by an assurance that no powder should be sent to the
upper country without the sanction of the Oregon govern
ment, and that he had done so.
The proclamation which discharged the first regiment of Oregon riflemen was dated July 5, 1848, the only por tion excepted being the men left at Forts Waters and Lee. On the twelfth, the commissary-general wrote to the governor that the men thus detailed were in need of clothing and provisions; that having no funds on hand in his department to supply them, he had called on the loan commissioners for an amount barely sufficient to subsist these men until October first, when their term would expire; but that the commissioners had replied that they had no funds, and believed it impossible to raise any; and as the decision of the board had been that they were not authorized to execute bonds for debts he might contract, it was no longer in his power to supply the troops. 24
Meanwhile, by hook or by crook, the volunteers in the Indian country got on very well. The mill had been re paired, and some large caches of grain discovered. They celebrated the fourth of July in due form with a feast and patriotic toasts drunk in water, among which was: "The American flag, the only thing American that will bear stripes," said to have been proposed by a "young Miss Wickliffe," 25 of Oregon City.
24 Palmer asked the commissioners for one thousand dollars for subsistence and six hundred and eighty-eight dollars for clothing : Oregon Archives, MS. 1010.
25 The following letter is interesting as a picture of the times in the interior at this date. It is written July fifth to Lee by C. W. Cooke: "As the Messrs. Priests will start down tomorrow, altho I have nothing important to comrmmicate, I cannot forego an opportunity of informing you of some things that have transpired in this delightful portion of God s heritage, vulgarly known as middle Oregon. We saw not an Indian, and heard no news from the time of your departure up to the tAventy- eighth proximo, when Moolpool and Tintinmitzie came from the Grand Round and informed us that the Kayuses were all there, and the murderers high up on Burnt riyer. The most of the Kayuses will be back here in a few weeks. Richard and Red Wolf took supper with us three nights gone, and told us that the Snakes have killed five Nez Percys, and that they are making preparations to go immediately against the Snakes. It is Indian news, and you know the reliability of the information. Being myself very skeptical, and knowing Mr. McBean s superior facilities for detecting
