Chapter VII: Part 7

Upon the 5th of March, 1846, I set out on my return to the States. About one week previous, a party of seven persons had also set out on their return, and we expected to overtake them at Dr. Whitman's station. A few head of lame cattle had been left the preceding fall with a man named Craig, who resided near Spalding's mission;[196] and as the Indians in that vicinity had large bands of horses, which they wished to trade for cattle, I purchased several head of cattle to trade for horses, as also did others of the party. I, however, had purchased two horses and one mule; which, with several horses and mules belonging to the party, had been taken ahead on the 2d of the month, with the view of crossing the Columbia river at fort Vancouver, going up the valley of the Columbia, and recrossing below the Dalles. By this route we would avoid the deep snow on the Cascade mountains.

We loaded our effects on board a boat which we had bought for that purpose, and at two o'clock P.M. shoved off; and although anxious to be on the way back, yet I left the place with considerable reluctance. I had found the people of Oregon kind and hospitable, and my acquaintance with them had been of the most friendly character. Many of the persons who had traveled through to Oregon with me, resided at Oregon {121} city. Attachments had been formed upon the road, which when about to leave, seemed like parting with our own families. We were about to retrace the long and dreary journey which the year before had been performed, and again to brave the privations and dangers incident to such a journey. Traveling as we expected to do on horseback, we could not take those conveniences so necessary for comfort, as when accompanied with wagons; but we bade adieu to the good people of Oregon, and rapidly floated down the Willamette to the town of Portland, twelve miles below the falls. It commenced raining quite fast, and we hove to, and procured quarters with Mr. Bell, one of the emigrants who had recently settled at this place. This will probably be a town of some consequence, as it occupies a handsome site, and is at the head of ship navigation. Mr. Petigrew[197] of New York is the proprietor. It continued raining nearly all night.

In the morning the rain abated; we again took the oars, and in two hours and a half reached the town of Linnton. Here are a few log huts, erected among the heavy timber; but it will not, probably, ever be much of a town.[198] A great portion of the emigrants traveling down the Columbia land at this place, and take the road to Quality plains, which are about twenty-five miles distant; but the road is a bad one.

At 3 o'clock P. M. we arrived at fort Vancouver, where we made a few purchases to complete our outfit, and then rowed up the river two miles and a half, and encamped. Here we found the party with our horses. The Indians had stolen two horses, several trail ropes, &c. The day was showery.

On the 7th we ascended about eighteen miles, to the mouth of a stream coming in upon the north side of the river, about one hundred yards in width, having its source in Mount St. Helen. Here a commencement of a settlement had been made by Simmons, Parker, and others, and about a dozen buildings erected, but were now abandoned on account of its being subject to be overflowed by the annual high freshets of the Columbia river.[199] The soil is good, with several patches of prairie.

On our way we passed the grist and saw mills of the Hudson's Bay Company. They stand immediately upon the bank of the Columbia. The water power is obtained from small mountain streams. The mills are six and eight miles above the fort. Several islands in the river might be _leveed_ and successfully cultivated. The day was cloudy, with occasional showers of rain, and some hail.

{122} On the 8th we advanced sixteen or eighteen miles. For the greater part of the way, the river is hemmed in by high, craggy, rocky cliffs. At a point, called Cape Horn, the rocks project over the stream, presenting a huge mass of black looking rocks of several hundred feet in height.[200] Some of them seem to have broken and slid from their former position, and now stand in detached columns erect in the deep stream, presenting a grand and terrific appearance. At several points, streams of water were tumbling more than a thousand feet from crag to crag, and falling into the river in broken sheets. Upon one of these columns stands a solitary pine tree, and upon the topmost branch sat a large bald-headed eagle. We rowed nearly under it, when one of our men took his rifle and fired, and down came the eagle, striking the water not more than ten feet from the boat. A wing had been broken, and we dispatched him with our oars; he measured over seven feet from tip to tip of the wings. Round this point the water is sometimes very rough. Boats have been compelled to lay to, for two weeks, on account of the roughness of the water. The day was clear.

Upon the 9th we progressed about ten miles. Seven miles brought us to the foot of the rapids, called the Cascade falls, and here for five miles the river is hemmed in and contracted to not more than three hundred yards in width, and runs with tremendous velocity.[201] We were compelled to _cordelle_ our boat, and sometimes lift it over the rocks for several rods. It is not easy to form an idea of the difficulties to be encountered, in ascending this rapid. Late in the evening we encamped, after a day of hard work in wading, pulling and lifting. It rained nearly all night.

On the 10th we arrived at the head of the portage. Three times we were compelled to unload our boat, and carry our effects over the rocks along the shore; and at the main falls the distance of the portage is nearly one mile. At night we had completed the portage, and were all safe above the falls.

At the foot of the rapids we met several families of emigrants, who had been wintering at the Dalles. One of them had traveled the most of the way with us, but being unwilling to travel as fast as we wished, had not arrived in time to get through before winter set in. In this family was a young woman, who so captivated one of our party, that he turned back with them.

On the 11th we made but about eight miles; the wind causing {123} a swell that rendered boating dangerous. The day was clear, and at night there was a hard frost.

We progressed twelve or fourteen miles on the 12th; the day was cloudy. Here we had designed crossing the river with our horses.

The morning of the 13th was too windy to swim our horses over. We attempted to take them up the north side of the river; but after clambering about three miles, we were compelled to halt, the cliffs being so abrupt that we were unable to pass them with horses. We remained at this place through the day.

On the morning of the 14th the wind had so abated that we could swim our animals. We commenced by taking four at a time; two upon each side of the boat, with four men rowing. In this manner by ten o'clock A. M., all had crossed. The water was very cold. The width of the river at this place, is more than a mile. The party with the horses then took the trail, and we saw no more of them, until we arrived at the Dalles, which we reached on the 15th. Here we found five of the party who had started a week in advance of us. Two of their company had gone on to Whitman's station. We sold our boat to the Missionaries, and remained here until the morning of the 19th, endeavoring to hire and buy horses to pack our effects to Dr. Whitman's. There were hundreds of horses belonging to the Indians, but their owners knew our situation, and wished to extort a high price from us. We so arranged our effects as to pack them on the mules and horses we had, and we ourselves traveled on foot.

On the evening of the 18th, we packed up and proceeded two miles, when we encamped. Two Indians came and encamped with us. In the night our mules began to show signs that a thief was approaching. The guard apprised us of it, and we prepared our arms. Our two Indian friends seeing that we were prepared to chastise thieves, roused up and commenced running around the camp, and hallooing most lustily; probably to give warning that it was dangerous to approach, as they soon disappeared.

During the day we had seen some sport. As we were nearly all _green_ in the business of packing, and many of our animals were quite wild, we frequently had running and kicking "sprees," scattering the contents of our packs over the prairie, and in some cases damaging and losing them. In one instance, while traveling along a narrow, winding path upon the side of {124} a bluff, a pack upon a mule's back became loose; the mule commenced kicking, and the pack, saddle and all, rolled off, and as the trail rope was tied fast to the mule's neck, and then around the pack, it dragged the mule after it. The bank for six or eight hundred feet was so steep that a man could scarcely stand upright. The mule was sometimes ahead of the pack, at others the pack was ahead of the mule. At length, after tumbling about one thousand feet, to near a perpendicular ledge of rocks, they stopped. Six feet farther would have plunged them over a cliff of two hundred feet, into the river. We arrived at and crossed Falls river, receiving no other damage than wetting a few of our packs.[202] We encamped two miles above Falls river, having traveled about sixteen miles. The weather was clear and warm. We traveled leisurely along, nothing remarkable occurring; but as some of the party were unaccustomed to walking, they soon showed signs of fatigue and sore feet. We were often visited by a set of half-starved and naked Indians.

On the 26th we reached Fort Wallawalla, or Fort Nez Percés, as it is sometimes called. This fort stands upon the east side of the Columbia, and upon the north bank of the Wallawalla river. We went about three fourths of a mile up the Wallawalla river, and encamped. Near us was a village of the Wallawalla Indians, with their principal chief.[203] This old chief was not very friendly to Americans. The season before, a party of the Wallawallas had visited California, by invitation of Capt. Suter; and whilst there, a difficulty arose about some horses, and the son of the old chief was killed in the fort. The Indians left immediately, and as Suter claimed to be an American, the chief's feelings were excited against all Americans. He had showed hostile demonstrations against a party of Americans the summer previous; and when we arrived, we were told that he was surly, and not disposed to be friendly. The grazing about the camp was poor, and we sent a few men with the animals to the hills, three miles distant, to graze. Near night we observed quite a stir among the Indians. We gave a signal to drive in the horses; they soon came in, and we picketed them near the camp. As soon as it was dark the Indians commenced singing and dancing, accompanied with an instrument similar to a drum, and giving most hideous yells, running to and fro. We began to suspect that they meditated an attack upon our camp; and we accordingly prepared to meet them by building a fortification of {125} our baggage, and posting a strong guard. We remained in this position until daylight, when we packed up, and traveled up the Wallawalla eight or ten miles, when we stopped, cooked breakfast, and allowed our animals to graze.

Before starting, the old chief and a few of his principal men made us a visit. They appeared friendly, and wished to trade. We gave them some provisions, and made them a few presents of tobacco, pipes, &c. After shooting at a mark with the chief, to convince him of our skill, we conversed on various subjects, among which the death of his son was mentioned, and he expressed his determination to go to California this season. We parted, he and his people to their village, and we upon our route to Dr. Whitman's.

We were here joined by a party of Nez Percé Indians; among whom were four of their principal chiefs. Ellis the great chief was with them. He speaks very good English, and is quite intelligent. He was educated at the Hudson's Bay Company's school, on Red river.[204] They traveled and encamped with us, making heavy drafts upon our provisions; but as we expected to replenish at Whitman's, we gave them freely. We encamped on a branch of the Wallawalla. This is a most beautiful valley of good land, but timber is limited to a few cottonwood and willows along the streams.

In the afternoon of the 28th we reached Dr. Whitman's station.[205] Here we remained until the 31st, when in company with four others, and the Nez Percé Indians, we started for Spalding's mission--Mr. Spalding being of our party. The rest of our party remained at Whitman's. Our object was to purchase horses and explore the country. The distance from Dr. Whitman's to Spalding's was about one hundred and fifty miles, in a northeast direction. The first day we traveled but about twenty-five miles, over a most delightful prairie country, and encamped on a beautiful clear stream coming down from the Blue mountains, which are about twelve miles distant.[206]

The first of April we traveled about fifty-five miles, also over a delightful, rolling, prairie country; crossing several beautiful streams, lined with timber, and affording desirable locations for settlement. The soil is rich, and covered with an excellent coat of grass. This region possesses grazing advantages over any other portion of Oregon that I have yet seen. The day was blustering, with a little snow, which melted as it reached the ground.

On the 2d of April we arrived at Mr. Spalding's mission, {126} which is upon the Kooskooskee or Clear Water,[207] and about twenty miles above its mouth or junction with Lewis's fork of the Columbia. Ten miles from our camp we struck Lewis's fork, and proceeded up it for five miles, and crossed. On our way up we passed a ledge of rocks of fluted columns, two or three hundred feet high. The bluffs of Lewis's fork and the Kooskooskee are very high, sometimes more than three thousand feet. The hills are nearly all covered with grass.

As the time I could remain in this region would not allow me to explore it satisfactorily, I requested Mr. Spalding to furnish me with the result of his experience for ten years in the country. He very kindly complied, and the following is the information obtained from him.[208] As he goes very much into detail, it is unnecessary for me to add any further remarks here, in relation to this region of the country.

We remained at this missionary establishment until the 10th of April. During our stay, we heard related many incidents common to a mountain life. At one time, when Mr. Spalding was on an excursion to one of the neighboring villages, accompanied by several Indians and their wives, they espied a bear at a short distance clambering up a tree. He ascended thirty or forty feet, and halted to view the travelers. A tree standing near the one upon which sat the bear, with limbs conveniently situated to climb, induced Mr. Spalding to attempt to _lasso_ master bruin. He accordingly prepared himself with a _lasso_ rope, and ascended the tree until he attained an elevation equal to that of the bear. He then cut a limb, rested the noose of the rope upon one end, and endeavored to place it over the head of the bear; but as the rope approached his nose, bruin struck it with his paw, and as Mr. S. had but one hand at liberty, he could not succeed, the weight of the rope being too great. He called to some of his Indian friends, to come up and assist him; but none seemed willing to risk themselves so near the formidable animal. At length one of the squaws climbed up, and held the slack of the rope, and Mr. S. succeeded in slipping the noose over bruin's head. He then descended from the tree, and as the rope extended to the ground, they gave it a jerk, and down came the bear, which fell in such a way as to pass the rope over a large limb, thus suspending him by the neck.

The cattle which we had purchased were scattered over the {127} plain. On the 3d they were brought in, and the chief Ellis bought the whole band, agreeing to give one horse for each head of cattle. His place of residence was about sixty miles further up the Kooskooskee, but his father-in-law resided near the mission. Ellis made arrangements with the latter for six horses, and delivered them to us, and his father-in-law took possession of the cattle. We left the horses in his possession, until Ellis could return with the remainder of the horses. In his absence many of the natives came in with their horses to trade for the cattle, and when informed that Ellis had bought them all, they were very much displeased, and charged Ellis with conniving with the whites against his people. In a few days Ellis returned, when the feelings of his people were so much against him, that he was forced to abandon the trade. His father-in-law drove down his band of horses according to agreement, but instead of bringing the horses which had been selected, he brought some old, broken-down horses that could not stand the trip. We objected to receive these horses, and thus broke up the whole arrangement. They had the horses and cattle; of course we demanded the cattle; the Indians showed us that they were on the plains, and that we must hunt them up. We dispatched a party, and they soon brought us all but one heifer.

Our intention then was to drive the cattle down to Dr. Whitman's, and trade with the Cayuses; but as we would be compelled to travel on foot for nearly one hundred and fifty miles, we abandoned the project. The neighboring Indians soon drove in some horses to trade, and before night we had disposed of all but four head of our cattle, one yoke of oxen, one yearling heifer, and a yearling calf. The oxen belonged to me. I left them in charge of Mr. Spalding, until my return. In the exchange one horse was given for a cow or heifer. A few horses were purchased for other articles of trade, such as blankets, shirts, knives, &c. The value of fourteen dollars in trade would buy an ordinary horse; if it was an extra horse something more would be asked. Four blankets was the price of a horse. None of the Indians would take money except Ellis. In fact they did not seem to know the value of money.

During our stay at this place, the Indians flocked in from all quarters. It is but seldom that the whites visit this portion of the country, and the Indians all seemed anxious to see us. The house was literally filled from morning until night with men, women, and children. They are usually much better {128} clad than any other tribe east or west of the mountains, are quite clean, and are an industrious people. They have made considerable advances in cultivating the soil, and have large droves of horses, and many of them are raising large herds of cattle. Mr. and Mrs. Spalding have kept up a school, and many of the Indians have made great proficiency in spelling, reading, and writing. They use the English alphabet to the Nez Percé language. Mr. Spalding has made some translations from the Scriptures, and among others from the book of Matthew. From this printed copy[209] many of the Indians have printed with a pen facsimiles of the translation, which are neatly executed. I have several copies in my possession of these and other writings, which can be seen at any time in Laurel, Indiana. They are a quiet, civil people, but proud and haughty; they endeavor to imitate the fashions of the whites, and owe much of their superior qualifications to the Missionaries who are among them.

Mr. Spalding and family have labored among them for ten years assiduously, and the increasing wants and demands of the natives require an additional amount of labor. A family of their own is rising around them, which necessarily requires a portion of their time; and the increasing cares of the family render it impossible to do that amount of good, and carry out fully that policy which they have so advantageously commenced for the natives. It is impossible for one family to counteract all the influences of bad and designing men, of whom there are not a few in the country. They need more assistance. There are a sufficient number of establishments, but not a sufficient number of persons at those establishments. For instance: Mr. Spalding must now attend not only to raising produce for his own family, but also to supply in a great measure food to numerous families of Indians; to act as teacher and spiritual guide, as physician, and perform many other duties incident to his situation. With such a multitude of claims on his attention, his energies are too much divided, and on the whole his influence is lessened. Could not the Missionary board send out an assistant?

There is one thing which could be accomplished with a small outlay, that would be of lasting advantage to these people. They are raising small flocks of sheep, and have been taught to card and spin and weave by hand, and prepare clothing--but the process is too tedious. A carding machine and machinery for fulling cloth would be a saving to the board of {129} missions, and of lasting benefit to the natives. There are no such machines in that country. The wood work of those machines could nearly all be done in the country; the cards and castings are all that would be necessary to ship. A mechanic to set up the machines would be necessary.

Perhaps no part of the world is better adapted to the growth of wool than this middle region, and it abounds with water-power to manufacture it. Farmers, mechanics and teachers, should be sent among these people by the missionary board, or by the government. A division is about being made in this nation, which if not counteracted, will doubtless lead to bad consequences. Three Delaware Indians have crossed the mountains, and settled on the Kooskooskee among the Nez Percé Indians. One of them, named Tom Hill, has so ingratiated himself into the feelings of the Nez Percé Indians, that he has succeeded in persuading about one hundred lodges to acknowledge him as their chief. It was formerly, as among other tribes, customary for an Indian to have as many wives as he could maintain; but the missionaries taught them otherwise, and succeeded in abolishing this heathen custom. But Tom Hill tells them that they can have as many wives as they please. He says to them, You make me chief, and I will make you a great people. The white men tell you not to steal--I tell you there is no harm in it; the bad consists in being caught at it. These men will mislead you, &c., &c.

Ellis and the other chiefs have exerted themselves to recall their people, but they cannot succeed. In conversing with Ellis, I enquired whether cases of insanity were common among his people. He answered that he never knew a case of insanity, but this one of Tom Hill's. He looks upon him as a crazy man. The two other Delaware Indians are young men, and are industrious and peaceable. They have commenced cultivating the soil, and are raising a fine herd of cattle. Ellis is considered wealthy. He has about fifteen hundred horses, a herd of cattle, some hogs, and a few sheep. Many persons in this nation have from five to fifteen hundred head of horses. In traveling from Dr. Whitman's to this place, I saw more than ten thousand horses grazing upon the plains. They are good looking, and some of them large.

In the fall I had made enquiries as to whether it was practicable to obtain the necessary supplies at these missions for our home journey; and in the winter Mr. Spalding wrote to us that he could furnish us with flour and meat. We had accordingly {130} contemplated procuring a part of our outfit at this place. A few bad designing Indians had frequently given Mr. Spalding trouble about his place, and had made severe threats. At one time they had threatened to tie him, and drive his family away. They complained that the whites never came through their country, giving them the advantages of trade; but that the white men passed through the Cayuse country, selling their cattle, clothing, &c.; and that if they could not have all the benefits of trade, the whites should leave the country.

Early in the spring some of them had got into a fit of ill humour, and had ordered Mr. Spalding from the place, cut open his mill-dam, threw down his fences, broke the windows of the church, crippled some of his hogs, and took possession of the whole premises. This time they seemed to be determined to carry their threats into execution. Mr. S. allowed them to take their own course, putting no obstacle in their way. The principal men seemed to look on with indifference; but they evidently saw that it was likely to injure them, more than it would Mr. Spalding; for they relied upon the mill and farm for their support to a great extent.

In the meantime Mr. Spalding had written a letter to us, informing us of his situation, and that we could not rely on him for furnishing us with supplies. He gave the letter to an Indian to carry to Dr. Whitman's, that it might be forwarded to us. The Indians being apprised of the contents of the letter, stopped the carrier, and took from him the letter, and after a consultation determined to abandon their rash course; as it would be likely to deprive them of the benefit of our trade, and be a barrier against the white men ever coming to trade with them. They accordingly brought the letter to Mr. Spalding, acknowledging they had done wrong, and placed him in full possession of his premises, promising to behave better for the future; and when we arrived he was enjoying their full confidence.

The Indians informed us that there was a good passway upon the north side of Lewis's fork, by proceeding up the Kooskooskee some sixty miles, and then striking across to Salmon river, and then up to Fort Bois. By taking this route in the winter season, we would avoid the deep snow upon the Blue Mountains, as the route is mostly up the valley of Lewis' river, and it is undoubtedly nearer to Puget Sound than by the old route. Those wishing to settle about the Sound would do well to take this route, or at least the saving in the distance {131} would justify an examination of the route, to ascertain its practicability.

We were very hospitably entertained by Mr. Spalding, and his interesting family. With the exception of Mr. Gilbert, who is now engaged on the mission farm, and Mr. Craig, who has a native for a wife, and lives six hundred yards from Mr. Spalding's dwelling, the nearest white families are Messrs. Walker and Ellis, who have a mission one hundred and thirty miles to the north, among the Flathead nation; and Dr. Whitman, nearly one hundred and fifty miles distant, among the Cayuses.[210]

In this lonely situation they have spent the best part of their days, among the wild savages, and for no compensation but a scanty subsistence. In the early part of their sojourn they were compelled to use horse meat for food, but they are now getting herds of domestic animals about them, and raise a surplus of grain beyond their own wants. At Mr. Spalding's there is an excuse for a grist mill, which answers to chip up the grain, but they have no bolting cloth; in place of which they use a sieve. The meal makes very good bread. There was formerly a saw mill, but the irons have been taken and used in a mill which Dr. Whitman has recently built about twenty miles from his dwelling, at the foot of the Blue mountains. The Catholics have several missionary establishments upon the upper waters of the Columbia.[211]

On the 10th of April we had made the necessary arrangements, and started on our return to Dr. Whitman's, where we arrived on the 14th. On my way down in the fall, I had left a horse and a heifer with the Doctor. They were now running on the plains. Several persons were engaged in hunting them up; the horse was found and brought in, and was in good condition. The Indians had concealed the horse, in order to force a trade, and offered to buy him, they to run the risk of finding him; but as he was a favorite horse, that I had brought from home, I felt gratified when he was found. The heifer I traded for a horse, the purchaser to find her. My two oxen, which I had left at Mr. Spalding's, I traded for a horse. An Indian who had stolen a horse from a company in the fall, had been detected, and the horse taken to fort Wallawalla. He had again stolen the horse, and traded him off. He was at Dr. Whitman's, and as the owner was of our party, he made a demand for the horse, and the Indian gave up a {132} poor old horse in its stead. This was the same fellow that had bought my heifer.

We remained at Dr. Whitman's until the 17th, when all was prepared, and we made a formal start. Our party consisted of eighteen persons, and fifty-one horses and mules. We traveled about eight miles, and encamped. On the 18th, we traveled to the Umatillo. On the way the fellow who had bought the heifer overtook us and demanded the horse, as he said he had not time to hunt up the heifer. I refused to give it up, and he insisted. At this juncture Dr. Whitman overtook us, and the Indian made complaint to him. It was arranged that we should all go on to Umatillo, where several of the chiefs resided, and have the matter amicably settled. We reached the river in the afternoon, and repaired to the chief's. The Indian told his story, and I told mine. The chief decided that I should give up the horse, and he would give me a horse for the heifer. I agreed that in case the heifer could not be found, to give him another on my return to Oregon. The Indian set out with his horse, and the chief soon brought me one in its place, worth at least two such as the first. Of course I was much pleased with the exchange.

At night it commenced raining, and then snowing, and in the morning the snow was four or five inches deep on the ground. We were then immediately at the foot of the mountain, and as we expected the snow had fallen deep upon the mountain, we remained in camp all day. The 20th was unfavorable for traveling, and we remained in camp.

On the 21st we took up the line of march, ascended the mountain, and advanced about twenty-five miles, which brought us over the dividing ridge. We found the snow in patches, and sometimes three feet deep--that is, the old snow, for the new fallen snow had all melted away. The grazing was poor, but at night we found a prairie upon the south side of the mountain, which afforded a scanty supply of grass; here we encamped for the night.

The 22d was very blustery, sometimes snowing; very disagreeable traveling. We reached the Grand Round at 2 o'clock P. M. and encamped. Here we found an abundance of good grass, and halted for the night. During the night the horse which I had obtained of the old chief broke from his picket, and in company with one that was running loose, took the back track. In the morning we dispatched two men, who followed them about four miles, when it was found that the {133} horses had left the road. The two men went back ten or twelve miles, but could see nothing of the horses. They then returned to camp. We in the mean time had packed up, and traveled across Grand Round about eight miles, when we encamped. In the morning we started back four men to hunt for the horses. On the evening of the 24th our men returned, but without the horses.

On the morning of the 25th we packed up, traveled about twenty-six miles, and encamped on Powder river, near the lone pine stump.[212]

On the 27th we traveled about twenty-five miles. On the 28th we traveled about twenty-three miles, and encamped near Malheur.

On the 29th we reached fort Bois. The people at the fort, and the Indians in the vicinity, were evidently much alarmed. Before reaching the fort, I saw at a distance numerous columns of smoke, alternately rising and disappearing; and then another column would rise at a great distance. These columns of smoke seemed to be signals that enemies were in the country. The people at the fort were seemingly friendly, and supplied us with milk and butter. We selected our camping ground with caution, and with an eye to the defence both of horses and men. Our guard was doubled. We were visited by many Indians, but no hostile demonstration was exhibited. Here the wagon road crosses the river, but as there were no canoes at the upper crossing, and the river was too high to ford, we decided upon traveling up the south side of the river.

On the 30th of April we packed up, and left fort Bois. The trail led us up to the mouth of a stream coming in on the south side of Lewis river, about one hundred yards in width. This we reached in about three miles. Immediately at the crossing is an Indian village of the Shoshonee tribe. When within one fourth of a mile from the crossing, an Indian who had been at our camp the evening before, was seen riding furiously towards us. He came up directly to me, extending his hand, which I took of course; two or three were riding in front with me, who all shook hands with him. He then turned and led the way through the bushes to the crossing. At the point where we came out, the bank was some fifteen feet high. A narrow place had been cut down, so as to admit but one horse at a time to go up the bank; the village was immediately upon the bank, and I discovered some thirty or forty Indians standing near the point where the trail ascended the bank. I rode {134} to the top of the bank, where about fifteen ugly looking Indians were standing, all striving to shake hands, but my horse would not allow them to approach.

I passed on, the company following, and as we formed a long train, being in single file, by the time those behind were out of the creek, those in the lead were five or six hundred yards from the bank, and over a ridge. I halted the front, for all to come up, when I discovered that Buckley, who was in the rear riding one horse and leading another, had not appeared over the ridge. Two of the men who were in the rear went back for him. The horse which he was leading soon came running over the ridge, and as Buckley did not make his appearance, we supposed that something was wrong. Others started back, but they all soon returned, and we went on. In a few minutes, however, one of the party came riding up, and stated that the Indians were going to charge upon us.

At this instant a gun was fired by them, and a hideous yelling was heard at our heels. The Indians were drawn up in line upon the ridge, all armed, some with muskets, and others with bows and arrows. The fellow who had met us, was still mounted, and running his horse from one end of the line to the other, and all were yelling like fiends. I thought it could not be possible that they would charge upon us, and ordered all hands to move along slowly but cautiously, to have their arms in readiness, and to keep the pack animals together, so that they could be stopped at any moment. We marched along slowly in close order, and paid no further regard to the Indians, than to carefully watch their movements. They followed along a few hundred yards, and halted, their yells then ceased, and we saw nothing more of them.

When the two men returned to Buckley, the mounted Indian spoken of had Buckley's horse by the head; he had proposed an exchange, but Buckley did not wish to swap, and asked him to let go the bridle: the Indian held on, Buckley pulled and he pulled; Buckley rapped his knuckles with a whip, and in the scuffle the horse that B. was leading broke loose, and ran over the ridge, they not being able to catch him. At this juncture the two men arrived; one of them raised his rifle in the attitude of striking the Indian on the head, but he paid no regard to it; the other, seeing his determined manner, rushed at him with his bowie knife; he then let go the bridle, and our men came up to the company. What his object was, or what their object in rallying their forces, I could not conjecture: but it {135} put us on our guard. At our night encampment there were Indians prowling about, but they were afraid of our riding too near them, and made no attempt to steal, or otherwise molest us. The country was extremely dry and barren; grazing was very poor.

On the 5th of May we arrived at the upper crossing of Snake river. On our way we had seen several villages of Shoshonee Indians, but were not disturbed by them. The grazing was poor, and the country very barren. We crossed several warm streams running down from the mountains, which appeared at a distance of from five to ten miles on our right. A wagon road can be had along the south side of the river, by hugging the base of the mountains for twenty or thirty miles, when it would take down the low bottom of Snake or Lewis river; but the distance is greater than by crossing the river.

On the 6th of May we reached Salmon falls, and went up six miles to Salmon Fall creek, and encamped. On the 8th and 9th it rained and snowed, so that we were compelled to lay by most of the time. On the 10th it cleared up, and in the afternoon we had fair weather and pleasant traveling. On the 12th we reached Cassia creek. At this place the California trail turns off.

On the 14th we arrived at Fort Hall. On the 16th we reached the Soda Springs. On the 18th we met about six hundred lodges of Snake Indians; they were moving from Big Bear river to Lewis' fork. On the 23d we reached Green river, taking the northern route. Much of the time the weather has been cool with frosty nights, and several days of rain and snow.

On the 24th we crossed Green river, and traveled about forty miles to the Big Sandy. The day was blustering, with rain and snow. Along the bottoms of the Sandy we found very good grazing for our animals.

On the 25th we traveled to the Little Sandy. On the 26th we arrived at the _South Pass_, and encamped on Sweet Water. Here we saw a few buffalo. The ride from Little Sandy to Sweet Water was extremely unpleasant on account of the wind and snow. We were sometimes compelled to walk, in order to keep warm. We here found a horse, which we supposed had been lost by some emigrants the year before. He came running to our band, and exhibited signs of the greatest joy, by capering and prancing about. He was quite fat, and seemed determined to follow us.

{136} On the 27th we traveled down the valley of Sweet Water about twenty-five miles. On our way we saw some hundreds of buffalo and antelope, and two grizzly bears. We gave the latter chase, but did not succeed in taking them. We had some difficulty in preventing our pack animals from following the numerous bands of buffalo which came rolling past us.

We traveled down this valley until the 30th, and encamped about four miles east of _Independence Rock_, at a spring near a huge mountain of gray granite rock. Soon after encamping it commenced raining, which turned to snow, and in the morning we had about five inches of snow upon us. We were uncomfortably situated, as we could procure but little fuel, and had no means of sheltering ourselves from the "peltings of the pitiless storm." Our horses too fared poorly.

On the 31st of May we remained in camp. By noon the snow had disappeared, and we succeeded in finding a few dry cedar trees, built a fire, and dried our effects. We had an abundance of buffalo marrow-bones, tongues, and other choice pieces, on which we feasted. We saw large droves of mountain sheep, or bighorn, and thousands of antelope.

On the 2d of June we arrived at the north fork of Platte. The plains during this day's travel were literally covered with buffalo, tens of thousands were to be seen at one view; antelope and black-tailed deer were seen in great abundance, and a few elk and common deer. One panther, and hundreds of wolves were also seen. We found the river too high to ford. Soon after encamping, snow commenced falling, which continued all night, but melted as it reached the ground. The grazing on the bottom was excellent, the grass being about six inches high. This was the best grass we had seen since leaving Burnt river.

On the 3d we succeeded in finding a ford, and in the evening we crossed. On the 4th we reached Deer creek, having traveled about thirty miles. On the way we saw a band of Indians whom we supposed to be of the Crow nation, and as they are generally for fight, we prepared to give them a warm reception; but it seemed that they were as fearful of us, as we were of them.[213] They were soon out of sight. After traveling about five miles, we saw them drawn up into line two miles from the road. As they were at a respectful distance, we did not molest them. We however kept a sharp look out, and at night were cautious in selecting camp ground. The grass was good, and our animals fared well.

{137} On the 5th we traveled about fifteen miles, and encamped on Mike's-head creek.[214] Here we found two trappers, who had been out about three weeks. They accompanied us to Fort Laramie, which we reached on the 8th of June. In the morning H. Smith, one of our party, in catching a mule was thrown, and his shoulder dislocated.[215] We attempted to set it, but could not succeed. He traveled on to the fort, but in great misery. We remained here until the afternoon of the 10th. Mr. Smith's shoulder was so much injured that he could not travel. He concluded to remain at the fort a few days; three men were to stay with him, and the rest of us had made arrangements for starting, when a company of Oregon emigrants came in sight. We awaited their arrival, and had the gratification of hearing from the States, it being the first news we had received since leaving our homes. A part of us remained a few hours to give them an opportunity of writing to their friends; while five of the party took the road. In the evening we traveled about eight miles, and encamped.

We continued for a distance of two hundred miles meeting companies of from six to forty wagons, until the number reached five hundred and forty-one wagons, and averaging about five souls to each wagon. They were generally in good health and fine spirits. Two hundred and twelve wagons were bound for California; but I have since learned that many of those who had designed to go to California had changed their destination and were going to Oregon.[216]

At Ash hollow we met a company who had lost many of their cattle and horses; but they were still going on.

A short distance below the forks of Platte, we met a company of forty-one wagons, under the command of a Mr. Smith, which company had lost about one hundred and fifty head of cattle; they were encamped, and parties were out hunting cattle.[217] We remained with them a short time, and then passed on. This was on the 18th of June. Two of Smith's company had taken the back track in search of a band of their cattle, which had traveled nearly forty miles on the return to the States. Near night, and after we had encamped, two others of the company came up in search of the two men who had started in the morning. We had also met a boy belonging to their company, who had been in search of cattle, but had found none; and as it was nearly night, and he was about thirty miles from their camp, we induced him to remain with us through the night.

{138} The two men who had arrived after we had encamped, concluded to continue their search until they found the two other men who had preceded them. Accordingly after taking some refreshments, they mounted and followed on. Soon after dark, they came running their horses up to our camp, one of them having behind him one of the men who had started out in the morning. They had proceeded from our camp about seven or eight miles, when rising over a small swell in the prairie, they discovered a few head of cattle, and saw ten or twelve Indians, a part of them engaged in catching a horse which Mr. Trimble (one of the men who had started out in the morning) had been riding, and some were engaged in stripping the clothes from Mr. Harrison, the other of the men. The men who had left our camp put whip to their horses, and ran towards the Indians, hallooing and yelling. The Indians seeing them approach, and probably supposing that there was a large company, left Harrison, and ran under a bluff, but they took the horses with them.

Harrison put on his clothes and mounted behind Bratten, (one of the men who had come to their rescue,) stating that the Indians had killed Trimble,[218] and as none of the emigrants had fire-arms, the Indians would soon return upon them. They then came to our camp. Harrison stated that he and Trimble had traveled nearly all day with that portion of our party who had started from the fort in advance of us, and near night had found five head of their cattle, with which they were returning to the company; and as they were traveling leisurely along, about dusk, whilst in a small hollow, ten or twelve Indians came suddenly upon them, seized his horse, and endeavored to get hold of Trimble's horse, but he jumped away, and ran his horse off. Harrison in the mean time had dismounted, and three of the Indians rifled him of his clothes. On looking to see what had become of Trimble, he saw him riding in a circuitous manner towards the place where Harrison was; at this instant some half dozen arrows were let fly at Trimble by the Indians, some of which took effect. He leaned a little forward, his horse at the time jumping; at that instant the crack of a gun was heard, and Trimble fell from his horse upon his face, and did not move afterwards. His horse ran round for some minutes, the Indians trying to catch him; and at that instant Bratten and his friend came up.

Several of our party, supposing that we had passed all danger, had sold their arms to the emigrants, and we had but five {139} rifles in the company. It was quite dark, and there would be but little prospect of finding Trimble, if we attempted a search. We therefore remained in camp until morning. About eleven o'clock at night we dispatched two persons back to inform the company of what had occurred, with a request that a force might be sent, which would be able to chastise the Indians, if found.

Early in the morning we packed up and traveled to the spot where the murder had been committed. We found there Trimble's hat, whip, and pocket knife; and several large pools of blood where he had fallen from his horse, and where the Indians had evidently stripped him. We also found several arrows, two of which appeared to have struck him; but nothing could be found of his body. The river Platte was about a quarter of a mile distant; we searched the shore diligently, but could see no sign. As we approached the spot a gun was fired on a large island opposite, but we saw no Indians. Eight beds in the grass near where the attack was made, showed the manner in which the Indians had been concealed.

It is highly probable that the Indians had driven the cattle off, and that some of the Indians concealed themselves, and as Trimble and Harrison had no fire-arms, and carried long ox-whips, they could be easily distinguished as cattle hunters, and the Indians knowing that the white men must come back, selected a favorable spot, and attacked them as above related. The probability is, that had Trimble and Harrison been armed, they would not have been molested.

We remained upon the ground until late in the afternoon, waiting the arrival of the force from the company. We finally began to despair of their coming, and feared that the two men whom we had sent back had been cut off; and as we had two of the company with us, and one of our party was back, we packed up and took the back track, and after traveling about five miles, we discovered a band of their cattle crossing the river a mile above us. We made to the shore, when the cattle turned down the river, in the direction of the head of the big island. We judged that the Indians had been driving the cattle, but upon our approach had left them. The river was quite shoal, and Buckley waded out and turned them to the shore. There were in this band twenty-one head of work cattle; two of them carried marks of the arrow. After traveling three miles farther, we espied the party coming to our assistance, but it consisted of only seven persons.