Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/568

550 the principal chiefs of the hostile bands were assembled, and where a council was held on the 30th of June.

"Do you see any fewer soldiers than two years ago?" asked he. "No; more." "Have you as many warriors?" "No; not half as many." "Very well; that is as I mean to have it until you are all gone." The chiefs knew this was no empty threat, and were terrified. They sued earnestly for peace, and Crook made his own terms. He did not offer to place them on a reservation, where they would be fed while they idled and plotted mischief. He simply told them he would acknowledge Wewawewa as their chief, who should be responsible for their good conduct. They might return free into their own country, and establish their headquarters near Castle Rock on the Malheur, and so long as they behaved themselves honestly and properly they would not be molested. These terms were eagerly accepted, and the property of their victims still in their possession was delivered up.

Crook had no faith in reservations, yet he felt that to leave the Indians at liberty was courting a danger from the enmity of white men who had personal wrongs to avenge which might provoke a renewal of hostilities. To guard against this, he caused the terms of the treaty to be extensively published, and appealed to the reason and good judgment of the people, reminding them what it had cost to conquer the peace which he hoped they might now enjoy. With regard to the loss of life by fighting Indians in Oregon and Idaho up to this time, it is a matter of surprise that it was so small. The losses by murderous attacks out of battle were far greater. From the first settlement of Oregon to June 1868, the whole number of persons