1842. By the opening of another spring, Meek had so far overcome his
distaste for farm labor as to put in a field of wheat for himself, with
Doughty, and to make some arrangements about his future subsistence.
This done, he was ready, as usual, for anything in the way of adventure
which might turn up. This was, however, a very quiet summer in the
little colony. Important events were brooding, but as yet results were
not perceptible, except to the mind of a prophet. The Hudson's Bay
Company, conformably to British policy, were at work to turn the balance
of power in Oregon in favor of British occupation, and, unknown even to
the colonists, the United States Government was taking what measures it
could to shift the balance in its own favor. Very little was said about
the subject of government claims among the colonists, but a feeling of
suspense oppressed all parties.
The work of putting in wheat and improving of farms had just begun to
slacken a little, when there was an arrival in the Columbia River of a
vessel from Boston--the _Chenamus_, Captain Couch. The _Chenamus_
brought a cargo of goods, which were placed in store at Wallamet Falls,
to be sold to the settlers, being the first successful attempt at trade
ever made in Oregon, outside of the Hudson's Bay and Methodist Mission
stores.
When the Fourth of July came, the _Chenamus_ was lying in the Wallamet,
below the Falls, near where the present city of Portland stands. Meek,
who was always first to be at any spot where noise, bustle, or
excitement might be anticipated, and whose fine humor and fund of
anecdote made him always welcome, had borrowed a boat from Capt. Couch's
clerk, at the Falls, and gone down to the vessel early in the morning,
before the salute for the Glorious Fourth was fired. There he remained
all day, enjoying a patriotic swagger, and an occasional glass of
something good to drink. Other visitors came aboard during the day,
which was duly celebrated to the satisfaction of all.
Towards evening, a party from the Mission, wishing to return to the
Falls, took possession of Meek's borrowed boat to go off with. Now was a
good opportunity to show the value of free institutions. Meek, like
other mountain-men, felt the distance which the missionaries placed
between him and themselves, on the score of their moral and social
superiority, and resented the freedom with which they appropriated what
he had with some trouble secured to himself. Intercepting the party when
more than half of them were seated in the boat, he informed them that
they were trespassing upon a piece of property which for the present
belonged to him, and for which he had a very urgent need. Vexed by the
delay, and by having to relinquish the boat to a man who, according to
their view of the case, could not "read his title clear," to anything
either on earth or in heaven, the missionaries expostulated somewhat
warmly, but Meek insisted, and so compelled them to wait for some better
opportunity of leaving the ship. Then loading the boat with what was
much more to the purpose--a good supply of provisions, Meek proceeded to
drink the Captain's health in a very ostentatious manner, and take his
leave.
In the meantime, Dr. Marcus Whitman, of the Waiilatpu Mission, in the
upper country, was so fearful of the intentions of the British
government that he set out for Washington late in the autumn of 1842, to
put the Secretary of State on his guard concerning the boundary
question, and to pray that it might be settled conformably with the
wishes of the Americans in Oregon.
There was one feature, however, of this otherwise rather entertaining
race for possession, which was becoming quite alarming. In all this
strife about claiming the country, the Indian claim had not been
considered. It has been already intimated that the attempt to civilize
or Christianize the Indians of western Oregon was practically an entire
failure. But they were not naturally of a warlike disposition, and had
been so long under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company that there
was comparatively little to apprehend from them, even though they felt
some discontent at the incoming immigration.
But with the Indians of the upper Columbia it was different; especially
so with the tribes among whom the Presbyterian missionaries were
settled--the Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, and Nez Perces, three brave and
powerful nations, much united by intermarriages. The impression which
these people had first made on the missionaries was very favorable,
their evident intelligence, inquisitiveness, and desire for religious
teachings seeming to promise a good reward of missionary labor. Dr.
Whitman and his associates had been diligent in their efforts to
civilize and Christianize them--to induce the men to leave off their
migratory habits and learn agriculture, and the women to learn spinning,
sewing, cooking, and all the most essential arts of domestic life. At
the first, the novelty of these new pursuits engaged their interest, as
it also excited their hope of gain. But the task of keeping them to
their work with sufficient steadiness, was very great. They required,
like children, to be bribed with promises of more or less immediate
reward of their exertions, nor would they relinquish the fulfilment of a
promise, even though they had failed to perform the conditions on which
the promise became binding.
By-and-by they made the discovery that neither the missionaries could,
nor the white man's God did, confer upon them what they desired--the
enjoyment of all the blessings of the white men--and that if they wished
to enjoy these blessings, they must labor to obtain them. This discovery
was very discouraging, inasmuch as the Indian nature is decidedly averse
to steady labor, and they could perceive that very little was to be
expected from any progress which could be achieved in one generation. As
for the Christian faith, they understood about as much of its true
spirit as savages, with the law of blood written in their hearts, could
be expected to understand. They looked for nothing more nor less than
the literal fulfilment of the Bible promises--nothing less would content
them; and as to the forms of their new religion, they liked them well
enough--liked singing and praying, and certain orderly observances, the
chiefs leading in these as in other matters. So much interest did they
discover at first, that their teachers were deceived as to the actual
extent of the good they were doing.
As time went on, however, there began to be cause for mutual
dissatisfaction. The Indians became aware that no matter how many
concessions their teachers made to them, they were still the inferiors
of the whites, and that they must ever remain so. But the thought which
produced the deepest chagrin was, that they had got these white people
settled amongst them by their own invitation and aid, and that now it
was evident they were not to be benefited as had been hoped, as the
whites were turning their attention to benefiting themselves.
As early as 1839, Mr. Smith, an associate of Mr. Spalding in the country
of the Nez Perces, was forbidden by the high chief of the Nez Perces to
cultivate the ground. He had been permitted to build, but was assured
that if he broke the soil for the purpose of farming it, the ground so
broken should serve to bury him in. Still Smith went on in the spring to
prepare for ploughing, and the chief seeing him ready to begin, inquired
if he recollected that he had been forbidden. Yet persisting in his
undertaking, several of the Indians came to him and taking him by the
shoulder asked him again "if he did not know that the hole he should
make in the earth would be made to serve for his grave." Upon which
third warning Smith left off, and quitted the country. Other
missionaries also left for the Wallamet Valley.
In 1842 there were three mission stations in the upper country; that of
Dr. Whitman at Waiilatpu on the Walla-Walla River, that of Mr. Spalding
on the Clearwater River, called Lapwai, and another on the Spokane
River, called Cimakain. These missions were from one hundred and twenty
to three hundred miles distant from each other, and numbered altogether
only about one dozen whites of both sexes. At each of these stations
there was a small body of land under cultivation, a few cattle and hogs,
a flouring and saw mill, and blacksmith shop, and such improvements as
the needs of the mission demanded. The Indians also cultivated, under
the direction of their teachers, some little patches of ground,
generally but a small garden spot, and the fact that they did even so
much was very creditable to those who labored to instruct them. There
was no want of ardor or industry in the Presbyterian mission; on the
contrary they applied themselves conscientiously to the work they had
undertaken.
But this conscientious discharge of duty did not give them immunity from
outrage. Both Mr. Spalding and Dr. Whitman had been rudely handled by
the Indians, had been struck and spat upon, and had nose and ears
pulled. Even the delicate and devoted Mrs. Spalding had been grossly
insulted. Later the Cayuses had assailed Dr. Whitman in his house with
war-clubs, and broken down doors of communication between the private
apartments and the public sitting room. Explanations and promises
generally followed these acts of outrage, yet it would seem that the
missionaries should have been warned.
Taking advantage of Dr. Whitman's absence, the Cayuses had frightened
Mrs. Whitman from her home to the Methodist mission at the Dalles, by
breaking into her bed-chamber at night, with an infamous design from
which she barely escaped, and by subsequently burning down the mill and
destroying a considerable quantity of grain. About the same time the Nez
Perces at the Lapwai mission were very insolent, and had threatened Mr.
Spalding's life; all of which, one would say, was but a poor return for
the care and instruction bestowed upon them during six years of patient
effort on the part of their teachers. Poor as it was, the Indians did
not see it in that light, but only thought of the danger which
threatened them, in the possible loss of their country.