Rickard D. Gwydir
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Major Rickard Daniel Gwydir (November 7, 1844 – November 7, 1925) was a
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soldier,
Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...
, and early
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
pioneer.


Biography

Gwydir was born in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, India, to Richard McKenna Gwydir, a
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Irish soldier in the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, and Jane Prendible, also Irish. His father died of
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when he was two, and his mother took him to the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...
and later
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,
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, before settling in
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
in the 1850s. By that time, she had remarried to Daniel Ruttle. In 1861, at the age of 16, Gwydir enlisted in the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
, spying and scouting for
John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825September 4, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Br ...
's raiders of
Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers, across from Cincinnati to the north ...
. After the
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, Gwydir worked for his stepfather in the pork packing and
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business before embarking on his long career in public service. He served as Covington's Superintendent of Public Works and city auditor, and as gauger for the
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. In 1886,
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appointed Gwydir Indian agent to the
Colville Indian Reservation The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in Washington (state), Washington state, U.S. It is inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which are List of federally recognized tribes in ...
in Northeast Washington. This began his life as a pioneer,
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, administrator, and appreciator of Indian and pioneer life. In 1889 he prospected gold and mined the remote hills of the
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, and he served as Chinese Inspector for the
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from 1893 to 1898. In 1901, Gwydir settled in
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
and became a prominent resident and respected public servant there. Newspapers from the era refer to him frequently; he was known as the "
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King of the Inland Empire" as well as for his vigorous health. Although Gwydir served as Indian agent after sweeping reforms in Indian policy, the paternalistic attitude towards Native Americans typical of the time is evident in his writings. Nonetheless, his fair dealings with the tribes in his charge earned him their respect, and he repeatedly urged the government to provide more material support to the Indians, especially when promises had yet to be kept. Gwydir left a memoir of his frontier experiences wherein he recorded
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of both settlers and Indians. He wrote and commented on Okanogan Smith, Chief Tonasket,
Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography; March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) ...
, Chief Moses, and Skolaskin, the prophet-chief of the fiercely independent Sanpoil. His chief concern in his writings is the preservation of the history of the early settlers of the region and the recognition of their efforts to tame the wild country. Gwydir died on November 7, 1925.


Sources

*Gwydir, Rickard D., edited and with an introduction by Kevin Dye. ''Recollections from the Colville Agency 1886-1889''. Spokane: Arthur H. Clark Company, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwydir, Rickard D. 1844 births 1925 deaths Military personnel from Kolkata American people of Irish descent Military personnel from Kentucky Confederate States Army soldiers American pioneers History of Washington (state) Foreign Confederate military personnel British emigrants to the United States United States Indian agents Irish expatriates in British India