Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/291

Rh, the company was bound to make diligent search for them before moving on; but if any of those found missing in the morning were not known to have been present the previous evening the company should not be delayed to search for them. Thus the loss of time consequent upon searching at one camping place for stock that might have been missed for several days would be avoided. After a little friction, which spent its force in two or three days, the plan was found to work admirably; and Mr. Jory, now nearly 82 years old, recalls with just pride the success of his first and only public address. This incident shows also the strong hold which the principle of majority rule had taken on the minds of early pioneers, and its entire competency to deal with questions far more difficult than those encountering military enterprises.

Although having heard of the friendliness of the Cayuses, Mr. Jory saw things on the Umatilla and met treatment that led him to distrust them. Among others there was a Catholic priest that crossed the Blue Mountains with his train. He was met on the Umatilla by the Cayuses, one of whom made a long speech. Of course this was not understood by Jory, except that the name of Whitman was repeated a number of times, and each time the Cayuse would take hold of the large crucifix that hung from the priest's belt and make the motion of wringing it in pieces and throwing it down, and showing great rage. This Mr. Jory understood as a description of what the Cayuse considered the disposition of Whitman toward the Catholic religion.

However, as he heard that his father and brothers were on the way, being so informed by three young men that were hastening forward and overtook him, he decided to camp on the Umatilla and wait for them.

While camping here he found one morning that his