As to the others, it is positively averred that the great majority desired peace; but they dared not go counter to an ancient usage and break with their brethren and friends. To the last moment, they strove to bring to these peaceful views two or three kinsmen of the victims of the battle of May 17th; but in vain. They persisted to the end, and dragged in the others despite their repugnance. They took no part in the first engagement with Colonel Wright; they did follow the Kalispels to the second battle, if battle there was; for no lives were lost in it. From the first, the colonel knew how to disable them, and it was practically no fight, but a complete rout.
" Before this, the Indians smiled with pity when any one suggested that they could not make head against the whites; but the brave Colonel Wright so well persuaded them that, by their own admission, they cannot even think of war any more. They are like men tied hand and foot, who cannot move.
" The effect produced by Colonel Wright's expedition is such that one must be upon the spot to gain any idea of it. A general war was on the eve of breaking out. The volunteer expeditions had exasperated the Indians, without inspiring them with any dread; but by the able manner in which the colonel made the most of his resources, he completely rid the savages of any desire to measure themselves with the American troops. Furthermore, he has terrified the bad Indians by his severity, as much as he has won the hearts of the good ones by his clemency. In short, he has deserved well of the Republic, above all that can be said for him. And finally, the fine discipline that he enforced wherever he passed has been an eloquent reply to the slanders by which it had been sought to render the military odious to these poor people, insomuch that the chief, Vincent, was able to say to the officers, and it is the expression of the feeling
of the whole nation: ` Before, we knew you only by hearsay, and we hated you; now that we have seen you, we love you.'