vjdOS-ANGElfj^ o cS T O vvlOSANCElfj> -o c_ jHIBRARYQr A\\E UNIVERSE I DC CO THE NEZ PERCES SINCE LEWIS AND CLARK MISS S. L. McBETH The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark By KATE C. McBETH ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO Fleming H. Revell Company LONDON AND EDINBURGH Copyright, 1908, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street PREFACE AT the urgent request of some of my friends I have written this simple little narrative of life, for more than twenty-seven years, among the Nez Perces. In preparation of the narrative I have used articles which already have appeared in our church magazines. I gratefully acknowledge help received from Elder Billy Williams, a Nez Perces Indian, from Gray's His- tory of Oregon, " Rocky Mountains," by Lewis and Clark, " Indian Missions " by Myron Eells, records by Rev. H. H. Spalding, also a magazine article by Rev. G. L. Deffenbaugh. Elder Billy Williams was considered the most re- liable historian of the tribe, and the history and tradi- tions I have used, he gave me in his own language. I lovingly dedicate this work to the memory of my sainted sister, Miss S. L. McBeth, who had so much to do with the success of the Gospel among the Nez Perces. KATE C. McBETH. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 9 I. THE COMING OF LEWIS AND CLARK . 15 II. SEARCH FOR THE LIGHT ... 27 III. FIRST CHURCH IN OREGON TERRITORY . 48 IV. THE WHITMAN MASSACRE THE SPALD- INGS LEAVE LAPVVAI ... 66 V. THE GREAT REVIVAL . . . 75 VI. Miss S. L. McBETH .... 84 VII. THE JOSEPH WAR .... 94 VIII. SCHOOL FOR WOMEN . . . . 102 IX. NEZ PERCES CHIEFS . . . .115 X. A JOURNEY TO LAPWAI . . .125 XI. SCHOOL-DAYS IN KAMIAH . . . 1 37 XII. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL . . . 148 XIII. FOURTH OF JULY CAMP- MEETINGS PAST AND PRESENT 163 XIV. THE ALLOTMENT OF LAND . . .184 XV. MISSIONARY EXTENSION . . . 204 XVI. DEATH OF Miss S. L. McBETH . .218 XVII. JONATHAN WILLIAMS . . . .234 XVIII. NEZ PERCES CHURCHES AND MINISTERS. 244 APPENDIX .... . 256 ILLUSTRATIONS Facing Page Miss S. L. MCBETH Title REV. H. H. SPALDING ...... 36 THE HOUSE BUILT BY MR. SPALDING IN 1837 . . 44 Miss SUE McBETH's SCHOOLROOM AND HOUSE IN KAMIAH . . 88 ROBERT WILLIAMS, FIRST ORDAINED NEZ PERCES MINISTER ....... 108 KAMIAH . . . . . . . 138 WALLA WALLA PRESBYTERY, 1893 . . . .196 REV. JAMES HAYES, WIFE AND Two CHILDREN. JAMES DICKSON is THE YOUNG MAN STANDING . 204 ELDER BILLY WILLIAMS, THE HISTORIAN OF THE NEZ PERCES TRIBE . . i./;, . . . 234 INTRODUCTION THE following pages tell of the meeting of the old and new America on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains and picture the heroic lives of men and women of two races. The story is set in a remote region and is con- cerned with persons whom the busy world rarely stops to consider. Nevertheless the impact here re- counted, forms an essential part of the history of the northwestern portion of our country, while the spirit manifested in the actions recorded is fundamental to the highest individual and national growth. Who are the Nez Perces Indians? The ethno- graphic problems of America are not yet solved. Over the land through the long years, man has been on this continent; many waves of migration have moved East and West ; North and South. At some time in the distant past, the linguistic family to which the Nez Perces belong, the Shahap- tian, drifted along and settled between the Cascade Mountains to the west, the Bitter Root Mountains to the east, and the forty-fourth and forty-sixth parallels. Within this region occupied by their kindred, the Nez Perces seem to have clung to the eastern moun- tains and to have nested so long ago in the Kamiah Valley, that they claim this spot as their birthplace. 9 1O Introduction The Nez Perces are a mountain people, and the steadfast virtues of the mountaineer are theirs. Their native name, " Nim-e-poo," signifies " the men," or " the real people," an appellation commonly used by tribes to distinguish themselves from other peoples, upon whom they generally bestowed nicknames that characterized some peculiarity of dress or custom, as, the misnomer, Nez Perces, an example of a similar habit among ourselves. In their ancient and native religion, the cosmic forces represented to the Nez Perces the power which gave them life. The wind was the breath of the universe, and as with our Aryan ancestors, it was the " gast," or ghost, the living force within, the breath of life. The birds that sped through the air were the mes- sengers between man and the invisible power above that animated all things. Crude as were their native beliefs, they were the results of a reverent outlook upon nature and a recognition that there was a power greater than man upon which he depended. Over these simple beliefs, priest-craft with its love of power crept, in the guise of the " Te-wat," and the people through fear were constrained to unworthy practices. But the vagaries of the magician could not wholly destroy the influence of the teachings of nature, as set forth in the orderly progression of day and night, summer and winter, and the regular movements of the Introduction 1 1 heavenly bodies ; nor could they silence the questions : Whence came I ? What am I here for ? Whither am I going ? questions, that wherever man has been found on the earth, he has been asking and seeking for the answer. That these questions were haunting the thoughtful men among the Nez Perces, is evidenced by their determination to send a delegation to St. Louis to seek, after almost a generation had passed, the white traders who had come among them with compass and time-keepers and other mysterious devices that beto- kened knowledge, and to ask of them, light upon these ancient questions of man's life and destiny. The four Nez Perces Indians so delegated, left their mountain home, carrying a burden that may be termed abstract, but which to them was far more real than the thousand miles of their weary march. The light de- sired came to the tribe at last but not by the hands of those who laid down their lives in the quest. The occupation by the United States of the land west of the Rocky Mountains as a result of this re- markable journey is known to the world, but it has been left to Miss Kate McBeth to tell how the answer sought through llidt-jowoey, finally reached the wait- ing Indians, and to reveal the nobleness of these people who were able to make so full a response to the high ideals set before them by their sanctified teachers. When in 1 889 I went to the Nez Perces Reservation, charged by the Government with the duty of carrying 1 2 Introduction out the provisions of the " Severally Act," and to give to each man, woman and child a share in their in- herited tribal lands, I had the privilege of knowing the Misses McBeth in the field where they had so unselfishly laboured. Much could be written of the wise way in which they had builded, for they had sought to make the individual strong, not only through his personal be- liefs and hopes, but through his family life, and his responsibility in the community. He had been taught Christian living as well as Christian thinking, and that his life must be one in thought, in speech and in deed. He had been instructed also in the history and laws of our country. So when the talk of allotting the lands in severalty began, it became evident that only among those who had been under the teaching of the Misses McBeth, could the law be intelligently explained and accepted. The sisters had prepared their pupils to understand the importance of citizenship to the Christian Indians. The only copy of the law under which the allotment was to be made, that had ever reached the reserva- tion, had been procured by a young Indian living in Kamiah, and who became my interpreter during the entire time of allotment. The weeks spent in Kamiah by us were memorable. The beauty and peace of the valley had in it more than the merely pastoral quality ; it was pervaded by the influence that had spread from the little cabin it Introduction 13 harboured. In this cabin, the Misses McBeth had lived for years, bereft of comfort, exposed to cold and to heat, forgetting themselves and ministering to others. Here the elder sister battled with disease and physical weakness and wrought her work within the hearts of men, that widens with the years in its far-reaching influence. There, too, dwelt her pupil and coworker, Robert Williams, a man of heroic mould. He was not gifted with beauty of face or figure, but in manner he was quiet and dignified, and when his serious face lighted with a smile, it became beautiful in the revelation of his gentle, loving soul. His steadfastness in what he believed to be right; his clear : eyed faith that truth must prevail; his unreserved forgiveness for wrong done to him, were marked characteristics of the man. These traits I have again and again seen magnified under the cruel persecutions to which he was sub- jected. He was a Christian leader, exemplifying in his own life, the precepts he proclaimed from the pulpit. As I write, memories awaken of Colonel McCon- ville, the vigilant, untiring friend and faithful officer, with his gentle, resourceful wife; of helpers in the field and in the school, giving unstinted service ; and of camping scenes with their touches of humour, their queer devices, their manners, their pleasures, with the constant labour and the perplexing task of adjusting claims and settling disputes. 14 Introduction I hear again from a camp of Indians, halted for the night on their way to the mines, their ponies laden with garden produce to sell to the miners, the sound of family prayer and song wafted over the hills as the shadows fall and again the sounds in the early morn- ing before they resume their journey over the moun- tain trails, float over to where I lie listening, nor can I forget the courtly courtesies of Indian men and women, nor their generous help and cordial support in many a difficult experience. The reasonableness of the Nez Perces Indians, their willingness to look upon a new aspect of a subject, their teachableness, and their patience were evidenced during the four years I was among them. They have gifts of mind and heart which cannot fail to make them welcome as citizens of our common country. The pathos, moral heroism and beauty of Christian living and doing, pictured in this rarely interesting volume, by the modest pen of the author, seem almost to belong to another sphere, so untouched are they by the selfishness and worldliness that jostle us at every turn. It is well to read of them, but better still to know that they are true and remain with us as part of the living forces within our land. r ALICE C. FLETCHER. Peabody Museum, Harvard University. THE COMING OF LEWIS AND CLARK Nez Perces History Kamas Kouse First Dogs and Horses- Homes Te-wats Sun Worship, Earth Worship Lewis and Clark's First Visit Their Return the Following Summer Story of Wat-ku-ese. IT is not easy to get much reliable history in that indefinite, misty period lying between the settling of the Nez Perces in the Kamiah Valley and the coming of Lewis and Clark, about a hundred years ago. How- ever, it is plain to see that this whole western coast had been divided among the Indians. The Nez Perces claimed all land lying between the Blue and the Bitter Root Mountains. The Buffalo country, Montana, was a common hunting ground I might say, common battle ground, where they were yearly destroying each other. The Nez Perces and Sioux were always fight- ing. " Pe-sa-kul-kt " (cut-throats), is still the name the Nez Perces give to the Sioux. Compared with that of surrounding tribes, the Nez Perces land was rich in its provisions for the people. Its " kamas " and " kouse " fields were such broad prairies, as the Weippe and Kamas prairies and the region around Moscow. Those were their best root countries. The Salmon, Snake, and Clearwater rivers furnished fish, and the mountains game. The men 16 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark were responsible for the family meat, the women for the roots and berries, but in times of failure, or even scarcity, famine stared them in the face. On the hunt it was days without food then a feast. It was espe- cially the industry of the women in digging and storing away for winter that kept them from feeling the pinch of poverty at any time. Time was, when all the burdens were borne upon the people's backs. How rich they felt afterwards, when dogs trotted along through the forests, carrying as much as fifty pounds each! Brighter and better days came when they got a few horses from the Shoshones. They were afraid of them at first, as in later years, of the cat, or " Pits-pits." This was the sound to them of the word " pussy-pussy." Much serious trouble grew with the multiplication of horses, for the Snakes, or Shoshones, were constantly skir- mishing around to steal their precious ponies. Before going on the hunt, or to fish, a leader was chosen, to whom they were expected to give implicit obedience. In their best days they had seventy-five villages, all on the banks of streams. Each village had its chief or leader. The head chief's village might be considered the capital of the group. Vil- lages farthest up from the mouth of the stream were in danger from incursions of the enemy. The upper village on the Snake was entirely destroyed, with the exception of two women and one man. On the same river, near Asotin, lived a boastful man named Skin- The Coming of Lewis and Clark 17 a-way, who led out a band of six or seven hundred of his brethren against the Snakes, and not one ever returned to tell the tale. They usually spent the winter months in their own pleasant valley homes, living in long houses built of sticks, grass, and skins, with a number of fires through the centre. The Indians spoke not of so many rooms in a house, but of so many fires. If the families were small, several families would use the same fire. There were no partitions, of course, for privacy. But of these long houses we shall hear a little further on. Parents had little to do with the training of their children. If discipline was needed, the chief was ap- pealed to. He had his band-whipper ready to admin- ister the punishment which he decided upon. The band supplanted the family. This prevailed until the gospel came, when the bands were lost in the indi- vidual homes and families. The chief's power then began to wane. During those early ages, whatever religion these people may have had to start with, had degenerated into a kind of devil-worship, in which the " Te-wats," or sorcerers, played a prominent part, with their en- chantments, their dreaming, drumming, sleight-of-hand performances, and dancing. It is hard to classify their worship, mixed up with these abominations. There were many customs which must have come from the children of Jacob. Their chiefs were a kind of priests, who received the first-fruits of the land, and l8 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark fish. An unmarried man married his brother's widow. Indeed, no other book is so easy for these Indians to understand as the Old Testament. " Oh, so we used to do ! " is often heard while they are studying it. Sun worship and earth worship were started among them after the coming in of the " King George's men," or Hudson Bay Company. Lewis and Clark's visit antedates this by several years. Clark surprised three little Nez Perces boys, September 20, 1805, on the Weippe, their best " kamas " ground. The boys ran and hid. No wonder, for it was the first white face they had ever seen. Lewis and Clark and company had just come in upon the Weippe from the Lo Lo trail notwithstanding the statements of some that they crossed on the other trail. They used both. The Nez Perces of to-day, if they want to cross the mountains, go out from Kamiah by way of Weippe on the Lo Lo trail, follow it for a distance then strike across on the ridge to the Elk City trail. Lewis and Clark came down off the hills above Oro Fino. They met some of the people. They were anxious to make canoes and pass down the river. Right here a man met them, with a fine salmon, which he gave them for a present. Either Lewis or Clark unrolled a package, tore off a red piece of cloth and bound it about the Indian's head. That made him a chief forever. Elder Billy, a trusted Nez Perces, thinks it was a piece of the flag. This was above the north fork of the Clear- water, where the little town of Oro Fino now stands. The Coming of Lewis and Clark 19 The people say that builders of the Northern Pacific Railroad took out the last stump left from the trees of which Lewis and Clark made their canoes. Lewis and Clark called these Indians the " Cho-po- nish." This was not correct, the word being " Chup- nitpa-lu," or people of the pierced noses, or, again, in French, " Nez Perces." The Nez Perces deny that they ever did, as a tribe, pierce their noses. Occasionally one would. They consider this name a misnomer, but Lewis and Clark must have had some reason for calling them " Cho-po- nish." The tribes of the Lower Columbia did pierce their noses. If the Nez Perces had any ornament in the nose, it must have been wampum. Lewis and Clark did not find the Nez Perces naked savages, but wearing skin dresses. The women wore skirts reaching to the ankles ; the men's were shorter, with leggins and as many ornaments as they could find to bedeck themselves with. The finest was the bear's- claw necklace. The explorers did not much admire the Nez Perces disposition on first acquaintance, or, later, as they went down the river. \They thought them selfish, avaricious, and so on, but upon their re- turn in 1806, after camping among them for more than a month in the Kamiah Valley waiting for the snow to melt off the mountains, where they were treated as honoured guests, being given the best of their food, the fattest of their horses to slay and eat, they could not say enough in praise of the Nez Perces. 2O The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark On the return from their journey to the sea, all the way up through Nez Perces land, Lewis and Clark were eagerly sought by the sick, the halt, the lame and blind, for in the previous autumn the explorers had kindly given medicine which had helped some of the Indians and so won for the whites a fame as wise doctors now. At North Fork they were met by a delegation of Nez Perces to guide them on up to Kamiah, where already the principal men of the tribe awaited their coming. Couriers had been arriving daily in the Kamiah camp to tell just where the travellers were at a certain time and so calculating the time of their ex- pected arrival. On the loth of May, 1806, Lewis and Clark had their first view of the beautiful Kamiah Valley. I am sure they saw no fairer scene in all their travels, car- peted then with grass and flowers, and on the other side of the Clearwater River the foothills enclosed by buttes rising each one higher than the other for several hundred feet. But pleasing as the scenery was, the interest centred in the village, a camp of Nez Perces. Their house, 1 50 feet long, was made of sticks, straw and dried grass. The twenty-four fires were placed in a straight line through the middle. All was excite- ment and bustle in the camp because of the expected guests. The younger women with their long fringed skin dresses, going to and from the Kamiah Creek, with their basket buckets for water, the older women The Coming of Lewis and Clark 2 1 hard at work pounding the kouse root into meal, in the stone mortars to make their bread. All day they had been looking towards the top of the mountain. There was no need of field-glasses for them, their eyes were trained to view things at long range. When the word " Wa-ko " (now they are coming) was heard, the grinders stopped to watch the descent. York, the black cook, was the greatest curiosity to the Indians. They even tried to wash the black off of his face. The white folk looked all about the same, so far as dress and colour were concerned. The travellers were willing to rest at short distances to make mental pic- tures of the scene. Of course they were met at the foot of the hill by fine-looking braves on spirited ponies, who guided them to the entrance of the long house, where they were received in due form under the United States flag which had been sent in the previous fall to the great chief Black Eagle. Other important chiefs were there to assist Eagle in extending hospitalities to these honoured guests. No fear but that there was dignity enough in all this ceremony ! Afterwards they were conducted to a spot already selected for their camp, where the chief had set up a large leather tent which he told them was to be their home as long as they chose to stay in the valley. These white friends were not long in telling of their lack of food, and at once two bushels of kamas and other roots, with a dried salmon, were placed before 22 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark them, for which the travellers were thankful. But the whites were not accustomed to living upon roots, and might become sick. So they proposed exchanging one of their poor horses for a fatter one in possession of the savages, which they might kill and eat. The hospitable feelings of the Nez Perces chiefs were shocked at the idea of such an exchange and they replied, " The horses on all these hills are ours ; if you are disposed to eat such food, take as many as you like." A young fat horse was soon brought and killed, and what a grand supper the strangers did have that first evening in Kamiah ! After the meal, they assem- bled the chiefs, smoked with them and explained the object of their journey. There was but little sleep that night, for the Nez Perces were not sleepy. The next day, May nth, there was a great council of the chiefs. Those present were Black Eagle, Hahats Ilp-Ilp, Red Bear, Cut Nose, Twisted Hair, Broken Arm and Speaking Eagle. Who can at this date describe the dignity of that meeting, as the Nez Perces sat looking into the hearts of the white men before them? Think of the time consumed in communi- cating but a little information from one party to the other ! Lewis and Clark spoke first in English, to one of their men, who translated into French to Char- boneau, and he translated it to his wife in the Minne- taree tongue ; she then put it into Shoshone and the young Shoshone into Nez Perces. There was plenty of room for misunderstandings in such a process. The Coming of Lewis and Clark 23 After the talk was ended, the spy-glass, the magnet, the compass, the watch, and the air gun were shown the Nez Perces. The fame of these wonders had reached them from the people of other tribes who had seen these things as the travellers passed through the year before. The next day another council of chiefs alone was held to decide upon the answer to be given to Lewis and Clark. The chiefs had but one heart and said, " We trust them, we want their friendship, and the friendship of those who sent them. We will try to follow their advice and not go to war with other tribes, not even with the Shoshones." After this decision all the people were called into the long house, where the pots were briskly boiling on the long row of many fires. Eagle was the first speaker, and explained to them the decision of the chiefs. He then rose and went from one pot to another stirring in meal made of kouse roots, all the while talking to the people, and concluded with an in- vitation to all who were ready to say " Ah " (yes), to their decision to come forward, partake of the food, while those opposed to it were to sit still where they were. Of course all agreed and had a share in the mush, except the women, who tore their hair and wrung their hands in great distress, for they feared some snare for their people. No doubt they gave in and shared in the feast when the men arose and went out. 24 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark Lewis and Clark were more than a month there in the Kamiah Valley. Not all the time on the banks of the Kamiah Creek, they after a time moved just across the river, because the game was more plentiful there. Crowds of people came for medicine ; even a good horse would be given in exchange for a bottle of eye-water. It was June before they could get away, so long did the snow lay on the Bitter Root Mountains that year. Then the Nez Perces guided them out from the Weippe over the mountain trails into Montana, on the Lo Lo trail, the same trail upon which General Howard after- wards found so much difficulty in pursuing Joseph. I have no difficulty in tracing the campings and the journeyings of these travellers all through Nez Perces land and in finding the evidence how the Nez Perces loved and trusted them ! Their names are household words to this day. Just how much they trusted them can be seen by their following the white visitors' trail to the East, twenty-five years later, to have them ex- plain some difficulties in the matter of religion. Oh ! that visit ! What a fertile subject it has been for camp- fire stories for more than one hundred years ! Here is one of their stories : Not long before the coming of Lewis and Clark, in some of the many bat- tles in the Buffalo country, in Montana, a Nez Perces woman, Wat-ku-ese, was taken prisoner. The Indians who had captured her were returning to their own land, and on their way, they fought with another tribe, The Coming of Lewis and Clark 25 and the Nez Perces woman was again taken captive by the enemy, and so carried farther and farther away. It was while there, still a captive, that she saw the first white face that a Nez Perces had ever seen. We are inclined to think she was taken somewhere into the Red River settlement. Some time afterwards, with her child upon her back, she made her escape. Along the way she met with much kindness from the whites, whom she called the So-yap-po, the crowned ones, and by this name the white people are known among the Nez Perces to-day. They were called the crowned ones because of their hats. Her child died, doubtless because of starvation. She buried it beside the trail over in the Flathead country, where she was so for- tunate as to find some of the Nez Perces, who brought her home, a poor diseased woman. She had much to tell about the strange people with white skins and light eyes who had been so kind to her. Later, this poor woman was with the Nez Perces on their best kamas ground, the Weippe, when Lewis and Clark came over the Lo Lo trail and surprised them there. The first impulse of the Nez Perces was to kill them. Wat-ku-ese lay dying in her tent. She heard the talk about the strange people. She at once began to plead for them, saying, " Do them no harm. They are the So-yap-po, the crowned ones, who were so kind to me. Do not be afraid of them, go near to them." Cautiously they approached. The whites shook hands with them. This they had never 26 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark seen done before, and in surprise said one to another, " They dandle us." Wat-ku-ese died soon after, but she had lived long enough to keep Lewis and Clark from being killed by the savage Nez Perces. The fear of the white faces soon vanished and they became friends. There are two events in Nez Perces history, so well known that even the children can tell about them. These are the coming of Lewis and Clark in 1805, followed by their return in 1 806 from the coast ; and the going out of the four in search of the truth about God, twenty-five years later. II SEARCH FOR THE LIGHT Old Heathen Worship Dissatisfaction with It Rumours of a Book Four Nez Perces Sent to Search for the Light Rev. Samuel Parker and Dr. Whitman Rev. H. H. Spalding and Wife the First Mis- sionaries to the Nez Perces First Station on Lapwai Creek Buffalo Tent Mr. and Mrs. Spalding's School. UP to the time of the coming of Lewis and Clark, indeed, until after the coming of King George's men (Hudson Bay Company) some years afterwards, the Nez Perces did not have any idea of the worship of God. So if Lewis and Clark tried to direct their dark- ened minds into the light, it was at the time a failure ; but when afterwards, in their groping for an object of worship, they began the sun worship, they recalled the many gestures of Lewis and Clark upwards, as well as those of King Goorge's m'en, saying to each other, " Oh ! now we understand. They wanted to tell us that the sun is God, and to worship him, but they had no interpreter and we could not understand them. Now we see. Now we know. The sun is our father, the earth is our mother." The Hudson Bay Company had a station for trade in the Kamiah Valley, on the now " Kip-ka-pel-i-kan " farm. The Nez Perces met the Hudson Bay Company men at Colville, and also at Walla Walla. A sun-pole 27 28 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark was set up near the present site of Walla Walla. There the Nez Perces met yearly for a great sun- dance. Billy told me that many a time he had danced around the pole, with great fear lest he should touch it and die. The mother earth shared in the honours with the sun father. Their sun worship was at stated times or feasts, as when the fish (salmon) came up and entered the little streams in the spring, and when the first spring roots (Se-with) were fit to eat. The head chief or priest, would call the people of his group of villages to worship. This was the Feast of First-fruits. No one touched them until this ceremony was over, and the chief or priest received first. The worshippers with bowed heads formed a circle. The priest held up a fish to the sun, turning in the direction the sun ap- pears to move around the earth, all chanting as he turned and turned " Oh ! Father, bless the fish. Oh ! Father, bless us." This was their song. They then dug a hole and placed the fish in it, covering it with earth, chanting, " Oh ! Mother, bless the fish. Oh ! Mother, bless us." Other feasts were observed when the deer were plenty, and when the berries were ripe. All worship had dancing in it. In after years they were astonished at their dullness in not understanding that the joyous times that the Hudson Bay Company men wanted to introduce among them, fourth of July and Thanksgiv- ing, all meant worship. Search for the Light 29 The grace before eating was by turning the vessel around as the sun turns. The sun was consulted at all times ; before going out to hunt their horses, and be- fore going out to hunt on the mountains. They never failed to acknowledge him as the great leader. All the products of the earth were his children, born of the earth. No wonder some of them, at the time of the Joseph war, " did not want to sell their mother, nor hurt her with a plowshare." The Nez Perces were not long satisfied with the sun worship, for rumours were beginning to reach their ears that there was another, greater than the sun, who made both the sun and the earth. Whether they got this word first from a trapper, King George's men, Jesuit priests on the upper Columbia, or from Iroquois Indians in the Buffalo country, they cannot tell. They seemed to get it from all these sources about the same time. At all events, the more they heard, the more troubled became their hearts about the way they were to worship. They became more and more convinced that sun worship was not the right way. Many a yearly gathering or council was closed with, " If we could only find the trail of Lewis and Clark, and fol- low it up, we would come to the light or the truth about what we have heard." They had heard that the white man had a book from God. That would tell them the right way to worship. At last, twenty-five years after Lewis and Clark had been among them, they " finished their 30 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark minds " or decided to seek for the trail and for the Light. Elder Billy Williams told me he well remem- bered the going out. Billy was eight or ten years old when they started, and rode out a -piece of the way on the pony behind his cousin, who was one of the four who went. Elder Billy often told me this wonderful story. The last time he did so, I translated it as he told it, for the Rev. Dr. D. O. Ghormley, in July of 1894, a year before Billy died. The four who went to St. Louis on that memorable quest were : 1. " Tip-ya-lah-na-jeh-nin " (Black or Speaking Eagle) ; he died in St. Louis. He was " Kip-ka-pel-i- kan's " grandfather, or Pa-ka-lis. I think he was one of the chiefs who entertained Lewis and Clark in the Kamiah Valley on their return trip, in 1806. The name is misspelled by them, " Tu-na-ach-e-moolt-olt." 2. " Ka-ou-pu " (Man of the Morning or Daylight) who was one of the two older ones. His mother was a Flathead, his father a Nez Perces. He died in or near St. Louis perhaps at St. Charles. 3. " Hi-youts-tohan " (Rabbit-Skin-Leggins) who was of the White Bird band, part Palouse, but a Nez Perces Indian. He was Speaking Eagle's brother's son. (Yellow Bull is from the same band.) He was one of the two young men, and he alone lived to re- turn. He met the Nez Perces in great numbers in the Buffalo country, Montana, told them all about his visit and that the promise had been made to send a Search for the Light 31 man with the Book to them. He never came back among his people in the Nez Perces land. No one knows where he went. It is likely with the whites, for he loved them so well. That year about a hundred whites came in among them on the Buffalo ground. 4. " Ta-wis-sis-sim-nim" (No horns on his head, or little horns like an old buffalo), died on the road home perhaps near the mouth of the Yellowstone. He was about twenty years old when he started. His two horses were brought back near to Lemhi. He was a doubter of their old beliefs. There was a fifth one who started, a Flathead Indian, went a two days' journey and returned. Said he was too old to go on. So he is never talked of in connection with the company. It seems quite natural that when the Nez Perces were perplexed about how and what to worship, their eyes and hearts should try to follow the trail of their trusted friends, believing if their troubles were laid before " the crowned ones," they would know the truth. Kip-ka-pel-i-kan, the grandson of Tip-e-lah- ne-yeh-nin, is at the present writing a member of the Second Church of Kamiah, and is over sixty years old. This going out, Elder Billy well remembered, was in 1831 or 1832. Indians are not exact as to dates. Mrs. Eva Emery Dye, in " The Conquest " (p. 426), says it was 1831. This would be twenty-five years after Lewis and Clark had come among them in the 32 The Nez Pcrces Since Lewis and Clark Kamiah Valley. Of course the older men, especially the chiefs, well remembered their white friends. In gathering material for " The Conquest " (see p. 426), Mrs. Dye found this record in the Cathedral at St. Louis : " Kee-pee-le-le, buried October 31, 1831, a ne Perce de la tribu des Chopooneek, nation appelee Tete Plate." The name Kee-pee-le-le is doubtless meant for the family name, as it resembles the name of Speaking Eagle's grandson, Kipkapelikan. It was a very common thing in early days for a Nez Perces to have two, or even more names. Sometimes the people changed the name after some brave act or battle. More often the man had it changed himself, by mak- ing a present at some great gathering. If the " Aahs " were general, the people's consent was given. It was as he wished. He had a new name. The Christian Indian has no desire to change his name. It is but a few years ago that the wild ones tried to bring back the old custom. The agent brought this business to a sudden stop by announcing that they might lose their individual land by it that they must keep the name written in their patents. So the name Tipyal- ahnahjeh-nin given here, and Keepeelele in the records of the St. Louis Cathedral, is no perplexity to me. He was a Nez Perces ; no question about that. Their tradition is that the first time they heard the name Nez Perces applied to them, was in St. Louis Search for the Light 33 when the four who had been sent in search of the light or truth about God, were sitting in silence in the American Fur Company's rooms gazing at the many who came curiously to see them and wondering where they came from. At last one who was said to be " wise " was brought in and he on short examination said, they are the Nez Perces or Pierced Noses of the lower Columbia. This misnomer has clung to them ever since. Their own testimony is that they never did pierce their noses. It is strange that historians have made such careless statements about this delegation that they were Flat- heads, or the Flathead branch of the Nez Perces. There is no such branch. If they had been called long-headed Nez Perces, instead of Flatheads, it would have been more appropriate. I have never heard that the Flatheads claimed the honour. Certain it is that they never received much benefit from the dele- gation. The Flatheads are now a Roman Catholic tribe. The Nez Perces here never dream that any one doubts their statement. Of course, those brave men had no idea of what results would follow their mission, but back of this movement was the living, loving Lord, who could see the end from the begin- ning, and as He looked westward down through coming years could say, " I have much people there." Those two younger men, when they had buried the fathers who led them there, felt, no doubt, their mission to be a sad failure. In their parting address in the 34 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark American Fur Company's rooms in St. Louis, one of them said, " I came to you over a trail of many moons from the setting sun. I came with one eye partly open for more light for my people who dwell in dark- ness. I made my way to you with strong arms, through many enemies and strange lands, that I might carry back much to them. I go back with both arms broken and empty. The two fathers who came with us, the braves of many winters and wars we leave them here asleep by your great waters and wigwams. My people sent me to get the Book from heaven from the white men. You make my feet heavy with burdens of gifts, but the Book is not among them. When I tell my poor, blind people, after one more snow, that I did not get the Book no word will be spoken. One by one they will arise and go out into silence. My people will die in darkness. No Book from the white man to make the road plain. " Kullo " (That is all). One who had listened to this touching lament published it in the Pittsburg Advocate. The Method- ists were stirred up to form a missionary society, or board, to meet this call. In 1834 Jason Lee, with his nephew, Daniel Lee, and laymen Sheperds and Edwards, were sent out to form a mission among the Indians, the Nez Perces. Under an escort furnished by Captain Wyeth they travelled. Wyeth stopped to establish Fort Hall. The missionaries pushed on to Fort Nez Perces, now Wallula, and from there, in Search for the Light 35 company with Hudson Bay men, reached Vancouver, where Dr. McLoughlin was stationed. His kind treat- ment of these strangers of any strangers, indeed influenced the Methodists to start their mission in the Willamette Valley, instead of the Clearwater Valley. In 1835 the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions sent out the Rev. Samuel Parker, of Ithaca, N. Y., and Dr. Marcus Whitman, of Rush- ville, N. Y., to explore the Oregon country (this whole country from the Bitter Root to the sea was called Oregon then), with a view of forming missions among the Indians. At the Green River rendezvous on the Rocky Mountains they met many Nez Perces Indians, among themIsh-hol-hol-hoats-hoats(Lawyer)so named for his shrewdness by the Hudson Bay Company men, and Tuk-ken-sui-tas (Samuel). No doubt there they told of the search for the Book and the eagerness of the Nez Perces for a teacher who would show them the true way. It was there decided that Dr. Whitman should take two Nez Perces boys, Ites and Tueka-kas, or as Dr. Whitman called them, John and Richard, return to the East and ask for men and means to start a mission among the Nez Perces. The Indians prom- ised to escort the Rev. Mr. Parker through the land. This promise they faithfully kept, taking him safely down to Fort Walla Walla, where he met P. C. Pam- brum, chief clerk of the Hudson Bay Company. This was in 1835. The Nez Perces knew that the " white head," Dr. McLoughlin, at Vancouver, had 36 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark used his influence to send the missionaries which were sent by the Methodists to the Willamette Valley, in- stead of to the Clearwater Valley. Dr. Whitman, with his two Nez Perces boys, journeyed eastward from the Rocky Mountains in the company of the American Fur Company's men. The doctor made himself so companionable and useful, that his wants and the wants of the two Indian boys, were kindly met by the Fur Company's agents. They reached New York safely. The doctor reported to the American Board, who decided to establish a mission among the Nez Perces, as had been arranged with Whitman and Parker before leaving the Green River rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains. February 20, 1836, as Mr. and Mrs. Spalding were wending their way over the crunching snow of West- ern New York, on their way as missionaries to the Seneca Indians, they were overtaken by Whitman, who wanted this good couple for mission work in Oregon. Questions and answers passed as they rode along. " It will take the summers of two years." " We can have the escort of the American Fur Com- pany to the Divide, and there the Nez Perces will meet and guide the rest of the way." So the conversation went on until they reached the village of Howard, N. Y. Mrs. Spalding was left to decide the matter, which she did upon her knees, in an upper chamber in a tavern. " What about your health ? " Mr. Spald- ing asked, when she returned her answer, " I will go. REV. H. H. SPALDING Search for the Light 37 I like the command just as it stands," was her reply, " ' Go ye into all the world,' without any exceptions for poor health." Mrs. Spalding was a weakly woman. Intellectually and spiritually, she was fitted for this undertaking. She had been sitting side by side with her husband in the Greek and Latin classes in Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, when Beecher's lectures were so much to that institution. Whitman was soon afterwards married to Narcissa Prentis, of Amity, N. Y. These were two grand young women although not alike in character. The Indians took to Mrs. Spalding at once, giving as a reason, " She had a quiet heart was not excitable, and readily picked up their language." At Independence, Mo., they were joined by Mr. W. H. Gray (afterwards Oregon's historian), who had been appointed financial agent for the company. He certainly had his hands full in caring for this com- pany and its baggage, for they had with them material for a blacksmith's shop, plows, seeds of all sorts, cloth- ing to last two years, and wagon teams. At starting they had three wagons, eight mules, sixteen cows, two men, and those two Indian boys, who were indeed helpful on the way. Little can we now conceive the inconveniences, not to say hardships, of that journey. There were rivers to ford, or skin rafts to be made for crossing, mountains to ascend and descend where a false step would mean broken bones or death. Safely they reached the rendezvous in the Rocky 38 The Nez Perces Since Lewis and Clark Mountains at Green River, in company with the Fur Company's men. Two days before they reached there they had a fright from the Indians, who, hearing of their approach, had come to meet them, but they soon saw a white cloth tied to a gun and knew they were friends. But how strange their actions ! Horses and riders alike seemed crazy with joy, leaping, yell- ing, whirling round no wonder the men, as well as the two women, were frightened. It was rather an unpleasant way the Nez Perces had to express their joy that the missionaries had indeed come. They expected to meet Parker there according to agreement, but instead found a letter from him, carried there by Nez Perces hands. The following is from Mrs. Spalding's diary : July 4, 1836. Crossed a ridge of land to-day called the Divide, which separates the waters which flow into the Atlantic from those which flow into the Pacific, and camped for the night on the head waters of the Colorado. The brave Nez Perces who have been awaiting our arrival at the rendezvous for several days, on hearing we were near, came out to meet us, and have camped with us to-night. They appear to be gratified to see us actually on our way to their country. Mr. Spalding, Dr. Whitman and Mr. Gray are to have a talk with the chiefs to-night. July 6th. We arrived at the rendezvous this even- ing. Were met by a large party of Nez Perces, men, women, and children. The women were not satisfied short of saluting Mrs. Whitman and myself with a kiss. All appear happy to see us. If permitted to Search for the Light 39 reach their country and locate among them, may our labours be blessed to their temporal and spiritual good. July 1 8th. We have commenced our journey for Fort Walla Walla, in company with Mr. Macleod. The Nez Perces seem sadly disappointed because we do not accompany them. They say they fear we will not go with them. All appear very anxious that they may be taught about God, and be instructed in the habits of civilized life. One chief has concluded to go with us, notwithstanding it will deprive him of the privilege of securing a supply of meat for the winter. The Indians you may be sure cast some keen looks at the two white women. They presented the visit- ors with some fresh venison ; also a piece of broiled and roasted buffalo meat roasted on a stick with more sand than salt on it. In return for this compliment, Ish-hol-hol-hoats-hoats (Lawyer) and Tak-en-sue-tis (Samuel) were invited to supper with their white friends. Lawyer would not have been the father of his sons, if he had not tried to make a good impres- sion upon the white friends there. Mrs. Lawyer was with her husband on that trip, and took great delight in telling me about it when she was a very old woman. In the Nez Perces eyes, Mrs. Spalding was so kind, so gentle, so altogether good. Mrs. Lawyer said, " Why, she could talk quite well with us before we reached our own land." l The short letter from Dr. Parker said he had been 1 Mrs. Spalding was a cousin of Dr. Ellinwood of the Foreign Board. 4 NOV i 9 1977. APR Form L9-S ^ O O ii_ ^ 30 =- ,tqT 3 MM 14W ~~ "V W- "-^ ft T' "V 'i ^J =)? gV/*^? I Pi S i *fn S s I t 2? ^ x' I i 5 ^ i IBRARYO^ CALIFOff^ ANCElfj>