The tribes, as enumerated in the treaty, furnish a long list of unpronounceable Indian names, as follows: Dwamish, Suquamish, Sk-tahl-mish, Sa-mah-mish, Smalh-ka-mish, Skope-ah-mish, Sno-qual-moo, Skai-wha-mish, N’Quentl-ma-mish, Sk-tah-le-jum, Sto-luck-wha-mish, Sno-ho-mish, Skagit, Kik-i-all-us, Swin-a-mish, Squin-a-mish, Sah-ku-me-hu, Noo-wha-ha, Nook-wa-chah-mish, Me-see-qua-guilch, Cho-bah-ah-bish, and others.
The fifteen articles of this treaty contain the same general provisions as that of She-nah-nam Creek. The territory ceded by Article 1 extends from the summit of the Cascades to the middle of the Sound, and from the 49th parallel as far south as the Puyallup River, very nearly, and comprises the present counties of King, part of Kitsap, Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island, and San Juan.
The reservations, Articles 2 and 3, included 1280 acres at Port Madison, 1280 acres on the east side of Fidalgo Island, and the island called Chah-chu-sa in the Lummi River. An entire township on the northeast side of Port Gardner, embracing Tulalip Bay, was made the principal reservation, to which the Indians might be removed from the smaller ones; $150,000 in annuities in goods, etc., for twenty years, and $15,000 for improvements on the reservation were provided. The rights of fishing, hunting, gathering berries and roots, and pasturage on vacant land were secured to the Indians. Slavery was abolished, liquor prohibited on the reservations, wars and depredations forbidden, and trading in foreign dominions prohibited. A free school, teachers, doctor, blacksmith and carpenter with shops, and a farmer were provided for, and provision made for eventually allotting the reservations to them in severalty.
The first chief to sign the treaty was Seattle, after whom was named the metropolis of the Sound; the next was Pat-ka-nim, then Chow-its-hoot, then Goliah, and then follows the long list of guttural and sibillant native names, unspeakable by white lips, some of which were accompanied by an alias, as the Smoke, the Priest, General Washington, General Pierce, Davy Crockett, etc.
The treaty was witnessed by M.T. Simmons, C.H. Mason, Charles M. Hitchcock, H.A. Goldsborough, George Gibbs, John H. Scranton, Henry D. Cock, S.S. Ford, Jr., Orrington Cushman, Ellis Barnes, P. Bailey, S.M. Collins, Lafayette Balch, E.S. Fowler, J.H. Hall, Robert Davis, and Benjamin F. Shaw,—seventeen in number.
The ratification of this and all Governor Stevens’s subsequent Indian treaties was delayed some four years in consequence of the Indian war which broke out in the fall of 1855, and the misrepresentations made concerning them, and the charges that they were the cause of the war,—misrepresentations and charges originally started by the hostile Indians, and taken up by prejudiced army officers and political and personal enemies; and it was not until he entered Congress, and personally vindicated his treaties before the government and Senate, that they were ratified, on March 8, 1859.
TREATY OF HAHD-SKUS OR POINT-NO-POINT.
The next council was held at Point-no-Point, on the west side of the Sound, opposite the southern end of Whitby Island. The weather was very stormy on the 24th and 25th, but twelve hundred Indians assembled here, comprising the S’Klallams or Clallams, who occupied the shores from half way down the Strait of Fuca to the council ground; the Chim-a-kums, of Port Townsend Bay and the lower end of Hood’s Canal; and the Skokomish or Too-an-hooch, from Hood’s Canal and the country about its southern extremity. The Major Tompkins reached Point-no-Point on the 24th, and, leaving the schooner at anchor, and the men on shore to form camp, ran down to Port Townsend to bring up additional provisions, and returned in the afternoon. On the 25th, notwithstanding the storm, the Indians gathered at the council ground, and, having seated themselves in a circular row under their chiefs, Governor Stevens addressed them as follows:—
“My children, you call me your father. I, too, have a father, who is your Great Father. That Great Father has sent me here to-day to pay you for your lands, to provide for your children, to see that you are fed, and that you are cared for. Your Great Father wishes you to be happy, to be friends to each other. The Great Father wants you and the whites to be friends; he wants you to have a house of your own, to have a school where your children can learn. He wants you to learn to farm, to learn to use tools, and also to have a doctor. Now, all these things shall be written down in a paper; that paper shall be read to you. If the paper is good, you will sign it and I will sign it. I will then send the paper to the Great Father. If the Great Father finds that paper good, he will send me word, and I will let you know. The Great Father lives a long way off, and some time will be required to hear from him. I want you to wait patiently till you hear from him. In the mean time the Great Father has sent to you some presents simply as a free gift. Some of these presents I will give you to-day, but I shall give you more in the course of the summer. You will also have your agent, Mr. Simmons, to take care of you. This you will have all the time; and, when the paper comes from the Great Father, then you will have your own houses and homes and schools. Now, what have you to say? If good, give your assent; if not, say so. Now, sit quiet a moment, and the paper will be read.”
After the treaty had been read and interpreted, Governor Stevens again asked them if they had anything to say.