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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1928)
PAGE 4 THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN KING PHILIP (Continued from page 1) In 1671 Philip complained that the English were not living up to the agreement they had made ten years before. At Tounton the English made another treaty with him, in which he was asked to give up all his arms of war. Philip doubted the sincerity of the English and hesitated to give up his arms. He was asked why, and his reply was that his father, brother and himself had made treaties of friendship with the English, which the latter were trying to turn into treaties of subjection. In 1674 an Indian told the settlers that Philip was trying to get all the Indians of New England to wage war against the whites. A few days later that In dian’s body was found in a lake. The English ar rested three Indians, tried them for murder, and executed them. Philip thought that the English had done the In dians a great injustice, but the question being too deep for him to solve, he called all the sachems of the Wampanoags together to talk over the matter. The young warriors wanted war. Philip was opposed to this. He saw that the time had passed when the English could be driven from the country. Philip succeeded in holding the young men in check for a while. On a pleasant Sunday in June, 1675, while the people were in church, eight young warriors burned a few houses in Swansea, the nearest town to Wam- panoag’s headquarters at Mount Hope. The whites immediately raised troops and had a little skirmish with the Indians. Philip was not with his warriors at the time. The attack on the whites was against his expressed orders. When he learned that the Indians and the settlers really had had a battle he wept, something which an Indian at that time rarely did. From this on everything went wrong. Philip tried to make peace with the whites, but they would not listen. The young men kept on destroying property and killing cattle. The English then raised troops and the war that followed is known in history as “King Philip’s War.” Philip and some Indians swam Narragansett Bay and went to the village of the Nipmucks, who had never been friendly towards the whites. They joined the warring Wampanoags. Where Philip was during the war is not known. He knew that he would be held responsible for it. He was never once known to be connected with any fighting. He was not once seen by the English dur ing that time. Some thought he directed the war, but it was really carried on by Indians that had not been friendly toward the whites. The Wampanoags really had very little to do with the war, which was one of the most dreadful in the history of our country. The Indians were very successful during the first year of the war. They had lost but few warriors, which led them to believe Philip was wrong in think ing that the English could not be driven out. By spring, however, many wished lor peace. The food supply was getting short. They were being defeated, for the English understood better their modes of fight ing. Finally they gave up hope and then they real ized that King Philip had been right in trying to keep peace with the whites. Philip was not seen from the time he swam across Narragansett Bay until June, 1676, when he returned to his old home on Mount Hope. His wife and son had been captured earlier in the spring. He felt that war was wrong, and that the young warriors had been too hasty in starting it. The Wampanoags were talking of surrendering. Philip felt that surrender meant death for him. He refused to think of it. When one warrior suggested it to him he killed him on the spot. In August, 1676, Philip was shot by the brother of the Indian he had killed. Philip was unjustly blamed by the Plymouth people. They thought he was in league with several other tribes and intended to drive out the English. Philip was a great advocate of peace. He was a friend to the colonists. The English did not know this and the result was that Philip was held responsible for a war which he had opposed from the outset. WHY THE BEAVER’S TAIL IS FLAT Many years ago where Yakima and all its prosper ous farms now are, was once said to be covered with water, extending to the foot of the sage-covered mountain ranges. Beavers occupied the territory southeast of this range in swamps and along the streams. For almost a month during the hottest part of one summer it hadn’t rained and springs and streams were drying up. Many of the beavers had died. At this time the beaver had a long tail, similar to a dog’s tail. The oldest, and leader, of the beavers could not stand to see so many dying. He called a council, which was held on the highest peak of the range. He said, “Now, my good people, the Great Spirit is punishing us. We have mot been thankful enough for our homes. I have called you together to dance and pray to the Great Spirit so that we can have rain.” So they danced and prayed for over a week, keeping time with their tails, beating them against the ground. After they had finished dancing they noticed that their tails were flat, and that the ground that they had danced upon was almost at sea level. At last it began to rain. It rained and rained. All the while the sea was rising until at last it rushed down through the mountain, making the Union Gap. Now the Yakima River flows through it and down through the valley to the Columbia River, and to this day the beaver’s tail is flat.—M atilda F rench .
