From an Old Residenter,
    Washington Territory, June 6, 1856.

JANE VAIL.

THE INDIAN WAR.

    Fellow Citizens:--I appear before you tonight, with a view of correcting, as far as practicable, the false impressions that have been made [upon] the public mind in this valley through the columns of the Oregon Statesman, and over the official signature of the Executive of the Territory, in relation to the causes and progress of the Rogue River War; and I do so the more readily for the reason that I have taken an active part in the war from the day of the general outbreak to the time of being disbanded by the General Order of the Governor, No. 10, dated Portland, October 20th, 1855, and which was received by Capt. Smith, the commandant of Fort Lane (to whom the order was directed), on the 2d day of November following.
     It is no part of my intention to say anything that can with propriety be construed into a personal assault upon any gentleman here or elsewhere; and not withstanding I may in the course of my remarks animadvert with some severity upon the public acts of the Executive and his recognized organ, the Oregon Statesman, I wish it distinctly understood that I entertain no unkind feelings personally toward either Gov. Curry or Mr. Bush. I have only to do on this occasion with their public acts, which are legitimate subjects for criticism, both here and elsewhere.
    I have said that false impressions have been made upon the public mind through the agency of the Executive, and his organ, the Oregon Statesman; and I will proceed in as brief a manner as practicable to give the evidence upon which this opinion is based--for I ask no man to take my statements for truth without proof, in preference to statements made by correspondents of the Statesman, and which are endorsed by the editor, and the deliberate declarations of the Executive of the Territory over his official signature.
    The readers of the Statesman will sustain me in the assertion that the whole tone and tenor of its correspondence and its editorials, from the 20th of October up to the present time, have been to make the impressions: first, that the war was provoked by the outrages committed by citizens of the valley, and that the horrible massacres of Tuesday, the 9th of October last, would not have taken place but for the lawless attack made by the citizens under the lead of Maj. Lupton and Gen. Miller (both gentlemen of high character, and leading Democrats), on the Kiota ["coyote"] camp on Butte Creek, on Monday morning of the 8th of October last, the day before the general outbreak; secondly, that the force called into the field by Col. Ross, the legal military commandant of Rogue River Valley, were lawless parties of men, acting without authority of law, and with the view of waging a war of extermination against the Indians. But lest this may be questioned by some, I will make a few quotations from that sheet, and then submit the the course of the Statesman, in contrast with the real facts of the case, for your deliberate and unbiased judgment.
    We copy from the editorial column of the Statesman of Oct. 20, the following:
    "MATTERS SOUTH--Our correspondent 'Nottarts' mentions an attack upon a party of thirty-five Indians near Table Rock. We learn from Mr. Swick--who was also our correspondent's informant--the particulars of that  attack to be as follows: the Indians were encamped there and consisted of men, women and children. In the night, a party of  eighteen men (two others being stationed on the opposite bank of the river to pick off any who might chance to escape and attempt to swim across it) crept up near the camp and selected a place where they could fire in the camp, and step back a few steps and be out of sight of the Indians, until they were ready to fire again, when they could step up and fire & again retire from sight. As soon as it was light enough to discern the Indians, the attack commenced--being an indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children. The Indians were surprised, and able to make little resistance and were soon all killed but one, who escaped. They had but two or three guns, and hit nobody with those. The only man killed, Major Lupton, representative elect, was shot through the breast with an arrow, by an Indian who was down and supposed to be lifeless or disabled. Another of the attacking party was badly, and it was feared mortally, wounded. None others were wounded. Mr. Swick informs us that this was done in revenge for the killing of Fields and Cunningham; that these Indians were not known to have had anything to do with any of the murders, or to be hostile, but that it was the purpose to make an indiscriminate slaughter of Indians. He says about 150 men were organized when he left, for the purpose of making war upon and exterminating Indians; that there were plenty of men and horses in the valley for the purpose; and that they wanted nothing but arms."
    In the Statesman of Oct. 27th will be found the following, the concluding paragraph of a communication over the signature of "Nottarts," dated Winchester, Oct. 14th, 1855:
    "I think there is but little doubt that beyond the depredations already committed, and lives lost, little further danger is to be apprehended. My informant reports ample force and supplies to exterminate the race, 'a consummation devoutly to be wished,' if a few reckless and irresponsible white men, who have been the first aggressors, could be made to bear them company to the other world."
    The following paragraph will be found in a long editorial on the subject of our Indian wars, of the same date (Oct. 27th):
    "Tho' hostile feelings had before existed south, the immediate cause of the outbreak, on the 9th, was the massacre near Table Rock on the 8th.--It is not probable that, without the massacre, an outbreak would have occurred at that particular time, and there is no reason to suppose that it would yet have occurred."
    That the Statesman editor was anxious to make the impression on the public mind that the 9th Regiment of Oregon militia, called into the field by Col. Ross, by authority of law, were lawless parties of men acting without authority, is the fact that he represented Capt. Smith of the Regulars as having command, and that the battle was fought by the regulars and two companies of volunteers from the Northern Battalion under command of Capts. Bailey and Gordon, when he must have known that Col. Ross had the command, and consequently must have had with him a portion at least of his regiment. Hear what he says editorially in his paper of Nov. 10th:
    "THE FIGHT SOUTH.--In the most of our edition last week, we gave a brief account of an attack upon the Indian camp in Rogue River, by a party of regulars and volunteers, in which the whites were repulsed, with a loss of three regulars and one volunteer killed, and twenty wounded--four mortally. The volunteer killed was a son of Rev. Jacob Gillespie, a member of the last Assembly from Lane County. He was in Capt. Bailey's company, of that Co., which was in the engagement. It is said no Indian was killed. * * * By dispatches received by us a few hours before news of the attack and repulse came, we learned that the Indians were encamped upon a high mountain, with their women and children, stock and plunder, which was heavy (much having been lately captured from wagons and pack trains); that they were too much encumbered to move readily, and had evidently planted themselves there for a fight. They had fortified so strongly that Capt. Smith, of the regulars, deemed it inadvisable to attack them with rifles, fearing he would be repulsed. His plan was to plant his howitzers upon an eminence three-fourths of a mile distant, commanding their camp, and from which he could throw shell and grape among them--first waiting until a sufficient number of men had arrived to afford three columns, each sufficient to whip the Indians; and stationing them so that the enemy could not make its escape without encountering one of them, he proposed to drive them from their camp and fortifications with the howitzers, and then attack them with rifles.--The attack was made earlier than the above plan could have been perfected, and we are inclined to the opinion that the men became impatient, and made a premature attack, which resulted as Capt. Smith feared. * * * * * The bravery and coolness of Capt. Smith, of the regulars, is spoken of in the highest terms, and he is represented as now having the fullest confidence of both regulars and volunteers. It is said that he held the open field, exposed to the fire of the enemy, and it is thought to be surprising that he escaped unharmed. His men also behaved well."
    In the anxiety of the editor to keep Col. Ross in the background, and to laud Capt. Smith of the regular army, he has allowed himself to be betrayed into the political indiscretion of doing more than justice to the regular troops at the expense of the volunteer force, by bestowing unqualified praise upon them while he attributes the defeat of Captain Smith's well-laid plans to improper conduct on the part of the volunteers.
    If the editor of the Statesman was misled by false representations to do an unintentional injustice to the brave volunteers engaged in that hard-fought and bloody battle, more destructive and bloody than the battle of Okeechobee, in Florida, in proportion to the number in the field, why has he not done them justice in his paper of Saturday last, after having been forced to admit that he has been imposed upon by his southern correspondents.--Why has he not mentioned in terms of commendation the gallantry of Captains Bailey, Breese, Rinearson, Gordon, Williams, Harris and Wilson, all of whom are justly entitled to as much credit as the editor has awarded so willingly to Captain Smith. Everybody on the ground knows that the commander, Col. Ross, was more exposed than Capt. Smith, and if it was "surprising," as alleged by the Statesman, that Capt. Smith escaped unhurt, it is still more "surprising" that Col. Ross was not shot down, and yet there is no mention by the Statesman of his having been on the ground.
    It is well known to everybody in Rogue River Valley that Maj. Fitzgerald had no opportunity afforded him while in the valley for a display of his acknowledged gallantry. He was not in the battle of "Grave Creek Hills," being prevented by sickness, but his company was, under command of their orderly, the Lieutenant being left in the rear with the baggage. The company did not distinguish themselves above any one company of volunteers on the ground, and yet hear what is said in the Statesman last Saturday, editorially, of them, while no one of the volunteer companies under command of Col. Ross has ever been complimented with a notice of the fact that they were in the fight:
    "Maj. Fitzgerald's command left here Tuesday morning, en route for the Dalles. The Major and his men have won a high fame south for gallantry and bravery, and the people in that section part with them reluctantly. We noticed that a large share of the men were 'domned furriners'."
    A brave and chivalric man like Maj. Fitzgerald should rather consider himself insulted, than complimented, by such a notice, under all the circumstances, and will no doubt so regard it; for those who have won brevet ranks for gallantry in Mexico will not suffer themselves to be bedaubed with unmerited praise.
    I will not spend time in furnishing further evidence to prove what I have charged as being the course of the Oregon Statesman in relation to the war. I will now proceed to give the evidence of the falsity of the charges made by the Statesman, and which were, without qualification, reiterated and endorsed by the Executive in the Order to which I alluded in the outset; and to remove all doubt on that point, I will read this most extraordinary document, before proceeding to the proof:
    "INFORMATION having been received that armed parties have taken the field in Southern Oregon with the avowed purpose of waging a war of extermination against the Indians in that section of the Territory, and have slaughtered without respect to age or sex a band of friendly Indians upon their reservation, in despite of the authority of the Indian Agent and the commanding officers of the United States troops stationed there, and contrary to the peace of the Territory, it is therefore ordered that the commanding officers of the battalions authorized by the proclamation of the Governor of the 15th day of October instant will enforce the disbanding of all armed parties not duly enrolled into the service of the Territory by virtue of said proclamation.
    "The force called into the service for the suppression of hostilities in the Rogue River and Umpqua valleys, and chastisement of the hostile party of Shasta, Rogue River, and other Indians now menacing the settlements in southern Oregon, is deemed entirely adequate to achieve the object of the campaign, and the utmost confidence is reposed in the citizens of that part of the Territory that they will support and maintain the authority of the Executive by cordially cooperating with the commanding officers of the territorial force, the commanding officer of the United States troops, and the special agents of the Indian departments in Oregon.
    "A partisan warfare against any bands of Indians within our borders, or on our frontiers, is pregnant only with mischief, and will be viewed with distrust and disapprobation by every citizen who values the peace and good order of the settlements. It will receive no countenance or support from the Executive authority of the Territory.
    Not the least remarkable feature of this document is the fact that all the allegations are couched in positive terms--nothing to indicate a doubt on the mind of the Governor of their truth; and yet we have the most conclusive and undeniable evidence, that all the allegations are false and unfounded in every substantial particular. I will take them up and dispose of them in the order in which the charges are made. And, first, "that armed parties have taken the field in Southern Oregon." The army in the field in Southern Oregon, at the time this order was issued, was called into the field by the legal and constitutional military commandant of that military district. They were regularly enrolled, supplies were regularly furnished by the legally appointed Quartermaster General, and everything was done in strict accordance with the military law of the Territory and military usage, as the records, journals, and accounts, kept by Col. Ross and Quartermaster General Miller, will show; consequently they were not in the technical sense, intended by the Governor, "armed parties," but were a regularly organized regiment of Oregon militia, called into service to meet an emergency that could not be met in any other way. It must be borne in mind that the first company of volunteers called into the field by the Proclamation of the Governor did not pass through the Canyon into the valley until the night of the 30th of October, twenty days after the general outbreak of the Indians.
    The second allegation is that those armed parties "have slaughtered, without respect to age or sex, a band of friendly Indians upon their reservation." It is well understood that this charge has reference to the attack made by volunteers under the command of Maj. Lupton and Qr. Master Gen. Miller, on the morning of the 8th of October, the day before the general outbreak, and since this attack is charged as not only having been the cause of the war, but as justifying the allegation of the Governor now under consideration, I must be excused for spending more time with it than at first blush may be thought necessary. The allegation that this attack was made "on a band of friendly Indians, on their reservation," is so palpably false and unfounded, and known to be so by everybody at all acquainted with the bounds of the reservation, that I will not detain you with the proof, although it will be found incidentally proven by the evidence I shall adduce in proof of the falsity of the other allegations.
    No well-informed man will question the statements of the Agent having charge of all the Indians in Southern Oregon, being the highest grade of evidence that can be adduced to settle questions now at issue; and I shall rely upon his statements mainly to sustain the charge I made of the falsity of the preceding allegation, and the charge that all these allegations were committed in defiance of his authority; as also that the war was brought on by the whites. The following will be found in a communication published in the Statesman of Oct. 20th, 1855, over the signature of "A Miner," and which, I am authorized to say, was written by the Indian Agent (Dr. Ambrose). If I have been misinformed, Mr. Bush knows and can set me right:
    "SIR--We are again in the midst of the most terrible Indian war ever known to this country. I doubt not but you may search the annals of history in vain to find anything that exceeds, in savage barbarity, the deeds of these soulless miscreants; and I doubt much if there ever lived a more formidable savage foe to the white man than this band of Shasta Indians. No pains have been spared to endeavor to civilize them, but without avail. It is consummate folly to endeavor to do anything with them but kill them off. On Monday morning last a company of volunteers attacked a band of Indians camped on the bank of the river about one-half mile above Thompson's Ferry on Rogue River, who had been annoying the settlers of Butte Creek all summer by their repeated petty thefts and depredations of various kinds. These Indians had been removed several times during the summer on the reserve, but after staying a short time would uniformly return to their old camp ground near the mouth of Butte Creek. The settlers' patience had become exhausted, and they were determined to teach them a lesson that they would not soon forget, and induce them to remain on the reserve. Accordingly they made preparation, and marched down to Old Jake's camp at daybreak, and commenced the attack. The troops from Fort Lane visited the ground immediately after the fight, and found twenty-three dead bodies, eight grown men, four of whom were very aged, and fifteen women and children. An Indian boy, whose life was saved, says he saw two women more than were found, floating down the river. It appears from the statement of the Indian that all the principal men were absent, not apprehending danger, hence such a destruction of life of the women. The principal cause of that I infer to have been the fact that the fight took place so early in the morning that the women were not distinguishable from the men. The Hon. James A. Lupton received a mortal wound, from the effects of which he has since died. A young man by the name of ------ Shepard also was seriously wounded, probably fatally--several others slightly. The night following the difficulty, the Indians started down Rogue River, killing every person whom they met, stealing what stock they could find, taking some very fine American mares from Mr. Birdseye, Dr. Miller and Mr. Schieffelin, also, lost some fine horses and mules. At Mr. Jewett's ferry, as they passed they killed one man and wounded two others. At Mr. Evans' they wounded two; one has since died. From there to Jump-off Joe Creek every house was attacked, and the inmates killed, though some escaped wounded. The most horrible act of all was the inhuman massacre of Mrs. Wagoner and infant daughter. Her husband was absent from home, and when he returned what an appalling sight met his eyes; some thirty or forty drunken Indians were dancing and reveling over some plunder they had taken from some wagons; his barn and grain, and stockyard had been consumed by fire; his dwelling was yet standing, but before assistance could reach him it was also burned. Major Fitzgerald came upon the Indians there as they were leaving, and saw ten on horseback, five of whom he killed under full jump for the mountains. A Mr. Jones was killed in his yard and his house burned; his lady and child made their escape. Mrs. Jones was seriously wounded. A Mr. Harris was killed at his house, his little girl wounded in the arm; his wife escaped. The troops reached there just in time to save her life. There were ten men found dead that day, and in all probability many more have been killed before this time; and before the close of the week I expect to hear still sadder news, for more desperate, reckless, daring, savage demons exist nowhere upon the face of the earth, and in all that constitutes savage maliciousness I doubt if they ever had an equal. Old Sam, chief of the Rogue Rivers, was solicited, coaxed, and finally threatened with war against all his people, if he did not join, but without avail. He took his men up into the mountains, where the hands were at work on the reserve, and protected them and the stock that belonged to the reserve. The young man employed to conduct the work on the west end of the reserve--the part that was set apart for the Shasta Indians--was murdered, his body horribly mutilated, cut across the forehead and face with an axe, from appearance, while sleeping. The provisions and tools belonging to that part of the reserve were destroyed or taken off, and they left with a determination to fight as long as one was living and able to bear arms. As in the war of 1853, the Indians have all the guns in the country. Those Indians have each a good rifle and revolver, and are skillful in the use of them. They will, without doubt, unite with the Klamaths and all the disaffected Indians in the surrounding country; in fact this little band of Shastas are the terror of all surrounding tribes and many will join believing them invincible; they never have been whipped, nor do they believe that white men can do it; hence the necessity of war, although many valuable lives must be lost in consequence of it.
    "There will be, without a doubt, one hundred Indians, exclusive of the Klamaths, to contend with; and the Klamaths I know to be under the control of Old John, but I do not know how numerous they are. Sam, and his people, came into Ft. Lane and claimed protection--were willing to give up their guns, and do anything, they say, to have peace.                             Very respectfully,
    A. BUSH, Ed. States.                         A MINER."
    Am I not most fully sustained by the foregoing extracts in the positions I have taken?--that the war was not the result of the attack on the Kiotas' camp on Butte Creek on the 8th of Oct. last-- that they were not on the Reservation when attacked --that they were not friendly Indians; but on the contrary, got just what they deserved--that it was no part of the design of Maj. Lupton and General Miller to "slaughter them without regard to age or sex"--that they had left the Reservation in despite of his authority, after having been admonished of the consequences that would result from their disobedience--that the war was not brought on by the whites --that the only alternative now left for the citizens of the valley was to "KILL THEM OFF," or, in other words, to exterminate them.
    In confirmation of the opinion of the Agent, and by way of showing that there is but one opinion in Southern Oregon upon the subject of the war; and that the charge so emphatically made here tonight by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Territory of Oregon (Delazon Smith)--"That the war was gotten up by Drew, Ross, Henry & Co. for the purpose of swindling the government,"--owes its origin to his unscrupulous but fertile imagination; hear what the editors of the Table Rock Sentinel say upon this war question. This paper has recently been started in Jacksonville, and is edited by three gentlemen of high standing and character, and who cannot be presumed to be prejudiced in favor of the Whigs, being all prominent Democrats. We copy from the first number of that paper, published November 24:
    "Much has been said about the war in Southern Oregon, and many persons [have] written, both North and South, giving their views of the rise and origin of the war. Some are for attaching the blame to one of the political parties, and others are for attaching the blame to another cause. We have given our views, in part, upon this subject, and will add further that we do not believe that either the Whig or Democrat party are liable for the war, or its consequences. And we here state that it is our honest conviction that so far as the war in this immediate section of country is concerned, that it had its origin as early as the fall of '54--not connected with any political movement whatever. And now that the Indians make no discrimination in their barbarous murders between Democrats and Whigs, let us--at least, in Southern Oregon--know none; acting, as we are, in the midst of a deadly savage war, in a sparsely settled country, surrounded by mountains and canyons well calculated to protect our common enemy, it certainly becomes the duty of every lover of his country, no matter what his political views may be, to unite his entire energies, soul and body, in the protection and defense of our common country.
    "So far from having been suddenly driven to the field, for defense, everybody knows now that the Indians have been a long time preparing for war, and that they are better prepared with rifles, revolvers and ammunition than the whites.
    "The many murders, thefts and robberies committed by the Shasta, Klamath, Applegate and Illinois bands, during the last three months, were not merely the result of their hostile disposition, but of the confidence which general concert and individual preparation had inspired, and which they were only waiting to more completely perfect, that they might commence with a more murderous and effective blow upon the whites.
    "The attack upon the camps of the Kiotas may be considered the first act of the war, by those who consider the whites the aggressors, but properly the first acts of the war were the petty outrages of the Indians all over the country, and their murders of whites on the Illinois River, and the Humbug and Applegate, and the Siskiyou Mountains--for the last of which the volunteers pursued the murderers to the Kiota camps, where they had taken shelter, and attacked them, killing a portion of them and the Kiotas. The war came then, of course. It might have been precipitated upon the hostile bands before their plans were matured, but it did not find them unprepared, nor indisposed for war; and war in its most horrible forms. The war was not produced by this, nor by any other act of the whites in this region. It is simply the result of the same causes which have produced the war at the East and North--causes for which the whites--at least, in this valley--are not at all responsible."
    While in Rogue River Valley the Indian Agent (Doct. Ambrose) did me the honor to read to me his official reports to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the months of August and September last, coming up to within eight days of the general outbreak. Those reports most fully sustain my positions. He represents an outbreak as certain to occur; recapitulates the murders that had been committed by the Indians, and declares that war now exists; says that the citizens of the valley had borne with the outrages as long as could be expected; that Indians from the Reservation were known to have been on Applegate at the time of the murder of the whites; that it was impossible to tell what particular Indians were hostile--has no confidence in any but Sam's band, &c., &c.--When those reports are given to the public, I venture the assertion that no candid man will believe for one moment that the citizens of the valley are in any way justly responsible for the war. It is to be hoped that the Superintendent will permit those reports to be published, as an act of justice to the citizens of  Rogue River Valley; and also to relieve from embarrassment our delegate in Congress in his efforts to obtain appropriations for defraying the expenses of the southern war.
    There is already enough of morbid sympathy existing at the North, and at Washington, in favor of the "poor persecuted Indian"; and should the allegations of the Governor, in his Order No. 10, and the opinion of the Statesman be permitted to remain uncontradicted, Congress will be more likely, in imitation of their Governor, to pass a law of outlawry against Southern Oregon, than to appropriate money for paying "armed parties that have taken the field in Southern Oregon, with the avowed object of waging a war of extermination against the Indians in that section of the Territory, and have slaughtered, without respect to age or sex, a band of friendly Indians upon their reservation, in despite [of] the authority of the Indian Agent, and the commanding officer of the United States troops stationed there, and contrary to the peace of the Territory." No man of sense can believe for a moment that Congress can be induced to appropriate one dollar for defraying the expenses incurred by our citizens while engaged in the perpetration of such flagrant acts of murderous outlawry, as above detailed over the official signature of the Executive of the Territory. Hence the importance of having the truth known at Washington at the earliest practicable period.
    One word in retaliation to the amount of force required to carry on the southern war against the Indians, and give to the settlers in the valley that protection which they have a right to claim from the Government.
    In a letter written to the Statesman, and published on the 20th of Oct. last, I urged that a force of two thousand men should be brought into the field with as little delay as practicable; and I sustained this opinion by referring to the history of the Black Hawk War in northern Illinois and Wisconsin, which occurred in 1832. I showed that although there was an open, level prairie country, while ours in Rogue River valley was worse to find Indians in than the hammocks of Florida; and the number of Indians in the field about the same as those reputed to have been with Black Hawk, and far more warlike in their character; and yet we had in the field on that occasion one thousand regular troops under command of Maj. Gen. Scott, and two thousand volunteers, and with this large force the war lasted six months; and I made the fair and logical deduction, that five thousand would not be a larger proportionable force, considering the natural obstacles to be overcome, than was the three thousand in the Black Hawk War. But the Statesman saw proper to ridicule my opinions, and caution his readers against adopting them, and the next week expressed the opinion that two hundred men would be amply sufficient to carry on the war. Hear what he says under the editorial head in his paper of Oct. 27, 1855:
    "Capt. Limerick, of Jacksonville, prominent in Indian troubles in the south in times past, was here this week, on his way to Rogue River. He expresses the opinion that a couple of companies of one hundred men each, such as they have in Rogue River, will be amply sufficient for the campaign in that section. The Captain's experience entitles his opinion to weight."
    Capt. Limerick repairs to the south, clothed with authority from the Governor to execute his Order No. 10, by driving from the field Col. Ross, just at the moment when he had perfected his arrangements for renewing the attack upon the Indians that were known to be awaiting his return, near the old battle ground. He was clothed with no direction;--his orders were positive and unconditional, to disband all armed parties that were not enrolled under the proclamation of Oct. 15, 1855.
    It was in vain that we urged that the Governor could not have known the condition of things in the valley at the time of giving him his instructions. That there were not then troops enough in the field if all were retained. That it would be a great hardship to drive out of the service those who had just returned from a hard-fought battle, and who were then ready and anxious to return and retrieve the consequences of their former defeat. But all these reasons could not avail anything; the mandates of the Governor were like the laws of the Medes and Persians, unchangeable. The companies of Captains Rinearson, Harris, Wilson, George and Lewis must be disbanded to make room for a new organization, under Democratic leaders; and while this was being done the Indians were gathering confidence and strength in their mountain fastnesses, making arrangements for making war upon the unprotected settlers in the Umpqua Valley, as they have so recently done.
    The two independent battalions are formed, and the gallant "Billy" Martin takes command by virtue of his seniority--certainly not on the score of merit. He repairs to the Meadows, on Rogue River, 400 strong, and finds there the same Indians we had fought for a day and a half, with a loss of 37 in killed and wounded, out of a force of 324 men. He attacks them and retires after the first fire, with a loss of one man killed and five wounded; sends for the two parts of companies left in the Umpqua, for its protection, to reinforce him before renewing the attack.
    Simultaneously with the arrival of his messenger in the Umpqua Valley, the Indians make a descent upon the valley, destroying whole families that had been ridiculed by the Statesman for indulging in "unnecessary fears and apprehensions." The volunteers left in the valley fly to the defense of the settlements; are met by the Indians and driven from the ground with severe loss; and no doubt a messenger will soon arrive from Maj. Martin, or the officer in command, asking for more troops.
    Who will be held responsible for withdrawing from the Umpqua the volunteers needed for its protection to the Rogue River Valley, to fill the vacancies caused by disbanding the six companies under command of Col. Ross? Let those who have labored to create the impression that two companies were "amply sufficient" for prosecuting the southern war, and for the protection of our citizens, answer; and then let them, if they can, raise from their premature graves those now slumbering there as a consequence of the ignorance and inexcusable partisan zeal of those placed in authority.
    The gentleman from Linn (Mr. Smith) has called to the stand two witnesses (Doct. Stone and Capt. Tichenor, from Coos County) for the purpose of sustaining the positions assumed by the Statesman and Governor Curry in his Order No. 10; and well have they responded to his call--especially Dr. Stone, who has testified to more than could have been contracted for by my friend, Mr. Smith. He not only confirms all that has been charged heretofore by the Statesman, and his most unscrupulous correspondents from the south, but he swears that there were not on the ground, during the battle of Grave Creek Hills, to exceed forty Indians, including squaws and children; he knows there could not have been more than this number, all told, FOR HE SAW AND COUNTED THEM. He also expresses the confident opinion that Col. Ross and Capt. Smith "went into the battle with the fixed and settled purpose of being whipped." He also announced himself the author of the communication in the Statesman of Dec. 1, signed "Edgar." That article, and his statements just made, are known to be so unqualifiedly false and unfounded that I should not have noticed them if they had not been endorsed and commented upon by the "very distinguished gentleman" from Linn (Mr. Smith).--As thoroughly steeped as he has shown himself to be in party malignity, by making it a matter of boasting that he has signed Bush's petition to the Governor to remove from the offices connected with the pending Indian wars all those who voted for Governor Gaines at the last election; could find it in their hearts to believe a charge so unnatural and damning as the one made against Col. Ross and Capt. Smith by this man Stone. I need not say the charge is false and unfounded, for no one will believe it  but those who have signed that petition, and who are ready to believe all manner of evil against their political opponents, and who would hang every Whig and Know Nothing in the Territory upon the highest trees of the forest, as traitors to their country, if in their power, and they found it necessary to secure the accomplishment of their partisans' purposes.
    If the Governor yields to the demands made upon him by the Statesman, Smith & co., where will be an end to all harmony and efficiency in the prosecution of the war. If it is to be purely a Democratic war, none but Democrats can with propriety participate in it, without a sacrifice of all personal self-respect.
Photocopy in the Rogue River Indian War vertical file, Southern Oregon Historical Society
*Corvallis was the territorial capital at the time this speech was delivered.

THE INDIAN WAR ON THE PACIFIC.

Our Rogue River Correspondence.

    The Rogue River War in the years above given [actually, 1855-56] began in this wise: The Indians were supposed to be located on a reservation near which was established a small military post called Fort Lane. A party of professional scouts, styling themselves volunteers, and numbering about thirty men, made frequent visits to the neighborhood of the reserve, ostensibly for the purpose of watching marauders from the same; but judging from the characters that composed the company, several of them deserters from the army, I should judge they were bent on plunder themselves. At all events, one fine morning in June, as we troopers who composed the garrison were enjoying our bivouac under the pines--where bunks were improvised, owing to the insect-infested condition of the cabins--we were suddenly awakened by the discharge of firearms nearby. Several volleys and numerous single shots were heard. This alarm turned out on investigation to be an attack by the volunteers on "Old Jake's Camp" [the Lupton Massacre]. The Indians of this were the least formidable of the tribe, and were, at the time of the attack, quietly slumbering in peace, if not in innocence. Thus a massacre of twenty old men, women and children took place.
    The soldiers, by orders, buried the victims, and were almost immediately called upon to take the field against the vengeful remainder. The party of volunteer scouts who had committed this first attack had failed to warn the settlers in the vicinity after it, and the excited Indians, taking the main route to the Willamette Valley, avenged themselves by an indiscriminate slaughter in that direction. As soon as the uprising became known, the troops followed rapidly and engaged the Indians in several slight skirmishes, one of which resulted in the killing of several men and one warlike squaw.
    Our small force, now pursuing, was constantly depleted by sending squads to guard ranches, furnishing escorts to fleeing families, and similar offices. The party just referred to were picked up in the act of plundering a pack train. They had killed two of the packers, put the others to flight, and were indulging in a feast and orgy. Vessels containing whiskey, piles of raisins, figs and other dainties lay around in wasteful profusion, and several mules were discovered tied to the trees.
    I witnessed here an instance of what might be called presence of mind in the presence of death, very characteristic of Indians. A stalwart "buck," who had been shot two or three times, was approached by some soldiers who supposed him dead. With what strength he still had, he deliberately turned over and threw his empty gun into a stream by his side; determined, I suppose, not to aid in any degree the further defeat of his people.
    As we moved along in the night pursuit, we passed several burning houses, and, on halting near one of these, were assailed quite savagely from the rocks nearby. Two men and several horses were shot. Many ghastly sights we met, such as a burning wagon loaded with apples, on either side of which lay a white man, with bullet holes and stabs about the body. One cabin which we examined contained three dead people, the man lying on the threshold and two children behind the bed, murdered by savages, while the mother was doubtless taken for a worse fate. A widow, Mrs. Harris, emerged from the bushes near her own house, which she had defended with shotgun the day previous, bearing in her arms her little daughter, shot through the arm. They were at once mounted on a horse and furnished escort to the nearest settlement. In a large hewed tavern on fire were discovered the remains of Mrs. Wagoner and daughter; Mr. Wagoner, being away from home at the time, was spared to inflict considerable damage on his red enemies in subsequent encounters.
    In a few days the hostiles concentrated for a big fight, which came off in the Grave Creek Mountains, and was called the battle of Hungry Hill. Here the best element among the citizens came to the front, and a force of some three hundred, assisted by one hundred United States troops, attacked the Indians, who were located and entrenched in the forks of two deep cañons, about nine miles from the Grave Creek House on the wagon road. The command on this occasion proceeded on foot, starting with the rising moon. At midnight the weather was rainy and cold, and the trail was crossed by several streams. Owing to the indiscreet lighting of fires by the volunteers, the Indian scouts attacked our advance, but were driven for two miles; when, by previous arrangement, no doubt, they were strengthened by their main force, and took up the stand as above explained. Owing to a want of proper concern among ourselves, I think, the battle became a series of detached skirmishes and sharpshootings, continuing all day; and at night we counted our loss at about twenty-four; that of the enemy almost unknown. Several instances of heroism were exhibited on our side, where small parties descended to near the enemy's works to rescue wounded comrades.
    The night that followed was spent in caring for the disabled and in desultory shooting. Next day at dawn the fight was renewed, I think by the Indians, and was kept up till about one o'clock, when a lull took place, and our party was got together, and we took the back track, laden with our wounded on stretchers, having failed to dislodge the hostile force, after expending all our ammunition and going without food for twenty-eight hours.
    After one or two short scouts, the troop to which I belonged was ordered to the Columbia River. A large force of volunteers and some regulars had been organized to carry on the war; and it shows with what subtlety and determination these Indians fought that they decoyed "C" Troop First United States Dragoons into an ambush, on a pretended truce or interview, and nearly annihilated the whole command at the Big Bend of Rogue River.
    The hostilities were, however, continued on into the following year, and the Indians exterminated by piecemeal. "Old John" had but sixteen warriors left at the final surrender, and then, on the way to Alcatraz Island, he and his son actually took possession of the steamer's steerage, and he was only finally conquered after being wounded in several places. This last display of ferocity was brought about by some unscrupulous passengers, who aroused the superstition and fears of the savages.
    The Rogue River Indians I afterwards found to be nearly allied to the famous Modocs, fighting, like them, on foot; all were good shots, and possessed of good rifles, and were quite familiar with the ways of the white man.
    Before these deeds of war and trouble just recounted took place, it had been my fortune to be stationed for some months in the Rogue River Valley. The spot is a most picturesque one, situated among the spurs of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, bounded on one side by the pretty river, plentifully timbered with [a] variety of wood, a lofty mountain view in the distance on all sides, and the snow-covered peak of old McLoughlin overlooking the whole. Within sight of our little post was Table Mountain, a dwarfish knoll, whose flat crown presented a peculiarly inviting target for our howitzer practice on gala days. Near its base is a large cave, in which these same Indians took refuge two years before, when assailed by the whites; and their position was considered so advantageous that a truce was proclaimed which resulted in a temporary peace between the parties.
    Whilst scouting, we often visited the fisheries of the natives. Their mode of taking the salmon is with the spear generally, and a most spirited sight it is at night to witness a fleet of twenty or more canoes descending the swift and shallow stream, each manned by two occupants only, one guiding the craft and supporting a lighted torch of pine, while the other takes a statuesque position in the bow, with eye alert and spear in poise. I believe the miner now makes sole use of the little river, and nearly every native, if not quite every one, has departed to wield the dart in another world.
    In conclusion, I will narrate a little incident connected with the preliminary irritations that usually precede these outbreaks. Our troop, while camped at one extremity of the reservation, watching the movements of some suspected Indians, was ordered suddenly to proceed to a certain point and arrest two notorious fellows, who were rather leaders among the rest. After this was accomplished, and they were hastily conducted to the Fort and placed in the guard house, many of their people began to assemble and threaten; and during the commotion consequent on preparation for defense, an inexperienced sentinel--or rather raw recruit--allowed the prisoners to escape. This they did by simply bolting, risking the several shots that followed them quite promptly. All was now soon astir to recapture them, and in a few hours our force of sixty men appeared at the principal camp, distant about fifteen miles.
    Here all was excitement, as the fugitives and their emissaries had aroused the whole tribe, who were half disposed to a war movement. They had also formed a band of some twenty of their nearest of kin, and this party had donned their war paint, and on our approach had taken to the brush. They were speedily surrounded, but for an admiring audience we had some three hundred or more of the same blood, all armed, at our backs, merely waiting for the trouble to begin. However, a parley was struck up.
    Meanwhile a few more men were got up from our garrison, and the little mountain howitzer charged with grape and canister. Then an influential squaw, called Queen Mary, appeared on the scene, and by her eloquence, assisted by that of some others, a regular battle was arrested. If one had taken place, I doubt if any of our side would have escaped to fight again.
    After about six hours spent in maneuvers, threats and promises, the warriors consented to appear and surrender. This they did, and a more picturesque sight I never witnessed than when those painted and feathered braves stalked boldly out from the closely woven willow copse in which they had taken refuge. Each one was armed with pistol, knife and rifle; painted in hideous stripes of white, red and black; with no clothing except the bright red-tipped moccasins, the breech clout, and the feathers adorning their heads--otherwise "stripped to the buff." And the natural beauties of the scene were many. Through the beautiful grove of monarch pines surrounding, the midsummer sunset glowed, striking and bringing into relief the bronzed and sinewy forms of the red men; while the soldiers, assembled in regular groups at advantageous points, presented a grim adjunct to the picture; and the background, consisting of the many different bands comprising the tribe, formed in [an] almost perfect circle, arrayed in particolored habits, completed a scene any painter would have delighted to copy.
    Soon after and for several years those lovely wooded glens rang with the discharge of firearms and the fierce yells of the savage, and many a mangled corpse was laid to rest beneath their shades. Now the simple lowing of the domestic kine and the rattle of agricultural machinery alone are heard, marking the peaceful evolution we all have noted in the settlement of the vast frontier.
    Some who took part in this Indian war have since become distinguished, and some were so then--notably, the old warrior statesman General Joe Lane; also General A. V. Kautz and General A. J. Smith, U.S.A. The ground fought over was historical in the annals of Oregon settlement. Many a sharp skirmish and tragical ambuscade was enacted here years before.
    Until quite recently the music of the pack mule's bells indicated the only transportation to this region, as the train cheerily wended its way over these Tyrolean heights, conveying all traffic from the rough north coast, or penetrating the passes in communication with the gold camps; and yet many a day of hard labor will be scored before these solitudes will reverberate to the noise of the steam whistle--but it will come.
The Overland Monthly, April 1885, pages 420-422. The index credits the article to "J.G.T.", the text to "I.G.T." Attributed to Joel Graham Trimble.

the farmers and miners of the southern part of the state were compelled to be constantly on their guard against marauding bands of Indians, and a volume of thrilling incidents of battle, treachery and murder met by bravery, devotion and self-sacrifice might be written of this time. Among which are the murder of Woodman on Indian Creek, with the fight of Big Bend in consequence, the affair at Port Orford known as Battle Rock and the attack upon the T'Vault expedition on the Coquille in which Capt. S. L. Williams and Cyrus Hedden displayed a degree of heroism seldom equaled. Each of these incidents and many more deserve to be perpetuated in our records.
    During the summer of 1853, the southern Indians having provided themselves with what was deemed a sufficient supply of arms and ammunition, in the month of August broke out into open war. On the fourth Edwards, a farmer on Bear Creek, was murdered, on the fifth Thomas Wills, a merchant of Jacksonville, was shot in sight of the town and an indiscriminate warfare upon the miners and farmers immediately followed. No one, unless he was present, can appreciate the situation in Rogue River Valley at that time. The farmers, who mostly arrived in the previous autumn, were busy in their first harvest; the miners were busily engaged in prospecting and preparing for the next winter's work, and all were too much engaged with their own affairs to notice the Indians or their movements, but none doubted that they were in perfect safety. Although the outbreak came very suddenly, the pioneers were equal to the emergency. The families near the towns were hurried there for shelter; in the remote districts the neighbors congregated at the largest log house, which was hastily provided with a stockade and loopholed for defense. In this the women and children were gathered, the little garrison left in charge of the old men and boys, while the able-bodied men rode out to meet the desperate savages. These at once formed themselves into companies, each under his favorite leader as captain. The captains were John F. Miller, J. K. Lamerick, Bob Williams, E. A. Evans and W. W. Fowler. These men furnished their own horses, arms and ammunition and to a large extent their own commissary stores. Siskiyou County in Northern California furnished two companies under Captains J. P. Goodall and Jacob Rhodes, and the United States government Captain Alden and three privates. Captain Alden, at their request, assumed command of their whole force. The first engagement between the hostile forces occurred between Lieutenant B. B. Griffin, of Captain Miller's company, and
on Applegate Creek, the second was between Lieutenant Ely of Goodall's company, and the scouts from the main body of the Indians at Little Meadows. Gen. Jos. Lane, who had been elected to Congress in June, was at his home in the Umpqua Valley when the news of the outbreak was received, and without delay he hastened with fifty volunteers to the scene of hostilities. Capt. Alden at once tendered him the command, which he accepted, and an aggressive movement immediately ordered. The scouts reported the Indians to have fallen back from Table Rock towards the headwaters of Evans Creek, burning the forest behind them to destroy their trail. Gen. Lane divided his command; the left wing consisting of Miller and Lamerick's companies under command of Col. John E. Ross were ordered to proceed up Evans Creek, while the right wing consisting of Goodall and Rhodes' companies, the Umpqua volunteers and Capt. Alden, under the command of Gen. Lane, moved up Trail Creek to a designated junction near the head of Evans Creek. Each command was ordered to follow the trail, when found, with all speed, and engage the enemy whenever met without waiting for the other command. On the morning of August 23 the troops left camp. The right wing soon struck the trail of the main body of the Indians and followed it all day over a very difficult country and encamped late in the evening. On the next morning it was found that the command was in close proximity with the Indian camp which was in a creek bottom in a dense forest thickly covered with underbrush. Gen. Lane ordered an attack at once. The Indians were taken by surprise, but rallied quickly and made a desperate fight. In the first charge Pleasant Armstrong of Yamhill County was instantly killed, Capt. Alden received a severe wound from a bullet that struck him near the shoulder and passed along his back as he was in a stooping position and the general received a ball in his right arm. Gen. Lane refused to leave the field, but pressed the assault on the center of the camp while Capt. Rhodes was crowding them on the flank. In a short time the Indians begged for peace, and a truce was granted. A peace talk followed that resulted in an armistice of seven days, at the expiration of which time the Indians were to assemble near Table Rock, deliver up their arms and go upon a reservation. On the same evening the command of Col. Ross arrived on the battlefield, having discovered the trail too late to participate in the engagement. The next day the troops returned to the ferry on Rogue River and went into camp to await the result of the negotiations. This was named Camp Alden, in honor of the gallant soldier who was so severely wounded and who, a short time after, died from its effects. During the armistice reinforcements arrived from various sources.
with La Fayette Grover as lieutenant, led a company of fifty men as an escort to Lt. Kautz, who, with seven regular soldiers had command of a howitzer and ammunition, Capt. A. J. Smith, with one company of the first dragoons from Port Orford, who had made the trip over a road which, before and since, was deemed impassable for mounted men, even without the additional obstruction of burning forests, and a company of volunteers from Crescent City under the command of Capt. Wm. Terry. The delay in camp was tedious and the cause of much anxiety to the general. Gen. Palmer, the superintendent of Indian affairs, who alone was authorized to make a permanent treaty, had not arrived, and the Indians were by no means unanimous on agreeing to the terms proposed by General Lane on the battlefield. The seven days passed and no Indians came to the treaty ground, making the situation still more critical; but at last an Indian messenger arrived in camp, fixing the date of the treaty on the 10th of September. The terms upon which it was to be held were that only ten unarmed whites should be present; the Indian chiefs were to be there with their arms and their warriors within convenient distance to support them, while Captain Smith and his company of dragoons should remain at the foot of the hill, nearly half a mile away. On the morning of the 10th the parties met at the place and upon the terms agreed upon. The white party consisted of Gen. Lane, Joel Palmer, Indian superintendent; Samuel Culver [not Samuel Colver], Capt. A. J. Smith, First Dragoons; Capt. L. F. Mosher, adjutant to Gen. Lane, Col. John E. Ross, Capt. J. W. Nesmith, Lieut. A. V. Kautz, R. B. Metcalfe, J. D. Mason and T. T. Tierney. The Indian chiefs were in full force, with the exception of John and Tipsey, and were certainly a very formidable band without the addition of the armed warriors on the hill immediately above. The scene was a very striking one and will always be remembered by those who were present owing to a war speech by a chief which came near producing a Canby tragedy and which was only avoided by the coolness and decision of Gen. Lane and his power over the Indians. Col. Nesmith wrote a very graphic description of this event, a copy of which, I regret to say, it is not in my power to present to this encampment. The treaty was, however, made and formally executed, and the war of 1853 was practically at an end. By the terms of the treaty, which is too lengthy to be given here, the Indians surrendered their arms and went on the Table Rock Reservation temporarily, received $60,000 for their lands, to be paid in annuities, of which $15,000 was to be retained for damages committed by them, and they were to forfeit their annuities in case they again made war.
Capt. A. J. Smith, now a Major-General of the U.S. Army, on the retired list, established a post near the mouth of Stewart or Bear Creek within convenient distance of the reservation, and named it Fort Lane, which was afterwards increased to a two-company post and which proved of great service in holding the Indians in check.
    The history of the Oregon veterans would not be complete without a reference to the protection given by the citizens to the immigration by the southern route which was compelled to pass through the hostile country of the Modocs and Piutes. In this the citizens of Northern California assisted. The records of these expeditions furnish some of the most blood-curdling accounts of the murder of unarmed men, women and children and of fearful but deserved reparation by the whites that the annals of our country contain. After the treaty in 1853 Gen.Lane ordered Capt. John F. Miller, with his company of 115 men, on this duty. They were absent about three months and performed the service satisfactorily, the only casualties being two men wounded. In 1854 Gov. Davis authorized Col. John E. Ross to call into service a company of volunteers for the same purpose. In August of that year a company of seventy men, under the command of Capt. Jesse Walker, proceeded to the Lake country, where they found the Indians, as usual, waiting to rob and murder the immigrants. The campaign was a very effective one. The Indians were driven from the trail, the immigrants escorted through the dangerous ground and the Piutes severely punished for stealing stock. The command returned early in November and were mustered out of service. The only casualties being two men wounded, Sergeant William G. Hill, our present adjutant, severely, and private John Law, slightly.
    This brings us to the war of 1855-6. This was a general uprising of the Indians from the line of British Columbia to and including northern California of the tribes east of the Cascade Mountains of the coast tribes from Puget Sound to Crescent City in California. The cause of the war was the rapid settlement of the country by Americans and the failure of the general government to provide sufficient troops at the proper points for the protection of the settlers. Congress, by the act of September 27, 1850, commonly called the donation act, invited settlers to Oregon and Washington by a liberal grant of land before they provided for the extinguishment of the Indian title. It is true that a superintendent of Indian affairs had been provided and divers agents had been appointed who drew their salaries with great regularity, but who really had no more influence with the different tribes than the judges of the supreme court.
the southern Indians in 1853, a treaty was made, the first in our recollection, by which the Indians received an annuity for their possessory right to the land, and many others followed. I cannot resist making a digression at this point in order to give a description of an Indian treaty on this coast. They are traditional, and all alike in their principal features. It is commenced by a smoke and a grand "potlatch," which consists principally in giving the Indians a feast, for his heart is most easily reached from the stomach, a few old uniforms for the chiefs and some gay petticoats and trinkets for the women. After the feast, the talk or "wa-wa" commences, which is a very tedious performance and often lasts for days and always for hours. It is opened by the superintendent, who repeats one that appears to have been stereotypical since the days of Thomas Jefferson. The first part is a description of the great father at Washington and his power as a chief, of his being the father of the white and the red man, that he desires to treat the red man with the same kindness he bestows upon the whites; that if the red man will be good and go on a reservation he will receive an annuity, an annual "potlatch," while the second part warns him that if he violates the treaty and makes war, the Great Father will punish him with the troops. The savage appreciates the feast, but all that he appreciates of his treaty obligation is the power of the government to punish him for its violation. When, therefore, the United States government left only a two-company post in Southern Oregon at Fort Lane, a small force at Vancouver and the same on Puget Sound, with a handful of men at Port Orford, the settlers were at the mercy of the Indians, so far as the protection of the United States was concerned.
    The settlement of the country by the whites led to a closer connection between the Indians of the northern and southern parts of the country, the intercourse between whom had been very limited before that time. They were thus enabled to strike the blow they hoped would restore to them the whole country, and which proved so disastrous to the settlers. The outbreak in the south came with the suddenness of a cloudburst. It is true that ever since the treaty of 1853, roving bands of Indians were continually committing robberies and murders in the remote and thinly settled portions of the country, but as the main body remained on the reservation, confidence was felt that they were under the control of the agent and the military. On the 9th of October, 1855, the warriors left the reservation
following the military road west and north toward the Grave Creek mountains, leaving desolation in their track. Men, women and children were slaughtered with savage barbarity, houses and barns burned, pack trains and wagons plundered, and their owners shot and tortured. On that day more than twenty persons lost their lives; and the successful defense of her home by Mrs. Harris, over the dead body of her husband, has become a household tale of thrilling interest. When the news arrived at Jacksonville, on that day, a company was in the saddle at once, and hastened to the rescue. At Fort Lane they were joined by a company of dragoons under Major Fitzgerald and some civilians, among whom was our comrade James D. Burnett. On the following day Capt. Rinearson organized a company of about fifty men on Cow Creek, with which he guarded the road from Grave Creek north. Col. John E. Ross assumed command and called for mounted volunteers, and in two days had a force of nine companies, containing 500, and by the 1st of November there were fifteen companies, or 750 men. In the northern part of the state the war broke out about the same time as the south, and was prosecuted by the Indians in the same savage manner. At its commencement, Major Raines, commanding at Vancouver, attempted to suppress it with the troops at his command; but finding himself unable to affect anything he called upon the executives of Oregon and Washington for assistance, which was promptly rendered. A regiment of ten companies was organized in Oregon, with J. W. Nesmith as colonel and James K. Kelly as lieutenant colonel, which left The Dalles in October for a winter campaign, and sixteen companies were raised in Washington Territory.
    It is impossible, in the time allotted to me, to give even a slight sketch of this war or the privations and suffering of the volunteers during the campaign which followed. The winter was one of unusual severity all over the coast. It is sufficient to say that in the north the volunteers were victorious in every engagement, while in the south the savages were forced into and held in the almost inaccessible fastnesses of the lower Rogue River. I am unable, also, at this time to recount the massacre at the Cascades, the struggle upon Puget Sound, the slaughter by Chief Enos at the mouth of Rogue River, or the Indian raid into the southern portion of Douglas County. In the campaign of the spring of 1856 Gen. Wool, who was in command of the United States troops on this coast, who persistently refused any aid in the previous winter campaign, rendered a tardy assistance to the volunteers, and the war was finally closed, as far as general hostilities,
by a general surrender of the Indians. In the south this occurred in June, but was not accomplished in the north until the month of November, 1856.
    The sketch here hastily given of the early struggles of the pioneers suggests that a perfect history of these events should be published by this association while many of the witnesses are still living, for the benefit of future generations. This is more important, since what purports to be a history of Southern Oregon has been published, we regret to say, by a citizen of Oregon[, A. G. Walling.] In this the whole facts are ignored, or so distorted as to make it appear that the Indians were the victims of the settlers and that the pioneers, especially of Southern Oregon, were desperadoes whose principal amusement was killing Indians or debauching their women. I will not insult my comrades by making a defense to such a libel, but it seems to me but simple justice that the men who laid the foundations of a state, who made its constitution and laws, who endured privations and dangers and shed their blood in its defense, if not entitled to high honors, should be permitted to leave to their descendants a name untarnished by the charge of barbarity or dishonor.
    While we have not received the credit to which we think we are entitled for our services, it is certain that the United States government has not compensated those who saved this country. In August, 1856, Gen. Lane, then a delegate, obtained a passage of an act of Congress providing "that the secretary of war be directed to inquire into the amount necessarily incurred in the suppression of hostilities in the late war in Oregon and Washington by the territorial governments in the maintenance of the volunteer forces engaged, including pay of volunteers and he may, if he deem it necessary, direct a commission of three to report these expenses to him, etc." Under this act a commission was appointed consisting of Capts. A. J. Smith and Rufus Ingalls, U.S. Army, and La Fayette Grover. The commission after a thorough examination reported the sum of $4,419,949.33 was due as the expenses on the part of Oregon. Of this amount less than one-half has been paid, and it is due to ourselves to see that the balance is forthcoming. In this connection it is proper that we demand what is justly our due, the payment for
by the Indians upon the property of the settlers. Coming here under the donation act, the government was bound to protect our settlement, and having failed to do so, it is certainly liable for the damages incurred.
    While I have referred to the lack of government aid in our emergency, it is proper that due credit should be given to those officers who did good service in these wars. The most prominent in Southern Oregon were Gen. A. J. Smith, Col. George Crook, Col. H. G. Gibson, who was severely wounded at the battle of Hungry Hill, and Col. N. B. Sweitzer; in the north there was Gen. Phil. Sheridan and many others whose records are not familiar to us. These gallant soldiers did good service then, as they have done since, and all will be held in high regard by the people of Oregon.
    It is a first duty of this encampment to pay a tribute to our departed comrades. I regret to say that this duty must devolve upon a more eloquent tongue than mine. The deeds of our comrades, Gen. Joseph Lane and Col. Nesmith, are emblazoned not only upon the history of the state, but of the nation, but there were hundreds of lesser rank whose bravery and self-devotion were equal to theirs, many of whom lie buried in the mountains where they fell, with no headstone to mark the spot, but whose memory is preserved by their comrades and will be kept ever green as long as this association exists. Now, comrades, I would beg pardon for having been so tedious if it were not a privilege you gave when you invited me to address you. In conclusion I would advise that this organization be extended until every veteran is named upon its muster rolls and that every one shall furnish to his own camp his personal experience, which collected will not only be of interest to us, but will be valued by those who come after. I know not how others may feel, but the proudest legacy I can leave to my children is the bit of ribbon which proclaims me an honorable member of this association.

    Dear old comrade:--It was all owing to an interview I had with Mrs. A. Martindale, of Camas Valley, Douglas County, Oregon, and which was published in the semi-weekly Plaindealer in July that I learned of your whereabouts, for we had not met since the day we were discharged from the service, on the 28th day of June, 1856, at Deer Creek, now and for many years past the flourishing city of Roseburg. [Deer Creek was the original name of Roseburg.]
    A lady friend of yours from Southern Oregon, after reading the interview, wrote a brief note in which she said: "One of the men, Lieutenant Stephen Longfellow, is living, located at Henley, Cal. He is rather feeble from old age and the many hardships he has endured, but is still a kindhearted, genial gentleman, with many friends who wish him a long and happy life."
    Yes, old comrade, I am sure the sentiment is true, every word of it, for it is not flattering to say that during the time we were in the service, whether on the march over rugged mountains, frequently covered with snow, and nothing but a narrow trail on which to travel, or on the battlefield with the murderous Indians, "Steve" was all right. I have the kind permission of the editor of the Plaindealer for use of its columns to publish a few reminiscences as they occurred forty-eight years ago and in which the company of Capt. Buoy, Company B, 2nd Regiment, Oregon Territory Volunteers, were actors. It seems needless to say that but a few of the old company of one hundred and twenty are, so far as I know, now living. Of these I recall the names of J. J. Butler, and some of the Millirons, B. F. Powers, David Bruce, William Kilsay, and our old surgeon, Dr. A. W. Patterson, who is now 90 years of age and has lost the use of his eyes. I. J. Hughes filled a soldier's grave in Florida.
    I am sure you will remember the morning of October 29, 1855, when we received orders to break camp at Roseburg, and make a forced march to assist in the battle of Hungry Hill, then raging, with the odds, owing to their superior situation, in favor of the Indians. When, in going through the "Big Canyon," a distance of eleven miles, we forded the creek twenty-two times. There were no bridges, so our horses had to swim frequently.
    You will recollect we reached the "Six Bit House" on the evening of the second just as they were coming in with the wounded men from "Hungry Hill," where a number of our brave comrades had lain down their lives in defense of their frontier homes. The battlefield was eight miles away and was reached by a narrow trail through the mountains.
    Here we had the first experience of "standing guard," and the writer was one of the actors in the exciting scene that for a time was enacted in our camp. Marion P. Martin, Fourth Sergeant, was corporal of the guard, and when he gave the four guards the countersign, instead of giving each the same word, he gave each a different one, and here the trouble began. When the writer was apprehended with the stern words, "Who goes there" and answered "Friends," upon his advance to give the countersign, the word he gave was at variance with that given the challenger. At this, a call was made for the "corporal of the guard." At the bayonet's point and with the whole company aroused, wondering what was the matter, ye scribe was marched to the Captain's tent to give an account of himself, but when the corporal of the guard explained how he had given each sentinel a separate password the blame was at once placed where it belonged and all was again serene. "Six Bit House" was a deserted and rather dilapidated affair, built of "shakes." It is said to have taken its name from the fact that an Indian who had transgressed the laws was summarily hanged, but before he was sent to the "happy hunting ground" he "dunned" a spectator for "six bits" he claimed was due him.
    We made our camp during the first part of the winter at Yoacum's on the bank of the South Umpqua River, three miles from Canyonville. Our only protection was tents, and they were of light material. On Christmas Eve the snow began to fall, with a cold wind from the north, and by the time the snow was six inches deep the weather became very cold and remained so for some weeks. The rivers with the rapid current froze so much that it was with difficulty we could cross with the ferry boat. Some of the boys enjoyed their Christmas greatly by having a "stag dance" to the music of a squeaky dance violin, and the "ladies," boys in disguise, wore a blanket in imitation of a dress. Our rations of bread, bacon and beans were cooked in front of our tents, with log fires in the open air. Sometimes our menu was improved with vegetables bought from the farmers. Fruit was conspicuous by its absence, as but few orchards were bearing in those early days.
    Our cooking utensils consisted in frying pans in which we baked our bread and fried the meat, or in their absence a forked stick around which the dough was placed and set before the fire; a coffee pot and camp kettle. We "browned" our own coffee and in the absence of a mill would place the berries in a cloth and pound them.
"Reminiscences of Rogue River War," Roseburg Plaindealer, September 5, 1904, page 1

    The life of a soldier on the frontier is not all sunshine, neither is it all shadow. You will call to mind, old comrade, the time we were camped at L. D. Kent's place, near where the town of Dillard, some ten miles south of Roseburg, is located, and how our good old Captain, when about to make a trip to Roseburg, paraded the company, and made a special request that for one night during his absence those of the boys who were fond of "tripping the light fantastic toe" might remain in camp and give the "girls" a rest, for strange as it may seem, the girls were fond of dancing too. During the day it was whispered around that the Captain's request would be ignored and the usual dance follow.
    Some of the boys, who did not care to pass away the time in this manner, decided they would have a share in the evening's sports, but in another manner. One of them who I am sure is one of the few now living, but who would blush to see his name in print, explained to the picket on duty and with his trusty rifle wended his way some distance above the camp, and soon after the dance at the house had begun, fired a number of shots, piercing the night air between the shots with the Indian war whoop. Let those who never heard one, retire to some secluded spot and while he is yelling at the top of his voice, strike his lips rapidly with his hand, and he will then have a faint conception of what I wish to explain. While this part of the program is being enacted, another one of the boys, named Robert Clark, and who thought he had been slighted because he had not been invited to the dance, rushed to the door and at the top of his voice yelled, "Indians! Indians!!" It is needless to say that the house was soon vacated by its evening visitors, who hastened pell mell down the hill towards camp, many of them falling off the narrow footbridge that spanned a stream of water. When they reached camp and was given the ha! ha! they were, to use a slang expression, "hot." Lieutenant Jonathan Moore, the officer in charge, and one of the visitors at the house, demanded the name of the culprit, but as [you] may be sure it was not forthcoming. When Captain Buoy returned the following day, having heard in Roseburg that the Indians had made an attack on our camp, the nameless one "acknowledged the corn," and the decision was: "You did just right."
    I am sure, old comrade, you will recollect the time when a part of our company with a detail of Bailey's company was sent out to ascertain if any of the Indians could be found. After hunting for them a day or two without finding any sign of them, they returned towards camp, and night coming on they made their camp in an open space in the woods. After supper was over, it was decided by the boys that they should decide in a wrestling bout which was the best man for strength and agility. Fires were replenished, and Edward Gage of Buoy's company, and John L. Gardiner, of Bailey's company, both of them stout, rugged young men in the prime of life, and with no thought that within a few moments the wily foe who was then waiting for an opportunity to kill two of our best men were so near at hand. But such is the fortune of war. Soon after our comrades had entered the ring, each one striving in a friendly manner to uphold the prestige of his company, a rain of bullets fired by Indians who had in some manner passed our sentinels, laid low the two contestants, and who died the following day. One of the balls grazed the cheek of Lieutenant Moore, and another one entered the shoulder of Jerry Taylor of our company, who at the time was playing cards with a comrade. Jerry is yet living, an honored citizen of Lane County, and will carry the ball in his shoulder to his grave as a reminder of some of the pioneer days in Oregon.
    In the month of March 1856, most of the troops marched to the Big Meadows, on Rogue River, near where most of the Indians had camped the greater part of the winter. Their camps were, however, on the opposite side in the heavy timber, and we had no way of crossing, so it goes without saying that during the many fights we had with them, they had the advantage of seeing us in the open, while they were sheltered by the timber. One afternoon the Indians fired on our pickets, when more men was sent to repel the attack. An Indian will never fight unless he has the advantage, and in this, as in many other instances, "they took leg bail for security," fleeing across the river in their canoes. When the boys returned to camp and the roll was called, one of our company, F. M. Splawn, was missing. Volunteers were at once called for to go and search for our missing comrade, but as night was near and the distance was at least three miles away to where Frank was last seen, loading and firing at the Indians with all the power he had, for a braver fellow than he could not be found, it was decided to wait till morning before going to his rescue. Frank, by his manly bearing and well-known courage, was a favorite with the whole company, and many of us retired to our blankets, not to sleep but to wonder if on the morrow we would find our comrade slain by the merciless savage and his body terribly mutilated, as is the Indian custom.
    An abler pen than mine perhaps can portray the joy in our camp early in the morning when our outside sentinels announced at the top of their lungs:
    "Splawn's in camp! Splawn's in camp!!"
    Sure enough, there was our old dear comrade, but after he related the ordeal through which he had passed in the last few hours, it was no wonder he looked to be several years older. He related how when the order was given to return to camp he was in front and did not know that he was left alone, but when the retreating Indians paid particular attention to him he sought refuge in a bunch of brush, into which was sent many rifle balls but luckily did not hit him. He did not expect to escape with his life, so after saving a part of the powder, bullets and caps (for that was before the magazine rifles of modern times were invented), he threw the rest away, so if the Indians got his body they should not get his ammunition. When darkness set in he emerged from his retreat and after wandering all night over the dark, pathless mountains, the most rugged and precipitous that can be imagined, he wandered into camp as related above.

    About April 15th, 1856, McDonough Harkness and another man, whose name I cannot recall, left Fort Leland for the Meadows with express for our camps. When but two miles away they were fired upon by Indians in ambush, and Harkness was killed, his companion escaping. I am sure that not one of my many comrades who saw the horrible sight we witnessed when the nude body of Harkness, lashed on a pack mule and mutilated in the most horrible manner, was brought into camp. Never will we forget the sight the red devils had wrought.
    This war was carried from start to finish almost entirely with volunteers, and in our ranks could be found beardless boys and old gray-headed pioneers who had but recently left their homes "in the States," and with their families bundled into wagons drawn by the patient, plodding ox teams, made the trip to Oregon after the lapse of six months or more. Near the last of April some of the Indian chiefs, after a parley with Captain Smith, who had under his command seventy-five regulars, agreed to meet him at the "Little Meadows" at a certain time with a view of entering into negotiations for peace. When he arrived he made his camp in the timber, not thinking of treachery on the part of the Indians. After dark two squaws informed Captain Smith that the Indians would attack him early next morning. Orders were at once given to move the camp a short distance to a bald, oblong hill, where he expected to have an even chance with the Indians, but did not seem to be aware that not a drop of water could be had for his men. At 10 o'clock the Indians made the attack, but with the assistance of a howitzer and the bravery of his men, the Indians, who were armed with better guns than the regulars, were prevented from massacring the entire company. At the first opportunity a courier was sent through the Indians' lines in the night to the mouth of the river for more troops, which fortunately arrived on the evening of the second day, just as the Indians were ready to make a charge on the almost famished men for want of water. More than third of Smith's men were either killed or wounded. Our forces during this time were on the way down the river, but it was not until late in the day that we heard the howitzer, miles away. We at once started at the double quick, but when we reached the scene of their bloody fight a part of the Indian chiefs had surrendered. In conversation with some of the regulars, I was told that during the fight the Indians would creep near the soldiers and with forked sticks attempt to draw away the soldiers' blankets, and when the soldiers would raise their heads the Indians would shoot them.
    This was the beginning of a permanent peace. In a short time the various tribes surrendered and were at once taken to the Grand Ronde and Siletz reservations, where remnants of them still exist.
    I am sure, old comrade, that not only yourself but the many readers of the Plaindealer will breathe a sigh of relief to know that my desultory notes of the long ago are about to close. If, perchance, some may wonder why I did not make mention of more of the battles during the six months we were in service, my answer would be [that] other and more competent writers have done this.
    In conclusion, it seems unnecessary to remind my old comrades that in the forty-eight years that have passed since we last met many of the old members of Company C have answered the final roll call and ere long, we too.