THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
two were braves and the latter the wife of the Umpqua chief.
Dick Cook is the oldest Indian on the reservation. He does not
know how old he is, but on estimation he is more than 100. He was
fully grown and had been a brave for a long time before he came to the
reservation 60 years ago. He is blind from age and now lies on his
bed, muttering in the jargon of the days of old.
Altogether different is the next oldest male Indian, Solomon Riggs.
Solomon had been married twice before he was brought to the reserva
tion. But he can still see out of one eye. He toddles around and talks
intelligently of the old days. He was one of the richest Umpquas, for
his father was chief. According to Solomon, they made their camp
where the City of Roseburg now stands. But so long has it been since
the old days that neither Solomon nor Dick know what their Indian
names were. After coming to the reservation they worked for white
settlers and took the name of their employer.
Living entirely alone, supported by her husband's pension and
weaving baskets to keep busy, Widow McCauy, once wife of an Ump
qua chief and later of an Indian scout of the Mexican War, remains
another relic of the old days. She is the oldest woman on the reserva
tion. She says she was the fifth wife of her Tyee (chief) and that
when the volunteers came onto their camp during the war and surprised
them she ran around and yelled, and during the melee was shot in the
foot. Her brave was killed. She then came to Grand Ronde and
married Peter McCauy who was a veteran of the Mexican War, having
served in the capacity of a scout. His pension now supports her.
To guard the Indians the Government sent soldiers to Grande Ronde
and built old Fort Yamhill. This was the beginning of Phil Sheridan's
history in connection with the United States Army. He was graduated
from West Point in 1854 and came West as a Lieutenant in the Third
and Fifth Infantry. He served here until May, 1861, when the out
break of the Civil war recalled him and his company. At the head of
the company was Captain David Allen Russell, also a graduate of West
Point. Previous to the arrival of the soldiers a blockhouse had been
built by the settlers for their mutual protection, as an outbreak of the
Tillamook Indians had threatened them. Around this blockhouse on
a hill overlooking a valley of the reservation through which the Coast
road runs was built the fort. On the east, Sheridan's, Russell's and
Sergeant Miller's homes were built. On the south was the soldier's
quarters, and on the west the barns and settlers' store, while a little off
center was the fort. Between the fort and the officers' quarters was
the parade and target grounds.
The settlers' store was run by Ben Simpson, who came to Oregon in
1846, was Surveyor-General of the state, eight years agent on the