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About Lake County examiner. (Lakeview, Lake County, Or.) 1880-1915 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1903)
. ) vt.- unnneti VOL. XXIV. LAKKVIKW, LAKK COUNTY, OREGON, THURSDAY, SKPT. 17, 1903. NO. 37. THE BEN WRIGHT RAID A Tale of the llloodthlraty Deed if Indlam In Klamalh Fifty Years ago How Revenged The ltt'ii Vrli(lit raid, or Hen Wright innacre, wan one of lltu hloollet In tli early day of Ore iron. Indian men, women and children wvre slaughtered ly Hen Wright and IiIn 'fi follower like animal, and not one of tlx white ini'ii over regivttiMl It. Mdm) Hart, I lie tu.h survivor of t lit? famous land of deMMrati men, who now liven near WcHtfall, In Malheur County, ha grown to Ih a very old man, Ih iroNMrouH and In regarded an one of the IH-Mt cltlien In the State, Mt 111 tell of the bloody maacro In which liu took part ami say ho ha never had f auo to regret It. They M-alHd the Indian after killing them lrrt'H-tlvo of age and sex and left theiu scattered on the plain, llutl tle coyote might devour their Ik til leu. HOW I.MMO NATION W AM HAIMKI). Yreka, lu NUklyou County, Cal Iforula wnM then the only settlement of note In Kouthern Oregon and Northern California. It wan more than GO year ago. It wim JiiHt after the gold excitement had broken out lu the great jilacer districts of the (ioldcii State and many of the miners liad leeome dlgnted even with the 1t gold Held lu thorn) day arid wandered about the Htate hunting ottiHfClderudocN. Yreka wu set tied uue))i it a rival to the great Sierra Nevada and a large number of dnr v Injr men congregated there and mill d and fought and gambled juHt a they did In all proMcroUH mining wctloiiM. lien Wright wa consldcr- ed the bravtitt man In Yreka. He wan cool-headed, unacquainted with fear ami placed no value on hi life or that of other. People from the Idaho country were trying to make tin Ir way Into the Yreka and Koguo Klver countrleH, but hundred of them were caught on the plain by the Indian and murdered and plundered. Home more fortunate of the luiml grant brought these stories to Yreka almoHt dally. OeciiHloually one or more mtuulier from an Immi grant train would arrive at Yreka aud tell of the most cruel Indian mivMMiicreM aud wanton tortile of the Immigrant by the Indian. Mot of the grievance came from the Klamath country and the out rage were charged to the Pluto or Snake Indiana. KAMI OKOAMKKD. ' Finally an Immigrant arrived at Yreka on horseback under whip with the announcement that a m all band of Immigrant composed of men. women and children were Miirrouudod by hundred of blood thlrty warrior on Lot Klver In the Klamath country. The mail who brought the new Mated that the white would be able to hold thu enemy at bay for several hour yet, a they were well armed and the few men In the party were excellent inarkHiiien, but that the Indian would eventually overcome them. Ken Wright called the miner to gether Immediately and called for voluutoera. When he called for men who would go to the rescue of the Immigrant and face death it neces- nary, T2 young men alniont a daring as liluiHclf stood up In Hue, and Mono Hart was ouo of this number. No ' tliue wiin ot In arming, equipping and mounting the famous The bent borne In the camp were placed at the rescuer' dlpoal ami each carried a Wliieheter rllle, two dra goon revolver, several round of ammunition and two day' provis ion. TO TIIK HKMCTK. The point on I,ot Klver to I? reached wn 100 mile away. The party left Yreka at noon and rode day and night, only stopping twice to give their horse a moment' ret and for the men ti cat a "bite," a Mr. Hart put It. They reached the place Jut at Hunrlc on the next morning and were awarded by sec Ingthat the Immigrant were mIIII bidding their own. A quick Investi gation dlcloed that the whole face of the earth for' a complete circuit about the Immigrant train win cov ered with Indian. The whiten had lnen attacked while near a small bridge ocro the river, aud had Im mediately corraled their hore and wagon, and the men behind these were doing such deadly idiootlng whenever an opportunity preMcnted Itself that the Indian thought It lt to remain at a distance until re inforcement, whom they had sent for, arrived. TIIK ATTACK. Ken Wright took In the situation at a glance. He Haw that the In dian had not dlcovcred the arrival of him and hi men, and falling back Is hind a hill, ordered hi men to re move their haU and throw them away and tla their big bandana handkerchief around their neck. Thl done they each took a revolver In either hand ami dashed down upon the surprised Indian. When the Indian first Haw them they gave a Hhout of welcome and the heart of the Immigrant Hank within them for a moment. The bareheaded men lu the early morning light looked like Indian, and while the 1mm granta thought more Indian had arrived to attack them, their enemy thought the miner were the rein forcement for whom they had Hent. grii K wiikx. Hut the object of the miner were hooii known by both HurprlHed par tie. They charged right Into the thlckcHt of the Indian, aud they loHt no time with their revolver, and they were all good shot. Com pletely panic Htrlcken, the Indian ran lu every direction, Home going over the hill and other plunging Into tho river. The maddened Im migrant from the wagon came out aud joined In the execution, aud the work was noon over. Mr. Hart re port that there were plenty of "good Indian" lying everywhere after the fight was over, and he Bald many of the young men scaled them In reg ular Indian stylo. Tho women of the Immigrant train prepared a good meal for their rcHcucr and they left the name day on their way to Y'reka under the ecort of the miner. MINKItrt NOT HATIHK1KII. After the miner ecorted the Immi grant out of danger they were overtaken by another Immigrant who hud jtiHt cm-aped another at tack of the Indian farther up tho valley lu the neighborhood of tho Lower Klamath Lake. Ho stated that they were killing, torturing aud Hcnlplng men, women and children. The men turned their home' head and daubed back over tho ground which they had Jut panned. They crossed tho river at tho bridge where tho fight of tho previous day had ; ,. ... , t - " ' ' '' , t ' r' -i . . ' . T ) '" ' ; " ? - f M .-.ll MRS. FRANCES Having won much fim aa an authoress, Mrs. France Hodgson Burnett baa now appeared as a successful dramatlKL Her play for children. "The Utile Princess." which was recently produced In New York, Is making a big bit. occurred, and aw the Mead Indian Htlil lying bleaching in the nun. 15 ut they hurried on to the Hccne of the m n km acre. AT III.OOIIY POINT. At a point near tho shore of the Lower Klamath Lake, which tin! since leen called "Woody Point," the miner aw a lght that was sickening at flint, but which soon arouwd them to mailnc for re venge. Meu, women and children lay piled up lu heap, their ecalpa taken, their bodies h tripped and lacerated In every poMlhle way by the knive and tomahawks of the Inillau. Many of them had been dlHcmhowclcd and the bodle of both men aud women had tcen des ecrated In every way that savage brutality could Invent. The Indian had taken this method of revenge J IhW. foiled by themluerstheprevlou8'and newp haa snce, If you could ....... Dt.-,w. H ..o escape me previous day met tbeir- MilltfitlVMktnunf n arimtiw titln Kna I '-- J"- "" and they soon afterwards came ' upon the Immigrant train and sur prised and killed all of the Immi grants, except the one who had given the alarm, after having tor tured them In every conceivable way. ANOTHKK MASSACKK. The miners started out In search of the Indians who had fled without their knowledge on their approach and hidden their women and child ren, who bad Joined them, In tho high tules bordering the lake, aud had also taken refuge lu this hldlug place themselves. They were sdoif discovered by Wright and his men, however, but as u marsh lay be tween the miners and the Indians It was dilllcult to get to them. Tho previous days' work of tho miners had completely Intimidated the ludlaus and they showed no Inclina tion to fight with the daring men. Wright tried every way possible to get to them, or to get them out without avail. Finally he sent one of his men who could speak their V 1 v. 3 - f y . i " V.:- - 1 -v- -.;v.- . -- HODGSON BURNETT. language and coaxed them out under the promise of a treaty. Tho men, women and children came forth under td promhte. A soon a they were well out in the open, at a signal, Wright and hi men datdied down upon them and they slayed them like wild an imals. They did not stop at men and women, but they killed the children. Scarcely one of the whole band escaped. And then the miners scalped their victims and took their departure. NO COMIt'NCTIOS8 OK CONSCIENCE. The miners returned to Y'reka sat isfied with what they had done and were the heroes of the hour lu the mining camp. "Did your conscience not hurt you?" was asked Mr. Hart recently w hile he was lying almost at ileatu s door, "xo, sir," came .m,.u8te , promptly. "It never did have that pne of bodies of our wu whlte womea anJ cbUdren, butchered ond desecrated as they vn .,,, , tUa TV VI V J VVWUSVSi SMV VS same opinion as were we miners, that no kind of savage was fit to live In those days when our people's Uvea were ever In peril; that the young ones would some day be Just as brutal as the old ones any way, we didn't torture them. We killed them outright!" Paul De Laney in tho Portland Journal. Possibly an Extra Session. A gravo discrepancy in tho tax laws of Oregon has been discovered which la all probability will neces sitate a special session of tho legisla ture before tho close of tho preseut year Without remedial legislation, attorneys declare that an eutlro year's taxes will bo lost to the state and to every county, city, town and district in Oregon. The dllilculty arises from the at tempt of the legislature of 1903 to amend the tax laws so as to change tho date of the annual levy from January to September. LOOKS LIKE A RAILROAD Conference With Harrlman Ex pected to Caue the O.K. A N. to Build Toward Lake. A Hpeclal to the Oregon lan from Kan Francisco under date of Sept. 0th, nays: From high official sources It ia learned that Harrlman han taken up the proposition to extend the O. K. & N. liua Into Central Oregon anil has Intimated that this will be his next important move on the i'aciflc Coast. The news leaked out through the recent mysterious de parture of A. L. Mohler, president of the O. It. & N. Mohler, it baa been ascertained, went to meet H&rrlman, who has Just returned from Europe, where be had gone to recuperate after the op eration performed on him for appen dicitis. The advantages of the O. K. & N. extension would be to permit the Harrlman lines to Invade the lumber districts and by a direct eastward route avoid the present roundabout way of backhauling to northern points. It is expected that the con ference between Harrlman and Mohler will result In something definite that will Interest the north ern railroad. There are a number of O. R. & N. construction projects on foot and ic la thought that Harrlman at the present conference will decide what are feasible. The construction of the Columbia Southern has been pending since the magnate retired to Europe. During bis absence a com prehensive report on tho country the contemplated extension would tap baa been prepared and the sub stance of that report was cabled to Harrlman. There Is hardly any doubt, accord ing to reports from the same source. but what the Columbia Southern will eventually be built, and the northerners are provoked at the de lay, for they realixe that the develop, ment of the country has been retard ed and that another season must e'apse before active operations cau be commenced. Those who claim to bo on tho in side also state that there is a prop osition on foot to run a line from Bellingham Bay to Spokane. If this is done it will mean a great cut off aa a short route to Puget Sound. This road, if built, would open up new territory and one that could ably support the railway, but the fact that It would be In more or less direct competition with the Great Northern may have a deterring effect on its being built. That there are contemplated ini- ' provements Is evidenced by the tact that over 70 locomotives have been ordered from the Baltimore Loco motive "Works by tho Harrimaa lines. Forest Reserves Are Bad. Senator Fultou believes the pres ent system leads to extensive frauds. Iuformatlou of proposed withdraw als leaks out from Washington, aud speculators hasteu to take advau- tage of the lieu land system. Tho otHclals lu Oregon, Senator Fultou thinks, have been unjustly saddled with the blame tor these frauds. The same opinion Is held by Senator Fu 1 ton regarding state lands, and he points for proof to tho extensive fil ings on school lands just prior to withdrawal. -? 7