Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: Vol. 1, Pt. 2

INDIANS ON THE ROUTE.
and do all the duties incident to a farm. They are, some of them, expert wood-cutters; and I
saw at work, getting in the harvest, some thirty or forty Indians. They are thinking of cutting
out a good trail to the St. Mary's valley, over the Coeur d'Alene mountains, on the route passed
over by me. They need agricultural implements and seeds.
The country, generally, on both sides of the Coeur d'Alene river and lake, is rolling and
beautiful. It is interspersed with many small prairies, all affording excellent grazing, and most
of them adapted to crops. The rolling country could be easily cleared, and would yield excellent wheat and vegetables. I have no question that all the country from the falls of the Coeur
d'Alene to the lower end of the Pend d'Oreille lake, and from the mission for some distance
above the lake, a region (-fthree or four thousand square miles, is adapted to grazing and culture.
A small portion while be overflowed by the melting of the mountain snows, and another portion
will be occupied by mountain spurs or isolated peaks, capable simply of furnishing timber and fuel.
The fathers state that a better site for the mission is furnished by a river flowing from the
southeast into the western end of the Coeur d'Alene lake, and called by them the St. Joseph's
river. It is said to be larger than the Coeur d'Alene river, to have many prairies along its banks,
and that the country generally abounds in wood, grass, and water.
The Peluse number 100 lodges and about 500 people, and are in three bands: One at the
imiouth of the Peluse river, of forty lodges, under Que-lap-tip, head chief, and Stow-yalt-se,
second chief; the second band, of twelve lodges, und(,r So-ie, on the north bank -of Snake river,
thirty miles belowe o the miourth of the Peluse; and the third band at the mouth of Snake river, of
fifty lodges, under Til-ka-icks.
The Flatheads number about sixty lodges, but many of them are only inhabited by old womi
and their daughters. The tribe h,s been almost exterminated by the Blackfeet, and the mass
of the nation consist of Pend d'Oreilles, Spokanes, Nez Perces, and Iroquois. I estimated their
number at 350. Their country is admirably adapted to grazing; they own many cattle, which
they corral at night; have at their village sixteen log-houses, and many have small patches of
wheat and vegetables. Much greater advances would have been made by them in agriculture,
had it not been for their entire insecurity from the incursions of the Blackfeet, and for the great
diminution of their able-bodied men. Even Victor, during the last season, cached the remnant
of his tribe, and a fine band of horses reserved for the winter hunt, while the bulk of his tribe
were on the Missouri plains. At a council held at Fort Owen the Flatheads pointed out to me
six or seven orphan boys whose fathers had been, within two or three years, killed by the Blackfeet.
In a general meeting of the tribe, held by Lieutenant Mullan, they expressed a strong desire
that an agent should live among them, that they should be furnished with agricultural tools, and
that they should be protected against the Blackfeet.
The necessity of an agent is very apparent. The agency should be established near Hell Gate.
The St. Mary's valley is not simply the home of the Flatheads; it is the thoroughfare of all
the Indians of Washington who hunt the buffalo on the Missouri plains.
Lieutenant Mullan's reports of November 18, 1863, December 14, 1853, and January 25,
1854, are referred to for more full information. The report of Dr. Su(ckley will also be found to
contain much valuable information in regard to these interesting Indians.
The Nez Perces were met on the plains between the Muscle Shell and Yellowstone by Lieutenant Mullan, by myself at the St. Mary's village, by myself on the Coeur d'Alene trail, and
by Lieutenant Donelson on that by Clark's fork, in October, on their way to the plains of the
Missouri, by Mr. Tinkham on his return from Fort Benton in November, and again by him in
their own country on the K.ooskooskia river in December. They are on excellent terms with
the Flatheads, Cceur d'Alenes, Spokanes, Pend d'Oreilles, and the other Indians of the Territory;
travel and hunt together, and are more or less intermarried with them. They undoubtedly live in
a rich and inviting country.
lb
150