. They 
 should, in fact, be protected from the worse than savage 
 borderers, who practice the arts of civilization only to ex- 
 hibit and extend its vices, its monopoly, and its crimes. 
 
 A day's journey from Fort Laramie we met a band of 
 Indians, apparently of another tribe, not as good-looking 
 as the last, but, nevertheless, quite passable in their ap- 
 pearance. Their pack-horses were led by women, and 
 were attached to a k'ud of sled, of very simple structure, 
 but admirably adapted to a rough country, where there 
 are no roads. It waa formed of two poles of eighteen or, 
 perhaps, twenty feet long, with a cross-piece so arranged 
 as to resemble the letter A. The horse is attached inside 
 the narrow end, with a breast-strap and back-band. The 
 children, and the principal part of the load, are fastened 
 
12 
 
 A. FLEA FOR THE mDUSa. 
 
 to the cross-piece, two or tbree feet back of tlie horse. 
 The poles, which are composed of light, tough, and 
 springy materials, being very long and wide, opening 
 gradually from the pointed fore end, to a wide angle in the 
 rear, dide oyer the chapparel* and hillocks, over holes and 
 down steep precipices, without inconvenieuce to the rider 
 or the load. 
 
 Soon after, we passed a large encampment of the same 
 tribe, where a number of dogs, with poles proportioned to 
 the size of the animal, were employed in hauling water 
 from a distant spring. These Indians made no ofiPer either 
 to trade or beg, and seemed hardly to notice our numerous 
 train of wagons and stock, although we passed close by 
 their camp. 
 
 A disastrous occurrence took place soon after we passed 
 by this spot. It has already been brought before the pub- 
 lic ; but as it illustrates how difficulties generally occur be- 
 tween the races, and, at the same time, how easily they 
 might be avoided, if our people, especially Government 
 Agents, were more fully imbued with the spirit of justice 
 and magnanimity, I will, in this connection, repeat the 
 account. 
 
 A company of emigrants having a sick cow, which was 
 unable to travel further, abandoned the poor animal, and 
 left her by the way-side. The Indians, seeing she was 
 given up, Killed her for their own use. The emigrants, 
 hearing of this, reported at Fort Laramie that the Indians 
 had stolen and killed some of their cattle, upon which, an 
 officer, with a detachment of thirty men, was sent to de- 
 mand the thief. The Indians — ^knowing-the certainty and 
 severity of impeJiding punishment, for there was the hide, 
 and even the beef, in visible possession — ^refused, or hesi- 
 tated to give up any of their number as the criminal ; for 
 they well knew that nothing which they could plead 
 would have the least weight with their accusers. 
 
 The military order was peremptorily insisted on ; and to 
 
 enforce obedience, a volley was fired over their camp ; 
 
 and, either by design or accident, the chief fell dead in 
 
 their midst. Nothing was more natural than that the In* 
 
 * Cbftpparel ia the oommon term for brush or shrubber7. 
 
A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 IS 
 
 dians should, in their turn, attack the assailants. Every 
 principle of right or hono|^ recognized among them do- 
 manded this ; and twenty-eight of the white men fell 
 dead beneath the force of their justly-excited resent- 
 ment. 
 
 In consequence of this the Indians were charged with 
 massacre, as well as robbery. "War was declared, or sup- 
 posed to exist ; and the following year hundreds of thou- 
 sands were expended in a campaign against them, although 
 they had, in the interim, done all they could to express 
 their desire for peace and friendship. General Harney, 
 with a glittering array of armed men, both horse and 
 foot, marched on to the Plains, and was met by the Chief, 
 who nobly came forward in advance, and plead with the 
 officer for peace and justice, in behalf of his people. 
 
 The General held him in parley, while, m accordance 
 with a preconcerted arrangement, the Dragoons, by a cir- 
 cuitous route, got in the rear of the Indians, and, at the 
 word of command, opened a promiscuous slaughter of these 
 comparatively defenseless people. Is not such a procedure 
 as this an outrage against every principle of humanity and 
 justice? Is there any thing, in all the usages and laws of 
 war, recognized among civilized Nations, that could save 
 that officer, and all who willingly assisted in the work, 
 from the charge, and from the giult, of wholesale murder r 
 And yet, acts like this, involving a greater or less amount 
 of wrong, are of almost daily occurrence, as I shall attempt 
 to show. And yet, how easily all this horrible waste of 
 life and treasure might have been avoided, if the represent- 
 atives of our People and Government had pursued a dif- 
 ferent course. If the Emigrants had considered the de- 
 struction which is continually being made of the Buffalo 
 and other, game, and the scarcity and often suffering to 
 ^ which the Indians are often subject for want of food, they 
 would have felt no reason for complaint, which came with 
 a very ill grace under the circumstances. The cow was 
 made capital only when it was to be turned against the 
 outlawed Eace, which we are steadily seeking to supplant 
 and destroy. Or if the officer, instead of demanding an 
 Unooaditional surrender, had gone, in the spirit of kind- 
 
14 
 
 A PLEi. FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 ness, to invite an impartial investigation, there wonld have 
 been no injustice and.no bloodphed. 
 
 Can we, who claim the righra of Habeas Corpus and trial 
 by our peers, set aside with impunity, observances which 
 are sacred among the rudest tribes, and with the false plea 
 of martial justice, which we have no right to assume, ac- 
 tually commit nameless atrocities, in direct violation of a 
 flag of truce, or of an accepted parley ? Shall we ever be 
 able to lead our Neighbors out of their barbaric conditions 
 by sinking ourselves below the pale of ordinary savageism ? 
 Ko ; we can never extend civilization but by making it 
 attractive, and worthy of acceptance. We must exhibit 
 a character worthy of respect, before we can so far gain 
 the confidence of tho Bed Man, as to be able to do him 
 good. We must draw him outward ; we must attract him 
 upward; we must give him something better than his own 
 barbarism, or we can never bring him into higher con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Our military can never win honorable laurels in any 
 contest with the Indians ; for the world regards such war- 
 £ire as they would a deadly strife between a giant and a 
 dwarf. The strength is all on one side. But in the case 
 mentioned, our action could not be justified by even the 
 pretense of war. It was a deliberate massacre of supplicat- 
 ing dependants — ^murder in its most revolting and aggra- 
 vated form. 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 CONTINUED -WBONGS. 
 
 Among tbe thousands who cross the Plains, there are 
 many who have never been refined by either mental or 
 moral culture. The sum total of their religious and polit* 
 ical faith consists in JSquaMer Sovereignty — the ri^ht to do 
 as they choose, regardless of all but selfish interests. 
 When such as these get beyond the range of Law and 
 Civil 'nation, a slight cause onen makes them reckless and 
 abusive ; and many are the cases of violence and murder, 
 of which the world never hears ; and as the Authorities at 
 the Forts exercise neither civil nor military jurisdiction 
 over the Emigrants, any outrage majTbe committed with 
 comparative impunity. 
 
 . But it is the Indians who are generally their most nu- 
 merous victims. At first they find more excitement in 
 shooting bears and bufi^oes, than they did in the States in 
 killing rabbits and deer. They grow ambitious, and begin 
 to think it would be a great achievement to kill an Indian ; 
 and, as most of them are armed with rifles and revolvers, 
 the desire becomes strong to slay one of those whom their 
 own savageness has converted into an enemy. This desire 
 is not only felt ; but as the travelers proceed further and 
 further into !' ^ interior, it finds open and frequent expres- 
 sion ; and men are heard to declare their determination to 
 shoot the first Indian they see. Almost daily, from leaving 
 Fort Laramie, to arrival in Oregon, did I have occasion 
 to remonstrate with some who entertain these unworthy 
 views. So many Indians had been thus destroyed by pre- 
 vious emigration, that we saw very few on the route ; those 
 who did visit us were very shy, and fearful of approach. 
 I could not regard them as enemies, and often, with pleas- 
 
Id 
 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 tire, I watcbed them as tliej passed from tent to tent, and 
 saw the grateful emotions play over their countenance, as 
 one or another of the Emigrants would offer a few crackers, 
 a piece of bread, or even a friendly smile. The prompt- 
 nfess with which they reciprocated every overture of kind- 
 ness, made an indelible impression on mj mind, that they 
 richly deserve the sympathy and protection of our People 
 and Government I felt assured that if some efficient 
 means were adopted, to restrain the evil-disposed among 
 us, it would be quite easv, and of vast advantage, to es- 
 tablish terms of peaceful intercourse with jail tne tribes 
 along the* whole ^ route Jo the Pacific. A small annuity to 
 the opferent tribes, of clothing and impalements adapted to 
 their circumstances, would be but a fair acknowledgment 
 for passing through their lands, and the use of their game, 
 which we could well afford, and ought, in all honesty, to 
 proffer them. And these pacific measures would also be 
 the truest -economy. By a mutual good understanding, 
 we could dispense with the fatigue of constant watching, 
 while, at the same .time, we should be secured from the 
 losses so often incurred by the Emigrants, and from those 
 cruel retaliations, which now so frequently are permitted 
 to fall on the innocent. It would also be an initiatory 
 step toward the civilization of all the Indians in our wide 
 domain. Thus we, as a Nation, have the strongest pos- 
 sible motives, both of honor and interest, not only to love 
 mercy, but to do justice by this long-abused people. 
 
 We took the route for Eogue Kiver Valley, Southern 
 Oregon, leaving the Humboldt eighty miles above the sink. 
 After crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we passed by 
 a lake of considerable size, and pitched our tents upon its 
 eastern shore. Some of the company discovered among 
 the rushes near the margin, an Indian canoe, containing 
 long spears, headed with bone, and several other primitive 
 implements for catching fish, with quite a pile of the game 
 itself, freshly caught. The poor fishermen, ala. Jied at our 
 approach, had concealed themselves. The persons who 
 made the discovery, took all the fish; and so far from 
 leaving an equivalent, they were only, by considerable re- 
 monstrance, hindered firom destroying the boat and imple- 
 
A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 17 
 
 xtoents, whicli would have been an incalculable loss to tbe 
 tribe, as, with their rude instruments, it must have been 
 an immense labor to make them ; and want and starvation 
 might have ensued, before they could have been supplied 
 wim others. 
 
 Happy should I be, if the memory of these scenes, and 
 of that journey, did not remind me of so many circum- 
 stances which I would rather forget than repeat. But 
 since whatever is done by the Indians, though m self-de- 
 fense, is published all over the land, as savage barbarity, 
 for which nothing short of extermination is recommended 
 and sought, it is but common justice to state a few things 
 which have been done against them by those who claim to 
 be so much their superiors. 
 
 The majority of the first Emigrations to Oregon were 
 from Missouri, and among them it was customary to speak 
 of the Indian man as a Buck ; of the woman as a Squaw; 
 until at length, in the general acceptance of these terms, 
 they ceased to recognize the rights of Humanity in those to 
 whom they were so applied. By a very natural and easy 
 transition, from being spoken of as brutes, they came to 
 be thought of as game to be shot, or as vermin to be de- 
 stroyed. This shows the force of association, and the 
 wrong of speaking in derogatory terms of those we regard 
 as our inferiors. The same principle, in another direction, 
 is illustrated by the liberality with which we bestow titles 
 of office and dignity — even upon those to whom they do 
 not belong. Who of us has not addressed his fiiend as 
 Squire, or Captain, or Colonel, simply because we would 
 impress upon others a feeling of respect for the person — 
 showing that, though not filling the office, he is considered 
 worthy of the honor ; and thus men rise in public esteem. 
 But, on the other hand, let a man be denounced by the 
 popular voice as a thief, and he will be regarded as such 
 whether he is or not. Thus the poor Indian, by being 
 spoken of as a brute, is cast beyond the pale of a common 
 humanity — ^where the killing of him ceases to be murder, 
 and no atrocity is considered cruel or unjust. 
 
 A band of Emigrants, who went over the same route 
 five or six weeks after us, were attended by a company of 
 
r 
 
 18 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIAKS. 
 
 I 
 
 Volunteers, sent by public expense from Oregon to aid and 
 protect them on the way out Of course these men must 
 show their valor. On coming to the Lakes, an Indian 
 man, with two women, was discovered catching fish ; and 
 forthwith preparation was made for an attack. Rifles were 
 leveled; but the Indian, with only a bow and arrow, nobly 
 stood his ground until he fell, riddled through and through 
 by the bullets of his assailants. The terrified females were 
 caught, and made to witness the cutting and slashing of 
 the gory body of their murdered husband, father> son, or 
 brother, by those who thus added brutal insult to their 
 previous crime. 
 
 The above account was received from several different 
 persons, in the same company ; and they also informed me 
 that a number of Traders from California, who had located 
 themselves during the summer on the Humboldt, for the 
 purpose of buying lame cattle and trading with the 
 Emigrants, when they were ready to return, deliberately 
 killed several Indians, and took possession of their horses. 
 On a Sabbath day, during which the travelers camped near 
 this trading-post, they heard the firing of guns, and learned 
 that a company of seven Indians were shot by the Traders 
 as they were riding past, and the horses of the murdered 
 men aaded to their own stock. 
 
 I would here suggest that it is the Indians whom our 
 Government should be most solicitous to protect, not merely 
 from a principle of magnanimity and justice toward them 
 as the suffering and weaker I^ce, but also as a matter of 
 self-interest and self-protection. So long as the Red man 
 lives, every murdered Indian will be avenged ; or, by all 
 the power that is in him. he will ever seek to do this. It 
 is not only a conventional obligation, but a part of his re- 
 ligion. Every succeeding Emigrant train will be watched 
 "with more than Argus eyes ; and unsuspecting, and often 
 innocent victims, will perish to pay the penalty. The pub- 
 lic mind has long labored under a great mistake in suppos- 
 ing that the Indian is actuated chiefly by animal instinct, 
 or that he does not possess, in a high degree, those faculties 
 from which arise emotioL > of gratitude, a sense of right, 
 and a love of justice. Nothing is more contemptible in 
 
A FLEA FOB THS INDIANS. 
 
 19 
 
 the mind of an Indian tlian cowardly meanness, either 
 toward an Enemy or Friend. Hence their revenge is a 
 matter of conscience. Thev believe, as Moses taught, " Life 
 for life ;" " Blood for blooid ;" and in the way of this, peril 
 is no hinderance, and death has no terror. We talk of 
 Martyr courage, and Christian triumphs ; but if the 
 heroic sacrifices and noble deeds perfonned by Indians in 
 defense of principle, were duly understood and chronicled, 
 we should have a large addition to the calendar of Saints 
 and faithful men, who have been an honor to the species. 
 I do not make this assertion solely on the strength of my 
 own observation, but it is confirmed by Traders and gentle- 
 men intimately acquainted with Indian character. 
 
 In conversation with that renowned and venerable man, 
 Dr. McLaughlin, who was for more than half a century an 
 Indian Trader, and for twenty-two years Superintendent 
 of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, he assured me that the 
 Indians have a high sense of justice. They never allow, 
 among themselves, advantage to be taken of the weaker 
 party. Though jealous of their rights, they will never in- 
 fringe on treaty stipulations, if constructed on principles 
 of equity, and honorably observed by others. He further 
 declared that, during all the long time he had been con- 
 nected with them, although he, and those under him, had 
 traded to the amount of many millions, dealing with all 
 the tribes, from the head waters of the Columbia and its 
 tributaries, to the Pacific, and the intermediate country to 
 the head of the Sacramento Biver, they had no wars, nor 
 even any serious difficulty, and consequently no occasion 
 for a standing army. 
 
 The testimony of Captain Smith, of Fort Lane, who 
 was surrounded by Indians, and intimately acquainted 
 with the origin and progress of the late Oregon war, is 
 equally strong. In an interview with him, in company 
 "\tith Dr. Ambrose, during the early part of the difficulties, 
 they united in the remark, that if there were any Christiana 
 in Bogue Biver Valley, they were to be found among the 
 Indians. 
 
 The impolicy of protecting one Bace and punishing 
 the <^ther, is to be seen in the experience of nearly every 
 
20 
 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 
 campaign that is set on foot against the Indians. The 
 substance of the following I have gathered from the late 
 papers; and as it is a specmien of the generaliW' of Indian 
 wars, I will again call it up to yiew. The Mail Gainer 
 from Fort ^Laramie was shot, as was supposed by an In- 
 dian. No sooner had the news reached tne Fort, than the 
 soldiers were on their horses, and in hot pursuit. They 
 overtook a party of Indians, killed eleven, captured twenty 
 of their horses, burned their camp, and then returned 
 to the Fort. The same night, the Indians who had es- 
 caped, suiprised a company of travelers, killed the men, 
 took a white woman prisoner, and captured a number of 
 animals, with a considerable property. Now who does not 
 see that it is time to put a stop to these suicidal proceed- 
 ings ; for so long as the Indians are exposed to such in- 
 justice, these, and similar inflictions, will inevitably visit 
 our people. Investigation and justice would have insured 
 protection to the poor travelers ; and until we extend to 
 the Indians the common rights of humanity, we have no 
 reason to expect them for ourselves. 
 
 # 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 OPENINa OP WAB. 
 
 I WILL now proceed with the narrative of events, as they 
 fell under my own observation, or came to my knowledge 
 through the testimony of others. Our Train arrived m 
 Bogue Kiver Valley, 28th of September, 1868, having been 
 something more than six montns on our journey. Only 
 the upper, or southern part of this valley was occupied by 
 a very sparse settlement of Whites, the Indians having 
 collected on the lower but richer part. It is the main 
 thoroughfare between the Willamette and Sacramento 
 Valleys, about two hundred miles from each, and eighty 
 miles from Crescent City, on the coast, to which it is ac- 
 cessible only by pack mules. Some of the gulshes* that 
 open into it, are rich in gold. It has numerous mountain 
 streams, and a considerable proportion of fertile land. Its 
 width varies from one to several miles. The surrounding 
 mountains are lofty ; and some of them are capped with 
 Snow most of the year. There is a plenty of timber and 
 water-power, with a boundless range of pasturage for sheep 
 and cattle. The scenery is varied and beautiful beyond 
 description. The climate of this region is probably the 
 most pure and bracing that can be found in any part of 
 the Pacific, being considerably elevated above tne ocean, 
 and far removed from the inundated lands of the Colum- 
 bia and Sacramento and their tributary streams. All 
 these make it a desirable location for settlement. 
 
 When first visited, in 1849 and 1850, it was found oc- 
 cupied by numerous small bands of Indians, united under 
 one general Confederacy. These tribes were said to pos- 
 sess intellect and physical strength equal, if not superior, to 
 * A ravine^ or mountain gap, is called a CfutsTu 
 
22 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 !1, 
 
 any on the continent. Thej had abundance of food, in a 
 great variety of berries and nutritious roots, which are 
 found indigenous, on all the bottom lands, and are propa- 
 gated without culture; and to these were add&d the 
 swarms of mountain trout and salmon which, in some 
 seasons, abound in almost every creek. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the joyful sensations of our 
 company, on entering this valley. We had been traveling 
 months over mountain and desert. Our eyes had been 
 strained upon objects varied by the novel, the grand, and 
 sometimes by the most wild and awful aspects that nature 
 could present; when suddenly, we beheld an inclosed 
 field, with shocks of grain, a house surrounded by gardens, 
 people, and appurtenances of civilization. Then it was 
 that the long-absented thoughts of home and rest, rashed 
 over us ; and as we looked on this lovely valley, we hoped 
 for an end to the toils and perils of our long and weari- 
 some journey. It was a picture varied with shadow and 
 sunshine, lofby mountains and little hills, meadows, groves, 
 and silvery streams, altogether more beautiful than a painter 
 could portray, or even imagine. 
 
 But we were soon apprised of the existence of war with 
 the Indians, and the death of several men, who had arrived 
 in the Valley about two weeks previous. The Settlers 
 were all crowded in three or four Forts, hastily put up for 
 protection. They had captured a number of women and 
 children ; and, aided by the first arrived Emigrants, were 
 guarding them in a Fort, at the upper end of the Valley. 
 They had kept them about ten days, when the husbands 
 and fathers took the following plan to accomplish the de- 
 sired liberation of their wives and children. Twenty-five 
 or thirty active Indians traveled thirty or forty miles from 
 below, keeping themselves out of sight of the Settlers. 
 One morning, just at daybreak, when the men in the up- 
 per Fort had no thought of Indians being near, they were 
 aroused by the blazing of stacks ; and before they had 
 time to rally to the rescue, the guardsmen were killed, and 
 all the Indians, including their prisoners, were gone. To 
 add to their chagrin, pursuit was impossible, for the Enemy 
 had carried off all their animals. 
 
A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 28 
 
 in some 
 
 A few days after our arrival, the Settlers, finding the 
 war to be a losing business, made a treaty of peace, agree- 
 ing that there should be a reserve of land, within wniob 
 the Indians should not be molested, and that all private 
 grievances should be settled equally by the Authorities, 
 and not by private revenge. The Settlers, as well as the 
 new Emigrants, then went to work in good earnest. 
 Farms were laid out, houses and mills raised, and fresh 
 mines discovered. All might have been prosperous and 
 happy ; but, unfortunately, a ^eat part of the population 
 consisted of men from Missouri, and other parts where the 
 great truths which our Fathers established, as the basis of 
 Government, are not recognized. They claimed rights for 
 themsel /es which they refused to others ; for they denied 
 to the poor Indian the common prerogative, peaceful en- 
 joyment of " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 
 Hence treaties were disregarded ; and peace became utterly 
 impossible, as it always is, and must be, whenever the 
 strong man removes the landmark of his weaker neighbor, 
 and monopolizes according to his own pleasure. This 
 fundamental principle being cast aside, there was no 
 longer any restraining power ; and supreme selfishness be- 
 came the rule, and a worse than naked brute force the ac- 
 cepted and only law of the land. 
 
 There were scores of men, assuming the prerogatives of 
 sovereigns, who could not read, ana yet made and ex- 
 
 ecuted laws, and whose only idea of the Constitution of 
 country is, that it was made to keep down the " Nigge 
 
 iggers, 
 
 n 
 
 Of course they understood it to have the same bearing upon 
 Indians, and all others except " white male American cit- 
 
 izens. 
 
 This cruel and fatal error was strengthened, rather than 
 corrected, by the aspirants for office ; and especially was 
 this the case with the candidate for Representative at 
 Washington. Indians were mentioned frequently in their 
 speeches, but always in such a manner as to convey the 
 impression that it was meritorious to destroy them ; and 
 one of the Candidates based his claims to the public suf- 
 frage on his superior tact or facility for securing the publio 
 funds as indemnity for Indian wars. 
 
ir i 
 
 1! 
 
 fii 
 
 I 1 
 
 
 
 I i 
 
 :! I 
 
 '\ ! 
 
 . 1 
 
 I I 
 
 u 
 
 A n.l&A FOU TIIM INDIANS. 
 
 1 lirtvo hoanl novoml of ihoso juiblio ivUIwusca; Imtiw 
 nono of t)\t>m \v«n (hon> oiu> wonl ouUmiIiUihI ti> awukon 
 iUolin^ \>r (HMiipaMHion, or u sim\so of humaiuty and juhUoo 
 towam thnt. tmrorhmuto Haoo, whoso ho!»\o» liad l>ooii 
 visarpoil, or tho nocoHsily v>r lioni>r aiul triitli in tho ob- 
 liorvanoo ortivatioM. Tho f;(ix>at tluMuo of lV>llaw - DoUai's 
 -"Dollam I ivu\ tho rfUMlitv with whioh thoy whoiilil bo 
 flaiuKnl ovor to J»oot ilio claims i>t' tho war,^\v<LS tho abaorb- 
 luft topia 
 
 It is woll Iviiown (hat tho prospoot oC u;ivat ujain hail at- 
 Iraotod tho pooplo to tlnwo parts ; ana as fjuliau wars 
 i>»\>n\isoil a n^avlv way tv> v4)tniu it^ wi^ u»av <M»sily sov> how, 
 m this oa'^o, tluOovo ot' monov In oamo tlio iH>ot oi" all ovil, 
 anvl how littlo otK>rt {how wouUi bo to avoitl tbat which 
 tlivvso high \\\ position sootnovl to sjuuuivui. Tiio peculiar 
 natm\> oi' tho climate, auvl tho cn\plovnicnt of tho nuniujjj 
 contpanios. hail alsv^ considerable intlneneo in brin^iiig 
 alnnit huMttlitics, Owiiij^' U> a svvvivity of water during sev- 
 eral nuMUhs i>f tho YOar. tho Miners have no work. Their 
 foovl, meanwhile, cvuisists, principally o( tlno bivad and 
 beef; and th<\v j;vi\erally \isc abundance v>f tobacco and 
 whisky. Tluis the ipiaiity v>f the (ood^ a>ul the poisons, 
 in conncctivu\ with a stin\ulating atmospheiv, excite their 
 baser pulsions ; aiul, in th«^ absenee oi^ \\\on\\ ivstraint and 
 civil law, they sivk induli^vnce by outraj;x*s on the pei'sons 
 of ilefensolcss Indians, i torbear the ivcital v>f ln>ri\u's. 
 Any .\n\eriv\u\ tather vn* i\u»ther can easily imagine what 
 \vo\dd be the tate o( their dau>;hters if, utu>roteeteil and 
 isolated, in valleys and ravines, sunvunded by ho>ts of 
 \nen of the class auvl uuvlcr the ciivun\si^mecs above de- 
 ^vribed, It is ni> palliation to SiU", that tho females are 
 willing" victims ; for it is notorious that their lathers and 
 bi\>thcrs aiv ot\en shi>t in vtnlcr to gain toivible possession. 
 We should ivali^o the niaguitude of this wivng, if we eon- 
 «udcr what execration and punishment we inlhet upon an- 
 other U;\ce for such violations of v>ur own. 
 
 iriveiv wciv also men vile enough to take advantage of 
 the uecl^ssitics of the Indians, and tcm^'t them to trade olV 
 ibeir daughter's tor n^volvcrs, ritk\^ and ammunition. And 
 (liis &luuuci\il tnxilic WAS Ciuriod to such ;ui cxt<?ut, that 
 
to awaktMi 
 ami juHiico 
 limi l)00u 
 in (ho ob- 
 i's "I )(>lhu'« 
 hUouKI ho 
 tho absorb- 
 
 i\in bail at- 
 
 xkWmx wju'rt 
 
 \y soo bow, 
 
 of all ovil, 
 
 tluit wbiob 
 
 bo poouliar 
 
 ibo mining 
 
 \ bringing 
 
 luring 80V- 
 
 rk. T\mv 
 
 hwiid anil 
 
 1)1)51000 n«\d 
 
 10 |)oii<ons, 
 
 xoito tboir 
 
 straint ami 
 
 bo poi*sonH 
 
 )(' liori\)rt4. 
 
 igino \vb;\t 
 
 00 tod and 
 
 bo>ts ot' 
 
 abovo dc- 
 
 nialos aro 
 
 \tbors and 
 
 )osisossion. 
 
 il' NYO oon- 
 
 upon an- 
 
 antngo of 
 
 trado olV 
 
 tion. And 
 
 Lt<»ut, that 
 
 A PLKA rOU TIMC INDIANH. 
 
 >vb(>n npon war ooinnxMiood, tb(^ common lament waa 
 ovorvwb(M'o board, tlmtlluMv^ wvw .MCMrooly any arms in tbo 
 A^illoy, lor i'O Indians bad iJioin nU. '.laoksonviHo wan 
 loll nearly tnjprotootod. 
 
 'riu> O()nso(|uonoo of tbin amalgMinalion of tlninkontJOMS. 
 llllli, and vioo, booamo manifoHt ii5 (liM(>a,Mo, disjniHt, and 
 nuUnal bal(». During ibo yoarM of bSofi ■({, as many as 
 l\v«M»lv mnrdorn wero oommlllod by tb(^ Indiann; untl hov- 
 rral oV tiuMu wori^ prosooutod and bu»>g acoording U) law. 
 Hut. no aooount was kopt of murdorod iudiauH ; and y(^l. it 
 was a nialtor of oonunou t;dk, llial, tboy won^ sbot wlicu- 
 (^vtn* it oould bo dono witb salbty to tiu« slioottM'. 
 
 In tlio sun\m(U' of JSriA, groat numbt>rs of mon wont 
 
 tVom Nortborn (^alilbrnia, and Soutliorn*^ Orogon to tho 
 
 nowIv-di.'-oovtMvd Miui^s, uoitb oi' tho l>alls, in tho Indian 
 
 oonntrv ; and as 1 bad iVoipiont opportunitios ol oonvtMsa- 
 
 tion with tbom, I loarnod that it wj'.s tlu^ sottlod iiiliMition 
 
 o\' most oC thorn to mako \var in that stn-tion. Somo of ihoni 
 
 itoldnu> that thoy should not bo satislitMl until (n'ory In- 
 
 Idian was dostroyod iVom thoC\>ast to tho Ivooky Mouul- 
 
 ■ains; and 1 hoard ono oompany of www di'clan^ that Ihcy 
 
 bad ailoptod as a n>a\in», that it' tluT saw a Ibiok (Indian) 
 
 and a door at tho sanio tin\o, thry should shoot tho Ibio.k, 
 
 Sand loavo tho door U) run. Nothing Ium'o noods to bo sai(l 
 
 f of tho boastod Homocraoy uudor wliioh wo livo; but should 
 
 (O/.y oivili/,inl poonlo saui'iion or overlook sentimonis oi , 
 
 .^iiotiiUis liko theso? That thoy aro i^xhibitod with an iin- 
 
 iiMuiitv that oonliuuallv irntiiors boldness, fallows tho oxisi- 
 
 liMioo of somelhimr anionic us worso than barbarism — worse 
 
 |ovoii tluui nttor savagoism ; lor it porvorts its prorogativo 
 
 ' -• it transmutes its own Ireo oon.ditions into tho matoriala 
 
 ifot' a tleroer, ami more relentless, eruel, and dostruetivo 
 
 Mlospotism than oi>uld bo eonooeted without ihoso strong 
 
 olomonts oi' lieonso, misealloii tVeodom, Avhicb, in tbo j)ros- 
 
 ' ouco of a weaker i>arty, and iho absonco of all ossontiid 
 
 restraint, rouse tho latmit poison, and stimulate all (ho 
 
 I baser passions in tho hearts of bad men. A (/real tyrant 
 
 ^'oan not bo Ibrmod in tho shadow ot* a Despotism, beoauso 
 
 there must bo an ideal, and an atmos[>horc ol' freedom, 
 
 ♦ rpiH.U' Fulls of tlio Oolumbiti Uivcr. 
 
I ' 
 
 A PLEA FOR TEE INDIANS. 
 
 which he can assume, and absorb, and concentrate in the 
 Supreme Self, until it become the means and the material 
 of inhuman wrongs, and the grand signet of unwarrantable 
 power. To prove this, we need go no further than to the 
 Yankee Slave-Driver of our Southern Plantations, whose 
 cruelty is in exact proportion to the strength of the forces 
 that developed him. Great principles are always liable to 
 abuse ; and their capability of evil is in the precise measure 
 of their power, as we daily see in Eeligion, and all other 
 excitements that move and monopolize the heart of Man- 
 kind. Hence the peculiai dangers of Eepublican Institu- 
 tions ; for the more highly energized Selfishness, which 
 they evolve and nourish, ever seeks to destroy and inter- 
 rupt the great interests and aims of all true Government, 
 by thrusting in at random its own petty, but tenacious and 
 persistent evils ; and thus the permanent and the universal 
 may be, for a time, actually supplanted by the transienl^, 
 and the partial. 
 
'^^ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE WAR SPIRIT. 
 
 The state of alarm and terror into whicli the Tribes, 
 ihroughout the country, were thrown, may easily be con- 
 jeived. The long period of years, during which they had 
 raded with the Fur Company, had given them frequent 
 pportunity to see the superior strength and vast resources 
 f the White Race ; and to many of the Tribes, v/ho de- 
 ended on their trade and friendship for supplies, peace 
 as a matter 6f necessity, which might seem to involve 
 Imost their very existence itself. The Chiefs, especially 
 hose that lived in Rogue River Yalley, called on the 
 uthorities, again and again, to claim protection for their 
 eople. They earnestly asserted their disinclination for 
 ar ; but at the same time declared their inability to pre- 
 ent it, unless their rights were respected. 
 But no efficient measures whatever being taken to redress 
 ihose aggravated wrongs, the Indians had no alternative 
 ut to combine for mutual protection. They saw that 
 othing but slavery or death was to be gained by sub- 
 lission ; yet they were far from being unanimous for war. 
 hey knew that General Palmer and many of the citizens 
 lympathized in their grievances : but it was impossible, in 
 the nature of things, that they should continue satisfied 
 amid such perils, such intolerable indignities, and the con- 
 stant wasting of tlieir numbers. Some of them became 
 "esperate; and, against the wishes of their Chiefs, assumed 
 he responsibility of severe and prompt retaliation ; while 
 thers bade open defiance to their aggressors. Many of 
 he Sub Indian Agents, as well as the citizens generally, 
 vinced great alarm at the prospect of a savage onslaught ; 
 ut, strangely enough, they never seemed to think of the 
 
;i"'.n 
 
 
 I U. li 
 
 lim 
 
 Mi 
 
 m 
 
 :!l:i 
 
 28 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDUN3. 
 
 «!ir 
 
 most appropriate means of preventing such an occuirence, 
 but rather did all that could be done to confirm and 
 hasten it. 
 
 Toward the last of the summer of 1855, a Letter signed 
 "A Miner," and dated at Eogue River Valley, appeared in 
 the Oregon States-man, in which the "Red Skins" were de- 
 nounced, and the most savage massacres predicted that had 
 
 ever filled the annals of Indian Warfare. Dr. H , a 
 
 prominent citizen, ascertaining that the signature was as- 
 sumed, and that the writer was, in reality, none other than 
 the Sub- Agent for Southern Oregon, thought it was of 
 sufficient importance to present at a public meeting, con- 
 vened in one of the principal towns in the Willamette 
 Valley ; and in a speech occupying several columns in the 
 papers of the day, he urged, in earnest and graphic lan- 
 guage, the necessity of mustering for active service three 
 thousand troops. Some time afterward Governor Stevens, 
 of Washington Territory, proclaimed that, but for his vig- 
 orous measures, there would have been a whirlwind of 
 war. All the papers in the Territories, and in Northern 
 California, were also urgent for war. Even the Christian 
 Advocate gave its countenance ; and such was the excite- 
 ment and clamor against the Indians, that Governor Cur- 
 rey of Oregon Territory issued a proclamation of war, 
 with a call lor Volunteers to take the field immediately. 
 The war spirit, in one form or another, took full possession 
 of the minds of the people ; and all were absorbed with 
 anticipations of the terrors, the perils, and the excitements 
 of savage warfare. When it was known that General 
 Wool, commander of the Pacific forces, demurred, and 
 even refused to participate, the most intense indignation 
 was not only felt but generally expressed ; while the more 
 candid attributed his conduct to a loss of vigor and the 
 imbecility of old age. No one seems to have been capable 
 of perceiving such a thing as humanity in the case. 
 
 i am far from wishing to reflect unkindly upon my fel- 
 low-citizens, or to asperse the motives of any. There was, 
 undoubtedly, a cause for all which occurred. But as my 
 acquaintance with the incipient steps, as well as with the 
 progressive unfolding of these hostile movements, had in- 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 spired me witli sentiments the reverse of those generally 
 entertained, and essentially the same as those expressed by 
 areneral "Wool, and also by General Palmer, Superintend- 
 nt of the Indian Department in Oregon, I felt that, as an 
 imerican citizen, I had not only a right, but a duty, to 
 ise the freedom of speech and of the press for the ut- 
 ^rance of my deep convictions. And when angry in- 
 vective was everywhere heard against those functionaries, 
 and each of the two G-overnors proclaimed bitter denun- 
 ciations against them, and the Legislature of Oregon me- 
 morialized the President for their removal, I felt an im- 
 perative obligation to put forth my humble efforts in 
 behalf, not only of those accused Officials, but of the 
 injured Race for whom they so nobly plead. 
 
 Many of my fellow-citizens, through a misapprehension 
 of the motives by which I was actuated, believed, or 
 affected to believe, that my efforts were traitorous, and in- 
 imical to public good. Hence, not one of the numerous 
 Letters which I wrote, during the winter of 1855-6, for 
 the Oregon and California papers, appeared in print. They 
 were all either suppressed by the postal agents, or refused 
 by the Editors. 
 
 In regard to the correspondence, as published in the 
 papers, between Governors Stevens and Currey, and Gen- 
 eral Wool, as the great majority seems to side with the 
 Governors, I propose to state the position of the parties, 
 and try the correctness of the public sentiment in this most 
 important case. It seems that the General regards this 
 war as unnecessarily commenced, and having more of the 
 character of a speculation to cheat the Government, than 
 of a sanctioned and legalized conflict with a proper Enemy. 
 
 The two Governors, on the other hand, assume that war 
 was unavoidable. They commenced an extensive cam- 
 paign, exciting, driving, and destroying Indians in every 
 direction ; and because they occasionally received a re- 
 taliatory blow — a house or two was burned here, or a few 
 lives talien there — they pointed to these, as proof certain, 
 that war existed, and that the General was stupidly wilful 
 in not perceiving it at first. 
 
 I believe the story of the Three Bjys and the Hornets, 
 
 * 
 
 
30 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 ofFers a fair illustration of the above position. Finding a 
 hornet's nest in the woods, Tom and Bill proposed throw- 
 ing stones; "for," said they, " the Hornets will sting us ;" 
 but HaTy preferred to pass along, and not molest them. 
 The two young assailants commenced their work; but 
 soon, with disfigured faces and swollen eyes, gave it up, 
 reproaching their friend for not helping to kill the Hornets. 
 Harry replied that, as the Hornets were living in the 
 woods, at peace with all the world, he knew of no good 
 reason for disturbing them — and that, too, to his own in- 
 jury. 
 
 Let us examine and see if this view of the subject is 
 not sustained. We assume it as a law that Governors 
 have no right to resort to military force until civil process 
 has been tried, and found inadequate for the maintenance 
 of order. But what is the actual history of the case ? 
 Why, men are roaming all over the Indian country, abus- 
 ing and killing the unprotected natives, until terror and 
 natural instinct compel them to unite for mutual aid and 
 protection. Certainly these are circumstances requiring 
 the prompt interference of the Civil Power, first to investi- 
 gate, then to redress the aggrieved, and restrain the aggres- 
 sor. But instead of this, the Governor issues an exciting 
 proclamation and call to arms, as if the country was actu- 
 ally invaded by an overwhelming force, giving as a reason 
 for the necessity of this a letter, out of which he had 
 managed to concoct his authority. This was from Mr. 
 Olney, Indian Agent, dated Walla Walla, October 12, 1855, 
 and Governor Currey gives the following quotation : 
 
 " The Indians, north and south of the Columbia, have 
 either commenced open hostilities, or are concentrating for 
 that purpose. The regular forces I do not consider suffi- 
 cient for chastising the Indians. They must be taught our 
 power. They must be humbled ; and, in all conscience, 
 send a force that can do it effectually, and that without 
 delay." 
 
 Bear in mind, that for more than fifty years our people 
 had traveled and trafficked all through the Indian country, 
 and had met with general kindness and protection from 
 the Natives. It was not until the Whites had become 
 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 m 
 
 numeroug, and grossly abusive, that the Indians, frona 
 necessity, resisted further aggressions ; and for doing this, 
 the Sub- Agent calls for troops to " chastise," which means, 
 to kill. Governor Currey, forgetting that he had Consta- 
 bles, and Sheriffs, and Citizens to enforce justice and pre- 
 serve peace, forthwith summons the people to war; and 
 for this effort to "humble" and make Indians "feel our 
 power," millions of dollars are expected and claimed of 
 the General Government. 
 
 There was no demur on the part of the Press, or Party 
 Leaders, as to the propriety of an immediate campaign ; 
 but there was some dispute as to which party should have 
 the honor of the enterprise. The Democrats were jealous 
 lest some prominent Whigs should gain promotion and 
 power; and so covetous were they of this "bad emin- 
 ence," that they actually got up a petition, endorsed by 
 numerous signatures, praying that the Governor should 
 allow none but Democrats to hold ofl&ce of command over 
 the gathering hosts. This in itself is a remarkable feature, 
 and one to which no thinking man can be indifferent, 
 since it clearly exhibits the audacity of that usurping 
 spirit, whose highest prerogative is brute force — a spirit 
 which has trodden, sharp-shod, not only over humanity 
 and natural right, but over the broadest principles of 
 equity and common law. 
 
 Nor were the Whigs at all indifferent to their own 
 claims in the case ; while the Know-Nothings were alike 
 envious and jealous of both. The latter, through their 
 organ, The Oregonian, urged on a war of Death to In- 
 dians and Catholics; at the same time pouring out the 
 most bitter invectives on those who were carrying it for- 
 ward. 
 
 But what will strike the mind of the true Patriot and 
 Christian as the most lamentable feature, is the entire ab- 
 sence of the moral element as a remedial agent in these 
 disturbances. This appears the more remarkable, when it 
 is known that the settlement of Oregon commenced with 
 the erection of an establishment for Christian instruction, 
 and that vast sums of money were sent from the States foi 
 the support of Missions, and for the establishment of 
 
 
 
■! I ! 
 
 \ 
 
 II' ' 1 
 
 82 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 ffii 
 
 '-h 
 
 I! ttUi'lUiu) 
 
 ! Ill 
 
 'Viiill 
 
 ii! r' 
 
 in; 
 
 Schools, Colleges, and Cliiirclieg>. In these important means 
 of civilization Oregon is behind no country of its age ; and 
 yet, during the incipient and progressive stages of thia 
 war, no voice for mercy was heard ; and a minister of the 
 " Gospel of Peace" was hardly known in the land. In 
 vain did I peruse the public papers, or listen to speeches, 
 whether before promiscuous assemblies or in halls of legis- 
 lation ; nowhere could be seen or heard such appeals to 
 the national honor as were based^ on principles of truth, 
 and justice, and magnanimity. The fkct of our superiority, 
 as Ctiristians, over heathen savages, was always assumed ; 
 but the purity and benevolence, characteris*tic of the Chris- 
 tian, were never either recognized by any practical theory, 
 or exhibited in the tangible authority of action. 
 
 The following quotations may be talsen as a specimen 
 of the spirit in which the Indians were generally treated. 
 They are from an Oregon paper of November 10th, 1855 : 
 " The Indians are ignorant, abject, and debased by nature," 
 "whose minds are as incapable of instruction as thfeir 
 bodies are of labor." " They are heroes only when women 
 and children are to be murdered." They have nothing in 
 common with Humanity but the form;" "and God has 
 sent us to destroy them, as he did the Israelites of old to 
 similar tribes." " Tliere is no evidence of sympathy or 
 favor for Indians in the people or authorities of Oregon, in 
 the present emergency." 
 
 Here are six assertions ; and as they embody the princi- 
 ples upon which hostilities are generally based, let us give 
 them a brief review. First. They are called "ignorant, 
 abject, and depraved." I admit the charge ; but, at the 
 same time, leave it for their accusers to demonstrate that 
 the Indians, even under the debasing influence of their 
 own treatment and example, are more depraved than them- 
 selves. There is one significant and well-known fact. The 
 Border Indian is as far from filling the true measure of the 
 Original Freeman of the Woods, as his Hoosier tyrant is 
 from representing the liberal and intelligent citizen, whose 
 right to join in the government of others is based on his 
 power to govern himself. Let him that is without sin 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 83 
 
 among them cast the first stone ; and the poor Indians 
 would be safe and secure forever. 
 
 In refatation of the second charge, that they are only 
 heroes when women and children are to be murdered, I 
 am happy to present direct proof. At the first onslaught 
 of the Whites upon the peaceable Indians in Eogue Eiver 
 Valley, they massacred fourteen women and children. 
 Directly after this, the Chiefs applied to Captain Smith at 
 Fort Lane, begging that their women and children might 
 be spared ; " for," said they, " we do not slay women and 
 children in our wars ; and we will not hurt your wives and 
 little ones, if you do not kill ours." This was stated to 
 me, both by the Captain, and Dr. Ambrose, then Eesident 
 Agent among them. 
 
 In regard to their alleged incapacity of instruction, the 
 proof to the contrary is also ample and positive. I have 
 been told, by several who have heard the declamation of 
 their Chiefs, that for beautiful imagery, and glowing elo- 
 quence, their speeches were akin to those of Isaiah, and 
 David, and Job. Their bows and arrows, their canoes and 
 fishing implements, their decorations and their huts, which 
 are all so admirably adapted to their circumstances, bear 
 witness of their mechanical ingenuity and dexterous work- 
 manship; and it is well-known that no foreigners so 
 promptly learn, and so properly speak our language as do 
 the Indians whenever they have a fair opportunity for its 
 acquirement. 
 
 I have now before me several letters from friends in 
 Oregon, from which I extract the following. " I should 
 like," writes a merchant, "to raise an Indian girl, not hav- 
 ing one of my own. I know of two or three Indian 
 children that have been raised by families in this place, 
 who give great satisfaction to their adopted parents." 
 
 A gentleman of Oregon City, writes thus of two Indian 
 cliildren : " They can read, and write, and cipher, as well 
 as I can, and I think understand the Bible much better. 
 I am almost ashamed to say it, but so it is. They are very 
 active and intelligent about house, and the boy can work 
 on the farm with any white man you will find. There is 
 also in another family of this city, an Indian boy, who 
 
 2* 
 
 1 
 
 
 u. 
 
 
H 'i'li 1 
 
 I'l > 
 
 I 
 
 84 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 works as steadily as any white boy in the vicinity. He ia 
 a Sunday-scbool scholar, and was formerly in my class. 
 He is a better scholar than any boy in the school. He can 
 answer almost any question you like to ask. He really 
 understands what he reads ; and he frequently surprises his 
 Teacher with his answers and remarks. Two years ago he 
 could not write his name — in fact he did not know one 
 letter from another." ,/r< 
 
 I cut the following from a California paper, the Trinity 
 Times. i 
 
 "PITY THE POOR DIGGER INDIANS. 
 
 " A benevolent citizen of our town has rescued two of 
 them from their wild haunts. The male, who is nearly 
 grown, has intelligence and capacity equal to wLite strip- 
 lings of his age, and has become an able assistant in the 
 business of his excellent Guardian and Patron. The 
 younger, a female, who is now an attendant at our village 
 school, betrays an eagerness, alacrity, and power for scho- 
 lastic acquirements, that would do no discredit to her white 
 playmates." 
 
 On the steamer, as we were coming from California last 
 September, I became acquainted with Mr. J. Chamberlin, 
 now of Rome, Macomb county, Michigan. He informed 
 me that he had been employed by General Palmer to aid 
 the Indians just removed from Rogue River, in the erection 
 of a school-house, and Was engaged for two months as 
 their first Teacher. He testifies that in three weeks they 
 could master the alphabet. The boys made good progress 
 in writing and figures, and the girls became excellent 
 singers. " Never before," said he, " have I seen a more 
 interesting and progressive company of scholars." 
 
 In Rogue River Valley lives a Mr. Thomas, who has 
 taken an Indian boy, thirteen years old. On being sent to 
 school, the very first day he learned and remembered every 
 letter of the alphabet, besides spelling several words. The 
 Teacher was so astonished, that in the evening he walked 
 over to the house of his Guardian to inquire if he had not 
 previously given him instruction, and he then learned from 
 
▲ FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 85 
 
 Mr. Thomas himself, that what he had witnessed, incredi- 
 ble as it might seem, was really the boy's initial process in 
 the art of reading. 
 
 Judge Thornton, of Albany, 0. T., and author of an 
 excellent work on Oregon and California, adds another to 
 these high testimonies. During a pleasant visit which I had 
 with him, he seemed never tired of speaking of an Indian 
 boy and girl, who had been with them for several years. 
 While walking with the Judge to his fine garden and 
 nursery, I saw, in the distance, a youth busy cleaning and 
 arranging the beds. " Yonder," said he, "is a faithful 
 boy, the most faithful I ever had. I can always depend 
 upon him whether at home or abroad." 
 
 Mrs. Thornton also informed me that the girl is a pro- 
 ficient in the common English branches of education. 
 
 I had also an introduction, and several pleasant visits, to 
 the family of Dr. McLaughlin, of Oregon city, of whom I 
 have already spoken. His lady is the daughter of an 
 Indian Chief of the Snake Nation. They have a son, a 
 fine, noble-looking man, several daughters, and a number 
 of grand-children. The young ladies are accomplished 
 musicians, and on several occasions gratified me by their 
 performance on the melodeon, accompanied by their sweet 
 and silvery voices. 
 
 Now, in all seriousness, before God and before the 
 world, I ask every parent, and every public officer — I ask 
 the Congress and President — I ask everf citizen of the 
 land — would it not be murder to kill any one of the child- 
 ren to whom the foregoing refers ? Common conscience, 
 and common sense, must answer, " Yes." Then is it not 
 equally murder to kill their brothers and sisters, their 
 fatiiers and mothers? Universal Humanity declares it; 
 and, if there can be a difference in the crime, surely it is 
 when we add meanness to wrong, by trampling on the 
 weak and the defenseless. 
 
 That the Indians, with proper encouragement, have 
 both a disposition and ability to work, is susceptible of 
 abundant proof. Mr. Harvey, who was formerly an officer 
 in the Hudson Bay Company, informed me that on one 
 occasion he had a thousand acres of wheat, and only three 
 
 m 
 
 > ii 
 
 ■^^'- 
 
ill 
 
 11 
 
 mi 
 
 
 86 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 white men. The labor of the harvest was all timely and 
 well performed by Indians. 
 
 That they possess the social affections in a high degree, 
 the following circumstance will illustrate. It was related 
 to me by a friend in the Willamette. 
 
 " In the fall of 1853, about 100 Indians encamped near 
 my house, for the purpose of catching fish. Perceiving a 
 very aged pair among them, I made them a present of my 
 tent, thinkmg to add to their comfort ; but on revisiting 
 them a few days afterward, and not seeing it, I inquired 
 the reason, and found that they had taken it to their Chief, 
 and he had appropriated it to the use of a widow among 
 them, who had small children." 
 
 There are also living in the "Valley, a White Lady and 
 her daughter, who furnish a case in point. Having lost 
 all their property in crossing the mountains, they afterward 
 fell among the Indians, who fed and took care of them for 
 weeks, with the utmost kindness. 
 
 The foregoing facts appeal to us in language which we 
 can not refuse to hear, and with a force which we must 
 acknowledge. They are not isolated cases, but are posi- 
 tively characteristic of the people, wherever they have not 
 been" abused by deception and ill-treatment. How mani- 
 festly wrong, then it must be to speak of them as having 
 " nothing of Humanity but the form." That there are 
 many among them, who may be exceptions, is not denied ; 
 but let us remember how vast are the numbers — even 
 among our own people — ^who despise labor, and indulge in 
 conduct the reverse of religion, and even true civilii^ation. 
 Neither should it be forgotten, that mucrji of Indian de- 
 pravity is the direct result of contact with those who 
 should have taught them better ; and thai even in the very 
 crimes for which they are condemned, others are the most 
 guiltjr. 
 
 It is, I think, equally manifest, that the assertion, that 
 we, like the Israelites, are sent to destroy, is a vain and 
 wicked assumption. In the first place, it is not certain 
 that, considering our advantages, we are any better .^aa 
 they ; and, in the second place, no Nation or People, since 
 the days of Christ, has received any Divine commission of 
 
 .1* 
 
 * 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 a social bearing that could set aside the Gospel mandate to 
 "Love one another." It follows, that, for whatever wo do 
 toward them, either as a people or as individuals, contrary 
 to the Golden Eule, we are responsible ; and we can no 
 more escape retribution, than if these acts were committed 
 against the most enlightened people on the Earth. 
 
 Neither is it true, as some would have it, that there was no 
 evidence of sympathy or favor for Indians by the Author- 
 ities and People of Oregon. Both General Palmer and Gea- 
 eral "Wool, in their official capacities, did all that men could 
 do to resist the torrent of wrong. There were also several 
 clergymen, and many citizens, all over the Territory, whose 
 hearts yearned within them at the shameful impositions 
 and unmerited sufferings they were compelled to witness. 
 And even among those who were actually engaged in hos- 
 tile measures, there were men who refused to participate 
 in the work of death. Some of them even foil down and 
 wept at the sight of such barbarities. There were scores 
 of men, who enlisted under an idea of duty and patriotism, 
 who became convinced of the injustice of the war, und left 
 the Sftrvrice in disgust. . 
 
 r- 
 
 ■Iff, 
 
 .»■■ 
 

 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 (' 
 
 I WILL now resume the narrative of events, from the 
 time of my arrival to that of my leaving Rogue River 
 Yalley. I wish it here to be understood, that, as I kept no 
 notes, and at the time of their occurrence had no thought 
 of being in this manner connected vvith their publicity, I 
 may not be perfectly exact in some trifling particulars. But 
 every important occurrence of the times made too strong 
 an impression ever to be forgotten ; and in these, I can 
 vouch for the correctness of whatever testimony I may be 
 able to give. 
 
 I will here observe that the war in Southern Oregon, 
 although originating in the same general causes, was, nev- 
 ertheless, a distinct affair from that \Yhich was carried on 
 five or six hundred miles to the North, and in reference to 
 which the foregoinr^ was chiefly written. 
 
 In the North the Indians were in large bodies, and 
 chiefly in their own country, far away frcm the Whites ; 
 while in the South, their Reserve was surrounded, more or 
 less, by White settlements. There were also numerous 
 small bands, scattered among the mour tains and gulshes, 
 and often in proximity to the Miners, who were working in 
 the same. 
 
 Finding, on my entrance into the Valley, a condition of 
 war, as already related, 1 earnestly sought to learn the 
 cause, and found no lack of informants. Most of these 
 narratives teemed with " Savage Outrages" and *' Indian 
 Barbarities ;" but 1 met with some who spoke more con- 
 siderately for the Red Man. Among these I would men- 
 tion particularly the Ziessrs. Culver, who, I believe, camo 
 into the Valley in 1849, and for a long time lived nearly 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 89 
 
 alone among the Natives. These gentlemen informed me 
 that the Indians were then quite friendly, though numer- 
 ous ; and they were easily controlled. For reasonable re- 
 muneration they would readily render assistance. They 
 expressed great satisfaction at the erection of a log cabin, 
 and were anxious for Mrs. Culver to come and live among 
 them. As they were familiar around the cabin, it hap- 
 pened that, occasionally, a knife, a file, or some small thing 
 that took their fancy, would be missing ; yet, on informa- 
 tion being given to their head men, the lost article was al- 
 ways promptly returned. 
 
 I also met a gentleman, apparently a candid and truth- 
 ful man, who had come to California with the first military 
 colonists, under Colonel Stevenson, and had traversed the 
 country back and forth to Oregon, before the discovery of 
 gold. When I asked how I should address him, he said 
 he would give me facts, but it might be some risk to tell 
 his name; "for," said he, "the first settlers of Oregon 
 were a reckless set of men, who delighted in arbitrary 
 power over the Indians, or any other? who opposed their 
 course." 
 
 " Well," I replied, " give me, then, some of the facts, es- 
 pecially auch as relate to the beginning of the Difficulties." 
 And thus in\ited, he bega'i, as follows : 
 
 "The first that I knew of the difficulties was in the 
 Willamette Valley, and, I think, in 1848 or 1849. Pre- 
 vious to that time, the Indian "3 lived and traded in confi- 
 dence with the Fur Companies, and seemed to improve 
 under the instruction of the missionaries. But in the year 
 '49 a great emigration, principally from the Slave States, 
 c-rae in. They took immediate possession of all the choice 
 lands, and passed a law, Vilowiag to each man and wife a 
 section of 640 acres. This included much of the bottom 
 land, from ^\hich the Indians had been accustomed to de- 
 rive a large amount of their subsistence, in seeds, roots, and 
 berries. The following year these new Governors passed 
 another law, offering premiums for the destruction of 
 wolves, bears, and other vermin, but excluding Indians 
 from the right of competition for the bounties. 
 
 " Being thus robbed of their lauds, and treated in every 
 
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 Hi 
 
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 ■■ft', 
 
 m- 
 
 .1 . . 
 
 U'm 
 
 
40 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 m 
 
 rt' ;',! 11 
 
 respect so differently from what they had heen accustomed 
 to, it was natural for the Indians to become seriously dissatis- 
 fied. But the Settlers, instead of considering the unfortu- 
 nate circumstances which they themselves had caused, only 
 the more abused them for their discontent ; and from de- 
 spising, soon began to rank them among the vermin that 
 should be destroyed. 
 
 ^' When gold was discovered in California, in 1850-51, 
 large companies of men started from Willamette, through 
 the Umpqua and Eogue Eiver Valleys, and all along the 
 route to Sutter's Fort. Whenever they saw a stragglmg 
 Indian, they made a point of shooting him. 
 
 " On one occasion they came to a high bluff, overhang- 
 ing a running brook, and seeing an aged Indian and a boy 
 catching fish, they fired, and the bleeding victims hid 
 themselves in the brush. One of the men remonstrated, 
 saying, that men who could do so, would not hesitate to 
 shoot babies ; upon which, great anger v/as aroused, and the 
 individual was threatened to be shot, if such a sentiment 
 was rp'^eated in their presence. 
 
 " On arriving at the Eavines, some of their Jioues were 
 missing ; and a party went in search '~ " them. Coming 
 across a band of Indians, they charged them with the theft; 
 and without the least evidence, eleven of them were shot 
 down on the spot. But as the animals were not found, 
 some Indians, who had been at Sutter's Fort, were offered 
 a large reward, on condition that they would return their 
 horses, with the scalps of the thieves. The Indians, sev- 
 eral in number, got on the trail, and afterward returned 
 with the horses, and two scalps, reporting that the thieves 
 were three White' Men, one of whom made his escape. 
 Upon enquiring, it was found that three White Men, an- 
 swering to the descriptions, had left the neighborhood ; but 
 the promised reward was not given. 
 
 " On another occasion, a White Man being found dead, 
 was supposed to have been killed by Indians. A com- 
 pany was made up forthwith, an Indian Eanche was sar- 
 rounded, and all the inmates were put to death — about 
 forty souls — including men, women, and children. The 
 domineering spirit grew by what it fed on, until excited to 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 41 
 
 madness by these oft-recurring scenes of blood, men be- 
 came utterly regardless of justice, even toward tbose of 
 their own Race. Whatever a man's private views might 
 be, he was expected to go with the crowd, to the full ex- 
 tent of every enterprise, and the more questionable the 
 object, the more did they insist that all should participate. 
 Personal freedom was thus frequently invaded ; and life 
 itself was not secure. On one occasion, an aged White 
 Man, who had persistently continued at his mining, and 
 utterly refused to take part against the Indians, was visited 
 by twenty men, and forced to mount his pony, and go in 
 pursuit. After resting on the mountains, they shot him, 
 out off his head, leaving it on the limb of a tree, and di- 
 vided his property among themselves." 
 
 !'■ ^5^ ended the Narrative, and perhaps a greater amount 
 :-^' A'= ..^ was never told in fewer words. 
 
 You who live surrounded by genial moral influences, and 
 social Older, will find it dif&cult to credit such statements . 
 as the foregoing ; and I, for one, should be most happy if 
 I could doubt their correctness. But alas ! cruel and. re- 
 pulsive to Humanity as they are, my own experience and 
 observation, as well as the testimony of others, only too 
 truly confirm them. 
 
 Having located my family on one of the principal tribu- 
 taries of Rogue River, which had been a favorite resort, or 
 residence of the Natives, there were still remaining the ex- 
 cavations, the poles, bark, and coverings of thei vigwams, 
 L tu hes of their fires. I was constantly re- 
 1-.' ;^n interloper or usurper of homes which 
 > f.iossess, or for which they ought to be 
 made me sensitive to the daily reports, 
 and perhaps helped to give a bias to views not generally 
 entertained, so that when I heard of hostilities and bloody 
 strife, it was natural to attribute the whole to the aggressive 
 spirit of our people. I mention this that others may form 
 a candid judgment; for I should be sorry if, in the vindi- 
 cation of ^UG Race, I should be led in any way wrongfully 
 to asper the character of another. My only object in 
 making t!«'i: apoeat, is to present facts, in order to indicate 
 the remedy. 
 
 '--a 
 
 and the frr 
 minded of l^ i-; ;^ 
 others ouglii > 
 paid. This feeiio 
 
 
 
Iff 
 
 12 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 I have already alluded to tlie traffic carried on with the 
 Indians by base men, by which the former became pos- 
 sessed of arms and ammunition, and also to the immediate 
 causes which led to mutual murders. I will now narrate 
 some of the incidents which led to the Southern "War. 
 
 A small valley in the mountain, not far from where I 
 lived, was still occupied by a Tribe, over whom ruled a 
 veteran old Chief, known as Tyyee Jim. He was a brave, 
 resolute man, determined not to be conquered, yet still de- 
 sirous of honorable peace. When he found that his men 
 were being shot off, the Chief became very cautious, only 
 calling upon those in whom he had confidence. In doin^ 
 BO he had to pass a pu; '•* road, and always on the full 
 run. The Whites, also, w. .\ an equal degree of fear, 
 and during the summer of 18c ., they dared not go in that 
 direction after a stray beast, except with an armed com- 
 pany. 
 
 The Chief earnestly remonstrated against this state of 
 things, and asked, " Why do the Bostons* want to kill us ? 
 We do not wish to kill them." 
 
 At length another Tribe was encouraged to make w ar 
 upon them. The Chief fell in the conflict, when the 
 Whites, in their turn, fell upon the conquerors, an 
 slaughtered many of them. The remnants of the two 
 tribes, consisting of thirty or forty warriors, retired as far 
 as they could from the White settlements, without in- 
 fringing on the domains of the Modocks, and other Tribes, 
 still further back. 
 
 Toward the latter end of September, these poor people, 
 with their wives and little ones, came to within ten or 
 twelve miles of the head of the Valley, to a favorite spot 
 for gathering berries. Some of the settlers had ascertained 
 their presence ; and as a horse was missing, it was directly 
 charged upon the Indians. A qompany of sixteen men, 
 armed witn rifles, traveled in the night, so that their ap- 
 proach might not be perceived ; and on arriving, at early 
 dawn, before the camp, and finding the occupants on the 
 watch, they retreated a few rods. Meanwhile the women 
 and children hid themselves in the brush. The assailants 
 
 ♦ Volunteers. 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 43 
 
 addressed the warriors with oaths and curses, and took 
 hold of some of the camp furniture ; upon which the In- 
 dians fired, killing one and wounding another. The 
 Whites then fired id ran home for reinforcements. I 
 have given you the most favorable version of this circum- 
 stance, because it was generally considered the beginning 
 of the open war. And as the horse, on account of which 
 the attack was made, came home with the rope and stake 
 dragging, as is often the case, there were some who avSserted 
 that the Indians had never stolen him, and that the Whites 
 discharged the first volley, and were in the act of destroy- 
 ing the camp when the Indians fired. There was also a 
 dispute as to how many Indians were killed. Some said 
 several ; others said none were hurt, and on this ground 
 assert that the Indians commenced the war in Eoguo River 
 Valley. But the objection is trivial ; for the actual truth 
 is that if war ever can be justified, the Indians might have 
 commenced it with good and sufficient reason, almost 
 every day of their lives — at least after the inpouring tide 
 of slave-holding Emigration. The least attention to the 
 main facts in the case will assure one of this. From my 
 own knowledge of the character and disposition of the In- 
 dians at that time, I think there is good reason to believe, 
 that if a few citizens had gone in open day, in a friendly 
 manner, they would have found a welcome and pleasant 
 reception, and all the intelligence about the horse which 
 the Indians could give. On returning with large ad- 
 ditional forces for the slain, it was found that the Indiana 
 had moved away. 
 
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 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ^FURTHER HOSTILITIES. 
 
 iii 
 
 A FEW weeks after the above occurrence, three young 
 men, close neighbors of mine, each with four yoke of oxen, 
 and wagons loaded with flour, started up the Valley intend- 
 ing to cross over the Lyskiou Mountains, for Yreka, in 
 California. While on the steepest part of the mountains, 
 cheerily driving along, without the least suspicion of pres- 
 ent danger, they were fired upon by a hidden foe, and two 
 of them killed ; while the third, with Herculean efforts in 
 running up hill, made his escape. Fourteen of the cattle 
 were killed. This event struck terror in the minds of the 
 Settlers ; and, indeed, it was an awful sight to see those 
 sprightly young men, who had so recently passed our 
 doors, with all the warmth and buoyancy of youth, now 
 brought back bloody and stiir in death. 
 
 No one seemed to think that the Indians had any cause 
 for such an act, or that it was any harm to make them 
 exiles in their own country, or to keep them in terror and 
 peril, wherever they moved ; but all realized that it was a 
 dreadful thing to live in fear of Indians. 
 
 Now it was that a war of extermination began to be 
 talked of; for every body seemed to think of nothing less 
 than a general conspiracy among the Tribes. Others, how- 
 ever, thought that the combinations were merely for self- 
 protection, as was a natural result of the abuses to which 
 they were sub* ^ct. 
 
 As the seas- was dry, and water scarce, many men 
 were out of emjjioy, and had plenty of time to listen to, 
 and repeat, exciting stories of Indian outrage, which were 
 often manufactured from trifling occurrences. At one 
 time a company of Surveyors were seen ou the side of a 
 
 I 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 45 
 
 I* 
 
 mountain ; and forthwith it was reported that the Indiana 
 were surrounding the Yallej for a general slaughter. 
 Then, again, a Settler, riding a little way from home, re- 
 turned in great haste, saying that he had been fired upon 
 by a band of about thirty Indians ; but when the truth 
 was afterward ascertained, this formidable host dwindled 
 into three boys shooting at a target. Fires were sometimes 
 set out, and the people were alarmed with a supposition 
 that they were signal fires to call the Indians together for 
 a general massacre. In some cases persons have absented 
 themselves for a time, leaving others to report that the 
 Indians had killed them. « -^ ->-' 
 
 This state of things continued until the people got into 
 a perfect frenzy, and as a company who had been to retali- 
 ate upon those who had killed the Teamsters, reported that 
 they had found a trail leading from that point toward the 
 Eeserve at the lower end of the Yalley, it was therefore 
 concluded that the murderers had gone in that direction. 
 It was said that those peace-pretending Indians had har- 
 bored the murderers ; and upon the slight evidence of a 
 trail, which might as well have been made by any others, 
 they found sufficient authority to condemn to death all the 
 ludians in the Valley. .' 
 
 On Monday, October 1st, 1855, Court-week commenced 
 at Jacksonville, the principal place in the Valley. People 
 from all parts of the country had thus an opportunity to 
 confer on the pending difficulties. Among others was a 
 Mr. Jones, who presented his case before several meetings 
 of the citizens, and made the following statement : 
 
 "I live toward the lov*er end of the Valley, seven miles 
 below the Indian Eeserve, and below me, seven miles still 
 lower down, there is a company of men who have repeat- 
 edly taken a number of the Indian ^emales, and are hold- 
 ing them in restraint. The Indians have come from the 
 Reserve to my place, and say they will not return until 
 their wives and daughters are given up. Something must 
 be done, for I can not have them around me the whole 
 time." 
 
 As no one appeared to be interested in the troubles of 
 Mr. Jones or his Indian. ^Neighbors, I felt a sympathy for 
 
 Mlc''M 
 
 ■•nill 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 them, and being aware that he had applied to the Grand 
 Jury, and that thej' told him it was not their busmess, I 
 thought this was a strange answer, because the forcible 
 holding of these women was not only subversive of moral 
 
 Principle, but also against statute law and special treaty, 
 therefore proposed to him to apply to the Court, to the 
 Sheriff, or to the Indian Agent, believing that some one 
 of them might have power in the case. 
 
 About the middle of the week Major L. came into town 
 and addressed the citizens, informing them that it was de- 
 termined to organize several companies and attack the 
 Indians at different points, so that none should escape. 
 He also said that the Indians were in great commotion at 
 seeing the Settlers driving their cattle and moving their 
 families away from their encampments. "I have been 
 among them," added the Major, " and pacified them with 
 the assurance that we were not going to war with them ;" 
 and he then coolly proposed to massacre them while off 
 their guard. 
 
 An hour or two after hearing this, I again saw Mr. 
 Jones, who communicated to me the following report: ' 
 
 " I have spoken to the Judge, and he said he did not 
 know what to advise in the case. I have also seen the 
 Sheriff, who says that he can take citizens, or, if necessary, 
 soldiers, and arrest those men for transgression, if he re- 
 ceives orders fn.m the Court, or the Indian Agent; but 
 without orders he can do nothing. I have also been to the 
 Agent, and he told me to order the Indians off, and if they 
 would not go to shoot them." 
 
 I found that Mr. Jones was disposed to the shooting 
 plan, for he had been with the Major, and had agreed to 
 go down the Valley and help muster a company to act 
 in concert for a general massacre. 
 
 I felt impelled to remonstrate aga'.nst such injustice, and 
 pointed out the probability of himself and some of hia 
 neighbors falling in such an encov.nier. I reminded him 
 that the Indians were not only mora numerous than our* 
 selves, but that they occupied vantage ground ; that when 
 attacked above, they would naturally run down the Valley 
 and kill all before them. I begged him to remember that 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 47 
 
 it is not Indian nature, but Human nature, to make a des- 
 perate struggle, rather than give up life and home. But 
 Mr. Jones mounted his horse, and rode away, apparently 
 fixed in his determination for slaughter. 
 
 Having no further business in town I returned, twelve 
 miles up the Yalley, to my home, full of sad reflections. 
 
 "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn ;" 
 
 and this thought came home to me more forcibly than 
 ever, when 1 beheld, as in a mirror, the mischief and mis- 
 ery that would be necessary results of such a procedure as 
 was then in contemplation. At the same time it was per- 
 fectly clear to me, that with only a reasonable share of 
 magnanimity, justice, and kindness, there need be no 
 shedding of blood. Amicable relations migbt be estab- 
 lished, and the Races could dwell together in peaceful prox- 
 imity, and to their mutual advantage. I was in strong hopes 
 that sober second thought would have led others to sim- 
 ilar reflection ; but I was unfortunately mistaken ; for, phren- 
 ologically speaking, it seemed that every body's organs of 
 Combativeness and Destructiveness had become excited 
 and inflamed to such a degree, that Conscientiousness, 
 Benevolence, Yeneration, and all the higher faculties, 
 had, for the time being, lost their dominion. In short, the 
 Brute had taken the place of the Man ; and brute force, 
 with blood, and carnage, such as only the most savage 
 brutes delight in, became more acceptable, to many, than 
 the monitions of true Humanity, and the emotions of 
 Christian Love. 
 
 I did not know what further measures had been taken 
 until Sunday morning, when I was informed that a meet- 
 ing of citizens had been held, that two Methodist Preach- 
 ers, and other leading men, had made speeches, and that 
 the unanimous feeling was in favor of the measures which 
 have already been set forth. Monday morning, October 
 8th, 1855, was the time agreed on to commence the work. 
 
 As there was a Methodist Quarterly Meeting to assem- 
 ble that day, within two hours' ride of the scene of the in- 
 tended massacre, I hoped ihere would be heard in that 
 religious assembly some expression of brotherly kindness, 
 
 '* -.^ 
 
 m^ 
 
 **»:■■- *<j... 
 
 ••■;■ ^^^\ 
 
 •M 
 
!|!I 
 
 ill'''' 
 
 48 
 
 A PLEIA FOR THE INDUNS. 
 
 and charity for the poor doomed outcasts in their imme- 
 diate vicinity. Full of this hope I attended the meeting ; 
 but the services progressed with the rehearsal of " Ex- 
 periences^^ common on such occasions, until speakers be- 
 came scarce, and the Presiding Elder exhorted all who had 
 any thing to say for the Lord, to improve the time. 
 
 I arose, and spoke with all the feeling, and all the 
 power I had, in the behalf of the poor Indians. I en- 
 treated that Assembly, who had gathered themselves to- 
 gether in the name of Christ — whose whole life and min- 
 istry was a living Gospel of Love — to put on the spirit and 
 the power of Christ. I begged them, by every principle 
 of humanity and justice, to inflict no wrong upon the 
 helpless. I drew in strong colors the scenes that would 
 inevitably follow such an attack as was meditated. I 
 thought if there was a soul, or a heart in them, I would 
 find it, even if it could be reached through nothing but their 
 own selfishness. ' I pictured our burning houses, our mur- 
 dered wives and children, our silent and desolated homes, 
 and all the wrongs that would inevitably flow into that 
 crimson torrent they were about to open. In conclusion, 
 I strongly urged them, as citizens and Christians, to raise 
 a voice of remonstrance, or to call on the Authorities for 
 the administration of justice, and thus avert the impending 
 calamity. 
 
 No voice responded to the appeal, and the meeting 
 closed ; for no one had independence enough to speak his 
 thoughts. But I afterward learned that there were mem- 
 bers of that assembly who silently acknowledged its force ; 
 but the pressure of public opinion prevented open ex- 
 pression. I can not resist the conviction that if the Pre- 
 siding Elder, with his brethren of the Ministry, and lead- 
 ing members of the Church, had taken a firm, manly, and 
 Christian position, as advocates of the Gospel of Peace, the 
 horrors of that week, and of the subsequent war, might 
 have been prevented. I am confirmed in this opinion by 
 one who became penitent for the part he had taken in 
 those atrocities. He solemnly declared that he was led 
 into it by the Preachers. 
 . It may be that on questions of mere speculation, or of 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 49 
 
 -^2 
 
 Politics, that Ministers and leading religious men may 
 justifiably keep silence ; but for such to remain passive in 
 the presence of murderous outrage upon dependant help- 
 lessness, is a virtual approval, which common humanity 
 and common sense must denounce as a monstrous incon- 
 sistency. The wrong and crime sanctioned and propagated 
 by the silence and inaction of that Assembly can never 
 be erased. It is to be hoped that they really were better 
 than their actions would lead us to suppose. But if their 
 moral courage and consciousness were really on so low a 
 plane as appears to be the case, still these men must be 
 subjects of a profound pity, lather than blame, to an en- 
 lightened and benevolent mind. They held an awful re- 
 sponsibility — ^not merely the lives of unoffending and 
 helpless fellow-creatures, but the capability of development 
 —of Christianity — of illimitable progress and happiness^ 
 which they might either give or withhold from benighted 
 men and women, and innocent little children, all of whom 
 would gladly have become the partakers of benediction ; 
 but they were false to their testimony; they violated theii 
 covenant, and put their Gospel to shame. Sooner or latei 
 they must come to know this ; and I leave them to the cer- 
 tain and unerring retribution of their own waking. 
 
 
 M3i 
 
 ^3J 
 

 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ATROCITIES GET COMMON-P L AOB. 
 
 During the following week all was intense excitement 
 through the length and breadth of the Yalley; but the 
 prevailing hope was, that, as the work had commenced, it 
 would be efrectual, and soon accomplished. Numerous 
 were the reports, as to individual cases, as well as the 
 general progress of the enterprise ; and it was difficult to 
 obtain the exact details. The following is as near the 
 truth as I could ascertain. 
 
 During the night of Sunday, the main body of the as- 
 sailants approached as near to the Indians, on, or near the 
 Reserve, as they could without being perceived. They 
 were found in several Eanches on the banks of the 
 River. Three companies crept on their hands and knees 
 through the chapparell, so as to obtain advantageous posi- 
 tions. With the first early dawn of morning they poured 
 the deadly contents of their rifles through the frail tene- 
 ments, under, which were sleeping helpless men and 
 "women, little children, and nursing infants. Let fathers 
 and mothers fancy themselves and their sleeping babes 
 thus assailed ; and they will realize better than I can de- 
 scribe the horrors of that occasion. 
 
 Being thus unprepared for war, and taken by surprise, 
 the Indians fled for shelter to the surrounding chapparell, 
 while their assailants continued, with their revolvers, to 
 despatch all they could reach. They captured two or 
 three Indian women alive ; and when no man was in sight, 
 it being something of a risk to creep after them in the 
 brush, these women were compelled, under threats of in- 
 stant death, to force out their husbands, and sons, and 
 brothers, that they might be shot without danger to their 
 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 61 
 
 destroyers. It was while thus employed that Major L., 
 already spoken of, received an arrow from an unseen hand, 
 which penetrated his lungs, and he fell. One of his com- 
 panions was also mortally wounded by an arrow; and both 
 of them died in the course of two or three days. Several 
 others were slightly wounded, and thus their cowardly and 
 outrageous proceedings were, for the time, suspended, if 
 we except the amusement of stabbing and target-shooting 
 at the bodies of the dead that were left on the ground. 
 
 I never ascertained how it was that on this occasion the 
 Indians used only bows and arrows. It must have been 
 that some strategy had been used to get possession of their 
 guns ; or else they had not time* to load them ; for in the 
 various reports of this affair, fire-arms were not mentioned 
 in my hearing. 
 
 Fort Lane, commanded by Captain Smith, was within a 
 short distance. I can not think of this officer bui with 
 f ^ings of profound respect. His proximity to the In- 
 ^, and frequent intercourse with their Chiefs, afforded 
 mm facilities for knowing the nature and extent of their 
 grievances. With the heroism of a soldier, and the mag- 
 nanimity of a true man, he steadily, and to the utmost of 
 the means at his command, resisted the popular torrent, 
 and nobly pledged his life in protection of the weak and 
 the defenseless. ■ 
 
 A detachment was sent from the Fort to bury the dead. 
 They reported having found twenty-eight bodies, fourteen 
 being those of women and children. But as many dead 
 were undoubtedly left in the thickets, and no account 
 was taken of the wounded, many of whom would die, or 
 of the bodies that were afterward seen floating in the 
 river, the above must be far short of the number actually 
 killed. 
 
 Of those that escaped, eighty were received into the 
 Fort ; and had there been provision, and men enough for 
 defense, more would have been admitted. For thus lean- 
 ing favorably toward the poor fugitives from slaughter, the 
 most bitter denunciations were poured upon the head of 
 the Captain ; and for many months his name was often 
 coupled with the most ignominious and degrading epithets. 
 
 % 
 
 
 
52 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 In nr.other Bmall valley, a few miles distant, there wcro 
 a few Indians livlnjsf on terms of intimacy with the Whites. 
 These were assailed by surprise, and nibst of them put to 
 death, according to previous arrangement. As might 
 have been expected, the survivors who were not admitted 
 into the Fort, fled beyond t:AO settlements toward the coast. 
 In passing down the valley, early on the mornmg of the 
 ijth, they set fire to thirteen houses, and put tD death ten 
 or twelve white persons, among whom wa3 Mr. Jones, with 
 his wife and family. It seems either that his heart had 
 failed him, or for some other reason he had not organized 
 a party, as arranged when he was in town a few days be- 
 fore. 
 
 Owing to the firm btand taken by Captain Smith, and 
 his utter refusal to aid or eountenan':o these self-styled 
 volunteers, a temporary check was given to their proceed- 
 ings ; and the constrained pugilists occupied themselves 
 for a time in taking care of their wounded, and sometimes 
 in short excursions for the purpose of shoot! ag game or In- 
 dians. A number of these Uivfortunate people were living as 
 domestics in different families; but even this cculd not pro- 
 tect them. They were in continual danger, and could not go 
 abroad without being liable to provoke that wanton spirit of 
 destruction, whoso uncounted victims wcro left either dead 
 or dying, to tlio final destruction of birds and beasts less 
 ferocious and less cruel than their savage assassins. Even 
 the sick and the wounded found no mercy and no quarter. 
 For tlicin there opened no city of refuge. Among the cases 
 oi' this kind of which I licard most frequent mention, I 
 will relate the following, given to me by one who partici- 
 V j,ted in the affair : 
 
 "We found," said my informant, 'several sick and 
 famished Indians, who begged hard for mercy and lor 
 food. It hurt my feelings; but the understanding was 
 taat all were to be killed. So we did the work." 
 
 From another source I learned the following almost in- 
 credible atrocities : An Indian girl in the act of fetching 
 water for her employer'^, was shot, a.i'l her body thrown 
 into the creek. An Indiau boy, scarce in his teens, who 
 waa in the habit of visiting the shanty cf fome xuineis, 
 
 ^^ 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDUNS. 
 
 with wliom ho was a great favorite, and always welcome, 
 was taken and hun^ upon the limb of a tree. Another 
 was caught and had his throat cut. Two women and a 
 man who had taken refuge upon Table Rock, which is high 
 and very precipitous, wore pursued ; and it was reported 
 that they hud killed themselves by jumping down its steep 
 and craggy sides. But Dr. Ambrose, who lived in the vicin- 
 ity, informed me that they fell because they were shot, and 
 could not avoid it. Their mangled, but yet living forms, 
 as they lay on the loose rocka below, were so revolting a 
 sight, that many began to declaim against such proceed- 
 ings ; and several prominent citizens wrote to Grovernor 
 Currey an account -^f what was doing, upon which the Gov- 
 ernor issued a proclamation to the effect that the unau- 
 thori2;*>d companies who were committing outrages upon 
 pe-^ceable Indians, should i.^imediately desist, as the Gov- 
 ernment would not sanction such proceedings. 
 
 How he came to this resolutioa against the verv outrages 
 which ho had himself sanctioned and commissioned, it is 
 diflicult to surmise. Possibly some latent principle of 
 human Icindness, which was drawn from his mothers milk, 
 and nursed ub his mother's knee, might just then have re- 
 vived within him. It is evident that he had reason to ba 
 shocked at the brutal outrages, which on every hand stared 
 him in the face. There were deeds done which ought to 
 have startled the conscience of any man or magistrate, and 
 even policy might seem to demand a hearing. 
 
 Nor is this all. Let us suppose ourselves treated as the 
 Indians were — that our property was taken away, our 
 families scattered and destroyed, our people wantonly 
 murdered, and ourselves made outlaws in our own land — 
 sliould we not think that justice required something; mora 
 than to be informed that Government did not approve of 
 it? Should not we want and claim indemnification and 
 more secure protection? The fact of these being a poor 
 people, and unable to enforce their own claims, is surely no 
 Bufliuient reason why they should not be protected. Their 
 Very weakness is an appeal which a truly magnanimous 
 people could not resist. 
 
 But unfortunately tho Chief Magistrate did not view thQ 
 
54 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 matter in this light; for instead of legal proceedinpj 
 against those who had Cv^mmitted the outrages, or of le- 
 dress for the sufferers, Governor Currey soon grew ashamed 
 of his amiable weakness. Humanity was out of fashion, 
 and he had not manliness enough to wear its colors, for 
 fear that some human adder, which he ought to have felt 
 strong enough to set his foot upon, might thrust forth its 
 venomous tongue and hiss at him. Tnis weakness is piti- 
 ful ; but there is much of it to be found in the world, 
 especially in high places, and the reason is, that the char- 
 acter and power of the man are so often set aside in the 
 function and prerogative of the officer. In his zeal for 
 acting officially, he utterly forgets that he either can, or 
 ought, to act humanly — ^that humanity is, in fact, tinder 
 all true law, the very basis of his official power ; and with- 
 out it his commission itself is null and void. Thus, in so far 
 as he is not humane, he is a usurper, invading, by assumed 
 and arbitrary action, the very authority that clothes him 
 with his power, since this is avowedly for the good of the 
 governed. To say that this wrong is common, does not 
 justify or excuse it at all. It is tin^e the people knew that 
 there is no such thing as divorcing humanity from a true 
 and righteous official power. In other words, the respon- 
 sibility, character, and action of the man, can not be 
 separated from those of the officer. Who ever attempts to 
 do this, will entangle himself in an inextricable mesh of 
 falsehoods and wrongs, and bring the blood of the guiltless 
 upon his own head. 
 
 Soon after the proclamation already referred to, Gover- 
 nor Currey issued another, authorising the very men who 
 had been denounced in the first to organize themselves in 
 companies, elect officers, and prosecute the war against the 
 Indians. We shall perceive the unfairness of these pro- 
 ceedings, if we compare them with what takes place be- 
 tween different Nations on occasions of disagreement. 
 There is always investigation. Their respective claims are 
 weighed; and war is not begun, until every reasonable 
 effort to avoid it has been tried and fails. In common law 
 the accused is not condemned and punished without a 
 hearing; and if any nation, or individual, who happened 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 to be our superior in power, should treat ua on principles 
 the reverse of these, we should esteem it unjust and tyran- 
 nical. 
 
 In defense of the measures pursued, it was reported that 
 the Indians were false — ^pretending to desire peace, but still 
 thieving and killing. But it should be remembered that 
 they were obliged to take whatever they could lay their 
 hands on, for present subsistence. The necessity of mutual 
 protection required them to keep in company, so that they 
 could not disperse themselves to fish, hunt, and gather 
 seeds and roots, widely enough to obtain the necessary 
 supplies. They did, therefore, only what every other 
 people would have to do under similar circumstances. 
 This they must have felt, and justly too, was only levy- 
 ing contributions on the enemies who had impoverished 
 them. 
 
 Some people were mean enough to falsify the facts con- 
 cerning the burning of the houses and the killing of the 
 Whites, reporting that it occurred on the 7th instead of 
 the 9th of October; and the Pacific Christian Advocate 
 took advantage of this quibble to blame the Indians as the 
 first aggressors. It was for the purpose of preventing the 
 odium of a wanton outrage on our part, that the war was 
 represented as a matter of necessity, and wholb iensive 
 in its character. That the above-mentioned attac. id not 
 happen until the 9th — that it was then a simple act of rctal - 
 iation and common justice, is susceptible of abundant and 
 conclusive proof. 
 
 If at every point of this melancholy story, I awake un^av- 
 orable reflections on the conduct of our fellow-countrymen, 
 it is not because I either will or wish it. Would to God that 
 I had sufficient authority to do otherwise. But feeling, as 
 I do, that the Indian, though of a different Eace, is a 
 brother of the same great family, I should not be true to 
 our common nature were I to withhold a faithful statement 
 of the wrongs I have witnessed. And that I am only giv- 
 ing in detail, what has been sanctioned by the highest 
 authorities, and spread before the Nation in general terms, 
 the following extract from the last Aumial Keport of tb« 
 Secretary of the Interior, will show. 
 
 . ■'•iS •' 
 
 If*-'. ; 
 
 ?f| 
 
 ^R 
 
56 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 IT •' 
 
 r'w 
 
 "They (the Indians) have been left, heretofore, compara- 
 tively unprotected from violence and wrong inflicted by 
 unprincipled White Men, under the influence of unbridled 
 passion, or in pursuit of 'hoir own venal ends. By such 
 men, unworthy of the name, they are often cruelly beaten, 
 when unprotected, and not unfrequently shot down, in 
 mere vantonness. The bloody revenge, that almost cer- 
 tainly follows, becomes the general theme, unaccompanied 
 by the circumstan<;es of cruel provocation which gave it 
 birth. A border-'w'arfare springs up between the resident 
 Tribes and the pioneer Settlers, who are really trespassers 
 on their lands ; and the strong arm of the Government, 
 being invoked for their protection, wars take place, which 
 are carried on at great expense, and at the cost of many 
 valuable lives, retarding the progress of our people by 
 rendering the condition of the Settler insecure, and clos- 
 ing, perhaps, with the annihilation of almost entire tribes. 
 This process, the 'destruction of a people of whom Provi- 
 dence has given us the guardiansliip, originating in such 
 causes, is unworthy the civilization of the age in which we 
 live, and revolting to every sentiment of Humanity." 
 
 If our fellow-citizens, generally, could realize the appre- 
 ciative sentiments, so truthfully expressed by t' * ithori- 
 ties at Washington, surely this state of things could not 
 long exist. The impulsive humanity of the Nation would 
 rise against it. And, doubtless, the reason why there is so 
 little done, is, for the want of data, as to facts. The varied 
 statements, almost all of them overcharged with a cruel and 
 bitter prejudice against the Indians, who can not write, or 
 proclaim their own grievances by any com|>otent mode of 
 speech, and the fear of telling the truth in those who are 
 most intimate with them, on account of the popular and 
 pecuniary interests that are brought to bear on its sup- 
 pression or misrepresentation, operate to annul and render 
 abortive the humane provisions of the General Govern- 
 ment, as well as the zealous efforts of philanthropic indi- 
 viduals. Because the majority of the people in the Territory 
 do not approve of these beneficent measures, they aro not 
 carried out by those who should apply them. It is ou this 
 account that I shall endeavor to fill up the outlines, throw 
 
A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 67 
 
 in tlie strong lights and shadows, and lay before the Nation 
 a more striking, and graphic picture. 
 
 We have seen, in the preceding, some of the general 
 ^.auses of Indian wars ; I will now give a brief narrative of 
 some of the incidents in that of Oregon, which is scarcely 
 yet over. And to show that the Indians are not, altogether, 
 the savage demons they have been represeited, I will note 
 down a few circumstances which were not published in the 
 papers, but which I nevertheless believe to be true. 
 
 When the Indians fled down the Valley, tiiey overtook 
 :wo Wliite men, who had been working high up in aguish, 
 and did not know what was going on below. They kept 
 them prisoners several hours, and had resolved to make 
 special examples, and hang them, as the Whites had hung 
 some of their people a few months previous. Eopes were 
 already on their necks, r.nd in a few minutes they would 
 have been swinging, when two Indians came up and recog- 
 nised one of them as a friend. They promptly represented 
 the fact ; and he was ns promptly released from the im- 
 pending doom. The White Man then begged for the life 
 of his friend ; and as all the circumstances went to show 
 that he had not been their enemy, he was also reprieved ; 
 and both, on promising not to light against the Indians, 
 were allowed to go their way. But this high example of 
 honor and generosity gave the Indians no advantage among 
 the ruffians, who often represent us in border warfare. 
 At another time the Chiefs called for the Treaty which had 
 been made at the conclusion of ihe last war, and requested 
 that it misht be read. As article after article was heard, 
 they appealed to the by-standers, asking, "Have we not 
 kept this?" "In what have we transgressed?" This 
 shows both a sense of intellectual appreciation and moral 
 obligation. They understood the facts in the case; and 
 they knew that they had been true to them. 
 
 On a previous occasion, when the Treaty was made, or 
 some new arrangements proposed with them, before accept- 
 ing it, they required of the Whites that they should raise 
 their hands toward the Great Spirit, who, they said, lived 
 above, to witness their declaration that the Treaty should 
 be kept. This showed their religious sense, and their high 
 
 ym^: 
 
 
 ■%■'/ 
 
 i V. 
 
68 
 
 A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 idea of the solemnity and binding power o " an oath, and 
 also their shrewdness, in niaking the White Man appeal to 
 his own God. They have, in short, not only the charac- 
 ter and attributes of men, but they represent a high and 
 noble order of Humanity. 
 
 That the above is true, can be shown by many noble 
 instances. A few months previous to the war, there were 
 among the Rogue River Indians a number of men who, for 
 strong common sense, and even superior intellect, would 
 have been conspicuous in any community. One of them, 
 known as Tipsy, was distinguished for shrewdness. An- 
 other, called Elijah, was remarkable for his calm benignity, 
 and his earnest efforts for peace. There were also two 
 others, known to the Settlers as Joe and Sam, who were 
 pre-eminent for their noble bearing, their statesmanship and 
 eloquence. Many of these were killed in feuds, mostly got 
 up for that purpose by unprincipled Whites. One of the 
 two latter, when life was ebbing from a mortal wound, 
 cdled his people round him, and with all the earnestness 
 and affection of a father, urged them not to go to war ; but 
 at the same time, advising that if the "Bad Bostons" 
 attacked them, they should not die like dogs, but manfully 
 defend themselves, and then fly to the mountains for 
 safety. He exhorted them not to use the fire-watei ; for, 
 said he, " that will make you as bad as they." The b'jr* 
 viving Chiefe used to quote his dying words, and it helped 
 to keep their people in subjection. • 
 
 ■M^'x. 
 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BATTLES AND MURDERS. 
 
 N"© sooner had the war been authorized by the Govemoi, 
 and some of each political party had got appointments of 
 office, and prospective profit, than arrangements were made 
 on the largest scale, which the great number of unemployed 
 men and speculators could afford. As the drought had 
 been continued late into the Fall, there were scores of 
 Miners who, being deprived of work for want of water, 
 found an offer of employ, at such a time, acceptable ; and 
 many, from every point, were flocking to enrol. And 
 besides these, men who were well to do, came out from al- 
 most every family to join the crusade; for it was con- 
 ridered unpatriotic not to do so. They also made a great- 
 speculation in mules and ponies, gathering up every 
 creature of the kind, except such as were really good 
 and valuable. The more of these animals a man could 
 muster, the more fortunate he was considered ; for they 
 were appraised at various estimates, from $100 to $350. 
 Many of these were not worth more than $30 or $40 ; 
 but if any were lost or injured in war, the owners looked 
 to Government for pay, to the full amount of the appraisal. 
 Oats, barley, and wheat were bought up at high prices- 
 several thousand bushels of the latter, some of which was 
 black with smut, bringing $2 a bushel. Farmers, team- 
 sters, and packers, were all busy, hauling grain and prov-; 
 ender a few miles down the Valley, or along the mount- 
 ains. In some instances, the pack-mules ate all they 
 carried before they got to their journey's end, and had to 
 go back for more ; for they were hired by the day. This, 
 as may well be surmised, was a thriving business ; but it 
 was often said, that Uncle Sam could afford to lieep fat 
 horses. 
 
 ¥*» 
 
 ■■•■ w >>:■-<■• 
 
 ■<' '■im 
 
 :Ml 
 
60 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 m^ 
 
 *:;h,ihiiiil 
 
 The feed was crushed in the mill, and then fed on tho 
 ground so liberally, that several men, on seeing the waste 
 and extravagance, left the service, believing that Govorn- 
 ment would never pay such unnecessary expenses. On 
 one occasion, as the Newspapers reported, out of over a 
 hundred horses, only thirty were able to travel tho second 
 day, the rest all being badly foundered. 
 
 Every thing was done on the assumption that all the 
 settlements in the Valley were in danger from an invading 
 foe ; and every little shadow was made available by the 
 Press and Propagandists, to keep up the excitement at 
 home, and produce effect abroad. Several Forts «vere 
 built, and crowded with families ; and what was singular 
 is, that in the thickest settlements, in the central part of 
 the Valley, there were the most Forts, and the most terror, 
 while others continued to occupy their houses, although 
 situated at the outskirts, or near the base of mountains — 
 the very place for Indians to attack, if so disposed. The 
 latter doubtless believed the assertions of the Indians, who 
 said that they did not consider themselves at war with the 
 "good Americans," but only with the " Bostons." It m^v- 
 here pertinently be asked, if our people as generously j 
 exceptions in favor of good Indians. The Volunteers, 
 many of whom were from Pike county, Missouri, v-^re, 
 from this circumstance, known throughout Oregon and 
 California as " Pikes," in addition to their more common 
 soubriquet of " Bostons," which was solely applied to them 
 by the Indians ; though from what idea, or association, the 
 latter name was derived, I have never been able to im- 
 agine, unless some villainous Yankee, from the City of 
 Notions, earned for himself the questionable honor of es- 
 tablishing it. As the treatment which they have received 
 from this class is so different from what they have been 
 accustomed to have from the Fur Traders, they naturally 
 enough entertain the idea that they are a different tribe 
 both from the latter and the Government troops and Set- 
 tlers, with all of whom they had long lived on friendly 
 terms. 
 
 Had the Indians been disposed to destroy and slaughter 
 all they could, there would have been hardly a house lefl 
 
▲ FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 61 
 
 in the Valley ; and it was often a subject of remaik, that 
 they did so little damage. And so far as Volunteers and 
 Forts were concerned, many thought that fifty determined 
 Indians, bent on their object, could have overthrown and 
 burned the whole in a week. 
 
 But the fact is, there were only a few Indians in a body. 
 During the Fall and Winter,. I made frequent enquiries of 
 Volunteers, who had been in the service. Their estimates 
 of those actually engaged in the Southern war were very 
 indefinite, ranging from 150 to 400, including women and 
 children. There were a few small, scattered bands, away 
 in the mountains, who did all they could to keep out of 
 the way, and after whom it was useless to follow. 
 
 The main body of the Indians evidently acted with 
 the greatest discretion, keeping entirely on the defensive, 
 so much so, that if details were given, the world might 
 wonder how a professedly Christian people kept up for 
 months, the semblance of war, against a iew poor, starv- 
 ing men, destitute of homes, or stores, or allies, who 
 fought only for existence, and not for territory or con- 
 quest. And yet, against these were arrayed, for months 
 together, from three to five hundred men. At one time 
 there were seven hundred in the field, armed and equipped 
 with all the tents, stores, munitions, and weapons of 
 modern warfare. 
 
 For several weeks nothing in particular was done, ex- 
 cept electing officers, collooting materials, and, in various 
 ways, preparing for a .ortable winter's campaign. It 
 was thought that, when tue mountains weie covered with 
 snow, the Indians would be compelled to collect in the 
 Valley for shelter and subsistence ; and then it would be 
 easy to kill them at a blow. Several small parties were 
 cut off, while in search of food, and it is wonderful how so 
 many human beings found subsistence for months, hui- 
 rassed and surrounded, as they were, by such powerful 
 foes. 
 
 But the Newspapers contrived to keop up a kind of 
 sickly interest ; for there was no lack of communications 
 from Colonels, or Captains or Generals, in regard to the 
 marches, counter-march' ... .. .d manoeuvers of the "North- 
 
 
 •&■■■•■■ 
 
 y 
 
63 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 
 i lulic'll 
 
 *i 
 
 ern" or " Southern Battalion" of the "Army." Occasion- 
 ally the interest was heightened by accounts under the 
 caption of " Another Battle," which, no doubt, was highly 
 appreciated east of the mountains ; but we who heard the 
 verbal statements of some who participated, or who wit- 
 nessed these affairs, were impressed with the belief that 
 " Another Massacre" would have been a more appropriate 
 heading. F. 
 
 The following are specimens of Battles during the win- 
 ter. The main body of the Indians had selected for their 
 Head Quarters an angle in the Valley, known as the 
 Meadows, having high, precipitous, and heavily timbered 
 mountains on two sides, and the River in front, between 
 them and their assailants. There was pasturage in this 
 space for the few animals they owned; and as they could 
 be approached only by crossing the River, it was con- 
 sidered too much of a Sebastopol for our Braves to effect 
 an entrance, though canvas boats, and all the appurte- 
 nances for the operation, were conveyed to the spot ; and 
 great anticipations were entertained of an early termina- 
 tion of the war. But this project proved an entire failure. 
 It was then resolved to keep quiet, and watch until the 
 auspices were more favorable. 
 
 On one occasion, several Indians were discovered in 
 three canoes, in the river above the Meadows. A volley 
 was fired, killing all except two, who swam to the opposite 
 side, and immediately shouted defiance, telling the Bostous 
 to come to the Meadows and they would fight them. This 
 affair was published under the flourish of a battle, in 
 which our troops were victorious. 
 
 On several occasions parties of warriors found means to 
 get round and waylay a train of pack-mules, on which 
 occurrence, the muleteer and escort generally fled. By the 
 time the Volunteers mustered to the rescue, the cargo was 
 gone, and the Indians not to be found. These cases oc- 
 curred so often, that the Volunteers bepame used to efeat, 
 and seemed not to care, or calculate upon any thing else ; 
 or, at least, they were very careful about risking any thing 
 to prevent it. Battles were to these doughty warriors 
 sheer speculations; and the grand study was how they 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 63 
 
 should be compassed ■with the least possible risk, and the 
 greatest possible advantage — to themselves. They seemed 
 to have little or no sense of moral responsibility, either 
 toward the enemy, or the authorities under whom they 
 served. Patriotism was not only a thing they never saw, 
 but it was what they were wholly incapable of seeing ; for 
 no person can cherish this ennobling sentiment in his own 
 brffast, at the same time that he is seeking to extinguish it 
 in that of another. They would freely have spent the 
 last dollar in the country, even though the metal it was 
 made of could be transmuted into iron chains, to bind and 
 enslave the Nation. The one purpose that was always 
 kept steadily in view, was greed, and that of the grossest 
 character. The war was likely to be a profitable invest- 
 ment, with good pay, comfortable quarters, and easy work. 
 To hurry matters, under such circumstances, would not 
 be good policy. Like the wary doctor, they did not wish 
 to kill the patient too soon. In short, they took special 
 care of the Goose that laid the Golden Egg. 
 
 The Indians being so often successful, became aware of 
 their advantage when in the Brush ; and, on some occa- 
 sions, they not only maintained their position, but actually 
 gave pursuit to vastly superior numbers. 
 
 Among the scattering Tribes that were known to be on 
 the Mountains, was a small band, supposed to consist of 
 fifty or sixty persons, who had not been seen or heard of 
 for months. ^\iq Chief was known as Old John, an aged, 
 but at the same time a very sagacious and energetic man. 
 He was greatly esteemed by his people, and under ordinary 
 circumstances would have commanded respect in any 
 community. Numerous were the reports concerning his 
 great age and wonderful exploits. Son 3 supposed he was 
 nearly a hundred years of age. 
 
 On a certain occasion, during the first war, he, with 
 another Indian, had been taken by a fraudulent offer of 
 friendship; but on finding themselves entrapped they 
 broke from their captors; and though thirt}'- rifles were 
 fired after them, the venerable man made his escape, 
 while his companion fell, mortally wounded. For months 
 afterwaid he never slept in his tent, but always retired to 
 
 
 Met ! 
 
 
 
64 
 
 A PLEA rOR THE INDIANB. 
 
 im 
 
 some secret spot in the distance. He was faithful in the 
 observance of the treaty, and often has lamented tho 
 necessity his people were under of retaliating upon the 
 Whites. 
 
 The circumstances that caused him to leave the main 
 body and fly to the mountains are peculiarly afflictive and 
 agfgravating. One of his daughters was taken possession 
 of by a Squatter Sovereign ; and when her husband w^nt 
 to the cabin to obtain her restoration, he was shot dead at 
 the door. This occurred long before the war was thought 
 of; and on account of the venerable age and noble bear- 
 ing of the Chief, to whos6 tribe and family the murdered 
 man belonged, considerable notice was taken of the' 
 circumstance ; and some of the citizens proposed to sub- 
 sciibe ten dollars each, and raise a sufficient sum to indem- 
 nify the Sheriff against any loss he might incur by arrest- 
 ing the murderer. Upon hearing of this, a still greater 
 number set the law at defiance, and declared he should 
 not be punished ; and afterward the murderer himself was 
 elected as a Captain of the Volunteers. 
 
 As the Chief perceived that this outrage was not ap- 
 proved by those holding authority, and as several of the 
 most respectable citizens expressed sympathy, he rose 
 above the brutishness that wronged him ; and in the spirit 
 of a true philosopher, sought to become reconciled to 
 what he could not help. 
 
 But another circumstance, if possible still more outrage- 
 ous, soon followed in the track of the first. His son, and 
 another young man of his Tribe, were accused of a murder 
 committed in California, and a number of Miners came over 
 to the Reserve, to demand them for execution. Their 
 relatives, as well as the officers of the Fort, having good 
 reasons for believing them innocent, refused to give them 
 up. Another party, of greater numbers, and well-armed, 
 next appedred, threatening to storm the Fort and kill the 
 officers, rather than not have the accused ; and it was fully 
 believed that there would be a collision. Of all the nu- 
 merous statements in reference to this matter, I did not 
 hear one openly expressed but what was condemnatory of 
 Captain Smith. He was denounced as a traitor — as one 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDUNS. 
 
 65 
 
 who was in league with the Indians, and who ought to be 
 shot. I know that there were many who thought other- 
 wise ; but owing to the danger of opposing popular senti- 
 ment, they yielded their right and freedom of speech, and 
 lefl the Captain and the Accused to whatever might befall 
 them. 
 
 Nevertheless the brave Commander knew his duty ; and 
 nobly he discharged it, telling that infuriated and lawless 
 band that they should not take those two accused Indians 
 but over his own dead body. The firmness of Captain 
 Smith on this occasion deserves commendation ; for it was 
 evidence of magnanimity and true heroism of the highest 
 order. This truly grand position was not assumed in the 
 midst of applauding multitudes, and under circumstances 
 that would gratify his ambition and add to his fame. But 
 it was taken in behalf of the poor and the despised, and 
 in the presence of contempt and threatening from those 
 who had usurped an almost irresponsible power. It was 
 at the risk of life, with no prospect of future honor, or the 
 world's applause ; and but for this humble record, the 
 noble deeJ alight never have met the public eye until the 
 great day when all secrets shall be made known, and all 
 actions meet their reward. 
 
 It was finally arranged that the Accused should be 
 given up to the Authorities of California, on a requisi- 
 tion from the Governor of that State; that they should 
 have a just trial, and be fairly dealt with. Captain Smith 
 engaging to keep them in custody until the requisition 
 could be obtained. The Chief and his people were as- 
 sured that the young men should be duly cared for, and, 
 if acquitted, should be returned to their families. 
 
 In the course of six or eight weeks the requisition ar- 
 rived ; and by an escort •of troops the prisoners were 
 guarded seventy miles to the place of trial. They were 
 acquitted, and duly dismissed, The soldiers took them in 
 charge for their homeward journey, when they were set 
 upon by their accusers, and cruelly put to death. 
 
 There is reason to believe that this charge of murder was 
 only a pretense to gratify a cruel propensity. Against this 
 dominating spirit neither innocence nor the laws could 
 
 m 
 
 ■^m^ii 
 
 '>.! 
 
66 
 
 A ^LEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 PiiiM>: 
 
 ru 
 
 fumisli a more effiioicnt protection than a spider's web 
 against the winter's storm. 
 
 When the apjed Chief became acquainted with the fate 
 of his son and hi^ companion, he was astonished and out- 
 raged, beyond tlie power of language to describe ; for he 
 had had full confidence in the sincerity and power o^ tac 
 Military to secure their present protection and ultimate 
 juaitce. lie had been impressed with the idea tha'. our 
 Great Father, the President, and all his men, the Soldiers, 
 were tlie Red Man's friends ; but, in the bitterness of f.r.'ef, 
 he saw that they were cither unable or unwilling to save 
 theni from their enemies. He had long foreseen the gra- 
 dual but ceitain destruction of his people; but he now saw 
 that the great train of extermination was in rapid progress. 
 Another conviction was also forced upon him. He saw 
 that the *' bad Bostons" were no more under the control 
 of the Great Father, than bad Indians Vvcre under hi.^ uwn. 
 And, doubtless, the many cases of insult and wrong which 
 he had borne and witnessed, and from a repetition of which 
 he had no gtiaranty, crowded on his memory, incitirg him 
 to vengeance, and strengthening his resolution to be his own 
 defender. Will anv one who believes that man has a riiifht 
 to defend himself, say that the Chief had not tlie strongoj,. 
 and truest reason for war? Compared with his wrongs, 
 the petty infringements of which our Fathers complained 
 sink into insiguificanco, and become trivial. 
 
 Accordingly, he took his people and fled to the mount- 
 ains. He knew the power and number of the Whitos too 
 well to think of sustaining a war witli tlicm ; and, there- 
 fore, his chief object was to keep out of the way. But this 
 was extremely difficult; for, during several months in the 
 year, the mountains, being extremely bleak and covered 
 with snow, oftered nothing fo» subsistence. All the prin- 
 cipal valleyf , and many of the smaller oncf, and even the 
 mountain gulshes, were occupied by Miners or Farmers ; 
 and he could not g3 far in any direction, without danger 
 of being seen; and, moreover, such a number of persona, 
 without stores of provision, could not long subsist in any 
 gi>rcn place away from their fishing-grounds; for £;'imo was 
 not plenty, and berries were scarce. 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 6T 
 
 Tho fact, that Old Jolin and liis men were still at large, 
 filled tne Settlors with constant terror, for thev were among 
 the most skillful and courageous of all the I'ribes. No one 
 felt safe in traveling from home, while many were antici- 
 pating that at some evening twilight, or early dawn, the 
 startling war-whoop would be heard in the Valley, and the 
 people would wake to be massacred in the light of their 
 own burning dwellings ; and they best knew what good 
 reason they had to expect such treatment. 
 
 Nuro.erous companies had been out in pursuit of Old 
 John ; and although no one knew that either he or his men 
 had done a single hostile act during the several months of 
 war, he was marked for destruction. No thought was 
 token of the wrongs he had suffered, or of the reason of his 
 absence ; but he was commonly spoken of as an implacable 
 Savage, and. the most dreaded of all the Enemy. It was 
 often said : " If we could but kill Old John, all would be 
 safe." 
 
 The following incident will show how near a considerable 
 portion of his Tribe were to being taken. In the early part 
 of January, 1856, a company of men went up the mountains 
 in search of the Old Chief. They had made their encamo- 
 nient in a convenient place ; and for several days sent out 
 scouts, two or three in a company, in all directions. On 
 one occasion, two of these scouts fell in with a fresli trail ; 
 and following it up, came to a cabin. Gladly would they 
 have concealed themselves; but they were perceived by 
 the occupants, and had no alternative but to assume cour- 
 age, nnd make the best of their discovery. IMiey found the 
 tenement in the occupation of several Indian women and 
 children. Therefore they pretended to bo Miners in search 
 of gold ; and to ensure the confidence of the women, they 
 made them an offer of the two mules, with their provisions. 
 This liberality was induced by tie fear that the Warriors, 
 who could not b'' far off, might suddenly return and kill 
 tlicm. They pr .suaded the women to go with them to 
 camp, promising to make a treaty of peace. They were 
 soon met by tiie returning Warriors, and their lives were 
 <*^ly spared through the intercessions of the women. 
 
 They found that this cabin consisted of logs, and wa^ 
 
■3f Hli? i; - 
 
 68 
 
 Ji PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 ill! 
 
 11111 
 
 also covered witli tlie same, upon whicli were bnisli and 
 earth. It was guarded by a deep ditch, with slanting cuts 
 for the rifles, so that they could defend themselves, and be 
 in tolerable safety from the shots of an Enemy. 
 
 On the report of the Scouts at their camp, it was resolved 
 to get a reinforcement, and take the place by Suorm. This 
 was, undoubtedly, for some special object rather than ne- 
 cessity, since the Indians were anxious for peace, and had 
 spared those whom they had in power, on promise of a 
 treaty being made. Accordingly, *'a Battalion of the 
 Army," "with a great number of spirited citizens from 
 Jacksonville" — I quote from the papers of the day — 
 " marched to the attack." 
 
 But upon approach, it was found that they could not get 
 within the range of Rifles, without danger ; for you must 
 know that these refined Warriors had an especial dainti- 
 ness in regard to the manner of their being killed ; and 
 they themselves particularly disliked to he shot. This, in 
 connection with their common treatment of the Indians, 
 shows what respect they had for the Golden Rule, and 
 why so many high Clerical and Canonical Functionaries 
 should have patronized them. 
 
 But to return to the battle. As one of the besiegers fell 
 dead, and others were wounded, without making any im- 
 pression on the besieged, it was resolved to send to Fort 
 Lane for a cannon, and blow them up with bombshells. 
 Pursuant to this resolution, on the afternoon of the follow- 
 ing day, the cannon was duly poised ; and its awful echoes 
 boomed over the mountains and ravines, rousing the terri- 
 fied Indians, who had never heard the like before. But 
 although the firing was continued until the curtain of 
 Night fell and closed the scene, only one shell entered the 
 cabin, killing two, and wounding others. The roar of bat* 
 tie then ceased, but only to be resumed, with greater 
 vigor, in the morning; and the weary troops, some of 
 whom had been on guard more or less for four days, once 
 more slept upon their arms. 
 
 The number of the Besiegers was variously estimated at 
 from 200 to 400, including the " spirited citizens ;" that of 
 the Besieged was about 30, including Women and Children. 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 69 
 
 Tbe morning sun aiose ; and, lo I it was soon discov- 
 ered that the Indians had retreated beyond the reach of 
 bombshells, carrying along all their arms and ammunition, 
 leaving only the deserted logs, instead of human bodies, 
 for the balls and bombs to fall upon and scatter. This is 
 conclusive proof of one thing, if not two. It shows either 
 that the White Soldier-men slept very soundly, or that 
 they winked at their escape. 
 
 As might be expected, there was a strong reaction 
 among the " spirited citizens," at this general explosion of 
 their brilliant achievements, past and prospective. They 
 put a bombshell in their cannon, and it came out a bubble; 
 and, to their dismay, they found that even women and 
 little children were too wide awake for them. In short, they 
 were quite mistaken when they thought that Indians had 
 no more sagacity or self-respect than to lie still and sleep 
 in the night, only to be bombarded and blown up in the 
 morning. This state of things was particularly annoying, 
 in view of the fact that the snow was melting from the 
 mountains, and the Indians, who had been long confined 
 in the Meadows, would soon be at large. 
 
 And what was still more alarming, the Indians had 
 gained caution by suffering, skill by practice, and courage 
 by success ; and they were, in the beginning of 1856, after 
 months of continuous war, better prepared for its prosecu- 
 tion than when it first commenced. They had intercepted 
 several pack trains, from which they had obtained plenti- 
 ful supplies of arms and ammunition. But what tended 
 more than all other things to give them power was a sense 
 of right. While, on the other hand, there was a great lack 
 of the moral element, as a basis for the Volunteers to act 
 upon. Many of them were far from being assured of the 
 righteousness of their cause, and not a few who had at first 
 sanctioned the war, and aided in its operations, became 
 convinced that the Indians were in the right; and rather 
 then stand in the wrong against them, they had left the 
 ranks, and thereby forfeited their claims for previous serv- 
 ice. It was owing to causes of this kind that so little was 
 done during the winter, for notwithstanding the newspaper 
 accounts of " victories gained and battles won," it was no- 
 
 ■Hi 
 
 , ,; •■■» ,-i 
 '■'■ '■ '' ' 
 
 :!'"'» '■'•■ 
 
 '" !'t 
 
70 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 M 
 
 M^ 
 
 P 
 
 torious that the Enemy were, in reality, the victors, and 
 that the rifles' crack from a few Indians in ambush, would 
 cause large bodies of well-armed and mounted men to fly 
 for safety. And the more candid and reflecting portion of 
 the community could not avoid the conviction, that even 
 the exploits, which had been so sonorously lauded in the 
 papers, were, in view of the disparity of numbers and 
 materials, as well as the objects held in view, any thing but 
 creditable to the victors. It is easily to be seen, that men 
 who had sold themselves to the work of common assassins 
 — who had engaged, for so much a month, to shoot down, 
 or murder, as they might, a few poor, famished, and starv- 
 ing people, who were everywhere calling for peace and 
 cr^'iug for mercy, must have been singularly deficient in 
 that essential element of all true success — an invincible 
 consciousness of Right. 
 
 It may well be questioned, whether there is to be found 
 in the annals of civilized Nations, any thing to compare 
 with this page of our own history — that a war should be 
 continued for months, against a handful of starving, sup- 
 pliant people, who were constantly sueing for peace ; and, 
 m return, demanding nothing but protection I What Sav- 
 age ever did the like? None, but the White Savages of 
 our Border Settlements. 
 
 That most of the Volunteers were on a low plane of dc' 
 velopment, with all the selfish or animal passions, either 
 highly active, or paramount, is the only excuse that can be 
 offered ; and this, humiliating as it may at first appear, 
 when we look at it philosophically, offers a sufficient ex- 
 cuse for all bad actions. Men do not choose to have their 
 lowest nature in the ascendant — they do not choose to do 
 evil ; but when they are incapable of perceiving good, how 
 can they avoid it? An evil destiny is thrust upon them; 
 and in fulfilling its laws, they must work out evil. Grad- 
 ually to ameliorate, and finally to subdue these unfavor- 
 able conditions, that now enslave and deprave so large a 
 portion of the Race, must henceforth be the work of an 
 enlightened, liberal, and benevolent philosophy. 
 
 !r f 
 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BEPORTS IN BEHALF OF PEACE. 
 
 During one period of the winter's campaign, the Vol- 
 unteers were more dreaded by the Settlers than the In- 
 dians. Property was wantonly destroyed, cattle killed, 
 and Jacksonville fired ; and while the stores were burning 
 the merchants were robbed. Yet those merchants dared 
 not openly complain, partly through fear of private re- 
 venge, and partly, lest any public exposition relative to the 
 management of the war, might jeopardize the profitable 
 contracts in which they were all more or less concerned. 
 That many of the Volunteers were both sorry and ashamed 
 of the part which they took in these disgraceful proceed- 
 ings is nothing more than true ; and if they have been 
 thus led from a low plane of thought and action into a 
 higher, they may be able to retrieve the wrong they have 
 either committed, or meditated, by a corresponding will to 
 do good. 
 
 The state of affairs referred to above, induced the cit- 
 izens living on Bear Creek to pass a unanimous resolve, 
 calling for a meeting in Jacksonville, to be holden on the 
 22d of January, 1856, to consider the propriety of nego- 
 tiating for peace, and ending the war by treaty ; and a 
 committee was appointed to attend to the publication of 
 the Call. 
 
 But the Editor of the Sentinel, a Southern Man, and 
 wholly one-sided in his sympathies, published in connection 
 with it a statement, that he did not know of a man in 
 Jacksonville who desired a meeting for such an object. 
 As there was no other paper published in the Valley, the 
 Sentinel was the only public mouth-piece ; and hence its 
 statements had great influence in determining public action. 
 
 Before proceeding further, it is proper to observe that, 
 
 liiiiiL 
 
 " ■ i HI 
 
 
72 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 m 
 
 ;?'•;?*• 
 
 although in the succeeding pages of this Narrative the first 
 person singular appears in frequent prominence, it is a 
 subject of regret rather than egotism. The writer would 
 have had far more pleasure in recording action in concert 
 with his fellow-citizens, than to stand alone against a mul- 
 titude. And were it not for the hope that a detailed ac- 
 count of the course by which such disastrous results have 
 been brought about would help to prevent their recur- 
 rence, silence and oblivion would have been my choice. 
 But when I saw burning houses, and homeless families, 
 and heard the cry of orphans whose parents' blood had un- 
 necessarily moistened the earth — and all for want of 
 honor and fairness toward a weaker race, both conscience 
 and humanity impelled me to action. And when I con- 
 sidered that it is by a perverted use of our national strength, 
 and the expenditure of millions of public treasure, by 
 which a people are being destroyed whom interest and 
 duty bind us to preserve, I was bound, not only by a sense 
 of right, but by a feeling of patriotism, both as a man and 
 a citizen, to enter my protest in the strongest terms. 
 
 Perceiving, as I did, that the Editorial already alluded 
 to, had disappointed the earnest desire for peace, which 
 had been openly expressed by many Citizens, I visited and 
 conversed with a number of different persons in various 
 parts of the Valley, all of whom agreed with me, that the 
 war, so far as Volunteers were concerned, was a mere 
 farce, a boys' play, that ought to be stopped ; but there 
 were two circumstances that made it a diflBlcult thing to 
 bring about. The first of these was the pecuniary interests 
 involved. There had not been for a long time a steady 
 pursuit of any profitable objects of industry. Nearly all 
 the labor, and produce, and capital of the country had been 
 employed in the prosecution of the war ; and to secure in- 
 demnity from the public treasure, it was necessary to be 
 pretty unanimous in regard to the justness of their claims, 
 which would rest directly on the righteousness of the war. 
 Hence, to dispute these points at home, would be to jeop- 
 ardise their interests at Washington ; and the disputant was 
 sure of the ill-will of those around him, and might reason- 
 ably calculate on something worse. 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 78 
 
 In the next place, a sense of shame and mortified pride, 
 in those who had been so long active participants m the 
 campaign, made them wish to retrieve their honor by 
 some more successful experiments of bravery and general- 
 ship than they had vet exhibited. They felt how un- 
 favorably they would appear before the country — after 
 spending and losing so much, to be overcome by a few 
 starving savages, whom they despised as being less than 
 human. There was also another class of upright, worthy 
 citizens who argued that *' we must whip them first," in 
 order that the Treaty might be kept. To my mind this 
 last argument was inexpressibly abhorrent; and I re- 
 gretted it the more because it came from those who were 
 highly esteemed. Whipping, in this case, signified to kill 
 so many that the survivors would become discouraged and 
 helpless, and finally yield to their fate. I could not but 
 regard this as adding cruelty to injustice, and, as the worst 
 means that could be adopted toward a people who were 
 already smarting under conscious wrongs. 
 
 It is obvious to all who reflect much on this subject, that 
 the only true way of living in amicable relations with the 
 Indians, is to elevate them — to cultivate their self-respect 
 and inspire them with the love of truth and virtue. If we 
 could impart to them a true civilization, and an acceptable 
 religion, we should place the Indians in a condition in 
 which they could perceive and choose judiciously for 
 themselves ; but to discourage and destroy, surely will not 
 do this I 
 
 Being deeply impressed with the truthfulness of these 
 views, I felt anxious to have the public meeting, which 
 many citizens had called for. I had been assured by 
 several prominent men in the Valley, that they would be 
 present, and plead for peace. 
 
 Accordingly, on the morning of the 22d of January, 
 1856, 1 rode down to Jacksonville, and found the town in 
 the greatest commotion. News had just arrived that Cap- 
 tain Bruce and company, in pursuing a party of Indians, 
 had dismounted and entered the Timber* on foot. The 
 Indians had managed to surround the men, and get pos- 
 
 ♦ "Woods. ... 
 
74 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 m 
 
 ik m 
 
 session of their horses; and volunteers were now being 
 mustered to go to the rescue. 
 
 This incident was, in the estimation of some, an ad-, 
 ditional reason why the meeting should be had; but 
 others used it as an argument for no meeting. While 
 these conflicting sentiments were being canvassed in the 
 streets and stores, I engaged the largest room that could 
 be found, and procured the printing of hand-bills, calling 
 for a meeting at the Eobinson House, at 2 o'clock, p.m. In 
 posting them round town, such was the opposition, that 
 several were torn down before my face. 
 
 The meeting gathered slowly. It was not till after 3 
 o'clock that many were present ; and I had to regret the 
 absence of every one of those who had specially promised to 
 attend. Several speeches were made in favor of war ; and 
 then I endeavored to give a brief account of its origin, its 
 management, and its present and probable results ; of the 
 advantage of peace, and the ease with which it might be 
 established. 
 
 A Eeverend Doctor, from New Orleans, argued for con- 
 tinued war, and utter extermination ; and another gentle- 
 man agreed to make a treaty, but only to massacre all the 
 Indians as soon as they had signed it. My remarks, in- 
 cluding several interruptions, occupied nearly two hours ; 
 and when the vote was taken, the party who were for war 
 promptly spoke, while some of those who were on the 
 opposite side refused to vote either way. So the meet- 
 ing broke up, with but one voice raised in behalf of 
 peace. 
 
 On leavitig the house, a gentleman, who was to me a 
 stranger, addressed me, saying, *' You are the only man 
 who dares speak his sentiments openly ; if you will furnish 
 me with a copy of your speech in writing, it shall be for- 
 warded to the Indian Department, at Washington." 
 
 A few days afterward I met with two men returning 
 from the Camp. They informed me that they had been 
 with the company to relieve Captain Bruce. The Indians 
 had made good their retreat, witli the horses. In pursuing 
 them they overtook two women, one of them having an 
 infant. The officers commanded that they should not be 
 
A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 75 
 
 hurt. Nevertheless they were clubbed to death ; and the 
 child was taken by the heels and had its brains dashed out 
 against a tree. These men declare that they had left the 
 service and would forfeit their claims for the time they 
 had lost, rather than sanction such atrocities. It was 
 afterward ascertained, that the Indians avenged them- 
 selves by hanging two white women, whom they held as 
 prisoners. 
 
 This is another illustration of the suicidal character of 
 war. Had those women been protected by such peaceful 
 conditions as are founded upon a sense of equal justice, 
 they might now have filled som^ useful sphere in our 
 midst, with great comfort and joy to their respective fami- 
 lies and friends; and if the spontaneous goodness that 
 prompted those men to leave in disgust, were properly ex- 
 ercised, and truly developed in all our private relations and 
 public enactments, how soon would swords be beaten into 
 ploughshares, and our spears converted into pruning hooks ; 
 for then Nations would not rise against Nations, neither 
 would they learn war any more. 
 
 <iii:: 
 
 
 ■ 'Mm 
 
 II 
 
 kit 
 ;)•■?■» 
 
il 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONTINUED EPPOIITS POU PEACE. 
 
 TowAun the hitter end of FcbruarY', tlio small bnnda of 
 Iiuliana who had boon acattoreil among tho mountains, began 
 to suflor extremely for want of food. The rtul-berrics arJd 
 neorns were exhausted ; and tho nutritious roots were not 
 HufVieiiMUly grown to be of service. Many were worn out 
 witlv fati;j,ue, and severely frost-bitten from iv 'aual ex- 
 jH>sure. Uenee they were under the necessity . / con,L':rc- 
 gating i\ear tho River, in order to obtain supplies of fish. 
 Volunteers were stationed at dilVerent poinUs, for tho pur- 
 pose of cutting olV these bands; and the reports of 
 "IVittles," with varied success, became more fmiuent and 
 exciting; 
 
 Old John and his Tribe Were now occa.«iionally heaid 
 fixMu — es])ecially in connection with a }n\ck train, which, 
 according to the reports, he had captui*ed. Several China- 
 men were also killed, in their ditVerent encampments, and 
 r«.)l>l)ed of their gathered gold. It was surmised by some, 
 however, that much of this should be credited to tho 
 AVhite Savages that infested the country, in the shape of 
 freeboot^M-s, who regarded no class, and scrupled at no 
 means, when plunder couUl be obtiiined. 
 
 It wiv? known that there w;is a small band on Bute 
 Crix^k, under the Chief, Jake ; and a party was sent to 
 hunt them out. They were found in a state of great des- 
 titution, having previously had all their winter provisions 
 and c;unp utensils destroyed. They were taken prisoners ; 
 but the victors not agi'cemg how to dispose of them, they 
 were allowed to go. 
 
 Tho Siune party found, in one place, evident signs of its 
 having been the scene of an Indian battle. Among other 
 
A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 77 
 
 hoard 
 
 licit, 
 
 lina- 
 
 and 
 
 some, 
 
 ilio 
 
 pc of 
 
 it no 
 
 Bate 
 
 Mlt to 
 
 .\t dos- 
 risious 
 ouors; 
 I, tUey 
 
 things, thoy foutid two (load Indians, over whom was 
 eprcad a wagon-cover, known to havo belonged to tho 
 Teamatcra, who were killed in the Fall, as has been already 
 related. It was afterward aaoert.'tined that tho Tribe just 
 liberated, hoping to conciliate tho favor of tho Whites, 
 had mado war, and killed all who had been engaged in 
 that alfair. It was said they woro actually on their way to 
 give themselves up, when they wcro met by the same 
 company of Volunteers who had captured and released 
 them a few days previous. As it had become unpopular 
 to kill women, they ordered the females aside while they 
 shot the men, numbering eighteen. This cruel and de- 
 liberate butchery occupied the space of two hours — a 
 period of inconceivable horror and anguish both to tho 
 waiting victims and their friends who were kept within 
 reach of their struggles and cries. 
 
 It being well known to General Wool, that the Indians 
 of Southern Oregon had not desired war, and were anx- 
 ious for a treaty, provided they could have protection, he 
 WiW not in haste to enlist the licgulars in its prosecution ; 
 neither could any treaty be made until the Volunteers were 
 withdrawn ; for the Indians held them in utter contempt, 
 and, on several occasions, challenged them to a light. 
 
 Tho Settlers, whose farming and other business opera- 
 tions were all suspended, were becoming seriously embar- 
 rassed, and anxious for a termination of hostilities. But 
 there were other classes, such as Contractors, Speculators, 
 and Volunteers, who were making large calculations upon 
 (rcncral Lane's efforts in relation to the Public Purse. 
 They presumed, on Governor Carrey's assertion, that the 
 war was just. It was, therefore, natural for such to think 
 that all would be paid, and to be in no hurry about stopping 
 the accumulation of these valuable claims. The Peace 
 Party were, furthermore, discouraged, by being often told 
 that no treaty should be regarded; that peace, or no 
 peace, Indians should be killed. Pursuant to these mur- 
 derous resolutions, when General Palmer, early in the 
 spring, arranged to have those who were in the protection 
 of Port Lane, removed to the Reserve on the coast, there 
 was an open threat to massacre them on the way j and np 
 
 it .( 
 
 
78 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 sooner Imd they left the Fort than a man rode up and fired 
 among them, killing one of their number. It was found 
 necessary not only to increase the strength of their guard, 
 but to arm the Indians in self-defense. 
 
 At the time these Indians were removed, there were two 
 other tribes, under the Chiefs Limpy and George, who 
 wore anxious to make treaty, and to do taken under Gov- 
 ernment protection. They Pegged earnestly, as fathers and 
 husbands, for the safety of their wives and little ones — 
 entreating that they might go on the Reserve. But the 
 Officials, whoso business it was to ratify their plea, yielded 
 to the demands of those who were continually cryinio^, 
 " We must whip them first." So these poor people, with 
 their sick, their wounded, their infants, and their aged, 
 were left to be hunted for months longer, over mountains 
 and valleys, by what General Palmer styled a set of "law- 
 less vagabonds." 
 
 I was in hopes that remonstrance from abroad would 
 command attention. For this purpose I wrote a number 
 of Letters to persons in official stations, and to the Public 
 Press, both in Oregon and the States. But as the sequel 
 will show, there is some reason to believe that they were 
 suppressed in the Post Office, and few of them reached 
 their destination. 
 
 As the following, addressed to the Sentinel, was made 
 one of the grounds of accusation by which I was con- 
 demned at a public meeting convened for the purpose, I 
 will here present it entire : 
 
 ii-f 
 
 ii'li^'rinl; 
 
 "Eden Precinct, Jackson Co,^ 0. T, 
 " Mr. Editor : 
 
 " In all cases of dispute, whether between Individuals 
 or Communities, candor and justice demand that both 
 sides should have a hearing. We are now not only in dis- 
 pute, but in destructive war ; and as only one party has 
 yet been heard through the Newspapers of the Country, 
 will you permit a friend, in behalf of the other side, to 
 occupy your columns ^vith a few thoughts on the relative 
 position of the parties ? 
 
made 
 con- 
 
 A PLEA ron THE INDIANS. 
 
 79 
 
 " Tho grand question is, Arc we right in the origin, in 
 the conduct, and in the ohject of this war? 
 
 "I will not undertake to answer either by direct argu- 
 ment or assertion, but by a low other questions, which 
 every Header in the Valley can answer for himself. 
 
 " 1st. In regard to the homes we occupy, and the lands 
 we claim, did the Indians make a voluntary surrender, and 
 receive a fair equivalent ? 
 
 "2d. Were the Indians first in personal assault, and 
 contemptuous treatment ? 
 
 "3d. Were the Indians first in possessing themselves of 
 wives and daughters not their own? 
 
 "4th. Were they first to induce and spread abroad a 
 loathsome disease, afflicting numbers with misery and 
 death ? 
 
 " If the answer to these questions is to bo drawn from 
 past occurrences, and existing facts, it will be an emphatic 
 No. And the unpleasant truth stares me in the face, that 
 the guilt and shame of this war rest on others rather than 
 the Indians. 
 
 " All will admit, that if the enormous wrongs which the 
 preceding questions imply, had been committed against us, 
 we should deem it ample cause for hottest war. 
 
 " If, then, the Indians did actually combine for war, it 
 is no sufficient reason for treating them as outlaws, worthy 
 only of destruction; but rather, as the injured party, we 
 should extend to them our sympathy and kind considera- 
 tion. The position they have assumed is not one of ex- 
 clusively savage, or Indian nature ; but it can be main- 
 tained on the common ground of Humanity itself, and, 
 as such, it should, at least, have our consideration and 
 respect. Their proceedings are the result of natural in- 
 stinct, not of choice, but of necessity. They fight for ex- 
 istence, not for conquest. 
 
 " Some of our people speak contemptuously, and not 
 only call the Indian man a * Buck,' but they hunt him as 
 game, or destroy him as vermin. If, under such treat- 
 ment, he should tamely submit, and cower like a con- 
 quered brute, or crouch like a miserable slave, we might 
 have a pretense for disputing his kinship. But as a Man, 
 
 
 >iii. 
 
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11/ 
 
 
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 m 
 
 ■.^ »* 1- ; 
 
 m 
 
 A vmK von T\m \m)XKm. 
 
 of Ilka y>«iMilm\M ftnti ftni^lmllotirt wlili h\n'sn1v<^«, ho npmm 
 Ills ojUMVWoi'H ; M\i\ l»y «lnn«irt of dnrliiK, lio i)ruolivlin« 
 it\o rtr»AinuM»t of our o\vi\ Ht^hlo mIj'oh ; * (livo inn 'ihdi'liy «>r 
 ^rivt> «no iloiUh.' Ilo luiH wol unly miMlnliirMl hiw pitvi of* 
 this uuhjvllowtMl wur \vi(;l» ooumfift^ uiul proniptitutio, but 
 
 ^»v1 ht^oii his o!\jooi, Im otMiM luwo iMinifxl our villivifr'w, 
 ]\\\\\ wjwto tujr hon\oM, ntui Hlaughlon><l (Uir poopio, hIuiomI. 
 without Utnil. Hui h«> luw i*oIVu1iumI Htuu ]>iN>voklui/, uu 
 nt*0(VHH»vrHy, (ho npirlt of it^MMi/^to. llo luw ilono only JuMi 
 oiUMtgh to wliow that ho is tv //mw, nnd will ^ ^ou/ifo Inn 
 wtvnpJ, MO h)u^ MS ht^ has hu Mvut («) «lo il. Uouno, nvory 
 H,»-twlo'l ru<li{vn «lopi"o«latlou is but. tho oolu>, tlu^ ivspotmo, 
 to ono oouuuitMl {Vj^uiuMti hiuu 
 
 *Mt is u i\\ol not. fo ho tlispubMl, ihut tho Ituliiviis of ihis 
 VrtlloVj notwithMtundlug tv lonf< so»i\s of insuU*< nml tnui'- 
 ilors. luvvo mlopto<l «>tn*»l«vss, inolivtod our nwintuu's, lournntl 
 our »u<j?U{\|^\ ootn'lo«l our iViiMulship, and Tool hoiuuH^l by 
 ottr npm\>bMliou. 
 
 *• It »M u \\\kU ihfvt thov <1i(1 not. loavo oi:r (iMuiilos mul 
 sottlonuMUi* until ivpulsodby \inlvin<luoMS, mul ibMvon uwuy 
 by fojvr. 
 
 *^" it is u Inot^ t!\Mi tor tnonths bofon) tho wnr, thoy np- 
 plitnl iv^uin jvnti tv^im for justioo an<l protoollon. 
 
 " It IS rt tUot, that, ovou ul^or tho tb-st oruol onshivi^bt. of 
 thoir ns«{ulant*«, \n this wnr, t\un\b(M\s who woj j in thoir 
 jv vor woi\\ jvllowoil to ^o ttnhurt. 
 
 '*Tjot. us now inquiiv who ivw tho purti(>s mr->n}b? us timt 
 iw\Vjotiot\ tho war. Wo shall mbwit that numv ot* the iu- 
 divivUials may bt» fj^nxl inot» anil truo ; yi>t, I^H)n» tho natuit) 
 of tho oiuso, thoir aotioti is tu vortholoss satlly out of hur- 
 jnouy with tho honor an«t intoivst^M of all oonoo- nod Our 
 tKm>rnmont is biv-sod on ])nnoipIos of justioc an*l equality; 
 «nJ it^ iHUistitutod Authoritio>* aix> sworn to lostrain tho 
 wiokcti, atui pn>foct tho iiowont. If honost pat;riot,s havo 
 joined this orusa»io, it t\uis* havo boi>n without duo oon- 
 wdoration; tor it onti nv>t bo doMivnl that, at itJ< lonunonoo- 
 iuont> aunihilativ.u to tho Ho I Mjvu's li(\cc was i)io tbin 
 ivsoUt, and tho nilinp: sontunoi\t. Under this diix) inllu- 
 onoO| the blood of tho iunooout haa boon made to iiow like 
 
A ptMA von Tn« mmAN«. 
 
 91 
 
 rrhUsr. Aiul tiot only hnn llin warrior, fnndnrlnfif wilimlpi- 
 Hion, niul l"i^:^lti^ for ipiMrinr, linon hIioI- lil<n n <lotf, but 
 llio wnilinf;^ ipiivo, ilin prn^lp/itn Mt hikI woundful, tlio 
 «lo(on«(<l(iN« mollir^r, ami llm tondor biihr, Imvo ulilto Uillon 
 vioiiitm U) llm rol«uitlt'H« rit>^»\ 
 
 " And wlml, It miiy wnll oo iwknd, In idl iloH for? Wli<iro 
 Ih tlio nrHuwiiy fur hiioIi nxinunn tiiniVHtirc^M? Who oim 
 point to a Hinfi;lo (M'iinn of llm t'ldiaiiH that liaN not Imnu 
 ooiuiuittod \n a f(r«Nvtor (icgrmi ntn«»n|:( oiii'HfilvnM? Why, 
 thvtn, ^hi^» tliro.i* awtainHt 'Itnd Ski iim' that h';» i^rown mo 
 onnnnon nnionj^; mf Siii'dly tho oj»l(*r of th<^ nk\n i« not a 
 proof of (U'inu', and thon^roro nhould not- bo niudo U) iuoui.' 
 a ponalty. 
 
 " Noithor an^ tho IlatroM (umHtitutionally thn i^nntninn of 
 (Mioh <Mhnr. NntniM'ouH nro the ofiM(«« in widc.h they aro 
 unitod l»v tho fo:id<M' ticrtoi'lovfi an<l parontnfr»i; and many 
 voincM IVoni tluMr midMt inay a(hlniMM tnoHn atrjonfi; iih by tho 
 ondoarin/jj titltvt oi' th(^ cJoMc^Mt oonHanj/tiinity ; ho that liter- 
 ally th(\y aro 'bono of our bono, and HcmIi oI" our lloMh:' 
 and tho Soriptnrc^ iM ohMirly ilinHtrat(Ml that Mlod hatii 
 niad(^ of ont^ uh)od all Nntionn to dwoll on tho faoo of tho 
 wholo Marti).' 
 
 ''Wo havo lawH that jin^ ^ood onon^h, arul onicinlK in 
 abtMidanco; and tho only rcMiMon i oiiri ittja^rifu^ for tJMtir 
 inollloitnioy is, th(^ praoli^'al d(>nir.l of tlu^ llrHt and CntHla- 
 iniMitid prlnoiplo upon whloh <»Mr (lovorninont wan origin- 
 ally ba.stMJ- ■' that idl rnon havo nn innlionabh^ ri^^ht to liib, 
 liberty, ajul liu^ pniMtiit of hnppMU'Hf^.' Ilonoo, wIhui LuMt. 
 or (V)nv(Muoiic(\ [»ro!npt iJk^ Imnor ]'UHMionM, ihom Mac-nHi 
 rif^htM am dihn^ujardod : and, in tho naifio of iiilx-rty, the 
 wornt form of doMpotiHJii in Ko<^l':ijit', to ornHh tlui woakcr 
 K*a(H)M of matddnd. Wo need not wotid.op that tim JiHliiin« 
 lU'o hostile, and rosirtt thin aggiuwion. Wo ma}'^ dcHtroj, 
 or drivo thorn Iron) thvir dotriainH, but wo can not imnihil- 
 ato thoir Kigiilw; and tho attempt to <lo bo may kindle a 
 lire for onr own doMlt neiion. 
 
 "But th(^ argument of HouH^ iM, Wo can not live with In- 
 diauH — tho two ilaoivs can not agree — aiid the like. To 
 Hueli 1 would Hay, Stay at home. Tho Indians did not 
 
 ■m i Ifi 
 

 i 
 
 
 82 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 ■%■ ' 
 
 send for you here. There is room enough in the world 
 for all, and that without crowding. Go your ways. 
 
 " We think all the Colored Eaces our inferiors, and, pos- 
 sibly, they may entertain the same opinion of us. It is 
 said that the Celestials call us ' Outside Barbarians ;' and the 
 Kamtschatkans, in their houses of snow, think we are in a 
 sad condition to require so many superfluities. But since 
 the Creator gave us these varied predilections and dif- 
 ferences, they surely should be no cause for contempt and 
 mutual destruction. 
 
 " From whatever point of view we look at the lamentable 
 difficulties in which we are at present involved, we can see 
 but one true cure, and that is the spirit of the Golden Eule, 
 embodied both in Law and Usage, and faithfully adminis- 
 tered, irrespective of color or grade, otherwise than as they 
 provide, that the ignorant and weak should have, on that 
 account, a more special claim on the strong and the wise. 
 
 " The advantages of such a course over the present sys- 
 tem of mutual murder, are so great and palpable, that the 
 slightest reflection should elicit earnest efforts for its im- 
 mediate adoption. Only think, sir, how the evil passions 
 would be curbed, and how all the social and domestic vir- 
 tues that beautify and elevate society, would thus be un- 
 folded with a finer culture; and, instead of making the 
 Indian an outcast and an object of hate, we should experi- 
 ence the richest pleasure in aiding the development of his 
 highest nature, and literally realize that it is * more blessed 
 to give than to receive.' 
 
 *' I trust, sir, that the importance of these considera- 
 tions, at the present time, will be deemed suflicient apology 
 for the desire I feel of having them presented to the pubho 
 through the columns of the Sentinel 
 
 "KespectfuUy yours, 
 
 "John Beeson." 
 
 The above was read in the presence of the Editor, but 
 he objected to publishing on the ground that none of the 
 Papers of the Territory, and no respectable number of the 
 Citizens, would endorse such sentiments ; and, moreover, 
 he should be in danger of raising a mob around himself if 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 83 
 
 he did so. I offered to relieve him of the responsibility by 
 procuring the signatures of two of the principal men in the 
 Valley, to a request for its publication. On these terms he 
 agreed to publish ; but two days afterward, on presenting 
 the request, with the signatures, as agreed, he utterly re- 
 fused, pretending to do so o' ^^ regard for my safety, ob- 
 serving, at the same time, tL. ny life was in jeopardy — 
 that many were the private threats against me, and that the 
 publication of the letter would be like throwing a fire- 
 brand among dry stubble. 
 
 I had perceived, for a week or two, an unusual constern- 
 ation and seriousness wherever I went. Even my friends 
 appeared afraid of being friendly, when I met them, giving 
 me but a respectful, and sometimes distant recognition. I 
 was not aware of the immediate cause, but supposed that, 
 as I had been the previous year a Candidate on the Kepub- 
 lican ticket for the Territorial Legislature, and had, on sev- 
 eral public occasions, applied the principles of the Platform 
 against Slavery and the war, and in behalf of Indians' and 
 Negroes' rights, as well as our own, I had thereby caused 
 great offense, and some threatening. I had also, at the 
 late nominations, introduced a series of Resolutions in the 
 same spirit as the foregoing letter. I knew that the intro- 
 duction of these subjects before the public, was especially 
 obnoxious to the party in favor of Slavery, and to the 
 Democratic Candidates, who were then stumping the coun- 
 try for votes ; and even some who were with me in senti- 
 ment, thought that it was indiscreet to speak against the war, 
 and thereby invalidate the claims for indemnity. But my 
 conscience told me otherwise. I felt that silence was con- 
 sent, and that gold gained by war was the price of blood. 
 I thought that if others had a right to the freedom of 
 speech in favor of war, I had an equal right to the same 
 freedom in behalf of peace. If, under the circumstances, 
 1 had failed to exercise that right, I should have lost 
 my self respect, and have been unworthy of the name and 
 the privileges of a freeman. I do not wish to reflect on 
 those of my fellow-citizens who differed from me in opin- 
 ion. I only deprecate the attempt of some to prevent iree» 
 dom of expression, and the passive submission of others to 
 
 SIbM' ■>. 
 
 hr'.'",: 
 
 f' ' m 
 
84 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 
 rvn 
 
 such false assumptions. Had there been a free Press, and 
 a free flow of honest thought, it is hardly possible that the 
 war could have taken place. 
 
 As might be expected, the refusal of the Editor, and his 
 remark about my life being in jeopardy, as well as the dis- 
 tant bearing and anxious look, so visible in the countenan- 
 ces of many friends, was not calculated to inspire me with 
 over confident feelings of personal safety. 
 
 I had read the tract on the Murders Committed in Cali- 
 fornia from 1851 to 1866, in which an extract from the 
 District Attorney of San Francisco is quoted, wherein he 
 says that for four years previous to '51, 1,200 murders 
 had been committed in the city of San Francisco. And 
 any one familiar with the history of the great Pacific Em- 
 porium, since that time, will readily agree that crime has 
 not diminished with the increase of popidation. It was 
 stated by the public press at, or near the close of 1855, 
 that 500 murders had been brought to their notice during 
 the year just then past. The compiler of the work, from 
 an examination of the papers, declared himself confident that 
 " not less than 5,000 murders had been committed in Cali- 
 fornia during the last six years.'^ With such facts as these 
 before the public, can any one wonder at the great number 
 of men that are missing of whom their friends never hear 
 any account? 
 
 I knew that I was surrounded by many in the Volunteer 
 ranks who were from the same State, and in the same class, 
 with the same cause for inflicting personal violence as those 
 who had been so rampant in Kanzas. I knew that the 
 same spirit by which the lamented King, Editor of the 
 JSan Francisco Bulleiin^ had been assassinated, and by which 
 a Sumner in the Senate of the United States had been 
 struck down, was the ruling genius of Southern Oregon. I 
 knew that law had lost its supremacy, and human life its 
 sacredness ; and for weeks I never stepped from my door 
 but I realized the probability of being saluted by the rifle's 
 crack, and the bullet's whiz, from the thick brush that 
 fringed the creek, within a few rods of my house. Indians 
 would have had the credit, or the blame ; and my name, 
 
A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 85 
 
 with my life, would have sunk in oblivion as a stone sinks 
 in the mighty deep. 
 
 But I saw no ready means of escape. The only two 
 ways out of the Valley, north and south, were narrow 
 passes between lofty mountains and dense forests; and 
 both, for many miles, were traversed by angry White Men 
 and hostile Indians. 
 
 But God was my refuge. In him I trusted; and my 
 wife and son, like true spirits, alive to probabilities, yet 
 persistent in right, were prepared for results. I was, there- 
 fore, free from embarrassments, with nothing to deter me 
 from present duty ; and my only all-pervading, and ever- 
 present fear, was that I should not perform it rightly. 
 
 Often, when alone, I felt the deepest anguish, and an 
 expression of spirit that words can not express. I did not 
 fear death, for that would have been a relief ; but v/hen one 
 or another of the neighbors would come in, as often hap- 
 pened, with fresh news of cruelties, I felt the wrongs in 
 every fiber of my system, accompanied by a deep and 
 thrilling conviction that they ought uot — and need not be. 
 Then I thought of the generous sympathies of our people, 
 with a strong conviction that these wrongs were only to be 
 known, in order to be arrested and repaired. The question 
 then was, " What shall I do ?" The conditions demanded 
 action ; for I knew that such feelings could not have been 
 given as a personal torture, only to consume me in silence 
 and solitude. 
 
w ■ i r 
 
 iK 
 
 Li: 
 
 i'^'S 
 
 r CHAPTER XI. 
 
 . ! ' ; : THE ESCAPE. ^ . f 
 
 I DID not refrain from my usual habits of public inter- 
 course ; but I took the precaution to keep as much as pos- 
 sible on the main road. On one occasion, in riding to 
 Jacksonville, I fell in company with a rough, savage-look- 
 ing man, riding a jaded mule. He had in his belt a re- 
 volver and a large knife, and carried a rifle on his shoulder. 
 In conversation he said he had shot many an Indian, and 
 should not hesitate to shoot a White Man that would side 
 with a Bed Skin. 
 
 I reined up my beast, so as to keep by his side, resolv- 
 ing that if he shot me, it should not be in the back. But 
 I have some reason to hope, that before we arrived in town, 
 ^e indulged more kindly feelings. 
 
 Ah I hav*- already stated, I wrote many letters, and had 
 they be<m j,dmitted by the papers to which they were 
 addressed, the I'ublic would long ago have been fully 
 apprised of the principal incidents of the war; and, I 
 think, it would have been much earlier closed, and thus 
 many of its calamities avoided. It was for this end that I 
 wished for the facts to be known. I could not keep quiet 
 and see wrongs of such a magnitude perpetrated, and 
 approved by high Officials; but it took three or four 
 months to get letters to New York, and back again, so I 
 wi^ote for a i)aper in San FranciHco. 
 
 Toward the latter end of May, 1856, two gentlemen 
 came to my house one afternoon and invited me to attend 
 a public meetinp-, which they said was gathered in the 
 neighborhood, but ft)r what purpose they did not know. 
 Without hesitation 1 went with tnem. 
 
 Upau arrival at the Meeting, the Chairman was reading 
 
A FLEA FOB THE Dn)IAKS. 
 
 87 
 
 from the 2^ew York Tribune tlie substance of a letter that I 
 had sent in the Spring, after which, the Editor of the Sen- 
 tinel said he had also a letter, in manuscript, by the same 
 author; and, upon the reading of it, I perceived it was one 
 I had sent to the Post Office on the 1st of May, for the 
 San Francisco Herald. It contained a brief History of the 
 war, and was written in answer to Governor Carrey's Proc- 
 lamation, in which he had said that, "the Indians com- 
 menced the war without just cause." The Editor made an 
 effort at an effective speech ; and to prove what an enemy 
 the writer was, to the interests of the community, he said 
 that he had offered him, for publication, a Plea for the 
 Indians. 
 
 Several others addrestied the meeting, some of them in 
 the most violent and denunciatory manner. A Captain 
 Smith, who had been in the first open engagement, as de- 
 scribed, page 42, undertook to show that the Indians began 
 the war, yet he defeated his own purpose, in the most sig- 
 nal manner. He described the approach to the Fort, and 
 how the women and children ran into the Brush. He told 
 how he swore at the men, abusively charging upon them 
 the theft of the horse, repeating, as he did so, the very 
 oaths he had used. By his own account his party com- 
 menced the assault, by insults which no men, who believe 
 in self-defense, could justify themselves in submitting to. 
 In short, his whole account exhibited such a brutal, wanton 
 spirit, that sober-minded citizens were disgusted and filled 
 with horror, and even his own party were ashamed of him. 
 
 After the speeches, a Committee was appointed to draft. 
 Eesolutions. At this point I arose, and begged leave to 
 speak in reply to what had been said ; for I learned that 
 the two who had given me the invitation were a Com- 
 mittee appointed for the purpose ; and as all the speeches, 
 and the only object of the meeting, had been to denounce 
 my course, I felt that I had a right to speak. But the 
 Chairman insisted that I was out of order — that the object 
 of the Meeting was not to hear me speak, but to pro- 
 nounce judgment on what I had Avritten. I demanded 
 that the Letter should be sent according to the address, 
 and held myself responsible to law for the truth of its con- 
 
 
 m 
 
 <M 
 
 
88 
 
 ▲ PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 c 
 
 '■■'\ 
 
 
 tents. The Meeting was numerously attended. I believe 
 that all my immediate neighbors were present ; but for the 
 most part they were passive listeners. I knew that their 
 privats sentiments were with me ; and, though silent, I felt 
 assured that their moral influence would be used, in case of 
 assault, to save me from personal injury ; but they could 
 not speak in defense of the right of free speech, or the in- 
 tegrity of the postal department. Pecuniary interests were 
 at stake ; and the credit of their claims demanded silence. 
 Finding that I could not be heard, I left the Meeting. 
 
 The Committee presented a series of Kesolutions, which 
 the Sentinel said were unanimously adopted. The chief 
 of them was to the effect, that the article in the Tribune 
 and the manuscript Letter were the products of a low 
 and depraved intellect, and that it was the duty of every 
 good citizen to stop their circulation. The Meeting ad- 
 journed, to assemble in another place the following day, 
 to hear the Democratic Candidates, and to take further 
 action on the same subject. 
 
 The following evening, a friend sent me word that the 
 excitement was getting fearfully high. Several companies 
 of Volunteers were discharged. They encamped near my 
 house ; and, as I was informed, some of the most reckless 
 among them, were determined on vengeance. 
 
 It had occurred to me, a few days previous, that I had a 
 work to do in behalf of the Indians, and that my life 
 would be spared to accomplish it. At the same time the 
 idea came of going to Fort Lane for protection. Accord- 
 ingly I made immediate preparation, by writing out my 
 wUl; and before daylight passed away I went into the 
 grove, and with something of a sad heart looked over lots 
 and fences which, during the last three years, I had labored 
 so hard to arrange, and to take a last look at my cows and 
 cattle, and favorite mare, which had brought me from Il- 
 linois to Oregon, and ever since had served me so faith- 
 fully. 
 
 None but my wife and son knew of the project. "We 
 spent the evening in as pleasant and cheerful conversation 
 as circumstances would admit. My affectionate dog, Tow- 
 ser, seemed to be possessed with a kind of instinctive sym- 
 
 ti 
 
A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 8» 
 
 pathy in our feelings; for instead of lying in his usual 
 place under the stoop, he was not satisfied, but to be in the 
 house, and by my side. 
 
 At eleven o'clock, in company with my son, I bade fare- 
 well to wife and home. The night was extremely dark. 
 We arrived at the Fort just at daylight ; and then I took 
 leave of my son, now in his twentieth year, from whom I 
 had scarcely been separated a day before since he was born. 
 
 Captain IJnderhill was somewhat aware of the state of 
 affairs, and readily granted me an escort of Dragoons. 
 After refreshment, and three or four hours' rest, I was 
 again on horseback, with my Guards, and on the way for 
 the "Willamette Valley. We staid the first night at 
 EvaniS's Ferry. The house and premises were protected 
 by log pickets; and, it was considered a strong Fort. 
 We took an early start in the morning, past many "Volun- 
 teers, who were encamped upon the road. The Eegulars 
 seemed to regard them with contempt, and avoided friendly 
 recognition. 
 
 About noon I parted with my Guard, as I had got be- 
 yond the circle of excitement; and it was necessary for the 
 soldiers to get back to Fort Lane to spend the night. 
 
 I traveled on alone for seven days, until I reached Sa- 
 lem, the capital of the Territory. I had many pleasant 
 feelings, and occasionally some sad reflections. I asked my- 
 self^ " What is my crime, that I should be a fugitive from 
 home? Have I transgressed the Laws, or violated the 
 Constitution ? Have I done any thing contrary to justice 
 and Truth, or which the feelings of Humanity have not 
 clearly indicated?" I reviewed my words and acts during 
 my residence in Oregon ; and my conscience bore witness 
 that I had uniformly tried to do right. I might have done 
 better, but not in a different direction from the one I had 
 takon. I felt humbled at the thought that, with the clear 
 light and strong impulses which had controlled my actionSj 
 I had, nevertheless, failed to convince my fellow-citizens of 
 their correctness; and especially was I humbled at the 
 thought of military protection against threatened violence. 
 
 But in the midst of these cogitations the thought oc- 
 curred that, perhaps, all this will be for thf) best, and if 
 
 li.j-, 
 
 il!:| 
 
 
90 
 
 A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 
 my cout^e is, indeed, in accordance with wisdom and 
 truth, it will ultimately commend itself to the intellect and 
 conscience, not only of the people of Oregon, but to the 
 people of the whole country. And it may be that the 
 mutual degradation of the Races, and the horrors resulting 
 from war may become apparent to the view of all, until at 
 length, by common consent, relations of peace and good 
 will may be estableshed, to be broken no more forever. 
 
 With these thoughts I took courage, and felt that there 
 was an object worth living for, and that my special busi 
 ness now was to exalt and make manifest those principle? 
 of love and brotherhood, which are stronger than cannon, 
 and more powerful than armies for the subjugation of 
 savage nations, and for the elevation, not only o( Indians, 
 but of Americans, and all Humanity ; — ^yes, for all human- 
 ity. Love is a universal panacea for all the social wrongs 
 that curse the world ; and Reformers may devise, Religion- 
 ists may preach, and Legislators may make laws ; but until 
 love, or a kind, considerate regard for the interests of every 
 branch of the human family, is the most prominent element 
 of all their plans, their preaching and their laws, they will 
 fail of success; for "love is the fulfilling of the law." 
 
 
•' -"' '1 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 RUNNINa THE GAUNTLET "WITH PATRIOTIC AND CHRISTIAN 
 
 EDITORS. 
 
 Pursuant to the great purposes of my life and destiny, , 
 a more determined idea of whicli had been evolved by my 
 late misfortunes, I resolved to call on the different Editors, 
 and upon the Governor, and other leading men in the Ter- 
 ritory. Only in. proportion as the fountain is pure can the 
 waters it sends forth be healthful, and refresh and beautify 
 the Earth ; so only in proportion as the Public Press and 
 Civil Functionaries are imbued with moral truth, can they 
 promote social happiness and the public good. 
 
 With this in v'ew, I called on a Eeligious man, from 
 whom I had, some time previous, received a letter of sym- 
 pathy and encouragement, in which he said he prayed 
 three times a day for the Indians, and that war might 
 ^-ease. 
 
 As he was on terms of intimacy » 'th Governor Currey 
 and had known me for years, I solicited of him an intro- 
 ductory note to the Governor, which was promptly prom- 
 ised. But before morning, when I started, the good man's 
 Caution overcame his Conscience: and so he expressed 
 himself as feeling that I was right — that he prayed to the 
 Lord for my success, but — but — but — ^he did not think a 
 note would be of any service to me ; and moreover it mv)ht 
 be of prejudice to himself, and the Church of which he was 
 a member ; and therefore he begged to be excused. 
 
 I could not help smilii g at the dilemma of my good 
 friend: and yet I felt sorrow that so prayerful a Christian 
 was not free, and had not cc^urage to do what his con- 
 science and judgment told Lini was right. 
 
 Upon my arrival, I learned that the Governor was not 
 at the Capital, and that he was about to start by the first 
 
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▲ FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 Steamer for the States. So I wrote him a letter, detailing 
 facts in relation to the war, which fpr war *^ of investigation 
 I thought he was not acquainted with. 
 
 I also found that the Oregon Statesman^ and the Padjio 
 Christian Advocate^ had each published the SentineVs ver- 
 sion of the Indi;7nation Meeting, and the occasion for it, in 
 Rogue River Vallej I therefore wrote a short hut plain 
 view from my own stand-point, of the same affair. Upon 
 offering it to the Editor of the Statesman, .he said he could 
 not publish it, except as an advertisement, and that he 
 should charge $12. I enquired of him if he had not re- 
 ceived a letter from me, in reference to the war. He an- 
 swered he did not know, but thought he had not. 
 
 I fhen took a similar article to the Advocate. The an- 
 swer was, "I can not publish it The public mind is in a 
 feverish excitement, and can not hear any thing on that side 
 of the question^" 
 
 On being asked, he admitted that he had received a 
 Letter from me at the commencement of the war, entitled 
 a " Plea for the Indians," but that having consulted certain 
 Brethren, it was decided not to publish it, lest it should 
 raise a mob about ir% as well as themselves. I had several 
 interviews with the then acting Editor, and I could not but 
 appreciate his evident anxiety to appear to be right, even 
 in my humble estimation. He suggested that if I could 
 write an article very mild in its tone, so as to give no of- 
 fense, he would publish it. 
 
 Accordingly, I tried my best to write a crisp statement, 
 imbued with as much love and kindness as was compat- 
 ible with truth ; but it was not published in the succeed- 
 ing issue ; and I doubt if it was at all. In looking over 
 the files of the Advocate printed the last year, and during 
 the war, I find manv articles in reference to this subject, 
 which I think the Editors can not review, and feel satisfied 
 that they are characteristic of a Christian Advocate. And 
 when they go abroad, and look over the remnants of the 
 wasted Tribes, they can hardly have the satisfaction which 
 Job experienced, when he said, " The blessing of them 
 that were ready to perish came upon me." 
 
 Being a stranger at almost every place where I called, 
 
A FLEA FOR TEE INDUNS. 
 
 n 
 
 aied, 
 
 except in a very few instances, and not making myself 
 known, I had many opportunities of learning what were 
 the general sentiments m regard to the War and Slavery. 
 I believe the mass of the people would deprecate both, if 
 those who stood as their moral guides were more positive 
 and truthful ; but because they are so truckling and time- 
 serving, a few active speculators control the people, and 
 incite war, or spread slavery at pleasure. 
 
 In Oregon City, I called on the Editor of the Oregonian; 
 and having been told that he was, or had been, a minister, 
 I hoped that by presenting the moral aspect of the war, he 
 would at least modify his course. But he spoke as if 
 moral principles were altogether a secondary consideration, 
 and had nothing to do with Congress and with Politics. I 
 left him to nurse and cherish his bitterness against Indiana 
 and the Catholics. 
 
 I also called on Mr. Adams of the Argus. After giving 
 him the facts of the Eogue River war, he acknowledgeia 
 that he had been misinformed, that he had thought the 
 Indians had really commenced it. He wished to do justice, 
 and manfully opened his columns. I availed myself of the 
 opportunity, and promptly published through the Argus, 
 an Address to the citizens of the Valley, and also several 
 Letters, designed to illustrate the relative position of the 
 Indians. 
 
 In the publications in the Argits and the Tribune, I 
 stated nothing but what I personally knew to be true, or 
 what was commonly reported to be so in the neighborhood 
 where the occurrences were said to take place ; and yet a 
 late number of the Christian Advocate asserts that I have 
 misrepresented the people of Southern Oregon, and it 
 quotes from a Letter in which well-known facts are mis- 
 represented, by a futile attempt to show that the Indians 
 commenced the war. I should not allude to this, but for 
 the religious pretensions of the paper, and the wide in- 
 fluence it has among the numerous body of Christians to 
 wLich it belongs. Any attempt, however indirect, from 
 sujh a source, to cloaK iniquity, and justify wrong, ia 
 nothing short of a public calamity. It stultifies moral 
 principle ; and while it hardens the Nation's heart against 
 
 )%'. 
 
 
 ^lI'IIH 
 
 'ijl jllj ^ 
 
94 
 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDIAN'S. 
 
 the death-cries of a perishing people, it scatters broadcast, 
 a religion without love, and without power either to re- 
 buke or control the worst passions that degrade the com- 
 mon character, and outrage the common rights of humanity 
 itself. 
 
 While I was in Portland, the Steamer came up from 
 Port Oxford, with six hundred Indians, on their way to 
 the Eeserve. They consisted of men, women, and chil- 
 dren, of all ages, and had been associated with the Rogue 
 River Indians in the war. Many of them were nearly 
 naked; but they appeared sprightly, and full of play, 
 probably on account of their altered circumstances, being 
 provided for, instead of being hunted and murdered. 
 Many of the women, as well as the men, took the oppor- 
 tunity to bathe in the river. They are a strong, muscular 
 people, and some of them had line foreheads, indicative of 
 good intellect ; and doubtless, if provided with the means 
 and motives, they would soon become as valuable citizens 
 as the Dutch, Irish, or any other Emigrants that come to 
 our shores. 
 
 I inquired of a gentleman in this vicinity in relation to 
 the killing of the Chief, Pupu Maux-maux. He said that 
 the Chief came over to the Whites under a flag of truce ; 
 but instead of being allowed to return, he was killed, and 
 his body mutilated in the most horrid manner. The same 
 gentleman informed me that there was a family, consisting 
 of seven persons, parents and children, who did not wish 
 to be with the war-party, and they had put themselves 
 under the protection of two white men, and were on their 
 way to the Reserve, when they were met by a company of 
 Volunteers, and put to death. 
 
 I also heard many particulars concerning the killing of 
 Bolan, the Indian Agent. I will not dwell upon these 
 points. It is enough to say, that what I heard gave a very 
 different impression from that given by Governor Stevens 
 in his Letter and Proclamation, and quite the reverse of 
 what the Oregon papers tried to establish. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DEPRAVED AND DEPRAVING CONDITIONS. 
 
 I HAVE already alluded to the fact that Joel Palmer, Su- 
 perintendent of the Indian Department in Oregon, took a 
 position, in regard to the Indians, entirely opposed to that 
 adopted- by Governors Currey and Stevens ; and when he 
 desired to present his Plea in their behalf, the Legislature 
 of Oregon not only passed a Resolution forbidding him 
 the use of the house in order to present it before them, but 
 sent a memorial to the President of the United States, 
 praying for his removal from office. 
 
 Gen. Palmer was formerly of Pennsylvania, a man of 
 Quaker predilections, and a person of sound sense. He 
 was loved and revered by the Indians, and by all who 
 really knew him. Bold as a lion in the d?5charge of his 
 duty, he stood alone against the highest officers and the 
 most imposing bodies of men ; and with the courage of a 
 hero, ana the zeal of a martyr, braved the popular rage in 
 defense of a down-trodden people. For this he is turned 
 from office, instead of being honored and approved. Yet 
 there are those who know his worth ; and they have ex- 
 pressed their estimation of the man in a series of Resolu- 
 tions adopted in a public meeting assembled for the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 But the most sorrowfal, and, at the same time, most 
 truthful expression, was given when Joel Palmer intro- 
 duced his successor to the Indian Tribes. A gathering of 
 the Chiefs and head men had been called for. These, with 
 the Agents, were assembled under the shadow of some 
 wide-spreading trees, as usual on such occasions ; and they 
 represented the five thousand, remnants of various tribeS| 
 who were then on the Reserve. 
 
 I'ii w 
 
 
 jiti, :llrlji 
 
 
i 
 
 96 
 
 n 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 The pipe of peace passed round, and, for a considerable 
 time silence reigned. The dearest interests of all those 
 people were, in a great measure, under the control of the 
 Agent; but they had implicit confidence in him. They 
 knew that others had held them in contempt, had sought 
 to scatter and destroy them ; but he had always been their 
 friend, and, even at the risk of his life, had sought to 
 gather and preserve them. 
 
 At length Mr. Palmer broke the silence, by informing 
 them that it was the wish of the Great Father that he 
 should cease to be their Agent. The announcement pro- 
 duced a shock not easily imagined, and which only those 
 in similar circumstances can fully appreciate. 
 
 They had but recently been gathered on the Reserve, 
 and owing to the peculiarities of the location, or change 
 of diet, or from a reaction of excitement after the exer- 
 tions and anxieties of war, scores had died of dysentery ; 
 and the impression had been to some extent prevelant 
 that they had been poisoned by the Whites. Tney were 
 not easily soothed, even by the kindness of Mr. Palmer ; 
 and, under the circumstances, a change of Agents was to 
 them a subject of great alarm. 
 
 In introducing his successor, Mr. Palmer assured them 
 that General H. would be to them a friend, and carry out 
 the same measures for their improvement which he had 
 commenced. The Chief, Old John, very significantly in- 
 quired, " if the same measures are to be carried out, why 
 are you dismissed ?" 
 
 7 The two Governors, as well as the Legislature of Ore- 
 gon, also accused the good and brave General Wool of a 
 lack of judgment and imbecility, because he would not 
 sanction outrage and murder, to a people who desired 
 peace. This spirit is well shown in t;, scurrilous article 
 which appeared in an Oregon paper, the Weekly Times^ of 
 September 20, 1856 : 
 
 "GENERAL WOOL AND THE PEOPLE." 
 
 " The People of Oregon City, and other Points, had 
 great rejoicings on the reception of the rumor that Gen- 
 eral Wool was to be superseded by General Harney. Can- 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 9T 
 
 nons were fired, bonfires lighted, and a general rejoicing 
 of the Citizens throughout the upper "Willamette Valley. 
 It is not certain that he has been superseded ; but the ex- 
 pression of the People is conclusive evidence of their feel- 
 ings of disgust for his career during this disastrous war. 
 This feeling is general ; it is confined to no party, sect, or 
 condition. The women even partake of this spirit and 
 feeling of disgust for his imbecile course in the war, and 
 his unwarranted public abuse of our Citizens. "We learn 
 that the ladies contemplate making a silk petticoat and 
 night-cap, trimmed with gold lace, to present nim when he 
 returns to Oregon." 
 
 I need not, and therefore shall not, attempt to offer a de- 
 fense of General "Wool. The pure nobleness of his char- 
 acter will do much to redeem from utter disgrace that page 
 of our history which is foul with the shame of his tra- 
 ducers. 
 
 If what I have already presented is not sufficient to 
 show the falsity of the assumption of the Oregon Chris- 
 tian Advocate^ that I have misrepresented the people, let 
 me lay before you a quotation from a Pacific paper, of an 
 occurrence that took place since my leaving that coast. 
 
 The account relates to the Modocks, who occupy the 
 countrv between the Humboldt and the head waters of 
 the Shasta and Eogue Eiver Valleys. They are out- 
 side the present settlements ; and, if left undisturbed by 
 Traders, Emigrants, and others, who go through ^'their 
 country, and, as abeady related, act the part of savages, 
 they would never interfere with the Whites. 
 
 The Yreha 27mbn (Northern California), says: *' About 
 thirty-five miles irom this point. General Crosby, with 
 Captain Williams in company, cut up a band of Indians, 
 killing nine bucks, and capturing some thirty squaws and 
 papooses, all of whom were liberated, except two squaws, 
 who were brought to camp. 
 
 "On the 4th inst.. General Crosby took Captain Mar- 
 tin's Company, with Acljutant-General Templeton, Colonel 
 Goodhue, and Major Walton, of his sta^, and started on a 
 scout. They returned yesterday to Head Quarters, hav- 
 
 6 
 
 ai ;'i: 
 
 II „ • .I"'., 
 
 
 ■■*:% 
 
 M 
 
ds 
 
 A PLBA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 ing scoured some 160 miles of country. Several parties 
 of Indians -were seen, but thej succeeded in getting off 
 either on horseback or in boats, except one party whom 
 we attacked in Thule Lake, by wading in the water, and 
 holding up our rifles and revolvers. Most of them made 
 their escape ; but a strong wind blowing upon a lee shore, 
 enabled us to capture one boat, killing two bucks and a 
 squaw, who fought with a bow and arrow. There are 
 from six to eight hundred warriors out, who need to be 
 cleared out the worst wa^y 
 
 I ask what enlightened American, who regards the honor 
 of his name, does not feel an indignant throb at such a re- 
 cital as the foregoing, even admitting that they had stolen 
 beeves, as was alleged. Emigrants had previously de- 
 stroyed their fish, stolen their horses, and murdered their 
 people. Such communications offend both good feeling 
 and good taste, alike by their revolting savageness and 
 their weak and miserable vulgarity. Yet how many such 
 spirits repose at home, un whipped of justice, or walk abroad 
 unscathed, and that in a land of Keligion, Law, and civili- 
 zation, in pious, Protestant, free. Democratic America. K 
 there is any National character among us, what effect on it 
 will be produced by such habits as these ? 
 
 Is it right to continue silent, and allow these marauders, 
 under the high-sounding dignities of Generals, Majors, and 
 CaptainSj to " scour" the country of these poor people, 
 armed with rifles and revolvers, to plunder and murder 
 a few disheartened men, who, with thrir helpless wives and 
 little ones, have nothing but bows and arrows to defend 
 themselves, and are struggling against wind and water only 
 to get out of the way. Will this, and a thousand things 
 like it, be honorable items for our future history ? Mean 
 and horrible as the account appears, it is in perfect keep- 
 ing with nearly all the Oregon papers have publislied on 
 the subject since the commencement of the war. Such 
 conduct is worthy only of the darkest ages, and the most 
 miserable conditions. Bold, honest, self-relying Barbarism 
 would despise it, and only the weakest and most contempt- 
 ible savages could thus abuse and degrade themselves. 
 
 That such influences do deprave, is seen everywhere in 
 
m 
 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDIA17S. 
 
 » 
 
 those regions where they occur. It is not the immediate 
 results — the destruction of property and life, and the deso- 
 lation of families, which are the greatest evils. There is a 
 deep and widely spreading demoralization, which the exit 
 of a generation can hardly erase. An anecdote which I 
 remember, will illustrate the truth of this. A few months 
 ago I called on a neighbor in Oregon, and, upon asking a 
 little boy for his father, he answered, " Pap's gone to kill 
 Indians ; and I am going to have a gun, and kill them, too, 
 as soon 's I am big enough I** 
 
 Thus, tender little children are made inhuman; and, 
 from disregarding the rights of Indians, they come, at 
 length, to lose all sense of moral obligation in a highly en- 
 ergized selfishness, that is far worse, and more revolting, 
 than a spontaneous savageism or a natural brutality. I 
 appeal, for the truth of this, to the people themselves — ^the 
 daily details of the Pacific and California papers. Take 
 the following, from one of the former, as a specimen : 
 
 " Society continues in a very disorganized state through- 
 out the Interior. The country journals are filled with ac- 
 counts of numerous, daring robberies. From Mariposa to 
 Yreka, the whole State is infested with gangs of footpads 
 and mounted highwaymen. Few travelers can pass with- 
 out being attacked, or threatened, by these Desperadoes." 
 
 But the loss of moral principle is not only apparent in 
 these outbreaks, but also in a general tendency to corrup- 
 tion. The election franchise is bought and sold ; Patriotism 
 is perverted ; Justice and Truth are lost sight of; and only 
 the spoils of Party decorate the goal, toward which the 
 Candidates and their Supporters rush with infuriated haste, 
 that sweeps down, and tramples under foot, the unpro- 
 tected Public Good, while private emolument becomes the 
 object of highest ambition. And think not, because the 
 subject we have been discussing, relates directly to the 
 people beyond the Eocky Mountains, that, therefore, they 
 only are to blame ; or that they have, abstractly, less re- 
 gard for social order and social law thant their brethren in 
 the States. This is not so ; but just in proportion as prin- 
 ciples of injustice or inhumanity are patronized by public 
 sentiment, the individuals who compose the elementsof 
 
 PJ 11 !*,"; 
 
 Mm 
 
 wm. 
 
100 
 
 ▲ FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 that community must become inhuman and depraved. 
 Have not the friends of Bight and Good Order something 
 to consider in this significant fact — something to look 
 after, and to question, if, perad venture, the leaven be not 
 feund working in their midst? Every departure from fun- 
 damental principles of Bight, must influence, with more or 
 less direct power, all human society. Central America 
 and the Isles of the sea are made to feel it ; and the mas- 
 sacre in Panama, and the war in Oregon, are some of its 
 legitimate results. 
 
 The Negroes of the South are not the only victims of 
 Slavery, The Indians also are, more or less, victims of the 
 slave spirit, that has crept into our national councils, and 
 controls all the machinery of our Government This is the 
 mote that blinds the clear eye : this is the wrong that pal- 
 sies the strong hand : this is the Hydra that despoils us oi 
 our own rights — that tramples Humanity under foot, and 
 leads Justice away captive. And it is precisely because 
 our consciousness is thus perverted, that we cannot see the 
 great wrong we are doing to the Indians. We are not 
 merely encroaching on their territory, driving them from 
 their homes, and destroying them by repeated violations 
 of all natural and national law; but we are murdering 
 their reputation. We are, by every means, degrading 
 them, and thus crushing out the self-respect, and blasting 
 the honor, which, to a true Indian, is always precious. 
 
 Even their religious teachers are not altogether exempt 
 from this wrong. Though many of them are zealous and 
 devoted in their labors of reform, yet results show that 
 there is a fatal mistake somewhere, that serves to neu tral- 
 ize the best intentions and the most earnest efforts. Ardu- 
 ous have been the labors and great the privations of many 
 who have consecrated themselves ; and yet, if we take their 
 own testimony, the measure of success is not commensu- 
 rate with the sacrifices incurred. 
 
 Of all the Churches, I believe the Methodists have had 
 the longest and inost extensive experience in Missionary 
 labors among the Indians. Their iieport, presented at the 
 last AnnualConference by the Committee on Missions,is con- 
 clusive on this subject, as the following extracts will show 
 
 "So far as the moral condition of the Indians is con* 
 
A FLEi. FOR THE INDUvg, 
 
 101 
 
 oemed, it will answer onr present purpose to ^y, that f&ey 
 are wretched heathen, in the lowest depths of moxal deg- 
 radation. 
 
 *' But it is also true that there remains to be seen among 
 them but slight traces of the moral benefit which, it was 
 hoped, these astonishing sacrifices and labors would con- 
 fer. They are almost, if not quite, as degraded and desti- 
 tute of every thing embraced in morality, civilization, and 
 religion, as they were when the first Missionary to thia 
 land found them in their nakedness, their ignorance, and 
 their pollution." 
 
 And this is a Beport of that Civilization that has de- 
 praved them with its vices, and maddened them with its 
 crimes — that has without warrant invaded their dominions, 
 robbed them of their lands, made them outlaws in their 
 own country, hunted them in their own woods, murdered 
 them on their own hearth-stones, violated their homes, and 
 thrust the plow into their sepulchres, until its very corn 
 becomes a vampire, and sucks up the sacred ashes of their 
 Fathers' Graves I 
 
 And have we not done, or sanctioned the doinpr, of ^ 
 this, and more than could be here repeated? Who can 
 wonder, then, that they are as bad, or even worse, than 
 they were before they became involved in all these false 
 relations. That they are, as a general thing, more de- 
 graded th^n they were in their original barbarism, is, I 
 believe, admitted by all intelligent observers ; and that, 
 too, after millions of money have been squandered, accord- 
 ing to the Missionaries' own statement, only to harden and 
 debase them. 
 
 There must then be some radical error in their treat- 
 ment ; and this becomes the more certain when we con- 
 sider that simple moral means, combined with the arts and 
 graces of a true Christian life, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, never fail to develop and refine them. Taking 
 all these circumstances into consideration, I would respect- 
 fiiUy suggest a thorough reorganization, and entire change 
 of forces. Let them, at least, have a religion that will not 
 insult their common sense, by presenting itself with Whisky 
 and Creeds in one hand, and Bibles and Bowie-kziives in 
 the other. 
 
 
 ¥■ 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 AFFAIRS AND ADYENTUBES IN OALIFOBNU. 
 
 I TOOK passage on "board the Ootumhia, from Portland 
 to San Francisco. There were on board two young Indian 
 men, who had been up, with their fellows, to act as inter- 
 preters for General Palmer, and were returning to the 
 Coast to accompany others who were preparing to come on 
 the Eeserve. 
 
 As they slept in berths not far from the one I occupied, 
 I had a good opportunity to notice their demeanor ; and I 
 was pleased to see how careM they were to observe all 
 the proprieties of civilized life. They were very decently 
 clothed, and regular in morning ablutions, as carefully ar- 
 ranging their toilet before the glass as the most refined 
 among us. They were reserved, or I should rather say 
 dignified in their manners, never obtrusive, but at the 
 same time ready to communicate with those who addressed 
 them ; yet they were haughtily and contemptuously treated 
 by some on board, and were even excluded from the table. 
 This was with a very ill judgment, as it seemed to me, for 
 the grossest and lowest Hoosiers were admitted ; and even 
 common decency was, in many cases, quite disregarded, 
 while, on the other hand, the manners of those young 
 men really would not disgrace a court. I particularly 
 noticed one drunken man, who seemed to regard them 
 with a supreme contempt, as he vociferated ; "I am frpm 
 the best blood in Virginia I" A look at this lofty sprig of 
 humanitv presented a striking contrast to his words ; for he 
 appeared a living mass of corruption, with a rum nose, 
 bleared eyes, and tobacco-juice dribbling from each comer 
 of his mouth. He was the greatest point against himself 
 that I ever paw in my life, and would be worth a score of 
 
A PLEi. FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 108 
 
 Btump lecturers against the special claims of a hereditary 
 nohihty. But there are many such, especially in the South 
 and South-West. They have but to announce themselves, 
 and the illustration which they present is irresistible. 
 
 On arriving in San Francisco I found the whole city in 
 commotion. The Vigilance Committee had just put down 
 the constituted Authorities. They had taken possession of 
 a block of buildings as their Head Quarters ; and on two 
 streets leading to it, had raised a bulwark of sand-bags, 
 well mounted with cannon. Several notorious assassins 
 had been hung ; others were imprisoned, and many reck* 
 less men were banished from the country. These meas- 
 ures were considered necessary, on account of the general 
 corruption and frauds of those in office. 
 
 I called ou the Editor, to whom I had written from Rogue 
 River Valley ; but he said he had received no letters with 
 my signature. I then visited several of the principal Ed- 
 itors, and endeavored to present the claims of the Indians ; 
 but owing to the difficulties in which their City and State 
 were involved, as well as the fact that the Oregon papers had 
 been so unanimous in their one-sided statement, all of them 
 were utterly averse to admit any thing on the subject. It 
 seemed to be taken for granted that the war 'was right, 
 and that although General Wool was held in high esteem, 
 he might have been mistaken in his views. 
 
 I was much pained to find such a state of aifairs ; for my 
 great hope of stopping the mutual murders, and inaugu- 
 rating a happier influence, was through the California 
 Press. My funds being exhausted, I was under the ne- 
 cessity of staying in San Francisco two months before I 
 could procure the means for further travel. During that 
 time, I learned much of the condition of the Indians in 
 various parts of the country. I often inquired of Miners, 
 and others whom I met with in the city, in regard to their 
 treatment, and means of subsistence. The sum total of 
 their testimony was to the effect that, remnants of once 
 powerful tribes are, with few exceptions, greatly abused, 
 being in the condition of a disinherited family of children, 
 treated as unwelcome strangers in the place that gave them 
 birth, and punished as transgressors on their paternal do- 
 
104 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 m 
 
 mains. The^ are thus reduced to beggary, and yet de« 
 spised for being poor. They are forced, or seduced into 
 the lowest depths of civilized vice, and then punished for 
 their depravity. With no encouragement to improve, and 
 no means of self-elevation, they are accused of being in- 
 dolent, and reported as incapable of progress. Every item 
 I heard or read, in relation to public wrongs, kept my 
 sympathies alive, and sometimes wounded to the quick. 
 My soul yearned ; and I wondered how it was that the de- 
 plorable condition of the Aborigines could neither be seen 
 nor felt by the Philanthropists and Beformers of the land. 
 
 With this feeling largely predominant, I wrote an Appeal 
 to the Press of California, and urged upon that body, by 
 every consideration of humanity and religion, that they 
 shomd take up the subject, and write in behalf of justice 
 and mercy for the poor Indians. The article was taken to 
 the most religious and influential paper in the State, the 
 California Christian Advocate. Three days afterward I was 
 informed that it was not admissible in their columns. 
 
 Cast down, but not discouraged, I wrote different Articles, 
 and took them respectively to the Chronicle and Town- 
 Talk. These expressed some good feeling, but thought 
 that the subject was foreign, and not of sufficient interest 
 for their papers. The Bulletin Editors spoke kindly, as did 
 also those of the True Califorman, and promised to interest 
 themselves in the cause, as soon as the more pressing diffi- 
 culties in which their city was involved should subside. 
 
 Having a copy of the Oregon Argus, containing the 
 " Address to Citizens of Kogue Eiver Valley," I gave it to 
 the Editor of the Western Standard, in which paper it was 
 republished, as well as several other articles relative to the 
 same subject. 
 
 I was among strangers, and had as yet met with none 
 who seemed fully to appreciate the peculiarities of my 
 position, or who were disposed to aid the great object 
 which circumstances had called upon me to advance. In 
 taking a walk one evening, and in deep thought as to what 
 course I should pursue, I noticed an assembly in the base- 
 ment of the " Pilgrims' Church," and, with others, I en- 
 tered to spend an hour. Years had intervened since I was 
 
A FLEA. FOB THE IKDUNS. 
 
 105 
 
 in a meeting where the harmonious song of praise, and the 
 soul -in spiring prayer were so grateful as on that occasion. 
 The Minister, Eev. Mr. Lacy, seemed a genial spirit ; and 
 I also was impelled to give utterance to my feelings. 
 
 After this, many friends expressed sympathy; and 
 through the kindness of Mr. Lacy, I was introduced 
 to the Rev. Mr. Brady, Editor and Proprietor of two pa- 
 pers, The Pacific, and The Evening Post. This gentleman, 
 with the full, comprehensive benevolence of a Christian 
 Philanthropist, grasped the subject; and by publishing 
 Articles and Editorials did much, with other papers that 
 also opened their columns, to arouse public benevolence in 
 a right direction. 
 
 I also met with several merchants, and other prominent 
 citizens from Eogue River Valley, some of whom had been 
 my opponents, and were deeply involved in war indemni- 
 ties. Nevertheless, without exception, they each expressed 
 toward me hearty kindness, and were earnest in solicita- 
 tion for my return to the Valley, assuring me of safety and 
 protection. 
 
 I felt when they spoke how pleasant it would be again 
 to dwell in my own domicile, to sit by my own hearth- 
 stone, in company with wife, and son, and friends, and to 
 rest from strife and oppression ; for I had learned from ex- 
 perience, that to wage a warfare at one's own expense' in 
 behalf of a despised Race, and against popular prejudice, 
 was hard work — sailing against wind and tide. But I had 
 counted the cost , and thus was prepared to stand by what* 
 ovftT results were to be obtained. ^ , 
 
 ,i\ 
 

 '. ^-A 
 
 / *.' 
 
 • ^ " .V ,1 
 
 CHAPTER XV, 
 
 VARIOUS OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 \l •>... 
 
 
 I 
 
 On the 5tli of September, 1856, 1 took leave of my good 
 friends in California, and especially the Rev. Messrs. Lacy 
 and Brayton, Mr. Woodward of the What-Cheer House, 
 the Proprietors of the Hilliard Temperance House, and 
 other gentlemen, by whose liberality, I was furnished with 
 Free Tickets to New York, worth two hundred dollars. 
 
 Having heard of the disturbance in which seveial lives 
 were lost at Panama, I was interested to learn upon the 
 spot the cause of the difficulty ; but upon arriving there, 
 T7e were no sooner landed than the cars were ready, leav- 
 iog me no resource but to look at the huts, the people, and 
 the tropical scenery, with short and rapid flights of thought 
 and fancy, as we glanced along. 
 
 During the journey we made one or two halts, when I 
 noticed that the Natives were generally of good size, with 
 rather pleasant-looking features, and apparently well-fed 
 though not corpulent. They were cheerful and disposed 
 to trade, having a variety of ornaments and eatables for 
 sale. We saw no cultivated fields, and scarcely the ap- 
 pearance of a garden, but abundance of tropical fruits, such 
 as the yam, the date, and cocoa-nut, which form their chief 
 subsistence. Since I have heard that our Government de- 
 mands indemnity of this people, on account of the dis- 
 turbance, I have wondered what conditions could have 
 induced Yam and Cocoa-nuts to challenge a fight with Pork 
 and Beans. « ' . 
 
 In Aspenwall the people are mostly from the Island of 
 Jamaica; and they appeared to me more shrewd and capa- 
 ble of making headway, than the colored people of the 
 States. At least I never saw so many of this class together 
 
A PLEA rOB THE DTDIANS. 
 
 107 
 
 before. They are all independent traders, and seem de- 
 termined to make a living in their vocation. 
 
 I arrived in New York on the 27th of September ; and 
 as the vessel touched the pier, I was reminded of my varied 
 experience, since I first stepped on shore from Liverpool, 
 26 years ago. On that occasion I had spent only part of a 
 day in the city, and had never been in it since ; and now, 
 though a stranger amid its busy throngs, I felt compara- 
 tively at home, and familiar with the general history, the 
 stirring questions, and the names and positions of publio 
 men, and a lively interest in the success of its free Institu- 
 tions, and its beneficent measures. In short, I now felt 
 more sensibly, by contrast, the true spirit and power of 
 adoption ; for on my first arrival in the country, I knew 
 nothing of this great fraternizing sense of community in 
 what I saw ; but every thing was new, and strange, and 
 blank. 
 
 But in the main object of my visit I was again doomed 
 to disappointment. The Papers and the People were all 
 filled up and absorbed by the affairs of Kansas and the 
 Presidential Election ; and there seemed no use in any at- 
 tempt to invoke attention and sympathy for a people be- 
 yond the Mountains. 
 
 For several weeks I attended various churches on the 
 Sabbath, and many political meetings of different parties 
 on the week days, from all of which I received a deep im- 
 pression, that there is, generally, an earnest desire that 
 Justice should rule the Nation. Human Brotherhood was 
 a favorite topic with some, while others, who differ both in 
 politics and religion, were, nevertheless, advocating Hu- 
 man Eights, and devising plans for broad benevolence. I 
 could see all around* me the struggling effort for a better 
 condition ; but the main dijficulty appeared to be, the best 
 means for its attainment. Philanthropy seemed active in 
 response to every call. In the rostrum and the pulpit, the 
 claims of various departments of humanita y effort were 
 set forth in vivid colors, and before assembled multitudes; 
 while the Press teemed with arguments for efS,cient appli- 
 cation. The various political parties, and social reformers, 
 had each their Organizations. Societies and periodicals 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 t 
 
 'iin\i 
 
108 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 1'; 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 were in operation for the benefit of the colored population. 
 Women, also, had their conventions, and the Poor of every 
 g^ ade, their friends. My heart sympathized with all these ; 
 but my joy was marred by the consideration, that there 
 was a whole Kace, natives of our soil, in circumstances de- 
 manding deep commiseration; and yet not one word or 
 whisper could I hear in their behalf. 
 
 Various objections were made ; but the chief one was 
 this, that the Eaces can not live together — ^that even if the 
 Indians scrupulously observed treaty stipulations, others 
 would not ; and consequently war and enmity must con- 
 tinue. 
 
 Such a sentiment we sho^^M blush to hear, and scorn to 
 encourage. Is it not a virtual acknowledgment that our 
 People are more trifling and faithless than savages, that 
 our Government has less power to restrain transgression 
 than theirs? and that, as a Nation, we are so destitute both 
 of moral principle and power, that we can maintain our in- 
 tegrity only with Peoples that are strong enough to enforce 
 observance at our hands ? If such a sentiment were to ob- 
 tain general acceptance, the Nations of the Earth would be 
 inclined to hold our Eepublican forms in low esteem; 
 while the weaker communities of Mankind would think of 
 us as bullies and cowards, possessing but little magna- 
 nimity, and no religion. 
 
 And yet, mortifying as this acknowledgment is, it is not 
 only made on the Frontiers, but assented to, to a lament- 
 able extent. The great idea, or rather fact, of popular 
 sovereignty, has been perverted by sectional portions of 
 our country, for practices completely subversive of the 
 principles by which the whole people have engaged to be 
 governed. And this is why I address, and urge this Ap- 
 peal to the Nation at large. The question comes home to 
 every man's conscience. Shall we be silent or indifferent, 
 while a fractional portion of the community, in the name, 
 and with the means of the whole, persistently compromises 
 and tramples on the National honor and good faith, by 
 multiplied aggressions, and determined destruction, toward 
 a people whom we are bound, by every principle of even 
 common justice, to cherish and protect ? Let the em- 
 
A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 109 
 
 pliatio NO, sound long and loud, untill tlie Will of a 
 mighty People shall dare assert itself— to be known 
 and felt tliroughout the length and breadth of our vast 
 domain. 
 
 The false relations which have given birth to such, 
 deplorable results, as are seen everywhere west of the 
 Mountains, mainly grow out of false views of the moral 
 and intellectual nature of Man. The grand mistake is, that 
 brute force, which is addressed to the lower faculties, is 
 everywhere recognized as the basis, not only of law and 
 legal action, but of social and civil institutions, instead of 
 such means as will rouse and call forth the higher powers. 
 But all experience proves, that one good action will do 
 more toward the amelioration of a savage people, than the 
 combined force of all the armies in Christendom. I will 
 relate an anecdote in point. 
 
 Some } ears ago, a small Tribe of Indians, being passen- 
 gers on board one of our Lake Steamers, one of the num- 
 ber, a woman, fell overboard, and would have been 
 drowned, but for the Mate of the Vessel, who risked his 
 own life to save her. The generous act had a salutary 
 effect on the Tribe, and was warmly applauded by all the 
 leading papers in the country. It is only low and grovel- 
 ing minds that can not appreciate the act as the prompt- 
 ings of a noble and generous nature, akin to his who 
 " went about doing good." 
 
 No doubt that worthy man enjoyed a full reward, in 
 seeing the grateful emotions of these poor people, for the 
 restoration of a wife or mother, to her family and friends ; 
 but this was only a small part of the good performed, and 
 the happiness enjoyed. It was a good to all who heard or 
 read of the ciiouinstance, because it was an appeal to the 
 higher faculties, and by sympathy imparted strengthening 
 and pleasurable exercise to what constitutes the purest joy 
 and glory of man. * 
 
 And 0, what an amount of peace, and good will, and 
 general happiness, and national elevation, we might attain, 
 if all were imbued with a similar spirit ; while, on the 
 other hand, for the want of it, we may justly attribute 
 the necessity of standing armies, and the occurrence of 
 
110 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 ■wars, with all their miaeries, together with the culture and 
 predominance of the Animal instead of the true Human 
 Nature. 
 
 Again, there is a prevalent belief that the Indians are 
 doomed to fall away and perish from the track of Civiliza- 
 tion — that it is in the order of Nature ; and, therefore, it is 
 not worth while to attempt to save them. But let us en- 
 quire what destiny, or law of Nature can exist for such a 
 purpose. The approach of Civilization does not annihilate 
 or poison the natural elements. Earth, air, and water con- 
 tinue the same ; and therefore altered nature does not de- 
 stroy. And even if civilization was forced upon them, so 
 as to bring them at once under its conventionalities and 
 restraints, even this change, great as it would be, could 
 not, in my humble opinion, cause their destruction. It is 
 a well-known fact, that animals become acclimated and 
 live in extremely unnatural conditions ; while it is ad- 
 mitted on all hands, that Man has the power of acclimation, 
 and adaptation to ungenial circumstances, in a far greater 
 degree than any of the inferior animals. I will, then, 
 venture the assertion, that it is not Civilization that de- 
 stroys, but the more highly energized Savageism that creeps 
 under its mantle, usurps its prerogative, and does un- 
 speakable wrongs and mischiefs in its name. In short, it 
 is that same spirit, that has no independent absolute integ- 
 rity, but, by its own confession, disregards treaties, and 
 tramples them under foot, whenever it can do so with im- 
 punity. Let us look at the plain facts, and see if this is 
 not so. We have robbed them of their lands ; we have 
 invaded their homes; and while we have refused them suf- 
 ficient protection from our own, we have withheld from 
 them the right of Self Government. We have appropri- 
 ated every choice spot west of the Mountains, for our own 
 use, and, in many instances, have put them under the con- 
 trol of Agents whose acts declare them the enemies of the 
 Eace. Let me illustrate this by an anecdote. I inquired 
 of a gentleman in relation to the Reserve, on which they 
 were collecting the Indians ; and he answered that it was 
 *'only fit for a Beserue" By this I inferred that the coun- 
 try was of such a character as neither Whites nor Indiana 
 
A PLEA FOB THS INDIANS. 
 
 HH 
 
 111 
 
 would choose to live upon. Need we wonder tbat the In- 
 dian Tribes pine away and die, when we see them crowded 
 together in a small compass, consisting chiefly of hills and 
 ravines unfit for culture, and therefore alike ungenial to the 
 Savage and the Civilized ? 
 
 Let us imagine what would be the chance for longevity, 
 if the inhabitants of any of our cities were compelled to 
 move, en masse, and take up their abode within some cir- 
 cumscribed limits of our mountain ranges, which are not 
 yet occupied by man, and where the passes are all guarded 
 by Forts, and armed by hostile soldiers, to prevent escape. 
 Let us fancy them cut off from all the world, deprived of 
 their liberty, and though supplied with food, yet of a dif- 
 ferent and less congenial quality than their accustomed 
 diet. Let us think of them thus confined, without local 
 attraction, without occupation, without motive for exertion 
 or encouragement to improve, and all these evils enhanced 
 by the oppressive and debasing consciousness of being 
 hated and despised by the whole world. 
 
 And for the sake of the argument, setting aside all ex- 
 tra acts of oppression, robbery, and murder, whether single 
 or wholesale, who does not see that a people thus placed, 
 without commerce and without hope, would soon deteri- 
 orate, and under the influence of wasting diseases forced 
 upon them from without, would gradually perish from 
 the Earth ? Yet these circumstances certainly are not the 
 essential attributes or adjuncts of Civilization, but absolutely 
 the reverse. In all these facts, and many more like them, 
 there is direct proof, that whenever a savage Tribe de- 
 clines and subsides from the path of a more highly 
 advanced people, it is not owing to the Civilization, but be- 
 cause of the more strongly-armed selfishness which it 
 organizes, and carries along with it. To this, then, the 
 remedy should be applied ; and being so, it would be felt 
 to the very heart's core of our own People. 
 
 The Indians also labor under another difficulty, not less 
 formidable than the last-mentioned, and that is, the cold 
 indifference that is felt toward them, on the ground of 
 their obstinate unbelief. Knowing this, as I do, I should not 
 be just were I to omit a plea for them in this particular. 
 
 11 
 
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 M 
 
112 
 
 jl flea fob the dtdians. 
 
 Let ns for a moment consider, that, although the Indiana 
 may not have a Bible, or a knowledge of the Written 
 "Word, it by no means follows that they are destitute of 
 divine inspiration and of religious principle ; for we should 
 bear in mind, that they who wrote our own Bible, had, 
 previously, none to read. And yet we learn that Enocn 
 walked with God, that Abraham was the friend of God, 
 that Moses observed the Law before it was written, and 
 that men of old were moved by the Holy Ghost, before 
 Prophets spoke. Thus we have the strongest proof from 
 the Bible itself, that inspiration, and the knowledge of 
 God, are not derived from it alone. 
 
 Moreover, the Scriptures plainly declare that there is 
 "a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the 
 world," and that " God is no respecter of persons.*' What 
 presumption, then, it must be, to suppose that the Indians 
 are purely savage, and to treat them without any regard to 
 their religion, their conscience, or their sense of moral 
 right. 
 
 It is true that their creed is not written in a book ; neither 
 have they temples built with hands, nor any idea of a 
 Triune God, or of a Mediator through whom to approach 
 and conciliate the Majesty on High. But they have, on 
 their own mountains and valleys, the same Presence that 
 dwelt with Moses, and Daniel, and the Prophets on the 
 mountains and valleys of Palestine. The bright sun, and 
 the fertilizing rain, are, to their simple minds, ministers of 
 blessing. They look up to the blue canopy and meditate 
 on the starry heavens ; they bask on the sunny hill-side, 
 or recline under the spreading trees ; they retire into the 
 deep aisles of the forest, and find there God's solemn tem- 
 ples, where the babbling brook, the sighing zephyr, and 
 singing birds, all have ministries of love and worship ; and 
 with them they unite, in adoration of the Great Spirit, 
 whose informing presence ai^imaties the whole, and in whom 
 the Indian, as well as tho Christian, lives, aftd moves, and 
 has his beii^g. 
 
 They have, then, a faith, and a creed, and the book of 
 God, as revealed in Nature, always open before them. 
 They read, and reflect, and have imbibed a Theology, that 
 
 I 
 
A. FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 115 
 
 is not only sacred to them, but has also that vital element 
 which we suppose belongs exclusively to religious faith ; 
 for it is a source of hope in trouble, of courage in conflict, 
 and of triumph in death. 
 
 In short, for many reasons, our religion is to them' not 
 only incomprehensible, but revolting and absurd ; and not 
 merely this is true, but the conduct of these who offer it, 
 in many cases, affords the strongest arguments against it. 
 Indians are quick to perceive that the White Man's Book 
 will be of no benefit to them, since, with the Sacred Vol- 
 ume in their houses, and its precepts in their mouths, they 
 are despoiled of their possessions, and driven from their 
 homes. They can not perceive the superiority of a relig- 
 ion, whose professors are not only robbing and murdering, 
 but destroying them with debauchery and drunkenness. 
 How should they — ^how could they — ^if they have any 
 sense of right or truth in them, turn from the religion of 
 their Fathers, and from the hope of their whole lives, for 
 a system that is incomprehensible to their intellect, sub- 
 versive of their interests, and, to the last decree, odious 
 and revolting to their moral consciousness and native no- 
 bility of soul ? 
 
 We shall be better able to appreciate the force of their 
 objections, if we only think how we ourselves should feel, 
 if a more powerful people should take possession of our 
 country, spread themselves in overwhelming numbers over 
 our cities and villages, devouring our substance and treat- 
 ing U3 with contempt, and at the same time requiring us to 
 forsake our religion, demolish our churches, tear down our 
 school-houses, and adopt a faith which we could not com- 
 prehend, and ceremonies and habits which we could not 
 approve. Would not all this be to us what it has hereto- 
 fore been to the Natives of this continent, as well as to 
 the Islanders of the Pacific, a violence, a sacrilege, and a 
 death-blow ? . ' 
 
 Now as there is a certain correspondence and relation- 
 ship in all things naturally associated, it follows that hu- 
 man beings must be somewhat in accordance with the 
 surroundings of their nativity and growth. Hence, geo- 
 graphical characteristics make an impress upon the inhab- 
 
 lit >m 
 
 1; !!* 
 
114 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 itants of every clime. It is, therefore, not possible, that 
 the Indians, inhaling as they do, art atmosphere of re- 
 splendent purity, and surrounded by objects of loveliness, 
 of which they are close and attentive observers, can be 
 without high aspirations, and the elements of intellectual 
 and moral power considerably developed. When first 
 visited by the Whites, they were a numerous, but healthy 
 and happy people, divided into Tribes, each held within 
 its own acknowledged limits, but all united for general de- 
 fense and common national interests. They had their laws 
 and officials, and a government adapted to their circum- 
 stances. They were credulous, hopeful, and anxious for 
 improvement. So much, indeed, .did they desire this, that, 
 years ago, the Churches were electrified by the news that a 
 Delegation of Indians from West of the Eocky Mountains 
 had come to the States for Religious Teachers. Who can 
 conceive the extent of that sacrilege, when vice and de- 
 pravity, in all their horrid forms, stalked forth into such a 
 country, and among such a people ! 
 
 Happy should I Idc if I could leave this topic without 
 another thought; but having witnessed the dire effects of 
 error, and the cruel crushings of prejudice, I feel that a 
 necessity is laid upon me for their exposure. It seems 
 strange, but, nevertLieless, it is true, that in this age of 
 light, and in this land of liberty, men have spoken and 
 written, have preached and prayed for the extermination 
 of the Indians, because, forsooth, they are Pagans and we 
 are Christians! The absurdity of this will appear, if 
 those who are thus engaged would consider how few real 
 Christians there are, even among those who call them- 
 selves by that name ; and how monstrous it would appear 
 were they to pray for their removal from the Earth on that 
 account 1 :_■■,->■ . 
 
 The Indians have their own myths, it is true ; but they 
 are eminently spiritual ; and we should not condemn them 
 because they are so constituted as to demand rational solu* 
 tions of whatever is presented to them as truth. They 
 read intelligently the writing of the Great Spirit in all ex- 
 terior nature, as well as in the human soul. The tints of 
 the flower, the cells and fibres of the leaf, the granules of 
 
:i 
 
 A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 115 
 
 the rock, and the veins of tlie wood, are poems — ^hymns — 
 sermons — ^not of unmeaning and lifeless words, that fall 
 coldly on the ear, like flakes of spring snow, only to dissolve 
 and pass away, but living utterances of that great Interior 
 Life, which, in all they see, and hear, and know, they rec- 
 ognize, and honor, and adore. This great sentiment of 
 veneration, which is, in itself, a fountain of love and 
 
 firaise, pervades the whole character of the true Indian, 
 t informs, it inspires, it exalts him. Think, then, how 
 impossible it must bo for him to exchange this august 
 worship, that has grown with his growth, and strengthened 
 with his strength, for any of those dogmas, which are so 
 far from satisfying Christianity itself, that they have cut 
 into the very heart of the Church, dividing it into hostile 
 factions, armed with deadly hatred against each other, un- 
 til its history, in almost every age, has been dyed crimson 
 with the blood of the Faithful. 
 
 Let us, then, first seek to conciliate each other, that WE 
 may meet on some common ground of toleration and good- 
 fellowship before we dare to brand the Indian as a heathen, 
 because he questions any or all of those dogmas that arc 
 bandied about from sect,to sect, and made brands of con- 
 tention throughout all Christendom. 
 
 I do not wish to be understood as holding up the reli- 
 eious creed of the Indians as being superior to Christianity, 
 but only to show the abundant reason there is for liberality 
 toward them, and at the same time a candid consideration 
 of our own belief; for while many of the testimonies which 
 we accept without a question as valid and sole evidences, 
 were derived from circumstances and documents originating 
 thousands of years ago, and transmitted through many 
 changing and dubious channels, the Indian gets the ele- 
 ments of his faith fresh from the hand-writing of his Maker. 
 It is presented to him in the ever-open book of Nature. 
 It is renewed with every returning spring; and comes 
 forth clear and bright in the light of every morning sun. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 
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 tt 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 :*: 
 
 ' DBUGS, AND DRUa TREATMENT. 
 
 I SHOULD not do justice were I to pass unnoticed another 
 item in the Eeport of the Methodist Committee on Mis- 
 sions, to which I have already given some attention. It is 
 as follows: " j^or them a Whitman and his devoted wife laid 
 down their lives, receiving the death-blow from the murderous 
 hands of those who were the objects of their sincerest benefac- 
 tions.''^ 
 
 In the connection in which this paragraph stands in the 
 Report, it would seem to indicate that the Indians are not 
 only ungrateful, but almost fiend-like in their wanton and 
 malignant cruelty. This fact is made one of the strongest 
 points against them, by their enejaies, everywhere. With- 
 out saying one word, at present, concerning the superior 
 privileges which we, as a civilized and Christian people, 
 enjoy, of killing Indians with impunity, and at pleasure, 
 or of the provocation, real or supposed, which moved them 
 to this act, it will be only necessary to glance at the history 
 of all Nations, to find that this is not a signal instance. 
 We read of Prophets being slain, and Benefactors and Ee- 
 formers of every age being put to death. There is hardly 
 a Christian sect — at least of the old orthodox school — ^but 
 has had its victims and its martyrs ; and if the robes of the 
 Church are not crimson altogether, it is only because the 
 blood stains have faded away in the darkness of remote 
 time. 
 
 I have even now before me in papers of the latest dates, 
 accounts of men, both black and white, being whipped to 
 death — not killed by a sudden outbreak of impetuous pas- 
 sion, but by repeated acts of deliberate torture. And this 
 cruel outrage was not infiicted as a punishment for crimes, 
 
"S 
 
 A FLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 117 
 
 but for the exercise of the noblest virtues — ^worthy even of 
 La Fayette, and other patriots who aided our Fathers, and 
 whom we still delight to honor — for they sought to lift up 
 and re-enfranchise the plundered bondman. But should 
 we not consider it unjust if other nations should be con- 
 tinually proclaiming that we, as a whole people, are guilty 
 of these shameful and cowardly deeds ? 
 
 In the case of Whitman, the murderers suffered the pen- 
 alty of the law, the Chiefs exerting. themselves for their 
 arrest, and the whole public sentiment amonc them de- 
 ploring the apparent act of ingratitude toward those whose 
 memory they still cherish among their dearest benefactors. 
 It is, therefore, not only unjust, but cruel and ungenerous 
 to stereotype and spread abroad this story, especially as 
 the people to whose prejudice it is related are already un- 
 deservedly low in public estimation, and have no means of 
 refuting the slander, with its tacit falsehood, so as to place 
 themselves in a true position before the public mind. 
 
 It would have been more noble, more generous, and 
 every way more worthy of a true " Christian Advocate," 
 to keep entire silence, not only about the Whitman mur- 
 der, but in regard to every thing about the Indians, un- 
 less it would give the palliating as well as the aggravating 
 causes of their acts, and of their present condition. 
 
 Since the story of a murdered missionary is so calculated 
 to induce hardness, and justify apathy against those who 
 are supposed to be so desperately depraved and ungrateful, 
 it is worth while to dwell a little on this part of the sub- 
 ject. I believe that no circumstance in the history of our 
 Indian Eelations has been more misunderstood and per- 
 verted than the case to which I allude. 
 
 As a preliminary, I will observe that by the administra- 
 tion of poisons, and various nostrums under the name of 
 medicine, which have no congeniality with life and health 
 — a vast, and even incalculable amount of misery is wrought 
 in* the world ; and, taking the authority of some who stand 
 among the highest of the Medical Profession, we may 
 fairly believe that, as a general thing, they do more harm 
 than good. 
 
 We shall now see how it was that, through the lament- 
 
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118 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
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 able error of this practice, the good Dr. "Whitman lost his 
 life. He had assiduously devoted himself to the improve- 
 ment of the Indians, not only in Literature and Religion, 
 but also in the culture of grains, roots, and fruits, and irj 
 various mechanic arts. They, on the other hand, justly 
 regarded him with love and veneration, as their best friend ; 
 and though, as a general thing, they object to medicine, 
 yet such was their confidence that they occasionally took 
 it from his hands. 
 
 At length the measles became prevalent among them ; 
 and, as usual with malignant types under drug treatment, 
 the disease was very fatal, and great numbers of them 
 died. They had sometimes been imposed npon by un- 
 principled men, and this fact kept their suspicions on the 
 alert. At one time, during the prevalence of the small- 
 pox, thev were provided with bottles of water flavored 
 with peppermint, and assured of its efficiency to cure, for 
 which they were defrauded of quite a number of horses ; 
 but they had too much sagacity and fineness of observation, 
 not to perceive the imposition very soon, and too strong a 
 sense of injustice not to treasure up the circumstance in 
 the chronicles of their unfailing memory. On several 
 occasions they have been purposely poisoned with strych- 
 nine ; and now that they saw Death in their midst, their 
 little children and their strong men alike perishing before 
 their eyes, it was a time of great affliction and alarm. 
 
 Dr. Whitman, though well beloved, had, nevertheless, 
 outside enemies, some of whom went among the Tribes 
 and insinuated that his medicines poisoned them, offering 
 to demonstrate the fact. A portion of something, said to 
 be from the Doctor, was given to a healthy person ; and in 
 a few minutes he was dead. 
 
 The proof was, to them, indisputable ; but still the Chiefs 
 demurred, hesitating to enforce the law under which their 
 own Medicine Men, in every case where there is the least 
 suspicion of a failure through inefficiency in the practi- 
 tioner, are put to death. But just at this time the wife ot 
 one of their head men died. Frantic with grief and ex- 
 citement, the bereaved husband seized an axe, and with 
 others ran to the mission-house and committed the fatal 
 
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 ■ i in 
 
 A PLEA POK THE INDIANS. 
 
 119 
 
 < 
 
 deed. But afterward they mourned tlie death of those 
 whom they had fd much revered; and to this day the 
 name of Whitmaki is cherished with affectionate remem- 
 brance by the Tribes for whom he labored. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that this was a lamentable 
 affair, for which the Indians were made to suffer severely. 
 But taking all the circumstances into consideration, there 
 are some palliations. It could not, at the worst, have been 
 considered murder in the first degree, nor would it have 
 been so decided by an impartial Judge in any Civil Court. 
 In the second place, it was only an outburst of popular 
 excitement, the like of which often occurs in the States, 
 and was especially frequent during the last year in Kansas, 
 and south of the Ohio Eiver. 
 
 But there is another consideration of still greater weight, 
 and that is the almost certainty, that the Doctor did give 
 drugs of a poisonous nature, in consequence of which his 
 patients died. Far be it from me to reflect on the memory 
 of the Blessdd in an unbecoming ^nanner ; but for the ben- 
 efit of the Living the actions of the Departed, especially 
 when they touch upon any great and important questions, 
 may be properly and fairly canvassed, whether they appear 
 right or wrong. 
 
 Every one knows, or should know, that the Measles >s a 
 disease that shows itself upon the skin, and is simply a 
 healthy effort of the life principle to cast off the impui ity, 
 and thus restore the body to health. If the patient it- in 
 the exercise, or under the direction of common sense, he 
 generally gets well in a few days, and is really better for 
 the process. The skin should be kept clean and comforta- 
 ble, by frequent and thorough ablutions, with abstinejco 
 in diet, and a plentiful supply of drink, such as catnip uea, 
 thin gruel, or pure water, whichever is most agreealie; 
 and with this simple treatment there seldom occurs eil.ier 
 danger or delay. 
 
 The usual course of Drug treatment consits of nitre,, or 
 sulphur, sometimes drastic purges, with a blister on .he 
 side, the lance in the arm, or leeches on the temples, a ILtle 
 morphine, now and then, to allay the pain, and secure si ^p, 
 and afterward a dose of calomel and jalap to move he 
 
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120 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 bowels, with occasional doses of castor-oil to regulate the 
 same ; nor is it to be wondered at that by this mode the 
 patient is always injured and sometimes killed outright 
 Thus Dr. Whitman, with hosts of other learned Doctors, 
 with the best intentions toward the human family, has yet 
 unwittingly cursed it with a medical practice by which 
 thousands are annually sent to untimely graves, while the 
 minds of the living are beclouded with error. 
 
 In proof that this is not a mere assertion, I appeal to the 
 Law and to the Testimony. Here we shall find that Moses 
 prescribed nothing more than wholesome diet, fresh air, 
 and frequent ablutions, with a few simple observances de- 
 signed to aid the faith of the sufferer. Even that terrible 
 scourge, the leprosy, to which the Jews had been subject, 
 was effectually subdued by these means. The Assyrian 
 Captain was directed to wash in Jordan, and was made 
 whole, ^^ 
 
 And of all the cures that took place under the ministra- 
 tions of the Apostles, or of Christ, no prescriptions of 
 drugs were given, and nothing but faith in the recupera- 
 tive power of Nature, under proper influences, was re- 
 quired. It is true that on one occasion Jesus spat on clay, 
 and anointed the eyes of a blind man ; and doubtless in 
 the absence of a pocket-handkerchief, or napkin dipped in 
 water, a little cold, moistened clay was the most natural 
 means for the cure of inflamed eyes. But even here faith 
 was a prerequisite; and hence the question, "Dost thou 
 believe i can do this ?" 
 
 I would observe here that anciently, both among Jews 
 and Gentiles, the healing art was associated with the 
 Priesthood. Jesus also inculcated the same thing; and 
 henc(3, when he gave his last solemn commission to his 
 successors, he coupled " healing the sick" with " preaching 
 the Gospel." Both were commanded in the same breath, 
 the one just as much as the other. 
 
 There is reason to believe that the healing of the sic5k 
 was an important part of the Gospel dispensation, and 
 while I am writing this, I am impressed with the thought, 
 tiiat the amelioration of man's physical condition, vfixs the 
 first object aimed at both in the mission and the command 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 121 
 
 air. 
 
 of Jesu8 Christ. Of course intellectual elevation and spirit- 
 ual life were contemplated as ulterior and necessary results 
 When John wished to know whether Jesus was the Christ, 
 the proofs given in answer were, that the Deaf heard, the 
 Lame walked, the Blind saw, and the Poor had the Gospel 
 preached to them. • 
 
 It is evident from this, that the true Gospel was origi- 
 nally supposed to consist in works of active goodness — in 
 physical, as well as spiritual renovation. Unfortunately, 
 this fact seems to be almost wholly lost sight of by modern 
 Teachers, who would find, by experiment, that the use of 
 soap and water, with a competent knowledge of the sim- 
 plest laws of life and health, would be powerful adjuncts 
 to their Creeds and Catechisms, and should, in fact, precede 
 them, since, in the true order of development, the man 
 must be unfolded before the Christian. Otherwise, the 
 natural law of growth is subverted ; and foliage, flowers, 
 and fruit are unseasonably expected, before the root and 
 trunk have had time to grow. 
 
 We read of the Prophets, and especially Moses, who 
 wrote the Law, and fixed the penalties. In his earnestness 
 to secure obedience, he brougnt to bear all the social and 
 natural evils that imagination could conceive of; and yet 
 he never seems to have thought of anv thing farther than 
 those just retributions, which are the fruit of wrong. Sin 
 brings its own punishment. The penalty can not be 
 escaped ; and is not this simple truth better calculated to 
 inspire sentiments of justice, and respect for the Divine 
 Government, than all the exaggerations that language can 
 express of an angry God, and endless torture? It is, 
 therefore, but reasonable to infer, that the figurative lan- 
 guage of Scripture has been perverted, in the dark ages, 
 by those who were too ignorant and selfish to apply the 
 Gospel for the benefit of the people at large, particularly 
 the poor and the suffering, to whom it was especially sent ; 
 and, as aside from this, there was no apparent object for 
 which it need be preached, one was invented for the occa- 
 sion. On the low plane of thought and feeling to which 
 it was addressed, combining the darkness and violence of 
 
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122 
 
 A PLEA rOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 the feudal cTiaracter, with the revengeful spirit of Heathen 
 Myths out of which the human mind had, as yet, hardly 
 grown, this revolting idea was but too well received. 
 
 We have already seen that the Indians have a creed and 
 a faith which should command respect, and that no substi- 
 tute which Sectarians has presented could be of benefit to 
 them. "We have also seen that the medical practice, as 
 exhibited by Dr. Whitman, was followed by the most dis- 
 astrous results, and that it was contrary both to Moses and 
 Christ. The following quotation, which I take from a 
 medical work now before me, will show that the Indians 
 are more true to nature in the treatment of disease, and 
 therefore more successful than some of their White In- 
 structors. 
 
 Dr. Gilbert B. Champlin, formerly of the United States 
 Army, says : " In the year 1813, while the army lay near 
 to Buffalo, a body of friendly Indians were encamped at 
 no great distance from the main array. Information was 
 received that the small-pox had broken out among them, 
 and that three or four of the surgeons, or mates, were to 
 be detached to go and attend upon them. The order soon 
 came, and I chanced to be one of the number. We re- 
 paired with promptness to the Indian camp, and com- 
 menced our medical treatment, according to the Books ; 
 for at that time I knew nothing but what I learned from 
 recognized authorities. Cathartics, febrifuges, diaphore- 
 tics, etc., etc., were given, in hopes to allay the violence 
 of the virus. But we soon found ourselves in trouble, 
 from a new and unexpected circumstance. 
 
 " In spite of all our exertions, some of the Indians would 
 go and plunge head foremost into a neighboring creek of 
 cold water, in sonde instances when the eruption was at its 
 height. We remonstrated with the Chiefs of the Tribes. 
 We begged and entreated them to prevent such awful 
 practices. We told them they would surely die, but all 
 such persuasions proved of no avail. They continued the 
 bath daily in spite of us. 
 
 " It was finally arranged that I should be despatched 
 to the Surgeon-Cxeneral, to lay our grievances before him, 
 and obtain his instructions on the matter. I accordingly 
 
A PLEA rOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 128 
 
 waited upon him, and told him that nearly half our 
 patients were plunging into cold water, once or twice daily. 
 He agreed with me that they would stand a great chance 
 to die, saying, at the same time, * They are an untameable 
 set of creatures. You must go back, sir, and do with 
 them the best you can.' I immediately returned, and con- 
 tinued treatment according to the Books. But in spite of 
 our learning, power, and skill, a number that we treated 
 died. But to the astonishment of us all, every one of them 
 that plunged into cold water recovered! Their shin was less 
 pitted, and they came up strong and*well." 
 
 I knew of a Tribe in '52, among whom the venereal dis- 
 ease was prevalent. The males refused to take medicine, 
 but bathed frequently and got well ; while the females took 
 medicine. Many of them died, and none got really well. 
 
 I was also informed that after the Indians were oollected 
 upon the Keserve in the Willamette last summer, '56, Dys- 
 entery, in its worst form, became very prevalent, and more 
 than one hundred died. Dr. H. prescribed the usual med- 
 icines, but with ^o benefit, and at length ceased to give 
 any. It was then found that the chance for recovery was 
 better without medicine than with. 
 
 But as this unhappy affair, the putting to death of Dr. 
 Wbitman and his lady has been so often published, and 
 always with a one-sided view, let us now look at the other 
 side ; and in this view we vindicate the avengers ; for we 
 see that the Doctor's practice was what one eminent Phy- 
 sician pronounces ^^A system of guess-work and Murder" of 
 which another says: "Under it Diseases have multiplied^ 
 and become more incurable ;" and still another aflEirms, " that 
 if all iJie Drug Doctors, and all the Drugs on the Globe were 
 annihilated, mankind would have less disease and fewer pre- 
 mature deaths." 
 
 With such testimony, is it not fair to presume that the 
 Indians were impelled to the act by the dictates of con- 
 science, as well as by the first great law of self-preserva- 
 tion ? They saw their fellows dying all around, without 
 any palpable cause, except what emanated from the Mis- 
 sion House. It would be quite nati; ral for them to con- 
 clude that they had a right to sav 3 themselves from 
 
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124 
 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 destruction by destroying their Destroyer. It -^ras not a 
 savage outrage in their view, but the execut!.on of just 
 law — a law which would have been put in force, for less 
 occasion, upon one of their own Physicians. 
 
 And let us bear in mind that the Indians feel their right, 
 as an independent people, to Self-Go vernment, and that 
 the power assumed over them by others is only that of 
 might, and therefore not acknowledged as right. And, 
 after all, what did they do in the case, except in the man- 
 ner of its execution, more than what we should do? Let 
 us suppose a foreign Doctor should come into our midst, 
 and with a great show of learning gain the public con- 
 fidence, and, under pretense of healing their maladies, 
 kill them by dozens, should we not have him arrested so 
 soon as found out? and if it was proven that he adminis- 
 tered nostrums, which his own countrymen avowed were 
 the occasion of dise^es and death, even though given for 
 remedial use, should we not hang him ? especially if the 
 articles were such as are not found in our Medical Books. 
 Indeed, it is probable that if such a case should occur 
 in some parts of our country, a doom more terrible, per- 
 haps whippiing, or burning to death, would be his fate. 
 
 It is proper, in this connection, to notice another of the 
 fruits of bigotry, in the bitter and cruel aspersions that 
 have been, through these relations, cast on the Catholic 
 Priesthood, who were, in some instances, almost as great 
 sufferers as the Indians themselves. This is particularly 
 true of Father Pandozy, a most worthy man and devoted 
 minister, who, like a good shepherd, followed his flock af- 
 ter their dispersion. For this very reason he was perse- 
 cuted by those who were seeking only to destroy ; and on 
 the petty pretense that he was in league with the Enemy, 
 because powder was found in the Mission House after they 
 had left, he was denounced as a traitor; and could he have 
 been caught, would have received the summary treatment 
 of V le so defined. But through great suffering he escaped ; 
 ft) ' since, I have been informed by a respectable Trader, 
 th&' 10 more powder was found among the Catholics than 
 had often been sold to other missionary stations, in sunilar 
 circumstances, where ft quantity is always necessary, to aid 
 the Indians in procuring a subsistence. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BEMEDIAL MEASURES PBOPOSED. 
 
 i!!l 1 
 
 I'l 
 
 
 Having presented some of the more prominent causes 
 of Indian difficulties, let us now see what can be done to 
 
 Srevent their recurrence. The short answer would be " to 
 o justly." This would include every possible facility for 
 their improvement, as an equivalent for what we have 
 taken from them. 
 
 First, there should be appropriated to them a sufficient 
 portion of suitable land, adapted to their highest progress 
 m agriculture, and all the arts of civilization. There 
 should be means provided for the improvement of their 
 respective Keserves, in such a manner as, not only to fur- 
 nish ample support in all the necessaries of life, and the best 
 stimulants to useful occupation, but power to attain the 
 luxurious and the beautiful, at least so far as abundant 
 fruits, science, and artistic skill in agriculture and horti- 
 culture, could enrich and embellish their country. This 
 Eolicy would have a twofold advantage ; it would makeu 
 ome attractive, and thereby dispense with the necessity 
 of armed troops and forts to keep them together, while, at 
 the same time, it would cultivate their higher faculties, 
 and afford a happier and easier transit from the savage to 
 the civilized condition. 
 
 To do all this properly, it is obvious that a sufficient 
 number, and the right kind of men, should be employed. 
 This is a consideration of vital importance; for if the 
 officials have not the requisite qualities, natural and ac- 
 quired, for taking the lead in such a work, as well as abil- 
 ity to impart instruction both in Science and Government, 
 any amount of expenditure must result in utter failure. 
 Hence the Agencies should not be mere sinecures, as at \ 
 
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 Hi 
 
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126 
 
 A FLEA FOB THE INDUNS. 
 
 present, and there should be no occasion of puWic com- 
 plaints like the following, which I take from the Western 
 Standard^ published at San Francisco, November 15, 1856 : 
 
 " The poor Indians of this region are in a reallj suffer- 
 ing state ; and humanity demands that something should 
 be done to ameliorate their condition, and save them, not 
 only from being decimated by disease, but from final ex- 
 tinction. 
 
 " We have an Indian Eeserve in the State, and an Indian 
 Agent employed by the United States Government, to 
 look after the remnant of the Aborigines of our country. 
 Why is it that no attention is paid to those hereabouts by 
 F. JL Henley Esq., the Indian Agent for the General Gov- 
 ernment ? We beg to call his attention to the sufferings 
 of the poor Digger Indians in this part of the country. 
 Many of their children are sprightly, and as susceptible of 
 mental culture as our own. What is wanted is, to have 
 the fostering arm of the Government thrown around 
 them." 
 
 I The Agents phould have a sympathetic feeling for the 
 objects of their care, and a nice sense of justice, which, of 
 itself, could prompt them to the full discharge of all the 
 duties required at their hands. And, as they are so far 
 from the appointing power and the center of responsibility, 
 •with the interests of so many depending on their faithful- 
 ness, the utmost means that experience and science can 
 « devise should be combined, to insure the appointment of 
 men who are both able and honest. 
 
 If the science of Phienology does, indeed, indicate and 
 explain character, then every person employed in of&ces of 
 trust, should first be approved by a qualified Professor ; 
 and if none were employed, but such as have the requisite 
 amount of benevolence, conscientiousness and intellect, 
 combined with experience, there would be no misapplica- 
 tion of means, and no cause of complaint. 
 (' The Agencies should not consist of men alone, but also 
 of women and children — whole families — such as practi- 
 cally understand physiological and social law, with warm 
 hearts and benevolent impulses. Such as these would be- 
 come angels of love and power. They would feel a sacred 
 
A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 127 
 
 jo3r in becoming the centers of domestic virtueas arotmd 
 which latent faculties would be called forth, to exp;»nd and 
 multiply, to enrich and beautify the whole. And as the 
 choicest gems are found amid roughest rocks, so hRrmony 
 and grace, intelligence and power, would shine forth from 
 these, as yet, undeveloped minds. 
 
 For this purpose all the best means of elevation and r» 
 finement should be amply furnished, and all that could in 
 cite and draw out the intellect to its highest effort, brough' 
 within the scope of the recognized and normal plan of 
 operations. 
 
 These people are naturally dignified, with self esteem 
 well developed. This should be truly directed, and 
 through it cherished the native honor of the Indian, 
 which, even in his primitive state, scorns to do a mean- 
 ness. Under wise and loving influences it would expand 
 into nobleness that would make his character an archetype 
 of manhood. But degrade and destroy this feeling, and 
 the consequent reaction carries him as far below ; and he 
 drops into a miserable, groveling wretch, who yet can 
 not assimilate with the slave ; for the most degraded In- 
 dian seems to have an everlasting sense of what he once 
 was. 
 
 Both the fine and useful arts should be encouraged, and 
 cultivated among them, and especially such as create aj 
 sense of personal improvement and advantage. For thiau 
 reason good Dressmakers and Tailors should be employed' 
 as missionaries, to assist them in the art of self-culture. 
 This would furnish agreeable employment, gratify their 
 natural taste, and do more to advance their civilization 
 than all the catechisms in Christendom. 
 
 The magnificent scenery of their varied hills and valleys, 
 their majestic mountains and forests, their silvery streams, 
 their verdant groves and meadows, have naturally inspired 
 them with a love of the beautiful ; hence they should be 
 taught the art of Painting. This would refine, by deep- 
 ening the impressions of external beauty, and thus lead 
 
 them 
 
 " To look through Nature up to Nature's God." 
 
 Again, the Indians have a great deal of invention, and 
 
 '! 
 
 
128 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INSIAHS. 
 
 skill in hand-craft; and to make capital of this, there 
 should be Mechanics to instruct them m every species of 
 useful labor, so introduced and arranged as to make it 
 pleasant; for we should no more expect them at once, and 
 willingly, to subject themselves to dry and severe toil and 
 drudgery than we would those of our fellow-citizens of 
 the South, whose hands have never been hardened by 
 toil. In short, I see no reason why they should not be 
 directly taught all the higher branches of science, but es- 
 pecially the different departments of Natural History, 
 which would be peculiarly attractive and congenial to 
 their habits and character. If they have minds capable 
 of grasping the alphabet, and that, too, with a power which 
 some of them have already shown, they would be able to 
 attain every thing attainable by us — to unlock all mental 
 treasures of which that alphabet is the key. 
 j They should be - invested with the highest possible de- 
 / gree of freedom ; and while they are protected by our 
 / Authorities, they should be encouraged and incited to 
 emulation, in the manly and human ideal of Self-Govern- 
 ment. They should be instructed in proper forms, with 
 full liberty to establish their own institutions, and elect 
 their own officers. 
 
 !I would recommend that all mysticism in Theology 
 should be kept entirely away from them, and that they be 
 taught only plain, practical, Christian truth. Let us give 
 them, not only in words, but in all our actions, the spirit 
 • of the Golden Eule. This they can easily appreciate, and 
 will be ready to accept, because its law is not one-sided, 
 but mutual ; for in requiring me to be just and kind to all, 
 it equally requires that every human being should be just 
 and idnd to me. If this teaching had no direct practical 
 advantage, it would yet be of inestimable value, as a means 
 of unfolding the higher faculties ; and opening fountains 
 of pure and exalted pleasure, it would at once develop 
 and satiate with its own proper enjoyments, the true nature 
 of man. * I submit that if this Eule should be taught, not 
 only to the Indians, but to other people, as a cardinal doc- 
 trine, instead of some others which are considered as such, 
 it would be a vast benefit to all mankind. 
 
A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 120 
 
 Setting aside all special applications of faith in creeds, 
 we believe and know that our great Teacher and Exemplar 
 went about doing good, not only rebuking sin in high 
 places, but healing the sick and binding up the broken- 
 nearted. He preached " deliverance to the captive, and 
 the opening of the prison-doors to them that were bound," 
 and finally laid down his life to confirm and seal his doc- 
 trines, thus literally becoming the Saviour of men. And 
 if4hose who profess to be his followers had gone up and 
 down the valleys of Oregon, imbued with a spirit akin to 
 that which he manifested in traversing the mountains and 
 valleys of Judea, what different results should we now 
 have realized ! But so far were many of his representa- 
 tives from exhibiting his spirit, that if he could have ap- 
 peared there bodily, with his own Gospel, just as he taught 
 It eighteen hundred years ago, they would have been among 
 the foremost to urge a second crucifixion ; for by generally 
 taking part against every principle of humanity, they have 
 virtually confirmed this declaration. Christ, himself de- 
 clares thus concerning similar circumstances, "Inasmuch 
 as ye have done wrong unto the least of these, ye have 
 done it unto me." I can not, therefore, do otherwise than 
 repeat my solemn conviction, that the pure Gospel has 
 been but partially preached, and that the Indians have 
 never had any thing worthy of its name. 
 
 To assure any candid mind of this, we need only refer 
 to the Eeports of the Missionaries themselves, some ex- 
 tracts from which have already been given in this work 
 The general spirit that pervades them is remarkable for 
 want of faith in their own ministry. A truly appreciating 
 kindness, the most powerful means of persuasion, is set 
 aside. In some of these documents the Indians are repre- 
 sented, not only as low, brutish, unreclaimable heathen, 
 but as the most diabolic and ungrateful of mortals. Never- 
 theless, I believe that every person who has tried the 
 power of kindness, and recognized them humanly, could 
 furnish abundant tesamony that all these conclusions are 
 false to the spirit of our religion, as they are cruel and 
 unjust to the Indians. 
 
 In our dealing with them, it is very important to dL« 
 
 !! 
 
ISO 
 
 A PL8A FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 courage, as far as possible, not only the use of Tobacco and 
 Alcoholic Drinks, but Drug Medicine. The use of the lat- 
 ter is a fruitful source of evil among them ; and thousands 
 yearly fall victims to this infatuation, which not only de- 
 stroys great numbers, but vitiates the constitutions, and de- 
 praves the minds of those that are left behind. The culture 
 of fruits, and the use of vegetable food, with unbolted 
 ■wheat, should be encouraged among them, while their own 
 simple remedial processes should be improved by the Uic 
 of all hygienic agencies. 
 
 In looking over the history of mankind, we see that 
 public evils have only been checked by decided charac- 
 ters, as in the case of Noah, Lot, Moses, and Daniel, each 
 of whom was distinguished, chiefly, because his compeers 
 failc'd to do their duty. If it were not for ignorance and 
 cruelty, there would be no occasion for martyrs and re- 
 formers. But so long as those who should be the lights 
 of the world, and the salt of the earth, hide their light, and 
 lose their savor, reformers will be in demand, and martyrs 
 will not cease. 
 
 I will neither judge nor condemn any one for a differ- 
 ence of opinion ; but when I know that there is scarcely a 
 man, whether east or west of the Mountains, but, when 
 free from the influence of fear and interest, will acknowl- 
 edge that we are doing great injustice to the Indians, I 
 ask, Why we do it ; or why should we allow others to do 
 it, and not rebuke them? 
 
 I have thus far considered the subject in its prejudicial 
 bearing upon the Indians ; but it has another aspect, which 
 we must not pass unnoticed. Wrongs of such a nature 
 and magnitude as those we have been discussmg, imply 
 the existence and culture of corresponding propensities; 
 and as these are selfish and destructive in their nature, 
 gratification being the primary object, victims must be 
 had. The thirst for blood, and the desire for rapine, may 
 be indulged until they become the ruling passion. Hence, 
 all wars, and even rumors of wars, are so many lessons 
 and schools, in which the minds of men are incited to vio- 
 lence. 
 
 But not only is the loss of moral principle apparent in 
 
▲ PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 181 
 
 these open outbreaks, but also in a general tendency to 
 corruption. The elective franchise is bought and sold, and 
 the public trust perverted for private emolument ; and in- 
 stead of truth ana justice being the glory of the people, the 
 spoils of party become, to a great extent, the objects of 
 their hi^i^liest ambition. In pursuance of this idea, I dare 
 affirm, that if the people of Oregon had openly avowed 
 their absolute moral convictions, there would have been 
 no war, and mutual murders would have been few and far 
 between. Let us suppose that the individual fortunes of 
 the citizens had depended on the perpetuity of peace and 
 the preservation of the Indians, and we can not but see, 
 through all that they have done under other circumstances, 
 that they would, at least on the outside of things, have ri- 
 valed William Penn and the early Quakers in their san- 
 ative and beneficent schemes. If fortunes had been 
 pledged to them, as a result of pacific measures, almost 
 every man west of the Eocky Mountains would have ven- 
 tured all he was, and all he had, for their support and 
 preservation. Of those who have passively continued this 
 war, multitudes must have known that the desire of gain 
 lay at the bottom. There were, doubtless, feelings of pa- 
 tnotism, and a desire of self-preservation, cptTating to a 
 certain extent ; but they must have been sadiy shorn of 
 their luster, in the relationships with every species of 
 wrong that were forced upon them. 
 
 And now the question presents itself before us in a more 
 general sense. Why is it that our Government, so young 
 and vigorous as it is, based upon eternal truth, and capable 
 of such vast expansion and unqualified greatness, should 
 so soon show symptoms of declining strength; and, like 
 many Nations and perished Empires that have gone be- 
 fore, already anticipate its own dissolution ? 
 
 Think not, because the subject we have been discussing 
 relates directly to the people west of the Eocky Mount- 
 ains, that, therefore, they alone are at fault, or thal^they 
 have inherently less regard, for the social law and moral 
 rectitude than their brethren in the States. The evil is, I 
 apprehend, of general prevalence, and has only been more 
 apparent beyond the rlains, on a^ccount of spticial oondi* 
 
 
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 l|"i 
 
132 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 tions. Our Government, whicTi was established by its 
 founders to secure liberty and justice for all under its con- 
 trol, has been perverted from its true and primal purpose, 
 BO that not only Indians, but millions of other natives of 
 the soil, have been robbed of their birthright. Our Fath- 
 ers were great and good. They espoused true principles, 
 aiming a death-blow at a great evil. But having failed to 
 quite kill it, the roots have spread, and their ramifications 
 absorb the nurture, and sap the vitality of our whole so- 
 cial system. It has become a deadly Upas, overshadow- 
 ing the whole Land ; and though one section tries to cut it 
 down, it is, nevertheless, cultivated in another. It blooms 
 in our Legislative Halls ; it has an offset in Kansas, and 
 bears fruit in Oregon. It has afflicted our people with 
 moral obtuseness, so that they stumble over lines which 
 the Creator has established between man and man, and 
 claim extension of privilege for themselves, by infringing 
 on the rights of their fellows. 
 
 In some sections of our wide domain, the Declarations 
 of our Fathers are disgraced and falsified ; and professed 
 Bepublicans have resolved themselves into a many-headed 
 monster, crushing the weaker Races, and enacting the 
 petty despotism of home tyrants. The common bonds of 
 lellowship and good faith are thus destroyed, so that every 
 man is afiaid of his neighbor. Freedom of Speech and 
 of the Press is but a name — a something that hus almost 
 forgotten that it "WAS, so thoroughly is it rooted out, 
 while, at the same time, moral cowardice is gloried in, as 
 if it were'a virtue ; and he who dares to utter his convic- 
 tions for Truth and Humanity, is punished as one who 
 commits a breach of the peace. What else but this de- 
 parture from fundamental principles incites to aggression 
 and all inhuman violence? Central America and the 
 Isles of the Sea are made to feel it, while the massacre in 
 Panama and the war in Oregon are its results; And so 
 long%s our people deny, to any class or color, the com- 
 mon rights of mankind, human sympathy and the fall 
 protection of Government, neither peace nor prosperity 
 can be made permanent ; and our own rights will not be 
 gecurc. 
 
▲ PLEA FOR THE INDIANa 
 
 188 
 
 « liili 
 
 Millions upon millions have been spent in war, where a 
 few thousands, rightly employed, would have preserved 
 peace ; and millions more will be thrown away, unless dif- 
 ferent counsels prevail. This subject appeals to the Nation 
 for a higher level of public sentiment. It tells us that no 
 mere local measures will prevent a continued recurrence of 
 social wrongs. Nothing less than a National reaffirmation 
 of the equal rights of all, and the administration of im- 
 partial laws to sustain them, can inspire a reasonable hope 
 of permanent peace. 
 
 And, finally, let us listen to a voice from fallen victims, 
 from bereaved families, and blackened ruins, and be 
 warned I All these things are significant. If we are 
 wise we shall take note of them. Let us heed the dumb 
 remonstrances that come to us, the avowed defenders of 
 Human Eights, from all the oppressed Races of Mankind, 
 and learn conciliation and justice. 
 
 Although in the Narrative I have given, the picture ap- 
 pears gloomy, yet there is a bright side to every cloud, and 
 a peaceful calm after every storm. Deplorable as has been 
 the detail of wrongs, we know that they have not been 
 done fo. the sake of the wrongs, but rather in consequence 
 of unfortunate conditions, and r. misapprehension of the 
 necessities of the case, iis soon as pur people calmly con- 
 sider the matter, and in their quiet momenta review what 
 has passed, their generous emotions will burst forth ; and 
 as with the voice of on3 maii, we shall all exclaim, "Those 
 evils shall be repressed ; there must and will be expiation 
 for these wrongs, and redemption for this long-suftering 
 nnd oppressed, but still not exterminated people." 
 
 
 ,^ TV, 
 
^^ 
 
 .11 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR. 
 
 15 Laiqht-steekt, New York, April 20, ISSt. 
 
 Dear Madam: 
 
 The many excellent thoughts to whicli your tongue 
 and pen have given utterance, together with the experi- 
 ence you have had in Frontier Life, prompt me to ask 
 your views in regard to the most appropriate means for 
 the prevention of Indian hostilities, and of elevating both 
 Races above the love, or occasion of war. An answer at 
 your earlie*"*^ convenience will oblige, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 JoH^ Beeson. 
 To Eliza W. Farnham. 
 
 reply. 
 
 Mr. John Beeson, 
 
 Sir : — ^Your note of April 20th reached me yesterday ; 
 and i" compliance with the request it contains, I hasten to 
 
 fut m writing a few thoughts on the question it relates to. 
 have always felt a deep interest in the Indian Race, and 
 as an American woman have lamented the wrongs my 
 country has inflicted on those people. And there is no 
 work to which patriotism and national pride, as well as hu- 
 manity, would more warmlj' prompt me, than that which 
 should be undertaken with the objects you set forth. 
 
 That the Indians are capable of being raised from the 
 Savage state, and developed to a condition which would 
 place them within the pale of Civilization, and give them 
 the blessing of mental and spiritual growth, I have not, for 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 135 
 
 i;. Ki 
 
 many years, doubted. They are a people of strong cTiar- 
 acter, and, in their natural conditions, possessed of noble 
 physical endowments. There is not a better nature on the 
 globe, in many respects, than our Red Man possesses. 
 How rarely, until mean and selfish Whites compel him, 
 does he debase himself by the indulgence of low appe- 
 tites I now little gluttony, sensuality, or meanness of any 
 sort, apart from his war acts, and the treacheries they call 
 for, does he ever exhibit in his uncorrupted state 1 
 
 The few attempts which have been systematically made 
 to elevate and improve these people, have, with all their 
 imperfections of method, and narrowness of purpose, been 
 attended with sufficient success, I think, to warrant the 
 belir*' that broader and more enlightened views, faithfully 
 ' ■'v ' to practice, would be attended with results of 
 wi]i(;h we might be proud. We have taken the Indian's 
 patrimony and home. We are better tenants of the earth 
 than he was ; and our titles ought to be paramount to his, 
 because the great purposes of God are better served by us 
 than by him. But the right to dispossess him is ours by 
 virtue of our superiority ; and this ought to be his perfect 
 guaranty against wrong from us. Has it been so ? Has 
 the one Democratic Government on the globe — ^the exam- 
 ple to all nations — cared for, or oppressed and destroyed 
 Its dependent tribes ? Alas ! History answers this ques- 
 tion too mournfully to every human soul I 
 
 Our IndvT* :• are now dwindled down to m 3 handfuls 
 of scatteiv. ; u'.n, and women, and children, who have 
 neither tbe. gidn leur of the Savage, nor a semblance of 
 the power oi t le civilized human being. The labor that 
 has been done among them, for the most part confined to 
 religious teaching of opinions and Faith, has been verv 
 nearly, if not quite ounterbalanced by the evils which 
 have followed close upon the advent of the Missionary. 
 He has often, by the operation of causes beyond his con- 
 trol, been made the involuntary instrument of opening the 
 way fc the mercenary Trader, with all his prolific train 
 of viccj In this respect I can not withhold the expression 
 of my admiiation for the suj. ^rior wisdom, or power, or 
 faithfulnes,3 of the Bomish Church, which has indisputably 
 
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 Ml 
 
136 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 succeeded in a mucTi greater measure in protecting its con- 
 verted tribes from these dreadful evils. You and I, wbo 
 have seen the Indians of the Pacific slope of our continent, 
 know from personal observation how the tribes which 
 were Christianized by those rioble old Jesuit Priests, 
 though often far inferior to our Eastern Indians, were, as 
 long as they remained under the .rule of that Church, gen- 
 erally unvitiated. Perhaps one reason for this superior 
 result might be found in the fact, that Civilization travels 
 less with the Eomish than the Protestant Missionary ; but 
 
 I think another would also be seen in the fact that the lat- 
 ter, with equal faithfulness a \ earnestness, works more 
 purely on the Intellectual and i aal plan. He labors 
 to instil his faith and implant iuc , to the total neglect 
 often of training the desires and appetites to Civilized wants, 
 and thereby securing a willing devotion in some degree at 
 least to manual labor, which would supply them. 
 
 This, which was a part of both the Philosophy and Relig- 
 ion of the Jesuit, we, I think, should adopt fully into our 
 system of treatment ; and then, with our progressive, intel- 
 lectual, and moral views, our improved means of training 
 and educating, our juster perception of the Indian character 
 and its attributes, we should reap rewards worthy the con- 
 sideration of the Christian and Philanthropist. 
 
 The women of America could put their hands to a very 
 humane task in reforming the treatment of the Indian, and 
 thereby redeeming the Nation from the shame and disgrace 
 of a wrong pursued to the extermination of its victims. 
 
 II some widely concerted plan of action could be adopted 
 throughout our country, and means be raised, whereby 
 humane and intelligent persons could be secured to co- 
 operate with a National Association for the purpose of im- 
 proving and elevating the Indian, what a noble work 
 might thus be done I I speak of my own sex particularly, 
 because it is taking its position in organized philanthropies 
 more broadly and generally in this day than ever before, 
 and because I fully believe that the world is to receive its 
 highest and purest service of this sort from us. The heart 
 of woman is the purest fountain of human love and char- 
 ity on earth, and could we but rightly appeal to the Amer* 
 
lests, 
 
 as 
 
 A PLEA FOB THE INDIANS. 
 
 ^ m 
 
 137 
 
 ican Women in behalf of tlie Indian— could we bring be- 
 fore them the wretchedness and degradation of these 
 unfortunates, whom t>>eir charities could relieve — could 
 we make them see thu Indian mother and her children in 
 their houses of poverty and misery, robbed of the joys 
 and satisfactions of savage life, with nothing in their 
 place but sin and desolation — ^I am sure their hearts would 
 not be cold to the appeal so made. There is benevolence 
 enough among us to answer these calls, could it but be 
 moved to an appreciation of their reality and its own 
 power of relief. And as it is in all senses more blessed to 
 give than to receive, the Indian would not be the only re- 
 cipient of benefit. All good work blesses the doer as well as 
 the receiver ; and if our women, young and old, would 
 take earnestly hold on this pure and noble charity, they 
 would themselves become pure and noble in doing it. It 
 could provoke no partisan warfare, and might, in that re- 
 spect commend itself to every class and all sections of our 
 country. North and South, East and West might join, 
 and work harmoniously together, in caring for those whom, 
 North and South, East and West, have equally depraved 
 and wronged. And the page of American History would 
 brighten from the day when such a movement should be- 
 come efficient among us. There would be one National 
 sin replaced by a substantial and noble National Charity. 
 
 I know it is common tp deny the capacities of the In- 
 dian. People who know little or nothing of them, who sit 
 at home and hear of the wars they wage, and of the destitu- 
 tion and carelessness in which they live, are apt to fancy 
 that there is nothing to be done for or with them, but to 
 help them die out as quickly as possible. But those who 
 know the Indian, or have sought him for any but base and 
 mercenary purposes, think very differently. And the tes- 
 timony of one humane man, who has lived among them, 
 to do them good, to call out and prove their better capaci- 
 ties, is worth that of a regiment of mere Adventurers or 
 Traders, who have sought only pleasure or profit among 
 them. Many of these men bear high testimony to the In- 
 dian character and ability. I met during the last winter, 
 in Iowa, with Colonel Vaughan, our Indian Agent in Ne- 
 
 
188 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 braska. This gentleman lias spent seventeen years among 
 the Aborigines, mostly those of the North-West, and he 
 fully confirms the most favorable reports of other persons, 
 as to the capacity of these people to be improved, and ed- 
 ucated to virtuous and useful lives. He said that among 
 his Tribes there- was as much mechanical talent as among 
 an equal number of Whites who were as little instructed ; 
 and -that he had a piece of carving, the work 6f one of his 
 Indians, that was matchless in beauty and perfection of 
 fiuish, and this skill he assured me was by no means so 
 uncommon among them as we are apt to suppose it, but he 
 added, " We lack all means of educating it. There is now 
 nothing to be done with our Tribes up there, but to look 
 mournfully on from year to year, while, for want of some 
 right help, they waste themselves and their poor resources. 
 In ten or fifteen, at most, without some new provision for 
 them, they must be destitute and starving." 
 
 It is from such a condition and such an impending fate, 
 if I understand your benevolent purpose, that you ask aid 
 in saving the American Indian. I trust and pray, dear sir, 
 you may be met with a hearty response by my countrymen 
 and women. Yours truly, 
 
 - - . E. W. Farnham. 
 
 New York, May 5th, 1857. 
 
 NOTE prom the AUTHOR. 
 
 15 Laight-street, New York, April 2d, 1857. 
 
 Dear Midamj 
 
 I have read with admiration your noble poem of 
 Nanuntenoo, and knowing the deep sympathy you have 
 so often and so beautifully expressed in behalf of the In- 
 dian Race, I submit for your perusal the accompanying 
 manuscript, hoping tl^^t the knowledge of additional facts 
 — or at least a word oi ood cheer — may be evolved from 
 your gifted mind, witii some new and soul-stirring in- 
 spirations in their behalf. It was my intention to have 
 sketched an ideal of Government, which I have for some 
 time past been revolviug in my own mind ; but having, in- 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 139 
 
 the order of Providence, had an opportunity of perusing a 
 book recently published, entitled "Shahmali in Pursuit of 
 Freedom," consisting of a series of Letters on the most 
 prominent features of Life and Policy in this country, I 
 find my thought not only anticipated, bnt invested with 
 a more complete and satisfactory expression than I could 
 have given it, at least in the small compass to which I 
 have confined myself. I can, therefore, cheerfully recom- 
 mend all who may open these desultory sketches, to read 
 this book. I believe this work to be such a one as the 
 highest wants of the age both suggest and demand. The 
 "signs of promise" are continually multiplying and bright- 
 ening around us; and I, for one, can see that they are 
 truly leading us out into new eras of Progression and 
 Beauty- — into new Gospels of Love, and Harmony, and 
 Happiness. Yours with esteem, 
 
 JohnBeeson. 
 To Frances H. Green, Jersey City. 
 
 > I 
 
 • REPLY. . V; 
 
 - ' • Jersey City, April 12th, 185t. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I have read your papers with mingled emotions of 
 horror and thankfulness — ^horror at their almost incredible 
 disclosures, and gratitude that the testimony which you 
 have so truly — so nobly borne — was to you an inspiration 
 of personal safety, and brought you out of Sodom to de- 
 clare it before the wcrU. Good Angels led you forth ; 
 and they will not forsake you. The Future is full of 
 promise. The coming Harvest is rich; and when it is 
 gathered in, will not the Lord of the Harvest remember 
 the most faithful of his laborer? ? 
 
 I agree with you perfectly, that there is neither good 
 feeling, nor good sense, in that common sentiment, that 
 affects to foreshadow the total extinction of the Indian 
 Tribes. The more closely I study, and the more inti- 
 
140 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 mately I know them, the more I am persuaded that, ir jhe 
 natural order of things, this is impossible. 
 
 It seems to be a law, that the more highly individualized 
 every type of being becomes, the, more persistent will be 
 the race it represents, because in the more positive condi- 
 tions which it unfolds, there is a greater tenacity of life 
 and power. I have never seen, in any people, a more de- 
 cided individuality than among the Indians. The grand 
 outline of the character is similar; but the shades are 
 strongly defined, and laid on with varied and graphic 
 touches. There are several reasons for this. They not 
 only develope naturally, but under the strongest and most 
 inspiring stimuli. In their education there is nothing of 
 the petty common-place that almost inevitably creeps into 
 the more artificial systems; but they have instead, untrans- 
 lated, and intranslateable Keadiugs of Life ; and of these 
 they become close and loving students. Midnight dark- 
 ness, noonday light, clouds and stars, running water, curl- 
 ing smoke, the great blue above, the green earth below, 
 birds and flowers, rivers and mountains, all the far away 
 and massive, all the fine and delicate, all the shadowy vague 
 and obscure, are full of those mystic utterances wliich are 
 to them, more than to any other people, the vernacular 
 language of the soul, and thus their spiritual faculties are 
 continually nourished; and by their inflective turn of 
 thought and character these impressions are continually 
 deepened. 
 
 There is no law in Nature that requires the destruction 
 of such a people. The prophecy is impious. The fact 
 that millions of them have been swept away by a ra-« 
 pacious and all- engrossing Selfishness, does not affect the 
 question in the least ; for the Indian can not live with a 
 bullet in his brain, or a slip of cold steel in his heart, any 
 better than the White Man. Let no ctne believe that in 
 practically carrying out this barbarous iciea, he is fulfilling 
 an ordinance of Heaven ; but rather !et him beware how 
 he even tacitly sanctions this murderous sentiment, lest, by 
 a double wrong, he bring on his own head the blood or 
 the Guiltless. 
 
 The Future of the Indians is to me inexpressibly beauti* 
 
A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 141 
 
 P io 
 
 are 
 
 |ipliio 
 
 not 
 
 lost 
 
 ful. I wisli you could see it as I do — ^I wisli tliey could. 
 The wand of the Inspiring Angel has touched me. The 
 great cloud-cUrtain seems drawn away from the distant 
 horizon. I see them everywhere rousing from their supine 
 indifference to the joy of healthful and genial occupation. 
 Their great mechanical ingenuity opens ways and means, 
 and finds scope and direction, for itself. They emulate 
 each other, unfolding higher excellence in workmanship 
 and superior inventive power. Their condition does not 
 consist entirely of the prosy round of common working- 
 day affairs ; but they inhale the aroma, they absorb the 
 beauty, they develop the poetry of life. Occupation is 
 relieved by healthful and pleasurable exercises, and occa- 
 sionally brightened by refining and elevating amuse- 
 ments. 
 
 Their reflective turn of mind — ^but especially their habits 
 of correct observation and fine discrimination, in which last 
 they excel all other people, must, under true conditions, 
 unfold into the traits of philosophers and naturaliats, as 
 certainly as the germ of the acorn, by its own inherent 
 power, rises into the lineaments and stature of an Oak. 
 
 Their fine sense of the beautiful, and their feeling for 
 Nature in all her moods, will as truly call forth and cul- 
 tivate the various interpretations o^, their Written Word — 
 which we have named the Fine, or liberal Arts. And I see 
 that these strong determinations will have development. 
 Their Muses will find speech, and by turns inspire and re- 
 fine them. I see all these noble powers, under the in- 
 fluence of a truer culture, bringing forth their legitimate 
 fruits. 
 
 Thus, from the well-balanced, intelligent, and self-gov- 
 erned Individual man, will radiate a power, which in the 
 State will again converge into an archetype of Human 
 Government, based on the broadest principles of justice, 
 and created and controlled only by those who understand 
 its authority and can direct its application. The whole 
 character of the Indian — his strong sense of justice — ^his 
 great magnanimity — ^his utter contempt of falsehood and 
 meanness — all mark and. determine it — that through him 
 may be called forth that Great Idc^ of a True Democracy, 
 
142 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE INDIANS 
 
 which, as vet, has been unfolded only to manifest some in- 
 herent and fatal imperfection. And if we, as a whole peo- 
 ple, do not return to the platform of 1776, and the political 
 Faith of our Fathers, we may have the mortification of 
 seeing this poor and despised Race assume the position 
 which we, of right, should occupy as the Teachers of Na- 
 tions. Yes, the Indian, whom we have only degraded, is 
 soon to unfold the highest social and civil conditions ; 
 and Ministers from Legislative bodies, that convene in 
 haughtier halls, will sit at his feet to drink of the pure and 
 simple wisdom that flows out from his council-fires. 
 
 I can not forbear saying, because I know it will please 
 you and other friends of the Red Man, that I have opened 
 a mine of wealth in the Traditions of several once-power- 
 ful Tribes, which I propose soon to write, arrange, and 
 publish — not as a collection of dry Histories, but in the 
 form of stories, which come to me invested with all the 
 enchantments of romance, beauty, grandeur, and immortal 
 life-interest. 
 
 My heart goes along with the picture I have drawn. 
 My restless hand is reaching out for its work. I devote 
 and consecrate myself anew. God and Angels helping 
 me, I will do what I may to make the good proj^hecy 
 present and real. . Yours respectfully, 
 
 Frances H. GREjfcN. 
 
 But little remains to be said; for, from the whole 
 weight of these testimonies, it is easy to see that not 
 only the honor, but the safety of our own people is in- 
 volved in these disturbances. For this reason, the ques- 
 tion assumes a National aspect; and protection of the 
 Indians is but another name for the common welfare. 
 Urged by these reflections, we are about forming a Na- 
 tional Association for the Protection and Elevation of the 
 Aborigines of this country, composed of such as will help 
 us to inaugurate and sustain a truer condition of things. , 
 
 In this movement the most cheering demonstrations of 
 sympathy, with promised support and co-operatioD, have 
 
A PLEA rOR THE INDIANS. 
 
 143 
 
 already visited me. Almost everj mail brings letters to 
 this effect. 
 
 I would here especially invite the co-operation of all 
 who are willing to assist us. If they do not choose to 
 identify themselves with the Association, they may still 
 lend both their exertions and their means. There will be 
 openings on every hand for work, that will not only aid, 
 but encourage and cheer us on to final victory. 
 
 Certain it is, that whatever we do, can not be done too 
 soon ; for with the latest news from Oregou, I hear that 
 the Indians are becoming greatly dissatisfied at being 
 driven from their own good and fertile lands in Rogue 
 River Valley, into the wild aod untenantable mountain 
 passes. So great, indeed, is the disturbance among them, 
 that the White Settlers are in a constant dread of a revolt 
 and renewal of war. 
 
 Thus we see that Humanity and Patriotism both require 
 and demand immediate and energetic action. Let all, 
 then, who cherish these noble and ennobling virtues, rally 
 round the standard of the suffering Red man, until the 
 tramp of gathering millions shall shake the land to its 
 center; and in the thunderous volume of concentrated 
 power, send forth the truest expression of a great People's 
 Will. And this will be nothing less than an act of self- 
 preservation ; for, in restoring freedom tc others, we shall 
 forever consecrate and protect our own. 
 
 THV END. 
 
 S»- 
 
1 1 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 If the perusal of this "Volume has awakened in your 
 mind a deeper sympathy for the Eed Man's Race, and a 
 more earnest desire for the highest good of our common 
 country, the Author would invite your hearty co-oper- 
 ation, by contributing for its wide circulation throughout 
 every State, Territory, City, and Town of our vast do- 
 main. The profits will be appropriated to beneficent pur- 
 poses of universal good. 
 
 Price, 25 cents, single copy. For $1 four copies will 
 be sent to any desired address, post-paid. The usual 
 discount to Agents and the Trade. 
 
 " The liberal soul deviseth liberal things :" to 
 such the Author recommends the Book and the People 
 for whom it is written. 
 
 - Address, JOHN BEESON, 
 
 15 Laight-st., New York. 
 
1 your 
 and a 
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