Sunday, May, 20th.—This was anything but a day of rest, for our march was the most severe one we have had, being more than forty miles, with the sun, hot as the tropics, beating down upon our heads. There was nothing, too, in the appearance of the country to afford any relief. Far as the eye could reach was only a wide sunburnt plain, perfectly lifeless, for the summer suns, by burning up the herbage, had driven the game to seek refuge by the rivers. The prairie was covered with only a miserable crop of salt weed and wormwood, and our animals drooped as we pushed on to find some resting place. Added to this was the want of water, for often in these regions we are obliged to march from twenty to twenty-five miles, before we can reach a spring or water course. We were forced in this case to ride the whole day without stopping, until towards evening we reached Wells' Springs, a desolate looking place, at the foot of a range of hills. Here, however, we had water, and therefore encamped. Night, too, was at hand, so that we were relieved from the intolerable glare and heat, and in addition, one of the corporals had the good fortune to shoot a couple of ducks which were lingering about in the neighborhood of the spring, so that our evening fare was quite luxurious.
Monday, May 21st.—To-day we made a shorter march, of thirty miles, and went into camp at three o'clock. Three miles from our camping ground we passed the Indian Agency, a house erected by Government at an expense of six thousand dollars, for the residence of the Agent. He is, however, seldom here, making his home generally at the Dalles, and when we passed the place it was unoccupied. In the evening a party of Indians, whom we found to be Walla-Wallas, rode into camp. After a little pow-wow they left us, but having some suspicions of our visitors, our little camp was arranged with extra care. The horses were carefully picketed, lest they should be run off, and Lieutenant Gracie directed the guard in walking their rounds to examine that their muskets were ready for immediate use.
In the course of the night the rain had commenced and Lieutenant Gracie and I were striving to keep dry and sleep under the little tent of pack covers we had hastily erected, when we were startled from our first slumbers by a terrific yell. It may be imagined that it did not take us many seconds to be on our feet, with our pistols ready for, what we supposed, was an attack. Looking out, however, in the dark night, every thing seemed quiet on the prairie. The animals were grazing around, and not an Indian to be seen. Upon inquiry, we discovered that the disturbance had been caused by one of the soldiers finding a large snake in bed with him. The reptile probably did not like the rain, and therefore crawled under the soldier's blanket for warmth. What species it was we did not learn, for the snake, disgusted with his inhospitable reception, glided away, and the soldier did not detain him to make any enquiries about his parentage.
Tuesday, May 22d.—Our course this morning was through the same desolate country, until we struck the Umatilla, a beautiful stream fringed with trees. About ten o'clock we came upon a party of ten soldiers of the 4th Infantry, who were encamped by the river. They had been sent out from the Dalles a week before, under the command of a corporal, in pursuit of some Indian murderers, in finding whom, however, they had been successful. As Lieutenant Gracie had been directed, in event of meeting them, to add them to his command, their camp was broken up and they marched on with us, making the number of soldiers forty-seven. Towards evening our guide announced that we were but a few miles from the valley which was the residence of the Cayuse tribe. Lieutenant Gracie, therefore, sent on the soldiers under command of a sergeant to find a camping place for the night, while we, under the guidance of Mr. Cut-mouth John, struck across the country to visit his countrymen. We found their lodges in a beautiful, well-watered valley, which I am not surprised they are unwilling to give up. They are, however, much diminished in numbers, and did not seem to amount to more than two hundred. We went into several of their lodges, and although they are notoriously the most unfriendly tribe to the whites among all the Indians in this region, of which we afterwards had some strong evidences, yet on this occasion they received us well and showed no feelings but those of cordiality. After leaving them, we returned to the trail, and riding on about five miles, found our party encamped by the Umatilla.
Wednesday, May 23d.—At two o'clock P.M., we arrived at the ground selected for the Council, having made the march in six days. It was in one of the most beautiful spots of the Walla-Walla Valley, well wooded and with plenty of water. Ten miles distant is seen the range of the Blue Mountains, forming the southeast boundary of the great plains along the Columbia, whose waters it divides from those of Lewis river. It stretches away along the horizon until it is lost in the dim distance, where the chain unites with the Snake River Mountains.
Here we found General Palmer, the Indian Agent, and Governor Stevens, with their party, who had already pitched their tents. With the latter we dined. As was proper for the highest dignitary on the ground, he had a dining room separate from his tent. An arbor had been erected near it, in which was placed a table, hastily constructed from split pine logs, smoothed off, but not very smooth. Our own preparations were made for a more permanent encampment than we have as yet had: a tent was procured for Lieutenant Gracie and myself, while the men erected for themselves huts of boughs, spreading over them pack covers.
Thursday, May 24th.—This has been an exceedingly interesting day, as about twenty-five hundred of the Nez Percé tribe have arrived. It was our first specimen of this Prairie chivalry, and it certainly realized all our conceptions of these wild warriors of the plains. Their coming was announced about ten o'clock, and going out on the plain to where a flag staff had been erected, we saw them approaching on horseback in one long line. They were almost entirely naked, gaudily painted and decorated with their wild trappings. Their plumes fluttered above them, while below, skins and trinkets and all kinds of fantastic embellishments flaunted in the sunshine. Trained from early childhood almost to live upon horseback, they sat upon their fine animals as if they were centaurs. Their horses, too, were arrayed in the most glaring finery. They were painted with such colors as formed the greatest contrast; the white being smeared with crimson in fantastic figures, and the dark colored streaked with white clay. Beads and fringes of gaudy colors were hanging from the bridles, while the plumes of eagle feathers interwoven with the mane and tail, fluttered as the breeze swept over them, and completed their wild and fantastic appearance.
When about a mile distant they halted, and half a dozen chiefs rode forward and were presented to Governor Stevens and General Palmer, in the order of their rank. Then on came the rest of the wild horsemen in single file, clashing their shields, singing and beating their drums as they marched past us. Then they formed a circle and dashed around us, while our little group stood there, the center of their wild evolutions. They would gallop up as if about to make a charge, then wheel round and round, sounding their loud whoops until they had apparently worked themselves up into an intense excitement. Then some score or two dismounted, and forming a ring, danced for about twenty minutes, while those surrounding them beat time on their drums.
After these performances, more than twenty of the chiefs went over to the tent of Governor Stevens, where they sat for sometime, smoking the "pipe of peace," in token of good fellowship, and then returned to their camping ground.
The Nez Percés, or pierced-nose Indians, received this name from the early traders and trappers, but they call themselves by the name of Chipunnish. While they are the most friendly to the whites of any tribe in this region, they are at the same time one of the most numerous and powerful, roaming over the whole Rocky Mountains, along the streams to the West, and across the almost limitless plains to the East, until they reach the hunting grounds of the tribes of the Missouri. They hunt the elk, the white bear, the mountain sheep and the buffalo, while they trap the beaver to sell the skins to the whites. They are celebrated for their droves of horses, which, after being branded, are turned loose to roam upon the fertile plains till needed by their owners: when this is the case, it requires but a few days to break them sufficiently to answer the purpose of their bold riders.