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About The news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1948-1994 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1957)
Indian Fight Proves Durability Of Ex -County Clerk Man Lives Although Impaled By Arrows, Knife Shredded i By PAUL JENKINS , thought Ihey had headed the Co- One of the most amazing White quille and had found the Coos Riv Man vs. Indian encounters I haveler- Too bad for them they hadn't, ever read of or heard was par-1 A' this point the party discovered licipaled in bv two well - known 1 sme Indians traveling in canoes citizens of Douglas County about j and- after a bartering period which midway in the past century, 1851 'cost them practically all their poor to be exact. 1 possessions except their firearms, Locale of this storv is the i secured the services of these ln coast country from the mouth ofdians to transport them by canoe the Rogue River to that of the 1 the coast, which the Indians did. limpqua, while the men I allude i However, the Indians with con to were L. L. Williams and sidjrable guile did something Cyrus Hedden. Both, at this time, found themselves at Port Orford, where Hedden had arrived by sen iust a few months hpfnrp with a colonization party organized by "i leu i-on urtora, tne 10 men wiiu ineir inuian escort arnvea ul a point about two miles above the river's mouth, opposite and above where Bandon stands today. Here was a large Indian encampment. The Indians, hailing the travelers in friendly fashion and seductively waving food, in the form of veni son quarters and slabs of fresh salmon, motioned to them to beach the canoes. Canoes Beached Four of the men, Williams, Hed den and two others, were dead set Inasmuch as Dracticallv nolhinc i against doing this. They wanted to was known about the intervening ; cross to the other shore and avoid country, a group of 23 men under j the encampment: but the decision the direction of W. G. T'Vault was of T'Vault and the other five men, organized as an exploring expedi- influenced probably by their desire tion to discover the most feasible to secure the food so temptingly route. Williams and Hedden were ! ottered, prevailed and the canoes more they sent a runner ahead to inform the down-river tribes of their coming. On the 14th of Sep tember, just a month after they Capt. William Tichenor in Port land. Had Big Dreams Even during its infancy Port Or ford had dreams of becoming an important trading center. In order to realize these to the fullest ex tent, it needed to establish trans portation facilities extending to the already well-populated mining com munities in Southern Oregon and Northern California, the facility it had in mind being a pack animal trail members of this group. Leaving Port Orford the middle of August, the party proceeded south to the Rogue, deciding there to continue upstream along the north bank. All were afoot, using a few horses as pack animals onlv. The going became exceedingly were beached No sooner had this been done than the Indians, casting aside their pretenses of friendship and with blood-curdling yells, fell upon the white men with war clubs, knives and a hail of arrows. In the wild melee which followed. rugged (it is considered today to J Williams found himself alone in the be one of the roughest areas in miosi oi a press oi inaians ne esu the United States) and provisions mated to number over 100. His rifle soon ran out. Onlv a meager 10- was seized, muzzle and stock and, davs supply had been taken along! endeavoring with all his might to It became necessary to depend j retain possession of it, he surged entirely on wild game" for food, and forward and round and round as game was scarce. Not onlv that, (best he could, always struck at but two men in the group, Williams from every side by the eneom and one other, were experienced 1 passing horde, until the gun sud woodsmen. ! denly discharged into the ground. Decide To Return I The Indians, momentarily dis- The Dartv had Droceeded about I concerted, stepped back a pace. 30 miles up the Rogue when, faced i loosing their holds and Williams by a starvation diet and already so exhausted the men scarcely could travel, objective of the exper dition was abandoned and the de cision made to turn back. Thir teen men eleeted to retrace their steps while the remaining 10, in cluding the leader. T'Vault, decided to turn north and try to make their way to the "Umpqua" settlements which they had heard were some where in that direction. After long days of tortuous and difficult travel, weary and starved, they arrived on the banks of the Coquille, near where Norway is located today. However, they 'THOROUGH CLEAN" WALL-TO-WALL RUG CLEANING SERVICE Call - J. E. NEWBERRY OR 3-3591 began swinging his recovered piece as a ciuo. Soon the stock was smashed to bits, but the three-foot barrel be came a deadly weapon. Pushing forward, whirling after each blow and each step in an impossible ef fort to face and strike in each di rection at once, he gradually gain ed distance up the sloping bank from the river. Strength Fails His strength began to fail, and he gave up hope of living. The In dians were so many about him that he no sooner struck one down than another hideous face appeared in Hie dead man's place. He was be ing severely beaten all this time by clubs and cut by knives and once he was struck to the ground by the blow of a club. But regaining his feet before the savages could pin ion him, he continued the pitifully unequal struggle. Suddenly in the swirl of battle, and on the side of the throng away from the river, the ranks of the encircling Indians in front of Wil liams momentarily thinned. Sum moning his waning strength into a super-human effort galvanized by desperation, he quickly darted through the opening and, seeing a dense growth of trees in the dis tance, ran madly toward it. About 25 Indians followed in in stant pursuit, the remaining throng milling around near the shore where, apparently, other members of the whites still were fighting. A whining flight of ar rows was launched at the fleeing man. followed by another. Sudden ly all the Indians but two veered away, attracted to a white man seen crawling away through the grass. These two Indians speeded after Williams, one at each side of him and some 15 feet distant, reaching and firing arrows as they ran. One carried a gun as well in his bow hand, which evidently nc had secured from one of Williams' fallen companions. Gun Misfires Williams stumbled on the uneven ground and before he could rise the : w t.i:- ...:tu u l: voil inuian wiiu uic gun ran iu nun and, placing the muzzle against his breast, pulled the trigger. The gun misfired and instantly Williams struck him down. The second In dian, seeing Williams' fall, also had rushed in. Grasping the first In dian's gun, Williams hastily thrust it against the Indian's heart and in his turn pulled the trigger and this time the charge fired. Leap ing forward wildly once again, Wil liams made the line of brush and trees and, glancing behind him, saw no signs of further pursuit. (The Indians were busy with the other white men, six of whom they killed and mutilated. Only two. T'Vault and one other, escaped early in the fight, in a canoe. And, of course, Hedden. whom 1 am about to bring into the story). Williams was in sorry plight. He could stand only with difficulty. One arrow had entered his body, from his back, passed through his stomach and lodged there; this ho pulled at until the shaft broke free, his body retaining the arrowhead and a remaining piece of the shaft; another arrow had struck a rib, breaking it and tearing a ghastly gash in his side; a third had open ed his scalp to the bone; a fourth dangled through a hand, a fifth was driven through a shoulder while each arm was transfixed. His body, from crown to feet, was a bloodied mass of flesh pounded almost to a pulp, with a criss-cross of slash ing knife wounds. I V . ' V 1 ' j I ;: l electrified to hear a voice calling softly to him, "Williams, Williams! Are you there?" It was that of Cy rus Hedden who, at the initial attack, had been completely dis armed but, miraculously, had es caped the Indians' attention and had run speedily to the sheltering timber where, helpless to aid, he had watched in wonder Williams' spectacular struggle and eventual escape Heddens and others at Scottsburg. Finally the arrowhead worked Us way out of his body, followed a few months later by the remain ing piece of arrow shaft. He then rapidly recovered normal health. Later, Williams twice became treasurer and twice cleric of Ump qua County, from which giant po litical division Douglas now forms a part. Then, in Roseburg, he became county clerk of Douglas The rest of the story, while filled County three times by election and COWBOY BREAKFAST CORVALLIS I The Benton County Sheriff's Posse will serve a "cowboy breakfast to early arrivals at the annual Mary's Peak trek Sunday. The trek is sponsored by the Shrine clubs of Benton, Lincoln, Linn and Polk counties, with proceeds donated to the Shriners Hospital for Crip pled Children in Portland. Mary's Peak is 27 miles west of here. L. WILLIAMS . sturdy stock Heard Standing there, becoming fright eningly aware of his condition and suddenly realizing nis utter alone- to overflowing with overtones of Williams' excruciating agony, sleepless nights, the horror of star vation warded only by means of a nauseating diet of snails, is, after Willaims' heroic battle with the Indians, anti-climax. After seven days of crawling torture when Wil liams was never very far from death, saved only by the truly Her culean efforts and devoted care of Cy Hedden, the two finally reached the mouth of the Umpqua River, a white settlement there and receive ed what medical attention a new frontier community, sans doctor, could give them. Recovers Health That Williams survived is a mir acle. He was bed-ridden much of the time for seven years, cared for ncss from companionship, he was by friends in Gardiner and by the twice by appointment. Shrewd in the handling of his personal affairs as well as those of the county which he served, he became a wealthy man. He died April 22, 1880, at the age of 50 years. His body lies in the lOOK cemetery here. Cvrus Hedden established a store in Scottsburg after his har rowing rescue of Williams, as has been told in a sketch of Scotts burg appearing in The News-Review, July 25. His granddaughter, Kr.ima Hedden, still conducts the business there which he started. The material furnishing the foundation for this story was glean ed from old newspaper clippings in her possession, mostly taken from the Coast Mail, an early day but long - defunct weekly newspaper published in Marshfield. Thuri., Aug. 1, 1957 The News-Review, Roseburg, Ort. 3 Communists Telling People To Beware American Spies; Hint- At Internal Strife By WILLIAM L. RYAN AP Foreign News Analyst Throughout the Communist or bit, people are being told to be ware of American spies. Such concerted campaigns often have foreshadowed internal con vulsions. This one may mean the loose ends of the latest Kremlin a massive vigilance campaign foreshadowed the purge of police boss Bcria. In November, 1954, a campaign began against "loud mouths," extending through Janu ary, 1955, a week or two before Georgi Malcnkov was toppled as premier. Another such drive pre ceded the 20th Party congress at r!TWM?Tfww? sst- 14! I r - i -Jvf ui-J' Fn mill l umi mil mik iraefl entj iWi k M LICENSES 3297 SALEM lP The state labor bureau has licensed 3.297 perons to work in the electrical trade started July 1. That is a slight increase over a year ago, although 8 per cent of last year's licensees haven't applied for renewals yet. MENTAL HEALTH INTERESTS . got together in Roseburg recently to discuss o possible mentol health clinic. From left thei are; Dr. John Waterman, director of th mental health section of the State Department of Health; Mrs. Waterman, psychiatric social work con sultant for the deportment; Dr. Mary Soules, Douglos County health officer; Murial Young, mental health nurse consultant for the state department; and Marlen Voder of Glendale, chairman of the Douglas County Mental Health Advisory Committee. County Group On Mental Health To Seek Speakers purge have not been tucked intolvn'ch Khrushchev denounced Stal place, and more jolts are due. The Soviet press and radio lead the chorus. Soviet propaganda or gans have been telling the public regularly that American agents are trying to get political, eco nomic and military information from "talkative people." In Indochina, the Communists in North Viet Nam gave big puu licity to the arrest of a group of alleged saboteurs in the Ameri can service. In Czechoslovakia, several groups accused of being spies for the Americans have been arrest ed with attendant publicity. The Czechoslovak Communists have a mobile exhibit supposedly illus trating the activities and equip ment of foreign spies. East Germany has announced the arrest- and trials of persons plotting sabotage against the Com munist regime and of students ac cused of spying for U.S. intelligence. Hungary, with a wave of arrests linked to last fall's revolution, claims to have uncovered groups working as agents Western powers. Poland has arrested a German on charges of being an agent 'if tne U.S. Intelligence Service, seek ing information on Poland's de fenses. Bulgaria has lodged spy charges coincident wirh a purge in its armed forces, and Albania fre quently announced the discovery of spy nests. in lied China, a Shantung court imprisoned a group accused- of seeking economic, political and military information for the Uni ted States. The Red Chinese made a display of pistols, signal appa ratus and forged documents. The Soviet camoaiun, warns of "agents in the guise of diplo mats. Statements like these are sig nificant. The major ferment inside the U.S.S.R. is among young peo ple and intellectuals. No doubt the Soviet Union is alive with rumors of what will happen next in the wake of Khrushchev's purge in the Kremlin and in view of grow ing unrest in Communist coun tries. Similar spy charges preceded purges in Stalin's day. After Stalin, in's record. Holmes Opposes Re-appointment Of Kuykendall SALEM I Gov. Holmes Tue's day opposed the re-appointment of Jerome Kuykendall to the Fed eral Power Commission as "not in the best interest of all the people of the Northwest." In a telegram to Sen. Magnuson (D-Wash), Gov. Holmes said: "His past position with respect to the granting of the fast tax writeoff to the Idaho Power Co, plus his bitter opposition to Hells Canyon in spite of his own exami ner's report favoring the building of this multipurpose dam in my opinion disqualifies him for this important post. "In the interest of full compre hensive development of the Co lumbia River, I feel that it is not 40 : in the best interest of all the for j people of the Northwest to have him in this post. Kuykendall was re-appointed by President Eisenhower, and the ap pointment now is up for Senate confirmation. Magnuson is chair man of the Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Magnuson and Oregon's two senators, Morse and Neubergcr, oppose the re-appointment. limA During J7 . -r ' I inn rm i i i mini in f-- Tif--Trr "i rrt nnHf n - t mmutmmsvrtmTrtVFrr!:' n : 0 V' ! Seaiu ttutton-Free 'ENCHANTED Mattress NIGHTS" It's button-free smooth as a mattress can be! Healthfully firm as a mattress should be! Tested for ten years' use! Sealy tru-balance innerspring unit. Exclusive decorator-designed cover. Pre built borders stand up to extra hard wear. Save now during Sealy's Golden Sleep Sale! Matching box spring regularly $59.50.. .$44.50. $ UK 50 Convenient Terms MAKERS OF THE $79. SO Sealt POSTURSPBDIC MATTRESS Use Our Convenient Credit Plon Make Small Down Payment, Pay Balance In Eoiy Payments. No Interest or Carrying Charge. Free Delivery By MRS. G. B. FOX The Douglas County Mental Health Advisory Committee has de cided to request health, welfare and judicial agencies of the county to furnish panels for discussions for subsequent meetings to deter mine what the agencies are doing in the area of mental health. The decision was made at the last meeting of the new advisory agency after hearing a report from Dr. John Waterman, Salem, direc tor of the mental health section of the Stale Department of Health. Members voted to request the panels for the monthly meetings of the committee so that a program He estimated the cost of the lat ter with part-time professional help ana correlation ot existing agencies wonld be S12,00u per year. Dr. Waterman related, howevec. that some of this cost might be taken up in budgets of health, school and welfare agencies. In ad dition, he said, the state could fur nish, from federal funds allocated for that purpose. 50 per cent of the budget in cash or services for the first year. The following year, the federal assistance would drop to 45 percent. It would continue to decrease until the sixth year when the state would furnish a regular part of the budget amount- could be better evaluated and plan-! j" i?.Jf,ro.m 17 to 20 per cent of NARCOTICS CHARGE PORTLAND 11 Police ar rested Yce Guy Lee, 46, Portland, Tuesday and accused him of il legal possession of narcotics. Patrolman Noel Eck said 12 bun dles of heroin valued at $600 were seized. Later his wife, Evelyn, 27, was charged with addiction. Spy JwiJyf its new... the budget Participating in the discussion also were Dr. Waterman's wife, psychiatric social consultant and Murial Young, mental health nurse consultant, both of the stale department. ned Discusses Clinics Waterman discussed mental health clinic work now being car ried out in five counties of the stale where pilot programs were launched earlier. He emphasized the need for a mental health guid ance clinic in Douglas County. He said the work of such a clinic can be carried out more economically in cooperation with health, welfare and school agencies. He said correlation of the work of the agencies can allow an "ef fective Droeram" without a nro- hibitive cost. He pointed out that mg fruits for use in commercial a psychiatric consultant and a psy-1 jams and preserves has been de chologist from the state depart-1 , , fond (echnoi0(!isls al ment could be employed for two ' days each month. It was also point-, 0rc,,fon Ma,e College, ed out that existing agencies in the Tests with sugarless frozen county could furnish part time help fruit have shown that little or no which would rhannel youngsters ! sugar is required to preserve with mental problems. This help strawberries, peaches and chef could also do the follow-up work rirs frozen for commercial uses, necessary fur the greatest effect-! I'usal method of parking fruit s iveness, he said. ; commercially is to mix fruit and 'sugar in the ratio of four pounds ot berries with one pound of Sugarless Berry Preserving Plan CORVALLIS ii - A new and more economical method of pack- Outlinti Functions Waterman also outlined what he considered the immediate func tions of the advisory committee: (1) To furnish information on work Doing carried on and (2) to inter- sugar, freeze the mixture and then send it to Eastern process ors. (JSC technologists conduced the new freezing method would save packer space by eliminating pret needs of the communilies toisuuar storage and processors the professional workers. -could ship more fruit for their He advised that the clinic not at- money, tempt the remedial side of child The research also indicated that guidance because it is presently whole berries, frozen with lit tie too time consuming and expensive, lor no sugar, hold their shape He said it should be devoted to pre- better than berries frozen with ventive guidance. too much sugar. rs VST 3th Annuol Oft & Ricketts TALENT CONTEST A New High In Stoge Entertainment Shown in the Pavillion Nightly DOUGLAS its news... 3 distinctive flavors of real cheese in one handy new pack: Mild-Medium-Well Aged Another first far prize-winning Tillamookl Mild, medium and wril-agr d ... a half-pound of each family fnvni ito . . . tiay packed to fit anywhere in tlir refrigrnitor or to tuck into th picnic basket. We're rushing these IJ j II). Tillamook Family Pak tn your Rrorer as fast as we ran. CyfMamook mews real cteese 3ed naturally 435 S. E. Jockion ORchard 3-5415 ROSEBURG AUGUST 22 to 25
