accounts of other travellers, who passed through these regions in the
memorable enterprise of Astoria, we are inclined to think that Snake
River must be one of the most remarkable for varied and striking scenery
of all the rivers of this continent. From its head waters in the Rocky
Mountains, to its junction with the Columbia, its windings are upward
of six hundred miles through every variety of landscape. Rising in a
volcanic region, amid extinguished craters, and mountains awful with the
traces of ancient fires, it makes its way through great plains of lava
and sandy deserts, penetrates vast sierras or mountainous chains, broken
into romantic and often frightful precipices, and crowned with eternal
snows; and at other times, careers through green and smiling meadows,
and wide landscapes of Italian grace and beauty. Wildness and sublimity,
however, appear to be its prevailing characteristics.
Captain Bonneville and his companions had pursued their journey a
considerable distance down the course of Snake River, when the old chief
halted on the bank, and dismounting, recommended that they should turn
their horses loose to graze, while he summoned a cousin of his from
a group of lodges on the opposite side of the stream. His summons was
quickly answered. An Indian, of an active elastic form, leaped into a
light canoe of cotton-wood, and vigorously plying the paddle, soon shot
across the river. Bounding on shore, he advanced with a buoyant air and
frank demeanor, and gave his right hand to each of the party in turn.
The old chief, whose hard name we forbear to repeat, now presented
Captain Bonneville, in form, to his cousin, whose name, we regret to
say, was no less hard being nothing less than Hay-she-in-cow-cow. The
latter evinced the usual curiosity to know all about the strangers,
whence they came whither they were going, the object of their journey,
and the adventures they had experienced. All these, of course, were
ample and eloquently set forth by the communicative old chief. To all
his grandiloquent account of the bald-headed chief and his countrymen,
the Big Hearts of the East, his cousin listened with great attention,
and replied in the customary style of Indian welcome. He then desired
the party to await his return, and, springing into his canoe, darted
across the river. In a little while he returned, bringing a most
welcome supply of tobacco, and a small stock of provisions for the road,
declaring his intention of accompanying the party. Having no horse, he
mounted behind one of the men, observing that he should procure a steed
for himself on the following day.
They all now jogged on very sociably and cheerily together. Not many
miles beyond, they met others of the tribe, among whom was one, whom
Captain Bonneville and his comrades had known during their residence
among the Upper Nez Perces, and who welcomed them with open arms. In
this neighborhood was the home of their guide, who took leave of them
with a profusion of good wishes for their safety and happiness. That
night they put up in the hut of a Nez Perce, where they were visited by
several warriors from the other side of the river, friends of the old
chief and his cousin, who came to have a talk and a smoke with the white
men. The heart of the good old chief was overflowing with good will at
thus being surrounded by his new and old friends, and he talked with
more spirit and vivacity than ever. The evening passed away in perfect
harmony and good-humor, and it was not until a late hour that the
visitors took their leave and recrossed the river.
After this constant picture of worth and virtue on the part of the Nez
Perce tribe, we grieve to have to record a circumstance calculated to
throw a temporary shade upon the name. In the course of the social
and harmonious evening just mentioned, one of the captain’s men,
who happened to be something of a virtuoso in his way, and fond of
collecting curiosities, produced a small skin, a great rarity in the
eyes of men conversant in peltries. It attracted much attention among
the visitors from beyond the river, who passed it from one to the other,
examined it with looks of lively admiration, and pronounced it a great
medicine.
In the morning, when the captain and his party were about to set off,
the precious skin was missing. Search was made for it in the hut, but it
was nowhere to be found; and it was strongly suspected that it had been
purloined by some of the connoisseurs from the other side of the river.
The old chief and his cousin were indignant at the supposed delinquency
of their friends across the water, and called out for them to come over
and answer for their shameful conduct. The others answered to the call
with all the promptitude of perfect innocence, and spurned at the idea
of their being capable of such outrage upon any of the Big-hearted
nation. All were at a loss on whom to fix the crime of abstracting the
invaluable skin, when by chance the eyes of the worthies from beyond the
water fell upon an unhappy cur, belonging to the owner of the hut. He
was a gallows-looking dog, but not more so than most Indian dogs, who,
take them in the mass, are little better than a generation of vipers. Be
that as it may, he was instantly accused of having devoured the skin
in question. A dog accused is generally a dog condemned; and a dog
condemned is generally a dog executed. So was it in the present
instance. The unfortunate cur was arraigned; his thievish looks
substantiated his guilt, and he was condemned by his judges from across
the river to be hanged. In vain the Indians of the hut, with whom he was
a great favorite, interceded in his behalf. In vain Captain Bonneville
and his comrades petitioned that his life might be spared. His judges
were inexorable. He was doubly guilty: first, in having robbed their
good friends, the Big Hearts of the East; secondly, in having brought
a doubt on the honor of the Nez Perce tribe. He was, accordingly,
swung aloft, and pelted with stones to make his death more certain.
The sentence of the judges being thoroughly executed, a post mortem
examination of the body of the dog was held, to establish his
delinquency beyond all doubt, and to leave the Nez Perces without a
shadow of suspicion. Great interest, of course, was manifested by all
present, during this operation. The body of the dog was opened, the
intestines rigorously scrutinized, but, to the horror of all concerned,
not a particle of the skin was to be found--the dog had been unjustly
executed!
A great clamor now ensued, but the most clamorous was the party from
across the river, whose jealousy of their good name now prompted them
to the most vociferous vindications of their innocence. It was with the
utmost difficulty that the captain and his comrades could calm their
lively sensibilities, by accounting for the disappearance of the skin
in a dozen different ways, until all idea of its having been stolen was
entirely out of the question.
The meeting now broke up. The warriors returned across the river, the
captain and his comrades proceeded on their journey; but the spirits
of the communicative old chief, Yo-mus-ro-y-e-cut, were for a time
completely dampened, and he evinced great mortification at what had just
occurred. He rode on in silence, except, that now and then he would give
way to a burst of indignation, and exclaim, with a shake of the head
and a toss of the hand toward the opposite shore--“bad men, very bad
men across the river”; to each of which brief exclamations, his worthy
cousin, Hay-she-in-cow-cow, would respond by a guttural sound of
acquiescence, equivalent to an amen.
After some time, the countenance of the-old chief again cleared up, and
he fell into repeated conferences, in an under tone, with his cousin,
which ended in the departure of the latter, who, applying the lash to
his horse, dashed forward and was soon out of sight. In fact, they were
drawing near to the village of another chief, likewise distinguished by
an appellation of some longitude, O-pushy-e-cut; but commonly known as
the great chief. The cousin had been sent ahead to give notice of their
approach; a herald appeared as before, bearing a powder-horn, to
enable them to respond to the intended salute. A scene ensued, on their
approach to the village, similar to that which had occurred at the
village of the little chief. The whole population appeared in the
field, drawn up in lines, arrayed with the customary regard to rank and
dignity. Then came on the firing of salutes, and the shaking of hands,
in which last ceremonial every individual, man, woman, and child,
participated; for the Indians have an idea that it is as indispensable
an overture of friendship among the whites as smoking of the pipe is
among the red men. The travellers were next ushered to the banquet,
where all the choicest viands that the village could furnish, were
served up in rich profusion. They were afterwards entertained by feats
of agility and horseraces; indeed, their visit to the village seemed the
signal for complete festivity. In the meantime, a skin lodge had been
spread for their accommodation, their horses and baggage were taken care
of, and wood and water supplied in abundance. At night, therefore, they
retired to their quarters, to enjoy, as they supposed, the repose of
which they stood in need. No such thing, however, was in store for them.
A crowd of visitors awaited their appearance, all eager for a smoke and
a talk. The pipe was immediately lighted, and constantly replenished
and kept alive until the night was far advanced. As usual, the utmost
eagerness was evinced by the guests to learn everything within the scope
of their comprehension respecting the Americans, for whom they professed
the most fraternal regard. The captain, in his replies, made use of
familiar illustrations, calculated to strike their minds, and impress
them with such an idea of the might of his nation, as would induce them
to treat with kindness and respect all stragglers that might fall in
their path. To their inquiries as to the numbers of the people of the
United States, he assured them that they were as countless as the blades
of grass in the prairies, and that, great as Snake River was, if they
were all encamped upon its banks, they would drink it dry in a single
day. To these and similar statistics, they listened with profound
attention, and apparently, implicit belief. It was, indeed, a striking
scene: the captain, with his hunter’s dress and bald head in the midst,
holding forth, and his wild auditors seated around like so many statues,
the fire lighting up their painted faces and muscular figures, all
fixed and motionless, excepting when the pipe was passed, a question
propounded, or a startling fact in statistics received with a movement
of surprise and a half-suppressed ejaculation of wonder and delight.
The fame of the captain as a healer of diseases, had accompanied him to
this village, and the great chief, O-push-y-e-cut, now entreated him to
exert his skill on his daughter, who had been for three days racked with
pains, for which the Pierced-nose doctors could devise no alleviation.
The captain found her extended on a pallet of mats in excruciating pain.
Her father manifested the strongest paternal affection for her, and
assured the captain that if he would but cure her, he would place the
Americans near his heart. The worthy captain needed no such inducement.
His kind heart was already touched by the sufferings of the poor girl,
and his sympathies quickened by her appearance; for she was but about
sixteen years of age, and uncommonly beautiful in form and feature.
The only difficulty with the captain was, that he knew nothing of her
malady, and that his medical science was of a most haphazard kind. After
considering and cogitating for some time, as a man is apt to do when
in a maze of vague ideas, he made a desperate dash at a remedy. By his
directions, the girl was placed in a sort of rude vapor bath, much used
by the Nez Perces, where she was kept until near fainting. He then gave
her a dose of gunpowder dissolved in cold water, and ordered her to
be wrapped in buffalo robes and put to sleep under a load of furs and
blankets. The remedy succeeded: the next morning she was free from pain,
though extremely languid; whereupon, the captain prescribed for her a
bowl of colt’s head broth, and that she should be kept for a time on
simple diet.
The great chief was unbounded in his expressions of gratitude for the
recovery of his daughter. He would fain have detained the captain a
long time as his guest, but the time for departure had arrived. When the
captain’s horse was brought for him to mount, the chief declared that
the steed was not worthy of him, and sent for one of his best horses,
which he presented in its stead; declaring that it made his heart glad
to see his friend so well mounted. He then appointed a young Nez Perce
to accompany his guest to the next village, and “to carry his talk”
concerning them; and the two parties separated with mutual expressions
of good will.
The vapor bath of which we have made mention is in frequent use among
the Nez Perce tribe, chiefly for cleanliness. Their sweating houses, as
they call them, are small and close lodges, and the vapor is produced by
water poured slowly upon red-hot stones.
On passing the limits of O-push-y-e-cut’s domains, the travellers left
the elevated table-lands, and all the wild and romantic scenery which
has just been described. They now traversed a gently undulating country,
of such fertility that it excited the rapturous admiration of two of the
captain’s followers, a Kentuckian and a native of Ohio. They declared
that it surpassed any land that they had ever seen, and often exclaimed
what a delight it would be just to run a plough through such a rich and
teeming soil, and see it open its bountiful promise before the share.
Another halt and sojourn of a night was made at the village of a
chief named He-mim-el-pilp, where similar ceremonies were observed and
hospitality experienced, as at the preceding villages. They now pursued
a west-southwest course through a beautiful and fertile region, better
wooded than most of the tracts through which they had passed. In their
progress, they met with several bands of Nez Perces, by whom they were
invariably treated with the utmost kindness. Within seven days after
leaving the domain of He-mim-el-pilp, they struck the Columbia River at
Fort Wallah-Wallah, where they arrived on the 4th of March, 1834.
34.
Fort Wallah-Wallah--Its commander--Indians in its
neighborhood--Exertions of Mr. Pambrune for their
improvement--Religion--Code of laws--Range of the Lower Nez
Perces--Camash, and other roots--Nez--Perce horses--
Preparations for departure--Refusal of supplies--Departure--
A laggard and glutton
FORT WALLAH-WALLAH is a trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company,
situated just above the mouth of the river by the same name, and on the
left bank of the Columbia. It is built of drift-wood, and calculated
merely for defence against any attack of the natives. At the time of
Captain Bonneville’s arrival, the whole garrison mustered but six or
eight men; and the post was under the superintendence of Mr. Pambrune,
an agent of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The great post and fort of the company, forming the emporium of its
trade on the Pacific, is Fort Vancouver; situated on the right bank of
the Columbia, about sixty miles from the sea, and just above the mouth
of the Wallamut. To this point, the company removed its establishment
from Astoria, in 1821, after its coalition with the Northwest Company.
Captain Bonneville and his comrades experienced a polite reception from
Mr. Pambrune, the superintendent: for, however hostile the members of
the British Company may be to the enterprises of American traders, they
have always manifested great courtesy and hospitality to the traders
themselves.
Fort Wallah-Wallah is surrounded by the tribe of the same name, as
well as by the Skynses and the Nez Perces; who bring to it the furs and
peltries collected in their hunting expeditions. The Wallah-Wallahs are
a degenerate, worn-out tribe. The Nez Perces are the most numerous and
tractable of the three tribes just mentioned. Mr. Pambrune informed
Captain Bonneville that he had been at some pains to introduce the
Christian religion, in the Roman Catholic form, among them, where it had
evidently taken root; but had become altered and modified, to suit their
peculiar habits of thought, and motives of action; retaining, however,
the principal points of faith, and its entire precepts of morality. The
same gentleman had given them a code of laws, to which they conformed
with scrupulous fidelity. Polygamy, which once prevailed among them to
a great extent, was now rarely indulged. All the crimes denounced by the
Christian faith met with severe punishment among them. Even theft,
so venial a crime among the Indians, had recently been punished with
hanging, by sentence of a chief.
There certainly appears to be a peculiar susceptibility of moral and
religious improvement among this tribe, and they would seem to be one
of the very, very few that have benefited in morals and manners by an
intercourse with white men. The parties which visited them about twenty
years previously, in the expedition fitted out by Mr. Astor, complained
of their selfishness, their extortion, and their thievish propensities.
The very reverse of those qualities prevailed among them during the
prolonged sojourns of Captain Bonneville.
The Lower Nez Perces range upon the Way-lee-way, Immahah, Yenghies, and
other of the streams west of the mountains. They hunt the beaver,
elk, deer, white bear, and mountain sheep. Besides the flesh of these
animals, they use a number of roots for food; some of which would be
well worth transplanting and cultivating in the Atlantic States. Among
these is the camash, a sweet root, about the form and size of an onion,
and said to be really delicious. The cowish, also, or biscuit root,
about the size of a walnut, which they reduce to a very palatable flour;
together with the jackap, aisish, quako, and others; which they cook by
steaming them in the ground.
In August and September, these Indians keep along the rivers, where they
catch and dry great quantities of salmon; which, while they last, are
their principal food. In the winter, they congregate in villages formed
of comfortable huts, or lodges, covered with mats. They are generally
clad in deer skins, or woollens, and extremely well armed. Above all,
they are celebrated for owning great numbers of horses; which they mark,
and then suffer to range in droves in their most fertile plains. These
horses are principally of the pony breed; but remarkably stout and
long-winded. They are brought in great numbers to the establishments of
the Hudson’s Bay Company, and sold for a mere trifle.
Such is the account given by Captain Bonneville of the Nez Perces; who,
if not viewed by him with too partial an eye, are certainly among the
gentlest, and least barbarous people of these remote wildernesses. They
invariably signified to him their earnest wish that an American post
might be established among them; and repeatedly declared that they would
trade with Americans, in preference to any other people.
Captain Bonneville had intended to remain some time in this
neighborhood, to form an acquaintance with the natives, and to collect
information, and establish connections that might be advantageous in
the way of trade. The delays, however, which he had experienced on his
journey, obliged him to shorten his sojourn, and to set off as soon as
possible, so as to reach the rendezvous at the Portneuf at the appointed
time. He had seen enough to convince him that an American trade might
be carried on with advantage in this quarter; and he determined soon to
return with a stronger party, more completely fitted for the purpose.
As he stood in need of some supplies for his journey, he applied to
purchase them of Mr. Pambrune; but soon found the difference
between being treated as a guest, or as a rival trader. The worthy
superintendent, who had extended to him all the genial rites of
hospitality, now suddenly assumed a withered-up aspect and demeanor, and
observed that, however he might feel disposed to serve him, personally,
he felt bound by his duty to the Hudson’s Bay Company, to do nothing
which should facilitate or encourage the visits of other traders among
the Indians in that part of the country. He endeavored to dissuade
Captain Bonneville from returning through the Blue Mountains; assuring
him it would be extremely difficult and dangerous, if not impracticable,
at this season of the year; and advised him to accompany Mr. Payette,
a leader of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who was about to depart with a
number of men, by a more circuitous, but safe route, to carry supplies
to the company’s agent, resident among the Upper Nez Perces. Captain
Bonneville, however, piqued at his having refused to furnish him with
supplies, and doubting the sincerity of his advice, determined to return
by the more direct route through the mountains; though varying his
course, in some respects, from that by which he had come, in consequence
of information gathered among the neighboring Indians.
Accordingly, on the 6th of March, he and his three companions,
accompanied by their Nez Perce guides, set out on their return. In the
early part of their course, they touched again at several of the Nez
Perce villages, where they had experienced such kind treatment on their
way down. They were always welcomed with cordiality; and everything was
done to cheer them on their journey.
On leaving the Way-lee-way village, they were joined by a Nez Perce,
whose society was welcomed on account of the general gratitude and
good will they felt for his tribe. He soon proved a heavy clog upon the
little party, being doltish and taciturn, lazy in the extreme, and a
huge feeder. His only proof of intellect was in shrewdly avoiding all
labor, and availing himself of the toil of others. When on the march,
he always lagged behind the rest, leaving to them the task of breaking
a way through all difficulties and impediments, and leisurely and lazily
jogging along the track, which they had beaten through the snow. At the
evening encampment, when others were busy gathering fuel, providing for
the horses, and cooking the evening repast, this worthy Sancho of the
wilderness would take his seat quietly and cosily by the fire, puffing
away at his pipe, and eyeing in silence, but with wistful intensity of
gaze, the savory morsels roasting for supper.
When meal-time arrived, however, then came his season of activity. He
no longer hung back, and waited for others to take the lead, but
distinguished himself by a brilliancy of onset, and a sustained vigor
and duration of attack, that completely shamed the efforts of his
competitors--albeit, experienced trenchermen of no mean prowess. Never
had they witnessed such power of mastication, and such marvellous
capacity of stomach, as in this native and uncultivated gastronome.
Having, by repeated and prolonged assaults, at length completely
gorged himself, he would wrap himself up and lie with the torpor of an
anaconda; slowly digesting his way on to the next repast.
The gormandizing powers of this worthy were, at first, matters of
surprise and merriment to the travellers; but they soon became too
serious for a joke, threatening devastation to the fleshpots; and he
was regarded askance, at his meals, as a regular kill-crop, destined to
waste the substance of the party. Nothing but a sense of the obligations
they were under to his nation induced them to bear with such a guest;
but he proceeded, speedily, to relieve them from the weight of these
obligations, by eating a receipt in full.
35.
The uninvited guest--Free and easy manners--Salutary jokes--
A prodigal son--Exit of the glutton--A sudden change in
fortune--Danger of a visit to poor relations--Plucking of a
prosperous man--A vagabond toilet--A substitute for the very
fine horse--Hard travelling--The uninvited guest and the
patriarchal colt--A beggar on horseback--A catastrophe--Exit
of the merry vagabond