The Indian Dispossessed
"Young Joseph. I think with reference to the land. I look upon the land, made as it was, with pleasure. It was made for us, with all its natural advantages. I grew up on it, and took it as it was given to me. As it was created, it was finished with power. There is nothing should supersede it. There is nothing which can outstrip it. It is clothed with fruitfulness. In it are riches given me by my ancestors, and from that time up to the present I have loved the land, and was thankful that it had been given me. I don't wish to be understood as talking about the Lapwai, but the Wallowa. I have set my foot down, and have gone as far as I intend to go. I have already shown to you my mind about the country over there, and you know what I think as well as I do.
"Mr. Jerome. What shall we say to the President when we go back?
"Young Joseph. All I have to say is that I love my country."
Another still more suggestive question from General Howard: "Suppose several thousand men should come from Oregon with arms, what would you do?"
Within a year the troops came upon them from Oregon, with General Howard at their head. How prophetic!
Is there anything of the traditional Indian vengeance in this?
"When I learned they had killed one of my
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