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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1990)
Smoke Signals February 1990 Page 13 mm KGX& Hs& Perce 4 MaUonat Historic Park,! 8 a.m pirn; daily in the summer; 8 ; a.m.4;30im daily In ? winter; Closed 5 ; j; ThanbgMHg, Christ-; masandNew YearV s Day; Admission: free. Location: 12 miles ; -eastbflewlstonlda- 1 hO. ' x'C-v M ; : Whitman Museum -at Whitman Mission 1 8a.m,H$pmdai!y 1 in the summer; 8 a.m4:3Qp,m daily in thewinter,Admissbn: $1 adults ages 1761 with maximum $3famify. Senior citl- t zens and youths 18 f and under are admit-' ted free, location: Museum is seven miles west of Walla Walla, off U& 12. 1 Wafia Waiil 111 OREGON rSj; Fort Walla Waila Museum 10am; Ss pm Tuesday-Sun- day. Admission: $2 adults; $1 children ages 6-12. location: From Waita Waila fol low U.S. 12 west to Myra Road, then fol low signs. N DUMNG: For lodging information, write to Walla Waila Chamber of Com- -merce,ft(X8ox644, Walla Walla, Wash. 99382, or call 503 "OF INDIANS, EXPLORERS, PIONEERS" WALLA WALLA - There is a trio of museums in the Pacific Northwest that provides a fascinating look into our country's past. Among the artifacts on display from the last century are grizzly bear claw necklaces, a replica of a 33-mule team and wagons that were used by pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The museums are the Nez Perce National Historic Park, with headquarters in Spalding, Idaho; the Whitman Museum in Waiilatpu, Washington; and Fort Walla Walla Museum in Walla Walla. NEZ PERCE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK: In 1805, after nearly starving while crossing west, the Lewis and Clark forces were received graciously by the Nez Perce Indians. At the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers, they were given shelter and supplies and directed to the river route to the Pacific. After a month, they were ready to begin the final leg of their historic journey. The new museum at the Nez Perce National Historic Park houses a replica of an 1890 ponderosa pinecarved canoe, similar to the one used by the explorers. Lining the walls of the auditorium, where a film is shown, are more than 70 photographs, including one of Nez Perce Chief Joseph, who helped the expedition forces, and another of a child in a cradlcboard. Worth at least a mention is a photo of a Nez Perce Indian in fancy rodeo garb who became a world champion cowboy at age 53. The adjacent room holds a stunning, comprehensive collection of Indian artifacts, costumes and cultural objects that vividly shows the lifestyle of the Nez Perce as it was once. It's not for Tiffany's, but there's a glorious grizzly bear claw necklace. Acquired at what price is best not contemplated. Other items of note: from a sharp dresser, porcupine quilled legging straps, a bustle used for dances formed from eagle feathers, beaded and shelled tanned-skin vests; trading beads; ropes and tobacco, and camass lily bulbs, a major food source for the Nez Perce. FORT WALLA WALLA MUSEUM: Walla Walla is "a town so lovely they named it twice," say the natives. Like the town, Fort Walla Walla museum escapes being conventional. Among the 15,000 artifacts on display that transport it out of the ordinary are more than 160 branding irons, a fiberglass replica of a 33-mule team that was driven by one man, and a metal key so heavy that it took six to eight men to turn it. The museum is situated on 17 acres of what was once Fort Walla Walla, a military outpost dating to 1857. The complex includes a picturesque Pioneer Village of 14 authentic cabins, made of rough, hand-hewn logs, transported here from homesteads. Nearby is a military cemetery where lie U.S. Cavalry soldiers killed in the desperate Indian skirmishes on the Western frontiers in the 1800's. Crowning a nearby slope are five other museum buildings. The historical society chose a fitting concept for this part of the display. The buildings are in a semicircle, symbolizing half a wagon wheel, for here is one of the largest horse-era agricultural displays in the West. On display is a cookhouse on wheels that was used to prepare meals for more than 30 men, horsedrawn fire fighting equipment, and two reproductions of cells used in the local penitentiary in the 1880's. What may knock a viewer dead is the life-size fiber glass mule team hitched to an authentic 1919 combine. One man drove the team, while five men would operate the combine it pulled. Check out the size of the horseshoes on the six fiber glass Clydesdales hitched to a double wagon that hauled threshed grain to the storage sheds. Pioneer Village, which lies below the slope, shows how life was for settlers 100 years ago. There's a one-room schoolhouse, carriage barn, smithy and a play cabin for children. The chair in the barber shop, made in 1870, is one of the oldest in the Northwest. Amenities offered in this shop included shoes shincd for pennies and a bath for 25 cents. Near the Babcock Railway Depot is the large key that was used-before the dam was constructed- by section crews to open the Riperia railroad bridge that straddled the Snake River. WHITMAN MUSEUM: The setting is peaceful, even bucolic. A lovely, broad meadow is ringed with leafy trees. Nearby is a tranquil mill pond. A gaggle of geese honks its way around a spacious lawn. But, set around this verdant spot is a self-guided trail marked by grim reminders of an event that occurred in the mid-1800's, when the tide of American settlement into the West collided with the Indian culture. This is the Whitman Mission, a national historic site dedicated to failure. The mission was established in 1836 when Dr. Marcus Whitman, physician and missionary, arrived from the East with his wife and several other missionaries to work among the Cayuse Indians. They came to heal, educate and convert. They struggled for 11 years, but their work was only moderately successful. The group's ultimate tragedy was that they were misunderstood. When a measles epidemic wiped out half the tribe of 500 Cayuse, the Indians thought they were being poisoned by the white man's evil magic, and, in 1847, the Whitmans and 11 others were massacred. There is a film in addition to the self-guided trail. Also on the grounds is the great mass grave where the settlers are buried. A number of artifacts from the 1840's arc exhibited, including a covered wagon, similar to those used on the Oregon Trail in the 1840's. On a nearby hill, overlooking the beautiful Walla Walla Valley, is the 27-foot high memorial monument built in 1897 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the massacre. - Courtesy of the Oregonian ATTORNEYS ASK COURT TO UPHOLD FEDERAL AUTHORITY OVER INDIANS Government attorneys have asked a federal court to throw out a lawsuit challenging Congress' complete authority over Indian Tribes. The lawsuit was filed by the Red Lake band of Chip pewa in Minnesota and the Mescalero Apache tribe of New Mexico. The Tribes claim that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act approved by Congress last year is an unconstitu tional breach of their treaties with the U.S. Government. The law gives the states the authority to regulate some types of tribal gambling, including slot machines and pari-mutual wagering. It also requires tribes to subsi dize a new federal gaming commission. The lawsuit claims that congressional authority over (Continued on page 14.)
