, who now proceeded to
scalp the dead according to the usages and traditions of their race. It
was a gory spectacle, and when they generously offered to divide the
bloody trophies, we politely declined, saying the scalps belonged to
them, as they had lost their great chief by the treachery of the dead
Indians. The operation of lifting the scalp was a simple one. A knife
was run around the head just above the ears and the skin peeled off.
That was the first I ever saw, and I had no desire to see the operation
repeated. Some of those that escaped must have been wounded, but we had
no means of knowing the number of these.

The expedition had been partially successful, but keen regret was felt,
not alone by our party, but by our allies, that old Polina had escaped.
He was the scourge of the whites in all southeastern Oregon, and while
he lived there could be no such thing as peace. He was reserved,
however, for the rifle of Howard Maupin, father of the youth who was
with us and was kneeling by my side when I fired at the fleeing savages.
But that will be reserved for a future chapter. Besides killing four
Indians we had captured a number of ponies and some of the stolen stock
belonging to the whites. The ponies we gave to our friends, the Warm
Springs, besides a captured gun. After destroying everything of value
that we could not carry with us, including some camp effects, we
returned to our horses and started back. We parted with our friends at
their camp of the night before, who lost no time after their arrival
there in packing up and, taking their dead chief with them, making haste
to reach the reservation as soon as possible.

After bidding them adieu, we traveled on our return until daylight when
we stopped, unsaddled our horses and picketed them to graze and rest for
a couple of hours. Saddling up again we pushed on to Bridge Creek, where
we arrived towards evening. We had been in the saddle now, with slight
intermissions, for more than forty-eight hours, and rest and sleep were
a most welcome boon. Our horses, too, were nearly spent, and here we
remained to rest and recruit.

We remained at Bridge Creek several days, recruiting our horses and
resting from the fatigues of our recent severe and trying expedition. In
reading my simple narrative some may say we were taking desperate
chances in following an enemy, outnumbering us several times, into his
own country. That is true in a sense. But we had adopted his own
t