USA > Washington > History of Washington; the rise and progress of an American state, Vol. II > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
341
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
course and policy of the Company toward the missionaries and the settlers from the beginning, as well as the prompt action taken to rescue the prisoners after the massacre, demonstrated to the satisfaction of all reasonable people, that the charge was not only groundless but absurd.
It was also charged that the Catholic priests had insid- iously encouraged the massacre, and this led to a long and bitter controversy which lasted for many years. It was greatly aggravated and intensified by the publication, as part of a government document, of a long statement by Father Brouillet and others, in connection with the report of J. Ross Browne, an inspector from the Indian office, on the causes of the Indian war of 1855. It does not appear that it was prepared in the expectation that it would be so published. It was forwarded by Browne simply for the information of his superiors. But its publication by govern- ment authority, and apparently with government approval, immediately gave the controversy a national interest. A long reply was prepared by Spalding, Gray and others and it also was published as a government document. Neither ever should have been so published, nor would it be possible now to have them or anything like them published in that manner.
It is not probable that anybody at the present day believes, or can believe, that any Christian missionary of whatever faith would deliberately counsel the destruction of another, or even indirectly do him personal injury. It is doubtless true, as Judge Evans has said, that "the introduction of a religion in conflict with one previously taught, the presence of two sets of religious teachers, denouncing the teachings of each other, two white races with adverse interests, striv- ing for the mastery of the country, and control of that race, must of necessity have aroused prejudices liable to be
342
RISE AND PROGRESS OF AN AMERICAN STATE
dangerous in their consequences." The savage mind does not readily discriminate. If either of these missionaries told the Indians that what the other was offering him was false, he would at once conclude that one or the other was lying to him, and to them liars are less tolerable than thieves or murderers. The Canadian employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, many of whom had married Indian women, were all Catholics. By their example, if in no other way, they would encourage the Indians among whom they lived on terms of intimacy, to prefer the Catholics, and so weaken the influ- ence of the Protestants, who had been much longer among them. So it is quite possible, and perhaps quite natural, to believe that the coming of the priests lessened the confidence and respect of the Indians for their protestant teachers.
Rev. Elkanah Walker, who seems to have judged more dispassionately in all things than any of his associates, has thus expressed his conviction in the matter, in a letter to Secretary Green dated Oregon City, July 8, 1848, seven months after the massacre: "Much might be said which led to this horrid massacre. Some doubtless attach too much blame to the Catholics. I am yet to be convinced that they had any direct agency in it. Their being in that region no doubt might lead the natives to think there would be less danger in killing the whites than they would other- wise have felt. But that they put the natives up to do the deed I do not believe. I have no doubt the great number of whites about the station had an influence to lead the Indians to view the movements of Dr. Whitman with suspicion, and more readily believe the reports of Joe Lewis, who was telling the Indians that the Doctor's intentions were to kill them all off, and take their lands and herds."*
* W. I. Marshall's MSS.
CHAPTER XXX. RETRIBUTION.
N EITHER the settlers nor the provisional govern- ment were prepared for the startling news that Douglas and Ogden sent to Oregon City on December 7, 1847. They had long realized that they might be called upon, at almost any time, to defend themselves against their savage neighbors. They had fre- quently petitioned the national government to take notice of their defenseless condition, and provide means for their protection. They were still few while the Indians were many. Though living far beyond the frontier they had provided their isolated homes with some of the comforts of civiliza- tion, while the Indians still lived in all the squalor of savagery and ignorant incompetence. They were always complaining because the settlers had taken possession of their lands without paying for them, and were getting so much more out of them than they had ever got. It was always possible that they might rise in the brute strength of their numbers, and make bloody reprisal on what they still believed to be their own. When Cockstock and his drunken associates had murdered Le Breton, three years earlier, many sup- posed that such a rising was at hand, and some slight prep- aration had been made to meet and repress it, but the excitement soon subsided. Their Indian neighbors became as peaceable as before, and their own condition as defense- less.
But now a war was inevitable. A bloody massacre had been committed, and it was absolutely essential that the guilty perpetrators of the deed should be punished. Unless this was done the emigrant trains in future would be safe nowhere west of the mountains, and worse still the tribes would most likely take courage, unite and attack the settle- ments. It was therefore necessary to act, and to act at once.
346
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Alanson Himman, who was in charge of the missionary station at the Dalles, was alarmed for its safety. His letter asking for protection reached Oregon City at the same time as that of Douglas and Ogden. Both were laid before the provisional legislature by Governor Abernethy, in a brief message. "The distressing circumstance which they de- scribe call for immediate action," he said. "I am aware that, to meet the case, funds will be required, and suggest the propriety of applying to the honorable Hudson's Bay Company, and the merchants of this place for a loan, to carry out whatever plan you fix upon. I have no doubt but the expense of this affair will be promptly met by the United States government."
The boundary question had been settled nearly a year and a half earlier. There was no doubt that the territory now belonged to the United States, but no government had yet been provided for it. A mounted rifle regiment had been raised two years earlier, to police the trail and furnish pro- tection for the settlers, but the Mexican war had begun before it was ready to march, and it had been sent to the support of General Taylor. The settlers were therefore left to their own resources.
When the governor's message had been read, J. W. Nesmith offered a resolution, which was unanimously passed, "authorizing the governor to raise a company of riflemen, not to exceed fifty men, rank and file, and to dispatch them forthwith to occupy the mission station at the Dalles, and retain said station until they can be reinforced, or other measures taken by the government."
A public meeting was held that same evening, which was addressed by Nesmith, S. K. Barlow and H. A. G. Lee, and forty-five volunteers were enrolled on the spot. The
347
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
volunteers assembled next day at Barlow's house, elected Lee captain, and immediately started for the Dalles. Their depar- ture was cheered by their mothers, wives and sweethearts, who presented them with a flag, which they had made with their own hands while the company was assembling. It was the first flag made on the coast. The legislature next authorized the governor to call for a regiment of mounted riflemen, not to exceed five hundred in number, to serve for ten months unless sooner discharged, and to be subject to the rules and articles of war. The officers of this regiment were to be appointed by the provisional government, and the rendezvous was appointed at Oregon City on December 23d.
The news of the massacre spread rapidly. A newspaper, the "Oregon Spectator," had been established at Oregon City more than a year earlier. Its first number had been issued February 5, 1846, with William G. T'Vault as its editor. It published such details of the massacre as were at hand, together with reports of the action of the legislature, and of the meeting at which the first volunteer company had been enlisted. The settlers were quickly aroused and as quickly responded. Every young and every middle-aged man offered his services and brought his rifle with him if he had one. The old men only remained at home. All distinction between settlers who had once been foreigners and those who were American born immediately disappeared. Tom Mckay raised a company among the old Canadian trappers on French Prairie, was elected its captain, and was among the first to report for duty. By the day appointed for the rendezvous, enough men had enlisted to justify the organiza- tion of the regiment, and the legislature named Cornelius Gilliam as Colonel, James Waters, Lieutenant Colonel,
348
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Henry A. G. Lee, Major, Joel Palmer, Commissary and Quartermaster General, and A. Lawrence Lovejoy, Ad- jutant.
And now the supreme difficulty began to appear. The provisional government was without funds, and without any means to raise funds in such amount and as promptly as needed. The volunteers must be armed, provided with ammunition, and furnished transportation for a consider- able part of the way, if they were to be hurried forward as promptly as was desirable. Then they must be supplied as they advanced into the enemy's country, and this was certain to be expensive. There was only one way to get what was needed promptly, and that was to get it from the Hudson's Bay Company.
Jesse Applegate, A. L. Lovejoy and George L. Curry had already been appointed a loan commission, with authority to negotiate for $100,000 upon the credit of the government, but upon applying at the fort they had been informed by Chief Factor Douglas that he could not grant loans, or make any advances on account of the Hudson's Bay Company, his orders on that point being so positive that he "could not deviate from them without assuming a degree of responsi- bility that no circumstances would justify." It was there- fore impossible to raise the means needed by loan, and there was no other source within reach, from which such a sum could be procured. It was possible of course to make forcible levy upon the company, and this some advised, though the majority did not approve it at that time. The chief factor had already shown his good will, by sending an expedition at the sole cost of the company, to rescue the women and children at Waiilatpu. That had been done at the call of humanity, but he could not further dispose of the company's
349
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
property, in disregard of positive instructions. He, however, furnished what was necessary to equip the first company, accepting the note of Governor Abernethy, A. L. Lovejoy and Jesse Applegate for $1,000 in payment.
An appeal was made to the merchants of Oregon City, and it resulted in loans amounting to $3,600. But this was so small an amount in comparison with what was needed that the loan commissioners resigned. Others were ap- pointed. These were forced to take orders on stores, and as cash was most needed, they were converted at a consider- able sacrifice. The settlers gave what they could, the volun- teers furnished something from their personal resources, and then set off for the hostile country poorly equipped, and not altogether confident that they could be regularly supplied as they would need to be.
In addition to raising and sending these volunteers to the front, the provisional government also dispatched a mes- senger, the redoubtable Joe Meek, to Washington, to notify the government of the massacre, and of the war it was about to make, and also to make an urgent appeal for aid. Jesse Applegate was sent to procure aid from the governor of Cali- fornia.' With an escort of fifteen men he started to make the trip by land, through a country inhabited by Indians who had always been more or less hostile, but was compelled to turn back by the deep snow encountered in the Siskiou Mountains, and the dispatch of which he was the bearer was forwarded by sea.
In choosing Cornelius Gilliam to command the volunteers, the provisional legislature had chosen wisely. He was a native of North Carolina, though nearly all of his fifty years of life had been spent in Missouri. He had served in the Black Hawk war, in Illinois, and later had commanded a
350
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
company in the Seminole war in Florida. Still later he had raised a company to help expel the Mormons from the Middle West, and had returned from that campaign a colonel. In 1844 he had commanded the emigrant train with which the Simmons party, the first settlers in Washington, and James Marshall, the discoverer of gold in California, had come to Oregon. He had been ordained as a minister in the Free Will Baptist Church, but had not preached regularly. He believed in the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, and in Stonewall Jackson's policy of finding the enemy, and fighting him as frequently as possible, giving him no chance to rest and recuperate.
Before setting out on the campaign he was reported to have expressed some dissatisfaction with the refusal of Chief Factor Douglas to make the loan which the provisional government had requested, and to have threatened to supply his command by the law of war, from the Hudson's Bay Com- pany stations if need be, and thus gave the chief factor some anxiety. He had guns mounted at the fort and made preparations for defense, but was assured by Governor Abernethy that he should not be attacked, and confidences and mutual good feeling were restored again.
On the ninth of January Colonel Gilliam was ready to set out from Portland, then a new settlement on the west side of the Willamette below the falls. On that day Chief Factor Ogden arrived with the captives rescued from Waiilatpu. They were given a most cordial reception, and the story of the massacre, and of their own experience while in the hands of the savages, served to inspire the volunteers with fresh determination to avenge their wrongs. All fear that they would be slaughtered without mercy, should the Indians learn that the settlers were preparing to attack them,
351
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
was now removed, but the danger that the Cayuses might induce the other tribes to unite with them on the plea of com- mon defense still remained, and Gilliam made all possible haste to reach the Indian country.
With the advance guard he reached the Dalles on January 23d. On the way up the river he had established a supply station at the Cascades, which was known as Fort Gilliam. Lee had erected a fort at the Dalles, known as Fort Lee. In this the only cannon owned by the settlers, a nine-pounder, was placed, and it became the general headquarters for the campaign. The Indians in the neighborhood were already showing a hostile disposition, which strengthened the expec- tation that the tribes further in the interior would be found united and prepared for defense. The time consumed in raising and arming the troops, had been regarded by them as an indication of indecision, or possibly of cowardice, and this had strengthened their courage, and tempted many of the younger warriors of neighboring tribes to join them. There had already been some skirmishing between Lee's men and the Indians on the south side of the Columbia, who had stolen some goods belonging to settlers, which had been cached near the beginning of the Barlow Road, and had been caught herding some of their cattle preparatory to driving them off. Major Lee had attempted to parley with them, but had been fired upon, and a fight had followed in which three Indians had been killed and one white man wounded. The Indians had succeeded in driving off about three hundred head of cattle, and on the following day Lee's men had cap- tured sixty Indian horses.
Later two of the volunteers were killed while herding the company's horses. The Indians had left two of their horses in the neighborhood, in the expectation that the herders
352
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
would attempt to secure them. In this they were not disap- pointed, and when the herders advanced to drive them in, they were fired upon and both were killed. One Indian was also killed in this engagement.
With a force of about one hundred and thirty men Gilliam now began the advance, and came up with the enemy at a place known as Meek's Cut Off. On the morning of the 30th an attack was made and after a sharp fight the Indians were driven from their position, with the loss of about forty of their horses and some cattle. As the result of this fight the Des Chutes Indians were induced to give up the struggle, and they made terms with the commissioners, saying that they had been forced into the difficulty through fear of the Cayuses.
Gilliam now pressed forward as rapidly as he could into the Cayuse country. It was clearly seen that if the war was not carried to the Umatilla the Willamette Valley might be soon invaded; and that in any case to let the murderers escape unpunished would give the Cayuses, and all the en- emies of the Americans, license to commit further crimes at will. Gilliam therefore made his preparations quickly, and began a forward movement February 15th. Small parties of Des Chutes Indians followed, offering peace; and signal fires were also seen on distant hills, giving exact information to the tribes on the Umatilla of the force marching against them, and the rate of speed. These signals were translated by Indian interpreters in the army.
As the troops advanced conflicting reports were received, some saying that the Nez Perces had joined the Cayuses, others that Peo .Peo Mox Mox, the powerful chief of the Walla Wallas, was uniting with them. Many individual Indians, besides the Cayuses, assembled to oppose the
353
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
progress of the volunteers. These were gathered to the esti- mated number of over four hundred, and besides these there were a hundred, or perhaps more, who followed simply to witness the fight, and await the issue to see which party they would join.
On the 25th the Cayuses, with their allies from the north side of the river, felt strong enough to make a stand. The place they chose was the elevated sagebrush plains, west of the Umatilla. Although in midwinter the day was fair and warm. The Indians were deployed on the hills and took shelter behind tufts of sagebrush, and anything else that would conceal them for the moment. Indian observers of the battle, including women and children, were stationed on distant elevations to witness the destruction of the Ameri- cans. Gilliam had his little army well in hand, and his wagons with his supplies thoroughly protected. The Indians began the battle by a charge on horseback, but before coming within range of the rifles of the volunteers, they drew off to one side, and forming a long line, rode around them in a gradually narrowing circle, yelling meanwhile and brandish- ing their arms in a most threatening and yet entirely harm- less manner. The savage seems ever to place great reliance in noise. He shrieks and pounds his tom-tom to frighten the evil spirit out of the sick; he yells and makes all manner of hideous noises to frighten his enemies in war. So in this battle the savage riders shouted their most savage war cries, and urged their horses to their utmost speed, gradually narrowing the circle as if confident that they would in this manner envelop and finally crush their enemies. The volun- teers stood their ground firmly, waiting for their assailants to come within range. Tom McKay, Dr. McLoughlin's stepson, was standing by Colonel Gilliam's side watching the
354
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
gradually narrowing circle. To him it was no new perform- ance. He well knew its purpose and harmless character, if properly met. Finally, pointing to one of the fore- most and most frantic of the savage riders, he said: "I know that fellow; he is one of the principal medicine men of the Cayuses, and is doubtless boasting that no bullet can reach or harm him. I can shoot him from where I stand."
"Very well, shoot him then," the colonel replied, and raising his rifle the veteran Hudson's Bay man fired, and the Indian rolled from his horse. The volunteers could no longer be restrained and the firing soon became general. The Indians ceased their frantic and harmless demonstra- tion and retiring out of range, took shelter on the hills, and behind such objects as could afford them protection. The white men fought in a similar way, advancing from one shelter to another, to get within range. Gradually their whole line advanced and after a battle lasting three hours the Indians retreated.
Over four hundred savages are reported to have taken part in this fight, of which eight were killed and a number wounded. Among the latter was Five Crows, the young chief who carried Miss Bewley away from Waiilatpu, and kept her in his lodge until compelled to give her up. He was struck by two bullets, one of which shattered his arm. None of the settlers were either killed or wounded.
This battle would probably have defeated all hope among the Cayuses of inducing the other tribes to join them, had it not been that the provisional government had appointed a peace commission to negotiate with the hostiles at the same time that it raised the army. It was expected that this commission would go with the army, or in advance of it, and would be able to do much to prevent a combination
355
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
among the tribes, and perhaps it did do more in this line than was at the time believed. It was composed of Joel Palmer, who was afterwards a most successful Indian agent and negotiator, and Robert Newell, the old-time trapper, with Perrin Whitman as interpreter. These commissioners did not go forward as promptly as was expected, and perhaps it is as well they did not, for their coming was regarded by the Indians as an evidence of weakness. The messengers they sent out to invite representative chiefs from various tribes to meet them, were often either turned back by the hostiles, or they were able to prevent their invitation from being accepted. Colonel Gilliam was impatient of their presence. He believed that prompt and effective action on his part would do more than negotiation could, to prevent any accession to the ranks of the hostiles. Delay increased the difficulties of his situation, while it gave the enemy time to rest and recuperate, to gather supplies and to encourage the young warriors of other tribes, who were always inclined to bloodshed, to come to their assistance. In this view he seems finally to have had the sympathy, if not the cordial support, of General Palmer himself.
By the 28th of February the volunteers were encamped on the Walla Walla, whence Gilliam sent a short report of the battle on the Umatilla to Governor Abernethy, and asked for reinforcements, as he feared that the delay caused by the efforts of the commissioners to negotiate, would lead to a coalition of all the tribes. He felt sure that the commis- sioners were too sanguine; that they were being imposed upon, and would accomplish no result. He asked McBean to provide his men with a fresh supply of ammunition, but this was refused. He therefore made a levy for it, and was told to help himself, which he did. He then moved up the
356
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Walla Walla to a point near the camp of Peo Peo Mox Mox, who professed friendship and supplied the soldiers with beef. He next moved on to Waiilatpu, where he reburied the bones of the victims of the massacre, some of which had been dug up by wolves, as previously stated, and then built an adobe fort nearby, which he called Fort Waters, in honor of his lieutenant colonel.
The situation now began to assume a very critical aspect. Indians were seen collecting on the north side of the Colum- bia, above the Dalles, with the apparent purpose of plunder- ing the supply boats as they passed up the river. In the Willamette Valley the Klamaths arrived and stirred up the Mollallas to make a demonstration at the Abiqua, a small stream in the vicinity of Silverton. In Benton County there was a collision with the Calapooias, two of the Indians being killed and two wounded. That the coast tribes might also take advantage of the situation was shown by a number of Tillamooks coming into Polk County, committing petty depredations, and killing an old man. In this situation Governor Abernethy deemed it advisable to recall Gilliam to the Willamette, and issued a call for three hundred more volunteers. On March 10th, however, Gilliam wrote Aber- nethy that the Cayuses were moving north, through the . country of the Walla Wallas, and with their Palouse allies, making a force of about four hundred, were encamped on the Tukanon. He intended taking a force of two hundred and fifty men and attacking them. He urged also the necessity of reënforcements, especially as the term of many of his men would soon expire. He very correctly saw that the surest way to prevent a combination among the tribes was to make an active campaign, and constantly degrade the hostiles by repeated defeats, until they should submit,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.