And, as with Paul in the Bible, God’s grace for me shall be sufficient.”
CHAPTER 16
I just wanted you all to be fully aware of the threats against us,” Faith told her gathering of friends.
“Well, we have changed the location of the lecture, and our speaker, Mr. Peabody, has been informed. Mr. Singleton wasn’t able to come after all. We’ve got just two days left, and surely in that time we can persuade Mr. Lakewood to change his mind,” Malcolm declared. “I will go and speak to him myself. Maybe a man-to-man discussion will help him see reason.”
“You are welcome to try, but I have my doubts.” Faith knew enough about Lakewood to know that he wouldn’t allow a group of ragtag students to best him.
After classes that day, Faith handed out flyers downtown and encouraged people to join them for Mr. Peabody’s lecture.
“He is quite knowledgeable about the Pacific Northwest Indians, in particular the Chinook, Alsea, and Haida. He lived and worked with them for over twenty years,” she told a group of men as she thrust a flyer into the closest man’s hands.
“The lecture is also a fundraiser for the Indians at the Grand Ronde Reservation. They suffered greatly from the storm.”
“Pity it didn’t kill them all,” one of the men declared.
Faith frowned. “Would you say such things if our Lord were here to hear you? Because I assure you that He does hear and knows your heart.”
The man looked momentarily embarrassed but did nothing more than shrug. Faith found it discouraging that so many people shared his opinion. At one point, she handed an older woman one of the announcements and was stunned when the woman dropped it to the walkway and ground her foot atop it.
“Filthy heathens killed most of my family. I will never help them.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Faith didn’t know what else to say.
Obviously, some people had been hurt by the Indians and still held a grudge toward them. Even some of those who hadn’t had a personal encounter were so blinded by the hate they’d learned that they were unwilling to consider helping the reservation tribes. History and extravagant tales did the Indians no favors.
Friday night arrived, and Faith held her breath, wondering whether anyone would show up for the lecture. She was grateful that the ladies from the boardinghouse had agreed to come—minus Alma, of course. Seth had rented a large carriage to transport them to the Methodist church, which had agreed to allow Mr. Peabody to speak.
The problem came when, just minutes before the lecture was to begin, Malcolm appeared to declare that Mr. Peabody had cancelled.
Faith knew it was the work of Lakewood and his cronies, but she was determined not to let that ruin the event. There was a nice crowd gathered, and she felt certain they could be convinced to donate to the cause of the reservation Indians.
“I’ll do it myself. I have plenty of experience and can speak to the problems on the reservations. After all, I spent more than one summer helping my aunt and uncle.”
At exactly seven o’clock, Faith took to the podium and smiled out on the audience. “Good evening and thank you for coming. I must tell you that this event was hard to bring together, and at the last minute our speaker, Mr. Peabody, was unable to come. However, I have lived among the Indians and worked on the reservation lands with my aunt and uncle, and I can speak to the problems they face. I might not be as informed in some areas as Mr. Peabody, with his government position, but I can vouch for many of the hardships experienced by the various reservation tribes, so I ask you to bear with me.”
Faith began by speaking of how Grand Ronde came about. “I was living with the Tututni Indians along the Rogue River when the Rogue River Indian wars broke out in 1855. My father was a missionary to the Tututni and some of the other tribes along the river. He was killed by whites who hated the Indians. My mother was expecting a baby and died shortly after that because of her fragile health. My aunt and uncle and I had to escape the village and get to safety. Not because the Indians sought to harm us, but because the whites had declared war on anyone in the villages.” Faith explained the war and the mass killings on both sides.
“In the end, the Southern Oregon tribes were forced to