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 belonging 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 hostage for the future good conduct of the Coeur d' Alene nation, shall in nowise be injured, and shall, within one year from said date hereof, be restored to their nation.
ARTICLE 6- It is agreed by both of the aforesaid contracting parties that when the foregoing articles shall have been fully compiled with, a permanent treaty of peace and friendship shall be made.
ARTICLE 7- It is agreed by the chiefs and headmen of the Coeur D' Alene nation that this treaty of peace and friendship shall extend also to include the Nez Percés 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-kap-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, Captian, 3d Artillery
W.N. Grier, Brevet Major United States Army
R.W. Kirkham, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster
F.T. Dent, Captain 9th Infantry
C.S. Winder, Captain 9th Infantry
J.F. Hammond, Assistant Surgeon United States Army
Jas. A. Hardie, Captain 3d Artillery
H.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
Endorsement
Headquarters Department of the Pacific
Fort Vancouver, W.T., October 7, 1858
The 5th article in each of these treaties is disapproved in so far as it accepts a conditional surrender of those Indians guilty of commencing the attack on the troops.
An unconditional surrender was demanded by me before the troops were sent into the field; less should not have been accepted afterwards.
A surrender of the guilty conditioned on their immunity from punishment is futile.
It is now too late to repair the error; the prisoners are but hostages and as such will be kept as long as it may be proper to do so.
The agreement to admit troops and citizens to pass through the country had better have been a demand than part of the treaty, but this matters not much, as we have the substance.
N.S. Clarke
Colonel 6th Infantry, Brevet Brigadier General, commanding