c of the imagination,
but was a great natural bridge that in early days spanned the
Columbia, and later, according to tradition, was destroyed by an
earthquake.

Before his death the author had the satisfaction of knowing that his
work was stamped with the approval of the press and the public; his
satisfaction would have been more complete could he have foreseen that
that approval would be so lasting.

JULY 1, 1902.

PREFACE.

In attempting to present with romantic setting a truthful and
realistic picture of the powerful and picturesque Indian tribes that
inhabited the Oregon country two centuries ago, the author could not
be indifferent to the many serious difficulties inseparable from such
an enterprise. Of the literary success with which his work has been
accomplished, he must of course leave others to judge; but he may
without immodesty speak briefly of his preparation for his task, and
of the foundation of some of the facts and legends which form the
framework of his story. Indian life and character have long been a
favorite study with him, and in these pages he has attempted to
describe them, not from an ideal standpoint, but as he knew them in
his own boyhood on the Upper Columbia. Many of the incidents related
in the story have come under his personal observation; others have
been told him by aged pioneers, or gleaned from old books of
Northwestern travel. The every-day life of the Indians, their food,
their dress, their methods of making their mats, of building their
houses, of shaping their canoes, their gambling games, their religious
beliefs, their legends, their subjects of conversation, the sports and
pastimes of their children,--all these have been studied at first
hand, and with the advantages of familiar and friendly intercourse
with these people in their own homes. By constant questioning, many
facts have been gained regarding their ancestry, and the fragments of
history, tradition, and legend that have come down from them. Indian
antiquities have been studied through every available source of
information. All the antiquarian collections in Oregon and California
have been consulted, old trading-posts visited, and old pioneers and
early missionaries conversed with. Nothing has been discarded as
trivial or insignificant that could aid in the slightest degree in
affording an insight into Indian character and customs of a by-gone
age.

As to the great Confederacy of the Wauna, it may be