History of Oregon (Bancroft)/Volume 2/Chapter 7

by Frances Fuller Victor

CHAPTER VII.

INDIAN AFFAIRS.

1851.

Politics—Election of a Delegate—Extinguishment of Indian Titles—Indian Superintendents and Agents Appointed—Kindness of the Great Father at Washington—Appropriations of Congress—Frauds Arising from the System—Easy Expenditure of Government Money—Unpopularity of Human Sympathy—Efficiency of Superintendent Dart—Thirteen Treaties Effected—Lane among the Rogue River Indians and in the Mines—Divers Outrages and Retaliations—Military Affairs—Rogue River War—The Stronghold—Battle of Table Rock—Death of Stuart—Kearney's Prisoners.

 

Lane was not a skilful politician and finished orator like Thurston, though he had much natural ability,^[1] and had the latter been alive, notwithstanding his many misdeeds, Lane could not so easily have secured the election as delegate to congress. It was a personal rather than a party matter,^[2] though a party spirit developed rapidly after Lane's nomination, chiefly because a majority of the people were democrats,^[3] and their favorites, Thurston and Lane, were democrats, while the administration was whig and not in sympathy with them.

The movement for Lane began in February, the earliest intimation of it appearing in the Spectator of March 6th, after which he was nominated in a public meeting at Lafayette. Lane himself did not appear on the ground until the last of April, and the news of Thurston's death arriving within a few days, Lane's name was immediately put forward by every journal in the territory. But he was not, for all that, without an opponent. The mission party nominated W. H. Willson, who from a whaling-ship cooper and lay Methodist had come to be called doctor and been given places of trust. His supporters were the defenders of that part of Thurston's policy which was generally condemned. There was nothing of consequence at issue however, and as Lane was facile of tongue^[4] and clap-trap, he was elected by a majority of 1,832 with 2,917 votes cast.^[5] As soon as the returns were all in, Lane set out again for the mines, where he was just in time to be of service to the settlers of Rogue River Valley.

 

Immediately upon the passage of an act by congress, extinguishing Indian titles west of the Cascade Mountains in 1850, the president appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, Anson Dart of Wisconsin, who arrived early in October, accompanied by P. C. Dart, his secretary. Three Indian agents were appointed at the same time, namely: A. G. Henry of Illinois,^[6] H. H. Spalding, and Elias Wampole. Dart's instructions from the commissioner, under date of July 20, 1850, were in general, to govern himself by the instructions furnished to Lane as ex-officio superintendent,^[7] to be modified according to circumstances. The number of agents and subagents appointed had been in accordance with the recommendation of Lane, and to the information contained in Lane's report he was requested to give particular attention, as well as to the suppression of the liquor traffic, and the enforcement of the penalties provided in the intercourse act of 1834, and also as amended in 1847, making one or two years' imprisonment a punishment for furnishing Indians with intoxicating drink.^[8] A feature of the instructions, showing Thurston's hand in this matter, was the order not to purchase goods from the Hudson's Bay Company for distribution among the Indians, but that they be purchased of American merchants, and the Indians taught that it was from the American government they received such benefits. It was also forbidden in the instructions that the company should have trading posts within the limits of United States territory,^[9] the superintendent being required to proceed with them in accordance with the terms of the act regulating intercourse with the Indians.

As to the attitude of government toward the Indians there was the usual political twaddle. An important object to be aimed at, the commissioner said, was the reconciling of differences between tribes. Civilized people may fight, but not savages. The Indians should be urged to engage in agricultural pursuits, to raise grain, vegetables, and stock of all kinds; and to encourage them, small premiums might be offered for the greatest quantity of produce, or number of cattle and other farm animals. With regard to missionaries among the Indians, they were to be encouraged without reference to denomination, and left free to use the best means of christianizing. The sum of twenty thousand dollars was advanced to the superintendent, of which five thousand was to be applied to the erection of houses for the accommodation of himself and agents, four thousand for his own residence, and the remainder for temporary buildings to be used by the agents before becoming permanently established. The remainder was for presents and provisions.

There were further appointed for Oregon three commissioners to make treaties with the Indians, John P. Gaines, governor, Alonzo A. Skinner, and Beverly S. Allen; the last received his commission the 12th of August and arrived in Oregon in the early part of February 1851. The instructions were general, the department being ignorant of the territory, except that it extended from the 42d to the 49th parallel, and was included between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The object of the government it was said was to extinguish the Indian titles, and remove the complaint of the settlers that they could acquire no perfect titles to their claims before the Indians had been quieted. They were advised therefore to treat first with the Indians in the Willamette Valley, and with each tribe separately.^[10] They were to fix upon an amount of money to be paid, and agree upon an annuity not to exceed five per cent of the whole amount. It was also advised that money be not employed, but that articles of use should be substituted; and the natives be urged to accept such things as would assist them in becoming farmers and mechanics, and to secure medical aid and education. If any money remained after so providing it might be expended for goods to be delivered annually in the Indian country. The sum of twenty thousand dollars was to be applied to these objects; fifteen thousand to be placed at the disposal of Governor Gaines, at the sub-treasury, San Francisco, and to be accounted for by vouchers; and five thousand to be invested in goods and sent round Cape Horn for distribution among the Indians. The commissioners were allowed mileage for themselves and secretary at the rate of ten cents a mile, together with salaries of eight dollars a day during service for each of the commissioners, and five dollars for the secretary. They were also to have as many interpreters and assistants as they might deem necessary, at a proper compensation, and their travelling expenses paid.^[11]

Such was the flattering prospect under which the Indian agency business opened in Oregon. Truly, a government must have faith in its servants to place such temptations in their way. Frauds innumerable were the result; from five hundred to five thousand dollars would be paid to the politicians to secure an agency, the returns from which investment, with hundreds per cent profit, must be made by systematic peculations and pilferings, so that not one quarter of the moneys appropriated on behalf of the Indians would be expended for their benefit. Perhaps the public conscience was soothed by this show of justice, as pretentious as it was hollow, and the emptiness of which was patent to every one; but it would have been in as good taste, and far more manly and honest, to have shot down the aboriginals and seized their lands without these hypocrisies and stealings, as was frequently done.

Often the people were worse than the government or its agents, so that there was little inducement for the latter to be honest. In the present instance the commissioners were far more just and humane than the settlers themselves. It is true they entered upon their duties in April 1851 with a pomp and circumstance in no wise in keeping with the simple habits of the Oregon settlers; with interpreters, clerks, commissaries, and a retinue of servants they established themselves at Champoeg, to which place agents brought the so-called chiefs of the wretched tribes of the Willamette; but they displayed a heart and a humanity in their efforts which did them honor. Of the Santiam band of the Calapooyas they purchased a portion of the valley eighty miles in length by twenty in breadth; of the Tualatin branch of the same nation a tract of country fifty miles by thirty in extent, these lands being among the best in the valley, and already settled upon by white men. The number of Indians of both sexes and all ages making a claim to this extent of territory was in the former instance one hundred and fifty-five and in the latter sixty-five.

The commissioners were unable to induce the Calapooyas to remove east of the Cascade mountains, as had been the intention of the government, their refusal resting upon reluctance to leave the graves of their ancestors, and ignorance of the means of procuring a livelihood in any country but their own. To these representations Gaines and his associates lent a sympathizing ear, and allowed the Indians to select reservations within the valley of tracts of land of a few miles in extent situated upon the lower slopes of the Cascade and Coast ranges, where game, roots, and berries could be procured with ease.^[12]

As to the instructions of the commissioner at Washington, it was not possible to carry them out. Schools the Indians refused to have; and from their experience of them and their effects on the young I am quite sure the savages were right. Only a few of the Tualatin band would consent to receive farming utensils, not wishing to have habits of labor forced upon them with their annuities. They were anxious also to be paid in cash, consenting reluctantly to accept a portion of their annuities in clothing and provisions.

In May four other treaties were concluded with the Luckiamute, Calapooyas, and Molallas, the territory thus secured to civilization comprising about half the Willamette Valley.^[13] The upper and lower Molallas received forty-two thousand dollars, payable in twenty annual instalments, about one third to be in cash and the remainder in goods, with a present on the ratification of the treaties of a few rifles and horses for the head men. Like the Calapooyas they steadily refused to devote any portion of their annuities to educational purposes, the general sentiment of these western Indians being that they had but a little time to live, and it was useless to trouble themselves about education, a sentiment not wholly Indian, since it kept Europe in darkness for a thousand years.^[14]

In order to give the Indians the reservations they desired it was necessary to include some tracts claimed by settlers, which would either have to be vacated, the government paying for their improvements, or the settlers compelled to live among the Indians, an alternative not likely to commend itself to either the settlers or the government.

A careful summing-up of the report of the commissioners showed that they had simply agreed to pay annuities to the Indians for twenty years, to make them presents, and to build them houses, while the Indians still occupied lands of their own choosing in portions of the valley already being settled by white people, and that they refused to accept teachers, either religious or secular, or to cultivate the ground. By these terms all the hopeful themes of the commissioner at Washington fell to the ground. And yet the government was begged to ratify the treaties, because failure to do so would add to the distrust already felt by the Indians from their frequent disappointments, and make any further negotiations difficult.^[15]

About the time the last of the six treaties was concluded information was received that congress, by act of the 27th of February, had abolished all special Indian commissions, and transferred to the superintendent the power to make treaties. All but three hundred dollars of the twenty thousand appropriated under the advice of Thurston for this branch of the service had been expended by Gaines in five weeks of absurd magnificence at Champoeg, the paltry remainder being handed over to Superintendent Dart, who received no pay for the extra service with which to defray the expense of making further treaties. Thus ended the first essay of congress to settle the question of title to Indian lands.

Dart did not find his office a sinecure. The area of the country over which his superintendency extended was so great that, even with the aid of more agents, little could be accomplished in a season, six months of the year only admitting of travel in the unsettled portions of the territory. To add to his embarrassment, the three agents appointed had left him almost alone to perform the duty which should have been divided among several assistants,^[16] the pay offered to agents being so small as to be despised by men of character and ability who had their living to earn.

About the 1st of June 1851 Dart set out to visit the Indians east of the Cascade Mountains, who since the close of the Cayuse war had maintained a friendly attitude, but who hearing that it was the design to send the western Indians among them were becoming uneasy. Their opposition to having the sickly and degraded Willamette natives in their midst was equal to that of the white people. Neither were they willing to come to any arrangement by which they would be compelled to quit the country which each tribe for itself called its own. Dart promised them just treatment, and that they should receive pay for their lands. Having selected a site for an agency building on the Umatilla he proceeded to Waiilatpu and Lapwai, as instructed, to determine the losses sustained by the Presbyterians, according to the instructions of government.^[17]

The Cayuses expressed satisfaction that the United States cherished no hatred toward them for their past misdeeds, and received assurances of fair treatment in the future, sealed with a feast upon a fat ox. At Lapwai the same promises were given and ceremonies observed. The only thing worthy of remark that I find in the report of Dart's visit to eastern Oregon is the fact mentioned that the Cayuses had dwindled from their former greatness to be the most insignificant tribe in the upper country, there being left but one hundred and twenty-six, of whom thirty-eight only were men; and the great expense attending his visit,^[18] the results of which were not what the government expected, if indeed any body knew what was expected. The government was hardly prepared to purchase the whole Oregon territory, even at the minimum price of three cents an acre, and it was dangerous policy holding out the promise of some thing not likely to be performed.

As to the Presbyterian mission claims, if the board had been paid what it cost to have its property appraised, it would have been all it was entitled to, and particularly since each station could hold a section of land under the organic act. And as to the claims of private individuals for property destroyed by the Cayuses, these Indians not being in receipt of annuities out of which the claims could be taken, there was no way in which they could be collected. Neither was the agency erected of any benefit to the Indians, because the agent, Wampole, soon violated the law, was removed, and the agency closed.

Concerning that part of his instructions to encourage missionaries as teachers among the Indians, Dart had little to say; for which reason, or in revenge for his dismissal, Spalding represented that no American teachers, but only Catholics and foreigners were given permission to enter the Indian country.^[19] But as his name was appended to all the treaties made while he was agent, with one exception, he must have been as guilty as any of excluding American teachers. The truth was that Dart promised the Indians of eastern Oregon that they should not be disturbed in their religious practices, but have such teachers as they preferred.^[20] This to the sectarian Protestant mind was simply atrocious, though it seemed only politic and just to the unbiassed understanding of the superintendent.

With regard to that part of his instructions relating to suppressing the establishments of the Hudson's Bay Company in Oregon, he informed the commissioner that he found the company to have rights which prompted him to call the attention of the government to the subject before he attempted to interfere with them, and suggested the propriety of purchasing those rights instead of proceeding against British traders as criminals, the only accusation that could be brought against them being that they sold better goods to the Indians for less money than American traders.

And concerning the intercourse act prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to the natives, Dart remarked that although a good deal of liquor was consumed in Oregon, in some localities the Indians used less in proportion than any others in the United States, and referred to the difficulty of obtaining evidence against liquor sellers on account of the law of Oregon excluding colored witnesses. He also gave it as his opinion that except the Shoshones and Rogue River Indians the aborigines of Oregon were more peaceable than any of the uncivilized tribes, but that to keep in check these savages troops were indispensable, recommending that a company be stationed in the Shoshone country to protect the next year's immigration.^[21] Altogether Dart seems to have been a fair and reasonable man, who discharged his duty under unfavorable circumstances with promptness and good sense.

On returning from eastern Oregon, Dart visited the mouth of the Columbia in company with two of his agents, and made treaties with the Indians on both sides of the river, the tract purchased extending from the Chehalis River on the north to the Yaquina Bay on the south; and from the ocean on the west, to above the mouth of the Cowlitz River. For this territory the sum of ninety-one thousand three hundred dollars was promised, to be paid in ten yearly instalments, in clothing, provisions, and other necessary articles. Reservations were made on Clatsop Point, and Woody and Cathlamet islands; and one was made at Shoalwater Bay, conditioned upon the majority of the Indians removing to that place within one year, in which case they would be provided with a manual labor school, a lumber and flouring mill, and a farmer and blacksmith to instruct them in agriculture and the smith's art.

Other treaties were made during the summer and autumn. The Clackamas tribe, numbering eighty-eight persons, nineteen of whom were men, was promised an annuity of two thousand five hundred dollars for a period of ten years, five hundred in money, and the remainder in food and clothing.^[22] The natives of the south-western coast also agreed to cede a territory extending from the Coquille River to the southern boundary of Oregon, and from the Pacific Ocean to a line drawn fifty miles east, eighty miles in length, covering an area of two and a half million acres, most of which was mountainous and heavily timbered, with a few small valleys on the coast and in the interior,^[23] for the sum of twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars, payable in ten annual instalments, no part of which was to be paid in money. Thirteen treaties in all were concluded with different tribes, by the superintendent, for a quantity of land amounting to six million acres, at an average cost of not over three cents an acre.^[24]

In November Dart left Oregon for Washington, taking with him the several treaties for ratification, and to provide for carrying them out.

 

The demand for the office of an Indian agent in western Oregon began in 1849, or as soon as the Indians learned that white men might be expected to travel through their country with horses, provisions, and property of various kinds, which they might be desirous to have. The trade in horses was good in the mines of California, and Cayuse stock was purchased and driven there by Oregon traders, who made a large profit.^[25] Many miners also returned from California overland, and in doing so had frequent encounters with Indians, generally at the crossing of Rogue River.^[26] The ferrying at this place was performed in canoes, made for the occasion, and which, when used and left, were stolen by the Indians to compel the next party to make another, the delay affording opportunity for falling on them should they prove unwary. After several companies had been attacked the miners turned upon the Indians and became the assailants. And to stop the stealing of canoes, left for the convenience of those in the rear, some miners concealed themselves and lay in wait for the thieves, who when they entered the canoe were shot. However beneficial this may have been for the protection of the ferry it did not mend matters in a general way. If the Indians had at first been instigated simply by a desire for plunder,^[27] they had now gained from the retaliation of the Americans another motive—revenge.

In the spring of 1850 a party of miners, who had collected a considerable sum in gold-dust in the placers of California and were returning home, reached the Rogue River, crossing one day, toward sunset, and encamped about Rock Point. They did not keep a very careful watch, and a sudden attack caused them to run to cover, while the Indians plundered the camp of everything of value, including the bags of gold-dust. But one man, who had his treasure on his person, escaped being robbed.

It was to settle with these rogues for this and like transactions that Lane set out in May or June 1850 to visit southern Oregon, as before mentioned. The party consisted of fifteen white men, and the same number of Klickitats, under their chief Quatley, the determined enemy of the Rogue River people. Quatley was told what was expected of him, which was not to fight unless it become necesary, but to assist in making a treaty. They overtook on the way some cattle-drivers going to California, who travelled with them, glad of an escort. All were well mounted, with plenty of provisions on pack-horses, and well armed. They proceeded leisurely, and stopped to hunt and dry venison in the valley of Grave Creek. About the middle of June they arrived at Rogue River, and encamped near the Indian villages, Lane sending word to the principal chief that he had come to talk with him and his people, and to make a treaty of peace and friendship. To this message the chief returned answer that he would come in two days with all his people, unarmed, as Lane stipulated.

Accordingly, the two principal chiefs and about seventy-five warriors came and crossed to the south side, where Lane's company were encamped. A circle was formed, Lane and the chiefs standing inside the ring. But before the conference began a second band, as large as the first, and fully armed with bows and arrows, began descending a neighboring hill upon the camp. Lane told Quatley to come inside the ring, and stand, with two or three of his Indians, beside the head Rogue River chief. The new-comers were ordered to lay down their arms and be seated, and the business of the council proceeded, Lane keeping a sharp lookout, and exchanging significant glances with Quatley and his party. The occasion of the visit was then fully explained to the people of Rogue River; they were reminded of their uniform conduct toward white men, of their murders and robberies, and were told that hereafter white people must travel through their country in safety; that their laws had been extended over all that region, and if obeyed every one could live in peace; and that if the Indians behaved well compensation would be made them for their lands that might be settled upon, and an agent sent to see that they had justice.

Following Lane's speech, the Rogue River chief addressed, in loud, deliberate tones, his people, when presently they all rose and raised the war-cry, and those who had arms displayed them. Lane told Quatley to hold fast the head chief, whom he had already seized, and ordering his men not to fire, he sprang with revolver in hand into the line of the traitors and knocked up their guns, commanding them to be seated and lay down their arms. As the chief was a prisoner, and Quatley held a knife at his throat, they were constrained to obey. The captive chief, who had not counted upon this prompt action, and whose brothers had previously disposed themselves among their people to be ready for action, finding his situation critical, told them to do as the white chief had said. After a brief consultation they rose again, being ordered by the chief to retire and not to return for two days, when they should come in a friendly manner to another council. The Indians then took their departure, sullen and humiliated, leaving their chief a prisoner in the hands of the white men, by whom he was secured in such a manner that he could not escape.

Lane used the two days to impress upon the mind of the savage that he had better accept the offered friendship, and again gave him the promise of government aid if he should make and observe a treaty allowing white men to pass safely through the country, to mine in the vicinity, and to settle in the Rogue River Valley.^[28] By the time his people returned, he had become convinced that this was his best course, and advised them to accept the terms offered, and live in peace, which was finally agreed to. But the gold-dust of the Oregon party they had robbed in the spring was gone past all reclaim, as they had, without knowing its value, poured it all into the river, at a point where it was impossible to recover it. Some property of no value was given up; and thus was made the first treaty with this tribe, a treaty which was observed with passable fidelity for about a year.^[29]

The treaty concluded, Lane gave the Indians slips of paper stating the fact, and warning white men to do them no injury. These papers, bearing his signature, became a talisman among these Indians, who on approaching a white man would hold one of them out exclaiming, "Jo Lane, Jo Lane," the only English words they knew. On taking leave the chief, whose name hereafter by consent of Lane was to be Jo, presented his friend with a boy slave from the Modoc tribe, who accompanied him to the Shasta mines to which he now proceeded, the time when his resignation was to take effect having passed. Here he dug gold, and dodged Indian arrows like any common miner until the spring of 1851, when he was recalled to Oregon.^[30]

 

The gold discoveries of 1850 in the Klamath Valley caused an exodus of Oregonians thither early in the following year; and notwithstanding Lane's treaty with Chief Jo, great vigilance was required to prevent hostile encounters with his tribe as well as with that of the Umpqua Valley south of the cañon.^[31] It soon became evident that Jo, even if he were honestly intentioned, could not keep the peace, the annoying and often threatening demonstrations of his people leading to occasional overt acts on the part of the miners, a circumstance likely to be construed by the Indians as sufficient provocation to further and more pronounced hostility.

Some time in May a young man named Dilley was treacherously murdered by two Rogue River Indians, who, professing to be friendly, were travelling and camping with three white men. They rose in the night, took Dilley's gun, the only one in the party, shot him while sleeping, and made off with the horses and property, the other two men fleeing back to a company in the rear. On hearing of it thirty men of Shasta formed a company, headed by one Long, marched over the Siskiyou, and coming upon a band at the crossing of Rogue River, killed a sub-chief and one other Indian, took two warriors and two daughters of another chief prisoners, and held them as hostages for the delivery of the murderers of Dilley. The chief refused to give up the guilty Indians, but threatened instead to send a strong party to destroy Long's company, which remained at the crossing awaiting events.^[32] It does not appear that Long's party was attacked, but several unsuspecting companies suffered in their stead. These attacks were made chiefly at one place some distance south of the ferry where Long and his men encamped.^[33] The alarm spread throughout the southern valleys, and a petition was forwarded to Governor Gaines from the settlers in the Umpqua for permission to raise a company of volunteers to fight the Indians. The governor decided to look over the field before granting leave to the citizens to fight, and repaired in person to the scene of the reported hostilities.

The Spectator, which was understood to lean toward Gaines and the administration, as opposed to the Statesman and democracy, referring to the petition remarked that leave had been asked to march into the Indian country and slay the savages wherever found; that the prejudice against Indians was very strong in the mines and daily increasing; and that no doubt this petition had been sent to the governor to secure his sanction to bringing a claim against the government for the expenses of another Indian war.

 

One of Thurston's measures had been the removal from the territory of the United States troops, which after years of private and legislative appeal were at an enormous expense finally stationed at the different posts according to the desire of the people. He represented to congress that so far from being a blessing they were really a curse to the country, which would gladly be rid of them. To his constituents he said that the cost of maintaining the rifle regiment was four hundred thousand dollars a year. He proposed as a substitute to persuade congress to furnish a good supply of arms, ammunition, and military stores to Oregon, and authorize the governor to call out volunteers when needed, both as a saving to the government and a means of profit to the territory, a part of the plan being to expend one hundred thousand dollars saved in goods for the Indians, which should be purchased only of American merchants in Oregon.

Thurston's plan had been carried out so far as removing the rifle regiment was concerned, which in the month of April began to depart in divisions for California, and thence to Jefferson Barracks;^[34] leaving on the 1st of June, when Major Kearney began his march southward with the last division, only two skeleton companies of artillerymen to take charge of the government property at Steilacoom, Astoria, Vancouver, and The Dalles. He moved slowly, examining the country for military stations, and the best route for a military road which should avoid the Umpqua canon. On arriving at Yoncalla,^[35] Kearney consulted with Jesse Applegate, whom he prevailed upon to assist in the exploration of the country east of the cañon, in which they were engaged when the Indian war began in Rogue River Valley.

The exploring party had proceeded as far as this pass when they learned from a settler at the north end of the cañon, one Knott, of the hostilities, and that the Indians were gathered at Table Rock, an almost impregnable position about twenty miles east of the ferry on Rogue River.^[36] On this information Kearney, with a detachment of twenty-eight men, took up the march for the Indian stronghold with the design of dislodging them. A heavy rain had swollen the streams and impeded his progress, and it was not until the morning of the 17th of June that he reached Rogue River at a point five miles distant from Table Rock. While looking for a ford indications of Indians in the vicinity were discovered, and Kearney hoped to be able to surprise them. He ordered the command to fasten their sabres to their saddles to prevent noise, and divided his force, a part under Captain Walker crossing to the south side of the river to intercept any fugitives, while the remainder under Captain James Stuart kept upon the north side.

Stuart soon came upon the Indians who were prepared for battle. Dismounting his men, who in their haste left their sabres tied to their saddles, Stuart made a dash upon the enemy. They met him with equal courage. A brief struggle took place in which eleven Indians were killed and several wounded. Stuart himself was matched against a powerful warrior, who had been struck more than once without meeting his death. As the captain approached, the savage, though prostrate, let fly an arrow which pierced him through, lodging in the kidneys, of which wound he died the day after the battle.^[37] Captain Peck was also wounded severely, and one of the troops slightly.

The Indians, who were found to be in large numbers, retreated upon their stronghold, and Kearney also fell back to wait for the coming-up of lieutenants Williamson and Irvine with a detachment, and the volunteer companies hastily gathered among the miners.^[38] Camp was made at the mouth of a tributary of Rogue River, entering a few miles below Table Rock, which was named Stuart creek after the dying captain. It was not till the 23d that the Indians were again engaged. A skirmish occurred in the morning, and a four hours' battle in the afternoon of that day. The Indians were stationed in a densely wooded hummock, which gave them the advantage in point of position, while in the matter of arms the troops were better furnished. In these battles the savages again suffered severely, and on the other side several were wounded but none killed.

While these events were in progress both Gaines and Lane were on their way to the scene of action. The governor's position was not an enviable one. Scarcely were the riflemen beyond the Willamette when he was forced to write the president representing the imprudence of withdrawing the troops at this time, no provision having been made by the legislature for organizing the militia of the territory, or for meeting in any way the emergency evidently arising.^[39] The reply which in due time he received was that the rifle regiment had been withdrawn, first because its services were needed on the frontier of Mexico and Texas, and secondly because the Oregon delegate had assured the department that its presence in Oregon was not needed. In answer to the governor's suggestion that a post should be established in southern Oregon, the secretary gave it as his opinion that the commanding officer in California should order a reconnoissance in that part of the country, with a view to selecting a proper site for such a post without loss of time. But with regard to troops, there were none that could be sent to Oregon; nor could they, if put en route at that time, it being already September, reach there in time to meet the emergency. The secretary therefore suggested that companies of militia might be organized, which could be mustered into service for short periods, and used in conjunction with the regular troops in the pursuit of Indians, or as the exigencies of the service demanded.

Meanwhile Gaines, deprived entirely of military support, endeavored to raise a volunteer company at Yoncalla to escort him over the dangerous portion of the route to Rogue River; but most of the men of Umpqua, having either gone to the mines or to reënforce Kearney, this was a difficult undertaking, detaining him so that it was the last of the month before he reached his destination. Lane having already started south to look after his mining property before quitting Oregon for Washington arrived at the Umpqua cañon on the 21st, where he was met by a party going north, from whom he obtained the news of the battle of the 17th and the results, with the information that more fighting was expected. Hastening forward with his party of about forty men he arrived at the foot of the Rogue River mountains on the night of the 22d, where he learned from an express rider that Kearney had by that time left camp on Stuart creek with the intention of making a night march in order to strike the Indians at daybreak of the 23d.

He set out to join Kearney, but after a hard day's ride, being unsuccessful, proceeded next morning to Camp Stuart with the hope of learning something of the movements of Kearney's command. That evening Scott and T'Vault came to camp with a small party, for supplies, and Lane returned with them to the army, riding from nine o'clock in the evening to two o'clock in the morning, and being heartily welcomed both by Kearney and the volunteers.

Early on the 25th, the command moved back down the river to overtake the Indians, who had escaped during the night, and crossing the river seven miles above the ferry found the trail leading up Sardine creek, which being followed brought them up with the fugitives, one of whom was killed, while the others scattered through the woods like a covey of quail in the grass. Two days were spent in pursuing and taking prisoners the women and children, the men escaping. On the 27th the army scoured the country from the ferry to Table Rock, returning in the evening to Camp Stuart, when the campaign was considered as closed. Fifty Indians had been killed and thirty prisoners taken, while the loss to the white warriors, since the first battle, was a few wounded.

The Indians had at the first been proudly defiant, Chief Jo boasting that he had a thousand warriors, and could keep that number of arrows in the air continually. But their pride had suffered a fall which left them apparently humbled. They complained to Lane, whom they recognized, talking across the river in stentorian tones, that white men had come on horses in great numbers, invading every portion of their country. They were afraid, they said, to lie down to sleep lest the strangers should be upon them. They wearied of war and wanted peace.^[40] There was truth as well as oratorical effect in their harangues, for just at this time their sleep was indeed insecure; but it was not taken into account by them that they had given white men this feeling of insecurity of which they complained.

Now that the fighting was over Kearney was anxious to resume his march toward California, but was embarrassed with the charge of prisoners. The governor had not yet arrived; the superintendent of Indian affairs was a great distance off in another part of the territory; there was no place where they could be confined in Rogue River valley, nor did he know of any means of sending them to Oregon City. But he was determined not to release them until they had consented to a treaty of peace. Sooner than do that he would take them with him to California and send them back to Oregon by sea. Indeed he had proceeded with them to within twenty-five miles of Shasta Butte, a mining town afterward named Yreka,^[41] when Lane, who when his services were no longer needed in the field had continued his journey to Shasta Valley, again came to his relief by offering to escort the prisoners to Oregon City whither he was about to return, or to deliver them to the governor or superintendent of Indian affairs wherever he might find them. Lieutenant Irvine,^[42] from whom Lane learned Kearney's predicament, carried Lane's proposition to the major, and the prisoners were at once sent to his care, escorted by Captain Walker. Lane's party^[43] set out immediately for the north, and on the 7th of July delivered their charge to Governor Gaines, who had arrived at the ferry, where he was encamped with fifteen men waiting for his interpreters to bring the Rogue River chiefs to a council, his success in which undertaking was greatly due to his possession of their families. Lane then hastened to Oregon City to embark for the national capital, having added much to his reputation with the people by his readiness of action in this first Indian war west of the Cascade Mountains, as well as in the prompt arrest of the deserting riflemen in the spring of 1850. To do, to do quickly, and generally to do the thing pleasing to the people, of whom he always seemed to be thinking, was natural and easy for him, and in this lay the secret of his popularity.

When Gaines arrived at Rogue River he found Kearney had gone, not a trooper in the country, and the Indians scattered. He made an attempt to collect them for a council, and succeeded, as I have intimated, by means of the prisoners Lane brought him, in inducing about one hundred, among whom were eleven head men, to agree to a peace. By the terms of the treaty, which was altogether informal, his commission having been withdrawn, the Indians placed themselves under the jurisdiction and protection of the United States, and agreed to restore all the property stolen at any time from white persons, in return for which promises of good behavior they received back their wives and children and any property taken from them. There was nothing in the treaty to prevent the Indians, as soon as they were reunited to their families, from resuming their hostilities; and indeed it was well known that there were two parties amongst them—one in favor of war and the other opposed to it, but the majority for it. Though so severely punished, the head chief of the war party refused to treat with Kearney, and challenged him to further combat, after the battle of the 23d. It was quite natural therefore that the governor should qualify his belief that they would observe the treaty, provided an efficient agent and a small military force could be sent among them. And it was no less natural that the miners and settlers should doubt the keeping of the compact, and believe in a peace procured by the rifle.

1. 'Gen. Lane is a man of a high order of original genius. He is not self-made, but God-made. He was educated nowhere. Nobody but a man of superior natural capacity, without education, could have maintained himself among men from early youth as he did.' Grover's Pub. Life, MS., 81. We may hereby infer the idea intended to be conveyed, however ill-fitting the words.
2. Says W. W. Buck: 'Before 1851 there were no nominations made. In 1851 they organized into political parties as whigs and democrats. Before that men of prominence would think of some one, and go to him and find out if he would serve. The knowledge of the movement would spread, and the foremost candidate get elected, while others ran scattering.' Enterprises, MS., 13.
3. Jesse Applegate, who had been mentioned as suitable for the place, wrote to the Spectator March 14th: 'The people of the southern frontier, of which I am one, owe to Gov. Lane a debt of gratitude too strong for party prejudices to cancel, and too great for time to erase… Rifle in hand he gallantly braved the floods and storms of winter to save our property, wives, and daughters from the rapine of a lawless soldiery,' which statement, howsoever it pictures public sentiment, smacks somewhat of the usual electioneering exaggeration.
4. 'He had a particularly happy faculty for what we would call domestic electioneering. He did not make speeches, but would go around and talk with families. They used to tell this story about him, and I think it is true, that what he got at one place, in the way of seeds or choice articles, he distributed at the next place. He brought these, with candies, and always kissed the children.' Strong's Hist. Or., MS., 41.
5. Lane's Autobiography, MS., 62; Or. Spectator, July 4, 1851; Amer. Almanac, 1852, 223; Tribune Almanac, 1852, 51; Overland Monthly, i. 37.
6. Thurston, who was much opposed to appointing men from the east, wrote to Oregon: 'Dr Henry of Illinois was appointed Indian agent, held on to it a while, drew $750 under the pretence of going to Oregon, and then resigned, leaving the government minus that sum. Upon his resigning Mr Simeon Francis was nominated, first giving assurance that he would leave for Oregon, but instead of doing so he is at home in Illinois.' Or. Spectator, April 10, 1851.
7. 31st Cong., 1st Sess., S. Doc. 52, 1–7, 154–80.
8. It should be here mentioned, in justice to Thurston, that when the Indian bill was under consideration by the congressional committees, it was brought to his notice by the commissioner, that while Lane had given much information on the number and condition of the Indians, the number of agents necessary, the amount of money necessary for agency buildings, agents, expenses, and presents to the Indians, he had neglected to state what tribes should be bought out, the extent of their territory, what would be a fair price for the lands, to what place they should be removed, and whether such lands were vacant. Thurston furnished this information according to his conception of right, and had the bill framed for the extinguishment of titles in that part of Oregon, which was rapidly filling up with white settlers. See Letter of Orlando Brown, Commissioner, in Or. Spectator, Oct. 31, 1850.
9. 31st Cong., 2s Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 1, 149.
10. 'The maximum price given for Indian lands has been ten cents per acre, but this has been for small quantities of great value from their contiguity to the States; and it is merely mentioned to show that some important consideration has always been involved when so large a price has been given. It is not for a moment to be supposed that any such consideration can be involved in any purchases to be made by you, and it is supposed a very small portion of that price will be required.' A. S. Loughery, Acting Commissioner, in 31st Cong., 2d Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 1, 147.
11. 31st Cong., 2s Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 1, 145–51; Hayes' Scraps, iv. 9–10.
12. No mention is made of the price paid for these lands, nor have I seen these treaties in print.
13. This is the report of the commissioners, though the description of the lands purchased is different in the Spectator of May 15, 1851, where it is said that the purchase included all the east side of the valley to the head-waters of the Willamette.
14. The native eloquence, touched and made pathetic by the despondency of the natives, being quoted in public by the commissioners, subjected them to the ridicule of the anti-administration journal, as for instance: 'In this city Judge Skinner spent days, and for aught we know, weeks, in interpreting Slacum's jargon speeches, while Gaines, swelling with consequence, pronounced them more eloquent than the orations of Demosthenes or Cicero, and peddled them about the town… This ridiculous farce made the actors the laughing-stock of the boys, and even of the Indians.' Or. Statesman, Nov. 6, 1852.
15. Report of Commissioners, in 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. iii. 471.
16. Dart complained in his report that Spalding, who had been assigned to the Umpqua country, had visited it but twice during the year, and asked his removal and the substitution of E. A. Starling. The latter was first stationed at the mouth of the Columbia, and soon after sent to Puget Sound. Wampole arrived in Oregon in July 1851, was sent to Umatilla, and removed in less than three months for violating orders and trading with the Indians. Allen, appointed after Henry and Francis, also finally declined, when Skinner accepted the place too late in the year to accomplish anything. A. Van Dusen, of Astoria, had been appointed subagent, but declined; then Shortess had accepted the position. Walker had been appointed to go among the Spokanes, but it was doubtful if $750 a year would be accepted. Finally J. L. Parrish, also a subagent, was the only man who had proven efficient and ready to perform the services required of him. 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. iii. 473; U. S. Ev. H. B. Co. Claims, 27; Amer. Almanac, 1851, 113; Id., 1852, 116; Dunniway's Capt. Gray's Company, 162.
17. The claims against the government for the destruction of the missions was large in the estimation of Dart, who does not state the amount.
18. There were 11 persons in Dart's party—himself and secretary, 2 interpreters, drawing together $11 a day; 2 carpenters, $12; 3 packers, $15; 2 cooks, $6. The secretary received $5 a day, making the wages of the party $50 daily at the start, in addition to the superintendent's salary. Transportation to The Dalles cost $400. At The Dalles another man with 20 horses was hired at $15 a day, and 2 wagons with oxen at $12; the passage from Portland to Umatilla costing $1,500 besides subsistence. And this was only the beginning of expenses. The lumber for the agency building at Umatilla had to be carried forty miles at an enormous cost; the beef which feasted the Cayuses cost $80, and other things in proportion. 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. iii.
19. This charge being deemed inimical to the administration, the President denied it in a letter to the Philadelphia Daily Sun, April 1852. The matter is referred to in the Or. Statesman, June 15th and July 3, 1852. See also Home Missionary, vol. lxxxiv. 276.
20. In 1852 a Catholic priest, E. C. Chirouse, settled on a piece of land at Walla Walla, making a claim under the act of congress establishing the territorial government of Washington. He failed to make his final proof according to law, and the notification of his intentions was not filed till 1860, when Archbishop Blanchet made a notification; but it appeared that whatever title there was, was in Chirouse. He relinquished it to the U. S. in 1862, but it was then too late for the Catholic church to set up a claim, and the archbishop's notification was not allowed. Portland Oregonian, March 16, 1872.
21. Eighteen thousand dollars worth of property was stolen by the Shoshones in 1851; many white men were killed, and more wounded. Hutchison Clark, of Illinois, was driving, in advance of his company, with his mother, sister, and a young brother in the family carriage near Raft River 40 miles west of Fort Hall, when the party was attacked, his mother and brother killed, and Miss Grace Clark, after being outraged and shot through the body and wrist, was thrown over a precipice to die. She alighted on a bank of sand which broke the force of the fall. The savages then rolled stones over after her, some of which struck and wounded her, notwithstanding all of which she survived and reached Oregon alive. She was married afterward to a Mr Vandervert, and settled on the coast branch of the Willamette. She died Feb. 20, 1875. When the train came up and discovered the bloody deed and that the Indians had driven off over twenty valuable horses, a company was formed, led by Charles Clark, to follow and chastise them. These were driven back, however, with a loss of one killed and one wounded. A brother of this Clark family named Thomas had emigrated in 1848, and was awaiting the arrival of his friends when the outrages occurred. Or. Statesman, Sept. 23, 1851. The same band killed Mr Miller, from Virginia, and seriously wounded his daughter. They killed Jackson, a brother-in-law of Miller, at the same time, and attacked a train of twenty wagons, led by Harpool, being repulsed with some loss. Other parties were attacked at different points, and many persons wounded. Or. Spectator, Sept. 2, 1851; Barnes' Or. and Cal., MS., 26. Raymond, superintendent at Fort Hall, said that 31 emigrants had been shot by the Shoshones and their allies the Bannacks. Or. Statesman, Dec. 9, 1851; S. F. Alta, Sept. 28, 1851. The residents of the country were at a loss to account for these outrages, so bold on the part of the savages, and so injurious to the white people. It was said that the decline of the fur-trade compelled the Indians to robbery, and that they willingly availed themselves of an opportunity not only to make good their losses, but to be avenged for any wrongs, real or imaginary, which they had ever suffered at the hands of white men. A more obvious reason might be found in the withdrawal of the influence wielded over them by the Hudson's Bay Company, who being now under United States and Oregon law was forbidden to furnish ammunition, and was no longer esteemed among the Indians who had nothing to gain by obedience. Some of the emigrants professed to believe the Indian hostilities directly due to Mormon influence. David Newsome of the immigration of 1851 says: 'Every murder, theft, and raid upon us from Fort Laramie to Grande Ronde we could trace to Mormon influences and plans. I recorded very many instances of thefts, robberies, and murders on the journey in my journal.' Portland West Shore, Feb. 1876. I find no ground whatever for this assertion. But whatever the cause, they were an alarming feature of the time, and called for government interference. Hence a petition to congress in the memorial of the legislature for troops to be stationed at the several posts selected in 1849 or at other points upon the road; and of a demand of Lane's, that the rifle regiment should be returned to Oregon to keep the Indians in check. 32d Cong., 1st Sess., Cong. Globe, 1851–2, i. 507. When Superintendent Dart was in the Nez Percé country that tribe complained of the depredations of the Shoshones, and wished to go to war. Dart, however, exacted a promise to wait a year, and if then the United States had not redressed their wrongs, they should be left at liberty to go against their enemies. If the Nez Percés had been allowed to punish the Shoshones it would have saved the lives of many innocent persons and a large amount of government money.
22. Or. Statesman, Aug. 19, 1851; Or. Spectator, Dec. 2, 1851.
23. 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. iii. 483.
24. After his return from his expedition east of the Cascade Range, Dart seemed to have practised an economy which was probably greatly suggested by the strictures of the democratic press upon the proceedings of the previous commission. 'All the expense,' he says, referring to the Coquille country, 'of making these treaties, adding the salaries of the officers of government, while thus engaged, would make the cost of the land less than one cent and a half per acre.' 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. iii. And in the California Courier he says the total cost of negotiating the whole thirteen treaties was, including travelling expenses, about $3,000. Or. Statesman, Report, Dec. 9, 1801.
25. Honolulu Friend, Aug. 24, 1850.
26. Hancock's Thirteen Years, MS.; Johnson's Cal. and Or., 121–2, 133.
27. Barnes' Or. and Cal., MS., 13. Says Lane, speaking of the chief at Rogue River, over whom he obtained a strong influence: 'Joe told me that the first time he shed white blood, he, with another Indian, discovered late in the afternoon two whites on horseback passing through their country. At first they thought these might be men intending some mischief to their people, but having watched them to their camp and seen them build their fire for the night, they conceived the idea of murdering them for the sake of the horses and luggage. This they did, taking their scalps. After that they always killed any whites they could for the sake of plunder.' Autobiography, MS., 148.
28. 'The morning after the chief had been made a prisoner his old wife (he had several others, but said he only loved his first wife) came very cautiously to the bank of the river opposite, and asked to come over and stay with her chief; that she did not wish to be free while he was a prisoner. She was told to come and stay, and was kindly treated.' Lane's Autobiography, MS., 94–5.
29. Like many another old soldier Lane loved to boast of his exploits. 'He asked the interpreter the name of the white chief,' says the general, 'and requested me to come to him as he wanted to talk. As I walked up to him he said, "Mika name Jo Lane?" I said, "Nawitka," which is "Yes." He said, "I want you to give me your name, for," said he, "I have seen no man like you." I told the interpreter to say to him that I would give him half my name, but not all; that he should be called Jo. He was much pleased, and to the day of his death he was known as Jo. At his request I named his wife, calling her Sally. They had a son and a daughter, a lad of fourteen, the girl being about sixteen. She was quite a young queen in her manner and bearing, and for an Indian quite pretty. I named the boy Ben, and the girl Mary.' Lane's Autobiography, MS., 96–8.
30. Sacramento Transcript, Jan. 14, 1851. Lane had his adventures in the mines, some of which are well told in his Autobiography. While on Pit River, his Modoc boy, whom he named John, and who from being kindly treated became a devoted servant, was the means of saving his life and that of an Oregonian named Driscoll. pp. 88–108.
31. Cardwell, in his Emigrant Company, MS., 2–11, gives a history of his personal experience in travelling through and residing in Southern Oregon in 1851 with 27 others. The Cow-creek Indians followed and annoyed them for some distance, when finally one of them was shot and wounded in the act of taking a horse from camp. At Grave creek, in Rogue River Valley, three Indians pretending to be friendly offered to show his party where gold could be found on the surface of the ground, telling their story so artfully that cross-questioning of the three separately did not show any contradiction in their statements, and the party consented to follow these guides. On a plain, subsequently known as Harris flat, the wagons stopped and 11 men were left to guard them, while the rest of the company kept on with the Indians. They were led some distance up Applegate creek, where on examining the bars fine gold was found, but none of the promised nuggets. When the men began prospecting the stream the Indians collected on the sides of the hills above them, yelling and rolling stones down the descent. The miners, however, continued to examine the bars up the stream, a part of them standing guard rifle in hand; working in this manner two days and encamping in open ground at night. On the evening of the second day their tormentors withdrew in that mysterious manner which precedes an attack, and Cardwell's party fled in haste through the favoring darkness relieved by a late moon, across the ridge to Rogue River. At Perkins' ferry, just established, they found Chief Jo, who was rather ostentatiously protecting this first white settlement. While breakfasting a pursuing party of Indians rode up within a short distance of camp where they were stopped by the presented rifles of the white men. Jo called this a hunting party and assured the miners they should not be molested in passing through the country; on which explanation and promise word was sent to the wagon train, and the company proceeded across the Siskiyou Mountains to Shasta flat, where they discovered good mines on the 12th of March.
32. Or. Statesman, June 20, 1851; Or. Spectator, June 19, 1851.
33. On the 1st of June 26 men were attacked at the same place, and an Indian was killed in the skirmish. On the 2d four men were set upon in this camp and robbed of their horses and property, but escaped alive to Perkins' ferry; and on the same day a pack-train belonging to one Nichols was robbed of a number of animals with their packs, one of the men being wounded in the heel by a ball. Two other parties were attacked on the same day, one of which lost four men. On the 3d of June McBride and 31 others were attacked in camp south of Rogue River. A. Richardson, of San José, California, James Barlow, Captain Turpin, Jesse Dodson and son, Aaron Payne, Dillard Holman, Jesse Runnels, Presley Lovelady, and Richard Sparks of Oregon were in the company and were commended for bravery. Or. Statesman, June 20, 1851. There were but 17 guns in the party, while the Indians numbered over 200, having about the same number of guns besides their bows and arrows, and were led by a chief known as Chucklehead. The attack was made at daybreak, and the battle lasted four hours and a half, when Chucklehead being killed the Indians withdrew. It was believed that the Rogue River people lost several killed and wounded. None of the white men were seriously hurt, owing to the bad firing of the Indians, not yet used to guns, not to mention their station on the top of a hill. Three horses, a mule, and $1,500 worth of other property and gold-dust were taken by the Indians.
34. Brackett's U. S. Cavalry, 129; Or. Spectator, April 10, 1851; Or. Statesman, May 30, 1851; 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. i. 144–53.
35. Yoncalla is a compound of yonc, eagle, and calla or calla-calla, bird or fowl, in the Indian dialect. It was applied as a name to a conspicuous butte in the Umpqua Valley, at the foot of which Jesse Applegate made his home, a large and hospitable mansion, now going to ruin. Applegate agreed to assist Kearney only in case of a better route than the cañon road being discovered, his men should put it in condition to be travelled by the immigration that year, to which Kearney consented, and a detachment of 28 men, under Lieutenant Williamson, accompanied by Levi Scott as well as Applegate, began the reconnoissance about the 10th of June, the main body of Kearney's command travelling the old road. It was almost with satisfaction that Applegate and Scott found that no better route than the one they opened in 1846 could be discovered, since it removed the reproach of their enemies that they were to blame for not finding a better one at that time. None other has ever been found, though Applegate himself expected when with Kearney to be able to get a road saving 40 miles of travel. Ewald, in Or. Statesman, July 22, 1851.
36. Table Rock is a flat-topped mountain overhanging Rogue River. Using the rock as a watch-tower, the Indians in perfect security had a large extent of country and a long line of road under their observation, and could determine the strength of any passing company of travellers and their place of encampment, before sallying forth to the attack. Or. Statesman, July 22, 1851.
37. Brackett, in his U. S. Cavalry, calls this officer 'the excellent and beloved Captain James Stuart.' The nature of the wound caused excruciating pain, but his great regret was that after passing unharmed through six hard battles in Mexico he should die in the wilderness at the hands of an Indian. It is doubtful, however, if death on a Mexican battle-field would have brought with it a more lasting renown. Stuart Creek on which he was interred—camp being made over his grave to obliterate it—and the warm place kept for him in the hearts of Oregonians will perpetuate his memory. Cardwell's Emigrant Company, MS., 14; Or. Statesman, July 8, 1851; S. F. Alta, July 16, 1851; State Rights Democrat, Dec. 15th and 22, 1876.
38. Cardwell relates that his company were returning from Josephine creek—named after a daughter of Kirby who founded Kirbyville—on their way to Yreka, when they met Applegate at the ferry on Rogue River, who suggested that it 'would be proper enough to assist the government troops and Lamerick's volunteers to clean out the Indians in Rogue River Valley.' Thirty men upon this suggestion went to Willow Springs on the 16th, upon the understanding that Kearney would make an attack next day near the mouth of Stuart's creek, when it was thought the Indians would move in this direction, and the volunteers could engage them until the troops came up. 'At daylight the following morning,' says Cardwell, 'we heard the firing commence. It was kept up quite briskly for about fifteen minutes. There was a terrible yelling and crying by the Indians, and howling of dogs during the battle.' Emigrant Company, MS., 12; Crane's Top. Mem., MS., 40. The names of Applegate, Scott, Boone, T'Vault, Armstrong, Blanchard, and Colonel Tranor from California, are mentioned in Lane's correspondence in the Or. Statesman, July 22, 1851, as ready to assist the troops. I suppose this to be James W. Tranor, formerly of the New Orleans press, 'an adventurous pioneer and brilliant newspaper writer,' who was afterward killed by Indians while crossing Pit River. Oakland Transcript, Dec. 7, 1872.
39. 32d Cong., 1st Sess., H. Ex. Doc. 2, pt. i. 145; Or. Spectator, Aug. 12, 1851.
40. Letter of Lane, in Or. Statesman, July 22, 1851.
41. It is said that the Indians called Mount Shasta Yee-ka, and that the miners having caught something of Spanish orthography and pronunciation changed it to Yreka; hence Shasta Butte city became Yreka. E. Steele, in Or. Council, Jour. 1857–8, app. 44.
42. Irvine, who was with Williamson on a topographical expedition, had an adventure before he was well out of the Shasta country with two Indians and a Frenchman who took him prisoner, bound him to a tree, and inflicted some tortures upon him. The Frenchman who was using the Indians for his own purposes finally sent them away on some pretence, and taking the watch and valuables belonging to Irvine sat down by the camp-fire to count his spoil. While thus engaged the lieutenant succeeded in freeing himself from his bonds, and rushing upon the fellow struck him senseless for a moment. On recovering himself the Frenchman struggled desperately with his former prisoner but was finally killed and Irvine escaped. Or. Statesman, Aug. 5, 1851.
43. Among Lane's company were Daniel Waldo, Hunter, and Rust of Kentucky, and Simonson of Indiana.