The thrusts of the matter was that the Indians were inviting their superior white Christian American brothers to come west, live amongst them, and bring to them the word of the white man’s God. What this indicated to many was that Oregon Country, and a wealth of beaver pelts that were being heavily harvested by Hudson’s Bay Company, surely belonged to the United States. How’s that for good ole American logic? But the march was on and in the vanguard were Doctor Marcus Whitman as well as Jason Lee and others.
It was reported that the Flatheads had ceremoniously stated how they had followed the “trail of many moons from the setting sun” then continued with several more ponderous paragraphs, explaining the nature of their mission.
In truth, the Indian’s visit to St. Louis occurred some time before William Walker arrived in that city. He never laid his lying eyes on any of the Flatheads nor observed their flattened heads which were not flattened, pointed, or in any way shaped other than the way God had blessed them. Besides, only one of the group was a Flathead. The other three were Nez Perce.
What actually lay behind these Indians’ request was that for some time they had been receiving the white man’s wonderful manufactured goods. These items being of such superior quality and variety, it was determined that the white man’s “medicine” or religion must hold some powerful magic. The Indians were not dissatisfied with their own religion or beliefs. Had they been, the missionaries that eventually came to them would not have had such a difficult and often deadly time in their attempt to convince the Indians of the superior religious way of the white man.
The Indians wanted their share of this new magic ruled over by the white man’s God. They wanted for themselves the knowledge, or mysterious secrets, that would allow them to produce the wonderful items the whites traded to them at such high prices. For this reason the Indian delegation made the long trek to St. Louis.
As far as expressing their divine desires to Clark, no one in St. Louis at the time could speak or understand the Flathead or Nez Perce languages. This lack of knowledge included William Clark. Clark and his Indian visitors could only communicate in sign language. In this silent manner they conveyed the reason for their journey but, due to a lack of verbal understanding, no one could be of much help. And yet, they lingered on in St. Louis where, on October 31, the Nez Perce war chief Black Eagle died. His death was soon followed by that of Man of the Morning, the Flathead delegate. With the loss of their leaders the remaining two, No Horns on His Head and Rabbit-Skin Leggings, were alone.
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