Smoke Signals February 1990
Page 13
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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.)