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1855-56 Rogue River Indian War Claims Commissioners Office
To the Honl., the Legislative Assembly of Oregon Territory,Astoria Decr. 1st, 1856. In conformity to the statute creating a commissioner to audit certain claims growing out of the then-existing Indian war of 1855 and 1856, the undersigned beg leave to submit the following report. The whole number and amount of certificates for claims audited and allowed are as follows: viz:
I would observe here that in the investigation of all claims that the undersigned has required full and explicit proof under oath, not only of the property furnished, but also of its value at the time and place where it was furnished, and I have carefully reduced to writing the testimony of the claimant and principal witnesses, with their signatures attached, which are numbered and kept on file with the duplicate certificates or vouchers. Philo Callender
Oregon
State Archives, Military Department Records 89A-12, Legislative
Assembly Records folder 29/16Commissioner of War Claims Corvallis
O.T. Nov. 6th 1857
Mr. Elisha C. BraySir Enclosed you will please find copy of your spoliation claim which has been duly presented to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs and forwarded to the proper department. I send you the original bill, which I copied in good shape just as it is without any change in prices. I do not know what disposition the Department at Washington will yet make of these claims. It is thought by some that it will require an additional act of Congress; at all events it will require a specific appropriation. I have made the same disposition of all the claims placed in my hands, to wit I have placed them before the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon and Washington territories with the understanding that he would forward them and also use his influence for the speedy liquidation of the same, which I doubt not he has done. Should any further action be taken I will inform you. My having been absent from home has prevented me from replying to your note sooner. I think these claims will ultimately be paid, but it may be some time yet. I have called the attention of our Delegate, Gen. Lane, to the subject. He has promised to do all in his power for the speedy settlement of them, and I presume he will. I send you this copy which you had as well keep; perhaps if additional proofs should be required it will serve you as a memorandum. Very
respectfully yours
NARA
Series M2,
Microcopy of Records of the
Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 30;
Miscellaneous Loose Papers 1850-1873.J. N. Smith THE WAY THE MONEY GOES.--There is now at the Auditor's Office, in Washington, D.C., a box, some three feet square, containing vouchers of accounts allowed by the Commission on the Rogue River (Oregon) War claims to the amount of six millions of dollars. Some of the items consist of hay at two hundred dollars per ton. Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, December 23, 1857, page 1 At the special session of the Senate, Mr. Lane of Oregon offered the following resolutions: Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to the Senate, at the commencement of the next Congress, the cost of moving to, maintaining in and withdrawing from Oregon the rifle regiment, with a detailed list of property of all description abandoned, lost and condemned as unfit for service, with the cost, in detail and in the aggregate, which such as were offered for sale brought. Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to the Senate a detailed statement of provisions and clothing issued to distressed families, whether emigrants or others, and to Indians, from the Army supplies, from 1849 down to the present time, and also the cost of supplies and of transportation of supplies for troops while on duty at Fort Lane, in Southern Oregon, and of the cost of transportation of supplies for regular troops while operating against the Indians in the southern portion of Oregon, or while in the field in other portions of Oregon, or operating in the field in Washington, and the price of men, horses, mules and oxen, in the service of the quartermasters. Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to communicate to the Senate the following information in relation to the expenses of the late Indian war in Oregon and Washington: 1. A statement of all subsistence and clothing purchased for each Territory, with the amount of each article and the prices, both in detail and in the aggregate, as per awards by the commission appointed under the act of Congress approved August 18, 1856, to ascertain and report the expenses necessarily incurred in suppressing Indian hostilities in the late Indian war in Oregon and Washington, by the territorial governments of said Territories. 2. A statement of the amount and cost, as per awards of said commission, of subsistence and clothing sold during and at the close of the war, with the amount brought at sale. 3. The amount and cost, as per awards of the said commission, of subsistence and clothing issued to volunteers, quartermasters, employees, distressed families, Indians and others, as well as the amount and cost of subsistence and clothing lost or abandoned in service. 4. The amount in detail and the cost, as per awards of said commission, of animals, wagons and all other means of transportation, with the amount and value in detail of all sales. 5. The average amount and value, as per awards of commission, of clothing issued to each man in service. 6. The amount and value, as per awards of the commission, of the rations issued to each man, and quartermaster's employee, and the amount and value of the same issued to distressed families and to Indians. The resolutions were adopted. Oregon Statesman, Salem, May 17, 1859, page 1 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIAN WAR
SCRIP CONVENTION.
Eugene
City, August 8, 1859.
At a convention of the citizens of Oregon interested in the payment of
the Oregon and Washington Indian war claims, held pursuant to public
notice, at Eugene City, on the 8th of August, 1859, the following
proceedings were had:Convention met at the court house, in Eugene City, at 2 o'clock p.m., and was called to order by S. J. Herren. Fielding McMurray, of Lane County, was chosen president, and William Smith, of Linn County, was appointed secretary. The meeting was addressed by several persons upon the object of the convention, whereupon, on motion, a committee of five were appointed to report to the convention an order of business. The following persons were appointed such committee: Messrs. Lines, of Albany; Spencer, of Portland; Grover, of Salem; Drew, of Umpqua; and Teal, of Eugene City. On motion, the convention adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow. ----
Eugene
City, August 9, 1859.
Convention
met pursuant to adjournment, whereupon the committee on order of
business made the followingREPORT.
Your committee, appointed to report the order of business of this
convention, and to recommend a mode of future action in order to secure
the early payment. of the claims of the people of Oregon and
Washington, growing out of the late Indian war, beg leave to submit the
following report:In considering their duties, in order to address themselves to the work before them, your committee have been called to inquire, what are the difficulties in the way of an early adjustment of our war claims? It appears that at the present time, all the claims of Oregon and Washington above referred to are in the hands of the Third Auditor of the Treasury, under instructions from the House of Representatives to change the result arrived at by the commission appointed by authority of Congress, in the following particulars: 1st. To allow to volunteers engaged in said war no higher pay than was given to soldiers of the regular army. 2nd. To allow for supplies, transportation and other services, "the prices current, for cash, in the country at the time." 3rd. To audit all claims for horses, arms and other property, lost or destroyed in said service, according to the provisions of act of Congress of March 3rd, 1849, which act limits the prices of horses in all cases to $200 each. As to the first and third points of duty devolved on the Third Auditor by the resolution of the House of Representatives, the rule for his action is laid down; and however unjust and ignominious such action may be, this convention can do nothing to qualify or affect it in the least, but must rely upon our delegation in Congress to defeat any final adjustment of our claims upon such basis, and to secure the basis adopted by the commission as just and equitable. But as to the second point of duty above referred to, it appears that the Third Auditor, for the purpose of reducing the rates allowed by the.commission, has issued numerous letters to officers and individuals residing in Oregon and Washington, making inquiries relative to the cash rates of property during the late Indian war; asking whether scrip has not passed from hand to hand for a less rate than its face value; whether on account of the reliance of the people on Congress to adjust these claims, a higher price or rate for property put into the public service did not obtain than would have been demanded had cash been paid. The numerous questions of the above character filling these letters exhibit the fact that a great effort is being made to throw doubt and suspicion upon the claims, and to set aside, if possible, the action of the commission upon them. In this last and very important matter, this convention may do much to maintain the rights and character of the country. Some of the letters of the Third Auditor have been addressed to persons not resident in Oregon or Washington at the time of the war, and who, consequently, can make no proper answer. Many have been addressed to persons who have not been acquainted with the course of business in the country, and were not engaged in the war, and who, therefore, are not qualified and disposed to make any detailed answer. And those who are qualified, and disposed to do full justice to the subject, are, in most instances, so much involved in other pressing affairs that they many not give attention to these letters. Your committee would therefore recommend that local committees be appointed by this convention, at or near all the principal points or supply in Oregon during the late Indian war, who are informed and capable; and that said local committees be requested to cooperate at once with each other, and to correspond with some principal agent, to be appointed in the city of Portland, who shall be authorized to receive and transmit to the Third Auditor all the proofs and statements which may be forwarded to him by such local committees, in support of the war claims. Your committee are of the opinion further that much may be done to strengthen the hands of our delegation in Congress, in their efforts to secure the payment of these claims, by memorials from leading business men of established integrity, setting forth the business relation of the country at the time of the war, and the general good faith of those who furnished supplies and services to the late authorities of the Territory; and your committee recommend that such memorials be solicited from all reliable sources as above. All of which is respectfully submitted. J.
H. Lines, Chairman.
Which
after considerable discussion was adopted.On motion of Joseph Teal, W. S. Ladd, of Portland, was appointed principal agent. On motion, the following committees were appointed in various localities of the state, viz: Portland--Messrs. Thomas Pritchard, Auguste Elfelt, and ------ Savier. Salem--J. L. Starkey, George H. Jones, and M. Hirsch. Albany--J. H. Lines, W. G. Haley, and Thos. Monteith. Corvallis--A. D. Barnard, A. J. Thayer and James Kinney. Eugene City--A. W. Patterson, B. J. Pengra, and Paul Brittain. Roseburg--S. F. Chadwick, Aaron Rose, and L. F. Mosher. Empire City--T. D. Winchester. Jacksonville--B. T. Davis, James Glenn, Wm. Huffman, and ------ Brunner. Kerbyville--D. S. Holton, R. B. Morford, and C. P. Sprague. Dalles--N. H. Gates, O. Humason. On motion, Mr. Ladd was requested to furnish our delegation in Congress, as far as practicable, with copies of the evidence received by him. On motion, Joseph Teal was appointed a committee to obtain the publication of the evidence received by Mr. Ladd as far as may be practicable or expedient. On motion, a committee of the three, consisting of A. W. Patterson, H. C. Owens and Joseph Teal, was appointed to forward to the different individuals who have been appointed on committees in various localities in the state, copies of the proceedings of this convention. On motion, the officers of this convention were requested to furnish the different newspapers in Oregon with the proceedings of this meeting, and request their publication. On motion, adjourned sine die. FIELDING
McMURRAY, Pres't.
William M. Smith, Sec'y. Weekly Oregonian, Portland,
August 20, 1859, page 1
Washington
D.C. June 22 '62
Hon.Comr. of Indian Affairs Washington D.C. Dr. Sir Would you please inform me whether there is on file in your office the claim of Elisha C. Bray for spoliations committed by the Rogue River and Cow Creek tribes of Indians amounting to $4,500.00, and if so the condition of said claim. Very
respectfully
NARA
Series M234 Letters
Received by
the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel
613 Oregon Superintendency, 1862-1863, frames 175-176.Thos. E. Lloyd CLAIMS GROWING OUT OF INDIAN HOSTILITIES IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON IN 1855 AND 1856. ---- REPORT OF THE THIRD AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY, IN PURSUANCE OF A resolution of the House of Representatives passed February 8, 1858. ---- February 10, 1860--Referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed. ---- THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Resolved,
That preliminary to the final settlement and adjustment of the claims
of the citizens of the Territories of Oregon and Washington for
expenses incurred in the years eighteen hundred and fifty-five and
eighteen hundred and fifty-six, in repelling Indian hostilities, it
shall be the duty of the Third Auditor of the Treasury to examine the
vouchers and papers now on file in his office and make a report to the
House of Representatives, by the first Monday in December next, of the
amount respectively due to each company and individual engaged in said
service, taking the following rules as his guide in ascertaining the
amount so due:February 8, 1859. 1st. He shall recognize no company or individual as entitled to pay, except such as were called into service by the territorial authorities of Oregon and Washington, or such whose services have been recognized and accepted by the said authorities. 2nd. He shall allow to the volunteers engaged in said service no higher pay and allowances than were given to officers and soldiers of equal grade at that period in the army of the United States, including the extra pay of two dollars per month given to troops serving on the Pacific by the act of eighteen hundred and fifty-two. 3rd. No person either in the military or in the civil service of the United States, or of said Territories, shall be paid for his services in more than one employment or capacity for the same period of time, and all such double or triple allowances for pay, as appears in said accounts, shall be rejected. 4th. That in auditing the claims for supplies, transportation and other services incurred for the maintenance of said volunteers, he is directed to have a due regard to the number of said troops, to their period of service, and to the prices current in the country at the time, and not to report said service beyond the time actually engaged therein, nor to recognize supplies beyond a reasonable approximation to the proportions and descriptions authorized by existing laws and regulations for such troops, taking into consideration the nature and peculiarities of the service. 5th. That all claims of said volunteers for horses, arms and other property lost or destroyed in said service shall be audited according to the provisions of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and forty-nine. Attest:
J. C. ALLEN, Clerk.
----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives
adopted on the 8th of February, 1859, I have examined the papers and
vouchers on file in this office connected with the claims growing out
of Indian hostilities in Oregon and Washington Territories in the years
eighteen hundred and fifty-five and eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and
have the honor to submit the following report:Third Auditor's Office, February 7, 1860. The resolution having been officially communicated to me by the Clerk of the House of Representatives on the 24th of February, I addressed the Secretary of the Treasury, enclosing a copy thereof, and after referring to the limited information in my possession, and certain other information that I supposed obtainable, I stated as follows: "I respectfully submit for your consideration whether, in view of the magnitude of the claims involved, the importance of having all information available, in order to have correct data on which to act, some additional means or authority should not be placed at my disposal? I do not presume, of course, to indicate what authority should be granted in the premises, but submit the matter, so that, it you should deem it proper, you might direct the attention of the Committee on Military Affairs to the subject." The subject was referred by the Secretary to Mr. Faulkner, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, on the 26th of February, and on the same day he replied, requesting "an estimate sufficient to cover the expenses resulting from this order of the House." In a report on the subject, made to the Secretary of the Treasury on the 28th, I stated: "It may be thought advisable to send a competent person to the Territories, or, if it be thought practicable, to secure the services of some person or persons resident there, with a view of eliciting all the information available. Should this be done, it is obvious that some expenditures would here to be made. It seems to me the committee are about as well advised as to the probable amount that might be required as I am myself. I should certainly desire and endeavor to incur as little expense as possible. Whatever further authority or means the committee may deem proper to place at my disposal I shall use with proper caution and economy; or, in the event of nothing being done, shall carry out the order of the House as best I can with the sources of information at my command. I will remark, however, as Mr. Faulkner requests an estimate, that an appropriation of, say, two thousand dollars might be advisable, and if, on further conference with yourself, all or any portion thereof can be dispensed with, it will afford me great pleasure to do so." It appears that subsequently Mr. Faulkner offered in the House an amendment making an appropriation of five thousand dollars, but at the stage of proceedings it was ruled out of order, and Congress adjourned without taking any further action on the subject. If, therefore, it shall appear that my action has been in any degree erroneous, in consequence of want of personal knowledge of the subject, or of full and reliable data, my apology must be found in the fact that serious difficulties surrounded many points necessary to be investigated in order to arrive at correct conclusions, and that the means of obtaining information at my command were very limited. Before proceeding to detail my action under the resolution, and the result thereof, it is proper to state that, by the 11th section of "An act making appropriations for certain civil expenses of the government for the year ending June 30, 1857," approved August 18, 1856, it was provided "that the Secretary of War be directed to examine into the amount of expenses necessarily incurred in the suppression of Indian hostilities in the late Indian war in Oregon and Washington by the territorial governments of said Territories, for the maintenance of the volunteer forces engaged in said war, including pay of volunteers, and that he may, if in his judgment it be necessary, direct a commission of three to proceed to ascertain and report to him all expenses incurred for purposes above specified." Under this section of law, on the 4th September, 1856, Captain R. Ingalls and Captain A. J. Smith, of the United States army, and Lafayette Grover, Esq., of Oregon, were appointed by the Secretary of War as "a commission of three to proceed to ascertain and report to him all expenses incurred for purposes above specified," and on the 10th October, 1857, they reported to the Secretary of War the amount incurred by the territorial authorities of Oregon at $4,449,949.33, and by the territorial authorities of Washington at $1,481,474.45--making an aggregate of $5,931,424.78. By a subsequent report they increased this amount in the sum of $80,032.58--making a grand total of six million eleven thousand four hundred and fifty-seven dollars and thirty-six cents. This, they said, was exclusive of "claims for spoliation of property by hostile Indians during the war," which were not acted on by them, and some other claims also not included for reasons set forth. The report was transmitted to Congress by the Secretary of War, and has been printed. (Ex. Doc. No. 45, H.R., 35th Cong. 1st session). Accompanying their report were numerous papers, consisting of rolls, vouchers, bills &c., representing the claims in detail, and these have formed the subject of my investigations. By the first clause of the resolution I am directed to "recognize no company or individual as entitled to pay except such as were called into service by the territorial authorities of Oregon and Washington, or such whose services have been recognized and accepted by the said authorities." This branch of the resolution seemed to contemplate an inquiry into the manner in which companies or individuals were "called into service''--it expressly limiting allowances for pay to such as were "called into service by the territorial authorities of Oregon and Washington, or such whose services were recognized and accepted by the said authorities," as well as to the fact of actual service having been rendered as claimed. The claims for military service are represented by roll of companies, giving the names of officers and privates composing them--when enrolled, and when disbanded--all made out in due form, and certified to be correct by the proper officers, but they generally afford no further evidence of service or authority for the organization. For aught that appears on some of the rolls, the organization may have been entirely voluntary, and existing only on paper, or in such manner as to enable the officers to call the whole or a part of the company together, as occasion might require. Indeed, in several cases, the rolls furnish internal evidence, from remarks thereon, indicating that, in those cases, the whole company was not at at any time in the field in actual service. Deeming further information desirable on this point, I requested the governor of Oregon and the acting governors of Washington to furnish me with "copies of such orders, or other official documents, records of the Territory of Oregon (or Washington), as will enable me to determine what companies were called into the service of the Territory of Oregon (or Washington), or whose services were recognized and accepted by the authorities thereof, showing when called out, or recognized and accepted, and the period of service of each of said companies." The governor of Oregon, in his reply, states as follows: "I have referred this matter to the adjutant general of the Territory, who informs me that each 'muster roll' furnished to the commissioners set forth fully all the facts which you seek, and that the commissioners compared them with the original orders, and verified them, in every particular, before transmitting them to the War Department. The rolls and papers retained are duplicates of those which you have in your office, as I understand it." It will be observed that this reply of the governor leaves the matter precisely where the commissioners left it, and affords no additional information on the subject. Hon. Charles H. Mason, secretary and acting governor of Washington Territory, acknowledged the receipt of my letter, and stated that he would give it early attention. As nothing further was received, and subsequent news announced his death, it is presumed he was prevented by sickness from carrying out his intention. A printed document, containing messages, proclamations, orders, correspondence &c., relating to the hostilities and the manner of their prosecution, was sent me by the Hon. I. I. Stevens, which afforded considerable information on the subject. (The commissioners in their report refer to a package of papers, marked A, amongst those transmitted by them, with the other papers and vouchers accompanying the claims, as containing copies of proclamations and orders, but, on examination of the papers, I have been unable to find any such package. This package related to the service in Washington Territory. It therefore became necessary for me to have recourse to such other sources of information as were available. The commissioners, in their report, go somewhat into detail with respect to the organization of the volunteers, and the manner in which they were brought into service. First, with reference to the organization in Oregon, they state as follows: "The initiatory steps of the organization of the volunteer forces in Oregon, early in October, 1855, were quite precipitous, and, consequently, in some cases, irregular. This organization was based upon the militia law of the Territory, as it then existed, declaring the same one military district, for brigade purposes, of which, by authority of the act of Congress organizing the Territory, the governor was commander-in-chief. This law further provided for the appointment by the governor of a brigadier general, and for the election, in subordinate districts, of colonels and subordinate officers of regiments; it also embraced the usual departments of the general staff, and provided for the commission of their chief and subordinate officers. "These volunteer troops, consisting of two regiments of mounted men, excepting the 9th regiment of Oregon militia, to which reference will be made hereafter, were called into service by proclamation of the governor. These regiments, numbered 1st and 2nd, respectively, consisting of ten companies, each designated by the letters of the alphabet, from 'A' to 'K,' inclusive. During the continuance of hostilities, the legislative assembly of the Territory commenced its session on the first Monday of December, 1855. At this session an act was passed reorganizing the militia system, so as more fully to provide for the exigencies of the volunteer service. (See session laws of Oregon, 1855-'56, page 55). This act, chap. 3, sec. 1, provides that, 'in time of invasion, insurrection or the breaking out of Indian hostilities, the governor, as commander-in-chief, shall, unless he deems the exigencies of the moment to require his calling out the full mounted force of the Territory, issue his proclamation, calling into service as many companies, battalions, or regiments of volunteers as he shall think necessary to protect the lives and property of the citizens, and to establish and preserve the public peace.' The same act also recognized 'the field organization of the volunteer forces of the Territory,' then in service. ''At the same session of the territorial legislature another act was passed, entitled 'An act to provide for paying the volunteers in the service of the Territory, and for the prosecution of the existing Indian war' (see session laws aforesaid, page 25), which gave special authority to the governor 'to call for, and accept, the service of any number of volunteers, not exceeding three full regiments, who may offer their services, as mounted riflemen, to serve six months after they shall have arrived at the place of rendezvous, or to the end of the war, unless sooner discharged.' "By virtue of these provisions of law, the governor of Oregon, from time to time, called for, and caused to be mustered into the service of the Territory, such number of volunteers, within the limits stated, as he deemed expedient, or the exigencies of the service required. But except in cases of special service, such as of 'spy companies,' 'minute men,' 'guards' and 'vanguards,' enrolled for local defenses, on duty only in cases of emergency and the like, the levies of volunteer troops made subsequently to the original organization were for the purpose of recruiting the two regiments already in the field, the first operating in northern and middle Oregon, and the second in the south. "Of these subsequent levies are the companies A, B, C, D and E, recruiting battalion, 1st regiment; the companies A, B, C and D, 1st recruiting battalion, and the companies A, B, C and D, 3rd recruiting battalion, 2nd regiment. These 'recruiting battalions' were thrown into the field at a time when the regiments before mentioned had become decimated from service, or discharged, after expiration of their term of enlistment, and were consolidated within the original organization. "The two 'spy companies,' number '38' and '39,' respectively, Capt. James Barnes and Capt. T. W. Prather,were enrolled and mustered into the service of the Territory under the order of Brigadier General John K. Lamerick, of the volunteer militia of Oregon, by authority of the governor, and attached to the 2nd regiment, as were also the 'minute men,' No. 40, of Capt. John Guess. The companies, No. 57, of 'Port Orford minute men,' Capt. J. Creighton, No. 58, 'Coos Bay minute men,' Capt. W. H. Harris and No. 59, 'Coquille Guard,' Capt. W. H. Packwood, were self-organized, and went into service on the southern coast on the occurrence of a serious Indian outbreak, and previous to the arrival of the regular troops in that district, under the command of Lieut. Col. Buchanan, 4th infantry, but were subsequently recognized as duly in service by authority of the governor, and were attached to the 2nd regiment. "The companies of 'minute men for relief of Cascades,' No. 60, Captain Stephen Coffin; No. 61, Capt. S. J. Powell and No. 62, 'Multnomah Rangers,' Capt. W. S. Buckley, were called into service to relieve the settlers at the Cascades, on the Columbia River, after the massacre of the 26th March, 1856. "The 9th regiment of Oregon militia, numbered by companies from 1 to 15, inclusive, was organized under the old militia law of the Territory, hereinbefore referred to, and went into service by order of Col. John E. Ross commanding, at the commencement of the hostilities in the Rogue River country, but were mustered out by order of the governor as soon as relieved by the 2nd regiment mounted volunteers. The services of the 9th regiment are recognized and provided for in section 5 of the 'act to provide for paying the volunteers &c., before mentioned.'" With respect to the volunteers called out in Washington, the commissioners say: "In the Territory of Washington the volunteer service commenced by the requisition of Major G. J. Rains, 4th infantry, U.S.A., at that time commanding the 'Columbia River and Puget's Sound district,' on Acting Governor Mason, of that Territory, for two companies of volunteers to act in concert with the regular troops. This requisition bears date October 9, 1855, and was made immediately on the receipt of the report of Major Haller's repulse by the Indians in the Yakima country. (See paper marked '1,' package 'A,' herewith accompanying.) Accordingly, the acting governor issued his proclamation, bearing date October 15, 1855, calling for two companies of volunteers to enroll themselves, and organize as soon as possible, by electing their own officers, through whom they should report for duty--one company to the commanding officer at Fort Vancouver, the other to the executive at Olympia. "In response to this call, two companies were organized: company 'A,' Capt. William Strong, and company 'B,' Capt. Gilmore Hays, 1st regiment Washington Territory volunteers. The former, sixty-two men, rank and file, was mustered into the service of the United States on the 21st day of October, 1855, by Lieut. John Withers, 1st lieutenant 4th infantry, mustering officer at Fort Vancouver; the latter, of eighty-eight men, rank and file, was mustered into service on the 14th October, 1855, by Adjutant General Tilton, of Washington Territory, and placed under the command of Capt. Maloney, 4th infantry, commanding Fort Steilacoom, as indicated in the requisition of Major Rains, before referred to. The payrolls of these companies have not been acted upon by the commission, but will be specially submitted in a subsequent part of this report. "The volunteer troops properly in the service of Washington Territory during the war consisted of two regiments, designated the 1st and 2nd, respectively, mostly of mounted men. These regiments were not entirely perfect in their organization, nor equal in the different periods of service, in the number of companies or men embraced, but seem to have been increased, diminished or modified, according to the exigencies of the time. They were called into service by Acting Governor Mason and Governor Stevens, by proclamations and orders, copies of which are herewith accompanying, in package 'A,' and are referred to in the heading of the respective rolls of companies organized under their authority." General Wool, in a letter received from him, details the manner in which the volunteers were called into service, as follows: "Major Haller having been driven back by the Yakimas, Major Rains, in consequence of the excitement of the whites, and apprehensive of the Yakimas, called on Governor Curry for four companies of militia or volunteers, and on the acting governor of Washington Territory for two companies. The acting governor of Washington Territory promptly responded to the call. Governor Curry, of Oregon, responded so far to the call as to send one company, l3th October, 1855, to Major Rains, U.S. army, at Vancouver, which were to have been mustered into the United States service on the following day. "In the meantime, it appears from Governor Curry's letter to Captain Wilson, 13th October, 1855, he decided, in compliance with Colonel Nesmith and General Barnum, not to put the militia or volunteers under command of United States officers, but to form an independent organization, under the direction of territorial officers, and, consequently, gave the following instructions to Captain Wilson, viz: 'The result of a conference this evening with Generals Nesmith and Barnum, and others of our friends, has induced me to call your attention to the instructions I gave you this afternoon. You will bear distinctly in mind that your command you will not suffer to be mustered into the United States service.' Instead of the four companies, as called for by Major Rains, Governor Curry issued his proclamation for eight companies of mounted volunteers, which, according to General Barnum's report of January 18, 1856, were raised and mustered, consisting of ten companies, numbering seven hundred and ninety-six, called the first regiment, commanded by Colonel Nesmith. On the 15th October, Governor Curry issued another proclamation calling for five additional companies of mounted volunteers, as mustered by General Lamerick, numbering four hundred and seventy-eight men, to constitute the northern battalion, and four companies of mounted volunteers, as mustered by General Lamerick, numbering three hundred and eighty-seven men, to constitute the southern battalion. These, including two companies not embraced in his first proclamation, with one company commanded by Captain Gordon, not mustered, constituted all the troops known to me as having been called for by proclamation and mentioned in dispatches, making the entire volunteer force of Oregon as follows: First regiment, including two companies not called for by proclamation, 796; northern battalion, 478; southern battalion, 387; total Oregon force, as called for, including two companies of first regiment not embraced in Governor Curry's proclamation, 1,661, and including the company of Captain Gordon, not mustered, 1,736. Of this force, not to exceed four hundred, is known to me, from any information derived from regular officers, or from the correspondence and reports of the volunteers, as having been engaged in repelling or repressing Indian hostilities in the Territory of Oregon." With regard to the organization in Washington Territory, General Wool states as follows: "The first call for volunteers in Washington Territory appears in the governor's annual message of December 7, 1855, in which Acting Governor Mason says: 'Twelve companies have been raised, amounting in all to upwards of seven hundred men, of these five hundred were mounted.' "Governor Stevens' proclamation of January 23, 1856, calls for six companies of volunteers, to consist of sixty men each, and again, by proclamation of August 2, 1856, for two companies. Colonel Casey, U.S.A., commanding Puget's Sound district, reported to me, May 19, 1856: 'So far as the Indians on this side are concerned, the contest is about ended, and, should no considerable reinforcements be received, will soon die out. It may, however, be prolonged by a military territorial organization existing in this Territory, over which I have no control.' He also notified Governor Stevens, June 20, 1856, that he did not consider the services of any volunteers as having been necessary for more than two months past. "The six companies called for by Governor Stevens and the twelve previously raised by Acting Governor Mason would make the volunteer force of that Territory consist of eighteen companies, ten hundred and sixty strong This does not include the last two companies, called for August 2, 1856, for I cannot believe, in the absence of positive information, that they were mustered into the service, and certainly they were not required at that time, as appears from Colonel Casey's remarks, quoted above. This will be found to correspond with your statement for February, in regard to the number of companies--eighteen--but exceeds the number of men there given by three hundred and sixty. Adjutant General Tilton, in his estimate of pay for six months ending September 1, 1856, approved by Governor Stevens, reports the strength of the volunteer force nine hundred and fifty-seven." It is very much to be regretted that the documents, such as proclamations, orders &c., connected with the calling out of these volunteers, have not all been furnished in an authentic form, showing the precise date at which each particular corps was called into service, by what authority the call issued, when, and by whom, the troops were received into the service, and, indeed, all the facts connected therewith, from the time of their being called out until they were finally discharged. In this respect there is much greater deficiency on the part of the Oregon authorities than of those of Washington Territory. The commissioners in their report state that the ninth regiment of Oregon militia "was organized under the old militia law of the Territory," and "went into service by order of Colonel John E. Ross, commanding, at the commencement of hostilities in the Rogue River country, but were mustered out by order of the governor as soon as relieved by the second regiment mounted volunteers." The Colonel John E. Ross, above referred to, by whose "order" the ninth regiment is stated to have gone "into service," was an officer of that rank and name, under the militia laws of the Territory. In Ex. Doc. No. 76, House of Representatives, 34th Congress, 3rd session, copies of "General Orders," No. "0" to "12," inclusive, are found, dating from the 15th to the 22nd October, 1855, but they relate more especially to the plan of operations, procuring of transportation, supplies &c. The proclamations of the governor calling out volunteers are not found, but reference is made to them in these orders. In General Order No. 10, of the above series, dated 20th October, 1855, it is stated "that armed parties have taken the field in Southern Oregon, 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; it is therefore ordered that the commanding officer of the battalion, 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 &c." The governor does not designate by name the "armed parties" to whom he refers in this order as having "taken the field in Southern Oregon," 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." On examination of the rolls connected with this so-called ninth regiment of Oregon militia, called into service by order of Colonel John E. Ross, commanding in the Rogue River country (in Southern Oregon), it is found that he reports enrolled on the tenth day of October five companies, numbering two hundred and fifty-five men. This was five days in advance of the proclamation referred to in the "General Order" above. This force increased, by enrollment, to eleven companies, numbering five hundred and forty-five men, on the 20th October, and fifteen companies, numbering seven hundred and sixteen men, on the 1st November, but, on the 10th November, it had diminished to four hundred and eighty-five, and two hundred and seventeen on the 20th November, after which the organization disappears. On reference to the staff roll of the regiment, also on file in this office, the following remarks are found opposite the name of Colonel John E. Ross: "Was elected and commissioned, in accordance with the militia law of Oregon, June, 1854; took the field to suppress Indian hostilities 12th October, 1855; left it 9th November, 1855, as required by 'General Orders No. 10,' but continued to serve in the adjustment of the affairs of the regiment until 1st August, 1856, with the exception of one month and twenty-three days, while in the legislature," certified to be correct by Colonel John E. Ross, colonel commanding ninth regiment Oregon militia. It is, therefore, quite evident that these volunteers under the command of Colonel Ross, styled the 9th regiment, Oregon militia, were not recognized by the governor during the time they were in service, but, on the contrary, were ordered to be disbanded, they not being "duly enrolled into the service of the Territory by virtue of said proclamation." Nevertheless, these companies are all reported for pay by the commissioners, the same as those called out by proclamation of the governor, their "service" having been subsequently "recognized by the territorial legislature." The commissioners also state that companies No. 57, of "Port Orford minute men," Captain J. Creighton; No. 58, "Coos Bay minute men," Captain W. H. Harris; No. 59, "Coquille Guards," Captain W. H. Packwood, were "self-organized, and went into service on the southern coast, on the occasion of a serious outbreak, and previous to the arrival of the regular troops in that district, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Buchanan, 4th infantry, but were subsequently recognized by authority of the governor, and were attached to the 2nd regiment." By reference to the rolls it appears that these companies went into "service" at separate and distinct periods. Captain Packwood's (Coquille Guards) being enrolled on the 6th November, 1855, and continued till 28th December, 1855; Captain W. H. Harris' (Coos Bay minute men) being enrolled on the 28th February, 1856, and continued till June 12, 1856, and Captain J. Creighton's (Port Orford minute men) being enrolled on the 26th March, 1856, and continued till 25th June, 1856--all made up for pay accordingly, and so reported by the commissioners, their services having been subsequently recognized by authority of the governor. From what has already been said it is evident that considerable "irregularity" existed with respect to the mode in which some of these volunteers came into the service. It is known that the differences of opinion prevailed between the officers in command of the United States troops and the civil authorities, not only as to the propriety or necessity of a general Indian campaign at the time, but also as to the manner of its prosecution, the number of troops necessary &c. That more troops were called into the service than would have been, and the expenditures connected with the hostilities thereby enhanced, if the ordinary mode of proceedings in such cases had been complied with, there can be little doubt. As before stated, at the commencement of the hostilities Major Rains made a requisition on the governor of Oregon for four companies of volunteers, and on the governor of Washington for two companies, all, of course, to be mustered into the service of the United States, and under the orders of the commanding officers. Those called for from Oregon were not furnished. Instead of complying with the requisition, the governor called out two regiments for the territorial service. The two companies called for were furnished by the acting governor of Washington. They were mustered into the service of the United States in the usual manner, and continued therein until discharged by the United States officers. (These two companies have not been recognized as belonging to the "territorial organization," and therefore their claims for pay &c. are not embraced amongst those reported by the commissioners, and will also be excluded in my report). It was subsequently determined, however, by the territorial authorities of both Oregon and Washington, to call out volunteers on their own responsibility, and entirely independent of the United States service. In his special message to the territorial legislature on this subject, January 21, 1856, Governor Stevens says: "I am of opinion that vigorous operations should be prosecuted on both sides of the Cascade Mountains. Whenever it is practicable or expedient, it is best that volunteers should be mustered into the United States service. It should go to the authorities at home that we endeavored to cooperate with the regular service. But there has been a breach of faith. Troops mustered into service were disbanded in violation of a positive understanding, and it is now proper that the authorities of this Territory should conduct the movements of their own troops, cooperating with the regulars, where such cooperation can be effective. I therefore do not think that the volunteers of this Territory should be mustered into the United States service. I am ready to take the responsibility of raising them, independent of that service, and it is due to the Territory, and to myself, that the reasons for assuming it should go to the President and the Department at Washington." (Sen. Ex. Doc. No, 66, 34th Cong. 1st ses.) Thenceforth all the volunteers that were called out were, by territorial authority, irrespective entirely of the regular service, organized as territorial troops, under command of their own officers, and their military operations entirely separate and distinct from the regular service, with their own staff--medical, commissary and quartermaster's department, and employees of every description. It appears, however, that again, as late as the 15th March, 1856, Lieutenant Colonel Silas Casey, United States army, made a requisition on Governor Stevens for two companies of volunteers, and expressed, in his letter, the opinion that, with said volunteers and the then existing regular force, he would have "a sufficient number of troops to protect this frontier, without the aid of those now in the service of the Territory." Governor Stevens replied, under date of 16th March, 1856, declining to comply with the requisition, for reasons which he set forth at length. Why Governor Curry declined to respond to the requisition of Major Rains, but chose to call out volunteers into the territorial service, does not appear, so far as I am advised, further than is stated in the letter of' General Wool before referred to, nor is it material, so far as my action is concerned, the sole object in my referring to the matter being to show the irregular manner in which the volunteers were called out and enrolled in the service, in some cases "self-organized," and declared to have taken the field "without authority, and contrary to the peace of the Territory." Whether subsequent legislative recognition of an organization thus made should entitle to pay for the full period claimed, or would come within the spirit of the resolution of reference, may well be doubted. As will hereafter appear, however, I have not felt at liberty to rule out any of these companies as not entitled to pay under the resolution, but have felt it my duty to set forth the circumstances connected with the mode and manner of their organization, which my investigations have brought to view, as fully as I have done. Whether the mere calling out of volunteers by proclamation, or the acceptance and recognition thereof by the territorial authorities, is sufficient of itself to entitle them to pay from the United States, without positive and specific proof of actual service in the field for the time and in the manner claimed, is a question for Congress alone to determine. And so also it is for Congress alone to say whether such calling out of volunteers, and such service, if actually rendered, creates any obligation on the part of the United States to defray the expenses that are incurred thereby, and also to determine the extent to which, and upon what principles, such expenditures shall be assumed and paid by the general government. There is no law that I am aware of authorizing the calling out of volunteers and mustering them into the service of the United States by territorial authorities without the order or assent of the Chief Executive of the Union. Ordinarily, on special exigencies arising, to which the regular troops were deemed inadequate, and it was considered necessary to have recourse to the volunteer militia, the usual course has been for the commanding officer to make his requisition on the executive of the State or Territory for a certain number of companies &c., and upon compliance with that requisition, the volunteers so furnished were mustered into the service of the United States. It has not come to my knowledge that any service is claimed for companies that were not enrolled, or whose services were not, at some time or other, either before or after the service, "recognized and accepted" by the territorial authorities or the legislature, although there may be some who were not, for any considerable period, absent from home, or engaged in actual service in the field, but who, on the contrary, were all, for a portion of the time, at their homes, and engaged in their ordinary avocations. Such was the opinion expressed in my former report with reference to certain companies that did not appear to have left their homes, or to be within the range of active hostilities, but they appear, nevertheless, to have been "recognized and accepted by the territorial authorities," and reported for pay by the commissioners. I have concluded, therefore, not to exclude any of the companies reported by the commissioners, or to change the period for which they are reported as entitled to pay, but to assume, for the purposes of this report, that, as to the duration of service, and the fact of such "service" having been called for and "recognized and accepted by the territorial authorities," the rolls are correct. I deem it proper, however, to suggest, in this connection, that, in any provision that may he made for final payment of these claims, authority should be given to reject all such as shall not appear to have been engaged in actual service, as contradistinguished from mere enrollment and organization for purposes of local defense consequent on a state of alarm, and which patriotic citizens may reasonably be expected to resort to for the protection of their property, without thereby becoming entitled to be subsisted, clothed and paid by the general government until such time as the alarm had passed off and pretext for such organization no longer remained. Whether or not the regular troops of the United States were inadequate to the defense of the country and the protection of the lives and property of the inhabitants; whether or not more volunteers were called out than were actually needed or could be advantageously employed; whether they were called out at an improper time, and continued in the service longer than was necessary and when the occasion that required their services had passed away--these are questions that addressed themselves to the consideration of the territorial authorities at the time, and whatever ground there may have been for differences of opinion amongst those cognizant of all the facts, I have not felt authorized to go into them. The only questions that I considered as embraced in the scope of my inquiries, with regard to the services of the volunteers, were, first, as to the fact of their having been "called out and accepted by the territorial authorities," and, second, as to the fact of "actual service" having been rendered as reported. This latter branch of inquiry I have been unable to investigate satisfactorily, for reasons herein set forth. By the second clause of the resolution I was directed to "allow to the volunteers engaged in said service no higher pay and allowances than were given to officers and soldiers of equal grade at that period in the army of the United States, including the extra pay of two dollars per month given to troops serving on the Pacific by the act of eighteen hundred and fifty-two." The commissioners in their report allowed two dollars per day to all the volunteers, and to such as were mounted two dollars per day additional for the use and risk of their horses. This action, they stated, was based on an act of the territorial legislature of Oregon which assembled in December, 1855. It has already been seen that the ninth regiment of Oregon militia bad been disbanded nearly a month before the meeting of the legislature, and that the two volunteer regiments were called out and enrolled more than a month before the legislature met. The act referred to contained the following provisions: Sec. 4. "Whenever such volunteers are called and received into the service of the Territory by virtue of this act, each noncommissioned officer and private shall be entitled to receive two dollars per day and rations, and two dollars per day for the use and risk of his horse, except for horses actually killed in action, unavoidably lost, or reported unfit for service and turned over to the quartermaster, in which case the owner shall receive the appraised value thereof, and all commissioned officers shall receive the same pay as officers of the same rank in the army of the United States: Provided, That commissioned officers shall receive the same pay for use and risk of horses as noncommissioned officers." Sec. 5. "This act, so far as the same relates to the pay of volunteers, shall be so construed as to apply to all who have been in the service of the Territory since the commencement of the existing Indian war, and it shall also extend to the services of the 9th regiment of Oregon militia while in service in said war." It does not appear that any action was had by the territorial legislature of Washington on the subject of pay, further than to memorialize Congress, which they did by memorial under date of January 9, 1856, wherein they requested Congress to grant that "as a remuneration for service each man, foot or mounted, shall be entitled to, and shall receive, a land warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land, to be located on any of the public lands belonging to the United States, and that each volunteer soldier serving on foot receive for his services the sum of four dollars per day, and each mounted soldier the sum of five dollars per day." (House of Reps. Misc. Doc. No. 64, 34th Congress, 1st session) The amount due for pay of the volunteers as represented by the rolls and reported by the commissioners, after deducting stoppages for clothing and other articles furnished, is as follows: Oregon volunteers:
On the rolls are noted "stoppages," consisting of clothing &c., issued to the volunteers and charged to them, to be deducted from their pay. The articles issued, and the prices thereof, are not stated in detail. It is presumed they were charged to the volunteers at or about the prices agreed to be paid by the purchasing officers. The rate of pay being materially reduced by the terms of the resolution, and the prices charged for the clothing being on a scale corresponding with everything else, which scale, for reasons to be set forth more fully hereafter, was to some extent artificial, it would seem but fair and reasonable that the prices of clothing should be reduced to what might be supposed the actual cash value. It being impossible to fix specific prices for the articles of clothing purchased, or to determine what description of articles was issued to each individual and constituted the stoppage against his pay, I concluded to allow an average deduction from these stoppages of thirty-three percent, on the amount with which he was charged. The balance remaining after this deduction was stopped against his pay, the same as if the amount had been paid him in cash. It was in fact so much advanced on account of his services--not in cash, but in clothing, and has been so treated by the purchasing officers as well as the commissioners. There is an allowance of three dollars and eighty-six cents a month for cavalry, and three dollars and sixty-seven cents for infantry, made for clothing to soldiers in the regular service, in addition to their pay proper. This allowance has been included in the rates for monthly pay, and the volunteers have all had the benefit of it in the calculations of amounts due them for pay under the resolution. Applying army rates to the rolls as presented by the commissioners, the amounts found due to officers and soldiers for pay proper, use and risk of horses, commutation for clothing &c., after deducting the stoppages, are as follows:
The third clause of the resolution is as follows: 3rd. "No person either in the military or in the civil service of the United States or of said Territories shall be paid for his services in more than one employment or capacity for the same period of time, and all such double or triple allowances for pay as appears in said accounts shall be rejected." In my letters of inquiry addressed to the governor of Oregon and acting governor of Washington, I requested each of them to furnish me with "the names of all officers and persons in the civil service of said Territory who were engaged in said volunteer service, specifying in each case the position held by such person in the civil service, with the salary or emoluments attached thereto, and the capacity in which such persons were employed or served in said volunteer service." The governor of Oregon, in his reply to this branch of my inquiries, says: "I do not recollect, in looking over the rolls, of any officers or persons in the civil service of the Territory who were at the same time engaged in the volunteer service, except in the case of Assistant Quartermaster General John McCracken, who I believe was at that time holding a commission as United States marshal of the Territory. The civil office was a source of no profit to him, as the salary was nominal, and the duties were performed mostly by deputies, who received all he made by way of emoluments." From the acting governor of Washington, as before stated, no reply has been received. I also addressed letters to the Secretaries of the Treasury and Interior Departments, the Postmaster and Attorney General, requesting the names of all persons whatever that held any appointment in said Territories, by or through their respective departments, to which a pecuniary compensation was attached from the 1st day of October, 1855, to the 31st of December, 1856, the capacity or employment and the amount of compensation of each, and from each of these departments full lists were furnished as requested. In Oregon the double payments in consequence of claims for services alleged to have been rendered in different capacities at the same time amount to $28,733.57, and this amount of claims has been disallowed under the operation of this branch of the resolution. These claims were principally for services reported to have been rendered by persons who were at the same time borne on the rolls of companies and reported for pay as employees. In all such cases the pay was allowed for the military service, as shown on the roll, and the service claimed to have been rendered in the other capacity, as mechanic, teamster, packer &c., was disallowed. In Washington Territory the disallowances in consequence of persons being reported for pay in more than one capacity amounted to $29,952,59. There were also claims for services of persons who were employed and paid in the "civil service" for the same period, amounting to $20,224.08, which were disallowed. Total disallowances under this clause of the resolution, $78,910.24. These disallowances, in consequence of the claimants having been engaged in the "civil service," have been confined to such officers or persons as were in receipt of an annual salary, or a monthly or per diem compensation for the period in question. It has not applied to persons acting in the capacity of postmasters, or holding other positions of such character. The fourth clause of the resolution is as follows: 4th. "That in auditing the claims for supplies, transportation and other services incurred for the maintenance of said volunteers, he is directed to have a due regard to the number of said troops, to their period of service, and to the prices current in the country at the time, and not to report said service beyond the time actually engaged therein, nor to recognize supplies beyond a reasonable approximation to the proportions and descriptions authorized by existing laws and regulations for such troops, taking into consideration the nature and peculiarities of the service." The aggregate amount of the claims for supplies, transportation, property furnished, employees of various descriptions, and other liabilities incurred in the maintenance of said volunteers, as reported by the commissioners, and exclusive of amounts reported for pay proper of volunteers, and for use and risk of their horses, was as follows:
The commissioners in their report detail their mode of action as follows: "In examining into the amount of expenses necessarily incurred for the maintenance of these volunteer forces, the commission deemed it proper, under the authority contained in the order organizing the board, to visit extensively both Territories, with a view of being informed fully of the nature and extent of the late Indian hostilities, the means employed for their suppression, the rates of labor, the prices current of property furnished the same, and the facilities and expense of transportation. "The officers of the staff departments of the late volunteer service were visited, and the mode of doing business and the integrity of the accounts inquired into. Irregularities and imperfections were, of course, to be found, but to a less extent than might have been anticipated. "The commission, on pursuing its inquiries into the character and extent of such liabilities, first took up the vouchers and examined each in detail with reference to--1st, its being genuine and sufficiently authenticated; 2nd, the kind of property or services embraced, whether or not proper or necessary, under the circumstances, for military purposes to which devoted, and 3rd, the rate of compensation allowed or contracted for. "Frequent conferences were had with officers and agents who originated these vouchers, and with the parties claimant, in all cases admitting of doubt as to the regularity and integrity of the claims, and, when necessary, the sworn statement of disinterested persons have been taken. "Such claims and items in any claim as were based upon the furnishing of property or labor not necessary or proper for the maintenance of the volunteer forces, have been rejected. "In passing upon the rates of compensation and allowances, the commission took into consideration the various market prices of the different sections of country embraced in the field of operations during the late Indian war, and established, on the statements and testimony of the most competent witnesses, carefully adjusted prices current of the several local markets. With these rates as a guide, each voucher was examined with reference to the sums therein allowed for the property or service described. In all cases where there existed established rates for particular kinds of property in a district, and the rates in the voucher were excessive, a deduction was recommended and endorsed thereon. In cases where rates were not excessive, the voucher was endorsed 'approved.' "Many of the claims were for kinds of property which could not admit of action upon any fixed basis, in which cases particular inquiries have been made in adjusting the amount allowed." Pursuing my investigations in the same order, the first inquiry in taking up a claim would be as to "its being genuine and sufficiently authenticated." On this point I have already remarked that it is next to impossible for me to distinguish spurious or simulated claims, if there be any such, from those that are genuine. They all rest on the same basis and bear the same evidence of authenticity--the certificates of the proper officers and the approval of the commissioners. Even if I had doubts as to the integrity of a claim, in the present condition of the papers, and with the information in my possession, I could not demonstrate that it was false or fabricated. The usual tests applied in the examination of accounts of disbursing officers of the regular army cannot be resorted to in these accounts: first, because the original papers are not furnished, but copies in nearly all cases, and secondly, the property accounts rendered by regular officers show the application to the public service by proper issues according to regulations, or other expenditures, whilst these officers in many cases render no property accounts at all, and in most cases those rendered are unsatisfactory, and fail to show the application of the property to the service. In many cases large quantities of property, supplies &c., are turned over, in bulk, to captains of companies and other officers, who render no accounts, and it is impossible to tell what actually became of such property, or in what manner it was disposed of. The commissioners, in their report on this point, say: "The authorities of the Territory of Washington have not been able to present, in any regular or tabular form, satisfactory accounts of the disbursement or use of such public property as was actually expended in the public service. In the absence of which, the commission, in addition to the personal examination of the board in the premises, has required sworn statements of such officers, chief and subordinate, as were charged during the service with the same, touching the disposition of such property. "In the Territory of Oregon this department of their accounts is fuller and more regular in form, as far as the accounting in this particular extends. Authentic data, however, exist upon which reports accounting for all used and expended in the public service can be made and furnished at an early day, which, on the advice of the commission, will be done. In the meantime the Territory stands chargeable therewith." The "sworn statements" and "testimony" referred to by the commissioners as having been taken by them in cases admitting of doubt as to the regularity and integrity of the claims, and on which they established "prices current," not having been transmitted to the department with the other papers pertaining to the claims, but having been retained by the commissioners, on the 14th March I addressed the Secretary of the Treasury, setting forth the facts, and requesting that an order be obtained directing the commissioners to transmit all such evidence, documents &c., relating to said claims as had been retained by them, to me, which order was promptly given by the Secretary of War. Copies of my letter and the order of the Secretary of War endorsed thereon were immediately transmitted to each of the commissioners. Captain R. Ingalls, United States army, in his reply, under date of August 5, says: "The commission retained no papers or proofs which are of an official character. I hold here only a journal of the sessions of the commission in brief, which contains copies of letters and reports, minutes of adjournments and meetings. There is nothing of the character you require in my possession. The sworn statements referred to in the report of the commission, going to justify the use and expenditure of public property in Washington Territory, were forwarded with the other papers of the commission; you have the original now in your office. As to the prices current established by the commission, for the principal points in both territories where supplies were mainly purchased, I have to say that they were arranged and arrived at, as stated in the report, upon the 'statements and testimony of the most competent witnesses.' The statements referred to consisted of written communications from the most reliable merchants and business men of standing living at the various localities in the two Territories, and of as disinterested a character as possible, but being of an informal nature, and forming no legitimate part of the necessary record, were not preserved. The testimony taken by the commission on the rates to be allowed for property, services &c., was oral, and from witnesses brought before the commission in person." In my former report I suggested that the prices allowed by the commissioners for property, labor and supplies seemed to be very high, and, from a slight examination of the accounts of disbursing officers of the United States stationed in these Territories, were believed to be above what had been paid for similar descriptions of property or labor for the United States service. It was with special reference to this branch of the subject that I desired the "statements and testimony of the most competent witnesses," who, the commissioners stated, had been before them, and from which evidence, aided by their own personal knowledge, they stated they had prepared the ''prices current" by which they were guided in fixing the prices to be allowed on the different descriptions of claims. It is greatly to be regretted that these statements were of such "an informal nature" as to be considered by the commissioners as "forming no legitimate part of the necessary record," and therefore "were not preserved" by them. With a view also of eliciting further information, I addressed letters of inquiry to prominent individuals of the civil and military service of the United States, as well as of the Territories of Oregon and Washington, who resided or had been there during the period covered by the hostilities, requesting all the information in their possession on each of the branches of expenditure embraced in the claims and specified in the resolution. In all these letters information was requested with special reference to the following points: 1st. "The prevailing prices for cash, during the last quarter of the year 1855 and the first and second quarters, respectively, of the year 1856, of leading articles of supplies, property &c., such as horses, mules, oxen, hay, oats, beef, pork, flour, potatoes, sugar and such other articles as were purchased for the use of the service in the localities in which you were situated, or had the means of knowing from personal knowledge." 2nd. "The difference, if any, in the prices of such articles of property, supplies, merchandise &c., as were purchased for the volunteer service, or the compensation of persons for services rendered in various capacities in connection therewith, as paid for or agreed to be paid for in what is termed 'scrip,' or certificates of indebtedness, and the prices at which such property, supplies, labor &c., could have been obtained at the time, if paid for in cash.'' And in a portion of the letters, viz: those addressed to the civil officers of the Territory, another point of inquiry was added: 3rd. "The rate of discount, if any, at which said 'scrip' or certificates of indebtedness sold or passed from hand to hand in the transaction of business during said period; also whether, in consequence of the clause inserted in said 'scrip' or certificates that payment "would only be made 'whenever the Congress of the United States shall, by appropriation, provide for the payment thereof,' a higher scale of prices did not prevail in the purchase of property, supplies &c., and in the compensation for services, than would have prevailed had payment been made at the time in cash." To each of the persons addressed, I transmitted a copy of the resolution, and of my former report, and requested, in addition to that already specified, "any information in your possession, with reference to branches of the resolution of the House, other than those before referred to, that would throw light upon the subject, or aid me in arriving at correct conclusions relative thereto; my object in addressing you being to obtain all the information available on the subject." The following named persons, who are, or have been, connected with the civil service in those Territories, and, from their position, were presumed to be somewhat acquainted with the matters referred to, were amongst those addressed, viz: Hon. J. Whiteaker, governor of Oregon; Hon. Charles H. Mason, acting governor of Washington; A. J. Thayer, Esq., district attorney; E. Geary, Esq., superintendent of Indian affairs; Joel Palmer, Esq., and J. W. Nesmith, Esq., late superintendents of Indian affairs, Oregon; E. Lander, chief justice; F. A. Chenoweth, associate justice, and J. S. Van Cleave, district attorney, Washington. From the governor of Oregon a reply has been received. Mr. Van Cleave, the district attorney for Washington, acknowledged the receipt of my letter, but stated that he "resided in a part of the Territory remote from the seat of war, from "which no supplies were drawn, and but few volunteers raised," and, consequently, was unable to furnish any information. Mr. Geary, superintendent of Indian affairs, Oregon, replied, under date of 22nd July last, that he would give "early and full attention to the subject," but nothing further has been heard from him. From the others, no reply whatever has been received, except from Gov. Mason, as before stated. Affidavits of various persons accompanied the letters of the governor of Oregon, and will be found with the papers accompanying this report. They are, of course, all ex parte, and are in nearly, if not quite all cases, of persons interested as claimants for services rendered, or property or supplies furnished, during the hostilities. The governor certifies that he is personally acquainted with nearly all of the persons, and that they are "men of character and integrity, and whose business transactions at the time well qualified them to know the value of property." I have had great difficulty in satisfactorily executing this branch of the resolution. As has already been seen, the circumstances attending this service, in each of those Territories, were peculiar, and to some extent artificial. The civil authorities of the Territories considered it their duty to call out volunteers on their own responsibility, and independent of the regular service. So far as appears, no authority was given at any time during the progress of these hostilities by the Executive of the general government, nor were the services of the volunteers recognized by it. Consequently, there was no provision for their maintenance in the field, either by issues of provisions or supplies of any description, out of appropriations made for the army of the United States. They were, therefore, thrown on their own resources. Being destitute of money with which to prosecute the hostilities, it became necessary to resort to expedients to defray expenses incurred and liabilities contracted. On this point, the commissioners say: "For the purpose of furnishing the troops with quartermaster's, commissary's and medical supplies, as well as the means of transportation, the officers and agents of the several staff departments of the late volunteer service made such purchases of property and employed such labor as was deemed necessary, and was required by the proper authorities. Such purchases were made, and such labor was performed, on trust, the faith of the Territories being pledged to the payment of liabilities arising therefrom. "Certificates of purchase, and of services rendered, were issued generally in duplicate, one of which was held by the claimant and the other retained by the officer or agent. These certificates generally contained a statement of character, and the quality of the property purchased, or the kind of services rendered, and the rates and amount agreed to be paid for the same, being authenticated in various forms, according to the manner of doing business in the different offices of the departments in the two Territories. These retained duplicates, as vouchers, have formed the basis of the exhibits made by the Territories of their total liabilities incurred for labor furnished to the military service." It is not at all surprising that, under such circumstances, in a new and sparsely settled country, a general state of alarm prevailing, and uncertainty existing as to when payment of liabilities thus incurred might reasonably be expected, prices should be demanded for everything required much higher than would otherwise have been asked. Indeed, this would seem to be a necessary consequence of such a state of facts. But it does not appear in my investigation that even "the faith of the Territories" was "pledged to the payment of liabilities" thus incurred, as stated by the commissioners. On the contrary, the certificates, or "scrip," appears, in most cases that have fallen under my observation, to have contained a clause that the amounts represented to be due would be payable when the Congress of the United States should appropriate the money, thus relieving the Territory from liability to payment, and compelling the holder to look for his reimbursement to another authority, and that even based on a remote and uncertain contingency. In general order No. 1, dated 15th October, 1855, the assistant quartermaster general was directed, "by order of the governor," to purchase "1,000 horses and mules, 400 saddles and bridles, 100 pack saddles and rigging, 300 guns" &c., and of clothing and other articles, "1,500 heavy blankets, 1,000 heavy flannel shirts, 1,000 pairs pants, 1,000 pairs shoes, 1,000 pairs socks" &c., "for the use of the troops called into service by proclamation of the governor of Oregon." "Such articles to be approved and accepted by yourself, and upon the condition that the payment for the same will be made from appropriations made by the Congress of the United States, to be applied to defraying the expenses of the campaign, under said proclamation." It is presumed it was the general understanding that all liabilities incurred during the prosecution of the hostilities were to be paid only when an appropriation therefor should be made by Congress. This, I have no doubt, was the case in both Territories. These certificates issued, called "scrip," in the course of time passed from hand to hand, by sale or in "barter trade," forming a sort of circulating medium, and the amount thus thrown out being large, and prospects of payment uncertain, of course depreciated in value. Thus the depreciated currency, so to call it, in which the people were paid for their property and services, necessarily enhanced, in an inverse ratio, the prices at which they were willing to part with their property in exchange for it. As a standard of money, its value was merely nominal, subject to constant fluctuation, but always below par. On this point the governor of Oregon, in his letter, says: "You wish to know whether 'prices for cash' and scrip rates of purchase did not differ from each other during the same current period of the war. "There was in many instances a difference, and in some instances considerable difference. Such, however, arose from the same cause, or much the same cause, as the difference of prices in like transactions in the Indian Department and in the regular army. "In common with the people of the other states, our people generally make some difference in their business transactions between dealing for cash and dealing on time. There is nothing, however, in this particular, or any other, that I am aware of, which should vitiate or vary the allowance of the 'commission' in the premises. "You wish to know what rate of discount, if any, at which the scrip sold during the war. At the commencement of the war it sold at par in barter trade, as far as there were any transactions. There was little or no speculating or purchasing for cash. Near the close of the war scrip depreciated in the hands of the holders, according to the belief or disbelief that General Wool and others would be able to defeat or delay the payment. The claims are still largely held by original owners, and they have, at this time, no market value, our people not being able to determine whether the government will ever pay; therefore, there are no transactions in scrip." General Wool, on the same point, says that scrip was sold "as low as ten, fifteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty, and twenty-five cents on the dollar. Some was sold for the rent of buildings, at the Dalles, for thirty-seven and a half cents on the dollar, which the owner, I believe, considered ample compensation. One person informed me that he had purchased sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) of the scrip at seventeen cents on the dollar. He thought the whole amount sold would not exceed the average of twenty or twenty-five cents on the dollar." Lieutenant Kautz says: ''The credit system unquestionably advanced the price of all articles of supply beyond the cash prices of the country. Many good men gave their produce at cash prices, but the amount was greatly insufficient to supply the wants of the volunteers, and the balance necessary had to be obtained from sharp traders, at whatever price they chose to demand." And again: "What the difference was between these prices and those paid in scrip I have no means of knowing. I only know that the prices increased as the war continued, and when the difference in the prices was alluded to, it was remarked that some time would elapse before the scrip would be paid, and prices were charged accordingly." Captain Cram says: "As soon as it (the scrip) began to be issued its value began to fall below its nominal value, as compared with money, and of course all articles paid for in scrip ascended in price in the same proportion. "It was not long after a large amount had been issued before it fell to thirty-seven and a half cents on the dollar, and by the time the war was over, and before, indeed, an agent told me he had several thousand dollars to sell for twelve and a half cents, in San Francisco, with which he was endeavoring to purchase supplies for the volunteers who were to go into the field in the summer of 1856. As near as I could estimate, the average value of the scrip, as it passed from the hands of those to whom it was issued until it became lodged in the hands of the speculators, was not over thirty cents on the dollar. Others placed it at eighteen and three-quarter cents, but this would be more correct as the average during the times of the latter half of the issues." Lieutenant John Withers says: "As a general thing, during the disturbances in Oregon and Washington Territories, purchases were made by myself and other disbursing officers of the regular army, without cash, but on the faith of the government, for one-half of what was paid in scrip by the volunteer agents." Lieutenant E. J. Harvie says: "With regard to the relative value of cash and scrip, I can say that labor, materials, provisions, or any purchasable commodity, cost twice as much in scrip as it did in cash, or, in general terms, one dollar of the latter was worth two dollars of the former." I do not think it necessary to multiply evidence on this point. It is satisfactorily shown that the discount on the scrip, whenever put on the market, was heavy; the rate, no doubt, was governed by a variety of circumstances, such as the necessities of the holders, and other contingencies. Extreme cases have, no doubt, been cited, and it is quite possible that a considerable portion of the scrip may be in the hands of the original holders. Such as were not compelled to sell, and had confidence in ultimately obtaining better rates, or full payment, would hold on as long as possible rather than submit to such heavy discounts. Still, the fact of such sales being made would, to a great extent, govern all owners of property and merchandise in fixing the rates of such property, when put into the service and scrip taken in exchange therefor. As was to be expected, the prices of various descriptions of property, merchandise, labor and supplies, as given by those from whom I have received letters on the subject, differ in different localities, and even in the same locality. In portions of the country where there were no regularly established markets prices would, of course, be irregular. In all markets prices are subject to fluctuation, according to supply and demand, and, at the same time and place, vary in the same description of articles according to quality, as well as other considerations. There were certain points in these Territories at which purchasing officers of the regular army were stationed, who purchased supplies, property &c., for the regular troops, and the accounts of all these officers have been examined and detailed abstracts carefully prepared of the prices paid by them at these points during the period covered by the hostilities. These abstracts, with dates of purchase, by whom made, the description of property purchased or services rendered, prices paid, and such other matters in detail as could be extracted from the accounts in this form, will be found with the other documents accompanying this report. It may be safely relied on, I think, that so far as these purchases and payments by regular officers appear to have been made, at the various points and localities where they were stationed, they represent the full market value of the articles of property or merchandise purchased, as well as of the labor employed by them. United States quartermasters and commissaries usually purchase only articles of the best quality to be procured, and are not believed to be in the habit of niggling about the price, or, as a general thing, to make purchases below other cash buyers at the same time and place. It is also to be remarked that several of these officers whose accounts were examined and made the largest purchases were themselves out of money, their expenditures having been increased beyond the funds provided them, in consequence of the hostilities, and even they were compelled to purchase on credit and issue "certificates of indebtedness," payable as soon as remittances could be made to them. Such was the case with Captain John Withers, stationed at Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, and also of Captain R. Ingalls, who succeeded him at the same place, as well as of Captain Thomas Jordan, stationed at Fort Dalles, Oregon, and Lieutenant C. McKeever, stationed at Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory. With these general remarks, I pass to consider the items of expenditure more in detail. The principal items embraced in these accounts are for purchases of property, horses, mules, oxen, and forage therefor, such as hay, oats, wheat, barley &c.; transportation of property and supplies; persons hired in various capacities as clerks, agents, mechanics, teamsters, packers, herders, laborers &c.; animals hired, such as horses, mules and oxen; meals furnished to soldiers and employees; flour, beef, pork, coffee, sugar, with various other miscellaneous items of expenditure. In passing upon these accounts, my first effort was to inquire whether some general and uniform rate of prices could not be applied to some of these items of expenditure, thus simplifying the accounts and producing uniformity. In certain cases I found that the commission had applied uniform rates to certain descriptions of labor and services, and in such cases I had no difficulty, only reducing rates where it was considered proper to do so. Hire of animals.--For hire of horses and mules, two, three and four dollars per day were the prices allowed by the commissioners--usually the latter. One instance has come under my notice, of a horse hired for packing and kept in service forty-one days, at one dollar per day, and in the account of Joseph W. Drew, quartermaster general, two dollars per day was allowed for horses, and four dollars for mules. These animals, it is understood, were generally employed in packing and transportation purposes; the service was continuous, and in some cases for long periods, running as long as three, four, five and six months. One case occurs, to which my special attention was directed, and referred to in my former report, where one firm appeared to have had twenty horses and mules in continuous service from November 22, 1855, till June 17, 1856--206 days, and one horse from December 12, 1855, till the same time--189 days, making 4,200 days' service for which four dollars per day was allowed, amounting to $16,800, or at the rate of $800 per animal. This price, considering the description of horses believed to have been engaged in that kind of service, the fact that they were generally employed for long periods, during all which time they were foraged and equipped by the government, and frequently, as would seem from the accounts for pasturage, for considerable periods not actually engaged in service, seemed to me most exorbitant. The ordinary rates for hire of horses, from persons who are engaged in that business, for short periods, and already equipped either for riding or driving, would not seem to afford a true criterion by which to fix compensation for horses hired and kept for long periods, as they were. I infer, from what information I have been able to gather, that the horses hired for packing were generally of the class styled "Indian," which constitutes a large proportion of the whole number in the country, and are about as useful, perhaps, for that purpose as any other. The value of this kind of horses, as given by the various persons from whom I have received information, and as appears from the accounts of the regular officers, is variously estimated from $30 to $100. Mules range from $125 to $200. I have, therefore, allowed one dollar per day for horses, and one dollar and twenty-five cents for mules hired. This price, it appeared to me, would be sufficiently remunerative, and as near an approximation to actual cash prices as could be made under the circumstances, considering the character of the service, that the animals were equipped at the public expense, and much of the time, doubtless, not actively employed. Meals furnished.--Many accounts for meals furnished to soldiers, clerks, employees &c., are allowed by the commissioners almost uniformly at the rate of one dollar per meal. Among the affidavits furnished is that of N. G. Coleman, a hotel keeper in Lane County, Oregon, who says his "charges in cash for keeping travelers, man and horse, overnight, were two dollars." A. Reefer, same county, in his affidavit, says: "boarding was worth two dollars per day and six dollars per week." I have found a few payments, in accounts of regular officers, for boarding at Portland, Oregon, at the rate of five dollars and fifty cents per week. John W. Gavenery, in his affidavit, says he resided during the war in Jackson County, and that "board was worth from nine to twelve dollars per week." This locality was remarkable for the exceedingly high rates that prevailed for everything, as appears in the accounts and transactions had there. I have allowed, uniformly, for meals furnished fifty cents each. Where it appeared that the meals were to particular individuals, as boarders for a period of one week and longer, I have allowed six dollars per week. Hire of persons.--For persons in service as laborers, herders, packers, teamsters and other similar employments, the usual price allowed was four dollars per day, with subsistence and other allowances. The accounts of disbursing officers of the regular army vary somewhat, but two dollars per day is a fair average of the compensation paid for such services. It was the usual rate for common labor by the month. The affidavits furnished vary from fifty dollars per month to three dollars per day. I have allowed two dollars per day. Where, however, it has appeared that the person employed was a chief packer, or had the superintendence of others, as packers, teamsters, herders or as a spy or guide, I have allowed four dollars per day. Mechanics, clerks, agents &c.--The prices paid by regular officers for mechanics, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, saddlers, painters &c., were from three to five dollars per day. I have taken the average and allowed four dollars per day for such services, including clerks, agents and persons acting in similar capacities. These persons were allowed five, six, eight and, in some cases, as high as ten dollars per day. To each quartermaster general and commissary general and assistants I have allowed one chief clerk, at five dollars per day. Shoeing horses.--Usual price allowed by the commissioners, two dollars per shoe. Elijah W. Rhea, a blacksmith in Lane County, Oregon, testifies that "the price for shoeing a horse was four dollars cash." W. N. Luckey, farmer and blacksmith, puts the price of shoeing horses at four dollars and fifty cents each. I have found only a few small payments for shoeing horses in accounts of regular officers: one at Fort Lane, for setting shoes, at one dollar and fifty cents each; one at Fort Orford, at one dollar and one dollar and twenty-five cents, and another at Fort Dalles, at fifty cents each. They were isolated cases and of small amounts. I have allowed one dollar per shoe, or four dollars per animal; for setting shoes, fifty cents. This approximates very nearly the amount stated in the affidavits, and, compared with the prices of labor &c., would seem to be about fair. Horses and mules purchased by quartermasters.--This is one of the heaviest items of expenditure next to the pay of volunteers. It is proper to state here that the value of the horses on which the volunteers were mounted does not appear in these accounts. They were generally mounted on horses furnished by themselves, and for the use and risk of which they were allowed two dollars per day during their period of service. A valuation was fixed on the horses, as appears by endorsements on the rolls, and in cases where the horses were lost in service the value was carried out and added to the amount due for pay, but by whom this valuation was made does not appear. It appears that, of the Oregon volunteers, 3,860 horses are entered as private horses, owned by the soldiers, and 466 furnished by the Territory. This latter number is embraced, of course, in those purchased by the quartermasters. The total number of horses purchased for the Oregon service, as appears from the accounts of the quartermasters, is 1,697, at prices ranging from $80 to $400, the general average being about $265 each. Of mules, 746 were purchased, at from $175 to $400, averaging about $300 each. In Washington Territory the total number of horses purchased is 630, at prices ranging from $80 to $400, averaging about $275, and of mules 26, at from $200 to $400, averaging about $300. These horses and mules, with the exception of the small proportion of horses furnished to volunteers, it is supposed, were used principally for transportation and other purposes connected with the maintenance and supply of the volunteers in the service. The purchases made for the use of the regular service, during the same period, as appears by abstracts hereto appended, are as follows: At Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, Lieutenant John Withers purchased, during the last quarter of 1855, and first quarter 1856, 111 horses at an average price of $124 each. Of these, 27 are described as "American horses," at prices ranging from $137.50 to $200; four are described as "half-breeds," costing $125 each, and 80, not described, at prices ranging from $50 to $125 each. Lieutenant Withers also purchased 53 mules, at prices ranging from $100 to $200--average price $159 each. Lieutenant Withers, in his letter to me, says: ''The horses purchased were the best that could be procured at that time, and some of them were the finest horses in the country. They were purchased in lots, so as to keep the average price below $200; some were of course not of the first quality. They were accordingly designated in my descriptive remarks as 'Spanish,' 'American,' &c." Captain R. Ingalls succeeded Lieutenant Withers, and he appears to have purchased in the second quarter of 1856 six horses, at $130 to $160. Five of the horses are described as "American," at $160 each. He also purchased 22 mules, at $130.62 to $200, 19 of them averaging $130.62 each, two at $175, and one at $200. At Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, Lieutenant J. Nugen purchased, during the last quarter of 1855, and January, 1856, 43 horses, at the following prices: one at $42.50, one at $50, seven at $60, six at $65, 21 at $70, two at $75, one at $80, one at $100, one at $150, one at $200, one at $250; general average, $77 each. At the same place, in February, 1856, Lieutenant C. McKeever purchased three horses at $125 each, and one horse at $175. He also purchased two mules at $160 each. At the same place, Lieutenant A. V. Kautz paid for seven horses purchased by Lieutenant McKeever, as follows: one at $50, two at $60, one at $75, one at $150, and two at $200. He also paid for two mules purchased by Lieutenant McKeever at $175 each. With reference to these purchases made by Lieutenant McKeever, he says in his letter: "They will not, however, give you a correct idea of the lowest cash prices prevailing at that time in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, as nearly all my purchases were made on credit," &c. Lieutenant E. J. Harris says: "good Indian horses could be bought for $25 to $35 each." At Fort Dalles,Oregon, Captain Thomas Jordan purchased, in the second quarter of 1856, four horses at $50 each, and one "large American horse" at $150. In the fourth quarter of 1855 Lieutenant R. Macfeely purchased 76 horses for the "Yakima Expedition," as follows: four at $40, six at $45, 17 at $50, 12 at $55, 17 at $60, six at $65, three at $70, three at $75, and eight at $80; general average $58 each. Respecting the quality of horses purchased by Lieutenant Macfeely, as above, Lieutenant B. D. Forsythe, in his letter, says: "These horses were of the class styled 'Indian,' and constitute about nine-tenths of the whole number in the country. They were fully equal, if not superior, to those used by the volunteers for packing, and, with a few exceptions, not inferior to those used for riding purposes. I may add here that I observed two companies of mounted volunteers to which these remarks in their full extent ought not to apply, viz: Captains Hembree's and Wilson's. These companies struck me as being the best mounted of any in the volunteer service, and contained some fine American horses."* (*I have examined the valuation on the rolls of these two companies.) It appears that of Captain Wilson's company but ten horses were owned by the soldiers, one of them being the captain of the company. Their horses are valued at $70 to $200, averaging $138 each. The horse owned by the captain, at $200. Captain Hembree's company, however, was mounted on horses furnished by the volunteers; the prices were generally from $100 to $250, averaging $180 each. Some run down as low as $80, and one as high as $450. The company was a large one, numbering 129 men. This average is much below that allowed for horses generally, and, considering that these companies are referred to by Lieutenant Forsythe as being "the best mounted of any in the service," and as having contained "some fine American horses," it would seem very extraordinary. At Fort Lane, Oregon, Lieutenant N. B. Sweitzer purchased, in the first quarter of 1856, one mule at $160, and one at $225. The foregoing embraces all the purchases that I have been able to find in the accounts of officers purchasing for the regular service during the period mentioned. Lieutenant A. V. Kautz, in his letter speaking of the prices of horses on Puget's Sound, Washington Territory, says: "Many horses were purchased, ranging in prices from $50 to $200. Two of the best 'American horses' in the country were purchased at the last mentioned price. The average price of the common horses of the country, and such as were mostly in use by the volunteers on Puget's Sound, was from $70 to $80. In October, 1855, twenty-one horses "were purchased of William F. Folmer, at $75 each, and in February, 1856, nine more at the same price. In February, 1856, twenty horses were purchased of O. Cushman, at $125 each. This difference of price was owing not so much to the difference in the quality of the horses as to the fact that they were purchased on credit by Cushman, who was authorized to procure them for the quartermaster's department. The highest price paid for mules was $175; the lowest $119." Captain T. J. Cram, in his letter, says: "In the last quarter of 1855 and first and second quarters of 1856, mules, I have no doubt, could have been purchased in the localities of the fitting out of the volunteers for $125 each. A horse and mule dealer sought, through me, the opportunity of furnishing good working mules, as he said, at that price, and horses from $80 to $125, suitable for military service. I asked this dealer where he would obtain the animals. His reply was that he could pick up any number that might be required in Oregon, and that if he could obtain the contract for furnishing them, he could make a very handsome profit out of it at those prices. This was at Portland, Oregon, where he said he would deliver the animals. Subsequently I was a passenger, returning from one of the fields of war, in company with a large number of mounted volunteers. I examined their horses, and priced several of as good quality as any in the service. Their prices ranged from $70 to $100, and these, they informed me, were the cash values when they entered the service. This was on the Columbia River, in November, 1855. I knew of one case, not of the above-mentioned companies, however, in which a volunteer officer told me he paid $150 for an extraordinarily good horse. I saw this animal and considered it worth the money; it was a fine American mare. This was the highest price I heard as having been paid in hard money, during the whole time of the wars in question, for military use." Lieutenant E. J. Harvie, writing from Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, says: "Good American horses cannot now be purchased in this Territory for less than from $200 to $300 each. Their value is about the same now as it was during the spring of 1856; at least I am so informed by the old settlers in this country. I did not see a single American horse in possession of the volunteers (either for riding or transportation purposes) during the time referred to above, and from all I could learn during my sojourn at Camp (now Fort) Cascades, I have reason to believe that half-breeds and Indian ponies were used almost exclusively by them. I cannot say in what proportion these animals were used by the volunteers, but most of those whom I happened to see pass Fort Cascades, on their way to Walla Walla, were mounted upon half-breeds." The governor of Oregon, in his letter, put the cash price of horses, during the last quarter of 1855 and first quarter of 1856, at Eugene City, a central point in Oregon, at from $100 to $400. The prices stated in the affidavits of citizens of Lane County (extending still further south) are $75 to $200 for Indian, Spanish and mixed breeds, and $200 to $400 for good to first-class American horses. The committee under whose superintendence these affidavits were taken, in. explaining some discrepancies in the Territory, say: "It will be remembered that our county is a large one, and the persons called to give evidence reside in different localities, considerably apart from each other. There is no regular market or place of business situated in our midst or near us for such property as was sold into the service, consequently no regular price. Along the main thoroughfare, extending north and south, along which the main travel goes, drovers and traders have heretofore gathered supplies for the California market, and all such supplies as are enumerated in these statements bear a better price and find more ready sale than further back, in less frequented places; consequently it is to be expected, and could not otherwise be, than that men should have different views in the value of property, or that there should appear, in some of the evidence given, quite a discrepancy in the price of articles of the same kind." I have endeavored to give due weight to the statements of these individuals. It will be observed that they generally make no difference between cash prices and scrip prices, but treat them as being pretty much the same, when speaking of the value of property. Notwithstanding, whenever they refer to the salable value of the scrip, they put it at fifty to seventy-five cents on the dollar. Now, I cannot overlook what seems to me a clearly established fact, that there was a material difference in such prices. This fact, too, is shown by the testimony of these persons themselves, in several transactions particularly referred to by them. For instance, Sigmond Rosenblatt, a merchant, in his affidavit, says: "Woolen blankets, such as were used in the service, were worth $7 cash. The officers of the service forced me to turn into the service goods to the amount of $500, consisting of blankets, coats, shirts, pants &c. They allowed me in scrip ten or twelve dollars, I do not remember which, for blankets. I saw horses turned into the service for from $150 to $300 in scrip, that were worth nearly the same amount in cash." C. C. Croner, in his affidavit, says: "1 turned into the service a pair of extra horses, with halters, for six hundred and ninety dollars. I knew of horses being sold for two hundred and fifty dollars cash, about the same quality. Such horses were sold at the close of the war for scrip, in some cases as high as five hundred and thirty-five dollars. I knew of one horse being sold at that price that had been put in at three hundred." Mr. Croner here admits that horses of about the same quality as his were sold at two hundred and fifty dollars cash, yet, with the addition only of two halters, he is allowed three hundred and forty-five dollars each. The fact, as stated, that certain horses turned into service for scrip, at certain rates, were sold at the close of the war for much higher rates in scrip, is no doubt true, and can readily be accounted for on the theory that the scrip had depreciated as the war progressed. But these are only exceptional cases at any rate. It is abundantly shown that the large proportion of the horses, as well as other property finally sold at the close of the war, was at prices far below the cost prices, even in scrip, in consequence, doubtless, of diminished value from deterioration in service, as well as other considerations. Again: an examination of the rolls shows that towards the middle and close of the war horses owned by the volunteers were appraised at higher rates than at the beginning. The average value of the horses on which the first, second and ninth regiments of Oregon volunteers were mounted in October, 1855, did not exceed $175, yet those remounted in January and March following averaged nearly one-half higher. The same increased valuation appears in the purchases made by the quartermasters, and in a greater ratio. A. Zeeber, quartermaster at Portland, from November 11, 1855, till January 20, 1856, purchased 615 horses and 97 mules, making 712, at an average of $160, and J. McCracken, who succeeded him at the same place, purchased 112 horses and 15 mules, at from $170 to $100 each, the average being about $302 each, or an increase of about eighty-seven percent. The explanation of this is found in the fact before stated, that as the scrip depreciated the prices advanced, not so much from the more pressure of the demand, as the depreciation of the scrip. Thus, a horse valued at $150 cash, if paid for in scrip worth only seventy-five cents on the dollar, would have to be rated at $200, and if the scrip should depreciate to fifty cents on the dollar, he would then have to be rated at $300, to be equivalent to $150 cash. In like manner, a horse valued at $225 in cash should be rated at $300 when paid for in scrip worth seventy-five cents on the dollar, and when it depreciated to fifty cents, he should then be rated at $450. This, then, is the explanation for what otherwise is totally irreconcilable with known and admitted facts, and viewed in this light removes in some degree the appearances of an attempt at fraud, which, in the absence of such explanation, could not fail to be perceived nor permitted to pass unchallenged. This view is confirmed in the fact heretofore shown, that the regular officers at Fort Vancouver, but a few miles distant from Portland, were, during the same period of time, purchasing horses at a range of prices comparatively unaffected by these artificial circumstances, and much below those purchased for the volunteer service at any time. And, indeed, alongside of them, at the same place, Quartermaster Millard, of the Washington volunteer service, purchased 384 horses at one average price of $282, and for which the average price allowed by the commissioners was $274. Starting, therefore, at Portland, the principal commercial point for a large portion of both Oregon and Washington Territories, at which place heavy purchases were made for the volunteer service of the former Territory, I have adopted the following range of prices as "the actual prices current at the time," and applied them to the purchases made there, viz: for horses believed to have been "American," I have allowed $180 to $240; for "Spanish and mixed breeds," $100 to $160, and for "Indian," $50 to $90. At Fort Vancouver large purchases were made for the Washington service, to which I have applied the same rates. This range of prices I have established as a basis to govern, as far as possible, purchases made in that whole region of country. I have seen nothing in any of the evidence furnished, or in any information I have been able to obtain, to indicate that in other localities, either northward or back towards the mountains, a higher scale of prices should prevail. On the contrary, the prices paid by regular officers, and statements in their letters, would indicate lower prices in the more remote localities. At Fort Dalles the prices paid were lower, and the same may be said of the purchases made at Fort Steilacoom. In Southern Oregon I have allowed an advance on these prices of twenty dollars per animal. The purchases in that region were not large, but generally of higher-priced horses; the average, therefore, will be considerably increased. There were only about 130 horses purchased at points in Oregon south of Eugene City. I have not been able to find purchases of horses in these localities for the regular service, but lying southward as they are, and approximating the California line, I have predicated this advance on the representations of the governor, and the affidavits transmitted by him. The accounts of the quartermasters and commissaries there also show much higher rates than those further north. This is believed to be fairly attributable, in some degree, to actual enhanced value of certain descriptions of property, but in some of them, and especially at Jacksonville and Corvallis, a greater appearance of extravagance and improvidence throughout appear to have been manifested than in most of the others. It is probable that there may have been a few horses put into the service, which, from special considerations, were considered as worth more than even the maximum allowed by me. Such cases, however, are believed to be rare. The value of property, as estimated by the owner, is not а safe criterion by which to frame a scale of prices to apply to such large purchases as were made in these Territories, when so many motives and causes were operating to increase valuations. Moreover, it is believed that the large proportion of the horses purchased, or purchasable, in the country were of an inferior and less valuable description. The best evidences are the actual sales in leading and accessible markets, and by these, as far as I could avail myself of them, I have endeavored to be governed. For mules I have allowed from $125 to $250. Oxen.--In Oregon, 1,015 oxen appear to have been purchased, at prices varying from $100 to $300 per yoke, and in Washington, 219 oxen, at from $150 to $350 per yoke. As compared with horses, I have made about the same proportionate reduction in prices. Next in order are the leading articles of forage and subsistence, such as-- Hay, oats, wheat, flour, fresh beef, bacon, coffee and sugar.--The prices at which these articles are reported by the commissioners embrace a wide range, not only in different localities, but in the same locality. Starting, as before, at Portland, where heavy purchases were made for the volunteer and regular service, and where the markets are believed to be more regular than at other points of less commercial importance, I first took up the accounts of the regular officers stationed at Fort Vancouver, and ascertained the quantities of those articles purchased by them, and the prices paid therefor, during the period covered by the hostilities, viz: the last quarter of 1855, and first and second quarters of 1856. A comparative statement of the quantities purchased and prices paid by the regular officers, and by the volunteer quartermasters and commissaries, at Portland and Vancouver, is contained in the following abstract: [Table on page 35 not transcribed: "Abstract of purchases for regular and volunteer service at Portland and Vancouver, and prices paid and allowed."] It will be observed that the prices allowed for these leading articles purchased for the volunteer service exceed those paid for the regular service, at the same time and in the same locality, from fifty to seventy-five percent, and in some cases as high as one hundred percent. Now, it cannot be pretended that this increased price of such articles as flour, beef, bacon, coffee, sugar, hay and oats was in consequence of a difference of quality to that extent. It must be accounted for in some other way. I have endeavored to account for this discrepancy in prices, to a great degree, on the theory that the increased rates charged are the result of the course adopted by the territorial authorities, whereby a fictitious, or artificial, scale of prices prevailed for all articles and services required by them in the prosecution of these hostilities. It will be for those who entertain a different opinion to frame for themselves a more satisfactory and rational theory, by which to reconcile these conflicting facts. Assuming that the prices paid by the regular officers at Vancouver, as above, were fully equal to the current rates prevailing there and at Portland, I have adopted their average, and applied them to the purchases made by the volunteer quartermasters and commissaries for both Territories, at these places, as follows: For hay I have allowed $25 per ton, and below that, as charged.
M. M. McCarver purchases as follows: hay, 12½ tons, at $40 per ton; oats, 16,418 bushels, at $1.25 to $4 per bushel; wheat, 784 bushels, at $2.50 per bushel. And of subsistence: flour, 1,010 barrels, at from $20 to $30 per barrel; fresh beef, 169,242 pounds, at from 11 to 18 cents per pound; bacon, 33,742 pounds, at from 30 to 60 cents per pound; coffee, 9,122 pounds, at from 30 to 50 cents per pound; sugar, 21,936 pounds, at from 22 to 50 cents per pound. These purchases of Mr. McCarver do not appear, all of them, to have been made at Salem, but at Corvallis, Eugene City and Deer Creek, as well as at Salem. Where it appeared purchases were made at these points, the prices were allowed that were fixed for these points respectively. I have allowed for the purchases at Salem, as follows:
Commissary E. Hewitt purchases as follows: Flour, 408 barrels, at $12 to $14; fresh beef, 14,518 pounds, at 15 to 16 cents; bacon, 19,607 pounds, at 30 to 50 cents; coffee, 3,450 pounds, at 50 cents; sugar, 6,975 pounds, at 15 to 37 cents. I have allowed, for flour, $8 per barrel; fresh beef, 10 cents per pound; bacon, 25 cents per pound; соffeе, 25 cents per pound, and sugar, 15 cents per pound. At Eugene City, Quartermaster Joseph Teal purchases as follows: Hay, 4 tons, at $37.50 per ton; oats, 2,238 bushels, at $2 per bushel; wheat, 1,924 bushels, at $2 per bushel. For these articles I have allowed the same price as at Salem. Eugene City is laid down on the map as in Lane County. The affidavits of citizens of that county state the price of oats at various prices, from 75 cents to $2 per bushel. The price allowed would be nearly the average. S. Rosenblatt, a merchant, in his affidavit says "wheat sold during the Indian war of 1855-'6 at from $1 to $1.50 per bushel cash.'' P. F. Castleman purchased of supplies, as follows: Flour, 234 barrels, at $12 to $20 per barrel; fresh beef, 22,840 pounds, at 15 cents per pound; bacon, 11,685 pounds, at 30 to 50 cents per pound; coffee, 100 pounds, at 40 to 50 cents per pound; sugar, 245 pounds, at 25 to 40 cents per pound. I have allowed for flour, $8.50 per barrel; fresh beef, 10 cents per pound; bacon, 25 cents per pound; coffee, 28 cents per pound; sugar, 18 cents per pound. The governor of Oregon estimates the value of these articles at $4 to $6 per hundred for flour; beef, 12 cents; bacon, 25 to 30 cents; coffee, 33 cents, and sugar, 14 to 23 cents per pound. The affidavits of citizens of Lane County generally state the price of flour at three to four dollars per hundred pounds. One or two persons put it as high as five and six dollars per hundred, but the average would not exceed the price I have allowed. Lyman Rosenblatt, in his affidavit, puts the price of bacon at 15 to 20 cents per pound. One man, J. C. Spores, says he got $8 per hundred, from the superintendent, for some flour furnished by him for friendly Indians, and ten cents for beef. On coffee and sugar I have allowed 75 percent, advance on Portland prices. The distance is stated to be 120 miles, and freight on groceries, heavy articles, at from 40 to 60 percent. At Deеr Creek, Quartermaster Loyal P. Brown purchases: hay, 12 tons, at $50 per ton; oats, 11,294 bushels, at $2.12 to $3.70 per bushel; wheat, 9,322 bushels, at $3.50 per bushel. Deer Creek is understood to be in Douglas County, which is south of Lane County. I see no allusion to the price of hay in any of the affidavits, and as but few tons were bought, I have allowed the same as Eugene City. For oats and wheat, the prices are largely advanced. Without absolute data to show that higher prices should be allowed there than in Lane County, other than the admitted fact that southward the range of prices should be somewhat advanced, I have allowed $1.75 per bushel for oats, and the same for wheat. Mr. Brown, I find, purchased in September, 1856, oats at seventy-five cents per bushel, and $1 per dozen for sheaf oats, at the same place; also hay at $30 per ton. P. O. Reilly, commissary at Deer Creek, purchases: flour, 613 barrels, at $18 to $24 per barrel; fresh beef, 77,354 pounds, at 13 to 15 cents per pound; bacon, 47,990 pounds, at 40 to 50 cents per pound; coffee, 551 pounds, at 50 cents per pound; sugar, 706 pounds, at 50 cents per pound. I have allowed for flour, $10 per barrel; fresh beef, 10 cents per pound; bacon, 25 cents; coffee, 31 cents, and sugar, 23 cents per pound; thus advancing the price of flour $2 per barrel, leaving beef and bacon at the same price, and coffee and sugar three and five cents per pound over the rates allowed at Eugene City. At Jacksonville, Quartermasters Miller and Peters, and Commissary Wadsworth, purchase as follows: Hay, 401 tons, at $120 per ton; oats, 10,463 bushels, at $3.50 per bushel; wheat, 18,220 bushels, at $3.50 per bushel; wheat, crushed, 6,566 bushels, at $4.50 per bushel; flour, equal to 1,015 barrels, at 10 cents per pound, say $20 per barrel; fresh beef, 196,121 pounds, at 18 cents per pound; bacon, 21,767 pounds, at 60 to 75 cents per pound; coffee, 16,151 pounds, at 45 to 75 cents per pound; sugar, 27,841 pounds, at 22 to 50 cents per pound. Jacksonville is situated in Jackson County, which lies south of Douglas County, and adjoins the California line. It lies remotely from any market. Large quantities of supplies were purchased here, and higher prices appear to have prevailed than at any other locality in either of the Territories. Fort Lane is situated in the immediate vicinity of Jacksonville, and purchases made there afford the only criterion I have of current prices in that locality, except insofar as I can be guided by the prices already allowed. Lieutenant Sweitzer was disbursing at Fort Lane, and he made large purchases of oats--about 100,000 bushels--at various prices, ranging from five to twelve cents per pound, the whole averaging six and three-tenths cents per pound, or, at the rate of thirty-four pounds to the bushel, $2.14 per bushel. He also purchases 140,851 pounds of wheat, at from two and a quarter to three and two-thirds cents per pound, averaging three and three-tenth cents per pound, or $1.98 per bushel; of fresh beef, 5,417 pounds at 18 cents, 221 pounds at 20 cents, and of hay, 75 tons at an average price of $44 per ton. Lieutenant Hazen also purchases, at the same place, in March, 1856, 915 pounds of beef at 10 cents, and 1,024 pounds at 18 cents; 47 pounds of bacon at 20 cents; also 233 pounds of flour at 3 cents, 520 pounds at 3½, and 950 pounds at 5 cents. Amongst the affidavits furnished from Lane County is that of John W. Gavenery, who says he resided in Jackson County during the war. He says that the price of oats averaged from $1.25 to $2 per bushel, and beef sold on foot from $12.50 to $15 per hundred--retailed from 20 to 25 cents per pound; flour from ten to twelve cents per pound. At the close of the war sales of property were made at Jacksonville, on the 23rd August, 1856, as follows: Flour,
12,000 pounds sold at 3¼ to 3⅜ cents per pound.
The prices at which these articles sold were no, doubt, governed by a
variety of circumstances. Much would depend on their condition. The
papers are silent on the subject. It is presumed they were sold as
surplus stores on hand when the war ended. They do not afford a fair
criterion for prices of purchase; still they afford some indication of
what such property was worth in that locality. Considering all the
circumstances, in connection with the prices actually paid for the
regular service, at Fort Lane, and which I have followed as far as
possible, I have allowed as follows:Beef, 37,800 pounds sold at 7½ cents per pound. Sugar, 3,085 pounds sold at 15 to 22 cents per pound. Coffee, 2,153 pounds sold at 21½ to 24 cents per pound. For
hay, $44 per ton.
The following is a condensed statement of the prices allowed for each
of the specified articles, at the places named, commencing at Portland
and proceeding southward:For oats, $2 per bushel. For wheat, $2 per bushel. For wheat crushed, $2.40 per bushel. For flour, $10 per barrel. For fresh beef, 14 cents per pound. For bacon, 25 cents per pound. For coffee, 37 cents per pound. For sugar, 25 cents per pound. [Table on page 39 not transcribed] The claims for purchases made at other points in Oregon are not very large, nor do they essentially differ in character from those specially referred to. The same principles and rules have been applied to them as far as practicable. It is proper to say that some instances occur where supplies were turned into the service, and the prices charged therefor by the owners and reported by the commissioners were below the range of prices established by me as the maximum, as above. In all such cases I have allowed the transaction to stand unaltered, considering the price as charged and allowed by the commissioner as the current price at the time. This course has been pursued in both Territories. The relative prices of wheat and oats seem anomalous, wheat being usually sold in agricultural sections of the country at much higher rates than oats. With regard to this, I deem it proper to say, by way of explanation, that this rule does not seem to prevail in Oregon and Washington Territories, or at least did not at the time of these hostilities, so far as I have been able to ascertain from the purchases made for the regular service. The prices are usually the same, and are generally so reported by the commissioners. I have only followed what seemed to be a peculiar condition of the market in that region. And this explanation must also serve for other similar cases, as, for instance, the relative prices of pork and beef &c. In all such cases I have been governed by what appeared to be actual sales, and a scale of prices adopted by the commissioners. Returning now to Vancouver, and proceeding northward, I find more uniformity in the range of prices for the leading articles above enumerated, purchased for the Washington volunteers. The prices do not vary materially from those of Vancouver, where the heaviest purchases were made by M. B. Millard, quartermaster. The points at which the principal purchases were made were Vancouver, Olympia, Steilacoom and Port Townsend. In addition to these purchases, which were made by the proper purchasing officers, considerable purchases were made by captains of companies and others for the use of their respective commands. At Vancouver I allowed the average prices paid for the regular service, as before stated, viz: flour, $8 per barrel; fresh beef, 10½ cents per pound; bacon, 20; coffee, 16; sugar, 10¼ cents per pound; hау, $25 per ton; oats, $1.33 per bushel, and wheat, $1.50 per bushel. This same range of prices was extended to purchases made at each of the other points, with slight variations where data was found indicating that a change should be made. At Steilacoom it appeared that 16 to 18 cents per pound had been paid for fresh beef for the regular service; I therefore advanced the price for beef to the average--17 cents. For flour, $10 per barrel had also been paid there; I allowed the same price. Also at Port Townsend I advanced the price of coffee and sugar one cent per pound each. At the other points, in the absence of data, I followed the range of prices as reported by the commissioners, observing as nearly as possible the same relative difference between the amount reported by them and the amount allowed by me at Vancouver. Clothing.--The purchases of clothing, such as blankets, coats, pantaloons, shirts, bats, caps, boots, shoes, socks &c., including some camp and garrison equipage, amount in Oregon to $292,634, and in Washington to $134,845.68, making an aggregate of $427,479.68. The clothing seems to have been of every quality procurable in the market, from common descriptions to the finest, embracing fine dress coats, white vests, satin stocks and ties, fine shirts, fine doeskin pantaloons, fine boots &c., at prices covering a very wide range. These purchases of clothing are supposed to have been rendered necessary by the exigencies of the service, as without them, doubtless, many volunteers would have suffered and been unable to render service at all. The descriptions are in many cases such as would not be authorized in the regular service. They had, however, to do the best they could under the circumstances. It appears that quantities of clothing were issued or sold to volunteers and other persons employed in the service and charged against them as "stoppages," to be retained out of amounts due them for pay. It is utterly impossible to fix any scale of prices to apply to the different descriptions, varying so much in quality and value as they do. The range of prices paid is from four to ten dollars for blankets; coats, from two dollars and fifty cents to thirty-five dollars each; pantaloons, from two dollars twenty-five to sixteen dollars; shirts, from one dollar twenty-five to six dollars; shoes and boots, from ten dollars twenty-five to fifteen dollars &c., for the various descriptions of coarse and fine and for summer and winter clothing. I have made a uniform deduction of thirty-three and one-third percent, from these bills, as the nearest approximation to actual cash prices that I could obtain. This I have done, considering that the same causes that produced increased valuations on other descriptions of property operated also on these. The same deduction of thirty-three and one-third percent has been made on the charges, or "stoppages," entered against the pay of the volunteers and employees, so that the benefit of the reduction goes to them. Whether the clothing purchased was all issued or sold and accounted for I have not been able to determine. The difference, if there be any, between the amounts, will be so much "dead loss." The rolls of Oregon show "stoppages" to amount of $165,540.94, and those of Washington to amount of $67,270.83, making an aggregate of $231,811.77--being a little more than one-half the amount of purchases. Some sales were made at auction at the close of the war, and considerable sales or issues were made to employees, as already stated, but the amount it is difficult to ascertain. Hospital and medical accounts.--The claims connected with this department amount in Oregon to $60,774.54, being for medical and subsistence supplies; things hired; rent of houses; camp and garrison equipage, and for hire of persons, as surgeons, assistant surgeons, clerks, nurses, stewards, cooks, together with some miscellaneous purchases of property. The prices reported are enormous: chickens, as high as $2 each, butter, $1 to $1.50 per pound; milk, $1 to $2 per gallon; bacon, 60 to 75 cents per pound; loaves bread, 50 cents each; tin cups, 75 cents each; brooms, $2 each; crackers, 75 cents per pound; magnesia, $20 per pound; aloes, camphor, and gum arabic, $20 per pound; quinine, $25 per ounce &c. House rent, $150 per month; rent of house and farm three months, at $300 per month. For services of cooks, stewards, nurses, laundresses &c., $4 and $5 per day are reported. I have allowed two dollars per day. Considering the prices allowed for articles purchased at least double the cash value, I have generally reduced them one-half; in a few extreme cases the reduction exceeded that. That they were inordinately high is apparent from the prices as shown by the report of sales of such of the articles as were sold at the close of hostilities. For instance: a clock was purchased in March at $20, and sold in September for fifty cents. In June twenty spittoons were purchased at $5 each, amounting to $100; they were sold in August following for 12½ to 25 cents each, having been in use only two months. On the 25th June, 25 head of sheep were purchased at $20 each--$500; 12 of them were used and the remaining 13 were sold in October for $40, or a little over $3 each. Two cows and calves, bought in March for $240, were sold in September for $60. And so on of every description of property that I have been able to trace and identify, many articles being entirely lost sight of. The whole sales of medical and hospital stores, and property and furniture connected therewith, amounted to about $1,300. In Washington Territory the expenditures amounted to about $13,208.45. The prices vary somewhat, but are apparently very high. Cases of instruments were purchased at from $50 to $300 per set. Bills for "medical attendance" on R. S. Robinson, $539, and "medicine" furnished him to amount of $231: total, $770; disallowed in toto. Of the charges, $550 are for services rendered and medicines furnished when Mr. Robinson was not in service, and during the remainder of the time he should have been attended by the physician at the post. Eleanor Price, bill for nursing Oscar Olney from 11th February to 13th June, 1856, at $5 per day, $610, and rations and other charges, $105.30; total, as reported, $715.30. I allowed $150. Such other cases as could be were especially acted on, and the remainder, as in Oregon, reduced one-half. Miscellaneous claims.--Having passed upon the leading items of expenditure in both Territories, there remains to be considered the residue of miscellaneous claims of various descriptions, some of them of considerable amount, but in most cases composed of small items, amounting in the aggregate to a large sum, and to which no specific prices can well be applied. There are bills for arms, ordnance supplies, lumber, saddles, bridles, harness, wagons and a great variety of articles of merchandise, such as dry goods, groceries, hardware, table and chamber furniture, stationery &c. &c. It is impossible for me to fix a scale of prices for these various descriptions of property and merchandise, being, as they unquestionably were, of every grade of quality and value, or to determine from any reliable data, the current rates for such property in the country at the time. I will not extend this report by producing here the prices allowed for the different descriptions of property above referred to; they are set forth in my former report somewhat in detail. In a few cases, where sufficient data was available, action was taken on the particular claims, according to the circumstances and what seemed right in the premises. There were also some claims of so indefinite a character as to seem to require further evidence and explanation before they should be allowed, either in whole or in part. Such claims were marked "suspended." One review of what has already been done--as is believed on just and sufficient data to warrant the action--it was ascertained that the average reduction on the prices of leading articles of subsistence and forage was about 43 percent, in Oregon, and 37 percent, in Washington. On careful consideration of these miscellaneous claims, it was not perceived that any material difference should be made between them and those already acted on. If any difference, it was believed to be against rather than in favor of these latter claims, which seem to have been made up in most cases at rates more extravagant than any heretofore noticed. The generality of the remaining claims were disposed of at reductions varying from 33 to 50 per centum, according to the prices charged, as the nearest approximation to "actual cash prices" that could be arrived at. A few of the cases specially acted on, and on which I made the heaviest reductions, may be briefly stated as follows: Hardy C. Elliff is reported for a "log building purchased for storehouse," in February, $816. At the sale of "public property," in August, he bought a building similarly described for $25. I had no doubt it was the same building, and allowed him $175, considering that amount sufficient compensation for the use of it for the six months. Harkness & Twogood are reported on the 16th April, for one stable, $500; one building for storehouse, $700, and two corrals, $350; total, $1,550. The quartermaster erected two new buildings, at an expense of about $1,500. At the sale in August it appears that Mr. Twogood, one of the firm, bought four buildings (being no doubt the two old ones and the two new ones) for $231, and also the two corrals for $20, making $251 only for the old buildings and corrals, for which he claimed $1,550, and also the two new buildings, costing nearly as much more. I allowed them for the use of the buildings and corral, $245. Lewis C. Harman is reported for pasturing 40 horses and mules nine weeks, $1,080. He received three horses, two mules, one wagon, and one stove, valued at $790; balance claimed by him $290. Considering that he was already paid enough for the pasturage, I disallowed the claim. Samuel Trimble is reported for "use of a large pasture field for work oxen," 13 weeks, at $100 per week, $1,300; I allowed him $350, Solomon Durbin is reported for rent of stable four and a half months, at $75 per month, $337 50; I allowed him $100. George Delaney is reported for use of a pasture field 12 weeks, at $156 per week, $1,872; I allowed him $450. C. S. Drew is reported for rent of office four months and twelve days, at $125 per month, $492.76, and for rent of office 37 days, at $125 per mouth; total, $646.92; I allowed him $120, or $20 per month. Mr. Drew had another claim for rent of office (supposed to be the same room) for ten months, covering some eight months, after the close of the war, at the same rate, and amounting to $1,134.92. The commissioners reduced this latter to two months, at $112, making $224; I allowed him, at the same rate as above, $40. Furnished rooms are shown to have been rented and paid for in cash at $12, $14, and $20 per month. William G. Griswold is reported for rent of office from 1st October, 1857, to 31st July, 1858, 10 months, at $60 per month, $600. As the whole of this period was subsequent to the close of the war, the claim was disallowed entirely. Aaron Rose is reported for rent of office and storeroom, ten months at $100 per month, $1,000; I allowed him $250. Joseph W. Drew, quartermaster, is reported by the commissioners, in his own account, for keeping three horses from 9th October, 1856, to 25th September, 1857, at. $175 per day each, amounting to $1,848. The whole of this period being after the close of the war, I disallowed the claim entirely. A claim of Frint & Stewart, for feeding, herding and pasturing animals from November 21, 1855, to July 18, 1856, reported as due them, $7,196.67 (after deducting horses taken in part payment to the amount of $3,154.77), was suspended for further information. At the rate charged, it would have required 244 animals to have been pastured for a continuous period of eight months to amount to the above sum. There being so many claims for pasturage &c., of animals, and this claim being so large and indefinitely stated, I thought it best to suspend action on it. Henry Smith is reported for "subsisting citizens who were destitute of means of obtaining it, by burning of settlements in Cow Creek Valley by hostile Indians, in October, 1855," amounting to $1,196. Although not strictly an expenditure incurred in "prosecuting hostilities" (this subsistence appearing to have been furnished "citizens" and not soldiers), yet as the claim had been recognized and reported by the commissioners, I allowed at the rate of six dollars for boarding per week, or for each twenty-one meals charged, which amounted to $341.71. Numerous claims are reported for forage and stabling of horses, at $2 per day. Such claims I reduced to 66⅔ cents per day, or one-third the amount reported. G. Chism is reported for hire of stable three months, at $250 per month, $750; I allowed $50 per month. Edward Sheil is reported for rent of office 10 months, at $100 per month, $1,000; I allowed him $20 per month, $200. Tomlinson & Wood are reported for 150 sheets drafting paper, at $3 per sheet, $450; I allowed 50 cents per sheet, $75. It appears that 75 sheets were used, and the remaining 75 were sold for $11.25 for the lot, or 15 cents per sheet. Aaron Rose charges for 4,336 meals furnished officers and privates of second regiment of Oregon militia, and clerks and employees in service, at $1 per meal each, $4,369. The meals, at $21 per week, would equal 206½ weeks' boarding, for which I allowed at rate of $6 per week, amounting to $1,239. Mr. Joseph Teal is reported for rent of his office 64 days, at $5 per day, $320, and for rent of stable 64 days, at $3 per day, $192; making $512. I allowed him for his office $1 per day, and for his stable at the rate of $20 per month, amounting to $110.66. L. L. Bradbury is reported for rent of blacksmith shop, two forges and tools, five months and twenty-one days, at $200 per month; one building, nine months, at $100 per month; another building, with well and outhouses, eight and a half months, at $200 per month; one stable, with twenty stalls and corral attached, five months, at $150 per month; use of corral and five stalls, three months, at $50 per month; total, $4,640. I allowed for use of blacksmith shop $50 per month, and for rent of buildings $25 and $50 respectively per month, and for rent of stable and corral $30 per month, amounting to $1,120.86. Aiken & Smith are reported for use of ferry eight months, $2,450, or a little over $300 per month. I allowed them $80 per month, $640. Aaron Rose, who has already been referred to as reported for rent of office for eight months, at $100 per month, and several thousand meals furnished, is reported in another place, for rent of office, at $5 per day, amounting to $570; for storehouse, $62.50; for stable, two and a half months, at $200 per month, $500; for field and corral, four and a half months, at $100 per month, $450, and for "Roseburg Hotel," for quarters, six months, at $300 per month, $1,800; total, $3,382 50. The hotel seems to have been used as a kind of boarding house, for which Mr. Rose has large bills in the shape of meals, boarding, lodging &c., which indicates that the house remained in his possession, and the allowances for boarding are considered sufficient to include lodging, or "quarters;" no allowance is therefore made. I allowed, for rent of stable, $40 per month; for field and corral, $20 per month, and for rent of room for office, $15 per month; amounting to $263.50. "Douglas County" is reported for "use of courthouse," for storing purposes, nearly $1,000. I disallowed the claim. Train & Nicholson are reported for "steamer Excelsior," from 28th December, 1855, till 28th February, 1856, two months, at $800 per month, $1,600. They are again reported for same steamer, from 1st April till 15th July, three and a half months, at $1,500 per month, $5,250. I have been informed the steamer was quite a small one, run by four men, and its trips confined to a distance of less than thirty miles, and during the period of its use it is believed to have been in the service of the contractors also for whatever business they could do, either in the way of passengers or freight. The disparity in the prices charged is extraordinary, and is only explainable on the theory that the latter service, being towards the close of the war, was charged for according to the reduced value of the scrip at that time. I have allowed for the five and a half months at the rate of $600 per month, $3,300. Three separate daily trips are specially charged for, amounting to $500, during the period in which she was employed by the month as above. These I disallowed. William A. Mills is reported for use of a "ferry boat" from 1st January till 1st March, three months, at $200 per month, and from 1st March till 1st August, five months, at $100, amounting to $1,100. It can scarcely be possible that during all this period this boat was in the exclusive use of the volunteers. The name of the ferry, or on what stream it was, is not stated. It is presumed the boat was used by the owner in connection with the ferrying of the volunteers. I allowed him $30 per month for the use of the boat, amounting to $240. John Yokum is reported for ferry over South Umpqua River, five months and seven days, at $300 per month, and two months, at $200 per month, amounting to $1,990.32. I allowed $60 per month, $434. Asahel Bush is reported for printing 21,000 "vouchers," at 8 cents each, and 7,000 vouchers, at 6 cents each, $2,080 (vouchers are billheads, with certificate attached, printed on half sheets of paper); for 1 ream blank commissions, $100; for 500 blanks, at 30 cents each, $150; for 2,000 blank returns, at $25 per thousand, $50; for 1,200 forage returns, at 10 cents each, $120; for "posters," at from $20 to $40 per hundred, and for advertising "proclamation," $70; "Order No. 10," $30 &c., at $10 per square for three insertions, amounting to $782; total for printing and advertising, $3,447. For printing the vouchers I allowed 2 cents each, and the balance of the bill was reduced in like proportion. For advertising I found on examination of some Oregon papers that the present rate of advertising is from $3 to $5 per square for three insertions. I also found that some other printers had charged, at the same time, for advertising at the rate of $5 per square, as above, and I therefore allowed that rate--total amount allowed, $1,092.25. The "Multnomah steamer" is reported for "furnishing and towing transport Gazelle, with troops, horses, and men, from the mouth of the River Sandy to Cascades," on the 22nd, 24th, 27th and 28th October, and on the 2nd November, 1855, five trips, at $2,000 per trip, $10,000. The steamer Fashion is reported for "assistance in towing transport Gazelle," as above, at $500 per trip, $2,500. The distance from the mouth of Sandy River to Cascades, on the Columbia River, is not precisely known to me, but it is believed to be less than thirty miles. There is an endorsement on the claims of the Multnomah that "the amount does not exceed private rates for the same service at that time," and that the item of expense was engendered "at a time of emergency." It appears this latter claim was suspended by the commissioners for explanation, and an extract from a letter of the governor of Oregon, addressed to them, is filed with the papers, in which he requests them to consider the claim "in the nature of a special contract, as in truth it was so considered by the parties concerned on both sides," and they reported the claim accordingly. I could not see why there should be so much difference in the charges of the Fashion and the Multnomah for the same service, but as the claim seemed to have had more than the usual scrutiny of the commissioners, and was accompanied with the explanations stated, although not entirely satisfactory, yet I hesitated about cutting it down, and therefore thought best to suspend action entirely. The claim of the steamer Fashion was also suspended, as both claims should be acted on together. As the claims are presented it would appear that the claim of the Fashion is entirely too low, or that of the Multnomah too high. A full knowledge of the facts may explain this discrepancy. These will suffice as examples of claims to which no general rule could be applied, and which were specially acted on. In many other cases of like description the reductions were in a less ratio, although exceeding the general average. Quantities.--The fourth clause of the resolution also directs me, "in auditing the claims for supplies, transportation and other services incurred for the maintenance of said volunteers," to have "a due regard to the number of said troops and to their period of service," and not to "recognize supplies beyond a reasonable approximation to the proportions and descriptions authorized by existing laws and regulations for such troops, taking into consideration the nature and peculiarities of the service." For reasons that have already been partially stated, I have found it impracticable to attempt to cut down the claims for services, supplies or transportation, as contemplated in this branch of the resolution. Not that there does not appear to be, in some of these items of expenditure, a large excess over what would be a "reasonable approximation to the proportions and descriptions authorized by existing laws and regulations for such troops," but because of the fact that the claims all stand equally well authenticated, and on precisely the same basis, and it is therefore impossible for me to determine what claims should be allowed or disallowed. This is especially the case with respect to persons employed in various capacities, and animals purchased and hired for transportation and other purposes. I have not made the precise calculation, but it would seem that there were about half as many employees as there were volunteers in the service. The items of expenditure for "hire of persons" and "hire of things," amount in the aggregate to $1,278,833 in Oregon, being almost equal in amount to the pay of all the volunteers in the service of the Territory, including the pay for use and risk of their horses. The number of persons hired would appear to be out of all proportion to the number of volunteers in the service. And the same may be said of animals hired. When it is seen that in the Oregon service 1,697 horses, 746 mules and 1,015 oxen were purchased, making 3,458 animals, it seems difficult to imagine for what purposes they could all have been needed, or to what use they could have been applied. It must be borne in mind that all of the Oregon mounted volunteers are reported for pay for use and risk of their own horses for the period of their service, except 469, who are stated to have been mounted on "public horses." But notwithstanding this large number of horses, mules and oxen purchased for the service, claims are reported for animals hired, amounting to perhaps three hundred thousand dollars. Fully satisfied, as I am, that there is room for reduction here, I have not felt justified in disallowing any of the claims. If a reduction be made, it can only be done pro rata, but I have no data that would enable me to determine what it should be. If it were believed, or could be shown, that any of the claims were not genuine, but fabricated, the case would be different. But I have no information on these points. In Washington, 630 horses, 26 mules and 219 oxen were purchased, a number much less, in proportion to the number of volunteers in service, than was purchased for the Oregon volunteers. The expenditure for "hired animals" was also much less comparatively. There may be some cause for this disparity, growing out of the "peculiarities of the service," of which I am not advised. There are no "laws or regulations" that I could apply to these cases. The propriety of hiring the employees, or of purchasing or hiring the animals, is a matter that rests almost solely on the sound discretion and judgment of the officer whose duty it is to superintend that branch of the service, and depends largely on the particular exigencies of the occasion. In the regular service there are checks or limitations as to the extent of appropriations, the approval of superior officers, and the responsibility of the officer incurring the expense, if found extravagant or improvident, but in the case of volunteers called out as these were, they are entirely outside of any such restrictions or limitations, and there is no check, except such as Congress may deem proper to impose, in making provision for final payment of the claims. With regard to "transportation and supplies," there are some regulations and statutory provisions that apply to the regular service, as, for instance, the number of rations to which soldiers are entitled, the component parts of a ration, the amount of forage for horses &c., and with regard to troops on the march, there is a regulation relative to the number of wagons or animals to be employed in transportation of baggage for each particular corps but it is difficult to apply any of these regulations strictly to these claims. The service was of so desultory a character, and the information respecting its operations is so limited and vague, and the accounts are so mixed up, as to render it impracticable to determine precisely where the excess, if there be any, exists, and even when found, I do not know what particular claim to allow or disallow. In the article of forage for horses, in Washington Territory, the quantity was less than that authorized by regulations, the animals subsisting principally, as it is understood, on grass, with which the country abounds. In Oregon Territory, 726 tons of hay and 77,970 bushels of oats appear to have been purchased, and there are large accounts for pasturage and keeping of animals, so that it is difficult to ascertain whether the amount is in excess of that authorized by regulations. Considering the number of animals reported to have been in the service, I am of opinion the quantity of forage charged would not exceed the regulation allowance therefor. With regard to subsistence supplies, there is less difficulty in determining the amount to which the volunteers would be entitled, according to regulation allowances. The only serious difficulty in this is that there are so many charges for boarding, meals &c., mixed up with the accounts, and which are difficult to extract in an accurate form. An approximation has been made, however, which will be briefly stated. The total number of days' service of the volunteers in Oregon, as reported by the commissioners, was 406,193. In the accounts there are charges for 47,742 meals, equivalent to 15,914 days, which, deducted from the above, would leave 390,279 days to be subsisted, and, at one ration per day, would entitle to that number of rations; to this add say one-half, as the number of rations to which the employees of every description would be entitled, and we have 535,418 rations to be furnished from provisions and supplies purchased. Now, according to the regulations fixing the component parts of rations, to furnish this number it would require the following quantities of the articles named: of flour, 658,596 pounds; of fresh beef, 731,772 pounds; of coffee, 35,134 pounds; of sugar, 70,243 pounds. It appears that there were purchased for the Oregon service, of flour, 864,355 pounds; of fresh beef, 667,416 pounds, besides some purchases on the hoof, as well as in barrels; of coffee, 49,653 pounds; of sugar, 98,555 pounds. Thus it appears that the quantity of flour purchased is about one-fourth in excess of the regulation allowance; the beef is probably about equal to it, but besides it there were also purchased 63,725 pounds of pork and 160,938 pounds of bacon, equal to 299,550 rations of pork and bacon, all of which is excess; the coffee is in excess about one-third, and the sugar in about the same proportion. Some allowance should, however, be made for wastage. In Washington, the total number of days' service of volunteers is estimated at about 183,349, or a little less than one-half that of the Oregon service. Their purchases were, of flour, equal to 208,920 pounds; fresh beef, 63,266 pounds, besides purchases on hoof and in barrels; bacon, 104,707 pounds; coffee, 16,254 pounds, and of sugar, 49,179 pounds. There were also charges for meals, boarding &c., as in Oregon. It will be perceived that the quantity of beef purchased is much less, proportionally, than in Oregon--this is partially made up, however, by an excess of bacon; the coffee is in about the same proportion, and the sugar largely in excess. On the whole, I did not see that any material reduction could safely be made on these articles, at the present time, without incurring risk of doing great injustice. I thought it best, therefore, to merely reduce the prices charged, as hereinbefore specified, and to report the facts as they are. If all the volunteers reported are recognized by Congress, and it be deemed proper to make such reduction as will bring the quantities to the regulation standard, then it can be accomplished only, as before stated, by a pro rata reduction. But if, in making provision for final payment of the claims, proof of actual service be required in support of the rolls, and any portion of the volunteers be found not to have rendered the service, as reported, then, in that proportion, the quantities should be still further reduced. What that proportion may be will depend on the action of Congress in this respect, and the state of the facts, as established by further evidence. Disposition of property.--Something has already been said relative to the disposition of the property purchased during the service. Besides the 1,697 horses, 746 mules and 1,015 oxen purchased for the Oregon service, there were large quantities of other articles, of various descriptions, which could not have been consumed or entirely worn out in the service, such as wagons, saddles, bridles, arms, equipments, together with articles of supplies, merchandise, medical stores, furniture &c. Such articles continued to be purchased until the very date of the cessation of hostilities. Houses and rooms were rented, and some were furnished with cooking and other stoves, tables, desks, table and chamber furniture of every description, all of which was subject to disposition at the termination of hostilities. The total amount realized from the sales of every description of property and supplies on hand at the close of the war in Oregon was $78,656.49¾ sold for cash, $189,377.67 sold to claimants, and accounted for by cancellation of their scrip to that extent; making a total of $268,034.17 in cash and scrip sales. The remainder of the property purchased, not embraced in these sales, must be set down as worn out, lost, or destroyed in the service. In Washington Territory, the amount of sales at the close of the war was $133,985.08, nearly all for "scrip," or in cancellation of claims. It is quite probable that considerable quantities of property have been completely lost sight of, and appropriated, at the termination of hostilities, to the private use of individuals in whose possession it happened to be at the time. It is not likely that, in so short a service, any large proportion of this property was worn out and rendered valueless. Some allowance may be made for the loose and irregular manner in which things were done generally, and the inexperience of those whose duty it was to see that everything purchased was strictly applied to the service, or accounted for and disposed of when no longer needed. The commissioners, in their report, suggest that, until "reports accounting for all property used and expended in the public service" be "made and furnished, the Territory stands chargeable therewith," but I do not perceive that anything could be gained by raising such a charge against either of the Territories. It is hardly to be presumed that any better "accounting," in this regard, can be furnished, at this late day, than has already been furnished, or that would be at all reliable. It has been seen that the sum of $78,656.49 was realized in cash from the sales of property at the close of hostilities in Oregon. This fund would seem properly applicable to the extinguishment of so much of the claims; or, in case they were assumed, in whole or in part, by the United States, they would be entitled to recover it. Inquiry was therefore made as to the disposition of this money. It appears that $60,548.25 has been reported as "expended," in various ways, for which accounts have been rendered and approved by the commissioners. So far as these expenditures purported to have been in payment of property purchased, or contingencies connected with closing up the service, and in good faith, I allowed them to stand untouched. But it appeared that some of the officers and clerks had been paid out of this fund for services alleged to have been rendered in making out their accounts, in some cases during the whole of the year 1851, and as late as the middle of the year 1858, nearly two years after the volunteers were discharged, at rates ranging from six to ten dollars per day for the whole consecutive period. In another part of this report I have stated that I allowed to quartermasters and commissaries, and their clerks, three months after the discharge of the volunteers in which to make out and close their accounts. This was considered sufficiently liberal. In fact, as a general rule, it has been held that claims of this description, when presented by either States or Territories, must be made out entirely at their own expense, and that no part of such expenditures shall be borne by the United States. But I did not even adhere to this rule, considering that under the circumstances it might be relaxed a little, and believing three months ample time for each of these officers to finish up his business and close his accounts, I allowed pay for himself and clerks for that period after the discharge of the volunteers. This is the period fixed by law in which officers of the regular army are required to make out and render their accounts, after the expiration of each quarter. Accordingly, I disallowed all claims for official or clerical service alleged to have been rendered after that time, and the "cash payments" appropriated from this fund in liquidation thereof were applied as set off against such other claims as the officers or clerks were found to have for services rendered by them during the hostilities. In this way I reclaimed, by extinguishment of other claims, $12,958.94. The sum of $18,108.24 is also reported as still in the hands of certain officers, and this amount will also be stopped out of their claims for pay &c. The fifth and last clause of the resolution is as follows: 5th. "That all claims of said volunteers for horses, arms and other property lost or destroyed in said service, shall be audited according to the provisions of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and forty-nine." The act of 3rd March, 1849, requires all claims for horses or other property lost or destroyed in the military service of the United States to be accompanied with evidence of loss in the manner prescribed in said act, and other proof as to date of remounting, value &c. No such evidence is found in any of the cases of alleged losses, nor are any of the requirements of said act complied with. No action has, therefore, been had on any of the allowances made by the commissioners for horses lost in said service. Should any such be found allowable, and proper proof thereof be made, they can be acted on at any time, if provision be made for such payment, under the rules and restrictions provided in said act, which is executed in this office. The commissioners stated in their report that "there are, doubtless, to some limited extent, irregular and unascertained claims growing out of the late volunteer service which have not come to the notice of the commission, but such will be found inconsiderable. Numerous claims for compensation for the spoliation of property by hostile Indians during the war have been presented to the commission, but such claims, however meritorious, have not been acted on, not being considered within the proper province of the board." In like manner, I have to say that I did not consider any claims as legitimately coming before me except such as had already received the action of the commissioners, and therefore were included in their report, and the vouchers and papers on file in my office, at the date of the passage of the resolution. I have before remarked that, for this reason alone, the two companies of volunteers called for by Major Rains, and furnished by the acting governor of Washington Territory, and mustered into the service of the United States, are not embraced amongst those reported for pay by the commissioners, and are therefore excluded in this report. Captain Strong's company, numbering sixty-two men, rank and file, was in service from the 21st October, 1855, till 29th December, 1855, and Captain Hays' company numbering eighty-eight men, rank and file, was in service from the 14th October till 14th January, 1856. These companies ought to be included in any provision that is made for payment of the other volunteers. They certainly stand on as good footing as any of the others, for, in addition to the fact of rendering the service, it is shown that they were called out at the express request of the United States military commanding officers, and were regularly mustered into the service, and continued therein until discharged. The claims for pay and other allowances, at the rates allowed regular soldiers, would amount to about fourteen thousand dollars. RECAPITULATION.
It is true the aggregate of reduction from the amount reported by the commissioners seems large, but the balance still remaining as the actual expenditure during the hostilities is enormous, when compared with the number of troops and the time they were engaged in service. The highest number of troops in the Oregon service at any period, as shown by the rolls, was 2,124, and the average number for ten months was about 1,335. In Washington Territory the highest number at any period in service, as shown by the rolls, was 844, and the average number for twelve months was about 634. It is almost incredible that for this service the pay of each soldier and the cost of subsisting and maintaining him should be at the rate of eleven dollars and fifteen cents a day, or four thousand and sixty-nine dollars a year. Yet that was the average daily expenditure for each man reported by the commissioners on account of the troops engaged in the Oregon service, from enrollment to discharge. In Washington Territory the expenditure averaged about eight dollars and eight cents a day for each soldier in service, as shown by the rolls. This large excess of expenditure on account of the Oregon volunteers is calculated to attract attention. The pay of the volunteers, compensation for use and risk of horses and for hire of employees, as reported by the commissioners, was the same in both Territories. Making due allowance for some increase in prices in Southern Oregon, I am of opinion that the excess is attributable in a great degree to greater extravagance on the part of the officers incurring the liabilities. This is the result of the irregular and irresponsible manner in which the war was carried on in both Territories, and which operated alike to swell the liabilities in each, but in a greater degree in Oregon than in Washington. In conclusion, I beg leave to say that I have earnestly and assiduously labored to carry out the order of the House faithfully and impartially, according to the lights I have had before me, and having in view the just claims of individuals as well as the protection of the Treasury. I am not unmindful that the criticism of those possessing superior personal knowledge of the subject may bring to view errors of judgment. I am conscious, indeed, that my action must necessarily be more or less imperfect and liable to objection. I submit it, however, with great deference, as the nearest approximation to right and what the resolution required that I could make under the circumstances. Where the terms of the resolution were specific, there was comparatively little or no difficulty. But where discretion was given, as in the question of prices, and under the limitations imposed, the case was different. It is exceedingly difficult to apply general rules to transactions of this kind, even with full data and complete prices current. In the absence of these, I have relied most on the range of prices shown to have been paid by officers of the regular army at or near the places where the liabilities were contracted. I have not usually taken mere isolated cases, but have endeavored to obtain the general range, and from that deduce an approximation to the actual cash prices in the country at the time. No doubt individual cases of hardship will occur. Some meritorious claims may, perhaps, have been reduced lower than they would have been with a full understanding of all the facts and special circumstances connected with them. On the other hand, some less meritorious may have been allowed too high. I trust, however, that the cases of either description are few and trivial in amount. But whatever errors may have been committed in this respect, I incline to the opinion that, with but few exceptions, they will be found on more full investigation to have been in favor of rather than against the claimants, for I am free to say that, in cases of doubt, I have made it a rule to give the benefit of the doubt to the claim as reported by the commissioners. I have also overlooked all mere technical objections and informalities. In this way many claims, indefinitely stated and defective in other respects, yet having received the approval of the commissioners, and being for objects supposed to be necessary in prosecuting the hostilities, have been allowed in whole or in part. A rigid application of rules requiring specific evidence of the service, or other article for which the claim was presented, would have resulted in the rejection of a large proportion of the claims. It has been repeatedly stated that the evidence on which these claims rest consists of the certificates of the persons purporting to have been officers in the service and the approval of the commissioners. Behind these I could not safely go, as regards the fact of services having been rendered or supplies furnished as claimed, except in cases where it was apparent on the face of the papers that the claim was improper; nor could I, for the want of means or authority, go into an investigation as to whether the claims were bona fide. My action therefore may be considered, in a great degree, as in the nature of a scaling of prices, rather than an adjudication or endorsement of the claims so far as allowed. Consider the peculiar circumstances connected with the generation of these claims; the irregularities of the service; the absence of accountability on the part of officers incurring liabilities to the authority from which payment was expected; the fact that little or no check existed against improvidence; the opportunities that were thus presented for swelling, by means of extravagant charges and otherwise, the claims against the government; the remoteness of the Territories, and the difficulty in obtaining full and reliable information therefrom, and the embarrassments that surrounded the subject will be more fully appreciated. Copies of the correspondence had relative to these claims accompany this report. In several of the letters reference was made to the cause or origin of the hostilities, and particular incidents connected therewith. Considering that these subjects did not come within the scope of my authority under the resolution--that I had nothing to do with the primary cause of the hostilities, or the mode and manner of their prosecution in a military point of view, I have deemed it proper to omit such portions as are of the character referred to. If, however, full copies be desired, they are at the disposal of the House. Tabular statements also accompany this report, as follows: A. Statement showing the number of men enrolled in the volunteer service in Oregon in each month during the hostilities. B. Statement showing the number of men enrolled in the volunteer service in Washington in each month during the hostilities. C. Statement giving the rates of pay allowed to the officers and soldiers in the volunteer service in both Territories, according to the resolution limiting them to the rates allowed officers and soldiers in the regular army. D. Statement showing amounts due each company in service in Oregon, as reported by the commissioners, and as reported by Third Auditor, including field and staff., E. Statement showing amounts due each company in service in Washington, as reported by the commissioners, and as reported by Third Auditor, including field and staff. F. Statement showing amounts due for services, supplies &c., in the different departments of the volunteer service in Oregon, as reported by the commissioners, and as reported by the Third Auditor. G. Statement showing amounts due for services, supplies &c., in the different departments of the volunteer service in Washington, as reported by the commissioners, and as reported by the Third Auditor. H. Statement showing the prices paid by officers of the United States army for quartermasters' and commissary stores, in Washington and Oregon Territories, in the years 1855 and 1856. I. Statement showing the rates paid by officers of the United States army, for the hire of persons and things in Washington and Oregon Territories, in the years 1855 and 1856. Respectfully submitted. R.
J. ATKINSON,
HON. WILLIAM PENNINGTON,Third Auditor. Speaker of the House of Representatives. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a resolution
adopted by the House of Representatives on the 8th instant, and
received at this office from the Clerk of the House.Third Auditor's Office, February 24, 1859. By this resolution, you will perceive, it is made the duty of the Third Auditor of the Treasury to examine the vouchers and papers now in his office, representing claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington Territories for pay, supplies &c., growing out of Indian hostilities in those Territories in the years 1855 and 1856, and, upon certain principles prescribed in the said resolution, to make a report to the House of Representatives, on the first Monday of December next, of the amount respectively due to each company and individual engaged in said service &c. A cursory examination of those papers, which are very voluminous, has already been had in this office, with a view of answering certain inquiries addressed by the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, the result of which was embraced in a letter or report on the subject, a copy of which I had the honor of presenting to you some time ago. Those papers, I may say, are transmitted here through the War Department, by Captain Ingalls, Captain Smith, and Mr. Grover, commissioners appointed by the late Secretary of War to examine into the claims incurred in suppressing the Indian hostilities. By the fourth clause of the resolution I am directed, in auditing the claims for supplies, transportation, and other services incurred for the maintenance of said volunteers, "to have a due regard to the number of said troops, to their period of service, and to the prices current in the country at the time." The commissioners in their report say that "frequent conferences were had with officers and agents who originated these vouchers, and with the parties claimant, in all cases admitting of doubt in the regularity and integrity of the claims, and when necessary the sworn statements of disinterested persons have been taken." "In passing upon the rates of compensation and allowances, the commissioners took into consideration the various market prices of the different sections of country embraced in the field of operations during the late Indian war, and, on the statements and testimony of the most competent witnesses, carefully adjusted prices current of the various local markets. With these rates as a guide, each voucher was examined with reference to the sum therein allowed for the property or service described." It will become necessary for me, in executing the order of the House of Representatives, to obtain all available information on this subject, with a view of acting intelligently, as the papers now on file are entirely silent on these points in the matter. I have no doubt this testimony, if preserved, would be useful in the examination about to be made, and as I cannot perceive that there should be any objection thereto, I would respectfully request that an order be obtained for its immediate transmission here. In addition to this, it seems to me that I ought to be authorized to have recourse to other sources of information. It is true that I may find something bearing on the subject of prices in the accounts of disbursing officers on the Pacific, whose accounts are on file in this office. But I have already had reference to them, the result of which is stated in the former report. The information there obtained is meager and not sufficiently comprehensive. Many of the purchases and items of expenditure charged are of a special character, such as are not to be found in the accounts of regular officers. I respectfully submit for your consideration whether, in view of the magnitude of the claims involved, the importance of having all information available in order to have correct data on which to act, some additional means or authority should not be placed at my disposal? I do not presume, of course, to indicate what authority should be granted in the premises, but submit the matter, so that if you should deem it proper you might direct the attention of the Committee on Military Affairs to the subject. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
HON. HOWELL COBB,Auditor. Secretary of the Treasury. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: The letter of Hon. C. J. Faulkner, chairman of the
Committee on
Military Affairs, House of Representatives, of the 26th instant, in
reply to yours of that date, on the subject of the resolution of the
House relative to claims growing out of Indian hostilities in Oregon
and Washington Territories, and requesting from you "an estimate
sufficient to cover the expenses resulting from this order of the
House," referred to me for a report thereon, I have the honor to return
herewith, and to state: That, from my present knowledge of the subject,
I have great difficulty in arriving at a conclusion as to a probable
amount to cover such expenses, or indeed as to the proper course to be
pursued in prosecuting the further investigation and obtaining full
information, and hence my submission of the matter to you in my letter
of the 24th instant. I had intended to have a conference with you on
the subject, with a view of obtaining your own opinion in this regard.
It may be thought advisable to send a competent person to those
Territories, or, if it be thought practicable, to secure the services
of some person or persons resident there, with a view of eliciting all
the information obtainable. Should this be done, it is obvious that
some expenditures would have to be made. It seems to me the committee,
under the circumstances, are about as well advised as to the probable
amount that might be required as I am myself. I should certainly desire
and endeavor to incur as little expense as possible. Whatever further
authority or means the committee may deem proper to place at my
disposal, I shall use with proper caution and economy, or in the event
of nothing being done, shall carry out the order of the House as best I
can with the sources of information at my command. I will remark,
however, as Mr. Faulkner requests an estimate, that an appropriation
of, say, two thousand dollars might be advisable, and if, on further
conference with yourself, all or any portion thereof can be dispensed
with, it will afford me great pleasure to do so.Third Auditor's Office, February 28, 1859. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
HON. HOWELL COBB,Auditor. Secretary of the Treasury. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: By resolution of the House of Representatives, adopted on
the 8th
ultimo, the Third Auditor of the Treasury is directed to examine the
vouchers and papers now on file in his office, relating to the claims
of citizens of Washington and Oregon Territories for expenses incurred
in suppressing Indian hostilities in said Territories in the years 1855
and 1856, and, upon certain principles indicated in said resolution, to
report thereon to the said House of Representatives on the first Monday
in December next &c.Third Auditor's Office, March 14, 1859. In the report of the commissioners appointed by the late Secretary of War, accompanying the claims, it is stated that during their investigation "frequent conferences were had with officers and agents who originated these vouchers, and with the parties claimant, in all cases admitting of doubt in the regularity and integrity of the claims, and when necessary the sworn statements of disinterested persons have been taken." "In passing upon the rates of compensation and allowances, the commission took into consideration the various market prices of the different sections of country embraced in the field of operations during the late Indian war, and, on the statements and testimony of the most competent witnesses, carefully adjusted prices current of the various local markets &c." On examination of the papers transmitted by the commissioners with their report, it appears that the statements, testimony, prices current &c., referred to, have been retained by them. It is important, in discharging the duty imposed on me, that I should be in possession of all the information available on the subject, and as it is presumed that this evidence is still in the possession of the commissioners, or some one of them, and subject to the order of the Secretary of War, and as it would seem proper at any rate that it should be filed with all the other papers now in this office in support of said claims, I have the honor respectfully to request that you will procure from the Secretary of War an order to said commissioners to transmit said evidence &c., together with all other papers pertaining to said claims. As considerable time will necessarily elapse, in consequence of the great distance, it is desirable that the said order may be furnished me in time for transmission by the next steamer. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
HON. HOWELL COBB,Auditor. Secretary of the Treasury. ----
[Endorsed.]
The
request of the Third Auditor will be complied with by the commissioners.J.
B. FLOYD,
WAR DEPARTMENT, March 18, 1859.Secretary of War. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
GENTLEMEN: Enclosed herewith please find copy of a letter from this
office, with endorsement of the Secretary of War, requiring the
transmission of certain papers, documents &c., connected with
the
claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington Territories, for expenses
incurred in the late Indian hostilities.Third Auditor's Office, March 19, 1859. Be pleased, at your earliest convenience after receiving this letter, to have the same properly put up and sent to my address. If the package is at all bulky, I would suggest that perhaps it would be better to send through the express. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
CAPTS. A. J. SMITH, R. lNGALLS and
LAFAYETTE GROVER, ESQ.Auditor. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: Enclosed herewith please find copy of a resolution of the House
of Representatives, adopted on the 8th of February last, by which I am
instructed to make an examination of the vouchers and papers on file in
this office, connected with claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington
Territories, for expenses incurred in suppressing Indian hostilities in
said Territories in 1855 and 1856, and report to said House, on the
first Monday in December next, the amount due and allowable for
services, supplies &c., agreeably to certain rules and
principles
prescribed in said resolution.Third Auditor's Office, March 31, 1859. I invite your attention to the fourth clause of the resolution, and will feel greatly obliged if you will, at your earliest convenience, furnish me with all the information in your possession on that branch of the subject, and with special reference to the following points: 1st. The prevailing prices, for cash, during the last quarter of the year 1855, and the first and second quarters, respectively, of the year 1856, of leading articles of supplies, property &c., such as horses, mules, oxen, hay, oats, beef, pork, flour, potatoes, sugar and such other articles as were purchased for the use of the service in the localities in which you were situated, or had the means of knowing from personal knowledge. 2nd. The difference, if any, in the prices of such articles of property, supplies, merchandise &c., as were purchased for the volunteer service, or the compensation of persons for services rendered in various capacities in connection therewith, as paid for, or agreed to be paid for, in what is termed "scrip," or certificates of indebtedness, and the prices at which such property, supplies, labor &c., could have been obtained at the time if paid for in cash. I also transmit a printed copy of my report to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives, at the late session of Congress, on the subject of these claims, and I will thank you, if your duties will permit an examination thereof, that you will communicate to me any information in your possession on any of the points, or subject matters of claim, therein referred to. Also, any information in your possession with reference to branches of the resolution of the House, other than those before referred to, that would throw light on the subject, or aid in arriving at correct conclusions relative thereto, my object in addressing you being to obtain all the information available on the subject. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
LIEUT. E. J. HARVIE,Auditor. Fort Steilacoom, Steilacoom, Washington Territory, ----
A similar
letter, same date as the above, was addressed to the following officers:Lieut. G. H. Hill, Fort Vancouver, Vancouver, W.T. Lieut. L. Lorain, Fort Umpqua, Umpqua City, Oregon. Lieut. Col. E. J. Steptoe, Forest Depot, Bedford County, Va. Maj. G. O. Haller, Fort Townsend, Port Townsend, W.T. Capt. T. Jordan, Fort Dalles, Dalles of Columbia, Oregon. Capt. D. Woodruff, escort of N.W. Boundary Commission, Whatcom, via Port Townsend, W.T. Capt. E. W. Kirkham, Fort Walla Walla, via Vancouver, W.T. Lieut. A. V. Kautz, escort to N. W. Boundary Commission, Whatcom, via Port Townsend, W.T. Lieut. C. A. Reynolds, Fort Steilacoom, Steilacoom, W.T. Capt. H. M. Black, Fort Simcoe, via Vancouver, W.T. Lieut. L. Bissell, Fort Dalles, Dalles of Columbia, Oregon. Lieut. F. Mallory, Norfolk, Va. Lieut. C. E. Woods, Fort Walla Walla, via Vancouver, W.T. Lieut. E. N. Scott, Fort Townsend, Port Townsend, W.T. Lieut. J. K. McCall, Fort Vancouver, Vancouver, W.T. Lieut. J. B. S. Alexander, Fort Simcoe, via Vancouver, W.T. Col. George Wright, Fort Dalles, Dalles of Columbia, Oregon. Lieut. Col. S. Casey, Fort Steilacoom, Steilacoom City, W.T. Lieut. W. T. Gentry, Fort Hoskins, Portland, Oregon. Lieut. J. W. Forsythe, Fort Yamhill, Dayton, Oregon. Lieut. P. P. Sheridan, Fort Yamhill, Dayton, Oregon. Lieut. J. Van Voast, Boston, Massachusetts. Lieut. C. McKeever, Camp Floyd, U.T. Lieut. B. D. Forsythe, Fort Yamhill, Oregon. Gen. John E. Wool, Troy, N.Y. Capt. John Withers, San Antonio, Texas. Capt. Thos. J. Cram, care Superintendent Coast Survey. Lieut. G. Crook. ---
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: On yesterday I enclosed you a copy of a resolution of the
House of
Representatives, referring to me for examination and report the Oregon
and Washington claims, for expenses &c., incurred in
suppressing
Indian hostilities in 1855 and 1856,; also a copy of my letter to the
chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs on that subject, and
requested from you certain information on points indicated.Third Auditor's Office, April 1, 1859. On page sixty-one of the letter to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs you will observe I stated the result of an examination of your accounts in this office, of the fourth quarter of 1855 and the first quarter of 1856, with reference to the prices paid by you for horses, mules &c., for the regular service. I then stated-- "Lieutenant Withers, during the two quarters, purchased one hundred and eleven horses, at prices varying from $60 to $200, the average cost being little less than $124. Some of these are described as "American horses," varying from $160 to $200 each; others, as "half-breed," at about $125. Of mules, fifty-one were purchased at prices varying from $140 to $200 each, and averaging $158 each &c." In a speech of Hon. L. F. Grover, of Oregon, in the House of Representatives, on this subject, delivered on the 21st February, referring to these purchases made by you, as stated in my report, he says: "This purchase of horses by Lieutenant Withers was made known to the commission at the time of their action on the allowances for horses lost in service which they reported. Lieutenant Withers having been transferred from the Department of the Pacific to the Department of Texas, the commission caused the principal agent who made those purchases to come before them. They took his sworn testimony relative to the value of those animals, and the value of the animals in the volunteer service, with which he was well acquainted. His statements were that these one hundred and eleven horses were generally of an inferior order, that very few of them were of American blood, and were, in some instances, returned worn-out horses from the volunteer service, that as an average lot they were not of one-half the value of those of the first regiment of Oregon mounted volunteers. He further states that none of them were fit for mounting dragoons in the regular service." Governor Stevens, of Washington Territory, in a speech delivered on the same day on this subject, speaking of the facts established before the commission in regard to the horses purchased for the regular service, said: "They were mostly Indian ponies, or horses of Spanish blood, with a few worn-out American horses. They were purchased for the purpose of remounting the dragoons, under an order from General Wool, prohibiting the payment of more than $200 for one horse. They were taken to Vancouver, and every one of them, before a board of regular officers, was condemned as unfit for the purpose for which they were purchased. Not an animal came up to the regulation standard. Not one was fit for cavalry uses. The agents who purchased these horses gave their sworn testimony that the horses purchased for the volunteer service were every one up to the dragoon standard, and that their value was more than double the value in cash of the horses purchased for the regular service." And again: "It matters not that horses at private sale bring from $300 to $500. It matters not that the people are taxed for horses at the same rates. It matters not that all these purchases were made by contract, and that governmental faith is involved. They must all be brought to the bed of Procrustes. Because General Wool bought a few worthless Indian ponies and worn-out American horses for from $80 to $200, every one of which was condemned as unfit for service, therefore, the large, strong-limbed, serviceable and hardy American horses of the volunteers, which were fit for service, which did come up to the regulation standard, which went through long and severe campaigns, living simply on grass, and which enabled the volunteers to strike the hardest blows and achieve the greatest victories over the Indians which were struck and achieved either by volunteers or regulars, are to be paid for at rates from $80 to $200." In the statement I made I simply stated the facts as they appeared in your accounts. I had no means of knowing anything respecting the quality of the horses, further than is indicated in the descriptive remarks which I gave. I did not, however, suppose it possible that "unserviceable," "worn-out," or "worthless" animals would be purchased by an officer of the regular army, for any purpose, or at any price. I was, therefore, very much surprised to see the statements hereinbefore given relative to those purchases, and I have now respectfully to request of you that you will give me, at your earliest convenience, all the information in your possession on this particular point, in addition to that requested in my former letter. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
CAPTAIN JOHN WITHERS,Auditor. San Antonio, Texas. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: By the enclosed series of resolutions, adopted by the
House of
Representatives of the Congress of the United States on the 8th of
February last, I am directed to report to said House, by the first
Monday in December next, the amount due upon the claims of the citizens
of the Territories of Oregon and Washington for expenses incurred in
the suppression of Indian hostilities in the years 1855 and 1856,
according to certain rules therein set forth. The third resolution is
as follows: "No person either in the military or in the civil service
of the United States, or of said Territories, shall be paid for his
services in more than one employment or capacity for the same period of
time, and all such double or triple allowances for pay as appears in
said accounts shall be rejected."Third Auditor's Office, April 4, 1859. I have the honor, therefore, respectfully to request that, as early as may be convenient, you will cause me to be furnished with the names of all persons whatever that held any appointment in said Territories, by or through your department, to which a pecuniary compensation was attached, from the 1st day of October, 1855, to the 31st of December, 1856, the capacity or employment, and the amount of compensation of each. I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
HON. JACOB THOMPSON,Auditor. Secretary of the Interior. A similar letter, same date as the above, was addressed to the following persons: Hon. Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury; Hon. Joseph Holt, Postmaster General; Hon. Howell Cobb, Acting Attorney General. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: Herewith I take the liberty of enclosing two field and
staff rolls
of the volunteers in the Territory of Washington during the Indian
hostilities there in 1855 and 1856. As there were but two regiments in
service, and only one at any one period of time, and neither one
thousand strong, I will be very much obliged if you will, at your
earliest convenience, advise me if said field and staff are in
accordance with the organization of the army of the United States in
time of war, and if not, what would be the recognized field and staff
for such a force according to said organization.Third Auditor's Office, April 6, 1859. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
COLONEL SAMUEL COOPER,Auditor. Adjutant General United States Army. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: Enclosed herewith please find copy of a resolution of the
House of
Representatives, adopted on the eighth of February last, by which I am
instructed to make an examination of the vouchers and papers on file in
this office, connected with claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington
Territories, for expenses incurred in suppressing Indian hostilities in
said Territories in 1855 and 1856, and to report to said House, on the
first Monday of December next, the amount due and allowable for
services, supplies &c., agreeably to certain rules and
principles
prescribed in said resolution.Third Auditor's Office, April 12, 1859. By the first clause of the resolution I am directed to "recognize no company or individual as entitled to pay except such as were called into service by the territorial authorities of Oregon and Washington, or such whose services have been recognized and accepted by said authorities." I respectfully request that you will furnish me, at your earliest convenience, with copies of such orders or other official documents, records of the Territory of Washington, as will enable me to determine what companies were called into the service of the Territory of Washington, or whose services were recognized or accepted by the authorities thereof; showing when called out, or recognized and accepted, and the period of service of each of the said companies. By the third clause of the resolution it is directed that "no person either in the military or in the civil service of the United States, or of said Territories, shall be paid for his services in more than one employment or capacity for the same period of time, and all such double or triple allowances for pay as appears in said accounts shall be rejected." I also request that you will furnish me with the names of all officers or persons in the civil service of said Territory who were engaged in said volunteer service, specifying in each case the position held by such person in the civil service, with the salary or emoluments attached thereto, and the capacity in which such persons were employed or served in said volunteer service. I also invite your attention to the fourth clause of the resolution, and will feel greatly obliged if you will, at your earliest convenience, furnish me with all the information in your possession on that branch of the subject, and with special reference to the following points: 1st. The prevailing prices, for cash, during the last quarter of the year 1855, and the first and second quarters, respectively, of the year 1856, of leading articles of supplies, property &c.--such as horses, mules, oxen, hay, oats, beef, pork, flour, potatoes, sugar and such other articles as were purchased for the use of the service in the localities in which you were situated, or had the means of knowing from personal knowledge. 2nd. The difference, if any, in the price of such articles of property, supplies, merchandise &c., purchased for the volunteer service, or the compensation of persons for services rendered in various capacities in connection therewith; the hire of animals, prices for rents, pasture, transportation &c., as paid for, or agreed to be paid for, in what is termed "scrip," or certificates of indebtedness, and the prices at which such property, supplies, labor &c., could have been obtained at the time if paid for in cash. 3rd. The rate of discount, if any, at which said "scrip," or certificates of indebtedness, sold, or passed from hand to hand, in the transactions of business, during said period; also, whether, in consequence of the clause inserted in said "scrip," or certificates, that payment would only be made "whenever the Congress of the United States shall, by appropriation, provide for the payment thereof," a higher scale of prices did not prevail in the purchase of property, supplies &c., and in the compensation for services, than would have prevailed had payments been made at the time in cash. I would respectfully suggest that files of daily or weekly newspapers, published at the leading commercial points in said Territory, which contain regular prices current for the period embraced in said hostilities, would be useful for reference on the subject, and I request, if you can conveniently procure them, that you will transmit them to me, with your reply to the foregoing. I also transmit a printed copy of my report to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives, at the late session of Congress, on the subject of these claims, and I will thank you, if your duties will permit an examination thereof, that you will communicate to me any information in your possession on any of the points or subject matters of claim therein referred to; also, any information in your possession with reference to branches of the resolution of the House, other than those before referred to, that would throw light upon the subject or aid in arriving at correct conclusions relative thereto, my object in addressing you being to obtain all the information available on the subject. With great respect, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
HON. CHARLES H. MASON,Auditor. Secretary, Washington Territory. A similar letter, same date as above, was addressed to his excellency John Whiteaker, governor of Oregon. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: Enclosed herewith please find copy of a resolution of the
House of
Representatives, adopted on the 8th February last, by which I am
instructed to make an examination of the vouchers and papers on file in
this office connected with claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington
Territories for expenses incurred in suppressing Indian hostilities in
said Territories in 1855 and 1856, and to report to said House, on the
first Monday in December next, the amount due and allowable for
services, supplies &c., agreeably to certain rules and
principles
prescribed in said resolution.Third Auditor's Office, April 12, 1859. I invite your attention to the fourth clause of the resolution, and will feel greatly obliged if you will, at your earliest convenience; furnish me with all the information in your possession on that branch of the subject, and with special reference to the following points: 1. The prevailing prices, for cash, during the last quarter of the year 1855, and the first and second quarters, respectively, of the year 1856, of leading articles of property, supplies &c.--such as horses, mules, oxen, hay, oats, beef, pork, flour, potatoes, sugar and such other articles as were purchased for the use of the service in the localities in which you were situated, or had the means of knowing from personal knowledge. 2. The difference, if any, in the prices of such articles of property, supplies, merchandise &c., purchased for the volunteer service, or the compensation of persons for services rendered in various capacities in connection therewith; the hire of animals; prices for rents, pasture, transportation &c., as paid for, or agreed to be paid for, in what is termed "scrip," or certificates of indebtedness, and the prices at which such property, supplies, labor &c., could have been obtained at the time if paid for in cash. 3. The rate of discount, if any, at which said "scrip," or certificates of indebtedness, sold, or passed from hand to hand, in the transactions of business, during said period, also, whether, in consequence of the clause inserted in said "scrip," or certificates, that payment would only be made "whenever the Congress of the United States shall, by appropriation, provide for the payment" thereof, a higher scale of prices did not prevail in the purchase of property, supplies &c., and in the compensation for services, than would have prevailed had payment been made at the time in cash. I also transmit a printed copy of my report to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives, at the late session of Congress, on the subject of these claims, and I will thank you, if your duties will permit an examination thereof, that you will communicate to me any information in your possession on any of the points or subject matters of claim therein referred to; also, any information in your possession with reference to branches of the resolution of the House, other than those before referred to, that would throw light upon the subject or aid in arriving at correct conclusions relative thereto, my object in addressing you being to obtain all the information available on the subject. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
ANDREW J. THAYER, ESQ.Auditor. United States District Attorney, Salem, Oregon. A similar letter, same date as above, was addressed to Hon. Edward Lander, chief justice United States district court, Olympia, Washington Territory; J. S. M. Van Cleave, Esq., United States district attorney, Olympia, Washington Territory; May 31--F. A. Chenoweth, associate justice; Joel Palmer, late superintendent of Indian affairs, Salem, Oregon; J. W. Nesmith, late superintendent of Indian affairs, Salem, Oregon; E. Geary, superintendent of Indian affairs, Salem, Oregon. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: I have received your letter of the 18th instant, in reply to mine
of the 31st March, and thank you for the information therein contained,
as well as your promptitude in furnishing it.Third Auditor's Office, June 28, 1859. In answer to my inquiry as to the price of horses, you state that "good Indian horses could be purchased at from $25 to $35 each," and I now beg leave to request that you will state the value of American as well as half-breed horses in the localities in which you were situated. Also please state on what description of horses the volunteers were generally mounted--whether Indian, American, or half-breed, and if each description was used by the mounted volunteers, as well as in the transportation of supplies &c., please state in what proportion of each, as nearly as you can. Your early reply will much oblige, very respectfully, your obedient servant, R.
J. ATKINSON,
LIEUTENANT E. J. HARVIE,Auditor. Fort Steilacoom, Steilacoom, Washington Territory. ---- OFFICE
OF ACTING ASSISTANT QUARTERMASTER,
SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
31st of
March, ultimo, enclosing a resolution of the House of Representatives,
touching the Washington and Oregon Indian hostility debt, and in reply
thereto would very respectfully state that I only arrived out in this
Territory in January, 1856, and was not employed in the quartermaster's
service until the middle of the next May, consequently, was on that
duty only about seven weeks of the period referred to by you. However,
though my information may be scant, it shall be reliable.Fort Steilacoom, W.T., May 18, 1859. During the second quarter of 1856 I paid carpenters $4 per day; blacksmiths $100 per month; packers and teamsters $60 per month. Hay, brought from the Willamette Valley and delivered at the Cascades station, at least seventy-five miles, cost $15 per ton, all charges included, and oats in that valley sold for 45 cents to 55 cents per bushel. Good Indian horses could be bought for $25 to $35 each. The fresh beef for issue to the troops cost 12 cents per pound. During the period in question I was stationed at Camp (now Fort) Cascades, Washington Territory, and received the greatest portion of our quartermaster and commissary supplies from the depot at Fort Vancouver, and therefore am not sufficiently versed in the detail of their cost &c., to extend this information. With regard to the relative value of cash and scrip, I can say that labor, materials, provisions or any purchasable commodity, cost twice as much in scrip as it did in cash, or, in general terms, one dollar of the latter was worth two dollars of the former. With my regrets, sir, that the circumstances referred to preclude me from giving you more extended and a greater variety of information upon the subject matter of your letter, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E.
J. HARVIE,
THIRD AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY, First Lieutenant 9th Infantry, A.A.Q.M. Washington City, D.C. ----
CAMP
FLOYD,
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of a
resolution of the House of Representatives adopted on the 8th February,
1859, also a copy of your letter to the chairman of the House Committee
on Military Affairs, on the subject of claims growing out of Indian
hostilities in Oregon and Washington.Utah Territory, May 20, 1859. I regret that it is not in my power to give you much information with reference to these claims, as all my papers, both public and private, relating to them are in the city of New York. I was obliged to leave them behind on account of the limited amount of transportation furnished me at Fort Leavenworth. I can, therefore, merely refer you to my abstracts of purchases and disbursements for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 1856, on file in your office. They will not, however, give you a correct idea of the lowest cash prices prevailing at that time in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, as nearly all my purchases were made on credit, and my packers and teamsters were frequently obliged to sell their certified accounts at a heavy discount. It was the opinion of every officer at Fort Steilacoom that the prices paid or agreed to be paid by the volunteer quartermasters and commissaries in Washington Territory, for supplies and property of all kinds, for hire of clerks, teamsters, packers, ox and mule teams &c., were very exorbitant. There was no one in either the quartermaster or commissary departments who had the slightest idea of his duty. Supplies of all kinds were squandered and wasted in the most shameful manner; rations were issued to persons in no way connected with the volunteer service, together with other abuses too numerous to mention. Regretting that I cannot give you the definite information asked for in your letter of March 31, I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, CHAUNCEY
McKEEVER,
R. J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,First Lieutenant 3rd Artillery. Third Auditor, Washington, D.C. ----
FORT
STEILACOOM,
SIR: Your communication dated March 31, enclosing copy of a
resolution
of the House of Representatives in relation to the war debt of Oregon
and Washington Territories, came duly to hand. In reply thereto I am
sorry to state I have no information on the subject to communicate. I
was not acting in the capacity of either quartermaster or commissary
during any part of the time referred to.Washington Territory, May 20, 1859. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, C.
A. REYNOLDS,
R. J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,Second Lieutenant 9th Infantry. Third Auditor of the Treasury, Washington, D.C. ----
FORT
YAMHILL,
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of a
communication
from the office of the Third Auditor of the Treasury, enclosing
resolutions adopted by the House of Representatives in reference to
claims of citizens of Washington and Oregon Territories in suppressing
Indian hostilities &c &c., and desiring at my earliest
convenience any information I possess in reference thereto.Oregon Territory, May 24, 1859. I have the honor to state that I performed the duties of an assistant quartermaster and commissary to the regular force at Fort Dalles, Oregon Territory, from the commencement of these difficulties in the fall of 1855 to about the 31st of May, 1856, and in such capacity fitted out the different expeditions radiating from that point against the Yakima and other hostile Indians. The country in the vicinity of Fort Dalles, and in fact all that extensive region lying between the Cascades and Rocky Mountains, did not contain then more than twenty or thirty farmers, and of this number not one cultivated the soil to any but a meager extent. A small quantity of oats and hay, together with an amount of garden vegetables sufficient to supply the wants of the little settlement in close contiguity to the post, comprised most of their productions. This whole region is, however, covered throughout with fine grass and well adapted to grazing purposes. Cattle and horses as a consequence were numerous and more than equal to the demand, and in fact constituted the principal wealth of both settler and Indian. Fort Dalles is, however, in easy communication with Fort Vancouver and the Willamette Valley, the whole distance being traversed by steamboats, with the exception of a small portage of three miles at the Cascades. In view of these facts, it was found most economical, and indeed necessary, to procure almost all military supplies from "below," and as a consequence my purchases were extremely limited. The unexpected advent of Indian hostilities, and the rapid concentration of regular troops at the post, made it necessary for me on one or two occasions to purchase a small amount of commissary stores, and at prices necessarily higher than usual. In the absence of my papers I am not able to give you the figures at which these articles were purchased, but a reference to them on file in the Treasury Department will give you the proper information. I may remark here that just before the time that hostilities commenced the people of Oregon and Washington Territories were excited with the news that extensive deposits of gold had been found in the vicinity of Fort Colville, on the upper Columbia, and an extensive emigration to this locality was the consequence. Later accounts were, however, discouraging, and at this point of time hostilities commenced, leaving at the Dalles an unusual number of adventurers and miners without occupation. This fact enabled me to procure any amount of labor at just and reasonable prices. With these explanatory remarks I will proceed to give you (as far as memory serves me) the prices paid for services rendered and articles purchased. Horses.--None were purchased by myself. Lieutenant Macfeely, of the fourth infantry, acting assistant quartermaster and acting assistant commissary of subsistence to Yakima expedition under Major Rains, received his funds and supplies from myself, and upon reference to his papers you will find that the highest price paid by him for a horse, in the fall of 1856, was eighty dollars, the average about sixty. These horses were of the class styled Indian, and constitute about nine-tenths of the whole number in the country. They were fully equal, if not superior, to those used by the volunteers for packing, and, with a few exceptions, not inferior to those used for riding purposes. I may add here that I observed two companies of mounted volunteers to which these remarks in their full extent ought not to apply, viz: Captains Hembree's and Wilson's. These companies struck me as being the best mounted of any in the volunteer service, and contained some fine American horses. Cattle.--No oxen were purchased for transportation purposes, but beef on the hoof, of good quality, was easily procured at ten cents per pound. Mules.--None purchased by myself for want of authority. A few were offered for sale by returning miners at from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty dollars. Pack saddles.--Any number from six to eight dollars each. Had time permitted, could have contracted for them, new, at the last figure, Oats.--Two dollars per bushel. It was found the most economical to obtain this article by requisition upon Vancouver, but owing to the unusual severity and great length of the winter, I was forced to purchase whenever it was possible. The above is the highest price paid. Hay.--Thirty dollars per ton. For the reason given in my explanatory remarks, this article was difficult to obtain, and towards the latter part of the winter the supply was entirely exhausted. The animals not required for garrison use were ranched or pastured by contract, but those kept in stable were often without ''long forage" of any description. During the latter portion of the winter hay could only be procured by obtaining the services of some hundred squaws, who cut the dry grass on the mountains and packed [it] in on their backs. Pasturage.--The government animals were, with the above exceptions, all "ranched or pastured" by contract (services included and accountability secured), at one dollar per head per month. Transportation (steam) from Fort Dalles to Vancouver, forty dollars per ton. Clerk, one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month. Agent, one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month. Carpenters, four dollars and fifty cents per day. Blacksmiths, one hundred dollars per month. Teamsters, sixty dollars per month. Packers, sixty dollars per month. Laborers, sixty dollars per month. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, B.
D. FORSYTHE,
HON. R. J. ATKINSON,First Lieutenant Fourth Infantry. Third Auditor of the Treasury, Washington, D.C. ----
FORT
STEILACOOM,
SIR: Your communication of March 31st, enclosing resolutions
of the
House of Representatives with regard to the war debt of Oregon and the
Territory of Washington, has been received. You call my attention
particularly to the fourth resolution.Washington Territory, May 28, 1859. I was placed in command of the Puget's Sound district in January, 1856. Articles had, I believe, risen to their maximum prices about that time; I have not an exact knowledge of the prices, but am informed by Mr. Goldsborough, who was quartermaster's clerk at the time, that flour was $12 per barrel; hay, $20 per ton; oxen, $150 per pair; mules, $1.25 each; American horses, from $75 to $200 each; oats, from $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel; beef, $35 per barrel; pork, $40 per barrel; potatoes, $1 per bushel; sugar, 16 to 18 cents per pound; rice, 12 to 15 cents per pound. The scrip at first was taken at par, afterwards at fifty per centum discount. I am of the opinion that neither of the resolutions of the House reaches the true merits of the case with regard to this war debt. Before attempting to ascertain the amount of the debt incurred they should have inquired into the necessity of incurring it. The conducting of operations against the hostile Indians of the Puget's Sound district (which included the country between the Cascade Range of mountains and the Pacific, extending south to the Columbia River) was confided to me in January, 1856, by the general commanding the Department of the Pacific. I took the field in February, and by the 10th of March considered the war as closed, as far as offensive operations on the part of the Indians were considered. I requested Governor Stevens, on the 14th of March, 1856, in an official communication, to issue his proclamation calling out two companies of volunteers, to be mustered into the service of the United States, with the organization, pay and allowances of the infantry of the United States army. I stated that I considered these companies, with the seven companies of regulars which were then in my command, amply sufficient for all the purposes required. The governor refused them, choosing to keep up his own organization. I did not consider these companies of volunteers as absolutely necessary, but I requested them to be called out as a matter of expediency, hoping thereby to induce the governor to disband his volunteers, to sustain whom he was contracting heavy debts. I considered them very unnecessary, and in fact they embarrassed me much in my endeavors to pacify the country. Had those companies for whom I made the call been mustered into the service, I should have disbanded them in two months. There has been no offensive warfare carried on or depredations committed (by the Indians of the United States) in the district of Puget's Sound from the 10th of March, 1856, to the present time. I have received the communication addressed by you to the chairman of the Committee of Military Affairs on the subject of the war debt. Many of those accounts are certainly curiosities in their way. I consider all the debts incurred in Washington Territory after the 14th of March, 1856, for the sustainment of the organization maintained by Governor Stevens, as unnecessary. With regard to the Oregon war debt, I cannot speak from personal knowledge. Should Congress, however, in their wisdom, and in view of the hardship which would necessarily attach to many cases where supplies have been furnished and services rendered in good faith, resolve to satisfy these debts, in accordance with the resolutions of February 8, 1859, I trust they will not fail to legislate for the future. No volunteers should be acknowledged for pay unless mustered into the service of the United States by the authority of the President or officers of the army, amenable to his orders. Should the manner in which this war debt has been contracted pass a precedent for the future, government may expect to have their treasuries unnecessarily depleted quite often. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, SILAS
CASEY,
THIRD AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY,Lieutenant Colonel 9th Infantry. Washington, D.C. ----
ST.
LOUIS, MISSOURI, March
29, 1859.
SIR: In answer to your communication of March 19, requiring the
transmission of certain papers, documents &c., connected with
the
claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington Territories, for expenses
incurred in the late Indian hostilities, I have the honor to state that
all papers, documents &c., touching the matter referred to in
your
letter, were left at Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, and, if
preserved, must be in the possession of Captain R. Ingalls, United
States army, one of the commissioners now at that post. I have enclosed
your letters to him with a request that he will make a report
immediately.Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A.
J. SMITH,
R.
J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,Captain 1st Dragoons. Third Auditor of the United States Treasury, Washington, D.C. ----
EAST
LEXINGTON, Mass., May
24, 1859.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter dated
March 31, 1859, relating to claims of certain citizens of Oregon and
Washington Territories, for expenses incurred in suppressing Indian
hostilities in those Territories in 1855 and 1856.I was the regimental quartermaster and acting assistant commissary of subsistence of the 9th infantry in 1856, and during the first and second quarters of that year was stationed part of the time at Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, and part of the time at Fort Dalles, Oregon Territory. My duties, however, did not call upon me to purchase quartermaster or commissary stores, and I therefore would not feel myself competent to say what were the prevailing prices of the leading articles of supply at that time. I think that nearly all of the property and stores purchased for the United States in those Territories at that time were purchased by the quartermaster at Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory. I am entirely ignorant of the prices paid by the Territories for supplies, merchandise &c., for the volunteer service, except from mere rumor, and therefore am not able to give any information of value on the subject. The printed copy of your report to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs on the subject of the above claims was not enclosed in your letter, as indicated. Said report I should be glad to receive, if it is still in your power to send me one. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, JAMES
VAN VOAST,
THIRD AUDITOR, Washington, D.C.First Lieut. 9th Infantry. ----
HEADQUARTERS
9TH INFANTRY,
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication
of the 31st of March, and in answer, beg leave to refer you to the
report of Captain Thomas Jordan, my quartermaster, who is now preparing
a statement of the prices paid by us in 1855 and 1856 for the leading
articles of supplies which you have noticed.Fort Dalles, Oregon, May 29, 1859. I have also received and read your report to the chairman of the Military Committee, House of Representatives. I have no knowledge on any of the points or subject matter therein referred to. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, G.
WRIGHT,
R.
J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,Colonel 9th Infantry. Third Auditor Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. ----
FORT
HOSKINS, Oregon, May
31, 1859.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication
of March 31, together with your report upon the Indian war claims of
Oregon and Washington Territories. I regret I cannot furnish the
information you desire, as at the period of the so-called war I was not
acting either in the quartermaster or commissary departments. The
general impression is that the prices were exorbitant and to the
utmost limit of extravagance.I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J.
K. McCALL,
R.
J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,Second Lieut. 4th Infantry, U.S.A. Auditor Treasury U.S., Washington, D.C. ----
FORT
HOSKINS, Oregon, June
5, 1859.
SIR: In reply to your letter of 31st of March, I have the
honor to
state that I did not report for duty in this department until the
spring of 1857, and consequently have no personal knowledge of matters
pertaining to the Indian war of 1855 and 1856.I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, W.
T. GENTRY,
HON.
R. J. ATKINSON,Second Lieut. 4th Infantry, A.A.Q.M. Third Auditor Treasury Department, Washington. ----
SECRETARY'S
OFFICE,
SIR: Your communication of 12th April last, requesting that I
would
furnish you with copies of official documents and other information
relative to matters connected with the late Indian war in this
Territory, has been received.Olympia, W.T., June 8, 1859. In reply I have to state that it will give me pleasure to comply with your request at as early a period as possible. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, C.
H. MASON,
HON.
R. J. ATKINSON,Secretary Washington Territory. Third Auditor, Washington, City. ----
YOKE
POINT LIGHTHOUSE,
SIR: Yours of the 12th of April has been received. In answer,
I have to
state that I have no information relative to the "claims of citizens of
Oregon and Washington Territories for expenditures incurred in
suppressing Indian hostilities in said Territories &c.," not
already in your possession. As I resided in a part of the Territory
remote from the seat of war, from which no supplies were drawn, and
where but few volunteers were raised, I of course know but little
personally concerning the service. I was not connected in any manner
with the service, nor in any respect interested therein, except as a
citizen of this Territory.Washington Territory, June 18, 1859. In this corner of the Territory we constructed blockhouses in which most of our citizens took refuge during the most dangerous period of the war, but I believe no claims were made out in consequence thereof against the United States. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J.
S. M. VAN CLEAVE
HON. R.
J. ATKINSON, Third Auditor Treasury, Washington, D.C. ----
RIPLEY, Brown County, Ohio, June 27,
1859.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of
March 31, also the accompanying report and resolutions of the House of
Representatives. I regret that your request did not reach me before I
left Washington Territory, where I would have had better opportunities
and more time to furnish you the information you desireI have always considered that the calling out of volunteers and their organization for aggressive warfare in Oregon and Washington Territories during the years of 1855 and 1856 as unnecessary, and that the necessity of the case would have been fully answered by a temporary organization for defense only, at a few exposed points, and the punishment of the Indians left to the properly constituted military authorities. Had this been done, the expense would have been comparatively small, and the country would have suffered but little, for the damage committed by Indians, by direct aggression, is minute compared with the baneful consequences of so great a drain upon the labor and resources of the country, and the demoralization consequent upon the organization of a frontier people into an undisciplined volunteer soldiery. The regular troops, too few at first, were soon sufficiently reinforced for the punishment of the Indians; they would have been able to draw their supplies from the immediate Territory, which would have been paid for in cash out of lawful appropriations, nor would they have been tampered by the often conflicting policy of the volunteer troops, but for their presence. The expenses of the war would have been paid for at the time, the progress of the country scarcely interrupted, and the incubus that has resulted from so extensive a credit system would never have followed. *
* *
Three weeks after entering the field the war was ended on the Sound,
and the commander of the regular troops notified the self-constituted
commander of the volunteers, that he no longer considered the force
called out by him as necessary for the safety of the country.But the volunteers were retained in service for two months morе, employed in enforcing martial law and suppressing the legal tribunals of the country, after which a force of more than two hundred were marched over the mountains, two hundred miles into Oregon, and engaged with some Indians with whom Colonel Wright had concluded a truce. The greater portion of the volunteer force on Puget's Sound was a kind of reserve corps, which remained at home, the men attending to their own affairs, but still organized into companies, of which the number of officers, in some instances, were much out of proportion to the number of privates. In March, 1856, in Washington Territory, all aggression on the part of the Indians ceased, and in May the regular troops considered peace and friendly relations again established. The volunteers were continued in service some months later, and whatever resistance they met from the Indians can only be regarded as self-defense on their part. There is no doubt but what the volunteers would have still been continued in service had not the credit system, on which their organization depended, failed and compelled them to withdraw. In Southern Oregon the volunteers were only withdrawn after the removal of all the hostile Indians from their country to the reservation on the West. The credit system unquestionably advanced the price of all articles of supply far beyond the cash prices of the country. Many good men gave their produce at cash prices, but the amount was greatly insufficient to supply the wants of the volunteers, and the balance necessary had to be obtained from sharp traders, at whatever prices they chose to demand. Justice requires that these good people, who furnished supplies at moderate prices, in good faith, under the impression that the authorities had a right to institute such a state of affairs, should be paid, but the payment should be so qualified that no future governor of a State or Territory would be entitled to it as a precedent for incurring like expenses. I was not on duty as quartermaster or commissary during the war until the 1st of July, 1856, but I paid the greater portion of the expenses incurred by my predecessors. Many horses were purchased, ranging in price from $50 to $200. Two of the best American horses in the country were purchased at the last-mentioned price. The average price of the common horses of the country, and such as were mostly in use by the volunteers on Puget's Sound, was from $70 to $80. In October, 1855, twenty-one horses were purchased of William F. Folmer at $75 each, and in February, 1856, nine more at the same price. In February, 1856, twenty horses were purchased of O. Cushman at $125 each. This difference of price was owing not so much to the difference in the quality of the horses as to the fact that they were purchased on credit by Cushman, who was authorized to procure them for the quartermaster's department. The highest price paid for mules was $175, the lowest $119. The highest price paid for oxen, $200 per yoke, the lowest $180. Hay, there was none in the country, as the grazing was good all winter. I purchased all the hay necessary in July, 1856, by offering $20 per ton. Oats I obtained at the same time by offering $1 per bushel. Oats were purchased at the commencement of the war at 75 cents per bushel. The highest price paid, in one or two cases, was $2, and $1.25 and $1.50 was a common price during the war. When I entered upon the duties of commissary, in July, 1856, the contract price of beef was 17 cents. In August following a new contract was made at 16 cents. In the summer of 1856 I could have made a contract to supply the troops with bacon at 18 cents per pound, but considered it extravagant. I purchased flour in the third quarter of 1856 at $10 per barrel. The price during the war did not exceed $12. Potatoes varied in price from 50 cents to $1 per bushel in 1855 and 1856. Sugar about 12 cents per pound. The commissary prices of provisions, as sold to officers, is a fair average of the cash prices of the traders at the time. It must be remembered, however, that during the winter of 1855 and 1856 all purchases in the quartermaster's department at Fort Steilacoom were made on credit. The price of laborers was $2 and $3 per day. The quartermaster paid from $4 to $12 per day for teamsters with their teams, the price varying according to the number of animals in the team; they were employed, however, only for short periods; the average price was $6 and $8 for a man and two yoke of oxen and a wagon. Transportation on the Sound varied from $6 to $8 per ton, and the hire of Indians was uniformly $1 per day and subsistence. I have thus given the prices actually paid in the regular service at the time, which were always the highest cash prices, because the best service was always required. What the difference was between these prices and those paid in scrip, I have no means of knowing. I only know that the prices increased as the war continued, and when the difference in the prices was alluded to, it was remarked that some time would elapse before the scrip would be paid, and charges would be made accordingly. The system of accountability of public property was not understood, and of course was not acted upon. Where I witnessed issues, no system or rule seemed to be followed, and only the whim or wish of the receiver seemed to be considered. I have confined myself to personal knowledge in my statements, and they are founded entirely on my own experience. I have not been influenced by personal prejudice or private interest; my pecuniary interests would perhaps be advanced by the speedy and unqualified payment of the war debt. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, AUGUST
V. KAUTZ,
HON. ROBT.
J. ATKINSON, First Lieutenant Fourth Infantry, United States Army. Third Auditor, Washington, D.C. ----
ASSISTANT
QUARTERMASTER'S OFFICE,
SIR: In reply to your letter asking information as to certain
prices
for subsistence, stores, grain, labor &c., during the Indian
hostilities in this section of the country in 1855-'6,1 have
respectfully to state that I was not then in this part of the country,
but doing duty in southern California, consequently am unable from my
papers to give you any data on the subject.Fort Walla Walla, W.T., June 29, 1859. My absence, establishing a depot of supply for the northwest boundary commission, will be a sufficient apology for not having answered your letter at an earlier date. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant. R.
W. KIRKHAM,
HON. R.
J. ATKINSON, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster. Third Auditor, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. ----
HEADQUARTERS
OF THE EAST,
SIR: Agreeably to your request of the 31st March, 1859, and
repeated
the 7th instant, I have the honor to present my views, with such facts
as are in my possession, relating to the Indian war claims of Oregon
and Washington Territories, referred to in your communication to the
chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, dated the 10th January,
1859, and the report of the three commissioners "on war claims of
Oregon and Washington Territories," transmitted the 23rd January, 1859,
by the Secretary of War to the President of the Senate.Troy, July 15, 1859. These claims, by the report of the commissioners, amount to nearly six millions of dollars, viz: for Oregon, $4,449,949, and for Washington, $1,481,475, to which, no doubt, will be presented hereafter, for losses of property destroyed by Indians, claims amounting to one or more millions. *
* *
Major Haller having been driven back by the Yakimas, Major Rains, in
consequence of the excitement of the whites, and apprehensive of the
Yakimas, called on Governor Curry for four companies of militia or
volunteers, and on the acting governor of Washington Territory for two
companies. The acting governor of Washington Territory promptly
responded to the call. Governor Curry, of Oregon, responded so far to
the call as to send one company, October 13, 1855, to Major Rains,
United States army, at Vancouver, which were to have been mustered into
the United States service on the following day. In the meantime, as
appears from Governor Curry's letter to Captain Wilson, October 13,
1855, he decided in conference with Colonel Nesmith and General Barnum
not to put the militia or volunteers under the command of United States
officers, but to form an independent organization, to be under the
direction of territorial officers, and, consequently, gave the
following directions to Captain Wilson, viz: "The result of a
conference held this evening with Generals Nesmith and Barnum, and
others of our friends, has induced me to call your attention to the
instructions I gave you this afternoon. You will bear distinctly in
mind that your command you will not suffer to be mustered into the
United States service." Instead of the four companies, as called for by
Major Rains, Governor Curry issued his proclamation calling for eight
companies of mounted volunteers, which, according to General Barnum's
report of January 18, 1856, were raised and mustered, consisting of ten
companies, numbering seven hundred and ninety-six, called the first
regiment, and commanded by Colonel Nesmith. On the 15th October,
Governor Curry issued another proclamation calling for five additional
companies of mounted volunteers, as mustered by General Lamerick,
numbering four hundred and seventy-eight men, to constitute the
northern battalion, and four companies of mounted volunteers, as
mustered by General Lamerick, numbering three hundred and eighty-seven
men, to constitute the southern battalion. These, including two
companies not embraced in his first proclamation, with one company,
commanded by Captain Gordon, not mustered, constituted all the troops
known to me as having been called for by proclamation, and mentioned in
dispatches, making the entire volunteer force of Oregon as follows:
first regiment, including two companies not called for by proclamation,
796; northern battalion, 478; southern battalion, 387. Total Oregon
force, as called for, including two companies of first regiment, not
embraced in Governor Curry's proclamation, l,661, and including the
company of Captain Gordon, not mustered, 1,736. Of this force, not to
exceed four hundred is known to me, from any information derived from
regular officers, or from the correspondence or reports of the
volunteers, as having been engaged in repelling or repressing Indian
hostilities in the Territory of Oregon. Of the first regiment, five
companies, all mounted, under Colonel Nesmith, accompanied Major Rains
in his expedition against the Yakima Indians. The colonel reports,
November 19, 1855, that he commenced his march on the 3rd of November,
and returned with his command, as he says, exhausted, to the Dalles the
19th of November, having been engaged in going to the Yakima country
and returning, sixteen days. It would appear by a letter of Colonel
Nesmith, dated the 22nd of November, that, on an inspection, only one
fourth of the whole number of his horses "were found fitted for present
duty." He further says that "the
five companies
which accompanied him to the Yakima are still at Camp Klickitat trying
to recruit their horses," "and that about one-half of the men composing
the whole command desire their discharge." He further states that he
had "given a few discharges upon the written report of the surgeon,
stating that the men were unfit for duty." He "also granted furloughs
to a few of the men, who have urgent business requiring their personal
attention, for short periods." He "anxiously awaited orders for the
disposition of the remainder of the command." On the 26th of November,
1855, the colonel informed Governor Curry that he had "assumed the
responsibility of discharging about one hundred and twenty-five men
from his regiment." He further says, "that the greater portion
discharged were from the companies of Captains Cornelius, Hembree, and
Bennett."*
* *
The loss
of the horses, I presume, was not
less expected than desired by those who furnished them, as they were
appraised at double and treble their value.Thus ended an expedition without the slightest advantage to anyone save speculators who purchased the scrip given in payment for supplies and transportation, as low as ten, twelve, fifteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty, and twenty-five cents on the dollar. Some was sold for the rent of buildings at the Dalles for thirty-seven and a half cents on the dollar, which the owner, I believe, considered ample compensation One person informed me that he had purchased sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) of the scrip at seventeen cents on the dollar. He thought the whole amount sold would not exceed the average of twenty or twenty-five cents on the dollar. *
* *
First regiment, six companies, commanded by Colonel Nesmith, commenced
the march to the Yakima country the 3rd of November and returned the
19th, having been sixteen days employed. Those six companies were
reported to be as follows:Summary
of the number of volunteers reported to be engaged in the expedition to
the Yakima country and the expedition to Walla Walla.
This would leave of the above companies three hundred and sixty-eight rank and file. The colonel says that the greater portion of the number were discharged from the companies of Captains Cornelius, Hembree and Bennett. The companies ordered upon the expedition to Walla Walla, seven in number, rank and file of about four hundred and fifty-three, after deducting from Captains Cornelius, Hembree and Bennett's companies one hundred men discharged by Colonel Nesmith, being the greater proportion of one hundred and twenty-five, see as follows: from E. M. Barnum's, adjutant general, report of January 18, 1856, it appears that the first regiment was organized in October, 1855, as follows, viz:
Of this number the colonel says, November 26 he discharged 125, leaving in service 368, reducing the regiment to 671, rank and file. Of this number about 475 were sent against the Walla Walla Indians, as reported by Colonel Nesmith, the 28th of November. In a letter dated the 30th November, to Governor Curry, the colonel says: "I have taken the liberty of discharging one hundred and fifty men." Part of these were discharged, he says, on surgeons' certificates, while a large portion of them were discharged on account of the exhausted condition of their horses, and the impossibility of remounting them. These discharges (with the previous discharges, 125) reduced the first regiment on the 20th November, according to Colonel Nesmith's letter, to five hundred and twenty-one, rank and file, most of which were sent to the Walla Walla country, and, after spending the winter, returned in the spring to the Dalles. In relation to the northern and southern battalions, reported January 12, 1856, by John K. Lamerick, mustering officer, to E. M. Barnum, adjutant general, amounting to eight hundred and sixty-five, rank and file, I am unable to give an account of their operations or verify their numbers, except from Major Martin's report to E. M. Barnum, December 10, 1855, in which he states that Captain Smith, U.S.A., was associated with his command at the battle of Grave Creek Hills. In another part of his report the major reports the volunteers, four hundred strong, cooperating with Captain Judah at the Meadows. O. D. Hoxie, adjutant, southern battalion, reports to E. M. Barnum, adjutant general, December 12, 1855, that the force with Captain Judah was three hundred and eighty-six. These are the only instances where I can find that volunteers operated with the regular army. *
* *
Throughout all the papers in my possession the company of mounted men
under Captain Creighton, at Fort Orford, and Captain Harris, at Coos
Bay, as well as all those seen in your statement under the head of
"recruiting battalion" and "not attached," are not mentioned, and are
unknown to me.Washington Territory.
The first call for volunteers in Washington Territory appears in the
governor's annual message of December 7, 1855, in which Acting Governor
Mason says twelve companies have been raised, amounting in all to
upwards of seven hundred men.Of these, five hundred were mounted. Governor Stevens' proclamation of January 23, 1856, calls for six companies of volunteers, to consist of sixty men each, and again, by proclamation of August 2, 1856, for two companies. Colonel Casey, U.S.A., commanding Puget's Sound district, reported to me, May 19, 1856: "So far as the Indians on this side are concerned the contest is about ended, and should no considerable reinforcements be received, will soon die out. It may however be prolonged by a military territorial organization existing in this Territory, over which I have no control." He also notified Governor Stevens, June 20,1856, "that he did not consider the services of any volunteers as having been necessary for more than two months past." The six companies called for by Governor Stevens, and the twelve previously raised by Acting Governor Mason, would make the volunteer force of that Territory consist of eighteen companies, ten hundred and sixty strong. This does not include the last two companies called for August 2, 1856, for I cannot believe in the absence of positive information that they were mustered into the service, and certainly they were not required at that time, as appears from Colonel Casey's remarks quoted above. This will be found to correspond with your statement for February in regard to the number of companies--eighteen--but exceeds the number of men there given by three hundred and sixty. Adjutant General Tilton, in his estimate of pay for six months ending September 1, 1856, approved by Governor Stevens, reports the strength of the volunteer force nine hundred and fifty-seven. This number again conflicts with the statement in Governor Stevens' letter to the New York Tribune of October 27, 1856, in which he says: "We have in the Sound twelve thousand warriors, and less than seven hundred able-bodied white men." Also, when he states "that the expenses of the volunteers have been one hundred thousand dollars per month for the past three months, but that it will now be one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, as the force will be seven hundred strong." And again, in instructions to Captain Percival, who was sent to purchase supplies in San Francisco, he says: "These troops are enlisted for six months, and number about seven hundred." From all which it will be perceived that the volunteer force in that Territory, from official reports, did not exceed ten hundred and sixty, rank and file, from December, 1855, to August, 1856, and, from Governor Stevens' statements, did not exceed seven hundred men. From the official reports of officers of the army serving in Puget's Sound district, I do not find that any volunteers, other than those mentioned in my previous communications, and recommended favorably to government, have been mentioned: they were Captains Hays, Wallace, Henness, and Hewett's companies on Puget's Sound,and Captain Newell, in the aggregate thirty-five, and Captain Strong, in the aggregate sixty-two, on Columbia River. In regard to the number of hostiles in that section, Captain Keyes, United States army, reported, March 1, 1856, from the best authority, that they did not exceed two hundred, and Colonel Casey stated the same number in his official reports--a number that would not seem to justify Governor Stevens' call for so many volunteer troops, to act independent of the United States troops. In regard to the prices paid for supplies &c., by the volunteers, I am not in possession of any data that will enable me to arrive at any just conclusion. To judge, however, correctly of what ought to have been paid in each case, including the cost of transportation, reference ought to be made to the accounts of quartermasters and commissaries in Washington and Oregon previous to the commencement of the war, or previous to October, 1855. After the war commenced, the amount on account of volunteers, in general, I believe, was paid for in scrip, and consequently without regard to the cost. It was considered a "godsend," and the most exorbitant prices for everything required for the use of the volunteers were demanded. In many cases the amounts furnished and prices charged appeared to be fabulous, and bear on their face fraud and deception. The regular army were compelled, in some cases, to conform to these prices, which ought not to govern in fixing the amount to be allowed on account of the volunteers. In the final disposition of the property, it appears that the terms of the sale were cash.Never was money scarcer in that Territory than at that time, and consequently many who had furnished cattle, horses and merchandise of every description, and received payment therefor in scrip, were unable to redeem their property, which many an honest man, who, too late, had discovered the frauds and speculations, was anxious and willing to do, but this was not in accordance with their schemes, and, as usual, purchases were made by speculators and moneyed men, as you state, at much reduced rates. This cannot but be regarded as another species of speculation by which the government has been defrauded and honest men cheated of their just dues. The enclosed slips will explain the matter more fully. In your letter you also call attention to the fact that many of the companies in Washington Territory appear to have been raised, enrolled, and are believed to have remained during the whole term of service at the place of enrollment, among which you recite McCorkle's, at Monticello, on Cowlitz River; Plummer's,at Fort Townsend; Ebey's, at Whidbey's Island, and Warbuss', at Cowlitz Landing, on Cowlitz River. All these places I believe to be without the sphere of operations, and I have yet to learn that they were at any time visited by hostiles, or in fear of it. On the contrary, Whidbey's Island was the place where many of the friendly Indians living on the east side of the Sound were taken, fed and cared for by an Indian agent. At no time did hostilities connected with this war occur on the west side of the Sound, and while at Steilacoom I was informed that as long as the friendly Indians could be kept there and at Whidbey's Island, no fears were entertained of an attack or desertion of the friendly Indians to the hostiles. In conclusion, I would observe that in order to arrive at just conclusions in regard to the character and object of the volunteer service during the Indian war of 1855 and 1856 in Oregon and Washington Territories, it will only be necessary to examine the vouchers and prices paid for every species of service and all articles required for the use of the volunteers. On examination, it will be discovered why the two governors would not allow volunteers to be commanded by officers of the United States army. To me it is indeed surprising that such vouchers and such prices as were paid for horses, cattle, wagons, saddles, bridles, harness, shoes, boots and other clothing, oats, wheat, barley, corn, forage, stabling, pasturage, transportation of supplies, coffee, sugar, repairs, rent of buildings, ferriage, hire of persons, clerks and laborers &c., as exhibited in your report to the chairman of the Military Committee of the House of Representatives, should have been for a single moment entertained. It is true the people have suffered, and what have they gained? Nothing but scrip, which has been sold from ten to twenty-five cents in the dollar. (See Captain Crane's Memoir on the Oregon War, from pages 138 to 187, and for the war in Washington Territory from pages 308 to 418).. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN
E. WOOL, Major General.
R. J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,Third Auditor, Washington, D.C. ----
OFFICE
SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS,
SIR: Your letter of the 12th of April, enclosing copy of the
resolution
of the House of Representatives adopted on the 8th of February last,
also "Executive document No. 51, letter from Third Auditor" "on subject
of claims growing out of Indian hostilities in Oregon and Washington,"
are received at this office.Portland, Oregon, July 22, 1859. As early and full attention to the subjects of your inquiries as the pressing duties of my office will permit will be given, and the result communicated. Truly and respectfully, your obedient servant, EDWARD
R. GEARY,
R. J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Third Auditor, Washington, D.C. ----
TUSCALOOSA,
Alabama, August 4,
1859.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of
March 31, 1859, enclosing a resolution of the House of Representatives,
asking for certain information in regard to expenditures in Oregon and
Washington Territories, and also of your letter of April 1, 1859, on
the same subject.In reply, I have respectfully to say that the statements made in your letter of January 10, 1859, addressed to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, were eminently true. I received from a member of Congress, in February last, a copy of that letter, and, after examining it, was astonished to see such correct conclusions drawn by anyone who had not been in Oregon during the period alluded to. With reference to the statement of the Hon. Mr. Grover, of Oregon, I have to say that I am utterly ignorant of the person to whom he alludes as "the principal agent," who is represented as having purchased horses for me in 1855 and 1856. Most of the horses were purchased by myself at Fort Vancouver, and the remainder were purchased, to the best of my recollection, by my clerk, Mr. C. A. Eastman, and Mr. Lloyd J. Brooke, neither of whom, I am sure, could, by any possibility, have made the statements quoted by Mr. Grover. The horses purchased were the very best that could be procured at that time, and some of them were the finest horses in the country. They were purchased in lots, so as to keep the average price below two hundred dollars; some were, of course, not of the first quality. They were accordingly designated in my descriptive remarks as "Spanish," "American," &c., &c. In regard to the extravagant statements of the Hon. I. I. Stevens, of Washington Territory, I have merely to say that they are most unfair and untrue representations. And what he has said of the miserable quality of "ponies" purchased by me, as well as the superior quality of "horses" purchased for the volunteer service, are alike far from the truthful state of the case. As a general thing, during the disturbances in Oregon and Washington Territories purchases were made by myself and other disbursing officers of the regular army without cash, but, on the faith of the government, for one-half of what was paid in scrip by the volunteer agent. The particulars are fully set forth in the exhibit made in your letter above alluded to. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN
WITHERS,
HON R. J. ATKINSON,Assistant Adjutant General. Third Auditor U.S. Treasury, Washington City, D.C. ----
PHILADELPHIA,
August 29, 1859.
SIR: It has not been possible for me to reply to your letter of March
31, 1859, before this date, without postponing the necessary duties of
the current business upon which I am officially engaged.You request information from me in relation to the 4th clause of the resolution of the House of Representatives, February 8, 1859, requiring you to make an examination and report relative to claims of the citizens of Oregon and Washington for expenses incurred in 1855-'56 in repelling Indian hostilities. In reply to this part of your letter, I shall confine myself to the points enumerated by you, and upon which you ask information. In the last quarter of 1855, and first and second quarters of 1856, mules, I have no doubt, could have been purchased in the localities of the outfitting of the volunteers for $125 each. A horse and mule dealer sought, through me, the opportunity of furnishing good working mules, as he said, at that price, and horses from $80 to $125, suitable for military service. I asked this dealer where he would obtain the animals. His reply was that he could pick up any number that might be required in Oregon, and that if he could obtain the contract for furnishing them, he could make a very handsome profit out of it at these prices. This was at Portland, Oregon, where he said he would deliver the animals. Subsequently I was a passenger, returning from one of the fields of war in company with a large number of mounted volunteers. I examined their horses, and priced several of as good quality as any in the service. Their prices ranged from $70 to $100, and these, they informed me, were the cash values when they entered the service. This was on the Columbia River, in November, 1855. I knew of one case, not of the above-mentioned companies, however, in which a volunteer officer told me he paid $150 for an extraordinarily good horse. I saw this animal, and considered it worth the money; it was a fine American mare. This was the highest price I heard as having been paid in hard money for a horse during the whole time of the wars in question, for military use. I am of the opinion that an average price of $125, in hard money, would have been a full compensation for the horses furnished by the volunteers for themselves as they entered the service. But as the scrip was soon rated as low as 37½ cents on the dollar, sales of horses at this average of $125 in hard money, if paid for in scrip, came up to nominally $333⅓ in such scrip, and mules about the same, and just as much higher in proportion as the scrip fell below 37½ cents on the dollar. Oats were worth in the beginning of the war (autumn of 1855), in the localities of the outfit of the volunteers who went up the Columbia River, fifty cents per bushel. They were abundant and of excellent quality that season. I obtained this information from those who raised and sold oats. But in proportion as the demand increased and the supply diminished the prices increased, but the price was limited during the whole war by the expedient resorted to by the chief United States quartermaster (Major Cross), who, foreseeing the upward tendency of prices of forage, sent to San Francisco for supplies, and thus put a stop to extravagant demands for this kind of grain, so that, as near as I can recollect, the price was kept below one hundred cents per bushel, delivered at and in the vicinity of Portland. The amount of waste of oats and other forage by the volunteers was enormous, arising from the want of organization and official responsibility in their agents for issuing forage. Indeed, I witnessed one command of volunteers whose privates, as occasion required, went to the deposits of forage, helped themselves, pouring bag after bag of the oats upon the ground for their horses to eat ad libitum. I have not the slightest doubt that thirty per centum of all the forage purchased for volunteers was wasted, not from any necessity of the case, but from the absence of responsible agents for issuing. As regards potatoes, they were so abundant in the fall of 1855, at the time of the volunteers being organized, and the price so low, that this article did not bear being sent to market out of Oregon or Washington to any amount. So plentiful were they that hundreds and hundreds of bushels laid in heaps at several points on the Columbia River, and rotted, from there being no demand at all adequate to the supply to induce shipment. As to the price of working oxen, if I recollect rightly, they were worth from $125, $150, to $175 a yoke. (Refer to Lieutenant Derby's accounts on the construction of roads in Oregon, 1855, and probably you will see the prices for the best quality.) As regards the prices of beef and pork (salted), the best criteria would be the prices paid by the United States commissary in those localities, so in reference to flour. But you will observe that the volunteers subsisted themselves, as far as meat was used, mostly upon beef cattle, such as they found in the herds on their way, belonging to the Indians, and to an occasional stock-grower. I knew of one stock-grower, from whose herds they took very many beeves, who, in a conversation with him on the subject, informed me that $27 to $35 a head would have been a fair price to him for them at the time they appropriated his cattle, but that they took his property without leave, and never paid him at all. I here state a fact which would go far towards giving you a correct idea of what would be just in arranging a tariff of prices for almost all articles used by the volunteers. At Portland, Oregon, after they had taken the field, in conversation with one of the first merchants there, I made the remark that "I presumed the war had increased the profits of his sales materially." His reply was, "not in the least; on the contrary, it has considerably diminished our profits." How so? I asked. His explanation was "that prices for money were no higher during the war than before, and most of the merchants, owing to the stagnation of the regular current business, would sell for cash a little lower. It was only those who sold and took scrip for pay on speculation, or who sold on credit, with a promise to be paid, provided Congress should appropriate, that gave the idea to the uninitiated that prices had advanced." And this proved to be true in all that I purchased for myself--not much, it is true. I found that boots, blankets &c. &c., all that a person wanted in the field, were no higher for cash than if no war had existed. Therefore, see by the quartermaster's and commissary's accounts the purchases made by the United States at Portland, Steilacoom, Olympia and Fort Dalles, of articles, including provisions, in 1855, previous to and during the war, and in 1856, and you will have just criteria to go by in arranging a fair tariff of cash (not scrip) prices during the war, for those places were the centers of business, where the outfits were made for the volunteers in Northern Oregon and in Washington Territory. As regards the price of hay, it is difficult for me to recall the value of this article, but it is to be observed that very little was consumed by the horses of volunteers on the march. In the field dependence was placed upon finding grass for the animals. I do not believe that one hundred tons of hay were consumed by all the horses of the volunteers in any expedition they went upon. And as to a charge being made for pasturage, except, possibly, in a few special cases where animals may have been herded, to one acquainted with field operations in that country the idea is laughable. I doubt if a dollar was ever paid by a volunteer, or a promise to pay was ever made, for pasturage in a country where the whole land was one extended common. Twenty-five cents per day for pasturing an animal was more than it was worth at any time, in any place, in cash (not in scrip). Now, as regards transportation. This is a matter which, with proper care in obtaining data, may undoubtedly be approximated to with considerable justice, though attended with great labor. Had I time I believe I could arrive at a pretty fair valuation of the money cost of all the transportation that was necessary for the volunteers in all and every one of the expeditions, but I can only, in such a communication as this must necessarily be, give you some general data that will be of service to you in your investigations on this important point. The supplies that were transported for the volunteers in the Columbia River field of operations were taken from Portland, Oregon, as the center of business, to Fort Dalles, by water (steam navigation), making one portage only, and that at the Cascades. From Fort Dalles they had to be taken in wagons, principally, to the Walla Walla country, but not much beyond there in wagons, but beyond there by pack animals, again from Fort Dalles, northerly, by pack animals, to Fort Simcoe, as it is now called, in a direct line not over seventy miles. At the time, and after the volunteer expeditions commenced in those directions, the price for transportation from Fort Vancouver, or from Portland, to Fort Dalles was forty dollars per ton, including the carrying across the portage of the Cascades. From Fort Dalles, by wagon road, say to Whitman Mission, in the valley of the Walla Walla, it is about 164 miles. Over this the volunteers had to transport by wagons, and a six-mule team would be about ten days performing the journey with a load of 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of supplies in a wagon, one teamster at each team, at two dollars per day and subsistence furnished him. In a direction north of Fort Dalles the distance out and in over which the volunteers marched into the Yakima country in October and November, 1855, was estimated to be 300 miles, and the transportation was by pack animals, two dollars per day and subsistence was the wages of a packer, and a few who may have been styled chief or head packers were worth three dollars per day with subsistence. There is given a history of the organization of the several volunteer commands in a document written by me, styled "Military Topographical Memoir and Report, with maps, on the United States Military Department of the Pacific. By Thomas Jefferson Cram, Captain Corps Topographical Engineers, Chief Topographical Engineers Department Pacific. 1855-'56-'57." One copy of this original manuscript is in the Bureau of Topographical Engineers, at Washington, and another is or was filed in the office of Pacific Railroad Surveys, at Washington. In chapter VI you will find how and when these volunteers were called into service, and their operations in Southern Oregon, with a map to aid you in finding how far they marched, and consequently data upon which to compute the value of transportation (Rogue River war of 1855). In chapter IX you may find how the volunteers were called into service and organized for operations in Northern Oregon and Washington Territory; the history of their marches, operations, service &c., with maps to help you to follow their movements. You will observe that the history is made up, in all important essentials, from the official reports of the governors of the two Territories, and from the official reports of the volunteer officers; these reports having, previously to my making use of them, been printed, in every case from which I have quoted, by Congress. *
* *
There is
another part of your letter which is to be answered, and that relates
to the difference of prices paid for articles in scrip and in money. As
soon as it (the scrip) began to be issued its value began to fall below
its nominal rate, as compared with money, and of course all articles
paid for in scrip ascended in price in the same proportion. It was not
long after a large amount had been issued before it fell to
37½ cents
on the dollar, and by the time the war was over, and before, indeed, an
agent told me he had several thousand dollars to sell at 12½
cents, in
San Francisco, with which he was endeavoring to purchase supplies for
the volunteers who were to go into the field in the summer of 1856. As
near as I could estimate, the average amount of the value of the scrip,
as it passed from the hands of those to whom it was issued until it
became lodged in the hands of the speculators, was not over 30 cents on
the dollar; others placed it at 18¾ cents, but this would be
more
correct as the average during the times of the latter half of the
issues. If, therefore, a horse was purchased for $400 in scrip, his
cash value would be $120, and if sold at the end of the expedition for
$156, its real money value would be $46.80.At and after the close of the war the scrip was not worth more than 12½ cents, and a horse bringing $406 in scrip, or to be credited against an issue of scrip to the amount of $406, would only be worth $50 in money. The present holders of probably three-quarters of the whole amount of the scrip issued by both Territories on account of those expeditions of the volunteers have paid in money not over 18¾ cents on the dollar, and a large amount, it was believed on excellent authority, was purchased at ten cents on the dollar. It will undoubtedly be for the interest of the present holders of the scrip to press hard upon Congress to make the appropriations asked for, with a view to the ultimate redemption of this scrip at its par valuation. You invite my attention to the report which you made to the Committee on Military Affairs in the House of Representatives at the late session of Congress on the subject of these claims, and request any information I may be able to furnish on any of the points or subject matter of claims therein referred to. In answer to this part of your letter, I would refer you to my "memoir and report," already called to your attention. A careful perusal of that would give you many very important facts bearing on the subject matter, especially as to the question of necessity of the calling out of these volunteers, upon the refusal of all the Oregon volunteers to serve under United States officers, and of the number called for by the United States commanding officer in the district of threatened hostilities, and of the nature and amount of service rendered by the volunteers &c. &c., called into service by the governors of the Territories. You also request information from me that may be in my possession calculated to throw light on the clauses of said resolution of the House of Representatives other than those particularly referred to in your letter. In reply to this, I would call your attention to the first clause, which seems to exclude all volunteers other than those called into service by the territorial authorities of Oregon and Washington. The United States commanding officer of the district called for four companies of mounted volunteers from Oregon, and two companies from Washington, 9th October, 1855. The former were refused by the governor of Oregon. The two companies, however, from Washington, promptly responded to the call, and served faithfully. Now, if clause first of the said resolution should be so construed as to deprive these two companies from any benefit that may arise from your examination, and report that is to be, it would be manifestly unjust to these companies. It was not until the 16th of October, although within a few hours of each other, that the governor of Oregon answered the call of the United States officer in command of the district, and then it was that the said governor declared his intention to call into the field a regiment of mounted volunteers, under the command of a brigadier general of Oregon militia &c. &c., to serve independently of the United States. Whatever may be the opinion as to the question whether there was a necessity even for the call of the United States commanding officer, still, as the companies from Washington came at his bidding, it would seem that it would be unjust to exclude their claims from a proper consideration. I am, very respectfully and truly, your obedient servant, T.
J. CRAM,
HON. R. J. ATKINSON, Auditor.Captain U.S. Topographical Engineers. ----
FORT
VANCOUVER, W.T., August
5, 1859.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of 30th
June, enclosing a copy of the letter you addressed to me on the 19th of
last March, asking "to have certain papers, documents &c.,
connected with the claims of citizens of Oregon and Washington
Territories for expenses incurred in the late Indian hostilities," and
which papers you presume are in the hands of the commission, "put up
and sent to your address."I deem it due to remark here that your letter of the 19th of March was duly received, but as Captain Smith and Mr. Grover, two members of the late commission, were absent from the coast, I thought it advisable to wait until I could confer with one or both of them, though I knew they held no retained papers touching the action of the commission on the war claims. I was of the opinion that by waiting a reasonable time I might be able to give you a more satisfactory reply than by answering at once. I beg you will excuse the delay. The commission retained no papers or proofs which are of an official character, or on which action was taken. I hold here only a kind of journal of sessions of the commission in brief, which contains copies of letters and reports, minutes of adjournment and reassembling. There is nothing in my possession of the character you require. The sworn statements referred to in the report of the commission going to justify the use and expenditure of the public property in Washington Territory were forwarded with the other papers of the commission, and are now with them in your office. As to the prices current established by the commission for the principal points in both Territories where supplies were mainly purchased, I have to observe that they were arranged and arrived at, as set forth in the report, upon "the statements and testimony of the most competent witnesses." The statements referred to consisted of written communications from the most reliable merchants and business men of standing living at the various localities in the two Territories, and of as disinterested a character as possible, but being of an informal nature, and forming no legitimate part of the necessary record, were not preserved. The testimony taken by the commission on rates to be allowed for property, service &c., was oral, and from witnesses brought before the commission in person. But it must be remarked that the commission acted, perhaps, principally upon the intimate knowledge possessed by its members, obtained by a long residence on the northwest coast, and by much actual experience in the conduct of public business for a series of years within the field of operations of the late Indian war in Oregon and Washington. I was myself a spectator of the operations of the volunteer service during the period in question, and had charge of purchasing and transporting many, if not most, of the supplies for the regular forces engaged in suppressing these same Indian hostilities. I considered that my position enabled me to decide, so far as I was concerned and so far as my influence could be felt, what rates should be allowed for property bought and services rendered, without particular reference to other parties, and I would very respectfully place on record here that, aside from the question of the necessity for calling out the volunteers on that occasion, a question with which the commission had nothing to do, neither were the amount of supplies purchased excessive nor the rates allowed by the commission exorbitant in my opinion. The necessity that existed for calling out the volunteers seems to have been conceded by the highest authority. As stated in the report, "in this department of its duty, the commission paid what was deemed to be a due regard to the condition of the country and the circumstances under which these liabilities werе incurred." I beg you to mark this, for in all our deliberations and decisions we constantly looked at the facts and took into consideration the actual condition of the country at the time. It is not unlikely that there are many instances in which the commission allowed prices in the purchase of property that exceeded the current cash rates. In all such instances, however, after ascertaining that the property was necessary for the maintenance of the volunteer forces engaged in the war, the question determined by the commission was, did the proper and legal authority of the Territories negotiate these purchases with good faith, economy, and at the lowest practicable rates? If the transactions were found to have been conducted with integrity, they were approved by the commission, acting in accordance with its instructions, "to ascertain the amount of the expenses incurred by the Territories" &c. If the rates were discovered to be excessive in this view of the case, they were reduced, as stated in the report, and the amount and manner of reduction clearly and distinctly indicated in the vouchers. There was a great variation of prices of all articles of supply to an army in the field in the different parts of the country, and at each principal point of purchase, at different periods during the volunteer service, owing to the difficulties and varying expense of interior communications and to the distressed condition of the Territories, sparsely settled, with few resources, and whose people were nearly all compelled to take the field in defense of their lives and homes against a most formidable combination of savages, who were reduced to humiliation and peace two years later, and then only by a large and well-appointed regular force. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, RUFUS
INGALLS,
HON. R. J. ATKINSON,Captain, Acting Quartermaster United States Army. Third Auditor Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. ----
OFFICE
OF ACTING ASSISTANT QUARTERMASTER,
SIR: I have received your letter bearing date June 28,1859,
making
certain inquiries about the Oregon and Washington volunteers during the
spring of 1856.Fort Steilacoom, W.T., August 13, 1859. Good American horses cannot now be purchased in this Territory for less than from $200 to $300, and half-breeds are now worth from $75 to $100 each. Their value is about the same now as it was during the spring of 1856, at least I am so informed by the old settlers of this country. I did not see a single American horse in possession of the volunteers (either for riding or transportation purposes) during the time referred to above, and from all I could learn during my sojourn at Camp (now Fort) Cascades, I have reason to believe that half-breeds and Indian ponies were used almost exclusively by them. I cannot say in what proportion these animals were used by the volunteers, but most of those whom I happened to see pass Fort Cascades on their way to Walla Walla were mounted upon half-breeds. With my regret, sir, that I can give you no more information upon the subject matter embraced in your letter, I have the honor to be, with much respect, your obedient servant, E.
J. HARVIE,
ROBERT J. ATKINSON, ESQ.,First Lieutenant 9th Infantry, A.A.Q.M. Third Auditor of the Treasury, Washington, D.C. ----
STATE
OF OREGON, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
SIR: Your communication of April 12, 1859, touching the Indian
war
accounts of Oregon and Washington, came to my office some time since,
but residing some ninety miles from the capital, and not being often
called there at this season of the year, I have not been able to reply
until the present.Salem, September 4, 1859. You make several inquiries in your communication which I will be unable to answer to your satisfaction, but I will respond in the best manner possible at this time. You request that I will furnish copies of all official records which will enable you to determine what companies were called out or recognized and accepted by the authorities of Oregon during the late war. I have referred this matter to the late adjutant general of the Territory, who informs me that each "muster roll" furnished to the commissioners set forth fully all the facts which you seek, and that the commission compared them with the original orders and verified them in every particular before transmitting them to the War Department. The rolls and papers retained are duplicates of those which you have in your office, as I understand it. As to your second inquiry, I do not recollect, in looking over the "rolls," of any officers or persons in the civil service of the Territory who were at the same time engaged in the volunteer service, except in the case of Assistant Quartermaster General John McCracken, who, I believe, was at that time holding a commission as United States marshal of the Territory. The civil office was a source of no profit to him, as the salary was nominal, and the duties were performed mostly by deputies, who received all he made by way of emolument. As to your third point of inquiry, upon the subject of prices, I have been unablе to obtain for you a file of newspapers of current dates with the war. You wish to know whether "prices for cash and scrip rates of purchase did not differ from each other during the same current period of the war." There was in many instances a difference, and in some instances considerable difference. Such, however, arose from the same causes, or much the same cause, as the difference in prices in like transactions in the Indian Department and in the regular army. In common with the people of the other states, our people generally make some difference in their business transactions between dealing for cash and dealing on time. There is nothing, however, in this particular or any other, that I am aware of, which should vitiate or vary the allowance of the "commission" in the premises. You wish to know "what rule of discount, if any, at which the scrip sold during the war." At the commencement of the war it sold at par in barter trade, as far as there were any transactions. There was little or no speculating in purchasing for cash near the close of the war. Scrip depreciated in the hands of holders according to the belief or disbelief that General Wool and others would be able to defeat or delay the payment. The claims are still largely held by the original owners, and they have no market value at this time; our people not being able to determine whether the government will ever pay, therefore there are no transactions in scrip. The country is suffering very greatly for the want of the means which were invested in the war, for a heavy draft was made upon our merchants and substantial farmers to support the volunteer troops. Many of them have been ruined by becoming creditors to a large amount. The people are satisfied with the action of the commission as to rates allowed, and think they ought to be paid, because they are just. By applying to those whose opportunities for knowing seems to be of the best, and whose thorough knowledge of business transactions at the time, I arrive at the following conclusions as to the prices for cash during the last quarter of the year 1855 and the first quarter of the year 1856. The variation in prices during this period was great. Cash prices, 1855-'56.
Horses,
$100 to $400.
The above would probably cover the range of prices at Eugene City, a
central position in the state, but south of that point supplies were
much higher.Mules, $125 to $400. Oxen, $150 to $250. Hay, from 2½ to 5 cents per pound. Oats, from $1. 25 to $2 per bushel. Coffee, 33 cents per pound. Soap, 18 to 20 cents per pound. Beef, 12 cents on foot. Bacon, 25 to 30 cents per pound. Flour, $4 to $6.50 per hundred. Potatoes, $2 to $3 per bushel. Sugar, 14 to 23 cents per pound. Salt, 8 to 10 cents per pound. Powder, $1.50 per pound. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, JOHN
WHITEAKER,
HON. ROBERT J. ATKINSON,Governor of Oregon. Third Auditor, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. ----
PLEASANT
HILL,
SIR: Enclosed you will find a series of affidavits of citizens of Lane
County, in this state, touching the Oregon war claims, which have been
printed with my official certificate attached.Lane County, Oregon, September 27, 1859. It affords me pleasure to be able to forward these affidavits to you, as I am convinced they furnish more reliable information on the subject of which they treat than is contained in my letter in reply to yours of the 12th of April last. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN
WHITEAKER.
R. J. ATKINSON, ESQ.Third Auditor United States Treasury. ----
REPORT
OF THE COMMITTEE FOR LANE COUNTY.
I have resided in Oregon since 1852, and in Lane County since 1854;
keep a public house; know that during the late Indian war good American
horses, such as were used in the service, were worth from $200 $500;
mixed breeds, Spanish, and Indian horses were worth from $75 to $200
cash; mules, from $150 to $300; work oxen were worth from $125 to $200;
oats, from $1 to $2 per bushel, and a portion of the time could not be
had at any price; horse hire was worth from $2 to $5 per day; boarding
was worth $2 per day, and $6 per week; beef rated in cash from ten to
twelve cents per pound during the war; flour was worth from $5 to $6
per cwt. cash; laboring men were hired at from $50 to $75 per month;
interest on money was from 25 to 30 percent per annum; property sold
here at the close of the war for scrip at about the same price for
scrip that it was turned into the service at. The war was just and
unavoidable, and conducted in good faith, as I believe, and without
intention to swindle the government. Had the people known that they
would have waited for the payment of their property till this time, and
could now have their money, I do not think they would have furnished it
at the prices at which it was appraised.Statement of Dr. Alexander Renfrew. A.
RENFREW.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:A. Renfrew, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true, to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. R.
H. PARSONS, Justice of
the Peace.
----
I have resided in Lane County, Oregon, since 1852; followed
blacksmithing and farming for a livelihood. A good journeyman
blacksmith was worth six dollars cash per day; the price for shoeing a
horse was four dollars cash. Good wagons rated at from $200 to
$280 cash. I worked in the quartermaster's department here, and hold
the scrip allowed me for my wages yet. Cash jobs were turned away from
the shop in order to do the work for the service. I would not have
worked at the price allowed me if I had known that I should have had to
wait until this time for its payment. I have been compelled to part
with some of my scrip at a reduced price in order to get along with my
business. Good American horses were worth, at that time, from $200 to
$400 cash; the mixed breeds of horses, Indian, Spanish &c.,
were
worth from $100 to $200. Oats were worth $2 per bushel; I paid that
price in the spring of 1856. Good oxen were worth, on an average, $150
per yoke. Beef sold, during that time, from 10 to 15 cents per pound
cash. Property was sold at the close of the war at about the same rates
it was turned in at. This property was very much injured during the
war, and portions of it entirely destroyed. Common labor was worth $3
per day. Money loaned from 20 to 25 percent per annum. Many of the
articles that were turned in at this place were worth an advance of at
least 50 percent above Portland prices, the freight being about 30
percent; distance about 125 miles.Statement of E. W. Rhea. ELIJAH
W. RHEA.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:Elijah W. Rhea being duly sworn, says the within statement, by him subscribed, is true, to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. ELIJAH
W. RHEA.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS, Justice of
the Peace.
----
I have been in Oregon since 1853, and in Lane County for the last four
years; am engaged in the mercantile business. Wheat sold during the
Indian war of 1855-'56 at from $1 to $1.50 per bushel cash; bacon at
from 15 to 20 cents per pound. Woolen blankets, such as were used in
the service, were worth $7 cash. The officers of the service forced me
to turn into the service goods to the amount of $500, consisting of
blankets, coats, shirts, pants &c. They allowed me, in scrip,
ten
or twelve dollars--I do not remember which--for blankets. I saw horses
turned into the service for from $150 to $300 in scrip that were worth
nearly the same amount in cash. I have sold my scrip; was compelled to
do so on account of the want of money. I sold it for fifty cents on the
dollar, some time after the war. All those who turned property into the
service, under my observation, if they were to receive in cash now the
amount at which their property was appraised would not be remunerated
for it. The general impression was, when the war commenced, that it was
just and necessary; it was likewise the general impression that the
claims for property turned into the service would be paid without
delay. The interest at that time on money, and ever since, has ranged
from 25 to 30 percent per annum. Heavy staple goods, such as were
generally furnished in my line of trade, cost here an advance of from
25 to 100 percent above Portland prices.Statement of Sigmond Rosenblatt. SIGMOND
ROSENBLATT.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:Sigmond Rosenblatt, being duly sworn, says that the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true, of his own knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy. ----
I have resided in Lane County, Oregon, since 1854, and am a cabinet
workman by trade; rented and tended the ferry near Eugene City during
the war; ferried for the army to a considerable extent; was allowed for
such services for crossing man and horse, 50 cents; team and wagon,
$1.50 single animals 20 or 25 cents each--do not remember which. Wages
of common laborers rated from $2 to $3 per day; mechanics, from $3 to
$7; paid for common cloth coat, during that time, $12; pants, $8;
board, from $8 to $10 per week; believe the war was just and
unavoidable; expected to be paid for my services with but little delay.Statement of John K. Goldbaugh. JOHN
K. GOLDBAUGH.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:John K. Goldbaugh, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true, to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy. ----
Am a farmer and mill owner; came to Oregon in the fall of 1847; have
resided in Lane County ever since; know that the ruling cash prices of
property &c., during the Indian war of 1855-'56, in this
county,
were as follows: good American horses, from $200 to $400; good
second-rate horses, suitable for service, of the Indian, Spanish and
mixed breeds, from $100 to $200; mules, from $100 to $300; oats, from
$1 to $1.50 per bushel; flour, from $3 to $4 per hundred pounds. I
furnished some supplies; did it in good faith, and with the assurance
and expectation that it would be shortly paid; believe the war was
inevitable, and necessarily had to be prosecuted for the defense of the
lives and property of the citizens; know that the usual rate of
interest on money at that time was from 20 to 25 percent per annum,
and that it has not since been less.Statement of E. M. Briggs. E.
M. BRIGGS.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 19th day of August, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
Came to Oregon in 1852; have since resided in Lane County; was a
private in the volunteer service in the Indian war of 1855-'56; was in
five or six engagements with the Indians; deemed the war to be just and
absolutely necessary for the protection of the lives of citizens and
their property from destruction by the Indians. The ruling cash prices
for good American horses during the continuance of the war was from
$200 to $300; mules, from $150 to $250; good Indian, Spanish and
half-breed horses, suitable for the service, for from $75 to $150; good
wagons worth from $200 to $300; common labor was worth $2 per day;
horse hire, from $2 to $2.50 per day; oats sold for $1 to $1.25 per
bushel; flour, $3.50 per hundred pounds; money loaned at 20 and 25
percent per annum. Think the property furnished to carry on the war
was necessary, and that it was done by the people in good faith.Statement of J. T. Mulkey. his J.
T. X
MULKEY.
mark
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 19th day of August, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
Statement of H. H.
Howard.
I have been in Oregon nearly six years, and have mostly resided in Long
Tom, in Lane County; occupation, school teacher; was so engaged when
the war broke out in 1855. The cash price of good American horses was
from $250 to $500. I am not positive as to mules at that time. The
price of the second class of horses was from $90 to $200. The price of
good work oxen was from $125 to $175. Oats were worth from 75 cents to
$1 per bushel. The price of good rifles was from $45 to $100, and some
were valued higher. Good Colt's revolvers were from $35 to $50, for
navy size. Laborers hired at from $2 to $3.50 per day. I paid $4 per
day for a riding horse. Money loaned at from 2 to 3 percent per month.
I enlisted in Captain L. B. Monson's company (I.) of the first
regiment; enlisted in good faith, and believed the service actually
necessary for the defense of the country; enlisted for during the war,
or until discharged; was injured in the service; was wounded by an
accidental shot, and thrown from my horse, severely crushing one of my
shoulders at the same time; one of my limbs was necessarily amputated
from the effects of the shot, and am crippled for life. I have known
several persons whom necessity compelled to sacrifice their scrip for
less than it called for. The service was rendered and property
furnished in good faith of the necessity of the war, to defend our
lives and and property, and not with any intention to defraud or
swindle any person, or the United States government. I was enrolled for
the northern service after the call for volunteers by Major
Haller,
shortly after his defeat. These prices are what were current where I
was acquainted during 1856.H.
H. HOWARD.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:H. H. Howard, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
I have resided in Oregon since 1853; am a resident of Lane County, and
a farmer by occupation. Good American horses were worth, during the
time of the war, from $200 to $400. Mixed breeds, Spanish and Indian,
from $100 to $200, cash value in both cases. Mules were rated from $400
to $600 per pair, cash. Good work oxen, from $150 to $200 per yoke,
cash. I turned one good horse into the service; should have been glad
to have received him back at the close of the war at the same I put him
in at. Good wagons were worth from $200 to $250. Common laborer's
wages, from $2.50 to $3 per day. Oats worth from $1 to $2 per bushel.
Good rifle guns, from $35 to $55. Colt's revolvers, from $40 to $50.
Money loaned from 20 to 36 percent per annum. Beef worth $10 per cwt.
on foot; retailed from 15 to 20 cents per pound. My son sold a portion
of his scrip for fifty cents on the dollar. He was forced to do so to
obtain money. Horse hire was from $2.50 to $3 per day. I turned in my
property in good faith, supposing the contract to be as good as any I
ever made. The war was just and unavoidable.Statement of Philip Mulkey. PHILIP
MULKEY.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:Philip Mulkey, being duly sworn, says the within statement is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
I have resided in Oregon, in Lane County, since the fall of 1847. I am
a farmer. I know that during the Indian war of 1855-'56 good American
horses were worth in cash from $200 to $300. Cash value of oats ranged
from $1 to $2 per bushel. Oxen, from $100 to $200 per yoke. Mules, from
$150 to $200. I turned into the service one mule at $175 in scrip. The
same animal sold in this place, at the sale of public property, for
near five hundred dollars. I turned into the service a good American
horse at four hundred dollars; likewise two yoke of oxen at $250 per
yoke, with yokes and chains. Such cattle were sold at the close of the
war at $300 in scrip. Labor was worth from $2 to $3 per day, cash.
Money was loaned at from twenty to thirty-six percent per annum.
Property was all turned in in good faith, believing that the debt would
soon be paid. The war originated in acts of trespass by the savages,
and was necessarily waged against them for the defense of the country.
Scrip has depreciated in value only on account of its not having been
paid as was expected.Statement of W. M. Stevens. WILLIAM
M. STEVENS.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:Wm. M. Stevens, of said county, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. W.
M. STEVENS.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
I came to Oregon in 1853, and have resided in Lane County ever since; I
am a farmer by occupation. The cash value of such American horses as
were used in the service in the Indian war of 1855-'56 ranged from
$200 to $500. Mixed breeds, Indian and Spanish horses, such as were
used in the service, ranged from $150 to $200. Good mules were worth
from $400 to $500 per pair. Oxen were worth $200 per yoke. I sold them
for that in cash. I put into the service two yoke of oxen, a wagon and
the necessary equipments for service, at $600. I offered for the same
property the same scrip at the close of the war and was not allowed to
take it. I turned into the service a fine American mare, for express
service. I offered on the day of the sale of public property the same
scrip for which she was turned in at, and twenty dollars in cash, but
could not get her. I do not know what she sold for. Oats were worth in
cash from one and a quarter to two dollars per bushel. I paid in cash
for labor on my farm, from three to four dollars per day at that time.
Scrip has been sold at reduced rates, on account of the want of money.
I kept a public house for those who were engaged in the war, who were
passing my house. My charges in cash for keeping travelers, man and
horse, overnight, were two dollars. I hold all of my scrip yet. I have
been offered seventy-five cents on the dollar, but will not sell. If it
is to be lost, I will lose mine. A good rifle was worth from forty to
sixty dollars cash. Colt's navy revolvers, from thirty to fifty
dollars. I turned in my property to the service in as good faith as
ever I contracted a debt in my life, believing it necessary for the
defense of the country, and that I should soon be paid for it. Interest
on money was from twenty-five to thirty percent per annum.Statement of Nathan G. Coleman. N.
G. COLEMAN.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:N. G. Coleman, being duly sworn, says that the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy. ----
I have resided in Lane County, Oregon, since 1853. I have no particular
occupation. I was in the service during the war with the Indians in
1855-'56. Served in the company commanded by John Walden. Common
laborers got at that time from two to three dollars per day. Horse hire
rated from one and a half to three dollars per day. I knew good
American horses to sell at that time as high as six hundred dollars
each. Mixed breeds, Spanish, and Indian horses rated at that time from
one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars in cash. Good wagons were
worth from two hundred to two hundred and fifty dollars cash. Good
rifles were valued at from fifty to eighty-five dollars. Colt's
revolvers sold from thirty-five to forty-five dollars. Such property as
was turned into the service was worth in Jackson and other southern
counties considerably more than here. I think the distance to
Jacksonville from this place is about two hundred miles. Was in two
regular battles and several light engagements during the service.
Served between four and five months. The service was hard and irksome,
generally in the mountains. The war was necessary and unavoidable. It
was conducted in good faith, the general impression being that we would
soon be paid for our services. I was engaged in the part of Southern
Oregon between Umpqua Cañon and Rogue River, a country of
fifty or
sixty miles in width. The settlements in this region were broken up,
their houses and barns were burned, and the country laid waste. Many
of the inhabitants were killed, many had left, and the rest
were forted
up.Statement of James McCord. JAMES
H. McCORD.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:James H. McCord, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed to, is true of his knowledge, information and belief. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of August, 1859. H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy Clerk. ----
Have resided in Lane County, Oregon, since 1851; am a blacksmith by
profession; know that during the Indian war of 1855 and 1856 the price,
in cash, for good American horses ranged, for such as were turned into
the service, from two hundred to three hundred dollars. I have known
horses that were turned into the service for scrip, that were worth as
much in cash as they were appraised at. Mixed breed, Indian and
Spanish horses were worth in cash from one hundred to one hundred and
fifty dollars. Good work oxen, from my best recollection, were worth
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars. Single mules, from
one hundred to three hundred dollars. I turned into the service one
horse, saddle and bridle, for two hundred and fifty dollars, and would
have been glad to have got him hack at the close of the war at the same
price. Turned in a good rifle at fifty-five dollars. Went out on one
express expedition, for which I was allowed, in scrip, six dollars per
day. My wages were at the same time in the shop four dollars per day.
The war was necessary on our part, and was waged for the defense of the
country. Had the people known that their claims would not have been
paid until this time, they would not have furnished their property at
the prices at which it was appraised.Statement of James A. Masterson. J.
A. MASTERSON.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:James A. Masterson, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. J.
A. MASTERSON.
Subscribed
and sworn before me this 22nd day of August, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
I have resided in Oregon since 1853, in Lane County five years, butcher
by occupation; was not butchering during the war, but knew Mr. Skinner
to sell beef into the service for 12½ cents per pound. Good
American
horses were worth from $200 to $300 during the war, cash; mules, from
$175 to $200; work oxen, from $125 to $150 per yoke. I turned into the
service a pair of extra horses, with halters, for $690. I knew of
horses being sold for $250 cash, about the same quality. Such horses
were sold at the close of the war for scrip in some cases as high as
$535. I knew of one horse that sold at that price that had been put in
at $300. I think that property generally sold for as much as it was put
in at, taking into account the wear of the service. Everything
pertaining to the service, so for as I know, was conducted in good
faith. Mechanics' labor was worth from $3.50 to $6 per day; horses
hired from $2.50 to $3 per day; money loaned at from 20 to 25 percent
per annum. I turned into the service from four to six hundred bushels
of oats, at from $1.75 to $2 per bushel in scrip. I sold a portion of
my scrip and lost property by doing so. The war was just and
unavoidable.Statement of Charles C. Croner. C.
C. CRONER.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:C. C. Croner, of said county, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. R.
H. PARSONS,
EUGENE CITY, August 22, 1859.Justice of the Peace. ----
I have been in Oregon since 1852; have resided in this county five
years; have followed several occupations; was clerk during the war for
Joseph Peal in this place. Good American horses were worth during the
war from $200 to $250 cash; good mules at same rates; work oxen, from
$150 to $200 per yoke; good wagons, from $200 to $225. I put into the
service several hundred bushels of oats at $1.75 per bushel; could have
sold them for $2 cash soon after. Labor was worth from $50 to $75 per
month; horse hire, from $2.50 to $3 per day; money loaned at 25
percent.
I believe the war was just and unavoidable.Statement of James W. Huff. JAMES
W. HUFF.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:James W. Huff, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. R.
H. PARSONS,
EUGENE CITY, August 22, 1859.Justice of the Peace. ----
I have resided in Oregon four years. I resided in Jackson County during
the war; now a resident of this county; occupation, clerk. I was in the
service from October, 1855, to June, 1856. Good horses were worth in
Jackson County from $200 to $300 cash; good mules, from $100 to $300;
good work oxen, from $80 to $190 per pair; good wagons, from $250 to
$300; oats ranged from $1.25 to $2; common labor, from $4 to $5 per
day; potatoes, from $2.50 to $3 per bushel; beef sold on foot from
$12.50 to $15 per hundred; retailed 20 to 25 cents per pound; flour
sold
from 10 to 12 cents per pound; rifles sold from $60 to $100; Colt's
revolvers, from $35 to $50; horse hire per day, $5; money loaned from
20 to 25 percent; board worth from $9 to $12 per week; common cloth
pants sold at $10 per pair; coats, $25; boots, $8 to $10 per pair;
blankets, from $7 to $10 each. Knows the war where I served to have
been just and necessary for the defense of the country.Statement of John W. Gavenery. JOHN
W. GAVENERY.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:J. W. Gavenery, being duly sworn, says the above statement is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
I have resided in Oregon since 1849; in Lane County since 1853; am
[a] farmer by occupation. Good American horses, such as were turned
into
the service, were worth, during the war, $200 to 300 cash; mixed
breeds, Spanish and Indian, from $100 to $125 each; mules, from $200
to $250; work oxen, from $125 to $150 per pair. Labor was worth from $2
to $3.50 per day; I paid that on my farm. Money loaned at 25 percent. I
had one thousand dollars loaned at that rate; I have since taken scrip
on it at fifty cents on the dollar, on account of the persons not being
able to raise the money. I turned in a wagon, two yoke of cattle, yokes
and chains; was allowed $750; the wagon I had been offered $200 for in
cash a week before by Elias Briggs. John McNutt paid for the same
wagon, at the close of the war, $260 in scrip. The poorest yoke of the
cattle were sold at the public sale at the close of the war for $251.
Did not see the others sold. I turned my property in in good faith,
expecting to receive my pay.Statement of G. H. Armitage. GEO.
H. ARMITAGE.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:G. H. Armitage, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement, by him subscribed, is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. GEO.
H. ARMITAGE.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 26th day of August, 1859.H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy Clerk. ----
I have resided in Oregon nine years; in Lane County since 1852;
occupation, farmer and blacksmith. Good American horses were worth,
during the war, from $200 to $500 each; mixed breeds, Spanish and
Indian, from $100 to $200; good work oxen, from $150 to $200 per pair;
single mules, from $150 to $300; flour worth $6.50 per hundred; common
laborer's wages, from $2 to $3 per day; shoeing horses, $4.50 each;
money loaned at 20 to 25 percent per annum; good rifle guns
worth $50.Statement of W. N. Luckey. W.
N. LUCKEY.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:W. N. Luckey, being duly sworn, says that the foregoing statement is true of his own knowledge, information and belief. W.
N. LUCKEY.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 27th day of August, 1859.H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy. ----
I have been in Oregon since 1852; I reside in Lane County; farmer by
occupation. Good American horses were worth, during the war, from $200
to $500 cash; mixed breeds, Indian and Spanish, $100 to $175; mules,
from $200 to $300; work oxen, from $120 to $150 per pair. I served in
the war one hundred and six days, expecting to be paid soon for my
services. I have all my service scrip yet, and would not sell it at a
depreciated value. Public property was sold at the close of the war for
scrip at about the same price it was put in at. I saw wagons sold for
cash for more than they were turned in at. In Southern Oregon, where I
served, the people were driven from their homes, and many of them had
been killed. A portion of them had left the country; the balance were
forted up. I saw their houses burning from fires set by the Indians.
The country was laid waste. I was in one general engagement and several
skirmishes. I served in company A, Captain Bailey. All believed the war
to be just and unavoidable.Statement of Richard Rush. RICHARD
RUSH.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:Richard Rush, being duly sworn, says the foregoing statement is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. RICHARD
RUSH.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 26th day of August, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
I have resided in Lane County, Oregon, since 1847; am a farmer. During
the Indian war of 1855-'56 the prices (cash) of American horses were
from $150 to $500, according to quality; half breeds, from $100 to
$200; mules, from $200 to $300; oxen, from $125 to $175; wagons, $200;
oats, $1 to $1.50. I furnished to the friendly Indians placed under my
care in time of the war by the superintendent, at my place, flour at $8
per cwt., and beef at ten cents per pound, and received from him the
cash at those rates. Potatoes were worth $2 per bushel; common labor,
$3 per day; good rifles were worth from $35 to $60; horse hire, from $2
to $3 per day; supplies, so far as I know, were furnished in good
faith, and generally near the cash rates of the country. Money loaned
at from two to four percent per month. Many persons who furnished
supplies were necessarily compelled to sell their scrip at reduced
prices, being in need of means. The distance from Eugene City to
Portland is about one hundred and twenty miles; freight on heavy
articles, such as groceries &c., from forty to sixty percent,
on
the Portland prices. I deem the war to have been necessary, and the
supplies furnished absolutely necessary. I had a son killed by the
Indians in an engagement in said war. Am sixty-four years old, and was
a soldier in the war of 1812.Statement of Jacob C. Spores. J.
C. SPORES.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:Jacob C. Spores, being first duly sworn, says the foregoing statement is true of his own knowledge. J.
C. SPORES.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 29th day of August, 1859.H.
H. HOWARD, County Clerk,
By E. F. SKINNER, Deputy. ----
I have been in Oregon since 1851. I reside in Lane County; farmer by
occupation. Work oxen during the war were worth from $125 to $175 per
pair. I turned in two yoke of oxen, with yokes, chains &c., at
$484.
I know of property having been sold at the government sale at about the
same rate at which it was put in--some higher, some lower. Property had
been very much damaged and injured during the war, and was not in as
good condition when sold as when put in. One of my neighbors, Mr. A.
McAlexander, turned into the service a pair of horses, with the
harness, for $625. One of the same horses was sold for $300, and I have
seen the same offered in cash for the other without the harness. I sold
my scrip for fifty cents on the dollar to meet my liabilities. I have
bought $250 of scrip since, at the same rate, from a person compelled
to sell under like circumstances. The war was believed to be just and
necessary for the protection of the settlements. The debts were
contracted in good faith so far as I know, and all expected them soon
to be paid.Statement of M. H. Harlow. M.
H. HARLOW.
STATE OF OREGON, Lane County:M. H. Harlow, being duly sworn, says the above statement is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. M.
H. HARLOW.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 2nd day of September, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS, Justice of
the Peace.
----
I have resided in Lane County, Oregon, since 1850; am a farmer and
stock dealer; during the Indian war of 185-'56 the ruling cash prices
of stock &c., in this section, were as follows: good American
horses ranged from $200 to $400, according to quality. Spanish, Indian
and mixed breeds ranged from $100 to $150; good mules, from $150 to
$250; good oxen, from $150 to $200 per yoke; good wagons, from $150 to
$200; oats, from $1 to $2 per bushel; good harness, from $55 to $75 the
set; saddles, from $25 to $40; common labor, from $2 to $3 per day;
American blankets, $7.50; boots, from $5 to $7 per pair; pantaloons,
from $4 to $8. The usual rate of interest on money was 20 to 25 percent
per annum. I put in some property; did it in good faith,
believing that the government would pay the necessary expenses of the
war without unnecessary delay. Some of the supplies that I furnished
were at the actual price in cash which they cost me. I am confident
that the people would not have been willing to have furnished
supplies
at the rates they did if they had suspected the delay that has been in
their payment. I furnished Quartermaster Ihrie, of the United States
army, for the use of the same (Lieutenant Buchanan's command), with
beef at 15 cents per pound, cash, while my partner, Joseph Bailey, a
captain in the volunteer service, furnished the volunteers at the same
time with beef at the same price in scrip. I have bought considerable
scrip, some of which I paid 75 cents on the dollar for, and some at 50
cents. I still hold it all. Many persons have disposed of their scrip
at reduced prices, being poor and not able to do without their means. I
believe that the property was furnished by the people in good faith,
under a conviction of duty, to sustain a force in the field sufficient
to restrain the merciless and murderous progress of our savage foes,
and not with intent to defraud the government. I am 52 years old, and
was in the war with the Rogue River Indians in 1853. I believe the war
was just and necessary for the protection of the country.Statement of James Heatherly. JAMES
HEATHERLY.
STATE OF OREGON, County of Lane:James Heatherly, being duly sworn, says that the above statement is true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. JAMES
HEATHERLY.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me the 3rd day of September, 1859.R.
H. PARSONS,
Justice of the Peace. ----
Certificate of Governor John Whiteaker. SALEM,
Oregon, September
5, 1859.
I, John Whiteaker, governor of the state of Oregon, do hereby certify
that I am personally acquainted with all, or nearly all, of the persons
whose names are signed to the annexed twenty-one affidavits, taken
before E. F. Skinner, deputy clerk, and R. H. Parsons, a justice of the
peace, touching property put into the volunteer service in the Indian
war of 1855-'56, and believe their signatures to be genuine, and that
they are all men of character and integrity, and that they are men of
substance, whose business transactions at the time well qualified them
to know the value of property.I further certify that E. F. Skinner and R. H. Parsons were officers, as appears by their signatures. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name and caused the seal of the state to be affixed, the day and date above written. JOHN
WHITEAKER. [L.S.]
LUCIEN HEATH, Secretary of State.----
Remarks. EUGENE
CITY, LANE COUNTY, OREGON,
HONORED SIR: The accompanying statement and evidence, collected by the
committee appointed and commissioned for that purpose by the convention
held at Eugene City on the 8th and 9th instants, are hereby
respectfully
reported and committed to your charge, agreeably to the direction of
said convention. In submitting the testimony taken at this place, the
committee beg leave to state that the evidence submitted is correct, or
as near as may be. The general range of the prices current given in the
statements agree with our observations and recollections of those
matters, during the war. Some discrepancies appear in the evidence
taken in regard to the general range of the prices current or cash
value of articles turned into the service during that time. This may be
easily accounted for in a location like ours. It will be remembered
that our country is a large one, and the persons called to give
evidence reside in different localities, considerably apart from each
other. There is no regular market or place of business situated in our
midst or near us for such property as was sold into the service,
consequently no regular price. Along the main thoroughfare, extending
north and south, along which the main travel goes, drovers and traders
have heretofore gathered supplies for the California market, and all
such supplies as are enumerated in these statements bear a better price
and find more ready sale than further back, in less frequented places;
consequently it is to be expected, and could not otherwise be, than
that men should have different views in regard to the value of
property, or that there should appear in some of the evidence given
quite a discrepancy in the price of articles of the same kind. The same
differences appear in regard to the articles turned into the service at
this point. At such times as the service demanded immediate supplies,
and especially such kinds as were scarce and difficult to be obtained
on account of the demand created by the war, the quartermaster's
department was obliged to allow such prices as they could be obtained
for, or pressed property into the service, as was the case in one
instance, given in the statement of Sigmond Rosenblatt, a resident
merchant of this place. A comparison of the evidence taken here of the
prices of the property turned into the service will show that but very
little property was purchased at what would appear to be an exorbitant
price. There is none in this vicinity so far as our knowledge extends,
who, if they were to receive at this time the full amount for which
their property was appraised, would be more than remunerated for the
losses sustained. The committee would further state that the prices
testified to are not only correct so far as pertains to the time of the
war, but have been the ruling price of the country most of the time
since. In regard to the justness of the war testified to in the
accompanying affidavits, the committee do not feel themselves called
upon to make any explanatory statements. Every intelligent citizen of
Oregon knows the fact that when commenced, the war was unavoidable on
our part. Any charge of getting up the war with a design of robbing the
treasury of the nation is a direct insult against the honesty and
integrity of our people. Such a charge is unjust, false in every
particular, and inconsistent in itself. It is well known that the war
extended from the northern to the southern boundaries of Oregon and
Washington Territories, over a country several hundred miles in extent;
it was carried on in those sections most thinly populated, as is the
case of all wars of its character. A vast amount of property was
destroyed, a great number of families left homeless, a large number of
our valuable citizens barbarously murdered. To accuse our people or any
part of them of being the instigators of the war is to implicate them
in crime against their own brothers and friends. It is the
belief of
the committee that if the origin of the war is directly chargeable to
any source save that of the intent of the savages it may be traced to
the inefficiency of the general government in not making earlier
settlements with the Indians for their claim on the public domain, and
faithfully carrying them out. August 18, 1859. All of which is very respectfully submitted. PAUL
BRATTAIN,
MR. W. S. LADD.B. J. PENGRA, Committee. [Tables
A.-H., pages
110-129, not transcribed:]
A. Statement showing the number of officers and soldiers in the volunteer service of Oregon Territory on the 20th day of each month during their period of service in the years 1855 and 1856. B. Statement showing the number of persons in the volunteer service of the Territory of Washington in each month during their periods of service in the years 1855 and 1856. C. Table of pay and allowances of the army of the United States, according to existing laws, in accordance with which the volunteers of Oregon and Washington Territories, during the Indian hostilities of 1855 and 1856, are reported for pay by the Third Auditor of the Treasury, with the extra allowances granted by act of Congress approved August 1, 1852, to troops serving on the Pacific. D. Recapitulation of the amounts severally reported by the Commission and Third Auditor to be due to the various volunteer companies engaged in suppressing Indian hostilities in Oregon Territory in the years 1855 and 1856. E. Recapitulation of the amounts reported to be due the first regiment of Washington Territory volunteers of 1855 and 1856 by the commissioners, errors made by said commission, stoppages &c., as per resolution of the House of Representatives passed Feb. 8, 1859. Report of the Third Auditor of the Treasury of the amounts due the staff and the several companies of the first regiment of Washington Territory volunteers during the Indian war of 1855 and 1856, as per resolution of the House of Representatives passed Feb. 8, 1859. Recapitulation of the amounts reported to be due the second regiment of Washington Territory volunteers of 1855 and 1856 by the commissioners, errors made by commission, stoppages &c., as per resolution of Congress of February 8, 1859. Report of the Third Auditor of the Treasury of the amounts due the staff and the several companies of the second regiment of Washington Territory volunteers during the Indian war of 1855 and 1856, as per resolution of Congress of February 8, 1859. F. Statement showing the amounts due for services, supplies &c., in the different departments of the Oregon volunteer service on account of the Indian war of 1855-'56, as reported by commission, and the amounts due as reported by the Third Auditor, under the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 8, 1859. G. Statement showing the amount due for services, supplies &c. in the different departments of the Washington volunteer service on the account of the Indian war of 1855-'56, as reported by the commission, and the amounts due as reported by the Third Auditor, under the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 8, 1859. H. Statement showing the prices paid by officers of the United States army for quartermaster and commissary stores in Washington and Oregon Territories in the years 1855 and 1856. I.
Statement
showing the rates paid by officers of the united States army for the
hire of persons and things in Washington and Oregon Territories in the
years 1855 and 1856.
FORT
VANCOUVER, W.T.
Lieutenant
John Withers, in fourth quarter 1855 and first quarter 1856, pays for--Clerks, $125 to $150 per month; blacksmiths, $90; assistant ditto, $60 to $75 per month; carpenters, $4 per day; master ditto, $4.50 to $5.50 per day; masons, $6 per day; painters, $3.50 to $4.50 per day; saddlers, $2 to $4 per day; wheelwrights, $4 per day; laborers, teamsters, and herders, $60 per month; chief herders, $75 per month; lightermen and packers, $2 to $3 per day; chief packers, $3 to $4 per day. Rent of buildings--for hospital, $40; for quartermaster and commissary storehouse, $75 to $85 per month. Foraging animals, 30 cents each per day; feeding horses (at Salem, O.T.), $1 each per day. Transportation as follows: Across Columbia River to Fort Vancouver--animals, $2 each; men, $1 each. From Fort Vancouver to Fort Dalles--animals and men, $9 to $10 each; stores, $30 to $40 per ton. From Cascades to Fort Vancouver--animals and men, $6 each; stores, $16 per ton. From Cascades to Fort Dalles--animals and men, $4 to $5 each; stores, $14 per ton. From Portland to Fort Vancouver--stores, $5 per ton. Captain R. Ingalls, in second quarter 1856, pays for-- Clerks, $140 to $150 per month; carpenters and painters, $4 per day; assistant blacksmiths, laborers, lightermen, teamsters and herders, $2 per day; saddlers, $3 per day; assistant ditto, $2 to $2.50 per day; expressmen, $5 per day; hire of oxen, $2 per day per yoke; pasturing animals, 20 cents per night and $1 per month each. FORT
STEILACOOM, W.T.
Lieutenant
John Nugen, in fourth quarter 1855 and first quarter 1856, pays for--Carpenters and packers, $3 per day; head packers, $4 to $5 per day; laborers, $1 to $2 per day (majority at $1); teamsters, $1 per day; ditto, with teams, $5 to $8 per day; herdsmen, $1.50 per day; expressmen, $5 per day; spies and guides, $3 to $5 per day; hire of horse, $1 per day; hire of canoe, $4 per day. Lieutenant C. McKeever, in fourth quarter 1855 and first and second quarters 1856, pays for-- Carpenters, $3 per day; head ditto, $4 per day; packers, $2 to $3 per day; head ditto, $4 to $5 per day; teamsters (with oxen), $3 to $18 per day; express riders, $5 to $8 per day; guides and spies, $1 to $5 per day (majority at $1); interpreter, $100 per month; laborers, $1 to $1.40 per day; agent for purchasing animals, $9 per day; hire of express horse, $2 per day; foraging and keeping public animals, $1.50 per night; stabling and pasturage of horses, $1 per day. Lieutenant A. V. Kautz, in first and second quarters 1856, pays for-- Carpenters, packers and teamsters, $3 per day; teamsters, with oxen, $7 to $10 per day; laborers, $1 per day; herdsmen, $2 per day; guides and spies, $2 to $3 per day; express riders, $4 to $5 per day; agent for purchasing animals, $9 per day; hire of oxen, $2 to $3 per day per yoke; foraging and stabling horses, $1.25 to $2.50 per day; lodging men, $1 per night; transportation from Camp John Thomas, W.T., to Fort Steilacoom, W.T., $25 per ton; ditto, from Fort Steilacoom to Camp Dent, on White River, $30 per ton. CAMP
CASCADES, W.T.
Lieutenant
E. J. Harvie, in first and second quarters 1856, pays for:Blacksmiths, $100 per month; carpenters, $4 per day; teamsters and packers, $60 per month; chief packers, $90 per month. FORT
SIMCOE, W.T.
Lieutenant
H. Douglass, in second quarter 1856, pays for-- Packers, $60 per month. FORT
DALLES, O.T.
Lieut. B.
D.Forsythe, in fourth quarter 1855 and first quarter 1856, pays for--Clerk and quartermaster's agent, $125 per month; blacksmiths, $100 to $125 per month; do. shoeing horses and mules, $4 per day; assistant in blacksmith shop, $75 per month; carpenters, $4 to $5 per day (mostly $4.50); packers, $2 to $4 per day; chief do., $4 to $6 per day; saddlers, $4.50 per day; millwrights, $5 per day; masons, $5 to $6 per day; laborers, herders and teamsters, $75 per month; Indian scouts and herders, with horses, $18.50 per month; ranching and herding animals, 75 cents per head per month; hire of house with nine rooms for quartermaster's storehouse, $100 per month. Lieut. R. Macfeely, in fourth quarter 1855, pays for-- Clerk, $150 per month; guide and interpreter, $3 per day; packmaster and chief packer, $5 per day; assistant packmaster, $3 per day; packers, $2 per day; herders, $1 per day; ferriage across Columbia River to Fort Dalles horses and mules, 50 cents each; men, 20 cents each. Lieut. J. Van Voast, in first and second quarters 1856, pays for-- Wagonmaster and assistant packmaster, $4 per day; guide and interpreter, and carpenters, $100 per month; blacksmiths, $3 per day; teamsters and packers, $60 per month; herders, $40 per month; Indian do., 50 cents to $1 per day. Capt. Thos. Jordan, in first and second quarters 1856, pays for-- Clerk, $150 per month; carpenters, $4 to $5 per day; teamsters, $75 per month; packers and herders, $60 per month; packmaster, wagonmaster and blacksmith, $100 per month; assistant blacksmith, $75 per month; setting horseshoes, 50 cents each; fitting do., 25 cents each. FORT
LANE, O.T.
Lieut. N.
B. Sweitzer, in fourth quarter 1855 and first quarter 1856, pays for--Herders, $60 per month; packers, $3 to $5 per day (mostly $3); teamsters, $3.50 per day; hire of teams, $8 to $9 per day; do. of mules, $3 per day; setting shoes, $1.50 each. FORT
ORFORD, O.T.
Lieut. J.
G. Chandler, in fourth quarter 1855, pays for--Carpenters, $5 per day. Lieut. R. Macfeely, in second quarter 1856, pays for-- Carpenters, $5 per day; laborers, $2.50 to $3 per day; setting shoes, $1 to $1.25 each. UMPQUA
CITY, O.T.
Lieut.
Jno. Drysdale, in third quarter 1856, pays for--Packers, $3 per day. FORT
YAMHILL, O.T.
Capt. O.
H. P. Taylor, in third quarter 1856, pays for-- Herders, $60 per month. FORT
ORFORD, O.T.
Lieut. G. P. Ihrie, first and second quarters 1856, hires a
considerable number of mules for short periods, at $3 per day; also,
two horses hired for "express duty," forty-six days, at $1 per day
each. The mules were for "packing," and were completely equipped with aparejos
and all other appliances, and to every six or eight mules a
packer was furnished by the contractors without charge. No public
forage was issued to the animals. Expressmen were paid $5 per day;
interpreter, $3 to $5 per day; guide and messenger, $2 per day; packer,
$3 per day; small purchases of barley at 6 and 7 cents per pound, and
of hay at 3 cents per pound.House of Representatives 36th Congress, 1st Session, Ex. Doc. No. 11, Government Printing Office 1860. House
of Representatives
Hon. Lewis V.
Bogy19th January 1867. Commissioner Dear Sir: I wish you to furnish me with a copy of all the reports in your office about the killing of cattle on the Siskiyou Mountain in Southern Oregon on the 27 day of Sept. 1855. I learn the property of Richard Evans was destroyed and one or two men were killed by the Rogue River Indians or Shasta Indians. NARA
Series M234 Letters
Received by
the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel
615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 399-400.
Washington
D.C.
To the Commissioners of1st February 1867. Indian Affairs: About 8 or 9 years ago I made proof of a lost mule which was killed by the Rogue River Indians in the fall of 1855, and I filed the proof with John F. Miller, Indian agent at the time. Please furnish me with a copy of these affidavits and what action has been taken by the Department to secure the same and the reasons why the claim cannot be paid. Yours
very respectfully
B. F. Dowell NARA
Series M234 Letters
Received by
the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel
615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 389-390.
Santa
Rosa Cal.
R. W. Walker Esq.Sept. 24, 1867. Dear Sir-- I have had two or three letters from you of late date, neither of which required an answer. I hope soon to receive the Bray pension; has anything been done with George Miller's bounty claim? Please forward any claim that may be allowed at once and I will send the fee at once by P.O. draft. I herewith send you a power of atty. of E. C. Bray, granting you authority to look up his spoliation claim, which is no doubt in some one of the government departments at Washington, although we have no positive evidence that it is. But we have a letter from the notary in Oregon, written in 1856, that he had filed the claim with the Governor of Oregon, who promised to take his action upon the claim and then send it to the proper department at Washington. I accordingly authorized Capt. Henry some (8) years ago to attend to said claim at Washington, and he afterwards informed me that there was no such claim on file there. I then corresponded with the Govr. & Supt. Indn. Affrs. Oregon in relation to the matter, and was informed by them that there was no evidence in either office that the claim had ever been filed there and they knew nothing about it. I then sent the duplicate (which the notary had carefully drawn and given to the claimant) to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs Oregon and was informed by him that he could take no action on it because it was only a copy. He has it yet. But of course he will send it to me if I demand it. And as that is evidence that the original claim was made out in the proper time and form, perhaps we had better get it and send it [to] you. If you cannot find the original, all the proof can be had yet if necessary by sending to Oregon. The claim amounts to nearly five thousand dollars. Please let me hear from you soon and give me your opinion as to the probabilities of a claim of that kind being paid. I am not aware that any of that class of Oregon claims have been paid. I do not wish to go to any expense upon uncertainties. Yours
truly
P.S.
I have a duplicate
of the claim that I drew off from the duplicate of the notary (which I
sent to Oregon).John Brown J.B.
Know all men by these presents that I, Elisha C. Bray, of the county of Sonoma and state of California, do hereby make, constitute and appoint R. W. Walker, of Washington D.C., my true and lawful attorney, for me and in my name, place and stead, to appear before the proper authorities at Washington D.C. and prosecute to its final termination my claim for indemnification (or spoliation) for property destroyed on or about the twenty-third day of October A.D. 1855, in Douglas County in [the] Territory of Oregon (which was inhabited by citizens of and belonging to the United States) by a large number of Indians belonging to the tribes known as the Rogue River and Cow Creek tribes and other allies, all being in amity with the United States, and to do any and all things for the purpose aforesaid that I might or could do if personally present. And to receive the amount which may be allowed me and to receipt for the same in my name and to enter in and examine in any and [all] of the departments of government for my original claim, which was sent from Oregon to Washington D.C. in the year 1856, and to sign my name to any paper or instrument for the purpose aforesaid, and to appoint one or more person or persons to act for him in this matter, hereby ratifying and confirming all that my said attorney or his substitute or substitutes shall lawfully do or cause to be done in the premises. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 24th day of September A.D. 1867.
his
Elisha
C. + Bray
mark
Witness
John
Brown
NARA
Series M234 Letters
Received by
the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel
615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 544-551.Harrel Bray Fred Lockley's Impressions:
Gen. M. M. McCarver, who crossed the plains to Oregon in 1843, built a
house near Oregon City from lumber shipped from Maine by a sailing
vessel which came around the Horn. The house is still standing and in
good condition. Gen. McCarver and Peter H. Burnett, also an immigrant
of 1843 and later the first American governor of California, founded
the town of Linnton, now a part of Portland. Gen. McCarver later
founded the town of Tacoma. Some time ago I purchased a collection of
old letters, among which was this interesting letter from Gen. McCarver
to Benjamin Franklin Dowell of Jacksonville, later of Portland. The
letter was dated October 23, 1867, and reads as follows:Old Letter Tells of 1855-56 Indian War Claims "Dear Sir: "What is the condition of this Lost Horse claim of the Yakima Indian war of 1855 and 1856? Are your efforts through Ohio representatives likely to cause the government to consider our claims? I see from the Jacksonville Sentinel that you are to remain at Washington City this winter. I hope you will post me as to the progress of the claims. "I have come to the conclusion that there was an intention on the part of Secretary Stanton to get rid of these other claims by refusing to take them up for consideration. I have written to Corbett and Williams, giving my reasons for these views. Malery said in a letter to James Steel of this place that after Corbett and Williams left, Stanton treated your appeals to him to consider these claims with contempt notwithstanding the joint resolution appropriating money for their payment. "I do not believe that Grant will do this and that when called upon by our delegation he will order them taken up at once. If this is not done before the meeting of our legislature, I want your assistance in the next legislature of Oregon and Washington to get a joint resolution passed requesting the President to see that the law is faithfully complied with. Ours is the only Indian war, indeed the only war of any kind, including the Revolutionary and the last rebellion, but what the soldiers received a bounty either in land or money. "I think our citizens are entitled to all the right that the most favored are, as far as I know. Couldn't you do something toward having our rights in this respect considered at this session of Congress? We conquered in that war and at less expense to the government than any previous Indian war on either side of the continent. It was the largest territory ever covered by an Indian war and had we been left one month longer, we would have wiped out or whipped into submission the Snake Indians, that have since killed more than their number of white women and children and men and cost the government five or six years' war. "Under the constant appeals for help without effect for relief for the citizens of Baker and other eastern counties, our Governor Woods has just gone to Baker and Union counties to beg the citizens there to be as quiet under the effects of the tomahawk and scalping knife as possible. He has no power to relieve them, having exhausted his powers since the legislature failed to provide for such contingency. Gen. Steel has exhausted his power in their protection and the folly of a governor attempting to call out soldiers for defense under the belief that the government will foot the bill has been settled by the way our claims for Yakima were paid. Patriotism and a desire to protect ourselves must alone prompt our citizens to this defense. Write me, if you please. "M. M. McCARVER.
"Hon. B. F. Dowell,"Washington City, D.C. "P.S. I wish you would see S. V. Niles, and if he can do nothing with the claims of Mrs. Capt. Absalom Hembree and Mrs. Jane Armstrong's claims for pension, take hold of them yourself and see what you can do with them. They were sent to him several years since and are on file at pension office. "M. M. Mc."
Oregon Journal, Portland, September 23, 1951, page 19OWEN &
WILSON,
Counselors-at-Law and Solicitors of Claims, No. 2 Four-and-a-half Street, Washington, D.C.,
Jan. 11, 1869
To the Commissioner of Indian AffairsSir, On the 10th Sept. 1868 we transmitted to you a claim for compensation for depredations committed in 1855 by the Rogue River Indians & also stated that we had been requested to inquire as to whether there is any law under which claims for spoliations by various tribes of Indians in California & Oregon can be paid. We also inquired whether any compensation would be made the Clatsop Indians for their lands taken under treaty made with them in 1850, 1 & 2 by the Supt. of Indian Affairs in Oregon Ter. & which lands have now, as we understand, been paid for or restored. We respectfully ask a reply bond letter of above date. Your obt. servts.
NARA
Series M234 Letters
Received by
the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel
615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 980-982.Owen & Wilson Injustice to Oregon.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville,
February 27, 1869, page
2
By the letter of Mr. Dowell from Washington, and that of the Third
Auditor, it is painfully apparent that the Oregon war claims are likely
to remain unpaid forever, on the plea of economy. This is rank
injustice! The war claims of this state, incident to the suppression of
the Indians, are as just as any debt ever owed by the nation. In some
instances the claims are for gold coin furnished to the United States
officers, by citizens of this state, and now, by reason of a little red
tape entanglement, they still remain unpaid. Even Congress seems to
lack confidence in the Court of Claims as it refuses the legislation
necessary to give the just rights of Oregon citizens a judicial
investigation. Government once acknowledged the validity and justice of
these demands--if they were just once, they are no less just now; and
desirable as economy may be, it is an excuse for shameless and unjust
repudiation.
Pilot
Rock, Umatilla County
B. F. Dowell Esq.Oregon, Dec. 15 / 69 Dear Sir, Please call at the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and examine into my claims which were filed there by Genl. Lane in 1856 together with the letter of Genl. Palmer, who was at that time Indian Supt. for Oregon. I have been informed that Flanders of Washington Territory got a joint resolution through Congress last season to pay them. Mr. Ed. Hudson of Jacksonville wrote to me to send you $5.00 in currency to help to defray your expenses. I will do so in a few [omission] as soon as I can get in some money, which is now dear. In the meantime if you can get the money in these long-standing claims deduct your percentage and remit me the balance. I
am dear sir
NARA
Series M234 Letters
Received by
the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel
616 Oregon
Superintendency, 1870-1871, frames 180-182.Very respectfully Thos. W. Beale Letter from B. F. Dowell.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville,
May 18, 1867, page
2WAR CLAIMS.
Any person who has lost property in the Oregon and Washington Territory
Indian War of 1855-6 can get their claims paid by making the necessary
proof, according to the act of the 3rd of March, 1849. The following
joint resolution gives a construction to the act which makes it so
plain that it is thought no pettifogger in the Treasury or War
departments will disregard it. If he does, our members will all
immediately ask and demand his removal from office. The resolution is
in these words:
A resolution
declaring the meaning of the second section
of the act of the 2nd of March, 1861, relative to property lost in the military service.
Resolved by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That
section two of the act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide for the
expenses incurred by the Territories of Washington and Oregon in the
suppression of Indian hostilities therein, in the years eighteen
hundred and fifty-six," approved the second of March, eighteen hundred
and sixty-one, shall be so construed: that whenever any claimant for
lost property shall comply with all the terms and conditions of the
third of March, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, on the subject of
property lost in the military service, he, she or they shall be paid
the amount of the judgments in his, her, or their favor, entered by the
Third Auditor and certified by him as required by the last named act,
out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Approved March 28, 1867. Up to this time, I have never received a cent for my pack train, which was captured on Wild Horse Creek, by the Indians in the spring of 1856. Up to this time they have refused even the hire, on the ground that I claimed for the hire and the loss. Under this resolution, I think I shall get pay for the hire, and recover the cash value of the mules at the time they entered the service, according to the act of 1849. If I collect my claims it will pave the way for the recovery of the claims of all others who can comply with the general law of 1849. THE WAR CLAIMS
for
lost property are all still unsettled. J. C. Roberts, one of the
auditing clerks in the Third Auditor's Office, has again suspended my
claim for the hire of my mules and their value, which were captured on
Wild Horse Creek, on the following grounds:
"The claimant states, verbally, that there was no written agreement between Quartermaster Drew and himself for the services of the mules and bell horse; claimant's affidavit containing this statement should be filed. He also states, verbally, that from and after the time they entered the service in February, 1856, that neither he or his agent had charge of the animals or control of them; and that all the packers and employees of the train were hired by the Territory. The affidavits of Thomas R. Cornelius, late Colonel of the Oregon Mounted Volunteers, showing these facts should also be filed." There may be some little apology for requiring my affidavits to these facts; but the affidavit of Colonel Cornelius to the latter part is a contemptible quibble, calculated to delay the settlement (and it may prevent justice being done) until there is another act of Congress on the subject. It is impossible for Colonel Cornelius to know I did not have a hundred secret agents; he is too smart to make any such affidavit. All he would state is who had charge of the mules, and that I had no agent to his knowledge. Colonel Cornelius had made an affidavit that I was not present at the time of the capture; and that they were captured without any fault or negligence of mine. This is all that is required by the acts of Congress, or by the rules of the Department. This is an extra requirement for my particular case. It may delay it indefinitely; but I intend to try the virtue of an appeal. All who have similar claims in Oregon may take warning and make out their cases stating all the facts and circumstances attending the contract and loss. There has been a disposition on the part of this office to continue, delay, and render Oregon claims worthless from the beginning of the war in 1855 to the present time. A great prejudice against Oregon claims has been caused by the false and lying reports of General Wool and Robert J. Atkinson--the former Third Auditor--which were made before any appropriation was made by Congress. Up to this time this clerk has, in nearly every case, disregarded that part of the act which allows the cash value of the property to be proven; and endless delays will follow unless some amendment is made to the law. I hired my pack train a dollar per day less for each animal than anyone else; but this appears only to retard its payment. However, I know the claim for hire and for the property lost to be just; and I intend for it to be paid; at least, I will prosecute it while I live, and if not paid in my lifetime I will bequeath it to my children, with the solemn injunction in the hour of death to fight the scoundrels who oppose its payment as long as they live. "Letter
from B. F. Dowell," Oregon
Sentinel, Jacksonville, December 7, 1867, page
1
WAR CLAIMS OF B. F. DOWELL.--We take the following extract of the Washington correspondence of the Eugene State Journal: "Yesterday morning my esteemed friend, B. F. Dowell, Esq., left here for his home in Oregon, intending to sail from New York on the steamer of the 24th--day after tomorrow. He is out some twenty thousand dollars in gold, furnished to the government twelve or fourteen years ago, in the shape of supplies, mules, packing for volunteers, etc. But he has been unable to get his pay in currency, for gold and its equivalent furnished 14 years go, without interest, notwithstanding there is a plain law in Congress authorizing and requiring the Third Auditor of the Treasury to pay this and all similar claims. The understrapper in the Treasury have no more regard for law than Johnson has, and, like their master, they execute it or disregard it as best suits their interests or their caprice. They refuse to pay legal and just claims, and at the same time are stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Treasury, as was proved a few weeks ago when a committee of the House of Representatives discovered that the clerks in one of the bureaus had been erasing the word 'slave' from the roll of colored regiments, and receiving $200 more than the law allowed on each name erased, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in all, drawn fraudulently from the Treasury." Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 22, 1868, page 2 The Oregon War Claims.
In a letter from B. F. Dowell, who is
now in Washington, to the Jacksonville Sentinel,
some interesting statements are made relative to the Oregon war claims
of 1855-56. Mr. Dowell introduces the subject by remarking that these
claims are still misunderstood even by some very intelligent claimants.
It will be seen that obligations which Democratic administrations for
years refused to pay are now being settled. This raises the question,
who are the repudiators of the Oregon war debt? Mr. Dowell goes on to
say:"Silas J. Day, Sergeant of Capt. R. L. Williams' company, and a very intelligent citizen of Jacksonville, in a letter to S. D. Barber, about the claim of John Lee, who was a private in Capt. Williams' company, and who got his horse killed in battle on Murphy's Creek, writes that he is credibly informed that there never has been a roll of Capt. Williams' company filed with the Adjutant General at Washington, and therefore he tells Mr, Lee, his companion during the war, coolly, that his claim 'would not pay to bother with,' * * * and 'that he can consider that he has given that time and the horse, &c., that he lost, to the government, and consider himself lucky that he got off with his life,' &c. Now it is true, no muster rolls of any company duaring that war have ever been filed with the Adjutant General, but all of them are on file in the Third Auditor's office, and among them is the muster roll of Captain Robert L. Williams. All this class of cases can now be collected by proper proof. The pay for the services of Mr. Lee, Capt. Williams' company, might have been collected at any time since 1862. But prior to the payment of my claim no person was ever paid on any claim of 1855-6 for the hire of lost horses, or for the value of the horses. Mr. Atkinson, the Democratic 3rd Auditor of the Treasury, arbitrarily suspended all this class of cases, without law, equity or justice, and contrary to the express words of the act to pay the expenses of the war. They are all now paid by the present Auditor, on the proper proof being made of identity, loss, and loyalty. It does not take any more proof now to gain one of the cases than it does to gain a litigant chancery suit. In this connection I may be pardoned for referring to another decision of this arbitrary and unjust judge or auditing officer of the government. He not only refused to pay for the value of the lost horses, but he refused to pay a cent for their services while they were living and in the service of the government. Again he reported to Congress that all the pack mules were foraged and equipped by the government, and therefore he cut the pay down from $3 per day, the actual cash prices paid in gold by the regular army, to a dollar for horses and a dollar and twenty-five cents per day for mules. For the information of Democrats and claimants, I will say that it is well known throughout Oregon that during the war one of my pack trains was captured on Wild Horse Creek, in 1856. The claim for loss and hire was allowed by the Quartermaster General of Oregon by the Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of War according to an act of Congress. I prosecuted this claim faithfully from 1862 until after President Grant had appointed R. W. Clarke Third Auditor. I had testimony of the most respectable men in Oregon, and all the high officials engaged in the war, of the service, yet I was unable to collect the hire; but one of the first acts of Mr. Clarke was to decide that Mr. Atkinson's report to Congress, that the equipage was furnished by the government, was false, erroneous and unjust, and by this decision I was paid for the use of my animals and equipage while in the service of the Territory of Oregon, two dollars and fifty cents per day, for the use of each mule. I was also paid for the mules which were captured by the Indians on Wild Horse Creek. Whenever since the facts have been proven, satisfactorily, this decision has been extended to all other pack trains, but not to a single transportation animal. It ought to be extended to all transportation animals. Mr. Clarke and the present Auditor holds that the act of 1849, which Mr. Atkinson, while he was 3rd Auditor, wholly disregarded, is a good and just law. That it is similar to a policy of insurance, and that it covers all cases specified in the act, and the value of the property is paid, when the proof is satisfactory of the loss, and that the loss occurred without any fault or negligence of the owner. The Auditor now also pays the price of the services while the animal was in actual service of the government. The loss of the animal in no way interferes with the payment for the services of the animal while he was employed by the Territory. The hire is paid for by the act of the 2nd March, 1862, and the value of all lost animals is paid according to the act of the 3rd of March, 1849. Oregonian, Portland, May 7, 1870, page 1 OREGON
INDIAN WAR CLAIMS.
COMMUNICATION FROM SENATORS GEORGE H. WILLIAMS AND H. W. CORBETT, ON THE Oregon Indian war claims of 1855-'56, audited by Philo Callender, which encloses letters of the Third Auditor and B. F. Dowell on the expenses of the war. ---- MARCH 4, 1868.—Referred to the Committee of Claims and ordered to be printed. ---- WASHINGTON,
March 2, 1868.
DEAR SIR:
Our attention has been called to the report of Philo
Callender to the legislature of Oregon, on the contingent expenses of
the Oregon and Washington Indian war of 1855-'6, and the letter of B.
F. Dowell, Esq., urging the payment of the claims
of the estate of George W. Harris and Davis Evans. The murder of Mr.
Harris by the Indians, on the 9th of October, 1855, and the rescue of
his wife and daughter by the Jacksonville volunteers, were facts well
known and universally discussed at the time in Oregon. We are well
acquainted with the officers who describe it in Mr. Dowell's
letter, and also with the witnesses who testify as to the prices
received in Oregon at the time of the war. There can be no doubt of the
truth of the statement in Mr. Dowell's letter, and the report of Philo
Callender.Mr. Callender is now judge of the county court of Clatsop County. He is a man of ability and integrity. Congress ought to make an appropriation to pay the whole of the account audited by him. We enclose a copy of Mr. Callender's report, and a letter of the Third Auditor, and Mr. Dowell's letter on the subject. We resided in Oregon during the time of the war. Respectfully
yours,
Hon. R. MALLORY.GEO. H. WILLIAMS. H. W. CORBETT. ----
Report of the commissioner to
audit claims growing out of the Indian
war of
Oregon Territory. COMMISSIONER'S
OFFICE,
To
the honorable Legislative Assembly of
Oregon Territory:Astoria, December 1, 1856. In conformity to the statutes creating a commissioner to audit certain claims growing out of the then-existing Indian war of 1855 and 1856, the undersigned begs leave to submit the following report: The whole number and amount of certificates for claims audited and allowed are as follows, viz:
I would observe here that in the investigation of all claims, the undersigned has required full and explicit proof, under oath, not only of the property furnished, but also of its value at the time and place where it was furnished, and I have carefully reduced to writing the testimony of the claimant and principal witness, with their signatures attached, which are numbered and kept on file with the duplicate certificates or vouchers. PHILO
CALLENDER,
Commissioner of War Claims. ----
John Wilson, Third Auditor, to H. W. Corbett, U. S. S. TREASURY
DEPARTMENT, THIRD AUDITOR'S OFFICE,
SIR: In
reply to your letter of the 5th instant, I have to state that
the report of Philo Callender to the Oregon legislature, showing his
action as commissioner to audit certain Oregon war claims (to fill
which office he was chosen by said legislature on the 30th of January,
1856,), has not been filed in this office. I am, therefore, unable to
furnish you with a copy of the same, or with copies of such evidence or
vouchers as may have accompanied his report.February 8, 1868. Some of the certificates issued by said commissioner are on file in this office, having been presented in support of certain claims for supplies &c., furnished during the Oregon and Washington Indian war of 1855 and 1856, which claims were disallowed, the act of March 2, 1861 containing no appropriation for the payment of claims certified by Callender, as they were not included in the report of the Third Auditor, of 7th February, 1860. Ex. Doc. No. 11, 36th Congress, 1st session.* (*There is also a letter from Third Auditor to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Ex. Doc. No. 51, 35th Congress, 2nd session.) I understand your letter to be a request for copies of Callender's report, with evidence and vouchers, showing his action and the total amount of claims allowed by him, which I am unable to furnish. If, however, you desire copies of such vouchers and evidence only as have been filed in this office, they will be furnished upon receipt of your request for them. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN
WILSON,
Hon. H. W. CORBETT, U.S.S.Third Auditor. ----
DEAR SIRS:
I have resided in Oregon from 1850 to the present time, and
from the spring of 1852 to the fall of 1856 I was the owner of a pack
train, and was constantly engaged in buying, transporting and selling
supplies to the miners and farmers at and in the vicinity of
Jacksonville, Oregon. Hence I am familiar with the history of the
Oregon and Washington Indian war of 1855 and 1856.To the Committee of Claims of the House of Representatives of the United States: I am well acquainted with Davis Evans and Mary A. Harris, the administratrix of George W. Harris, who are asking pay for supplies furnished the volunteers in the war. Prior to and during the war Mr. Evans resided at the ferry on Rogue River, about twenty miles below Jacksonville. He had a small farm, a pack train, kept a hotel and the ferry. Mr. Harris resided on the main traveled road between Northern Oregon and California, about ten miles north of Evans' ferry. At the time of the war there was no settlement except on the road between Rogue River and Canyonville, in Douglas County, a distance of 40 or 50 miles. The war commenced suddenly, at the same time, in both Territories, and in a single night nearly every house along the road between Rogue River and the Cañon was burned to the ground, and many of the owners massacred, among which number was George W. Harris, whose widow now asks Congress to pay her the value of supplies furnished the volunteers. No claim was ever presented to Congress that was more just, or that was better calculated to enlist the sympathies of the people than this claim. This will appear plain from the records of Congress. Let us look at them, and make a few extracts from relevant passages. On the 10th and 11th of October, 1855, George H. Ambrose, who at the time was Indian agent for this part of Oregon, reports to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs that: "After wounding of those men at Evans' ferry, the Indians pursued the main traveled road towards the Cañon, where I learned from a company of packers, who had just arrived, that they saw seven dead men lying in the road, in different places, between Mr. Evans' ferry and Mr. Wagoner's; several trains had been robbed and several wagons had been plundered, and I suspect every person who passed the road has been killed. I expect to have to record still sadder news before the week closes. A greater destruction of life will, probably, never be caused by the same number of people, or more horrid atrocities be perpetrated, than by those Shasta Indians. They are well provided with arms, both guns and revolvers, and skillful in the use of them. I do not believe more desperate or reckless men ever lived upon the earth, and I have no doubt but they have made up their minds to fight till they die. Today a dispatch arrived from Major Fitzgerald, who was in pursuit of the Indians. From his statement, it appears that all the houses between Mr. Evans' ferry and Jump-off Joe Creek were destroyed by fire. Mrs. Jones escaped, wounded, with her little girls, to Mr. Vannoy's. Mrs. Wagoner and little daughter were both burned in their house--probably massacred first. Her husband was away from home at the time. Mrs. Harris* (*The same in the bill before the committee) escaped. Her husband was killed, and her little girl wounded in the arm. I am unable to give you the names of those killed." (House Ex. Doc. No. 93, 1st session 34th Congress, pp. 67, 68.) C. S. Drew, one of the oldest settlers of Jacksonville, Oregon, and who was Colonel John E. Ross' adjutant in the war of 1855–'56, and lieutenant colonel of the Oregon volunteers during the late rebellion, reports that "the massacre near Evans' ferry (Rogue River) was a premeditated affair. In the execution of their work the Indians divided their force into several parties, and made their attack at different points in the neighborhood, almost simultaneous. The chiefs, George and Limpy, commanded in person along the road, but the leadership of the several parties designated to murder the families was delegated to such warriors as had either been in the employ of or had been suffered to loiter about the premises of their intended victims, until they had learned where and how to deal the surest and most fatal blow. Those who were foremost in the attack at Wagoner's, Jones', Haines', Harris'* (*This is the Harris described in the bill) and so on, were well known to those families, had been in their service from time to time, and had often received favors and kindness from them when out of it. In the attack upon Jones' house, he was killed at the onset, and Mrs. Jones mortally wounded, though not utterly disabled for the moment. Seeing her husband dying, and the Indians cutting him in pieces, she fled toward some brush which was near by, whither she was immediately followed by an Indian who bad been in the employ of her husband, and in whom she had placed the greatest confidence. Seeing none but this Indian following her, and thinking that, perhaps, he might still be her friend, she awaited his approach, and then implored his protection. His reply was, 'You damned b---h, I'll kill you!' and thereupon fired at her with his revolver. The shot took effect only in her arm, but she fell as if dead, and he, supposing his shot had been fatal, left her and returned to his companions. Mrs. Jones escaped to Vannoy's ferry, where she died the next day. At Wagoner's no one escaped to tell the particulars of the attack there, but the Indians themselves, even now, boast of the affair, and do not hesitate to say who were engaged in it. Their story of the matter does not conflict with what I have stated. They state, also, the manner in which they accomplished their purpose. It seems that the house was first set on fire, and Mrs. Wagoner and her daughter were then compelled to remain in it until burned to death. Their nearly consumed remains were found in the smoldering ruins of the house on the following day. The Indians were equally successful at Haines'. At Harris'* (*Same man in the bill.), however, they were suspected before they could get possession of the house, and, consequently, their work was less complete. Finding themselves suspicioned, they commenced the attack somewhat prematurely, and consequently succeeded in killing only three of the five they intended. Mr. Harris received a fatal wound at the first fire, but falling partially into the house, his wife and daughter (the latter severely wounded) succeeded in drawing him inside and barring the door so successfully as to keep the Indians out. While dying, Mr. Harris instructed his wife how to load and use the rifle, and bade her defend herself to the last--an order which she most heroically obeyed. For nearly twenty-four hours she defended herself against the besiegers, and was then rescued by some volunteers from Jacksonville. Master Harris and Mr. Reed were in a field close by when the attack was made, and both fell a prey to the enemy. The other victims of this massacre were mostly travelers, some of whom belonged in the Willamette Valley. Mr. Gwin was an employee of the Table Rock agency, and was killed on the reserve." *
* *
"On the
12th of October, Colonel John E. Ross, of the ninth district
of Oregon, by virtue of his commission, and pursuant to a
resolution of the citizens of Jacksonville and that vicinity, assumed
the command in his district, and commenced the organization of
a regiment of mounted volunteers for the defense of the settlement in
the Rogue River country against the hordes of hostile Indians by which
they were menaced on every hand. On the 14th he had nine companies,
consisting of about 500 men, under his command, and on duty in the most
exposed portions of his district, including the settlement of Rogue
River and Illinois Valley, and those of Applegate Creek, Deer Creek,
Butte Creek, Galice Creek, Grave Creek, Cow Creek (in the
adjoining county, Douglas) and Sterling. Several of these
companies,
however, had been organized and on duty at some of the points
mentioned since the day of the massacre at Evans'. The regiment,
between the 14th of October and 1st of November, was increased to
fifteen companies, consisting, rank and file, of about 750 men." (House
Misc. Doc. No. 59, 36th Congress, pp. 22, 23, 24, and 30.)I know, of my own knowledge, that Mary A. Harris and George W. Harris, described in the bill before the Committee of Claims, are the same that are described in the reports of Indian Agent Ambrose and Colonel [C.] S. Drew. I knew them long before the war. They had a good little home, and considerable stock and farming utensils and provisions. The greater part of it was destroyed by the Indians at the time. The appraisers of the estate valued the property which was destroyed by the Indians at $4,192.50. What little was left of the supplies was taken and used by the volunteers from Jacksonville, who rescued Mrs. Harris and her daughter, and many others, from the bloodthirsty savages. The company, at this time, consisted of twenty-five or thirty men, which was increased, in a few days, to a full company. The exact number I do not now remember. They rushed to the rescue of the defenseless families along this road, on receiving the news of the massacres described in the foregoing reports. They continued to patrol the road for several days, but did not receipt for supplies until Colonel Ross took the command, on the 12th of October, three days after the massacre of Mr. Harris and his son, and a day or two after they received the supplies. A. J. Smith, captain United States army during the Oregon war, Rufus Ingalls, quartermaster of the United States army, who was stationed at Portland during the war, and Hon. Lafayette Grover, reports to the Secretary of War that "the initiative steps of the organization of the volunteer forces in Oregon early in October, 1855, were quite precipitous, and, consequently, in some cases, irregular. This organization was based upon the militia law of the Territory, as it then existed, declaring the same military district for brigade purposes, of which, by authority of the act of Congress organizing the Territory, the governor was commander-in-chief. This law further provided for the appointment, by the governor, of a brigadier general, and for the election, in subordinate districts, of colonels and subordinate officers of regiments. It also embraced the usual departments of the general staff, and provided for the commission of their chief and subordinate officers." (Senate Ex. Doc., No. 24, 1st session 35th Congress, vol. 7, page 2.) This irregular organization created, necessarily, irregular claims. For the purpose of investigating this class of claims the legislature of Oregon, on the 30th of January, 1856, appointed Philo Callender commissioner, and to the next legislature, on the 1st of December, 1856, he made his report, allowing Davis Evans $1,183 50, and the estate of G. W. Harris $786 30. (Appendix to House Journal of Oregon, pages 59 and 60.) The services of the volunteers having been shown to be absolutely necessary, and the claims of Evans and Harris having been allowed by a commissioner, duly authorized, the question naturally arises, why have not these claims been paid long ago? Two or three satisfactory reasons may be learned from the reports which have been published by both houses of Congress. The difference of opinion which existed, at the time of the war, between General John E. Wool, commanding the Department of the Pacific, and George L. Curry, Governor of Oregon, and I. I. Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, is, in my opinion, the great moving cause of the non-payment of these claims. General Wool opposed the prosecution of the war during the winter. The governors of both Territories were in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war during the winter, and they had the citizens generally throughout both Territories to back them in a vigorous prosecution of the war, without any delay for winter or bad weather. Out of this difference of honest sentiments sprang one of the bitterest feuds that probably ever existed in any division of the army of the United States. General Wool kept the regular army in winter quarters all winter. The governors, as commanders-in-chief of the volunteers, kept the volunteers in active service all winter. In December the volunteers fought the hardest, most bloody, and most successful battle that was fought during the war. General Wool, it is believed, became jealous of their success, and in his official dispatches denounced the governors and the whites generally as lawless bands, and charged the whites with commencing the war on peaceable Indians. The governors denounced General Wool in their dispatches as a base calumniator, and wholly unfit for the position he occupied. Every newspaper and nearly all the citizens in both Territories denounced General Wool in the bitterest of terms. General Wool reiterated his charges and denunciations against the whites, but his official reports about the condition of the hostilities were contradictory, so much so that the Secretary of War and President Pierce sustained the governors and removed General Wool from the Department of the Pacific. Those who have time or curiosity to see the rise and progress of Indian wars on the Pacific coast, and how contradictory and vindictive distinguished high officials sometimes condescended to be, can have their curiosities more than gratified by consulting the following documents, viz: 33rd Congress, 2nd session, Senate.--Ex. Doc. No. 16, correspondence between General Wool and Secretary Davis in 1854, and Palmer and Thompson's letters in the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of 1854, pages 277 to 285. Commencement of the war: 34th Congress, 1st session, House of Representatives.--Ex. Doc. No. 1 , Carnes' and Palmer's letters, pages 511 to 514, No. 66. No. 93, Ambrose's, Olney's, Palmer's, Geary's, Thompson's letters, pages 59 to 124; Brennan, 1 to 11; Withers, Wool, Nesmith, Keys, Palmer, pages 1 to 39; Governor Stevens, pages 137 to 141. No. 118, Governor Curry's, pages 1 to 22; Wool, Wright, Sargent, Kelly, pages 11 and 12; Palmer, 13 to 15; Lieutenant Phil. H. Sheridan, page 16; General Lamerick and Colonel Cornelius, pages 24 to 31. Governor Stevens and the legislature of Oregon ask for the removal of General Wool, pages 31 to 38, 44. Governor Curry's reply to General Wool, page 45; Colonel Casey and Stevens, pages 47 to 55. 35th Congress, 1st session, House of Representatives.--Ex. Doc. No. 38, letters of J. Ross Browne, pages 1 to 16; massacre of Dr. Whitman and charges against the clergy, pages 16 to 66. No. 45, report of expenses of the war by Commissioners Smith, Engle and Glover. 35th Congress, 2nd session, House of Representatives.--Ex. Doc. No. 47, Captain Walker and Captain Olney's companies in 1854. No. 51, Third Auditor to the chairman of the Military Committee. No. 114, Captain T. J. Cram's report and memorial. 36th Congress, 1st session, Senate.--Misc. Doc. No. 59, reply of Adjutant C. S. Drew to Captain Cram. 36th Congress, 1st session, House of Representatives.--Ex. Doc. No. 11, Third Auditor's report of the claims growing out of the Oregon and Washington Indian war of 1855-'6. 36th Congress, 2nd session, House of Representatives.--Ex. Doc. No. 29, occupation of San Juan Island, page 9; value of Hudson Bay property at Vancouver, page 20; Colonel Wright and Captain (now general) F. T. Dent's report of the massacre of emigrants by Indians on Burnt River &c., pages 86 to 90. In my judgment, bad white men and reckless savages caused the war, and the citizens of Oregon generally, who furnished the supplies, are no more responsible for the war than the citizens who supplied our armies during the late wicked and bloody rebellion. I am firmly convinced that the truth and the whole truth is contained in a resolution of the Oregon Methodist conference, which is in these words: Whereas our Territories have been the theatre of a disastrous Indian war during the past year, and whereas an impression has, by some means, been made abroad that the people of Oregon and Washington have acted an unworthy part in bringing it on; Therefore,The unavoidable high prices for a great many of the supplies for the army, and two dollars per day which was paid by the Oregon legislature, served to make General Wool's reports plausible, and still continues to delay their settlement and payment. By the 11th section of an act of Congress approved the 18th day of August, 1856 (11 United States Statutes, page 92) the Secretary of War was authorized to appoint a commissioner to audit these claims. The Secretary of War appointed Captains A. J. Smith and Rufus Ingalls, of the United States army, and Hon. L. F. Grover, who was the first member of the House from the State of Oregon. The commissioners in due time made their report to the Secretary of War, allowing two dollars a day for each horse, and two dollars a day for each volunteer, according to the law of Oregon, and generally the prices agreed to be paid by the officers of Oregon and Washington, which amounted to the sum of five million nine hundred and thirty-one thousand four hundred and twenty-four dollars and seventy-eight cents ($5,931,424.78). This sum being large, and charges of corruption being made against General Wool, some of his staff and his friends induced the House of Representatives to refer the whole matter to Robert J. Atkinson, Third Auditor of the United States Treasury, who made a report allowing the volunteers the same price that the soldiers of the regular army were getting, which was only about thirteen or fourteen dollars per month, and forty cents per day for their horses, and generally from twenty-five to fifty cents on the dollar for all kinds of army supplies. See report of Smith, Ingalls and Grover, House Ex. Doc. No. 45, of the first session of the thirty-fifth Congress, vol. 9, pages 4 and 9. Third Auditor's report, House Ex. Doc. No. 11, of the first session of the thirty-sixth Congress. Report of Jefferson Davis, chairman of the committee of the Senate, dated 29th May, 1860. Senate Rep. Com. No. 161, first session of thirty-sixth Congress, vol. 1. The result of all these reports may be summed up in a few words. By an act of Congress of the 2nd of March, 1861, the general principles contained in the Third Auditor's report were adopted; the sum of four hundred thousand dollars was appropriated to pay the volunteers, and for supplies two million four hundred thousand dollars. This act, among other things, declares that the Third Auditor "be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to receive additional evidence as to the amount or value of supplies, transportation, and personal service, and to correct errors in his former report touching the same." (12th United States Statutes at Large, 198, 199.) Under this clause some of the claimants made proof of the actual value of the supplies &c., by good, respectable, disinterested citizens of Oregon, and tried to get the Third Auditor to amend his report and to allow them something near their actual value. Atkinson, being in sympathy with Wool, disbelieving the best evidence that could be obtained in Oregon, or being a corrupt scoundrel, disregarded the proof and refused to allow any more than was contained in his former report. The claimants generally soon got the news of the manner in which their claims were being audited, through agents and the newspapers. Many thought, and will forever think, that they were deceived and swindled from the beginning to the end. About the time the first payments were made the government bonds had declined to ten or fifteen per cent discount. Soon after this the treasury paid thirty and forty cents on the dollar of the amount of the original claims in drafts on the Treasury. These drafts were paid in legal tenders, which sold and still sell in the market at enormous discounts; hence hundreds and thousands of dollars of the original war scrip are still held by the original owners, waiting, like Micawber, for something to turn up, so that they may get an equivalent for the supplies furnished. Mrs. Harris and Mr. Evans both thought their claims were covered by the act of the 2nd of March, 1861, and Mrs. Harris remarked to me, at the time she gave me her claim for collection, that she would not take the contemptible sum generally allowed by the Third Auditor, but that she was poor, and something was better than nothing. After my arrival at Washington some time last winter or spring, I learned for the first time that there was no appropriation to pay any of the claims audited by Philo Callender. After this I informed the claimants, Mr. Evans and Mrs. Harris, and wrote to the Secretary of the State of Oregon for the proofs, and he sent me the journals containing the report of Callender. Doubtless the prices in the accounts of Mrs. Harris and Mr. Evans appear high to you and to all persons not well acquainted with the prices in this section of the country, but to my mind they are reasonable, just and correct, and low enough compared with other prices in the immediate vicinity. From the first settlement of this part of Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, until after this war, prices generally were always higher in these two counties than in any other county in either State. This will appear reasonable and plain from the affidavits of J. W. McCully, D. Kenney, W. W. Fowler, S. Ettlinger, J. A. Brunner, W. Hesse, John Anderson, and Benjamin T. Davis, which are found in Miscellaneous Documents, No. 47, of the House, of the second session of the thirty-fifth Congress. On pages 32, 33, 34, and 35, they truly say, "that these valleys are surrounded with rough and rugged mountains, which make them very difficult of access; that these valleys are bounded on the west by the Coast Range of mountains, on the east by the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges; that the Grave Creek Hills, Umpqua, and Calapooia Mountains separate Rogue River Valley from steamboat navigation on the Willamette River, and Mount Shasta and the Trinity Mountains separate Shasta Valley from steamboat navigation on the Sacramento River, and Shasta and Rogue River Valleys are divided by the Siskiyou Mountain, which runs near due east and west, and close to the dividing line between Oregon and California. "The principal towns in these valleys are Jacksonville, in Oregon, and Yreka, inCalifornia. These towns are noted for their rapid increase in population, the frequent changes and fluctuations in their markets, rich gold mines, frequent Indian wars, and high prices, but it will be seen by the following prices that the government has not been asked to pay as high prices to prosecute these wars as individuals have frequently paid in time of peace for necessaries of life, while pursuing their common avocations. Yreka was settled in 1851, and Jacksonville in 1852. "After enumerating various prices and their exact dates, from their books, for two or three years, these gentlemen say, 'the above prices have been taken from the books and accounts of these affiants, and from them it will be seen that in 1852 and 1853 flour raised in Jacksonville from sixteen cents to one dollar and seventy-five cents per pound; coffee from forty cents to one dollar; sugar from thirty cents to one dollar; salt from thirty-five cents to four dollars, and beef from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound.'" These affiants are informed and verily believe that during the same time, in Yreka, a distance of sixty miles, flour sold from sixteen cents to two dollars per pound, and coffee and sugar from forty and fifty cents to a dollar and fifty cents and two dollars per pound; salt and tobacco from one dollar to fourteen dollars per pound, and that thousands of persons during the winter of 1852 and 1853 lived in Jacksonville and Yreka for upward of six weeks upon beef straight; that as late as March, 1853, thousands of pounds of flour were sold in Yreka for cash at one dollar per pound.I am well acquainted with these eight witnesses, and I know them to be men of truth and veracity. Each and all of them were traders and merchants of Jacksonville from 1852 until long after the close of the war of 1855-'56. They had many opportunities to know this country and the prices, and I would believe them as soon as I would anyone in the country. I know a great deal of these prices to be true of my own knowledge. However, I was never lucky enough to get one dollar and twenty-five cents per pound either for flour or salt, but I have bought flour in the Willamette Valley at ten cents and sold some of it in Jacksonville at seventy-five cents per pound, and the balance in Yreka at one dollar twelve and a half cents per pound, and salt at one dollar per pound. I have repeatedly sold sugar, coffee and salt at forty and fifty cents per pound, and occasionally as high as sixty cents per pound, and I paid, in September, 1855, just before the commencement of this war, fifteen cents per pound freight for a whole trainload of goods and groceries from Crescent City to Jacksonville, a distance of only one hundred and twenty miles. The cost of transportation to Evans & Harris would have been at any time as high or a little higher than to Jacksonville, because it is further from the seacoast, and they frequently bought their supplies in Jacksonville. The commissioners, Smith, Ingalls and Grover, at the close of their report say: "There are doubtless, to some limited extent, irregular and unascertained claims growing out of the late volunteer service, which have not come to the notice of the commissioners, but such will be found inconsiderable." (Senate Ex. Doc. No. 23, of the first session of the 35th Congress, vol. 7, page 9.) All the claims audited by Philo Callender, including the claims of my clients, Evans & Harris, belong to this class of cases. They have never been submitted to these commissioners, and they were not submitted to the Third Auditor until long after the appropriation for the other claims was made. The exact date of their submission to the Third Auditor may be found on the voucher. I was well acquainted with Callender about the time he was appointed commissioner, and at the time he made his report, but since that time I have not seen him. He was a vigilant, active member of the legislature of Oregon in 1855-'56, and I have confidence in his honesty, ability and integrity, and I think all the claims ought to be paid, but I have no personal knowledge of any of the circumstances under which the supplies were furnished, nor of the items, except the claim of the estate of George W. Harris. Hoping that all just claims may soon be paid, and that the claim of the brave and gallant widow and orphan, who fought their deadly enemies for nearly twenty-four hours, may be among the first, I remain yours, very respectfully, B.
F. DOWELL,
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 1868.Attorney for Davis Evans and Mary A. Harris, Administratrix of G. W. Harris' estate. ----
WASHINGTON,
D.C., February 24, 1868.
I, B. F.
Dowell, a citizen of Jacksonville, Oregon, make oath that I
believe the matters and things stated in the foregoing letter to be
true.B.
F. DOWELL.
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this second day of March, 1868.CHARLES
P. WEBSTER,
Justice of the Peace. House of Representatives 40th
Congress, 2nd Session, Misc. Doc. No. 88, Government
Printing Office 1868.
LETTER
United
States Senate 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, Ex. Doc. No. 2, Government
Printing Office 1872. Accessed through genealogybank.comOF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, COMMUNICATING, In compliance with a resolution of the Senate February 15, 1871, information relative to claims incurred in the suppression of Indian hostilities in Oregon and Washington Territories, and which were not acted or reported upon by the commission authorized by act of August 18, 1856. ---- December 4, 1871.--Ordered to lie on the table and be printed. ---- TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: I
have the honor, in reply to
Senate resolution No. 21, 3rd session, 41st Congress, dated February
15, 1871, directing the "Secretary of the Treasury to furnish to the
Senate at the next session of Congress a list of all claims that may be
on file in the office of the Third Auditor, incurred in the suppression
of the Indian hostilities in Oregon and Washington Territories, not
reported or acted upon by the commission authorized in section eleven
(11) of 'An act making appropriations for certain civil expenses of the
government for the year ending the thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and
fifty-seven,' approved August 18, 1856, and report how much, if
anything, each claimant will be justly entitled to, if settled upon the
same basis as those reported upon by said commission," to submit
herewith a copy of a letter addressed to the Secretary by the Third
Auditor of the Treasury, dated the 10th instant, together with a
statement prepared by him, showing the names of the claimants and the
amounts involved in the claims.November 13, 1871. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO.
S. BOUTWELL,
HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX,Secretary of the Treasury. President of the United States Senate. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: I
have the honor to return
herewith Senate Resolution No. 21, dated February 15, 1871, with a list
of all claims on file in this office, incurred in the suppression of
the Indian hostilities in Oregon and Washington Territories in 1855 and
1856, not reported or acted upon by the commission authorized in
section
eleven (11) of an act making appropriations for certain civil expenses
of the government for the year ending the thirtieth June, eighteen
hundred and fifty-seven, approved August 18, 1856.THIRD AUDITOR'S OFFICE November 10, 1871. Taking as a basis (as directed by the resolution) the scale of rates and prices applied in the settlements heretofore made of claims which originated in that war, the sums set opposite the several names indicate the amounts involved in the claims. In some instances it was found that the vouchers had either never been filed, or had been returned the requests made by the parties when they learned that there was no authority for settlement of the claims, and in those cases no data as to the amounts are in this office. These computations will, of course, not be understood as expressive of any opinion as to the merits of each particular claim. No examination into their merits has ever been made, for the reason that their settlement has never been authorized, and, indeed, before such examination could be made, might in many cases be necessary to call on the claimants for further evidence. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, ALLAN
RUTHERFORD,
HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL,Auditor. Secretary of the Treasury. ----
----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: In connection with my letter addressed to you on the 13th instant,
replying to Senate resolution No. 21, dated February 15, 1871, I have
the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a letter addressed to the
Secretary by the Third Auditor of the Treasury, reporting additional
cases to those heretofore reported, and request that they may be added
to the report previously submitted.November 28, 1871. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO.
S. BOUTWELL,
HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX,Secretary of the Treasury. President of the United States Senate. ----
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT,
SIR: Since my report of the 10th instant, of all claims that may be on
file in this office, "incurred in the suppression of Indian hostilities
in Oregon and Washington Territories, not reported or acted upon by the
commission authorized in section eleven (11) of 'An act making
appropriations for certain civil expenses of the government for the
year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven,'
approved August 18, 1856 and report how much, if anything, each
claimant will be justly entitled to, if settled upon the same basis as
those reported upon by the said commission," called for in Senate
resolution No. 21, dated February 15, 1871, the following cases in
addition to those heretofore reported have been filed, which I have the
honor to request may be forwarded to the Senate, to be added to the
report above alluded to:Third Auditor's Office, November 27, 1871.
ALLAN
RUTHERFORD,
HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL,Auditor. Secretary of the Treasury. *This case had been filed, but was overlooked when records were examined. Department
of the Interior,
Sir:Office of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C., September 9th 1873. I acknowledge the receipt of your letter, of the 8th instant, enclosing the claim of John Kipp for depredations alleged to have been committed by Rogue River Indians, in Oregon, in February 1856. This office will take action upon the claim, as soon as practicable, and notify you of the same. Very
respectfully
Jas. A. Morgan, Esqr.Your obedient servant Edw. P. Smith Commissioner Attorney &c. Washington, D.C. NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 619 Oregon Superintendency, 1874, frames 1170-1172. Grand
Ronde Ind. Agency, Or.
Sir:July 25, 1874. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 9th inst. enclosing claim of John Kipp for $728 "on account of depredations alleged to have been committed by Rogue River Indians" with the request that I thoroughly examine the same. Many of that tribe are now absent from the reservation on their return--which will be soon--the matter will receive my careful attention. Very
respectfully
Hon. Commissioner
Ind. Affrs.Your obt. svt. P. B. Sinnott U.S. Ind. Agt. Washington D.C. NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 620 Oregon Superintendency, 1874-1875, frames 408-409. TO THE OREGON INDIAN WAR
CLAIMANTS.
The Oregon Indian War debts of 1854 are now being paid. The main cause
of this long delay was the fraudulent claims of Griswold, assignee of
M. G. Kennedy and others. It they had been just all claims should have
been cut down about one third, because the awards should not exceed the
amount intended to be appropriated by Congress. The Quartermaster and
Commissary claims were increased about one-third after the Act passed
to pay the just claims of 1854. I opposed the payment of the fraudulent
claims of W. C. Griswold for the interest of the honest claimants and
the Government. Griswold boasted that he would collect them. To avoid a
reduction in the just claims in my hands for collection I took a large
amount of evidence, and I made diligent search for Lieutenant Isaac
Miller, whom I knew was present at the time Drew's original report to
the Governor of Oregon was made. I at last found him; but before I
found him Griswold had collected the fraudulent claims, through a
report of his particular friend, W. S. Stetson, the Chief Clerk in the
Claim Division of the Third Auditor's office, and Brevet Captain Thos.
H. Bradley in the War Department, and they succeeded, without any
notice whatever, in getting me suspended from practicing as an attorney
in the Treasury Department. This was done maliciously, and to discredit
me and thus cover up their frauds.Stetson, the Clerk who recommended the payment of the fraudulent claims of Griswold, and who prepared the charges against me, and who wrote the letters to you and others about me, has been removed. The whole matter was referred to the Solicitor of the Treasury, who has decided it in my favor, and the Secretary of the Treasury has restored me to my former rights. I hope to collect the balance of the old claims of 1854 which are in my hands without further delay. If they are delayed it will be to examine the frauds. The Auditor has nearly three hundred clerks. He cannot read the papers and documents in every case, hence he is excusable for errors and frauds, which thus escape his notice. "W.S.S." on the corner of your letter and others means W. S. Stetson. He is the writer and is responsible for these letters and frauds. The Oregon Sentinel of the 10th and 17th of January, 1874 printed my letters to Bybee and Cardwell, and my brief before the Solicitor of the Treasury, with which the most of the readers of the Sentinel are familiar, more particularly explains these matters. Stetson, the real author of various letters to the Oregon claimants which bear the Auditor's signature, is, in my opinion, a partner of Griswold, and as unworthy of credit as Drew or Griswold. The 1st Comptroller decides the appropriation for the 1855-6 war claims not to be a specific appropriation, and it must therefore be covered in the Treasury under the Act which requires all balances of appropriations made more than three years to be carried to the surplus fund. The 2nd Comptroller and the 3rd Auditor differ with the 1st Comptroller on this subject; but the requisitions have to be signed by the 1st Comptroller, so the appropriation is not available at present. Congress will correct the errors of the 1st Comptroller at its next session, and then the 1855-6 claims will be paid as usual. B. F. DOWELL.
Broadside
circa 1874, Newberry Library Graff 1140B. F. Dowell, writing from Washington City under date of August 7th, says: "The Oregon war debts are in very bad repute. The treasury has paid on the 1854 claims $68, 305.73. About $20,00 of this is fictitious, and was manufactured since the passage of the act. Nothing will be paid on the 1855-6 war claims until the next deficiency bill passes Congress next winter." "Oregon Items," Sacramento Daily Union, September 5, 1874, page 5 COST OF AN INDIAN WAR.
Account of the War Debt of 1855-6-- An Unpublished Letter by Gen.
Joseph Lane.
How an Appropriation Was Got--An Overzealous Treasury Official-- The Memorable Word Contest Between Gov. Stevens and Gen. Wool.
Among the archives of Oregon, preserved in the state capitol at Salem,
there is a letter written by Gen. Joseph Lane, Delegate to Congress, to
Geo. L. Curry, Governor of the Territory. It runs thus:
WASHINGTON
CITY, Feb. 18, 1856.
Gov. Geo. L. Curry--Dear Sir:
I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter furnishing information
in relation to our Indian war. I am always in favor of any and all
wars. About the details I know nothing. * * * But you on the ground
know what is best, and I am with you in whatever you do. I have just
introduced a bill for the payment of volunteers and expenses of your
war. Had you not better forward as early as possible all muster rolls,
keeping one copy of each company roll and forward me, keeping duplicate
of all claims or an abstract of expense, that we may have as early
settlement as possible. I will work faithfully for my bill providing
pay. It must and shall pass. I provide for bounty land as well as pay,
and pay as per agreement at the time men were mustered into service. I
am always for volunteers and for paying well. Write often and let me
know all you want done and I will try and work up to your wishes. I am
sorry we lost our state house, library and papers.Your friend at all
times,
[The
writer may have included this letter to sugggest by the "in favor of
any and all wars" quote that Joseph Lane advocated starting wars. A
more generous reading of the sentence is that Lane, as congressional
Delegate, was in favor of paying national debts incurred by any and all
wars.]JOSEPH LANE. This letter serves as the fitting introduction to the story of the $6,000,000 claim of Oregon and Washington territories against the general government for bills incurred in the prosecution of the Indian war of 1855-6. To reach a fair understanding of the matter we must needs go back to the events of the war of 1853 against the red man in Southern Oregon, wherein Gen. Lane distinguished himself and was wounded. Hostilities began by the murder of Indians of two whites, Edwards and Wills, near Jacksonville, during the first week of August, and was concluded by an armistice on August 24. The United States government assumed the debt incurred in suppressing the Indians. The muster rolls and accounts of the eight companies of men engaged, as well as Gen. Lane's staff (Gen. Lane himself would accept no compensation for his services), were made out and adjusted by Capt. James Goodall, as inspecting and mustering officer, acting under orders from Lane, at the close of the war; and these papers being forwarded to Washington, their settlement was actively urged by Gen. Lane in his capacity as Delegate, assisted by Major Alden, an officer of the regular army, who commanded a very small contingent of government troops during the hostilities and was severely wounded at the battle of Evans Creek. Being authorized by congressional enactment, provision was made for the payment of all the claims, and Major Alvord, paymaster U.S.A., acting under orders from the Secretary of War, paid off the volunteers in coin, at Yreka and Jacksonville, in June and July, 1855. The commissary and quartermaster accounts were at the same time sent in draft to Governor Curry, and by him disbursed to the creditors. The total cost to the United States of the three weeks' war was about $285,000. By this liberal and unquestioning payment, Indian fighting became popularized in Oregon and Northern California, and certain classes of people began to speculate upon the profits of warring with the natives. Some were of the opinion that a good long Indian war would pay better than heavy wheat crops, and they began to regard politicians and statesmen as useful in proportion to their ability to get war debts paid. As long as the supply of hostile Indians held out they looked upon them as the cause of a legitimate source of income, whereby their hostility was far more valuable than their friendship. There was IN THE ROGUE RIVER
VALLEY
an
organized clique--it can be called a board or committee--the business
of whose members was to profit pecuniarily by the existence of war
between whites and natives, and who may be suspected of having done
their best to foster and nurse quarrels, and this clique, finding it
necessary to be on good terms with the state authorities, and having a
predisposition to politics, began to make their weight known in
election times. The politics of that period--1850 to 1856--are too
intricate to be well understood by anyone whose only source of
knowledge is files of newspapers, but the subject is not unworthy of
study. This much seems clear--that the particular matter of
the
influence exerted upon the political affairs by the persons who
covertly favored war with the natives was considerable. But the
discussion runs too much into private and personal details
(inadmissible in public prints) in this instance to find a place
herein. It is enough to say that there was a league of individuals who,
for business or political reasons, were in favor of fighting the
Indians, and they became quite a power in politics, but owing to
circumstances over which they could not exercise control, they were
less successful in the outcome than their enormous opportunities seemed
to promise.[War profiteers did, to all appearances, conspire, but a close examination of the beginnings of hostilities reveals they always started through escalating spontaneous, incendiary acts committed by both sides--not by conspiracy.] These war brokers were mostly Jackson County men, and the chief among them was Charles S. Drew, who seems to have been one of the meanest individuals that ever lived in that part of the country. His home, which was near Jacksonville, was called Forest Dale. Another member of the clique was a rough, ignorant bush ranger named Robert L. Williams, called Bob for short, who was well known in the Rogue River country for his aversion to Indians, and his desire to "sun the moccasins" of as many as he could. This is border talk for killing them. Bob was out in the war of 1853, leading a company of miners from Althouse, Josephine County, and it was with great difficulty that General Lane was able to restrain him from cutting the throats of two Indian children whom he had taken after peace was made. In the war of 1855, through the covert influence of Drew and his gang, who wanted a pliant tool to use in their work of prolonging the war, Bob Williams was elected colonel of the Second Regiment of Oregon Mounted Volunteers, beating Major Bruce in the contest. Williams' qualifications consisted in a highly developed hatred of the natives, a thorough knowledge of their character and tactics, and the liking of a large part of his fellow soldiers. He had been one of the Texan rangers, it was said; at least he held some military office in that country. After the Indian wars closed he hung around Jacksonville, carousing and gambling, and ended his career there by murdering a man in the public streets in the daytime. He fled, calling out that his friends need not follow, and his enemies dare not. No one followed, and Southern Oregon has not seen him since, nor heard from him, excepting an ill-defined report of his being in Salt Lake City. This was the way it went; down in Jackson and Josephine most men were in favor of hostilities with the Indians from several causes, the principal ones being self-interest and a definite fear of Indian outrages. In Salem the politicians were largely in favor of fighting, and entirely in favor of supporting and paying the fighters, because they knew it was the popular side, and they needed votes. Gen. Lane, the benevolent statesman, favored "any and all wars," and would work hard to get pay for volunteers. Bob Williams, the rough, the ignorant backwoodsman, who couldn't spell his own name, favored war because it was a lively occupation that just suited him. Between these two extremes lay the whole population of Oregon, some of whom disliked unjust dealing with the Indians, but not one of them disliked to have the general government pay the volunteers liberally. As for what may truly be called popular opinion, meaning the opinion of the disinterested, as it was not expressed nor probably much felt, it went for nothing. However it might have once leaned, fighting with the Indians took place, and they were DRIVEN OUT OF THE
COUNTRY
which
was theirs by right of inheritance, not because war was popular or
because it would fill some speculator's coffers, but simply because
white men and Indians cannot get along together--the homely statement
of the cause of every war between the races which has ever been fought
in America. All that there is of reason and philosophy in the entire
question of Indian wars is contained in it. The subject offers a
splendid field for moralizing, and some distinguished humanitarians and
philanthropists have dealt with the wars in Oregon and Washington in a
way that the people have utterly despised. Gen. John E. Wool, who in
the early 'fifties commanded the regular army on this coast, took a
decided stand in favor, morally, of the red men's rights as men and
brothers; and, having a very favorable opportunity to make his opinions
known, and being spurred thereunto by private and personal feelings,
opened an interesting series of topics, whose discussion at that time
was very inopportune to Oregonians. Gen. Wool, having been seriously
offended by the conduct of the Oregon and Washington volunteers,
engaged in the prosecution of the war during the winter of 1855-6, and
being still further angered by the reflections cast upon his conduct by
the newspapers of the two territories, which accused him of delay and
lukewarmness in his military movements, himself entered upon a wordy
war of crimination and recrimination, directed chiefly to Gov. I. I.
Stevens, of Washington Territory, who constituted himself champion of
the people, as opposed to the regular military powers.The matters at issue were among the least important concerns of the day, but their discussion proved to have an importance hardly understood at first. Inasmuch as the United States government was expected to pay the expenses of the war, and as Congress had to be won upon to make the necessary appropriations, it was surely in bad taste to pick a quarrel with one of the most respectable and influential military leaders in this country, but this was entered on with zest by the newspapers, and by Stevens, who probably based hopes of popularity upon the issue of the fishwife contest. The curious of today will do well to consult the Oregonian files of 1856, wherein will be found in full a series of letters which passed between the two. It is likely, though not susceptible of proof, that the subsequent action of Congress in reference to the debt was limited by the assertions which Gen. Wool, copied by the eastern papers, which were then, as now, supporters of Indian philanthropy, made concerning the causes of the war, which his passion-inflamed mind naturally attributed to the wicked machinations of disinterested parties, or the bloody acts of whites who privately hated and outraged the aborigines. The quarrel between Wool and Stevens was a very pretty one, and has an honored place in the recollection of pioneers, the most of whom retain an active dislike of the former to this day, as men will of those who injured them in their pockets. A great many others joined issue, and much ink has been shed in the effort to give its proper due to each of the causes which contributed to the Indian disturbances, and particularly the war of 1855-6, the greatest of all the Indian wars which have agitated the Pacific Coast of North America. THE INDIAN WAR OF
1855-6
in Southern Oregon lasted from the 10th of October, 1855,
until June of the following year. It was brought on, people say, partly
by the exertions of the war brokers, and except for untoward
circumstances would have been a very profitable speculation for them.
The greatest number of men under arms in Southern Oregon during
hostilities was, including officers, 1025. At the same time there were
950 employed in the Yakima war. The average number employed in the
Rogue River war was about 800; in the Yakima war about 700. The total
amount of claims for compensation of all sorts amounted to very nearly
$7,000,000, this aggregate including those of citizens of Washington
Territory, as well as Oregon. True to the promise conveyed in his
letter to Gov. Curry, Gen. Lane brought those claims before Congress in
the year 1856, and by that body they were referred to the committee on
military affairs. The committee made a recommendation favorable to
their payment, and henceforward the two sets of claims--relating
respectively to the Rogue River war and the Yakima war--became mingled
in all congressional and official reports. In consequence of this
recommendation Congress, on the 18th of August, 1856, passed an act,
one of whose provisions was: "Be it enacted, That the Secretary of War
be directed to examine into the amount of expenses necessarily incurred
in the suppression of hostilities in the late Indian war in Oregon and
Washington by the territorial governments in the maintenance of the
volunteer forces engaged, including pay of the volunteers, and he may,
if he deem it necessary, direct a commission of three to report those
expenses to him," etc.In consequence, a commission was appointed consisting of Capt. (now general) Andrew Jackson Smith, commandant at Fort Lane during the war on Rogue River; Capt. Rufus Ingalls, for many years a resident of Oregon and well known to its citizens; and Lafayette Grover, a civilian, still better known in this state. They began work in October, 1856, and occupied nearly a year in what they assumed to be a rigid examination of the claims, "traveling over the whole field occupied by the volunteers during hostilities and becoming thoroughly conversant with the matter," according to their report. The total sum of $4,449,949.33 was due as the expenses on the part of Oregon. The muster rolls of the companies represented an indebtedness, after deducting stoppages for clothing, etc., furnished, of $1,409,644; while scrip had been issued to the extent of $3,040,944 in payment of supplies furnished. These claims did not include any items of spoliation by the Indians, and only related to what were called the legitimate expenses of maintaining the troops in the field. Calculating from the data furnished the Treasury Department, it will be seen that it cost over $11 per day to maintain a single soldier in service! The report and accompanying documents of the three commissioners having been transmitted to the Secretary, and by him to Congress, that body made a resolution on the 8th of February, 1859, that it should be the duty of the Third Auditor of the Treasury to examine the vouchers and papers connected with the subject and make a report in the December following of the amount due each individual engaged in the military service of the two territories during the war. The resolution also provided that he should allow the volunteers no higher pay than was received by the officers and soldiers of a like grade in the regular army, including the extra pay of $2 per month conferred by an act of Congress in 1852 on troops doing duty on the Pacific Coast, and that he was to recognize no company or individual as entitled to pay except such as had been called into service by the territorial authorities. WHEN GOV. CURRY
CALLED THE TROOPS
into
service, they enlisted with the understanding that the privates were to
receive $2 per day each and the officers the same rates as regular army
officers of like grades. They were all mounted, and as the territories
could not provide steeds, horses were hired of individuals at the rate
of $2 per day each, the soldiers in the majority of instances
furnishing each his own animal. Transportation, subsistence, forage and
all other contingent expenses were to be paid by the territories or,
more precisely, by the general government. All purchases, with few and
unimportant exceptions, were made in "scrip," that is to say,
indebtedness was incurred upon certificates which entitled the soldier
to repayment from the United States Treasury, and which contained the
words "payable whenever the expenses of this war are assumed by the
United States," or their equivalent.As might be supposed, when payment depended upon the contingency of the assumption of the war debt by the government at Washington, which was problematical--not particularly as to the event, but as to the time--subsistence and forage could not be purchased at as low prices as ready money would command, and the scrip had to be issued at rates nearly or quite double common prices in order to compensate sellers for extra risks and for delayed payments. Under such circumstances and considering that the rate of interest on money was very high and the profits of ordinary business much larger than now, it is not surprising that the expenses of the war mounted to the above enormous aggregate, the more especially as it was the business of a great many to make the bills as high as possible, and of no one to make them small. The Treasury had no watchdog here, but it had a very efficient one in Washington, whose horrid bark still resounds in the memory of many a veteran and speculator of the war of 1855-56. The multifarious accounts and memoranda being submitted to R. J. Atkinson, Third Auditor of the Treasury, they met a reception far different from what had been fondly hoped. Mr. Atkinson fell upon them tooth and claw. The rage of a mad bull is not half so impressive a spectacle of potent wrath. He dissected accounts, corrected faulty arithmetic, analyzed and dissected shrewdly concocted (in his opinion) schemes of deviltry, and made out the whole matter to be little short of a conspiracy on the part of the people of Washington and Oregon to rob the United States Treasury, whose principal watchdog he was. His report makes, even at this far-removed epoch, very interesting reading, and no Oregonian should allow himself to miss seeing the papers, which are included in the public documents of Congress. Messrs. Al. Zieber, Joseph Teal, John McCracken, Isaac Smith, Jabez Heulat, L. P. Brown, James R. Peters, Robert R. Thompson, J. A. Pownall, D. H. Lownsdale, W. H. Fauntleroy, J. S. Ruckle, John F. Miller, M. M. McCarver, Joe Drew, T. J. McCarver and other individuals attached to the commissary and quartermaster departments of the volunteer corps received a terrible raking over. Their accounts were found fault with, the honesty of their dealings discredited, and the way they dealt with the government denounced by a show of figures. Everybody was scored impartially. The three commissioners, who included at least one man of sterling honesty and of a character above suspicion, was reflected upon by Atkinson in the plainest manner. It was evident that the war party had an enemy at court whose influence was immense. According to the examination bestowed upon the report and documents by the Third Auditor, the labors of the three commissioners for a whole year amounted to nothing. They approved every account, only reducing rates in two or three trivial instances. One man had charged $8829 for his personal services, horse hire, stamps and stationery while serving as accountant. They reduced this to $2039. To offset this it was urged by disinterested parties, "The charges for army supplies were extravagantly high, and for two reasons: Those who furnished them were only in very few instances paid cash, the regular form of payment being in scrip, which was simply an order on the authorities to pay a certain sum to bearer. This scrip was issued by purchasing officers and others, mostly authorized by the territorial government. Of course it was not to be expected that the articles could be bought as cheaply for scrip as for cash. Second, they were high because the government, in the prevailing opinion, would not haggle about small matters, but pay promptly what was asked." [It should also be pointed out that the war restricted import of goods by pack train, expensive in the best of times, inflating the value of goods already in the area.] THE FANGED WATCHDOG
OF THE TREASURY
set
upon everybody whose name appeared in the accounts. From the
commissioners down to the mule packers there was no one on whom he did
not bestow his regards. A great many horses had been bought for from
$200 to $500 each, transactions shown to be fraudulent by comparison
with regular army quartermaster's reports, knowing the ordinary price
to be less than half the money charged. Oats were charged at $2 per
bushel and wheat the same, and sometimes twice as much; transactions
repudiated, as grain only brought $1 at Portland. Hay, $40 to $200 per
ton, reduced to its normal level of $10. One quartermaster bought four
horses, charging $1575; he sold the four to himself at the close of
hostilities for a little less than $400, leaving a charge of $1100
against the government. One hundred and fifty sheets of drawing paper
cost $400; sold after the war for $11.25. [Surplus goods were auctioned to
a populace that had very little ready cash.] Clerks to the
quartermaster
and commissary departments received usually $300 per month. Some men
had three or more paying offices at once, e.g., a private soldier would
receive pay for being packer and clerk, together with his compensation
for military duty. Uncle Aaron Rose, at Deer Creek (since called
Roseburg), charged $150 per month for the rent of a shed for storing
hay in. Sixteen thousand meals for soldiers were furnished in Portland
at a dollar a meal. To board a sick man for five days cost $20. Flour
cost at Jacksonville 10 cents, and at Portland 7, sold after the war
for 3¼. Beef costing 29 and 18 cents sold for 7; sugar
costing 30 cents
sold for 15, and other things in proportion.Under the name of hospital stores, a certain quartermaster bought two bottles of sweet oil, one of mustard, seven of pepper, ninety-eight gallons of whiskey, seventy-six of brandy, 300 of vinegar, sixty-three pounds of tea, sixty-four barrels of salt, fifty-one barrels of salt salmon, and 3012 pounds of saleratus. Another quartermaster bought up all the hair combs he could find and issued them to his neighbors, who turned them over to Indians along with a lot more of miscellaneous but costly trash. The same man furnished six days' rations for 120 men and charged 1200 rations instead of 720 rations, the error being only discovered in Washington. Another purchased horses at $550 in scrip, mules at $500 and oxen at $400 per yoke. His purchases amounted to over $175,000, but not a dollar's worth was accepted for in the regular way. He bought 2300 pounds of tobacco and charged it to the government as "clothing." He paid $50 for attendance for a week on a sick horse. Mary Millard had a little bill of $336 for boarding her husband while he held and drew pay for three positions in the "army" as clerk, captain and quartermaster, and got her pay in mules, sold to her by her husband, while acting for the government. A certain Quartermaster General, W. W. Miller, of Washington Territory, clung to his position over two years after the war closed, drawing $3000 for his "services," and excusing himself by saying that he hadn't been discharged and didn't know as he could be, his being "a very high and peculiar office." Readers will see the point of such statements as the above when it is said that it was a common, indeed, the regular practice for volunteers to draw from the obliging quartermaster or commissary his promised pay in clothing, horses, firearms, etc., which in many cases was justly preferred to scrip, which he might never realize on. It was this habit of paying soldiers in the accumulated stores which gave the greatest trouble to those who undertook to adjust the accounts. In scarcely a single instance were the purchases, which aggregated millions in amount, accounted for in the manner which the government prescribes. Nobody thought of vouchers, receipts or sworn and certified accounts. Viewed from the standpoint of a systematic government office, it is not surprising that Mr. Atkinson found room for cavil. It is enough to say that Mr. Atkinson found room for cavil. It is enough to say that he MADE MINCEMEAT OF
THE ACCOUNTS,
reducing
their grand total from $6,011,437 to $2,714,808, a reduction of about
55 percent. This finding was made the basis of the settlement by the
act of Congress authorizing their settlement. The act was passed March
2, 1861, and provides for the payment of the members of the First,
Second and Ninth regiments, Oregon Mounted Volunteers, and the First
and Second Washington Territory regiments of volunteers, and
promiscuous companies. Four hundred thousand dollars was appropriated
to pay the troops, after deducting stoppages. They were to be paid as
regulars, with the customary addition of $2 per month given to troops
serving on the Pacific Coast. For claims for supplies, etc., furnished,
$2,400,000 was appropriated. Mr. Atkinson, who had so signalized
himself by the "searching" nature of his report, was given $1000 as a
sop to Cerberus. The debts thus assumed were paid subsequently in
bonds, excepting sums less than $50, which were settled in currency.
Not all the claims have been settled, even after twenty-five years, but
a considerable amount remains as yet at the disposal of heirs and
missing claimants. The present practice at the Treasury Department is
to audit claims and then allow them to stand over until Congress makes
a new appropriation for payment, which is done every two years, the
unused funds being covered into the surplus funds of the treasury.Out of the awards have grown a multitude of lawsuits, mainly put on foot by claim attorneys. Of these, the principal ones have been waged by B. F. Dowell, in his capacity as attorney for a very large number of claimants who have become scattered all over the Pacific Coast during the twenty-five years that have elapsed. Of secondary suits brought by disagreeing lawyers, the cases of Dowell vs. Griswold have been longest before the courts, and have been heard of by all Oregonians. Before dismissing the subject of the war debts of 1855-6, it is proper to say that there are a number of the survivors of that war who are of opinion that further appropriations can yet be coaxed from the general government, as extra pay for services performed, and an interest in the matter is being worked up. It is expected by some that future appropriations will have the form of indemnity for losses sustained in various ways, particularly in having to wait so long for that portion of their pay which is already secured. Others think that it is impracticable to procure additional compensation of this sort, and that it would prove most advantageous to attempt to place the survivors and heirs on the footing of pensioners of the government, as has been done in the cases of the veterans of the wars of the Revolution and 1812, and as is being done with the survivors of the Mexican War. The latter would seem the more profitable course, as the money returns are most likely to be immense, if the act of becoming pensioners be successfully accomplished. The generosity of the American government toward the private soldiers who fought its battles seems to have no limit. Oregonian, Portland, December 13, 1885, page 2 Senate Joint Memorial No. 8.
To the Honorable the Congress of the
United StatesYour memorialists, the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon, respectfully represent that there are now living in the State of Oregon a number of the Oregon pioneers who participated in the Indian wars commonly known as the Cayuse war and the Indian War of 1855-6. These men in fighting the battles of the frontier, though not regularly enrolled as soldiers in the army of the United States, engaged in a warfare as necessary in its character and as important in its results as that in which many now pensioned by the government were engaged. They gave to the American settlers of the Oregon Territory that protection which they ought to have received at the hands of the government. They risked as much, lost as heavily and suffered as grievously as though they had been regularly enlisted in the regular army of the country. They secured the lives and property of the citizens and greatly facilitated the settlement and development of all that great country lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. This great service has not been recognized by the government, and we, your petitioners, most respectfully but most earnestly pray that the Congress of the United States will speedily take such measures as will result in placing the names of these citizen-soldiers upon the pension rolls of the government. Adopted by the senate February 3, 1887. J.
C. CARSON,
Concurred
in by the house February 4, 1887.President of the Senate. J.
T. GREGG,
The Laws of the State of Oregon,
1887, pages 375-376Speaker of the House. House Joint Memorial No. 2.
To
the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States in Congress assembled:Your memorialist, the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon, would respectfully represent that Philo Callender was duly appointed a commissioner of Oregon Indian war claims prior to the Act of Congress of [blank] day of [blank], 1855-6, on the same subject, by an Act of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Oregon; and afterwards on the first day of December, 1856, he made his report to the legislative assembly of the Territory of Oregon, which report is in the words and figures here following: Report
of the Commissioner to Audit Claims Growing Out of the Indian War of
Oregon Territory.
COMMISSIONER'S
OFFICE,
To
the Honorable Legislative Assembly of Oregon Territory:ASTORIA, December 1, 1856. In conformity to the statutes creating a commissioner to audit certain claims growing out of the then existing Indian war of 1855-6, the undersigned begs leave to submit the following report: The whole number and amount of certificates for claims audited and allowed are as follows, viz.:
PHILO
CALLENDER,
And your
memorialist represents that the same is just and unpaid and that the
same is not included in the report of the war commissioners, Hon L. F.
Grover, Rufus Ingalls and A. J. Smith. Therefore your honorable body is
respectfully asked to make an appropriation of the sum of $18,845.84 to
pay the said claimants the amount due Commissioner of War Claims. them. And your memorialist in duty bound will ever pray. Adopted by the house January 21, 1887. J.
T. GREGG,
Concurred
in by the senate January 26, 1887.Speaker of the House. J.
C. CARSON,
The Laws of the State of Oregon,
1887, pages 378-380President of the Senate. CHRISTINA EDSON AND PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVES OF JOHN GEISEL,
DECEASED.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2822) for the relief of Christina Edson (formerly Geisel)
and the personal representatives of John Geisel, deceased, respectfully
beg leave to report:JULY 10, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2822.] The testimony before us is that of persons who are personally cognizant of the facts to which they testify--neighbors and acquaintances of claimant at the time of the depredations complained of--and these witnesses are persons of repute in the county where they reside. Each item of property taken and destroyed is minutely described and valued, and the values affixed we find to be the actual cash price of like property at the time and place of the depredation. This is proven by various witnesses, and among them the present judge of the court for the county in which the massacre and depredation occurred, and who was at the time one of the settlers who escaped to the forts nearby. We condense the long narrative of the witnesses in the following finding: On the 22nd day of February, 1856, there lived on the prairies facing the Pacific Ocean, in Curry County, Oregon, and about 6 miles north of Rogue River, an American citizen, a settler, by the name of John Geisel, who, with his wife, the present claimant, and five children, made their home on the public domain, and earned a livelihood by keeping a wayside inn for the accommodation of the travel on the trails between California and interior Oregon. The husband also mined on the gold beach adjacent. They owned a comfortable two-story dwelling, with twelve rooms, constructed of whip-sawed lumber, made in the mountains and brought to the seaside for use. There was also a building near the dwelling (one-story) which had been used as a store, as this family also kept a small assortment of merchandise for the accommodation of the settlers, gold miners, and hunters nearby. There were also several board cabins on the ocean beach used in connection with the gold mining. These contained shovels, picks, gold pans, and near them sluiceboxes, toms, copper plates, hose, quicksilver, and flumes used on the beach. On the prairie and around their dwelling were their horses, cattle, hogs, and chickens. In the house were such articles of furniture, provisions, and clothing as is found in the homes of the most comfortable families, and far beyond that usually found on the frontier. There were in the house several rifles, revolvers, etc. There was also gold dust and gold and silver coin on hand. The Indian tribes in the vicinity were seemingly at peace. A friendly Indian was employed by John Geisel at this time about the premises, and on this particular day had been engaged in looking for some stray hogs on the prairie. Returning about midnight he knocked at the door and asked for admission. Knowing his voice and not expecting treachery or danger, John Geisel left his bed and proceeded to open the door. At once four hostile savages led by the trusted Indian rushed in and made their murderous attack on Geisel. The wife, leaving her infant (fourteen days old), leaped from the bed and went to the aid of her struggling husband. In the struggle the husband received a mortal wound and fell dead at her side; she received a gash in her hand, nearly severing her finger, and was then overpowered and securely bound. The oldest daughter, then but thirteen years old, was dragged from her bed and likewise bound. The little boys were then one by one led forth from their beds, and in presence of the mother brutally murdered, the Indians compelling the mother to witness the fatal blows and the dying agonies. Removing Mrs. Geisel, the daughter, and infant from the house, they then carried out all articles of value and set fire to the house with its remaining contents, including the bodies of the victims. Taking with them various articles they commenced their march, refusing, however, to allow the captives to take with them any clothing, and barefooted and in their night dresses they slowly followed their captors to the Indian village of the “Tututnis," situated about 12 miles distant, on the banks of the Rogue River. During the night march other Indians joined the hostiles, and with them burned and pillaged other houses, and in the presence of the captives massacred the inmates. As they reached the river many dead bodies were found and horribly mutilated. For fourteen days Mrs. Geisel and her children were held in captivity at the Indian camp, being compelled to perform the most menial labor by the squaws, and being constantly maltreated. They were at the end of that time ransomed by the settlers, who had congregated in a fort near the mouth of the river. On their arrival at the fort they were in wretched condition, destitute of clothing, barefooted, and suffering from hunger and exposure. Everything of value was taken off the Geisel premises except the buildings, and they were all destroyed. We find that the government had supplied no protection to this outlying settlement, no troops were near, and for some time after the uprising the fort of the settlers was the only place of refuge or protection for many miles around. The Indian agent, Ben Wright, himself an old Indian fighter and of whom the Indians had great fear--even he assured the settlers that the Indians were well disposed and that no occasion existed for alarm. These Indians were under the control and supervision of the government, with its regularly appointed agent in charge. No annuities are due the tribe guilty of this depredation. We find that no part of the property was ever recovered, and no compensation has ever been paid the claimants, either on the part of the Indians or by the general government, and that the property lost and destroyed is of the value of $7,975, as shown to us in the testimony submitted on behalf of claimants, and the United States is liable to the claimants to this extent. We find that there was neither provocation, aggravation, or negligence on the part of Geisel or his family which could have invited the terrible consequences of that day. Geisel was an industrious, quiet, and law-abiding citizen, and just in his dealings to all the white community, including the Indians themselves, so far as the evidence discloses. It was a gross and wanton assault, even for savages, and only ended when nineteen of the little community had been massacred and much property destroyed and carried off. The least precaution on the part of the military authorities would have saved all. The valuations and enumerations of the property so lost are testified to with an evident and an unusual conscientious regard for the truth, and we therefore, in view of the facts before us, report the bill back and recommend that it be amended by striking out the words "eight thousand eight hundred and three dollars" wherever it occurs, and inserting the words "seven thousand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars," and, with this amendment, we recommend that the bill do pass. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 2836 HARDY ELLIFF.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2823) for the relief of Hardy Elliff, submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2823.] This claimant resided in the Umpqua Valley, in the then Territory of Oregon, and his property was taken and destroyed by the Rogue River and Cow Creek Indians October 24, 1855, and consisted of hay, cattle, hogs, oats, fencing, etc., which is valued at $17,150. The actual cash value at the time and place of depredation is testified to, and is in proof of the items of the bill. Nearly all the houses of his neighbors for many miles were burned by the Indians, and many persons massacred. The losses are clearly shown and the means of knowledge given. The claimant was at that time a man of means, owning a large band of cattle, and well supplied with a season's supply of hay, oats, etc. Those who were neighbors corroborate the claimant's statement, and they are witnesses of credibility and prominence in the community. We believe he should be paid for his destroyed and stolen property, for which he has received no compensation. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum of $17,150. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3450 I. B. NICHOLS.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2831) for the relief of I. B. Nichols, submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2831.] This claim arises from depredations committed by the Rogue River Indians in 1855-56. The Indian agent now in charge of the survivors of this tribe reports-- "That he has investigated the claim and has every reason to believe the claim to be correct, and thinks that it should be allowed, as I do not deem the amounts claimed exorbitant as compared with the market prices ruling at the time in the Territory." The claim is for $4,718, and is described and valued by items. It is corroborated by reputable old pioneers, who were present during the Indian war. The claimant was engaged in packing and trading, and had bought a cargo of goods and was packing them on mules when attacked. There was inadequate force on the part of the United States, the settlers were defenseless, and the claimant shows conclusively that he was peaceably traveling the highways when attacked, and recovered none of the property charged for and has never received compensation. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum of $4,718. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3452 JOHN WESLEY MILLER.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2828) for the relief of John Wesley Miller, submit the
following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2828.] This claim is for books and household goods destroyed by the Rogue River Indians October 24, 1855, in the Umpqua Valley, Oregon. The value is proven to be $817. The claimant is a minister of the Gospel and was such at the time, and actively engaged in the ministry, and endeavored to preserve peace, but his property was destroyed with the rest, and left him penniless. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum of $817. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3456 MICHAEL RILEY.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2818) for the relief of Michael Riley, submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2818.] This claimant owned property in the state of Oregon in 1856, which we find was of the value of $986 at the time and place of the depredation by the Rogue River tribe of Indians, which is testified to by credible witnesses, and among them that were present during the hostilities and who were acquainted with the property, its value, and the circumstances of its destruction and taking. No part of the same was ever recovered and no payment received therefor. We recommend the payment to claimant of said sum of $986. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3457 HEIRS OF GEORGE W. HARRIS.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2829) for the relief of the heirs of George W. Harris and
his wife, Mary A. Harris, and their daughter, Sophia Love, deceased,
submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2829.] We, your committee, find that the original claimant, Mary A. Harris, was the owner of the property described, and from the proof submitted believe the same to be of the cash value at time and place of depredation of the sum of $3,862; that said Indians were in hostilities at said time and were of the tribe of Rogue River Indians; that said destruction of property occurred in Jackson County, Oregon, in 1855; that the husband of said Mary A. Harris was George W. Harris, and was massacred at the same time by said Indians. They were reputable people. The witnesses, several in number, are credible people, and some were participants in the defense of the country, and knew the marauding Indians, as well as the property taken, and claimants as well as George W. Harris and Mary A. Harris. The property destroyed consisted of a comfortable dwelling and all the household property and farming implements, cattle, and horses. No part was ever recovered and none ever paid for. We recommend payment of said sum of $3,862. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3458 J. P. WALKER.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2835) for the relief of John P. Walker,
submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2835.] We find that claimant owned property in Southern Oregon during the Rogue River Indian war of 1855-56, and that during said hostilities said Indians took and destroyed the same, which was of the value of $500. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3459 VIET SCHUTZ.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2837) for the relief of Veit Schutz,
submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2837.] We, your committee, find that claimant is a respectable and credible citizen of the state of Oregon, and resided there during the Indian wars of 1855-56; that in Jackson County, Oregon, at said time he owned property which was taken and destroyed by the Rogue River Indians, and the same is shown to be worth $105. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3460 B.
F. DOWELL.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2813) for the relief of B. F. Dowell,
submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2813.] Your committee find that on October 22, 1855, during the hostilities in Southern Oregon the Rogue River Indians, who were at war, stole and carried off one mule, the property of claimant, which is proven to be of the value of $200, and to have been the property of claimant, and to have been stolen by said Indians without any fault or neglect on the part of claimant, and it further appears that said animal was never recovered and no compensation ever received therefor. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum of $200. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3463 E. J. NORTHCUTT &
BROTHERS.
The
Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2821) for the relief of E. J. Northcutt & Brothers,
submit the following
report:SEPTEMBER 14, 1888.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed. Mr. HERMANN, from the Select Committee on Indian Depredation Claims, submitted the following R E P O R T: [To accompany bill H.R. 2821.] This claim is for house destroyed and for horses, cattle, and provisions destroyed and carried off by hostile Rogue River Indians in Oregon in 1855. The amount claimed is for $6,210, but the Department, on careful investigation, allowed $5,450 for payment, and so reported the same to Congress. The evidence is full and complete. This loss occurred during an outbreak of the Indians. The Indian agent, on examination of the facts, recommends the payment of said sum as being the actual value of the property destroyed and carried off. We therefore recommend the payment of said sum of $5,450. Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Fiftieth Congress, 1887-88, Report No. 3467 Refer also to the table of nationwide Indian depredation claims in the Letter from the Secretary of the Interior, House of Representatives 50th Congress, 2nd Session, Ex. Doc. No. 103, Government Printing Office 1889. A SCRAP OF HISTORY
In the years from 1853 to 1857, writes
Sherman Stevens in the Daily
Astorian,
he was engaged in industry in what is now Josephine County in this
state, and was in the midst of what will be remembered by a good many
old Oregonians of the Rogue River Indian war, in which, for a time,
General Joseph Lane was in command of volunteers.How the Immortal Baker Was Elected Senator FROM THE STATE OF OREGON Interesting Reminiscences of One Who Took Part in That Historical Selection. After three or four years of exciting warfare, our troops succeeded in capturing [Chief John], the Napoleon of the Indians, and sent him to Alcatraz for confinement. [He was imprisoned two years after the end of the war.] His capture soon brought the war to a close, and started an army of claimants for services and supplies furnished the troops during the war. The troops, both regular and volunteer, had issued what they denominated "war scrip," in payment for supplies all over the country. The aggregate of this scrip amounted to something over $3,000,000, and was denounced as a gigantic swindle. Finally Congress appointed a commission of army officers to visit the localities where the scrip was held and to determine what portion of it ought to be paid. [This must be a memory of the commission to review claims for the 1853 war.] These officers fulfilled the duties of their appointment, allowed such claims as they found legitimate, cut down those they deemed exorbitant, and still the claims against the government amounted to over $2,500,000. There was scarcely a man engaged in business from Astoria or Portland to the California line but had a bunch of this scrip. Merchants in the interior had been forced to supply food and forage to the troops and volunteers for their own protection, and in many instances the entire stock of the traders at the mines was so used. After the commission had made their report, Senator Lane asked for an appropriation to pay these claims for four successive years, but was each time met with the claim that the thing was a swindle. In the course of my business I had accumulated a few hundred dollars of the scrip, and made up my mind that we could never get our pay until we could concentrate the debt with the right to get the subject and its justice fairly before Congress. I made an arrangement with Riggs & Co., bankers in Washington, who were at the time looked upon as the government bankers, to appoint me as their attorney to receipt in their name for what I could find of the scrip, they agreeing to pay the owners the amount collected upon it, less 10 percent, I agreeing with Riggs & Co. to give them 1½ percent, and to use the balance of the 10 percent, or so much thereof as was necessary, to procure an appropriation for its payment. I began gathering it up in San Francisco, and in that city I found $100,000 among the wholesale dealers, who had taken it in from their country customers. I then went to Crescent City, Jacksonville, and through the Rogue River Valley, then I went through the Umpqua and Willamette valleys, finding more or less in every town, and by the time I arrived at Salem I had secured over a million dollars of the scrip. Upon my arrival in Salem I found the legislature in session and balloting in joint convention for United States Senator. Colonel E. D. Baker, who six months before had taken up his residence at Salem for the possible chance that he might be elected, was being voted for by the Republicans, and was short but one vote of his election. After a deadlock of some days a postponement of a week was agreed to. I had, in the meantime, made the acquaintance of a member whose residence was in a county about fifty miles from Salem, and through which I had just passed, and when I had found a large amount of scrip, I asked him if he did not know that he was injuring his constituents by opposing the election of Colonel Baker. He said, that, personally, he would be glad to see the colonel elected, but he had promised his constituents never to vote for a Black Republican, unless instructed by them to do so. In the afternoon I mounted my pony and rode back to the county, went among the people, and induced them to call a mass meeting in reference to the war scrip. A large number of business men and farmers came together, and I laid before them the suicidal policy of allowing Oregon to be unrepresented in the United States Senate; that but a single vote, which they could control, would send there one of the brightest intellects on the Pacific Coast, and whose influence would secure the payment of our just claims. The result was the passage of a resolution instructing their member to vote for Colonel Baker. Armed with this resolution, I returned to Salem, and at the next meeting of the legislative convention Colonel Baker was elected. I went on to Washington with Colonel Baker, and was in the Senate chamber when he made his first speech. It was in answer to Judah P. Benjamin, the great gun of the South. When Senator Baker arose a perceptible smile manifested itself on the faces of old Senators at the audacity of the new Senator attempting a reply to Benjamin. He, however, had spoken but a few words before papers were put aside, conversation ceased, and every eye and ear turned to the Senator from Oregon, and the Senate chamber became so still that it became solemn. No one was looking for a statesman from that far-off state, but he so annihilated the sophistries of Senator Benjamin that the Senators by their votes fully sustained him, and from that time on his influence was fully recognized. At the proper time he introduced a bill to pay our claims, and after his clear and lucid statement of their justness, the bill became a law, and we got our money. Spokane Falls Review, March 1, 1891, page 10 Indian War Claims.
The veterans of the Rogue River Indian war have been submitting their
evidence in support of claims for Indian depredations committed in the
Rogue River war of 1856 before Special Agent Hubbard of the court of
claims, who has held court here during the week. Judge Crockett has a
spoliation claim of $3600 for hogs killed at Jump-off Joe, in October,
1855. Also Joshua Wright has a claim for $5000, arising out of the same
source for 100 head of hogs killed there. Crockett and Wright were
driving their hogs to Sailor Diggings and had camped at Jump-off Joe,
when the Indians broke out and killed settlers and stock
indiscriminately. The war lasted until the summer of 1856, when the
Indians were finally subdued.Many startling scenes and incidents are related in the testimony, and when Mr. Hubbard gets through he could write a story on frontier life in Oregon that would discount Kit Carson or Buffalo Bill. Mr. Kellogg of Douglas County and the J. L. Yokum heirs also have claims.--Grants Pass Observer. Del Norte Record, Crescent City, April 29, 1893, page 2 $13,680 TO BE FOUGHT OVER.
The following from the Eugene
Register
is full of interest. It is particularly of importance, as there are
other claims in Oregon of a like nature before the government:
A check from the government for $13,680 was received here yesterday morning for the heirs of Joseph Bailey. This case has quite a history. Joseph Bailey was a pioneer resident of this county, and during the Rogue River Indian war started to California with his stock and effects. When in the vicinity of Canyonville he was killed by the Indians and his property taken and destroyed. He left a wife, but no children. Cattle at that time were worth about $150 to $200 per head, hogs were worth $40 a head, and flour was worth one dollar per pound, and others in proportion, so that his loss was quite heavy. About thirteen years ago this case was taken up, testimony was taken, and the claim was presented to the government. Since that time it has been going through the necessary processes, and an allowance of the claim, which was $15,180, was obtained. The fees of the attorney at Washington, who prosecuted the claim, were taken out, and the heirs received the balance. Mr. Bailey left no children. His wife married again, and died several years ago. The heirs of Mr. Bailey are his brothers and sisters, of whom there are several in this county. Of course they will claim the money, but there will also be other contestants. We understand the man who married Mrs. Bailey will put in a claim for a part. When Mrs. Bailey died she willed some property to some children who were relatives of hers, and we understand they, too, will claim a share in the money. So it promises to be a warmly contested case for some time to come. State Rights Democrat, Albany, Oregon, February 8, 1895, page 5 Last revised October 19, 2024 |
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