Third Outbreak of the Rogue River Indians. Being convinced that war with the Rogue River Indians was about to begin again, Governor Curry on the 15th of October, 1855, issued a proclamation from Corvallis, the temporary capital of Oregon, for nine companies of mounted cavalry. Four companies, designated as the southern battalion, were to have headquarters at Jacksonville. The Northern battalion, which was to consist of five companies-two from Lane, one from Linn, one from Umpqua and one from Douglas-were to rendezvous at Roseburg. Each volunteer was to furnish his own horse, arms and equipment, and was to receive four dollars per day from the territory of Oregon for his services. It is said that every able bodied man of proper age in the district placed his name on the muster rolls, which accounts for the fact that there were in all about eight hundred volunteers.
Battle of Grave Creek. The volunteers found a large number of Indians on a rugged ridge between Cow Creek and Grave Creek. From Grave Creek House the troops moved at midnight, and by daybreak the next morning, October 30, they reached a high point, formerly occupied
A Heroine of the Rogue River War. "The ninth of October, 1855, was one of the bloodiest days in Oregon Indian warfare. It had been the design of the Indians to wipe out the white population of Rogue River on that day, and they almost succeeded in their gory undertaking. To give an idea of the terrible experiences of the white people, the following incident is related: By noon, when the savages had carried on murder and devastation throughout much of the settlement, they shot a Mr. Harris. The wounded man ran into his home and fell. His wife barred the door, and with rifle, shotgun and pistols kept the Indians away while she cared for her dying husband and a little daughter, also wounded in the fray. Within an hour the husband was a corpse, but the heroine, with the dead husband and wounded daughter at her feet, courageously defended her home till near nightfall, when the Indians withdrew. Relief arriving the next day, the bereaved mother and daughter were taken to Jacksonville where they were given such comfort and consolation as conditions would permit; and the mother—the heroine of the previous day—was lauded as a typical home-defender of the Oregon frontier."—Pioneer Campfire.
----
