Their piety is truly moving. They listen with the great est attention to the word of God. The chiefs are held in great esteem and their counsels are generally followed. Their charity toward the old and infirm is very great. The name of orphan is unknown among them. Immediately after the death of their parents they are adopted by relations and friends and they take their place and share among the children of the family. They love and esteem the whites highly, and glory and take pride that they never spilt a drop of the white man's blood. Frequently have they been seen to expose their own existence to save the life of their beloved Boston (American).
Though not habituated, they may be said to love labor and may easily be brought over to learn to till the soil. The climate is very healthy. Among them epidemics, bilious complaints and fevers of all descriptions are almost entirely unknown.
The long summer droughts are an obstacle to agriculture, however. The numerous mountain rivulets and springs may remedy this inconvenience in the immediate neighborhood of the different water-courses. The soil is good and fertile and St. Mary's valley (or Racine Amere) which extends for about 200 miles, from northwest to southeast, might by irrigation become very productive. The mountains are almost entirely covered with red and white pine and cedar; the poplar is found in great and dense clusters along the main streams. In 1844 forty bushels of potatoes produced upward of goo bushels. I have seen several potatoes of the size of a man's head. The astonishment of the good Indians was raised to the highest pitch when the monstrous roots were taken out of the ground. All thanked God and promised to work, and all assisted with delight at the first great potato feast in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, all sorts of vegetable roots grow here in abundance and of an excellent quality.