Preliminary Articles of a Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between the United States and the Coeur d’Alene Indians
Article 1. Hostilities between the United States and the Coeur d’Alene Indians shall cease from and after this date, September 17, 1858.
Article 2. The chiefs and headmen of the Coeur d’Alene Indians, for and in behalf of the whole nation, agree and promise to surrender to the United States all property in their possession be longing either to the government or to individuals, whether said property was captured or abandoned by the troops of the United States.
Article 3. The chiefs and headmen of the Coeur d’Alene nation agree to surrender to the United States the men who commenced the battle with Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe, contrary to the orders of their chiefs, and also to give at least one chief and four men, with their families, to the officer in command of the troops as hostages for their future good conduct.
Article 4. The chiefs and headmen of the Coeur d’Alene nation promise that all white persons shall travel through their country unmolested, and that no Indians hostile to the United States shall be allowed within the limits of their country.
Article 5. The officer in command of the United States troops, for and in behalf of the government, promise that if the foregoing conditions are fully complied with no war shall be made upon the Coeur d’Alene nation; and further, that the men who are to be surrendered, whether those who commenced the fight with Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe or as hostages for the future good conduct of the Coeur d’Alene nation, shall in no wise be injured, and shall, within one year from the date hereof, be restored to their nation.
Article 6. It is agreed by both of the aforesaid contacting parties that when the foregoing articles shall have been fully complied with, a permanent treaty of peace and friendship shall be made.
Article 7. It is agreed by the chiefs and head men of the Coeur d’Alene nation that this treaty of peace and friendship shall extend also to include the Nez Perces nation of Indians.
Done at the headquarters of the expedition against northern Indians, at the Coeur d’Alene Mission, Washington Territory, this 17th day of September, 1858.
G. Wright, Colonel 9th Infantry, Commanding.
Mil-kar-si, his x mark.
Sal-tize, his x mark.
Vincent, his x mark.
Joseph, his x mark.
Jean Pierre, his x mark.
Pierre Pauline, his x mark.
Louis Margeni, his x mark.
Cypronani, his x mark.
Augustin, his x mark.
Paul, his x mark.
Bonaventure, his x mark.
Cassimere, his x mark.
Bernard, his x mark.
Anthony, his x mark.
Leo, his x mark.
Patricia, his x mark.
Pierre, his x mark.
Jean Pierre, his x mark.
Witnesses:
E. D. Keyes, Captain 30d Artillery.
W. N. Grier, Brevet Major United States Army.
R. W. Kirkham, Captain and Assistant Quarter master.
F. F. Dent, Captain 9th Infantry.
C. S. Winder, Captain 9th Infantry.
J. F. Hammond, Assistant Surgeon United States Army.
Jas. A. Hardie, Captain 3d Artillery.
G. Gibson, 1st Lieutenant 3d Artillery.
R. O. Tyler, 1st Lieutenant 3d Artillery.
Jno. F. Randolph, Assistant Surgeon United States Army.
H. B. Davidson, 1st Lieutenant 1st Dragoons.
W. D. Pender, 2d Lieutenant 1st Dragoons.
The provisions of this treaty were, on the part of the Indians, religiously complied with. From the date of its execution to the present, peace between the Coeur d’Alenes and the whites has remained unbroken. Neither have they engaged in war with other tribes. There is a story, familiar to those who have had long acquaintance with the Coeur d’Alenes, and believed to be well founded, that in the days of the Sioux wars an envoy from that tribe came over the mountains to induce the Coeur d’Alenes to join in a general uprising, but that Chief Seltice, after hearing his proposal, ordered him to be conducted to the reservation line and from there started in no gentle manner toward the land from whence he had come.
