Frances Fuller Victor

“ To do it, might involve them with the company might indeed ruin the Oregon trade with the Indians, who could only hunt and trap when they were at peace. Should they furnish the means of destroying their own business, and take the risk of being cashiered? Not to do it, was to bring upon them selves the suspicion and hatred of the Americans then in the country, and to tempt them to make war upon the company, in which case the opinion of the world would be against them, for weighing beaver skins in the balance with the safety of a colony of their own race. ”

“ Should the temporary character of our government be considered by you sufficient ground to doubt its ability to redeem its pledge, and reasons growing out of its peculiar organization be deemed sufficient to prevent the recognition of its acts by the government of the United States, we feel it our duty, as private individuals, to inquire to what extent, and on what terms, advances may be had of the honorable Hudson's Bay Company to meet the wants of the force the authorities of Oregon deem it their duty to send into the field. ”

“ I have also written to Commodore Shubrick to send us a sloop-of-war to lie in our river to show the Indians that we have force that can be brought into this country if necessary. Fear, and fear only, rules and controls Indians. Knowing this, they have been informed that we expect a man-of-war this summer, and as soon as our great chief hears that his people have been murdered he will send some of his chiefs to punish the murderers. Should this pass off, and we receive no visit from our man-of-war, and no troops are sent into the territory, our situation will not be an enviable one. ”

“ It was evident that if the Indians surrendered it would only be because they were weary of the present state of warfare, and wanted time to recuperate, not that they were convinced that it was for their good or even that they might not eventually conquer.
"You are a great chief," said John to Colonel Buchanan. "So am I. This is my country; I was in it when those large trees were very small, not higher than my head. My heart is sick with fighting, but I want to live in my country. If the white people are willing, I will go back to Deer creek and live among them as I used to do. ”

“ The greater proportion of those who suffered were men in the prime of life, who could ill be spared by the struggling young territories, though comprising all classes—travelers, prospectors, miners, ranchers, traders, freighters, and lastly, volunteers in defense of the settlements, or soldiers in the service of their country. Many immigrant families were totally destroyed, the women and children suffering every outrage which fiendish imaginations could devise. The amount of property destroyed by Indian attacks upon immigrants, settlers, and United States supplies is enormous. ”

“ The officers of our provisional government have nobly performed their duty. None can doubt the readiness of the patriotic sons of the wesi to offer their personal services in defense of a cause so righteous. So it rests with you, gentlemen, to say whether our rights and our firesides shall be defended or not. Hoping that none will be found to falter in so high and so sacred a duty, we beg leave, gentlemen, to subscribe ourselves your servants and fellow-citizens. ”

“ On the seventh of August two Shasta Indians were cap tured, one on Applegate creek and the other on Jackson creek. Both were in war paint, and on investigation were proved guilty of the murder of Wills and Noland, for which they were hung at Jacksonville. Not satisfied with this act of justice, an Indian lad who had nothing what ever to do with the murders, was seized and hung by the infuriated miners. So great was the excitement that it was dangerous for a man to suggest mercy. ”

“ Our love for the free and noble institutions under which it was our fortune to be born and nurtured, remains un abated. In short, we are Americans still, residing in a country over which the government of the United States has the sole and acknowledged right of sovereignty; and under such circumstances we have the right to claim the benefit of its laws and protection. ”

“ In war, every one is on the alert. If we see a trail we know it must be an enemy; if the Blackfeet come to us we know it is for war, and we are ready. Peace, on the other hand, sounds no alarm; the eyes of the chiefs are closed in sleep, and the young men are sleek and lazy. ”

“ You said, when we parted in Walla Walla valley, that you would send me some supplies early in the spring, and I have been expecting them since that time, but have received none, nor even heard of any. I am entirely out of everything; I have not even salt for my bread, and I cannot remain in this country entirely destitute of everything. I want powder, ball, caps, flints, sugar, coffee, salt, tobacco, clothing for men and familes. If we do not get supplies we will be compelled to move to where we can get them. ”

“ On the following day, Colonel Gilliam thought it wise to remain in camp and cultivate a better spirit in the troops. He paraded the regiment, after which he mounted a wagon and addressed them in the language of a soldier loving his country, and feeling that no honorable or brave man could desert his duty; declaring, too, that the movers in the mutiny would be remembered by the people. ”

“ The discussion of the causes which had brought about the tragedy of Waiilatpu went on unceasingly, to no other purpose apparently than to gratify a craving for excitement. No one felt willing to lay any blame upon the victims. The immigrants were unwilling to admit that the catastrophe was caused by their introduction of a fatal disease among the Indians. The cause must be sought otherwheres. Where else could it- be looked for except in the natural depravity of barbarians, incited, of course, by some influence not American the French priests, or the English fur company, or both together? ”

“ I just learn that these Indians wish us to remain in the country as hostages of peace. They wish the communication for Americans to be kept open. We are willing to remain so, if peace can be se cured. It does not seem safe for us to attempt to leave the country in any way at present. May the God of heaven protect us and finally bring peace. These two men go to make peace, and when they return, if successful with the Cayuses, they will go to the Willamette. We have learned that one man escaped to Walla Walla, crossed over the river, and went below. ”

“ Spalding ordered some Indian pupils present to take and tie him. No one obeying, at last a young Nez Perces chief arose in wrath, seized Blue Cloak, bound him, and turning to Spalding said, "Now whip him." "No," said Spalding, "I do not whip; I command: God does not whip, he commands." "You are a liar," returned the young chief indignantly. "Look at your picture (a water-color sketch hanging on the wall, designed by Mrs. Spalding to illustrate bible teachings) . You have there painted two men, and God behind them with a bundle of rods to whip them. ”

“ He spent two days at the station, and we can imagine how eagerly Dr. Whitman questioned him, and how hopefully he heard what White had to relate, which confirmed his belief that if he could hold on a little longer he need neither abandon the Cayuses nor his home. If men in authority at Washington had asked White to start the emigration movement, and given him an office,—the first delegated authority bestowed on any one in this Northwest,—could he not also accomplish something for the country, the missions, and himself by going to Washington and Boston? ”

“ There is no doubt but the Spokanes, or at least a part, have joined the war party; they are determined on fighting the Nez Percés, who beg and pray their big chief to send them some help; they are here in the middle of their enemies without ammunition, and they ask for their white friends to come and help them. The volunteers having all abandoned the country, and hearing nothing of the regulars, there is a cloud of Indians collected in the Spokane country, they say, to rub out the few whites and Nez Percés there are here. ”

“ It is necessary at the present moment to keep a strong force in the field to keep those friendly that have manifested a desire for peace, and to keep the hostile Indians busy in their own country, for the war must now either be carried on there, or in our valley. The question is not now a matter of dollars and cents only ; but whether exertions will be made on the part of citizens of the territory to reenforce and sustain the army in the upper country, and keep down the Indians (which our men are able and willing to do if supported ) , or disband the army and fight them in the valley. ”

“ Concerning his council, Colonel Wright reported that the Stevens treaty was responsible for all the hostilities, and that the Indians so declared. Eagle-from-the-Light he denominated "the sense-bearer and mouthpiece of Looking Glass; a man of much character, and destined to reach the chieftanship of all the Nez Percé nation." His views of the treaty were the same as those of the other chiefs, though he desired to live in harmony with the white people. "I am fully satisfied," remarked the colonel, "with all that has been said by the chiefs or myself. Peace and quiet can easily be maintained. ”

“ Let this truth tell upon the good sense of every man we must conquer the enemy in their own country or fight them in our midst. Although many of the tribes profess friendship and refrain from hostilities while the seat of war is kept in their midst, where they have much to lose, that friendship will only last while it serves their own interest, the very principle which will prompt them to join the enemy the moment there is the least hope of victory on their side for then it would be as necessary for them to be friends to the enemy as it now is to be friends to us. ”

“ The attempt to carry an express to California in mid winter, was a hazardous one even for a party composed of mountain men, trained to overcome the vicissitudes of travel at all seasons. Scott and Tetherow were men of a large experience, but the others were chiefly young men, new to the frontier, and although brave to meet dangers to which they were accustomed, unfit to encounter the terrors of the wilderness in its most repellant mood. ”

“ The government cannot long overlook the importance of superintending the savages that endanger this line of travel, and that are not yet in treaty with it. Some of these are already well known to be led by desperate white men and mongrels, who form bandits in the most difficult passes, and are at all times ready to cut oft I some lagging emigrant in the rear of the party, or some adventurous one who may proceed a few miles in advance, or at night to make a descent upon the sleeping camp and carry away or kill horses and cattle. ”

“ A vessel drawing sixteen feet of water can enter our harbor in safety ; one drawing fifteen feet can, I believe, get up the Columbia at any season of the year with proper caution. I am aware that the present season is not the most favorable for entering our river and ascending it, still merchantmen enter and depart at all seasons of the year.
Believing that you will do all you can to render us assistance, I have the honor to remain, yours truly,
GEORGE ABERNETHY, Governor of Oregon. ”

“ The guns of the white men were, however, more than a match for Indian arrows; and after a skirmish the savages retired to trouble them no more. The truth of history requires that the brutal act, of the superior race shall be recorded as well as those of the inferior, as by them we are able to form our judgment of both. ”

“ There is nothing more convincingly apparent in the conduct of the early settlers of Oregon than that they were not wilfully cruel to the natives If there were race wars, it was not because one race sought to exterminate the other from unreasoning hatred, but from that incom patibility of interests which always exists between savage and civilized men. The iron wheel of progress never stops because the weaker is being crushed by it; it only presses on, while the strong grows stronger by mere force of circumstances, and without obvious intention. ”

“ Workmen were also hurrying forward the unfinished wooden railroad, where a bridge was building. In fact, the Indian war had given the Cascades, hitherto a mere trading post for immigrants, and for Indians, a strong impetus in the direction of growth; and on the morning of the twenty-sixth of March, two days after the removal of Captain Wallen's company, it presented a busy scene. The little steamer Mary lay at her moorings near the mill waiting for government freight, which it was too early, or too soon, owing to the unfinished state of the road, to have received. ”