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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The Hon. A. B. Meacham has committed to me the difficult and delicate, yet delightful task of revising the manuscript and arranging the table of contents of the present work. I have endeavored to review every page as an impartial critic, and have, as far as possible, retained, in all its simplicity and beauty, the singularly eloquent and fascinating style of the gifted author. The changes which I have made have been, for the most part, quite immaterial—no more nor greater than would be required
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
The chapter in our National history which tells our dealings with the Indian tribes, from Plymouth to San Francisco, will be one of the darkest and most disgraceful in our annals. Fraud and oppression, hypocrisy and violence, open, high-handed robbery and sly cheating, the swindling agent and the brutal soldier turned into a brigand, buying promotion by pandering to the hate and fears of the settlers, avarice and indifference to human life, and lust for territory, all play their parts in the dra
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
“Oh, that mine enemy would write a book!” With that ominous warning ringing in my ears, I sit down to write out my own observations and experiences, not without full appreciation of the meaning and possible reiteration of the above portentous saying. In so doing I shall endeavor to state plain facts, in such a way, perhaps, that mine enemies will avail themselves of the privilege. Hoping, however, that I may disarm all malice, and meet with a fair and impartial criticism, based on the principles
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
In 1846 Pow-e-shiek came with his band to visit his old home. We were “early settlers” then, and had built our cabins on the sloping sides of a bluff overlooking the valley below. From this outpost we descried the bands of piebald ponies and then the curling smoke, and next the poles of his wick-e-ups (houses); and soon we saw Pow-e-shiek coming to make known his wish that he might be permitted to pasture his stock on the fields which we had already robbed of corn. The recognition in me of one w
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
I have found a good country and more business than I can manage alone; come and help me. Better leave your family until you can see for yourself. You may not like it, though I do. Money is plenty, everything new, and prices keyed up to old “forty-nine” times. “Eureka.” Come; I am camping in four feet of snow, and cooking meals in a frying-pan, and charging a dollar; selling “slap jacks” two bits each; oats and barley at twelve cents, and hay at ten cents per pound, and other things at same kind
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
It was understood, in the treaty stipulation with the Government and these people, that they were to have the privilege of hunting and grazing stock in common with citizens on the public domain. In the exercise of this right, they made annual journeys to Grand Round and other valleys, east of the Blue mountains, driving before them, on these journeys, their horses. They were often thus brought in contact with white settlers, and sometimes difficulties occurred, growing, generally, out of the sal
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
In the fall of 1866, the “Oregon Delegation,” in Washington, proposed the name of the author of this book for appointment as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon. President Johnson, on inquiry, learned that he was not a “Johnson man,” and, of course, refused to make the nomination. The recommendation of the author’s name was made without his solicitation or knowledge. On the accession of President Grant, the recommendation was renewed, the nomination was made and confirmed by the Senate of
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
The story I have related is but one of the many that belong to this region, and for the truth of which, witnesses still live, both whites and Indians; another reason I introduce it here is to show my readers who may think otherwise, that Indians—savage as they are at times, often made savage by their religion—have hearts . Again and again shall I refer in this work to the red man’s emotional nature, and to his religion. I cannot do so too often, as the reader will admit before he turns the last
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
I Made my first official visit to this agency in the latter part of September, 1869. Captain Charles La Follette was then acting agent. The road from Salem was over a beautiful country, settled by white men, who had transformed this once wild region into a paradise. The first view of the agency proper was from a high ridge several miles distant. On the right and left were clustered the houses of the several tribes, each one having been assigned a location. Their houses were built of logs or boar
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
Without waiting for red tape, we proceeded to erect a new saw-mill. The Indians performed much of the necessary labor. With one white man to direct them, they prepared all the timber, built a dam, and cut a race, several hundred yards in length, and within ninety days from “breaking ground” the new saw-mill was making lumber. The Indians formed into working parties and delivered logs as fast as the mill could saw them. Mr. Manrow, a practical sawyer, was placed in charge of the mill, and, with I
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
The scene changes, and we stand on the deck of a river steamer with its prow pointed eastward. For hours we have steamed along in the shadows of the Cascade mountains, through deep, dark cañons, with walls so high that the smoke-stack of our little boat seemed like a pipe-stem. “Puny thing” it is. Yet it bears us over boiling eddies and up rapids that shoot between high rocks like immense streams of silver from the great furnace of creation. We are startled at the sound of the whistle on our dec
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
Leaving “The Dalles” early one morning in February, 1870, with Dr. W. C. McKay as guide, I set out on my first visit to Warm Springs Agency. Our route was over high grassy plains, undulating, and sometimes broken by deep cañons, occasionally wide enough to furnish extensive farm lands. Tyghe valley is traversed by two rivers that flow eastward from the foot of the Cascade mountains. It was, originally, a very paradise for Indians. It is a paradise still; but not for them. “White men wanted it;”
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
To my readers of the Pacific coast, I need say nothing in commendation of this writer. He is too well known to require an introduction. But that his communication may be appreciated by those who do not know “The Captain,” it may be well to state that he is a member of the old-school Presbyterian church, has long resided West, is respected by all who know him, as a man of unimpeachable honor and integrity. His heart is in his work, and he talks and acts toward the Indians under his charge more as
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
Umatilla Agency has been mentioned on former pages. I return to it now to say something more of its people. It is under the management of the Catholic Church. It has had but four agents in ten years, is on a great thoroughfare between the Columbia river and Idaho. It has a good climate, abundant resources, and is of great value. An effort was made during 1871, to induce the Indians to consent to a removal. The council convened at Umatilla Agency, Oregon, August 7th, 1871, consisting on the part
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
Umatilla is known to be a great country for horses. I doubt if anywhere on this continent there can be found horses of greater speed or powers of endurance. The feats performed by those people on horseback are wonderful, and past belief by those who know western horses. How-lish-wam-po, chief of the Cayuse (Kiuse), is owner of several thousand horses. He is a stout-built man, has a dark complexion, wears his hair just clear of his shoulders, and is now past middle age. This man is a natural hors
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
The southwestern portion of Oregon is a vast plain, whose general altitude is nearly four thousand feet above the level of the sea. A greater part of it is an uninhabited wilderness of sage-brush desert. A few hundred Indians have held it for generations, except the narrow belts of arable lands along the streams. There, Indians are commonly called “Snakes,” deriving the name from the principal river of the country. The overland route to Oregon traverses this region for hundreds of miles. Many ye
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
On our arrival we made our camp one mile below the post, on the bank of a small stream. No Indians were visible until the day appointed for the council we had ordered. Messengers had been sent out to the several Indian camps, notifying them of our presence. They came at the appointed time in full force, men, women, and children. The council was held near our camp, in a large army hospital tent. The Snakes were represented by their great war chiefs, We-ah-we-we, E-he-gan, and O-che-o. Before open
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
Taking up our narrative, let us resume our journey to Klamath Agency, accompanied by O-che-o and a few of his head men; Tah-home and Ka-ko-na taking charge of the loose stock, and riding, for once in their lives, a la white people, side by side. This was a sad day to them; they were, human-like, more ardently in love than ever, as the hour for departure approached. The route from Yai-nax to Klamath Agency follows down the valley of Sprague’s river for twenty miles, over rich prairies skirted wit
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CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Reservation furnishes abundance of real romance, mixed with tragedy, sufficient to make up a volume. The Indians tell, and white men confirm, the story of an officer of the fort, who loved an Indian’s wife, and how he sought to win her from home by presents; and, failing in this, came with armed soldiers, and, with threats of death to the husband, compelled him to give her up. This officer took this woman to the fort, dressed her in styles common among white women, and refused to return her
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
An Indian game of ball is not exactly like America’s great game of base ball. It resembles, somewhat, the old game of shindy or bandy. The field is one-fourth of a mile in length, and one-eighth in width. Stakes are planted at either end, and also in the middle. The players pair off until all are chosen who desire to play. Captains are elected who command the players of each side, and take their stations at the middle stakes, arranging their men on either side, each of whom is provided with a cl
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CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
Since we are now en route to the Modoc country, and since they have taken a place in modern history as a warlike people, and have enrolled their names on the record of stirring events, it is well to give them something more than a passing notice. In so doing, I shall confine my remarks to such facts as have come under my own observation, and also those that are well authenticated. In memory of the late tragedy in the “Lava Beds,” in which I so nearly lost my life, I approach this subject with a
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
The Modoc town was composed of thirteen lodges, built after the model of Klamath’s Indian houses. A circular, oblong excavation, twenty or thirty feet in length and twelve wide, is first made. Then posts, two feet apart, are set in the centre and at each end. On these posts are placed timbers running lengthwise of the structure. Poles, or split logs, fifteen feet in length, are placed, with the lower end resting on the ground, while the upper end is fastened to the tops of the posts. Matting, ma
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CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
On the morning of January 1st, 1870, Captain Jack’s band of Modoc Indians was placed in charge of Captain Knapp, under favorable circumstances. Supplies of beef and flour were secured and issued to them in sufficient quantities. Indeed, they were better fed than other Indians belonging to the agency. They had brought with them fish and roots, which, in addition to rations issued as above referred to, was altogether sufficient; and, having obtained from Agent Knapp the necessary implements, they
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CHAPTER XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
While matters were thus in suspense a change was made in the office of Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, T. B. Odeneal, Esq., of Oregon, succeeding to the Superintendency. He was a lawyer of ability, but had a limited knowledge of Indian character, and still less of the merits and demerits of this Modoc question. When appealed to he laid the matter before his superior in office at Washington City, who was also a new incumbent, and had perhaps a slight knowledge of the Modoc troubles.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Leaving the Modocs to wrangle over their troubles, suppose we listen now to the wails of anguish and grief that burdened the air of the Lost-river country, and especially at Linkville, when the mutilated bodies of the slain citizens were brought in for interment. When the news of the Lost-river battle had spread over the sparsely-settled country, a feeling of terror pervaded the hearts of the people; but when, on the following morning, the grief-stricken, heart-broken Mrs. Boddy, Mrs. Schiere an
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CHAPTER XXIV.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Leaving our soldier friends to dream of glory to be won in the coming battle, let us pick our way from their camp to the head-quarters of Captain Jack. Our starting-point now is from a little grove of mountain mahogany trees on a high plateau, a few miles south of the California and Oregon boundary line, and within a short distance of the extreme southern end of lower Klamath lake. The trees are dwarfed, stunted, and bent before the stormy winds that have swept over them so continually. As we le
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CHAPTER XXV.
CHAPTER XXV.
Four A.M., January 17th, 1873 .—The tattoo is beaten, and the soldiers throw aside their blankets. They dress themselves; the blankets are rolled together; the men sit around, the mess-table on the ground, and partake of coffee and “hard tack.” The volunteer State militia also jump out from under their blankets, and, making their toilets as soldiers do, prepare for duty and glory . The weather is cold, very cold. Breakfast is over, and the order to “Fall in” sounds through the camp. The blue uni
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CHAPTER XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI.
A few days after this battle Captain Jack sent a message to John Fairchild and Press Dorris, proposing a “talk,” telling them that they should not be molested, and agreeing to meet them at the foot of the bluff, near the Modoc camp. Messrs. Fairchild and Dorris, accompanied by one other white man and an Indian woman (Dixie), visited the Lava Beds. The meeting, as described by Fairchild, was one of peculiar interest. Those who had been friends, and then enemies and at war, without any formal decl
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CHAPTER XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII.
On the following day the council tent was erected in a comparatively smooth plot of land, in the Lava Beds, care being taken to select a site as far as possible from rocks that might answer for an ambuscade. This place was less than one mile from our camp, and a little more than a mile from the Modocs. Meanwhile the signal corps had established communication between the two army camps. The signal station at our camp was half way up the bluff, and commanded a view of the council tent, and of the
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Let us change the scene, and transfer ourselves to the marquee of Gen. Gilliam. Gen. Canby is sitting on a camp-chair, and near him Col. Barnard. On the camp-bedstead sits Gen. Gilliam, and by his side Col. Mason; the chairman of the Peace Commission on a box almost between the parties. The talk is of Modocs, peace, treachery, Ben Wright, battle of 17th January, the stronghold. Gen. Gilliam remarks, addressing Gen. Canby: “Well, general, whenever you are through trying to make peace with those f
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CHAPTER XXIX.
CHAPTER XXIX.
The commission had on all occasions expressed willingness to meet the Modocs on fair terms, saying to them, “Bring all your men, all armed, if you wish to; station them one hundred yards from the council tent. We will place a company of equal number within one hundred yards on the other side. Then you chiefs and head men can meet our commission at the council tent and talk.” To this and all other offers they objected. The commission and the general also were now convinced that no meeting could b
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CHAPTER XXX.
CHAPTER XXX.
While these two parties are wending their way to the council tent, let us see what is going on around it. On the side opposite from the camp a small sage-brush fire is burning. It is not at the same spot where the fire was built when Meacham and Roseborough had the long talk with Captain Jack a few days since. Why this change? Think a moment. The council that day was in full view of the signal station . This fire is behind the council tent, and cannot be seen from the station . Around the fire l
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CHAPTER XXXI.
CHAPTER XXXI.
It is night, and in the solders’ camp a wail of anguish is heard coming from the tent nearest Gen. Canby’s late quarters. Grief weighs down the heart of Orderly Scott, who is giving vent to his anguish in stifled sobs and vows of vengeance on the perpetrators of the foul deed. He rises from his bed, and, with face half buried in his hands, looks again on the mangled form of his benefactor, and, in renewed paroxysms of grief, is borne away by his friends. The sound of hammer and saw disturbs the
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CHAPTER XXXII.
CHAPTER XXXII.
It is four o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, the 14th of April. The men are silently falling into line. The mules are groaning under the heavy weight of “mounted pieces,” or loaded with stretchers and other contrivances for carrying the dead and wounded. The soldiers do not seem to realize that some of their number will return on these mules , wounded and helpless, or dead. Perhaps each one thinks and hopes that it will be some one other than himself. From the immense preparations for war it wo
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The expectant man has waited, watched, listened for the sound of a voice that would bring joy to him. His attendant carefully breaks the disappointment, fearing the consequences. Friday morning, and a Warm Springs soldier is sitting beside the commissioner. A look at his face, and we recognize him as the man who stood out so long in the meeting at Warm Springs Agency, in 1871. Pia-noose had come in to vent his feelings and to express his friendship. After the usual ceremony of salutation on his
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Ten o’clock, Wednesday morning , April 22d, Meacham is being transported to Ferree’s ranch at the south end of the Klamath lake twelve miles from Linkville. We have been here before. It was on the 27th of December, 1869, when conducting Captain Jack’s band on to Klamath Reservation. Then Captain Jack acknowledged the authority of the Government and was endeavoring to be a man. Now he is an outlaw. After a stormy passage across Tule lake last night, Fields and Dr. Cabanis landed at Gilliam’s camp
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CHAPTER XXXV.
CHAPTER XXXV.
For an account of the immediate circumstances attending the final surrender of the Modoc chieftain, I subjoin the following from the pen of Samuel A. Clarke, of Salem, Oregon, who was on the ground, and had abundant opportunity to learn the facts and incidents connected therewith. He was correspondent for the “New York Times,” from which paper of June 17, 1873, this graphic account of one of the most important events of 1873 is taken:— The Modoc campaign is considered at an end. The eight or ten
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CHAPTER XXXVI.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
A Portion of Fort Klamath, mentioned in the last chapter, is used as a court-room. A long, narrow table stands near the middle of the hall. At the farther end of the table sits Lieut.-Col. Elliott, First Cavalry, to his right Capt. Hasbrouck of Fourth Artillery, and Capt. Robert Pollock, Twenty-first Infantry. On the left, Capt. John Mendenhall, Fourth Artillery, and Second Lieut. George Kingsbury, Twelfth Infantry. These officers are all in new uniform, and make a fine impression of power. At t
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CHAPTER XXXVII.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The Modocs, men, women, and children, who were not placed on trial, were confined in a stockade near the fort, except the traitor scouts, who enjoyed the liberty of the camp, and were the heroes of the day. At various times between the trial and the execution, the prisoners were permitted to visit the stockade. Their families were also allowed to visit them occasionally in the “guard-house.” On leaving Fort Klamath, after the trial and before the execution, I visited the prisoners, and shook han
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CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A gloomy picture fills the eye from the height of the bluff whence we took our first view of the Lava Beds, Jan. 16th, 1873. The whited tents are there no more. The little mounds at the foot rest heavy on the breasts of the fallen. No curling smoke rises from savage altar, or soldier camp. The howl of cayote and cougar succeed the silver bugle, calling to the banquet of blood. Wild birds, instead of ascending ghosts, fill the air above, and their screams follow the weird wild songs of the medici
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APPENDIX TO CHAPTER SIX.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER SIX.
Sir :—I have the honor of submitting this my eighth and last annual report of the affairs of Siletz agency. I closed my term of service as agent on the 1st day of May, 1871, at which time, as you are already aware, I turned over the agency to my successor, Hon. Joel Palmer. Since then I have been busily engaged in making up my final papers. This task, I regret to say, is not yet entirely finished. The delay has been owing to some irregularities, occasioned by a change of employés, and to other c
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