Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/564



by the Hudson's Bay Co. and Catholic priests. The Indians engaged in the mas- sacre themselves put forward the first excuse, even talking of it among them- selves, as proven afterwards, before the murders were committed. A chief named Tamsueky took the lead in this part of the eonspirac}'. Tamsucky 's squaw was sick, and it was agreed among the conspiring Indians to test the medicine proposition. They would give the sick squaw some of Whitman's medicine, and if she got well then the medicine was not poison; but if she died, then it was poison, and Whitman must be killed. They gave the woman the medicine and she died ; then the massacre was decided upon and brutally executed.

As to the land taking excuse, there is no doubt that it had the effect to break do^^Ti the influence of Whitman and alienate the Indians from him. They saw thousands of Americans coming every year. The first large immigration — 1843 — had been brought by or come in with Whitman himself, returning from the states that year. And every succeeding year the Americans came in in- creasing numbers and many of them stopped to see Whitman as a friend. There were also at that time twenty or thirty Iroquois Indians in Oregon, one a half- breed, Joe Lewis was staying at the Whitman mission. These were all enemies of the Americans and were continually poisoning the Indian mind against the Americans by telling the Indians the white men had robbed all the Indians be- yond the mountains of their lands, and that they would do likewise in Oregon and that their only safety was to kill off all the whites before any more came over. This had a powerful influence, and all the prejudice concentrated against the victim Whitman.

As to the position of the Hudson's Bay Co. there never was any reasonable grounds to suppose the ofiScials of that company had in any way connived at the murder of Whitman. McBean, the officer nearest to the Whitman station, acted in a very selfish and heathenish manner towards the escaping Americans; but that was accounted for by his general meanness of character as a man. Mc- Loughlin, Ogden, and all others but McBean made common cause with tlie Americans in denouncing the outrage and in rescuing the unfortunate pri* oners in the hands of the Indians. As to the Catholics, the Indians well knew of the difference between and the strife between the Catholics and Protestants: and like all the little-minded of mankind they doubtless thought thej^ would secure the favor of the Catholics by killing off the Protestants.

If the golden rule or any other of the generally accepted precepts of the Christian religion had been observed by the Catholic priests in their propaganda of Christianity among the Indians, they would have left Whitman alone in the mission he had founded with gi-eat labor and personal sacrifice. If they had done so the massacre would in all reasonable probability not have been executed. There were thousands of Indians in widely separated fields where each sectarian could have exercised their labors and righteous purposes without intruding the one upon the other. And if such non-aggi-essive policy had been pursued each mis- sionary would have had greater influence over the Indians and effected a greater measure of good works for the heathen, and at the same time safe-guarded the lives of those who trusted to the good will of the natives. So far as is known the Catho- lic missionaries did not in any way antagonize the Indians or condemn the mur- ders of Whitman and his family. And in return for such course the Catholics were in no wise molested or inconvenienced by the Indians. In the bitter feeling