The Early Indian Wars of Oregon/Yakima/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
Arrival of Colonel Wright with Ninth Infantry—Posts Garrisoned—Importance of the Cascades—Error of General Wool—Attack on the Cascades by the Yakimas—The Long Siege of Bradford's Store—Appearance of the Troops—Volunteers and Regulars from Vancouver and Portland—Sheridan's Plight—Steptoe's Error—List of Killed and Wounded—Trial and Punishment of the Cascade Indians—Wright's Campaign in the Yakima Country, and Its Results—Course of Governor Stevens—Washington Volunteers Take the Place of the Disbanded Oregon Mounted Volunteer Regiment—Letter of Indian Agent Craig—Battle of Grand Rond—Effect of Shaw's Policy—Stevens' Failure in the Council with the Nez Perces—Attacked by the Cayuses and Walla Wallas—Wool's Report on this Matter—Stevens' Remarks Upon the Policy of Colonel Wright—Fort Walla Walla Established—The Oregon and Washington Superintendencies United—General Wool Recalled, and General Newman S. Clarke Succeeds Him—Slight Changes at First—Steptoe's Disastrous March—Clarke and Wright at Last Aroused—Wright's Campaign—Battle of Four Lakes—The Troops Victorious and the Indians Subdued—Kamiakin's Flight—Wright's Heroic Treatment of the Indian Question when the Army was Hurt.
The ice in the Columbia which had prevented Governor Curry from provisioning the volunteers, had also interfered with the plans of General Wool. It was out of the lower Columbia, however, long before it was broken up above; and on the eleventh of January the mail steamer from San Francisco was able to reach Vancouver, informing the general of fresh troubles in northern California and southern Oregon, which demanded his immediate return to Benicia.
On his passage down the river he met an up-coming steamer, on board of which was Colonel George Wright with eight companies of the ninth infantry regiment; and to him he assigned the command of the district of the Columbia river. At sea he also met Lieutenant-Colonel Silas Casey, with two companies of the same regiment, whom he assigned to the command of the Puget sound district.
Wright was directed to make his headquarters at The Dalles, and to concentrate there all the troops intended to operate in the upper country; to establish a post in Walla Walla valley; and another at the fishery on the Yakima river near the crossing of the road from Walla Walla to Fort Steilacoom, which was via the Nachess pass; besides which an immediate post was to be erected between The Dalles and the post on the Yakima; these two being intended to prevent the Indians taking fish. So complete an occupation of the country, it was expected, would soon bring the Indians into subjection. Meanwhile, Colonel Wright remained at Vancouver long after the five companies of recruits to the first regiment of Oregon mounted volunteers had found means to reach the upper country.
A point of great importance on the Columbia river was the cascades, and one easily defended had the military authorities apprehended its significance. Indeed, after the Yakima outbreak in October, Captain Wallen of the regular army had erected midway between the upper and lower cascade settlements a blockhouse, which was occupied during the winter by a company under Lieutenant Bissell, with the purpose of protecting government stores in transit from Vancouver to the upper country. The transportation of these stores depended upon a few small steamers on the Columbia below the cascades, and two similar boats between the upper settlement and The Dalles. The portage of five miles was partly overcome by means of a wooden tramway, whose motive power was a stout mule.
Early in March, Colonel Wright commenced moving his command to The Dalles, and a large amount of army stores and baggage was temporarily detained at the cascades, offering a great temptation to the Yakimas and Klickitats, whose country lay just above. When General Wool returned to Oregon about the middle of March, only three companies of infantry remained at Vancouver, two of which he ordered to Steilacoom; and on the twenty-fourth of the month the company at the cascades was ordered away, only a detachment of eight men under Sergeant Matthew Kelly of the fourth infantry being left to garrison the blockhouse, and repel any attack which might be made upon the government property at that place.
The cascade settlements were on the north bank of the river where a strip of bottom-land of no great width extends up and down for several miles. On the opposite side the mountains came down very close to the river, and there were no settlements. On Rock creek, at the upper end of the portage, was a sawmill, and a little below, on the river, was a cluster of houses and shops, and the store of Bradford & Company fronting the bay-like expanse of the Columbia which is here held back by the obstructions which form the dam of the cascades, until it appears to be a mountain lake. One of these obstructions is an island, which lay directly in front of Bradford's store, and which was being connected with the mainland by a bridge then in process of construction. Workmen were also hurrying forward the unfinished wooden railroad, where a bridge was building. In fact, the Indian war had given the Cascades, hitherto a mere trading post for immigrants, and for Indians, a strong impetus in the direction of growth; and on the morning of the twenty-sixth of March, two days after the removal of Captain Wallen's company, it presented a busy scene. The little steamer Mary lay at her moorings near the mill waiting for government freight, which it was too early, or too soon, owing to the unfinished state of the road, to have received. Her consort, the Wasco, lay on the opposite side of the river. The little town, hemmed in between the high bluffs back of it, and the turbulent river in front, had but fairly opened its eyes on this March morning, when there sounded on the bright mountain air that most horrifying and demoniacal of all human utterances—the Indian war whoop.
Following the fearful yells came the crack, crack, crack of many rifles, while puffs of blue smoke burst out from every clump of bushes, revealing the lurking places of the foe in a line extending from Rock creek to the head of the rapids, where the men had just begun their day's work on the bridge in front of the store. Along the whole line fell their victims. At the mill, B. W. Brown, his eighteen-year-old wife, and her young brother were slain, scalped, and thrown into the river, and the teamster at the mill wounded, who, however, escaped to the steamer Mary.
Three of the crew of the Mary were on their way to the steamer, whose fires were not yet lighted, when the attack was made. The wind was blowing hard down stream, and even with steam up it would have seemed doubtful whether the boat could be got out without serious delay. They looked in each others faces, and asked, "Have we any guns on the boat?" No, there were no arms. One of the three ran, going up the river to the house of a settler, named Imans. The other two made an effort to get the steamer out, when the Indians fired on them, and they ran to the cover of the woods and up past Imans'. Those who were already on the boat defended themselves, the fireman, James Lindsay, being shot through the shoulder. Buckminster, the engineer, killed one Indian with his revolver; and John Chance, the steward's boy, sprang on the roof and shot an Indian with an old dragoon pistol, being himself wounded in the leg while defending the boat. The cook, being wounded, jumped into the river and was drowned. But the boat's fires were started in the midst of this fight for life, and two wounded men taken on board, when Hardin Chenoweth went into the pilot-house, and lying flat upon the floor, backed the steamer out. When she was fairly out in the stream, he whistled defiance to the savages; but what was of more importance, whistled hope into the hearts of the men on shore, who understood it to mean that the Mary would return with aid as soon as it could be procured. The Wasco also, seeing the situation, had already made a start from the other side, and the men who had escaped by running up the river, were picked up by the boats.
Of the men at work on the island bridge most reached the store, though some were wounded, one mortally. The store was a strong log house, of two stories, with a flight of stairs on the outside. To this fled the inhabitants of the place who were not killed at the outset. Three men at work on a new warehouse on the island were unable to get off before two of them were wounded, one having to remain hidden under a shelf of rock for two days.
The Indians at the upper cascades now turned their whole attention to the little fortress of the store where forty or more persons, men, women, and children, were gathered. At first, the confusion was great, and in the midst of it Mr. James Sinclair of Fort Walla Walla, opening the door to look out for the three men on the island, was shot dead. This fatal occurrence warned the inmates that they must do as much fighting as in their imprisoned condition they could.
It had happened that this very morning nine government rifles had been left at the store, with ammunition and cartridge boxes, to be sent to Vancouver. On these nine rifles, and on the endurance of eighteen able men, now depended forty lives. No one dared venture out, nor could the Indians be seen from the lower floor front, which faced the river. There was a stovepipe hole in the ceiling of the lower room, by enlarging which several men ascended to the chamber above, where they could observe the Indians on the bluff overlooking the store. Portholes were cut in the walls, and frequent well-directed shots served to keep the savages at a cautious distance. The first of these killed an Indian who was leveling his gun at Mrs. Watkins, seeking shelter at the store. Her husband, it was, who lay wounded under a rock on the island; whose son was killed at the mill; and whose house was burned, together with the mill and lumber yard, and Imans' house, during that day.
When the Indians found the store contained men armed for resistance, they resorted to throwing rocks, hot irons, and burning pitchwood upon the roof; but as the bluff receded somewhat from the building, and as every Indian who came into view was fired on, these missles were apt to fall short, though many of the lighted ones lodged upon the roof, setting fire to the shingles. In that case the fire was extinguished by guards in the attic, who poked off the brands with long sticks, extinguished a blaze with brine from a pork barrel applied with a tin cup, or cut out the ignited patch of roof with axe and saw. During the long day there was no cessation of the siege, no rest for the besieged. It was agreed by all in the store that should they be burned out, they would make a rush for a flatboat that lay in front of the building, and go over the falls in her, such a death being preferable to falling into the hands of the Indians.
The suddenness of the attack had left no time for preparation, even for procuring from the river, on whose brink they were, a supply of water. All the drinking fluids in the store were a few bottles of whisky and two dozen of ale, which were consumed before night. If the weary and gasping garrison, or the wounded, hoped that night might bring them relief from their torture, they were disappointed, for the Indians had calculated upon this, and reserved for burning some of the largest buildings, so to light the scene that escape or sortie would be impossible. However, during the night a young Spokane, who had been brought up by Mr. Sinclair, stripped himself naked, and slipping down a slide to the wharf, procured a single bucket of water, returning in safety; but the action was too dangerous to be repeated.
With the return of day the besieged looked for the Mary and Wasco to appear, bringing relief, but no relief came; and this day, like the first, was spent in unrelaxing vigilance. No water and little food was had. When the second night came there was repeated the illumination of fires, whose glare did not die out until almost daylight. About four o'clock on the morning of the twenth-eighth, the Spokane boy again offered his services, under the cover of darkness to procure water, and the body of Mr. Sinclair was slipped out of and down the slide into the river, for it was impossible to longer keep it in the midst of the crowded storeroom.
When the attack was made on the upper cascades a party of Yakimas had attacked the blockhouse at the middle cascades, and one of the local Indians had run with the news to the lower landing, where George Griswold was living, who that morning was at an Indian village on a sand bar between his house and the blockhouse, to engage a crew for one of his boats, which was going to Vancouver for freight. At the village the Cascade Indians informed Griswold that the Yakimas had come, the story being confirmed by the noise of cannon and musketry at the blockhouse; and on this he returned with all haste to the lower cascades, accompanied by others, who were warned on the way by a carpenter at work on the tramway, who cut loose the mules attached to a car, mounted and ran, crying to others, "Run for your lives! they are righting at the blockhouse!!" The fugitives assisted in getting off a couple of boats, with the women and children, for Vancouver, from whence help might be expected.
A wharf boat lying at the lower landing had in it considerable government freight, which the men in charge would have defended by barricading, but had no ammunition to stand a siege. There were also some batteaux and a schooner at the landing, over which the men kept guard until near night, when the Indians appeared and fired on them as they shoved the boats out into the stream, wounding one man. The boats then proceeded down the river, and the Indians burned all the property they could not carry off.
Meanwhile, neither those at the upper or lower cascades knew what was transpiring at the blockhouse, except that it had been attacked, as was evidenced by the firing. The first intimation of an attack was hearing a few shots and the shouts of men running from above warning others. Five of the garrison of nine were in the fort at that moment. Hastening to the entrance they found one soldier shot through the hip. Indians could be seen on a hill in front. The cannon was run out and fired without much effect, except to prevent a nearer approach. The people in the vicinity came fleeing to the fort for protection, drawing the fire of the Indians, which the soldiers returned until all who were left alive were sheltered. For four hours firing from both sides was kept up, when seeing that the enemy was about to burn a large building, the cannon was again discharged to disperse them. Just before night a wounded soldier ventured to the blockhouse and was rescued. An attempt was made during the night to fire the blockhouse, without success; the prowling about continuing until the next day, when three soldiers made a sortie to a neighboring house for provisions, returning in safety. During the afternoon a large body of Indians appeared on the Oregon side of the river, but were dispersed by the cannon; and late that day a party from the fort sallied out to bring in the dead and wounded, and to search for arms and ammunition in the deserted houses.
These events, although not known at the upper landing, were partly guessed; guessed so far at least as that some boat or boats would get off to Vancouver for military aid, which now was looked for from that direction rather than from The Dalles, since the long delay in hearing from that quarter had led to the fear that Wright's command had left that post, or that the boats had been captured.
With what a shout of joy, then, was answered the whistles of the Mary and Wasco as they made their landing at daybreak on the twenty-eghth, followed by the noise of a howitzer, and by the yells of the soldiery, as they rushed ashore without waiting for orders and plunged into the woods everywhere, bayoneting every bush as they ran.
What had taken place at The Dalles and above was this: When the Mary arrived at The Dalles, Colonel Wright was encamped on Five-mile creek above that place, on his way to Walla Walla to establish a post, as before mentioned, was the order of General Wool; and it was midnight before a courier reached him with the news. At daylight he began his march back to The Dalles with two hundred and fifty men, rank and file, who were all on board the steamers, and their baggage on a flatboat in tow of one of them, by night of the twenty-seventh. On the way down the Mary's flues became out of order through the ignorance of a new fireman, which delayed the voyage until the morning of the twenty-eighth.
Although the Indians had fired a volley at the Mary as she stranded for a few moments on a rock at the mouth of the creek, when they came to be looked for not one was to be seen. Colonel Wright at once proceeded to organize a force made up of two companies of the ninth infantry under Captains Winder and Archer; a detachment of dragoons under Lieutenant Tear, third artillery; with a howitzer under Lieutenant Piper, the whole commanded by Colonel Septoe, who was ordered to advance to the blockhouse and thence to the lower landing.
In order to understand what follows, it is necessary to shift the scene to Vancouver. When the news of the Yakima descent on the cascades reached that post, great consternation prevailed through an apprehension that Vancouver was the objective point aimed at by the hostile Indians. Colonel Morris, in command, removed the women and children of the garrison and the greater part of the ammunition to the Hudson's Bay Company's fort for greater security. At the same time he refused arms to the captain of the volunteer home guard, in obedience to General Wool's orders, leaving the citizens of the town defenseless. As before mentioned, only one company had been left at Vancouver when the forward movement to The Dalles was ordered. Of this company Colonel Morris dispatched forty men, under the command of Lieutenant Philip Sheridan, on board of a small steamer called the Belle, which left Vancouver early on the morning of the twenty-seventh. On his way up Sheridan passed the schooner and batteaux which had left the lower cascades the previous day, the men on them volunteering to return with him and fight, which offer was accepted. At ten o'clock in the forenoon the Belle reached her destination, finding the place totally destroyed, and making a landing on the Oregon side.
From here Sheridan, with a part of his command, proceeded up the river on foot to a point opposite the upper town to reconnoiter. On his way he learned from the Cascade Indians the condition of affairs both at the upper town and the blockhouse. He then returned and landed his men on the Washington side, at the same time dispatching a canoe to Vancouver for more ammunition. But the Indians did not wait to be attacked. While the troops and howitzer were being disembarked on a sand island two of the men were shot down, and Sheridan was compelled to retreat some distance from the cover of the Indians, the steamer dropping down in company. A council of war was then held, and it was decided to maintain their ground, which was done with much difficulty through the remainder of the day. An advance to the blockhouse could not be made, though the diversion effected by the presence of troops was a relief to the garrison, as has been shown by their immunity from harm on the afternoon of the twenty-seventh.
Meantime, a volunteer company raised in Portland on the night of the twenty-sixth, and commanded by L. G. Powell, consisting of thirty men of that place, and about an equal number from Vancouver, proceeded in the steamer Fashion, arriving at the lower cascades soon after the Belle, but finding themselves unable to advance up the river against a numerous concealed enemy in front. They landed, however, and by their presence may be presumed to have had an influence in arresting the designs of the Indians. The Fashion returned to Portland and brought up on the next morning forty more volunteers, enrolled by Colonel A. P. Dennison, aid to Governor Curry, and commanded by Captain Stephen Coffin, and a recruit of regulars, with a supply of ammunition.
The ammunition and howitzer, being placed on a batteau, was taken up opposite the blockhouse, the design of Sheridan being to cover his men while they landed, and to give the garrison a pleasant surprise. The sand island, before referred to with the Indian village, lay directly in front of the blockhouse. These Indians were professedly friendly, and were in charge of agent G. B. Simpson. They had communicated to the agent early on the morning of the twenty-sixth that there had been Yakimas in their camp during the night, with the understood design of inducing their people to join in a war upon the white inhabitants, but had repudiated any such intention. There were circumstances, however, which led the agent to doubt their sincerity, and Sheridan was made aware of them. His barge lay in the slough between the island and the main shore, which was lined with Yakimas. His position was therefore critical, and his attempt full of gallantry. He had the opportunity to achieve a reputation; not only that, but, unknown to himself, he was so holding the attention of the Indians in his front and rear, that the approach of Steptoe's command was unseen, and they might have been taken by surprise with troops all around them.
Alas for lost opportunities! Just at the critical moment which should have recorded a victory for the regulars, a bugle blast was sounded, Steptoe's column was seen descending a hill close by in all the bravery of advancing to action, and presto! in two minutes not an Indian was in sight. The army in Flanders never swore more terribly about anything than the volunteers about that bugle call! But for that, the Yakimas might have been punished; but for that, Sheridan, with whom they sympathized, might have scored a victory.
This fight, which was no fight, has often been called Sheridan's first battle. That is not strictly true, as few things in current history are. He had been in action in Rains' campaign, but his first responsible command was this of the cascades, and in this he was balked by the traditions of the service to which he belonged. Afterwards he learned how to fight Indians. One Indian only was killed by Steptoe's command, and the life of a soldier paid for that one.
The companies of Captains Powell and A. P. Dennison, Oregon volunteers, returned home on the twenty-ninth. They had done what they could, or as Governor Curry expressed it in a dispaich to Brigadier-General Barnum, had "tendered important assistance in rescuing the people there, and reëstablishing communication from here," the latter a most important object with the first regiment still in the upper country. The peculiar situation of the cascades, with several miles of unnavigable rapids between the upper and lower landings, preventing the approach by boats from below to the upper town, with only a narrow strip of land between hemmed in by high mountains, and that, in the possession of a numerous and concealed foe, had rendered progress impossible until the advance of troops from the opposite direction had caused the foe to take to voluntary flight, and then their services were no longer required.
The killed in the attack on the cascades were: James Sinclair, B. W. Brown, Mrs. Brown, George Griswold, James Watkins, Henry Hager, Jacob Kyle, Jacob White, Richard Turpin, Norman Palmer, —. Calderwood, Bourbon (half-breed), and three soldiers. Those who died from their wounds were: George Watkins, lived four days; Jacob Rousch, lived six days. The wounded who recovered were: Fletcher Murphy, H. Kyle, P. Snooks, J. Lindsay, John Chance, Jesse Kempton, W. Bailey, J. Elgin, Thomas Price, —. Moffat, and two soldiers.
Colonel Wright ordered a blockhouse erected on the bluff back of Bradford's store, with another at the lower landing, and troops were stationed at both places. He also caused to be arrested Chenoweth, chief of the Cascade tribe, and eight others of that band, who were found to have been implicated in the murders. Half a dozen guilty ones had gone with the Yakimas, who could not be taken.
The arrested Indians had a fair trial, Chenoweth being the first to suffer for his crime. Being convicted, he endeavored to buy his life; offering ten horses, two Indian women, and other property, to each of the officers of the court to let him go free. His offer being refused, he made another request—not to be buried in the ground—his people depositing their dead in deadhouses, or in canoes elevated on posts high above the ground. He was quash (afraid) he said of the grave in the ground. However, when he came to die, he did so with the indifference of the savage. On the scaffold he gave the war whoop. The rope not working perfectly, he hung for a moment able to mutter, "wake nika quash copa memelose" (I am not afraid of the dead), and was finally shot to end the painful scene. The other murderers were hung within three days after Chenoweth, and a few prisoners were sent to Vancouver. Wright issued orders that all Cascade Indians found off the island set apart for them should be shot at sight.
The cascades affair was severely commented on by territorial authorities, and not without reason. General Wool had been keen to scent out and point out to the war department any errors committed or expenses incurred by the military organizations of Oregon and Washington; even to mentioning the unavoidable loss of horses by the volunteers in the Indian country through the severity of the weather; and the reported capture of a train of thirteen wagons, guarded by only four men, by the Indians between Umatilla and Walla Walla, the report being wholly without foundation in fact. Said Colonel Cornelius in reply: "During the whole period of the war the Indians have not succeeded in capturing a single article of quartermaster or commissary stores or supplies, ammunition, or a wagon."
On the other hand Major Haller had lost in the Indian country nearly all the horses of his command, with a large amount of government property; Major Rains had conducted a costly campaign without any definite results; and lastly, Colonel Wright, by the advice and with the sanction of General Wool, had advanced his command into the Indian country leaving his army stores and supplies of every kind unguarded in his rear, causing not only their loss, but the death of seventeen innocent persons; the wounding of a dozen more, and the destruction of the property of almost the entire settlement.
This last misadventure had delayed the opening of the spring campaign as arranged by the commander of the army in the Columbia division. It was nearly the last of April when Wright returned to The Dalles. The snow was still two feet deep on the mountains when the troops and artillery were crossed. By the thirtieth all were encamped twenty-five miles above The Dalles, on the north side of the river, and Lieutenant Davidson was sent on a scout to look for the Indians, who were already out of reach. The command was advanced to Ahtanahm creek, seven miles north of the mission, when a few scattering Indians were seen, but the dragoons were unable to capture any to guide them to their encampment.
On the night of the sixth of May, Wright's command was attacked and the prairie set on fire to the windward. The night being dark the sentinels failed to discover the attacking party until firing commenced. On being promptly met by the troops they retired until morning when they again appeared in large numbers on a long range of hills in front of the encampment; but upon being followed and charged by the dragoons, precipitately fled. The following day a party of Yakimas was overtaken with whom was the chief Skloom. A brief talk was held, but this chief would not commit himself to any policy without consulting Kamiakin and others, who were sent for.
On the eighth negotiations were still delayed, as those present wished to send for a son of Peu-peu-mox-mox. Wright on the following day broke up his encampment and marched to a range of hills in front, when the Indians sent messages after him. Arrived on the Nachess, Wright sent a messenger to say he would receive them. The messenger found the chiefs Skloom, Showwawy, Owhi, Kamiakin, and Teies seated in council with young Peu-peu-mox-mox in their midst, who was haranguing in an excited manner. The chiefs did not agree as to who was responsible for the war. The young Walla Walla chief was for continuing the war all summer; and finally it was decided not to see Wright that day, though several messages were subsequently sent to him. But word was returned to Kamiakin that no more messages would be received unless peace negotiations were desired, and every Indian approaching his camp would be fired upon. This brought a reply from Kamiakin that all the chiefs desired peace, and would visit Wright's camp the following day, first sending away their young men.
The morning of the tenth came, however, without bringing the chiefs, and a large party was seen moving northward towards the Wenass. Dragoons in the afternoon made a reconnoissance up the Nachess to find a crossing, but the river was found too swollen to be forded. During the evening a friendly Klickitat informed Colonel Wright that Skloom and Showwawy were the only chiefs in favor of peace; that all the others were against it, and an attack on his camp would be made that night or the next day. On this information, an express was sent to Colonel Steptoe to join him with all the disposable force on the Columbia.
No further communication was had for five days. On the fifteenth, Indians were seen on the hills, and came to the brink of the river, which was still so swollen as to be impassable for troops. However, word was sent to Wright's camp that most of the chiefs were assembled, and desired to talk, when Lieutenant Van Voarst crossed over and had an interview with Owhi, who returned with him to camp, and declared his wish for peace. On the following day, Owhi's father came to Wright's camp, and talked in the same strain. He promised to see Teies, who, he said, was the head of the Yakima nation, though Owhi had the most numerous following, and consequently the most influence. Teies himself appeared on the afternoon of the seventeenth, and said the Yakimas would abide by his word; but no council was held and no negotiations concluded with the several chiefs. The salmon not yet having begun to run up the rivers, the Indians were compelled to go to the mountains for food, where it was thought impracticable to follow them, and the troops remained in camp.
On the twenty-seventh of May, Colonel Steptoe joined Wright's command, making the force in the field about five hundred, exclusive of detachments with pack trains. Earthworks were thrown up on the Nachess river of dimensions sufficient to contain the stores, and a company or two. A bridge was thrown across the stream to enable the troops to pass over to the fisheries, where it was expected the Indians would congregate when the fish should begin to run. In order to weaken the influence of Kamiakin, the friendly Klickitats were sent to the reservation, and Palmer, who was still superintendent, was advised to remove the Cascade Indians also. Wright expected by these means to get affairs in a shape to crush the Indians who remained hostile at a blow.
But the policy of the Indians in this case, as in other wars, was to affect to have two parties, and to play off one against the other. The chiefs vascillated. One day there were only two who were hostile; the next, only two who were for peace, and these differences prevented the holding of a treaty council. Yet in order to prevent Wright from going to war with them, and punishing them for their crimes, small parties continued to visit him, bringing such accounts as, whether they were true, as they sometimes were, or false, as they often were found to be, were such as would stay his hand and allow them time to collect their winter store of food at the fisheries, as Major Rains had said to them they would not be permitted to do, and as it was Colonel Wright's intention to prevent their doing could it be shown that they really did not desire peace.
On the evening of the ninth of June, Owhi, Kamiakin, and Teies, encamped on the bank of the river opposite Fort Nachess, and sent friendly messages. Upon being told that if they desired peace they must come to Wright's camp and talk it over, Owhi and Teies complied, and charged the blame of the war upon the treaty of Walla Walla—that is to say, upon Governor Stevens, Superintendent Palmer, and the military officers present. To this Wright replied by asking what they had to gain by war, telling them they were as children in his hands; that if they persisted in fighting their warriors would all be killed, and their women and children driven to the cold north, where they must starve; that he sympathized with them, and was their friend, but they must not seek to avenge their wrongs by war.
This was the kind of talk they desired to hear, for it showed them they had nothing to fear from the army so long as their double policy could be maintained. It did not much signify that Wright ordered Kamiakin and the other absent chiefs to come into camp or be pursued as enemies. Skloom and Showwawy had gone to the Palouse country, leaving their people with Owhi, for the Oregon volunteers still occupied that region; and others were absent on various missions.
The order to come into camp extended to five days, during which must be collected the property belonging to immigrants whom they had plundered. But none of the chiefs appearing at the appointed time, Colonel Wright moved his force across and encamped on the Yakima river, in the Kitetas country, Colonel Steptoe remaining at Fort Nachess with three companies and one mountain howitzer.
The history of Wright's operations, as given in his reports, shows a summer spent in trailing Indians from place to place, from fishery to fishery, and over mountains before thought impassable for troops, dragging after them their season's supplies, and accomplishing nothing but to collect the non-combatants of the disaffected tribes upon a reservation in Oregon, where they were secure from the turmoil of war, and at liberty to spy on either side. On the trail over the mountains to the Klickitat country and returning, Wright marched one hundred and eighty miles. While there he made the acquaintance of the old chief Nikatani, who, at his request, visited him at the camp on the Ahtanahm, and there related to him the part taken by Kamiakin in the cascades affair.
According to Nikatani, Kamiakin had sent a party of thirty Yakimas to Camas lake in his country to command the young men of the Klickitats to proceed to the cascades and endeavor to gain over the Cascade Indians to his project, which was to watch for a time when both steamboats were at that place, burn them, thus cutting off escape or assistance, and make a simultaneous attack on the whole line, killing all the white inhabitants, and holding the place until Kamiakin should arrive with a large force for further operations. Twenty Klickitats were induced to join the Yakimas, and these fifty held secret meetings with the Cascade Indians, gaining over their chiefs, and making the attack, with the result already known.
Nikatani declared that his people had long been under the tyranny of Kamiakin, who took away their horses and their women. The Cascade Indians, as a tribe, had not been guilty, but the chiefs, Chenoweth and Banahi, had fired their own houses to make it appear that they had been attacked, and with a minority of their people had led the onslaught on the white residents.
From the time when Governor Stevens had returned to his capital to about the middle of April he had been dealing with a serious uprising of the Indians west of the Cascades, among whom the emissaries of Kamiakin had been disseminating hostile sentiments. The valleys on the east side of the sound had been depopulated; the town of Seattle besieged and only saved by the timely presence in the sound waters of United States gunboats; and murder had lurked everywhere, on land and water.
Stevens had met this calamitous condition of his territory with characteristic firmness, and been opposed in his course by the officers of the army under General Wool's influence. Having disposed of these matters at home, he proceeded to attend to his duties as superintendent of Indian affairs, first sending a battalion of Washington volunteers under Colonel Shaw to reënforce the Oregonians in that portion of his territory east of the mountains.
Shaw's command crossed the Cascades, by the Nachess pass, falling in with Wright on the river Nachess, with whom he offered to coöperate, but who declined his services, when he proceeded to the Walla Walla valley, where he arrived on the eighth of July with all his command, except a force of seventy-five men under Captain Goff, who had joined Major Layton of the Oregon rangers, with whom he was making a march through the John Day country, capturing Indians and taking many Indian horses.
This constant marching through their country, taking away their horses and supplies, gradually forced the needy and the neutral individuals and bands onto the reservation at Warm springs, and together with the somewhat similar policy of Wright, caused the surrender of over nine hundred Wascos, Tyghes, Des Chutes, and John Day Indians to the agents, thus lessening the numbers liable to commit depredations or act as go-betweens. There were, however, still the fighting forces of the Cayuses and Walla Wallas and a part of the Nez Percés to overcome either by arms or diplomacy.
In the discharge of his duties as superintendent of Indian affairs, Governor Stevens began to prepare early in the summer for the annual distribution of goods to the tribes who had remained friendly, and instructed special agent Craig, who was also lieutenant-colonel of Washington territory volunteers, still in command of the company of sixty Nez Percé chiefs and picked men organized in January, to send expresses to the Spokanes and Cœur d'Alenes to invite them to a council in the Nez Percé country. Craig's answer, which is here given, contains an amount of information which is nowhere else to be found regarding the attitude of the Indians at this time, and the cause of it:—
Headquarters Company M,
Second Regiment, Wash. Ter. Volunteers,
Lapwai, May 27, 1856.
There is no doubt but the Spokanes, or at least a part, have joined the war party; they are determined on fighting the Nez Percés, who beg and pray their big chief to send them some help; they are here in the middle of their enemies without ammunition, and they ask for their white friends to come and help them. The volunteers having all abandoned the country, and hearing nothing of the regulars, there is a cloud of Indians collected in the Spokane country, they say, to rub out the few whites and Nez Percés there are here.
There is very little doubt that the Indians in the direction of the upper Columbia have joined the war party, as they have received their horses for pay for so doing. There are now Cayuses, Palouses, Spokanes, Okinikanes, Cœur d'Alenes, and Colville Indians, a part of each of which are now this side of the Spokane prairie. They say they have made all the whites run out of their country, and will now make all the friendly Indians do the same. They have sent to the Snakes, and a party has already joined them. What are the people of the lower country about? Have they abandoned the country forever, or are they giving the Indians a chance to collect from all parts and break up all friendly parties? They say, "What can the friendly Indians do? They have no ammunition, and the whites will give them none; we have plenty; come and join us and save your lives, or we will take your property anyhow."
A party came a few days ago—of Cayuses, Spokanes, and of other bands—to the number of seventy to the Red Wolf country, and crossed from there to the Looking Glass on their way to this place. They talked very saucy. The volunteers (Nez Percés) went to prevent them from crossing Snake river. The Looking Glass told them they would not cross. They said they had come to get horses for the Spokanes to ride; that Garry was going to head their party to the Nez Percés country, and learn those people who their friends were; and they would find out who said the Cayuses should not pass through their country. The Nez Percés are very much alarmed, as there are but few of them that can be depended upon.
The Lawyer says that the people on Snake river and the north side of Clearwater cannot be depended upon, as they do not come near us. I sent for them when I received your instructions that I could talk with them, but they did not come. They said that Governor Stevens was too far off to talk with him, but that when he came up they would see him; and as there are but few from the forks up to Lawyer's country and Salmon river, people that will fight if attacked, they wish me to move up to their country. They say we have no ammunition to defend ourselves here so near the enemy's country.
Now, sir, you can see how I am situated at this place. You said, when we parted in Walla Walla valley, that you would send me some supplies early in the spring, and I have been expecting them since that time, but have received none, nor even heard of any. I am entirely out of everything; I have not even salt for my bread, and I cannot remain in this country entirely destitute of everything. I want powder, ball, caps, flints, sugar, coffee, salt, tobacco, clothing for men and familes. If we do not get supplies we will be compelled to move to where we can get them. It is necessary for two companies to be sent into this country immediately for the safety of the people and property in it.
Hoping to hear from you shortly, I remain, your obedient servant,William Craig,
Special Agent, Nez Percés, Lieutenant-Colonel W. T. Volunteers.
The urgent appeal made by the friendly Nez Percés through their agent could not be disregarded; hence, the movement of Shaw with one column of his command through the Yakima country, and of Captain Goff with the other column by the way of the Columbia to The Dalles, and thence to Walla Walla on the Oregon side of the river, escorting a wagon and pack train with supplies, and goods for the friendly Indians. At Mill creek, in the Walla Walla valley, July eighth, there were two hundred and ninety of Shaw's command, and sixty Nez Percé auxiliaries, under Spotted Eagle, accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Craig. Supplies were immediately sent forward to the Nez Percé country, a pack train of one hundred animals being taken there in charge of special agent Robie without an escort.
Colonel Shaw had been instructed by Governor Stevens to "spare no exertion to reduce to unconditional submission any hostiles within reach," and learning that there was a considerable force of the enemy in the Grand Rond, determined to attack them. Moving on the night of the fourteenth of July, he struck them on the seventeenth, defeating them with heavy loss, capturing a large number of animals, destroying their provisions, and taking one hundred pounds of ammunition. Major Layton was at the same time on the immigrant trail leading to the crossing of Snake river, and skirmishing with the Indians wherever they were overtaken.
This vigorous policy produced a marked effect in weakening the influence of the Spokanes with the Nez Percés. So far had they prevailed with that people in the absence of Craig and the sixty auxiliaries, that when Robie reached the agency with the supply train he was ordered out of the country and marched one hundred miles back to Mill creek without halting. On Shaw's return to headquarters after the battle of Grand Rond, he sent the chief, Captain John, to the Nez Percés with this message: "I am your friend; I have not come to fight you, but the hostiles. But if you beat your drums for war, I will parade my men for battle." The Nez Percés then sent back friendly messages.
The last of the Oregon volunteers were disbanded in August. About the same time Colonel Wright informed Governor Stevens that he intended to send four companies under Lieutenant-Colonel Steptoe to occupy the Walla Walla, and the term of service of Shaw's command expiring September tenth, the Washington volunteers were also mustered out of service.
Here might be ended the narrative of the causes and conduct of the Yakima war, so far as the volunteer service was concerned. But there are still to be related the leading incidents of its conclusion as a war.
On learning that the Nez Percés, excepting Lawyer's following, had refused to acknowledge their treaty obligations, or to accept the supplies sent them, Governor Stevens immediately instructed Shaw to send runners to the different tribes, friendly and hostile, inviting them to meet him on the twenty-fifth of September, but at the same time notifying them that he required the unconditional surrender of the latter. He urged Colonel Wright to be present at the council with three companies of regulars, including all his mounted men, which invitation Wright declined.
On the nineteenth of August, Stevens left The Dalles with a train of thirty wagons, eighty oxen, and two hundred loose animals, and without any other escort than the necessary employés of the expedition. A day or two behind him followed the baggage and supply train of Colonel Steptoe's command. He arrived in the Walla Walla valley on the twenty-third, again sending word in all directions of his desire to meet the Indians for a final adjustment of their difficulties.
At the end of a week a deputation of the lower Nez Percés came in with their agent, Craig. In another week the remainder of that people arrived, and on the same day came Father Ravelli from the Cœur d'Alene mission, with the information that Kamiakin, Owhi, and Qualchin of the Yakimas, refused to attend the council. The Spokanes also, influenced by Kamiakin, who had his headquarters on the border of the Spokane country, with the other northern tribes, declined to meet the superintendent.
On the tenth of September the hostile Cayuses and their allies arrived, and encamped near the Nez Percés, but without paying the usual visit of ceremony to Governor Stevens. They had but recently captured a pack train loaded with provisions for Shaw's command, and were correspondingly elated. To show in what mood they were, they fired the grass of the country traveled over, making it impossible to subsist a mounted force on that route.
The council opened on the eleventh, and lasted one week, Stevens in the mean time moving his camp to near Steptoe's position on Mill creek, six miles from its junction with the Walla Walla, fearing an outbreak. The only terms to which the war chiefs would assent were to be left in possession of their respective territories as before the treaty. It was the frequently expressed opinion of the officers of the regular army, including Colonel Wright and General Wool, that the former treaties should not be confirmed. It was, nevertheless, the duty of the superintendent to execute, if possible, a treaty made, until congress had rejected it; and it was the duty of the army of the United States to assist him. But this obligation was ignored by Colonel Wright, with the approval of General Wool, who, in his turn, by representations often wide of the facts, secured for himself the approval of those still higher in the service.
Nothing was accomplished by the council, and Stevens set out to return to The Dalles with his train of Indian goods, escorted by Shaw's command under Captain Goff, which was attacked several times on the nineteenth and twentieth, and would have been taken but for the assistance of Colonel Steptoe, who lost two soldiers in the fight, and who was reproved by General Wool for acting as an escort to volunteers.
Stevens returned to his capital, and General Wool wrote to Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas, then assistant adjutant-general of the army at New York: "Governor Stevens has returned to Puget sound, where it is hoped he will remain, although it is apprehended he will attempt the renewal of the war in that region. By his efforts to cause another war at Walla Walla, he induced Looking Glass, the great war chief of the Nez Percés, a numerous and powerful tribe, to favor Kamiakin of the Yakimas, who has a few followers. He, however, has informed Colonel Wright that he is friendly to the whites and does not want to fight. The Walla Wallas and Cayuses say that they do not desire to fight, but want to be paid for their lands before any more talk is had about taking them away for the whites to settle upon, and prescribing them to certain limits. Lieutenant-Colonel Steptoe says he urged Governor Stevens to adjourn his council with the Indians weeks before it was brought to a close, as it was plainly to be seen that no good would result from it." He further says: "There would have been no further disturbance but for the council; it was premature and inopportune. It was, no doubt, an effort to create another outbreak with the Indians, with the hope by such a course to induce congress to pay the enormous debt contracted to carry on the war, which there was no circumstance to justify."[1]
Soon after the repulse of Stevens and the fight with Steptoe, Colonel Wright repaired to Walla Walla with an additional company of troops, and called a council of the chiefs. But few responded, and those were the friendly Cayuses, Howlish Wampool, Tintinmitse, and Sticcas, and the Nez Percés, Red Wolf and Eagle-from-the-Light, who belonged to the hostile party. No Yakimas, Des Chutes, Walla Wallas, or Spokanes were present or paid any attention to the summons. Concerning his council, Colonel Wright reported that the Stevens treaty was responsible for all the hostilities, and that the Indians so declared. Eagle-from-the-Light he denominated "the sense-bearer and mouthpiece of Looking Glass; a man of much character, and destined to reach the chieftanship of all the Nez Percé nation." His views of the treaty were the same as those of the other chiefs, though he desired to live in harmony with the white people. "I am fully satisfied," remarked the colonel, "with all that has been said by the chiefs or myself. Peace and quiet can easily be maintained. The Indians are perfectly satisfied with the establishment of a military post here. All they want is quiet and protection."
Referring to the same proceedings, Governor Stevens wrote the secretary of war: "I now make direct issue with Colonel Wright, that he has made a concession to the Indians which he had no right to make; that by so doing he has done nothing but to get the semblance of a peace, and that by his acts he has in a measure weakened the influence of the service having the authority to make treaties, and having charge of the friendly Indians. He has, in my judgment, abandoned his own duty, which was to reduce the Indians to submission, and has trenched upon and usurped a portion of mine."
After establishing Fort Walla Walla, which was done by the twentieth of November, Colonel Wright returned to The Dalles, leaving Steptoe in charge. He directed Captain Jordan of The Dalles to make arrangements for the transportation of the public stores from the mouth of Des Chutes to the mouth of the Walla Walla by water; and several boats, clinker-built, were constructed for that purpose, and used to convey government freight up the Columbia; and finally a steamboat called the Colonel Wright was built and placed on the upper Columbia, all of which was a direct outcome of the Yakima war, and an important step in the development of the country. The post at The Dalles was strengthened; Captain Wallen stationed at the cascades instead of Captain Winder, who was ordered to Fort Walla Walla with his company to replace one of the ninth infantry, while a single company of the fourth infantry was left at Vancouver. In this state of quiet occupation the country rested during the winter of 1856–7, the wars north and south being to all appearances ended.
In the spring of 1857, in order to curtail expenses of the Indian department, the superintendencies of Oregon and Washington were united in one under J. W. Nesmith of Oregon, late colonel of volunteers. Another important change occurred in answer to a petition of the Oregon legislature, which was the recall of General Wool from the command of the department of the Pacific, his successor being General Newman S. Clarke, whose first visit to the Columbia river district was in June, 1857.
Nesmith recommended to the commissioner of Indian affairs at Washington City that the treaties of 1855 be ratified, as the best means of bringing about a settlement of the existing troubles, and upon the following grounds: that the land laws of congress permitted the occupation of the Oregon and Washington lands without regard to the rights of the Indians, thereby making the intercourse laws a nullity; that friendly relations with them could not be cultivated while their title to the soil was recognized by the government, which at the same time withheld payment for it and gave its subjects a right to settle in the country.
General Clarke distributed to the different posts in Oregon and Washington between fifteen hundred and two thousand troops, among which were three companies of the ninth infantry under Major R. S. Garnett at Fort Simcoe in the Yakima country; three companies of the same regiment at The Dalles under Wright; and one company each of the first dragoons, third artillery, fourth and ninth infantry at Walla Walla under Steptoe, who was joined in the autumn by Captain A. J. Smith with his troop from southern Oregon.
Clark's first measures were governed, visibly, by the prejudices fostered by the injurious reports previously circulated, concerning the management of Indian wars and affairs generally in Oregon. But when he came to know that in spite of the conciliatory policy of the regular army, and its efforts to cultivate friendly relations in the Walla Walla, from which settlers had been rigidly excluded with this purpose, the Indians had presumed upon the non-combativeness and forbearance of the soldiery to drive off the garrison live stock, and return flippant or insolent answers to demands for explanation, he gradually became convinced that it would be necessary to mingle with mercy some lessons of justice.
In April, 1858, Colonel Steptoe reported to General Clarke that an expedition to the country bordering on the northern mines seemed to be called for, a petition signed by forty persons residing at Colville for troops to be sent to that place having been received at his post. Besides, two white men had been murdered on the road to Colville by the Palouse Indians, who had also made a raid into the Walla Walla valley, driving off the government cattle.
On the sixth of May, Steptoe left the post with a force of one hundred and thirty dragoons, intending only to make a march and impress upon the Indians the fact that a military power resided in the country, which, on occasions, it might be unpleasant to encounter. He proceeded to the Nez Percé country in a leisurely manner, and was ferried over the Snake river by chief Timothy, once a member of Mr. Spalding's church, who also acted as guide. At the Alpowah he found the party of Palouses said to have committed the two murders, who fled at his approach. Proceeding northward, he received information on the sixteenth that the Spokanes were preparing to fight him. Disregarding the report he kept on until he found himself surrounded by about six hundred Indians in their war paint, who had posted themselves close to a ravine through which the road passed. The force here assembled was drawn from the Palouse, Spokane, Cœur d'Alene, and Nez Percé tribes, the latter numbering but few. It was so stationed that it could attack the troops on three sides should the command enter the ravine, and Steptoe called a halt, during which a parley was held with the Spokanes, in which they informed him they heard he had come for war, and they should not permit him to cross the Spokane river.
It was evident that he should have to fight whether he proceeded or retreated, and after a consultation with his officers, turned aside to avoid the pass, and encamped in about a mile on the border of a small lake. He had not, however, dared to dismount his command, the Indians haying traveled along with him, not more than one hundred yards away, employing, according to their custom, the most insulting language and gestures to provoke their enemy to battle. However, no shots were exchanged, both sides waiting for the overt act, and Steptoe being unprepared for fighting, the dragoons having only their small arms.
Late in the afternoon several chiefs presented themselves, mounted, at Steptoe's camp, inquiring his business in their country, and why he had brought a howitzer with him. On being told that he was on his way to Colville to ascertain the origin of the troubles between the Indians and the miners and residents, they professed to believe him, departing apparently satisfied. But among themselves, and to their priest, Father Joset, they declared their unbelief; giving as a reason that Steptoe had not taken the direct road to Colville, and had gone out of his way to pass through their country; a fact of which that officer was ignorant, having trusted everything to his guide, who, with that curious indifference to consequences affecting others, which is a part of the Indian character, had deliberately brought him into a hostile region.
Finding that, although professedly satisfied with regard to his intentions, the Spokanes would not consent to ferry him over their river when he should arrive at it, and that if it came to fighting, great odds would be against him, which his men were not armed to meet, Steptoe determined upon retreat.
Accordingly, early on the morning of the seventeenth the return march was begun. But the Spokanes were unwilling to allow him to escape out of their hands without a tilt at arms, and had gathered to themselves a consider able force of Cœur d'Alenes in the neighborhood.
Before marching, Father Josét, of the Cœur d'Alene mission, had an interview with Steptoe in which he offered to explain the causes which had led to the hostile attitude of the Indians in this quarter; but not wishing to be detained, it was agreed that the principal chiefs of the Spokanes and Cœur d'Alenes with the father, should join him as he marched, and talk as they rode along. Not a chief of the Spokanes, however, came near, the interview being held between Vincent, head chief of the Cœur d'Alenes, Father Josét, and Steptoe. In the midst of it some Palouses, who had been dogging the heels of the command, commenced firing, and at the same moment Vincent was called away by his people. Soon firing from every side followed, and the battle was on.
Steptoe had not only to march and fight, but to defend a pack train moving over a rolling country favorable to Indian modes of warfare. He kept his column closed up, the supplies guarded by a company of dragoons, until he came to the crossing of a small stream. Here the Indians closed in to get at the head of the column; and Steptoe ordered Lieutenant Gregg with one company to move forward and occupy a hill which they were endeavoring to gain for that purpose. Gregg had no sooner reached this position than the Indians made a dash for one that commanded it, making it necessary to divide his company in order to drive them from it.
The action had now become general, the companies of Steptoe's command fighting by making short charges, being at a great disadvantage on account of the inferiority of their weapons to those of the Indians. On one of the companies making a run to reënforce Lieutenant Gregg, the Indians charged to cut it off; and Lieutenant Gaston, who was two thirds of a mile off with his company, made a dash to intercept them, and being met by Gregg's command from the hill, the Indians sustained a loss of nine killed, among whom were a brother-in-law of chief Vincent and another head man. Victor, an influential chief of the Cœur d'Alenes was mortally, and many others more or less severely wounded. This heavy loss greatly enraged the Cœur d'Alenes, who now fought like demons. As the troops pressed on slowly towards the water, Captain Oliver H. P. Taylor and Lieutenant William Gaston, to whom had been assigned the difficult duty of flanking the column, were killed. The loss of their commanders threw the men into confusion, but they defended the bodies of the dead officers and brought them off the field under a rain of bullets.
It was now apparent that the Palouse, the nearest water, could not be reached by daylight, and although it was now but little past noon, Steptoe was forced to remain on the summit of the hill now known as "Steptoe's Butte," near the town of Colfax, where the troops dismounted and picketed their animals. They were ordered to lay flat upon the ground, and defend, as well as they could, this position from the charges of the Indians. "To move from one point to another," wrote Lieutenant Gregg, "we had to crawl on our hands and knees, amid the howling of the Indians, the groans of the dying, and the whistling of balls and arrows." Towards evening the ammunition, of which there was an insufficient supply, began to give out, and the men who were chiefly recent recruits, overcome with fatigue and thirst, became so indifferent to fate that the three remaining officers could with difficulty inspire them to defend themselves. Six of their number were dead or dying, and eleven others wounded.
The escape of the whole command now depended entirely upon a successful flight. The dead were hastily interred, and with the best horses, and a small supply of provisions, the force which had set out to show volunteers how to treat Indians, and to impress upon Indians the great superiority of the regular troops over civilians, crept silently away at ten o'clock at night, reaching Snake river on the morning of the ninteenth, and returning to Fort Walla Walla.
The reason given by Father Josét for the conduct of the Cœur d'Alenes was that ever since the first outbreak in 1855 they had said no white settlers should be admitted into their country, nor any roads made through it. Information had reached them of the road projected by Lieutenant Mullan from the Missouri to the Columbia, which made them very angry. They also had determined not to permit troops to be sent to Colville, as that would open the way for more troops and finally to the occupation of the country.
General Clarke seems to have thought this sufficient apology for the loss inflicted on the army, and offered, through Father Josét, who went to Vancouver to plead for his spiritual charge, to treat with them, sending passports to bring their chiefs to his headquarters. But the Cœur d'Alenes were not inclined to treat, being much puffed up by their victory over Steptoe, and denied having commissioned Josét to negotiate for a treaty. Their attitude affected the other tribes, who were again openly hostile.
After a consultation with his officers, including Wright and Steptoe, General Clarke in June determined upon an expedition which should not repeat the blunders of previous ones. Three companies of artillery were brought from San Francisco, one company of the fourth infantry from Fort Jones in California, and another company from Fort Umpqua in Oregon. The troops intended for the expedition were concentrated at Fort Walla Walla and thoroughly drilled, the artillerymen being instructed in infantry practice, less one company which was practiced at artillery drill, mounted. Nothing was omitted which could secure discipline in battle. The command of this body of troops was given to Wright.
At the same time a second expedition was prepared, designed to go against the Yakimas, and commanded by Major Garnett, consisting of three hundred troops, which was to move, on the fifteenth of August, towards Colville, through the Yakima country, driving the hostile Indians towards one common center where they would be met by Wright's forces.
On the seventh of August, Captain Keyes, with a detachment of dragoons, was ordered to proceed to Snake river crossing, and erect a fortification. The point selected was at the mouth of the Tucannon river, and named Fort Taylor, after Captain Taylor, killed at Steptoe's butte. On the eighteenth Wright arrived at Fort Taylor. His force, when organized, numbered about two hundred dragoons, ninety infantry, organized as a rifle brigade, and four hundred artillerymen drilled in infantry practice. The arms used by the rifle brigade were Sharpe's long range rifles and minie ball, two things with which the Indians were not yet familiar in warfare.
Before leaving Walla Walla, Colonel Wright had called a council of the Nez Percés, with whom he made a "treaty of friendship," binding them to aid the United States in wars with any other tribes, and binding the United States to assist them in the same case, at the cost of the government; and to furnish them arms whenever their services were required. The treaty was signed by Wright on the part of the United States, and by four chiefs of not the greatest importance in the Nez Percé nation, namely, Timothy, Richard, Three Feathers, and Speaking Eagle. It was witnessed by six army officers, and approved by General Clarke. A company of thirty Nez Percé volunteers was accepted, and dressed in United States uniform, which was placed under Lieutenant John Mullan, to act as guides and scouts.
On the thirty-first, Wright had reached a point on his march about seventy-six miles due north of Fort Taylor, and within about twenty of the Spokane river, when the Indians showed themselves in parties along the hills, exchanging occasional shots with the Nez Percés whom they recognized in spite of their United States uniform, and firing the grass in order to make a smoke which should hide their movements. But the grass did not burn well, and after a skirmish feint upon the rear guard they retired again to the hills.
Understanding these indications to mean that the main body of the Indians was not far off, Wright encamped his command in the vicinity of Four lakes to give the troops a needed rest before battle. But the Indians were not inclined to allow him this refreshment, and on the morning of September first began to mass themselves on the crest of a hill distant about two miles. On recognizing their purpose, Wright made a reconnoissance in that direction with a force consisting of two squadrons of dragoons, commanded by Major W. N. Grier; four companies of artillery, armed with rifle muskets, commanded by Major E. D. Keyes; the rifles battalion of two companies of the ninth infantry, commanded by Captain F. T. Dent; one mountain howitzer, under Lieutenant J. L. White; and the Nez Percé brigade, under Lieutenant John Mullan. At camp was left one company of artillery, a howitzer, and a guard of fifty-four men, all under Captain J. A. Hardie, assisted by Lieutenants H. G. Gibson, G. B. Daudy, and H. B. Lyon.
Grier was directed to advance his cavalry to the north and east around the base of the hill occupied by the Indians, in order to intercept their retreat when the infantry should have driven them from the summit. The artillery and rifle battalion, with the Nez Percé brigade, were marched to the right, where the ascent was more easy, to push the Indians towards the dragoons. They gave way, as was expected, but made a stand on the other side, and kept up an annoying fire upon the dragoon squadrons who were waiting for the support of the infantry.
Lieutenant Kip of the artillery, in his charming little book Army Life, has written so vividly of the scene and the battle of "Four Lakes," that it may be quoted here without prejudice to the subject and to the readers gratification. He says: "My place as adjutant of the artillery battalion was, of course, with Captain Keyes. We rode up to the top of the hills, when the whole scene lay before us like a splendid panorama. Below us lay four lakes, a large one at the foot of the barren hill on which we were, and just beyond it three smaller ones, surrounded by rugged rocks, and almost entirely fringed with pines. Between these lakes, and beyond them to the northwest, stretched out a plain for miles, terminated by bare, grassy hills, one succeeding another, as far as the eye could reach. In the far distance was dimly seen a line of mountains covered with the black pine. On the plain below us we saw the enemy. Every spot seemed alive with the wild warriors we had come so far to meet. They were in the pines on the edge of the lakes, in the ravines and gullies, on the opposite hillsides, and swarming on the plain. They seemed to cover the country for some two miles. Mounted on their fleet, hardy horses, the crowds swayed back and forth, brandishing their weapons, shouting their war cries, and keeping up a song of defiance. Most of them were armed with Hudson's bay muskets, while others had bows and arrows and lances. They were all in the bravery of their war array, gaudily painted, and decorated with their wild trappings; their plumes fluttered above them, while below skins and trinkets and all kinds of fantastic embellishments flaunted in the sunshine. Their horses, too, were arrayed in the most glaring finery. Some were even painted, and with colors to form the brighest contrast, the white being smeared with crimson in fantastic figures, and the dark-colored streaked with white clay. Beads and fringes of gaudy colors were hanging from their bridles, while the plumes of eagle's feathers interwoven with the mane and tail fluttered as the breeze swept over them and completed their wild fantastic appearance.
'By heaven! it was a glorious sight to see
The gay array of their wild chivalry.
"In the mean while, the companies moved down the hill with all the precision of a parade, and as we rode along the line it was pleasant to see the enthusiasm of the men to get within reach of the enemy. As soon as they were within some six hundred yards they opened fire, and delivered it steadily as they advanced. Our soldiers aimed regularly, though it was no easy task to hit their shifting marks. The Indians acted as skirmishers, advancing rapidly and delivering their fire, then retreating with a quickness and irregularity which rendered it difficult to reach them. They were wheeling and dashing about, always on the run, apparently each fighting on his own account.
"But minie balls and long range rifles were things with which now for the first time they were to be made acquainted. As the line advanced, first we saw one Indian reel in his saddle and fall—then two or three—then half a dozen. Then some horses would dash madly forward, showing that the balls were telling upon them. The instant, however, that the 'braves' fell, they were seized by their companions and dragged to the rear, to be borne off. We saw one Indian leading off a horse with two of his dead companions tied on it.
"But in a few minutes, as the line drew nearer, the fire became too heavy, and the whole array broke and fled towards the plain. This was the chance for which the dragoons had been impatiently waiting. As the line advanced they had followed on behind it, leading their horses. Now, the order was given to mount, and they rode through the company intervals to the front. In an instant, we heard the voice of Major Grier ringing over the plain, as he shouted, 'Charge the rascals,' and on the dragoons went, at headlong speed. Taylor's and Gaston's companies were there, burning for revenge, and soon they were on them. We saw the flash of their sabres as they cut them down. Lieutenant Davidson shot one warrior from his saddle as they charged up, and Lieutenant Gregg clove the skull of another. Yells and shrieks and uplifted hand were of no avail as they rode over them. A number were left dead on the ground, when once more the crowd broke, and dashed forward to the hills. It was a race for life, as the flying warriors streamed out of the glens and ravines, and over the open plain, and took refuge in the clump of woods, or on the rising ground.
"Here they were more secure from the dragoons. Had the latter been well mounted they would have made a terrible slaughter. But their horses were too much worn out to allow them to reach the main body. For twenty-eight days they had been on the march, their horses saddled all day, and engaged in constant scouting; at night picketed, with only a little grass after camping. They were obliged, therefore, to halt when they reached the hillside, their horses being entirely blown.
"The line of foot once more passed them and advanced, renewing their fire, and driving the Indians over the hills for about two miles. As we ascended the men were so totally exhausted that many had fallen out of the ranks, and Captain Keyes was obliged to order a short halt to let them come up. When a portion had joined we resumed our march."
By two o'clock the whole army had returned to camp, not a man or horse having been killed. The loss to the Indians was eighteen or twenty killed and many wounded. For three days Wright rested unmolested in camp, resuming his march on the fifth of September. In about five miles he came upon the Indians collected to oppose his progress. They moved in a line parallel to the troops, their number continually increasing, until on coming to a plain bordered by a wood they were seen to be stationed in the timber awaiting a moment to attack.
As Wright's column approached the grass was fired, which burned fiercely, the wind carrying it in the direction of the troops. Under cover of the smoke the Indians spread themselves out in a crescent, half enclosing it. A strong guard was placed about the pack train, and the battle opened. The companies deployed right and left, and the men flushed with their recent victory, dashed through the smoke and flames, driving the Indians to the cover of the timber. Here they were assailed by shells from the howitzers, and as they fled the foot soldiers charged them. Again and again they were driven to cover, and from cover for a distance of four miles, until they were forced upon a plain, where a cavalry charge repeated the scenes of Four lakes.
Still the Indians fought with obstinacy. The route of Wright's march lay through a pine forest, and they formed parties at different points to annoy him, also occupying a hill by which he must pass; but the riflemen and howitzers again dispersed them. However, the fighting was kept up for a distance of fourteen miles. That afternoon Wright reached the Spokane river, his command having marched twenty-five miles without water. One soldier only was wounded slightly. Two chiefs of the Cœur d'Alenes were killed, two chiefs of the Spokanes, and Kamiakin of the Yakimas was hit on the head by a falling tree-top, which a shell had blown off. The total loss of the Indians was not known, as they carried off the slain. They burned one of their villages to prevent the soldiers pillaging it, and in every way showed great courage and patriotism.
Wright remained one day in camp on the Spokane without molestation, the Indians appearing on the opposite side of the river, and intimating a desire to communicate with him, but not venturing across. On the seventh, as the army was on the march, they reäppeared and held a conversation with the Nez Percés and interpreters, from which it was learned that they wished to meet Colonel Wright, with the Spokane chief, Garry, and hold a talk, to which proposition Wright consented, and encamped at a place appointed.
Garry had from the earliest occupation of the country by white people been a peace man, and a peace man he now said he remained; but the war party in his nation was the stronger of the two, and included many of his friends and relatives, making it very hard for him to decide upon a course, for he had either to take up arms against the white men, or be killed by his own people. From his well-known character no doubt was entertained of the truthfulness of his statement; but Wright met him with the tone of a conqueror, telling him his people had been beaten in two battles without any loss to the army, and that as often as they chose to engage him he was prepared to beat them again; he had not come into their country to sue for peace, but to fight. But if they were tired of war, he would name his terms of peace, which were, that all that they had must be laid at his feet,—arms, property, women, and children,—and they must trust in his mercy. On no other terms would he cease to make war upon them, but keep fighting, year after year, until they were exterminated. With this message Garry was sent back to his people.
Then came another Spokane chief, Polatkin, with a retinue of nine warriors, unarmed, having left their weapons on the further side of the river to avoid surrendering them. Two of the warriors were required to fetch the guns and crossed the river after them, when one ran away, but the other brought the guns to camp. Wright repeated to Polatkin what he had said to Garry; and as this chief was known to have been in the attack on Steptoe as well as in the recent battles, and was suspected also of certain murders, he was detained while the other Indians were sent to bring in all the people, with their property.
On the eighth the march was resumed, and after about nine miles the Indians were discovered driving all their stock into the mountains instead of surrendering as was required. A skirmish followed, in which the dragoons captured eight hundred horses, the foot troops assisting in driving them to Wright's camp sixteen miles above Spokane falls. At this camp an Indian detained with Polatkin, and who was suspected of certain murders, was tried, convicted, and hanged.
It being impracticable to take the large herd of captured horses, most of which were unbroken, on a long march, Wright determined to have them killed, except such as could be made immediately useful. The order was carried out on the ninth and tenth, and the Spokane nation was, in a large measure, dismounted. This humiliating policy had its effect, and Big Star, another Spokane chief, surrendered, with his village, in due form. His example was followed by the Cœur d'Alenes, who were told to make their submission at the Catholic mission on Cœur d'Alene lake.
On the seventeenth of September, a council was held at this place, Father Josét and chief Vincent being present. Wright sat in judgment in an arbor of green boughs in front of his tent, surrounded by his officers. Vincent opened the council by acknowledging that he had committed a great crime, regretting it, and hoping for forgiveness. To this Wright replied that he had spoken truly—that a great crime had been committed; but since he had asked for peace, his request should be granted on certain conditions, these being the delivery to him of the men who struck the first blow in the attack on Steptoe, to be sent to General Clarke; the delivery of one chief and four warriors, with their families, to be sent to Walla Walla; the return of the property taken from Steptoe's command; consent that troops and other white men should pass through their country; the exclusion of the turbulent hostile Indians from their country, and a promise to engage in no hostilities themselves against white men. They were also required to be at peace with the Nez Percés, to which they cheerfully agreed, the whole treaty being written out and formerly signed; Polatkin, for the Spokanes, signing and smoking the peace pipe.
On the twenty-third, a council was held with the Spokanes, to which Kamiakin was invited; but he declined, fearing he might be selected to be sent to Walla Walla. The same terms were offered and accepted as had been accepted by the Cœur d'Alenes. After its conclusion, Owhi of the Yakimas came into camp, when Wright had him arrested for breaking his agreement made with him in 1856, and ordered him to send for his son Qualchin, telling him he would be hanged if Qualchin did not appear. Unexpectedly, the young chief rode into camp without being summoned and was hanged without trial. Owhi, attempting to escape on the return march when Wright was at Snake river, was shot by Lieutenant Morgan and died in an hour or two. Only Kamiakin and Skloom of the Yakima chiefs of any note were now left. Their influence was greatly lessened by the results of their previous acts. Kamiakin abandoned his country and people, going to British Columbia, whence he returned no more, and Skloom sank into obscurity.
As for the Palouses, Colonel Wright refused to treat with them, but instead had several of them hanged. Fort Taylor was abandoned on the first of October, and on the fifth the whole command returned to Fort Walla Walla.
On the ninth, Wright summoned the Walla Wallas into his presence. When they were assembled he ordered all those who had taken a part in the recent battles to stand up. Thirty-five standing up at once, he selected four who were delivered to the guard to be hanged, making in all sixteen Indians by him hanged as examples to their people. The country east of the mountains was closed to settlement by military order, much to the discomfiture of persons who had entered into stock raising on its grassy plains. But General Harney succeeding General Clarke in command of the department of the Columbia opened the country to settlement in 1859, since which time, with the exception of raids by Snakes and Utes, and Joseph's war of recent date, there has been peace and prosperity for both the white and red inhabitant.
It should be remembered that only a few of these murders occurred before 1847, which doubles the annual number killed after the Indian disturbances commenced, estimating the loss in that manner. But, as a matter of fact, the greater portion of the victims of Indian violence fell between the years 1850 and 1862, and estimating the loss by averaging it over twelve years, brings it up to at least one hundred and sixty annually for that period; and this out of a sparse population.
The greater proportion of those who suffered were men in the prime of life, who could ill be spared by the struggling young territories, though comprising all classes—travelers, prospectors, miners, ranchers, traders, freighters, and lastly, volunteers in defense of the settlements, or soldiers in the service of their country. Many immigrant families were totally destroyed, the women and children suffering every outrage which fiendish imaginations could devise. The amount of property destroyed by Indian attacks upon immigrants, settlers, and United States supplies is enormous. The losses sustained by the people has never been repaid, except in a few instances where congress has been specially besought to reïmburse a transportation company's losses.
Many philanthropical persons find themselves greatly outraged by the recurrence from time to time of Indian wars. I think the simple record above sufficiently accounts for them. In 1870 General Sheridan wrote: "So far as the wild Indians are concerned, the problem to be decided is: Who shall be killed, the whites or the Indians? They (meaning the interior department), can take their choice. Since 1862, at least eight hundred men, women and children have been murdered within the limits of my present command in the most fiendish manner, the men usually scalped and mutilated, their privates cut off and placed in their mouths; women ravished fifty and sixty times in succession, then killed and scalped; sticks stuck into their persons before and after death."
General Sherman also wrote strongly against the Indian apologists and sympathizers a few years later, referring to the great number of persons butchered in the department east of the Rocky mountains.
It has been too often the case that military men sided with the Indians against their own race, causing the pioneers of the west who had suffered in their persons and fortunes, to suffer again in their feelings. The Indian ring, besides, gave cause of offense by holding "councils," which were practically fairs, at which the Indians were enabled to purchase complete supplies of arms and ammunition for a raid, which usually followed immediately afterwards. With such supplies they massacred the garrison at Fort Fetterman, and Custer's command on the Little Big Horn, Montana; the residents at the White-river agency in Colorado; and the unsuspecting people of Idaho. These severe lessons have not been entirely lost on military or public sentiment. The absence of such knowledge in military circles accounts reasonably for the blunders of the army in Oregon, in pioneer times. The conquest of Mexico and California had led army officers to believe that it was a little thing to subdue wild Indians—an error which General Clarke and Colonel Wright finally corrected, since which time the army has faithfully defended the frontiers, once guarded only by the heroic pioneers, to commemorate whose labors this history is written.- ↑ Indian Affairs Report, 1856, pp. 218–19.