California Here We Come!

In the winter of 1840-41 the state of Missouri was experiencing hard times.  Farm prices had fallen, putting farmers deep in debt, and cholera was running rampart.  In the midst of the dark days, hope came from the West, in the promise of a place called California. 

In May of 1841,  a young school teacher and farmer by the name of John Bidwell, arrived at Sapling Grove to meet up with a wagon train going west to California.  Only 69 men, women and children made up the final train, which became the Bidwell-Bartleson party (Bartleson was the captain).

The party by all rights should never have made it to California as both men knew next to nothing about the wilderness and even less than that about guiding a wagon train through unknown country.  (this was prior to any Oregon Trail being blazed)  Luck was with them at first - shortly out of Sapling Grove they met up with a group of Jesuits with Father De Smet.  Wilderness savvy Tom Fitzpatrick lead the group.  As far as Soda Springs on the Bear River (Idaho) they relied on his expertise.  There they decided to part with the Jesuit half heading for Oregon, and the Bidwell-Bartleson half heading to California.

The California bound pioneer headed for Great Salt Lake in August with dwindling supplies.  Two riders were dispatched to Fort Hall on the Oregon Trail for a guide since they were uncertain of a route to take.  The two men came back empty-handed and no wiser.  "Generally just veer westward, neither too far north where you'd be lost in the maze of canyons, or too far south here you'd be lost in the desert."

So the party abandoned their wagons one by one as the 34 pioneer traveled through the Great Salt Lake Desert to the Humboldt River (Nevada) and followed that until it sank underground.  Game was scarce so they slaughtered their oxen to keep from starving.

By mid-October they reached the foothills of the Sierras.  Trudging over the mountains by sheer determination, they entered California's Joaquin Valley on October 29.  Their journey across land which no wagon had traveled became the California Trail and was a true miracle of luck and fortitude.  Their success gave hope to thousands to come.

Next time...The infamous Donner Party
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On This Day in Pioneer History: "On March 2, 1807, Congress abolishes the African slave trade, "to prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within jurisdiction of the United States from any foreign kingdom, place or country."

Jesuits Among the Indians

In the spring of 1841, six black-robed Jesuits left Westport, Missouri, with a westbound fur caravan.  The leader was a burly Belgian-born, Pierre de Smet.  He had spent a year in the Rockies and was returning by invitation from the Flathead Indians to establish a mission.  The first mission in Bitterroot Valley was a success from the start.  The Indians were eager students.

When they set off on their late fall buffalo hunt, the Flathead wanted a "Black Robe" to accompany them to continue religious instruction.  Father Nicholas Point was chosen and for five months he stayed with them on the trail in winter camp, living their life and sharing their hardship.  Point, an artist of sorts, kept a pictorial record of his experiences.  In all, he spent six years with the Flathead, making numerous converts.  Point regarded them as "modest, frank, courageous, good and generous."

Jovial De Smet had equal success, and by 1847 there were three Jesuit missions in Oregon Country.  The Jesuit success, contrasted sharply with that of the Protestants.  It might have been the colorful Catholic symbolism that appealed to the Indians, or it may have been that the Jesuits were better trained.  They were not there to colonize, so were more sympathetic to the people.  Whatever the reason De Smet and his Jesuit priests were a welcome addition to the Oregon Flathead for a time.

Next time...America's First Mobile Home
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson becomes the first American president to experience an assassination attempt. Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Jackson as he left a congressional funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol building and shot at him, but his gun misfired. A furious 67-year-old Jackson confronted his attacker, clubbing Lawrence several times with his walking cane.

Father DeSmet

April 30, 1840.  The Walker family packed their belongings into two lightweight wagons and set off for the West. They traveled for awhile with Father Pierre Jean DeSmet,  a Jesuit priest who by the time his life was ver would have traveled 125,000 miles in the interest of the Indian of the Rockies and Western Plains.

Kit Carson spoke of DeSmet  "I can say of him that if ever a man was good he is one...I am confident that his share of glory and happiness in the next world will be great."

 Next time...Rules of the Trail

In the Black Hills of Dakota...

In the Black Hills of Dakota there lived a young boy named Rocky Racoon....oops that isn't right :)

The "Gold Rush" of the Black Hills of Dakota is a different story altogether from those of California and Nevada. Set in Sioux Indian territory, it was a secret that lasted an entire generation.

Back in 1848, Father DeSmet warned the Sioux that if the "white man found out about the yellow metal" in the Black Hills, the Indians would "lose their hunting grounds".  Six years later, Sir Gore (famed and wealthy British hunter) discovered that same yellow metal.  Since Gore was already rich and much more interested in hunting game than gold, he remembered the warning of gold discovery sacrificing his sacred hunting grounds.   So he simply gathered his expedition together and left before it became an issue with his men, taking the secret of the Black Hills gold with him back to merry 'ole England.

During the 1850s and 60s small frontier groups of settlers were successful in finding sizable quantities of gold in the Black Hills but for some reason not found in any other gold rush history, the secret carried only a few miles - leaving Dakota's Sioux annd the Great Manitou alone for over 20 years.

The US Government actually signed a treaty that declared the Black Hills holy and sacred land to the Indian tribes forever...sigh. Why is history full of treaties like this that no one ever meant? 

Next time...the secret gets out and the government plays dumb once again.