Tent of Many Voices: M08130503TMB

well good afternoon everyone and welcome to the tent of many voices the tent of many voices is part of the core of Discovery 2 traveling Lewis and Clark exhibit this is a multi- agency exhibit with the National Park Service being the lead agency it's been on the road since January of 2003 will continue to travel through 2006 during the four years of the B Centennial on that lisis and Clark expedition and what we do here in the Ten of many voices is we bring in a wide variety of presenters to share with us both different aspects of that Lewis and Clark expedition its history and its Legacy and that's what we're going to learn a little bit about this afternoon is some of the legacy of that Lewis and Clark EXP Edition we have with us Dr hope Benedict and she is a historian of Western history she's a local here in salmon and is going to share with us some of the repercussions of the lose and Clark Expedition for the lmh high Shon so let's give her a warm welcome here to the tenam mini voices thank you very much I know some of you of course were expecting Rosina George but because of the tragedy in her family in the last few days she was not able to be here and I was called approximately an hour ago and asked to fill in so here I am my I was born in lumai County as we're my parents and grandparents so I have a long history here and then in order to not have to go very far away from home to do dissertation research I decided to write my dissertation on lmh high County primarily on the for of Community Based on mining and ranching but an aspect of my research was also focused on the LM High sh Shoni so my spee my talk is entitled The repercussions of a Lewis and Clark Trek for the lmh high Indians it whistled a minute ago made me nervous okay the repercussions of the lisis and Clark Trek for the lhai Indians for the lumai show shony tribe the the return of sakaja in the company of the core of Discovery in August of 185 may be the most renowned aspect of their history but it is only a short segment of their long tenure and their continued presence in what is now the lmh High Valley of East Central Idaho forced removal to the Fort Hall reservation in 197 ended the lmh high's continuous habitation but not the connection to their ancestral Homeland commemoration of a Lewis and Clark B Centennial has invigorated recent lamh High efforts to return and some members of the tribe currently seek the creation of a new lmh high reservation others have worked assiduously with the lmh high County Lewis and Clark committee to create this exemplary Educational Center known as the sakya interpretive Center which we are all pleased to be in today 200 years after the Lewis and Clark Journey set in motion the process that led to the Lumis removal the commemoration of that same Trek could prove or provide the opportunity for their return the available recorded history of the lhis stems primarily from their recurring interaction with the Caucasians beginning with the arrival of Lewis and Clark as you are all well aware their dealings with these groups demonstrate a people interested primarily in peace and with a strong desire and determination to remain in their traditional Homeland from the late 18th century sakas people a group of approximately 400 to 500 spent the spring and summer in the Lum high and salmon river valleys calling themselves aadea or salmon eaters the Lumis relied on the seasonal salmon runs to provide their primary food source for the rest of the year they coalesced with other tribes or sometimes moved in smaller family groups through traditional migratory regions hunting Buffalo or gathering cam but by the second half of the 19th century the lmh high band of the show shony circumscribed by increasing intertribal Warfare White incursions and The Disappearing Buffalo spent the majority of the year in their lmh High encampment always a part of their traditional territory by 1860 this Valley had become their primary home once the core left for the Pacific Ocean the lmai Shoni so Shoni excuse me apparently encountered few other whites until the founding of the Salmon River Mission In 1855 depleted sources of beaver pelts did move a few fur Trappers and Traders into their area during the 1820s and the early 1830s but with minimal effect on the population as a whole the Mormons however were the harbingers of change for the lmis after establishing themselves in the heartland of the Great Basin the latter day Saints initiated the settlement of a protective ring of communities which could also serve as potential markets and convenient outposts for Traders and missionaries in May of 1855 Brigham Young sent 27 men North from Salt Lake into the region of the salmon and lmh high rivers to begin the process in that region among the six such settlements established in 1855 the Salmon River Mission had specific goals Paramount among them according to the directives issued by Young was to quote settle among the buffalo hunting Flathead banic or Shoni Indians end of quote or to get as close to them as tribal leadership would allow their prescribed duties included teaching the tribes the quote Arts of civilization end of quote such as Agriculture and peaceful association with other tribes and Caucasians receiving permission from the tribe to settle in the valley the missionaries began construction near the camping site of Lewis and Clark on the lmh high river and in what was essentially the summer home of the Shoni this area was also used of course as you know by the banck and by the NES Pur as they either pass through or use the region for fishing most historians familiar with this period in Mormon and lmh high history contend that the indigenous population seemed fairly content with this arrangement between the missionaries and the tribe asking only that the missionaries not kill game or catch fish for commercial purposes agreeing to those conditions the Mormons dug irrigation ditches planted crops built a Corral a mud fort and 13 cabins inside the fort walls they eventually added another 13 cabins a blacksmith shop Sawmill and they dug a well it was in essence of course becoming a community in a friendly gesture the IND indan tribes introduced the Mormons to the enormity of the salmon runs in the lmh high and salmon Rivers promises not withstanding the fish seemed so plentiful that the LDS could not resist the temptation to ship smoked salmon to Salt Lake that first summer they sent eight wagon loads within two years the missionaries had also developed an active trade with Fort Hall to the South and with Fort Owen in the Bitterroot Valley of the Montana territory by 1857 the mission had expanded to over 100 people in fact Brigham Young was so impressed with the mission that he visited the lmh High Valley with a large Entourage and encourag closer relations with the lmis themselves he also at that point offered to buy Fort Hall on his return trip with the Mormons increasing numbers the arrival of 200 head of cattle continued shipping of salmon to Utah extensive cutting of Timber for increasing fences and also of course for cabins and the apparent development of a permanent permanent Mormon settlement worried the indigenous population in addition LDS attempts to practice trade and diplomacy among the various tribes within the region without understanding the intertribal relations backfired on them during the last months of the mission the three tribes within the region at the time experienced a period of hostility that was exacerbated by well-intended mentioned Mormon interference rather than fostering peace they returned their incurred their wrath and distrust simultaneously the deterioration in relations between the United States government and the Mormon state of Deseret affected the trust and trade between the LH High Mormons and also the Mountaineers and Traders within the region suffice it to say the situation proved untenable for the LDS mission by February of 1858 bringham Young facing difficulties of his own determined that the Salmon River Mission should immediately be abandoned he sent 150 men to rescue those at the lmh high Outpost in March thus ending the first White Settlement in the area it is difficult to assess the effect of the Mormon mission on the lmis perhaps the lmis gained insight into the Diplomatic practices of whites perhaps they learned to distrust promises made but it would be unfair to say that the entire episode was negative the missionaries willingly and generously shared their provisions and crops with the lhis and it seems their intentions at developing a peaceful Association were genuine if at times misguided the Mormon Fort did have one obvious result and that remains True to this day and probably the most obvious for all of us here officially known as the Salmon River Mission when established the missionaries called the fort limhi Li mhi after an ancient Indian ch Chief who appears in the Book of Mormon the Mormons applied the name to the river near which they built their Fort to the mountain range and the entire region this appalation proved the most lasting feature of the Salmon River mission for although the spelling was eventually changed to LHI L mhi the next white settlers kept the Mormons n nomenclature the term is now generally applied to saguia people to differentiate them from the Shoni and banic of Fort Hall for the next 8 years after the LDS left and abandoned the mission the lhis again enjoyed relative isolation although this area has often been and usually was a Crossroads for people traveling through to different gold regions particularly in the early 1860s the discovery of gold in the mountains above the Salmon River however ensured change although population numbers varied during the first few years from 1,000 to 2,000 and of course it times rumored to be as high as 10,000 although that number was never reached the evolution of a core population of miners ranchers and service providers had a significant impact on the lmh high's living conditions and set the stage for their eventual removal one of the first and most painful problems arose from the lmh high's dependence on salmon in the first newspaper in 1867 the difficulties were chronicled miners supplemented their prospecting incomes incomes by setting up fish wear effectively cutting off the fish from the lmis in the June 20th 1867 issue of the local paper the semiweekly mining news the editor reported a disturbance at a lake 15 mi from salmon City evidently one of the tribal members had removed a San in an effort to improve their chances at catching salmon the sa's owner reported that it had been found at the Indians camp and that when it its return was demanded one of the Indian men drew a gun he was shot without further conversation the final line of the article pointed to the outcome of future disagreements quote as we have no officers in this section of the country no notice has been taken of the affair end of quote the claim of no legal recourse however appears patently untrue as there was reference in the same paper to Legal actions taken by judge batty and in the August issue officers of the law were mentioned apparently Justice dependent at that point on the identity of the victim ranching two in many ways restricted the movements of the lhis and effectively curtail their usual patterns of gathering food and hunting between 1868 and 1871 federal agents forced the lmis to seed their claims to the salmon and lmh high river valleys and move them onto a provisional Reserve near the lhai river efforts then began to remove the high from the region all together first to the crow agency in Montana and when that failed to the recently established Shon banic Reserve at Fort Hall most of these efforts came from outside pressure particularly of course from the federal government in their attempts at trying to sustain uh the reserve Chief tendoy who had led the lmh high since 1863 struggled to maintain a peaceful relationship between his band and the growing White Community he managed to resist remove from the area for decades when tendoy and the lmis first refused to leave federal agents offered him as though it were Theirs to give the position of Chief at Fort Hall they asked in this of course as an enticement tendoy declined the offer at this juncture the superintendent of Indian Affairs requested on their behalf a 55 a $5,000 rather sorry appropriation for farming equipment the federal government however argued that maintenance of this Reserve was simply to EXP ensive the lmis had to go $25,000 was allocated to convince them that leaving was the best plan the lhis again refused this inducement in 1874 Colonel George L shup one of the first Caucasian Settlers of Lum High County between 1866 and 1867 and eventually Idaho's last territorial Governor First State Governor and one of its first US senators he was very busy interceded on behalf of the Lis arguing that the lmis served as a barrier between white settlers and as he said in his letter quote other Indians who were not good end of quote shup asked that tendoy and the approximately 450 lhis be granted a permanent Reserve within the bounds of their Homeland John Haley Idaho's territorial delegate to Congress responded with the surprise he said you must certainly have a much better set of Indians than we have in my county or you would be anxious to get ready of them end of quote again along the same lines of what Gary Molton said the other night it's difficult to read some of these things because you don't know whether to judge them from the time or from our own despite his misgivings Haley advocated their cause and President Grant established the lmh high Reserve by executive order on February 12th 1875 although Chief tendoy effectively restrained his band from joining in the nesp pur banic and sheer conflicts of the later 1870s while managing to elay the misplaced fear and hysteria of the white population the federal government continued its efforts to remove his people from their home by 1880 the pressure was so intense that tendoy took action and I think this is a very important point to note because he was obviously one of the best diplomats of his time with the assistance of Colonel shup and several other local business and political leaders tendoy and a number of his headmen traveled by train to Washington DC to discuss their situation in lumai Valley the outcome of the meeting was a treaty stating that the lmis would leave the lmh high reserve for Fort Hall but tendo reforced government acquiescence to a critical provision removal would occur only when a majority of all the adult males agreed to leave the LM High reservation however had never proved adequate for the maintenance of the lmh high population insufficient land game diminishing numbers of fish and inadequate farming conditions only 2700 Acres of the 160 square mile Reserve were irrigable kept the LM High impoverished forced to accept rations in order to survive in the limhi valley the lhis found themselves at the mercy of reservation policy and the Indian agents determined to enforce it agents withheld rations to force the lhis to Adept adopt white dress and religion they withheld rations to force School attendance they withheld rations to ensure peaceful behavior and some of the more unscrupulous sold supplies intended for the lmiv to local settlers surprisingly however only a few acts of vandalism were perpetrated by the lmis against reservation policy burning down a fence here and there uh it was minimal despite the best efforts of shup and his associates little was done to alleviate the deteran conditions to alleviate the deteriorating conditions on the reserve deprivation led to discontent and on December 5th 195 the lmis decided that in order to survive they would have to leave during a meeting with inspector James mlin of the Department of the Interior the Lumis were informed that the government intended to discontinue all assistance furthermore he told them that if they refused to accept those lands set aside for them at Fort Hall in the 1880 agreement they would lose all claim to that in response tendoy addressed the Gathering he reminded those present that he had always kept his promises that he had tried to live a good life he pointed to the agreement he had made in 1880 the lmh high Herald another local paper recorded his comments quote now I am an old man and my friends are all gone shup is gone and mcferson who was a local businessman gone away now we have none to advise us before I die I want to see my people provided for and fulfill the promise I made to the government end of quote he then explained that that the declining numbers of Fish and Game would ensure starvation and that Fort Hall was their only hope of survival when he finished there was no immediate dissension from the headmen although many of them later regretted their decision and some resented tendoy for his role in 197 June of 197 the remaining 474 lmis left for Fort Hall they didn't all leave of course at the same time it took several years for the Indians to remove completely tendoy however was not among them after fighting so long and so hard albeit peacefully to remain in the lmh High Valley Chief tendoy died 1 month earlier than the June 7th departure on May 9th 197 along the banks of the lmh High River when I say they were removed it's important I think here to note that they were not removed completely from their home to conclude that they were forced to leave and never return would be erroneous they still returned of course to this area year after year they had an encampment as you know uh many of you know of course who were from here uh near the outskirts of town they also attended schools here and of course um many members of the tribe continue to make a very strong presence here into the 70s and 80s and now with the efforts made here into the '90s and certainly into the 21st century I had a couple of um quotes that I'd like to read to you uh from the newspapers when they did leave which I think is a very important thing to understand about their role in the local community within the county the removal of the lmis to Fort Hall sparked a divided reaction among the other residents of Lum High County the Lum High Herald reflected the myriad responses quote the removal of almh high Indians will affect the county and its people in many ways their presence has resulted in the distribution annually of $40,000 to $50,000 a year which will be cut off without much chance of compensatory relief indeed it is hard to figure out a plan by which the reservation will be able to produce so much in private hands there are some who contend that the departure of the lmis from these accustom haunts means an opportunity for some of the adj adjacent Cattlemen whose herds have been depleted by the marauding thieving Savage and others contend that the move will work a great hardship upon certain whites who have been actually doing the stealing and using the Indian for a kind of convenient scapegoat to settle the blame upon But whichever is which and whatever is what the noble red man will be greatly missed and he will have many friends here who will always wish him good fortune end of quote asserting that the removal to LM to Fort Hall was certainly a good one for the lmh high the editor of the lmh high Herald for all for all his apparent compassion must have missed their Exodus in 1989 one of the members of the tribe a granddaughter of one of those removed to Fort Hall in 197 recounted recounted her grandmother's description of their moo quote she says their Tre when they were moved here Fort Hall she says was a pain a pain it's a pain that they talk about about their voice you can tell they were hurt my grandmother says that when they were traveling she says there was child birth and she says several stillborns several babies that had died she says it was sad to leave your home and so she says when they were forced to move it was a terrifying experience it was sad to see all this area here Fort Hall she said it was mainly Sagebrush and constantly winds winds all the time she says but they had no choice end of quote Nora yurian Whitwell one of the wi wies of the earliest families in the area noted quote they trailed out through the valley with their families and pack horses dragging their Wiki Up hes they were weeping as they went the ranchers along the way could hear their crying for some distance before they passed their homes the ranchers were near to tears and some did cry end of quote now that was much briefer probably than you were expecting but on an hour's notice and on behalf of the George family this was the length that I was able to prepare if you have any questions I will attempt to answer them and thank you for your patience at hearing somebody other than the one you were expecting all right if anybody has any questions for let give a round of applause thank you if anybody has questions for Dr Benedict please let me bring the microphone around so everybody can hear them we'll start right here so you mentioned the spell in change but you didn't say why do you have a idea was it uh animosity towards the Mormons was it uh for somebody forgot to dot the I and it turned into an e i I don't think it had anything foret sorry I always think I talk so loudly that I probably don't need this I I closer to anything would probably be forgetting to dot the eye and not being able to read some of those late 19th century documents also of course if you are familiar with anything written LS and Clark journals for instance and the spelling in the Lewis and Clark journals a word could be spelled five different ways on the same page and I think L mhi is just the one that they used most frequently just as a just as a mistake all right did anyone else have any questions all right let me bring the microphone up here before the move where were they where had they settled what area down here in the valley were they settled in before who had moved the lmis in fact had used of course this whole region but one of their primary and most important encampments was on the lmh high near where Lewis and Clark had been because it was one of the best fishing areas during the summer season but they used the entire area and of course they were located in Nevada and Wyoming and Southern Idaho and Nevada and so forth so this was all part of a migratory region while they gathered food Camas and so forth but then settling eventually in this region for many of the reasons that I mentioned all right did we have some more questions all right all right over here we'll get this one and then we'll go on over there I don't have a question I just wanted to acknowledge that uh some of the descendants of Chief tiendo or here today with a demonstration down at in the park uh the the granddaughter and the great oh the great granddaughter and the great great grandsons excellent what time what time is that maybe you could tell everyone what time they're all day they're there at this point all day they're all day down in the uh where you walk around they have a some TPS and display down there great in conjunction with his comment I would like to encourage all of you who have not already been there to visit the lmh high County Historical Museum we have one of the largest displays of lmh high Shoni artifacts that you could see anywhere and we also have a great deal of information and artifacts from the general history of lamh high County okay we got another question over here let me bring the mic to you I was just wondering are there any Indian burial grounds around this area and the chief that you referred to that died along the river is he buried somewhere here yes he is buried here and there is um a monument at Chief tendo's grave and it is on the back LM High about what 25 miles from town and other burial sites there are some on the well we call it the bar here but that would be on the bench beh on the other side of the samon river but they are not designated um or you won't be able to find them but they are there are burial grounds there and then all over valley all right do we have any other questions for Dr Benedict all right once again let's please uh give uh her a warm thank you for joining us here and thank you for coming in such a short notice and filling in remember folks we do have uh programs here