COUNCILS AND COMMISSION REPORTS
"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," pp. 397-728. In U.S. House. 45th Congress, 2d Session. Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1877 (H.Ex.Doc.1, Pt. 5, Vol. 1). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1878. (Serial Set 1800).

1876 COMMISSION

From: Report of Civil and Military Commission to Nez Percé Indians, Washington Territory and the Northwest, pp. 606-617.

PORTLAND, OREG., December 1, 1876.

SIR: The special commission on Indian matters, called by telegraphic instructions dated October 13, 1876, to rendezvous at Chicago, Ill., met at the Palmer House in that city on the 17th of that month, all the members being present excepting Bvt. Col. H. Clay Wood, assistant adjutant-general, United States Army, who was in Oregon.

On Wednesday, the 18th, the commission set out for San Francisco, where they arrived the 25th. At that place we received your full instructions, designating the undersigned, "with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, members of a commission to visit the Nez Percés and other roving bands of Indians in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Territory, with a view to secure their settlement upon reservations and their early entrance upon a civilized life," and to perform various other duties therein specified. . . .

October 28 the commission left by steamer for Portland, reaching there November 1, where the commission was organized by the choice of Mr. Jerome as chairman, and Mr. Stickney as secretary. Joined by Colonel Wood the commission left Portland, November 3, and proceeded by steamboat, railroad, and stage, to Lapwai (Nez Percé) Indian agency, 370 miles from Portland, reaching there Tuesday night, November 7.

MEETING AT LAPWAI.

Information of the assembling of the commission at Lapwai, Idaho, on or about November 8, had been seasonably forwarded to Agent [John] Monteith, at Lapwai, with instructions to lose no time in sending for the non-treaty Nez Percé Indians, and especially for Joseph and his band, to be there at that time. A large number of treaty Indians had already arrived from Kamiah and other points, but no reliable tidings had been received from Joseph. The commission busied itself with an examination of the agency—of the improved and unimproved farming-lands in the valleys of the Lapwai and Sweetwater Rivers; questions of encroachment on the reservation by white settlers; obligations of the Government under the treaties not yet discharged, as also in long conference with the friendly or treaty Indians—until November 11th, when it was announced that Joseph and his band had camped on the reservation within seven or eight miles of the agency. A call upon him by the chairman of the commission, accompanied by Agent Monteith and interpreter, James Reuben, a Nez Percé, developed the fact that he had come with a considerable portion of his band, by easy stages, and that his business, even now, did not demand haste. An appointment was finally secured for a council to be convened in the church at Lapwai, near the agency, on Monday, November 13, 1876, at 12 [p.]m., nearly a week after the arrival of the commissioners.

A few moments before the appointed hour the head of his well-mounted column was seen from the agency turning a point in the road. With military precision and order it massed itself in front of, but at considerable distance from, the church. As he entered the church with his band it was evident that their ranks were considerably swelled by the addition of other prominent non-treaty Indians, as also by some malcontents among those who acknowledged themselves bound by the treaties. The commission occupied the platform of the church. Joseph and his band, sixty or seventy in number, (including malcontents,) after an exchange of salutations by himself and a few of his headmen with the commission, took seats upon our left, the treaty-Indians filling the right and center of the house.

Brief personal introductions by General Howard followed, who also made to Joseph a plain and concise statement of the peaceful errands and objects of the commission.

From the first it was apparent that Joseph was in no haste. Never was the policy of masterly inactivity more fully inaugurated. He answered every salutation, compliment, and expression of good-will, in kind, and duplicated the quantity. An alertness and dexterity in intellectual fencing was exhibited by him that was quite remarkable.

He is in the full vigor of his manhood; six feet tall, straight, well formed, and muscular; his forehead is broad, his perceptive faculties large, his head well formed, his voice musical and sympathetic, and his expression usually calm and sedate, when animated marked and magnetic. His younger brother [Ollikot], in whose ability he evidently confides—putting him forward much of the time as his advocate—is two inches taller than himself, equally well formed, quite as animated, and perhaps more impassioned in speech, though possibly inferior in judgment.

When, in answer to suggestions and general inquiry, no grievance was stated, the commission plied him with questions touching his occasional occupation of Wallowa Valley, and the irritations and disturbances consequent thereon with the white settlers, he answered, he had not come to talk about land, and added that these white settlers had first informed him of the appointment of this commission, expressing their belief that on its assembling all these troubles would be settled, and they (the whites) would retire from the valley. In this, and the following interviews, which were long drawn out, one of them continuing into the night, Joseph maintained his right to Wallowa Valley, including, as we understood, the tract of country set apart as a reservation for him and his band, by Executive order dated June 16, 1873 . . ., and also extending to and including Imnaha Valley, where he and his band spend most of their time. As Joseph did not move upon and occupy this reservation, said order was revoked June 10, 1875. This tract embraces a territory equal to 1,425 square miles, and is larger than the present reservation. Joseph, as will be seen, does not base his claim of right upon the Executive order.

The commission answered that a part of the valley had already been surveyed and opened to settlement; that if, by some arrangement, the white settlers in the valley could be induced to leave it, others would come; that the State of Oregon, in whose territory the valley is located, is inviting the white race from the four corners of the earth to come in and occupy its hills and valleys, and would not be long willing so large a territory should be left to the exclusive (and that but occasional) use of so small a band; and if it were, could hardly prevent the permanent settlement of such immense tracts of land which he and his band merely visit for a brief season annually for hunting and fishing; and that in the conflicts which may arise in the future, as in the past, between him and the whites, the President might not be able to justify or defend him.

As against his claim of right to the valley, the commission stated that under the law of nations the title of our government to this whole country, drained by the Columbia, by right of discovery and occupation, had been admitted by other great nations; that notwithstanding this, the government had always sought to extinguish the Indians’ possessory title, whatever that may be; that in respect to this Wallowa Valley, the President claimed that he extinguished the Indian title to it by the treaty of 1863, which bore the signatures of a majority of their chiefs and headmen; but in a spirit of generosity he was disposed, rather than press his rights to issue, to treat for an adjustment of present differences; that owing to the coldness of the climate the Wallowa Valley is not a suitable location for an Indian reservation, and is now in part settled by white squatters for grazing purposes. It is embraced within the limits of the State of Oregon, and the Indians would therefore be under the jurisdiction of the State and local laws. As a general proposition, Indians do not received, at least from the local officials and State courts, the protection contemplated by the laws, and accorded to the whites. The State of Oregon could not probably be induced to cede the jurisdiction of the valley to the United States for an Indian reservation. Consequently, we suggested a willingness to set apart suitable lands for tillage and pasture for himself and his band upon the present reservation; to aid him in the erection of houses, in fencing their land, in procuring farming implements and other helps to peaceful industries, and to habits of life consonant with the spirit of the age, together with the privileges now enjoyed by the treaty-Indians; and to secure such rights and privileges for fishing and hunting as would be consistent with a settled pastoral, rather than a nomadic life.

The reply to all such suggestions, seriously made and oft repeated both by Joseph and his brother, was to the effect that the "Creative power," when he made the earth, made no marks, no lines of division or separation upon it, and that it should be allowed to remain as then made. The earth was his mother. He was made of the earth and grew up on its bosom. The earth, as his mother and nurse, was sacred to his affections, too sacred to be valued by or sold for silver or gold. He could not consent to sever his affections from the land that bore him. He was content to live upon such fruits as the "Creative power" placed within and upon it, and unwilling to barter these and his free habits away for the new modes of life proposed by us. Moreover, the earth carried chieftainship, (which the interpreter explained to mean law, authority, or control,) and therefore to part with the earth would be to part with himself or with his self-control. He asked nothing of the President. He was able to take care of himself. He did not desire Wallowa Valley as a reservation, for that would subject him and his band to the will and dependence on another, and to laws not of their own making. He was disposed to live peaceably. He and his band had suffered wrong rather than do wrong. One of their number was wickedly slain by a white man during the last summer, but he would not avenge his death. But unavenged by him, the voice of that brother’s blood, sanctifying the ground, would call the dust of their fathers back to life, to people the land in protest of this great wrong.

The serious and feeling manner in which he uttered these sentiments was impressive. He was admonished that in taking this position he placed himself in antagonism to the President, whose government extended from ocean to ocean; that if he held to this position, sooner or later there would come an issue, and when it came, as the weaker party, he and his band would go to the wall; that the President was not disposed to deprive him of any just right or govern him by his individual will, but merely subject him to the same just and equal laws by which he himself as well as all his people were ruled.

We pointed him to the fact that the wild, nomadic habits of the Indians cut off most of their offspring in infancy and many of their aged before their time; that warm, permanent homes, comfortable clothing, and better food, made sure at regular seasons, would as certainly promote happiness as they would longevity.

He and his band have fallen under the influence of the "dreamers," (Smoholla,) a modern spiritualistic mysticism, known of late among the Indians of this region, and represented in his band by his "medicine-man" or magician, who is understood to have great power over him and the whole band. We had waited long for his coming, as we thought very needlessly, and did not think it best to wait longer, with hope of shaking his resolve, buttressed, as we knew it to be, in a new-fangled religious delusion and kept alive by a kind of wizard, who allowed no word to enter his ear except also strained through his own.

We thought it best to close the conference, after reading him a formal proposition, . . . and leave him to his reflections, with the request that if he came to a better mind he communicate with the agent.

CAUSE OF TROUBLE WITH THE NON-TREATY INDIANS, INCLUDING JOSEPH AND HIS FOLLOWERS.

The dreamers, among other pernicious doctrines, teach that the earth being created by God complete, should not be disturbed by man, and that any cultivation of the soil or other improvements to interfere with its natural productions, any voluntary submission to the control of the government, any improvement in the way of schools, churches, &c., are crimes from which they shrink. This fanaticism is kept alive by the superstitions of these "dreamers," who industriously teach that if they continue steadfast in their present belief, a leader will be raised up in the East who will restore all the dead Indians to life, who will unite with them in expelling the whites from their country, when they will again enter upon and repossess the lands of their ancestors.

Influenced by such belief, Joseph and his band firmly declined to enter into any negotiations or make any arrangement that looked to a final settlement of the questions pending between him and the government.

While the commission give all due weight to the precedents and authorities in the government’s dealings with Indians, and to the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, which recognize an undefined right of occupancy by Indians to large sections of the country, as fully set forth in Colonel Wood’s report, (copy on file in the department,) yet in view of the fact that these Indians do not claim simply this, but set up an absolute title to the lands, an absolute and independent sovereignty, and refuse even to be limited in their claim and control; necessity, humanity, and good sense constrain the government to set metes and bounds and give regulations to these non-treaty Indians.

Certainly the fact that Joseph’s father, chief of this same band, joined in the treaty of 1855, implied a surrender of any specific rights to any particular portion of the whole reserve, which includes the Wallowa Valley, only retaining an undivided interest. This fact renders the present Joseph’s specific claim to even the right of occupancy still more uncertain, and if the principle usually applied by the government of holding that the Indians with whom they have treaties are bound by majorities is here applied, Joseph should be required to live within the limits of the present reservation.

We therefore recommend,

First. That the leaders and teachers of what is known as the "dreamer" belief be required to return to the agencies where they belong forthwith, and in case of refusal that they be removed from further contact with the roaming Indians by immediate transportation to the Indian Territory.

There is at least one such "dreamer" with Joseph’s band, to whom reference has been previously made in this report.

Second. With this pregnant cause of trouble thus removed, so long as Joseph and his band remain in the Im-na-ha Valley, and visit the Wallowa Valley for hunting, fishing, and grazing for only a short time in each year, we recommend a speedy military occupancy of the valley by an adequate force to prevent a recurrence of past difficulties between the whites and the Indians. Meanwhile the agent of the Nez Percés should continue his efforts to settle these Indians in severalty upon the lands of the reservation that are still vacant.

Third. Unless they should conclude to settle quietly, as above indicated, within a reasonable time in the judgment of the department, they should then be placed by force upon the Nez Percé reservation, and, in satisfaction of any possible rights of occupancy which they may have, the same aid and allotments of land granted to the treaty Nez Percés should be extended to them on the reservation.

Fourth. If these Indians overrun land belonging to the whites and commit depredations upon their property, disturb the peace by threats or otherwise, or commit any other overt act of hostility, we recommend the employment of sufficient force to bring them into subjection, and to place them upon the Nez Percé reservation.

The Indian agent at Lapwai should be fully instructed to carry into execution these suggestions, relying at all times upon the department commander for aid when necessary.

Fifth. We recommend the adoption of a similar policy toward the other non-treaty Indians of the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Percé agencies, including other Indians who have wandered from their reservations, and for this purpose the agents having the care of these reservations should be directed to take similar action to that recommended for the Nez Percé agent.

NON-COMPLIANCE BY THE GOVERNMENT WITH ITS TREATY OBLIGATIONS.

During an interview held with the agent and treaty Indians, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there were sufficient unoccupied tillable lands for Joseph’s band on the reservation, and for the further purpose of securing their co-operation to aid us in inducing Joseph to come upon the reservation, facts were brought to our attention of a failure on the part of the Government to fulfill its treaty stipulations with these Indians. The commission therefore deem it their duty to call the attention of the Government to this subject.

First. Article 2 of the treaty of June 9, 1863, provides that no white man, excepting such as may be employed by the Indian Department, shall be permitted to reside upon the reservation, without permission of the tribe and the superintendent and agent.

By reference to page 3 of our proceedings at Lapwai, . . . will be found the statement of Mr. J. B. Monteith, the United State Indian agent, to the effect that W. G. Langford asserts a claim to 640 acres, covering that at present occupied by the agency.

Finney claims and occupies as much more.

Colwell claims and occupies about seventy-five acres.

B. Randall claims 50 acres.

It is clearly the duty of the government to adjust and quiet these claims, and remove the parties from the reservation. Each day’s delay to fulfill this treaty stipulation adds to the distrust of the Indians in the good faith of the government.

By reference to page 8 of proceedings . . ., it will appear the commission adopted a resolution recommending the agent revoke the license given Randall by James O’Neil, a former agent, for the location of a stage-station on the reservation, and take possession of the land. This recommendation was deemed proper, inasmuch as the station has been abandoned for more than a year, there being no further use for it, and the lands were wanted for the use of the Indians.

Second. Article 3, of the same treaty of 1863, provides for the survey of the land suitable for cultivation into lots of twenty acres each.

While a survey is reported by the agent to have been early made, no measures were then or have been since taken to adjust farm limits to the lines of the surveyed lots.

Third. Rules and regulations for continuing the possession of these lots and the improvements thereon in the families of deceased Indians have not been prescribed, as required by the treaty.

Fourth. It is also provided that certificates (or deeds) for such tracts shall be issued to individual Indians.

The failure of the Government to comply with this important provision of the treaty causes much uneasiness among the Indians, who are little inclined to spend their labor and means in improving ground held by the uncertain tenure of the pleasure of an agent.

Fifth. Article 7 of the treaty provides for a payment of $4,665 in gold coin to them for services and horses furnished the Oregon mounted volunteers in March, 1856.

It is asserted by the Indians that this provision of the treaty has hitherto been disregarded by the Government.

The commission would emphasize the opinion that every consideration of justice and equity as well as expediency, demands from the Government a faithful and literal compliance with all its treaty obligations toward the Indians. A failure to do this is looked upon as bad faith, and can be productive of only bad results. . . .

RECAPITULATION.

The following summary of recommendations is submitted:

First. That the leaders and teachers known as "dreamers" belonging to non-treaty and roaming Indians (there being at least one with Joseph’s band) be required to go upon their own reservations. In case of refusal, that they be removed to the Indian Territory.

Second. So long as Joseph and his band remain in the Im-ha-ha Valley and visit the Wallowa Valley for hunting, fishing, and grazing a part of each year, that there be a speedy military occupation of Wallowa Valley, by an adequate military force, to prevent difficulties between whites and Indians. Meanwhile, the Nez Percé agent to continue efforts to settle these Indians in severalty upon the present reservation.

Third. Unless they conclude to settle quietly as above indicated, within a reasonable time, that they should then be placed upon the reservation by force.

Fourth. In case of outbreak or any act of hostility, that they at once be brought into subjection and put upon the reservation.

Fifth. That all the non-treaty Indians, and those who have wandered from their reservations, be dealt with by the agencies to which they properly belong in the same manner.

Sixth. There having been a failure on the part of the Government to fulfill its stipulations with the treaty-Indians, that the Government give speedy attention to this important subject.

Seventh. That the fourteen agencies within the limits of the Department of the Columbia be reduced to five, selling the abandoned reservations for the benefit of the Indians removed, and permitting the heads of families, if they choose, to remain and settle in severalty.

Eighth. That the necessary steps to be taken to invest agents with judicial authority, similar to that now exercised on the Yakama reservation.

That the tribal relations be speedily dissolved, the practice of paying chiefs discontinued, and all Indians be held amenable, like the whites, to civil law.

In the event of abandonment and consolidation of reservations as above, we especially urge that individual selection of lands heretofore made or hereafter to be made by Indians under treaty stipulations should be sacredly observed. The owners thereof should be protected in the enjoyment of these allotments as their homes, and not be required to remove to other reservations, or to be further subject to the special control of the government.

Respectfully submitted,

D. H. JEROME.

O. O. HOWARD.

WM. STICKNEY.

A. C. BARSTOW.