USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. I, 1834-1848 > Part 70
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42 The Oregon American was not the only paper brought into existence about this time with the purpose of giving utterance to sentiments which were not admitted to the columns of the conservative Spectator. George L. Curry, after being dismissed from the editorial chair of that journal for reasons before mentioned, started the Oregon Free Press, a small weekly in which he printed as much truth, welcome or unwelcome to the Spectator, as pleased him. It ran only from April to December 1848. It was printed from a press made in the country, and with display type wrought out of wood by hand. Address of G. L. Curry, in Or. Pioneer Assoc., Trans., 1875, 72; S. I. News, ii. 123; Richardson's Missis., 411; Polynesian, v. 27; Portland Oregonian, April 30, 1872; Gilfry's Res. Or., MS., 25.
698
RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVES.
even admitting the monstrous idea that its officers were capable of such acts; the lack of both opportu- nity and motive on the part of the priests, admitting that these young men just out of European or Cana- dian colleges could be thinking of murder, should be sufficient proof that they did not instigate the In- dians. The country belonged by treaty to the United States, hence the company had nothing to gain. The priests had not yet established a mission, or obtained control of the Indians. They knew that Whitman intended leaving the Walla Walla Valley, and would if they wished it sell them his improvements at Waiilatpu. Why then kill him? Or why, if he must be killed, did the Protestant instead of the Catholic Cayuses do the deed? It was the Indians nearest to Whitman who killed him, even those almost of his own household. By the captives, saved and lib- erated by those they now accused, being instigated by sectarian hatred, were put upon the stand, and tricked into saying things the most abominable and absurd. It was Spalding himself who should have been examined, under oath, and not all those afflicted and bewildered captives who understood little or noth- ing of the causes which led to their great misfortunes. Finding the Protestants taking depositions, the Cath- olics also resorted to sworn statements; and it must be admitted that so far as the depositions go the latter have the best of the cause. But the rancor on both sides ! The merely secular mind shrinks from contem- plating it.43 I have in previous chapters stated my belief that the interference of the Catholics augmented Whitman's troubles with the Cayuses; but it is evi- dent to my mind that had there not been a Catholic in the country the catastrophe would have come in the identical shape that it did come, from Indian jeal- ousy alone. Blanchet, in attempting to account for
43 Among the writers who will not countenance the accusations published in the Oregon American in 1848 are Evans, Strong, Dowell, Waldo, J. Henry Brown, Victor, Deady, I. I. Stevens, and J. Ross Browne. Thornton and Gray continued to put forth these horrible ideas.
699
THE CURSES OF THE CHRISTIANS.
its occurrence, uses the following language : "At the sight of the good already done, and to be done by the army of the zealous missionaries just arrived, the devil, shaking with anger and rage, resolved to make his last efforts to utterly ruin the Catholic clergy on this coast." 44
The Presbyterians blamed the Catholics, and the Catholics blamed the devil, for what the exercise of ordinary good judgment ought to have averted, but which sectarian pride and obstinacy resolved to dare rather than to avoid.
44 Cath. Church in Or., 165.
CHAPTER XXV. THE CAYUSE WAR.
1848.
ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY-COLONEL GILLIAM EN ROUTE FOR THE DALLES-THOMAS MCKAY'S CANADIAN COMPANY-CAPTAIN ENGLISH'S COMPANY-CAPTAIN MARTIN'S COMPANY-CAPTAIN SHAW'S COMPANY- CAPTAIN GARRISON'S COMPANY-THE ARMY AT FORT GILLIAM-THE ARMY AT FORT LEE-MEEK'S PARTY-PEACE MEASURES-A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY-OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE-HEADQUARTERS AT WAIILATPU-ACTION OF THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS-COUNCIL WITH THE CAYUSES-THE MURDERERS MUST BE DELIVERED UP-DEATH OF COLONEL GILLIAM-MAJOR LEE ASSUMES COMMAND-THE GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION-SCARCITY OF AMMUNITION-THE WAR ENDED AND TROOPS MUSTERED OUT-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
THE arrival of the rescued captives and the recital of their wrongs greatly accelerated the preparations for war. The letter of Spalding counselling peace would have been suppressed but for the request of Ogden that all if any of the correspondence should be published. But it was easy to see that Spalding had written as he did, because, as the natives said, " he was in a hole," and could not otherwise get out. He had heard, through the Nez Percés, of the escape of Hall, and supposed he would have reached Van- couver or Oregon City, and that steps would be taken for the relief of all who were left alive. He rightly surmised that his countrymen would wish to be avenged, and he took measures to warn them not to precipitate him and all the other Americans in ruin by coming with an army to fight the Cayuses. No humane and reasonable being could blame him for dis- sembling to the Indians when so many lives were at
+ 700 ;
701
GILLIAM'S ADVANCE.
stake; but the dissembling had not stopped there. While the general judgment declared the sentence to be "for the barbarian murderers and violators ... eter- nal remembrance; let them be pursued with unrelent- ing hatred and hostility, until life-blood has atoned for their infamous deeds,"1 Spalding was employed in creating a similar feeling toward the bishop of Walla Walla, whom he had so lately addressed as his "dear friend and brother," with the request to do all he could to save him. In the heated state of the public mind, which was not prepared to reason, the impres- sion that the sword had fallen because the bishop had cut the hair sank deeply. If it were not so, asked the Presbyterians, how could the Catholics remain when we have been driven away? That question was answered when the army approached the Umatilla, but the answer was not forthcoming when Spalding pointed out this significant fact to the volunteers, who went away prepared to encounter the horns and hoofs of his Satanic Majesty on that river.2
On the same day that Ogden arrived with the fam- ilies from the missions in the interior, Colonel Gil- liam set out for the Dalles with fifty men, in advance of the companies mentioned in the previous chapter, which were to follow on the 14th. He was accom- panied by Meek's overland party; but such were the difficulties and consequent delays of the march in the winter, that the advance did not reach the Dalles till the 24th, three other companies being close behind, and three others organizing to follow, besides a num- ber that were being raised for defence in some of the counties. A company of infantry was also forming in Portland, which expected to be ready to march by the 1st of February. On French Prairie a company
1 Or. Spectator, Jan. 20, 1848.
2 The excitement became so great that the volunteers in starting said that their first shots would be for the bishop and his priests; and that for several months the Catholic churches and establishments in the Willamette Valley were in the greatest danger of being burned down. Blanchet's Cath. Church in Or., 173.
702
THE CAYUSE WAR.
was raised by Thomas McKay, among the Canadians, which action on the part of this noted Indian-fighter gave great satisfaction, not only on account of his reputation as a warrior, but as an indication of the course which would be taken by the half-breed popu- lation in the event of a protracted war3 with the natives. A flag was designed for and presented to Captain McKay, emblematic of the provisional gov- ernment, bearing a lone star and a number of stripes. He presented it to his company with this brief ad- dress : "This is the flag you are expected to defend, and you must defend it." 4
Besides the Canadian company, Marion county furnished two others, under captains Levin N. Eng- lish and William Martin; 5 and Clackamas and Marion
3 Grim describes Mckay as mounted and riding along the road haranguing the French half-breeds in Chinook. In an hour's time he had 34 men in his company. Emigrant Anecdotes, MS., 8. Mckay's company was officered as follows: Thomas McKay, captain; Charles Mckay, Ist lieutenant; Alexander Mckay, 2d lieutenant; Edward Dupuis, orderly sergeant; George Montour, Baptiste Dorio, David Crawford, and Gideon Pion, duty sergeants. Privates: John Spence, Louis Laplante, Augustine Russie, Isaac Gervais, Louis Mon- tour, Alexis Vatrais, Joseph Paine, Jno. Cunningham, Jno. Gros Louis, Joe Lenegratly, Antoine Poisier, Antoine Plante, Pierre Lacourse, Ashby Pearce, Richard Linkletter, Charles Beauchmain, Augustine Delard, B. S. Laderiste, Antoine Lafaste, Nathan English, Charles Edwards, Gideon Gravelle, Chas. Coweniat, Antoine Bonaupans, Nicholas Bird, Francis Dupres, William Towie, Thomas Purvis, A. J. Thomas, J. H. Bigler, Mongo, Antoine Ansure, Narcisse Montiznie, Edward Crete. Or. Spectator, April 6, 1848; Ross' Nar., MS., 8-10. 4 Or. Spectator, Feb. 16, 1848.
5 Captain English's officers were: William Shaw, Ist lieutenant; F. M. Munkers, 2d lieutenant; William Martin, orderly sergeart; Hiram English, George Shaw, Thomas Boggs, and L. J. Rector, duty sergeants. Privates: Jackson Adams, L. N. Abel, William Burton, Joseph Crank, John Downing, Thos. T. Eyre, R. D. Foster, Alexander Gage, Thomas Gregory, G. W. Howell, Fales Howard, J. H. Lewis, N. G. McDonald, James Officer, Joseph Pearson, Jackson Rowell, William Simmons, L' wis Stewart, Charles Roth, Daniel Waldo, George Wesley, William Vaughn, L. N. English, jun., Nineveh Ford, Albert Fish, A. Gribble, Samuel Senvers, Thomas Wigger, Richard Hays, Wesley Howell, Richard Jenkins, G. H. March, William Medway, J. R. Payne, Benjamin Simpson, Alexander York.
Captain Martin's officers were: A. E. Garrison, Ist lieutenant; David Waldo, 2d lieutenant; Ludwell J. Rector, orderly sergeant; William Cosper, Fales Howard, Joseph Sylvester, aud Benjamin Wright, duty sergeants. Privates: J. Albright, H. Burdo., T. J. Blair, Joseph Borst, George Crab- tree, Joseph Crank, Wesley Cook, Samuel Center, John Cox, John Eads, Parnel Fowler, S. M. Crover, John Kaiser, Clark S. Pringle, Israel Wood, Lewis Stewart, Pleasan C. Kaiser, Thomas Canby, Sidney Ford, William Melawers, A. M. Rainwater, B. F. Shaw, William Waldo, Silas G. Pugh, G. K. Vernon, Isaiah Matheny, Thomas T. Eyre, John C. Holgate. Albany State Rights Democrat, Nov. 2, 1877.
703
FORTS GILLIAM AND LEE.
together two others, under captains William Shaw and J. M. Garrison.6
The army established, as it passed up the river, a way- station for supplies at the Cascade portage, which re- ceived the name of Fort Gilliam. The stockade erected at the Dalles by Major Lee was called Fort Lee. The only piece of ordnance at the governor's command was the nine-pounder belonging to Oregon City, which was forwarded to the Dalles, this place being designated as army headquarters.7
When Colonel Gilliam arrived at Fort Lee there had already been some skirmishing. On the 8th of January some savages were discovered herding the cattle left at the mission by the immigrants preparatory to driving them away; and when Major Lee and several men advanced on foot with the intention of preventing it they were fired on. There- upon a running fight was kept up for two hours, be- tween seventeen white men, some mounted and others on foot, and twenty-three mounted natives, eight only of whom were Cayuses. The natives succeeded in driving off about three hundred head of cattle, and wounding Sergeant William Berry. Three savages
6 Captain Shaw's officers were: David Crawford, Ist lieutenant; Baptiste Dorio, 2.1 lieutenant; Absalom M. Smith, orderly sergeant; George Laroque, Vatall Bergeron, George W. Shaw, and Charles Mckay, duty sergeants. Privates: John H. Bigler, O. Crum, Joseph Despont, William Felix, Xavier Plante, Eli Viliell, F. M. Mankis, Antonio Plante, Charles Edwards, Andrew Heeber, Xavier Gervais, David Jones, John Pecares, Samuel Kinsey, Joseph Pearson, William Towie, Peter Jackson, Alexander Laborain, William McMil- len, B. F. Nichols, Hiram Smead, William Marrill, Francis Poiecor, George Westley.
Captain Garrison's officers were: A. E. Garrison, Ist lieutenant: John C. Herren, 21 lieutenant; J. B. Kaiser, orderly sergeant; George Crabtree, George Laroque, an'l Joseph Colester, duty sergeants. Privates: E. Bier- naisse, Thomas R. Blair, John C. Cox, Joseph Despart, Caleb M. Grover, Isaiah Matheny, John Picar.I, William Philip, Henry Barden, Silas P. Pugh, Isaac Wood, Penel Fowler, Andrew Hubert, Daniel Herren, Xavier Plante, Vitelle Bergeron. There is a repetition of the same names in two or more companies here given, from which it appears that men and officers were frequently transferred. But as the rolls were thus published by J. Henry Brown from the originals, I let them stand. They appeared first in the Salem Mercury, and were copied into the Albany State Rights Democrat, Nov. 2 and 9, 1877, and Ashland Tidings, of same date.
7 Or. Archives, MS., 114.
704
THE CAYUSE WAR.
were killed, and one wounded. On the following morn- ing, while a detachment was going some distance from the fort to bring in a friendly chief, Seletza, who had been robbed for refusing to join in the hostilities, sixty Indian horses were captured-a reprisal which hardly offset the loss of so much beef in a country destitute of provisions.
On hearing of Major Lee's first brush with the enemy, the governor wrote Colonel Gilliam, January 26th, to select some of his best men and horses, and make a reconnoissance in the neighborhod of Des Chutes River. "It will require great caution on your part," he said, "as commander-in-chief in the field, to distinguish between friends and foes; but when you are certain that they are enemies, let them know the Americans are not women." But Gilliam was not a commander to need promptings of this kind. He meant to show the natives that Americans could fight when disembarrassed of their wives, children, and herds.
On arriving at the Dalles, he led a hundred and thirty men to the east side of Des Chutes River, where Major Lee was sent forward with a small de- tachment to discover the whereabouts of the enemy, a camp being found located about twenty miles above the crossing, but moving toward the mountains, with their families and property. Lee at once charged them, killing one man and capturing two women and a number of horses. Returning to camp, he was over- taken in a narrow cañon by a well-armed and mounted force, who opened fire, obliging them to dismount, and shelter themselves among the rocks and bushes of the ravine, where the savages annoyed them until dark by rolling heavy stones down upon them. On the following day Gilliam attacked the natives with his whole company, killing a number and taking forty horses, a few cattle, and about $1,400 worth of other property which had been stolen. Skirmishing con- tinued for several days, during which time three men
705
SKIRMISHING.
were killed, and one wounded so that he died subse- quently at Vancouver.8
In the mean time the governor's policy with regard to fighting suddenly underwent a change, for on the 27th we find him instructing Lee, at every opportunity, to assure the Indians that all the Americans want of them is to give up the murderers, and that they wish to be at peace with all the other tribes. At the same time he informed him that he thought of appointing the three commissioners authorized by the legislature, who should repair to Walla Walla for the purpose of holding a council with the various tribes of the Columbia, to prevent if possible a coalition between them and the Cayuses; and that he had selected Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, Robert Newell, well known to the Nez Percés and Cayuses, and Major Lee himself, who under White's adminis- tration had also become well known to the Indians.
In accordance with this plan of action, the governor on the 29th directed Colonel Gilliam to remain at the Dalles until the commissioners, with the last of the volunteer companies, should arrive; and repeated to him the instructions he had given Lee concerning the assurances to be made to the Indians, that if they would give up the murderers and restore the stolen property the volunteers should be withdrawn. On the 2d of February commissions were issued to Palmer, Newell, and Lee, and the former two imme- diately set about making preparations for departure.
Palmer, being commissary-general, deputized A. E. Wait and James Taylor, of Oregon City, to take charge of the commissary and quartermaster departments in his absence.9 Knowing the impatient character of
8 Alexander McDonald was shot by the guard whom he approached in a manner to induce the belief that he was an Indian. James Packwood and Jackson were shot by Indians while herding horses near the fort.
9 In his directions to Wait, Palmer says: 'The troops in the field must be supplied with provisions at all hazards .. . If a supply cannot be had by pur- chasing with such funds as are at the disposal of the department, a resort must be had to levying contributions upon the citizens. .. In doing this you will be particular in not reducing the amount of bread-stuffs below the wants HIST. OR., VOL. I. 45
706
THE CAYUSE WAR.
Gilliam, the governor urged Palmer to use all possible despatch to reach the Dalles before the colonel should have moved from that place. The commissioners arrived at Fort Lee on the 10th, accompanied by the commands of McKay and English, with the cannon, which McKay's men transported round the Cascades in a severe snow-storm, which detained both companies at the upper landing all day of the 9th, and also a party of three Hudson's Bay men bearing despatches to Fort Walla Walla.
Colonel Gilliam received a letter from the governor by the hand of Commissioner Palmer, in which he was informed that the commissioners had been ordered to hold a council with the field-officers of the army, on the steps necessary to be taken in order to secure entire unanimity of action. If the colonel thought best to proceed at once to Waiilatpu with the main army, he was to do so, and to select a favorable point for erecting a fort; wood, water, and grass being requi- sites. In case of the tribes combining and refusing to comply with the demand to give up the murderers, the field was left in the hands of the colonel, who was only cautioned to respect the lives and property of all Indians who were friendly.
This blowing hot and blowing cold, and final leav- ing of everything in Gilliam's hands, was extremely perplexing to the commissioners, who, if they were to effect the object for which they were delegated, must meet the natives in council before the army was upon them. The council with the field-officers took place on
of families. You should have at least 40 days' rations in advance. Call upon the citizens through the medium of the press, or handbills, or both, to come forward and aid us. Now is the time to show their love of country, their patriotism, who are friends, and who are foes. There are but two sides, for and against; there can be no half-way place.'
Writing from Vancouver, on his way up the Columbia, he says: 'I have bought a keg of powder and 100 pounds of balls which can be used as well as lead. Secure all the ammuniton you can and forward speedily. Send cannon, ball, and canister. I will make a portage for the cannon at the Cascades, as I go up. There are 40 pounds of good rifle powder at Timmon's, on the Colum- bia Slough, opposite this fort.' Such was the multiplicity of cares of the chairman of the peace commission, who, while delegated to negotiate for peace, was preparing for war See Or. Archives, MS., 117-18.
707
VISIT FROM THE YAKIMAS.
the 11th, but there was not that unanimity for which the governor hoped, and no arrangement was effected. On the following day a compromise was made, the colonel allowing the commissioners to precede him, accompanied by Major Lee, captains Mckay and Thompson, Meek's party, and men enough to make up a company of one hundred. Letters were written to be despatched by an Indian messenger to the Catholic mission on the Umatilla, to Fort Walla Walla, and to the Nez Percés, that they might be prepared for the advent of the army as well as of the peace commissioners. The latter were to proceed on the morning of the 14th. In the mean time the old frontier method of warfare prevailed, the innocent and the guilty being shot down indiscriminately.10 News was received on the 13th that a combination had been consummated between the tribes east of the Dalles, which information determined Gilliam to delay no longer, but to march the next morning with three hundred men for Waiilatpu, leaving Captain Williams at Fort Lee with twenty-seven men, including several sick.11
Before the commissioners could start on the 14th they received a visit from two Yakimas who came as messengers from their chiefs to learn the inten- tions of the Americans; saying that the Cayuses wished them to join the murderers; but that they had had no quarrel with the white people, who did not pass through their country. If the Americans desired peace, so did they. In this friendly mood they
10 I learn these things from a memorandum kept by Robert Newell during his journey to and from Waiilatpu. It was a strictly private diary, which his daughter, Mrs Wardwell, of Lewiston, Idaho, allowed me to copy in 1877. The following entry is touching the recklessness of the volunteers: 'An Indian was shot by one of our own people, H. English, while out hunting horses to-day, Feb. 13th, a most shameful thing.'
11 Newell says in his Memoranda that Williams pulled down the mission barn to make pickets around the houses. Palmer, in a letter to Wait, says only 3 men were left at Fort Gilliam to protect the property, and 3 to run the boats from the Cascades to the Dalles. 'The men have volunteered to fight Indians, and not run boats '-so say the officers. Or. Archives, MS., 123. These bits of private information show the condition of the army more clearly than the reports of officers.
708
THE CAYUSE WAR.
were encouraged to remain, and sent back to their chiefs with a few trifling presents.
The discipline of the army was bad. Several of the men left at Fort Lee returned to the Willamette because they were not permitted to fight Indians ; and Captain Ross resigned for some reason equally foolish;12 while much disorder prevailed in the com- missary department; and annoying jealousies were indulged in by some who had not provided themselves with private stores. In spite of these drawbacks, the army maintained a generally cheerful tone and prac- tised their military manœuvres with increasing dex- terity, as they moved slowly to the John Day River without encountering any natives either hostile or friendly-an indication of enmity in Indian tactics. On the 18th, at the upper crossing of John Day River, it became apparent that a camp of the enemy had left that place the previous night, as the newly opened caches demonstrated, and Major Lee was or- dered in pursuit, returning at midnight without having overtaken them.
On the 21st, after a hard day's march, the wagons not getting into camp with the provisions until late in the night, and flour being scarce, the company of Captain Maxon took a vote on the propriety of turn- ing back without orders. On the following day Colo- nel Gilliam remained in camp, and after a military parade, made a speech to the army upon the duties of a soldier and the dishonor of deserting the cause in which they were enlisted, promising that the men who had first moved in the mutiny should be remembered in a manner befitting their conduct; which well-de- served reproof had the effect to check desertion, though it did not prevent other infractions of disci- pline, and the waste of ammunition by the firing of guns in camp.
On approaching the Cayuse country the natives could be seen moving off toward the Blue Mountains,
12 Newell's Memoranda, MS., 4.
709
DES CHUTES DEPUTATION.
taking with them their personal effects and herds. This condition of affairs, although what might have been expected, was the occasion of discontent among the hungry volunteers, who had not enlisted simply to march after a retreating foe; and the distance from a base of supplies was growing daily greater.
But at length on the 23d, while the army was at Willow Creek, a deputation of thirteen Des Chutes ap- peared, bearing a flag, with a request for a council. The delegation was headed by a chief called Sue, who gave as a reason for not sooner responding to the invita- tion, that the volunteers had fired on his people and compelled them to run away. He professed senti- ments of friendship for the Americans, even offering to join them against the Cayuses. It was agreed that they should return to the Dalles and there await the commissioners, who would hold a general council with them when they came back from Waiilatpu.
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