Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/24

 16 T. W. DAVENPORT. vented a willingness among the weaker ones to engage in the work of making a home there. The Cayuses were more nu- merous and powerful and appropriated the greater part of the choice spots along the river. To the reader who has got this far in these recollections it is hardly necessary to say that the system which had been followed I intended to reverse ; hereafter the Indian must take hold of the plows and the whites will look on, instruct and interest him. With the white man improvement has been obtained by rationally directed effort; and as respects agri- culture, to which he is addicted, it must not be supposed that success in it is a settled question. Indeed, it is quite the contrary, for there are very few successful farmers, and those who obtain the best results are the most skillful in the appli- cation of knowledge along with their labor. Hence, although there is constant reward for improved methods in the increase of crops, this is not deemed a sufficient stimulus to the exertion of brawn and brain, and societies offer premiums for excel- lence of product and the exhibition of skill in the perform- ance of farming operations. The present plow is a very perfect specimen of a long con- tinued evolutionary process, and yet no greenhorn, though he may have seen plowing done all his life, can at first adjust a span of horses to it and do good work. And for his imperfec- tion all due allowance would be made, for the reason, "he is not used to it/' Now, the Indian is not used to farming, and looking on will not get him used to it. He must pass through the same ordeal that brought the white man to his present state, a discipline of faculties and powers, the accum- ulation of knowledge and social efficiency of a civilized trend and type. And those who deny to the Indian capability of improvement in this direction should reflect how sadly they would fail in practicing the arts in which he is an adept. The same reflective faculties, powers of observation and me- chanical aptitudes exhibited by the savage in obtaining a liv- ing with bows and arrows and spears will perform all the in- dustrial operations practiced by the civilized man.