East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-09-21

three miles of Whitman's station.
>! Indians Steal Horses.
:" At Grand ROnd, Whitman was me
~ by courier from Lapwai with in
u tellgence of the alarming illness {
= Mr.. and Mrs. Spalding, and relin
II gushing his office of guide to Site
cas-, Il Cayuse chief in whom he re
y posed confidence left the party an,
= struck across the country to the sta
u ton. Sticcas faithfully performed
d his duty, bringing the white men, t.
|, whom, as we know his people wert
u anything but friendly, safely to thr
: vicinity of the mission.
For this service many were un
y grateful, for two reasons: it tool
them IS miles out of their course
, and exposed them to the annoying
peculations Of the natives, who no
only intruded into their camps by
day but stole their horses at night
in order to obtain a reward for re-
turning them-a practice which was
repeated every "A hours.
The great ambition of the natives
along the Columbia, as elsewhere,
was to secure the clothing worn by
ton seeing odd garments evidently
obtained from trading vessels on the
coast, in the possession of these ma
tlVes as early as 1905, and which
must have been purchased from the
Indians on the lower Columbia
After the Oregon immigration began
they We're to be seen arrayed in cast
Off wearing apparel of every descrip-
ton, presenting a motled and fam
tastic appearance. They gladly sold
whatever they had for shirts,
dresses or hats; but as stealing and
selling back horse to its owner was
more productive plan, it was great
ly affected by the Cayuses.
A Shirt for Horse,
Kaiser in his narrative complains
OF these practices, and says that at
the mission he called a council OF
chiefs and told them that he had
paid his last shirt for having his
horses returned by the thieves, and
that hereafter when he found one
of them about his camp after darl: |
he would shoot him. This warming |
was not without its effect Burnett
also speaks of paying a shirt for
several successive mornings to get F,
back the same animal; and Waldo
in his cynical style, remarks that
the immigrants had no trouble with
the natives until they encountered the
mission Indians.
When Whitman arrived at lap
wal he found Mr. and Mrs. Spalding
convalescing, and FASTENED to his
CT tnf 10
and furnish them with supplies
which had to be brought from lap
wal and COlVllc, his grain and mill
having been destroyed the previous
winter. For this service he was cen
sured by some and applauded by
others That it was a wise and
philanthropic action to give the i'm
migrants an oppo itunity to purchase
fresh provisions, the sequel proved;
besides, it was personally known to
Whitman that some of them had eX- .
hausted their supplies before reach
ing the Columbia.
Charge High Prices.
But whether they were or were not
in need, they found the prices at ,,
Waiilatpu eXorbtant when compared
49, - " -ht"'O'ti' anu t'SCuoCu (
" i'itiilall Oh SeillSh motives IN con-
'tuc'iils !, the immigration past ms sta I
'ioi'' lllaklhs them ~ addltlonal
'tilleS oI travel winch, with their
Morh-out teams ana the lateness OF :
Lhe season. became a matter of seri-
GUS Importance Kaiser was among :
'l'oSe VINO Ielt themselves injured by
oeihs plloted out OF their way, ana :
oy having to pay dollar bushel :
Tor wheat. So obstinate were some,
says Burnett, that they refused to :
purchase until the wheat was an
gone, In consequence of which he
mad to divide his supply with them
before the end OF the journey :
There were other causes of dis :
satisfaction and subsequent rcproach.
Neither Whitman, nor Mckinley at
Fort Walla Walla, knew anything of
the country back from the Columbia :
River, or whether there could be !
found crossings for the wagons at
the John Day and Des Chutes rivers;
and both advised the immigrants to
leave their wagons and cattle in the
Walla Walla Valley to be brought :
down in the spring, and to make :
themselves boats in which to des- :