Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/690



origin of Indian wars is always much the same. Mother Nature is a capricious parent and feeds and clothes her children indifferently well. In 1805 Lewis and Clarke saw the Columbia Valley tribes at their best. They had apparently attained to as much comfort and were as healthy and powerful as under the circumstances they could be. Could they have remained in that condition for generations, there is no reason to doubt that they would have continued to enjoy such peace and prosperity as belongs to savage life. Nor would it be contrary to the course of things to expect them to advance morally and intellectually, even while living under such hard conditions. The savages of the upper Columbia were very good men, for savages. It is true, they were thieves, and if their natural benevolence prompted them to relieve the necessities of the white strangers, they rewarded themselves the first opportunity. Thieving was a