Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/38

 30 T. W. DAVENPORT. a relative of Howlish Wampo, his rather lethargic nature was aroused into effective action. Mr. Flippin quoted passages from it, which seemed to confirm his high opinion. The speaker arose with much solemnity and for a few moments silently surveyed the assemblage. Then, throwing back bis cloak and raising his right hand deprecatingly, he began: "I see the soldiers have come among us." Pointing with his index finger at them, he asked with much emphasis, "What have you come for? Have you come to protect any- body ? If you have, we need your protection. Have you come to punish anybody? If you have there is the man (pointing to Barnhart), there is blood upon his hands." Mr. Flippin was in the habit of rehearsing the speech in the Walla Walla language and imitating the manner of the untaught orator. I obtained his translation of it into English and kept it for many years, but the wooden box in which I placed my records was not proof against the curiosity of children, who left them exposed to the mice and rats that soon destroyed them. The quotation above given is exact and I think myself competent to reproduce the whole speech with but little variation. It was so superb all through that my doubts were frequently expressed as to its genuineness, but the narrator was willing to swear to the veracity of his report. A ride in an easy carriage drawn by a sprightly team of fine horses is rather inspiring at almost any time, but over such a country as greets the eye from Walla Walla to the agency buildings on the Umatilla River, and at this time of year, when the still air of December is tempered by an unclouded sun, one's feelings stop little short of ecstasy. Much of this delight was no doubt due to the vast and magnificently out- lined scenery. On the left rose the colossal front of the Blue Mountains, rendered more grand and somber by the crown of evergreen forest which seemed, like fabled hosts of old, to frown down upon the unprotected valley. Away to the north- west stretched the undulating prairie to the Columbia River, and beyond, terminating the hazy distance, rose the dim and shadowy outline of the higher Cascade range, with its glitter-