Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/106

98 a cousin. I made no inquiries concerning the matter, but passed the usual certificate to the employees for their signatures. Mr. White did not sign it and wanted to know if I considered him less a man of honor than myself, and expected him to sign a falsehood? I answered, "Tell Mr. White that I do not question his word or his honor; that if he signs the certificate I shall assume that he is not interested in the sutler's store, and if he refuses to sign it I shall assume the contrary, and obey the regulations of the Indian Department by appointing his successor." He signed.

Mr. White had been in the draying business in Portland for several years, and knew the merchants there, and their retail customers living throughout the State. Hence his acquaintance with that class of business men was quite extensive. To such of them as traveled through the reservation on their way to and from the city, Mr. White's house came to be a convenient stopping place for dinner, for which, at 75 cents a meal, he must have realized a fair remuneration. Besides, it was an accommodation to his friends and acquaintances, in this country of long distances between places of refreshment. At this time, Grande Ronde Valley and Powder River were fast settling up, and the gold mines at Auburn were attracting population, so of course, Mr. White's eating place became more and more to have the appearance of a regular tavern.

I suggested to Mr. White that he could not keep a public house on the reservation without permission from the Indian Department, to which he responded, that he could not have the heart to deny his hungry friends a meal, and he could not feed them gratis. "Yes, I see the difficulty, but the business is growing and must be stopped."

Down the river, some three miles, just off the reservation and where Pendleton now stands, a store and tavern had been located, and the keeper of the latter sent up to me a written protest against keeping a public eating house at the agency.

In terms, we were not doing so, for there was no public notice or solicitation for custom. In fact, we were, and I