Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 2/Mrs. Clayton's Account of Indian Troubles in California in 1849
MRS. CLAYTON'S ACCOUNT OF INDIAN TROUBLES IN CALIFORNIA IN 1849.
The account given by Mr. William M. Case of the troubles with Indians in the California mines in 1848 is of so much historical importance, and has so great a bearing upon the subsequent history of that state, that any confirmation of his recollections is very acceptable. This we find in the following account of Mrs. Fannie Clayton, now of Seaside, Oregon. As a girl of thirteen, just from across the plains, she was a witness of the attempted execution and actual shooting of the guilty Indians. The narrative is as follows:
Speaking of Mr. Benjamin Wood, who was one of the murdered Oregonians, she says: Mr. Wood boarded at my father's in New Lancaster, Illinois, and afterwards with us at Milford, Missouri. He was a well educated man from New England and New York, and we called him a Yankee. In 1843 he came to Oregon with my brother Ninian, joining the immigration at Saint Joseph, Missouri. He worked at Hunt's mill, and went to the California mines. He was a man of about thirty at that time, and was very ingenious he could make almost anything in the way of mechanical contrivance. He discovered gold on American River, at a place afterwards called Murderers' Bar. This was not Spanish Bar; that was another place. Murderers' Bar, about fifteen or sixteen miles from Coloma, on Middle Fork, was very rich, and he was making a rocker that would wash it more economically.
Ninian and Crockett Eberman (brothers of Mrs. Clayton) were in his party. As the camp gradually ran out of provisions, these two young men, with Humphrey O'Brien, another member of the company, took a night journey to Coloma to repair their supplies. The object of observing secrecy, however, was not any fear they then had of Indians, but to prevent discovery of their claims by other mining parties, as was a customary rule at the time. Upon returning they found that Wood and all the rest of their partners had been murdered by the Indians. The camp had been utterly demolished and all traces of it obliterated, and no signs of any camp having ever been there could be seen, except the still remaining indications of the camp fire, and also Wood's rocker, still uncompleted. The men killed here were Ben Wood, Thompson, and Alexander. The only signs of any tussle was the hair of Wood, which was black, strewn about the ground. Ninian Eberman found two sacks of gold, which he afterwards gave to the widows of the married men.
Another massacre which Mrs. Clayton remembers occurred farther up the river, where Leonard and Sargent's party were cut off, except a young man named Carter, who escaped by swift running. He was closely pursued by a remarkably powerful Indian, whom he afterwards identified among the Indians brought in for trial for the murder of Wood's party. Sargent's body was fearfully mutilated, the flesh being cut from the bones.
These murders seem to have been committed rather for the robbery of clothes or tents than of gold. The Indians had little idea of the value of gold, often giving an ounce or more at Coloma for a bit of calico. They were also jealous of the white peoples' coming, fearing they would take away their land, etc., and so cut off struggling white men when they dared. Mr. Wood, however, was a great friend of the Indians, and had no fear of them.
In order to punish the murderers, and with the idea probably of ending their further outrages, a party of miners was made up, among whom were both Ninian and Crockett Eberman. By these the Indians were attacked and many were killed. Seven were captured and brought to Coloma and placed in jail. These were declared by the Indian women to be among the murderers; and some of the Indian women were also detained in jail to act as witnesses at the trial. Among the Indians was the one who pursued Carter. He stoutly maintained his innocence until Carter entered the jail and declared him the murderer of Sargent.
All the above had occurred but a short time before the arrival of Mrs. Clayton with her father at Coloma in February, 1849. It was about two weeks afterward that the Indians were brought in. They were held ten days or so. At the end of this time Mrs. Clayton's uncle said to her one day, "Fannie, they are going to hang the Indians; do you want to see them?' She and the other girls went out, not wishing to witness the actual execution, but simply to see the murderers as they were taken from the jail. She stood at the corner of the building, and there was a crowd of some hundreds gathered around. As the door was opened, the Indians came out looking about fearfully, but had not gone more than ten feet before they broke and ran in a body up the river. This space was clear, being in the direction of the trees upon which ropes were already placed. At the same instant the Oregon guards began shooting, Ninian Eberman being the first. Several fell at once. Two reached the river; one was shot and sank in the water; one swam across and reached the opposite shore, and was just lifting himself from the surface by a willow when we was shot. His body was found the next day still clinging.
One of the Indians, however, ran toward the hill, and was climbing up the steep side, but was pursued by an Irishman named "Billy" McGee, a sailor, a little man, but a swift runner. As the Indian saw that he would be overtaken, he halted on the steep hillside immediately above McGee, and casting off his blanket, drew a concealed knife, with which he made a stroke, but losing his foothold fell directly before the sailor, by whom he was quickly dispatched.
The Oregonians had taken pains to give the Indians a trial, having for the purpose of taking evidence, secured as interpreter an Indian girl who understood both English and Spanish. Through her they learned who were the guilty parties. The Indian men refused to talk, further than to deny the charge: but the Indian women pointed out the guilty ones. It was not the intention to hang all the Indians, but all were shot in trying to escape. That some of the tribe remaining were angry at the women who gave evidence was proved by finding later the bodies of the four Indian women who testified against the men, concealed in a thicket, where they had fallen, shot full of arrows.
The merchants of Coloma generally opposed the execution of the Indians, and in this they were supported by many of the Eastern men just arrived, who looked upon the methods of the Oregonians as too severe. They also feared that there would be a general Indian uprising. It was also generally understood that the traders profited greatly by the trade of the Indians, and even by the murder or robberies they committed; and when much dust was brought by them to the town suspicion at once arose that miners had been killed. Merchants at Coloma at that time were, as Mrs. Clayton remembers them, Hastings, Shannon, and Hampton the latter a dry goods dealer, who, however, favored the execution of the guilty Indians; Marshall opposed the execution. Sutter, at Sutter's Fort, also favored the Indians. Feeling ran very high and danger of collision between the two parties was imminent. The keeper of the hotel where the Indian girl was found to act as interpreter, refused to let her appear in court; but she was taken off bodily by Tharp and Eberman, and under rather stern orders, performed the prescribed duty.
After reading over the above to Mrs. Clayton, and mentioning that she differed in some respects from Mr. Case, noticeably in the date of the execution, and the manner in which the Indians escaped, she replied, "That is just as I remember it."
Mr. Case stated that the Indians in attempting escape, at a signal, a strange shout of "Ungh!" from the leader, fell to the ground, and tried to wriggle through the crowd. Mrs. Clayton remembers nothing of this peculiar manoeuvre, though one of the Indians ran immediately past where she stood and made a sweep of the hand so near as almost to touch her.