PrefaceIn attempting to present with romantic setting a truthful and
realistic picture of the powerful and picturesque Indian tribes
that inhabited the Oregon country two centuries ago, the author
could not be indifferent to the many serious difficulties
inseparable from such an enterprise. Of the literary success with
which his work has been accomplished, he must of course leave
others to judge; but he may without immodesty speak briefly of his
preparation for his task, and of the foundation of some of the
facts and legends which form the framework of his story. Indian
life and character have long been a favorite study with him, and in
these pages he has attempted to describe them, not from an ideal
standpoint, but as he knew them in his own boyhood on the Upper
Columbia. Many
