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Show XVI REPORT OF THE COMMI84IQXER OF INDIAiV AFFAIR*. a guard 60 prevent &he excited settlem fnm kitling him, Moses and his men were taken to the agency, where they rammined for three months despite the repeated an& strenuous efforts wBioh were? made by' the ei% zens to take Moses out of the agenffs enshty and return him to jaiL , ' On the 12th of February last the department ordered Moses and his party to Washington for a conference. This order was communicated to the Yakama authorities, and upon their agreement not to disturb or arrest him he was allowed to return to his people dud make the neces-sary awangements for his journey to Washington. At the expiration of tna bys he was aent for, and retmned. word that he wpnld meet the ageat at %he Y&ma Feay in fonr days.. Upon. arrival at the ferry,.. the agent found the county sheriff with a posseguardiing every crossing on the river for twenty lniles or mom, with. a sworn determination. to We Moses dead or alive. Finding that b.e Lould donothing, the agent ~eturnedto Y&ama City, and the next morning the chief was broughbin. by the sheriff. Court was eallpd, and Moses waa anaiqed asrtocossary to the m d e r of the Perkins family, The prosecution, on the plea that they were not ready, ask& adjownhents, first for twenty-four hours and then for eight days. It becoming apparent that delay was asked solely for the purpose of preventing Hoses h m proweding. to W&h-ington and of keeping him injail &ti1 the Octobe~te rm of court, the agent proposed to waive preliminary hearing and enter bail for his due appearance at court. His proposition was accepted, and Moses came to Washington. Several conferences were held with him, which resulted in the issuance of an executive order dated the 19th of April, 1879, setting apart forhias self and his people a reservation, called the Columbia reservation, which adjoins the Colville Reserve in Washington Territory. The delegatim returned to Vancouver with a special request to the governor of the Territory and the general commanding the department to see that they ! were forwarded to their new home without arrest or further interference: by the vhites. Moses has since expressed himself as being perfectly saiisfied with the location provided. It was deemed expedient to accede to the earnest desire of 'Moses to have a new reservation set apart for his occupancy, because of the hard-ship and unjust treatment to which he had been subjected and in ac-knowledgment of his valuable services in controlling the disaffected and in preserving the peace during the excitement occasioned by the hostil-ities of the Bannooks. By this arrangement an expensive war was un-doubtedly avoided. The Indians concerned in the Perkins mnrder were tried at the laat (October) term of the circuit court of Yakama County, Washington Ter-ritory, and three of them were condemned to death. The charge against Chief Moses was pressed for days and some sixty or more witnesses were examined; but no bill against him could be found. He was there-upon discharged and his bondsmen released. |
