Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 7.pdf/331

Rh disagreeable taste. From this point we traveled up Marie's River, which flows from North East to the South West through a sandy plain almost entirely destitute of vegetation. This plain is about twenty miles wide and is bordered on each side by high, rugged, and perfectly barren mountains. On the lower part of the River we could find but little grass for our animals, and we had traveled two hundred miles up it before we found water coming in on either side. Unlike any other stream, perhaps, it is larger in the middle than anywhere else; it continued to increase in size as we proceeded up until we came to where it receives its last tributary. Here we encamped one night in the bend of the river, which we used as a coral, the guard standing at the entrance. During the night the animals made several attempts to rush by the guard and it was with the greatest difficulty that they were able to keep them. In the morning we were astonished to find four of them fatally wounded. They had been shot by the Indians, who had swam across in the night. We also found several arrows in the encampment, some of which had evidently been shot at the men. We left one of the animals dead in camp and another was able to go only a half a mile. The Indians had killed them to eat, and we were determined to disappoint them as much as possible by driving those that were able to travel away. After we had packed up two of us remained behind and the rest of the company proceeded, taking all the animals. We then concealed ourselves in the brush intending to kill if we could whoever came to the dead beast. The company had been gone about two hours when we saw an Indian coming toward us. He came within two hundred and fifty yards of the point of brush in which we were concealed, but thinking this rather a long shot we allowed him to pass, supposing that he would return to the horse after having