The Indian Dispossessed
De-co-tisse bad news from home, and, despite his expressed desire to avoid publicity, his sorrowfully humorous tale became a part of the record:
"I don't want what I say written down; I only want to tell you I have been here at the council so many days. You told us you were going to make this matter about the land all plain to us. I left fifty-seven bundles of oats, sixty rows of corn and pumpkins, and all I had, I left them on the ground to attend this council. They are all destroyed. Two cows with bells on, followed by a band of mixed cattle, with mixed brands on them, came in and destroyed them. I do not tell you this from a bad heart; I only wanted to tell you what has happened."
Poor De-co-tisse! Many a patriot has left the plough at his country's call, but few have had their sacrifices heralded with such particularity.
Finally the Indians were told to counsel among themselves and prepare their final answer. There could not have been much doubt about this final answer; as the commissioners withdrew, a Cayuse chief called after them, "You need not wait long; come when you get your dinner!"
And this was the answer:
"Howlish-Wampo. You are asking us now as if you were speaking to our hearts. What you have spoken this people have heard. . . . This reservation that we are on, we all hold it with our bodies and with our souls; and right out here are
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