IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I iilllM IIIM m m 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 lA I CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques k i Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy whicit may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checited below. D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur6e et/ou pelliculie Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographlques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or blacit)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue cu noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur D Bound with other material/ ReliA avec d'autres documents □ Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure D D Blanit leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas At6 filmAes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les ddtaiis de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. I — I Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurdes et/ou peiiicuides Pages discoloured, stained or foxei Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqudes Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es I — I Pages damaged/ I — I Pages restored and/or laminated/ r-~Y Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I — ] Pages detached/ □ Showthrough/ Transparence □ Quality of print varies/ Quality in6gale de I'impression □ Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppldmen Comprend du materiel suppldmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiillement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6tA filmAes A nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. Th to pc of fil Oi bfl th 8i( ot fir sii or Jt sh Tl w M di er "( re m This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checltud below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-destous. 10X 14X 18X 22X y 28X 30X 12X 16X aox 24X 28X 32X Th« copy filmed hers hat ba«n reproduced ihankt to the generosity of: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia L'exemplaire filmA fut reproduit grAce A la g6nAro8itA de: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Las images suivantes ont At6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at de la nettetA de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformit6 avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimis sont filmis en commengant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la derniAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmAs en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED "I, or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols —^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed iinginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. ^=«*:^^i5 \ t va I m 'I f SKOKO'/!^0H ACiENCY i. • ■■"'**aftj \i^-^iaj^^aM^f^».fsi^^.,' .; TEN YEARS OF MISSIONARY WORK AMONG THE INDIANS AT SKOKOMISH, WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 1874-1884. By Rev. M. EELLS, Missionary of the American Missionary Association. BOSTON : Congrtijntional *untiag=Scl)ool anli }^ublisl)tng Sorietj, CONGRKGATIONAL HOUSK, CORNEK BSACON AND SOMERSET STREETS. Il torVRK.MT, tSS'i, IIY CONGKKOATIONAL SL'NUAV-ai-UOUL AND rUBUSIIINti SCXIETV. t 1 ■ gj mt , " : f { : ;' \ 'J ■- i^ F.lfctriHyf'cd and frintiif hy Sianlty b' Usiur, i-ji Dniscouraging Cases and Disappointme.nts ... 195 X.XXI. The Church at Jamestown 200 XXXII. Cook House Billy' 209 X.XXIII. Lord James Balch 214 XXXIV. Touring 216 X CONTENTS. XXXV. The Riri.k and Other Hooks 2->i XXXVI. Bible Pictures 2^7 XXXVII The SAnHATH-ScHOoi jm XXXVIII. Praver-Meetin(;s j.. XXXIX. Indian Hymns ^.. -44 XL. Native Ministrv and .Sci'I'ort ....... 256 XLI. Tobacco 260 XLII. ^'■'^'^ 263 XLIII. CCKKANT JkI.I.V -,gj, XLIV. CONCLUSIOS 27c I I f INTRODUCTION. " I "HE Indians arc in our midst. Different -*' solutions of the problem have been pro- posed. It is evident that we must either kill them, move them away, or let them remain with us. The civilization and Christianity of the United States, with all that is uncivilized and un-Christian, is not yet ready to kill them. One writer has proposed to move them to some good country which Americans do not want, and leave it to them. We have been trying to find such a place for a century — have moved the Indians from one reservation to another and from one State or Territory to another ; but have failed to find the desired haven of rest for them. It is more diffi- cult to find it now than it ever has been, as Americans have settled in every part of the United States and built towns, railroads, and tele- graph-lines all over the country. Hence no such place has been found, and it never will be. Therefore the Indians arc with us to remain. They are to be our neighbors. The remaining question is, Shall they be good or bad ones } If u 12 INTRODUCTION. I» we arc willing that they shall be bad, all that is necessary is for good people to neglect them ; for were there no evil influences connected with civ- ilization {!), they would not rise from their degra- dation, ignorance, and wickedness without help. When, however, we add to their native heathen- ism all the vices of intemperance, immorality, hate, and the like, which wicked men naturally carry to them, they will easily and cpiickly become very bad neighbors. Weeds will grow where nothing is cultivated. If we wish them to become good ncighl)ors, something must be done. Good seeds must bo sown, watched, cultivated. People may call them savage, ignorant, treacherous, superstitious, ami the like. I will not deny it. In the language of a j)opular writer of the day: "The remedy for ignorance is education ;" likewise for heathenism, superstition, and treachery, it is the gospel. White people can not keep the civilization which they already have without the school and the church ; and Indians are nut so much abler and better that they can be raised to become good neighbors without the same. Imprcs.sed with this belief, the writer has been engaged for the past ten years in missionary work TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. n with a few of them in the region of Skokomish, and here presents a record of some of the expe- riences. In the account he has recorded failures as well as successes. In his earlier ministry, both among whites and Indians, he read the accounts of other similar workers, who often re- corded only their success. It was good in its place, for something was learned of the causes of the success. Ikit too much of this was discour- aging. He was not always successful and some- times wondered if these writers were ever disap- pointed as much as he was. Sometimes when he read the record of a failure it did him more good than a record of a success. Me took courage because he felt that he was not the only one who sometimes failed. The Bible records failures as well as successes. f \ t TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. I. SKOKOMISH. ^ I ^HE Skokomish Reservation is situated in ■*■ the western part of Washington Territory, near the head of Hood's Canal, the western branch of Paget Sound. It is at the mouth of the Skokomish River, The name means "the river people," from l^aw, a river, in the Twana language, which in the word has been changed to Xv. It is the largest river which empties into Hood's Canal ; hence, that band of the Twana tribe which originally lived here were called f/ic river people. The Twana tribe was formerly com- l)osed of three bands : the Du-hlay-lips, who lived fourteen miles fartli«r up the canal, at its extreme head ; the Skokomish band, who lived about the mouth of the river, and the Kol-sccds, or Quil- ccnes, who lived thirty or forty miles farther down the canal. The dialects of these three bands vary slightly. J) i • ^, i6 77;.V )7;./A'.S' .//• SKOKOMISJf. .-•^ When the treaty was made by the United States in 1855, the land about the mouth of the Siiokomish River was seleeted as the reserva- tion ; the other bands in time moved to it, and the post-office was given the same name ; lienee, the tribe came to be known more as the Skok'- mish Indians than by their original name f Tu-iin-hu, a name which has been changed by whites to Twana, and so appears in government reports. The reservation is small, hardly three miles square, comprising about five thousand acres, nearly two thousand of which is excellent bottom land. As much more is hilly and gravelly, and the rest is swamp land. With the exception of the latter, it is covered with timber. §■ AT a; IT. PRELIMINARY HISTORY. ^ 1 "VER since the Spanish traders and Vancou- -* — ' vcr in the latter part of the last century, and the Northwest T'ur Company and Hudson's liay Corrpany in the early part of the present cen- tury, came to Pugct Sound, these Indians have had some intercourse with the whites, and learned some things about the white man's ways, his Sab- bath, his Bible, and his God. Eort Nisqually, one of the posts of the Hudson's Bay Company, was situated about fifty miles from Skokomish, so that these Indians were comparatively near to it. About 1850, Americans began to settle on Puget Sound. In 1853 Washington was set off from Ore- gon and organized into a territory, and in 1855 the treaty was made with these Indians. Gov- ernor I. I. Stevens and Colonel M. C. Simmons represented the government, and the three tribes of the Twanas, Chemakunis, and S'klallams were the parties of the other part. The Chemakums were a small tribe, lived near where Port Town- 17 i8 TES^ YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. send now is, and are now extinct. The S'klal- lams, or Clallams (as the name has since become), lived on the south side of the Straits of Inica, from Port Townsend westward almost to Neah Bay, and were b\ far the largest and strongest tribe of the three. It was expected that all the tribes would be removed to the reservation. The government, however, was to furnish the means for doing so, but it was never done, and as the Clal- lams and Twanas were never on very friendly teims, there having beeii many murders between them in early days, the Clallams have not come voluntarily to it, but remain in different places in the region of their old homes. The reservation, about three miles square, also was too small for all of the tribes, it having been said that twenty-eight hundred Indians belonged to them when the treaty was made. There were certainly no more. The treaty has been known as that of I'oint-No- Toint, it having been made at that i)lace, a few miles north of the mouth of Hood's Canal on the main sound, in 1855. It wa.s, however, four years later when it was ratified, and another year before the machinery was put in motion, so that govern- ment employees were .sent to the reservation to teach the Indians. In the meantime the Yakama PKELIMINAK r II/S TOR Y. 19 War took place, the most wide-s/read Indian war which ever occurred on this north-west coast, it having begun almost simultaneou.^ly in Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon, and Washington, and on Puget Sound. The Indians on the eastern side of the sound were engaged in it, but the Clallams and Twanas as tribes did not do so, and never have been engaged in any war with the whites. They were related by marriage with some of the tribes who were hostile, and a few individuals from one or both of these tribes went to the eastern side of the sound and joined the hostiles, but as tribes they lemaineci peaceable. A WAR INXIDENT. The Clallams were a strong tribe, and large numbers of them lived at an early day about Port Townsend. Here, too, was the Duke of York, who was for many years their head chief and a noted friend of the Americans. About 1850, he went to San Francisco on a sailing-vessel, and saw the numbers, and realized something of the power, of the whites. After his return the Indians became very much enraged at the resi- dents of Port Townsend, who were few in num- bers, and the savages were almost all ready to 20 7'/:.v y/-:.tA'^ at sa'oa'oj//s//. engage in war with them. Had they done so, they could easily have wiped out the place, and the white people knew it. The Indians were ready to do so, but the Duke cf York stood between the Indians and the whites. For hours the savage mass surged to and fro, hungry for blood, the Duke of York's brother being among the number. For as many hours the Duke of York alone held them from going uny farther, by his eloquence, telling them of the numbers and power of the whiles ; and that if the Indians should kill these whites, others would come and wipe them out. At last they yielded to him. He saved Port To\7nscnd and saved his tribe from a war with the whites. In i860 the first government employees were sent to Skokomish, and civilizing influences of a kind were brought more closely to the Indians. With one or two exceptions, very little religious influence was brought to bear upon them. Of one of their agents, Mr. J. Kno.x, the Indians speak in terms of gratitude and praise. He set out a large orchard, and did ccmsiderable to improve them. In 1870, when all the Indians were put under the military, these Indians were put un^ler Lieutenant Kelley. The Indians do not speak well of military rule. It was too tyrannical. III. EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHING. A BOUT 1850 Father E. C. Chirouse, a Cath- ■^^- olic priest, came to Puget Sound, and for a time was on Hood's Canal. He had two missions among the Twanas, one among the Kolseed band, and the other among the Duhlaylips. He baptized a large number of them ; made two Indian priests, and left an influence which was not soon forgotten. At a council held after a time by various tribes, the Skokomish and other neighboring tribes of the lower eastern sound were too strong for the Twanas and induced Father Chirouse to leave them. Not long afterward the Indians relapsed into their old style of religion, and on the surface it appeared as if all were forgotten : but when Prot- estant teachers came among them, and their old religion died, some of the Indians turned for a time to that Catholic religion which they had first learned, as one easier for the natural heart to follow than that of the Protestants. From i860 to 1871 but little religious instruc- 22 TE.V YI-'AKS AT SA'OA'OAf/S//. u ? ■ I tion was given to these Indians. At different times Rev. W. C. Chattin, of the Methodist I".i)i.s- eopal Church, and Mr. D. K Ward, of the Protest- ant Methodist Church, taught the school, and each endeavored to give some Christian teaching on the Sabbath, but they found it hard work, for Sabbath- breaking, house-building, trafficking, and gambling by the whites and the Indians were allowed in sight and hearing of the place where the services were held. " If it is wrong to break the Sabbath, why does the agent do so.!*" "If it is wrong to play cards and gamble, why do the whites do so .' " These and similar questions were asked by the Indian children of their Christian teachers. It was .somewhat difficult to answer them. It was more difficult to work against such influences. Still the seed sown then was not wholly lost. It remaintd buried a long time. I have seen that some of tho.se children, however, although they forgot how to read, and almost forgot how to talk Knglish, yet received influences which, fifteen or twenty years afterward, made them a valuable help to their people in their march upward. In 1871, however, a decided change was made.' In that year President Grant adopted what has been known as the peace policy, in which he as- EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHING. n different ist r:pis- : Protest- and each ig on the Sabbat h- rambliii'^ owed in services Sabbath, i^rong to do so ? " by the lers. It It was iuences. ost. It en that ^h thev to talk "teen or 'ahiable rd. i made. * lat has he as- signed the different agencies to different mission- ary societies, asking them to nominate agents, promising that these should be confirmed by the Senate. While it was not expected that the gov- ernment would directly engage in missionary work, yet the President realized that Christianity was necessary to the solution of the Indian problem, and he hoped that the missionary societies who should nominate these agents would become inter- ested in the work, and encouraged them to send missionaries to their several fields. These agents were expected to cooperate with the missionaries in their special work. At that time the Skokomish Agency was assigned to the American Missionary Association, a society supported by the Congregationalists. In 1871 they nominated Mr. lulwin Eclls as agent for this place, who was confirmed by the Senate, and in May of that year he took charge of these Indians. Mr. Eclls was the oldest son of Rev. C. Eclls, n.i)., WHO came to the coast in 1838 as a mission- ary to the Spokane Indians, where he remained- about ten years, until the Whitman Massacre and Cayuse War rendered it unsafe for him to remain there any longer. The agent was born among these Indians in July, 1841. Like most young 24 TEX VEAKS AT Sh'OA'OMES/E men on this coast, he had been engaged in various callings. He had been a farmer, school-teacher, clerk in a store, teamster, had served as enrolling officer for government at Walla-Walla during the war, and had studied law. At the age of fifteen he had united with a Congregational '^hurch, and had maintained a consistent Christian character. All of these things provetl to be of good service to him in Ids new position, where education, farm- work, purchase of goods, law business, intercourse with government, the ideas which he had received from his parents about the Indians and Christian- ity, were all needed. » In 1 87 1, soon after he assumed his new duties, he began a Sabbath-school and prayer-meeting. He selected Christian men as employees. These consisted of a physician, school-teacher, and matron, carpenter, farmer, and blacksmith. He also se- lected men with families as being those who would be likely to have the best influence on the Indians. In 1872 Rev. J. Casto, M.n., was engaged as gov- ernment jihysician, and Rev. C. l^ells, the father of the agent, went to live with his son, and l).)th during the winter preached at the agency anil in the camps of the Indians. During 1874 a council- house was built, with the consent of government, EARLY KELIGIOUS TEACHING. 25 at a money-cost to the government of five hundred dollars — besides the work which was done by the government carpenter. This has since been used as a church, and sometimes as a school-house. During that spring it was thought best to organ- ize a cluirch, for although at first it would be com- posed chiefly of v/hites, yet it was hoi:)ed that it would have a salutary influence on the Indians, and be a nucleus around which some of the In- dians would gather. This was done June 23, 1874, the day after the writer arrived at the place. It was organized with eleven members, ten of whom were whites, and one, John F. Palmer, was an Indian. He was at that time government in- terpreter. The sermon was by Rev. G. II. At- kinson, D.D., of Portland, superintendent of Home Missions for Oregon and Washington, and one of the vice-presidents of the American Missionary Association ; the prayer of consecration by Rev. E. Walker, who had been the missionary associate of Rev. C. I^clls during his work among the Spo- kane Indians ; the right hand of fellowship by Rev. A. H. Pradford, a visitor on this coast from Montclair, New Jersey ; and the charge to the church by the writer. Thus affairs existed when I came to the place. I : IV. II* SUBSEQUENT POLITICAL HISTORY. AS far as the government was concerned, affairs remained much the same until 1880. Then the time agreed upon by the treaty for wliich appropriations were to be made — twenty years — expired. By special appropriation affairs *vere carried on for another year, however, as usual. In July, 1 88 1, the government ordered that the car- penter, blacksmith, and farmer be discharged, and Indian employees be put in their places. Some of these were afterwartl discharged. The next year the three agencies on the sound, the Tula- lip, Nisqually, and Skokomish, were consolidated enough to put them under one agent, withcmt, however, moving the Indians in any way. The three agencies comprised ten reservations, which were under the missionary instruction of the Pres- byterians, Congregationalists, and Catholics. By the consolidation there was to be no interfcretice with the religious affairs of the Indians. Mr. Iv Eells, the agent at Skokomish, was selectetl as the II SUBSEQUENT POLITICAL HISTORY. 27 one who was to have charge of all, but his head- quarters were moved to the Tulalip Agency, which was under the religious control of the Catholics. Thus, after more than eleven years of residence at Skokomish, he departed from the place ; after which he usually returned about once in three months on business. A year later this large agency was divided ; the five Catholic reser- vations were set off into an agency, and the five Protestant reservations were continued under the control of Mr. Eells, whose head-quarters were moved to the Puyallup Reservation, near Tacoma. L I i V. *•■ ■ «♦ itSf ^11 ^i! THE FIELD AND WORK. 'T^IIE work has been about as follows: At ■^ Skokomish there were about two hundred Indians, including a boarding-school of about twenty-five children. Services were held every Sabbath morning for them in Indian. The Sab- bath-school was kept up, immediately following the morning service. ICnglish services were held once or twice a month, on Sabbath evening, for the white families resident at the agency and the school-children. On Thursday evening a prayer- meeting was held regularly. It was in I^nglish, as very few of the non-P^nglish-speaking Indians lived near enough to attend an evening .service, had they been so inclined. Various other meet- ings were held, adapted to the capacities and localities of the people : as prayer-meetings for school-boys, tho.se for school-girls, and those at the different logging-camps. Thirty miles north of Skokomish is Seabeck, where about thirty Indians live, most of who m f» THE ithi.n .i.\n work. 29 at gain a living by working in the saw-mill there. For several years I preached to the whites at this place, about eight times a year, and when there, also held a service with the Indians. Twenty miles farther north is Port Gamble, one of the largest saw-mill towns on the sound. Near it were about a hundred Clallam Indians, most of whom became Catholics, but who have generally received me cortlially when I have visited them two or three times a year. They, however, have obtained whiskey very easily, and between this and the Catholic influence comparatively little has been accomplished. Thirty-five miles farther on is Port Discovery, another saw-mill town, where thirty or forty Indians have lived, whom I have often called to see on my journeys ; but so much whiskey has been sold near them ami to them, that it has been almost impossible to stop their drinking, and hence, very dilTicult to make much permanent religious impression on them. By death and removal for misconduct, their number has dimin- ished so that at one time there were only one or two families left. But the opi)ortunity for work at the mill has been so !;ooil that some i)f a fair class have returned and bouirht kuul and settled down. 30 TKX VL-.AKS Al' SAOKOMIS/I. ■♦f ^irt ! ^: ' t ii ' *■ »! i ! H :' i ' ■i P ( '. si I t», > £ t-- !l4»' .u Forty miles from Port Gamble, and seventeen from Tort Discovery, is Jamestown, near I)un- gincss, on the Straits of I'uca. This is the center of an Indian settlement of abont a iuindred and forty. Previous to 1873 these Indians were very much addicted to drinking — so much so, that the white residents near them i)etitioned to have them removetl to the agency, a i)unishment they dreaded nearly as much as any other that could be inflicted on them. The threat, of doing this had such an . '^-'(^ncc that about fifteen of them combined and bought i... liundretl acres of land. It has been laid off into a village ; most of the Indians have reformed, and they have settled down as peaceable, induslvious, moral j)crsons. I have generally visited them once in si.\ months, and they have become llie most advanced of the Clallam tribe. A school has been kept among them, a church organized, and their progress has been quite interesting — .so much so, that consider- able space will be devoted to them in the following pages. Once a year I have calculated to go farther : and twenty miles beyond is Port Angelos, with about thirty nominal Indian residents. But few of them are settlers, and they are diminishing, only a few families bein- left. rill: I'lEl.l) AM) WOKK, 31 I Seven miles further west is Klkwa, the home of about seventy Indians. It was, in years past, the residence of one of the most inlluential bands of the Clallam tril)e, but they are diminishing, partly from the fact thrt there have been but few white families among them from whom they could obtain work, and, with a few exceptions, they themselves have done but liltle about cultivating the soil. As they could easily go across the straits to Victoria in British Columbia, about twenty m. s distant, where there is little restraint in regard to their procuring whiskey, because they are American Indians, they have been steadily losing influence and numbers. Four or five families have homesteaded land, but as it was impossible for them to procure good land on the beach, they have gone back some dis- tance and are scattered. Hence they lose the benefits of church and school. Still the old way of herding together is broken up, and they obtain more t)f their living from civilized pursuits. Thirty-five miles farther is Clallam Bay, the home of about fifty more. This is the limit of the Indians connected with the Skokomish Agency. They are about a hundred and fifty miles from it, as we have to travel. In 1880 32 TEN YEARS AT SK'OA'OM/SJI. \ ;n they bou{j;ht a hiindrccl and sixty acres of land on the water-front, and are slowly following the example of the Jamestown Indians. This is the nearest station of the tribe to the seal-fisheries of the north-west coast of the Territory ; by far the most lucrative business, in its season, which the Indians follow. and the the s of the the VI. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF RELIGIOUS WORK. 00 LANGUAGES. /^NE great difficulty in the missionary work is ^-^ the number of languages used l)y the peo- ple. The Clallams have one, the Twanas another; about one sixth of the people on the reservation had originally come from Squa.xin. and spoke the Nisqually ; the Chinook jargon is an inter-tribal language, v;hich is spoken by nearly all the In- dians, except the very old and very young, as far south as Northern California, north into Alaska, west to the Pacific Ocean, and cast to Western Idaho. It was made by the early traders, espe- cially the Hudson's Bay Company, out of Chin(H)k, I'Vench, and I^iiglish words, with a few from sev- eral other Indian languages, for use in trade. It serves very well for this purpose, and is almost universally used in intercourse between the whitt^s and Indians. Very few whites, even when married to Indian women, have learned to talk any L. J.iUUJL.u.>i^,>uini9Tiwai« A tm iui«m.il 34 r/':.v )■/■:. /A'.v .//' skok'omjsi/. \l if Indian language except this. V>\\t it is not very good for conveying religions instruction. It is too meager. Yet so many different languages were spoken by the seven or eight hundred Indians connected with the agency that it seemed to be the only practicable one, and I learned it. I have learned to preach in it tpiite easily, and so that the Indians say they understand me quite well. The Twana language would have been quite use- ful, but it is said to be so difficult to learn that no intellitient Indian advised me to learn it. The Nisqually is said to l>e much easier, and one eilu- cated Indian advised me to learn it, but it did not seem to me to be wise, for while nearly all the Twana Indians understood it, as, in fact, nearly all the Indians on the upper sound do, yet it was s()()ken by very few on the reservation. Hence 1 have often used ;.a interpreter while preaching on the Sabbath at Skokomish, for then usually some whites, old Indians, and children were present who could not \inderstand Chincjok. At other times and pbnes [ con.stantly used the Chi- nook language, liut a good interpreter is hard to obtain. " It Likes a minister to interpret for a mini.ster," was said wiu-n Mr. ILdl.'nb: ck, the evangelist, went to the .S-uidwich I.siaiids, ..ra DIFFICULTIES LV THE IVAY. 35 there is much truth in it. The first interpreter I had v/as good at heart, but he used the Nis- qually language. While most of them understood it, yet this person had learned it after he was grown, and spoke it, the Indians said, much like a Dutchman does our language. Another one, a Twana, cut the sentences short, so that one of the school-boys said he could have hardly understood all that I said had he not understood English. A third could do well when he tried, but too many times he felt out of sorts and lazy, and would speak very low and without much life. ITence sometimes I would feel like dismissing ail interpreters, and talking in Chinook, but iii«;n I was afraid that it would drive away li , v.'hitcs, who could not understand it, but wh> .sc presence, for their examples' sake, I much dcjired. I feared also that it would drive away tne very old ones, who sometimes made much effort to come to church, and also that the chil- dren, who.se minds were the most susceptible to impressions, would lose all that was said. So thcr*- were difficulties every way. The medley of services ami babel of languages of one Sabbath are described as follows : The opening exercises were in English, after which rvp 36 TKX VI-AKS AT SA'OK'OMIS//. i u: was the sermon, which was delivered in English, but trans' i\cl into the Nisqually language, and a prayer was . 1 in the same manner. At the close of the sci vice two infants were baptized in English, when followed the communion service in the same language. At this there were present twelve white members of the Con^rretrational church here, antl one Indian ; two white mem- bers of the Protestant Methodist church ; one Cumberland Presbyterian, and one other Congre- gationalist. There were also present about sev- enty-five Indians as spectators. The Sabbath- school was held soon after, seventy-five persons being present. First, there were four songs in the Chinook jargon ; then three in llnglish, ac- companied by un organ and violin. The prayer was in Nisqually, and tlie lesson was read by all in I'jiglish, after which the lessons were recited by the schrjlars. ]-"ive classes of Indian children and two of white children were taught in I-'.nglish, and one class partly in llnglish and partly in Chi- nook jargon. There was one Bible-class of Indian men who understood b'.ni^lish, and were taught in that language, a i)art of whom could read and a part of whom could not, and another of about forty Indians of both sexes whose teacher talked DIFFICULTIES IN TIIF WAY. 37 English, but an interpreter translated it into Nis- qually ; and then they did not reach some Clallam Indians. Next followed a meeting of the Tem- perance Society, as six persons wished to join it. A white man who could do so, wrote his name, and five Indians who could not, touched the pen while the secretary made their mark. Three of these were sworn in English and two in Chinook. The whole services were interspersed with singing in English and Chinook jargon. This was soon after I came here. During the past year we have often sung in English, Chinook jargon, Twana, and Nisqually, on the same Sab- bath. Another medley Sabbath is given under the head of the Jamestown Church, in connection with its organization. {})) THEIR RELIGION. Another great difficulty in the way of their accepting Christianity is their religion. The practical part of it goes by the name of ta-uiaJi- iio-iis, a Chinook word, and yet so much more expressive than any single English word, or even phra.se, that it has almost become Anglicized. Like the Wakan of the Dakotas, it signifies the supernatural in a very broad sense. There are three kinds of it. 38 TEX YF.ARS AT Sh'Oh'OM/SI/. -i 'i^ First. The Black Tamahnous. This is a secret society. During the performance of the cere- monies connected with it, all the members black their faces more or Ics.s, and go through a number of rites more savage than any thing else they do. They do not tell the meaning of these, but they consist of .starving, washing, cutting themselves, violent dancing, and the like. It was introducetl Black Tamailnols Rattle. among the Twanas from the Clallams, who prac- tised it with much more savage rites than the former tribe. It is still more thoroughly prac- tised by the Makahs of Cape Flattery, who join the Clallams on the west. It was never as popu- lar among the Twanas as among some other Indians, and is now practically dead among them. It still retains its hold among a portion of the Clallams, being i)ractised at their greatest gather- ings. It is believed that it was intended to be purifical, sacrificial, propitiatory. Dll'FlCCI.riES /X THE WAY 39 Second. The Red, or Sing, Tamahnous. During t .e performance of its ceremonies, they generally painted their faces red. It was their main cere- monial rehgion. During the fall and winter they as.sendiled, had feasts, and i)erformed these rites, danced and sang their sacred songs; it might be for one night, or it might be for a week or so. BiKi) Mask Used in tiik Black Tamahnous CEREMONn:s KV riiK Claij.ams. Sometimes this was done for the sake of purify- ing the soul from sin. Sometimes in a vision a l)erson professed to have seen the spirits of living- friends in the world of departed spirits, which was a sure sign that they would die in a year or two, unless those spirits could be brought back to this world. S(i they gathered together and with sing- ing, feasting, and many ceremonies, went in spirit Vti Mi JiP' 40 yV'.'.V )7;./A'.V .//' SA'OA'LKU/.S//. iiii I I to the other world and brought these spirits back. This spirit-worUl is .somowhere below, within the earth. When they are ready to descend, with much ceremony a little of the earth is broken, to open the wa}', is it were, for tlie descent. Having traveled som^ distance below, they come to a stream which must be cros. .d on a plank. Two SwiNK Masks Uskd in ihk Hi.ack Tamaii.nols Ckre- MlJNItS liV lllK Cl.AI.I.AMS. planks are put up with one end on the ground and the other on a beam in the house, about ten feet above the ground, in a slanting direction, one on one side of the beam, and the other on the other side, so that they can go up on one side and down on the other. To do this is the outward form of crossing the si)irit-river. If it is done success- fully, all is well, and they proceed on their jour- DIFI'ICULTIES IX TJIK WAV, 41 10 ith to ney. If, however, a person should actually fall from one of these j)lanks, it is a sure sign that he Mask Uskd in iiik Black Tamahnous Ckrf.monies liv riir. Ci.aixams. I riii: markinps are of ilifTiTLiit (olnrs. The wc.irer sees thrnti);li the tinstrils.] will tlie in a year or so. They formerly believed this to be so, but about twelve years ago a man ^ 42 TEX YEARS AT SKOKOM/SJI. did fall off, and did die within a year, so then they were certain of it. Having come to the place of the departed spirits, they (juietly hunt for the spirits of their living friends, and when they find what other spirits possess them, they begin battle ,•# Bl.A( K 'lAMAllNOI ;, M.\iK. and attcmi)t to take tiieni and are generally suc- cessful. Only a few men descend to the spirit- world, hut during the tight the rest of the people present kccj) u]) a very great noi.se by singing, pounding on sticks :inA'(>.u/s/A than a mere rcsohU'on of the will to overcome it." "I ilo not believe in it n(»\v," saiil a Spo- kane Ind'an, "1 ut if I should beeoinc very siek, I expect I shouUl want an Indian doctor." It will take time and educalicn to eradicate this idea. It is the only part of taniahnoiis, which I think an Indian can hold and be a Christian, because it is held partly as a superstition and not wholly as a religion. Some white, iijnorant persons arc super- stitious and, at tlie same time, are Christians. The bad spirit which causes the sickness is called .1 bad tamahnous. Soon after I first came here, \\c spent several eveninjjjs in discussing the (piali- fications of church membership, the main dif- ference of opinion centering on this subject of tamahnous over the sick. I took the same posi- tion then that I do ncnv, and facts seem to agree thereto; for, among the ^'.".kamas, Si)okanes, antl Dakotas, who have stood as Christians m;iny years through strong trials, have been some who have not wholly abandoned it, it remaining appar- ently as a superstition and not i religion. m Ciii:ii.\Li.s j.\(:k. As an illustration of the reason why they still believe in it, the following examples are given : — niFJ'ICi'l.TIES I.V THE WAY. 45 Chchalis Jack is one of the most intclli^^cnt and (.ivilizcil of the older uneducated Twana Indians, lie has been one of those most ready to adopt the customs and beliefs of the whites ; has stood by the agent and missionary in their efforts to civilize and Christianize his people when very few otlu-r In- dians have done so, and was one of the first of the older Indians to unite with the church. He was a sub-chief, and tried to induce his j)e()ple lo adopt civilized customs, settini.^ tjiem an example in builtlinj^ by far the best house erected by the Indians on the reservation, and in various other ways. lie was told by some who opposed civili- zation that because of this some enemy would send a bad tamahnous into him and make him sick. In July, i8Si, lie was taken sick, evidently with the rheumatism, or some thinj; of the kind, and the threats which he had heard began to prey upon his mind, as he afterward said. Yet for six weeks he lived at his home a mile from the agency, and would have nothing to do with an Indian doctor. The agency physician attended him, and his rheumatism seemed to lea\e him, but he did not get well and strong. At last the physician said that he diil not believe that any physician could find what was the matter with him. After V. ' 46 TEA' YEARS AT SA'OA'O.U/S/A il i dx weeks thus spent, by the advice of friends lie tried some Indian doctor:» on the reservation, but some in whom he had litth; confidence. I Ic grew worse. He left the reservation for otluvr Indian doctors, twenty miles away, who said they could cure him, but he did not recover. He came back home, and imported another Indian doctor from a hundred miles distant, but was not cured. We were afraid that he would die, and it was plain to several whites that he was simply being frightened to death. I had long talks with him on the sub- ject, and told him so, but couUl not convince him of the truth of it. He said : " Tamahnous is true ! Tamahnous is true ! Vou have told us it is not, but now I have experienced it, and it keeps me sick." During the winter the agency physician resigned, and another one took his place in March, 1882. Jack immediately sent for him, but failed to recover. By the advice of white friends, who thought they knew what was the matter with Iiim, he gave up his Indian doctor and tried patent medicines for a time, but to no i)urpose. lie left his home, and moved directly to the agency, being very near us, having no Indian doctor. Thus the summer passed away and fall came. Intelligent persons had sometimes said that if he could be WW I DlFF/Ci'l.T/r.S /.V rHF. WAY. 47 made to do some thing his strength would soon return to him, and lie would find that he wis not very sick. He had had fourteen cords of wood cut on the banks of the Skokomish River. There was no help that lie could obtain to bring the wood to his house c.\:cept a boy and an old man. Hq was much afraid that the rains would come, the river would rise, and carry off his wood. He left the agency and returned to his home, and had to help in getting his wood. About the same time he employed another Indiari doctor in whom he seemed to have considerable confidence, and be- tween the fact of his being obliged to work and his confidence in the Indian doctor, he recovered. It was the effect of the inlluence of the mind over the body. The principles of mental philosophy could account for it all, but he was not versed in those principles, and so thoroughly believes that a bad tamahnous was in him and that O'd Cush, the Indian doctor, drew it out. Since that time he has worked nobly for civilization and Christian- ity — but his belief in tamahnous still remains in him. When the question of his joining the church came up, as nothing else stood in the way, I could not make up my mind that this superstition ought to do so, and after two and a half years of church '^SfifMS**!;,"*.-^!!' w m -iS r/'V YEARS AT SA'OA'O.VJS/J'. membership the results havo ])eer. siicli that 1 am satisfied that the decision was wise. I iii ^Ss, 'a •KdHkUVWIV ELLEN CRAW She was a school-giil, aboirt sixteen years of age, and had been in the boarding-school for several years, nearly ever since she had beei\ old enough to attend, Init her jxiri.'nts iverc cjuitc superstitious. One 1 'rid ly evening she went home to remain until the Sabbath, l.>i,t on Satur- day, the first of January, lS8i, :dio was taken sick, and tb.e nature of her sickness was such that in a few days she became delirious. Her parents and friends mailc her believe that a l>ad tamahnous hadi been [iut iiUu her, ami no one Init an Indiai\ doctor could cure her. They tumah- noused over her some. The au';ency physician, Dr. Givens, was not callevl until tlte sixth, when he left some medicine for her, but it is said that it was nut given tn her. Hence si\e got no better, and her friends declared that the win'te doctor was killing her. The agent and teacher did not like the way the affair was being man(i.'uvcrcil, took charge (^f lu-r, moved her to a decent house near by, and placed white watehcrs with her, so that the ]. roper medicine should 1)C given, and no DIFFfCULTIES IN THE WAY. 49 Indian doctor brought in. The Indians were, however, determined, if possible, to tamahnous, and declared that if it were not allowed, she would die at three o'clock a.m. They kept talking to her about it and she apparently believed it, and said she would have tamahnous. But it was pre- vented, and before the time set for her death, she was cured of her real sickness. But she was not well. Still tiie next day she was in such a condi- tio!i that it v.'as thought safe X.o move her in a boat to the boarding-house, where she could be more easily cared for. The Indians were enraged and said tliat she would die before landing, but .•>he did not. Watchers were kept by her constantly, but the Indians were allowed to see her. They talked, hovvever, tv* her so much about her having a Ix'ii! tamahnous, that all except her parents were forbidden to see her. They also were forbidden to talk on tlie subject, and evidently obeyed. But the effect on lier imagination had been so great that, for a time, she often acted strangely. She seUlom said any thing ; she would often spurt out the medicine, when given her, as far as she could ; said .she saw the t;unahnous ; pulled her mother's hail, \,\\ her mother's finger so that il bletl, seemeil ijcculiarly \exed at her ; moaned most of Sfr.^ v.' U? ■ I J POTLATCH HOUSE, SKOKOMlSH. 40 ft. X 200. niiiicri/nEs ix rin-: way, 57 last few years so many of the Indians have be- come Christians that puhHc opinion has frowned on it, and there is very Httle, if any, of it, though some of the Indians who do not profess to be Christians, wlicn they visit other Indians, will gamble, although they do not when at home. The Potlatch is the greatest festival that the Indian has. It is a Chinook word, and means "to give," and is bestowed as a name to the festival because the central idea of it is a distribution of gifts by a few persons to the many i)rcsent whom they have invited. It is generally intertribal, from four hundred to two thousand persons being pres- ent, and from one to three, or even ten, thousand dollars in money, blankets, guns, canons, cloth, and the like are given away. There is no regularity to the time when they are held. Three have l)een held at Skokomish within fifteen years, each one being given by different persons, and during the same time, as far as I know, a part or all of the tribe have been invited to nine others, eight of which some of them have attended. The mere giving of a present l)y one person to another, or to several, is not in itself sinful, but this is carried to such an extreme at these times that th( morality of that part of them becomes 58 TEN YEARS AT SA'OA'OM/S//. t exceedingly questionable. In order to obtain the money to give they deny themselves so much for years, live in old houses and in so poor a way, that the self-denial becomes an enemy to health, com- fort, civilization, and Christianity. If they would take the same money, buy and improve land, build good houses, furnish them, anil li\c decently, it would be far better. l^ut while two or three days of the time spent at them is occupied in making presents, the rest of the time, from three days to two and a half weeks, is spent in gambling, red and black tamah- nous, and other wicked practices, and the temp- tation to do wrong becomes so great tliat very few Indians can resist it. When some of the Alaska Indians, coveting the prosperity which the Christian Indians of that region had acquired, asked one of these Christians whnt they must do in order to l)ecome Christians, the reply was: " Mrst give up your potlatches." It was felt that there was so much e\il connected with them that they and Christianity could not flourish together. Among the Twanas, while they are not dead, they are largely on the wane. Among a large part of the Clallams they still flourish. DIFFlCll.TIES fX rUE WAV. 59 It Intemperance is a besetting sin of Indians, and it is about as much a besetting sin of some whites to furnish intoxicating liquors to the Indians. The laws of the United States and of Washington Territory are stringent against any body's furnish- ing liquor to the Indians, but for a time previous to 1 87 1 they had by no means been strictly enforced. As the intercourse of the Indians with the whites was often with a low class, who were willing to furnish liquor to tiiem, they grew to love it, so that in 1871 the largest part of the Indians had learned to love liquor. Its natural consequences, fighting, cutting, shooting, and accidental deaths, were frequent. « 11 ' h ^ ( S n VII. TKMrKRANCE. TN 187! the agent began to enforce the laws ^ against the selling of liquor to the Indians, and. according to a rule of the Indian Depart- ment ; he also punished the Indians for tlrinking. Missionary influence wctit hand in hand with his work, and good results have followeA'OJ//.S//. during previous years for feasting, visiting, trad- ing, and horse-racing. The first agreement was to meet on the Skokoniish Reservation, but con- tinued rains made the race-track on the reserva- tion ahnost unfit for use, it being bottom kind. There was another track on gravelly land about ten miles from Skokomish. On the Sabbath previous to the races the sermon hail reference to the subject, because of the betting and danger of drunkenness connected with it. A Xisqually In- dian came then and urgeil the Skokomish Indians to go to the other race-track at Shelton's Prairie, because the one at Skt)komish was so muddy. The Skokomish Indians replied that they did not wish to go to the jirairie for fear there would be whiskey there, but that they would go to work and ii.\ their own track as well as they couUl. One sub-chief, the only one of the chiefs who had a race-horse, said he would not go there. This wonl was carried to the Xisipially hnlians who were camped at tl-.e jjrairie. but they refused to come to Skokomish, and sent their messenger to tell the S!;okomish Indians so. Several hours were occuijieil in discussing the (piestion. In talking with the a-eiit, tin- head-chief askcil him if he would send one of the employees to guanl TEMPERAXCE. 65 them, should they decide to go to the prairie. The head-chief then went to the prairie and induced the Nisquallys to come to the reservation for the visit, trading, and marriage, which was to take phice, and for the races if the track should be suitable. I'^rom Wednesday until Saturday was occupied by the Indians as agreed upon, but the weather continued rainy and the track was unfit for use. On Saturday the Nisqually Indians went back to the prairie and invited the Skokomish Indians to go there for the races. On Monday twenty-five or thirty of them went, but this num- ber did not include a chief or many of the better class, the great fear being that they would be tempteil to tlrink. According to the request of the chief, one white man from the reservation went, together with the regular Indian i)olicemen. There were also present ten or twelve other white men from ditferent j)laces, one of whom carried consideralile lic|Uor. The Indian policemen y.)\\ seeing this went to him and told him he must not sell or give any of it to any of the Indians, and he promised that he woulil not. He was after- ward seen otfering some to a Nisqually Indian, who rcfuseil. When night came it was found that, with three or four exceptions, all of the 66 T1:X YEARS AT SA'OA'OMISIf, I' i' white men present had drank some, and a few were quite drunk, while it was not known that any of the Indians present had taken any. That the better ckiss of Indians should not go to the races, and that all shouUl earnestly contend aj^ainst going to that place for fear of temptation ; that they asked for a white man to guanl tiiem ; lliat an Indian tokl a white man not to give licpior U) his fellow-Indians, and that, while most of the wjiite men drank some, it was not known that any Indian drank at all, although it was not the better class of Indians who were i)resent, were facts which were encourairinu;. A sub-chief of the Ckdlam Indians, at IClkwa, one hundred and twenty miles from the reserva- tion, in 1 878, found that an Indian fioin British Columbia had brought a keg of liquor among his people, lie immediately complainetl before a justice of the peace, who arrested the guilty man, emptied his liquor on the ground, and fined liim sixty-four dollars. The head-chief of the Clallams, Lord James Halch, has for nine years so steadily opposed drinking, and inii)risonc(l and fined the offenders so nuieh, that he excited the enmitv of the In- dians, aiul even of then- doctors, and also of some TEMPl-RAXCE. 67 white men, much as a good Indian agent does. Although he is not j)erfcct, he still continues ihe good work. Fifteen years ago he was among the worst Indians about, drinking, cutting, and fighting. In January, id title- would be given to them by the government. With this understanding, not long after Agent Ec\\> took charge, he had the reservation surveyed and di- vided, so that each head of ;i family whose home was on the reservation should have a fair portion He gave them j)ap('rs, signed by himself, in iS;.;, describing the land, with thr e.\|)eet;ition that thr government in a short time would give them good titles, he i.uving been thus assured by his supe- 74 4 TITLES TO THEIR I..IXI\ 75 riors in office. Other agents did the same. But new movements by the government with reference to the Indians are usually very slow, as they have no votes, and this was no exception. Agent li^ells, as well as others, plead and plead time and again, to have this stipulation in the treaty fulfilled, but for a long time to no purpose. Often he had no reply to his letters. People f)f both political l)arties put this as a plank into their platform; those of all religions antl nu religion ; those who opposed the jieace policy as well as those who favored it, signed petitions to this effect, but in vain. This delay was the source of much uneasi- ness to the Indians, more, I tliink, than any other cause, for men were not wanting who told them that they would be nKJvetl away ; there were plenty of people who coveted their land, and e.\- ami)les were not wanting of Indians who had been mo\'C(l from i)laee to place by the government. It has been the only thing which has ever caused them t<» talk about war. Some Indians left ihe reservation because they feared they would be moved away. " I am not going to clear land and fence it for the whiles to use," was what one said and others felt. When the treaty was made it was believed by '!r »*ltt 76 7v;.v' yi-:.iA:s- .//• sk'oa'om/s//. the Indians that they possessed all the land, and that they sold all except the reservation, to which they supposed they had a good title, at least as good as the United States had, and white people believ(^d the same ; but a decision of the Supreme Court oi the United States in 1873 reversed this idea, and they learned that they had sold all the land, and that government graciously allowed them to stay on the reservation according to its will. In the spring of 1875 they were forbidden to cut a log and sell it off of the reservation, and found that they had no rights to the land which the government was bound to respect, but if she wished to remove them at any time she couKl do so. The ((uestion came up early in missionary work. The Indians saiil : " ^'ou profess to be Christians, and you have promisetl us titles to our land. If these titles come we will believe your religion to be true, but if not it will be evidence that you are deceiving us." The agent worked nobly for the object, but receiving no reply for a long linn- he ;;rjw .duKc^t discouraged, 1 le could work in only one wav, by writing t(» his first supi-rior ofru-er. hoping that he wouhl suc-ces.>fuliy i)re.ss the subject upon those more iuiluentiul. (« n TIILES TO THEIR /..L\'D. n About this time, in 1878, I determined to sec what I could do through another channel : through the Board of Indian Commissioners, where mis- sionaries would naturally look. Accordingly, in May, a long letter was written to the secretary of the American Missionary Association, and his in- fluence was invoked to work upon the Board. He gladly did so. At the annual meeting of the Con- gregational Association of Oregon and Washing- ton, in June of the same year, I plead strongly for the same object, whereupon a committee of five of the influential men of the denomination was apjjointed, who drafted strong resolutions, which were passed and sent to the Board of Com- missioners. The fact that the Bannack Indians of Eastern Oregon were then engaged in a war with the whites, and that they had attempted to induce the Indians of Puget Sound In assist in it, was an argument used, ;ind of no small weight. I intended to urge the passage of similar resolutions through the Presbytery of I'uget .Sound, anil the Methodist Episcopal Ccnfcr'-nco of Oregon, l)oth of whom had inissions uunMig the Indians, and were asking fur similar favors from the govern- ment ; but l)c'ft)rc tliosr billies met 1 received a letter from lion. 1). 11, leroniv. of the B"i' ' f I — 78 TEyr YEARS .IT SA'OA'OM/SI/. f*^v:a Commissioners, who had been appointed a commit- tee by that Board in regard to titles of Indians to their lands, promising to press the matter upon the department until titles should be issued, or a good reason given for not doing so, and requesting a description of the lands for which titles were asked. I gave the letter to the agent, who had the desired information, and who quickly gave it. The Board robly fulfilled its promise, and in March, 1881, certificates of allotment were sent to the Indians. They were not wholly satisfac- tory. The title to the land still remained in the United States. They saiil that each Imliaii i> entitled to lake possession of his laiul, "and the United States guarantees such possession, and will hold the title therett^ in trust for the exclusive use and benefit uf himself and his heirs so long as such occupancy shall continue." It prohibited them from selling the land to any one except other members of tlic same tribe. These cerlilicate.-., however, proved to be better than w;is at first feared. It was decided th.it under them the Indians had a rl^lU to sell the timber from the land. The Indians were .sati.sfied that they would not be removed, and were ([uicted. lutforts are still being made to obtain the patents, TITLES TO THEIR LAND. 79 and with considerable hope of success, as they have been granted to Indians on three other reservations on Puget Sound through the efforts of Agent ICells, l)ut owing to various causes they have not been obtained as yet for the Sicokomish Indians. The Clallam Indians liave bought their land or taken it by homestead, and so have not had the same difficulty in regard to titles. One incident, however, occurred which was rather discouraging. Four of the Clallam Bay Indians, in 1879, deter- mined to secure, if possible, the land on which their houses stood. They were sent to the clerk of the Probate Court, who knew nothing about the land, but told them that it belonged to the government, and offered to get it for the usual fee, nineteen dollars each. They paid him the seventy-six dollars, and he promised to send it to the land-office aiul liave their papers for them in two weeks. They waited the two weeks but no papers came. In the meantime they learned that the man was not to be trusted, although he could lawfully attend to the l)usiness, and that the land had been owned by jirivate individuals for fifteen years. I h', too, on writing to the land-office, found the same to be true. Hut the (Hfficalty was i 80 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. to get the money back. This man was an invet- erate gambler, and the evidence was quite plain that he had gambled the money off very soon after he received it. I saw him soon afterward, and he told me that it had been stolen, that he would soon get it, and the like. One Indian spent three weeks, and two others two weeks each, in trying to recover it, but failed to do so. Then the agent took it into court, but through an unjust ruling of the judge, or a catch in the law, he was neither compelled to pay it nor punished for his deed. The Indians received about the amount they lost, as witness fees and mileage fv)r their attendance on court. Yet that man, at that time, was also postmaster. United States commis- sioner, iind deputy sheriff, , and had offered fifty dollars to the county treasurer, to be appointed his deputy. This was a strange contrast to the action of the Indians. I felt very sorry for them. I''or four years we had been advising them to obtain land, and they were swindled in their first attempt. When I saw them, before the case was taken to the court, I was fearful lest they should become discouraged, and offered them ten dollars, saying, "If you never get your money, I will lose i I TITLES TO THEIR LAND. 8l this with you : but if you do obtain it, you can then repay me." One tenth of my income has long been given to the Lord, and I felt that thus much would do as much good here as anywhere. When I first mentioned this to them, they refused to take it, saying that they did not wish me to lose my money, if they did theirs ; but two weeks later, when I left the last one of them, he reluc- tantly took it. X. MODE OF LIVING. !*• .(••«» »t -iJ 1 II IN 1874 most of the Indians of both tribes lived on the ground, in the smoke, in their large houses, where several families resided. That year the agent induced those on the reservation to receive lumber as a part of their annuity goods, and the government carpenter erected small frame-houses for most of them, but left them to cover and batten the houses. They were slow to do so. At first they used them to live in during the summer, but during the winter they found these houses too open and cold and returned to their smoke-houses. It was two or three years before they made them warm enough to winter in them, but since that time nearly all, except a few of the very old ones, have lived off of the ground and out of the smoke. Although the government gave no aid to those living off of the reservation to build them homes, yet about three fourths of them have built tor themselves similar or better houses. Many of them have lived near saw-mills where they could easily get lumber for their houses. ,30" MODE OF IJVLVG. 83 All of them dress in citizen's clothes, and they obtain about three quarters of their living- from civilized labor, and tlie rest by fishing and hunt- ing, supposing that hunting and fishing arc not civilized pursuits. Many of them liave sewing- machines, bureaus, and lace curtains, while clocks and watches, chairs, bedsteads, and dishes, tables, knives and forks are very common. Neatness. — It is easier to induce them to have good houses, with boaril floors, than to keep them clean. Grease is spilled on the floor, and, ming- ling with the dirt, sometimes makes the air very impure. The men are careless, bring in dirt, and spit on the floor; the women arc sometimes lazy, or else, after trying, become discouraged about keeping the house clean. This impure air has been the cause of the death of many of their cliildren. They breathe the poison, and at last waste away. The %kier ones are strong and can endure some of it, and, more- over, are in the pure air outdoors much of the time. Ikit tiic little ones are kept in the house, are so weak that they can not endure such air, and they die. The old Indian houses on the ground had, at least, two atlvantages over the board floors, although they had more disadvantages. The •*A>t>B>eitufi£:.A IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 112.8 I.I ,50 "'"= m m 1.25 j? M IM 1-4 ill 1.6 V] <^ W ^. ^ c*^ '3' >,' c-1 " //W ^ J(^»S^ i^' '' 0/ /a Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SB0 (716) 872-4503 \ iV ?JN 4^ o ^v 6^ m V > %^ "^^ %^ 4i^ L

Val-lis-mo ; Captain Jack Chats-oo-uk and Nancy Hwa~tsoo-ut ; also Mr. Old Jack Klo- tasy, father of the Captain, and Mary Cheenith. In regard to the ages of the last two, from what we learn, the familiar lines would apply : — ' Ho\" old is she, Billy boy, Billy boy, How old is she, charming Billy?' * She 's three times six, four times seven, Twenty-eight and eleven. She 's a young thing and can not leave her mother.' While she probably is not eighty-five, yet she was old enough to obtain a license and leave her m St* 112 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. mother. He was about seventy years old. These were all married with one set of words, when con- gratulations followed — regular hand-shaking, none of those present so far forgetting themselves as to indulge in the (im)propriety of kissing the brides. The ceremony having been concluded, a part of those present, the invited guests (but here there was a distinction as to race and color) sat down to the marriage-feast. It was none of your light, frosted, airy cake (in fact, there was not any cake in sight), but substantial solid bread and the like. [Here the line went down, and the meager accounts we could gather about the elegant and varied cos- tumes worn by the charming bries, the number and appearance of the bridesmaius, etc., had better be supplied from the vivid imaginations of the readers.] All of the high contracting parties, we may say, however, are ta.x-paycrs of Clallam County and land-owners. KlosJie haJikiva ("good so"). Not much of a direct war was waged on plural marriages. They were simjjly fenced in and allowed to die out. In 1874 there were only five Twana men who had more than one wife, and there were about as many more among the Clal- lams. Those who had one wife were never allowed to obtain another as long as they were living with MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 113 the first. When one of the wives died of those who had more than one, or was wilUngly put away, they were not allowed to take another in her place. On some reservations where plural marriages have been numerous, the plan has been adopted of having the man choose one of his wives as the one to whom he should be legally married ; and then, in order to save the others and their children from suffering, they have been told to provide for them until the women should be married to some other man. Among these Indians it has now come to be practically the same. One is the real wife, and the others are so old that they are simply taken care of by their husbands, except when they take care of them- selves, until they shall get married again ; only they do not get married to any one else, being willing to be thus cared for. They soon learned that a legal marriage meant more than an old-fashioned Indian one and that a divorce was difficult to obtain. The agent took the position that he had no legal right to grant a divorce even on the reservation, and that if the parties obtained one they must apply to the courts. This involved too much expense, and so not a divorce has been obtained by those legally lu TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. married. But it has taken a long, strong, firm hand to compel some of the parties to live together, and this made others of them somewhat slow to be legally married. One day I asked a man who had then recently obtained a wife, Indian fashion, if he wished to be married in white style. " I am a little afraid," he said, "that we shall not get along well together. I think we will live together six months ; and then, if we like each other well enough, we will have you perform the ceremony." It was never done, for they soon separated. The most severe contest the agent ever had with the Indians on the reservation was to pre- vent divorce. In 1876 one man, whose name was Billy Clams, had considerable trouble with his wife and wanted f, divorce, but the agent would not allow it. He cried every plan he could think of to make them uve peaceably together, and con- sulted with the chiefs and the relations of the par- ties ; but they would .still quarrel. At one time he put him in charge of his brother-in-law, a policeman, with handcuffs on ; but with a stone he knocked them off and went to the house of his uncle, a quarter of a mile from the agency. To this place the agent went with two Indians and MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 115 told him to go with him. With an oath Billy Clams said he would not. The agent then struck him with a stick quite severely. Billy got a larger stick, which the agent wrenched from him. Then Billy grabbed the agent around the waist, and, with the help of his uncle, threw him down. The other Indians who went with the agent took them off. Then the agent locked the door and sent the friendly Indians to the agency for two white men, the carpenter and the blacksmith, for help. Twice Billy and his uncle tried to take the key away from the agent, but failed ; three times Billy tried to get out of the window, but the agent stopped him. Then they made an excuse that a very old man must go out ; and while the agent was letting him go, Billy ran across the room, struck the mid- dle of the window with his head, and went through it ; and the agent went so quickly out in the same way, that he lit on Billy'c iieck with one foot, after which the window fell on him, and, as he was knocking that off, Tilly got away and ran through the wo'^ds. Being swift of foot, he escaped ; but there had been a fresh fall of snow, and the agent and two white men, with a number of Indians, followed him all day. They, however, could not take him. The agent at night offered a reward of thirty dollars if any of the Indians would bring ii6 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. him in ; but their sympathies were too much with him, and at night one sub-chief and his son, with a cousin of Billy Clams, helped him off, and he went to some relations of his at Port Madison, sixty or seventy miles away. The next day Billy's uncle was put in irons in the jail, and not long after those who had furnished Billy with a cane- blarkets, and provisions also went into the jail, while the sub-chief was deposed. The Indians worked in every way possible to have them re- leased, but the agent said that he would only do so on condition that Billy Clams should be brought in. They had said that they did not know where he was ; but in a short time after the agent said this, he came in and delivered himself up and was confined in the jail for six months. But a number of the Indians, including the head chief and a sub- chief, encouraged by some white men near by, had been to a justice of the peace and made out several charges against the agent for various things done during all his residence among them, and had them sent to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington. The principal charges were for shooting at an Indian (or order- ing an employee to do so), burning ten Indian houses, selling annuity goods, collecting large fines for small offences, and having the employees MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 117 work for him. The real cause of their sending these was the trouble with Billy Clams and his friends. The commissioner sent to General O. O. Howard, in charge of the military department of the Columbia, and requested him to investigate the charges. The commissioner said that on the face of the letter, it bore evidence of being un- true ; but still he desired General Howard's opinion. Accordingly Major W. H. Boyle was detailed for this purpose. He examined six Indians and three white men, as witnesses against the agent, and one white employee in his favor, — giving the agent an opportunity to defend himself, — and found that the charges amounted to so nearly nothing that he went no further. After Billy Clams had served out his term of six months in jail, he secretly abandoned his wife and took another, and then they ran away to Port Madison. The agent quietly bided his time, found out the whereabouts of the offending party, and, with a little help from the military, had him arrested and conveyed to Fort Townsend, where he worked six months more, with a soldier and musket to watch him. This showed the Indians that they could not easily run away from the agent, or break the laws against divorce, and greatly strengthened his authority among them. m XVII. SICKNESS. 'T^HE department of the physician has always -*■ been a discouraging one. The government, for twenty-five years, has furnished a physician free, and yet it is difficult to induce the Indians to rely on him. There are three reasons for this : (i) The natural superstition an Indian has about sick- ness. This has been quite fully discussed under the head of native religion. (2) The Indian doctor does not like to have his business inter- fered with by any one. It is a source of money and influence to him, and he often uses his influ- ence, which is great among the Indians, to pre- vent the use of medical remedies. (3) If a medicine given by the physician does not cure in a few doses, or, at least, in two or three days, they think it is not strong, or it is good for nothing — so often when medicine is given, with directions how to use it, it is left untouched or thrown away. When using medicine they often employ an Indian doctor, and his practices often kill all the m S/CKA'ESS. 119 good effects of medicine, so that sometimes the physicians have felt that, when Indian doctors were employed, it was almost useless for them to do any thing. At the same time there have been some things which have aided our methods very materially. Under the head of native religion, two cases have been given, where it seemed to the Indians as if their mode was true. This has occasionally been the effect with older people. But with young children, too young to go to school, the opposite has been true. Infants have continually died. Their mortality has been very great, when they lived at home, where they could have all the Indian doctors they wanted with no one to inter- fere. The medicine-men have been especially unfortunate in losing their own children. One Indian doctor has buried twelve and has only three left. Another has buried four and has one left. And others have lost theirs in like propor- tion. On the other hand, in the school, where we could have more control over them, both as to observing the laws of health and the use of medi- cine, when they were sick there have been very few deaths. Only five children in ten years have died in school, or been taken fatally sick while I20 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. there, while the attendance has been from twenty- five to forty. During November and December, 1881, we passed through a terrible sickness. It seemed to be a combination of scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, and chicken-pox, about which the physi- cian knew almost, nothing. It was a new hybrid disease, as we afterward learned. . The cases were mostly in the school and in the white families, there being comparatively few among the outside Indians. There were sixty cases in five weeks, an average of two new ones every day. At one time every responsible person in the fjchool was down with it. A number of the children, while all the physician's family, himself included, had it, and one of them lay dead. Five persons died with it, but not one of them was a scholar. There were then twenty-four scholars, and all but three had it. Nineteen outside Indians had it, of whom three died. The rest, who were sick and died, belonged to the white families and the Indian apprentices and employees. The favor which was shown to the school in saving their lives was of great value to it. And now the older Indians are gaining more and more confidence in the physician, slowly but SICA'NESS. 121 steadily, some within a year having said that they will never have an Indian doctor again. In the winter of 1883-84, four Indian children died, and not an Indian doctor was called. In one case the parents had just buried one, and another was fatally sick. The parents came to mc and said : " If you can tell us what medicine will cure the child, we will go to Olympia and get it (thirty miles dis- tant). We do not care for the expense, we do not care if it shall cost fifty dollars, if you will only tell us what will cure it." The child died, but they had no Indian doctor, although its grand- father strongly urged the calling of one. After the death of these two children, the family went to live with an aunt of the mother's, where they remained about five months. At that time a child of this aunt was sick, and an Indian doctor was called, whereupon the bereaved family left the house, because they did not wish to remain in a house where such practices were countenanced, even if those doing so were kind relations. XVIII. FUNERALS. " I ^HE oldest style of burial was to wrap the ■^ body in mats, j^lacc it in one canoe, cover it with another, elevate it in a tree or on a frame erected for the purpose, and leave it there, bury- ing with it valuable things, as bows, arrcvvs, canoes, haiquu ^hells (their money), stone imple- ments, clothes, anu . ''ke. After the whites came to this region, the dead were placed in trunks, and cloth, dishes, money, and the like were added to the valuables which were buried with them. But one such burial has +akv.-n place within ten years, and that was the daughter of an old man. The next step toward civilization was to bury all the dead in one place, instead of leaving them scattered anywhere they might chance to die, make a long box instead of using a trunk and canoe, and elevate it on a frame made for the purpose only a few feet high, or, perhaps, simply lay it on the ground, erecting a small house over 122 FUNERALS. 123 it. This was frequently done during the first few years after I was here. On the opening of a new burying-ground, in August, 1878, the head chief of the Twanas said to me : " To-day we become white people. At this burying-ground all will be buried in the ground, and no clotli or other articles will be left around, Ci.ALi.AM Graves at Port Gamble. These are painted, with no cloth on them. («) Looking-ghiss. (i5) A shelf, on which is a lx)wl, teapot, etc., with rubber toys floating in them, such as ducks, fish, etc. at least, above ground." At that place this prom- ise has been faithfully kept, as far as I know, though since that time, at other places, they have left some cloth above ground. They often yet fill the coffin, now generally made like those of white people, with much cloth and some other things. m Am 1 i i mmmmmmmmmimm wmmmmm'i'm 124 rE.V YJiAi:S AT SKOKOMISII. A grave-stone, which cost thirty dollars, marks the last resting-place of one man, put there by his wife. Most of them had a superstitious fear of going near a dead body, for they were afraid that the evil spirit, which killed the deceased was still around Fig, I, Fig. 2. These are grave-enclosures at the burying-ground at the Skokomish Rcserva- lion. In Figures i and 3 they arc covered altogether with tlolh, and that which is not colored is white. Figure 3 is chiefly covered with a red blanket; a in Figure 1 is a glass window, through which a red shawl covers the cofTin, which is placed a foot or so above the ground. In all grave-enclosures which I have seen where glass windows are placed the cofTin is aljove groiuul. Sometimes more than one is placed in an enclosure. Figure 2 is almost entirely after llie American fashion, and was made last year. — (December, 1877.) and would kill others who might be near. This, together with the fact that they cared but little FUNERALS. 125 for Christianity, made them have no desire to have Christian services at their funerals at first. Before I came, only one such service had been held. And, for the first few years after I ca.ne, notwithstanding the efforts of both agent and missionary, there were but few such services. Sometimes they would hurry off a deceased per- son to the grave, and I would not hear of the death until after the burial, much less have a chance to ask whether they wished for such services. But steady effort, together with the example of the surrounding whites, who, previous to my arrival, had had no minister to hold such services, in time produced a change, so that they wished for them at the funerals of all persons whom they considered of much importance. At the funeral of one poor vagabond, who had almost no friends, I had my own way, and many thought it very strange that I should hold such a service. It wa.5 well enough, they said, with persons of conse- quence, but with such a person they thought it useless. Not long after they opened their new burying- ground, already spoken of, I was absent from home when one person died. When I returned, a I iir'-'is If m I If i i 'M i Mil I Ml.' i 1 ' 126 THJV YEAIiS AT SKOKOMISH. sub-chief said to me : " Wc felt badly when we buried a person and no white man was present to say a Christian word. We wish that when you are away, you would make arrangements with some of the whites at the agency to attend our funerals, for we want such services." Since then, I have almost constantly held them, except when they preferred to have the Indian Catholic priest to attend them. But now a new error arose at the other extreme. This was that such services helped the soul of the deceased to reach heaven. It came from Catholic teaching. I have had to combat it constantly, but some believe it still. I\Iost of the Clallams now put their dead in the ground. Those who are Catholics have a funeral service by their own priest. In February, 1881, I was at Jamestown, when a child of Cook House Billy died. T went through with the services — the first Christian ones that had ever been held there. They soon asked how they should do if J were absent, and I instructed thcPi as best I could. Since then the Christian part of the com- munity have obtained a min'ster of any Protestant denomination, if there was one to be obtained, to hold services at their funerals. FUNERALS. THE DEATH OF SKAGIT BILL. 127 Skagit Bill was in early days an Indian Catholic priest, but afterward went back to his gambling, drinking, and tamahnous. He died in August, 1875, of consumption. When he was sick, he came to the agency, where he remained for five weeks for Christian instruction. He seemed to think the old Indian religion of no value, and wished for something better. Sometimes I thought that he leaned on his Catholic baptism for salvation, and sometimes I thought not. His dying request was for a Christian funeral and burial, with nothing but a plain fence around his gr.i ve. The following, from the pen of Mrs. J. M. VVa'k'^r, and taken from the Pacific Christian /n'vi.--itc, gives the opinions of one other than m_, -If . — " '' csterday came to us fraught with solemn intc.est. Our flag hung at half-mast, reminding us that death had been in our midst and chosen another victim. This time he has not selected one rich in the treasures of this world, of high Idrth or noble blood, or boasting much culture or !, ^'nement. The lowly mien and dusky com- plexion of the deceased might not have attracted much attention from me or you, kind reader. But fl- si ir 128 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. such are they whom our blessed Lord delights to honor; and, while we turn wearily from one to another, look j ^ "nly for suitable soil in which to plant the scet . > true righteousness and true holiness, the Holy Spirit descends on some lonely, barren spot, and lo ! before our astonished gaze springs into luxuriant growth a plant of rare holiness, meet even to be transplanted into the garden of paradise. " I think it is not a common thing for a dying Indian to request a strictly Christian burial;^ brought up as they are in the midst of supersti- tion, with no religion but misty traditions and mysterious necromancy, the very fabulousness of which seems strangely adapted to their nomadic existence — surely no influence less potent than that of God's Holy Spirit could induce one of them, while surrounded by friends who cling tenaciously to their heathenism and bitterly resent any innovations of Christian faith, to renounce the whole system with its weird cere- monies, and demand for himself the simple burial service used ordinarily by Christians. "At eleven o'clock a.m. the coffin was brought into the church, and the funeral discourse i It was not at that time, at this place. FUNERALS. 129 preached ; and we all felt that the occasion was one of deep solemnity. Probably every one present had seen dear friends lying, as this man now lay, in the icy embrace of death, and the keen pain in our own hearts, at the remembrance of our unhealed wounds, made us sympathize deeply with the afflicted mourners in their pres- ent bereavement. What is so potent to bind human hearts together in purest sympathy and kindest charity as common woe ! " A beautiful wreath lay upon the coffin, formed and given, I suspect, by the agent's wife, a lady possessing rare nobility of mind and heart, and eminently fitted for the position she occupies. This delicate token I deemed emblematic ; for as each bud, blossom, and sprig fitted its respective place, giving beauty and symmetry to the whole, so all of God's creatures fit their respective places, and the absence of one would leave a void : and so also in heaven's economy the diadem of the Prince of Light is set with redeemed souls of nationalities varied and diverse, each so essential to its perfection, that the highest ransom of which even Omniscience could con- ceive has been paid for it. " Quite a number of Indians were present, and I30 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISl as the deceased had been with them and they had seen him die happy in his faith in Christ and his atonement, a rare opportunity offered for bring- ing the truth home to their hearts. " The Indians here are, for the most part, shrewd and intelligent, capable of reasoning on any sub- ject, where their judgment is not darkened by superstition ; but, alas ! most of them are in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. . . . The body was taken for interment to a grave-yard some three miles from here. Our esteemed pastor, Rev. M. Eells, pr;-ached the funeral discourse, and also officiated at the grave, aided on each occasion by the usual interpreter [Mr. John F. Palmer], a man of considerable intellectual culture, of gen- tlemanly bearing, and pleasant address. This man, though greatly superior to any of his race whom I have met, is yet humble and strives to do his fellows good in a quiet, unostentatious man- ner, worthy the true disciple of the meek and lowly Jesus, which can not fail of great results, whether he live to enjoy them or not. "What is so refining in i*:s influences as true religion } It expands the mind, ennobles the thought, corrects the taste, refines the manners by the application of the golden rule, and works FUNERALS. 131 marvelous transformations in character. May a glorious revival of this pure religion sweep over our ^and, carrying away the bulwarks of Satan and leaving in their stead the 'peaceable fruits of righteousness,* until every creature shall exclaim : * Behold, what hath God wrought ! Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it ! ' a." ill XIX. THE CENSUS OF 1880. I N the fall oi 1880 the government sent orders to the agent to take i .e census of all the Indians under him for the United States decennial census. To do so among the Clallams was the most difficult task, as they were scattered for a hun 'red and fifty miles, and the season of the year made it disagreeable, with a probability of its being dangerous on the waters of the lower sound in a canoe. I was then almost ready to start on a tour amongst a part of them and the agent offered to pay my expenses if I would combine this with my missionary work. He said that it was almost impossible for him to go ; that none of the em- ployees were acquainted either with the country or the large share of the Indians ; that he should have to pay the expenses of some one ; and that it would be a favor if I could do it. I consented, for it was a favor to me to have my expenses paid, while I should have an opportunity to visit all of the Indians; but it was December before I was 132 THE CENSUS OF iSSo. 133 fairly able to begin the work and it required four weeks. In early life I had read a story about taking the census ampng some of the ignorant people of the Southern States and the superstitious fear that they had of it, and I thought that it would not be strange if the Indians should have the same fear. My previous acquaintance with them and espe- cially the intimacy I had had with a few from nearly every settlement who had been brought to the reservation for drinking and had been with us some time and whose confidence I seemed to have gained, I found to be of great advantage in the work. Had it not been for these, I would have found it a very difficult task. The questions to be asked were many — forty- eight in number, including their Indian as well as "Boston" names, the meaning of these, the age, and occupation ; whether or not a full blood of the tribe ; how long since they had habitually worn citizen's dress ; whether they had been vaccinated or not ; wliether or not they could read and write ; the number of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, dogs, and fire-arms owned ; the amount of land owned or occupied ; the number of years they had been self-supporting, and the per cent, of su*^port "' 1 134 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. obtained from civilized industries and in other ways. I began the work at Port Gamble one evening, and after much talk secured nineteen names, but the next forenoon I only obtained six. The men were at work in the mill, and the women, afraid, were not to be found. I then hired an interpreter, a boy who had been in school, and after talking a while had no more difficulty there. The best argument I could use why it was required was that some people said they were nothing but worthless Indians, and that it was useless to try to civilize them ; that some of us thought differently and wished for facts to prove it, and when found, that they would be published to the world. And this I did in the Port Toivnseiid Argus and Ameri- can Antiquarian. One man refused to give me any information because that, years before, a census had been taken and soon after there had been much sickness, and he was afraid that if his name were written down he would die. But I easily obtained the information most needed from others. I was almost through, and was at Sea- beck, the last town before reaching home, when I found the only one who was at all saucy. He gave me false names and false information gener- THE CENSUS OF jSSo. 135 ally, as I soon learned from another Indian pres- ent and it was afterward corrected. The ages of the older ones were all unknown, but the treaty with the tribe was made twenty-five years previ- ous, and every man, woman, and child was present who possibly could be, and I could generally find out about how large they were then. When I asked the age of one man he said two years, but he said he had two hundred guns. He was about forty-three years old and had only one gun. To obtain the information about vaccination was the most difficult, as the instructions were that they should show me the scars on the arm if they had been vaccinated, and many of them were ashamed to do this. As far as I knew, none of them made a false statement. When about half-way through I met Mr. H. W. Henshaw, who had been sent from Washington to give general information about the work, and he absolved them from the requirement of showing the scar. He said that all that was needed was to satisfy myself on the point. On this coast, a dime is called a bit, although in reality a bit is half a quarter, and the Indians so understand it. In finding how nearly a pure Clallam one man was, I was informed that he was partly Clallam and partly of another ^ir II I I? 136 T/-:y YEAj\.-i JT SA'OA'OM/S//. riT; ! lii tribe. But when I tried to Pnd out how mueh of the other tribe I was told : " Not much ; a bit, I guess. I was instructed to take the names of not only those who were at home, but of a number who were across the straits on the liritish side, whose residence might properly be said to be on this side. In asking about one man I was told that he had moved away a long time ago, very long, tivo thousand years, probably, and so was not a mem- ber of the tribe. It struck me that some pictures of myself, with descriptions of them would have adorned Harper's MontJily as well as any of Porte Crayon's sketches. With an old Indian man and his wife I sat on the beach in Port Discovery Bay all day waiting for the wind to die down, because it was unsafe to proceed in a canoe with the snow coming down constantly on one of the coldest days of the year, with a mat up on one side to keep a little of the wind uff. and a small fire on the other side ; and, at last, we had to give up and return to Port Dis- covery, as the wind would not die. I waked up one morning on the steamer Dispatch to have a drop of water come directly into my eye, for there was a hard rain, and the steamer overhead (not THE CEMSUS OF jSSo. 137 underneath) was leaky. I got up to find my shirt so wet that I dared not put it on, while the water in the state-room above me was half an inch deep and was shoveled out with a dust-pan. I walked from the west to the east end of Clallam Bay, only two miles, but while trying to find a log across the Clallam River ! wandered about a ' mg time in the woods and brush, wet with a heavy rain, and when I did find il it reached just not across the river, but within a few feet of the bank, and I stood deliberating whether it was safe or not to make the jump ; trying to jump and not quite daring to run the risk of falling into the river, sticking my toes and fingers into the bank, and the like, but at last made the crossing safely. It took half a day to travel those two miles. I ate a Sunday dinner at Elkwa, between church- services, of some crumbs of sweet cake out of a fifty-pound flour-sack, so fine that I had to squeeze them up in my hands in order to get them into my mouth. An apple and a little jelly finished the repast — the last food I had. At Port An- geles I rode along the beach on horseback at high tide, and at one time in trying to ford a slough I found we were swimming in the water. I partly dried out at an Indian house near by, taking the I '3<^ TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. census at the same tine. Again, the steamer Dispatch rolled in a gale, while the water came over the gunwales, the food and plates slid off the tables, the milk spilt into gum boots, the wash-dish of water upset into a bed, and ten minutes after I left her at Dunginess the wind blew her ashore, dragging her anchors. But there were also some special providences on the trip. " He who will no- tice providences will have providences to notice," some one has said, and I was reminded of this several times. I came in a canoe from Clallam Bay to Elkwa, the most dangerous part of the route, with the water so smooth that a small skiff would have safely rode the whole distance, thirty- five miles, to have a heavy storm come the next day, and a heavy gale, when I again went on the water, but then a steamer was ready to carry me. The last week, on coming from Jamestown home, in a canoe, I had pleasant weather and a fair north v/ind to blow me home tke whole time, only to have it begin to rain an hour after I reached home, the commencement of a storm which lasted a week. Strange that a week's north wind should bring a week's rain. I hcfvc never noticed the fact at any other time. • But the most noticeable providence of all was THE CENSUS OF jSSo. 139 as follows : On my way down, the good, kind peo- ple of Seabeck, where I occasionally preached, made me a present of forty dollars, and it was very acceptable, for my finances were low. At Port Gamble I spent it all and more, too, for our winter supplies, as I did not wish to carry the money all around with me, and, also, so that I might ge": at Port Townscnd those things which I could not find at Port Gamble. I often did so, and ordered them to be kept there until my return. About three days later I heard that the store at Port Gamble was burned with about every thing in it, the loss being estimated at seventy-five thou- sand dollars. The thought came into my mind, Wh)' was that money given to me to be lost so quickly .■* On my return I went to Port Gamble to see about the things and to my great surprise I found that only about two wheelbarrow loads of goods had been saved, and that mine were among them. They had been packed and placed al the back door. The fire began in the front part, so they broke open the back door, and took the first things of which they could lay hold, and they were mine, and but little else was saved. When I arrived at Seabeck the kind ladies of the })lace presented my wife with a bo.\ containing m\ 140 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. I over thirty dollars' worth of things as a Christmas present. Among these was a cloak. During my absence she had been trying to make herself one, supposing that she had doth er.ough, but when she began to cut it out to her dismay she found that with all the twisting, turning, and piecing that she could do, there was not cloth enough, so she had given it up and made a cloak for our little boy out of it. She natunilly felt badly, as she did not know how she should then get one. ** All these things are against nie," said Jacob, but he found that they were all for him. Others besides Jacob have found the same to be true. The statistical information obtained in this cen- sus is as follows : — In the Clallam tribe there were then 158 men, 172 women, 86 boys, and 69 girls ; a total of 485 persons. Six were on or near the reservation, 10 near Seabeck, 96 at Port Gamble, 6 at Port Lud- , low, 22 at Port Discovery, 12 at Port Townsend, 18 at Sequini, 86 at Jamestown, 36 at or near Dunginess. (Those at Sequim and near Dunginess were all within si.x miles of Jamestown.) P"ifty- sevcn at Port Angeles (])ut a large share of them were across the straits on the British side), 6y at P21kwa, 24 at Pyscht, and 49 at or near Clallam THE CENSUS OF iSSo. 141 Bay. There were 290 full-blooded Clallams among them, and the rest were intermingled with 18 other tribes. Fifteen were part white. During the year previous to October i, 1880, there had been 1 1 births and 9 deaths. Forty-one had been in school during the previous year, 49 could read and 42 write ; 135 could talk English so as to be understood, of whom 69 were adults ; 65 had no Indian name; 33 out of 123 couples had been legally married. They owned 10 horses, 31 cattle, 5 sheep, 97 swine, 584 domestic fowls, and 137 guns anc' pis- tols, most of them being shot-guns. Thirty four were laborers in sawmills ; 22 were farmers. There were 80 fishermen, 23 laborers, 17 sealers, 15 canoe-m.en, 6 canoe-makers, 6 hunters, 3 police- men, 1 1 medicine-men, 4 medicine-women, i car- penter, 2 wood-choppers, i blacksmith, and 40 of the v/omen were mat and basket makers. Twenty- eight persons owned 576 acres of land with a patented title, four more owned 475 acres by homestead, and twenty-two persons, representing 104 persons in their families, cultivated 46 acres. During the year they raised 2,036 bushels of potatoes, 14 tons of hay, 26 bushels of oats, 258 bushels of turnips, 148 bushels of wheat, 20 11 142 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISIT. bushels of apples, 5 of plums, and 4 of small fruit. They had 113 frame-houses, valued by estimate at 1^5*650, four log-houses, worth j^ioo, twenty-nine out-houses, as barns, chicken-houses, and canoe- houses, two jails, and two churches. They cut 250 cords of wood; received $1,994 for sealing, $646 for salmon, and $i,0(X) for work in the Port Discovery mill. I was not able to learn what they had earned at the Seabeck and Port Gamble saw- mills. Two hundred and eleven of them were out of the smoke when at home. I estimated that on an average they obtained seventy-two per cent, of their living from civilized food, the extremes being fifty and one hundred per cent. Twana Indians. — This census was taken by government employees mainly, and some of the estimates differed considerably from what I should have made. Probably hardly two persons could be found who would estimate alike on some points. They numbered 245 persons, of whom there were 70 men, 84 women, 41 boys, and 47 girls. The residence of 49 was in the region of Seabeck, and of the rest on the Skokomish Reservation. There were only 20 full-blooded Twanas, the rest being intermingled with 15 other tribes; 24 were partly white. During the year there were 8 births THE CENSUS OF i8So. 143 and 3 deaths. Twenty-nine had been in school during the previous year; 35 could read, and 30 could write ; 68 could talk English ; 37 had no Indian name. Out of 6^ couples 23 had been legally married. They owned 80 horses, SS cattle, 44 domestic fowls, and 36 guns. There were 42 farmers, 4 carpenters, 2 blacksmiths, 4 laborers, 7 hunters, 20 fishermen, 21 lumbermen and log- gers, I interpreter, i policeman, 6 medicine-men, 7 washer-women, 6 mat and basket makers, and i assistant matron. Forty-seven of them, repre- senting all except about 40 of the tribe, held 2,599 acres of unpatented land, all but 40 of which was on the reservation. They raised 80 tons of hay and 450 bushels of potatoes during the year. They owned 60 frame-houses valued at $3,000. All but 25 were off of the ground and out of the smoke. It was estimated that on an average they obtained 78 per cent, of their sub- sistence from civilized food, the extremes being 25 and 100 per cent., but these estimates were made by two different persons who differed widely in their calculations. > i ^■■(•■■•■■■■^i^ XX. THE INFLUENCE OF THE WHITES. OOME of this has been good and some very *^ bad. Wherever there is whiskey a bad in- fluence goes forth, and there is whiskey not far from nearly all the Indian settlements. Still it must be acknowledged that the influence of all classes of whites has been in favor of industry, Christian services at funerals, and the like, and against tamahnous and potlatches. Around Sko- komish — with a few exceptions of those whose influence has been very good — there arc not many who keep the Sabbath and do not swear, drink whiskey, and gamble ; but this influence has been partially counteracted by the employees on the reservation. It has not been possible to secure Christian men who could fill the places, but moral men have at least generally been ob- tained. It has been one of the happy items of this missionary work, that a good share of those who have come to the reservation as government employees, who have not at the time of their 144 >" THE INFLUENCE OF THE WHITES. M5 coming been Christians, have joined the church on profession of their faith before they have left. The Christian atmosphere at the agency has been very different from that of a large share of the outside world. The church is within a few hun- dred yards of the houses of all the employees, and thus it is very convenient to attend church, prayer- meetings, and Sabbath-school. '^' as those per- sons who were not Christians when they came, found themselves in a different place from what they had ever been. There are many persons who often think of the subject of religion ; wish at heart that they were Christians, and intend at some time to become such, but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the people with whom they associate, choke the good thoughts. But let such people be placed in a Christian community, where these influences are small, and breathe a Christian atmosphere, and the good seed comes up. So it has been among the happy incidents of these ten years to receive into the church some of these individuals. Two brothers, neither of whom were Christians, but whose mother was one, were talking together on the subject of religion, at Seattle, when one of them said that he believed it to be the best way. U I 146 TEN YEARS AT SKOK'OMISII. V0 Not long after that the other brother came to the reservation, where he became a Christian. He then wrote to his brother, saying, " I have now found by experience that it is the best way." Another man and his wife had for years been skeptical, but were like " the troubled sea which can not rest," and were sincere inquirers after truth. In the course of time, after thorough in- vestigation, they became satisfied of the truth of the Bible, as most people do who sincerely seek for light, and became Christians. A year after- ward the gentleman said : " This has been by far the happiest year of my life ; " and many times in prayer-meetings and conversation did they speak in pity of their old companions who were still in darkness and had not the means of obtaining the light which they had found. Several of the children of the employees also came into the" church; one of them, eleven years old, being the youngest person whom I ever re- ceived into church membership. Such events as these had a silent but strong influence upon the Indians, as strong I think as if these persons had been Christians before they came to the reserva- tion. Thirteen white persons in all united with the Skokomish church, on profession of faith, and twenty-three by letter. m W w^ THE INFLUENCE OF THE WHITES. M7 At Jamestown it was different. There was only a school-teacher as a government employee, and he was not sent there until 1878. There are only a few church privileges or Christians in the county, but fortunately a good share of the Chris- tians have lived near to the Indian village, the Indians have worked largely for them, and I have sometimes thought that their influence has had as much to do in elevating the Jamestown people as that of the missionary and agent. " Hungry for preaching " was the way I felt about one old lady in 1880, who was seventy-six years old. With her son she walked two and a half miles to Jamestown to church to the Indian service in the morning, then a mile further to a school-house where I preached to the whites in the afternoon, and then home again — seven miles in all ; and she has done it several times since, although now nearly eighty. She often walks to the Indian services when there is no white person to take charge of it. On one communion Sabbath a lady too weak from ill-health to walk the three quarters of a mile between her house and the Indian church was taken by her husband on a wheelbarrow a good share of the way. In 1883 an old gentleman inil I 148 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. seventy-three years of age stood up with four Indians to unite with the church — the oldest person I ever saw join a church on profession of faith. As we went home he said : " This is what I ought to have done forty years ago." Such influences as these have done much to encourage these Indians. XXI. THE CHURCH AT SKOKOMISH. " I ''HE church was organized June 23, 1874, the ■*• clay after I arrived, with eleven members, only one of whom was an Indian, John F. Palmer, who was government interpreter, I did not come with the expectation of remaining, but only for a visit. I had just come from Boise City, Idaho, and more than half-expected to go to Mexico, but that and some other plans failed, when the agent said that he thought I might do as much good here as anywhere, and the sentiment was confirmed by others. Rev. C. Eells had been here nearly two years, had been with the church through all its preliminary plans, and it was proper that he should be its pastor, and he was so chosen at the first chuich meeting after the organization. He almost immediately left for a two months' tour in Eastern Washington, and wished me to fill his place while I was visiting. The next summer he spent in the same way, only wintering with us. His heart was mainly set on work in that region, where he had spent ! n ISO TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISIL a good share of his previous life. He felt too old, at the age of sixty -four, to learn a new Indian language, and so from the first the work fell into my hands, but he remained as pastor. When it was decided that I should remain, the American Missionary Association gave me a commission as its missionary, and I served as assistant pastor for nearly two years. In the spring of 1876 the pas- tor left for several months' work in the region of Fort Colville, hardly expecting to make this his residence any longer ; hence he resigned, and in April, 1 876, I was chosen as his successor. During most of this time the congregations continued good, though once in a while the In- dians would get very angry at some actions about the agency, and almost all would stay away from church, but the average attendance until the spring of 1876 was ninety. At that time the disaffection resulting from the trouble with Billy Clams, as spoken of under the subject of Mar- riage and Divorce, caused a considerable falling off, so that the average attendance for the next two years was only seventy. Although the people got over that disaffection in a measure, yet one thing or another came up, so that while in 1879 and 1880 the average attendance was better, the congregation never wholly returned until the fall 1 THE CHURCH a t skokomish. 151 of 1883. A Catholic service sprang up in 1881, which took away a number, and which will here- after be more fully described among the Dark Days. From the first there were a few additions to the church, but more of them during the first few years were from among the whites, several of them being children of the employees, than from among the Indians. When the Indians began to ioin, all the accessions, with one exception, were from among the school-children, and others con- nected with the work at the agency until 1883. Gambling, horse-racing, betting, and tamahnous had too strong a hold on them for them to easily give up these practices. The following is from The American Missionary for April, 1877 : — " Our hearts were .gladdened last Sabbath by receiving into our church three of the Indian school-boys, each of them supposed to be about thirteen years old. We had kept them on virtual probation for nearly a year, until I began to feel that to do so any longer would be an injury both to themselves and others. Their conduct, especially toward their school-teacher, although not perfect, has been so uniformly Christian that those who were best acquainted with them felt 152 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. the best satisfied in regard to their change of heart. Said a member of our church of about fifty years' Christian experience : ' I wish that some of the white children whom we have re- ceived into the church had given half as good evidence of being Christians as these boys give.' On religious subjects they have been most free in communicating both to their teacher and my- self by letter. I have thought that you might be interested in extracts from some of them, and hence send you the following. " I am going to write to you this day. Please help me to get my father to become a Christian " (his father is an Indian doctor) " and I think I will get Andrew and Henry " (the other Christian boys) " to say a word for my father. I want you to read it to my father." He wrote to his father the following, which I read to him : — "August 3, 1877. " My Dear Beloved Father, — Your son is a Christian. I am going off another road. I am going a road where it leadeth to heaven, and you are going to a big road where it leadeth to hell. But now please return back from hell. I was long time thinking what I shall do, then my ■ 11 THE CHURCH AT SKOKOMISH. 153 father would be saved from hell. I prayed to God. I asked God to help my father to become a Christian." The letter of another to his Indian friends : — " You have not read the Bible, for you can not read, but you have heard the minister read it to you. You seem not to pay good attention, but you know how Jesus was crucified ; how he was put on the cross ; how he was mocked and whipped, and they put a crown of thorns, and he was put to death." The letter of the "other to me : — " Oh, how I love all the Indians ! I wish they should all become Christians. If you please, tell them about Jesus* coming. It makes me feel bad because the Indians are not ready." To his Indian friends : — " The first time I became a Christian, I found it a very hard thing to do, but I kept asking Jesus to help me, and so he did, for I grew stronger and stronger. So, my friends, if you will just accept Jesus as your King, he will help you to the end of your journey. You must trust wholly in Jesus' strength, and yield your will, your time, your talents, your reputation, your strength, your 154 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. property, your all, to be henceforth and forever subject to his divine control — your hearts to love him ; your tongues to speak for him ; your hands and feet to work for him, and your lives to serve him when and where and as his Spirit may direct. Don't be proud, but be very good Christians ; be brave and do what is right, " Your young friend, ! It is but just to say now that the first two of these have been suspended from the church for misconduct, and still stand so (5n our record. The other one has done a good work, and has been one of the leaders of religion with the older people, sometimes holding one and two meetings a week with them and teaching the Bible class of fifty on the Sabbath. The Twanas and the Clallams were formerly at war with each other, and even now the old hostile feeling, dwindled down to jealousy, will show itself at times. A like unpleasant feeling has often been shown between the whites and Indians, yet, on the first Sabbath in April, 1880, three per- sons united with the church and received baptism, who belonged one to each of these three classes. Another noticeable fact was the reason which THE CHURCH AT Sh'OKOMISH. 155 induced them to become Christians. In reply to my question on this point, each one, unknown to the other, said that it was because they had noticed that Christians were so much happier than other people. Two of them had tried the wrong road with all their heart, and had found to their sorrow that " the way of transgressors is hard." The following table will show the state of the church during the ten years : — A b" t.^ ri ul U. •a ^ u a 0.2 . '1 4) 1^ ?fg ^ , a ^H V 3 -;^>" S S i> - F t- ^< Si TJ •a .« B ^s c t •a •a T3 •a zi fc: •a u u (3 Si J3 < < U Q >: < Organized with 9 a I II une, 1874-75 a 13 une, 1875-76 4 4 I 21 unc, 1876-77 3 a 2 9 Id 2 une, 1877-78 3 3 19 2 line, 1878-79 6 i a I 23 4 lino, 1879-80 4 II 7 I 36 5 line, 1880-81 3 S sJ 3 40 10 ■ une, 1881-82 a 5 Is 16 31 13 June, 1882-83 I 5 s b 31 13 ■ une. i8Q3-July, 1884 . . . I 18 '17 5 I I 43 10 Total 27 61 64 37 6 a * Aililed to ilu> Jnmpstown Church, and inserted here to give a view of the whole work. 156 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. The large diminution in 1876-77 was caused by the removal of employees. The same cause operated in 1881-82, for then the Indians were believed to be so far advanced in civilization that the government thought it wise to discharge all of the employees except the physician and those at work in the school. During that year the church also granted letters to seven of its members who lived at Jamestown, to assist in organizing a church there. Thus when the reasons for the reduced membership of that year were considered there was no particular cause for discouragement, but rather for encouragement. One white man and one Indian have been ex- communicated. The next year the agent moved away, and while he still retained his membership in the church, and aided it financially almost as much as when he resided here, still his absence has been felt, as from the beginning he had been its clerk and treasurer, for a part of the time its deacon, and his councils had always been of great value. The absentees grew in number mainly because white employees moved away, and did not always unite with another church. s I 1 Tjff£ CnUKCII AT SKOKOMISH. 157 On July 4, 1880, the first Indian infant was baptized. Some casto of discipline have been necessary, four being now suspended. Most cases of discipline have resulted favorably. ■ife XXII. BIG BILL. A MONG those who about thirty years previous •^^- had received Catholic instruction and bap- tism was Big Bill. He was one of the better In- dians. When in 1875 I went to their logging- camps to hold meetings, as related under the head of Prayer-meetings, he seemed to be a leading one in favor of Christianity. When I offered to teach them how to pray, sentence by sentence, the other Indians selected him, as one of the most suitable, in their opinion, thus to pray. I never knew him to do any thing which was especially objectionable, even in a Christian, except that he clung to his tamahnous, and at times he seemed to be even try- ing to throw that off. Quite often he would have nothing to do with an Indian doctor when he was sick, although he was related to some of them — then again he would call on them for their assist- ance. In time consumption took hold of him, to- gether with some other disease, and he wasted away. He wanted to join the church and be bap- 158 BIG BILL. »59 tized. One reason given was that he had heard of another Indian far away who had been sick somewhat as he was, who was baptized and recovered. Of course this reason was good for nothing, and he was told so, yet because of his previous life and his Christian profession this point was overlooked as one of the things for which we should have to make allowance, and he was received into the church May 9, 1880. I had made up my mind not to ask him to unite with the church, notwithstanding his apparent fitness in some respects, because of doubts which I had on other points, but when he made the request it seemed to me as if a new aspect were put on the affair, and I was hardly ready to refuse. He came to church as long as he was able, though he lived two miles away, and always seemed glad to see me. But his sickness was long and wore on his mind. His nervous system was affected. Before he died he saw some strange visions when he was not asleep. His visions combined some Protestant teaching, some of the Catholic, and some of their old native supersti- tions, and had reference especially to heaven. He sent for me to tell me about them, but I was not at home. When I returned th ee or four i » 1 60 7'£.V YEAKS AT SKOKOMISII, days afterward I went to see him. I found that Billy Clams, the leader of the Catholic set, was there, and I suspected that his weak mind was turning to that religion of which he had been taught in his younger days. It was so. I often went to see him, and he always received me well, yet he kept up his intimacy with Billy Clams. He told me much of his visions, and seemed hurt that I did not believe them to be as valid as the Bible. Amongst other things in his visions he saw an old friend of his who had died many years previous, and this friena taught him four songs. They were mainly about heaven, and there was not much objection to them, except that they said that Sandyalla, the name of this friend, told him some things. This was a species of spiritualism perpetuated in song. He taught these songs to his friends. When he could no longer come to church he instituted church services at his house, twice on each Sabbath and on Thursday evening, to correspond with ours. Hence I could not attend them, and his brothers, who leaned toward the Catholic religion, and Billy Clams had every thing their own way. When I went to see him he was glad to have me sing and hold services in my way. The whole affair became mi.xed. He died BIG B/IJ. i6i June, 1 88 1, and his relations asked me to attend the funeral. I did so. They also prepared a long service of his own and Catholic song and prayers, of lighted candles and ceremonies which they went through with after I was done. (It was the first and last funeral in which they and I had a partnership.) He had two brothers and a brother-in-law, the head chief, who inclined to the Catholic religion. They had always given as an excuse for not coming to church that as Big Bill could not come they went to his house for his benefit and held services. But after his death their services did not cease. They kept them up as an opposition, partly professing that they were Catholics, and partly saying that their brother's last words and songs were very precious to them, and they must get together, talk about what he had said and sing his songs. In course of time this proved a source of great trouble — one of the most severe trials which we had. More will be told of this under the head of Dark Days. About the only good thing, as far as I knew, in connection with these visions, was that they in- duced him to give up his tamahnous, or Indian doctors, and he advised his relations to do the 1 62 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. same. He said that in his visions he had learned that God did not wish such things. After his death his brother told me that Big Bill had foretold events which actually took place, as the sickness and death of several persons, and so they believed his visions to have come from God. It may have been so. I could not prove the contrary, but it was very hard for me to be- lieve it. Big Bill never told me those prophecies, nor did his brother tell me of them until after each event occurred. Singly after each death or sickness took place I was informed that he had foretold it. 1 t XXIII. DARK DAYS. \ PKBRUARY, 1883, covered about the darkest -*■ period I have seen during the ten years. It was due to several causes. (i) T/w Half-CatJiolic Movement. — Ever since I have been here some of the Indians leaned toward the Catholic Church, when they leaned toward any white man's church, because of their instruc- tion thirty years ago. In 1875 some of them spoke to me quite earnestly about inviting Father Chirouse, a prominent Catholic missionary, to come here and help me, a partnership about which I cared nothing. The matter slumbered, only slightly showing itself, until the time of the sick- ness and death of Big Bill. For two or three years previous to this Billy Clams professed to have re- formed and become a Christian, but it was Cath- olic Christianity he had embraced, and he often held some kind of service at his house, occasion- ally coming to our church ; but very few, if any, were attracted to it. After Big Bill's death the 163 164 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISll. affair took definite shape, there being a combina- tion of Big Bill's songs and prayers and those of Billy Clams. The head chief was brother- in-law to Big Bill, and threw his influence in favor of the opposition church, and a considerable numbei were attracted to it. Religious affairs thus be- came divided and a number lost interest in the subject and went nowhere to church. (2) yohn Slocnm. — Affairs went on this way from June, 1881, until November, 1882; their efforts apparently losing interest for want of life. At that time John Slocum, an Indian who had many years before lived on the rcservatio.i, but who had for six or seven years lived twelve or fourteen miles away, apparently died, or else pre- tended to die, I can not determine which, though there is considerable evidence to me and other whites that the latter was true. The Indians be- lieved that 4ie really died. He remained in that state about six hours, when he returned to life, and said that he had been to heaven and seen wonderful visions of God and the future world. He said that he could not get into heaven, because that God had work for him to do here, and had sent him back to preach to the Indians. According to his order a church was built for him, and he held • ■ influence will continue long: after he shall die. XXXIV. TOURING. 'S m I !\ ItT 7HITE people have almost universally been ' * very kind to me, the Indians generally so, but the elements have often been adverse. These have given variety to my life — not always pleas- ant, but sufficient to form an item here and there ; and there is nearly always a comical side to most of these experiences, if we can but see it. One day in February, 1 878, I started from Port Gamble for home with eight canoes, but a strong head-wind arose. The Indians worked hard for five hours, but traveled only ten miles and nearly all gave out, and we camped on the beach. It rained also, and the wind blew still stronger so that the trees were c( nstantly falling near us. I had only a pair of blankets, an overcoat, and a mat with rne, but Iraving obtained another mat of the Indians, I made a slight .oof over nic with it and went to sleep. About two o'clock in the morniTig I was aroused by the Indians, when I learned that a very high tide had come and Uy been rally so, These 's pleas- d there ; to most om Port 1 strong hard for d nearly ;ach. It jnger so ir us. I t, and a r mat of with it I in the , when I Dme and TOURING. 217 drowned them out. My bed was on higher ground than theirs, but in fifteen minutes that ground was three or four inches under water. We waded around, wet and cold, put our things in the c?noes and soon started. There was still some rain and wind, and it was only by taking turns in rowing that we could keep from suffering. In four hours we were at Seabeck, where we were made comfortable, but that was a cold, long, dark, wintry morning ride. I started from Jamestown for Elkwa, a distance of twenty-five miles, on horseback, but, after going ten miles, the horse became so lame that he could go no farther. I could not well procure another, so I proceeded on foot. Soon I reached Morse Creek, but could find no way of crossing. The stream was quite swift, having been swollen by recent rains. The best way seemed to be to ford it. So, after taking off some of my clothes, I started in. It was only about three feet deep, but so swift that it was difficult to stand, and cold as a mountain stream in December naturally is. But with a stick to feel my way, I crossed, and it only remained for me to get warm, which I soon did by climbing a high hill. Coming from Elkwa on another trip on horse- 2l8 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. back, with a friend, we were obliged to travel on the beach for eight miles, as there was no. other rOad> The tide was quite high, the wind blowing, and . aves came in very roughly. There were many t; ;3 lying on the beach, around which we were compelled to canter as fast as we could when the waves were out. But one time my friend, who was just ahead, passed safely, while I was caught by the wave which came up to my side, and a part of which went over my head. It was very fortu- nate that my horse was not carried off his feet. Once I was obliged to stay in one of their houses in the winter, a thing I have seldom done, unless there is no white man's house near, even in the summer, when I have preferred to take my blankets and sleep outside. The Indians have said that they are afraid the panthers will oat me ; but between the fleas, rats, and smoke (for they often keep their old-fashioned houses full of smoke all night), sleep is not refreshing, and the next morn- ing I feel more like a piece of bacon than a minister. Traveling in February with about scvonty-five Indians, it was necessary that I should stay all night in an Indian house to protect them from unprincipled white men. The Indians at the vil- TOURING. 219 lage where we stayed were as kind as could be, assigning me to their best house, where there was no smoke ; giving me a feather-bed, white sheets, and all very good except the fleas. Before I went to sleep I killed four, in two or three hours I waked up and killed fourteen, at three o'clock eleven more, and in the morning I left without looking to see how many there were remaining. But Indian houses are not the only unpleasant ones. Here we are at a hotel, the best in a saw-mill town of four or five hundred people ; but the bar-room is filled with tobacco-smoke, almost as thick as the smoke from the fires which often fills an Indian house. Here about fifty men spend a great portion of the night, and some of them all night, in drinking, gambling, and smoking. The house is accustomed to it, for the rooms directly over the bar-room are saturated with smoke, and I am assigned to one of these rooms. Before I get to sleep the smoke has so filled my nostrils that I can not breathe through them, and at mid- night I wake up with a headache so severe that I can scarcely hold up my head for the next twenty- four hours. It is not so bad, however, but that I can do a little thinking on this wise : Who are the lowest — the Indians, or these whites .-' The smoke is of equal thickness : that of the Indians, hovv- 1 ( 220 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. ever, is clean smoke from wood ; that of the whites, filthy from tobacco. The Indian has sense enough to make holes in the roof where some of it may escape ; the white man does not even do that much. The Indian sits or lies near the ground, underneath a great portion of it ; the white man puts a portion of his guests and his ladies* parlor directly over it. Sleeping in the Indian smoke I come out well, although feeling like smoked bacon, and a thorough wash cures it ; but sleeping in that of the white man I come out sick, and the brain has to be washed. In August, 1879, with my wife and three babies, and three Indians, I was coming home from a month's tour among the Clallams, in a canoe. One evening from five o'clock until nine the rain poured down, as it sometimes does on Puget Sound. With all that we could do it was impos- sible to keep dry. Oilcloth, umbrellas, and blank- ets would not keep the rain out of the bottom of the canoe, or from reaching some of our bedding. At nine o'clock we reached an old deserted house with half the roof off, and we crawled into it. The roof was off where the fire-place was situated, so we tried to dry ourselves, keep warm, and dry some bedding, while holding umbrellas over us, in order that every thing should not get wet as fast TOURING. 221 rain as it was dried. As soon as a few clothes got dry, we rolled up a baby and he was soon asleep ; and so on for three hours we packed one after another away, until I was the only one left. But the rest had all of the dry bedding. There was one pair of blankets left, and they were soaked through. I knew that if I attempted to dry them I might as well calculate to sit up until morning. So I warmed them a little, got close to the warm places, pulled on two or three more wet things, pulled up a box on one side to help keep warm, leaned up my head slantingwise against a perpen- dicular wall for a pillow, and went to sleep. Some writers say that a person must not sleep in one position all night ; if he does he will die. I did not suffer from that danger during that night. The next morning we had to start about five o'clock because of the tide, without any break- fast. When about eight o'clock we reached a farm-house, and warmed up, where the people spent most of the forenoon getting a good warm breakfast for us, free of all charges, we did wish that they could receive the blessing forty times over mentioned in the verse about the cup of cold water, for it was worth a hundred cups of cold water that morning. No one of us, however, took cold on that ni-^ht. 222 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. Only once have I ever felt that there was much clanger in traveling in a canoe. I was coming from Clallam Bay to Jamestown in November, 1883, with five Indians. We left Port Angeles on the afternoon of the last day with a good wind, but when we had been out a short time and it wa almost dark, a low, black snow-squall struck us. There was no safe place to land, and we went along safely until vve reached the Dunginess Spit, which is six miles long. There is a good harbor on the east side of it ; but we were on the west side, and the Indians said that it was not safe to attempt to go around it, for those snow-squalls are the worst storms there are, and the heavy waves at the point would upset us. It was better to run the risk of breaking our canoe while landing than to run the risk of capsizing in those boiling waters. So we made the attempt, but could not see how the waves were coming in the darkness, and after our canoe touched the beach, but before we could draw it up to a place of safety, another wave struck it, and split it for nearly its whole length. But we were all safe. Fortunately we were only seven miles from Jamestown ; so wc took our things on our backs and walked the rest of the way, all of us very thankful that we were not at the bottom of the sea. XXXV. THE BIBLE AND OTHER BOOKS. ! I i XTATURALLY most of the Indians did not -*- ^ care to buy Bibles at first. They were fur- nished free to the school-children, and, like many other things that cost nothing, were not very highly prizeil, nor taken care of half as well as they ought to have been. Still they learned that it was the sacred Book and when one after another left school most of them possessed a Bible. I had not been here long when an Indian bought one, and, having had the family record of a white friend of his written in it, he presented it to the man, who had none. It caused some comment that an Indian should be giving a Bible to a white man. When the first apprentices received their first pay, a good share of their earnings were invested in much better Bibles than they had previously been able to buy. The following item appeared in The San Fran- cisco Pacific in March, 1 880 : — . I <: 224 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. "LO, THE POOR Indian! " The following facts speak volumes. Let all read them. — [Chaplain Stubbs, Oregon Editor.] "During 1879 I acted as agent of the Bible Society for this region. The sales amounted to over twenty-two dollars to the Indians, out of a total of thirty-two dollars. Of the seventy-five Bibles and Testaments sold, thirty-nine were bought by them, varying in price from five cents to three dollars and thirty cents. These facts, with other things, show that there is some literary taste among them. Not many of the older ones can read, hence do not wish for books ; but many have adorned their houses with Bible and other pictures, twenty of them having been counted in one house, nearly all of which virere bought with their money. In the house of a newly married couple, both of whom have been in school, are twenty-seven books, the largest being a royal octavo Bible, reference, gilt. The Council Fin: is taken here. In a room where four boys stay, part of whom are in school, and the rest of whom are apprentices, — none of them being over seventeen years old, — will be found The Port Townsend Argus and The Seattle In- telligencer. On the table is an octavo Bible, for the boys have prayers every evening by themselves. THE BIBLE AND OTHER BOOKS. 225 and two of them have spent about five dollars each for other books, " Christ in Literature " being among them. At another house arc three young men who have twenty volumes. One of them has paid twenty dollars for what he has bought ; You- mans's Dictionary of Every-day Wants, Webster's Unabridged, Moody's and Punshon's Sermons being among them. He was never in school until he w.^s about twenty-two years old and nine months will probably cover all the schooling he ever had. Here will be found The Pacific. In another house the occupant has spent about fifty dollars for books, and his library numbers thirty volumes. Among them will be found an eighteen- dollar family Bible, Chambers's Information for the People, " Africa," by Stanley, Life of Lincoln, and Meacham's Wigwam and Warpath. Here also, is The Pacific, The West Shore Olympia Coiirier, The Council Fire, and The American Missionary. This man never went to school but two or three week' , having picked up the rest of his knowledge. When Indians spend their money thus, it shows that there is an intellectual capacity in them that can be developed." It has been, however, and still is, somewhat difficult to cultivate in many of them a taste for \\ H ■^-j a:. .» 226 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. reading, so as to continue to use it when older. This is not because of a want of intellectual capacity, but for three other reasons. First, as soon as they leave school and go back among the uneducated Indiaiis, there is no stimulus to induce them to read. The natural influence is the other way, to cause them to drop their books, Second, like white people who remain in one place con- tinually, they are but little interested in what is going on in the outside world. Third, in mos books and papers there are just enough large diffi- cult words which they do not understand to spoil the sense, and thus the interest in the story is destroyed. Yet notwithstanding these discourage- ments, the present success together with the pros- pect that it will be much greater in the future, as more of them become educated, is such as to make us feel that it pays. T T XXXVI. BIBLE PICTURES. TT is very plain that Indians who can not read, ■■■ and even some who can read, b't only a little, need something besides the Bible to help them remember it. Were white people to hear the Bible explained once or twice a week only, with no opportunity to read it, they would be very slow to acquire its truths. It hence became very plain that some good Scripture illustrations would be very valuable. I could not, however, afford to give them to the Indians, nor did I think it best, as generally that which costs nothing is good for nothing. But to live three thousand miles from the publishing-houses and find what was wanted was difficult, for it was necessary that they should be of good size, attractive, and cheap. For eight years I failed to find what was a real success. Fanciful Bible-texts are abundant, but they con- vey no Bible instruction to older Indians. Small Bible pictures, three or four by four or six inches are furnished by Nelson & Sons, and others, but i\ ^i 228 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. they were too small to hang over the walls of their houses and they did not care to buy them. I often put them into my pocket, when visiting, and explained them to the Indians, and so made them quite useful. The same company furnished larger ones, about twelve by eighteen inches, which were good pictures. The retail price was fifty cents. I obtained them by the quantity at about thirty-seven cents and sold them for twenty- five, but they were not very popular. It took too much money to make much of a show. The Providence Lithograph Company publish large lithographs, thirty by forty-four inches, for the International Sabbath-school Lessons, which were somewhat useful. I obtained quite a number, second-hand, at half-price, eight for a dollar, and often used them as the text of my pulpit preach- ing, but when I was done with them I generally had to give them away. They were colored and showy but too indefinite to be attractive enough to the Indians to induce them to pay even that small price for them. At last I came across some large charts, on rollers, highly colored, published by Haasis & Lubrecht, of New York. They were twenty-eight by thirty-five inches, and I could sell them for BIBLE PICTURES. 229 twenty-five cents each, and they were very popu- lar. They went like hot cakes — were often wanted faster than I could get them, although I procured from twenty to forty and sometimes more at once, Protestant and Catholic Indians, Christians and medicine-men, those off the reser- vation and on other reservations as well as at Skokomish, were equally pleased with them, so that I sold four hundred and fifty in twenty-one months. They were large, showy, cheap, and good, care being used not to obtain some purely Catholic pictures which they publish. " The Story of the Bible," " Story of the Gospel," and " First Steps for Little Feet in Gospel Paths," also have proved very useful for those who can read a little but can not understand all the hard words in the Bible. Their numerous pictures are attractive, and the words are easy to be under- stood. n in SI; !S XXXVIL THE SABBATH-SCHOOL. TI^ROM the first a Sabbath-school has been held •■- on the reservation. Previous to the time when Agent Eells took charge, while Mr. D. B. Ward and Mr. W. C. Chattin v/ere the school- teachers, they '>vorkt'd in this way But there was no Sabbath- scliool in the region which the Indians had seen ; the white Jnduerxes on the reservation by no means ran parallel with their efforts, and it was hard work to accomplish a little. In 1871 Agent Eells threw all his influence in favor of it before there were any ministers on the reservation or any other Sabbath service, with the agent as superintendent. After ministers came, it was held soon after the close of the morning .service. The school-children and whites were expected to be present, as far as was reasonable, and the older Indians were invited and urged to remain Sometimes they did and there was a large Bible class, and sometimes none stayed. A striking feature of the school has been tlie 'm THE SABBATH-SCHOOL. 231 effort made to induce the children to learn the lesson. Sometimes they were merely urged to, and sometimes the agent compelled them so to do, much as if they were his own children. Six verses have usually been a lesson — sometimes all of them being new ones, and sometimes three being in advance and three in review. Those who committed them all to memory were placed on the roll of honor, and those who had them all perfectly received two credit-marks ; so that if there were no interruption on any Sabbath in the school, 104 was the highest number that any one could obtain. During 1875 tl • record was kept for fifty Sabbaths, and the highest numl)or of marks obtained by any of the Indian chiMren was forty-eight, by Andrew Peterson. Eighty-eight were obtained by each of two white children, Minnie Lansdale and Lizzie Ward. Twenty of the Indian children were on the roll of honor some of the time. During 1876 Miss Martha Palmer, an Indian girl, received eighty-six marks out of a possible hundred. The next highest was a white girl, then a half-breed girl, then an Indian boy, and th^'' a white boy. During 1877 the same Martha Palmer received ninety-six marks, the highest number possible that year, there having 2\2 TEN YEARS Al' SKOKOMISII. been no school on four Sabbaths. In 1878 Martha Palmer and Emily Atkins each committed the six verses to memory and recited them per- fectly at the school during forty-nine Sabbaths, there having been no school on three Sabbaths. That was the best report during the ten years. The higl;ost number in 1883 was by Annie Sher- wood, but the number of credit-marks was only forty-eight. Sometimes we followed the simplest part of the Bible through by course and sometimes used the International Lessons. The former plan was in many respects better for the scholars, as the International Lessons skipped about so much that the children often lost the connection ; they were sometimes not adapted for Indians, and the chil- dren would lose the quarterlies or their lesson- papers. The latter plan was for some reasons better for the teachers, as they could get helps in the quarterlies to understand the lesson which they could not well get elsewhere. Sabbath- school papers with a Bible picture in them and an explanation of it were valuable. Such at last I found in The YoutJis World for 1883. Once a month, while I had them, I gave the papers to the teachers the Sabbath previous and told the schol- THE SABBATII-SCIIOOL. 233 ars to learn a few verses in the Bible about the picture. Then every child received the paper on the Sabbath, and the story was explained. At first nearly all the tec^chers were whites ; but in time, as the whites moved away and the young men and women became older and more compe- tent, they took up the work. About half of the teachers during the last two years were Indians. Agent Eells was superintendent of the school from its beginning in 1871 until 1882, when his head-quarters were removed to another reserva- tion, since which time I have had charge. When the agent left he received from the school a copy of Ryle's Commentary on John, in three volumes, which present was accompanied by some very appropriate remarks by Professor A. T. Burnell, then in charge of the school. " Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word is truth," said Christ, and we found this to be true; the committing to memory of so many verses produced its natural effect. The seed sown grew. Eighteen Indian children out of the Sabbath- school have united with the church. The average attendance on the school at Skoko- mish has varied. From June, 1875, to June, 1876, it was eighty-five, and that was the highest. Ml \-^- 234 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISH. From June, 1881, to June, 1882, it was forty- seven, which was the lowest. The dismissal of employees and their families and the "dark days," of which mention has been made, caused a decrease for a time. XXXVIII. PRAYER-MEETINGS. A NOTHER of the first meetings established •^^- on the reservation under the new policy was the pi'ayer-meeting along with the Sabbath-school. To those white people near the reservation who cared but little for religion, and who had known the previous history of the reservation, a prayer- meeting on a reservation ! ah, it was a st'^ange thing, but they afterward acknowledged that it was a very proper thing for such a place. That regu- lar church prayer-meeting has been kept up from 1 87 1 until the present time, varied a little at times to suit existing circumstances. The employees and school-children were the principal attendants, as it was too far away from most of the Indians for them to come in the evening. But few of the children ever took part. Too many wise heads of a superior race frightened them even if they had wished to do so. The average attendance on it has varied from twenty-two in 1875 to thirty-eight in 1880. Previous to 1880, it ranged below thirty — since then above that number. 236 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII. To suit the wants of the children we had boys* prayer-meetings and girls' prayer-meetings. Some- times these were merely talks to them, and some- times they took part. In the summer of 1875 the white girls first made a request to have one. I had been to our Association and on my return I reported what I had heard of a children's meeting at Bellingham Bay. Two of the girls were im- pressed with the idea and made a request for a similar one. Indian girls were soon invited to come and more or less took part. It was not long before from its members some came into the church. For a long time my mother had charge of this. She died in 1878, after which my wife took charge. The white girls at last all left and only Indian girls remained in it. They have often taken their turn in leading the meeting. Although for two or three years I had asked a few boys to come to my house from time to time to teach them and try to induce them to pray, yet they never did any thing more than to repeat the Lord's Prayer, until February, 1877. Then three boys came and asked for instruction on this sub- ject, and soon we had a prayer-meeting in which all took part. Previous to that school-boys had seemed to be interested in religion, but when they PR A YEK-MEETINGS. 237 became older and mingled more with the older Indians they went back again into their old ways ; but none ever went as far as these did then — none ever prayed where a white person heard them or asked to have a prayer-meeting with their min- ister. During that summer the interest increased and it grew gradually to be a meeting of twenty with a dozen sometimes taking part, but all were not Christians. After a few months of apparent Christian life, some found the way too hard for them and turned back, yet a number of them came into the church. But all of these meetings did not reach the older Indians. They were too far away to attend, and, had they .been present, the meeting was in an unknown tongue. So in the summer of 1875 I began holding meetings at their logging-camps. They were welcomed by some, while with some, especially those who leaned toward the Catholic religion and the old native religion, it was hard work to do any thing. In these meetings I was usually assisted by the interpreter John Palmer. At our church services and Sabbath-school it was very difficult to induce them to sing or to say any thing. There were enough white folks to carry them and they were willing to be carried. At our first meet- 238 TEN YEARS AT SK'OKOMISII. ings with them they sang and talked well, but pre- ferred to wait a while before they should pray in public. They did not know what to say, was the excuse they gave. On reading I found that the natives at the Sandwich Islands were troubled in the same way ; and I remembered that the disci- ples said : " Lord, leach us how to pray, as John also taught his disciples;" so vv? offered to teach them how, for they professed to be Christians. One of us would say a sentence and then ask one of the better ones to repeat it afterward. I remember how something comical struck one of the Indians during one of these prayers and he burst out laughing in the midst of it. Feeling that a very short prayer would be the best proba- bly for them to begin with alone, I recommended that they ask a blessing at their meals. This was acceptable to some of them. I taught them a form, and they did so for that fall and a part of the winter. I once asked one Indian if he ever prayed. His reply was that he asked a blessing on Sabbath morning at his breakfast. That was all, and he seemed to think that it was enough. When winter came the logging-camps closed and they went to their homes. They were too far off to hold evening services ;vith them, because of PR A YEK-MEE TINGS. 239 the mud, rain, and darkness, and, as they had but little to do, I took Tuesdays for meetings with them. About the first of December we induced four of them to pray in a prayer-meeting without any assistance from us. This meeting was three hours long. It seemed as if a good beginning had been made, but Satan did not propose to let us have the victory quite so easily. In less than a week after this the Indians were all drawn into a tribal sing tamahnous, and all of these praying Indians took some part, though only one seemed to be the leader of it. That was the end of his praying for years. The agent told him that he had made a fool of himself and he said that it was true. In 1883 he was among the first to join the church and since then he has done an excellent work. Still I kept up the meeti igs during the winter. The Indian, however, is very practical. His ideas of spiritual things are exceedingly small. His heaven is sensual and his prayers to his tamahnous are for life, food, clothes, and the like. So when they began to pray to God, they prayed much for these things, and when they did not obtain all for which they asked, they grew tired. Others then laughed at them for their want of success. I talked of perseverance in prayer. 240 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISII Not long after this the trouble ^rith Billy Clams and his wife, as already related under the head of marriage, occurred. He escaped at first, but others were put in jail for aiding him. At one of the first meetings after this trouble began, I asked one to pray, but he only talked. I asked another and he said " No," very quickly, and there was only one left. Soon after this, they held a great meeting to petition the agent to release the pris- oners. The only praying one prayed earnestly that this might be done. The petition was rightfully refused. The other Indians laughed at him for his failure, and that stopped his praying in public for a long time, with one exception. Once after- ward we held a meeting with them and after some urging a few took part, but it was a dying affair. Notwithstanding all that they had said about being Christians, the heart was not there, and until 1883 hardly any of the older uneducated Indians prayed in public in our meetings. Of those four, one left the reservation and became a zealous Catholic ; one has apparently improved some ; one was nearly ruined by getting a wife with whom he could not get along for a time, and at last became a leader in the shaking religion ; and one, as already stated, has done very well. PR A YER-MLETINGS. 241 The next summer, 1876, I visited their logging- camps considerably, and was well received by some, while others treated me as coldly as they dared, doing only what they could not help doing. But they did not take as much part in the meet- ings as they had done the previous summer, talk- ing very little and praying none. Their outward progress toward religion had received a severe check. As has been the case with some other tribes, Satan would not give up without a hard struggle. Like some of the disciples, they found the gospel a hard saying, could not bear it, and went back and walked no more with Christ. The business of logging was overdone for sev- eral years, and during that time I was not able to gather them together much for social meetings. I worked mainly by pastoral visiting. In the winter of 1881-82 some of them went to the Chehalis Reservation and attended some meetings held by the Indians there and were considerably aroused. They again asked for meetings and I held them, but while they were free to talk and sing, they were slow to pray. Logging revived, and I held meetings quite constantly with them during the next two years. At that time four of them professed to take a Si' 242 TEN YEARS AT SKOKOMISIT. stand for Christ. Gambling was a besetting sin of some of them, but with some help from the school- boys, who had now grown to be men, they passed through the Fourth of July safely, alth'^ugh there was considerable of it on the grounds, and two of them were strongly urged to indulge. The other two were absent. But in the fall there was a big Indian wedding with considerable gambling and horse-racing, and then two fell. Another did a very wrong thing in another way and was put in jail for it, and that stopped his praying for a time, though he has since begun it again. The other was among the first of the older Indians to join the church in 1883, and he has done a firm good work for us since. In other camps I was welcomed also, but it has ever been difficult to induce them, even the Chris- tians, to pray or speak much in public. Those prayer-meetings have usually been what I have had to say. Occasionally they speak a little ; but, not being able to read, their thoughts run in a small circle, and they are apt to say the same things over again, and they tire of it unless some- thing special occurs to arouse them. " You speak," they often say to me, when I have asked then-' to say something. '• You know something PR A VKK-MKETIN