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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. rata >alura, I A J 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 : 4 5 6 i^ ID.- m iytl ANI BY S. .1 l^ ^D:l AUTHENTIC :;? 'CCOUNT OK THK URDER OF DR. WHITMAN AND OTHER MISSIONARIES, y the Cayuse Indians of Oregon, in 1847, AND THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THA;r HORRIBLE CATASTROPHE. BY THE VERY REV. J. B. A. BROUILLET. -.-•-.- (t Magna est Veritas, et prasvalebit." ^ Second Bdition. ,^_^ PORTLAND, OREGON : '8. .T. McCORMlCK, P TJte L I SH K R.. 1869. M ^l '■r^ •X4.(..2>V Ml hi m. Al B s. AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF TOR MURDER OF DR WHITMAN AND OTIIKR MISSIONAlilKS, iiy the Oayuse Indians of Oregon, in 1847, ,\ND THE CAUSKS WHICH LED TO THAT nOURlI$LE €ATA8ri{01'HK. BY THE VERY REV. J. B. A. BROUILLET. ^^ Magna est Veritas, et j^rccvalcbiC S€icoti<\ Kditioru PORTLAND, OREGON: S. J. MIoCORlVIIC li, 3?TJI3LISH:KII. m ' m ^' 1 fli ' '''' ^i I I Ilk! P ^1S ; . ■ i ^ ^r ! I t iriH*Vi U* . I ,^-s «. » ^ f A.*i. WALLING, PIUNTER. PORTLAND. |: i ^ ' V; INTRODUCTION. * In prc3ontin<5 the present edition to the puhlif, the uu- tJjor feels it incumbent upon bim to give the reasons dliich influenced bim in this undert.niviiig. The sad ca- tlistropbe narrated in tbeso pa^es took place upwards oJ' i^venty years ago, and, notwitbHtanding tbe verdict of inbiased puldic ojiinion — after a tiiorougb examination fito the causes of the catastropbe — fully acquitted tbe viitbolic missionaries from every sbadow of culpability KHigbt to be cast upon tbem ibi'ougb bigotry and prcju- lico, yet men, ])rofes.sii)g tbe jturcst princi])lesof Cbrist- In cbarity, are still found, wboso only nim seems to be le acbievement of an unenviable notoriety, tbrcugb tbe |il»rication of falsehood and tbo circulation of " facts,'' bunded upon fiction. 1 To counteract, in a measure, tbe malicious macbiua- ions of sucb misguided men. a series of articles "were piblisbed <}uring tbe year li^53, in tbe New York Frec- ^nn's Journal, and were afterwards issued in pamphlet hnn. Tbe circulation of these documents served to al- !y for several years tbe excitement which error inevita- y creates where truth is unknown. Tbo first edition of this pamjiblet. written in l^^ts and !fls«:i;i -T.-i;ioN-VV. History Dept. PROVING. AU L-lBf.'APY /^ r \ TTIK WHITMAN MASSArRR. issued in l^.').'?, has hecome t'xliaustccl; some of the pi"''!,!., ♦ cipal witnesses of the Indian masHUcre at Dr. AVhitnian'^ ^^^ station have left the country ; many of tlicm arc deal < — a now community has spruii;,^ \\\> in the hmd. Stil. thci'o are found those amon^'Ht us Avhose nrojuilicc* 1 1 .,11 f*^^ "i oven at this remote day, are so stron;^ as not to yieltl bii " " '' ton ' fore the penotralinuf rays of truth ; Avhosc minds wit. .'.* not ho satisfied with the unchan^'oahlo and irrefulahl. evidence of disinterested w'itnesses, and whoso sj)leoi a;;ainst the C'atholic church, and all that pertains to ho*. ' nes 1 creed, her pastors and her people, Hndsvont in the sha))^ of " resolutions " without reason."' paragraphs withoi '^"^ point, and anonymous newsj)aper articles without nl'"ds sponsibility. ^^^ ^'' It bciuix not only impracticahle. but distasteful, to tlu i author to undertake the tr.sk of i('plyinrii|,,y tniKody at Dr. Wliitinaii's mission; the work han Dv. \\ \\\tma.i\ 'y^^^^f^^,^^ throuj,'h sovoral oilitions, fiiidiiii; its way fnlo ov- them ai'O remote and ii-refutahl i • i i i i 'ii * ' *■ • , , Onuses which led to the massacre ot so many innocent [ whoso spleol , 1,1 i- .1 /. ii 1- . • 1 rcoiMc. and cU-arl^' exonerntinu; the ( ntliolic missiona- pertaiim to ho*. r i i i\ . i <• i i n ^ . , , nes from the foul charnje poui^ht to he fastened on them, snt in the 8ha)M ° -^ 'r*\i)hs withor '''^ letter of Sir James Dou'.das, Chief Factor of the les without nl^"^''^^"*^ Bay Co., (who wasresidin<^ at Vancouver at ^le time of the massacre at Dr. l\'hitman's station, and who upon learning the sad ncw.s immediately ilispatched stastoful, to tl I large force of their employrs, under charge of Peter r to tho open '^Ij^gp,^ Ogden, to the scene, for the purpo.'^e of prevent *' ' ^ Ifeig further atrocities) will also he found in the appendix. )nt work all tl^^jj^ opinions so strongly expressed in tins letter were r. Wiutman ai-lr^gc^i upon information received from Mr. Ogden, Mr. d in his fornu|f^.33^3^,^^ ^,^^^.^ ^^ p^,.,. yyj^,j.^ ^yj^,,^^^ ^^^^^ nearest post licrein wu ^ ^1^^ scene of the murder) and other relTable gentlemen vhin|.itncssc8, together with the facts reiterated from tlio aitia men, \v 5),.,^^^. publication, cannot fail of bringing conviction to iN'ery candid mind, that tho murder of Dr. Whitman cr the lament! ^ , . . . iw ^ i 4 i i i * tnd his associates was premeditated, matured and detcr- sociaiion oi Oivg(i)ined upon by the evil-disposed Indians among the Cay- iso nation, long bcfiro the arrival of the Bishop of ■V ■ .•V i\ TIIK WHITMAN MASSAfRE Wallji Wallii and liis niissionai'u'H. In proof of tliiw asfiiltos Hcrtion, wc nccMl only n-ciir to tlio tllos of the "()re<,'onJa>*i(»n American and Kvan^elical Unionist," a periodical iMsiiedJi'illiK diirin/^' 1S4H, at TiialiUin Plains, in Washini^toii county In ( and edited l>v IJev. J. S. (JrifVm. In the fourth nuniheiX" nni of this periodical wo find over th<* si i^naturc of Kov II. JI|i'ar ( S]»aldin^ an article fi-oni which we learn the (act that jvVnn t Nc/< PerccH Indian in(|uired of him prior to the mas3acrcii'K''^l' if Dr. Whiti.ian was iiol killed; l.iil lilllc ii'Lcnlion wa-J'^'.^'"' paid to the quention ; Mr. Spalding, however, mentionedj " ^^'' the matter to J)r. Wiiitnian, Mr. 1. inble, and othern a'!""'^' '^' the station, "TIV considered it a nltenition of tchat /«(;(|'t'''' ' hcen said for a lon(j time— a l>all can penetrate you-fi n cl body. * =•= * * The J)octor in one of bi|oiild visits had discovered TdmaJias (called the murderer fron|i<'ni f( having killed several Iiidians) who had just before losl'ut tl his wife, and who was the person that afterwards, witll'^T f two blows upon the head laid our lamented brothcil'^'n w bleeding senseless, but not lifeless, upon the floor) lining i rather a suspicious attitude. From that time the Doctoif'd the had been cautious. But there were no inflammatorji|sed b meetings among the chiefs, as there had often been. Fof tho ] instance, when they returned from California, two ycaril an a ago, after the death of the Walla Walla Chief, several i.yen meetings wore held to consider whether Dr. Whitmaiijj Opon myself or some other American teacher should be kille<4n^ message of (lov^rnor (Ieor!.f(' Abernetliy to the I the massacnie^ishilive AssemM , of ^ 'reijon 'lorritory, convened at ;iHciitiun wai'^'g"" '''0' I^''emher, '-IT . cr mentioned] '' ^^"»' felations with Ihv Indians becomes every year and others a'f*"'^ emharrassin;:;. 'fh^y see the white man occup^-in^ n of icliitt /unl"-'''" I»nd, rapidly fillinj.:; i.p the country, and they put L'nctrato you-li a claim for pay. They have been ♦rhl that a chief- r in one of hifould como out from the Tnited States, and treat with murderer fronjiem for their hinds ; they have been told this so often ust before los>|'sil they begin to doui)t the truth of it ; at all events, Lerwards witl}'^'}' f^'i}'; ' ''^ ^^''H "<'t eomo until we are all g now.' This leads to trouble between the settler me the Doctoif'd the Indians about him. Some plan should bo de- inflammatorj'l^ed by which a fund can be raised, and presents made ton been. Vo$ the Indians of suOicient value to keep thetn (j^uiet un- nia, two ycarfl an agent arrives from the United States." Chief, several i.ven as early as 183;'), sonic of the missionaries settled Dr. ^V hitmaii^ Oregon and engaged in civilizing the Indians, woro ia lould be klllcl|^,,^^^l. of being murdered in consequence of tho death ( one of the Indian children attending school. Tho several occnl''^'""^^^''^'^^^''^ were as follows: "A boy whoso name Indians bal'^'^ Keno-teesh, bclcnging to tho Sidc-lah tribe, was ro- [\c missionar^'^'^^ '"^'^^ ^''^ mission in April, and died on tho 19th of ' the charactcf^ following August. A few days after, his brother do- James Dou"V''"''^^'^^ ^o ^^^'^ revenge for tho death of Ken-o-tocsh, res them to l>i taking the life of Daniel Loo and C'j'rus vShopard."* nil tho India4ni„cs' Jlistory of Orctfou, p. It. 8^ THE WIirT.MAN MASSACflE, _, . „ ,„ ,nati This fact rllustnitcs the Indian creed of " life for life,' j^^ .] and proves that it required no " priestly" infiueiices to -^^j^i^^ urge them on to murder, inasmuch as no Catholic "^'s .^ncl Bionaries had thfn arrived in the Willamette valley. ^^^.j Again, in 1836, Wc-lap-tu-lekt, an Indian of the Cay- tho u^e tribef went to tlic Willamette mission, where lit whii placed his two sons, desiring to have them educated. «^tat: lie had traveled with the missionaries, and desired them ^nll t to settle in his countiy, but they not acceding to his re- nma* quest, lie determined upon bringing his ftimily from oasljng of the Cascades to the Willamette mission. This ho ac- j^ complished early in Scptemb«r, 1880. Some of his chil- .. g | dren attended school, and appeared to bo making ri^pi^i^(^>jj(] progress; but in Februaiy, 18'}7, his family began to ^ ,. suffer with disease. Two of his children died in ^^^'^k .. succession, and a third was fast sinking with a burniu'^ i^,^,^, fever. We-lap-tu-lekt was frightened, and supposed that;^ . all his children would die, if he did not leave the place. <;,, lie accordingly fled in a canoe, but just as ho landed J^t- r. ,, Fort Vancouver, on his way to his mountain home, f^n |,,. f other of his children died. "These repeated deaths in ^^.j^^^ one familv," remarks Rev. Mr. Ilines, from whose histo r ,^^ " i r 1 rv of Orojron we irlean these facts, " and the fact thaii, .the most of the mission children were sick, and some hacif *s'crc died but recently, began to create a prrj<e that afterwards committed tliT ' brutal murders. Of course, the fact of children dyiiiif '^• fhoir fThe siiiiie tribe that munlored Dr. Wliitiuan.. TIIK WHITMAN MASSACRE. 9 natural deaths coukl have no weight in forming opiuious ' life for lite, jj^ ^|j^ rainds of intelligent, eivilizcd men, but, with poor influences to untutored savages, who could see no tangible cause for Catholic mis ^id^ unprecedented mortality, among their children, te valley. particularly when placed under the care of white men, \n of the Cay- the case was entirely altered, and in the terrible revenge ion, where ht which they afterwards perpetrated upon the Whitman »em educated. .'Station, they doubtless sought to avenge the deaths of 1 desired them ,:\11 their kindred and childi"€n who had perished, as thoj' din^- to his re- imagined, through the instrumentality of the whitos,dur- iiiily from oast jng long years of association. \. This ho ac- Again, in 1838, wo are told by the Rev. Dr. ]Iines that me of his chil- i. ^ fearful mortality " raged among the children that at- making rapid ^^,,^(1^3^ ^j^q Methodist mission school. About one-third tnily l^eg^» ^0 „f nil the children that had been received had died— a \ died in ,,. ,, x: i n , • io (.. .i t i- . i , , I'lnallv. we nnd that m 1>'4.>. the Indians, not onlv ot the fact thai! .V ,, , , ,, p n . /^ ' , .llie W ilhimette valley, but those of Tiastern Oreijon, and some liaoT . , ,• o^' < i ♦ i x. . •. ,r , were seriously disanucted towards the whites. Mr. 'rrjudice in tlui -^ •' , ., , llinos, treating on this sut»ieet, says: >ir children roj ' *=> ^ i j wa!^ not soca8\l •' About this timev^he Indians became quite trouble- fomo in various parts of the country. At Wailatpu, on ilio Walla Walla river, whore a missionary station had r- .Li T ileen established by Dr. Marcus Whitman, they took ad- uls ot the Inui *' ■ j 1 xi i. x^^Tfviitao-e of the Doctor's absence and broke into the house and tliat, too* '^ •i* A *uh^ the dead of night, and even into the bed-chamber of committed tli'T ^ , ., J dyina '^" "^'''tman, who. with much difticulty, escaped from Iheir hands," before the mas, 10 TIIK WHITMAN MA8SACRK. I i- Tho reader will bear in inind that this outrage upofeir -Nfrs. Whitman was perpetrated by the Cayusc Indianilctio nearly /o?/r years previous to the arrival of Bishop Blaiij coi chet, the author, and tho other Catholic missionaries :g) po: Fort Walla Walla. pon Such experience as illustrated in the foregoing cdf '' " lamities was not calculated to awaken a very warm lovf ^ ^' for American missionaries in tho breasts of savages whl^y ^ came for tho first time in contact with white men, anf^"^" found iti such union almost certain death to theif^^'®' children. '^"^' i^Cj True, all the Indian children who died throuirh tlii n in '•foarful mortality" which raged in the Willamette lui.-^ .siou school wore not of the Cayuse nation ; but thc?i^ deaths, taken in connection with tho " fearful mortality -^^ <^1 which subsequently carried otF whole tribes of Indiai^^^'^ east of tho Cascade mountains, had doubtless creato?^'^'^'^ prejudices in the minds of the Cayuse and other India^^''^* tribes which were immeasurably unfavorable to tli|^ ^^*^ American mi»sionaries. It will be borne in mind thtrr ^^ the Cayuses, allied with other tribes, threatened the dl ^^ struction of tho whites prior to 1S42. Again in th:T*^"e year they threatened to massaci'c llio whites settled is ^^^ ()regon in consequcnco of suspicions which were iiiF ''^^^ planted in the minds of the Indians that the whites df*^''* ^ signed " to destroy them and take possession of tbcf '*-''^' country." Tho arrival of a largo party of emigran'r ^^^ about this time, and the sudden departure of J)r. Whif'*^'''* man for the United States, with the avowed intention i^"'"* bringing back with him as many as he could enlist fif^'^cs Orciron, served to hasten them to the above conclusiol^'-') Thus tho Indians saw in \)v. Whitman the chief cause f^''*' bringing so many whites into their country, for the j)ii#l it pose, as they imagined, of destroying their liberties ailf' wi ■ serve their morning devotions — il M" their tonirii ^^''^ ^^ evening, while the dead bodies of the slain lav buried, the food of the fowls of heaven and the beasts the earth. One of the actors of this horrible scene ands in tne n ^^ ^ member of our church, and while he held one of 3 captives as hi« wife, tlu' sj)ort of his brutal passions, was careful to have morning and evening prayer, onviction amo ^j ^^ ^^^,^^^ ^ portion of the scripture from his book ropcHy, ana tin ^j^^,^ ^^^ printed Avbile he was in our school at CUcar by the i"fliix Ij^^j. „* ian justice to cff tor or " Medicir '^'^'"S these facts, in connection with other equally hose patient dm\ missioDury .station amon^ the Ncz Pcrcus nenr tlic wt Lapwiii, Idaho, ami umliT chiiigu of Mr. Sj>al(ru)g. )f the unstabili Ml operated npi pru.sout site oi 1 1 9 14 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. important and convincing evidenco, no impartial rair [ju,s< can be warpod into tho coiiclu.sion that the Catholic mii^^Q sionarios wore in the remotest degree, responsible for tij-jye atrocities at Dr. Whitman's mission. Aside from tl|j,,,y^ horror whieh pervades the mind of every christi;|],(j,^ when contemplating the horribk' sacritice of human W^^^^ ^ the natural current of events even, preclude the posi|^]ji^] bility of any collusion between missionaries of one faiti|>,j,|j, and Indians of another. Tlie Catiiolic missionaries h!jj^.,,(^.^ never interfered with the Cay use Indians under char^n^ of Dr. Whitman and his associates. They could havei|^,]j,,, possible influence over them, either through spiritii^,,,,,, advice or temporal friendship. Bishop Tilanchetand tii.fiy^^ other CathoHc missionaries arrived at Fort Walla "Wal^,] j^ in September, 1847, where they r'3mained until the 2^^j|(|,].ii of November, at which time the}' opened their first inj|i.,jii| sion among the Umatilla Indians (not one of whom ^\ii]\ i concerned in the murder) at a distance of twenty-tifini^ , miles from Dr. Whitman's station. At a council of t|,.ij^(; Chiefs of Indian tribes located along the baidis of tfiif, Columbia between the Dalles and Walla VV^alla, call for the purpose of ascertaining the wishes of tho sevc chiefs relative to having Catholic missionaries amo them, Bishop Blanchet had peremptorily refused t offer of some of the Cayuse Chiefs to dispossess Whitman. At a subsequent period, the writer reitera to Tilokaikt (one of the chiefs of the Cayuse nation, w had tendered the mission lands) tho refusal of t Bishop, and again rejected the offer. In order to this matter visibly at rest, the writer proceeded^., once to the camp of the young Chief (a Cayuse f dian who had been converted and who for sevc*,, years had been expecting Catholic missionaries) si^ there entered upon his missionary labors, occupyin unii its ilr 'V !fro P'- jl)cll iids lue TlIK WHITMAN MASSACnr,. 15 impartial niir|)U^c tliat luul boon oivctod C^ concerned in the massacre. The murder of Dr. jcludo tho pos^ljitmiui and his associates oeeurcd on the 2!Hh of No- ,rios of one fait;^,,i|jor, one day after tho Catholic mission was eom- missionaries h:,j^,j(.cd. It may hero he reasonably asked : Avhat evil ns under char!j|flmji^(.(x eould the Catholic missionarios — oven if so loy could havoij^-iiiicd — have exorcised over a tribe of Indians among hrough 8piritii(|,(,i,i they never resided, and whoso lodges were twcn- Blanchotand t|.fivc miles distant, to induce them to perpetrate tho ''ort Walla Walli^il imirdor of thirteen innocent peoi»le? The answer od until the 2^jar, and left n<> (loiil)ts in the minds of utii prejudiced persons, who knew the liistory of tliese eougjH'j tries, and the (Uspositions. j)reji\dices. and su])erstitioifer of the rndlans. It was evident that the ruvaujes eausiidi^ amoiiL(st them l>y the nu'a^h's and dysentery. toi:;eth\\\\ motivijie that Mrald his troops, about starting for the purpose of chastisiil th the murderers at Wailatpu, sai[)orte{l gahond who w|ifm, in (»r(Ur that he mii^lit see what means of (kd'enec the only motiv^ie aeeiised could employ. atrocity, ir.clim^ That demand was followed sometime afterwards hy the oin the suspicio#dilication of a letter from Mr. Si)alding and of hi.-^ for a loni;- tiiiilHistory (»f the Massacre at Wailatpii" in the Oregon )articular and {\%ini)'ictin. These writin«;-s, intermixed with editorial iDtes in the same sense, contain many grievious nccusa- )y religious fan;i|»ns a_i;ainst the cleruy ii"d the Catholics in general. i'fe and tli.nt of l|r. Burnett then hegan in the Orcf/itn Amcriviin an legan to ins^'uniiiswer that he intended to pursue, when the cessation of the disastci'-f the journal obliged him to suspend it. open accusatioiJ.Iinlgiij^g then that it would he to the interest of relig- liishop of Waliii that tlie [)ublic shoidd l>e informed of the truth in , cause and grclat matter, in order to destroy the huy left that country for the Willamette settlements, and nel declared th •uncludo by a summary of all th /rinci]»al charges )oken so with(||i(le against the Catholic clergy l)y Sir. Si)alding, the at '' he ought illryo/i American, and others, uj) to the month of October, the Indians." |1S, with an answer to each of them. es of the awCVu appendix has also been added wherein will be iai >, af well, often said to Dr. Whitman that he ought to lea era] Wailatpu, hecause the Indians hated him and would k n, n him. He told me himself, speaking of Dr. Whrtni od j and Mr. Spalding, that he was astonished they had sto X. so long. " Mr. Spalding would have been killed lo|t, 1 ■*3BiBriaM*ri witmu <.\ Tlir WHITMAN MASSACRE. 21 io, said he, if it had not hci'ii tor his wife, wiuj wan |ry much liked hy tiie Tndijins." It'll to the ]Mni^^ • J^'*- 5W'iik1 of Dr. Whiiety. I charge of Fo«jVI. Tn (he spring of 1*^4S, Gen. Joel Palmer, (he In- I'ing aware of tl«n Agent and Commissary (Jeneral for the troops, and s the Doctor. !» of three Commissioners a})pointod to treat for j>eace dani'-er, that tilth the Indiana, said in n\y presence at Fort vValla better ""o awii4illa, that he and the other Commissioners had found I him. After liut the Doctor's house many letters which ])roved that him every yea^n in 1S45 he was considered as being in danger. f he persisted i|\'JI. Ill treatment had been received at different L'crtainlv kill hi^es previously by Dr. Whitman, Mr. Spalding, Mr. lay and Mr. Smith, as is evident from the statements 1 Dr. McLaughlilMossrs. Touiiin, Gervais and McKa}, that are found of all the esttijthe following pages. an}' west of tl^^III. Mr. Spalding says in his writings: "The cultics which ninths of deep solicitude we had, occasioned by the in- ] was dangeroiasing menacing demands of the Indians for pay for wrote to him «ir water, their wood, their air, their lands Wo )r some time, aiire hold ourselves ready to leave the country whenever ng him that ■ Indians as a body wished it Dr. Whitman twice should persist fmg the last j ear called the Cayuses together, and *' " em if a majority Avished he would leave the coun- once Dr. Whitman held himself ready to sell latpu Station to the Catholic mission, whenever the Nez Perclnajoritj' of the Cayuses might wish it AV^hen the Nez Perci y (the Indians) returned from California two years ing the Cayu^^ >, after the death of the son of the Walla Walla chief, e ou'dit to lea eral meetings were held to consider whether Dr. Whit- m and would 1< n, myself, or some other American teacher should be of Dr. Whitm ed as a set-off for Elijah." ed they had sto X. The same Mr. Spalding said on the 31st of Au- bcen killed io|t, 1846, to Dr. Poujade, (sec his statement) : " The 11 ! SnOUlU p«.-irair.t jiiif, v nrcumstances. li ther e iournal of F(i at or •" I Wail 0'.^ I r I 3,«' 41 •)■> TIIK WHITMAN MAHSACRK. Doc I ^01 Iiidiiuis urc <^'ctting worse cvciy day for two or tlii-ji^c years ba,'' ; tlicy are threatening- to turn us out of thcjni missions. A few days ago they tore down my fencclf t and I do not know what the Missionary lioard of 'Nif^ York means to do. It is a fact wo arc doino; no e:oo|ist< when the emigration passes, the Indians all run oft'l^o trade, and return worse than when we came amon^sa them." y ^^ X. Dv Whitman had declared many times duriiit the last two years of his life that he wished to iea\i that he knew the Indians were ill disposed towards lil and that it was dangerous for him to remain among the that for a coui)lo of years ho had done nothing for teaching of the Indians, because they would not listen him. lie said in the fall of 1S47 that he woi'ld Icn certainly in the spring for the Dalles, where he had ready bought the Methodist mission He Avent so then as to ask Mr. McKay to pass tlie winler with hi for fear of th^ Indians, and seemed disposed to exchan bis place at Wailatpu for another one in the Willamet' (See Mr. McKay's statement). Mr. Sjialding declaifr''s also, in the winter of 1847, that for thico or four ycl '^^ ho had ceased to teach the Indians, as tlioy refused fc''^''^ hear him (Sec Gervais' statement). fsio XI. From a letter of Dr. White Indian Agent, wf 'or ten in 1845 to the Indian Department at Washingtoiil'i) is evident that at that time the whole colon}' was in a t|"^'^ ri bio fright, e::pocting tha^ r.11 the T>u1ia!. tril.^^ ^^^ f -^^. Walla Walla country would massacre the Aniei'icifC''' who were upon their lands, and next would conT:^ do|^" upon the Willamette settlement and destroy the avIi '^'^^^"y- . . * < 1 XII. In spite of the enthusiasm that had signalif •-' the first year of the establishment of his mission, f^''^' Spalding was complaining even as early as 1^40, thatF ^' had very little hope in the dispositions of the Nez iP''^ ces. (Sec Mr. Spalding's Letters, printed in the AmfOt't can Board of Missionaries for Foreign Missions, public tb ed in 1842.) pJ XIII. A missionary of the Spokans, wi-iting to F^<^c Whitman as early as ISS'J, said : "The failure of tjc y< mission (the Spokan) is so strongly impressed upon »'^ ^" t fak. v.. for two or tliv irn us out of the THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 28 nd that I feel it necessary to have cane in hand a id much as one shoe on, ready for a move. 1 see noth- down my fence I but the power of God that can save us," irv Board of N(P'hese facts and statements prove clearly that there p Americans in general, and that they formed a leaven >anv times duriiit had been fermenting for several years. 3 wished to leav ^/oscd towards li Emain among the CHAPTBH II. 10 nothing for t would not listen at ho woi'ld lc:i wiicrc ho \vAi\0ocu/netitary Evidence Proving the foregoing assertions II Ho went so p winter with hi ^poscd to cxchaii in the Wilhunct MR. .JOHN TOUPIN's STATEMENT, IN 1H48. • I have been seventeen years employed as interpreter Fort Walla Walla, and I left that Fort about seven Si.alding doclaifi''s ago- I was there when Mr. Parker, in 1835, came hico or^four yci *'^^^^'t P'^^^*^^ for Presbyterian missions among the .^ i.v. -KT -r. 1.- ask lands for thesf Isions. Mo employed me as interpreter in his ncgo IS tliov refused I'u^^'s and the Noz Percos, and to as! Isions. Ho employed me as interpr ndian Afcnt, wf^^ns with the Indians on that occasion. Mr. Pom- •it'Washins'-toiil "5 ^''^ gentleman then in charge of the Fort, accom- oloiiy was i^^ii a tf '^-'^ '^'"^ t.o ihe Cayuses and the Xez Forces. fliai' tviho« of I -^-I^''- Parker, in company with Mr. Pombrun, sxh. re the A moric.f '^^^^^'' ^"'^ myself, went first to tiie Cayuses would como dor" ^^^ lands called Wailatpu, that belonged to destroy the will t,hree chiefs — Splitted Lip, or Yomtipi, lied luk, or Waptachtakamal, and Tilaukaikt. Having I'lt had sionali: ^ ^''^''^^ ^t that place he told them that he was coming )f ids' niisston '^'loct a place to build a preaching house to teach them ■Iv a'^ 1^-10 that ^' ^^ \'\yQ, and to teach school to their children ; that ns of the Nez T ^vould not come himself to establish the mission, but ted in the Am cx^tor or a medicine man would come in his place; Missions publi ^ the Doctor would be the chief of the mission, and dd come in the following spring. ' I come to select 'ins writing to ^'^^'^ for a mission,' said he, ' but I do not intend to The failure^ of I ^ yo^i^ lan;.;s for nothing. After the Doctor is come. mnrcssed upon f ^ ^'^'^ coine every year a big ship, loaded with goods 24 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. to bo divided among the Indians. Those goods will lu be sold, but given to you. The missionaries will briii you plow^s and hoes, to teach you how to cultivate tl| land, and they will not sell, but give them to you,' *'Froni the Cayuses Mr. Parker went to the JSTez l\n ees, about 125 miles distant, on the lands of the Old Bifa ton, on a small creek which empties into the Clcarwal| seven or eight miles from the actual mission. And thcs ho made the same promises to the Indians as at Waiii pu. ' Next spring there Avill come a missionary to estiu lish himself here and take a piece of land; but ho \\\ not take it for nothing; you shall be paid every yea^ this is the American fashion.' "In the following year, 1836, Dr. Whitman arrivj among the Cayuses, and began to build. The Indiai did not stop him, as they expected to bo paid, as tlit said. In the summer of the next year, 1837, Splittod l'|(jy£i ivsked him where the goods which ho had ])romised I'lrces were ; whether he would pay him or w^helher he wanl|iQf)( to steal his lands. He told him if he did not want to p^ rpj: him, he had better go olf immediately, because he did i^y ^ want to give his land.s for nothing. This has boon tiaj^g, me very often by the Indians at that time. ^j^ j "In the winter of the ensuing year, 1838, as Splittr^en Lip's wife was sick, ho went to the Doctor one evuni^jg ^] and told him : 'Doctor, you have come here to give bad medicines; you come to kill us, and you steal 0| lands. You had promised to pay me every year, a you have been here already two years and have as given me nothing. You had better go away ; ifmywj dies; you shall die also.' I happened to be present the house when he spoke so, and I heard him. " I very often heard the Indians sj^eaking of new '1 tak iicultios relative to the payment for their lands, arisi|ak from year to year. They constantly told the Doctorjiyrej. pay them or else go away ; and the Doctor always jmg tJ sisted in remaining there without paying them, sayiftf Jsj that the Indians were talking lightly, and that tl§l of would do him no harm. Ho let them have ploughs, lildin those only who bad good horses to give bim. as tll§, I ( Haid. ^ ' t|d; 3 CO nd 3U W( th "-"^y-f-'iiv -h'.'t ^MP- TlIE WHITMAN MASSACRE, 25 iO goods will n larics will brii to cultivate t cm to you," jsion. And the iins as at Waili ssionavy to est laud ; but lie w paid every yea kVhitman arrivs Tho Indians often complained that the Doctoi' and s wife were very severe and hard to them, and often treated them, which occasioned frequent quarrels be- " Aj p j®^" them and the Doctor. t to the -N ez i iiu q^q jr^y i\^q Doctor had a great quarrel with the Is of the Old AjiiJians, on account of some of their horses that had o the Clcurwalfjj^r^gej i,ij^ grain, and was very ill treated by them. ey insulted him, covered him with mud, plucked out beard, pulled his cars, tried to throw his house down, pped a gun at him twice, and attempted to strike him th an axe, which he avoided by turning his iicad aside, A short time afterwards he started for the United t«s, telling the Indians that he was going to see the at chief of the Americans, and that when he would id. The I"du\|^m,Q^ l^o would britig with himself many people to be paid, as t'Hiiistise them; and the Indians had been looking to his )turn with great anxiety and fear. 837, Splitted I i-^Xr. Spalding established his mission among the Nez had promised li||i.ccs in the same year (1836) as Dr. Whitman did ,'helher he wantg|ong the Cayuses. id not want to y t^ 'pjjg foUowiug year, 1837, he decided to send Mr. because he did ifr^y ^o the United States with a band of horses to ex- hiis has been tt»nge them lor cattle. Three Indian chiefs started ime. ^ ilh Mr. Gray, viz:Ellis, the Blue Cloak and the Hat. , 1838, as Si)littrj(ion at the rendezvous their horses feet began to fail. jetor one evuni^ia then observed to his companions that thoy could 10 here to givcj^ continue their journey, their hoi'ses being unable to ind you steal ci^id the trip, and that they would die on the road. e every year, aieu he and the Blue Cloak returned back, while the s and have as m, went on with Mr. Gray, Ellis and Blue Cloak ar- away; if "ly '^^'jfid in the fall at the mission of Mr. Spalding, to be prcsenti|) got very angTy when he saw them back, and rd him. p that they deserved severe punishment. He could aking of ne\v il take Ellis, v/ho had too strong a party; but the Blue heir lands, arisij|ak, having come one evening with the others to old the Doctoi'lly'^er, Mr. Spaldinp; saw him, and commanded the In- )octor always pfts to take him ; and as no one would move, the young ing them, sayiftf Xcz Perce, or Tohwitakis, arose with anger, took y, and that tl|il of the Indian and tied him up, and then said to Mr. have ploughs, 'ilding : 'Now whip him.' Mr. Spalding answered him : give him. as tl%, I do not whip ; I stand in the place of God, I com- d; God does not whip, he commands,' ' You are a 3 II - r-i I 'i 1 ( 26 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. liar/ said tho Indian chief, ' look at your imago, (poi ing to an image banging on the wall, which Mr. Spald painted two men in it and God behind them with a b die of rods to whip them. Whip him, or if not wo ^ put you in his place and whip you.' Mr. Spalding ob ed, whipped tho Indian, and received from him the ho that he had exacted. Tho third chief, who had followed Mr. Gray on journey .to the States, was killed on tho waj-by the Si or Pawnees. When Mr. Gray returned, in the ensu year, 1838, Ellis, seeing that he was alono, and learn! that his companion had been killed, went to Mr. Sp ing, and said to him: 'Hear me; the Hat, who ace panied Mr. Gray, has been killed; if we had gone wj him wo should have boon killed too; and because returned back, refusing to follow him, you wished u bo flogged ; you then intended that we should be kil 3'gji also,' Tho Indians then met together and kept all "^ } whites who lived at tho station blockaded in their ho ^/'^ for more than a month. I was then sent three times ^'^^3 Mr. Pombrun to the Noz Perces, to induce them to ! '^" tho missionaries and their people at liberty, obsorviui ^'^"''' them that it was not the fault of Mr. GrajMf the Inc .'^^'^ chief had been killed ; and it was at my third trip c "» that I could induce them to accept tobacco in sign peace, and to retire. f '''^ " About tho year 1839, in tho fall, Mr. Smith, beltf^, J'- ing to the same society as Dr. Whitman and Mr. 8] ding, asked Ellis permission to build upon his lands' the purpose of teaching the Indians as tho other sionaries were doing, and of keeping a school, allowed him to build, but forbade him to cultivate'^ '^' ^ land, and warned him that if ho did the piece of gJ'olfii^^-? which he would till should serye to bury him in. In following spring, however, Mr. Smith prepared his j: to till the ground ; and Ellis, soing him read}'' to b went to him and said to him: 'Do you not reco what I told jou ? I do not wish you to cultivate land.' Mr. Smith, however, persisted in his deterr tion ; but as he was beginning to plow, tho Indians hold of him and said to him: ' Do you not know ^1 UK ■t tl J ans, to ( \\'0 Wli tnia ins, I h litu . i'o ""wj ,t, THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 21 ur imago licb Mr. Spald c (X)o\T ^°^" ^'^^^^ ^ *^"' ^^''^^ ^'*^^^ would bo dii^ging a holo in . ,.. „ «,!ai|i soon after 1 saw Mr. Smith myselt, at Fort AValla Lr. Spaluing ODf ,, , , . i i-^ , -^r \- . 4i.o i,n*lhM he was on his way dowu to Fort Vancouver, orabim tno nor ', i i i f 'ii c- i • i r i i v "ore ho embarked for the Sandwich Islands, trom j.'l a/t,, a.^J'idly, but that it was but reasonable on his ])art, as ent to Mr. fepil, 'i ■ • ^i • • • , i ^ . i j \t\ I ^ onr.Jhout him those missionaries could not stand, and Hat, wno accti , , , . i 'h i i • T 1 (\ rone \m ^'^^'^ been killed long since. we la fe gTwo Catholic missionaries passed by Walla AYalla in • and because g^, , . -, i ^ n :^ t- r T 'shed unr' °" their wa^' Irom Canada to i^ort v ancouver. In ' ^^^^ \ J u^ iriiiyoars 183'J and 1840, one of them. Father JJemers, o should bo kUl'' . ii- i, \\- n ^ i . 4- i l 11 .^oiifo to U alia Walla for a short tunc each year, and n* and koptallf , ^ ^ i i- i • i , , r- 11' tV oir hd'^ instructions to the Indians, whicli a great ])art oi idea in .■ „„JCayuses came to hear. Some time after, Dr. Whit- lent three timesi "^i ^, o ir i • i i * • 1 ii «. f«* ami Mr. Spaldiiiijj, bcuifi; alarmed at seeing; so many nduco them toff , ' . ,f , *= i, ,, '^^ , "^ "ans abandoning them to go and hear the priest, camo 'urt Walla Walla, and rcpi'oved Mr. Pombrun for nij allowed the in'iest to teach the Indians in hia I was near the gate of the Fovt, when the Doctor hardly dismountocl from his horse before he said, a excited, to Mr. Pombrun : ' I thought, sir, that \ M' ^1''^^*^ jiromised me that you would not allow that nan anvl ^^^- J-|;t ^l,j3 liberty of speaking to the Indians in your upon "i^^'j'^^^^yl. If that m"an has the lilierty of coming among the as tno iuns, we shall have to abandon thcin ; we shall be iin- S p" . ■ . i to do anything more among them.' m to cu ' Qjlfwo years ago, 1S4G, a Cayuse came to my house, in ,he piece 01 g IWHlamette settlement, and stopped with me over jiry hnnin.^_iKJ ^.^^^j^^ During that time he often spoke of Dr. prepaio uJtnian, complaining that he possessed the lands of tho im rea j „^lins, on which ho was raisinjr a ij-reat deal of wheat, ■vnn not rCCOB f? o > J^ , . I ^ti'li ho was selling to the Americans without giving u to cu 1 J .i,,y^[,j„^. . i^imt [j(3 i,j^(j .^ n^ill upon their lands and in his dotornf , s , "^ i • r • i • ^ i • i 4 i • IT V I had to pa}' bun for grinding their wheat — a big ,v, the inuians 1 ^,^^. ^^^^^.^^ ^^^^^^ H^ g.^i^l ^\ ^^U ^^j^^ ^^ ^^ u uot know y -^ -^ ' borty, observing Gray if the In(' my third trip obacco in signj iMr. Smith, bole t'- «:;i 11 '■: I ; 11 ' : t 28 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. but lio would not listen to them; that they had b much enlightened by the Americans; before the}' had wit, but the Americans had given them some; the}' told them that the American missionaries were steal their lands; that they were receiving great benefit fr them, and that they were living among them for purpose of enriching themselves." i (Signed) JOHN TOUPi: St. Louis of AVillamette, Sept. 2^, 1848. MR. THOMAS m'kAy's STATEMENT IN 1848. '• 1 was at' Fort Walla Walla last ftill, when the Cai t ic i 1 ai •ec re; t. ; M If ■ ive chiefs, at the request of the Bishop of Walla Walla, j^^^, there to decide whether they would give him a piec ^^ '^ land for a mission. During the meeting, Tumsakay said that Dr. Whit was a bad man ; that he robbed and poisoned tl The Bishop replied to him that • his thoughts were the Doctor did not poison them, nor rob them ; ho to banish those thoughts from his mind. You do know the Doctor,' he added, ' he is not a bad man.' " One of the chiefs told the Bishop that they w send the doctor otf very soon ; they would give hiiilj', house if he wislied. The Bishop answered tha: did not wish them to send the Doctor awa}', ana there was room enough for two missions. " The Doctor often told me that for a couple of y ho had ceased to teach the Indians because they wf '/ not listen to him. lie told me repeatedly, during| p two last years especially, that ho wislied to leave; he knew the Indians were ill-disposed towards him. it was dangerous for him to stay tliere; but th: wished all the chiefs to tell him to go away, in ordi excuse himself to the Board of Foreign Missions fall, during my stay at Fort Walla Walla, long befor meeting of the chiefs, called by the Bishop, the D< 'i^^' asked me to go and pass the winter with him, s.i that he was afraid of the Lidians. I told him I ( c h not, on account of niy business, which called me hfb .ESJ sr I E. ^t tUcy had b| bcfoi-cthey litv<' n some; they irics were steal' great benefit fil long them for OHN TOTJPi: , 1848. THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 29 that I would cxcliango my place for his if ho shed. Then ho replied lie would see my place. Ho 11 mo also several times last fall that he would leave ninly in the spring for the Dalles. I am aware, reover, that the Cayuses have a great many times ;reated Dr. Whitman." (Signed,) Thomas McKay. It. Louis of Willamette, Sept. 11, 1848. iNT IN 1848. Mr. John Baptist Gervajs' Statement in 1848. I spent last fall and last winter among the Nez Per- I arrived there at the beginning of October. But ill, when the Cam ^,g known the Nez Perces for over twenty years, it' Walla Walla, i t--- -•- .. - i-u:. ,^ ...-.: 1 . ,^ *^ ..,' ffivc him a piecl id that Dr. Whiti md poisoned tlj ng been in the habit of trading and traveling Avith n almost every year; and it was at their request I had gone to settle in their country. For many •s I had heard the Nez Perces very often speaking [y of Mv. Spalding. It appeared to me that the thoughts were l^gp^. pj^^.^ of those Indians disliked and hated him ' rob them ; '**-' lording to their reports, they were very often quarrel mind. ^ o^^ '^'^ iwith him ; they complained that Mr. Spalding waj lot a bad man. op that they av would give hiifj answered tha! ■tor away, ana Islons. I r a couple of y Dccausc they av leatedly, during ished to leave ; [a towards him, tliere; but thti :o away in ord« sign Missions. V^alla. long befoi Bishop, the D ^er with him, sn 1 told him I (I ch called me h as uick tempered. He fought with them twice, and to fire at them once. The Indians ill-treated and ted him in a great many ways. They threw down lill, pretending it was theirs. Ir. Spalding told me himself last fall that for three )ur years back he had ceased entirely to teach tho ms, because they refused to hear Ir'm." (Signed,) John Baptist Gervais. Paul of Willamette, Oct. 15, 1848. essrs. John Young's and Augustin Eaymond's vStatement in 1848. spent the winter of 1846 in Dr. Whitman's em- inent. I generally worked at the saw-mill. During jime I was there, I observed that Dr. Whitman was e habit of poisoning the wolves. I did not see him he poison in the baits for the wolves; but two 30 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE, *r yonn^ men of the house, by his orclor, were poi'soiiiwivo] jiieces of moat, and disti'ibutiiiijj thoin in the placi's wlui the wolves A.ei'o in the hiihiL of coniini^, at a shoi distance around the establishment of the JJoctor. St rf?' D) " The Doctor gave mo once some arsenic to poison til )f ] wolves that ■were around tbo saw-mill. By his order oni poisoned some jiieces of meat which I fixed at the end | w bhort sticks at about a (piavter of a mile from the s:r mill. Some Indians who happened to pass tliero. to the meat and cat it; three of them were very sick u wei\' near dyint;'. After they g-ot better, the old ch; Tilaukaikt, with a certain number of others, came to: at the saw-mill, and told me, (pointing to those who li eaten tbe poisoned meat,) that they had been very sic that if tbey had died, their bearts would have been vi bad, and they would have killed me ; but as they did die, their bearts were consoled, and thcv would not h me. Some days afterwards, the Doctor told me, lau^ j/ ing, that they would bave certainly died, if tbey liad drunk a great quantity of wai-m water, to excite v(« ^^ iting. ' I bad told tbem very often,' said be, ' not to ialif of tliat meat which wo distributed for the wolves, tlui*] q, would kill tbem : tbey will take care now, I sui:)pose.'Jj " An American, wbo was also in tbo service of Sjj Whitman, worked WMth me at tbe saw-mill. He 3 , , from me a part of tbe poison which the Doctor *''^'^' given me, and with it poisoned some other meat for purpose of killing tigers, as be said. " About eight years ago, tbo first year I came intoio c country, I stopped for about ten daj's with Mr. A. I'Ju rp mond, the companion of my journey, at Dr. Wbitmti wiio bappened to hare then a quanity of melons in garden. Mr. Gray, who was tben living with Doctor, offered lis as many melons to cat as we likl but be warned us at tbe same time not to eat them iiii criminatelj'-, as some of tbem Averc poisoned. ' Tbe dians,' said be, ' are continually stealing our melons stop tbem, we have put a little poison on tbo bigger o in order that tbo Indians wbo will eat them might l litUo sick : wo did not put on enough of it to kill tl but only enougb to make tbem a little sick.' Anil^^j'V ere on clu her lief, nsih an uce er Mil da\ THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 31 wt'1'0 v)()isoniMvcnt and soloctod liimsolf some luolons for us lo eat." the places whil (Si^nied,) John Younu. lUiT, at a sliil St. Paul of Willamette, September 12, 1S48. e Doctor. l rj<\^\n jh to certify that the ]>art of the above statement >nif' to poison t!«)f Mr. John Young reJativi' to the ])uttinii; of ])oison on By his order lonio melons at Dr. Whitmj*n's establishment is correct, ixed at the endi was with Mr. Young at that time; I heard what Mr. Ic from the s;»*ray told him : his words were directed to both of ns, pass there. to4nd I have eaten of the melons which Mr. Gray gave us re very sick ajt that time. ,cr tho old cliil (Signed) Auoustine Haymond. thers, came toi.j St. Paul of Willamette, Sept. 12, 1848. to those who ill d been very sic| Id have been v(i )ut as they didi#xfmcfs/rom a Letter wrUten on tlieAth o^ ApriL 1845, hij cy Avould not h^j J)/-. Elijah White, Suh-Tiidliui Agent, irest of the Rocky )r told mc, lau|| Mountains^ to the Indian Department at Washington. )d, if they had sr, to excite v aid he, ' not to the wolves, th 10 w, I suppose ho service of Isaw-mill. He 1 the Doctor ther meat for After speaking of some difficulties that occurred iii alifornia between the Cayuses and the Walla Wallas one part, and the Spaniards and Americans on the ler, on account of some stolen horses that the Cayuses id Walla Wallas had taken from hostile Indians by ;-hting them, Mr. "White passes on to relate a murder ere committed coolly by an American the fall previous, on the person of Elijah, the son of the Yellow^ Serpent, ar I came intolc chief of the Walla Wallas, in the following way : ^vith Mr.^ A. 1>|<> The Indians had gone to the fort of Captain Sutter church, and after service, Elijah was invited into an- ler apartment, taking with him his uncle, (Young ief, or Tawatowe, of tho Umatilla river,) a brave and isible chief, of the age of five and forty; while there, an unarmed and defenceless condition, thoy com- nced menancing him for things alleged against the er Indians of tliis upper counlry, in which none of mi had any particijiation. called them indiscriminately gs, thieves, \'C. This American then observed, 'yes- •day you were going to kill me, now you must die,* d drawing a pistol — Elijah, who had been five or six at Dr. Whitmaj of melons in living with cat as we likl to eat them in| >isoned. ' The Ing our melons Ion the bigger o them might l lot it to kill tl :lo sick.' An( 1':^ ',1 I I dv\ I I i I 32 TITE U'lIITNfA.V MASSACKE. r () !0in Q yoars at tlio Methodist mission, and had leaniod to rca^ff ■write, and spoak Eni;-lisli i-osjx'clably, said. (lolil)enUt.'l\f 'lot mo pray a littk- Hrst,' and kncolint^ down, at one coninienccd, ajid, wlu-n iuvokiiis.^ the divino mercy, Aviii'*^' shot through the hea.it or vitals, dead upon the spot, w^ •'Taking tor truth an Fudian report, thiw horrible nl^^ fair creates eonsideralde excitement, and there is sonifit danger of its disturbing the friendly relati(Mi that hit erto existed between us hero and all those formidal* tribes in the region of Walla Walla and Snake river. " Lcaring from Dr. Whitman, who resides in the midst, how much they were all excited l)y reason of tl treacherous and violent death of this educated and a(|l complishcd young chief, and, perhaps, more ospcciall by the loss they had sustained, and then, after sutferiii so many hardsliips and encountering so many danger losing the whole, I a})prehended there might bo muci difficulty in adjusting it, particularly as they lay muq stress upon the restless, disaffected scamps, late fro Willamette to California, loading them with (he vi epithets of dogs, thieves, &c., from which thoy believ or affected to believe, that the slanderous reports of oii"-' citizens caused all their loss and disastei-s, and therefoiL''^ held us responsible. lie, Ellis, the Noz Perce chief, .# « surcd me that the Cayuses, Walla Wallas. Nez Percij|i" Spokaus, Ponderoys, and. Snakes wero all on terms i^' amity, and that a portion of the aggrieved party wel"'! for raising a party of about two thousand warriors |"it those formidable tnbes, and march to California at oncj't and nobly revenge themselves on the inhabitants iP'"' capture and plunder, enrich themselves upon the spoilf' ^' whilst others not indisposed to the enterprise, wishi^l first to learn how it would be regarded here, and wdiet|'"t er we would remain neutral in the affair. A third parfT were for holding us responsible, as Elijah was killed i"- an American, and the Americans incensed the Spaniarifoii " Sir, how this affair will end is difficult to conjectuif «J the general impression is that it will lead to the m(| tli disastrous consequences to the Californians themselves,riJ<^i to the colony of the Willamette valley. My princiJ'^i fear is that it results in so much jealousy, prejudice ai'^h disaffection, as to divert their minds from the pursuit l^'^e kuov>lodge, agriculture, and the moans of civilizatiQ TllK NVlllTMAN MASSACRE. 33 I I ♦^ ,.o.,,b1ikU Ihcv liiivc boon lor such u loii-'lh of time .so huia- lud. (lohitoi'ivioiw . '^i? 1 • 1 ^1 •,! ,1 1 '^ ^^ " SliouM this ho tlio cuso with tlioso nuinorous, bravo, d forinidublo tribos, iho rosull to thoiu and to us woidd , indood. most oahiinitous. To prevent Huoh a rosulL it (b)\vn, at oiu vine nn'i-oy, v>'i thi' ^n"' Torrible al^^'^'"^^'- ♦^^'■"'•K'' KUis. a h)iii!;, cordial, and rather Hym- 1 'tl ^ro is Konir^'''^"'".^^ letter to the ohiots of those tribes, assurin«^ "i .• ^'^ \u..i Kitllien) that I slnjiild at oiioo write lo tJio Governor ot'C'al- L-lation that Intif ,,. r^.. ..,.-.. c,.,.,. , , „* ,.i.,-.,r .,... .« Mr. William Craio's Statement in lS4>s. ation that nunr^—. ■•" . . i- r I A.....^:,i..i,ll'riiia, to Captain Sutter, and to our threat chiet, respoct- liose lorniKiaiMf / i Ati^-.i • ^ i- . n V i li \ . ..:,.,^,. fli'" this matter. \\ ith a view to divert attention and '• 1 ;„ fiw.a'omote more cspceiallf • ^^''th me upon this subject, ^n, after Hutteri.il (Signed. ) Elmaii W iiitk. so' many dangerj might bo muc^ as they lay muci •scamps, late fn)i& .i^ a, , i .i with the viJ^^i^*-''^tion by lion. r. Jl. Jiurnett — State whether you ■ -h thcv bclievtff^'^ acquainted with Tom Hill, a Delaware Indian, and ,.,-.,^,?i.f« nf n3>on and where, and what statements he made to the ous rcpoits oi ow 1 I ,1 .1 /I • /. 1 r. U '• and thercfofr''' i ereos, and whether tiie Cayuses were miormed oi Perce chief, m^ statements^ and what impression he made on the lu- allas Nez Percci^"^ • ■^ all on terms |Auswor — The first acquaintance was in the llocky 'or^d iiartv Avcl'"^"tains in the year lSo7. and then in 1845, ■when he siiul Varriors 1"^^ ^^ ^^^^ -^^"^^ I'erces country, i irequently heard r^'ur^i.MU nt oii*tt he had been telling unfavorable Uiles of the Ameri- hihabitants W*^ 5 ^^*^>'^^' tliey liad treated the Jndians in his country, inion the spoil* ^''^^^^ the first were missionaries that came to him, Mitcrnrise wishS^^ th*^'^ others came in and settled, and then com- 1 here and whe»"^cd taking our lands, und finally drove us off; and A thirdparfT "^^'^" ^^^ ^^^^ same to you. This 1 had heard of Tom "i'lh Avas killed i"- ^" seeing him. I asked him what he had told the sed the Spaniarfl^'ii^*^ j '^ '^^' '''^'^ t^'^^l them so and so, as I had heard, cult to coniectuif ^'-^^^ l^^- 1*^^*^ t^^'l them how the Americans had treat- lead to the ml them in his place, and they had better not keep ians themselves,f^^<^^'"r.' there, or it would l»ethe same thing with them; ev Mv princiii"* ''^^''i^i'^i'^ted with missionaries; it is onlj^ away of [usy prejudice al'^'"g' property; there is nothing in religion, only to Irom the" pursuit f^^*^ money; 3'ou can see that ; look lunv they are sell- \n8 of civilizatir 84 TIIK WHITMAN MASSAf'RK. ^8 mission massacro on day, a ^ fore Mr. & ftom tho Cay ing evorytliiiii^ *''<^.y I'Hi-^i.' in yoiirown himls ; you cannot ., (^ucHtion - fjct aiiytliinn- from tlu'ni without ))ayinu- for it, not •'^' Aicrc took i), niucli us a i>i(.'t*.' of im-al w liun }-ou an: liuiit;;i'y. Afl<;X.j. ji.„|,j ^|,^ my interview witii llill. lie eaine once in company witll-iu^^ j^i^j j,^^^, some Ne/ Perces to Dr. Whitman's; after '■^'muinimJjjy^^^.y j^jnj there' some twelve or fifteen (hiys. he i'i'turne(l ; I unIcc ^ j\^,)y^yrei. liim how he and the Doctor i:;(»t ah^iiij;; lie toM me verv Avell ; that he was a lieap heUor man than Spaldini;- ; h had asked him into his house sometimes. After that tli l)oetor tdld me Tom had done sctme mischief with tli Indians in that place Question — Will you state what is the custom amoii:^,ij.,3j ],jp^ ^^^^ the Cayuses when a medicine man fails to cure ii pntienXitQ l\^^^ ^,.yi and the patient dies y Jat all tho cl Answer — Since 1 have heen acijiiainted with them. i:|^ij li'Jye Cro has alwaN's been their custom in such cases to kill t!i.S^[it thoy we (Question — How long* have ytju been ac''^'^'>^Sat they were poisoning tho Indians? He said yea. m1 witHow do you know it ? Jos. Lewis said so. What did bfc say ? Jos. Lewis said that Dr. Whitman and Mr. aiding had been writing for two years to their friends the East, whore Jos. Lewis lived, to send them poison of tllj tlishiiit kill off tho Cayuses and tho Nez Forces; and they v(\ \\y>md sent them some that was not good, and they wrote for more that would kill them off quick, and that the (•haiijiedicine had come this summer. Jos. Lewis said ho was le !is <»>^lng on the settee in Dr. Whitman's room, and he heard iiii^conversation between Dr. Whitman, Mrs. Whitman, that ttci Mr. Spalding, in which Mr. Spalding asked tho Doc- e bt't'oij. why he did not kill the Indians off faster ? "Oh," nnu'ii')|id the Doctor, "they are dying fast enough ; tho young n wh« ijics will die off this winter, and tho old ones next )ng Hiring." Mrs. Whitman said that our friends will bo on, ollcs ^d want to settle in this country. A talk then took )|ace between Dr. Whitman and Mr. Spalding, in which ".vlhiiiey said, how easy we will live when the iddians are all )iig ilriflled off; such an Indian has so many horses, and such Indian so many spotted horses, and our boys will ve them up, and wo will give them to our friends. of them said that man will hear us, alluding to Jos. wis. Oh, no, said another, he cannot hear, he is sleep- sound. They talked rather low, but Jos. Lewis said L( I i\ t:i caniK er th il ¥ 86 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. he could hear all that passed. This Indian messenger st^d i ted that Jos. Lewis had made thisstatement in a council||d I the Cayuses on the Saturdaj" night previous to the muifrii -der, and that Jos. Lewis said he had heard this convepnc eation between Dr. Whitman and the others on t Wednesday before the murder. Jos. Lewis, the messc ger said, told the Caynses in the council that unless th (the Indians) killed Dr. Whitman and Mr. Spaldi quick, they would all die. The messenger went on eaj'' himself, that one hundred and ninety-seven Indiai had died since the immigration commenced passing tli summer. He said that there were six buried on Mondsi morning, and among the rest his own wife; he said knew they were poisoned. Question. — Are you acquainted with the fact that tl small-pox was spread among the Blackfeot Indians cai of the Eocky Mountains ? If so, state in what year, ail how far it spread, and whether a knowledge of this fa is not familiar \vith the Cayuses and Nez Perces. i Answer. — In the year 1837, the small-pox was spro^ ■among the Blackfeet Indians by one Bcckwith, w brought the matter for that purpose. Beckwith took himself, and a clerk at one of the trading posts, F Muriah, on one branch o! the Missouri river, helped spread it among the Blackfeet Indians for the pnrp of killing them off. A knowledge of this fact is cjnim among the Nez Perces, and, I think, among tli o Cayu.si^)i (Signed,) William Craig.Ejio July 11, 1848. ^sti 'io t in ir ist I. ir le e I. V t '. G u ich N liis go he ce. m: lia, a CHAPTx:i„ III. ( REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE ADDUCED CHAPTER. IN THE FOREGOlil W OJild Every impartial and unprejudiced person, after rc"^"' ing attentively the foregoing documents, will come the conclusion that the causes, both remote and inn diate of the whole evil, must have bqcn the following i] I. The promise made by Mr. Parker to the Cayu t t at 0(1, nv i THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. n messenger sti nt in a council ious to the mu 3ard til is convei^ 5 others on t| svvis, the messci that unices thi id Mr. Spaldii iggr went on Ly-seven Indiai Lced passing till uried on Mondj vife ; he said 1 the tact that t foot Indians c n what year, a lodge of this fii 3Z Forces. 1-pox was spro 3 Bock with, w Beckwith took [iding posts, F river, helped for the pnrp 8 fact is cjmm ong tho Oayurj V^iLLiAM Craig N THE FOREGOI jrson, after re its, will come jmote and imi tho following to the Cayii Id the Ncz Porcos of paying for their lands cvtry year, d tho want of fulfillment of that promise. ulicnce camo '• the months of doej) solicitude, ooca- ncd by tho increasing and menacing demands of the iians for pay for their watei'. their wood, their air, 'ir lands," of which ^fr. Spiihling complains in his istory of the Massacre." It was not unnatural that Indians seeing they were refused tho price fixed for ir lands, should repeat their demands, und finally no iQ the threatenings. White people would not •e done much less. .1. The death of tho Ne/ I'erces' chief killed on his iv to the United States, when ho was in companv with . Gray, and in his service. The conclusion is evident from the circumstances lich preceded that death, and from the proceedings of I Ncz Forces agninst .Mr. Si):iiding, and all tho [)eoplo |his establishment on account of it, and likewise from general habit of the Indians in such cases. Besides, die council that the (^ayuses held sometime after the Bsacre, to offer to the government their pi'oposals of ice. Tilankaikl, was mentioning that death as one of lir grounds of complaint against the Americans. ill. The murder committed by an American in Cali- liia, on the ])ci'son of I'^lijah, the son of the Walhi hi chief, in 1S44. 'r. White's letter says in relation to that murder: ijie general impression is that it will lead to the most iistrous consequences to tho Californians themselves, |o tho colony of the AVillamette valley." Mr. Spald- P, siiys in his " Ifistory of the Massacre :" '• When 1^' tho Indians, retnrned back from (^difornia. two ;rs ago, after tho death of tho son of tho Walla Walla 'f several meetings were held to consider whether Whitman, myself, or some other American teacher, nld be killed^is a set-off for Elijah." And Mr. Mc- jlay assures me that in the fall of 1S44, tho Indians, a 't time after t!\eir I'oturn fVom California, met one at Fort W^alla Walla, seven hundred in number, all led, iind d<;clded to walk down immediately ujton the '•■i\' of the W^illamctto. and that they could be sto]>ped l»y the Young Chief, who. by his influence and en- 1 1 % 1 1 i .1 ] -M I 1 m :5< n^ i 38 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. treaties, decided them to abandon their undertaking" aiB^A to go homo. And in the spring of 1S47, the VVaihi VVaip^'"^ chief himself, Yellow Serpent, started with a party Walla Wallas and Cayuses for the purpose of attacki the Americans in California, whom they thought unsii picious, but having found them on their guard, and t strong to be attacked without danger, he took their pai against the Spaniiii- Is ofi'ered his services to tliem, nij fought in their r;;nk^~ On his way, coming back, lie h many of his peo,,i-' x\; ; to take their lands, finally sen' them off." Now — the year after the arril of (^iosc TiiNsionaries — Mr. Spalding thought fit to M M*. (h'liy 1»» the States for the [)urpose of bringing li tlenco f:'.ly new families of missionaries, and lun'^ made knowi, to the Indians. In IHHi) ]\[r. Smith wi.>' in I'cliirio loy stop])ed liim lie went off. In 1S42 Dr. Whitman lirtcd for the States, tellini;- the Indians tluit ho wouhl [ing back witli hitn many people to fhastise them for treating liini. I'he Indians bad been wailing for his turn with anxiety, fearing the execution of his threat. came back, however, with a few ])eople only; but in following year more came ; and next 3-ear yet more, jd more and more for evoiy following year; so that Indians could possibly su])iK)se that the Doctor on them as t)uld execute his threats and take revenge )H ashe thonght himself strong enough. Besides, they knew the Willamette valley well, and [ing so many Americans passing through their coun- 'ver}' year to go thither, it was not unnatural they juld ])ut this question to themselves: If Ihoy con- lue for many years more to come in so great a num- p. where will they settle? There is not room enough the Willamette for so many jieoplo. And the answer , .,,.,.|n Avas natural : — ThoA^ will come here and will take "»_.,, .^ij^^iir lands, as Lom IIill sajs they iiavo doi\e m the (_ S til I . to) . ,c iwl «i u +1 WITT «i>n 1 1 Ml II ri' 1 1I f lin Wi 11 n iiinf I <» o iwl \\- 1 1 1 I them that Ll.^ hem to live bett their lands, svorked for tlu even for three ,0 teach them. hoi-ses, shoep a' Ics. and as they are doing in the Willamette, and will :e us out of the country. And then that conclusion gested to them by Tom Hill found naturally its •c : that the missionaries were among them only to pare the way for other Americans, and that they had ler not keep Mr. Sjnilding nor any other American Jsi^marv amonii' themselves, hoi'ses, sneep ii* „,, ' 7. ,11 1 \ • 1+1 . iin-'i^I' ' sproa yj p]..^(^,|^f'j^j»^ jji^lj.^ijj^ jj^ corniection with the measles Uerc ge /^ .jjlnji- the Cayuses, and the imiirudent use of poison hev retused oiiw •'-,„ . -' , , , ,• , * 1 » • v • \^ J . ii ^,, uj'r. \Vhitman s estanlislniient, and his protesMon as a U iH-ice .tUey li I sician. he Cayuses and the Xe/- Perces. as stated by ^fr. ig. knew that the small-j)ox had been brought and ad among the HIackfeet Indians by Americans, and iig a great similarity betwet'ii the effects of the sles among themselves and of the small-i>ox among to siM I^la«'k'feet, the}' could be induced vei'y easily to i^-'^v ' ■ i.fi've that the Americans had brouii'ht them the same le ot ^^''"^'V'^ itoss with the intention of killing them as they had Ap's\iTth wisf ^^■'^'' ^'*'' lilackfeet. Moreover Doctor Wrdtman ,. '■ ' ''^ I K,w..iibi the habit of using i)oison to kill wolves. The In- idian^*, and bee an & ^ ill keeping thi |s unless they w the missionai| their hinds, ij ir after the arri [houiiht tit to sifi f 1 1 ii m 1 1 1 1 1 r ■• \ 1 ''^ 40 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. ill I ! i ^!t 1 dians knew it ; and three of tlioni had beeii very losino- their lives by eating- of the meat that he poisoned. The Indians knew then tliat lie had power of poisoning them whenever he wished ; with Indians, from the power to the act, there is very little distance. )\ It is certain also that the Doctor, or those about It, had poisoned melons for the purpose of making tlur dians sick. The Indians knew it, and had been long iii] plaining of it. Going farther they took occasion 1^. that circumstance for accusing the Doctor of ha " poisoned other food that he gave them to eat ; an was a general report among them that very often experienced vomitings and colics after eting the tor's aliments, and they went so I'ar as to designaCi good many among themselves who have been I;)]- sick in this manner. The Doctor was also in the l«t of trusting poison to all j^ersons in his service iifi criminately. Who then could say that he hadija trusted poison to some person unworthy of his (ii)i dence, who, without his knowledge and against his Qe might have used it against the Indians":* g ( And linally, Dr. Whitman was a |)hysiclan, and it5;i one knows the prejudice of the Indians against anyfcl,: of what they call •■ medicine nien," to whom they iiiflo the power of killing or healing as they choose, the sons they attend, and whom the\ are in the hal killing as murderei-s, when their patient dies. on VI. Lack of sincerity and faithfulness to their I), and j)i^omise. violence of character and imprudent pressions, together with an excessive seeking for. poral welfare in some of the missionaries. > \ We luive seen that they had promised to pay tlifV dians for their lands and to give them a great i^ things whieh they never gave. ^ Mr. Sj)alding, writing to the Bishoj) of Walla t|i( some days after the massacre of Wxiilat])U, said : id. object in writing ])rin('ipal!y is to give intbrn< through you to the (,'a}'uses that it is our wish tMerfec Indian V To (ir. Ci secoi pi age "Jt Ifisto •ent} thers live re, he 'Vote VI Iverc Ivith lu poiisi( lad I iwful )CI'S01 nter_> hat J you and next fall we will sec here five hundii di'agoons who will take care of you." We have sci| moreover in ^Mr. Tou])in's statement the ignomini'i treatment to which the Doctor exj^osed himself by tlij hardness and violence of character, and -Mr. Gervais to| ns what the consequences were for Mr. Spalding throuil Lis quickness of temper, As for the excessive seeking for temporal welfare, )I| Joel Palmei'. then Indian Agent, said in my presence Walla AValla. during the winter <^f 184S, that in his 0]ii| ion the application of the missionaries to get excessii :ei'y nth" n riches had been a great obstacle to the prosperity of tmfferii missions ; that it absorbed too much of their attentiwJi'ds 10, tw AV Here ell wi ^1 and excited against them the jealousy of the Indiar that his opinion was that the government ought to pi liibit them from getting more than a certain amount revenue as consiclered necessary foi' their habitual sd sistence. M Jiid Such had been — upon the Indians — the unfavoi-aB e.xei effect of the facts and circumstances which I have jiBlvant given above as the remote causes of the massacre, tllnnd a great part of the volunteei's of 1S4S, and also of iBdfJuH population of the Willamette, came to the general ciBut he elusion that the missions were pi'ejudicial to the Indiwiongi made them worse, and had better be abandoned. Wwaldin they came to this conclusion, however, they could spiKins h; of the Pi'otestant missions only, liecause they had tIB view no opportunity of knowing what the Catholic missiiHt're dc I; .lii wr THE ^VlHTiMAN MASSACRE. 48 And tlic Ii |vero, aiul \vh:il eftects tlicy ])rotliicc(i amon Flat Head missions beiiii;' so far olf that very few ^•oli'staiits knew anythiiii;- of tlieir manai>;enieiit. \'1I. The ultimate causes and the only immediate ones vere the ravages of the measles and dysentery, together ivilh the tales of Lewis. The eauses that I have enumei-atod above, must ho onsidered as so many remote and indirect ones, which ad heen [)reparing for a long time the way for the wful deed ; but as to immediate causes every sensible ei'son will lind it in the ravages of the measles and dys- itei-y, which had teri-ilied the Indians, a'ld in the tales liut ,)o. Lewis spread among them, and which agreed so erfeetiy with the long ])rejudices and suspicions of the iidians, and with the tales that had been spread before We have sot#y Tom Hill. As an evident proof of that I refer to he i>'-nomiHi*plr. Craitr's statement which we have seen above, and as limself l)y tl Ir. Gervais tu| lalding throiij )n, they sa speaking wi >wn by ever •ontidencc an any body i mprudcnt c; t Fort Wal ' much scol'li 1)1 )ed the en ice you arc ■ ops to chasti' tive hundr tn second and yet stronger proof I introduce the hm- [iiage of Mr. Spalding himself ''It was most distivssing," says ]\Ir. Spaulding in his History,' " to go into a lodge of some ten tires and count ral welfare, ^I'l^v en ty or twenty-tive, some in the midst of measles^, ny presence mhers in the last stage of dysentery, in the midst of hat in his ojii^'cry kind of filth of itself sufficient to cause sickness, ) get excessii Dsperity of tBifforings, with perhaps one well person to look after the their attentiwants of two sick ones. They were dying every day, )f the IndiaiijBio, two, and sometimes five in a day, wiMi the dysen- ()Us brought poison to the lower country with view to destroy all the Indians. Vast multitudes M'e destroyed, as their old men very well recollect — 11 le unfavoi-alj ch 1 have massacre, tl :vn(l also of I \e general c( to the Indiiij ndoned. Wl ley could s])i| they had tlj ithoiic missiiJ Pi m mm 44 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. ' t;ii. 'Ml referriii«i;, doubtless, to small-pox u!i(l measles, wliid 4 raided througliout the Territory some thirty-live or fbi"t\ years ago.* He. i)eiii<>; a small child, was reserved hyi the Americans, taken to the States, where he had growii 'ourn up, ever mindful of his native country, and anxious t return to his own people. He told the Indians that li took pai'ticular notice of the letters of Dr. Whitman an myself from this country ; told them that some of the letters spoke of this vast country as every way desirab for settlement — its healthy climate, its rich soil, tl bands of horses, &e. Some of these letters called tl poisons by which we could sweej) off the Indians an make way for the Americans. In accordance wdth tli request, he said, several bottles of poison had bco., brought over by the last emigration which had causo| many deaths antong the immigrants, and was the caii>^ of the sore sickness and frequent deaths among the dians, and would soon kill them all if the Doctor ati Mrs. Whitman and myself were not removed. This received from Stikas in his lodge twenty-four hours af'tt the butchery had taken place. It seems that immoii ately on my arrival Lewis set himself to excite the I dians to do the dreadful deed. He told them that overheard Dr. Whitman and myself consulting at niij,' as to the most eifectual way to kill off the Indians " Such statements," Mr. Spalding continues, " folio ing like statements which have been sounding in tl ears of the Indians for years, and made with so miui aj^parent solicitude for them, and at the time of gro excitement among the Indians on account of the measKj bad doubtless much to do in bringijig about the bloot tragedy." And for my part I do not hesitate to afllii that any sensible and unprejudiced person will conclii that there, and there ordv. lies the immediate cause the murders, and that such were the true and oidy it tives that induced the Indians to |)ei'peti*ate the hori-i' crime. All efforts to prove the conti'ary would ])r< nothing but the injustice and Idind prejudice of tli authors. *It was in the year 1830 that entire village.i wove swept away by s ness. ■ Cln Wil It W! slioj icre clu iij)ei'i lad tl Ort, i the • th( go t (■' Y( tlicul com- On t T)in t tduite he yy w lAll i; e CO tlie_\ uinii e att lief's itliol ts ai id \)Y( at he S ])0\\ d sa Tsecu s '■A piet I THE >V HITMAN MASSACRE. 45 rit'ii Hoil, til ters called to^ 3 liidiuns an aneo with tlii son liad Ixh limonc^ the ho Doettr ati| aovcd. This; bur hours af't^ -■i that immodl excite the I^ I them that CHAPTER IV. 'oiirmd of the Principal Ecimts that occurred in the Walla Walla Countnj^fiom the arrival of the Bishop and his Clergy until the moment they left that Country for the Willa m ct te Settlem ents . L'asles. whici j ^'-tive or tbvl\ j i reserved li) i he had growM id anxious tv dians that li ' Whitman an some of tlu'v way '^^^^ii^'^'f fit was on tlic r)th of .September, 1 847, t hat the llii^dit Rev. isliop A. M7 A. Blanciiet arrived at Fort Walla Walla, here he was cordially received by Mr. McBean, Clerk change of the Fort. He was accompanied by the iiperior of the Oblats and two otlicr clergymen. He ad the intention of remaining but a few daj's at the 3h had causes,, ,.(; for i,e knew that Towatowe, (or Young Chief,) one was the cau>J{' i\^q Cayuse chiefs, had a house which he luid destined r the use of the Catholic missionaries, and he intended go and occupy it without delay; but the absence of Young Chief, who was hunting buffalo, created a tticulty in regard to the occupation of the house, and consequence he had to wait longer than he wislied. On the 2od of .Se])tember, Dr. Whitman, on his Avay om the Dalles, stopped at Fort Walla Walla. His ulting at HigBunitenance bore sufficient testimony of the agitation of Indians." Ss heart. He soon showed by his words that he was mues, " follomi^.ply wounded by the arrival of the Bishop. " J know ounding in tM>,.y well," said he. •• fo)' what ])urpose you have come." with 80 miw^Y'll jv^ known," replied the Bishop, "I come to labor for time of gvp»ie conversion of the Inlians, and even of Anioricans, of the ir.easltB [\^^^y .^^.y willing to listen to me." The Doctor then out the blon(B„,fi,,m>(i j^ the same tone to speak of many things, sitate to affiiWc attributed the coming of the Bishop to the Young n will concluB,i,^>f' jij Influence — made a fiu'ious charge against the ediate cause ■uholics, accusing them of having persecuted Protcst- e and only i^Mts and of even having shed their Idood wherever they ite the horril^d prevailed. He said he did not like Catholics at he should oppose the missionaries to the extent of •y WOuhl \)V' ejudice of tld swell t away by si |s]>ower. . . . He spoke against the Catholic Ladder * id said that he would cover it with blood, to show^ the ^rsecution of Protestants by Catholics. He refused to f'A picture explaining the principal points of Catholic faith. m i 4- ii 40 TIIK WHITMAN MASSACRE. II eat ice On j^iiUt, laiis. Holl provisions to tlu' Hisliop, and |)rotoste(l tliat lie woiil: not assist tiic iiiissionai'ics nnli'ss lie saw tlicni in stai'va tion. Al'ti'i* such a niaiiiPestation of scntinu-nt toward- Catholics in i;-eneral and priests in particnlar, the Hish()| \vas not astonisliod at iieai'in^ some hours after that l)i Whitman on leaving the Fort went to tho lo(l mcnins of re-uniting the Cayuses, who had been heret fore divided, and in order to facilitate theii' I'eligious i Btruction, ho suggested tho idea of establishing tho nii^ sion near Dr. AVhitman's, at the Cam]) of Tilokaikt, saj ing that there was more land there than near his hou> and that it was more central; that, by his wife, he h; a right to tho land of Tilokaikt, and that ho was di: posed to give it to the mission, if Tilokaikt was willing lonii lOSO Ton likt J 5k ing ask je coil lould lould |oukl 1 'd ai lied ti id no 1"])0S( '0. an <'ee |!tt in |c pric Iv )Ul(l like p b i'oi' in, h( lit he r in b iidren [ired, it he lief, a no pe ■ision. >n th a that ho would go and live there himself with his your] men, if the mission could be established there; but tiiM'''' ^'"■" •w* THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 47 h;it he woul: in ill shvi'va ij|) case this could not be clone, his house was at the sei*- co of the pi'ieKt at any time he pleased. On the 2lHh of October the Bishop, a<.jrecab]y to the oi'ds of the Young Chief, informed Tilokaikt that he -islied to see him; and, on the 4tii of November, Tilo- rter that j)i Sjiji^t^ Camaspeio, and Tomsakaj. with jnany other In- lodu-c of 1 10 JjiDs. were at the Fort. The meetin<;j took place atlcr hud spoken ;> jjipper : it was done publicly and in the presence of Mr. liomas McKay and all the persoriH at the Fort who lose to witness it. Toinsakay spoke first, Caraaspelo next, and then Tilo- ilkt taking the floor, put man}' questions to the Bishop: king him Avhether it was the Pojk* who hnd ficnt him ask for land for the mission — how the priests lived in e country — who maintained them — whether the priests lonld make presents to the Indians — whether they lould cause their land co be ploughed — whether they )uld aid them in building houses — whether they would d and clotiie their children, e^c. kc. The Bishop re- iod that it was the Pope who had sent himj that he (1 not sent him to take their land, hut only for the rposc of saving their souls ; that liowever, Laving to e. and possessinu' no wealth, he had asked of them a 'ce of land that he could cultivate for his support; iit i'. his country it was the Faithful who maintained e priests, but that here he did not ask so much, but iy a piece of land, and that the priests themselves uld do the rest. lie told tlu (vi that he would not ke presents to Indians, that he would give them noth- i; for the land he asked ; that in case they worked for n, he would pay them for their work and no more; It he would assist them neither in ploughing their lands • in building houses, nor would he feed or clothe their Idren, &c. The Bishop then closed, the young men ircd, and Tilokaikt concluded the meeting by saying t he would not go against the words of the Young _ief, and requested the Bishop to send immediately 4 wife, he 'jmio person to visit his land and select a place for a at he was (ua^i^iQ^ * ct was williii:;*)^ ^jj^, gj.|, of November I went by order of the Bishop nth his yoiiiM ^ 1 oro • but tlrM'"" ^"'''''<^'' particular.? of the meeting, see Mr. Thomas McKay's state- nt towai r, the BislK ad wished t him, in onK'. Cay uses, 1> labled to ex lind with t!i at Fort Wall. Muber the T)i is ])r()fessioiui L'Ktiy ; he ayii erview, but i of the cleru'i came to tl disposed to n; telling hii:^ e nation, anj OS of his SO! nnderstandiu. mission. Tl; a priest wii I that l\econl| ited ; but as been heret', I'cligious i:j shing the nii| Tilokaikt, sa| his hou^ u »oar \ \ .1 < 1 ■• ' 48 TIIK WIIIT>rA;«f MASSACRF. cad ivet ulu le i to Wailatpu to look at the land vvhifli TiloUaikt had of" tcrcd ; but he had chaiii^cd his mind and roftised to shov 't to mc, sayinn the 2(»th, announcing that llr^ house was in a eond to be occupied, it was imiii diately decided that .Iiould <^o and lake our lodgin in it the ne.xt day. The same di.y we received, at ll Fort, a visit from Mr. Spaldini^. the Presbyterian missioi ary of the Nez Perces, whom we acquainted, during tl conversation, with our intention of leaving the next da for our mission on the IJmatili'.i river. The next day, November 27th, we took our leave Mr. McHean and his family to go to the Umatilla, wlu:^ wo (the IJishop, his Secretary ami myself) arrivJ towards evening. IJev. .Mi*. Rousseau remaitied beliiij with the wagons and baggage, and did not arrive uin some days after lent |cmb( Dm •a I t |l)pos( all Sat 1 lowing is the substance of a letter which I iw-.i o Ccd. (iilliam, c(,ntaining a relation of ll The foll< dressed to , _, events which immediately followed our arrival Fort Walla Walla, :>rarch 2, 1848. CoL. Gilliam : — Dear Sir: — I have the honor to reply to the i-eqii which you have been ]deasec instruction of tho various tribes of Indians in this ,* , ,' 1 ' )art of Orof^on. Some were located north of tho Coluni- l dechireu I ; '^ 1 riloUaiict. id on tho 111 >|)uir tho hous neing that tl it was iiniii ko our lodsj;in PC |n a huntint^ exj)cdition, from which ho did not return ill late in the fall, ni\d for that reason tho eommonco- lent of our mission was retarded until tho 27th of No- Icmher. During our stay at tho Fort wo saw Dr. Whitman sev- iir the next ila' ^k our leave Tmatilla, wlu nyself) arrivii einained hoh" ot arrive uuii ir id when tho care of tho Cayusc mission Avas given to c by tho Bishop, I indulged tho hope of being able to upon good terms with the Doctor. The day before our departure from tho Fort for tho matilla, wo dined with Mr. Spalding and Mr. Rodgers, id 1 assure you that it w^as a satisfaction to mo to mako e accpiaintanco of those gontlomen. I then indulged c hope mere strongly than over of living in peace with em all, which was in ])crfect accordance with my natu- 1 feelings; for those who are acquainted with me know 1 • 1 T 'M^^ ^ have nothing more j\t heart than to live in peace or which i 'rntii all men, and that, exempt from prejudices, I am alation ot "Ugposed to look with an equal eye upon the members of religious denominations, to do all I can for the good all without regard to tho name by which they may called. On Saturday, November 27th, I left tho Fort in com- ny with tho Bishop and his Secretary for our mission the Umatilla, twenty-five miles from Dr. Whitman's. oblige youB^, j^^^j scarcely arrived in the evening, when, on going s relative to IB ggQ j^ gjj^j^ p^jj.QQj^ J ](jj^P„(jj l\^r^i j)j. Whitman and re rival : — larch 2, 184S. to the roqu^ lately. It 847, which IkI jsiouarios, at ll Spalding w^ore en route for my mission, Dr. Whitman Ivinii been called to attend to the sick I M p" ■m 50 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. The next day, being Sunday, we were visited by Dr Whitman, who remained but u few minutes at the house, and appeared to be much agitated. Being invited to dine, he refused, saying that he feared it would be too late, as he had twenty-five miles to go, and wished U reach homo before night. On parting he entreated nit not to fail to visit him when I would pass by his mis sion, which 1 very cordially promised to do. On Monday, 29th, Mr. Spalding took supper with u? and appeared quite gay. During the conversation lit happened to say that the Doctor was unquiet, that tlu Indians were displeased with liini on account of the sick ness, and that even he had been informed that the mw- f/ercr (an Indian) intended to kill him; but he seeniei; not to believe this, and suspected as little as we did wlia was taking place at the mission of the Doctor. Before leaving Fort Walla Walla it had been decidct^ that after visiting the sick people of my mission on tbf Umatilla, I should go and visit those of Tilokaikt's camj for the purpose of baptising the infants and such dyin; adults as might desire this favor; and the Doctor an^ Mr. Spalding having informed me that there were stii many sick persons at their missions, I was confirms in this resolution, and made preparations to go as soo: as possible. After having finished baptising the infants and dyiii,| adults of my mission, I left on Tuesday, the 30th of ^Y' vember, late in the afternoon, for Tilokaikt's cani| where 1 arrived between seven and eight o'clock in tl. evening. It is impossible to conceive my surprise uii consternation when, upon my arrival, I learned that tl; Indians the day before had massacred the Doctor ail his wife, with the greater part of the Americans at tl mission. I passed the night without scarcely closing iii eyes. Early the next morning I baptised three sit children, two of whom died soon after, and then hastt: ed to the scene of death to offer to the widows an orphans all the assistance in my power. I found five six women and over thirty children in a condition plorable beyond description. Some had just lost the husbands, and the others their fathers, whom the}' h seen massacred before their eyes, and were expect! 1 ev( ' th( f tlu : WU ' int( i dan I ed ] f unb Uhe |lndi I a Ion J and tims a si lierc !of tl thoi nan thei o'/Au h liroe oct( nns cl ve- il tod aiis Tlu <\!i:(.'t <». L( r. W coiil li.s a( I'sat »al{|i II y L( )HSCSl 11 th m'no- THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 51 sited by Dr at the house, ig invited to ,vould be toi id wished U 311 treated nit i by his mis 0. ppcr with uj nvevsation lit [uiet, that Ih •tlie service of Dr. Whitman, and had been spared by the I Indians, was engai^cd in washiui^ the corpses, but being |ulone he was unable to bury them. I resolved to go land assist him, so as to render to those unfortunate vic- cvery moment to share the same fate. Tlie sight of those persons caused me to shed tears, which, however, 1 was obliged to conceal, for 1 was the greater part of the day in tlie presence of the murderers, and closely , watched by them, and if I had shown too marked an ■ interest in behalf of the sufferers, it would only Ijave en- dangered their lives and mine ; these therefore entreat- ^ ed me to be upon my guard. After the tirst lew words Uiuit could be exchan- - -- ^ ' . . . . that the mw ut ho seemei as we did wha ^'^^^'' , . , itims the last service in my power to offer them. What *?!!!!> nth' r ^'^^'^ "^'^^ ^ ^^'^^ behold! Ten dead bodies lying |liere and there, covered with blood and bearing the marks |of the most atrocious cruelty, — some pierced with balls, thcrs more or less gashed by the hatchet. Dr. Whit- nan had received three gashes on the face. Three thers had their skulls crmsluHl so that their brains were ozinuj out. It was on the 21Hh of Xovcmber, between tvv-o and iree o'clock in the afternoon, while all the jieoplo at the octor's house were busy, that the Indians witii their rins concealed beneath their blankets, introduced them- elves successively : ito the yard, and in an instant exe- uted their horrib' ? biitchei-y. Three or four men (Amer- ans) only were ;ible to escape. , . an '^^'^^^ ravages which sickness had made in their midst, 'tlM*^f^*'^''^*' ^^'^'^ ^^^^ conviction which a half-breed, named JM"- I^ewis, had succeeded in fixiny; upon their minds that 'r. Whitman had poisoned them, were the onl}' motives could discover which could have prompted them to us act of murder. This half breed had imaii-ined a con- mission ilokaikt's canv, nd such dyini ho Doctor an ,hero were stii was confirniO' to go as soo: fants and dyiii| ,hc 30th of ^^ okaikt's canii| o'clock in tl. ly surprise uii' learned that tl] le means [cely closing ised tliree sit; Ind then hastoii |ho widows ar 1 found five la condition u; ' isation between Dr Whitman, his wite, and Mr. jpalding in which he made them say that it Avas neces- ret )t the • *t 1 t tluw"^ ^^^ hasten the death of the Indians in order to get just OS , Hossession of their horses and lands. ' If you do not ,vhom tiiej «.j[ the Doctor,' said he, 'you will all bo dead in the .vere expectnfl ^.j^^^,. , ^ it o 52 •rUE WHITMAN MASSACRE. I assure you, Sir, that during the time I was occupied in burying the victims of this disastor, 1 was fur from feeling safe, being obliged to go here and there gathering up the dead bodies, in the midst of assassins, whone hands were still stained with blood, and who by their manners, their countenances, and the arms which they still car- ried, sufficiently announced that their thirst for blood wes yet unsatiated. Assuming as composed a manner as possible, I cast more than ouo glance behind at the knives, pistols, and guns, in order to assure myself whether there were not some of them directed towards me. The bodies were all deposited in a common grave, wlii:;h had been dug the day ))revious by Joseph Stnti- field; and before leaving 1 saw that they were covered with earth. But 1 have since learned that the grave not having been soou enough enclosed, had been mo- lested by the wolves, and that some of the corpses ha! been devoured by them. " Having buried the dead, I hastened to prepare for my return to my mission, in order to acquaint Mr Spalding with the danger which threatened him; becausi on MoiKhiy evening, when he supped with us, he hai said that it was his intention to return to Dr. Whitman- on the following Wednesday or Thurstlay ; and I wishcii to meet him in time to ^-ive hin\ a cliance to escape This I repeated several times to the unfortunate widoW' of the slain, and expressed to them my desii'c of beiii, able to save Mr. Spalding. Before leaving the womoi and children I spoke to the son ofTilokaikt, whoseemo'; to be acting in tlie place of his father, asking him t : promise me that they should not be molested, and tliii: he would take care of them. 'Say to them,' said lu' ' that they need fear nothing, they shall be taken car of, anil well treated. I then left them, after saying wli:i; I could to encourage them, although I was not mysol: entirely exemj)t from fear upon their account. " On leaving the Doctor's house, I perceived that tii; son of Tilokaikt followed mo in company with my intir preter, who himself was an Indian, his friend and hi relative by his wife. I did not think that ho had the In tention of coming far with us ; I believed that he wa mer for whe goin Spa! Ame any i 1 sav ■ becai ; have fausc ■ : tlien natelj - jn-ete* l)ai'ed Jing it, 'pistolj Apcor Inadec ing Av in's pi; 'cngag( towan I by the Ithe I) Inows/ f Who fJiad ic Itlion is cnt,' AV fspokei ail in )Og(rod vould »nd die lofbre iscoA'e t'ast ni I'ohuhl 'ter Ik akc if >^.i i \\ '^'i THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 53 occupied fur from giithoring u)HC hands • manners, still car- for blood a manner iud at the ire my sell •id towards lion grave, iscph St;nv re covered , the griivo I been mo- iorpses lui'! prepare for L-quaint Mr im ; becaiii^v 1 uM, be bail . Whitman'^ Lud I wisbo'i to escape I Kile widow- re of beiii^ the womoi whoseemoi. Icing him l d,\ind tha in,' said 1^' talcen ciu' saying whii not my sol t. ved that tli th my into! end and ii had the In that be ^v mcrcl}^ coming to the river to point out some new place for crossing, and that be would afterwards return. But when, after having crossed the river, be still continued going on with us, I began strongly to fear for Mr. Spalding. I knew that the Indians were angry with all Americans, and more enraged against Mr. .Spalding than any other. But what could I do in such a circumstance? 1 saw no remedy; I could not tell the Indian to go back, because he would have suspected something, and it would ': have been worse ; I could not start ahead of him, bo- causo he had a much better horse than mine : I resolved then to leave all in the bands of Providence. Fortu- nately, a few miinites after crossing the river the inter- preter asked Tilokaikt's son for a smoke. The}" pre- l)arcd the calumet, but when the moment came for ligbt- iiiii; it, there was nothing to make fire. 'You have a pistol,' said the interpreter, 'fire it and we will light.' Accordingly, wit^'>ut stopping, be fired his pistol, re- 1 loaded it and fire it again. Ito then commenced smok- '■|ing Avith the interpreter without thinking of reloading Ibis pistol. A few minutc-^ after, whih' they were thus I engaged in smoking, I saw Mr. SpaldiuL come galloping Itowards mo. In a moment be was at my side, taking me fby the band, and asking for news. ' Have you been to |tlie Doctor's?' he inquired. ' Yes,' I replied. ' What iiiews,' ' Sad news?' ' Is any person dead?' 'Yes, Sir.' l' Who is dead, is it one of the Doctor's children?' (He Ibad left two of them verj- sick.) ' No,' I replied. ' Who ftben is dead?' I hesitated to tell hi in ■ Wait a mo- tinent,' said I, ' I cannot tell you now.' While Mr, Spald- ing was asking me those different questions, I had iHiioken to my interpreter, telling him to entreat the Tn- liaii in my name, not to kill Mr. Spalding, which I begged of him as a special favor, and hoped that he |\vouhl not refuse it to me. 1 was wating for his answer, imd did not wish to relate the disaster to Mr. Spalding et'ore getting it, for fear that bo might by bis manner isoover to tlie Indian Avbat I had told him; for the least motion like fliiibt would have cost him his life and )r() U'ter hably expos ed mme also. he son of Tilokaikt, hesitating some moments, re])lied that he could not uko it upon himself to save Mr. Spalding, but that ho ■i'' 54 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. ■5 '110 would go back and consult the other Indians ; and so he started back immediately to his camp. I then availed myself of his absence to satisfy the anxiety of Mr. Spald- ing. I related to him what had passed. ' The Doe^^or is dead/ said I, ' the Indians have killed him, together with bis wife and eight other Americans, on Monday last, the 21)th, and I have buried them before leaving to-da}'.' ' The Indians have killed the Doctor !' cried Mr. Spald- ing; . . . •. they will kill me also, if I go to the camp I ' I fear it very much,' said I. ' What then shall I do?' ' I know not ; I have told you what has happened, decide now for yourself what you had best do ; 1 have no ad- vice to give you in regard to that.' ' Why has that In- dian started back?' he inquired, ' I begged him to spare your life,' said I, ' and he answered me tliat he 3ould not take it upon himself to do so, but that he would go and take the advice of the other Indians about it ; that is the reason why he started back. Mr. Spalding seemed frightened and discouraged. ' Is it possible I Is it pos- sible !' he repeated sevjral times; 'they will certainly kill me; and he was unable to come to any decision, But what could have prompted the Indians to this ?' he incpiired. ' I know not,' said I, ' but be quick to take a decision, you have no time to lose. If the Indians should (ttrk wli resolve not to spare your life, they will be here very 4»rii()iiii soon, as we arc only about three miles from their cam]).'l^rse wa ' But where shall I go?" ' I know not, you know tlu a|fiill gp country better than I; all that I know is that thotaidhim Indians say the order to kill Americans has been soiiilqjdian n loach ec pisto }1 retui suspicious to tiiewo of ]y |ii rivcj liad c .fter hldinui him with all my heart a happy escape, and promising pray for him. In quitting him I was so much territioJ at the thouii'ht of the damper with which he was threatl |ongst cned. that I trembled In everv limb, and could scarco!M|il(i lllie B THE WHITiMAN MASSACRE. 55 ind so iic 1 availed ,Ir. Spald- Doe^or is thev with y- last, the if to-daj'.' %old myself upon my horse. I left him with my inter- |)roter, to whom he a ,1 i 56 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. for having made mo instrumental in saving the life of a fellow-creature at the peril of my own. Some days after an express reached us from the Fort. informing us that our lives were in danger from a por- tion ot lL-^ Indians who could not pardon mo for having deprived them of their victim; and this was the oiilv reason which prevented mo from fulfilling |tho promif? which I had made to the widows and orphans of return ing to see them, and obliged me to be contented witli sending my interpreter. You are acquainted, Sir, with the events which fol lowed, — the murder of two sick men, who were brutallv torn from their beds and their throats, cut ; the murdi of the young x\merican when returning from the mill the good fortune of the other Americans at the mil who owed their escape to a single Indian, (Tintinmitsi while the others wished to kill them; the violation o three young girls; the letter of Mr. Spalding, which oi casionod the assomblinc: of the chief's at the Catholi mission, and their asking for peace ; the| arrival of M' Ogdcn and the deliveay of the captives. Such are, Sir, the fitcts and circumstances relative i this deplorable event, the relation of which I thoui;!; would be of a nature to interest j^ou. I am pleased wit^ the confidence you have shown me by asking this relatif at my hands, and thank you sincerely for the same, thank you more especially for the opportunity y have giv^n me of presenting to you a full and candid e: position of my conduct and intentions in thocircni: stances so dangerous and no delicate in which I aed dentally found myself involved. With sentiments of the highest consideration and spect, I have the honor to bo, Sir, Your most ob't humble ser't, J, B. A. Brouillkt, Priest, Vicar-General of Walla Walla. I'Ctorl II 10 J JU'ICStf icveri Tliis h^ugh I arrived at the mission on Thursday morning, 2dl Wo Iiati 1(1 had |arri»ral \ii i II THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 57 J")ocembci*, and announced to the inmates the frightful |idiiigs wiiicb were 3'ot unknown to them. ■? On the ild tlio Bishop called for the Young Chief and lis brotiier, Fis'o Crows, in order to express to tlieni ow deeply he had been pained by the news of the hor- nji ,.-,....5 |.j^j1^j affair at Wailatpu, and to recommend to their caro as the oiu\ |j^^ ^viclows and orphans, as well as the men, who had be promisi 1 ,j,.^,iyed the massacre. They protested they gave no is of return- lQ,^gent to what had happened at Wailatpu, and prom- scd to do all in their power for the survivors. Some days after we learned that a young man, who ad been engaged working at a saw-mill some twenty ,iiles from the establishment of the Doctor, with some ither Americans, had been killed on his return from the ill to the Doctor's, and that the Indians intended to ill the others. On the lOtli we received the ])ainful intelligence that wo other 3'oung men, who, being sick, had been spared y the Indians at the time of the first massacre, had iico been torn from their bed and cruelly butchered. ^e learned at the same time that the other men be- tifing to the mill had been spared and brought to the oetor's for the purpose of taking care of the women ul children. On the 11th of December we had the affliction to ;ur that one of the captives had been carried off from e Doctor's house by the order of Five Crows, and ■ought to him; and we learned that two others had ion viohited at the Doctor's house. On the IGtb two Nez Perce chiefs (Inimilpip and Tip- lanahkeikt) brought us the following letter* from Mr. uldinu' : — ic life of a n the Fort, roni a poi- for bavins; tented witli s wbieb fol ;ere brutalli^ the mnrdoi om the mill at the mil! Tintinmitsi. ) violation ( ng, which oe- the Catboli u-rival of ^^'■ ea relative t ich I thout^l; ,1 pleased wit igtbisrelati the same portunity y ,nd candid e n thecircni^ kvhich I ftci Lration and lia Walla- Imorning, Clear Water, Dee. 10th, ^.847. the Bishop of Walla Walla or either of the Catholic ||)ri(!Sts : piuverend and dear friend, — rfhis hasty note may inform you that I am yet ilivo If'ough the astonishing mercy of God. The hand of Wo had reason to be astonished at that confidence oi those Indians, aa jiad !iad as yet no opportunity of seeing any one of the Nez Torces since i. ijljarrival in the country. ■I 58 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. \i:t : ■' *i tho merciful God brouglit mo to my family after si days and nights from the time my dear fricndf i'w nished mo with provisions, and I escaped from the In, dians. My daugiiter is yet a captive, I fear, but in tl bands of our merciful heavenly father. Two Indiam have gone for her. My object in writing is principal to give information through you to the Cay uses that it our wish to have peace; that we do not wish the Amci icans to (fomo from below to avenge the wrong; we lio[j tho Cayiises and the Americans will be on friendij terms; t!iat Americans will no more come in tho countr}' iiiiless they wish it. As soon as these men r turn, I iiope, if alive, to send them to tiie Grovernor prevent Americans from coming up to molest the Cii uses for what is done. I know that 3'ou will do all your power for tho reliet of the captives, women a children, at Wailatpu ; you will spare no pains to ;i pease and quiet the Indians. There arc five America here, my wife and three children, one young worn and two Frenchmen. We cannot leave the count without help. Our help under God is in your han| and in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company. ( help come from that source? Ask their advice and me know. I am certain that if the Americans alio attempt to come it would bo likely to prove tho ruin us all in this upper country, and would involve t country in war: God grant that th.'y may not attoii| it. At this moment I have obtained permission of Indians to write more, but I have but a mom Please send this or copy to Governor Abernethy. Nez Forces held a meeting yesterday; they plod!| themselves to protect us from tho Ca_yuses if they woj prevent tiie Americans from coming up to avenge TEurders. This we have pledged to do, and for this beg for the sake of our lives at this place and at Walker's. B}^ all means keep quiet and send no reports, send nothing but proposals for peace They they have buried the death of the Walla Walla cli son, killed in California. They wish us to bur}-^ oflfence. I hope to write soon to Gov. Abernethy, b yet tho Indians are not willing, but are willing tli ■fMy dear friend, because he was yet in tho hole, as the Indians sat ate In itman, ty. T m all t travel waj' o day I OS as 11 1, andf F urns, ul n th< bl( odd 10 tl intol foi can ir; icul, Igoue bj extei ml send mil olj THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 69 ly after su^ tViciult fii'i i'om tlio In, r, but in tli Two lndiaii| s principal uses that ili iould send those hints through you. 1 hope you will id by all means and with all speed, to keep quiet in le Willamette. Could Mr. Grant come this way, it >uld bo a great favor to us and do good to the Indians. Il just learn that these Indians wish us to remain in country as hostages of peace. They wish the com- Imication for Americans to be kept open. Wo are lling to remain so if peace can bo secured. It does sh the AmcMj; seem safe for us to attempt to leave the country in 3ng; we hof*- way at present. May the God of heaven protect ui on friendl^l finally bring peace. These two men go to make CO, and when they return, if successful with the ome in tho hese men v, Governor lest the Cai will do all 1, women a ) pains to m .vo Am eric 11 ,'oung woma, } the counli in your liani lompany. ^' advice and ericans «ho ,ve tho ruin d involve t| y not atto •mission ot ut a moin(( jernethy. they plod s if they wol to avenge nd for this U'c and at d se.ul no leacc They a Walla oh IS to bury lyuses, they will go to the Willamette. We have rned that one man escaped to Walla Walla, crossed r the river, and went below. Ho would naturally pose that all were killed. Besides myself, another ite man escaped wounded and ioached my place three s before I did. jatc Indian reports say thot no women except Mrs. [litman, or children, were killed, but all are in cap- ity. These people, if the Cajuses consent, will bring Im all to this place. traveled onl}^ night?" ar.d hid myself days, most of way on foot, as my hoi'se escaped from me ; suffered days from hunger and cold and sore feet; bad no cp, as I threw my boots away, not being able to wear n, and also left blankets. God in mercy brought me e. From the white man who escaped, and from the inns, we learn that an Indian from the States, who in the emploj'' of Dr. Whitman, was at the head of bloody affair, and helped demolish the windows and tho property. We think the Cay uses have been d into the dreadful deed. God in his mercy forgive , for they know not what they do. Perhaps these can bring my horses and things. Please give all iculars you have been able to learn, and what news gone below. How do the women and children fiirc " tv extensive 18 the war ? In giving this information jernethy, b^Jl sending this letter below to Governor Abernethy, ) willing till will oblige your afflicted friend. I vvould write di- the Indians s'ivf = 1 'Ted the Americans would also fori^et what had hi recently done, that now they were even. Jle s])u.. nearly two hours. Acliekaia (or Five Crows"^ arose only to Hu^-<^est soi other ])r()[)Ositions which he Avished added to those . ready announced. The Youn ing the Indians." After having deliberated toi^ether the chiefs eoncliiil by adding something to the propositions of the Ne/ rj COH, insisting principally u])on the reasons which tl| b'ii¥'"iiilli"ii'filiiii«i I TIIK WHITMAN MASHAmF.. 03 •y the wlnit- h other ; tlis ouco and v Hi. lie cul L'o chief wl itler wards lied hy Auu ;()tten all tlr i^piihliiij^'. ;i; u-olten till,. hat had hcif n. He spn,| \ to those J d ho wivH wii vas in lav or spoken beM eanie Torwarj /• stained w Whitman In two weeks shoir you i r, the (U)Uiitf urc not hi n (J h )assed, gavi I seeing '" .>r, or a wist lO had heen ' I disappear^ lad heen oui avoiding, li'-' repeate( hetweeu d tin ally spi ers at the i lad been poi 'hiefs eoncUiJ of the Noz 11 )iis whiclj tf retende'l ought to excuse tlu'ir action, and re(|uesti'd lie Hishoj) to send to the (iovernor in their name the Allowing inaiufesto : — '•The |)rincipal chiefs of the Cayuses in council a'^sein- leil slate : That a young Imliaii who understands |df-^^A^J>^. 64 TIIK WHITMAN MASSACRF,. m Tlie Bishop accompaniod this manifesto with a h'tti a(hlresse(l to the (rovcnior, which coiu-hided in th('> terms: " It is siiffleieMt to state that all these spcecli. went to sliow, that since tliey IkuI been instructed hy (i whites they abhorred wai", and tiiat the tra,!i;eiame express had brougiit letter to the Bishop requesting him to attend thea>si I) y of the chiefs Tnc Bishop being unable to at t then. I went 'o Fort Walla Walla on the lilst, in cij ]iany wi h an Indian chief, to nu'et Mi*. Ogden. an inform him of what had passed in the ('ouncil lu'ld day bef')re a the mission. It was the tirst time any om? of us liad dare(| to leave the Young ('liii camp since the burial of the murdered, and Mr. Sp ings escape, for lear of the Indians of Tilokai catnp. At the renewed request of Mr. Ogden, the \V\> came to the Foj't next day, and on the 'liUl the asseiii |(H1V0 llld 1 i)om, lie m( lirew IlK'W [leni -teoc Itnie ( I an CO I'll; li- thei [ay ( '( ey w VI me jei-e 1 1 [I's on the n H' pri. it's Is, ill tea K <^"om it thei iiisi.- ^tiiicti let on |o Cay ten ; leiijd •in th (lemu [11 ail ['V sl)( 'lU in; prom fov. Ma tifi pacco, K'lei-. he V ii-e Ui '111' Ol.Iat h: i' (]' II THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 05 with a U'ttf uk'd in tlu^ j'ucUhI by ti •nnxMly of ill ot' sc'lt'-jtrcx a,L;"tvinst tl nniit this i\k md to live ) jii(l.i*;c of il \ roquestoil : avitifi; the Km T, I feel inysi with the Cii »f tills coniiu est of a you' have to dei'K Bishop salt .-oral tiiMOs y ail i^ii'ls sh(H! 1 entreated V\ akeii. but to fdivoked by Mr. Oj^'den took pluco. The Young Chief iiid Tilokuiki, with a dozen young men, wei-e in the Doni. arid at half past nine, A. M., Mr. Ogden opened |ie meeting, lie spoke forcibly against the massaere, brew the wliole blame upon the eliiefs. who, he said iK.'W not how to restrain their young men. He told (loni it was useless to have chiefs if they are not .tened to. He made them understand that he did not tune on the |)art of the Amei'ieans; that he had left [auc-ouver before they knew what had passed at Wail- jiii ; that he knew the Cayuses, and had been known them a long time ; that the French people (Hudson's :iy Company) had never deceived them ; that hehopc-d ley would listen to his words; that the Company did [tt meddle with the affairs of the Americans; that there I're three ])ai'ties, t\n) Americans on one side, the Cay- M'^ on the other, and the I'^rench people and the priesrs the middle; that (he Comiiany was there to ti-ade and i ^0 j)riests to teach them tlieir duties; listen to the iests, said he several times, listen to the priests, they II teach you how to lead a good life; the ])riests do t c(»me to make war. they cairy no arms, they carry t llieii" crucitixes.* and with them they cannot kill. ' insisted ])articularly, and at several times, u])on the Walla oil tfttiiiction necessary to be made between the affairs of le intention Wo Comjiany and those of the Americans. He said to all ' all the Aiii^e Cayus(>s that they had Chiefs to wdiom they ought to an e.\'pres>j|u'n ; that the young men were blind, and tieir chiefs )le wi.hout l^ould not allow them to do as they ]deased. He told had broiigii* t*M)d the assi nable to at t •ilst, in (■" ()o(len. and ouncil held ' first tiu\e I Young ^'''' and Mr. Sp: of Tilokaitj 'in that he had come with a charitable design; that demanded of the chiefs that they should give up to h\ ail the Americans who were now ca])tives ; but that ry should undersland well that he (lid not ])romiso I'll! that the Americans would not come to make war; promised them only that lie would speak in their ror. li' they would release the cajitives he would give Mil fifty blankets, fifty shirts, ten guns, (en fathoms of pucco, ten handkerchiefs and one hundred Ijallti and jivdei'. he Young Chief thaidced Mr. Ogden for the good Jen, the BislB-i^.o l,,^. |im| given (hem and ai)proved of what he had lid the asseiDWin; oi,ij,ts, who constuntly ciiny u cnioilix on their tirfact, were iircsent. CG tup: AVHITMAN MAfSSACRE, na pr ti said, but in rou-avd to the captives he said tluit ii belonged to Tilokalkt to speak as they were on hi« hinds. Tllokaikt then spoke of tlu larmony that had al way- existed between them and the Fi'ench people; tliat tin French had esi)()used their daiiii'hters, and that thev Iuk been buried in the same burial ground, etc. lie conch: ded by saying that he would release the captives to Mr Ogden, because he was old, and his hair Avas white, aii'i that he- had known him a long time, but that on younger than Mr. Ogdeu could not have had them. The Nez Perces (or Sahaptin) caino after the Caj'usi' and proiuisL'd to release }>l\\ Spalding and all o'ln flia( American captives who were with them. Mr. Ogden promised them twelve blankets, twdv shirts, two guns, twelve haiulkercbiefs, five fathoms tobacco, two hundred balls and powder, and some knivc The Bishoi) exi)ressed to the Cavuses and Nez IV'i-ti i I t' as ■ - the pleasure he felt in seeing them willing to release th Jtf all ca))tives. They agreed upon the time when the captives shot; be at the Fort, and the quantity of provisions necessun The Catholic L(t(ldei\ which Dr. Whitman had staim with blood, was given to Mr. Ogden by an Indian wl had it in his |)ossession. ^Fr. Ogden receiv^ed also at li request from another one the ridiculous ladder'' whit Ml'. Spalding had been carrying amongst the Indian in opposition to the priests. On the 2l)th the captives of Wallatpu ari'rived at Fort to the nutnl>er o{ forty-six, who together with ti' already at the Fort made tifty-one. The liishoj) determined to avail himself of the offia of Mr. 0<>-den, and to descend in the boats that were 8 , ^'^ convey the captives. r ,. January 1st, 1841^^, ]\[r. Spalding arrived at the l''||Tlu |g dai The" ])rie the e iKii- »»ii ah', ^%7. l\-i *A picture roiirt-sentins two ronds towanlfi heaven — a wiilc nnc, wli: the l^ojtc i.s jiclliiiif iniluit;cnci's and forijivent in " These w'ords were immediately re))orted to the Bishop In' Mv. Oijjden, who heard them himself. He said still more to Major Maujone ; for ho desii;-nated all the Caynses as worlhy of death, with the feeble exception of tive or six. whoso n a UK'S he i^ave. At noon on the Sth the boats arrived at Fort A'aii- couver. On the l(»th ^[r. ()i!;den was aii,ain rn rnutc ti> coiidiif! the captives to Oi'eo-on City, where he delivered them into the hands of Gov. Abei*i\ethy; to whom he deliv- ered also a written account of what he had done for the deliverance of the caj>tives, tou'dher with Mr. Spaldinu's letter to tite Bishop, the manifesto of the Cayuse chiefs. and the Bisho])'s letter to the Governor that accomjiu ni«d said manifesto. And as the editors of the Orcijiyw Spectator wished to publish but a ])art of Mr. S|)aldini;'s letter, Mr. 0eace. Indian rej>orts of all kinds were ii circidation every day, sayini^ tluit thoi'e wei'c troop already at the Dalles, that they had foui2;ht with the In dians of that country, and that Ihey had destroyed on tire villai^es. On the other hand, prudence and the in terest of the colony seenunl to us to demand that t!i Governor should not disre<;'ai'd the ])ro]>ositions of ii Indians, but that he should enter into neiijotititions ^ peace Avith them. A letter from Mr. O^-clen won Id h:iv removed our uncertainty; for, on the delivery oft! captives, he promised the Indians that he would cxci f liiniso i cans, fwlietl |exjire jMdt. |siispe( |liy ac( linont jai-rive |on trea J^oond I liiniiy. mission The iO l,")l KtlrOl'S J tuMish tiilil ni I THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 69 liin^self ill tlu'ii* behalf to seciiro peace with the Ainei'i- i cans, and that as soon as the Ciovermneiit hud decided, '■whether for peace or for war. lie would si'iid them an |expre>s to Fort Walla Walla to a]»])rise theni of the re- Utilt. But this express came not. The Indians h('n;aii to isiispret that yir. (Ju^den had betrayed them. Jlis letter, :hv accident, did not arrive until after the tir.st en^-agc- liueiit between the troops and the Cayuses Had it larrived in time, it would [»robably have j)revented the Jeii^a;i;emeiit and induced the Cayuses to accept peace Fort \i\n- I^M'"" ^''^ terms oti'ered by the (ioveriinient. ;i in tiie midst of so much uncertainty we desired to Iwithdraw from among the Cayuses, but to do this a good Iroason was necessary that could satisfy the Indians, and it his I'eason we had not. I had promi>ed to remain with Itliein as long as they were at peace, but had told tliem It hat r should retire as soon as war should be declared. Il was obliged to keep my word with them. I However. (M1 the l!>th of l"\d)ruary, the Cayuses hav- |iiig gone to meet the American trctops. we had a right to Iconsider war as inevitable, if not ali'cady declared ; and slVoni this moment my word was disengaged. We there- ilnre made choice of the tirst opi)ortunity that pi-esented tsclf tor retiritig, and on the ne.xl day we (b'])arte(l for Port Walla Walla, where we remaiiiein'ned our house and destroyed the propej'iy w? had ett anioiig them. On the l')th ot .March, the Commissioners appoint imI treat for peace with the Indians, being about to de. -(•end t(» Willamette, we availed 'ourselves of tlio oppoi*- iiniiy, and descended widi them, accompanied by the [iiissioiiary Oblates of Yakima river. The Superintendent of Indian Affairs having issued, on he Lull (d' .luiie. an order to stop all tie missionary iihors among the Indians, we made no effort to re es- iililish our mission among the Cayuses, l)ut deferred it iitil more liivorable circumstances. le speaks arcelv had lajor Lee; irprise the 1 " These op l)y M I'- ll more to !,'ayuses as five or six. to condiift vered them in he deliv- one for tlio r, Spaldiiiii's viise cliiet's. it accomiia- ' the Oreii'iii I'. Spalding's d ]>rint tlie bail given luctantly to I's Mission (I reinaine liie Umatill;i h of Febi' of war and lids were in were troop A-itli the 111 lestroyed e and the i [iiid that tlif litions of t •■otiations i would iu\vt J ivery of tliy would ex or 70 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. CHAPTER Y. Sumynary of the principal arrusfifiofts made against th Ciitkolic Clenjij of Walla Walht, by Mr. Spalding ami others, rvith an ansirer to each of them. ^Iv. Sj)iil(ling stated in the Oregon American and else. where : 1st. That the massaei-e of \VaiUit[)U had been eoin- mittod by the Indians in hatred of the heretics, a.s I'lo. testants only, and no Catholics, were killed, and insinii;i. ted that it had been coniniitted at the instiijiation of iht jjriests. 2nd. That the priests ba))tised the children and faiii ilies of the niurdeivrs, and the murderers themselves im. mediately attei' the nuissaci'e, as they had their hand- titill drii)])ini;- with the warm blood of the murdered, and fio approved the massacre. iWd. That the Bishop and the ]>riests were iroinii; uni coming throun'h the country, and resided among the miir derers unmolested and api)earing to feel in safely, aiiJ gave it as a new proof that they had had a hand in iL' massacre. 4th. That soon after the massacre the priests won making prepai'ations to begin new sta'ions, and topuisiit with renewed ettbrts those .alreacan's messengers the letter which he (Mr T i)f his pric; |he baptisn [d no comj)!!^ \ ii Bean) sent to Fort A''ancouver in order to deceive the iblie about the true causes of the murder. — (Editor of Jio Orcijon American. Utii. Tliat the Catholic missionaries despised the au- lority of the Covernor and of the Indian Agent, who ad offere I ; lad commanded them to- leave the Indian country but he i\ #^'''f<"' t>' ^''<^ Oregon American.) 'ii\ his prii 1 l'^'''- That one of the priests had been met by Mr. [)bstina'elv I li'^^''^'"M" '*' company with an Indian who had the avow- Id 'terminetlt w '"l^^'ition to kill liim, and that the Indian, whose pla- in the Orciji- ore at Wali; Iborne's will was unloaded, retired to an unobserved ]>laceto reload ; and insinuated that the intention of that priest was have had him killed by that Indian. — (Mr. Spalding.) lOlh. And, finally, that the priests had told the Indians fT 72 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. ! t!' ' overy where that the Protestant missionaries were cauf ing them to die, and the Walla Walla chief in particii lar;that they were poisoning them; that it was tlit ■Americans who had brought the measles among tlicm and that Crod had sent that sickness among them to shot His hatred against the heretics; and they ])()inte(l to tlia: lis the source from which originated the indirect cause ■rof the massacre. — (Mr. Spalding.) I will now proceed to rectify those statements an give a short answer to each of them : 1st. The massaci-e of Wailatpu has not been comiiii; ted by the Indians in hati-ed of the heriiics. If Anicr cans oidy have been killed, it is because the war Im been declared by the Indians against the Americans onlv and not against foi'cigners , it was therefore in tin-' quality of American citizens and not as Protestants tin the Indians killed them: as a proof of this I state tl fact that two sons of Mr. Manson, a Protestant gentleiiia of the Hudson's Bay Company, who, being Pi-otest;iii: as well as their father, were selected by the India! from the American children and sent to Fort Wai Walla — and as a second proof I will observe that tl Indians who perpetrated the massacre wei-e all Protcr ants, and after the massacre remained Protestants; before, and continued to pray after the method tli^ their Protestant missionaries had taught them, as )I Spalding himself affirms.* 2nd. We never baj)tised any of the murderers ii their families ; such an assertion has been a shanui 'slander bi-ought upon us like many others. Tiio on thing tlone in the matter of baptism connected ^vi: that circumstiince is what follows : — As stated in myr lation of the affair to Col. Gilliam, I hul gone to Til kaikt's camp, without being aware of what had pasv in its vicinity, for the |)ur|)Ose of baptising the sick cli dren and the dying adults whom I could dispose t baptism. On the morning I was there, when ixlmi starting to pa}' a visit to the widows and orphans of t'; mission, and to bury the corpses, 1 inquired after *Fivc of those who wove hung at Oregon City on the '.Id of June, 1' | cinliraced then the Catljulic faith and were haptiseil l)y the Archbi,sh(i]i, N. lihirieliet, a few hours before their cxeeution. THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 78 (inteil to tliii tlircet can* tcmcnts M. (ccn com in; ^, If AnuT the war lia icvicans oiilj Core in iIk 3tcstants till is I state tl mt ^^^ ^rotestants i method tk them, as 31 i were cau! ■ndians who were daiigerously sick and cxpceted to die. in particii S'oiio wei'C found in the camp but three 3oun^ children. it was tilt vhom I baptised, and two of tlicm died soon after; two imon<'' tliem )t' the three were slaves, and I did not learn to whom hem to slio? ] he other child beloniijjed. Nothing more was done. Now, no sensible person could susjiect that I intended a])provc of the murderous deed by baj)tisin(r those jiiklren, if they only knew what tlie principles and ractice of the Catholic Church are in regard to baptism f infants. The Church teaches that bajjtism is of abso- iitc necessity to the salvation of infants as well as of dults, and not holding children responsible for the ludts of their parents or others, she con)mands her iiinistcrs always to baptise them, whatever may be the ircumstances, in any case of necessit}' or danger of oath. Besides, those children were not offered to me v ba|)tism by their fathers with their hands dripping ilh blood, and asking for an approval of their deed, s lias been said ; but it was upon uiy own request, and peatedly made, that their owners (two of them were aves from other tribes) reluctantly consented to allow leni to be baptised. od. The goings and comings of the clergy through ic country never existed but in the warm imagination Mr. Spalding; and instead of that security which he pposed we felt, some of us trembled from fear very equently. It was three weeks after the massacro that, the urgent request of Mr. Ogden, one of us dared for e first time, since the burial of the murdered victims, leave the camp of the Young Chief and go to Walla 'alia; and then, being the day that followed the coun- of the Cnyuses at the Catholic mission, the Indians )])oared more quieted than before by the hope of peace, lich the letter of Mr. Spalding and the words of the iisliop had ])roduced in their minds; and moreover they (I i)romised to stop any further hostilities until the tciitions of the Government were known ; and besides, at Priest was accompanied by one of the chiefs, who iild have protected him against any of the young men lio had bad intentions. Before that time we had con- lorod it unsafe for us to go at an}- distance from the be Archbisiioii,| ^^^^^^ Chiefs camp, on account of the evil dispositions nrdcrcrs ii a shaiiu'i s. Tlio 01, 1 nee ted wr led in myt oue to Ti' t had pii'^" the sick cli d dispose t wlien altii rphans ol' t red after t: :id of June, 1~ 74 TIIK WHITMAN MASSACRE. of a portion of the murderers, towards as since Mi S|)aldinjij;'8 escape, as some of tlienj could not forgive ii for having taken their intended victim from their hamJi and as a letter from WalUi Walla had warned us to \> on our guard on that account. It is an error to say that the priests remained amoii; the murderers. This they never did. The Cayuse iij tioii was divided into three (in-jn[)s entirely distinct froc each other, each camp having its own chief, who gdi erned his young men as he pleased ; each of tlie chid were iiide])ondent of the others, and those three C!im|i formed, as it were, three independent stales ui' a sina federal republic, each of them administering their ow private att'airs as they pleased, Avithout interierence froii the others. They were the cam])s of Tilokailct, (Jama' pelo. and Young Chief and Five Crows together. JJut: was ill Tilolcaikt's camp, and hy his Indians only, tin Doctor Whitman had been killed: then the Indians that camp only could be called murderers, and eveiik a small portion of them, since twelve or thirteen onl have been designated as guilty by the army itself, win on the spot. Again, we never remained in Tilokaikt camp, but at a distance of twenty-live miles from it.; Young Chief's camp, where some of the people wo: Catholics, and where nobody had taken part in the inii' der. Then it is evidently incorrect to say that we liiu remained among the mnrderei's. It is also incorrect to say that we have be nmolostr by the Indians, since they burned our hous id effects few days after we had started from amc ig them, iii about the time the troops were coming up to tin country. 4th. It is asserted that soon after the massacre t; priests were making [^reparations to begin new statioi and to pursue with renewed efforts those already bego: The proof of which undoubtedly is that the Bis started down to the Willamette at the same time as ]\ Spalding, taking with him the Superior of the OblaijB'i'itiy Fatijers and another clergyman, and leaving me aloiiei ■•'• Spa! the Umatilla mission with a young clergyman who wS*^ Cayi not a priest yet; and that shortly after, at the first (» ^^''^^'t portunity they could get, the remainder of his clor:^'^ i'cad were following his example- .3 since Mi t tbrgivoii their luvmii led us to I' [lined umon. THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 7") It is a ijjroat falsoliood in Mr. Spjildini;- to say that we ottled at Wailatpu iinnu'diatelv at'tc!" the departure ot' he eaptives. For (ho proof of what I say 1 rotor to all lie]to<)j)lo who livt'd in the vieinity of Waihitpu and to lie ui-niy. >Jono of i' went to \Vaiiat})n fronj the time I' the hnrial of those who were mnnk'red (h)wn to the ^ r ivuse 111 '' iioiillisof .Inno and .Inly, when, chirini;' a trij) that J hap- 1- l:.w.f tVa, ' )ened to niaUo to Walhi Walla, 1 had tlio i)leasiireof |)av'- distmc't lioi i' • •. . n ,,. , ,1 \ 1/ , ,.- "^ i' ,.,i,r. .far iiiiuvisit to tlio otlu'ersoi tlie arin\' at bort Waters, of the chk'! onnerly ^V adatpu. ,. ^,.^,^^. ;)th. No priest wont to AVailatpu since the day of the V o Li.v Huial ; that is true. J3nt what was the reason of their »S 01 a ^I'W i • V riM ii . i i- M their ()\v Jot i;'ouig .'^ 1 no reason was that on account ot Mr. V .w . iVai- liitaldiii<>;'s escape thev could not s-'o without oxijosini; rioronci' lioii «i p i i fi i ,i Ti i i i iv * •1 4 r'.inin ■lemsclves to a prol)al)lo deatli, as they liad boon otton , , jjiit; M'*^'""^' -^ indians, and also by a letter ironi vV alia ' I jlij«Valla; and it is a new j>'oof that the jiriests did not foel ■ ' ■■) safe anionic the nuuHhi'crs as Mr. Spaldiui;' supposed 'loy did. But if they did not go, they did all they could oni their mission to pi'ovent new i isfortuncs from fall- i;:; u]>on thorn and to ameliorate ther situation. As soon .•* the Bishop had received the news of the massacre, he lul called the chiefs of the camp where he lived arid I'coninicndetl to their care the sui'vivors of Wailatpu ; d alter that time the captives had always abundant 1(1 good food, and if they had sometimes to sutler in me other respects, the Bishop never ceased to exert his nmolostr »t1uence and entreaties with some of the chiefs to ]tut a 1 ^,^^,^.[i 1"P to it. He took a g-reat part in quiotino; the Indians, u- them ;u J'^'^'*^'.^' P''*^P'^''^'*^ ^''^''"^ for the delivery of the cajHivos, "n to tlif ff*^' ''^"^^'^'b' ^^'"*^P^''"^ted with Mr. Ogdon in securing the ^onviwW^^th. In the sui)i)osition that we had asked I3r. Whit- h massacre u'^ i •' . i i- i ^ -^ i i i i [ .„> of.itini ■!t" to sell us his establishment, it would have proved In new f'tati'Ji ■ , . , u , .^ ' i i- i i ^i *. 1 '^'idv bc'ii' w^ "f5 against us, because it w'as ])ublicly known that i t he Bisiv W l>iul boon for years speakiuii- of leaving the Cayuse ^untry ; "that ho had hold himself ready to leave the ^^,,i., Juntry whenever the Indians as a body wished it," as I ...^ oiono^'"- Spalding says; "that twice in the last year he called ' Tiau who \vi»^ Cay uses together and told them it a majority wished I t tlio first ow would leave the country at once ;" "that he hold him- f his cloi'i: w^ ready to sell the Wailatpu station to the Catholic he Indians , and eveiibt thirteen onl ly itself, will' in Tilokaiki les from it.. people we; rt in the niii: that we lui' be time as i of the Ohla; 1 ! w ill: 76 THE WHITMAN MA.SSACUE. luisHioii whenever a inujority of the f/ayuHOH ini^ht wisli itj" titid that ''he had l)()iif^ht the Alethodist mission nt the Dalles, where he wished to p^o and live in the spring,'. Under sneh circumstances it would not have been uiiiiu tural to hdieve that he would have liked to dispose ot'liis property the same as any other Individual. But I affirm that such a demand has never been madt to \)\\ Whitman hy any one of us, and J i^ive Mr. S[)al(l in^ himself as a witness, when he says: ''that he is iim aware that the Catholic mission ever ap]>lied to Dr. VViiit. man to ])ui'chase the Wailatpu station." If such a pro' position had ever been made to the Doctoi', it was na tural that he would have spoken of it to Mr. Spaldiiii; Ids intimate frient pro niatil safei I't, w iliout ere w St I Wall cliun 11 obsd THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 77 mission at the spring i been uniia ispose of lii^ !• 1)0011 inaik Mr. H\yM liat ho is nn; toDr. Whii. t' such a \>vo. )!', it was iia Ir. SpaUiiiiii associate in :hat iio spiii! aii^ainst m\m \\uH\ Mr. ani liomoiit givi". o Iv: tit VValli iipon the niiit Ihorsos at tlio post, I protforod the uso of my own until lie should roach tho Company's ♦arm.ahout twonty milos (listuiit, v.'horo ho was supj)lio(l \nth f'rosh onos. Had it .not boon for tho guide's ])orsovoranoo Mrs. Oshorn and ii ^t prevent Mr. Osborn from bringhig his family to the \e could r'>m Jniatilla, the reason was that the}' believed they would safer under the Young Chief's protection than at the rt, where they expected every moment to bo attacked, itliout being prepared to oppose a sufficient resistance: ere wore at the F"'ort only five or six men at most. V hours bctoijsth. In regard to what has been stated that the Bishop Fort. tf AValla Walla had come into a country where there was y Walla ^Val A church or Catholic station, and no stationary priests, I but having tj|U observe that Fathers Blanchet and Dcmcrs, the first comber last, 1 two or mor; isisted of t\v ovv. ecombor, an L)ugl»t him til ho morniiiii; of the rivi- powder, ha! ily across tli ' w ■ '?*?S ^1' '? ■^ , I fjl jl li': til* M m <» TIIK WHITMAN MASSACRE. Catliolic missioiiiu'ii'r, that came to ()i-ou;on, bad pass^i; hy Waila Walla in ISIJS. where they had stopjjed a toit days, and liad heen visited b}' the Indians. In Is.l; Fatiier Deniers baaptisini;- their ehihlren. In l!*^40 ho hud made there a mission so (Viiiti'ni that the I'l-otcstant ini«^ fhvoni ?so ahs hjrest'i; Ihis dis ': rown. {1 laffi Hionari<'s had <>;ot ahirnie 1, and feared that all tbeii" dij^ ' or hat ci])les wonld abainh)!! tleni if be continued bis mission- j prove amono; them. Father Je Smet, after visitinishop. the Indians of NValla Walla and of the l'|i per ('oluml)iabad never failed to be visited yearly, eitlit: by Father Demers or by some of tlie .lesnits. and tlin>: animal ".xenrsions had jirocured every year new cbildH'i to the (Uuircb. Almost every Indian tribe possess^ some Catholic member. Amonjjj the Caynses the Yonin Chief and a ]K)rtion of his camp were professini; Calli olicism, and tor seven years jjrovions were aslv had i'ver boon one, and ' would like Mr. Spaldinji; to iprovo the contrary. Finlay nas a poor lialt'-l)rood, who Iliad ahvas lived with the Indi ms. and after their man- ors, hahits, ])rinciplos and su,HM'Stitions, and who had ^t the white man nothin;!^ l)iit the name. Jle had never Ik'011 haptised, had never froiinontod any Catholic lurch, nor received Catholic instruction from any priest. On the contrary ho n-as attached to Dr. Whit- iniiii. in the neii^hhoi'hood o,' whom ho se8 and pnttinj^ them into a cotnmoii trrave with my own han(]s, and taking; care that thcv should l>ct-f>vorod with earth before I lett. and that t^v da3's only after the mas«aci'e. 11th. When Mr. Spaldini:; complained that the Bislmj had ne_i;'le('ted to i^'ive hint tisc intormation aHl the same Indian who had brought his letter to tlic Bishop that took Mr. Ogdeu's letter to him. Ah to in forn>atron relative to the situation of the captives, thai could be of no ])articular utilit}' to any ojie, and as tlh Bishop knew nothing about it except through Indian iv ports, he thought that Mr. Sjialding would receive nior' correct information from his own Indians, who had \m\ at Wailatpu and had themselves seen the captives, tlur from hiuiself. And moreover an express would hav been very expensive, if one could have been obtained. 12th. When Mi*. Spalding sa^'S that I avj'ived at Wai: atpu just about the moment the young American wa killed, ho slanders rac again ; since, as he says, \\t young Amei'ican was killed at two o'clock, P. M.. an I did not arrive at the Indian camp, until between sove' and eight o'clock in the evening, without having pasj^t by the mission. \iiih. Rev. Mr. Griffin, the Editor of the Oregon Ainf ican, is not more correct when he says that I concevtA a letter at Wailatpu with Mr. Mcliean's messen<,'or since it was known to all the peoj>le of the station tli: Mr. McBean's messengers, who had come in the mornii- that followed the nuissacre. had started off long boforl the evening for Walla Walla; while I did not arrive!! 'A ?- I tlio Iiu dav, ar i4th. fioiiarii le I fid ic hid a Diirii to do it it pnuk txistoru erally tl end. and £<• back | (J had I* us, w low CO The Bi> voriior an a m( lencj- < tor, he ok in th Dalles 'A a mis ival the 'ccted t< onded i\ TllK WHITMAN MASSACRF. 81 lests Imvf kvorc inur- Wailatim •cu\)ie(i ii a com mm thai thoj J I hut Uv the Bishu];. ^Uc'd iti re he had t'lr ,iou of tht nouiiced t' I- tl»e other > leave tl tlio Indian camp until hUe in the cveiiiniij of tlie same lay, and at the mission on the next morninii; otdy. i4th. It is also iiieonvet to say that I lie I'atholic mis- jfionaries despised the authority of the (tovernor and of ihe Indian Agent, \vi>o had commanded them to leave |li(' Iiidiari country. ^ During the winter, without heing in the least onk'red to do it, the Catholic clergy of Walla Walla had thought |t ])i'udent to leave the upper country on accouni of the Ixistencc of the war. But, in the spritig, as it was gen- frally thought in the Willamette that the war was at ar\ iikJ. and as Indians were urgently usking the jtriests to ro back, and also an it was ])roper for him to tix his res- ilence within the limits of Ids ecciesiastial jurisdiction, he Bishop notirted i''c which we have begun with son\\3 success; J feel 1 ^n toil) "^''*"*^ ^'^^^ ^■"'*-''^'"*''^^*'*"^'^'^ shotdd allow us to return iDtives thai '^^-k to those Indians who wish to know God as we do, , and as tli- v \e 1 order to adore and love Ilim from their wdiole heart; |ii(l 1 intetid to do it as soon as |)ossible. I -The two letters, copies of which I have the honor tiansmit with the present, — one from Tyaie.s, the KM' Irom Tawatowe (Young Chief), asking their niis- oiiaries to go back to them, — are a proof of their desii'o ^•"t instructed. Who would not rejoice, seeing that <)(! lind ins|)ired them with such good leelings? And, v us, who know all the good tlmt can be done there how could we refuse to run to their help ?" The Bishop expected to receive an answer from the veruor. as a matter of course, but after waiting more nil a month for that atiswer, and seeing that His Ex- IK'ncy did not even acknowledge the receipt of that Ut, he resolved to fulfil his intentions. He started ik in the middle of June with his secular clergy for messenticr^*-' Dalles, for the purpose of settling there and begin- station tliiWi.ii ii nnssion. At)d it was only a few days after hi.s the morniilH"'^"'il there that the Superintendent of Indian Affairs \' Ion" hetirw^^tted to one member of the clergy a letter that was »ot u'rvivo iW*'''^l^'J for hitn (the Bishop), prohibiting the continua- A\ Indian '— ceive mor >o had \w& )tives, thiV would hi^v ohtained. ed at Wrti iicrican ws says, tt ]\ M.. 'M I ween sevi;' aving pas:i of the Ciisf-ade ^lountains, until the jii'esence of well or ganised and disc'i[)lined troops, under command of Unit ed States ofHeers, shall rendci* such efforts safe and Jmli cious. At present the relations between tlio whites :iii: the Indians are two precarious to allow missionarj labor; with the Indians to be either prudent or effective of good So soon as circumstances will allow, I shall tak(j mini pleasure in throwing wide tlie door of missionarv labor' among the natives to all Chridian mist^lonaries ; .it ]uv> cut, prudence demands that it should be closed agam '' With much respect, " I have the honor to be, Messrs., " Your obedient servani, " 11. A. G. Lke, Sup't Ind. Affair. <' To Messrs. Blanchet, &c."' The Bishop and his clergy conformed to that "I'ld »nd suspended all missionary labors among the Indiu: of the Dalles until more favorable circumstances. " continued, it is true, to remain upon his clahn. ami improve it; but in that, as in the rest of his conduct, did not violate the order nor act contrary to the iiiKM tions of the 8u])erinten(lent, as is evident fror)\ the li.tioii, during tho })resent crisis of affairs with them. 1 " Now. upon the jxdnt of being compelled to write to d. Affairs. ^^^^ Superintendent in relation to naissiouary cstabiish- i^eiits: this j)art, Sir, you do most assuredly misunder- i.iiid, because in speaking of missionary establishments, % is not to be understood that a house or simply an im- that ""'' |r()vernent is means a missionary establishment, nor in tlie Indi t' giiiply ftijfillirig religious duties or exercises tliereiu j stances, li ||L'cmise houses are dedicated to many uses, and that use lahii. aiKi iL'signates the character of the establishment. Conwe- s conduci unt of what passed between us at tho time. We Wvi'c alone, my inter])reter being at some distance from o f my ()\V! it on the j; ii| ;uid not hearing our conversation j and I can bear iny intenti' t|stiMiony that then Mr. Spalding was not in a state fit form a judicious opinion of things or words ; the ;lit and trouble of mind which the knowledge of his r had produced ou him, had set him completely d bad him kilK )f the da Il him tny pi llli'O •^ide himself 8 1^ 1^ < ^C) Tin; WHITMAN .MA.S.SACRK. IDili. I coiiu' in»\v to \\iv. la>t u(*cu>alioii, iiiid one ■ l!ii' 111 »>! iiialiciDiis iha'i iias hi'i'ii luailo a,i;aiiist ii- •■ 'I'lial till' pfit'sts hail lold I In- Indians fviTv where, a:; W :illa W u hid III part KMihii'. thai t 1*.' iiiis>i()iiaru'.s wer<' caiisinn' tliciii to die haf tl K)is()iiiiiir tlu'iu liat It wa-^ 1 A liiericaii^ I'olr-la icy wi' wlio ii; ■b.r()U:j,hL the measles aiuoiii;' tlu'iii; ami that (Jod l;;i sent ihat sie!'aiii.--u!i liei'eties." I soJeiiiiily allirm that such a thiiiii;. nor anything'' llu' like, has never heeii said hy any |)riest to the li, (liaiis. 1 (h'ly any one to jirove tie' contrary; ami tew remarks will show what eontidence can he priideiit put by iinjH'ejii lice. I |>eo|)le in tlic present aceiisal bi'()Ui;-ht by Ml'. Sijaldiiii;' a^aiiisL U: First, it is a mere va^i^Mic and malicious as--ertion. ai to sup])oi"t it he has not broii<;-lit ("orward the least, to; niony, bii! the supposed reports mudc to them by t Indians, Tintinmitsi and Yellow Herpent. lint as those' rei»orts J have reason to iloiibl that they had ovt lieen .made to him Ity lliose Indians : — nmny an insiaiu has proved to us that more than once Mr. SpaMiii:; memory has given way to his imagination. If they li;u boon made to him, 1 dai-e say that it bus been wii' view to sound him, us it is ii common jiraetice with dians, and to tiiid out tVom his answer.s w hether it uJ tvue or not that the American missionaries wore \w\ oiling them, as it has been for years the general iiiiint sion among them. And tinally, those rep(.u'ts can In no credit, and prove nothing in the ease. If in im j)art of the .States ot the Union the testimony otij dians is never admitted as j)rool' against the whiles any court of jiisiice, it would bi' here inconsisteii; mak'e it the basis of public opinion, and es[iecially wli it is expressed in such vague and general terms. It is evident, besides, that the Doctor and Mr. Sj)aiui, never believed anything as to the ti'uth of such I in reports, if they ever heard of them. '• Jf Dr. AVhitiii and .Mr. Sjialding," sa3's the Hon. V. IL. Burnett, ' lieved the tales tliat the Indians were telling them, i the ])riests were persuading them the Doctor was p<»i jng them, why dit n-\ Uk'.V wvi- ; who lia \ (iod I'.ii lie niattcr, to inquire into tlio truth oC (hose reports ? t ir(]nii*e(l no nioi'e thjin ji little honesty, iind eoiiiiuon (■use, to have (^nahh'd them to set the matter heyoiul <)iil)t. When I hear that a neighhor has eliari:;ed mo itli a crime, it is my duty to ^o to him an-'V y an iiis'.aiK 1-. Spall'i' ts ean I)*' If in lU' nony "' ' 10 whiit.- •ousisteii; eeially ^v rins. Mr. Spaia^ sueh li>il; )i-. Whitiii iurnett, " ng theui,! )\' was pt»b to iuvesli,:; 11 i t ■ i J-l m a i: i I 'I u ^\ 8^ TIIK WHITMAN MASSACRT,. HtMisi- ainl ^M't'ut liniiiirss. jind liu'l lu' Ik'UcvimI tli;it i i'c|ti>rl.s liiifl any loiiinlali(>ii. ho ci-rtainly wctiiltl not lias luTii alVaiil or asliaiiK'il to liavi' ItroiiL;"!)! Iliis inatUr \^ ti'sl lliat would lia\ I' sotlK'd ii." Hut I »(' r U' follow liiLT siaU'iMciiL i.s ai^o soinc'wiial in our ill this i-asc. I ri'll'i' to Mr. Thos. .M<'Kay'> saLoiiu'ii I i.'ildliii I'c or N whoso tcsliinoiiy Mr. .Spaldiiii;- has n-lorn d. II V \vj jirosoiil at tlu' ('ouiicil held a' Walla Walla hy tho ^'iivi.B p chiefs, .wIr'ii called hy the Bishop for the piirj) IiIIioIk I'cc ni( 11 V OSC isUiiii;- them ibr a piece of land for a mission. Jle hei what ac'ciisalioiis the Iii(Jiaiis luaiK- ai;"aiiist Dr. Whi.ii on tlial oe(a>ioii. and what ihu answers made to them .^he Uishop wei'e: • Dtiriii;^ the mcetin contradiction. Besides, he never spcdvo to the Imliff jr (j hut throu;j,h an interjireter, and «;'enerally tho 'urn pretor of the Fort, ami alwa's in the public room,! p j in pi'osence of all the jieople that wi.-hed to hear liii&f jj c- Tlie importance id keopiiii;' his inHuenco even «),(. j)' j'j tlie whiles would have then |)revented him fi-om sail j> j) aiiythin[:i; ai;aiiist J)i'. Whitman and others in contral jf ^ tion to what he had said on that occasion. And 1 ; that he never did ; for a ])roof of wliicli I refer i ]»ooide who lived or wore at WalUi \Valla during' | Ktay there, (j> j o f put til lilts oiil o« if' i *i5-aj THK WriITMAN MASSArRK, 80 vd that tliH uld not ltiii| ■; iniilU'r I' I in Diu" I'^'l SilU'MK'lll.. •0(1. Ho «j l)y the Cavi. ic \)Mri)<)Sf )ii. lU' lii-'ai Dr. Wlti.iiiJ ulo lo llu'iii ;aky «iti tl'^'i his luiiK.l. "ll mm " ley wouM ^' woultl ;j;i^"*' '■ iswcTt'd iliiii ho (li'l >>"^ ^1 ihcr^ was v- inlradiftcd il bo su^l)' s lo \voiji;li unci oui't^'t on i ho ( 'ayn'^o lands, his way to Fort Walla Walla. Tho reat it ho icmhorod in ]u'rMsini^ the eonvorsation. that thoro ■I'o no cioriiTnu'ii yet arrived amoni:; the Cayusos. tho [irost wore at least one hundrocj miles, and the othor.s |iiit three hiindrod miles distant. Tho convorsati(/ii k ])laci> on tho JJlst of Ann-iist. and the mission of fho- ,iisos did not l)o<;in until tlu' latter part of Novi'mhor. 10 ibllow8 the eoiiversalion an related hy Dr. Pou- L' : 'liis is to certify that on tlio .^Istday of Ani;-nst, 1:^47, io on the road to ()reii;on, I mot Kov. II. II. Spald- ;it tho Willow S])rin' be in fault. . It. Spalding — No, it is tho Catliolic j>riests, irjio, csftihlis/K'd a inission among the Cdijuscs; and they )iit t the Indians v\) to kill all the American Pr o- nits on the road to Oreii'on. P. Ponjade — Impossible; lliat is not Christianity, U IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TAFGET (MT-3) y A V >-'^ '<^"/<' i/i fA 1.0 '; IIIM "■' 132 I.I It" IIM zo 1.8 1.25 1.4 16 ■• 6" ► ^7i <^ /a '/a VI o 7 /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY 14580 (716) 872-4503 ■i h^^ 90 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. must bo a mistake, becauso we must lovo our nci^^bboif OS ourselves. 1 buvo lived thirty years amon^ tin Catholics in the Unitod vStates. and I alwaj's understoic iho Catholic Church to teach her c'lildren to do e had also many head of hor* for the j)ui'poso of trading with the emigrants. Aroii us were scattered in tho prairies several bands of ht)rM' that the Indians pointed out to us as belonging to ' Whitman. (Signed,) John P. Poujadk I certify to the above conversation, being present tho time. rSigned,) Anne Poujai'K Saint Louis VVilUmet, Sept. 12, 1848. Is'o C'onsi Wailj o|)ini( in re; iciou and o ^ard a.4 a ] loa^ boiouj on bo Dounc troci .Spald 'at ho nd n ot, 1 r'iolen lie. I leave all comments on that conversation to the |)ui THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 91 )nr nci«{l»bor 8 anion^ tin ys undorst()(K n to do *fiH ood moral tx ;rgy. Ami i! hero i« a Pn> ived nei^lilHii new Catliolk; 1, No. cd fresh iiewi orn the wliilt- d the Indiuii Now, 1 have exposed frankly and candidly what I consider to have been the true causes of the massacre of Waiiatpu, with the grounds and ])roof8 that support my opinion, tojrethcr with the conduct of the Catholic clergy in regard to that whole affair, on one part, and the ma- licious and grievous accusations made by Mr. Spalding and others against that same Catholic clerg}'" with re- gard to that same affair, together with what I consider u/t a plain and full refutation of them, on the other part. I leave now the matter before the jmblic, to which it belongs attentively to examine and weigh the testimony oil both sides, and then impartially to decide and pro- nounce whether the Catholic clergy are guilty of tho the dragoorl; ntrocions .larges brought against them, or whether Mr. Spalding and others could have spoken so against tho Catholic clergy " without being crazy," as Col. Ciilliam A\H are getlinL and many others have already pronounced. They could ,ek. They aiHnot, without being moved by blind, unjust, and too I. A few (ImBv'iolent religious prejudices. do not kriii k means to di the emigratkj d return wo id, full of oil ea ants. Aroiiij ands of hoiMi donging to If P. POUJADK Ing prcseiiti ;k Poujahk. on to the m II 'I' i i'9< m • i > 4 f 1 w m ■:.1 I m 11 • :K Ion Extracts from Iliiics' Ilistorv of Oregon. Tlu' following cxtniets from Hov. Gnstiivus Ilinos' fli.stori/ (if On'(/on, will no doubt prove interesting to h'ory render wiio desires to learn the trntli of history, Junnini;- uslheydo, a chain of evidence whieh shows uialiisively tlio remote eausos whieli led to tiie mas- [aci'e aiWuihitpn. It will he l)orne in mind that the k'lMits detailed in the followinji" extracts, occurred from l842 to lS4()-7, and among Indians with whom Catholic jiiissionaries had never resided Tho Catholic missions kmong the Indians west of the lioeky Mountains, were irst established in 1S40, by Father Peter de Smct, S. J., inioiig the Flathead and Pen de Orielles tribes, who had lent deputations to tho missionary establishment, at St. bonis, Missouri, years before, soliciting tlie presence of |he ''blade gowns" amongst them. The camps of these Indians were located many hundred miles from the Cay- isc and other tribes of malcontents mentioned hereafter, >nd with whom tho Pen de Orielles and Flalhcads had no lonununieation whatever. It has been generally remarked by Indian agents and Hi ler Federal officials, that the Indians amonirwhom the /Utholic missionaries were located, have invariably Inoved more moral, more susceptible c '^ civilization, and more friendly towards the whites than those Indians •vbosc spiritual welfare was under the control of non- iir ^' -^v 11 w DO THE WHITMAN MASSACRK. Catholic teucher.s. This is an cslablished fact, veiiticl by the national records, and is easily explained, iiiaJ much as the missionaries of the Catholic Church devuil themselves solely to the er last * Indian n poi t said that these tribes were comliiir down to kill ul the Boston [)eople. meaning those from the United Stato This intelligence |)roduced considerable excitement al the time, and induced the sub agent of Indian Affairs i go directly to the upj>er com. try and ascertain the tiiiiij of the report, and if ])ossil»le settle all matters of vlii culty. On arriving among the Indians, he ascertai that the report was not without foundation; but entoiil into such arrangements with them as appeared to givj satisfaction. Thomas McKay contributed much to alia the excitement among them, and in connexion with tli| sub-agent, induced the Nez Perces to adopt a code laws, and ai)point a head chief ami inferior cliiotil Bufficient to carry the laws into execution. It liad boej the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company to destroy tlil chieftainship, cut the ditferent tribes into smaller clun| *1842 — Five years before the massacre at AVailatpu. li.: T THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 07 M divide their interests us far as possible so as to L'ukon them, and render them ineapaole of injurin<^ the |liites, by ])revoiiting them from actiii<^ in concert. IJiit sub-agent adopted a dirt'orent policy. The individ- |il appointed to a high chieftainship over the Nca I'er- was one KIlis, as he was called ny the Knglish, who. iving spent several years in the settlement on the lied \>\'\\ east of the mountains, had, with a smattei-ing of English language, accpiired a high sense of his own iportance ; and consequently, after he was appointed iief, juirsued a ver^' haughty and overbearing course, lie fullillment of the laws which the agent recoinniend- for their adoption, was required by lOllis with the linost rigor. Individuals were sevei'ely |)unishc(l for jinus, which, from time immemorial, had been com- litted by the |)eo[)le with im[>unity. This occasioned •urt of tlu>iu and leuvoi^ rest, but that every one of them must be desti-oyeil. T infonnution produced u i^reat exeiteiuent throughout lij <.'oiiununity, und iiluiost every iiuiii hud a pUiii of hi," by wliieh to avert the iinpeudiii<,^ storiu. In the esiim tion of some the Indians were to be upon us immediau and it uas unsafe to retire at ni;j;lit lor fear the svttj ment wouhl be altacived before moi'uiu^. The plan the ai^eiit was to induce men to pledge themselves, iiiiilf the forfeiture of one hundred dollars in ease of dil quency, to keep constantly on hand, and ready for ii either a <^ood musket or a ritle.and one hundred cliar; of ammunition, and to hold themselves in readini.s> go at the call of the a,i;ent U) any pai't of the coimiij not to exceed two days travel, for the pui'pose of diki inj^ the settlement, and i'ej)elling any sava«^e invailt This plan pleased some of the people, and they i down their names; but man y were muc h d issali>liiJ with it, and as wc had no authority, no law, no ore for the time bein^, in the country, it was impossihli'. tell what would be the result, if the Indians should tempt to carry their threats into execution. "*= * * Ke])ort says, furthermore, that the Klikitat Indiiij are collectin<5 together back of the Tuality ])lain^ for what purpose is not known. The peoj>le on ])lains, consisting of about thirty families, are (|i alarmed. There is also a move among the Calapooti Shoelbn, one of the princijjal men of the tribe, left i j)lacc a few days ago, and crossed the Willamette rivj declariui' that he would nevei" return until he came \vi a band of men to drive off the liosion peo})Je. Jle ' very much otfended because some of his people w seized and flogged, through the influence of Dr. WhiJ for having stolen liorses from some of the missionari and flour from the mission mill. Ills influence is very extensive among the Indians, or we might li much to fear. The colony is indeed in a most del'ei less condition ; two hundred Indians, divided into I'o bands, might destroy the settlement i'l one night. "^ On the -Uth of April, 1848, a letter was received intj .settlement, Avritten by U, B. ]5rewer, at the Dalles, wli Tilt WHITMAN MASSACRE. !»!) Boston peopij and leave iJ Htroyetl. Tli hj'ou<^hout tij )lan of his un III the esiiiu IS iininediatilj fear the sotlil . The i.luii L'inselves, iiiulJ t'uso ol" (k'lil ready i'ov iJ mid red ehai';'| ill readiiK'» of the ouiiiiii I'pose of de'kiii iva^e iiivudiil and they \\ iich dissali.>tiij hiw, no oi'tlij s Impossiblo. liaiis should likitat Indiiil ity- phiiiis. ]jeoj>le <*ii ies, are (iiii| he Cahijiooal tril)e, left ViUamette nv| ,il he eaiiK' w o\)\e. Jle \vi is uoople wi'l of Dr. W e inissioiiai'K liifluenco is in^^s the hitest intelli^enee from the iiifeeted region, fliis U'tter states that the Iiidian.s in the interior talk null of war, and Mr. Brewer iir^es ]><•. White to eoinc \n without (li'ltiy, and endeavor to allay the exciteinent. [o does not inform us that the Indians design an^ evil iwai'd the whites, hut says that the war is to l)0 'tween themselves, hut that the Boston jieojile have iiic'li to tear. As the Doelor, in his visit to the interior it October, left an appointment to meet the Walla alia Indians and the Cayuses, in their own countvy, the loth of May, and believing that a ^reat share of 10 oxeitement ori^^inated in a misunderstandiii*^ of the idians, he came to the conclusion at all hazards to jjjo noiitij them. At the solicitation of the iigcnt, I deter- liiied to accompany him on the expedition. The ^reat complaint of the Indians v.as that the Bos- jii people designed to take away their lands, and [(luce them to slavery. This they had inferred from littt Dr. White had told them in his previous visit; and [is inisunderstandiiijr of the Indians had not only pro- K'od a ^reat excitement amon^ them, but had occa- iiicd considerable trouble betwixt them and the mis- iiiaries and other whites in the upper country, as well iiifliicnciii^ them to threaten the destruction of all the inerican people. Individuals hail come down from n't Walla VV^alla to Vancouver, bringing infitrmation of excited state of things among the Indians, and giv- out that it would lie extremely dangerous for Dr. lite to go up to meet his engagements. * * * * jXext morning, at the rising of the sun, we left our leiidants with the pack animals, and proceeded on load, determined, if possible, to reach the mission sta- tu at Waialatpu, on the Walla Walla river, the same Pas«ed Fort Walla Walla at twelve, and arrived Dr. Whitman's at tive, having traveled fifty miles fee we mounted in the morning. We wert^ received we miy;lit lia^ih great cordiality by Mrs. Whitman and Mr. Giger, Whitman being absent on a tour to the United 'ided into tfl«jtes. They had heard we were coming, and were [king for us with great anxiety. We soon learned pi tlio reports in the lower country about war, that produced such an excitement, wcrarchinut if the Americans caiiK' take away their lutids, and brin;^ them into a stiito vassalage, they would flight no lonijr as they had a (In of blood to shed. They said they had received ll infoi-mation conci'rninijj the desiiftis of the Amviira from Baptiste Dorio. This individual, who is a li:i breed, son of Madame Dorio. the heroine of Washiiii;! Irvine's Astoria, understands the Nez Perce laiij^na well, and had ^iven the ('ayusfs the information tli luid alarmed them. Mr. (ii«;er endeavored to iii'lu them to prepare, early in the s|)rin«(. to cultivate! ground as they did the year bt'fore. but they refusel do anything, saying that Baptiste Dorio had told the that it would be of no conscquen(!e ; that the whi would como in the summer, and kill them allolF, ai destroy their plantati(ms. After Dorio had told them this story, they sent Walla Walla chief, called Yellow Serpent, to Vancoiivi to learn from Doctor Mcljaughlin the .'acts in the c;. Yellow Serpeijt returned and told tho Cayuses that Iff '1. TflK WriITMAN MASSACRE. 101 (liUii^lilin said lie had notliiii^ to do ir) a war w'rtli the (liiuis ; tluit ho did not bidiovo tho AtiUMMciins (h^si^iuMl altack thom, and that, if the Aiiu'iicaiiM did ^o to war itii the Indians, tho IIihIxod's IJuy ('oin|)aiiy woidd )t assist them. At'tor t hoy trot this iid'orniaiion Iroin i' hins ( «^rcat) I)o(;tor, tho In \\n<\ ohtainod all tho t'onnation wo coidd from Mis. Whitman and Mr. (Ji- r. concorinni^ tho state of thintjs anio!)«j; thon), wo sent oin word that we had come, and desired t(^ see them. I' alsf) sent the chiefs word that we desired them to lave all their peo|.lo moot us at |al.,,■'-' •'''f"'V <>' their i^rievaiicos, and said that they desired ' ' ^ liave the (l>tficnlty settled. 1 hoy saul it would not bo iivoniont for the people to come together so soon as desired, as man}' of them wore oft' among the monn- iis, hunting elk. As they must bo informed of tho uotiiig, it would ho several days before the people iild got together. * * * * Tuesday, 2;M. The ciiiofs and princlpa! men of f)oth Ibos came together at J)r. Whitman's to hoar what we (I to say. Tliey wm-o called to order by Tauitau, lio hy this time had got over his excitement, and then as placed before them the object of our visit. Among lor things the}' were told that much, had been said out war, and we had come to assure them that they (I nothing to fear fror. that quarter; that tho Prosl- nt of the United States had not sent the Doctor to eir country, to make war upon inem, but to enter into rangeinents with them to regulate their intercourse th tho white people. We were not there to catch oin in a trap as a man would catch a beaver, but to do " ' \T ' ...M^'in good ; and if they would lay aside their former ' ^u'tices and prejudices, stop their quarrels, eiiltivato ., , rtii'ir lands, and receive good laws, they might become a, 'uses thai ip ' *? > .? & \ I I ii i: 102 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. ^I\ great and a bappy people; that in order to do tliiw, tin miiHt be united, for they were but few in eomparisoii i«yoii i the wliites ; and if they were not all of one heart, tluiHnot t would be able to aecoinplish nothing; that the ehidljCathf shouhl set the example and love each other, and not '^( Dp. V proud and haught}'. but eonHider the people as tlu' brotherH and theii' children, and labor to do them gfioi that the ]ieople should be obedient, and in their inoniin and eveniuijj |)rayers they should remember their cliiofs Liberty was then >e Perce chiefs to speak until the Cayuso people slid receive the laws. The C'ayuse chiefs replied, " If yo want us to receive the laws, bring them forward and UK see them, as we cannot take them unless wc knoi what the}- are." A speech was then delivered to the young men to in press them favorably with regni'd to the laws. Tlu were told that they would soon take the jilaces of tl old men, and the}' should be willing to act for the goriftlacc f of the ))eople ; that they should not go here and tliii )nce I and spread false reports about war; and that this li about model Tl.( under all th about Tlio |) I bavi (iitijMit to eon speak cannot biisinei dissect He le th< been the cause of all the difiiculty and excitement wlii had prevailed among them during the past winter. Bive iiau The laws were then read, first in English, and theuiftavo n the Nez Perce. l)ropcrt Yellow Serpent then rose and said : " 1 have a iiieiBhis coi sago to you. Where are tlicse laws from ? Are thefts. I)i from God or from the earth ? I would that you nii;Aere ?" say, they were from God. But I think they are fmifflhe Prii the earth, because, from what I know of white melpnite w they do not lionor these laws. wave be In answer to this, the people were informed that tMlieir k laws were recognised by God, and imposed on men pay of all civilized countries. Yellow Serpent was please nil tht with the explanation, and said that it was according I peak a the instructions he had received from others, and he wi very glad to learn that it was so, because many of s people had been angry with him when he lia'' whippe oinethii them for crime, and had told him that God would sei ince th him to hell for it, and he was glad to know that it w Vomise pleasing to God." avc not peak oi My Bl^ THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 103 !do thiH, tlulj Tcltiiukalkt, a Cayuse cliiof, rose iiiul said : '' What do :u)m|)urii*on tByou read the laws for before wo take them 't We do heart, tlujOnot take the laws because Tauitau says so. He is a lat the chidB Catholic, and as a people we do not follow his worship." r, and not mDk. White replied that this did not make any ditterenco ^ople as tlii'iBabout law ; that the people in the States had different lo them ^f>0(jBmodes of worship, yd all had one law. their inorniniB Then a chief, called the Prince, arose and said : " I ;r their cliii'Miuiderstand you gave us liberty to examine ever}' law — to speak, nnflall the words and lines — and as questions are asked er for the >'eBabout it, we should get a better understanding of it. people shoiilBTlie pooj)Ie of this couritry have but one mind about it. |)lied, " If \Ml have soniething to say, but perhaps the people will orward amllAiispute me. As a body, we have not had an 0|)portunity nless we kiiumo consult, therefore you come to us as in a wind, and ■speak to us as to the air. as we have no point, and we ing men to lirBcannot speak because we have no point before us. The le laws. Tlujibusiness before us is whole, like a body we have not i places of lliBdissected it. And perhaps you will say that it is out of cl for the , their hands, and the laws condemned stealing. But he assured them that the laws wore caleulated to do them jjjood, a>ul not evil. But this drd not satisfy the IVincc. He desired that the ^ood whrch it was propf>scd to do them by adoptiii:,' the laws, miij^ht be put in a tangible forni' before then). He said that it had been a lonjjf time since the country bad been discovered by whites, and that ever since that time, people had been comrnuj along, and j^romising to do them good ; but they had all ]>assed by and left no blessing behind them. That the Hudson's Bay Company bad persuaded them to continue with them, and not i,") otter the Americans; that if the Americans designed to do them good why did they not bring goods with them to leave with the Indians ? that they woie fools to liston to what the Yankees had to say ; that they would only talk, but the company would both talk and give them presents. * * * * About this time (1848) the Indians became q^uite trouble some, in various partsofthecountry. At \Vailat|)u, on the Walla Walla river, where a mission station had be n established by ]>r. Marcus Whitman, they took advaii tage of the Doctor's abfvence and bi-oke into the house. in the dead of the night, and even in the bed chamhei '•• more of Mrs. Whitman, who, with much diftieulty, escapdl out of their hands. At Tiapwai, on Clear Water rivor wbei'e the Rev. Mr. Spalding was eonducting a mission station, they conunitted some outrages; also, at th( ^^"^■''•onii Falls of the Willamette river. A number of iiidividuiil of Dr. White's party, who had separated themselvo The Facto I Esq., where It re I a sionari causes reader prejudi ai^ainst suiieriiji tlier) re judging Douglai curing < ivinole Wailatp ivill be 1 nteresti nissionii he resp ongs : ^?5E!=!?^ THE WniTMAN MASSACnE. 105 ^' people do ■ fpom tlio main eoinpjiny, were robbed of their eft'eeta more ; .you || wliile pussinjr ddwii tUe Colmnbia river. The Nez Porces aiul Ciiyuses, two of tbc most power- ful tribes in the country, had talked much of making war upon the Amei'icati settlement on the WilUunetto river. These things, with many others of more or lesn iin|)ortatice, produced a hi^h decree of excitement, and served to arouse the people a«i;ain to the subject of en- tering into some measures by wliich their mutual pro- o sometime ' ; thoui^h I 1, and luivc been disap- if to do." id, that the f the younj; !S at once to n" men did en property 'alin<^. Biit lateci to do tection might be secured, * Letter of Sir James Douglas. The following letter from Sir James Douglas, chief desired thiit|pjj(^.tor of tl.o Hudson's Bay Company, to S.N. Castlo, Esq., wa« first published in the Friend, at IIonlulu,S. I., where the gentlman resided to whom it was addressed. It relates the massacre of Pr. Whitman and other nun- gjonaries in a truthful manner, and gives, as one of the causes for their murder, the fact alread}' patent to tho reader who has perused the foregoing pages, viz : Tho prejudices existing in the minds of the Cayuse Indiaris aj^ainst Doctor Whitman, "tor not exerting his supj)08ed supernatural powers in saving their lives." No man then residing on this coast had better opportunities for judging the character of the Cayuse Indians, than Mr. ruite trouble- i)i)uglas, and no m;«n possessed greater facilities foi* pro- latpu, on the curing correct information relative to the causes — both by adopting; before tluMi), the country er since that promising to and left no ay Company ),'and not iip >. J I tl •, J 'l I t- m lOG THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. y\ '■ Fort Vancouver, 9th Bee, 1847. S. W. Castle, Esq. — Sir : It is with foelings indescrib- ably painful, that I hasten to communicate to you, for the information of the Board of Missions, intelligence of a disastrous event which lately occurred at the mission- ary stations of VVailati)u. (3ur estimable friend. Dr. Whitman, his amiable and accomplished lady, and nine other nun and youths in the mission employ, were mur- dered on the 21Hh ult., by the Cayuse Indians, with cir- cumstances of the most revolting cruelty. The lives of the vvohtcn and children with the exception of the la- mented hnly already named, were spared. The nii.s. sion being situated in the Cayuse country, they had a peculiar interest in jirofccting it from harm, in gratitude for jiast hivors and for the blessings of religious instruc- tions so assiduously dispensed to th«m and to their fam- ilies, yet those very people the objects of so much solici- tude, were alone concerned in effecting the destrucdpii of an establishment founded solely for their benefit^|PTlie Cayuse are the most treacherous and intractable of all the Indian tribes in this c<^)untry, and had on tnany for JMI- *^'^!£^^'^"^-ii'^'''^^^*^ ^''^ inmates of the mission by their tuniiirruouspi-oceedings and ferocious threats; but unfortunately these evidences ol a brutal disposition were disregarded by their an) (luce a change of mind — a better state of fei I'ct, and 1 Has shot men and. 1 voiee ivhoni tl 'pared. y a Mv. h'. iloge Id that overy c icrson til i'>ison till \'aiiatj>u, e poisoDi es.sion of liein all j it grad )ared. bu ^M THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. 107 former cruelty probably addlncj strength to this suspic- ion. Still some of the more reflecting had confidence in Dr. Whitman's integrity, and it was agreed to test the effects of the medicine he had furnished on three of their people, one of whom was said to be in perfect health. They unfortunately died, and from that moment it was resolved Lo destroy the Mission. It was immediately af- ter buiying the remains of these three persons that they s with cirli'cpiviJ'c'd to the mission and murdered every man found he livesofltbere. 1 of the lal This hajvpened about 2 o'clock in the afternoon ; the Indians arrived at the mission one after another with tlieir arms hid under their blankets. The doctor was at sciiool with the children, the others were cutting up an o.K they had Just killed. When the Indians saw they were numerous enough to much solit'i-l^'ft'-'^t their objeul, they fell upon the poor victims, some structjoii ofl^\''-l' giiKt* and othei's with hatchets, and their blood was snefit'^f'riiePO'^" streaming on all sides. Some of the Indians turned stable of all|l''^''''ii^tenlion towards the doctor ; he received a pistol c, 1847. \ indescrib- o you, for lligence of je mission- Viend, 1>. r, and nine were nuu' The mis- Lhey had a n tcratitude ous instnio- their fam- n many for- mission by hveats; but disposition and served to do thorn would pro injr towards is hwpes ro- ollowini;- i i'iiot in the breast irom one, and a blow on the head with a hat(rhet from another. He had still strength enough remaining to reach a sofa, where he threw himself down and expired. Mrs. Whitman was dragged from the gar- ret, and mercilessly butchered at the door. Mr. liogers was shot after his life had been granted to him; the wo- men and children were also going to be murdered, when voice was raised to ask for mercy in favor of those ivliom they thought innocent, and their lives were |)ared. It is reported that a kind of deposition made )' a Mr. Ifogers increased the fury of this savage mob. ir. Ilogers was seized, was made to sit down, and then ikl that his life would be spai'ed if he made a full dis- jvery of Dr. Whitman's suj)j)Osed treachery. That erson then told the Indians that the Doctor intended to oison them, that one night, when Mr. Spalding was at iailatj)U, he hoard them say that the Indians ought to e poisoned, in ordci- that the Americans might take pos- I'Ssion of their lands — that the Doctor wished to poison licm all at once, but that Mr. Spalding advised him to licine's witlf*^ it gradually. Mr, liogers, after this deposition, was tribe theii pared, but an Indian, who was not present^ having seen %\ m i 108 THE WHITMAN MASSACRE. him, fired at and killed him. An American made a simi- lar deposition, adding that Mrs. W. was an accomplice, | and she deserved death as well as her husband. It ap pears that he concluded by saying that ho would take] the side of the Indians, and that he detested the Ameri- cans. An Indian then put a pistol into his hand, and said I to him, if you tell the truth, you must prove it by shoot ing that 3oung American; and this wretched apostate from his country fired upon the young man shown to him, and laid him dead at his feet. It was upon the evi- dence of that American that Mrs. Whitman was murder- ed, or she might have shared iu the mercy extended to] the other females and children. Such are the details as far as known of that disastroixl ovent and the causes which led to it. Mr. Roger's re- ported deposition, if correct is unworthj^ of belief, hav- ing been drawn from him by the fear of instant dcatli The other Ameiican who shed the blood of his friend,! must be a villain of the darkest dye, and ought to suffeil for his aggravated crime. On the 7th inst., Mr. Ogden proceeded towards Wal Walla with a strong party of the Hudson's Bay Coml pany's servants to endeavor to prevent further evil. Accompanying 3'ou will receive a copy of a letter! which I addressed to Governor Abernethy immcdiateljl after the arrival of the melancholy intelligence at thisi place. All that can be collected will be considered im-[ portant by the friends of Doctor and Mrs. Whitman inj the United States, who will bo anxious to learn eveiTl particular concerning their traffic fate. It will be a satisfaction for them to know that tlicsel eminent servants of God were faithful in their lives,! though we have to deplore the melancholy circumstancesl which accompanied their departure from this world ofl trial. I remain, sir, Your very ob't. servant, » James Douglas. -\ lat disastrous I •. Roger's re- )f belief, liav- nstant death, of bis friend,! agbt to suffei'l i\v tbat tlicsel n tbeir livesj jirciinistancejl this world ofl l;l wafcta