it may be well to state that he is a member of the old-school Presbyterian church, has long resided West, is respected by all who know him, as a man of unimpeachable honor and integrity. His heart is in his work, and he talks and acts toward the Indians under his charge more as a father than as an officer. A zealous churchman and partisan, he is positive in character, and fearless as a speaker; while he may be lacking in some minor qualities, he has so many important and useful ones that qualify him for his position, that the deficiency, if any, is not felt. As a christian civilizer of Indians he ranks with Father Wilber, of Yakama, and other n.o.ble-hearted men.
Warm Springs has been a.s.signed to the Methodist Church; yet so much confidence has Captain Smith inspired by his success, that they have not recommended his removal. In this they have consulted the higher and purer motives that should, and often do, control men in important matters. _He_ should be permitted to hold his office _during life_.
This communication, coming from such a man, is worthy of careful consideration; touching, as it does, the key-notes of the great question of the Christianization of the Indians.
WARM SPRINGS AGENCY, OREGON.
HON. A. B. MEACHAM:--
MY DEAR SIR,--Believing that the work you contemplate publishing is designed to teach the minds of men the capability of the Indian race to be morally, religiously and socially advanced; and having had the experience of a residence of some seven years among the confederate tribes and bands of Middle Oregon, as agent; and further believing that I have in some degree mastered the great problem of their civilization, I willingly contribute anything that may serve to give your readers a correct idea of the progress they have really made; and they are still going forward.
It will be necessary to go back to the time I first came among them. A more degraded set of beings I am sure did not exist on the earth, nor was the condition of most of the Indians on this coast much better.
The mind of man would not conceive that human beings could get so low in the scale of humanity as they were; and I am sure, if they had been left to the instincts of their own wild and savage natures, they could never have been so low down as they were.
G.o.d"s holy Sabbath was set apart as a day of licentiousness and debauchery. Drinking and gambling had become common. Their women were universally unchaste, and were taught to believe that lewdness was a commendable practice, or even a virtue.
Diseases and death were entailed on their posterity. The men had to submit at the point of the bayonet; the consequence was, the Indians had lost all confidence in the honesty and integrity of white men.
This state of affairs was princ.i.p.ally owing to the military being brought into close proximity to them. Some of the officers had built houses, and were living with Indian women.
After I came here (the military having been removed previously) the Snake Indians commenced making raids on the Reservation.
I was asked "if I wished the military to protect us." I answered, "No." I preferred the raids of the Snake Indians to the presence of the soldiers; for I doubted if I would be able in twenty years to wipe out the evidences of the military having been amongst them; and I am sorry to say, that the agents and employes set over them to teach them had also contributed largely to their degradation.
One of the agents has been frequently heard to say, "that he thought the best way to civilize the Indians was to _wash out_ the color." They had accomplished what they were able to in that line. While it is certain that one agent came here a poor man, and went away wealthy, to say nothing of the lesser pickings which employers and contractors were allowed to take.
How to restore the lost confidence in the white man seemed on my arrival a herculean task. My first work was to get rid of all contaminating influences, by discharging bad men and filling their places with good, moral, and religious persons. The reformation at first seemed slow, but gradually increased from day to day. I was soon able to start a Sabbath school, and divine services were held every Sabbath.
The Indians, old and young, were placed in cla.s.ses, and appropriate teachers set over them. Soon our large and commodious house of worship was filled to its utmost capacity by old and young, male and female, all seemingly eager to pick up the crumbs of comfort that fell from G.o.d"s holy word; and from Sabbath to Sabbath this was continued.
Then came a change; officers from the army were ordered to relieve agents. The Sabbath was soon disregarded; Christian and moral men had their places made unpleasant, and were compelled to resign. Their places were filled by others who cared for nothing of the kind, and everything was relapsing into its former condition.
When I was again permitted to return I found things but little better than when I first came. However, I immediately set to work again, and, I think I can truly say, with full success. We have now three Bible-cla.s.ses that read a verse around, and seem to comprehend very well what they read.
The old men are all in a cla.s.s, and a person is appointed to read a chapter and explain it to them every Sabbath day. Many who cannot read can quote a large amount of Scripture. Quite a number, both men and women, lead in prayer, and many families maintain family worship, seemingly living Christian lives. We give out a psalm; many of the young people find it about as readily as we do, and can lead the music. The first week of the new year was observed as a national prayer-meeting, which was well attended; some for the first time acknowledging Christ as their Saviour. We have at this time nearly one hundred professing to live Christian lives, and we seem to be adding, from day to day, such as I hope will be saved. Our day-school has been a great success for the last two years; before that it was a failure, and I am now convinced that it was the fault of the teachers not understanding the management of Indian children. We have quite a number of children who read and speak fluently, commit to memory easily, using the slate to advantage, demonstrating their capability to learn as readily as white children, provided they can have the same advantages.
There are white children in the school who do not advance as rapidly as some of the Indian children, thus exploding the general opinion that, as a race, they are merely imitative beings, but cannot originate an idea. The true Indian character, I fear, is very little understood, and still it seems almost anybody can write lectures on it, and with about as much truth in them as aesop"s fables contain.
I have found them much more susceptible of moral and religious advancement than the white man, giving them the same opportunities; and I account for it in the fact that you never find an infidel among them unless made so by white men. They all acknowledge a Supreme Being that overrules all things. They may have a very crude notion of the worship due to such a Creator, but so soon as they are taught the true worship, they become very zealous, and they have no scoffers to discourage them.
One fatal error has been in admitting them into churches, without any change of heart, to enjoy all its privileges; consequently they were not restrained by any inward principle, and never became any better. To make a Christian religious, intelligence, as well as zeal, is necessary. If we are to be judged by G.o.d"s law, we should be acquainted with it, and it is as needful for an Indian as for a white man to know _that_ law in order to become a Christian.
The Catholics take them into the church, whether converted or not; and they are never made any better, but rather worse, for they are kept ignorant and superst.i.tious. This was the case here, and these Indians are well aware of these facts. I have my doubts if a single Indian can be found on this coast that has been made any better by the Catholics.
I am credibly informed that they say ma.s.s in the morning, then run horses and play cards the remainder of the day; and all this under the eye of the priest.
At the time of my coming here polygamy was indulged to the fullest extent. Their women were bought and sold, and used as beasts of burden, and when old, were kicked out at pleasure, to get their living as best they could, or die of want.
I immediately set myself to work to remedy this evil, by telling them it was in violation of G.o.d"s holy word; then I was asked why we did not put a stop to it among the Mormons. I finally succeeded in securing a law prohibiting it in the future; allowing all who had more than one wife to get rid of her as best they could, but any one violating the law should be punished by fine or imprisonment.
I was soon after enabled to pa.s.s an amendment that where there was more than one wife, if one wished to leave, their husbands had no control over them. Under this rule nearly all had left.
On last Sabbath, a woman got up in church and said she was fully convinced that she had been living in violation of G.o.d"s holy word. She had lived with her husband a long time; he had always treated her well, and she loved him,--but she loved her Saviour more, and for the sake of heaven and happiness she had to give him up. She was much affected. I was reminded of the words of our Saviour when he said, he had "found no such faith, no, not in Israel."
Her confession has led others to the same conclusion; and I think we can truly say, the days of polygamy are ended among these people, or soon will be. The merchandise of their women was a source of great annoyance to them. Their girls brought from three to ten head of horses, owing generally to the manner their parents were able to dress them for the market. This system was very hard to get rid of, but it has entirely ceased for the last three years. By law they are required to be married by the agent; for violation of this law they are punished. No divorces are granted, except in cases of adultery. Cards, or any other devices for gambling, found about their premises, make them liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars, or ten days" work on the highway; as does, also, gambling, or drinking ardent spirits, and refusing to tell where it was obtained. Adultery is severely punished; and now I am able to add another law entirely prohibiting polygamy.
Our court consists of the "Head Chief" and six selected men,-- the agent presiding, an Indian acting as sheriff, who arrests and brings into court all offenders, and subpnas witnesses. The councils are always opened by prayer by some of the Indians.
Their agricultural affairs and social relations have undergone a great change. When I came among them they were wrapped up in their filthy blankets, eating their meals--if meals they could be called--off the ground like the pigs.
They had but few houses. Their crops probably did not exceed three hundred bushels in any season; they were living on the roots they digged in the mountains and the fish they caught in the streams, and not one pound of anything on the Reservation. I purchased for them a limited amount of seed--they packing it forty miles. This enabled them to raise five thousand bushels of wheat, with a good supply of a.s.sorted vegetables.
This seemed to give them new life, and they have been steadily increasing ever since.
Their crop, the last season, has been estimated at from twelve to fifteen thousand bushels of wheat, with an abundance of vegetables of all kinds.
Now they have some forty houses, with logs hauled and lumber partly sawed for perhaps twenty more.
Many families sit around tables well furnished with the luxuries common with white people. As to their dress, they will compare very favorably with many country congregations.
The women and children come to church clean and nice, many of them dressed equal to white women.
I have built a house, 18 42 feet, for a female school. In this house, if I shall remain here a short time longer, I shall expect to accomplish much, as I propose to teach their women domestic economy,--a thing they are very little acquainted with, as are they also with the preparation of vegetable foods, to make them palatable; and for this reason they are less used than they should be, and they depend too much on the chase and fisheries.
This makes it necessary to leave their homes at times, and keeps up filthy habits, and their homes are not made comfortable as they would be if they looked to the ground for support; and they could be better induced to give up the chase and become settled and comfortable, much to the benefit of their health.
During the last year probably less than one half of the usual number left the Reservation in search of food, and I find the increase in numbers has been surprising. In roaming around, their children can never be educated, as they only come to school in the winter months, and forget what they learn by the next winter.
The sooner Indians can be brought to look to the earth for a support, the better; or, in other words, the Bible and the plough are the only civilizers of the human family.
That has been my experience with these Indians, notwithstanding the scoffs and jeers of infidels, who would like to bring all mankind down to a level with the wild and barbarous Indians; and these are generally the kind of men who wish them transferred from the civil to the military authorities.
This experiment has been tried, and we have seen the result.
They may have been in some measure controlled, but never made any better,--always worse. Their object has been to control them,--not to civilize them.
President Grant"s humane policy _has done more towards civilizing the Indians than all things heretofore done_; and it is yet in its infancy, while everything that could be has been brought to bear against it, to make it unpopular if possible.
Here let me say a word in regard to yourself. I have the fullest confidence that the earnest manner in which the work was seconded and pushed forward during your superintendency has greatly contributed to its success among the Indians of Oregon, who, I think, can compare favorably with any others in the United States.
Good results were apparent among these Indians, and I presume also others, immediately after the holding of that general council at Salem in the fall of 1871. What they saw and heard there gave them faith in the good intentions of the Government towards them, and encouraged them to try and do something for themselves; and your general manner of treating and talking to them was well calculated to inspire them with confidence and a desire for improvement.
These Indians have been repeatedly advised to leave the Reservation by designing men, on the ground that under the fourteenth amendment to the Const.i.tution they are citizens, ent.i.tled to both settle where they please, and to enjoy all other rights appertaining to citizenship.
They have succeeded in drawing away something over a hundred, who are roaming over the country; and some fears are entertained that should the military attempt to force them to return there may be trouble, and perhaps a repet.i.tion of Modoc scenes.
If this should be the case, the fault clearly would not be with the policy of the administration, but with its enemies, who by their mischievous interference have induced the Indians to leave.
I think the facts will bear me out in the statement that if the only contact of the Indians with the whites had been with true Christian men, there never would have been any, or, at least, very little trouble with them.