Kate and Sue McBeth, Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce

1882

Despite their unhappiness, some exiles settled down to making the best of their situation. A sawmill was furnished them, and a number of houses was built. After delays, some non-treaties received cows, chickens, pigs, and additional horses and cattle. Crops were sown, doing well in some years, but being destroyed by drought in others. Even in exile, the Indians were not spared conflict with whites. A number of nearby ranchers allowed their cattle to graze on the Indians’ land and trample their crops. Some whites rustled their livestock and, although it was illegal to do so, pressured the agent to lease them parts of the Nez Perces’ land, for which the Indians frequently received no pay.

By 1882, Joseph’s efforts began to have results. His persuasive appeals had stirred consciences among people outside of the government and had inspired many influential organizations and individuals in the East to take up his cause. Newspapermen and others visited the exiles, interviewed Joseph, and kept his case before the public. Joseph’s dignity and personal qualities never failed to impress the whites who met him, and the many articles written about him kept letters, telegrams, and appeals flowing into Washington. . . .

In the years immediately prior to the return of the exiles, acculturation proceeded rapidly. Many Nez Perces cut their hair, adopted white men’s clothing, moved into houses, acquired white men’s names, saw that their children attended school and learned to write and speak English, advanced their knowledge of agriculture and mechanical skills, and went to church regularly. At the same time, the missionaries and native Presbyterian church leaders were vexed by the continuing presence and influence of the non-Christians, who still relied on shamans and practiced their old beliefs and customs. Much of the McBeths’ time was spent in condemning the "heathens" and in trying to keep their own flocks from being lured to the non-Christians’ feasts and celebrations, which were accompanied by drumming, dancing, horse-racing, gambling, drinking, and other activities which the missionaries considered pagan, backward, and immoral. The McBeths’ ways irritated the agents, who resented their interference in reservation affairs and complained that they could not control the new aristocracies of native church leaders that the missionaries were creating. (pp. 155, 160-161)