Wednesday, June 13th.—I awoke to find it still raining in torrents and the wind blowing a beautiful accompaniment, as it swept through the trees which line the banks of the river. Fortunately the sergeant had brought with him a tent, which was turned over to us, and we remained tolerably comfortable. In the midst of the storm, however, a visitor arrived. He was a Mr. Whitney, who is living about a mile from our encampment, with Mr. McKay, on a claim he is cultivating, belonging to the latter. He invited Lieutenant Gracie and myself to take tea with him. About three o'clock it cleared up and we rode over to his residence, where for the first time in several weeks we had the satisfaction of seeing some thing which looked like domestic comfort. Mr. Whitney had his wife and child with him, and he took us over his garden and showed us his crops. At six o'clock we had tea, after the manner of civilized people, which was a great luxury to us after our camp fare in the wilderness.
Just as we were bidding good night, three of our acquaintances arrived from the Council ground on their way to the Dalles. We learned from them that the Indians celebrated a great Scalp Dance the night before, in which one hundred and fifty of the women took part. The tribes then broke up their lodges and returned to their own hunting grounds.
Thursday, June 14th.—The place where we now are is an old camping ground, well known to all the Western hunters, being a central spot where several trails diverge. The emigrant trail passes by it, and stretches thence over the Blue Mountains, leading to Fort Boisé. Here Lieutenant Gracie has orders to remain until the arrival of the rest of the Command, which starts from the Dalles on the twentieth, to enter the Snake country. He has been, therefore, making arrangements to-day for a more permanent encampment, as he may be delayed here for a couple of weeks. The tents have been regularly arranged, our own a little in advance, and those of the men built of boughs and pack covers, so as to protect them from the weather. A log house has been erected at one end of the camp, to hold the provisions, and to-day the men have been employed in constructing a corral, or enclosure, in the California style, to secure the horses.
This evening our Indian guide came in. He had been left at the Council ground to hunt up some stray horses.
Friday, June 15th.—Early this morning Lieutenant Gracie sent off the Indian guide to the Dalles, as he had no further use for him. Mr. Cut-mouth John has apparently served us faithfully, though being a Cayuse, we cannot tell how deeply he has been implicated in the plottings of his countrymen this summer, or what part he would have taken, had their projected outbreak ripened into action.
To-day Lieutenant Gracie began to have his drills for the men, one before breakfast and the other after supper. At the early drill they are exercised in shooting at a target. This evening, at Mr. McKay's, we met the old Chief, Stechus, who had stopped there on an expedition after some missing cattle. He seemed quite pleased to see us. While there, General Palmer and his party also arrived from the Council ground.
Saturday, June 16th.—After drill we rode over to Mr. McKay's and found General Palmer's party still encamped there, as he was taken ill this morning. He probably needs rest both of body and mind, and on the plains, this is the great prescription, as the remedies which the hunters can give are comprised in a list of very few simples. Nature is generally expected to perform the cure. Had his illness come on at the Council, he could have had the "medicine men" of our friends, the Nez Percés, to prescribe for him. Their prescriptions, however, are always the same, whatever may be the disease, whether ague or fever, or small pox. The patient is shut up in a small close lodge, called a "sweating house," where he is subjected, until almost stifled, to a vapor bath produced by water slowly poured on red hot stones.
Sunday, June 17th.—My last Sunday on the plains, and it passed quietly enough. After Lieutenant Gracie had finished inspection and we had taken our usual bath in the river, we rode over to General Palmer's encampment to enquire after his health. We found him still too unwell to travel. The rest of the day was spent in reading, for we have found a small supply of books at Mr. McKay's, which have proven quite a treasure in the wilderness.
Monday, June 18th.—Lieutenant Gracie has commenced practising the men at skirmish drill for an hour a day, and is thus preparing them for their Snake country expedition. It has become too hot, except in the morning and evening, to move about with comfort, and after the drill, our ride over to Mr. McKay's and our bath in the Umatilla, we are content to spend the remainder of the day in lounging and reading under the shelter of our tent. In an encampment on the plains, during the dead silence of a sultry noon, with no conventional restraints of civilization about us, we realize more fully than in any other place, the truth of the Neapolitan maxim—Dolce far niente.
We had to-day a visit from five of the Cayuse Indians, two of whom had been accustomed to visit us at Walla-Walla.