Chapter II Pioneer Colonization and Settlement 1. Influence of the Missionaries In the pioneer days of Oregon and Washington the missionaries played a most important role in the colonization, and industrial development of the new region as well as in their spiritual ministrations and the promotion of education. Missionaries had long urged the expenditure of money by the Government as a means of civilizing the Indians and in the effort to compose some of the violent hatreds that had grown up toward the white man, especially following the War of 1812. At first Congress was apathetic, but finally a bill was passed appropriating $10,000 which provided that the expenditure should be made through the several missionary societies that were maintaining workers among the Indians. Jedediah Morse.-In 1820 Rev. Jedediah Morse, who had been sent on a missionary survey of the western tribes, prepared an elaborate report, printed by the Government, in which he advocated theestablishment of “education families" among the most promising tribes. By this he meant that several workers should cooperate in the civilizing of the Indians-for example, the school teacher, the preacher, the Indian agent, the farmer, and the blacksmith. Such a group of workers might hope to develop among the Indians new tendencies and habits of life which would make the religious teachings fruitful, instead of being, as was too often the case, a scattering of wheat seed in a field infested with tares.1 This plan, although never very fully carried out, together with the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi, helped to develop a definite new interest in missionary efforts to educate and civilize the Indians. Missionaries followed the expatriated Indians across the Mississippi. They preached and— taught the Indian children to read, and often induced the natives to till the soil and live in permanent houses, instead of wandering about in pursuit of game. Sometimes the Government employed the missionaries as teachers or Indian agents, and often assisted them by providing a blacksmith to make tools and farming implements. The far west Indians who had come in contact with the explorers, trappers, and fur traders had in turn developed a desire to know more 1 Schafer, Joseph. A History of the Pacific Northwest, p. 113. Ibid., p. 115. of the white man's religion. Some had come to know the Catholic missionaries under the protection of the Hudson's Bay Company. Some Indians were sent East to the Red River School. A delegation of four, probably Flatheads and Nez Perces, were sent to St. Louis to learn from their old friend General Clark, the explorer, the truth about the white man's religion. Two of them died in St. Louis. One died on the return trip. Jason Lee. In 1833 the Methodists commissioned the Rev. Jason Lee to work among the Flatheads. The next summer he and several others pushed on down the Columbia. A branch mission was established at The Dalles. Upon the advice of Dr. McLoughlin they established a school in the Willamette Valley, which already had a considerable number of settlers, largely fur traders and trappers who had Indian wives. A school was started about 10 miles north of the present site of Salem. In 1841 the school was moved to the present site of Salem. It later became the Oregon Institute and ultimately the present Willamette University. Jason Lee was one of the great pioneers of Oregon education. Fathers De Smet, Blanchet, and Demers.-Evidently the Indian delegations were asking for Catholic priests, or "black robes" as they called them. In 1838 the first Catholics went to western Oregon, instead of to the land of the Flatheads and Nez Perces. In that year Father Blanchet, of the Montreal diocese, and Father Demers, of Red River, entered upon their ministry under the protection of the Hudson's Bay Company. The first mission was located on the Cowlitz River, probably on Cowlitz Prairie near the present Toledo. Another mission was established at Fort Nisqually. They also traveled widely and went among the Walla Wallas and Cayuses near the Whitman mission. Father De Smet was one of the most distinguished of the Catholic fathers in Oregon, reaching there in 1840. His labors were largely in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene regions and even as far east as the Bitter Root Valley in Montana. The first sermon preached in the pioneer village of Seattle was by Father Demers in the latter part of 1852. He was then bishop of Vancouver Island. The services were in the cookhouse of Yesler's mill. "Everybody in town, irrespective of creed, attended this service."3 Rev. Samuel Parker.-In 1835 Rev. Samuel Parker was sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to investigate the opportunities for missionary service among the Oregon Indians. With him was Dr. Marcus Whitman, a young physician more inter Bagley, Clarence B. History of Seattle, p. 178. ested in missionary work than the practice of medicine. They en toured from Liberty, Mo., with a party of trappers. At Pierre's Hole in the Rockies, hearing such favorable reports from the Indians there, Dr. Whitman returned East to secure more missionaries and supplies. Parker continued to Vancouver and spent the winter with Dr. Mc Loughlin. In the spring he returned to the Walla Walla country where he preached to a multitude of Indians. From there he pushed on to the Spokane River and back again up the Snake River. In writing of the Walla Walla region the following year he said it was a delightful situ ation for a missionary establishment and a mission located there on that fertile field "would draw around (it) an interesting settlement, who would fix down to cultivate the soil and to be instructed. How easily might the plough go through these valleys, and what rich and abundant crops might be gathered by the hand of industry." Parker taught for a few months at Fort Vancouver in 1835-36. Dr. Marcus Whitman.-Dr. Marcus Whitman on returning to New York was commissioned by the board to superintend the establishment of a mission in Oregon. He enlisted the interest of Mr. and Mrs. Spalding who accompanied Whitman and his young bride. They joined a company of five traders at Liberty, Mo., and traveled with them to the mountains. Whitman had a one-horse wagon in addition to saddle and pack animals. He drove this wagon as far as Fort Boise on the Snake River. This was the first wheeled vehicle to make the trip beyond Fort Hall. They reached Fort Walla Walla, September 1, 1836. Whitman and Parker with their wives continued to Vancouver. The women were left under the care of Dr. McLoughlin for a couple of months while the men returned to the Walla Walla country. They constructed an adobe brick building at Waiilatpu, the Indian term mean ing "the place of rye grass." This was about 20 miles from Fort Walla Walla and 6 miles from the present site of Walla Walla. Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding arrived at the Waiilatpu Mission on December 10, 1836. Mrs. Whitman wrote to her mother on December 26: "We had neither straw, bedstead, nor table, nor anything to make them of except green cottonwood." Thus was launched one of the world-famous missions. T. J. Farnham, who visited the mission in 1839, wrote the following: It appeared to me quite remarkable that the doctor could have made so many im provements since the year 1834 (1836). But the industry which crowded every hour of the day, his untiring energy of character, and the very efficient aid of his wife in 'Schafer, op. cit., p. 120. Printed in the Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association, 1891, p. 89. relieving him in a great degree from the labors of the school, are, perhaps, circumstances which will render possibility probable that in five (three) years one man without funds for such purposes, without other aid in that business than that of a fellow missionary at short intervals, should fence, plow, build, plant an orchard, and do all the other laborious acts of opening a plantation on the face of that distant wilderness; learn an Indian language, and do the duties, meanwhile, of a physician to the associate stations on the Clearwater and the Spokane." Professor Turner has commented upon the significance of that mission as follows: Two years later (1836) came Dr. Marcus Whitman and another company of missionaries with their wives; they brought a wagon through South Pass and over the moun tains to the Snake River, and began an agricultural colony. Thus the old story of the sequence of fur trader, missionary, and settler was repeated. The possession of Oregon by the British fur trader was challenged by the American farmer.7 The demand for teachers was so strong that the missionary board sent others to assist. The Whitman mission was reinforced by other missionaries. In 1838, Rev. Cushing Eells, Rev. Elkanah Walker, Rev. A. B. Smith, and Mr. W. H. Gray, each with his wife, joined the group. M. C. Rogers, unmarried, was in the party. Nearly all of these names have become distinguished in northwest history and education. Spalding and the Nez Perces.-In 1837, Spalding pushed on to Lapwai at the confluence of Lapwai Creek with the Clearwater River and established a mission post among the Nez Perces. Here he preached and taught the rudiments of agriculture and organized a school. Crude irrigation ditches increased their crops. They built rude mills to grind their corn and wheat. A printing press was secured from Hawaii, the first to be brought to the Northwest. The school was unusually prosperous. The high type of Indians eagerly sought educa tion and religion. The school enrolled 230, among them chiefs as well as children. This school is described more fully in chapter III. While the missions made an important contribution, within half a decade dissensions arose among the different groups and many Indians became dissatisfied and hostile. The missionary board planned to abandon the missions. Dr. Whitman returned East to plead their cause. That ride amid hardships has become one of the epics of northwest history and will not be recounted here. Whitman interested many in the East, among them Horace Greeley, who published a series of articles on the West and also a sympathetic editorial. The board decided to continue the missions. On the return trip Whitman • Meany, Edmond S. History of the State of Washington, p. 116. ? bid., p. 117. rendered valuable aid to the caravan of 1843 in helping to find favorable routes across the mountains. In 1847 an epidemic of measles broke out at the Walla Walla mission, attacking Indians as well as whites. Dr. Whitman treated all, giving himself unstintedly without recompense. Most of the whites recov ered, but because of unhygienic living conditions great mortality occurred among the Indians. These latter were suspicious that he was poisoning them and the Cayuses determined to kill him. On November 29, 1847, Dr. Whitman, his wife, and 12 others were murdered. About 50 women and children were made captives. These were later ransomed by Peter Spence Ogden, of the Hudson's Bay Company, from Vancouver. Governor Abernethy of Oregon Territory declared war against the Indians, sending troops who punished them severely, capturing and hanging the ringleaders of the massacre. Space will not permit the recital of the details of those distressing events or an evaluation of their significance. Volumes have been written which are easily accessible. The tragic manner of his elimination together with many dramatic incidents of his life of devotion to the cause have served to make Marcus Whitman a great heroic figure in the Walla Walla Valley. An imposing monument has been erected about 6 miles from Walla Walla at the site of the mission. Whitman College is named in his honor and commemorates his life. The most imposing hotel in Walla Walla and an adjoining county bear his name. 2. Migrations Over the Oregon Trail Causes of emigration to the Oregon country.-With the wonderful resources surrounding these hardy frontiersmen in the "New Eldo rado", one would expect them to become permanently rooted in the then new Northwest of the Mississippi Valley. Black loam 200 feet deep without stump or obstruction was ready for the plow to upturn and produce the crops that later gave rise to the slogan "Corn is King!" Forests were within reach, coal in abundance scarcely covered by the soil, never failing rainfall, seasons of sunshine to ripen the crops, navigable rivers, railways a reality to the eastern banks of the Father of Waters, healthful bracing climate and, in fact, every material necessity for health and happiness. But it was not long before caravans of the older pioneers and their adolescent sons and daughters were again on the trail. Several contributory causes served to set them on the way to new frontiers and |