Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
from the minds of the red men any lurking suspicions they might
otherwise have entertained as to the motives and purposes that
brought the white men hither.
The explorers learned from these Indians that the big Chief of the
tribe was encamped about two days' travel down the river, and that a
messenger had already been dispatched to notify him of the arrival of
these strange men in his country. On the following morning the
party, accompanied by a Nez Perces guide, set out to visit the Chief
of this seemingly very friendly tribe. The commanders issued orders
that the men should polish up their accoutrements and make the best
possible appearance; and that their behavior while sojourning in the
country of this tribe should be above reproach, as it was essential
for the success of the expedition to have the friendly cooperation of
these Indians.
{242}
On the evening of the second day the cavalcade of thirty-odd
travelers descending from a rolling plateau, beheld the many lodges
forming the main camp of the Nez Perces tribe situated on a willow
creek bottom, a short distance above where the stream entered the
beautiful Clearwater River, along whose banks were many small groves
of cottonwood, interspersed with clumps of large willows. The camp
presented a picturesque appearance of probably two hundred lodges,
scattered up and down along the little valley for perhaps a mile with
very little regularity in formation. On this occasion it presented a
very animated appearance, for the occupants of each tepee were on the
outside anxiously awaiting the arrival of the wonderful strangers
with bearded faces and carrying loud-noise weapons.
In about the center of the string of lodges was one a little larger
than the rest, in which dwelt the great Chief of the little nation,
who was now standing in front of the lodge entrance arrayed in an
elaborate costume of Indian finery surmounted by an immense
head-dress of eagle feather plumage. He wore a doublet of tanned
deerskin, fringed and decorated with elk teeth and agate stones, and
leggings of the same material; his feet were encased in moccasins
inwrought with the finest embroidery done by Indian women. The
Chief, probably fifty years old, was a well proportioned man of
medium size with regular features and well shaped head; he stood
motionless, with his eyes intently fixed on the approaching column of
white men riding in single file down the gently sloping hillside
towards the row of lodges--a sight never before witnessed by any of
them.
The Indian guide pointed out the lodge of the Chief to Lewis and
Clark, who halted the column; and dismounting a little distance off,
approached it on foot. The Chief did not move a muscle until Captain
Lewis held out his hand with the evident gesture of a friendly
purpose, whereupon he reached out, grasped the extended hand of
Captain Lewis and held it firmly for a little while, muttering
something in a guttural voice which, {243} though not understood, was
evidently intended as a pledge of friendship.
Each one of the party was then presented to the big Chief, who gave
every one a friendly greeting even to the last, the negro man servant
of Captain Lewis, though the stoical Indian could not suppress a look
of wonder as he gazed from head to foot upon the gigantic black man.
The Indians were all filled with strong curiosity at these strange
men with bearded faces and wonderful firearms that sent a leaden
messenger of death faster and more accurate than their most expert
bowman; but neither the white men nor their guns, strange and almost
incomprehensible as they seemed, created anything like the
astonishment aroused at beholding the African, who was a continual
object of their awe and admiration. Little attention was paid to
Sacajawea, for she was of their own race and a member of a tribe with
which they were not too friendly.
The whole assembled concourse of savage tribesmen vied with one
another in offering hospitality to the newcomers, and exhibited
unfeigned pleasure when any of them entered their lodges and partook
of refreshments. Friendly relations between the Americans and Nez
Perces established so long ago under these peculiar conditions, have
continued without a break up to the present time; and let us hope may
never be impaired.
Lewis and Clark acquired much useful information during their sojourn
with this tribe. They were informed that it was yet a long distance
to the "Big Water"--the goal of the expedition; and also learned that
almost insurmountable obstacles would prevent continuing all the way
to their destination on horseback. It would be possible, however, to
reach it by waters all flowing in that direction, finally uniting in
one mighty river which was swallowed up by the "Big Water" near the
setting sun.
Thereupon the explorers set their men to building boats on the banks
of the Clearwater; and it was determined to complete the passage in
that manner. They also made {244} arrangements to leave their horses
with the Indians until their return the following spring, when the
journey towards the "rising sun"--the land of the white man--would be
resumed.
While the Lewis and Clark expedition remained on the Clearwater, the
Indians held their annual rites to placate the wrath of their false
deity, lest he visit upon them dire misfortunes in the form of famine
and pestilence, which at times fell upon their people with serious
consequences. The white men refrained from making any comment upon
these absurd and pagan ceremonies until they were ended. Then having
a council with several of the leading men of the tribe, they
endeavored in the kindest and most inoffensive manner--through the
medium of Sacajawea, who by this time had acquired a considerable
knowledge of the Nez Perces tongue--to point out to the Indians that
the white people were in possession of a much better method of
worshipping the Supreme Being who created the heavens, the earth and
all things therein; and it would be a great blessing if they would
learn to do likewise.
This kindly advice found deep lodgment in the minds of those
untutored children of the wilderness, and was made still more
effective by the earnestness and sincerity of the "bird woman," who
since becoming the wife of Chaboneau had already received
considerable instruction in, the tenets of the Christian religion.
Thus the seed that bore such rich fruit a quarter of a century later,
and actually led to all that vast region becoming a part of the
United States, was planted in what is now our far Northwest.
When the boats were finished the little band prepared to continue its
journey by water. Many presents were distributed to the friendly
Indians before leaving their hospitable village; though trifling in
value, these were highly prized by the natives, and helped to cement
firmly the friendship already started between the two races. In
return the white men received a liberal supply of dried venison and
roots to sustain them during the arduous {245} undertaking still
ahead of them. The Nez Perces also furnished two guides to accompany
the expedition; these proved of invaluable assistance to Lewis and
Clark, particularly in their perilous descent of the Columbia.
That historic journey down the river to the Pacific Ocean was
successfully accomplished; and in the following spring the party
returned to the Indian encampment on the Clearwater, finding all the
horses that had been left with the Indians in fine condition to
re-cross the mountain ranges over which they had come the preceding
summer. While stopping at the Indian village on this homeward-bound
route, the subject of the white man's religion was again broached by
the natives; and once more the leaders of the expedition impressed
upon them the spiritual and temporal advantages of acquiring a
knowledge of the revealed word of God.
This good and salutary advice sank deep into the hearts of the
simple-minded red men, who realized that in many ways the white
strangers were superior to them. They had more effective weapons,
their utensils and implements were beyond the power of any Indian to
make, they could find knowledge in books and talk on paper; they had
far better saddles and bridles, and could kill a deer or a bear with
their smoke-fire guns. Surely then, it was more than probable that
they possessed a better knowledge of worshipping the Supreme Being
than the poor and ignorant Indians--thoughts about which continued to
agitate the minds of this truth-seeking tribe long after the
departure of their good friends, Lewis and Clark.
After the lapse of many years the subject was again brought into
prominence by the arrival in that part of the country of a small
party of full-blooded Iroquois and half-breed employes of the
Northwestern Fur Company from eastern Canada. All of these had
acquired a knowledge of the Christian religion, and lost no
opportunity to impress upon the pagan members of their race its
superiority over the crude and senseless forms still practiced by the
native Indians.
{246}
Coming from people of their own stock, this corroborative testimony
of what Lewis and Clark had told them carried great weight, and
aroused an intense desire for instruction in the white man's faith;
but they could see no possible way to gratify it. How could the
poor, benighted Indians come into contact with the white people, and
acquire their way of worship, when there were none in any region with
which they were familiar? The prospect was indeed gloomy for Indians
seeking the light.
But conditions soon began to change. The Hudson's Bay Company was
securing a firm hold upon the country, bringing in white men,
half-breeds and Indians from Canada to carry on its extensive
fur-hunting business. Trading posts were established throughout the
vast region west of the Rocky Mountains and north of the Spanish
possessions. The Indians welcomed this great commercial enterprise
into their country, for it gave them a market for what they had to
sell, and opportunities to acquire by trade many useful articles
which had never before been within their reach.
Some of these new trading posts were established close to the Nez
Perces country, and the tribesmen soon became frequent visitors to
them. Here again they were told how superior the white man's
religion was to their outlandish and foolish ceremonies. They also
learned that one of the two leaders of the explorers who visited
their country many years before was still living and occupying a high
position, in that department of the Government having the management
and care of Indian affairs. His home was in St. Louis, a city many
miles beyond the great mountains, a distance that would take many
moons to traverse.
These Indians pondered long and seriously what to do under the
circumstances; but no matter how great the distance, formidable the
obstacles or how threatening the dangers of traveling through a vast
region--peopled, indeed, by men of their own dusky race but known to
be fierce, warlike and no respecters of persons--they were {247}
determined to make the attempt. The desire to gain a knowledge of
the white man's religion had taken complete possession of their
minds, and they would not be content until that object should be
attained.
At a joint council of the Nez Perces and Flatheads, one Indian of
advanced age and a young brave of each tribe were selected to go in
search of the explorer they had remembered during the quarter century
since he had been among them, and ascertain the truth of the reported
better religion than their own. During the summer and early fall of
1831, these four delegates traversed more than half of the Continent
from the far Northwest to the junction of the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers.