I
mounted my horse, and riding over with Captain Jack, my
investigation proved to a certainty that he had been telling me
the truth all this time, for they were almost destitute of
anything to eat, there being nothing in the entire village in the
line of provisions but a little wocus, or wild rice.
Jack said: "Agent no come next week and bring something to eat, I
take all Injuns, go Tule Lake and catch fish. What you think?"
I said: "Jack, I do not know what to say, but you come home with
me and I will give you one sack of flour and I have a deer there,
I will give you half of that, and by the time you eat that up
perhaps the agent may come with provisions." A few days later Jack
came to my house and said: "Agent no come to-morrow, I go Tule
Lake, take all Injuns. Plenty fish Tule Lake, easy catch them." To
this I did not reply. I dare not advise him to leave the
reservation, and at the same time I knew they were almost in a
starving condition and were compelled to do something or sit there
and starve; and here I would say that in this case Captain Jack
was not to blame for leaving the reservation. I just state these
few facts merely to show that while the Indians are as a general
rule treacherous and barbarous, at the same time, in many cases no
doubt similar to this one, they have been blamed more than was due
them.
As the old adage goes, I believe in giving the devil his just
dues, and I do not believe that Jack would have left the
reservation at that time had he been supplied with provisions
sufficient to live on.
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