In this city, by Rev. Mr. Neale, Mr. JOHN B. PAINE, to Miss AMANDA ALEXANDER.
    By the same, Mr. ROLLINS S. BELKNAP, to Miss MARY A. SMITH.
"Marriages," Christian Reflector, Boston, December 19, 1844, page 3


    Watchmen Appointed--Luther Hutchins, Rollin S. Belknap, Seth W. Fogg, Walter W. Homer, John Ewers.
"Municipal Affairs," Boston Daily Bee, August 24, 1847, page 1


    A Mrs. Belknap showed equally remarkable cool and deliberate bravery. Five Indians went to the house and threatened to kill her and burn the house. She presented one of Colt's revolvers and told them to "klatawa" ["leave"] or she would shoot them all, and they left, and she and the family were saved.
A. G. Henry, Letter of October 11, 1855, Oregon Statesman, Corvallis, October 20, 1855, page 2


    On a consultation with Major Bruce, Capt. Judah, of the regulars, and the captains of the several companies, a plan of attack was arranged for the following morning, Nov. 26th, subject in the meantime to be modified by the report of R. S. Belknap and James P. Barns, the spies who had ascended the river.
William J. Martin, letter of December 10, 1855, Table Rock Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 22, 1856, page 1


[signed] R. S. Belknap, Steward.
"Hospital Report," Table Rock Sentinel, Jacksonville, January 5, 1856, page 2


    Mr. R. S. Belknap carried his family to high land, from his house, on horses. His valuable orchard is almost entirely destroyed. His loss in fence, hay and grain is heavy.
"Floods--Great Destruction of Property," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, December 21, 1861, page 2




    R. S. Belknap has located at Sams Valley, Jackson County.
"Brief Mention," Eugene City Guard, August 12, 1876, page 3


    On the evening of the 2nd inst., says the Plaindealer, R. S. Belknap, postmaster at Angora, Coos County, took to Roseburg Billy Stillwell, a lad 16 or 17 years of age, and Wesley Donee, aged 18 years, who were accused of robbing the mail on the 19th ult. on the route between Myrtle Point and Camas Valley.
"Youthful Mail Robbers Arrested," The Coast Mail, Marshfield, Oregon, January 10, 1884, page 3


    So I passed on up the valley in quest of Doc Paxton & to find out what was the matter. The valley here is about ¾ of a mile wide, a smooth, nice prairie land; to the left is a rise of 10 or 15 feet, and the land is heavily timbered & covered with a thick growth of underbrush. I rode on for half a mile and thought I saw someone up on the bench or side hill. I put spurs to the mule and rode directly up there and was somewhat taken aback to find a woman & 2 children. The woman I discovered was a Yankee & she had a dirk stuck in her belt and a double-barreled shotgun in her hands and a pr. of blankets the children was sitting upon.
    She looked and acted brave--poor, frail woman, she did not realize that herself & children's lives were spared simply because she lived in Timoleon Love's house. Of course I inquired for Paxton and asked for an explanation, when she made the following statement. She said Umpqua Joe (a Cherokee that came out with Fremont [and] was killed near there a year or two ago by his son-in-law) had come down from Jacksonville about 2 hours before in hot haste & reported to them that the Indians had broke out that morning in the Upper Rogue River Valley, and that they were massacring all the whites and burning everything before them, and told Doc Paxton who was there at the house to take her & the children up to Vannoy's and that he, Joe, had a canoe down at the river; [he] would get in that, make a run down to Galice Creek in one hour (river very rapid) and would tell Capt. Belknap, her husband & his partner Mr. White to come right up that night, that Mr. Paxton had taken her & the children & cached them out in the brush and for her to stay there while he went down to the other house and got his horses. This was several hours before, and she was there waiting for him. Poor, frightened man, he never came back. I then told her it was no place for her out there; she must go to the house and that being personally acquainted as I was with nearly every Indian in that part of the country, I did not place much confidence in Joe's report, thought it was only a tease, that our folks would expect me home that night, but under the circumstances I would not desert her till someone came, so we all went to the house. Mr. Love's pack train she said would be in that night. I picketed out my mule; we got supper; waited till 10 o'clock. No one came and so we lay down with our clothes on ready for any emergency. It was a long night. The house was of hewn logs, but not chinked--all open. Daylight came at last; [we] got up and went out but not a living thing was to be seen except my mule. Stayed there all that day, all the second night, but not a soul came to our relief. What did it mean? This was Wednesday morning and I began to get fidgety and nervous, till about 10 a.m. I heard a rumbling noise, looked up the valley, saw bright flashes up & down, and thought it must be Indians coming on horseback. We all got inside; I barricaded the door with sacks of flour and then took a look at them through the sights of a gun. They came swooping down upon us in a dead run. Soon I discovered it to be a party of six white men & I breathed easier. We opened the door. They seemed much surprised to find us living and especially me, for Harkness told them that I was to be home Monday, but that Doc Paxton had come in through the mountains, got to the Grave Creek House about 12 o'clock that night and reported that he barely escaped with his life, that everybody had been murdered, and of course I had been waylaid & killed, that they had just been sent down from Vannoy's to look for the Belknaps, that the Indians, without a moment's notice had begun to shoot the settlers & burn their homes. They named the Jones family, the Wagoners, the Harrises as all killed and the Haines family not heard from. This recital raised my hair, and the boys said I turned white as a sheet. There was no time to be wasted at that stage of the game. I saddled my mule; we packed Mrs. B. & her 2 children onto two of the men's horses with a few articles of clothing. The men leading the horses, they started for Vannoy's 7 or 8 miles up the river.
James H. Twogood, 1886, Silas J. Day Papers, Lilly Library, Indiana University






Last revised August 5, 2022