, 1878-08-03
Fiohf with the VmatiIlaS.

| WASHINGTON, D. c.. July S.-An official
disputch states that the Umatilla Indian,
fought 400 hostile Snakes all day July >, Kill
| in, 30 and losing two.
Who could have sent the alove dispatch
We are unable to conceive. 1t being Off
cial makes it look a little suspicious as
there is not a word of truth in it and moth.
| inc to base even a plausible lie on All
the fighting the Cmatilla Indians have
done has been against the whites and for
the hostile Srakos, at least until after the
tight at Cayuse on the 18th That fight
on the Cd of July Was a very harmless af-
fair Of which 40 one was at all hurt The
Umatilla agency Indians have been IN the
main our worst enemies 1t w;,S those
that pil0ted the hostiies iii on US, and no
one doubts that the Snakes were coun-
se!ed continually. 1t is generally believed
and almost positively known that nearly
every man killed or wounded IN this
county WAS shot by the Columbia river
Indians or Umat;llas, and We believe that
Mr.. Cornoyer, the agent, claims I'll ti;a
Columbia's now. IL was n. Sc that shot
NJ. Jewell and killed Nelson and Skelley
on Butter creek. They have been pre-
tending to be friendly but whenever an
opportunity afforded they have given aid
and comfort to the hostiles. They nave
been found III possession Of stock stolen
from the whites They have been found
in camps of the hostiles YET they claim
to be all right. They leave the agency,
90 out on "a foraging and stealing expedi-
ton, and when pursued run back to the
agency and claim protection, which We are
sorry to say is readily granted, and the
citizens are threatened by the agent and
military
On Friday, the 10Th inst. Mr. A. W.
Nye and others went out on the hills be
tween Pendieton and the Columbia river
looking for their horses; while there they
found two Indians and brought them into
town. They then returned to gs5 the
horses which were Snake ponies and
American horses principally, with some
few reservation Indian horses. They
found S0ne other Indians with the horses,
who ran on the approach of the VI hites.
One of them Was pursued who ran OF the
reservation, E.ls followed by the whites
ard killed nhe horses were tlica brought
into town. Among them were quite a
number Of horses hgionging To citizens,
some Of whom were present 70 claim and
get them. They were put II 4 corral and
guarded during the night.
The next morning C0rnoyer and
Throckmo.ton came down and took pos
session Of the horses and turned them
over to the Indians, these belonging
20 the citizens aaI all. except those
that had already been claimed and taken
out. Those who had the horses in poses
sion, Nc understand, demonstrated nth
t!iese men, bat having the army at their
command they tooh io:c;ble possession
and drove tie horses off The next
day, we are Informed, not horsa Ct IT,
number could be found.
There was more fuss made oyer tho enc
worthless cuss Of an Indian that was
killed than over al the whites killed in
the county. Such howl as was set Up
the Wii:te man that killed the Indian must
be arrested at once and brought to justice
for saeh az act, but the murderous derils
that Killed Jewell, Nelson, Lamar and
others are all right, good Indians and al
lowed to go unpunished- As matters
now stand the reservation is a safe retreat
for any and all UmatilIas. They can
commit any outrage and run Oh the res
ervation and are all right. The Indians
caught by the state militia and by citizens
and pat in jail here have all been turned
out by the military except one that
seemed TO have 80 friends among the in
dams.
1t is evident that they had no authori-
ty to take the horses that they took from
the state authorities, and whenever they
took them they became usurpers- Ii the
Indians had any horses IL the lot they
should have come forward and proven
them and the authorities would have gwen
them up h,arfuily and the horses would
have been kept here so that citizens
could have got theirs, but as it IS they
were taken by these men turned over to
the Indians, ana tie siti&c:is who had
horses among them are losers The whites
could not be trusted to keep them, but
they Must be taken and turned over to the
noble rcd men Is being more honest than
our county officials, state mi,itia and best
citizens 1t appears that the whites have
10 rights, that the Indians are bound to
respect but must submit cheerfuily and
quietly to whatever terms the quasi friend
lies are willing to dictate. There IS some
thing wrong somewhere, somebody We are
satisfied has been misleading Throckmor
ton. He has undoubtedly listened to bad
counsel from some source and has been
misled by somebody,-E Oregonion.