"The white man's aphorism 'The first blow is half the battle,' is no secret among Indians, and they practice it upon entering a war. Indeed, weak nations and Indian tribes, wrought to desperation by real or fancied grievances, inflict while able to do so horrible deeds when viewed by civilized and Christ-like men. War is simply barbarism. And when was war refined and reduced to rules and regulations that must control the Indian who fights for all that is dear to him--his native land and the graves of his sires--who finds the white man's donation claim spread over his long cultivated potato patch, his hog a trespasser on his old pasture ground and his old residence turned into a stable for stock, etc.? "Leschi, like many citizens during the struggle for secession, appealed to his instincts--his attachment to his tribe--his desire, at the same time to conform to the requirements of the whites, which to many of his people were repulsive and incompatible. He decided and struck heavy blows against us with his warriors. Since then we have learned a lesson. [Illustration: A FEW ARTIFACTS OF PUGET SOUND INDIANS] "Gen. Lee inflicted on the Union army heavy losses of life and destruction of property belonging to individuals. When he surrendered his sword agreeing to return to his home and become a law-abiding citizen, Gen. Grant protected him and his paroled army from the vengeance of men who sought to make treason odious. This was in 1866 and but the repetition of the Indian war of 1856. "Col. Geo. Wright, commanding the department of the Columbia, displayed such an overwhelming force in the Klickitat country that it convinced the hostile Indians of the hopelessness of pursuing war to a successful issue, and when they asked the terms of peace, Col. Wright directed them to return to their former homes, be peaceful and obey the orders of the Indian agents sent by our government to take charge of them, and they would be protected by the soldiers. "The crimes of war cannot be atoned by crimes in cold blood after the war. Two wrongs do not make a right. "Leschi, though shrewd and daring in war, adopted Col. Wright's directions, dropped hostilities, laid aside his rifle and repaired to Puget Sound, his home. "Like Lee, he was entitled to protection from the officers and soldiers. But Leschi, on the Sound, feared the enmity of the whites, and gave himself up to Dr. Tolmie, an old friend, at Nesqually--not captured by two Indians of his own tribe and delivered up. Then began a crusade against Leschi for all the crimes of his people in war.