Chapter 254: Leather

March 1852, Oregon, Umpqua territory.

As the gunshots gradually became sparse, a bloody massacre ended.

"This Umpqua tribe is too poor. These skins can't be sold for much money in Portland (the largest city in the Oregon region)."

A white man with a rifle complained while counting the spoils.

The Indians are getting poorer and poorer now, and raiding Indian territories is not as lucrative as before.

"Sir, I think we should go and wipe out the Indians in California." Burnett's partner Bateman took out a knife, skillfully peeled off the scalp of an Indian child, and stuffed the bloody scalp into the bag.

"We've had such bad luck in the past two or three months. There are fewer and fewer strong adult Indian men! Damn it, the scalp of an adult Indian man is worth $85. We're lucky if we can sell a child's scalp for more than $30!"

Beaver skins, river skins, deer skins, bear skins, and Indian scalps are their main spoils of exterminating Indians, and also their main source of income.

But now, Indian skins are becoming less and less, and adult Indians are becoming more and more difficult to catch. Their income from exterminating Indians has also plummeted.

"It's really bad. Five years ago, an Indian scalp could be sold for at least $130 in Portland! Indian scalps are really getting less and less valuable."

Bernat's follower Sanders felt the same way. While holding up his pants, he took out the rope he had prepared long ago and tied up the disheveled and dishevelled Indian woman tightly.

After making sure that the Indian woman was tied up tightly and could not escape, Sanders turned to ask Bernat.

"Boss, did Mr. Aspinwall's fleet arrive in Portland this month? These skins and scalps are not as valuable as young Indian women. As long as they can be sold to brothels in San Francisco or Sacramento, one woman can be sold for at least $500!"

"I heard that the Indians in California are all rich! There is still a lot of gold in their territory! Much better than the poor tribes in Oregon. Of course, there are also many young and beautiful Indian women in those tribes."

Bateman's eyes showed greed.

Unlike Bernat who killed Indians for killing Indians, Bateman's family background is not as rich as Bernat. Bateman killed Indians for money.

"How much can these skins be sold for?" Bernat asked, pointing to the various skins on the ground.

Fur is the most important trade commodity in the Oregon region, and the beaver fur living in the Columbia River is the best.

The Indians in the Oregon region can bring him less and less income, which makes Bernat very headache.

He can generate electricity for love and slaughter Indian tribes without caring about the income.

But his subordinates can't do that. Bernat's subordinates follow him to slaughter Indians because slaughtering Indians is profitable.

Without dollars and gold, Bernat's team will soon disband.

It is dollars and gold that bind these people from all over the world together.

The ammunition consumed in each battle is also a considerable expense.

In short, Bernat needs money to maintain his armed forces now.

"At most $4,500."

Bateman quickly estimated the value of these leathers.

"The premise is to sell them to California. If they are sold in Portland, they can only sell for $2,500 at most. Those poor guys in Portland are not as generous as those rich people in California."

$4,500 is a huge sum of money for an individual, but Bernat's team has 350 people. Even if these leathers are successfully transported to California and sold, each person can only get $13.

Sanders said, "I just interrogated an Indian. The Kus and Klamath tribes killed a lot of beavers near the Columbia River and are processing the skins near the river valley. The skins are of good quality and in large quantities. They can be sold for at least 70,000 to 80,000 US dollars."

"70,000 to 80,000 US dollars?" Bernat's eyes lit up, "Is this news reliable?"

If he can get this batch of skins, at least in the next few months, he doesn't have to worry about money. However, Bernat still has reservations about the reliability and accuracy of this news.

"Reliable! Very reliable! If you don't believe it, you can ask those Indian captives in person. Their skins were originally sent there and finally sold to the Huaxia Chamber of Commerce."

Said Sanders, he took a piece of beaver skin to show Bernat.

"Look, some of the skins have been branded."

After hearing what Sanders said, Bernat carefully checked the skins. Some of the skins have been branded with the trademarks of the American Group, the Jardine Group, the Tongfu Group, the Boston Group and even other groups.

"The Indian captives also said that the Pomo and Maidu tribes would accept the commission of California merchants and come to Oregon to collect hides with gold. I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Sanders continued to instigate.

He wanted to make a fortune, instead of attacking Indian territory like now, where each person could only get a few dozen dollars at most.

This income was not as good as being a factory worker in San Francisco.

"Bring those Indian prisoners in front of me, and I will torture them myself." Burnat said solemnly.

The Oregon region at this time, the Columbia River Valley.

Eight or nine hundred young Indians were processing beaver skins in a camp on the edge of the river valley.

Some young Indians skillfully cut open the beaver's belly with a hunting knife, took out a complete piece of beaver skin, and then put the beaver skin aside.

In contrast, some "young Indians" seemed clumsy in handling beavers. The skins they removed had flesh and blood remaining, and the fur was incomplete.

The tribal elders on the side shook their heads when they saw it. This was simply a waste of these skins.

However, these were wearing the same fur clothes as the Indians, and the young man who was clumsy in handling the fur was not an Indian.

Before entering Oregon, they were soldiers of the Garifni and Infantry Regiments.

Just before entering the Oregon region, they took off their military uniforms and put on fur clothes prepared for them by various Indian tribes.

Therefore, in appearance, these yellow-skinned, dark-eyed California Infantry soldiers look no different from the young and strong Indian tribesmen.

Of course, you can tell if you take a closer look, because these officers and soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment disguised as Indians have Dresser striker guns on their backs and bullet bags filled with paper shells on their waists.

Among the eight to nine hundred young Indians in this camp in the Columbia River Valley, at least half of them were officers and soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment.