FORT VANCOUVER, W.T., May 28, 1859.
DEAR CAPTAIN:
IN compliance with the request of our worthy brigadier-general, I herewith give you a short narrative of the upper Washington Territory, as yet occupied by various Indian tribes, as far as my views and observations may have extended during several years' residence in that region, and particularly during the last winter trip I performed under the special direction of the general.
The distance from Fort Walla-walla to the great Spokan prairie, through which the Spokane River flows, is about 150 miles. This whole region is undulating and hilly, and though generally of a light soil, it is covered with a rich and nutritious grass, forming grazing fields where thousands of cattle might be easily raised. It is almost destitute of timber until you are within thirty miles of the Spokan prairie, where you find open woods, and clusters of trees scattered far and wide; this portion, particularly, contains a great number of lakes and ponds, with ranges of long walls of large basaltic columns, and beds of basalt. The country abounds in nutritious roots (bitter-root, camash, &c.), on which principally the Indians subsist for a great portion of the year. The Spokan prairie is about thirty miles from north to south, and from east to west, bounded all around by well-wooded hills, and mountains of easy access. The soil is generally light, though -overed with abundance of grass.
Along the base of the hills and the mountains patches of several acres of rich arable land may be found. The Spokan prairie is claimed by the Coeur-d'Alene Indians. Taking Coeur-d'Alene Lake as a central point, their country may extend fifty miles to every point of the compass. The lake is a beautiful sheet of clear water, embedded amid lofty and high mountain bluffs, and shaded with a variety of pines, firs, and cedars; in its whole circumference to my knowledge, there is no arable land. The low bottoms in several of its many bays are subject to frequent and long inundations in the spring. The lake is about thirty miles in extent from south to north, its width throughout is from one to two or three miles. It receives its waters principally from two beautiful rivers, the St. Joseph and the Coeur d'Alene rivers, running parallel from east to west; each is from sixty to eight yards broad, with a depth of from twenty to thirty feet. After the spring freshet their currents are smooth and even, and are hardly perceptible for about thirty miles from their mouths, and until they penetrate into the high mountain region which separates their waters from those of Clarke's Fork and of the St. Mary's or Bitter Root River; their respective valleys are from one to three miles broad, and are much subject to inundations in the spring; the narrow strips of land which border the two rivers are of the richest mould. The deep snows in winter, the ice and water, keep these valleys literally blocked up during several months (last winter it continued for about five months). Small lakes, from one to three miles in circumstances, are numerous in the two valleys. Camash, and other nutritious roots and berries abound in them. Beautiful forests of pine, &c., are found all along. The mountains bordering the two valleys are generally of an oval shape, and well wooded; a few only are snow-topped during the greatest portion of the year. All the rivers and rivulets in the Coeur-d'Alene country abound wonderfully in mountain trout and other fish. The forests are well stocked with deer, with black and brown bears, and with a variety of fur-bearing animals. The long winters and deep snows must retard the settlement of this country.
Clarke's Fork, at its crossing below the great Kalispel Lake, is about forty miles distant from Spokan prairie. Clarke's Fork is one of the principal tributaries of the upper Columbia. From its entrance into the lake to the Niyoutzamin, or Vermilion River, a distance of about seventy miles, I counted thirty-eight rapids. You meet with a succession of rapids and falls to its very head. Before it joins the Columbia, for a distance of about thirty miles, its rapids and falls are insuperable. In its whole length Clarke's River has few spots of good and arable soil, with ranges of dense and thick forests. The upper portion of the river, and its upper tributaries, have a succession of large prairies of light soil filled with water-worn pebbles, indicating bottoms or beds of ancient lakes. All these prairies are covered with a luxuriant and nutritious grass, and owing, probably, to the position of the high mountains by which they are surrounded, they are little or not covered with snows in the winter season. Such are Thompson's prairie, Horse prairie, Camash prairie, Jaco prairie, Flathead Lake prairie, with several other minor grazing fields. Far and wide apart, spots of less or more acres of good arable land are found; but too few, indeed, to make it for years to come, a thickly settled portion for the whites. The country of the upper Clarke's Fork, the St. Mary's or Bitter Root valley, the valley of Hell's Gate Fork, the upper valleys on the Beaver headwaters, the Kootenay country within the 49th degree, and under the jurisdiction of the United States, appear to be laid out and designed by Providence, to serve as reserves for the remnants of the various scattered tribes of Oregon and Washington territory, at least for some years to come. This region, I should think, might contain all the Indians, and afford them the means of subsistence. The rivers could supply them with fish, the prairies with domestic cattle, deer and elk are still abundant, the buffalo grounds are not far off; wild edible roots and fruits are plenty; which in each section a sufficient portion of arable land might be found and reclaimed for their sustenance. Should all the remnants of Indians be gathered in this upper region, one single military post would suffice to protect them against all encroachments and infringements of evil-disposed whites on Indians, and of Indians on the rights of the whites. As the reserves are not laid out in Washington and Oregon Territories far and wide apart, surrounded and accessible on all sides by whites, experience teaches that it must lead to the speedy destruction of the poor Indianss. Liquor and its concomitants, sickness and vice, will soon accomplish the work. Providence has intrusted and placed these weak tribes under the care and protection of a powerful government, whose noble end has always been to protect and advance them. If aided and assisted, in a proper situation, with agricultural implements, with schools, mills, blacksmiths, &c., I have no doublt but thousands of the aborigines might be reclaimed, and live to bless their benefactors. In the topographical memoir of Colonel Wright's campaign, recently published (page 75), I read to this effect: "The government, in its wisdom and prudence, should make some timely provision for these many Indians by selecting for and placing them upon proper reservations, in order that they may not be caused to disappear by the fast-approaching waves of civilization and settlement, that must overtake and eventually destroy them." I have labored for several years among the upper tribes in the capacity of missionary. My companions have carried on the work to the present time, and will, I hope, continue their labors. The want of adequate means has greatly retarded one of the principal objects we had in view,-their civilization. We can all, and do, cheerfully testify to the good dispositions of these upper tribes. Should they be supplied with the necessary implements of agriculture, with oxen, &c., they would all work, and would soon place themselves above want and in comfortable circumstances. As for schools, all are anxious to have their children taught. These are a few points I desire to be allowed to present to the consideration of the general, if they can in anywise tend to the amelioration of the lot of Indians. With the highest sentiments of respect and esteem, I remain, Captain, Your humble and obedient servant,
P.J. DE SMET, S.J.,
Chaplain, &c., U.S.A.
A. PLEASONTON,
Captain 2d Dragoons, A. Adjutant-general.