miserable ponies were all the live stock they had—save vermin and fleas. They were spiritless and sickly and seemed to be satisfied with a miserable existence. Many died that winter, and the hideous wail of the mourners, as they conducted the funeral services, was heard almost daily. If any effort had been made to civilize or Christianize this tribe, there was no evidence of it. That they could hardly have been more wretchedly housed, poorer in property, more degraded morally or more afflicted mentally with demonology, was plainly to be seen.
When speaking of live stock, I forgot to mention the dogs with which these Indians were abundantly supplied. A canine adjunct to the family, of cayote descent, lean, lank, and cadaverous, they were neither useful nor ornamental. These people needed no watch dogs, for the squalid and forbidding appearance of their hovels and the noxious fumes floating from them were a sufficient protection.
One evening in the early winter, while we were eating our frugal supper, a great commotion was heard in the direction of the Indian village; loud talking, screams of women and barking of dogs. Then we heard the war whoop and the 'report of a gun. But before any one had time to make a remark, the face of an Indian appeared at a small window back of the table where we were eating. When he saw we had discovered him he shouted "Billy, Molalla," "Billy, Molalla," and immediately disappeared. Billy Doke was a young man who made his home with us that winter. The Indian, who was from the village down the river, had learned his name and had rushed to warn us to prepare to defend ourselves from hostile Indians, the Molallas. All the light we had was furnished by the feeble flame of a twisted rag immersed in a puddle of grease in an old tin plate. This flame was snuffed out instantly, the doors and windows fastened, and preparations made for defense. There were five men to defend the house, and being pioneers, were ready to do battle.
The women and children went to the loft, where the children were put to bed on blankets and quilts spread on the floor. Efforts were made to put the little ones to sleep and to keep them quiet. One child, I distinctly remember, was hard to pacify and caused much anxiety. Some of the men kept
