148 INDUNS ON THE ROUTE. 



The Intter subsist on fish and berries, raising some potatoes, but owning few horses or cattle. 

 They are debased in character, and are rapidly reducing in numbers in consequence of their 

 vices and their penury. The mountain Indians, including all east of the Cascades except those 

 of the lower Columbia, own horses and cattle, have small crops of wheat, as well as potatoes, 

 are moral in their habits polygamy having been abandoned by a majority of the tribes and 

 ibr subsistence depend in part upon the chase, resorting to the plains east of the Missouri for the 

 meat of the buffalo. Large numbers of them are expert hunters, particularly the Flatheads, Nez 

 Perces, Cceur d Alenes, Pend d Oreilles, and Spokanes. Nearly all the country, indeed, east of 

 the Cascades, is a ijood grazing country, and most of it is well adapted to agriculture. My own 

 personal observations were quite considerable in this respect, including the country occupied by 

 the Flatheads, Creur d Alenes, Spokanes, and the country thence to Colville, and that occupied 

 by the Wallah- Wallahs. Actual settlers invariably speak well of the country occupied by 

 them the St. Mary s, Colville, Spokane, Wallah-Wallah valleys, and the region near the valleys 

 of the Yakima and its tributaries. The desire of the JN T ez Perces and Spokanes for a grist-mill 

 in their territories, towards which each family has offered to contribute a horse, is the most 

 significant exemplification of their desire to till the soil. Some of the same Indians east of the 

 Cascades are very poor, especially the Kootenaies ; and the project of introducing salmon into 

 the upper Columbia by blasting a race-way, suggested by Dr. Suckley, is worthy of special atten 

 tion. The Pend d Oreilles and Coeur d Alenes subsist much upon deer, the former taking in one 

 hunt, in the winter of 1852- 3, eight hundred, and the latter four hundred and fifty. The straits 

 to which these Indians will be reduced in two years, by the entire disappearance of game, is 

 referred to by Dr. Suckley, and measures ought not to be put off to provide for them. Several 

 of these tribes are rich in horses and cattle, and are famous for their rapid movements. A 

 Blackfoot brave, &quot;the white man s hare,&quot; told me, on the Big Muddy river, that he stole the 

 first Flathead horse he came across it was sure to be a good one. They own still many good 

 horses, though their number and quality have been reduced in consequence of their losses. The 

 Nez Perces are rich, both in horses and in cattle ; and the hospitable reception they extended to 

 the members of the exploration passing through their country, taking care of a man lost from 

 Lieutenant Macfeely s party, binding up his wounds, and giving him the means of reaching the 

 nearest settler, Mr. Craig, and receiving into their lodges for some days the members of Mr. 

 Tinkham s party, after their arduous winter examination of the snows of the Bitter Root, show 

 that they are still the good Indians of the time of Lewis and Clark. 



The Assiniboins, east of the Blackfoot nation, have been steadily improving in character since 

 the treaty of Laramie, and now sustain an excellent reputation; they previously were considered 

 incorrigible thieves. My express to Fort Union were hospitably entertained by them, provided 

 with a lodge, their horses, saddles, and other heavy articles placed in safe hands ; but they were 

 advised to look after their smaller things, as the little children might not be able to keep their 

 hands off them. 



I met the Assiniboins in council at a large camp about one hundred and fifteen miles east 

 of Fort Union, and received the strongest assurances of their, friendly disposition. They com 

 plained of their hunting-ground being restricted by the Red river half-breeds, against whom they 

 asked the protection of the government; and that, in consequence, they found difficulty in getting 

 game for their subsistence through the entire year. The Assiniboins range from the Mouse 

 River valley to the Big Muddy river, or probably to the mouth of Milk river. 



The Red river half-breeds range in the country from east of the Red river to the Mouse River 

 valley, and going in large parties, they severely restrict the means of subsistence of the As 

 siniboins and the Sioux. They are generally accompanied by small numbers of friendly 

 Indians Chippewas, Crees, and occasionally an Assiniboin. They were met on the large 

 bend of the Shayenne river, that rises south of the Miniwakan lake, between the Mouse 

 river and the . 



