An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 32

Author: Hines, Harvey K., 1828-1902
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1056

USA > Washington > An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 32

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.

Indian murders began to cirenlate among the whites. This condition could have but one re- salt, and that was not long in coming.

While these rumors were filling the air Mr. A. J. Bolon, special Indian agent, was on his way to meet Governor Stevens at the Spokane council. Ile had proceeded beyond the Dalles, when he met Gearry, a chief of the Spokanes, who communicated to him these rumors, when he resolved to visit Kamiakin in his own country alone, to ascertain this truth, and also to con- vince him that the whites desired peace.

Kamiakin's home was in the valley of the Ahtanahm, a few miles above the junction of that stream with the Yakima river. It was an isolated valley, away from the usual routes of white travel, although a Catholic mission had been established near it. At this time it was in charge of Bronillette, temporarily, it is said, as Pandosy had been in charge of it previously. Agent Bolon, it was known, reached the mission, had his conference with Kamiakin, and started on his return to The Dalles. Not reaching that place in the proper time, Nathan Olney, Agent at that place, sent out an Indian spy, who re- turned with the information that Bolon had heen murdered while returning to the Dalles, by the order of Kamiakin, by Qualchien, son of Owhi, and nephew of Kamiakin, while pretending to escort him on his homeward journey. This Kamiakin confessed to the Indian spy, whose report was confirmed by a letter from Bronil- lette to Olney, who also said that war had been the chief topic among the Yakimas ever since their return from the Walla Walla conncil.

It was the purpose of Kamiakin not to begin the war until winter, when he supposed no suc- cor could reach the Dalles, and no troops cross the Columbia; but the contagion of murder among the Indians spread too rapidly, and so many murders were committed that Acting Governor Mason, in the absence of Governor Stevens in the Blackfoot country, made a requi- sition of forts Vancoonven and Steilacoon for troops to protect travelers in the Yakima coun- try, and also suggested that a company of

soldiers to meet Govenor Stevens in the Spokane country in September would be of great use to him.

Major Rains, who was in command at The Dalles, ordered eighty-four men nnder Haller into the Yakima country to co-operate with a force to be sent from Steilacoom over the Cas- cade mountains. Haller moved on the 3d of October, his objective point being the Ahtan- ahm valley where Kamiakin resided. On the third day, when the troops had safely passed the timbered range of the Simcoe mountains, and were descending a long and rocky slope toward the Simcoe valley, some Indians appeared, and about three o'clock in the afternoon the troops were attacked by them on the borders of a small stream at the fort of the slope, where the Indians were concealed in the willow thickets bordering it. A sharp engagement commenced which lasted until night, when the Indians withdrew, leaving Halier with eight killed and wounded men. In the morning the attack was renewed, Haller moving toward a bold eminence a mile away, and the Indians endeavoring to surround him. On this eminence, without water and with little food, the troops fought all day. After dark an express was sent off to The Dalles to apprise Major Rains of the situation and obtain reinforcements. Haller found it necessary to retreat toward The Dalles, and, after burying his howitzer and burning such of the baggage and provisions as could not be transported, he organized his command into two divisions, the first under himself to care for the wounded and the second under Captain Russell to act as rear guard. His command was led up a very steep mountain face by a mistake of his guide. but a much safer way than would have been the trail which ascended the same mountain by a long, narrow canon, in which the Indians could easily have destroyed his little army. On arriving in Klickitat valley, south of Simcoe mountains, the Indians, who had swarmed about his force, abandoned the pursuit, and the remainder of his retreat was unmolested,

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While this disastrous campaign of Haller was going forward, Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter had crossed the Cascade mountains by the Naches pass with fifty men into the Yakima country, with the design of re-enforcing Haller, but, hear- ing of the defeat of the latter and finding so many Indians in the field, he prudently fell back to the west side of the mountains.

The results of the " Haller campaign," as it was known in the history of Washington, satis- fied all that the Territory, in connection with the adjoining Territory of Oregon, must prepare at once for a heard and general war with all, or nearly all, of the powerful tribes within its bonnds. Preparations were immediately begun both by the military and the Territorial author- ities. A proclamation was issued calling for one company of eighty-seven men from Clarke county and another from Thurston county, to provide as far as possible for their own arms and equipments, and to report to the commanding officers at Vancouver and Steilacoom. The sloop of war Decatur and the revenue-cutter Jefferson Davis were then in Puget Sound, and applica- tions were made to them for arms, and the re- quest was granted.

The Puget Sound mounted volunteers, with Gilmore Hays as captain, were organized, and reported themselves to the commanding officer at Fort Steilacoom on the 20th of October, and on the 21st were sent forward to White river as a reinforcement to Lieutenant Slaughter, who, as we have seen, had gone through the Naches pass into the Yakima country, but had again fallen back to the upper prairie on White river, and was now there awaiting the organization of a sufficient force to return to that country. A company of rangers was also organized, under a proclamation of Acting Governor Mason, and took the field on the 23d to watch the passes of the mountains and gnard the settlements from invasion from that quarter. Four com- panies of reserves were also called for to be en- rolled at Vancouver, ('athlamet, Olympia, and Seattle, for any emergency that might arise. Major Rains, of the regular army, who was about

to take the field in person against the Yakimas, was appointed brigadier-general of the forces of the Territory during the war, and James Tilton, Adjutant-General. In conjunction with this action on the part of Washington, several com- panies were raised in Oregon, with J. W. Nesmith in command with orders to proceed to the scat of war and co-operate with Rains.

So rapidly, under the impulse of the universal danger, were the arrangements completed and the forces concentrated, that Rains was prepared to leave The Dalles for the Yakima country on the 30th of October, with a force of abont 700 men. On the 4th of November, Nesmith, with four companies of Oregon volunteers, overtook Rains' force, and marched with it to the battle- ground of Haller, where they arrived on the 7th. On the 8th there was a slight skirmish with the Indians, who were now less daring when a strong force was opposed to them than when they were confronted only by the handful of Haller, and having fast and fleet horses they could always easily escape pursuit.

There was little in the history of this cam- paign of Rains that would repay the reader for perusal, should we take time to record it. A small fight took place at the Yakima Gap, where that stream flows through a range of hills, just below the present Yakima City, but the Indians escaped, and on the 10th the command proceeded to the Ahtanalım mission, the home of Kamia- kin, which they found deserted. Nesmith, with the Oregon volunteers, soon proceeded down the Yakima to Walla Walla to hold that valley against the "hostiles," while Rains left his force to build a block house on the southern border of the Yakima country, and reported in person to General Wool, who had just arrived at Vancouver with a number of officers, fifty dragoons, and a great quantity of arms and ammunition. General Wool suspended active operations until he had time to plan a campaign. Before this was done the Columbia was frozen over, and communications with the upper coun- try were completely cut off for nearly a month. This closed the campaign of Rains in the an-

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tumn and early winter of 1855. On the whole it tended to encourage the Indians, and whet rather than dull their appetite for war.

While these events were transpiring east of the Cascade mountains, other and more tragic ones were occurring on Puget Sound. About the 1st of October, Mr. Porter had been driven from his claim at the head of White river val- ley and soon after all the families of the valley fled to Seattle for safety. Later in the month, while a company of nineteen rangers, nnder Cap- tain Charles Eaton, were sconting the country in search of Lesehi, the Nisqually chief, Lieu- tenant McAllister and M. Connell were killed, and the entire party were besieged in a log house, where they had taken refuge until snccor came, But the Indians did not push their ag- gressions for a time, as they desired the troops to leave the valley for the Yakima country be- fore they made the final onslaught upon the settlements. This was shrewd tactics on their part, for they fully expected that the troops sent to Yakima would be destroyed there, and the settlements of the Sound country would fall an easy prey to their vengeance.

While these events were transpiring, Gover- nor Stevens, who was so well qualified to deal with such questions and such people, was absent from the scene of action. Those who had charge of things in his absence were not so well quali- fied to deal with them. While sincerity of pur- pose may be accorded Acting Governor Mason, his action and advice were not wise and jndi- cious. In company with a squad of soldiers from Steilacoom, he visited the prairie from which Porter had been driven, and held a talk with the Indians who succeeded in deceiving him by professing friendship for the whites. He re- turned to Seattle and told the people who had fled from the valley of White river on the occur- rences just related, that they ought to return to their homes at once and trust to the friendly professions of the Indians. Some listened to his advice and returned, although such men as Mr. A. A. Denny, and others well posted in In- dian affairs, strongly protested against it. Even

Captain Sterrett, of the United States sloop of war, Decatur, then in the harbor for the de- fense of the place, was strongly inclined to join in the advice of Mason, and only after a most vigorous statement of the danger by Mr. Denny did he postpone his intention of getting his ship under weigh and abandoning the place and peo- ple to their fate. A few days sufficed to unde- ceive all as to the intentions of the Indians, for, on the morning of the 28th of October, they fell upon the farming settlements, killing W. H. Brannan, wife and child, H. N. Jones and wife, G. E. King and wife and Enos Cooper. Some who escaped fled and warned the people lower down the valley, who again fled to Seattle. The fugitives reached Seattle about eight o'clock at night, and the next day C. C. Hewitt, with a company of volunteers, started for the scene of the tragedy to bring the dead and rescue any who were yet alive. All the country between the Sound and the mountains, including White river and Puyallup and contiguous valleys, was overrun by bands of hostile Indians, and all the region from Olympia to the Cowlitz was de- serted by its inhabitants, who had either shut themselves up in bloek-houses or gone into the towns for protection. Fully half of the able- bodied men of this region, if not of the whole Territory, had entered the volunteer service, and the other half as home-gnard, had all they could do to protect the women and children.

The authorities of the Indian service published a notice requiring all the Indians to form en- campments at various accessible points along the Sound, and special agents were appointed to look after them. This was done for the purpose of separating the friendly Indians from the hos- tiles, a measure that would greatly diminish the influence of the latter. Governor Douglas, of the Hudson's Bay Company, very generously sent their armed steamer Otter to remain at Nisqully for a time, and sent with her fifty stand of arms and a large supply of ammunition.

Captain Maloney, in command of Fort Steila- coom, endeavored to arrange a campaign in the Puyallup and White river regions which would

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uncover the hostiles and destroy or drive then out of the country. But the country was very difficult for campaigning, as it was heavily tim- bered and covered with a dense undergrowth besides. Lieutenant Slaughter, Captain Wal- lace and Captain Hewitt were in command of different companies which were to converge from different directions toward White River valley. Their marches were constantly har- assed by attacks from concealed Indians. Little but marches and countermarches was accom- plished. The Indians waylaid them on their marches, beat up their quarters at night, and, without any considerable battles, kept the eol- nmn in constant alarm. On the evening of De- cember 4, while a conference was being held between Lieutenant Slaughter and other officers in the light of a fire near the door of a cabin, the brave and accomplished Slaughter was shot

through the heart and died withont uttering a word. He was greatly esteemed. and his death east a deep gloom over the entire community. He was of the regular army, a graduate of West Point, and deservedly held a high personal rank in the estimation of his brother officers. After shooting Lieutenant Slaughter, the Indians kept np a continuous fire for several hours, kill- ing and wounding eight men. Soon after this affair, Captain E. D. Keyes, afterward General Keyes of the Union army, who was in command of Fort Steilacoom, annonneed that it was neces- sary to withdraw the men from the field and put them into garrison, as many of them were sick, and the pack-horses were worn ont by the se- verities of the travel. Accordingly they were stationed at such points as would afford the best protection to the settlements, and active cam- paigning ceased for the remainder of the winter.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

INDIAN WARS, CONTINUED.

INDIAN ACTIVITY-DESIGN TO ATTACK SEATTLE-SLOOP OF WAR DECATUR-YAKIMAS UNDER OWIII --- INDIAN CAMPS - COUNCIL CF INDIAN CHIEFS A SPY PRESENT-TIME FIXED FOR ATTACK CUR- LEY'S CAMP-ATTACK MADE-CONFLICT ALL DAY-INDIANS DEFEATED-THE NORTHERN INDIANS -SHIPS OF WAR-COLONEL EBEY MURDERED-IIIS CHARACTER-CONTINUED DEPREDATIONS.

N OTWITHSTANDING the troops were withdrawn from the field, the Indians did not cease their activity. Intimations of their design to attack Seattle were con- stantly alarming the people of that place. Abont the 1st of January, 1856, the plans of the In- dians to that end drew toward a culmination. The sloop of war Decatur was still in the har- bor. She had been injured by striking on a reef near Bainbridge island, and her com- mander, Captain Gansevoort, was obliged to re- move her batteries to the shore while repairing her keel. While she was drawn up on the beach the Indians resolved to begin their attack by capturing the vessel in order to gain posses-

sion of her arms and ammunition. Before they were ready to make the attack, however, her re- pairs were completed and her guns replaced on her decks. Their failure to capture the vessel, however, did not discourage the Indians, but they continned their preparations to attack the place. Indians from the east side of the Cas- cade mountains, under Owhi, a Yakima chief, mentioned elsewhere, joined those on the west side under Coqnilton. The hostile bands from near and far had drawn in about the little city that then was no more than a hamlet surround- ing a sawmill. Except the few men resident in the place, the entire force available for its pro- tection and the defense of the sloop of war was

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the 150, all told, that manned the vessel. Over 100 of these were stationed on shore, the re- mainder being left to guard the vessel.

Back of the little hamlet were steep, wooded bluffs, and baek of these a rough and densely timbered country. At various points about the place were Indian camps occupied by Indians who claimed to be friendly. But they were not all reliably so, even if any were, and a knowl- edge of that fact kept the whites on a vigilant guard. The air was full of the contagion of murder and warfare, and the Indian camps, especially at night, were the scenes of excited and savage plottings. In the afternoon of Jann- ary 25, the crew of the Decatur were placed at their stations on the shore. Late in the evening some strange Indians were seen carelessly sann- tering through the streets of the town, which aronsed the suspicions of the people, and an In- dian known to the whites as Curley was sent into the eamps to reconnoiter. AAt ten o'clock he brought back assurances that there were no Indians except those who had their permanent eamps in the neighborhood. Within two hours of the time of making this report, in the lodge of this very Indian, a council of Indian chiefs, consisting of Leschi, Owhi, Tecumseh, Yarkke- man and himself, was held, and plans were ar- ranged for an immediate attack on the place. The plan was for the "friendly" Indians to prevent the escape of the people to the two ships that were anchored in the bay, while the warriors, who were assembled in the woods im- mediately baek of the town, made the assault. In this way they expected to destroy all the in- habitants of the place before morning, and then they intended to attack the vessels.

Most fortunately for the people of the place, Yarkkeman-otherwise known to the whites as "Jim" -- was present at the council in Curley's lodge as a spy, and not as a conspirator. He intended to put the commander of the Decatur on his guard, and to do this innst gain time. He convinced the conspirators that a better time for attack would be after the men from the Decatur had returned to the ship in the morn-

ing, laid aside their guns, and retired to rest. So the time fixed for the attack was ten o'clock in the forenoon instead of three o'clock in the morning. Jim found an opportunity to convey the intelligence of the intended attack to the commander of the Decatur.

After the conference at Curley's lodge, the Indians crept up to the very borders of the town, and concealed themselves in squads near each house. At seven o'clock the Decatur's men returned to the vessel for breakfast and rest.

At the camp of Curley there were quite a number of non-combatants who were hurrying into canoes, carrying their property with them, and hastily preparing to go to some other place. One of the Indian women,-the mother of "Jim," -on being interrogated about the matter, re- plied that there were hosts of "Klickitats " at Tom Pepper's house, which was situated at the foot of the hills, within range of the howitzer in battery. As soon as this information was given, the men from the sloop were ordered ashore again, and Captain Gansevoort ordered a shell dropped into the house where it was said the Klickitats were congregated. The boom of the howitzer was instantly answered by a crash of musketry from all along the woods in the rear of the town, accompanied by the war-whoop from 1,000 savage throats. The promptness of the Indians in replying to the discharge of the howitzer demonstrated that they were fully in position for their assault, and in sufficient nnin- bers to justify their expectation of its easy cap- ture. IIad their assault been made withont the general alarm cansed by the firing of the how- itzer, doubtless many of the most exposed fami- lies would have been butchered, but in that alarm these fled to the block-house, and but two persons were killed. Two honses were burned and several more plundered during the day and evening. The salvation of the town was secured by the range of the guns of the Decatur, which kept the Indians so far away as to prevent their muskets doing much execution. All day this kind of warfare was continued, the Indians at

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times making charges upon the marines, and being driven back from the muzzles of their guns. The usual bravado and gasconade of the Indians were indulged in by some of them, notably by Curley, either friend or enemy of the whites as the fancy of the moment took him. On the morning of the 27th it was found that they had given up the contest and with- drawn.

This attempt to capture Seattle was the great effort of the Indians in the war upon the Sound. It was understood from Olympia to l'ort Towns. hend and Bellingham Bay. It was under the direction of Leschi and Owhi, one at the head of the Sound Indians and the other leading the Yakimas and Klicktats from east of the moun- tains. Had they succeeded in their attempt npon Seattle it would have combined all the tribes west of the Cascade mountains in a war of extermination against the whites. Failing, these tribes concealed their complicity in this plan and remained neutral.

The remainder of the Indian war npon the Sound was mainly with bands of "Northern Indians" coming over from the British Colum- bia side of the Straits of Fnca, and was mostly conducted on the side of the whites by the United States steamers Massachusetts and John Han- cock and the sloop of war Decatur. These In- dians were of the Longa Hydah, Stickene and Shineshean tribes. They were not driven from the Sound until late in the autumn, and then

after a more severe chastisement inflicted upon them by the guns of the vessels of war, and the assaults of the marines under the lead of Lieu- tenants Simms and Forest. But even this did not conclude their inenrsions, for, on the 11th of August of 1857, a body of them again landed on Whidby island, went to the house of I. N. Ebey, shot him, cut off his head, robbed the premises and escaped before the alarm could be given. Mr. Ebey was one of the most consid- able men of the Territory, and the Indians chose him for their vengeance because of his rank and value to the community, in revenge for the losses inflicted upon them by the vessels of war in the preceding autum. Other depredations followed during that summer, but they were of a dis- cursive character, and were met with such vigi- lant opposition on the part of the people and the vessels of war that comparatively little needs to be recorded of them. They professed that these acts were all retaliatiory for the injuries done them in 1856.

To the cursory reader these events may appear but little like a real Indian war. Still the region over which they spread, the small number of the whites in the country and their seattered condition, are all to be taken into the account in our history, and when these things are con- sidered it appears doubtful if any portion of the coast really suffered more, or the people were in greater danger from their Indian wars, than those of Puget Sound at this time.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.

CHAPTER XXIX.

INDIAN WARS, CONTINUED.

EAST OF THE CASCADES -- COLUMN MOVED TO WALLA WALLA -TROOPS UNDER COLONEL KELLY -- PEUPEUMOXMOX SLAIN -- HIS CHARACTER BATTLE ON THE WALLA WALLA-CAPTAIN BENNETT KILLED --- T. R. CORNILIUS APPOINTED COLONEL -- COLUMN MOVES NORTHWARD -- COLONEL WRIGHT-MOVEMENT OF TROOPS- "THE CASCADES"_GENERAL WOOL WRIGHT MARCHES FROM THE DALLES- THE CASCADES ATTACKED-ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE - WRIGHT'S COURSE APPROVED " Put, SHERIDAN."

J HIE events of the war now require us to return with our readers to the country east of the Cascade mountains, where the most powerful Indian tribes resided. Many had advised a winter campaign against the Yakimas in 1855-'56, but Colonel Nesmith of the Oregon mounted volunteers advised against it, as the mountain trails were covered with deep snows and his animals were broken down, as well as a number of his men severely frost-bitten. As the column was so poorly supplied this was wise' advice. So strong was the Indian combination, and their leaders were so well acquainted with the country in which a column must have oper- ated, that a campaign would have been dis- astrous, if it had not ended in the complete destruction of the invading column. Instead therefore of invading the Yakima country from The Dalles the column moved np the Columbia toward Walla Walla. On the 18th of Novem- ber it reached the crossing of the Umatilla, where a stockade was erected and named Fort Henrietta, in honor of the wife of Major Haller.

On the night of December 2d the troops, now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Kelly, moved forward toward Walla Walla. On the way Peupenmoxmox. or Yellow Serpent, the great Walla Walla chief, met these troops with a flag of truce displayed, and a conference was held with him; but, as the whites suspected that the chief was attempting to entrap them into an ambush, the Indians with the flag were detained as prisoners, or, as it was claimed, hostages,

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An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 32

Author: Hines, Harvey K., 1828-1902 Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1056

Author: Hines, Harvey K., 1828-1902
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1056