Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/47

 RECOLLECTIONS OF AN INDIAN AGENT. 39 dens of that young and growing city. The gambler laid no legal claim to the horse ; he took him, he said, ' ' because he had use for him and the d d Indians had no right to horses anyway." The sutler bought much of his supplies at Walla Walla, and he asserted that rather than become a mark for the gamblers he would buy the Indian another horse, and it was done, Mr. Flippin contributing mostly towards the purchase. Such facts as these opened the eyes and soothed the feelings of the irate traveler who was in fact a considerate an conservative fellow citizen, but, like nearly all of American birth and edu- cation, fully of the opinion that there are no good Indians except dead Indians, and that in every case of conflict between the races the red man is the agressor. Another incident, occurring in the spring of 1863, was so remarkable in several points of view that I here relate it. Two merchants of Auburn, a brisk mining town in Baker County, stopped at the sutler's store on their way home from Port- land, where they had been purchasing goods, when an Indian by the name of Yuck-a-lux, having observed the horsemen a quarter of a mile away, came running to the store and claimed one of the horses as his property. Notice of the claim was at once given to me by the interpreter, and I sent a request to the possessor of the horse to call at the agent's office for a conference. He came mounted to my door, and in the presence of the employes and several Indians heard what I had to say concerning the Indian's claim. He showed much irritation at being detained, as his business at home was urgent, and when informed that upon the reservation an Indian's testi- mony is as good as a white man's, he wanted to know if I intended to rob him of his horse on the word of a d d Indian. " Oh, no ! you shall not be dispossessed on the evidence of an In- dian ; probably forty can swear that the horse you are riding is the property of this red man Yuck-a-lux. ' ' With increasing anger he said: "I suppose aill the Indians would like to get my horse and be willing to swear for it." I replied that the horse should not be taken from him until the proof was satis- factory, which allayed his feelings somewhat. He stated that