The Early Indian Wars of Oregon/Yakima/Chapter 1
THE YAKIMA WAR.
THE YAKIMA WAR.
CHAPTER I.
Extent of the Hostile Conferation in Oregon and Washington—The Yakimas Murder Miners—Death of Bolan—Kamiakin's Confession to a Spy—The Preparations for War—Acting Governor Mason of Washington Territory Makes a Requisition Upon the United States Forts—Major Haller is Ordered Into the Yakima Country—His Battle and Defeat—Comments of General Wool—Reenforcements and Volunteers Called For—Action of Governor Curry—A Regiment Called Out by Proclamation—Major Rains' Campagin—Kamiakin's Letter—Rains' Reply—Wool's Remarks on Rains' Campaign—Indifference of the Regular Army to the Peril of Governor Stevens—Olney's Futile Attempt to Prevent the Walla Wallas and Cayuses Joining Kamiakin—His Order to the Settlers—Raymond's Letter to the Volunteer Commander—Fort Walla Walla Destroyed With all its Contents—Curry's View of His Duty—Organization of the First Regiment of Oregon Mounted Volunteers—Occupation of the Walla Walla Valley by Oregon Forces—The Battle of Walla Walla—Killing of Peu-peu-mox-mox—Indignities Inflicted on His Body—End of Four Days' Fighting—The Indians Retire—Losses on Both Sides—Fort Bennett Erected—Safe Arrival of Governor Stevens at the Fort—His Course With the Cœur d'Alenes, Spokanes, and Nez Perces—Looking Glass Treacherous—Successful Councils—Resignation of Nesmith—Thos. Cornelius Chosen Colonel—The Regiment Recruited—Hard Fare—Fight With the Yakimas—Loss of Mounts—Regiment Disbanded—Battalion of Oregon Rangers Organized.
The commencement of the Rogue-river war was not by any means a merely local disturbance, but was a part of a widely extended effort of the Indians of Oregon, and also of Washington, to rid themselves of the presence of the white race. A comparison of dates shows a widespread combination of the tribes, from the Siskiyou mountains in the south, to the southern boundary of British Columbia in the north; and from the waters of the Pacific on the west, to the springs of the Columbia on the east. Everywhere was discontent, jealousy, and hatred of the superior and encroaching civilization. That there was reason for much of the discontent in treaties compulsarily made, tardily ratified, and fraudulently executed, cannot be denied; nor that the fault was with the government rather than with the people. Every interest of the people in the first instance was in favor of peace; but the peace once, nay many times, broken, the preservation of their lives and property forced upon them the alternative of war, even to extermination, the end of which was, as we have seen, first conquest, and finally banishment for the inferior race. And all this, no matter where the responsibility rested, was in consonance with that law of nature which decrees the survival of the fittest.
About at the date of the outbreak in the Rogue-river valley, several citizens of the Puget sound region traveling to the Colville mines through the country of the Yakimas, were murdered by that tribe. The apology offered for their conduct subsequently was a story of outrages perpetrated upon their women by these men—a story never believed by their acquaintances at home, and never proven. Other small parties were also murdered.
As soon as the news of these murders reached sub-Indian agent A. J. Bolan, who was on his way to the Spokane country to meet Governor Stevens, who, it will be remembered, had, after the council of Walla Walla, continued making treaties with the northern tribes of east Washington and Montana, he turned back to investigate the matter.
From The Dalles he proceeded to the Ahtanahm Catholic mission, near which Kamiakin had his home, to learn from the chief himself the truth or falsity of the report. In order to show his confidence in the good disposition of the Yakimas, he traveled unattended, and consequently only Indian evidence was obtainable of what occurred between the agent and the chief. It was said that the latter was insolent and threatening, and that Skloom, the brother of Kamiakin, informed Bolan that a council of war had been held in Grand Rond valley, at which he, and Lawyer of the Nez Percés, had spoken in favor of peace. The haughtiness and unfriendly manner of the chief were said to have annoyed Bolan, and that he threatened in his turn the punishment of the hostile Indians by the United States government. However that may have been, Bolan was murdered by a nephew of Kamiakin, son of his half-brother Owhi, who, while pretending to escort him, killed both the agent and his horse, and burned the bodies, together with everything belonging to either.
Bolan not appearing at The Dalles at the expiration of a sufficient time for his business, Nathan Olney, agent at that place, dispatched a friendly Des Chutes chief as a spy to discover the cause of the delay. To this chief Kamiakin confided his intention and ability to carry on a war against the white race, stating that he was prepared to fight for five years if all were not sooner killed; and that the tribes which refused to join him would be treated as enemies, and killed or enslaved. Father Brouillet also wrote to Mr. Olney that ever since the treaty council in the spring, war had been the absorbing topic among the Indians about the Ahtanahm mission.
That the Yakimas were prepared for war was ascertained to be quite true, large stores of powder having been purchased notwithstanding the legislative act against selling arms and ammunition to the Indians, and everything pointed to a combination of several powerful tribes, including the hitherto friendly Walla Wallas, and the Spokanes.
Rumors continued to come in of murders committed upon persons going to or returning from the Colville mines, which being confirmed, towards the last of September acting Governor Mason of Washington Territory made a requisition upon Forts Steilacoom and Vancouver for troops to protect the travel upon this route. This requisition was honored by Major Rains, in charge of Vancouver, ordering Brevet-Major Haller of The Dalles into the Yakima country with a force of about one hundred men and a howitzer, to coöperate with a force of fifty men under Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter from Steilacoom. This force was not sent to punish the Indians, but to "inquire into" the cause of Kamiakin's hostility; and General Wool, in May following, in a letter to the National Intelligencer, charged Haller with "proceeding on his mission without the precautions necessary against savage warfare,"—certainly a contradiction of terms. Just as certainly Haller did not expect so soon to find the Yakimas prepared for battle; while, on the other hand, the civil authorities of Oregon and Washington felt great anxiety for the fate of the expedition, as, should it fail, a long war might be apprehended.
About sixty miles from The Dalles, which post he had left on the second of October, just as his command was emerging from a deep ravine on Pisco river, Haller found himself confronted on the afternoon of the sixth by fifteen hundred Indians, who attacked him. The battle continued until night, when he gained possession of a hill, where he remained surrounded; the battle being renewed on the morning of the seventh, and lasting all that day, the troops being without water, and with little food. During the second night a courier was dispatched to The Dalles for reënforcements, and to apprise Major Rains of the situation of Haller's command.
Towards evening of the third day, the suffering from thirst being unbearable, the cavalry horses and pack animals were allowed to go free to find water and grass, only as many horses as were necessary to move the wounded and the ammunition being retained. Preparations were also made to retreat towards The Dalles; the howitzer being spiked and buried, and the baggage and provisions burned. The command was organized in two divisions, the advance under Haller with the wounded, and the rear under Captain Russell, acting as guard. With characteristic indetermination, the Indians had withdrawn to a sufficient distance to allow of such a movement; and but for the guide in the darkness having led the advance off the trail, so that fires had to be lighted to signal the rear guard, the departure of the troops might not have been discovered. The fires having betrayed their flight to the Indians, and not having been seen by Captain Russell, Haller, with only half his command, was compelled to keep up a running fight to within twenty-five miles of The Dalles, where he was met by Lieutenant Day of the third artillery, with forty-five men, who proceeded to the border of the Yakima country, and a block house was erected on the Klickitat river. Slaughter's command from Fort Steilacoom crossed the Cascades by the Nachess pass; but finding a large force of Indians in the field, and learning that Haller had been defeated, fell back to the west side of the mountains. The loss sustained by Haller was five men killed and seventeen wounded, besides a large amount of property destroyed, abandoned, and captured. As well as could be ascertained, forty Indians were killed.
The reënforcement called for by Haller was one thousand men. The regular force immediately sent out was three mountain howitzers, three hundred and fifteen artillery and infantry, and nineteen officers. It was at this juncture of army affairs that Captain Fitzgerald, as before mentioned, was ordered from Fort Lane, where he was needed, to take station at The Dalles for its protection in the absence of the garrison. Captain M. Malony was ordered to the field from Fort Steilacoom, leaving only a few men to guard the families at that point. Lieutenant Williamson's escort of nineteen dragoons, which was at Vancouver, was also pressed into the service under command of Lieutenant Phil. Sheridan. But all these recruits did not suffice to make a force equal to that demanded; and Major Rains called upon Governor Mason for two companies, and upon Governor Curry for four companies of volunteers, to take the field as fast as raised and equipped. At Vancouver there were only enough arms to equip two Oregon companies, the other two being required to find arms and equipments wherever they could. Governor Mason applied to the commanders of the Deeatur and Jefferson Davis, two government vessels in Puget sound, for arms, and obtained them, and the Washington volunteers were stationed at various points west of the Cascades for the defense of the settlements, except one company organized to go to the relief of Governor Stevens, still in the Blackfoot country.
Although Governor Curry did not refuse to furnish Rains the four companies asked for, being satisfied that a hostile combination existed among the Indians throughout the northwest, he issued his proclamation October eleventh for eight companies, to act independently of, but in conjunction with Major Rains, which companies he placed in the field as rapidly as they were armed and supplied. The following is the governor's proclamation:—
The following named counties are expected to make up the number of men wanted, and in order to facilitate operations the subjoined named gentlemen are respectfully requested to act as enrolling officers in their respective counties:
Multnomah county, one company, Shubrick Norris; Clackamas county, one company, A. F. Hedges; Washington county, one company, W. S. Caldwell; Yamhill county, one company, A. J. Hembree; Marion county, one company, L. F. Grover; Polk county, one company, Fred Waymire; Linn county, one company, L. S. Helm; Wasco county, one company, O. Humason. The last named company will organize at The Dalles, and report in writing to the adjutant-general.
Our fellow-citizens who may be in possession of arms, rifles, muskets, and revolvers, are most earnestly desired to turn them over to assistant Quartermaster-General A. Zeiber, or his agent, in order that they may be appraised, and supply a deficiency that is most seriously experienced.
Given under my hand at Portland, this eleventh day of October, A. D. 1855.Benjamin F. Harding,
Secretary of the Territory of Oregon.
On the thirtieth of October, Major Rains marched for the Yakima country with all the regular troops on the Columbia and north of it, being reënforced also by two companies of volunteers in the service of the United States, and on the fourth of November was joined by Colonel J. W. Nesmith, with four companies of independent Oregon volunteers, the combined forces arriving in the heart of the Yakima country on the seventh, and doing some skirmishing on the eighth. But now that the Indians were confronted with equal numbers, they were more coy. Their horses being fresh could carry them faster in flight than the horses of the cavalry could follow in pursuit. Being driven up the Yakima to where the river flows through a gap, they took a position well fortified upon the heights, but upon being charged by the regular troops under Haller and Captain Augur, hurriedly evacuated it, leaving it in their possession.
On the tenth, skirmishing was renewed, when Major Armstrong of the Oregon volunteers, with the company of Captain Hayden, and part of Captain Kelly's[1] company under Lieutenant Hanna, made an attempt to surround and charge the Indians in a defile of the hills, but owing to a misunderstanding the charge was made at the wrong point and failed, the Indians escaping among the rocks and trees.
The troops now moved on to the Ahtanahm mission, which was found deserted, but where Major Rains received a letter from Kamiakin, written by the hand of Father Pandozy, missionary, in which the chief made overtures of friendship, on his own terms. As a part of the history of the conduct of the war, the reply of Major Rains to Kamiakin is here presented:—
Headquarters, Yakima Expedition,
Roman Catholic Mission, November, 13, 1855.
You make the sign of the cross, and pray to the God of truth for mercy, and yet you lie when you say you "were very quiet, the Americans were our friends; our hearts were not for war," until Governor Stevens changed your feelings; for long before the treaty, which you agreed to, you proposed to the Walla Walla chief, Peu-peu-mox-mox, to go to war, and kill off all the whites. He told us so. You had been preparing for this purpose a very long time; and your people agreed with the Cayuses, at the Walla Walla council, before the treaty was made, to murder all the whites there, which was only prevented by the Nez Percés disagreeing.
You know that you murdered white men going to the mines who had done you no injury, and you murder all persons, though no white man had trespassed upon your lands. You sent me a delegation to stop Hamilton and Pierce settling in your country. I wrote them a letter, and they left. You murdered your agent Bolan for telling you the truth—that the troops would come upon you for these murders. Has his death prevented their coming? I sent a handful of soldiers into your country to inquire into the facts. It was not expected that they should fight you, and they did right to return back. Your foul deeds were seen by the eye of the Great Spirit, who saw Cain when he killed his brother Abel, and cursed him for it. Fugitives and vagabonds shall you also be, all that remain of you, upon the face of the earth, as well as all who aid or assist you, until you are gone.
You say now, "if we will be quiet, and make friendship you will not war with us, but give a piece of land to all the tribes." We will not be quiet, but war forever, until not a Yakima breathes in the land he calls his own. The river only will we let retain this name to show to all people that here the Yakimas once lived.
You say that you will fight us with thousands, and if vanquished, those of you that remain will kill all your women and children, and then the country will be ours. The country is ours already, as you must see from our assembled army; for we intend to occupy it, and make it too hot to hold you. We are braves, and no brave makes war with women and children. You may kill them as you say, but we will not; yet we are thirsting for your blood, and want your warriors to meet us, and the warriors of all tribes wishing to help you, at once to come. The snow is on the ground, and the crows are hungry for food. Your men we have killed; your horses and your cattle do not afford them enough to eat. Your people shall not catch salmon hereafter for you, for I will send soldiers to occupy your fisheries, and fire upon you. Your cattle and your horses, which you got from the white man, we will hunt up, and kill and take them from you. The earth which drank the blood of the white man, shed by your hands, shall grow no more wheat nor roots for you, for we will destroy it. When the cloth that makes your clothing, your guns, and your powder are gone, the white man will make you no more. We looked upon you as our children and tried to do you good. We would not have cheated you. The treaty which you complain of, though signed by you, gave you too much for your lands, which are most all worthless to the white man; but we are not sorry, for we are able to give, and it would have benefited you. After you signed the treaty with Governor Stevens and General Palmer, had you have told us that you did not wish to abide by it, it would have been listened to. We wanted to instruct you in all our learning; to make axes, ploughs, and hoes to cultivate the ground; blankets to keep you from the cold; steamboats and steam-wagons which fly along swifter that the birds fly, and to use the lightning which makes the thunder in the heavens to carry talk, and serve as a servant. William Chinook at The Dalles, Lawyer, chief of the Nez Percés, Sticcas, and We-atti-natti-timine, bias tyee of the Cayuses, and many others of their people, can tell you what I say is true. You, a few people, we can see with our glasses a long way off, while the whites are as the stars in the heavens, or leaves of the trees in summer time. Our warriors in the field are many, as you must see; but if not enough, a thousand for every one more will be sent to hunt you, and to kill you; and my kind advice to you, as you will see, is to scatter yourselves among the Indian tribes more peaceable, and there forget you ever were Yakimas.G. J. Rains, Major, U. S. A.
Brigadier-General W. T., commanding troops in the field.
Some skirmishing on the march resulted only in the loss of fifty-four cavalry horses, which was party repaired by captures from the Indians. Two soldiers were drowned in the Yakima river, and two volunteers of Captain Cornelius' company wounded. Snow had fallen on the mountains to a depth of two or three feet, and the Indians being scattered, Rains returned to The Dalles, and thence, on the twenty-fourth of November, to Vancouver, to report to General Wool, while Colonel Nesmith proceeded with the Oregon volunteers to Walla Walla.
General Wool, in his letter to the National Intelligencer, speaking of the Yakima campaign, said that Rains had ample force, without the volunteers, to have defeated all the Indians in the country, but that the major "partaking somewhat of the alarm pervading the country, increased and stimulated by political demagogues," called for two companies from Washington, and four from Oregon, but that Governor Curry called for a regiment which was not, nor any part of it, "in any sense of the term, necessary to defend the inhabitants of Oregon." Having arraigned the major and Oregon's governor in these very positive terms, he explained and justified his own course, saying that as soon as he was informed of Major Haller's defeat, which "created great excitement and alarm throughout Oregon and Washington, lest all the Indian tribes in the territories should at once combine and come down upon the settlement," he had ordered all the disposable troops at his command to the seat of war, and had followed in person, at the same time calling upon the United States government "for at least an additional regiment."
In this connection the logical reader is prone to inquire why it was proper for the army to believe in the threatened danger to such an extent as to need another regiment, and not the governor of Oregon? Months must pass before the regiment from the east could be placed in the field, while Oregon could place one there in ten days time.
The general further related that he arrived at Vancouver on the seventeenth of November, having been detained on the passage from San Francisco eleven days by gales, storms, and a fire, which crippled the steamer on which he had taken passage, by which she was very nearly lost. He was anxious, he said, to establish a post at Walla Walla, "in order to prevent a war against the Walla Wallas by the troops of Governor Curry;" but that an inspection of the government troops and animals discovered the men to be without proper clothing, and the animals, owing to the previous expeditions of Haller and Rains, unfit for service. Still he would have taken possession of the Walla Walla country before winter set in, and directed the chief quartermaster to procure, if possible, the means of transportation; but this could not be obtained without great expense and delay, owing to the country having been drained of resources by the requisitions of Governor Curry, which compelled him to bring wagons, horses, mules, boats, and forage from California. Before they could arrive the Columbia river was closed by ice, and communication with the country east of the mountains cut off, while he was himself ice-bound at Vancouver for three weeks, during which he was unable to communicate either with The Dalles or San Francisco.
No reference was made to the fact that Governor Stevens with a small party was in the Blackfoot or Cœur d'Alene country, unable, presumably, to come through the hostile tribes who were determined upon cutting him off; nor to the fact that acting Governor Mason had intimated to the military authorities at Vancouver that he desired them to do something for the relief of Stevens, and had at last caused to be raised a company for this purpose, which was commanded by special Indian agent B. F. Shaw, successor to the murdered Bolan. But a single company of fifty men could not go through the hostile countries, and there were other reasons for the action of Governor Curry which the general ignored. Wool, against the earnest protest of Rains, disbanded the company raised for the relief of Stevens, and mustered into the service of the United States, sending a courier to the Blackfoot country to advise Stevens to return to Washington territory by the way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama!
Not all of this was known to Governor Curry when he ordered the Oregon troops to Walla Walla, but he included among his reasons for occupying the Walla Walla country, the situation of the governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of Washington territory.
On learning the defeat of Haller in the Yakima country, Nathan Olney, sub-Indian agent at The Dalles, hastened to Walla Walla, in order, if he might, to prevent a combination of the Oregon Indians with the Yakimas, rumors being abroad that the Walla Wallas, Cayuses, and Des Chutes were disaffected and unfriendly. He reported to R. R. Thompson, in charge, that he found Peu-peu-mox-mox encamped on the north side of the Columbia, which circumstance he construed as unfavorable, although by the terms of the treaty the chief was entitled to the privilege of occupying a trading post at the mouth of the Yakima river for a period of five years; or for a period of one year from the ratification of the treaty, of occupying any tract in possession at that time. As the treaty had not yet been ratified, he had the unquestioned right to reside in any part of his own country until the sale was confirmed. But Olney communicated to his superior that in his judgment all the movements of Peu-peu-mox-mox indicated a determination to join the Yakimas in a war against the white race; and Thompson agreed with him, because the Walla Walla chief had, in the month of September, when Bolan was killed, declared to him that the Walla Walla valley had not been sold.
Olney, on observing these signs, resolved to remove so far as possible all cause of hostilities until such time as the United States government should have fulfilled its part of the treaty obligations, and to remove the white settlers out of the country. A conference being held with McKinlay, Anderson, and Sinclair, officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, it was decided that before leaving the country a large amount of ammunition in store at the fort should be destroyed to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Indians, which was accordingly done by throwing it into the Columbia river, Olney giving an official receipt for it, and relieving the officer in charge, Mr. James Sinclair, of all responsibility for its loss. The fort contained at this time Hudson's bay goods to the amount of thirty-seven thousand dollars, and a large amount of government stores left there by Stevens when he proceeded to the Blackfoot country. All this property was placed in charge of a friendly Walla Walla chief, and Olney issued the following order:—
I am of the opinion that the Indians in this vicinity are about to join in the war commenced upon the whites on the north side of the Columbia by the Yakimas and others. In view of such an event, I have written to the commanding officer at The Dalles for a military force to escort you out of the country. You will, therefore, hold yourself in readiness to go on the arrival of such escort. Meanwhile, you will take such precautionary steps as seem to you best calculated to insure your safety until the arrival of said force.
I do not deem it advisable to make a rush, all at once, to get out of the country, as it would cause an alarm among the Indians that might cause an immediate outbreak.
Nathan Olney,
Indian Agent.
Two days later the following letter was sent to the commander of the volunteer force supposed to be en route to the Walla Walla valley, where the dispatch was dated:—
The young men on the Umatilla river are disposed for war, and John Whitford and Tolman instigate them to it. The chiefs of that place, at least the majority of them, are on the balance, and have not yet decided; but Stockalah and Welaptelekt, with their people, have joined the Cayuses, and are doing all in their power to have them join against the Americans. The chiefs of this valley have remained firm and will not join the unfriendly Indians. Their conduct, since Mr. Olney's departure, has been praiseworthy, and did all they could to prevent Mr. Brooks' house from being burned and pillaged, but in vain. The chief, Howlish Wampool, did it at the risk of his life.
Two Nez Percé chiefs now here, Joseph and Red Wolf, desire me to tell you that all their tribe is for peace; that they will suffer no hostile Indians to remain among them. In justice to Pierre (Walla Walla chief), I beg to say that he stuck to his charge until forced away by Serpent Jaune and his people, but not until they had robbed three different times out of the fort. He was alone, and, of course, could not prevent them. As affairs stand, it is my humble opinion that it might not be prudent to make your way hither with the force at your command of one hundred and fifty men. I have requested the bearers of this dispatch to proceed to The Dalles with the letters to the respective addresses of Messrs. Olney and Noble; and placed as we are, a mere handful of men, destitute of ammunition, the sooner assistance is tendered to us the better, for Serpent Jaune daily threatens to burn our houses and to kill us, and he is not the only enemy we have to dread.
In haste, I remain, sir, respectfully, your obedient humble servant,Narcisse Raymond,
The commander in charge coming to Fort Walla Walla.
Such was the information sent by a French resident of Walla Walla valley, one of the settlers who had been warned by Agent Olney to leave the country as soon as an escort should be furnished them. To do so before would precipitate the Indians upon them in force, whereas while they kept quiet, the hostiles were kept within the bounds of robbery and arson. But that robbery and arson were the customary introduction to bloody warfare was too well understood to be disregarded. Nor would a force of one hundred and fifty men be a sufficient guard to remove the settlers in safety, or even to enter the country in safety. Yet, when this information reached The Dalles, there was not even that number of troops at this post, Major Rains having taken with him to the Yakima country all of his available force. Even when Major Fitzgerald, who had been ordered from Fort Lane had arrived, he added only fifty dragoons to the strength of the army in eastern Oregon.
Either protection must be denied the friendly chiefs, who kept the treaty and obeyed the agent, together with the French and American settlers, and their property, as well as the property of the United States Indian department, and that of the Hudson's Bay Company, or assistance must be immediately rendered. Also the country must be kept open so that not only Governor Stevens could return to his capital, but miners to their homes.
These motives would have seemed sufficient for the governor of Oregon to prompt him to call for the eight companies, and that without being influenced by political demagoguery, if indeed politics can be kept out of any important movement by any government, whether national or territorial. It was objected by some that the war belonged to Washington and not to Oregon, which was true, but with modifying conditions. The northeast boundary of Oregon, it was often contended, should be the Snake river, and several attempts were made to have it include at least the whole Walla Walla valley, about half of which lay south of the boundary established by congress. It was peopled by settlers from the Wallamet valley, and the improvements existing had been made by Oregon people. Again, the hostile Cayuses belonged to the Oregon superintendency, their reservation being upon the Umatilla river, in Oregon. Thus, aside from any obligation towards Stevens on the score of courtesy and humanity, the governor of Oregon was compelled to take notice of the demand for assistance coming from that quarter.
It was a point urged against the Oregon volunteers that they declined to be mustered into the service of the United States; but had they done so they would have been prevented going to the relief of the country where their services were most required. It was also a point urged against Major Rains that he allowed himself to be commissioned brigadier-general of Washington territory by acting Governor Mason, it being considered by Wool beneath the dignity of a United States officer to accept a commission from a territorial officer; though the rank of each was given by appointment from the general government; and although the commission was necessary to give the command of the Washington volunters to a major of the United States forces. Oregon had a brigadier-general of her own, and all the other officers necessary to a complete organization of her militia, with no motive for handing over the command to a United States major.
On the tenth of October, Governor Curry wrote the following letter to his adjutant:
At Home, Near Butteville,
October 10, 1855, 10 o'clock P. M.
Haller has lost all his horses and provisions. You will readily perceive that this will embolden the Indians, and other tribes will join those already hostilely arrayed, and a protracted Indian war may not possibly be avoided. I should be pleased to see you without delay at Portland. I go to Oregon City this evening, and tomorrow to Portland.
The men of The Dalles, where Orlando Humason lived to whom Governor Curry referred in his letter, did not wait for any action by the executive, but proceeded October ninth to organize a company of which James McAuliff was chosen captain. It was not, however, mustered into service as first formed, but was reorganized under Humason as captain, with McAuliff as second lieutenant, on the receipt of the Governor's proclamation.
The organization called into the field by Governor Curry for service in the Yakima war, was styled the "First Regiment of Oregon Mounted Volunteers," being raised to ten companies through ready volunteering. J. W. Nesmith, formerly brigadier-general of Oregon, was chosen colonel; James K. Kelly, lieutenant-colonel; Ambrose N. Armstrong, senior major; and Mark A. Chinn, junior major.
The facilities for moving troops, subsistence, and baggage into the Indian country east of the Cascades were scarcely better than during the period of the Cayuse war. A few small and slow steamers had been placed upon the Columbia, above and below the cascades, which were used to convey troops to this point, whence they marched by land to The Dalles, where Nesmith arrived, as we have seen, in time to join Rains in the Yakima country. He was followed very soon by three companies under Major Chinn, who marched from The Dalles for Walla Walla on the twelfth of November. At Wells springs on the seventeenth he was met by John McBean with Raymond's letter, informing him that Fort Walla Walla was in possession of the Indians, and that the force of Peu-peu-mox-mox was too strong to be encountered by one hundred and fifty men.
Acting on this information, Major Chinn proceeded as far as the Umatilla river and encamped to await reënforcements, in the meantime erecting a fortified post. This fortification, which he named Fort Henrietta, in compliment to the wife of Major Haller, was a stockade one hundred feet square, built of large split timbers, with two bastions of round logs, and outside a stock corral enclosed with rails found on the ground.
One company, under Captain Connoyer, arrived at the fort on the twenty-seventh, and on the twenty-ninth Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly arrived with the companies of Captains A. V. Wilson and Charles Bennett, making in all a force of three hundred and fifty men. Taking the command, Kelly moved out towards Fort Walla Walla on the evening of the second of December, hoping to reach the fort and surprise the Indians before sunrise; but a heavy rain having come on and continued through the night, the troops were unavoidably delayed. They reached Fort Walla Walla late in the forenoon, only to find it pillaged, the interior defaced, and the robbers escaped.
On the morning of the fourth, Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly, with the main body of his force, but without baggage or rations, proceeded to and up the Touchet to the cañon, to if possible discover the location of the Indians, while Major Chinn was ordered to march to the mouth of the Touchet, with the baggage train, and await orders.
The division commanded by Kelly, on reaching the Touchet fifteen miles above its mouth, traveled up it a short distance, when a party of about seventy Indians was discovered advancing towards him. The volunteers galloped forward, and found it to be Peu-peu-mox-mox with a number of warriors, one of whom carried a flag of truce. A halt was called when within three hundred yards of the Indians; and Colonel Kelly, with Mr. Olney, the agent, an interpreter, and a few others, went forward to meet them.
The interview was opened by the chief asking why armed men had come into his country, and was answered by Colonel Kelly that they had come to chastise him and his people for wrongs they had done white people. Peu-peu-mox-mox then said that he did not wish to fight, and that he had done no wrong. When Colonel Kelly mentioned the pillaging and destruction of Fort Walla Walla, the seizing of the government property left there, which he had divided among his people, the robbery and burning of the houses of Brooks, Bumford, Noble, and McKay, and the stealing of the cattle of the settlers, he at first denied having done these things, but finally admitted that these were acts of his young men, whom he could not restrain.
When told that the Cayuse chief, Howlish Wampool, had testified to seeing him distribute the goods with his own hands, and had witnessed him laying out a pile of blankets as an inducement to the Cayuses to join in a war, he made no reply to the direct charge, but offered to make his people restore the goods so far as he was able, and cause payment to be made for the rest. He was informed that this would not be sufficient, but that in addition his people must surrender their arms and ammunition, give the troops cattle for beef, and horses to remount the command, and enable it to pursue the other hostile Indians.
To these terms Peu-peu-mox-mox gave his assent, promising to come on the following day and deliver up his arms. But Colonel Kelly, believing from his deportment that he only desired time to remove his people, and would not return if permitted to go, answered that he had come to wage war against him; that for him to rejoin his villages would be to invite immediate attack, as no credit was given to his assurances that he would return; but that if he were dealing in good faith, he could well come with him and remain until his promises were fulfilled. The interpreter was then ordered to state distinctly to him that he was at liberty to go away under his flag of truce; but that if he did so, he would be subjecting his villages to an immediate assault; but if, on the other hand, he chose, with six of his followers, to remain with the army, and fulfill the terms of his proposed treaty, his people would not be molested. Thus hard pressed, the haughty chief reluctantly consented to remain as a hostage for the fulfillment of his word and the safety of his people, saying that the following morning he would take the troops to his village and arrange the business. He also assured the colonel that none of his people would remove during the night. A guard was placed over him and his six men, and the command, by request of the chief, moved towards his village to find some beef cattle, the men having had nothing to eat all day. On the march the sixty or more Walla Walla warriors traveled unmolested with the troops.
After marching about a half a mile it was observed that they were being led into a rugged cañon through which flowed the Touchet, in which the village of the chief was situated; and being already quite late in the afternoon, it was deemed imprudent to enter a ravine where a surprise and ambuscade might be in store for them; there fore Kelly marched back two miles to an open place, and encamped.
At night Peu-peu-mox-mox asked permission to send one of the six men with him to apprise his people of the terms of the proposed treaty, and instruct them to fulfil it, which request was granted. But the messenger failed, as Kelly had anticipated, to return.
On the morning of the sixth, Colonel Kelly marched with his command to the village in the ravine, which was found deserted, and all property removed, the snowfall of the evening before showing that the removal had taken place during the night. All the Indians in sight were along the crest of the distant hills, where they appeared armed, and watching the movements of the volunteers. Every effort was made by a flag of truce to induce the Indians to comply with the terms agreed upon by Peu-peu-mox-mox, but in vain. Failing of accomplishing anything that day, and without the prospect of doing so at all, about the middle of the afternoon Kelly proceeded down to the mouth of the Touchet where Chinn was encamped, taking with him his six prisoners.
Up to this time no restraint had been put upon the chief or his associates in captivity; but one of them attempting to escape during the night of the sixth they were ordered to be bound with cords, but were unbound in the morning, when Colonel Kelly told Peu-peu-mox-mox that he had acted in bad faith, and that should he, or any of the other prisoners, attempt to run away, he or they would be shot.
At an early hour on the seventh, the Indians commenced to appear, armed and mounted, on the hills half a mile from camp; but it was not even then expected that they would attack, and the command prepared leisurely to march to Waiilatpu, where it was intended to establish headquarters. When one or two companies had moved out on the plain, after the advance guard, the Indians fired upon some men driving up beef cattle, and the fire was returned. A running fight then ensued, the Indians being driven before the volunteers for ten miles to the farmhouse of La Roche, a French–Canadian, two miles below Waiilatpu.
The forces of the enemy had increased all day, and by the time La Roche's cabin was reached had become stubborn and hard to move, being driven at the point of the bayonet only a short distance above. Their number was variously estimated at from six hundred to two thousand, but a more probable estimate would place it at one thousand warriors, and an indefinite number of onlookers; their yells, and the noise of the firing, having drawn all the Indians from a considerable distance to the edges of the battle.
The volunteers were confined between the Walla Walla river on their right and the hills on their left; and the Indians having become strong enough late in the afternoon, formed a line across the plain to prevent the advance of the troops, extending from the foothills to the river, and being partly covered by a growth of shrubby trees, which served as a shelter. It was here that the battle raged hottest.
"Their purpose," says one who was present, and in the thick of the fight,[2] "was to leave no foes to rise behind them; their policy was the policy of extermination; their flags were the scalps of our people, murdered in cold blood, whose gray locks floated from poles raised on every prominent point on the hills to our left, with a squad of those bloody fiends dancing the war dance around them. From the brush on the plain and the timber on the river, they poured a murderous fire on the volunteers, who were compelled to fall back. Here Henry Crow and S. S. Van Hagerman fell, mortally wounded, and several others were wounded. At this critical moment, Lieutenant J. M. Burrows, with a small detachment, was ordered to cross the fence that surrounded the La Roche field, and charge upon the Indians in the brush, the writer being one of the number who crossed. When only a few steps beyond the fence the brave Burrows fell dead, and Captain Munson and several others were wounded. A dispatch having been sent to Captain Wilson of company A to come forward, he and his company came at full speed, dismounted, and with fixed bayonets pushed their way through the brush, driving the enemy before them. In a short time, Captain Bennett, with company F was on hand, and with these reënforcements, the Indians were driven about one mile further up the Walla Walla river, where they took possession of a house with a close-built fence around it. In attempting to dislodge them, Captain Bennett of company F, and Private Kelso of company A were killed."
A howitzer found at Fort Walla Walla was soon brought to bear upon the house; but Captain Wilson having nothing but a sandhill to fire from, the piece burst in exploding, inflicting a wound upon Wilson, but dispersing the Indians. The volunteers immediately took possession of the premises and recovered the bodies of Bennett and Kelso, while the wounded were removed to the house of La Roche, which was converted into a hospital.
During all this time the prisoners were exceedingly restless and excited. Peu-peu-mox-mox in stentorian tones cheered on his braves, receiving responses at short intervals. When the sergeant of the guard had an opportunity to speak to Colonel Kelly, as he passed from one wing of the regiment to the other, he expressed a fear that they would escape while the men were in the field. Just at this moment Frank Crabtree came in from the field, his shoulder shattered, and arm dangling by his side, and reported Captain Lay ton with five or six others surrounded on the hills at the front; and the colonel's reply to the sergeant's question of what he should do in a certain case, was that the men were all needed at the front; to tie his prisoners, and if they resisted or attempted to escape, to kill them. They did resist the order to bind them, and Sergeant-Major Isaac Miller was wounded in the arm by a knife concealed about the person of one of them. Peu-peu-mox-mox also attempted to seize the gun of another of the guard, name Warfield, who struck him with it upon the back of the head, felling him to the ground, when he was quickly dispatched. The other prisoners attempting flight were shot, with the exception of one Nez Percé, a mere lad, who made no resistance, and was not harmed.
Concerning the killing of the Walla Walla chief, about which much was said at that time, and later, Colonel Kelly wrote to Governor Curry: "I regretted the necessity of putting these men to death, as I was in hopes that they could have been made useful in prosecuting the war against the other hostile tribes; but I am well satisfied that the guard was fully justified in taking away their lives in their efforts to escape."
Whatever Colonel Kelly may have hoped from the subjugation of the Walla Walla chief was probably accomplished by his death, which, under the circumstances, was evidently unavoidable. There was, however, a scandal created in military circles by the uncivilized and unjustifiable mutilation of the body of Peu-peu-mox-mox by the volunteers, who cut off the ears and pieces of the scalp to keep as souvenirs. It is not the office of the historian to excuse the barbarities of either race. It is, however, true that retaliation is an important part of the spirit of war, and that the mutilation in a comparatively slight degree of the dead body of a noted chief was hardly a sufficient reprisal, in a retaliatory sense, for the horrible atrocities perpetrated upon living men, women, and children by the groundless hatred of his race.[3]
The evening of the seventh of December closed in upon a wearied and hungry as well as a saddened army, for the losses of the day had been heavy in killed and wounded. Camp fires were lighted whereat to prepare a scanty meal, with the cup of coffee, so reviving to exhausted energies; but the cheerful blaze served only to attract the fire of the watchful foe, and had to be extinguished. The whole camp was on guard until morning, when a hasty breakfast was prepared and only partly eaten before the Indians appeared in a greatly augmented force, retaking all the positions they had been driven from the previous day.
Companies A and H, under Lieutenants Pillow and Hanna, were directed to charge and drive the Indians from the cover of the brush and timber, and, if possible, hold these positions. Lieutenant Fellows, with F company, Lieutenant Jeffreys, with B company, Lieutenant Hand, with I company, and Captain Connoyer. with company K, were ordered to take possession of available points on the hills and assail the enemy wherever they could. The Indians fought with skill and bravery, as well as with fury, but were driven from their cover in the brush. All day the battle continued, and when night came both sides were glad of a respite. The war whoop ceased, and the Indians withdrew from the field. That night the colonel dispatched a courier to Fort Henrietta for companies D and E to come up with all haste; and on the morning of the ninth the battle was resumed, but with less spirit, the volunteers acting only on the defensive, and, holding their positions, while the Indians attacked and suffered heavy losses.
Again, on the morning of the tenth, it was discovered that every position held by the volunteers the previous day had been retaken by the Indians, and Lieutenant McAuliff with company B was ordered to charge some breastworks thrown up by them on the ninth to protect them from the flying bullets of the volunteers. The reënforcements were stationed on the hills; and while companies A and H once more recovered the timber, and drove the Indians from pits they had occupied on the same knoll, the companies on the hills, whose horses were fit for the service, made a gallant charge, in the face of a heavy fire, when the Indians fled from the field to return no more to do battle.
In this four days of fighting the loss of company A was Captain A. V. Wilson, wounded; Eleazer B. Kelso, killed; Jesse Fleming and E. B. Kelsey, wounded mortally, and Frank Duval, wounded. Company B had Joseph Sturdevant mortally, and G. W. Smith, severely wounded. Company F lost its captain, Charles Bennett. Company H lost Lieutenant J. M. Burrows, killed; Casper Snook and Henry Crow, mortally wounded; Captain Davis Layton, Sergeant-Major Isaac Miller, T. J. Payne, Frank Crabtree, Nathan Fry, John Smith, A. M. Addington, wounded. Company I lost its captain; L. B. Munson, wounded, and S. S. Van Hagerman, killed. Company K had one man, J. B. Gervais, wounded. This bloody work was chiefly done on the first day of battle.
On the ninth and tenth A. Shepard, Ira Allen, and John Smith were wounded. The wounds were generally severe, and the hospital filled for several weeks. The estimated loss of the Indians, in killed and wounded, was one hundred; yet as there is seldom any accurate information gained concerning their losses, such knowledge being carefully concealed, the estimate was never confirmed.
A new fortification was erected two miles above Waiilatpu, called Fort Bennett, after the lamented Captain Bennett. About the middle of December, Nesmith resigned the command of the regiment, and Thomas R. Cornelius was elected in his place. The place of Captain Bennett was filled by A. M. Fellows, and several minor changes made. Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly returned to the Wallamet valley to take his seat in the council of the legislature about the same time, and was received with a perfect ovation by the people.
On the evening of the twentieth of December, Governor Stevens arrived at Fort Bennett. He had concluded a treaty with the Blackfoot nation early in October, having spent the whole summer, after leaving the council ground at Walla Walla in June, in cultivating friendly relations with the Pend d'Oreilles, Kootenais, and Flatheads. He was accompanied by a delegation of Nez Percés, under the special agency of William Craig; and his special expressman, W. H. Pearson, had swiftly carried the news to Olympia. With equal swiftness he returned to the mountains about the last of the month, with intelligence that the Yakimas, Walla Wallas, Cayuses, Palouses, and a part of the Nez Percés, had formed a hostile confederation, and were at war with the white race, in consequence of which it would be impossible for him to pass through these nations, advice being sent him by officers of the army to return to Olympia via New York.
Stevens was not the man to act upon advice of this nature, but determined to push forward to the Columbia at any hazard. He was two days' travel west of Fort Benton when the news met him, where he encamped his men, while special agent Doty returned to the fort for a large supply of ammunition, arms, and horses; and he, with only one trusty young man and a Delaware Indian interpreter, rode express to the Bitter-root valley to confer with Agent R. H. Lansdale in charge of the Flatheads. At Fort Owen, on the Bitter Root, he overtook the Nez Percé delegation, which was traveling in advance of him, and whom he found to be informed of the war in the Yakima country, and also that the Cayuses and a portion of their own people were disaffected.
However, with that masterful will and consummate tact of which he was possessed, he won over the whole party of fourteen, including the war-chiefs Looking Glass, Three Feathers, and Spotted Eagle, who promised their friendly services, and to join his escort as a part of it, offering if he should take the trail through the Nez Percé country, to send a sufficient party of young men to escort him in safety to The Dalles.
On the eleventh of November, at Hell Gate pass, he was joined by Doty with the extra horses and supplies. On the twentieth he crossed the Bitter-root mountains in three feet of snow, the horses being one night without grass. He had no means of knowing the temper of the Cœur d'Alenes towards him; but deeming it best to appear unconscious of danger, when within twenty-five miles of the Cœur d'Alene mission, again traveled in advance with Pearson, Craig, and four of the Nez Percés, throwing himself into the midst of the Indians, and "with rifles in one hand, and our arms outstretched on the other side, tendered them both the sword and the olive branch." He had instructed the Nez Percés to entertain the Cœur d'Alenes with a narrative of what they had seen at the Blackfoot council, and to convince them of the advantages of the treaty, which would relieve them in the future of the depredations to which they had been subject in the past, from this predatory people.
The plan was well conceived, the Cœur d'Alenes, taken by surprise, meeting him with every sign of cordial pleasure. Yet when they had taken time for remembering what the emissaries of Kamiakin had told them a few days before, they began to grow cool, and to appear undecided. Without allowing them time to reconsider, he hastened on as soon as the train came up, to the country of the Spokanes, with whom he determined to hold a council.
Arrived at the place of Antoine Planté, on the prairie between the Cœur d'Alenes and the upper Spokanes, he dispatched runners to the lower Spokanes, the Pend d'Oreilles, and Colville Indians, to meet him at this place, and also sent invitations to Angus McDonald in charge of Fort Colville, and to the Jesuit fathers Ravelli and Josét of the Colville and Cœur d'Alene missions to be present at the conference.
After several days all were met, when, says Stevens in his official report, "I had one of the stormiest councils, for three days, that ever occurred in my whole Indian experience." The cause of the trouble was that he refused to promise that the United States troops should not cross to the north side of the Snake river—a promise he had no authority to make, and which, if made, would have been the fruitful source of Indian warfare, because it could not be kept.
By patience, by argument, and greatly by the force of his personal will, Stevens succeeded in overcoming the doubts and objections of the Indians, who, from being sullen became confidential, and asked his advice on all important points. So far all had been well. But the Spokanes, in the fullness of their friendship, warned him against the Nez Percés, who, they contended, were hostile; especially Looking Glass. This chief, they confided to Stevens, had laid a snare for him when he should arrive in the Nez Percé country; and the story was confirmed by the Delaware interpreter, who had been sent to spy upon Looking Glass, and who overheard him unraveling his plot to the Spokanes, and counseling them to treachery. "I never communicated," says Stevens, "to Looking Glass my knowledge of his plans, but knowing them I knew how to meet them in council. I also knew how to meet them in his own country, and it gave me no difficulty." The incident, however, proved that this Nez Percé chief was no more sincere in signing the treaty of Walla Walla than Peu-peu-mox-mox or Kamiakin, but that it had been signed by these three at least only to gain time to prepare for war.
What so difficult as to learn the mind of an Indian? The Spokanes offered Stevens an escort through the country of "the hostile Nez Percés," but he judged it best to decline, because he did not wish to place himself under obligations to them, as well as because he did wish to prevent opportunities for collusion between the two nations, and also to secure the alliance of the Nez Percés, who held the balance of power.
Dispatching Craig with a part of the Nez Percé delegation to Lapwai, to arrange in advance for a council and to engage an escort to The Dalles, he enlarged his party by recruits of twenty miners and others waiting to get through the warring tribes, forming a battalion which he called the "Stevens Guards and Spokane Invincibles," consisting of fifty men, all told. Procuring the best horses in the country, reducing every pack to eighty pounds, that he might fight or fly, as occasion required, he began his march to meet, for ought he knew, the whole force of the hostile combination.
The weather was foul, with rain and snow, but a forced march of four days brought him to Lapwai, where the Nez Percés, whom Craig had assembled, were awaiting him ready for council. This was progressing favorably under the wonderful influence of his personality, when an express arrived from Walla Walla with the particulars of four days' battle, and the death of Peu-peu-mox-mox. Notwithstanding the excitement occasioned by this news, there was no outbreak, but the large force engaged to escort him to The Dalles being now deemed unnecessary, he set out next day with his guards and sixty-nine Nez Percé volunteers for Fort Bennett, where he arrived December twentieth.
It was then made apparent how he had been able to come through the Indian country unmolested; the warriors of the confederated tribes being at the scene of battle. He regarded his safety and the escape of his whole party as due to the presence of the Oregon troops in the country, and was cordial in his acknowledgments. He remained ten days in the Walla Walla valley, and finding there Indian agent B. F. Shaw, who was also a colonel of the militia of Washington territory, directed him to organize a company of the French–Canadian residents of the valley into a home guard, with Sidney S. Ford, captain, and Green McCafferty, first lieutenant. Shaw was ordered to throw up defensive works around the winter camp of the friendly Indians and French settlers, and to protect in like manner the settlers at Spokane and Colville, at the same time coöperating with Colonel Cornelius in any movement he might make against the Indians in arms. He agreed with the Oregon officers that the Walla Walla valley should be held by the volunteers until the regular troops were ready to take the field, and that the war should be vigorously prosecuted.
Stevens appointed William Craig his aid, and directed him to muster out of service the sixty-nine Nez Percés, on returning with them to Lapwai, and to send their muster-rolls to the office of the adjutant-general at Olympia. Craig was also directed to take measures to protect the Nez Percés against incursions by hostile Indians, a politic as well as a war measure, keeping the young braves employed, and flattered with a prospect of pay in the future. They reciprocated on the spot, by offering to furnish fresh horses to mount the Oregon volunteers, whose horses were sadly worn down. These matters settled, the Washington governor hastened on to his capital, where he was enthusiastically received, to find affairs in a deplorable state west of the mountains, the people living in blockhouses, and business suspended. He immediately set about in a vigorous manner organizing for the prosecution of the war which had already begun on the sound.
The condition of the volunteers in the Walla Walla valley was not dissimilar to that of the volunteers during the war of 1847–8, food and clothing being scarce, and the weather in midwinter severe. Says one, who was there: "On the night of December twenty-first the snow fell from six to eight inches deep, and the mercury stood about twenty degrees below zero. Next morning it fell to my lot to go on guard. My raiment consisted of an old slouch hat, an old coat, a flannel shirt, a threadbare pair of pants, and an old pair of shoes without socks. I had run through my shoes during the battle, but found an old pair in a cache which answered the purpose. I donned my raiment, tied a string around my pants to keep them from slipping above my knees, and at six o'clock was ready for duty. My beat being one mile from camp, I trudged along through the snow until I reached my station, and then passed off the time as best I could. * * * When I examined my feet, strange to say, they were not very badly frozen, only the tops and sides were raised up in blisters. Several of the boys who had no shoes took rawhide and sewed it up in shape something like a moccasin. This beat bare feet to wade through the snow with. But the boys seemed to be content. Our tents were small and thin; our blankets were smaller and thinner. I had two of those long, narrow, thin blankets, one blue and one green, that were not long enough to reach from my nose down to my feet, and a saddle-blanket; this constituted my bed."
From Fort Bennett, camp was moved during the winter to a site seven miles above the present town of Walla Walla. Beef, and the potatoes which grew in that portion of the valley, furnished subsistence to the volunteers, with occasionally a little flour, sugar, and coffee. Two companies of the regiment under Major Armstrong, which had been left to scour the country between Fort Henrietta and The Dalles, and to reënforce Kelly if needed, were employed most of the time in discovering property stolen from the immigration, and in unearthing caches of provisions secreted by the Indians. These were usually made either in a sandhole, or on a point a little higher than the surrounding earth. The pit equaled the size of the contents, with about one foot on top to be filled in with earth, which being leveled, the remainder of the earth was carried away, that it might not attract suspicion to the spot. Hence, it was not easy to locate these caches, containing camas, couse, pease, and potatoes, and on which the volunteers largely depended for food.
Many of the volunteers being anxious to return to their homes, Governor Curry issued a proclamation January sixteenth, calling for a battalion of five companies to recruit the regiment, as follows:—
I, therefore issue this, my proclamation, calling for a battalion of five companies of mounted volunteers to recruit said regiment; each company to consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, and sixty privates. Each company to elect its own officers, and each volunteer to furnish his own arms, horse, and equipments. To facilitate the organization of these companies, the following named gentlemen are requested to act as enrolling officers in their respective counties:—
Linn county, Sergeant-Major Isaac Miller; Marion county, Hon. George H. Williams; Polk county, Thos. H. Hutchinson, Esq.; Yamhill county, Nathan K. Sitton, Esq.; Clackamas county, George Reese, Esq.
It is very desirable that company K, acting as scouts, first regiment, Oregon mounted volunteers, under command of Captain Connoyer, should be increased to its full complement by a recruit of forty men. For this purpose, additional to the battalion, it is requested that Augustus Dollein, Esq., of Fairfield, Marion county, will act as enrolling officer, to enroll that number of men. After the enrollment the detachment will elect one second lieutenant. This detachment, and the companies as they are organized, will report to the adjutant-general, to be mustered into the service of the territory, and the term of service will be for three months, unless sooner discharged by proclamation or otherwise.
The enrollment and organization of the companies herein called for are desired to be made with the greatest possible dispatch, so that they may march forward promptly to join the regiment now in the field. When the battalion shall have been concentrated, it will be entitled to elect one major to command.
Given under my hand at Salem, this sixteenth day of January, A. D. 1856.B. F. Harding,
Secretary of State.
The recruits came in pretty rapidly and by the middle of February the battalion was ready for the march to Walla Walla, where it arrived about the first of the following month.
When the Indian army had quitted the field in December, they had moved north across Snake river, where the volunteers could not for want of boats pursue them. In the latter part of February enough lumber had been gotten out with whip-saws to build six boats; and enough tar obtained from pine knots to calk them. On the ninth of March they were loaded on wagons, and the regiment crossed Snake river thirty miles below the mouth of the Palouse, being opposed by a small band of Indians, who were dispersed with loss, and their horses captured, horse meat being at this time a staple article in the commissariat. From the crossing, the command proceeded up the river to the mouth of the Palouse, and up that stream to a point one mile above the falls, where it encamped to await the arrival of wagons from The Dalles with supplies. The new recruits, says a veracious chronicler, on being fed with Cayuse beef, acquired all the bucking qualities of that animal, and refused to march before the provisions provided by the commissar-general came up, which they did about the twenty-third, when the army resumed its march.
The line of march was westward across the barren plain between the Palouse and the Columbia, which was reached at White bluffs. The sixty miles covered by this march, under a hot sun, without good water or grass, caused a loss of nearly half the horses of the command, which was compelled to lay by long enough to remount itself from the Indian herds, and refill its larder from the same store. On the thirtieth, the march was continued, doubling on its former course and returning to the Walla Walla valley, whence after foraging for a few days and finding only a little camas and potatoes, a detachment was ordered to the Umatilla to search for caches and fat Cayuse fillies to prevent starvation. Such was the difficulty with which the Oregon government supplied its volunteers in the field, that for many days together on different occasions the men were subsisted entirely on horse meat. At other times, in the Umatilla country, cattle could be found, and were seized upon without inquiry as to ownership. Sometimes the Indians by a sudden raid nearly dismounted a command, and were in turn dismounted. Meantime, the regulars had not yet taken the field, and the time for which the recruiting battalion had enlisted was about to expire. Colonel Cornelius, who wished to confer with Governor Curry, on the sixth of April took up his line of march for The Dalles with a portion of his command, his route lying along the north side of the Columbia. At Cañon creek, four days' march from Walla Walla, he was attacked by Kamiakin and a force of nearly three hundred Indians, when an engagement took place in which the Yakimas were defeated, with the loss of only one man wounded on the side of the volunteers. For want of provisions the command was unable to pursue the fleeing enemy, and proceeding on its march encamped within five miles of The Dalles on the twenty-eighth. Early in the morning of that day the Indians stampeded nearly all the horses of the command, leaving it dismounted. A similar loss befell the division under Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly at Fort Henrietta, where on the twenty-first of April the horse guard was surprised by a party of sixty Indians, who killed Corporal Lot Hollinger, and drove off forty-five horses, with which they crossed the Columbia near the mouth of the Umatilla.
The conference between the colonel of the Oregon mounted volunteers and Governor Curry, resulted in the disbanding of the regiment, and the organization out of it of two companies, one to serve in the Walla Walla valley and one in the Tyghe valley, at the eastern base of the Cascade mountains; the latter force being increased in May to two companies, the battalion being commanded by Major Davis Layton.
- ↑ After the election of Kelly to be lieutenant-colonel, Samuel B. Stafford commanded this company.
- ↑ G. W. Miller, who kept a diary.
- ↑ It might be remembered, in extenuation of the indignities perpetrated upon the body of Peu-peu-mox-mox, that the volunteers were almost upon the very ground where eight years before Dr. and Mrs. Whitman were, with other American men, brutally murdered, and American women ravished; and also that the Walla Walla chief could have prevented it, had he chosen to do so. They were still smarting, too, under the recollection of more recent tragedies, and especially of the Ward massacre of the year before, at which demoniacal scene babes were roasted alive before their mothers' eyes, and the mothers themselves tortured to death with hot irons thrust into their persons. Peu-peu-mox-mox having chosen to place himself in combination with such offenders as these did not appear to the volunteers entitled to respect.