Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/122

 114 T. W. DAVENPOHT. apply. She was surrounded and held fast by men and women unwilling that she should leave. In one night of the month of February, snow fell to the depth of eighteen inches in the Umatilla Valley, and was con- siderably deeper on the Blue Mountains, so that travel was prevented for a few days. One man, on his way to the Grande Ronde Valley, with several teams loaded with merchandise, was camped near the agency the night of the snowfall, and, being unable to proceed, applied to me for permission to store his goods in one of our buildings until travel could be re- sumed. Permission was freely granted and the large carpen- ter's shop designated for the purpose. Mr. Henry, the car- penter, superintending the business, reported that a part of the freight consisted of case liquors and was undecided whether it would be consistent with the regulations of the Indian De- partment to permit the storing of liquors in the agency build- ing. The question being referred to me, I informed the owner and Mr. Henry that we were acting in a perfectly proper and humane way by affording a temporary refuge to an American citizen engaged in legitimate business; that he need not tell what his merchandise consisted of, and that so long as he kept his liquors in case no question would be asked and no objec- tions raised. Before the end of two weeks he resumed his journey, and in an hour or two after his departure I learned through one of the employees that he had been daily treating them and others and that the cook had been pretty drunk several times. Feeling quite indignant over such an abuse of kindly confidence, I sent the blacksmith and two other em- ployees, with instructions to overhaul the infidel and pour out his liquors upon the ground, and if he resisted to bring him back to the agency. The order was thoroughly executed, and without resistance. I regretted to take such a course, but word had one out over the country that the agent allowed liquor- drinking at the agency, and something more tangible than a denial became necessary to refute the scandal. It is quite important for an agent to be truthful and consistent, if he