During our stay, we heard related many incidents common to a mountain
life. At one time, when Mr. Spalding was on an excursion to one of the
neighboring villages, accompanied by several Indians and their wives,
they espied a bear at a short distance clambering up a tree. He ascended
thirty or forty feet, and halted to view the travelers. A tree standing
near the one upon which sat the bear, with limbs conveniently situated
to climb, induced Mr. Spalding to attempt to _lasso_ master bruin. He
accordingly prepared himself with a _lasso_ rope, and ascended the tree
until he attained an elevation equal to that of the bear. He then cut a
limb, rested the noose of the rope upon one end, and endeavored to place
it over the head of the bear; but as the rope approached his nose, bruin
struck it with his paw, and as Mr. S. had but one hand at liberty, he
could not succeed, the weight of the rope being too great. He called to
some of his Indian friends, to come up and assist him; but none seemed
willing to risk themselves so near the formidable animal. At length one
of the squaws climbed up, and held the slack of the rope, and Mr. S.
succeeded in slipping the noose over bruin's head. He then descended
from the tree, and as the rope extended to the ground, they gave it a
jerk, and down came the bear, which fell in such a way as to pass the
rope over a large limb, thus suspending him by the neck.
The cattle which we had purchased were scattered over the {127} plain.
On the 3d they were brought in, and the chief Ellis bought the whole
band, agreeing to give one horse for each head of cattle. His place of
residence was about sixty miles further up the Kooskooskee, but his
father-in-law resided near the mission. Ellis made arrangements with the
latter for six horses, and delivered them to us, and his father-in-law
took possession of the cattle. We left the horses in his possession,
until Ellis could return with the remainder of the horses. In his
absence many of the natives came in with their horses to trade for the
cattle, and when informed that Ellis had bought them all, they were very
much displeased, and charged Ellis with conniving with the whites
against his people. In a few days Ellis returned, when the feelings of
his people were so much against him, that he was forced to abandon the
trade. His father-in-law drove down his band of horses according to
agreement, but instead of bringing the horses which had been selected,
he brought some old, broken-down horses that could not stand the trip.
We objected to receive these horses, and thus broke up the whole
arrangement. They had the horses and cattle; of course we demanded the
cattle; the Indians showed us that they were on the plains, and that we
must hunt them up. We dispatched a party, and they soon brought us all
but one heifer.
Our intention then was to drive the cattle down to Dr. Whitman's, and
trade with the Cayuses; but as we would be compelled to travel on foot
for nearly one hundred and fifty miles, we abandoned the project. The
neighboring Indians soon drove in some horses to trade, and before night
we had disposed of all but four head of our cattle, one yoke of oxen,
one yearling heifer, and a yearling calf. The oxen belonged to me. I
left them in charge of Mr. Spalding, until my return. In the exchange
one horse was given for a cow or heifer. A few horses were purchased for
other articles of trade, such as blankets, shirts, knives, &c. The value
of fourteen dollars in trade would buy an ordinary horse; if it was an
extra horse something more would be asked. Four blankets was the price
of a horse. None of the Indians would take money except Ellis. In fact
they did not seem to know the value of money.
During our stay at this place, the Indians flocked in from all quarters.
It is but seldom that the whites visit this portion of the country, and
the Indians all seemed anxious to see us. The house was literally filled
from morning until night with men, women, and children. They are usually
much better {128} clad than any other tribe east or west of the
mountains, are quite clean, and are an industrious people. They have
made considerable advances in cultivating the soil, and have large
droves of horses, and many of them are raising large herds of cattle.
Mr. and Mrs. Spalding have kept up a school, and many of the Indians
have made great proficiency in spelling, reading, and writing. They use
the English alphabet to the Nez Percé language. Mr. Spalding has made
some translations from the Scriptures, and among others from the book of
Matthew. From this printed copy[209] many of the Indians have printed
with a pen facsimiles of the translation, which are neatly executed. I
have several copies in my possession of these and other writings, which
can be seen at any time in Laurel, Indiana. They are a quiet, civil
people, but proud and haughty; they endeavor to imitate the fashions of
the whites, and owe much of their superior qualifications to the
Missionaries who are among them.
Mr. Spalding and family have labored among them for ten years
assiduously, and the increasing wants and demands of the natives require
an additional amount of labor. A family of their own is rising around
them, which necessarily requires a portion of their time; and the
increasing cares of the family render it impossible to do that amount of
good, and carry out fully that policy which they have so advantageously
commenced for the natives. It is impossible for one family to counteract
all the influences of bad and designing men, of whom there are not a few
in the country. They need more assistance. There are a sufficient number
of establishments, but not a sufficient number of persons at those
establishments. For instance: Mr. Spalding must now attend not only to
raising produce for his own family, but also to supply in a great
measure food to numerous families of Indians; to act as teacher and
spiritual guide, as physician, and perform many other duties incident to
his situation. With such a multitude of claims on his attention, his
energies are too much divided, and on the whole his influence is
lessened. Could not the Missionary board send out an assistant?
There is one thing which could be accomplished with a small outlay, that
would be of lasting advantage to these people. They are raising small
flocks of sheep, and have been taught to card and spin and weave by
hand, and prepare clothing--but the process is too tedious. A carding
machine and machinery for fulling cloth would be a saving to the board
of {129} missions, and of lasting benefit to the natives. There are no
such machines in that country. The wood work of those machines could
nearly all be done in the country; the cards and castings are all that
would be necessary to ship. A mechanic to set up the machines would be
necessary.
Perhaps no part of the world is better adapted to the growth of wool
than this middle region, and it abounds with water-power to manufacture
it. Farmers, mechanics and teachers, should be sent among these people
by the missionary board, or by the government. A division is about being
made in this nation, which if not counteracted, will doubtless lead to
bad consequences. Three Delaware Indians have crossed the mountains, and
settled on the Kooskooskee among the Nez Percé Indians. One of them,
named Tom Hill, has so ingratiated himself into the feelings of the Nez
Percé Indians, that he has succeeded in persuading about one hundred
lodges to acknowledge him as their chief. It was formerly, as among
other tribes, customary for an Indian to have as many wives as he could
maintain; but the missionaries taught them otherwise, and succeeded in
abolishing this heathen custom. But Tom Hill tells them that they can
have as many wives as they please. He says to them, You make me chief,
and I will make you a great people. The white men tell you not to
steal--I tell you there is no harm in it; the bad consists in being
caught at it. These men will mislead you, &c., &c.
Ellis and the other chiefs have exerted themselves to recall their
people, but they cannot succeed. In conversing with Ellis, I enquired
whether cases of insanity were common among his people. He answered that
he never knew a case of insanity, but this one of Tom Hill's. He looks
upon him as a crazy man. The two other Delaware Indians are young men,
and are industrious and peaceable. They have commenced cultivating the
soil, and are raising a fine herd of cattle. Ellis is considered
wealthy. He has about fifteen hundred horses, a herd of cattle, some
hogs, and a few sheep. Many persons in this nation have from five to
fifteen hundred head of horses. In traveling from Dr. Whitman's to this
place, I saw more than ten thousand horses grazing upon the plains. They
are good looking, and some of them large.
In the fall I had made enquiries as to whether it was practicable to
obtain the necessary supplies at these missions for our home journey;
and in the winter Mr. Spalding wrote to us that he could furnish us with
flour and meat. We had accordingly {130} contemplated procuring a part
of our outfit at this place. A few bad designing Indians had frequently
given Mr. Spalding trouble about his place, and had made severe threats.
At one time they had threatened to tie him, and drive his family away.
They complained that the whites never came through their country, giving
them the advantages of trade; but that the white men passed through the
Cayuse country, selling their cattle, clothing, &c.; and that if they
could not have all the benefits of trade, the whites should leave the
country.
Early in the spring some of them had got into a fit of ill humour, and
had ordered Mr. Spalding from the place, cut open his mill-dam, threw
down his fences, broke the windows of the church, crippled some of his
hogs, and took possession of the whole premises. This time they seemed
to be determined to carry their threats into execution. Mr. S. allowed
them to take their own course, putting no obstacle in their way. The
principal men seemed to look on with indifference; but they evidently
saw that it was likely to injure them, more than it would Mr. Spalding;
for they relied upon the mill and farm for their support to a great
extent.
In the meantime Mr. Spalding had written a letter to us, informing us of
his situation, and that we could not rely on him for furnishing us with
supplies. He gave the letter to an Indian to carry to Dr. Whitman's,
that it might be forwarded to us. The Indians being apprised of the
contents of the letter, stopped the carrier, and took from him the
letter, and after a consultation determined to abandon their rash
course; as it would be likely to deprive them of the benefit of our
trade, and be a barrier against the white men ever coming to trade with
them. They accordingly brought the letter to Mr. Spalding, acknowledging
they had done wrong, and placed him in full possession of his premises,
promising to behave better for the future; and when we arrived he was
enjoying their full confidence.
The Indians informed us that there was a good passway upon the north
side of Lewis's fork, by proceeding up the Kooskooskee some sixty miles,
and then striking across to Salmon river, and then up to Fort Bois. By
taking this route in the winter season, we would avoid the deep snow
upon the Blue Mountains, as the route is mostly up the valley of Lewis'
river, and it is undoubtedly nearer to Puget Sound than by the old
route. Those wishing to settle about the Sound would do well to take
this route, or at least the saving in the distance {131} would justify
an examination of the route, to ascertain its practicability.
We were very hospitably entertained by Mr. Spalding, and his interesting
family. With the exception of Mr. Gilbert, who is now engaged on the
mission farm, and Mr. Craig, who has a native for a wife, and lives six
hundred yards from Mr. Spalding's dwelling, the nearest white families
are Messrs. Walker and Ellis, who have a mission one hundred and thirty
miles to the north, among the Flathead nation; and Dr. Whitman, nearly
one hundred and fifty miles distant, among the Cayuses.[210]
In this lonely situation they have spent the best part of their days,
among the wild savages, and for no compensation but a scanty
subsistence. In the early part of their sojourn they were compelled to
use horse meat for food, but they are now getting herds of domestic
animals about them, and raise a surplus of grain beyond their own wants.
At Mr. Spalding's there is an excuse for a grist mill, which answers to
chip up the grain, but they have no bolting cloth; in place of which
they use a sieve. The meal makes very good bread. There was formerly a
saw mill, but the irons have been taken and used in a mill which Dr.
Whitman has recently built about twenty miles from his dwelling, at the
foot of the Blue mountains. The Catholics have several missionary
establishments upon the upper waters of the Columbia.[211]
On the 10th of April we had made the necessary arrangements, and started
on our return to Dr. Whitman's, where we arrived on the 14th. On my way
down in the fall, I had left a horse and a heifer with the Doctor. They
were now running on the plains. Several persons were engaged in hunting
them up; the horse was found and brought in, and was in good condition.
The Indians had concealed the horse, in order to force a trade, and
offered to buy him, they to run the risk of finding him; but as he was a
favorite horse, that I had brought from home, I felt gratified when he
was found. The heifer I traded for a horse, the purchaser to find her.
My two oxen, which I had left at Mr. Spalding's, I traded for a horse.
An Indian who had stolen a horse from a company in the fall, had been
detected, and the horse taken to fort Wallawalla. He had again stolen
the horse, and traded him off. He was at Dr. Whitman's, and as the owner
was of our party, he made a demand for the horse, and the Indian gave up
a {132} poor old horse in its stead. This was the same fellow that had
bought my heifer.
We remained at Dr. Whitman's until the 17th, when all was prepared, and
we made a formal start. Our party consisted of eighteen persons, and
fifty-one horses and mules. We traveled about eight miles, and encamped.
On the 18th, we traveled to the Umatillo. On the way the fellow who had
bought the heifer overtook us and demanded the horse, as he said he had
not time to hunt up the heifer. I refused to give it up, and he
insisted. At this juncture Dr. Whitman overtook us, and the Indian made
complaint to him. It was arranged that we should all go on to Umatillo,
where several of the chiefs resided, and have the matter amicably
settled. We reached the river in the afternoon, and repaired to the
chief's. The Indian told his story, and I told mine. The chief decided
that I should give up the horse, and he would give me a horse for the
heifer. I agreed that in case the heifer could not be found, to give him
another on my return to Oregon. The Indian set out with his horse, and
the chief soon brought me one in its place, worth at least two such as
the first. Of course I was much pleased with the exchange.
At night it commenced raining, and then snowing, and in the morning the
snow was four or five inches deep on the ground. We were then
immediately at the foot of the mountain, and as we expected the snow had
fallen deep upon the mountain, we remained in camp all day. The 20th was
unfavorable for traveling, and we remained in camp.
On the 21st we took up the line of march, ascended the mountain, and
advanced about twenty-five miles, which brought us over the dividing
ridge. We found the snow in patches, and sometimes three feet deep--that
is, the old snow, for the new fallen snow had all melted away. The
grazing was poor, but at night we found a prairie upon the south side of
the mountain, which afforded a scanty supply of grass; here we encamped
for the night.
The 22d was very blustery, sometimes snowing; very disagreeable
traveling. We reached the Grand Round at 2 o'clock P. M. and encamped.
Here we found an abundance of good grass, and halted for the night.
During the night the horse which I had obtained of the old chief broke
from his picket, and in company with one that was running loose, took
the back track. In the morning we dispatched two men, who followed them
about four miles, when it was found that the {133} horses had left the
road. The two men went back ten or twelve miles, but could see nothing
of the horses. They then returned to camp. We in the mean time had
packed up, and traveled across Grand Round about eight miles, when we
encamped. In the morning we started back four men to hunt for the
horses. On the evening of the 24th our men returned, but without the
horses.
On the morning of the 25th we packed up, traveled about twenty-six
miles, and encamped on Powder river, near the lone pine stump.[212]
On the 27th we traveled about twenty-five miles. On the 28th we traveled
about twenty-three miles, and encamped near Malheur.
On the 29th we reached fort Bois. The people at the fort, and the
Indians in the vicinity, were evidently much alarmed. Before reaching
the fort, I saw at a distance numerous columns of smoke, alternately
rising and disappearing; and then another column would rise at a great
distance. These columns of smoke seemed to be signals that enemies were
in the country. The people at the fort were seemingly friendly, and
supplied us with milk and butter. We selected our camping ground with
caution, and with an eye to the defence both of horses and men. Our
guard was doubled. We were visited by many Indians, but no hostile
demonstration was exhibited. Here the wagon road crosses the river, but
as there were no canoes at the upper crossing, and the river was too
high to ford, we decided upon traveling up the south side of the river.
On the 30th of April we packed up, and left fort Bois. The trail led us
up to the mouth of a stream coming in on the south side of Lewis river,
about one hundred yards in width. This we reached in about three miles.
Immediately at the crossing is an Indian village of the Shoshonee tribe.
When within one fourth of a mile from the crossing, an Indian who had
been at our camp the evening before, was seen riding furiously towards
us. He came up directly to me, extending his hand, which I took of
course; two or three were riding in front with me, who all shook hands
with him. He then turned and led the way through the bushes to the
crossing. At the point where we came out, the bank was some fifteen feet
high. A narrow place had been cut down, so as to admit but one horse at
a time to go up the bank; the village was immediately upon the bank, and
I discovered some thirty or forty Indians standing near the point where
the trail ascended the bank. I rode {134} to the top of the bank, where
about fifteen ugly looking Indians were standing, all striving to shake
hands, but my horse would not allow them to approach.
I passed on, the company following, and as we formed a long train, being
in single file, by the time those behind were out of the creek, those in
the lead were five or six hundred yards from the bank, and over a ridge.
I halted the front, for all to come up, when I discovered that Buckley,
who was in the rear riding one horse and leading another, had not
appeared over the ridge. Two of the men who were in the rear went back
for him. The horse which he was leading soon came running over the
ridge, and as Buckley did not make his appearance, we supposed that
something was wrong. Others started back, but they all soon returned,
and we went on. In a few minutes, however, one of the party came riding
up, and stated that the Indians were going to charge upon us.
At this instant a gun was fired by them, and a hideous yelling was heard
at our heels. The Indians were drawn up in line upon the ridge, all
armed, some with muskets, and others with bows and arrows. The fellow
who had met us, was still mounted, and running his horse from one end of
the line to the other, and all were yelling like fiends. I thought it
could not be possible that they would charge upon us, and ordered all
hands to move along slowly but cautiously, to have their arms in
readiness, and to keep the pack animals together, so that they could be
stopped at any moment. We marched along slowly in close order, and paid
no further regard to the Indians, than to carefully watch their
movements. They followed along a few hundred yards, and halted, their
yells then ceased, and we saw nothing more of them.
When the two men returned to Buckley, the mounted Indian spoken of had
Buckley's horse by the head; he had proposed an exchange, but Buckley
did not wish to swap, and asked him to let go the bridle: the Indian
held on, Buckley pulled and he pulled; Buckley rapped his knuckles with
a whip, and in the scuffle the horse that B. was leading broke loose,
and ran over the ridge, they not being able to catch him. At this
juncture the two men arrived; one of them raised his rifle in the
attitude of striking the Indian on the head, but he paid no regard to
it; the other, seeing his determined manner, rushed at him with his
bowie knife; he then let go the bridle, and our men came up to the
company. What his object was, or what their object in rallying their
forces, I could not conjecture: but it {135} put us on our guard. At our
night encampment there were Indians prowling about, but they were afraid
of our riding too near them, and made no attempt to steal, or otherwise
molest us. The country was extremely dry and barren; grazing was very
poor.
On the 5th of May we arrived at the upper crossing of Snake river. On
our way we had seen several villages of Shoshonee Indians, but were not
disturbed by them. The grazing was poor, and the country very barren. We
crossed several warm streams running down from the mountains, which
appeared at a distance of from five to ten miles on our right. A wagon
road can be had along the south side of the river, by hugging the base
of the mountains for twenty or thirty miles, when it would take down the
low bottom of Snake or Lewis river; but the distance is greater than by
crossing the river.
On the 6th of May we reached Salmon falls, and went up six miles to
Salmon Fall creek, and encamped. On the 8th and 9th it rained and
snowed, so that we were compelled to lay by most of the time. On the
10th it cleared up, and in the afternoon we had fair weather and
pleasant traveling. On the 12th we reached Cassia creek. At this place
the California trail turns off.
On the 14th we arrived at Fort Hall. On the 16th we reached the Soda
Springs. On the 18th we met about six hundred lodges of Snake Indians;
they were moving from Big Bear river to Lewis' fork. On the 23d we
reached Green river, taking the northern route. Much of the time the
weather has been cool with frosty nights, and several days of rain and
snow.
On the 24th we crossed Green river, and traveled about forty miles to
the Big Sandy. The day was blustering, with rain and snow. Along the
bottoms of the Sandy we found very good grazing for our animals.
On the 25th we traveled to the Little Sandy. On the 26th we arrived at
the _South Pass_, and encamped on Sweet Water. Here we saw a few
buffalo. The ride from Little Sandy to Sweet Water was extremely
unpleasant on account of the wind and snow. We were sometimes compelled
to walk, in order to keep warm. We here found a horse, which we supposed
had been lost by some emigrants the year before. He came running to our
band, and exhibited signs of the greatest joy, by capering and prancing
about. He was quite fat, and seemed determined to follow us.
{136} On the 27th we traveled down the valley of Sweet Water about
twenty-five miles. On our way we saw some hundreds of buffalo and
antelope, and two grizzly bears. We gave the latter chase, but did not
succeed in taking them. We had some difficulty in preventing our pack
animals from following the numerous bands of buffalo which came rolling
past us.
We traveled down this valley until the 30th, and encamped about four
miles east of _Independence Rock_, at a spring near a huge mountain of
gray granite rock. Soon after encamping it commenced raining, which
turned to snow, and in the morning we had about five inches of snow upon
us. We were uncomfortably situated, as we could procure but little fuel,
and had no means of sheltering ourselves from the "peltings of the
pitiless storm." Our horses too fared poorly.
On the 31st of May we remained in camp. By noon the snow had
disappeared, and we succeeded in finding a few dry cedar trees, built a
fire, and dried our effects. We had an abundance of buffalo
marrow-bones, tongues, and other choice pieces, on which we feasted. We
saw large droves of mountain sheep, or bighorn, and thousands of
antelope.