P7KS 
 
The Heroes of Battle Rock, 
 
 or 
 
 The Miners' Reward, 
 
 A Short Story of Tfiriffino Interest 
 
 How a Smaff Canon Done its Work. 
 
 Port Orford, Oregon, the Scene of the Great Tragedy. 
 
 A Desperate Encounter of Nine White Men with Three 
 
 Hundred Indians. Miraculous Escape After 
 
 Untold Hardships. 
 
 HISTORICALLY TRUE. 
 
 Savages Subdued and Rich Gold Mines Discovered. 
 
 Edited by Orvii, Dodge. 
 
 January, 1904. 
 
Gift of C. A. Kofol* 
 
p 8 ? 
 
 ] he ^lero of Battle nock- 
 
 "I was working in Portland, Oregon, at tlie carpenter 
 •trade along in the latter part of May, 1851, when a friend by 
 the name of Palmer, introduced me to ("apt. Win. Tichenor, 
 who was at that time running an old steam propeller called 
 the Sea Gull, between Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, 
 California, Before introducing uie to Oapt. Tichenor, my 
 friend told me that the Oapt. wanted eight or ten men to go 
 down on the steamer with him to a place called Port Orford 
 <on the southwest coast of Oregon, where be intended to 
 make a settlement, lay out a town, and build a road into the 
 gold diggings in Southern Oregon and that all who went 
 down with him should have a share in the town he and his 
 partners were going to build. His partners were Mr. Hub- 
 board, purser on the Sea Gull, and the Hon. Butler King, 
 then chief in the Custom House in San Francisco. After 1 
 made the acquaintance of Captain Tichenor he painted the 
 whole enterprise in such glowing colors that I was really 
 infatuated with the prospect. He told me that there was 
 not a particle of danger from the Indians, that he had been 
 ashore among them many times and they were perfectly 
 friendly, so I went to work to hunt up a party to go down 
 with us on the Sea Gull. 
 
 I gathered together eight young men who were willing to 
 go down on the trip. Their names were J. H. Eagan, John 
 T. Slater, George Ridoubs. T. D. Palmer, Joseph Hussey. 
 Cyrus W. Hedden, James Carigan, Erastus Summers and 
 myself, making nine in all. Captain Tichenor agreed to fur- 
 nish us arms, ammunition and supplies, and take us down 
 on his steamer. He told us all to get ready to go as he would 
 sail from Portland on the 4th of June, 1851. 
 
 We were ready and sailed from Portland on time. On the 
 5th we arrived in Astoria. I had been selected by the party 
 as the captain of the expedition so I went to Captain Tiche- 
 
 D 
 
 STift-l «vi rp; 
 
ing badly ; Ridoubt was shot in the breast, the arrow stick- 
 ing into the breast bone, making a painful wound, and 
 Slater ran and laid down in a hole behind the tent. This 
 left six of us to fight it out with the Indians who still kept 
 coming. When they were crowded on the narrow ridge, the 
 red shirted fellow in the lead and not more than eight feet 
 from the muzzle of the gun, I applied the fiery end of the 
 rope to the priming. The execution was fearful, at least 
 twelve or thirteen men were killed outright and such a 
 tumbling of scared Indians I never saw before or since. The 
 gun was upset by the recoil; but we never stopped for that 
 but rushed out to them and soon cleared the rock of all the 
 live warriors. We counted seventeen dead Indians on the 
 rock and this was the bloody baptism that gave the name of 
 Battle Rock to our old camp at Port Orford on the 10th day 
 of June, 1851. 
 
 Some incidents that occurred during the battle are worth 
 relating. There were two warriors who passed the crowd 
 and were not hit by any of the slugs of lead fired from the 
 cannon. One of these, a big strong looking Indian, made 
 up his mind that he wanted my scalp; as soon as the can- 
 non was fired he rushed to me with a big knife. Carigan 
 shot him in the shoulder and Summers shot him through the 
 bowels and still he came on. He made a lick at me with his 
 knife, which I knocked out his hand with my left, when he 
 grabbed for his knife I pulled one of the deringers from my 
 pocket and shot him in the head, the ball going in at one 
 temple and out at the other. He turned then and ran 
 twenty feet and fell dead among the Indians that were 
 killed by the cannon. The other Indian went for Eagan 
 whose musket missed fire, as the Indian was in the act of 
 fixing an arrow in his bow, when Eagan hit him over the 
 head with the barrel of his musket bending it more than six 
 inches. The blow stunned the Indian and as quick as light- 
 ning Eagan jumped at him and took his bow away, he then 
 jumped back and turned his musket and gave him three 
 or four blows with the butt knocking him entirely off the 
 rock into the ocean. 
 
 After the fight was all over probably an hour, an Indian 
 chief came up the beach within hailing distance and laid 
 down his bow. quiver of arrows and knife and then stepped 
 forward and made signs that he wanted to come to our 
 camp. I went down to the beach and met him and brought 
 
him up to the camp. He was by all odds the finest specimen 
 of physical manhood that I ever looked at. He made signs 
 to us that he wanted to carry away the dead Indians. I 
 made him understand that he could bring another Indian to 
 help him. He called out for one more to come up to the 
 camp. They would take the dead ones on their back, pack 
 them down from where they lay, across the narrow sandy 
 beach and up a steep trail toward the north and over a 
 ridge ;uid out of sight. They did this eight times, and where 
 they laid the dead was over three hundred yards from our 
 camp. Some of the Indians were quite large, several of them 
 weighing over two hundred pounds. As a feat of strength 
 and endurance it was simply wonderful. They carried away 
 all the dead except the fellow who wore the red shirt. I 
 tried to get the big chief to carry him off but he shook his 
 head and stooped down and tore his shirt in two and then 
 gave him a kick with his foot atid turned and walked away. 
 We had to drag the fellow afterwards and bury him in the 
 sand. We all remarked that he was very white for an In- 
 dian, he had yellow hair and a freckled face. I pronounced 
 him to be a white man. He turned out to be a white man 
 who had been among the Indians for many years, they hav- 
 ing saved him from the wreck of a Russian ship that was 
 lost on the Oregon coast many years ago. 
 
 Another incident of our day's battle was this : After the 
 Indian chief and his man had carried away all of the dead 
 warriors we went to work to make a breastwork on each side 
 of our gun, this was to make it a little more difficult for 
 the Indians to get into our camp, I was standing outside on 
 the narrow ridge in front of our gun watching some Indians 
 who were about three hundred yards away. I was leaning 
 on my rifle when Joe. Hussey came out of the camp and 
 laid his right hand on my left shoulder, I turned my head 
 to see what he wanted tvhen spat a bullet hit his thumb cut- 
 ting it about half off. This was the first rifle shot we had 
 heard from the Indians since the fight began. The Indian 
 with the gun had crawled down unnoticed by us, into a large 
 pile of rocks about sixty yards away from where I stood 
 when he shot. He was so sure that he had hit me that he 
 jumped out from the rocks and showed himself; then it was 
 my turn. I had a slug ball and five buck-shot in my rifle 
 and in an instant I drew a head on him and when my gun 
 cracked he jumped three feet into the air and fell dead. 
 
Eagan said, "I am going after his gun.'' I told hini to hold 
 on until I had loaded my rifle for, says I, "There may be 
 other Indians in the rocks and I want to be ready." As 
 soon as my gun was loaded he ran down and picked up the 
 gun and seeing it was of no account he broke the stock and 
 came back bringing the Indians head dress with him. It 
 was made of sea shells of different colors and was quite 
 pretty. He said the bullet from my rifle had broken his 
 right arm and passed through his body and cut his left hand 
 entirely off. He never knew what hurt him. This was the 
 last Indian killed by us in our first day's battle. We could 
 only count twenty Indians that we had killed; but years 
 afterward we learned from the Indians that there were 
 twenty-three killed. 
 
 In our talk with the big chief we made him understand 
 that in fourteen days more the steamer would return and 
 take us away and for fourteen days we were not molested 
 by them, in fact we never saw an Indian ; but on the morn- 
 ing of the 15th they were there in force, some three of four 
 hundred of them in their war paint. They evidently meant 
 business now as we had lied to them, the steamer did not ar- 
 rive as we had promised them and we could not make them 
 understand why the vessel did not come. Two or three 
 hundred warriors were going through with a regular war 
 dance on the beach and every time they would turn around 
 so as to face us they would snap their bow strings at us 
 and make signs that they would soon have our scalps. The 
 big chief was now their leader. He had his warriors all 
 drawn up around him about two hundred and fifty yards 
 from us. He made a speech to them so loud that we could 
 hear every word he said above the roar of the surf and he 
 did some of the finest acting that I ever saw before or since. 
 When he stopped talking he drew a long knife and waved it 
 around his head, gave a terrible yell* and started for us fol- 
 lowed by not less than three hundred warriors. I had called 
 to my side James Carrigan who who was the best rifle shot 
 of any of my men. I told him to take a good rest, draw his 
 lungs full of air, keep cool and wait until they came near 
 enough so as to be sure and kill the leader, for it was either 
 the big chief or us who must go. When he got within about 
 one hundred yards of us I raised my rifle to my shoulder 
 and said, "Fire!" We both fired at the same time and down 
 he dropped, we had both hit him in the breast and one of 
 
our bullets had gone through his heart, killing him instantly. 
 Had a hundred thunder bolts dropped among his warriors 
 they could not have stopped them as suddenly as killing 
 their big chief. They gathered around his body and 
 with a groan that was terrible, picked him up and 
 carried him away to the north out of sight. In about 
 an hour another great tall fellow wearing an old red 
 shirt, came up the teach and commenced calling the 
 Indians around him. Pie soon collected a couple of 
 hundred warriors about him and made a speech to them 
 about five minutets in length. We could see by his frantic 
 gestures and talk that he was urging the Indians to rush on 
 us and wipe us out. When he stopped talking he waved his 
 big knife over his head and started for us, pointing his knife 
 at us and motioning that our heads must be cut off. We 
 were ready for him and when he came close to where the 
 other chief was killed, we fired and he dropped dead. This 
 ended all efforts on the part of their chiefs to induce the In- 
 dians to rush on us. They had had enough of that kind of 
 business. They drew back to the edge of the woods, about 
 three hundred yards away from our camp, and had a big 
 talk, after which they commenced going down the beach to 
 a place a little over a mile from our camp, where there were 
 a number of fires burning. We could see a number of canoes 
 loaded with Indians coming up from the direction of the 
 mouth of Rogue River and landing near these fires. They 
 were evidently concentrating their forces for a night at- 
 tack on us. We had now taken note of our situation. We 
 we surrounded on one side by thousands of miles of water 
 and on the other side by at least four or five hundred hostile 
 Indians and one hundred and fifty miles or more from any 
 settlement of white men. We had also taken stock of our 
 ammunition and had little left. About six loads apiece for 
 our rifles. Something had to be done and that before night, 
 for if they made a night attack on us we could not possi- 
 bly stand them off, so I told the boys that if we could gain 
 the woods and they would stand by me I would take them all 
 through to the settlements. We made up our minds that it 
 was the only chance to save our scalps. We were still 
 watched by ten or twelve Indians not more than two hun- 
 dred yards away. To get rid of those fellows so that we 
 could gain the woods was the next question we had to solve. 
 "Now," said I, "If they contemplate a night attack on us we 
 
8 
 
 must convince those fellows on watch that we have no notion 
 of going away." We all went to work as hard as we could 
 to strengthen our breastwork. We cut down one of the 
 pine trees that grew on Battle Rock, cut off the limbs and 
 piled them on top of our breastworks. As soon as the In- 
 dians, who were on watch, saw what we were doing 
 they were sure we were determined to stay. They then start- 
 ed down the beach to join the others. We counted them as 
 they got up out of the grass, and there were one hundred 
 and fourteen. I will say that I never, in all my experience 
 with Indians before or since, saw as fine a body of warriors 
 as those. We were now pretty sure that they had all left, 
 but Eagan climbed up to the top of one of the trees and 
 looked in every direction but could see no sign of any In- 
 dians except down the beach where they were having a grand 
 war dance. Now was our chance. We left everything we 
 had in camp; our two tents, our blankets and what little 
 provisions we had, and with nothing but our guns and an 
 ax and all the small ropes we had, with two or three sea 
 biscuits apiece, we bid farewell to our old camp on Battle 
 Rock, and startetd on our fearful retreat through an un- 
 known country. It was now about 4 o'clock in the after- 
 noon. We had determined to keep as near the beach as pos- 
 sible. We travelled with all our might to get as far as we 
 could before night overtook us. When we were about three 
 miles from Port Orford just as we were going around a 
 point of rocks on an old trail, we met about thirty Indian 
 wariors fully armed, going down to join the others. We 
 raised a yell and charged right at them. We never fired a 
 shot, but they ran like scared wolves. We kept' right on 
 and just between sunset and dark we came to quite a river 
 and, as good luck would have it, we struck this stream just 
 at the turn of the tide so that by wading out on the bar a 
 little way we were able to get across without any trouble. 
 Fifteen minutes later we would have had to build a raft 
 to cross on. This stream was not down on any map that I 
 had ever seen at that time. I think it is now called Elk 
 River. After crossing this stream we struck into the woods 
 and travelled all night, guiding our steps by the roar of the 
 surf breaking on the rocks. There was no time to lose. We 
 knew that the Indians would follow us so we traveled on as 
 hard as we could, wading streams of water, some of consid- 
 erable size, and making our way through a dense growth of 
 
9 
 
 timber and brush. About 3 o'clock the next day we came to 
 the edge of what seemed to us a large plain. It looked to be 
 miles in extent and was covered with a heavy growth of high 
 grass and proved to be an immense swamp. 
 
 We now determined to try and cross this swamp and 
 reach the sea after dark and travel all night. We floundered 
 around in this swamp all night, sometimes in water up to 
 our armpits, until after dark when we found a little island 
 of about an aere of dry land and covered with a thick growth 
 of small fir bushes. Here we laid down and tried to rest 
 and sleep but encountered a new enemy in the shape of 
 clouds of mosquitoes. There was no escape from them and 
 they were the hungriest lot that I had ever seen. In the 
 morning, as soon as it was light enough for us to see our 
 way out, we struck for the beach again and in about an 
 hour we reached an Indian trail fully twenty feet wide 
 where hundreds of Indians had gone. They were now 
 ahead of us. AVe followed on their trail a few miles when 
 we came to a stream of water about four rods wide and two 
 feet deep. Here the trail turned up this stream and left the 
 beach. We at once came to the conclusion that the Indians 
 had followed us that far the first night and when daylight 
 came they had found that we had not traveled on the beach, 
 so they struck up. this stream, thinking of intercepting us 
 when we readied this stream on our way. We crossed on 
 the beach and were now ahead of the Indians. We now put 
 in our best time traveling as hard as we could. About five 
 o'clock we reached the mouth of the Coquille River where we 
 were confronted by a large stream of water and on the op- 
 posite side of the river were three or four hundred Indians 
 all drawn up in line of battle ready to prevent our crossing. 
 They were making signs that they would kill us if we at- 
 tempted to cross, so there was now no alternative but to 
 keep up on the south side of the river and do our best to pre- 
 vent coming into collision with these Indians that were so 
 numerous and hostile. We now came to the conclusion that 
 we had better try and cross the mountains and strike the 
 wagon road that led from the settlements in Oregon down 
 to California. About three or four miles from the mouth of 
 the Coquille River, on the south side, rises quite a high 
 mountain, so we determined to go to the top of this moun- 
 tain in order to study the surrounding country. Three or 
 four hundred Indians kept right opposite watching us, with 
 
10 
 
 nothing but the river between them and us. Just as we 
 reached the foot of this mountain the Indians stopped a few 
 minutes and divided their forces. One party of over one 
 hundred turned off to the left and ran up a short ravine to- 
 ward the north. They soon disappeared over a low pass to 
 the left and went back toward their village at the mouth of 
 the river. Their object was to get their canoes, cross the 
 river, overtake us and kill or capture us. When we had 
 ascended this mountain some distance we could see the 
 Indians crossing the river in their canoes. We hurried on as 
 fast as we could travel and between sun down and dark 
 we reached the top of the mountain, tired, hungry and 
 nearly worn out. Here we determined to rest and get some 
 sleep. We worked our way into the thicket of brush where 
 we found a kind of sink hole, about twenty feet in diameter 
 and about three feet deep, covered on the bottom with a 
 rank growth of grass with thick brush all around it. Here 
 we all laid down and were soon fast asleep. Just as soon as 
 it began to be light in the morning, notwithstanding there 
 was a thick fog, we were up and off, traveling in a north- 
 easterly direction as hard as we could. In about an hour 
 we struck the river again at a point where the timber came 
 down close to the water. We found a lot of dry drift wood 
 and soon made a raft large enough to carry the three men who 
 could not swim and our guns and the bal lance of us swim- 
 ming and pushing the raft ahead of us. The river at this 
 point was about two hundred yards wide. When we reached 
 the opposite bank and landed we supposed that we had 
 crossed the river but we had only landed on an island and 
 did not know it until we had taken all our ropes off of the 
 raft and let the logs go. We had not gone more than three 
 hundred yards when, to our consternation, wo discovered 
 that we had another branch of the river to cross nearly as 
 wide as the one we had crossed. There was not a stick of 
 timber on the island to make a raft out of, and as the fog 
 was beginning to break away, there was no time to lose, so 
 one of the men, George Ridoubt, volunteered to swim across 
 with the ax and cut off a dry pine tree that projected out 
 over the water towards us. Our intention was to get the 
 three men, who could not swim, on to the tree, let them bold 
 our guns and the balance of us swim along and guide the 
 tree. Just as the tree fell into the water three Indians came 
 around the bend in a canoe. They were busy watching the 
 
11 
 
 man that was chopping and did not see us until they were 
 close to us. We hailed them and made signs that we wanted 
 them to land and take us over the river to where Ridoubt 
 was. 
 
 This they refused to do, but when they saw three or. four 
 rifles leveled on them they concluded to come to where we 
 were. We all piled into the canoe and they landed us on 
 the main land just as the sun broke through the fog. We 
 did not tarry long till we were on our weary tramp again. 
 We were now very weak, not having eaten anything for 
 three nights and four days. We saw plenty of game, but 
 did not dare to fire a shot, for it would have brought at 
 least three hundred Indians on to us in ten minutes, and 
 they would have made short work of us. The men who 
 were with me had no knowledge of woodcraft and but little 
 of Indian warfare. They were on an average as brave a 
 company of men as the same number that could be found. 
 There was not one among them who could have taken the 
 lead and kept a course without running around in a circle. 
 When I found this out I saw that their lives as well as my 
 own depended on my keeping in the lead. I had a good 
 knowledge of woodcraft and could take a course and keep 
 it as long as it was necessary. I had also some little knowl- 
 edge of the cunning and trickery of the Indians, having 
 crossed the Rocky Mountains in company with Kit Carson; 
 and I will here say that of all the men that I ever came in 
 contact with or associated with Christopher Carson knew 
 all the tricks and cunning of the Indians better than anj 
 man I ever saw. I hope you will not think me egotistical 
 when I say that I felt equal to the task of leading my party 
 through to a place of safety. After crossing this branch of 
 the river we struck out in a northwesterly direction, through 
 the timber, intending, if we could, to reach the beach by 
 night, and then travel as hard as we could all night if 
 necessary. We traveled on through the thick heavy timber 
 until it got so dark that we could not get along, so we all 
 laid down by the side of a big log and slept until daylight. 
 We then jumped up and were off in the same direction we 
 had been traveling the day before. In about an hour we 
 emerged from the timber and soon got down to the. beach. 
 We struck the sea at a point where a long reef of rocks ex- 
 tended quite a ways out into the ocean. These rocks, near 
 the shore, were covered with mussels which we broke from 
 
12 
 
 the rocks and commenced eating them raw. They soon 
 made us sick, so we built up a fire and began roasting them 
 and that made them much better. We were eating our first 
 lot of roasted mussels when one of the Indians, who had 
 crossed us over the north branch of the Coquille river the 
 day before, came down to us. As soon as he got near to us, 
 he commenced talking Jargon. He said he had seen me in 
 Portland, that he had kept right behind us in the woods 
 after we left the river, and that he was afraid to come to 
 us in the woods believing we would kill him. He said that 
 the Indians were coming up on the beach from the mouth 
 of the Coquille, and we must hurry as fast as we could. 
 Each one of us took all the live mussels we could carry, but 
 did not stop to cook them as we intended to roast them when 
 we got to a place of safety. We now struck up the beach 
 as fast as we could go, the Indian in the lead. We traveled 
 on until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when the Indian 
 called our attention to a white pole about eight inches in 
 diameter and twentyy feet high, standing in a great pile of 
 rocks at the edge of the beach. When we passed this pole 
 and monument, the Indian said we were now safe, as the 
 California Siwashes would not dare to come above that 
 pole, for the Coos Bay, Umpqua, Clickatats, and some other 
 tribes he mentioned, would make war on them and drive 
 them back. After resting a little while we traveled on for 
 about two hours and, turning into a little cove, we built up 
 a fire and roasted our mussels and ate them. We then took 
 up our line of march and traveled till it was dark and then 
 turned off to our right where we found some dry sand, in 
 another little cove, and all laid down and slept until morn- 
 ing. As soon as it was daylight we were up and away. 
 That afternoon we reached Coos Bay. The Indians met us 
 more than a mile from their camp and brought us dried 
 salmon, dried elk meat and salmon terries. They were ex- 
 tremely friendly and expressed themselves as being very 
 glad that we had not been killed by the California Siwashes. 
 We staid all night with these Indians who seemed to vie 
 with each other in doing everything they could for us. In 
 the morning they took us across the bay and landed us 
 about where Empire City now stands. They told us that 
 we would make the mouth of the Umpqua the -next day. 
 We bid our friends goodbye and struck across the sand hills 
 and through swamps, where sometimes the water was three 
 
13 
 
 or four feet deep. We floundered around in these sand hills 
 and swamps until we were nearly tired out and struck for 
 the beach again. About an hour before dark we reached 
 the beach. The wind was blowing so hard from the west 
 that it made it difficult and unpleasant to travel against, so 
 we left the beach and sought shelter behind some sand hills 
 that raise to more than a hundred feet above the sea. We 
 found some dry pine logs near a thicket of brush and soon 
 had a big fire going. Here we laid down and slept until 
 morning, notwithstanding we were soaked with the mist 
 that had been driven across the sand hills by the gale in the 
 night. After we had dried ourselves a little by our fire we 
 struck out for the beach. The gale had subsided and the 
 beach, for more than one hundred yards in width and as far 
 as we could see up and down the beach, was literally covered 
 with fisli that had been driven ashore the night before by 
 the gale. "Luck at last," cried Eagan, "Here is fish enough 
 for a feast for the Gods;" and each one of us picked up two 
 apiece, weighing 5 or 6 pounds each, and back we went to 
 our old camp where we had left a big bed of coals, where we 
 roasted our fish, eating all we could of one and taking the 
 rest with us. That afternoon we reached the mouth of the 
 Umpqua River. The Indians on watch for us had notified 
 the white men on the other side of the river that the white 
 men, who had shot a keg of nails into the Indians at Port 
 Orford, killing many of them, were on the other side of the 
 river. We could see the white men launching their boats at 
 what was called Umpqua City; at that time it consisted of 
 one house built of sheet iron and one tent. In about an 
 hour they had reached us and taken us aboard. Having a 
 fair wind the}' hoisted sail and just as the sun w r as setting 
 on the 2d day of July, 1851, we were landed and made wel- 
 come in white men's quarters, after having an experience 
 that not soon would we forget. Never did a set of poor, 
 weary, ragged, hungry white men receive a more royal wel- 
 come than we did at the hands of Dr. Joseph Drew and his 
 associates at their camp at the mouth of the Umpqua River. 
 We rested there one day and on the morning of the 4th they 
 took us in their boats and, having sailed up the river, they 
 left us at another new town called Scotsburg. Here we 
 landed about 1 o'clock and after I had eaten some dinner I 
 bade farewell to my comrades and struck out for Portland. 
 The rest were so worn out and footsore that they were com- 
 
14 
 
 pel led to lay by and rest. I traveled as hard as I could and 
 on the night of the fourth I stayed with a man whose name 
 was Wells. I left his house before daylight and, after a hard 
 day's tramp, 1 reached the hospitable house of the grand old 
 pioneer Jesse Applegate. He had just received his mail 
 from Portland and was busy reading the account of our 
 fight with the Indians. The conclusion drawn from the ac- 
 count was that we were killed and burned up. I did not 
 interrupt him until he got through reading his paper. I 
 then asked him if I could get some supped and a place to 
 stay all night. "I can give you some supper but all my 
 beds and blankets are in use," he said. I told him I was 
 quite hungry and it made very little difference with me 
 whether I had a bed or not as I had been sleeping for some 
 time without a bed' or blanket. He then commenced talking 
 about those unfortunate young men that had been lured into 
 the jaws of death by misrepresentation. "Why," said he, 
 "those Indians down the coast, combined with their broth- 
 ers, the Rough River Indians, are the worst Indians on the 
 American continent, and the bravest. Every old settler in 
 Oregon knows that. The man or company that persuaded 
 them to go down with the view of making a settlement at 
 Port Orford was guilty of a great wrong." "Well," said I, 
 "Mr. Applegate, I am happy to inform you that the men 
 were not murdered but escaped, and eight of them I left at 
 Scotsburg yesterday and I am the ninth." I told him my 
 name and then I gave him an account of our retreat and his 
 remark was. after I got through, ''Wonderful, wonderful." 
 
 Here I must make an explanation. I had written a full 
 account of our first battle with the Indians on Battle Rock 
 and also an account of our last battle, fifteen days after- 
 ward, and closed the account with these words, "We are now 
 surrounded by three or four hundred Indians hungry for 
 our scalps, on one side; by thousands of miles of water on 
 the other; and at least 150 miles from any white man's 
 house. We have but little grub and are nearly out of am- 
 munition and if the Indians should make a night attack and 
 rush on us we certainly could not defend ourselves against 
 so many." This paper I folded up and placed in the back of 
 an old book, went to the stump of the pine tree that we had 
 just cut down, and buried the book in a hole about a foot 
 deep, then scraped off the bark on one side of the stump, 
 
15 
 
 just over where the book was, and wrote with a piece of red 
 chalk these two words, "Look beneath." 
 
 When the steamer Sea Gull reached San Francisco, after 
 leaving us at Port Orford, she was embargoed for debt and 
 tied up, so it was impossible for Captain Tichenor to return 
 in fourteen days as lie had promised. Col. John B. Fergu- 
 son, then U. S. mail agent for California and Oregon, and a 
 friend of mine, learning from Captain Tichenor that he was 
 tied up for debt and could not return on time, and knowing 
 much more about the Indians on the coast than the captain 
 did, went to the captain of the steamer Columbia and dis- 
 patched him one day before her regular sailing time, with 
 strict orders to call at Port Orford and take us bitck to 
 Portland. The steamer stopped at Port Orford the day after 
 we left Battle Rock. The captain and a number of pas- 
 sengers went ashore and found the body of the fellow in the 
 red shirt that we had killed in the first fight and buried in 
 the sand, but the tide had washed him out and he was then 
 as white as could be. They made sure that it was one of us 
 when they went up on the rock where everything showed 
 evidence of a fight. In looking around their attention was 
 called to the words written on the stump and they soon dug 
 up the book and after reading it they were sure that the In- 
 dians had wiped us out. As no Indians were to be seen, they 
 concluded to search a little further for more evidence of our 
 fate. They finally found where the big fire had been built 
 and in some of the ashes they found some human teeth and 
 some charred pieces of human bones. This ended their 
 search as they were now sure that we had been killed and 
 burned. What they really found was where the Indians had 
 burned their dead after .the first battle with us. They then 
 returned to the steamer in the full belief that we had all been 
 killed and burned, all but the body they found on the beach. 
 
 The steamer sailed at once with the account of our trouble 
 up to the time we left Battle Rock. Thi-s was published in 
 the Oregonian as soon as possible, and this was the account 
 that Applegate was reading when I reached his house. 
 Nearly all my friends in Portland and all over Oregon really 
 believed that it was all up with me and all my party. Not 
 so with the old mountaineers, Joe Meek, Otway and Wilks. 
 They all said that we would turn up all right yet, and when 
 I reached Portland with the news that my party was all safe 
 they were as happy as men could be. I reached my old 
 
16 
 
 quarters in Portland on the 11th day of July, 1851, strong 
 and rugged, having had enough of adventure to do me for 
 one time. 
 
 As to my comrades on this expedition, I never saw hut two 
 of them afterwards. Eagan settled in Portland, married, 
 raised a family. Palmer settled in Salem, had a saloon and 
 was quite well fixed. These two men I saw quite often. In 
 18(H) Slater was killed hy Indians, on Rogue River. In 1855 
 Cy. Hedden joined a company under Colonel TYault and 
 tried to reach Fort Orford by land. T ? Vault's party consist- 
 ed of ten or twelve men and when they reached the Coquille 
 River, Hedden pointed out our trail to T' Vault and told him 
 he was on dangerous ground and must be cautious. He 
 paid no attention to Hedden's warning, but went into camp 
 on a grassy plat not far from where we crossed the river. 
 In the night the Indians sin-prised his camp, killing the most 
 of his men. Hedden escaped with a man by the name of 
 Williams, who had bees wounded with an arrow, and whe» 
 the shaft was pulled out the head was left in his body. 
 Hedden and Williams finally reached Scotsburg where Wil- 
 liams suffered for months but the arrow point finally worked 
 itself out. Hedden stayed and waited on him until he got 
 well. 
 
 When I look back over this whole affair I think you will 
 agree with me that, take it all in all, the history of. the Port 
 Orford expedition is worthy of a place in the history of the 
 early settlements. As to our fight, considering our inex- 
 perience and the arms we had, we certainly did well. There 
 is no other battle in Indian warfare that I know of, that 
 equals it, except that most glorious defense Mrs. Harris 
 made in 1855 on Rogue River in defending her house and 
 home containing the dead body of her husband and her living 
 child, when for more than ten hours she, all alone, stood 
 off at least one hundred of the bravest Indians that ever 
 lifted a white man's scalp, killing, according to the Indians' 
 own statement, fifteen. To this little woman we must all 
 give the praise of making the grandest fight, against fearful 
 odds, that was ever made on the continent of America. 
 
 It was the first time that the Indians of Port Orford had 
 ever been whipped, usually killing more of the white men 
 than'they themselves had had killed. Here they had lost 25 
 warriors and npt killed or captured a single white man. 
 It was the old cannon that did the work. It was an en- 
 
17 
 
 tirely new thing to them as they really thought that we 
 were using thunder and lightning against them. The noise 
 and the fearful execution done by the gun demoralized them. 
 They were not only seared but they were terrified and the 
 killing of their two big chiefs taught them that we were 
 dangerous. I have often thought that our escape was due 
 as much to their fear of us as to our good luck. I can look 
 back over the long stretch of years and feel a generous 
 pride that none of my party were killed. 
 
 I know not if any of my old comrades are living now. I 
 was the youngest one in the party and I have passed my 
 three score and ten. If any of them are living, "God's bless- 
 ing on them;" if they have crossed the great Divide, then 
 "Farewell." 
 
 Nearly all of the old pioneers of Oregon are gone. No 
 braver, bigger-hearted, or truer set of pioneers ever blazed 
 the way for the march of civilization than they who, 
 
 "Belonged to the legion that never were listed, 
 They carried no banner nor crest; 
 But, split in a thousand detachments, 
 Were breaking the ground for the rest." 
 
 My task is done, and I claim no other merit for these recol- 
 lections than that of truth. 
 
 J. M. Kirkpatrick. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF RICH GOLD FIELDS. 
 
 After much delay Captain Tichenor returned to Port Or- 
 ford and found with dismay that there had been a battle 
 with the Indians, and that the men he had left in charge 
 were either killed or had escaped. 
 
 The Indians were finaly subdued, and it was discovered 
 that there was vast stretches of black sand on the beach, 
 reaching from Coos Bay southward to Crescent City. These 
 sands were permeated with fine particles of gold, and many 
 fortunes were made with the "TOM" process; but the 
 miners began to follow up the stream, believing that the gold 
 found on the beach came from a mineral belt that existed in 
 the mountains. Johnsons Creek, a stream heading at Sal- 
 
18 
 
 raon Mountain, proved to be very rich, and coarse gold soon 
 found its way into the miners' sack. The stream being only 
 a few miles in length it was soon worked out, as the rush 
 to that new Eldorado was great. After taking out many 
 thousand dollars, the prospectors broke camp and started 
 for other fields of promise. Had these adventurers gone 
 three miles to the head of one of the branches of the stream 
 and examined the foothills for quartz, they would have 
 found mines that afterwards became noted for their vast 
 wealth. In after years, while working on the side of Sal- 
 mon Mountain in a placer mine. Mr. Dunbar uncovered ore 
 or quartz that yielded wonderful results. One piece that 
 weighed two hundred pounds yielded $2,700 and other an- 
 alysis showed a value as high at $600 per ton. The placer 
 mine thus worked yielded good results in coarse gold and 
 amalgam, and besides ore of different grades were uncov- 
 ered, but a forest fire sweeping over the mountain destroyed 
 their three miles of flume and all other improvements that 
 were of a nature susceptible to destruction. 
 
 The owners of this valuable property concluded to trans- 
 fer it to more energetic hands, hence a company was formed, 
 capitalizing at only $50,000, 25,000 shares being placed on 
 the market to enable the company to adopt improved 
 methods so that the gold might be secured rapidly and at 
 the least expense. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE MINE. 
 
 The mine is known as Salmon Mountain Placer Mine and 
 owned by the Salmon Mountain Coarse Gold Mining Com- 
 pany, their principal place of business being at Myrtle 
 Point, Oregon, near Coos Bay. The company has 300 acres. 
 It lays on the north slope of Salmon Mountain, situated 
 near the county line dividing Coos and Curry counties in 
 southwest Oregon. The mine is 30 miles from Myrtle 
 Point, a thriving town situated at the head of navigation 
 on the Coquille River, a stream that joins the Pacific Ocean 
 25 miles north of Port Orford. There is a line of steamers 
 running between Coos Bay and San Francisco, and Myrtle 
 Point is connected by railroad with Coos Bay, and a wagon 
 road connects Mvrtle Point with the mine. 
 
19 
 
 Report of the U. S. Geological Surveyor and Mineral- 
 ogist, Port Orford, Oregon, Folio No. 89, Published by 
 the Department of the Interior. 
 
 ''The Salmon Mountain Mine on the north slope of Sal- 
 mon Mountain, at an elevation of 2,100 feet, is hydraulic, 
 using water with nearly 200 feet head, brought across the 
 divide from the upper part of Johnsons Creek. The cut is 
 about 50 feet deep, the same in width, and 500 feet long, 
 with a range of 200 feet in hight. It is in rather fragmen- 
 tal material of igneous origin, except at the lower end, 
 where Eocene shales and sandstone occur. Although closed 
 at the present time, it has been worked during the rainy 
 season at intervals for a number of years. When running 
 under a good head the mine paid $75 to $100 a day and the 
 gold is said to be rather uniformly distributed through the 
 whole mass." 
 
 These facts have been set forth so that those who wish to 
 make an investment in a very promising proposition can 
 do so. It is confidently believed that this is as good and 
 safe a field for such an enterprise as can be found and 
 those contemplating such an investment should apply ki 
 person or by letter addressed to the Secretary of the com- 
 pany, Mr. Orvil Dodge, Myrtle Point, Oregon, and proper 
 blanks will be furnished. 
 
 All of the stock offered is Treasury stock, and only so 
 much will be sold as will be sufficient to equip the mine. 
 
 If you have a hundred or a thousand to invest you are 
 face to face with an opportunity for rich returns that is 
 little likely to occur again in your lifetime. If you want to 
 act on this proposition, prompt, immediate subscription is 
 the only sure way to secure the stock. 
 
 Following is an extract from a letter written by Hon. 
 Binges Herman, ex-Commissioner of the General Land 
 Office, and now a Member of Congress : 
 
 "I have known the Salmon Mountain Mine forty years at 
 least, and have known of its great mineral wealth. I have 
 known of large quantities of coarse gold having been ex- 
 tracted. * * * I know all of the people who constitute 
 the ownership of this valuable property and know them to 
 be men of integrity and responsibility in the community in 
 which they reside. * * * I have confidence in the ex- 
 tent and richness of the Salmon Mountain Mine." 
 
20 
 
 FIRST QUARTERLY REPORT TO THE STOCK-HOLDERS OF THE SAL- 
 MON MOUNTAIN COARSE GOLD MINING CO. 
 
 Principle place of business. Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 
 (Incorporated under the laws of the State of Oregon.) 
 » 
 
 December 31, 1903. 
 
 The mine originally consisted of 8 placer claims, to whicii 
 4 more have been added. The company has recently 
 secured 4 quartz claims, which have been developed while 
 working the placer mine, they being on the same ground. 
 
 The assay of the quartz lodes thus found is officially re- 
 ported by Professor Monroe, of the Columbian University, 
 of Washington, I). (\, as able to produce the following 
 results : 
 
 Ore No. 1. . |268.88 per ton 
 
 Ore No. 2 243.50 per ton 
 
 Ore No. 3 600.80 per ton 
 
 Ore No. 4, 8.03 per ton 
 
 The samples thus analyzed were selected by persons not 
 interested, and an affidavit of two men set forth the fact 
 that they were fair and true samples of the mine. 
 
 The improvements on the mine now consist of 1 sawmill 
 (water power), 1 giant, a blacksmith shop (well equipped), 
 boarding house, large warehouse, 1 steam boiler and engine, 
 eraster, 3 miles of flume, about 400 yards of sluice-boxes, 
 picks, shovels, and other tools to work 10 men. There is 
 about 1,500 feet of tunneling, that proves the value and 
 extent of the mine to be excellent and a good investment. 
 
 During the last quarter the company have caused to be 
 expended on the mine, preparing for large improvements, 
 the sum of $1,000, so they will be ready to put in the 
 necessary machinery to equip the mine and have it in good 
 working order by the 1st of next July, when a surprising 
 dividend may be looked for, within the year. 
 
 As soon as shares are sold and a few thousand dollars are 
 realised, a stamp mill will be placed on the premises and 
 run night and day, in charge of an expert. 
 
 Several thousand more shares are being taken by persons 
 
21 
 
 in Myrtle Point and vicinity, who personally know the 
 value of the property. 
 
 As soon as operations are under way you will receive 
 another report, which will he made quarterly thereafter. 
 
 OFFICERS, AND MEMBERS SALMON MOUNTAIN COARSE GOLD MIN- 
 ING COMPANY. 
 
 VI I//;. p. 0. ADDRESS. 
 
 B. Fentox, President, Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 
 John J. Cubrbn, First l r ice- /'resident. Myrtle Point, Ores:. 
 0. C. Carter. Second Vice-President. 
 Orvil Dodge, Secretary, 
 M. P. Lee. Assistant Secretary, 
 \l. W. Ltndy, Treasurer, 
 T. M. Hermann, Corresponding Se&y, 
 Norman Dodge, Engineer, 
 Stephen Gallier, Sheriff of Coos Co., 
 
 Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 .Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 Myrtle Point, Oreg. 
 Ooquille City, Oreg. 
 
 E. Gallier, Deputy sheriff of Coos Co., Ooquille City, Oreg. 
 
©AYLORD BROS. Inc. 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 Stockton, C»lif. 
 
 M31.5165