It was merely a friendly demonstration though, for twenty-five more Nez Perce chiefs went through the same ceremony of introductions. They then dismounted and took a position behind the governor’s party, after which the warriors, taking their place behind the chiefs, entertained the commissioners with songs and dances, accompanied by the beating of drums.
Following this program, the braves retired to their campground. The chiefs solemnly and with grave ceremony smoked the pipe of peace with Stevens’ party at the tents of the whites, and then withdrew to their lodges.
By May 29 the other tribes of Cayuses, Walla Wallas, Yakimas, and Umatillas had arrived, and Stevens spent the day in the preliminaries of swearing in the interpreters and generally arranging the formalities necessary before the treaty discussions could begin.
The next day, May 30, the Indians were invited to assemble for the first conference. About a thousand attended. They sat on the ground before the governor’s tent in a semicircle forty rows deep, and consumed a half-hour smoking the peace pipe. General Joel Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, who was one of the commissioners, opened the council with a short address. Governor Stevens then arose and made a lengthy speech in which he outlined the object of the conference. The commissioners spent the following two days explaining in detail the conditions of the treaty and the prices offered by the government for Indian lands. At first two reservations were proposed—one in the country of the Nez Perces and the other in Yakima territory.
These meetings were marked by fierce disputes and sly intrigues. The long-drawn-out negotiations furnished opportunity for the young men to have dances, to compete in footraces, to gamble on horse races, and to seek prospective brides.
Young Chief of the Cayuses asked that the third day be set aside for a holiday, but the Indians remained in their respective camps while the chiefs deliberated among themselves on the proposals of the commissioners. On the fourth day Stevens and Palmer asked the Indians to express their views. Several of the chiefs spoke opposing the recommendations. Peu-peu-mox-mox of the Walla Wallas made a sarcastic speech openly expressing distrust of the whites.
That night Lawyer went alone to the tent of Governor Stevens and informed him that the Cayuse chiefs were plotting treachery against the commissioners. Their plans had not been divulged to the Nez Perces. Lawyer, though, had become suspicious and, through his spies in the Cayuse camp, had learned of the plot to murder the white officials. This massacre would mark the beginning of a war of extermination against the settlers. The Cayuses planned to capture the nearest army post—the garrison at The Dalles.
“I will come with my family,” Lawyer told Governor Stevens, “and pitch my lodge in the midst of your camp, that the Cay-uses may see that you and your party are under the protection of the head chief of the Nez Perces.”5
Although the hour was then past midnight, Lawyer moved his lodge beside the governor’s tent. Other Nez Perces followed the chief’s lead. His action was a pledge guaranteeing the safety of the whites.
The governor, in turn, quietly told his two most trusted men, Secretary Doty and Packmaster Higgins, of the threatened massacre. Without telling the rest of his party the reason, Stevens ordered them to make their arms ready for instant use. The commissioners, however, continued to maintain an outward show of calmness during the remainder of the conference.
Foiled by this coup d’état, the Cayuses and their allies did not dare attack, well knowing that a move against Lawyer, or his friends, the Americans, would bring reprisals from the entire Nez Perce nation.
Stevens asserted that Lawyer in moving his lodge averted the massacre, but A. J. Splawn, who lived among the Yakimas for fifty years and talked with many of them who had been present, says that all denied the existence of any plot. Splawn accuses Lawyer of “playing politics” for the purpose of currying favor with Stevens and so getting a larger reservation for his tribe. General Joel Palmer also contradicts the account given in the Life of Isaac I. Stevens by his son Hazard. In a letter written November 21, 1855, to Major General John Wool, Commander of the Department of the Pacific, Palmer says:
The reported combination of all these tribes with intent to wage a war of extermination against the whites, is, I apprehend, but a phantom conjured up in the brains of alarmists . . . and the plot said to have been nearly consummated of cutting off those engaged in the negotiations last June, I regard as of the same character.6
But the uprising of most of the Columbia River bands in 1856–58 gives the lie to his letter. Also, it was known at the time that Kamiakin was the leading spirit in an attempt to organize a confederacy of all tribes in the Northwest for the purpose of driving out the whites. His plans were flatly opposed by the Nez Perce chiefs who foresaw the futility of waging war against the Americans.
Lieutenant Lawrence Kip credits Lawyer’s tale of an intended massacre. “Some of the friendly Indians,” he writes, “afterwards disclosed to the traders that, during the whole meeting of the Council, active negotiations were on foot to cut off the whites. This plot originated with the Cayuses, in their indignation at the prospect of being deprived of their lands.”7 In view of the Indian troubles which followed, the weight of evidence would indicate that a plot was brewing at the time of the council.
At the next meeting of the conference Lawyer, who had been appointed by Stevens as spokesman for the Nez Perces, expressed hearty approval of the treaty, only asking that the whites act toward the Indians in good faith. Young Chief and Five Crows of the Cayuses, the latter a half-brother of Tu-eka-kas, vigorously opposed it. The Indians, Young Chief objected, had no right to sell land given them by the Great Spirit and they feared to do so. He made a long and eloquent speech in which he said in part: “I wonder if the ground has anything to say? I wonder if the ground is listening to what is said?”8
Most of the chiefs reiterated that they did not clearly understand what was proposed by the treaty. Some of the tribes, they claimed, were not sufficiently represented, and they wanted another meeting to be held before deciding whether to accept the treaty provisions. All except the Nez Perces asked for the council to be postponed. As later events proved the other tribes had just cause.
That evening great confusion was manifest in the Indian camps. The Nez Perces alone appeared satisfied with the government’s proposals, and spent the night in festivity.
On June 8, to satisfy the disaffected tribes, the commissioners agreed to place the Umatillas, Cayuses, and Walla Wallas on a reservation in their own country. All the chiefs then consented to the treaty as modified, except Kamiakin, who had maintained a sullen silence throughout the conference.
Just as Stevens thought he had the Indians of one mind, a new difficulty arose. A small party of armed Nez Perces approached the assembled council, singing a war song and waving a fresh scalp at the end of a pole. The whites discovered the leader to be old War Chief Looking Glass,9 who had just returned from a three years’ buffalo hunt among the Blackfeet. His greeting to the other chiefs was anything but effusive. From the saddle he delivered a fierce speech.
“My people,” said he, “what have you done? While I was gone, you have sold my country. I have come home, and there is not left me a place on which to pitch my lodge. Go home to your lodges. I will talk to you.”10
The council adjourned immediately.
At the meeting next day the old man’s influence was manifested in the attitude of the other Nez Perce chiefs. The Cayuses also supported him, even to his contention that he was head chief. Lawyer retired to his lodge in apparent anger. The conference again dissolved, and the Nez Perces powwowed among themselves. By vote of the majority, Lawyer’s claims to head chieftainship were upheld, while Looking Glass was conceded to be second in authority.
Then, on June 11, Stevens called the chiefs of all tribes to assemble for a final meeting. When he addressed the Nez Perces, the governor said:
“We meet for the last time. Your words are pledged to sign the treaty. The tribes h
ave spoken through their head chiefs, Joseph [Tu-eka-kas], Red Wolf, the Eagle, Ip-se-male-con, all declaring Lawyer was the head chief. I call upon Lawyer to sign first.” Lawyer then signed the treaty. “I now call Joseph [Tu-eka-kas] and the Looking Glass.” Looking Glass signed, then Joseph.11
Both Tu-eka-kas and Looking Glass were reluctant to do so, but were obviously under pressure from other members of their tribe.12
Young Joseph, however, always affirmed that his father did not sign this treaty. In his own words his understanding of it is as follows:
My father, who represented his band, refused to have anything to do with the council, because he wished to be a free man. He claimed that no man owned any part of the earth, and a man could not sell what he did not own.
Mr. Spaulding took hold of my father’s arm and said, “Come and sign the treaty.” My father pushed him away, and said: “Why do you ask me to sign away my country? It is your business to talk to us about spirit matters, and not to talk to us about parting with our land.” Governor Stevens urged my father to sign his treaty, but he refused. “I will not sign your paper,” he said; “you go where you please, so do I; you are not a child, I am no child; I can think for myself. No man can think for me. I have no other home than this. I will not give it up to any man. My people would have no home. Take away your paper. I will not touch it with my hand.”
My father left the council. Some of the chiefs of the other bands of the Nez Perces signed the treaty, and then Governor Stevens gave them presents of blankets. My father cautioned his people to take no presents, for “after awhile,” he said, “they will claim that you have accepted pay for your country.” Since that time four bands of the Nez Perces have received annuities from the United States. My father was invited to many councils, and they tried hard to make him sign the treaty, but he was firm as the rock, and would not sign away his home. His refusal caused a difference among the Nez Perces.13
Tu-eka-kas’ mark, however, does appear on the treaty.14 So there are two possible explanations of Young Joseph’s contentions which were made in 1878: Either he misunderstood his father, believing that he could not have signed the treaty because he did not cede the Wallowa Valley,15 or Young Joseph confused the Treaty of 1855 with the one of 1863. The latter supposition appears the more probable because Spalding, apparently, was not present as an interpreter in 1855, although he was in 1863. Besides, Young Joseph’s description agrees with the accepted historic account of the 1863 treaty which his father refused to sign.
Three treaties were completed on June 11; one with the Walla Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla tribes; a second with the Yakima nation signed by Kamiakin; and the third with the Nez Perces, who received the largest reservation, to which their greater numbers entitled them. In return for the lands ceded outside of the reservations, the government pledged annuities such as schools, teachers, agents, sawmills and gristmills, shops, and mechanics. In addition the Indians were to receive about $650,000, out of which the Nez Perces and Yakimas received $200,000 each in the form of annuities, with salaries for head chiefs of $500 a year for twenty years. The Cayuses, Walla Wallas, and Umatillas received compensation of $150,000.
The most important provisions of the amended treaty guaranteed to the Nez Perces the exemption of their lands from settlement by whites, and the preservation of their grazing, fishing, and hunting rights on the reservation. Article III specifically stated these rights as follows:
The exclusive right of taking fish in all streams where running through or bordering said reservation is further secured to said Indians [the Nez Perces], as also the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places in common with citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary buildings for curing, together with the privilege of hunting, gathering roots and berries and pasturing their horses and cattle upon open and unclaimed land.16
Article II defined the ample boundaries of the Nez Perce Reservation in these terms:
There is, however, reserved from the lands above ceded [by the Nez Perces to the United States] for the use and occupation of said tribe, and as a general reservation for other friendly tribes and bands of Indians . . . the tract of land included within the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing where the Moh-ha-na-she or southern tributary of the Palouse River flows from the spurs of the Bitter Root Mountains, thence down said tributary to the mouth of the Ti-nat-pan-up Creek; thence southerly to the crossing of the Snake River, ten miles below the mouth of the Al-po-wa-wi River; thence to the source of the Al-po-wa-wi River in the Blue Mountains; thence to the crossing of the Grande Ronde River, midway along the divide between the waters of the Woll-low-how and Powder Rivers; thence to the Salmon River above the crossing, thence by the spurs of the Bitter Root Mountains to the place of beginning.17
Roughly, the Nez Perce Reservation included the present counties of Asotin in Washington, Wallowa in Oregon, and Lewis, Nez Perce, and the western half of Idaho County in Idaho. The language of the treaty was clear enough to prevent any doubt as to its meaning, although at a later date its provisions were wilfully disregarded by white squatters.
The Indians were not required to move onto their reservations until a year after Congress had ratified the treaties. The treaties were designed to open the country to white settlement in a peaceful manner, and to save, if possible, a costly Indian war. As a result of the treaty signed by the Nez Perces, their disintegration as an independent people began, for the chiefs by being signatories first agreed to sacrifice their aboriginal way of life.
Lawyer hoped that the treaty would lead to an amicable settlement of all the difficulties between the Northwest Indians and the settlers. He was determined that no act of his, or of his people, should show a breach of faith on the Nez Perces’ part. Governor Stevens, too, was satisfied with the outcome of the council. He felt that honest administration of the treaties’ provisions would win the confidence of the Cayuses and Yakimas, and also hold the friendship of the Nez Perces. It now remained for the United States Senate to ratify the documents.
After the treaties were signed on June 11, presents were distributed among the various chiefs, and the conference disbanded. All the chiefs, except Lawyer and his following, felt disgruntled and resentful and more restless at heart than ever. Upon receiving their gifts the various tribes began packing up and started for their home valleys.
Governor Stevens continued across the Bitterroot Mountains to make a treaty with the Flatheads, Kootenai, and Upper Pend d’Oreilles in western Montana. Old Chief Looking Glass accompanied the governor’s party to Fort Benton to attend the great council with the warlike Blackfeet, the hereditary enemies of the Nez Perces.
As the years passed, Tu-eka-kas appears to have regretted signing the treaty of 1855 with increasing dissatisfaction, although he continued to maintain a peaceful attitude toward the whites.
5
War in the Columbia Basin—1856–58
Peace lasted between the Indians and whites for a few months after the Council of 1855. But a sullen discontent had been brewing for several years, principally among the Cayuse tribesmen of the Walla Walla Valley. This feeling was shared by the Yakimas, farther to the west. Hordes of miners, many of whom were disreputable, were flocking into Washington. They perpetrated numerous outrages against the Indians, which provided one of the underlying causes for the conflict. Then, land-hungry settlers quite literally coveted their neighbors’ lands, and the red owners naturally resented it. Dissatisfaction with the Treaty of 1855 was another contributing cause of war. Finally, white depredations and murders in western Washington led to Indian reprisals around Puget Sound. Soon the disaffection spread. In 1856 it flamed into a general uprising when most of the tribes from Spokane to the coast went on the warpath. The insurrection became known as the Yakima War.
The Nez Perces at first were divided in opinion, partly because of the propaganda spread by Chief Kamiakin of the Yakimas, who sent agents to all the tribes of the Northwest in an effort to form an Indian confeder
acy. This chief warned the whites not to cross the country claimed by his nation. When miners from the coast persisted in rushing across Yakima territory on their way to the Colville gold fields, Kamiakin’s young men ambushed and massacred various prospecting parties.
The opening act of the war, however, was caused by the murder of A. J. Bolon, special agent for the Yakimas. Bolon was traveling to The Dalles after holding a conference with Kamiakin, when he was overtaken by three Indians on September 23, 1855, and treacherously killed by them. His body and that of his horse were then burned. Dr. Edmond Meany in his History of the State of Washington places the blame for Bolon’s death on Qualchan, son of Chief Owhi, a half brother to Kamiakin. But A. J. Splawn, who again bases his testimony on Indian sources, states that Bolon was murdered by Me-cheil, son of Ice, also a brother of Kamiakin.
Be that as it may, the subagent’s death aroused the settlers to organize a volunteer force. Meanwhile, Major G. O. Haller was dispatched from The Dalles with eighty-four men to invade the Yakima country. He was forced to retreat after a surprise attack by the Indians. On October 30, Major Rains took the field with a force of 700 regulars and volunteers. But his campaign consisted only of “scattered skirmishing” with that faction of the Yakimas led by Kamiakin. Another detachment from Fort Steilacoom on the coast was prevented from joining Rains because of heavy snows in the mountains. So the major returned to The Dalles, and thus the campaign ended, having accomplished nothing.
Saga of Chief Joseph Page 5