CHAPTER XXV. INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST
The Indians of the great Northwest, are today of many diversified and small bands, chief among which are the Crows, Utes, Nez Perces, Paiutes, Northern Cheyennes, Blackfeet, and Yakimas, and various Columbia River bands. Linguistically they are Athapascan, Salishan and Shoshonean stocks with remnants of other stocks along the Pacific coast. Practically all of them live on reservations. As in the case of the other tribes described in this volume, the children have been educated, allotments have been granted to most of the individuals, irrigation schemes either projected or carried into effect, timber sold, or Government sawmills established, and the entire life of the Indians changed. The narrative, therefore, must be along historical and philanthropic lines rather than ethnologic. True, up to about 1880 many of these Indians lived in their original condition, and particularly is this true of the Paiute and Modoc bands located far from the established routes of travel. The Indians of the Northwest came in contact with the trappers and gold-hunters flocking to the new country made familiar by the Lewis and Clark expedition. As an inevitable result, a number of wars occurred in which all of the Indians were more or less engaged. The most noted of these was the Nez Perce war of 1877, in which Chief Joseph led his Indians on a magnificent retreat through the mountains for upwards of 1100 miles to nearly the Canadian border. The story of our broken faith with the Nez Perces is set forth in many documents and by General Howard himself in his book, “Chief Joseph. His Pursuit and Capture.”
Following the Nez Perce war, in 1878, the Bannock Indians, a numerous division of the Shoshonean stock, were so harassed by white people that they went upon the warpath. A number of settlers and soldiers were killed, and in September, 1878, the outbreak came to an end after the military had killed all the women and children in a village of twenty lodges.
In 1870 the Modocs in southeastern Oregon had obtained a very unsavory reputation. This was due to their resenting the encroachments of the Whites. Many settlers, and also friendly Indians, were killed during various encounters. The trouble culminated in the famous siege of the lava beds, on the California frontier between Oregon and California. Here the Indians located in an almost impregnable stronghold and withstood the attacks of troops from January to April, 1873. Some Peace Commissioners, headed by General Camby, were sent to treat with the Indians and these were treacherously murdered. After hard fighting the stronghold was taken and five of the leaders captured and hanged. Like other Northwest tribes (except larger bands) the Modocs have so dwindled in numbers that they now cease to be a factor in Indian life. The northern Cheyennes now located on a reservation at Lame Deer, Montana, have long been known as a fighting people. Two generations ago the Cheyennes were much in evidence with the Sioux and other tribes in an attempt to prevent the usurpation of their hunting grounds and grazing lands on the part of the Whites. One of the Department Inspectors recently visited their reservation and under date of September 17th, writes me as follows:
“I am very busy and am finding conditions here about as bad as they were at White Earth except that these Indians have not been allotted and are not losing their land, but they are just as poor and are eating dogs, horseflesh, prairie dogs, porcupines and skunks. Conditions are disgraceful but will be properly presented, you may be sure.”
The Crow Indians, an offshoot of the Siouan stock, in Montana, are numerically the strongest of any of the mountain tribes. They possess a very large reservation, abundant grazing lands, timber and agricultural possibilities. However, as in the case of the Cheyennes, they have been backward in spite of all efforts on the part of the Government to educate them. The problem on their reservation relates chiefly to the grazing privilege. The Indians were leasing a vast tract of land to white men for the pasturing of cattle and horses at so much per head. The Whites took advantage of the Indians’ ignorance and it was necessary for the Indian Rights Association to conduct a thorough investigation. I quote from the Association’s report as to former conditions among the Crows, and the present improvement.
“The Crow Reservation, in Montana, had for years been controlled by a small ring of men, who boasted of strong political backing, and they used it for their private gain at the expense of those Indians, through the connivance of the Agent, who had formerly been employed in a bank of which the leader of this ring was the principal stockholder. For three years the Indian Rights Association sought to have a real investigation made at that point by the Department, but instead of receiving any encouragement, its efforts were blocked at every turn. Secretary Garfield had said to us, ‘bring me facts, and I will investigate them,’ but he refused to give us a formal permit to enable us to go on to the reservation and get those facts. When our Secretary was sent there for that purpose, a little later, he was promptly arrested and ordered off the reservation at his earliest convenience.
“When Commissioner Valentine assumed office, however, he promptly afforded our Secretary every courtesy and facility that were required to go unmolested over the reservation; and when the result of a month’s sifting was brought to his attention, he not only ordered an immediate investigation, but Mr. Sniffen was requested to be present to represent the Indians—an invitation that was, of course, accepted.
“On the basis of the information gathered by our Secretary, the chief Supervisor of the Indian Office conducted an investigation during October and November, 1909, and his treatment of the Crow Indians was in decided contrast to their experience with a former Inspector two years previous, when, without provocation, their main witness was brutally cursed and ordered from the tent. When the Supervisor’s report was submitted, however, it proved to be one of ‘confession and avoidance.’ He made it plain, certainly in a number of respects, what some of the conditions were, but he avoided placing the responsibility where it belonged—upon the then Superintendent. It was clearly proved that this Superintendent knowingly and wilfully permitted the violation of a United States statute by the man he regarded as his real superior, who was NOT an official of the Government, and that provisions of the grazing permits had not been respected. In spite of this and more, however, the Supervisor recommended that the Superintendent be ‘assured of the confidence of the Indian Office in his integrity, business ability and moral character.’ A few months later (in 1910), the Superintendent was forced by pressure to resign, notwithstanding the ‘confidence of the Indian Office in his integrity,’ etc. He was succeeded by an honest and efficient high-grade man, and conditions on the reservation have greatly improved. It is significant that the revenue derived from the grazing privileges under the new management will amount during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, to $160,000, whereas under the former Superintendent it was $33,001.27.”
All of these tribes mentioned in this chapter still possess sufficient property for their maintenance, and some of them a great deal. The conditions are not intolerable as elsewhere, and most of the educated Indians have become self-supporting and are successful farmers, teachers, lumbermen, etc. Along the Columbia river the salmon industry affords employment to hundreds of men and women, and the vast extent of orchards and vineyards presents an opportunity for other hundreds of Indians to earn money picking fruit and hops, harvesting grains and hay, picking apples, etc.
GRAIN, VEGETABLES AND FRUITS, BEADWORK AND BASKETS
This Exhibit took several prizes at the State Fair, Spokane, Wash., 1913
One of the richest reservations in point of natural resources is that inhabited by the Yakima of the same linguistic family as the Nez Perces (Shahaptian). A gentleman whom I have known for many years, L. V. McWhorter, Esq., has a ranch adjoining the reservation, and has lived among these Indians until he has become entirely familiar with the situation and their needs. The problem in the Northwest, being totally different from that elsewhere in the United States, I herewith reprint a number of paragraphs from Mr. McWhorter’s recent pamphlet “The Crime Against the Yakimas.”
It indicates how that the white people have dispossessed these Indians and taken advantage of the wonderful agricultural, timber and water-power resources. There are a number of other places in the United States where at present similar conditions to that on the Yakima reservation face the Indians, and this may serve to illustrate other sections of the country where irrigation schemes on Indian lands are under consideration.
“The Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington, was created at the Walla Walla Treaty in 1855, for the Fourteen Confederated Tribes, and covers approximately 1,000,000 acres of diversified country, including a vast body of fine desert lands susceptible to irrigation, which last has been allotted in severalty to the Indians, numbering 3,046 souls. About 42,000 acres of this is under a good system of irrigation, some private ditches, the canals being paid for by the Indians and by special appropriations by the Government. Crops are produced on 10,000 acres additional by sub-irrigation, while perhaps 20,000 acres of the allotted lands have been purchased by the Whites. This irrigable region, fertile beyond conception when watered, has long been coveted by the white man. The first attempt at irrigation on this reservation was in 1859.
“In 1895 the Commercial Club of North Yakima, Wash., petitioned Congress to sell the surplus lands of the Yakimas, and to open the reservation for settlement. Two years later Commissioners were sent to negotiate with the tribe. It was estimated that 200,000 acres of land would suffice for all allotments, and for the residue the Government offered $1,400,000, deferred payments to bear four per cent interest. The Yakimas refused this offer.
“Aside from the Jones Bill, December 21, 1904, which provides for the opening of the reservation and the sale and settlement of unallotted tribal lands, the next serious attempt to amputate the Yakimas from their lands culminated in the notorious Jones Bill, March 6, 1906, which provides that the irrigable lands of the Reservation be cared for by the United States Reclamation Service. This bill, with the consent of the Indian, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to sell sixty acres of each eighty-acre allotment; the twenty acres retained by the Indian to be furnished with a water right, to be paid for from the sale of the sixty acres. After the payment of such water right, ‘the balance, if any, shall be deposited in the treasury of the United States, to the credit of the individual Indian, and may be paid to any of them, if, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, such payments will tend to improve the condition and advance the progress of said Indian, but not otherwise.’ Under this act the Wapato Project to water about 120,000 acres, was launched. The estimated cost for a water right for the Indian’s twenty acres, including storage, is $30.00 per acre.”
We have no space for a full discussion of the attempt to rob the Yakimas. Friends rallied to their support—notably the Indian Rights Association. McWhorter saw the fruits of his toil ripening, and it now appears that these Indians will be protected in part, if not entirely.
June 8th, 1912, the Indians themselves sent a long petition to Hon. J. H. Stephens, Chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs. The closing paragraphs are characteristically Indian:—
“On Ahtanum River divide of our reservation where white man have most land, the Secretary of the Interior gives three-fourths of water to white man. Now, when red man have most land to water, he gives nearly all water to white man. This was done and we could not help ourselves. We want only what is right. God wants the white man and the red man to live in peace. We try hard to do right and obey the white man’s laws. We want you to help us.
“Our friend in Congress introduced ‘House joint resolution 250’ for Attorney General to settle our water rights. This is good, but Secretary Interior hold up this resolution and try to make Jones bill 6693 law, so Reclamation will own all water and have us flat. We want you to stop Jones bill and make law the resolution 250. Then Attorney General will settle all justly. If this is not done we are bringing suit in United States court to settle our water rights. We want the white man to be honest and treat us right. Our words are done.
“Our friend, help us. We want to hear from you.
“Your friends,
“(Signed) We-yal-lup Wa-ya-ci-ka (his x mark),
“Chief Judge of the Yakima Tribal Courts,
“Clan Chief of the Ahtanum.
“(Signed) Louis Mann,
“Corresponding Secretary of the [Indian] Councils.”
The Utes of Utah and Colorado never have been progressive, though some of them do work. They require special treatment. A Government employee remedied conditions among them in August, 1912, and wrote me, giving sensible advice, as follows:—
“What good does it do to send out circulars on sanitary conditions and dairying, when some of these Indians are in destitute circumstances? The poor Utes down at Navaho Springs need something to eat and wear, and some blankets to keep them warm. They sleep on sheepskins on the floors of their tipis. They get but little rations. They have been compelled to sell their ponies and buckskin suits, and beadwork, and Navaho blankets, to get something to eat for themselves and their children. They have no allotments, do not farm and have no way to make a dollar.
INDIAN PACK-TRAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS
Photographed by E. R. Forrest, Washington, Pa.
“Here at this reservation I have found that the Indians have been defrauded in their lands and moneys. They sold their lands under direction of the Agent, and then the scheme was to get their money away as soon as possible. It was done through the dishonest Indian trader in every possible manner. Indians’ checks were drawn, of which the Indian knew nothing, in favor of some Indian trader for horses, wagons and other things of which the Indian had no knowledge and which he did not get. Although the checks are drawn in his name and charged to the Indian, no credit is given the Indian on the books of the trader. This is just a sample. One poor Indian who lives at Navaho Springs, had his allotment of 160 acres sold for $245. This was put on the books to his credit. Then a check was drawn for a horse and saddle in favor of Mr. Trader for $165 to pay for same. He never bought same and never had this horse and saddle. No credit for this check on the Trader’s books. Then another check was drawn in the sum of $67 against this Indian account, of which he knows nothing, for a saddle, bridle, and tent. He never bought or got the bridle, saddle, or tent and knows nothing of the transaction. He never put his thumb mark to either check. So out of the little pittance he got for his land, a little more than a dollar an acre, he has had stolen from him out of that $245, the sum of $232.”
Several correspondents in the Northwest give their opinions on what should be done, and I submit extracts from their letters.
“The Government, in my judgment, should further strengthen its work in suppressing the liquor traffic among the Indians. A large appropriation should be asked for each year, and good, competent men should be employed to break up the traffic. In my opinion, it is useless to educate the Indian to grow up and drink himself to death, and if the United States laws are too little enforced with relation to the liquor traffic among Indians, it is not because they are not violated, but because the Government has not yet secured sufficient assistance to see that the law-violators are punished.”
Correspondent, Pendleton, Oregon
“I have always believed that unallotted Indians who have large grazing areas on their reservation should be the direct beneficiaries of their own grazing-lands and have continually urged that a reimbursable appropriation be made to stock this reservation. It has also occurred to me that the Indians should be encouraged by the use of large reimbursable appropriations to stock their allotments with tools and livestock and I am glad that the above propositions are being actively pushed as desirable propositions by the present Commissioner of Indian Affairs.”
Correspondent, Lame Deer, Montana
“In my opinion, the reservation was opened seventy-five years too soon. With the exception of a few half-breeds, they were absolutely unprepared for the opening of the reservation. Humanly speaking, they are doomed to utter annihilation. In dealing with them, we forgot that they were savages, and that, as it took centuries to polish our own ancestors who were vastly more intelligent than these redmen, at least one century, or one century and a half, would be required to make these people civilized.”
Correspondent, St. Ignatius, Montana
“When I took charge, nothing had been done for them by the Government. I at once issued agricultural implements, wire, seeds, etc., and organized each band and devoted the first efforts to agriculture on individual tracts, but worked all together as a community. By this means we raised a good crop the first year, in one instance going from almost starvation to plenty in the short space of four months. Since that time not a single ration has been issued, and aside from supervisory work and teaching, which is given by myself and employees, all my Indians are entirely self-supporting. I am unqualifiedly and absolutely opposed to all ration and annuity distribution as it has been carried on in our department. I am insisting upon all my Indians caring for and supporting their old people, and see that it is done. My method of helping Indians is to work both day and night to inaugurate methods and give opportunities to enable them to work out their own salvation.
“I have had an unusual opportunity to work out my own ideas, by reason of beginning in a virgin field. So far I have been remarkably successful. However, there is a strange characteristic apparent among all Indians, that they have apparently no sense of gratitude, and take everything that is done as a matter of course, and do not seem to have the faculty of contrasting their situation from year to year and striking a balance, as it were, to note their material progress.
“I have no suggestions as to reforms, except those directed toward the Indian himself. In this State he is not discriminated against as in others. Here he has nothing except his labor to tempt the cupidity of the Whites. In the past he has been given many opportunities for improvement through the Mormon Church, and he had the chance to become just as well off as the majority of the Mormon immigrants who came here into the desert almost with their bare hands. So the fault, if fault it is, lies entirely with himself. He had the opportunity to observe and profit by the example of the poor Whites who started on desert ground under the same environment and made themselves homes; in addition to this just as soon as the Mormon Church was able, the authorities ‘called’ some of its members, sent them to each band, not as preaching missionaries, but as farmers, and gave them tools and oxen and instructed them how to use them. This was done with every band under my jurisdiction. As these missionaries were sent without any pay, and were poor, they had their own families to support, and gradually returned to the settlements, leaving the Indians to carry on their work themselves. The Indians simply killed the oxen and kept up their nomadic life to a great extent, simply holding campgrounds on the water courses where their water rights have been protected by the church until I took all the responsibilities over.”
Correspondent, Salt Lake City, Utah
THE CHALLENGE. NEZ PERCE WARRIOR
Copyright by L. V. McWhorter, who photographed the Indian, and permits publication.
“The immorality of our Indians, in my opinion is largely (probably seventy-five per cent) due to the presence of low Whites. Had the Indians been left alone seventy-five years longer; and had they been allowed to continue the time-honored custom of punishing crimes with the whip—they would be today easily and surely seventy-five per cent better men than they are. Here again we forgot that they were savages, absolutely impervious to really noble feelings, such as honor, and that it takes time and careful training to raise them to a higher level. Today, they are incapable of feeling the shame of a prison or penitentiary. When they come back from either, they are treated as heroes. Twenty-five years ago, a whipping solemnly, modestly, and moderately administered to those who had been guilty of thievery, adultery, fornication, gambling or drunkenness, was producing marvelous results. Two years ago, a deputation of Kootenay Indians came to beg me to write in their name to the Great Father (the President) and ask him to allow again the use of the whip. They said, ‘Tell the Great Father that our young men and women only laugh at the white punishments; it is the whip and the whip alone that kept us straight, and the same punishment alone will correct the generation.’
“Under the present circumstances I believe that the Government has at heart the welfare of its wards and is protecting them. There is only one flaw which I desire to bring to your notice. The real wards of the Government are the full-blood Indians, and they, more than the mixed-bloods, are entitled to the care of the Government, for many reasons, easy to understand; now, in point of fact, mostly all of them, on this reservation, are helpless. They are, if in good health, unable to understand their real interest, and to work as they should. In matters of business they are at the mercy of everyone who chooses to deceive them. But the number of those who are in health is very limited. The vast majority are old, crippled, blind or otherwise helpless. And those, I am sorry to say, are practically left unaided. They need food, raiment, shelter, they should be supported. As it is, they are practically thrown on the charity of the white people. Though possessed of lands, they are unable to draw any profit from them. Some appropriation is made yearly for those; but it is insufficient to furnish them with food, raiment and shelter. Means should be provided for that purpose. They are doomed to disappear, and in justice their last years should be made comfortable. The Government has been collecting large sums of money from the white settlers; why not dispose of some of this money liberally for the impotent full-blood Indians who are left in destitution, instead of spending it in improving the irrigation of the reservation, which improvement will never benefit the full-blood Indians who are disappearing, but will turn to the advantage of the mixed-bloods who have very little right to the land (some of them none at all) and who, on account of their superior intelligence got the very best part of the allotments at the time of the opening of the reservation. The condition of mostly all the full-bloods is pitiful. If they have leased their lands, it takes them an age to receive their money, the local Agent having no authority to disburse it, and the Indian Bureau being very slow in granting it. It seems to me that provision should be made in favor of destitute Indians to have them receive monthly some food, and a small sum of money to provide themselves with clothes, also to have them provided with decent houses and with fuel when they cannot get it themselves. No one but those who live on the spot have any idea of the privations which this class of full-bloods have to submit to, through no fault of theirs. It seems to me that this evil could easily be remedied. Some people seem to think that a monthly sum of money, $20, should be paid to each destitute Indian, with which he could easily provide for his needs; but knowing them as I do, I would prefer to see them receive only $10 or even $5 with rations, for if they get more money, they will spend it all in the first days of the month.”[[49]]
Correspondent, St. Augustins, Montana