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The White Chief of Cache Creek
"What a treat this wonderful book is! Beautifully written and an accessible and easy read, it is both a scrupulously honest and totally engrossing account of the Reformed Presbyterian Indian Mission to the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache reservation near Fort Sill in what is now Oklahoma.…You have to get this book."
GORDON J. KEDDIE author, retired pastor
"Having lived in neighboring Kansas and known people like the pioneering missionaries described in this book, I was fascinated with the details captured here. Based on meticulous research and a vast archive of letters, it tells a story that is well worth remembering and understanding."
ROBERT WUTHNOW, professor of sociology, Princeton University, author of What Happens When We Practice Textures of Devotion in Everyday Life
In 1889, William Work Carithers went to Oklahoma with two urgent goals—bringing the good news of Christ to the Indians, and helping them gain skills necessary to survive the white culture that was about to engulf them. But he had only twelve years before white settlers arrived on the reservation, 30,000 in a single day. The effect on the Indian way of life was devastating. The narrative follows Carithers to the end of his life, when his once successful mission begins to falter, and he assesses what has been accomplished.
GORDON J. KEDDIE author, retired pastor
"Having lived in neighboring Kansas and known people like the pioneering missionaries described in this book, I was fascinated with the details captured here. Based on meticulous research and a vast archive of letters, it tells a story that is well worth remembering and understanding."
ROBERT WUTHNOW, professor of sociology, Princeton University, author of What Happens When We Practice Textures of Devotion in Everyday Life
In 1889, William Work Carithers went to Oklahoma with two urgent goals—bringing the good news of Christ to the Indians, and helping them gain skills necessary to survive the white culture that was about to engulf them. But he had only twelve years before white settlers arrived on the reservation, 30,000 in a single day. The effect on the Indian way of life was devastating. The narrative follows Carithers to the end of his life, when his once successful mission begins to falter, and he assesses what has been accomplished.
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394 pages, Paperback
Published December 18, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 24, 2022
I found the book to be very well-written and engaging and well-researched. It shows the successes and failures without too much commentary on what went right and what went wrong. I live in Oklahoma and have visited the old mission site and the cemetery where Anna Coleman (white missionary) was buried in the Indian cemetery at her wish, with the phrase "And hath made of one blood all nations", so the book has special meaning for me. It is sad but engaging.
September 27, 2021
This book is well written and well researched. It focuses on the life of Rev. Work Carithers to tell the story of the Reformed Presbyterian mission to the Comanche, Kiowa and Apache people in SW Oklahoma just before Oklahoma was opened for white settlement. The photos and lists of members of the church at Cache Creek RPC plus the list of elders and deacons are worth the price of the book by themselves. The White Chief is a marvelous testimony of how the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of people known to be members of the most fierce and brave native American nations. You'll have to read this book to find out about the methods the missionaries used, but I'll say this much: the methods used in the mission's school were very different than those used in any other Indian school I've ever read about.
It was helpful to read about the waning of the Cache Creek church. Mistakes were made by the mission board and members that led to the church's closing. One was that the board didn't allow the church to have autonomy until it was too late. They also refused to give oversight to the local presbytery. In addition there was some resentment allowed to grow between the white people and Indians over who should have leadership and who should have ownership of property. The loss of this remarkable RP congregation is a tragedy that other church planters and missionaries can learn from.
It was helpful to read about the waning of the Cache Creek church. Mistakes were made by the mission board and members that led to the church's closing. One was that the board didn't allow the church to have autonomy until it was too late. They also refused to give oversight to the local presbytery. In addition there was some resentment allowed to grow between the white people and Indians over who should have leadership and who should have ownership of property. The loss of this remarkable RP congregation is a tragedy that other church planters and missionaries can learn from.
December 6, 2022
I picked up this book because, as an American History teacher, I have been trying to educate myself more about the experiences of Native Americans. As a Reformed Christian, I was particularly interested in this story of a mission to the Comanche, Apache and Kiowa people in Oklahoma that was established by the Reformed Presbyterian Church. This exhaustive account documents the highs and lows, successes and failures of that effort. There is much to admire in the folks who staffed the mission particularly in the early years. Concerted effort was made to learn each of the tribe's languages which endeared the missionaries to the tribes. The mission boarding school was located near to the tribal settlements so parents could be close to their children (in contrast to places like Carlisle Indian School which was far east in Pennsylvania). The gospel made a significant impact in the Comanche tribe with quite a few choosing "to walk the Jesus Road" as they described it. The reader will be impressed by the testimonies of the tribal people claimed Jesus as their Savior. And both the Comanche Christians and white missionaries also worked hard to curtail the influence of alcohol and peyote use that was ravaging their communities.
As this is a missionary story at the turn of the century, it was not surprising to find evidence of implicit racism and white bias among the white missionaries. This is noted in the letters that the authors quote. That being said, the reader can also watch as preconceptions of the white missionaries are challenged and ultimately changed as they come to know their Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache brethren better. While the first group of missionaries led by Work Carithers held out high hopes for a church in which white and Indian Christians worshipped together, the Cache Creek Church, after a period of growth, was sadly closed in 1970, the victim of personality disputes, internal denominational conflict, cultural changes, and continued white bias.
This book adds an overlooked chapter in American church history. But the reader who dives into its pages must be ready for a long journey. The authors quote from letters at length-- running sometimes to whole pages. The details are extensive. In every outbreak of illness, each person's symptoms are recorded. All contents of packages from back east are listed. All members present at almost every communion are listed. The authors had large numbers of primary sources at their disposal in letters, mission reports, and denominational magazines. While the details add authenticity, the narrative tends to sag under their weight making for a slow read.
As this is a missionary story at the turn of the century, it was not surprising to find evidence of implicit racism and white bias among the white missionaries. This is noted in the letters that the authors quote. That being said, the reader can also watch as preconceptions of the white missionaries are challenged and ultimately changed as they come to know their Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache brethren better. While the first group of missionaries led by Work Carithers held out high hopes for a church in which white and Indian Christians worshipped together, the Cache Creek Church, after a period of growth, was sadly closed in 1970, the victim of personality disputes, internal denominational conflict, cultural changes, and continued white bias.
This book adds an overlooked chapter in American church history. But the reader who dives into its pages must be ready for a long journey. The authors quote from letters at length-- running sometimes to whole pages. The details are extensive. In every outbreak of illness, each person's symptoms are recorded. All contents of packages from back east are listed. All members present at almost every communion are listed. The authors had large numbers of primary sources at their disposal in letters, mission reports, and denominational magazines. While the details add authenticity, the narrative tends to sag under their weight making for a slow read.
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February 17, 2022What an excellent book of research and discernment and wisdom.
For a longer review go to:
https://rpwitness.org/trunk/page/arti...
For a longer review go to:
https://rpwitness.org/trunk/page/arti...
September 1, 2021
This book tells the story of a church-run residential school in Oklahoma for Native Americans. Having read Whitehead's "Nickel Boys", "This Place: 15o Years Retold", and so many other books that deal with the failure of residential schools for so many, it is refreshing to note that the purpose of this school was different. The school and the ministry around it did not appear to aim to cancel indigenous culture nor to disrupt native families.
This book was well researched. Many passages gave me more detail than I felt I needed, but there were times I could have used more explanation behind the facts. Why was card playing such an abhorred offence to the founders? Why did the founding pastor find some neighboring school-running religious folks easier to work with than others? Did Covenanter views on holidays affect the way they dealt with Christmas/New Years traditions? I would have benefited if each chapter title had an accompanying date span.
The intended audience was probably fellow Reformed Presbyterians (RPCNA) like the author. A much-shortened version of this story would be great to release to a wider audience. People need to know that some indigenous people were served by religious folks who strove to talk to them in their native languages, encouraged them to be ready for the inevitable white wave coming toward them, reinforced their family structures, and built them up toward taking leadership in the church.
This book was well researched. Many passages gave me more detail than I felt I needed, but there were times I could have used more explanation behind the facts. Why was card playing such an abhorred offence to the founders? Why did the founding pastor find some neighboring school-running religious folks easier to work with than others? Did Covenanter views on holidays affect the way they dealt with Christmas/New Years traditions? I would have benefited if each chapter title had an accompanying date span.
The intended audience was probably fellow Reformed Presbyterians (RPCNA) like the author. A much-shortened version of this story would be great to release to a wider audience. People need to know that some indigenous people were served by religious folks who strove to talk to them in their native languages, encouraged them to be ready for the inevitable white wave coming toward them, reinforced their family structures, and built them up toward taking leadership in the church.
November 22, 2023
Choppy at points and very much driven by the minutia of 19th century life. It was interesting at first but soon grew old. Also there are some themes and strands that aren’t fleshed out very well.
There are some helpful points:
1. A multicultural mission is very difficult to run
2. Presbyterians are held back by inner squabbling
3. The gospel changes culture but how, when and what takes discernment
4. It’s best try to get a mission to be run by the people you are trying to reach, otherwise conflict gets started as more people become stakeholders
5. Boards need to be closely involved in the work they are overseeing
There are some helpful points:
1. A multicultural mission is very difficult to run
2. Presbyterians are held back by inner squabbling
3. The gospel changes culture but how, when and what takes discernment
4. It’s best try to get a mission to be run by the people you are trying to reach, otherwise conflict gets started as more people become stakeholders
5. Boards need to be closely involved in the work they are overseeing
May 3, 2021
Why does our modern military have combat helicopters named for the Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa? Who were they, to be thus honored? They were – especially the Comanche – the Mongols of the North American Great Plains, proud cruel warrior nations that fought heroically, viciously, and ultimately hopelessly while their centuries’ long way of life (at least since they mastered the mustangs abandoned by Spanish explorers) was crushed.
Their buffalo were gone; their chief warriors surrendered to the US Army; they were confined to a Territory that would all too soon be invaded by opportunistic white men of dubious morals. Their numbers rapidly dwindled due to illness and lack of their customary food sources.
How then should they live? Which new Road to take? The Peyote Road, recently introduced from Mexico? Or something hard, sober, yet ultimately more eye-opening: the Jesus Road? The humbled Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa hungered for spiritual guidance.
Faith Martin and Charles McBurney’s new book, The White Chief of Cache Creek (Crown & Covenant, 2020) lays out in detail the history of one American Protestant denomination’s response to its nation’s conquest of the Plains Indians: “Carithers’ goal was to get the Indians safely on the Jesus Road before they had to walk the white man’s road. ... [O]nce on the Jesus Road, Indians could enter white culture from a position of strength.” (p335)
While Martin and McBurney’s book only hints at the history that preceded the arrival of Reformed Presbyterian missionary Work Carithers in Cache Creek, Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), the reader is well advised to keep in mind the larger picture of the United States’ conquest of the Great Plains Indians. It was notable indeed that Carithers chose to pitch his tent deep in the Territory, close to the crossroads of the Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa -- in stark contrast to several other Christian missions that huddled close under the walls of US Army outpost Fort Sill. Carithers believed both in God’s protection and the full humanity of the Indians he was sent to preach to. He was proven right that the Comanche, et al., would respect and even appreciate those who came solely to help them learn how to navigate the white man’s peculiar ways.
Martin’s politically incorrect use of “Indian” helps keep the historic focus, as do rich descriptions drawn from the missionaries’ letters of their milieu: rattlesnakes aplenty, malaria a life-long companion, smallpox, scheming bureaucrats, measles, and murder.
I received an advance copy in *.pdf form, and this is my honest review.
Their buffalo were gone; their chief warriors surrendered to the US Army; they were confined to a Territory that would all too soon be invaded by opportunistic white men of dubious morals. Their numbers rapidly dwindled due to illness and lack of their customary food sources.
How then should they live? Which new Road to take? The Peyote Road, recently introduced from Mexico? Or something hard, sober, yet ultimately more eye-opening: the Jesus Road? The humbled Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa hungered for spiritual guidance.
Faith Martin and Charles McBurney’s new book, The White Chief of Cache Creek (Crown & Covenant, 2020) lays out in detail the history of one American Protestant denomination’s response to its nation’s conquest of the Plains Indians: “Carithers’ goal was to get the Indians safely on the Jesus Road before they had to walk the white man’s road. ... [O]nce on the Jesus Road, Indians could enter white culture from a position of strength.” (p335)
While Martin and McBurney’s book only hints at the history that preceded the arrival of Reformed Presbyterian missionary Work Carithers in Cache Creek, Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), the reader is well advised to keep in mind the larger picture of the United States’ conquest of the Great Plains Indians. It was notable indeed that Carithers chose to pitch his tent deep in the Territory, close to the crossroads of the Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa -- in stark contrast to several other Christian missions that huddled close under the walls of US Army outpost Fort Sill. Carithers believed both in God’s protection and the full humanity of the Indians he was sent to preach to. He was proven right that the Comanche, et al., would respect and even appreciate those who came solely to help them learn how to navigate the white man’s peculiar ways.
Martin’s politically incorrect use of “Indian” helps keep the historic focus, as do rich descriptions drawn from the missionaries’ letters of their milieu: rattlesnakes aplenty, malaria a life-long companion, smallpox, scheming bureaucrats, measles, and murder.
I received an advance copy in *.pdf form, and this is my honest review.
March 23, 2021
What was it like to be a pioneer missionary in America? In The White Chief of Cache Creek, Faith M. Martin and Charles R. McBurney tell the story of the missionary efforts of William Work Carithers to the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache Native Americans.
Excitement, Struggle, and Pain
Beginning in 1889 when Carithers leaves his hometown of Pennsylvania, we follow him to Oklahoma as he establishes Cache Creek Mission in the center of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation. Using official church documents as well as personal letters, Martin is able to tell the story with clarity and insight.
The story spans nearly 31 years, with a crucial time frame of 12 years to build and grow the mission. They are years of excitement but also years of struggle and pain. The 400-page book is divided into 50 short chapters. The writing is quick, and you can feel the weight on Carithers’ shoulders as well as his heart to help the Native Americans survive the coming white culture.
People, Lives, Stories, and Souls
What I found most interesting was the description of pioneer life. My eyes were opened to the reality of the hard work of missionaries. And I also saw the names and faces of the Native Americans. They are real people with real lives and real stories and real souls.
Martin refrains from commentary, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions on missionary work to the Native Americans. In a certain way, this book reads like a tragedy with the knowledge of history and the eventual ending of the mission. But it can also read like a testimony as we see our God who works all things -- including the history of our nation -- together for good.
I received a media copy of The White Chief of Cache Creek and this is my honest review.
Excitement, Struggle, and Pain
Beginning in 1889 when Carithers leaves his hometown of Pennsylvania, we follow him to Oklahoma as he establishes Cache Creek Mission in the center of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation. Using official church documents as well as personal letters, Martin is able to tell the story with clarity and insight.
The story spans nearly 31 years, with a crucial time frame of 12 years to build and grow the mission. They are years of excitement but also years of struggle and pain. The 400-page book is divided into 50 short chapters. The writing is quick, and you can feel the weight on Carithers’ shoulders as well as his heart to help the Native Americans survive the coming white culture.
People, Lives, Stories, and Souls
What I found most interesting was the description of pioneer life. My eyes were opened to the reality of the hard work of missionaries. And I also saw the names and faces of the Native Americans. They are real people with real lives and real stories and real souls.
Martin refrains from commentary, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions on missionary work to the Native Americans. In a certain way, this book reads like a tragedy with the knowledge of history and the eventual ending of the mission. But it can also read like a testimony as we see our God who works all things -- including the history of our nation -- together for good.
I received a media copy of The White Chief of Cache Creek and this is my honest review.
November 10, 2021
An important story to know. This tells the story of Reformed Presbyterian missionaries to Oklahoma in the late 19th century into the late 20th century. It details the challenges of frontier life, and while the focus of the book is on the mission itself, through the known writings and letters of the missionaries and workers there, what the story is really about, is meeting a people in need. The mission primarily ministered to the Comanche, but also the Apache and Kiowas tribes in Oklahoma. While the missions primary purpose is to bring the light of Jesus to these people, it also served to help minister to many material and social needs, often advocating on the tribes behalf to make sure, as much as was possible they were protected from the many opportunistic, and governmental people who often neglected and or took advantage of them, especially in the wake of the conquest of the tribes.
There is a beautiful reality here that many from the tribes chose to "walk the Jesus road", and are our brothers and sisters in the faith. Day by day and year by year the kingdom of Jesus advances, "
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,"
There is a beautiful reality here that many from the tribes chose to "walk the Jesus road", and are our brothers and sisters in the faith. Day by day and year by year the kingdom of Jesus advances, "
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,"
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews