George Wright to His Excellency JOHN WHITEAKER, January 3, 1861

His Excellency JOHN WHITEAKER, Governor of Oregon, Salem, Oreg. :

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of December 28, with respect to Mr. Thompson’s proposed expedition into the Snake country and the rescue of the four children said to be in the hands of the Snakes. The subject of the investigation of the truth of the report with regard to these children and of their rescue, if they be in captivity, had from the first moment of the receipt of the intelligence attracted my warmest interest. Messengers dispatched by Major Steen, commanding the troops at Fort Walla Walla, and Mr. Cain, the Indian agent in that neighborhood, have been sent into the Snake country to ascertain if there be any children captives there. These messengers being Nez Percé Indians, known to the Snakes, will not excite their suspicion, and being a small party and acquainted with the country, and not likely to encounter the hostility of the Snakes, they will probably be able to penetrate to the remote locations of the Snakes at this time, notwithstanding the rigor of the season. If the children be alive, they are, if possible, to obtain them by negotiation forthwith. At all events, they are to return and report the information acquired without delay. I have received no report of the return of this party, but hope to hear in a few days. Major Steen, an officer of high reputation for his knowledge of Indians and Indian warfare, and who has spent many years on the frontier and in campaigns in the Indian country, may be safely relied upon to achieve all that can be accomplished at this time. Besides the confidence I have felt in this, on the 18th of December I sent instructions to Major Steen to persevere in the search for the children, and to use all the means in his power for their rescue. I shall not fail to take any other steps that may seem necessary to secure this end. That the troops at Fort Walla Walla are to be relied on for any service that duty and sympathy for suffering call for is sufficiently evinced by their late successful expedition immediately after the receipt of the news of the massacre, the result of which was the rescue from death of twelve human beings. The necessity of bringing these helpless sufferers as soon as possible into the settlements prevented Captain Dent from prosecuting at the time further search and punishing the Snakes as far as practicable, although when he started on his return to Walla Walla he was amid the snows. An energetic campaign against the Snakes, to be commenced early and continued late, has been, as you have been informed, determined upon. The matter has been made the subject of correspondence with the authorities at the East. It is hoped that the necessary appropriations for the object and for the post at Boisé will be made early. It is not seen that any useful result can be obtained by the proposed expedition of Mr. Thompson with twenty-five men. You may rest assured that whatever can be done for the rescue of the children will be done by Major Steen. What he proves himself unable to achieve I doubt if others will be better able to accomplish as the circumstances now are.

very respectfully, your obedient servant,