(Painted 1847.) Principal Chief of the Walla-Wallas, commonly called . . . Serpent Jaune. There are many incidents of thrilling interest in this man's life. . . . In the year 1841, his eldest and favourite son, of twenty-two years, had some difficulty with the clerks of the Hudson's Bay Company, which terminated in a hand-to-hand fight. The young chief coming off second best, carried, with the tale of his inglorious exploit, a pair of black eyes to his father's lodge. The chief's dignity was insulted, and the son's honour lost, unless the officer in charge of the fort, Mr. Archibald McKinley, should have the offender punished. The old chief, at the head of one hundred armed warriors, went into the fort, and demanded the person of the clerk for punishment. . . . The crisis was now at hand--the war-cry was sounded, and the savages had raised their weapons to spill the white man's blood. Mr. McKinley rushed into an adjoining room, and seizing a keg of powder, placed it in the center of the floor, stood over it with flint and steel raised, and exclaimed that they were all brave men, and would die together. The result was the immediate flight of all the Indians, save the old chief and his son. . . . Mr. McKinley then seated himself quietly with the old chief and his son, and amicably arranged the difficulty. [P. 64.]
Portraits of North American Indians, with Sketches of Scenery, etc., painted by J.M. Stanley. Deposited with the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. December, 1852.