Wednesday, May 23d. At 2 o’clock P.M. we arrived at the ground selected for the council, having made the march in six days. It was in one of the most beautiful spots of the Walla Walla valley, well wooded and with plenty of water. Ten miles distant is seen the range of the Blue Mountains, forming the southeast boundary of the great plains along the Columbia, whose waters it divides from those of the Lewis river. it stretches away along the horizon until it is lost in the dim distance where the chain unites with the Snake River mountains.

Here we found General Palmer, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and Governor Stevens, with their party, who had already pitched their tents. [they dined with the governor and Superintendent and constructed quarters nearby].

Thursday, May 24^th. This has been an exceedingly interesting day, as about 2,500 of the Nez Perce tribe have arrived. . .

When about a mile distant they halted, and half a dozen chiefs rode forward and were introduced to Governor Stevens and General Palmer, in order of their rank. Then on came the rest of the wild horseman in single file clashing their shields, singing and beating their drums as they marched past us. Then they formed a circle and dashed around us, while our little group stood there, the center of their wild evolutions. They would gallop us as if about to make a charge, then wheel round and round, sounding their loud whoops until they had apparently worked themselves up into an intense excitement. Then some score or two dismounted, and forming a ring danced for about twenty minutes, while those surrounding them beat time on their drums. After these performances, more than twenty of the chiefs when over to the tent of Governor Stevens, where they sat for some time, smoking the “pipe of peace,” in token of good fellowship, and then returned to their camping ground. . .

While they are the most friendly to the whites of any tribe in this region, they are at the same time one of the most numerous and powerful, roaming over the whole Rocky Mountains, along the streams to the West, and across the almost limitless plains to the East, until they reach the hunting grounds of the tribes of the Missouri. . .

The Walla Walla’s, another of the principal tribes present, is one much reduced in numbers and importance since the pioneer trappers first came among them. They range through the valley for thirty miles, to old Fort Walla Walla, once a central trading post of the Hudson�s Bay Company, on the left bank of the Columbia river near where the Walla Walla empties into it. . .

Saturday, May 26. I spent the morning on horseback exploring the country. In the course of my ride I met an Indian boy with a prairie chicken he had just killed, and which he was delighted to exchange for an old silk handkerchief. there are three peculiarities for which this region of country has been remarked. its gorgeous sunsets, the rapidity with which the waters in its streams rise and fall, and the contrast between its hot days and cool nights.

Towards evening the Cayuse tribe arrived, numbering about 300. They came in whooping and singing in the Indian fashion, and after circling around the camp of the Nez Perces two or three times, they retired to form their own at some little distance. In a short time some of the principal chiefs paid their respects to Governor Stevens and then came to look at our camp. It was not, as we had reason to believe afterwards, a friendly visit, but rather a reconnaissance [sic] to learn our numbers and estimate our powers of resistance. In the evening I again visited Lawyer [a Christian Nez Perce chief] and also a number of his tribe. Some of them we found singing sacred music to prepare for tomorrow, which is Sunday. . .

Sunday, May 27^th. . . . After service we rode through the Cayuse camp, but saw no evidence of Sunday there. The young warriors were lounging about their lodges, preparing their arms or taking care of their horses, to be ready for the evening races. The Christianity among these Indians, we suspect, is confined to the Nez Perces. . .

. . . Today, leading chiefs belonging to some of the most distant tribes, attended by their followers, have been coming into camp, and most of those for which the Commissioners have been waiting are now represented. Their encampment and lodges are scattered over the valley for more than a mile, presenting a wild and fantastic appearance. The Council will probably open tomorrow. . .

Tuesday, May 29^th. Today the Council was to have met at 12, but it was 2 o’clock before they came together. About eight tribes were represented. Nothing, however, was done but to organize the Council and swear in the interpreters. Governor Stevens then made a short address. All this occupied two hours, then it began to rain and the Council adjourned to meet again at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning if the weather should be pleasant; otherwise on the first pleasant day. A fine prospect for the extension of our stay in the valley! There area about 5,000 Indians, including squaws and children, on the ground. . .

Wednesday, May 30^th. At 1 o’clock this afternoon the Council met, and business seems to be really commencing. It was a striking scene. Directly in front of Governor Stevens tent, a small arbor had been erected, in which, at a table, sat several of his party taking notes of everything said. In front of the arbor on a bench sat Governor Steven and General Palmer, and before them, in the open air, in concentric semi-circles, were ranged the Indians, the chiefs in the front ranks, in order of their dignity, while the background was filled with women and children. The Indians sat on the ground, (in their own words) “reposing on the bosom of their Great Mother.” There were probably 1,000 present at a time. After smoking for half an hour (a ceremony which with them precedes all business) the Council was opened by a short address by General Palmer. Governor Stevens then rose and made a long speech, setting for the object of the Council and what was desired of them. As he finished each sentence, the interpreter repeated it to two of the Indians who announced it in a loud voice to the rest, one in Nez Perce and the other in the Walla Walla language. This process necessarily causes business to move slowly. Many of the Indians have been to our camp to visit us today; among them, Stickus, and old chief of the Cayuses.

Thursday, May 31. On arriving at Governor Stevens tent, I found that the Council had already met. After the usual preamble of smoking, Governor Stevens and General Palmer, in succession, made long speeches to them, explaining the benefits they would receive from signing this treaty, and the advantages which would result to them from their removal to the new lands offered in exchange for their present hunting grounds. The Council lasted until 3 o’clock. . .

Friday, June 1. The Council did not meet this morning, as the Indians wished to consider the proposals made to them during the past few days. We learned that two or three of the. . . Nez Perces, who could write, were keeping a minute account of all that transpired at these meetings. . .

Saturday, June 2. Just before I was up this morning, we had a call from some of the Indians, who pay little regard to visiting hours. After breakfast I rode over to see the gentlemen at the old Mission, and on my return to camp, found that the Council was already assembled, having met at 12 o’clock. The Indian chiefs had at length begun to reply so that another step has been gained. After Governor Stevens opening speech, several of them followed in short addresses. I arrived there just in time to hear the last one, made by one of the Cayuse chiefs. He did not commit himself as to what they would do, but the whole tenor of his address was unfavorable to the reception of the treaty. After a few words in conclusion from Governor Stevens, the Council adjourned till 10 o’clock on Monday. . .

Sunday, June 3. A quiet day, most of it was spent in reading in my tent. . .

Monday, June 4. . . . The diplomatists met today at 1:30 o’clock. After Governor Stevens address, the old chief Lawyer spoke, which was the first time anything had been heard from the Nez Perces. Several of the other chiefs followed, and the Council finally adjourned at 5 o�clock, without having made any sensible progress. The maxim “that time is money,” which prevails so extesibly [sic] among the Anglo-Saxons, has not yet penetrated into the wilderness to be received as a motive in any way influencing the conduct. With the Indians, “the next moon” will answer just as well as this month, for any business that is to be transacted. I should think, however, the Commissioners would have their patience utterly exhausted.

Until a late hour we heard from the Indian camps the sound of their singing and the beating of their drums, and could see the figures flit before the fires as the dancing went on.

Tuesday, June 4. Another visit before breakfast from some of our Indian friends. Early this morning Lieut. Gracie sent off an express to The Dalles to report progress. Then came the same routine of the Council; Governor Stevens, at the opening gave them the most elaborate address he has yet made, explaining to the chiefs most definitely, what lands he wished to give up, and what their “Great Father” (the President) would give them in return, together with the benefits they would derive from the exchange. General Palmer afterwards made a speech an hour long, in which he endeavored to illustrate to his audience the many advantages resulting from their being brought into contact with civilization. His reasoning at one time led him to give an account of the railroad and telegraph. It was sufficiently amusing to listen to this scientific lecture. . . but it would have been much more diverting could we have known the precise impressions left upon the minds of his audience, or have heard them talk it over afterwards in their lodges. After he had finished, Stickus, the old Cayuse chief, made a short speech, and then Governor Stevens adjourned them until tomorrow.

There is evidently a more hostile feeling towards the whites getting up among some of the tribes, of which we had tonight a very unmistakable proof. The Cayuse, we have known, have never been friendly, but hitherto they have disguised their feelings. Tonight as Lieut. Gracie and I attempted, as usual to enter their camp, they showed a decided opposition: we were motioned back, and the young warriors threw themselves in our way to obstruct our advance. To yield to this, however, or show any signs of being intimidated, would have been ruinous with the Indians, so [we] were obliged to carry out our original intentions. We place our horses abreast, riding round the Indians, where it was possible, and at other times fording our way through, believing that they would not dare to resort to actual violence. If, however, this hostile feeling at the Council increases, how long will it be before we have an actual outbreak?

Wednesday, June 6^th. Today the Indians again determined not to meet in Council, as they wished to consult among themselves; so there is another day lost

. . . The races tonight were the most exciting we have seen, as the Indians had bet some sixteen or eighteen blankets ( a great stake for them) on the result. . .

Thursday, June 7^th. . . . The Council met today at 12, and I went into the arbor, and taking my seat at the reporters table wrote some of the speeches delivered. There is of course, in those of the Indians, too much repetition to give them fully, but a few extracts may show the manner in which these wearisome meetings were conducted day after day.

Gov. Stevens. “My brothers! we expect to have your hearts today. Let us have your hearts straight out.”

Lawyer, the old Nez Perce chief.  The first part of his speech was historical, relating to the discovery of this country by the Spaniards. . . He thus described the manner in which the tribes at the East receded at the approach of the whites:

“The red man traveled away farther, and from that time they kept traveling away further, as the white people came up with them. And this mans people (pointing to a Deleware [sic] Indian, who was one of the interpreters) are from that people. They have come on from the Great Lake where the sun rises, until they are near us now, at the setting sun. And from that country, somewhere from the center, came Lewis and Clarke, and that is the way the white people traveled and came on here to my forefathers. They passed through our country, they became acquainted with our country and all our streams, and our forefathers used them well, as well as they could, and from the time of Columbus, from the time of Lewis and Clarke, we have known you, my friends; we poor people have known you as brothers.”

He concluded by expressing his approval of the treaty, only urging that whites should act towards them in good faith.

Gov. Stevens. “We have now the hearts of the Nez Perces through their chief. Their hearts and our hearts are one. We want the hearts of the other tribes through their chiefs.”

Young Chief, of the Cayuse. – . . . “I wonder if the ground has anything to say? I wonder if the ground is listening to what is said? I wonder if the ground would come alive and what is on it? Though I hear what the ground says. The ground says, It is the Great Spirit that placed me here. The Great Spirit tells me to take care of the Indians, to feed them aright. The Great Spirit appointed the roots to feed the Indians on. The water says the same thing. The Great Spirit directs me. Feed the Indians well. The grass says the same thing. Feed the horses and cattle. The ground, water and grass say, the Great Spirit has given us our names. We have these names and hold these names. Neither the Indians or whites have a right to change these names. The ground says, The Great Spirit has placed me here to produce all that grows on me, trees and fruit. The same way the ground says, It was from me man was made. The Great Spirit, in placing men on the earth desired them to take good care of the ground and to do each other no harm. The Great Spirit said, You Indians who take care of certain portions of the country should not trade it off except you get a fair price.”

“. . . I do not see the offer you have made to us yet. If I had the money in my hand I should see. . . When I come to understand your propositions, I will take hold. I do not know when. This is all I have to say.”

Five Crows, of the Walla Wallas. “I will speak a few words. My heart is the same as Young Chiefs.”

General Palmer. “We know no chief among the Walla Wallas but Po-pe-mox-mox. If he has anything to say, we will be pleased to hear it.”

Pe-pe-mox-mox. ” I do not know what is straight. I do not see the offer you have made to the Indians. I never saw these things which are offered by my Great Father. My heart cried when you first spoke to me. I felt as if I was blown away like a feather. Let your heart be, to separate as we are and appoint some other time. We shall have no bad minds. Stop the whites from coming up here until we have this talk. Let them not bring their axes with them. The whites may travel in all directions through our country, we will have nothing to say to them, provided they do not build houses on our lands. Now I wish to speak about Lawyer. I think he has given his land. That is what I think from his words. I request another meeting. It is not in one meeting only that we can come to a decision. If you come again with a friendly message from our Great Father, I shall see you again at this place. Tomorrow I shall see you again, and tomorrow evening I shall go home. This is all I have to say.”

General Palmer. “I would enquire whether Pe-pe-mox-mox or Young Chief has spoken for the Umatilla? I wish to know farther, whether the Umatillas are of the same heart?”

Owhi, Umatilla Chief.  “We are together and the Great Spirit hears all that we say to day. The Great Spirit gave us the land and measured the land to us, this is the reason I am afraid to say anything about the land. I am afraid of the laws of the Great Spirit. This is the reason of my heart being sad. This is the reason I cannot give you an answer. I am afraid of the Great Spirit. Shall I steal this land and sell it? Or, what shall I do? This is the reason why my heart is sad. The Great Spirit made our friends, but the great Spirit made our bodies from the earth, as if they were different from the whites. What shall I do? Shall I give the land which is a part of my body and leave myself poor and destitute? Shall I say I will give you my land? I cannot say so. I am afraid of the Great Spirit. I love my life. The reason why I do not give my land away is, I am afraid I will be sent to hell. I love my friends. I love my life. This is the reason why I do not give my land away. I have one word more to say. My people are far away. They do not know your words. This is the reason I cannot give you an answer. I show my heart. This is all I have to say.”

General Palmer. – . . . I have come a long way. We ask you to go but a short distance. We do not come to steal your land. We pay you more than it is worth. There is the Umatilla Valley that affords a little good land between two streams and all around it, is a parched up plain. What is it worth to you, what is it worth to us? Not half what we have offered you for it. Why do we offer so much? Because our Great Father told us to take care of his red people. We come to you with his message to try and do you good,” etc., etc.

Friday, June 8^th. Today it was nearly three o’clock before they met. After a few remarks by Governor Stevens, General Palmer made a long speech addressed to those chiefs who refused yesterday to accede to the treaty. He told them, as they do not wish to go on the Nez Perces reservation. . . he would offer them another reservation, which would embrace part of the lands on which they were now living. After this offer had been clearly explained to them and considered, all acceded to it, except one tribe, the Yakimas.

It seemed as if we were getting on charmingly and the end of all difficulties was at hand, when suddenly a new explosive element dropped into this little political cauldron. Just before the Council adjourned, an Indian runner arrived with the news that Looking Glass, the war chief of the Nez Perces, was coming. [Governor Stevens and General Palmer met Looking Glass who made “a short and very violent speech,” indignant at the selling of their country] . . .

Saturday, June 9^th. . . . The treaty must either be soon accepted, or the tribes will separate in hopeless bad feeling. . . . Governor Stevens once more for Looking Glass benefit explained the principal points in the treaty, and among other things, told them there would be three reservations the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas and the Umatillas, to be placed upon one the Nez Perces on another and the Yakimas on the third, and that they were not to [be] removed to these reservations for two or three years. [Looking Glass then spoke against the treaty, so that none of the groups wanted to sign]

Sunday, June 10^th. [excitement in the Indian camps. There was talk of Looking Glass being appointed as head chief over Lawyer]

Monday, June 11^th. [Lawyer visited the commissioners camp before breakfast] At 10 o’clock the Council met. Governor Stevens opened it with a short speech, at the close of which he asked the chiefs to come forward and sign the papers. This they all did without the least opposition. What he has been doing with Looking Glass since last Saturday, we cannot imagine. . . After this was over, the presents which General Palmer had brought with him were distributed, and the Council, like other legislative bodies, adjourned sine die.