Texas history museum in Austin explores faith and the American West

The title of the exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum promises to cover quite a stretch of territory: “Acts of Faith: Religion & the American West.”

After all, faith is an experience that touches, in one way or another, almost everyone.

The American West? Virtually all of the continental United States, more than 3 million square miles of it, was once considered “the West” by those newcomers from Europe who first settled on the eastern shores of what became the U.S. 

Those who arrived from the south did not think of it as the West but rather as El Norteño.

For that matter, one could fill whole museums with exhibits on the infinite ways that the Native Americans apprehended this continent differently from these various newcomers. 

At least “Acts of Faith” devotes a good deal of space to their ancient beliefs and how they responded to introduced religions, sometimes mixing the old and new.

The Texas history museum, however, wants a visitor to think about faith, religion, rituals and related beliefs in the context of the early American West pretty much from the Empire State of New York to the shores of the Golden State of California and beyond.

As such, “Acts of Faith,” which runs through Aug. 24, can’t help but feel somewhat incomplete, despite its density and detail. Originally curated by the New York Historical, formerly known as the New-York Historical Society, it does not focus at length on Texas. Yet, as always, the state museum’s curators have adapted the touring show to foreground themes of interest to Texans.

Thus, a subject that in standard Texas histories is often relegated to ongoing competitions among Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, Mormons and others, has been enlarged to encompass a wider range of interests.

A glimpse of what to see

During a May tour with two of the museum’s experts, it was clear right away from their enthusiasm, and from the checklists they provided, that a few objects stood out from the ground-floor gallery reserved for special exhibits.

• Robert Weir’s portrait of the Seneca chief Sagoyewatha, or “Red Jacket”
• A wooden statue of San Ysidro Labrador from 19th-century New Mexico
• A dollhouse-sized diorama of St. Louis’s first Rosh Hashanah ceremony
• A large commissioned mural that depicts a San Ysidro Feast Day in Taos, New Mexico
• An illustrated journey to California with Gold Rush 49er Sarah Royce
• A life-size figure of African American pioneer Clara Brown
• A mock-up of a 19th-century classroom
• Depictions of the Latter-day Saints' exodus to Utah
• Details from the sad story of American Indian boarding schools

Breaking down one key historical episode

Although I would love to return to “Acts of Faith” to absorb more of the stories, one of them struck me as emblematic on my first visit. 

It deals with the Erie Canal, which does not seem very western to Texans, but in fact helped open up the West beyond the mountains that pinned early colonists and later Americans on the East Coast.

As the exhibit’s wall texts immediately make clear, plans for the Erie Canal, which connected the Hudson River with Lake Erie when it was completed in 1825, cut right through the lands of the Haudenosaunee, an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of Indigenous peoples

“Where the Native Americans saw a living landscape that sustained their survival, New York politicians and businessmen saw opportunities for development and the easiest route to the West,” a wall text explains. “An early canal proposal characterized the territory as ‘waste and unappropriated lands’ ripe for the state’s taking.”

New York State Surveyor General Simeon DeWitt knew, however, that he and other planners were pushing straight through Native lands. A map from the time shows the canal cutting through places such as Onondaga Lake, Oneida Creek and the Seneca River, all named for Haudenosaunee communities.

In 1817, the Ogden Land Company began construction on the canal. While supporters saw the infrastructure as progress, the Haudenosaunee viewed it as a threat to their way of life. 

“They petitioned against private and public attempts to remove them from their homes along the canal’s route,” reads another wall text.

“The Seneca leader Sagoyewatha — or Red Jacket — defended traditional Haudenosaunee practices. He distrusted Christian missionaries, regarding them as accomplices of the whites who were stealing their lands.”

His words to one New England missionary were published in a broadside: “You have got our country but are not satisfied; you want to force your religion upon us. You say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the book?”

In 1819, the Ogden Land Company met with Red Jacket and other Seneca leaders to push them into selling land. Red Jacket spoke for the group when he refused, saying that all white men, including the preacher and schoolmaster, should leave their reservations.

How faith played out in a clash of societies

Protestant missionaries had long been attached to the Haudenosaunee. When canal broke ground in the heart of the Oneida homeland, many Oneida Christians turned to Eleazer Williams, an Episcopalian missionary of Mohawk descent. 

“Williams envisioned an ‘Indian empire’ in the West,” reads one wall text. “He advised his Oneida followers to migrate west in order to protect themselves from the white population and practice Christianity how they saw fit. Between 1820 and 1838, about half of the Oneidas relocated to a new reservation near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin.”

Williams was known for his sermons and hymns along with his prayer book, which provided access to sources such as the Book of Common Prayer to Oneida and Mohawk speakers.

“In the summer of 1818, spiritual revival swept through the Haudenosaunee council assembled at the Tonawanda Seneca reservation,” says a wall text. “Years before, the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake stood inside this same longhouse and preached a message of moral and social reform. He revealed his visions in which the Creator sent instructions for revitalizing Ongwehonweka:a, ‘the way of life of the original human beings.’”

Lake’s generous philosophy sought to help the needy, but it also overlapped with teachings from the Christian Gospels. At the same time, he preserved Native traditions, including the Midwinter Ceremony, Strawberry Festival, and traditional thanksgiving dances.

In another example of the mix of spiritual traditions, artist Caroline Parker was born Tonawanda Seneca and married into the Tuscarora community. She followed Lake’s philosophy and was a member of the Tuscarora Baptist Church. Creatively, she balanced Euro-American customs with those of Haudenosaunee heritage. The museum exhibits a striking photo of Parker dressed in a style that combined contemporary Victorian and older Native fashions: “When worn during ceremonial dances, Parker’s skirt became a ‘visual prayer’ in motion.”

The ultimate effect of the canal

The Erie Canal opened on Oct. 26, 1825. By linking New York City to the Great Lakes, it fueled American expansion, while stimulating a land rush on Indigenous lands.

“Dispossession cost the Haudenosaunee more than 99% of their homelands,” states a wall text. “Haudenosaunee did more than observe, however. They sought redress for illegal treaties, sustained commitments to spiritual beliefs and practices, and insisted on defining and defending their futures.”

Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Texas and Austin. He can be reached at mbarnes@statesman.com. Sign up for the free weekly digital newsletter, "Think Texas" at statesman.com/newsletters.