party from Jacksonville arrested Taylor, with three others, and hanged them; after which they proceeded to Table Rock, and not finding the captive women, attacked a village, killing six Indians.
There was at this time neither Indian agent nor military officer in Rogue-river valley to prevent the outrages of one race upon the other. Dart had been superseded in the superintendency by Joel Palmer, who had not yet supplied the place of agent Skinner, resigned. The nearest troops were at Fort Orford on the coast and Fort Jones in Scott valley. A new administration had come in, Lane having returned to Oregon with the commission of governor, only to be reflected delegate, leaving the secretary, George L. Curry, acting governor, and Lane at liberty to reside, as he preferred to do when in Oregon, at Roseburg in the Umpqua valley.
This was the condition of affairs when, early in August, the settlements in Rogue-river valley were suddenly at tacked. On the fourth, Richard Edwards was killed at his home on Stuart s creek; on the fifth, Thomas J. Wills and Rhodes Noland were killed, and Burrill F. Griffin and one Davis wounded. Hastily formed volunteer companies pa trolled the roads and warned settlers, who gathered their families into a few fortified houses, and setting over them a guard, joined the volunteers.
On the seventh of August two Shasta Indians were cap tured, one on Applegate creek and the other on Jackson creek. Both were in war paint, and on investigation were proved guilty of the murder of Wills and Noland, for which they were hung at Jacksonville. Not satisfied with this act of justice, an Indian lad who had nothing what ever to do with the murders, was seized and hung by the infuriated miners. So great was the excitement that it was dangerous for a man to suggest mercy.
Acts of this nature were not calculated to lessen hostilities on the other side, and the torch was applied to the abandoned houses of the settlers. Ten homes in as many
