The story of Marcus Whitman; early Protestant missions in the Northwest

Preface

THE incentive to this volume was the wish to vindicate the characters and the work of the early Protestant missionaries in Oregon from aspersions which have been cast upon them ; to show the importance of their labors in the development and settlement of the country ; and to prove that it was through their public-spirited and patriotic services that a large part of the Northwest territory was secured to the United States.

The settlement of Oregon by any organized system began in the year 1834, when Christians in the Eastern States were induced, by the earnest desire of the Indians of the far .West for the Bible and religious instruction, to take active measures to provide them with religious teachers. As soon as practicable, missionaries were sent and mission stations established among them. The influence and example of the missionaries not only promoted a Christian civilization among the Indians, but also laid the foundation of orderly and law-abiding communities wherever they labored. Their coming opened the way for the pioneer settlers of the country ; an^ their stations formed a rallying point for American immigrants who were yearly attracted in large numbers from our Western States, and who afterward obtained ascendency in the new State.

Nor is it beyond the facts in the case to say, as did

(iii)

iv Preface.

Judge Boise in his address before the Pioneer Association of Oregon, that "history will record that these holy men were the nucleus around which has been formed and built the State of Oregon." They were ''men who knew how to plant in the virgin soil the seeds of virtue and knowledge, and cultivate them as they germinated and grew into churches, schools and colleges."

Though the results of Protestant missions among the Indians in Oregon, owing to the peculiarly hostile conditions they had to encounter, were not all that the friends of the cause had at first expected, yet the presence and labors of the missionaries at this time were all important, and their effects are still felt in the religion, civilization and education which they introduced and zealously fostered.

In the preparation of this volume I have, as far as possible, availed myself of all known authorities contemporaneous with the facts discussed. Owing to the protracted controversy which has been waged respecting some of the events narrated, a more exhaustive examination was required than would otherwise have been necessary. In every such instance I have striven to be honest and impartial in the testimony adduced.

The author will feel amply repaid, if his search for the truth of history shall lead to a more general appreciation of the characters and services of the first Protestant missionaries of the far West.

Washington, D. C.

Chapter I. Page

Spain, France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States claim title — First three withdraw — United States claim the country by right of discovery and cession — Long controversy with Great Britain — Finally settled in 1872 9

Chapter II

Lewis and Clark's exploration from the Missouri river to the Columbia, in 1805-6 — Valuable knowledge obtained — Government promotes the settlement of the territory. . . . -. 16

Chapter III

Missouri and Pacific Fur Companies — Expeditions by sea and land — Astoria and other posts occupied — Loss of ship Tonquin — Pacific Fur Company prosperous — War with Great Britain — Fear of capture of fort, fur and supplies — Sale to North West Company by Mr. Astor's agents — Inglorious ending of his company — Treachery charged 21

Chapter IV

The North West Company — Its origin, explorations and repressive policy — The Hudson Bay Company, its charter rights and its power — Bloody conflicts with the North West Company — The two united with increased power — Destruction of all rival traders — Indians kept in barbarism — Opposition to all

civilized settlement of the country 31 vi Contents.

Chapter V. Page

Indians seeking the Bible — Response of churches — Methodist missionaries — Mission of the American Board — Journey to the Columbia river — Kind reception — Stations selected — Reinforcements — Success among Indians — Jesuit missionaries — Conflicting interests. 41

Chapter VI

The missions prosperous — Hudson Bay Company's policy to occupy the country — Americans resist it — Dr. Whitman visits Washington to save Oregon — His perilous winter ride — Arrival at Washington — Interviews with President Tyler and leading statesmen — He renders important service — Unwise claims of his friends 58

Chapter VII

Dr. Whitman's visit to Boston — Return to Oregon with nearly one thousand immigrants — Services as guide and physician — Oregon saved to the United States by this large immigration — American and Hudson Bay policies conflict— Hostility shown to Americans and Protestant missionaries — Acts and motives misrepresented — Sickness among Indians — Massacre of Dr. Whitman and others 74

Chapter VIII

Prolonged paper discussion over the massacre — Agent Ross Browne's report — A valuable Senate document — Roman Catholic writers assail and deny its statements — Try to vindicate the conduct of their priests — In so doing, make serious charges against Protestant missionaries — Defense of the latter — Their good character and usefulness shown %^

Chapter IX

Wisdom and honesty of Protestant missionaries impugned — Their alleged promises to pay Indians for land — Scandals proven

Contents. vii false Their work depreciated on the ground that the Indians

were not improved — Vindicated by the facts — Important results of Protestant missions 102

Chapter X

Catholic missionaries— Methods of the priests— Wholesale baptisms Indians not permanently benefited — Proofs of failure

—Their missions reinforced— Complaints of Dr. Whitman— His great generosity — Events prior to the massacre— Indians influenced by priests and others — Destruction of Protestant mission the result 120

CHAPTER XL

The controversy over the massacre continued — Defense made by accused parties — Indians hostile to Dr. Whitman had resolved to kill him— Reasons assigned— Charges of taking their lands and poisoning them— Deaths by disease— Accounts of the massacre by priests and Hudson Bay Company — Causes stated inadequate— Some of the statements false— Approximate causes 135

Chapter XII

The murderers Cayuse Indians — Roman Catholic half breeds and Hudson Bay employes the instigators — Object to break up the Protestant missions — Catholics and Hudson Bay people unharmed — Active agency of half-breeds — Indirect influence of priests over Indians — They and Hudson Bay Company blamed — Conclusions from the evidence 152

Chapter XIII

Survivors at Waiilatpu — Proper sympathy and aid not extended to them — Hudson Bay Company blamed for not preventing the massacre — Its agents charged with cruelty to Messrs. Hall and Osborne — Miss Bevvley's sufferings — Her deposition — Lack of protection at the priests' camp 169 viii Contents,

Chapter XIV. Page

Dr. Whitman's journey East in 1842-43 — Its purpose — Visit to Washington and influence there both questioned — Confirmed by his letters, and by a Congressional bill — His patriotic and valuable services — Evidence that he more than any other person, saved Oregon to the United States 1 83

Appendix

Letter from Dr. Whitman to James M. Porter, Secretary of War. . 197 Whitman's Ride 205

THE STORY OF MARCUS WHITMAN.

Chapter I

OREGON. THE CONTEST FOR POSSESSION.

ORIGINALLY, the territory of Oregon comprised all the country lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, bounded on the north by the Russian possessions, latitude 54° 40', and on the south by the northern border of California, latitude 42°. It extended seven hundred and fifty miles from north to south, and about five hundred miles from east to west, being nearly four times the size of Great Britain and Ireland combined. This huge territory was claimed, wholly or in part, by five powers— Spain, France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States.

By the law of nations, the title to any country depends upon the first discovery and occupancy of it, or upon purchase or cession by treaty from the first discoverer or occupant. "• When a nation takes possession of a country to which no prior owner can lay claim," says Vattel, "it is considered as acquiring the empire or sovereignty of it. When a nation finds a country uninhabited and without an owner, it may lawfully take possession of it ; and after lo The Story of Marcus Whitman.

it has sufficiently made known its will in this respect, it cannot be deprived of it by any other nation."

It is almost universally conceded that Spanish navigators were the first discoverers and first explorers of the northwest coast of America. After their conquests in Mexico they explored the adjacent seas and countries, and in 1543 discovered California. Nine years afterward they extended their exploration of the coast to Cape Blanco, 43° north latitude; in 1582 to 57'^ 40', and in 1588 to Bering Strait. In 1592 Juan de Fuca discovered and entered the straits which bear his name, but for nearly two centuries thereafter the Spanish career of discovery v/as substantially at a standstill. In 1774-75 the Viceroy of Mexico fitted out two expeditions which surveyed the coast from Monterey up to latitude 54°, discovering Nootka Sound, the Island of Vancouver and the mouth of the Columbia River. Spanish vessels from Mexico in 1792 also surveyed many of the bays and channels which lie between the 5 2d and 56th parallels.

The rights of Spain, founded on discovery, were recognized, after a vigorous dispute, in the Nootka Convention of 1790, in which she yielded the right to navigate, trade and fish on the northwest coast, but reserved her sovereignty over the entire territory described in the opening paragraph of this chapter. This treaty was reaffirmed in 1814, when Great Britain assented anew to Spain's territorial claims. The rights of Spain were transferred in turn to the United States by the Florida treaty of 18 19, wherein ''His Catholic Majesty cedes all his rights, claims and pretensions to any territories north of the 42d parallel of latitude." The boundary line thus de-

The Contest for Possession. 1 1

fined was confirmed in 1828 by Mexico, which had ob tained its independence. Meanwhile, France having acquired possession of Louisiana by cession from Spain in 1800, the United States, in 1803, purchased "all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the same manner as it had been acquired from Spain;" and the northern boundary of Louisiana had been declared in 1763, by the treaty of Versailles between Great Britain and France, "to be a line drawn due west from the source of the Mississippi, assigning to England the territory north of the 49th parallel of latitude and east of the Mississippi."

Russia having asserted her right to all the northwest coast and the islands north of latitude 51°, and Great Britain and the United States having protested, a protracted correspondence had taken place, ending in an agreement, in 1824, that Russia should make no claim south of 54° 40', or the United States north of the same line. This left but two contestants for possession of Oregon — Great Britain and the United States.

The claims of the United States did not rest solely on the rights transferred to them by treaty from other powers; they claimed sovereignty by right of discovery as well. In 1787 Captains Gray and Kendrick sailed from Boston for the northwest coast, and in September of the following year reached Nootka, where they passed the winter. In 1 79 1 Captain Gray surveyed the Straits of Fuca, whence he sailed to Canton and thence to the United States. He made a second voyage to the Pacific, and on the nth of May, 1792, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River, which he ascended twenty miles, trading with the natives and examining the country. In the

12 The Story of Mai'cus WJiitman.

meantime Captain Kendrick, who had remained on the coast, purchased from the native chiefs several large tracts of land near Nootka Sound, for the use of the commercial company he represented. From 1791 onward the northwest coast was visited yearly by many vessels from the United States engaged in trading enterprises, each expedition making new discoveries or adding to the knowledge of the territory already discovered; and from 1766 to about 1 81 5 the direct trade between the northwest coast and Canton was carried on exclusively by American vessels sailing under our own flag.

Great Britain claimed priority of discovery of the Columbia River by Lieutenant Mears in 1788 and by Vancouver in 1792. But Mears' vessel was fitted out at Macoa, a Portuguese port, bore sailing papers written in the Portuguese language and sailed under the Portuguese flag ; and both his journal and Vancouver's show that they not only did not discover the Columbia, but that they actually affirmed the impossibility of its existence from the nature of the coast, in spite of the fact that Captain Gray had informed Vancouver of his discovery when they met, the April before, in the Straits of Fuca. This seems to dispose of Great Britain's claims based on prior discovery of the Columbia River.

By way of perfecting their rights the United States began, within a reasonable time, as required by the law of nations, to examine the territory with a view to forming settlements. President Jefferson, with the approval of Congress, commissioned Captains Lewis and Clark* in

* In the Report of the expedition it is printed Clarke. Captain Clark wrote his name without the final vowel, as may be seen from his official

The Contest for Possessio?t. 1 3

1804, and instructed them to proceed to Oregon and explore the Columbia River from its source to the Pacific Ocean. This they did, taking possession of the country as a part of the United States and making an encampment which they named Fort Clatsop, where they passed the winter of 1805-6.

In 1808 the Missouri Fur Company established a trading post on the head waters of Lewis River, one of the principal branches of the Columbia; and the Pacific Fur Company, with John Jacob Astor at its head, sent out the ship Tonqidn in 18 10, with the necessary persons and material to establish posts for carrying on an active trade with the natives, in furs and other commodities. Arriving at the mouth of the Columbia in March, 181 1, the party selected a site for the principal factory, eight miles from the ocean, and named it Astoria. These were the first permanent settlements made in the territory of Oregon and the first steps taken to hold and civilize the country. They constitute the third claim, and a very strong one, in behalf of the United States.

Nevertheless, Great Britain continued her contest. Many vain attempts to reconcile the conflicting interests of the two countries by negotiation served to increase rather than allay existing jealousies and animosities, and war at one time appeared almost unavoidable. The peace policy, however, finally prevailed, and the right of ownership was settled in June, 1846, by a treaty concluded in the city of Washington. By its terms the boundary line

correspondence with the Government while Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northwest. Hereafter his name wiU appear as he speUed it in this book.

between the territorial possessions of the two countries was to begin at '* the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and conventions * between the United States and Great Britain terminates, and shall continue westward along the said forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and of Fuca's Straits to the Pacific Ocean." There were two conditions connected with this : First, that the navigation of said channel and straits south of the forty-ninth parallel was to be open and free to both parties; and, second, that all possessory rights acquired by British subjects were to be respected.

One indefinite element in the treaty of 1846 afterward caused great trouble. As it was impossible accurately to define the water part of the boundary line, this was left to be subsequently settled by a Commission. This Commission never reached any satisfactory conclusion, owing to the diverse interpretations given to the first article of the treaty. Nor were later efforts for the settlement of this vexed question by the statesmen of Great Britain and the United States more successful. Great Britain insisted that by *' the middle of the channel " was meant the waters of the Straits of Rosario ; while the United States asserted just as positively that it meant the Canal de Haro, the most direct and best route to the Pacific Ocean. Great Britain claimed that the boundary line should run east of

* The aUusion to existing conventions and treaties refers to those of 1818 and 1827, and especiaUy to the Ashburton treaty in 1842, by which the boundary line east of the Rocky Mountains was established, from the Bay of Fundy to the Lake of the Woods.

The Contest for Possession. 15

the Island of San Juan ; the United States, that it should run west of the island, and between it and Vancouver's Island, thus leaving San Juan in possession of the United States.

Thus the controversy continued between the two countries until the treaty of Washington, in May, 1871, provided for submitting the question at issue '' to the arbitration and award of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany," whose decision should be final and without appeal, both parties agreeing to give effect to it '' without any objection, evasion, or delay whatsoever." The case of the United States was submitted in December, 1871, by Hon. George Bancroft, our Minister at Berlin ; and the case of Great Britain by Admiral Prevost. The award was made in October, 1872, the Emperor decreeing ''that the claim of the United States of America is most in accordance with the true interpretation of the treaty of 1846." The promptness and good faith with which the British Government gave effect to this decision brought to a friendly close the last of a series of boundary controversies which had been waged between two of the most important nations of the world for not less than ninety years.

CHAPTER 11.

EXPLORATION BY ORDER OF CONGRESS.

IN 1803, the same year in which Louisiana was purchased from France, and before the transfer of the territory was completed, President Jefferson addressed a confidential message to Congress recommending that measures be taken without delay for the examination of the country west of the Rocky Mountains. Congress approving, Captains Merriweather Lewis and William Clark were commissioned to have charge of the expedition. They were instructed to explore the Missouri River to its source, and then to seek for some stream running to the Pacific, '' whether the Columbia, the Oregon, the Colorado, or any other which might offer the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce ; and to trace the same to its termination in the Pacific."

The party under command of Captain Lewis, consisting of thirty men, set out for the West, expecting to advance some distance up the Missouri River before ice should prevent further progress. They were not permitted, however, to pass beyond the Mississippi, the Spanish commander of this territory not having been informed of its transfer to the United States. Consequently it was not until May, 1804, that they began the ascent of the Missouri. The

Exploration by Order of Co7igress. 1 7

current was so strong that their three boats made but slow progress, and October had passed before they arrived in the country of the Mandan Indians, some 1600 miles from the mouth of the river, where they went into camp.

Resuming their voyage up the Missouri on the 7th of April, 1805, in three weeks they reached the junction of the Yellowstone. Soon afterward their progress was arrested by what was then known as the Great Falls of the Missouri, and nearly a month was consum.ed in transporting the canoes and their cargoes to a point above the falls, and in constructing additional boats out of the large trees that grew on the river banks. In July they went on, and passed through the gates of the Rocky Mountains, a narrow channel six miles long, where the river breaks through the mountains. Above here a large number of streams flow into the Missouri ; the largest of these, which they named the Jefferson, they explored to its source near the. fortyfourth degree of latitude, about 3000 miles from where they began the ascent of the Missouri. Abandoning their canoes, and storing a portion of their goods at the head of the Jefferson River, the party provided themselves with horses and guides from the Shoshone Indians, and on the 30th of August began their journey through the Rocky Mountains.

This was by far the most difficult part of their route. They underwent, says Capt. Clark, " every suffering which hunger, cold and fatigue could impose." Food was insufficient, and difficult to procure, consisting of berries, dried fish, and the meat of dogs and horses; the mountains were high, and the passes were rough and frequently covered

1 8 The Sto7'y of Marcus WhiiJtiaji.

with snow. They crossed many streams flowing westward ; finally, on the 7th of October, they embarked on one of the largest of these, in five canoes which they had constructed, and descended it till they reached a river, which they named the Lewis, and which proved to be the principal southern tributary of the Columbia. Continuing their voyage on the Lewis for seven days more, they came to its confluence with the larger northern branch, to which they gave the name Clark. Passing down the Columbia, whose waters they had now reached, they arrived at the great falls on the 2 2d of October, and on the 30th, at the lower falls, a short distance below which they saw the tides of the Pacific. On the 1 7th of November the horizon line of the ocean was visible, and all realized that the exploration was complete, and that a new way had been discovered through the trackless wilderness between the Eastern States and the Northwest coast.

A landing was made on the north bank of the river, but the party afterwards crossed to the south side, where they formed an encampment, giving it the name of Fort Clatsop. Here the winter of 1805-6 was passed ; but the rains were so frequent, long continued and violent that comparatively little could be done in the way of surveys or explorations , of the river and adjacent country.

The explorers began their return voyage to the United States on the 23d of March, 1806. Before leaving, they prepared an account of their outward journey, which was written on parchment and posted in the fort, copies being given also to the natives for the benefit of any who might come after. It stated that the expedition had been sent out by the United States Government, and had reached

Exploration by Order of Congress. 19

the Pacific Ocean through the Rocky Mountains, and by way of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers.

Ascending the Columbia in canoes, the party reached the falls, about 125 miles from the Pacific, by the middle of April. On their way up they discovered a large stream flowing into the Columbia from the north, called the Cowlitz by the natives, and another, the Willamette, thirty miles away, joining the Columbia on the south. From the falls the exploring party proceeded by land to the Rocky Mountains, and through them to the Clark River, where it was agreed that the chiefs of the expedition should separate, to meet again at the junction of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.

The party under Captain Lewis first proceeded down the Clark River, then crossed the mountains to the head-waters of the Maria River, which they followed down to its union with the Missouri. Captain Clark and his party journeyed southward, up the valley of the Clark to the sources of that stream, then crossed the mountains to the head-waters of the Yellowstone, which they descended in canoes to the Missouri, meeting Lewis and his men on the 1 2th of August. The united party embarked on the Missouri, and reached St. Louis on the 23d of September, 1806, having traveled, in going and returning, more than 9000 miles.

This expedition was a great success, judged by the extent and value of the discoveries made, though it was not the first passage of the Rocky Mountains by whites. Alexander Mackenzie had crossed them in 1789, and again in 1792 ; in his first journey reaching the Arctic Ocean, and in his second the tide- waters of the Pacific at Vancouver. French

20 The Stoi-y of Marcus Whitman.

and Spanish fur traders, also, had previously ascended the Missouri as far as the mouth of the Yellowstone ; but comparatively little correct knowledge of the river or the adjacent country was possessed before the Lewis and Clark explorations. The journals of the latter furnished the first authentic and definite accounts we have of that vast territory between the falls of the Missouri and those of the Columbia; they were long regarded as the principal source of information respecting the geography, the natural history, and the aboriginal inhabitants of that part of the continent. It was, therefore, only three or four years after this great territory came into our possession that its principal features were made known, and the Government of the United States evinced its intention to occupy and settle the country.

Chapter III. American Settlements

THE success of the expedition of Lewis and Clark arrested public attention, and speedily led to the organization of a number of companies for engaging in the fur trade with the natives of the Northwest. The first of these, the Missouri Fur Company, was formed in 1808, in St. Louis, and during the next two years established trading posts on the upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and one west of the Rocky Mountains on Lewis River, the great southern branch of the Columbia. The latter was undoubtedly the first permanent establishment in the country drained by the Columbia and its tributaries. It was abandoned in 1 810 on account of the difficulty of securing provisions, but more particularly because of the hostility of the Indians in the vicinity.

The first attempt to form a permanent settlement on the Columbia River itself was made in the early part of 1809, by some Bostonians, prominent among them the three brothers Winship. The ship Albatross was placed under command of Nathan Winship, and fitted out not only with everything necessary for trade with the natives, but also with materials for building, and for cultivation of the soil. The vessel reached the mouth of the Columbia in May, 1 8 10, and ascended the river to a place called Oak

Point, where a house was built, land cleared and a garden planted. The site selected proved unfortunate in many respects, and was abandoned the same year.

John Jacob- Astor, of New York City, organized in 1810 the Pacific Fur Company, for the prosecution of the fur trade in the northwestern parts of the continent, in connection with commerce with China. The inception of the scheme was wholly Mr. Astor's, and he furnished the money necessary for its execution. His plan was to establish posts on the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, and on the coast contiguous to the latter, where the furs were to be collected for shipment either east to the United States, or to China where they could be exchanged for silks and tea. These posts were to be furnished with provisions and articles for barter with the Indians, either by way of the Missouri River, or by vessels direct from New York City. The principal post or factory, Astoria, was located near the mouth of the Columbia, and was to be the depot of supplies for all the others, and the general depository for the furs purchased. It was also the purpose of the Company to engage largely in trade with the Russian settlements on the Pacific, receiving furs in payment for provisions and other articles.

This was a wise and comprehensive plan, and, at the time it was undertaken, appeared entirely practicable. For its more successful prosecution, Mr. Astor admitted as partners, Wilson G. Hunt, John Clarke and Robert McClellan, citizens of the United States ; and Alexander McKay, Duncan McDougall, Donald McKenzie, David and Robert Stuart, and Ramsey Crooks, Canadians. The voyageurs were nearly all Canadians, with Alexander McKay as com-

American Seitlevients.

mander; while the majority of the clerks were Americans, and Mr. Hunt was made chief agent on the Pacific coast. The stock was divided into one hundred shares, half of which was owned by the projector; the remainder was divided equally among his partners. Mr. Astor agreed to furnish goods to the value of ^^400, 000, bear all losses for five years and divide the profits if any.

The first expedition, consisting of four of the Scotch or Canadian partners, with eleven clerks and thirteen Canadian voyageurs, sailed from New York in September, 1810, on the ship Tonqidn. In January, 181 r, the second party left St. Louis, in charge of Mr. Hunt, accompanied by Messrs. McKenzie, McClellan and Crooks ; and in October, the ship Beaver (i2LXx\Qdi out from New York Mr. Clarke and several additional clerks.

The Tonquin arrived at the mouth of the Columbia in March, 181 1, and the passengers were landed on the shore of Baker's Bay. From this they removed to a high point of land on the south bank of the river ten miles from the ocean, where preparations were begun at once for building a fort and the other buildings necessary for the safety of the occupants, and for an extensive and lucrative trade with the natives. Astoria was the name given to the fort, in honor of the originator of the company. The ship which had borne them to the coast, after landing its passengers and freight, sailed north to collect furs from the Russians, and to make additional arrangements for future trading.