Klamath Slave Trade 1843
New-York Spectator
Wednesday Evening, December 06, 1843
FROM OREGON
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We have before us a long and interesting letter from a gentleman
belonging to the Methodist mission in Oregon, from which we make the following
extracts:
I am stationed at the Willamette Falls. This is a rather
romantic spot, yet many things conspire to render it rather pleasant than
otherwise. Its advantages for water power are very little, if any, exceeded by
those of Rochester. There are at this place now a cooper's shop, two small
stores established this season, by two Americans, named Briggs. One is to be
permanent, if circumstances will justify. It is established by Mr. Cushion, of
Newburyport, Mass. I understand he takes a deep interest in the affairs of
Oregon. We have two mission buildings.
A saw mill is raised, and a flouring mill is in contemplation by a milling
company, formed in the country for the purpose of improvement. The Hudson Bay
Company have two houses for their convenience. So that we have quite a
village.
What of the climate, water, soil, timber - in a word, advantages and
disadvantages of Oregon, and what encouragement does the country hold out to
emigrants? The climate is mild, the Summers generally fine, though in the
middle of the day rather warm. The nights are cool, and very little rain in
Summer. This Summer, however, we have been favored with some rain; it has been
difficult to secure the harvest; not much, however will be lost. this is a
prolific season here; crops are very good.
There will probably be fifty or more thousand bushels of produce in the
country this year. Last year the Hudson Bay Company shipped, probably, 20,000
bushels for the Russian dominions and other places, at sixty cents per bushel.
The Winters are generally rainy, though there is some pleasant weather,
sometimes a little snow. Cattle, however, keep fat all Winter, without
feddering. This is destined to be one of the best grazing coutries in the
world. There are now large herds of cattle here, and more are annually being
driven from California. Beef and pork are becoming abundant. Beef 5 to 6 cents
per pound, pork 7 to 10 cents, wheat 60 cents to $1, peas about the same; corn
is scarce, $1 to 1.50 per bushel. Garden vegetables are also raised. Horses
are numerous. I know of no country where there are so many cattle and horses
for the population as in Oregon. Some Indians are said to own one hundred and
fifty head of horses.
This Summer there have been six or seven droves by my house to the settlement,
to exchange for cattle. These are mostly from the upper country. These Indians
will soon be rich in cattle, &c. There are domestic animals, such as I
have already mentioned, and cats, dogs, and hens; no tame geese, or very few,
though there are thousands wild; also the swan, bald and gray eagle, vulture,
buzzard, the crow of different kinds, fish-hawk, hen-hawk, pigeon-hawk, owl,
black bird, robin, wren, and various kinds of other birds; some of which I
have never seen in the states. We have the elk, deer, bear, panther, fox,
raccoon, wild cat, wolf, squirrels of different kinds, rats, [bushy tail]
mice, moles, beaver, otter, muskrat, mink, weasel, snakes, rattle snakes in
some places, adder, lizards, and creeping and flying locusts of various kinds
and colors. Water is abundant and good.
The streams are generally clear as crystal; some, which rise in the mountains
of perpetual snow, are cold all Summer. There are several snow mountains in
view from almost every point, and greatly, in my opinion, add to the beauty
and grandeaur of the country. The soil is generally good, some dark loam mixed
with clay, some sandy, gavelly, red soil; all produce very well so far as they
have been tried. Wheat is sowed here after wheat from year to year. One man,
it is said, has raised seven or eight crops of wheat in succession from the
same ground, and the last is said to have been the best, and all were good. It
is frequently the case, that when wheat shells considerably in harvesting,
what falls is left on the ground and the next season a good crop is realized.
I know of no country where a man can make a farm easier than in Oregon, or
where he can live easier.
Mills are rather scarce, though the prospect is increasingly favorable. There
are no regularly laid out roads; the general mode of traveling is on
horseback, or by canoes. The prospect of commercial intercourse with the
Sandwich and China is good. The Sandwich Islands are destined to be to the
Western world, what the West Indies are to the United States. We obtain sugar
and molasses from these, nearly, or quite as cheap as they can be afforded in
the States. It is only about sixty days' sail to China, and fifteen or twenty
to the Islands.
SLAVERY
This has existed from time immemorial. The stronger tribes make war on the
weaker, take prisoners, and enslave them. These are frequently taken to other
parts of the country, and sold to other tribes. Such has been the case this
week. A large party of the Clamoth tribe, fierce and warlike, from the South,
came in with about twenty slaves, and sold most or all of them. Some, I was
informed, were sold for three horses each, some cheaper. Slaves are not
considered fillicum, that is, people, but as dogs. They do the principal part
of the work and drudgery, and when they die are cast out among the bushes
without burial, and are generally devoured by wild beasts. Hence human bones
are scattered far and wide, and are numerous in some parts of the country.
Slaves generally are as well or better clad than their masters, and as to food
fare equally well; but the epithetelita-slave-is fixed upon them, never or
seldom to be removed. In some instances they obtain their freedom. Many of the
settlers, both French and American, buy and sell slaves. By these most of the
work of the farmer is done. Will not some government notice this? Are not the
laws of the Union strict on the subject of enslaving Indians?
OF THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEAD
This differs in different tribes. Those amoung whom I labor, invariably bury
the head to the East. If they can be procured, the body is snugly wrapped in
two or three new blankets or skins - elk, deer, or buffalo - with a quantity
of beads and other trinkets. They generally bury the same day the individual
dies, unless the death occurs in the afternoon. In such case the body is
placed in the burial place, some distance from the ground, by means of a pole
which is fastened with withes lengthwise of the body; this is placed on other
sticks set up, crossed, and tied near the top. In this situation it remains
till morning, when a grave is dug, in depth to the hips, by women, or slaves,
with sharp sticks and their hands. Latterly, however, they have a hoe and
shovel, so that the body lies about a foot or a little more below the surface,
and is not unfrequently taken out by wild beasts. I saw a grave where a person
had been recently buried, which had been dug open, and the flesh nearly all
torn from the bones; the bones, however, not much disarranged.
I spoke to the Indian whose wife she was, to cover the bones; but he said,
"No make close; it is not good." They are very fearful in reference
to the dead. A few days after, the carcass, I believe, was entirely removed.
The reason they assign for burying in the morning is, that if they bury in the
afternoon another person will soon die. If a person dies at sunrise, they bury
sometimes within an hour, or even half an hour, and no doubt in some instances
bury alive. Brother Frost informed me that at Clatsop's, his station, they
actually did bury one man alive. Though remonstrated with, bury him they
would, and did. At my station we have made boxes for them, when called on, and
directed them to bury deeper.
Other tribes have houses for the dead, and persons appointed to attend to
them. It is said that when the skins become old and tender, in which the
individual is wrapped, they are removed, and the bones placed in new ones. -
Others deposit the dead in canoes on the banks of the river or islands. The
shore of the Columbia river in many places is thickly covered with canoes at
high-water mark. Others place their dead in crotches of trees, while others
bury in a sitting posture. And others formerly, and probably in many cases
yet, burn the dead.
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