THE BLACKFOOT COUNCIL
By his careful preparation for two years, and masterly handling of them,
Governor Stevens brought and kept these various tribes of Indians within
easy distance of Fort Benton, all ready and anxious for the council, and
in the most friendly and favorable state of feeling, during the whole
month of August and half of September, fully six weeks. Had the goods
arrived at any time during this waiting period, not less than 12,000
Indians would have attended the council, comprising 10,000 Blackfeet,
1100 Nez Perces, 700 Flatheads and Pend Oreilles, and 400 Snakes, the
western Indians numbering 2200. But it now became impossible for the
latter to remain longer on the Muscle Shell and Judith, for lack of
game. The buffalo had disappeared. The grass was drying up. No day could
yet be fixed for the council in the uncertainty of the arrival of the
boats. On September 8 the Nez Perce camp of one hundred and three
lodges, in charge of agent Tappan, was obliged to start southward for
the Yellowstone, hoping to find buffalo. Tappan wrote that, unless the
council was held within three weeks, not twelve Nez Perces would be able
to attend it. Eagle-from-the-Light and other chiefs, with several
lodges, joined the Flathead camp in order not to miss the council. But
on September 10 agent Adams reported that the Flatheads might in twelve
or fourteen days be obliged, also, to go to the Yellowstone for food.
The Snake camp also moved to the same region for the same cause. In
compliance with his instructions, Adams made a trip to the Yellowstone
in search of the Crows, and descended it to a point below the Big Horn
River, where he met Tappan with some Nez Perces on the same quest. But
these Indians could not be found. It was reported that, in consequence
of the measles having broken out among them and many having died, they
had scattered, a part going down the river and part taking to the
mountains.
To prevent, if possible, the failure of the whole council undertaking,
now imminent, the governor dispatched Packmaster Higgins with a few
picked men to visit both camps, and notify them that October 3, or a few
days later, was fixed for holding the council, and directing them to
move to the vicinity of Fort Benton, and to find camps on the Shantier
and Highwood creeks. Mr. Tappan was also instructed to secure, if
possible, the attendance of the principal Crow chiefs.
On the fourth day out Higgins met Adams and Tappan returning to Fort
Benton, despairing of the council, but the former hastened back to the
Flatheads with the new orders, while Tappan joined Higgins, and, with
Craig, Delaware Jim, and the voyageur Legare, pushed across the country
and struck the Nez Perce camp high up on the Yellowstone. Although none
of the party had ever passed over this part of the country before,
Delaware Jim was so thoroughly conversant with the Yellowstone country
and the upper Missouri, and certain mountain heights flanking the route,
that he actually guided them on an air-line, and struck the looked-for
camp without making a detour of a mile on the course, and that, too,
traveling fifty miles a day.
As the result of this prompt and decided action, Adams reached Fort
Benton October 3, and reported that Victor's whole camp would soon be on
the Judith, and that Victor himself, leaving his camp there, would come
with his chiefs and principal men to Fort Benton to attend the council.
On the 5th Higgins and Tappan arrived, and at noon next day a large
delegation of Nez Perce chiefs, under charge of Craig, also came in, but
did not bring the large numbers in their camp, for fear they could not
find sufficient game to feed them. Tappan was unable to learn anything
of the Crows except the report already mentioned. The Snakes, too, had
gone beyond reach, and could not be summoned. In the mean time the
northern bands of the Blackfeet, in accordance with the programme
arranged by Mr. Doty, had been moving down, and were now all on the
Teton and Marias rivers. The Gros Ventres were on Milk River. Low Horn's
and Little Gray Head's bands of the Piegans were on the Honkee.
Alexander, the Pend Oreille chief's camp, was established on the
Highwood. The buffalo were in great numbers between the Marias and Milk,
and herds of them were coming within twenty miles of Fort Benton. "The
arrival of the Nez Perces," says the governor, "brought all the Indians
within the direct purview of the commission, and the most remote camps,
those of the Flatheads and Gros Ventres, could be reached in a single
day." These two camps were some seventy-five miles distant each, in
different directions, and the area within which the Indians were now
brought was little less than the State of Massachusetts, not counting
the large Nez Perce camp on the Yellowstone.
Even yet the boats had not reached the Judith, could not reach it
probably before the 8th, thirty-seven days from the Muscle Shell,
instead of twenty as promised. It would require twenty-five days longer
to drag them up the river another hundred miles to Fort Benton. The
Blackfeet and the western Indians had now been freely mingling together
for several days, and it was important that their present favorable
disposition should be availed of. Accordingly Governor Stevens proposed
to hold the council on the mouth of the Judith, and upon his urgency and
arguments it was so decided on the evening of the 5th, the day the Nez
Perce chiefs arrived, and the 13th was fixed as the time. The necessary
measures to assemble the Indians at that point were devolved upon the
governor as usual, and also to notify the boats to stop and unload
there. By the 7th all the camps were notified, the Flatheads being
already on the appointed ground, and most of the chiefs conferred with
the governor in person, who, during these days, held a constant levee in
his camp at the fort. The northern camps, however, were unwilling to
move seventy miles farther than they expected, with their large supplies
of meat recently taken, and it was decided that the chiefs, with a
portion of their people, should attend, leaving the main camps
undisturbed.
The governor relates the following incident:--
"My son Hazard, thirteen years of age, had accompanied me from
Olympia to the waters of the Missouri. Like all youths of that age,
he was always ready for the saddle, and had spent some days with one
of my hunting parties on the Judith, where he had become well
acquainted with the Gros Ventres. When we determined to change the
council from Fort Benton to the mouth of the Judith, I undertook the
duty of seeing the necessary messages sent to the various bands and
tribes, and to bring them all to the mouth of the Judith at the
proper moment. These Indians were scattered from Milk River, near
Hammell's Houses, along the Marias, along the Teton, to a
considerable distance south of the Missouri, the Flatheads being on
the Judith, and the Pend Oreilles on Smith's Fork of the Missouri,
with two bands of the Blackfeet lying somewhat intermediate, but in
the vicinity of the Girdle Mountain. I succeeded in securing the
services of a fit and reliable man for each one of these bands and
tribes, except the Gros Ventres, camped on Milk River. There were
several men, who had considerable experience among Indians and in
voyageuring, who desired to go, but I had not confidence in them,
and accordingly, at ten o'clock on Sunday morning, I started my
little son as a messenger to the Gros Ventres. Accompanied by the
interpreter, Legare, he made that Gros Ventre camp before dark, a
distance of seventy-five miles, and gave his message the same
evening to the chiefs, and without changing horses they were in the
saddle early in the morning, and reached my camp at half past three
o'clock. Thus a youth of thirteen traveled one hundred and fifty
measured miles from ten o'clock of one day to half past three
o'clock in the afternoon of the next. The Gros Ventres made their
marches exactly as I had desired, and reached the new council ground
at the mouth of the Judith the very morning which had been
appointed.
"I doubt whether such an express service as we were obliged to
employ at Fort Benton to keep the Indians in hand was ever employed
in this country with the same means. Many of our animals, which had
done service all the way from the Dalles, traveled at express rates
more than a thousand miles before we started on our return from Fort
Benton. Many of our mules traveled from seven to eight hundred miles
with packs in going to the boats for provisions and to the hunting
grounds for meat; and yet, after our treaty was concluded and we
were ready to move home, we were able to make very good rates with
these same animals, although the season was so late as November."
To realize the remarkable extent and efficiency of this express service,
bear in mind Doty's trip to Bow River, three hundred miles north of Fort
Benton; Tappan's and Adams's and Higgins's to the Yellowstone, two
hundred miles southeast; and the expresses down the river to the boats,
one hundred and fifty miles; not to speak of Pearson's trip to Olympia,
one thousand miles. It was as though one in New York, without
telegraphs, railroads, or mails, had to regulate by pony express the
movements of bands of Indians at Boston, Portland, Montreal, Buffalo,
and Washington.
After spending four days in conferences with the chiefs, explaining the
reasons for changing the council ground, etc., the governor broke camp
on the 10th, and on the next day, Thursday, reached the point where the
boats were unloading, a mile below the mouth of the Judith, selected and
prepared the council ground, and received and assigned to their camps
the Indians as they arrived. His colleague descended the river in a
skiff, and did not arrive until the following Saturday. By Monday all
the Indians had assembled, and numbered thirty-five hundred.
On Tuesday Governor Stevens formally opened the council. The Indians, as
usual on such occasions, "reposed on the bosom of their mother," that
is, sat on the ground in semicircular rows, twenty-six principal chiefs
in the first row, lesser chiefs in succeeding rows, and the rank and
file in the rear. The governor administered the oath to the interpreters
to translate truly, having first inquired of the Indians if they were
satisfied with them and received an affirmative reply.
[Illustration: THE BLACKFOOT COUNCIL]
Governor Stevens said:--
"My children, my heart is glad to-day. I see Indians east of the
mountains and Indians west of the mountains sitting here as friends,
Bloods, Blackfeet, Piegans, Gros Ventres, and Nez Perces,
Koo-te-nays, Pend Oreilles, Flatheads; and we have the Cree chief
sitting down here from the north and east, and Snakes farther from
the west. There is peace now between you all here present. We want
peace also with absent tribes, with the Crees and Assiniboines, with
the Snakes, and, yes, even with the Crows. You have all sent your
message to the Crows, telling them you would meet them in friendship
here. The Crows were far, and could not be present, but we expect
you to promise to be friends with the Crows.
"It was Low Horn who, two years since, said to me, 'Peace with the
Flatheads and Nez Perces.' The Little Dog, Little Gray Head, and all
the Blackfoot chiefs said, 'Peace with them; come and meet us in
council,' and here they are. Here you see them face to face. I met
them the same year. I told them your words. They said, 'Peace
also with the Blackfeet.' And the Great Father has said, 'Peace with
the Crees and Assiniboines, the Crows, and all neighboring tribes.'
"I shall say nothing about peace with the white man. No white man
enters a Blackfoot or a western Indian's lodge without being treated
to the very best. Peace already prevails. We trust such will
continue to be the case forever. We have been traveling over your
whole country, both to the east and west of the mountains, in small
parties, ranging away north to Bow River, and south to the
Yellowstone. We have kept no guard. We have not tied up our horses.
All has been safe. Therefore I say peace has been, is now, and will
continue, between these Indians and the white man."
The treaty was then read to them, after which the governor went over its
provisions, explaining them, etc.
The council lasted three days. The best feeling prevailed, all the
chiefs making earnest and sincere speeches in favor of peace,
contrasting the advantages of hunting in safety and trading between the
tribes with the continual losses of their young braves and the steady
decline in numbers from perpetual war, although some of them expressed
doubts as to restraining the ambitious young warriors. Only one passing
shadow was cast over the assemblage, and that but for a moment. The
treaty made all the country south of the Missouri a common hunting
ground for all the tribes, while the country north of the river was to
be reserved to the Blackfeet for hunting purposes, although open to the
western Indians for trading and visiting. To this restriction Alexander,
the Pend Oreille chief, demurred. Said he:--
"A long time ago this country belonged to our ancestors, and the
Blackfeet lived far north. We Indians were all well pleased when we
came together here in friendship. Now you point us out a little
piece of land to hunt our game in. When we were enemies I always
crossed over there, and why should I not now when we are friends?
Now I have two hearts about it. What is the reason? Which of these
chiefs [pointing to the Blackfeet] says we are not to go there?
Which is the one?"
The Little Dog, a Piegan chief: "It is I, and not because we have
anything against you. We are friendly, but the north Blackfeet might
make a quarrel if you hunted near them. Do not put yourself in their
way."
On Alexander's insisting, the Little Dog said:--
"Since he speaks so much of it, we will give him liberty to come out
in the north."
Alexander's contention will be better understood by considering the fact
that his country, on the Flathead River and Clark's Fork, lies directly
opposite the region of the upper Marias, and that by going directly east
across the mountains through the Marias Pass he could reach buffalo in a
short trip, while the journey to the plains south of the Missouri was a
much longer one.
On the last day the commissioners and the chiefs and headmen of all the
tribes present signed the treaty amid the greatest satisfaction and good
feeling. During the next three days, October 18-20, the presents were
distributed, and coats and medals were presented to the chiefs, with
speeches by the commissioners, exhorting them to keep their promises to
their Great Father, and control their young braves. The several tribes
fraternized most amicably throughout all these proceedings, particularly
the Flatheads and Gros Ventres,--who had hunted together and exchanged
friendly visits for many weeks on the Muscle Shell,--the Nez Perces and
Piegans, and the Bloods and Pend Oreilles. Though the Crows were not
present, the Indians pledged themselves not to war upon them, nor upon
any of the neighboring tribes. The officers of this council were: Isaac
I. Stevens and Alfred Cumming, commissioners; James Doty, secretary;
Thomas Adams and A.J. Vaughan, reporters. The interpreters were: James
Bird, A. Culbertson, and M. Roche, for the Blackfeet; Benjamin Kiser,
G. Sohon, for the Flatheads; William Craig, Delaware Jim, for the Nez
Perces.
[Illustration: STAR ROBE
THE RIDER HEAVY SHIELD
LAME BULL
BLACKFOOT CHIEFS]
The treaty was much more than a treaty of peace as far as the Blackfeet
were concerned, for it gave them schools, farms, agricultural
implements, etc., and an agent, and annuities of $35,000 for ten years,
of which $15,000 was devoted to educating them in agriculture and to
teaching the children. At the last moment the governor induced Cumming
to agree to a clause empowering the President and Senate to increase the
annuities $15,000 more, if the amount fixed in the treaty was deemed
insufficient. It contained the usual provision prohibiting intoxicating
liquor. The extensive region between the Missouri and Yellowstone was
made the common hunting ground of all the tribes. All agreed to maintain
peace with each other, including those tribes that were unable to be
present, the Crows, Crees, Assiniboines, and Snakes. The treaty was made
obligatory on the Indians from their signing it, and on the United
States from its ratification, which occurred the next spring, and it was
duly proclaimed by the President on April 25, 1856.
The tribes actually parties to this treaty numbered, by the
commissioners' calculation, Blackfeet, 11,500; Nez Perces, 2500;
Flathead nation, 2000; total 16,000. Nearly all of their chiefs and
principal men attended the council and signed the treaty.
The peace made at this council was observed with gratifying fidelity in
the main. The Blackfeet ceased their incessant and bloody raids, and met
their former enemies on friendly terms upon the common hunting grounds.
Within a few years, in 1862-63, large white settlements sprang up on the
headwaters of the Missouri, but they were spared the horrors and
sufferings of Indian warfare with so powerful a tribe largely in
consequence of this treaty. The council, which Governor Stevens planned
and carried out with such foresight, sagacity, and indefatigable
exertions during two years, bore fruit at last in the perpetual peace he
hoped for and predicted. Few treaties with Indians have been so well
observed by them as this by the "bloodthirsty" Blackfeet. They took no
part in the great Sioux wars, nor in the outbreak of Joseph. They were
afterwards gathered together on a large reservation, including the
country about the Sun River, where the governor proposed to establish
their farms.
The council ground was a wide, level plain covered with a noble grove of
huge cottonwoods. It was on the left bank of the Missouri, nearly
opposite but below the mouth of the Judith. This stream was also
bordered by broad bottoms, which were covered with large sage-brush, and
fairly swarming with deer. The governor's camp was pitched under the
lofty cottonwoods, and lower down was the camp of the crew of men who
had dragged the boats up the river. They were a hundred strong, mostly
Germans, having many fine voices among them, and were fond of spending
the evenings in singing. The effect of their grand choruses, pealing
forth over the river and resounding among the lofty trees, was
magnificent. In the governor's camp an unusually large Indian lodge--a
great cone of poles covered with dressed and smoke-stained buffalo
skins--was erected and used as an office tent, where the records were
copied and smaller conferences held. Every night between eleven and
twelve, when the work of the day was concluded, the governor would call
in the gentlemen of the party, a few chiefs, and some of the
interpreters, and have a real Homeric feast of buffalo ribs, flapjacks
with melted sugar, and hot coffee. Whole sides of ribs would be brought
in, smoking-hot from the fire, and passed around, and each guest would
cut off a rib for himself with his hunting knife, and sit there holding
the huge dainty, three feet long, and tearing off the juicy and
delicious meat with teeth and knife, principally the former. No
description can convey an idea of the hearty zest and relish and
enjoyment, or the keen appetites, with which they met at these
hospitable repasts, and recounted the varied adventures and experiences
of their recent trips, or listened as Craig, Delaware Jim, or Ben Kiser
related some thrilling tale of trapper days, or desperate fight with
Indian or grizzly bear.
[Illustration: TAT-TU-YE, THE FOX
_Chief of the Blood Indians_]
[Illustration: MEK-YA-PY, RED DYE
_Piegan Warrior_]
The other commissioner did not grace these reunions with his presence.
Chafing at the constraint put upon him, and the secondary part which he
could not help taking, despite all his pretensions, he kept his quarters
on one of the boats, and relieved his mind by refusing to recommend the
allowance of the governor's accounts for the extra expenses necessarily
incurred by the two months' delay, the result of his own inefficiency;
refused to allow Mr. Doty more than five dollars a day for his services
as secretary, which pitiful stipend he took pains to call "wages;" and
among other grievances complained that Governor Stevens had insinuated
that he, Cumming, had shown a disposition to repudiate his own acts done
in commission,--all this gravely set forth in official communications
addressed to the Secretary, and made part of the record. This was too
much for the governor's patience, and he replied:--
"The undersigned has made no such intimation. On the contrary, in
his communications to the commission he has demonstrated that
Commissioner Cumming had repudiated his own act, and used every
exertion to usurp the rights and powers of the commission, and
reduce the undersigned to the position of a subordinate. Fortunately
for the dignity of the commission and the success of the treaty,
this attempt was most successfully resisted, and Commissioner
Cumming was compelled to surrender his claims. Commissioner Stevens
has no grievance for which he asks redress from the Department of
the Interior. He has protected his own rights here."
In the joint report forwarding the treaty, prepared like all the
official papers by Governor Stevens, he states the disagreements between
the commissioners on nearly every point, and adds:--
"So utterly at variance have been their views that it has only been
with great difficulty that a concert of action has been effected at
all."
The governor's last official communication to the secretary of the
commission fitly expressed his indignation at the action of the
department in naming Cumming first on the commission:--
"The undersigned solemnly protests against the instructions of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs placing the name of Commissioner Cumming
first on the commission, and he appeals from said instructions to the
President of the United States.
"The undersigned was, in his opinion, entitled to be placed first,
and for the following reasons:--
"1. He originated the Blackfoot council, prepared the Indians on
both sides of the mountains for it, and, for all practical purposes,
has been the superintendent of all these tribes since he explored
the country in 1853. He has appointed special agents for the
Blackfeet, distributed goods and provisions among them, and in other
ways has by authority of the Interior Department had the
administrative charge of these tribes.
"2. He was the senior officer by date of priority of commission.
"3. He was better fitted, by experience and adaptation to the
duties, to take a prominent part in the negotiations, and he
fearlessly refers to the official record to show that the success of
the treaty is mainly due to his previous labors, his forecast in
bringing the necessary force to the theatre of the principal
operations, and to the vigilance, energy, and force of character
which he has exhibited throughout, and that thus was redressed the
wrong which otherwise would have been done to the public service,
and injury to the reputation and services of the undersigned, by
placing his name second on the commission."
[Illustration: JAMES BIRD DELAWARE JIM
COLONEL ALFRED CUMMING
WILLIAM CRAIG ALEXANDER CULBERTSON
COMMISSIONER CUMMING AND INTERPRETERS]
With this parting shot the governor bade a heartfelt farewell to the
pretentious incapable, who had so nearly wrecked the council, and added
so much to his labors and perplexities. Cumming started down the river
on one of the boats on the 23d.