USA > Oregon > Sources of the history of Oregon > Part 4
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We walked for about five miles, until we had passed the Cas- cades, and then took another little steamer which was to carry us to The Dalles. The scenery above is similar to that which we had already passsed. In'one place the mountains seem to come down to the river, ending in a huge rock perfectly steep, which has received the name of Cape Horn. Above, the precipices are covered with fir and white cedar; two small cascades, like silver lines, leap from point to point for a distance of 150 feet, while be- low, in the deep shadows the water seems to sweep around the rocks with a sullen sound. At ten at night we reached the end of our journey.
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The post at The Dalles possesses none of the outward attrac- tions of scenery which distinguish that of Vancouver. Its princi- pal recommendation is its healthiness. The building are badly arranged, having been planned and erected some years ago by the Mounted Rifles, when they were stationed in Oregon. The officers' quarters are on the top of a hill, and the barracks for the men some distance further down, as if the officers intended to get as far from them as possible. There is a want of compactness, as there is no stockade-nothing in the shape of a fortification-in case of an outbreak by any of the hostile tribes of Indians, the post might easily be surprised. At this time, two companies of the 4th Infantry were stationed there under command of Major Rains.
Here I spent a week very much as I had done at Vancouver. During this time we were enlivened by a visit from Governor Stevens, the Governor of Washington Territory. He was on his way to the interior of the Indian country-to Walla Walla-in connection with the Indian Commissioners, to hold a grand coun- cil, to which he had summond the tribes far and near. For some time they had been restless, numerous murders of emigrants crossing the plains have occurred, and it is deemed necessary by the Government to remove some of the tribes to reservations which have been selected for them. The object of this council was, therefore, to propose to them the purchase of their territory -a proposition which it was expected, (as it afterwards proved), would be received by some tribes with violent opposition. Gov- ernor Stevens had therefore stopped to request a small body of troops to be sent on to meet him at the council ground, to act as escort to the commissioners, and also to guard the presents which were to be forwarded for distribution among the Indians.
A Lieutenant and about forty men were therefore detailed by Major Rains for this duty, to which were added two half-breeds to act as packers, and a Cayuse Indian, who was to officiate as guide. This worthy from having been shot in the mouth in a fight with the Snake Indians, rejoiced in the soubriquet of Cut- mouth John. Wounds are said to be honorable, particularly when received in front, but this was certainly not ornamental, for it had given him a dreadful distortion of visage.
On invitation of the young commander of the expedition I agreed to accompany it. The choice of this officer indeed held out every promise of a pleasant time, Lieut. Archibald Gracie, in addition to his high qualifications as a soldier and gentleman- traits which he shared in common with the other officers of the post -had for my purpose the advantage of our cadet life together for a while at West Point, which gave us a common topic and ground of interest in the past. Many an evening, therefore, have we spent lying before our camp fire, out on the still plains or by rush- ing waters of the Umatilla, talking over these recollections or discussing the probable fortunes of those who were with us in the House of Bondage.
Our preparations were soon made, for army expeditions do not allow much time for packing trunks. The command was mounted,
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some fifteen pack mules added to carry the camp equipage, and about noon, May 18th, we bid farewell to the officers and rode away from The Dalles. Our course during the afternoon was through the Des Chutes valley, an admirable grazing country, as the temperature is such that cattle can be kept out for the whole year and always find subsistence. It was formerly the place where the Hudson's Bay Company raised all the best horses they used. The country appears, however, from the absence of timber, to be waste and desolate, though the soil is said to be rich and admira- bly adapted to agriculture. After passing the little river of Des Chutes, we find some springs near the Columbia river and encamped, having advanced about twenty miles.
Our arrangements for sleeping were soon made. We carried no tents, so that a buffalo robe and a blanket formed our bed- room furniture. This did well enough on pleasant nights, but when it rained, it required some skill to take refuge under the buffalo robe in such a way as to keep dry, and not wake up find- ing one's self lying in a pool of water. As soon as we encamped, fires were made by the soldiers and the cooking commenced. Our suppers indeed, were not very sumptuous, the invariable bill of fare being, bacon, hard biscuit and a cup of coffee. Yet, a long day's ride would supply the appetite, and after the horses were picketed and we were sitting cosily by the fire or were lying down watch- ing the stars above us, with no sound on the wide plain but the measured tread of our sentinel, there was a degree of freedom about it far more pleasant than the conventional life of cities.
Saturday, May 19th. We were up early this morning with the intention of making a long march, but were disappointed, as some of our animals had strayed off. There being no Indians in the neighborhood, they had been turned loose. Men had to be sent out to hunt them up, and it was near eleven o'clock before the command was ready to march. However, we improved on the previous day, going twenty-five miles. During this morning, we reached John Day's river. This is so called from a hunter who was one of the original members of Mr. Astor's enterprise, it took us some time to cross, as the water was high, and all the pack mules had to be unloaded and their packs taken across in a canoe. We went into camp about 5 o'clock.
Sunday, May 20th. This was anything but a day of rest, for our march was the most severe one we have had, being more than 40 miles, with the sun, hot as the tropics, beating down upon our heads. There were nothing, too, in the appearance of the country to afford any relief. Far as the eye could reach was only a wide sunburnt plain, perfectly lifeless, for the summers suns, by burn- ing up the herbage, had driven the game to seek refuge by the rivers. The prairie was covered with only a miserable crop of salt weed and wormwood, and our animals drooped as we pushed on to find some resting place. Added to this was the want of water, for often in these regions we are obliged to march from 20 to 25 miles, before we can reach a spring or water course. We were forced in this case to ride the whole day without stopping,
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until towards evening we reached Well's Springs, a desolate look- ing place, at the foot of a range of hills. Here, however, we had water, and therefore encamped. Night, too, was at hand, so that we were relieved from the intolerable glare and heat, and in ad- dition, one of the corporals had the good fortune to shoot a couple of ducks that were lingering about the neighborhood of the spring, so that our evening fare was quite luxurious.
Monday, May 21st. Today we made a shorter march, of 30 miles, and went into camp at 3 o'clock. Three miles from our camping ground we passed the Indian Agency, a house .erected by the Government at an expense of $6,000, for the residence of the agent. He is, however, seldom here, making his home at The Dalles, and when we passed the place it was unoccupied. In the evening a party of Indians, whom we found to be Walla Walla's rode into camp. After a little pow-wow they left us, but having some suspicions of our visitors, our little camp was arranged with extra care. The horses were carefully picketed, lest they should be run off, and Lieut. Gracie directed the guard in walking their rounds to examine that their muskets were ready for immediate use.
In the course of the night the rain had commenced and Lieut. Gracie and I were striving to keep dry and sleep under the little tent of pack-covers we had hastily erected, when we were startled from our first slumbers by a terrific yell. It may be imagined that it did not take us many seconds to be on our feet, with our pistols ready for, what we supposed, was an attack. Looking out, however, in the dark night, everything seemed quiet on the prai- rie. The animals were grazing around, and not an Indian to be seen. Upon enquiry, we discovered that the disturbance had been caused by one of the soldiers finding a large snake in bed with him. The reptile probably did not like the rain, and there- fore crawled under the soldier's blanket for warmth. What spec- ies it was he did not learn, for the snake, disgusted with his in- hospitable reception, glided away, and the soldier did not detain him to make any enquiries about his parentage.
Tuesday, May 22d. Our course this morning was through the same desolate country, until we struck the Umatilla, a beautiful stream fringed with trees. About 10 o'clock we came upon a party of ten soldiers of the 4th Infantry, who were encamped by the river. They had been sent out from The Dalles a week before, under the command of a corporal, in pursuit of some Indian mur- derers, in finding whom, however, they had been unsuccessul. As Lieut. Gracie had been directed, in event of meeting them, to add them to his command, their camp was broken up and they marched on with us, making the number of soldiers 47. Towards evening our guide announced that we were but a few miles from the val- ley which was the residence of the Cayuse tribe. Lieut. Gracie, therefore, sent on the soldiers under command of a Sergeant to find a camping place for the night, while we, under the guidance of Mr. Cut-mouth John, struck across the country, to visit his coun- trymen. We found their lodges in a beautiful, well-watered val- ley, which I am not surprised they are unwilling to give up. They
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are, however, much diminished in numbers, and did not seem to amount to more than 200. We went into several of their lodges, and although they are notoriously the most unfriendly tribe to the whites among all the Indians in this region of which we afterwards had some strong evidences, yet on this occasion they received us well and showed no feelings but those of cordiality. After leaving them, we returned to the trail, and riding on about five miles, found our party encamped by the Umatilla.
Wednesday, May 23d. At 2 o'clock P. M. we arrived at the ground selected for the council, having made the march in six days. It was in one of the most beautiful spots of the Walla Walla valley, well wooded and with plenty of water. Ten miles distant is seen the range of the Blue Mountains, forming the southeast boundary of the great plains along the Columbia, whose waters it divides from those of the Lewis river. It stretches away along the horizon until it is lost in the dim distance where the chain unites with the Snake River Mountains.
Here we found General Palmer, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, and Governor Stevens, with their party, who had already pitched their tents. With the latter we dined. As was proper for the highest dignitary on the ground, he had a dining room separate from his tent. An arbor had been erected near it, in which was placed a table, hastily constructed from split pine logs, smoothed off, but not very smooth. Our preparations were made for a more permanent encampment than we have as yet had. A tent was procured for Lieut. Gracie and myself while the men erected for themselves huts of boughs, spreading over them pack covers.
Thursday, May 24th. This has been an exceedingly interest- ing day, as about 2,500 of the Nez Perce tribe have arrived. It was our first specimen of this Prairie chivalry, and it certainly re- alized all our conceptions of these wild warriors of the plains. Their coming was announced about. 10 o'clock, and going out on the plain to where a flag staff had been erected, we saw them ap- proaching on horseback in one long line. They were almost en- tirely naked, gandily painted and decorated with their wild trap- pings. Their plumes fluttered about them, while below, skins and trinkets of all kinds of fantastic embellishments flaunted in the sunshine. Trained from early childhood almost to live upon horseback, they sat upon their fine animals as if they were cen- taurs. Their horses, too, were arrayed in the most glaring finery. They were painted with such colors as formed the greatest con- trast; the white being smeared with crinison in fantastic figures, and the dark colored streaked with white clay. Beads and fringes of gaudy colors were hanging from the bridles, while the plumes of eagle feathers interwoven with the mane and tail, fluttered as the breeze swept over them, and completed their wild and fantastic appearance.
When about a mile distant they halted, and half a dozen chiefs rode foward and were introduced to Governor Stevens and General Palmer, in order of their rank. Then on came the rest of the
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wild horseman in single file clashing their shields, singing and beating their drums as they marched past us. Then they formed a circle and dashed around us, while our little group stood there, the center of their wild evolutions. They would gallop up as as if about to make a charge, then wheel round and round, sounding their loud whoops until they had apparently worked themselves up into an intense excitement. Then some score or two dis- mounted, and forming a ring danced for about twenty minutes, while those surrounding them beat time on their drums. After these performances, more than twenty of the chiefs went over to the tent of Governor Stevens, where they sat for some time, smok- ing the "pipe of peace," in token of good fellowship, and then re- turned to their camping ground.
The Nez Perces, or pierced-nose Indians, received their name from the early traders and trappers, but they call themselves by the name of Chipunish. While they are the most friendly to the whites of any tribe in this region, they are at the same time one of the most numerous and powerful, roaming over the whole Rocky Mountains, along the streams to the West, and across the almost limitless plains to the East, until they reach the hunting grounds of the tribes of the Missouri. They hunt the elk, the bear, the mountain sheep and the buffalo, while they trap the beaver to sell the skin to the whites. They are celebrated for their droves of horses, which, after being branded, are turned loose to roam upon the fertile plains till needed by their owners; when this is the case, it requires but a few days to break them suf- ticiently to answer the purpose of their bold riders.
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About seventy women are seen among the warriors, for their presence is necessary when the tribe is to be encamped for any length of time. They perform all the menial offices, arranging the lodges, cooking and bringing wood, for it would be a disgrace to their lords to be seen engaged in these things. It would pro- cure for them the title of squaws. Everything but the perils of war and the chase are beneath their attention. When at home and not occupied in preparing their arms, or in feats of horse- manship, they are gambling, lounging in groups on the mounds of the prairie, or listening to some story-teller, who recounts the ex- ploits of the old warriors of the tribe. The Walla Wallas, another of the principal tribes present, is one much reduced in numbers and importance since the pioneer trappers first came among them. They range through the valley for thirty miles, to old Fort Walla Walla, once a central trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, on the left bank of the Columbia river near where the Walla Walla empties into it.
In the afternoon, I visited the lodge of an old chief of the Nez Perces, named Lawyer. He showed us a wound in his side from which he was yet suffering, although several years had elapsed since it was received. It had been inflicted in a fight with their old hereditary enemies, the Blackfeet Indians. These are the most dangerous banditti among all the tribes-perfect Ishmaelites -who, while they are at war with all the neighboring savages,
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have nourished the most implacable hatred to the whites, since they first met them in the days of Lewis and Clarke. War is their employment, and the booty they gain by it, their support. They are admirable horsemen and as much distinguished for their treachery as for their headlong courage. Their hunting grounds extend from the Yellow Stone and Missouri rivers to the Rocky Mountains. He showed us also some locks of their hair which he wore about him-not as a love token, or presented willing- ly by the former owners, but rather the reverse, as I presume they are the remains of scalps he had taken.
Today Governor Stevens and Mr. Doty, one of his party, dined with us. It was the first dinner party we had given in the wilder- ness. Yet think not, O ye who dine your friends at Demonico's that our entertainment was at all like yours! In the center of our tent, a buffalo robe was laid on the ground, (the luxury of a table being confined to the Governor) on which were placed tin plates which were our only dishes, for china is not adapted to mule traveling on the plains. About this we reclined rather in Orien- tal style. At one end of the table, (I mean the buffalo skin) was a beaf steak from one of the cattle daily killed at the camp, and at the other end a portion of the same unfortunate animal's liver. One side-dish was a plate of potatoes-the other, a plate of bread of leaden heaviness. The second course was-coffee, likewise served in tin cups. Yet we gathered around this feast with appetites which could not be found among the strollers in Broadway, . and which it required no French sauces to provoke.
Friday, May 25th. We woke this morning to hear the rain pattering about us, and to be thankful that we were eneamped, and not obliged to resume our march. At about noon it cleared up, when we procured our horses and rode over to the Indian camp to pay another visit to our friend Lawyer. We found the old chief surrounded by his family and reading a portion of the New Testament, while a German soldier of Governor Stevens' party was engaged taking his portrait in crayon. He afterwards presented me with a copy, which I keep as memento of these pleasant days in the wilderness.
In the evening he came to our tent to return our visit. We feasted him to the best of our ability, not omitting the indispen- sable pipe, and he seemed exceedingly gratified with his enter- tainment. A discussion had taken place some time before as to the hospitality of the Indians, and Lieut. Gracie determined on this occasion to test the question; so, when the old chief's heart seemed to be warmed up with our good cheer, he enquired, "Whether Lawyer would be glad to see him if he came to his country to make a short visit ?" To this rather direct hint no reply was for some time given, and the old man evidently endeav- ored to change the subject. At last finding it pressed upon him, he said "That Mr. Craig" (an American) had a very good house not far from his lodge." The nearest to an invitation that he would give, was to answer in reply to Lieut. Gracie's question, "Perhaps so."
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Saturday, May 26. I spent the morning on horseback explor- ing the country. In the course of my ride I met an Indian boy with a prairie chicken he had just killed, and which he was de- lighted to exchange for an old silk handkerchief. There are three pecularities for which this region of country has been re- marked-its gorgeous sunsets, the rapidity with which the waters in its streams rise and fall, and the contrast between its hot days and cool nights.
Towards evening the Cayuse tribe arrived, numbering about 300. They came in whooping and singing in the Indian fashion, and after circling round the camp of the Nez Perces two or three times, they retired to form their own at some little distance. In a short time some of the principal chiefs paid their respects to Governor Stevens and then came to look at our camp. It was not, as we had reason to believe afterwards, a friendly visit, but rather a reconnoisance to learn our numbers and estimate our powers of resistance. In the evening I again visited Lawyer and also a number of his tribe. Some of them we found singing sa- cred music to prepare for tomorrow, which is Sunday.
Sunday, May 27th. The rain this morning when we woke, was not pattering upon our tent, but fairly splashing around it, so that we were content to keep within its covering till noon, when the returning sunshine invited us forth. After riding over to Gov- ernor Stevens' to lunch, we went to the Nez Perces' camp, where we found they were holding service in one of the largest lodges; two of the chiefs were officiating, one of them delivering an ad- dress, (taking the Ten Commandments for his text), and at the end of each sentence the other chief would repeat it in a louder tone of voice. This is their invariable custom with all their speeches. Everything was conducted with the greatest propriety, and the singing, in which they all joined, had an exceedingly musical effect. There is an odd mixture of this world and the next in some of the Nez Perces',-an equal love for fighting and devotion, the wildest Indian traits with a strictness in some re- ligious rites which might shame those "who profess and call them- selves Christians." They have prayers in their lodges every morning and evening-service several times on Sunday-and nothing will induce them on that day to engage in any trading.
At an early day the Roman Catholic Missionaries went among them, and as the tribe seemed blessed with a more tractable dis- position than most of their brethren, the labors of the Fathers appear to have met with considerable success. A kind of Christi- anity was introduced among them, strangely altered, indeed, in many respects, to make it harmonize with Indian thoughts and actions, yet still retaining many of the great truths of the faith. It exerted, too, a very perceptible influence over their system of morality .* The Methodists, I believe, have more recently added
Lieut. Kip was misinformed in regard to the Catholics be- ing first among the Nez Perces, also the first Missionaries were Congregationalists instead of Methodists .- ED.
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their teaching; so that if the theological creed of the Nez Perces was now investigated, it would probably be an odd system, which would startle an ordinary D. D.
After service we rode through the Cayuse camp, but saw no evidence of Sunday there. The young warriors were lounging about their lodges, preparing their arms or taking care of their horses, to be ready for the evening races. The Christianity among these Indians, we suspect, is confined to the Nez Perces.
Monday, May 28th. At noon today I rode out about five miles from camp to visit some gentlemen who resided on the site of one of the old missions. It was once the residence of the Metho- dist Missionaries, who seem to have succeeded the Roman Catho- lic priests in some parts of the country. For what reason, I know not, they appear to have abandoned their ground, and when the old adobe buildings stood vacant, being well situated, with timber around, they were taken by these gentlemen who were endeavor- ing to raise stock, to sell to emigrants crossing the plains, or set- tlers who will soon be locating themselves through these valleys. They have since abandoned it and moved 50 miles farther into the interior to a claim of their own. About a stone's throw from the house are the graves of Dr. Whitman and his family (seven in number) who were murdered in 1847, by a band of Cayuses. He was, I believe, physician to the mission. * We spent the afternoon at the Nez Perce camp, where a band of some 30 young warriors were engaged in dancing and singing. Their musical instruments are few in number and of the rudest kind. The sing- ing is very harsh, and to us, who listened to it only as a collec- tion of sounds seemed utterly discordant. The songs are almost entirely extemporaneous, like the improvisstore recitations of the Italians, a narrative of some past events, or perhaps suggested by the sight of persons present, or by trifling circumstances known to the audience. We never saw the women dancing and believe they rarely do, and never with the men. During the dancing we had a little interlude in the shape of a speech. A young chief de- livered it, and at the end of each sentence it was repeated in a louder voice by one of the old men. This repetition is their in- variable custom, and a crier seems to be a necessity accompani- ment to all their villages.
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