The council ground was situated on the right bank of Mill Creek, a tributary of the Walla Walla River, and about six miles above the site of the unfortunate Whitman Mission, in the midst of a wide and fertile valley, bounded in the distance on either hand by high, bare, rolling hills, and extending, fan-shaped, far eastward to the Blue Mountains, whose lofty and wooded heights bounded and overlooked the plain. The valley was almost a perfect level, covered with the greatest profusion of waving bunch grass and flowers, amidst which grazed numerous bands of beautiful, sleek mustangs, and herds of long-horned Spanish cattle belonging to the Indians, and was intersected every half mile by a clear, rapid, sparkling stream, whose course could be easily traced in the distance by its fringe of willows and tall cottonwoods. Now every foot of this rich valley is under cultivation, a dozen gristmills run their wheels by these streams, and the very treaty ground is the centre of the thriving town of Walla Walla, with a population of six thousand souls.
Under the energetic hands of Doty and C.P. Higgins, the packmaster,—a position corresponding to the chief mate on shipboard, or the orderly sergeant of a company of troops,—the camp was found pitched, and everything in readiness for the council. A wall tent, with a large arbor of poles and boughs in front, stood on level, open ground a short distance from the creek, and facing the Blue Mountains, all ready for the governor. This was also to serve as the council chamber, and ample clear space was left for the Indians to assemble and seat themselves on the ground in front of the arbor. A little farther in front, and nearer the creek, were ranged the tents of the rest of the party, a stout log-house to safely hold the supplies and Indian goods, and a large arbor to serve as a banqueting-hall for distinguished chiefs, so that, as in civilized lands, gastronomy might aid diplomacy. A large herd of beef cattle and a pile of potatoes, purchased of Messrs. Lloyd Brooke, Bumford & Noble, traders and stock-raisers, who were occupying the site of the Whitman Mission, and ample stores of sugar, coffee, bacon, and flour furnished the materials for the feasts.
General Palmer arrived the same day with R.R. Thompson and R.B. Metcalfe, Indian agents for Oregon tribes, who had visited the Cuyuses and Umatillas and small bands living wholly in Oregon, and summoned them to attend the council. Fatigued and uncomfortable as they must have been after the day’s journey and drenching, the commissioners had a long conference in the evening, listened to Doty’s report of his visits to the tribes and the talk and dispositions of the chiefs, and discussed the location of reservations and other points. The following programme was agreed upon:—
1. Governor Stevens to preside at the council.
2. Each superintendent to be sole commissioner for the Indians within his jurisdiction.
3. Both to act jointly for tribes common to both Territories, each to appoint an agent and commissary for them, and goods and provisions to be distributed to them in proportion to the number under the respective jurisdictions.
4. To keep separate records, to be carefully compared and certified jointly as far as related to tribes common to both Territories.
5. To keep a public table for the chiefs.
The following officers were appointed for the joint treaties, in each case the first named for Washington, the second for Oregon: Governor Isaac I. Stevens and Superintendent Joel Palmer, commissioners; James Doty and William C. McKay, secretaries; R.H. Crosby and N. Olney, commissaries; R. H. Lansdale and R.R. Thompson, agents; William Craig, N. Raymond, Matthew Danpher, and John Flette, interpreters.
The governor also appointed as interpreters A.D. Pambrun, John Whitford, James Coxie, and Patrick McKensie.