USA > Washington > Walla Walla County > An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington > Part 13
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"Being nearly out of provisions, and unable to follow the Indians from this delay, I con- cinded to return to camp, recruit for another expedition in conjunction with Captain Goff, who had, I presumed, returned from his ex- pedition to the John Day's river.
"I should have mentioned previously that in the charge the command captured and after- wards destroyed about one hundred and fifty horse loads lacamas, dried beef, tents, some flour, coffee, sugar. and about one hundred pounds of ammunition and a great quantity of tools and kitchen furniture. We took also about two hundred horses, most of which were shot. there being but about one hundred ser- viceable animals.
"There were present on the ground from what I saw, and from information received from two squaws taken prisoners, about three hundred warriors of the Cayuse, Walla Walla, Umatilla, Tyh, John Day and Des Chutes tribes, commanded by the following chiefs : Stock Whitley and Simmistastas, Des Chutes and Tyh; Chickial, Plyon, Wicecai, Watah- startih, Winimiswoot, Cayuses, Tahkin, Cay- use, the son of Peupenmoxmox, Walla Walla and other chiefs of less note.
"The whole command, officers and men, be- haved well. The enemy was run on the gallop fifteen miles, and most of those who fell were shot with the revolver. It is impossible to state how many of the enemy were killed. Twenty-seven bodies were counted by one in- chvidual, and many others were known to have fallen and been left, but were so scattered about that it was impossible to get count of them. When to these we added those killed by Major Maxon's command on the other side of the river, we may safely conclude that at least forty of the enemy were slain and many went off wounded. When we left the valley there was not an Indian in it, and all the signs went to show that they had gone a great distance from it.
"On the twenty-first instant we left the val- ley by the emigrant road and commenced our return to camp. During the night Lieutenant Hunter, of the Washington Territory volun- teers, came into camp with an express from Captain Goff. I learned to my surprise that the captain and Major Layton had seen Indians on Jolin Day's river, had followed them over to Burnt river and had a fight with them, in which Lieutenant Eustus and one private were killed, and some seven Indians. They were shaping their course for the Grande Ronde valley and had sent for provisions and fresh
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
horses. I immediately sent Lieutenant Will- iams back with all my spare provisions and horses and continued my march. On Wild Ilorse creek I came across Mr. Fites, a pack master who had been left in camp, who in- formed me. to my extreme satisfaction, that Major Maxon and his command had arrived safe in camp and were then near us with pro- visions and ammunition. These I sent on im- mediately to Captain Goff.
"I learned that Major Maxon had been at- tacked in the valley by a large force of Indians on the day of the fight ; had gained the brush and killed many of them; that at night he tried to find our camp and hearing a noise like a child crying, probably one of the captured squaws, had concluded that my command had gone on to Powder river and that the Indians had returned to the valley by another canyon. He moved his position that night and the next day saw the scout looking for him, but in the distance thought that it was a band of Indians hunting his trail. Conceiving himself cut off from the command, he thought it best to re- turn to this camp, thinking that we would be on our way back to Grande Ronde with pro- visions and ammunition.'
While Shaw was winning this very import- ant victory, Governor Stevens was making every effort to sustain the friendly faction of the Nez Perces under Lawyer, aided by Will- iam Craig, a white man who had been adopted by the Nez Perce tribe and who had been one of the greatest factors in sustaining Governor Stevens. To hold the Walla Walla country seemed to the governor the key of the situation, because thus only could he come in touch with these faithful Nez Perces. The moral effect of Shaw's victory proved so great that the gov- ernor decided to go in person to Walla Walla to hold another great council of the friendly 6
and neutral tribes and to get as many as possible of the hostiles to attend the same. He seems to have had the double aim of giving the hos- tiles every reasonable chance to make peace and also of refuting the slanderous charges of Wool to the effect that he was treating the hostiles cruelly and dishonestly. On August 3d he urgently advised Colonel Wright to es- tablish a permanent garrison in the Walla WValla valley and requested also that he meet him in conference at The Dalles on September 14th. He also called out two hundred more . volunteers to take the place of Shaw's force, whose term had expired.
And so Governor Stevens set forth again on another of those harrassing, exhaustive and dangerous expeditions to which fate seemed to have appointed him. Reaching Vancouver on August 13th, he met Colonel Wright, who in- formed him that he could not attend the pro- posed council, but would dispatch Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe with four companies of regu- lars to reach Walla Walla in season for the meeting.
Ascending the river to The Dalles in com- pany with Colonel Wright, and while there meeting the chief officers of the command, Gov- ernor Stevens, with the ardor and enthusiasm of his nature, and with his personal ascendency over men, so influenced them that for the time being he seemed to have won them over entirely to hearty co-operation with him in his plans. In reality, however, they were at that very time under orders from General Wool to dis- band the volunteers and expel them from the country and to forbid white settlers to remain anywhere in the upper country, and to allow the Hudson's Bay people only to occupy it. Wool's idea was to make the Cascade moun- tains the eastern frontier of American settle- ment ; a very wooly idea, if one may be par-
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cloned such a decrepit pleasantry. Wright and Steptoe were almost guilty of dishonesty in allowing the gallant governor to proceed into the heart of the Indian country with such an erroneous impression of their real orders. Leaving The Dalles on August 19th the in- defatigable little governor pushed on ahead of Steptoe. attended only by Pearson, a trusty scout, and with no escort except the "Bull- punchers" of his ox train, he reached Shaw's camp. two miles above Walla Walla, on the 23d. On September 5th. Steptoe reached Walla Walla and established himself at a point four miles below Shaw's camp, said by Lewis McMorris to have been at the present garri- Son. The next day came Lawyer with a large force of Nez Perces, faithful still.
Governor Stevens was exceedingly anxious to have perfect harmony of action with the reg- ulars and thereby present a united front to the enemy. many of whom had drawn the con- ciusion that the regulars and volunteers were ertirely different sets of people. He therefore requested Steptoe to move camp to a point near his own. On the next morning Steptoe got un- der way and paused at the governor's tent, who supposed of course that he was going to make camp there. He was dumfounded, as he well may have been, to discover that Step- toe was passing on from sight up the valley. This was the more startling, for on account of a report that volunteers below were being attacked. Shaw had gone down leaving Stevens with but ten men. However, it had now be- come necessary for Shaw and his force to leave permanently, and with this in view the gov- ernor requested Steptoe to return to his near vicinity ; incredible as it may seem, Steptoe de- clined to do so, alleging that General Wool's orders did not authorize him to make any such arrangements. The governor, though it must
have made his hot blood boil, had to retain a detachment of sixty-nine men and left Steptoe to his own devices, at a camp which was on the island on the present Gilkerson place.
And now opens
THE SECOND GREAT WALLA WALLA COUNCIL.
Space does not permit us to give the de- tails of this remarkable meeting. fully as re- markable as the one of the year before. The Nez Perces were in large force at first, and the faction under Lawyer was fully committed to the support of the whites. But a large num- ber, even of the Nez Perces, led by Looking Glass, Speaking Owl. Joseph. Red Wolf and Eagle-from-the-Light, were plainly at the verge of outbreak. Kamiakain, the redoubtable chief of the Yakimas, was coming out with a strong force. The scrowling Cayuses and the brawny U'matillas came whooping, yelling and firing the prairie grass. Murder was in the air. Gov- ernor Stevens sent an urgent request to Step- toe to come to the council with at least one company. Steptoe returned an answer to the effect that if the Indians were really meditating an outbreak he had not enough force to defend both camps, and therefore he deemed it neces- sary for Stevens to move to him, instead of he to Stevens. The heart of the fiery governor was almost broken at this humiliation, but he had to yield to necessity, and he adjourned the council to Steptoe's camp. On the march Kamiakain and Owhi, with one hundred and five warriors under the immediate command of Cualchen, the murderer of Bolon. met them. The fierce and threatening looks of these Yaki- ma braves did not reassure the little force and things looked exceedingly squally. On every day of the council but the first. Indians, armed to the teeth, took places near the governor.
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
with the evident design of murdering him and then attacking the force, but the nerve and vigilance of the governor and those around him prevented. The faithful Nez Perces kept their drums beating all night and maintained a guard around Stevens' camp. As remarked before, the debt of gratitude to these Nez Perces is be- yond computation. One of the remarkable features of the last days of the council was the speech of Spotted Eagle, a Nez Perce, and one of the warm adherents of the whites. Gov- ernor Stevens mentioned this speech as one which, for feeling. courage and truth, he had- never seen surpassed.
And now the council was ended, and what had been accomplished? Nothing. They stood just where they were at first. Half the Nez Perces were determined to stand by the treaty, the other half not. All the other tribes were hostile. The governor repeated to them the terms of peace alone possible : "They must throw aside their guns and submit to the justice and mercy of the government, but as they were invited under safe conduct, they were safe in coming, safe in council, and safe in going."
Governor Stevens naturally felt disap- pointed at the failure of his hopes, but hav- ing done all that man could do he had no cause to reproach himself. Whatever impediments had fallen in his way were due to the position of General Wool and the officers who felt con- pelled to echo his opinions. It may very prop- erly be said here that Wright and Steptoe dis-
covered their errors soon and modified their policy. Wool never did and in the early part of 1857 he was relieved of his command and was succeeded by General N. G. Clarke, who gave. as we shall learn later, a "new deal" to the impatient pioneers of Walla Walla and other parts of the Inland Empire.
And now the governor and his retinue must
move again westward. It must needs be that another battle be fought. Governor Stevens' own official report is the best summary of his return and of this last battle in Walla Walla : "So satisfied was I that the Indians would carry into effect their determination avowed in the councils in their own camps for several nights previously to attack me, that in starting I formed my whole party and moved in order of battle. I moved on under fire one mile to water, when forming a corral of the wagons and holding the adjacent hills and the brush on the stream by pickets, I made my arrange- ments to defend my position and fight the In- dians. Our position in a low open basin five or six hundred yards across (he was attacked on what is now known as Charles Russell's ranch) was good, and with the aid of our corral we could defend ourselves against a vastly sit- perior force of the enemy.
"The fight continued till late in the night. Two charges were made to disperse the Indians, the last led by Lieutenant-Colonel Shaw in per- son with twenty-four men; but, whilst driving before him some one hundred and fifty Indians, an equal number pushed into his rear, and he was compelled to cut his way through them towards camp, when drawing up his men, and aided by the teamsters and pickets who gal- lantly sprang forward, he drove the Indians back.in full charge upon the corral. Just be- fore the charge the friendly Nez Perces, fifty i.i number, who had been assigned to hold the ridge on the south side of the corral, were told by the enemy they came not to fight the Nez Perces but the whites. 'Go to your camp.' said they, 'or we will wipe it out." Their camp, with the women and children, was on a stream about a mile distant and I directed them to re- tire as I did not require their assistance and was fearful that my men might not be able to
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
distinguish them from hostiles, and thus friend- ly Indians be killed.
"Towards night I notified Lieutenant-Col- onel Steptoe that I was fighting the Indians; that I should move the next morning and ex- pressed the opinion that a company of his troops would be of service. In his reply he stated that the Indians had burned up his grass and sug- gested that I should return to his camp, and place at his disposal my wagons, in order that he might move his whole command and his supplies to the Umatilla or some other point, where sustenance could be found for his ani- mals. To this arrangement I assented and Lieutenant-Colonel Steptoe sent to my camp Lieutenant Davidson, with detachments from the companies of dragoons and artillery with a mounted howitzer. They reached my camp about two o'clock in the morning, everything in good order and most of the men at the corral asleep. A picket had been driven in an hour and a half before by the enemy, that on the hill south of the corral, but the enemy was im- mediately dislodged and ground pits being dug, all the points were held. The howitzer having been fired on the way out, it was believed noth- ing would be gained by waiting till morning and the whole force immediately returned to Lieutenant-Colonel Steptoe's camp.
"Soon after sunrise the enemy attacked the camp, but was soon dislodged by the howitzer and a charge by detachment from Steptoe's command. On my arrival at the camp I urged Lieutenant-Colonel Steptoe to build a block house immediately; to leave one company to defend it with all his supplies, then to march below and return with an additional force and additional supplies, and by a vigorous winter campaign to whip the Indians into submission. I placed at his disposal for the building my
teams and Indian employes. The block house and stockade were built in a little more than ten days. My Indian store room was rebuilt at one corner of the stockade.
"On the 23d day of September we started for The Dalles, which we reached on the 2d of October. Nothing of interest occurred on the road.
"In the action of the 19th, my whole force consisted of Goff's company of sixty- nine, rank and file, the teamsters, herders and Indian employes, numbering about fifty men. Our train consisted of about five hundred ani- mals, not one of which was captured by the enemy. We fought four hundred and fifty Indians and had one man mortally, one dan- gerously and two slightly wounded. We killed and wounded thirteen Indians. One- half the Nez Perces, one hundred and twenty warriors, all of the Yakimas and Palouses, two hundred warriors; the great bulk of the Cayuses and Umatillas and an unknown num- ber of the Walla Wallas and Indians from other bands were in the fight. The principal war chiefs were the son of Ouhi, Isle de Pere and Chief Quoltomee; the latter of whom had two horses shot under him, and who showed me a letter from Colonel Wright acknowledging his valuable services in bring- ing about the peace of the Yakimas.
"I have failed, therefore, in making the desired arrangements with the Indians in the Walla Walla, and the failure, to be attrib- uted in part to the want of co-operation with me as superintendent of Indian affairs on the part of the regular troops, has its causes also in the whole plan of operations of the troops since Colonel Wright assumed command.
"The Nez Perces, entirely friendly last December and January, became first disaf-
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
fected in consequence of the then chief of the Cayuses, Umehowlish, and the friendly Cay- uses going into the Nez Perce country con- trary to my positive orders. I refused to allow them to go there in December last, say- ing to them: 'I have ordered the Nez Perces to keep hostiles out of the country. If you go there your friends in the war party will come; they cannot be kept out. Through them disaffection will spread among a portion of the Nez Perces.' Umehowlish, my pris- oner, was sent into the Nez Perce country by Colonel Wright, and from the time of his arrival there all the efforts made by Agent Craig to prevent the spread of disaffection were abortive. What I apprehended and predicted had already come to pass. Look- ing Glass, the prominent man of the lower Nez Perces, endeavored to betray me on the Spokane as I was coming in from the Black- foot council, and I was satisfied from that time that he was only awaiting a favorable moment to join bands with Kamaiakun in a war upon the whites, and Colonel Wright's management of affairs in the Yakima fur- nished the opportunity.
"The war was commenced in the Yakima on our part in consequence of the attempt first to seize the murderers of the agent Bo- lon and the miners who had passed through their country ; and, second, to punish the tribe for making common cause with them and driving Major Haller out of the country. It is greatly to be deplored that Colonel Wright had not first severely chastised the Indians, and insisted not only upon the rendition of the murderers, but upon the absolute and 1111- conditional submission of the whole tribe to the justice and mercy of the government. The long delays which occurred in the Ya-
kimas, the talking and not fighting, this at- tempt to pacify the Indians and not reducing them to submission, thus giving safe conduct to murderers and assassins and not seizing them for summary and exemplary punish- ment, gave to Kamaiakun the whole field of the interior, and by threats, lies and prom- ises he has brought into the combination one- half of the Nez Perce nation, and the least thing may cause the Spokanes, Cœur d'Alenes. Colvilles and Okanogans to join them.
"I state boldly that the cause of the Nez Perces becoming disaffected and finally going into war, is the operations of Colonel Wright east of the Cascades-operations so feeble, so procrastinating, so entirely unequal to the emergency, that not only has a most severe blow been struck at the credit of the gov- ernment and the prosperity and character of this remote section of the country, but the impression has been made upon the Indians that the people and the soldiers were a dif- ferent people. I repeat to you officially that when the Indians attacked me, they expected Colonel Steptoe would not assist me, and when they awoke from their delusion, Kama- iakun said, 'I will now let these people know who Kamaiakun is.' One of the good effects of the fight is, that the Indians have learned that we are one people, a fact which had not previously been made apparent to them by the operations of the regular troops.
"Is, sir, the army sent here to protect our people and punish Indian tribes, who without cause and in cold blood, and in spite of sol- emn treaties, murder our people, burn our houses and wipe out entire settlements? Is it the duty of General Wool and his officers to refuse to co-operate with me in my appro- priate duties as superintendent of Indian af-
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
fairs, and thus practically to assume those duties themselves? Is it the duty of General Wool, in his schemes of pacifying the Indians, to trample down the laws of Congress; to
issue edicts prohibiting settlers returning to. their claims, and thus for at least one county -- the Walla Walla-make himself dictator of the country ?"
CHAPTER VII.
DEFINITE ORGANIZATION OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY AND POLITICAL HISTORY, 1859 TO 1863.
lands along the various streams as far north- east as the present site of Dayton, located on the Touchet river, in Columbia county.
It was not until the autumn of the year 1858 that the Walla Walla country was for- mally opened to permanent settlement or oc- cupation by white men, and even yet it was Walla Walla county was as yet hobbling along with essentially no political organiza- tion, as has been noted in a preceding chap- ter. The legislature, however, made another. effort to look after the destinies of this ter- ritorial offspring, and in 1859, under an act bearing date of January 19th of that year, once more appointed officers to serve the county, the incumbents to retain their posi- tions until the election and qualification of their successors. The officers thus appointed were as follows : County commissioners, John Mahan, Walter R. Davis, John C. Smith; sheriff. Edward D. Pearce; auditor, R. H. Reighart : probate judge, Samuel D. Smith; justice of the peace, J. A. Simms. Commis- sioners Mahan and Davis met at Walla Walla on the 15th of March, 1859. and. as author- ized by the general law of the territory, ap- pointed James Galbreath auditor and Lycur- gus Jackson sheriff, after which they ad- journed. I. T. Reese was elected recorder in the following July, and upon him devolved the duty of properly entering upon the rec- ords the minutes of the proceedings of this not until the following spring that Congress ratified the Indian treaties made through the efforts of Governor Stevens in 1855. The Indians were, however, in a state of subjec- tion and fear, owing to the successful work of Colonel George Wright in his recent ex- pedition directed against the hostile savages in this section of the territory. This circum- stance made it practicable for the white set- tlers to come in and occupy the lands. A number of ranchers and cattle men soon es- tablished themselves along the streams run- ning forth from the western base of the Blue mountains. Among those who thus located in this section during the closing months of 1858 may be mentioned Thomas P. Page. James Foster. Charles Russell, J. C. Smith, Christopher Maier, John Singleton, John .1. Simms and Joseph Mlc. Avoy, all of whom long continued their residence there, being well-known pioneers. Mr. Simms subse- quently became Indian agent at the Colville reservation, where he served acceptably. The year 1859 showed a material influx of per- manent settlers, ranchers filing claims to first, as well as subsequent meetings, of the
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HISTORY OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY.
commissioners. The second meeting of the board was held on the 26th of March, when E. H. Brown was appointed probate judge; Lycurgus Jackson, assessor; Neil McGlin- chey, county treasurer ; and William B. Kelly, superintendent of public schools. At this session of the board was also made provision for a general election, to be held in July, for which purpose the county was divided into two voting precincts,-known respectively as Dry Creek precinct and Steptoeville precinct. In the former the polling place designated was the residence of J. C. Smith, the judges being E. Bonner. J. M. Craigie and William Fink. Many were advocating the name of Steptoeville as the appellation for the county- seat, and for this precinct the balloting was to be done at the church in "Steptoeville." The election judges for this latter precinct were J. A. Simons, William B. Kel'y and William Me Whirk, while to Thomas Hughes were assigned the duties of clerk, and under such official supervision was duly held the sec- ond election in Walla Walla county, the first having been held in 1855.
The original board of commissioners met again prior to the election, their session hav- ing been held on the 6th of June, at Steptoe- ville. At this time were arrangements made for the renting of a court-house, for which accommodations the stupendous sum of twenty dollars per month was to be paid, while a tax levy of seven mills on the dollar was also made. At a meeting held on the 2d of July, the commissioners accepted the resignation of James Galbreath, county audi- tor, appointing as his successor in the office Augustus Von Hinkle. At this meeting the name of Steptoeville was changed to Waii- latpu.
Of the election held in July, 1859, no rec-
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