A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 / Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information

by W. H. Gray

The questions referring to Indian character are very important, and to answer them demands a more extended knowledge of character and habits, from personal daily observation, than the short residence of six years can afford, and more time and attention than I can possibly command, amidst the numerous cares and labors of the station. I less regret this, as the latter will receive the attention of my better-informed and worthy associates of the other stations.

Concerning many of the questions, I can only give my own half-formed opinions, from limited observations which have not extended far beyond the people of my immediate charge.

Our mission is under the patronage of the American Board, and was commenced in the fall of 1836, by Marcus Whitman, M. D., and myself, with our wives and Mr. Gray. Dr. Whitman was located at Wailatpu, among the Cayuse Indians, twenty-five miles east of Fort Wallawalla, a trading-post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which stands nine miles below the junction of Lewis and Clarke rivers, three hundred from the Pacific, and about two hundred from Fort Vancouver. I was located at this place, on the Clearwater, or Koos-koos-ky River, twelve miles from its junction with the Lewis River, one hundred and twenty miles east of Wailatpu. Mr. Gray left the same winter, and returned to the States. In the fall of 1838, Mr. Gray returned to this country, accompanied by Mrs. Gray, Messrs. Walker, Eells, and Smith, and their wives, and Mr. Rogers. The next season, two new stations were commenced, one by Messrs. Walker and Eells at Cimakain, near Spokan River, among the Spokan Indians, one hundred and thirty-five miles northwest of this station, and sixty-five miles south of Fort Colville, on the Columbia River, three hundred miles above Fort Wallawalla; the second by Mr. Smith, among the Nez Percés, sixty miles above this station. There are now connected with this mission the Rev. Messrs. Walker and Eells, Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Eells; at Cimakain, myself, and Mrs. Spalding at this station. Dr. Whitman is now on a visit to the States, and Mrs. Whitman on a visit to the Dalles, a station of our Methodist brethren. But two natives have as yet been admitted into the church. Some ten or twelve others give pleasing evidence of having been born again.

Concerning the schools and congregations on the Sabbath, I will speak only of this station. The congregation on the Sabbath varies at different seasons of the year, and must continue to do so until the people find a substitute in the fruits of the earth and herds for their roots, game, and fish, which necessarily require much wandering. I am happy to say that this people are very generally turning their attention, with much apparent eagerness, to cultivating the soil, and raising hogs, cattle, and sheep, and find a much more abundant and agreeable source of subsistence in the hoe than in their bows and sticks for digging roots.

For a few weeks in the fall, after the people return from their buffalo hunt, and then again, in the spring, the congregation numbers from one to two thousand. Through the winter it numbers from two to eight hundred. From July to the 1st of October, it varies from two to five hundred. The congregation, as also the school, increases every winter, as the quantity of provision raised in this vicinity is increased.

Preparatory to schools and a permanent congregation, my earliest attention, on arriving in this country, was turned toward schools, as promising the most permanent good to the nation, in connection with the written word of God and the preached gospel. But to speak of schools then was like speaking of the church bell, when as yet the helve is not put in the first ax by which the timber is to be felled, or the first stone laid in the dam which is to collect the water from whence the lumber in the edifice in which the bell is to give forth its sounds. Suffice it to say, through the blessing of God, we have had an increasingly large school, for two winters past, with comparatively favorable means of instruction.

But the steps by which we have been brought to the present elevation, if I may so speak, though we are yet exceedingly low, begin far, far back among the days of nothing, and little to do with.

Besides eating my own bread by the sweat of my brow, there were the wandering children of a necessarily wandering people to collect and bring permanently within the reach of the school. Over this department of labor hung the darkest cloud, as the Indian is noted for despising manual labor; but I would acknowledge, with humble gratitude, the interposition of that hand which holds the hearts of all men. The hoe soon brought hope, light, and satisfaction, the fruits of which are yearly becoming much more than a substitute for their former precarious game and roots, and are much preferred by the people, who are coming in from the mountains and plains, and calling for hoes, plows, and seeds, much faster than they can be furnished, and collecting around the station in increasing numbers, to cultivate their little farms; so furnishing a permanent school and congregation on the Sabbath, from four to eight months, and, as the farms are enlarged, giving food and employment for the year. I trust the school and congregation will be permanent through the year. It was no small tax on my time to give the first lessons on agriculture. That the men of the nation (the first chiefs not excepted) rose up to labor when a few hoes and seeds were offered them, I can attribute to nothing but the unseen hand of the God of missions. That their habits are really changed is acknowledged by themselves. The men say, whereas they once did not labor with their hands, now they do; and often tell me in jesting that I have converted them into a nation of women. They are a very industrious people, and, from very small beginnings, they now cultivate their lands with much skill, and to good advantage. Doubtless many more would cultivate, but for the want of means. Your kind donation of fifty hoes, in behalf of the government, will be most timely; and should you be able to send up the plows you kindly proposed, they will, without doubt, be purchased immediately, and put to the best use.

But to return to the school. It now numbers two hundred and twenty-five in daily attendance, half of which are adults. Nearly all the principal men and chiefs in this vicinity, with one chief from a neighboring tribe, are members of the school. A new impulse was given to the school by the warm interest yourself and Mr. McKay took in it while you were here. They are as industrious in school as they are on their farms. Their improvement is astonishing, considering their crowded condition, and only Mrs. Spalding, with her delicate constitution and her family cares, for their teacher.

About one hundred are printing their own books with a pen. This keeps up a deep interest, as they daily have new lessons to print, and what they print must be committed to memory as soon as possible.