History of Benton County, Oregon, Part 27

Author: David D. Fagan
Publication date: 1885
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Oregon > Benton County > History of Benton County, Oregon > Part 27

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).

While Mr. Ogden was absent on his errand of mercy, the American settlers were not idle. On the eighth of December Governor Abernethy informed the legislature of what had been done at Waiilatpu, and by message called for volunteers. That night at a public meeting a company was organized to proceed at once to The Dalles, as an outpost to protect the missionaries there, and to dispute a passage of the Cascade moun- tains with hostile Indians if any attempted carrying war into the Willamette settle- ments. The company was commanded by Henry A. G. Lee, captain, and Joseph Magone and John E. Ross, lieutenants. The legislature pledged the credit of the provisional government to pay the expenses of procuring an outfit for this company, and appointed a committee to visit Vancouver and negotiate for the same from the Hudson's Bay Company, which they did, but were obliged to become personally respon- sible for the amount. December 10, the Oregon Rifles reached Vancouver, received their supplies, and pushed on for The Dalles, where they arrived on the twenty-first of the month. In the meantime the legislature entered with energy upon a series of resolutions and enactments with a view to military organization of magnitude sufficient to chastise the Indians, and the citizens by subscriptions and enlistments seconded cordially the efforts of their provisional government. Many were for pushing forward into the enemy's country at once with a formidable force, but wiser counsels prevailed, and nothing was done likely to prevent the Indians from surrendering their white captives to Mr. Ogden.

On the ninth of December the legislature authorized the equipping of a regiment of 500 men, and in accordance with the act sixteen companies were raised. Cornelius Gilliam was chosen colonel, James Waters, lieutenant-colonel, and H. A. G. Lee, major.

February 23, 1848, Colonel Gilliam reached The Dalles with fifty men. The main body of his regiment arriving at that place, he moved to the Des Chutes river on the twenty-seventh with 130 men, crossed to the east bank, and sent Major Lee up the stream about twenty miles on a reconnoisance, where he found the enemy, engaged them, killed one, lost some of his horses and returned to report progress. On the twenty-ninth Colonel Gilliam moved up the Des Chutes to Meek's crossing at the mouth of the canon in which Major Lee had met the Indians. The next morning on entering the canon a skirmish followed, in which were captured from the hostiles, 40 horses, 4 head of cattle and $300 worth of personal property, all of which was sold by the quartermaster for $1,400. The loss of the Indians in killed and wounded was not

Digitized by Google

Google

Digitized by

A. G. Walling, Lith. Portland, Or.

FARM RESIDENCE OF D. L. KEYS. 3 1-2 Miles Southwest of Corvallis. Benton County, Oregon.

161

OREGON.

known. There was one white man wounded. The result was a treaty of peace with the Des Chutes Indians. The command pushed immediately forward to the Walla Walla country and reached the mission prior to March 4. On the way to that place a battle occurred at Sand Hollows, on the emigrant road eight miles east of the Well Springs. It commenced on the plain where washes in the sand make natural hiding places for a foe, and lasted until towards night. The volunteer force was arranged with the train in the road protected by Captain Hall's company. The companies of Captains Thompson and Maxon, forming the left flank, were on the north side of the road, and those of Captains English and Mckay, as the right flank, were on the south or right of the command. Upon Mckay's company at the extreme right the first demonstration was made. Five Crows, the head chief of the Cayuses, made some pre- tensions to the possession of wizard powers, and declared to his people that no ball from a white man's gun could kill him. Another chief of that tribe named War Eagle or Swallow Ball, made similar professions and stated that he could swallow all the bullets from the guns of the invading army if they were fired at him. The two chiefs prom- ised their people that Gilliam's command should never reach the Umatilla river, and to demonstrate their invulnerability and power as medicine chiefs, they dashed out from concealment, rode down close to the volunteers and shot a little dog that came out to bark at them. Captain Mckay, although the order was not to fire, could hold back no longer, and bringing his rifle to bear took deliberate aim and shot War Eagle through the head, killing him instantly. Lieutenant Charles Mckay brought his shot gun down to the hollow of his arm, and firing without sighting it, so severely wounded Five Crows that he gave up the command of his warriors. This was a serious, chilling opening for the Indians, two chiefs gone at the first onset and their medicine proved worthless ; but they continued the battle in a skirmishing way, making dashing attacks and masterly retreats until late in the afternoon. At one time during the engagement, Captain Maxon's company followed the enemy so far that it was surrounded, and a sharp encounter followed, in which a number of volunteers were disabled. In fact, eight of the eleven soldiers wounded that day were of Maxon's company. Two Indians were known to have been killed, but the enemy's loss could not be known as they re- moved all of their wounded and dead, except two.

That night the regiment camped on the battlefield without water, and the Indians built large and numerous fires along the bluffs or high lands some two miles in advance. The next day Colonel Gilliam moved on, and without incident worthy of note, reached Whitman's mission, the third day after the battle. The main body of Indians fell back towards Snake river, and a fruitless attempt followed to induce them to give up the parties who had committed the murders at Waiilatpu. Colonel Gilliam at last de- termined upon making a raid into the Snake river country, and in carrying out this programme, surprised a camp of Cayuses near that stream, among whom were some of the murderers. The captured camp professed friendship, however, and pointed out the horses of Indians on the hills, which they, said belonged to the parties whom the Colonel was anxious to kill or capture, stating that their owners were on the north side of Snake river and beyond reach. So well was their part acted that the officers be- lieved their statements, proceeded to drive off the stock indicated, and started on their return. They soon found that a grievous error had been committed in releasing the 21

Digitized by Google

162

OREGON.

village, whose male population were soon mounted upon war horses, and assailed the volunteers on all sides, forcing them to fight their way as they fell back to the Touchet river. Through the whole day and until evening, yes, into the night after their arri- val at the latter stream, the contest was maintained, a constant, harassing skirmish. The soldiers would drive the Indians back again and again, but as soon as the retreat was resumed, the red skins were upon them once more. Finally, after going into camp on the Touchet, Colonel Gilliam ordered the captured stock turned loose, and when the Indians got possession of it, they returned to Snake river without molesting the command any further: In the struggle on the Touchet, when the retreating soldiers first reached that stream, William Taylor was mortally wounded by an Indian who sprang up in the bushes by the stream and fired with but a few yards between them- Nathan Olney, afterwards Indian agent, seeing the act, rushed upon the savage, snatched from his hand a war club in which was fastened a piece of iron, and dealt him a blow on the head with it with such force as to cause the iron to split the club, and yet failed to kill him. He then closed with his antagonist in a hand to hand struggle, and soon ended the contest with a knife. The writer has not been able to learn of any other known casualties in that affair, which ended without having accomplished anything to further the purposes of the campaign.

Colonel Gilliam started from the mission on the twentieth of March, with a small force destined to return from the Dalles with supplies, while he was to continue to the Willamette and report to the governor. While camped at Well Springs he was killed by an accidental discharge of a gun, and his remains were taken to his friends west of the Cascades by Major Lee. This officer soon returned to his regiment with a com- mission as colonel, but finding Lt. Col. Waters had been elected by the regiment to that position in his absence, he resigned and filled a subordinate office for the remainder of his term of enlistment. The attempt by commissioners, who had been sent with the volunteers, as requested by the Indians in their memorial to the Americans, to nego- tiate a peaceful solution of the difficult problem, failed. They wanted the Indians to deliver up for execution all those who had imbued their hands in the blood of our countrymen at Waiilatpu, and it included several chiefs ; they wished the Cayuses to pay all damages to emigrants caused by their being robbed or attacked while passing through the Cayuse country. The Indians wished nothing of the kind. They wanted peace, and to be let alone; for the Americans to call the account balanced and drop the matter. The failure to agree had resulted in two or three skirmishes, one of them at least a severe test of strength, in which the Indians had received the worst of it, and in the other the volunteers had accomplished nothing that could be counted a success. The Cayuses finding that no compromise could be effected, abandoned their country, and most of them passed east of the mountains. Nothing was left for the volunteers but to leave the country also, which they did, and the Cayuse war had practically ended. Finally, they were given to understand that peace could never exist between them and the Americans until the murderers were delivered up for punishment.

At that time, early in 1850, Tam-su-ky and his supporters, including many relatives who had not in any manner participated in the massacre, were hiding in the mountains at the head of John Day river. The Indians who desired peace went after them, and a fight ensued, ending in the capture of nearly all of the turbulent band.

Digitized by Google

163

OREGON.

Only one, however, of the five who were actually engaged in the bloody work at Waiilatpu (so the Whitman Indians assert) was captured, and he was Ta-ma-has, a bloody-minded villain whom his countrymen called The "Murderer." It was he who commenced the work of death by braining Dr. Whitman with a hatchet. Taking him and four others, several of the older men and chiefs went to Oregon City to deliver them up as hostages. They were at once thrown into prison, condemned, and hung at Oregon City on the third of June, 1850; and even the ones who brought them, in view of this suminary proceeding, congratulated themselves upon their safe return. They believed that Ta-ma-has should have been hung, but not the other four, not understanding the theory of accomplices, and so the few survivors of the tribe assert to the present day.

CHAPTER XIX.

TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON. .

Discouraging News Brought by Immigrants in 1847 -- Letters from President Polk and Senator Benton -J. Quinn Thornton's Mission to Washington - Senatorial Struggle over the Oregon Bill-Joe Meeks' Trip Across the Continent-Arrival of Governor Lane-Discovery of Gold -Effect upon Oregon-Beaver Money -- - Steps Leading to Creation of Washington Territory -Division of Oregon -First Government of Washing- ton Territory -Indian War of 1855-6.

With the immigration of 1847, so large and so encouraging to the struggling set- tlers of Oregon, came the disheartening intelligence that congress had failed utterly to provide for a territorial government for this neglected region, or to extend to it in any way the benefit of the national laws. Four years had the people of Oregon governed themselves, loyal in heart and deed to their native land, and for a year had England by solemn treaty relinquished all her asserted rights, and yet the national legislature denied it the aid and protection of the law. Congress had, during the session of 1846-7, made an appropriation for a mail service ria Panama to Oregon, and two post masters were appointed, one for Astoria and one for Oregon City, also an Indian agent. By one of the new officials, Mr. Shively, James Buchanan, secretary of state, transmitted a letter to the people, expressing the deep regret of President Polk that congress had been so unmindful of their needs and rights. The communication also contained the assurance that the executive would extend to this far off region all the protection with- in his power, including occasional visits of vessels of war and the presence of a regi- ment of dragoons to guard the immigration. Mr. Shively also bore a letter from Thomas H. Benton, that sturdy senator from Missouri, whose voice and pen had un- swervingly championed the cause of Oregon for thirty years. In this letter, dated at Washington City, March, 1847, Mr. Benton says :

Digitized by Google

164

OREGON.

" The house of representatives, as early as the middle of January, had passed the bill to give you a territorial government, and in that bill had sanctioned and legalized your provisional organic act, one of. the clauses of which forever prohibited the existence of slavery in Oregon. An amendment from the senate's committee to which this bill was referred, proposed to abrogate that prohibition, and in the delays and vex- ations to which that amendment gave rise, the whole bill was laid upon the table, and lost for the session. * ** * But do not be alarmed or desperate. You will not be outlawed for not admitting slavery. * * * A home agitation, for election and dis- union purposes, is all that is intended by thrusting this fire brand question into your bill; and, at the next session, when it is thrust in again, we will scourge it out ! and pass your bill as it ought to be. * * * In conclusion, I have to assure you that the same spirit which has made me the friend of Oregon for thirty years-which led me to denounce the joint occupation treaty the day it was made, and to oppose its revival in 1828, and to labor for its abrogation until it was terminated ; the same spirit which led me to reveal the grand destiny of Oregon in articles written in 1818, and to sup- port every measure for her benefit since-this spirit still animates me, and will continue to do so while I live-which, I hope, will be long enough to see an emporium of Asiatic commerce at the mouth of your river, and a stream of Asiatic trade pouring into the valley of the Mississippi through the channel of Oregon." Would that the grand old statesman could have lived to see his prophecy fulfilled in the new era upon which far off Oregon-now far off no longer-has so propitiously entered.

These letters were both disheartening and cheering. The people felt despondent at being so neglected by the authorities of their loved country, but were cheered by the thought that warm friends were laboring for their welfare far beyond the reach of their grateful voices. Hon. J. Quinn Thornton, supreme judge of the provisional government, had been, during the past year, frequently urged by influential men, to proceed to Washington and labor with congress in behalf of Oregon. In particular had the lamented Dr. Whitman requested him so to do, asserting that only the estab- lishment of a strong territorial government, one that the Indians would recognize as powerful, would " save him and his mission from falling under the murderous hands of savages." Mr. Thornton recognized the importance of such a delegate, and solicited Hon. Peter H. Burnett, subsequently the first governor of California, to undertake the mission, but without success. The news of the state of affairs at Washington brought by Mr. Shively, decided Mr. Thornton, and on the eighteenth of October, 1847, having resigned his judicial office, he departed on his arduous mission, armed with a letter from Governor Abernethy to President Polk. Mr. Thornton was by no means a reg- ularly constituted delegate, since Oregon was not authorized to accredit such an official to congress, but simply went as a private individual, representing in an unofficial man- ner the governor and many of the prominent citizens of Oregon. In fact the legis- lature, deeming its functions infringed upon by this action of the governor, passed resolutions embodying their idea of the harm done the colony by the officiousness of " secret factions."

There was not ready money enough in the treasury to have paid the passage of Mr. Thornton, even had it been at his disposal. A collection was taken up, contri- butions being made partly in coin but chiefly in flour, clothing, and anything that

Digitized by Google

165

OREGON.

could be of service or was convertible into money. A contract was made with Captain Roland Gelston, of the bark Whitton, to convey Mr. Thornton to Panama, and the vessel sailed at once for San Francisco, and thence to San Juan, on the coast of Lower California. Here the Captain informed his passenger that he must decline to fulfill his contract, as he desired to engage in the coasting trade. From the perplexing dilemma he was extricated by Captain Montgomery, commanding the United States sloop of war, Portsmouth, then lying at anchor in the harbor. This gentleman deemed the mission of Mr. Thornton of sufficient importance to the government to justify him in leaving his station and returning with his vessel to the Atlantic coast. He accordingly tendered the delegate the hospitalities of his cabin, and set sail as soon as preparations could be made for the voyage. The Portsmouth arrived in Boston harbor on the second of May, 1848, and Mr. Thornton at once hastened to Washington to consult with President Polk and Senators Benton and Douglas, those warm champions of Oregon, as to the proper course to pursue. By them he was advised to prepare a memorial to be presented to congress, setting forth the condition and needs of the peo- ple whom he represented. This he did, and the document was presented to the senate by Mr. Benton, and was printed for the use of both branches of congress. Mr. Thorn- ton also drafted a bill for organizing a territorial government, which was introduced and placed upon its passage. This bill contained a clause prohibiting human slavery, and for this reason was as objectionable to the slaveholding force in congress as had been the previous one. Under the lead of Senators Jefferson Davis and John C. Cal- houn, this wing of the national legislature made a vigorous onslaught upon the bill, and fought its progress step by step with unabated determination, resorting to all the legislative tactics known, to so delay its consideration that it could not be finally passed by the hour of noon on the fourteenth of August, the time fixed by joint resolution for the close of that session of congress.

The contest during the last two days of the session was exciting in the extreme, and the feeling intense throughout the Union. The friends of the bill had decided upon a policy of " masterly inactivity," refraining entirely from debate and yielding the floor absolutely to the " filibusters," who were therefore much distressed for means to consume the slowly passing hours. Though silent in speech they were constantly present in force to prevent the opposition from gaining time by an adjournment. The bill was then on its second passage in the senate, for the purpose of concurrence with amendments which had been added by the house. On Saturday morning, August 12, the managers of the bill decided to prevent an adjournment until it had been disposed of, having a sufficient majority to pass it. The story of that memorable contest is thus told by Mr. Thornton, who sat throughout the scene an earnest spectator :

" I re-entered the senate chamber with the deepest feelings of solicitude, and yet hopeful because of the assurances which had been given to me by the gentlemen I have named. [Douglas, Benton and Hale.] I soon saw, however, that Calhoun and But- ler, of South Carolina; Davis and Foote, of Mississippi; and Hunter and Mason of Virginia, as leaders of the opposition, had girded up their loins and had buckled on their armor for the battle. The friends of the bill, led by Mr. Benton, having taken their position, waited calmly for the onset of their adversaries, who spent Saturday until the usual hour of adjournment in skirmishing in force, as if feeling the strength

Digitized by Google

166

OREGON.

of their opponents. When the motion was made at the usual time in the afternoon for adjournment, the friends of the bill came pouring out of the retiring rooms, and on coming inside the bar they voted 'No' with very marked emphasis. * * * This state of affairs continued until after night. [Here ensued a series of filibustering tactics, during which a personal altercation between Judge Butler and Senator Benton came near resulting in blows.] General Foote, the collegue of Jeff. Davis, then rose, and in a drawling tone assumed for the occasion, said his powers of endurance, he believed, would enable him to continue his address to the senate until Monday, 12 o'clock M., and although he could not promise to say much on the subject of the Oregon bill, he could not doubt that he would be able to interest and greatly edify distinguished sena- tors. The friends of the bill, seeing what was before them, posted a page in the door- way opening into one of the retiring rooms, and then, after detailing a few of their number to keep watch and ward on the floor of the senate, withdrew into the room of which I have spoken, to chat and tell anecdotes and to drink wine, or perhaps some- thing even much stronger, and thus to wear away the slowly and heavily passing hours of that memorable Saturday night. Soon great clouds of smoke filled the room, and from it issued the sound of the chink of glasses, and of loud conversation, almost drown- ing the eloquence of the Mississippi senator, as he repeated the bible story of the cosmogany of the world, the creation of man, the taking from his side of the rib from which Eve was made, her talking with the 'snake,' as he called the evil one, the fall of man, etc. etc. The galleries were soon deserted. Many of the aged senators prostrated themselves upon the sofas in one of the retiring rooms, and slumbered soundly, while 'thoughts that breathed and words that burned' fell in glowing eloquence from the lips of the Mississippi senator, as he continued thus to instruct and edify the few watching friends of the bill, who, notwithstanding the weight of seventy years pressed heavily upon some of them, were as wide awake as the youngest; and they sat firm and erect in their seats, watching with lynx eyes every movement of the adversaries of the bill.

" At intervals of about an hour, the speaker would yield the floor to a motion for adjournment, coming from the opposition. Then the sentinel page at the door would give notice to the waking senators in the retiring room, and these would immediately arouse the slumbering senators, and all would then rush pell mell through the doorway, and when the inside of the bar was reached, would vote 'No' with a thundering emphasis. Occasionally southern senators, toward Sunday morning, relieved Gen. Foote by short, dull speeches, to which the friends of the bill vouchsafed no answers; so that Mr. Cal- houn and his pro-slavery subordinates had things for the most part all their own way until Sabbath morning, August 13, 1848, at about eight o'clock, when the leading opponents of the bill collected together in a knot, and after conversing together a short time in an undertone, the Mississippi senator who had been so very edifying and enter- taining during the night, said that no further opposition would be made to taking a vote on the bill. The ayes and nayes were then called and the bill passed."

Not alone to Mr. Thornton is due the honor of representing Oregon at Washington during that long struggle for justice. Another delegate, one with even better creden- tials than the first, was there to aid in the work. This was Joseph L. Meek, the moun- taineer and trapper whose name is indelibly inscribed upon the early annals of the Pacific coast. When the massacre of the martyred Whitman and his associates at Waiilatpu

Digitized by Google

167

OREGON.

plunged the settlers into a state of mingled grief and alarm, it was thought necessary to dispatch a messenger at once to Washington to impart the intelligence, impress the authorities with the precarious situation of the colony, and appeal for protection. Winter had set in with all its vigors in the mountains. The terrible journey made at that season six years before by Dr. Whitman, on his patriotic mission, the same person whose martyrdom now rendered a second journey necessary, was fresh in the minds of all, and appalled the stoutest heart. Mr. Thornton had taken the longer but safer route by sea, but time was too precious, too much was at stake, to admit of the delay such a journey would impose, even if the vessel were at hand to afford the means. Nothing but a trip across the thousands of miles of snow-bound mountains, plains and deserts, would be of any avail. In the emergency all turned to Joseph L. Meek as the one man in their midst whose intrepid courage, great powers of physical endurance, long experience in mountain life and familiarity with the routes of travel and Indian tribes to be encountered, rendered him capable of undertaking the task with a good prospect of success. Unhesitatingly he accepted the mission, resigned his seat in the legislature, received his credentials as a delegate from that body, and set out on the fourth of January for Washington, accompanied by John Owens and George Ebberts, who decided to go with him and avail themselves of his services as guide and director. At The Dalles they were forced to delay several weeks until the arrival of the Oregon volunteers rendered it safe for them to proceed, since the whole upper country was overrun by hostile Indians.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Benton County, Oregon, Part 27

Author: David D. Fagan Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: David D. Fagan
Publication date: 1885
Publisher:
Number of Pages: