50 C. F. COAN
further provision was made for the Indian service prior to the Act of June 5, 1850, which constituted the Indian policy of Samuel Thurston. 5
Shortly after Lane's arrival, March 2, 1849, large numbers of the Willamette Valley Indians visited him expecting pres- ents and pay for their lands, which the settlers had promised them when the representative of the "Great Father," the Presi- dent, should arrive. The Indians were greatly disappointed to find that there had been no provision made to pay them for their lands, but since they were not strong enough to enforce their demands, they could merely continue to repeat them. 6
Outside the Willamette Valley, Indian troubles were suc- cessfully managed. These were more numerous than formerly due to the steady increase in the number of whites and the beginning of settlements along the Columbia River, in the Puget Sound country, and in the valleys of southwestern Oregon.
Lane held a council, April, 1849, with some of the interior Indians at The Dalles for the purpose of making presents to them and establishing friendly relations which would protect the emigrants from attacks on their way down the Columbia, and keep the Indians from joining the hostile Cayuse against the settlers. The Cayuse were informed that they must either surrender those guilty of the Whitman Massacre, or be ex- terminated. 7 The Indians gathered at The Dalles agreed to maintain peaceful relations with the whites, in and passing through their country. Presents to the amount of two hundred dollars were distributed among them. Incidentally, at this time, Lane brought to a close a tribal war between the Wallawalla and the Yakima Indians. 8
After the meeting at The Dalles, Lane visited the Cowlitz Indians. While there, he received word that Wallace, an American settler, had been killed by the Snoqualmu Indians near Fort Nisqually. A company of the regular army forces, which had recently arrived in the territory, was immediately
"Indians in Oregon," ot>. tit., p. 583.
5 ailuicuio ill v-'i v^vii, vy . (.*., y. 3 W O'
6 Joseph Lane to the Secretary of War, Oct. 13, 1849, C. I. A., A. R., 'ov. 27, 1850 (Serial SQJ, Doc. i), p. 156, first paging. The abbreviation "C. I.
n., A. R.," is used for, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Annual Report.
7 Message of the Governor of Oregon Territory Transmitted to the Legislative Assembly, May 7, 1850, p. 2.
8 Lane to the Secretary of War, Oct. 13, 1849, op. cit., p. 156, first paging.
Nov A
