Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/139

 ''Doctor" Robert Newell: Pioneer. 121 warm friend of the Nez Perces after whom Craig Street, Walla Walla, is named) were with difficulty able to hold them in check. With the thought to retrieve his fortunes in the Govern- ment service in the country of his Indian friends after the year 1861, Dr. Newell made his abode at Lapwai more than at Champoeg, although his family were not permanently re- moved to Idaho until the spring of 1867. In 1863 Idaho was admitted as a Territory and the two political parties held their conventions to name candidates for Delegate to Congress. The Democrats held their 's at a cabin on the Packer John Trail near what is now known as the Meadows, as a half-way point between the Boise Basin and the Lewiston country, and Dr. Newell was the candidate put up by those from the Lewis- ton district. He was defeated, however, by J. M. Cannady from the Boise Basin; and Cannady was in turn, in the elec- tion that followed, defeated by W. H. Wallace, Republican. There were in the country east of the Cascade Mountains dur- ing the early sixties, more people than resided west of that range, at least in the political divisions of Washington and Idaho, and the town of Lewiston was rapidly coming into prominence, although located upon land to which no title could be given. In fact, aU the early acts of the Idaho legis- lature, while Lewiston was the capital, were technically in- valid because enacted upon land that did not belong to the Territory or to the United States. In May, 1863, the Nez Perces chief agreed to a new division of their lands, but the treaty was not confirmed at Washington and proclaimed until April, 1867. It was very necessary to secure a title and, according to the official Government reports, one of the most influential men in that negotiation was Dr. Robert Newell. He was criticized by some because a larger tract was not ceded then, but as a matter of fact his position was a delicate one, for the Nez Perces refused to cede anything unless a clause be in- serted in the treaty as follows : ' ' Inasmuch as the Indians in council have expressed the desire that Robert Newell should have confirmed to him a piece of land lying between Snake