The Dying Grass, page 162
“The canny ones rub soap or tallow inside their shoes.”—Information from Agnew, p. 122.
Price of cocaine at Lapwai—Erwin N. Thompson, Historic Resource Study: Fort Lapwai, Nez Perce National Historic Park, Idaho (Denver: Denver Service Center Historic Preservation Team, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, July 1973), p. 95. According to the Britannica, 11th ed. 1910), vol. VI (Chatêlet to Constantine), p. 615 (entry on Cocaine), the stuff is “much used in ophthalmic practice.”
“You women have the harder part . . .”—Slightly after Howard, op. cit., p. 99.
“We both know that ninety-odd men may not suffice . . .”—and the good-byes of Perry and Howard—After pp. 98–99. I have added the “-odd” to reconcile the troop count with Greene’s (see below, “a hundred and three effectives”).
Sherman on “Quaker policy”—William Tecumseh Sherman, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman (New York: Library of America, 1990 repr. of 1886 ed.), p. 926.
“We did forget, I think, that even in the veins of Joseph . . .”—Almost verbatim from Howard, Nez Perce Joseph, p. 75.
The difference between local time and railroad time—“In 1876 time was not yet a commodity that was measured, adjusted, and distributed through the country.” Noon was taken by observation. “Sacramento, California, for example, was . . . 3 minutes and 56 seconds later than San Francisco.” In 1883 Standard Railroad Time was effected throughout the U.S. “without benefit of federal law or public demand.”—Schlereth, pp. 29–30.
“A hundred and three effectives.”—Number from Greene, Nez Perce Summer, p. 34.
Armaments of Howard and his antagonists—A few details here and throughout derive from Robert Forczyk, Nez Perce 1877: The Last Fight, ill. Peter Dennis (Oxford, U.K.: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2011). Many others (the Beecher’s Bibles, box-lock Sharps, Sharps buffalo guns, trapdoor Springfields, Remingtons, etc.) derive from illustrations and catalogue copy in Francis Bannerman Sons, Inc., Bannerman Catalogue of Military Goods 1927, repr. (Northfield, Illinois: DBI Books, 1980); and in Norm Flayderman, Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms . . . and Their Values, 8th ed. (Iola, Wisconsin: F + W Publications/Gun Digest Books, 2001; orig. ed. 1977). For the trapdoor Springfield in particular, and for information on its performance in the field, I am indebted to Kenneth M. Hammer, The Springfield Carbine on the Western Frontier, rev. [4th] ed. (Bozeman, Montana: Little Buffalo Press, 2002). I have cited this book specifically once or twice below.
“Wakesh nun pakilauitin . . .”—Axtell, Hymn No. 1 (no title).
The village called Ridge Crossing—“Yénene-spe” is a “village site located at the northern edge of Lapwai,” and “yéwnepe” is “the place one goes over a ridge” (Aoki, p. 946).
Should Be a Pleasurable Fight
The march from Fort Lapwai to White Bird Canyon—After Greene, Nez Perce Summer, pp. 34–35.
“He ought to do missionary work, not hinder us.”—Somewhat after Hawks and Doves in the Nez Perce War of 1877: Personal Recollections of Eugene Tallmadge Wilson, review and interpretation by Eugene Edward Wilson (Helena, Montana: Montana Historical Society, in assoc. with the Eugene E. Wilson Collection, U. S. Naval Academy Library), p. 6.
Description of the country along the way—After a visit in August 2009. Description of Grangeville based in part on information in Wilfong, p. 129.
The doomed trumpeter’s nickname: “Johnnie Jonesey”—McWhorter, Yellow Wolf, p. 56.
Accident with the mountain howitzer at Wallula—Oregon Historical Society MSS 1039. Robert W. Pollock, M.D., “Grandfather, Chief Joseph and Psychodynamics,” p. 36 [Henceforth cited: Pollock.]
Twenty-nine settlers killed by Nez Perce in Salmon River raids—This was the figure given in the East Oregonian (Pendleton), June 23, 1877, p. 1. It is almost certainly exaggerated. For other figures, see Glossary 4.
“John Henry”—According to The Annals of America, vol. 10, p. 300 (no. 64), this folk ballad originated in an incident “during the construction of the Big Bend Tunnel, in West Virginia, sometime around 1873.” So it would have been current in 1877. Rather than slavishly reproduce the version printed there, I have made up my own, since it is a folk ballad, after all.
Tale of Sioux stealing a hog in Saint Joseph—After Autobiography and Reminiscences of Sarah J. Cummings, p. 12.
Description of the settler (Ad Chapman)—In part after Relander, photo insert 15, after p. 96 (“Occupying the Indian Land”).
“This place must have a shorter growing season than Lewiston.”—Defendant’s Exhibit No. 2, Indian Claims Commission, Docket No. 175-B, Appraisal of Nez Perce Tribal Lands in Northern Idaho Before the Indian Claims Commission, Docket No. 1775-B, Valued as of August 15, 1894, prepared for the United States Department of Justice by Homer Hoyt, M.A.I. (Washington, D.C.: October 12, 1959), p. 11: Grangeville, elevation 3,409 feet, had in 1959 a growing season of 134 days, and Lewiston at 743 feet had a growing season of 204 days. (This source is henceforth cited: Hoyt.)
Looking-Glass as “leader of the malcontents”—Howard, Supplementary Report, p. 10.
“Lynn Bowers she took off her skirt to run faster . . .”—Much after John D. McDermott, Forlorn Hope: The Battle of White Bird Canyon and the Beginning of the Nez Perce War (Boise: Idaho State Historical Society, 1978), p. 25 (words of Hill Norton).
“Mrs. Benedict asked me where I was going . . .”—Closely after Montana Historical Society. SC 183. E. R. Bosler, Reminiscence. N.d. Transcript of partial ms., p. 1.
Shooting and rape of Mrs. Chamberlain [or Chamberlin]—Mentioned in McDermott, p. 32.
The rapes of Mrs. Walsh and Mrs. Osborne—Ibid., p. 22.
“O[h], colonel, you can easily whip the scoundrels.”—Verbatim from Howard, Nez Perce Joseph, p. 108.
The lay of the land on the Bluecoats’ map: Rocky Canyon, Tolo Lake, etc.—Reports on the Aftermath of the 1863 Nez Perce Treaty . . . , p. 40 (E. Giddings, “Map of the Washington Territory East of the Cascade Mts.,” 1862; “Detail of Gold Rush Region”).
Parnell’s knowledge of “what it’s like to charge Pi-Utes in the Infernal Caverns”—Information from Michno, p. 257.
The name “Tolo Lake”—Probably anachronistic as I use it. See Glossary 3.
Accomplishment of Toohhoolhoolzote’s arrest by Howard and Perry—McWhorter, Hear Me, p. 168.
Flashbacks to the Modoc War, here and throughout—Information from Daniel Woodhead III, comp. and ed., Modoc Vengeance: The 1873 Modoc War in Northern America and Southern Oregon, as Reported in the Newspapers of the Day (Fresno, California: Linden Publishing, Inc., 2012); and Murray.
Information on Ad Chapman’s wife: Umatilla—After information in McWhorter, Yellow Wolf, p. 47.
The ordeal of Mrs. Benedict—Information from McDermott, pp. 17–18, 23–24, 79–80.
“It would make your heart ache to see the little children hereabouts . . .”—Abridged and altered from McDermott, p. 13 (letter from Slate Creek).
Remarks on Nez Perce atrocities committed upon Jack Manuel’s wife and Mason—Allegations from Wilson, p. 3.
“Stand up for these, the wrong’d . . .”—Radical Abolitionist, vols. 1–4 (1855–1858) (New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969); vol. III, number 7 (New York, February, 1858), p. 87 (“Stand Up for Jesus,” composer: Dudley A. Tyng). Three stanzas of this hymn are used in The Dying Grass.
Description of White Bird Creek and Canyon—After a visit in September 2006, and another in August 2011.
“A succession of steeps, with pointed or rounded tops”—Verbatim from Howard, Nez Perce Joseph, p. 109.
Phases of the Battle of White Bird Canyon—After Greene, Nez Perce Summer, pp. 34–43.
Description of Ollokot—After a photograph in McWhorter, Yellow Wolf, p. 46 (dated 1876). His red-painted eyes and forehead are taken from Pearson, p. 29 (description of the Lapwai council by Emily FitzGerald, 1877).
“Can’t go on to Salmon River, Trimble.— No, that’s annihilation.”—Verbatim from Howard, Nez Perce Joseph, p. 116.
“That snarling old bear who’s wearing a wolf’s head”—After information from Koch (p. 96) about Nez Perce war dress: “the entire skin of a wolf’s head . . .” As will become clear later on in the text, I imagine this “old bear” to be Toohhoolhoolzote.
Penetration of seasoned white pine by a Sharps .55 carbine: 7.27 inches—Philip Katcher, The Civil War Source Book (New York: Facts on File, 1982), pp. 304–5.
News
Theller’s bad companions (and his love of fast horses, mentioned in “Well, Colonel, This Means Business,” p. 151)—McDermott, p. 59.
Sherman’s facility in offering brilliant plans—After Howard, Autobiography, vol. 1, pp. 475–76.
Howard remembers Antietam—Ibid., pp. 302, 305.
“LORD, bow down Thine ear . . .”—II Kings 19.16.
White Bird disguises his face—Loosely after Major-General O. O. Howard, U. S. Army, Famous Indian Chiefs I Have Known, ill. George Varian (New York: Century Co., 1908), p. 192.
Howard’s lesson from Bull Run: Extra discipline—Howard, Autobiography, vol. 1, pp. 269–70.
Ollicut’s reluctance to promise anything at the council—Howard, Supplementary Report, p. 12.
The Indians “pursued Perry’s men all the way to J. M. Crook’s lane”—Verbatim from the East Oregonian (Pendleton), June 23, 1877, p. 1.
“Threw out their horse herd to cover their movements” + “deployed his skirmishes”—After Humfreville, p. 287 (referring secondhand, and very inaccurately, to the White Bird Canyon battle).
Howard’s talk with Father Cataldo—Somewhat after Howard, Supplementary Report, p. 13. This conversation actually took place before the Nez Perce War, but I can imagine Howard extending the olive branch to the Nez Perce, or the appearance of one, even at this juncture.
Four murder victims at John Day Creek—Howard, Report—In the Field, p. 1.
“Extra good peaches this year in Hood River”—Information from the East Oregonian, June 16, 1877, unnumbered p.
Whereabouts of Sergeant McCarthy—As I imagine this scene, Howard would be trying to assess the magnitude of the White Bird Canyon disaster on this day, the 18th. He would have heard something about it on the previous day. Presumably he learned of Theller’s death on or before late morning of the 18th. Sergeant McCarthy did not reach his comrades until the 19th.
“Blessed be GOD . . .”—II Corinthians 1.3 (slightly abridged).
Cretonne “with the frill fully pleated on”—After Elizabeth B. Custer, Following the Guidon, p. 252 (she was speaking of lounges).
II. Edisto
Epigraph: “GOD has limited the power of man . . .”—John A. Carpenter, Sword and Olive Branch: Oliver Otis Howard (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1964), p. 83. [Henceforth cited (to avoid confusion with Frank D.): John A. Carpenter.]
Epigraph: “My good mother . . .”—Howard, Autobiography, vol. 1, p. 20.
Some of the events relating to the Freedmen’s Bureau are related out of order for narrative reasons.
A Good Man in a High Place
Description of Howard’s doings at Cheraw—Somewhat derived from Sherman, p. 773.
Physical description of Howard: “bearded, slender,” etc.—After the illustrated plate in his Autobiography, vol. 1, facing 112 (Howard as Colonel, Third Maine Regiment, 1861).
Incident with General [Thomas John] Wood at camp near Cassaville—Howard, Autobiography, vol. 1, 537–38.
Sherman to Howard, Savannah, January 16th, 1865—Bowdoin, OOH papers, call number M91.14, v. 3 [manuscript volume folio]: Diary of Major T. W. Osborn, U.S.V., “Operations of the Army of the Tennessee, in the Carolina Campaign, 1865”, p. 2 (abridged by WTV).
Sherman, Howard and the Mayor of Columbia—Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 122–27.
“If any of your foragers are murdered . . .”—Ibid, vol. 2, p. 130.
“Each corps overlined its march with black smoke.”—Information from Fenman, p. 225.
Description of the feather patterns on the Nez Perce root storage bag—After Mary Dodds Schlick, Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth (Seattle: University of Washington Press, a Samuel and Althea Stroum Book, 2002 corr. repr. of 1994 ed.), p. 160. A few other descriptions of Nez Perce and Umatilla baskets derive from plates in this book.
Incident at Mr. Lynde’s church and aftermath—Howard, Autobiography, vol. 1, pp. 82–83.
Description of Howard after Gettysburg—From plate in same vol., opposite p. 448 (“Major General Howard . . . after the battle of Gettysburg”).
Scene at the field hospital—Somewhat after pp. 473, 547 (Cassaville).
Incident with Col. [John] Munroe and the colored boy—Ibid., pp. 78–79. From the author’s account, it seems that he said and did nothing. I have invented the dialogue between him and Munroe.
Incident of the fugitive slave at Bull Run—Autobiography, vol. 2, pp. 165–66.
“Their army is the strangest . . .”—John Rhodehamel, ed., The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence (New York: Library of America, 2001), p. 205 (Ambrose Serle, Monday, 2d. September [1776]).
“Should there be any amongst the negroes . . .”—Ibid., p. 85 (“To the Virginia Gazette, November 24, 1775”), slightly abridged.
“Sir, pass these acts . . .”—Howard, op. cit., p. 174 (considerably abbreviated).
Howard court-martials a young officer for speaking offensively against Abolition and the President—Ibid., p. 181.
Emancipation and Elisha’s call—Ibid., p. 180.
Henry Ward Beecher’s praise of Howard (actually in reference to his work for the Freedmen’s Bureau)—Slightly abbreviated from McFeely, p. 87 (address to the Cooper Union, New York City, 8 May 1866, quoted in American Missionary).
Howard’s speech to the Methodists—After Autobiography, vol. 2, pp. 318–19.
“I like niggers well enough as niggers . . .”—Verbatim from Femman, p. 160 (but said in the fall of 1864, and not to Howard).
“Four million . . . from Maryland to Mexico”—Much after Howard, vol. 2, p. 164.
“The Southern man lets go of slavery inch by inch . . .”—Ibid., pp. 310–11 (extracts from address delivered at Springfield, Mass., February 19, 1866; abridged and slightly altered by WTV; the interjections are fictions).
Edisto as “that former Tory Stronghold”—During the Revolutionary War a Tory assured us that from Charlestown all the way “to what is called the Ridge betwixt Saluda and Edisto Rivers on the road to Ninety Six,” the people remain loyal to their King. Rhodehamel, pp. 762–63 (Robert Gray, “Observations on the War in Carolina,” re: May 1780—February 1782).
Description of freedmen establishments in the Sea Islands—Derived in part from The Atlantic Presents: Special Commemorative Issue: The Civil War, December 2011, “designed by Plutomedia,” pp. 80–81 (Charlotte Forten, “Life on the Sea Islands,” May–June 1864). Other descriptions of Beaufort and Edisto are indebted to the plates in Davis and Wiley, pp. 170–81 (“Mr. Cooley of Beaufort and Mr. Moore of Concord: A Portfolio”).
“From the course pursued by the Inspectors”—John A. Carpenter, p. 119 (August 1866: Howard to President Johnson).
“Mr. Johnson is giving up the law pretty fast . . .”—Ibid., p. 109 (Howard to Lizzie, 9 September 1865).
“Yet the President is cordial to me . . .”—Loc. cit. (Howard to Lizzie, 13 September 1865).
“General Butler has got a bill through Congress . . .”—Information from Bannerman, p. 257.
Brig. Gen. Henry J. Hunt: “As to the ‘Christian Soldier’ . . .”—Harry W. Pfanz, Gettysburg—Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press [Civil War America ser., Gary W. Gallagher, ed.], 1993), p. 10.
Meeting with Douglass and others (also there: Stella Martin, Henry H. Garnett, John M. Langston)—After Howard, Autobiography, vol. 2, p. 317 (somewhat altered; dialogue invented).
“Did they beat the negro when they pulled him out of jail? . . .”—Somewhat after Testimony Taken by the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: Alabama, volume III (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872), p. 1573.
Hiring of Joseph S. Fullerton and “men of integrity . . .” (Howard’s words)—After John A. Carpenter, pp. 95, 97 (the latter altered and abridged).
Won and Fortified
Burning of Sioux property after vanquishing their village—Mentioned in Zimmer, p. 51 (May 8th 1877), p. 90 (August 1st).
When the night riders murdered Joe Bell—Information from Bellisles, p. 22. The actual last name was Johnson, which I changed to avoid confusion with President Johnson.
“You exert a dangerous effect upon our negroes.”—Phrase somewhat after Testimony Taken by the Joint Select Committee, p. 1494.
“The negroes must be employed . . .”—First and third sentences somewhat after John A. Carpenter, p. 93 (an authentic letter from Howard to Lizzie, but actually written earlier—soon after the Atlanta campaign). I have altered and expanded it.
Richmond’s ordinance of June 1865—McFeely, p. 95 (J. S. Fullerton to Orlando Brown, 15 June 1865).
Howard’s proposal to the President on conditional pardon for slaveholders—John A. Carpenter, pp. 108–9.
His supposed instructions to Bureau agents (actually, nothing but a policy set out in one of his letters)—Ibid., p. 108.
Howard’s pledges to Howard University, the YMCA and the church; Ketchum’s encomium—Ibid., p. 237.
The firing of Rufus Saxton—I find myself on Saxton’s side. He wrote Howard: “It seems to me as not wise or prudent to do injustice to those who have always been loyal and true, in order to be lenient to those who have done their best to destroy the Nation’s life.”
