Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/84



lost no time in starting the political wheels of the territory. First a census must be taken in order to make the proper apportionment before ordering an election; and this duty the marshal and his deputies quickly performed. Meanwhile the governor applied himself to that branch of his office which made him superintendent of Indian affairs, the Indians themselves—those that were left of them—being prompt to remind him of the many years they had been living on promises, and the crumbs which were dropped from the tables of their white brothers. The result was more promises, more fair words, and further assurances of the intentions of the great chief of the Americans toward his naked and hungry red children. Nevertheless the superintendent did decide a case