New-York daily tribune., 1858-11-19
TIE INDIANS ~ OREGON And W,,,,
fNGTON
ADVENTURES OY THE w.p

on the SPOKANE River, Ms,r John Osen Wa. ,-N''
ed by Col. Ne.miib, Indian Saperintenls,. i, n.,
and Washington Territories, 10 proceed to u.
country to hold eouuoil with the IDii.r. 80
desvor 70 ASCERTAIN the Of the attack ur.,.
steP,oe. Being at that tine On my way through ~.
part Of lie country, accompanied Msjor O -, -,
as an account of our sdyentares may te Of -.
your readers, / send you this etter.
We let tie Dallas, on tie Columbia R;v.-
Eth Of June, reached WA.la Wala, 80 nj, r.s
in i've days, and from thence pro>,eied p y.
vile, or the Upper ColuInbs, short dis,no. !, .'
the junction OF Clark's Fork, where We srrvsI
morning Of the iih Of July. We bere iol,ss ~.
Owens camp. consisting Of two white men An, ~
seyeL,y.fye sDimAs-horss and mules. For, n :,
is en- old poet, which the Hudson Bay Conn,ss,
occupied for come thirty Years, and is the ceu,.,
settlement. There ls fine valley lying bs,k os,..
Fort, which ]: enc OF the bes, farming region, ,A.,
could wish 10 see. In the immediate yci,;,- !. '" "
Fort the scenery is quite Wild, there bein, t'. 80
between it and the valley beyond, and Ii. g..
country on the opposite SIDE Of tie river 49,
rugged and broken and the river itsell a,h,,.s ~
w!de, is also deep and rapid. Tbs trade Of ,bs ~ rg
sbou $l2,o per annum, mostly with ,b. roSi...
though the settlers participate il i 10 aim.
On our arrival we found bsrd Of c. -,
Indians who were with the party Tia. .,,..l-,n
Step'oe, occupying a room IN tie FOu. Tb.y h.S.
great number Of hOrses and mules, which ,S.v - 80
taken in that fight and which the srep, ~ ~. u",
sons Bay Company, in charge at the For, -
purchased, although he was well aware Of n. 49,. S
which they had been obtained indeed ,As I,s.n ~
themselves boasted loudly Of tie fact.
On the eth of July LEFT for the chu:es Of IN. G.,
kane River where We arrived on the l7th. and son,,
camp of about 800 Indians consisting Of ps,o...s
Spokanes, Occur dAenes, YakAmas and Colvl,.,
They al in their warpain and in .t.,s of s,..,
exutaton over their recent victory rilns shca, ~
the captured animals, and bosstfuly showing or,
the various articles they had taken from tho .roor.
They all seemed to think that the u. S Goysr,,.,,
could not send troops enough into the ied 70 MN
them; and when told that such would certainly bs A.
case, they only laughed, ani said" the mers IL,
send the more we viii kill They were 6ns.looi.
ing set Of men, and some Of them ACKNOWLEDGED l.t
they were led into the war much against asr own
will, but ths, being in they determined 10 ssat
ii out.
Our party consisted of five men, all well mOu,.d
and armed. Msjor Owen is the agent for the M
Head tribe, in the Bitter Root valley where hs In
passed the last ten years, and had many warn p.
sonal friend among the Indians in camp. George Man,
tour, our guide and interpreter is halfbreed. vel
known throughout the Territory, about s1 FEET N
hight, weighing two hundred pounds and q
brave and true as steel; the other members Of oar
party were Ike myself merely spectators OF the scsns
On riding into the camp, We went to the great Goa.
ell Lodge and dsmounted, but no one came out 70 vs
come us. As long-establishei custom has made III.
most duty for the chief Of tribe to welcous NJ
one that comes TO his camp be he friend or To- hs
present neglect considered mark of grea. Atl.
ity, and in the words Of one Of the party, "msA Aa
hair feel quite loose the tops of our heads Aax
some little tine, however, were sent for, snd sA
to come into the Lodge aud smoke, aud have stIl.
A. We entered the Lodge, the chiefs 10 eoupdld1
stood up till We seated and then began tho tst.
Seal Hault and The FOOLS Son, two of Hs pnss;psl
chiefs present, deserve o special notice. The kns
mentioned is large, fne-lookipg man, one Of the
great braves of the Spokane nation firm friend Of
Major Owens, but bitter foe TO the troops he va
opposed to the attack upon Steptoe, but ay shat
" since his young men have disregarded HE coonssk
" and commenced the war they must now stand uy 10
" that position, to which their own foolahnss hM
brought them aud that he, for one, will never ds.
sert them, but will fight to the last and die with he
face to the enemy" The Fools Son, another Of the
Spokane Indians, is of the men most to be dusdd
in this He literally had our lives in hin hands,
for word from him, and whole party Soddhsvs
been scaped. Fortunately for US he did not give that
word, but why be did not We were unable TO ssy, tf
he is one of the most deadly enemies Of the whts nu
in the Territory, and says that he will fight I'd do
" by the graves of bis fathers" Some inferior sheh
we're present, but the burden of tho talk ieu urou
these two. f
The most Of the time during the interview was aksa
up by the Indians, who asked what the white nss'.
tended doing about the fight whether they wouA
try to come again whether Major Owen would
tell the Great Father all that he saw and heard
at the council only part of it what led Us up into
their country when We would go away. how msny
men Col. Steptoe could muster whether the volan.
teers would turn out again whether Major Owen hsd
anything to say to them abont making peace &~&c.
They said they did not wish to make peace, but meant
to fight and die; but hoped the Volunteers would noe
luiH 'ut, iol oecy nHc" uO" W Az a" ''~
tons Major Owen could give but scsnty replies, s ns
had 10 authority to treat with them, but was ss
specially to ascertain their deposition After bengn
the council for five hours were dismissed, AID wsS'
ed out into the open air.
As We stepped upon the green in front Of the i@esH
such scene burst upon sight as would bsms .'s'
pens than mine to describe as it deserved ins SPv
kane, in full view, breaks through the m"un'sn' w.
a beautiful succession of falls. The camp y ~
bottom of valley of about hundred acres, 'mo~A
and almost without vegetation, as it hss i9r ~
time been used as a camp ground at this season ~
year. On all sides the valley is surrounded |" ,s.
hills, densely wooded to their submits, by He 49,
pines and oedsrs of Oregon. The deep green Ia.
pires would be monotonous, were it not iof VIC W.
ness Of the general features Of the scenery ~ .,
mense cliffs Of white and red granite, m@ 'Hr
here and there, sparkling like diamonds ID w
light, and the small streams that send then y.
dasbnp and yjistening like thread Of silver doS''.