Governor Stevens: “My friend Seattle has put me in mind of one thing which I had forgotten. You shall have a doctor to cure your bodies. Now, my friends, I want you, if Seattle has spoken well, to say so by three cheers. [Three cheers were given.] Now we call upon Pat-ka-nim to speak his mind.”
Pat-ka-nim: “To-day I understood your heart as soon as you spoke. I understood your talk plainly. God made my heart and those of my people good and strong. It is good that we should give you our real feelings today. We want everything as you have said, the doctor and all. Such is the feeling of all the Indians. Our hearts are with the whites. God makes them good towards the Americans.” [Three cheers were given for Pat-ka-nim.]
Chow-its-hoot: “I do not want to say much. My heart is good. God has made it good towards you. I work on the ground, raise potatoes, and build houses. I have some houses at home. But I will stop building if you wish, and will move to Cha-chu-sa. Now I have given you my opinion, and that of my friends. Their feelings are all good, and they will do as you say hereafter. My mind is the same as Seattle’s. I love him, and send my friends to him if they are sick. I go to Dr. Maynard at Seattle if I am sick.” [Cheers for Chow-its-hoot.]
Goliah: “My mind is the same as the governor’s. God has made it so. I have no wish to say much. I am happy at heart. I am happy to hear the governor talk of God. My heart is good and that of all my friends. I give it to the governor. I shall be glad to have a doctor for the Indians. We are all glad to hear you, and to be taken care of by you. I do not want to say more.” [Cheers were given for Goliah.]
The treaty was then read and interpreted to them, and the governor asked them if they were satisfied with it. If they were, he would sign it first, and then they should sign it. If not, he wished them to state in what they desired it to be altered. All having signified their approbation, it was signed first by Governor Stevens, and afterwards by the chiefs and headmen.
The hour being late when the signing was finished, the distribution of the presents was deferred to the next day.
Tuesday, January 23. The Indians having reassembled, Governor Stevens informed them that he was about to distribute some presents. They were not intended as payment for their lands, but merely as a friendly token of regard. He gave them but few things at this time, but the next summer he should again give them a larger present, when the goods intended for them arrived.
Seattle then brought a white flag, and presented it, saying:
“Now, by this we make friends, and put away all bad feelings, if we ever had any. We are the friends of the Americans. All the Indians are of the same mind. We look upon you as our father. We will never change our minds, but, since you have been to see us, we will always be the same. Now! now! do you send this paper of our hearts to the Great Chief. That is all I have to say.”
The presents were then given to the chiefs to distribute among their people, the camp was struck, and the party embarked on board the steamer, which had been chartered for the purpose of expediting the preparations for the next council, that with the S’Klallams and Sko-ko-mish, but, a heavy blow coming on, she lay at anchor till morning. An Indian express arrived with news that the Indians were collected at Fort Gamble, awaiting the arrival of the governor.