He was Chief Joseph, who gave the United States regulars such a
brilliant campaign as to excite their admiration. Perhaps you saw the
aged chief on his visit to the East a short time since. He was
chivalrous, high-minded and a loyal friend of the whites, and showed
this when he handed his rifle to Colonel Miles and said: "From where
the sun stands in yonder heavens, I fight the white man no more."

You will recall that the Nez Perces are large, fine-looking men, of
dark complexion, and that the women have attractive features. A century
ago they had a rough time of it. They were forced to work hard during
the summer and autumn in gathering salmon and their winter supply of
edible roots. In winter they hunted deer on snow shoes, and, as spring
advanced, crossed the mountains to the headwaters of the Missouri to
traffic in buffalo robes. You will see, therefore, that they were kept
unusually busy, and red men have never shown a fondness for manual
labor. But, beside this, they had numerous fights with enemies from the
west, often losing some of their warriors and many of their horses.

At the time of the visit by our friends, Amokeat was principal chief of
the Nez Perces. He and Mul-tal-la the Blackfoot were attached to each
other, and the confidence of the latter in the dusky leader was
complete. Had he not been so warm in his expressions of this faith in
Amokeat, Deerfoot would never have left the stallion Whirlwind in his
care while the explorers were pressing their way down the Columbia to
tidewater.

As it was, the Shawanoe was troubled by misgivings from the hour he
parted company with his matchless steed. As the distance between him
and the Nez Perce village lessened, it was hard for the dusky youth to
suppress his nervousness. He was reserved, speaking only now and then
when necessary, and unconsciously hurrying his footsteps, until the
brothers were ready to drop from exhaustion. Had the village been a
mile farther off they would have been obliged to beg for rest.

The arrival of the party caused less excitement than would be supposed.
The majority of the men and women were away, assisting in the
harvesting of salmon, while fully a score of the ablest warriors were
off somewhere in the mountains, either hunting or scouting, preparatory
to some movement the Nez Perces as a tribe had in view. There were
enough on hand, however, to give our friends due attention and to
welcome them back.

The first inquiry of De