The Democrat, Defiance, Ohio, May 3, 1856, page 2  This account was taken from the Crescent City Herald of March 12. It was also printed in the New York Times of April 17, 1856.


    Last evening an old squaw came in from the Indian camp, and is now in confinement, where I shall keep her until she is able to give some account of herself which from exhaustion caused by fatigue and hunger she was not able to do then. All that she did say was that she had a talk for the white men from the Indians who did not want to fight anymore, and that they had had a great many killed. . . .
    I have just heard the interpreter's report of his conversation with the old squaw. She says that she "was sent up by the hostile Indians to see if the friendly Indians were still here, and if so to say through them that the others are very anxious to make peace and surrender themselves unconditionally. They have had their houses burnt, their provisions destroyed, are without clothing, and have lost a great many of their people, both men and women, wherefore they desire to make peace and are willing to do whatever the whites may require. Furthermore, they say that they were persuaded into this war by the bad advice of Enos, who told them that the white men were afraid of them, which was the cause of their treating them so kindly, and now he has left them and gone up the river with the upper Indians who took with them, when they went away, everything that the whites had not destroyed, for which they intend to kill him if ever he comes among them again."
Major Robert C. Buchanan, letter of May 1, 1856, NARA M689, Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General 1881-1889, Roll 567, Papers Relating to the Death of Mary Wagoner.

 
    Tuesday, May 6th. camp mouth of R. R. Weather pleasant--no signs of Col.--In camp mouth of R. R.--express left for Fort Orford--I sent report to Col. B.--and asked for some clothing &c.--Capt. S. also sent letter reporting that squaws think attack can be had &c.--3 P.M. Col. arrived with long looked for letters from home--all well thank God--Capt. Augur & train in--told Col. of volunteers having sent two squaws (as I just learned) to say if the Indians wanted peace they must send in the head of Enos--Col. in a rage at it--
Diary of Captain Edward O. C. Ord, quoted in "The Rogue River Indian Expedition of 1856," master's thesis of Ellen Francis Ord, 1921


    We have at length full confirmation of the fact that a battle was fought on Rogue River, between Captain Smith's command and the Indians, in which Captain Smith lost eleven killed and twenty-one wounded. The report heretofore published is, in the main, correct. We obtain this news from the Yreka Union extra, of the 18th June. It is made up from the extra of the Jacksonville Sentinel of the 14th. There had been a consultation with the savages about the 1st of June, which resulted in nothing. The report proceeds:
    About the 5th of June, Captain Smith, in command of some eighty regulars, advanced about fifteen miles above Col. Buchanan's command, and encamped near the Big Bend of Rogue River. In the evening, old George informed the Captain that the movements of the Indians looked suspicious. Captain Smith, after dark, moved his camp further up the mountainside, and posted double guards.
    During the night the Indians, under old John and Enos, surrounded the camp, and about sunrise in the morning fired on the guard, killing eleven men and wounding twenty-one. The battle continued until next day about noon--thirty-six hours. During the battle two Rogue River Indians were with Captain Smith, and stated that they understood the conversation that was going on between John and Enos. They heard John say, "Enos, you have always told me that you could whip the soldiers; now, if you can, why don't you charge on them with your knives and kill them, and save your powder and balls?" He accordingly made the charge, but did not effect anything. During the battle old John was seen swinging ropes, and was heard to say that he intended to hang Captain Smith. The Indians obtained the body of one of the dead soldiers and hung it up, and tied a stick on the shoulder to represent a gun.
"Indian Hostilities on Rogue River," Sacramento Daily Union, June 24, 1856, page 1


    LATER FROM SOUTHERN OREGON.--The Yreka Union of July 24th says:
    We learn from a gentleman who arrived in this place on Tuesday last that old John had surrendered himself to Col. Buchanan's command, and was about to be carried to the Grand Ronde Reservation.
    He also states that the Chief Enos is still at large, and when last seen he was going down the coast. He was heard to say that he would proceed along the coast until he met the first white man with a good horse--that he would kill the man, take his horse and go off to the Cayuse country.
    A few days ago, a pack train was attacked between Port Orford and Crescent City by a a band of Indians supposed to be under old Enos. Two of the packers were killed. The mules were saved and driven down to Crescent City.
Sacramento Daily Union, July 29, 1856, page 2


    The following information, which is later, was communicated to the editor of the San Francisco Globe, by Col. R. N. Snowden, who arrived in San Francisco on the Goliah:
    Enos, the Canadian Indian, well known as Col. Fremont's guide in his first expedition to California, and more recently famous for the influence which he exercised among the different tribes of Indians from Oregon to Southern California, was dangerously wounded in the battle. His squaw was captured, and she reports that he cannot survive the wound. He was shot in the neck and in the knee.
"The Indian Battle at Big Meadows," Sacramento Daily Union, June 26, 1856, page 3


     I hope that you will take some means to render some security here in life and property. From the best accounts that I can gather that Enos, the notorious robber, has between 30 & 50 Indians with him or at his command that won't leave this section of the country. I would suggest that there be a reward offered for Enos dead or alive, as he is beyond a doubt an outlaw, and all his party or their chiefs have treated and left the country. I think if a liberal reward was offered for those outlaws that there would be men enough that would soon close the present difficulties. I would suggest that one thousand dollars be offered for Enos dead or alive and two hundred apiece for the others, dead or alive. I suppose that they all would have to be taken dead unless it was by chance. This mode would be much cheaper, and I think more effectual. There should be something done soon, that the farmers could work with some security.
Letter, Lt. G. W. Keeler to Adjutant General E. M. Barnum, July 26, 1856; Oregon State Archives, Yakima and Rogue River War, Document File B, Reel 2, Document 596

 
    Your favor of yesterday advising me of the arrest of Eneas has been received, and in reply I have to suggest that he be retained by you at the Grand Ronde until I can confer with Chief Justice Williams of Salem to ascertain whether a special term of the court may not be convened to try this particular case. Had he been taken during the time of actual hostilities, the military would undoubtedly have been competent to try his case, but now, after the restoration of peace, it may be a question whether the correct mode would not require a trial by the civil authorities. There is no doubt of his having incited the Indians to take up arms, and of his personal participation in the murder of Ben Wright and Poland, but whether such evidence can be brought before the court to convict is yet to be ascertained. Indian evidence against an Indian however will undoubtedly be regarded as good, and of this I presume there is a sufficiency. I will advise you of Judge Williams' reply on the return of my messenger, and hope to be at Grand Ronde in a few days.
Letter, Indian Superintendent Joel Palmer to Captain DeLancey Floyd-Jones, July 28, 1856. Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 195.

    Sir
    We have recently arrested on the Coast Reservation the notorious Eneas of Lower Rogue River, who has been regarded as the direct cause and controlling spirit in the outbreaks by Indians against the whites in the Port Orford District, and who it is alleged made the assault in person and killed by his own hand Capt. Ben Wright and aided in killing Capt. Poland. In the surrender of the Indians of that district, they were given to understand that this man would be executed if taken. It is believed he came here to excite a revolt, but was informed of by an Indian chief belonging to Port Orford, and assisted by C. M. Walker, aided by the military stationed at the mouth of Salmon River. My object in writing is to ascertain whether a special court may not be called to try this prisoner, or whether in your opinion he may properly be tried by court martial. You are aware we have no jail, and his presence may cause trouble on the reservation. If his case could be disposed of at once, it would undoubtedly subserve the public interest. Please advise me by return messenger. He is now or will be this evening at the Grand Ronde in the custody of the military, whom I have requested to retain him until your decision shall be known. In the event of a protracted postponement of trial we shall be compelled to send him to Vancouver for safekeeping. Will you have the kindness to advise me what steps should be taken to secure a speedy and legitimate trial of this Indian? The magnitude of the crimes alleged against him demands attention, and the chance of escape being so great it would be wise to dispose of it at the earliest possible moment. Will Indian testimony be regarded as good against an Indian? This question may have an important bearing in this case.   To
    Hon. Geo. H. Williams
     Chief Justice
       U.S.C.
         Oregon
 Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 196.
 
   Dear sir
    Referring to my letters of 28th ultimo, requesting the retention of Eneas at the Grand Ronde until it could be ascertained whether a court could be convened to try him, I have now to submit a copy of a letter from Chief Justice Williams upon that subject. The presence of this Indian at the Grand Ronde is calculated to cause excitement among the Indians. It is therefore important that his case should be attended to at an early day. The witnesses against the prisoner being among the coast tribes, it is submitted whether it should not be well to have the case tried here or on the coast, but in the event of a conviction it may not be advisable to execute the prisoner at this encampment.
    I am satisfied that unless he be tried by a military commission, great delay and uncertainty must ensue, as he must necessarily be taken to the county in which the offenses was committed for a judicial investigation, and I concur with the judge that under the circumstances a trial by a military commission is the proper mode of proceeding and therefore express a hope that measures may be taken to carry it into effect at the earliest practicable moment.  To
    Capt. De L. Floyd-Jones
     of 4th Infty.
Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 199.


    To
    Col. S. Cooper
    Adjt. Genl. U.S.A.
     Washington D.C.   Major--
    I have the honor to report that the half-breed Eneas, who murdered the Indian Agent Wright in February last, and who was one of the principal instigators of the outbreak upon Rogue River, and who was regarded by Col. Buchanan as an outlaw, was apprehended by a party of my men on the 29th ult., and has been detained at this post until the present time, in consequence of a suggestion of Superintendent Palmer to that effect. Finding however as you will [illegible] from the enclosed letters that it is not now the wish of Palmer to try said prisoner by a civil tribunal, it is my intention to send him to Fort Vancouver for safekeeping. I shall also visit Fort Vancouver and lay the case before Col. Wright, the district commander; Should he decline ordering a commission for his trial, which is not improbable, as his jurisdiction may not extend to the Coast Reserve. I have to request that a commission be at once ordered for the purpose indicated. I enclose herewith a list of witnesses in the case.
    The charges against Eneas are not enclosed, as all the data necessary cannot at once be collected; sufficient evidence however can be procured for his conviction either as an outlaw or as a traitor.
    Witnesses against half-breed Eneas   Fort Yamhill Letterpress Copy Book, University of Oregon Special Collections


     P.S. I also send you herewith enclosed the telegraph dispatch which I received from the Superintendent, as it requests me to send to you for Eneas, to be brought immediately to Vancouver. I sent express on yesterday with one from Capt. Jones, but as it did not state where to send him, I now forward you this one. . . .
Letter, H. P. Goodhue, Office of Indian Affairs Clerk, to Lt. W. B. Hazen, August 8, 1856. Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 203




     ENOS.--It will be seen by the following extract from the Oregonian that "Old Enos," who has been supposed to be still at large making mischief with a few of the Chetco and Pistol River Indians, has been taken and will be tried for the murder of Ben. Wright. We hope he may have an opportunity of testing the strength of hemp.
    "We understand that Enos, the Indian who murdered Benj. Wright, was captured a few days ago on the reservation, and is now in irons awaiting his trial. He was guide for Wright, it will be remembered, and it is said he stabbed Wright in the back while he was pleading with the rest of the Indians for his life. He will probably be tried by a military commission, as Judge Williams, whom General Palmer had requested to try him, had so recommended. This Indian is intelligent and educated, but has been very treacherous, and one of the principal leaders in the disturbances at the south. If we are not mistaken, he is a half-breed Red River Indian, and well known as one of Col. Fremont's guides through the country in '43 and '44."
Crescent City Herald, August 20, 1856, page 2


Special Orders No. 96
    A commission will meet at Fort Vancouver, W. T. on the 15th day of September 1856 at 10 o'clock a.m., or as soon thereafter as practicable, to investigate the charges made against the half-breed Indian, Eneas (now in custody of the military authority) in relation to his conduct during the Indian disturbances on the Rogue River. The Commission will report the facts in the case.
    The Commission will be composed of Lieutenant Colonel Thompson Morris, 4th Infantry; Captain Rufus Ingalls, Quartermaster's Department; Captain Henry D. Wallen, 4th Infantry.
By command of Major General Wool,
The commission met pursuant to the above order. Present:
The junior member recording the proceedings.
    The accompanying papers, marked A, B, C, and D, in reference to the charges against the half-breed Indian, Eneas, were then presented and read to the Commission, by the Recorder, when they adjourned to meet again tomorrow, at 10 o'clock a.m., 16th instant, to enable the Recorder to prepare the proper charges and specifications against the prisoner.
H. D. Wallen
  Captain, 4th Infantry
    Member & Recorder
          
T. Morris
    Lieut. Col., 4th Infantry
        President of Commission
    The commission met pursuant to adjournment.  Present: 
    The proceedings of yesterday, the 15th instant, were read over by the Recorder and the charges and specifications as drawn-up were submitted and approved.
    As no authority is given in the order organizing the Commission, which authorized the sending for persons to substantiate the allegations made against the accused; and as many of the witnesses will have to be summoned from a distance for this purpose, and as it is possible that they may all have to return to the place of sitting of a Military Commission or Court-Martial, if either be ordered in this case, the Commission deem it proper and prudent to submit these proceedings as far as they have progressed to the Major General, Commanding this Department.
    The Commission, therefore, adjourned until the proceedings are submitted and a reply is received from the Headquarters of the Department of the Pacific.
H. D. Wallen
    Captain, 4th Infantry
        Member & Recorder
             
T. Morris
    Lieut. Col., 4th Infantry
        President of Commission
    Colonel:  It appears that some time last winter, a volunteer company was formed at the mouth of Rogue River, which had for its object the protection of the settlers, as also the calling off of the communication between the upper & lower Rogue River Indians.  For this purpose, it took place on the river at a point called "Big Bend."  Eneas, having subscribed to the Rules and Regulations and signed his name, was regarded as one of the company which was commanded by Captain John Poland.  Eneas continued to perform his duties as a member of the company, without suspecting him of treachery until the 27th of January, when he started up Rogue River in company with John Clevenger and Enoch Huntley, who had in charge a supply of provisions for their comrades at the Bend. On reaching the mouth of the Illinois, the two white men above named were waylaid and murdered, Eneas immediately after returning to the mouth of the river and reporting that all had been attacked, and that he barely escaped with his life, his story was so plausible that at first he was not suspected by the community in general of being their betrayer, notwithstanding a messenger was dispatched to alarm the party at the Bend and put them on their guard. Eneas at the same time started up the river as express to deliver a dispatch to Captain Poland, which, of course, he never received. From that time forward he was regarded as a traitor, and a plan was laid by Benjamin Wright, sub-Indian agent, for his arrest, which he attempted to carry into effect on the night of the 23rd of February, but which resulted not only in his, Wright's, death, but that of several others. I should have stated also that between the dates mentioned above, the 27th of January and 23rd of February, every indication intended towards the fact that Eneas was inciting the Indians to revolt. At the murder of Wright, which occurred early on the morning of the 23rd February, he was the principal leader, although many others participated in it, and at the subsequent massacres, which occurred on the same day, he took an active part. He commanded in the various little skirmishes that took place in the vicinity of the fort to which the citizens of lower Rogue River retreated, after the morning of the 23rd February, and in negotiating for the exchange of Mrs. Geisel, he acted as their chief. He also admitted to me that he was present at the fight at the Mikonotunne village.
    As to his treachery and of his inciting the lower Rogue River Indians to rise against the inhabitants, there is abundant proof. I have no doubt too that there is sufficient evidence on the reservation to prove that he not only betrayed Huntley & Clevenger, but that he also participated in the murder of Wright, but it would be much more difficult to obtain. I would, therefore, suggest that the charge or charges be made with reference to inciting the Indians, and leading them in their hostilities against the whites.
    The witnesses are given in the order of their importance, and I would state also that the Indian witnesses are much more likely to testify correctly apart from the reservation than upon it. My own name is given, as he made quite a lengthy statement to me on the morning of this arrest.
To: Colonel Thompson Morris, 4th Infantry
    President, Commission, Fort Vancouver, W.T.
    Charges and Specifications preferred against the half-breed Indian, Eneas, now in custody of the Military Authority at Fort Vancouver, W. T.
Charge 1st, "Desertion."
    Specification. In this, that the half-breed Indian, Eneas, being a member of Captain John Poland's Company, Oregon Territory Volunteers, organized for the protection of the settlers at the mouth of Rogue River on or about the [blank] day of [blank] 1856, and stationed at a point on said river known as the "Big Bend," did desert from said company and go over to the enemy, the Rogue River Indians, with whom the whites were at war.
Charge 2, "Murder and Inciting to Massacre."
    Specification, 1st: In this, that the half-breed Indian, Eneas, did after his desertion from Captain John Poland's Company, Oregon Territory Volunteers, act as principal leader in the murder of the sub-Indian agent, Benjamin Wright, on or about the morning of the 23rd day of February 1856, and in the murder of Captain John Poland, O. T. Volunteers at [blank] on or about the [blank] day of [blank] 1856.
    Specification, 2nd: that the half-breed Indian, Eneas, did after the murders aforesaid act a principal leader, or did participate in the several massacres that occurred at [blank] on or about the 23rd day of February 1856, and did cooperate in, or incite to, the various massacres that occurred in the Rogue River country, pending the hostilities that existed between the Indians there located and the whites.
RG 393, Department of the Pacific, Letters Received, 1856

 
      CAPTURE OF AN INDIAN CHIEF.--We are indebted to Mr. W. W. Baugh, the Oregon messenger of the new American Express Company, for information that Enos, the celebrated chief of the Indians around Port Orford, who was recently captured in Oregon, was brought down the coast from Portland by the steamer Columbia.
    Enos is well known as having been Fremont's guide in his first expedition across the Plains. Some twelve months ago, the Indian agent Wright, with some of his party, was murdered by the Indians of Port Orford, under the command of Enos. The latter escaped, and was but lately captured. The weather being rough at Port Orford, the Columbia did not touch there to land him, but put ashore at Crescent City. The prisoner is under charge of Sheriff [Michael] Riley of Port Orford, who will proceed to that place as soon as opportunity offers, so that Enos may stand his trial there on a charge of murder.
San Francisco Bulletin, March 17, 1857, page 3


    ENOS.--This notorious character, generally reputed to have been the leader of the Indians in their murderous attack upon the settlements of Gold Beach and Rogue River in the month of February, 1856, arrived here on the Columbia, in charge of the sheriff of Curry County. He has been for some time past in charge of the military at Vancouver, who, it appears, have refused to try him, and have remanded him to Port Orford for trial by the civil authorities of Curry County. There's been so much talk of his deeds of blood and villainy that his arrival occasioned quite an excitement, and everyone seemed to have a curiosity to see him. He is at present lodged in jail, awaiting the return of the steamer, when he will be conveyed to Port Orford, where he will in all probability suffer the penalty commensurate to his crimes.


    Friend P.--Enos had his trial yesterday, was convicted of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to be hung this morning at 10 o'clock. He was tried before a jury of twelve good men. The evidence was conclusive against him, much stronger than I had any idea of. Most of the miners from Gold Beach and Sommers' diggings are here; the town is full. It is expected that he will make a confession before he dies, as he has promised to do so.
    11 O'CLOCK.-Enos has just been hung; he would not confess anything. He said he had made a full confession to the Priest at Vancouver. He was hung on Battle Rock. He said as he was about to swing off, "Boys, look out that some of you don't go the same way in a year or two." Everything has been done with the greatest solemnity.
    No news of importance here, "Sommers' diggings" still holds its good name.

     The Indian, Enos, was hung on Battle Rock, on Sunday last. He was tried by the miners and hung without much ceremony, not half the testimony appearing against him that I expected. He met his fate with perfect indifference.
Unsigned letter dated April 16, 1857, Oregon Statesman, Salem, May 12, 1857, page 2

 
   LYNCHING IN ROGUE RIVER VALLEY.--A passenger who arrived by the Columbia yesterday informs us that an Indian was hanged at Rogue River last Monday for the murder of Mr. Geisel, committed some two years ago. The murder was a cold-blooded atrocity, and created much feeling at the time. Geisel was married and had three children. He was killed in his bed asleep, and two of the children were murdered. Mrs. Geisel and one child were carried into captivity, but were afterwards exchanged for some Indian prisoners. The perpetrators escaped, but were held in memory, having been recognized by Mrs. Geisel. A few days ago, as they were going by Rogue River, on the way to the reserve, this man was seized and tried, but owing to the absence of Mrs. Geisel, no evidence could be brought against him. The people, however, were satisfied of his guilt as he was well known to them, and on his being released by the legal authorities they seized him and hanged him on a tree. They then got out a warrant for four or five concerned in the murder, and arrested them. They are now awaiting their trial.
Daily Alta California, San Francisco, March 8, 1858 [sic], page 2 Despite the incident's similarity to the hanging of Enos in 1857, this article refers to the hanging of Chetco Bill in 1858 for the murder of John Geisel.


      HUNG BY THE PEOPLE.--The people of Rogue River Valley, says the Alta [California], hung an Indian on the 1st inst., for the murder of Mr. Geisel, about two years ago. The murder was a cold-blooded atrocity, and created much feeling at the time. Geisel was married and had three children. Mrs. Geisel and one child were carried into captivity, but were afterwards exchanged for some Indian prisoners. The perpetrators escaped, but were held in memory, having been recognized by Mrs. Geisel. A few days ago, as they were going by Rogue River, on the way to the Reserve, this man was seized and tried, but owing to the absence of Mrs. Geisel no evidence could be had against him. The people, however, were satisfied of his guilt, as he was well known to them, and on his being released by the legal authorities, they seized him and hanged him on a tree. They then got out a warrant for four or five concerned in the murder, and arrested them. They are now awaiting their trial.
    The above occurred at the mouth of Rogue River, we believe.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 27, 1858, page 2


     . . . although the little settlement now grew and prospered, yet Battle Rock was destined to be the scene of another tragedy connected with the Indian race, which occurred in this wise: At the time of the breaking out of the Rogue River war, one of the most sanguinary and stubbornly contested of the conflicts of the white and Indian races on the coast, there lived at the little town of Ellensburg, at the mouth of the river, an Indian named Enos. He was from an eastern tribe--I believe the Cherokee--and had come out to the western coast on a whaling vessel, and drifted up to this settlement in Oregon. Dressing after the fashion of the whites, speaking their language fluently, having no intercourse with the natives, and being besides quite industrious, he was regarded with great confidence by our countrymen.
    At this time the tribes at the mouth of the river had not broken out in open hostility, although fighting was going on in the Rogue River Valley well up the stream. Two white men, desirous of joining the volunteers on the upper river, engaged Enos to accompany them. They supplied him liberally with ammunition and arms, and expected to find him a useful auxiliary. The three men departed together, and nothing more was heard of them for a long time. Subsequently, to the great surprise of the white men, Enos was discovered as a leader of one of the most warlike and brave of the bands of their enemies. This led to a search, and the skeletons of his two companions were discovered beside the ashes of a campfire--evidently murdered in their sleep by their treacherous ally. After various mutations, the war was closed by the surrender of a large body of Indians, among whom was Enos.
    They were removed to the reservation at Vancouver, under the charge of the United States authorities. But Oregon justice was not to be thus easily satisfied. The widows of the two murdered men cried out for revenge. A warrant was sworn out for the apprehension of Enos on the charge of murder committed before actual hostilities had broken out, and therefore rendering him amenable to civil authority.
    The sheriff of the county proceeded to the reservation and demanded the body of Enos. The lieutenant in command yielded him up, and he was conveyed in irons to Port Orford, the county seat. Of this journey down, the sheriff, who is still living, relates the following anecdote: Enos wished to exchange the dirty shirt that he wore for a clean one, but his custodian refused to unlock his handcuffs. Nevertheless he is said to have actually accomplished the apparently impossible feat of taking off the soiled garment and replacing it with a clean one, by drawing both through his irons.
    Arrived at Port Orford, the criminal was tried before a regular court. There was, however, no evidence to prove that he actually committed the murder, and he was set free. To use the sheriffs words: "Enos was confined in the blacksmith's shop of the village. After the decision I went in, told him that he was free, and unlocked his irons and took them off. I then led him to the door. When I opened it, I found myself suddenly pushed back. Two men stepped forward with cocked revolvers. Each seized an arm of Enos and hurried him down a lane of men, which, formed in double row, extended from the shop down to the beach and up to the summit of Battle Rock. Ten minutes after, his lifeless body dangled from the limb of a tree." And with this act of retributive justice ends the story of Battle Rock..
Alexander W. Chase, "The Story of Battle Rock," Overland Monthly, February 1875, pages 182-183


Coast Mail, Marshfield, Oregon, January 10, 1880, page 1

 
    In the spring of 1856 a new complication was introduced into the troubles in Southern Oregon. The Indians of the coast had remained peaceful, though those living at and below the mouth of Rogue River were urgently solicited to join the hostiles. Their relations with the settlers and miners had been none too pleasant for a year past, and several incidents had occurred to intensify the natural feeling of race antagonism. Ben Wright, of Modoc fame, was the agent in charge of the Indians in that region, having his residence at Gold Beach at the mouth of Rogue River. At Port Orford, thirty miles north, was a military post known as "Fort Orford," and garrisoned by Captain Reynolds' company of the 3d Artillery. During the winter, and at the instance of Agent Wright, a volunteer company of thirty-three men, under Captain John Poland, occupied a strongly fortified post at Big Bend, some fifteen miles up the river, where they served to separate the hostiles from the Indians below. About the first of February they abandoned this post and returned to Gold Beach. Wright, observing the growing discontent of the natives, put forth every effort to induce them to go to the temporary reservation at Port Orford, where they would be safe from the attack of ill-disposed whites and the solicitations of hostile Indians. It has always been supposed that it was owing to the intriguing of one man that this effect was not brought about. This man was an Indian of some eastern tribe--Canadian, it was said--and had been with Fremont on his last expedition ten years before. Enos, called by the Indians "Acnes" [sic--Aeneas?] had become a confidant of Wright's to the extent of knowing his plans for the peaceful subjugation of the Indians. Enos laid with the braves a far-reaching plan to destroy utterly the small colony of whites; and this done, to join the bands of savages who were waging war, and to defeat and drive from the country the invaders who so harrowed the Indian soul.
    The first step in Enos' portentous plan was to slaughter Wright and the settlers along the coast. On the evening of February 22, having completed his arrangements, Enos, with a sufficient force of his Indians, fell upon the scattered settlement at the south side of the mouth of the river, and finding Agent Wright alone in his cabin, entered it seen, but unsuspected, by him, and with an axe or club slaughtered this hero of a hundred bloody fights. So died, perhaps, the greatest of Indian fighters whom this coast ever knew. Concluding this villainy, the Indians sought new victims, and during the night killed mercilessly, with shot or blows, twenty-four or twenty-five persons, of whom the list is here presented as given by various authorities: Captain Ben Wright, Captain John Poland, John Geisel and three children, Joseph Seroc and two children, J. H. Braun, E. W. Howe, Barney Castle, George McClusky, Patrick McCollough, Samuel Hendrick, W. R. Tullus, Joseph Wagoner, ------ Seaman, Lorenzo Warner, George Reed, John Idles, Martin Reed, Henry Lawrence, Guy C. Holcomb, and Joseph Wilkinson. Mrs. Geisel and her remaining children, Mary and Annie, were taken prisoners. After suffering the worst of hardships at the hands of the Indians, they were delivered from them at a later date, and now live to recount with tears the story of their bereavement and captivity. A large portion of the inhabitants had gathered on that fateful night at Big Flat to attend a dance given there, and so failed of death; and on the morrow these set out for the village, and on arriving there found the fearful remains of the butchery. The corpses were buried; and the remaining population, numbering, perhaps, one hundred and thirty men, scantily supplied with firearms and provisions, sought protection in a fort which had been constructed in anticipation of such need. Here the survivors gathered and for a time sustained a state of siege with the added horrors of a possible death by starvation. Their only communication from without was by means of two small coasting schooners which made occasional trips to Port Orford or Crescent City. The Indians surrounded them and commanded every approach by land. Meantime, the savages were not idle. Every dwelling and every piece of property of whatever description that fire could touch was destroyed. The country was devastated, and, beside the fort besieged, only the station of Port Orford remained inhabited. The buildings at Gold Beach were all burned, and an estimate of the property destroyed along the coast fixes the damage at $125,000.
    Enos, with quite a number of his followers, had joined the upriver bands, who were lying on the river above the Big Bend. Others had gone to Port Orford and placed themselves under the protection of the military. On the twenty-seventh of March a party of regulars were fired upon from the brush while proceeding down the banks of the Rogue, whereupon they charged their assailants and killed eight or ten, with a loss to themselves of two wounded.      On the twentieth of June Chief John sent five of his braves to Buchanan's headquarters to announce that their leader would surrender on the same terms as had Limpy, George and other chiefs, but he wished the whites to guarantee safety to Enos, who was an object of particular aversion to the volunteers. . . . There is a tradition in Curry county that Enos was hanged upon Battle Rock at Port Orford; but the Indian then executed was one of four Coquille Indians hanged for the murder of Venable and Burton. The fate of Enos is unknown.
Harry Laurenz Wells, A Popular History of Oregon, 1889, page 439
 
 

     As the public mind is at the present time somewhat agitated over Indian news generally, and thinking some of your readers would be interested in scenes that occurred in our own state many years ago, and being one of the party who took quite an active part in the scenes herein related, and knowing whereof he speaks, writes S.S. in the Grand Ronde Chronicle, I will now proceed to relate the facts of the capture of Eneas, the half-breed Indian, whose savage instincts were the cause of the death of as brave a man as ever lived, and one who had done him many acts of kindness, and who placed implicit confidence in him. I refer to the brutal massacre of Captain Benjamin Wright, then acting Indian agent, on Rogue River, on the 22d day of February, 1856.
    Eneas was a Canadian half-breed Indian and had rendered services under Fremont in 1845. He also acted as scout for Wright in his famous attack on the Modocs in 1852, and was his most trusted agent in many respects. On the morning of the 22d Eneas entered the premises of Captain Wright, unsuspected of any evil design, and watching his opportunity, killed him with an ax, which was agreed upon among the Indians as a signal for a general massacre. They then, after killing Wright and Captain Poland and mutilating their bodies, cut out the heart of Wright, divided it into numerous pieces, the Indians eating it, among them Eneas. They did this to make them brave, as they considered Wright the bravest of white men, and should they eat a portion of the heart of so brave a man they would be equally as brave.
    After the massacre of Agent Wright, Captain Poland and nearly all of his command, besides many citizens in Rogue River, Eneas escaped to the mountains and remained there until the hostile Indians were removed to the coast or Grand Ronde reservation at the mouth of the Neachesna or Salmon River, about three miles above Siletz Bay. (The late General Joel Palmer was then superintendent of Indian affairs.)
    Late one summer afternoon of that year, Eneas came upon the reservation and went to the camp of Tututni John, an Indian who was in the massacre, and who had Ben Wright's scalp, and secreted himself. Just before sunset a friendly Indian by the name of Tag-o-me-sha came to the agency building in great excitement and informed Mr. Courtney Walker, who was then acting as sub-agent, that Eneas was in camp and gave information where he could be found, saying he had come to create dissatisfaction among the Indians and if he was not at once apprehended the consequences would be very disastrous and much trouble would ensue.
    At that time there was at the mouth of Salmon River--which is about thirty miles from Fort Yamhill, the nearest military post--between 12,000 and 14,000 Indians, consisting of the Umpquas, Rogue River, Tututnis and Port Orford tribes, many of them but a short time from their battlefields.
    Mr. Walker instructed me to go at once and secure the entire military force then at Salmon River (which was four soldiers), go to Tututni John's tent, arrest Eneas and bring him to the agency building--a small shake house 10x14, and the only erected there. I proceeded at once to obey Mr. Walker's instructions, procured the four soldiers, went to Tututni John's tent, placing the soldiers in such a position as to prevent his escape and demanded the surrender of Eneas. I was informed by some of the Indians that Eneas was not in the tent nor had he been there. I at once drew my revolver and pushing aside the opening of the tent entered. The first thing that drew my attention as I entered the lodge was a pile of blankets in the corner of the tent, whose unusual size suggested to me the possibility they might conceal beneath their ample folds the person I was looking for, and I at once proceeded to prospect, so to speak. As soon as I approached the blankets and commenced to explore them, the Indians commenced to talk very excitedly among themselves, and I then knew at once I should find my man. After throwing a few pairs of blankets aside, sure enough there lay Eneas, as "snug as a bug in a rug." I commanded him to get up at once, which he did, I enforcing my order with my pistol. I then called the soldiers into the tent, and then, telling Eneas to proceed with them to the agency building, assuring him that should he attempt to escape he would be shot. Upon arriving at the agency building, we bound him firmly and securely with ox chains to prevent his escaping.
    Mr. Walker spoke with him of the enormity of his crime, of the friendship the whites had entertained for him; the many acts of kindness they had extended to him, and informed him he would be sent at once to Fort Yamhill to be placed in charge of the military until the governor, George L. Curry, and General Palmer could be heard from. Eneas made no response to Mr. Walker's remarks, but remained in sullen silence. That night we guarded him faithfully, and the next morning before daybreak I started on horseback to Fort Yamhill--Captain E. C. Floyd Jones then in command--with orders for troops to be dispatched at once to Salmon River to remove Eneas to the military post, arriving there before 8 a.m., and that same afternoon some sixteen soldiers were dispatched to Salmon River for that purpose.
    After a short delay I proceeded to Dayton, the then-headquarters of superintendent of Indian affairs, to notify General Palmer of the capture of Eneas, and the same afternoon was on my way back to Salmon River.
    Eneas was removed from Salmon River to Fort Yamhill, thence to Vancouver, and in the spring of 1857 was taken to Crescent City on the steamer Columbia--the weather being too boisterous to land at Port Orford--thence by land to Port Orford, where he was waited upon by a select "necktie" party and hanged on Battle Rock sans ceremonie, and thus ended the career of Eneas.

Last revised April 1, 2019