Part 9 (2/2)

Just as the Indians went into camp on the night of August 23d, their first day in the Park, they captured one s.h.i.+vely who was on his way to Montana from the Black Hills. As s.h.i.+vely professed to know the country, which the Nez Perces had never seen before, they impressed him into their service as guide. He was with them thirteen days and claims to have served them faithfully, as well as to have received fair treatment from them. At any rate he won their confidence by his behavior, and was watched so carelessly that he escaped one dark night just as the Indians were crossing the north-east boundary of the Park.

As soon as the command at Henry Lake had become recuperated, the pursuit was vigorously resumed. Howard followed in the track of the Indians as far as to the ford of the Yellowstone; but instead of crossing at this point, he descended the river by the left bank to the site of Baronett's celebrated first bridge over the Yellowstone.

From the Lower Geyser Basin to this bridge a road had to be opened for the wagons. It was a prodigious undertaking, but was performed with astonis.h.i.+ng rapidity under the direction of Capt. W. F. Spurgin, Twenty-first Infantry. The bridge was found partially destroyed by the Indians and had to be repaired, after which the line of march was continued up the Lamar and Soda b.u.t.te Valleys, and across the divide to the valley of Clark's Fork.

The authorities had been widely warned of the probable route of the Indians and were lying in wait to intercept them. Gen. Sturgis expected to do this as they emerged from the Absaroka Mountains; but unfortunately he stationed himself in the wrong pa.s.s and left the one which the Indians took unguarded. By this loss of time he fell in behind both the Indians and Howard, who was now in close pursuit. The Indians crossed the Yellowstone September 12th. Here Sturgis overtook them with a company of cavalry and a slight conflict ensued. The Indians then struck north, apparently for the British line. On September 23d they crossed the Missouri at Cow Island and resumed their march north. But they were intercepted by Gen. Miles in the Bear Paw Mountains and a severe fight followed, at the northern base of the range on Snake Creek, less than thirty miles from the boundary. The Indians were utterly defeated and Looking Gla.s.s was killed. Most of the survivors surrendered unconditionally and the rest escaped across the line. This was on October 5, 1877.

Since the first outbreak, June 13th, three months and twenty-two days had elapsed. The flight and pursuit had extended over 1,500 miles.

There had been no fewer than fifteen engagements. The whites had lost 6 officers and 121 soldiers and citizens killed, and 13 officers and 127 soldiers and citizens wounded. A large part of the Indian losses could never be ascertained, but their known losses were 151 killed, 88 wounded and 489 captured.

This celebrated campaign is well intended to elicit the fullest sympathy for the unfortunate Nez Perces. A vast deal of sentiment has been wasted upon the cause of the red man. Opinions have ranged from the extreme views of Catlin, who could see no wrong in the Indian, to those of the rabid frontiersman whose creed was ”no good Indian but a dead one.” But, if there ever was a case where sympathy might well incline to the side of the Indian, it is the one under consideration.

The Nez Perces had always been friendly to the whites, and it was their boast that they had never slain a white man. They were intelligent, brave, and humane. In this campaign they bought supplies which they might have confiscated; they saved property which they might have destroyed; they spared hundreds of lives which other Indians would have sacrificed. If some of the more lawless element committed various outrages, they might justly reply that the whites had fired into their tents where their women and children were sleeping. In short, their conduct in this campaign places them in all respects vastly nearer the standard of civilized people than any other of the native tribes of the continent.

In estimating the causes that led to the war, history can not fail to establish that the Indians were in the right. It was a last desperate stand against the inevitable destiny which was robbing the Indian of his empire; a final protest against the intolerable encroachments of the pale face. In defense of this principle, the Nez Perces staked their all on a single throw. They lost, and were irretrievably ruined.

They were transported to a distant territory, and the land of their fathers they saw no more.[AS]

[AS] After the surrender, Joseph and a few of his followers were sent to Fort Leavenworth, where they remained until July, 1878, when they were taken to the Indian Territory. After languis.h.i.+ng here for seven years, they were established on the Colville Reservation in Was.h.i.+ngton.

The campaign of 1877 was the only one in which tourists of the National Park were ever subjected to serious danger from the Indians.

It has left its mark indelibly upon the Park. ”Nez Perce Creek” will always remind the traveler of the terrible danger in which another party of tourists was once placed upon the borders of that stream.

”Howard's Trail” will not soon be effaced from the forests and mountains where Captain Spurgin, with brilliant expedition, built the first pa.s.sable highway through that tangled wilderness.

In 1878, there was a slight alarm in the Park caused by an ephemeral raid of the Bannock Indians; but, beyond the loss of a few horses, no damage was done.

CHAPTER XIV.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE PARK.

The Act of Dedication of the Yellowstone National Park indicates in clear terms the purposes for which it was created. These are:

(1.) The preservation of its natural curiosities, its forests, and its game.

(2.) The reservation of its territory from private occupancy so that it may remain in unrestricted freedom ”for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

(3.) The granting of such leases and other privileges as may be necessary for the comfort and convenience of visitors.

One grave omission in the original act, and the long-continued failure of Congress to remedy it by subsequent legislation, in a large degree nullified these important purposes. Strange as it may seem, for twenty-two years, or until the spring of 1894, there was no law defining offenses in the Park or providing a penalty for their commission. Wanton vandalism, destruction of game, or burning of forests, could be visited with no heavier punishment than ejection from the Park and confiscation of ”outfit.” In the reports of every Superintendent, for more than a score of years, this condition of affairs was brought to the attention of Congress. Meanwhile there were experienced all the evils of a license which at times was wholly unchecked and which has never until very recently been under proper control.

This long-standing misfortune was aggravated by another scarcely less serious--the failure of Congress for several years to appropriate funds for the protection and improvement of the Park. For this failure, however, no one can justly be held faultily responsible. The promoters of the Park project had based extravagant expectations upon the results to be derived from leases. They believed that the revenue from this source would amply cover the expense of opening the necessary highways and providing a proper police force. They did not make due allowance, for the fact that there was at that time no railroad within 500 miles; that the new reservation was an almost impa.s.sable wilderness, and that the construction of roads and bridges must necessarily precede any profitable tourist business. Neither do they seem to have realized that these leases could not, in the nature of things, yield a revenue commensurate with the work of opening up so wild and extensive a country. The argument of self-support was a mistaken one. It did an important work, however, for it is doubtful if Congress would have created this reservation had it not believed that no additional public burden was to be incurred thereby.

The subsequent results of this erroneous impression were in every way unfortunate. It was several years (1872 to 1878) before any money was appropriated for the Park, which, in the meanwhile, was left wholly without means for its improvement and protection. The Secretary of the Interior might indeed publish rules and regulations for its government, but they could avail but little so long as there was no authority to carry them into execution. In fact, the only valuable result of the creation of the Park during these years was the exclusion of settlers from its territory.

Shortly after the Park was created, the Hon. N. P. Langford was appointed its first Superintendent. The selection was in every sense an admirable one. Mr. Langford had been a member of the famous Washburn Expedition, and an earnest worker in securing the Act of Dedication. He was intimately acquainted with all phases of western life, and was an enthusiast upon the subject of his new charge. But, from the first, his hands were completely tied. No money was ever allowed him for his services, nor for any other form of expenditure in the interests of the Park. He was, therefore, powerless to accomplish effective work. His office, which he held for about five years, was a source of great annoyance to him; for he was frequently, and most unjustly, charged in the public press with the responsibility for a condition of things for which he was in no sense to blame.

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