He told us Wilson had traveled as long as he was able, and begged his
companions to leave him there alone to die. He told the chief he had
no complaint to make of his fellows. We mention the incident to show
that the beautiful trait of unselfishness has a place even among
Indians. The old chief could easily have buried the body near his
mountain home without bearing it the long distance to be near the
road, where the grave could be seen by his friends. He might have
used an old blanket instead of the costly dressed robe the Indian
prized so highly. Here we found a savage who, like the Flatheads, had
heard of "the white man's book of heaven," had practically caught
its unselfishness and humanity, and its spirit of love.
It is well to remember that the Indian has no literature, and has
ever been dependent upon his enemies to write his history and his
achievements. They have chosen to write only of his savagery. This is
not fair treatment by the United States government, incited by
justice, and the wholesome Christian sentiments of the land has
during the past thirty years done much to correct all abuses of its
savage wards.
CHAPTER III
_The Effect of the Banquet Speech. How it Stirred Christian
People. The American Board Acts. Drs. Parker and Whitman Go on a
Voyage of Discovery. His Indian Boys. His Marriage and Journey
through Savage Lands to Oregon._
The Indian oration at the St. Louis banquet was translated by a young
man present, William Walker, who was an Indian chief, but a white
man, and it was first published some months later in "The Christian
Advocate" in New York, with a ringing editorial from its editor, Rev.
Dr. Fiske, headed, "Who will Carry the Book of Life to the Indians of
Oregon?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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