OCR Text |
Show route from this place which in the emigrating season is seldom done. Of these facts (?) and especially the peaceable disposition of the Shoshonees the traveling public should be advised, that their minds might be disabused of prejudice^gainst them, not so much to relax their vigilance, as to refrain from the wanton and murderous practice of shooting them, whenever they show their heads; a practice too often indulged in, by those travelers, who apparently bereft of every sensibility of feeling, consider and treat all Indians as enemies. Whether the settlements are, or have been detrimental to the ' country^ the Indians'or the traveler, let thise answer who are acquainted a few items like the following, Have they received any benefit by finding in the valleys of the mountains, a resting place where they could recruit themselves and animals in peace and safety while on their toilsome march across the plains and mountains' Is it any benefit to have a civilized society and an abundance of supplies of every kind of provision and grain furnished midway of the journey where its absence leaves nothing but a dreary waste and arid desert, involving starvation or inevitable destruction to the belated travelers in the interminable snow of the mountains! Would not Captain (Indian) Walker otherwise most likely extend his exploits in seriously annoying the traveling public? Are not the Indians better fed, better clothed, and more peaceably disposed towards the whites than before their settlement among them? An affirmative reply must be made to all these queries, bu any person who is at all acquainted with the circumstances, and disposed to speak the truth. |