Page:The Early Indian Wars of Oregon.djvu/134

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at present :


First. That the Americans may not go to war with the Cay uses.

Second. That they may forget the lately committed murders, as the Cayuses will forget the murder of the son of the great chief of the Walla Wallas, committed in California.

Third. That two or three great men may come up to conclude peace.

Fourth. That as soon as these great men have arrived and con cluded peace, they may take with them all the women and children.

Fifth. They give assurance that they will not harm the Ameri cans before the arrival of these two or three great men.

Sixth. They ask that Americans may not travel any more through their country, as their young men might do them harm.

Place of Tauitowe, Youmatilla, twentieth December, 1847. Signed. TILOUKAIKT,

CAMASPELO, TAUITOWE,

ACHEKAIA.

To this document the bishop added a letter to Governor Abernethy, concluding as follows : " It is sufficient to state that all these speeches went to show, that since they had been instructed by the whites they abhorred war, and that the tragedy of the twenty-ninth had occurred from an anxious desire of self-preservation, and that it was the reports made against the doctor and others which led them to commit this act. They desire to have the past forgotten, and to live in peace as before. Your excellency has to judge of the value of the documents which I have been requested to forward to you. "Nevertheless, without having the least intention to influence one way or the other, I feel myself obliged to tell you that by going to war with the Cayuses, you will likely have all the Indians of this country against you. Would it be for the interest of a young colony to expose herself? That you will have to decide with your council."

The council of the Cayuses at the bishop s house was hardly over, when a courier arrived from Fort Walla Walla, notifying the Cayuses that Mr. Peter Skeen Ogden of Fort Vancouver was at that place and desired to see them without delay. A letter to the bish