An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 292

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524

USA > Idaho > Kootenai County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 292
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 292
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 292
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 292

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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he sent G. K. Vincent to the sheriff's office, where he found Under Sheriff Kress and told him the news. They decided to quietly warn the isolated settlers and otherwise prepare the town in cast an attack should be made.

Accordingly Mr. Kress enlisted the aid of James McCormick, Joseph Yane, Al. Dunwell, Fred Manning and five or six others, who hastily saddled their ani- mals and went on their mission of warning the settlers.

Meanwhile, however, the news that the redskins were coming had in some mysterious manner been spread abroad and in a comparatively short time all Lewiston was astir and preparing for the murderous onslaught. The guards were hastily assembled and the two cannons in the town, one located about oppo- site where the Odd Fellows hall now stands, the other at the west end of Main street, were quickly manned. Captain Williams took charge of one gun and Knaggs, the O. S. N. Company's agent here at that time, com- manded the other squad.

A log cabin, formerly a store building, stood where the First National bank now stands, and here General Sulley's headquarters had been established. As the people became aroused they congregated in large num- bers in front of this building where all was excitement and bustle. General Sulley himself hurrying around in his shirt sleeves and trying to calm the people's fears. Some were armed, others demanded guns and all were anxious to assist in the defense of their home.

The Indians not appearing on the scene and scouts being unable to find a trace of the marauding redskins, the excitement gradually wore away and the people returned to their homes. The guards remained on duty all night but their vigilance was not rewarded by even a sight of their dusky foes.

In the morning it was learned that the Indians who were reported as crossing the Laywai and proceeding toward Lewiston were friendly Nez Perces moving stock and that their numbers had been greatly over estimated. It is true that the sympathies of the reser- vation Indians were with Joseph and it is also true that many so called friendly Indians afterwards joined the warriors, so that it can be truthfully said that Lewis- tonians had reasonable grounuds for their first In- ·dian scare.

MOONEY'S ADVENTURE.

All old timers well remember the flurry caused in eastern Washington and north Idaho during the sum- mer of 1878 by the announcement that the savage Bannocks had broken loose from the Fort Hall réser- vation and in company with the equally heartless Pintes of central Oregon were pursuing a course directly toward this region. The stories which came from time to time from the seat of war of cruel mur- ders and massacres, the sacking and pillaging of prop- ·erty, the stealing of stock and the destruction of other property only added to the apprehension felt by many in this section and the country was on the alert for any news pertaining to the warring redskins, though only a comparatively small number actually feared

trouble. Even after the defeat of the Indians near Pendleton and the dispersal into small bands, these fears still continued and had not entirely died out in 1879, the year of our story.

About this time also, there lived in Portland a man named Mooney, who was a successful fancy goods merchant. Mooney was not content to deal with Ore- gonians, only, but as a firm believer in trade expan- sion, and this explains how it was that one crisp Oc- tober morning, while vague rumors of Indian trouble still filled the air, he took his seat in the Lewiston stage at Walla Walla, his purpose being to extend his business operations as far east as this north Idaho town. "Dutch John," a veteran stage driver known throughout the entire northwest, held the reins and Mooney's only other companion was a fellow drum- mer. As the stage rolled rapidly along, the three men became very sociable, as might be expected, and soon the passengers were deeply interested in the yarns which "Dutch John" spun for their benefit. John's life had not been very prosaic and what few hairbreadth escapes and blood-curdling experiences he had been unfortunate enough to miss, his imagination readily conceived. With such a foundation to build upon and with the skill of story telling which he pos- sessed, partly natural and partly acquired, along with the companion art of handling a stage coach, it was not strange that he was able to construct such thrill- ing and wonderful stories as to hold his audience completely at his mercy. Soon the theme became the recent Bannock war and "Dutch John" would appear to have been one of the foremost men in that affair and to have been then in possession of the most ex- clusive news of the redskins' secret movements. This information was exclusive, probably, in that John was the only one in possession of these facts. Mooney, who is described as being of slight build, in the early 'thirties, of a decidedly serious cast of mind and very impressionable, eagerly swallowed these stories and the effects produced were easily detected in his nerv- ous actions. Meanwhile his fellow traveler had joined forces with the driver and by the time the coach reached the Alpowa there was a thorough understand- ing between these two conspirators.

While passing this point, "Dutch John" noticed that one of the squaws living there was shaking a blanket in the breeze. Instantly he took advantage of this exclusive bit of information and turning to Mooney he cried, "See that squaw up there waving that blanket? Well, that is the signal agreed upon between her and the redskins and it means that the varmits are about to attack us." With that he applied the lash and quickened the speed of the stage. Mooney turned excitedly toward the Indian figure outlined against the sky. The fellow passenger quickly drew his derringer, took off his hat and dodging down, fired through the crown. The shot incited the horses to greater speed, "Dutch John" wildly gesticulated and yelled, while Mooney, now thoroughly frightened, crouched down in the bottow of the stage for protec- tion and there carefully examined his fellow passen- ger's hat. "A pretty close call," he remarked. After

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a little, no Indians appearing, the party regained their composure, though this little incident only brought forth a fresh deluge of stories from "Dutch John."

With never a stop the stage proceeded at a rapid speed until Silcott's ferry across the Clearwater was reached. There the passengers got out and Mooney, his legs still shaking, sank to his knees and humbly and devoutly thanked the Father who watches over all for his narrow escape from a frightful death and piteously begged that He continue to watch over him while he was in this wild region.

Arriving at Lewiston about twilight, Dutch John" drove his stage to the hotel and deposited his passen- gers and freight. Then he proceeded to carry out the bold plan which had been slowly maturing in his mind. Several were let into the secret that the Indians were marching on the town and that a strong guard would be necessary to save the inhabitants of this fair city from instant massacre. Sometime in 1877 a home guard had been organized and during the early part of the Bannock war this organization had been partly revived in case of an emergency call. Charles G. Kress, the pioneer jeweler, was in command of this temporarily organized guard and before him "Dutch John" laid his plan. Kress consented.

After removing some of the marks of travel from his clothes, Mooney decided the sooner he had tran- sacted his business here and gotten away the better it would be for his peace of mind. With this idea in mind he immediately proceeded down the street to Grostein & Binnard's large store at the end of Main street and at once entered upon his work of securing orders. He had not been engaged in conversation very long before Captain Kress with a squad of a dozen men appeared at the front door and entered. He announced that news of a contemplated Indian attack had been received and that he had called for the purpose of enlisting a few more men to stand guard that night. The employes had been taken into the scheme and immediately they began donning their coats and securing their guns as if the summons was a matter of every day occurrence. Mooney hastily terminated his call and started toward the door. But he was not to escape so easily for Kress halted him and requested him to step into the ranks. Mooney protested that he did not care to fight Indians, that he had no gun and finally that he had business to attend to.

"We cannot excuse you," said Kress, "as we need every man we can muster. We will arm you. You will have to do the same as the rest and take your turn at guard duty."

Mooney protested, but in vain. A needle gun and some shells were given him, and walking with Kress at the head of the line, the guard marched two by two up the Snake river and by a trail (which fol- lowed the line of the present road from Snake River avenue up on Normal hill) to the top of the hill overlooking the river. The year previous, 1877, the citizens had constructed a rude rifle trench here in anticipation of an attack from the Nez Perces. Here the line stopped and Captain Kress ordered Mooney

to take his post. Instructions were issued to him concerning his actions in case of an attack and he was told in impressive tones that death at sunrise was the penalty meted out to men who deserted their posts while on guard. "Lewiston" was the password. Mooney begged that he be allowed to go to the tele- graph office and telegraph to Portland concerning his danger and the disposition of his property in case he should meet death, but being refused, took the situation bravely and grimly answered that they would find him faithful. Then the detachment marched on across the hill and down a trail where the Fifth street grade has lately been made to the city. At the Ray- mond hotel the drinks were passed around among those who wished to imbibe, and the guards made merry while the lone picket stood faithfully by his post and patiently awaited the merciless onslaught of the enemy.

Hour after hour passed and still no movements in the darkness did he perceive. The intense still- ness, the suffocating darkness unnerved him and he was about to cast himself upon the mercy of his white friends when he was startled into action by a series of blood-curdling whoops and yells which seemed to rend the very atmosphere into fragments. It was now nearly midnight. Louder and louder grew the cries and nearer and nearer came the enemy. Mooney bravely stood his ground and sought to penetrate the darkness around him. Now he could see the skulk- ing forms. With blankets about their heads, weapons in their hands and their lips uttering wild cries whose meaning he knew not ; he saw them advance toward his post. Now and then the flash of a gun accom- panied by the roar which followed denoted the posi- tion of the hostiles. The whole tribe seemed to be charging. Mooney tried to sound the alarm but the trigger fell harmlessly on the cap which refused to. explode. Again and again did he load but fate seemed to be conspiring against him for the cartridges abso- lutely refused to do their duty. (Had Mooney in- vestigated he would have found that the loads had been carefully extracted from the shells, which were useless in the first place.)

Suddenly, when within fifty yards of the earth- works, the enemy drew together for a grand charge,. and with renewed energy raised their cries and yells and dashed forward. Mooney could stand the strain no longer. Coward or no coward he would never stay to be scalped even though the act did reward him with a hero's crown. Flinging his useless gun aside, he fled precipitately down the hillside. At the foot of the hill or bluff and directly in his path stood Will- iam Kettenbach's chicken coop, a building of respect- able dimensions. This structure Mooney cleared at one leap and then bounded onward toward the Snake river, preferring a watery grave to death at the hands of a savage wariror. Just at the water's edge he ran into three men, one of whom was William Boise, who is still a resident of Lewiston. Boise grasped Mooney and together the quartet rushed back to town. Here his friends assured him that the Indians had retreated and that the danger was now past. They

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congratulated him on his remarkable escape, sym- pathized with him and led him away to the hotel where, they said, he might now rest in peace.

A few minutes later the six or seven white Indians who had so valiantly stormed the ramparts above town, the three who had been sent around to inter- cept Mooney should he attempt to plunge into the Snake and a score of others who had been let into the conspiracy met and exchanged congratulations on their little joke, one of the most successful ever per- petrated in this region. The joke was too good to be kept among a few and not many hours passed before the story was common property. Mooney spent the next day in Lewiston and it is very probable that he was told the true history of the Indian scare before another night shrouded the city in darkness. It is known that the next stage numbered among its pas- sengers the hero of the Lewiston Indian scare of 1878.

The following touching story of the death and burial of "Stumpy" Wicks, one of the early charac- ters of the Coeur d'Alene district, is told in the Coeur d'Alene Eagle under date of May 3, 1884. The story vividly portrays the conditions which then existed in the Eagle camp.

"OVER THE RANGE."

"'Stumpy' Wicks was dead. The mountain fever had killed him. A few days before he started off into the hills, telling the boys that he would find some- thing rich, or never go out again. He did not find anything rich, and he never went out again. The fever laid its grip upon him, and in three days he was dead. He had "gone over the range," the boys said.

"It became necessary to bury 'Stumpy' Wicks. And how was he to be buried? By his relatives ? He had no relatives. By his pard? He had no pard. By the town? There was no town. Forty years ago 'Stumpy' Wicks had left his home-no one knows where-and his people- no one knows whom- to wander in the west. He died alone. His wife, his mother, his sister, if he had one, will never know where he died, or what hands laid him in the grave. "It was the boys. They got together and made a coffin out of a box or two, and covered it with black cloth. They put 'Stumpy' into it, with a clean flour sack over his poor, dead face. They chipped in and hired an ex-parson, who for some years had abandoned his profession to give "'Stumpy' a send-off." They dug a grave to a good and honest depth in the tough, red earth. They went out and found a flat rock for a headstone, and on it, with an engineer's graver, they scratched the brief epitaph, '"Stumpy" Wicks.' Then they followed the coffin wagon to the grave, walking through the mud and rain.

"There were forty men in that funeral procession, and not one woman. Very few were drunk, and nearly all had taken off their six-shooters. There were forty men who stood around that open grave, and not one woman to drop a tear, as the ex-parson read a brief portion of the Episcopal burial service and offered a short prayer for the safe journey of 'Stumpy's'

soul over the range. There was no history of 'Stumpy's' life. No one knew his history. it was doubtless a sad enough one, full of slips and stumbles, full of hope, perhaps before he had finally 'lost his grip.' They found a woman's picture, very old, and quite worn out, indeed, in 'Stumpy's' pocket and this was buried with him. This was probably his leistory. "There was not a tear shed at 'Stumpy's' funeral. Not a sol, was heard but neither were there any oaths or any laughter.

"When the time came to fill up the grave, ready hearts assisted ready hands, and the experienced miners quickly did the work. They rounded up the mound and fitted up the head-stone. When the ex- parson stepped back from the grave he stumbled over the head-stone of Billy Robbins, the gambler, whom Antoine Sanchez knifed. There were a good many of the boys resting there. The bullet, the knife and the mountain fever had finished them, except those whom the committee assisted. It was the committee who put Antoine Sanchez at the foot of Billy Rob- bins' grave.

"There was no green thing in this graveyard, no living plants, no little flowers. It lay red and bare upon a red and bare hillside. There were no white stones to mark the homes of the sleepers; those used were of the rough, red granite.

"The boys were quiet. They were thinking, per- haps. They looked up at the sky, which strangely enough, had in it no tint of blue, and the sky, in pity that no tear was shed, wept some upon them.

"As the procession broke up and moved back to the saloons, one was heard to say that it was the 'd-dest, mournfulest plantin' he ever had a hand in.' In fact the camp did not get back to its normal condition until the next day. There was something sad even for these rough souls in the lonely, unwept death of 'Stumpy' Wicks. It made them think and I wonder if some of them did not reach out their arms from their blankets that night and hold them up and call out softly, 'Oh, Stumpy, Stumpy ! What is it you see over the range? After a wretched, broken life, what is there for a man over the range?'"

A SHOSHONE COUNTY BEAR STORY.

The Coeur d'Alene mountains are the natural home of the north Idaho bear family. Here among the numberless deep, narrow canyons and the high, long ridges covered with a dense growth of pine and cedar, underbrush and berry bushes, where a multitude of clear, gushing mountain streams may quench the thirst of man or beast, where for sections several miles in extent the great forest belongs alone to the animal world; in this region bruin was lord of the forest 111- til superseded by the pioneer miners and their trusty rifles. Even at this late day, bears are not infrequently met with in what is known locally as the North Fork country, meaning the region drained by the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene river. Some portions of that sec- tion are still uninhabited and very little traveled except by the denizens of the wilderness.

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It was on Beaver creek, a southern tributary of the North Fork, that the scene of this bear story is laid and the time of action was in the spring of 1896. The Coeur d'Alene Sun tells the story in the following words :

"Charles Eisenstein, the young ranchman living on the North Fork at the mouth of Beaver creek, is de- servedly the hero of the Coeur d'Alenes today, for he has killed the daddy of the bruin family in these parts. For several years it has been known around Delta that some wild animal was killing sheep and carrying them off. Calves were also missed. On Sunday, May 3d, a cow was killed near the mouth of Beaver creek. All signs led to the belief that a huge bear was committing the depredations. Very few men have lost any bear, but young Eistenstein said he had lost one when that favorite cow was killed. So late on Tuesday afternoon he took his Winchester rifle and a little bear dog and went up the road toward Delta to a point where tracks had been seen that day.

"He waited until dark at a point half a mile below town and had just about concluded to go home when he heard the bear coming down the mountain side. Suddenly Eistenstein saw a huge, dark object stalking through the brush. He raised his Winchester and fired at the advancing animal. A howl and a growl fol- lowed, while the dog rushed forward and engaged him, Eistenstein, in the meantime. pumping lead into the brute from the trusty repeater. Ten shots had been fired into the infuriated beast without apparent serious results and only one more cartridge was left when it pushed through the dense undergrowth and for the first time his monstrous size became known to the hunter. The young man realized that his case was now a desperate one and accordingly planned with quick wit. Nearer and nearer the animal came. When with- in eight feet, with the barrel of the gun almost touch- ing his lordship, Eistenstein fired his last bullet. The bear dropped and the hunter hurriedly retreated sev- eral yards, while the little dog kept up his annoying attack. Suddenly the monster reared on his haunches, uttered a terrible growl and fell forward. Eistenstein could stand by no longer, but, followed by the dog, fled to A. J. Prichard's cabin, a mile down the road. "Eistenstein remained at Prichard's cabin during the night and on Wednesday morning at daybreak he again set forth, this time with Mr. Prichard's Win- chester and plenty of cartridges. But he had no nse for them. The bear was found dead ahout ten feet from where he had risen for the last attack upon the death-dealing hunter. The young man went to Delta, procured assistance and returned to the scene. Four men's strength was required to place the carcass in the wagon, and its weight was estimated by those who saw it at between 600 and 700 pounds. The species to which the animal belonged was the common dark brown family. Thomas Shuster has purchased the head and skin and will have them mounted. Henry Oxley, who was at the World's Fair, says that Eisten- stein's bear is fully as large as any he saw at Chicago. Without doubt it is the largest niember of the bruin family ever killed in the Coeur d'Alenes, and for the

time being Eistenstein and his faithful dog are the pop- ular heroes of the county."

THE PIONEER BABY OF FLORENCE.

Regarding this interesting little piece of humanity, the Idaho County Free Press, under date of July 2, 1897. says :

"Frank Fenn narrates an interesting story respect- ing the first white child born in the old Florence min- ing camp. The parents of the child were Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Foster. In those days, 1864-5, there were very few families in that section, among them being Mr. Fenn's parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Fenn.

"When the Foster baby was born there was no nourishment provided by nature for it. Mrs. Fenn undertook to sustain the little one's life by rice water and other crude preparations, but these did not agree with the infant and it seemed destined to die. At one time Mr. Foster decided to take his child in his arms and make a snow shoe trip to a distant point where there were cows, but it was thought that the child would perish from the cold, and the scheme was abandoned.

"At last some one suggested, as a last resort, that there was a bunch of sheep on Salmon river, nine miles distant, and it was thought quite likely that among them might be found a ewe with milk. Accordingly a man known as 'Flintlock' Wilson volunteered to go down and see if a sheep could be secured. He found one solitary sheep, a black one, with a lamb by her side. Without much trouble he captured the animal, led it as far as he could and then, swinging her across his shoulders, mounted his snow shoes and carried it into camp. To make a long story short, the ewe's milk saved the child's life. One of Frank's duties during that memorable winter was to care for and milk the sheep."

PIONEER LIFE IN IDAHO.

The following extract from the annual address de- livered before the Idaho County Pioneers' Association at Mount Idaho, July 4, 1891, by the retiring president, James H. Robinson, of Grangeville, gives so graphic a picture of life on Camas prairie in the 'sixties, that we gladly give it a place in this chapter :

"To the pioneers of Idaho county gathered here today I wish to recall some experiences of early years on Camas prairie. To those present who have made homes here later these incidents may serve to answer the question as to how a handful of people shut out from the world and dependent entirely upon their own efforts for sustenance and social enjoyment succeeded.

"A goodly number of those who located here prior to 1870 had come to the mines of Elk City, Florence and Warren to make a fortune, which at the end of one or two years would in most cases consist of a pair of blankets and a battered outfit of cooking uten- sils. With these as capital some would build a cabin in the timber and make rails and shakes, or whipsaw lumber for the few who were more prosperous ; others built log houses almost anywhere they pleased on

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the prairie and called it home. But very few families were here in 1866, but from that time onward the number slowly increased ; a friendly social feeling pre- vailed, and when these families came together, as they often did, to spend an evening, they did not lack for means of enjoyment. No matter about the convey- ance ; a cayuse with a blanket, a log sled, a bob sled or perhaps no conveyance at all; the principal thing was to get there and forget dull care. Dancing was a part of the amusement and for the best of reasons, costumes were a matter of secondary importance. The ball room dude of today would stand aghast at the surroundings and dances of 1867. In vain would the bachelor look for young lady partners : they were not there except in very short dresses.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 292

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1524

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524