Indians inhabit countries on both sides of the Rocky Mountains
and the districts near the sources of the river Missouri*
They are described by Lewis and Clarke as .a people remarkable
for their lean and squat bodies and for their high cheekbones.
“ It has been ascertained/ says. Captain Wilkes,
“ that the Cumanches ?and the rShoshones speak the same
language. Hunters report that the proper country of the
Shoshones is to the eastward of Youta Lake, but they are
found in many and in distant places: the largest branch .of
them is near -Fort Boise on the Snake River to the northward
of the Bonachs. They have horses and N. fire-arms. Their
subsistence is by fishing and partly from the chase* t <•A particular
tribe who have* no horses and are very poor and destir
tute, are said to live on roots: they am called'| Diggers.’
7. The Bonachs, who are to the southward of the Shoshones,
resemble them in character and habits, but they are a
more valiant people than the Shoshones, with whom' they are
always at war. They inhabit the country between Fort Boise
and Fort Hall. Their particular enemy J is*s^ie ; tribe i of
Cayuses. qj
so Si-: Two tribes speaking a cognate f languages <ai?e ;the; Kala-
pooiah in the fertile plains on the Walla-mat, and the , Yam-
kallie near the sources of the same river* The 'Umpqua nation,
or the tribes on the Umpqua River to ward Srr3^ew California,
are supposed to belong to this family, aS well as the
Cathlascon tribes on the Columbia.
-9. The Sampiehes are a tribe wandering inoitnOifdesert to
tbe south of Youta lake. They resemble the. Diggers or
poorer Snakes, and their language is .said to be th a t. of the
Shoshones.
10. The Youtas live between the Snake and Green Rivers.
They resemble the Diggers* but are said to have a peculiar
language.
The barren country between the Youta Lake and the Californian
mountains is; inhabited by people speaking the language
of the Bonachs.
11. Monquoi or Monkey Indians are a very* remarkable
* Wilkes, Exploring Expedition.
and curious-people in> Captain Wilkes’s* account. Their description
has an ain-ofo romance, but it;is substantiated, as
Captain Wilkes assures us, by pe©pleiwbo*have travelled in
the direction ©fktheir. country. Few have seen them except
the- hunters .of Mr. Walter’s party who were with Captain
Bonneville.. They aTe repotted' tO* live in fastnesses in the.
mountains to the sOuthrwest Of Youta Lake: there they have
good clothing and * houses, and ^ manufacture blankets, shoes,
and various other arficles, whieh they sell to the neighboraring
tribes.
■ Their colour is us©ligbL'as.that*ef the ^Spaniards, and thehr
wdnsendn parricular are’Wdry beautiful, with5 delicate features
and long flowing hair. They are said to fee very neat in their
persons* dignifiedund •'decorous* in their manners', and exceedingly
modest. Some say 'they are the Welsh Indians of
PrineeMadoc’s army ^ others that they5 are descended from
the Monquoi of Lower* California, who were partially civilised
by the Spaniards.d ^ Their history ife unknown* but in the
Opinion fifof *the intelligentiand judicious narrator of the
Unifod States Exploring Expedition u there appears to
be hut little doubt that a «mall trfog existsriil this region of
diffefont habits and manfh#s fromthose who surround them.”*
- eltiseems th a t IliesOtribes.are gradually moving southward,
the northern encroaching* ott> the > sbuthef m The country of
the presenfoBlack-feeh is kAoWn toLdvei beea foameriy occupied
by the Snakes, and that now^ocfetipied by the Snakes
formerly belonged to the Bonachs', who have been d ri v en into
the Sandy * desert.* The Kiniwas and • the^Cfodanches have
undergone a similar expulsion. ' * The motweiis the* exhaustion
of game and the emigration of the buffalo to the east. None
of these animals are now found .’ west of the' * Youta Lake.
Several years age they betook themsMires,ifo>i the country
nearer the Rocky Mountains. The -space between tte former
lake and the Rocky Mounfote is * now ^he'great bu&lo
country frequented by the Nez PerdiS/ Bonachsy^Snakes^ and
Flat-heads, where these latter frequently engage with the
Crows and Black-4eet.*f*
* Wilkes, äbisfiprä* y Ibid.