time fired at the man at the ferry-house. 'No!' was his prompt reply. At the time he was said to have fired at the white man, he declared with great earnestness that he shot at a duck in the river, at a distance of some two hundred yards from the ferryhouse, when on his way home, and possibly the ball of his gun might have bounded from the water. My subsequent observation of the course of the river, and the point from which he was said to have fired, convinced me that his statement was entitled to the fullest credit. His statement is confirmed by the doubt expressed by one of the party at whom he was said to have fired.

"The white men making the accusation only heard the whizzing of a bullet. This was the only evidence adduced in proof of the chief having fired at them. I asked the chief if he, or if to his knowledge any of his people, had ever fired at the ferry-house. To this he answered, 'No.' He most emphatically denied ever sending threatening language to the men at the ferry, but admitted that some of his people had. He also admitted that some of his tribe had stolen from white men, and that they had used their horses without permission. He did not deny that his heart had been bad toward white men, and that he had hoped they would leave his country. He promised to do all I required of him. If I desired, he said he would leave the home of his fathers and take his people to the mountains; but, with my permission and protection, he would prefer remaining in the present home of his people.

"Everything I asked or required of him he readily assented to, promising most solemnly to maintain on his part permanent friendly relations with white men. My interview with the tribe occupied about two hours. During the entire council they listened with most profound attention, evidently being determined to fasten on their minds all that fell from my lips. At the conclusion of the council I requested the chief to send for all the guns and pistols in the possession of his men. You will be surprised when I tell you that all the guns and pistols in the hands of the Indians at the ranches amounted to just five pieces, two of which were unserviceable; as to powder and ball, I do not believe they had five rounds. Does this look like being prepared for war? Can any sane man believe those Indians, numbering not over seventy-five, all told, including women and children, had concocted a plan to expel from their country some three hundred whites? Such a conclusion is too preposterous to be entertained for a moment. There was no necessity for resorting to such extreme measures. I regard the murder of those Indians as one of

But

the most barbarous acts ever perpetrated by civilized men. what can be done? The leaders of the party cannot be arrested, though justice loudly demands their punishment. Here we have not even a justice of the peace; and as to the military force garrisoned at Fort Orford, it consists of four men. If such murderous assaults are to be continued, there will be no end of Indian war in Oregon."-F. M. SMITH, Sub-Agent.

The Simon Kenton referred to in the following narrative was an experienced Indian fighter, and commanded a regiment in the war of 1812.

"In the course of the war of 1812 a plan was formed by some of the militia stationed at Urbana, Ohio, to attack an encampment of friendly Indians, who had been threatened by the hostile tribes, and were invited to remove with their families within our frontier settlements as a place of safety, under an assurance that they should be protected. Kenton remonstrated against the movement as being not only mutinous, but treacherous and cowardly. He vindicated the Indian character against the false charges which were alleged in justification of the outrage they were about to perpetrate, and warned them against the infamy they would incur by destroying a defenceless band of men, women, and children, who had been induced to place themselves in their power by a solemn promise of protection.

"He appealed to their humanity, their honor, and their duty as soldiers. He contrasted his knowledge of the character of those unfortunate people with their ignorance of it. He told them that he had endured suffering and torture at their hands again and again, but that it was in time of war, when they were defending their wives and children, and when he was seeking to destroy and exterminate them; and that, under those circumstances, he had no right to complain, and never did complain. But, said he, in time of peace they have always been kind, faithful friends, and generous, trustworthy men.

"Having exhausted the means of persuasion without effect, and finding them still resolved on executing their purpose, he took a rifle and called on them to proceed at once to the execution of the foul deed-declaring with great firmness that he would accompany them to the encampment, and shoot down the first man who attempted to molest it. My life,' said he, is drawing to a close: what remains of it is not worth much;' but, much or little, he was resolved that, if they entered the Indian camp, it should be done by passing over his corpse. Knowing that the old veteran would

fulfil his promise, their hearts failed them; not one ventured to take the lead; their purpose was abandoned, and the Indians were saved."-BURNET on the North-west Territory.

V.

EXTRACTS

FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION SENT TO TREAT WITH THE SIOUX CHIEF, SITTING BULL, IN CANADA.

THE Commission consisted of Brigadier-general Terry, Hon. A. G. Lawrence, and Colonel Corbin, secretary. After one month's journey, via Omaha, Nebraska, Helena, Montana, and Fort Benton, these gentlemen were met on the Canadian boundary by a Canadian officer with a mounted escort, who conducted them to Fort Walsh, when they were met by Sitting Bull and the other chiefs.

General Terry recapitulated to them the advantages of being at peace with the United States, the kindly treatment that all surrendered prisoners had received, and said: "The President invites you to come to the boundary of his and your country, and there give up your arms and ammunition, and thence to go to the agencies to which he will assign you, and there give up your horses, excepting those which are required for peace purposes. Your arms and horses will then be sold, and with all the money obtained for them cows will be bought and sent to you."

It is mortifying to think that representatives of the United States should have been compelled gravely to submit in a formal council proposals so ludicrous as these. The Indians must have been totally without sense of humor if they could have listened to them without laughter. Sitting Bull's reply is worthy of being put on record among the notable protests of Indian chiefs against the oppressions of their race.

He said: "For sixty-four years you have kept me and my people, and treated us bad. What have we done that you should want us to stop? We have done nothing. It is all the people on your side that have started us to do all these depredations. We could not go anywhere else, and so we took refuge in this country. *** I would like to know why you came here. In the first place I did not give you the country; but you followed me from one place to another, so I had to leave and come over to

this country. *** You have got ears, and you have got eyes to see with them, and you see how I live with these people. You see me. Here I am. If you think I am a fool, you are a bigger fool than I am. This house is a medicine house. You come here to tell us lies, but we don't want to hear them. I don't wish any such language used to me—that is, to tell me lies in my Great Mother's house. This country is mine, and I intend to stay here and to raise this country full of grown people. See these people here. We were raised with them" (again shaking hands with the British officers). “That is enough, so no more. * * * The part of the country you gave me you ran me out of. * * * I wish you to go back, and to take it easy going back."

The-one-that-runs-the-Ree, a Santee chief, said: "You did n't treat us well, and I don't like you at all. * * * I will be at peace with these people as long as I live. This country is ours. We did not give it to you. You stole it away from us. You have come over here to tell us lies, and I don't propose to talk much, and that is all I have to say. home. Don't go in a rush."

I want you to take it easy going

Nine, a Yankton, said: " Sixty-four years ago you got our country, and you promised to take good care of us and keep us. You ran from one place to another killing us and fighting us. *** You did not treat us right over there, so we came back over here. *** I come in to these people here, and they give me permission to trade with the traders. That is the way I make my living. Everything I get I buy from the traders. I don't steal anything.* * * I am going to live with these people here.'

So profound a contempt did the Indians feel for this commission that they allowed a squaw to address it.

I

A squaw, named The-one-that-speaks-once, wife of The-manthat-scatters-the-bear, said: "I was over at your country. wanted to raise my children there, but you did not give me any time. I came over to this country to raise my children, and have a little peace" (shaking hands with the British officers); “ that is all I have to say to you. I want you to go back where you came from. These are the people that I am going to stay with and raise my children with."

The Indians having risen, being apparently about to leave the room, the interpreter was directed to ask the following questions: "Shall I say to the President that you refuse the offers that he has made to you? Are we to understand that you refuse those offers ? Sitting Bull answered: "I could tell you more, but that

is all I have to tell. any attention to it. your people. You to us."

If we told you more, you would not pay This part of the country does not belong to belong on the other side, this side belongs

The Crow, shaking hands, and embracing Colonel McLeod, and shaking hands with the other British officers, said: “This is the way I will live in this part of the country. * * * These people that don't hide anything, they are all the people I like. *** Sixty-four years ago I shook hands with the soldiers, and ever since that I have had hardships. I made peace with them; and ever since then I have been running from one place to another to keep out of their way. *** Go to where you were born, and stay there. I came over to this country, and my Great Mother knows all about it. She knows I came over here, and she don't wish anything of me. We think, and all the women in the camp think, we are going to have the country full of people. * * * I have come back in this part of the country again to have plenty more people, to live in peace, and raise children.”

The Indians then inquired whether the commission had anything more to say, and the commission answered that they had nothing more to say, and the conference closed.

The commission, with a naïve lack of comprehension of the true situation of the case, go on to say that "they are convinced that Sitting Bull and the bands under him will not seek to return to this country at present. It is believed that they are restrained from returning," partly by their recollection of the severe handling they had by the military forces of the United States in the last winter and spring, and partly "by their belief that, for some reason which they cannot fathom, the Government of the United States earnestly desires that they shall return. * * * In their intense hostility to our Government, they are determined to contravene its wishes to the best of their ability." It would seem so-even to the extent of foregoing all the privileges offered them on their return—the giving up of all weapons-the exchanging of their horses for cows-and the priceless privilege of being shut up on reservations, off which they could not go without being pursued, arrested, and brought back by troops. What a depth of malignity must be in the breasts of these Indians, that to gratify it they will voluntarily relinquish all these benefits, and continue to remain in a country where they must continue to hunt, and make their own living on the unjust plan of free trade in open markets!