Year: 1877

/ On the morning of the 10th, John Corino


ION. nick-named !. Virginia Bill, who live


on the Columbia river, few miles below tn


mouth of the Spokane, informed Thomas 7


PAGE and Others that six Indians had com
10 Walla Walla to talk with the whites
Mr. Page replied that the governor woult


be here shortly, and he had authority L


talk for the whites and wished them to re


main until his arrival The Indians conclud
ed that they could not remain, because the'
I had promised 10 return at a certain time an,
Z If :bey failed their friends would be anxious
: about them Mr. Page then notified the cit
! liens committee TO meet the Irdlans at tn,
court house. Accordingly about ten Q'clOei
A. NJ. on the lIth, the committee met tn,
I Indians at the court house, when the fol
: lowing conversation was had:


Como TaLa-Kia, chief of the San Pau


tribe. said Il talk for myself and my


people: we came down to tell the whit,


people that we have heard of the troubl,
with Josephs Nez Perces, and to find out


how the white people feel towards us. We
wish to know whether the whites are angry


with US on account of what the hostile In
dians have done. In the last Cayuse wal
none of our tribe fought the whites We are
now opposed to fighting the whites; 1t makes
no difference how many other Indians fight
the whites, we never Will fight them There
are perhaps hundred Of us; We shall fol
low our usual occupations and remain at
home in our own country. We must return
home TO our people, and we wish the white
people not to suspect our friendship. We
DO not wish to die fighting, but to die IN
peace. We don't lie but speak the truth, and
white men on the Columbia river know it.
1t is not new that our hearts are good to the
whites our hearts have always been so In
the past We have been constant and true
to the whites Long ago our chief set us
the example and We have always followed
IT.


Being asked if he knew what Indians COM
mitted the depredations on Crab creek, he
answered he did not know. He was then
asked about Moses, and said @'All know
about him Is that he was friendly when [
saw him nine days ago and the Indians tell
me he is still friendly. He said there are
white people living among us, and they or
we VIII inform you if Indians do any wrong
IN our country.


CGlkiF, a sort OF sUb-chief of Moses, but
half-blood of that band and half blood of the
San Paul band, who lives at Lake She-Lan
and Rock Island, said: 81 know the hearts of
Moses and Emo-She-Ta, and they are good
towards the whites, Their tribe had a eOun-
ell few days since, and Moses told his men
not to join Joseph, and none OF them have
joined him. At the council it was agreed
that the Indians should remain friendly to
the whites Any one who says our people
have done wrong to the whites, tells that
which is not true. Moses has about fifty in
his band came to tell the whites how our
people feel towards them and viii tell my
people how the whites feel towards the
Indians"


The committee assured them that the
whites desired no harm to any Indians, ex-
cept those who were hostile or who had COM
mitted depredations on the whites. That
those Indians who had not been guilty of
outrages were safe, but those who fought
would be punished. That if a military force
went up beyond Snake river, 1t would be for
the purpose of Furnishing the Indians who
had committed depredations, and not for the
purpose of making war on those who were
innocent of any otfense. The Indians seemed
much pleased with this assurance and left
for their homes.