50 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IIO 



Upon the white man's severe methods of criminal punishment, and 



concluded : 



We have neither chains nor prisons, and for want of them, no doubt, a great 

 number of us are wicked and have deaf ears. As chief, I am determined to do 

 my duty ; I shall take a whip to punish the wicked ; let all those who have been 

 guilty of any misdemeanor present themselves. I am ready. 



The outcome of the affair was as follows : 



The known guilty parties were called upon by name, many presented them- 

 selves of their own accord, and all received a proportionate correction. The 

 whole affair terminated in a general rejoicing and feast. [Chittenden and 

 Richardson, 1905, vol. 2, pp. 767-768.] 



Alexander was a close friend of the Jesuit Missionaries. He often 

 accompanied Father De Smet on his travels in the Rocky Mountain 

 region. Father Hoeken credited Alexander with having selected the 

 site for St. Ignatius Mission on its removal eastward in the fall of 

 1854. At the Flathead Treaty Council, Alexander declared, "The 

 priest instructs me and this people here. I am very well content with 

 the priest." At one point in the controversy over the location of the 

 reservation, Alexander stated that he would agree to leave the area 

 around the Mission and go on a reservation in the Bitterroot Valley 

 if Governor Stevens would say that he could not go to heaven at his 

 own place. His strong attachment to the Mission influenced his ulti- 

 mate refusal to accept the southern reservation proposed by Governor 

 Stevens. (Ibid., vol. 4, p. 1232 ; Partoll, 1938a, pp. 290, 300.) 



Alexander died about the year 1868. (Teit, 1930, p. 377.) Thus 

 he served as head chief of the Upper Pend d'Oreille for two decades. 

 His leadership was courageous, aggressive, strict, and apparently just. 

 There is no record of Alexander's position ever having been seriously 

 challenged by a rival leader of the tribe. His chieftaincy was marked 

 by continued friendship with the whites and sporadic warfare with the 

 plains tribes. Alexander was an economic conservative. At the time 

 of his death the Upper Pend d'Oreille still made periodic hunting 

 excursions to the plains for buffalo. 



Michelle, Successor to Alexander as Upper Pend D'Oreille Head Chief 



(Plate 17) 



Whe-whitth-schay (Indian name) 



Michelle (English name) 



Is noted for his upright and manly conduct, he was well thought of among 

 the Jesuit Priests who gave him the name Michelle. He is remarkable for 

 his generosity, which is the significance of his name. 



Michelle's Indian name means "Plenty of Grizzly Bear." He was 

 a minor chief of the tribe when Alexander died, and was elected head 



