East Oregonian : E.O., September 23, 1915, ROUND-UP SOUVENIR EDITION, Page Page Two, Image 2

EsstOrejv-inian Roi:nd-Vp So iverrr Edit!
Fend'eton, Oregon, Thursday, September 23, 1915
Twenty Pages
The Indian War of 1855-6, Told By a Survivor of the Struggle
Story of Pan Butler First Published 20 Years Ago Gives Facts of Bloody Fighting With Redskins Near The Dalles. Famous Men Were in This Campaign.
Pa- Two
lin I
ilu.n
the 1
1.".. !
US''
i ti- Mry written by ,
tli-r. a !'u'i;rij':int in the In
r f ! . ami p-.iMurt.eJ In
' .r I ",,.,) h 'f Friday. Jan.
.. u noted he refers
the i m: i'f 49
. it is almost 20
!th"
I. I. '
I I
Ah" n. w r .'
i 1'. W". lluU.r.l
the land forgH
I IV liffli'ooj of h-r
river, w tifn he made the dimoverv
he was in a perfectly exposal posi
tion in the sand and in plain view
from t'ur side of the river. Fortu
nately the attention of the hostiles
;is cunipietely taken up with us.
ill not see the fugitive, who, on real
ii tii- his peril, lay flat on the sand
and so remained during the entire
d:i-, and ws rescued after nistit by
a boat from the sarrlson.
t:!e Indans between him and the fired by the guard and but one pris-; Dalles) out the sermon short by
oner was left to nee:! tying. J breaking the old hypocrite's leg. from
Tathetlo itu-idenw were not scarce which Injury he afterwards died. I
during our campai.cn. One I call to,11'"' fnderwood had more marks
mind whuh occurred during this first his credit than any man in com
day 's figlit. that deserves its place P-W he made more good Indians
in history. This was the shooting ot;,han he rest of us. j
John burroughs. The ball struck' The fourth day was very much like
him full in the heart and as the brave tnp ,.us! mlt our ammunition was get-;
fellow tell he exclaimed
it's a flead center shot
the last words of a brave man dying
... , . i . t -- iiavt- ,.r,-n iii an n it a w iii u wip
Cut,.d warn: with hope and va. , ,,on the defeat of O'Haller, the j for his adopted state. Soon after the fr thev outnumbered us five to
';m the soil they fought to save.
H.-w r ii. h of "regon's history is
unwtithn and when we old fellow
look ba. k forty years and see Oregon
it .i. and then sup out into the
present Rtid see great cities built
and building where ia those days the
log cabin of tie pioneer marked the
first step toward civilitatVm, It seems
the work of a magician. It seems
but a short time since I let Captain
Bolan have my horse at The Dalles
to ride to the summit f Simcoe
mountains ha last ride, poor fellow,
for be was killed and burned within
sight of The Dalle. Bolan was an
Indian agent and a brave, good fellow
but he put too much confidenc In
the character of hi trvacherou
wards, paying for It with his life, as
many a brave fellow did in thos
days. The killing of Bolan was the
result of dissatisfaction over the trea
ty of Gen. Palmer on Three Mile
creek, and there ia no doubt much
of the horror of Indian massacre
would not have to be related if those
la charge of the government had un
derstood Indian character and acted
firmly, promptly. Gen. Palmer, like!
Bolan. placed implicit confidence In)
the friendly promises of Indians whoj
only awaited opportunity to scalp and!
torture
The killing of Capt, Bolan was,
the opening of hostilities and fromj
the time the smoke of his burning'
body ascended in the fall of 1855, to
the massacre at the Cascade in March, J
'51, the Oregon pioneer's lot was not
a happy one. Immediately after the)
.treacherous murder of the agent the)
troops at Ft. Dalles, unier Major ,
Granville O'Hayler. a brave and com-j
petent officer, started for Yakima to
teach the savages a lesson. When
rear Toppenlsh. they met the hos-
tilers in overwhelming numbers and
were defeated and driven back to The!
Dalles, the Indians following to the
very shore of the Columbia. i
At this time I witnessed a remark-1
able escape from capture, one of O'-j
HaJler's soldiers named Ferguson. j
who had become separated during,
the engagement, and wandered with-j
out food for several days, made his;
on on. noyi. ,jn!! Sl,.,,ve nmj n( tne enemy not
ines-e were -tfn in a similar condition we would
have been in an awkward position.
one i
vo.unteers were called out. We) fall of Burroughs. Oonoyer and Mar- ,he nenng of thls dav we saw a,
were younger then than now, by over: cis Revet shot an Indian, and the ,iiitan(.e the troors coming from
forty years, and If there was any body I sculp was at once taken and fastened Th(, Dlllles to our support and if ever
of men capable of passing an examl-jM the color staff of the company. the Walla Walla valley echoed with;
ration in inoian warrare, it was the, rnese same men were Kina ana mer
Oregon volunteers under command ot clful in every day life, but they gave
no quarter nor asked any. Many of
them had suffered the loss of loved
Co1. J. w. NesmtiK
Col. N'esmith divided his forces,
and himself commanded the division
that went to Taklma. while the re
mainder under Col. Kelly started for
Walla Walla. This detachment con
sisted of five or six companies. I
was with Kelly and on arriving at the
Umatilla we built Ft. Henriette. Leav
ing the new fort in charge of a small
garrison we went on the Touchet where
we encountered the old chief "Peu
Peu Mox Mox" and a party of hos
tiles whom we took prisoners, and
here we learned of the treacherous
designs of the Indians. We proceed
ed down the Touchet to near its
mouth where we camped.
Next morning, Nov. T. 1S55, the
hattle began a battle fought with
all the savage cunning which these
Indians were noted for. Looking back
at that fight through the mist of
years, it seems as though we very
nearly adopted the savage methods
of our enemies, but when one remem
bers that nearly "000 men. women and
children out of the small population1
of our state at that time gave up their
a cheer it was that evening. It was
a cheer, too, that struck terror to the
hearts of the enemy. After securing
ammunition we moved ud the valley
ones at the hands of the savages ,n whitman station the scene of the
and some had been in one continual
warfare with the Indians since leav
ing eastern civtliiation, and had learn
ed to think of a redskin as the sav
age man would of a rattlesnake.
massacre in 1S4S and here went in
to winter quarters, using the few
buildings for the sick and wounded,
the rest of us in tents.
The winter of '55 and '56 was In-
The next morning the battle recom- ,ensey coM and in our tents we ,uf.
meneed and again we drove the In- ferej severely, but our surroundings,
dians from the ground they had re- the, g0(,ne of the famous whitman
gained, killing and wounding great I massacre of 184S, seemed to add de
numbers and having but three or fou termination to men already accustom
of our men wounded. That morning ... , hardshtns. but few romnlalned.
chase for some miles, and was feeling
quite easy at the result, when I dis
covered that I was riding on a sort
of tableland and that my course led
me directly toward a dangerous bluff
of rim rock. The yells of the fiends
in pursuit made me realize that they
too. knew my perilous situation for
their exultant shouts assured me it
was useless to search for an easy path
down the bluff, and it was already
too late to change my course, so
seating myself firmly In the saddle
and tightening my rein I made
straight for the rim rock which was
at this place twelve or fifteen feet
high. The horse never faltered, but
cleared the bluff like a deer and land
ed uninjured at the bottom, with me
but slightly shaken In the saddle. 1
don't believe I could stand that leap
now. Forty years have stiffened my
Joints somewhat and it Jars me about
as much to step off one of our Dufur
sidewalks now-a-days as It did at
that time to leap from the rim rock.
On discovering I was safe, I lost no
time In leaving that vicinity, and it
gave me infinite pleasure to hear the
howl of disappointment set up by my
pursuers when they reached the top
of the bluff and dared not follow fur
ther. Donald McKay who was with me
during this adventure, is the famous
scout so well known to all Old Ore
goiiiitns. and who afterwards became
noted for his governmental work In
the Modoc war, when witl his Warm
Spring Indians did more to capture
Capt. Jack and his followers and to
end this expensive war, than all the
governmen troops that were In the
fight, and had his advice been listen
ed to and followed Gen Canby would
never have been led Into the trap and
murdered. McKay was an Indian
fighter of one quarter Indian blood
himself and knew every trick and
strategy of the enemy. Like the rest
of the Oregon volunteers, he is to
this day unrewarded for his loyalty
to the government.
After my leap over the bluff the
Indians gave up the chase of me and
took across the hills to head oft
Sergt. Gleason and his squad. This
they did and our men succeded in kil
ling one and wounding others so they
gave up the chase and returned.
We were expecting that the regu
lars from The Dalles would come and
take the field and that we would be
released from duty but later on,
learned that the delay was cuused by
the massacre at the Cascades. Col.
George Wright with the ninth regi
ment and third artillery having start
ed for Walla Walla when this attack
recalled them to the rescue of the
people In the block house where two
or three hundred Indians had the
whites in desperate straits having
killed a number.
Between the forces of Col. Wright
from The Dalles and Lieut. Sheridan,
from the lower river, the Indians were
taken by surprise, most of them how
ever escaped to the woods. A num
ber of the Cascade tribe were taken
prisoners by Sheridan, and their chiefs
and leaders hung for their part In the
massacre, for although this tribe waJ
under treaty there is no doubt they
took an active part in the massacre.
When affairs had qulted down 'the
Columbia we were relieved from duty,
returned to The Dalles and wese dis
continued on pag three )
Lieut. Jefferys. called my attention to
an Indian who. more brave than dis
creet, had galloped to within about
Flour was scarce though we had:
plenty of good beef, in fact, beef In
every style was our bill of fare until
one hundred and twenty-five yards ofMrlv sprlng warned u9 lt waa tlme
company . it mm a snot. Dan. ; t0 breal. cam 0 breaklns- eamn. I
said Jeffery, so I took aim and fired. the ma,n body of troops went to the
ai tne cracK ot me gun ne ten irom north and east and had ,eVeral skir-
his horse, rose to his feet and fell mlshM with the Indians In one of j
again. At this a band of Indians) whloh Capt Hembree and one other!
rushed from a convenient hill andj,-as klUed whlle a nUmber of red
gathered the victim placed him be- skins took up quartera in the tradl
fore one of them on a horse and es-,UonaI ..HapPv hunting grounds."
caped. I found afterwards that theiCompanv B and a numb,r 0f half-1
dead Indian was a Xes Perce, which bPeed scouts returned to Fort Hen-'
tribe wag supposed to be friendly to ,iett- and Wf,r mnloved In seoutlne1
lives to the flames or tomahawks, he I th whites, hence their fear of leav- j between The Dnlles an'rl Wall IValla. 1
can partially justify our semi-savage inK nl bod'- hoing but one more: 0n one ot these scouting tours. Sergt.1
warfare.
We drove the savages eight or ten'
instance or tneir treacnery. nleaann in command nf son. went
Te second day like the first, the i upon "Wildhbrse" on the Umatilla'
miles and being burdened with our.t'sit lasted until uaritness arove us i river ana captured a nana of norses. :
dead and wounded and encountering ) tack t0 camp, and the morning ofjon our way back when at the place'
vast hordes of the fiends we came'"19 third day. we discovered that the 'where Pendleton now stands. Donald
to a halt and continued the fight un-!61"? hal reversed position turning! McKay and myself became separat-,
til darkness closed in and gave us a over our breastworks so as to fight jed from the main body and while
chance to carry our dead and wound-, 'hem. We soon drove them from , leisurely riding along were attacked
appearance on the open plain oppos
ite Tthe Dalles being totally Ignorant
of the proximity of a large body of
ed back to camp. Among those kill- this protection and the treacherous
ed that dav was Capt. Bennett, Lou uevns cnangea tneir tactics ana wani
Murroughs, Kelso and others whose) d t talk under a flag of truce. Two
names I now forget and to look at ; of our men were foolhardy enough to
these brave fellows cold In death So under the flag and when near the
made us, comrades of the dead, feel Indian line were rushed upon and al
anvthing but merciful to their slayers. ; most captured, but good running and
About the time we reached camp the a prompt advance of our lines saved
officer of the guard called out to tneif lives-
Col Kelly: Directly after this episode Old
"What will we do with the pris-.Yeis. a chief of the John Days, began
oners?" j at a distance to deliver a sermon to
"Tie them or shoot them, I don't us on the wickedness of the war, but
care a d " was his laconic reply. I a ball from the rifle of Amos t'n
And almost instantly a volley was derwood (who now lives below The
by a band of six well mounted In
dians. We rode good horses in those
days, and if ever we needed such an
imals now was the time. (
The red fiends gained on us and we ;
separated, McKay going over the hill ,
and down to the Umatilla river and
I in the opposite direction toward ;
McKay creek. Our pursuers seemed ;
to have more hankering after my
scalp than that of my companion, or I
knowing the lay of the country.
thought they had me entrap
ped for all six of them came thunder
ing at my heels. I led them a merry
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