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If Even a Few Are Reclaimed, the Labor Is Not Lost: William Hamilton's Life Among the Iowa and Omaha Indians, 1837-1891

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If Even a Few Are Reclaimed, the Labor Is Not Lost: William Hamilton's Life Among the Iowa and Omaha Indians, 1837-1891 University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 12-1-1994 If even a few are reclaimed, the labor is not lost: William Hamilton's life among the Iowa and Omaha Indians, 1837-1891 Michelle Cauleen Gullett University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Gullett, Michelle Cauleen, "If even a few are reclaimed, the labor is not lost: William Hamilton's life among the Iowa and Omaha Indians, 1837-1891" (1994). Student Work. 359. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/359 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "IF EVEN A FEW ARE RECLAIMED, THE LABOR IS NOT LOST: " WILLIAM HAMILTON’S LIFE AMONG THE IOWA AND OMAHA INDIANS, 1837-1891 A Thesis Presented to the Department of History and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha by Michelle C. Gullett December, 1994 UMI Number: EP72997 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP72997 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 THESIS ACCEPTANCE Acceptance for the Faculty of the Graduate College, University of Nebraska, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Committee Name Department Chairman Date ABSTRACT This is a biography of Reverend William Hamilton, Presbyterian missionary to the American Indians for over fifty years. Bom in Clinton, Pennsylvania, son of a farmer, Hamilton developed an interest in the ministry at an early age. Following graduation from Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania, and his ordination by the Presbytery of Northumberland, he offered his services to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. As a result, the Board sent Hamilton and his new wife to live and work among the Ioway Indians in the trans-Missouri West. Hamilton labored among the Ioway, Sac and Fox Indians with fellow missionary Samuel Irvin for fifteen years. During that time, the two men erected a manual labor boarding school, learned to read and write in the Ioway language, and operated one of the first printing presses in what would become Kansas. Hamilton was transferred to the Otoe and Omaha Mission, near present-day Bellevue, Nebraska in 1853. When the Omaha Indians ceded the last of their lands to the U.S. government in 1854, Hamilton followed them to their new reservation and oversaw the building of the second Omaha Mission. Upon completion of the mission school in 1857, he resigned his position with the Board of Foreign Missions and spent the next ten years as a private citizen in Bellevue. Hamilton had previously championed Bellevue in its struggle with Omaha for possession of the territorial capital and he now boosted Bellevue in its battle with Omaha for the location of the Union Pacific Railroad bridge. He returned to the service of the Board of Foreign Missions in 1867 and labored tirelessly among the Omaha until his death in 1891. Existing literature treats only small segments of William Hamilton's extraordinary career and this study examines his entire life. The research materials utilized are the letters Hamilton and his fellow missionaries wrote to the Secretaries of the Board of Foreign Missions in New York, government documents, and other contemporary writings. Hamilton's letters vividly portrayed the hardships of pioneer life, the poor treatment of the Indians by the government, the effects of Indian alcoholism, the often arduous relationship between missionaries and Indian agents, and the incessant conflict within the mission family. In addition, his writings treat the white settlement of the Nebraska Territory, the fight for Nebraska's territorial capital, the death of Omaha Chief Logan Fontenelle, and many other events. Although opinions may differ regarding the success or failure of Hamilton's efforts among the Indians, no one will doubt the sincere affection he felt for the Indian peoples among whom he labored for so long. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who helped me attain my Master of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I would like to thank my parents, my sister and my friends, Teresa Biga and Ann Walding-Phillips, for all of their moral support during the final months of this project. I would also like to thank my thesis committee: Dr. Michael Tate, Dr. Charles Gildersleeve, and Dr. Harl Dalstrom for all of their input and suggestions during the long thesis process. I would especially like to thank Dr. Dalstrom. There were many times when I felt "overwhelmed," but he never gave up on me and always had words of encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Bill, for his patience and understanding. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page ........................................................................................ i Thesis Acceptance ....... ii A bstract..................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... v Table of Contents................................................................. vi Maps ............................................................. vii Photo of William Hamilton ................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Leaving For Parts Unknown, 1811-1837 ........................................................ 1 Chapter Two: Life Among the Iowa, Sac and Fox Indians, 1837-1853 ............................22 Chapter Three: The Bellevue Years, 1853-1867 ...................................................................66 Chapter Four: Life on the Reservation, 1867-1891 ...........................................................116 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................172 Appendix O ne ........................................................................................................................ 177 Appendix Two .................................................................................................... 180 Appendix T hree ..................................................................................................................... 181 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................182 MAPS Map One Country of the Ioway Tribe of Indians ..........................................................................11a. Map Two Location of the Ioway Mission ...................................................................................... 22a. Map Three Historic Bellevue, Nebraska.......................................................................................... 67a. Map Four Bellevue and Council Bluffs area ............... 71a. Map Five Omaha Indian Reservation ............................................................................................115a. vii Father William Hamilton Photo courtesy of the Omaha World-Herald. Chapter One: Leaving For Parts Unknown, 1811-1837 Far o'er the trackless prairie, Where Christian hath not been; Or in some lonely wild woods, Near to the Panther's den; A voice in sorrow rises, And wafted o'er the plains, Tells of a home forsaken, A heart where anguish reigns. The poor untutor'd Indian Still driven before our race, Now seeks some distant shelter, Some far off resting place, For Oh! how much he suffer From those in Christian lands; And yet no consolation 'Receives he at our hands. And shall we, who have tasted The dear Redeemer's love; To whom he gave his gospel And hopes of bliss above; Shall we refuse to hear them? Shall we refuse to tell How Jesus died to save them From sin, from death, and hell. Behold we find our pleasure, And heap up shining dust; Lay we on earth our treasure, Or place in gold our trust? Lo! daily they are dying, In darkness too they go; What hast thou done O! Christian, To save their souls from wo? Were Jesus' love no stronger Than thine, Oh! Christian say, Wouldst thou not now be sinking In death, as blind as they? Then pray for the poor Indian Till God in mercy come And pour on them a blessing and call the wanderers home.1 1 2 The preceding poem was written by the Reverend William Hamilton, a Presbyterian missionary, during his first years of service among the Iowa Indians in what is today northeastern Kansas. His "Ode" to the American Indian, though not lengthy, paints an eerie but accurate picture of the relationship between the nineteenth century white missionary and his "heathen"
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