An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 14

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146

USA > Washington > Kittitas County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 14
USA > Washington > Yakima County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 14
USA > Washington > Klickitat County > An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington > Part 14

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Missionary children adopted by Dr. Whitman -Miss Mary A. Bridger; Catherine Sager, aged thirteen years; Elizabeth Sager, ten; Martha J. Sager, eight; Henrietta N. Sager, four; Hanna L. Sager, Helen M. Meek.

From Du Page county, Illinois-Joseph Smith, Mrs. Hannah Smith; Mary Smith, aged fifteen years; Edwin Smith, thirteen; Charles Smith, eleven; Nelson Smith, six; Mortimer Smith, four.

From Fulton county, Illinois-Mrs. Eliza Hall; Jane Hall, aged ten years; Mary C. Hall, eight; Ann E. Hall, six; Rebecca Hall, three; Rachel M. Hall, one.

From Osage county, Mississippi-Elan Young, Mrs. Irene Young; Daniel Young, aged twenty- one years; John Young, nineteen.

From La Porte county, Indiana-Mrs. Harriet Kimball; Susan M. Kimball, aged sixteen years; Nathan M. Kimball, thirteen; Byron M. Kim- ball, eight; Sarah S. Kimball, six; Mince A. Kimball, one.

From Iowa-Mrs. Mary Sanders; Helen M. Sanders, aged fourteen years; Phoebe L. San- ders, ten; Alfred W. Sanders, six; Nancy L. Sanders, four; Mary A. Sanders, two; Mrs. Sally A. Canfield; Ellen Canfield, sixteen ; Oscar Can- field, nine; Clarissa Canfield, seven; Sylvia A. Canfield, five; Albert Canfield, three.

From Illinois-Mrs. Rebecca Hays; Henry C. Hays, aged four years. Eliza Spalding, Nancy E. Marsh and Lorrinda Bewley were also among the captives.

On New Year's day, 1848, Rev. H. H. Spald- ing, with ten others, being all the Americans from his mission, arrived at Walla Walla fort under escort of fifty Nez Perce Indians, to whom Mr. Ogden paid for their safe delivery twelve blankets, twelve shirts, twelve handkerchiefs, five fathoms of tobacco, two guns, two hundred rounds of ammunition and some knives.

Three days later Mr. Ogden started to Fort Vancouver with the captives in boats. Shortly after he had left the fort at Walla Walla, fifty Cayuse warriors dashed up to the place and demanded the surrender of Mr. Spalding, to be killed, as word had reached them of the arrival of American volunteers at The Dalles, to make war upon them, and they held him responsible for that fact.

The ransomed captives from Waiilatpu and

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

the missionaries from Lapwai reached the Willa- mette valley in safety. Concerning the experi- ences of the people of the Tchimakain mission, Professor W. D. Lyman says:

"Few things more thrilling ever came under the observation of the writer than the narration, by Fathers Eells and Walker, of the council of the Spokanes at Tchimakain, to decide whether or not to join the Cayuses. The lives of the mis- sionaries hung on the decision. Imagine their emotions as they waited with bated breath in their mission house to know the result. After hours of excited discussion with the Cayuse emissaries, the Spokanes announced their deci- sion: 'Go tell the Cayuses that the missionaries are our friends and we will defend them with our lives.'" This being the decision of the Indians, the Tchimakain missionaries, Revs. Eells and Walker, remained at their post of duty until the volunteers began active operations against the Cayuses, when they retired to Fort Colville. They were escorted thence, at the close of the war, by a detachment of Americans under command of Major Magone.

The massacre put the people of Oregon and their provisional government to a severe trial. That they both nobly stood the test speaks vol- umes for the patriotism of the one and the inher- ent strength of the other. Truly, every son of Oregon and the Northwest has cause for pride in the sterling qualities of the men and women who planted the seed of American civilization and American institutions in the soil of the north Pacific states.

"While the hearts of the legislators were bursting," says Mrs. Victor, "with pain and indignation for the crime they were called upon to mourn, and perhaps to avenge, . there was something almost farcical in the situation. Funds! Funds to prosecute a possible war! There was in the treasury of Oregon the sum of forty-three dollars and seventy-two cents, with an outstanding indebtedness of four thousand and seventy-nine dollars and seventy-four cents. Money! Money, indeed! Where was money to come from in Oregon? The governor's first thought had been the Hudson's Bay Company. It was always the company the colonists thought of first when they were in trouble. But there might be some difficulty about a loan from that source. Had not the board of London managers warned the Oregon officers to 'stick to their beaver skins?' And had not Dr. McLoughlin resigned from his position as head of the company in Oregon because the London board reproved him for assisting immigrants, and thereby encourag- ing the American occupation of the country? And now there was an Indian war impending, with only these gentlemen who had been ordered to 'stick to their beaver skins' to turn to. There were the merchants of Oregon City, to be sure ; a few hundred might be raised among them. And

there was the Methodist mission-the governor had not mentioned that; but-well, they could try it!"

The colonial· legislature does not seem to have wasted much time in bewailing its helpless condition. It acted. No sooner were read the brief message of the governor relative to the massacre and its accompanying documents, than a resolution was offered that the governor be instructed to raise, arm and equip a company of fifty riflemen to proceed forth with to the mission station at The Dalles and hold the same. That day, December 8th, the company was enlisted. Next day it was officered, presented with a flag by the ladies of Oregon City and sent by boats to its destination.

December roth a bill was passed authorizing and requiring the governor to raise a regiment of riflemen by volunteer enlistment, not to exceed five hundred men; this regiment was to "rendezvous at Oregon City on the 25th of December, A. D. 1847, and proceed thence with all possible despatch to the Walla Walla valley for the purpose of punishing the Indians, to what tribe or tribes soever they may belong, who may have aided or abetted the massacre of Dr. Whitman and his wife, and others at Waii- latpu." The bill also provided that "Jesse Applegate, A. L. Lovejoy and George L. Curry be and are hereby authorized and empowered to negotiate a loan not to exceed one hundred thou- sand dollars for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act; and that said commis- sioners be and are authorized to pledge the faith of the territory for the payment of such sum as may be negotiated for by the said commission- ers, on the most practicable terms, payable within three years from date of said loan, unless sooner discharged by the government of the United States.'

The governor and the loan commissioners set out, as soon as the bill became a law, for Vancouver, to negotiate, if possible, a loan from the Hudson's Bay Company. Formal applica- tion was made to Sir James Douglas, December IIth, the commissioners pledging the faith and means of the provisional government for the reimbursement of the company, and stating that they did not consider this pledge the only secur- ity their creditors would have. "Without claim- ing," said they, "any special authority from the government of the United States to contract a debt to be liquidated by that power, yet from all precedents of like character in the history of our country, the undersigned feel confident that the United States government will regard the mur- der of the late Dr. Whitman and his lady as a national wrong, and will fully justify the people of Oregon in taking active measures to obtain redress for that outrage and for their protection from further aggression."

As was expected, the chief factor declined to grant the loan, for the reason already outlined.

THE CAYUSE WAR.

Governor Abernethy, Jesse Applegate and A. L. Lovejoy pledged their personal credit for the supplies needful to equip the company of rifle- men already en route to The Dalles, and the immediate necessities of the government were thus relieved.

Returning to Oregon City, the committee addressed a circular to the merchants and citi- zens of Oregon, asking loans from all such as were able to contribute, either money or sup- plies. Its closing paragraphs are here quoted as showing the necessity for prompt action then existing or supposed to exist :

Though the Indians of the Columbia have committed a great outrage upon our fellow-citizens passing through their country, and residing among them, and their punish- ment for these murders may, and ought to be, a prime object with every citizen of Oregon, yet, as that duty more particularly devolves upon the government of the United States, and admits of delay, we do not make this the strongest ground upon which to found our earnest appeal to you for pecuniary assistance. It is a fact well known to every person acquainted with Indian character, that, by passing silently over their repeated thefts, robberies, and murders of our fellow-citizens, they have been emboldened to the commission of the appalling massacre at Waiilatpu. They call us "women," destitute of the hearts and courage of men, and if we allow this wholesale murder to pass by, as former aggressions, who can tell how long either life or property will be secure in any part of this country, or at what moment the Willamette will be the scene of blood and carnage?

The officers of our provisional government have nobly performed their duty. None can doubt the readiness of the patriotic sons of the west to offer their personal serv- ices in defense of a cause so righteous. So it rests with you, gentlemen, to say whether our rights and our firesides shall be defended or not. Hoping that none will be found to falter in so high and so sacred a duty, we beg leave, gentlemen, to subscribe ourselves your servants and fellow-citizens.

A specific letter to the Oregon mission was likewise prepared and sent. The result of the labors of the committee was such that on Decem- ber 14th they were able to report, besides the loan of nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, negotiated on the personal credit of two of the commissioners, with the governor, a loan of one thousand dollars subscribed at a citizens' meet- ing in Oregon City; sixteen hundred dollars from the merchants of Oregon City, and the probability that a loan of one thousand dollars would be secured from the mission.

The first committee then resigned, and on December 20th another was appointed consisting of A. L. Lovejoy, Hugh Burns and W. H. Will- son. These gentlemen continued in office until the close of the war, engaged in the expensive and vexations task of negotiating small loans of wheat, provisions, clothing, leather and all arti- cles of use to the men in the field.

Of the regiment to be called into existence by the governor in accordance with legislative enactment, Cornelius Gilliam was elected colo- nel; James Waters, lieutenant-colonel; H. A. G. Lee, major, and Joel Palmer, commissary-gen-

eral. The purpose of this military organization was to secure for punishment the Whitman mur- derers and all those who had taken an important part in the massacre. It was not intended that aggressive warfare should be waged against the Cayuse tribe as a whole, or, a fortiore, against any other tribe, as a matter of retribution, but it was intended that the murderers should be procured at all cost and that war should be waged against all who harbored them, until the desired end was achieved. Accordingly, a peace commission was sent a long with the army, the personnel of which was Joel Palmer, Robert Newell and H. A. G. Lee, that the olive branch might be offered before re- sort to the sword should be had. Joseph L. Meek, who had been appointed to carry a memorial to congress, also purposed to accompany the army.

A base of supplies was established during the last days of December at the upper cascades of the Columbia. A few rude structures were erected and denominated Fort Gilliam, though they were more frequently referred to as "The Cabins."

"The history of this little post in the heart of the great Oregon Sierras became a most inter- esting one," says Mrs. Victor. "It was here that the hardest struggle of the war was carried on-not in fighting Indians, but in keeping the men in the field that had undertaken to do the fighting. In point of fact, the commissary department was charged with the principal burden of the war, and the title of 'General,' which Palmer acquired through being at the head of this department, might well have been bestowed upon him for his services in sustaining the organization of the army under conditions such as existed in Oregon in 1847-8. Without arms, without roads, without transportation other than small boats and pack horses, without comfortable winter clothing and with scanty food, the war was to be carried on at a distance of nearly three hundred miles from the settle- ments. And if the volunteer soldiers were called upon to endure these hardships, which General Palmer was doing his best to overcome, the com- missioned officers were no less embarrassed by the want of the most ordinary appliances of their rank or position-even to the want of a proper field-glass."

Early in January, 1848, Colonel Gilliam started up the river from the rendezvous at Port- land, arriving at Vancouver the first day. He did not do as he was said to have threatened, attempt to levy on the Hudson's Bay Company's goods to supply his troops. On the contrary, he purchased such supplies as he stood in urgent necessity of, pledging his own credit and that of Commissary-General Palmer, who accompanied him, for the payment. Having reached the cascades, he left there one company to construct a road from the lower to the upper portage, him- self and the balance of his command proceeding to Fort Gilliam, where he received a dispatch

CENTRAL WASHINGTON.

from Major Lee, at The Dalles. By this he was informed that the major had had a fight with Indians, January 8th, brought on by an attempt of the latter to round up and drive away stock left at the mission by immigrants. The skirmish lasted two hours and resulted in a loss to the enemy of three killed and one injured, while the white loss was one man wounded. The Indians, however, secured three hundred head of beef cattle. The next day sixty horses belonging to the hostiles were captured.

The receipt of this information determined Gilliam to push on with all speed to The Dalles. As soon as the governor heard of the fight he directed the colonel to select some of his best men and scour the Des Chutes river country, being careful to distinguish between friendly and hostile Indians, but vigorous in his treatment of the latter.

About the last of January, Colonel Gilliam set out with one hundred and thirty men for the Des Chutes river. Arrived there, he sent Major Lee to the supposed position of the hostiles on the east side of the river. He struck the Indians in full retreat towards the mountains and killed one of their number, but while returning to camp was attacked in a ravine by a considerable force. His command were compelled to dismount and seek the shelter of rocks and bushes, where they remained, annoyed but uninjured by the enemy, until night. Next day the Indians were attacked with vigor and driven to their village, then out of it again, leaving it at the mercy of the whites. It was destroyed, as was also much cached prop- erty which could not be carried away.

Returning to Fort Lee at The Dalles, the officers held there a council on the 11th of Feb- ruary with the peace commissioners, who had arrived in the meantime, to formulate a plan of action. It was agreed that the commissioners should precede the army, and the date fixed for them to start was the 14th, but word having been received on the 13th that a combination of hostile tribes had been effected, Gilliam decided to march at once with three hundred men. The commissioners were displeased but had to acquiesce, so the forces of war and the bearers of the olive branch journeyed together toward the scene of the massacre.

On the 23d an understanding was effected with the Des Chutes Indians and the next day two messengers arrived from the Yakima country stating that the Yakimas had taken the advice of the peace commissioners and decided not to join the Cayuses in a war against the Americans. A letter brought by one of them read as follows:

CAMP OF CIAIES, February 16, 1848.

M. Commander:

The Yakima chiefs, Ciaies and Skloom, have just pre- sented me a letter signed by Messrs. Joel Palmer, Robert Newell and H. A. G. Lee, which I have read, and a young Indian, son of one of the chiefs, translated it to them in Yakima language. The chiefs above mentioned charged

me to say to you in their name, in those of Carnaiareum and of Chananaie, that they accept, with acknowledg- ments, the tobacco and the banner which you sent them. They have resolved to follow your counsel, and not unite themselves with the Cayuses, but to remain at rest upon their lands. On my arrival at the camp of Ciaies, that chief assured me that he would not join the Cayuses. I could but see, with the greatest of pleasure, dispositions which will prevent the spilling of blood and which will facilitate the means of instructing those Indians.

Your humble servant,

G. BLANCHET.

During the forenoon of the 24th the march was resumed, the peace commissioners in front with a white flag. Their friendly advances to the Indians were repelled and at noon a large number of hostiles were seen on the hill signaling for a fight. They collected quickly in the path of the advancing army and soon their desire for battle was gratified. The battle of Sand Hollows, as it is called, began on a plain where depressions in the sand formed natural rifle pits. The baggage train, protected by the company of Captain Laurence Hall, formed the center of the white forces. The left flank, consisting of the companies of Captain Philip F. Thompson and Captain H. J. G. Maxon, were on the north side of the road, and the companies of Levi N. English and Thomas Mckay constituted the right of the command.

The principal leaders of the Indians were Five Crows and War Eagle, both Cayuses. They had assured their followers that they were both "big medicine" men, invulnerable to bullets; indeed, War Eagle went so far as to claim that he could swallow all the bullets the whites could shoot at him. They attempted to prove their prowess by riding up close to the white lines and acting in an insolent manner. The whites had been ordered to hold fire in order to give the peace commissioners a fair chance, but Captain Mckay, angered by their insults, shot War Eagle, killing him instantly. Five Crows was seriously wounded by a shot from another soldier, so seriously that he had to resign his command of the Indian forces. Several severe attacks were made on the soldiers during the day, but the Indians were everywhere beaten and eventually fled, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. It is stated that the Indian loss was thirteen killed and wounded, and the American five men wounded.

The volunteers passed the ensuing night at a place where neither wood nor water could be obtained. Next day they were asked to meet some of the Cayuses in council, but refused to halt until they reached a place where their thirst could be slaked. The night of the 25th was passed on the banks of the Umatilla, which was crossed next day. After the army had encamped, Sticcas and other Cayuses made overtures for peace and were told to meet the commissioners at Waiilatpu. The reluctance of the whites to treat arose out of the fact that they had not heard

THE CAYUSE WAR.

from William McBean, at Fort Walla Walla, as they expected. The truth was that their com- munications to him had been intercepted by Tauitowe, who, however, delivered the letters, but destroyed McBean's reply. Were it not for this an arrangement might have been effected on the Umatilla by which the murderers would be delivered up and the war terminated, but the delay proved fatal to such a consummation.

February 28th the troops reached Walla Walla, where the foregoing facts were ascertained by them in personal conference with McBean. Moving to the site of the Whitman mission, the troops busied themselves on the 3d of March in reinterring the bodies of the dead, which had been exhumed and partly devoured by coyotes. The sight of the numerous evidences of savage malevolence aroused the military spirit of com- mander and men, and the commissioners saw that the ardor of both for fight might embarrass them in their efforts to conclude a peace. A fortifica- tion was commenced at once and its construction continued on the 4th and 5th, though the latter date fell on Sunday. On the 6th two hundred and fifty friendly Nez Perces and Cayuses came into camp and held a council with the volunteers, ex- pressing themselves as disposed to maintain peaceful relations with their white brethren.

In this council, "Gilliam could not avoid act- ing his part; but as commander of the army he was ill at ease. He saw the Cayuses passing by unharmed, going to the Nez Perce country in the hope of inducing their relatives and former allies to join them against the Americans, while just enough of them lingered behind to pick up the news about camp and act as go-betweens. Still, the influence of the superintendent (Palmer) was such that on the 8thi the Nez Perce chiefs were encouraged to go to the Cayuse camp, then twenty-five miles distant, to endeavor to pur- suade the nation to give up the murderers, the army to follow on the next day, two of the com- missioners accompanying it."

The army did move in that direction on the 9th, but had scarcely started when Sticcas came, bringing in some property stolen from the mission and asking for a talk. Gilliam reluctantly called a halt. Sticcas announced the refusal of the Cayuses to surrender Tauitowe or Tamsucky, and Gilliam made a most remarkable proposal to witlidraw demands for five of the murderers if Joe Lewis should be surrendered, a proposition to which the other commissioners would not agree.

After this council, Palmer, Lee and Newell, with Captain Mckay, who was in bad health, left for the Willamette, and Gilliam, with a hundred and fifty-eight men, proceeded toward Snake river. The first day out he was met by three Indians who reported that Sticcas had captured Joe Lewis, but that the prisoner had been rescued.

On the 13th he received a message from

Tauitowe asserting the friendship of that chief and stating that Tamsucky had gone to the camp of Red Wolf, on Snake river, while Tiloukaikt was proceeding down the Tucanon, bound for the Palouse country. Gilliam made a night march to the camp of Tiloukaikt and surprised it, but suffered himself to be outwitted by this wily Cayuse. The latter sent out an aged Indian, who assured the colonel that he was mistaken, that this was not Tiloukaikt's, but Peo-peo-mox- mox's camp, and that Tiloukaikt had gone, leav- ing his cattle on the hills beyond. Completely deluded, Gilliam refrained from attacking the camp, but crossed the river and climbed up the precipitous farther bank, arriving in time to see the last of the cattle swimming the Snake. The volunteers, who might have won a decisive victory, collected a large band of Indian horses and set out on the return to the Touchet. They were attacked in the rear by the Palouses, who annoyed them exceedingly that day and the next night, compelling them to turn loose the captured animals. The following morning, after two sleepless nights, they started on again and were again attacked. In the battle which followed, a sort of a running fight, the volunteers gained the victory, inflicting a loss on the Indians of four killed and fourteen wounded. "Their yells and battle cries were changed to wailing; the sharp war rattle and crack and ping of musketry were followed by the nerve-thrilling death song.'

Arriving at Fort Waters (Waiilatpu) on the 16th, a council of officers was held there two days later, at which it was decided that half the force should proceed to The Dalles to escort a supply train, Gilliam himself accompanying. They started on this mission the 20th. That night, while in camp beyond the Umatilla, a mel- ancholy accident occurred. While Colonel Gill- iam was drawing a rope from the wagon with which to tether his horse, a gun in the vehicle was discharged, causing his immediate death. "Thus," says Evans, "by an ignoble accident, was sacrificed the life of the idol of the Oregon troops, a zealous, impetuous soldier, a natural born leader, a brave and thorough patriot, a generous friend, a good citizen." There was, however, evidence that the volunteers were divided in their allegiance to the colonel.

Captain Maxon took command and proceeded to The Dalles, where he found a reinforcement of one company under Joseph M. Garrison await- ing him. His report to the adjutant-general gave a melancholy picture of conditions at Waii- latpu, stating that Fort Waters was nothing but an adobe enclosure, that it was defended by only one hundred and fifty men, and that these were almost destitute of clothing and ammunition and wholly without bread. Fortunately, the men discovered caches of wheat and peas a little later, but their good fortune was not then known to Maxon.

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An illustrated history of Klickitat, Yakima and Kittitas counties; with an outline of the early history of the state of Washington, Part 14

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Chicago] Interstate publishing company
Number of Pages: 1146