Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/138

 Up to that time we had been well received in all the villages through which we had passed, but all that was as nothing in comparison with the admirable behavior of the great chief of the Bow tribe, a man who was not at all covetous as the others had been, but always took very great care of all that belonged to us.

I became attached to this chief, who merited all our friendship. In a short time, due to the pains which he took to instruct me, I learned the language sufficiently well to make myself understood and to understand also what he said to me.

I asked him if his tribe knew the white men who lived by the sea and if they could guide us there. He replied: "We know them by what the prisoners of the Snake Indians, whom we are to join shortly, have told us of them. Do not be surprised if you see many villages joined with us. Messages urging them to meet us have been sent out in all directions. Every day you hear the war song chanted; that is not without purpose: we are going to march to the great mountains which are near the sea, to seek the Snakes there. Do not be afraid to come with us, you have nothing to fear, you will be able to see there the ocean for which you are searching."

He continued his speech as follows: "The French who are at the sea coast," he said, "are numerous; they have many slaves, whom they establish upon their lands by tribes; they have separate quarters, they marry among themselves, and they are not oppressed; the result is that they are happy with them (their masters) and they do not seek to run away. They raise a large number of horses and other animals, which they use to work on their lands. They have many leaders for their soldiers, and they have many also for prayer." He pronounced a few words in their language. I recognized that he was speaking Spanish, and what fully assured me of the fact was the account which he gave me of the massacre of the Spaniards who were seeking to discover the Missouri,