THE INTERIOR OF OREGON. 491 



enough buffalo-meat to serve him through the winter. All these 

 lots were kept in good order, and several had good mud houses 

 on them. The great endeavour of Mr. Spalding is to induce the 

 Indians to give up their roving mode of life, and to settle down and 

 cultivate the soil ; and in this he is succeeding admirably. He shows 

 admirable tact and skill, together with untiring industry and perse- 

 verance in the prosecution of his labours as a missionary ; and he 

 appears to be determined to leave nothing undone that one person 

 alone can perform. In the winter, his time and that of his wife is 

 devoted to teaching, at which season their school is much enlarged. 



On their way, they fell in with some half-breeds, going to hunt 

 buffalo. Among them there were four brothers, all fine-looking 

 young men, and very much alike. Many of the Indians, as has 

 before been remarked, visit the buffalo-grounds. These have been 

 constantly changing, and, within the memory of many of the hunters, 

 their limits have been very much circumscribed. From the accounts 

 we received, these animals are not now found west of the Portneuf 

 river, and their range has been materially changed since the arrival 

 of the whites. Instead now of migrating to the south during the 

 winter, they are reported as seeking a more northern clime, and are 

 now found as far north as 64° : four degrees farther in that direction 

 than their former range. This abandonment of their feeding-grounds 

 is unknown in any other American animal, and may forebode their 

 extinction at no very distant day. 



At 3 p. M., after travelling fifteen miles, they reached the banks of 

 the Snake river, at the forks. On their way down the Kooskooskee, 

 they had met with numerous herds of horses belonging to the Indians; 

 and here they found the owners, consisting of about one hundred and 

 fifty persons. There was but one building, which was of a circular 

 form and a hundred feet in diameter. It was built of rails or rough 

 joists set on end, which supported a roof of the same material, and 

 served the double purpose of sheltering the inhabitants and drying 

 their fish." The different families were arranged around the walls 

 in the interior. These Indians paid no attention to our party while 

 passing, but soon after sent up two canoes, to ferry them and their 

 luggage over the river ; which being finished, they went away with- 

 out demanding any thing for their services, and exhibiting a sort of 

 independence, characteristic of this race when they think themselves 

 well off or rich. 



The party crossed the Snake river about a mile above its junction 



