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 import 

 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 Raima, 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. 



