USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 32
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While in camp here the party was joined by a company under Rufus Johnson, who had followed from the Salmon, making the company then sixty strong. Notwithstanding their numbers, there were but a few who were willing to remain in this
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region, on account of the Indians, and a few days later they passed down the Oregon trail to Shasta.
Although the fear of Indians was strong upon the majority of the party, there were some who were valiant enough when it was perfectly safe to be so. One of these was a big Irishman, who crossed the river the morning after the fight and boldly scalped the savage Jones had killed, exclaiming, " Bejabers, yez hev no right to be an Injin." This trophy he fastened to his bridle, and bore it with the proud mien of a conqueror.
BLOODY POINT IN 1851.
In the early part of February, 1851, a party of six men, among whom were two brothers named Smith and a French Canadian who had formerly been a trapper in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, was passing from Oregon to California, on the old emigrant road by way of Pit river, and camped one night near the famous Bloody Point, on Tule lake. During the night a swarm of Modocs surrounded their camp, poured in upon the travelers a cloud of arrows and made the air shudder with their demoniacal yells. All night long the six beleag- uered men lay hidden in the tall grass, firing their guns whenever the form of an enemy was exposed for an instant to their view. The Indians, armed simply with their bows and arrows, had great respect for the loud-speaking rifles, and when the gray dawn of morning began to light up the scene, they hastily departed, leaving their intended victims to pursue their journey unmolested. Upon compar- ing notes, it, was found that the Canadian was wounded in the head and one of the Smiths in the arm, but neither of them seriously. Several of their assailants had been seen to fall during the fight, but a search failed to reveal any "good Indians," and it was evident that they had been carried off by the others. The six men retraced their steps to Oregon, and soon afterwards came to Yreka.
BEN. WRIGHT AND MODOCS IN 1851.
In the summer of 1851, a number of men had taken up land claims in Shasta valley and cut large quantities of hay for the Yreka market. Besides the ox-teams they used to draw this hay to town they all had more or less horses, cattle and mules. The Modocs were in the labit of swooping down upon these at night and running them off over the Butte Creek mountains. N. D. Julien, still living in the valley, was a heavy loser in this way. Late in the summer they stampeded a corral full of ani- mals near Butteville, getting away with forty-six fine mules and horses, twenty-five of which belonged to a pack-train owned by Augustus Meamber, then on his way to Yreka with a load of goods. There is no doubt that the Indians received credit for a great deal of stealing done by white men, for there was an organized band of stock thieves operating here at that time, who lost no opportunity to lay their own guilty deeds upon the shoulders of the Indians. After this last act, however, which was certainly the work of Modocs, a volunteer company was organized to punish the depredators. One of the men who offered his services was William R. Fan- ning, now living at Grant's Pass, Oregon, and the following account of the formation of the company and the events of the expedition is substantially
the same as contained in a letter received from that gentleman.
A notice was circulated through Yreka and vicinity, that a meeting would be held on a certain day at the ranch of one Brown, who lived a few miles from Yreka, for the purpose of organizing a company of men to chastise them, and, if possible, to recover the stolen stock. A few men appeared on the appointed day and camped to await the arrival of a sufficient number to make the proposed expedition a success. They kept dropping in by twos and threes, until, in a few days, quite a num- ber of men were collected together. By a unan- imous vote we decided to send for Ben. Wright, who was then living at Cottonwood, some twenty miles from Yreka. He came at once upon being informed of the opportunity to hunt redskins, and was pressed to take command of the company. This he declined to do, saying that he preferred to do his fighting in the ranks. We then elected for captain, Samuel Smith, a raneher, and induced Wright to act as seout and guide. This suited him exactly, giving him an opportunity to gratify that restless, dare- devil spirit for which he was famous. The com- pany was composed of about twenty men, mostly miners from the vicinity of Yreka. I have forgotten a portion of them, but among them were, Samuel Smith, captain; Ben. Wright, scout and guide; George Rodgers, Morris Rodgers, Henry Smith, brother of the captain, Wilham Brown, William Kershaw, Lin. Abel, Frank Tomlinson, Frank Faw- set, Jacob Rhoads, John Onsby, Augustus Meamber, William R. Fanning, an old Spaniard called Dobe John, another Spaniard whose name is forgotten, and two Oregon Indians who had come in with Wright from Cotton wood.
N. D. Julien furnished a quantity of beef, which we jerked or dried for use while on the march. Having prepared the beef and obtained other pro- visions in sufficient quantity, everything was placed on pack-animals and all was ready. We were all mounted, each man armed with rifle and revolver. Proceeding eastward in the direction of the Modoc country, we camped after an easy day's journey, and some time in the night the Indians stampeded our horses, but we succeeded in recovering them. The next day we found the trail of this party and followed it all day without overtaking them. In the afternoon of the second day the country became so very rocky that we lost the trail. Wright, aceom- panied by one of his Indian friends, started out to hunt it, while the rest of the party camped. They did not return that night, and we thought that our brave scout and his companion were certainly killed. On the afternoon of the next day, however, they came in and reported that they had found the trail and an Indian village, the latter situated on Lost river. Wright said that he and his fellow scout had looked at the village from the summit of a high hill, unseen by its occupants; that considerable stock was being herded near the rancheria, and estimated the number of savages at two or three hundred men, women and children. Of course we were all anxious to rush off and fight them, but Wright advised us to wait until the next day, when, by starting early in the morning, we could have time to reach the vil- lage before night; then to ride near enough to make
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all necessary observations, and without appearing to notice anything in particular, pass on as if we were merely a party of travelers; that we should then camp at quite a distance from the village, go back in the night and attack them at daylight. He said that was the way to fight Indians, and to take them at a disadvantage in any other way was impos- sible. We decided to do as he advised, and started on our journey at daylight the next morning. About the middle of the afternoon we passed the village, and the Indians ran out to look at us, but without seeming to notice them at all we rode on and camped some eight miles away. Some of the Indians fol- lowed and kept us in sight till we camped, when, probably thinking we were too far away to molest them, they returned to their village. We turned our horses out to graze in charge of two men, and leisurely proceeded to get supper.
An hour after dark our horses were brought in, saddled up, and everything put in readiness to move camp at a moment's notice. Leaving them in care of five men with orders to bring them on at daylight, the balance of us started for the village. When we passed it that afternoon we all supposed it to be on the opposite side of the river, so now we crossed the stream at the natural bridge where the water was but a few inches deep, several miles from the village, and passed quickly along the bank. Approaching the rancheria we were chagrined to find that the crookedness of the river had deceived us, and that the village was on the other side. The stream at that point being only thirty yards wide but so deep that to cross it was impossible, we decided to stay and fight them from across the river. They were in total ignorance of our proximity, and at daylight an Indian stepped out of a wickiup and uttered a peculiar sound. Instantly three or four more, evi- dently guards, came in from somewhere and entered the tent. The one who had come out untied a pony which was picketed within a stone's throw of the tent, and led him up in front of it, when Wright said in a low tone, " We will commence by shooting that Indian." Two of us who were standing at his side fired, killing the savage instantly. The Indians came rushing out of their wickiups in confusion, and fought desperately for a while, having nothing but bows and arrows and protecting themselves with shields made of tule rushes, old tin pans, etc. Sev- eral men were wounded by arrows which were shot with great force and precision. As soon as they found that their shields would not stop bullets, they began to waver and hunt for shelter. We fired as fast as we could load our rifles, reserving our revol- vers at Wright's suggestion, to be used if we should come to close quarters. After a short resistance they took to their heels and deserted the village. The men who had brought on the pack and saddle animals according to orders, heard the noise of the contest and broke into a wild gallop towards the battle-ground. Discovering the Indian eanoes and supposing the fun was on our side of the river, they left the animals and crossed over. Thus we were enabled to reach the village without difficulty, where we found some sixteen dead Indians. In the tents we found a great deal of hair, which, beyond a doubt, was taken from the heads of white people whom they had murdered. We captured several
head of horses, but found nothing else about the village of any value to us. We then mounted our horses and camped a few miles beyond at a nice spring of water.
At this place we remained several weeks, occa- sionally sending out scouting parties and scouring the country in all directions. In these raids we found several head of horses and cattle, which we drove into camp, killing the cattle for food. After much difficulty we managed to communicate with the Indians, and induced them to come into camp to make a treaty. Wright talked plainly to them, and they finally agreed to bring in the stolen stock and refrain from molesting the settlers, on condition that the white men would leave their country and not trouble them again. In pursuance of this agree- ment they brought in a few head of horses and cattle, saying that was all they had, though we had good reason to believe they had more. Believing they were pretty well whipped and anxious for peace, and as the weather was quite cold, provisions about all used up, etc., we thought it best to return home. Accordingly we took what stock we had and retired in the direction of Yreka, reaching a small stream called Willow creek in the evening. That night the Indians attacked us, shooting arrows into our camp, though without doing any damage, and succeeded in stampedling our animals so as to get away with eleven of them. We came to the conclusion that they needed a better drubbing than we had given them, and four of us started to Yreka for provisions for a new campaign. Wnen several miles from the camp on our return we met some men who had come out to escort us in, fearing we would be cut off. Those of our party who had remained in the Modoc country had not been idle. On the morning that we started after provisions they went in pursuit of the band that stole our horses and overtook them. A running fight was maintained for several miles, a number of Indians being killed and a few horses recaptured. The Indians took refuge in the tules on Lost river, where the men could not follow them on horseback. The water and snow were about knee deep, partially frozen, and the mixture of snow and ice was pleas- ant to no one but a Modoc. Finding the Indians were beyond their reach they returned to the camp on Willow creek to await our coming, in the mean- while discovering a village in the tules near the mouth of Lost river. A consultation was held, and in pursuance of a suggestion from Wright, we started at eleven o'clock of the night of our return from Yreka, striking the river some distance above the village, which, as we rode quietly down the stream, we discovered to be on an island in the midst of the tules. The Indians became aware of our approach, and collected on the opposite side of the stream and opposed our crossing with a cloud of arrows. It was just light enough for us to see that the water was shallow, but fearing our horses would become mired if we rode in, we dismounted and all but five of us charged across on foot, through water two feet deep and as cold as water ever gets without freez'ng. The Indians scattered in all directions and hid in the tules, but we made directly for the island, surrounded it and took about thirty prisoners, all of whom but three were women and
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Richard BILboa
RICHARD BEERS LOOS.
He was born at Newcomerstown, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, October 4, 1860. His parents are Philip and Marilda Loos, he being their only child. His father is a native of the same county, and his mother of Coshocton town and county. Richard attended school from 1866 to 1872. At the early age of twelve years he began to lay the foundations for his journalistic career by entering the office of the Newcomerstown Argus as an apprentice to the printing business. He served there for three years, the first year at fifteen dollars per month, the second year at twenty-five dollars per month, and the third at thirty-five dollars per month. At that time he had acquired a good practical knowledge of printing, which education has been of benefit to him in more ways than one. In the latter part of 1875 he entered the Central Ohio journalistic school at New- comerstown, the only school of that kind, we might add, in the world. He graduated in the first class in 1876. The course of study was practical journal- ism on the college journal, to which the students, twenty-five in number, contributed all the matter for publication, which first had to pass the criticism of Prof. A. N. Search, once editor of the Toledo daily Commercial. All copy containing mistakes was consigned to the waste-basket after the errors had been pointed out to the writer. Upon graduat- ing in this course, Mr. Loos again associated himself with the Argus as local editor, serving in this capa- city for three months, when the office was destroyed by fire. In January, 1877, he commenced the pub- lication of a new paper at that place, called the Buckeye Democrat. He took into partnership on
the first of April, U. V. Kent" and William Fer- guson, two Cadiz (Ohio) boys, and founded the New- comerstown Eye, an eight-page, sixty-four-column paper. In February, 1878, he left the Eye in charge of his two partners, and took charge of the Caldwell Republican, while the owner, Mr. William Cooley, was visiting in Europe. He edited that paper for seven months, until Mr. Cooley's return, then resumed active connection with the Eye, buying out his partners and continuing the business alone. On the thirteenth of July, 1878, he sold the establish- ment to W. A. Johns, a prominent lawyer of that place, and started for California, August 12, 1879. On the twenty-third of September, 1880, he pur- chased a half interest in the Yreka Tribune, but sold to his partner in December. He commenced the publication of the Etna Weekly Post, July 2, 1881. This paper, though but recently established, has already a circulation of 500 paying subscribers at three dollars per year. The spicy nature of its matter has caused it to circulate quite largely in the East. Richard Loos is probably the youngest journalist on the Pacific coast, and has had an experience not possessed by many older ones. He was twenty-one years of age on the fourth of October of this year, and yet he manages a paper that has been a genuine success from the start. Abo t the time that the newsy Post came into exis- tence he was married to the eldest daughter of Mr. George Smith, one of the oldest and most substantial farmers of Scott valley, Siskiyou county. The ceremony took place at Etna on the thirty-first of March, 1881. The many friends of bride and bridegroom wish thein long-continued happiness.
SAW MILL PROPERTY OF FESTUS PAYNE 9 MILES SOUTH OF ETNA, SISKIYOU CO. CALIFORNIA.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
children. Placing a guard over these, we next pro- ceeded to hunt up those who were secreted in the tules. We found quite a number of them along the river bank, who plunged into the iey water at our approach, and hid in the grass like so many ducks. We spent the entire day in hunting them, andl killed fifteen or twenty, several men and horses being slightly injured by arrows. In the evening we marched our prisoners about two miles, and camped in a deep ravine, all of us standing guard that night, expecting an attack before morning. The night passed quietly, and in the morning we returned with our prisoners to the camp on Willow creek. Here we remained several weeks, sending out scouting parties, and occasionally seeing a few Indians.
The prisoners told us that the people of their vil- lage had not molested us, but that the guilty parties were Indians living on the other side of the river. All our efforts to find them, however, were unsuc- cessful, and all our persuasions to induce the cap- tives to tell us where they were, had no effect upon them. They ma le several unsuccessful attempts to escape, and thinking, no doubt, that we intendled to starve them, for our provisions had run low again, one of the warriors agreed to conduct us to their hiding-place, Wright promising to give all the pris- oners their liberty. It was about the first of Novem- ber and bitterly cold, snow covering the ground to the depth of six inches. Through the hard crust that had formed on this, the horses broke at every step, rendering progress slow and tedious. We took with us only the two braves, one having been killed in an attempt to escape, and turned the other prison- ers loose. Traveling in a south-easterly direction, we discovered a dozen Indian pickets on the after- noon of the second day, anl charged them. Some of them rode in all haste to warn the village, while the others took shelter behind rocks and juniper bushes, and discharge.l a shower of arrows at us as soon as we came within range. Driving them from bush to bush and rock to rock for three miles, we came in view of the village, built on a level plateau, and along a semi-circular ledge of rocks, where the ground sank abruptly to a depth of about twenty feet. This was in the celebrated lava beds made famous by Captain Jack and his half hundred, twenty years later. Within this crescent-shaped ledge of rocks was what appeared to be the smooth bed of a stream. It was about thirty feet wide and one hundred yards long, with a slight incline towards the face of the ledge, terminating near the middle of it where a cave opened into the rocks. Here the inhabitants of the village had taken shelter, carrying with them provisions, etc., and tying their horses in front of it where they could protect them with their arrows while lying in concealment. Standing on the bluff a hundred yards from the cave, we could look into it, and the Indians, who hal not yet learned the superiority of the white man's weapon, came out to shoot at us, sending their arrows with wonderful force and precision, and wounding one or two of our men. We killed several of them before they became satisfied that their shields of baskets and old tin pans would not turn our bul ets. After driving them to shelter, we sent an occasional shot into the cave to keep them quiet, while some of our
men crept down and cut their horses loose. One of the Indians, larger than the rest, came out of the eave so enveloped in shields that he looked like a huge basket, ornamented with a tin pan stuck in here and there for variety. A well-aimed shot rolled this animated basket over, and the others were careful to keep out of sight. The fun was then all on our sile. We were out of provisions and coull not stay to starve them out, nor could we attack them in the cave, and it was suggested that a smudge might bring them out. Approaching the edge of the bluff above the month of the cave, we rolled down a heap of logs and brush and set fire to it. We found it necessary to exercise great caution in this undertaking, as the In lians watched us care- fully, and whenever a man stoopel far enough over the ledge for them to get sight of him, an arrow came whizzing up from the inferno below. They were plucky to the last, an l seemed determined to make it as warm for us as we were making it smoking hot for them. One of our men who incautiously exposed himself received severe woun l from an arrow, and although we succeeded in extracting the arrowhead, it was months before he recovered.
For twenty four hours we kept a roaring fire at the month of the cave, but the Indians showed no inclination to come out, in fact they seemed to become more fierce with each hour of the terrible basting they were receiving at our hands. The weather was intensely cold, our provisions were exhausted, and Yreka, the nearest point of supply, was nearly a hundred miles away, and ad led to this it seemed that an atmosphere of smoke and heat ouly served to make Modocs fat, so we called a council of war anl decided to return home. We gave them a liberal contribution of fuel, mounted our horses and reluctantly started homeward, not forgetting to take their thirty-tive horses with us. We bade farewell to the region of volcanic rock and savages, and reached Yreka after a hard march, tired, hungry, and worn out with cold and exposure, where we disbanded and returned to our former peaceful occupations of ranching and mining.
Had our provisions held out so that we could have continued the smoking process another day, we would hive forced them from the cave. I entered it years afterwards with some of those same Indians and found it not to be an extensive one, that there was no other opening as we had supposeil, nor was there water in it. They informed me that the attack had been so sudden and unexpected, that they had omitted to take water in with them, and that the snoke had become almost unendurable when we departed. In fact, had we remained a few hours longer they would have surren lered. It was not our intention to harm the women and chil- dren, and though Wright is charged with ruth- lessly murdering Indians, the statement is entirely incorrect. I was with him not only in this cam- paign, but also the next year, and we always had the most positive orders from him to refrain from injuring the women and children, nor did he ever molest them when it could possibly be avoided. Could those who censure him see, as I have seen, the indisputable evidences of their diabolical work, the bones of men, women, and children bleaching
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among thie rocks where they met their untimely fate at the hands of these human fiends, the irons from emigrant wagons, burned after their occupants had been murdered, scattered over those dreary wastes, thrown into ravines or hidden in the tules; could they go, as I have gone, into their villages, and see the tufts of human hair, torn from the heads of innocent women and children-but my soul sickens at the remembrance of these horrors. No! Those who censure him " know not whereof they speak." He was one of the kindest andl most humane men I ever knew. Many and will were the adventures of Wright. His parents were peace- ful Pennsylvania Quakers, while he was as different from those sober, sedate people as night is from day. He roamed over the country hunting and trapping, shooting grizzlies and Indians, living, in fact, almost the life of the natives themselves. Dressed in buck- skin, with his glossy black hair reaching almost to his waist, his resemblance to an Indian when his back was turned was striking. At the time we were camped on Willow creek, our prisoners made frequent attempts to escape. One dark night a dis- turbance took place among the horses, picketed a short distance away, when the male prisoners, thinking some of their fellows were near, broke away from the guard. Wright was the first to dart after them, and one of the men mistaking him for an Indian, seized his streaming hair with a firm grasp and jerked him back upon the ground. The mistake was discovered in time to prevent any seri- ous consequences, and the prisoners were recaptured. Wright was frequently joked about this and advised to cut his hair, lest he should be killed sometime by mistake, but he never could be persuaded to part with his flowing locks. At another time when all were asleep but those on guard, Wright stepped to the fire to light his pipe, when one of the Indians rose up and asked for the loan of the implement. He made no reply, but bent over to secure a light, when the savage pushed him over and rushed off in the darkness. Wright sprang to his feet and gave pursuit, while the two others were secured by the guard. Wright caught up with the fugitive, who turned. and dealt him a blow with his fist, receiving in return a thrust from a knife that ended the con- test at once. He then returned to camp, dragging the body after him, the women commencing to screech and howl, keeping it up the whole night.
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