TREATY COUNCIL AT
WALLA WALLA
A Dramatic
Reading
Narrator: As many of you know, in 1855 a treaty council
was held in the Walla Walla Valley between Governor Isaac Stevens of Washington
Territory, Superintendent of Indian Affairs Joel Palmer of Oregon Territory,
and many of the upper Columbia and Snake River Indian tribes. The council
opened on May 29, 1855 on the banks of Mill Creek in the area where Whitman
College now stands, and concluded 13 days later on June 11. Several
thousand Indians were present, as well as Stevens’ and Palmer’s supporting
staff, a detachment of soldiers, and a number of whites living in the
area. It has been said of this event that “In its general importance and
difficulty (it) has never been equaled by any council held with the Indian
tribes of the United States.” It resulted in the signing of three
treaties establishing the Yakama, Nez Perce, and Umatilla Indian Reservations,
and the ceding of all remaining tribal lands to the United States.
A Record of Official Proceedings was kept that sets down word for
word the statements in English of Governor Stevens and General Palmer, and the English
translations by the interpreters of the statements of each of the Indian
leaders who spoke. These included Peopeomoxmox of the Walla Wallas; for
the Cayuse: Young Chief, Five Crows, Stickus, Camaspello, and Howlish-wampum;
for the Nez Perce: Looking Glass, Lawyer, Eagle from the Light, Joseph,
and Red Wolf, and for the Yakamas: Kamiakin, Owhi, and Skloom—along with
several other Indians.
You will now hear actual words which were spoken at those
proceedings as part of more lengthy statements recorded in the
transcripts. . When it isn’t clear, I’ll name the speakers. We’ll
begin on Wednesday, May 30, 1855, the second day of the council, with a brief
opening statement by Superintendent Joel Palmer of Oregon Territory, followed
by a statement by Governor Stevens of Washington Territory.
Gen. Palmer: My friends, I am glad to see so many of you here today.
Yesterday the council was organized and interpreters sworn to repeat to you
what we say. Today my brother in council will speak to you the great desire
that our chief has to promote your good. I know that our Great Chief has
a good heart, that my brother Gov. Stevens has a good heart. We throw behind us
everything that is bad. We hope you have done the same.
Gov. Stevens: My children--two years since I came among you from the great waters across the mountains. I had been among the Blackfeet and have brought word that they would meet you in council, and that war should cease. My heart said peace in the buffalo country, peace between yourselves, peace between us. I came from the Great Father to be your friend.
The Great Father first learned of you from Lewis
and Clark. Peopeomoxmox remembers Lewis and Clark; the Lawyer does. The Great
Father has been for many years caring for his red children across the
mountains. There (pointing East), it has been found that with farms, schools,
shops and laws the red men could be protected. Trouble has been made by bad
white men. The Great Father desires to make arrangements so you can be
protected from these men. We are now in council to see if we can arrange the
terms which will carry this into effect.
Across the mountains see what was done. The red man received the
white man gladly, but the blood of the red man was spilled and the blood of the
white man. William Penn said I will see if my white children and my red
children cannot be friends, and they were friends. William Penn and the Indians
came together as we now come together. They made a treaty. There was peace and
no white man’s blood and no red man’s blood has been shed, and there has been
peace to this day. People said we too will make treaties. They tried various
plans. It was found when the white man and the red man lived together the white
man got the advantage and the red man passed away. The Great Father said I will
take the red man across a great river into a fair country where I can take care
of them. They have been there twenty years. They have their government, their
schools, their own laws. Their chief, John Ross is a Cherokee. The Great
Father called his chiefs together, and had a council about you. They told me
that what had been done for John Ross should be done for you.
Now listen carefully. We want you and ourselves to agree upon
tracts of land where you will live. On each tract we want an agent to live who
shall protect you. On each tract schools, blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers. We
want you to learn to make ploughs, wagons, and everything you need, your women
and your daughters to spin and make cloths, you will be farmers and mechanics,
or doctors and lawyers like white men, have your own teachers, blacksmiths.
In each tract a saw mill.
We want you to agree with us to have your tract, the rest to be
the Great Father’s for his white children. We must pay you for the land.
Schools, mills and shops are only a portion of the payment. We want to agree
with you for a fair sum to be paid through a term of years, something you will
have to think about. Whatever is done is with your free consent. My brother
will now say a few words to you.
Gen. Palmer: It is not expected we can come together with one day’s talk. Tomorrow my brother will say more to you. When he is through I will speak to you. Sometimes (when) people have a matter to settle they commence way off, but as they understand each other they come together. If any present wish to say anything, we are ready to listen.
Narrator: The council then adjourned for the day.
(Drum)
On Thursday, May 31st the Council reconvened.
Gov. Stevens: My children. I said to you we want you to agree to live on tracts of land which shall be your own and your children’s. We want to furnish you clothing, tools and implements, plates, cups, kettles, frying pans, bake ovens, like white people. We want you to live in houses and your own people will become carpenters.
Old Jim recollects when he first saw a house in
this country. All of you recollect when you first saw cattle. Now you count
your horses and your cattle by thousands. The horse carries you wither you wish
to go, and works your fields. Your cattle furnish you food. You have
grain and vegetables. Is not this a great change? Has it not been for your
good?
We want you to have your roots and berries, and to kill your game.
If you wish, to mount your horses and go to the Buffalo plains. We
want you to have peace there. The Blackfeet stole your horses and murdered your
people. We want that to cease.
The Blackfeet cannot subsist there forever. Unless they change their mode of life, they will soon pass away. We shall help them, provided they agree not to molest you.
When you see the Blackfeet, tell them you have
not as much game as you once had, and the time is coming when you will not have
skins for your clothing. Tell them the buffalo is passing away and we will not
have robes for our tents and lodges. We will have houses of boards and lumber.
When the elk, the deer and the buffalo pass away, we will have clothing like
the white man. If we can agree here, the Blackfeet will say, “we will eat old
bulls no longer, we will not starve, we will not die of cold, we will do as you
have done, we will chase buffalo together, we will be friends.”
My brother Gen. Palmer has known you longer, and he can speak to
you better. Every word he says comes from a desire to serve you.
Gen. Palmer: My brother has told you something about our first settlements over the mountains over three hundred and sixty years ago. These people began to quarrel among themselves and with the Indians until finally there was war. There were more Indians killed than white men because we had better arms and know how to make them.
Our people continued coming, as numerous as the leaves on the
trees. It was but a few years before game was all killed off. Those left
finally agreed they would reside on a certain district, set aside for them.
They agreed to live in peace with the whites, and with other tribes. They have
since been learning, and are now a great happy and good people. All who have
settled upon those tracts have not done well, for they have foolishly thrown
away what has been paid them. But you as a people know how to appreciate these
advantages and would not throw them away.
All experience shows us that the white man and the red man cannot
live happily together. There should be a line of distinction drawn so that the
Indian may know where his land is, and the white man where his land is. Judge
for yourselves the constant difficulties that are occurring among you, between
the whites and Indians. We have some people whose hearts are bad. I will leave
it until tomorrow.
Narrator: The council then adjourned for two days. (Drum)
Saturday, June 2nd, the Council reconvened.
Gen. Palmer: My friends, it is fifty years since the first white men came among you. Those were Lewis and Clark who came down the Big River--the Columbia, then the Hudson Bay Co. traders; next came missionaries, these were followed by emigrants with wagons.
Why do they come? Can you stop the waters of the
Columbia River from flowing? Can you prevent the wind from blowing, rain from
falling? Can you prevent the whites from coming? You cannot stop them, we
cannot stop them. They say this land was not made for you alone, the air we
breathe, the water we drink was made for all. The white man will come to enjoy
these blessings with you. Let us, like wise men, act to prevent trouble.
While there is room to select for you a home where there are no
white men living, let us do so. I have made treaties with all the Indian tribes
in the Willamette Valley, with all in the Umqua valley, with all in the Rogue
River and the Shasta country. If we make a treaty with you and our Great Chief
and his council approves it, you can rely on all its provisions being carried
out strictly.
Gov. Stevens: My children, my brother and myself have
opened our hearts to you, we want you to open your hearts to us.
Five Crows: I have a little to say. Do you speak true that you call me
brother? We have but one Father in Heaven. It is He (pointing above) who has
made all the earth. He is the same God that made the Ten Commandments. He said,
my children, do no evil, you must not steal, you shall not take any thing
without payment. The Great Father says he will send the thief into fire-- into
hell.
Peopeomoxmox: We have listened to all you have to say, and we desire you should listen when any Indian speaks. It appears that he wants an answer immediately without giving them time to think, that the Indians have had nothing to say so far. I know the value of your speech from California, having seen treaties there. We have not seen in a true light the object of your speeches, as if there was a post set between us, as if my heart cried from what you have said. If the Almighty came down upon us here this day, he would say, what are you saying? If you would speak straight then I would think you spoke well. Should I speak to you of things that have been long ago as you have done? The whites made me do what they pleased, they told me to do this and that and I did it. When they told me to dance with all these nations that are here then I danced.
What you have said, I think you intend to win our country, or how
is it to be? In one day the Americans become as numerous as the grass. I know
that is not right, you have spoken in a round about way. Speak straight, I have
ears to hear you and here is my heart. Suppose you show me goods, shall I run
up and take them? Goods and the Earth are not equal.
We require time to think, quietly, slowly. You have spoken in a manner partly tending to Evil. Speak plain to us. If there was a chief among the Nez Perces or Cayuses, if they saw evil done they would put a stop to it and all would be quiet. Such chiefs I hope Gov. Stevens and Gen. Palmer are. I should feel very much ashamed if the Americans should do anything wrong. That is all. I do not wish you to reply today. Think over what I have said.
Gov. Stevens: We are ready to hear, my friends, anything you have to say
today. If you desire not to speak today the council will adjourn till Monday.
(Drum)
Narrator: Monday, June 4th. At 12:30
the Indians began to collect and at 1:30 the council opened.
Gov. Stevens: Peopeomoxmox said on Saturday, he had listened patiently to all we had said, and hoped we would listen patiently when any Indian spoke. We want you to open your hearts and speak freely.
Ne-at-tan-at-tee-mine: My land it is for you and for me. I shall do you no wrong and you do me none, both our rights shall be protected forever. It is not for ourselves here that we are talking, it is for those that come that we are speaking. This is all I have to say at this time.
Kamiakan: Your chiefs are good. Perhaps you have
spoken straight, that your children will do what is right. Let them do as they
have promised. This is all I have to say.
Peopeomoxmox: My heart was heavy, my heart was to separate, that was my heart.
If they had mentioned the lands they had spoken of then I should have
understood them. Let it be as you propose so the Indians have a place to live,
a line as though it was fenced in, where no white man can go. Although you have
said the whites are like the wind, you cannot stop them. You make good what you
have promised. You have spoken for lands generally. You have not spoken of any
particular ones. The manner in which you have addressed us has made my heart
heavy. When they mention the lands then I shall know.
Eagle from the Light: The time the first white men passed
through this country, although the people of this country were blind, it was
their heart to be friendly to them. Although they did not know what the White
people said to them they answered, yes, as if they were blind. I have been
talked to by the French and by the Americans, and one says to me go this way,
and the other says go another way, and I am lost between them. A long time ago
they hung my brother for no offense, and this I say to my brother here that he
may think of it. Afterwards came Spalding and Whitman. They advised us and
taught us well. They had pity on us. And Spalding sent my father to the
East--the states-- and he went. His body has never returned. He was sent to
learn good council and friendship and many things. At the time, in this place
here, when there was blood spilled on the ground, though there was blood we
were friendly to the whites and they to us. My own chief said, I will try
to settle all the bad matters with the whites, and he started to look for
council to straighten up matters. And there his body lies, beyond here. He has
never returned.
At the time the Indians held a grand council at Fort
Laramie. We were asked to go and find friendship, and good advice. Many
of my people started and died in the country, died hunting what was right. On
Green River the small-pox killed all but one. They were going to find good
council in the East. And here I am looking still for council, and to be taught
what is best to be done. Now look at my people’s bodies scattered everywhere
hunting for knowledge, hunting for someone to teach them to go straight. A
preacher came to us, Mr. Spalding. And from that he turned to be a trader, as
though there was two in one, one a preacher and the other a trader. I do
not wish another preacher to come and be both a trader and preacher in one.
Look, that is the tale I had to tell you, and now I am going to hunt friendship
and good advice. We will come straight here, slowly perhaps, but we will come
straight.
Gov. Stevens: My Brothers, if any of you wish to speak today I will still be silent. Is there anyone who wishes to speak now? If not I will go on. We think we know your hearts. You are willing to make a bargain. You want to know exactly the terms….You want to know where your reservations are to be, what is the ground we have in mind for you. For the principal tribes here present we have thought of two reservations. One reservation in the Nez Perces country and one in the Yakama country. The reservation in the Nez Perces country, on this we wish to place the Spokanes, the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas, as well as the Nez Perces and also the Umatillas. That will be something for them to think about to see whether they can agree to it.
The Yakama Reservation; on this reservation we
wish to place the Colville, Okanogans, Palouse, Pesquoose, Klickitats, and the
bands on the north side of the river below the Walla Wallas as far as near the
Cowlitz, all these as well as the Yakamas.
We want you to think about this and see if you like
it. If not, you will say so. The Cayuses, the Walla Wallas, the Umatillas may
prefer the Yakama to the Nez Perces’ Reservation, and they may not like either.
We think they are large enough to furnish each family with a farm, and grazing
for all your animals. There is plenty of salmon on these reservations, roots,
berries, also some game. We can better protect you from white men there.
Why so many tribes on one reservation? We can do more with the
same means. I will speak no more to day. Think over what I have said.
Narrator: The council then
adjourned for the day. (Drum)
Tuesday. June 5th. The Indians began to collect at 11:30 a.m. and at 12 the council reopened.
Tuesday. June 5th. The Indians began to collect at 11:30 a.m. and at 12 the council reopened.
Gov. Stevens: My friends, I have held four councils on Puget Sound. I have
made treaties with all the Indians on that sound. They number more than all the
tribes here present. All agreed, should the President decide, to go on one
reservation. That reservation is only about one fiftieth as large as this. You
will be farmers and stock raisers and you need more. We think this plan will be
for your good. We want you to think of it.
Stickus: My friends, how is it I have
been troubled in mind? If your mothers were here in this country who gave you
birth and suckled you, and while you were sucking some person came and took
away your mother and left you alone and sold your mother, how would you feel
then? This is our mother, this country. My friends, all of this you have taken.
Had I two rivers I would be content to leave the one and live on the other.
That is all I have to say.
Gov. Stevens (After a long pause): My brothers, if you do not feel
inclined to speak today we will come together again tomorrow. We want the
chiefs and the people to speak freely as Stickus has done. We will think of
what Stickus has said. We will tomorrow state what we think. Come early in the
morning and let us see if we cannot agree before night. The council is
adjourned until 9 o’clock tomorrow.
(Drum)
Narrator: Thursday June 7th. The council met at 12 o’clock.
Gov. Stevens: My brothers, we expect to have your hearts today. Let us
have your hearts straight out.
Lawyer: A long time ago people passed on the waters. It was the Spaniards in that direction that first traveled about in their ships. There is where the white people first placed their children. Columbus the discoverer made the egg stand. After they saw it done they could all do it. Those children he placed in this country among the Red people, from them the blood ran on both sides. The red people traveled off further as the white people came up to them. From that country came Lewis and Clark. They passed through our country and knew our country, and all our streams. From the time of Columbus and Lewis and Clark we have known you as brothers. We were a poor people, a people knowing nothing when we first saw the white chiefs Lewis and Clark. From these poor people there were some of them that started in that direction (east) and of these there is only one now living. They went to be taught. They returned and told us about the Great Spirit. They told us the laws. My chief said our old laws are poor. The new laws we are getting are good laws, are straight. Ellis our chief spoke straight for the white people. The President has studied this and sent you here for our good.
Gov. Stevens: We have the heart of the Nez Perces through their Chief. Their hearts and our hearts are one. We want the hearts of the other people through their chiefs.
Young Chief: I do not see the offer you have made us yet. If I had the money in my hand then I would see. This land is afraid. I wonder if this ground has any thing to say. I hear what this earth says. The earth says God tells me to take care of the Indians. The water speaks the same way. God says feed the Indians upon the earth. The grass says the same thing. Feed the horses and cattle. The same way, the Earth says it was from her man was made. God desired them to take good care of the earth and do each other no harm. God said, you Indians who take care of a certain portion of the country should not trade it off unless you get a fair price. I am blind and ignorant. I have a heart but cannot say much. That is the reason the chiefs do not understand each other right. Although I see your offer before me I do not understand it. Lawyer understood your offer and he took it. I do not understand it and I do not yet take it. I cannot take hold of what I do not see. When I come to understand your proposition then I shall take hold. I do not know when.
Gen. Palmer: We know no chief among the Walla Wallas
but Peopeomoxmox. If he has anything to say we should be glad to hear it.
Peopeomoxmox: I do not know what is straight. I do not see the offer you
have made to the Indians. My heart cried very hard when you first spoke to me;
as if I was a feather, I flew. I thought what will I do. We are all talking
together. If you were to repeat as we are now and appoint some other time, we
shall have no bad minds. Stop the whites from coming here till after this talk,
not to bring their axes with them. The whites may travel in all directions
through my country. We shall have nothing to say to them providing they do not
build houses on our land.
Now I will speak about Lawyer. I think my friend
has given his lands, that is what I think from his words. You hear both of you
what I say. I request another meeting, whenever it shall be. It is not only by
one meeting that we can come to a decision. If you come again with a friendly
message from the President I shall see them at this place. Tomorrow I shall come
to see you, and towards evening I shall go home. You have spoken to us in a
friendly way and I speak to you in the same way, slowly. I can not give you a
decided answer. Perhaps you will not think well of my words. I beg you will
leave me in this way for today. Tomorrow I may give you (an) answer. I do not
know. That is all I have to say.
Gen. Palmer: I wish to say a few words to these people, but before I do
so if Kamiakin wishes to speak he can do so.
Kamiakin: I have nothing to say.
Owhi: God takes care of us on this earth. And here we have met
under his care. God looked one way then the other and named our lands for us to
take care of. It is the earth that is our parent. This leads the Indian to ask
where does this talk come from that you have been giving us. God named this
land to us, that is the reason I am afraid to say anything. I am afraid of the
laws of the Almighty, this is the reason I am afraid to speak of the land, the
reason of my heart being sad, the reason I cannot give you an answer. Shall I
steal this land and sell it? or what shall I do? Shall I give the lands that
are a part of my body and leave myself poor and destitute? Shall I say I will
give you my lands? I cannot say. I love my life, is the reason I do not give my
lands away. I am afraid I would be sent to hell. I love my friends. My people
are far away. They do not know your words. This is the reason I cannot give you
an answer now. I show you my heart. That is all I have to say.
Gov. Stevens: Now will Kamiakin and Skloom speak?
Kamiakin: What have I to be talking about?
Gen. Palmer: We have heard your chiefs speak. The heart of the Nez Perces
and ours are one. The Cayuses, the Walla Wallas, and these other people say
they do not understand us. Can we bring these saw mills and these grist mills
here on our backs to show these people?
We try to open their eyes. They refuse the light. I have a wife
and children. Why should I leave them and come so far to see you? It was to try
and do you good but you throw it away. I too love the earth where I was born. I
left it because it was for my good. I have come a long way. We ask you to go
but a very short distance.
Peopeomoxmox says “let us part and appoint another day.” Before that day would arrive we might have a great deal of trouble. Gold has been found in the country above yours. When our people hear this they will come here by hundreds, bad people will steal your horses and cattle. You cannot prevent it when you are scattered. But if you are living in the reservations we can protect you and your property. I want you to think more of this tonight.
We expect to perfect the arrangements with the Nez Perces
tomorrow. We have but one heart. We want the Walla Wallas, the Cayuses, and the
Umatillas to unite with us. I have nothing more to say.
Camaspello: If you were to send me into a mountainous country, what would I be glad for? That is the reason my heart cries. If you would show me fine lands and I were to see them then I would be glad and go to them. How do you show your pity by sending me and my children to a land where there is nothing to eat but wood? That is the kind of land up there. That is the reason I cry. Look at my hands! An old man, I have hurt them by hard work. I ask myself have I labored in vain? The white man aided me in making my garden, and ever since I have been laboring. The laws of God are not alone for you, they are for me as well.
Howlish-wampum: I have listened to your speech without any
impression. I did not understand it. I know this, we are the same, you have
life and breath, you white people. We red people have life and breath. I think
the old laws are straight, that they should still exist. The Nez Perces have
already given you their land. You want us to go there. What can we think of
that? That is the reason I cannot think of leaving this land to go there. Your
words since you came here have been crooked. That is all I have to say.
Gen. Palmer: I desire to say a few words in reply to Camaspello. He says he “is an old man, he has worked hard in his garden.” Any man who has a garden or a field and who left it to go to this reservation shall have better. We will not take them there to starve. They shall live better than where they are.
Gov. Stevens: Have all of you talked straight? Lawyer has and his people
have, and their business will be done tomorrow. The Young Chief says he “is
blind and does not understand.” What is it he wants? Where is the heart of the
Young Chief? Peopeomoxmox “cannot be wafted off like a feather.” Does he prefer
the Yakama reservation to that of the Nez Perces’? We have asked him before--we
ask him now--where is his heart? And Kamiakin, the great chief of the Yakamas
has not spoken at all. His people have had no voice here today. He is not
ashamed to speak. He is not afraid to speak. Then speak out. But Owhi is
“afraid lest God be angry at his selling his land.” I do not think God will be
angry if you do your best for yourself and your children. Ask yourself this
question tonight. Owhi says his people are not here. Owhi has the heart of his
people. We expect him to speak straight out. We expect to hear Kamiakin, from
Skloom. The papers we will have drawn up tonight. You can see them tomorrow.
The Nez Perces must not be put off any longer.
Five Crows: Listen to me you chiefs. We have been as
one people with the Nez Perces. This day we are divided. The Cayuses, Walla
Wallas, Kamiakin’s people and others will think over the matter tonight and
give you an answer tomorrow.
Owhi: Kamiakin is the man who is to speak about
these lands. I have nothing to say about them. We will settle the matter among
ourselves.
Narrator: The Council then adjourned for the day. (Drum)
The Council met again on June 8th.
Gov. Stevens: My friends, judging from your faces I think
you see your way clear. The paper of the Nez Perces is nearly ready and soon
will be read to them. We expect that Young Chief, Peopeomoxmox and Kamiakin
will speak now and we hope that the business may be concluded today.
Young Chief: We have been tiring one another for a long time. The reason
we could not understand you was that you selected the country for us to live in
without our having any voice in the matter. We will think slowly over the
different streams that run through the country. I cannot take the whole country
and throw it to you. If we can agree, this country will furnish food for the
whites and for us. Then we shall love one another. You embraced all my
country. Where was I to go. Was I to be a wanderer like a wolf without a home;
without a home I would steal, consequently I would die. I will show you lands I
will give you; we will there take good care of each other. Perhaps out there
(pointing south) it would be well to draw a line to divide us. I think we
should stop awhile, that we may come to an agreement. We will see when you make
another offer whether we can agree. I think the land where my forefathers are
buried should be mine. That is the place I am speaking for. That is what I
love, the place we get our roots. The salmon comes up the stream. That is all.
Gen. Palmer: My brothers, when we quit talking yesterday your minds were troubled. You were unwilling to go to the Nez Perces reservation. We have thought of your words. We asked you to give us your heart and tell us where it was. We have thought of the Umatilla, many of your people live there. It is a good country for your horses and cattle. To show you that we wish to do you good I will make you another proposition. I propose to designate for the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas and the Umatillas, a reservation commencing at the mouth of the Wild Horse Creek and running up into the mountains. This will include all your farms, your houses and gardens. You will not be required to go onto this reservation till our chief, the President and his council sees this paper and says it is good, and we build the houses, the mills, and the blacksmith’s shop.
But we want you to allow the white people to
come and settle in the country anywhere outside of the reservation. If any of
our people do wrong to you, you are not to shoot them, but to go to the agent.
I have offered you more than your country is worth, more than you know how to
count. How long will it take you to decide? If you say it is good the papers
can be arranged tonight. Tomorrow they can be signed. We have been here a good
many days talking. We commenced far apart. It is for you to say now whether we
shall come together. This I say to the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas, and
Umatillas. Peopeomoxmox being the first chief, I want to hear from him.
Peopeomoxmox: Our hearts should not be otherwise than one. I have already
spoken all that I have to say. I and Gen. Palmer talked this morning. They have
already written all that we have said.
Gen. Palmer: I should like to have all the chiefs and headmen of the
Umatilla, Cayuses, and Walla Wallas, and also the name of every man on the
paper, that the President may see every man’s name and know that they have
given their consent.
Gov. Stevens: My friends, Looking-Glass, one of your chiefs, is coming. He is a friend of Kamiakin. We have now got nearly round the circle. I call upon Kamiakin to say whether we shall get entirely round. Looking Glass is close by. He has come from the Blackfeet, the buffalo country across the mountains. There is war. Here is peace and friendship. Let us set him down by his chief in the presence of his friend Kamiakin. Let us now have Kamiakin’s heart.
Kamiakin: The place that I am from there are but few Indians. All have gone to the Calapooya country. Some are at Nisqually and some at Taih. That is the reason I have deferred speaking till I see my Indians. I wish the Americans to settle on the wagon route. We do not confine them to the road. They may settle about the road so that the Indians may go and see them. I do not speak this of myself, it is my people’s wish. Owhi and Teias are the chiefs. I Kamiakin do not wish for goods myself. All I wish is for a good agent who will pity the good and bad, and take care of us. I have nothing to talk long about. That is all I have to say.
Joseph: These are my children, (looking round). I see them all sitting there. Talking slowly is good. It is good for old men to talk straight. Talk straight on both sides and take care of one another. It is not us, it is those of our children who come after us. Without speaking I am going. It is not anything bad I am thinking that I am going without speaking. Think year after year, far away ahead. I wonder what you think if I could see your thoughts. I hear you speaking to my children, and they have many hearts. I am going without talking.
Gov. Stevens: If anybody else wishes to speak we shall be glad to hear them. We wish to hear from Skloom, one of the chiefs of the Yakamas.
Skloom: What I have to say is about the earth. A very small boy took an axe and cut a tree and marked it as if he had made a watch. He went to the tree and looked up and saw a star. He took a line and measured the land from that tree. All the land he had measured he plowed. For this he got $800 for each mile. The land uncultivated is not worth so much. It might be sold for $40 a mile. When you give me what is just for my land you shall have it. This is all I have to say.
Gov. Stevens: I have a word to say in answer to the remarks of Skloom. The gardens and farms are to be paid for in money at a fair value. The price paid will probably be a good deal more than the price he has mentioned. I say to Skloom, we sell good lands for eight-hundred dollars a mile, but not in this country. I ask Kamiakin and I ask Skloom, make your own propositions. I also say to Owhi, let us know what you think your lands are worth and where you want your home. We shall meet again in the morning. I want Kamiakin and his chiefs to make their own proposition. Looking Glass is coming. We shall meet tomorrow morning.
Narrator: The council then adjourned for the day.
(Drum)
Saturday June 9th. The council opened at 2 o’clock.
Saturday June 9th. The council opened at 2 o’clock.
Gov. Stevens: My friends, today we are all I trust of
one mind. Today we shall finish the business which brought us together
Yesterday the Yakamas had not made up their minds. Today they and ourselves
agree. The papers have been drawn up. A paper for the Nez Perces, they live on
one reservation. A paper for the Walla Wallas, Cayuses, and Umatillas, they
have their reservation on the Umatilla. And a paper for the Yakamas, they
have their reservation.
These papers engage us to do exactly what we have promised to do. I
have given the substance of the different treaties. Shall it be read over in
detail? You have already heard it not once but two or three times. It can be
read over article by article and the interpreters can state to you whether it
is what you are promised. If there is any one present who wishes to speak, let
him do so before we go on with this business. Let Looking Glass speak.
Looking Glass: I am now going to speak. They have been listening to us from above and from the ground. A long time ago the Great Spirit spoke to my children. He sees your eyes and your hearts and that is the reason all this people are his children. Why do you want to separate my children and settle them all over the country? I do not go into your country and scatter your children in every direction. It is for me to speak for these people, my children. The big chief speaks to his children and I also speak to my children and tell them what to do. I never go where the whites are and mix with them, and talk with them. I am already named from above, by the Supreme Being. My heart is with the country I live upon and head. That is the reason my heart tells me to say where my children shall go. I want you to look well to what I have shown you.
I want to know if an agent will stay up in my country?
Gov. Stevens: As long as there are people.
Looking Glass: Will the agent be there that long to keep the whites from pushing into our country?
Gen. Palmer: Certainly.
Looking Glass: Will you mark the piece of country that I have marked and say the agent shall keep the whites out?
Gen. Palmer: None will be permitted to go there but the agent and the persons employed, without your consent.
Young Chief: That is the reason I told the governor to let it be till another time, till we knew what the Looking Glass would say. I heard that Looking Glass was coming.
Looking Glass: The line of the Cayuse Reservation will be where the trail crosses the Walla Walla, thence in a straight line to the Umatillá below William McKay’s home. Thence north of the butte straight to John Days River. The reason that shall be the line is that they want more room for their horses and cattle. By what time will you build the mill?
Gov. Stevens: The year they move in, when the President approves the treaty.
Looking Glass: Yes! now we will talk. We have talked
before. You said you would send this talk to the President. If he says yes,
then it is right. I will listen to what the President says, and if he says yes,
then we will talk.
Gov. Stevens: I will say to my brother, the Looking Glass, that everything
we say and do is sent to the President. What Looking Glass has said and what I
say now goes to the President. But can I send anything to the President unless
you agree to it? Can the President act? We must agree upon something, then it
goes to the President and if he thinks it is good then he approves of it. I ask
Looking Glass to see that it cannot be done any other way.
Gen. Palmer: We have been here 19 days, talking a great deal. Yesterday we made a bargain with the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas, and the Umatillas, and the day before with the Nez Perces. This morning we made a bargain with the Yakamas. They with these others all say yes. If we change the line to where he says we would have to stay here two or three days more to arrange the paper. We are all tired. My heart says yes to the line that was shown yesterday and today. All things will be done as we told you. I have nothing more to say.
Looking Glass: Yes! Let it be so. You have said to me that the whites shall not go over that line, none shall go into that country. And you will show to the President what we have said.
Gov. Stevens: I understand Looking Glass has consented
with the other chiefs. The papers are now ready to sign. Here I will
particularly speak to Kamiakin as the head chief of the Yakamas, are you
ready?
Young Chief: What the Looking Glass says, I say.
Gov. Stevens: I ask you whether you are ready to
sign. Looking Glass is satisfied with the Nez Perce line, the Young Chief
and Peopeomoxmox yesterday agreed to the Umatilla reserve.
Looking Glass: I said yes to the line I marked myself,
not to your line.
Gov. Stevens: I will say to the Looking Glass, we cannot
agree.
Gen. Palmer: I would say to the Looking Glass, do you wish to throw all
we have said to you behind you. Why do we talk so much about it? I
have done.
Young Chief: The President is your chief and you do what he tells you. That is the reason the Looking Glass marked out the line he wanted. He is the head chief.
Looking Glass: It was my children that spoke yesterday. I
asked my children what was their hurry? They knew I was coming! That is the
reason I marked it bigger. I wanted to talk with you and have you talk with me.
And after that, your talk and my talk will go to the President.
Gen. Palmer: If the Looking Glass is a chief I hope he will act as
a chief acts for the good of his people. If we were to say yes to his line our
chief would say no! But if we shall say the line we have marked we believe our
chief will say yes! Let us act like wise men.
Looking Glass: I am not going to say any more
today.
Gen Palmer: If the Nez Perces are not ready they can talk among
themselves and come tomorrow. If the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas and Umatillas
are ready to do what yesterday they said they would, then the paper is ready
for them to sign, and tonight they can get their goods and go home when they
please. The paper is also ready for the Yakamas, if they choose to sign it they
can do so.
Gov. Stevens: The council will now adjourn until Monday morning and I trust by that time Looking Glass will have thought the matter over and we will be able to agree.
(Drum and singing)
Narrator: Monday June 11th. The Council opened at 11 o’clock.
Narrator: Monday June 11th. The Council opened at 11 o’clock.
Gov. Stevens: My children we have met today for the last time. Every man
here present has agreed to a treaty in council. First the Nez Perces. I call
upon Lawyer the head chief and then I shall call on the other
chiefs to sign. Will Lawyer now come forward. (Pause) Now I call upon Looking
Glass and Joseph to sign the treaty. (Pause)
My brothers, the treaties have now all been signed. They will be sent to the President. All the speeches on both sides will be sent to the President. The President will see that everything has been fairly explained and agreed upon between us. He won’t find any fault, even with Looking Glass. I think the President will approve what we have done.
Gen. Palmer: My Brothers, we have been together a long time and have talked a great deal. We commenced a long way apart but now are together. From this time we expect that we and you will always be at peace. We not only want you to be at peace with all whites, we want you to be at peace with yourselves. We shall try and prevent the whites from doing wrong to the Indians and you must prevent your people from doing wrong to the whites. When we part we will all go to our homes with good hearts towards each other. When we have built the things we have agreed to, then we expect you will go upon the reservation. I shall be very sorry if I hear your people have done wrong.
Tin-tin-meet-see: I understand you well. We are never the beginners in doing wrong to the whites. All Indians have understood well what has been said. When your white children come into this country they do things at random. (To the Indians) You have heard all that has been said and now let us go home and do right.
Narrator: The Treaty Council at Walla Walla ended at three o’clock on June 11, 1855. After three years of ensuing Indian wars, the treaties were ratified by Congress on March 8 and went into effect in April of 1859.
December 31, 2004, Walla Walla,
* From A
True Copy of the Record of the Official Proceedings at the Council in the Walla
Walla Valley, 1855, by
Isaac Ingalls Stevens, edited by Darrell Scott, Ye Galleon Press, 1985, with
permission.
