A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 Part 59

All these false statements were written out and sent to the Sandwich Islands under date, Vancouver, 9th December, 1847, while Brouillet says this Edward Tilokaikt repeated them as a reason for the ma.s.sacre on the 20th December, 1847, eleven days before they are said to have been repeated by the Indians.

Many important facts can only be reached by carefully studying the language of this priest, in connection with the evidence obtained from the survivors, and their subsequent conduct, and the foreign correspondence of the parties who were seeking the exclusive occupation of our country.

From the statement that follows, it will be seen how careful this Jesuit is to inform us that these propositions come from the Nez Perces.

He says, on page 65: "After having deliberated together, the chiefs concluded by adding something to the propositions of the Nez Perces, insisting princ.i.p.ally upon the reasons which they pretended ought to excuse their action, and requested the bishop to send to the governor in their name the following manifesto."

Before copying this important doc.u.ment and the letter which accompanied it to the governor of Oregon, we will place before our readers the "preface" to the book in which we find it, that they may see the full object of the author of that narrative in publis.h.i.+ng it:--

NEW YORK, June, 1853.

"The following interesting narrative was prepared by the very Rev.

Mr. Brouillet, vicar-general of Wallawalla, at the time of the excitement consequent on the murder of Dr. Whitman by the Indians, and in answer to Mr. Spalding, and other of Dr. Whitman's former a.s.sociates. Although the immediate occasion has pa.s.sed away, it is proper, still, to put the _facts of the case_ on record; and these pages, which appeared recently in the columns of the New York _Freeman's Journal_, will form an interesting and authentic chapter in the history of Protestant missions.

"J. A. MCMASTERS."

We will now turn to the 65th page of this false and malicious narrative, and find a doc.u.ment carefully prepared, _as stated by its author_, in grand council a.s.sembled under the eye of Bishop Blanchet, then bishop of Wallawalla, by the very Rev. Mr. Brouillet, etc. By a cursory glance at this narrative and doc.u.ment, it will be seen that it is prepared as coming from the Indians for the express purpose of blackening the character of Dr. Whitman, his wife, Mr. Spalding, and Mr. Rogers, and of charging them with being the cause of their own murder, and the murder of all who fell at Wailatpu by the hands of their own Indians, the Cayuses. That it embodies all the foul slanders against those missions that have been collected for a series of years, and a.s.serts them to be true, without a single deposition or statement having been made before any court or justice of peace, known to the laws then in the country.

These statements, from _preface to finis_, go upon the presumption that the t.i.tle and professions of the men whose names are attached are sufficient evidence of the truth of any statements they may make, however unreasonable or false they may be. The doc.u.ments above referred to are as follows (J. R. Browne, page 45):--

"The princ.i.p.al chiefs of the Cayuses, in council a.s.sembled, state: That a young Indian (Joseph Lewis) who understands English, and who slept in Dr. Whitman's room, heard the Doctor, his wife, and Mr.

Spalding express their desire of possessing the lands and animals of the Indians; that he stated also that Mr. Spalding said to the Doctor, 'Hurry giving medicines to the Indians, that they may soon die;' that the same Indian told the Cayuses, 'If you do not kill the Doctor soon, you will all be dead before spring;' that they buried six Cayuses on Sunday, November 28, and three the next day; that Mr. Rogers, the schoolmaster, stated to them before he died that the Doctor, his wife, and Mr. Spalding poisoned the Indians; that for several years past they had to deplore the death of their children; and that, according to these reports, they were led to believe that the whites had undertaken to kill them all; and that these were the motives which led them to kill the Americans. The same chiefs ask at present--

"1st. That the Americans may not go to war with the Cayuses.

"2d. That they may forget the lately committed murders, as the Cayuses will forget the murder of the son of the great chief of Wallawalla, committed in California.

"3d. That two or three great men may come up to conclude peace.

"4th. That as soon as these great men have arrived and concluded peace, they may take with them all the women and children.

"5th. They give a.s.surance that they will not harm the Americans before the arrival of these two or three great men.

"6th. They ask that Americans may not travel any more through their country, as their young men might do them harm.

"(Signed,) "TILOKAIKT.

"CAMASPELO.

"TAWATOWE.

"ACHEKAIA.

"PLACE OF TAWATOWE, UMATILLA, December 20, 1847."

"The bishop accompanied this manifesto with a letter addressed to the governor, which concluded in these terms: 'It is sufficient to state that all these speeches went to show, that since they had been instructed by the whites they abhorred war, and that the tragedy of the 29th had occurred from an anxious desire of self-preservation, and that it was the reports made against the Doctor and others which led them to commit this act. _They desire to have the past forgotten and to live in peace as before._ Your excellency has to judge of the value of the doc.u.ments which I have been requested to forward to you. _Nevertheless, without having the least intention_ to influence one way or the other, _I feel myself obliged to tell you_, that by going to war with the Cayuses, _you will likely have all the Indians of this country against you. Would it be for the interest of a young colony to expose herself?_ That you will have to decide with your council.'"

Reader, you now have before you a full statement of the most important facts of the Whitman ma.s.sacre, and of the part taken in it by "_the holy fathers, the Catholic priests_," as they were styled by Mr. McBean, of Fort Nez Perces, to Mr. Kimzey and his wife.

The part taken by Mr. McBean, Mr. Ogden, and Sir James Douglas, will be given in another chapter.

The above manifesto is given as having been made on the 20th of December, 1847. On the 23d, three days after, when this very Rev. Mr.

Brouillet mounted his horse to go to the fort, he told Miss Bewley that "if she went to Five Crows' lodge any more she must not come back to his house." Miss Bewley says: "_The bishop told me I had better go._----The bishop sent an Indian with me; he took me to Five Crows' lodge.----_The bishop finally ordered me to go._----_I found I could get no help._"

These are the solemn affirmations of this intelligent young American lady, who was present at the bishop's house when this manifesto was prepared.

Were this Bishop Blanchet and his priests true and sincere in what they said, and in the advice they say they gave to the Indians?

We have now traced what may be termed the missionary account of this painful tragedy, as given by both parties. Our readers must judge for themselves as to the guilt or innocence of all the parties involved, and also of the application to our subject of the extensive extracts we have given. We will now turn our attention to those whom we conceive to be the prime movers, and, in consequence, the most deeply implicated in this tragedy.

We have had occasion to allude to the intimate connection existing between the Jesuit missions in Oregon and the Hudson's Bay Company. As early as 1836, that company brought a Protestant Episcopal chaplain to Vancouver for political reasons, whom they soon dismissed and attempted to disgrace, as unworthy of belief in any statement he might make. Soon after, in the fall of 1838, two Roman priests arrived at Vancouver and took charge of the religious and literary instructions of the members of the company,--of their children and servants, and, as far as possible, of all the Indians in the country; and while the company professed friends.h.i.+p for the American missionaries, they were active and vigilant to defeat all their efforts to enlighten and civilize the Indians, enlisting sufficient American influence to distract and divide the American people, so as to cover up their main object of securing the country for British Territory. This will be seen by evidence already quoted from our English authors, Mr. Fitzgerald and Sir Edward Belcher, and the refusal of Sir James Douglas to aid the provisional government, or furnish supplies for their troops, and the fact that they did embrace every opportunity to supply the Indians with guns, powder, and b.a.l.l.s, and sought to combine the whole Indian power and prejudice against the settlements.

CHAPTER LX.

The Hudson's Bay Company's and the priests' part in the ma.s.sacre.--McBean's messenger.--Plot divulged to Hinman, Ogden, and Douglas.--Douglas's remark to Hinman.--McBean's letter.--His perversion of facts.--Comments.--Sir James Douglas's letter to Governor Abernethy.--His Sandwich Islands letter.--Its falsehood and absurdity.--Mr. Hinman's letter to Governor Abernethy.--The dates.--a.s.sertion of Robert Newell.--Hudson's Bay Company _v._ United States.

We learn from Mr. McBean's letter, given below, that his horse guard and interpreter were at Dr. Whitman's mission and saw the dead bodies; and from Indians we learn that they were kept by the Rev. Mr. Brouillet, and took his account of the ma.s.sacre (which he spent most of the night in preparing) to Mr. McBean. They also reported to him that three parties of Indians were preparing and about to start, to destroy the remaining Protestant missions and American settlements in middle Oregon, including the station at the Dalles; that the women and children were to be held as hostages, or captives for future disposal; that letters and a statement were prepared by Mr. McBean, and instructions given to his messenger that he might inform the Indians on his way down to Vancouver of what had happened, but he must not give any information to any American on the way, or at the Dalles. We learn from the Hon. A. Hinman that this messenger went to him at the Dalles station, and told him that he was sent by Mr. McBean to Vancouver for men, to replace such as had died of sickness at Fort Nez Perces. The messenger took dinner with Mr.

Hinman, who went with him to the Indian lodges, where the messenger told the Indians of the ma.s.sacre. Mr. Hinman procured a canoe and started with him to go to Vancouver. They reached Cape Horn, some thirty miles above that place, and there, while windbound, he informed Mr. Hinman of what had occurred, making a full confession, that "the _priests_, Mr.

_McBean_, and _he_ were bad in trying to deceive him and have his family and people killed by the Indians;" told of his instructions, and of what was expected to be done with all the Americans in the country, and that he was the bearer of letters to Governor Ogden from Mr. McBean.

We will now go with this express to Vancouver. Says the Hon. A. Hinman, who is still alive, and has made oath to the truth of his statements: "We went first to Mr. Ogden's room and informed him of the ma.s.sacre. He was shocked, and said: '_Mr. Hinman, you can now see what opposition in religion will do._' We then went to Mr. Douglas's room and informed him, and when Mr. Ogden was pacing the room, he said: '_Mr. Douglas, you see now what opposition in religion does._' After a moment's pause, Mr.

Douglas replied, '_There may be other causes._'"

Reader, will you turn back and read over the chapter on the English Hudson's Bay Company's effort to secure Oregon, and see if there has not been a desperate effort made, since Dr. McLaughlin left that company, to overcome his mistakes and his humane policy toward Americans. Look also at the chapter on the _English Hudson's Bay Company's policy_ relative to Rupert's Land and Oregon, and learn fully what Mr. Ogden and Mr. (now Sir James) Douglas meant by these expressions made to Mr. Hinman, who says: "Mr. Douglas turned to me, and wished to know why I was not at home at so perilous a time. I told him I had received no letter from Wallawalla, and did not learn of the ma.s.sacre till below the Cascades.

At this he expressed surprise, and said, 'Mr. McBean ought by all means to have informed you of your danger.'

"After this the express was opened, and Mr. Douglas read, and I listened to the account as given by Mr. McBean, and also of his account of three parties, which, Mr. McBean's letter said, Indian report says are fitting out, one to the saw-mill to kill the Americans at that place, and one to Rev. Mr. Spalding's station to cut off the Americans at that place, and one also to the Dalles to cut off those at that station.

"I said to Mr. Douglas, 'How is it possible that Mr. McBean could have treated me in this way? How is it possible he did not inform me?' Mr.

Douglas, after a little pause, said, '_Mr. Hinman, we must consider that the poor man was in circ.u.mstances of great perplexity, and might not know what to do._'"

This was not the case, for Mr. McBean did give him positive instructions, as we learn from Mr. Hinman's statement. He says: "After hearing this dreadful account from the Canadian, I asked him why he did not inform me before I left my house. _He said Mr. McBean told him to say nothing about it to them at the Dalles!_"

Soon after the messenger and Mr. Hinman left the Dalles, the Indians went to the station and informed P. Whitman, the doctor's nephew, that his uncle and aunt, and all the Americans at that place, were killed.

This Indian report was not credited; they could not believe that Mr.

McBean would send a messenger, as he had done, and not inform them of what had actually taken place.

The reader will remember the deposition of Mr. Kimzey in relation to Mr.

McBean's statements about the "holy fathers, the Catholic priests," and the subsequent instructions to him, to let the Indians know he was from the fort.

We will now direct our attention to the mutilated letter of William McBean, as furnished by Sir James Douglas to Governor Abernethy, and published in the Oregon _Spectator_, December 10, 1849:--

FORT NEZ PERCeS, Nov. 30, 1847.

"_To the Board of Managers_: