Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/9



VOLUME VIII.]

On a very beautiful afternoon in the latter part of September, A. D. 1862, an equestrian alighted from his rather jaded horse, at our gate in the Waldo Hills, and presented me a letter from Win. H. Rector, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, asking if I would accept the appointment of Special Indian Agent at the Umatilla Agency; and he desired an immediate answer.

My oral reply to the bearer of the dispatch was short and emphatic. "If I am to answer now, I say no; if I can have time to ask my wife if she will accompany me, I may say yes."

"When can you see your wife?" was curtly asked.

"To night," I replied.

"Well, if that is the case, I shall tell Mr. Rector that you can be depended upon, for the women always go. I never knew one to refuse, ' ' remarked the bearer of the message, who was none other than the very shrewd, ever-ready, hard-riding messenger of the Indian Superintendency, One-Armed Brown.

My wife was willing to go, as Brown predicted, and I repaired at once to Salem to obtain my appointment and instructions from the Superintendent.

As to the latter, they were very brief and characteristic of Mr. Rector. He said: "I have sent for you because you are possessed of good judgment, and I believe are competent to manage an Indian Agency. I will give you an account of how