NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
OLLibrary

admitted to a seat. M^r A. G. a man of talents and some experience in public life, having "done the State some service" in other responsible positions, offered his services & was duly elected amidst the opposition of Government officials, the military especially.
     There being no existing provisional government in the Territory to give official evidence to Mr G. of his election, he took with him the Poll Books as prima facia evidence of his election.
     As was feared, he was not admitted to a seat in the House, tho' his election was admitted, yet he did good service "on his own charges" in the character of a "Lobby member." As evidence of this it will be recollected that the Committee on Territories in the House reported a Bill for the organization, which finally passed the House by a vote of 98 to 43!
     Upon the Senate, especially the Chairman of the Com. on Territories (Mr D.) rests the responsibility of its failure in that body. The metes and bounds of the Territory as fixed in the bill, are as follows: The 43 degree of North latitude on the Missouri river, thence running West to the base of the Rocky Mountains--thence South following the meanderings of said base to latitude 36^o 30 minutes, thence East till it intersects the N. W. corner of Arkansas, thence following the Missouri State line North to the place of beginning.
     The bill was so framed as not to violate any of the political or property rights secured to the Indians holding lands in the territory, secured to them by treaty stipulations. A clause in the first section of the Bill provides "that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the Indians in said territory, or to include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory" - The above clause was supposed to be amply sufficient to guard all the rights of the Indiana and to preclude the possibility of any violation of treaty stipulations with the latter.

---

STATEMENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.

[The document of which the following is a copy is in the handwriting of Governor Walker. It is from the archives

of the Wyandot Nation, and is a record of the official views of the Legislative Committee, the highest tribunal of the government. It is a legal document, and was probably handed to the Council of Chiefs during a joint session of the two bodies. As all parties were present it is possible that it was not considered necessary to have the paper signed by the members of the Legislative Committee. While it is not dated, it is evident that it was written during the time when the Wyandots were working for the organization of a Territorial Government for Nebraska. And it would seem that this document conclusively shows that the Government of the Wyandot Nation was then taking part in this movement.
     The paper was given to me by Hon. Allen Johnson, Jr., Head Chief of the Wyandot Nation in the Indian Territory.]

---

     The Legislative Committee previous to adjournment deemed it necessary to make some formal and official expression of its views upon our Indian relations as they now exist, and upon our relation with the United States in the present aspect of affairs.
     First, then, it is well known that for the last hundred years a league has existed between the following tribes, viz: Wyandott, Delaware, Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawottomie, Shawnee and Miami. This League unanimously elected the Wyandott the Keeper of the Council fire, where all diplomatic and other important matters involving the interests of the several tribes composing this league were to be discussed. Whether in peace or War this league maintained a unity of mind and action in all important measures. On the happening of any important event interesting to them, it appears from past history that the Keeper of the Council fire was the member whose duty it was to apprise the members by a confidential runner bearing the official wampum, of the nature of the information received.
     In pursuance of this understanding mutually entered into, the tribes composing this Confederacy naturally looked to the Wyandott for all official information of importance to them. Thus the principles of

this compact were kept up till by the action of the U. S. Gov't the tribes composing this Confederacy removed from the North and East to the west of the Mississippi. This caused some derangement in our intercourse with each other - caused an interruption of the usual interchange of friendly messages. Thus matters continued till the autumn (Oct) of 1848, when the members of the league assembled for the first time in the West and demanded "Where is the Council fire" ? The Keeper promptly responded: "When I rose from my seat in the East with my face to the West, I snatched the only fire brand yet burning in the Council fire and bro't it with me; and here my brethren I rekindle it in the West. Light the pipe and scour up my dish and Camp kettle again." At this first session West, all the former arrangements of the league were solemnly renewed and two other tribes joined us and agreed to incur the responsibilities and abide by the regulations and joint acts of the league, viz: the Kickapoos and Kansas. It is well known the Sacs and Foxes played an unmanly part on this occasion and we have had no explanation.¹ The Wyandott being thus formally re-appointed the Keeper of the Council fire in the West, the obligation still rests upon him to discharge faithfully those obligations he incurred when originally invested with this mark of distinction.
     Second. Our relations with the U. S. Gov't. It would seem from present indications that the present Indian policy is about to undergo an important, and to us emigrant tribes, vital change. Heretofore the general policy has been to purchase the domain of the Red men little by little and confining him to narrower limits with the view, as the Gov't said, of compelling him by the extinction of game, to resort to agricultural and civilized pursuits. This not working well, or rather it was the excuse, the injurious and demoralizing effects of

---

     ¹ This incident is mentioned by Clarke in his "Traditional History of the Wyandotts," page 132.
     "A group of Fox Indians were noticed to be rather reserved and distant at this general Council, and who knew of a certain dark bead belt then in the hands of the Wyandotts with the shape of a tomahawk of a red colour on it, indicating some contemplated warfare whenever it was exhibited in a general Council. They knew, too, of the hostile incursions their forefathers used to make against the Wyandotts and other tribes about Detroit, over a century ago; how they were chastised by them at different times, and that they never made peace with each other.
     "The group of Fox Indians watched the Wyandotts with an eagle eye, and no sooner than they observed the crimson tomahawk exhibited than they were off to their homes an their ponies, followed by wolfish-looking dogs."

being surrounded by a dense white population being so palpable, induced the government again to change the whole policy to that of colonizing the Red race in a new country West, to be assigned them. by the Gov't and to be theirs "as long as, grass grows and water runs." Where they could have their choice of pursuits, either the chase or agricultural and where they and their descendants would be free from the trammels of State or territorial laws, and be governed by their own laws, usages and customs. And in order to this the government threw around the emigrant tribes its strong protecting arm. This change in its policy took place about twenty two years ago. The next and present apprehended change is that of purchasing of us emigrant tribes the lands assigned, or rather sold to us to be our perpetual home. This presents to us a new question. If we submissively fall into this new line of policy, what is to become of us? further west we can not go - nor indeed to any other point of the compass, as the Gov't has no more rich-soiled, timbered and watered territory on this continent to bestow upon the Red man. What are the emigrant tribes to do? In this exigency the Committee would respectfully suggest to the Executive Council the propriety of sending the messenger with the Wampum to the tribes composing the Confederacy and such other tribes as emigrated from the East as we may be upon friendly terms with, apprising them of this apprehended change with a view to a consultation upon the propriety of uncovering the great Council fire, and devising the measures necessary to be adopted in this new case.

---

LETTER FROM GOVERNOR WALKER TO SOME UN-
KNOWN PERSON IN OHIO.

WEST JERSEY¹, NEBRASKA, Jan 19, '54.

DEAR SIR --

     Your letter dated the 4th inst was rec'd yesterday, and although pretty well over run with similar letters, some yet unanswered, yet I

feel bound to give precedence to enquiries from the "Buckeye State." I will endeavor to give you such information in regard to the character of this frontier and this Territory as 1 can command. My travels in the Territory have been chiefly through the Southern portion; therefore, cannot give you much from personal observation in regard to other parts but must rely upon information derived from other sources for a general description.
     Then fancy me Chief Magistrate of this wild and untamed territory, seated upon a bleak boundless prairie, with a furious wind from the mountains whirling snow, leaves, grass &c in circling eddies round my head, with an icicle pendant from my proboscis, as long as a 10d nail, with my saddle on my lap for a writing desk, pouring my warm breath into my pen to thaw the congealing ink - anon thrashing my arms round my body to quicken circulation in my chilled fingers, while my company, composed of Wyandotts Shawnees Delawares and a quadroon Frenchman as Fort man, are attending to our animals. The devil and Phoenix bitters! how can I write in this fix? 0 here's a mitigant. Antoine appor [part of this sentence torn away at this point] ici votre Boutielle de eau de vie et um cruche aussitot. Your good health, Sir. Ahem, Tres bien. Taut mieux. But stop. I forget myself. I am not on an exploring tour, taking notes of observation. Sure enough I'm in my own domicile, at my own comfortable fire side. Yes, I faix, there's M^rs W. seated cosily in her arm chair and the girls one reading the latest Novel (sorry to say it, but 'tis true) and the other gleaning political news from the National Intelligencer and your humble servant at the writing table. My negro domestic enters and announces "the Thermomaker 10^o below Nero." But I'm wandering from the matter on hand - no more digressions episodes &c, but to the point. Nebraska Ter extends to the 43rd parallel of N. lattitude and running S. to the parallel of 36^o

---

old Delaware pay-house, where the Delawares came to receive their annuities from the agents. Governor Walker improved it and built additions to it until it was two stories high and contained ten or twelve large rooms. The building and most of the additions were of logs, but it was weather-boarded, and was a comfortable, roomy, delightful old home. Nothing remains of it now except a few stones of one corner of the foundation. The heavy door which had a square hole cut in it, through which the agent passed out the money to the Delawares, was always retained in use by Governor Walker. It was a rough, rude piece of workmanship, and Mrs. Walker wished to replace it with a more respectable looking one, but the Governor would not suffer this to be done.

6

30'', bounded on the E. by Mo & Iowa and on the west by the spurs of the Rocky Mountains.
     It is a rich champaign country; beautifully undulating. and well watered & generally well supplied with stone and I have no doubt but time will develop large and rich pits of coal. The chief deficiency is the want of good building timber. The timbered lands are confined to the streams. These wending their ways to their points of debouchment are fringed with timber. There are exceptions to this rule. There are some high rolling ridges timbered with a somewhat stunted growth of Bur Oak & Hickory, but these are valueless except for fuel. These immense praries are doubtless produced by the annual conflagrations of the tall grasses, weeds and undergrowth of wild shrubbery, rendering it impossible for a young growth of timber to survive these fearful ravages produced by the brand of the wild and tame incendiary; as often by the latter as the former. This scarcity of timber will always be a drawback - indeed an insurmountable obstacle to a compact settlement. But there are to be found, as will be more abundantly proved, whenever a geological survey shall be made, all the elements provided by the god of nature, to supply these deficiences, such as an abundance of stone for building houses and fences, added for the latter purpose Osage thorn, Stone coal for fuel. There is every variety of soil. The high rolling lands after a crop or two of corn yield fine wheat, Rye and Oats crops. The lower lands for corn, Hemp, Tobacco &c and the soil [is] inexhaustible. There is one important item that I cannot omit mentioning which operates seriously against the durability of the soil, especially in hilly or broken lands. There being the want of substantial clay or marl basis and the upper soil being [of] a light loamy character, the heavy rains peculiar to this country, sweep away, when tilled, the soil to the bottoms, rivers or ravines, presenting in a few years an unseemly sight of sterile knobs, fissures & gutters. This obj does not apply to the slightly undulating or level lands.

37TH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION.

}

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

{

Report No. 67.

ABELARD GUTHRIE.
[To accompany bill H. R. No. 381]

---

Mr. Loomis, from the Committee of Elections, made the following

REPORT.

---

April 3, 1862. - Ordered to be printed.

---

The Committee of Elections, to whom was referred the memorial of Abel-
     ard Guthrie, praying to be allowed mileage and per diem as dele-
     gate from Nebraska to the thirty-second Congress, have had the
     same under consideration and respectfully report:

     On the second Tuesday of October, A. D. 1852, the people of Nebraska, (then an unorganized Territory,) desiring to secure a territorial government, elected the memorialist as their delegate to the thirty-second Congress.
     In pursuance of this election he came to Washington, and on the 17th day of December, 1852, presented his memorial to the House of Representatives, asking to be admitted as a delegate. This memorial was duly referred, and a report was made thereon and ordered to be printed, but no further action was had upon it. But a bill was immediately introduced for the organization of a government for that Territory, which passed the House of Representatives on the 18th day of February, 1853, by a vote 98 yeas to 43 nays. The bill was sent to the Senate, and there received the approval of the Committee on Territories, but as the session terminated on the 4th of March following it failed to become a law, and the memorialist was never admitted as a delegate, nor was any compensation ever allowed him for coming and remaining here for the purposes aforesaid.
     The memorial now under consideration asks for the usual per diem and mileage, as before allowed in similar cases. This claim has long been pending before Congress.
     On the 19th of July, 1856, the Hon. Israel Washburn, as chairman of the Committee of Elections, made a report in favor of the claim, accompanied with a bill granting the memorialist mileage not

to exceed two thousand dollars, and his per diem of five dollars per day from the time of presenting his memorial at the 2d session, 32d Congress, to the close thereof, but no further action was had thereon.
     Your committee find that several claims similar to the one now under consideration have received the sanction of both houses of Congress.
     In 1850 Hugh N. Smith petitioned the House to admit him as delegate from New Mexico, and A. W. Babbitt made application to be admitted as delegate from Utah. To these applications it was objected, among other things, that the Territories which they claimed to represent were unorganized, and that their boundaries had never been defined; and, further, that these gentlemen were appointed by delegates to territorial conventions or assemblies, and not chosen by the people in their primary meetings. The decision of the House was adverse to the claimants, but Congress passed an act to pay them mileage and per diem.
     These cases are similar in principle to that of the memorialist, or, if there be any difference, it is in favor of the latter, as he was designated or elected by the people themselves in their primary assemblies.
     Your committee believe that it was important to have an organized government for Nebraska at the time the people of that Territory sent the memorialist here as their delegate.
     In the years 1849 and 1850 it is estimated that more than one hundred thousand emigrants passed through that Territory on their way to California, Utah, New Mexico, and Oregon.
     The memorialist came here in good faith and with good reason to believe that the Territory would be organized, and he admitted as a delegate. The vote of the House before mentioned recognized in a most emphatic manner the propriety of its organization, and must have made the memoralist feel confident that he would be admitted to his seat as a delegate before the close of the session.
     Your committee, therefore, recommend the passage of the accompanying bill.

---

A.

To the House of Representatives of the United States now in session:

     GENTLEMEN: Your memoralist begs leave to represent to your honorable body that be was elected by the people of Nebraska Territory

as their delegate to the second session of the 32d Congress; that he accepted the trust, came to Washington, presented his credentials and exerted his best abilities to serve his constituents, but was not admitted to a seat in the House, for the reason that there had been no Territorial government for Nebraska established, and therefore the election was unauthorized by law. A bill, however, was immediately introduced into the House for the organization of a government for Nebraska, and passed the House of Representatives, but was lost in the Senate.
     It was confidently believed by the friends of the measure that the bill would pass the Senate, and that I would then be immediately admitted to a seat in the House as delegate, and this confidence continued up to the last day of the session, when it was too late, amidst the general press of business, to take the necessary, steps to obtain an appropriation for my per diem and mileage; and since that time a long and painful illness has made it impossible for me to bring the matter to your notice. I am fully aware that there is no law authorizing payment in such cases, and therefore I throw myself upon the generosity of Congress, as did the delegates from Utah and New Mexico, who came here under similar circumstances, before governments were organized for those Territories, and were paid. And I respectfully ask to be treated with the same liberality.

Very respectfully,          
ABELARD GUTHRIE.

Washington City, D. C., June 14, 1856.

     Personally appeared before me, Thomas J. Williams, a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia and county of Washington, Abelard Guthrie, who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that, in pursuance of public notice, an election was held in the Territory of Nebraska on the second Tuesday of October, 1852, for a delegate to represent the said Territory in the Congress of the United States, and that at the said election he received a majority of all the votes given, and was declared duly elected. That the evidences of his election, consisting of the poll-books and tally-lists of each precinct, or certified copies thereof, were handed, together with a memorial setting forth the

facts of said election and praying to be allowed a seat in Congress, to the Hon. Mr Phelps, of Missouri, to be presented to the House; and that Mr Phelps afterwards told him that he had presented them, which he believes to be the fact, for in subsequent conversations with the Hon. Mr Ashe, then chairman of the Committee of Elections, be alluded to them as being before his committee. The deponent further states that he has caused search to be made for these papers in the office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and they cannot be found. Given under my hand and seal this 2nd day of July, 1856.

THOS. J. WILLIAMS, [L. S.]
Justice of the Peace.

WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., June 30, 1856.

     SIR: I called upon Mr. Buck, who made a search for my papers, but they can nowhere be found. The following is an extract from the journal of the House of Representatives, second session of the thirty-second Congress:

"FRIDAY, December 17, 1852.

     "By Mr Phelps: The petition of Abelard Guthrie, praying to be admitted to a seat in this House as a delegate from the Territory of Nebraska; which was referred to the Committee of Elections."

     This record does not state, as it should have done, that my credentials were with the memorial. The committee to whom they were referred did not, I believe, make a report, for the reason, as I stated in my former letter, that I desired it kept back until the bill organizing the Territory should have passed both houses.
     I was in Washington a short time during the latter part of the winter of 1854, when I memorialized Congress for my pay and per diem, but left soon after, and no action was had upon my application. In the journal of the House of Representatives, first session thirty-third Congress, is the following entry:

"THURSDAY, February 23, 1854.

     "By Mr Edgerton: The memorial of Abelard Guthrie, to be allowed mileage and per diem as delegate from Nebraska Territory.