John F. Miller, agent for the Indians in Oregon.
Robert B. Metcalfe, agent for the Indians in Oregon.
Evening Star, Washington, D.C., August 19, 1856, page 2

    Major H. H. Gratz has returned home from a delightful visit to the Yellowstone National Park in company with Colonel R. B. Metcalfe. The two gentlemen took in all the sights going and coming, and brought home with them numerous souvenirs of the tour.
Kentucky Leader, Lexington, July 14, 1890, page 4


    A year or so ago, on the overland, coming north, a familiar face came aboard at Medford and claimed acquaintance. It proved to be Nat Langell, that I had not seen for ever so long, but we were old-timers, and soon drifted into reminiscences. I had been on Rogue River in '51, before there was a settler, and had lived then through the Indian wars of '53 to '56, and could tell weird tales of firebrand and massacre that occurred in those fateful years, writes S. A. Clarke in the Oregonian.
    As we rode along through the December day, amid the changing scenes of the beautiful south country, Langell told how a recent meeting with Old John, last of the Rogue Rivers [John died in 1864], reminded him of a long-gone drama of life, few of whose actors remain. Forty years ago he was wagonmaster for an outfit that wended its slow way to convey northward the remnant of the fighters who spread death and desolation through Southern Oregon in the early '50s, until, at last, in 1856, they were conquered and removed to the Siletz Reservation, near the northern coast.
    His occupation won for him from the Indians the unique title of Chick-a-chick Tyee--"wagon chief." They all knew him--whites and Indians. Among the latter was the family of old Elijah, chief of the Applegate band, including his daughter Katie and her two children. Katie was a remarkably fine woman and very attractive, for she had a much lighter complexion and finer features than the ordinary savage; her two little girls were half-breeds, as she lived with and supposed herself the wife of Bob M----, who filled a profitable position as Indian agent. At least it yielded immense profit under his management. For years Katie supposed Robert to be entirely her own. She had been faithful to him, and thought their union was to be lasting. But "a change came o'er the spirit of her dreams," which had best he told in another paragraph.
    One of the most notable ones, if not the most notable man of Oregon in that day--a hero of the old Mexican War--had a daughter. The sire had presided at the treaty, and the daughter was found at her home on the Umpqua. She was a great prize in those days. George W. Lawson of Yamhill, who ran against Jo Lane for delegate to Congress ever so far back, was one of her liege-men. Bob M---- was another. George had been discarded. Winnie had given him the mitten, and the iron--if the simile is admissible--had entered his soul. Once on a time, when he deemed Bob M---- the coming man, he had importuned Nat Langell to show him Bob's woman, so my friend had taken him across Rogue River to the Indian camp and introduced him to Katie, who had her youngest little girl then in her arms. With exquisite irony of fate Lawson admired the babe, to flatter the mother, and suggested that he would bestow a gold piece upon the child if the mother would let him name it. She consented, and he named it Winnie [the name of Lane's daughter], which name they had grown used to when the long caravan of defeated braves and their families was wending its way through the Umpqua. It was somewhere about Winchester that Katie's heart was broken by the sight of her Bob riding past her on horseback, as the cavalier of charming Miss Winnie. Bob rode like a centaur and Miss Winnie like a sylph. All the wonders of caparison at that early time were wasted on their equipments. Winnie wore a riding habit and plumed hat; her eye was all alight and her cheek and lips were red as the blush of individual roses. This Katie saw, and her cheek grew pale, while her black eye flashed with fiercest flame. Bob had not noticed her or her child, as he rode past with his white blossom, and all the woman in her was desperate. For the first time it flashed upon her soul, through her jealous eye, that Bob could throw her off and wed one of his own race!
    Revenge is as natural to an Indian woman as love. The only cure for betrayal was vengeance! She studied how to reach Bob's heart with a most terrible ache, and remembered that he was very fond of the little one. It was in this awful mood that the poor girl left her children, and, coming to Langell's tent, threw herself down in the utter abandon of grief and hate. A Niobe, except the tears. She was too mad to cry. Looking up with flashing eyes and trembling lips, the poor creature slowly and firmly said; "Not! okook polackly nika memaloose tenas Winnie!" That night she would kill little Winnie.
    This might have been an idle threat from some women, but not from an outraged Indian mother. Langell bestirred himself to work out some way of salvation, and Winnie was not sacrificed on the altar of jealousy. It was not an easy matter, but finally Chief Elijah and his good wife interfered to save the grandchild, by taking possession and keeping her in safe custody until the fit was over and maternal love overcame the green-eyed monster in Katie's soul.
    Soon after this the Civil War came on and Bob M., who was a southern man, gathered together the spoils of his official career and carried many shekels back to his native Mississippi, where he lives in opulence today, forgetful, probably, of the half-white waifs that he paid a white man $4,000 to bring up to civilized usages in Oregon. When he lately saw Old John, last of the Rogue Rivers, Langell learned that the two little girls have grown up and are respected women with families.
    The original Winnie did not marry as the jealousy of Lawson and Katie feared, but lived and passed away as the mother of an Oregon family. If Katie is living I do not know, but the incident strikes me as possessing interest among the romance of pioneer reminiscences.
    Not long after Langell told me this story of the bygone time, I was traveling through this valley when a young lady entered the car, and, finding a seat by my side, said: "Do you not know me? I am Winnie!" She, too, was named for the Winnie of this story, for the mother had been a youthful friend in that same vale of the Umpqua. This revived my memory of the story told me on that winter-day journey, and causes me to preserve this reminiscence of a bygone race and of that early time.
The Inter Lake, Kalispell, Montana, February 8, 1895, page 4

    Col. Robert Baylor Metcalfe died at 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon at Woodlawn, his home on the Harrodsburg road. He was eighty-one years of age and had been ill for several weeks of heart trouble. Colonel Metcalfe was one of the most prominent men of this county and his long life had been one of adventure and distinction. The funeral services have been arranged for 11 o'clock Tuesday morning and will be conducted by Rev. Mark Collis. Two of Colonel Metcalfe's children, Mrs. J. G. James, of this county, and Mrs. Bayard Railey, of New York, were with him when he died. His son, Bela Metcalfe, of New York did not arrive until after his father's death.
    Col. Metcalfe was born in Paris, Bourbon County, Ky., on July 12, 1825. His father was a hemp merchant of Paris, Ky. While a lad he went with his father to Missouri. He received an appointment to West Point from Missouri and spent two years at the academy, and then went to Natchez by sailing vessel from New York. He read medicine until 1849, when the California gold fever struck the country. He started to California with a party of friends, going through Texas and New Mexico and Arizona, and while en route met with his father and another party. He encountered numerous hardships en route. Reaching California, he engaged in placer mining and merchandising for some time. He then went farther north and became the first government Indian agent in Oregon and Washington. [He was not.] Being a man of rare judgment, he soon gained considerable influence over the Indians, and during General Lane's campaign in the far Northwest he acted as interpreter and staff officer, and on several occasions his influence with the Indians saved the government forces from massacre. He was in the Indian service for a number of years, and had charge of conveying the different tribes from one reservation to another.
    Colonel Metcalfe was a delegate to the convention at Charleston, S.C. No nomination was made, and the convention adjourned to Baltimore, where General Breckinridge and General Lane were nominated. During the Civil War he was a Confederate soldier in Terry's Texas Rangers. After the war he went to Texas and engaged [in] ranching for a time and decided to go west again. On arriving at El Paso he learned that new discoveries of silver were made in New Mexico, and went there and stopped at the same camp he made on his trip to California in 1849. After prospecting in New Mexico, he went to Arizona, where he joined a prospecting company and located properties, which he worked for a number of years and afterward sold to the Arizona Copper Company. In 1877, Colonel Metcalfe married Miss Vie Phillips Berry, of Monticello, Ky., who accompanied him on his trip to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Two children, Maud and Sue, were born on the frontier, and not wishing to have his children grow up in Arizona, he came to Lexington in 1882 and purchased Woodlawn Farm, on the Harrodsburg pike. After locating in Lexington he became interested in public improvements and purchased the Lexington Street Railway. He also placed on his farm the best strains of blooded livestock money could buy.
    Colonel Metcalfe was a metallurgist of note, and since coming to Kentucky had accompanied a number of parties to Colorado, Arizona and Mexico to inspect mineral lands and pass judgment on them. During the past ten years Colonel Metcalfe has been in failing health and has made a number of trips in search of health--to Cuba and elsewhere. About two years ago he went to Los Angeles. He gradually grew weaker until last August, when he returned to Lexington, since which time he was confined to his room until his death.
Lexington Leader, Lexington, Kentucky, December 4, 1905, page 5




SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE ENQUIRER.
    Lexington, Ky., January 7.--Letters received here from the law firm of Hendricks Brothers, at Fossil, Ore., state that a daughter of Colonel R. B. Metcalfe, who died here recently, resides there. If the claim is true she will receive one fourth of the estate, valued at $100,000. Attorney Charles Kerr has written to Fossil for more definite information. Colonel Metcalfe was twice married, but, according to his family by the second marriage, the two children by his first marriage died when they were quite young. His first wife was a resident of the Far West, and died there while Colonel Metcalfe was the government Indian agent in Idaho [sic].  His second wife, who survives him, was Miss Viola Berry, daughter of a wealthy farmer of Boyle County, and to this union were born three children--Mrs. John James, of this city; Mrs. Bayard Railey, and Baylor Metcalfe, of New York.
    The members of the family and their legal representatives scoff at the claim of the woman in the West that she is a daughter of the noted turfman and capitalist.
Cincinnati Enquirer, January 8, 1906, page 4


SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE ENQUIRER.
    Lexington, Ky., January 13.--Further information received here during the past week regarding the claim that another heir to the estate left by the late Colonel R. B. Metcalfe had been found residing in Fossil, Ore., develops the fact that Colonel Metcalfe was the father of three daughters residing in the Far West, who were unknown to the family here. This fact, it is said tonight, was brought to light through correspondence between attorney M. H. Hendricks, of Fossil, and a local attorney, into whose hands attorney Hendricks' first letters were placed.
    It is said that the children living in the West have referred the family here to a brother of Colonel Metcalfe, who resides in Silver City, Idaho [sic], claiming that he will vouch fer the accuracy of their allegations and establish their identity to the satisfaction of all concerned.
    The fact that Colonel Metcalfe even had a brother living in the West was unknown to the people here, but in this connection is a peculiar coincidence related by Mrs. E. T. Barnette, wife of the purchaser of the "Woodlawn" farm, the transfer of which will be held up pending an investigation into the claims of the alleged wife in Oregon. Mrs. Barnette before her marriage resided in Seattle, Wash., and visited a family by the name of Metcalfe, and had seen a portrait of R. B. Metcalfe hanging on the wall of the library, but had no knowledge that the original of the portrait and the head of the Seattle household were brothers, although she had noticed a striking resemblance. Years later her husband brought her to Kentucky on a visit and while here opened negotiations for the purchase of the farm belonging to Colonel Metcalfe, whom she knew only by photograph.
Cincinnati Enquirer, January 14, 1906, page 9


    The following interesting article is taken from the Lexington Leader. Mrs. Metcalfe is a sister of Mr. B. C. Berry, of Danville. The sale of the noted "Woodlawn" farm near Lexington, belonging to the estate of the late Col. R. B. Metcalfe, and the division of the property left by him, estimated to be worth more than $100,000, have been temporarily stopped, pending an investigation of the claims of three alleged heirs, living in the state of Oregon, whose existence has until the last few days been unknown to the family.
    Several days ago a letter was received from a well-known attorney of Fossil, Oregon, intimating that Col. Metcalfe had heirs living at that place and asking for information regarding the property left by the deceased in this county. Developments during the last week indicate that three children--all daughters--of Col. Metcalfe reside in Oregon and that a brother of Col. Metcalfe also lives at Silver City, Idaho. The family disclaims all knowledge of these heirs in the Far West, whom they have never seen or heard of, and will contest their claim to a share of the estate.
    The discovery of these alleged heirs in Oregon, it appears, was brought about by the publication of an Associated Press notice of the death of Col. Metcalfe in a Western paper: This notice was seen by H. H. Hendricks, an attorney of Fossil, Oregon, who immediately wrote to ex-County Clerk R. L. Baker, of Lexington, asking for information as to the estate left by Col. Metcalfe and intimating that heirs resided there. This was followed by another letter asking that the matter be referred to a lawyer.
    To further prove the identity of these alleged children, it is stated that Col. Metcalfe's brother, now a resident of Silver City, knows of their whereabouts and has kept up a correspondence with them for years.
    The Lexington attorney, who has thus accidentally become interested in the newly found heirs, will make a thorough investigation of their identity and claims, and it now looks as if a sensation similar to that of the Lyon will case will be developed, should these Far Western heirs succeed in substantiating their claims.
    It will be recalled that F. W. Barnett, of Alaska, who is said to have made a fortune in the Klondike gold fields, recently purchased through Joseph S. Woolfolk, real estate broker of this city, "Woodlawn," the fine bluegrass stock farm owned by Col. Metcalfe, for $62,000, but owing to the complications it is said which have arisen, following the discovery of the alleged Oregon heirs, the sale has not been confirmed and the transfer of the property has been held up.
    The Kentucky Metcalfe family consists of the widow, Mrs. Vienna Metcalfe, and three children, Mrs. John James and Mrs. Bayard Railey, of this city and Baylor Metcalfe, now a resident of New York.
Danville News, Danville, Kentucky, January 16, 1906, page 11


SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE ENQUIRER.
    Lexington, Ky., March 5.--The recent sale of the noted Woodlawn Stock Farm, in this county, by the heirs of the late Colonel R. B. Metcalfe to E. T. Barnette, of Fairbanks, Washington [sic], will likely result in a lawsuit, owing to the inability of the heirs to make a proper transfer of the property. When Colonel Barnette came to Kentucky and purchased the place he made a payment of $5,000, and it was agreed to turn the property over to him the first of March, when the final payments were to be made. Before the prescribed time arrived, however, several alleged heirs to the estate turned up in Oregon, and the filing of the deed to the property was delayed pending an investigation into the legality of the claimants in the Far West. Since then an attorney of this city has been to Fossil, Ore., and returned with the information that, according to the territorial laws, the three young women living there are legal heirs and entitled to part of the estate, and it was said that he had effected a compromise whereby they were to relinquish all claims on the property in this city for the payment of a certain sum of money. Before this payment was made, however, it was learned that a compromise so effected would not hold good according to law, and the matter was again held up pending a further investigation, and when it came time to transfer the property the local attorney representing Barnette refused to accept the deed for the property, and on behalf of his client asked for the return of the $5,000, first payment on the property. This the representatives of the Metcalfe heirs refused to do, and now the matter will have to pass through the courts and a legal settlement of the difficulties made.
    According to the information divulged by several of the attorneys interested on either side of the case it was learned that the three alleged heirs in the West are daughters of Colonel Metcalfe, and that their mother was recognized as the legal wife of the noted turfman during his residence there, and it is said the courts of this state will be duty bound to uphold the laws of that state in dividing the property.
Cincinnati Enquirer, March 6, 1906, page 4


    In a petition filed Friday in the circuit court here the identity of the Western heirs, who are claiming a share of the estate left by the late Colonel R. B. Metcalfe, proprietor of Woodlawn Stock Farm, valued at nearly $100,000, is for the first time made public. These alleged heirs are Mrs. Winnie Heidtmann and H. F. C. Heidtmann, her husband; Mrs. Ellen Gilliam and R. A. Gilliam, her husband, residents of Wheeler, Oregon.
    Mrs. Heidtmann and Mrs. Gilliam claim to be children of a former wife of Colonel Metcalfe, long since deceased, and as such have set up a claim to part of the estate left by Colonel Metcalfe.
    The petition, which was filed Friday by attorneys J. D. and George R. Hunt of this city, representing the Fayette County heirs, Mrs. Vienna Metcalfe, widow of the deceased; Maude M. James and her husband, John G. James: Sue M. Railey and her husband, E. B. Railey, and Robert B. Metcalfe Jr. asks for a perpetual injunction against these Western heirs.
    The petition recites that the said Winnie Heidtmann and Ellen Gilliam claim to be children of Col. Metcalfe, by a former alleged wife, now deceased, and together with their husbands are claiming an interest in the property left by the deceased, consisting of a 300-acre farm in Fayette County, Ky. near Lexington, and that the defendants by reason of these alleged claims have cast a cloud upon the title of the plaintiffs to said property.
    The petitioners deny the claims of the defendant heirs and pray that their title to said property be quieted; that said defendants be required to assert any interest in said property that they may have, if any; that it be adjudged by the court that said defendants have no interest whatever in said property; and that they be perpetually enjoined from asserting any interest in the said property.
    It is known that these Western heirs have employed legal counsel and will make a stubborn fight for a share of the property.
Lexington Leader, Lexington, Kentucky, May 4, 1906, page 1


    The Fayette circuit court is asked to quiet the title of the property left in Fayette County by the late R. B. Metcalfe. A petition was filed yesterday in which Mrs. Vienna B. Metcalfe, widow, and Maud E. James, Sue M. Railey and Robert Metcalfe, the children, are the plaintiffs and Winnie Heidtmann and Ellen Gilliam, of Wheeler County, Oregon, are the defendants. It is alleged that at the time of the death of Mr. Metcalfe he left 300 [acres] of land in Fayette County on the Harrodsburg pike, two miles from Lexington. Shortly after his death, the defendants asserting that they were heirs at law of Mr. Metcalfe claimed an interest in the land, and, therefore, clouded the title, which claim prevented the sale to E. B. Bennett, of Fairbanks, Alaska.
    The plaintiffs deny that the defendants are heirs at law of the late Mr. Metcalfe and pray the court to require them to assert their interest, if they have any, and quiet the title of the property.
Excerpt, Lexington Herald, Kentucky, March 5, 1906, page 8


James K. Metcalfe, Esq.
    Silver City, New Mexico
Dear Uncle:
    Kindly answer following questions, if memory will permit you and you feel disposed to do so, for your nieces Ellen, Winnie and Mary, daughters of R. B. Metcalfe, deceased.
    1--Was the Rogue River country the native country of the Shasta Indian tribe?    Lived on both Rogue and Klamath rivers.
    2--Were the Shasta Indians living on a reservation at Rogue River when you met your brother and family at Jackson Creek?    No.
    3--Was Jackson Creek included in the Reserve?    No.    And what was the name of the Reserve?    Table Rock--I think.
    4--In one of your letters you speak of a place your brother had at Table Rock and which the government took for a reserve after appraising the improvements at $350.000; did the government take this place when the Reservation was first established?    I do not know.
    5--In the same letter you state your brother received in lieu of his place a right to take up land of the same amount, 320 acres, at any place in Oregon--was this right given in scrip or certificate from the government, or did the right simply consist in a right to make another filing?    My brother told me they gave him the right to take up land anywhere else in Oregon and paid him for unpaid drafts.
    6--Can you remember the year this land was taken by the government?    No.
    7--Was your brother living on the place with his family at the time the place was taken?    He always called it his home, but lived there only a part of the time. Part of the time he was mining.
    8--What was your brother's occupation at the time?    Miner, prospector and farmer.
    9--What was your brother's occupation when you met him living with his family on Jackson Creek, when the children Ellen and Winnie were 4 and 2 years old?    Mining on Jackson Creek.
    10--Was Chief Applegate alive at that time?    Yes; I knew him well.
    11--Were the children's mother Kitty and a sister the only children the Chief had?    I think they were his grandchildren.
    12--Was Chief Applegate's wife alive at that time?    He had three wives also.
    13--Was you with your brother and family when the Shasta tribe was moved to the Siletz Reserve?    Yes; he was in command of the soldiers.
    14--What was your occupation during this time?    Miner, commissary.
    15--Did your brother move the tribe from Rogue River to the Siletz Reserve, under a contract from the government?    I suppose so, but do not know.
    16--How long did you stay with your brother after you arrived at the Siletz Reserve?    I think three years.
    17--After arriving at the Siletz Reserve, did your brother live with his family on the Reserve until he left for Kentucky?    Yes, but he went to Texas.
    18--While with your brother, did he mention to you how long he had lived with Kitty Applegate, that he considered her his wife and that the children were his children?    He spoke of the children as his, but he did not consider Kitty his wife, and I do not know how long he had been living with her.
    19--Did the mother of the children die at the Siletz Reserve while you were there, or did she die after you and your brother had left there?    Afterwards.
    20--Do you remember anything about the Indians receiving allotments of land when you were at the Siletz Reserve?    I am sure they did not.
    21--Do you remember a young man by the name of Dave Hamilton; he was one of the teamsters that helped move the tribe and stayed at the Siletz a year, and was employed at the Agency?    No; he may have been a soldier.
    22--Do you remember any other incidents the happenings of which would refer to the family life of your brother Robert B. Metcalfe?    My brother gave the families who took the girls to bring up $1000 in gold. I think the children were taken without Kitty's consent.
Scans of originals on file, courtesy of Richard C. Metcalfe