The Nez Perces
succeeded in maintaining peace and a fair proportion of his rights in the valley.
In matters vitally affecting the American Indian, there has yet to be recorded a single instance where the vote-seeking Government officials have long withstood the demands of the Vociferous Few. The Governor of Oregon made a strong personal appeal to Washington for the expulsion of the Indians; inspired by the delegation from Oregon, Congress refused to appropriate the necessary funds for the reimbursement and removal of settlers, thus blocking the executive order. And the great Government meekly, humbly bowed before the new state of Oregon. Within two years of the first order, and wholly without notice to Joseph, a second order came from the President's hand:
"It is hereby ordered that the order dated June 16, 1873, withdrawing from sale and settlement and setting apart the Wallowa Valley, in Oregon, described as follows: . . . as an Indian reservation, is hereby revoked and annulled, and the said described tract of country is hereby restored to the public domain.
By this stroke of the pen the Indians became trespassers in their own country. It became the duty of the agent to acquaint them with this latest change in their relation to the Government:
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