The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-08-17

1he Indian Troubles In tho Fraser River
Region.
Every indication from the Territories of Ore
gon and Washington, for some months past,
presages bloody and protracted war with the
Indians in those regions and since the dis
covery Of gold on the Fraser river. which lies
on the northern boundary of the latter Terri
tory, the condition of the Indians on that from
tier has become q matter of the utmost impor-
lance.
The last accounts represent the tribes
in the neighborhood of Fort Colville in open
hostility to the white settlers making sudden
descents upon them, and driving them off their
farms at the very time when they were gather
ing in their crops. Fort Colville stands on the
east side Of the Columbia river, near Clark's
Fork, on the northern route from st. Paul,
Minnesota, to the gold regions, and If the In
dams in that locality continue In hostile atti-
tude, it will materially interfere with the
transit of our citizens from the West and North
west to Fraser river. We are not advised as to
the tribes who have made this unfriendly de-
monstration. TO the west of Fort Colville, be-
tween it and Beliingham Bay, the nearest I
American post to the boundary Of the Hudson.
Bay Company's territory, are the Flatheads,
tribe from immemorial time, as the Indian
Superintendent inform us, friendly to
our nation and ecrupulously observant of
all treaties and contracts At the east
side is the country of the Pend dOreilles,
an enlightened and cultivated people, who
like the Flatheads, have succumbed to
the influence of the Jesuit missionaries, and
are anxious to embrace all the advantages Of
civilization but, unlike the Flatheads they have
not been deprived of the services of the Jesuits
who were driven out of the Flathead country in
1S49 by the depredations of the Blackfeets The
Flatheads, Pend d'Oreilles (north and south)
and Kootenays of this region number in all
seventeen hundred. Farther south are the Nez
PeIces, another friendly and enlightened tribe,
who are rich in horses and cattle. But it ap-
pears by late accounts, that the hostile tribes
between the Columbia and Fraser rivers have
been using every art to form coalition with
the Flatheads and Nez Perces against the
whites, but fortunately up to this time without
success. How long the good feeling of these
now friendly tribes may be preserved it is hard
to predict for it is quite evident that our deal
ings with them have not been of a character
calculated to perpetuate it. There have been
many mistakes fatal to a continued good under
standing made by the government agents in their
dealings with the Indians in these Territories.
They have driven hard and oppressive bargains
with many of the tribes in purchasing their
lands which the Indians have discovered when
too late, and the consequence is that discomfort
and secret hate have taken possession Of them.
As an example, the tribes of the Rogue River
Valley surrendered their possessions, which COM
prise the most fertile soil and the richest gold
resources perhaps in the whole country, for sum
which in the aggregate seemed very large, but
which in reality only secures for each individual
of the tribe an annual sum of two dollars and
half, or a fraction over. Many of the treaties
made with other tribes have never been ratified
by the government, and distrust and dissatisfac-
ton reign among them in consequence TO such
an extent that the Indian agents in their reports
for last year state that they are ready to take
up arms at any moment for the recovery of their
lands. The Indian Superintendent for Oregon and
Washington Territories, In his report for 1857,
predicted the very trouble In the gold districts
and on the southern frontier which is now veri-
fed, and urgently pressed upon the government
the necessity of ratifying the treaties particu-
larly with the Spokanes, the very tribe which
has given 60 much trouble to Colonel Steptoe.
The deduction from these facts and from the
present hostile attitude of the Indians in the
neighborhood of Fraser river district, is that
we are much to blame for the unfriendly posi-
ton which the Indians have now assumed, and
which threatens an expensive and deadly war.
The Indian war of 1855, which cost millions
Of dollars and thousands Of lives, has left very
small practical results In our favor. II is esti-
mated that the loss of life on our side was quite
as great as that of our red enemies, and the
Indians, in all probability, came out of 1t with
very exalted idea Of the strength Of our govern
ment. A peace was patched up upon the basis of
certain treaties, which in many cases were never
complied with, and the disappointment accru-
ing therefrom has left the Indians with all the
disposition to make war upon our settlers ct
any moment. The last official report from Ore
gon Territory says that the Indians look upon
every white settler as an emissary sent there to
rob and despoil them
The whole number of Indians In Washington
and Oregon Territories-now united In one su-
perintendency-is thirty-three thousand five
hundred and twelve. The most hostile portion
of these are located east of the Cascade Noun
tains, those towards the Pacific coast, in the
neighborhood of the settlements, being the
most civilized. While the gold regions Of Cali
fornia lie west of the Rocky Mountains, of
which the Cascade Mountains form continuous
chain northwards, the new gold district of Fra
ser river lies to the east of the Cascades, SO
that the hostile tribes are situated mainly be-
tween that range and our Northwestern States;
and from the disposition they eyince according