The Northwest Indians' Resistance to Conquest

INTRODUCTION

The great political conflicts of the Pacific Northwest in the 21 st century have their roots in the 18 th century. Surprising to many, but the constants have been over land and water, and who will control them: Is there enough water for irrigation and migrating fish? Should we remove dams to allow spawning salmon to swim freely? What is the aesthetic value of The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and other natural locales? Will we rob the gorge of its beauty by erecting electricity generating windmills throughout the wind-blown chasm? What of casinos? Can we allow Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs to build a casino, malls, hotels, and parking lots in the heart of that majestic gorge? Should Indian economic self-sufficiency trump the rights to unspoiled lands?

These are just a few of the disputes daily argued in the Pacific Northwest . What many people today fail to understand is that elements of these and other issues stem from the time when Oregon and Washington became territories. Migration brought white pioneers into the far northwest corner of the United States , but it did so at the expense of those who had been living here all along: the Indians.

The pressures of immigration and race continue. Newcomers still head for opportunity found in the Northwest, while race is an element of the migration, as Hispanic numbers swell with many from Spanish-speaking America . Our history provides insight into how we deal with each other as we struggle to find civility despite disputes, be it the pioneers of the 1850s, or the crisis of migration as Hispanics come into our country today.

And that is what this book is about. It tells how one people competed with another, and who would ultimately gain control. It tells the story, often in the actors’ own words, of how the Americans broke the Indian power in the Pacific Northwest and seized control of the region’s resources.

Certainly, the conflict between the white and red peoples was old and not a fresh creation in the Northwest; the quarrel predates English settlement. However, this racial belligerency in the Pacific Northwest has distinctions not present with Indian wars in other parts of North America .

First, because of the frequency of contact, and the egos of white participants, Indian words were recorded surprisingly often. Wishing to keep an appearance of legality and justice, whites often insisted on transcriptions of their meetings with the natives. From those recorded conversations, we know what the Indians actually said. The Indians spoke with elegant expressions of their beliefs, desires, and their hope for justice.

Second, the mass movement of white Americans had a clear starting period and thus, while the Indians had had previous encounters with British and American fur traders and trappers, the period of the Oregon Trail came on abruptly. This rapid expansion of white population to critical mass ensured war. This white competition for Indian land and resources happened in such a compact period of time that it had to result in a race war between the red and white people.

Third, unlike many American struggles between Indians and whites, the combatants’ numbers were close, and the weaponry more evenly matched than in any other Indian war. White victory was inevitable. While victory was an historical certainty, the wars had to be fought to the death, lest the whites suffer that fate if only on a local scale of individual settlements. Furthermore, the effect on non-combatants was total war; each side committed atrocities in an effort to achieve victory or to stave off defeat.

These factors supply the interest the wars continue to generate. However, our concern in this period is predicated on other issues as well. The Oregon Territory (which was what the entire Pacific Northwest was known as until 1853) suffered from the national politics, albeit on a local and smaller scale, that characterizes the 1850s. The death of the Whig Party, the battle for the American soul by the Know-Nothing Party, the internal struggle within the Democratic Party over racial issues, and the emergence of the Republican Party all found their stories played out in the Pacific Northwest , as well as on the national stage. Racial hatred would be codified in the Northwest through the adoption of the Oregon State Constitution (1857) which barred blacks from the state, as well by whites’ actions to exterminate the Indian people. It was a time for the people of the Northwest to decide if civil protections, such as habeas corpus were worth fighting to protect. These times shaped Northwest history, and the times were shaped by immigration pressures, political machinations, and racial animosity.

So many of the troubles facing us now stem from how our ancestors dealt with their issues then. The main way our red and white ancestors dealt with each other is best viewed through the prism of the treaties themselves. If the series of Indian treaties enacted between 1853 and 1859 had not been written as they were, the issues we face today and the solutions we seek would be different. We have been driven by those treaties.

The seven years of 1853-1859 are more important to the Pacific Northwest than any other seven years of its recorded history. The 1850s started carving the Oregon Territory into the states that were ultimately created. It was the period when most Indian tribes signed treaties defining who they would become, and how they live with their white neighbors. It was when Oregon became a state.

If not the most important, then certainly these seven years were the most exciting. While other eras would have other wars, even other Indian wars, no other period would have the entire region engulfed in conflict. One in ten white citizens of the Northwest served under arms as either a member of the regular army forces or with one of the territorial units. Another two in ten whites directly felt the anguish of war, either by being attacked or by having a loved one killed or injured. Certainly, everyone read of massacres, of atrocities, and of towns being raided, placed under siege, or burned to the ground.

For almost every major tribe of the Northwest these seven years marked the end of their way of life. Even for those tribes that were not conquered or displaced, the blows of the era determined where they could go and how they would live.

These years were patriotic years. The people on both sides believed that they were fighting with right on their side and that they were God’s chosen people. With hindsight, we can see with clarity the injustices done. While one side suffered greater injustice, neither side can claim purity of action. Innocents were killed by both sides. Atrocities were not limited to one race nor was hatred solely sown by one side.

We must study our history if we are to understand how we arrived at the problems we face today. We must study our history if we are to understand how our history directs our future, for these issues are still very much alive. Perhaps the issues within the treaties are most alive to the citizens of the Pacific Northwest today, but the larger truth, how we live with each other is a question we must resolve, no matter what part of the country we reside in, or of what era we are a part. Every section of our country has treaties and treachery. This is the story of one corner of our country, and how its history shapes its course today.