North Sleswick should be allowed to determine its allegiance by a referendum, was perhaps never seriously considered after the victories of 1870 and was definitely repudiated in 1878. The Aabenraa convention, which excused from Prussian military service certain groups of young men whose citizenship was Danish, was set aside in 1883. Of all these pledges the one of greatest consequence is the promise of a referendum; and from this promise Prussia has never been released by the party most interested and concerned, the people of North Sleswick. LAURENCE M. LARSON. DOCUMENTS Captain Nathaniel Pryor THE history of the expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark to the Pacific coast of Oregon in 1804-1806 is the object of an interest which, in the country west of the Mississippi, has greatly increased in recent years. One reason for this growing interest is that the people of the states which now occupy the land which Lewis and Clark traversed with so much difficulty and danger now look upon them as the beginners of the state history. And the monumental work of Dr. Thwaites in making accessible the "Original Journals" of the chiefs and such of the subordinates as could be found unprinted has furnished a source-book which can be used with unquestioning trust. The fame of the captains has been long established; of late years the figures of their men have begun to emerge from the mists of the years and to take shape as the heroes that they were. Some of them have never been entirely lost sight of; others seem to have completely disappeared from public view on that September day when they disembarked upon the levee at Saint Louis at the end of their famous journey. The people of the East were little concerned, and the people of the West were too much occupied in subduing the wilderness about them to realize what these men had done. Now, however, many students are engaged in searching for information about them, and the publication from time to time of facts discovered is gratefully welcomed. It is hoped that the story of each man's life will, in time, be clearly set forth. In the absence of knowledge they will like the adventurers of former days become the subjects of myths, or be "enthroned amid the echoing minstrelsy sung of old times". Indeed, the myth-making process has already begun. Nathaniel Pryor, a Virginia-Kentuckian and a typical American pioneer, is in the way to be transformed into a personality in every way foreign to the man that he was. It appears from Bancroft's History of California (vol. III., p. 163), that among the company that arrived in California, under the leadership of the Patties, in March, 1828, was a man whose name is given as Nathaniel Pryor or Nathaniel Miguel Pryor. It is said of him that he was then twenty-three years old, and that he had lived for four years in New Mexico. This man was a silversmith and clock-maker, and became known as Miguel el Platero. He married a Mexican woman, raised a family, and died in 1850. Pattie, in his Personal Narrative, makes no mention of Pryor, but in the edition of the book edited by Dr. Thwaites and included in his series of Early Western Travels, there is an editorial note in which it is assumed that the Pryor mentioned by Bancroft was the companion of Lewis and Clark. The rule of law that identity of name indicates identity of person is well enough as cautiously applied by courts, subject to disproof by an adversary party, but it is by no means a safe rule for an historian. Dr. Thwaites's assumption, in spite of its intrinsic improbability, has been followed by others and bids fair, unless its erroneous character is made to appear, to be generally accepted. Happily, however, for the cause of truth, the incorrectness of the assumption is demonstrable. Miss Stella M. Drumm, the librarian of the Missouri Historical Society, whose knowledge of western history is extensive and accurate, has found in the Indian Office at Washington a series of documents which tell the story of Pryor's later life in unmistakable fashion. Certain of these documents are herewith submitted. WALTER B. DOUGLAS. I. LICENSE TO TRADE WITH THE OSAGE NATION.1 To all, to whom these presents shall come, know ye that I have this day Granted permission to Nathaniel Pryor, to trade with the Osage Nation of Indians, as well as to ascend the river Arkansas with one trading boat to the six bull or Verdigree together with all the hands that may appertain thereto. Given under my hand and private seal (there being no public one) at the Post of Arkansas this 29th day of November 1819—Of the independence the forty fourth. 1 Nos. I., II., III., IV., and VI. are enclosures in a letter of Agent Vashon to Lewis Cass, secretary of war, April 30, 1832, a letter written "for the purpose of exhibiting the true character of the question respectfully referred for the consideration and decision of the Department". In the files of the Indian Office all these are contained in a folder marked "1832 Cherokee West Agency -Geo. Vashon-Claim of N. Pryor ". 2 Meaning, "secretary and acting governor of Arkansas Territory". Robert Crittenden of Kentucky was secretary of the territory from 1819 to 1829. This day personally appeared before me, John Nicks, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County, Nathaniel Pryor of the Osage Nation of Indians, who being of lawful age and duly sworn according to law, deposed and said that some time in the month of February 1820, on the Virdigris River, a branch of the Arkansas or Paune River, at said Pryor's trading house,3a about one and a half miles above the mouth of said Virdigris, this deponent had about one hundred and fifty weight of Beaver fur, and about said time a Cherokee Indian by the name of Dutch and two others, companions of his, took from the possession of this deponent the said one hundred and fifty weight of Beaver fur the property of this deponent and which said Beaver fur has never been restored to him or any part thereof, nor the value or any part thereof. This deponent further stated that about the month of February, 1822, the Cherokee Indians stole from his possession a large bright bay horse, with a star in his forehead, and about fifteen hands high and which said horse he has never been able to recover or reclaim nor the value thereof, or any part thereof, and further this deponent said not. Sworn and subscribed to before me this 11th day of September 1824 JNO. NICKS NATHL. PRYOR I certify the above to be a true copy from file in this office. West'n Cherokee Nation, GEO. VASHON, Agt. Chers. West. Agents Office April 30th, 1832 III. AFFIDAVIT OF DAVID MCKEE. United States of America Arkansas Territory Crawford County This day personally appeared before me John Nicks one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County, David McKee of said 3 Capt. George Vashon, formerly of the Seventh Infantry, agent to the Cherokees west of the Mississippi. za Pryor is mentioned as living among the Osages, on the Verdigris in 1821, by James, Three Years among the Indians and Mexicans (St. Louis, 1916), p. 108, and the Missionary Herald, XIX. 74. In that year he accompanied Glenn and Fowler in their expedition to the mountains; Coues, Journal of Jacob Fowler, P. 4, etc. See also note 22, below. County who being of lawful age and duly sworn according to law deposith and saith that in the month of February 1820 a Cherokee Indian by the name of Dutch, with two other Cherokee Indians came to Nath. Pryor's trading house on the Virdigris River, a branch of the Arkansas River, and at that time the said Nathaniel Pryor had in deposit at said place about one hundred and fifty weight of furs, well secured under lock, and that on the evening of the morning on which said Indians left the trading house, he, the said deponent discovered that the lock which secured the fur, had been forced, and the sa[i]d one hundred and fifty weight of fur were stolen, and as this deponent verily believes by the said Cherokee Indians. The deponent further states that fur was selling at that time at two dollars and a half per pound and further this deponent saith not. Sworn and subscribed to before me this 11th day of September 1824 JNO NICKS DAVID MCKEE I certify the above to be a true copy from file in this office. West'n Cherokee Nation Agents Office April 30th, 1832 GEO. VASHON Agt. Chers. West IV. STATEMENT OF E. W. DUVAL.4 The taking of the property is not denied by the Individual charged with it, but he alleges as the cause and justification of the act, or acts, that he met at Mr. Priors Trading house, at the time mentioned, a War party of Osages, under the Chief called Mad Buffaloe, that at that time the Osage and Cherokee Nations were at open War with each other, that he the Dutch (the Individual referred to) commanded and then had with him a War party of Cherokees, that his party was more numerous than that of the Mad Buffaloe and that the latter were completely in his power, that he considered them as his prisoners and was waiting only until they should leave the premises of Mr. Prior to capture and secure them. That during this time he was invited out on one side of Mr. Priors House as he believes at the instance of Mr. Prior by a man named McKee or McGee, where he and his party were detained by amusements until the Mad Buffaloe and his party had time to escape; that he believed and still believes, their escape was contrived by Mr. Prior; that on discovering they (the Osages) were gone he immediately pursued but could not overtake them; that for this interference, as he considered it, on the part of Mr. Prior, whereby he was prevented making prisoners of the party and in so far weakening or injuring the enemy and rendering essential service to his own nation, he took the property for which Mr. Prior claims payment. Mr. Prior having admitted to the agent the material facts set forth by the Dutch as to the aid and assistance he gave to the Osages to 4 Not dated, but presumably of the same date as the two affidavits preceding. Major duVal (so he was wont to sign his name) was for some years, from 1822, agent to the western Cherokees. |