V. THE MISSIONARY PERIOD…

V. THE MISSIONARY PERIOD

In the preceding chapter we learned that the various attempts of American trappers and fur companies to control the fur trade of Oregon failed. The Hudson's Bay Company was too firmly entrenched in its vast domain to be loosened by any business of its own kind. Nor would there have been any special advantage to the United States or the world in dislodging the great British company and substituting an American enterprise of the same sort. The aims and policy of all fur companies were the same: i. e., to keep the country a wilderness, to trade with the natives and derive a fortune from the lavish bounty of wild animal life. The Hudson's Bay Company was as good as any enterprise of its type could be. The unfortunate fact was not so much that it was the British who were skimming the cream of the wilderness, as that the regime of any fur company was necessarily antagonistic to that incoming tide of settlers who would bring with them the home, the shop, the road, the church, the school, in short, civilization. Hence the necessary policy of the great fur company was to discourage immigration, or, in fact, any form of enterprise which would utilize the latent agricultural, pastoral, and manufacturing resources of Oregon. This policy existed, in spite of the fact (of which we shall see many illustrations later) that individual managers and officers of the company were often of broad and benevolent character and predisposed to extending a cordial welcome to the advance guard of American immigration. A few stray Americans had drifted to Oregon and California with the hope of inaugurating enterprises that would lead to American occupation. In general, however, the land beyond the Rockies was as dark a continent as Africa.

But in 1832 a strange and interesting event occurred which unlocked the gates of the western wilderness and led in a train of conditions which made American settlement and ownership a logical result. In 1832 a party of four Indians from the Far West appeared at St. Louis on a strange quest--seeking the "White Man's Book of Life." Efforts have been made by certain recent writers to belittle or discredit this event, for no very apparent reason unless it be that general disposition of some of the so-called critical school of investigators to spoil anything that appeals to the gentler or nobler emotions, and especially to appose the idea that men are susceptible to any motives of religion or human sympathy or any other spirit than the mercenary and materialistic. But there can be no question about the journey of these four Indians, nor can there be any reasonable doubt that their aim was to secure religious instruction for their people. The details of the journey and the nature of the expectations of the tribe and of the envoys might of course be variously understood and stated, but the general statements given by reliable contemporary authorities are not open to doubt.

To what tribe the Indians belonged seems uncertain. It has been stated by some that they were Flatheads and that tribe, though quite widely dispersed, had their principal habitat in what is now Northern Idaho and Northwestern Montana. Miss Kate McBeth, for many years a missionary to the Nez Percé Indians, and located at Kamiah and then at Lapwai, near Lewiston, thought that three of the Indians were Nez Perces and one a Flathead. Nor is it known how those Indians got the notion of a "Book of Life." Bonneville states in his journal that Pierre Pambrun, the agent at Fort Walla Walla, taught the Indians the rudiments of Catholic worship. Some have conjectured that the American trapper, Jedadiah Smith, a devout Christian, may have imparted religious instruction. Miss McBeth formed the impression that their chief hope was that they might find Lewis and Clark, whose journey in 1805-6 had produced a profound effect on the Nez Perces. It is interesting to note that Clark was at the very time of this visit of the Indians the superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis. He has left no statement as to the location of these Indians, though he referred to the fact of their visit to several passers who have recorded his statements. The first published account of this visit appeared in the New York Christian Advocate, of March 1, 1833. This was in the form of a letter from G. P. Disoway, who had charge of the removal of certain Indians to a reservation west of St. Louis. In his letter Disoway enclosed one from William Walker, an interpreter for the Wyandotte Indians. Walker had met the four Indians in General Clark's office in St. Louis. He was impressed with their appearance, and learned that General Clark had given them some account of the origin and history of man, of the coming of the Savior, and of his work for the salvation of men. According to Walker, two of the Indians died in St. Louis. As to whether the others reached their home he did not know.

Walker's account was confirmed in a most valuable way by George Catlin, the noted painter and student of Indian life. He was making a journey up the Missouri River on one of the first steamers to ascend that stream to Fort Benton. In the Smithsonian Report for 1885 can be found Catlin's account, as follows: "These two men, when I painted them, were in beautiful Sioux dresses which had been presented to them in a talk with the Sioux, who treated them very kindly, while passing through the Sioux country. These two men were part of a delegation that came across the mountains to St. Louis a few years since, to inquire for the truth of the representations which they said some white men had made among them, that our religion was better than theirs, and that they would all be lost if they did not embrace it. Two old and venerable men of this party died in St. Louis, and I travelled 2,000 miles, companion with these two fellows, toward their own country, and became much pleased with their manners and dispositions. When I first heard the objects of their extraordinary mission across the mountains, I could scarcely believe it; but on conversing with General Clark on a future occasion, I was fully convinced of the fact." Rather curiously Catlin speaks of these Indians as being Flatheads or Nez Perces, as though the two tribes were identical.

The letter of Disoway in the Christian Advocate was discussed in the Illinois Patriot of October, 1833, together with the statement that the subject had excited so much interest that a committee of the Illinois Synod had been appointed to report on the duty of the churches. The committee went to St. Louis and conferred with General Clark, receiving from him a confirmation of the report. When this pathetic story, together with the stirring appeal of the committee, had reached the Christian people of the country, it produced a profound impression, although, quite curiously, the little book by Lee and Frost of the first Methodist Mission, which passed through St. Louis in 1834, and whose members conferred with Gen. Clark, refers rather slightingly to the event. The decades of the '20s and '30s were a time of deep religious sentiment. It was the beginning of the Missionary movements of the century. To the sensitive souls of the time this unheralded call from the Far West seemed a veritable Macedonian cry. From it sprang the Christian Missions of Oregon. And the missionaries were the advance guard of immigration. And the immigration decided that the American home-builder and farmer should own Oregon, rather than that the British fur-trader and the Indians should keep it as a game preserve and fur depot. It would indeed be too much to say that American ownership of Oregon would not have resulted, if it had not been for the missionaries. But it may safely be said that the acquisition would have been delayed and that there would have been many more chances of failure, if the missionaries had not fitted into the evolution of the drama just as and just when they did. The missionary period was an essential one, coming between that of the fur-traders and that of the immigrants.

While the scope of our undertaking requires us to confine our narration mainly to the area covered in this history, yet in order to preserve the historical continuity and to exhibit the forces which led to subsequent developments, we must enlarge the picture enough to include glimpses of the mission locations outside of Walla Walla.

The first of the Christian Crusaders to respond to the Macedonian call from Oregon was a party under Jason Lee of the Methodist Church. This party came to Oregon in 1834 in company with Nathaniel Wyeth, the American trader, of whose bold and worthy, and yet unsuccessful undertakings we have spoken in Chapter Four. Reaching Vancouver, the missionaries presented themselves to Doctor McLoughlin, the chief factor. He met them with every expression of generous goodwill and advised them to locate in the Willamette Valley rather than among the tribes from whom had proceeded the Macedonian call. As a result, Lee with his assistants, located at Chemawa, near the present Salem, Ore. From that mission sprang the first permanent American settlement, the native name of which was Chemeketa, place of Council, or peace-ground. The missionaries gave it the Bible equivalent, Salem, a proceeding of more piety than good judgment. The Willamette University of the present is the offspring of the school started by the missionaries for the Indian children, and within a few years modified so as to meet the needs of the white children. For that earliest mission, like the later, discovered that this great work, after all, must be for the white race, not for the Indians.

The next year after the coming of the Lee party, another movement was initiated which was destined to have a most intimate connection with Walla Walla. For in 1835, the man who became the first white man, aside from the fur trappers and traders, in the Walla Walla Valley, left his home in New York for Oregon. This was Dr. Marcus Whitman, who, more than any other one man, put Walla Walla on the map of the world. In 1835, Doctor Whitman, in company with Dr. Samuel Parker, set forth on a reconnaissance to determine the advisability of locating a mission among the Indians from whom had gone the Macedonian call. Reaching Green River, the outlook seemed so encouraging that it was decided to part company; Doctor Parker continuing westward with Indians who had met them at Green River, while Doctor Whitman, the younger and more active of the two, returned to his home in Rushville, N. Y., and there organized a missionary band.

As a result of Doctor Whitman's return, a party consisting of himself and his bride, Narcissa Prentiss, and Rev. H. H. Spalding and his newly wedded bride, Eliza Hart, set forth in 1836 for Oregon. With them was William H. Gray as secular agent and general manager. With the party also were two Indian boys who had accompanied Doctor Whitman the year before on his return from Green River. Of this bridal journey of 4,000 miles, most of it on horseback, our space permits only a few hurried views. Aside from the momentous results in the history of Oregon and the United States, the story is one of heroism and devotion which has few parallels, and the record closes with a martyr's crown for Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.

Among the precious relics in Whitman College, is Mrs. Whitman's diary of the journey, and also that of Mrs. Spalding. That of Mrs. Whitman was made by herself from notes on the way and was sent from Vancouver to her parents upon the completion of the journey. Its heading is as follows:

"Narcissa Whitman's Diary of a Missionary Tour West of the Rocky Mountains performed 1836. Being the first white female ever beyond the mountains on the continent. The journey was performed on horseback--a distance of 4,000 miles. She, in company with her husband, Marcus Whitman, M. D., and H. H. Spalding and wife, left the state of New York for this tour in February of 1836--travelled through a part of Pennsylvania, Ohio--and finally arrived at St. Louis in Missouri. Here they joined the Fur Company that crosses the mountains every year--and were also joined by Messrs. Suturly [Saturleé in Mrs. Spalding's diary] and Gray--missionaries to the West. Matters thus arranged they all left St. Louis in March--for the 'far West.' The further particulars of the journey may be learned from the following extracts from her journal taken on the way."

Following this heading is a letter addressed to her parents, dated Vancouver, October 20, 1836, in which she says that the journal covers the journey from the "Rendezvous," and that while at Vancouver she had been so situated that she could copy her notes taken on the way. The party had crossed the Great Divide on July 4th, and on that day celebrated the natal day of the country, and as they looked down the long vista westward, seem to have felt that they would claim possession of that western land in the name of the American Union and the Church of Jesus Christ. They had reached the "Rendezvous" on Green River July 6th. After several days there, refitting and resting and conferring with Indians, they resumed the next great stage of the march with a detachment of the Hudson's Bay Company, under Mr. McLeod, bound for Walla Walla.

It was July 18, 1836, when they set forth under these new auspices. A company of Flathead and Nez Percé Indians also travelled with them. It appears from the diary of Mrs. Spalding that the Nez Perces were very anxious that the party accompany them, but as they apparently wished to hunt on the way it was manifestly necessary that the party go with the traders. One chieftain, Mrs. Spalding says, concluded to go with them, though it would deprive him of the privilege of securing a supply of meat for the winter. Mrs. Whitman tells of the tedious time which Doctor Whitman had with his wagon. This was one of the notable features of his journey. Some have asserted that he was the first to drive a wagon from the Missouri to the Columbia. This is only partly true. Ashley, Smith, Sublette, Bonneville, and other trappers, had driven wagons to the Black Hills, and to other points, but none of them had gone so far west as Whitman, with a wagon. But when he reached "Snake Fort," near Boise, generally known as Fort Boise, he left his wagon. In 1840 Robert Newell went clear through the Blue Mountains and reached Walla Walla. However, Doctor Whitman deserves all praise for his energy and persistence in pushing his "Chick-chick-shaile-kikash," as the Indians called his wagon, even to Fort Boise, and he may be very justly called one of the first wheel-track-makers. It is interesting and pathetic to see how Mrs. Whitman craved some of her mother's bread. During part of their journey they had an exclusive diet of buffalo meat. Occasionally they would have berries and fish. They had several cows with them and from them had some milk, which was a great help. They had to shoe their cattle (presumably with hide, though it is not so stated) on account of sore feet. With the cows were two sucking calves, which, Mrs. Whitman says, seemed to be in excellent spirits, and made the journey with no suffering, except sore feet. Soon after passing a point on Snake River, where the Indians were taking salmon, Mrs. Whitman bade good-by to her little trunk which they had been able to carry thus far, but were now compelled to leave. It is truly pathetic to read the words in her journal.

"Dear H. (This was her sister Harriet, to whom she is especially addressing the words): The little trunk you gave me has come thus with me so far and now I must leave it here alone. Poor little trunk! I am sorry to leave thee. Thou must abide here alone and no more by thy presence remind me of my dear Harriet. Twenty miles below the falls on Snake River, this shall be thy place of rest. Farewell, little trunk. I thank thee for thy faithful services, and that I have been cheered by thy presence so long. Thus we scatter as we go along." A little later it appears that Mr. McKay rescued the trunk. Mrs. Whitman shows that she had quite a sense of humor by recording that when she found what Mr. McKay had done her "soliloquizing about it last night was for naught."

The journal contains quite a glowing account of the beauties of Grande Ronde Valley, then of the toilsome, zigzag trail out of it into the Blue Mountains westward. On August 29th, the party stood upon the open summit, from which they saw the Valley of the Columbia. "It was beautiful. Just as we gained the highest elevation and began to descend the sun was dipping his disk behind the western horizon. Beyond the valley we could see two distant mountains, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens." The latter of those mountains was Adams, not St. Helens. Our missionary band were now in sight of their goal. It was not, however, till September 1st, that they actually rode into Walla Walla. In fact, part of the company, including the Spaldings, did not reach the fort till September 3d. It was a thrilling moment to that devoted little band. It seemed to them almost equal to what it would to one of us moderns to enter Washington or Paris or London. Think of the journey of those two women, those brides, three thousand miles from St. Louis to Walla Walla, five months and mainly on horseback. As they drew near the fort, both horses and riders became so eager to reach the end of the journey that they broke into a gallop. They saw the first appearance of civilization in a garden about two miles from the fort. That garden must have been nearly upon the present location of Wallula. As they rode up to the fort, Mr. McLeod (who had gone ahead to prepare for their coming), Mr. Pambrun, the commandant, and others, came forth to meet so new and remarkable an addition to the population of Walla Walla. Mrs. Whitman has the enthusiasm of a child in describing the chickens, turkeys, pigeons, hogs, goats, and cattle, which latter were the fattest that she ever saw and then she goes into ecstasies over the breakfast of salmon, potatoes, tea, bread, and butter, and then the room in the fort with its comfort after all their hardships. The officers of the fur company treated them with the utmost courtesy and consideration. Such was that momentous entrance of the missionaries and of the first white women into Fort Walla Walla, September 1, 1836.

The next chapter in the story of the Whitman party was their journey to Vancouver, the emporium of the Hudson's Bay Company. Leaving Walla Walla by boat on the 7th of September, they reached the "New York of the Pacific," as Mrs. Whitman says they had been told to consider it, on the 14th. Mrs. Whitman in her journal the admiration of the party for the beauty of the river, more beautiful, she says, than the Ohio, though the rugged cliffs and shores of drifting sand below Walla Walla looked dismal and forbidding. They found much to delight them at Vancouver,--the courtesy and hospitality of Doctor McLoughlin and his assistants, the bounteous table, with feasts of salmon, roast duck, venison, grouse and quail, rich cream and delicious butter, a picture of toothsomeness which it makes one hungry to read; the ships from England moored to the river brink, and the well-kept farm with grain and vegetables, fruits of every sort, grapes and berries, a thousand head of cattle, and many sheep, hogs, and horses--a perfect oasis of civilized delights to the little company of missionaries, worn and homesick during their months on horseback across the barren plains and through wild mountains.

Doctor Whitman and Mr. Spalding, leaving their wives in the excellent keeping of the Hudson's Bay people at Vancouver, returned, in company with Mr. Gray, to the Walla Walla country to decide upon locations. They had expected, so Mrs. Whitman says, to locate in the Grande Ronde, the beauty and fertility of which had been portrayed in glowing colors by returning adventurers and fur-traders. But discovering as they passed through that it was so buried in the mountains and so difficult of access from the rivers and the regular routes of travel, they fixed upon Waiilatpu (Wielitpoo, Mrs. Whitman spells it) for one post and Lapwai for another. The Whitmans became established at Waiilatpu, "the place of rye grass," six miles west of the present Walla Walla; and the Spaldings at Lapwai, two miles up the Lapwai Creek, and about twelve from the mouth of the Clearwater, the present site of Lewiston. A few months after the location at Waiilatpu, on March 4, 1837, a beam of sunshine lighted in the home of the Whitmans, in the form of a daughter, Alice Clarissa, the first white child born west of the Rockies and north of California. The Indians were extraordinarily pleased with the "little white papoose," or "Cayuse temi" (Cayuse girl), and if she had lived, the tragedy of a little later might not have occurred. In a letter preserved at Whitman College, from Mrs. Whitman to her sister and husband, Rev. Lyman P. Judson of Angelica, N. Y., dated March 15, 1838, the mother says: "Our little daughter comes to her mother every now and then to be cheered with a smile and a kiss and to be taken up to rest for a few moments and then way she goes running about the room or out of doors, diverting herself with objects that attract her attention. A refreshing comfort she is to her parents in their solitary situation." With her parents so needing that child, fairly idolizing her and their very lives wrought up with hers, it is too sad to relate that on June 23, 1839, the bright, active little creature wandered out of the house while the mother was engaged in some household task, and took her way to the fatal river that then ran close to the mission house, though it now has a new channel a quarter mile away. Missing little Alice Clarissa, Mrs. Whitman hastened to the river, with a sinking dread, and there she saw the little cup where the child had dropped it. This mutely told the heart-breaking tale. An Indian, diving in the stream, found the body, but the gentle and lovable life, the life of the whole mission, was gone. The faithful and devoted father and mother had one less tie to life. The patient resignation with which the anguished parents endured this infinite sorrow shows vividly what strength may be imparted by the real Christian spirit.

Both Doctor Whitman and Mr. Spalding were indefatigable workers and quickly created civilized conditions upon the beautiful places where they had planted their missions. That of Mr. Spalding was outside of the territory covered by this history, and we therefore devote our larger attention to the mission at Waiilatpu. It should, however, be said that from the standpoint of results among the Indians, Mr. Spalding accomplished more than any of the missionaries. This may be accounted for in some part by the superior characters and minds of the Nez Perces, among whom he was so fortunate as to have cast his lot. They seem to have been of the best Indian type, while the Cayuses in the vicinity of Waiilatpu were turbulent, treacherous, and unreliable.

Doctor Whitman was of powerful physique and familiar from boyhood with the practical duties of farm and mill. He could turn his hand to almost anything in the way of construction. The same was true of Mr. Gray, who spent part of his time at Waiilatpu and part at Lapwai, though he returned in 1837 to the east in search of new helpers. But within a few months the Whitmans were comfortably housed, and every year saw some improvement about the buildings and land. Seed for grain, and fruit trees were secured at Vancouver, and stock was provided also. The Waiilatpu farm consisted of a fertile belt of bottom land of about three hundred acres between the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek, with an unlimited range of low hill and bench land covered with bunch-grass, which furnished the finest of stock feed almost the whole year round. Doctor Whitman was himself a practical millwright and soon had a small sawmill equipped about twenty miles up Mill Creek, while adjoining the mission house he laid out a mill dam, the lines of which can still be seen. The water for the mill pond was supplied from Mill Creek by a ditch which followed nearly the course of the ditch of the present time. The mill was a grist mill and located at the western side of the pond, and within a few steps of the mission house and the "mansion," as they called the large log building erected a few years after their arrival for the accommodation of the frequent visitors, especially after American immigrants began to come. Toiling incessantly, the missionary doctor and hero was rewarded by seeing his mission brought in a surprisingly brief time to a condition of profitable cultivation. T. J. Farnham who came with the so-called "Peoria party" in 1839, says of Whitman's place: "I found 250 acres enclosed and 200 acres in good cultivation. I found forty or fifty Indian children between the ages of seven and eighteen years in school, and Mrs. Whitman an indefatigable instructor. It appeared to me quite remarkable that the doctor could have made so many improvements since the year 1836; but the industry which crowded every hour of the day, his untiring energy of character, and the very efficient aid of his wife in relieving him in a great degree from the labors of the school, enabled him, without funds for such purposes, and without other aid than that of a fellow-missionary for short intervals, to fence, plow, build, plant an orchard, and do all the other laborious acts of opening a plantation on the face of that distant wilderness, learn an Indian language, and do the duties, meanwhile, of a physician to the associate stations on the Clearwater and Spokane." Joseph Drayton of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition of the United States Navy, visited Waiilatpu in 1841. He says of the mission: "All the premises looked comfortable, the garden especially fine, vegetables and melons in great variety. The wheat in the fields was seven feet high and nearly ripe, and the corn nine feet in the tassel." Had not Doctor Whitman possessed great physical strength, as well as determination and energy, he could not have endured the excessive toil which was the price of his rapid progress. Senator Nesmith, who came to Oregon in the immigration of 1843, said in the hearing of the author of this work: "Whitman had a constitution like a sawmill." Another old timer said of him that he had the energy of a Napoleon. Some old timer has said that Whitman used to ride in a day to the present site of Lewiston, from Waiilatpu, about ninety miles. He would do it by changing horses several times. He was hard on horses, and when someone remonstrated on the ground of cruelty, the doctor replied: "My time is worth more than the horse's comfort."

As has been stated, Mr. W. H. Gray went east in 1857 for reinforcements. The next year he came again to Oregon with a valuable addition. Besides the addition to his own life of a bride, Mary Dix (who was one of the choice spirits of Old Oregon, and during many years a center of life and light in the new country) there were three missionaries, each also with a newly-wed wife. These were Revs. Elkanah Walker, Cushing Eells, and A. B. Smith. Mr. Cornelius Rogers accompanied the party. Reaching Walla Walla, the new arrivals were assigned to new stations, Messrs. Eells and Walker to Tschimakain, near the present City of Spokane, while Mr. Smith went to Kamiah, about sixty miles east of the present site of Lewiston. Mr. Rogers and the Grays went to Lapwai. There seem never to have been more faithful and devoted missionaries than were these of the four missions of Waiilatpu, Lapwai, Tschimakain, and Kamiah. Yet, it could not be said that they were successful in turning any considerable number of natives to Christianity. The Nez Perces at Lapwai and other stations established by Mr. Spalding, notably the one at Alpowa, were most amenable to Christian influences, while the Cayuses in the Walla Walla Valley were least so. In contemplation of the apparently scanty progress, the Missionary Board at Boston decided to discontinue the missions at Waiilatpu and Lapwai, to discharge Messrs. Spalding, Gray, Smith, and Rogers, and to send Doctor Whitman to the Spokane country.

While these difficulties were harassing the missionaries, very important events were taking place in national life. The slavery and the tariff questions had become firebrands in domestic politics. The questions of annexation of Texas, of the occupation of Oregon, of possible trouble with Mexico over the former, and with England over the latter, were threatening corresponding chaos in foreign affairs. Doctor Whitman, reticent and sagacious, saw clearly that his chosen aim of leading the natives to civilization and Christianity was rapidly sinking in importance in comparison with the question of the white race in the new land, and of the ownership of this great region. In 1842 the Ashburton treaty with England settled the Northeastern boundary and the supposition was that it would also settle the Oregon question. But when the treaty was signed on August 9th, it appeared that the question of Oregon was left unsettled. In a message of August 11th, President Tyler explained to the Senate that so little probability of agreement existed that it was thought not expedient to make that subject a matter of negotiation.

While the Ashburton treaty was pending, the first real immigration, though a small one of 112 persons, came to Oregon. In it, among several of the most notable of the old Oregonians, was A. L. Lovejoy, a young New England lawyer, a man of energy and ambition, destined to play a conspicuous part in Oregon history. When the party reached Whitman's Station on the Walla Walla, they delivered to him letters from the United States and discussed with him the pending treaty and the danger that it might draw the line so as to leave Oregon to Great Britain, or at least to make the Columbia River the boundary, placing the entire Puget Sound Basin and the mountains and plains eastward to the river in possession of Great Britain. Seeing the imminence of the danger, Whitman determined upon a supreme effort. He decided to make a mid-winter journey East with three aims in view: to present to the Government the situation and the vital need of preserving Oregon for the United States; to try to aid in forming and guiding an immigration to Oregon; and to settle affairs of the mission with the Board at Boston. He asked Lovejoy to go with him. It looked like a desperate undertaking, but Lovejoy, an athletic, ambitious young man, agreed to go.

At this point comes in the bitterly disputed "Whitman Controversy." It is not within the scope of this work to undertake an argumentative treatment of this question. The question at issue, if rationally considered, is rather the extent of the services of Doctor Whitman in "saving Oregon to the United States." Mrs. F. V. Victor, Elwood Evans, Prof. E. G. Bourne, and Principal W. I. Marshall have, more than others, presented arguments in favor of the contention that Doctor Whitman had no important part to play in the great political drama of Oregon, while the claim that he had large political aims and bore a conspicuous part in influencing the final result has been supported in books written by Dr. O. W. Nixon, Rev. William Barrows, Prof. William Mowry, and Rev. Myron Eells. The final book by the last named, the "Life of Marcus Whitman," is, in the judgment of the writer, the final and unanswered and indeed unanswerable word on the subject. The author of this history has given in the Washington Historical Quarterly of April, 1917, his reasons for thinking the statements of Professors Bourne and Marshall inaccurate and their arguments inconclusive. The fact acknowledged by all is that Whitman made a ride during the fall and winter of 1842 and succeeding months of 1843, which for daring, heroism, and fortitude has few parallels in history. The question of controversy is, what did he make such a journey for? His critics say that it was in consequence of the decision of the Missionary Board to discontinue his mission on the Walla Walla. Mrs. Victor and Principal Marshall are the only ones among these critics who have achieved the distinction of attributing base or selfish motives to Whitman. They have held forth the idea that he, foreseeing the incoming of immigrants, wanted to maintain the station at Waiilatpu in order to raise vegetables and other supplies to sell at a high price. Whether a motive of that sort would lead a man of Whitman's type to take that desperate ride in mid-winter through the Rocky Mountains, at peril of life a dozen times over from Indians, freezing, and starvation, is a question which different people would view differently, according to their way of estimating the motives which determine men's actions. Perhaps people whose estimate of human nature, based possibly on their own inner consciousness of motives, is that selfish gain is the leading motive, would agree that the hope of cornering the vegetable market at Waiilatpu was an adequate cause of Whitman's ride. To some people it would seem likely that the mainspring of his action was some great national and patriotic aim and that while he wished to maintain the mission, his great aim was to convince the Government of the value of Oregon and to help organize an immigration which would settle the ownership of Oregon in favor of his country. At any rate, he went. That much is undisputed.

Practically the only account of that memorable mid-winter ride from Waiilatpu to St. Louis is from A. L. Lovejoy, the sole white companion of Whitman. Whitman himself was, like most heroes, a man of few words. He told various friends something of his experiences in Washington and Boston, and told to associates and wrote a few letters to friends about the immigration of 1843, but he seems to have been very reticent about the "Ride." Mr. Lovejoy wrote two letters about that journey, one dated November 6, 1869, which is found in W. H. Gray's History of Oregon, and one addressed to Dr. G. H. Atkinson and used by him in an address on February 22, 1876. This letter so vividly portrays the character of this undertaking as it comes from the only witness besides Whitman himself, that we deem it suitable to incorporate it here.

"We left Waiilatpu October 3, 1842, traveled rapidly, reached Fort Hall in eleven days, remained two days to recruit and make a few purchases. The doctor engaged a guide, and we left the Fort Uinte. We changed from a direct route to more southern, through the Spanish country, via Salt Lake, Taos and Santa Fe. On our way from Fort Hall to Fort Uinte we had terribly severe weather. The snows retarded our progress and blinded the trail, so we lost much time. After arriving at Fort Uinte, and making some purchases for our trip, we took a new guide and started for Fort Uncumpagra, situated on the waters of Grand River, in the Spanish country. Here our stay was very short. We took a new guide and started for Taos. After being out some four or five days we encountered a terrific snowstorm, which forced us to seek shelter in a deep ravine, where we remained snowed in for four days, at which time the storm had somewhat abated, and we attempted to make our way out upon the highlands, but the snow was so deep and the winds so piercing and cold, we were compelled to return to camp and wait a few days for a change of weather. Our next effort to reach the highlands was more successful; but, after spending several days wandering around in the snow without making much headway, our guide told us that the deep snow had so changed the face of the country that he was completely lost and could take us no further. This was a terrible blow to the doctor, but he was determined not to give it up without another effort.

"We at once agreed that the doctor should take the guide and return to Fort Uncumpagra and get a new guide, and I remain in camp with the animals until he could return, which he did in seven days with our new guide, and we were now on our route again. Nothing of much import occurred but hard and slow traveling through deep snow until we reached Grand River, which was frozen on either side about one-third across. Although so intensely cold, the current was so very rapid that about one-third of the river in the center was not frozen. Our guide thought it would be dangerous to attempt to cross the river in its present condition, but the doctor, nothing daunted, was the first to take the water. He mounted his horse; the guide and myself shoved the doctor and his horse off the ice into the foaming stream. Away he went, completely under water, horse and all, but directly came up, and after buffeting the rapid foaming current, he reached the ice on the opposite shore a long way down the stream. He leaped from his horse upon the ice and soon had his noble animal by his side. The guide and myself forced in the pack animals, and followed the doctor's example, and soon were on the opposite shore, drying our frozen clothes by a comfortable fire. We reached Taos in about thirty days, having suffered greatly from cold and scarcity of provisions. We were compelled to use mule meat, dogs and such other animals as came in our reach. We remained at Taos a few days only, and started for Bent's and Savery's Fort, on the head waters of the Arkansas River. When we had been out some fifteen or twenty days we met George Bent, a brother of Governor Bent, on his way to Taos. He told us that a party of mountain men would leave Bent's Fort in a few days for St. Louis, but said we would not reach the fort with our pack animals in time to join the party. The doctor, being very anxious to join the party so he could push on as rapidly as possible to Washington, concluded to leave myself and guide with the animals, and he himself, taking the best animal, with some bedding and a small allowance of provision, started alone, hoping by rapid travel to reach the fort in time to join the St. Louis party, but to do so he would have to travel on the Sabbath, something we had not done before. Myself and guide traveled on slowly and reached the fort in four days, but imagine our astonishment when on making inquiry about the doctor we were told that he had not arrived nor had he been heard of. I learned that the party for St. Louis was camped at the Big Cottonwood, forty miles from the fort, and at my request Mr. Savery sent an express, telling the party not to proceed any farther until we learned something of Doctor Whitman's whereabouts, as he wished to accompany them to St Louis. Being furnished by the gentleman of the fort with a suitable guide, I started in search of the doctor, and traveled up the river about one hundred miles. I learned from the Indians that a man had been there who was lost and was trying to find Bent's Fort. They said they had directed him to go down the river and how to find the fort. I knew from their description it was the doctor. I returned to the fort as rapidly as possible, but the doctor had not arrived. We had all become very anxious about him.

"Late in the afternoon he came in very much fatigued and desponding; said that he knew that God had bewildered him to punish him for traveling on the Sabbath. During the whole trip he was very regular in his morning and evening devotions, and that was the only time I ever knew him to travel on the Sabbath.

"The doctor remained all night at the fort, starting only on the following morning to join the St. Louis party. Here we parted. The doctor proceeded to Washington. I remained at Bent's Fort until spring, and joined the doctor the following July near Fort Laramie, on his way to Oregon, in company with a train of emigrants."

In the life of Whitman by Myron Eells, there is a summary of the events which immediately followed, so well adapted to our purpose that we quote it here as resting upon the authority of Mr. Eells, whom we regard as a writer of undoubted candor and accuracy.

"When Doctor Whitman arrived at St. Louis he made his home at the house of Doctor Edward Hale, a dentist. In the same house was William Barrows, then a young school teacher, afterward a clergyman and author of Barrows' 'Oregon.'

"Reaching Cincinnati, he went to the house of Doctor Weed. Here, according to Professor Weed, he obtained a new suit of clothes, but whether he wore them all the time until he left the East or not is a question. Some writers speak of him as appearing in buckskins, or something akin to them, afterwards both at Washington and Boston. Some, as Dr. S. J. Parker, say he was not so dressed. It is just barely possible that both may be true--that he kept his buckskins and buffalo coat and occasionally wore them. It is quite certain that he did not throw them away, as according to accounts he wore his buckskins in returning to Oregon the next summer.

"The next visit on record was at Ithaca, New York, at the home of his old missionary friend and fellow traveler, Rev. Samuel Parker. Here, after the surprise of his arrival was over, he said to Mr. Parker: 'I have come on a very important errand. We must both go at once to Washington, or Oregon is lost, ceded to the English.' Mr. Parker, however, did not think the danger to be so great, and not for lack of interest in the subject, but because of other reasons, did not go. Doctor Whitman went alone, and reached Washington.

"The doctor, or his brother, had been a classmate of the Secretary of War, James M. Porter. Through him the doctor obtained an introduction to Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, with whom he talked about Oregon and the saving of it to the United States, but Mr. Webster received him very coolly, and told him it was too late, as far as he was concerned, for he had considered it, decided it, and turned it over to the President, who could sign Oregon away or refuse to do so. Accordingly Doctor Whitman went to President Tyler, and for some time they talked about Oregon. Even the Cabinet were called together, it is said, and an evening was spent on the subject. The objection was made that wagons could never be taken to Oregon and that consequently the country could never be peopled overland by emigrants, while the distance around Cape Horn was altogether too great to think of taking settlers to the country that way. In reply to this, Doctor Whitman told of the great value of the country and of his plans to lead an emigration through with their wagons the next summer. He stated that he had taken a wagon into Oregon six years before to Fort Boise, that others had taken one from Fort Hall to Walla Walla, and that with his present knowledge, having been over the route twice, he was sure he could take the emigrant wagons through to the Columbia. The President then said that he would wait, before carrying the negotiations any further, until he could hear whether Doctor Whitman should succeed, and if he should there would be no more thought of trading off Oregon. This satisfied the doctor.

"He then went to New York to see Mr. Horace Greeley, who was known to be a friend of Oregon. He went there dressed in his rough clothes, much the same that he wore across the continent. When he knocked at the door a lady came, Mrs. Greeley or a daughter, who, on seeing such a rough-looking person, said to his inquiries for Mr. Greeley, 'Not at home.' Doctor Whitman started away. She went and told Mr. Greeley about him and Mr. Greeley, who was of much the same style and cared but little for appearances, looked out of the window, and seeing him going away, said to call him in. It was done, and they had a long talk about this Northwest Coast and its political relations.

"From New York Doctor Whitman went to Boston, where the officers of the American Board at first received him coldly, because he had left his station for the East without permission from them, on business so foreign to that which he had been sent to Oregon to accomplish. Afterwards, however, they treated him more cordially.

"From Boston he went to New York State and visited relatives. Then taking with him his nephew, Perrin B. Whitman, bade them good-by and left for Missouri. While there he did all he could to induce people to join the emigration for Oregon, then went with the emigration, assisting the guide, Captain Gantt, until they reached Fort Hall, and aiding the emigrants very materially. Fort Hall was as far as Captain Gantt had agreed to guide them, and from that place Doctor Whitman guided them or furnished an Indian guide, so that the emigrants reached the Columbia River safely with their wagons."

The incoming of the immigration of 1843 was a determining factor in the settlement of the Oregon question. There can be no question that Doctor Whitman performed a conspicuous service in organizing and leading that immigration. It is true, however, that many influences combined to draw that company of frontiersmen to the border of civilization and to give them the common purpose of the great march across the wilderness. The leading motives perhaps were the desire first to acquire land in what they thought would prove a paradise and second to carry the American flag across the continent and secure ownership of the Pacific Coast for their country. Perhaps no one ever so well expressed the mingled motives of that advance guard of American possession as did James W. Nesmith, father of Mrs. Levi Ankeny of Walla Walla, who was himself a member of the immigration and later became one of the conspicuous builders of Oregon and of the nation. Senator Nesmith's account is as follows, given in an address at a meeting of the Oregon Pioneer Association:

"Without orders from any quarter, and without preconcert, promptly as the grass began to start, the emigrants began to assemble near Independence, at a place called Fitzhugh's Mill. On the 17th day of May, 1843, notices were circulated through the different encampments that on the succeeding day, those who contemplated emigrating to Oregon would meet at a designated point to organize. Promptly at the appointed hour the motley groups assembled. They consisted of people from all the States and Territories, and nearly all nationalities; the most, however, from Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, and all strangers to one another, but impressed with some crude idea that there existed an imperative necessity for some kind of an organization for mutual protection against the hostile Indians inhabiting the great unknown wilderness stretching away to the shores of the Pacific, and which they were about to traverse with their wives and children, household goods, and all their earthly possessions.

"Many of the emigrants were from the western tier of counties of Missouri, known as the Platte Purchase, and among them was Peter H. Burnett, a former merchant, who had abandoned the yardstick and become a lawyer of some celebrity for his ability as a smooth-tongued advocate. He subsequently emigrated to California, and was elected the first Governor of the Golden State, was afterward Chief Justice, and still an honored resident of that state. Mr. Burnett, or, as he was familiarly designated, 'Pete,' was called upon for a speech. Mounting a log, the glib-tongued orator delivered a glowing, florid address. He commenced by showing his audience that the then western tier of states and territories was overcrowded with a redundant population, who had not sufficient elbow room for the expansion of their enterprise and genius, and it was a duty they owed to themselves and posterity to strike out in search of a more expanded field and more genial climate, where the soil yielded the richest returns for the slightest amount of cultivation, where the trees were loaded with perennial fruit, and where a good substitute for bread, called 'La Camash.' grew in the ground, salmon and other fish crowded the streams, and where the principal labor of the settler would be confined to keeping their gardens free from the inroads of buffalo, elk, deer and wild turkeys. He appealed to our patriotism by picturing forth the glorious empire we would establish on the shores of the Pacific. How, with our trusty rifles, we would drive out the British usurpers who claimed the soil, and defend the country from the avarice and pretensions of the British lion, and how posterity would honor us for placing the fairest portion of our land under the dominion of the Stars and Stripes. He concluded with a slight allusion to the trials and hardships incident to the trip, and dangers to be encountered from hostile Indians on the route, and those inhabiting the country whither we were bound. He furthermore intimated a desire to look upon the tribe of noble 'red men' that the valiant and well-armed crowd around him could not vanquish in a single encounter.

"Other speeches were made, full of glowing descriptions of the fair land of promise, the far-away Oregon, which no one in the assemblage had ever seen, and of which not more than half a dozen had ever read any account. After the election of Mr. Burnett as captain, and other necessary officers, the meeting, as motley and primitive a one as ever assembled, adjourned, with 'three cheers' for Captain Burnett and Oregon. On the 20th of May, 1843, after a pretty thorough military organization, we took up our line of march, with Captain John Gantt, an old army officer, who combined the character of trapper and mountaineer, as our guide. Gantt had in his wanderings been as far as Green River, and assured us of the practicability of a wagon road thus far. Green River, the extent of our guide's knowledge in that direction, was not half-way to the Willamette Valley, then the only inhabited portion of Oregon. Beyond that we had not the slightest conjecture of the condition of the country. We went forth trusting to the future, and would doubtless have encountered more difficulties than we experienced had not Doctor Whitman overtaken us before we reached the terminus of our guide's knowledge. He was familiar with the whole route and was confident that wagons could pass through the cañons and gorges of Snake River and over the Blue Mountains, which the mountaineers in the vicinity of Fort Hall declared to be a physical impossibility.

"Captain Grant, then in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Hall, endeavored to dissuade us from proceeding farther with our wagons, and showed us the wagons that the emigrants of the preceding year had abandoned, as an evidence of the impracticability of our determination. Doctor Whitman was persistent in his assertions that wagons could proceed as far as the Grand Dalles of the Columbia River, from which point he asserted they could be taken down by rafts or batteaux to the Willamette Valley, while our stock could be driven by an Indian trail over the Cascade Mountains, near Mount Hood. Happily Whitman's advice prevailed, and a large number of the wagons with a portion of the stock did reach Walla Walla and The Dalles, from which points they were taken to the Willamette the following year. Had we followed Grant's advice and abandoned the cattle and wagons at Fort Hall, much suffering must have ensued, as a sufficient number of horses to carry the women and children of the party could not have been obtained, besides wagons and cattle were indispensable to men expecting to live by farming in a country destitute of such articles.

"At Fort Hall we fell in with some Cayuse and Nez Percé Indians returning from the buffalo country, and as it was necessary for Doctor Whitman to precede us to Walla Walla, he recommended to us a guide in the person of an old Cayuse Indian called 'Sticcus.' He was a faithful old fellow, perfectly familiar with all the trails and topography of the country from Fort Hall to The Dalles, and, although not speaking a word of English, and no one in our party a word of Cayuse, he succeeded by pantomime in taking us over the roughest wagon route I ever saw."

In that immigration were nearly a thousand persons, among them several families whose members and descendants have borne honorable parts in building the region of Old Walla Walla County and the part of Umatilla County adjoining, in Oregon. In the belief that among the readers of this work may be many now living in the counties covered by this story, who can trace their ancestry to the blood royal of that great immigration and that a list of its names would have a permanent value in such a record as this, we incorporate here a list of the names of all the male members of the train over sixteen years of age, as secured by J. W. Nesmith at the time of the organization of the train. His list included some who turned back or went to California, or died on the way. We quote from the "History of the Willamette Valley," by H. B. Lang:

"The following list contains the names of every male member of that great train over the age of sixteen years. It was prepared by J. W. Nesmith when the train was organized, and was preserved among his papers for a third of a century before given for publication. All reached the Willamette Valley, except a few, the exceptions being designated by marks and foot-notes:

Applegate, Jesse Applegate, Charles Applegate, Lindsay Athey, James Athey, William Atkinson, John[2] Arthur, Wm. Arthur, Robert Arthur, David Butler, Amon Brooke, George Burnett, Peter H. Bird, David Brown, Thomas A. Blevins, Alexander Brooks, John P. Brown, Martin Brown, Oris Black, J. P. Bane, Layton Baker, Andrew Baker, John G. Beagle, William Boyd, Levy Baker, William Biddle, Nicholas[4] Beale, George Braidy, James Beadle, George Boardman, ----[2] Baldridge, Wm. Cason, F. C. Cason, James Chapman, Wm. Cox, John Champ, Jacob Cooper, L. C. Cone, James Childers, Moses Carey, Miles Cochran, Thomas Clymour, L. Copenhaver, John Caton, J. H. Chappel, Alfred Cronin, Daniel Cozine, Samuel Costable, Benedict Childs, Joseph[2] Clark, Ransom Campbell, John G. Chapman, ---- Chase, James Dodd, Solomon Dement, Wm. C. Dougherty, W. P. Day, William[3] Duncan, James Dorin, Jacob Davis, Thomas Delany, Daniel Delany, Daniel, Jr. Delany, William Doke, William Davis, J. H. Davis, Burrell Dailey, George Doherty, John Dawson, ----[2] Eaton, Charles Eaton, Nathan Etchell, James Emerick, Solomon Eaker, John W. Edson, E. G. Eyres, Miles[3] East, John W. Everman, Niniwon Ford, Nineveh Ford, Ephriam Ford, Nimrod Ford, John Francis, Alexander Frazer, Abner Fowler, Wm. Fowler, Wm. J. Fowler, Henry Fairly, Stephen Fendell, Charles Gantt, John[2] Gray, Chiley B. Garrison, Enoch Garrison, J. W. Garrison, W. J. Gardner, Samuel Gardner, Wm. Gilmore, Mat Goodman, Richard Gilpin, Major Gray, ---- Haggard, B. Hide, H. H. Holmes, Wm. Holmes, Riley, A. Hobson, John Hobson, Wm. Hembree, Andrew Hembree, J. J. Hembree, James Hembree, A. J. Hall, Samuel B. Houk, James Hughes, Wm. P. Hendrick, Abijah Hays, James Hensley, Thomas J.[2] Holley, B. Hunt, Henry Holderness, S. M. Hutchins, Isaac Husted, A. Hess, Joseph Haun, Jacob Howell, John Howell, Wm. Howell, Wesley Howell, G. W. Howell, Thomas E. Hill, Henry Hill, William Hill, Almoran Hewett, Henry Hargrove, Wm. Hoyt, A. Holman, John Holman, Daniel Harrigas, B. James, Calvin Jackson, John B. Jones, John Johnson, Overton Keyser, Thomas Keyser, J. B. Keyser, Plasant Kelley, ---- Kelsey, ---- Lovejoy, A. L. Lenox, Edward Lenox, E. Layson, Aaron Looney, Jesse Long, John E. Lee, H. A. G. Lugur, F.[4] Linebarger, Lew Linebarger, John Laswell, Isaac Loughborough, J.[4] Little, Milton[2] Luther, ---- Lauderdale; John McGee, ----[2] Martin, Wm. J.[2] Martin, James Martin, Julius[3] McClelland, ----[2] McClelland, F.[2] Mills, John B. Mills, Isaac Mills, Wm. A. Mills, Owen McGarey, G. W. Mondon, Gilbert Matheny, Daniel Matheny, Adam Matheny, Josiah Matheny, Henry Matheny, J. N. Mastire, A. J. McHaley, John Myers, Jacob Manning, John Manning, James McCarver, M. M. McCorcle, George Mays, William Millican, Elijah McDaniel, William McKissic, D. Malone, Madison McClane, John B. Mauzee, William McIntire, John[2] Moore, Jackson[4] Matney, W. J. Nesmith, J. W. Newby, W. T. Newman, Noah Naylor, Thomas Osborn, Neil O'Brien, Hugh D. O'Brien, Humphrey Owen, Thomas A. Owen, Thomas Otie, E. W. Otie, M. B. O'Neil, Bennett Olinger, A. Parker, Jesse Parker, William Pennington, J. B. Poe, R. H. Paynter, Samuel Patterson, J. R. Pickett, Charles E. Prigg, Frederick Paine, Clayborn[3] Reading, P. B.[2] Rodgers. S. P. Rodgers, G. W. Russell, William Roberts, James Rice, G. W. Richardson, John Richardson, Daniel[3] Ruby, Philip Ricord, John Reid, Jacob Roe, John Roberts, Solomon Roberts, Emseley Rossin, Joseph Rivers, Thomas Smith, Thomas H. Smith, Thomas Smith, Isaac W. Smith, Anderson Smith, Ahi Smith, Robert Smith, Eli Sheldon, William Stewart, P. G. Sutton, Dr. Nathan'l Stimmerman, C. Sharp, C. Summers, W. C. Sewell, Henry Stout, Henry Sterling, George Stout, ---- Stevenson, ---- Story, James Swift, ---- Shively, John M. Shirly, Samuel Stoughton, Alex Spencer, Chancey Strait, Hiram Summers, George Stringer, Cornelius Stringer, C. W.[3] Tharp, Lindsey Thompson, John Trainor, D. Teller, Jeremiah Tarbox, Stephen Umnicker, John Vance, Samuel Vaughn, William Vernon, George Wilmont, James Wilson, Wm. H. Wair, J. W. Winkle, Archibald Williams, Edward Wheeler, H. Wagoner, John Williams, Benjamin Williams, David Wilson, Wm. Williams, John[2] Williams, James[2] Williams, Squire[2] Williams, Isaac[2] Ward, T. B. White, James Watson, John (Betty) Waters, James Winter, William Waldo, Daniel Waldo, David Zachary, Alexander Zachary, John

[2] Turned off at Fort Hall and went to California.

[3] Died on the route.

[4] Turned back at the Platte.

"There were in Oregon at the time the train arrived the following individuals, a few names, possibly, having been omitted from the list, and the list not including the various missionaries named elsewhere:

Armstrong, Pleasant Burns, Hugh Brown, ---- Brown, William Brown, ---- Black, J. M. Baldro, ---- Balis, James Bailey, Dr. Brainard, ---- Crawford, Medorem Carter, David Campbell, Samuel Campbell, Jack Craig, Wm. Cook, Amos Cook, Aaron Connor, ---- Cannon, William Davy, Allen Doty, William Eakin, Richard Ebbetts, Squire Edwards, John Foster, Philip Force, John Force, James Fletcher, Francis Gay, George Gale, Joseph Girtmann, ---- Hathaway, Felix Hatch, Peter H. Hubbard, Thomas J. Hewitt, Adam Horegon, Jeremiah Holman, Joseph Hall, David Hoxhurst, Weberly Hutchinson, ---- Johnson, William Kelsey, ---- King, ---- Lewis, Reuben Le Breton, G. W. Larrison, Jack Meek, Joseph L. Matthieu, F. X. McClure, John Moss, S. W. Moore, Robert McFadden, ---- McCarty, William McKay, Charles McKay, Thomas McKay, William C. Morrison, ---- Mack, J. W. Newbanks, ---- Newell, Robert O'Neil, James A. Pettygrove, F. W. Pomeroy, Dwight Pomeroy, Walter Perry, ---- Rimmick, ---- Russell, Osborn Robb, J. R. Shortess, Robert Smith, Sidney Smith, ---- Smith, Andrew Smith, Andrew, Jr. Smith, Darling Spence, ---- Sailor, Jack Turnham, Joel Turner, John Taylor, Hiram Tibbetts, Calvin Trask, ---- Walker, C. M. Warner, Jack Wilson, A. E. Winslow, David Wilkins, Caleb Wood, Henry Williams, B.

The men in these lists, with their families, constituted the population of Oregon in 1843, aside from the Hudson's Bay Company people."

Doctor Whitman himself wrote several valuable letters referring to the immigration of 1843. The most important of these was one to the Secretary of War, inclosing a proposed bill for a line of forts across the plains to defend immigrations. This letter has such an important bearing on the whole story of Whitman and his connection with the immigration and the acquisition of Oregon that it is incorporated here. And we would submit to the reader the difficulty which any candid critic would experience in examining this letter and then denying Whitman's part in "saving Oregon to the United States." Whitman's letter was found among the files of the War Department, with the following endorsement:

* * * * *

"Marcus Whitman inclosing synopsis of a bill, with his views in reference to importance of the Oregon Territory, War. 383--rec. June 22, 1844."

Portions of the letter follow:

"To the Hon. James M. Porter,

Secretary of War.

"Sir: In compliance with the request you did me the honor to make last winter, while in Washington, I herewith transmit to you the synopsis of a bill which, if it could be adopted, would, according to my experience and observation, prove highly conducive to the best interests of the United States generally, to Oregon, where I have resided for more than seven years as a missionary, and to the Indian tribes that inhabit the immediate country. The Government will now, doubtless for the first time, be apprised through you, or by means of this communication, of the immense immigration of families to Oregon which has taken place this year. I have, since interview, been instrumental in piloting across the route described in the accompanying bill, and which is the only eligible wagon road, no less than three hundred families, consisting of one thousand persons of both sexes, with their wagons, amounting to 120,694 oxen, and 773 loose cattle.

"The emigrants are from different states, but principally from Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois and New York. The majority of them are farmers, lured by the prospect of bounty in lands, by the reported fertility of the soil, and by the desire to be first among those who are planting our institutions on the Pacific Coast. Among them are artisans of every trade, comprising, with farmers, the very best material for a new colony. As pioneers, these people have undergone incredible hardships, and having now safely passed the Blue Mountain Range with their wagons and effects, have established a durable road from Missouri to Oregon, which will serve to mark permanently the route of larger numbers each succeeding year, while they have practically demonstrated that wagons drawn by horses or oxen can cross the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, contrary to all the sinister assertions of all those who pretended it to be impossible.

"In their slow progress, these persons have encountered, as in all former instances, and as all succeeding emigrants must, if this or some similar bill be not passed by Congress, the continual fear of Indian aggression, the actual loss through them of horses, cattle and other property, and the great labor of transporting an adequate amount of provisions for so long a journey. The bill herewith proposed would, in a great measure, lessen these inconveniences by the establishment of posts, which, while having the possessed power to keep the Indians in check, thus doing away with the necessity of military vigilance on the part of the traveler by day and night, would be able to furnish them in transit with fresh supplies of provisions, diminishing the original burdens of the emigrants, and finding thus a ready and profitable market for their produce--a market that would, in my opinion, more than suffice to defray all the current expenses of such posts. The present party is supposed to have expended no less than $2,000 at Laramie's and Bridger's Forts, and as much more at Fort Hall and Fort Boise, two of the Hudson's Bay Company's stations. These are at present the only stopping places in a journey of 2,200 miles, and the only place where additional supplies can be obtained, even at the enormous rate of charge, called mountain prices, i. e., $50 the hundred for flour and $50 the hundred for coffee; the same for sugar, powder, etc.

"Many cases of sickness and some deaths took place among those who accomplished the journey this season, owing, in a great measure, to the uninterrupted use of meat, salt and fresh, with flour, which constitute the chief articles of food they are able to convey on their wagons, and this could be obviated by the vegetable productions which the posts in contemplation could very profitably afford them. Those who rely on hunting as an auxiliary support, are at present unable to have their arms repaired when out of order; horses and oxen become tender-footed and require to be shod on this long journey, sometimes repeatedly, and the wagons repaired in a variety of ways. I mention these as valuable incidents to the proposed measure, as it will also be found to tend in many other incidental ways to benefit the migratory population of the United States choosing to take this direction, and on these accounts, as well as for the immediate use of the posts themselves, they ought to be provided with the necessary shops and mechanics, which would at the same time exhibit the several branches of civilized art to the Indians.

"The outlay in the first instance would be but trifling. Forts like those of the Hudson's Bay Company, surrounded by walls enclosing all the buildings, and constructed almost entirely of adobe, or sun-dried bricks, with stone foundations only, can be easily and cheaply erected. * * *

"Your familiarity with the Government policy, duties and interest render it unnecessary for me to more than hint at the several objects intended by the enclosed bill, and any enlargement upon the topics here suggested as inducements to its adoption would be quite superfluous, if not impertinent. The very existence of such a system as the one above recommended suggests the utility of post-offices and mail arrangements, which it is the wish of all who now live in Oregon to have granted them; and I need only add that contracts for this purpose will be readily taken at reasonable rates for transporting the mail across from Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia in forty days, with fresh horses at each of the contemplated posts. The ruling policy proposed regards the Indians as the police of the country, who are to be relied upon to keep the peace, not only for themselves, but to repel lawless white men and prevent banditti, under the solitary guidance of the superintendents of the several posts, aided by a well-directed system to induce the punishment of crime. It will only be after the failure of these means to procure the delivery or punishment of violent, lawless and savage acts of aggression, that a band or tribe should be regarded as conspirators against the peace, or punished accordingly by force of arms.

"Hoping that these suggestions may meet your approbation, and conduce to the future interest of our growing country, I have the honor to be, Honorable Sir,

"Your obedient servant,

"MARCUS WHITMAN."

It may be added that Whitman was so thoroughly interested in the idea of the line of forts across the continent that he wrote another communication to the Secretary of War from Waiilatpu in 1847, October 16th, only about six weeks before his murder, setting forth with similar force and clearness the wisdom of such a system.

During the four years that followed the coming of the "Great Immigration," the mission at Waiilatpu was a center of light and help to the incoming immigrations. Many incidents have been preserved showing the industry, fortitude, and open-handed philanthropy of the Whitmans. The earlier immigration usually stopped at Waiilatpu, coming across the country in the vicinity of the present location of Athena and Weston and down Pine Creek to the Walla Walla. The immigrants were always short of provisions and generally had no money. To have a stock of provisions at all equal to emergencies put a tremendous strain on Doctor Whitman, and nobly did he meet the needs. Among many instances of the helping hand of the missionaries are two given in Eells' life of Whitman which we give as illustrative of many that might be given.

"Among the immigrants of 1844 was a man named Sager, who had a family consisting of his wife and seven children, between the ages of infancy and thirteen. The father died of typhoid fever on Green River, and the mother sank under her burdens when she reached Snake River and there died. The immigrants cared for the children until they reached Doctor Whitman's, but would take them no farther. The doctor and his wife took the strangers in at first for the winter, but afterward adopted them and cared for them as long as they lived.

"Mrs. C. S. Pringle, one of these children, afterwards gave the following account of this event. It was written in answer to a charge made by Mrs. F. F. Victor that the doctor was mercenary, making money out of the immigrants: 'In April, 1844, my parents started for Oregon. Soon after starting we were all camped for the night, and the conversation after awhile turned upon the probability of death before the end of the journey should be reached. All told what they would wish their families to do in case they should fall by the way. My father said: 'Well, if I should die, I would want my family to stop at the station of Doctor Whitman.' Ere long he was taken sick and died, but with his dying breath he committed his family to the care of Captain Shaw, with the request that they should be left at the station of Doctor Whitman. Twenty-six days after his death his wife died. She, too, requested the same. When we were in the Blue Mountains, Captain Shaw went ahead to see about leaving us there. The doctor objected, as he was afraid the board would not recognize that as a part of his labor. After a good deal of talk he consented to have the children brought, and he would see what could be done. On the 17th day of October we drove up to the station, as forlorn a looking lot of children as ever was. I was a cripple, hardly able to walk, and the babe of six months was dangerously ill. Mrs. Whitman agreed to take the five girls, but the boys must go on (they were the oldest of the family). But the 'mercenary' doctor said, 'All or none.' He made arrangements to keep the seven until spring and then if we did not like to stay, and he did not want to keep us, he would send us below. An article of agreement was drawn up in writing between him and Captain Shaw, but not one word of money or pay was in it. I had it in my possession for years after I came to the (Willamette) Valley, having received it from Captains Shaw. Before Captain Shaw reached The Dalles he was overtaken by Doctor Whitman, who announced his intention of adopting the seven, on his own responsibility, asking nothing of the Board for maintenance. The next summer he went to Oregon City and legally became our guardian, and the action is on the records of Clackamas County. Having done this, he further showed his mercenary nature by disposing of our father's estate in such a way that he could not realize a cent from it. He exchanged the oxen and old cows for young cows, and turned them over to the two boys to manage until they should grow to manhood; besides this, he gave them each a horse and saddle, which, of course, came out of his salary, as we were not mission children, as the three half-breeds were that were in the family. After doing all this he allowed the boys opportunities to accumulate stock by work or trade. Often he has said to us, 'You must all learn to work, for father is poor and can give you nothing but an education. This I intend to do to the best of my ability.'

"Another incident with an immigrant is here related, given almost in the words of the narrator, Joseph Smith, who came to the country in 1846. He says: I was mighty sick crossing the Blues, and was so weak from eating blue mass that they had to haul me in the wagon till we got to Doctor Whitman's place on the Walla Walla River. Then Mother Whitman came and raised the wagon cover and says, 'What is the matter with you, my brother?' 'I am sick, and I don't want to be pestered much, either.' 'But, but, my young friend, my husband is a doctor, and can probably cure your ailment; I'll go and call him.' So off she clattered, and purty soon Doc. came, and they packed me in the cabin, and soon he had me on my feet again. I eat up a whole band of cattle for him, as I had to winter with him. I told him I'd like to work for him, to kinder pay part of my bill. Wall, Doc. set me to making rails, but I only made two hundred before spring, and I got to worryin' 'cause I hadn't only fifty dollars and a saddle horse, and I reckoned I owed the doctor four or five hundred dollars for my life. Now, maybe I wasn't knocked out when I went and told the doctor I wanted to go on to Webfoot and asked him how we stood; and doctor p'inted to a Cayuse pony, and says, 'Money I have not, but you can take that horse and call it even, if you will.'"

It is worth noticing that though Mr. Smith says "Mother" Whitman, she was only thirty-eight at the time.

But at that time, the very year of the final consummation of the great work of Whitman, the treaty of 1846, giving Oregon up to latitude 49° to the United States, a consummation which must have made the brave hearts of the heroic pair thrill with joy and gratitude, the shadow was approaching, the end was near. The crown of heroism and service must be still further crowned with martyrdom. Even since the death of little Alice, the Indians at Waiilatpu had seemed to lose in growing measure the personal interest which they had manifested. With the coming of constantly growing immigrations and the apparent eagerness of the whites to secure land, the natives felt increasing suspicion. The more thoughtful of them, especially those who had been in the "States" and had seen the countless numbers of the "Pale-faces," began to see that it was only a question of time when they would be entirely dispossessed. Again, the unavoidable policies of the Hudson's Bay Company were hostile to the American settler. While as kind and courteous to the missionaries as men well could be and helpful to them in their religious labors, it was a different matter when it came to settlers swarming into the country with the Stars and Stripes at the head of wagon trains and with the implements of husbandry in their hands. The Indians were predisposed for many reasons to side with the company. With it they did their trading. It preserved the wild conditions of the country. The French-Canadian voyageurs and coureurs des bois were much kinder and more considerate of the Indians than the Americans and intermarried with them. Besides those general causes of hostility to the Americans, there were certain specific events during that period of doubt and suspicion which brought affairs to a focus and precipitated the tragedy of the Whitman Massacre. Some have believed that the murder of "Elijah" (as the whites called him), the son of Peupeumoxmox, the chief of the Walla Wallas, apparently a fine, manly young Indian, was a strong contributory cause. The young brave had gone to California in 1844 and while near Sutter's Fort had become involved in a dispute with some white settlers and had been brutally murdered. The old chief Peupeumoxmox had brooded over this dastardly deed, and though there is no evidence that he had any part in the massacre, there was deep resentment among the Indians of the Walla Walla Valley and no doubt many of them were in the mood to apply the usual Indian rule that a life lost demanded a life in payment. Apparently the most immediate influence leading to the massacre was due to an epidemic of measles which swept the valley in 1847. Doctor Whitman was indefatigable in ministering to the sick, but many died. The impression became prevalent among the Indians that they were the victims of poison. This idea was nurtured in their minds by several renegade Indians and half-breeds, of whom Lehai, Tom Hill, and Jo Lewis were most prominent.

Seeing the gathering of clouds about the mission and the many warning indications, Doctor Whitman had taken up the project of leaving Walla Walla and going to The Dalles, a point where he had in fact at first wished to locate, but had been dissuaded by the Hudson's Bay Company officials. The story of the massacre has been many times told and may be found in many forms. We can but briefly sketch its leading events. Mr. Spalding of Lapwai was temporarily at Waiilatpu, and on November 27, 1847, he and Doctor Whitman went to the Umatilla in response to a request for medical attention. Feeling uneasy about affairs at home, Doctor Whitman returned on the next day, reaching Waiilatpu late at night. On the following day, the 29th, while engaged with his medicine chest, two Indians, who seem to have been leaders in the plot, approached him, and while one, Tilaukait, drew his attention by talking, the other, Tamahas, struck him with a tomahawk. He fell senseless, though not yet dead. Jo Lewis seems to have directed the further execution of the cruel conspiracy and soon Mrs. Whitman, shot in the breast, fell to the floor, though not dying for some time. She was the only woman slain. There were in all fourteen victims of this dreadful attack. Several escaped, Mr. Spalding, who was on his way back from the Umatilla, being one of them. After several days and nights of harrowing suffering, he reached Lapwai. There were forty-six survivors of the massacre, nearly all women and children. Many of these are said to have been subjected to cruelty and outrage worse than death, though it may be noted that some of the few living survivors of the present date deny the common opinion. They were ransomed by Peter Skeen Ogden of the Hudson's Bay Company, and transported to the Willamette Valley. The full story of the war which follows belongs in the succeeding chapter.

So ended in darkness, but not in shame, the mission at Waiilatpu. The peaceful spot six miles west of Walla Walla, in the midst of the fair and fruitful valley, is marked with a granite monument on the summit of the hill, and a grave at the foot. There the dust of the martyrs rests in a plain marble crypt upon the surface of which appear their names. It is indeed one of the most sacred spots in the Northwest, suggestive of patriotism, devotion, self-sacrifice, suffering, sorrow, tragedy, and final triumph. In November, 1916, the remains of W. H. Gray and Mary Dix Gray, his wife, were removed from Astoria and placed in the grave at Waiilatpu. As associates from the first of the Whitmans, and engaged in the same arduous struggle for the establishment of civilized and Christian institutions in this beautiful wilderness, they are fittingly joined with them in their final resting place.

By reason of priority in time as well as its connection with immigration and public affairs, and also its tragic end, and perhaps, too, the controversies that have arisen in connection with it, the Whitman Mission has secured a place in history far more prominent than that of any other, either east or west of the Cascade Mountains. But it should not be forgotten that within a short time after the incoming of white settlers, all the leading churches sent missionaries into the Northwest, both for the Indians and whites. Next in point of time after the Methodist missions of the Willamette Valley and the Presbyterian and Congregational missions of the Upper Columbia and Snake rivers, came the Catholic. It should be understood that in speaking of that church as third in time, we speak of the era of the beginnings of settlement. For it should be remembered that there had been visiting Catholic priests among the Hudson's Bay posts long prior to the coming of Jason Lee, the first of the Protestants. The French-Canadians were almost universally of Catholic rearing, and the officers of the company encouraged the maintenance of religious worship and instruction according to the customary methods. There were not, however, any regular permanent Catholic missions until a little after the Protestant missions already described. The inauguration of regular mission work by the Catholic Church grew out of the planting of a settlement at Champoeg on the Willamette by Doctor McLoughlin during the years from 1829 on. Quite a little group of retired Hudson's Bay Company men, French-Canadians with Indian wives and half-breed children, became located on the fertile tract still known as French Prairie. So well had the settlement thrived that in 1834, the year of the arrival of Jason Lee in the same neighborhood, an application was made to Doctor Provencher, Vicar Apostolic of Hudson Bay, to send a clergyman to that point. Not till 1837 could the request be fulfilled. In that year Rev. Modeste Demers went to the Red River, and the following year, in company with Rev. Francis N. Blanchet, resumed the journey to Oregon. In the progress of their journey they stopped at Walla Walla for a day. Reaching Vancouver on November 24, 1838, they entered with zeal and devotion upon their task of ministering both to the whites and Indians. Remaining at Vancouver till January, 1839, Father Blanchet started on a regular course of visitations, going first to the settlement on the Willamette where there were twenty-six Catholic families and where the people had already constructed a chapel. Next he visited Cowlitz Prairie, where there were four families. These stations were, of course, outside of the scope of the present work, but reference to them indicates the time and place and manner of starting the great series of Catholic missions which soon became extended all over Oregon. While Father Blanchet was at Cowlitz, his fellow worker, Demers, started on an extended tour of the upper Columbia region. In the course of this he visited Walla Walla, Okanogan, and Colville, starting work among the Indians by baptizing their children. From that time on Father Demers or some one of the Jesuit priests made annual visits to Walla Walla, adding children by baptism each year. In the meantime another of the most important of the Catholic missionaries, and the one to whom the world is indebted for one of the best histories of Oregon missions, was on his way. This was Rev. Father Pierre J. De Smet. In March, 1840, he set out for Oregon from the St. Joseph Mission at Council Bluffs, journeying by the Platte River route. On June 25th he reached Green River, long known as a rendezvous of the fur-traders. There he held mass for the trappers and Indians. Referring to this in a subsequent letter he writes thus: "On Sunday, the 5th of July, I had the consolation of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice sub dio. The altar was placed on an elevation, and surrounded with boughs and garlands of flowers; I addressed the congregation in French and in English and spoke also by an interpreter to the Flatheads and Snake Indians. It was a spectacle truly moving for the heart of a missionary to behold an assembly composed of so many different nations who all assisted at our holy mysteries with great satisfaction. The Canadians sang hymns in French and Latin, and the Indians in their native tongue. It was truly a Catholic worship. The place has been called since that time by the French-Canadians, la prairie de la Messe."

After a week at the Green River rendezvous, Father De Smet with his Indian guides resumed the journey westward by way of the Three Tetons to the upper waters of Snake River. While at Henry Lake he climbed a lofty peak from which he could see in both directions and while there he carved on a stone the words: "Sanctus Ignatius, Patronus Montium, Die Julii 23, 1840." That was as far west as Father De Smet went at that time. After two months among the Flatheads about the head of Snake River, he returned to St. Louis in the last part of the year. One point of interest in connection with this return, as showing the disposition of the Indians to seek religious instruction, is that a certain Flathead chief named Insula who accompanied Father De Smet to St. Louis, had gone to Green River in 1835 to meet missionaries. It is stated by Rev. Father E. V. O'Hara in his valuable "Catholic History of Oregon" that Insula was much disappointed to find, not the "black-gowns" as he had expected, but Doctor Whitman and Doctor Parker on their reconnaissance. It is probably impossible to determine just what distinction between different denominations of Christians may have existed in the Indian mind, but it may be recalled that Whitman and Parker while at Green River deemed the outlook so encouraging that they decided that Whitman should return to the "States" for reinforcements, while Parker went on with the Indians and made an extensive exploration of the entire Oregon country. Father De Smet returned to the Flathead mission in 1841 and in 1842 proceeded to Vancouver by way of the Spokane. In the course of the journey he visited all the principal Indian tribes in the Kootenai, Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, and Spokane countries. In the progress of this journey he made a brief visit at Walla Walla. Returning to the East after twenty-five months of missionary service in Oregon and then spending some time in Europe, he returned with quite a reinforcement in the ship "L'Infatigable" in 1844. The ship was nearly wrecked on the Columbia River bar, and of the experience De Smet gives a peculiarly vivid description. He deemed the final safe entrance due to special interposition of Divine Providence on account of the day, July 31st, being sacred to St. Ignatius. Father De Smet was a vivid and interesting writer and a zealous missionary. He greatly overestimated the number of Indians in Oregon, placing them at a hundred and ten thousand and in equal ratio estimated the converts at numbers hardly possible except by the most sweeping estimates.

The Catholic missions were gradually extended until they covered points in the entire Northwest. The bishop of Oregon was Rev. Francis N. Blanchet who was located near Salem. In 1845 and 1846 he made an extensive tour in Canada and Europe for the purpose of securing reinforcements. As a result of his journey and the action of the Holy See the Vicariate was erected into an ecclesiastical province with the three Sees of Oregon City, Walla Walla, and Vancouver Island. Rev. A. M. A. Blanchet was appointed bishop of Walla Walla, and Father Demers bishop of Vancouver Island, while Bishop F. N. Blanchet was promoted to the position of archbishop of Oregon City. Bishop A. M. A. Blanchet reached Fort Walla Walla on September 4, 1847, having come with a wagon train by the usual emigrant road from St. Louis. This might be regarded as the regular establishment of Catholic missions in Walla Walla. The bishop was accompanied to Walla Walla by four oblate fathers of Marseilles and Father J. B. A. Brouillet as vicar general, and also by Father Rousseau and Wm. Leclaire, deacon. Bishop Blanchet located among the Umatilla Indians at the home of Five Crows. The mission was fairly established only a few days prior to the Whitman Massacre. Bishop Blanchet went to Oregon City after the massacre and by reason of the Indian war he found it impossible to return to Walla Walla. He established St. Peter's Mission at The Dalles, and there he remained till September, 1850. During that year there came instructions from Rome to transfer the bishop of Walla Walla to the newly established diocese of Nesqually. The diocese of Walla Walla was suppressed and its administration merged with that of Colville and Fort Hall in the control of the archbishop of Oregon City.

That event might be considered as closing the missionary stage of Catholic missions in Walla Walla, though Father Brouillet remained into the period of settlement and in conjunction with Father Arvidius Junger, founded the Catholic Church at Walla Walla of what may be called the modern period. There was during the period of the Hudson's Bay Company and of the Indian wars, a location at Frenchtown, known as St. Rose Mission. There was a little church building there until a few years ago.

With the period of Indian wars it may be said that the missionary era ended and after that sanguinary interim the modern period began in Walla Walla.

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VI. INDIAN WARS AND OPENING OF COUNTRY TO SETTLEMENT

In the preceding chapter we have narrated the Whitman Massacre. It was followed by the first of the succession of wars which desolated Old Oregon for about eleven years. During that time Walla Walla, as well as the other parts east of the mountains, was swept clean of white settlers. Not till the public proclamation of opening Eastern Oregon by General Clarke in 1858 and the beginnings of immigration in the next year can the epoch of Indian wars be said to have ended.

The war following the Whitman Massacre may be taken as the starting point of this chapter. Great praise most be accorded to the Hudson's Bay Company's people for promptness and efficiency in meeting the immediate emergency. Dr. John McLoughlin, with whom we have become acquainted in earlier chapters, had retired from the company and made his home at Oregon City. This truly great man, a man for whom no commendation seems too strong in the minds of the old-timers, had been deciding during the years following the advent of the missionaries that American possession of Oregon was inevitable and that in order to ally himself with the future he should become an American. His humane and liberal policy toward the American immigrants was disapproved by the company in London, and in 1844 James Douglas was appointed to succeed him. The good doctor thereby not only lost what was then and in those conditions a princely salary, $12,000 per year, but was charged by the company for the large supplies which he had advanced to the Americans, who in many cases were unable to pay. Moving to the Falls of the Willamette where he had taken up a valuable claim, he started the process of naturalization. But after the Treaty of 1846, his claim was contested by the representative of the Methodist Mission, Rev. A. F. Waller, and the first territorial delegate to Congress, Samuel R. Thurston, was chosen largely on the platform of hostility to the Hudson's Bay Company and the British in general, and he secured a provision in the Congressional land law debarring anyone who had not acquired his final naturalization from holding a donation claim. This law deprived Doctor McLoughlin of the main part of his property. It was a cruel blow. He said with grief and bitterness that he had intended in good faith to become an American citizen, but found that he was rejected by the British and not received by the Americans and was practically a man without a country. It may truthfully be said that he died of a broken heart. It is gratifying to remember that the Oregon Legislature, recognizing the injustice, made amends by restoring his land claim. But this action came too late to do the "Old King of Oregon" any good. We have digressed to make this reference to Doctor McLoughlin, inasmuch as his change of location and condition occurred just prior to the Oregon Treaty and the Whitman Massacre. James Douglas, the new Chief Factor, while not at all equal in breadth and philanthropy to Doctor McLoughlin, was an energetic and efficient manager. Upon learning of the tragedy at Waiilatpu he immediately dispatched Peter Skeen Ogden to rescue the survivors. As narrated in Chapter Five, Ogden performed his duty with promptness and success, and as a result the pitiful little company, almost entirely women and children, were conveyed to the Willamette Valley, where nearly all of them made their homes. A number of them are still living in different parts of the Northwest.

When the tidings of the massacre reached the Willamette Valley, then the chief settlement in Oregon, there was an immediate response by the brave men who were carrying in that trying time the responsibility of the government of the scattered little community. And yet the situation was a peculiar and difficult one. The formal treaty placing Oregon within possession of the United States had legally set aside the Provisional Government. But Congress was absorbed, as it frequently has been, in furthering the little schemes of individual members, or in promoting the progress of slavery or some other tyrannical and corrupt interest, and hence had done nothing to establish a territorial government. In the emergency the Provisional Government assembled on December 9th and provided for a force of fourteen companies of Oregon volunteers to move immediately to the hostile country. Every feature of equipment had to be secured by personal contribution, and the services of the men were purely voluntary. It was a characteristic American frontiersmen's army and movement. Several men well known in Walla Walla and vicinity took part in this campaign. The commander of the force was Cornelius Gilliam, an immigrant of 1845 from Missouri. His son, W. S. Gilliam, was one of the best known and noblest of the pioneers of Walla Walla County. He was truly one of the builders of this region. Daniel Stewart, Ninevah Ford, William Martin, and W. W. Walter were among the citizens of the Walla Walla country and adjoining region who were in that historic army of the Cayuse war. While we shall not usually load this work with lists of names or other purely statistical matter, yet in the belief that the list of volunteers in the Cayuse war may have a permanent reference value to possessors of this volume, we are including here such a list derived from the "History of the Pacific Northwest," published by the North Pacific Publishing Co. of Portland in 1889:

First Company, Oregon Rifles: Captain, Henry A. G. Lee; first lieutenant, Joseph Magone; second lieutenant, John E. Ross; surgeon, W. W. Carpenter; orderly sergeant, J. S. Rinearson; first duty sergeant, J. H. McMillan; second duty sergeant, C. W. Savage; third duty sergeant, S. Cummings; fourth duty sergeant, William Berry; privates, John Little, Joel McKee, J. W. Morgan, Joseph B. Proctor, Samuel K. Barlow, John Richardson, Ed Marsh, George Moore, Isaac Walgamot, Jacob Johnson, John Lassater, Edward Robeson, B. B. Rodgers,---- Shannon, A. J. Thomas, R. S. Tupper, O. Tupper, Joel Witchey, G. W. Weston, George Wesley, John Flemming, John G. Gibson, Henry Leralley, Nathan Olney, ---- Barnes, J. H. Bosworth, Wm. Beekman, Benjamin Bratton, John Balton, Henry W. Coe, John C. Danford, C. H. Derendorf, David Everst, John Finner, James Kester,---- Pugh (killed by Indians near the Dalles in a skirmish),---- Jackson (killed in a skirmish near the Dalles), John Callahan; Alex McDonald (killed by a sentry, who mistook him for an Indian at the camp on the east side of the Des Chutes). Forty-eight men.

Second Company: Captain, Lawrence Hall; first lieutenant, H. D. O'Bryant; second lieutenant, John Engart; orderly sergeant, William Sheldon; duty sergeants, William Stokes, Peter S. Engart, Thos. R. Cornelius, Sherry Ross; Color-bearer, Gilbert Mondon; privates, A. Engart, Thos. Fleming, D. C. Smith, W. R. Noland, Jos. W. Scott, G. W. Smith, A. Kinsey, John N. Donnie, A. C. Brown, F. H. Ramsey, S. A. Holcomb, A. Stewart, Wm. Milbern, A. Kennedy, Oliver Lowden, H. N. Stephens, P. G. Northrup, W. W. Walter, J. Z. Zachary, Sam Y. Cook, J. J. Garrish, Thos. Kinsey, J. S. Scoggin, Noah Jobe, D. Shumake, J. N. Green, J. Elliot, W. Williams, John Holgate, R. Yarborough, Robert Walker, J. Butler, I. W. Smith, J. W. Lingenfelter, J. H. Lienberger, A. Lienberger, Sam Gethard, John Lousingnot, A. Williams, D. Harper, S. C. Cummings, S. Ferguson, Marshall Martin.

Third Company: Captain, John W. Owen; first lieutenant, Nathaniel Bowman; second lieutenant, Thomas Shaw; orderly sergeant, J. C. Robison; duty sergeants, Benj. J. Burch; J. H. Blankenship, James M. Morris, Robert Smith; privates, George W. Adams, William Athey, John Baptiste, Manly Curry, Jesse Clayton, John Dinsmore, Nathan English, John Fiester, Jesse Gay, Lester Hulan, Stephen Jenkins, J. Larkin, Joshua McDonald, Thomas Pollock, J. H. Smith, S. P. Thornton, William Wilson, Benjamin Allen, Ira Bowman,---- Currier, George Chapel, William Duke,---- Linnet, T. Dufield, Squire Elembough, Henry Fuller, D. H. Hartley, Fleming R. Hill, James Keller, D. M. McCumber, E. McDonald, Edward Robinson, Chris. Stemermon, Joseph Wilbert, T. R. Zumwalt, Charles Zummond.

Fourth Company: Captain, H. J. G. Maxon; first lieutenant, G. N. Gilbert; second lieutenant, Wm. P. Hughes; orderly sergeant, Wm. R. Johnson; duty sergeants, O. S. Thomas, T. M. Buckner, Daniel Stewart, Joseph R. Ralston; privates, Andrew J. Adams, John Beattie, Charles Blair, John R. Coatney, Reuben Crowder, John W. Crowel, Manly Danforth, Harvey Graus, Albert H. Fish, John Feat, Andrew Gribble, Wm. Hawkins, Rufus Johnson, John W. Jackson, J. H. Loughlin, Davis Lator, John Miller, John Patterson, Richard Pollard, Wm. Robison, Asa Stone, Thos. Allphin, Wm. Bunton, Henry Blacker, Wm. Chapman, Samuel Chase, Sam Cornelius, James Dickson, S. D. Earl, Joseph Earl, D. O. Garland, Richmond Hays, Goalman Hubbard, Isaiah M. Johns, S. B. Knox, James H. Lewis, Horace Martin, John McCoy, James Officer, Henry Pellet, Wm. Russell, John Striethoff, A. M. Baxster, D. D. Burroughs, Samuel Clark, John M. Cantrel, Asi Cantrel, Albert G. Davis, S. D. Durbin, Samuel Fields, Rezin D. Foster, Isaac M. Foster, Horace Hart, Wm. Hock, Wm. A. Jack, Elias Kearney, James Killingsworth, Isaac Morgan, N. G. McDonnell, Madison McCully, Frederick Paul, Wm. M. Smith, H. M. Smith, Jason Wheeler, John Vaughn, Reuben Striethoff, Wm. Vaughn, Wm. Shirley.

Fifth Company: Captain, Philip F. Thompson; first lieutenant, James A. Brown; second lieutenant, Joseph M. Garrison; orderly sergeant, George E. Frazer; duty sergeants, A. Garrison, A. S. Welton, Jacob Greer, D. D. Dostins; privates, Martin P. Brown, William A. Culberson, Harrison Davis, James Electrels, William Eads, Alvin K. Fox, William J. Garrison, William Hailey, John A. Johnson, J. D. Richardson, Martin Wright, William Smith, E. T. Stone, John Thompson, H. C. Johnson, Joseph Kenny, Henry Kearney, Jacob Leabo, Daniel Matheny, William McKay, John Orchard, John B. Rowland, John Copenhagen, Bird Davis, John Eldridge, John Faron, C. B. Gray, Robert Harmon, James O. Henderson, Green Rowland, William Rogers, Thomas Wilson, William D. Stillwell, William Shepard, Alfred Jobe, T. J. Jackson, Jesse Cadwallader, Andrew Layson, J. C. Matheny, Adam Matheny, Charles P. Matt, James Packwood, Clark Rogers.

McKay's Company: Captain, Thomas McKay; first lieutenant, Charles McKay; second lieutenant, Alexander McKay; orderly sergeant, Edward Dupuis; duty sergeants, George Montour, Baptiste Dorio, David Crawford, Gideon Pion; privates, John Spence, Louis Laplante, Augustine Russie, Isaac Gervais, Louis Montour, Alexis Vatrais, Joseph Paino, Jno. Cunningham, Jno. Gros, Louis Joe Lenegratly, Antoine Poisier, Antoine Plante, Pierre Lacourse, Ashby Pearce, Antoine Lafaste, Nathan English, Charles Edwards, Gideon Gravelle, Chas. Corveniat, Antoine Bonanpaus, Nicholas Bird, Francis Dupres, William Torrie, Thomas Purvis, A. J. Thomas, J. H. Bigler, Mango Antoine Ansure, Narcisse Montiznie, Edward Crete.

English's Company: Captain, Levin N. English; first lieutenant, William Shaw; second lieutenant, F. M. Munkers; orderly sergeant, William Martin; duty sergeants, Hiram English, George Shaw, Thomas Boggs, L. J. Rector; privates, Jackson Adams, L. N. Abel, William Burton, Joseph Crauk, John Downing, Thos. T. Eyre, R. D. Foster, Alexander Gage, Thomas Gregory, G. W. Howell, Fales Howard, J. H. Lewis, N. G. McDonald, James Officer, Joseph Pearson, Jackson Rowell, William Simmons, Lewis Stewart, Charles Roth, Daniel Waldo, George Wesley, William Vaughn, L. N. English, Jr., Nineveh Ford, Albert Fish, A. Gribble, Samuel Senters, Thomas Wigger, Richard Hays, Wesley Howell, Richard Jenkins, G. H. March, William Medway, J. R. Payne, Benjamin Simpson, Alexander York.

Martin's Company: Captain, William Martin; first lieutenant, A. E. Garrison; second lieutenant, David Waldo; orderly sergeant, Ludwell J. Rector; duty sergeants, William Cosper, Fales Howard, Joseph Sylvester, Benjamin Wright; privates, J. Albright, H. Burdon, T. J. Blair, Joseph Borst, George Crabtree, Joseph Crauk, Wesley Cook, Samuel Center, John Cox, John Eads, Parnel Fowler, S. M. Crover, John Kaiser, Clark S. Pringle, Israel Wood, Lewis Stewart, Pleasant C. Kaiser, Thomas Canby, Sidney S. Ford, William Melawers, A. N. Rainwater, B. F. Shaw, Wm. Waldo, Silas G. Pugh, G. H. Vernon, Isaiah Matheny, Thomas T. Eyre, John C. Holgate.

Shaw's Company: Captain, William Shaw; first lieutenant, David Crawford; second lieutenant, Baptiste C. Dorio; orderly sergeant, Absalom M. Smith; duty sergeants, George Laroque, Vatall Bergeren, George W. Shaw, Charles McKay; privates, John H. Bigler, O. Crum, Joseph Despont, William Felix, Xavier Plante, Eli Viliell, F. M. Mankis, Antonio Plante, Charles Edwards, Andrew Heeber, Xavier Gervais, David Jones, John Pecares, Samuel Kinsey, Joseph Pearson, William Towie, Peter Jackson, Alexander Laborain, William McMillen, B. F. Nichols, Hiram Smead, William Marill, Francis Poiecor, George Westley.

Garrison's Company: Captain, J. M. Garrison; first lieutenant, A. E. Garrison; second lieutenant, John C. Herren; orderly sergeant, J. B. Kaiser; duty sergeants, George Crabtree, George Laroque, Joseph Colester; privates, E. Biernaisse, Thomas R. Blair, John C. Cox, Joseph Despart, Caleb M. Grover, Isaiah Matheny, John Picard, William Philips, Henry Barden, Silas P. Pugh, Isaac Wood, Penel Fowler, Andrew Hubert, Daniel Herren, Xavier Plante, Vitelle Bergeron.

Colonel Gilliam, though having had no military education, had the American pioneer's capacity and fertility of resources, and conducted his midwinter campaign with courage and energy. As already noted, Peter Skeen Ogden of the Hudson's Bay Company, had ransomed the captives of Waiilatpu long before even the scantily equipped regiment of Oregon volunteers could take the field. But even though the first necessity, that of rescuing the captives, had been filled, the command felt that the situation compelled a definite campaign and the capture and bringing to justice of the murderers. Hence Colonel Gilliam pressed on his march as rapidly as possible. On the last day of February, 1848, he crossed the Des Chutes River to a point where hostile Indians had already taken a stand. A battle ensued the next day, resulting in the defeat of the Indians and a treaty of peace with the Des Chutes tribe. Pressing on toward Walla Walla, the command was checked at Sand Hollows in the Lower Umatilla River Valley, by a strong force of Indians in command of Five Crows, a Cayuse chief. This chieftain claimed the powers of a wizard and declared that he could swallow all the bullets fired at him by the whites. Another brave called War Eagle, or Swallow Ball, made equal claims to invulnerability. The two chiefs undertook to demonstrate their wizard powers by dashing out in front of the volunteers. Tom McKay, who was the stepson of Doctor McLoughlin and was then the captain of a company composed mainly of French Canadians, could not withstand the challenge and sent a bullet from his trusty rifle through the head of Swallow Ball. At the same time Charles McKay sent a companion ball into the supposedly invulnerable anatomy of Five Crows, wounding him so severely that he was out of the war henceforth. After a desultory series of engagements, the Indians retreated and Colonel Gilliam's command pushed on to Waiilatpu, which point they reached on March 2d. At the desolate spot they discovered that the remains of the martyrs of the Whitman Mission had been hastily interred by the Ogden party, but that in the interval of time coyotes had partially exhumed them. They reverently replaced the sacred remains in one large grave, covering them with a wagon box found on the ground. Them in that abandoned place the bones of the martyred band remained unmarked for many years. As now known to all residents of Walla Walla, a monument was reared upon the hill overlooking the scene of the tragedy, and the remains were reinterred and covered with a marble slab inscribed with the names of the victims of the massacre. A lock of long fair hair was found near the ruined mission which there is every reason to think was from the head of Mrs. Whitman. It is now preserved among the precious relics in the museum of Whitman College.

With the volunteers was Joseph L. Meek, one of the Rocky Mountain trappers who had settled in the Willamette Valley and had become prominent in establishing the Provisional Government of Oregon in 1843. He now with a few companions was on his way across the continent to carry dispatches to Washington announcing the Whitman Massacre and urging the Government to make immediate provision for a proper territorial government. Meek had come thus far with the troops, but now passed beyond them on his difficult and dangerous journey. It may be added that with much hardship from cold and near starvation he reached St. Louis in the extraordinarily short time of seventy-two days.

The dilatory and scheming Congress and administration was roused by the Whitman Massacre to some sense of the needs of far-away Oregon. A great struggle ensued over the slavery question in which Calhoun, Davis, Foote, and other southern senators made determined efforts to defeat the prohibition of slavery in Oregon. They were overpowered by the eloquence of Corwin, the determination of Benton and the statesmanship of Webster, and on August 13, 1848, the bill to establish a territorial government for Oregon with slavery prohibited passed Congress. President Polk appointed Joseph Lane governor, Joseph Meek marshal, and William B. Bryant judge in the new territory. Not till March 3, 1849, did they reach their stations and take up their duties. Of all the history of the great congressional discussion with the momentous national questions involved, there is a graphic account by Judge Thornton, while Benton in his "Thirty Years in Congress" gives a vivid and illuminating view.

Meanwhile the little army of Oregon volunteers were engaged in a long-drawn and harassing series of marches and counter marches in search of the guilty murderers. An adobe fort, called Fort Waters, from Lieut. Col. James Waters, was built at Waiilatpu. The Cayuses had counted upon the help of the other tribes, but the Nez Perces and Spokanes repudiated their murderous kindred, and the Yakimas took an attitude of indifference. Peupeumoxmox of the Walla Wallas, though having more of a real grievance against the whites than any other Indian on account of the brutal murder of his son, as related in the preceding chapter, did not actively aid the hostiles. He played a wily game, and was justly regarded with suspicion by the command.

In the midst of the tangle and uncertainty, and the scattering of the guilty parties in all directions, Colonel Gilliam decided to make an expedition northeasterly to the Tucanon and Snake rivers in the hope of encountering and destroying the main force of the hostiles and bringing the war to a conclusion at one blow. Reaching the mouth of the Tucanon, a few miles below the present Starbuck, the colonel was outgeneraled by the wily Indians who gave him to understand that the Indian camp was that of Peupeumoxmox. Taking advantage of the delay the Cayuses drove their large bands of stock into the Snake River and made them swim to the north bank. The main body of Indians succeeded in getting away with their valuable stock. The Palouses were doubtless aiding and abetting them. Disappointed in his aims Colonel Gilliam gave the order to return to Walla Walla. Upon reaching the Touchet in the near vicinity of the present Bolles Junction, the Indians made a rush for the Touchet River in the evident hope of entangling the troops at the crossing. A desperate encounter took place, the hardest, and in fact the only real battle of the year, in which the whites fought their way through the stream and made their way to the Walla-Walla. Reaching Fort Waters at Waiilatpu on March 16th, it was determined by a council of war that Colonel Gilliam should go to The Dalles with 160 men in order to meet and escort a supply train to the Walla Walla, while Lieutenant-Colonel Waters should take command at the fort. On the way, just having crossed the Umatilla, Colonel Gilliam while in the act of drawing a rope from a wagon accidentally caught it in the trigger of a loaded gun. The weapon was discharged and the commander was instantly killed. This was a most lamentable loss, for Colonel Gilliam was not only an efficient commander, but was one of the best of the Oregon pioneers, with the capacity for a most useful career in the new land. Lieutenant-Colonel Waters became colonel in command upon the announcement of the death of Colonel Gilliam. He undertook at once a march to Lapwai under the belief that the murderers were harbored among the Nez Perces. Nothing definite was accomplished by this expedition. According to the assertions of the Nez Perces Telaukaikt, one of the supposed leaders of the Whitman Massacre, had fled. The Nez Perces delivered a number of cattle and horses which they said belonged to the Cayuses. The attempt to seize the murderers themselves being seemingly futile, Colonel Waters returned again to the fort at Waiilatpu. It had now become evident that the condition did not justify the retention of a regiment in the Cayuse country. Governor Abernethy, still acting as head of the Provisional Government of Oregon, decided to recall the main body of troops. A small force under Major Magone was sent to Chimakain, the mission near Spokane where Eells and Walker were located, in order to bring that missionary band to a place of safety. It was found by Major Magone that the Spokane Indians had been faithful to their teachers and had guarded them from danger. Few things more thrilling have been narrated in the hearing of the author than the accounts given by Mr. Eells and Mr. Walker, and above all by Edwin Eells, oldest son of Father Eells, of the conditions under which that devoted group existed for some days when it was thought that the hostile Indians were on the way to Spokane to destroy them. On one evening hearing an awful powwow and hullaballoo from a crowd of mounted Indians and seeing them rapidly approaching in the dim light, Father Eells went out bravely to meet them, thinking it likely was the dreaded marauders, to discover in a moment that it was their own Spokanes, armed for their defence.

Escorted by the company of volunteers, the missionaries of Chimakain went to the Willamette Valley where the Walker family made their permanent home, while Father Eells with his family remained twelve years and then returned to the Walla Walla country to found Whitman College and to make his home for a number of years at Waiilatpu.

While Major Magone was thus engaged in caring for the last of the missionaries, Capt. William Martin was left at Fort Waters (Waiilatpu) with fifty-five men to look out for the interests of immigrants who might enter the country and to keep a vigilant eye upon the movements of the savages. This Captain Martin, it may be remembered by some readers, took up his residence at Pendleton in 1880 and was long a leading citizen of that city. One of his sons now lives at Touchet in Walla Walla County and one of his grandsons, of the same name as himself, became one of the most noted athletes at Whitman College and now occupies a place as physical director in a large eastern university. Another small force in command of Lieutenant Rogers was stationed at Fort Lee at The Dalles. But as to further operations in the field they seemed to be at an end. The Cayuses scattered in various directions, and other Indians, while making no resistance to the whites, gave them little or no assistance. Finally in 1850 a band of friendly Umatillas pursued a bunch of Cayuses under Tamsaky or Tamsucky to the headwaters of the John Day River and after a severe struggle killed Tamsaky and captured the most of his followers.

The last act in the tragedy was the execution of several Indian chiefs who had voluntarily gone to Oregon City and had been seized and subjected to trial as being the murderers of the Whitman party. There is a very unsatisfactory condition of testimony about the real guilt of this group of Indians. The Cayuse Indians claimed, and many of the whites believed that one only of the five who were hung on June 3, 1850, was guilty. As a concluding glance at this grewsome event, the reader may be interested in the following official declaration of innocence of those Indians.

"Tilokite--I am innocent of the crime of which I am charged. Those who committed it are dead, some killed, some died; there were ten, two were my sons; they were killed by the Cayuses. Tumsucky, before the massacre, came to my lodge; he told me that they were going to hold a council to kill Doctor Whitman. I told him not to do so, that it was bad. One night seven Indians died near the house of Doctor Whitman, to whom he had given medicines. Tumsucky's family were sick; he gave them roots and leaves; they got well. Other Indians died. Tumsucky came often. I talked to him, but his ears were shut; he would not hear; he and others went away. After a while some children came into my lodge and told me what was going on. I had told Tumsucky over and over to let them alone; my talk was nothing; I shut my mouth. When I left my people, the young chief told me to come down and talk with the big white chief, and tell him who it was, that did kill Doctor Whitman and others. My heart was big; 'tis small now. The priest tells me I must die tomorrow. I know not for what. They tell me that I have made a confession to the marshal that I struck Doctor Whitman. 'Tis false! You ask me if the priests did not encourage us to kill Doctor Whitman? I answer no, no."

"Monday, 11:30 o'clock--I am innocent, but my heart is weak since I have been in chains, but since I must die, I forgive them all. Those who brought me here and take care of me, I take them all in my arms, my heart is opened."

"Quiahmarsum (skin or panther's coat)--I was up the river at the time of the massacre, and did not arrive until the next day. I was riding on horseback; a white woman came running from the house. She held out her hand and told me not to kill her. I put my hand upon her head and told her not to be afraid. There were plenty of Indians all about. She, with the other women and children, went to Walla Walla, to Mr. Ogden's. I was not present at the murder, nor was I any way concerned in it. I am innocent. It hurts me to talk about dying for nothing. Our chief told us to come down and tell all about it. Those who committed the murder are killed and dead. The priest says I must die tomorrow. If they kill me, I am innocent."

"Monday, 11:30 A.M.--I was sent here by my chief to declare who the guilty persons were; the white chief would then shake hands with me; the young chief would come after me; we would have a good heart. My young chief told me I was to come here to tell what I know concerning the murderers. I did not come as one of the murderers, for I am innocent. I never made any declarations to any one that I was guilty. This is the last time that I may speak."

"Kloakamus--I was there at the time; I lived there, but I had no hand in the murder. I saw them when they were killed, but did not touch or strike any one. I looked on. There were plenty of Indians. My heart was sorry. Our chief told us to come down and tell who the murderers were. There were ten; they are killed. They say I am guilty, but it is not so; I am innocent. The people do not understand me. I can't talk to them. They tell me I must die by being hung by the neck. If they do kill me, I am innocent, and God will give me a big heart."

"Monday, 11:30 A.M.--I have no reason to die for things that I did not do. My time is short. I tell the truth. I know that I am close to the grave; but my heart is open and I tell the truth. I love every one in this world. I know that God will give me a big heart. I never confessed to the marshal that I was guilty, or to any other person; I am innocent. The priests did not tell us to do what the Indians have done. This is my last talk."

"Siahsaluchus (or Wet Wolf)--I say the same as the others; the murderers are killed; some by the whites, some by the Cayuses, and some by others. They were ten in number."

"Monday, 11:30 A.M.--I have nothing more to say; I think of God. I forgive all men; I love them. The priests did not tell us to do this."

"Thomahas--I did not know that I came here to die. Our chief told us to come and see the white chief and tell him all about it. The white chief would then tell us all what was right and what was wrong. Learn us (how) to live when we returned home. Why should I have a bad heart--after I am showed and taught how to live? My eyes were shut when I came here. I did not see, but now they are opened. I have been taught; I have been showed what was good and what was bad. I do not want to die; I know now that we are all brothers. They tell me the same Spirit made us all."

"Monday, 11:30 A.M.--Thomahas joined With Tilokite. My heart cries my brother was guilty, but he is dead. I am innocent. I know I am going to die for things I am not guilty of, but I forgive them. I love all men now. My hope, the priest tells me, is in Christ. My heart shall be big with good."

"(Signed) HENRY H. CRAWFORD, Sergeant, Co. D, R. M. R.

ROBERT D. MAHON, Corporal, Co. A, R. M. R."

Following the close of the Cayuse war there was a lull in hostilities during which several white men came to the Walla Walla country or near it, with a view to locating. In Col. F. T. Gilbert's valuable history of Walla Walla and adjoining counties, published in 1882, we find the data for a summary of the earliest settlers as follows:

The first settlers of all were William C. McKay, son of Thomas McKay (who himself was the stepson of Dr. John McLoughlin) and Henry M. Chase. These men were located on the Umatilla River in 1851 at a point near the present Town of Echo. Doctor McKay later became a resident of Pendleton where he was well known for many years. In 1852 Mr. Chase went with Wm. Craig to the Nez Percé country near Lewiston where he entered the cattle business. In 1855 he went to the region of the present Dayton and a short time later to Walla Walla. He lived in Walla Walla a number of years and was well known to all old-timers. He lived upon the property now the site of St. Paul's School. Louis Raboin, a Frenchman, though an American citizen, was in the Walla Walla country a number of years beginning in 1851. In 1855 he located at what is now the Town of Marengo on the Tucanon. P. M. Lafontain came to the region in 1852 and located a claim adjoining that of Mr. Chase, near the present Dayton, in 1855. Lloyd Brooke, George C. Bumford, and John F. Noble came to Waiilatpu in 1852, and in the following year established themselves there in the cattle business. There they remained till driven out by the War of 1855. A. P. Woodward was a resident of the Walla Walla country during the same period. It is proper to name here Wm. Craig who had been a mountain man a number of years and became located among the Nez Percé Indians at Lapwai in 1845. From him Craig Mountains took their name. He was an important personage as interpreter and peace-maker among the Nez Perces during the great war later. There were several men drifting through the country employed as laborers by Mr. Chase and by the cattle-men at Waiilatpu.

There was at that time quite a settlement on the Walla Walla around what is now known as Frenchtown, about ten miles from the present city. These were Hudson's Bay Company men. We find in the list of names several whose descendants lived subsequently in that region, though they mainly left during the Indian Wars and did not return. There were two priests among them, Fathers Chirouse and Pondosa, and they were assisted by two brothers. James Sinclair had at that time charge of Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia. Though the region was then in possession of the United States, the Hudson's Bay Company had not yet delivered up its locations.

During this lull a very important event occurred. On March 3, 1853, the Territory of Washington was created and Isaac I. Stevens was appointed governor. The first Territorial Legislature laid out sixteen counties. Among them was Walla Walla County. That was the first "Old Walla Walla County." That it was much more extensive than the area especially covered by this work will appear when the boundaries are given, thus: "Beginning its line on the north bank of the Columbia at a point opposite the mouth of Des Chutes River, it ran thence north to the forty-ninth parallel." It therefore embraced all of what was then Washington Territory east of that line, which included all of present Idaho, about a fourth of present Montana, and about half of what is now Washington. That was the first attempt at organized government in Eastern Washington. The county seat was located "on the land of Lloyd Brooke," which was at Waiilatpu. The Legislature further decreed: "That George C. Bumford, John Owens, and A. Dominique Pambrun be, and they are hereby constituted and appointed the Board of County Commissioners; and that Narcises Remond be, and hereby is appointed sheriff; and that Lloyd Brooke be, and is hereby appointed judge of probate, and shall have jurisdiction as justice of the peace; all in and for the County of Walla Walla." These appointees with the exception of Mr. Owens (who lived near the present Missoula), were residents of the region of Waiilatpu and Frenchtown. That county organization was never inaugurated, and it remains as simply an interesting historical reminiscence.

In March, 1855, another most notable event occurred, the first in a series that made much history in the Northwest. This was the discovery of gold at the junction of the Pend Oreille River with the Columbia. The discoverer was a French half-breed who had previously lived at French Prairie, Ore. The announcement of the discovery caused a stampede to the east of the mountains and inaugurated a series of momentous changes.

Governor Stevens had entered upon his great task of organizing the newly created territory by undertaking the establishment of a number of Indian reservations. The necessities of the case--both justice to the Indians and the whites, as well as the proper development of the country whose vast possibilities were beginning to be seen by the farsighted ones--seemed to compel the segregation of the natives into comparatively small reservations. The history of the laying out of these reservations is an entire history by itself. There has been controversy as to the rights and wrongs of the case which has been best treated by Hazard Stevens in his "Life of Governor Stevens" (his father) in defence, and by Ezra Meeker in his "Tragedy of Leschi" in condemnation. Suffice it to say that the reservation policy was but faintly understood by the Indians and occurring in connection with the gold discoveries and the entrance of whites, eager for wealth and opportunity, it furnished all the conditions requisite for a first-class Indian war. Doubtless the great underlying cause was, as usual in Indian wars, the perception by Indians that their lands were steadily and surely passing out of their hands.

In 1854 and 1855 a general flame of war burst forth in widely separated regions. There can be no question that there was an attempt at co-operation by the tribes over the whole of Oregon and Washington. But so wide and so scattered was the field and so incapable were the Indians of intelligent unity of action that the white settlements were spared a war of extermination. The centers of warfare were the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, a number of points on Puget Sound, especially Seattle and vicinity, and White River Valley.

In May, 1855, Governor Stevens with a force of about fifty men reached Walla Walla for a conference with the tribes. The best authorities on the conference are Hazard Stevens, then a boy of fourteen, who accompanied his father, and Lieutenant Kip of the United States Army. This meeting at Walla Walla was one of the most interesting and important in the annals of Indian relationships with the United States Government. There seems some difference of opinion as to the exact location of the conference. It has generally been thought that Stevens' camp was at what is now known as "Council Grove Addition," near the residence of ex-Senator Ankeny. When General Hazard Stevens was in Walla Walla some years ago he gave his opinion that it was in the near vicinity of the residence of Mrs. Clara Quinn. William McBean, a son of the Hudson's Bay Company agent at Fort Walla Walla during the Cayuse war, who was himself in Stevens' force, as a young boy, told the author nearly thirty years ago that he believed the chief point of the conference was almost exactly on the present site of Whitman College. It appears from the testimony of old-timers that Mill Creek has changed its course at intervals in these years, and that as a result the exact identification is difficult. It seems plain, however, that the Indians were camped at various places along the two spring branches, "College Creek" and "Tannery Creek."

With his little force, Governor Stevens might well have been startled, if he had been a man sensible of fear, when there came tearing across the plain to the northeast of the council ground an army of twenty-five hundred Nez Perces, headed by Halhaltlossot, known to the whites as Lawyer. After the Indian custom they were whooping and firing their guns and making their horses prance and cavort in the clouds of dust stirred by hundreds of hoofs. But as it proved, these spectacular performers were the real friends of the Governor and his party and later on their salvation. Two days after, three hundred Cayuses, those worst of the Columbia River Indians, surly and scowling, made their appearance, led by Five Crows and Young Chief. Within two days again there arrived a force of two thousand Yakimas, Umatillas, and Walla Wallas. The "Valley of Waters" must have been at that time a genuine Indian paradise. The broad flats of Mill Creek and the Walla Walla were covered with grass and spangled with flowers. Numerous clear cold steams, gushing in springs from the ground and overhung by birches and cottonwoods, with the wild roses drooping over them, made their gurgling way to a junction with the creek. Countless horses grazed on the bunch-grass hills and farther back in the foothills there was an abundance of game. No wonder that the Indians, accustomed to gather for councils and horse-races, and all the other delights of savage life, should have scanned with jealous eyes the manifest desire of the whites for locations in a spot "where every prospect pleases and man alone is vile."

It became evident to Governor Stevens that a conspiracy was burrowing beneath his feet. Peupeumoxmox of the Walla Wallas and Kahmiakin of the Yakimas were the leaders. The former was now an old man, embittered by the murder of his son Elijah, and regarded by many as having been the real fomenter of the Whitman Massacre. Kahmiakin was a remarkable Indian. Winthrop, in his "Canoe and Saddle," gives a vivid description of him as being an of extraordinary force and dignity. Governor Stevens said of him: "He is a peculiar man, reminding me of the panther and the grizzly bear. His countenance has an extraordinary play, one moment in frowns, the next in smiles, flashing with light and black as Erebus the same instant. His pantomime is great, and his gesticulations many and characteristic. He talks mostly in his face and with his hands and arms." He was a man of lofty stature and splendid physique, a typical Indian of the best type. This great Yakima chief saw that his race was doomed unless they could check White occupancy at its very beginning. Restrained by no scruples (as indeed his civilized opponents seldom were) he seems to have conspired with the Walla Wallas and Cayuses to wipe out Stevens and his band, then rush to The Dalles and exterminate the garrison there; then with united forces of all the Eastern Oregon Indians sweep on into the principal settlements of the whites, those of the Willamette Valley, and wipe them out. Meanwhile their allies on the Sound were to seize the pivotal points there. Thus Indian victory would be comprehensive and final. Preposterous as such an expectation appears now to us, it was not, after all, so remote as we might think. Six or seven thousand of these powerful warriors, splendidly mounted and well armed, if well directed, crossing the mountains into the scattered settlements of Western Oregon and Washington might well have cleaned up the country, with the exception of Portland, which was then quite a little city and in a position which would have made any successful attack by Indians hopeless.

But the Nez Perces saved the day. Halhaltlossot perceived that the only hope for his people was in peace and as favorable reservation assignments as could be secured. He nipped the conspiracy in the bud. Hazard Stevens gives a thrilling account of how the Nez Percé chief went by night to the Governor's camp and revealed the conspiracy. He moved his own camp to a point adjoining the whites and made it clear that the hostiles could accomplish their aims only in the face of Nez Percé opposition. This situation made the conspiracy impotent.

Not all, however, of the Nez Perces approved the tactics of Lawyer. There was a powerful faction that favored the Yakimas, Cayuses, and Walla Wallas. While Governor Stevens had been gradually bringing the main body of the Nez Perces to consent to a treaty assigning certain reservations to them, and was flattering himself that with the aid of Lawyer he was just about to clinch the deal, there was a sudden commotion in the council, and into the midst there burst the old chief Apashwayhayikt (Looking Glass). He had just been on a raid against the Blackfeet, and hearing of the probable outcome of the Walla Walla Council, had made a ride of 300 miles in seven days. With his little band of attendants he came racing over the "bench" on which "Garden City Heights" is now located, and with scalps of several slaughtered Blackfeet dangling from his belt he rushed to the front, and fixing his angry and reproachful eyes upon his tribesmen he broke forth into a harangue which Hazard Stevens was told by some Indians began about thus: "My people, what have you done? While I was gone you sold my country. I have come home and there is not left me a place on which to pitch my lodge. Go home to your lodges. I will talk with you." Lieutenant Kip declares that though he could not understand the words, the effect was tremendous and the speech was equal to the greatest bursts of oratory that he had ever heard. The council broke up and the nearly accepted treaty went to naught.

With great patience and skill Stevens and Lawyer rallied their defeated forces and, in spite of the opposition of Looking Glass they secured the acquiescence of the main body of the Indians to three reservations. These were essentially the same as now known: the Yakima, the Umatilla, and the Nez Percé. In case of the last, however, there was a lamentable and distressing miscarriage of agreement and perhaps of justice. William McBean, already mentioned as a half-breed boy employed by Governor Stevens, stated to the author many years ago that he discovered that the general impression among the Nez Percé Indians was that by accepting the treaty and surrendering their lands in the Touchet, Tucanon, and Alpowa countries, they would be assured of the permanent possession of the Wallowa. Now, if there was any region more suitable to Indians and more loved by them than another, it was that same Wallowa, with its snowy peaks, its lakes and streams filled with fish, its grassy upland with deer and elk, its thickets and groves with grouse and pheasants. The understanding of the "Joseph band" of Nez Perces was, according to McBean, that the loved Wallowa was to be their special range. Upon that supposition they voted with Lawyer for the treaty and that was the determining influence that secured its passage. But twenty years later, white men began to perceive that the Wallowa was also suitable to them. With that lack of continuity in dealing with natives in face of a demand for land by whites which has made most of our Indian treaties mere "scraps of paper," the administration (that of Grant) forgot the understanding, the Indians were dispossessed, and the Nez Percé war with the very people who had saved Stevens in 1855 was precipitated in 1877. Young Joseph (Hallakallakeen) led his warriors in the most spectacular Indian war in the history of this country, as a result of which his band was finally overpowered and located on the Nespilem, a part of the Colville reservation. Kamiakin had seemed to agree to the treaty at Walla Walla. But he was only biding his time. Governor Stevens, having, as he thought, pacified the tribes by that group of treaties, proceeded on a similar mission to the Flatheads in Northern Idaho. There, after long discussion, a treaty was negotiated by which a million and a quarter acres was set aside for a reservation. The next move of the Governor was across the Rocky Mountains to Fort Benton.

But what was happening on the Walla Walla? No sooner was the Governor fairly out of sight across the flower-bespangled plains, which extended 200 miles northeast from Walla Walla, than the wily Kamiakin began to resume his plots. So successful was he, with the valuable assistance of Peupeumoxmox, Young Chief, and Five Crows, that the treaties, just ratified, were torn to shreds and the flame of savage warfare burst forth across the entire Columbia Valley.

Hazard Stevens, in his invaluable history of his father, gives a vivid picture of how the news reached them in their camp, thirty-five miles up the Missouri from Fort Benton. Summer had now passed into autumn. A favorable treaty had been made with the Blackfeet. On October 29th the little party were gathered around their campfire in the frosty air of fall in that high altitude when they discerned a solitary rider making his way slowly toward them. As he drew near they soon saw that it was Pearson, the express rider. Pearson was one of the best examples of those scouts whose lives were spent in conveying messages from forts to parties in the field. He usually traveled alone, and his life was always in his hand. He seemed to be made of steel springs, and it had been thought that he could endure anything. "He could ride anything that wore hair." He rode 1,750 miles in twenty-eight days at one time, one stage of 260 miles having been made in three days. But as he slowly drew up to the party in the cold evening light, it was seen that even Pearson was "done." His horse staggered and fell, and he himself could not stand or speak for some time. After he had been revived he told his story, and a story of disaster and foreboding it was, sure enough.

All the great tribes of the Columbia plains west of the Nez Perces had broken out, the Cayuses, Yakimas, Palouses, Walla Wallas, Umatillas, and Klickitats. They had swept the country clean of whites. The ride of Pearson from The Dalles to the point where he reached Governor Stevens is one of the most thrilling in our annals. By riding all day and night, he reached a horse ranch on the Umatilla belonging to William McKay, but he found the place deserted. Seeing a splendid horse in the bunch near by, he lassoed and saddled him. Though the horse was as wild as air, Pearson managed to mount and start on. Just then there swept into view a force of Indians who, instantly divining what Pearson was trying to do, gave chase. Up and down hill, through vale, and across the rim-rock, they followed, sending frequent bullets after him, and yelling like demons. "Whupsiah si-ah-poo, Whupsiah!" ("Kill the white man!") But the wild horse which the intrepid rider bestrode proved his salvation, for he gradually outran all his pursuers. Traveling through the Walla Walla at night Pearson reached the camp of friendly Nez Percé Red Wolf on the Alpowa the next day, having ridden 200 miles from The Dalles without stopping except the brief time changing horses. Snow and hunger now impeded his course. Part of the way he had to go on snow-shoes without a horse. But with unflinching resolution he passed on, and so now here he was with his dismal tidings.

The dispatches warned Governor Stevens that Kamiakin with a thousand warriors was in the Walla Walla Valley and that it would be impossible for him to get through by that route, and that he must therefore return to the East by the Missouri and come back to his territory by the steamer route of Panama. That meant six months' delay. With characteristic boldness, Governor Stevens at once rejected the more cautious course and went right back to Spokane by Coeur d'Alene Pass, deep already with winter snows, suffering intensely with cold and hunger, but avoiding by that route the Indians sent out to intercept him. With extraordinary address, he succeeding in turning the Spokane Indians to his side. The Nez Perces, thanks to Lawyer's fidelity, were still friendly, and with these two powerful tribes arrayed against the Yakimas, there was still hope of holding the Columbia Valley.

After many adventures, Governor Stevens reached Olympia in safety. Govornor Curry of Oregon had already called a force of volunteers into the field. The Oregon volunteers were divided into two divisions, one under Col. J. W. Nesmith, which went into the Yakima country, and the other under Lieut.-Col. J. K. Kelly, which went to Walla Walla. The latter force fought the decisive battle of the campaign on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of December, 1855. It was a series of engagements occurring in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley, a "running fight" culminating at what is now called Frenchtown, ten miles west of the present City of Walla Walla.

The famous battle of the Walla Walla, being so conspicuous and so near the present city, is worthy of some detail. The report of Col. J. K. Kelley is as follows:

"On the evening of the 8th inst., I gave you a hasty report of our battle with Indians up to the close of the second day's fight, and then stated that at a future time I would give a more detailed account of all transactions that occurred since the march from the Umatilla River. Owing to active engagements in the field, and in pursuit of the Indians, I have not hitherto had leisure to make that report.

"As soon as it was dark on the evening of the second, I proceeded with my command from Fort Henrietta to Walla Walla, having left a detachment of twenty-five men, under command of Lieutenant Sword, to protect the former post. On the morning of the third we encamped on the bank of the Walla Walla River about four miles from the fort; and, proceeding to the latter place, I found it had been pillaged by the Indians, the buildings much defaced and the furniture destroyed.

"On the morning of the fourth, a body of Indians was observed on the opposite side of the Columbia, apparently making preparations to cross the river with a large amount of baggage. Seeing us in possession of the fort, they were deterred from making the attempt, when I sent a small detachment down to a bar making into the Columbia immediately below the mouth of the Walla Walla, and opposite to where the Indians were, with directions to fire upon them and prevent the removal of their packs of provisions. The width of the river at this place is about 250 yards; and a brisk fire was at once opened upon the Indians, which was returned by them from behind the rocks on the opposite shore. No boats could be procured to cross the river in order to secure the provisions or to attack the body of Indians, numbering about fifty, who had made their appearance on the hill north of Walla Walla, who, after surveying our encampment, started off in a northeasterly direction. I at once determined to follow in pursuit of them on the following day.

"Early on the morning of the fifth I dispatched Second Major Chinn, with 150 men, to escort the baggage and packtrains to the mouth of the Touchet, there to await my return with the remainder of the forces under my command. On the same morning I marched with about two hundred men to a point on the Touchet River about twelve miles from its mouth, with the view of attacking the Walla Walla Indians, who were supposed to be encamped there. When I was near to and making towards the village, Peupeumoxmox, the chief of the tribe, with six other Indians, made their appearance under a flag of truce. He stated that he did not wish to fight; that his people did not wish to fight; and that on the following day he would come and have a talk and make a treaty of peace. On consultation with Hon. Nathan Olney, Indian agent, we concluded that this was simply a ruse to gain time for removing his village and preparing for battle. I stated to him that we had come to chastise him for the wrongs he had done to our people, and that we would not defer making an attack on his people unless he and his five followers would consent to accompany and remain with us until all difficulties were settled. I told him that he might go away under his flag of truce if he chose; but, if he did so, we would forthwith attack his village. The alternative was distinctly made known to him; and, to save his people, he chose to remain with us as a hostage for the fulfillment of his promise, as did also those who accompanied him. He at the same time said that on the following day he would accompany us to his village; that he would then assemble his people and make them deliver up all their arms and ammunition, restore the property which had been taken from the white settlers, or pay the full value of that which could not be restored; and that he would furnish fresh horses to remount my command, and cattle to supply them with provisions, to enable us to wage war against other hostile tribes who were leagued with him. Having made these promises, we refrained from making the attack, thinking we had him in our power, and that on the next day his promises would be fulfilled. I also permitted him to send one of the men who accompanied him to his village to apprise the tribes of the terms of the expected treaty, so that they might be prepared to fulfill it.

"On the sixth, we marched to the village and found it entirely deserted, but saw the Indians in considerable force on the distant hills, and watching our movements. I sent out a messenger to induce them to come in, but could not do so. And I will here observe that I have since learned from a Nez Percé boy who was taken at the same time with Peupeumoxmox, that instead of sending word to his people to make a treaty of peace, he sent an order for them to remove their women and children and prepare for battle. From all I have since learned, I am well persuaded that he was acting with duplicity, and that he expected to entrap my command in the deep ravine in which his camp was situated, and make his escape from us. We remained at the deserted village until about one o'clock in the afternoon; and seeing no hope of coming to any terms we proceeded to the mouth of the Touchet with a view of going from thence to some spot near Whitman's Station, where I had intended to form a permanent camp for the winter.

"On the morning of the seventh, Companies H and K crossed the Touchet, leading the column on the route to Whitman's Valley, and when formed on the plain, were joined by Company B. A few persons in front were driving our cattle; and a few were on the flanks of the companies and near the foot of the hills that extended along the river. These persons, as well as I can ascertain, were fired on by the Indians. Immediately all the companies except A and F (who were ordered to remain with the baggage) commenced an eager chase of the Indians in sight. A running fight was the consequence, the force of the Indians increasing with every mile. Several of the enemy were killed in the chase before reaching the farm of La Rocque, which is about twelve miles from the mouth of the Touchet. At this point they made a stand, their left resting on the river covered with trees and underbrush, their center occupying the flat, as this place was covered with clumps of sagebrush and small sand knolls, their right on the high ridge of hills which skirt the river bottom.

"When the volunteers reached this point, they were not more than forty or fifty men, being those mounted on the fleetest horses. Upon these the Indians poured a murderous fire from the brushwood and willows along the river, and from the sage bushes along the plain, wounding a number of the volunteers. The men fell back. The moment was critical. They were commanded to cross the fence which surrounds La Rocque's field, and charge upon the Indians in the brush. In executing this order, Lieutenant Burrows of Company H was killed; and Captain Munson of Company I, Isaac Miller, sergeant-major, and G. W. Smith of Company B, were wounded. A dispatch having been sent to Captain Wilson of Company A to come forward, he and his company came up on the gallop, dismounted at a slough, and with fixed bayonets pushed on through the brush. In the course of half an hour Captain Bennett was on the ground with Company F; and, with this accession, the enemy was steadily driven forward for two miles, when they took possession of a farm house and close fence, in attempting to carry which Captain Bennett of Company F and Private Kelso of Company A were killed.

"A howitzer found at Fort Walla Walla under charge of Captain Wilson, by this time was brought to bear upon the enemy. Four rounds were fired, when the piece bursted, wounding Captain Wilson. The Indians then gave way at all points; and the house and fence were seized and held by the volunteers and the bodies of our men recovered. These positions were held by as until nightfall, when the volunteers fell slowly back and returned unmolested to camp.

"Early on the morning of the 8th the Indians appeared with increased forces, amounting to fully six hundred warriors. They were posted as usual in the thick brush by the river, among the sage bushes and sand knolls, and on the surrounding hills. This day Lieutenant Pillow with Company A and Lieutenant Hannah with Company H were ordered to take and hold the brush skirting the river and the sage bushes on the plain. Lieutenant Fellows, with Company F, was directed to take and keep the possession of the point at the foot of the hill. Lieutenant Jeffries with Company B, Lieutenant Hand with Company I, and Captain Cornoyer with Company K, were posted on three several points on the hills, with orders to maintain them and to assail the enemy on other points of the same hills. As usual, the Indians were driven from their position, although they fought with skill and bravery.

"On the ninth, they did not make their appearance until about ten o'clock in the morning, and then in somewhat diminished numbers. As I had sent to Fort Henrietta for Companies D and E, and expected them on the tenth, I thought it best to act on the defensive and hold our positions, which were the same as on the eighth, until we could get an accession to our forces sufficient to enable us to assail their rear and cut off their retreat. An attack was made during the day on Companies A and H in the brushwood, and upon B on the hill, both of which were repulsed with great gallantry by those companies, and with considerable loss to the enemy. Companies F, I, and K also did honor to themselves in repelling all approaches to their positions, although in doing so one man in Company F and one in Company I were severely wounded. Darkness as usual closed the combat, by the enemy withdrawing from the field. Owing to the inclemency of the night, the companies on the hill were withdrawn from their several positions, Company B abandoning the rifle pits which were made by the men for its protection. At early dawn on the next day, the Indians were observed from our camp to be in possession of all points held by us on the preceding day. Upon seeing them, Lieutenant McAuliffe of Company B gallantly observed that his company had dug those holes, and that after breakfast they would have them again. And well was his declaration fulfilled; for in less than half an hour the enemy were driven from the rifle pits, and had fled to an adjoining hill which they had occupied the day before. This position was at once assailed. Captain Cornoyer with Company K and a portion of Company I, being mounted, gallantly charged the enemy on his right flank, while Lieutenant McAuliffe with Company B, dismounted, rushed up the hill in face of a heavy fire, and scattered them in all directions. They at once fled in all directions to return to this battlefield no more; and thus ended our long-contested fight.

"I have already given you a list of the killed and wounded on the first two days of the battle. On the last two days, we had only three wounded, whose names you will find subjoined to this report. J. Fleming of Company A, before reported as mortally wounded, has since died. I am happy to state, however, that Private Jasper Snook of Company H, reported by me as mortally wounded, is in a fair way to recover. The surgeon informs me that all the wounded in the hospital are now doing well. The loss of the enemy in killed, during the four days, I estimate at about seventy-five. Thirty-nine dead bodies have already been found by the volunteers; and many were carried off the field by their friends and comrades. So that I think that my estimate is about correct. The number of their wounded must, of course, be great. In making my report, I cannot say too much in the praise of the conduct of the officers of the several companies and most of the soldiers under my command. They did their duty bravely and well during those four trying days of battle. To Second Major Chinn, who took charge of the companies in the bush by the river, credit is due for his bravery and skill, also to Assistant Adjutant Monroe Atkinson for his efficiency and zeal as well in the field as in the camp. And here, while giving to the officers and men of the regiment the praise that is justly due, I cannot omit the name of Hon. Nathan Olney, although he is not one of the volunteers. Having accompanied me in the capacity of Indian agent, I requested him to act as my aid, on account of his admitted skill in Indian warfare; and, to his wisdom in council and daring courage on the field of battle, I am much indebted and shall never cease to appreciate his worth.

"Companies D and E having arrived from Fort Henrietta on the evening of the tenth, the next morning I followed with all the available troops along the Nez Perces' trail in pursuit of the Indians. On Mill Creek, about twelve miles from here, we passed through their village, numbering 196 fires, which had been deserted the night before. Much of their provisions were scattered along the wayside, indicating that they had fled in great haste to the north. We pursued them until it was too dark to follow the track of their horses, when we camped on Coppei Creek. On the twelfth we continued the pursuit until we passed some distance beyond the station of Brooke, Noble and Bumford on the Touchet, when we found the chase was in vain, as many of our horses were completely broken down and the men on foot. We therefore returned and arrived in camp on yesterday evening with about one hundred head of cattle which the Indians left scattered along the trail in their flight.

"On the eleventh, while in pursuit of the enemy, I received a letter from Narcisse Raymond by the hands of Tintinmetzy, a friendly chief (which I enclose), asking our protection of the French and friendly Indians under his charge.

"On the morning of the twelfth, I dispatched Captain Cornoyer with his company to their relief. Mr. Olney, who accompanied them, returned to camp this evening, and reports that Captain Cornoyer will return tomorrow with Mr. Raymond and his people, who now feel greatly relieved from their critical situation. Mr. Olney learned from these friendly Indians what we before strongly believed, that the Palouses, Walla Wallas, Umatillas, Cayuses, and Stock Whitley's band of Des Chutes Indians were all engaged in the battle on the Walla Walla. These Indians also informed Mr. Olney that, after the battle, the Palouses, Walla Wallas, and Umatillas had gone partly to the Grande Ronde and partly to the country of the Nez Perces, and that Stock Whitley, disgusted with the manner in which the Cayuses fought in the battle, has abandoned them and gone to the Yakima country to join his forces with those of Kamiakin. We have now the undisputed possession of the country south of the Snake River; and I would suggest the propriety of retaining this possession until such time as it can be occupied by the regular troops. The Indians have left much of their stock behind, which will doubtless be lost to us if we go away. The troops here will not be in a situation for some time to go to the Palouse country, as our horses at present are too much jaded to endure the journey; and we have no boats to cross Snake River and no timber to make them nearer than this place. But I would suggest the propriety of following up the Indians with all possible speed, now that their hopes are blighted and their spirits broken. Unless this be done, they will perhaps rally again.

"Today I received a letter from Governor Stevens, dated yesterday, which I enclose. You will perceive that he is in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war. With his views I fully concur.

"I must earnestly ask that supplies be sent forward to us without delay. For the last three days none of the volunteers, except the two companies from Fort Henrietta, have had any flour. There is none here, and but little at that post. We are now living on beef and potatoes which are found en cache; and the men are becoming much discontented with this mode of living. Clothing for the men is much needed as the winter approaches. Tomorrow we will remove to a more suitable point, where grass can be obtained in greater abundance for our worn-out horses. A place has been selected about two miles above Whitman's Station, on the same (north) side of the Walla Walla; consequently I will abandon this fort, named in honor of Captain Bennett of Company F, who now sleeps beneath its stockade, and whose career of usefulness and bravery was here so sadly but nobly closed.

"Very respectfully, your ob't serv't, "JAMES K. KELLY, "Lieut.-Col., Com'g Left Col."

A most bitterly disputed feature of this battle was the killing of Peupeumoxmox. It has been esteemed by many as nothing short of murder. The author of this work found difference of opinion among the old-timers formerly resident in Walla Walla, as Lewis McMorris and James McAuliffe, as to the rights and wrongs of the case. The former narrated a ghastly story as follows: The Indian chief having been taken prisoner with several followers was under guard. In the hottest of the fight they undertook to escape. The guards shot them down. The body of the old chieftain was mutilated. His ears were cut off and put in a jar of whiskey in order to preserve them, and subsequently they were nailed to the State House at Salem. But, according to McMorris, the whiskey in the jar disappeared. It was believed by the soldiers that a certain lieutenant had taken it for beverage purposes, and it was common for someone in camp to bawl out at night when he could not be identified, "Who drank the whiskey off of Peupeumoxmox's ears?" This event, while so repulsive, casts a certain light on the conditions. Perhaps a fuller view can be obtained by quoting the official superintendent, Joel Palmer, as follows:

"We arrived near the camp (Walla Wallas) just before night (the 5th of December), and were met by Peupeumoxmox and about fifty of his men with a white flag. They asked for a talk. We halted (Colonel Kelly's command) and demanded what he wanted. He said peace. We told him to come with us and we would talk. He said no. We then told him to take back his flag and we would fight. He said no. We then told him to take his choice--go back and fight or come and stop with us. He chose the latter. We retained him until the next day. We tried to come to an understanding, but could not. We still retained him as a prisoner, with four of his men who came along with him. The next morning, the seventh, a large force attacked us as we left camp. In trying to escape from their guard during the seventh, they were killed."

As presenting the other view of the subject, we quote from Colonel Gilbert as follows:

"An important event transpired that day which it would be more proper to designate as a disgraceful tragedy enacted, that is omitted from this official report. The following is an account of it, as given to the writer by Lewis McMorris, who was present at the time and saw what he narrated. * * * The combatants had passed on up the valley, and the distant detonation of their guns could be heard. The flag of truce prisoners were there under guard, and everyone seemed electrified with suppressed excitement. A wounded man came in with his shattered arm dangling at his side, and reported Captain Bennett killed at the front. This added to the excitement, and the attention of all was more or less attracted to the wounded man, when some one said, 'Look out, or the Indians will get away!' At this, seemingly, every one yelled, 'Shoot 'em! Shoot 'em!' and on the instant there was a rattle of musketry on all sides.

"What followed was so quick, and there were so many acting that McMorris could not see it in detail, though all was transpiring within a few yards of, and around him. It was over in a minute, and three of the five prisoners were dead; another was wounded, knocked senseless and supposed to be dead, who afterwards recovered consciousness, and was shot to put him out of misery, while the fifth was spared because he was a Nez Percé. * * * All were scalped in a few minutes, and later the body of Yellow Bird, the great Walla Walla chief, was mutilated in a way that should entitle those who did it to a prominent niche in the ghoulish temple erected to commemorate the infamous acts of soulless men. Let us draw a screen upon this affair that has cast a shadow over the otherwise bright record of Oregon volunteers in that war, remembering, when we do so, that but few of them were responsible for its occurrence."

Following this decisive victory of Colonel Kelly and his command, in December, 1855, on the Walla Walla, a second regiment of Washington volunteers was despatched for Walla Walla in the summer of 1856 in command of Col. B. F. Shaw. On July 17, 1856, Colonel Shaw gained a brilliant victory over the allied forces of the savages in the Grande Ronde. While this important campaign was in progress, Governor Stevens had his hands full in Western Washington. The little settlement at Seattle had been nearly destroyed. Many of the settlers in the scattered settlements on the sound had lost their lives, their homes were destroyed and their stock driven off. In the spring the Klickitat Indians had made a sudden dash upon the settlements on the Columbia River between the White Salmon and the Cascades. A certain young lieutenant, afterwards somewhat distinguished, fought his first battle at the latter point. It was Phil Sheridan. In spite of these absorbing events in Western Washington and at the Cascades, Governor Stevens, realizing the vital importance of holding the allegiance of the Nez Perces, proceeded to Walla Walla for another council. His location was about two miles above the camp of 1855. Shortly after his arrival, Col. E. J. Steptoe of the regular army made camp at the location of the present fort.

And now came on the second great Walla Walla council. The tribes were fathered as before, and were aligned as before. The division of Nez Perces under Lawyer stood firmly by Stevens and the treaty. The others did not. The most unfortunate feature of the entire matter was that Colonel Steptoe, acting under General Wool's instructions, thus far kept secret, refused to grant Stevens adequate support and subjected him to humiliations which galled the fiery Governor to the limit. In fact, had it not been for the vigilance of the faithful Nez Perces of Lawyer's band, Stevens and his force would surely have met the doom prepared for them at the first council. The debt of gratitude due Lawyer is incalculable. Spotted Eagle ought to be recorded, too, as of similar devotion and watchfulness. Governor Stevens afterward declared that a speech by him in favor of the whites was equal in feeling, truth, and courage to any speech that he ever heard from any orator whatever.

But in spite of oratory, zeal, and argument, nothing could overcome the influence of Kamiakin, Owhi, Quelchen, Five Crows and others of the Yakimas and Cayuses. Nothing was gained. They stood just where they were a year before. The fatal results of divided counsels between regulars and volunteers were apparent.

The baffled Governor now started on his way down the river, but not without another battle. For, as he was marching a short distance south of what is now Walla Walla City, the Indians burst upon his small force with the evident intention of ending all scores then and there. But Colonel Steptoe established a rude stockade fort on Mill Creek in what is now the heart of the present Walla Walla City, and went into winter quarters there in 1856-57. Governor Stevens returned to Olympia and launched forth a bitter arraignment against Wool. The latter, however, was in a position of vantage and issued a proclamation commanding all whites in the upper country to go down the river and leave the Cascade Mountains as the eastern limit of the white settlement. Thus ended for a time this unsatisfactory and distressing war. To all appearances Kamiakin and his adherents had accomplished all they wanted.

But this was not the end. Gold had been discovered in Eastern Washington. Vast possibilities of cattle raising were evident on those endless bunch-grass hills. Although there was as yet little conception of the future developments of the Inland Empire in agriculture and gardening, yet the keen-eyed immigrants and volunteers had scanned the pleasant vales and abounding streams of the Walla Walla and Umatilla and Palouse, and had decided in their own minds that, Wool or no Wool, this land most be opened. In 1857 the Government, as already noted, decided on a change of policy and sent Gen. N. S. Clarke to take Wool's place. General Clarke opened the gates, and the impatient army of land hunters and gold hunters began to move in. Meanwhile, Colonel Wright and Colonel Steptoe, though formerly they had closely followed Wool's policy, now began to experience a change of heart. Out of these conditions the third Indian war, in 1858, quickly succeeded the second, being indeed its inevitable sequence.

Three campaigns marked this third war. The first was conducted by Colonel Steptoe against the Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes, and ended in his humiliating and disastrous defeat. The second was directed by Major Garnett against the Yakimas, resulting in their permanent overthrow. The third was conducted by Colonel Wright against the Spokanes and other northern tribes who had defeated Steptoe. This was the Waterloo of the Indians, and it ushered in the occupation and settlement of the upper Columbia country.

The Steptoe expedition, the first of that series of campaigns, was one of the most disastrous in the history of Indian warfare. When the command had reached a point near Four Lakes, probably the group of which Silver Lake is largest, a formidable array of Indians met them, all the hosts of the Spokanes, Pend Oreilles, and allied tribes. Seeing the dangerous situation into which they were running, Steptoe gave the word to retreat.

The force turned back and that night all seemed well. But at 9 o'clock the next morning, while the soldiers were descending a cañon to Pine Creek, near the present site of Rosalia, a large force of Indians burst upon them like a cyclone. As the battle began to wax hot the terrible consequences of the error of lack of ammunition began to become manifest. Man after man had to cease firing. Capt. O. H. P. Taylor and Lieutenant Gaston commanded the rear-guard. With extraordinary skill and devotion they held the line intact and foiled the efforts of the savages to burst through. Meanwhile the whole force was moving as rapidly as consistent with formation on their way southward. Taylor and Gaston sent a messenger forward, begging Steptoe to halt the line and give them a chance to load. But the commander felt that the safety of the whole force depended on pressing on. Soon a fierce rush of Indians followed, and, when the surge had passed, the gallant rear-guard was buried under it. One notable figure in the death-grapple was De May, a Frenchman, trained in the Crimea and Algeria, and an expert fencer. For some time he used his gun barrel as a sword and swept the Indians down by dozens with his terrific sweeps. But at last he fell before numbers and one of his surviving comrades relates that he heard him shouting his last words, "O my God, my God, for a sabre!"

But the lost rear-guard saved the rest. For they managed to hold back the swarm of foes until nightfall, when they reached a somewhat defensible position a few miles from the towering cone of what is now known as Steptoe Butte. There they spent part of a dark, rainy, and dismal night, anticipating a savage attack. But the Indians, sure of their prey, waited till morning. Surely the first light would have revealed a massacre equal to the Custer massacre of later date, had not the unexpected happened. And the unexpected was that old Timothy, the Nez Percé guide, knew a trail through a rough cañon, the only possible exit without discovery. In the darkness of midnight the shattered command mounted and followed at a gallop the faithful Timothy, on whose keen eyes and mind their satiation rested. The wounded and a few footmen were dropped at intervals along the trail. After an eighty-mile gallop during the day and night following, the yellow flood of Snake River suddenly broke before them between its desolate banks. Saved! The unwearied Timothy threw out his own warriors as a screen against the pursuing foe, and set his women to ferrying the soldiers across the turbulent stream.

Thus the larger part of the command reached Fort Walla Walla alive.

With the defeat of Steptoe, the Indians may well have felt that they were invincible. But their exultation was short-lived. As already noted, Garnett crushed the Yakimas at one blow, and Wright a little later repeated Steptoe's march to Spokane, but did not repeat his retreat. For in the battle of Four Lakes, on September 1st, and that of Spokane Plains on September 5th, Wright broke forever the power and spirits of the northern Indians.

The treaties were thus established at last by war. The reservations, embracing the finest parts of the Umatilla, Yakima, Clearwater, and Coeur d'Alene regions, were set apart, and to them after considerable delay and difficulty the tribes were gathered.

With the end of this third great Indian war and the public announcement by General Clarke that the country might now be considered open to settlement, immigration began to pour in, and on ranch and river, in mine and forest, the well-known labors of the American state-builders and home-builders were displayed. The ever-new West was repeating itself. Almost immediately upon the tidings of General Clarke's proclamation, a motley throng of prospective miners, cowboys, pioneer merchants, promoters and adventurers of all kinds began to pour into the "Upper Country." The fur-traders, foreign missionaries, scouts, and advance guard of pioneers were passing off the stage and the modern builders were coming. The varied activities and enterprises of these builders of the foundations during the decades of the '60s and '70s, which may be styled the first division of the era of modern times will compose Part Two of this volume.

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Chapter I

THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION OF WALLA WALLA COUNTY AND FOUNDING OF THE CITY

In an earlier chapter we have narrated the first attempts by the first Legislature of Washington Territory, in 1854, to establish Walla Walla County. It consisted of the entire territory east of a line running north from a point on the Columbia River opposite the mouth of the Des Chutes River, practically at the present Fallbridge. Thus the county included all of the present Eastern Washington, with the entire present State of Idaho and about a fourth of Montana. The only settlement in that vast area was around Waiilatpu and Frenchtown. Though officers for the proposed county ware appointed, they did not qualify and the proposed county never completed its organization. Then came on the Indian wars, lasting till Colonel Wright's decisive victory at Spokane in August and September, 1858, closed that era. Following that event General Clarke's proclamation opened the "Upper Country" to settlement. Not till the spring of 1859, however, did Congress ratify the treaties for the three reservations, Nez Percé, Umatilla, and Yakima. But almost immediately upon General Clarke's proclamation the impatient immigration began to enter the Walla Walla Valley. We may consider the immigrants of 1858 and 1859 as the vanguard of permanent settlement. Yet, it should not be forgotten that several names of permanent importance are found in the annals of 1851-55, during the period between the Cayuse war and the Great War of 1855-58. Those names appeared in the chapter on the Indian Wars.

A number of the pioneers of 1858-59 had been connected with those wars, either as members of the United States army or as volunteers. Others came from Oregon and California, full of the restless spirit of the country and time, eager for the possibilities of a new land. Those first locations were mainly in the near vicinity of the present City of Walla Walla, with a few on the Touchet. While it is hardly possible to avoid some omissions, we will endeavor to present a list of those who, most of them with families, settled in the years named, a few coming even prior to 1858. Some of them, it may be stated, came and "looked" and then returned for family or equipment and came back in a year for a permanence. A few here given left the country after a few years, and others were simply transients. But in general they with their families became essential factors in the upbuilding life of the region. Among them were business men and professional men, but the majority were stockmen. It was not realized that the general body of upland was adapted to grain production. The first settlers generally sought locations convenient to water, with bottom land where they thought grain and vegetables might flourish, but with the range of luxuriant bunch-grass as the essential consideration. Apparently the first to become actually established in permanent locations were Thomas Page, James Foster, Charles Russell, J. C. Smith, Christian Maier, John Singleton, and Joseph McEvoy, all in the near vicinity of Fort Walla Walla. That fort, it should be understood, was the one of the present location, laid out in 1857, following the first American fort of the name in the city limits of Walla Walla on Mill Creek near the American Theater of today. Among the pioneer business men of the same time were three worthy of special note whose coming inaugurated the business history of Walla Walla. These were Dorsey S. Baker, Almos H. Reynolds, and William Stephens. Worthy of special mention in this connection is Mrs. Almos H. Reynolds, the first white woman to reside in the Walla Walla Valley, after the period of the Whitman Mission. Mrs. Reynolds, nee Lettice Millican, was a member of the immigration of 1843, lived during childhood and youth in Oregon, was married to Ransom Clark and came with him in 1855 to a donation land claim on Yellowhawk Creek. Driven from their home by the Indian War of 1855, Mr. and Mrs. Clark returned to Oregon, and there Mr. Clark died in 1859. With remarkable fortitude and courage, Mrs. Clark returned at once to complete residence and make proof on the valuable claim, the Government having cancelled the lapse of time covered by the wars. In 1861 Mrs. Clark was married to Mr. Reynolds and the remainder of the lives of both was spent in the city which they did so much to advance.

In connection with the reference to the Ransom Clark donation land claim, it is of interest to record the fact that there were five such claims established in the Walla Walla Valley. To those not familiar with the early history of Oregon it may be well to explain that the Provisional Government in 1843 provided that each American citizen in Oregon might locate 320 acres of land, or each married couple might have double that amount. That offer was one of the great incentives to immigration, though it would, of course, have been nugatory if the United States had not got the country. When Oregon was acquired by the United States that law was confirmed by Congress. The law lasted but ten years after the acquisition of Oregon, and almost all the locations under it were in the Willamette and Umpqua valleys. There were a few, however, in the Cowlitz Valley and on the north side of the Columbia and on streams entering Puget Sound. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were the only locators who came here from the Willamette Valley purposely to locate a donation claim. There were, however, three former members of the Hudson's Bay Company who located donation claims in the vicinity of Frenchtown. These were Louis Dauney, Narcisse Remond (or Raymond it appears on the Land Office map), and William McBean. In addition to those four donation claims, the United States Government allowed the American Foreign Missionary Society a square mile of land at the Whitman Mission, and in 1859 Cushing Eells purchased their right and established himself upon the claim. The St. Rose Mission also had a filing at Frenchtown, but did not complete proof.

A number of names of the "advance guard" will be found in this chapter under the heads of county and city officials. In order, however, to present all in one view, we are giving here as complete a list as possible of the settlers of 1857-58-59. It is derived in part from the record in "Historic Sketches" by Col. F. F. Gilbert, and in part from the records of the Inland Empire Pioneer Association, supplemented by personal inquiry by the author. It is inevitable that a name here and there should be omitted and the author and publishers will appreciate any further information from pioneer sources.

PIONEERS PRIOR TO 1860

John F. Abbott H. C. Actor Charles Albright Milton Aldrich Newton Aldrich C. R. Allen F. M. Archer Wm. H. Babcock Chester N. Babcock D. S. Baker S. D. Baldwin W. A. Ball Joseph Bauer Charles Bellman Wm. Bingham A. A. Blanchard Mrs. Elizabeth J. Blanchard P. J. Boltrie E. Bonner D. D. Brannan E. H. Brown H. N. Bruning James Buckley John Bush John Cain J. M. Canaday C. H. Case J. Clark Ransom Clark and sons Charles and William Mrs. Ransom Clark George E. Cole J. M. Craigie Louis Dauney George Delaney W. S. Davis N. B. Denny J. M. Dewar James Dobson Jesse Drumheller N. B. Dutro N. Eastman R. A. Eddy Cushing Eells W. L. Elroy S. H. Erwin Edward Evarts J. H. Fairchild Wm. Fink J. Foresythe James W. Foster J. Freedman James Fudge James Galbreath S. S. Gilbreath Thomas Gilkerson W. S. Gilliam Braziel Grounds Ralph Guichard W. R. Hammond Joseph W. Harbert Solomon Hardman Martin H. Hauber Daniel Hayes Samuel E. Hearn Joseph Hellmuth H. H. Hill Henry Howard Thomas Hughes Lycurgus Jackson Samuel Johnson James Johnston Wm. B. Kelly Robert Kennedy Michael Kenny James Kibler L. L. Kinney Wm. Kohlhauff J. M. Lamb Samuel Legart A. G. Lloyd J. C. Lloyd Francis F. Loehr James McAuliffe Wm. McBean M. C. McBride Robert McCool Thomas McCoy Joseph McEvoy J. W. McGhee Neil McGlinchy Wm. McKinney Lewis McMorris Wm. McWhirk Christian Maier John Mahan John Makin John Manion Pat Markey S. R. Maxson John May Wm. Millican R. G. Moffit Louis A. Mullan Lewis Neace James O'Donnell John O'Donnell Robert Oldham Frank Orselli Thomas P. Page A. D. Pambrun Edward D. Pearce Jonathan Pettyjohn John Picard Francis Pierrie George T. Pollard P. Powel I. T. Reese Mrs. C. Regan R. H. Reighart A. H. Reynolds R. A. Rice Thomas Riley A. B. Roberts A. H. Robie J. J. Rohn Charles Russell Mrs. Louisa Saunders Louis Scholl Mrs. Elizabeth Fulton Scholl Marshall Seeke J. M. Sickler John M. Silcott J. A. Sims Charles Silverman John Singleton J. C. Smith S. D. Smith H. H. Spalding Wm. Stephens B. F. Stone Frank Stone Christian Sturm T. J. Sweazea W. J. Terry John Tempany Augustus Von Hinkle W. W. Walter A. G. P. Wardle R. Warmack John Welch E. B. Whitman Jonas Whitney Mrs. M. A. Wightman W. W. Wiseman Thomas Wolf F. L. Worden

As it was becoming evident that Walla Walla possessed the resources and attractions for drawing and sustaining a large population of the best American citizenship, the Legislature of the territory passed an act on January 19, 1859, to provide a government for Walla Walla County. Meanwhile, however, the limits of the county had been greatly reduced, for in 1858 Spokane County had been laid out and this embraced the larger part of the vast area covered by the first Walla Walla County. In 1859, Klickitat County (spelled Clikatat in the Act), embracing the area between the Columbia River and the Cascades, was erected. By these two acts Walla Walla County was reduced to the area south of Snake River and east of the Columbia. Or it would have been so reduced, if the organization of Spokane County had been practically accomplished. But it was not, and in 1863, the new Territory of Idaho was established by act of Congress, and at about the same time Stevens County in Washington was laid out, covering Eastern Washington east of the Columbia and north of Snake River, and including the abortive County of Spokane. Not till 1879 did Spokane become a separate county. It is interesting to note also that with Stevens the County of Ferguson was created, including what now composes the counties of Kittitas, Yakima, and Benton. In the general shuffle of time and fate the name of Ferguson has disappeared, but Stevens still remains to perpetuate geographically (there is little need historically) the name of the doughty and invincible first Governor of Washington Territory, though the land area covered by the name has been greatly reduced by the successive subtractions of Whitman, Spokane, Adams, Franklin, Grant, Lincoln, Okanogan, Chelan, and Ferry counties.

By the act of 1859 referred to, the necessary officers of Old Walla Walla County were established as follows: County Commissioners, John Mahan, Walter R. Davis, and John C. Smith (better known as Sergeant Smith); Sheriff, Edward D. Pearce; Auditor, R. H. Reighart; Probate Judge, Samuel D. Smith; Justice of the Peace, J. A. Sims. Commissioners Mahan and Davis met at Walla Walla on March 15, 1859, and to fill vacancies left by the non-acceptance of the auditor and sheriff, appointed James Galbreath for the former and Lycurgus Jackson for the latter position. At a meeting of the commissioners on March 26, 1859, they found it necessary to make changes again in the personnel of county officers. As a result the following assumed office in their respective places: E. H. Brown, probate judge; Lycurgus Jackson, assessor; Neil McGlinchy county treasurer; and William B. Kelly, superintendent of schools.

The next stage in the political evolution of the county was the appointment of a date for general election. This was set for the following July. The county was divided into two voting precincts, Steptoeville, and Dry Creek. The former seems to have included the region centering around the United States Fort Walla Walla, and thence down Mill Creek to the Walla Walla. There was a general habit of designating the region around the fort as Steptoeville, a clumsy and illogical name, for it is not euphonious nor would it seem that it would have been popular, for certainly the officer who met such disastrous defeat at the hands of the Spokane Indians did not bring great glory to the Stars and Stripes nor great security to possible settlement. Fortunately the name was not preserved. The election place in "Steptoeville" was appointed at the house of W. J. Terry but that was subsequently changed to "The Church at Steptoeville." The only church here at that time seems to have been a Catholic church built at some time in 1859 on the location of the subsequent McGillivray house, afterward occupied by Jacob Betz, near the present home of George Welch. The "church," we may say in passing, consisted of poles stuck in the ground and covered with shakes. It had no floor and its only seating facilities consisted of one bench. J. A. Sims, Wm. B. Kelly, and Wm. McWhirk were the judges and Thomas Hughes the clerk for the election in "Steptoeville" precinct. In Dry Creek precinct, which seems to have included all the rest of the county to the east and north, the election board consisted of E. Bonner, J. M. Craigie, and Wm. Fink. The clerk was W. W. Wiseman. The polling place was at the residence of J. C. Smith. That was the first real election in Walla Walla County or anywhere in Eastern Washington, though there had been "kind of" an election in 1855 among the few settlers around Waiilatpu and Frenchtown. It is worth noting that the retiring board of commissioners had two meetings prior to the election. One of these was on June 6th, and at that meeting it was voted to pay $20.00 per month for the rent of a building for a courthouse and to impose a tax of seven mills. At a meeting on July 2d the resignation of James Galbreath was presented and Augustus Von Hinkle was appointed for the vacancy. At the same meeting the name of Waiilatpu was substituted for Steptoeville.

The election of July seems to have duly occurred, but apparently the records have been lost. That officers were duly chosen appears from the fact that on September 5th the new board of commissioners met and determined their terms of service: Charles Russell, one year; John Mahan two years and Wm. McWhirk three years. The following incumbents of county offices were elected: I. T. Reese, auditor; Lycurgus Jackson, sheriff; Neil McGlinchy, treasurer; Thomas P. Page, assessor; C. H. Case, surveyor; J. M. Canaday, justice of the peace. I. T. Reese was granted $40.00 per month for the building used as the courthouse, and that building was nearly opposite the present courthouse. The county hired the upper story, the lower being a saloon. On November 17, 1859, the board of commissioners voted to locate the county seat at the point first named "Steptoeville," then Waiilatpu, but now by their vote duly christened Walla Walla. Thus, on November 17, 1859, the "Garden City" officially entered the world under the name by which the Indians at the junction of the Big Rivers introduced themselves to Lewis and Clark, the first white explorers, and preserved, though with many changes of spelling, through the era of the Hudson's Bay Company, and by that company applied to the fort on the Columbia. Now by the action of the first elected board of county commissioners the musical name was attached to the newly established town of 1859. It is worthy of notice that the name is commonly supposed to mean the "Valley of Waters," referring to the numerous springs in the vicinity of the city. The author has been told by "Old Bones," an Indian of the Cayuse tribe who lived for many years near Lyons' Ferry on Snake River and was known to all old-timers, that the name was understood by the natives to signify that section of country below Waiilatpu, "where the four creeks meet;" viz., the Walla Walla, Touchet, Mill Creek, and Dry Creek. The Walla Walla above that point was commonly known to the Indians as "Tum-a-lum." The sound "Wall" is common in Indian words all over the Northwest as Willamette, Wallula, Wallowa, Waiilatpu, or, as some got it, Wallatpu. Many poetical and some prosaic accounts have been given of the origin of the name. Among others, Joaquin Miller, "Poet of the Sierras," insisted that when the French voyageurs first looked down from the Blue Mountains ("Les Montagnes Bleues" in their Gallic speech) upon the fair fertile valley, they exclaimed: "Voila, Voila!" (Behold, behold!) and thus the name became fixed. This fantastic idea is, however, easily disproved by the fact that Lewis and Clark, who entered the country by Snake River, got the name from the Indians on the Columbia near the mouth of the Walla Walla. In the same connection, while speaking of the local names used by the aborigines, it is of interest to observe that the commonplace appellation of Mill Creek for the beautiful stream which flows through Walla Walla City has supplanted a far more fit and attractive native name. It is somewhat variously pronounced and hence spelled. Rev. Henry Spalding gives it as Pasha. Thomas Beall of Lewiston gives it as Pashki. Others have gotten the sound as Paskau, or Pashkee. It seems to signify "sunflower." Mr. Beall regards the name as applying rather to the tract of land extending a mile or two above Walla Walla where the sunflower is very frequent than to the creek itself. Another mellifluous name said to be used by some of the natives is "Imchaha." It is truly regrettable that so common a name as Mill Creek should have become fastened upon so attractive a feature of the city.

As indicated above, the location of the United States Fort Walla Walla was largely determinative of the location of the city. The first business of the region arose for the purpose of providing supplies for the fort. Several of those whom we have named in the "Advance Guard" were directly connected with that business. An example is found in Charles Russell who was connected with the quartermaster's department of the fort, and seeing the heavy burden of transporting supplies from the Willamette Valley determined to test the valley land. Accordingly he sowed eighty acres to barley at a point north of the fort on what later became the Drumheller place. It yielded fifty bushels to the acre. In the same season Mr. Russell raised a hundred acres of oats on the place which he soon after took up on the creek which bears his name. That might be regarded as the inauguration of agriculture in this vicinity though it should be remembered that Dr. Whitman twenty years before had raised prolific crops of all kinds at Waiilatpu. Wm. McWhirk was the first merchant in Walla Walla. He erected a tent for a store in the spring of 1857 at a point near what is now the corner of Main and Second streets. During the fall of the same year, Charles Bellman set up another tent store at the point occupied by the Jack Daniels saloon for many years at the site of the present "Togs." Apparently the old-timers are at variance as to the builder and location of the first actual building. Some have asserted that Wm. McWhirk erected, in the summer of 1857, a cabin on the north side of Main Street, nearly where the Farmers' Savings Bank now stands, and that in the fall of the same year Charles Bellman put up a structure a little east of that at about the point of the Young and Lester florist location. In April, 1858, Lewis McMorris erected a slab and shakes structure for Neil McGlinchy on about the present southwest corner of Main and Third. Various rude buildings appeared in 1858, some for residences, some for saloons (which we regret to record seems to have been a very active line of business at that time). These were constructed by James Galbreath, W. A. Ball, Harry Howard, Michael Kenny, William Terry, John Mahan, James Buckley, and Thomas Riley. The first building with floor, doors, and glass windows was erected by Ralph Guichard and Wm. Kohlhauff at the point now occupied by the White House Clothing Store at the northwest corner of Main and Third.

At that time there were two rival locations: one at the point started by McWhirk, McGlinchy, and Bellman, and the other at a cabin built by Henry Howard, known as the "half-way house;" i.e., half-way to the fort. Spirituous refreshment seems to have been much appreciated by the gallant defenders of their country at the Fort Walla Walla of that time, and a half-way house was quite a desirable accessory of a trip to "town." As we have already noted, there was a difference of opinion as to the name of the town, but that of Walla Walla finally prevailed over all rivals. On November 17, 1859, the commissioners laid out the town with the following boundaries: Commencing in the center of Main Street at Mill Creek, thence running north 440 yards, thence running west one-half mile to a stake, thence running south one-half mile to a stake, thence running east one-half mile to a stake, thence running north to the place of commencement; 160 acres in all.

The town government was organized by the appointment of a recorder, I. T. Reese, and three trustees, F. C. Worden, Samuel Baldwin, and Neil McGlinchy. The town was surveyed by C. H. Case, providing streets eighty feet wide running north and south, and one hundred feet wide running east and west. The lots were laid out with a sixty-foot front and a depth of 120 feet. They were to be sold for $5.00 each, with the addition of $1.00 for recording, and no one person could buy more than two of them. Ten acres also were set aside for a town square and the erection of public buildings, but this was reduced to one acre.

The first lots sold were those taken by I. T. Reese and Edward Evarts, both in block 13, the sale being recorded November 30, 1859. On December 22d, of the same year, 150 acres of land was surveyed into town property for Thomas Wolf and L. C. Kinney, the former soon selling his interest to the latter.

The original plat of the town is not now in existence, having been destroyed, probably by the fire of 1865. The earliest survey on record is a plat made in October, 1861, by W. W. Johnson, which purports to be a correction of the work of C. H. Case.

On November 5, 1861, the board declared the survey made by W. W. Johnson to be official, and W. A. George was employed as an attorney to secure for the county a preemption title to the land on which Walla Walla was built. W. W. Johnson was appointed to take steps to secure the title at the Vancouver land office, but he did not do so, and thus the effort of the county to secure the site failed. This ended what might be called the embryonic stage in the municipal life of Walla Walla, and we find the next stage to be actual incorporation.

The City of Walla Walla was originally incorporated by an act of the Territorial Legislature, passed on January 11, 1862. By the provisions of said act the city embraced within its limits the south half of the southwest quarter of section 20, township 7 north, range 36 east, of the Willamette meridian. The charter made provision also for the election, on the first Tuesday in April of each year, of a mayor, recorder, five councilmen, marshal, assessor, treasurer and surveyor, all vacancies, save in the offices of mayor and recorder, to be filled by appointment by the council, which was also given the power of appointing a clerk and city attorney. No salary was to attach to the offices of mayor or councilman until the population of the city had reached one thousand individuals, when the stipend awarded these officers was to be fixed by an ordinance enacted by the council. The charter designated the following officers to serve until the first regular election under said charter: Mayor, B. P. Standefer; recorder, James Galbreath; councilmen, H. C. Coulson, B. F. Stone, E. B. Whitman, D. S. Baker, and M. Schwabacher; marshal, George H. Porter. The council assembled on the 1st of March to perfect its organization, when it developed that Mr. Schwabacher was ineligible for office, as was also Mr. Coulson, who proved to be a non-resident. Mr. Stone presiding, the council proceeded to fill the two vacancies by balloting, and James McAuliff and George E. Cole thus became members of the council, S. F. Ledyard being appointed clerk. The council again met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 4th of the same month, when Mr. Cole was chosen chairman; Edward Nugent, city attorney; and Messrs. McAuliff, Whitman and Stone were appointed to prepare a code of rules for the government of the council.

Four hundred and twenty-two votes were cast at the first election, held April 1, 1862, the following being the result: Mayor, E. B. Whitman; councilmen, J. F. Abbott, R. Jacobs, I. T. Reese, B. F. Stone and B. Sheideman; recorder, W. P. Horton; marshal, George H. Porter; attorney, Edward Nugent; assessor, L. W. Greenwell; treasurer, E. E. Kelly; surveyor, A. I. Chapman; clerk, S. F. Ledyard. On the 11th of April, W. Phillips was appointed councilman in place of J. F. Abbott, while in the succeeding year it appears that H. Hellmuth had been appointed in the place of B. F. Stone. The recorder resigned in January, 1863, his successor, J. W. Barry, being chosen at a special election held on the last day of that month. H. B. Lane succeeded Mr. Greenwell as assessor; on April 11, 1862, Henry Howard was appointed treasurer, and W. W. DeLacy, surveyor, while in January, 1863, H. B. Lane was noted as clerk. The city revenue for the first six months aggregated $4,283.25, of which sum liquor and gaming licenses contributed $1,875. When it is remembered that this was at the height of the gold excitement, this last item may be well understood.

During the last quarter of the year the revenue of the new city was $2,714.19, but so large were the expenditures that the opening of the year 1863 found in the treasury a balance of less than five dollars. The value of property in the city was assessed in 1862 at $300,000, the succeeding year witnessing the increase of the same to $500,000.

Such may be regarded as the establishment of Walla Walla City up to the time of incorporation. During the period from January 19, 1859, the appointment by the Legislature of the Territory of officers for the county, down to the date of the incorporation of the city, the county organization had been launched after the typical American fashion. The two only absolutely sure things in this world--death and taxes--were established. It is certain that there were deaths in that time, and at the meeting of the county commissioners on May 7, 1860, a tax levy of seven mills was voted. At the same meeting the county was redivided into voting precincts for the coming election in July. It gives some conception of the points of the beginnings of settlements to note that the precincts were as follows: Walla Walla, Dry Creek, Snake River, East Touchet, and West Touchet. Coppei Creek was the dividing line between the two last-named precincts. The following extract from Colonel Gilbert's "Historic Sketches" will give a view of conditions:

"At this election the question of whether a tax for building a courthouse and jail should be levied, was submitted to the people, and though, as before stated, no returns are on file, a negative vote is indicated from the fact that neither were built at that time, prisoners being sent to Fort Vancouver for incarceration. From their official bonds it appears that the following named were the successful aspirants for office at the election of July, 1860:

Auditor and Recorder--James Galbreath. Sheriff--James A. Buckley. Surveyor--M. J. Noyse. Assessor--C. Langley. Coroner--Almiron Dagget. Justice of Peace, Walla Walla--William J. Horton. Justice of Peace, Dry Creek--John Sheets. Justice of Peace, East Touchet--Horace Strong. Justice of Peace, West Touchet--Elisha Everetts. Justice of Peace, ---- ---- --William B. Kelly.

"No footprint of transactions coming under supervision of the board while this set of officers were acting, prior to October 12, 1861, remains, and we are forced to skip the intervening time, and commence again with the latter date. A county election had occurred in July, 1861, and W. H. Patton, S. Maxson and John Sheets appear at this time as the board of commissioners. November 5th, Sheriff James Buckley, who was ex officio tax collector, was appointed county assessor in place of S. Owens, who, having been elected in 1861, failed to qualify. On the 8th of the same month a contract was given Charles Russell to build a county jail at a cost of $3,350. He finished the work in 1862, was paid $6,700 in script for it, and in 1881 re-purchased the same building from the county for $120, and, tearing it down, moved it out to his ranch.

CONDITION OF THE COUNTY IN 1860

"Up to 1861, there had been nothing of special moment, calculated for inducing emigration to settle in the vicinity of the Blue Mountains. There was unoccupied land enough in various parts of the United States to prevent its soil from being much of an inducement, and, at that time the agricultural portion of Eastern Washington was supposed to exist in limited quantities. There was, practically, no market for farm products, as they would not pay the expense of shipment, and, outside of the garrison, its employes and dependents, there was no one to purchase them; still a few people had found their way into the country from Oregon, in 1859 and 1860, with stock, and had taken up ranches along the various streams. Very few came to locate with a view of establishing a home here, their purpose being to graze stock for a few years and then abandon the country, raising some grain in the meantime for their own use, and possibly a little to sell, if anybody should wish to buy. Had the military post been abandoned in 1860, but few whites would have remained east of the Cascades, and stock raising would have been the only inducement for any one to remain there."

Perhaps in no other way can we give so perfect a view of the Walla Walla of 1861 as by extracts from the first issue of the Washington Statesman. The beginning of the paper was itself one of the most notable events of the time. It was not only the first newspaper in Walla Walla, but the first in the whole vast region between the Missouri and the Cascade Mountains. We are indebted to Dr. Frank Rees for the opportunity to use the priceless treasure of a complete file of the paper for the period from the first number, November 29, 1861, through the remainder of that year and those following. We find at the heading of this paper that it was issued every Friday morning and that N. Northrop, R. D. Smith and R. R. Rees were the editors and proprietors, and that the office was on Main Street, Walla Walla, W. T. The rates of subscription were $5.00 per year, $2.50 for six months, and 25 cents for a single copy.

We quote here several paragraphs from the opening editorial:

"We send forth this morning, with our congratulations, the first number of the Washington Statesman, and respectfully solicit the attention of the people of Walla Walla and county to its pages. From a careful consideration of the demands of the people to whom we shall look for support in sustaining a weekly newspaper at this point, we feel warranted in the conviction that we are inaugurating an enterprise which will be a means of vastly enhancing the development, prosperity, and permanent interests of this most favorable section of the upper country, and which, conducted with prudence and economy, will be reasonably remunerative to its projectors.* * *

"That a weekly publication, devoted to the various interests of the country, containing all the news which may be gathered from different quarters, is essentially needed in the Walla Walla Valley, we premise no permanent resident will deny; this admitted, we have no misgivings as to the disposition of the people to come forward and promptly sustain an enterprise so materially calculated to further their own interests as a community. Hence, we expect at least that every man who is fortunate enough to possess a home in this beautiful valley will at once subscribe for the Statesman, and pay for it in advance. Home pride will prompt every man to do thus much for the benefit of the vicinity in which he has chosen his residence, even if he already has more papers than he finds time to read."

Following this introduction the editorial points out the special need of the farmer, the stockraiser, the merchant, and the mechanic in the existence and support of such a paper.

The editorial then proceeds to indicate its policy as follows:

"As indicated in our prospectus, the Statesman will be independent on all subjects. By independent we do not mean neutral; but, when occasion requires, we shall express our views fearlessly upon all subjects legitimate for newspaper discussion; and in doing this, we shall be our own advisers and regulate our own business in our own way. The Statesman will not be devoted to the interests or claims of any political party; but ignoring partisan measures, will adhere to and support those measures which in our judgment are best calculated to preserve and perpetuate the bonds of our national union, under whose yet waving and revered flag alone we hope for success. * * * Arrangements will soon be completed for obtaining all the items of news from the different leading points in the mines, and from various places within this territory and Oregon bearing relations to us commercially or otherwise. * * *

"The coming season with us at home will be an auspicious one. Adding to the importance of the developments which must immediately follow in the train of an immigration to the upper country in extent unparalleled, the course and progress of which our people should all be made aware of--adding to this the mighty results developing in the East, it can readily be seen that material is afforded for making up a paper which will be indispensable to the people of this section, as well as those of the territory at large.

"We shall liberally distribute copies of this number in the different sections where we desire the paper to circulate; and we take the present occasion to request the people generally of this valley and the upper country to call and furnish themselves with copies for distribution in their several neighborhoods, thereby lending us a hand in obtaining a subscription list as early as possible."

We find most of the news items in this first number of the Statesman to pertain to the mines in Idaho. There is a correspondence between Henry M. Chase and Capt. E. D. Pearce in regard to certain captive children in the hands of the Indians. The tone of this correspondence shows something of the strenuous conditions of those days of war and pioneer settlement.

The most notable local event apparently was the Firemen's ball, given by the members of the Union Hook and Ladder Company at the Walla Walla Hotel. This news item declares that the ball was a successful and brilliant affair and that the smiling faces and social congratulations of the large number of ladies and gentlemen present well attested how eminently successful had been the efforts of the firemen to render the occasion in every respect a pleasant one. The mottoes displayed in the room were quite interesting as showing what the ambitious firemen of that first period wanted to set forth as guiding them. The motto of the Union Hook and Ladder Company was "We Destroy to Save." There were several mottoes from Portland and The Dalles fire companies, as follows: "Willamette No. 1, Conquer We Must;" "Multnomah No. 2, On Hand;" "Columbian No. 3, Always Willing;" "Young America No. 4, Small, but Around;" "Vigilance Hook and Ladder Company, We Climb;" "Dalles Hook and Ladder Company, We Raze to Save."

Another local item of some interest is to the effect that the Robinson Theatrical Troupe had been performing in the city for several weeks, almost every night having crowded houses and appreciative audiences. A little description is given of the new theater, which it states is situated in the lower part of town, but a short walk from the business part of the city. The city editor exhorts all the people in town to patronize this theater for the sake of spending a pleasant evening.

Another item of historic interest is the statement that orders have been forwarded to Lieutenant Mullan instructing him to send back his escort of one hundred United States soldiers, who had been laying out the great road known as the "Mullan Road." The party at that time was in the Bitter Root Mountains, and it was considered impracticable for them to cross those mountains in the winter season.

Although, as will be seen from the date of this paper, the time was the opening of the Civil war, yet it is noticeable that there was a great scarcity of information in regard to that great event. The latest news of any kind from the East is dated November 15th, just two weeks before the date of publication of the paper.

Another news item is to the effect that on account of an unpardonable delay in the arrival of material, press, and fixtures, from The Dalles, the publication of the first issue was delayed beyond expectation. The proprietors seem to feel very bad over this delay.

The advertisements in this first number of the Statesman are of great interest. Among a number beyond our space to quote here we find an entire column devoted to the wholesale and retail business of Kyger & Reese. They seem to have been prepared to deal in almost every conceivable object of need in the way of clothing, groceries, hardware, crockery, drugs, medicines, books and stationery, as well as some supply of the spirituous refreshments which were so much desired at that time. We find several advertisements of stage companies; among others the Walla Walla and Dalles Stage Company, which advertises to make the run between the two places in two days. Miller and Blackmore were the proprietors. We find also the advertisement of Abbott's Livery, Sale and Exchange Stables on Main Street. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company advertises the steamers Julia, Idaho, and Tenino, running between Portland and the Nez Percé mines with portages at the Cascades and The Dalles. The fare from Portland to The Dalles was $8.00, with an extra charge for portage at the Cascades. Animals from Portland to The Dalles were $5.00. The fare from Des Chutes to Wallula was $15.00. A number of names prominent later on in the legal and medical history of Walla Walla, appear in the advertising columns. Among the physicians we find L. C. Kinney, L. Terry, R. Bernhard, J. A. Mullan, L. Danforth, and I. H. Harris. Among the lawyers we find W. A. George and I. N. Smith. We find a very small advertisement by D. S. Baker, in which the strong point is of a fire-proof, brick building. That was the only fire-proof, brick building in Walla Walla at that time.

By way of comparison with the present cost of living, it is of some interest to give the Walla Walla prices current as appearing in that issue of the Statesman. The following are the items:

Bacon--Per lb., 25c. Flour--Per hundred, $5 to $6. Beans--Per lb., 12c to 15c. Sugar--China, 18c to 20c; New Orleans, 23c to 25c; Island 20c to 22c; crushed, 26c. Rice--Per lb., 18c to 20c. Dried Apples--Per lb., 20c to 25c. Yeast Powders--Per doz., $4 to $6. Candles--Per lb., 60c. Soap--Hill's, per lb. 17-1/2c; Fay's, 16c. Tobacco--Per lb., 60c to $1. Nails--Per lb., 16-2/3c. Butter--Fresh Rolls, per lb., 75c; Oregon, 50c. Eggs--Per doz., $1. Oats--Per lb., 2-1/2c to 3c. Wheat--Per bushel, $1.25 to $1.50.

The reader of that first issue of the Statesman would readily arrive at the conclusion that business was booming in Walla Walla and that there was a demand for almost all of the commodities common in any new and active community. The philanthropist is somewhat pained indeed to observe the large amount of attention paid to the liquor business in its various forms. The Nez Percé mines and the various stage lines seemed to demand a large share of attention, both in advertising and in news items. After all, people are very much the same from generation to generation and we can readily infer that what the people of Walla Walla were in the '60s, their children and grandchildren are largely the same in this year of grace, 1917.

In the early history of the territory before government was organized to protect life and punish criminals, the miners organized courts of their own to try those who committed any crime within the camp, but there were no courts to try the criminals whose work was outside of the miner's camp. As a result crime flourished in the towns that supplied the camps and on the road between the town and the camp.

There were organized bands of criminals who plundered the merchant in the town, the packer and the stage on the road, and the miners to and from the different camps. The members of these organizations had pass words by which they could make themselves known to each other, routes along which they operated, stations where members of the gang were located. They also had members in every camp and town engaged in various occupations, trades and callings. Stage stand tenders and sometimes the drivers themselves were members of the gang, and when organized government was established they succeeded in getting themselves elected to the office of sheriff, marshal, etc. These men knew when every pack train started, what it had, where it went and how much gold dust it brought back on its return; watched every stranger and learned his business; took notice of every good horse; knew of the departure of every stage, the number of passengers and the probable treasure carried. The lone traveler was robbed of his horse by a false bill of sale. The returning packers were held up, robbed and sometimes murdered. The stage was stopped, the passengers ordered out and relieved of all their money and other valuables. Frequently the Wells Fargo box containing thousands of dollars would be among the prizes taken from the stage.

One of the most noted of these road agents was Henry Plummer. He came of a good family, was gentlemanly in bearing, dignified in deportment, of strong executive ability and a fine judge of human nature. While a young man he drifted west, became a successful gambler and acquainted with various phases of a criminal's life. In the spring of 1861 he came to Lewiston, Idaho. This town was then the head of navigation on the Snake River, had a population of several hundred, among whom were thieves, gamblers, escaped convicts and criminals of all kinds. These he organized into a band of highwaymen, to operate on the road between Walla Walla, Washington, and Orofino, Idaho, directing the operations from Lewiston which was a midway ground. Two sub-stations were located, one at the foot of Craig Mountain, east of Lewiston, and the other west, at the junction of Alpowai and Pataha creeks. These were called "shebangs" and were the rendezvous of a band of robbers. Soon robberies and murders on this road were common, but the respectable, law abiding citizens were in the majority and they soon organized themselves into a law and order body, which made the operations of the robber gang dangerous and unprofitable.

The mines at Orofino were soon worked out. This, together with the citizen's organizations and the fear on the part of Plummer of being exposed for crimes committed by him while in California, caused him to flee from Idaho and go to Montana. Upon his arrival there he apparently desired to reform and live the life of a law abiding citizen. He married a nice young woman and entered upon an honorable means of earning a living. But he was a criminal by nature, environment and practice and not strong enough, had he desired it, to break with his old associates and habits and like all criminals was haunted by fear of detection.

When he left Idaho a companion by the name of Cleveland went with him. They were together when Plummer was married near Fort Benton and they both a little later went to Bannack. He and Cleveland had a bitter quarrel over the young lady who married Plummer. This, together with his fear of his associates in crime, made him suspicious and in a saloon brawl a short time later he shot Cleveland. This started him again on a carnival of crime that has no parallel in the history of the Northwest, and just as he had organized the criminals when in Idaho, he again organized them in Montana on a much larger scale. These men were bound by an oath to be true to each other and were required to perform such service as came within the defined meaning of their separate positions in the band. The penalty of disobedience was death. If any one of them, under any circumstances, divulged any of the secrets or guilty purposes of the band, he was to be followed and shot down at sight. The same doom was prescribed for any outsider who attempted an exposure of their criminal designs, or arrested any of them. Their great object was declared to be plunder in all cases, without taking life if possible, but if murder was necessary, it was to be committed. Their password was "innocent." Their neckties were fastened with a sailor's knot, and they wore mustaches and chin whiskers. Plummer himself was a member of the band.

The duties of these men may be gained from the work assigned them as revealed by one of their number. Henry Plummer was chief of the band; Bill Burton, stool pigeon and second in command; George Brown, secretary; Sam Burton, roadster; Cyrus Skinner, fence, spy and roadster; George Shears, horse-thief and roadster; Frank Parrish, horse-thief and roadster; Hayes Lyons, telegraph man and roadster; Bill Hunter, telegraph man and roadster; Ned Ray, council-room keeper at Bannock City; George Ives, Stephen Marshland, Dutch John (Wagner), Alex Carter, Johnny Cooper, Buck Stinson, Mexican Frank, Bob Zachary, Boone Helm, Clubfoot George (Lane), Billy Terwiliger, Gad Moore, roadsters.

But Plummer soon ran his course. He was captured and had to pay the penalty for his crimes. "Red" Yager, a member of Plummer's gang, was hanged by a vigilance committee. Before his execution he made a confession, giving the names of all the members of the band and stating that Plummer was the leader. Plummer, with two others of the organization, were at Bannock. No trouble was experienced in arresting the other two, one being captured in a cabin, the other stretched out on a gambling table in a saloon. But great care had to be exercised in the arrest of the leader of the band, who was cool-headed and a quick shot. Those detailed to capture him went to his cabin and found him in the act of washing his face. When informed that he was wanted he manifested no concern but quietly wiped his face and hands. He announced that he would be ready to go within a short time, threw down the towel and smoothed out his shirt sleeves, then advanced toward a chair to get his coat, but one of the party, by great good fortune, saw a pistol in the pocket and replied, "I will hand you your coat," at the same time taking possession of the pistol. Otherwise Plummer would likely have killed one or all of those attempting to capture him. He, with the other two criminals arrested were escorted in the bright moonlight night to the gallows which Plummer himself had erected the year before and used in the hanging of a man, he being at that time sheriff. As they appeared in sight of the gallows the other criminals cursed and swore, but Plummer was begging for his life. "It is useless," said one of the vigilantes, "for you to request us to spare your life, for it has already been settled that you are to be hung." Plummer then replied, "Cut off my ears, cut out my tongue, strip me naked, let me go. I beg you to spare my life. I want to live for my wife, my poor absent wife. I want to settle my business affairs. Oh, God." Then falling upon his knees, the tears streaming from his eyes, and with his utterance choked with sobs, he continued: "I am too wicked to die. I cannot go bloodstained and unforgiven into the presence of the Eternal. Only spare me and I will leave the country." But all this was to no purpose. His time had come and the leader's stern order, "Bring him up," was obeyed. Plummer, standing under the gallows, took off his necktie, threw it to a young man who had boarded with him, saying, "Keep that to remember me by," and then turning to the vigilantes, he said, "Now, men, as a last favor, let me beg that you will give me a good drop." The favor was granted and Plummer, one of the most noted outlaws ever known to the Northwest, was no more.

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