INDIAN TRIBES OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 421 
on Souvies’s island, at the mouth of the Willamette; with a house, dairy, and garden—the build- 
ing about six years old. The old buildings at Astoria are of no value whatever. 
In Washington Territory, west of the Cascades, there are, first, and the only one of im port- 
ance, Fort Nisqually, on the lands of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. It is situated at 
some distance from the water, on a high, undulating prairie, and is a cluster of small buildings, 
of no great value, within a stockade. The trade here is principally with the settlers. Besides 
this, there is a granary and about five acres of land two miles above the mouth of the Cowlitz 
river; a tract of land on Cape Disappointment, occupied by an old servant, and a small store 
and lot of ground at Chinook. 
With the exception of Fort Vancouver, it is believed that none of these posts are worth main- 
taining for any other purpose than that of holding the property till a sale can be effected. The 
condition of the whole country is completely changed since they were established, and the com- 
pany are now little else than general merchants. At all points of present importance they meet 
with the usual competition from our citizens; and whenever it will repay the enterprise, the same 
competition will follow them elsewhere. The relations of the company to the Indians are neces- 
sarily far less intimate than they have been, though not less friendly ; but even the more distant 
tribes now frequent the towns, attracted partly by novelty, and partly by the opportunities 
afforded for earning money by labor. Most of them comprehend fully that the sceptre has de- 
parted from Judah, and that our own people possess the country. 
The familiarity of the company’s officers with the Indians and their usages, of course gives 
them a certain influence; but there is no evidence that this has been used unfairly, or that since 
the conclusion of the treaty they have ever endeavored to prejudice them against our government. 
So far as regards their course previous to that time, it was clear enough. As traders, they en- 
deavored to secure to themselves every advantage of trade; as British subjects, they upheld and 
stood by their country while it stood by them; but in every matter between a white man and an 
Indian, they sustained the white, of whatever nation. The conduct of Dr. John McLoughlin and 
of Mr. Peter Skene Ogden, on more than one trying occasion, was worthy of all praise. It was 
the former who, on the destruction by the Umpqua Indians of the train under the command of 
Jedediah Smith, an American and a rival fur-trader, sent against the aggressors an armed party, 
and restored to him, without charge, his recaptured goods; it was the latter who, upon hearing 
of the Whitman massacre, instantly set out himself for the Cayuse country and purchased the 
liberty of the surviving women and children. For the expenditure on this occasion, it may be 
mentioned, the company have never requested or received payment. Their hospitality and 
kindness to the early settlers drew upon them censure from home; while, in this country, those 
who have received most at their hands have been most bitter in their abuse. 
The white servants of the company, as their time expires. settle here and become naturalized. 
Some of the officers, also, are already citizens, and others will follow their example. Very few 
will ever leave the country. 
In respect to the impression which it is supposed may be created by purchasing goods from 
them for Indian service, it may be remarked, that any danger or misconception of this point has 
passed away. Very few goods have, in fact, ever been purchased from the company by 
government officers for this purpose, and the reason, on those occasions, has been simply because 
they alone had supplies of suitable kind. 
The missions also require notice in connexion with Indian relations. 
The Presbyterians formerly had stations among the Cayuse at Waiatpu, on the Wallah-Wallah 
river, under the superintendence of Dr. Whitman; among the Spokanes at Chemakane, upon a 
branch of the Spokane river, under Messrs. Walker and Eels; among the Nez Perces at Lapwai, 
near the mouth of the Kooskooskia, under Mr. Spalding; and at Kaima, on its headwaters, under 
Mr. Smith. The last was maintained but a short time, and all of them have been abandoned 
since Dr. Whitman’s murder. The Methodists also once had a mission at the Dalles. 
