Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1879)
? sWPW5 '' 1 m& a5J3 gislraiim. ASTORIA. OREGON: O. C. IREIAXI Ertilor. -FRIDAY MAitCU 7. 1879 Appropriations for River and Har ' bor Improvements on th.Q Pacific Cout. Dispatches from Washington, lirfnrl March 3d, state that the river and harbor bill as passed by 'the senate provides that the follow-in"- increase in the amounts grant ed by the house for thq Pacific coast imprevements: Sacramento river, insreased from S,000 to the full amount of the department estimate. Canal and Locks at the Cascades of the Columbia from -$50,000 to $100,'. 00. For improv ing Coos Bay entrance and harbor increased from -10,000 to 800,000. The following sums were inserted by the senate. For the commence--nient of a brake water and harbor of refuge at such point between San Francisco, Cal., and tho Straits I of Fuca as a majority of the board of engineers for the Pacific coast may determine, the ireneral and "local interest of commerce being considered, 8150,000: to continue the survey and tidal observations at the bar of the Columbia river, 5,000. The senate also reported new items providing for accurate hurveys of Alsea harbor and bar and the Umpqua river. Other Pacific coast items in the house bill remain unchanged, except that on motion of Sargent, the senate inserted the requirement that the $0,000 granted for the continued improvement of Oakland harbor should be returned to the U. S. treasury on the 1st day of next July, unless the right of the estuary and training walls be secured at that time free of expense to the .government, "by making the date September 1st instead of July 1st. The items which have been agreed to by both houses, Willmington liarbor, 812,000; lower Willamette and Columbia rivers from Portland to the sea, 845,000; Upper Vril lamette, 82,000; Upper Columbia and Snake rivers, 820,000, and also -provides for a survey of Pstaluma oreek and for a survey of the Col ombia river at the Dalies, including plans and specifications for locks and a canal arcund said construc tion The Mt)ral and Religious Aspect of the Indian Question. A Letter Addressed to General JoJm Eaton. De partment of the Interior, liuieau of Educa tion, WatJiinjton, D. C. Olxky, Clatsop Co.. Orkgox, ) December 1, 1S78. j" "Honoked Sir: 1 cannot at this moment lay Jtuy hand on your let ter, inviting correspondence with myself, and others I might Jiame, on the Indian question m our country. In looking over our daily 'Orego nian of the 27th November, 1 find .a short article if rem a gentleman -from Umatilla, and, also the editor of the Oregoiuans remarks on the question, which I ta.ke the liberty to forward to you with my views .after a visit Gf several days during the month of June of the present jaar among the Nez Perces, and at Walla Walla just at the com mencement of wrut was called the bannock -war which .should have Heen called the Umatilla or Cayuse war. Those Indians have for a whole generation been, .trained by their religious, .teachers to regard the American settlers in Oregon as intruders, thieves, and heretics coming into their country to rob -and destroy them. While among the Nez Perces I tfriade careful inquiries as to the war witih .Joseph's band, and found that the whole difficulty originated in the sectarian sentiments incul-,-cat-ed during the occasional visits of the Jesuit Priests, and by the supersticious worship of im .ages extended to their medicine men, now called drummers, in cluding the impression that it iwas of no ,use, for them to go upon the reservation, for If they did. thev would not be allowed to keen their homes or improvements, as the heretics (Americans) would J steal them irom them. j Another fact I learned and was J much surprised to find that the Quaker policy or experiment of ; rivinodifiVrnfc trihps nf Tnrlinns i " "n I . ,. . , to tJie exclusive religious teach-; military post. One of the Law ing of different sects, was being yers sons is now a licensed Pres wantonly violated by the estab- j byterian preacher having received lishmentof what is termed a Catho- most of his education from Rev. II. lie mission, about ten or twelve nines irom tne iez rerces agency on the reservation which 1 was careful to visit, and found a respec table sized church building, sur- rounded by a picket fence, and on entering, by invitation of a man ; called Father Morillo, a Nez Perces nnoiiisr. we unmet a raimior with banisters extending through near j had the best improvements of any the center of the building with a j natives in the country, curtain suspended from the cei- Allow me to say, it was not dif ling to the railing, and down to j ficult for me to draw from all the floor cncli siii the altar, upon j parties, both white and Indians a either side of which stood a male j full statement of their complaints and a female imase, the female i and difficulties in reference to the , -. -- having the image of an infant in her arms, we were told was the Viririn Mary with the infant Jesus in her arms, and the Joseph the husband male was , of Alary. Around the walls of the church ! teachers understand the Nez Per wcrc numerous cheap pictures of jces language, could speak it read men and women, said to be saints, ily and explain to the native pu There was but a small effort at nils the meaning of every word in cultivating a garden about the . i premises. We learned while at Lewiston that the contributions for the es tablishment were received mostly from that place; as an effort t . head off the Protestant mission among that tribe. (Jn arriving at the place we found no one about, till one, who is called Father Morillo, appeared as we were approach ing the rear door to the entrance of the church, who ook us to the front door and led us to the interior. While the curiosity of our ladies and the two children were being gratified, our guide - I appeared to be struck with horror and the want oi reverence in be holding the images and pictures, he having crossed himself rever ently on entering, and as we retired i bowed his head to the floor, cross ed himself and retired with us. After examining the garden and its vegetables, the ladies plucking a few Sowers by permission of our guide, we were invited into a log house for a short rest. The house appeared to be used for a dining and sleeping apart ment, with a kitchen and store house. In a short time after en tering the house, a dark looking voung man, called Father Gazoli, a roman patrician and doctor, made his appearance. The old French servant made an effort to introduce us, but so indistinct or embarrassed was he, that we did not at the time catch his name. The patrician or physician ap peared not to be able to converse with our party, as be apologized by saying' he did not understand the English language very well. After remaining an hour or so at the place, meeting nor seeing but two Indian men no women we proceeded on our return to the agency. We noticed quite .a number of fence posts, and was informed that fences had been made at govern ment expense, und that the boards had been removed by, nobody could tell whom. There were no signs of cultivation for several miles, except at a place located by a white man with a Nez Perce wifftjlfll we reached Craigh's place and a short distance below. From thence down to the agency, we were informed by tho Indians, that they belonged to Mr. Spauldings church, and were glad he had taught them to cultivate their land as well as his religion. You will bear in mind, my dear sir, that six years of my early life in this country, from September 1836 to October 1842, was mostly among the Nez Perces, Cayuses, and a short time the Sjokanes and Flatheads. That cur srisit among them last June was partly in con sequence of your inquiries on the Indian question; to'learn from per sonal observation and such infor mation as I could gain from the Indians -themselves, their enemies and friends on the ground, to give to you a more conclusive statement on that question. We. did not visit what is called the Lawyers band, some sixty . miles above the agency, on the Clearwater river; but from my earlv nnd nprsnnnl nrnuaintance with him. mid frnm friends and enemies of his band, J learned that his people had been true to our ; American principles, and his band had made equal if not more pro-! in-eSs than the families located im- j innrKanlir nU.f lm on-onnv nnrl i " -j txuwuu uiv, "fo"v H. Spauldrnsr. The Lawyer his Indian name Ish-hol-hol-hoats boats, he discarded, and chose the name he received from the Ameri- can hunters, with whom he was al- ways a true friend. It was claimed by "all whom I had conversation on the subject, that the Lawyers peo-jhe n n ww Un. Unat. mnnnni . :mn .v V.. V HIV, www ,...w... --- I Indians while with them. In visiting the agency school cf about fifty boys and srirls, we were quite favorably impressed with the manner of teaching. Both . . . both languages, and by this means make the study of our language an easy and an interesting exer cise. They all seem quite ready in re citing, and interested in the school and manual labor department con ducted by the teachers for the boys and girls. At this point permit me to state my experience, observation and views of the policy of taking native children from their tribe, educating and returning them to instruct and civilize their several tribes, which I see is strong ly Teeommended, and appear to meet with favor. We now turn to a net less im portant subject, the education of Indian children and youth. Edu cational facilities have been con siderably increased, and fifty boys and girls selected from various tribes have been sent to the Hamp- ton Normal and Agricultural insti tute in Virginia to secure an ele mentary English education and and practical instruction in farm ing work, and to return to their tribes after the completion of the course. An increasing interest is felt by the Indians in this course of education, and they would sup ply thousands of children could they be provided for. Before I became acquainted with the natives of this country, and the fact and result of taking several active and intelligent boys from this coast to Red river, giv ing tliem a fair education, at least such as would enable an Ameri can boy to follow a respectable calling" among his own people. These Indian youths came back to their own tribes, and I know of but two boys, even among the half natives ovho have risen to commanding positions. These were educated, one in Massachu setts, the other in Maine. Of the full natives taken from their people as proposed and returned, not one has met the expectations of his benevolent friends and patrons. I am not surprised at this result, but am at the short sighted policy that attempts at the .present day to cary out so hopeless a plan in reference to our Indian population. In illustrating my views and 'bringing them to bear upon this question of the special education of Indian children, you will excuse me when I say that having before me in this country, flie result of that experiment among the Indians for many years, and having a young family of my own, with no pros pect of educe&ion half equal to that of our own fireside; but by the time our own were reaching the period of intellectual development, the socical surroundings were such that the question came home to us in this land; then so far distant from educational privileges with peculiar force. We were prepared to educate our own children to our own stand ard. But how teas it with our neighbors? Theirs must advance with ours, or ours would descend to theirs. The common school was our only hope for all together, and to-day, if- this coast has any thing .it can-poiBilto with unalloyed sat- jisfaction, it istlie high and noble stand it took in sustainingits corn- mon schools. Its children go from us fearing they will fail to meet the superior eaucanonai aavant- ages of their kindred on the Atlan- lie side of our country and return bearing equal honors with their onstern associates. ill it be thus with the native children: the answer comes back with the ex perience of forty-three years by .. , no means. The surroundings of the native child have been, and are to-day such that he must descend to the level of his people, or assume, as he o-enerallv docs, an intolerable and disgusting superiorilv over his ! hindred, losing all his influence, disappoints the expectations of ms lricnos in uiiwiuvu lhu l-uiiui - x tion of his tribe. As we proceed with this question we will adduce facts in proof of our position. After visiting the school and their farms and receiving a most cordial greeting from all the old and young natives during the week -trays, we met a large number of them on the Sabbath; during the exercise, we were carried back to the years of 1S3G-8 and 9, when Rev. Mr. Spa ulding used to gather them into his log church and school-house, and teach them to sing in their own language, the songs he taught them. Not only thisT but a young native, who had been licensed to preach by the Oregon presbytery, went into the pulpit of the agency church, open ed the exercises with a fervent prayer, using a few but appropri ate words in his own language, which to in' surprise, having been 3G years absent from them, 1 could fully understand; after which a hymn in english was read and sung by the whole audience of In dians and employes of the agency. He then opened Ins english testa merit and read a few verses, turned to his Nez Perce testament and read the same in his own language, as translated by Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding. The subject of his discourse was ''Salvation by Jesus Christ alone," which he impressed upon his crowded audience with true native eloquence. After a short prayer and singing, what ap peared to be the regular exercises of the morning service, to which the older part of the audiencegave the usual native assent naoh, for amen. Immediately after, several of the old men and some ot the women made remarks relative to the re ligious views they entertained, be fore Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding came to teach them. They said they were like people going in the dark, they did not know where they were going, but the talk of Mr. Spauld ing and the books he gave them, and what he showed them about digging their lands, and getting plenty to eat from it made their hearts glad The general opinion expressed was. that if they continued to worship Jesus Christ as God, and labor as Mr. Spauld ing taught them, they would be happy, have plenty to eat, and be clothed, (we notice that all of them had on American garments) that they would be happy in the world to come. The frequent allusion to Rev. Mr. and Mrs Spaulding was undoubtedly made from the fact that my wife was with me on this visit, and present, as we have been with Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding in the commencement of his mis sion. Most of the speakers ex pressed a wish through the inter preter, Mr. P. Whitman to hear what I had to say about them, and requested Mr. Whitman to inter pret for them what I said; which was: That I knew they had many friends who were pointing to the improvements they had made, and we had oome from our homes near the salt water to see for ourselves. We were glad to hear them speak, and to see them, their children in the school learning their books, themselves witb good clothes, plenty of food to eat and houses to live in, and to hear them say they still loved to worship tvnd pray to tne savior ot us all. J knew they had many enemies who would de ceive them and try to make them the enemies of those who were trying to help them to become like all honest, industrious and Jesus Christ loving people. We were glad to hear that their young men were ready to go with their true friend General Howard to punish c..l, -fxL.V -I . 0 join them, and to do as we iiad uvuyi tneir own people as reiusc seen them doing work on their larms. They had good teachers sent to them by their true friend, who were ready to help and protect them. In their speeches they alluded to their condition when Mr. Spaulding came to live with them. We were glad to hear ihem say that they had plenty of food now, r t " of their own raising, without going to hunt the buffalo, and also Jo see that they had been cultivating their lands, so that the catching of salmon by people oh the river be low, would not make them starve, as it did the rovirg Indians who would not dig the giound, and get from it a good living as thpy had done, with plenty toe ell aiid buy good clothes with, and look as they did, like industrious, hone, christ ian people. It made my heart glau to see thorn with my own eyes, and hear them speak as the' did, with my own ears. While visiting the old mission house we had an interesting inter view with a Miws Mt-Berh at the Nez Perce agency. She- had a class of Nez Perce young men who were reading tin orWical works in connection with "the bible. She was quite as en thusiastic and sanguine of her suc cess in her efforts as are the Je suits, juding from tln-ir writings. Another interesting- fact I no ticed on the Sahhath we were at the agency, the heat of the sun was about ninety degrees in the shade, several of the natives escorted their wives, as I did mine, under an um brella to the church. To bo Continued 3XAKRIED. At Rainier, Orojion. Maivh X 1S79. ,y Dean HInnelinrri. Counu J mine, Mr. Michael Link to Mis Man A. Graham. NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. Private Boarding House- MES.QUINN - - rittVPKIETOR. "Will accommodate (lav boanlcrs or accom modate any wilh board and lodjtintr. Prices reasonable. In Imsiirs buildfnp. Jefferson street, opposite WellI'argo & Co "5 Express oflice. BOAT FOUND. A round bottom, double? ender, which the owner can have by proving property and paying chanres. Ap ply within ten days. MAX WAGNE1L Astoria. March 0. 1S71). 55-lwd NOTICE. Notice is herein given, and all persons hereby warned not to pay any road tax to Thomas Lojran. :is the under signed is the only authorized person to col lect within the limits of this district and city. 71 F. WICKHAM. 5."5-3td Acting Supt. of Streets- DK J. O'BRIEN. CURES BILLIOUS AND INTERMITTENT FEVERS With from one to three doses of lib harm less medicine. Also. Private diseases successfully treatc-d. Office O'Brien's hotel. Astoria. Oregon. WILLIAI3 EDGAR. Corner Main and Chenamws Street, ASTORIA OREGON- DBVLKR IN CIGARS AND TOBACCO, AND THE GENUINE WOSTENHQLM and other English Cutlery. STATIONERY! FAIRCHILD GOLD PENS Genuine BleershaTini Pipes, etc. A fine stoek of Watches and Jewelry. 31-nzzle and JSreeeli TiOadln; Sliot Ouiim. Revolvers. Pistols. Parlor Killers and Ammunition. Wilsojj & Fisher DKAT.EKS IX LUBRICATING OILS, COAL OIL, PAINTS AND OILS. Sheet, Round, and Square Prepared Rubber Packing. PROVISIONS, MILL FEED, GARDEN SEED, GRASS SEED. Which will be exchanged for country pro duce or sold at low est r rices . Corner Chenamiis and Hamilton Street ASTORIA, OREGON. MRS. J. KELLT, Lately of Portland, has set up a Millinery and Fancy Goods STORE IN ASTORIA. All kinds of I,ace, Frinpe, Velvets, and Btck Trimmings. All kinds of EMBROIDERY TUCKINGS. A nice assortment of Woolen and Cotton Canvases ?md Zephyrs, Silks, Ruchings, and Corsets. A large variety of IKESS BUTTONS, Of the latest styjc Also of NECKTIES AND BOWS. Come one and all, and examine my stock of gou.ts. Iv'cxtdaorlo the AbiouiAX Office. JA&