purchase all the good things of the white men from
distant lands. These white men come to the Watchinangoes (Mexicans), to
take the hides of their oxen, the wool of their sheep. They would come
to us, if we had anything to offer them. Let us then call them, for we
have the hides of thousands of buffaloes; we have the furs of the beaver
and the otter; we have plenty of copper in our mountains, and of gold in
our streams.

"Now, hear me. When a Shoshone chief thinks that the Crows will attack
his lodge, he calls his children and his nephews around him. A nation
can do the same. The Shoshones have many brave children in the prairies
of the South; they have many more on the borders of the Yankees. All of
them think and speak like their ancestors; they are the same people.
Now would it not be good and wise to have all these brave grandchildren
and grand-nephews as your neighbours and allies, instead of the Crows,
the Cayuses, and the Umbiquas? Yes, it would. Who would dare to come
from the north across a country inhabited by the warlike Comanches, or
from the south and the rising sun, through the wigwams of the Apaches?
The Shoshones would then have more than 30,000 warriors; they would
sweep the country, from the sea to the mountains; from the river of the
north (Columbia) to the towns of the Watchinangoes. When the white men
would come in their big canoes as traders and friends, we would receive
them well--if the come as foes, we will laugh at them, and whip them
like dogs. These are the thoughts which I wanted to make known to the
Shoshones.

"During my absence, I have seen the Apaches and the Comanches. They are
both great nations. Let us send some wise men to invite them to return
to their fathers; let our chiefs offer them wood, land, and water. I
have said."

As long as I spoke, the deepest silence reigned over the whole assembly;
but as soon as I sat down, and began smoking, there was a general
movement, which showed me that I had made an impression. The old great
chief rose, however, and the murmurs were hushed. He spoke:--

"Owato Wanisha has spoken. I have heard. It was a strange vision, a
beautiful dream. My heart came young again, my body lighter, and my
eyes more keen. Yet I cannot see the future; I must fast and pray, I
must ask the great Master of Life to lend me his wisdom.

"I know the Comanches, I know the Apaches, and the Arrapahoes. They are
our children; I know it. The Comanc