May, 1879.
'54
A KBMINIM BNCE OF THE INDIAN
WAR. I5J.
II V ll"S. J. . NKSHI I II.
During ilu- month of August, 1853,
the different tribes of Indians Inhabiting
the Rogue river valley, in Southern
Oregon, uddcnly assumed 1 hostile at
titude. They murdered many tettlen
end miners, and burned nearly nil the
bulldlnn Tor over a hundred miles
along the main traveled ronie, extend
ing fioin Cow creek on (he north, in a
southerly direction to the Siskiyou
mountains. Genera Lane, at that time
being in the Rogue river valley, at the
requcal ofcltlaeni auumed control of a
bod) of militia, suddenly called for the
defense of the scttlcri.
( ' iptaln Allien, of the regular army,
and C0I1 John I',. Ross, of JaCKftOn
county 1 joined General Lane and served
on. In his COmnundi Old Joe, John
and Sam were the principal leaders of
the Indians, aided by Mich Voting and
Igoroui warion as t leorge and Llmpy.
The Indians collec ted in a large body
and retreated northward In the direc
tion ot the I iiih(ih. (ten. Lane nude
.1 vlgoroui pnisuil, MM on the j.jth of
August oveitook ami attacked the foe
in a rungh, mountainous and heavily
timbered region upon Leans creek.
The Indiana bud fortified their encamp
mint hy fallen timher, mid being
well supplied with arms and ammuni
tion, made a vigorous reaUtanoe. In
an attempt to i harge through the brush
tun. Lane was shot through the arm,
and Capi Alden teceived a wound
from w huh he necr fully recovered.
Several othai of the attacking party
wi n wounded, some of whom nubsc
ipienlU died of their injuries. Capt.
I'lcasant Aimstiong, an old ami re
ipected 1 ilien ol Yamhill county, was
sliot through the heart ami died In
stantly. The Indians and whiles wcic so
tlokc together that tin muld casi
convene. The most t thorn knew
GcMCaJ Lane, und when they found
III. 11 Ik was in t oinmaiid of the Hoops,
they culled out to "Joe Lane" and
asked him to come into theii camp to
atiangc some terms for a cessation of
hostilities. The General, with more
coinage than diet lelioi., in M oiinded
ioiniitiou, ordered 1 rrnallnti ol ho
tihtie ami fcaiUs-U walked mto the
hostile camp, whetc he saw main
w.i undid Indians, logctlui with cv-
eial who weie dead and Ining binned
to keep them from falling into (he
hands ol the enemy, which cli.nK
di umustiatcd that the Indians had Kot.
ten the worst of the fight. Alln a
long loulcieiice II was finally agreed
that there should le a ceaution of In is.
tilitir and that Imlh panics should re
tarn to the aaighborhood of Table
Rejdt, oil the noilli side of the Rogue
mil valley, and that an WaMeMCI
should exist until Gen. Joel I'almcr,
then Superintendent of Indian Affairs
for Oregon, could ho sent lor, and that
a treaty should he negotiated with the
United States authorities, in which all
grievances should he adjusted between
the parlies. Hoth whites and Indians
inarched hack slowly over the same
trail, encumbered with their wounded,
each party keeping a vigilant watch of
the other. General Lane encamped on
Rogue river, while the Indians selected
a strong and almost inaccessible posi
tion, high up and just under the per
pendicular dill's of Table Rock, to
(Wail the arrival of Superintendent
Palmer and Agent Colver,
At tin1 commencement of hostilities,
the people of Koguc river valley were
sadly deficient in arms and ammunition,
mam of the settlers ami miners having
traded their arms to the Indians, who
were much better armed and equipped
for war than their white neighbors.
The rifle and revolver had displaced
the bow and arrow and the war club
with which the native was armed when
the writer of this knew and fought
I hem in tS.pS.
General Lane and Captain Alden, at
the commencement of the outbreak had
sent an express to Governor ( icorge L.
Curry, then Secretary and acting Gov
ernor. Major Rains of the 4th U. S.
infantry, commanding the district, with
headquarter at Fort Vancouver, was
called upon to supply the threatened
settlers with arms and ammunition.
Major Rains responded to the call for
arms and ammunition, but was deficient
in troops to escort them to their des
tination at the seat of war. Governor
Curry at once authorized the writer to
raise seventy-live men and escort the
arms to the threatened settlement!.
The escort w as soon raised in the town
of Salem and marched to Albany,
where It wailed a couple of days for the
arrival of Second Lieutenant August
V. Kant, in charge of the w agons with
idles and cartridges, together with a
twelve pound howitzer and a good sup
ply of fixed ammunition. Kautz was
then fresh from West Point and this
was his first campaign. lie subse
quently achieved the rank of Maior
(ieneial and rendered good service dur
ing the "late unpleasantness" with the
South, and is now Colonel of the Sth
V. S. infantry.
Altn a toilsome march, dtaging the
howitzer and other material! of war
through the Umpqua canyon, and up
and down the mountain trails, made
laUpperv by recant rains, w e arrived at
'on. Lane's encampment on Rogue
nve near the subsequent site of Fori
Lane, ol( the Sth day of September. On
the same day Capt. A. . Smith, since
the distinguished (iener'al Smith of the
s man army, arrived at headquarters
w ith Company C, first dragoons. The
a . c ssion ,,1 Opt. Smith's company and
MJ OWn, ave vien. Lane a force attftV
cient to cop, xs. ill, the enemy, then M8
poscd to be about 70x3 strong. The en
campment, of the Indians was still on
the side of the mountains of which
Table Rock forms the summit, and at
night we could plainly see their camp
fire, while they could look directly
down on us. The whole command
was anxious and willing to fight, but
General Lane had pledged the Indians
that an effort should be made to treat
for peace. Superintendent Palmer and
Agent Culver were on the ground.
The armistice had not yet expired, and
the 10th was fixed for the time of the
council. On the morning of that day
(Jen. Lane sent for me and desired me
to go with him to the council ground,
inside the Indian encampment to act as
interpreter, as I was master of the
Chinook jargon. I asked the General
upon what terms and where we were
to meet the Indians. He replied that
the agreement was that the meeting
should take place within the encamp
ment of the enemy; and that he should
lie accompanied by ten other men of
his own selection, unarmed. Against
those terms I protested, and told the
General that I had traversed that coun
try five years before and fought those
same Indians; that they were notori
ously treacherous, and in early times
had earned the designation of "rogues,"
by never permitting a white man to
escape with his scalp when once within
their power; that I knew them better
than he did, aud that it was criminal
folly for eleven unarmed white men to
place themselves voluntarily within the
power of seven hundred well armed
hostile Indians, in their own secure en
campment. I reminded him that I was
a soldier in command of a company of
cavalry and was ready to obey his
orders to lead mv men into action or to
discharge any soldierly duty, no part of
which was to go into the enemy's camp
as an unarmed interpreter. The Gen
eral listened to my protest and replied
that be had fixed upon the terms of
meeting the Indians and should keep
his word, and if I was afraid to go, I
could remain behind. When he put it
upon that ground I responded that I
thought I was as little acquainted with
fear as he was, and that I would accom
pany him to what I believed would lo
our slaughter.
Early on the morning of the loth Of
September, iSsjj, we mounted out
horses and rode out in the direction of
the Indian encampment. Our parly
consisted of the following named per
sons: (Jen. Joseph Lane, Joel Palmer,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs; Sam
uel P. Colver, Indian Agent; Cant. A.
I- Smith, tst Dragoons; Capt. L. P
Mosher, Adjutant; Col. John E. Rs
Capt. J. W. Nesmith, Lieut. A. V.
Kautx, R. H. Metcalf, J. D. Mason, T.
T. Ticrney. By reference to the U. S.
Statutes at Large, v. 10, p. 1010, the
most of the above named will be found
appended to the treaty that day cxe-