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 University of California Berkeley 
 
INDIAN WARS 
 
 of the 
 
 
 INLAND EMPIRE 
 
 GARRETT B. HUNT 
 
 General Newman S. Clarke 
 
INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 

 Colonel George Wright 
 
Indian Wars 
 of the Inland Empire 
 
 by Garrett B. Hunt 
 
 SPOKANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY 
 
 Spokane, Washington 
 
(NOT FOR SALE) 
 
of Spokane, Wash. Spo v esman Review 
 
 Nam m imGarrett .13. Hunt, 
 R , S M,MC, v/2ii*. Third Avenue. 
 
 Orcupa.ln,, "ClerK t . Gli^ t . Y/ilt 6P 
 
 PMC*, of hinh Clarence, K. Y. 
 
 Date of hlrth 1^'l-th MovUIla Yrl&67 
 
 *i*f 1V02 to City 1903 
 
 , ,,,.,., North YcUima 
 
 TUli. ' lu.rrh 
 
 ;auo)i. Ali.'h.'i Delta Phi 
 
 Of COJU. 
 
 L3.A.A.C. CnaihD 
 
 Po<lt1ni'< of trust orrnpleH. 
 
 DC}'. CO. 
 
 Divisl 
 
 SpOKane, 1909 to 
 
 II nil Hunt. ' pio- 
 
 , ,,,1 I a worker 
 
 rli"d 
 
 .-inliiB nt hi-- Iv Nor- 
 
 .iiilv I r >. whlrh !"!''. 
 
 in In i ir * on 
 
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 V hi' h 
 
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 an a.'- 
 
 r-ei ' T i (>( i -'t Y;iM.r:;i in 
 ootiilneu divorce in 
 
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 inti- 
 
 j[r \VR<; n 
 
 lunpl.-r nf : .. ' 34, 
 
 hr ( >rlrntnl mn- 
 slsinry, HII.I r,i K;>Hf Rhi 
 
 *)HP br'.tiir > no\v dcnd ' ! presi 
 dent r 'ii* ''in 
 
 n'lil nn nUIrr bmtli'i 'V \V. 
 
 Hunt. Is pp-':|clm of JVi-KHPll col- 
 " 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 &&!&*** 
 
 0. B. HUNT 
 
 WHITER 
 
 U r ' It . I It i, ... -Ml** 
 I.. I r II -iinlili ri Mir. .1. 
 
 ' 
 ' 
 
 n 
 
 i o.iii 
 
'rom 'lies of Spokane. Wash. Spokesman Review 
 
 . iarrett Hunt Wished 
 
 His Hollow Shell 
 
 I, eft to l-'ire. 
 
 EABS LI-TTKR 
 
 *k< Allies Br Hung Oui 
 on l-nchanlrtl G>vc at 
 
 A iinln.p lrlpr of ornatr rhr-tnrlc 
 
 yolllrvvd-ln? on drjlMl, nod tlv fllHI- 
 
 Ity and f-llv of pompous burials vn* 
 left hv fottpM B Hunt. P."'. f"r more 
 
 than 30 vr-,rs " Hly ,? tiipl^ PP, who 
 rtlO'l \r-'r,flTV. 
 
 in- M'PI IVP i iiMi on Masonic 
 
 t-,.,,,ir *\\<\ da'pd April 4. 
 
 ,oto - -'1 to Finnic ft. 
 
 <-:,, ...,:;/ .I'll Mm stipulation that 
 It **-. b pprnpd upon death of 
 the ifrjiffr. rmn1.'-;l"ti to open HIP 
 nr'SBSf "": 'ats<> rrantpd Knvin .T. 
 Barkfr. ".<' hv nm-'cr "f Spokanp 
 Masonl'- '-'IE' 1 N-v .M 
 
 Uha to Do \Ylth Boris" 
 
 'Til- l'"-r M' 
 
 P-m 1'tHTstnM'Une Fll'nd 
 
 11,1* "iil of di-MPt h tr>dqy POM- 
 
 H h HIP "mini? 
 
 of Mir -en I 
 APT"" 'hot n'lirr ra<-<- -"Id. VPt 
 
 i m : ii up.- Mrnl rpl'":- 
 
 - Mull -j p r |,i -vltli th" 
 
 nf cli Hi'-: dors not nffnrt 
 regai -it'ic ' t' r ni'^ln^l of 
 "f hi* mori.il mint ins aftpr 
 l i ji.i |1 ifntlon. or 
 
 c x^nl'ir of ni'M'n! lif* 1 . It has wrll 
 (ncl lovally HTX'-d !. t^nfii' ' 
 rlBlly. hi.it. vm-niit. ! will 1)P niTftv 
 Rtl rrpptv f-lKll ilpuji M)" riullr';-- 
 
 of \\1r'* unr^tiiiR prx. to br rToc- 
 
 Plfd '! njir|,<f.|rr| WtMy R SUCh. 
 
 I fr-| Hi thrrr ran b^ nothing 
 MI''' nbmit riv trnnntlfss r'iip;p 
 
 p rp-,l,- 1 t frniU Chilli Stnnn \\Hf 
 h^rn Inlron 
 
 With B h!tjntiKs<! v h!ch tos'-.'--: nMdr 
 all <-"n-|drint!nn rr> 
 
 IPR f|r|>irnlallv to thr- srtH-d vjo\vs 
 of nthv.- and to vnrtnt'-r) \ncnr. I 
 
 Manure to Mundane. 
 
 Uiull P'^nl of In pom*- mannrr, 
 undpr Ihp usual < - ir< Minstances It will 
 brronir an unrlonn nipnacp to frlrnds 
 nnrt frllnws In Ihptr mundane actlvl- 
 UPS whrii my soul shall hnve (?one on 
 to R fuller splrttual rxlstrnre beyond 
 
 e gr . 
 
 I lay no crcal storp by thp Inougnt 
 thitt t'hp physlml body In In thp tmn[;c 
 Of HIP Maker, for thr Makrr Is rn- 
 tlrplv rlrltnal. While livliiK. I linvr 
 bcpn I'-it-.r to ceremonttl recognition 
 out <> il-jftrrnrp to \vhnt''vrr of virtur 
 I>IP tr;>iv;latPd onr innv hnvp < 
 I v.n'ild .srt down nauKht. hii- to 
 haii'!"'' ( h" frpp Inr-llnatlotv; of Jovm^i 
 filr,,,l fliul rnwork'T. But Irt sijph bp 
 llmit.Mi to thp fltflr of fcllownhlp, If 
 ( Imim-slanrps so coiitv^l. Bn' 1 rn- i 
 (nil MM MP h rtrvoii-i. merely (IrfrrrlnR, 
 t-i Mi" v.ishP of thp living who if- i 
 main '<-' th<n- IIP embarrassed be- 1 
 ' ( -.IHT 'f i^piitp for nnsppinlv omtAflion I 
 of iiaR<v 
 
 Room for llpaton. 
 
 n'-.nt thai mlrf my 
 inv rorp-.o tv)|] bp to 
 
 ^.tlM rlnlirs 
 of no more 
 
 But, Irt i-pa-on flUfl rltflinistnn'P, 
 ralhrr 'hnn .uly-p| vlrjico In -nslnm. 
 point Hi* T'fv 1o thp disposition of j 
 my raithlv h"<". rtlmblo fir" has, 
 rv'pr ppppatil i" m "" a nvi-p rteslr- | 
 nblp pblUrtnnt than thr llnRprlnp 
 proppss of r1--,-pv within Hi" narrow 
 hoirp ' and In P lavcr rHv t-^ 1< 
 ppti?lvp than burial lot and excavation 
 
 jof =rpnl. h- oft. I hn-p ponrinrd 
 roni-pM'b'K ")p futility "f expending 
 sums of moil'-' and ontiavlne IlvltiR 
 cnrrsz^ In i--"vprlne nvir i 
 fr^m la'" 1 bnd|p<! of witi-r, m In 
 
 ' brlnr.i^R ih^m nut of thr d-plh<; of far 
 forp-t- a.-i havp tunird Instlnctlvfly 
 to the prlni and r.lmplr trando'ir of a 
 ivlal In thp filrjity ",-ran, or spon- 
 
 tanrou-iv n.i-.-trd t" thp nattiral! 
 epuHnrr - r M--^. "-ii n ' p hnf1 v, ' n > 
 
 ;,rrr- Ii-- --'U had Ictt t on taklnc 
 filch* '" irlc'-tlal responslblHUes 
 until "thp an,p'* of c,od upturned the 
 1 tod niid l r f hp dppd rnnn there. 
 ' T^.-i many of our modern "In Memo- 
 i rlnms" prhlblt th" folly and futility of 
 [mere R^--tnrr--. n^ won R'- creating 
 i R i|n\pir. burdens up " "IP living. 
 
 A^bps to N -it nrr. 
 
 All mmlrlprailon? b^lnT othPtwhp 
 1 nRrprr>M( T prpfpr cremation with the 
 fl.th r"- ( '!nr 511 ntiy flntu: out to na- 
 [JprsUnding companion 
 
 ,-f rr.^tv.-hilp visits With 
 mr tn HIP Miorp of tlm pnrhantrd 
 rovp on l.ak" Chatrolpt. whorr by 
 campfirp ;-npfth thr ?tnrs I listened 
 , to manv a \ol'-rlrss ksson. 
 
 ^-, I \vri'p. I ffpl that I v'tll bp pn 
 nb!rd to riUrharRp all mv prp^nt nvm- 
 Inclrbtrdn"--.. and in thp p'rnt 
 I iPTiip'.; thnt Ihp i-pslclup nftpr rtls- 
 i posing "f mv habitation, at most nvv! 
 
 na'c pxprn r bp turned ovpr to the 
 i almmip'- of Orl'ntal Con r ,kiory. A. A. 
 R. R.. for th" pnsrmpnt of rldprly dls- 
 
 momnt thun tlir rui'-nis of nny olhrr 
 pnimal Rt ln'st ovrrtnkrn by thp v.lrts- 
 
 <:|tMfl<: of tllP VpaTR 
 
 . 
 
 And my Spntt|-.h Pit" rlns rnav 
 roppily co to n brother of Bpokanr 
 (Copttnnrrt nn p* lx. rolnnnriTlv* > 
 
 ASHES OF LOVER 
 OF LA!(F IN COl'E 
 
 '. J c /3i ; 
 
 Gcffrett Tlunt Asked; 
 Final Rest Under ; 
 the Stars. 
 
 All rOnlrfrt,">llfin hrlii|. nltirrnlP 
 aurprablr, I prrfr r rr^matinn with Ibr 
 ash rrtltliip illrnllr fluns out In n* - 
 tnrp hr thp umlrr- l^ndiiiR rnmpnninn 
 or rnmpnnioii' of n tnhllr xUHs rrltb 
 n\* ^n thp iliorr of HIP Pmh^ntrrl 
 rnvp on I, atop Chitrolft. nhr^ li\ 
 rafnpflrp hpnr;ith Hir st.irs I HstrnrH 
 In many n vol< P|P.I |pon. 
 
 ronfoimlnR tn HIP 
 
 ll'Hlt. f,.i 
 
 fif HIP fity. v ho rll<"l 
 hh old fiipiul-- fl 
 
 hi- ,T-.hr- 
 
 thr ".n(p|i "f M ' : ptp hr h:ul 
 
 sppfi* hl^ - T HIP !-> 
 
 y r n i 
 
 Thr n rni!p nnd n 
 
 qunri 
 
 1ft. ; HUP* 
 
 malntalnrd a ramp Itirip mu! 
 o\it PVPIV v. i r I; pud. n> r nmppnird hy 
 somp frl" 
 
 'I'Jip party dm-p cut, yr r ,!prdry In 
 automobiles, PiiKagrd a launrh to takr 
 thpni to HIP COVP and th-n. without- 
 nny rpirmonv. M-nttPird I IIP av t 
 Inds. 
 
 'I'hosp in Hir party < ri ( f 
 1 . Dr II . y, 
 
 Oflilt. Mi<:s Mptlv \V.T!| M 
 
 Hunt; H. I' H 
 
 F. .F Puth'-i!ln and (Jniiip^ SuM- 
 
 Mr. }lnnt If ft n moM inni"ial Irtt-r 
 
 upon his dpath. phlln uphl/lnR upon 
 | clp.it h and the hprpaftn. 'I hp quota- 
 I tion at thp hrari of this nrtlrlf Is an 
 
 extract from it. 
 
TKE I5/WCEGF7 f-TRRA.RY 
 
 Anticipatory 
 
 Into the pages following have been gathered the leading facts touch 
 ing the first steps in the upbuilding by the American whites of the 
 great basin lying between the Rocky mountains and the Cascade range, 
 in later years come to be known as "the Inland Empire of the 
 Columbia." 
 
 Within half a decade much public attention has been attracted to 
 the activities and resources of this domain; yet half a dozen decades 
 ago little was known of the great valley of the Columbia, even at the 
 national capital. 
 
 In the interim, and during the process of change from Indian domi 
 nation to a force in the modern commercial world, there were many 
 characteristic happenings. Perhaps no section of the United States, 
 equal in area, presents now so great a contrast with conditions pre 
 vailing a half century ago. 
 
 These studies were undertaken at their inception solely for the 
 purpose of obtaining accurate information for a single individual con 
 cerning the real events which transpired in the transition from a 
 wild, unproductive stretch of little-known national domain into a 
 segment of the Union fairly representative of Twentieth Century life 
 in the United States of America. 
 
 The fact that this period of change and progress has never been 
 covered by a historian prompted the suggestion that the results of 
 the compilation be collected into a volume. Aside from whatever 
 value the book may have as an authoritative recital of the subject 
 matter, the reproduction of the statements and thoughts of the partici 
 pants in the events treated throws many a point of illumination upon 
 the manners and customs, methods and conditions, military and civil, 
 which were everyday matters in the Pacific Northwest only half a 
 century ago (Spokane, Washington, June, 1908). 
 
 GARRETT B. HUNT 
 

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: (Picture Credits) 
 
 Eastern Washington Historical Society 
 Gonzaga University Archives 
 Jerome Peltier 
 Spokane Public Library 
 The Spokesman-Review 
 
Contents 
 
 1 . Visions of Long Ago 1 
 
 2. War in Washington Causes 5 
 
 3. Some Specific Agencies 9 
 
 4. Mormon Activity 13 
 
 5. Lieutenant Mullan's Observations ....... 15 
 
 6. Steptoe Expedition 19 
 
 7. Te-hoto-nim-me 23 
 
 8. Gregg's Letter 27 
 
 9. Father Josefs Account 31 
 
 10. A Flathead Version 37 
 
 11. An Incubus 41 
 
 12. Preparing to Strike 45 
 
 13. Military Arm 51 
 
 14. Across the Snake 57 
 
 15. Battle of the Four Lakes 61 
 
 16. On the Spokane Plains 65 
 
 17. In the Spokane Valley 69 
 
 18. With the Coeur d'Alenes 73 
 
 19. Treaty Making 79 
 
 20. Executions Hangman Creek 83 
 
 21. Close of a Remarkable Campaign 87 
 
 22. Dandy's Reminiscences 91 
 
 23. Morgan's Recollections 99 
 
 24. Smohalla and His Cult 103 
 
 25. Forms and Ceremonies 107 
 
 26. Warring Nez Perces Ill 
 
 27. A Hegira Militant 115 
 
 28. Sergeant Sutherland's Ride 119 
 
 29. Harvest of Fifty Years 123 
 
 30. Silhouette , 127 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 Brother Jonathan (Steamer) 90 
 
 Clark, William 2 
 
 Coeur d'Alene Mission 75 
 
 Columbia, Steamer 51 
 
 Fleming, Lt. H. B 25 
 
 Fort Benton 74 
 
 Fort Colville 55 
 
 Fort George Wright 125 
 
 Fort Okanogan 53 
 
 Fort Spokane 124 
 
 Fort Walla Walla 18 
 
 Garry, Chief (Spokane) 3 
 
 Gaston, Lt. William .21 
 
 Gregg, Lt. D. McM 27 
 
 Horse Slaughter Camp 73 
 
 Howard, General O. O HI 
 
 Howitzer 92 
 
 Johnston, Bvt. Brig. Gen. A. S 39 
 
 Joseph, Chief (young) 112 
 
 Joset, Father P 31 
 
 Kam-i-ah-kin 5 
 
 Kip, Col. Lawrence 20 
 
 Lawyer, Chief 3 
 
 Lewis, Meriwether 2 
 
 Lyon, Hylan B 57 
 
 McDowell, Major Irvin 40 
 
 McLoughlin, Dr. John 41 
 
 Morgan, Lt. Michael R. (then General) 58 
 
 Mullan, John 17 
 
 Ow-hi 47 
 
 Porter, General F. S 39 
 
 Post, Frederick 74 
 
 Pu-Pu-Mox-Mox or Yellow Serpent 113 
 
 Randolph, Surgeon John F 57 
 
 Scott, Gen. Winfield 24 
 
 Sitting Bull 115 
 
 Smohalla 105 
 
 Splawn, Hon. A. J 85 
 
 Spokane River 69 
 
 Steptoe, Col. Edward J 19 
 
 Stevens, Isaac 2 
 
 Taylor, Brevet Captain . 23 
 
 Timothy, Chief 21 
 
 Wool, Maj. General John Ellis 11 
 
 Maps 
 
 Battle of Four Lakes 62 
 
1 
 
 Visions of "Long Ago" 
 
 Annals of American history indicate that two quite dis 
 tinct methods of progress were in vogue in the settling up 
 by pioneers of the vast public domains. Actual possession 
 of territory was accomplished in different ways in differ 
 ent periods of the advance westward of the forces of civili 
 zation. In each generation the object was the same the sei 
 zure of the chaos of raw material afforded by public lands 
 for the purpose of its conversion into the orderly fruits of 
 settlement and toil. 
 
 The first hardy men who pushed themselves over the Alle- 
 ganies used the rifle as much as they did the hoe. The one 
 was as indispensible in creating settlements in the wilds as 
 was the other. It was the fellow who could shoot with one 
 hand and hoe with the other who built the states of Ken 
 tucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Sometimes one 
 man watched with the rifle that the other might do more 
 hoeing. 
 
 During this rifle-and-hoe period, the settler stood self 
 reliant. It was as if he never heard of the military. It was not 
 until he had built a settlement and had erected a community 
 of women and children and had gathered of the substance of 
 his toil, that he summoned the army; and then the situation 
 was often far from satisfactory. 
 
 By the same token, the general government apparently 
 paid little heed to the pioneers until their accumulations 
 were large enough to attract attention. It seems never to 
 have been thought of by the authorities that those heralds 
 of national wealth need the protecting arm of the soldiery 
 during the process of upbuilding, just as much as they need 
 ed it after the substantiality of the work had been estab 
 lished. It would appear as if those men, after defending 
 their clearings, protecting their families and raising their 
 crops under conditions that appalled even the lion-hearted 
 nation-builders of that early period, must needs send back 
 to the Potomac some properly engrossed formality, big and 
 blatant with seal and signature: "To All to Whom these 
 PRESENTS may Come, Greeting: Feeling that we have 
 proved ourselves worthy the consideration of our brethren 
 living between the Alleganies and the Atlantic, we pray you 
 to look upon our property and promise, and if they be large 
 enough to warrant your good graces, we pray that military 
 assistance may arrive before the next Indian uprising.'* 
 And in stubborn faith in itself the old Northwest territory 
 was of national importance before it saw an army in com 
 mand of an American general. 
 
 The forces of evolution and experience went on, however, 
 and by the time the stream of adventurous homemakers 
 
 and nation-builders crossed the Mississippi, the army as 
 a supporting force had got within hailing distance of the 
 rearguard of the pioneers. On the plains of Nebraska and 
 Kansas, they bivouacked together. Marching among the 
 foothills of the Rockies, the soldier was frequently in the 
 van. Forts Kearney, Laramie, Bridger and yet others 
 whose names linger in history as points of exigency in the 
 conquest of territory, indicate how the army had commence 
 to clear the way for the settler. 
 
 The Pacific Northwest, like the old Northwest, settled 
 itself. Its occupation by "the Boston man" was sporadic. 
 First came the sea-farer and adventurer in ships to the 
 great river and the great sound. Occasionally a vessel 
 touched at the settlements, and so it came about that the 
 navy, rather than the army, gave governmental protection 
 to the infant communities. But the navy could not go inland. 
 Yet, there was not much definite attention directed from 
 the capitol to the Pacific Northwest until the establishment 
 of the 49th parallel as the international boundary. 
 
 The decades following 1830 were notable in that they 
 witnessed the unrest which populated, however sparsely, 
 the great central plain of the continent. Explorations, like 
 those of Pike, Long and Fremont, had fixed public attention 
 on the little known sections of the western country. The 
 mystic appeal of the far places of the land was heard by 
 many a fireside in the older states. 
 
 It was inevitable that the Rocky Mountains would prove 
 no barrier. Bonneville and Irving had played grand music 
 on the lute, which in the hands of Lewis and Clark, had 
 seemed to the nation at large to have given forth a Circean 
 melody. As the settlements on Puget Sound and along the 
 Columbia and Willamette were largely maritime in their 
 considerations, and smelled of salt water, so the people 
 who were attracted by the great solemn reaches which 
 stretched away between the Rockies and the Cascades 
 were of the earth earthy, traveling from inland settlement 
 across inland plain to the newest inland empire of the 
 nation. Later Boones called to newer Harrods and Donelsons 
 and answering ones with their families and stock and seeds 
 poured through other Cumberland Gaps in a loftier range 
 than the Appalachians into a newer valley than the Mis 
 sissippi, appropriating the last of the nation's great nat 
 ural domains the Inland Empire of the Columbia. 
 
 Take any epoch of human progress. Cut therefrom the 
 segment of half a century. Contrast the opening and closing 
 conditions. Brief as is the history of the American nation, 
 each generation of its citizens has contrasted its sur- 
 
roundings with those of its predecessors by fifty years, 
 and has been startled. The perspective of the man of today 
 is more startling than any of its antecedents. No more 
 startling retrospect is afforded in American history than 
 is furnished by the upper reaches of the Columbia. 
 
 Information gleaned by Lewis and Clark on their daring 
 exploration of the country west of the Rocky Mountains 
 created scarcely a ripple upon the stream of public attention 
 in Jefferson's time. Fifty years later a cabinet officer of 
 these United States commented on the lack of governmental 
 information, for military purposes only, of the region of the 
 River Oregon. The half century segment of progress of the 
 Inland Empire of the Columbia, which lay between Jefferson 
 and Buchanan, was without appreciable dimension. The five 
 decades between 1858 and 1908 exhibit a vast territory trans 
 formed from the unproductive sovereignty of thesiwashto a 
 potent agency in international commerce, from a population 
 'of a few hundred savages to a half million souls in active, 
 throbbing touch with the world's marts. 
 
 As was the case with the old northwest of the Scioto and 
 the Wabash, the strong arm of the soldier was interposed be 
 tween the daring home maker and the Indian whom he dis 
 possessed. The Pacific Northwest, also, had its Fallen Tim 
 bers and its Tippecanoe. Puget Sound and the Willamette 
 valley looked toward the gray ocean and received their people 
 from its bosom. The upper Columbia valley and its trib 
 utaries received their settlers as they descended the western 
 slopes of the Rockies. 
 
 Before naif a century had elapsed after the first official 
 government expedition had penetrated to the Pacific North 
 west, Whitman had closed his trek at Wailatpu. The echoes 
 of the voices of some statesmen protesting against the fu 
 tility and emphasizing the danger of recognizing the terra 
 incognito of the Columbia had not died out in the national 
 capital. But the fecund stirrings of the popular will vibrated 
 to the tones of Benton, pleading that the nation do not throw 
 away a promising and priceless heritage. The phrase, 
 "across the plains by ox team," had its origin in years 
 earlier than 1858, and in the exodus from the old states the 
 people themselves had cast the die. 
 
 The advent of settlers in the Walla Walla valley resulted 
 
 in bloodshed. The volunteer riflemen of the new Northwest 
 were fit successors in spirit and accomplishment to the 
 buckskins who followed old George Rogers Clark. After the 
 Cayuse war, with its record of woe, had come and gone, 
 Governor Stevens of Washington territory, also Indian super 
 intendent in the Pacific Northwest, concluded treaties with 
 some of the tribes. Dilatoriness at the national capitol 
 thwarted conciliation. Each week the settlers poured through 
 the passes of the Rockies. Each month increased the tension 
 wherever the settler came in contact with the natives, re 
 sentful at the intrusion upon their valleys and hillsides. The 
 storm burst in the Columbia valley early in 1858. There had 
 been patters of conflict along the Yakima and on the lower 
 Columbia, but the outburst which effectively cleared the 
 atmosphere fell in 1858. 
 
 In 1857 there had been Indian unrest in all parts of the 
 country, and the crack of the army rifle had been heard 
 along the Gila river, and in Texas and New Mexico leaden 
 compliments had been exchanged with Navajo, Kiowa and 
 Comanche. In the fastnesses of the Everglades of Florida 
 government regulars and state volunteers had clashed with 
 the remnant of Seminoles. 
 
 When the new year came, its heritage was the accumulated 
 troubles of its predecessors. In its very first weeks the 
 Second cavalry had "chastised" a party of Indians on the 
 San Geronimo in New Mexico and "recaptured horses of 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
which they had robbed the settlers." The Indian uprisings 
 of the year involved not only the Utes, Comanches, Kiowas, 
 Kickapoos, Apaches, Cheyennes,NavajosandWichitas,inthe 
 Southwest, but also the Seminoles in the far Southeast and 
 the Sioux along the Red River of the North, as well as the 
 tribes of the upper Columbia. The territory of Washington 
 alone saw three expeditions that of Steptoe, which came 
 very near annihilation, that of Garnett along the Yakima 
 and that of Wright into the Spokane country. In addition, the 
 Mormons of Utah were in a state of active rebellion against 
 the government. The spirit of unrest was over the plains and 
 mountains and valleys of the entire west. 
 
 Chief Lawyer 
 
 The actual strength of the United States army in the sum 
 mer of the year was 17,498 officer sand men, and the demands 
 made upon the soldiery were so diversified and so widespread 
 that they "were distributed throughout the states and ter 
 ritories of the entire confederacy, manning all the forti 
 fications, holding all the posts now garrisoned, defending 
 all our extended frontiers and protecting, as far as possible, 
 the different routes across the continent from the Mississippi 
 to our possessions on the Pacific." 
 
 Secretary of War Floyd complained that only thirteen reg 
 iments were available for the work of quelling the epidemic 
 of troubles a little over 11,000 men to cope with "the ar 
 duous duty of prosecuting all the Indian wars, which have 
 extended this year from the British possessions on the 
 Pacific to the borders of Texas; as well as of crushing the 
 rebellion in Utah which, from its vindictive spirit and large 
 numbers, threatened at its outset to become, and indeed was, 
 very formidable." 
 
 Those of the present generation who recall the apparent 
 ease and facility with which troops, their equipment and 
 subsistence were transported by steam during the Cuban 
 and Philippine campaigns of 1898, may well be reminded 
 of the circumstances under which the soldiers of forty 
 years earlier performed their duty. There was much to do 
 outside of fight the red man. Hark back across a half cen 
 
 tury and note the strides taken witnessing the following 
 paragraph from the report of the Secretary of War: 
 "These marches in the main, have been made through 
 the uninhabited solitudes and sterile deserts which stretch 
 away between the settlements on the Pacific and Atlantic 
 coasts, upon routes which afforded nothing to facilitate the 
 advance, except only the herbage which the beasts of bur 
 den might pluck by the wayside. Every item of supply, 
 from a horseshoe nail to the largest piece of ordnance, has 
 been carried, from the depots along the whole line of these 
 tedious marches, to be ready at the exact moment when ne 
 cessity might call for them. The country traversed could 
 yield nothing. The labor, foresight, method and care requi 
 site to systematize, and the energy, activity and persist 
 ence to carry out such operations by the different depart 
 ments, deserve the attention of the country, and in my 
 judgment, its commendation, too." 
 
 Chief Garry. Spokane 
 
 Hear! Hear! Ye people of a fifty-year-old land! 
 
 Uninhabited solitudes? Speak up, ye cities of the Kansas 
 and Nebraska plains, of the valleys of Colorado and Utah, 
 of the stretches of Wyoming and Idaho. 
 
 Sterile deserts? Make answer, ye corn fields of the Platte, 
 ye cantaloup vines of Rocky Ford, ye alfalfa levels of the 
 Snake, ye orchards of the Yakima, ye wheat-greened hills 
 of the Palouse. 
 
 Nothing to facilitate the advance? Blow the whistles of 
 your locomotives, ye transcontinental railways, and pass 
 the word to your connecting lines. 
 
 Tedious marches? Shunt out your Pullmans and obser 
 vation coaches, ye St. Paul, Burlington, Union Pacific, 
 "Katy," Rio Grande "All trains will give right of way to 
 Extra Special No. 1, government troops on board." 
 
 Yield nothing? Fling out your beef and bacon, ye packers 
 by the Kaw. Divert that shipload of flour consigned to 
 China, ye millers of the Spokane. Uncover your haystacks, 
 ye farmers of the Flathead. Hurry forward more blankets, 
 Eastern Oregon. 
 
 VISIONS OF LONG AGO 
 
Regarding the operations carried on by the army in 1858, 
 Secretary Floyd submitted the following epitome: 
 
 "Our little army has been called upon during the last year 
 to carry on a war extending over nearly the whole space 
 embraced between the parallels 32 degrees and 48 degrees, 
 north latitude, and extending over a space of more than 
 fifteen hundred miles. It is not, then, a matter of surprise 
 that our thirteen regiments, engaged in those wars and the 
 Mormon rebellion, should have been called upon in the per 
 formance of these arduous services, to accomplish the 
 extraordinary feat of marching an average of nearly thir 
 teen hundred miles." 
 
 Out of the experiences of this year of extensive operations, 
 "necessarily larger by far than at any previous time since 
 the Mexican war and with difficulties and embarrassments 
 surrounding at every step which were never at any time 
 greater," came propositions to facilitate movements of 
 troops and their necessities. Transportation was the great 
 problem. The suggestion is eerie that camels were ever 
 mentioned for use in the "Great American Desert." Yet in 
 sober earnest Secretary Floyd wrote the following in an 
 official communication: 
 
 Of the need of this northern read across the continental 
 divide, Secretary Floyd wrote to President Buchanan: 
 
 "I have but little hesitation in saying that a most impor 
 tant line of intercommunication between the Mississippi 
 valley and the river Oregon will yet be opened upon a line 
 extending from Lake Superior along the waters of the upper 
 Missouri to those of the Oregon. At all events, we need 
 much information about this country, which nothing but a 
 
 careful exploration can give. There are strong grounds to 
 believe that between the navigable waters of the Missouri 
 and those of the river Oregon a portage of not more than 
 four hundred miles intervenes. If this should turn out to be 
 true, and the ground should prove suitable for the construc 
 tion of a road, this route will eventually be one of the most 
 important yet discovered between the Atlantic and the 
 Pacific for military purposes." 
 
 One is at a loss to understand why Secretary Floyd ap 
 proached the topic of a northern transcontinental route in 
 language so tentative. He must have known that Mullan had 
 already commenced the construction of the wagon road 
 over the mountains. A number of years earlier Isaac I. 
 Stevens, governor of Washington, acting under orders of the 
 war department by direction of Congress, had discovered a 
 feasible route for a railroad, heralding the Northern Pacific. 
 Stevens' lieutenants had traversed the passes of the Rockies 
 in several places Detailed reports of their discoveries and 
 their recommendations had been on file at Washington for 
 several years. 
 
 The significance of the quotation lies in the contrast it 
 makes conspicuous. It shows that the high authorities at 
 Washington considered the military aspect of the immediate 
 outlook as paramount. Virginian and Pennsylvanian of fifty 
 years ago had not in embryo a conception of the commercial 
 importance of the country which formed the subject of their 
 military lucubrations. Three years later the Civil war burst 
 forth, and it was discovered that this same John B. Floyd 
 had flung into the seceding states all he dared of the United 
 States quartermaster, commissary and ordnance stores. 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
2 
 
 ! War in Washington Causes 
 
 The causes of the uprising of the various tribes in the 
 Columbia valley in 1858 are not to be found in the occurrences 
 of any single year or in any one line of consideration. Under 
 lying each one of the specific differences which contributed 
 to this particular conflict was the foment which is as old as is 
 civilized America, as old as is the time when progressive 
 races began to push aside and subjugate those other races 
 which made no advance toward maturity of the completion of 
 the world's destiny. 
 
 It was the irrepressible conflict between the aborigine and 
 the all-conquering Anglo-Saxon. The strife had commenced 
 when the first European colonist set foot on the western 
 shores of the Atlantic. The present generation, in regarding 
 the edifice built by the forefathers in the nation, is not 
 disturbed in his daily life by the chips and sawdust and noise, 
 and perhaps the casualties and mistakes which attended its 
 building. The long series of Indian wars has been but the 
 necessary concomitant of rearing the national structure. 
 
 Humanitarians have wept over the sad fate of the native 
 races, but it is the inexorable law of progress that one type, 
 or one civilization, must snuff out another which has served 
 its purpose. The process results in the necessary tragedies 
 of human history. When, hemmed in between the tide of immi 
 gration descending the western flanks of the Rockies and the 
 sturdy young settlements along the lower Columbia, the Cow- 
 litz and Puget Sound, with the British possessions on the 
 north, the Indian of the upper Columbia could go no further. 
 As a race, the red man had "slowly and sadly climbed the 
 distant mountain and read his doom in the setting sun." It 
 would be a craven race which would sit supinely in the tepee 
 and watch an aggressor calmly avail himself of favorite 
 fishing ground, of valued hunting range, of beloved valley. 
 The American Indian was never a craven. 
 
 In the breast of Palouse, Yakima, Spokane and Coeur 
 d'Alene beat the heart of the American native. In offering 
 resistance to the white man, the Inland Empire Indian was 
 animated by the same sentiment which actuated King Philip 
 to pit his arrowed Aampanoags against New England settlers, 
 which inspired Pontiac to weave his conspiracy, which drew 
 the followers of Tecumseh to Tippecanoe, which called to 
 Osceola to gather his remnant of Seminoles within the Ever 
 glades. 
 
 In one sense, the Inland Empire in 1858 saw the last war 
 waged by the United States to extinguish native title to a 
 considerable territory. '*If the soldiers come north of the 
 
 Nez Perces river, we will fight; this land is ours," was the 
 ultimatum of the natives sent to the commander at Fort Walla 
 Walla. In later Indian wars the issue was not so concisely 
 drawn. Captain Jack and his Modoc braves in the lava beds of 
 Oregon were at best but outlaws from the Klamath reser 
 vation. Sitting Bull resisted in his Indian fashion govern 
 mental attempts to quarter him at an agency. Joseph and his 
 Nez Perce band pleaded treaty violation. Geronimo's wild 
 spirit was ever for bloodshed whenever he could break out of 
 his Arizona corral. Kamiahkin and the allied tribes of 1858 
 sought to establish for themselves a reserve north of the 
 Snake river which had been the pleasant abode of their fathers 
 for generations. They relinquished a part of their heritage, 
 hoping thus to retain the residue. 
 
 Kam-i-ah-kin 
 Head Chief of the Yakimas 
 
 That Kamiahkin instigated a conspiracy of the tribes of 
 the northern Columbia has never been denied. The discus 
 sion has been over the degree to which the various elements 
 within his sphere of influence had been welded. A Yakima, 
 he was the acknowledged leader of many tribes. He had 
 been instrumental in rousing his own tribe to hostility in 
 1856. More than any other Indian of the tribes between the 
 
Cascades and the Rockies, he was the persistenand implac 
 able opponent of the whites. None equalled him in craftiness 
 or persuasiveness. At the Walla Walla council of 1855 he 
 had stood aloof from the conference. He had spurned the 
 gifts of Governor Stevens. He left the council before its 
 conclusion, in fact, never having been a member of it. Wheth 
 er Kamiahkin was able to form a confederation in the sense 
 of an actual union cannot be asserted. That he formed some 
 sort of coalition, composed of some tribal chiefs, consid 
 erable numbers of warriors of numerous tribes and the 
 restless outlaw element of nearly every tribe in the basin 
 of the Columbia cannot be denied. 
 
 The Spokanes, Palouse, Coeur d'Alenes and Pend 
 Oreilles were not parties to the Walla Walla treaties. 
 Among these tribes the fierce maledictions and anathemas 
 launched by Kamiahkin against the whites found many eager 
 listeners. He looked with contempt upon "treaty" Indians 
 and gave meed of praise and flattery to those who had not 
 marked upon the white man's paper. 
 
 Kamiahkin' s influence was felt more strongly than else 
 where among the Palouse. These Indians were the natural 
 enemies of the Nez Perces. Whatever had been their de 
 scent, in 1858 they were not a tribe in the ethnological 
 meaning of the word. Many of them were of the Palus stock, 
 which, prior to admixture with other tribes, had for years 
 occupied the territory north of the Nez Perces. The rene 
 gades hostile to the Nez Perce found haven with the Palouse. 
 Then their territory became a refuge for the outlaws of the 
 various tribes occupying contiguous territory, and finally 
 for the cast-offs of all tribes. This process of intermixture 
 of various elements, in which ishmaelitism predominated, 
 had gone on for generations until in 1858 the Palouse were 
 a tribe of mongrel banditti. Their nominal chief was Til-co 
 ax. Much influence was wielded by one whom the whites 
 called Blue Jacket. But Kamiahkin dominated them. 
 
 Farther removed from the outposts of the whites and less 
 in touch with the activities of the settlers were the Spo 
 kanes. Their home territory embraced the country of the 
 lower Spokane river. They maintained a show of tribal or 
 ganization. They were peaceably inclined. In fact, no occa 
 sion had ever arisen which demanded a declaration of their 
 attitude towards the whites. Their chief was Garry, who had 
 been educated in the settlements of the Red River of the 
 North, through the instrumentality of some officers of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company. He opposed antagonizing the whites. 
 Pohlatkin was the leader of the war element of the tribe. 
 The Coeur d'Alenes, lived to the east of the Spokanes, 
 along the upper Spokane and amid the mountains of northern 
 Idaho. For a decade and a half many of the tribe had been 
 under the influence of Jesuit missionaries who had estab 
 lished a mission and had taught something of husbandry. 
 As has been the case with mountain men in every age and 
 in every part of the globe, these men were recognized as 
 antagonists of no mean metal should they once become 
 aroused. They had never gone on the warpath against the 
 whites, whether "King George man" or "Boston man." 
 Yet, the Coeur d'Alenes, perhaps more than any other 
 considerable tribe of the Pacific Northwest, had from the 
 commencement of the coming of whites into their territory 
 stubbornly refused to engage with them under any circum 
 stances. They owe their name to this sentiment. The gentle 
 
 Jesuit priests seemed to be the only ones who could either 
 influence them or deal with them. Their territory included 
 one of the most beautiful lakes in the entire world, a body 
 of water hemmed in by mountains which sheltered an abun 
 dance of game, especially of the valuable fur bearing kinds. 
 To the shores of this lake, in the twilight of discovery 
 came one late autumn a couple of French Canadian trappers 
 in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. They felici 
 tated themselves upon the richness of their discovery and 
 congratulated themselves upon the fact that they were not 
 molested by the natives. The outlook was so promising 
 they determined to winter there, setting their traps at 
 places of vantage. But only occasionally was the quarry 
 found in their cunning devices. The snow came heavy in the 
 mountains and game disappeared. Provisions ran short. 
 They asked their native neighbors for smoked and dried 
 fish. They were refused, except insofar as sufficient to 
 sustain life through the long winter. Severe hardships were 
 suffered, but the red men were inexorable. They would not 
 take the white men's lives. They would not allow them to 
 starve. They would see that the strangers would not freeze. 
 Otherwise the newcomers were as if dogs. 
 
 In the early spring these two wayfarers of the forest sol 
 itudes reported empty handed to their factor at York or 
 Athabasca house and told their tale of privation and suf 
 fering in the midst of native plenty among the Indians not 
 yet known by name to the Hudson's Bay people. They de 
 scribed the section of the country, its mountains and its 
 lakes. The French Canadian servants of the great fur gath 
 ering company were responsible for many of the names of 
 localities in the Pacific Northwest which were French in 
 origin. They usually set forth some characteristic of the tribe 
 occupying any particular portion of the unknown lands. These 
 Indians had complacently watched the sufferings of their two 
 unwelcome and uninvited visitors. The trappers had been in a 
 pitiable plight, but the red men showed no pity. These natives 
 had not the great heart which would lead them to treat all men 
 as brothers; such hearts must be very small indeed. Among 
 the lightest of the indispensable articles of use carried by the 
 trappers was a little needle-like a bit of steel. Pushed through 
 a piece of tanned deerskin designed for a moccasin, it made a 
 hole so small as to be most desirable in moccasin making. 
 This was the inspiration of the trappers. Those Indians had 
 hearts so small as to be inconsiderable. In their patois this 
 characteristic came out "coeur d' alene" heart of an awl. 
 The Pend d'Oreilles of the lower river of that name were 
 the only Indians in considerable numbers, other than the ones 
 mentioned, upon whom Kamiahkin could count in arraying the 
 natives against the white intruders on the south. They, too, 
 had received their name from the old trappers who had noted 
 the common fashion of wearing pieces of bone "pendant from 
 the ear." They were usually inclined to peace. The Hudson's 
 Bay people had ever been friendly with them. They had not 
 come in close contact with the American whites. A few lodges 
 of the Pend d'Oreilles did join Kamiahkin. Some were rela 
 tives of Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes who were for an ag 
 gressive defense of their camass grounds and fishing fords. 
 Of great aid to Kamiahkin in spreading his propaganda of 
 common cause against the blue-coated soldier and the settler 
 who always came with him, as Smohalla, just then beginning 
 to preach his doctrine of an Indian redeemer who was shortly 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
to appear and, if the good Indians of the Columbia valley were 
 so minded, would drive out the whites from the land and 
 deliver it once more to the natives. Smohalla'shome was at 
 Pna, on the Columbia river near Priest Rapids. In brief, 
 Smohalla taught that the present and future salvation of the 
 Indians lay in accepting faith in this coming Indian messiah. 
 This Indian was a preacher rather than a militant. His 
 message fell upon ears which had been by circumstances of 
 the p<ist few years attuned to just this kind of vibration. In 
 the tom-tom music just then acceptable to the natives 
 Smohalla and Kamiahkin, the one religious fanatic and the 
 other a crafty warrior, played a most pleasing and inspir 
 iting duet. 
 
 It should also be borne in mind that the discovery of gold 
 on the Fraser river in British Columbia and in the Colville 
 valley, was luring the argonauts northward across the dispu 
 ted country. The presence of occasional par ties of gold seek 
 ers, many of whom were not careful to observe the amenities, 
 irritated the Indians. These caravans ever reminded the 
 hostile element of the invasion of their grounds. They were 
 seized upon by the agitators as an illustration which needed 
 no proof. The impassioned Spokane Patrick Henry, looking 
 down from some hilltop commanding a view of the old Col 
 ville trail, might well exclaim: "Our chains are already 
 forged; their clanking may be heard in yonder cavalcade!" 
 
 WAR IN WASHINGTON - CAUSES 
 
3 
 
 Some Specific Agencies 
 
 That was the general condition in the Indian tinder box 
 of the upper Columbia, when several separate inflammatory 
 considerations combined to ignite the latent combustibles. 
 Some of these inciting forces proceeded from the whites 
 and some from the reds. What either party actually did was 
 interpreted by the other, and in the process of friction the 
 caustic qualities came to the surface. No single element, 
 perhaps, could have started the flames. 
 
 Up to 1858 the Federal government had pursued a policy 
 of pacification with the tribes of the Columbia. The North 
 western Indians had been admonished by a show of the army, 
 which had been serving much the same purpose as the 
 birch switch always in a conspicuous place on the desk of 
 the schoolmaster. But the time was fast approaching when 
 the familiarity of the exhibition had ceased to carry awe. 
 Chastisement was bound to come, and no one knew it better 
 than the army officers of the Columbia and the settlers of 
 the region when it became known that the peaceful termi 
 nation of the Yakima difficulty of 1856 had been interpret 
 ed by the Indians as evidence that the government faltered. 
 To the Indians the whites seemed to be divided, as indeed 
 they were. The settlers wanted land. That the formality of 
 ratifying the treaties made by Governor Stevens had not 
 been consummated by the authorities at Washington, seemed 
 a matter of minor importance to the man who had crossed 
 the continental divide for the express purpose of settling on 
 Indian land. The army officer had received instruction not 
 to permit settlements upon non-treaty lands or upon the lands 
 which were the subject of unratified agreements. The settlers 
 berated the army, and the army chided the settlers. And 
 the watchful Indian noted and took courage. 
 
 The Stevens treaties, made in good faith in 1855, had not 
 been ratified by the government when 1858 opened. Con 
 gress and the Buchanan administration, across the conti 
 nent from the Columbia, were engrossed in problems which 
 it took the greatest civil war of history to solve. There was 
 the hardest kind of work at the national capital. The troubles 
 of a few hundred settlers way off on the Pacific coast, in a 
 region to which clear title had been obtained by the govern 
 ment only after a long diplomatic entente of disputed expedi 
 ency, in a territory whose value to the nation was of 
 exceedingly doubtful, until consideration which bore directly 
 upon the integrity of the Union could be settled or might be 
 considered as well on the way to settlement. In the meantime 
 the settlers poured through the mountain passes in a con 
 stantly increasing stream. And they insisted upon having 
 land. And the land they wanted lay in the fertile valleys to 
 
 which Indian Title had not been extinguished. And the army 
 told them that they could not settle here and they could not 
 settle there. 
 
 The territorial authorities were indignant. The older, 
 sturdier settlements on Puget Sound sympathized with their 
 younger brothers east of the Cascades. In the parlance of 
 the modern booster, the fathers of the territory saw that it 
 was going to get a black eye if the newcomers sent word 
 back to the east that they were unable to get land. Repression 
 of immigrants would retard growth. Here was the richest land 
 in the world awaiting settlement; and a dilatory government 
 and an officious army were quibbling over a mere for 
 mality a formality which had at its best to do only with a 
 race of worthless siwashes who were continually marauding 
 and thieving. 
 
 The staunchest friend the territory ever had was Governor 
 Isaac I. Stevens. He was an enthusiast on the Pacific North 
 west. Commissioned by the government, he had negotiated 
 the treaties at the Walla Walla Council. In the line of his duty 
 he had undergone hardship, suffered the discomforts of 
 breaking through the wilderness and had resolutely faced 
 threatening danger from the natives themselves. In him 
 peoples of the territory had implicit faith. He was now ter 
 ritorial delegate in congress. He could urge things along 
 now if the people along the Columbia and the rivers and 
 bays west of the Cascades would but hold up his arms, and 
 thrust into them a prod. 
 
 It would be manifestly discourteous to accuse congress of 
 having been dilatory. In 1858, as now, that body had a sense of 
 the proprieties and its own dignity. But there was the army. 
 Congress would not be offended if the army were prodded, 
 and just then the citizens took delight in wrestling with the 
 army. If the army should call attention of congress to the fact 
 that the people out in Washington Territory were pestering 
 the army, the facts in the case might at least receive at 
 tention. 
 
 Early in 1858 the territorial assembly passed the following: 
 
 WHEREAS, Certain officers of the United States army, 
 commanding in the county of Walla Walla, have unlaw 
 fully assumed to issue orders prohibiting citizens of 
 this territory from settleing in certain portions there 
 of, and in accordance with said orders have driven citi 
 zens and settlers from their claims and home acquired 
 under the laws of the United States, to their great injury. 
 
 THEREFORE, be it resolved by the legislative as- 
 
sembly of the territory of Washington that in our opinion 
 the said orders are without the authority of law, and that 
 the acts done under such orders are a high handed out 
 rage upon the rights and liberties of the American people. 
 
 RESOLVED, That the Governor be requested to give the 
 proper authorities at Washington all necessary informa 
 tion on the subject of the outrageous usurpation of the 
 military over civil authority. 
 
 RESOLVED, That we believe the above usurpation to 
 be the very worst form of martial law, proclaimed by 
 tyrants not having feeling in common with us, nor in 
 terests identified with ours. 
 
 RESOLVED, That a copy of the above resolutions be 
 forwarded to our delegate in Congress, and that he be 
 requested to represent the matter to the proper depart 
 ment in Washington city, to the end that the evil be 
 corrected. 
 
 Passed January 15, 1858. 
 
 J.S.M. VanCleave 
 
 Speaker, House of Representatives 
 
 C.C. Pagett 
 
 President of the Council 
 
 A true copy 
 Attest: 
 
 Secretary's office 
 Olympia, January 25, 1858 
 
 C. H. Mason 
 
 Secretary of the Territory 
 
 That reads like a leaf from the history of Massachusetts- 
 settlers on another coast distressed by other soldiery. The 
 air about the old statehouse in Olympia must have been 
 very like that which in former years kissed the windows of 
 Faneuil Hall. Mayhap the spirits of John Hancock and Fisher 
 Ames dwelt hard by Budd's Inlet in the winter of 1858. 
 They hurried the document across the continent and de 
 livered its destiny into the hands of the faithful Stevens. 
 Communication was slow, and it was not until more than 
 two months had elapsed before James G. Swan of Olympia, 
 private secretary to Delegate Stevens was enabled to place 
 it in the hands of the Secretary of War, accompanied by the 
 following note: 
 
 Sir: I am requested by Hon. Isaac I. Stevens to transmit 
 to you the enclosed copy of joint resolutions of the legis 
 lative assembly of the Territory of Washington, relative 
 to citizens and settlers in Walla-Walla county being 
 driven from their homes and claims by the military 
 authorities of Washington Territory, and to respectfully 
 call your attention to the great importance to the inter 
 ests of Washington Territory that this matter be prompt 
 ly attended to at your earliest convenience. 
 I am, sir, with great respect, your most obedient, 
 
 James G. Swan 
 
 Hon. John B. Floyd 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 Floyd sent the resolutions on down the military channels 
 and it came back to the department of the Pacific. When 
 General Wool was commander of the department the dif 
 ferences between the army officers on the Columbia and the 
 settlers of the territory had been before him. He had held 
 firmly to the old tradition that the Indian lands could not be 
 taken up by whites until the treaties were ratified. Hazard 
 Stevens, in his biography of his father, the governor, refers 
 to General Wool's "malignant animosity" toward the people 
 of the territory. General Newman S. Clarke who had suc 
 ceeded Wool as department commander, replied with the 
 following: 
 
 Headquarters Department of the Pacific, 
 San Francisco, California 
 June 1, 1858 
 
 Sir: I acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 3. 
 General Wool while in command ordered that persons 
 should not be permitted to settle in the region of country 
 alluded to in the resolutions of the teritorial after a 
 consultation with Colonel Mesmith, superintendent of 
 Indian affairs, with a view to saving the Indians from 
 encroachment from the whites, and as a measure tend 
 ing to allay the excitement among the former and so keep 
 them from open acts of hostility. The discontent of the 
 Indians arose from dissatisfaction with reference to the 
 treaty which had been made, but which had not been ra 
 tified, and which remains unratified to this day. 
 
 In a communication of mine to the headquarters of the 
 army, made in January last, I suggested that instant 
 steps should be taken to pacify the Indians, and their chiefs 
 invited to repair to Washington, in order that they might 
 thereby be made to understand the power of the United 
 States. I now reiterate my suggestions and hope that they 
 may be adopted, expecially as, in consequence of recent 
 discoveries of gold fields in Washington Territory and the 
 adjacent British possessions, vast numbers of whites 
 are going there for purposes of mining, who have to go 
 there by way of Puget's Sound and Columbia river. In 
 such state of things collisions will arise jeopardizing 
 the lives of whites as well as Indians, and bringing on a 
 general war, the end of which may be prolonged to a 
 distant day, and may be carried only at great expense. 
 
 Efforts to pacify the Indians should be made (if not now 
 to late) by such generous and judicious appliances as may 
 be consistent with the policy of the government. 
 
 Reports form Colonel Steptoe represents the Indians in 
 his advance as hostile, and that, in fact, they have been 
 insolent in words and deeds, and have so far insulted his 
 post as to have carried off cattle belonging to the public. 
 The Colonel is in the field with the intention of chasti 
 zing them. He represents that certain chiefs and their 
 followers are friendly and stand aloof from the solicita 
 tions of those who are disposed without further delay to 
 make war. Nevertheless sinister rumors are afloat that 
 he has met with a repulse. On recovering accurate infor 
 mation as to the state of affairs with him, should he have 
 encountered disaster, I shall repair to Oregon and per 
 haps Walla Walla, and take steps to support him as far 
 as my means in troops will enable me, in doing which it 
 
 10 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
may be necessary to withdraw troops from other points 
 
 at the risk of endangering them. 
 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 N. S. Clarke 
 
 Colonel 6th Infantry 
 
 Brevet Brigadier General, Commanding. 
 
 Major General John Ellis Wool 
 
 It never became necessary to press those resolutions fur 
 ther. Before General Clarke had penned the foregoing, 
 Colonel Steptoe had crossed the Snake on his illfated incur 
 sion into the country of the northern Indians, and the war was 
 on. 
 
 However exasperating the situation may have been to the 
 settlers, the army was right in its position as a matter of 
 law and justice. The military based its course upon the rec 
 ommendations of the officials of the Indian bureau. J.W. 
 Nesmith a pioneer of Oregon, a commissioned officer of the 
 militia in the Cayuse war and later United States senator 
 from Oregon, was superintendent of Indian affairs in both 
 Oregon and Washington. In the latter part of 1857 Colonel 
 Nesmith submitted the following report: 
 
 The treaties negotiated with those interior tribes, never 
 having been ratified, they are adverse to the occupation of 
 their country by white settlers and every endeavor has 
 been made to prevent intrusion upon their lands until such 
 time as the government shall decide upon the disposition 
 to be made of the treaties. In order to relieve and quiet 
 their apprehensions in relation to the occupation of their 
 country by our people, I directed Agent Lansdale, on his 
 trip to the Flathead country, to explain to them the failure 
 of the government to comply with its promises by reason 
 of the non-ratification of the treaties, and to assure them 
 that their lands should not be taken from them without 
 their receiving fair compensation; they were also in 
 formed that until these treaties were ratified, they could 
 expect nothing from the government in the shape of an 
 nuities or subsistence. 
 
 I would recommend that steps be taken to throw open 
 the Walla Walla Valley to settlement; it is an advanced 
 point in the interior, which if occupied would protect and 
 increase the facilities for an overland communication with 
 the states. The Walla Walla is a rich valley, unsurpassed 
 in its qualities as a grazing country, and as a desirable lo 
 cality for a white settlement. It has already been pur 
 chased by the treaties made by Governor Stevens with the 
 Cayuses and Nez Perces; as the treaties have never been 
 ratified, the country is not considered open to settlement. 
 I understand that the Indians express some dissatisfaction 
 at those treaties, which may render their modification 
 necessary. The only portion of the Country east of the Cas- 
 cales mountains now occupied by our citizens is that in 
 the immediate vicinity of the Dalles, on the south side of 
 the Columbia river. This country belongs to the Indians 
 who were parties to the treaty of June 25, 1855. They have 
 been great sufferers by reason of the occupation of their 
 country by the whites, and have never received any com 
 pensation. The treaty referred to is liberal in its pro 
 visions; the Indians who are parties to it have exhibited 
 good faith towards our government; they have been de 
 prived of their lands and the United States have received 
 all the benefits of the treaty. I think that justice as well as 
 good policy should induce the government to comply with 
 their part of the contract. 
 
 Superintendent Nesmith also submitted recommendations 
 calculated to inspire the discontented and apprehensive 
 tribes with confidence. The actual and immediate perfor 
 mance of the government's obligations with the lower Indians 
 would go far toward allaying the suspicions harbored by the 
 northern Indians. Very naturally the non-treaty Indians ex 
 pected to learn from the government's treatment of the 
 treaty Indians something of what they themselves might 
 reasonably expect. They construed delay as possible intent 
 to pursue a course not laid down in the treaty terms; else 
 why should a great nation fail to carry out its part of an 
 agreement? The natives had implicit confidence in Stevens 
 both as an individual and as the accredited representative 
 of the government, but they feared that the officials in 
 authority over Stevens might not countenance all that he had 
 done, with the result that affairs were no more settled than 
 they were prior to the Walla Walla council. The red man, 
 understanding perfectly the difference between the settler 
 and the soldier, read in the very presence of the troops an 
 implied threat to circumvent or abrogate some, or even all, 
 of the treaty terms. 
 
 There were men, even in that day, who, from one motive 
 or another, did not hesitate to foster the disquieting notions 
 of the Indians. Casual remarks dropped by imprudent civil 
 ians constituted another source of complications. Even 
 subordinates of the Indian bureau itself furnished annoyance 
 to those who were trying their best to prevent a hostile out 
 break. 
 
 Many of the Indians were adverse to the treaties. They had 
 had three years in which to think them over. When it is under 
 stood that Lawyer was the friend of Stevens and the first 
 Indian chief to put his signature to the Nez Perce treaty, 
 the following letter is illuminating: 
 
 SOME SPECIFIC AGENCIES 
 
 11 
 
Fort Walla Walla 
 October 19, 1857 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 It is my duty to inform the commanding general that 
 Mr. J. Ross Brown, acting I believe as an agent of the 
 Indian bureau did in a recent conversation with "Lawyer," 
 the Nez Perces* chief assert that Governor Stevens' 
 treaty of Walla Walla would certainly be ratified and en 
 forced. 
 
 Mr. William Craig, who acted as interpreter on the 
 occasion, gives me this information. 
 
 Considering that this statement is in direct opposition 
 to what the Indians have been told by us, and to what I 
 believe nearly all of them desire, it seems to me in very 
 bad taste, to say the least of it. Mr. Brown could not 
 possibly have known that the treaty will be ratified, and 
 
 even if he had, the proper time to enlighten the Indians on 
 the subject is obviously after it has become the law of the 
 land. He had no right to unsettle the Indians on a point 
 respecting which his convictions are probably no stronger 
 than the opposing belief of many others in daily inter 
 course with them. 
 
 I will simply add that in my opinion any attempt to 
 enforce that treaty will be followed by immediate hos 
 tilities with most of the tribes in this part of the country; 
 for which reason it does appear to me greatly thoroughly 
 digested and accepted by both sides. 
 Very respectfully, 
 your obedient servant 
 E. J. Steptoe, 
 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel U.S.A. Commanding Post 
 
 Major W. W. Mackall 
 
 Assistant Adjutant General, U.S.A. San Francisco 
 
 12 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
4 
 
 Mormon Activity 
 
 There was another powerful influence which actively ap 
 pealed to the Indians in their suspicions and unsettled ideas 
 of the intent of the federal government. None other than 
 Brigham Young and his Mormon church is alluded to. For 
 months the Latter Day Saints had been planning their up 
 rising against the nation, and they had not hesitated to attempt 
 to enlist Indian tribes in their rebellion. 
 
 No fanaticism has ever equalled that of a crusader. To no 
 band of people has ever been vouchsafed a greater prop for 
 hope than that which comes from religion or what is con 
 sidered by them to be religion. Smohalla had inoculated the 
 Columbia River tribes with his redeemer doctrine. Those 
 Indians saw and heard of another sect whose religious be 
 lief resulted in opposition to the federal government. The 
 Indian never had an adequate idea of the power of the United 
 States, no conception of the forces it could command. It had 
 long been the policy of the officers at Walla Walla and other 
 military posts to impress upon visiting Indians the destruc 
 tive power of cannon and the tremendous sources from which 
 the number soldiers could be drawn. But these failed to 
 teach the lesson. The native mind could conceive of nothing 
 of more potent authority than some aggregation of their own 
 tribes. If they and the Mormons should simultaneously 
 strike at the government it must surely fall. The times 
 would be ready then for Smohalla' s redeemer. With the Mor 
 mons attacking Washington and the Indians of the Pacific 
 Northwest driving out the "Boston man" the Smohalla mil- 
 lenium was dawning! 
 
 The interference of the Mormons with the Indians of the 
 west was recognized by army officers. Military reports of 
 the time contain many references to the activity of Mormon 
 emissaries. Some officers viewed the situation as very 
 grave; others attached less weight to the movement. 
 
 Captain Kirkham, at Walla Walla, wrote General Clark at 
 San Francisco under the date of December 1, 1857: "We 
 have recently received from our Indians news from Salt 
 Lake; they report an engagement between our troop and the 
 Mormons; the infromation comes through the Snakes, who 
 are in direct communication with the Mormons. The Snakes 
 tell our Indians that they are well supplied with ammuni 
 tion, and that they can get from the Mormons any quantity 
 that they wish; and they further tell our Indians that the 
 Mormons are anxious to supply them, to-wit: The Nez 
 Perces, the Cayuses and Walla-Wallas, with everything 
 that they want. I would not be surprised if the Mormon in 
 fluence extended to all the tribes in our neighborhood, and 
 
 if they are determined to fight we may have trouble among 
 the Indians on the coast again." 
 
 Civilian George Gibbs, from Puget Sound, thus wrote to 
 General Clarke on November 7th, 1857: "A very curious 
 statement was recently made me by some of the Indians near 
 Steilacoom. They said that the Klickitats had told them that 
 Choosuklee (Jesus Christ) had recently appeared on the 
 other side of the mountains; that he was after a while com 
 ing here, when the whites would be sent out of the coun 
 try, and all would be well for themselves. It needed only a 
 little reflection to connect this second advent with the visit 
 of Brigham Young to the Flathead and Nez Perce country." 
 
 Major Garnett, from Fort Simcoe in the Yakima country, 
 reported on January 30, 1858: "It seems proper that I 
 should report for the information of General Clarke that the 
 Indian chief, "Skloom," brother of Kamiahkin, has recently 
 sent word to me the second time that the Mormons on one 
 or two occasions since last summer have sent emissaries 
 among the Indian of this region to incite them to a union 
 with the Mormons in hostility to the United States. He states 
 that the chiefs repel these overtures from the Mormons, 
 but that the young men seem disposed to countenance them. 
 The Mormons make them large promises of ammunition, 
 arms, cattle, etc." 
 
 Colonel Steptoe, at Walla Walla, on January 29, 1858, 
 added his opinion as follows: "That the expediency of avail 
 ing themselves of this Mormon revolt to recover some real 
 or imagined rights has been discussed among them, I am 
 quite sure, but doubt whether they have resolved to commit 
 themselves to hostilities at the present. If they should learn 
 that the Mormons have obtained any marked advantage over 
 the troops, or if the contest in Utah should be a protracted 
 one, I would then seriously apprehend trouble with the sur 
 rounding tribes." 
 
 General Clarke himself, sitting at headquarters in San 
 Francisco on New Year's day, 1858, felt uneasy at the 
 outlook. He feared that the Mormon malignity had pen 
 etrated to tribes all over the Pacific coast. In a com 
 munication addressed to army headquarters in New 
 York he voiced this sentiment: "The reports from southern 
 California go to show that a like influence has been exerted 
 over the tribes of that region. It is not to be doubted that the 
 Mormons have cultivated friendship with the Indians, and it 
 is scarcely doubtful that, in the recent exodus from San Ber 
 nardino, they have been accompanied by Indians. The Indians 
 in this section of the state are represented as becoming more 
 insolent and, though they have as yet committed no depre- 
 
 13 
 
dations, the fears of the inhabitants are to a great degree 
 excited. From Carson valley we have like reports of the ill 
 effects upon the Indians of Mormon influence. If these things 
 are true, and I credit them, temporary success on the part of 
 the Mormons may be a signal for an Indian war extending 
 along our whole frontier. 
 
 "The troops in this department have been stationed with 
 such strict attention to the absolute wants of the service, that 
 but little if any reduction at any post could be made with safe 
 ty. In Oregon and Washington territories, east of the Cascade 
 range, I consider it unsafe to remove a man for service else 
 where. I recommend instant measures to detach Indians from 
 Mormon influence. As an initial step toward that end, I sug 
 gest that headmen or chiefs be invited to visit Washington. As 
 an inducement they should receive presents to a generous 
 extent. Such visits would disabuse them of any erroneous 
 impressions they may have received relative to the power of 
 the United States, by seeing for themselves how numerous 
 and powerful our people are." 
 
 The devotion of the Indian to a fellow tribesman or a war 
 rior ally has ever been recognized. Soldiers of many a battle 
 field testify to the intrepidity of an Indian brave in seeking to 
 remove the mere corpse of a slain friend. The Indians of the 
 Columbia valley were no exception to the rule. 
 
 The government had laid it down upon the officers of gar 
 risons that whatever terms of peace were made with the 
 natives, those members of the tribes who had been guilty of 
 murder, had robbed settlers or had committed depredations 
 of any character, should be surrendered to the troops to be 
 dealt with according to the white man's standards. Such a 
 condition struck directly at the Indian's sense of fealty and 
 honor. To give up a tribesman living to the enemy was in 
 finitely worse than leaving his body where he had gloriously 
 triumphed in death, a warrior's passport to future happiness. 
 Daring spirits among the Indians had committed deeds 
 which placed them high on the native scroll of honor and 
 fame, but which deeds came within the white man's category 
 of crimes. Indian Agent Andrew J. Bolan had been foully 
 murdered near the Ahtanum not far from Fort Simcoe and 
 his corpse foully and indecently mutilated. Here was a chal 
 lenge direct to the government, the killing of its represent 
 ative and contemptuous treatment of his body. Prospectors 
 
 on their way to the Frazer river and Colville countries had 
 been waylaid and murdered. Raids had been made upon the 
 corrals of settlers and once government property was 
 snatched from under 
 
 The contention of army officers was that the surrender of 
 these outlaws shouldbe a condition of any agreements entered 
 into with the tribes, though they knew that insistence upon 
 this condition might result in making impossible any sub 
 mission of the tribesmen. Late in 1857, General Clarke in 
 a report to army headquarters mentioned "the uneasiness 
 felt lest those implicated in the murder of Bolan, committed 
 eighteen months before, should be sought and seized, or 
 retaliation made on the tribes, notwithstanding the subsequent 
 pacification made." 
 
 There is ample proof that this demand of the whites for the 
 outlaw Indians did actually prove an obstacle when it came to 
 formulating terms of peace. After the attack on Steptoe two 
 priests, commissioned to ascertain the temper of the Coeur 
 d'Alenes and Spokanes, reported: "Two things chiefly they 
 find difficult to comply with in the conditions proposed to 
 them for the peace, and these are: first, to restore the 
 government property; second, to give up the authors of the 
 attack." 
 
 Pohlatkin sent word to General Clarke: "You are at lib 
 erty to kill me, but I will not deliver my neighbors. If it 
 should be my practice, I would do according to it. But that 
 is a practice of your own.** 
 
 "I feel unwilling to give you up my three brothers, " 
 was the message of Coeur d'Alene Milkapsi. 
 
 Spokane Garry replied: "When I hear what you say, 
 there is one word which won't do. You ask some to be de 
 livered up. Withdraw this one word, and sure you will make 
 peace." 
 
 But diplomacy would have been unable to avoid hos 
 tilities, even had there been time for an extended ex 
 periment with it. The Indians were thoroughly aroused, 
 some from one consideration, some from another. It was 
 inevitable that the conflict would come. The progress of 
 civilization could not be stayed. Colonel Steptoe' s march 
 north from Fort Walla Walla in May, 1858, merely pre 
 cipitated hostilities at that time, for antagonism had long 
 been slumbering. 
 
 14 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
5 
 
 Lieutenant Mullans Observations 
 
 There were other causes, more or less remote, the ab 
 sence of which might have prevented outbreaks of hostilities. 
 Lieutenant John Mullan, who had been in contact with both 
 the Indian and with Indian bureau methods for many years, 
 had decided convictions and expressed them at a later day 
 to the chief of the bureau. Though the letter is chronolog 
 ically out of place at just this portion of this narrative, it is 
 so replete with suggestions and discussions bearing on the 
 origin of the troubles and is so interesting as being the frank 
 and careful expression of a man prominent in the early de 
 velopment of the Inland Empire, that it is presented here: 
 
 Camp At The Four Lakes 
 
 Spokane Plains, Washington Territory 
 
 September 5th, 1858 
 
 My dear Sir: 
 
 I deem it a duty that I owe both you and myself, in view 
 of the present active Indian Hostilities in which we are 
 now engaged, in view of the complicated and much mis 
 represented difficulties of the past, and, I fear, the threat 
 ening disturbances of the future, to write you to put you 
 in possession of views and facts that can be only learned 
 by those in the country; and I am sufficiently confident to 
 believe, from my former connection with Indian affairs, 
 that my letter will meet at your hands, at least, some 
 favor. 
 
 Immediately after Colonel Steptoe's defeat, I wrote you, 
 giving at that time such facts and views as were pertinent, 
 reserving to myself the privilege of adding to and mod 
 ifying them as circumstances might determine. There is 
 no longer need to conceal the truth. We are in the midst 
 of another Indian War, fraught with what results and of 
 what duration the future alone must tell. How these dif 
 ficulties originated, whence they spring, is a long, long 
 story and requires a greater length than my letter can 
 give; suffice to say that I regard the present difficulty as 
 only another link in the same chain that has been but too 
 often brought to the notice of the Indian Department. The 
 Department has had facts reported to it from time to time 
 by those passing through and those living in the country 
 and I am far from believing that either the Indian Com 
 missioner or the Secretary of the Interior has paid a deaf 
 ear to those representations; but, on the contrary, must 
 and do believe that each in his sphere has done his duty, 
 and the onus of the responsibility must rest with Congress. 
 
 The time no longer exists when passiveness is to be 
 
 the rule of action in this region. Special cases require 
 special remedies, and an old, effete, worn out system is 
 no longer applicable to the state of affairs in this quarter. 
 
 The wave of civilization from the east in times past 
 drove the Indians westwards before it; but in ten years 
 how changed! That wave is now moving with an equal if 
 not increasing rapidity eastward from the Pacific. While 
 in the south, the Indian no longer reposes in his once quiet 
 home, but driven in all directions, it is in this region alone 
 that we must and shall hereafter have our great Indian 
 conflicts. The population hitherto pent up westward of the 
 Cascade mountains bar rie r has broken loose through a new 
 golden gate, and now begins to swarm a hitherto deserted 
 region. The English and the American governments by 
 their commissioner, in marking the line of boundary for 
 each along the 48th parallel, are fast developing a region 
 in which not one people, but two great nations are now 
 feeling an interest; and the difficulties in our interior 
 along the Salt Lake road, which have for the last three 
 years completely blockaded our emigrant road, and put 
 far assunder the two extremes of our country, are being 
 fast ameliorated, and soon must an emigration of three 
 years growth rush into this region, offering them now so 
 many golden inducements. 
 
 Can we, then, I say, in view of these things, longer rest 
 inactive, and allow fires to spread in immense magazines 
 ready for the burning? 
 
 For the last three years, the cry from this coast has 
 been, "Indian wars! Indian wars! Give us a remedy for 
 our disease. Give us protection ample to our purpose. So 
 arrange affairs with our Indians that our peaceful frontier 
 settlements shall no longer be open preys to insensate 
 savages!" 
 
 But all their cries a deaf ear has been turned; and I am 
 in a measure not surprised, because at that time our 
 highest militaty authority, General Wool, proclaimed pub 
 licly that no war existed, when at the same moment vil 
 lages were being burned and razed to the ground; men, 
 women and children butchered, and desolation was over 
 spreading the land. For facts, look to southern Oregon; 
 look on Puget's Sound and look in our interior, and they 
 come up in volumes. All I can say is, I sincerely trust that 
 those who have proclaimed these things may only have 
 committed errors of judgment. Let them proclain the whys 
 and wherefores, if they exist, I know, in giving expression 
 to" such views and sentiments, that I censure harshly a man 
 
 15 
 
high in position, but the vindication of truth compels me to 
 the position. Are we then to have re-enacted scenes with 
 which 1855 and 1856 were so replete? Scenes that cost 
 valuable lives and a debt of unpaid millions. By some the 
 people were charged with bringing on the last war; by 
 others treaties made with the Indians were the cause. But 
 here will these same persons find causes now sufficient 
 to justify such views? 
 
 Here is a case solely of a United States force moving 
 through a region of country inhavi ted by Indians with whom 
 no definite or specific treaty was made, moving under an 
 officer high in rank, high in reputation, on a specific 
 expedition, and most unprovokedly and savagely attacked. 
 How, I ask again, will those having views above mentioned 
 justify now their position? No, the disease lies still 
 deeper, and unless we strike the root we shall never be 
 enabled to cure the malady. The seeds for a more serious 
 war are being sown, which only the strong arm of the War 
 Department must finally put down. 
 
 These are but two alternatives left to us in this region. 
 The past confirms it, and the present still further 
 strengthens it. The one is a well adjusted peace policy, 
 carried out by men alive and equal to their duties, honest 
 to the Indian and the department, and who fill positions 
 neither for positions' nor gain's sake; the other is the 
 force of arms, wisely but vigorously applied. The Indian 
 is a creature of timidity on the one hand, and cupidity on 
 the other; and when these two elements of his nature are 
 ignored, the Indian character is not known. We must there 
 fore cater to and cater for each. Suchbeing the case, the 
 only manner in which difficulties can arise will be the 
 manner of the administration of each. How these are man 
 aged, I leave for the history of the past to reply. It is not 
 my province either to set myself up as a general critic or 
 put myself in a position where truth, left too naked, might 
 cause many high in position to blush for errors of judg 
 ment and errors of action. I would prefer to leave the past, 
 both as enacted by our military and civil authorities, to 
 oblivion, save as showing the wherefore of some of our 
 Indian troubles in this quarter. 
 
 The Indian history of this region is different from that 
 of any in any other quarter of our country. The country 
 was thrown openfor settlementbefore any preparation was 
 made for their reception before the Indian title was ex 
 tinguished; and hence alone, in my judgment, the cause for 
 most of our Indian troubles in this region. I am not forget 
 ful, of course, of the great natural cause the contact of 
 the red and the white man that out history for two cen 
 turies past proclaims to be the great radical cause of 
 our Indian warfares. 
 
 But in this region, to this great first cause, is super- 
 added causes that in themselves alone have been sufficient 
 to light in one lurid flame of war our whole Pacific slope, 
 that might have long since exterminated its whole white 
 population. 
 
 Those seeing these things at a still later day, and being 
 in position to avert them by a wise, discreet policy for 
 ourselves, and a just one for the Indian, set to work, and 
 from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific coast labored 
 hard and long in the field and office, traveling through 
 every Indian tribe, learning their history, wants, and with 
 
 the authoritative voice of the government, made three 
 years ago treaties with these northwestern Indians; and to 
 this day the labors of Governor Stevens are disregarded 
 and uncared for, and the treaties containing the solemn 
 promises of the Indian on the one side and the binding 
 obligations of the white man on the other lies among the 
 dusty archives of Congress, while a war rages in every 
 quarter of the northwest coast. 
 
 The Indians feel that their rights have been trifled with 
 by promises, made by agents armed and vested with 
 authority to act, which the government has not ratified. 
 And will it, I ask, longer remain in this passive mood? 
 Will it longer act inertly while lives are sacrificed and 
 millions squandered, and still longer hesitate to act? 
 For one, I trust not, let these be ratified; let the country 
 be thrown open to our people; let the Indians have sent 
 among them good, honest, upright agents; let schoolhouses 
 and churches be erected, fields enclosed, farming utensils 
 and the implements and seeds of civilizationbe introduced, 
 and I boldly predict that ere many years have passed away, 
 instead of finding one vast field of desolation, we shall be 
 proud to point from this standpoint, where an ever-to-be 
 remembered battle has been fought, to many green fields 
 to the north and south, east and west. 
 
 Like an immense monster of desolation to these Indians, 
 the waves of civilization are fast approaching them, and 
 ere long, unless prompt and speedy measures be taken 
 for their security and safety, must engulf and destroy 
 them. Who, then, is to raise the averting arms? 
 
 Since men from afar are sent to this region to study 
 and find out what I see around me daily and momentarily, 
 I trust what is given with but little labor and without price 
 will meet with favor, especially as there are officers 
 high in position here who endorse my views. In the above 
 I refer to the mission of Mr. Mott to this quarter. I have 
 learned the object of his mission, and wish it well; and I 
 can but hope, and am led to believe, that Mr. Mott must be 
 a man whose past history has been such as to bring him 
 sufficiently close to Indian tribes to know full well Indian 
 character. To know the Indian, you must be with him, to 
 know his worth it must be tested; to know his treachery it 
 must be felt. Remember the war that now exists has its 
 seat and its focus at the point whence I new write you. It 
 is not my province to give you the details of a battle of 
 which this point has been the scene, fought by Colonel 
 Wright against three or four hundred Indians; for these 
 you will doubtless get from the journals of the day with as 
 much correctness as I might give them. Suffice it for me 
 to say that he has fought a memorable, never to be for 
 gotten fight; since he killed, discomfitted and drove in 
 dismay the enemy from the field without sustaining a 
 single loss to his command. He marches from this point 
 tomorrow, armed with a determination to carry the war 
 boldly and vigorously into the enemy's country; and though 
 the campaign in which we are now engaged may not be 
 completed this season, still I believe a blow has been 
 struck which foreshadows the views and determination 
 of the Department of War. It is now for Congress to say, 
 and to say soon, what course shall be pursued to establish 
 a permanent peace with the Indian tribes. A temporizing 
 peace policy has signally failed, and now the inaction of 
 
 16 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
of Congress and dire necessity compels us to drive, with 
 powder and ball, our enemy before us. 
 
 But allow me, my dear sir, while this general war is 
 going on, to point you to at least a few green spots where 
 the ravages of war do not as yet extend, and which thus 
 far are untainted and unaffected, with a view of so retain 
 ing them that we may hereafter point to them as oasis in 
 this desert of war. These green spots are the Nez Perces, 
 the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles; and in this connection 
 I refer to an act of Colonel Wright which embodies views 
 and motives which, endorsed and carried out by the gov 
 ernment, must redound to his credit and praise, and be 
 the means of building up, at no distant day, a bold, brave, 
 warlike and numerous people. 
 
 Captain John Mullan 
 
 Before leaving Fort Walla Walla, with a view to re 
 taining the friendship of a powerful tribe and preventing a 
 general coalition and combination of tribes, and a fire in 
 our rear, which if once commenced, must end in our total 
 destruction, Colonel Wright assembled the Nez Perces 
 people, and told them his object was to war with and 
 punish our enemies, but as this great people were and ever 
 had been our friends that we wanted their friendship to be 
 as enduring as the mountains around which they lived; and 
 in order that no difference of views or difficulty might 
 arise that their promises should be mutually recorded, and 
 with this view, he made a treaty of friendship alone, and 
 thirty bold warriors, marshalling themselves under brave 
 war chiefs, were placed at his disposal to assist him in 
 finding and fighting the enemy. 
 
 This is the same people who, meeting the flying columns 
 of Colonel Steptoe in hot night retreat, having abandoned 
 animals, provisions and guns behind them, received him 
 with open arms, succored his wounded men, and crossed 
 in safety his whole command over the dangerous south 
 
 fork of the Columbia, at a time when no other means what 
 ever to outreach a foe, who, already triumphant with 
 success, had determined his complete destruction. Col 
 onel Wright, on entering their country, was not unmindful 
 of this noble act, when, we might aye, justly too have 
 anticipated a lurking foe in that same tribe, and he took 
 such measures as to keep their friendship. It is now for 
 you to say whether this shall be inviolable. 
 
 They have no agent who lives among them. They are 
 far advanced in civilization already, much further than any 
 tribe west of the Rocky mountains, except the Flatheads. 
 They are inclined to agriculture; already raise wheat, 
 corn and vegetables, with the rudest of means. When asked 
 by Colonel Wright what they wanted, their reply was well 
 worthy of noble race: Peace, ploughs and schools. 
 
 And will you, can you, longer refuse them these? I ask 
 therefore, to commend these noble people. I ask that a 
 special appropriation be made to give these people 
 schools, farms and seeds; that means be taken to build 
 them up in their mountain homes that we may be enabled to 
 point with joyous pride to a first few tutored savages in 
 the Rocky mountains, reclaimed from their wild, nomadic 
 habits; and while asking, aye, petitioning, for these, I 
 cannot forget my old mountain friends the Flatheads and 
 Pend d'Oreilles. As yet, they are both friendly, and I ask 
 that you retain their friendship. I made both to Governor 
 Stevens and yourself, four years ago, petitions in their 
 favor, but alas! they passed unheeded. I again renew them, 
 and ask that steps, prompt and efficient, be taken that will 
 avert from these noble bands the devastating arm of war. 
 
 I ask not that my version be taken alone, but simply ask 
 that it go to form part and parcel of versions given by 
 abler pens, and men who saw but to reflect upon the past 
 and future destiny of the Indians. I point you, commencing 
 with Lewis and Clark in 1804, to the present day, to the 
 accounts of travellers across the continent; and with one 
 accord they point to the Nez Perces and Flatheads as two 
 bright, shining points in a long and weary pilgrimage 
 across a prairie desert and rugged mountain barrier, 
 alive with savage hordes of Indians, where they have been 
 relieved and aided when most in need; and instances 
 sufficiently numerous to swell a volume exist that render 
 it needless for me here to refer to them. My duties and 
 labors have brought me often and long in contact with 
 them, and I instance now not views or judgments but facts 
 that should speak loud enough to reach the ears of our 
 government at Washington in thundering tones and arouse 
 them to a course of bold, energetic, praiseworthy action 
 that will speedily and radically remedy a disease that is 
 fast devouring a people once numerous on our western 
 slopes. 
 
 A state of things so entirely different from anything 
 east of the Rocky mountains exists in this region that an 
 attempt to describe it ends in futility. Far distant points 
 to be reached; long lines of transportation; only one super 
 intendent in regions requiring at least one whole year to 
 visit. And where are his headquarters? In the southern 
 portion of the Willamette valley; in a quiet peaceful, 
 civilized spot where Indians are not and war wages not, 
 while hundreds of miles and thousands of Indians are left 
 unvisited and unseen. 
 
 17 
 

 > 
 
 Has the superintendent of Indian affairs ever seen the 
 Indians against whom he is moving? No! Not one. He can 
 not. Could he accomplish impossibilities, it would have 
 been done, doubtless. I say this: Have these Indians an 
 agent? On the one hand we have a territory thundering at 
 the doors of Congress, demanding as her right her ad 
 mittance to an equality with the states of the Union; 
 while on the other, Indian wars are raging, Indian titles 
 unextinguished, and no preparation made for a position 
 for her people. 
 
 It is not my province or my desire to point out any 
 course to be followed for fear of laying open both to 
 criticism and censure. But I boldly and fearlessly and 
 honestly say that one superintendent, with his headquar 
 ters at Salem, in Oregon, is not equal to the task of per 
 forming the responsible duties of superintendent for so 
 many thousands of Indians. If one man could perform 
 the labors that would keep three men most actively and 
 daily engaged, then he could do it; but at the present not. 
 
 But, my dear sir, I will not tax you further, though I 
 could and might say much more. I most sincerely trust 
 that the Secretary of War may so regard my work and 
 movements as to enable me to visit Washington this com 
 ing winter; and if such should be the case, we can then 
 give expression to such views as circumstances now so 
 full of meaning may that time develop; but feeling, as 
 I do, an interest in the future of tribes concerning whom 
 I have been able to learn much, I could not remain silent 
 when by speaking, good might result. 
 
 Hoping to meet you the coming winter, I am, dear sir, 
 your friend, 
 
 John Mullan 
 Charles E. Mix E p., 
 Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, B.C. 
 
 18 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 

 
 Q The Steptoe Expedition 
 
 It is impossible at this date to formulate from the records 
 and authorities at hand just what Lieutenant Colonel Step- 
 toe expected to accomplish by his march north into the coun 
 try of the hostile Indians. In fact, Steptoe himself at different 
 times gave different actuating motives. There is reason to 
 believe that his purposes were not clear to himself. It is be 
 cause of this haziness that the soldierly qualities of Steptoe 
 have been variously estimated. 
 
 Colonel Steptoe was fully acquainted with the policy of 
 placation of the tribes pursued by the war department and 
 by General Wool as worked out in the Yakima campaign of 
 1856, when Colonel Wright accomplished the "pacification 
 of the Yakima valley." Yet it it to be supposed that his su 
 perior officers left much in the way of detail of dealings 
 with the confronting situation with the officer in the field, 
 especially in the case of the commanding officer of garrison 
 located nearest to the expected scene of hostilities. 
 
 The seriousness of the situation and the prevailing dis 
 position to regard trouble as imminent is discernible through 
 out the official correspondence which passed to and from 
 the headquarters of General Clarke, who had succeeded 
 General Wool in charge of the department of the Pacific. 
 Early in January, when Fort Walla Walla was garrisoned 
 only by infantry, General Clarke ordered Lieutenant Gregg 
 
 Colonel Edward J. Steptoe 
 
 and a detachment of the First Dragoons to augment Step- 
 toe's force, and in the dispatch acquainting Steptoe of this 
 accession of force, Adjutant General Mackall informed 
 Steptoe that "the general wishes you to be prepared in ad 
 vance," and requested "full and prompt report of all infor 
 mation, and your opinion founded thereon is desired." 
 
 To this Steptoe replied: "Measures were taken at once 
 to ensure the full efficiency of this command, whenever it 
 may be required for active service." Giving his opinion 
 touching the outlook for an actual clash, he wrote: "Re 
 specting the northern Indians (Palouse, Yakima and Spokane) 
 there has never been a doubt in my mind that very slight 
 encouragement would at any time suffice to revive their 
 late hostile feeling." 
 
 Steptoe's understanding of the conditions is set forth in 
 the following two letters, written at an interval of only two 
 weeks: 
 
 Fort Walla Walla 
 April 17, 1858 
 
 Sirs: There appears to be so much excitement amongst 
 the Palouse and Spokane Indians as to make an expedition 
 to the north advisable, if not necessary; I shall accord 
 ingly start with three companies of dragoons in that di 
 rection as soon as possible after the arrival of Brevet 
 Captain Taylor. 
 
 Some forty persons living at Colville recently petitioned 
 for the presence of troops at that place, as they believed 
 their lives and property to be in danger from hostile 
 Indians. I cannot tell at this distance whether they are 
 needlessly alarmed, but I shall visit Colville before re 
 turning. 
 
 Two white men are reported to have been killed re 
 cently near Palouse river on their way to Colville. An 
 Indian gave me today the names of the Palouse Indians 
 said to be implicated. I am inclined to think the rumor 
 is correct, but will investigate the matter during my 
 return trip. 
 
 Afew nights ago a party of the same tribe made a foray 
 into this valley and carried off horses and cattle belonging 
 to various persons, including both whites and Indians, 
 and thirteen head of beef cattle, the property of the com 
 missary department. It is my impression that they did 
 not suppose these animals to be in our charge or they 
 would not probably have taken them. However, it is very 
 
 19 
 
necessary to check this thieving, or of course worse 
 trouble will grow out. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, E.J. Steptoe 
 
 any other Indians on the march." Adjutant Kip, who par 
 ticipated in the Wright expedition in the following summer, 
 understood that Steptoe was "to make a reconnaissance of 
 the country." 
 
 Fort Walla Walla, W.T. 
 May 2, 1858 
 
 Major W.W. Mackall, Assistant Adjutant General, U.S.A. 
 San Francisco 
 
 Major: Brevet Captain Taylor has arrived with the dra 
 goons horses, all in fine condition. I have delayed pro 
 ceeding to the north until some more definite information 
 could be obtained of the state of things at that place. 
 Whether the two white men were really killed, as was 
 reported at the date of my last letter, I have not however, 
 been able to ascertain, but the most reliable Indian chiefs 
 seem to believe so. It is my intention to leave here some 
 day this seek, probable on Thursday, with about 130 dra 
 goons and a detachment of infantry for service with the 
 howitzers, and to move directly where it is understood 
 the hostile party is at present. 
 
 Lieutenant Harvie, who is at the Dalles to receive and 
 bring up about 250 head of beef cattle, will be on his re 
 turn in a few days. He has fifteen dragoons for an escort, 
 but in the unsettled state of the country, I fear the temp 
 tation to get possession of the cattle might be too strong 
 for the Indians and accordingly have written to Colonel 
 Wright asking him to add a few men to the escort. 
 
 It is proper for me to say that there appears to be 
 some probability of considerable disturbance among the 
 neighboring tribes, but I hope to check it. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant 
 E.J. Steptoe, 
 
 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, U.S.A. 
 (Commanding Post) 
 
 It is perfectly plain that Steptoe had marked out for him 
 self and his projected expedition the work of allaying the 
 fears of the people at Colville, checking the thievery of In 
 dians, investigating the reported murders and travelling 
 directly to a point where were rendezvoused natives whom 
 he characterized as a "hostile party." It is a natural con 
 clusion to draw from those letters that Steptoe anticipated 
 a meeting which would not be bloodless, in which there 
 would be use for bullets and for dragoon sabers. Further, 
 when he actually took the field, a part of his column was 
 composed of a detachment of infantrymen detailed to man 
 two mountain howitzers. These were preparptions for fight 
 ing. 
 
 When actually in the presence of the attacking party, Step- 
 toe told the Indians that he had no hostile intentions and was 
 on his way to Colville to endeavor to strengthen the good 
 feeling existing between the natives andthewhites.lt is pro 
 bable that this statement of the commanding officer was one 
 of diplomatic subterfuge or conciliation. Lieutenant Gregg, 
 writing a letter after his return to Fort Walla Walla, said, 
 "No one thought of having an encounter with them or with 
 
 Colonel Lawrence Kip 
 
 There seems to be reason for the belief that Steptoe con 
 sidered that a "demonstration" was all that was necessary 
 to awe the Indians into passiveness. As a matter of fact, his 
 equipment, aside from the howitzers, was not formidable for 
 fighting. Major Joel G. Trimble, of Berkeley, California, an 
 enlisted man of the expedition, says: 
 
 "The equipment was poor. One company was armed with 
 Mississippi Yager riftes, which carried one ball and three 
 buckshot. These guns we re of no use at more than fifty yards. 
 The men also had old-fashioned, single-barrel, muzzle-load 
 ing pistols, decidedly inferior to those of the Indians." 
 
 Nowhere does the record indicate that the men carried 
 sabers, the natural arm of the cavalryman of the period. 
 Officers of the Wright expedition, which was composed in 
 part of companies of the Steptoe command, made the state 
 ment that no sabers were supplied to the men when the 
 command left Fort Walla Walla. Steptoe knew that the most 
 common firearm to be found amont the Palouse and Spokane 
 Indians was the Hudson Bay Company musket, obtained in 
 trade at the post on the upper Columbia known as Fort 
 Colville, and he knew that it was a more formidable weapon 
 than his own musquetoons, Yager rifles or ancient pistols. 
 
 It is quite possible that these contradictory considerations 
 may have arisen through the belief in Steptoe'smind that he 
 was not going to encounter any fighting but desired to impress 
 upon his superior officers the idea that in his lone frontier 
 outpost, he was in serious danger. At any rate his reports to 
 headquarters do not fail to mention prospective fighting; his 
 actual preparation was not adequate, and he must have known 
 that it was not. 
 
 Steptoe's defeat had a very depressing effect upon army 
 circles. This was especially felt on the Pacific coast, but it 
 reached even to West Point, where the cadets were not averse 
 to charging Steptoe with responsibility for thedeathof Lieu 
 tenant Gaston, who had many friends amont the under 
 graduates. Some detractors have gone so far as to impute to 
 Steptoe a vaccination in his fealty to the army because of his 
 sympathy with the South. It has been said that Steptoe became 
 
 20 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Lieutenant William Gaston 
 
 an officer in the Confederate army. It has also been said that 
 he was saved from courtmartial and disgrace only through 
 the intervention of his fellow Virginian, General Winfield 
 Scott, then the head of the army. 
 
 So far as it has been possible to learn, Colonel Step toe did 
 not join the Confederates. He resigned from the federal army, 
 as did many another gallant officer, early in 1861, but while 
 the records state explicitly in the case of others the fact of 
 their accepting commissions under the Stars and Bars, such 
 reference is entirely lacking with reference to Steptoe. The 
 lack of ammunition, frankly confessed by Steptoe in his offi 
 cial report of his disaster, has been a matter of comment on 
 the part of his critics. But his chief packmaster, Thomas 
 Beall, has acknowledged himself responsible, in that he 
 neglected to take from Fort Walla Walla two boxes of cart 
 ridges of 1,000 rounds each. Of Steptoe's personal bravery, 
 there can be no doubt. The title by which he is most com 
 monly known grew out of a brevet lieutenant colonelcy earned 
 in the storming of Chapultepec, while it was "for gallant and 
 meritorious conduc tin the battle of CerroGordo" that he was 
 brevetted major. 
 
 As to Steptoe's life after resigning from the army, the 
 following from General T.F. Rodenbough, secretary of the 
 Military Service Institution of the United States and editor 
 of its Journal, is as near an official declaration as may be 
 found: 
 
 "With reference to Steptoe's connection with the Confeder 
 ate service, I learn that it is very improbable that he ever 
 held a commission there He resided for many years after 
 he left our army in Virginia, next door to the home of Lieut. 
 Colonel O.D. Mitcham, Ordinance Department, who as aboy 
 frequently talked with Colonel Steptoe, at that time a parp- 
 lytic; of course, Steptoe might have had some nominal po 
 sition in the Confederate army, but I very much doubt it." 
 
 Colonel Steptoe died on April 1st, 1865, only a few days 
 before the Confederacy expired at Appomattox. Obloquy has 
 ever been the reward of anunsuccessful military commander. 
 Steptoe had his share of it while living. A charitable view is 
 that taken by General George B. Dandy, retired, in 1858 a 
 
 young lieutenant of artillery in the Wright expedition, the 
 leader of the 100th New York infantry in that decimating 
 charge through the trenches and Fort Wagner and later a 
 brigade commander in the Civil war. Writes General Dandy: 
 "It should be remembered that until the northwestern In 
 dians were thoroughly aroused by the Mullan survey through 
 their territory, those between Walla Walla and Colville had 
 appeared to be peaceably inclined, and Steptoe had faith in 
 their friendship for him and for the settlers, He appears 
 not to have fully understood the treachery of the Indian char 
 acter. He was an honorable man himself, and slow to suspect 
 duplicity in others. The Indians can be very secret in their 
 conspiracies. If he had studied the conspiracy of Pontiac he 
 might have been more wary." 
 
 There are four distinct and authoritative descriptions of 
 the Steptoe affair, arising from as many different sources. 
 One is Steptoe's official report. Another is contained in a 
 private letter written by one of Steptoe's officers after the 
 return to Fort Walla Walla. A third was written for the com 
 manding officer of the department of the Pacific by a spec 
 tator. 
 
 No record has been left of the route pursued by the Step- 
 toe column after leaving its post, and it is impossible at this 
 time to trace the exact route taken. The troops accepted the 
 names of places and landscape features just as they came 
 from the lips of the Indians. Some of these names have been 
 preserved by the settlers and some have not. Not always did 
 the gutturals of the native lip appear the same to different 
 whites. The result was that spelling of nomenclatures varies 
 widely. It is not known conclusively at what point the Snake 
 River was crossed. The frequent recurrence of the phrase, 
 "at the crossing of the Snake," in the communications of the 
 time, leads to the consclusion that it was the one commonly 
 used. This was at the mouth of the Tucanon, near the pre 
 sent town of Riparia. It was here that the Wright Expedition 
 crossed. It was here that the Indians kept canoes. It was here 
 that the old trail leading to Colville crossed. 
 
 Chief Timothy 
 
 THE STEPTOE EXPEDITION 
 
 21 
 
The manner of crossing was characteristic of those pio 
 neer times. The Indians who accompanied the expedition 
 under Chief Timothy, head of the guides, manned the canoes 
 in which were carried over the men and the supplies. Others 
 divested themselves of their clothing and swam with the 
 horses over the stream. "It was an interesting sight," wrote 
 one of the party. "They seemed perfectly at home in the 
 water, and their dark bodies, glistening like copper, would 
 glide gracefully among the horses." 
 
 It has not been an easy matter to locate the scene of the 
 last stand made by Steptoe's column. Even survivors of the 
 expedition made their declaration only after hours of consul 
 tation and exchange of eminiscence. It was vastly easier for 
 the farmer to learn the route over which the retreat was 
 
 conducted to the point where ammunition gave out. The plow 
 share told this story by turning into the light here a buckle 
 or a button, there a howitzer ball or revolver. But to the aged 
 man who had not visited the scene since the time he was en 
 gaged in conflict, there seemed little in commonbetween the 
 landscape studded with farm houses, denuded of its sage 
 brush and its soil producing orchards and the crops of 
 modern husbandry. The entire village of Rosalia is today a 
 feature of the landscape. Two steam railroads and an electric 
 trolley line traverse the view. On a June morning in 1907, a 
 trio of white haired men, survivors of the expedition, invited 
 to point out if possible the exact spot of the last stand of the 
 column, waded knee deep through green blades of growing 
 grain to plant their flag in J. G. Hardesty's wheat field. 
 
 22 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
7 
 
 Te-Hoto-Nim-Me 
 
 One does not expect to find in a report made "through the 
 military channels" any of the vivid word paintings, with a 
 wealth of personal incidents, made familiar to the American 
 reading public by a long line of special war correspondents. 
 Colonel Steptoe's plain, matter of fact account of what 
 happened during his absence from Fort Walla Walla is as 
 follows: 
 
 Major: On the 2nd instant I informed you of my intention 
 to move northward with a part of my command. Accord 
 ingly on the 6th I left here with companies C. E. and H. 
 1st dragoons, and E, 9th infantry; in all five companies 
 officers and one hundred and fifty-two enlisted men. 
 Hearing that the hostile Pelouses were near Al-pon- on- 
 we, in the Nez Perces land, I moved to that point and was 
 ferried across the Snake river by Timothy, a Nez Perce 
 chief. The enemy fled toward the north, and I followed 
 leisurely on the road to Colville. 
 
 On Sunday morning, the 16th, when near the To-hoto- 
 min-me, in the Spokane country, we found ourselves sud 
 denly in the presence of ten or twelve hundred Indians of 
 various tribes Spokanes, Pelouses, Coeur d'Alenes, 
 Yakimas and some others all armed, painted and defiant. 
 I moved slowly on until just about to enter a ravine that 
 wound 'along the bases of several hills, which were all 
 crowned by the excited savages. Perceiving that it was 
 their purpose to attack us in this dangerous place, I turned 
 aside and encamped, the whole wild, frenzied mass moving 
 parallel to us, and by yells, taunts and menaces, appar 
 ently trying to drive us to some initiatory act of violence. 
 
 Towards night a number of chiefs rode up to talk with 
 me, and inquired what were our motives to this intrusion 
 upon them? 
 
 I answered, that we were passing on the Colville, and 
 had no hostile intentions toward the Spokanes, who had 
 always been our friend, nor towards any other tribes who 
 were friendly; that my chief aim in coming so far was to 
 see the Indians and the white people at Colville and, by 
 friendly discussion with both, endeavor to strengthen their 
 good fellowship with each other. 
 
 They expressed themselves satisfied, but would not con 
 sent to let me have canoes, without which it would be 
 impossible to cross the Spokane river. 
 
 I concluded, for this reason, to retrace my steps at 
 once and the next morning (17th) turned back towards this 
 post. We had not marched three miles when the Indians, 
 
 who had gathered on the hills adjoining the line of march, 
 began an attack upon the rear guard, and immediately the 
 fight became general. 
 
 We labored under the disadvantage of having to defend 
 the pack train while in motion and in a rolling country 
 peculiarly favorable to the Indian mode of warfare. We 
 had only a small quantity of ammunition, but in their ex 
 citement, the soldiers could not be restrained from firing 
 it in the wildest manner, they did, however under the lead 
 ing of their respective commanders, sustain well the 
 reputation of the army for some hours, charging the enemy 
 repeatedly with gallantry and success. 
 
 Brevet Captain Taylor 
 
 The difficult and dangerous duty of flanking the column 
 was assigned to Brevet Captain Taylor and Lieutenant 
 Gaston, to both of whom it proved fatal. The latter fell 
 about 12 o'clock, and the enemy soon after charged for 
 mally upon his company, it fell back in confusion and 
 could not be rallied. About a half hour after this, Captain 
 Taylor was brought in mortally wounded; upon which I 
 immediately took possession of a convenient height and 
 halted. 
 
 The fight continued here with unabated activity, the 
 Indians occupying neighboring heights and working them- 
 
 23 
 
selves along to pick off our men. The wounded increased 
 in number continually. Twice the enemy gave unmistakable 
 enidence of a design to carry our position by assault, and 
 their number and desperate courage caused me to fear 
 the most serious consequences to us from such an attempt 
 on their part. 
 
 It was manifest that the loss of their officers and com 
 rades began to tell upon the spirit of the soldiers, and 
 they were becoming discouraged and not to be relied upon 
 with confidence. Some of them were recruits but recently 
 joined; two of the companies had muske toons, which were 
 utterly worthless in our present condition; and, whatwas 
 the most alarming only two or three rounds of cartridges 
 remained to some of the men, and but few to any of them. 
 It was plain that the enemy would give the troops no rest 
 during the night, and they would be still further disquali 
 fied for stout resistance on the morrow, while the number 
 of the enemies would certainly be increased. 
 
 I determined for these reasons to make a forced march 
 to Snake river, about 85 miles distant, and secure the 
 canoes in advance of the Indians, who had already threat 
 ened to do the same with us. After consulting with the 
 officers, all of whom urged me to the step as the only 
 means, in their opinion, of securing the safety of the com 
 mand, I concluded to abandon everything which might 
 impede our march. 
 
 Accordingly, we set out about 10 o'clock in perfectly 
 good order, leaving the disabled animals and such as were 
 not in condition to travel so far and so fast, and, with deep 
 pain, I have to add the two howitzers. The necessity for 
 this last measure will give you, as well as many words, 
 a conception of the strait to which we believed ourselves 
 to be reduced. Not an officer of the command doubted that 
 we would be overwhelmed with the first rush of the enemy 
 upon our position in the morning; to retreat further by 
 day, with our wounded men and property, was out of the 
 question; to retreat slowly by night was equally so as we 
 could not then be in condition to fight all next day; it was 
 therefore necessary to relieve ourselves of all encum 
 brances and to fly. 
 
 We had no horses able to carry the guns over 80 miles 
 without resting and if the enemy should attack us en route, 
 as from their ferocity we certainly expected they would, 
 not a soldier could be spared for any other duty than 
 skirmishing. For these reasons, which I own candidly 
 seemed to me more cogent at the time than they do now, 
 I resolved to bury the howitzers. What distresses me is 
 that no attempt was made to bring them off; and all I can 
 add is that, if this was an error of judgment I believe, 
 every officer agreed with me. 
 
 Enclosed is a list of the killed and wounded. The enemy 
 acknowledge a loss of 9 killed and 40 or 50 wounded, 
 many of them mortally. It is known to us that this is an 
 underestimate, for one of the officers informs me that 
 a single spot where Lieutenants Gregg and Gastonmet in 
 a joint charge twelve dead Indians were counted. Many 
 others were seen to fall. 
 
 I cannot do justice in this communication to the conduct 
 of the officers throughout the affair. The gallant bearing 
 of each and all was accompanied by an admirable coolness 
 and sound judgment. To the skill and promptness of 
 
 Assistant Surgeon Randolph, the wounded are deeply in 
 debted. Be pleased to excuse the hasty appearance of this 
 letter; I am anxious to get it off and have not time to have 
 it transcribed. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, 
 E.J. Steptoe 
 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Army 
 
 Winfield Scott 
 
 Major W.A. Mackall, 
 
 This report bears, under date of July 15, 1858, the 
 tollowing endorsement of General Winfield Scott: 
 
 This is a candid report of a disastrous affair. The small 
 supply of ammunition is surprising and unaccounted for. 
 
 It seems that Brevet Brigadier General Clarke has 
 ordered up all the disposable troops in California, and pro 
 bably will further reinforce Steptoe's district by detach 
 ments of the 4th and 9th regiments of infantry; and on the 
 29th ultimo I gave instructions for sending the 6th and 7th 
 regiments of infantry from Salt Lake valley across the 
 Pacific and via Walla Walla, if practicable, in preference 
 to any route south of that. 
 
 Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. 
 Winfield Scott 
 
 The list of killed and wounded, enclosed by Colonel Step- 
 toe with his report, contained the names of Captain 0. H. P. 
 Taylor and Lieutenant William Gaston and three enlisted men, 
 killed; two men mortally wounded; six men severly wounded; 
 seven slightly wounded and one man missing, FirstSergeant 
 Edward Ball. 
 
 The roster of officers accompanying the expedition con 
 tained the names, in addition to the commander and the two 
 who were killed of Captain Charles S. Winder, 9th infantry, 
 in charge of the howitzers; Lieutenant D. McM. Gregg, com 
 manding dragoon company; Lieutenant H. B. Fleming, acting 
 assistant quartermaster and acting comissary of subsis 
 tence. 
 
 24 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Lieutenant H. B. Fleming 
 
 With his first formal reports out of the way, Colonel Step- 
 toe addressed himself to the task of acquainting his superior 
 officers of his views of the situation in which the garrison at 
 Fort Walla Walla found itself in the weeks following the di 
 saster. It must have been gall to his proud spirit to pen the 
 following: "I hope the general will send us as strong a force 
 as possible, and with all the dispatch possible. The tribes 
 around this post are watching eagerly to see what they can 
 gain by joining the hostile party. One of my keenest regrets 
 growing out of the late affair is the consciousness that our 
 defeat must, until something is done to check it, encourage 
 the wavering to active hostilities." 
 
 But it was not time for prolonged regrets. He faced the 
 task of culling the valuable fruits from his ugly and disas 
 trous experience and by so doing equipped his general offi 
 cers with whatever valuable knowledge had been gained by 
 his experiment, for use in the campaign of punishment 
 which he knew was sure to follow. 
 
 His suggestion about fortifying the ferrying place was 
 carried out by Colonel Wright later in the year. Some of 
 Steptoe's observations were as follows: 
 
 I take the liberty to recommend, as the very first step 
 in prosecuting the war with the northern tribes, the 
 establishment of a post on Snake River, near the mouth 
 of the Pelouse a temporary work, from which the gar 
 rison can fall back to this point on the approach of win 
 ter. The road to Colville crosses there, but the great 
 advantage of having such an advanced post will be in thus 
 obtaining a sure ferry. I had vast difficulty in getting 
 dragoon horses over Snake River, which is everywhere 
 wide, deep and strong, and without assistance of Tim 
 othy's Nez Perces it would have been utterly impossible 
 for us to cross, wither going or returning, beside this, 
 the Pelouse tribe ought to be the first one struck at, as 
 it is the most hostile and guilty a few weeks since of 
 murdering two white men on the Colville road. 
 
 A few companies of infantry could construct a kind of 
 intrenchment there in a few days, which one company 
 could easily defend, and at the same time guard the 
 ferry boat. There is absolutely no other way of crossing 
 this stream with certainty. 
 
 In this connection I may inform you that the fight with 
 my command only committed the Indians to hostilities a 
 little earlier, and probably under more fortunate circum 
 stances for us. 
 
 A few minutes before the attack upon us, Father Joseph 
 (Joset?) the priest at Coeur d'Alene mission, joined me 
 and stated to me that most of the excitement among the 
 tribes was due to mischievous reports that the govern 
 ment intended to seize their lands, in proof of which they 
 were invited to observe whether a party would not soon 
 be surveying a road through it. He added that the Coeur 
 d'Alenes, Spokane and Flatheads had bound themselves 
 to massacre any party that should attempt to make a 
 survey. 
 
 I do not doubt in the least the truth of this statement, 
 and make no question that Lieutenant Mullan's party has 
 been saved from destruction by late occurrences. Of 
 course, the present state of our relations with the north 
 ern tribes will make it impossible for Lieutenant Mullan 
 to proceed with his survey. 
 
 Again Colonel Steptoe contributes to the information 
 of General Clarke in these words: 
 
 Since my return to this post the Indians in this vicinity 
 who began to show much restlessness have become quiet 
 again. Reports were busily circulated amongst them 
 were disposed to take advantage of our supposed con 
 dition. 
 
 I ought to advise you that, from the best information 
 to be obtained, about half of the Spokane, Coeur d'Alenes 
 and probably of the Flatheads, nearly all of the Nez 
 Perces, with scattered families of various petty tribes, 
 have been for some time, and now are, hostile. 
 
 It is impossible to say what force they can bring to 
 gether, but, of course, they cannot keep together long 
 a force of any size. 
 
 A good, strong column of three or four hundred infan 
 try, with two or three companies of mounted men, would 
 be able to beat them, I think, under all circumstances; 
 or else to disperse them thoroughly, which would have 
 nearly the same effect. It is unfortunate that such a call 
 cannot be sent out before the season for gathering roots 
 has passed. 
 
 There is much doubt on my mind where the Indians 
 obtained their ammunition, of which they had an abun 
 dance. Some persons believe that the Coeur d'Alene 
 priest furnished it, but I do not credit that; my im 
 pression is that it was obtained either from the Colville 
 traders, or the Mormons. The priest, in conversation 
 with me, alluded to the report so injurious to his repu 
 tation and added that it was a charge too monstrous 
 for him to notice in a formal way. 
 
 Of one thing the general may be assured, and that is 
 that the tribes through whose lands the proposed road 
 to Fort Benton will run are resolved to prevent it, and 
 even before a survey can be made they will have to be 
 chastised. 
 
 TE-HOTO-NIM-ME 
 
 25 
 
8 
 
 Gregg's Letter 
 
 From out the Pennsylvania hills enclosing the Susquehanna 
 valley, there emerged in 1851 a tall, angular youth, in whose 
 body there was the element of muscular litheness which al 
 ways suggests power with suppleness. The young man was 
 en route to the United States Military Academy, to which he 
 was graduated, being eighth in the order of credit standing. 
 He selected the cavalry arm of the service and opened his 
 military career with the straps of abrevet second lieutenant- 
 a kind of provisional assignment. In 1855 West Point was 
 turning out field officers faster than the army had regular 
 places for them, a sharp contrast to the early months of 1898, 
 when students were taken, undiplomaed, from the institution 
 and thrust into active field service in the Cuban war. 
 
 A few months from graduation found the tall young Penn- 
 sylvanian with a full lieutenancy and regularly established 
 with the First United States dragoons. Then followed work 
 during various Indian campaigns, during which he was recog 
 nized by fellows, superiors and subordinates as a natural 
 horseman, an intuitive cavalry officer, intrepid in action, 
 quick to execute and unerring in comprehension of commands. 
 A fellow officer has said that his lithe, long form was of 
 just such fiber and proportion as nature intended for making 
 saddle and remaining there. He seemed a centaur enlightened 
 by the best military education and training. 
 
 At the outbreak of the War for the Union, this cavalry 
 officer was adjutant of his regiment. He was a captain before 
 Bull Run jarred the American people into the first awful 
 realization that grim war was on in earnest. Before Grant 
 had reduced Fort Donelson, the lithe and lone one had gone 
 back to his native Pennsylvania to raise among her sons a 
 regiment of volunteer cavalry. Next he wore the eagle and 
 reappeared a colonel of the Eighth Pennsylvania. Before '62 
 had run its course, he was a brigadier. Then for three years 
 Virginia knew him. The northern valleys of the Old Dominion 
 knew the hoof beat of his charge rand the sweep of his saber. 
 He was making history with the deeds of Gregg's brigade 
 and Gregg's division. Sheridan acknowledged his services, 
 and "Jeb" Stuart and Buford felt his prowess. In the summer 
 of 1864, the government put another star in the shoulder 
 straps of David McMurtrie Gregg, "for highly meritorious 
 and distinguished conduct." 
 
 Second Lieutenant Gregg commanded a company in the ill- 
 starred expedition to Steptoe, who mentions the fighting 
 qualities displayed by the young man. He was with Colonel 
 Wright in the subsequent campaign and was conspicuous in 
 the battles of the Four Lakes and the Spokane Plains. In 
 September of 1858, he was one of the detachment sent by 
 
 Lt. David McMurtry Gregg 
 
 Wright to the scene of the Steptoe fight and was again on the 
 spot where he saw Gaston fall. 
 
 Writing from his home in Redding, Pa., in 1907, he having 
 long since gone on the army's retired list, he expressed him 
 self briefly, touching his recollections of a half-century 
 earlier while in Washington territory. General Gregg said: 
 "I am the only surviving officer of Colonel Steptoe's com 
 mand that visited the Steptoe battlefield, when we pointed 
 out the positions held by us at the several hours of the day." 
 
 No discussion, no explanation was vouchsafed by this old 
 warrior. Then, looking back over the vista of years and 
 through the smoke of those Virginia campaigns, he added: 
 "When I was in the region of your city fifty years ago, our 
 party was not hospitably entertained, our presence was not 
 agreeable to the Spokane nation and we were compelled to 
 leave; in a second visit a few months later, we went where 
 we would." 
 
 But, returning to Fort Walla Walla after the repulse of the 
 
 Steptoe column, Lieutenant Gregg wrote a private letter to a 
 
 friend in which he gives more of detail than is to be found in 
 
 the formal military communication of the commanding 
 
 officer. Its chief and relevant portions are here given: 
 
 "On the 6th instant Colonel Steptoe, with C, E and H 
 
 Companies of the 1st dragoons and twenty-five men of 
 
 the 9th infantry, with two mountain howitzers, left Fort 
 
 27 
 
Walla Walla for Colville. The officers of the command 
 were Colonel Steptoe, Captains Winder and Taylor and 
 Lieutenants Wheeler, Fleming, Gaston and Gregg. After 
 marching eight days we reached the Palouse river, and 
 were about passing into the Spokane country when we were 
 informed by Indians that the Spokanes would resist our 
 entrance into the country. The Spokanes have always been 
 regarded as friendly to the whites, and when we left 
 Walla Walla no one thought of having an encounter with 
 them or any other Indians on the march. 
 
 suiting demonstrations on their part. We dared not dis 
 mount, and were in the saddle three hours until the set 
 ting of the sun dispersed the Indians. 
 
 On Monday morning we left camp to return to the 
 Pelous, marching in the following order: H company in 
 advance, C in the center, with the packs, and E in the 
 rear. At 8 o'clock the Indians appeared in great numbers 
 about the rear of the column, and just as the advance 
 was crossing a small stream they began firing. In 
 twenty minutes the firing became continuous. Seeing 
 
 On Sunday morning, on leaving camp, we were told that 
 the Spokanes had assembled and were ready to fight us. 
 Not believing this, our march was continued until about 
 11 o'clock, when we found ourselves in the presence of 
 six hundred warriors in war costume. The command 
 halted for the purpose of having a talk, in which the Spo 
 kanes announced that they had heard we had gone out for 
 the purpose of wiping them out; and if that was the case 
 they were ready to fight us, and that we should not cross 
 the Spokane river. 
 
 The Indians were well mounted, principally armed 
 with rifles, and were extended along our flank at a dis 
 tance of one hundred yards. After some talk the colonel 
 told us we would have to fight, and we immediately put 
 ourselves into position to move to better ground, deter 
 mined that the Spokanes should fire the first gun. After 
 marching a mile we reached a sheet of water; it was 
 decided to encamp and hold another discussion with the 
 Indians. Nothing resulted from this except the most in- 
 
 that we must fight and that the action must become gen 
 eral, I was ordered to move forward and occupy a hill 
 that the Indians were making for, and upon which they 
 would have a close fire upon the head of the column. 
 After a close race I gained the hill in advance; on seeing 
 which the Indians moved around and took possession of 
 one commanding that which I occupied. Leaving a few 
 men to defend the first hill, and deploying my men, I 
 charged the second and drove them off. 
 
 At this time the action was general. The three compa 
 nies, numbering in all about 110 men, were warmly en 
 gaged with 500 Indians. The companies were separated 
 from each other by nearly a thousand yards and fought 
 entirely by making short charges. At 11 o'clock I was 
 reinforced by the howitzers, and the two companies 
 began to move toward the position I held, the Indians 
 pressing closely to them. As E company was approach 
 ing, a large body of Indians got between it and my com 
 pany, so that having it between two fires could wipe it 
 
 28 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
out at once. Gaston, seeing this, moved quickly towards 
 me having the Indians in his front, and when near enough, 
 and I saw he was about to charge, I charged with the 
 company. The result was that our companies met, hav 
 ing the Indians in a right angle, in which angle we left 
 twelve dead Indians. 
 
 After getting together, we kept up the fighting for half an 
 hour, and again started to reach water, moving half a 
 mile under which our comrades Taylot and Gaston fell. 
 We finally reached a hill near the water and occupied a 
 summit. The Indians having now completely surrounded 
 it, we dismounted and picketed our horses close together 
 on the center of the flat inclined summit, and posted our 
 men around the crest, making them lie flat on the ground, 
 as the Indians were so close and so daring as to attempt to 
 charge the hill, but although outnumbering us eight to 
 one they could not succeed. 
 
 Towards evening, our ammunition began to give out, 
 and our men, suffering so much from thirst and fatigue, 
 required all our attention to keep them up. To move from 
 one point to another, we had to crawl on our hands and 
 knees amid the howling of Indians, the groans of the 
 dying and the whistling of balls and arrows. We were 
 kept in this position until 8 o'clock p.m., when, as night 
 came on, it became apparent that on the morrow we must 
 "go under," that not one of us would escape. It was plain 
 that, nearly destitute of ammunition, we were completely 
 surrounded by six or eight hundred Indians, and the most 
 of these were on points which we must pass to get away. 
 Therefore, it was determined that we should run the 
 gauntlet, so that if possible, some might escape. 
 
 Abandoning everything, we mounted and left the hill at 
 9 o'clock, and after a ride of ninety miles, mostly at a 
 gallop and without rest, we reached the Snake river at 
 Red Wolfs crossing the next evening, and were met by 
 our friends, the Nez Perces. 
 
 Captain Taylor was shot through the neck and Lieuten 
 ant Gaston through the body; they both fell fighting gal 
 lantly. The companies fought bravely, like true men. 
 We brought our horses back in good condition, except 
 about thirty, which were shot during the fight. The In 
 dians made no captures. Before the battle was near over, 
 the Indians picked up nine of their dead; how many of 
 them were killed is not known, but I can count fifteen. 
 They acknowledge having forty wounded. 
 
 "It will take a thousand men to go into the Spokane coun 
 try." 
 
 It was Chief Timothy, the guide, to whom credit is given 
 for saving the command. Thomas J. Beall, Step toe's chief 
 packmaster, standing fifty years later on the hill from which 
 the command was led out under cover of darkness by the 
 friendly Nez Perce, has told the story of the last few hours 
 on that hilltop. The years have whitened his hair and beard. 
 Many weary miles of canyon or along trail had stooped his 
 shoulders. His life has been one which has many counter 
 parts in the taming of the wild country. He is the son of 
 Benjamin Lloyd Beall, hero of the Florida and Mexican wars, 
 and grandson of Lloyd Beall, wounded at Germantown and 
 later defender of Fort Me Henry. But Thomas Beall's busy 
 life lay always since manhood with the vanguard of civili 
 zation in its westward march. His story is thus: 
 
 "On the hill we visited this afternoon, we had built a 
 little fortification about two feet high, of packsaddles, 
 sacks of flour, bags of provisions, etc. Into this little 
 shelter we had brought the wounded men and here the 
 officers were in command. The soldiers were scattered 
 out in the bunchgrass round about. Late in the afternoon 
 Colonel Steptoe had directed me to collect all the ammuni 
 tion from the men on the inner lines and redistribute it 
 to the men on the outer line, who had the most firing to do. 
 
 When night fell, our position was desperate. Chief Tim 
 othy then went to Colonel Steptoe and volunteered to go 
 out and see if there might not be some gap in the ring 
 which he Indians had drawn around us. He came back af 
 ter about an hour and said he had found an opening through 
 which he thought we might escape. He reported that by 
 crossing the creek and ascending a steep hill on the oppo 
 site side, the command could find a short cut to a point 
 on the trail several miles distant. 
 
 Qne of the officers protested against this undertaking. 
 He said that he believed that Timothy meant to lead the 
 command into a trap. Colonel Steptoe said: "But gentlemen 
 what can we do? Our ammunition is gone, we are sur 
 rounded and greatly outnumbered, and if we stay here 
 until morning we shall be killed. I have confidence in Tim 
 othy and will let him try to guide us out of here." 
 
 Captain Taylor was the only one of those killed to be 
 buried. We also buried the two howitzers and sunk the gun 
 carriages in the waters of the creek. Fires were kindled 
 to deceive the Indians into thinking that the command was 
 still in camp; and then the order was given for each man 
 to mount, taking nothing but his weapons. The severely 
 wounded men who could not maintain themselves in the 
 saddle were tied in place, and we slipped through the gap 
 under Timothy's guidance and never stopped to rest our 
 horses or to eat until we reached the Snake river. 
 
 The sergeant of that little rear guard, whose duty it was 
 to maintain the fires, keep the mules stirring about and give 
 the deserted hill the aspect of a real live camp for the space 
 of an hour after the column had filed out, has retained very 
 vivid recollection of the events of the sorrowful day and 
 trying night. Sergeant Michael Kenny had been bereaved by 
 the death of Captain Taylor in losing both his company com 
 mander and a warm personal friend. It devolved upon Kenny, 
 after Lieutenant Wheeler had assumed command of the com 
 pany, to pick three men and bury the officer's body. It lay 
 down the hillside some distance from the little fortification 
 which formed the rallying point late in the afternoon. When 
 this little detail returned, one private was missing, James 
 Lynch, shot while digging the grave. Later it fell to Sergeant 
 Kenny to tell the widow and two children, who had but recent 
 ly joined Captain Taylor after a long separation, whatever 
 of comfort might be rescued from the cruel facts. Four 
 months later, with Mrs. Taylor and the children, Kenny re 
 ceived the body as it was brought by Colonel Wright to 
 Walla Walla and there reinterred with military honors in the 
 little government cemetery. And to this day the sense of 
 bereavement is shared by Captain Taylor's surviving daugh 
 ter with old Sergeant Mike Kenny. 
 
 But that day and that night in 1858 brought tears to the gray 
 eyes of Michael Kenny as he stood fifty years later on the 
 same spot. Not of Captain Taylor's death and his part in the 
 
 GREGG'S LETTER 
 
 29 
 
burial did he speak in public, nor yet of the fighting or even 
 of the dangerous duty assigned to that little rearguard. He 
 told of the hard work of binding the wounded in the saddle, 
 of the agony of the change of position, of the appeals to be 
 shot rather than undergo more extreme suffering. 
 
 "We followed the main column without being seen by the 
 Indians," Sergeant Kenny told the people of Rosalia. "One 
 of the wounded men had been shot through the hips and could 
 not walk. He had been tied in the saddle but had not gone very 
 far before he fell over and had been lost in the darkness. 
 When we came along, we found him, begging piteously to be 
 shot, but we could do nothing to save him." 
 
 No one asked the old man why he broke down at this point 
 and could go no further. Other statements herein made upon 
 his authority were made by him in private conversation. 
 
 When four months had passed over the evacuated field, a 
 cluster of United States soldiers stood on the hillside where 
 red and white clashed in the last decisive victory ever won 
 by natives in the Inland Empire. It was the detachment of 
 cavalry under MajorGrier sent from the command of Colonel 
 George Wright. Lieutenant Mullan has left the following 
 account of this pilgrimage: 
 
 "This detached command started early on the morning 
 of the 24th, passed over a series of rolling hills and in 
 two miles reached a narrow strip of cottonwood, with a 
 broad belt of pine timber to our right. This same charac 
 ter continued for a distance of eight miles, when we 
 reached a prairie bottom some 300 yards wide, lined on 
 either side by walls of basaltic rock 100 feet high, in 
 which was the dry bed of a lake from which flows in the 
 
 spring season, a small creek that flows into Ingossornen 
 creek. At this point the pine timber had become more 
 sparse and much scattered, save a few detached clumps 
 where it was more dense. 
 
 At eight and a half miles from the Lahtoo, this prairie 
 bottom, which runs north and south, is intersected by a 
 canyon running at right angles to it and fifty yards wide. 
 It was at the southwest corner of this intersection that the 
 rear guard of Colonel Steptoe's command, under Lieu 
 tenant Gaston, was fired upon in the retreat of May 17, 
 1858. The trail west of small dry willow creek, in a mile 
 to the south crossed it to the east and ascended a hill some 
 250 feet high, where a first position of the howitzers was 
 taken. 
 
 Gaining the summit of this hill, we had a fine view of a 
 large portion of the ground upon which Colonel Steptoe's 
 command operated. 
 
 Lieutenant Gregg commanding in advance, with Lieu 
 tenant Gaston on the hills to the left, Captain Taylor on 
 the right, with Sergeant Williams in the rear, the retreat 
 was made along the southern post of the hill, where they 
 entered the valley of the Ingossomen creek. This last 
 stream rises in a range of low prairie hills and flows in 
 a northerly direction until, reaching the base of the hills, 
 it makes a sharp bend to the south and west. This stream 
 at this season has no current, is two feet deep, fifteen 
 yards wide, and water lying in long canal shaped basaltic 
 basins. From this hill westwards the pines continued in 
 its valley and near its border; while to the south nothing 
 but a few clumps of scattered cottonwood along the banks 
 of the Ingossomen were to be seen. 
 
 30 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
9 
 
 Father Josef's Account 
 
 Father Joset 
 
 After the first flush of jubilation had surged over the In 
 dians involved in the attack uponSteptoe there came a period 
 of inactivity. Immediately the war department commenced 
 the organization of an expedition of reprisal and punishment. 
 But with the Indians there was inactivity, and inactivity 
 begets meditation, even in the aboriginal mind. There were 
 still voices for war. Kamiahkin came to the Spokane Valley, 
 and his endeavor was to keep alive the spirit of revolt, but 
 he found that he had some fences to fix if he were to preserve 
 his league of opposition. 
 
 Sober second thought had overtaken many of those formerly 
 active in advocation hostility. They found themselves in a 
 position of desperation not unlike that of the miscreant lad 
 brought face to face with the consequences of his wanton act. 
 Taken all in all, Indian sentiment along the Spokane and in 
 the Coeur d'Alene hills was a strange mixture of frenzy and 
 penitence. 
 
 The first to discern the ultimate results to the Indians 
 themselves because of their outbreak were the Coeur d* 
 Alenes priests. Naturally they felt alarm for their charges. 
 They had become the mentors and advisors of the natives. 
 They had won a place in the Indian heart as accepted and un 
 questioned goodness. Father Joset had rebuked the advocates 
 of hostility and had himself been the subject of threats for 
 
 interference with the war spirit. Resolved to prevent, if pos 
 sible, the attack on Steptoe, he found that his wards had 
 deprived him of easiest means of transport to the expected 
 battlefield. 
 
 Father Joset did see a part of the engagement, and exerted 
 himself in behalf of the troops. In the month of June he jour 
 neyed to Fort Vancouver, to which post General Clarke had 
 removed his headquarters, for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the immediate plans of the government with reference to his 
 charges. He rendered to his superior, Father Congiato, a 
 circumstantial account of the condition of the native mind 
 before the Steptoe expedition and gave his version of the 
 happenings at the scene of the conflict. This letter was writ 
 ten at Vancouver and, though formally addressed to his 
 superior in the J esuit Society, was doubtless intended for 
 the perusal of General Clarke and did become a part of the 
 official records connected with the campaign. 
 
 The letter is quaint in many of its expressions, as might 
 be expected from a native of Switzerland speaking the French 
 language in the outposts of the United States. It breathes a 
 spirit of solicitude for the wards of the writer. It reflects 
 the anxiety of a gentle priest. It is eloquent of the Indian 
 manner of thought. It is the best description extant of the 
 immediate causes of the attack on the troops. It gives a 
 clearer insight into the real status of affairs than any other 
 document. It portrays the tense strife among the red men 
 themselves. It is a narrative and, at the same time, a dis 
 cussion and a plea. Scripsit: 
 Vancouver, June 27th, 1858 
 
 My Reverend Father: I am going to try and satisfy the 
 demand that you have made of me for a detailed relation 
 of the events of the unfortunate 17th of May, and of the 
 causes which have brought such said results. 
 
 Do not think, my reverend father, that I am beknowing 
 to all the affairs of the savages, there is a great deal 
 wanting; they come to us about the affairs of their con 
 science, but as to the rest they consult us but little. 
 I asked one day of Michel the question if a plot was 
 brewed among the Indians? Do you think that there would 
 be any one in it who would warn the missionary? 
 No one, he replied. 
 
 This was to tell me explicity that he himself would not 
 inform me. 
 
 However, the half breeds should know it, added I, much 
 less still than the father. 
 
 After the battle, Bonaventure, one of the best young 
 men in the nation, who was not in the fight and who, as I 
 
 31 
 
U*GS -" 
 
 ny>jgii _ .+*>*fP 
 
 will tell later, has aided us a great deal in saving the 
 lives of the Americans who were at the mission at the 
 time of the battle, Bonaventure said to me. 
 
 Do you think that if we thought to kill the Americans we 
 would come to tell you so? 
 
 You appear to think that we could do almost anything 
 with the Indians, far from it. Even among the Coeur d' 
 Alenes there is a certain number that we never see, that 
 I do not know in any manner. The majority mistrust me 
 when I come to speak in favor of the Americans. 
 
 Those who were present at the assembly called by Gov 
 ernor Stevens in the Spokane Prairie, will not have for 
 gotten how much the Indians insisted that the troops should 
 not pass the river Nez Perces (Snake) I have heard that 
 the Indians insinuate several times that they had no objec 
 tions to the Americans passing through their country in 
 small numbers, but much to their passing in force, as if 
 to make laws, Last winter Michel said to me: 
 
 Father, if the soldiers exhibit themselves in the country 
 of the mountains, the Indians will become furious. 
 
 I had heard rumors that a detachment would come to 
 Colville; it was only a rumor, and having to go down in the 
 spring having also written to you to that effect, I intend 
 to go inform Colonel Steptoe of this disposition of the In 
 dians. Toward the beginning of April it was learned that 
 an American had been assassinated by a Nez Perce. 
 Immediately rumor commences to circulate that troops 
 were preparing to cross the Nez Perce to obtain vengance 
 for this crime. 
 
 Toward the end of April, at the time of my departure, 
 the chief Pierre Prulin told me not to go now, to wait 
 some weeks to see what turn affairs are going to take. 
 
 I am too hurried, I replied to him I cannot wait, and as 
 
 the parents of the young men I have chosen appear 
 troubled, I will choose other companions and country. 
 
 Arrived at the Gomache prairie, I met the express of 
 the great chief Vincente; this told me to return, his people 
 thought there was too much danger at that moment. 
 
 I replied that I was going to wait three days, to give 
 the chief time to find me himself; that if he did not come 
 I would continue my route. 
 
 I said to myself if Vincente really believes in the great 
 ness of the danger, however bad or however long the road 
 may be, he will not fail to come. In the meantime I saw 
 several Nez Perces. Their conversation was generally 
 against the Americans; one of them said in my presence, 
 we will not be able to bring the Coeur d'Alenes to take 
 part with us against the Americans. The priest is the 
 cause; it is for this that we wish to kill the priest. 
 
 Vincente marched day and night to find me; below are 
 in substance the reasons he instanced to make me return: 
 
 Of the danger on the part of the Americans, I well know 
 that there is none; neither is there any danger for your 
 person on the part of the Indians. You would be able, how 
 ever, to come back on foot, but we are not on good terms 
 with the Pelouses and the Nez Perces; they are after us 
 without cessation to determine us in the war against the 
 Americans. We are so fatigued with their underhand deal 
 ings that I do not know if we will not come to break 
 entirely with them. Their spies cover the country in every 
 sense. When the young men go for the horses they will kill 
 them secretly, and start the report that they have been 
 killed by the Americans; then there will not be any means 
 to restrain our people. We hear the chief of the soldiers 
 spoken of only by the Nez Perces, and it is all against us 
 
 32 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
and to excite our young people. I have great desire to go 
 to see him. 
 
 It was agreed that when I should go down I would take 
 him to see the colonel; it is then I learned a part of the 
 rumors which were spreading over the country. A white 
 man had said, Poor Indians, you are finished now; the 
 soldiers are preparing to cross the river to destroy you; 
 then another five hundred soldiers will go to establish 
 themselves at Colville; then five hundred others will re 
 join them; then others and others until they find them 
 selves the strongest; then they will chase the Indians 
 from the country. 
 
 Still another white had seen five hundred soldiers en 
 camped upon the Pelouse preparing themselves to cross 
 the river. 
 
 All the above passed three weeks before the last events. 
 
 Among other things Vincente said to me; if the troops 
 are coming to pass the river, I am sure the Nez Perces 
 are going to direct them upon us. 
 
 I did not then pay much attention to this statement, but 
 later I saw that he had not been deceived in his predic 
 tions, as difficult as it is for a white to penetrate an 
 Indian, just so difficult is it for one Indian to escape an 
 other. 
 
 To return to the mission; I was not without anxiety about 
 what might happen in case the troops should come into the 
 country. I was almost sure of the dispositions of the chiefs 
 and of the majority of the nation; but I knew also a part of 
 the youths were hotheaded, not easy to be governed in the 
 first moment of irritation; also that Kenuckin might make 
 a great many proselytes. I had not forgotten the infernal 
 maxim of Voltaire, "mutons toujours, il en restera 
 quelque lieu," was true, and that there ought to remain 
 something in the hearts of the people of the thousand and 
 one stories of this horrible Indian. I do not know, how 
 ever, yet that he repeated without cessation to the Indian 
 the father is white like the Americans; they have but one 
 heart; they treated the young Coeur d'Alenes like women, 
 like prairie wolves, who only knew how to make a noise. 
 
 On the 15th day of May I received another express from 
 Vincente. The troops had passed the Nez Perces; they had 
 said to the Coeur d'Alenes that it was not for them that 
 the soldiers wished. He desired me to go to aid him in 
 preventing a conflict; he told me to be quick, the troops 
 were near; I set out in an instant;! had enough trouble to 
 stop these young men who were working at the mission; 
 it was an excitement that you could scarcely imagine. The 
 good old Pierre Vicent not only refused to conduct me in 
 his canoe to the lake, but bluntly refused to loan me his 
 canoe; never before was I in such a situation. 
 
 The distance from the mission to Vincent's camp was, 
 I think about ninety miles; as the water was very high, I 
 could only arrive on the evening of the 16th. 
 
 Vincent told me that he had been kept very busy to re 
 tain his young men; that he had been at first to the chief 
 of the soldiers and had asked him if he had come to fight 
 the Coeur d'Alenes; that upon his negative reply he had 
 said: Well, go on, but to his great displeasure he had 
 camped in his neighborhood (about six miles); that then 
 he had made his people retire, still ablood-thirsty Pelouse 
 was endeavoring to excite them. 
 
 Later other Indians confirmed to me the same report; 
 they were Vincent and the Spokane chief who prevented 
 the fight on the 15th. The chiefs of the different tribes and 
 a quantity of other Indians collected around me. I spoke to 
 them to persuade them to peace. I told them that they did 
 not know with what intention the chief of the soldiers were 
 coming, that the next day they should bring me a horse, 
 and that they might accompany me till in sight of the camp 
 of the soldiers; that I would then go alone to find the of 
 ficers in command, and would make them to know what 
 was not doubtful; they appeared well satisfied. I said still 
 to Vincent to see that no person took the advance. 
 The same evening they came from the camp of the 
 Pelouse to announce that one of the slaves of the soldiers 
 (it is thus that they call the Indians who accompany the 
 troops) had just arrived. The chief of the soldiers would 
 have said, according to him: You Coeur d'Alenes, you are 
 well to do; your lands your women are ours. 
 
 I told the Coeur d'Alenes not to believe it, that no of 
 ficer ever spoke in that way; tomorrow I will ask the chief 
 of the soldiers if he has said that . 
 
 The next morning I saw the Spokane's Tshequyseken 
 "Priest" said he to me: Yesterday evening I was with the 
 chief of the soldiers, when a Pelouse came to tell him that 
 the priest had just arrived; he has brought some powder 
 to the Coeur d'Alenes; do you see now the deceit of this 
 people? 
 
 Said I, they go and slander us before the soldiers, and 
 slander the soldiers here. When they had brought me a 
 horse, I went to the camp of the soldiers; they were far 
 off. I set out in their direction to join them. I saw Col 
 onel Steptoe made him acquainted with the disposition of 
 the Indians, the mistrust the presence of the troops would 
 inspire, and how I had been kept from going to inform him 
 in the spring. 
 
 He told me that, having heard by letter from Colville 
 that the whites had had some difficulty with the Indians, 
 he had at first resolved to go there with a few men, to 
 talk with the whites and Indians, and to try and make them 
 agree; but, having learned that the Pelouses were badly 
 disposed, he had determined to take a stronger escort; 
 that, had he known the Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes 
 dreaded the presence of the armed force, he would not 
 have come without having notified them; that he was much 
 surprised the evening before to see the Indians that they 
 had always talked peaceably to him, then to come to meet 
 him with such hostile demonstration, he had well though 
 they would come to blows; that he was happy to return 
 without spilling blood. 
 
 I asked him if he did not desire to see the chiefs; upon 
 his reply that his dragoons horses were too much 
 frightened to stop long, I observed to him that they could 
 talk in marching; he then said that he would take pleasure 
 in seeing them. 
 
 I went to seek them. I could only find Vincent; him I 
 conducted to the colonel; he was fully satisfied with him. 
 One of the Indians who accompanied the troops gave Vin 
 cent a blow over the shoulders with his whip, saying: 
 Proud man, why do you not fire? then accused one of the 
 Coeur d'Alenes who had followed Vincent of having wished 
 to fire upon a soldier. Vincent was replying to the Colonel, 
 
 FATHER JOSET'S ACCOUNT 
 
 33 
 
when his uncle came to seek him, saying that the Pelouses 
 were about commencing the fire. I warned the colonel of 
 it, and then went with Vincent to try and restrain the 
 Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes; when we had made them 
 acquainted with the disposition of the colonel, they appear 
 ed well satisfied. Victor, one of the braves, who has since 
 died of his wounds, said we have nothing more to do here, 
 we will each go to his home. Jean Pierre, chief, supported 
 the proposition of Victor; then Malkapsi became furious. 
 
 I did not at the time know why. I found out later that he 
 wished all to go to the camp of Vincent to talk over their 
 affairs. Malkapsi slapped Jean Pierre, and struck Victor 
 with the handle of his whip, I seized the infuriated man; 
 a few words sufficed to calm him. 
 
 I set out then with a few chiefs to announce at the camp 
 that all was tranquil; a half hour or an hour afterwards 
 what was my surprise to learn that they were fighting. I 
 had well indeed to ask for a horse; there was in the camp 
 only old men and women; it was about 3 o'clock when they 
 brought me a heavy wagon horse. I set out, however, with 
 the hope of getting there by night, when I was met by an 
 Indian, who told me it was useless to fatigue myself, the 
 Indian are enraged at the death of their people, they will 
 listen to no one; whereupon I returned to my tent, the 
 dagger in my heart. The following is the cause of this 
 unhappy conflict as it has been related to me. 
 
 The parents of Malkapsi, irritated and ashamed of his 
 passion said to him: What do you do? You maltreat your 
 own people? If you wish to fight, behold your enemies 
 (pointing to the troops): then saying, Oh, well, let us die, 
 they ran towards the troops. I do not think there was more 
 than a dozen of them. 
 
 The affair did not become serious until Jacques, an 
 excellent Indian, well beloved, and Zacharia, brother-in- 
 law of the great chief Vincent, had been killed; then the 
 fury of the Indians knew no bounds. The next day I asked 
 those that I saw; What provocation have you received from 
 the troops?. 
 
 None, said they. 
 
 Then you are only murderers, the authors of the death 
 of your own people. 
 
 This is true; the fault can in no way be attributed to the 
 soldiers. Malkapsi is the cause of all the evil they said. 
 
 But they were not all so well disposed. When I asked 
 others what the soldiers had done to them, they replied 
 to me: 
 
 And what have we done to them, that they should come 
 thus to seek us; if they were going to Colville, said they, 
 why do they not take road, no one of us would then think 
 of molesting them. Why do they go to cross the Nez Perce 
 so high up? Why direct themselves into the interior of our 
 country, removing themselves further from Colville? Why 
 direct themselves upon the place where we were peaceably 
 occupying in digging our roots? Is it us who have been to 
 seek the soldiers, or the soldiers who have come to fall 
 upon us with their cannon. 
 
 Thus, although they avow that they fired first, they 
 pretend that the first act of hostility came from the troops. 
 I asked them if they had taken scalps. They told me no, 
 with the exception of a small piece that had been taken by 
 a half fool. I asked them, also, if they had interred the 
 
 dead. They replied that the women had buried them, but 
 that the Palouses had opened the graves that were at the 
 encampment. 
 
 It is then, also that the Indians told me; We see now 
 that the father did not deceive us when he told us that the 
 soldiers wished peace. We forced them to fight; we fired 
 a long time upon them before they answered our fire. 
 
 As to the actual disposition of the Indians (Coeur d' 
 Alenes.) I think they can be recapitulated as follows: 
 1st, regret for what has happened; all protesting that there 
 was nothing premeditated; seeing that all the chiefs and 
 the nation in general were decided upon peace; it was an 
 accident which brought to life the anger of the older men. 
 2nd. Disposition to render up what they have taken from 
 the troops, in order to have peace. 3rd. If peace is refused 
 them, determination to fight to the last. 
 
 I knew, from Colonel Steptoe, that his guide mistook 
 himself so grossly, is absurd to suppose. It appears ne 
 cessary to conclude that in conducting the troops straight 
 upon the camp of the Indians, he had design. It cannot be 
 supposed that he ignored the irritation that the presence 
 of the troops would produce upon the Indians; and as for 
 the rest, the intriguing of this guide is well known. I see 
 no other way to explain his conduct, than to say that he laid 
 a snare for the Coeur d'Alenes, whom he wished to humil 
 iate, and that seeing afterwards the troops fall in the 
 ditch that he had dug for others, he has done everything 
 possible to draw them from it 
 
 The Coeur d'Alenes say also, that it was cried to them 
 from the midst of the troops; Courage, you have already 
 killed two chiefs; but one of the Nez Perces who had fol 
 lowed the troops, came back to say to his people: It is not 
 the Coeur d'Alenes, but, indeed, the soldiers, who killed 
 the two Nez Perces, because they said they wished to 
 save themselves on the side of the Indians. 
 
 Neither of the Coeur d'Alenes, nor the Spokanes, not 
 the Chaudries, the Pend d'Oreilles and the Tetes Plattes 
 had split white blood; they pride themselves for it. 
 
 If the war commences now, it is probable it will ter 
 minate only by the extermination of all these tribes, for 
 their country is so difficult of access that it will be im 
 possible to terminate it in a year or two, and almost equal 
 ly impossible that it continue without all these tribes, 
 including the Pieds Noirs, taking part in it. 
 
 When Governor Stevens was to see the Pieds Noirs to 
 make a treaty with them, they said to our Indians; until 
 now we have quarrelled about one cow, but now we are 
 surprised by a third; we will unite ourselves against him; 
 if the Americans attack you, I will aid you; if they attack 
 me, you will aid me. 
 
 The war will cost thousands of lives, and all for an 
 affair unpremediated, and for which the Indians feel much 
 regret. You will easily believe me, my reverend father, 
 when I tell you I would purchase back with a life this 
 unhappy event; not on my own judgments of man to me, 
 when God is my witness that I have done everything in my 
 power to preserve peace. Your reverence knows very well 
 that we have threatened our Indians to quit them if they 
 exhibit themselves hostile against the whites. They expect 
 to see themselves abandoned I have told them positively we 
 will go. To quit them actually wouldbeto deliver them to 
 
 34 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
the deceit of Kenuokin, and to light, I think a universal 
 war throughout the whole country. 
 
 What pains me is to see the ruin of so many good In 
 dians. What breaks my heart, is to see Colonel Steptoe, 
 the zealous protector of Indians, exposed to the blame 
 which ordinarily attaches itself to bad success; however, 
 in the eyes of reflecting men, who know his situation, his 
 retreat will do him infinite honore. It is not, I think, the 
 first officer who could thus have drawn himself out from 
 so bad a situation, surrounded by an army of ferocious 
 beasts, hungry after their prey; of Indians sufficiently 
 numerous to relieve each other, and who had always the 
 means to procure fresh horses. It appeared impossible 
 that the troops could escape. Besides, the plan of the In 
 dians was not to give them any rest until they had crossed 
 the Nez Perce; the Spokane were to be there early on the 
 morning of the 18th to relieve the Coeur d'Alenes. In a 
 position so critical, the colonel deceived the vigilance of 
 his enemies, and throwing them his provisions as an in 
 ducement to delay, he defeated their plan. He foresaw 
 without doubt, that the Indians on the one hand had let him 
 take the advance, and on the other tempted by the booty 
 abandoned the pursu t; so that if the troops have escaped, 
 they owe it to the sagacity of the Colonel. 
 
 At the mission they were on the point of having a tra 
 gedy. Four Americans had arrived there with some half 
 breeds and Canadians. After my departure to go to see the 
 colonel from Colville, they went to the Flathead country. 
 On the evening of the 18th the news reached them of the 
 battle, and of the death of Jacques, Zachary and Victor. 
 
 Immediately the women commenced to cry that it was 
 necessary to avenge their deaths. Our two brothers got 
 wind of what was passing. Whilst Brother McGeon ha 
 rangued then at his best to bring them back to humane 
 sentiments, the good old Francois ran with all his might 
 around the marsh, through the water and bushed, to their 
 encampment, to inform them of the danger. They im 
 mediately hid themselves. The next day, the 19th, one of 
 them came back to the encampment, saying that he would 
 as soon die by the hands of the Indians as by starvation 
 in the woods. The half breeds saved him by saying he was 
 not an American, but a Dane. 
 
 The Indians were now ashamed of their conduct. Adrian, 
 who had been one of the most faithful; he came to warn us 
 when there was any new danger. The Indians told the half 
 breeds to go and seek the Americans, who were miserable 
 n the woods. One of the Indians opposed it. He since de 
 clared to me that his anger was not yet allayed, and that he 
 was afraid of being carried away by his passion to commit 
 some bad deed. In fact, the Americans who came in the 
 evening were very near being killed. Adrian having warned 
 them that his life was in danger, we made him come to our 
 home. They are all in safety now No person has aided us 
 in saving them more than the Indian Bonventure. When I 
 had set out, he had gone to accompany them to Clark's 
 river, showing them a new road, the ordinary road being 
 still impracticable. 
 
 Je suis avec respect, mon reverend per votretres humble 
 serviteur, 
 P. Joset, S.J. 
 
 FATHER JOSET'S ACCOUNT 
 
 35 
 
10 
 
 A Flathead Version 
 
 One of the most peculiar documents bearing on the Step- 
 toe expedition is one which found its way into the hands of 
 Albert Sidney Johnston, at the time in command of the de 
 partment of Utah, and by him forwarded to army headquar 
 ters. The person to whom the letter was addressed is not 
 known, but the writer was Father A. Hoecken, a Jesuit mis 
 sionary to the Flatheads. 
 
 Taken in connection with other documents, it is one of the 
 most curious products imaginable. Written confessedly 
 to convey information, it is now known to be so full of error 
 of statement as to convey misinformation. For abrief period 
 the officers in Utah were misled, though without and unfor 
 tunate results The letter affords a puzzle, for which at the 
 present day there seems to be no solution. 
 
 Ostensibly, Father Hoecken undertakes to translate for 
 his correspondent the contents of an earlier letter written 
 by Father Joset describing the Steptoe fight; in reality 
 Joset is garbled, if one may assume that he would write to 
 Father Hoecken the same statements he addressed to Father 
 Congiato. It is incredible that Father Joset would commit 
 himself to writing in so contradictory a manner. Further 
 more, Father Joset lived for many years in Spokane, and 
 during an intercourse covering years was known as a man 
 of straightforwardness; and it is not believed that between 
 May 24 and July 27 he would have written two letters on the 
 same subject so varying in tone. It is true that on May 27 
 he may not have been prepared to tell Father Hoecken that 
 Steptoe had not been annihilated before reaching the Snake. 
 
 It is hardly conceivable that Father Joset, even writing 
 in French to his fellow priest, would so spell proper names 
 that in their translation by a stranger even Yakima would 
 become Yakama and Kamiahkin, Cama Yaken. 
 
 The French scholar of today readily understands that the 
 language of the French Canadian is, and was, a patois. How 
 far the educated Jesuit priests of half a century ago deviated 
 from the French to the patois may not be known, but in 
 some way that "exordum" of Father Joset became unrec 
 ognizable in Father Hoecken's translation. The French stu 
 dent of today would translate "Jamais encore depius que 
 je manie la plume, je n'a eu de si mauvaises nouvelles a 
 communiquet. Je descent en bas, pour savoir quelles seront 
 les consequences de la folie des sauvages; puisse je effacer 
 leur crime de mon sang,'* somewhat as "Never since I 
 have handled a pen have I had so bad news to communicate. 
 I go below to find out what will be the consequences of the 
 folly of the savages; would that I might efface their own 
 crime with my own blood!" rather than "An unhappy event 
 
 has taken place which will produce sad consequences as it 
 will be told in all shapes. I hasten to inform you of it; 
 I do not think that anyone has seen the case as nearly as 
 your servant." 
 
 Still, much of the body of the letter is consonant with the 
 letter to Congiato, and it contains so many additional ref 
 erences of an illuminating character as to warrant repro 
 duction, though the variations cannot be accounted for. The 
 Hoecken letter: 
 
 June 17th, 1858 
 
 Dear Doctor: 
 
 Your kind favor, dated "Owen's ford," was handed to 
 me a few days ago. I am much obliged for the interesting 
 news you communicate in it. I would be glad if I could 
 reciprocate and give you some good news from below, 
 as I see your intention is to go down to Walla Walla; but 
 alas! what I can say is of the contrary kind. 
 
 Early this spring (February 17) I got a letter from 
 B. H. Lansdale, in which he tells me that the whole coun 
 try below the Flathead valley is liable to break into open 
 hostilities, and unsafe for a white man. Unhappily he has 
 foretold the truth; since that time some white men have 
 been killed; cattle have been stolen from the troops in 
 Whitman's valley; which facts, with probably additional 
 ones, have induced Mr. Owen and party to retrace their 
 steps, being advanced on his route as far as the Spokane. 
 He is now in the vicinity of Colville, where I do not be 
 lieve him out of danger. 
 
 But the most afflicting was still to follow. The 8th of 
 June I received a letter from Rev. J. Joset, dated Coeur 
 d'Alene, May 24, the very exordium of his letter made 
 me shudder. 
 
 "Jamais encore depuis que je manie la plume, je n'ai 
 eu de si mauvaises nouvelles a communiquer. Je descent 
 en bas, pour savoir quellas seront les consequences de 
 la folie des sauvages. Puisse je effacer leur crime de 
 mon sang." 
 
 As I believe the full relation will be interesting to you, 
 I will give you as near translation of it in my broken 
 English. 
 
 "An unhappy event has taken place at the Spokane 
 on the return of Governor Stephens from the Blackfeet 
 country, it has been a general voice among the Indian 
 chiefs, to ask that the troops do not cross the Nez 
 Perces river; they seem to foresee that it would be im- 
 
 37 
 
possible to keep in their people. Last winter a faithful 
 Indian said to me: "Only the sight of an armed force 
 would be enough to make all the Indians of the country 
 take up arms." 
 
 When the troops established themselves in the Yakima 
 country, Cama Yaken and his party returned to his band, 
 the Galousses, and has till now never ceased to excite the 
 Indians; and he has particularly tried to gain over the 
 Coeur d'Alenes, who are more prompt and are better 
 armed than the fisher Indians. Cama Yakem, among 
 others, has worked at this the whole winter. There is no 
 kind of false rumor which has notbeen spread concerning 
 Americans and missionaries. The chief and all who reflect 
 soundly have not been ensnared, not even open proselyte 
 has been made; but many bad impressions have been made- 
 probably many suspicions of all those falsehoods. 
 
 Towards the end of April I undertook the route of the 
 Dalles, I proposed to inform Colonel Steptoe of this fer 
 mentation of spirits. At the Camache prairie I met an ex- 
 press sent by the Coeur d'Alene chief, to tell me to return 
 home, though my young men asked me to continue the 
 route down. I did not wish to reject entirely the advice of 
 the chief I answered that, unless the chief came himself 
 to explain the reasons of his probition, we would continue 
 down; that we would wait three days to give him time to 
 come; in fact he arrived. 
 
 "The Nez Perces and Galousses," he said, "were 
 amazed that we do not want to join them against Americans 
 they have just stolen cattle of the troops; they have killed 
 two Americans of their route to Colville. The Spokanes 
 and Coeur d'Alenes have testified their discontentment; it 
 might happen that we come to hostilities with them; all 
 kinds of rumors are afloat that a great number of sol 
 diers are coming; a white man has said that this spring 
 the troops will pass the Nez Perces river to destroy the 
 Indians; another has said that first 500 would come to 
 station themselves at Colville; next, 500 more, then 500 
 more, till, seeing themselves strong enough, they will 
 chase all the Indians out of the coutry. The Palouses and 
 Nez Perces have the country full of spies; they will do 
 you no harm, but they will let you return on foot, and will 
 secretly kill the young men when they go to the horses; 
 next they will make it to be believed that the Americans 
 have killed them; then there will remain no means to keep 
 in our people." 
 
 Fearing this, I returned home Saturday, the 15th of this 
 month; a new express announced the troops near the camp 
 of the Indians, who were digging roots; of course I has 
 tened to run there; from all parts Indians arrived in bands; 
 I arrived Sunday evening; the troops were camped a few 
 miles further. The chief had a great deal to do to restrain 
 his people; the sight of cannon had chiefly enraged them; 
 whilst Vincent (the chief) sent his people off one way, a 
 Galousse murderer brought them back another. As soon 
 as I arrived the chiefs met together; I explained them the 
 principles of war; "Whosoever kills by private authority 
 is a murderer; whosoever engages a battle without the 
 order of the chief is guilty of the evil which flows from it; 
 it is the duty of the chief to examine when he has to wage 
 war for his own defense. 
 
 I reminded them that it was Sunday, which many might 
 
 have forgotten. After prayers it was announced that one of 
 the slaves of Americans (a Nez Perces Indian guide to the 
 troops) had just arrived. According to him, the chief of the 
 soldier's said: 
 
 "You Coeur d'Alenes, you have fair play; your lands, 
 your women are ours." 
 
 I told our people not to believe this; that next morning I 
 would go to see the officer and learn his intentions. 
 Ishequitsetias (Calispee Indian) just tells me: 
 
 "I come from the chief of the troops; whilst I was there 
 a Galousse told him the black gown comes to bring powder 
 to his people, and has told them to kill the Americans." 
 
 It is true that he had said so. Colonel Steptoe confirmed 
 this to me the next morning; in this manner do the Ga 
 lousses work to sow discord; accusing the Spokane and 
 Coeur d* Alenes with the Americans, and vice versa. 
 
 The 17th was of sorrowful memory. As soon as I could 
 get a horse I went on; the troops had moved and were re 
 turning. I had to gallop a good while before I could over 
 take them. I was determined to see the officer on account 
 of the calumny heard the day previous. Colonel Steptoe 
 received me most politely, calling me by name though he 
 had never seen me. He told me he was astonished to see 
 the Coeur d'Alenes and Spokanes coming to him with guns 
 as they had done; that having received a letter from Col 
 ville, in which the whites complained of their difficulties 
 with the Indians, he had resolved first to examine in per 
 son, with a small escort, the place; but hearing that the 
 Galousses were ill disposed he had believed it necessary 
 to take a larger escort it was far from being sufficient. 
 
 I explained to him all I know concerning the dispositions 
 of the Indians. 
 
 "If I had known this," he said, "I would not have ven 
 tured so far without first conferring with the Spokanes and 
 Coeur d'Alenes. I wish to have an interview with the chief, 
 go to Colville and return by the other side of the river. 
 Yesterday I thought we were going to fight; I am happy to 
 return without bloodshed." 
 
 I asked him if he did not desire to see the chiefs; he 
 answered me that his pack animals were too wild to halt; 
 I told him it was not necessary to halt. He said then he 
 would see them willingly. 
 
 As I returned to bring them I found but Vincent, who 
 accompanied me. The colonel spoke and satisfied him. 
 Vincent was answering, when he was called back, as the 
 Gallousses were on the point of firing. I took leave of the 
 Colonel to go to speak to the Coeur d'Alenes. They re 
 ceived the news of the good disposition of the colonel with 
 an evident joy. We were going to start when Jean Giene 
 and Victor said they would return directly home. Molkopsi, 
 furious, (I do not know why) insulted them both, struck 
 them. One of his relations asked him (as I heard since) 
 
 "What are you doing? You are striking our people; 
 behold our enemies!" (Pointing to the Americans). 
 
 They fired on the troops. Unhappily I had gone with 
 the two chiefs, and did not know what was going on. I 
 had reached my camping place when the news arrived 
 of the fight. It was too late when I could get a horse. 
 I was on the road with a bad horse when the Indian told 
 me it was useless; that the Indians would not listen to 
 
 38 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
me. I have since learned that the young men fired a 
 good while before the troops fired. 
 
 The numbers of the aggressors was insignificant, till 
 Jacques Zachary, being killed, and Victor mortally 
 wounded, the rage of the Indians could not be restrained. 
 Thirty Americans, among them three officers, fell on 
 the spot, the others skillfully withdrew during the night. 
 I believe that the Indians were more than one thousand. 
 The plan was not to leave them any rest until the Nez 
 Perces river. The Spokanes retired to return next 
 morning with fresh animals. The troop left all their 
 horses and mules tied to the camp, and concealed in 
 this manner their escape. At midnight the Indians 
 rushed on the camp, but found it deserted. They did not 
 follow them. It is uncertain what has happened at the 
 Nez Perces river. I fear that all have been murdered. 
 
 In the morning I stopped a moment to bury Zachary. 
 I have hastened to leave this place of horror. Vincent 
 arrived. I asked him what provocation they had received. 
 
 "None, all the fault is on our side." 
 
 "You are the murderes of your own people, not the 
 Americans." 
 
 "It is true. I would rather die as the Americans as 
 our people are dead. I had no intention to fight, but at 
 seeing the corpse of my brother-in-law I lost my head. 
 What will be the consequences? If we are pardoned, we 
 will faithfully restore all that has been taken; if not, we 
 will remain home, and if we are attacked we will defend 
 ourselves to the last, and when we are all killed the 
 Americans will have our land. Fools that we are, we 
 always doubted the truth of what our Father told us; 
 now we have seen it. The Americans do not want to 
 fight us." 
 
 Besides what I have related concerning the guides of the 
 colonel, I have other reasons to believe they were traitors. 
 Towards evening they cried to our people. 
 
 "Courage! The Americans can do no more." 
 
 Moreover, why instead of taking the direct road to Col- 
 ville and to avoid thus the Indians, why were they led to 
 make a great detour, and brought just at a place where 
 the Indians were gathered? And they well knew that the 
 Indians would be furious. 
 
 Behold the entire relation. Since that nothing has come 
 to my knowledge. I wish you a happy journey to a better 
 country than this. 
 
 With respect, I am your humble servant, 
 A. Hoecken, S.J. 
 
 When the foregoing letter reached General Johnston at 
 Camp Floyd Utah, it was regarded as of the greatest value 
 as a piece of news. It was forwarded to the general army 
 headquarters, accompanied by a letter and postscript as 
 follows: 
 
 Headquarters Department of Utah 
 Camp Floyd, U.T. July 29, 1858 
 
 Major: I have, with respect to this command, nothing of 
 importance to report, but enclose to you a copy of a letter 
 written by the Rev. A. Hoecken, a Catholic priest of great 
 excellence of character, now residing among the Flathead 
 Indians containing the sad details of the onset made by a 
 
 Bvt. Brig. Gen. A. S. Johnston 
 
 large body of Indians upon the small command of Colonel 
 Steptoe. I do not doubt that the whole of the force has been 
 destroyed; all the officers, I suppose, were killed in the 
 first attack. News of this disaster has, I presume, reached 
 the headquarters of the army; this letter is, however, 
 particularly interesting, from containing reliable particu 
 lars, which would probably not be otherwise known. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 A.S. Johnston, 
 
 Colonel 2d Cavalry and Brevet Brigadier Gen. 
 United States Army, Commanding 
 
 
 F. S. Porter 
 
 A FLATHEAD VERSION 
 
 39 
 
Major Irvin McDowell, 
 
 Assistant Adjutant General 
 
 Headquarters of the Army, West Point, New York 
 
 July 29 
 
 The California mail which arrived in Salt Lake City 
 last evening brings reports, current in Sacramento 12 
 days since, that only thirteen soldiers, and two officers, 
 of whom Colonel Steptoe was not one, were killed. 
 F.J. Porter, 
 Assistant Adjutant General 
 
 It is interesting to note from the dates of the foregoing how 
 very slowly information was transmitted a half century ago, 
 when wilderness crowned the great west and settlements 
 
 were far between. The attack on Steptoe took place on May 17. 
 Father Josefs letter of May 24 did not reach the Flathead 
 mission until June 8th. Johnston did not receive Father 
 Hoecken's letter, though it was written on the 17th of June 
 until the last days of July, and on the same day Utah head 
 quarters received overland the news which Sacramento had 
 learned twelve days earlier. It was on the 14th day of June 
 that General Clarke in San Francisco, forwarded Colonel 
 Steptoe's report to headquarters, and General Clarke had 
 heard the skeleton news on June 2. 
 
 The names of Albert Sidney Johnston, Irvin McDowell and 
 Fitz John Porter are familiar to every school boy and girl, 
 as those or prominent actors in the Civil War, but it may 
 not be generally known that a part of their military education 
 was received while fighting Mormons in Utah in 1858. 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 Major Irvin McDowell 
 
 40 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
11 
 
 11 
 
 An Incubus" 
 
 One of the revelations resulting from the Steptoe expedition 
 was the discovery of the astonishingly strong arm equipment 
 and apparently plenteous ammunition supply possessed by 
 the hostiles. The army officers knew that for years the 
 Hudson's Bay Company traders had furnished the Indians with 
 musket and powder and ball. These were naturally desired 
 by the Indians, but without them the Indians could not bring 
 peltries to the trading posts. Many of the weapons were old, 
 which had thus been furnished the natives, but on the Steptoe 
 battlefield there were such numbers of rifles which carried 
 well in the hands of the attacking party that it was patent that 
 the weapons were not cast-offs. 
 
 No suspicion could rightly be directed by the government 
 toward the "Honorable Company of Adventurers" or their 
 
 Dr. John McLoughlin 
 
 agents. To be sure, many Englishmen looked with favor upon 
 the Southern states, but that did not mean that the British 
 government, through one of its corporations, was supplying 
 antagonists of the government at Washington with the muni 
 tions of war. Not many years had passed since Lord Ash- 
 burton and Daniel Webster had settled boundary questions 
 amicably between the two great nations. All must be quiet 
 along parallel 49. 
 
 But the people whose activities placed them in touch with 
 conditions along the designated boundary, knew that in the 
 minds of many individuals there was dissatisfaction with the 
 dividing line as determined by the diplomats. There were 
 "home interests" which the pioneers of the zone affected 
 found disturbed. With the formal settling of the dispute 
 which had gone on since the question of title was first raised 
 by the subjects of the two nations, the actual feeling on the 
 part of the residents and tradesmen did not disappear. Dr. 
 John McGloughlin had been dismissed, after a lifetime of 
 eminent service in its behalf by the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 His fault lay in loaning seeds to American settlers. In the 
 tenents of the company, the act, and repetitions of it, consti 
 tuted an unpardonable sin. 
 
 But the Americans did not take kindly to Dr. McGlough 
 lin. He had been so long a faithful servant of the company 
 that they doubted his sincerity in asking to become a cit 
 izen of the United States and of Oregon many of whose 
 early settlers owed to him and his generosity their very 
 lives and those of their families. He applied for citizen 
 ship because he knew that that was the only course open to 
 him in order to take title to land which he wished to pre 
 serve for his family. The fact that he was receiving pay 
 from the coffers of the Hudson's Bay Company even 
 though it was but the amount allowed a retired officer 
 caused opposition. Shortly before he died, in 1857, he 
 called to his bedside at Oregon City, L. F. Grover, twice 
 Oregon's governor and for one term her United States sen 
 ator. To him Dr. McGloughlin made final appeal: 
 
 "I shall live but a little while longer, and this is the 
 reason I sent for you: I am an old man, and just dying and 
 you are a young man and will live many years in this coun 
 try, and will have something to do with affairs here, As 
 for me, I had better been shot" and he brought it out 
 harshly "I might better have been shot forty years ago, 
 than to have lived here and tried to bring up a family and 
 an estate in this government. I became a citizen of the 
 United States in good faith. I planted all I had here, and the 
 government confiscated my property. Now, what I want to 
 
 41 
 
ask of you is that you will give your influence, after I am 
 gone, to have this property go to my children. I have earned 
 it as other settlers have earned theirs, and it ought to be 
 mine and my heirs'." 
 
 Dr. McGloughlin lived eleven years in Oregon City. His 
 case, though extraordinarily prominent, serves capitally to 
 illustrate the strength of the feeling which was so hard to die 
 out along the Columbia even after all controversy between the 
 two governments had been settled. It was but natural that 
 army officials in the far Northwest should be responsive to 
 the suspicion that the alarming arsenals of Palouse, Spokane 
 and Coeur d'Alene had some connection with the Hudson Bay 
 Company post of Fort Colville. The old stockade on Marcus 
 flats, on the Columbia river only a few miles south of the 
 international boundary, was the last vestige of British author 
 ity south of the 49th parallel. It had been made so by diplo 
 matic agreement. The Hudson Bay people were influential 
 enough pull enough, if you please to obtain the insertion in 
 the treaty agreements of a concession by which it could 
 continue to operate upon United States soil. And it did so 
 operate until 1871, when it withdrew and left its land and 
 buildings to the family of McDonald, long in its service. 
 
 The old eagerness for trade was as active in 1858 as it had 
 been in former years. The old spirit of commercialism with 
 the natives endured. Army officers knew of the close relation 
 ship between the traders and the missionary priests. The 
 home of the fathers of St. Francis Regis stood on the portage 
 carry between the stockade and the Kettle Falls. This prop 
 inquity was an aid to suspicion that both priest and trader 
 knew something of the origin of Coeur d'Alene and Spokane 
 powder and ball. Investigation, however, speedily withdrew 
 the priests from suspicion. 
 
 Colonel Steptoe had officially avowed his belief that the 
 Indian ammunition "was obtained either from the Colville 
 traders or the Mormons." 
 
 Direct, though unofficial, information, came down from 
 Colville to Vancouver in the month of July of contraband 
 trade between the Hudson Bay post and the Indians. One letter 
 to General Clarke read: 
 
 "I met at Colville a Coeur d'Alene chief, with some ten 
 others of the same tribe. They came well mounted on United 
 States horses and mules. They are offering the mules for 
 sale; some were bought by the Hudson Bay Company. I told 
 the gentleman in charge that I had no orders to stop it, but 
 I did not think it right to furnish a market for stolen animals 
 to the enemy." 
 
 These animals were probably some of those taken from 
 Fort Walla Walla in April, as reported by Colonel Steptoe, 
 by a band of Palouse. It seems that they had been trans 
 ferred to the Coeur d'Alenes. It is hardly possible that 
 animals bearing the U. S. brand would stray across a wild 
 country 250 miles. Here, then, was foundation for alleging 
 an interchange, not only between the native tribes, but be 
 tween the Indians and foreigners. Also, the Palouse under 
 stood business methods under the circumstances well 
 enough to let the Coeur d'Alenes, the tribes most famil 
 iar to the traders, present the booty and transact the bar 
 gain. 
 
 A second letter to General Clarke conveyed the fol 
 lowing interesting information: 
 
 "The Hudson Bay Company's train, some two hundred 
 
 head of horses, starts in a few days for Fort Hope for the 
 year's outfit. I think they are to bring some two thou 
 sand pounds of powder, with a proportionable quantity of 
 ball. This, as a matter of course, will find its way into the 
 hostile camp. The trade in ammunition might be stopped 
 here; but, as, the gentlemen in charge here told me, we 
 could not prevent the company trading at Fort Forty Nine, 
 which is another post thirty miles above Colville." 
 
 It would seem that the Hudson Bay people did not respect 
 the line of demarcation at other points along the 49th par 
 allel. So frequently had been the visits of hunters from over 
 the border in the vicinity of Winnipeg, where the Hudson 
 Bay people maintained a trading post, into the country of the 
 Red River of the North, that in 1858 the government dis 
 patched a military expedition from Fort Snelling to Pem- 
 ina. That the United States officials were annoyed by the 
 frequency of these incursions is witnessed by the following 
 notices posted by that expedition: 
 
 Camp at St. Joseph's, Minnesota 
 The undersigned, the commanding officer of a military 
 expedition which arrived here today from Fort Snelling, 
 via Lake Mini-Waken, has the instructions of the Presi 
 dent of the United States to notify such of the inhabitants 
 of the British Possessions as are in the habit of crossing 
 the boundary line between the United States and Great 
 Britain (49th parallel of north latitude) for the purpose 
 of hunting and trapping, &c., on American soil, that s 
 of hunting and trapping,&c., on American soil, that such 
 depredations will no longer be permitted. 
 
 The undersigned, accordingly, hereby warns all such 
 persons not to enter the territory of the United States for 
 the above mentioned purposes. 
 C.F. Smith, 
 
 Lt. Col. 10th Inf. and Bvt. Col. 
 Commanding 
 
 Nearer to the sensibilities of the soldiers themselves 
 came such a bit of information as Lieutenant Kip records 
 during the period of preparation of the Wright column to 
 enter the hostile country: "Dr. Perkins, who was at Fort 
 Colville (the Hudson Bay Company's post) shortly after 
 the battle with Colonel Steptoe's command, in his nar 
 rative states: "The sword of poor Lieutenant Gaton was 
 waved in my face by the Indian who had taken it form him 
 at the time of Steptoe's defeat. The saddle of Captain Tay 
 lor was also shown to me, covered with his blood. These 
 things the Indians displayed with exultation, saying that the 
 white soldiers were women and could not fight, and the 
 more that should be sent into that country the better they 
 would like it, for they would kill them all." 
 
 Upon receipt of this direct evidence of the course of the 
 Colville traders, General Clarke did not delay or mulsify. 
 James A. Graham, chief trader of the company, was then 
 at Vancouver, but a short distance from Clarke's headquar 
 ters. To him the American soldier addressed the following 
 spirited communication, simple but unequivocal: 
 
 Headquarters, Department of the Pacific 
 Fort Vancouver, W. T., August 6, 1858 
 
 If these things obtain, (and the authority on which they 
 
 42 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
are stated is reliable,) they present a state of affairs 
 which neither your government nor mine has anticipated. 
 
 It must be that your agents have violated the spirit of 
 your instructions. These could never have permitted them 
 to purchase the property of the United States seized by 
 Indians, nor to make preparations for large sales of am 
 munition to Indians in rebellion against the government. 
 
 It must be known to you that the privilege of trading 
 was guarantied to the company only in articles that the 
 Indians had a right to sell; that the Indians within the bor 
 ders of the United States make no lawful captures in war 
 and that unlawful seizures transfer no right of property. 
 
 It must be equally well known to you that while Indians 
 are at war with the government, ammunition is contra 
 band. 
 
 If your agents have, as stated, purchased from the In 
 dians horses or other property, knowing it to have been 
 seized by the Indians, they have acquired no title thereto 
 and have, in addition, violated the obligation to respect 
 the laws of the country. 
 
 Neither Great Britain nor the United States would per 
 mit citizens or corporations to supply arms and ammuni 
 tion to Indians with whom they were waging war, and the 
 latter government cannotbe supposed to have secured such 
 immunity to the Hudson's Bay Company by treaty. 
 
 The trade of the company in these articles would, under 
 such circumstances, be stopped in British territory, and 
 must be stopped here. 
 
 I therefore call upon you to give instructions to your 
 agents, and to enforce them, neither to purchase from the 
 Indians property of the government or of citizens of the 
 United States takenby them, nor to furnish them with arms 
 or ammunition during the continuance of hostilities, nor 
 until this prohibition is withdrawn. 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 N. S. Clarke, 
 
 Colonel 6th Infantry, Brevet Brig. General, Commanding 
 James A. Graham 
 
 Chief Trader Hudson's Bay Company 
 In charge at Vancouver, W.T. 
 
 General Clarke had enclosed copies of the two letters 
 received from Colville, but had withheld the names of his 
 correspondents. 
 
 Chief Trader Graham halted, and ruminated, but within 
 twenty-four hours he placed his reply to the communication 
 in General Clarke's hand. He did not confess any fault, he 
 did not admit the charges; but he quickened as if United 
 States guns were already trained across Marcu flats at the 
 offending post. The communication was such as might be 
 expected from the type of men high in the confidential ser 
 vice of the great company These men were not merely 
 traders or barterers-in-chief. They were trained diplo 
 mats, consuls, ambassadors, with all the powers of a mogul 
 over his retinue. They were capable of inifinte pains, like 
 a mathemetician; of a smile, like Talleyrand; of a dissem 
 bling, like Machiavelli; of a stubborn resistance, like Wil 
 liam the Silent; of retreating, like a Parthian general; of 
 courtly flattery, like a Raleigh. Of necessity they were men 
 of astuteness. Their business and its exigencies required 
 of them a polyhedral character. Mr. Graham's letter was 
 as follows; 
 
 Vancouver, Washington Territory, 
 August 7, 1858 
 
 Sir: I beg to acknowledge receipt of your communication 
 of 6th instant, which I have perused attentively. 
 
 I regret that appearances should for a moment place us 
 in a false position, or tend to break up the friendly rela 
 tions that have ever existed between the Hudson's Bay 
 Company and the military authorities of the United States, 
 and would beg to submit to your notice the fact that no 
 preparations have been made at Colville to make larger 
 sales of ammunition that previously to the Indians, as no 
 more than the usual year's supply has been ordered, if 
 your informant is correct in his estimate. 
 
 In proof of the sincerity of our desire to do what is 
 right, I promptly comply with your request regarding the 
 stopping the supply of ammunition to the Indians at Col 
 ville, and furthermore will instruct our agent at that place 
 to discontinue the trade in that article at the establishment 
 on the Pend d'Oreille river, until he can receive advices 
 from Governor Douglas, to whose department that fort 
 properly belongs. 
 
 The trade of United States property and of its citizens 
 taken in war shall also be discontinued, if it has ever 
 been carried on, and should any of said property have un 
 fortunately fallen into our hands, I now send instructions 
 to cause its surrender, and I feel confident your govern 
 ment will not suffer us to sustain any loss therby. 
 
 Accompanying I send you a copy of my letter to our 
 agent at Colville on this subject, which will, I trust, satisfy 
 you that we wish to do what is right, and live in peace with 
 all men. At the same time, as the lives of our employees 
 and our establishment will be seriously endangered as 
 soon as my instructions begin to be carried out, I beg to 
 draw your attention to the fact that our means of defense 
 at Colville are almost useless, the fort being even without 
 pickets, and any damage we may sustain in consequence 
 of your prohibition will be brought as a claim by the com 
 pany against your government. 
 
 As I have no means of forwarding letters to Colville 
 during these disturbed times, and am anxious that my 
 instructions should reach that place at as early a date 
 as possible, I should feel much obliged if you permit 
 my dispatch to be forwarded by one of the expresses 
 which, I presume, you make use of to communicate with 
 your command in the field, if not contrary to regulations. 
 
 On the 4th instant I addressed Major Mckall officially, 
 regarding the tearing down and removal of one of our old 
 buildings at this place, by order of theUn.ted States quar 
 termaster of this post To it I have as yet received no 
 reply and in case it may have been overlooked, I beg to 
 draw your attention to it. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 James A. Graham, 
 
 Chief Trader, Hudson's Bay Company 
 
 Colonel N. S. Clarke, 
 
 Brevet Brigadier General, United States Army, 
 
 Fort Vancouver, W. T. 
 
 "AN INCUBUS" 
 
 43 
 
By requesting the United States army to deliver his mes 
 sage to the post trader at Fort Colville, Mr. Graham divested 
 himself of all responsibility for whatever might transpire 
 until the actual arrival of the orders. The instructions given 
 by Mr. Graham to Trader George Blenkinsop were as fol 
 lows: 
 
 Upon receipt of this you will stop altogether the issue 
 of ammunition within American territory until the prohibi- 
 ton now enforced is withdrawn, and suspend the trade in 
 that article at the Pend O'Reille Fort until advices shall 
 have reached you either from Governor Douglas, the 
 Western Board or myself. 
 
 Should any animals or other property belonging to the 
 United States or American citizens, which has been un 
 lawfully acquired by the Indians, have been unfortunately 
 traded by you or those under your orders you will de 
 liver up such animals or property to the United States 
 authorities when called upon to do so. 
 
 Hereafter let no trade, either of animals or of other 
 property unlawfully acquired by the Indians, be made by 
 yourself or any of the company's employees attached to 
 your district. 
 
 I shall communicate immediately with the Western 
 Board regarding you without loss of time as to your future 
 guidance. 
 
 Hoping that by good management and the exercise of 
 prudence you may avert the peril, you and all at Col 
 ville will incur, by stopping the trade in ammunition." 
 
 Lieutenant John Mullan added to his qualities as a sol 
 dier and an engineer the faculty of a keen observer of events 
 and a willingness to comment on them with a fearlessness 
 which now seems remarkable in a lieutenant. Writing while 
 enroute with the victorious Wright expedition later in the 
 summer, Mullan thus unburdens himself on the subject of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company: 
 
 While on the road today we were overtaken by an ex 
 press man from Fort Colville, bearing us the intelligence 
 that the Indians in that vicinity were committing acts of 
 depredation, and calling upon Colonel Wright for protec 
 tion. A letter from Father Favalli to me set forth a fear 
 of a general outbreak of the Indians among the miners and 
 settlers of the valley, and represents an unpromising state 
 of affairs among the people of that section. Now that there 
 is great travel from Fort Colville to the northern mines 
 of Thompson's and Frazer rivers, the Indians will doubt 
 less annoy the line of emigrants (immigrants) destined to 
 pour into that region by this route. 
 
 But, would it not appear a little strange that a foreign 
 corporation, such as the Hudson's Bay Company now is, in 
 our midst, near the border of the territory of its own 
 government, should call upon us for protection against 
 Indians, many of whom come from Bristish territory for 
 the purposes of agression and plunder? 
 
 This foreign corporate body, be it said, however, with 
 all respect for its many high-toned, generous and chivalric 
 bourgeois and chief factors, exists in our midst as an in 
 cubus upon our American progress and advancement; that 
 dries up the founts of prosperity wheresoever located; 
 whose original entry and present stay in the country has 
 been for lucre's sake; I say, would it not seem strange, 
 that as these things could so glaringly exist, that we should 
 
 be still further mortified by being called upon for a mil 
 itary protection. 
 
 Were they our own citizens, did we feel that their resi 
 dence in our midst was to our presenter future advance 
 ment, then we might unquestionably act differently; for 
 then it would not only be our duty, but this duty would be 
 cheerfully and willingly performed. As pioneers in west 
 ern settlement and civilization, they would be entitled to 
 and would receive our special protection. 
 
 A Blockhouse Similar to one at Fort Colville 
 
 This spirit of 1858 has fled and gone in the levelling and 
 laundering processes of half a century. The visitor to Marcus 
 flats may look over the broad and placid bosom of the Co 
 lumbia above the point where it dashes over the descents at 
 Kettle Falls and have heed for neither Indian nor Britisher. 
 At the old post trader's house he is welcomed by Donald 
 McDonald, American born son of a later Hudson Bay trader 
 than George Blenkinsop. The old quadrangular stockade, once 
 the scene of festivities of gaily caparisoned voyageur and 
 coureur du bois, once the storehouse and barter place of in 
 calculable furs, once the halting place of brigades on their 
 way to Jasper House or York Factory, is gone, with not a 
 vestige remaining. Hardly a depression marks the lines 
 where sharpened logs had been sunk into the earth. Only one 
 of the square blockhouses, at the four corners, remains, a 
 monument to the time-defying qualities of tamarack logs, 
 hewed square. 
 
 On the summer's afternoon the sparks of a threshing en 
 gine slide off the steep roof originally designed to foil the 
 attempt of fire-brand arrows to find lodgment. One may hear 
 the rustle of the leaves in the orchard planted a century ago. 
 And, strange to say, within that house he may place his hand 
 upon an old brass cannon which spoke Montcalm-French to 
 Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham; one may put his finger along 
 the jagged edge of its muzzle and note the absence of a seg 
 ment which was blown off by an overcharge of American pow 
 der on America's national birthday, as the later McDonalds 
 were celebrating in true American spirit the glory of their 
 American citizenship odd vicissitudes of a piece of brass of 
 three different centuries and of three different peoples. 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
12 
 
 Preparing to Strike 
 
 News of the repulse of the Steptoe column reached Walla 
 Walla very quickly, perhaps through the agency of Indian 
 channels south of the Snake River, though no note is made 
 concerning the messenger in any records at hand. The fugi 
 tives reached the river at 10 o'clock of the morning follow 
 ing their escape, tired and exhausted. Indian guards were 
 posted and men and animals enjoyed a rest during the day and 
 the following night. They had scarcely turned their faces from 
 the river and toward Walla Walla when they encountered Cap 
 tain Frederick T. Dent and his company of infantry which had 
 been travelling to their relief by forced marches. 
 
 Colonel George Wright, in command of the district of the 
 Columbia with headquaters at Fort Dalles, next heard of the 
 disaster. It was the 2nd of June before, the department com 
 mander at San Francisco was informed of the facts. General 
 Clarke at once determined to remove his headquaters nearer 
 the scene of the coming conflict. He glanced at the situation 
 in his own department and determined to send north seven of 
 the ten companies of the Third artillery then on the Pacific 
 coast. These troops had for several months been equepped as 
 infantrymen and were in reality infantrymen. The prospect 
 from the San Francisco headquarters early in June is thus 
 represented: 
 
 Headquarters, Department of the Pacific 
 San Francisco, California, June 2, 1858 
 
 Sir: I go to Washington Territory, and have directed troops 
 to follow me; arriving, I shall primarily have in view a 
 retrieval of the ground lost by Colonel Steptoe, by occu 
 pancy of the point he suggests, and the recovery of the 
 howitzers; and in order to check the hostile Indians also, 
 to adopt such other steps as exigencies may demand. 
 
 Should a war become general by combinations of tribes, 
 it will become necessary to concentrate a larger force of 
 military. I suggest, therefore, a movement of troops as 
 soon as possible from Utah, to operate against whatever 
 tribes may be in hostility. 
 
 In reference to friendly Indians and such as may at a 
 future day be disposed, I suggest authority be given to 
 form such treaty stipulations as the nature of the case or 
 cases may seem to demand. Doubtless, meantime, the hos- 
 tiles will have learned the departure south of the Mormons 
 who have, I believe, instigated them andwhonow abandon 
 them. The moral effect upon them of such abandonment 
 will probably dampen their ardor, and lead them to sober 
 reflection upon the consequences of their rashness. 
 
 I repeat that such chiefs as may be disposed, should be 
 invited to repair at the expense of the government to Wash 
 ington. Doubtless on their return they would make a seri 
 ous impression upon others of their people as to the folly 
 of hostility to the United States. 
 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 N. S. Clarke 
 
 Assistant Adjutant General 
 
 Such was the general view of a man kept posted as fully 
 as possible through reports from the affected distict, but who 
 was hundreds of miles from the actual front. One may obtain 
 more detail from an officer on the very scene. Colonel Wright 
 had had experience with the tribes now hostile as well as with 
 others who were friendly. On hearing the news of the Steptoe 
 fight, he posted off the following: 
 
 Headquarters, Fort Dalles, 0. T., 
 May 26, 1858 
 
 Sir: By the next steamer you will doubtless receive the 
 report of Brevet Lieutenant Steptoe, recounting the un 
 fortunate termination of his northern expedition. That all 
 the Indians in that section of country have combined for a 
 general war, there is not a shadow of doubt. They are 
 numerous, active and perfectly acquainted with the topog 
 raphy of the country; hence, a large body of troops will be 
 necessary if, as I presume, it is designed to bring those 
 Indians under subjection and signally chastise them for 
 their unwarranted attack upon Colonel Steptoe. 
 
 It is my opinion that one thousand troops should be sent 
 into that country thus enabling the commander to pursue 
 the enemy in two or three columns. 
 
 The posts east of the Cascades are small, and I do not 
 think that it would be prudent at this moment to reduce 
 them, as there is much agitation among the friendly In 
 dians in consequence of this affair of Colonel Steptoe's; 
 and south of us, distant seventy miles, there is a large 
 body of Indians on the "Warm Springs*' reservation; they 
 are now perfectly friendly, but should they be tampered 
 with by the hostiles and no military force at hand to over 
 come them it is difficult to say what their course would be. 
 
 The steamboat which was built to run on the upper Col 
 umbia unfortunately went over the cascades; this is a 
 serious detriment to us, as well as to the owners; were 
 she now running above the Des Chutes her services would 
 be of the greatest importance. The supplies at Walla Walla 
 
 45 
 
are at this moment very limited. In fact, a few days since 
 they were entirely destitute of flour; however, a supply is 
 now on the way to that place. 
 
 I think that we may now look forward to a protracted 
 war, and it behooves us to prosecute it systematically, 
 with an ample supply of the personnel and material, to 
 guard against a possibility of failure. 
 
 Should the difficulties with the Mormons have been 
 terminated, (as is rumored) probably a force could be 
 drawn from that country to aid in the coming struggle. 
 
 Lieutenant Mullan with his party will remain near here 
 until he hears from Colonel Steptoe, but there is no pro 
 bability that he will be able to construct the road this 
 year; in fact, it is said that this proposed opening of a road 
 through the Indian country was a primary couse of the 
 attack on Colonel Steptoe, and had Lieu tenant Mullan pre 
 ceded Colonel Steptoe his whole party would have been 
 sacrificed. 
 
 Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 
 
 G. Wright, 
 
 Colonel 9th Infantry, Commanding. 
 
 Major W.W. Mackall, Assistant Adjutant General, San 
 Francisco, California 
 
 Arrived at Fort Vancouver, General Clarke designated 
 Colonel Wright to take command of the projected operations 
 and bade him attend to the actual preparations for the field, 
 while General Clarke himself undertook the task of collecting 
 all possible facts bearing on the territory about to be entered, 
 the existing disposition of the Indians and the dozen and one 
 considerations necessary but not directly bearing upon the 
 details of equipping the troops, drilling them and gathering 
 quartermaster and comissary supplies. 
 
 At this juncture came Father Joset, with his wealth of in 
 formation and suggestion, based on his priestly contactwith 
 his elemental wards. There was some diplomacy necessary 
 before the general came to a full and complete understanding 
 with the priest. Father Josefs letter descriptive of the Step- 
 toe fight, was dated June 27 and addressed to Father Con- 
 giato, then at Salem, Oregon. It did not take long for the gen 
 eral to be impressed with the credibility of the black robed 
 priest; for on June 26th, a day earlier than the date of the 
 Joset letter, the general delivered to the Jesuit his quasi- 
 commission to investigate and report on the state of affairs 
 among the Indians. The opening sentence indicates that oral 
 discussion had already passed between the two, else the 
 general could not have had time in which to formulate his 
 policy with reference to terms and conditions of peace. 
 Father Joset learned what were to be "the consequences of 
 the folly of the poor savages," and it must have been with 
 heavy heart that he travelled back to his mountain mission 
 to persuade the natives of the inexorable conditions. Clarke's 
 commission was as follows: 
 
 Headquarters, Department of the Pacific 
 Fort Vancouver, W. T., June 25, 1858. 
 
 Sir:- I am persuaded by your statement and by your assur 
 ance that the Coeur d'Alene Indians were misled by the 
 misrepresentations of Kamiajkin and the Nez Perces; that 
 
 by these parties they were deceived as to the objects of 
 the march of Colonel Steptoe, and that the attack on him 
 was even then the acts of a few insubordinate men of the 
 tribe, acting in disobedience to the orders of the chiefs, 
 and in opposition to the wishes of the tribe. 
 
 I am also satisfied that the Coeur d'Alenesare repent 
 ant, persuaded of their guilt, and ready to make atonement 
 and submission. Believing this to be the case, and remem 
 bering that the Coeur d'Alenes have untill this time been 
 peaceful, and belong to those Indians whose boast has been 
 that they had never dipped their hands in the blood of the 
 whites. I have decided that I will listen to them. You may 
 say this to the chiefs: 
 
 Tell them I will receive them here and talk with them, 
 or, as they may not be able to travel through the lower 
 Indians with safety, I will authorize the officer in command 
 of my troops to talks with them. And I will direct him to 
 say to them: 
 
 "Coeur d'Alenes, I do not wish your permission to send 
 troops through your country; this is already my right. I 
 will use it when I please. They will not injure you or your 
 wives, and you must not disturb them. 
 
 "He doe,s not ask you to permit the road to the Missouri 
 to be made, UnitedStates has this right, and will make the 
 road when it is proper. Parties working on it must not be 
 disturbed, and whites travelling through your country must 
 not be molested. All these things must be done by you at 
 all times. 
 
 "Coeur d'Alenes and Spokanes, you have committed a 
 great crime. You have attacked the troops who were 
 friendly with you, and have plundered the government prop 
 erty, and for this you must atone. You must restore the 
 property you retain. You say that you were deceived by the 
 lies of the Nez Perces, by the lies of Kamiahkin. Well, I 
 am going to make war on these people. You must drive 
 them out of your country, and not permit them to hide 
 there from me. 
 
 "You say some of your tribe fired upon the troops in 
 disobedience of the orders of their chiefs, and against the 
 wishes of your people. If so, they must suffer for their 
 disobedience, and atone for the guilt into which their bad 
 acts have brought their people. You must give them up. 
 
 "If you come and see me and do these things I will grant 
 you peace. If you go to my officer commanding the troops 
 and do these things, I will tell him to give you peace. 
 
 "I am going to send my troops into your country; if you 
 do these things they will enter your country and leave it 
 without doing you any injury; if you do not, they will treat 
 you as enemies. I will believe that it was not the lies of 
 the Nez Perces that excited and misled you, and not the 
 rashness of a few of the tribe that led to the attack on the 
 troops, and I will use all my power to punish you as faith 
 less Indians." 
 
 And now, sir, it only remains for me to thank you for 
 your efforts in the cause of humanity, and to express my 
 sincere wishes for your success in preserving a people 
 among whom you have so long been a laborer. 
 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 Father Joset, N ' S - Clark 
 
 Catholic Priest, Coeur d'Alene Mission. 
 Delivered him Fort Vancouver, June 26, 1858. 
 
 46 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Such was the ultimatum given the black-robed ambassa 
 dor from the hills. It did not confer any extraordinary pow 
 ers. The priest took it, and joined Father Congiato. Togeth 
 er they set out on their weary tramp to the far away moun 
 tains. 
 
 General Clarke did not expect the Indians to submit. On 
 the fourth of July he gave Colonel Wright specific orders 
 about getting his column into the field. On the 18th of July 
 he sent troops to reinforce Fort Simcoe and gave final 
 orders to Major Roberts S. Garnett, who was to head the 
 expedition through the Yakima country, the home valley of 
 
 
 OW-HI 
 
 A Chief of the Yakimas 
 
 the great Kamiahkin and of the notorious Owhi and Qual- 
 chen. He drew up provisional treaties which were to be 
 taken by the commanders into the field. He formulated an 
 agreement with the Nez Perces, with the special purpose 
 of including the recalcitrant and uneasy ones, which he 
 sent to Colonel Steptoe with instructions to negotiate as 
 soon as possible. He had his tilt with Chief Trader Graham, 
 and had hardly settled down before word came from Fathers 
 Congiato and Joset touching the temper of the Spokane s and 
 Coeur d'Alenes. It was as follows: 
 
 Coeur d'Alene Mission, 
 August 3rd, 1858 
 
 General: We reached this place on the 16th of July and 
 immediately went about in search of the Indians in order 
 to discharge the mission we receivedfromyou.lt took us 
 over three weeks before we were able to see all the 
 Coeur d'Alene and Spokane Indians, as they were scattered 
 about in small parties at great distances from each other, 
 some fishing, others gathering roots or fruits and making 
 provisions for winter. 
 
 When we arrived the Coeur d'Alenes were as yet under 
 great excitement and all their conversation was about war 
 matters. We were not a little astonished to find them so 
 different on this point from what Rev. Father Joset had 
 left them when he went down to the Dalles. They were 
 then, or so seemed to be, very sorry at what they had 
 done, and asked for peace. Not so on our return.. The poor 
 creatures spoke as boldly as ever, and manifested the 
 
 greatest desire to have another encounter with the troops. 
 Some of them wore as yet the war garments, and their 
 camps resounded with the war song day and night. We did 
 not know how to account for this great change. We attri 
 buted it to the influence ofKamaykan,whohas been living 
 and still lives, among them. 
 
 But no sooner did we begin to speak to them of how 
 matters really stood, and explained clearly to them-first, 
 what the soldiers are; second, their peaceful and pro- 
 tectin mission; third the difference which exists between 
 soldier and other citizens, or Americans, as they call 
 them; and, lastly, their number and power, the many and 
 terrible means they have at their command in order to 
 subdue their enemies and punish those who do wrong to 
 them, then their boldness began to cool down wonderfully. 
 They cast away their war garments, and the war song was 
 no longer heard. After this, we read to them the several 
 papers you gave to us. 
 
 At first they did not say much. By little and little they 
 began to express their opinions on the conditions offered 
 to them, in order to obtain the peace they asked for. Some 
 found them impossible to be complied with, as they have 
 no form of government, and each one is responsible to 
 himself. 
 
 Indeed, I could not find out that there is among them 
 any really constituted authority to punish the guilty or give 
 satisfaction for wrongs inflicted. The chiefs have no power 
 at all, and the only thing which distinguishes them from the 
 others is the mere name. But they do nothing and cannot do 
 anything; and should they dare to exercise any authority, 
 such as to punish a guilty party, they run the risk of being 
 killed. This, as far as I know is the case among the Coeur 
 d'Alenes. 
 
 Thus, Vincent, the great chief, is at present very much 
 disliked, and very badly spoken of by a number of his peo 
 ple, because he made proposals of peace to the soldiers 
 without first consulting the relations of those who were 
 killed at the last battle, to whom only, they say, belongs by 
 custom the right of making peace or declaring war; where 
 fore, he is now determined not to say a word on the sub 
 ject of the war and, should his people declare themselves 
 for it, not to take any part in the same. 
 
 Others say (in regard to the aforesaid conditions) that 
 such is not the Indian fashion of making peace. We make 
 peace with our enemies by forgiving each other and by 
 making each other mutual presents. 
 
 Others, on the contrary, though not many, are for war 
 to the knife. 
 
 Two things chiefly they find difficult to comply with in 
 the conditions proposed to them for the peace; and these 
 are, first; to restore the government property; second, to 
 give up the authors of the attack made on the troops. 
 
 As to the first, they have already disposed of a great 
 many things. There remain only some horses and mules, 
 about which they have been quarreling a great deal among 
 themselves. Most of these horses and mules have been 
 branded, and have passed from hand to hand, and those 
 who got them last are unwilling to give them up unless 
 paid for, as they say they bought them. As to the latter 
 condition, they are decidedly against itl 
 
 You have no idea, General, what pains we took to as 
 certain the feeling mostly prevailing among the Indians 
 
 PREPARING TO STRIKE 
 
 47 
 
concerning the war. The poor creatures see that they are 
 in a bad scrape, are anxious to get out of it, but cannot 
 agree as to the manner and means to employed. As far as 
 we could gather from the speeches we heard of the most 
 influential men among the Indians, and from the many con 
 versations we held with them here is in a few words, in 
 our opinion, how matters stand in regard to the war: 
 
 By far the greater majority dislike the war, and are 
 strongly against it; but they show no disposition either to 
 restore the government property or to give up the authors 
 of the attack made on Colonel Steptoe's command; but, at 
 the same time, should the troops come up, it would appear 
 by their talking that they will not make any resistance, but 
 will keep away and take to the mountains in small parties 
 and disperse here and there. It may happen that some of 
 them will dare to make warlike demonstrations, but very 
 probably they will find no support or aid in their ma 
 rauding. 
 
 I say all of this of the Spokane and Coeur d'Alenes. As 
 to the Palouses, the two last mentioned tribes say they 
 do not care anything about. They are regarded as the cause 
 of all the trouble in which they (the Coeur d'Alenes and 
 Spokanes) will leave them to take care of themselves. 
 
 As you will see from the letters they write, some of the 
 Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes held a meeting. It took place 
 August 3rd. There were very few present and most of the 
 sentiments they express cannot be said to be the prevail 
 ing ones. I had a long conversation with the Spokane Garry. 
 
 He is strongly for peace, but he says he is for a general 
 peace; that is, that all the nations which are at war with 
 the government and have either murdered or plundered 
 Americans, should be included in it. He is for a meeting of 
 all the chiefs of those nations. He thinks a great deal of 
 good would follow from it and there be an end put to the 
 many murders committed by some of the Indians upon 
 Americans and on miners. 
 
 Since my arrival to this mission I paid a short visit to 
 Colville. The Indians there had become more quiet. From 
 what I heard it would appear that, a few young men ex- 
 cepted, the most of the Indians there are for peace, and 
 should the soldiers go thither they would encounter none, 
 or very little opposition. 
 
 As to the Flatheads, Pend O'reilles, etc., they are all 
 peaceful. Those Indians seem greatly displeased at the 
 blow struck by the Spokane and Coeur d'Alenes against the 
 troops. It seems that some of the two last mentioned 
 tribes sent a word to Victor, the chief of the Pend O'reille 
 urging him to join them in a war against the Americans, 
 and that he answered that he had no reason for so doing. 
 Alexander, the chief of the Pend O'reille d'en haut, to 
 a similar proposal answered: That he not only would not 
 join in the war, but kill any man who will take refuge a- 
 mong his people, after having joined the war party and 
 fought the Americans. He added that last year in a journey 
 he made to the Dalles, he had seen and learned a great 
 many things about the soldiers, their power and their kind 
 ness, as well as about the Americans, and was not so 
 foolish as to plunge his country in a war against such a 
 people. Allow me here, General, to remark that all this 
 confirms the truth of what you told me when I had the 
 pleasure of seeing you at Vancouver, namely that a great 
 
 deal of good would follow by sending to Washington from 
 this country a number of the most influential Indians. 
 What Alexander says is true. I took him last year down 
 to the Dalles with me for the very purpose of impressing 
 his mind, as far as possible, with the greatness and power 
 of our soldiers and of our country. When at Walla Walla I 
 requested Colonel Steptoe to show Alexander the cannons, 
 as the Colonel kindly did himself, and I know that it made 
 a great impression upon the mind of the chief, who related 
 afterwards everything he had seen to his people. 
 
 I have, General, nothing more to say. We will continue 
 to do everything in our power in order to open the eyes 
 of these poor savages and prevent them from going to war 
 Nobody can tell what they will do. 
 
 As all communications between this and the country 
 below is broken and there is no means for sending down 
 letters, I send to Walla Walla one of the Fathers whom I 
 brought down with me from Colville for this purpose. He 
 is well acquainted with everyting, and will give every in 
 formation they may wish at Walla Walla. 
 
 Requesting you, General, to remind me to the kindness 
 of Major Mackall, I have the honor to be, General, your 
 most obedient servant, 
 
 N. Congiato, S.J. 
 P.S. Tomorrow I leave for the Flatheads. 
 
 As foreshadowed in Father Congiato's letter, the com 
 munications from the Indians chiefs expressed unwillingness 
 to give up the disturbers. It is not apparent in what form 
 these communications appeared; they are reproduced here 
 as they appear in the printed documents of the time; they 
 may have been transcriptions made by the priests. 
 
 The appearance of the name of the Spokane chief, Pohlatkin' 
 as "Saulotken," is an instance of the difficulty encountered 
 by those in frequent touch with the Indians to catch their 
 vocalization in the same combination of letters. Pohlatkin had 
 an ultimatum of his own, which he delivered to General 
 Clarke in this form: 
 
 The practice of the Indians is different from what you 
 think; when they want to make peace, when they want to 
 cease hostilities, they bury the dead and talk and live 
 again on good terms. They don't speak of more blood. I 
 speak sincerely. I, Saulotken, say let us finish the war; 
 my language shall not be twofold; not, I speak from the 
 heart. If you disapprove my words you may dispise them. 
 I speak the truth; I, Indian, I don't want to fight you. You 
 are at liberty to kill me, but I will not deliver my neigh 
 bors. If you disapprove my words you may dispise them. 
 I speak the truth; I, Indian, I don't want to fight you. You 
 are at liberty to kill me, but I will not deliver my neigh 
 bors. If it should be my practice, I would do according to 
 it and deliver them. But that's a practice, I would do ac 
 cording to it but it is not my practice, it is of your own. 
 Those Indians who are yet at peace are biting me with 
 their words, and cause me to get angry. Should they hold 
 their peace, my heart would already be good again. On 
 account of the gold, maybe there shall be no end of hos 
 tilities. If you want peace, let peace be made with all In 
 dians. When you know my words, if you say well that's 
 finished, I will be glad to, but my land I will not give up. 
 
 48 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Until now I used to go to war against the Blackfeet and the 
 
 Crows; but now I won't move from my country. 
 
 Saulotken 
 
 P.S. One of my people went of his own accord to Walla 
 
 Walla. Omtachen is his name. I would like to know what 
 
 he told you. 
 
 Milkapsi, the same Milkapsi who on the Steptoe field had 
 slapped one fellow tribesman and struck another with a whip 
 handle, thus contributing to the excitablity of the Indians, 
 expressed resentment at the course of the whites. He gave 
 warning that the Nez Perce, Lawyer, was persona non grata 
 to him and he repeated the sentiment that he would remain in 
 the land of his fathers. Colonel Wright had occasion in the 
 following autumn to remind Milkapsi of the defiance he flung, 
 but at that later time Milkapsi was very anxious to get his 
 name on the treaty. Milkapsi' s message: 
 
 I feel unwilling to give you up my three brothers, for 
 though I fought I won't begin to makepeace. I want you to 
 begin if you want to make peace, come in my country. I 
 don't believe there is difference between us in the hos 
 tilities; if you want to deceive me, we won't have peace; if 
 you don't want to deceive me, I will see you. If I see you, 
 I will be glad. I desire to see you; When I see you I don't 
 think it will be difficult to make peace, to avoid more 
 bloodshed. You killed three of my relations; it weighs 
 heavy on my heart; I don't like you to speak any of the 
 things you have abandoned. It was by the deceit of other 
 Indians that I have lost my relatives, and that you lost 
 some of your people. Though you think I am poor, I don't 
 think so. If you want to have peace, peace must be made 
 with all the Indians of the country. It was not for your 
 good's sake that I came to hostilities. As long as I live, I 
 don't want you to take possession of my country. I don't 
 disbelieve the words you sent me, but I don't set great 
 value on the goods you have abandoned. If you come further 
 than the place where we fought then I will disbelieve you. 
 
 My heart is made anew bad, for the news I receive. Tell 
 your friends, the Lawyer's band, to be quiet; if you come 
 with a good mind, let none of them be along; I want to have 
 a good talk with the soldiers, but I can't when they are 
 along; I don't want to hear any more of their lies. Your 
 soldiers, you have good chiefs; we have some too; I hope 
 that on both sides they will be unwilling of more blood 
 shed, and that things will come to a good understanding. 
 I have no mind to deceive you. When I shall hear you, I 
 shall teil you the truth and throw away my bow and gun. 
 Only when you come here and see me in want, you will be 
 kind to me, and let me have means to kill my game. I wish 
 to hear of you as soon as possible. 
 
 Milkapsi 
 
 Spokane Garry took broader ground than either of his com 
 peers. For the sake of supporting his position he goes into 
 history and gives glimpses of the terms of the Stevens trea 
 ties and his view of them. In very diplomatic language, he 
 proposed an amendment to General Clarke's plan for peace, 
 but in Garry's creed there was no sanction for the act of 
 giving up a fellow tribesman to the enemy. 
 Garry's letter: 
 
 You, General Clarke, you are my friend. I am very 
 much sorry for the battle which took place. I think that 
 you have fought for nothing. The blood of your soldiers 
 and of the Indians has been spilled. If there should be a 
 just cause for fighting, I would not regret it; though there 
 should be killings on both sides, I would not be much sorry 
 for it. 
 
 Now I am at a loss what to think of it, for you say, you 
 white people, this is my country; you, American and Eng 
 lish claim the land, and the Indians each on his side of the 
 line you have drawn. Then you make a useless war with 
 the Indians; you cause trouble to the whites living here 
 abouts, and you have nothing to gain from this war. 
 
 Now, I hear that somebody you, perhaps, General 
 Clarke want to make peace. I would be very glad no enmity 
 would be left. I, Indian, am unacquainted with your ways, 
 as you with mine. When you meet me, we walk friendly; we 
 shake hands. Two years after you met me, you American, 
 I heard words from white people whence I concluded you 
 wanted to kill me for my land. 
 
 I did not believe it. Every year I heard the same. Now 
 you arrive, you my friend, you Steven, in Whitman Valley; 
 you call the Indians to that place, I went there to listen to 
 what would be said. You had a speech, you my friend Ste 
 vens, to the Indians. You spoke for the land of the Indians. 
 You told them all what you should pay for their land. I was 
 much pleased when I heard how much you offered; annual 
 money, houses, schools, blacksmiths, farms, etc . And then 
 you said, all the Cayuses, Walla Walla and Spokanes 
 should emigrate to Lawyer's country; and from CoMlle 
 below all Indians should go there and stay to Camayaken's 
 country; and by saying so you broke the heart of all In 
 dians; and, hearing that, I thought that you missed it. 
 Should you have given the Indians time to think on it, and 
 to tell you what portion of their lands they wanted to give, 
 it would have been all right. 
 
 Then the Indians got mad and begin to kill you whites. I 
 was very sorry all the time. Then you began to war against 
 the Indians. When you began this war, all the upper country 
 was very quiet. Then every year we heard something from 
 the lower Indians. I told the people here about not to lis 
 ten to such talk. The governor will come up; you will hear 
 from his own mouth; then believe it. 
 
 Now, this spring I heard of the coming of Colonel Step- 
 toe. I did my best to persuade my people not to shoot him. 
 He goes to Colville, I said, to speak to the whites and to 
 the Indians. We will go there and listen to what he shall 
 say. They would not listen to me, but the boys shot at him; 
 I was very sorry. 
 
 When the fight was over, I was thinking all the time to 
 make peace untill I was told that Colonel Steptoe has said 
 "I won't make peace now the Coeur d'Alenes and Spokane, 
 I will shoot them (he said) and then, when they shall be 
 very sorry I will grant them peace." 
 
 Hearing that I thought it was useless for me to try to 
 make peace; and when I hear now what you say, what you 
 write here to the Indians, there is one word which won't do 
 Until now you never came to an understanding with these 
 Indians to let them know your laws. You ask some to be de 
 livered up. Poor Indians can't come to that. But withdraw 
 this one word, and sure you will make peace. Then, calling 
 
 PREPARING TO STRIKE 
 
 49 
 
a meeting of the chiefs, you will let them know your law, 
 and the law being known, all those who shall continue to 
 misbehave, red and white, may be hung. The Indians will 
 have no objection to that. 
 
 I am very sorry the war has begun Like the fire in a 
 dry prairie, it will spread all over this country, until now 
 so peaceful. I hear already from different parts rumors of 
 other Indians ready to take-in. Make peace, then American 
 soldiers may go about; we won't care. That is my own pri 
 vate opinion. Peace being made, it won't be difficult to 
 come to a good understanding with these Indians. You, Gen 
 eral Clarke, if you think proper to withdraw this word, 
 peace will be easy. 
 Please answer us, for we want it. 
 Garry. 
 
 These communications were received by General Clarke 
 on the 18th of August, nearly two months after the two priests 
 had started out on their embassy. The intelligence did not 
 surprise the officer, who in acknowledging their receipt, 
 found occasion to defend the harshness of the conditions by 
 reiterating that "they were called for by the case, and less 
 cannot be demanded or received." The general informs the 
 priests of his collision with Chief Trader Graham and re 
 quests them to let the facts become known among the Indians, 
 explaining that the company had no election in the matter of 
 withdrawing trade. He also urges the priests to prevent the 
 spread of any ammunition from the missions. 
 
 In the meantime the treaty of peace and friendship had been 
 
 concluded with the Nez Perces. The presence of Colonel 
 Wright at Fort Walla Walla, organizing his troops and putting 
 the finishing touches to his preparations, caused Colonel Step- 
 toe to "apprehend, from certain remarks of the Nez Perces, 
 that they might suppose Colonel Wright and myself to enter 
 tain different sentiments," and the formal negotiations were 
 conducted by the Colonel, rather than his subordinate, to 
 whom, as post commander, General Clarke had originally 
 sent the draft of conditions. 
 
 The treaty was merely a reciprocal agreement, neither 
 party agreeing to bear arms against the other, pledging an 
 offensive and defensive alliance and providing for a council 
 in case of any misunderstanding between the tribesmen and 
 the troops. 
 
 This act of Colonel Steptoe, in turning over to Colonel 
 Wright the work of negotiating the treaty, has been inter 
 preted by some as an act of pique arising out of the fact that 
 Steptoe had not been selected to head the expedition planned 
 to wipe out the effects of his own defeat. Wheather this was 
 Steptoe's mental attitude or not cannot now be determined. 
 It was but natural that Wright should be selected; it was also 
 natural that Steptoe should have been required to remain at 
 Fort Walla Walla, where he was thoroughly acquainted with 
 the Indians immediately surrounding. Steptoe was a major, 
 commanding a battalion, though with a brevet rank of the next 
 higher grade. Wright had successfully headed one expedition; 
 he had been regimental commander for three years, during 
 which time he was at the head of the Ninth infantry; he was at 
 the moment commander of the troops in the district. 
 
 50 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
13 
 
 I The Military Arm 
 
 Within six weeks of the time Steptoe's column was turned 
 back in repulse toward Fort Walla Walla, the government be 
 gan to bare its arm for the spanking which was to be adminis 
 tered to the recalcitrant natives. First up from San Francisco 
 and across the bar at the mouth of the Columbia came the 
 steamer "Columbia," with Companies A, C and M of the 
 Third artillery and military stores, provisions and the indis- 
 pensible army mule; the other commands followed as soon as 
 provisions and equipment and transportation could be avail 
 able. 
 
 General Clarke had arrived at Fort Vancouver on the 23d, 
 and at once ordered Wright and Steptoe to report to him for 
 a consultation. But the troops from California were arriving 
 so quickly that they met those officers enroute between Van 
 couver and the Dalles. These officers and men had come into 
 the hostile zone fully imbued with the certainty of heavy 
 fighting. They had just received a new rifle the old smooth 
 bore arm, reamed out and rifled to accomodate a large cali 
 ber minie ball. 
 
 It was necessary to familiarize the men with this new weap 
 
 on. Furthermore, the men had been accustomed to garrison 
 duty, and were not used to service in the field. Even before 
 Colonel Wright returned from Vancouver, energetic company 
 commanders had commenced the work of getting their men 
 accustomed to the new order of work. As to this work Lieu 
 tenant Kip on the 27th day of June made this memorandum: 
 
 "At nine in the morning, we have dress parade; at 9:30 
 we drill for an hour; at 12 the men are practiced at firing 
 at a mark and estimating distances; at 5 in the evening we 
 have drill; and at 6:30 guard mounting. Drilling, too, is a 
 very different matter from what it is at post in time of 
 peace. Then, it is a sort of pro forma business, in which 
 neither officers nor men take much interest; now, it is in 
 vested with a reality, since all are conscious that our suc 
 cess in the field depends perhaps upon the state of disci 
 pline." 
 
 But the Dalles were too far away from the Spokanes to 
 serve best the purposes of whipping the expedition into the 
 proper form, and Colonel Wright selected Fort Walla Walla 
 
 The Steamer Columbia 
 
 51 
 
as the scene for perfecting his column. In transferring his 
 headquarters, one company of dragoons and the six companies 
 of artillery, with 30,000 rations were moved. The road was 
 well known, and the length of the day's march determined ac 
 cordingly. On the day of a long march, reveille sounded at 
 3 a.m.; on others days at 5 o'clock. But it took two hours to 
 pack up and get the train in motion. The same precautions 
 were taken, as a schooling for the soldiers, as if the column 
 were marching through an admittedly hostile country. 
 
 The post at Walla Walla, already garrisoned by four com 
 panies of the First dragoons and two of the Ninth infantry, 
 could not afford quaters for the newcomers. Colonel Wright 
 selected a good camping grounds about a mile west on the 
 fort as the dragoon cantoment and assigned the artillery to a 
 point about midway between the two. Here the real prepara 
 tions were made. Whatever the command did not have and 
 would require on the expedition had to be made. Lt. White's 
 company was put to work making gabions, because where a 
 halt was to be made on the Snake River no wood available for 
 this purpose could be found. Not a thing was left to chance or 
 luck. 
 
 And at different times the men realized the grimness of the 
 outlook by the receipt of such messages as: 
 
 "The hostile Indians have made a league among them 
 selves to carry on this war for five years. This they be 
 lieve to be the last struggle in which they will have to en 
 gage, as in that time they can exterminate the whites." 
 
 Inasmuch as wagons might be used as far as the Snake 
 river, a part of the column was started out earlier to cut a 
 road and commence the work of fortifying the bluff at the 
 junction of the Tucannon and Snake rivers, which had been re 
 commended by Colonel Step toe. This party had a glimpse of 
 the possibilities when they found that the Indians had burned 
 the grass in the dry, level prairies between Walla Walla and 
 their destination. While diligently at work throwing up breast 
 works overlooking the crossing of the Snake, they were en 
 livened by the news that since they had left Walla Walla, In 
 dian foray artists had stolen thirty six beef oxen from the 
 herd collected at Fort Walla Walla. These introductions to 
 the actualities of the campaign deepened the sense of serious 
 ness shared by the members of the expeditions' vanguard. 
 "We had wholesome respect for those Indians," chronicled 
 one of them. And the feeling of uneasiness was not lessened in 
 the least when a band of Indians crossed the Snake river and 
 exchanged shots with the sentinels of the camp of the detach 
 ment. 
 
 "As soon as practicable after the first day of August," 
 General Clarke had suggested as the date of the expedition's 
 departure from Walla Walla. It was not until the 14th that 
 Colonel Wright felt that all was prepared. His orders, issued 
 on that day, show the completeness with which he had laid 
 his plans. They indicate the greatest caution. They are also 
 interesting as showing in detail under what conditions it was 
 deemed wise to have United States troops march through the 
 valleys of the Walla Walla, the Touchet, the Tucanan, the 
 Palouse and the Spokane only fifty years ago: The orders: 
 
 1. The residue of the troops for the northern expedition 
 will march from Fort Walla Walla tomorrow, and unite 
 with the advance at Snake River. 
 
 II. Marching from Snake River the order willbe as fol 
 lows: 
 
 1. The dragoons 
 
 2. The mountain howitzer company. 
 
 3. The battalion of artillery serving as infantry. 
 
 4. The rifle battalion of 9th infantry. 
 
 5. Pack train of corps and headquarters. 
 
 6. One company of infantry as rear guard. 
 
 III. The mounted troops will not precede the howitzer 
 company more thanfour hundred yards, and on approaching 
 canons or defiles where dragoons cannot operate on the 
 flanks, they will halted and rifles advanced. 
 
 IV. No firearms of any description will be discharged, 
 either on the march or in camp, except in the line of duty, 
 without the special authority of the commanding officer. 
 
 V. No person except the employees of the staff depart 
 ments and officer's servants will be allowed to accompany 
 troops or to encamp with them without the written consent 
 of the company's officer. 
 
 VI. Habitually the guard will consist of one company, and 
 mount at retreat. 
 
 VII. It is announced for general information that a body of 
 friendly Nez Perces have been engaged to serve with the 
 troops. These Indians have been equipped in soldiers' 
 clothing to distinquish them from the hostiles. Company 
 commanders will caution their men particulary in regard 
 to these friendly Indians. 
 
 VIII. Whether in camp or on the march, the companies will 
 parade with arms at retreat and revellie role calls the 
 arms and ammunition will be inspected. Themenwill ha 
 bitually wear and sleep in their belts. 
 
 Then the gray haired colonel, having theoretically marched 
 his column out of Walla Walla and to ward the unknown country 
 sat down just one month less than forty years after he had 
 first trod the lawns of historic West Point, and summed up 
 the situation in the following dispatch to General Clarke: 
 
 I march hence tomorrow against the hostile Indians be 
 yond the Snake river, I have a body of troops, both officers 
 and men, in the highest order, and on whom I feel that I 
 can rely with perfect confidence; yet, with all these cir 
 cumstances in my favor, I am greatly apprehensive that 
 the results of the campaign may fall short of what is ex 
 pected of me by the general and by the country. 
 
 From all that I can learn, we must not expect the enemy 
 to meet us in pitchedbattle although, haughty, insolent and 
 boastful now, when I approach he will resort to guerilla 
 warfare, he will lay waste the country with fire, and en 
 deavor by every means in his power to embarass and 
 cripple our operations. The season is too late for troops 
 to operate in that country, the small streams and ponds 
 are dried up and the grass can easily be burnt. 
 
 I have had several conversations with persons well ac 
 quainted with that country, and with the Indians. They say 
 that the Indians will suffer us to advance, probably as far 
 as the Spokane, without firing the grass; that they will then 
 burn the entire country in our rear. I have no doubt that 
 such will be their policy, and if they can accomplish it, 
 serious consequences may follow. 
 
 With all these difficulties before me, I shall advance 
 into their country and if possible, chastise them severely; 
 
 52 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
and should they burn all the grass in my rear, we can live 
 on our animals; and if they die, we can take our provisions 
 on our backs and march. 
 
 I have no doubt that we shall have some hardships to 
 undergo; but I shall advance cautiously and prudently, and 
 try to do all that can be done at this season of the year, 
 without sacrificing the means of prosecuting the war an 
 other season, should it be necessary. 
 In the meantime, the other expedition planned by General 
 Clarke, that of Major Gar nett, had been preparing for the war 
 with Fort Simcoe as headquarters. Like Wright, Garnett had 
 been furnished with drafts of treaties and with general in 
 structions. He was to pass up the Yakima valley and over the 
 divide into the Wenatchee. Specific orders were given him 
 concerning the treatment of the Yakumas who had disregarded 
 the terms of pacification two years before. Members of this 
 tribe had attacked a party of miners on the Wenatchee in 
 June; the individual offenders must be caught, or the entire 
 tribe punished. 
 
 "Arrangement for temporary neutrality are of no avail," 
 wrote General Clarke. "Both parties live in a state of dis 
 trust and every accident is likely to produce war. This state 
 of things can no longer be tolerated; the Indians must not 
 only give promise to be peaceable under such regulations as 
 the government may think proper to make for them, but they 
 must give in hostages that the army may not again be needed 
 to insure its performance. Kamiahkin and Qualchian cannot 
 longer be permitted to remain at large in the country; they 
 must be surrendered or driven away, and no accomodation 
 must be made with any who will harbor them. Let all know 
 that an asylum given to either of these troublesome Indians 
 will be considered in future as evidence of hostile intention 
 on the part of the tribe." 
 General Clarke also considered that the smaller expedition 
 
 of Major Garnett, skirting the eastern base of the Cascade 
 mountains, would tend to drive out the Ind ans, who would 
 seek to join their allies east of the Columbia, where they 
 would be cared for by the larger column of Colonel Wright. 
 Major Garnett encountered no large body of Indians and no 
 battle was fought in the campaign. While surprising an Indian 
 camp in the upper Yakima valley at 3 a.m. of August 15, Sec 
 ond Lieutenant Jesse K. Allen, commanding the attacking 
 force, was killed. A large number of cattle and horses were 
 captured, and seventy Indians, among them being three of the 
 party which attacked the miners. These were shot as per or 
 ders of the general. 
 
 By the end of August Major Garnett was on the Wenatchee 
 river. Of the twenty-five Indians wanted for the onslaught on 
 the miners, he reported ten as having been executed, five 
 at large in the Cascade mountains and the remainder as 
 having joined Owhi, Qualchian and Skloom, who "are now 
 opposite Fort O'Kanagan, some distance back from the river, 
 and on their way, the Indians say, wither to the mountains 
 north of that place, in the British possessions, or towards 
 the Blackfoot country.*' Garnett was at a loss to know whether 
 Colonel Wright's operations were likely to drive those In 
 dians back toward himself or not. As a matter of fact, Gar 
 nett' s operations drove them toward Wright, through the "Big 
 Bend" and into the lower Spokane valley. 
 
 Colonel Wright arrived at the Snake river on August 18th 
 and found that admirable progress had been made with the 
 fortification. It was named Fort Taylor, in honor of the 
 captain who had fallen with Steptoe. It was located on the 
 bluff on the south side of the Snake and on the west side of 
 the Tucanon. The bluff across the Tucanon was named in 
 honor of Lieutenant Gaston, though it was not fortified. In 
 digging for material with which to construct the earthwork 
 
 Fort Okanogan 
 
 THE MILITARY ARM 
 
 53 
 
many Indian relics were exhumed, for the place had long 
 before been an Indian burial ground. 
 
 Lieutenant Mullan had been attached to the first division 
 of the column and his memoir and journal furnish the only 
 authentic description of the route travelled. In the subjoined 
 excerpts from Mullan, the indicated omissions relate to 
 details of the weather, condition of forage and the like: 
 
 Having completed our arrangements by the morning of 
 the 7th of August the first detachment of the command 
 moved under Captain Keyes for the Snake River, there to 
 select a crossing and choose a site for constructing a 
 field-work in order to guard it, and, at the same time, 
 keep open our communications with the post of Walla 
 Walla. We moved up the valley along the Mill Creek, 
 crossing it at the ford at the dragoon encampment, and fol 
 lowing it for six miles on its right bank, we turned to the 
 north, crossing a low prairie separating the bottom of the 
 Mill from that of the Dry creek, and on an excellent wagon 
 road at eight miles from the post we reached our camp 
 upon Dry Creek, finding good grass, wood and water, which 
 last is not running at this season but stands in shaded 
 pools in the river bottom. 
 
 Resuming our march on the morning of the 8th, up the 
 right bank of Dry Creek, we entered a small prairie 
 bottom, following it for three miles to some springs which 
 would afford good camping ground. 
 
 On our second day's march from Walla Walla, traveling 
 over a comparatively easy road for eight miles, we 
 reached the Kap-pe-ah, a small tributary to the Touchet, 
 and flowing through a pretty valley. Following the valley 
 of this stream and crossing it, we reached the Touchet 
 which we crossed, and upon which, two miles from the 
 crossing, we encamped. The valley of this stream of great 
 fertility and is well wooded. 
 
 Moving on the morning of the 19th, continuing still over 
 a rolling prairie country at a distance of three miles, we 
 reached the small stream of Reed Creek, which, rising in 
 the prairie hills, flows through a flat prairie bottom, and, 
 at this season, sinks into the ground; but during the spring 
 flows into the Touchet, finding our teams quite heavily 
 laden, and the road needing work, we made today only 
 eight miles, encamping upon the Reed creek near its head, 
 finding here good grass and water, but only a small quan 
 tity of fuel, as no timber, save for a few small willows, is 
 found on its border. 
 
 Moving early on the morning of the 10th, we continued 
 over the rolling prairie, gaining at a distance of four miles 
 a high table land whence we could see the country for 
 miles on either side of the Snake River, which being burnt 
 over by the Indians, with denuded basaltic rock presented 
 an appearance of sad desolation. Travelling a distance of 
 eleven miles from the Reed Creek, we struck the Tou- 
 kannon three miles above its junction with the Snake River, 
 finding an excellent wagon road. The Toukannon rises in 
 the prairie hills, and, flowing west and northwest through 
 a prairie valley half a mile wide, and bounded by prairie 
 hills, discharges itself into the Snake river three miles 
 above the mouth of the Palouse. 
 
 Reaching our camp on the Toukannon at an early hour, 
 Captain Keyes sent me, with a small mounted detachment 
 to proceed down the stream to its mouth, and examine it, 
 
 as also the mouth of the Palouse, as to the feasibility of 
 the crossing of the Snake river and the general character 
 of the country, and at the same time ascertain which 
 afforded the greatest advantages in the selectionof a site 
 for the field-work. Finding the crossing at the mouth of the 
 Toukannon good, wood and grass in abundance on its banks, 
 my preference was given to it, which Captain Keyes the 
 next day, upon a personal examination, confirmed, and 
 which he selected as the site for "Fort Taylor", so called 
 in honor of the lamented Captain Taylor who fell in Step- 
 toe's battle of May 17, 1858. 
 
 The valley of the Toukannon, at its mouth, is half a mile 
 wide, andboundedby the high basaltic bluffs that we named 
 "Taylor" and "Gaston" the one on the west being called 
 "Taylor". The Snake river at the same point is 275 yards 
 wide, very deep, rapid current, but the crossing is good. 
 
 With the arrival of Colonel Wright and Captain Kirkham, 
 with the wagon train, pack train and the residue of the sup 
 plies, the entire column became a unit, except that Major 
 F.O. Wyse, with one company of the artillery, was left be 
 hind to garrison Fort Taylor and defend the crossing in case 
 of necessity. 
 
 The column was in camp nearly a week, making final pre 
 paration, arranging the ammunition and supplies for trans 
 port by packtrain only, for north of the Snake it was imprac 
 ticable to use wagons. Beyond this point only one vehicle was 
 taken, a light one to which was attached Lieutenant Mullan' s 
 odometer and which carried his instruments. His chrono- 
 menter which had been carefully adjusted and tested for 
 accuracy, for upon it depended the usefulness of whatever 
 observations were to be made, was carried by two men, 
 alternately, they being detailed for this special service. One 
 of the officers makes note of the display of pleasure made 
 by Mullan's Nez Perce contingent with their uniforms. "Like 
 all Indians," he commented, "they are particularly delighted 
 with their clothes, and no young officer, just commissioned, 
 thinks as much of his uniform as they do. They insist indeed 
 upon having every minute portion, even to the glazed cap 
 covers." 
 
 The Snake river formed a natural line of division, the 
 crossing of which would be in effect considered by the In 
 dians as a declaration of war. They had so taken it in the 
 case of the Steptoe command. The natives had given warning 
 of second time of their view. Some occurrences during the 
 time the soldiers were at the mouth of the Tucanon served 
 to remind the troops of the fact. For the troops to cross that 
 river, was as clear a case of casting the die for war as was 
 the historic act of a Roman general nearly two thousand years 
 ago before in traversing another river in another hemisphere. 
 And every man in the column understood the significance, 
 from the commander down. Glance now, at the orders given 
 Colonel Wright by General Clarke, which were the warrant 
 for his act of intentional hostility and which set forth the 
 work he was expected to accomplish in the unknown land to 
 the north of the river: 
 
 The general's orders are as follows: That you proceed 
 to Fort Walla Walla, assume command of the troops; leave 
 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe a sufficient garrison to 
 secure practicable after the first day of August. 
 
 The objects to be attained are the punishment and sub 
 mission of the Indians engaged in the late attack upon the 
 
 54 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
command of Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe, and the surrender 
 of the Palouse Indians who murdered two miners in April 
 last; these men are known to Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe. 
 
 I enclose your memoranda (marked A) of a conversa 
 tion had by the commanding general with Father Joset, a 
 Catholic priest, and a copy ( marked B) of a letter given 
 to him by the general. 
 
 From these you will find, first, that the Coeur d'Alenes 
 and the Spokanes claim that they were misled by the Nez 
 Perce, and finally engaged through the insubordination of 
 some of the tribe. Second, the conditions on which the gen 
 eral has authorized Father Joset to tell them that their 
 submission will be received. 
 
 The Catholic Priests Congiato and Joset are on their to 
 the Coeur d'Alenes and Spokanes as may come to visit the 
 general of either of the officers in command of the col 
 umns or posts intermediate. 
 
 Should any of the chiefs of the Coeur d'Alenes or Spok 
 anes visit you for the purpose of offering the submission of 
 their people, the paper above referred to and marked B 
 will be your guide in fixing the terms. The delivery of the 
 insubordinate Indians who fired on the troops, and the res 
 toration of the howitzers abandoned by the troops, must be 
 conditions precedent to any accommodation; these condi 
 tions complied with you areauthorized to make such reduc 
 tion as may seem to you proper on the spot. 
 
 I enclose a copy of the terms of a treaty that the com 
 manding general has directed Colonel Steptoe to make if 
 possible with the friendly Nez Perces; a similar one 
 should be attempted with the Coeur d'Alenes and the Spok 
 anes after their submission whether such a treaty be or 
 not be made, hostages must be taken for their future good 
 conduct. 
 
 If the offenders of the Coeur d'Alenes and the Spokanes 
 are delivered up to you, you are directed to guard them 
 securely and keep them safely until you return to Fort 
 Walla Walla, where they will be placed in the charge of the 
 commanding officer of that post, with these orders of the 
 general for their safety and security. 
 
 The general gives you distinctly to understand that the 
 arrangements contemplated with the Coeur d'Alenes and 
 Spokanes are not to embarass your march for one moment; 
 they will know the terms on which they can obtain peace; 
 if they meet you and accept them, well; if not, you must 
 make them as well as the hostile Nez Perces and Palouse, 
 vigorous war; make their punishment severe, and perser- 
 vere until the submission is complete. 
 
 Your column must enter the Coeur d'Alenes' country, 
 whether this be done by force or peaceably, after the sub 
 mission of these people; they must feel that in peace or 
 war it is open to the army. 
 
 If it can be done without the sacrifice of more impor 
 tant objects of the campaign, visit the Colville miners. 
 
 You are authorized to employ as many of the friendly 
 Nez Perces as you think judicious. Clothing of the old 
 pattern and condemned, has been sent to Walla-Walla for 
 issue to the Indians, this you can use, and you are also au 
 thorized to supply them with arms and ammunition for the 
 campaign. 
 
 Your intention to declare martial law and to forbid 
 whites to enter the Indians country as soon as you cross 
 the Snake River, has been made known to the commanding 
 general; the absolute necessity to which such an act must 
 appeal for its justification, is not apparent, and the general 
 forbids it. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company has the right of entry, 
 
 Fort Colville 
 
 THE MILITARY ARM 
 
 55 
 
guaranteed by treaty and this must not be denied on the 
 mere suspicion that some of its employees are ill-disposed 
 and our own citizens from whom no danger is to be ap 
 prehended, must not be injured in their interests. 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant' 
 W.W. Mackall 
 Assistant Adjutant General 
 
 Something of the sinister aspect of the situation confronting 
 the members of the expedition may be gained from the fol 
 lowing dispatch sent back to Vancouver on the 19th of August 
 by their commander as he planned to transport his column 
 into the forbidden country. 
 
 Camp on Snake River, at mouth of Tukcannon, 
 August 19th, 1858 
 
 I reached this point yesterday, and Captain Kirkham, 
 with the pack train and residue of the supplies, arrived 
 this morning. The field work at this place is progressing 
 rapidly, and will be ready for occupation within four days. 
 On my march from Fort Walla Walla the weather was in 
 tensely hot, and the dust suffocating; the footmen suffered 
 severely. The grass, for the greater portion of the way 
 from the Touchet, has been destroyed by fire, but at this 
 
 point and for miles up the Tucannon, we have had an abun 
 dance of grass, wood and water. 
 
 Fort Taylor is on the left bank of the Snake River, which 
 is about two hundred and seventy five yards wide. I appre 
 hend no serious difficulty in making the passage our mili 
 tary can cover the landing should there by any attempt 
 made to oppose us. From the best information that can be 
 obtained, the Indians are in considerable force, both on 
 the Palouse and some five days' march further north. 
 What their designs are, I cannot say. The friendly Indians 
 say that they will fight, but I am inclined to the opinion 
 that they will re tire as we advance, and burn all the grass. 
 
 For several days past a large portion of the country to 
 the north of us has been enveloped in flames. Possibly we 
 may find sufficient grass left to subsist our animals. 
 Should it prove otherwise, it would be worse than madness 
 to plunge into that barren waste, the inevitable result of 
 which must be the sacrifice of men and animals. 
 
 I hope that our anticipations may not be realized. It will 
 be mortifying, after all our preparations, to fail in accom 
 plishing the objects of the expedition; but we cannot con 
 tend against the elements. We have a lake of fire before 
 us, but no human efforts will be spared to overcome all 
 obstacles. I hope to march from the Snake river on the 
 25th. 
 
 56 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
14 
 
 Across the Snake 
 
 Owing to a severe wind storm which tossed the waters of 
 the broad river into such a state of turbulency that it was not 
 practicable to attempt to effect a crossing, the troops did not 
 reach the north side of the Snake River until late in the after 
 noon of the 26th. 
 
 It is a singular fact that today one is unable to state with 
 accuracy the definite number of men in Colonel Wright's com 
 mand. The commander himself should know. But so should 
 Lieutenant Kip, who in the folio wing winter wrote his journal 
 from his personal observations and from the records. 
 
 Colonel Wright thus describes his command: "Five hun 
 dred and seventy regulars, thirty friendly Nez Perces, one 
 hundred employees, eight hundred animals of all kinds, with 
 subsistence for thirty eight days." 
 
 Lieutenant Kip records: "Our transportation consists of 
 six mules to a company and a mule to each officer, besides 
 the 325 mules which the quarter master has in his train. Our 
 entire train, therefore, consists of about 400 mules. Baggage 
 wagons cannot go beyond the Snake river. We attempt to take 
 only one light vehicle, which Lieutenant Mullan needs for his 
 instruments. Now as to our fighting force: The dragoons num 
 ber 190, the artillery 400, the infantry (as rifle brigade) 90. 
 Total, about 680 soldiers, besides about 200 attaches as 
 packers, wagon masters, herders, etc. Then we have 30 Nez 
 Perces and three chiefs to ac as scouts and guides. 
 
 Attention is called to these varying accounts of the same 
 subject by those supposed to be in a position to make authen 
 tic statements, not because the matter is of importance, but 
 because a very apt illustration is afforded of the extreme 
 difficulty which confronts him who would compile with exact 
 ness from sources only fifty years distant. It is not sur 
 prising that participants in the campaign, writing from mem 
 ory after a lapse of half a century, should fail to concur as 
 to details of their experiences; but it seems almost inex 
 plicable that two officers writing simultaneously touching a 
 contemporaneous fact should differ so widely concerning the 
 number of men in a column. 
 
 The officers of the command, besides Colonel Wright, were 
 Lieutenant Philip A. Owen, Wright's son-in-law, acting assis 
 tant adjutant general; Captain Ralph H. Kirkham, quarter 
 master and comissary; Assistant Surgeons, John F.Randolph 
 and James F. Hammond. 
 
 First dragoons, Major William N. Grier commanding- 
 Major Grier and company 1, Lieutenant Henry B. Davidson 
 and Company E, Lieutenant William D. Fender and company 
 C, and Lieutenant David McGregg and company H. 
 
 Third artillery, Captain Erasmus D. Keyes commanding, 
 
 Surgeon John F. Randolph 
 
 Hylan B. Lyon 
 
 57 
 
Lieutenant Michael R. Morgan 
 
 Lieutenant Lawrence Kip, adjutant, Lieutenants Roberto. 
 Tyler and Hylan B. Lyon and company A., Lieutenant George 
 P. Ihrio and company B., Lieutenant James L. White and com 
 pany D, serving the howitzers, Captain James A. Hardie and 
 Lieutenant Dunbar R. Ransom and company G., Captain Ed 
 ward 0. C. Ord and Lieutenant Michael R. Morgan and com 
 pany M. 
 
 Ninth infantry, Captain Frederick T. Dent commanding- 
 Captain Dent and Lieutenant James C. Howard and company 
 B., Captain Charles S. Winder and Lieutenant Hugh B. Fle 
 ming and company E. 
 
 Nez Perce contingent Lieutenant John Mullan Jr., also 
 acting as topographical engineer. 
 
 Some of these officers, like Grier, Kirkham, Hardie and 
 Dent, had seen service in the Mexican war. Others, like 
 Keyes, Tyler, Ihrio, Hardie, Ord, Morgan, Gibson and Dandy, 
 were later to render conspicuous service to the Union cause; 
 still others, like Davidson, White, Pender and Winder, were 
 to fight under the Stars and Bars, 'neath which Pender and 
 Winder gave up their lives. 
 
 In the column were three companies of dragoons which had 
 suffered in May. Davidson had taken command of company 
 E, a spirited man, willing to be revenged for the slaying of 
 his fellow Southron, Gaston. Pender was in command of Cap 
 tain Taylor's old company, C, while company Hwas still led 
 by the intrepid Gregg. Captain Winder and Lieutenant Fleming 
 and their infantrymen of company E remembered Te-Hoto- 
 Nim-Me. Captain Dent and his men recalled their forced 
 march from Walla Walla to the Snake to give support to Step- 
 toe's unfortunates. The third artillery, officers and men, 
 were as fine soldiers as their fellows. Of such stuff was the 
 whiplash composed which was about to descend upon the loins 
 of Kamiahkin's confederacy and administer a castigation to 
 the Indians of the upper Columbia valley of such a severity 
 that they never again raised their hands against the authority 
 of the United States. 
 
 For three days no Indians appeared in sight of the advan 
 cing troops, even the eagle-eyed Nez Perces being unable 
 to discern anything further than signs that the enemy had been 
 recently along the line of march of the cavalcade. It is im 
 possible, except in a general way, to indentifyby landmarks 
 of today the different stages and halting places of the column 
 during the first days of its invasion of the hostile territory. 
 Some certain natural features of the country, which have re 
 mained in their original state for the past fifty years, maybe 
 putatively recognized by one familiar with present day land 
 marks and who has at hand the description left by Mullan. 
 
 The expedition followed the old Colville trail until the trail 
 divided in the country not far north of Cow creek. The most 
 westerly of the trails then led toward the lower crossing of 
 the Spokane river, where the La Pray bridge now is; and 
 other bore to the east and led toward the ford on the upper 
 Spokane where Spokane Bridge now is. But midway between 
 the two lay another way which was sometimes used by the 
 Indians who were travelling northward in the direction of Col 
 ville but who, for one consideration or another desired to 
 reach the river more quickly than if they followed the 
 generally used route to the lower crossing. It was over this 
 little used way that Colonel Wright travelled after having 
 decided on the 29th not to take the direct route to Colville. 
 The march from the Snake river up to the morning of the 
 30th is thus described by Mullan, irrelevant sentences being 
 omitted: 
 
 All arrangements having been made and perfectedby the 
 morning of the 25th of August, Colonel Wright moved his 
 command across the Snake river without loss or accident, 
 the crossing taking place under the personal supervision 
 of Captain Kirkham, which occupied the greater portion of 
 the 25th and 26th, when, taking up our march on the 27th, 
 we followed down the right bank of the Snake River till, 
 reaching the mouth of a canyon and crossing it, we began 
 the ascent of the high bluffs which here formed the south 
 ern edge of the table-land lying between the Snake and 
 Palouse rivers. By travelling a quarter of a mile towards 
 the east, we were enabled to cross this canyon quite eas 
 ily, and thus once more gain the table-land, which gave us 
 a good road for thirteen miles, when we came once more 
 in sight of the Palouse, which, from its mouth to within 
 two miles of where we struck it, was to our left and from 
 one to two and a half miles distant, and flowing through a 
 black, broken, columnar basaltic dalle, or canyon. To the 
 west of this canyon of the Palouse was a second and 
 equally large one known as the canyon of the Cheranno, up 
 which passes another trail, leading to Fort Colville, and 
 which was followed by Captain McClollan, United States 
 Engineers, in 1858, returning to Fort Dalles. This stream 
 as represented by him, drains a lake which the Indians 
 call Sil-kat-koom(?) and which joins the Palouse nine miles 
 above the mouth of the latter. It passes through the same 
 black, dreary region that characterizes the Palouse near 
 its mouth. Having travelled a distance of thirteen miles, 
 we again came in view of the Palouse proper, which be 
 fore, although distinctly marked by its canyon, still could 
 not otherwise be seen. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th of August we left the Palouse 
 and moving northward across its valley in a quarter of a 
 mile reached the valley of the Cow Creek, up which we 
 
 58 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
travelled for six miles, encamping at the end of this dis 
 tance on its left bank. 
 
 Resuming our march on the morning of the 29th of 
 August, over the hills to the east of camp, in one and a 
 quarter miles we reached again the high table-land, where 
 we met the old wagon tracks of Gibson's train, made in 
 1854, which we followed for six miles, reaching a small 
 spring flowing from the basaltic rocks along the side of 
 the hills, which here forms a basin shaped depression, 
 lined on either side by basaltic rocks. 
 
 Springs of water occur along the line at six, thirteen and 
 nineteen miles from Cow creek; a number of small lakes 
 are also passed along the road. Our camp being on one of 
 these at a small grove of aspen trees, received the name 
 of the "aspen camp". Our distance traveleed was 19.8 
 miles, good road, with excellent grass, fuel and water at 
 night. No hostile Indians in sight during the day. 
 
 "The country presented a forbidding aspect," wrote 
 Colonel Wright with reference to his journey thus far com 
 pleted. Such a statement is surprising to those who know 
 the wealth of wheat produced by the farms which cover 
 Whitman county hills at the present time. But in 1858 
 the country was raw and wild. The season of the year when 
 the Wright expedition passed among the hills of the Palouse 
 was the late summer, when the native grasses were dry, 
 but a more desolate appearance than naturally presented 
 in August greeted the soldiers. The Indians had burned the 
 grass, hoping thus to hamper the progress of the invaders. 
 It is true also that the members of the expedition passed 
 generally through the coulees and along the water courses, 
 from which the real possibilities of the country could not 
 be viewed. And, it must be remembered, Colonel Wright 
 was not conducting an agricultural colony on a tour of 
 land inspection. 
 
 On the 30th of August, soon after resuming the march, 
 the troops discovered small parties of Indians on the hills 
 to the east. When the column encamped at 5 o'clock in the 
 afternoon, the enemy drew near enough to exchange shots 
 with the sentinels of the army. The officers of the com 
 mand divined that the main body of Indians must be in the 
 vicinity, but the scouts were unable to suggest any reason 
 able gathering place. The march of the 30th and 31st is thus 
 described by Mullam 
 
 Leaving the aspen camp early on the morning of the 30th 
 the trains passed over the bed of a small lake now dry, and 
 travelling eastward for a mile and a quarter, struck the 
 old wagon trail made in 1855 by the late Indian agent Bolen 
 This we followed for six miles to a spring, whence com 
 mence a basin some eight miles broad and limited on ei 
 ther side by high rolling prarie hills Inplaces it is some 
 what rocky, but still practicable for wagons. 
 
 Halting here to rest our train, we moved on for six and 
 a half miles to a number of small springs, thence our road 
 became somewhat more rocky and difficulty. In three 
 miles more we reached a singular formation of basalt, 
 which formed a defile at the trail a quarter of a mile wide 
 and rising fifty feet above us, and broken off at different 
 points, the whole formation looked not unlike the Giant's 
 Causeway. Leaving this defile, we emerged into a broad, 
 beautiful prairie, in which at many points were brushwood, 
 indicating the presence of water. 
 
 Crossing this prairie, which extended far to the east 
 and west, we descended into a lower and still more rocky 
 basin, through which we travelled four miles, camping at 
 a small lake surrounded by brush and bushes. On the 
 march we passed a small, deep lake, along the edges of 
 which was growing a wild par snip, from the eating of which 
 two of our men died. Our camp afforded us good grass, 
 wood and water, but in a military point of view it placed 
 us at great disadvantage. But necessity compelled us to 
 halt here, as we could tell nothing of the character of the 
 country in advance of us; and no better place had been 
 reached on the march, and having travelled eighteen miles, 
 we halted and encamped. 
 
 We had now entered the pine region which marks the 
 northern portion of the Great Spokane Plain, or plateau. 
 The highest point of this plateau is about twenty-five miles 
 south of the Spokane River, lying along the southern por 
 tion of the river of that name. 
 
 Our march of the 31st of August continued over the 
 same character of formation in which we had made our 
 camp, which extended wither side to some two miles, and 
 limited by lines of rolling prairie hills. Some of the small 
 canyons to our right and left were rugged and difficult and 
 densely clad with the pine and undergrowth, that afforded 
 our enemies murderous and dangerous ambushes. 
 
 The character of the country becoming somewhat easier 
 at the end of five miles, we reached a broad deep lake, 
 settled within basaltic wlals from fifty to one hundred 
 feet high, which we named the Walled Lake. From this 
 point our road continued to ascend gradually for a mile, 
 when we reached the highest point of the plateau, which 
 for some miles northward is so generally level that water 
 falling upon it is received in a number of small lakes, 
 many of which we passed along the route. As seen from 
 the summit of this plateau, the country to the right was a 
 rolling prairie, with a few pine trees scattered here and 
 there, while that to the left presented long skirts of tim 
 ber, and in places rocky. Having travelled ten and a half 
 miles, to the bed of two small lakes, now quite dry, the 
 enemy made his appearance on the hills to our east, not 
 so much with the intention to give us battle, as acting as 
 the advanced spies of the main body, and were sent out to 
 watch our movements, with a view to keeping their people 
 posted. 
 
 Still, as they were in considerable force, the precaution 
 ary steps were taken by the Colonel to give them battle, 
 but not approaching us nearer than their lookout points, 
 we moved on through the timber, and at 12 Vz miles 
 reached a small, open prarie spring, on the right of the 
 trail, in a small spring, on the right often trail in a small 
 willow thicket, that afforded us a refreshing drink. From 
 this point we continued for six miles through the open pine 
 forests, offeringly passing along the edges of small, open 
 prairies. 
 
 When leaving the pines we entered upon the edge of a 
 gently rolling prairie at a small pond, where we made 
 camp for the night. This is the commencement of what 
 may be called the Upper Spokane Plain proper. 
 
 During the entire day the hostile Indians appeared on 
 the hills to our right, and increasing in numbers; about 
 4 p.m. while the friendly Nez Perces were spying the 
 
 ACROSS THE SNAKE 
 
 59 
 
country from the hilltops, they were charged by the enemy, 
 and must have necessarily been overpowered, had not the 
 Colonel, who, seeing it, immediately dispatched a strong 
 squadron of dragoons, under Major Grier and Lieutenant 
 Davidson, to the rescue, who drove them fro the field. 
 
 The march being resumed, the Indians again began to 
 annoy us by attacking the rear of our column, but prompt 
 and energetic preparation being made to receive them by 
 Captain Keyes, then commanding the rear, by throwing 
 out flankers on either side, who repulsed them and drove 
 them again from our lines. Our column now moved quietly 
 on to our camp, where we mustered and rested for the 
 night. 
 
 During the day the grass was set on fire at many points, 
 but which did not extend to our camp. On the morning of 
 the 1st of September the enemy again appeared on the hills 
 increased force, and evidently from signs and demonstra 
 tions, anxious to fight. The colonel determined to give him 
 battle, which was done. 
 
 The camp of the evening August 31st marked the close of 
 the 121st mile travelled by the troops since leaving Fort 
 Walla Walla. Of the occurrences of the day Colonel Wright 
 has left this record: 
 
 "The Indians were seen in small parties at the distance of 
 two or three miles on the hills, and moving as yesterday, with 
 their numbers gradually increasing and occasioually ap 
 proaching a little nearer; but I did not deem them worthy of 
 notice, only taking the precaution to halt frequently and close 
 up our baggage and supply trains as compactly as possible. 
 Our march this day was ten miles longer than we anticipated 
 
 and for a long distance without water; and, at two miles from 
 this camp, the Indians made a strong demonstration on our 
 supply train, but were handsomely dispersed and driven off 
 by the rearguards, and infantry deployed on either flank. 
 
 "My men and animals require rest; I shall remain here to 
 morrow; I have a good camp, with an abundance of wood, 
 water and grass. 
 
 "The Indians in considerable numbers have been assem 
 bled on a high hill about three miles distant, ever since we 
 encamped, about 4 p.m., untill now, 7 p.m , when they have 
 retired. I shall look after them tomorrow, after my men have 
 had a night's rest. 
 
 Those words of the commanding officer now nonchalant, 
 though he doubtless knew that every mother's son in his co 
 lumn instinctively felt that the morrow contained a crisis in 
 their lives. There were too many experienced Indians fighters 
 in that camp not to have the sentiment prevail that the parties 
 seen and the demonstration on the packtrain were but typical 
 Indian warfare of the time. The small parties were decoys, 
 displayed with a view to mislead the troops as to the strength 
 of the gathered tribes. The feint on the packtrain was but a 
 mettle- test. 
 
 "We knew that their main body could not be far distant," 
 chronicled one officer. 
 
 Another recalls the effect of one lone Indian upon the camp 
 in this language. "The camp was situated about a mile from 
 a high, bald hill, on the summit of which an Indian sentinel 
 showed himself, mounted and bearing a banner with a long 
 staff. This sentinel remained visible untill the darkness of the 
 night shut him out from our view." 
 
 Thus was the camp at the Four lakes on the eve of battle. 
 
 60 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
15 
 
 Battle of the Four Lakes 
 
 A commanding officer, writing in a field tent at the close 
 of a day of battle with an enemy in a hostile region and re 
 porting the bare military facts to his superiors, never pro 
 duces so vivid and inspiring a word picture of the scenes 
 which transpire, as does a Kinglake, standing outside the 
 lines and telling the story a little later to the multitude. 
 Colonel Wright's report of the Battle of Four Lakes is 
 a document strictly and punctiliously military. It mentions 
 the points of vantage, observes thaf'atyroin the art of war 
 could not have hesitated a moment in his plan of battle," 
 mentions the various charges and deploys, sums up results 
 and compliments officers and men deserving it. 
 
 To Adjutant Kip, standing in the group of officers consti 
 tuting the staff of the commander, was given the opportu 
 nity to subordinate the military moves, to bring into re 
 lief the spectacular and picturesque and to preserve the 
 flashes of human life which always enlighten a field of 
 battle. It is Kip's description, rather than Wright's report, 
 to which the general reader would expectantly turn for sat 
 isfying information touching the events of the day. Kip wrote: 
 
 At daylight we found the Indians increased in number, 
 still posted on the hills overlooking us. Their manner was 
 defiant and insolent, and they seemed to be inviting an at 
 tack. At eight o'clock orders were issued to have the ar 
 tillery battalion in readiness, as it might be called out at 
 any moment Shortly after, the dragoons, four companies 
 of artillery, the howitzer battery under Lieutenant White, 
 and the two companies of rifles were ordered out to drive 
 the Indians from the hill and engage the main body, which 
 we ascertained was concentrated beyond it. They were 
 formed into two columns, one of dragoons numbering 100, 
 the other of artillery and infantry, about 220 strong. 
 
 One company of artillery, under Lieutenants Gibson and 
 Dandy, a detachment of dragoons and the guard, consisting 
 of about fifty men under Lieutenant Lyon, officer of the 
 guard, all under command of Captain Hardie officer of the 
 day, were left to defend the camp. As we did not know the 
 strength of the enemy, and had 400 mules and extensive 
 stores, it became necessary to leave this force to guard 
 the camp lest it should be attacked in the absence of the 
 main body. 
 
 After advancing about a mile and a half, we reached the 
 hill and prepared to dislodge the enemy from it. Major 
 Grier, with the dragoons, marched to the left, while the 
 party of our Nez Perces under the direction of Lieutenant 
 Mullan wound round the hill and ascended at the right. The 
 
 main column came next, with Colonel Wright and staff at 
 its head, followedbyCaptainKeyes, commanding the artil 
 lery, the Third artillery, the rifles and the howitzer bat 
 tery. 
 
 As soon as the dragoons reached the top of the hill, they 
 dismounted, one half holding the horses and the others act 
 ing as skirmishers. After exchanging a volley with the In 
 dians, they drove them off the hill and held it until the foot 
 soldiers arrived. On our way up, Colonel Wright received 
 a message from Major Grier, stating that the Indians were 
 collected in large numbers (about 500, it was thought) at 
 the foot of the hill, apparently prepared to fight. Colonel 
 Wright immediately ordered the battalion rapidly forward, 
 ordering Captain Ord's command to the left to be deployed 
 as skirmishers. 
 
 My place as adjutant of the battalion, was, of course, 
 with Captain Keyes. We rode to the top of the hill, when 
 the whole scene lay before us like a splendid panorama. 
 Before us lay "Four Lakes," a large one at the foot of the 
 barren hill on which we were, and just beyond it three 
 smaller ones, surrounded by rugged rocks and almost en 
 tirely fringed with pines. Between these lakes and beyond 
 them to the northwest stretched out a plain for miles. 
 Terminated by bare grassy hills, one succeeding another 
 as far as the eye could reach. In the far distance was 
 dimly seen a line of mountains covered with dark pine. 
 
 On the plain below we saw the enemy. Every spot 
 seemed alive with the wild warriors we had come so far to 
 meet. They were in the pines on the edge of the lakes, in 
 the ravines, on the opposite hillsides and swarming over 
 the plain. They seemed to cover the country for some two 
 miles. Mounted on their fleet, hardy horses, the crowd 
 swayed back and forth, brandishing their weapons, shout 
 ing their war cries and keeping up a song of defiance. 
 
 Most of them were armed with Hudson Bay muskets, 
 while others had bow and arrows and long lances. They 
 were in all the bravery of their war array, gaudily painted 
 and decorated with their wild trappings. Their plumes flut 
 tered above them while below, skins and trinkets and all 
 kinds of fantastic embellishments flaunted in the sunshine. 
 Their horses, too, were arrayed in the most glaring fin 
 ery. Some were even painted, and with colors to form the 
 greatest contrast the white being smeared with crimson 
 in fantastic figures, and the dark-colored streaked with 
 white clay. Beads and fringes of gaudy colors were hang 
 ing from their bridles while their plumes of eagle feathers 
 
 61 
 
?/l 
 
 SPOKANE 
 
 WOODS 
 
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 CAMP, AUG. 31 to SEPT. 5, 1858 
 
 62 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
interwoven with the mane and tail, fluttered as the breeze 
 swept over them and completed their wild and fantastic 
 appearance. 
 
 By heavens! it was a glorious sight to see. 
 
 The gay array of their wild chivalry. 
 
 But we had no time for mere admiration. For other 
 work was in hand. Orders were at once issued for the 
 artillery and infantry to be deployed as skirmishers and 
 advance down the hill, driving the Indians before them 
 from their coverts, until they reached the plain where the 
 dragoons could act against them. At the same time, Lieu 
 tenant White, with the howitzer battery, supported by com 
 pany A, under Lieutenant tyler, and the rifles was sent to 
 the right to drive them out of the woods. The latter met 
 with a vigorous resistance, but a few discharges of the 
 howitzers -with their spirited attack soon dislodged the 
 enemy and compelled them to take refuge on the hills. 
 
 In the meantime the companies moved down the hill with 
 all the precision of a parade; and as we rode along the line 
 it was pleasant to see the enthusiasm of the men to get 
 within reach of the enemy. As soon as they were within 
 600 yards they opened fire and delivered it steadily as 
 they advanced. Our soldiers aimed regularly, though it was 
 no easy task to hit their shifting marks. The Indians 
 acted as skirmishers, advancing rapidly and delivering 
 their fire, and then retreating again with a quickness and 
 irregularity which rendered it difficult to reach them. 
 They were wheeling and dashing about, always on the run, 
 apparently each fighting on his own account. 
 
 But minie balls and long range rifles were things with 
 which, now for the first time, they were to be made ac 
 quainted. As the line advanced, first we saw one Indian 
 reel in his saddle and fall, then two, three, then half a 
 dozen. Then some horses would dash madly forward, 
 showing that the balls were telling on them. The instant, 
 however, that the braves fell, they were seized by their 
 companions and dragged to the rear to be borne off. We 
 saw one Indian leading off a horse with two of his dead 
 companions on it. 
 
 But in a few minutes, as the line drew nearer, the fire 
 became to heavy, and the whole array broke and fled 
 toward the plain. This was the scheme for which the dra 
 goons had been impatiently waiting. As the line advanced, 
 they had followed on behind it, leading their horses. Now 
 the order was given to mount, and they rode through the 
 company intervals to the front. 
 
 In an instant was heard the voice of Major Grier ringing 
 over the plain, as he shouted, "Charge the rascals!" and 
 on the dragoons went at headlong speed. Taylor's and 
 Gaston's companies were there, burning for revenge, and 
 soon they were on them. We saw the flash of the sabers as 
 they cut them down. Lieutenant Davidson shot one warrior 
 from his saddle as they charged up, and Lieutenant Gregg 
 clove the skull of another. Yells and shrieks and uplifted 
 hands were on no avail as they rode over them. A number 
 were left dead upon the ground, when once more the crowd 
 broke and dashed for the hills. It was a race for life as the 
 flymg warriors streamed out of the glens and ravines and 
 over the open plain, and took refuge in the clumps of woods 
 or on the rising ground. 
 
 Here they were secure from the dragoons. Had the latter 
 
 been well mounted, they would have made a terrible 
 slaughter. But their horses were too much worn out to 
 allow them to reach the main body. For 28 days they had 
 been on their march, the horses saddled all day, at night 
 picketed, with only a little grass after camping. They were 
 obliged, therefore, to halt when they reached the hillside, 
 their horses being entirely blown. 
 
 Then the line on foot once more passed them and, advan 
 cing, renewed their fire, driving the Indians over the hills 
 for about two miles. As we ascended, the men were so 
 totally exhausted that many had fallen out of the ranks, 
 and Captain Keyes was obliged to order a short halt to let 
 them come up. When a portion had joined, we resumed 
 our march 
 
 The great mass of Indians had by this time passed over 
 the crest of the hill, and when we rode to the top but a few 
 of them were visible. Without again attempting to make any 
 head, they had taken refuge in the woods and ravines be 
 yond the reach of the troops. A single group was seen at 
 some distance, apparently left to watch us, but a shell 
 from the howitzer by Lieutenant White bursting over their 
 heads soon sent them to seek refuge in the ravines. 
 
 For a short time we remained on the hill but, no new 
 demonstration having been made, Colonel Wright ordered 
 the recall to be sounded, and we marched back to the 
 camp. A number of our men had never before been under 
 fire, but begrimed and weary as they were, we could see 
 in their faces how much they enjoyed the excitement of the 
 fight. Certainly none could evince better discipline or 
 behave more coolly. We had been absent from the camp 
 about four hours, and had driven the enemy from the point 
 where the attack was first made, about three miles and a 
 half. 
 
 As we rode back we saw on the plain the evidences of the 
 fight. In all directions were scattered the arms, muskets 
 quivers bows and arrows, blankets, robes, etc., which had 
 been thrown away by our flying enemies, horses, too, were 
 roaming about, which our Indian allies were employed in 
 catching. It was amusing to see the troops returning with 
 their trophies. One officer had two buffalo robes and a 
 blanket wrapped around himself and horse. 
 
 What the Indian loss was we cannot exactly say, as they 
 carried off their dead. Some seventeen, however, were 
 seen to be killed, while there must have been between 
 40 and 50 wounded Among those killed, we subsequent 
 ly learned, were a brother and brother-in-law of Garry, 
 the head chief of the Spokanes. 
 
 Strange to say, not one our men was injured. One 
 dragoon horse alone was wounded. This was owing to 
 the long-range rifles now first used by our troops, and 
 the discipline which enabled them so admirably to use 
 them Had the men been armed with tose formerly used, 
 the result of the fight as to the loss on our side would 
 have been far differents, for the enemy outnumbered us 
 and had all the courage which we are accustomed to 
 ascribe to Indian warriors. But they ere panic struck 
 by the effect of our fire at such geat distances, and the 
 steady advance of the troops, unchecked by constant 
 fire kept upon them. 
 
 Such is the story left to posterity by Adjutant Lawrence 
 Kip, a native of New York, but, upon the accession of his fa- 
 
 BATTLE OF THE FOUR LAKES 
 
 63 
 
ther to the Episcopal bishopric of California, schooled in the 
 adventurous life of the Californian of the period, whose of 
 ficial duties on the day described afforded advantages for ob 
 servation shared by a few on the field and who from notes 
 made on the evening after the battle wrote in the following 
 winter the story here reproduced. 
 
 "It affords me the highest gratification to report that we 
 did not lose a man, either killed or wounded, during the ac 
 tionattributable, I doubt not, in a great measure, to the fact 
 that our long range rifles can reach the enemy where he can 
 not reach us," is the comment of Colonel Wright just prior 
 to recording his "great pleasure in commending to the de 
 partment the coolness and gallantry displayed by every offi 
 cer and soldier engaged in this battle. 
 
 The Nez Perce allies exhibited an earnest of their fealty 
 under the terms of the newly made treaty, for Colonel Wright 
 observed: 
 
 "Lieutenant Mullan speaks in glowing terms of the conduct 
 of the Nez Perces throughout the action; at one time charging 
 the enemy in the brush and timber on the Spokane plain, dri 
 ving him out and pursuing him beyond view; and again a small 
 party under the chief Hutes-e-mah-li-kan and Captain John 
 met and engaged the enemy which was endeavoring to attack 
 our rear, recapturing a horse left by an officer while moving 
 over the rocks and ravines." 
 
 Enlisted men of the dragoon squadrons came in for a mood 
 of high praise by Major Grier. Some of these men distin 
 guished themselves in the Union cause and received commis 
 sions. 
 
 There was First Sergeant James A. Hall, of Captain 
 Taylor's old company, already with a mention for gallantry 
 by Colonel Steptoe for his course during the fateful fight at 
 Te-hoto-nim-me. He was a Texan and has seen service with 
 the Mounted Rifles. In after years he was a cavalry captain 
 and brevetted for gallantry at Todd's Tavern and Five Forks. 
 He retired from the army on New Year's day, 1871, with the 
 rank of brevet major. 
 
 There was Private Joel G.Trimble, of Lieutenant Gaston's 
 old troop in the Steptoe fight. He received shoulder straps in 
 1863 and was assigned to the First cavalry, in which he 
 served as regimental adjutant and comissary of subsistence. 
 He distinguished himself at Trevillian Station and Cedar 
 Creek. He retired in 1879 with a brevet majority. He is still 
 living at Berkeley, California with the distinction of having 
 served in no less than thirteen Indians campaigns. 
 
 There were First Sergeant William H. Ingerton and Ser 
 geant William Dean of troop 1, Under Major Grier' s immedi 
 ate command. The first resigned an infantry captaincy in the 
 midst of the Civil War to become lieutenant colonel of the 
 Thirteenth volunteer cavalry of his native state of Tennessee 
 and earned brevets at Shiloh and Murfreesboro, dying in 
 1864. Dean became a cavalry officer in 1862 and was bre 
 vetted captain and major for his gallantry at Trevillian Sta 
 tion and Five Forks. He died in 1870. 
 
 And there was First Sergeant Edward Ball who was repor 
 
 ted as "missing" after the Steptoe fight. Ball was a Pennsyl- 
 vanian who under the name of "David Key" became a private 
 in the Fourth infantry in 1844. Five years later he entered the 
 First dragoons, and for over eleven years, to August of 1861 
 he was first sergeant of troop H. He then became an infantry 
 officer but was soon transferred to the cavalry arm of the 
 service during the Civil War. He was Captain Ball at the 
 close of the great conflict ... On being promoted to his 
 majority, his service was with the Seventh cavalry, the old 
 Custer regiment. Major Ball retired after forty years ser 
 vice in the army, in 1884 and died in October of that year. 
 
 Sergeant Michael Kenny explained why the "missing" 
 Sergeant Ball of Steptoe became the "gallant and merito 
 rious" Sergeant Ball of the Four Lakes: 
 
 As the sad sun sank into the west from the hill at Te-hoto- 
 nim-me and it became apparent that the little command would 
 "go under," arrangements were made to destroy such stores 
 as would be used by the Indians. Dr. Randolph's medical sup 
 plies were carried by troop H. In the chest was a quantity of 
 whisky, medicine to the troops but as inflammable as pitch 
 to the Indian. As "top" sergeant, Ball was ordered to destroy 
 the liquor. Ball had been fighting and marching all day. He 
 would destroy some of that red liquor in person. Whether he 
 did not have a guage, or over-estimated his own powers of 
 resistance, may not be known; at any rate, the whiskey nearly 
 destroyed Ball. As night came down Ball took himself out 
 side the hnes of the little safety zone of the beleagured sol 
 diers. The proverbial luck of the drunken man was with him. 
 He was not seen by the besieging forces as he lay down in a 
 clump of bushes. 
 
 The sun was well up in the heavens next morning when 
 First Sergeant Ball awoke from his sleep. His command was 
 far away on horseback, hastening as rapidly as flesh and 
 nerve could carry it to the safety afforded by Red Wolfs 
 crossing on the Snake, but First Sergeant Ball knew it not. 
 He peered through the bushes which enveloped him up at that 
 hill. He saw a few boxes and some litter strewing the place 
 where he expected to view a scene, probably of carnage. What 
 he actually saw, and could not believe his senses, was a few 
 elderly Indians and squaws rummaging through the visible 
 debris. Watching them closely for a time, Ball concluded 
 from their actions that they were not hostiles, but friendlies. 
 They proved to be Nez Perces who fed him and saw that he 
 returned safely to Fort Walla Walla, arriving the re four teen 
 days later. The fact that he retained his first sergenacy and 
 was not disciplined for his lapse, would indicate that Ball's 
 usual soldierly qualities were of so high a grade as to make 
 it possible for his superiors to overlook this one occasion 
 when his nerves were not straight. Perhaps it was considered 
 that the experiences of a lonely white for fourteen day among 
 Indians, in times so disturbed as they were following the Step- 
 toe repulse, constituted "punishment already served." 
 
 The episode did not deter him from fighting at the Four 
 Lakes, for Lieutenant Davidson said of him, "I saw him 
 charge upon some Indians, unhorse one of them, dismount 
 himself and kill him." 
 
 64 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
16 
 
 On the Spokane Plains 
 
 "To our great satisfaction and to their great surprise," is 
 the rather laconic phrase used by a survivor of the battle of 
 the Four Lakes in describing the immediate results of that 
 first conflict at arms between the expedition and the hostiles. 
 In the lull which followed, Colonel Wright was enabled to al 
 low the rest required by both his soldiers and his animals. 
 But during the three full days of rest which followed, not an 
 iota of vigilance was relaxed. Hour by hour the soldiers were 
 reminded that they were in a hostile country by the appear 
 ance on the hill tops of bands of Indian lookouts. It was plain 
 that the hostiles were not to give up after one fight. 
 
 The manner in which the Indians passed those three days 
 is problematical. Doubtless councils were held to map out a 
 further plan of action, made necessary by the unexpected re 
 pulse of the Four Lakes. The whites have never learned 
 whether Kamiahkin was on the field or in the vicinity during 
 the engagement of the 1st, but it is known that he was present 
 during the battle of the Spokane Plains and there injured. 
 According to Colonel Wright's reports the numbers of the 
 hostiles had increased during the three-day interval. Even 
 after the fight of the 5th the increase in the number of Indians 
 throughout the Spokane valley was noticeable. Some days 
 later a large band of horses belonging to the Palouse were 
 in the valley, and there may be ground for the opinion, ex 
 pressed by some, that Kamiahkin ultimately expected to cor 
 oner the expedition in the mountains of the Coeur d'Alenes 
 and there destroy it through tactics of beleaguer and harry, 
 participated in by all the warriors of his allied tribes. 
 
 If Kamiahkin entertained such a plan, he was not allowed 
 time in which to concentrate his followers. The departure of 
 Colonel Wright from his camp was noted by the hostiles and 
 an attack was made before half a dozen miles had been trav 
 eled. 
 
 Colonel Wright, in his reports, gave no intimation as to his 
 purposes or destination on quitting the camp at the Four 
 Lakes. He had determined to leave the Colville trail some 
 days before he arrived at the Four Lakes, but he did not 
 vouchsafe his reasons for so doing. It may be mat he recalled 
 how Colonel Steptoe was "on the road to Colville." He prob 
 ably knew that the Indians had declined to allow Steptoe the 
 use of boats in which to effect a crossing of the Spokane. It 
 is quite possible that Colonel Wright anticipated that the In 
 dians had thought it to be foregone that his destination was 
 Colville and that they would attack him where the old trail 
 crossed the Spokane. It is known that the colonel did not 
 determine to enter the Coeur d'Alenes directly until the 10th, 
 
 and that occurrences and developments of those five days in 
 fluenced him to a decision not to go to Colville. 
 
 Colonel Wright's story of September 5th, told in his offi 
 cial report is as follows: 
 
 Sirs:-I have the honor to submit the following report of the 
 battle of the "Spokane Plains", fought by the troops under 
 my command on the 5th. Our enemies were the Spokanes, 
 Coeur d'Alenes, Palouses, and Pend O'reilles numbering 
 from five to seven hundred warriors. 
 
 Leaving my camp at the "Four Lakes" at 6y 2 A.M. on 
 the 5th, our route lay along the margin of a lake for about 
 three miles, and thence for two miles over a broken coun 
 try, thinly scattered with pines; when emerging on to the 
 open prairie, the hostile Indians were discovered about 
 three miles to our right and in advance, moving rapidly a- 
 long the skirt of the woods, apparently with the view of in 
 tercepting our line of march before we should reach the 
 timber. 
 
 After halting and closing up our pack train, I moved for 
 ward and soon found that the Indians were setting fire to 
 the grass at various points in front and on my right flank, 
 Captain Keyes was directed to advance three of his com 
 panies, deployed as skirmishers, to the front and right; 
 this order was promptly obeyed, and Captain Ord, with 
 company K, Lieutenant Gibson, with company M, and Lieu 
 tenant Tyler, with company A, 3rd artillery were thrown 
 forward. 
 
 At the same time Captain Hardie, Company G,and how 
 itzers, under Lieutenant White, supported by company E, 
 9th infantry, under Captain Winder, were advanced to the 
 line of skirmishers. The firing now became brisk on both 
 sides-the Indians attacking us in front and on both flanks. 
 The fires on the prairie enveloped us and we re rapidly ap 
 proaching our troops and the pack train. Not a moment was 
 to be lost I ordered the advance. The skirmishers, the 
 howitzers and the 1st squadron of the dragoons under Bre 
 vet Major Grier, dash gallantly through the roaring flames 
 and the Indians were driven to seek shelter in the forest 
 and rocks. As soon as a suitable position could be obtained 
 the howitzers, under White, opened fire with shells; the 
 Indians were again routed from their cover, closely pur 
 sued by our skirmishers, and followed by Grier with his 
 squadron leading. 
 
 At this time our pack train was concentrated as much as 
 possible and guarded by Captain Dent, 9th infantry, with 
 his company B, Lieutenant Davidson, 1st dragoons, with 
 
 65 
 
his company E, and Lieutenant Ihrie 3rd artillery, with his 
 company B, advancing; the trail bore off to the right, 
 which left Ord and Tyler, with their skirmishers, to the 
 left. A heavy body of Indians had concentrated on our left, 
 when our whole line moved quckly forward, and the firing 
 became more general throughout the front occupied by Ord 
 Hardie and Tyler, and the howitzers, under White support 
 ed by Winder, withGregg's troops of dragoons following in 
 the rear, waiting for a favorable opportunity to make a 
 dash. At the same time Gibson, with company M, 3rd artil 
 lery, drove the Indians on the right front. 
 
 An open prairie here intervening, Major Grier passed 
 the skirmishers with his own and Lieutenant Fender's 
 troop and charged the Indians, killing two and wounding 
 three. Our whole line and train advanced steadily, driving 
 the Indians over rocks and through ravines. Our point of 
 direction having been changed to the right, Captain Ord 
 found himself alone with his company on the extreme left 
 of the skirmishers, and opposed by a large number of the 
 enemy. They were gallantly charged by Captain Ord and 
 driven successively from three table rocks where they had 
 taken refuge. Captain Ord pursued the Indians untill ap 
 proaching the train, he occupied the left flank. In this move 
 ment CaptainOrd was assisted by Captain Winder and Lieu 
 tenants Gibson and White who folio wed into the woods after 
 him. 
 
 Moving toward the Spokane River, the Indians still in 
 front of Lieutenant Ihrie and Howard, with Company B, 3rd 
 artillery, were thrown out on the right flank, and instantly 
 cleared the way; and after a continuous fight for seven 
 hours, over a distance of fourteen miles, we encamped on 
 the bank of the Spokane; the troops exhausted by a long and 
 fatiguing march of twenty-five miles, without (water?) 
 and for two thirds of the distance under fire. 
 
 The battle won, two chiefs and two brothers of the chief 
 Garry killed, besides many of lesser note either killed or 
 wounded. 
 
 A kind providence again protected us, although at many 
 times the balls flew thick and fast through our ranks; yet 
 strange to say, we had but one man slightly wounded. 
 
 During the battle a chief was killed, and on his body was 
 found the pistol worn by the lamented Gaston, who fell in 
 the affair with Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe. 
 
 Again it affords me the highest pleasure to bear witness 
 to the zeal energy, preserverance and gallantry dislplayed 
 by the officers and men during this protacted battle. 
 
 This report does not mention the wounding of Kamiahkin, 
 nor does it make any reference to him. That fact is brought 
 out by General Dandy in his personal reminiscences, in a 
 subsequent chapter hereof. 
 
 On the 23rd of September General Clarke from Vancouver 
 forwarded Colonel Wright's reports of the two fights to army 
 headquarters, "with gratification." The general observed, by 
 way of comment, "that the success narrated in these dis 
 patches is a surety of peace henceforth wjth these Indians." 
 
 It is only in such expressions as those just quoted that 
 one finds the official reports of the campaign reflecting the 
 degree of Intense anxiety and tension shared by every army 
 officer In the Pacific Northwest. It was known that the crafty 
 Kamiahkin was putting forth every effort of which his intense 
 hatred of the "Boston man" was capable to amalgamate all 
 
 the tribes into opposition. Not knowing just how far he would 
 be able to carry out his plans, the army felt itself face to 
 face with an Indian war of years' duration. Two victories at 
 the outset augured well. 
 
 But at Fort Vancouver it was not known that the last shot 
 of the war had been fired. Even the officers and men en 
 camped on the Spokane river at the close of an all-day fight 
 did not so understand it. It seemed incredible and without 
 the range of possibility that the war was over and not a man 
 in blue killed. The soldiers composing the expedition gave 
 way to no spirit of elation. They took cheer, that they had 
 gone thus far into the enemy's country and had accomplished 
 neatly thus much of the work laid out before them. But that 
 they had demolished the great Kamiahkin' s fabric of an allied 
 federation, they were in no spirit to believe had it been told 
 them. 
 
 General Clarke, prior to the receipt of the news of the 
 Four Lakes and Spokane Plains reflected the preconceived 
 notions of the campaign as follows: "If the Colonel crossed 
 the Snake River on the day he announced his intention to cross 
 it, he has now been twelve days in the field. I, therefore, 
 take it for granted, no report having been received from him, 
 that he has not encountered any serious obstacle or met the 
 hostiles. If they have, or shall have, fled, as may be the case, 
 to the mountains, the Colonel will probably proceed as far 
 as Colville, whence he may forward intelligence of his 
 movement and its results." 
 
 Turning again to Mu Han's memoir, the only running ac 
 count of the daily progress of the expedition, the following 
 is cited: 
 
 Resuming our march for the Spokane River early in the 
 morning of the 5th of September, our route lay along the 
 eastern edge of the largest of the Four Lakes. About a 
 mile from camp, on gaining the summit of one of the 
 prairie buttes, we had a fine view of the Spokane plains; 
 which to the northeast and west were bounded by lines of 
 high timbered hills. The Spokane river running at the 
 southern foot of the hills or buttes seen to our north. The 
 southern portion of the plain is skirted by a strip of timber 
 some five miles broad. This plain is rich and fertile, well 
 grassed, with small clumps of timer, pine and cottonwood 
 at detached points. 
 
 The Indians, after leaving the prairie, continued the fight 
 in the timber, and we moved on, driving them before us, 
 until we reached the Spokane river, no water being found 
 on the whole line. Our march being scanty grass for our 
 animals, but water and fuel in abundance. The latter part 
 of our route was somewhat difficult, owing to the timber 
 and rocks. 
 
 We found the Spokane where we struck it a stream fifty 
 yards wide, lined on either side with strips and forests of 
 pine, and flowing with a rapid current; water from three 
 to four feet deep over a pebbly bed, with banks gradually 
 sloping on either side to some fifty feet high, when the 
 high water land, on what is here known as the Coeur d* 
 Alene prairie, is reached. 
 
 Following through the timber for a mile along the left 
 bank of the Spokane river, we encamped for the night. Our 
 enemy no longer annoyed us, having been driven in dismay 
 and discomfort for fifteen miles before us, leaving many 
 killed and wounded on the field, with his property scattered 
 
 66 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
in every direction; and they now, broken in small groups 
 for miles around, it became time for them to consider 
 their position. Our men and animals much fatigued with a 
 long march and harrassing fight, rested in camp on the 
 6th of September. 
 
 It should not be forgotten that the mission of Lieutenant 
 Mullan on the Wright expedition was two-fold. One branch of 
 his work related specifically to the business undertaken by 
 the column of which he was a member. The other bore upon 
 the future and the construction of the military road to Fort 
 Benton, which he had already commenced. 
 
 A methodical thinker and calculator, Mullan had already 
 called upon the navy department to establish beyond cavil the 
 exact location of the government's new Fort Walla Walla. 
 Commander Wilkes, U. S. N., had come up the Columbia with 
 his nautical instruments and had determined the position of 
 the new post as in latitude 46 degrees, 3 minutes and 18 sec 
 onds, longitude 118 degrees, 12 minutes and 36 seconds. The 
 fact that such pains were taken to establish one point in the 
 midst of the Inland Empire is but another indication of the 
 paucity of specific information about the country. 
 
 With his own chronometer and instruments of observa 
 tion corrected and readjusted, Lieutenant Mullan had only 
 to safeguard his various mechanisms to be able to establish 
 with accuracy the location of any point on the line of his 
 itinerary. To the only wheeled vehicle taken by the expedi 
 tion north ot the Snake river, he attached his odometer, 
 while in its body were carried all other instruments save 
 the chronometer, which was carried by soldiers on foot, 
 thus obviating deviations from the jarring incident to wheel 
 ing over rocky inclined roads and pathways. 
 
 As thus established the camp at the Four Lakes lay in 
 latitude 47 degrees, 32 minutes and 9 seconds, longitude 
 117 degrees, 32 minutes and 5 seconds. To the traveller of 
 1908 seeking to decipher from Mullan's jottings concern 
 ing lanscape features noted from day to day for the pur 
 pose of identifying scenes then with scenes now the process 
 would be laborious and would result with as little satisfac 
 tion, except in certain instances, as would the task of an 
 astronomer mapping from Xenophon's "enthuthen exelau- 
 noi" the course of the ancient host across face of Asia 
 minor. 
 
 The two fights of the Wright campaign were spread out 
 from the camp at the Four Lakes. At the outset of attempts 
 as calculation just where that camp was located with ref 
 erence to localities well known today, one is met by differ 
 ent statements as to the distance of the camp from the hill 
 mentioned as overlooking the plain on which took place the 
 greater part of the fighting. 
 
 Colonel Wright suggests "three miles distant" in one re 
 port, and "about two miles distant, in another. 
 
 Kipp uses the words, "After advancing about a mile and 
 a half, we reached the hill." 
 
 General Dandy's recollection is that "The camp was sit 
 uated about a mile from a high, bald hill." 
 
 Evidently some other method must be applied to fix the lo 
 cation of the camp. Starting with the latitude and longitude as 
 given by Mullan, two competent engineers of the present day, 
 without conference, agree in fixing the point in the northeast 
 quarter of section 27, township 24, range 41. So much for 
 identification through mathematics. 
 
 Thirty-odd years ago, when Pioneer John McKay took up 
 land southerly from what is now known as Silver Lake, he 
 found "some diggings," on a part of his holdings. At the time 
 of their discovery he did not know that he was in the vicinity 
 of the camp of a military expedition, and processes of tilling 
 the soil, pasturage and travel had obliterated the shallow ex 
 cavations and other camp markings before he learned of the 
 halt of the Wright column in the vicinity of the Four Lakes. 
 Mr. McKay now says that these evidences of a camp were in 
 his northeast quarter section, the same section as fixed upon 
 by the computing engineers. From the easternportion of this 
 section rises a hill which has been known as "Wright's ob 
 servatory," though no one can be found who knows how the ap 
 pellation came about. Colonel I. N. Peyton of Spokane, for 
 many years a landowner in the vicinity, agrees with Mr. Mc 
 Kay. 
 
 Upon these considerations, the statement may be ventured 
 that the camp lay southeasterly from Silver Lake and wester 
 ly from Medical Lake. There are in reality within a short dis 
 tance of the point indicated no less than six lakes, the two al 
 ready mentioned and Clear, Granite, Medical and West Med 
 ical. It would seem that the two others which constituted the 
 "four" of Colonel Wright were Granite and Clear. Indeed, it 
 is highly improbable that, with virgin timber on the surround 
 ing hills, either Medical or West Medical Lake would be vis 
 ible from "Wright's observatory." 
 
 That the camp was southerly from "Big Lake" of Mullan's 
 map is clearly shown by the route indicated thereon along the 
 easterly side of the water. From Colonel Wright's report is 
 taken the statement, "our route lay along the margin of a 
 lake for about three miles." Mullan notes, "Our route lay a- 
 long the eastern edge of the largest of the Four Lakes." Sil 
 ver Lake is today the largest of the entire group lying in the 
 plain. It was, also, thirty years ago when Pioneer McKay took 
 up his land. The previous twenty years could hardly have 
 wrought so great a change as to have witnessed another lake 
 with a margin of three miles along one of its sides. 
 
 It is one of the astonishing features of the recorded pro 
 gress of the past fifty years that the means of identifying 
 locations are so meager. Were Wright's men encamped today 
 in the same spot as that on which they rested for three days 
 a half century ago, they could come into Spokane on either 
 one of two electric trolley lines, learn the news of the day 
 and be back in their tents in less time than it took them to 
 whip the Indians in the battle of the Four Lakes. Were Major 
 Crier's sqadrons to repeat today their charge in the battle 
 of the Four Lakes. Were Major Grier's squadron to repeat 
 today their charge in the battle of Spokane Plains, their saber 
 would flash across the Hazelwood Farm and their ears would 
 be greeted, not by Indian yells, but by the terrified squawking 
 of farmyard fowl of high degree, the shrill squealing of re 
 gistered swine and the scurrying of sleek and sedate cattle 
 in whose veins flow the proudest dairy blood known to the 
 world. 
 
 From the point on Mullan's map indicating where the col 
 umn reached the Spokane river, it may be assumed that the 
 soldiers marched along the course of Indian creek, undoubt 
 edly dry at that season of the year. 
 
 The camp a mile and a half below the falls is readily recog 
 nized as the site of Fort Wright, named in honor of the com 
 mander of the expedition of 1858. "As to the location of 
 
 ON THE SPOKANE PLAINS 
 
 67 
 
Colonel Wright's headquarters, at the first camp on the the water pipe ROW crosses the river to Fort Wright and 
 
 Spokane " writes General Dandy, "I think it was on the where there is now a footbridge for passengers." 
 
 general flat some sixty feet above the river, where the parade J 2 "* Bridge is little used by the later-day soldiers 
 
 A r- *r .* * who make their home on that general flat, not in campaign 
 
 ground now is. I was at Fort Wright a few years ago, my son- tents but in substantial mode * n building ^ of brick> ^ 
 
 in-law, Captain Dean, adjutant of the Tenth infantry, being rev eille sounds and the morning gun announces in an official 
 
 stationed there at the time. There was no good ground for a rear the coming of another day, the soldiers look across the 
 
 camp near the edge of the river, except at or near a bluff river, not at some Indian sentinels hovering warily among 
 
 which overlooked the stream where there is a pleasure house the pine trees, but at the substantial structures of Spokane's 
 
 and park. Probably the quartermaster's camp and corral citizens and shaded streets stretching away toward the center 
 
 were down in the woods near the edge of the stream, where of a city of 125,000 inhabitants. 
 
 68 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
17 
 
 In the Spokane Valley 
 
 The 6th of September was passed in camp. Colonel Wright 
 was yet undetermined as to his future course. Scouting par 
 ties were sent out during the day to ascertain the lay of the 
 land, watch the Indians and gather information concerning 
 fording places. It was known that somewhere between the falls 
 of the Spokane and the lake oftheCoeur d' Alenes there was 
 a ford, for the easterly branch of the Colville trail, that 
 loading into the country of the Pend d'Oreilles. 
 
 Of the events of the 7th of September, the chief of which 
 occurred in the very heart of the present limits of the city 
 of Spokane, Mullan has left the following record: 
 
 Finding that the Indians were to our east with their fam 
 ilies and camps and that they evidently intended to take 
 flight to the mountains, the Colonel determined to move up 
 the river, and to this purpose the following day was spent, 
 
 Spokane River 
 
 by this direction, in the examination of the river, in order 
 to find a good ford to cross the command. But finding, at 
 and below our camp, the stream not proving fordable, we 
 determined to continue our march along the left bank of the 
 Spokane to one of the principal fords above, our camp hav 
 ing been one mile below the mouth of the Lahtoo or Nedu- 
 huald, or Camass Prairie creek, and about two and a half 
 miles from the Upper or Great Falls of the Spokane. 
 To our north across the river lay the broad Coeur d* 
 Alene prairie: to our east and south the high crusted hills, 
 while to our west we had a series of extensive plains of 
 different levels. 
 
 The morning of the 7th September found us in motion a- 
 long the left bank of the Spokane, through the timber for a 
 mile, when we reached the Lahtoo, now dry, but which, by 
 its cut banks and rocky bed, gave evidence of the volume 
 and force of water that must course through it during 
 spring or freshet season. 
 
 This is a great fishing point for the Indians, as shown by 
 the number of barriers in the bed of the river for catching 
 salmon. The hills and plains around afford fine grazing for 
 their large bands of stock. Fuel from the pine forests is 
 had in abundance; while nature furnishes them with shoals 
 of the fattest salmon. The salmon ascend this stream to 
 the upper falls that are two and half miles above the Lah 
 too; but, during the high water they pass even beyond these 
 falls to the very mountains. 
 
 The Spokane Falls are formed by the whole volume of 
 the Spokane river dashing over and inclined ledge of rocks 
 giving a total fall from forty to fifty feet. The river here 
 is fifty yards wide, water clear and limpid, and flowing 
 through a basaltic trough or dalle. In passing around the 
 falls the view is shut out for some distance, when again 
 coming sight of the river the effect is quite magical; for 
 the stream which but a few moments before was far below 
 us, is suddenly on a line with our feet, we in the mean 
 while traveling on the same level plain. The pine, too, now 
 gives place to fringes of cottonwood and willow, and the 
 stream flows through as it were, abeautiful flat and exten 
 sive meadow land. 
 
 That last paragraph contains what is probably the first 
 written description of the falls of the Spokane to appear in 
 government records. The "basaltic trough, or dalle" is here 
 today, but much of it is not visible because a dam has been 
 thrown across its waist and the harnessed energy of the tum 
 bling water is hauling city and suburban trolley cars, lighting 
 cities and towns and operating drills in the silver-lead mines, 
 
 69 
 
nearly 100 miles away in the heart of the Coeur d'Alene 
 mountains. 
 
 The Latah creek still winds its sinuous way from the south 
 east, but it passes beneath bridges today, and in colloquial 
 phrase it has another name, Hangman creek, less euphonious 
 but distinctly reminiscent of the Wright expedition. 
 
 The Indian weirs and barriers have long since gone, and 
 the -visits of salmon are hardly noticeable. In season the 
 caster of fly, or spoon lures the trout, but no longer is it a 
 great fishing point at the mouth of the Lahtoo. The hum and 
 the noise of industry was ever fatal to fishing. 
 
 It was in the midst of the transportation ana waiehouse 
 district of the city of Spokane that Colonel Wright held his 
 first personal conference with the Indians. The ford two miles 
 above the falls is now spanned by huge railway bridges, and 
 scores of electric passenger and freight trains pass close 
 by where Garry and Pohlatkin first had personal converse 
 with their conqueror, while behind the council place thunders 
 the entire transcontinental business of the Northern Pacific. 
 Colonel Wright thus reported the events of the 7th: 
 
 Sir: I remained during the 6th at my camp three i-niles 
 below the falls, as my troops required rest after the long 
 march and battle of the previous day. No hostile demon 
 strations were made by the enemy during the day; they 
 approached the opposite bank of the river in very small 
 parties and intimated a desire to talk, but no direct com 
 munication was held with them, as the distance was too 
 great and the river deep and rapid. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 7th I advanced along the 
 left bank of the Spokane, and soon the Indians were seen 
 on the opposite side, and a talk began with our friendly 
 Nez Perces and interpreters. They said that they wanted 
 to come and see me with the chief Garry, who was near 
 by. I told them to meet me at the ford, two miles above the 
 falls. 
 
 I halted at the ford and encamped; soon after Garry 
 crossed over and came to me; he said that he had always 
 been opposed to fighting, but the young men and many of 
 the chiefs were against him, and he could not control them. 
 I then told him to go back and say to all Indians and chiefs: 
 
 "I have met you in two bloody battles; you have been 
 badly whipped you have lost several chiefs and many war 
 riors killed and wounded; I have not lost a man or animal; 
 I have a large force, and you Spokanes, Coeur d f Alenes, 
 Palouses and Fend O'reilles may unite, and I can defeat 
 you as badly as before. I did not come into this country to 
 ask you to make peace I came here to fight. 
 
 "Now, when you are tired of the war, and ask for peace, 
 I will tell you what you must do: You must come to me 
 with your women and children, and everything you have, 
 and lay them at my feet; you must put your faith in me and 
 trust to my mercy. If you do this, I shall then dictate the 
 terms upon which I will grant you peace. If you do not do 
 this, war will be made upon you this year and next, and 
 until your nation shall be exterminated. 
 
 I told Garry that he could go and say to all the Indians 
 that he might fall in with what I had said, and also to say 
 that if they did as I demanded, no life should be taken. 
 Garry promised to join me the following (yesterday) morn 
 ing on the march. 
 
 After my interview with Garry, the chief Polotkin, with 
 
 nine warriors approached and desired an interview. I 
 received them. I found that this chief was the writer of 
 one of the three letters sent to you by Congiato; that he 
 had been conspicuous in the affair with Colonel Steptoe, 
 and was the leader in the battles of the 1st and 5th instant 
 with us; they had left their rifles on the opposite b^nk. 
 I desired the chief and warriors to sit still while two of 
 his men were sent over to bring me the rifles. 
 
 I then told this chief that I desired him to remain witn 
 me, with one of his men whom we recognized as having 
 been lately at Walla Walla with Father Ravelle, and who 
 was strongly suspected with having been engaged in the 
 murder of the miners in April last. I told the chief I 
 wished him to send his other men, and bring in all of them, 
 with their arms and families. 
 
 I marched at sunrise on the morning of the 8th, and at 
 the distance of nine miles discovered a cloud of dust in the 
 mountains to the front and right, and evidently a great 
 commotion in that quarter. I closed up the train and left 
 it guarded by a troop of horses and two companies of foot; 
 and then I ordered Major Grier to push rapidly forward 
 with three companies of dragoons, and I followed with the 
 foot troops. 
 
 The distance proved greater than we expected, deep 
 ravines intervening between us and the mountains, but 
 the dragoons and the Nez Perces under Lieutenant Mullan 
 were soon seen passing over the first hills. 
 
 The Indians were driving off their stock, and had gone 
 so far into the mountains that our horsemen had to dis 
 mount, and, after a smart skirmish, succeeded in captur 
 ing at least eight hundred horses; and when the foot troops 
 had passed over the first mountain, the captured animals 
 were seen approaching under the charge of Lieutenant 
 Davidson, with his men on foot, and the Nez Perces. 
 
 The troops were then reformed and moved to this camp, 
 I having previously sent an express to the pack train to 
 advance along the river. 
 
 After encamping last evening I investigated the case of 
 the two miners; the fact of his guilt was established beyond 
 doubt and he was hung at sunset. 
 
 After sunset last evening I sent two companies of foot 
 and a troop of horse soldiers three miles up the river to 
 capture a herd of cattle, but they were so wild that it was 
 found impossible to drive them in. Another attempt was 
 made this morning, but they could not be obtained. 
 
 It turned out that this slaughter of Til-co-ax's horses was 
 the crisis of the campaign. Beaten in two fights the Indians 
 now saw the coming destruction of their most valued prop 
 erty, for an unmounted Indian was no warrior. From the 
 heights of the surrounding hills the sentinels were dumb 
 founded witnesses to the cruelty of the invading whites. Gone 
 glimmering was their hope of stampeding the entire train and 
 recovering their own horses and perhaps obtaining those of 
 the soldiers, who then might be disposed of when circum 
 stances favored. The slaughter of the horses was an argument 
 that the logic of an Indian could not withstand. 
 
 In their extremity, they appealed to Father Joset, who sent 
 Big Star with a note to Colonel Wright, suing for peace on 
 behalf of the Coeur d'Alenes.BigStar's visit to the shambles 
 conveyed the first authoritative news that the backbone of the 
 hostilities had been broken. 
 
 70 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Mullan records that the lake on the shores of which the 
 horses were captured was named in honor of Major Grier. 
 This name has been lost to history because there were no 
 white settlers in the region to hand it on. The lake was named 
 for Stephen Liberty, the first settler to locate on its shores. 
 Liberty was a native of Quebec, one of those daring spirits 
 whose early days were intimately associated with opening the 
 entire stretch of country between Lake Superior and the west 
 ern ranges of the Rockies. Originally educated for the priest 
 hood, the blood of the French adventurer rather than the blood 
 of the priest of Frenchorders asserted itself. In 1866 he was 
 crossing the broad prairies of the Dakotas guiding a caval 
 cade of silver seekers bound for the mountains about Helena, 
 one of whom was the late Judge W.E. Cullon, long prominent 
 in Montana legal and political battles. In Helena Liberty fell 
 in with the Clarks, ex United States Senator W.A. Clark and 
 brother. With them Liberty contracted to deliver express 
 and mail between Helena and Cabinet Landing, on the Pend 
 Oreille river. Coming west on one of his trips, as far as 
 the settlement then, as now, called Rathdrum, he married a 
 native woman, and in 1871 made his home by the lake to which 
 he has given his name. A close friend of Saltese, the chief of 
 the Coeur d'Alenes, Liberty was given land on the Coeur 
 d'Alene reservation by tribal rite and he is now a prosperous 
 farmer. 
 
 It was not cruelty or a wanton spirit which prompted Col 
 onel Wright to order the destruction of the horses. It was one 
 of the stern realities of war. Should an attempt be made to 
 preserve the animals, the acquisition meant more than 
 doubling the number of horses to be cared for. Should the 
 Indian provoke a stampede under cover of darkness, it would 
 be impossible for the troops to keep them under control, and 
 government horses might get away. It was not until after 
 consultation with his officers that the slaughter was ordered. 
 
 "Two companies were ordered out to perform this duty," 
 recites Kip. "A corral (enclosure) was first made, into which 
 they were all driven. Then one by one, they were lassoed and 
 dragged out, and dispatched by a single shot. About 270 were 
 killed in this way. The colts were led out and knocked in the 
 head. It was distressing during all the following night to hear 
 the cries of the brood mares whose young had thus been taken 
 from them. On the following day, to avoid the slow process of 
 killing them separately, the companies were ordered to fire 
 volleys into the corral." 
 
 The incident was not without its effect upon the soldiers 
 themselves. Both General Morgan and General Dandy mention 
 the incident in their reminiscences, contained in subsequent 
 chapters. 
 
 It has never been difficult to locate the site of this camp. 
 The visitor today may find some of the bones of Til-co-ax's 
 ponies. Inter-urban electric trains whirr close by the spot. 
 Many years ago, under the timber culture act, Samuel Walton 
 set out a grove of trees there. Early settlers found the spot a 
 veritable mine of calcareous matter and wagon load after 
 wagon load was taken away by the farmers, to reappear later 
 in the modified form of eggshells on the tables of the host- 
 lieries and restaurants of the growing city of Spokane. 
 
 The arrival of Big Star, with the message of Father Joset, 
 eliminated from the mind of Colonel Wright all thought of 
 marching to Colville. The foundation of Kamiahkin's struc 
 ture of resistance to the United States was crumbling. Garry 
 
 and the Spokanes had expressed a desire for peace; and now, 
 the tribe from which had expected the most stubborn resist 
 ance, the hardy tribe of the mountains, had read futility in 
 the slaughter of the ponies of a Palouse chiefs. 
 Resuming Mullan's notes from the morning of the 9th: 
 
 "Travelling six miles from our camp of yesterday, we 
 reached a ford, though deep. Here we halted and encamped 
 on the left bank and, owing to circumstances that developed 
 themselves at this point, the colonel determined not to 
 cross the river here, but to continue for some miles above 
 to a second ford, which was better, and the wisdom of his 
 course the next day was shown; for, having started early 
 on the morning of the 8th of September across the beau 
 tiful plain along the left bank of the Spokane, which is here 
 in fact only a portion of the Coeur d'Alene prairie proper, 
 it being divided by the course of the Spokane River, he 
 came upon and overtook a camp which, with their large 
 bands of stock, were fleeing to the mountains. 
 
 After a pursuit of eight miles and a slight skirmish,; 
 the Indians were made to fly, leaving behind them some 
 nine hundred horses and a number of stock. These last 
 were taken without loss or incident. This occurred at a 
 small lake in the prairie south of the Spokane River, which 
 lake in honor of the veteran whose services here as else 
 where during the campaign were so marked and brilliant, 
 we called Lake Grier. 
 
 The command, moving towards the Spokane river from 
 Lake Grier, encamped upon its left bank for the night, 
 after a march of fourteen and a half miles, finding good 
 grass, wood and water. 
 
 It becoming necessary to remain in camp the 10th and 
 llth of September, we built a corral in which to kill the 
 large band of horses captured from the enemy. It was not 
 our desire to keep any, except a few of the best for packing 
 and riding purposes, as this large band would only encum 
 ber us; but as our desire was to strike a blow that should 
 teach the Indians a never-to-be-forgotten lesson, it was 
 decided to kill them. So, driving them in a corral, eight 
 hundred beautiful animals were shot, in addition to a 
 number of horned stock captured from the enemy, together 
 with burning a number of dwellings and barns of grain. 
 
 The formal report of Colonel Wright, touching the occur- 
 ences of the 10th, is as follows: 
 
 Sir: I have this morning received a dispatch from Father 
 Joset, at the Coeur d'Alene mission. He says that the hos- 
 tiles are down and suing for peace; that there was great 
 rejoicing among the friendly Indians when they heard of 
 our two victories over the hostiles; had we been defeated 
 all those who did not join the hostiles would have been 
 sacrificed. 
 
 I have just sent off Father Josefs messenger. I said to 
 the father that he could say to those who had not been en 
 gaged in this war that they had nothing to fear that 
 
 they should remain quiet, with their women and children 
 around them; to say to all Indians, whether Coeur d'Alenes 
 or belonging to other tribes, that if they are sincere and 
 truly desire lasting peace, they must all come to me with 
 their guns, with their families and all that they have, and 
 trust entirely to my mercy; that I promise only that no 
 life shall be taken for acts committed during the war. I 
 
 IN THE SPOKANE VALLEY 
 
 71 
 
will tell them what I do require before I grant them peace. 
 I found myself embarassed with those 800 horses. I 
 could not hazard the experiment of moving with such a 
 large number of animals (many of them very wild) along 
 with my large train; should a stampede take place, we 
 might not only lose our captured animals, but may of our 
 own. Under those circumstances, I determined to kill them 
 
 all, save a few for service in the quartermaster's depart 
 ment and to replace broken down animals. I deeply regret 
 ted killing these poor creatures, but a dire necessity 
 drove me to it. This work of slaughter has been going on 
 since 10 o'clock of yesterday, and will not be completed 
 before this evening, and I shall march for the Coeur 
 d'Alene mission tomorrow. 
 
 72 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
18 
 
 With the Coeur d'Alenes 
 
 All now seemed tentatively ripe for the conclusion of 
 treaties, but the stern and uncompromising commander to 
 whom has been given specific instructions did not take so 
 roseate a view of the situation as to accept the expressed 
 will for the actual deed. Consequently his journey into the 
 Coeur d'Alene mountains was "marked by slaughter and 
 devastation." It is no wonder that the Coeur d'Alenes, wit 
 nessing the destruction by fire of the hoards of grain and 
 vegetables they had gathered on the prairie near the outlet 
 of the lake, shuddered as they saw the approach of that 
 devastating column in blue. Some huddled abjectly beneath the 
 shelter of the Jesuit mission; others scattered like a covey 
 of quail to the dells and glens of the forest covered moun 
 tains. 
 
 might have any possible bearing on his road. Indeed, from 
 the ford near the camp of the dismal name to the Jesuit 
 mission in the Coeur d'Alene mountains, he later laid his 
 road over the route passed by the Wright expedition. Sherman 
 street, the main thoroughfare of Coeur d'Alene City is but 
 part of the Fort Benton road along which the earliest set 
 tlers of the city by the lake erected their first habitations. 
 So up Wolf's Lodge creek and down Fourth of July Canyon 
 passed the troops, to be followed later by Mullan's surveying 
 party and still later by another surveying party, preliminary 
 to stringing the wires of an electrical power transmission 
 line between the falls of the Spokane and the mines of the 
 Coeur d'Alenes. This later party found on the top of the 
 divide a giant of the forest bearing upon its scarred side the 
 
 This farm is situated on the site of "Horse Slaughter Camp' 
 
 Leisurely, but with open-eyed vigilance, the colonel pro 
 ceeded from "Horse Slaughter camp." Engineer Mullan was 
 constantly on the lookout for any bits of information which 
 
 blazed legend, cut deep through the bark, by Mullan's men in 
 commemoration of their arrival there at the head of the can 
 yon on Independence day of 1861. 
 
 73 
 
Fort Benton 
 
 The indefatigable eye of the engineer took note of the 
 cataract in the Spokane river twelve miles below the outlet 
 of the lake, now known as Post Falls, as also the town which 
 has grown up around them. When Frederick Post, a native of 
 Germany, first began to operate a mill by the power of the 
 descending water, the Coeurd'Alene tribe, through some now 
 forgotten sentiment, lay claim to possession of the falls. 
 During the misunderstandings which arose, Mr. Post kept 
 on the friendly side of the natives and many a time earned 
 their gratitude by gifts of provisions and other kindly acts. 
 In still later years, when the government was negotiating the 
 treaty by which the Coeur d' Alenes were to be placed upon 
 
 FREDERICK POST, WHO BUILT 
 
 THE FIRST FLOUR MILL 
 
 IN SPOKANE 
 
 the reservation they now occupy, the chiefs remembered the 
 favors done them by Mr. Post and made a condition of the 
 agreement that the ownership of the falls should rest in Mr. 
 Post. He has sold his interest to a corporation which has 
 harnessed the "beautiful sheet of white foam" to electric 
 generators. 
 
 In the rapid mutations of half a century, engineers of the 
 extreme periods have opposite ideas as to their utility. Mul- 
 lan, always wide awake and given to peering into the future, 
 considered the ledge of rock over which the waters of the 
 Coeur d'Alene basin descend as an obstruction which resulted 
 in the inumdation of rich land along the Couer d'Alene and St. 
 Joseph River. He recommended blasting the rock out, that the 
 level of the lake and its tributaries might be lowered and sub 
 merged ground be capable of producing crops. "When the day 
 comes," he commented, that this mountain region shall be 
 come thickly populated, then probably an improvement of this 
 character will become imperative." But Mullan counted not 
 upon electricity as a powerful factor in the commercial 
 world. He saw no further than any man of his time. Electri 
 city has made advances as subtle and as subversive as is 
 the fluid itself. 
 
 That rock has never been blasted and the lands never 
 drained. Instead a dam has been constructed which backs the 
 water further up along the shores of the lake, and the lands 
 of whose release from submersion Mullan thought so kindly 
 are deeper under water than ever. The landowners along the 
 lakeside and by the waters of the sluggish Couer d'Alene and 
 St. Joseph rivers, have brought litigation in the courts by rea 
 son of the demands of electricity, and some day there will 
 come a decree from the bench of justice announcing whether 
 that rock and its superimposed dam will have to pay for dam 
 ages to farm land miles away at the head of Lake Coeur d* 
 Alene; and the corporation which placed the dam there will 
 pay the damages if need be, and once again will the age of 
 electricity insistently thrust its demands deeper into the field 
 of natural resourses as they lie farther and farther among the 
 fastnesses of the mountain country. 
 
 Mullan's observations of the trip between the ford near the 
 present Spokane Bridge to the Coeur d'Alene mission are 
 embodied in the following: 
 
 Here we received notification of the friendship of the 
 people of Big Star. The Coeur d' Alenes having found them 
 selves vanquished, now sued for peace through Father 
 Joset, one of the Jesuit priests at the Coeur d'Alene 
 mission. This and other things determined the Colonel 
 upon his next line of direction, which was to cross the 
 Spokane at its upper ford on the morning of the llth, and 
 continue along its right bank to the Coeur d'Alene lake. 
 This led us over an easy prairie road for two and a half 
 miles, where the road forked, one leading across the 
 Coeur d'Alene prairie to the Clark's Fork of the Columbia, 
 and the other through the open pine timber along the right 
 bank of the Spokane River. 
 
 Taking this last and travelling thirteen and one half 
 miles, we reached the western end of the Coeur d'Alene 
 lake, passing at a few points small patches of prairie 
 sufficient for camping purposes. About twelve miles be 
 low the lake the river makes another fall, passing through 
 a deep and narrow rocky gorge some thirty yards wide, in 
 a beautiful sheet of white foam. Below this point it flows 
 sluggishly for a number of miles. This is the case above 
 the falls, forming here almost a continuation of the lake. 
 
 On our route the river was hidden from view for seven 
 miles, when we struck it again at some Indian fields, 
 burning here also two or three barns of wheat, thus mark 
 ing our lines by signs, the intent of which, the Indians 
 
 74 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Coeur d'Alene Mission 
 
 could not mistake. From these fields to the lake was four 
 miles, when, reaching a small prairie bottom, with sparse 
 grass, we encamped for the night in the edge of the pine 
 forest. We passed along the route a small Indian burial 
 ground, where the marks of civilized and Christian in 
 fluence were shown by the number of crosses erected over 
 the graves; and though our march was one of devastation 
 through the country, we left unharmed and untouched where 
 reposed the lifeless dead. 
 
 Up to the end of the lake we had run our odometer line 
 continuously from Fort Dalles without accident to our 
 wagon, though it has passed through some ugly and diffi 
 cult places; but by the uniform kindness of Captain Keyes 
 and Dent, who often voluntarily sent their men to its aid 
 and rescue, we were enabled to get it through thus far 
 safely. But now we were about to enter a somewhat diffi 
 cult portion of the Coeur d'Alene mountains, where the 
 timber was thick, and where an Indian trail alone marked 
 the route, and it was my purpose to leave it at this point; 
 and in case we retraced our steps, to recover it; and in 
 case we passed to the south of the lake, we could send 
 some friendly Indians in their canoes who taking it apart 
 could cross it, and we be thus enabled to resume our line. 
 
 We therefore abandoned it, but the hostile Indians 
 coming upon our rear the next day, burnt it, and thus saved 
 any further anxiety in the case. Our mountain howitzers, 
 under Lieutenant White, that had also run on wheels thus 
 far, had to be packed on mules, leaving behind only a 
 
 prairie timber, which met with the same fate as the 
 wagons. Resuming our march on the 12th September, we 
 followed an Indian trail along the Coeur d'Alene lake about 
 3 l /z miles, where we began the ascent of a high steep lime 
 stone mountain, from which at different points were ex 
 posed large masses of beautiful marble. Gaining the sum 
 mit of this hill we enjoyed a fine view of this Coeur 
 d'Alene lake, which here is a beautiful sheet of water, 
 three miles broad, with an arm extending south as far as 
 the eye could see. Immediately along the shores of the 
 lake the water is shallow, with a rocky or pebbly bottom, 
 the water, however, becoming deep at no great distance. 
 The lake is bounded on every side by high, rugged, pine- 
 clad mountains that render the whole a unique picturesque 
 panorama. Leaving this hill, our road passing alternately 
 through open pine forests and rugged undergrowth, we 
 reached a small stream heading in a spring along the road 
 in a deep hollow, or ravine, which stream empties or flows 
 into a small lake, which last is connected by a small 
 stream with Coeur d'Alene lake. 
 
 Leaving this spring, into the forest about two miles, we 
 reached a small beautiful prairie covered with rich lux 
 uriant grass, through which flowed a considerable stream 
 lined with willow; water cold and flowing rapidly. This 
 prairie offered a good camping ground, and is the only one 
 between the Coeur d'Alene lake and the mission. It 
 is bounded on all sides by low pine clad hills or mountains, 
 and affords in this immense bed of mountains a beautiful 
 
 WITH THE COEUR D'ALENES 
 
 75 
 
Fort Dalles in 1867, as photographed by Carle- 
 ton E. Watkins from across the Columbia 
 River. 
 
 resting place, where we halted for the night. The stream 
 flowing through this prairie is called the "Wolfs lodge 
 creek." 
 
 Our animals having enjoyed at this point a rich feed of 
 grass, in the morning of the 13th September, at an early 
 hour, we resumed our march for the Coeur d'Alene 
 Mission, our trail entering the pine forests along difficult 
 side hills, which we followed for a distance of seven miles, 
 passing a small stream or spring run, affording sufficient 
 water for our men and animals. The road throughout this 
 length was much obstructed by fallen timber. 
 
 Resting a short time at the end of these seven miles, 
 we resumed our march, still continuing along the difficult 
 side hills and over fallen timber, the last portion being 
 along the sides or edges of rocky limestone, slate and 
 sandstone spurs. At the end of this distance we were 
 repaid by the view of the prairie where is situated the 
 beautiful valley of the Coeur d'Alene mission. The timber 
 along the road today was not of a large growth, but the 
 forests here of fir, cedar and hemlock are very dense 
 and the strong winds of winter throwing down the trees 
 across the pathway, and the natural indolance of the In 
 dians being such as not to allow them to remove it, of 
 course it accumulates from year to year so as to from an 
 entangling network of trees, crossing and re-crossing 
 each other in every possible direction. 
 
 At sixteen miles from the "Wolfs lodge creek" we 
 
 reached the mission, which here lies as a gem embosomed 
 in the mountains and gives evidence of the labors of that 
 indefatigable band of Jesuit fathers who, braving all 
 dangers and surmounting all difficulties, have gone forth 
 to the mountain fastnessess to proclaim the Gospel to 
 the benighted heathen savage, as well as to improve his 
 temporal condition. They have here erected a large and 
 stately church, planned by and mostly constructed under 
 the direction of the Reverend Father Ravalli, an Italian 
 and a former professor of chemistry in the Jesuit college 
 in Rome. Dwellings, mills, barns and enclosures, with 
 Indian labor have been made, and everything bespoke an 
 advancement in improvement and civilization that was 
 truly refreshing to behold; all this, too, with the most 
 scanty means and under difficulties before which the 
 hearts of the bravest might truly quail. 
 
 This mission is in latitude 47-33-54N, longitude 116-13- 
 54W approximate and built on the right bank of the Coeur 
 d'Alene river, on a small hill looking towards the north, 
 upon a ridge or spur of the Coeur d'Alene mountains 
 running east and west, at the foot of which is a small but 
 beautiful prairie one mile wide and from two to four long. 
 In this prairie are large and rich fields enclosed, where 
 wheat, oats, barley and vegetables of all kinds grow in 
 the richest abundance. The mission was first established 
 on the St. Joseph's river; but, as the valley overflowed, 
 
 76 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
the fathers found it necessary to remove to a more 
 favorable locality, and in 1846 selected this site. 
 
 The Coeurd'Alenes number about 500 souls of which 130 
 are capable of bearing arms. During the difficulties of Col 
 onel Wright and Colonel Steptoe only about 90 were active 
 ly engaged, the remainder being neutral. Though not num 
 erous, they are brave and warlike, and, ensconced as they 
 are in the heart of the mountains, they are capable of be 
 coming some day ~ unless measures are taken to preserve 
 their friendship - a formidable enemy. Their home is in 
 a difficult bed of mountains, and the roads leading thereto 
 are equally difficult to travel and, thus situated, they are 
 capable of giving annoyance to a much larger force that 
 might be arrayed against them. They have large bands of 
 horses and horned stock that, living in the fine grass of the 
 mountain valleys, present a fat sleek appearance. These 
 Indians are industrious, and the fields of vegetables and 
 barns of grain all bespeak an advance beyond the Indians 
 of the plains. As a tribe, they are brave and warlike, but 
 kind and generous. They are of an ordinary stature, and in 
 appearance and general characteristics look not unlike 
 other mountain bands. 
 
 The "father" is truly their father. In times of difficulty 
 and danger -- in things temporal and in things spiritual - 
 he is consulted as the oracle of Delphos, and his views, 
 judgments and decisions are nearly always followed; and 
 if not, they are always made to regret it. 
 
 Previous to the outbreak and attack upon Colonel Steptoe 
 the Indians told the fathers of their mood and of their plans 
 they advised, cautioned and begged them to desist; but in 
 this instance they followed the wild views of a few chiefs, 
 and headlong rushed into a war, for which they have been 
 made to pay but a too dear penalty. 
 
 At 10a.m. of September 17 the Indians, headed by their 
 chiefs and attended by Reverend Father Joset and Mine- 
 tree, were assembled beneath a council lodge prepared 
 for the occasion when their chief, Vincent, asked to be 
 heard. Arising, he stated "that his people met us in sad 
 ness, their hearts were sorrowful, and their heads bent 
 down to hear a condemnation that justly awaited them; they 
 knew, they felt that they had committed a great crime - a 
 crime which they truly repented of and they now presented 
 themselves to abide by and suffer a punishment that their 
 crimes so richly merited." 
 
 His speech was brief but impressive, and delivered in 
 feeling, and in expressing his views he expressed the 
 of all his people, Colonel Wright imposed his own condi 
 tions and made peace with them on Ms own terms; they 
 willingly and apparently in sincerity submitted to his 
 judgements and decisions, but the future alone can tell 
 how faithfully these will be kept. During the difficulties 
 that now terminated so happily for them and, possibly, 
 for ourselves, the Coeur d'Alene shad taken an active, un- 
 expecting and unlooked for part. But, truly, I believe they 
 had been led on step by step to commit this overt act, I 
 now judge them in charity, and if in years to come the 
 readers shall, glancing at these pages, find the character 
 of the Coeur d'Alenes to have become changed, all that 
 could be replied would be "Impute to all and excell of 
 charitable credulity." 
 That the difficulties of penetrating with a column of troops 
 
 and the necessary pack train through the mountain forests 
 to the Coeur d'Alene mission was no easy task, is seen in 
 the official report of Colonel Wright, written on the eve 
 ning of his arrival September 15th: 
 
 Sir: I marched from my camp on the Spokane river, 16 
 miles above the falls, on the morning of the llth instant; 
 after fording the river when I struck the Coeur d'Alene 
 lake and encamped. Resuming our march on the 12th, we 
 soon lost view of the lake on our right and struck into the 
 mountains with a forest on either hand, and a trail which 
 admitted only the passage of a single man or animal at a 
 time. After marching twelve miles I found a small prairie, 
 with a fine running stream of water, and encamped. 
 Marching early on the 13th we found the trail infinitely 
 worse than that of the previous day; passing through a 
 dense forest, with an inprenetable undergrowth of bushes 
 on both sides and an almost continuous obstruction of 
 fallen trees, our progress was necessarily slow, having 
 to halt frequently and cut away the logs before our animals 
 could pass over. The column and pack train could only 
 move in single file, and extended from six to eight miles, 
 but it was perfectly safe; the front and rear were strongly 
 guarded and nature had fortified either flank. No commu 
 nication could be had with the head of the column and its 
 rear, and thus we followed this lonely trail for nineteen 
 miles, to this place. The rear of the pack train with the 
 guards did not reach here until 10 o'clock at night. 
 
 I found the Indians here in much alarm as to the fate 
 which awaited them, but happily they are now all quieted. 
 Father Joset has been extremely zealous andper serve ring 
 in bringing in the hostiles. They are terribly frightened, 
 but last evening and today they are coming in quite freely 
 with the women and children, and turning over to the quar 
 termaster such horses, mules they have belonging to the 
 United States. 
 
 The hostile Spokanes have many of them gone beyond 
 the mountains and will not return this winter. The 
 Palouses with their Chiefs Kamiahken and Til-co-ax, are 
 not far off, but it is doubtful whether they will voluntarily 
 come in. If they do not I shall pursue them as soon as I 
 can settle with the Coeur d'Alenes. 
 
 The chastisement which these Indians have received has 
 been severe but well merited, and absolutely necessary to 
 impress them with our power. For the last eighty miles 
 our route has been marked by slaughter and devastation; 
 800 horses and a large number of cattle have been killed 
 or appropriated to our own use; many horses, with large 
 quantities of wheat and oats, also many caches of veg 
 etables, kamas and dried berries, have been destroyed. 
 A blow has been struck which they will never forget. 
 
 I hope to march from this place on the 18th or 19th in 
 the direction of Colonel Steptoe's battle-ground, having in 
 view to intercept, if possible, the Pelouses, and also to 
 hold a meeting with several bands of the Spokanes, if they 
 can be collected. 
 
 The troops are in fine health and spirits, I have pro 
 visions which by economy and slight reduction of rations, 
 will last until the 5th of October. We shall soon feel the 
 want of bootees very sensibly. The days are warm, but 
 ice a quarter of an inch thick is made every night 
 
 WITH THE COEUR D'ALENES 
 
 77 
 
19 
 
 Treaty Making 
 
 It required two nights and a day for the Jesuit fathers to 
 collect the scattered members of their tribes, so deftly had 
 they hidden themselves in the mountain wilds. It is interest 
 ing to note that Colonel Wright entered upon his treaty nego 
 tiations with the Coeur d'Alenes, just forty years, within a 
 few days, after he had entered West Point, a cadet from the 
 Green Mountain state. 
 
 Writing his report while in camp on the headwaters of La- 
 
 tah creek, thirty five miles southwest of the Coeur d'Alene 
 
 mission, at a point now within the borders of Spokane County, 
 
 the colonel describes the treaty making in this language. 
 
 On the 17th instant the entire Coeur d'Alene nation 
 
 having assembled at my camp near the mission, I called 
 
 them together in council, I than stated to them the cause 
 
 of my making war upon them. I made my demands 
 
 specifically: 
 
 1st, That they should surrender to me the men who 
 commenced the attack upon Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe, 
 contrary to the orders of the chiefs. 
 
 2nd. That they should deliver up to me all public or 
 private property in their possession, whether that aban- 
 oned by Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe, or received from 
 an other source. 
 
 3rd. That they should allow all white persons to travel 
 at all times through their country unmolested. 
 
 4th. That as security for their future good behavior, 
 they should deliver to me one chief and four men with 
 their families, to be taken to Fort Walla Walla. 
 
 After a brief consultation they announced their deter 
 mination to comply with all my demands in every 
 particular, in sincerity and good faith. 
 
 All the Coeur d'Alenes nation, with the exception of 
 some six or eight were present at the council; and as an 
 evidence that they had previously determined to make 
 peace at any terms, they brought with them their families 
 and all the property they had belonging to the government 
 or to individuals ready and willing to submit to such terms 
 as I might dectate. 
 
 The chiefs and headmen came forward and signed the 
 preliminary articles of a treaty of peace and friendship, 
 and in the course of the day fulfilled as far as practicable, 
 my demands by delivering up horses, mules and camp 
 equipage. 
 
 The chiefs and headmen expressed great grief and 
 apparently sincere repentance for this misconduct, which 
 had involved them in a war with the United States. I have 
 never witnessed such a unanimity fo feeling nor such man 
 
 ifestations of joy as was expressed by the whole Coeur 
 d'Alene nation, men, women and children, at the conclusion 
 of the treaty. They know us, they have felt our power, 
 and I have full faith that henceforth the Coeur d'Alenes 
 will be our staunch friends. 
 
 I marched from the Coeur d'Alenes mission on the 
 morning of the 18th, having with me the prisoners, hos 
 tages and many other Coeur d'Alenes as guides, etc. Our 
 route lay down the right bank of the Coeur d'Alene river 
 for thirteen miles, where I encamped at a point where the 
 river has to be ferried. It occupied most of the 19th in 
 crossing the troops animals and stores, assisted by the 
 Indians with their canoes. 
 
 Leaving camp on the 20th, we pursued our march still in 
 the mountains, and the trail obstructed by fallen trees, 
 until we struck the St. Joseph river at thirteen miles and 
 encamped. Again we found a river which could not be 
 forded, and our two boats and the Indian canoes were in 
 stantly called into requisition. By sunset the general 
 supply train was crossed, and the recommencing at day 
 light this morning, by 12 o'clock the rear of the column 
 was ready to move. 
 
 I shall march tomorrow for the vicinity of Lieutenant 
 Colonel Steptoe' s battle-ground to obtain the abandoned 
 howitzers, and in the expectation of meeting the Spokane s 
 and Pelouses. 
 
 And examination of the text of the treaty which was for 
 warded by Colonel Wright with the foregoing report, would 
 lead one to the opinion that Colonel Wright was as magnani 
 mous toward the Coeur d'Alenes as the circumstances would 
 permit. His instructions had been specific. He had laid a 
 heavy hand on the tribe, as became an officer sent to incul 
 cate a severe lesson. The treaty itself speaks more elo 
 quently than any comment upon it can: - 
 
 PRELIMINARY ARTICLES OF A TREATY OF 
 
 PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED 
 
 STATES AND THE COUER D'ALENE INDIANS 
 
 Article 1- Hostilities between the United States and the 
 Coeur d'Alene Indians shall cease from and after this 
 date, September 17, 1858. 
 
 Article 2- The chiefs and headmen of the Coeur d'Alene 
 Indians, for and in behalf of the whole nation, agree and 
 promise to surrender to the United States all property in 
 their possession belonging either to the government or to 
 
 79 
 
individuals, whether said property was captured or aban 
 doned by the troops of the United States. 
 
 Article 3- The chiefs and headmen of the Coeur d'Alene 
 nation, agree to surrender to the United States the men 
 who commenced the battle with Lieutenant Colonel Step- 
 toe, contrary to the orders of their chiefs, and also to 
 give at least one chief and four men, with their families, 
 to the officer in command of the troops as hostages for 
 their future good conduct. 
 
 Article 4- The chiefs and headmen of the Coeur d'Alene 
 nation promise that all white persons shall travel through 
 their country unmolested and that no Indians hostile to 
 the United states shall be allowed within the limits of 
 their country. 
 
 Article 5 - The officer in command of the United States 
 troops for and in behalf of the government, promises that 
 if the foregoing conditions are fully complied with no war 
 shall be made upon the Coeur d'Alene nation: and further 
 that the men who are to be surrendered, whether those 
 who commenced the fight with Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe 
 or as hostages for the future good conduct of the Coeur 
 d'Alene nation, shall in nowise be injured, and shall, with 
 in one year from the date hereof, be restored to their na 
 tion. 
 
 Article 6 - It is agreed by both of the aforesaid con 
 tracting parties that when the foregoing articles shall have 
 been fully conplied with, a permanent treaty of peace and 
 friendship shall extend also to include the Nez Perce na 
 tion of Indians. 
 
 Done at the headquarters of the expedition against north 
 ern Indians at the Coeur d'Alene mission, Washington 
 Territory, the 17th day of September 1858. 
 
 G. Wright, 
 
 Colonel 9th Infantry, commanding 
 
 Paul. 
 
 Bonaventure. 
 
 Cassimere. 
 
 Bernard. 
 
 Mil-kap-si 
 Sal-tize 
 Vincent 
 Joseph 
 
 Jean Pierre Anthony 
 
 Pierre Pauline Leo 
 
 Louis Margeni Patricia 
 
 Cyproani Pierre 
 
 Augustin Jean Piere 
 
 WITNESSES 
 
 E. D. Keyes, Captain 3rd Artillery 
 
 W. N. Grier, Brevet Major United States Army 
 
 R. W. Kirkham, Captain and Assistant Quartermaster 
 
 F. T. Dent, Captain 9th Infantry 
 C. S. Winder, Captain 9th Infantry 
 
 J. F. Hammond, Assistant Surgeon United States Army 
 
 Jas. A. Hardie, Captain Artillery 
 
 R. O. Tyler, 1st Lieutenant 3rd Artillery 
 
 H. G. Gibson, 1st Lieutenant 3rd Artillery 
 
 Jno. F. Randolph, Assistant Surgeon United States Army 
 
 H. B. Davidson, 1st Lieutenant 1st Dragoons. 
 
 W. D. Pender, End Lieutenant 1st Dragoons. 
 
 To the civilian mind, unused to the punctiliousness of the 
 military, perusal of the foregoing treaty and comparison with 
 the instruction given to Colonel Wright would suggest work 
 well performed. At this period of time it would seem mere 
 cavilling for General Clarke to make implied criticism of the 
 terms of the treaty. But when the document was received at 
 army headquarters it bore across its face this endorsement: 
 
 Headquarters Department of the Pacific 
 Fort Vancouver, W. T. October 7th, 1858 
 
 The 5th article in this treaty is disapproved, in so far 
 as it accepts a conditional surrender of those Indians 
 guilty of commencing the attack on the troops. 
 
 An unconditional surrender was demanded by me before 
 the troops were sent into the field; less should not have 
 been accepted afterwards. 
 
 A surrender of the guilty conditioned on their immunity 
 from punishment is futile. 
 
 It is now to late to repair the error; the prisoners are 
 but hostages and as such will be kept as long as it may be 
 proper to do so. 
 
 The agreement to admit troops and citizens to pass 
 through the country had better have been a demand than a 
 part of the treaty but this matters not much, as we have 
 the substance. 
 N. S. Clarke 
 
 Colonel 6th Infantry, Brevet Brigadier General, 
 commanding. 
 
 One need but glance at the names of the Indian signers 
 in reality they merely fixed their mark - to obtain eloquent 
 comment on the influence of the Jesuit fathers. The mission 
 had been originally established on the St. Joseph river in 
 1842 by Fathers Ravalli and Joset, but experience of our 
 years with spring freshets inundating their crops, caused the 
 removal to the Coeur d'Alene valley, where the institution re 
 mains to this day. 
 
 During the stay of the troops at the mission, the officers 
 had leisure for obtaining interesting information. Adjutant 
 Kip picked up a bit which was even then history. His journal, 
 written while at the mission contained the following: 
 
 We find, from conversing with the Indians, what was the 
 system of tactics they had arranged for the campaign. 
 They expected to be attacked first by the dragoons, whom 
 they intended to fight as they did Colonel Steptoe, and ex 
 pected the same results. To this purpose they devoted 
 their powder and ball. Having disposed of the dragoons, 
 they would have the infantry in their power, cut off from 
 all succor in the midst of hostile country. They were then 
 to keep riding around them, as they would have far outnum 
 bered them, and shooting them with their arrows. 
 
 They well knew, too, that their first success against 
 our force would have doubled their numbers. Indian run 
 ners would at once have spread the news throughout the 
 country, the wavering and undecided would have cast their 
 lot with them, warriors from the most distant tribes would 
 have hurried to share in the spoil, and on both sides of the 
 mountains we would have had on our hands a war of ex 
 termination of the whites. 
 
 The long range rifles upset thisbeautiful scheme. They 
 expected they told us, that as soon as the infantry fired 
 
 80 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
they would retire and load again. They would keep this up. 
 They were very much surprised therefore, to see them 
 advance all the time, keeping up a steady and uninterrup 
 ted fire. They compared the soldiers to bears advancing 
 always to the spot where they fell, instead of retiring. 
 
 A very curious, almost ludicrous consideration exerted an 
 influence over the Indians and to their bewildered and super 
 stitious minds seemed portentous. It seemed to the native 
 intellect that not only were the blue coats and long range 
 rifles begotten of the evil spirit, but that the very heavens 
 were in league with the invaders. Kip records the circum 
 stances as follows: 
 
 In the beginning of September Donati's comet appeared, 
 and night after night it has been seen streaming above 
 us in all its glory. Strange as it may seem, it has 
 exerted a powerful influence over the Indians in our 
 behalf. Appearing just as we entered the country, it 
 seemed to them like some huge besom to sweep them 
 from the earth. The effect was probably increased by the 
 fact that it disappeared about the time our campaign 
 ended and our treaties were formed. They must have 
 imagined that it has been sent home to their Great 
 Father in Washington, to be put away until required 
 next time. 
 
 It was at this camp on the Ned-Whauldor Lahtoo, the pre 
 sent Latah Creek that the treaty with the Spokane s was made. 
 In fact Garry, Pohlatkin and the sub-chiefs were waiting when 
 the column arrived. The formalities of the council were very 
 similar to that with the Coeur d'Alenes. The treaty negotiated 
 contained the identical terms. Folio wing is the list of signers. 
 All being marked with an "X", save those of Pohlatkin and 
 Garry, who were of sufficient education to sign their names. 
 
 Pohlatkin Its-she-mon-me 
 
 Spokane Garry It-tem-mon-nee 
 
 Skul-hull It-tem-mee-khh (son of Pohlatkin) 
 
 Moist-turm Schil-cha-hun- 
 
 Ski-ki-ah-men Meh-mah-icht-such 
 
 She-luh-ki-its-ze Be-holt 
 
 Mol-mil-e-muh 
 
 Ki-ah-mene 
 
 Hoh-hoh-mee 
 
 Huse-tesh-him-high 
 
 Nul-shil-she-hil-sote 
 
 Che-lah-hom-sko 
 
 Hit-sute-tah 
 
 Keh-ko 
 
 Qualt-til-tose-sum 
 
 Chey-yal-kote 
 
 Quoi-quoi-yow 
 
 In-sko-me-any 
 
 So-var-ole-kim 
 Se-may-koh-lee 
 Sil-so-tee-chee 
 See-che-bue 
 Ko-lim-chin 
 Ho-ho-mish 
 Ski-ime 
 
 Se-ra-min-home 
 We-yil-sho 
 Che nee-yah 
 Sho-moh-it-kan 
 Quoit-quoit-il-n 
 It was during this council that Milkapsi appeared. He had 
 been absent when the Coeur d'Alene treaty was signed, having 
 hidden until he received information as to what transpired. 
 Then he made haste to fall into line and travelled all the way 
 from the mission to take his seat in the band wagon. He was 
 not allowed to place his mark on the document until after a 
 complete understanding had passed. Colonel Wright took oc 
 casion before the whole council to remind him of the part he 
 played in precipitating the attack on the Steptoe column and 
 alluded in no mincing terms to the defiant tone of the letter 
 he sent through the priest to General Clarke during the sum 
 mer. Not until then was he permitted to put his name to the 
 Coeur d'Alene treaty. 
 
 In closing the communication to General Clarke in which 
 he sent forward the treaties, Colonel Wright took occasion to 
 record his obligation to Father Joset for his efforts in behalf 
 of peace, in the following language: 
 
 I cannot close this communication without expressing 
 my thanks to Father Joset, the superior of the Coeur 
 d'Alene mission for his zealous and unwearied exer 
 tions in bringing all these Indians to an understanding 
 of their true position. For ten days and nights the Father 
 has toiled incessantly, and only left us this morning after 
 witnessing the fruition of all his labors. 
 It was also from this camp that the detachment was sent 
 to the Steptoe battlefield, the details of which trip have al 
 ready appeared in a former chapter. 
 
 TREATY MAKING 
 
 81 
 
20 
 
 Executions at Hangman Creek 
 
 Headquarters Expedition Against 
 Northern Indians, Camp on the NedWhauld 
 (Lahtoo) River, W. T., 
 September 24th, 1858 
 
 At sunset last evening the Yakima chief, Ow-hi, pre 
 sented himself before me. He came from the lower Spok 
 ane river, and told me that he had left his son, Qualchew, 
 at that place. 
 
 I had some dealings with this chief, Ow-hi, when I was 
 on my Yakima campaign in 1858. He came to me when I 
 was encamped on the Nahchess river, and expressed great 
 anxiety for peace, and promised to bring in all his people 
 at the end of seven days. He did not keep his word, but, 
 fled over the mountains. I pursued him, and he left that 
 country. I have never seen him from that time until last 
 evening. In all this time he has been considered as semi- 
 hostile, and no reliance could be placed upon him. 
 
 This man Qualchew, spoken of above, is the son of Ow- 
 hi. His history, for three years past, is too well known to 
 need recapitulation here. He has been actively engaged in 
 all the murders, robberies and attacks upon the white 
 people since 1855, both east and west of the Cascade 
 mountains. He was with the party who attacked the miners 
 on the Wen-at-che river in June last, and was severly 
 wounded; but recovering rapidly he had since been 
 committing assults on our people whenever an opportunity 
 offered. 
 
 Under these circumstances, I was very desirous of 
 getting Qualchew in my power. I seized Ow-hi and put him 
 in irons. I then sent a messenger for Qualchew, desiring 
 his presence forwith with notice that if he did not come I 
 would hang Ow-hi. 
 
 Qualchew came to me at 9 o'clock and at 9:15 A.M. he 
 was hung. 
 
 In such cold and businesslike language does Colonel Wright 
 communicate to his superiors the information that the in 
 famous career of the notorious Qualchian, the most dreaded 
 marauder in all the Pacific Northwest, was at an end, and 
 that his scarecely less execrated father was in military cus 
 tody. 
 
 Owhi was a half brother of Kamiahkin and no less crafty, 
 while he measured well up to the reputation of Qualchian. 
 These two chiefs were among those driven out of the country 
 west of the Columbia by Major Garnett. It was generally 
 understood that Qualchian was the actual murderer of Agent 
 
 Bolan. Bancroft, in his history of Washington, states that 
 Bolan was killed by orders of Kamiahkin and by the hand of 
 his nephew, a son of Owhi. This, in particular in addition to 
 the reasons he gave in his report, induced Colonel Wright to 
 congratulate himself on the capture. 
 
 From Colonel Wright's report one gathers but little of the 
 dramatic setting surrounding the capture of these two notor 
 ious Indians. From Wright one obtains no suggestion that 
 Owhi disowned Qualchian as the latter was on his way to the 
 gallows or that the hand of Kamiahkin was lifted in treachery 
 toward the doomed man. 
 
 One may look in vain through all the sources of information 
 available for a statement of the considerations which promp 
 ted Owhi to enter the camp and give himself up. It may be 
 that, in view of the complete overthrow of the natives. Owhi 
 thought that it was about time for him to get under cover and 
 make good his promise made in the Yakima valley. Colonel 
 Wright knew that Kamiahkin, Til-co-ax and other chiefs were 
 in the vicinity, but considered that they were not likely to 
 surrender voluntarily. Owhi may have known of the course 
 taken by Milkapsi and the success which met his tardy ca 
 pitulation, and decided that if the Coeur d'Alene got off so 
 easily he might have the same luck. 
 
 A description of the meeting between the Colonel and the 
 renegade Chief has been left by Adjutant Kip, who, after re 
 citing that a priest was summoned to act as interpreter, 
 reproduces the interview. Thus is obtained a glimpse of 
 Colonel Wright's methods, particularly the brusque manner 
 in which he proceeded the business. The conversation is thus 
 given: 
 
 Colonel: Where did you see me last? 
 
 Priest: He saw you in his country. 
 
 Colonel: Whereabouts in his country? 
 
 Priest: On the Natchess river. 
 
 Colonel: What did he promise me at that time? 
 
 (Owhi looked exceedingly pale and confused.) 
 
 Priest: That he would come in with his people in some 
 
 days. 
 
 Colonel: Why d d he not do so? 
 
 (Aside: Tell the officer of the guard to bring a file of his 
 
 men; and, Captain Kirkham, you will have some iron 
 
 shackles made ready.) 
 
 Priest: He says he did do so. 
 
 Colonel: Where is he from now? 
 
 Priest: From the mouth of the Spokane. 
 
 83 
 
Colonel: How long has he been away from here? 
 Priest: Two days. 
 Colonel: Where is Qualchian? 
 Priest: At the mouth of the Spokane. 
 Colonel: Tell Owhi that I will send a message to Qual 
 chian. Tell him he too, shall send a message, and if Qual 
 chian does not join me before I cross the Snake river, in 
 four days, I will hang Owhi. 
 
 Colonel Wright decided to take Owhi with him to Fort Walla 
 Walla and refer the disposition of his case to his superiors. 
 His capture had been but an incident of the campaign, not one 
 of its subjects. The chief was killed before he reached Walla 
 Walla during an attempt to escape. General Morgan, in whose 
 immediate charge Owhi was and who after being unjured by 
 the chief commenced shooting at the fugitive, gives an excel 
 lent account of the incident in a succeeding chapter. 
 
 Private John Rohn of the Ninth infantry, now living near 
 Walla Walla was one of the men of the detail which acted as 
 Owhi's guard. He says the chief was a very wily old fellow 
 whose eyes, beneath their apparent blinking, were ever on the 
 lookout for opportunities to escape. The relationship of pri 
 soner and guard brought the soldiers and chief into so close 
 proximity that a few days after the trip was commenced, Owhi 
 told Rohn of a large sum of gold he had cached away under a 
 log near the mouth of the Walla Walla river and intimated 
 that he would be willing to exchange it for freedom. Rohn was 
 neither accepting a "pig in a poke" nor failing in his duty. 
 He never had faith enough in the prisoner to go later to the 
 Columbia and investigate the log. 
 
 The appearance of Qualchian in the camp has been a mys 
 tery. Colonel Wright merely states that Qualchian came in 
 but does not assert that he came because of the delivery of 
 and message either from Owhi or from the Colonel himself. 
 Kip recites that Qualchian exhibited distress when he learned 
 that Owhi was in the camp. Dandy says the Qualchian exhibi- 
 that Owhi was in the camp. Dandy says that Qualchian had 
 seen the departure of the dragoons to the Steptoe battlefield 
 and thought to find the camp empty. Hazard Stevens in the 
 life of General Isaac I. Stevens, his father, says that the 
 murderer of Agent Bolan rode into camp, putting on a bold 
 face and fully expecting to be treated with the consideration 
 formerly shown the Yakima chiefs. 
 
 Kip's suggestion of treachery may furnish the right explan 
 ation for the appearance of this famous chieftain in the camp 
 of his avowed enemy. Kamiahkin was hiding about the camp. 
 A man of his resources could easily be informed of the taking 
 of Milkapsi into the fold. He understood very clearly that him 
 self, Owhi and Qualchian were regarded as the foremost of 
 the Indians in fermenting trouble. The streets of the camp 
 were open and all that transpired therein could be seen from 
 the tops of the hills, and it would not have been difficult for 
 the crafty old chief to have known that Owhi was a prisoner. 
 With Owhi out of the way, if he could only get Qualchian into 
 the white man's toils, Kamiahkin could plead that he would 
 be a good Indian alone. 
 
 But Kamiahkin was destined never again to make his home 
 in the Yakima valley. He fled over the mountains to the east 
 ward with a party of the Palouse tribe who would not sur 
 render. The flight took place within a day or two after Qual 
 chian' s execution, for part of Kamiahkin's crowd who did not 
 follow him presented themselves to Colonel Wright on Sept 
 
 ember 30th. For many years he roamed the mountains oi 
 northern Idaho and western Montana, but eventually returned 
 and made his home near Rock Lake, on the border line be 
 tween Spokane and Whitman counties. It was here that he died 
 in 1873 and was buried in a mound overlooking the lake. When 
 the government, in the 80's was removing the bodies of the 
 Indian dead for reinterment on the Colville reservation, 
 friends of the famous old chief desired to have his remains 
 removed. When the rude grave was opened the skeleton was 
 skullless. Two enterprising curio collectors of the Inland 
 Empire each possess a "skull of Kamiahkin. "In life he was 
 undoubtedly two-faced and possessed some Cerberean qual 
 ities. It is only those who were famous that grow in esti 
 mation after death. 
 
 The appearance of Qualchian and his suite in the camp or 
 the Latah fell on the 24th of September. The scenes enacted 
 are thus described by Adjutant Kip: 
 
 About twelve o'clock today there trotted out from a can 
 yon near our camp two Indian braves and a fine looking 
 squaw. The three rode abreast, and a little way behind 
 rode an Indian hunchback whom we had seen before in our 
 camp. The three principal personages were gaily dressed, 
 and had a most dashing air. They all had on a great deal 
 of scarlet, and the squaw wore two ornamental scarfs 
 passing over the right shoulder and under the right arm. 
 She also carried, resting across in front of her saddle, a 
 long lance, the handle of which was completely wound with 
 various colored beads, and from the end of which depended 
 two long tippets of beaver skins. The two braves had fifles, 
 and one, who was evidently the leader of the party, carried 
 an ornamented tomahawk, With the utmost boldness they 
 rode directly up to Colonel Wright's tent. 
 
 Captain Keyes, who was standing at the time in front of 
 the tent, pulled aside the opening, remarking as he did so, 
 "Colonel, we have distinguished visitors here." 
 
 The Colonel came out and, after a short conversation, 
 to his surprise, recognized in the leader of the party Qual 
 chian, the son of Owhi and one of the most desperate 
 murderers on this coast. For a few moments Qualchian 
 stood talking with Colonel Wright, with his rifle standing 
 by his side. His bearing was so defiant that Captain Keyes, 
 thinking that he might meditate some desperate act, placed 
 himself on his right a little in the rear, with his eye fixed 
 on Qualchian' s rifle, ready to spring upon him on the 
 slightest demonstration. 
 
 In a short time Colonel Wright mentioned Owhi's name. 
 At this, Qualchian started and exclaimed, "Car?" 
 (where) 
 
 The Colonel answered, "Owhi is over there." 
 When this was communicated, I was standing near him, 
 and he seemed to be paralyzed. His whole expression 
 changed as though he had been stung. He gazed about him 
 and repeated mechanically. 
 "Owhi milite yawa!" (Owhi is over there!) 
 In a moment he had made a motion as if to use the 
 rifle he had in his hands and advanced toward his horse. 
 He evidently saw at once that he had run into the toils of 
 the enemy. The guard, however, hadby this time arrived, 
 and he was at once disarmed. The guard, found on him a 
 fine pistol capped and loaded, and plenty of ammunition. 
 Colonel Wright told him to go with the guard, to which 
 
 84 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
he consented with silent reluctance, hanging back as he 
 was pulled along, but evidently undecided what to do. 
 
 Qualchian was finely shaped, with a broad chest and 
 muscular limbs, and small hands and feet, so violent were 
 his struggles, though he had at the time an unhealed 
 wound through the lower part of his body. 
 
 Fifteen minutes after his capture the officer of the day 
 received an order from Colonel Wright to have him hung 
 immediately. When his fate was made known to him, he 
 began to curse Kamiaken. A file of the guard at once 
 marched him to a neighboring tree, where, on attempting 
 to put a rope around his neck, the contest was again re 
 newed. Bound, as his arms were, he fought and struggled 
 till they were obliged to throw him down on his back to 
 fix the noose, he shrieking all the while, 
 
 "Stop, my friends; do not kill me; I will give much mon 
 ey, a great many horses; if you kill me, a great many In 
 dians will be angry." 
 
 The rope was thrown over a limb and he was run up. 
 Among those who assisted with great alacrity were two 
 miners, now in the employ of the quartermaster who had 
 been in the party which was attacked by Qualchian and his 
 band some nonths before. His last words as the noose 
 tightened were a curse on Kamiaken. 
 
 It is supposed by this that he was sent by Kamiaken into 
 the camp as a spy to ascertain what we would do, and he 
 looked upon him, therefore, as the author of his death. He 
 died like a coward, and very differently from the manner 
 in which the Indians generally meet their fate. So loud, 
 indeed, were his cries that they we re heard by Owhi, who 
 was confined not far from him. The old chief, in disgust, 
 disowned him, saying, 
 
 "He is not my son, but the son of Kamiaken" meaning 
 that he followed the counsels of Kamiaken. 
 
 We have reason to believe that there was some treach 
 ery in his coming in, for he had not met the messenger 
 sent out for him, but had either come in of his own accord, 
 or had been lured by the little imp of a hunchback. His ex 
 pression, especially that of his eyes, betokened a diabol 
 ical expression. As soon as Qualchian was placed in 
 charge of the guard, the hunchback galloped to the upper 
 end of the camp, where he related to his people with sav 
 age glee the part he had taken in guiding the chief to our 
 
 quarters. 
 So notorious, however, was the character of Qualchian, 
 
 that his execution met with the unanimous approval of the 
 Indians themselves. When informed of it, their first ex 
 clamation always is; "It is right, it is right." 
 On the identity of the hunchback hinges the speculation as 
 to the treachery of Kamiahkin. Hon A. J. Slawn, long a res 
 ident of the Yakima valley and familiar with lore from Indian 
 sources, is the authority for the statement that one Le Quout 
 living on the Spokane reservation who, according to Captain 
 John McA. Webster, Indian agent, immediately after the 
 Wright expedition joined the Flat heads and as an adopted 
 son of the tribe fought against the Blackfeet. He became a 
 real Indian soldier of fortune for some twenty years until in 
 the 70's when he became farmer near the confluence of the 
 Spokane with the Columbia. He, though now an old man, has 
 very markedly stooped shoulders and a forward thrust of 
 the neck which in youth might have given him the appearance 
 of a hunchback. 
 
 Hon. A. J. Splawn 
 
 Mr. Splawn also says that the woman who accompanied 
 Qualchian into the camp was his wife, daughter of Pohlatkin 
 and that after the execution she fled with Le Quout and the 
 others of Kamiahkin's party over the mountains, Le Quout 
 ultimately marrying the widow. Captain Webster has never 
 been able to obtain from Le Quout any sketch of his life. He 
 declines to discuss his career, possibly because he thinks it 
 yet might embroil him with the government. 
 
 There were other executions at the camp of the Ned- 
 Whauld. On the evening of the day following Qualchian* s end, 
 the Palouse began to arrive to be recorded as peaceful. They 
 told Colonel Wright that they had been in both battles with 
 him and later had joined Kamiahkin's band when it was start 
 ing for the mountains. They seceded and were anxious for 
 peace. Fifteen of this party were seized and relentlessly ex 
 amined. Some had gone out of their natural territory to make 
 war on the United States and one had killed a sergeant in 
 Steptoe's command. 
 
 "I had promised these Indians severe treatment," chron 
 icles Colonel Wright "and accordingly six of the most noto 
 rious were hung on the spot. The others were ironed for the 
 march." 
 
 A detailed description of the scene of the execution of 
 these men is to be found in the reminiscences of General 
 
 EXECUTIONS AT HANGMAN CREEK 
 
 85 
 
Dandy, in a later chapter and their conduct under the gallows 
 was far more in accord with traditional Indian stoicism than 
 was manifested Qualchian. 
 
 These executions on the Lahtoo, or Latah, are responsible 
 for the appellation"Hangman Creek." While tradition pre 
 served the fact that Indians had expiated crimes against the 
 government on the upper waters of the stream, it did not 
 hand down the proper number of executed individuals. In 
 popular estimation the number ranged from a dozen to sixty, 
 with seventeen as the figure most often quoted in conversa 
 tion. The enacity of this number, seventeen, is directly 
 traceable to the same source as the application of the name 
 Step toe to the highest eminence in all Whitman County a 
 noble peak, commanding a generous view of a remarkable 
 country, but in no way related to the Steptoe repulse. 
 
 From Walla Walla, as a central point, the prospective 
 settlers passed out in all directions, years after the events 
 had taken place. At Walla Walla they heard that some twenty 
 leagues beyond the Snake river Colonel Steptoe' s expedition 
 had been surrounded on a high hill and only escaped annihi 
 lation by a miracle. When the wagons and families and cattle 
 had reached the vicinity of Colfax a solitary sentinel butte 
 loomed far above the surrounding country. 
 
 Straightway the conclusion was drawn that on that peak the 
 beleaguered soldiers of Steptoe had stood and fought, much 
 as did Hooker at Lookout Mountain "above the clouds." Thus 
 
 this grand landmark, some miles distant from the rude 
 graves of Taylor and Gaston and Ingossomen creek, comes 
 down across the pages of history and geography as Steptoe 
 Butte. 
 
 "Colonel Wright's expedition cleaned the Indians out up 
 north of here and he executed seventeen Indians," was the 
 story heard by the first commers into the Spokane Country. 
 When they discovered the spot, it was immediately invested 
 with the awesome glamour of the grand total credited to the 
 entire march of the column - - eleven while in the field and 
 six after the return to Walla Walla. In a similar way the 
 shambles at "Horse Slaughter Camp" has been converted in 
 many minds through the medium of colloquial exchange into 
 a terrible cavalry battle between a host of Indians and sev 
 eral regiments of United States regulars. 
 
 Until within recent years a huge pine tree stood on the 
 northerly edge of Latah creek a short distance north and west 
 of the crossing of the old Kentucky trails, now a dignified 
 county road. Extending in a northwesterly direction from the 
 trunk and about fifteen feet from the ground was a large limb 
 in a nearly horizontal position. This was the gallows, tradi 
 tion said, whereon Qualchian and the others died. General 
 Dandy, in his reminiscences, uses the phrase, "trees se 
 lected for the purpose." Mullan absent on the side trip to the 
 Steptoe battlefield at the time , returned to learn that a gal 
 lows had been erected for the purpose. 
 
 86 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
21 
 
 Close of a Remarkable Campaign 
 
 Vigorous war on the hostile Nez Perces and Palouse had 
 been included in the program written by General Clarke for 
 Colonel Wright to carry into effect. On the 24th of September, 
 the day of the execution of Qualchian, Wright was in no quan 
 dary as to his course in the next few days. Within less than a 
 month from the time he had crossed the Snake River and with 
 solemn responsibility entered the enemy's country, the ex 
 pedition had broken the back of Kamiahkin's confederacy and 
 had drawn the glove of peace over the iron hand held out to 
 the Spokane and Coeur d'Alenes. 
 
 The disaffected Nez Perces had been quieted before Wright 
 left Walla Walla. The Palouse presented no formidable pro 
 blem to the expedition. Less than 700 regular soldiers had 
 established a prestige. The wealth of Chief Til-co-ax was 
 decaying in and about the corral on the Spokane river. Ka- 
 miahkin had left the country for the seclusion of the valley 
 of the Clark's Fork. Whatever Colonel Wright might desire 
 to accomplish with the Palouse could be done as he marched 
 his unbeaten column back to Walla Walla through the heart of 
 the country of the Palouse. Even before leaving the camp on 
 the Ned-Whauld opposition was shown to be dissolved. That 
 Colonel Wright did not abate one jot or tittle from the sever 
 ity meted out to the other tribes, is shown by these two re 
 ports written on the same day, from a camp on the Palouse 
 river, four days after the summary end of Qualchian; 
 On the evening of that day many of the Palouse began to 
 gather in my camp. They represented themselves as 
 having been in both battles, and when Kamiahkin fled over 
 the mountains they seceded from his party, and were now 
 anxious for peace. I seized fifteen men, and after a care 
 ful investigation of their cases, I found that they had left 
 their own country and waged war against the forces of 
 the United States, and one of them had killed a sergeant 
 of Colonel Steptoe's command, who was crossing the Snake 
 River. I had promised those Indians severe punishment if 
 found with the hostiles, and accordingly six were hung on 
 the spot. The others were ironed for the march. 
 
 I left my camp on the Ned-Whauld (Lahtoo) on the 
 morning of the 26th, and after a march of four cold rainy 
 days reached this place last evening. 
 
 On the 27th I was met by the Palouse chief, Slow-i-archy. 
 This chief has always lived at the mouth of the Palouse, 
 and has numerous tesitmonials of good character, and has 
 not been engaged in hostilities. He told me that some of 
 his young men had, contrary to his advice, engaged in the 
 war, but that they were all now assembled and begging for 
 peace. Slow-i-archy had five men with him, and he dis 
 
 patched two of them the same day he met me high in the 
 Palouse to bring in the Indians from that quarter, whom 
 he represented as desirous of meeting me. 
 
 After I encamped last evening, Slow-i-archy went down 
 the river about two miles and brought up all his people, 
 men, women and children, with all the property they had, 
 and early this morning a large band of Palouses numbering 
 about 100 came in from the upper Palouse. These com 
 prise pretty much all the Palouse left in the country. A 
 few have fled with Kamiahkin, who is represented as 
 having gone over the mountains and crossed Clark's Fork. 
 
 The second report, written also on the last day of Sept 
 ember, is as follows: 
 
 I have this moment finished with the Palouses. After 
 calling them together in council, I addressed them in 
 severe language, enumerating their murders, thefts and 
 war against the United States troops. 
 
 I then demanded the murderers of the two miners in 
 April last. One man was brought out and hung forthwith. 
 
 Two of the men who stole the cattle from Walla Walla 
 were hung at my camp on the Ned-Whauld, and one of them 
 was killed in the battle of the Four Lakes. All the proper 
 ty they had belonging to the government was restored. 
 
 I then brought out my Indian prisoners, and found that 
 three of them were either Walla Wallas or Yakimas. They 
 were hung on the spot. 
 
 One of the murderers of the miners had been hung on 
 the Spokane. 
 
 I then demanded of these Indians one chief and four men, 
 with their families, to be taken to Fort Walla Walla as hos 
 tages for their future goodbehavior. They were presented 
 and accepted. 
 
 I told these Indians that I would not now make any writ 
 ten treaty of peace with them, but if they performed all 
 that I required that next spring a treaty should be made 
 with them. 
 
 I said to them that white people should travel through 
 their country unmolested; that they should apprehend and 
 deliver up every man of their nation who had been guilty 
 of murder or robbery. All this they promised me. I warned 
 them that if I ever had to come into this country again on 
 a hostile expedition I would annihilate the whole nation. 
 
 Across the intervening fifty years, one may almost hear 
 the traditional pin drop on the banks of the Palouse river. 
 Those Indians had just seen some of their number ex 
 ecuted. They saw five of their friends en route to Walla 
 Walla as a peace offering of good will. At hearing the fare- 
 
 87 
 
well address of a commander whose march has been at 
 tended by "slaughter and devastation", those poor Pal- 
 ouses must have been "visibly affected." A few months 
 later Slow-i-archy was appointed keeper of the ferry 
 across the Snake at the mouth of the Tucanon. 
 In addition to making the two reports just reproduced, 
 Colonel Wright found time at the camp on the Palouse to 
 review the accomplishments of his expedition. At the moment 
 he was not far distant from the Snake river, whence only a 
 short month before he had expressed himself to General 
 Clarke in terms of apprehension as to the outcome of the 
 expedition. The interim had been filled with successful 
 endeavor, unaccompanied by catastrophe or galling experi 
 ence. 
 
 By direct and soldierly effort he had scattered the ele 
 ments of what was understood by all conversant with the 
 situation to portend a protracted war. In a few days he 
 would expect to resume the routine duties of post com 
 mander at The Dalles, with supervision over the military 
 district of the Columbia. Glance over his shoulder as he 
 wrote in his tent on the Palouse: 
 
 Headquarters Expedition against Northern Indians 
 Camp on the Palouse River, W. T. Sept. 30, 1858 
 Sir: The war is closed. Peace is restored with the Spo 
 kane, Coeur d'Alene and Pelouses. After a vigorous cam 
 paign the Indains have been entirely subdued, and were 
 most happy to accept such terms of peace as I might dic 
 tate. 
 Results 
 
 1. Two battles fought by the troops under my command, 
 against the combined forces of the Spokanes, Coeur d' 
 Alenes and Pelouses, in both of which the Indians signally 
 defeated, with a severe loss of chiefs and warriors either 
 killed of wounded. 
 
 2. The capture of one thousand horses and a large num 
 ber of cattle from the hostile Indians, all of which were 
 either killed or appropriated to the service of the United 
 States. 
 
 3. Many barns filled with wheat and oats, also several 
 fields of grain with numerous caches of vegetables, dried 
 berries and kamas, all destroyed or used by the troops. 
 
 4. The Yakima chief, Owhi, in irons, and the notorious 
 war chief Qualchen, hung. The murderers of the miners, 
 cattle stealers, etc, (in all eleven Indians) hung. 
 
 5. The Spokanes, Coeur d' Alenes and Palouses entirely 
 subdued and most abjectly for peace on any terms. 
 
 6. Treaties made with the above nations; they have re 
 stored all property which was in their possession, belong 
 ing either to the United States or to individuals; they have 
 promised that all white people shall travel through their 
 country unmolested, and that no hostile Indians shall be 
 allowed to pass through or remain among them. 
 
 7. The delivery to the officer in command of the United 
 States troops of the Indians who commenced the battle with 
 Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe contrary to the orders of the 
 chiefs. 
 
 8. The delivery to the officer in command of the United 
 States troops of one chief and four men, with their fam- 
 milies, from each of the above named tribes, to be taken 
 to Fort Walla Walla, and held as hostages for future good 
 conduct of their respective nations. 
 
 9. The recovery of the two mounted howitzers. aban 
 doned by the troops under Lieutenant Colonel Steptoe. 
 Colonel Wright was a military man, and his view of the 
 results of his expedition related only to the events of the 
 immediate. Of the broader results he could not forsee; it 
 was not his duty to consider them. He had plowed the ground. 
 The harvest was to come after years after; for the ground 
 lay fallow until the Civil War had been ten years in history. 
 Through all these years only one noxious growth survived 
 Smohallism. 
 
 The Wright expedition separated on the banks of the Snake 
 river. A part of the column, including the artillery marched 
 away to the lower forts on the Columbia. The infantry and 
 dragoons repaired to Walla Walla. The return of the troops to 
 their station was devoid of incident except that of the 
 attempted escape of Owhi, the details of which are related by 
 General Morgan in his reminiscences in a subsequent chap 
 ter. 
 
 Arrived at Fort Walla Walla the contingent ordered to that 
 post had but one duty to perform, and the expedition was over. 
 The bare military records contain no reference to the cere 
 monies of October 7th, and recourse is had to Lieutenant 
 Kip's journal: 
 
 "At ten O'clock took place the burial of Captain Taylor, 
 Lieutenant Gaston and the remains of the man which had 
 been found on Colonel Steptoe's battlefield. It was from 
 this post that they had marched forth and here they were 
 to be laid to rest. They were of course buried with mili 
 tary honors, the ceremony being invested with all the 
 pageantry which was possible, to show respect to the 
 memory of our gallant comrades. 
 
 All the officers, thirty nine in number, and the troops 
 at the post, amounting to 800 (reinforcements having ar 
 rived since our departure) were present and took part in 
 the ceremonies. The horses of the dead, draped in black, 
 having on them the officers' swords and boots were led 
 behind the coffins. The remains were taken about half a 
 mile from the post and there interred. Three volleys were 
 fired over them and we left them where day after day the 
 notes of the bugle will be borne over their graves." 
 
 A feeling of great relief came now over the people of the 
 Pacific Northwest. It was accepted as fact that those Indians 
 who had fomented trouble were out of the way. This sentiment 
 was prevalent among both the settlers and the military, and 
 the latter at once commenced to give attention to plans for 
 the settlement of the country. 
 
 General William S. Harney succeeded General Clarke in 
 command of the department of the northern Pacific in Oct 
 ober, at which time the Department of Oregon the forerunner 
 of the Department of the Columbia came into being. General 
 Harney requested views on the outlook for the future from 
 Colonel Wright, who responded with the following retro 
 spective and suggestive comment: 
 
 Sir: I have at this moment received your communication 
 of this date. 
 
 With regard to the present disposition and feeling of the 
 various Indians with whom I have been brought in contact 
 during the late campaign, I can assure the general that 
 we have nothing to apprehend. The NezPerces, Spokanes, 
 Coeur d'Alenes, Palouses, Walla Wallas and other tribes 
 residing on both banks of the Columbia river and its tri- 
 
 88 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
butaries, are now regarded as entirely friendly. Written 
 treaties have been made with the Nez Perces, Spokanes 
 and Coeur d'Alenes, and verbal treaties with the smaller 
 bands. The Palouses were severely punished. Ten of the 
 worst of them were executed, and a chief with four men, 
 with their families, carried to Walla Walla as hostages. 
 I have also taken hostages from the Spokanes and Coeur 
 d'Alenes and retain them at Walla Walla. 
 
 With regard to the Indians in the neighborhood of Col- 
 ville, there are doubtless some bad men among them who 
 should be punished. Their acts are confined to robbing 
 and stealing, but I have no information that any murders 
 have been recently committed. A gentlemen residing in 
 Colville valley wrote me a few days since, he says nothing 
 of the miners having been driven off, or of the Indians 
 having committed any hostilities. I would recommend that 
 an expedition be sent through that country next spring, and 
 such Indians as deserve it severly punished; and then I 
 think we shall have no more trouble in that quarter. 
 I am not in favor of establishing permanent posts in 
 advance of Walla Walla. Annual expeditions, at little ex 
 pense, can be made through the Indian country, north, east 
 and south of Walla Walla, and in this way I think that tran- 
 quility and peace can easily be maintained. 
 
 Should it be desired to establish a post in the Colville 
 valley, it would be well to defer it until another season, 
 after an expedition has been made, and the localities well 
 examined. It is too late now, the ground will be covered 
 with snow before the troops could reach that country. 
 Even more strongly suggestive of the growing intrusion 
 upon the military authorities of considerations of a civic 
 character, is the report of General Clarke to army head 
 quarters made after his return to San Francisco: 
 
 In my report of the 10th instant, I promised to the de 
 partment my views on the Indian relations of Washington 
 and Oregon. Relieved from the command in those terr 
 itories, I hesitated as to the propriety of speaking further 
 on the subject. 
 
 After reflection suggested that havingbeen in command 
 for sometime in those territories and for as long a time 
 having had these affairs under consideration, it would 
 not be a work of superrogation to state to the department 
 the policy I thought ought to be pursued and the military 
 means by which that policy could be made effective. 
 
 Sometime since I was persuaded that the treaties made 
 by Governor Stevens, superintendent of Indian affairs for 
 those territories with the Indian tribes east of the Cascade 
 range, should not be confirmed. Since then circumstances 
 have changed and with them my views. 
 
 The Indians made war and were subdued; by the former 
 act they have lost some of their claims to consideration 
 and by the latter the government is enabled and justified 
 in taking such steps as may give the best security for the 
 future. 
 
 The gold discovered in the north in the past year will 
 carry a large emigration along the foothills of the eastern 
 slopes of the Cascades, and not improbably gold will be 
 mined from every stream issuing from those mountains. 
 
 This emigration must graze and cultivate the valleys and 
 at times with great suffering. 
 
 That the country will soon be filled with emigrants, led 
 
 on by the irresistable temptation of mining, admits of no 
 doubt, and as little that the Indians will then be dispos 
 sessed by force if not by treaty. 
 
 The pacification now made to be lasting must now be 
 complete; the limits of the Indians should now be drawn, 
 not to be again disturbed. 
 
 Influenced by these views I decided to urge on the de 
 partment the immediate confirmation of these treaties, or 
 modifications of them, the payment of the stipulated price, 
 and the opening of the lands to settlers. 
 
 I was prepared to summon a council of all the tribes at 
 Walla Walla in the spring, notifying them that the tribes 
 not sending delegates would be considered as enemies. 
 When assembled I intended to make known to them the 
 views of the government and show them my sufficient 
 means to enforce them. 
 
 The force I proposed to assemble was a regiment of in 
 fantry, one company of artillery and four of dragoons; this 
 force I proposed to assemble at Walla Walla previous to 
 the time of assembling the Indians, and to make it the win 
 ter garrison of that post. 
 
 Had the Indians refused compliance with the demands of 
 the government, I would then have been fully prepared to 
 enforce them. 
 
 If, on the other hand, they rendered compliance I would 
 have sent one portion of this command to cover the road 
 party to Fort Benton, and at the same time to visit the 
 fishing and camas grounds of the Coeur d'Alene, Spokanes 
 and Pelouses; another to observe the emigrant road to 
 Fort Hall and to relieve and protect the emigration; and a 
 third, consisting of the garrisons of the Dalles and Simcoe, 
 to skirt the western bank of the Columbia and the slopes 
 of the Cascades as far north as the 49th parallel. 
 
 For this country, summer excursions are preferable to 
 advanced posts; they give large forces at the points re 
 quiring an effort, and are better for discipline and in 
 struction, and much more economical. 
 
 The system of small posts necessary on some of our 
 frontiers is here mixed evil. 
 
 When, if ever again, the tribes unite for war, small 
 posts, even if found self sustaining, are useless for of 
 fense. 
 
 On this frontier we must have peace or extensive com 
 binations requiring prompt suppression by a respectable 
 force. 
 
 Better means than these proposed may suggest them 
 selves to others; these are the result of my reflection, and 
 on these I would have fully relied for the quiet of the fron 
 tier. 
 
 I recommend the establishment of a large post between 
 Fort Laramie and Fort Walla Walla for the better pro 
 tection and relief of emigrants. 
 
 On this route the emigration is likely to be large, and 
 the security should be as perfect as may be. 
 
 But one looks in vain for a suggestion of the reality which 
 came after. General Clarke may not be blamed for suggesting 
 gold in the hills about Colville as the loadstone for attracting 
 settlers, when the reality has shown the richest silver-lead 
 mines in the world pouring their wealth down the Coeur 
 d'Alene river and past the Jesuit mission house where Col 
 onel Wright negotiated his treaty. Looking into the future 
 
 CLOSE OF A REMARKABLE CAMPAIGN 
 
 89 
 
General Clarke could not see that the railroad was to super 
 sede the wagon as a means of immigration, and, even if he 
 did know of General Steven'a preliminary survey for the 
 Northern Pacific railroad, he had no grounds for believing 
 that the Great Northern and St. Paul were to cross the 
 Rockies, or that the Oregon Short Line would traverse the 
 country from near Fort Laramie to Fort Walla Walla. 
 
 No clear collection of the records of the Wright expeditions 
 of 1858 would be complete without some biographical refer 
 ence to the man who would have received the stigma of 
 failure had he not planned well and carried forward his plans 
 to a successful completion. 
 
 George Wright was a native of Vermont and graduated from 
 West Point in 1822 and was at once commissioned second 
 Lieutenant in the Second Infantry, in which he served until 
 1836, five years of which he did duty as regimental adjutant. 
 In 1838, being a captain, he was assigned to the Eigth in 
 fantry and it was while with this regiment that he participated 
 in the Seminole war in Florida, being brevetted "for mer 
 itorious conduct, zeal and energy." He was commissioned 
 major on New Years day of 1848 and at the same time was 
 transferred to the Fourth infantry, his promotion being in 
 recognition of his services in the Mexican war. In addition 
 to this substantial token, he received a brevet Lieutenant 
 Colonelcy for "gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle 
 of Contreras and Churubusco" to which was added the rank 
 
 of colonel by brevet for "gallant and meritorious conduct in 
 the battle of Molino de Key." He first wore the eagles of a 
 colonel in on the 3rd of March, 1854. Following the Mexican 
 war his services in the army were almost entirely confined 
 to the states and territories of the far west. 
 Although an elderly man at the outbreak of the Civil War, his 
 work was still performed with that same and gallant and mer 
 itorious conduct which seems to have been part and parcel of 
 him in his prime, and his work lay as brigadier general of 
 volunteers. In 1864 having then been at the call of his country 
 for 46 years, he was brevetted a brigadier in the regular 
 establishment and sent to his old stamping ground in the 
 Pacific Northwest as commander of the department of the 
 Columbia. Still in the military harness, General Wright took 
 passage from Vancouver on July 30th, 1865 on the ill-fated 
 steamer "Brother Jonathan," bound for San Francisco, and 
 with it went down in the treacherous waters of the Pacific 
 off the mouth of the Columbia, in the valley of which he had 
 served so long. The beautiful modern, military establishment 
 at Spokane, Washington, erected on the very ground on which 
 he encamped on the evening of September 5, 1858, after the 
 battle of Spokane Plains, is a tribute to his memory and his 
 important services to the community. 
 
 For a brief estimate of General Wright's personal char 
 acter the reader is referred to General Dandy, in the suc 
 ceeding chapter. 
 
 The Steamer "Brother Jonathan" 
 
 
 90 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
22 
 
 Dandy's Reminiscences 
 
 (Being a monograph written from memory during the 
 summer of 1907 by G. B. Dandy, sometime second 
 lieutenant of artillery, who participated in the Wright 
 campaign of 1858. At the time of writing these remi 
 niscences General Dandy was 73 years old.) 
 
 In the latter part of 1857 1 was stationed at the Presidio of 
 San Francisco, being then second Lieutenant in Company M. 
 Third artillery. This company, commanded by Captain E.D. 
 Keyes, was at that time the only military force stationed 
 near San Francisco. There was little to do except what per 
 tained to ordinary garrison work in time of peace, and San 
 Francisco was socially and in every other respect a pleasant 
 place and easily accessible, being but four miles distant 
 from the Presidio. 
 
 But in May, 1858, there were heard rude alarms from the 
 frontier. A steady increase in the immigration of the whites 
 into Washington Territory, the home of the Spokane, Yakimas, 
 Couer d'Alenes, Calispels, Pend CPreilles, Palouses and 
 other warlike Indian tribes had bred a feeling of hostility in 
 the Indian mind towards the white settlers, which in 1855 had 
 shown itself in active warfare on Puget Sound: and some of 
 our people had been attacked, despoiled and slaughtered by 
 the Indians of that region. 
 
 Our troops stationed in that country to defend the settlers 
 had active work there for a time, in which they had some cas 
 ualties in their contact with a determined foe. The principal 
 Indian chief who led the tribes in this war against the whites 
 was Kanasket, a Klicki tat chief, a man of great renown among 
 all the tribes in the northwest. Other hostile chiefs were Les- 
 chi, Kitsap and Quimelt. Pat Kanim a noted chief, remained 
 friendly to the whites. Kanasket, the principal chief of the 
 hostiles, having been killed while making an attack on our 
 troops, the war on Puget Sound languished and come to an 
 end in 1856; and there seemed to be prospect of peace with 
 the northern Indians. 
 
 This prospect, however to be illusive. In May, 1858, Col 
 onel Steptoe of the Ninth infantry, stationed at Fort Walla 
 Walla, crossed the Snake river with a force of dragoons about 
 150 strong, and marched toward Fort Colville his intention 
 being to arrest some Indian outlaws who had been stealing 
 cattle from the white settlers, and committing other depre 
 dations. Colonel Steptoe believed that the Indians in that re 
 gion were friendly to him, and that there was no danger of an 
 attack from them. He had but inferior arms - smooth bore 
 carbines then used by the dragoons -and took no sabers with 
 him. he believed that he could pass through the Indian country 
 
 without being opposed or molested by the tribes. In this he 
 was mistaken. 
 
 Most of the tribes concentrated and made an attack on him 
 at a point about three days' march north of the Snake River, 
 in which, after a stout resistance lasting all day, he lost two 
 officers - Captain 0. H. P. Taylor and Lieutenant William 
 Gaston - and several of the rank and file killed and wounded. 
 The troops retreated to the Snake River in the night and by 
 good fortune crossed it in the morning, after a hard march of 
 at least 70 miles, leaving their dead in the hands of the 
 enemy. 
 
 This was a great blow to Colonel Steptoe. He was a Virgin 
 ian, proud of his profession, brave and chivalrous in temper- 
 ment, and highly esteemed by all who knew him. 
 
 As soon as Colonel Steptoe's defeat became known, Colonel 
 Newman S. Clarke, the commander of the department of the 
 Pacific with headquarters at San Francisco immediately 
 commenced preparations to send forward to the scene of 
 conflict all the available troops in his department, Captain 
 Keyes, with two companies of the Third artillery, left the 
 Presidio a few days after the order for the expedition was 
 issued and arrived at the Dalles of the Columbia river about 
 the middle of June. Two more companies arrived soon after 
 and for nearly three weeks the time was occupied in disci- 
 plineng and drilling the soldiers for the service in which they 
 were sure to be very soon engaged. The troops had been but 
 recently supplied with a new weapon - the old smooth-bore 
 musket, reamed out and rifled the bo re being adapted for the 
 use of a heavy minie ball, with an accurate range of a thou 
 sand yards. 
 
 As soon as all the forces from the south intended for the 
 expedition had reached the Dalles, the march to Fort Walla 
 Walla was commenced, the troops arriving there about the 
 20th of July. Colonel George Wright of the Ninth Infnatry was 
 assigned to the command of the expedition, composed- if my 
 memory serves me correctly -of the following troops and of 
 ficers, viz: 
 
 Two squadrons of the First dragoons, commanded by Ma 
 jor W. N. Grier, assisted by Lieutenant D.McGregg, Lieuten 
 ant H. B. Davidson. 
 
 Two companies of the Ninth infantry, officered by Captain 
 C. S. Winder, Captain F. T. Dent and Lieutenant Fleming. 
 
 A batallion of six companies of the Third attillery, com 
 manded by Captain E. D. Keyes, assisted by Captain E. O. C. 
 Ord, Captain James A. Hardie, Lieutenants H. G. Gibson, 
 James L. White, R. O. Tyler, M. R. Morgan, George P. Ilv- 
 
 91 
 
rie (Ihrie), D. R. Ransom, G. B. Dandy, Lawrence Kip, and 
 H. B. Lyon. 
 
 A Mountain Howitzer. 
 
 The mountain howitzer company was commanded by Lieu 
 tenant James L. White. 
 
 A detachment of 33 Nez Perces Indians, as scouts, guides 
 and interpreters was commanded by Lieutenant John Mullan, 
 second artillery and topographical engineer of the expedi 
 tion. 
 
 Lieutenant P. A. Own, Ninth Infantry, adjutant general 
 of the expedition, on the staff of Colonel Wright; Lieuten 
 ant Lawrence Kipp, Third Artillery, adjutant on the staff 
 of Captain Keyes; Doctor J. F. Hammond, surgeon U. S. 
 Army, chief medical officer; Captain Ralph W. Kirkham, 
 quartermaster and commissary. 
 
 All the detachments together numbered about 900 men. 
 Some time was occupied after all the troops reached Walla 
 Walla in organizing the expedition and in drilling the troops 
 in skirmishing and in target firing. 
 
 The Tucanon river was selected by Colonel Wright as the 
 point for crossing the Snake river, and entering into the hos 
 tile Indian territory. This is a small stream flowing into 
 the Snake river about 50 miles noth of Walla Walla. Here 
 the troops were encamped while a small stone fort was con 
 structed, and a garrison of one company of artillery under 
 the command of Major F. O. Wyse stationed there to com 
 mand the crossing. 
 
 On the day of the arrival of the command at this point, 
 the troops captured a Palouse Indian who had evidently 
 
 crossed the river as a spy, and was trying to escape obser 
 vation by hiding. When questioned, he would give no account 
 of himself, and was held as a prisoner. A rather amusing 
 incident of this capture happened at this time. 
 
 The prisoner, thinking to make his escape, broke away 
 from his captors and rushed for the river, plunging in to 
 swim across. Lieutenant Mullan, who was riding up at the 
 time, put spurs to his horse and reached the river just as 
 the Indian was about to strike out for liberty. Leaping from 
 his horse, Mullan rushed into the water and grappled with 
 the Indian, but a loose stone turned under his foot and threw 
 him down, and the two had a lively tussle. The Indian was 
 naked except for his breech-clout and his body was so slip 
 pery that he could not be held, so Mullan escaped to the 
 shore half drowned. The prisoner, though many shots were 
 fired after him, gained the other shore and escaped. 
 
 Some days after this incident, an Indian was seen on the 
 opposite bank of the Snake, observing our camp. He was 
 naked, except for the usual breechclout, and was reclining on 
 a clay bank in color so like his own skin that it was difficult 
 to make him out. A call was made to him from the camp, to 
 which he seemed to pay no attention; nor did he move until 
 a few rifle balls, falling near him, seemed to wake him. A 
 small detachment kept him covered with rifles and a boat was 
 sent over to bring him to our camp. Nothing of importance 
 was elicited when he was examined. He was evidently sent 
 forward by the hostiles to note our movements and keep them 
 informed. 
 
 The troops and supplies of the expedition crossed over 
 the turbulent and swift water of the Snake river about the 
 27th of August, in canvas boats formed by stretching the 
 canvas on wooden frames. About 700 horses and mules were 
 crossed by swimming the streams, being guided by our Nez 
 Perces scouts, who kept the heads of the leaders in the 
 right direction by slipping off their backs, seizing and holding 
 on by the ends of their tails, swimming alongside and 
 splashing water in their faces, when necessary to keep their 
 heads upstream towards the point of landing. Finally every 
 thing was transported safely, and we camped in the hostile 
 Indian territory for the first time. 
 
 The next morning the command started to seek the hos 
 tiles. The latter, we learned from accounts of people fleeing 
 from the country, had great hopes of destroying us, as they 
 had so easily overcome Colonel Steptoe, and were boasting 
 that if we once crossed the Snake river not one of us would 
 ever return. They greatly outnumbered our forces, and they 
 believed that they could subdue us. 
 
 After about four days' march, Indian signs began to be 
 noticed by our scouts. The savages first appeared in small 
 scouting parties, and on the 31st of August I think they 
 skirted our line of march, a ridge of low hills running be 
 tween them and our troops, set fire to the dry grass and 
 under cover of the smoke fired upon our rear guard. This 
 attack was easily repulsed, and the Indians were driven off. 
 There were no casualties. 
 
 Soon after this the command encamped, and picket guards 
 and sentinels were established. The camp was situated about 
 a mile from a high, bald hill, on the summit of which an In 
 dian sentinel showed himself, mounted and bearing a banner 
 with a long staff. This sentinel remained visible until the 
 darkness of the night shut him out from our view. 
 
 92 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE FOUR LAKES 
 
 In the morning it became quite evident that the savages 
 intended to fight at this point, as our Nez Perces scouts 
 reported that they were in force on the plains just beyond 
 the bald hill. A number had also appeared on the summit and 
 seemed to invite our troops to battle. Beyond the hill, in the 
 valley, their forces were assembled and engaged in chanting 
 their war songs. 
 
 This cermony the chief sand head men always engage in for 
 -the purpose of inspiring and encouraging their warriors on 
 the eve of battle. I have heard these chants, consisting of 
 grunts, whoops, yells and other hideous and discordant 
 sounds; and I have found their effect on our men, especially 
 those who hear them for the first time, to be rather creepy 
 and exciting. The Indians themselves are greatly worked up 
 by this savage music, which seems to give them courage 
 and daring to attempt the boldest exploits. 
 
 The challenge of the hostiles to battle was promptly ac 
 cepted by our veteran commander, and, having left camp and 
 pack train carefully guarded, he marshalled his forces for 
 the attack. The Nez Perces scouts, Gregg's troop of dragoons 
 and Captain Ord's company of artillery led the advance up 
 the hill, and soon drove the hostiles from the summit. Then 
 followed Colonel Wright and staff, the battalion of artillery 
 acting as infantry, and two companies of the Ninth infantry. 
 When our troops reached the top of the hill they saw before 
 them a great plain and four lakes bordered by forest trees, 
 the whole making a beautiful and inviting prospect. 
 
 A thousand or more savages were moving about in view 
 and passing at great speed to and from the woods and ravines 
 into the valleys. They were armed with the ordinary Hudson's 
 Bay smooth-bore guns, and the usual equipment of spears, 
 bows and arrows. 
 
 The point of attackhavingbeenindicatedbythe commander 
 the troops advanced and opened fire on the hostiles. The lat 
 ter at once showed that they were surprised and astonished 
 at the long range of our rifles, and their formation was brok 
 en almost immediatley; but they continued to fight in a desul 
 tory way, falling back slowly under fire of our infantry. Then 
 the dragoons, under Grier, passed to the front and charged 
 the retreating savages. But our horses had been hard worked, 
 and were tired, and could gain but little on the Indian ponies. 
 No grain forage had been available, and they had to subsist 
 wholly on grass. The Indian ponies would fatten on this food, 
 but the dragoon horses were not used to it, and had become 
 thin and weak. The Indian horses were fresh, and our horses 
 were tired from constant marching from the fort. 
 
 In spite of the disadvantage, some of the Indians were over 
 taken by the dragoons and killed, Lieutenant Gregg having 
 personally overtaken one and killed him with his saber. The 
 loss of the Indians could not be ascertained, as, when pos 
 sible, they carry off their dead and wounded. Our new arms, 
 our perfect discipline and drill made us impregnable to the 
 attacks of the Indian warriors, with their obsolete arms, and 
 only and ambuscade of our troops could have given them a 
 chance of success. Subsequent inquiry among the Indians and 
 information from other sources brought the conclusion that 
 not less than 50 of the hostiles were killed or wounded. Our 
 own loss was trifling, only a few of our men having been 
 wounded. 
 
 Thus ended the Battle of Four Lakes, and our troops 
 
 marched back to camp. Our Indian scouts returned much ex 
 cited by our victory, and immediately proceeded to have a 
 scalp dance in honor thereof. They exhibited a number of 
 scalps that they had taken, which they dried in the sun for 
 preservation. The locality of the "Four Lakes", where the 
 engagement took place, is now, I believe, well known. Med 
 ical Lake is not very far from the City of Spokane, being one 
 of the four lakes which suggest the name of this engagement. 
 Our troops remained in camp for rest and recuperation 
 until September 5th, when our march was resumed. Our road 
 lay along an old, well worn trail, leading to a great prairie 
 known as the Spokane Plains. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE SPOKANE PLAINS 
 
 We had entered this prairie when our scouts announced 
 that the enemy was in sight. In a few minutes their advance 
 was seen by the troops. Under the leadership of their medi 
 cine men, they were setting fire to the dry grass which grew 
 high and thick all about us. This act was accompanied by hor 
 rible yells, war whoops and battle cries of a hideous nature, 
 at least to our new recruits. The wind was high, and the 
 flames came down from the windward and nearly surrounded 
 the command. Our efficient packers, under the direction of 
 Captain Kirkham, soon found a spot of some extent where 
 the grass was the shortest; and the troops by counter-burning 
 and stamping, put out a portion of the flames sufficiently for 
 us to get through the line of fire and smoke, behind which the 
 savages were massing their forces for an attack on the pack 
 train. 
 
 But the packers and troops were quick to obey their offi 
 cers, and saved the train. If the enemy had succeeded in 
 stampeding and capturing this train, we would have been left 
 in a desperate condition. The medicine men, who appeared 
 to lead in this attack, were dressed quaintly and guadily; 
 their horses, mostly white, being painted with native pigments 
 in red and dark colors, and in rudely shaped figures of men 
 and beasts. A strong point in the strategy of Indian warfare 
 is the attempt to stampede the animals of the opposing force, 
 rendering them frantic and unmanageable. In this state, they 
 rush away in any direction and are pursued and captured by 
 the savages. It was only by the very great coolness and cour 
 age of the officers and men that the calamity of a stampede 
 was averted in this case. 
 
 Major Grier and his dragoons leading, the hostiles were 
 soon engaged and for a short time they showed a bold front, 
 firing upon us from all directions. The Spokane plain, in 
 general a level prairie, was interspersed with patches of 
 rocky hillocks covered with trees, which afforded a good 
 defense for the savages as long as they were able to remain 
 within their shelter. These defensive points were numerous 
 and some of them quite extensive area; and the troops were 
 obliged to charge these points frequently to drive the enemy 
 from them into the open prairie. Thus, after the first attempt 
 to overwhelm us, we became engaged in a running fight of 
 many miles, in which we had to drive the enemy from one 
 shelter to another. When they were forced into an open, the 
 dragoons were always in a position to charge them as they 
 fled, and many were killed and wounded in this manner. 
 
 Lieutenant White and his howitzer company did good ser 
 vice in scattering the hostiles when they showed attempts to 
 concentrate their forces. One of his shells tore a limb from 
 
 DANDY'S REMINISCENCES 
 
 93 
 
a large tree under which some Indians were grouped, which 
 descending, wounded a number of them; among whom, as 
 afterward ascertained, was the great chief Kamiakin of the 
 Yakima tribe, who was severly hurt. The Indians, in talking 
 with me afterwards, professed a great fear of artillery. They 
 said that they did not like "the guns that went off twice." 
 
 The fight did not end until we had driven the enemy across 
 the Spokane river, fully 20 miles distant from the camp which 
 we had left in the morning. This river supplied us with the 
 first water that we saw during the entire battle, and our 
 troops arrived on its bank almost exhausted from thirst and 
 fatigue. Thus ended the battle of Spokane Plains. The Indians 
 had probably a thousand warriors opposed to us. Their losses 
 although evidently considerable, for reasons before stated 
 could not be ascertained. They were not able, with their ar 
 chaic weapons to stand before us. Had Steptoe possessed 
 those rifles of ours, he would never had met with his dis 
 aster. Our own loss was inconsiderable, only a few men 
 wounded. 
 
 On reaching the Spokane river, our troops did not cross, 
 but encamped on the south side, where we remained until the 
 8th. We then resumed our march toward the Coeur d'Alene 
 mission. 
 
 We had proceeded about nine miles when, on the side of a 
 low mountain, we discovered a great band of Indian horses 
 endeavoring to escape into the valley beyond. On arriving at 
 the summit of a range of hills, we found that this band had 
 been captured by Grier's dragoons. There were about 1200 
 of these animals in the band, and they belonged to a chief 
 named Til-co-ax. 
 
 Our possession of this band at this time, when we were 
 still in pursuit of the hostiles, involved a dangerous respon 
 sibility; as an attempt was sure to be made by the Indians to 
 recover them. This might easily be undertaken at night by a 
 stampede, and if attempted successfully, our own horse sand 
 mules might also be stampeded, and our expedition left afoot 
 on the prairie. 
 
 Colonel Wright consulted his officers, and finally appointed 
 a board to consider the question of their disposition. This 
 board decided that it was too dangerous to retain the animals, 
 and they were ordered to be killed, except a few that were 
 allowed to be selected by the officers and our Nez Perces 
 allies. Each of these was allowed to select two horses. The 
 remainder were enclosed in a corral of cottonwood logs, and 
 destroyed by shooting* This took place at our camp on the 
 Spokane river, about 15 miles east of the present city of Spo 
 kane. I was a witness of this shooting, and found it a pitiable 
 sight; but it was undoubtedly a necessity of war. 
 
 Twenty years later, when stationed at Vancouver as chief 
 quartermaster of the Department of the Columbia, I had 
 occasion to visit Fort Coeur d'Alene and, returning to Spo 
 kane in a spring wagon, I stopped for a short time at this 
 spot, to view the bones of Til-co-ax's horses on the banks of 
 the river. Many had disappeared, but many still remained, 
 and, as I stood there on the site of our old camp ground, the 
 past was brought vividly to my mind. I fancied that I could 
 hear the report of the rifles and the whinney of the mares 
 for their colts as they were shot down. 
 
 About the time we were in camp on the upper Spokane 
 river, Colonel Wright received a message from Father Joset, 
 the superior of the Coeur d'Alene mission, appealing to him 
 
 for clemency toward the hostile Indians, who were all now 
 desirous of peace, being completely humbled by our victories. 
 
 We crossed the Spokane river on the llth and passed into 
 a fine agricultural country containing many Indian huts and 
 great stores of unthreshed wheat; also many caches of native 
 provisions intended for supplies of food for the coming win 
 ter. The dragoons took what grain they need for forage, and 
 the rest was destroyed. The caches of food were also un 
 earthed and demolished. 
 
 After two days' march along the border of Coeur d'Alene 
 lake, we arrived at a Jesuit mission, situated on a small 
 stream flowing into the lake. Here we found two priests, 
 two laymen, and a rude chapel of logs. Here, was their 
 mission, we were informed, was established in 1848. The 
 savages were mostly under the influence of the mission and 
 many of them, both male and female, were good practical 
 Catholics and adept in all the observances of the church. This 
 chapel, while rough in its exterior, was embellished within 
 with somewhat rude paintings representing scenes in the life 
 of Christ, his apostles and disciples. The superior, Father 
 Joset, showed genuis and shrewdness in adapting all these 
 decorations to the capacity of the Indian mind. Every evening 
 while we were encamped here, we could hear the Indian men 
 and women at or near the chapel, intoning vespers, and their 
 voices, while sounding somewhat wierd, were sweet, and their 
 chanting agreeable to the ear. The hostiles who ventured to 
 come to our camp, having been treated with forbearance, took 
 heart and became humble suppliants for peace. Large num 
 bers of them, although shy at first, soon gained confidence 
 and visited the mission daily. 
 
 Near the middle of September a council was assembled by 
 Colonel Wright. About 100 chiefs and head men attended this 
 council, and with them a large following of squaws and pap- 
 poses. A treaty having beed arranged, it was approved and 
 signed by Polotkin, chief of the Palouses; Vincent, chief of 
 the Coeur d'Alenes, and some others. This treaty was strictly 
 kept by the tribes involved. 
 
 The war being now at an end, we left this wild and savage 
 country and commenced our return to Fort Walla Walla. On 
 the 22nd we encamped on the Edwall, a small affluent of the 
 Spokane river. Here we were visited by chief sand represent 
 atives of the Kalispels, Palouses and Spokanes, with whom a 
 treaty of peace was signed. These treaties with the Indians 
 were mild in their provisions, but required the surrender of 
 well known murderers and thieves. Six, I think, were sur 
 rendered at once, and immediately thereafter hanged by order 
 of Colonel Wright. The execution of these six I witnessed. 
 
 The packers employed to do the work, brought only three 
 ropes, so that three of the six had to wait for their turn 
 while three of their companies were suspended from the 
 limbs of the trees selected for the purpose. Herein was op 
 portunity observe some traits of the Indian character. The 
 savage loves his life and will not risk it unnecessarily. But, 
 pinioned and all hope of escape gone, he is cheerful and shows 
 great courage and fortitude. During the scene just referred 
 to the three Indians who were obliged to wait while their com 
 rades were being dealt with, conversed clearly and calmly 
 with one another and smiled cheerfully as they looked up at 
 those who were suffering the agonies of death. Then they 
 took their places with apparent indifference when summoned; 
 and when the ropes were adjusted about their necks, they 
 
 94 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
commenced dancing and hopping up and down, each singing 
 his death song. This occupied but a few minutes, and then 
 they went cheerfully to their fate. 
 
 On the 22nd of September a well known and prominent chief 
 of the Yakimas rode into camp alone. This was Owhi, con 
 nected by marriage with the noted chief Kamiakin, and father 
 of Qualchin, a young savage who was very hostile to the 
 whites and had committed many murders and depredations 
 among them. Owhi did not keep his word with Colonel Wright 
 in his campaign of 1856 in the Yakima country. He had pro 
 mised to bring in all his people, but was either unable or un 
 willing to do so. Colonel Wright turned him over to the guard 
 and directed him to be placed in irons. 
 
 Two days after, his son, Qualchin, rode into camp, accom 
 panied by a young and handsome squaw, and followed by an 
 Indian hunchback. They were elaborately dressed and deco 
 rated with Indian finery, and presented the dashing air of im 
 portant and princely members of the Indian nobility. Qualchin 
 carried a rifle and a highly ornamented tomahawk. As he rode 
 up to the colonel's tent and dismounted from his horse, his 
 companions moved aside, but did not dismount. Colonel 
 Wright soon recognized Qualchin and informed him that his 
 father, Owhi, was a prisoner in camp. This information ap 
 peared to surprise and frighten him. A guard was ordered to 
 take him prisoner and iron him, and this was followed by a 
 written order to the officer of the guard to hang him at once. 
 Thus, within less than an hour from his entrance into camp, 
 he was executed. 
 
 On the 26th of October we left camp on the Edwall or Lah- 
 to, and marched for Walla Walla. 
 
 Leaving the river on the 3rd, our prisoner uwm, was 
 placed under charge of the usual guard of infantry soldiers. 
 He was mounted on his own horse, and the precaution was 
 taken to fasten his ankles together by a chain under the cinch, 
 or saddle girth. Lieutenant Michael R. Morgan, Third artil 
 lery, was the officer of the guard and became responsible 
 for the prisoner during the march. He was mounted and rode 
 with his prisoner, the foot guard following. Owhi conducted 
 himself quietly and without apparent excitment, and rode 
 along until the command reached a brook, a branch of the 
 Tucanon, At the crossing there was aford where the stream 
 broadened; and a short distance above it was spanned by a 
 narrow bridge of logs for the footmen. While the soldiers 
 were crossing the bridge, Lieutenant Morgan led the Indian's 
 horse across the ford and released the reins when the oppos 
 ite bank was reached. As soon as this was done, Owhi struck 
 his own horse a fierce blow and attempted to escape. Morgan 
 drew his pistol and followed, firing as he pursued. The Indian 
 horse was badly wounded by these pistol shots and gradually 
 slackened his pace,wnich enabled the officer to ride up 
 abreast. Then Owhi struck Morgan's horse over the head with 
 a heavy handle of his whip and the officer himself across the 
 face with the lash. But the prisoner's horse was unable to 
 continue much further, and finally halted at the mouth of a 
 blind canon in the foothills. Here a few dragoons came up and 
 opened fire. The prisoner received a bullet in the head, which 
 ended his life in a few hours. Thus, father and son, famous 
 not only in their own tribe but throughout the Northwest as 
 the most deadly and unrelenting foes of the settlers in Wash 
 ington territory, had, within a few days of each other, de 
 parted this life; and, let us hope, are now in the happy hunt 
 ing ground of their fathers. 
 
 Our command arrived at Walla Walla on the 5th of Octo 
 ber, and the campaign against the Northern Indians was at 
 an end. The Indians who were executed during this campaign 
 by the authority and under the orders of Colonel Wright, were 
 outlaws and criminals, from the point of view of our govern 
 ment. They were mostly of a class that robbed and murdered 
 of their own volition and for their own personal benefit and 
 advantage. Doubtless the majority of the chief sand warriors, 
 in attempting to drive out our settlers and to keep the coun 
 try for their own use regarded themselves as patriots. They 
 banded together, believing that they could rid their territory 
 of an invading enemy who, if not driven out, would take pos 
 session of their ancient lands, build roads through their 
 hunting grounds, destroy the game on which they subsisted 
 and revolutionize the mode of life in which for many years 
 they had been contented and happy. This was to them ample 
 cause for war. They got the worst of it, and had to submit to 
 the penalty which always comes to the conquerer. 
 
 As nearly as I can now remember, there were eleven In 
 dians hanged by order of Colonel Wright, eight of whom were 
 delivered over to the expedition by the tribes, as well known 
 robbers and murderers. The provision of the treaties made 
 in the final councils of Colonel Wright with the tribes sanc 
 tioned the surrender to these criminals. Qualchin came into 
 our camp on the Edwall voluntarily, and, being recognized by 
 Colonel Wright, was hanged by his orders as a murderer. 
 Two others were captured by the troops, and were hanged 
 as spies. Thus, eleven were executed by hanging, under usual 
 customs of Indian warfare. Owhi, the father of Qualchin, 
 while a prisoner of war, was shot and killed on trying to es 
 cape, as before noted. The grand total of the hostiles killed 
 during the expedition, other than those killed in battle, 
 amounted, therefore, to twelve. 
 
 Of the personnel of the expedition, little can be said except 
 that most of them have passed away. As I now remember the 
 officers, all of whom I knew personally, I can vividly recall 
 personal traits of many. 
 
 Colonel George Wright had a fine social side. When not 
 engaged in the strict performance of duty, he was genial, 
 whole-souled, kind and hospitable; full of wit and possessed 
 a keen sense of humor. One could notbe in his presence long 
 without feeling charmed by his personality, his refinement, 
 as well as a just and impartial commander. In person, he was 
 of medium size, manly appearance and of rather handsome 
 features. He was a fine looking soldier and a thorough gentle 
 man. During the late Civil war he was appointed a brigadier 
 general of volunteers and given command of the Department 
 of the Columbia. He lost his life by drowning while travelling 
 to some point in his department in a steamer, which was 
 wrecked near the mouth of the Columbia river 
 
 Major William N. Grier was a brother of Justice Grier of 
 the United States Supreme Court, and was a fine dragoon 
 officer. He was a jovial and agreeable man, and greatly liked 
 in the army. He has been dead for many years. 
 
 Lieutenant D. McM. Gregg became colonel of the Eighth 
 Pennsylvania cavalry served in the war with the South as a 
 general officer and commanded a division of cavalry with 
 great distinction. This division became famous under his 
 leadership. He resigned from the army in 1865, and now lives 
 at Reading, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Lieutenant William D. Pender was a very efficient cavalry 
 
 DANDY'S REMINISCENCES 
 
 95 
 
officer in the Confederate service. He was killed in action 
 during the war. 
 
 Lieutenant Henry B.Davidson was also a Sou them man, and 
 an efficient cavalry officer. He resigned from the service in 
 1861 and became a Confederate brigadier general. Of his sub 
 sequent history, I have no information. 
 
 Of the artillery officers, we had some noted men. 
 
 Captain E. D. Keyes, who commanded the battalion of in 
 fantry under Colonel Wright was an officer of talent and 
 ability. He was made a general officer after the First Battle 
 of Bull Run and commanded the fourth corps of the Army of 
 the Potomac in the war of the Rebellion. I served in his com 
 pany at the Presidio of San Francisco and in the Spokane 
 expedition as second lieutenant, and knew him quite inti 
 mately . He resigned from the army at the close of the war 
 and died at Nice, France, in 1895. 
 
 Captain E. 0. C. Ord was something of a genius, and wound 
 up his career in the Civil War as major general commanding 
 the Army of the James. He was the successor of General 
 B. F. Butler in this command. Sometime after the war, he 
 retired and went to Mexico, where he remained for a while. 
 Returning by way of Havana, he died on the steamer of yellow 
 fever before reaching New York. 
 
 Captain James A. Hardie was a very highly esteemed off 
 icer. He had been major in Stevenson's California regiment 
 during the Mexico war, and afterwardbecame adjutant of the 
 Third artillery, under command of Colonel Gates and Lieu 
 tenant Colonel Merchant. After the Southern war he was 
 appointed an inspector general of the army, and died several 
 years ago, while, I think, still in active service. 
 
 Lieutenant D. R. Ransom was a bright, active officer, and 
 very popular with his regiment. He served, I think, in the 
 Civil War, but I have not heard of him since. 
 
 Lieutenant M. R. Morgan was in every way a superior off 
 icer. His service during the war of the Rebellion was impor 
 tant, and in 1894 he was appointed comissary general of sub 
 sistence, with the rank of brigadier general. This post he held 
 until his retirement in 1897. 
 
 Lieutenant R. O. Tyler was a fine officer. He commanded 
 a regiment of Connecticut artillery during the Southern war, 
 and afterwards, until his death, served, with efficiency, in the 
 quartermaster's department of the army. 
 
 Lieutenant H. B. Gibson was a very valuable officer. He 
 served in the artillery during the Rebellion and was noted for 
 gallantry. He was colonel of the Third artillery in 1883 and 
 brigadier in 1904. He is now on the retired list. 
 
 Lieutenant Lawrence Kip served during the Southern war, 
 first on the staff of General Sumner, and afterwards as aide 
 to General Sheridan. He was an efficient officer, and resigned 
 after the close of the war. 
 
 Lieutenant George P. Ihrie was an active officer and did 
 his duty faithfully. He resigned in 1859 and was afterwards 
 commissioned in the pay department of the army. Subse 
 quently he left the army, and I have not heard of him since 
 that time. 
 
 Of the infantry officers attached to the expedition: 
 
 Captain F. T. Dent of the Ninth infantry was a brother-in- 
 law of General Grant, and a very efficeient officer. He died 
 some years ago. 
 
 Captain S. C. Winder was of the Ninth Infantry and had a 
 good reputation as an officer. I think he resigned in 1861 and 
 went South, but of this I am not sure. 
 
 Lieutenant Fleming, also of the Ninth infantry, had a good 
 reputation as an officer. 
 
 Lieutenant P. A. Owen, Ninth infantry, was a son-in-law of 
 Colonel Wright and was a native of Alabama. He resigned in 
 1861 and went South. 
 
 Doctor John F. Hammond was a noted man in the medical 
 corps and very efficient in the field. 
 
 Captain Ralph W. Kirkham, of the quartermaster's depart 
 ment, had a high standing in his corps, and managed skill 
 fully his department in the Spokane Expedition. No one could 
 have done better. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE EXPEDITION 
 
 This campaign, called the Spokane Expedition, had most 
 far reaching effects, inasmuch as it completely humbled and 
 subdued the hostile Indians who had for some time been most 
 aggressive toward our settlers, and had com mi tied many de 
 predations upon them, stolen their cattle, burned their houses 
 and butchered their women and children, as well as the hus 
 bands and fathers who were seeking homes in the territory. 
 This aggressiveness had been more violent after the govern 
 ment had detailed Lieutenant John Mullan to survey a wagon 
 road from Fort Walla Walla through their territory. Here 
 were their homes, their subsistence and everything upon 
 which they depended. Lieutenent Mullan had been for some 
 time engaged in making this survey, and this action had 
 aroused in the natives a fierce hatred and opposition to our 
 people. The defeat of Steptoe had confirmed their belief that 
 they could defeat any force that could be sent against them; 
 and, hence, there were but few clans or chiefs who did not 
 join them in forays against the whites, and, lastly, to oppose 
 us in the expedition happily terminated. 
 
 This expedition had made possible the "Empire of the Co 
 lumbia" by completely subduing the hostile tribes who had 
 divided it among themselves and hoped to exclude all others. 
 It may be truthfully affirmed that but for this conclusive vic 
 tory over these tribes, and the valuable lessons it taught 
 them, the country would have remained for many years a 
 howling wilderness, instead of the happy and prosperous 
 country it has since become. It would still have resembled 
 an unweeded garden instead of a "land flowing with milk and 
 honey", containing prosperous modern cities and towns, the 
 homes of wealth, cultrue and refinement enabling every 
 man to sit under the shadow of his own vine and fig tree. 
 With none to molest or make him afraid. 
 
 G. B. Dandy Bvt. Gen. U.S.A., Retired. 
 
 A few days after General Dandy had forwarded the fore 
 going notes, he sent the following. 
 
 "Since sending you my monograph, I have found some notes 
 relating to the Spokane expedition which,for the truth of his 
 tory, should be made known, viz: That two days after the re 
 turn of the expedition to Walla Walla, Colonel Wright had 
 a talk with the Walla Walla Indians. He told them that he 
 knew that some of them had engaged in the recent fights. 
 
 "This was so acknowledged by about forty, and of these, 
 four are selected and turned over to the guard, and were 
 hanged at once. These were proved to have been engaged in 
 many murders of the settlers in that region. The foremost 
 of these criminals was an Indian named Wyecat. 
 
 96 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
"This will increase the number of Indians hanged during ^ find> also> tnat l have omitted men ti n of one artillery 
 
 the Spokane expedition to sixteen, including one Palouse In- officer who served during the expedition, viz: Lieutenant 
 
 dian hanged by order of Colonel Wright of the Palouse as a James Howard Third artillery. He was appointed from Mary- 
 
 murderer, few days before our arriva, a, Wa,,a Wal.a after E^ 
 
 the close of the expedition. as adjutant general. 
 
 DANDY'S REMINISCENCES 97 
 
23 
 
 (A contribution prepared during the summer of 1907 
 by M.R. Morgan of St. Paul first Lieutenant of Ord's 
 Company of artillery during the Wright campaign; 
 later Grant's comissary general, and one of the sur 
 vivors of that historic group which in the McLean 
 house at Appomattox witnessed the surrender of Lee) 
 
 In the spring of 1858, and for some months previous, I had 
 been in command of a detachment of the Third regiment of 
 artillery, in which regiment I was a first Lieutenant, and sta 
 tioned at None Lackee Indian reservation, some 21 miles in 
 the interior from Tehame, California. From this duty I was 
 relieved in the spring of 1858 and turning over my detach 
 ment to the proper officer at regimental headquarters Benicia 
 Calif., I proceeded to join my proper company K, at Fort 
 Miller, on the San Joaquin river, where I remained only long 
 enough to be convinced that it must be the most disagreeable 
 military post in the United States when we received the news 
 of the defeat of the troops under Maj. E. J. Steptoe, Ninth in 
 fantry, brevet Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army. 
 
 Then came orders to the commanding officer, Fort Miller, 
 Capt. E.O.C. Ord, Third artillery, to break up the post, leav- 
 ving the acting quartermaster to do this while he, Captain 
 Ord, and I proceeded with our company to report to Colonel 
 Wright at Fort Dalles, Oregon. At this time ten companies, 
 all of the regiment but the two light batteries, C. Braxton 
 Bragg* s and E. Thomas W. Sherman's, Third artillery were 
 on the Pacific Coast in California or Oregon, and were 
 equipped and armed as infantry, I may mention that I was 
 well pleased to be ordered away from Fort Miller, believing 
 any change would be for the better. 
 
 We marched to Stockton, where we embarked on a boat for 
 San Francisco, and there took the steamer for Fort Vancou 
 ver, Washington Territory on the Columbia river. 
 
 Coming on board the steamer in San Francisco I saw ex- 
 Capt. William Tecumseh Sherman, at the gangway, look at 
 us of his old regiment, marching on board and going up to 
 Washington Territory to discipline those savages, Spokane, 
 Coeur d'Alene etc., who killed our comrades. 
 
 Six companies of the regiment were gathered up from var 
 ious posts in California and sent to Fort Dalles under Colonel 
 Wright. From this point we marched to Fort WallaWalla, 
 where we found companies of the First Dragoons and Ninth 
 Infantry. 
 
 After due preparation we marched for the Snake river, at 
 the crossing of which, on the north bank, the hostile Indians 
 
 seemed to be assembled in force. On leaving Walla Walla, 
 and from there to the Snake river, the Indians had burned the 
 grass in front of us, which, however, caused us very little 
 inconvenience. 
 
 We remained at the crossing of the Snake river several 
 days, until we had built fort Taylor and got our pack train, 
 in charge of Capt. R. E. Kirkham, A.Q.M.U.S. Army, ready 
 for use. Leaving Fort Taylor with a garrison of one company 
 of the Third artillery under command of B rev. Maj. 0. Wyse 
 and Lieut. Gabriel H. Hill, we crossed the Snake river. Be 
 fore crossing, the Indians had appeared, as before mentioned, 
 on the opposite high bluff, daring us to come over and with 
 disrespectful gestures intimated that they entertained a great 
 contempt for us. This feeling was further exhibited after we 
 had landed on the north bank of the united Spokanes, Coeur 
 d'Alenes, Pen d'Oreilles, Palouses, etc. Keeping at a good 
 distance in front of us, firing at such a distance that we were 
 not disturbed they certainly showed none of the bravery that 
 was so destructive to Steptoe's command. 
 
 In this so-called "Spokane expedition" we had, if I remem 
 ber correctly, leaving Major Wyse behind at Fort Taylor, 
 five companies of the Third artillery, armed as infantry, and 
 as fine looking soldiers as ever stepped in shoe leather, the 
 companies, each numbering not leas than sixty-five men, 
 under the command of the senior captain, Erasmus D. Keyes; 
 two companies of the Ninth infantry, under Capt. Frederick 
 T. Dent and Charles S. Winder; with four companies of the 
 First Dragoons, all commanded byBrev. Major W. N. Grier, 
 who had with him Lieut. Henry B. Davidson, William D. 
 Pender and David McM. Gregg. I believe these were all the 
 officers of dragoons present in the expedition under command 
 of Col. George Wright. 
 
 Lieutenant John Mullan, Second artillery, had command of 
 a band of friendly Nez Perces, who served as scouts. 
 
 Lieutenant James L. White, Third artillery, had charge of 
 the two mountain howitzers and detachment to serve them. 
 
 I depend on my memory for what I write. We had a very 
 wholesome respect for those Indians who had so thoroughly 
 defeated Steptoe's command. We were constantly armed, 
 even sleeping on our arms. 
 
 We crossed the Snake River at Fort Taylor late in August, 
 the Indians hanging around us from the start. On the 30th of 
 August we had a harassing day, because of the heat, the 
 absence of water along the trail and because of the enemy 
 hung close to us, but doing us no damage. We suffered greatly 
 from thirst. I remember passing a small marsh where you 
 
 99 
 
could wet your throat by getting down on your face and 
 sucking up the moisture. 
 
 After we had passed this place, the column pushing on 
 rapidly with the pack train to get into camp and being closely 
 pressed by the Indians who were firing upon us, my captain 
 told me that two of his men had fallen out to visit that marsh 
 and wished that I would go after them and bring them in. I 
 knew that if any few men had fallen to the rear and were not 
 then with the column, they very likely had been scalped. I 
 fell back alone and kept going until I reached the rearguard 
 and saw the savages firing at us. I knew that if those two men 
 had not returned to the column, they would never return. 
 When I reported to my captain where I had been and had not 
 seen the men, he told me, "It's all right; the men are here." 
 This reminded me of a story I had heard of an occurrence 
 in the Florida war, of an inexperienced captain ordering a 
 young lieutenant in the Everglades to go forward alone and 
 draw the enemy's fire. 
 
 The next day, August 31st, we remained in camp for "mus 
 ter." September 1st we marched out and engaged the Indians 
 in the Combat of the Four Lakes, driving them before us to 
 our great satisfaction and to their great surprise. Of the 
 subsequent engagement I remember but very little. I suppose 
 Kip's book "Army life on the Pacific," which I have some 
 where but cannot lay hand on just now, has the entire cam 
 paign described. 
 
 In one of these combats my captain sent me off alone to 
 draw the enemy's fire, after the manner of the Florida war 
 captain; that is, to get so near the enemy that he would be 
 tempted to fire at me, so that we would know that he was 
 there; and, although I might be shot, the rest of the command 
 would be warned and saved. I came out all right, and my cap 
 tain was thence forward complimentary of my soldierly qual 
 ities. He wanted me brevetted captain, but they at Washing 
 ton did not at that time appreciate what it was to be in an In 
 dian fight . . that the hole made by an Indian-fired bullet was 
 just as large as one made by a white man. 
 
 My captain was a brave man. He had no fear for himself. 
 While at Fort Miller a friend of his was bitten by a rattle 
 snake. The captain, with a mount in bad condition, proceeded 
 at once to suck the wound. The friend was saved and the cap 
 tain did not suffer. Some years later, the captain, then major 
 general, was wounded in front of Richmond. I saw him on a 
 hospital boat on' the James river, lying on a bed with his face 
 downward. He had not been shot in front; he was on his way 
 home to get well of his wound. 
 
 I said to him; "I congratulate you". 
 
 He asked: "Why so?". 
 
 "Because you are going home," I answered I said "I wish 
 I had your wound that I might go home". 
 
 He laughed heartily and seened to agree with me that after 
 four years of war itwasnotabad thing to get ordered home. 
 
 On our march through the Indian country, we searched for 
 Indian caches containing food, and whenfound burned the con 
 tents. 
 
 We captured about 1400 ponies, and after each officer had 
 selected one for his own use, the remainder were corraled 
 and company after company, in turn, marched up and fired 
 into them until the muskets of the company became fouled, 
 when the company marched off and was succeeded by another, 
 until all the ponies were slain. 
 
 While this judicious slaughter was going on, the Indians 
 were assembled on the distant hills, looking on at the des 
 truction of their wealth. This was their Gettsburg. If the 
 ponies had not been slain, the Indians would most certainly 
 have come in the night, stampeded them and got them back. 
 
 I have stated that each of the officers selected a pony for 
 himself but it was with the understanding that in case the ani 
 mal was not satisfactory, he must be shot he must not be 
 turned loose. One of the officers whom I will call Lieutenant 
 X, had selected a beautiful pony for his own use, and which 
 he would ride at once. The officers decided to let more con 
 fident riders break theirs for them. 
 
 Among Lieutenant Mullan's Nez Perces was one called 
 "Cut Mouth John," who was very much around the officers 
 and men. He was looked upon as rather a cultus (Cultus, a 
 chinook word meaning worthless, no good; the opposite of 
 "skookum" which is heap good, all right. There is no author 
 ity for stating that it is a corruption of the English stem 
 "cult" though there may seem a warrant for it because the 
 Indians look with contempt upon him who cultivated the soil. 
 Compiler.) He would take what he could get, and as scalps 
 of the enemy killed incombatwere scarce, received a prom 
 ise from Lieutenant that he would give him, Cut Mouth, the 
 pony if he decided not to keep him. 
 
 The pony behaved very well for a day or two, and the Lieu 
 tenant was congratulated by his more cautious associates on 
 his success as a rider of Indian ponies, but one day as the 
 column was marching along and Lieutenant X riding his pony, 
 the latter shot out from the column and after some tall buck- 
 jumping, to appreciate which you must experience it on a 
 strong, healthy mustang's back, threw X with much force, 
 and then ran for the nearest water. 
 
 The animal was caught up and Lieutenant X mounted him 
 again, and as he once more showed symptoms of bucking, 
 the column halted; then the lieutenant slid from the animal's 
 back and called to his company to know if there was any man 
 who thought he could ride the pony. One man volunteered, and, 
 he being thrown, the lieutenant asked again for a volunteer. 
 The answer was, "No, lieutenant nobody wants to try him." 
 The lieutenant thereupon ordered him to be taken to the rear 
 and shot. 
 
 Cut Mouth John learned of the shooting of the pony prom 
 ised to him by Lt. X and went at once to the lieutenant to 
 complain of his failure to keep his promise. Lt. X could only 
 explain that he had forgotten all about his promise, but said 
 that in lieu of the pony he would give the Indian a colored 
 shirt. Cut Mouth, being short of underwear, and having but 
 a scant amount of baggage along, accepted the substitute with 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Having destroyed the ponies and all the caches we found 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Having destroyed the ponies and all the caches we found 
 
 we pushed on as far as the Coeur d'Alene mission, which we 
 found to be under the jurisdiction of Rev. Jesuit Fathers, 
 the chief of whom was Father Joset, and who was very kind 
 to us, giving us fresh potatoes, from their store for which 
 we were thankful. The fathers interceded for the belligerent 
 Indians, who promised to be better in the future than they 
 had been recently, and peace was made. 
 
 The Indians having been disciplined, we had no further 
 business in that country and after resting ourselves and our 
 beasts, we retraced our steps and moved toward Fort Taylor, 
 
 100 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Fort Walla Walla, Fort Dalles, Fort Cascades and Fort Van 
 couver, at which post we arrived in October. 
 
 On our way back, we halted on some creek, encamped in a 
 hollow while a detachment of dragoons was sent off to recover 
 two guns that had been cached and left by the Steptoe expe 
 dition after the combat of Te-hots-nim-me. While here a 
 notorious Indian murderer named Qualchen, son of Owyhee, 
 with a beautiful Indian woman rode into camp. He seemed 
 dazed. He had seen the detachment of dragoons going for the 
 guns and, thinking our entire detachment of dragoons was 
 gone, dropped into our camp. He stopped in front of Colonel 
 Wright's tent, where the officer of the day Capt. Keyes, Third 
 artillery, happened to be. Keyes took Qualchen's gun from be 
 hind him and told him to dismount, which he did. The beau 
 tiful squaw did not stop, but went on out of camp, passing 
 right by me as I stood by my tent. We never saw her again. 
 Qualchen was sentenced by Colonel Wright to be hanged 
 that day, and Capt. James A. Hardie, who succeeded Capt. 
 Keyes as officer of the day, was charged with the execution 
 of the unpleasant duty. 
 
 How we got possession of Owyhee, I do not now remember, 
 but I think he gave himself up; and Colonel Wright told him 
 to go out and bring in his murderous son, Qualchen and he 
 would spare his, Owyhee's, life. Owyhee went offbut did not 
 find his unpromising son, but came back after Qualchen had 
 been hung. He was then kept under guard, and it was the 
 intention to take him to Fort Walla Walla, there to abide the 
 action of the department commander. 
 
 After the dragoons had returned from the Steptoe field with 
 the cannon, we marched for Fort Taylor, where we must have 
 tarried for a few days. Here they put us lieutenants on the 
 roster of officers of the day. We hadbeen going on guard as 
 officers of the guard, and on the day we started from Fort 
 Taylor, I was officer of the day and had charge of Owyhee. 
 While I and the Indian chief were mounted, my guard of 
 three or four men were on foot. I had my pistol in my belt 
 and on my left hip. The Indian rode on my right. As we 
 approached a creek, the Tucannon, Owyhee dropped behind 
 a little, looking at me; as I supposed afterwards, it was to 
 see if I was armed. He saw no pistol, and as we came to the 
 stream my guard went up to cross over the stream on a fallen 
 tree, leaving me alone with the Indian. 
 
 This was Owyhee's opportunity; he cut me repeatedly 
 across the eyes. and face with his whip, and, cutting his pony, 
 quickly crossed the creek; and I, getting over my surprise, 
 put after him, drawing my revolver, cocking it and shooting 
 at him. My horse belonged to the government and was not the 
 
 best. I kept near the fugitive angry because I feared he might 
 escape, and that would end my military career. I put three 
 bullets into him and, getting him up into a cul-de-sac from 
 which he could not escape except by passing through the 
 command which had preceded me in crossing the creek, I 
 held him there until a trooper rode up. The pistol shots had 
 been heard and had alarmed the portion of the command 
 nearest me. 
 
 Some of the dragoons rushed toward me, the nearest being 
 Sergeant Ball, afterward Major Edward Ball. Owhyee sat 
 motionless on his pony between me and the sergeant. I had 
 exhausted all the charges in my pistol, and told Ball to shoot 
 the Indian, which he did, Owyhee falling from his pony. Every 
 thing he had about him or his pony was at once seized by 
 Mullan's Nez Perces. I took his handsome saddle, covered 
 with brass nails, which I afterward gave to the army surgeon, 
 Barnes, at Fort Vancouver, who later became surgeon- 
 general of the army in the War of the Rebillion, and who 
 attended President Linclon when he was shot by Booth at 
 Ford's theater in Washington. 
 
 Colonel Wright called upon me for a written report of all 
 that had taken place, which I gave. Owyhee did not die until 
 sunset. There was an an ante-mortem examination of the 
 body which substantiated all that I had reported. 
 
 Next morning we marched on to Fort Walla Walla, where 
 we were hospitably treated by those whom we had left there. 
 We, of the artillery, bade goodbye to our comrades of the 
 dragoons and infantry, and proceeded to Fort Vancouver, via 
 Fort Dalles and Cascades. Shortly after we reached Van 
 couver, Brigadier General Harney arrived there to take 
 command and prosecute the war against the Spokanes and 
 allied tribes. General Harney found that the war was over 
 and peace reigned throughout his department and so con 
 tinued until the Nez Perces outbreak in 1877. 
 
 As peace reigned, General Harney, as instructed from 
 Washington, made public orders sending CaptainOrd with his 
 officers and the skeleton of his company, four non-com 
 missioned officers, to the artillery school for practice at 
 Fort Monroe, Va. There I remained from January 1, 1859, to 
 the 12th of August, 1861, with the exception of a short service 
 at Harper's Ferry at the time of the John Brown raid in the 
 fall of 1859, when I took my place with those who served the 
 government in opposition to secession and rebellion. 
 
 Michael R. Morgan 
 
 Brigadier General U. S. Army, retired. 
 
 MORGAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 101 
 
24 
 
 Smohalla and His Cult 
 
 Appearing at intervals in the body of American history, 
 are to be discerned individual Indians, usually of the non- 
 combatant class, who have left their imprint on the warpath 
 as it leads down among the struggles of the natives and the 
 whites. The mission of these men has been to urge their fel 
 lows on to war with a religious zeal not incomparable to the 
 holy wars which have punctuated the history of all mankind. 
 From Powhatten and Massasoit down to Sitting Bull and 
 Joseph, not all the bloody wars with the natives can be at 
 tributed solely to superficial race antagonism. 
 
 One should not be surprised at finding a deeper ethnolog 
 ical antipathy. The friction has not been a clash of mere 
 churlishness of the surface of racial life, but originated in 
 the very stripes of the commnal interests of the opposing 
 factors. The transition from resentment in the Indian breast 
 at the early visits of Europeans to this side of the Atlantic 
 on through years of antagonism on to bloody hatred can be 
 accounted for by the mere superficies of the situation. 
 
 Such terms as "Great Spirit", "Feast of the Green Corn" 
 and the "Totem of the Snake" have found their way into liter 
 ature. But to the Aryan mind it has not been given to compre 
 hend all that the Indian understood perfectly and assimilated 
 easily and readily. It mightbe remarked that we modern Indo- 
 Europeans have not been able to understand each other of to 
 day on religious topics. Some smile when others go to Simla 
 in the hope of catching some inspiration of that elusive idea 
 which held sway when the Aryan was young. 
 
 What then, can be alleged of the strength of the type of re 
 ligious belief in a race which has been sequestered from the 
 "modern nation" for so many ages of the world's develop 
 ment that our polished civilization has not yet dared to as 
 sert the place or the time when the American aborigine sev 
 ered relations with the rest of human kind ? 
 
 It has been the fancy to credit to a rude military prowess 
 and physical skill the selection of the dominating personal 
 ities among the Indians, but ithasnotbeen the fashion to re 
 gard Indian stoicism as separate and apart from Indian as 
 ceticism. Nor has there been attributed to the Indian any 
 thing of mysticism, beyond the outward form of queer cere 
 monial rites. 
 
 Looking back over the pages of American history, it may 
 be no ted that be hind Pontiac in his conspiracy lay his brother, 
 known as the Delaware prophet. Before Tecumseh precipa- 
 tated himself into the conflict which resulted disastruosly for 
 him at Tippecanoe, he consulted his brother, Tenskwatawa, 
 known as the Shawano prophet, and claiming himself to be 
 the direct lineal inspired successor of the Delaware prophet. 
 
 It is not to the purpose of these pages to enter upon a dis 
 quisition touching the whole line of Indian prophets which have 
 held sway over their kind and urged chief and brave alike on 
 to battle. The United States ethnological bureau has estab 
 lished the fact that Indian warchief and Indian mystic stalk 
 through the field of events hand in hand; and it is not sur 
 prising to learn that Kamiahkin had his Smohalla and Joseph 
 his Toothulhulsote. These mystics have been the Hermit 
 Peters, the fanatics, the frenzied, the paranoiacs; but in their 
 day and generation they were active, living issues, and their 
 theories and teachings were potent. 
 
 The known facts of Smohalla's life are not numerous, and 
 those which have been learned are the result of investigations 
 pursued by Maj. Junius W. MacMurray, acting under instruc 
 tion of General Nelson A. Miles. Major MacMurray passed 
 many months with Smohalla and his followers and the results 
 of his labors are preserved in the reports of the Bureau of 
 ethnology. 
 
 Smohalla was born about 1815 or 1820 in the Columbia 
 valley in Central Washington. His tribe was a comparatively 
 insignificant one of only a few hundred souls, called the 
 Wanapum. The remnant of them is found to be of the same 
 stock as the YakimasandNezPerces.Whilea comparatively 
 young man Smohalla visited the Roman Catholic mission of 
 the Ahtanum river, in the Yakima valley, and became more 
 or less familiar with the religious forms there seen, learning 
 somewhat of the French language spoken by the priests. Al 
 ready well on the road to selection as a war chief and being 
 regarded by the Columbia river Indians as a personage of 
 importance, he suddenly altered the course of his life in 
 1850 and began to preach his peculiar doctrine. That his 
 missionary work among the various tribes contributed to 
 the facility with which Kamiakin framed his scheme of con 
 federation in 1856, cannot be doubted. Filled with the enthu 
 siasm of a zealot, he nearly forgot his doctrines and aspired 
 to military leadership. He called a council of various tribes 
 at his village of Pna on the Columbia in the vicinity of Priest 
 Rapids, but Kamiahkin and the main band of the Yakimas 
 failed to join the movement, and the laurels of leadership in 
 the few bright months when the star of Kamiahkin was in the 
 ascendant were not on the brow of Smohalla. Yet the war 
 chief and the fanatical agitator found it convenient to work in 
 harmony. 
 
 It was shortly after the war of 1858 that an incident 
 occurred which completely upset Somhalla's temporal am 
 bition For ten years he had been becoming less and less a 
 warrior and more and more a medicine man. While the 
 
 103 
 
fighting spirit still burned he became embrioled with Moses, 
 a well known chief, farther up the Columbia and a man of 
 commanding character even among the early white settlers. 
 But Smohalla did not fight with weapons in open warfare. He 
 "made bad medicine" against Moses and his great tribe, and 
 the latter after a period of wild frenzy at the prospect of 
 being taken off in a mysterious way, ultimately discovered 
 that Smohalla seemed powerless to harm them by his threats 
 and incantation. Duing one of these buoyant periods, they 
 engaged the Wanapum in battle. Smohalla was left upon the 
 bank of the Columbia for dead. 
 
 It was years before Smohalla appeared in his old haunts. 
 On his return he told a story which smacks of what he might 
 have remembered of the finding of the leader of the Israe- 
 lities in a boat by the daughter of the Egyptain king. 
 
 However Smohalla came by the idea, there was a Moses 
 and a boat in the story of his miraculous escape from death. 
 
 Major MacMurray was of the opinion that Smohalla was 
 chagrined at the defeat he had suffered and feared the loss of 
 prestige among his own people if he returned at once. During 
 his stay at Pna the officer learned the following story of 
 Smohalla's claim to knowledge. 
 
 Recovering on the battlefield sufficiently to crawl to the 
 river, he found a canoe and on it floated away. Returning 
 consciousness found him installed under the fostering care 
 of a strange tribe. Upon his complete recovery, he left his 
 benefactors and set out to visit unknown places of the earth. 
 How many years he was absent is not stated, but his people 
 had given him up as dead for a number of years. 
 
 The story he told on reaching Pna is a wonderfully curious 
 thing. He announced that he had been dead, and the people 
 beleived it; they had plenty of witnesses to his death in the 
 battle with Moses years before. He had been raised to life 
 again; his people believed this, for they recognized him in 
 the flesh and blood. During his absence he had been made 
 the recipient of a divine revelation; that was believed be 
 cause the people of the spirit world had cared for him and 
 sent him back to them, and such a seer as Smohalla had been 
 in his previous life on earth was sure to add to his store of 
 knowledge which he obtained while sojourning among those 
 who live beyond the confines of terrestrial life. Smohalla's 
 reappearance among his chosen people was, to the ocular, 
 demonstration of the power of the spirits to take a favored 
 being bodily from among them and after giving him a course 
 of study in their extra-undane school, return him safely as 
 a teacher among them. 
 
 Major MacMurray put the old fellow through a severe 
 cross-examination as to his wanderings. The officer exhibited 
 to him a map, and Smohalla satisfied with this pointed out 
 the location of points he had visited. The major was satisfied 
 with this. He himself had traveled over the Rocky mountains 
 and coast region and was familiar with landscape features of 
 many of the places claimed by Smohalla to have been visited 
 by him. But Smohalla mentioned natural features of certain 
 localities with such minute detail that Major MacMurray was 
 satisfied that he had seen the things described. The officer 
 in his report, maintains that the old prophet must have visited 
 in person certain localities in California, Mexico, Arizona, 
 Utah and Nevada. Smohalla acknowledged that he had been in 
 Utah, though he denied that he had visited Salt Lake City. He 
 told how he had seen Mormon Priests receiving commands 
 direct from heaven. 
 
 Whatever may be left in the alembic of the white man's 
 mind concerning Smohalla and his teachings, the residuum 
 in the Indian scheme of things was indispu table. Smohallism 
 became a gospel and Smohalla a demi-god, not a demagogue. 
 At the proper moment Smohalla boldly proclaimed himself to 
 be a special messenger of the "Saghala Tyee," the spirit 
 above which controlled the destinies of the Indians, who had 
 long been angry with his people because they had departed 
 from the ways and customs of their fathers. He declared that 
 the race was doomed, because it had forsaken primitive 
 things; that it had violated precepts of nature. On this basis 
 was the religious system placed before them; a strange 
 mixture of aboriginal ideas and ancient Indian mythology, in 
 which were curiously interwoven elements which appear to 
 have been suggested from white sources. 
 
 This revamped Smohallism was abreast of the age. It has 
 an elaborate ritual, in whichwere mingled some forms which 
 might have been taken from the Catholic missionaries or 
 suggested by Mormon ceremonies. Smohalla had carried 
 things vastly farther than he had done in the decade between 
 1850 and 1860; and improvement which was perfectly natural 
 to one who had made great strides in knowledge while in the 
 tutelage of the savants of another world. Previously, he had 
 contented himself with preaching the gospel of a coming 
 Indian redeemer and urging the necessity of preparation for 
 his arrival by uniting all the Indians and driving out all the 
 whites. 
 
 There was one other feature yet to be developed before 
 Smohallism came to be colloquially known among the whites 
 of the region as "Dreamerism." Smohalla turned trance 
 artist and thus again established the divine origin of his mis 
 sion. By the time Major MacMurray had reached Pna, Smo 
 halla had become an adept in the practices usually credited 
 to the Hindu faker. Needles thrust into his limbs, produced 
 no demonstration of pain. Incisions in his body were followed 
 by no effusion of blood. The Indians called this death, and 
 the demises and resurrections were looked upon with awe. 
 It came about that whenever Smohalla wanted to create an 
 especially profound impression he would "die" only to be 
 resurrected with a new and fresh message from "Sahhala 
 Tyee" directly bearing upon the point that he at the moment 
 desired to drive home. It is stated that he often threatened to 
 go back to the Tyee for good and all, leaving his followers 
 to a dire fate, if they did not conform to his teachings. 
 
 That Smohalla was a mountebank and knowingly practiced 
 deception upon his people is shown in a story related by 
 Major MacMurray. The old fellow came into possession of 
 an almanac and a party of surveyors explained that on a 
 certain date there would be an eclipse. This information 
 came just at a time when the followers had begun to question 
 the occult powers of their leader. With all the dramatic set 
 ting possible he preached a sermon and uttered denunciations 
 and called upon the heavens to be obscured. As the eclipse 
 progressed, his followers became frantic; and at the proper 
 moment, with the greatest possible effect Smohalla ordered 
 the sun to reappear, not instantly, but slowly and gradually. 
 For a few months Smohalla's authority was supreme. 
 
 Not understanding the exact causes of an eclipse and feel 
 ing that the time had come when another demonstration of 
 his powers would have a salutary effect, Smohalla in the 
 succeeding year, repeated his prophecy and set the same day 
 
 104 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
and hour, and with a disastrous result. When Major Mac- 
 Murray visited Pna in 1884 the old fellow brought about 
 another eclipse. The almanac was of the year 1882 and Smo- 
 halla asked the officer to fix from it astronomical date for 
 1884. Of course, the officer was unable to supply the date for 
 another prediction: "This cost me much of his respect as 
 A wise man from the East" observed Major MacMurray. 
 
 Smohalla is described by the officer named in this lan 
 guage: "In person, Smohalla is peculiar short, thick-set* 
 bald-headed and almost hunch-backed; he is not prepossing 
 at first sight; but he has an almost Websterian head, with 
 a deep brown over bright, intelligent eyes." General Howard 
 also mentions the abnormally large head of the old Indian 
 prophet. 
 
 It may not be unreasonable, by way of explanation of Smo 
 halla' s confessed mental powers and his remarkable control 
 
 of his fellows, that he was endowed with unusual intellectual 
 faculties which were at times warped andaffectedby the ab 
 normalities found coexistent with hydrocephalus and certain 
 injuries to the spinal column. 
 
 Charlatan, religious zealot or plain paranoiac, Smohalla 
 possessed an influence and a sway over his day and genera 
 tion, which cannot be gainsaid. One does not have to search 
 very far into bygone history, to understand that members of 
 the white race gravely asserted that there was merit and good 
 or bad, fortune to be obtained from contact with a hunchback. 
 These unfortunates and eccentrics have amused, and they 
 have terrorized the courts of Anglo-Saxon monarchs; they 
 have wielded an influence over both nations and religions. 
 
 That Smohalla had definite and clear-cut ideas concerning 
 his own cosmogony and theology, will be seen from an exam 
 ination of his recorded theories, teachings and ceremonies. 
 
 SMOHALLA AND HIS CULT 
 
 105 
 
25 
 
 Forms and Ceremonies 
 
 The first recognition of the cult of Smohallism to appear 
 in the government records is found in a report from the 
 superintendent of Indian Affairs of Oregon in 1870, and even 
 at that time Smohalla's personality is not mentioned. The 
 fact had become well known that the dissatisfaction among the 
 Indians was closely related with the sect known and described 
 by the term, Dreamers, for by this time many of Smohalla's 
 leading disciples had developed the ability to enter into a 
 trance state. In his communication to the Indian bureau, the 
 Oregon agent made a statement concerning the sect which 
 constitutes a brief and clear definition of the central thought 
 of the Smohalla religion. He wrote: 
 
 They have a new and peculiar religion, by the doctrines 
 of which they are taught that a new god is coming to their 
 rescue that all the Indians who have died heretofore, and 
 who shall die hereafter, are to be resurrected; that, as 
 they will then be very numerous and powerful, they will be 
 able to conquer the whites, recover their lands and live as 
 free and unrestrained as their fathers lived in the olden 
 times. Their model of a man is an Indian. They aspire to 
 be Indians, and nothing else. 
 
 As the doomed victim of a fatal malady longs for the 
 strength and independence which was once his with such a 
 longing that the visions become almost realities so in the 
 breast of the already stricken native of the Pacific Northwest 
 there clung and thrived the inspiriting dream of an ultimate 
 racial sovereignty. The result was a strong undercurrent, at 
 first invisible to the white comprehension, which fomented 
 opposition to setting the Indians off on reservations. 
 Smohalla seized the opportunity to foster this longing of 
 the Indian heart. If he did not invent forms and cermonies 
 which could fix the attention of the hopeful native, he appro 
 priated and revamped them. He took from ancient Indian 
 mythology, as it has been understood by the whites ever 
 since they crossed the Atlantic and he adapted from the forms 
 of modern white civilization. From elements of varied origin 
 he braided a bond which was most attractive for uniting the 
 natives in a common cause. 
 
 Major Mac Murray, in his efforts to get at the root of 
 opposition plan of land grants to the natives, induced Smo 
 halla to recite to him the prophet's scheme of cosmogony as 
 he understood it. The officer makes no attempt to dissect the 
 tenets or ascribe any origin whatever to the different ideas. 
 Some of it is as old as the twilight of recognized history, and 
 some of it indicates a very circumscribed and material out 
 look. This ex-cathedral utterance of the old chief is as fol 
 lows: 
 
 Once the world was all water and God lived alone. He 
 was lonesome, he had no place to put his foot; so he 
 scratched the sand up from the bottom and made the land, 
 and he made the rocks, and he made the trees and he made 
 man; and the man had wings and could go anywhere. The 
 man was lonesome, and God made a woman. They ate fish 
 from the water, and God made the deer and other animals, 
 and he sent the man to hunt, and told the woman to cook 
 the meat and dress the skins. 
 
 Many more men and women grew up, and they lived on 
 the banks of the great river whose waters were full of 
 salmon. The mountains contained much game, and there 
 were buffalo on the plains. There were so many people that 
 the stronger ones sometimes oppressed the weak and 
 drove them from the best fisheries, which they claimed as 
 their own. They fought, and nearly all were killed, and 
 their bones are to be seen in the hills yet. 
 
 God was very angry at this, and took away their wings 
 and commanded that the lands and fisheries should be 
 common to all who lived upon them, they were never to be 
 marked off or divided, but that the people should enjoy the 
 fruits that God planted in the land, and the animals that 
 lived upon it, and the fishes in the water. God said that he 
 was law; that the animals, fish and plants obeyed nature, 
 and that man only was sinful. This is the old law. 
 I know all kinds of men. First there were my people God 
 made them first. Then he made a Frenchman, and then he 
 made a priest. A long time after that came Boston men, 
 then King George men. Later came black men and last 
 God made a Chinaman with a tail. He is of no account and 
 has to work all the time like a woman. All these are new 
 people. After a while, when God is ready, he will drive 
 away all the people except those who have obeyed his laws. 
 One must admit that Smohalla is somewhat egocentric 
 when it comes to assigning order of precedence of the var 
 ious kinds of men who came within the purview of his obser 
 vations. He seems not to have known of the accredited antiq 
 uity of the Chinese race. It will be seen at a glance that the 
 order of procession in which they appeared in the Columbia 
 valley and came within range of the native observations. It 
 is historic fact that the French-Canadian voyageurs were the 
 first whites to enter the Columbia valley, spying out the land 
 for their great employer, the Hudson Bay Company, which 
 after deciding to occupy the land, allowed priests to accom 
 pany the organized expedition. 
 
 Assuming that Smohalla did not understand that the French 
 Canadians were employees of an English corporation and had 
 
 107 
 
never heard of the visits of the English vessels to Puget 
 Sound, he was right in placing the Boston men in advance of 
 the English, for Captain Gray entered the mouth of the Co 
 lumbia in 1794. 
 
 In such expoundings of his tenets regarding land and na 
 ture, chiefly those made to Major Mac Murray and to General 
 Howard, Smohalla made direct and ocgent application of them 
 in arguing against going on a reservation. After Moses, the 
 antagonist of Smohalla in his younger days, had agreed to be 
 come a reservation Indian and during the weeks of Mac Mur 
 ray's diplomatic stay a P. Na, Smohalla expressed himself 
 thus:- 
 
 "Those who cut up the lands or sign papers for lands 
 will be defrauded of their rights and will be punished by 
 God's anger. Moses was bad. God did not love him. He 
 sold his people's houses and the graves of their dead. It 
 is bad word that comes from Washington. It is not a good 
 law that would take my people away from me to make them 
 sin against the laws of God. 
 
 "You ask me to plow the ground! Shall I take a knife 
 and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die she will 
 not take me to her bosom to rest. 
 
 "You ask me to dig for stone! Shall I dig under skin for 
 her bones? Then when I die I cannot enter into her body 
 to be born again. 
 
 "You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it, and 
 be rich like white men! But how dare I cut off my mother's 
 hair? 
 
 "It is a bad law, and my people cannot obey it. I want 
 my people to stay with me here. All the dead men will 
 come to life again. Their spirits will come to their bodies 
 again. We must wait here in the homes of our fathers and 
 be ready to meet them in the bosom of our mother." 
 
 In this instance Smohalla's argument was consistent with 
 his religion. It needs no imagination and no reasoning to un 
 derstand how such tenets as these principles and theories 
 which strummed the heart strings of ages of mankindand 
 hundreds of races in primitive times - appealed to the rea 
 son and to the fancy on the Columbia Indian crowded into a 
 narrow place and girdled by white settlements. 
 
 The ceremonies of the Smohalla ritual seem to have been 
 conceived with the very same idea for which ritualism seems 
 to have been designed in the very first instance to create in 
 tangible and visible form a character typifying an ideal. It 
 will not be denied that herein lies one of the most powerful 
 of the magnetic forces which draws men to the modern lodge- 
 room. It is innate in human nature that the neophyte enjoys 
 the protrayal of an historical character or a legendary hero 
 with a keener, more personal interest and with a more in 
 dividual and spiritual view, than that with which he attends a 
 play at a theater. To be chosen by his fellows of a lodge to 
 enact one of these typifying characters during an initiation 
 invests the lodge member with a different kind of nerve than 
 that which urges on the professional man of the stage. 
 
 Smohalla understood all this. He blended a church and a 
 lodge. He provided a ceremonial part for every attendant 
 upon the service. He saw to it that each was in regalia, and 
 was properly in his proper station. His attempts at creation 
 may have been crude and his lodge room may not have been 
 imposing, but they answered their purpose. From Major Mac 
 Murray's work: 
 
 When I awoke the next morning the sound of drums was 
 again heard, and for days it continued. I do not remember 
 that there was any intermission, except for a few minutes 
 at a time. Seven bass drums were used for the purpose. 
 I was invited to be present, and took great interest in the 
 ceremonies, which I shall endeavor to describe. 
 
 There was a small open space to the north of the larger 
 house, which was Smohalla's residence and the village 
 assembly room as well. This space was enclosed by a 
 whitewashed fence, made of boards which had drifted down 
 the river. In the middle was a flagstaff, with a rectangular 
 flag, suggesting a target. In the center of the flag was a 
 round red patch. The field was yellow, representing grass 
 which is more of a yellow hue in summer. A green border 
 indicated the boundary of the world. The hills being moist 
 and green near the top. At the top of the flag was a small 
 extension of blue color, with a white star in the center, 
 Smohalla explained: 
 
 "This is my flag, and it represents the world. God told 
 me to look after my people all are my people. There are 
 four ways in the world north, south, east and west. I have 
 been all these ways. This is the center. I live here. The 
 red spot is my heart everybody can see it. The yellow 
 grass grows everywhere around this place. The green 
 mountains are tar away all around the world. There is 
 only water beyond, salt water. The blue (referring to the 
 blue cloth strip) is the sky, and the star is the north star. 
 I never change." 
 
 There are frequent services, a sort of processional 
 around the outside of the fence, the prophet and a small 
 boy with a bell, entering the enclosure, where, after 
 hoisting the flag, he deli versa sort of a sermon. Captains, 
 or class leaders, give instructions to the people, who are 
 arranged according to stature, the men and women in 
 different classes, marching in single file to the sound of 
 drums. There seems to be a regular system of signals, at 
 command of the prophet, by the boy with the bell, upon 
 which the people chant loud or low, quick or slow, or 
 remain silent. These outdoor services occured several 
 times each day. 
 
 Smohalla invited me to participate in what he considered 
 a grand service within the larger house. The house was 
 built with a framework of stout logs placed upright in the 
 ground and roofed over with brush, or with canvas in 
 rainy weather. The sides consisted of bark and rush 
 matting. It was about 75 feet long by 25 feet wide. 
 
 Singing and drumming had been going on for sometime 
 when I arrived. The air resounded with the voices of hun 
 dreds of Indians, male and female, and with the banging 
 of drums. Within, the room was dimly lighted. Smoke 
 curled from a fire on the floor at the farther end and pre- 
 vaded the atmosphere. The ceiling was hung with hundreds 
 of salmon, split and drying in the smoke. 
 
 The scene was a strange one. On either side of the room 
 was a row of twelve women standing erect with arms 
 crossed and hands extended with finger tips at the shoul 
 ders. They kept time to the drums and their voices by 
 balancing on the balls of their feet and tapping with their 
 heels on the floor, while they chanted with varing pitch 
 and time. The excitment and persistent repetition wore 
 them out, and I heard that others than Smohalla had seen 
 
 108 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
visions in their trances, but I saw none who would admit 
 it or explain anything of it. I fancied they feared their own 
 action, and that real death might come to them in this 
 simulated death. 
 
 Those on the right hand were dressed in garments of a 
 red color, with an attempt at uniformity. Those on the left 
 wore costumes of white buckskin, said to be very ancient 
 ceremonial costumes, with red and blue trimmings. All 
 wore large round silver plates or such other glittering 
 ornaments which they possessed. A canvas covered the 
 floor and on it knelt the men and boys in lines of seven. 
 Each seven as a rule had shirts of the same color. Chil 
 dren and ancient hags filled any spare space. In front on a 
 mattress knelt Smohalla, his left hand covering his heart. 
 On his right was the boy bellringer in similar posture. 
 Smohalla wore a white array which he was pleased to call 
 a priests gown. But it was simply awhite cloth shirt with 
 a colored stripe down the back. 
 
 May one see a suggestion of the acolyte in that boy attend 
 ant? Was that an attempt to imitate a processional? Does the 
 "excitement" and its attendant physical exertion parallel 
 "having the power" often seen at the old fashioned camp 
 meeting of some sects? 
 
 But speculation as to the meaning of all that ceremony is 
 idle to the Anglo-Saxon mind. To the eye the spectacle is 
 mere balderdash, which can give nothing of any esoteric 
 meaning, if such meaning at all the ceremony had. It is 
 impossible to note that the ceremony described by Major Mac 
 Murray had any direct connection by way of interpreting, the 
 story of the Smohalla cosmogony, as related by the same 
 officer. There is apparently no connection whatever between 
 the Smohalla scheme of the creation, the symbolism of the 
 Smohalla flag and the Smohalla "grand ceremonial service." 
 Yet that crude trinity, uninterpretable in the Anglo-Saxon 
 mind except as a trio of absurdities merely, possessed a 
 powerful influence over their votaries. 
 
 It is not to the purpose of these pages to set forth the 
 results of the investigations of Major Mac Murray and others 
 by which they established a direct connection between the so- 
 called "ghost dances" of the Indian tribes and the sullen 
 opposition encountered by the federal government to the plan 
 of reservation. It is sufficient to note that the ghost dance and 
 the Indian outbreak went hand in hand. The mysterious bond 
 between them has not been discovered. The actuating throb 
 comes from some point back in the distant past, and there 
 are some things which for an Indian to tell to a white con 
 cerning his own race is what passes for sacrilege. The In 
 dian may talk about it or around it, but they protect it. 
 Doubtless, traditions of the Indian past are interwoven in 
 their beliefs and their theories. The fantastic vagaries of 
 nature, everywhere discernible in the country of the Col 
 umbia, furnished endless food for Indian rumination, as it 
 has done for scientific examination. Modern scientific inves 
 tigation has never given a categorical account of the manner 
 in which the Cplumbia river thrust itself through the Cascade 
 range; but Indian mysticism and legend tell exactly how it was 
 done. One illustration of this facility of adjustment of natural 
 fact to prehistoric cataclyism, is related by Major Mac 
 
 Murray in connection with the explanation of the cosmos by 
 Kotaiquan, son of the old Yakima chief, Kamaiahkin. 
 Referring to the time, ages ago, when the inhabitants of 
 the earth were not living in brotherly peace, Kotaiquan said: 
 "There was quarreling among the people, and the earth- 
 mother was angry. The mountains that overhung the river at 
 the Cascades were thrown down and damned the stream and 
 destroyed the forests and the whole tribes, and buried them 
 under the rocks." The army officer's comment follows: 
 
 The Cascade Range, where it crosses the Columbia 
 river, exhibits enormous crossections of lava, and at its 
 base are petrified trunks of trees, which have been 
 covered and hidden from view except where the wash of 
 the mighty stream has exposed them. 
 
 Indians have told me of their own knowledge that, buried 
 deep, under these outpours of basalt or volcanic tufa, are 
 bones of animals of "the Siah," or long ago. 
 
 Traditions of the great landslide at the Cascades are 
 many, but vary little in form. According to one account, 
 the mountains tops fell together and formed a kind of arch, 
 under which the water flowed until the overhanging rocks 
 fell into the stream and made a gorge. As the rock is 
 columnar basalt, very friable and easily disintegrated, 
 that was not impossible; and the landscape suggests some 
 such giant avalanche, the submerged trees are plainly 
 visible in this locality. 
 
 The foregoing glimpses of Smohalla, his methods and 
 his teachings have been included here, not with the purpose 
 of presenting a study of the principles of the cult, but with 
 a view to pointing out briefly the attractions which it pre 
 sented to the Indian mind in spite of its queer irregu 
 larities and nonsequiturs. It also serves to illustrate that 
 the Indian mind at least that of one Indian grew in 
 thought and works as he grew in years. Starting with the 
 simple message of an Indian "Redeemer," Smohalla was 
 so unimportant in personality as to have attracted no 
 attention as an individual. The nearest reference to any 
 such a personality made in the records of 1858 was that 
 of George Gibbs, the geologist and ethnologist of the 
 exploring party of Governor Stevens, and Mr. Gibbs 
 allusion is impersonal and only by the most liberal in 
 terpretation can be construed as a reference to Smohalla. 
 
 At the present time there are few Indians in the Pacific 
 Northwest who follow the teachings and practices of Smo 
 halla. The nearest approach to a survival of the cult is to 
 be found among the so called Shakers of Mud Bay an arm 
 of Puget Sound. Kataiaquan at one time held together a 
 congregation of several hundred in his meeting house at 
 Union Gay in the Yakima valley, but Smohalla himself was 
 the essence of Smohallism, and with the going down of his 
 sun his cult paled away. He snatched a bit from mysti 
 cism, took something from tradition's story of his world, 
 adapted scenes and forms from his contemporaries of 
 another race, interwove something of his own charla- 
 nism and thus created a drama which was exceedingly 
 attractive to the Indians of his day and generation. Today 
 its conception seems farcial; in its period it was realism. 
 
 FORMS AND CEREMONIES 
 
 109 
 
26 
 
 Warring Nez Perces 
 
 General Oliver 0. Howard, on the 18th day of April, 1877, 
 stepped from the gangplank of the little Columbia River 
 steamer Tenino to the seldom used dock atWalula, once the 
 site of the old Hudson Bay Company's Fort Walla Walla, and 
 greeted by a motley crowd of the curious who had gathered 
 to see the commanding officer of the United States troops in 
 the Department of the Columbia. But some had business of a 
 serious character with the general. One of these was an In 
 dian messenger. The dispatch that he brought was conveyed 
 in these words, 
 "Smohalla wants to have talk with General Howard." 
 
 General Oliver 0. Howard 
 
 The general was avowedly on his way to Fort Lapwai, Ida 
 ho, to do what 'he could to stem the rising tide of trouble 
 which portended war with certain Nez Perces. The message 
 could not be ignored. Immediatley the officer's mind conjured 
 up all that he had learned of this Indian's influence, and he 
 was a force to be reckoned with in the event of war. The sen 
 der of the message was Smohalla. "His followers have been 
 embraced within a score of tribes and his deleterious influ 
 ence has been saldly productive of suffering" wrote the gen 
 eral; to which estimate he added this pen picture of the In 
 dian. "He is a large headed, hump-shouldered, odd little 
 wizard of an Indian, and exhibits a strange mixture of timid 
 ity and daring, of superstition and intelligence. 
 
 The commander, in reality on the eve of a famous cam 
 paign, though he did not at the time know it to be a fact, re 
 plied to Smohalla' s courier, "General Howard has no com 
 munication for him from Washington. He must obey his In 
 dian agent and go upon some reservation. I will meet him on 
 my return on the 24th of April. 
 
 In order to comprehend the causes of the Nez Perce out 
 break of 1877 one must go back farther than 1847. That was 
 the year of the Whitman massacre, the starting point of the 
 Cayuse war. But beyond that lay the day when a Cayuse moth 
 er gave birth to him now known in history as Chief Toseph, 
 considered by many as the most resourceful general officer 
 ever produced from among the American Indians. 
 
 There have been two Nez Perce chiefs who bore the name 
 of Joseph. Both sprang from the sturdiest, rangiest, rugged- 
 est portion of the tribe. The old man came of the wild ele 
 ment, that which lived along the canyon-broken country far 
 brethern who treated with the white man, where they nour 
 ished all the elemental traditions of the native and followed 
 the precepts of the untrammeled. 
 
 Old Joseph had been of enough moment to be mentioned as 
 a factor in the general tribal matters, but for many years 
 the wild Nez Perces had been further and further drawing 
 aloof from their brethern who counseled making treaties with 
 the whites. Through the efforts of Missionary Spaulding in 
 1836 Old Joseph and his band were induced to settle on a 
 small farm near the mission school at Lapwai. Neither he, 
 nor his Cayuse wife, nor his band took kindly to mission life. 
 They had little in common with the lower Nez Perce, but it 
 is said that young Joseph and his brother Ollicut received 
 some teaching from Mrs. Spaulding. The massacre of the 
 Whitman party caused the Spauldings to leave Lapwai and the 
 mission. 
 
 Then Chief Big Thunder, turning to Old Joseph, pointed 
 southward toward the canyons of the Snake and said: 
 
 "This is not your country. Gobacktolmnaha and Wallowa 
 where you belong." 
 
 Soured and ugly, old Joseph's band moved away from Lapwai 
 to resume all the wild superstitions of its old life, to acquire 
 a distorted vision of the white influence and to regard their 
 northern brethern with distrust and hatred. Old Joseph, 
 though a signer of the Stevens treaty in 1855, gave this ad 
 vice to his friends. Raise ponies, eat things that grown of 
 themselves, and go and come as you please." Young Joseph 
 inherited the quiet obstinacy of his father. In his nature was 
 also the treachery and slyness of the Cayuse mother, doubt 
 less nurtured by her with a certain amount of vindictiveness 
 born of fate of relatives slain in the Cayuse war. Joseph's 
 face was somber. He seldom smiled. It has been said of him 
 that the cicatrices on his soul constituted its chief component 
 down to the very last. 
 
 In 1863 a treaty was made which excluded the Wallawa 
 valley from occupation by the natives. Thenceforth the Nez 
 
 111 
 
Young Chief Joseph 
 
 Perces were as two tribes differing from each other to the 
 extent of hostility of the non-treaty chiefs, Looking Glass 
 along remained in the vicinity of Lapwai. It was but natural 
 that there should be a bond of friendship between the non- 
 treaty portions of the tribe, and among the leaders with Jo 
 seph were White Bird, who has given his name to a river and 
 a battlefield in the mountain country of the Salmon river, 
 and Too-hul-hul-sote. 
 
 Indian agents made no progress toward a settlement of the 
 differences between the government and the non-treaty 
 elements. A treaty commission almost got the consent of Jo 
 seph in the fall of 1876 to go on a reservation. An absolute 
 and independent sovereignty of their own was demanded by 
 Joseph and his fellows, at every argument of the com 
 missioners. When the treaty commission failed, the next 
 stop was forcible driving upon the reservation by the 
 military; yet in the hope of being able to bring about some 
 peaceable solution of the differences, General Howard 
 journeyed for Portland to meet Joseph. 
 
 Joseph at first avoided meeting Howard, and sent Ollicut 
 to the parley. Nothing was accomplished and another meeting 
 was arranged for twelve days later, when Joseph was to 
 appear in person and with authority Howard used a part of 
 the interim in a talk with Smohalla. It was without result, 
 the band using the same argument against making treaties 
 as were used by the non-treaty Nez Perces. Howard describes 
 Smohalla's position as "the leader of the spiritists among 
 the Indians" and had recorded that the conference served to 
 keep Smohalla's band from joining the Nez Perce renegades. 
 
 But Howard was not through with the results of the 
 teachings of the peculiar prophet of Pina. In Nez Perce sub- 
 chief, Too-Hul-Hul-sote, he was to meet a character who was 
 Smohalla's equal in his tenacious hold on the principle that 
 
 the earth was the mother of the Indian. A certain amount of 
 the ceremonialism of the cult hadbeen introduced among the 
 non-treaty Nez Perce and some of the crude formalities were 
 practised before the eyes of Howard on the 3rd of May as he 
 awaited his conference with Joseph and some fifty braves of 
 the recalcitrant. Howard thus describes the ceremonial 
 approach to the council place at Fort Lapwai: 
 
 These picturesque people after keeping us waiting long 
 enough for effect, came in sight from up the valley from 
 the direction of their temporary camp, just above the 
 company garden. They drew near to the hollow square of 
 the post and in front of the small company to be inter- 
 viewd. Then they struck up their song. They were not 
 armed, except with a few tomahawk pipes, that could be 
 smoked with the peaceful tobacco, or penetrate the skull 
 of an enemy, at the will of the holder. Yet somehow this 
 wild sound produced a strange effect. It made one feel 
 glad that there were but fifty of them, not five hundred. 
 It was shrill and searching; sad, like a wail, yet defiant in 
 its close. Our ladies, thinking it was a war song, asked 
 with some show of trepidation, "do you think Joseph means 
 to fight?" 
 
 The Indians swept around outside the fence and made the 
 entire circuit, still keeping up the song as they rode. The 
 building broke the refrain into irregular babbling of sound 
 until the ceremony was completed. 
 
 Rev. Joseph M. Cataldo, S.J. 
 
 The formal part of the council between the general and the 
 Indians was opened by a prayer by Father Cataldo in Nez 
 Perce, and then Howard informed Joseph that he had come 
 hear what the Indians would say. To this Joseph repliec 
 
 "Another band of Indians, White Bird's, from the Salmor 
 river country, are coming. They are already in the Craii 
 mountains. They will be here tomorrow. You must not be in 
 a hurry to go till all can get in to have a talk." 
 
 Howard replied with firmness that the government hac 
 determined its course the Indians must go on a reser 
 vation. He told Joseph that if he decided instantly he coulc 
 
 112 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
have the pick of the land before White Bird arrived. And the 
 council was postponed for one day, but not until Too-hul-hul- 
 sote, leader of the Smohallities, called Dreamers at the time, 
 had admonished the interpreter; "On account of coming 
 generations, the children and the children's children, you 
 must interpret correctly." 
 
 White Bird marched into the valley on the morning of the 
 4th of May, with a small part of his band, reporting the 
 remainder as bringing up the ponies. On reaching the ground, 
 there was the same procession around the garrison and the 
 same wierd song, "only louder and stronger and perhaps 
 more defiant," to quote from Howard. 
 
 Joseph introduced White Bird, and retired to alow bench, 
 calm and of imperious mien. Evidently he was not to commit 
 himself. White Bird made no speech, but retired near to Jo 
 seph and sat down, his features partially hidden by a huge 
 ceremonial hat from which an eagle feather hung in such a 
 manner as to more completely obstruct a view of his 
 countenance Apparently, neither of these chiefs we re "to be 
 sent in*' to use a modern football term. 
 
 Too-hul-hul-sote had been selected for his task. His opening 
 remarks were brief: 
 
 "There are always two parties to a dispute. The one that 
 is right will come out ahead." 
 
 There was nothing of conciliation in tone or manner. 
 Howard observed that all children of a common government 
 must obey it. 
 
 The Indian rejoined with "I have heard about a bargain, a 
 trade between some of these Nez Perces and the white man 
 concerning their land; but I belong to the land out of which 
 I came. The earth is my mother." 
 
 The general placidly stated the fact to be that the majority 
 of the Nez Perce tribe had agreed to the treaty and the 
 minority must abide by the vote. 
 
 Surly old Too-hul-hul-sote snapped out " Children do not 
 think for themselves. Grown men do think for themselves. 
 The government in Washington cannot (shall not) think for 
 us." 
 
 Here were the pleadings in the case. The issues were 
 joined. When Joseph asked for an adjournment, Howard acqui 
 esced and smilingly urged him and White Bird to take until 
 the 9th to make up their minds and talk with their people. 
 Howard shook hands cordially with the chief and smiled them 
 out of the council chambers. By the 9th he hoped that three 
 cavalry companies would arrive. 
 
 When the 9th came, the Indians knew of the movement of 
 the troops. Too-hul-hul-sote was again the speaker. He wear 
 ied Howard with a repetition of the mothership of the earth. 
 He railed against the violence which would tear the Indian 
 from his inheritance. Howard requested him to come to the 
 point. With fire in his voice and manner, the old man hurled 
 back: 
 
 "What the treaty Indians talk about was born of today. It 
 is not true law at all. You white people get together, measure 
 the earth and then divide it, I want you to talk directly what 
 you mean!" 
 
 A moment later he challenged: "What person pretends to 
 divide the land and put me on it?" 
 
 Howard perceived that this must be answered peremp 
 torily, or prestige would be lost. He replied: "I am the man 
 
 PU-PU-MOX-MOX, OR 
 
 YELLOW SERPENT 
 Head Chief of the Walla Wallas 
 
 - I stand here for the President, and there is no spirit, good 
 or bad that will hinder me." 
 
 Joseph's countenace betrayed no emotion. Looking Glass 
 stirred restively. White Bird, from behind his eagle's 
 feather said, "If I had been taught from early life to be gov 
 erned by the white men, I would be governed by the white 
 man; the earth rules me." 
 
 Howard then put it squarely to Too-hul-hul-sote: "Do you 
 or do you not propose to comply with the orders of the gov 
 ernment?" 
 
 "The Indians may do what they like, but I am not going on 
 the reservation." was the reply. 
 
 The general saw that there could be no progress made so 
 long as the tongue of Too-hul-hul-sote was unbridled. 
 
 Conciliatmgly he turned to the others and asked, "Will Jo 
 seph and White Bird and Looking Glass go with me to look 
 after their land. The old man shall not go. He must stay with 
 Colonel Perry." 
 
 It was Howard' sway of announcing that the old man was un 
 der arrest. It was a crucial point, all but spoiled because the 
 expected messenger was not at hand to seize the Indian. 
 
 Too-hul-hul-sote turned angrily and exclaimed: "Do you 
 want to scare me with reference to my body?" 
 
 In a tense silence the general and the colonel in person led 
 the Indian from the council tent. The immediate effect of this 
 coup was all that Howard could desire. For a week there was 
 peace and laughter, and Indian chief and American people 
 rode over the land, and then the General left for Portland, 
 satisfied that peace had been accomplished, and at the ear 
 nest request of White Bird and Looking Glass had ordered 
 Too-hnl-hul-sote released. 
 
 Early on the morning of June 14th one of the Salmon River 
 Indians, White Bird's band, asked L.P. Brown of Mount, 
 Idaho, some miles south of Fort Lapwai when General 
 Howard was expected back. When later in the same day 
 another Indian offered $2.50 for a can of gunpowder, the re 
 sidents of the little settlement became alarmed. They knew 
 that sixty lodges were encamped eight miles away, at the 
 head of Rocky Canyon. That night a messenger started from 
 Mount Hope for mil tary relief. He was driven back by the 
 Indians. That night also, the people of Cottonwood, a little 
 
 WARRING NEZ PERCES 
 
 113 
 
settlement not far from Mount Idaho attempted to go to the they saw the defenseless settlers scattered among the hills 
 
 latter place, but were driven back, numbers killed and in the wild, canyon country about the Salmon river. Those 
 
 wounded. along the rocky aisles of Lo Lo pass, rattled along the 
 
 The Nez Perce war was on. Howard's attempt to placate backbone of the continent from the Bitter Root valley to 
 
 the implacable Indians had been unavailing. The lust for Yellowstone lake, turned northward across the Missouri 
 
 slaughter which had slumbered in their veins in the imme- river and are buried in the Bearpaw Mountains of Montana 
 
 diate presence of the military authorites coursed rapidly as on October 5th. 
 
 114 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
27 
 
 A Hegira Militant 
 
 At the outset, the Nez Perce war presented no formidable 
 aspect to the soldiery. So General Howard considered the 
 situation. He heard of the murders and then sent this dis 
 patch to division headquarters: "Troops are being brought 
 forward as fast as possible. Give me authority for twenty 
 scouts. Think we will make short work of it." 
 
 Among the troops that were hurried from the nearest posts 
 were officers and men who had seen hard service in the Civil 
 war. There were veterans of the Modoc war. But they were to 
 fight resolute men of red skin, fight them in their habitats, 
 amid surroundings admirably adapted to their peculiar style 
 of campaigning. The Indians were few in number Howard had 
 estimated them at about seven hundred, including old men, 
 women and children. Surely no terrible problem confronted 
 the West Point officers and the veterans of other wars. 
 
 In such light was an inconsequential uprising once upon a 
 time along the Rhine; yet Arninius sent reeling back to Rome 
 the trained soldiers of his day, and an enperor wailed, 
 "Quintillius Varus, give me back my legions." William Tell 
 and a handful of resolute, resourceful fellows, thouroughly 
 familiar with the crags and passes of the Alps long hurled 
 defiance at Austria. Scottish border wars are replete with 
 the story of the difficulty met by an invading force upon the 
 native crags, glen and heaths of the Scottish chiefs. In Idaho 
 and Montana were the Alps, the ambuscades and the High 
 land glen in which a modern Quintilius Varus might lose his 
 legions. But a more cautious man than Varus directed the 
 trained soldiery against Joseph's little band. 
 
 The question is yet mooted whether Joseph had a hand in 
 the murders near Grangeville. He has been acquitted of par 
 ticipating in the first murders. The red handed rode into his 
 camp swinging scalps, showing horses, rifles and clothing. 
 "Come!" is the explanation. "Why remain here talking. The 
 war has begun. The white men will never believe you if you 
 ask for peace. Everybody get ready to fight!" 
 
 The die is cast. Joseph's primitive nature was too loyal 
 to race standards to permit him to side with the common 
 enemy or to remain inactive. His sympathies were with for 
 cible resistance. He gathered his blanket about him, placed 
 an eagle plume in his glistining locks and went over, grandly 
 and solemnly. Thereby he made for himself a niche in his 
 tory among leaders of forlorn racial hopes. 
 
 Instinctively he grasped the situation. A few days of fierce 
 fighting before large reinforcements could arrive, then re 
 treat. He would strike viciously, as the eagle protecting the 
 occupants of his aerie. What his talons would tear from the 
 
 J 
 
 Sitting Bull 
 
 battle field he would distribute with dovelike tenderness to 
 his people in preparing them for the long, tedious, awful 
 flight away from their old home haunts. He looked east across 
 the ridge of the continent. Thither had escaped Kamiahkin 
 and Til-co-ax and their little band of renegades. In that coun 
 try of the mountains had been the famous hunting grounds. 
 There was the "buffalo illahee". Every winding canyon and 
 by-path, every obstructing mountain or stream, every open 
 plain and every tangled forest was familiar ground. There 
 too, was that other fierce personification of Indian protest 
 against the army, Sitting Bull, now with his friends and fel 
 lows his lares and penates, across the international pale, 
 unpunished for the Custer massacre of the previous year. 
 None had more wiry ponies than the mountain Nez Perces. 
 None knew better how to push them to the last gasp among 
 the rocks and over fallen timber. The loss of half or more 
 of the animals meant nothing so long as the old men and the 
 women and children, rearguarded by elusive bidettes 
 
 115 
 
and the most mobile guerillas in the world, were transported 
 to the hoped for country. 
 
 Sitting in a well chosen camp in the bottom of White Bird 
 canyon, Joseph, his brother Ollicut, White Bird and Too-hul- 
 hul-sote, awaited the coming of the avengers. Looking Glass 
 had not yet gone over. Weary with two nights and one day of 
 forced marching from Fort Lapwai, Captain Perry and his 
 cavalrymen reached the top of the defile leading down into 
 the valley of White Bird creek. 
 
 "No, White Bird, there is no need yet to cross over the 
 Salmon. They will attack now. Their are too new. They will 
 scare when we begin to shoot. Take your men and turn the 
 Bostons around that butte. I will get over there behind those 
 rocks and wait. Mox-Mox and the women must take care of 
 the horses and let us have some if yours are shot down. Ol 
 licut must be with me. Take down the lodges. Let every man 
 be ready to start." 
 
 With these words Joseph assumed the leadership. Thence- 
 after he towered imperiously and by force of will and by 
 consummate skill above his associates. 
 
 With the troops yet four miles away in the dawn of early 
 morning, the Indian camp melted away like snow, sunk in 
 visible into the ground, in the hollows and behind the buttes 
 and among the rocks. 
 
 In the attack it was as Joseph had predicted. The soldiers' 
 horses became unmanageable at the noise and smoke of bat 
 tle. From ravine and gulch and rock belched the smoke of 
 the red men. Captain Perry's bugler movement were watched 
 and he was hot at the first fire. Brave men could not join in 
 a concerted movement. Up the flanks of White Bird canyon 
 toiled the retreating soldiers, closely pressed by the pursuing 
 Indians. 
 
 "It was only by the most strenuous efforts of myself and 
 Colonel Parnell in organizing a party of 22 men that a single 
 officer or man reached camp," wrote Captain Perry. "The 
 Indians fought us to within four miles of Mount Idaho." 
 
 Over one third of the attacking force of 100 soldiers enter 
 ing the battle were killed or missing. 
 
 The eagle's talons had struck, and that night in the Indian 
 camp pigeon's milk was distributed, in the form of clothing, 
 rifles and ammunition, 
 
 "Looking Glass will come" said Joseph to White Bird. 
 
 It is not to the purpose of these studies to recite in detail 
 the military steps in the Nez Perces war. The facts belong 
 to the period of "since the war," and there are many yet 
 living who recall the chiei events. 
 
 Joseph was a master of feints. Within a few days he struck 
 several blows. Lieutenant Rains and ten pieced men were 
 cut off and killed, every man. A volunteer company under 
 Captain Randall had been stricken. He had foiled the attempt 
 to place Looking Glass under arrest. Not once in the week 
 following White Bird canyon did he reveal to the troops his 
 ultimate plan. But he was going to strike once more, and 
 this time at Howard himself, not any subordinate command. 
 
 The clash came of the Clearwater river a two days 
 fight. Honors were even at the close of the first day and the 
 opposing forces slept on their arms within ear-shot of each 
 other. This, too, after Howard had received reinforcements. 
 On the second day Jackson's cavalry came up, a charge and 
 Joseph's camp was broken up. Then came the long chase. It 
 is this chase and retreat which is the most wonderful part of 
 
 the Nez Perce war. Joseph turned toward the Lolo trail, and 
 Howard knew the plan. 
 
 Take down the map of Idaho and Montana. Joseph is part 
 way up the Clearwater toward Lolo pass. Howard, with his 
 troops, are on the lower Clearwater. At Missoula is General 
 Gibbon. At an improvised fort on the Lolo river is Captain 
 Rawn, with a few regular soldiers and many volunteers. To 
 the east of the Rocky Mountains are General Sturgis and 
 General Miles. At various intervals, dotted all over the area 
 in question were many knots of brave men, skilled in wood 
 craft, unerring with the rifle, knowing the mountain glens 
 and the points of vantage. It would seem an easy matter to 
 catch the miscreant redskin in his small horde. 
 
 This is how the "untutored savage" ran the guantlet. When 
 Jospeh approached Rawn's fort, the volunteers deemed it 
 discreet on their part to give the invaders free passage 
 through their country in return for which Joseph ravaged no 
 farmsteads, but took toll for his larders and his herds. This 
 permitted him to swing southward up the Bitter Root in 
 advance of Gibbon, hurrying from Missoula to intercept him. 
 It kept Howard in the rear, no nearer than when the chase 
 first began. It caused Gibbon to chase on alone, ultimately 
 sending back word to Howard for cavalry reinforcements 
 before he would overtake the fleeing Indians. 
 
 At the head of the Bitter Root valley is the continental 
 divide big, grim! The pace was telling on the pursuers. Jo 
 seph knew it. His ponies had left little natural forage for the 
 heavy animals of the cavalrymen. Howard records: "The 
 only feed consists of wild dwarf lupine and wire grass. 
 Several mules exhausted and some packs of bacon were aban 
 doned by the way." 
 
 The troops made sixteen miles in one day. Camp routine 
 generally began between the hours of three and four in the 
 morning. Breakfast came an hour later and the start of the 
 march still another hour later. Ridge after ridge in the 
 wildest and most isolated part of the country, chasm and 
 gorge, acclivity and declivity, jagged rocks and rounded 
 boulders, timber standing and timber fallen and crisscrossed 
 into a natural abattus and cheval de frise, confronted the sol 
 diery. At every tangled point lay the bodies of the ponies 
 pushed to the death by Joseph's men, and then abandoned. 
 Where the lithe Indian pony was doing its utmost, nothing 
 better could be expected from the cavalry animal. Says an 
 old frontiers man, "No living man kin git as much out of a 
 boss as an Injun when he's put to it." 
 
 Spies told Joseph all these things spies who mingled as 
 friendly Indians with the few settlers along the way; and then 
 during the night disappeared. It was time to make a strike at 
 Gibbon, thought Joseph. But before he carried out his design 
 Gibbon had struck him. The result was a draw, in the first 
 instance, but the Indians evacuated the Big Hole as Howard 
 drew near, leaving the corpse of Looking Glass along the 
 waters of the creek. As if in exchange for his fellow chief, 
 Joseph took toll of the army by three officers and 26 men 
 dead. It was here that Howard caught up with Gibbon. 
 
 At Camas Meadows Joseph surprised the encampment and 
 made off with many mules and horses belonging to the mil 
 itary. Then on to Henry Lake and the Yellowstone mountains, 
 striking back here, rushing forward there. From the National 
 Park Joseph turned abruptly to the northwest, avoided a 
 planned attack of General Sturgis, crossed the Missouri river 
 
 116 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
and entered the country of Bear Paw mountains, but had also 
 actually dodged General Sturgis whose business it was to 
 head him off, later delivering a stinging blow to Sturgis. It 
 was after this skirmish on the Stinking Water river, that 
 Miles was notified of the situation and requested to help in 
 the round up. 
 
 Look back now to the main events. The battle of the Clear- 
 water, which marks the commencement of Joseph's mar 
 velous flight, was fought on the llth and 12th of July. On the 
 llth of September Joseph fooled Sturgis and escaped the trap 
 set for him. For two months, then, thisNez Perce chief had 
 run along the ridge of the continent, dodging and eluding the 
 trained soldiery of a nation. On a small scale, this kind of 
 tragedy is enacted frequently in the settled part of the 
 country, where a company of boys attempt to catch a nimble 
 squirrel whose pathway is the jerky course of the topmost 
 of the old fashioned "stake and rider" fence only the 
 squirred never turns and strikes back at his tormentors. 
 
 The condition of some of Howard's command may best be 
 described by a question from the diary of one of Captain 
 Jackson's troop of the First cavalry: "Sept. 2 Left camp 
 at 9 o'clock. Horses very weak!" 
 
 On September 10th another record: "Hard work; don't 
 know which is worse, for me to walk or for my trembling 
 horse to carry me." 
 
 "Why didn't Sturgis use his artillery on Joseph?'* asked 
 Howard of Lieutenant Fletcher, and the answer was: "The 
 horses were so weak that one piece never got up, and the 
 other only succeeded in getting in one shot." 
 
 A Lieutenant once in a burst of dispiritedness blurted out 
 to General Howard that he "wished he could have the mili 
 tary committee of Congress ride played-out horses a thou 
 sand miles." 
 
 On the 4th of October, Miles closed with Joseph, captured 
 the greater part of his herd of ponies and drove the Indians 
 to seek shelter in the ravines and between rocks. That night 
 the indomitable Indians, worn by a harrying march of one 
 third of a year's time, dug rifle pits and threw up emergency 
 intrenchments. By the march of the army, they had travelled 
 more than thirteen hundred miles. Their own course, with 
 deviations, doublings feints and the like make the actual dis 
 tance covered considerably greater. The almost unbroken 
 trail of dead animals showed how they accomplished the feat. 
 
 It was the tragedy of fate that Miles' attack on Joseph's 
 camp took place when he was within fifty miles of his goal - 
 the Dominion of Canada and Sitting Bull's cantonment. At 
 two o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th of October, in the 
 midst of bitter mountain cold, with sufferings of his ill clad 
 
 people under his eyes, Joseph gave in, White Bird with two 
 wounded squaws and a party of about twenty, escaped between 
 the pickets and vanished. None could give the pathos of the 
 situation in which the great Chieftain found himself and his 
 people better than the resourceful leader himself. Standing 
 erect, dignified, conscious of having done his best against 
 terrible odds, in surrendering his scepter, he spoke as 
 follows: 
 
 "I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking 
 Glass is dead. Too-Hul-Hul-sote is dead. The old men are 
 dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led 
 the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. 
 The little children are freezing to death. My people, some 
 of them, run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no 
 food. No one knows where they are perhaps freezing to 
 death. I want time to look for my children, and see how 
 many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among 
 the dead. Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired! My heart is 
 sick and sad! 
 
 From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more 
 forever!" 
 
 Joseph claimed that his surrender was conditioned that 
 he should go back to Idaho in the following spring and become 
 a part of the race on the Nez Perce reservation. General 
 Sheridan ordered the band to Fort Leavenworth, and later 
 to Oklahoma. In ten years death and disease had reduced the 
 band to about 280 individuals, which was the number that 
 took up its home at Nespelim, near the Columbia river, on 
 the Colville reservation in the state of Washington. Here he 
 died in 1904, in outward demeanor every inch a chieftain of 
 a proud race. 
 
 There was this about Joseph - - the pledge he made in the 
 Bear Paw mountains of Montana was never broken, and those 
 who knew best say that having given his word, the thought 
 of armed resistance never again entered his plans. 
 
 The last glimpse America had of this commanding figure 
 of Indian life in the Pacific Northwest, was at the St. Louis 
 exposition in 1903, where he appeared in the doleful char 
 acter of an exhibit. In this appearance he breathed nothing 
 of that tenacity and fondness for his beautiful Wallowa val 
 ley. Almost invisible was the lofty imperiousness with which, 
 on behalf of a mere handful of his race, he accepted the gage 
 of a powerful nation. Forgot, that masterly military genius 
 which for four long months over mountain trail devoted 
 itself to stinging the traditional enemy and to soothing his 
 people. 
 
 A HEGIRA MILITANT 
 
 117 
 
28 
 
 Sergeant Sutherland's Ride 
 
 It was inevitable that the Nez Perce war should have its 
 quota of heroic figures. Flint was striking flint. Avenging 
 soldiery was pitted against sullen Indian pugnacity directed 
 by a leader of consummate resources, and the contest took 
 place in an arena of vast proportions, now regarded as one of 
 the world's greatest wonderlands. In White Bird canyon and 
 on the Clearwater in Idaho, Howard's soldiers proved their 
 mettle, and in proving it made record of brave men killed 
 and wounded. Gibbon's men, on the western edges of Montana, 
 left graves of intrepid officers and gallant men in and about 
 the Big Hole, where the body of Looking Glass lies moldering 
 under the bank of a swift mountain stream. And there was not 
 lacking among the men of Miles in that last benumbing 
 struggle in the Bearpaw mountains the qualities for offensive 
 fighting which have ever attended the guerdons of America's 
 trained soldiery. The exhilirating shock of conflict always 
 exalts strife, and men exult. 
 
 In a farmhouse in the southeastern part of Spokane 
 County, Washington, has been perserved a little note book 
 which was carried in a breast pocket through all those 
 weary days of 1877 over the toilsome miles which intervened 
 between Fort Klamath, Oregon and Fort Ellis, Montana. It 
 was carried by one of Captain Jackson's troopers who com 
 posed a part of Major Sanford's cavalry division of Howard's 
 fighting force. The little book is filled with brief, pointed 
 sentences, telling meagerly of some events, under date. 
 There is frequent reference to "poor feed for horses." 
 There is one reading "Horses very weak think Gen. 
 giving up hope of overtaking Inds." 
 
 But there is one brief note, very brief, which encompasses 
 a long drawn-out persistent personal heroism which had 
 rarely been paralleled for its rugged adherence to the line 
 of duty under depressing circumstances. That note in its 
 entirety is: 
 
 "Aug. 6 Hot Springs, Geoghegan started." 
 
 Five words and an Arabic numeral; yet in the memory of 
 William Connolly, erstwhile sergeant in Troop B, First 
 United States cavalry, and corroborated by General Howard 
 in his recollections of the Joseph campaign, those few words 
 contained a recital of the most dramatic epsiode of a spec 
 tacular war. 
 
 When Howard settled down in camp at some warm springs 
 near Lolo pass in the Bitter Roots, his men had their first 
 comfortable rest and his horses and mules their first real 
 fill of grass since leaving the lower streams of the Clear- 
 water nearly a month earlier. In the gorges and chasms 
 which marked the ascent of the western slopes of the Bitter 
 
 Root range, the Indian ponies had left not a vestige of horse 
 forage except the bark of the trees and the shrubs. 
 
 Emerged at last into one of the side reaches of the Bitter 
 Root valley, the general, his men and his beasts found an 
 oasis. The prospect had given but its first dash of en 
 couragement, when Howard received word that Cap tain Rawn 
 had left Joseph and let him go by his fortified position, that 
 the settlers of the Montana valley had given the Nez Perces 
 horses and food, thus passing them on out of the immediate 
 vicinity that Gibbon had passed by from Missoula a few days 
 earlier with only 200 men. And Gibbon could not accomplish 
 much, volunteered those selfsame settlers, who now felt 
 outside the danger zone. In one of those grim moments of the 
 grim pursuit of the great red general, a request came from 
 Gibbon to Howard for a hundred cavalry by forced marches 
 to his assistance. 
 
 "Major Sanlord has been complaining for days of the poor 
 condition of his horses." ventured the adjutant. 
 
 "I know," sighed the weary, one-armed veteran, "but if 
 we can't send Gibbon the men, we can send him word that 
 our whole cavalry column will hurry forward, I must do this 
 much. Send me a good man, well mounted, at nightfall." 
 
 After mess, when night had settled down over the rocky 
 crags which compose the Lolo landscape, a sergeant saluted 
 the general, and said, "Sergeant Sutherland, sir, detailed 
 with the compliments of Captain Jackson to your service." 
 
 The general looked up to see what manner of man had been 
 sent to him for hazardous work. Sergeant Oliver Sutherland 
 was 38 years old, stocky and erect. He was not dressed for 
 parade. His chevrons were soiled. His blouse was wrinkled. 
 That rent in his trousers was made by the caulk of his horse 
 while the pair swam the turbid waters of the river at Kakuiak 
 on the 27th day of July. Surely Sergeant Sutherland showed 
 service wear. 
 
 "This is extraordinary duty," began the general. 
 
 "Yes Sir." 
 
 "Previous service, I suppose?" 
 
 "In recent years at Klamath, Tule Lake and Lost River 
 in the lava country, Sir." 
 
 "Modoc war" observed the general, and then, "I want a 
 message delivered to General Gibbon. He's somewhere in 
 the country of the Big Hole, ninety miles away. An Indian will 
 guide you. Tell General Gibbon that General Howard is 
 coming on as fast as possible by forced marches with 200 
 cavalrymen to give him assistance." 
 
 When the soldier had left the tent, the general mused, 
 "Conceive of a brave man starting out at night, in this wild 
 
 119 
 
country, with only an Indian guide." Later wrote Howard: 
 "The way was rugged, the night was dark, the distance was 
 great, and he a stranger; but he was resolute and a soldier." 
 
 That night on the picket line stood Sergeant Sutherland 
 and the Indian. With them was Sergeant Connolly, messmate 
 and bunky of the courier. A generous half of the remaining 
 plug of tobacco went to the departing one; also the remains 
 of a flask obtained in a manner experience to soldiers. A 
 moment, and then the black forest swallowed the white sol 
 dier and his red companion. 
 
 "Don't like Flatheads in a pinch like this," muttered 
 Connolly as he stumbled across the camp to his blankets, 
 "he won't stick with Oliver when they get near the Nez 
 Perce." 
 
 All that night the sergeant and the Indian pursued the 
 famous Lolo trail through the rugged passes which line the 
 divide between Idaho and Montana. The Indian knew the 
 country they were to traverse only in a general way. He 
 cared little for the trail. With Sutherland it was different. 
 He had to save his horse. He would figure whether it was 
 more exhausting to ride around a fallen forest king, or force 
 the animal to stride over it. But in dale and glade and 
 mountain glen he plodded on, sometimes in the dense 
 darkness of the deep forest, again in the more open woods 
 where he could catch glints of the stars through the over 
 hanging evergreen fronds. 
 
 Of a sudden, they came upon the spur of a mountain which 
 seemed to block the way. By dismounting and slowly leading 
 their animals, a way was successfully negotiated over loose 
 rocks and along the precipitous sides. When dawn came 
 glimpses were had of the broader Lolo valley, opening away 
 toward the east. Cultivated fields were in evidence, but not 
 a sign of human habitant, not a dog to howl defiance to the 
 coyotes feeding off the carcasses of Joseph's abandoned 
 ponies. 
 
 Sergeant Connolly was right. Before the day closed, the 
 Flathead Indian guide had deserted the soldier and gone off 
 toward Missoula. For his purposes, he was then near enough 
 to Joseph. The morning hours of the second day found Suther 
 land ascending the Bitter Root valley. It was a very jaded 
 animal that he rode into the enclosure of the first settler he 
 encountered in the valley. The poor horse trembled in every 
 joint and sweat at every-pore, and the sergeant, dismounting 
 looked hard at the -red on the flank by the stirrup. 
 
 "Good morning," he said to the settler, "I'm bearing dis 
 patches to General Gibbon from General Howard, and must 
 have a horse. Have you got one? The quartermaster will 
 settle." 
 
 "Yes, not tamed much, but if you've got spunk - - Say, 
 you've got to go smart to catch Gibbon; he's got three days 
 the start of ye." 
 
 A little coffee and some bread, and Sutherland turned again 
 toward the head of the valley, one of the wildest places along 
 the crest of the American continent. The new mount was a 
 half broken colt, but Sutherland was a horseman and, though 
 tired kept his seat. Some furlongs were traversed with the 
 recalcitrant horse performing all the antics of a "bucker". 
 Then the saddle girth broke, and the sergeant fell heavily 
 to the ground. He held to the reins, but a terrific wrench of 
 the back and loins rendered him incapable of remounting. In 
 spite of his predicament Sutherland pressed on, leading the 
 
 animal, until the tesilient forces of the human frame rallied, 
 and with great effort he regained the saddle. 
 
 Under such circumstances the solitary sergeant move on 
 through the forest and among the jangled rocks for another 
 day and night - - in the darkness travelling to the accompani 
 ment of the wierd noises of the nocturnal mountain beasts, 
 in the day noting the impediments thrown away by the fleeing 
 Joseph and the pursuing Gibbon. 
 
 Near noon of the 9th-- 60 odd hours after he had left How 
 ard, Sutherland caught a glimpse of the welcome army blue. 
 For hours he had noted the tracks of moccasined feet in the 
 soft places as he descended the eastern slope of the Rockies 
 toward the Big Hole. The first thought on seeing the uniform 
 of a soldier was that an engagement had been fought with re 
 sults disastrous to Gibbon's command. He had chanced upon 
 a detachment of citizens, volunteers and incapacitated sol 
 diers left behind by Gibbon as he rushed forward to make a 
 night attack on the Nez Perce. 
 
 The information he gleaned from this detachment is best 
 told by Sutherland himself in a note left behind with one of 
 the irregulars and which was preserved by General Howard 
 as "the brief record of a brave and derserving man." 
 
 On the Big Hole trail, about 20 miles from 
 Ross's Hole, 12 m., Aug 8-77. 
 
 General: I arrived here enroute to General Gibbon's 
 command ten minutes ago. I find the train of General Gib 
 bon in camp, with a guard of about 18 men, citizens and 
 soldiers. General left here last night, with a force of 
 (say) about 180 men, and has been fighting all day, but 
 his exact whereabouts unknown to party here. 
 
 In conformity with orders from General Gibbon a party 
 of three non-commissioned officers and seven privates 
 started from here at daybreak and were attacked about 
 three miles out; one corporal killed, two sergeants 
 wounded and two men missing; howitzer lost with 15 
 rounds of ammunition; also 2,000 rounds calibre 45; pack 
 mule killed. As near as I can learn, the sergeant in charge 
 scattered and destroyed the ammunition; also fired three 
 rounds at Indians. It appears from the attack that Indians 
 are between General Gibbon and this camp. I find the men 
 here somewhat uneasy, but determined to stand off the 
 Indians at all hazards. I take two men from here and 
 start in five minutes to reach General Gibbon. 
 
 Would respectfully state, in explanation of seeming 
 delay on my part, that I was thrown from an unbroken 
 horse and my back severly hurt, my progress from that 
 point being attended with severe suffering. I am, 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 0. Sutherland, Sergeant 
 
 Company B, 1st Cavalry. 
 
 This tired, crippled courier, after a forced ride of more 
 than sixty hours, announced his intention of reaching General 
 Gibbon with two men, when ten had failed attempt. 
 
 At the moment of starting the "two men" refused to go. 
 They said it was impossible to reach Gibbon. They even 
 reasoned that Gibbon and his command had met their fate. 
 But undaunted, Sutherland tightened his belt and went on, not 
 deigning a farewell as he started for the ridge which sep 
 arated him from the Big Hole. After he had gone, a civilian 
 wagonmaster, saddled his horse and overtook the courier. 
 
 120 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
When the summit was reached, the pair speculated as to 
 the location of Gibbon. They heard no shots. They decided to 
 try a spur which jutted eastwardly from the main ridge. They 
 kept near the summit; Indians would be in the valley; also, 
 they would have a broader view from the higher ground. 
 With eyes and ears alert, they had proceeded some miles 
 when what seemed the reverberation of a shot echoed through 
 the mountains. But it gave no clue. 
 
 They went cautiously on and once, looking down the hillside 
 through a gap in the trees, Sutherland saw spread out before 
 him in the valley a large Indian encampment. He saw neither 
 Indian nor white. At intervals there came up the noise of 
 irregular shooting. If the soldiers were shooting, they were 
 firing at will. Keeping his horse under cover of the trees, 
 Sutherland continued the descent into the valley hoping at 
 each step to find an opening through the foliage by which he 
 could inform himself of the exact situation. 
 
 He felt that Gibbon must be somewhere about, if living. He 
 talked to the wagonmaster about it. Once they saw what the 
 shooting meant the Indians, from the willows along the 
 banks of the creek, were "potting" wounded soldiers. There 
 had been a fight and Gibbon had not been victorious. 
 
 A slight noise behind, and Sutherland turned to see the 
 wagonmaster in full retreat. "Has Gibbon's command really 
 been wiped out?" mused the lonely one on the mountain side. 
 
 In way of negative speculation, he moved his horse onward. 
 Trees obstructed his view of the Nez Perce wickieups. The 
 shooting ceased. 
 
 "Did that last shot mean the last of life of the last of 
 Gibbon's men?" The whole world for an answer that minute," 
 he later told Sergeant Connolly. 
 
 How quiet it became under those big trees! Not the call of a 
 bird, or the frightenedly rustle of a chipmunk. The squeaking 
 of the saddle straps became unconscionably loud. The horse's 
 hoofs made din of stirring up the pine needles. Sutherland 
 strained his ears to catch some sound save the screaming of 
 his saddle gear and the thunder of the hoofs. For many 
 moments it was thus, the situation tense, oppressive, killing. 
 
 Sutherland's mind was wideawake. "A shout will re veal my 
 presence to the hostiles he thought, and in an instant he 
 added "Whites might hear it too." Here was his dilemma. 
 He must elect. Sitting there in that vast, sloping evergreen 
 stillness, he cast the die. 
 
 Straightening in his stirrups, filling lungs to their utmost 
 capacity, with hand to cheek, he broke that primeval quiet 
 with the strong, resonant tones. 
 
 "Hoa-oa-oa, Gibbon!" 
 
 The spell fled with the going out of that call, and it awoke 
 the dormant echoes as it sped along. Alert to catch answering 
 call or sign of hostile movement, in a moment from the east, 
 near the foot of the spur upon which he stood came the unmis 
 takable call of a white throat: 
 
 "Thi-i-is wa-a-ay!" 
 
 A dig of the spur, and horse and rider plunged forward 
 through the timber. But urge his horse as he could, he ran 
 the gauntlet of scattering Nez Perce shots. 
 
 Ten minutes later General Gibbon, wounded, looked up 
 from his improvised cot and received the message from 
 General Howard. He had been worsted in the day's fighting 
 and had lost three officers and 26 men. Before morning Jo 
 seph went on toward the Yellowstone country; the appearance 
 of a soldier on the mountain side had told him that Howard 
 was near. 
 
 Turn now to the man, Geoghegan. When the State of Wash 
 ington was admitted to the union in 1889, Clarke county sent 
 as their representative to the first legislature on of the 
 prominent business men of Vancouver, his name was John 
 D. Geoghegan. He became a candidate for the first speaker- 
 ship of that legislature, but threw his chances to the wind 
 when he found that his chief opponent was to be his personal 
 friend, Colonel J. M. Feighan. In 1895 when insurgent forces 
 tried to draw the Republican party into fusion with the 
 Populists, Hon. John D. Geoghegan was the presiding officer. 
 
 "He was a remarkable man and one of the best presiding 
 officers I have ever known," says a former United States 
 Senator. 
 
 The United States Army record has this: 
 
 GEOGHEGAN, JOHN DENNIS - Private, corporal, ser 
 geant H 18th Inf; 1862-65; private, sergeant and first ser 
 geant C 19th Inf-1865-6; 2nd Lieut 10th Inf. April 1866; 1st 
 Lieut Jul 1866 resigned Sept. 1866, private and sergeant B, 
 1st cavalry under name of Oliver Sutherland, Dec. 1872 to 
 Dec. 1877. Died June 19, 1896." 
 
 SERGEANT SUTHERLAND'S RIDE 
 
 121 
 
29 
 
 Harvest of Fifty Years 
 
 
 Si 
 
 - 
 
 I 
 
 The miner, the farmer, the fisherman, the sailor, the town 
 builder and the railroad builder - every primary and pro 
 ductive man sees before him an endless chance of profitable 
 work for himself and for his opinions and in many activities 
 there may yet be a certain crude ness of thought and of action 
 such as is characteristic of all newly settled communities; 
 but there is nowhere a lack of power, of efficiency, or of self 
 confidence; and the total volume of performance is amazing. 
 It is as much as to say: 
 
 "You can forsee the limit of population and even of the 
 kinds of activity in New England, or in Iowa; but you cannot 
 see the limit of either." 
 
 A few months since thus wrote a man of large and varied 
 experience with peoples and classes, of wide observation of 
 man and conditions and of conservative and matter of fact 
 
 temperament. He wrote it of the people of the entire Pacific 
 Northwest, but it is essentially true of the Inland Empire of 
 the Columbia. 
 
 An extended disquisition on conditions and affairs in the 
 vast Columbia valley since Colonel George Wright made his 
 unparallel campaign is impossible within the limits of any 
 one volume; but to those unfamiliar with the facts of today 
 who have caught something of a mental picture of the times of 
 Kamiahkin and Joseph form the foregoing pages it may prove 
 of interest to note some facts of the period intervening and 
 of the close of that period. 
 
 The condition of the military has changed, and garrisons 
 and posts on a frontier have gone through a complete 
 revolution. Colonel Wright recommended that there be no 
 post established north of the Snake river, but suggested that 
 
 123 
 

 *^P| i ur ^-f^^^^ ," 
 
 Fort Spokane, October, 1880 
 
 marches be made by the troops through the region. General 
 Harney had reasons for bringing into existence the American 
 Fort Colville in 1859. 
 
 The post was located on Mill creek about four miles north 
 east of the present town of Colville. During the Civil war it 
 was garrisoned by volunteers. It consisted of log buildings. 
 Its history was peaceful, its end serene. For months after 
 the post was deserted by the troops under the officer now 
 known as General Henry C. Merriam, a quartermaster 
 was the sole occupant. The time came when his time of 
 service was ended and the post was left to the tender mercies 
 of the dear people who soon dismantled it. Its flagstaff was 
 cut down and sold in the town of Colville for fire wood. The 
 official term of the post was encompassed by the dates, June 
 30, 1859 and November 1st, 1882. 
 
 When the soldiers left Fort Colville they came down the 
 Columbia river and established at Lake Chelan and Camp 
 Chelan. But that station was short lived for its location had 
 no merit from a military pointofview.lt was established on 
 September 2, 1879, and was formally closed on October 16, 
 1880. 
 
 Three days later the garrison flag was unfurled at Fort 
 Spokane. The thrust of the years and trend of events went on, 
 and there was no need of military post at the junction of the 
 Columbia andSpokane rivers. The buildings were transferred 
 
 from the control of the war department and have done service 
 as headquarters for the Spokane Indian agency and school. 
 Fort Lapwai, Idaho, sprang into existence as an emergency 
 point a Nez Perce Indian being in California during the gold 
 excitement, told a story of having seen in the mountains of 
 his native country a glittering object in a cliff, shining like 
 a star at night. Supposing at first that the object was some 
 great "Tomanowas," the Indians did not touch it, but sub 
 sequently examining it they discovered a glittering ball like 
 glass embedded in the solid rock. Among the men who heard 
 this story was E. D. Pierce, who in 1860 organized a party 
 of investigation. The Indians ordered them from the country, 
 but Pierce induced an Indian woman to guide him and his 
 party up the Clearwater. They never found the glittering ball 
 in the rock, but at a little mountain meadow up the north fork 
 of the Clearwater river, a member of Pierce' s party, 
 amused himself by washing out some sand. It contained gold 
 dust. The spot became the site of Oro Fino, the point of the 
 first discovery of gold in Idaho. Despite the governmental 
 prohibition not to settle Nez Perce lands, the town of Lewis- 
 ton also grew. There was material for trouble and the govern 
 ment selected the old home of Missionary Spaulding as a 
 site for one of its watch-houses. Fort Lapwai's prime 
 importance came in the early days of the Nez Perce war. It 
 was established in August, 1862, and had a life of 22 years. 
 
 124 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
A Picture Taken in the Early Days of Fort George Wright 
 
 Fort Coeur d'Alene, later known as Fort Sherman, was 
 established in 1878 at the outlet of Lake Coeur d'Alene. The 
 most exciting period of its history came during the mining 
 troubles of 1893. It caused to be built the first steamer to 
 navigate the lake, the "Mary Wheaton," whose purpose was 
 to transport hay for the cavalry horses from the Coeur 
 d'Alene mission. It went out of existence in 1900, and since 
 that time the grounds and buildings have been sold, and the 
 military reservation has become a popular residence section 
 of the city of Coeur d'Alene. 
 
 In a sense all of these military establishments were com 
 bined into the grand, modern post known as Fort George 
 Wright, erected on the little plain on the Spokane river, where 
 the expedition of 1858 rested after the all day running fight 
 known as the battle of Spokane Plains. 
 
 The Indian reservations are following the fate of the mil 
 itary reservations. As these lines are written, preparations 
 are making for throwing the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane re 
 servations open to settlement by the whites. It may be said 
 that these reservations have come and gone since 1858. Al 
 ready the north half of the old Colville and the Nez Perce 
 reservations will belong to the past. 
 
 But the wonder of the last fifty years in the Inland Empire 
 is shown in the richness of the endowments of nature. The 
 
 rivers descend from their high places. With curve and sweep 
 they come from the high lands hurled roughly upward. The 
 years nibbled the ancient rock and the frosts stabbed them. 
 The ages have awaited their attrition. Water and time and the 
 elements made the soil. 
 
 These insensate ancients waited for the white man long 
 after 1858. It was not until after the Civil war that advantage 
 was taken of Colonel Wright's work in preparing the way. 
 Settlers were comparatively few in the Inland Empire until 
 1876, when the nation was a hundred years old. Yet the in 
 crease in population was slow until the railroads only dream 
 ed of at Washington in 1858, pushed their way into the valleys. 
 Then the modern began to touch the ancient along the Colum 
 bia and its tributaries. The Major part of the development 
 has taken place within the last half of the years since 1858. 
 
 In 1858 the Inland Empire contributed nothing to civiliza 
 tion. In 1908 the territory, apartof which was characterized 
 by Colonel Wright as "a forbidden country" raised thirty 
 seven million bushels of wheat. It sent 300 carloads of ap 
 ples to the market of London alone. It shipped flour to China 
 alone of the value of twelve million dollars. Its farms pro 
 duced fifty millions of dollars worth of wealth. From its 
 mines come forty millions of dollars. The total product of 
 wealth for the year 1908 has been placed by competent au 
 thorities at $145,000,000. 
 
 HARVEST OF FIFTY YEARS 
 
 125 
 
But a procession of figures is useless in order to convey 
 the real condition of men and of life in the Inland Empire of 
 today, thus furnishing the other term in the ratio of this 
 great contrast of fifty years. 
 
 This chasm of half a century is not wide in time in an air 
 line as the years fly, but itisa tremendous span in develop 
 ment along every line of human activity. On the one side vast 
 stretches of unproductive land; on the other wheatfields fam 
 ous the world over, orchard and garden and upland of mar 
 vellous fertility and fecundity. 
 
 The great areas of unused forest; now, producing more 
 manufactured lumber than the mind can conceive. 
 
 In 1858, two or three rough trails and the beginning of a 
 government road; in 1908, mile upon mile of transcontinen 
 tal steam railroad, with local branches teaching every con 
 siderable section, and electric railway sand well construe ted 
 public highways, over which spins the Mercy-like automobile. 
 
 There, Indian teepees and a few cabins; here, modern 
 cities and villages and towns and favored farm structures. 
 
 Echo, two crude mission schools; reality, colleges, normal 
 schools and structures by the wayside from which in re 
 sponse to the morning roll call rises a grand chorus from a 
 myriad of clear young throats. 
 
 Tentative, pioneer Jesuit religious services; accom 
 plished, the directive and educative force of countless chur 
 ches of every known belief under heaven. 
 
 Gone, those "pathless woods" and solitudes "where rolls 
 the Orgon and hears no sound save his own dashings;" 
 gained, the restlessness of an empire throbbing grandly with 
 every pulsation of Twentieth Century advancement and dili 
 gence. 
 
 An American half century which has outstripped "fifty 
 years of Europe" as they did "a cycle of Cathay." 
 
 If those minute men at Lexington swung a new government 
 into the firmament of nations, then those soldiers of Steptoe 
 huddled on Hardesty's hill on the evening of May 17, 1858, 
 by unconscious deed were fixing the star of the Inland Em 
 pire in the galaxy of the gardens of the earth. 
 
 126 
 
 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
30 
 
 Silhouette 
 
 "Once, All Mine and my People's" in those words were 
 summed up the agony of the last of the strong leaders of his 
 race. They were at once a soul's teardrop and a courtesy to 
 the inevitable. 
 
 The outburst come from the lips of Chief Garry of the 
 Spokanes as, standing before his teepee pitched on the hill 
 side to the west of Latah Creek, he looked down of an autumn 
 afternoon upon a growing city spread out from his feet far 
 eastward up the valley of the river which bears his tribal 
 name. From out of the East has ever come the remorseless, 
 obliterating invader. 
 
 Upon the waters which in by-gone autumns had been pierced 
 by the salmon weirs of his tribemen, Garry did not look. The 
 richly slanting rays of the declining sun threw into bold 
 prominence the roofs and western sides of the buildings of 
 the white man. The city had once been burned, but on this 
 afternoon was rising again in a larger, more powerful 
 exemplar of Anglo-Saxon aggrandizement. 
 
 A decade and a half earlier a shack had raised its pioneer 
 head to the heavens above the plain below the frusted hill. 
 Then came more shacks. Ultimately arose houses and 
 buildings. Now a long line of rails, gleaming in the sun, 
 marked a path between the multiplying structures, andfar up 
 the valley arose a cloud of black smoke telling the eye of 
 the metal horse thundering onward. 
 
 Garry had been a good Indian, according to the white man's 
 view of Indians. Sent when a boy, to the schools of the settle 
 ments of the Red River of the North as a protege of Sir 
 George Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company, Garry 
 returned to his people with broadened views of the white race 
 and its destinies. He also brought his new name, taken from 
 the historic old fort at Winnipeg. 
 
 In the years that passed since these Red River days, 
 Garry, leanring much of the meaning go his race of civili 
 zation. Between fires he had passed through the exciting 
 campaign of 1858, when the United States government had 
 thrust upon his people the alternative of peace or exter 
 mination. As tribal leader he was openly hostile then, but 
 in his heart he understood the futility of armed resistance. 
 His tribe would brook none of his counsels for peace. He was 
 threatened. Nominally, only nominally, was he hostile. He 
 bided the time when hard experience would show his the 
 correctness of views. With glad heart he signed the treaty 
 of peace and friendship, and set to work to heal the wounds 
 of a onesided war. 
 
 Yonder in the valley, as he stood there by his teepee in af 
 ter years, below his weary eyes were the very ripples of the 
 river through which he waded on a September day thirty-odd 
 years ago to hear the words of the military: "Garry, when 
 you bring all your horses and goods and women and children 
 and lay them at my feet then I dictate to you the terms 
 upon which you may have peace." 
 
 Did the Indian reconstruct that scene as he gazed over the 
 city's housetops this afternoon of 1891? 
 
 Further to the north and on the sloping side of the valley, 
 showed the roofs of the lowly buildings he had erected when 
 he had broad faith in the whites man's way of doing things. 
 They were reminiscent of his labor for a home under the 
 white man's laws. Immigrants had found a flaw in Garry's 
 title to the ugly little tract of land, and by ukase from Wash 
 ington the Indian was ousted. He had made an honest attempt 
 to adapt himself to the new way; but never had he been more 
 homeless nomad than he was on this September day of 1891. 
 
 The frosts of time had now came upon Garry. His eye was 
 dimmed by age and privation and exposure. His sinews had 
 withered. He had leaned upon the white man's ways as upon 
 a crutch, and in the hour of his decrepitude had seen his re 
 liance crumble. His tribe had already gone to the reserva 
 tion. In a body from which the spirit had all but departed, he 
 slowly roamed the hillsides and valleys vainly looking for 
 life as he had known it in virile years in the free, halcyon 
 days of his youth when vigor still spurred his pulse beats. 
 His blind wife and his teepee were all of the old life that were 
 left. A few moons and they, too, would be gone. 
 
 As he stood there on this afternoon, was it given to him to 
 catch a glimpse of the scheme of Providence as races and 
 nations go? Had he seen enough in his span of life to under 
 stand that his kind had run their course, and that the works 
 under his eyes were simply significant of the activities of 
 a people elected to do grander, broader things? Could he see 
 that it had been his fate to be in that pathetic position which 
 is on the line of division between two eras of world progress? 
 Was he able to transcend his aboriginal nature and read in 
 the unfolding events the lines of another act in the earth old 
 tragedy of the ruthless thrusting aside of one people to make 
 way for another with a newer work to do? Could he catch a 
 single note of the grand dispason, "Through the ages one un 
 ceasing purpose runs?" 
 
 Unnoticed by the self-communing old figure, there came 
 up the hillside from below two persons on horseback. They 
 
 127 
 
were the doctor-major and his wife. Good hearted souls Pathetically his arm stretched out toward the houses be- 
 
 seeking to relieve distress, they were coming with medicines i ow an( j beyond the river. His face in inefiably sad and his 
 
 and clothing and delicacies for her who lay on a pallet of tones were low and halting as he entered the stricken teepee. 
 
 ^^^SLS^oted the old man. It was curt. His By the side of Ws invalid wife he ** stretched forth Ws 
 
 thoughts were with the long ago. He at once resumed com- arm m explanatory apology for his curt salutation: 
 
 templation of the sunlite scene spread out before him in the "Once all mine and my people's." 
 
 dying day. The doctor-major and his wife understood. 
 
 128 INDIAN WARS OF THE INLAND EMPIRE 
 
Index 
 
 Adrian, 35 
 
 Ahtanum, 14 103 
 
 Allen, 2nd Lt. Jesse K.. 53 
 
 Apaches, 3 
 
 Athabasca House, 6 
 
 Ball, 1st Sgt. Edward (later Major) 
 
 24, 64, 101 
 
 Barnes, Army Surgeon, 101 
 Beall, Benjamin Lloyd, 29 
 Beall, Thomas, 21, 29 
 Benton, 2 
 Big Star, 70, 71 
 Big Thunder, Chief, 111 
 Blenkinsop, George, 44 
 Blue Jacket, 6 
 Bolan, Andrew J., 14, 83 
 Bonaventure, 31, 35 
 Bonneville, 1 
 "Brother Johathan", 90 
 Buchanan, President, 4, 9, 
 Budd's Inlet, 10 
 Buford, 27 
 
 Cabinet Landing, 71 
 Camas Meadows, 116 
 Camass Prairie Creek, 69 
 Camayken (sic), 49 
 Captain Jack, 5 
 Cayuse, 49 
 Cataldo, Father, 112 
 Cerro Gordo, 21 
 Chaudries, 34 
 Cheyennes, 3 
 Clark, George Rogers, 2 
 Clark, Senator W. A., 71 
 Clarke, General Newman S., 10, 13, 
 
 14, 19, 25, 31, 40, 43, 45, 46, 47, 
 
 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 66, 80, 
 81 87, 88, 90, 91 
 
 Clark's Fork of the Columbia, 74, 87 
 
 Clear Lake, 67 
 
 Clearwater River, 116 
 
 Coeur d'Alene City, 73 
 
 Coeur d'Alene Indians, 6, 14, 23, 25, 
 
 31, 32-35 38, 46, 48-50, 55, 65, 
 
 69, 73-77, 79, 88 
 Coeur d'Alene Lake, 74, 75, 77 
 Coeur d'Alene Mission, 74, 76, 77 79, 
 
 100 
 
 "Columbia" Steamer, 51 
 Columbia Valley, 2, 5, 7, 9 
 Colville, 19, 20, 23 28, 33, 38, 39, 43, 
 
 49, 55, 58, 65 
 Colville Trail, 69 
 Colville Valley, 7 
 Comanches, 2, 3 
 
 Congiato, Father, 31, 37, 46, 47, 55.. 
 
 Connolly, Sgt., 120, 121 
 
 Cottonwood, 113 
 
 Council, 94 
 
 Cow Creek, 58 
 
 Cullen, Judge W. E., 71 
 
 "Cut Mouth John", 100 
 
 The Dalles, 20, 38, 48, 51, 88, 89, 91 
 
 Dandy, General George B., 58, 61, 66, 
 
 67, 68, 71, 84, 90, 91-97 
 Davidson, Lt. Henry B., 58, 60, 63, 
 
 64, 65, 70, 91, 96 
 
 Dean, Sgt. William (later Captain) 
 
 5, 68 
 Dent, Captain Frederick T., 45, 58, 
 
 65, 75, 91, 96 
 Edwall (or Lahto), 94, 95 
 Executions (of Qualchan), 83, 86, 94, 
 
 95 
 
 Feighan, Colonel J. M., 121 
 Flatheads, 17, 48 
 
 Fleming, Lt. H. B., 24, 28, 58, 91, 96 
 Fletcher, Lt. 117 
 Floyd, John B., 3, 4, 10 
 Fort Benton, 25, 66, 73, 89 
 Fort Cascades, 101 
 Fort Colville, 42, 44, 58, 91, 124 
 Fort Dalles, 45, 58, 75, 101 
 Fort Hall, 89 
 
 Fort Lapwai, 111, 116 124 
 Fort Laramie, 89, 90, 
 Fort Miller, 99, 100 
 Fort Okanogan, 53 
 Fort Sherman, 125 
 Fort Simcoe, 14, 47, 53 
 Fort Taylor, 53, 99, 101 
 Fort Vancouver, 31, 46, 51, 66, 80, 101 
 Fort Wagner, 21 
 Fort Walla Walla, 5, 19, 20, 25, 27, 28, 
 
 42, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 58, 64, 66, 
 
 88, 91, 101 
 
 Fort Wright, 67, 125 
 Four Lakes Battle, 27, 60, 65, 66. 92, 
 
 99 
 
 Fourth of July Canyon, 73 
 Francois, 35 
 Fraser River, 7, 14 
 Fremont, 1 
 Garnett, Major Robert Seldon, 3, 47 
 
 53, 83 
 Garry, Chief, 6, 14, 48, 49, 50, 63, 70, 
 
 81, 127, 128 
 Gaston Lt. 20, 23, 24, 28, 29, 42, 53, 
 
 58, 66, 86 88, 91 
 
 Geoghegan, John D., 121 
 Geronimo, 5 
 
 Gibbon, General, 116, 119, 120, 121 
 Gibbs George (Geologist), 109 
 Gibson, Lt. Horatio G., 58, 65, 66, 91, 
 96 
 
 Gibson's Train, 59 
 
 Graham, James A., 43, 44, 47, 50 
 
 Grangeville, 115 
 
 Granite Lake, 67 
 
 "Great American Desert", 4 
 
 Great Northern, 90 
 
 Gregg Lt. David McM, 19, 20, 24, 27, 
 
 30, 57, 63, 66, 91, 93 95 
 
 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 71, 93, 95 
 Grier Major William N., 30, 56, 60, 
 
 61-63, 65, 66, 67, 71, 93, 95 
 Hall, 1st Sgt. James A., 4 
 Hammond, Doctor James (John) F., 
 
 57, 92, 96 
 
 Hangman Creek, 70, 83, 86 
 Hardesty, J. G., 22 
 Hardie, Capt. James A., 58, 61, 65, 
 
 91, 96, 101 
 Harney, General William S., 88, 101, 
 
 124 
 
 Harvie, Lt., 20 
 Hill, Lt. Gabriel H., 99 
 Hoeken, Father A., 37, 39, 
 "Horse Slaughter Camp", 73, 86 
 Horses, Slaughter of, 70-72 
 Howard, Lt. James C., 58, 66, 97 
 Howard, General Oliver O., 111, 112, 
 
 115 116, 117 
 
 Hudson Bay Company, 6, 41, 42 
 Ihrie, Lt. George P., 58, 66, 92, 96 
 Ingerton, 1st Sgt. William H., 64 
 Ingossom Creek, 30, 86 
 Inland Empire, 1, 5, 67, 125 
 Irving, 1 
 
 Jackson, Captain, 119 
 Jacques, 34, 35 
 
 Johnston, General Albert Sidney, 39 
 "Jonathan, Brother" Steamer, 90 
 Joseph, Chief, 5, 111-117 
 Joseph, Father, 25 
 Joset, Father, 31, 37, 38, 46, 47, 55, 
 
 70, 71, 74, 77, 80, 81, 94, 100 
 Kamiahkin, Chief, 5, 6, 7, 31, 37, 46, 
 
 47, 53, 58, 65, 66, 71, 77, 83-86, 
 
 95, 103, 109 
 Kanasket, Chief, 91 
 Kenny, Sgt. Michael, 29, 30, 64 
 Kettle Falls, 42, 44 
 
Index (cont.) 
 
 Keyes, Captain Erasmus D., 54, 57, 
 
 60, 61, 63, 65, 75, 84, 92, 96, 99 
 Kickapoos, 3 
 Kiowa, 2, 3 
 Kip, Adjutant Lawrence, 20, 42, 51, 
 
 57, 58, 61, 63, 67, 71, 80, 81, 84, 
 88, 92, 99 
 
 Kirkham, Captain Ralph H., 54, 57, 
 
 58, 83, 92, 93, 96 
 
 Kitsap, 91 
 
 Lahto (or Edwall), 94, 95 
 
 Lansdale, B. H., 37 
 
 Latah Creek, 70, 81 
 
 Lawyer, Chief, 12, 49 
 
 Lawyer's Country, 49 
 
 LeQuout, 85 
 
 Leschi, 91 
 
 Lewis and Clark, 1, 2 
 
 Liberty, Stephen Settler, 71 
 
 Lolo Pass, 116, 120 
 
 Lolo Trail, 116 
 
 Long, 1 
 
 Looking Glass, Chief, 113, 115-117 
 
 Lynch, Private James, 29 
 
 Lyon, Hylan B., 58, 61, 92 
 
 McClellan, Captain, 58 
 
 McDowell, Major Irvin, 40 
 
 McGeon, 35 
 
 McKay, John, Pioneer, 67 
 
 McLoughlin, Dr. John, 41, 42 
 
 MacMurray, Major Junius W., 104 
 
 Mackall, Major W. W., 19, 43, 48, 56 
 
 Malkapsi (or Milkapsi), 14, 81, 84 
 
 Meadow Lake, 67 
 
 Medical Lake, 67 
 
 Miles, General Nelson A., 103, 116, 
 
 117 
 
 Mill Creek, 54 
 Mississippi Yager Rifles, 20 
 Mitcham, Lt. Col. O. D., 21 
 Modocs, 5 
 
 Morgan, General, 84, 88 
 Morgan, Lt. Michael R., 58, 71, 91, 95, 
 
 96, 99-101 
 
 Mormons, 3, 14, 25, 40, 45 
 Moses, Chief, 104 
 Mott, 16 
 Mt. Hope, 113 
 Mox Mox, 116 
 Mullan, Lt. John, 15, 18, 25, 30, 44, 
 
 46, 54, 57, 58, 61, 64, 66, 67, 69, 
 
 71, 73, 74, 92, 96, 99 
 Mullan Road, 4, 96 
 Navajos, 2, 3 
 
 Nesmith, J. W., 11 
 
 Nespelem, 117 
 
 New Mexico, 2 
 
 Nez Perce, 5, 6, 12, 17, 29, 33, 34, 44, 
 
 47, 50, 54, 57, 58, 87, 111-117 
 Northern Pacific, 4, 90 
 
 Ollicut, 116 
 Olympia, 10 
 Ord, Captain Edward O. C., 58, 65, 
 
 66, 93, 96 
 Oregon, 3, 4 
 Oregon Short Line, 89 
 Owen, Lt. Philip A., 57, 96 
 Owen's Ford, 37 
 Owhi, 53, 83-86, 88, 95 
 Own, Lt. P. A., 92 
 Owyhee (or Owhi), 101 
 Palouse, 3, 29 
 Palouse Indians, 5, 6, 19, 23, 34, 42, 
 
 48, 65, 77, 79, 87, 88 
 Parnell, Colonel, 116 
 Pat Kanim, 91 
 
 Pend Oreilles, 6, 17, 34, 48, 65, 69 
 
 Pender, Lt. William D., 57, 58, 66, 95 
 
 Perry, Captain, 116 
 
 Peyton, Colonel I. N., 67 
 
 Pieds Noirs, 34 
 
 Pierce, E. (?) D., 124 
 
 Pike, 1 
 
 Platte, 3 
 
 Pohlatkin, 6, 14, 48, 70, 81, 85, 94 
 
 Porter, Fitz John, 40 
 
 Post, Frederick, 74 
 
 Post Falls, 74 
 
 Prulin, Pierre (Chief), 32 
 
 Puget Sound Settlement, 1, 2 
 
 Qualchan (or Qualchew), 53, 84-86, 
 
 87, 88, 95, 101 
 Quimelt, 91 
 Rains, Lt., 116 
 Randall, Captain, 116 
 Randolph, Surgeon John F., 24, 27, 
 
 57, 64 
 
 Ransom, Lt. Dunbar R., 58, 92, 96 
 Rathdrum, 71 
 Ravalli, Father, 76, 80,100 
 Rawn, Captain, 116, 119 
 Red River, 3 
 
 Red Wolf's Crossing, 29, 64 
 Riparia, 21 
 Rock Lake, 84 
 Rocky Canyon, 113 
 Rodenbaugh, General T. F., 21 
 Rohn, Private John, 84 
 
 Rosalia, 22, 30 
 Sacramento, 40 
 St. Francis Regis, 42 
 Salem, Oregon, 18 
 Salt Lake Road, 15 
 Saltese, 71 
 San Francisco, 40 
 Scott, General Winfield, 21, 24 
 Seminoles, 3 
 
 Settlements on Columbia, 1, 2, 11 
 Settlements on Cowlitz, 5 
 Settlements on Puget Sound, 1, 2, 5, 
 9 
 
 Settlements in Walla Walla Valley, 
 2 
 
 Settlements on Willamette, 1, 2 
 Sheridan, General, 27, 117 
 Signers of Treaty (Indians), 80, 81 
 Witnesses to Signing of Treaty 
 
 (Military), 80 
 Silver Lake, 67 
 Sioux, 3 
 Sitting Bull, 5 
 Skloom, 53 
 "Skookum", 100 
 Slow-i-archy, Chief, 87 
 Smohalla, 7, 13, 103-105, 109, 111, 
 
 112, 113 
 
 Snake River, 3, 21, 24, 29, 52, 53, 54, 
 55, 56, 57, 58, 66 
 
 Spauldings at Lapwai Mission, 111 
 Splawn, Hon. A. J., 85 
 Spokane, 3, 37, 59, 66 
 Spokane Bridge, 58, 74 
 Spokane Expedition, 96, 99 
 Spokane Indians, 5, 6, 14, 19, 23, 33, 
 46-49, 55, 79, 88 
 
 Spokane Plains Battle, 27, 65, 67, 93 
 
 Steptoe Battle, 27 
 
 Steptoe, Colonel, 3, 11, 12, 15, 19-22, 
 
 24, 27, 29, 31, 35, 37, 42, 46, 48, 49, 
 
 50, 52, 53, 58, 66, 70, 77, 79, 80, 
 
 86, 91, 92, 94, 96 
 Stevens Treaties, 49, 89 
 Stevens, Isaac I., 4, 9, 10, 12, 16, 32, 
 
 37, 84, 89 
 Stuart, Jeb, 26 
 Sturgis, General, 115, 116 
 Sutherland, Sgt. Oliver, 119-121 
 Swan, James G., 10 
 Taylor, Brevet Capt., 20, 23, 24, 27- 
 
 30, 42, 58, 64, 86, 88, 91 
 Tetes Plattes, 34 
 Texas, 3 
 
Index (cont.) 
 
 Til-co-ax, 70, 71, 77, 83, 87, 94, 115 
 
 Timothy, Chief, 23, 29 
 
 Too-hul-hul-sote, 112-114, 116 
 
 Touchet, 54, 56 
 
 Treaty Making, 79-81 
 
 Treaty of Peace and Friendship be 
 tween U.S. and Coeur d'Aleen 
 Indians, 79-81 
 
 Trimble, Major Joel G., 20, 64 
 
 Tucanon River, 92 
 
 Tyler, Lt. Robert O., 58, 63, 65, 66, 
 91, 96 
 
 U.S. Military Academy, 27 
 
 Utah, 3, 40 
 
 Utes, 3 
 
 Vancouver, 51 
 
 Vincente, Chief, 33, 39, 47, 77, 94 
 
 Wailatpu, 2 
 
 Walla Walla, 2, 11, 30, 45, 50, 55, 58, 
 89 
 
 Walla Walla Council of 1855, 6, 9, 11 
 
 Walla Walla Indians, 49 
 
 Walton, Samuel, 71 
 
 Wampanoegs, 5 
 
 Wanapum (Tribe), 103 
 
 War Chants, 93 
 
 "Warm Springs" Reservation, 45 
 
 Washington Territory, 9 
 
 Webster, Capt. John McA. (Indian 
 
 Agent), 85 
 Wenatchee, 53 
 West Medical Lake, 67 
 Wheeler, Lt., 28, 29 
 White, Lt. James L., 52, 58, 61, 63, 
 
 65, 66, 75, 91, 92, 93 
 White Bird, Chief, 112-114, 116 
 Whitman, Marcus, 2 
 Whitman Valley, 49 
 Wichitas, 3 
 Wilkes, Commander, 67 
 
 Willamette Settlement, 1, 2, 17 
 
 Williams, Sgt., 30 
 
 Winder, Capt. Charles S., 24, 28, 58, 
 
 65, 66, 91, 96 
 Wolf's Lodge, 73 
 Wolf's Lodge Creek, 76 
 Wool, General, 10, 19 
 Wright, Colonel George, 3, 17, 19, 27, 
 
 29, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 65-72, 
 
 77, 79-81, 83-86, 88, 89, 90, 94, 
 
 95, 96, 101, 125, 163 
 Wright Expedition, 20, 21, 59, 73, 88 
 Wyse, Major F. O., 54, 92, 99 
 Yakima, 2, 3, 9, 38 
 Yakima Indians, 5, 19, 23, 53 
 York, 6 
 
 Young, Brigham, 4 
 Zacharia, 34, 35 
 
Notes 
 
Notes 
 
Notes 
 
Notes 
 
0830 
 
In!