374 Frederick V. Holman bleed. Besides this massacre, you have robbed the Amer- icans passing through your country, and you have in- sulted their women. We have made you chiefs, but you say you cannot control your young men. They are cow- ards, and you are responsible for their deeds. If the Americans begin war you will have cause for regret, for you will be exterminated. I know that many Indians have died; so have white people. Dr. Whitman did not poison those Indians who died. You now have the oppor- tunity to make some reparation. I advise you, but I promise you nothing, should war be declared against you. The Hudson's Bay Company has nothing to do with your actions in this trouble. Deliver to me these captives and I will give you a ransom." Tiloukaikt, a Cayuse chief, replied : "Your words are weighty. Your hairs are gray. We have known you a long time. You have had an unpleasant journey to this place. I cannot therefore keep the captives back. I make them over to you, which I would not do to another younger than yourself." This reference to the advanced age and to the white hairs of Ogden may have been intended to be compliment- ary, but it was puerile. Ogden was a man of such force of character and of such intrepidity that if he had been younger he would probably have acted more in accordance with his well-known reputation, and not made so diplo- matic a speech to the Indians. He was not afraid; he was determined that these captives should be delivered to him without delay, before the Indians should harm or murder them or hold them as hostages to keep back the settlers from the Willamette Valley. These captives were enslaved, and many of them had been cruelly treated by their captors and threatened with death. Some of them had been insulted and outraged by the Indians. Several of the young white women, by force and by threats, were taken as wives by Indians. For many hours Ogden argued and reasoned with
