Charlo (Native American leader)

In 1855, the Hellgate treaty was signed, and it became a major force that influenced Charlo's path. This treaty between the Salish, Pend d'Oreilles, and Kootenais and the U.S. government provided for the Flathead Indian Reservation in the lower Flathead River Valley and a provisional second reservation in the Bitterroot Valley. The treaty called for a survey of the Bitterroot Valley, after which the president would decide which valley would be "better adapted to the wants of the Flathead tribe."[6] The treaty also promised to keep the Bitterroot Valley closed to white settlement until the survey had been completed.[7]

The treaty effectively weakened the Salish tribe's legal claim to the Bitterroot Valley. Father Adrian Hoecken, S.J., watched the council proceedings and thought that the treaty was a farce, writing, "What a ridiculous tragi-comedy the whole council proved. It would take too long to write it all down—ah well! Not a tenth of it was actually understood by either party, for Ben Kyser [the translator] speaks Flathead very badly and is no better at translating into English."[8] Congress failed to ratify the treaty until 1859, leaving the Salish in limbo. When the treaty was finally ratified, the government bungled nearly every provision. Most notably, the government never fully surveyed the valley as promised, and, distracted by the Civil War, let languish the question of whether to create a reservation in the Bitterroot Valley. It also failed to keep white settlers out of the Bitterroot as had been promised.[9]

In October 1889, retired general Henry B. Carrington arrived in Montana to negotiate with Charlo and convince him to sign an agreement that would allow the sale of his allotment in the Bitterroot.[14] Charlo's signature would express the willingness of Bitterroot Salish to leave their ancestral homeland and move to the Flathead. Carrington worked to gain Charlo's trust, visiting him at his farm before the negotiations began and giving him gifts of cigars and food supplies. When the negotiations finally began in Stevensville, Montana, Carrington brought out the original 1872 Garfield agreement to corroborate Charlo's claim that he never signed it. In spite of Carrington's efforts to gain his trust, Charlo at first refused to remove to the Flathead. According to Carrington's account, Charlo "declared that 'he never would sign [the agreement], but kill himself first.'"[15] Charlo brought up the government's broken promises regarding the Hellgate treaty and asked for the "literal execution" of that treaty, but Carrington did not respond to his request. Charlo emphasized that he and the Bitterroot Salish had remained friendly to the whites in spite of all their broken promises. Carrington argued that Charlo needed to remove to the Flathead to stop the young Salish men from gambling, drinking, brawling, and stealing. Charlo promised to think all night about Carrington's offer. Later that day, a group of young Salish men got drunk and started a brawl. Charlo had to break it up, and he whipped the offenders.

The next day was Sunday, November 3. Charlo attended Mass, and afterward he went to Carrington's headquarters in Stevensville. There, he made a "full statement of the poverty and wretchedness of the Flatheads of the valley, especially naming several very aged men and women who could not help themselves and whom the young men would not help. He said that 'the young men would hunt and sell their game for fire-water, and he could not stop it,' that 'they followed the words of bad white men and stole what they wanted to eat, without working for it.'"[16] After this speech, Charlo signed the agreement, saying, "The Great Spirit said to me last night, 'Trust the white Chief.' Charlot loves his people! Charlot will change and do right! Charlot will sign the paper, and then, the white chief can write down what Charlot wants."[17] In exchange for Charlo's agreement to remove to the Flathead Reservation, Carrington made promises: the Salish would receive food assistance until the move, their burial places near St. Mary's Mission would be protected, the people would receive good cabins on the Flathead Reservation on parcels of their choosing, every family with children would receive a cow, and Charlo would receive new wagons and Arlee's farm.[18]

Carrington promised Charlo that he would return in the spring to arrange for the land sales and for the move, but Congress failed to provide funds for the move until July 1, 1891. Charlo and his people, counting on Carrington's promise that the move would take place in 1890, did not plant crops on their farms in the Bitterroot that spring. Even if they had wanted to, the drought of 1889 had left them so impoverished that they could not afford seed, and in spite of its promise of assistance, the government failed to provide more than starvation rations. By the winter of 1890, Charlo's people were forced to barter away their horses, harnesses, plows, and even stoves in order to feed themselves. When Carrington finally returned and met with Charlo on July 29, 1891, Charlo insisted that he would "talk no business, until [the] people are fed."[19]

Sales of Salish land in the Bitterroot took longer than Carrington had promised, and after holding a council on October 11, 1891, the Salish decided to go ahead with the move even though their farms remained unsold. Charlo gave the news to Carrington that afternoon:

I could not sleep at first, last night. I remember my father Victor and that his people expected me to do what he would approve, for their good. I told everybody to come together in the morning as soon as the sun was up to say prayers to the Great Spirit. That made me feel better, and I could go to sleep. Then, the Great Spirit gave me these thoughts. "Charlot, go with your people. They will starve, or freeze here. Nobody will buy your land if you stay. Go and pick out good land and build houses before winter. Shut your ears to lies which bad people tell you." So I come, to say, we will all go, and go together. We don't want any soldiers with us, or any other whitemen except White Chief [Carrington] and Joe McLaren.[20]

Charlo organized the march himself and insisted that it take place without a white military escort. However, Salish oral histories indicate that troops were present during the removal. On October 15, 1891, Charlo called the people to gather. After praying, they announced that they would go. Charlo did not look back.[21] Elders later remembered the journey as a funeral march. It took three days to travel the sixty miles to the Jocko Agency where agent Peter Ronan welcomed the people with a feast. After a twenty-year struggle, Charlo had ensured his people's survival, but it came at the cost of their independence.[22]