Cayuse

“ The Cayuse originally spoke a distinct language from the Nez perces but have so long intermarried that Nez perces is spoken by all & the younger ones do not understand Cayuse at all. The Walla Wallas also are to a great extent able to speak Nez perces Several have been with us during the winter & spring & many express a wish to come next year & cultivate land. We shall not have access to as many Indians at first as Brother Spalding but in the end I think as many will be benefited by this station as that. ”

“ The Cayuse formerly bore a high reputation for intelligence and bravery, but on account of their fighting propensities, which led them to make constant war on the Snakes and other tribes to the west, they were never very numerous. In 1838 a Presbyterian mission, called Waiilatpu, had been established among the Cayuse, by Dr Whitman, where now is the town of Whitman, in Wallawalla county, Washington. In 1847 the smallpox, before unknown among them, carried off a large part of the tribe. ”

“ Water continued to pour through the break in the cañon wall and to push forward the flood that raced down the defile.
How Navi ever covered those two miles Little Cayuse never knew. He realized, after what seemed like a thousand years of torment but which in reality was less than a thousand seconds, that he was caught by the rushing waters half-way up the slope leading from the cañon’s bed to the mouth of the gully. ”

“ After he had finished, Stechus, an old Cayuse Chief, made a short speech, and then Governor Stevens adjourned them until to-morrow.
There is evidently a more hostile feeling towards the whites getting up among some of the tribes, of which we had to-night a very unmistakable proof. The Cayuses, we have known, have never been friendly, but hitherto they have disguised their feelings. To-night, as Lieutenant Gracie and I attempted, as usual, to enter their camp, they showed a decided opposition: we were motioned back, and the young warriors threw themselves in our way to obstruct our advance. ”

“ The “Shaw Haptens” were a kindred race speaking the Shahaptian language.
This appears to be the first mention of the Cayuse tribe, later so prominent in Oregon history. Their language was unlike that of the Wallawalla, so that they are classified as Waülatpuans. Their habitat was the Wallawalla Valley, and south and east of the great bend of the Columbia. Their herds of horses were so numerous that “cayuse” has become a generic term for Indian ponies. These Indians constituted the largest and most powerful tribe of Eastern Oregon. ”

“ Crossing the Umatilla on the 26th, Gilliam marched to within three miles of the Cayuse camp, where he remained until the forenoon of the 27th. While moving, and in camp, the Indians swarmed all along the hills, the main body showing a determination to continue hostilities. From those who approached the volunteer camp the commissioners learned that their messenger to the Nez Percés had been robbed and sent back by the Cayuses, and they immediately despatched another. ”

“ Yet many of the Cayuse became Christians. Old Istikus was a prince among Christian men, savage as he was. For sixteen years after the death of his loved friends, he regularly went to the door of his wigwam, rang the old mission bell, and invited all to come in to prayers. General Joel Barlow, who was one of the commissioners after the treaty of peace in 1855, to settle the Indians upon their reservations, says:
"I found forty-five Cayuse and one thousand Nez Perces who have kept up regular family worship, singing from the old hymn books, translated into their language by Mrs. ”

“ The precocious little savage was known to every rider on the trail from St. Joe to Sacramento. Of course the Indians were always on the alert to steal the horses that belonged to the stations, but where Little Cayuse was living they never made a success of it, owing to his vigilance. Often he saved the animals by giving the soundly sleeping men warning of the approach of the savages who were stealthily creeping up to stampede the animals. ”

“ On the 8th, three muscular Walla Wallas, with a canoe furnished with provisions by Pambrun, took the hopeful traveller in charge for a voyage to Fort Vancouver. The first day's experience of the Columbia rapids so alarmed him that he begged the natives to put him ashore, but he yielded to their assurance that there was no danger. He visited the Cayuse tribe on the south side of the river, and some savages, whom he called Nez Percés, on the north bank. The Cayuses were curious to know what had brought a white man who was not a trader amongst them ”

“ The Cayuses, finding that no compromise could be ef- fected, abandoned their country, and most of them passed east of the Rocky mountains. Nothing was left for the volunteers but to leave the country also, which they did, and the Cayuse War had practically ended.
' ' The Cayuses, as a tribe, had no heart in the war, Joe Lewis told them imme- diately after the massacre that now they must fight, and advised them to send him to Salt Lake with a band of horses, to trade for ammunition with the Mormons. He started with a select band of animals, accompanied by two young braves ”

“ The volunteers performed the duty of holding the Cayuse country, and patroling the immigrant road to the satisfaction of the Oregon government and the immigra tion. Since the opening of the road, never had the Indians behaved so well. The murderers, reduced to poverty, and without ammunition, kept out of the way of hoth volun teers and immigrants. Thus the Cayuse war came to an end, it might be said, for want of powder. The murderers had not been hung, but they had been severely punished, and the Cayuse nation, as such, had lost its prestige forever. ”

“ The Cayuses, weary of wandering, with the prospect before them of another war with white men, had prevailed upon those who among themselves had done most to bring so much wretchedness upon them, to risk their lives in restoring them to their former peace and prosperity. ”

“ Still farther to the east, on the great grassy plains, watered by beautiful streams, coming down from the mountains, lived the Cayuses, Yakimas, Nez Perces, Wallah-Wallahs, and Flatheads; as different in their appearance and habits as their different modes of living would naturally make them. Instead of having many canoes, they had many horses ”

“ Ogden arrived at Van couver, and on the tenth delivered the rescued Americans into the hands of Governor Abernethy at Oregon City, with Mr. Spalding s letter and the bishop s letter, together with the manifesto of the Cayuse chiefs. It does not re quire much imagination to conceive the excitement occa sioned by the arrival of these unhappy people, nor the influence it had on the conduct of the Cayuse war. Half- crazed widows; young women who had suffered such
(Five Crows) to hold you as a wife to save you from a general abuse by the Indians? ”

“ Why not steal some Indian cayuses and get even? There was a stage line running through the reservation them days, and I knew the stock tender at the stage ranch, fifteen miles from Fort Custer, at the Fort Custer battle-ground. So waiting till dark I went there, and getting something to eat and leaving the two hosses, I started back to Crazy Head's camp. It was a bright, moonlight night and I found the Injuns' cayuses grazing in the same place. Looking around cautiously I discovered two fine-looking, coal black cayuses grazing by themselves about two hundred yards from the main bunch. ”

“ The presents were received, and the advice heard with a most respectful attention.
2. The Cayuses are also manifesting a spirit of enterprise, highly commendable. They too, have raised much grain and potatoes, and are [Pg 415] trading freely with the immigrants. A number of their chiefs and principal men were absent at the time, having gone, in company with a party of Wallawallas, to California, with horses to trade for cattle. They have since returned, and I sincerely regret to learn the failure of this, their first expedition of the kind. The Spaniards and other whites treated them badly ”

“ Then the Cayuses were very little about the fort while the caravans were passing, being engaged in trading with or stealing from the Americans.
The new-comers had all left the country east of the Cascade Mountains, except the little colony at Waiilatpu; the Catholic mission was established in a house furnished to the priests by Tauitau in the lovely valley of the Umatilla, and quiet reigned throughout the great wilderness of rolling prairie from the Dalles on the Columbia to Lapwai on the Clearwater. ”

“ It is well known by critical inquirers into the causes of social deterioration of every grade that it varies with the intensity of the struggle for existence. The stress and tug of living was not so extreme among the Cayuses, and the Cayuse women were in the main above sus- picion. ”

“ There is a last stubborn struggle at the spot since marked by the great falls called Aputaput, a tearing of earth and a lashing of water in the fierce death-flurry, and the huge Beaver is dead. The brothers having secured the skin and fat, cut up the body and threw the pieces in various directions. From these pieces have originated the various tribes of the country, as the Cayuses, the Nez Percés, the Walla Wallas, and so on. The Cayuses sprang from the beaver's heart, and for this reason they are more energetic, daring, and successful than their neighbors. ”

“ The Wallawallas, most contiguous to the colony, number some three thousand, including the entire population. They are in general poor, indolent, and sordid, but avaricious; and what few have property, in horses and herds, are proud, haughty, and insolent. The Cayuses, next easterly, are less numerous, but more formidable, being brave, active, tempestuous, and warlike. Their country is well watered, gently undulating, extremely healthy, and admirably adapted to grazing, as Dr. Marcus Whitman, who resides in their midst, may have informed you. ”

“ The Cayuses owned about seventy head, chiefly cows, which they obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company, the mission of the American board, the Methodist mission, or the Willamette settlers, in exchange for horses. They had also a few sheep, earned by herding the flock belonging to the mission. The possession of cattle by their teachers had been a constant occasion of envy and of reproach by the natives, who demanded, in effect, that the missionaries should share their herds with them, instead of which they were shown how to procure them for themselves. ”

“ Efforts were made by the Cayuses to bring about a general uprising. Had they been successful in this it would have resulted in the annihilation of all the Americans in the upper country, armed or unarmed. These delays and negotiations continued to the end of the campaign. "Blood is thicker than water," and even the Nez Perces, most of whom were always the friends of the whites and deplored the massacre at Waiilatpu, as well as other friendly Indians, did not hesitate to employ artifices to delay the troops and thus enable the Cayuses to move their families and stock out of danger. ”

“ Nor were the Indians in the Willamette unaffected by the example of the Cayuses, but tauntingly remarked that all the brave white men had gone to fight, the weak and spiritless ones only remaining at home, and that consequently they, the Molalles, and others, were set at liberty to conduct themselves as they pleased. ”

“ Let's peek in that there hut,” he suggested.
“Huh; yore ideas of cayuses are mighty peculiar. Why don't you look for 'em up on those cactuses or behind that mesquite? I wouldn't be a heap surprised if they was roostin' on th' roof. They are mighty knowing animals, cayuses. I once saw one that could figger like a schoolmarm,” remarked Mr. Travennes, beginning sarcastically and toning it down as he proceeded, out of respect for his companion's gun.
“Well, they might be in th' shack,” replied Mr. Cassidy. “Cayuses know so much that it takes a month to unlearn them. ”

“ Mr Palmer, Dr Newell, Mr McKay, Mr Lee, and Mr Gilliam. These meet you, with good hearts they meet you. They bear a message from the great chief, they bear it; therefore they call you to meet them. Keep quiet ye young men; do not go over to the Cayuses. Wait till these speak closely with you. The good are not to be punished; only the bad are to be punished. The Nez Percés, the Americans are one, therefore do you not depart from us. Very many Americans are going to seek the bad Cayuses, and the bad only. There wall soon be large ships from California ”

“ At that moment a hundred voices shouted the name of Cayugas.
“I knew it!” exclaimed the chief, “there is but one such a people with a red skin; my warriors are keen-sighted; they cannot be mistaken. Now, we Comanches never take the scalp of a Cayuga any more than that of a hedge-hog; we kick them out of our way when they cross our path; that’s all. Hear me my braves, and believe me, though I will speak strange words: these reptiles have thought that because we have not killed them as toads and scorpions, it was because we were afraid of their poison. ”

“ The Cayugas were, before that expedition, a powerful tribe, about whom little or nothing had ever been written or known. In their customs and manners of living they resemble in every way the Club Indians of the Colorado, who were destroyed by the small-pox. They led a wandering prairie life, but generally were too cowardly to fight well, and too inexpert in hunting to surround themselves with comforts, even in the midst of plenty. Like the Clubs, they are cannibals, though, I suspect, they would not eat a white man. ”

“ Three days from that time came many Indians, by his order, with offerings of shawls, deer-skins, and two cowhides: they stated that at the distance of five or six leagues towards the north were many cattle, where the country, being cold, was thinly inhabited; and that, to the best of their knowledge, the province that was better provisioned than any other, and more populous, was one to the south, called Cayas. ”