“They were called to order by Tawatowe, who by this time had got over his excitement, and then was placed before them the object of our visit. They were told that much had been said about war, and we had come to assure them that they had nothing to fear from that quarter.” If Dr. White was no more explicit in setting forth the object of this visit to the Indians than Mr. Hines is in giving the account of it, there certainly was room for a misunderstanding between him and the Indians. He said “the President of the United States had not sent him [Dr. White] to make war upon them, but to enter into arrangements with them to regulate their intercourse with the white people. We were not there to catch them in a trap, as a man would a beaver, but to do them good; and if they would lay aside their former practices and prejudices, stop their quarrels, cultivate their lands, and receive good laws, they might become a great and happy people; that in order to do this they must all be united.” Exactly what the Hudson’s Bay Company wished to have done to aid them in crushing the American settlement and preventing further American emigration to the country.
As a reason for their being united, Mr. Hines says, 178-9th pages:
“They were told they were few in comparison to the whites, and if they were not all of one heart they would be able to accomplish nothing. The chiefs should set the example and love each other, and not get proud and haughty, but consider the people as their brothers and their children, and labor to do them good, that the people should be obedient, and in their morning and evening prayers they should remember their chiefs.
“Ellis remarked that it would not be proper for the Nez Percé chiefs to speak until the Cayuse people should receive the laws. The Cayuse chiefs replied: ‘If you want us to receive the laws, bring them forward and let us see them, as we can not take them unless we know what they are.’
“A speech was then delivered to the young men to impress them favorably with regard to the laws. They were told that they would soon take the places of the old men, and they should be willing to act for the good of the people; that they should not go here and there and spread false reports about war; and that this had been the cause of all the difficulty and excitement that had prevailed among them during the past winter.”
With the information which Mr. Hines has already given us in the first part of his ninth chapter, we would suppose he would avoid this apparently incorrect statement to the Indians of the cause of the difficulties then existing. He and Dr. White appear to have acted under the same influence with Dr. McLaughlin, and to have carried all their acts and counsels to the one object, which was to combine the Indians, and divide and destroy the settlement. He tells us, in continuation of the proceedings of this council, that “the laws were then read, first in English, and then in Nez Percé.”
“Yellow Serpent then rose and said: ‘I have a message to you. Where are these laws from? I would that you might say they were from God. But I think they are from the earth, because, from what I know of white men
“Tilokaikt, a Cayuse chief, rose and said: ‘What do you read the laws for before we take them? We do not take the laws because Tawatowe says so. He is a Catholic, and as a people we do not follow his worship.’ Dr. White replied that this did not make any difference about the law; that the people in the States had different modes of worship, yet all had one law.
“A chief, called the Prince, arose and said: ‘I understand you gave us liberty to examine every law,—all the words and lines,—and as questions are asked about it, we should get a better understanding of it. The people of this country have but one mind about it. I have something to say, but perhaps the people will dispute me. As a body, we have not had an opportunity to consult, therefore you come to us as in a wind, and speak to us as to the air, as we have no point, and we can not speak because we have no point before us. The business before us is whole like a body; we have not dissected it. And perhaps you will say it is out of place for me to speak, because I am not a great chief. Once I had influence, but now I have but little.’”
This was one of the principal chiefs of the tribe that assisted in taking Fort Wallawalla and tying Mr. Pambrun to compel him to give more goods for horses and furs. “He was about to sit down, but was told to go on. He then said: ‘When the whites first came among us, we had no cattle; they have given us none; what we have now got we have obtained by an exchange of property. A long time ago Lewis and Clarke came to this country, and I want to know what they said about us. Did they say they found friends or enemies here?’ Being told that they spoke well of the Indians, the Prince said: ‘That is a reason why the whites should unite with us, and all become one people. Those who have been here before you have left us no memorial of their kindness, by giving us presents. We speak by way of favor; if you have any benefit to bestow, we will then speak more freely. One thing that we can speak about is cattle, and the reason why we can not speak out now is because we have not the thing before us. My people are poor and blind, and we must have something tangible. Other chiefs have bewildered me since they came; yet I am from an honorable stock. Promises which have been made to me and my fathers have not been fulfilled, and I am made miserable; but it will not answer for me to speak out, for my people do not consider me as their chief.’ [This was just what Mr. Pambrun, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, had done to this Indian chief to break his power and destroy his influence with his tribe and his people. But let us hear him through.] ‘One thing more; you have reminded me of what was promised me some time ago, and I am inclined to follow on and see, though I have been giving my beaver to the whites and have received many promises, and have always been disappointed; I want to know what you are going to do?’
“Illutin, or Big Belly, then arose and said that the old men were wearied with the wickedness of the young men; that if he was alone he could say ‘Yes’ at once to the laws, and that the reason why the young men did not feel as he felt, was because they had stolen property in their hands, and the laws condemned stealing. But he assured them that the laws were calculated to do them good and not evil.
“But this did not satisfy the Prince. He desired that the good which it was proposed to do them by adopting the laws might be put in a tangible form before them.
“He said that it had been a long time since the country had been discovered by whites, and that ever since that time people had been coming along promising to do them good; but they had all passed by and left no blessing behind them.”
This chief said that “the Hudson’s Bay Company had persuaded them to continue with them, and not go after the Americans; that if the Americans designed to do them good, why did they not bring goods with them to leave with the Indians? that they were fools to listen to what Suapies (Americans) had to say; that they would only talk, but the company would both talk and give them presents.”