The Appachees are a numerous tribe of Indians, estimated at 20,000, who inhabit the country lower down than the Camanches. But little is known of them. The Eutaws, estimated at 19,200, dwell in the midst of the Rocky Mountains, occupying alternately both sides of the Eutaw or Anahuac range. They are continually migrating from one side to the other, still holding the superstitions of their fathers, though a few of them, principally half-breeds, have embraced the Catholic faith.
The Arrapahoes reside on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, and are said to number about 3,000 souls. They wander, in the winter season, around the head-waters of one branch of the Colorado of the West, and in summer hunt the buffalo farther east. They are said to be a brave, thrifty, and hospitable people. They derive their name, which signifies _dog-eaters_, from fattening and eating that animal. They admit whites, who desire it, to the privilege of citizenship on certain conditions.
The Shoshonies, or Snakes, reside north of the Arrapahoes, and are also a wandering tribe, who inhabit that part of the Rocky Mountains which lies on the Grand and Green River branches of the Colorado of the West, the valley of the Great Bear River, the habitable shores of the Great Salt Lake, and a tract of country on the Snake River. Some of them subsist principally on roots; while others live on fish. They are said to own many horses, and, from their first acquaintance with the whites, to have been averse to war and cruelty. They have, however, been obliged to fight with the Blackfeet, Crows, Sioux, and Eutaws, to defend portions of their territory; and these tribes have formerly been much accustomed to send parties to rob them of their horses. They are described as being an intelligent race, possessing many domestic comforts, and opposed to immorality. They refuse the use of intoxicating liquor, saying, “It unmans us for the hunt and for defending ourselves against our enemies; it causes unnatural divisions among ourselves; it makes the chief less than his Indian; and by its use, imbecility and ruin would come upon the Shoshonie tribe.”
The Nezpercés and Chinnooks, or Flatheads, with the Skyuse Indians, are found near the mouth and branches of the Columbia River. Catlin thinks the Chinnooks are related to the Choctaws, and tells a tradition of the latter which seems to favor this opinion. The Nezpercés excited much interest a few years ago, in consequence of a delegation which came from them across the Rocky Mountains, saying they had heard from a white man that the religion of the whites was better than theirs, and they would be lost if they did not embrace it, and they came to inquire for teachers. Missionaries were sent among them, who are said to be in some measure successful in their efforts.
