The Washington Historical Quarterly
VOLUME V. 1914

THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

University Station

Seattle, Washington

The Washington Historical Quarterly

Board of Editors

• Clarence B. Bagley, Seattle.
• W. D. Lyman, Walla Walla.
• J. N. Bowman, Seattle.
• T. C. Elliott, Walla Walla.
• Frank A. Golder, Pullman.
• Ceylon S. Kingston, Cheney.
• Edward McMahon, Seattle.
• Thomas W. Prosch, Seattle.
• Oliver H. Richardson, Seattle.
• O. B. Sperlin, Tacoma.
• E. O. S. Scholefield, Victoria, B. C.
• Allen Weir, Olympia.

Managing Editor

EDMOND S. MEANY

Business Manager

CHARLES W. SMITH

VOL V, NO. 1 JANUARY, 1914

ISSUED QUARTERLY

Contents

THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

University Station

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Entered at the Post-office at Seattle as second-class mail matter.

The Washington University State Historical Society

Officers and Board of Trustees:

• Clarence B. Bagley, President
• Judge John P. Hoyt, Vice-President
• Judge Roger S. Greene, Treasurer
• Professor Edmond S. Meany, Secretary
• Judge Cornelius H. Hanford
• Judge Thomas Burke
• Samuel Hill

PRINTING DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Vol. V., No. 1 January, 1914

The Washington Historical Quarterly

[GEORGE WILKES]

The republication of George Wilkes' History of Oregon, begun in the Quarterly in October, 1906, is completed in the present issue.

In several ways the book or pamphlet is of much historical importance. It was prepared by a journalist rather than a historian, and with a sincere desire to give accurate information regarding the Oregon Country and the best means of getting there, and without expectation of gain in its publication.

At a time when railroads and railroading were in their infancy, Mr. Wilkes was among the first to realize the importance of long and connecting lines of rail communication, and so far as I have been able to ascertain was the first to publicly advocate the building of a line from the Atlantic to the Pacific by the National Government. He argued against land grants or subsidies to private individuals or corporations. The government ownership of the proposed road was the central idea of part I of the book. It was published in New York in 1845. In 1847 he published another pamphlet entitled "Proposal for a National Rail-Road to the Pacific Ocean, for the Purpose of Obtaining a Short Route to Oregon and the Indies." The latter repeated many of the arguments of the earlier work, in fact had little new material. Both are exceedingly scarce at the present day.

In the preface to the book, Wilkes says: "The second part of the work consists of a journal, prepared from a series of letters, written by a gentleman now in Oregon, who himself accompanied the celebrated emigrating expedition of 1843. They make no pretensions in their style, but are merely simple, conversational epistles, which in their familiar, offhand way, furnish a large amount of useful practical information to the emigrant, and much interesting matter to the general reader. The author has done scarcely more to this portion than to throw it into chapters, and to strike from it such historical and geographical statistics as had been drawn from other sources, and arranged in the preceding portions of the work. These letters fell into his hands after the adoption and commencement of his original design; and adapting them to his purpose, by linking them with his own mss., a deal of research was saved him by the valuable and peculiar information they contributed."

Mr. Wilkes did not disclose the name of the writer of the letters, and in fact their authorship was never formally announced, but internal evidence proves they were written by Peter H. Burnett.

Mr. Burnett was born in Nashville, Tennessee, November 15, 1807. The family removed to Missouri in 1817. He was almost entirely self-taught, as in his childhood and youth he had little opportunity of going to school. When about 26 years of age he began the study of law, but continued in other business until in 1839 he abandoned mercantile pursuits and began the practice of law. In 1842 he determined to go to Oregon. May 8, 1843, he left his home in Weston, Missouri, with two ox wagons, one small two-horse wagon, four yoke of oxen, two mules, and a fair supply of provisions. He had a wife and six children. They arrived at the rendezvous, some twelve miles west of Independence, just across the state line and in the Indian country, on the 17th of May. Five days later a general start was made and this historic migration was begun.

An excellent account of the trip is given in Part II of Wilkes' History.

Mr. Burnett was quite prominent in Oregon affairs until 1848, when he was attracted to California by its rich gold fields, and after a time he sent for his family to join him there.

In August, 1849, he was chosen one of the Judges of the Supreme Tribunal of California, and on the 13th of November of that year he was elected Governor. The Constitutional Convention had been held in September and October. California was admitted a state September 9, 1850. Governor Burnett sent in his resignation in January, 1851, and resumed the practice of law. In 1857-8 he served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. Later he engaged in the banking business.

In 1880 there was issued from the press of D. Appleton & Co. the "Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer," written by Mr. Burnett. It is an extremely interesting narrative of his life in Missouri, Oregon and California, and valuable for its history of pioneer life on the Pacific Coast.

In the annual address before the Oregon Pioneers at Portland, in April, 1895, appears the following:

"Perhaps the demise of no one has attracted more widespread attention nor caused deeper sorrow on the Pacific Coast than the death of the late Peter H. Burnett, the first Governor of California, and an Oregon Pioneer of 1843, who had served in the legislature and was one of the justices of the supreme court."

Jesse Applegate was the only other gentleman who was with the 1843 immigration who might possibly have written the letters, but they contain dates, locations and facts that make sure the declaration that Burnett wrote them.

A discussion between William I. Marshall, the author of the "Acquisition of Oregon," and Professor Schafer, of the University of Oregon, regarding this book, the authorship of its letters, etc., was published in the Oregonian in 1903. Both gentleman seem to have agreed that letters written by Mr. Burnett and by him sent to the New York Herald for publication formed the basis of Part II of Wilkes' book, but they disagreed as to the value of the work as an "Original Source" of history. References to places and affairs in Oregon were quoted in substantiation of their conclusions. In this connection both gentlemen seem to have overlooked a paragraph on page 113 that, to my mind, is more nearly conclusive than the others, as follows:

"The more extended political organization of which I before spoke, is about to take place, and I was waited upon two or three days ago by a party from the Falls, to consult upon a plan of general territorial government, with a legislature of two houses, and a Chief Justice for its first executive officer. This arrangement will embrace all the settlements of the valley into one common government, the representatives of which will convene in general congress, at stated periods, at Multnomah or Oregon City, and there transact all the necessary business for our little body politic. When this plan is adopted, (as it doubtless will immediately be) it will perhaps, be the peculiar honor of your humble servant, to sit in a curule chair of the first Republican Government beyond the Rocky Mountains. We shall then be able to make our own laws, and likewise do our own voting and our own fighting."

A few months later Mr. Burnett was chosen Chief Justice of Oregon, under its provisional government, thus fulfilling the prediction in his letter above quoted.

Wilkes must have written considerable of Part II of his book before acquiring the letters, and then instead of rewriting it he tried to work in the letters. In some places this was quite clumsily done. The first chapter is nearly all fictitious, both in names and facts. Robbins, Smith, Harris, Baker, Brown, McFarley, Wayne and Dumberton were not members of the party, and near the bottom of page 65 Burnett is introduced to Peter H. Burnett. Why Wilkes should have failed to give the name of the writer is unexplainable. In minor details it was often inaccurate, but in important facts and in giving intending emigrants information about Oregon and those on the way there valuable facts about roads, fords, grass, distances, etc., it was reliable.

Commenting upon the road from the upper waters of the Sweetwater to Fort Hall, Professor Schafer says: "When we inquire into what motive could have induced Wilkes to deliberately deceive his readers with reference to this piece of road, only one natural answer suggests itself. He evidently was doing it in the interest of his railroad scheme."

The writer remembers vividly that part of the road in 1852. A lad of eight years, in common with the women and other children of the party, he trudged afoot along many weary miles of this road, up and down many long and, to his mind, interminable hills, through the biting frost of early morn and the torrid heat of midday, and he can testify to its roughness and manifold difficulties.

Against Prof. Schafer's comment I wish to protest most emphatically. Mr. Wilkes was a man of high ideals, of lofty public spirit. It was impossible for him to "deliberately deceive" anyone. To attempt deceit carries with it unworthy or dishonest motives. A reader of Wilkes' writings, his books, pamphlets and newspapers, will find an entire absence of selfishness or wish for private gain or personal aggrandizement at the expense of anyone.

One writer has described the style of the book as "flamboyant," which is doubtless true, but greater faults than this can readily be forgiven one not more than twenty-seven years of age who devotes his splendid talents, his time and his money to the exploitation of a colossal national improvement that for the period of seventy years ago was of infinitely more importance to the United States, and especially to the Pacific Coast, than the Panama Canal of today. By most people his proposal was thought more impossible of achievement than today would be an effort to establish a line of airships between the earth and the moon. He was a little more than twenty years in advance of his time. The first transcontinental line was completed in 1869 and the scandals that followed its construction served to prove Wilkes' contention about the unwisdom of subsidizing railroads by land grants or money and still permitting private ownership of them.

Particular importance attaches to this book for another reason. The migration of 1843, consisting of about 900 men, women and children, who brought with them large numbers of horses and cattle, fruit trees, etc., was the first large one. It strengthened the hands of the men who had at all times demanded that the claims of Great Britain to any part of Old Oregon south of latitude 49 degrees should be resisted at all hazards, by force of arms if necessary. The speeches of Linn, Benton, Calhoun, Webster, Clay and nearly all the notable men of the period between 1819 and 1846 show a surprising knowledge of the soil, climate, productions of land and water, its commercial advantages and all the varied details of the grazing and agricultural possibilities of Old Oregon. The record shows that these matters were familiar to these great men before an American missionary or American settler had reached Oregon.

Until many years later no member of that migration published an account of it except these letters to the Herald and fragmentary notes from others. The journals of Burnett and others, so far as they have been given to the public, were jotted down from time to time by men wearied by unremitting toil, who had no time or disposition to record more than the briefest itinerary of the day. Therefore, with all its faults, Wilkes' book is of priceless value as a memorial to Congress about the Oregon of that period and the history of its local events and men of seventy years ago.

To one familiar, as was the writer of this paper, with the remarkable editorials appearing in the Spirit of the Times during all the Civil War period, with their vigorous English, their fervent loyalty and lofty patriotism, the style of the book is not comparable, but in giving the salient facts about the migration and the conditions then existing in the Willamette Valley it is so accurate that an occasional slip of the pen can be readily condoned.

At the time of his death, which occurred September 23, 1885, the New York Herald and the Times each devoted nearly a column to his obituary and other newspapers of that city and other Atlantic cities made more or less extended mention of him and his life.

The Librarian of the New York Public Library has furnished me with photostat reproductions of the obituaries of Mr. Wilkes published by the New York Herald and Times and the Spirit of the Times. The latter article, dated September 26, 1885, is given in full below:

"We regret to record the death, in this city, on Wednesday, of George Wilkes, one of the founders and proprietors of The Spirit of The Times, and for many years its sole editor. Mr. Wilkes joined the staff of this paper when it was called Porter's Spirit. A division of the proprietorship having occurred, he continued its publication under the title of Wilkes' Spirit until 1866, when his name was dropped. He lived abroad for several years, in the enjoyment of an ample income, which enabled him to indulge his cultivated tastes, and returned here a few months ago, as if he felt some premonition of his approaching death, and desired to rest in his native land, which he loved enthusiastically and served zealously.

"George Wilkes was, in his way, one of the foremost American journalists. He not only founded the greatest paper of its class which this country has ever possessed, but he made it, during the Civil War, as tremendous a power in national politics as it has always been in the departments to which it is more particularly devoted. Among such giants of journalism as James Gordon Bennett, Horace Greeley, Henry J. Raymond, Charles A. Dana and William Cullen Bryant—of whom only Mr. Dana now remains to us—Mr. Wilkes held an equal place by virtue of his remarkable talents. They had daily papers in which to address the public; his paper was published only once a week; but they all conceded the vigor and brilliancy of his writing and his articles in The Spirit were republished so extensively that their circulation may be said to have been world wide. His editorials during the War were regularly reprinted in the Tribune and some of them were read in Congress. His advice was asked and followed by President Lincoln and the members of his famous Cabinet. Having convinced himself that General McClellan was inefficient, Mr. Wilkes fairly wrote him out of the command of the Army of the Potomac. He was largely instrumental in bringing Grant to take charge of our Eastern armies. He was on most intimate terms with the leading statesmen and generals of the Union.

"Mr. Wilkes went to the front at the outbreak of the Rebellion and witnessed and described for The Spirit the battle of Bull Run. In the concluding words of that report he gave the keynote for all patriots by stating that the South had fought so well as to be worthy of being brought back into the Union. Throughout the magnificent series of letters and editorials which illuminated the pages of The Spirit this was the text which Mr. Wilkes enforced. He never displayed toward the misguided men who were trying to break up the Union the bitter animosity with which he hunted down the incompetent leaders of the Union side, whose incapacity delayed the restoration of peace and unity. He never doubted the ultimate salvation of the Republic, but he was righteously impatient with those who did not share his faith and agree with him in his opinions of men and measures. He labored ardently to hasten the triumph of the Union as any soldier in the field—as General Grant himself. If he made any mistakes they were on the side of patriotism and were due to his anxiety to hurry on the inevitable victory. One mistake of his in regard to General Fitz John Porter cost that officer his condemnation by Court Martial and nearly cost him his life. But Mr. Wilkes lived to see this error redeemed by the full justice done to General Porter in The Spirit, by Grant, by Congress and by the American people. In the fever and fury of a Civil War such injustices could scarcely be altogether avoided; but Mr. Wilkes went with our armies, saw personally the matters which he criticised, and, in McClellan's camp on the Peninsula, caught the disease which has finally resulted in his decease.

"George Wilkes has been so long absent from editorial connection with The Spirit that his death will not affect it in any way. But, like all strong individualities, he has left a permanent impression upon the paper which he so long conducted. His energetic and splendid style of writing elevated the journalism of sports from the slipslop methods of his predecessors. He attempted to banish slang from every department of The Spirit and he succeeded. In Shakespeare he found a living well of English undefiled and there he sought for strength and purity of diction. After his retirement from practical journalism, he wrote a commentary upon Shakespeare which is remarkable for its original views and theories. But Mr. Wilkes felt that the work of his life had ended with the Civil War and that thereafter he might take such enjoyment as his broken health permitted. He made business arrangements which left him free to live or travel wherever he pleased and independent of all cares and responsibilities. Never afraid of death and boldly facing it a hundred times in the discharge of what he believed to be his duty, he finally died at home, peacefully and fearlessly."

Allibone's Dictionary of Authors, Vol. 3, p. 2720, quotes the following: "New York, April 28, 1870.—George Wilkes, the proprietor of the Spirit of the Times, has received from the Emperor of Russia the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stanislas, as a recognition for the suggestion made to the Russian Government in reference to an overland railway to China and India by way of Russia. This mark of royal favor entitles the holder to have his male children at the Military School of Russia at the expense of the State."

This great honor from the Russian Government came to him about a quarter century after he had been made the object of jest and ridicule for a similar suggestion backed by sound argument for a railroad across the United States. Scriptural comment: "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country."

The New York Times said of him that when the Civil War broke out Wilkes wrote a series of newspaper and magazine articles on the burning question of the hour that attracted wide attention, and gained him the friendship of many prominent men. Secretary Stanton took a personal interest in him, and gave him a great deal of literary work to do in Washington. His articles were very vigorous, well written, and patriotic. They commanded a wide influence, and besides strengthening the attachment of the author to people who had heretofore been his friends, they had the effect of subduing the belligerence and increasing the caution of his enemies.

In April, 1860, Frank Leslie's "Illustrated Newspaper" published a photograph of him and a brief but complimentary note about him.

In 1849 Mr. Wilkes went to California with David C. Broderick, who afterward became U. S. Senator from that State. Wilkes took great interest in the political fortunes of Broderick, and rendered him valuable services. In 1851 he returned to New York and resumed his career as a journalist.

Early pioneers will remember the wave of indignation that swept over the Pacific Coast when it was known that Broderick had been killed in a duel with David S. Terry. The latter became widely known as Judge Terry, whose tragic death while attempting to murder Justice Field is comparatively recent California history.

The fatal meeting took place September 13, 1859, and Broderick died three days later. Volumes have been written about this duel. It was quite generally believed it was the result of a conspiracy among the leaders of the ultra slaveholding wing of the then dominant party in the State to get rid of Broderick at all hazards.

Broderick's great friendship became apparent when his will was made public. An estate valued at $300,000 was all left to Wilkes, except one legacy of $10,000. Considerable litigation between him and the State of California ensued. The ultimate verdict was in favor of the legatee, but the estate had shrunk a good deal on account of the heavy costs of the law suit.

Under date of Washington, September 9, 1913, the Librarian of Congress gave me the following list of the writings of George Wilkes so far as he had been able to find them:

Europe in a Hurry. New York, H. Long & Brother, 1853. 449 pp.

The Great Battle, Fought at Manassas, Between the Federal Forces, under Gen. McDowell, and the Rebels, under Gen. Beauregard, Sunday, July 21, 1861. From notes taken on the spot. New York, Brown & Ryan, 1861. 36 pp.

History of California. New York, 1845. (Note.—It is doubtful if this book was published, as it is not in the Library of Congress and I have never seen a reference to it.—C. B. B.)

The History of Oregon, Geographical and political. New York, W. H. Collyer, 1845. 128 pp.

The Internationale; its principles and purposes. Being a sequel to the Defence of the Commune. New York, 1871. 23 pp.

The Lives of Helen Jewett and Richard Robinson. New York, H. Long & Brother, 1849. 132 pp.

McClellan; from Ball's Bluff to Antietam. New York, S. Tousey, 1863. 40 pp.

"McClellan"; who he is and "what he has done," and "Little Mac; from Ball's Bluff to Antietam." Both in one. New York, The American News Company, 1864. 14 pp.

Project of a National Rail-Road from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean for the Purpose of Obtaining a Short Route to Oregon and the Indies. 2nd ed. Republished from the "History of Oregon." New York, The Author, 1845. 23 pp.

Proposal for a National Rail-Road to the Pacific Ocean, for the Purpose of Obtaining a Short Route to Oregon and the Indies. 4th ed. Rev. and repub. from the "History of Oregon." New York, D. Adee, 1847. 24 pp.

Shakespeare from an American Point of View. New York, D. Appleton, 1877.

The Mysteries of the Tombs, a Journal of Thirty Days' Imprisonment in the New York City Prison for Libel. New York, 1844, 64 pp.

Wilkes, George, vs. John F. Chamberlin. N. Y. Supreme Court. The answer of John F. Chamberlin to the complaint of George Wilkes in an action to recover damages for defamation of character. New York, W. J. Reed, 1873. (Diplomatic Pamphlets, v. 16, p. 1.) 15 pp.

Clarence B. Bagley.

[THE PRESENT STATUS AND PROBABLE FUTURE OF THE INDIANS OF PUGET SOUND]

The central fact to be observed in dealing with this problem is that the Indian of today is largely what the white man has made him. The relationship between the whites and the Indians in the past has done more than any other thing to bring about the present conditions of life among the Indians; and it is only as we understand this relationship of the past that we can fully grasp the present status and can catch a glimpse of the probable future or learn to apply remedies to eradicate existing evils. What progress the Indian has made, therefore, toward civilization can be traced directly to his relations with the whites, and similarly the evil conditions of life among a great number of our Indians can be traced to the same cause. It is, then, essential to take particular notice of some of these relations between the two races.

The Indians of Puget Sound were put on reservations by treaties concluded between them and Governor Isaac I. Stevens in the latter part of the fifties. These treaties established eighteen reservations, four in the Neah Bay agency, nine under the Puyallup consolidated agency and five under the Tulalip agency. The lands were set aside for the use of the Indian, to make a home for him, and to protect it from the encroachment of the whites. Under the federal act of July 4, 1884, the Indian was allowed to take advantage, without severing his tribal relations, of the Homestead Act of 1862. In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act, or the so-called Dawes Act, which had for its purpose the breaking up of tribal life and establishing the Indians on private farms according to the customs of the whites. This is by far the most important piece of legislation enacted in the history of Indian affairs, because many complications have arisen under it. This law states, in part: "Every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United States to whom allotment shall have been made under the provisions of this Act, or under any law or treaty, and every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United States, who has voluntarily taken up, within said limits, his residence separate and apart from any tribe of Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States and is entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities of such citizens." (24 Stat. L. 390.)

It must be noted that this made such an Indian a citizen of the United States, but not necessarily a citizen of the state in which he resided. The Constitution of the State of Washington declares that Indians not taxed shall not vote, and the penal code of the State makes it a felony to induce an Indian to vote—in spite of the fact that such class legislation and class restrictions are clearly not in harmony with the intentions of this federal law.

This Act has worked inestimable harm and has been one chief instrument of political and pecuniary graft through conferring citizenship under conditions which in no way required or evidenced the slightest fitness for citizenship. Charles M. Buchanan, Superintendent in charge of the Tulalip agency, said: "I know of instances where allotments have been made to an Indian without his application, without his knowledge, and without his desire—where in twenty-five years he has never set foot upon his alleged land, does not know where it is and does not want it. He is in possession of land that he does not want and a citizenship that he does not know, much less understand." It is difficult to attribute mere sympathy for the poor unprotected red man, as the only purpose for the enactment of such an ignorant, vicious piece of legislation. This Act, probably more than any other one thing, has determined the present-day status of our Puget Sound Indians.

Another complication which arose under this Dawes Act was the conflicting and antagonistic procedure on the part of local courts in regard to the transfer and sale of lands. Section 6 of that Act states that allotments shall be held in trust for a period of twenty-five years and the Indian allottees are to acquire citizenship at the time of the approval of such allotments. Also the inheritance or entail of allotments is made subject to the laws of descent and partition in the respective states where such allotments might be located. This provision, together with the Act of May 27, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 245), authorizing and providing for the sale of allotments of deceased allottees, has resulted in great confusion and conflicting procedure in local courts, thus making still more difficult the already complex administration of Indian affairs and impeding the progress of the Indian as a whole.

These developments of the vicious conditions arising under the Dawes Act pale into insignificance before the United States Supreme Court decision, "In the matter of Heff," 1905. This, famous or infamous, case arose in Kansas from the endeavor to enforce the federal law of 1897 relating to the sale of liquor to the Indians. A man named Heff, in Kansas, was arrested, tried and convicted for selling two quarts of beer to an Indian. He was sentenced to a fine and to a term in jail. He had the case appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and that body decided that if, under the Dawes Act of 1887, an Indian becomes a citizen of the United States, he is entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities pertaining to such citizenship, and hence to acquire and consume liquor at pleasure. Therefore, to that extent the prohibitory provisions of the Act of 1897, affecting such privileges, were declared to be null and void, and Heff was ordered to be released. This has been the most vicious piece of legislation in the history of Indian affairs. The worst enemy of the Indian is his overpowering love for liquor. Congress has attempted again and again to protect him from this weakness, and in the Act of 1897 it was thought that this trouble was at an end with the enacting of such an ironclad law. It practically prohibited the furnishing of liquor in any form, in any place, and under any pretense to an Indian. The year following the Heff decision saw an increase of the liquor traffic among the Indians of Puget Sound undreamed of before. It spelled almost absolute ruin and prostration for the Puyallup Indians. Other agencies report a similar striking increase in the amount of drunkenness, crime, and death, and a marked lowering of moral standards and civilization. Even some of the more intelligent men of the Tulalip tribes express their sorrow over the Heff decision and its results.

On May 8, 1906, Congress attempted to remedy these evil conditions arising under the Dawes Act by passing the Burke Act. This amends the Dawes Act to read, "At the expiration of the trust period and when the lands have been conveyed to the Indians by patent in fee, as provided in Section five of this act, then each and every allottee shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the state or territory in which they may reside; Provided, that the Secretary of the Interior, may, in his discretion, and he is hereby authorized, whenever he shall be satisfied that any Indian allottee is competent and capable of managing his or her affairs at any time to cause to be issued to such allottee a patent in fee simple, and thereafter all restrictions as to sale, incumbrance, or taxation of said land shall be removed and said land shall not be liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of such patent." (34 Stat. L. 182). This postpones the acquisition of citizenship until the termination (instead of the initiation) of the trust period. This can, however, only apply to such allotments as have been made, or shall be made, subsequent to May 8, 1906. It cannot undo the evils resulting from the past.

It would be sad indeed if this were the only aspect of the Indian question. There is, however, a brighter side. Great progress has been made in civilization through contact with the whites. The simple, primitive, uneducated child of Nature is a thing of the past. The Puget Sound Indian of today has discarded many of his tribal customs and habits and adopted those of the whites. Reservation reports show that nearly all have adopted the white man's dress, can speak the English language more or less, and have adopted a great many American customs, manners of living, and institutions. The occupations of the men are practically the same as those of the whites. They engage in fishing, truck gardening, stock raising, and some work in the logging camps, lumber mills, and hop fields. They are, however, as a rule, extremely shiftless, preferring to sell their land outright and get the money rather than to clear it and make it their home. Each year, however, a few more homes are made. These are quite like those found among the whites of a similar social status.

One of the big obstacles with which the Puget Sound Indian is contending at the present time is found in the conditions of the fishing industry. Owing to the very rapid increase in importance of this industry, through the use of traps, together with concentration of capital and consolidation of the canning plants, the salmon fisheries, which are the chief means of subsistence of the coast Indians, are being rapidly monopolized. The means of obtaining a living are, therefore, becoming daily more precarious, particularly among the older Indians. The stock of fish is being depleted so rapidly that there is an increasing demand for more and larger hatcheries. The white man, with superior intelligence and more capital, is gradually crowding the unfortunate Indian out of his time-honored occupation. The same thing may be said in regard to the logging industry. The ignorant Indian, without capital, cannot compete successfully with the superior intelligence and greater wealth of his white neighbor. This makes the matter of employment and subsistence extremely precarious and forms one of the biggest problems that confronts us today in regard to Indian affairs.

Perhaps one of the best and most hopeful signs of progress is the growing interest and rapid improvement in education. Each of the Indian reservations is provided with one or more day schools and the Puyallup and Tulalip agencies have industrial training schools. These latter especially are doing very efficient and creditable work. They are fitting the new generation of Indians for a life of usefulness. Very few of the older generations can be induced to clear and farm their lands, but the time has now come when this is the only practicable thing for them to do and so the purpose of the schools should be to fit the rising generation for a life occupation. These two industrial schools are meeting this task very efficiently. The Tulalip school ground was cleared mostly by the pupils themselves. Recently the Government has provided them with a donkey engine. A large plot of ground is set out to fruit and vegetables. A sufficient amount of garden products is produced on this to supply the entire school, and besides a large amount is sold. At the same time, valuable instruction is given to the boys in fruit raising and truck growing. In 1908 a large mill and manual training building were erected entirely by school help. Pupil self-government is used in connection with the discipline of the school. The officers include mayor, city clerk, city council, health officer, policeman and judges. The system seems to be capably managed and good results are produced.

The day schools are experiencing a great deal more difficulty. The allotments are so far apart that there are, necessarily, but few families close to the schools. The remainder of the children are compelled to come a long way. This, together with the bad, rainy climate of Puget Sound, makes the enforcement of attendance at day schools a very difficult problem. These factors make the attendance uncertain and irregular, and when the pupils do go they are often compelled to sit all day long with wet clothing. Such conditions are enough to break down the strongest constitutions. What wonder is it, then, that the death rate is high among the Indian children, who are often poorly fed, poorly clad and already predisposed. Then, too, to be efficiently administered these schools require a strong, capable, well-trained teacher, one imbued with the true missionary spirit. Such teachers are not, as a rule, found in the Indian service, and the salaries are not usually large enough to attract them into the service from outside. On the whole, however, it must be said that progress in the right direction is slowly being accomplished. Better teachers and a larger number of well-equipped schools are being supplied.

In a great many cases, it is a difficult undertaking to influence the older people to change their customs and habits, although the rising generation do so very readily. Some progress can be noted among the old people, however. For example, over three-fourths of the families on the Lummi reservation use the English language exclusively at home, and in a great many cases the children can speak nothing but English. The Indians have given up a great many of their forms and ceremonies and superstitions. Marriage is now performed according to the customs of the whites. Licenses are obtained usually from the county officials, seldom from the agency. Each reservation has individual courts of Indian offenses, officered and administered by Indians. These, on the whole, have done very careful, conscientious and helpful work, not only in the administration of justice, but in maintaining law and order and peaceably adjusting quarrels and disputes.

The morals of the Indians of Puget Sound are as good as could reasonably be expected when we take into consideration our ignorant, unwholesome legislation and the fact that, as a race, laxness in this respect has been only too common. Contact with the lower class of whites has unfortunately resulted in the copying of a great many of their vices, as well as virtues. Some progress can be noted, however. They are observing the marriage tie with much more faithfulness than formerly, and where man and wife are not living together, they are divorced by due process of law.

The Heff decision has undoubtedly done much toward sending the Indian down to destruction. Since then it has been almost impossible to keep drink and the Indians apart. The Puyallup Indians have nearly all passed the trust period and become citizens, as, in fact, have a good many on the other reservations. Since that time they have lost their property, self-respect, and health to a large degree. The only thing they haven't been able to get rid of is their citizenship, which has been largely responsible for their present condition. Superintendent Buchanan reports in 1907, in speaking of the enforcement of our state laws in regard to liquor selling, "In thirteen years of life in this vicinity I have yet to see or hear of the first case of actual enforcement of any of these provisions. In six years of very vigorous prosecution I have secured remarkably few convictions in such cases, and these only on pleas of guilty, and in all of which the minimum penalty was inflicted. Indeed, the situation is so very extraordinary that one is not always sure of a conviction even when the defendant admits his guilt and pleads guilty. In one such case, which went before the federal grand jury on such a plea of guilt, the jury, with all the facts before them, and with the defendant admitting guilt and pointing out and identifying the confiscated bottles and flasks, turned the prisoner loose as innocent, even though he insisted that he was guilty. This very extraordinary event occurred in Seattle before the May, 1905, session of the Federal Grand Jury." (Page 58, Report of Indian Agents and Superintendents to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1907.) Is it any wonder, then, that liquor dealers violate the law with impunity when it is such a difficult matter to secure conviction?

In 1909, the State of Washington passed a very stringent law relating to the selling of liquor to Indians and since that time, enforcement has been somewhat stricter. This makes it a felony for anyone to sell liquor in any form, at any time, and under any pretense, to an Indian, to whom allotment has been made, while the title is held in the trust period, or to an Indian who is held under guardianship of an Indian agent or superintendent, or under the charge of the United States. This law is being much more rigidly enforced than has hitherto been the case, yet the Indians still get the liquor. Saloon keepers in towns bordering on the reservations are wary about selling it to them, but in towns some distance from the reservations open selling still goes on. On the whole, our liquor laws are more honored in the breach than the observance.

The consumption of such a large amount of liquor in the past has, in a great many cases, absolutely destroyed the health of the Indians. Their constitutions always have been weak, subject to tuberculosis, pneumonia, and all pulmonary diseases, and when the consumption of large amounts of alcohol is added to this, little wonder is it that the death rate is high among them, and that so many weak, diseased Indian children come into the world.

In the matter of religion, the Puget Sound Indians are in an evolutionary stage. On the whole, the old form of religion, called Tamahnous, in which the evil spirit was worshipped in order to appease it, and hence not to be visited by it, has been replaced by the Christian religion, or by a mixture of the Christian and the old. The Puget Sound Indians are peculiar in one respect, viz: that they are indolent and lazy, are easily persuaded to accept and follow any belief, but are usually unwilling to make an effort to think or reason out a question. They are indolently and willingly superficial. The result of this has been that while a great many have been converted to the Christian religion, still that conversion has been very superficial in character. They have been satisfied with the content that external forms and actions would make them right with God, and secure to them a future happiness, and, at the same time, have utterly disregarded the true inner spirit of religion. Hence, they have readily taken up anything that appeals to the sensuous in their religious nature.

In 1882 or 1883, a Mud Bay Indian, named John Slocum, who had been converted to Catholicism, but who had led a rather desultory life, fell sick and apparently died. The usual death ceremonies took place. But to the great surprise of the Indians, Slocum came to life again on the second or third day after his death. He brought with him a wonderful tale. He affirmed that he had indeed died, gone up to the pearly gates and there met St. Peter, who refused him entrance on the grounds that he had led too loose a life. There was one way, however, so St. Peter informed him, by which he could yet earn his way into Paradise, and that was to go back to earth and teach his fellow Indians a new form of religion, which was to be the same as that in the white man's book, but better adapted to the needs of the Indians. Hence his return to life.

Slocum immediately began to preach his new doctrine, a religion since named "Shakerism," which has gathered together at least half of the Indians of Puget Sound, who profess any religion at all. This is a curious mixture of the old Tamahnous religion and Protestantism and Catholicism. It is undoubtedly a decided step in advance of the old religion, since it enjoins a worship of an all-powerful, good God rather than malicious devils and evil spirits. The beliefs and ceremonies differ among different tribes, and are more nearly in harmony with the Christian religion where the missionaries have had the most influence. The influence of Catholicism is to be seen in the elaborate forms and ceremonies of worship and the cross and candle sticks on the altar. Those afflicted with a guilty conscience remain on their knees during the entire Sunday service, crossing themselves repeatedly. The songs and prayers are translations into Indian or Chinook done by the early missionaries.

The retained features of the old Tamahnous religion are to be seen largely in the conversion ceremonies and the healing of the sick—the so-called "Night Work." It is difficult for the Indians to give up their old superstitions and barbaric rites. These still remain in their minds and crop out with the more modern beliefs in their religion. To quote from an article by Edwin L. Chalcraft, a teacher in one of the Indian schools, "Every act tends to excitement. The weird Indian chant, the dance music, the frenzied dances, the ringing of hand bells and the rubbing of the patient's body to drive out sickness or the evil spirit, as the case may be, and let in the new religion, all have a place, and are sometimes continued through the night, or until the participants become exhausted."

The introduction of this new belief among the Indians worked havoc in the churches. From the first the new religion gained a large number of converts at the expense of the Christian institution. A great many of the Christian churches have had to close their doors and go out of business, because of this keen competition. Especially among the Puyallup reservation tribes is this true. This religion has taken such a firm hold upon them that Christianity is making no progress at all at the present time. For thirty-five years, up to 1901, Rev. Myron Eells worked faithfully and perseveringly among them against innumerable obstacles, but since his death in that year the work has almost ceased. The Neah Bay agency is supplied with one Presbyterian mission, but it is struggling along, fearing to have to go out of business every day. The missionary work of the Tulalip agency is done entirely by the Catholic church, and on the whole very good results have been accomplished. Most of the reservations have churches of their own, and the priests of neighboring towns minister to their welfare. Shakerism has a very weak hold among them.

Taken altogether, this religion has had its place in helping the Indians live better lives, especially where the Bible has been faithfully taught. Where the old Tamahnous still bears sway, and the old superstitions are still current, however, the effect has been noticeably bad, showing itself principally in unfaithfulness in the family life. As C. L. Woods, Superintendent of the Neah Bay agency, says, "The Shakers, a peculiar religious sect, are seemingly doing good, as there has been little or no law breaking by their members, and no drunkenness whatever. Their professed creed is a model of orthodoxy, and it would be bigotry to oppose their outlandish and queer manner of worship."

I think it can be safely assumed that at least assimilation, if not race fusion, between the Puget Sound Indians and the whites will take place some time not very far distant. The younger generation of Indians are showing a very marked capability of taking over our habits, customs, institutions and manner of living. Nearly all can speak and read the English language, a good many cannot speak their native tongue. They come in contact with the white children a great deal and so copy from them their games and amusements, and ultimately their ideals and ways of doing things. This is one of the most hopeful signs for the future of the race. If we can keep the Indian children interested in their school work and keep them in contact with the white children, assimilation will quickly be brought about. The closer the contact with the better class of whites, the sooner will the Indians reach our plane of civilization, and the easier will become assimilation and fusion. Already there is quite a noticeable drift away from the reservations, and I believe the time will come, and not very long distant, when the reservations will be done away with entirely. Assimilation will go on more easily and more rapidly because of the relatively small number of Indians. There are but something less than four thousand reservation Indians at the present time around Puget Sound, and statistics show that they are just about holding their own in numbers. If any change at all, there may be a slight natural increase in population.

In early pioneer days, intermarriage of the whites and Indians was very common and no especial social stigma was attached to it; at the present time, however, intermarriage is commonly discountenanced, especially among the better classes of whites and somewhat of a social degradation goes with it. Young married couples of the Indians usually leave the reservations and go out among the whites to live. Often, however, they return to their reservations because of the poor social standing they receive among the whites, and because they long to be with their kinsmen.

On the part of the whites, two things must be insisted upon, first, a stricter enforcement of our liquor laws, and, second, a more friendly and helpful attitude toward the Indian. We have robbed the Indian of his lands and waters by false and fair means; we have forced him to live in an atmosphere of totally different customs and ideals; it would be, therefore, far less than justice if we fail to do all we can to help him fit himself for his new life.

Lewis H. St. John.

[THE PIONEER DEAD OF 1913]

In the list of departed pioneers following, record is made only of those that have come to the attention of the biographer. There were others, no doubt, but of them he had no knowledge. Those are considered pioneers who lived in the State of Washington, and who were on the Pacific Coast before 1860. The number of such who died in 1913 was greater than in any previous year. The average age, and the average number of years on the coast, were also greater. The information here presented was obtained principally from the newspapers of the day. Regret is expressed that it was not in all cases equally full and complete.

Neely, David A.—Born in 1823, died at Kent, in King county, Dec. 31st, 1912, aged 89 years. Mr. Neely came from Missouri, and in 1854 settled on the land claim in White River valley, where he lived the following almost fifty-nine years. In the Indian war of 1855-56 he was driven from home by the savages, and he at once retaliated by enlisting in the territorial military service against them. He was second lieutenant of his company, and for a time was in command, owing to the retirement of Captain Edward Lander and First Lieutenant Arthur A. Denny. He was married in 1848. His wife, 87 years of age, survives him; also five children, fourteen grandchildren, and sixteen great grandchildren. [Note.—The foregoing went to the printer too late for publication in the list of deceased 1912 pioneers, and is therefore placed here.—T. W. P.]

Montgomery, Matilda Ann—Born in Illinois, died at Meyers Falls, Jan. 2, aged 80 years. She came to Oregon in 1850, and for a number of years lived in Linn county. From there she moved to Dayton, Wash., where she remained until she went to Meyers Falls in 1906. She is survived by three daughters and two sons.

Heitman, Henry—Died at Ridgefield, Clark county, Jan. 13, aged 80 years. He came from the Eastern States in 1853. He was a farmer, and by industry and economy was enabled to acquire 1,800 acres of agricultural land. Four daughters and two sons survive him.

Darragh, John.—Born in New York State in 1830; died at Edmonds, Jan. 13, in his 83d year. He was an Oregon pioneer of 1851. He remained there and in Washington until 1883, when he returned to New York. In 1902 he came back to the Pacific and made his home in Edmonds. He participated prominently in the 1855-56 Indian war. A wife and daughter were left.

Laws, Andrew Jackson—Born in Illinois, March 13, 1833, died at the old soldiers' home at Orting, Jan. 15, aged 80 years. In 1852 he came to Clark county, Washington, where he made his home. Like most other young men of his time, he served in the Indian war, from Oct. 20, 1855, ten months, its whole period, in the western half of the territory. Mrs. Page, a daughter, of Vancouver, was left.

Newell, Therese—Born near Portland, Oregon, June 4, 1856, died at Seattle Jan. 26, aged 57 years. She was a school teacher and unmarried.

Jaggy, John—Born Jan. 14, 1829, died at Vancouver, Jan. 30, aged 84 years. He came to California in 1857, and after a few months moved to Washington Territory. He was long a leading citizen of his home community. A wife, two daughters and a son survive him.

Caldwell, R. P.—Born in Tennessee, June 15, 1834, died at Everett about Feb. 1, aged 79 years. He came to California in 1856, to Oregon in 1859, and to Washington in 1901. His wife, two daughters and two sons survive him.

Blanchet, John B.—Born in 1840, died at Vancouver, Feb. 4, aged 73 years. He came west in 1846, and lived all the following years at Vancouver. He was a nephew of Bishop Blanchet and also of Archbishop Blanchet, the two first high Catholic Church dignitaries in this state.

Livingston, David—Born in Pennsylvania, died in Seattle Feb. 5, aged 82 years. He came to Puget Sound in 1853, and thereafter made his home. His wife died in 1906. They had three children—George W., Clara and Josephine.

Boyd, Levi—Born in Ohio, September, 1812, died at Walla Walla, Feb. 6, aged a little more than 100 years. He crossed the continent in 1843, and remained in Oregon and Washington until 1861. He then went East and joined the Confederates in their effort to divide the Union. Soon after the conclusion of hostilities he returned to Walla Walla, where he continued to reside to the end of his long life. He was a bachelor.

Anderson, Andrew—Died at Walla Walla Feb. 21, aged 85 years. He was a pioneer of 1856, a farmer and a veteran of the Civil War.

Wood, Mrs. Helen R. M.—Born in Australia, died at Dungeness, March 1, aged 55 years. She came to Puget Sound when a child one year old.

Tukey, John Fossett—Born in Bangor, Me., Aug. 6, 1830, died in Jefferson county, March 1, aged 83 years. He came to the Pacific Coast by ship in 1850, and two years later settled on a land claim on Discovery Bay, where he made his home for sixty years. He served among the volunteers in 1855. His wife died a year before him. They had no children.

Pettygrove, Benjamin Stark—Born in Portland, Oregon, Sept. 30, 1846, died at Port Townsend, March 7, aged 67 years. His father, Francis W. Pettygrove, settled on the Portland townsite several years before, and was one of the town projectors. He suggested the name and bestowed it, his partner in the enterprise favoring Boston instead. When this boy, this first white male child born there, came along, the question of sovereignty in Oregon was not settled between Great Britain and the United States, as far as known to the people of Oregon, though, as a matter of fact, it had been settled three and a half months before. A ship came in having on board a passenger named Benjamin Stark, who had a newspaper in which was the first report of the conclusion of the matter on the basis of the international boundary line on the 49th parallel. The Pettygroves were so pleased that they named their boy after this stranger. Streets in Portland are named Pettygrove and Stark. Benjamin Stark stayed there, became a prominent citizen, and represented the state in the U. S. Senate. The Pettygrove family removed to Port Townsend in 1852, and were among the founders of that city. B. S. Pettygrove lived there almost sixty-one years. After a married life of nineteen years, his wife died in 1893. They left one son.

Watson, Phoebe C.—Born in Illinois, Feb. 19, 1840, died in Chehalis, March 9, aged 73 years. She crossed the plains in 1848 with her parents, Jacob Conser and wife. She was married in 1860, and in 1872 the family went upon a farm near Chehalis. She was survived by five sons.

Sparks, Margaret I.—Born in South Carolina, died at Boisfort in March, aged 93 years. Her first husband was Wm. A. Brewer. They came to Oregon in 1853. He died in 1858. In 1860 she moved to Washington Territory, where she married John G. Sparks. She left six children.

Hardison, James W.—Born in Polk county, Oregon, in 1845, died at Wahkiakum in March, aged 68 years. His whole life was spent in Oregon and Washington. A widow and four children survive.

Gale, Joseph Marion—Born in Illinois in 1836, died at Orting, March 17, aged 77 years. He came to Oregon in 1853. He served in two Indian wars, and also the Civil War. He was a teacher and a newspaper editor.

Moore, A. C. H.—Died at North Yakima, March 29, aged 76 years. He came overland to California in 1849. From there he moved on to Oregon, and about thirty years ago came further north, to Long Beach, Wash. A widow, five daughters and two sons survive him.

Shaw, James O.—Born in Maine, died at White Salmon, March 30, aged 86 years. He came by ship to California in 1849. In 1870 he took a homestead in Klickitat county. A wife, a son and two daughters were left.

Andrews, Lyman Beach—Born in New York State, Feb. 10, 1829, died at San Diego, Cal., March 31, aged 84 years. He came to California in 1859, and in 1860 to Seattle, where his home was ever afterward. He was a prominent citizen for half a century. Mrs. Andrews died in 1908. He left one daughter and three sons.

Nelson, John M.—Born in Kentucky, April 14, 1824; died at The Dalles, Oregon, April 4. He came to California in 1847, a few years later to Oregon, and still later to Washington, his last home being at Valley, this state. He was a remarkable linguist, being able to talk with Indians of sixteen different dialects. Twenty-seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren are his living descendants.

McKinlay, David—Born in California in 1854; died at San Francisco, April 10, aged 59 years. He came to Victoria, B. C., and from there in 1873 to Seattle, which was his home to the end. Mr. McKinlay left a valuable estate to found an orphans' home, upon the death of his surviving wife.

Fisher, Lydia Ann—Born in Oregon, Jan. 30, 1848, died near Fisher's, Clark county, April 10, aged 65 years. All her life—every hour—was spent in Oregon or Washington, the last fifteen years in this state. Three sons and a daughter were left.

Shaw, James O.—Born in Maine, died at White Salmon, April 11, aged 86 years. He was a '49er of California, but in the 1870s settled in Klickitat county, Washington. A widow and three children survive.

Gatch, Thomas Milton—Born in Ohio, Jan. 29, 1833, died at Seattle April 23, aged 80 years. He came to California in 1856, and to Washington Territory in 1859. He was a teacher in the higher branches of learning and in the higher schools of the country. He was principal of the Portland Academy, twice president of Willamette University, president of the University of Oregon, and president of the University of Washington. Two daughters and one son survive him.

Rose, Alfred Percy—Born in Pennsylvania, died at Metaline, May 1, aged 76 years. He came to California in 1858, and later lived in every state and territory west of the Rocky Mountains, and Mexico and British Columbia besides. A widow, a son and a daughter survive him.

Christ, Philip—Born in Germany, May 24, 1824; died at Vancouver, Wash., May 6, aged 89 years. As a member of Company L, First U. S. Artillery, he came by ship to the Columbia River in 1849, and under Major Hathaway, was one of the men who established Fort Vancouver, or Vancouver Barracks. Upon discharge he settled there, and there spent the last sixty-four years of his life. Upon the same ship came another company,—M, Captain Hill—which was sent to Puget Sound, and established Fort Steilacoom, the same year, these two being the first military posts in the State of Washington.

Goodridge, Gardner—Born in Maine, Feb. 28, 1833; died, at Florence, May 10, aged 80 years. He came to California in 1853, to British Columbia in 1858, and thence to Washington after a short stay. He left four children.

Masterson, James—Died in Seattle, May 24. He came to Oregon in 1851, and to Washington in 1873. He left three children.

Faucett, Rachel A.—Died at Auburn, May 27, aged 88 years. She came from Missouri to Washington in 1854. The family lived ten years in Pierce county and forty-nine years in King. She left three daughters, one son, fourteen grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.

Cloquet, August—Died June 14, at Toledo, aged 87 years. He came to Washington in 1851. For sixty years he dwelt in Lewis county. He left seven children.

Little, Daniel—Born in Maine, died at Castle Rock, June 29. He came to Washington in 1852, and has resided ever since in Cowlitz county. Six children were left.

Jaggy, Margaret Wintler—Born in Switzerland, died at Vancouver, July 4, aged 88 years. She came to the United States in 1852; and to Washington Territory in 1857. For thirty-five consecutive years she was treasurer of the Vancouver Methodist Church. Mr. Jaggy died Jan. 30, 1913. They left three children.

Whitworth, James Edward—Died in Seattle, July 11, aged 72 years. He came to Oregon in 1853 and to Washington in 1854. Married in 1869, his wife died several years ago. His descendants include ten children and twenty-one grandchildren.

Loomis, Louis Alfred—Born in New York State, Oct. 9, 1830, died at Loomis Station, Pacific county, July 19, aged 83 years. He was a pioneer of 1852. He served among the Oregon volunteers in the Indian war of 1855-56. Five children were left.

Rhoades, L. H.—Born in Illinois in 1844, died at Bay Center, July 14, aged 69 years. He came to Oregon in 1850, and to Washington in 1862. Probably no couple in the state were married younger than Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades, he being 16 years and she 15 years old in 1860 when united. She and ten children were left.

Latham, John—Born in England, June 22, 1837, died at Tacoma August 6, aged 77 years. He came to Oregon in 1856, and to Washington in 1860. He left a wife, five children and fourteen grandchildren.

Haley, John—Born in New York in 1840, died at Ellensburg, August 20, aged 73 years. He came to California in 1856, and to Washington in 1879.

Gaillac, Malinda—Born in Missouri in 1837, died at Olympia August 22, aged 76 years. She came with her parents (Packwoods) to Washington in 1845. Nine sons and daughters were left.

Russell, D. L.—Born in Virginia, died at Vancouver, Aug. 25, aged 78 years. He came to California in 1849. He engaged in the Civil War. In 1864 he came to Washington Territory. A wife and four children were left.

Bersch, Mary—Born in Switzerland, Dec. 15, 1832, died in Vancouver, August 27, aged 80 years. Mrs. Bersch came to the United States in 1851 and to Washington in 1853. Her living descendants included six children, forty grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

Scheule, Josephine—Born at Vancouver, died at Portland, Ore., Aug. 27, aged 60 years. She was a widow, but had three children.

Dougherty, Thomas A.—Born in Pierce county, Washington, Jan. 3, 1853, died in Seattle Aug. 28, aged 61 years. His wife—born in 1853 and who came to Washington in 1870—died three weeks before him. Mr. Doughtery's father, Wm. P. Dougherty, came to Oregon in 1843, and his mother, Mary Chambers, in 1845, both coming to Pierce county before 1850. His mother, a brother and a sister survive him.

Freeman, Rosina—Died in Seattle, Sept. 5, aged 83 years. She was the wife of Thomas P. Freeman, who came to California from Pennsylvania in 1849. She followed in 1850. They removed to Seattle in 1873. They were colored people. He died about twelve years ago. A daughter is all that is left of their family.

Krumm, John—Born in Germany, died at Kent, Sept. 6, aged 86 years. Mr. Krumm came from Ohio to California in 1849, and ten years later moved on to Washington, settling in White River valley. He left a wife, two sons, two daughters and three grandchildren.

Phelps, Susan E.—Died in Seattle, Sept. 22, aged 81 years. She came to California in 1849, and to Washington in 1889. One daughter was her only descendant.

Clark, Elizabeth Frances—Born in Missouri, died in Seattle, Sept. 26, aged 72 years. She came to Oregon in 1853, and to Washington in 1860. She left eight daughters and two sons, besides sisters, brothers and other relatives.

Walker, Cyrus—Born in Maine, died at San Mateo, Cal., Oct. 1, aged 86 years. He came to California in 1849, and to Washington Territory in 1853. He was identified as an employee with Messrs. Pope, Talbot and Keller in the location and erection of the saw mills that have been operating at Port Gamble for the last sixty years. When Keller retired Walker took his place as the Puget Sound head, and for almost half a century so remained. Under him the company acquired other saw mills at Utslady and Port Ludlow, timber lands, ships and other properties. The company in its early days built a steamer which it called the Cyrus Walker, and which had a longer existence on Puget Sound than any other craft. Mr. Walker acquired large personal properties, and became one of the wealthiest men in the state. He left a wife and son.

Bagley, Susannah Rogers—Born in Massachusetts, May 8, 1819, died at Seattle, Oct. 11, aged 94 years. Married in 1840 to Daniel Bagley, who died in 1905, she and he removed to Illinois, where they remained until 1852, when they came to Oregon. In 1860 they moved on to the north, to Washington, from Salem to Seattle. He was chiefly instrumental in building the second church in the city—the Methodist Protestant—and of the location and building of the Territorial University in 1861. A son, the well known Clarence B. Bagley, survives them.

Greenlaw, Wilhelmina—Born in Pierce county, died at Tacoma Oct. 18, aged 59 years. She was the daughter of Frederick Meyer, one of the soldiers under Captain Hill, who established Fort Steilacoom in 1849. She left six sons and four daughters.

Charlton, Charles Alexander—Born in Virginia, March 23, 1829, died at Colville, Oct. 8, aged 85 years. He came to Oregon in 1850, where he remained until his removal to Washington, a few years ago. He, like the majority of the other men of the time, served in the Indian War of 1855-'56. His wife remains.

Williamson, John R.—Born in New York State, Feb. 16, 1827, died at Seattle, Oct. 19, aged 87 years. He came to California in 1851; and to Washington in 1853, with Cyrus Walker and the others who were here to build a saw mill at Port Gamble. There he was employed for several years, and a similar time at Seabeck in a like work, when, in 1863, he joined with others in a saw mill enterprise at Freeport, now Seattle. He was an engineer, a machinist, an iron founder—in fact, a master mechanic. He left a son and a daughter.

Miller, Edward—Born at Syracuse, N. Y., May 25, 1832, died at Shelton, Oct. 15, aged 81 years. He was a farmer, a trader, an early day Puget Sound navigator. A widow, two daughters and a son were left.

Cook, James W.—Born Aug. 22, 1833; died in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 25, aged 80 years. He came to Portland from Chicago in 1855. He was one of the first men to go into the salmon canning business, more than forty years ago. He had canneries on the Columbia river and at Blaine and Port Townsend on Puget Sound. His surviving relatives include his wife and two daughters.

Stangroom, Marc Lareviere—Born in England, May 22, 1832; died at Bellingham, Oct. 25, aged 81 years. He came to California in 1855, and to Bellingham in 1888. A son and two daughters were left.

Stevens, Margaret L.—Born at Newport, R. I., in 1816; died at Boston, Nov. 4, aged 97 years. Mrs. Stevens was the widow of Isaac Ingalls Stevens, the first Governor of Washington Territory, 1853 to 1857, and who, as a Union General, was killed at the Battle of Chantilly, Sept. 1, 1862. She came to Washington Territory in 1854, and the house that was built for her sixty years ago still stands in Olympia, one of the oldest buildings in the state. She was in Washington City during his Congressional and later military careers, but returned to the Territory in 1867, with her then grown children. After some years the family removed to Boston. A son, two daughters, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren are her living descendants.

Bean, Sarah L.—Born at McMinnville, Oregon, Oct. 6, 1851; died at Seattle, Nov. 9, aged 62 years. She came to Washington in 1875. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Bean, came to Oregon in 1845. Miss Bean's mother and sister survive her.

Titus, Eliza—At La Center, Clark County, Nov. 14, Mrs. Eliza Titus died. She crossed the plains with her parents, named Rice, who took a donation claim sixty years ago. Eliza was twice married, first to John S. Pollock, and in 1875 to M. Titus. She left four children by the first marriage.

Prosch, Charles—Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1820; died in Seattle, Nov. 22, in the 94th year of his age. He came to California in 1853, and to Washington Territory in 1858. He published a newspaper at Steilacoom and later one at Olympia, during the first fourteen years of his residence in Washington. His was the first daily paper in Olympia. He was also engaged in the first newspaper published in Tacoma. He was a member and officer in four churches in Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle, two of which, in 1873 and 1889, he assisted in organizing. He was also more or less engaged in many other enterprises and works of pioneer days. He left a son, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

Ross, Eliza Jane—Born in Illinois, Dec. 10, 1830; died at Puyallup, Nov. 26, aged 83 years. She and her husband, Darius Mead Ross, came to Oregon in 1851, and lived in that state for twelve years. In 1863 they came to Washington, and made their home on a farm in Puyallup Valley. Two sons, two daughters, nineteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren survive her.

Spooner, Thomas J.—Born in Kentucky, May 18, 1836; died near Portland, Oregon, Nov. 30, aged 77 years. He came to Oregon in 1859. In 1882 he moved to Tacoma, but in 1893 went back to Oregon. He left a widow and four sons.

Miller, Eva L.—Born in California in 1859, died at Seattle, Dec. 5, aged 54 years. She came to Seattle in 1882 as the wife of Dr. P. B. M. Miller. A son and three stepdaughters were left.

Gendron, Eliza—Born at Nespelem, Washington, in 1821; died at Marcus, Washington, Dec. 19, aged 92 years. Her father was one of the early Pacific Coast trappers and fur traders. Her mother was an Indian woman. All her own life was spent in this state, a longer time than that of any other white or half white person known. She married Alexander Gendron in 1844, her husband being a Hudson Bay Company employee. She was the mother of fourteen children, grandmother of fifty-two and great grandmother of twenty-one.

Brown, Mrs. Chandler—Born in Thurston County, Washington, Sept. 18, 1855; died at Centralia, Dec. 20, aged 58 years. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Axtell, immigrants of 1852.

Newhall, William—Died in New York, Dec. 19, aged 84 years. Deceased was a well-known Pacific Coast navigator, coming around the Horn first in 1847. The barkentine Amelia was one of his latest and longest commands. He was a Son of the American Revolution, a Pioneer and a Mason, all at Seattle. Two daughters and a son are left, in addition to relatives slightly more remote.

Parker, Gilmore Hays—Born at Sacramento, California, in 1859; died in Seattle, Dec. 29, aged 54 years. He was the son of Capt. John G. Parker, who came to Puget Sound more than sixty years ago, and was one of the first steamboat men and first merchants of these parts. The son followed the father into the steamboat business. He was master of several steamers, including the T. J. Potter, Bailey Gatzert, Greyhound, City of Everett and Telegraph. His ancestors on the mother's side were the well-known Hays family, than whom none were more prominent in Washington Territory from fifty to sixty years ago. Captain Parker left a mother, two sisters and two brothers.

Thomas W. Prosch.

[AMERICAN AND BRITISH TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST]

A series of large mining "rushes" during the decade following 1858 brought an energetic population into the interior of the old Oregon country. Prosperous communities sprang up in eastern Oregon and Washington. Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia came into being. But the populating of these regions produced acute problems with regard to the Indians, and the point of view of this article is that of attempting to compare the British and American methods of attacking these problems.

Let us turn our attention first to conditions and developments on the American side.

To the usual causes of antagonism between the native and the white man there was added in the interior of the Pacific northwest the impossibility of any retreat of the former; for the frontier was closing in from both directions. "An unprogressive being * * * *, quite well satisfied with the present, unstimulated by the past, non-apprehensive of the future" was here brought face to face with one "in all things the reverse, a restless mortal dissatisfied with the present, with a history pointing upwards, apprehensive of the future and always striving for individual and social betterment."[1] "Now that we propose to invade these mountain solitudes," wrote the builder of the Mullan Road, "to wrest from their hidden wealth, where under heavens can the Indian go?"[2]

The answer seemed patent enough to a good many thoughtful Westerners, who were not cruel men. "The experience of those who have seen most of the Indians," said the Oregonian, "has been neither flattering to the efforts of the Government, nor consoling to the hopes of the true Christian philanthropist; but the purposes of the red man's creation in the economy of nature are well nigh accomplished, and no human hand can avert his early extermination from the face of the North American Continent. Silently but irresistibly the purposes of Providence take their way through the ages, and across the line of their march treaties would seem but shreds, and the plans of men on the tide of history but waifs upon the sea."[3] A belief in such predestination, however exculpatory for white men, would scarcely help in the working out of any system looking toward the upraising of the Indians. Mullan's type of predestination was more blunt: "The Indian," he said, "is destined to disappear before the white man, and the only question is, how it may best be done, and his disappearance from our midst tempered with those elements calculated to produce to himself the least amount of suffering, and to us the least amount of cost."[4]

The writer in the Oregonian, quoted above, held that it was a fundamental error in the treatment of Indians to acknowledge their rights to the soil and to make treaties with them as if they were nations. Governor Ashley, of Montana, also declared that treaty-making with Indians ought to cease.[5] To the same effect C. H. Hale, Superintendent of Indian affairs in Washington Territory, wrote as follows: "I am well satisfied that a radical change should be made in our mode of treatment towards the Indians. I do not consider the language as any too strong when I say, that for us to negotiate treaties with them as it is usually done is little better than a farce. We profess by such an act to recognize their equality in status and in power, and to clothe them with a national existence that does not at all pertain to them. Instead of thus exalting them in mere form, they should be treated as they really are, the wards of the government."[6]

The rougher element among the whites, who were in contact with the Indians, bothered themselves not at all concerning theories or treaties and seldom showed towards Indians even ordinary human feeling. "A d—d Indian," as was the usual expression, got no consideration at their hands. Indians were killed by desperadoes in Montana with despicable wantonness.[7] A farmer Indian of the Walla Walla tribe had taken some wheat to mill at Walla Walla and had hitched his horses to his wagon to feed, when a gambler came from a nearby saloon and took one of the horses. The owner could not recover it, because men feared to testify against one of the roughs: but the Indian was reimbursed by employes of the Umatilla agency.[8] In southern Idaho Indian women and children were killed in attacks made by volunteer soldiers, and it was charged that many Indian women were violated.[9] In the former case, however, it was claimed that the Indian women fought as hard as the men and that they were indistinguishable from the men in a melee.

It is fair to remember, in judging of atrocities committed by whites, that not a few of the frontiersmen were inflamed by memories of horrid deeds committed by Indians upon relatives and friends.[10] We of the present generation, indeed, can scarcely understand how ingrained was racial hatred in the white frontiersman of that day. "From the cradle up he was the recipient of folk lore which placed the Indian as his hereditary and implacable enemy. To the childish request, 'Grandma, tell me a story,' it was bear or Indian, ghost stories being too tame for frontier life, and that the bear and Indian did not stand upon the same plane as objects to be exterminated, seldom entered into the thoughts of the grandmother or the little one soon to take part in the conquest of the wilderness. * * * * Granny might bring tears to the eyes of her little auditors by telling how the bear cubs moaned over their dead mother, but no tears flowed for the Indian children made destitute by this perpetual conflict."[11] "On the other hand, there might have been in an early day a measure of truth in the assertion that murder is merit; scalps enviable trophies; plunder legitimate; the abduction of women and their violation, a desirable achievement."[12]

In judging of Indian populations, however, and of the relations of whites to them, discriminations need to be made. There were within tribes bad Indians and good Indians, just as there were bad whites and good whites; and it was generally the bad men on both sides that made trouble. Moreover, there was a great difference between such comparatively well ordered tribes as the Coeur d'Alenes or the Nez Perces and the scattered banditti of southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. This difference is dwelt upon in a report of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Idaho Legislature, which was made in 1866. In the northern portion of the Territory, the report said, "the Nez Perces, Coeur d'Alenes, Pend d'Oreilles, etc., have been for a long time gradually adopting the pursuits of peace and habits of civilization, under good influences, acquired property and permanent habitations and rely for surer subsistence upon the cultivation of the soil and the raising of stock. But in South Idaho, throughout that portion of the Territory south of Snake River, your committee regret to say, a far different condition of affairs has existed from the organization of the Territory, and still continues. The scattered clans in all this region, known as the Shoshones or Snakes, inhabit a country for the most part destitute of timber and game, spreading into wide deserts, and affording them secure retreats in rugged mountains and deep canyons. Never having any fixed habitations, they acquire no property except by plunder, and hold none except for temporary subsistence and plunder. So, far from cultivating the soil, or any arts of peace, they have to a great extent ceased to depend for food upon fish, grass seeds, crickets, roots, etc., and rely upon what they seize by murder and robbery on the public highways and frontier settlements. * * * * * They have no recognized head, but simply leaders of clans, and know nothing of treaty obligations. Nothing, therefore, but vigorous war, that will push them to extremities of starvation or extermination, can ever bring peace to our borders and security to our highways."[13]

If one tries to imagine himself in the conditions that then existed in southern Idaho, he will, perhaps, better understand why even humane people could have had stern and cruel opinions with regard to the treatment of some classes of Indians. There was no danger of attack upon settlements of any size; there was, in fact, no declared war. But stock was constantly being stolen, lone men murdered, and pack trains attacked. If a few men pursued the Indians, the latter would turn and fight like fiends, and with the advantage of knowledge of the country. To dwellers in secure homes, these enumerations may appear not particularly significant, but to one with understanding of frontier conditions they mean much. If travellers, for example, had their animals stolen, it meant all the discomfort and danger of being left afoot in a country of great distances. If a rancher had his stock run off, it meant temporary impoverishment and disablement. For white men to steal horses was quite generally recognized as a capital crime; why, then, compunction for Indians? Men, moreover, who looked down upon the mutilated remains of comrades, cut off in the unceasing assassinations, were very likely to vow vengeance upon the whole murderous race. Finally, there were wider considerations affecting the whole community; Indian attacks deterred packers, freighters, and stage owners, thereby raising freights, delaying mails, making supplies more scarce and costly, impeding immigration, and hindering the investment of capital,—in a word, checking prosperity in a way to which no civilized community would submit.

The men who went out to find and to kill Indians who were thus damaging the communities, were not always nice men; but they often showed self-denial in leaving good-paying employments, and they endured great privations and did a necessary work for civilization.[14] The character of the United States troops, likewise, who served in these regions during the Civil War was sometimes questionable; but frontier communities were justifiably grateful to men like those of General Conner's command, many of whom in the Bear River expedition endured freezing, wounds, and death in corralling and fighting a large band of predatory Indians.[15]

The exasperation of the southern Idaho communities, under continual Indian harassment, became extreme. This was especially true in Owyhee. A meeting of citizens offered rewards for scalps; one hundred dollars for that of a buck, fifty dollars for that of a squaw and twenty-five dollars for "everything in the shape of an Indian under ten."[16] When fifty-five Indians were reported killed in Humboldt, the local paper in Owyhee rejoiced that these were made "permanently friendly"; the next item, in contrast, is an announcement of a Christmas Festival for the Sunday School children at the Union Church, at which there were to be an address, songs by the children, and distribution of gifts.[17] The month previous, on report of seventy Indians being killed and scalped in Nevada, the same paper burst out with,—"Here's seventy more reasons for those safely-located, chicken-hearted, high-toned-treaty-moral suasion philanthropists to ignorantly wail about, and we're glad of it."[18] Since it was so extremely difficult to catch these Indian marauders, a novel proposal was advanced, possibly not in real earnest: "If some Christian gentlemen will furnish a few bales of blankets from a small-pox hospital, well inoculated," the Avalanche announced, "we will be distributing agent, and see that no Indian is without a blanket. That kind of peace is better than treaties." "These ideas suit us exactly," commented the Idaho World.[19]

In the case of Indians such as these in southern Idaho, the reservation system as yet was impossible; but for the more amenable Indians, who lived farther to the west and north, this system seemed not only possible, but necessary. For the mining advance was sweeping away the native means of subsistence. Game was receding into the more remote localities, and the camass and cous grounds were being continually devastated by the hogs of settlers. The fish supply, to be sure, still remained, but the location of the fisheries on the streams along which most of the travel proceeded made necessary a contact with whites which brought evil results to the Indians. It was fortunate, therefore, that arrangements for the establishment of reservations were well under way, when the mining advance began. For the Indians east of the Cascades the treaties of 1855 (ratified in 1859) provided five reservations, each the size of a large county. These were the Yakima, the Warm Springs, the Umatilla, the Nez Perces and the Flathead. On all of these reservations agents were to be stationed, mills were to be erected, farming tools furnished, and schools and teachers provided. The policy itself was conceived on generous, humane, and enlightened principles, and it is doubtful if, under the circumstances, a better could have been devised. But the test came in administration; the difficulties and weaknesses, as the system worked out, proved to be many and formidable.

Among the first of these obstacles to become apparent was the natural unfitness of the Indian for civilized life.

It was always a difficult task for a white settler in a new country to get a start in the cultivation of the soil. He had to be able to gain support in some manner while he was building his house, breaking up the soil, and waiting for his crops to mature. Tools were generally scarce and dear, and many shifts and ingenious devices had to be employed. To be sure, the American frontiersman had become so expert in this work, that he went at it with comparative ease; but how difficult such work is for the untrained white man may be seen today in the case of Englishmen coming direct from the old country to western Canada.[20]

Much more difficult it was, then, for the Indians. The ordinary Indian was very poor, ignorant, and conservative. A few, it was true, had large herds of ponies, but the average Indian might have two or three, and these worthless for the stern work of breaking prairie sod. The shrewd Indians who owned large herds, moreover, could see no reason for raising crops when stock-raising paid better and was vastly easier and more agreeable. And this was the more true when, as on the Umatilla reservation, wheat had to be hauled long distances to be ground. Furthermore, it was not at all the proper thing for a common Indian to begin a new sort of enterprise without the consent and example of his chief. Plowing, and like work, again, was for the Indian inexpressibly awkward and hard to learn, and, moreover, contrary to his ideas and to the ideas of his women of what a man ought to do. It was entirely natural that he should prefer to such drudgery, the sport of hunting and fishing and moving around. It was not his habit to stay in one place, for when the camass was ripe he needed to be near the grounds where it grew, and when the salmon were running it was necessary to be at the fisheries. Moreover, it was not sanitary for those Indians with their tepee habits to dwell long in one place; when Indians were forced to do so, filth brought disease and death. So, it was a hard, long task [the white man had been at it for thousands of years], this task of settling down to the orderliness and laboriousness and anxiety of civilized ways,—certainly a task not to be done in a year or decade, according to the swiftness and impatience of Americans. Under the most favoring conditions it was a task that demanded time for slow and painful growth.[21]

The conditions were not the most favorable.

In the first place the Government that was finally responsible was far away, at its best worked slowly, and was now handicapped by an absorbing and expensive war. A new party, moreover, was in power, and new men were at work. The financial problem, which this new party had to face, was stringent; it was not to be wondered at, therefore, that funds indispensable to the right working of the reservation system reached their destinations tardily. On September 25, 1861, for example, only a portion of the funds appropriated for the Oregon superintendency in 1860 had arrived, and the remainder had been remitted so far behind time as seriously to impair efficiency.[22] Agent Bancroft, and some of his employes, in two years received pay for only one quarter.[23] Moreover, when funds did arrive for the different agencies, they were in checks, which were hard to cash and reckoned on a legal tender basis, while the entire business of the Coast was on a gold basis. It was, consequently, very difficult to secure and retain efficient employes.[24] Native employes also, in particular, wanted their pay promptly on doing their work and felt aggrieved if they did not get it. Nor could the business of the Department be economically conducted; merchants naturally asked higher prices for goods when paid for in vouchers. The practice by agents of issuing vouchers itself was a most pernicious and corrupting one, but it was the only way in which the agency business could at times be carried on at all. Goods which were bought were frequently long delayed for lack of cash for transportation, or money was borrowed for transportation at the high rates of interest which prevailed on the Coast.[25] Goods of all sorts solemnly promised to the Indians, and improvements in the shape of mills, etc., were delayed for months and years; it was natural, therefore, for the Indians to feel that the Great Father was not particular about keeping his engagements, and that they in turn need not be particular about keeping theirs.

Furthermore, the Government did not provide adequate protection for Indians who were on reservations. We have noticed before how the Nez Perces reservation was invaded by miners in defiance of treaty obligations. A still more conspicuous example of the failure to provide protection occurred at the Warm Springs reservation, where repeated raids of the Snakes terrorized and impoverished the agency Indians and discouraged them from attempting the cultivation of the soil. The Snakes on one occasion killed or captured many women and children, drove off the cattle and horses, both of the Indians and the Government, compelled the employes to flee for their lives, and plundered the agency. Troops pursued them without effect; and, moreover, hardly had the pursuers returned, when another raid took the remainder of the stock.[26]

No feature of the reservation system was the cause of so much dissatisfaction to Indians, agents, and superintendents as was the payment of annuities. Not a few of the Indians of some tribes—notably of the Nez Perces—were men of self-respect and shrewdness, who felt insulted at being offered gewgaws and calico.[27] Calico and loss of land became connected in the Indian mind.[28] Among the Yakimas it was noted that there was great reluctance shown by many at receiving annuities. A reported speech by Qui-tal-i-can, a Yakima Indian, on the occasion of distribution of annuities at the Yakima agency, illustrates the attitude of independence held by some Indians: "The white men propose to bring all Indians to one land. Not good. Like driving horses into a corral. Suppose Indians went to Boston and told all the Bostons to go to one place. Would it be well? I am a poor man, but I will not say to the Agent, I am a dog. The Great Spirit will take care of us. He will always cause the grass to grow and the water to run. I am somewhat ashamed to be here today. My land is not to be sold for a few blankets and a few yards of cloth."[29] The Indians in general, moreover, quite rapidly learned to prefer that which was substantial to that which was trashy.

But the goods which they received were ill adapted to their needs, since these goods were not sent in accordance with their own expressed desires, nor according to the requisition of the agents. At the Umatilla reservation, when Mr. Davenport distributed the annuities, the total amount of goods had a "pretty fair appearance"; but for 91 men there were provided 59 flannel shirts, 22 coats, 23 pants, 51 wool hats, 49 caps, and 65 pairs of brogans, and there were 122½ pairs of blankets for the total of 324 persons.[30] Many of the articles received by the fishing Indians of the Sound country were those suitable to the more agricultural Indians of the interior,—consisting of "pitchforks, sickles, scythes without snaiths, frying pans, and other loose ends of New York stores."[31] It was not to be wondered at that the Indians traded off or gambled away these goods. Besides lack of suitability, there was no telling when the goods would arrive for distribution, and in consequence the Indians might have to go without needed clothing in winter time: "Really, the worst part of the annuity business was the uncertainty as to what kind of goods would be furnished, and at what time, if at all."[32]

It was held by agents and superintendents that this sort of expenditure was in itself not wise, since it tended to pauperism and indolence. It would have been better, they said, to expend the money for improvements such as would help the Indians to become self-supporting,—in particular for the planting of orchards,—or to pay the Indians for doing work, rather than to give them articles outright. At any rate, it was urged, annuities ought not to be issued to all of each tribe, but only to such as stayed on the reservation and showed inclination for work and progress.[33]

The reason why there was so much mal-adjustment, so it was universally claimed by superintendents and agents, was that the annuity goods were purchased on the Atlantic coast. A newspaper correspondent said that the fault lay with the "Great Father in New York who annually gets contracts for furnishing things to poor Lo."[34] So important does this aspect of the annuity problem seem, that I quote at some length from the annual reports of three superintendents. Edward R. Geary reported in 1860 from the Oregon Superintendency as follows:

"Reference to the several lately ratified treaties made with the Indians in the interior of Washington and Oregon, shows that the chief objects to which the large sums embraced in the first payment for their lands ceded to the United States are applicable, are such as 'providing for their removal to the reservations;' 'breaking up and fencing farms;' 'building houses;' 'supplying provisions and a suitable outfit,' etc.

"The aggregate amount of these first payments, to be expended for such objects as above specified, under the five treaties with the Indians east of the Cascade mountains, and appropriated by Congress at its last session, is $231,900. Of this, the sum of $111,000 was expended in the purchase of drygoods, groceries and hardware on the Atlantic side. This expenditure does not appear to be in accordance with the spirit and intent of these treaties; nor does it meet the just expectations of the Indians."

"The whole amount appropriated for first payment of annuities to the Indians, embraced in four treaties, in Washington Territory, west of the mountains, is $26,500; of which the entire amount has been expended in the same market as above.

"Some of the dry goods are not adapted to the condition and habits of the Indians on this side of the Rocky Mountains, and one-half the amount would have sufficed for their present wants.

"Suitable goods of the best quality can be purchased in this market at prices ranging but little above those paid for similar articles in New York. Thus the freight might have been saved, and the risk and exposure avoided, by which many articles have been damaged in the transportation. * * * *"[35]

The successor to Mr. Geary, William H. Rector, wrote as follows in 1861 to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington:

"Your attention has been heretofore called by my predecessor to the impropriety of disbursing in the Atlantic States the appropriations made by Congress for beneficial objects. This course has been pursued ever since the ratification of the treaties, and still continues to be faithfully observed, notwithstanding the objections and remonstrances of the superintendents and agents thereto.

"The articles forwarded have invariably failed to give satisfaction to the Indians. They are of inferior quality, unsuited to their wants or tastes. Besides, it consumes the entire annuity fund for 'beneficial objects,' and a large portion of the 'incidental fund' to transport these articles to the place of distribution. No good can possibly result from such a course, but, on the contrary, great loss. Better articles can be obtained in this market at a less price, and such as are adapted to their wants. This fund should be husbanded and disbursed for objects calculated to benefit the Indians, and not in such transparent trash as has usually been received.

"One-half the amount, judiciously invested in the purchase of articles actually required, suited to their tastes, and applicable to their wants, would render more satisfaction, and would have a greater tendency to promote their well-being and advance them in civilization than the whole amount expended in the manner which it is.

"The policy adopted at present only tends to embarrass the operations of the agent, and create in the Indian's mind the impression that there is a deliberate intention on the part of the government to defraud them of their lands."[36]

Again, C. H. Hale, at the head of the Washington Superintendency, reported in 1862 as follows:

"The attention of the department has so often been called, both by agents and former superintendents, to the mistaken policy which has so long obtained in the payment of annuities, that I forbear to dwell upon the subject, being well satisfied that if the abundant evidence which has heretofore been furnished, and forcible arguments which have been employed, have not convinced the department of the folly and injustice, not to say the fraud of the practice, it is useless and vain for me to attempt it." Mr. Hale then advises that annuities be paid only to Indians willing to reside at the reservations and as incentives and aids to work; clothing might be furnished only for the aged or infirm or children attending school. "Whatever may be furnished in this way," he continues, "should be selected with the greatest care, and with due reference to its intended application. Any article needed, for all the purposes specified, can be obtained on this coast at rates equally favorable as in the Atlantic cities; thus saving the very large expenditures which have heretofore been made in the way of freights."[37]

The local superintendents and agents, of course, might have been in part influenced by desire to benefit the section in which they were working, and, perhaps, by the design to get expenditures more completely into their own hands; and the Government, on the other hand, may have had good reasons for purchasing in New York. But the unanimity and earnestness of the local officials indicate here a real and grave source of trouble.

We come now to the important question as to how far the local officials themselves were honest and capable. The answer to this question is difficult.

Specific charges of peculation and wrong management are frequent. On a visit to the Nez Perces reservation in 1861 Superintendent Kendall found the only evidence of farming operations by the agency to consist of about three tons of oats in the straw, although the agent had a full force of treaty employes, and ten laborers besides, at an expense of seven thousand dollars.[38] As the Superintendent fed his horse, he sighed to think that each mouthful of the animal's feed cost the Government at least one dollar. On the Umatilla agency there was an expenditure called for during the first two years of sixty-six thousand dollars; as a result there were in sight in 1862 "two log houses, a half dozen log huts, an open shed for wagons and plows, about a hundred acres of loamy river bottom fenced and in cultivation, a set of carpenter's and blacksmith's tools, and farming implements insufficient for an ordinary half section farm."[39] At the same reservation the outgoing agent remarked to the special agent appointed to take his position that the place of agent was worth there $4,000 per year, although the salary was but $1,500.[40] We could wish, however, in such cases to hear the accused agent's side of the story. Yet in 1858, Mr. Dennison, Indian agent for eastern Oregon, according to his own report, spent $13,500, which "was mostly expended in opening farms upon the Warm Springs reservation"; the next year there were in cultivation on this reservation 356 acres.[41] More convincing proof of fraudulent practices, perhaps, is afforded in the attitude of merchants and others towards agents. When Mr. Davenport, agent at the Umatilla reservation, tried to get competitive bids at Portland, dealers were distrustful and sarcastic, because they thought that he, as was common, was ostensibly seeking bids while in reality having a deal on with some selected firm. "The practice of combining against the Government for mutual profit is so common," comments Mr. Davenport, "that all agents are regarded in the same unenviable light. I said to one of the older merchants: 'It is easy to say that all the agents pilfer in this way, but what do you know about it?' His answer was: 'I say all because all that I know about are guilty.' The agent at Warm Springs, at the Grande Ronde, at the Umatilla, at the Siletz does so, and I presume that the rest of them do the same."[42] Another method whereby an agent might line his own pockets was by allowing substitutions of inferior goods in government invoices; Mr. Davenport was offered $1000 for the privilege of exchanging annuity goods for others, item by item.[43]

But, indeed, how could it be expected that these administrators would be efficient and honorable when we consider the system under which they were appointed and did their work? No civil service rules were applied. Men were generally appointed, not because of special fitness either through natural aptitude or through administrative training, but because of political partisanship and at the demand of some Senator or Representative; or, later, they were appointed because of religious affiliations at the suggestion of some religious body. No national tests were applied, nor was there a sustaining esprit d' corps. There could be no right spirit, indeed, when many government officials considered that the agency system was merely a cheap way of keeping the Indians quiet, and when the western population in general was profoundly skeptical as to the possibility of civilizing the Indian.[44]

The outlook was the more discouraging since the great American panacea—education—seemed a dismal failure when applied to these Indians according to forms then in vogue. There might be quite a furore when a reservation school was opened and the novelty was unworn; but the white child's spelling book or reader soon proved very tame to the young Indian, the more so because of the difficulties of pronunciation. But the principal cause of failure of the day schools was the nomadic habits of the parents; hardly had the Indian child started to school, when away would go the family to the fishing or hunting grounds or to the camass fields. Teachers who were in earnest met this difficulty by establishing boarding schools, where the children could be kept removed from the parental impulsiveness. The next step was natural. These schools emphasized practical training, particularly agriculture for the boys and housekeeping for the girls. This step, taken at a time when in American educational methods, comparatively little attention had been paid seriously to this phase of education, was significant and produced good results.[45] Whatever the shortcomings of the American method of dealing with the Indians in contrast to that of British Columbia, in respect to education, at least, the American system appears to advantage; for the colonial government of British Columbia did practically nothing for the education of the natives.

There were two terrible evils, prevalent both in British Columbia and in the territories, which weakened and degraded the Indians and hindered efforts of every sort for improvement. These were prostitution and the use of liquor.

No more pitiable condition can be imagined than that of the helpless Indian women and girls who were devoted by their husbands and fathers to prostitution among vile whites. The northern Indians brought down to the Songish reserve at Victoria their young women, many of them girls from ten to fourteen years of age, and remained all summer as pimps and procurers.[46] Reports of American Indian agents along the Coast make frequent mention of this practice. In the interior there is less evidence of its existence, but wherever Indians had a chance to linger around towns, they became demoralized. Employes agencies prostituted Indian women or took them for concubines; the Superintendent of Washington Territory issued a circular warning all employes from such acts.[47] The results of prostitution are found in reports of physicians of the various agencies, who almost always speak of venereal diseases as common. It should very clearly be understood that these facts were not true of all tribes in like degree; the tribes in the interior were more robust physically and morally and farther removed from contamination. Nor should the chastity of all the individuals of a tribe be judged by specimens which hung about the towns. In the interior, particularly, it was probably true that "unchastity among Indians is the exception, as it is among the whites."[48]

Everywhere, both north and south of the Boundary, Indian welfare was assailed by the liquor traffic, and everywhere the Government engaged in a less or more futile struggle to combat it. Many of the Indians undoubtedly believed, like an Indian orator at Ft. Simcoe, that they had a right to drink whiskey if they wanted to, especially so long as the white man made it,—and there were always white men ready to sell it.[49] Local government took little part in suppressing the trade in the United States, the work being regarded as belonging to the officials of the general Government. These were hindered by lack of summary powers, by the scarcity of jails, and by the reluctance of juries to convict. Only on the reservations were the powers of the agents ample, and even here they might, in part, be nullified by the planting of resorts on the edges. The whole power of Government in British Columbia, on the other hand, could be utilized for the punishment of offenders. Magistrates had summary powers, and conviction entailed heavy fines and, in the case of regular dealers, loss of license. But the magistrates had the care of immense districts, and the Indians were not localized as they were in the United States after the reservation system was completely established. Yet this form of lawlessness, in common with other forms, was better checked on the whole in British Columbia than in the territories.

As we turn, now, to consider the efforts to solve the Indian problem in British Columbia, quotations from two American administrators will help to set before us the better ordered conditions under British rule. The first is from General Harney: "Like all Indians they [the northern Indians] are fond of whisky, and can be seen at all hours of the day in the streets of Victoria drinking whenever they can get it, yet they are not permitted to become disorderly. These Indians are more obedient under British rule, which appears to be kind, but firm, than their fellow men with us under any of the systems adopted by our government."[50] The other is from an Indian agent, Mr. Davenport, to whom we have before referred. "We have only to look across the line into the British possessions of North America," he says, "to see that their treatment of the Indian has been more promotive of peace and good will than ours, and some people are swift to conclude that the Canadians are of a higher moral tone than the people of the United States. The true reason lies in the fact that their system has a more constant and restraining influence upon the lawless class in society. There is more individual freedom with us, and consequently more room for departure from the normal line of conduct. This difference is boldly in evidence to those of our citizens who have lived in mining regions governed by Canadian officers, whose official tenure does not depend upon the mood of the populace."[51]

The policy of the Colonial Government of British Columbia with respect to the Indian population was distinguished by the following principal features: (1) Title to the soil was not recognized as belonging to the Indians; (2) No compensation, therefore, was allowed to Indians either in the shape of payments, annuities, or of special educational grants; (3) Indians were held to be fellow subjects with white men, and entitled, as individuals, to the protection of law, and responsible for obedience to law; (4) Sequestration of the native population upon large reservations was not followed, but, as settlement progressed, small reserves were assigned to families and septs, in proximity to settlements of the whites.[52]

The adoption of this policy, so different to that of the United States, was not due to differences between the Indian populations north and south of the line. Some differences, it is true, there were: a great part of the natives of British Columbia had been more uninterruptedly under the tutelage of the Hudson's Bay Company than those across the Boundary, and were somewhat more inclined to work; no one tribe in the Colony was so powerful or so well organized as the Nez Perces; nor did the Indians of the Interior of British Columbia possess so many horses as did those to the south. Yet Kootenays, Pend d'Oreilles, and Okanogans crossed the Line at pleasure; the Shuswaps were very like the Coeur d'Alenes or the Cayuses; and the untameability of the nomads south of the Snake was matched by the wildness and ferocity of the Indians to the far north. In numbers, organization, and character it is difficult to see why the natives of the one section were the more adapted to any certain system than those of the other.[53]

The initiation of this policy (especially with respect to the non-recognition of Indian title and the withholding of compensation) was in part due to pressure for funds in the Colony and to the refusal of the Imperial Government to assume any financial responsibility in the matter. Governor Douglas before the founding of the Colony had acted, apparently, on a different principle when, as agent for the Hudson's Bay Company, he had bought in 1850-51 considerable areas from various tribes in Vancouver's Island.[54] Compensation of some sort to Indians on the mainland was at least tentatively endorsed by the colonial office of the Home Government while it was in charge of Sir E. B. Lytton; yet Lytton was careful to state that he did not adopt the views of the Aborigines' Protective Society as to the means for extending protection to the natives.[55] This society was an organization in England which had "taken for many years a deep interest in the welfare of the Indian Tribes to the west as well as the east of the Rocky Mountains," and it may be looked upon as a British manifestation of the same sort of philanthropic sentiment in regard to Indians as existed among certain classes in the eastern part of the United States. The Secretary of the Society, in a long letter to Lytton, after quoting a long extract from a New York paper relative to the extreme cruelty of miners to Indians in California and characterizing the Indians of British Columbia as a "strikingly acute and intelligent race of men," "keenly sensitive to their own rights," and "equally alive to the value of the gold discoveries," claimed for them protection against wanton outrages and asked that "the Native title should be recognized in British Columbia, and that some reasonable adjustment of their claims should be made by the British Government."[56] The policy of compensation to Indians was further endorsed by Governor Douglas in regard to lands on Vancouver Island, on the occasion of the transmission of a petition from the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island, "praying for the aid of Her Majesty's Government in extinguishing the Indian title to the public lands in the Colony." The money then needed amounted to £3000, and Douglas proposed that it be advanced by the Imperial Government, payment to be made from the proceeds of sales of land. But the Duke of Newcastle, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, replied tersely that he was "fully sensible of the great importance of purchasing without loss of time the native title to the soil of Vancouver Island; but the acquisition of the title is a purely colonial interest, and the Legislature must not entertain any expectation that the British taxpayer will be burdened to supply the funds or British credit pledged for that purpose."[57]

Whatever the reason, however, for denying recognition of title to the Indians both of the Island and of the Mainland, and for withholding compensation, there can be no doubt of the fact: "The title of the Indians in fee of the public lands, or any portion thereof," wrote an eminent colonial official, "has never been acknowledged by Government, but, on the contrary is distinctly denied."[58]

The beginnings of a positive Indian policy in British Columbia may be traced in an early letter of Governor Douglas to Sir E. B. Lytton, March 14, 1859. This letter was in reply to one from the latter (Dec. 30, 1858), in which Lytton inquired whether a plan for settling the Indians in permanent villages, like the plan used by Sir George Grey with the Kaffirs in South Africa, might not be feasible.[59]

Douglas endorsed the plan as of advantage both to the Indians and to the Colony and then sketched the principles upon which he proposed to establish reserves on the mainland. In the first place, the reserves should "in all cases include their cultivated fields and village sites, for which from habit and association they invariably conceive a strong attachment, and prize more, for that reason, than for the extent or value of the land."[60]. Such settlements, in the second place, were to be entirely self-supporting. The Governor here adverted to the plan pursued in the United States with regard to Indian reservations, but stated that that plan was expensive to the Government and debasing to the Indians. The system followed by the Spanish missions in California, likewise, he regarded as defective, in that it kept the Indians in a state of pupilage and did not train them to self-government and self-reliance. He would avoid the evils of both these systems and, in particular, cultivate the pride of independence. He proposed to that end, that each family have title to its own plot of ground, but without power of alienation; that they should be encouraged to add to their possessions by purchasing property apart from the reserve; "that they should in all respects be treated as rational beings, capable of acting and thinking for themselves; and, lastly, that they should be placed under proper moral and religious training and then be left, under the protection of the laws, to provide for their own support."[61] "I have impressed upon the miners," wrote Douglas to Lytton, "the great fact that the law will protect the Indian equally with the white man, and regard him in all respects as a fellow subject."[62] "The Indian population," he wrote to another, "are considered by the laws of England as fellow subjects, entitled to protection and punishable, when guilty of offenses, through the sole action of the law."[63] In a review of the Colonial Indian policy, written in 1875, the Attorney General stated that that policy "was based on the broad and experimental principle of treating the Indian as a fellow subject."[64]

It now remains for us to inquire how this Indian policy, so based, was applied by the Colonial Government to this class of Her Majesty's subjects; not omitting, as we do so, to notice contrasts to administration in the United States.

In the administration of justice the courts of British Columbia treated the Indian as the white man was treated. "When Indians commit offenses," ordered Governor Douglas, "they are to be dealt with impartially and to receive a fair trial before the proper authorities, and not to be treated like the wild beasts of the forest."[65] We get a glimpse of the way in which the law was administered with respect to Indians from the terse records of the old Ft. Hope Police Book. An Indian, for stealing money from another was sentenced to two days in jail. Two Indians, for being drunk and disorderly, were sent to jail for twenty-four hours. Simon B. McClure was charged by an Indian with assaulting him and was fined forty shillings. William Welch, charged by another Indian with the same offense, claimed that the Indian had beaten his dog and attacked him with a knife; Welch was let off, and the Indian was reprimanded. An Indian who struck an Indian woman in the face with a gun had his hair cut off. J. Spencer Thompson, for selling about one pint of liquor to an Indian had to pay a fine of $100, with costs, and lost his license to sell liquor. The sentences, it will be observed, were generally light for minor offenses, but not for selling liquor to Indians. Whites and Chinamen, the records reveal, were treated exactly as the Indians. Of course for grave offenses Indians, as well as others, were bound over to the assizes. In a number of cases Indians were hung for murder. This even-handed, carefully adjusted dealing out of justice to Indians, whites, and Chinese alike, contrasts plainly with the carelessness, ruthlessness, and lack of system in the territories. One could scarcely imagine an event like the following occurring on an American frontier: "May 28, 1862. Chas. Millard, Capt. of the Ft. Hope (steamboat) appeared to answer the complaint of Jim (an Indian) for having on the 16th inst. broken and otherwise damaged his canoe at Union, valued at twenty-five dollars ($25.00).

"Ordered to pay four pounds ($20.00) being the damage sustained by the Indian as sworn to by C. C. Craigie & Wm. Yates. Paid. P. O'Reilly, J. P."[66]

It is difficult in the mining regions south of the Line to find satisfactory records as to how justice was administered to the Indian. The reservation system, as it was being applied in the Pacific Northwest, weakened the ancient tribal authority; the "subsidy plan" tended to alienate the people from the chiefs, and the presence of Agents lessened their prestige in the eyes of the young or of those inclined to be bad. The Agents, on their part, had no authority for the punishment of criminal acts. If they had possessed magisterial powers, both with regard to whites and Indians, justice might have been better administered. Local authorities had no jurisdiction over Indians who were on reservations, although they sometimes punished those who were off of them.[67] Only United States courts had full power, but these courts were slow in action, and could not be expected, moreover, to take cognizance of minor cases. Indian criminals, finally, were sometimes arrested by army officials and tried by army courts with scanty consideration.[68] For the Indian, indeed, there seems to have been at this period practically no real protection before the law in the American procedure.

In case of Indian outbreak the British Columbia system aimed to punish offenders as individuals and not to take revenge on tribes. One of the marked features of the history of the Colony of British Columbia is that there was but one serious Indian outbreak during the colonial period.[69] This happened in April, 1864, when some Chilcotin Indians killed roadmakers and settlers to the number of fourteen. The whole tribe went on the warpath, but were subdued by volunteers from New Westminster and Cariboo. Rewards of $250 each were offered for the individual murderers, the aim being, as Governor Seymour expressed it, "to secure justice, not vengeance."[70] Too often, south of the Line, in case of Indian depredations, there was no discrimination between the tribe and guilty members of the tribe.[71]

In the British Columbia Indian system, as we have before stated there was no policy of bestowing annuities or subsidies, although gifts were sometimes made for special reasons.[72] To the student of American Indian history special interest attaches in this connection to the judgment of Mr. William Duncan, a man of very great experience, wisdom, and success in his dealings with Indians. Mr. Duncan wrote as follows in 1875 from his mission at Metlakahtla: "In no matter affecting the Indians can the Government do more good or harm than in the matter of gifts.

"Money may be spent to a large amount upon the Indians and yet tend only to alienate, dissatisfy, and impoverish them, if wrongly applied; whereas a small sum rightly administered will yield much good both to the Indians and the country at large.

"The policy of dealing out gifts to individual Indians I consider cannot be too strongly deprecated, as it is both degrading and demoralizing. To treat the Indians as paupers is to perpetuate their baby-hood and burdensomeness. To treat them as savages, whom we fear and who must be tamed and kept in good temper by presents, will perpetuate their barbarism and increase their insolence. I would therefore strongly urge the Government to set their faces against such a policy." He recommended, on the positive side, that money be put into Public Works for the benefit of the Indians. It will thus be seen that Mr. Duncan held substantially the same views with regard to annuities as did the Agents and superintendents south of the Line, whose well-conceived ideas were nullified by the officials and contractors in the East.[73]

As has before been remarked, the Colony of British Columbia made no special effort for the education of the Indians. It was averred on the part of the Government that "the Government merely deferred the subject, believing that it was far more important in the interests of the community at large to first reclaim the Natives from their savage state and teach them the practical and rudimentary lessons of civilized life."[74] Beyond establishing reserves, however, and placing the Indians under law, one fails to see how the Government directly tried to teach them these "practical and rudimentary lessons." Certainly there was no effort by the Government to teach the Indians agriculture or any of the practical arts, as there was south of the Line.

There were other ways, however, in which the Colonial Government did help the Indians at considerable expense. In surveying reserves, and in keeping whites off of them; in the suppression of the liquor traffic; in exemptions from tolls, taxes, and customs; and in direct pecuniary aid for the destitute and the sick, the aggregate expenditures and rebates were considerable. Moreover, the Magistrates in the several Districts were to act as Indian Agents, and to advise and protect the Indian "in all matters relating to their welfare."[75]

We arrive now, finally, at the very important subject of reserves. These Indian reserves of British Columbia are to be clearly distinguished from the Indian reservations of the United States. The latter were very large in area, were assigned to a tribe or to a number of tribes, were founded on the principle of sequestration from the whites, and were under the oversight of an agent; the reserves of British Columbia were small, were assigned to septs or families, were often contiguous to white settlements, and had no special agents. In size the reserves of British Columbia varied in all degrees from one acre to six thousand acres.[76] The total area of surveyed reserves amounted in 1871 to 28,437 acres.[77] The general principle on which reserves were assigned was that each head of a family should be given ten acres, but in practice there was considerable variation.[78] It seems strange to one accustomed to American reservations, that a reserve of six hundred square miles for a tribe of 400 members should have been regarded as entirely too extensive to be allowed.[79]

The principle of assigning land in so small amounts, on what we may call a village system, may have been adopted with special reference to conditions of life among the Coast Indians or among those of the lower Fraser, for whose use (since they made their living by fishing or working for whites) a small parcel of land was sufficient but for the pastoral Indians of the interior it seemed manifestly insufficient. So long as there was plenty of range, the smallness of the reserves was not felt, but when whites acquired title to vacant lands and, at the same time, the wants of the Indians increased, the latter felt themselves unjustly treated.[80] When British Columbia entered the Confederation, the Dominion Government wanted the Indians to have eighty acres for each head of family. This the Province refused, but it did consent to grant twenty. This amount still being considered insufficient for the Interior Indians by the Dominion Superintendent of Indian Affairs for British Columbia, he requested that it be raised to forty acres (in accordance with the principle then recognized in the preemption laws of British Columbia, which allowed 160 acres west of the Cascades, but 320 east); but the request was not granted.[81]

In addition to their reserves, however, the Indians of British Columbia had the right to acquire land outside the reserves on the same terms as white men,—a right not possessed at that time by their kindred to the South. This right was clearly stated by Governor Douglas: "That measure," he said (referring to the reserve system) "is not, however, intended to interfere with the private rights of individuals of the future Tribes, or to incapacitate them, as such, from holding land; on the contrary, they have precisely the same rights of acquiring and possessing land in their individual capacity, either by purchase or by occupation under the Pre-emption Law, as other classes of Her Majesty's Subjects; provided they in all respects comply with the legal conditions of tenure by which land is held in this Colony."[82] This right, however, was afterwards modified to the extent that preemption could be exercised by an Indian only by special consent of the Government.[83] So late as 1872 an Indian received special permission to pre-empt one hundred acres.

As to which system, that of British Columbia or that of the United States, on the whole was the better, is a question difficult, if not impossible to decide; and it would certainly involve extensive research in the period subsequent to that of our study and beyond its scope.

W. J. Trimble.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Davenport, T. W. Recollections of an Indian Agent. Quar Or. His. Soc., Vol. VIII, No. 4, Dec. 1907, p. 352.

[2] Mullan—Report on Military Road, p. 52

[3] Id., p. 79.

[4] Id., p. 52.

[5] Con. His. Soc. Mont., Vol. VI, p. 284.

[6] Rpt. Com. Indian Affairs, 1863, p. 442.

[7] Langford, Vigilante Days and Ways, Vol. I, pp. 250 & 318.

[8] Recollections of an Indian Agent. Or. His. Quar. Vol. VIII, No. 1, March, 1907, p. 389.

[9] The Pioneer Reminiscences of George Collier Robbins, Pacific Monthly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Aug., 1911, pp. 288-9.

[10] An Incident of this nature is related in Hailey, History of Idaho, p. 58.

[11] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quart. Or. His. Soc. Vol. VIII, No. 4, Dec., 1907, p. 360.

[12] The Montana Post. Feb. 4, 1865

[13] Journals of the Council and House of Representatives of Idaho Territory, 4th session, 1866-7, pp. 343-4.

[14] For different views of one expedition, contrast the account of the expedition led by Jeff Standifer in Hailey's Idaho, pp. 49-60, with that in the Pioneer Reminiscences of George Collier Robbins. Pacific Monthly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Aug., 1911, pp. 198-9.

[15] General Conner's men marched several days in extremely cold weather, in order to catch and surprise these Indians. Of the soldiers in this expedition 15 were killed, 53 wounded, and 75 more or less seriously frozen. An account may be found in Langford, Vigilante Days and Ways, pp. 337-354.

[16] The Idaho World, Feb. 24, 1866.

[17] Owyhee Avalanche, Dec. 16, 1865.

[18] Id., Nov. 11, 1865.

[19] The Idaho World, Jan. 27, 1866.

[20] The Canadian Pacific Railway has a special plan for providing for such settlers, by itself building houses and breaking land. It is a well-known fact in Western Canada that new emigrants from the old country find it much more difficult to get a start than do Americans or people from Eastern Canada. This fact was recently called to my attention, on a visit to Alberta, by an English farmer of several years' experience.

[21] I am indebted for a number of the ideas and facts expressed in this paragraph to Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His. Soc., Vol. VIII, No. 1, March, 1907, pp. 12-18.

[22] Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 1861, p. 160.

[23] Id., 1862, p. 419.

[24] Id., 1863, p. 52.

[25] Id., 1861, p. 160.

[26] Report Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1860, pp. 173-761.

[27] Rpt. Com. Ind. Affairs, 1862, p. 397.

[28] The Weekly Oregonian. Sept. 7, 1861.

[29] San Francisco Daily Bulletin, July 24, 1862.

[30] Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Oregon His. Soc., Vol. VIII, No. 2, June, 1907, p. 108.

[31] Report of Henry A. Webster. Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1862, p. 407.

[32] T. W. Davenport. Recollections of an Indian Agent, Quar. Or. His. Soc., Vol. VIII. No. 2, June, 1907, p. 108.

[33] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1863, p. 459.

[34] San Francisco Daily Bulletin, Jan. 28, 1864.

[35] Rpt. Com. Ind. Af., 1860, p. 185.

[36] Rpt. Com. Ind. Affairs, 1861, p. 159.