Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
June 20, 2018
Page 3
The life and times of William ‘Billy Chinook’ Parker
Richard Macy is organiz ing a
family gathering of descendants of
Billy Chinook. As background for
the event, Mr. Macy offers the fol-
lowing brief history of the life and
times of William ‘Billy Chinook’
Parker.
William ‘Billy Chinook’
Parker ~ ca. 1823-1890.
I n the early Nineteenth Century
the world was taking a great inter-
est in the Pacific Northwest and
the Columbia River Basin. The
British had established themselves
at Ft. Vancouver on the Columbia;
the American John Jacob Astor
built a trading post at what is now
Astoria.
The Spanish had earlier sailed
north from Mexico and California,
and left their mark with place
names along the coasts of Oregon
and Washington: Spanish Head, and
the Straits of Juan de Fucha. Even
the Russians made inroads into the
territory, coming south from Alaska
as far as Ft. Ross just north of
present day San Francisco.
It was at the village of
Wascopum on the Columbia River
that a male child was born, about
the year 1823. His name was Young
Guygo, He was orphaned at an
early age. His parents probably died
from one of the many diseases
brought here by the White man.
When Guygo was a young teen-
ager he embarked on the beginning
of the many adventures that col-
ored his life. He left his home at
Wascopum and journeyed to Ft.
Dalles to live among the White
people and learn their ways.
There at Ft. Dalles Young
Guygo lived at the Mission with
the Reverend Daniel Lee and his
family. He quickly learned to speak
English, and began an understand-
ing of the ways of the White man:
how they lived and socialized and
related to each other.
In 1835, Reverend Lee baptized
Young Guygo and gave him the
Christian
name
William
Mackendrie (or Makandrie).
People then began calling the young
Indian “Billy” or “Indian Billy.”
Sometime after 1835, Billy
moved in with a family of Chinook
Indians named Perkins. It was dur-
ing that time that Billy learned ba-
sic carpentry and blacksmithing,
and continued with his English
schooling.
The spring of 1842 marked the
arrival at Ft. Dalles of Cpt. Will-
iam Fremont of the U.S. Army.
Fremont had been sent West by
the government to explore and
map all the major trails and water-
ways of the West.
Fremont needed to enlarge his
expedition, and began to recruit
Indians as guides and scouts. Want-
ing to explore the world beyond
the Columbia River, young Billy
applied and was hired on as a
scout.
Because Billy was living with a
Chinook Indian family at the time
he became a scout, Cpt. Fremont
assumed Billy was a Chinook In-
dian and referred to Billy as “My
Chinook” or “Billy Chinook.” The
name stuck and Billy from then
on was called Billy Chinook.
Late spring of 1842 was the be-
ginning of Fremont’s journey
south through Central Oregon, into
the Klamath Basin and on to
Northern California.
Most of August and fall time
of 1842 was spent exploring
Northern California; and then the
decision was made to make a win-
ter crossing of the Sierra Moun-
tains, eastward to Nevada. It was
a perilous trek, and Billy voiced
his regret at joining the expedition,
wanting to return to Oregon.
Fremont convinced Billy to stay
with the troupe, and they made
their way East. They arrived in
Washington, D.C., in the summer
of 1843. There in Washington,
Fremont enrolled Billy in Colum-
bia College to continue Billy’s edu-
cation.
The lack of money cut short
Billy’s formal education, and Fre-
mont sent him to live with a
Quaker family in Pennsylvania for
the winter of 1843-44. In the
spring of 1844 Fremont was or-
dered by the government to make
another expedition to the West.
Word was sent to Billy to re-
turn to Washington, D.C., and join
the expedition. On his arrival in
D.C., Billy stated to Fremont:
“Billy been a good Quaker all
Resolutions of Tribal Council
Lawsuit
Whereas on October 18,
2017, the Confederated Tribes of
the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon commenced legal action
against Vanport International Inc.
in United States District Court,
District of Oregon, Case No. 3:17-
cv-1649; and,
Whereas in its complaint (at-
tached to resolution as an exhibit),
the tribe states the following facts:
· In 1967, the tribe formed
Warm Springs Forest Products
Industries for the purpose of op-
erating a sawmill located on the
Warm Springs Reservation; and,
· The United States of America
holds legal title to timber located
on the Warm Springs Reservation
in trust for the benefit of the tribe;
and,
· WSFPI purchased the tribal
timber pursuant to standard con-
tracts prepared by the United
States Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, which
required payment from the pur-
chaser before title would pass
from the United States to the pur-
chaser; and,
· The tribe delivered
tribal rimber with a value of
$2,416,731 to WSFPI for which
it did not receive payment; and,
· WSFPI processed the unpaid-
for tribal timber and delivered the
finished lumber to Vanport; and,
· The tribe has an on-going ben-
eficial interest in the unpaid-for
tribal timber, and that Vanport ex-
ercised dominion or control in the
unpaid-for tribal timber; and,
Whereas the tribe seeks judg-
ment against Vanport in the
amount of $2,416,731 plus inter-
est from the date the unpaid-for
tribal timber was delivered to
WSFPI until paid in full; and,
Whereas on January 12, 2018,
Vanport filed an answer and affir-
mative defenses to the tribe’s com-
plaint (also attached as an exhibit);
and,
Whereas in its affirmative de-
fenses, Vanport alleges, among
other things, that the tribe “retains
no interest in the subject lumber
or proceeds from its sale” because
the tribe “and the BIA knowingly
waived or extinguished any such
rights [the tribe] may have pos-
sessed when they allowed WSFPI
to sell the lumber to Vanport know-
ing that WSFPI had not already paid
all of the stumpage fees that it al-
legedly owed...”; and,
Whereas, based on the trust
duties that United States owes the
tribe and the BIA’s involvement in
the ultimate facts giving rise to the
action and Vanport’s affirmative
defenses, the United States should
take affirmative steps to assist the
tribe in prosecuting the action,
which include, without limitation,
the assignment of litigation coun-
sel from the United States Depart-
ment of Justice and consideration
of an amicus curiae appearance in
the Action on the side of the tribe;
winter. Have new good book (the
Bible). Will put names all horses
and wives in good book.”
Early spring of 1844 was the
beginning of the journey West.
When the group neared Utah it
got word that the Bear Paw Re-
bellion had started in California.
Billy made the decision to detour
to California instead of going on
to Oregon.
For the next seven years Billy
bounced around Northern Cali-
fornia. He probably took part in
the Gold Rush of 1849. He must
have struck it mildly rich, because
in 1851 Billy returned to The
Dalles with a herd of cattle, a 31-
year-old Indian woman named
Margaret, and the name William
Parker.
On Mill Creek near The Dalles
is where Billy and Margaret settled,
and Billy began the life of farmer
and stock man. Problems soon
arose in the form of the Oregon
Land Donation Act—An act
passed by the territorial govern-
ment giving the right to any adult
U.S. citizen to claim any unused
land in the territory, or to any land
settled by an Indian without com-
pensation to the Indian.
Billy did his best to petition the
government to have the act re-
scinded. He wrote a very eloquent
letter to Joel Palmer, superinten-
dent of Indian Affairs for the Ter-
ritory of Oregon, arguing the in-
justice of the act, but to little avail.
The act was not rescinded but
it was a allowed to expire, and
within a few months it was no
longer in effect. By the early
1850s the United States began ne-
gotiations with the Tribes of
Middle Oregon. This laid the
groundwork for the Treaty of
1855.
Billy was not in favor of the
treaty. He believed it would take
too much from the Indians, and
regulate them to a poor place
where they would be dependent
on the government for their very
existence. Nevertheless, the treaty
was signed in June of 1855.
After the treaty was signed the
Wasco and Warm Springs Indians
were ordered onto the lands in
Central Oregon that today is called
the Warm Springs Indian Reser-
now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Twenty-
Seventh Tribal Council of the
Confederated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Oregon,
pursuant to Article V, Sections (a),
(l), and (u), of the Tribal Consti-
tution and By-Laws, that the Tribal
Council requests that the Pacific
Northwest Regional Director of
the United States Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs, and the Superintendent of
the Warm Springs Agency take af-
firmative steps to assist the tribe
in prosecuting the action, which
include, without limitation, request-
ing immediate assignment of liti-
gation counsel from the United
States Department of Justice and
consideration of an amicus curiae
appearance in the Action on the
side of the tribe. Resolution no.
12,483.
Timber LLC
Whereas the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs Res-
ervation of Oregon is a federally
recognized tribe, organized pursu-
ant to the Constitution of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Oregon,
approved by the Secretary of the
Interior on February 14, 1938 (the
“Constitution”); and,
Whereas, pursuant to Title IV
of the Indian Self-Determination
and Education Assistance Act, Pub.
L. 93-638, the Tribe and the United
... That seems strange,
that a man who was
very literate, both
orally and in writing,
in the English lan-
guage would sign the
treaty with an X in-
stead of signing his
signature....
vation of Oregon.
Billy settled into his new sur-
roundings and renewed his voca-
tion as farmer and stock man. He
preferred the name William Parker,
but many still called him Billy or
Billy Chinook.
As a devout Christian, Billy was
a pillar of the community, but he
hadn’t given up all his Indian ways;
he still practiced polygamy, bring-
ing into his family a young Indian
woman named Helen to join Mar-
garet as a sister wife.
This didn’t go well with the lo-
cal preacher and the superinten-
dent, but Billy refused to change
his ways.
Life on the reservation was not
always peaceful. There were times
when hostile Indians raided the res-
ervation, stole horses and kid-
napped women and children.
War came between the United
States and the Snake Indians and
the Bannock Indians. Billy was re-
cruited along with many other res-
ervation men as Army scouts. They
campaigned against both the Snake
and the Bannocks, and Billy rose
to rank of Sergeant.
Back from the wars, Billy settled
back into a peacetime life. In 1868
he met a 15-year-old Warm Springs
girl named Annie Holliquilla. Billy
was 45. They were married, bring-
ing more admonishments from the
preacher and the superintendent.
And it was about this time that
Helen disappeared from the scene:
It seemed the words from the
preacher and superintendent had
some effect.
In 1869 a baby girl was born to
Billy and Annie. Her name was
States Department of the Interior
have entered into a compact of
Self-Governance; and,
Whereas, pursuant to the Com-
pact, the Tribe has assumed re-
sponsibility for the implementation
of, among other things, Interior’s
forestry program, which was pre-
viously administered by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs; and,
Whereas in the Compact, the
United States expressly reaffirms
its trust responsibility to protect and
conserve the trust resources of the
Tribe and its members; and,
Whereas the tribe has delegated
the implementation of the Forestry
Program to the Branch of Natu-
ral Resources, Forestry Department
and Timber Committee; and,
Whereas BNR Forestry under-
takes forest land management ac-
tivities pursuant to the Compact
and the National Indian Forest Re-
sources Management Act, 25
U.S.C. §§ 3101 et seq. and its
implementing regulations, 25 C.F.R.
Part 163, and Tribal Ordinance 74;
and,
Whereas the tribe has formed
(and is the sole member of) the
Warm Springs Timber Company,
LLC, a Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs limited liability com-
pany for the purpose of obtaining
the highest overall value for the
Tribe’s timber resources through
prudent harvesting, merchandising,
and re-selling of the tribe’s timber;
and,
Whereas the tribe has also des-
ignated the Timber Company as
the tribe’s Indian enterprise for pur-
poses of 25 C.F.R. Part 163; and,
Emma Parker.
All his adult life Billy was an out-
spoken supporter of Education.
Because the Indian school at Warm
Springs only went as far as the
eighth grade, had Emma enrolled
in the Indian school at Forest
Grove. It was 1882.
In the years following Emma’s
birth the words from the preacher
and the superintendent about
Billy’s lifestyle faded; though seem-
ingly Billy changed his ways. Nev-
ertheless, the 1884 Warm Springs
Census shows this entry:
William Parker—Head of
Household, age 61.
Annie Parker—Wife, age 31.
Emma Parker—Daughter, age
15.
Margaret—Dependent, age 54.
Billy lived out the rest of his
life at Warm Springs. A respected
elder, he built a home on the
Sidwalter Flat about a mile south
of what is now County Line Road.
That house was later passed down
to his step-daughter Matilda and
became known as the Stacona
place.
Billy died in 1890 and is buried
in the oldest section of the Agency
Cemetery. Margaret is buried
nearby.
Annie lived on 41 more years
after Billy’s death. She remarried
Arthur Symentire.
A note: On the Treaty of 1855
all the Indians who signed the
treaty signed with an X, and their
signs were witnessed by an Army
officer.
The first name on the list of
signers is William Parker—Billy
Chinook—followed by an X as his
mark, witnessed by an Army of-
ficer.
That seems strange, that a man
who was very literate, both orally
and in writing, in the English lan-
guage would sign the treaty with
an X instead of signing his signa-
ture.
Also, Billy Chinook had been an
outspoken opponent of the treaty.
In all probability Billy did not sign
the treaty, but the Army used a
ringer and passed him off as Wil-
liam Parker.
Richard Macy
Whereas, pursuant to Tribal
Resolutions 12,278 and 12,354,
Tribal Council authorized the Tim-
ber Company to be the primary
purchaser of the tribe’s timber in
2017 and also directed BNR For-
estry and the Timber Company to
enter into a written memorandum
of understanding, setting forth the
parties’ roles and responsibilities
with respect to the tribe’s 2017
Timber Sale Program; and,
Whereas Tribal Council be-
lieves that it is in the best interests
of the tribe that the Timber Com-
pany continue to operate as a go-
ing concern and as the primary pur-
chaser of the Tribe’s timber; and,
Whereas Tribal Council be-
lieves that it is in the best interests
of the tribe that BNR Forestry and
the Timber Company enter into an
amended and restated memoran-
dum of understanding in substan-
tially the form (attached to the
resoluton as an exhibit); now, there-
fore,
Be it resolved by the Twenty-
Seventh Tribal Council of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Oregon,
pursuant to Article V, Sections 1(a),
(c), (f), (l), and (u) of the Tribal
Constitution and By-Laws, that the
Tribal Council hereby:
(a) Affirms that each “Whereas”
in this Resolution is true and cor-
rect in all material respects; and
(b) Approves the MOU and di-
rects BNR Forestry and the Tim-
ber Company to execute the MOU
and implement it in good faith.
Resolution no. 12,495.