Cooke immediately on arriving at the Dalles, where he found Captain Garrison in command, the colonists learned not only the events above recorded, but that without more men and means the army was practically useless. Fort Waters was but an enclosure cf adobe walls a few feet high. The men in the field were almost destitute of clothing; the horses were worn out with marching, and no others could be obtained, as those captured had been claimed by the friendly Indians. The time for which a portion of the army enlisted, three or four months, would soon expire. He stated that one hundred and fifty men only were left at Fort Waters, and almost without ammunition and wholly without bread; while at Fort Lee there were but fifty men and no supplies. Maxon, having pictured their condition in a strong light, appealed to fathers to send bread to their sons, who were enduring cold and hunger to keep danger away from the hearth-stone; to mothers for clothing to shield their soldiers from the piercing airs of winter; to the young women to withhold their smiles from every young man who refused to volunteer to defend her honor and the country of her adoption; and to all to hasten forward the supplies for which he was waiting at the Dalles.[1] This appeal, which was no doubt necessary if the war was to be carried on, was somewhat highly colored as to the commissary department at Fort Waters, where beef and bread were plenty for some time after the departure of Colonel Gilliam for the Dalles.[2] These articles were obtained by the seizure of cattle, and wheat, pease, and potatoes found cached by the Indians, but which belonged to the mission estate.
The people, again excited by the report of Maxon
- ↑ Or. Spectator, April 6, 1848.
- ↑ See letter written on the 4th of April by Jesse Cadwallader, in Gray's Hist. Or., 570. The news of Gilliam's death had not at that date reached Fort Waters. The writer complains only of the lack of ammunition, and says he hopes to see Gilliam back in a few days, and more men with him. A letter from Lieut.-col. Waters mentions that they had repaired the mill, and set it to grinding wheat found at the mission.
