There is no question as to the hardship endured both by explorers and emigrants. The natives along the Humboldt annoyed the small straggling companies, of which Thornton's was one. They concealed themselves behind rocks and shot their poisoned arrows at men and animals, and often stole cattle from the herds while grazing. In return for these depredations, a Humboldt Indian was shot in the camp of the emigrants.[1] One of the foremost companies had a skirmish with a band of Indians who were lying in ambush among some willows, in which two white men were wounded, one of whom died,[2] and a number of the attacking party were killed. A greater degree of caution might have avoided these encounters; but it was not possible for the guides to be with every train, or to compel the wagons to keep together in numbers sufficient to intimidate the savages.
Notwithstanding the length of the road, which should have warned the travellers not to lose time, a week was wasted in unnecessary delay before commencing the crossing of the Cascade Mountains. The spur of this chain up which the road was first located
- ↑ The Indian was killed by Jesse Boone, a great-grandson of Daniel Boone of Kentucky, and a Mr Lovelin, both of whom shot at him. Thornton's Or. and Cal., i.171.
- ↑ Whately and Sallee were shot with arrows, and Sallee died. Daniel Tanner of Iowa also died from wounds received in the skirmish, and a Mr Lippincott of New York City was seriously wounded. Or. Spectator, Nov. 26, 1846.
tion in a different spirit. 'Our cattle stampeded when they were yoked up and were being watched by herdsmen. Many ran off in the yoke that we never saw again. They often stampeded in the night, and once over 400 head were overtaken the next day nearly 40 miles from camp, having travelled this whole distance through an alkali plain, without grass or water. We lost so many cattle this way, that many wagons were left m the wilderness. We cut ether wagon-boxes down to 8 feet in length, and threw away such articles as we could spare in order to lighten our loads, now too heavy for the weak and jaded cattle we had left. Some men's hearts died within them and some of our women sat down by the roadside, a thousand miles from settlements and cried saying they had abandoned all hopes of ever reaching the promised land. I aw women with babes but a week old, toiling up mountains in the burning sun, on foot, because our jaded teams were not able to haul them. We went down mountains so steep that we had to let our wagons down with ropes. My wife and I carried our children up muddy mountains in the Cascades, half a mile high, and then carried the loading of our wagons up on our backs by piecemeal, as our cattle were so reduced that they were hardly able to haul up the empty wagon.' Adams' Or. and Pac. Coast, 33-4.
