ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM M. COLVIG DELIVERED AT THE REUNION OF THE
INDIAN WAR VETERANS, AT MEDFORD ON SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1902.
I was first invited to deliver an address of welcome to the Indian war
veterans, who meet here to-day; but within the past few days I was
informed that an historical sketch of early days in southern Oregon,
including an account of the Indian wars, would be my part in the
programme of exercises.
My knowledge of the subject is not very extensive. I lived in southern
Oregon as early as 1852, but was only a boy, not old enough to take
part in any of the stirring incidents which I remember of those days.
I see before me faces that recall events long past, and which left
pictures in the album of memory that time will never efface, and you
will pardon me if I refer to one of those personal recollections.
In 1855 my father, Dr. Wm. L. Colvig, and family lived in a log cabin
on the South Umpqua River, near Canyonville. One bright, clear day in
October of that year, myself and brother, on returning from a trip in
the "cañon," saw standing, in an exhausted condition, a white cayuse
pony before the door of our home. The horse was covered with blood.
Everything seemed quiet about the place. We rushed into the house and
saw a man lying on his back, full length, upon the puncheon floor. His
clothing was partially removed. His body was covered with blood.
Father was kneeling over him on one side and mother on the other. They
were dressing his wounds. He had nine separate bullet holes in his
limbs and body. Doctor Colvig had his case of surgical instruments at
hand, which consisted of a butcher knife and a pair of scissors. The
knife was the one we had used to cut meat when crossing the plains.
Mother was preparing bandages by tearing up some of our old "hickory"
shirts. Well, they patched Uncle Bill Russell--called "Long Bill" in
those days--up in pretty good shape. I see him here to-day, but I
don't think that he is looking for a fight with Indians. At the time
of which I speak, he had been shot by the Indians about five miles
from my father's house but succeeded in riding to our door. His
companion, Weaver, had a close call, but escaped unhurt.
The Indian wars of southern Oregon were stubborn contests. It is a
natural law that the fittest survive, and wherever civilization in its
advance meets barbarian force, the latter must give way. When they
meet there is an "irrepressible conflict," the details of which we can
not always reconcile with the Golden Rule. The tribes who took part in
these several wars in southern Oregon were the Rogue Rivers, Modocs,
Klamaths, Shastas, and Umpquas. The only honest acquisition of the
Rogue River Indians was their name. On account of the thieving and
treacherous habits of the people of that tribe, the river which flows
through the valley was called by the early French trappers "Riviere
aux Coquin," the river of rogues. The Oregon legislature in 1853
sought to change the name, and did name it Gold River, but, as the
boys say, "it didn't take."
It will be impossible for me to do more than mention a few of the more
prominent incidents, and I can not be very accurate in regard to dates
and other matters pertaining to that period, as my information has
been gathered from many sources, some of which are not very authentic.
It may be of interest to know that on December 27, 1850, Congress
passed what is known as the donation land law, which gave to every
American citizen over the age of eighteen years, if single, one half
section of land; if married, one section of land, one half of which
was the absolute property of the wife, the other half of the husband.
There were no settlers in the Rogue River Valley prior to New Year's
day, 1851. In the spring of 1851 a man by the name of Evans
constructed a ferry across Rogue River, just below the town of
Woodville. During the same spring a man by the name of Perkins also
established a ferry on that river. The first donation land claim was
located by Judge A. A. Skinner, an Indian agent, in June, 1851. This
claim is the Walker farm, near Central Point. Upon it he built the
first settler's house ever built in the valley. Chesley Gray, his
interpreter, also located a donation land claim in June, 1851. It is
what is known as the "Constant Farm," near Central Point. The
following named persons filed donation land claims prior to February,
1852: Moses Hopwood, on Christmas day, 1851; N. C. Dean, at Willow
Springs, December, 1851; Stone and Poyntz, at Wagner Creek, December,
1851; L. J. C. Duncan, Major Barron, Thomas Smith, Pat Dunn, E. K.
Anderson, and Samuel Culver had made their locations prior to
February, 1852. I do not pretend that these were all, but the entire
number of claims taken up to that time did not exceed twenty-eight.
In December, 1851, James Clugage and J. R. Poole located the first
mining claim in southern Oregon, at a point near the old brewery in
Jacksonville. They had been informed by a couple of young men who were
passing through the country that they had found gold near that place.
Immediately after this discovery became known in California and by the
incoming immigrants to Oregon, there was a rush made to the mines of
Jacksonville. Old man Shiveley, the discoverer of Shiveley Gulch,
above Jacksonville, inside of eighteen months had taken out over
$50,000, and since that time, from the best statistics obtainable, the
mines of southern Oregon have yielded about $35,000,000 in gold.
During the winter of 1852 flour was sold at $1 per pound, tobacco at
$1 an ounce, and salt was priceless. Jacksonville was laid out as a
town in the summer of 1852 by Henry Klippel and John R. Poole.
I will now speak of the Indian wars in which the people of southern
Oregon were engaged. The first recorded fight between the Indians and
whites in any portion of southern Oregon occurred in 1828, when
Jedediah S. Smith and seven other trappers were attacked by the
Indians on the Umpqua River, and fifteen of the whites were slain,
only Smith and three of his companions escaping. The next fight of
which we have any account was in June, 1836, at a point just below the
Rock Point bridge, where the barn on the W. L. Colvig estate stands.
In this fight there were Dan Miller, Edward Barnes, Doctor Bailey,
George Gay, Saunders, Woodworth, Irish Tom, and J. Turners and squaw.
Two trappers were killed, and nearly all were wounded. Within my
recollection, Doctor Bailey visited the scene of this fight, and
pointed out to my father its location. In September, 1837, at the
mouth of Foots Creek, in Jackson County, a party of men who had been
sent to California by the Methodist mission to procure cattle, while
on their return were attacked by the Rogue River Indians and had a
short, severe fight, in which several of the whites were badly wounded
and some twelve or fourteen of the Indians killed. In May, 1845, J. C.
Fremont had a fight with the Indians in the Klamath country; it may
have been a little over the line in California. Four of Fremont's men
were killed and quite a large number of the Indians. Kit Carson was a
prominent figure in this battle.
As before stated, a few bold adventurers had located in Rogue River
Valley as early as December, 1851. During the spring, summer, and fall
of that year there was a considerable amount of travel through the
valley, by parties from northern Oregon going to and returning from
the great mining excitement of California. Fights between these
travelers and the Indians were of frequent occurrence. On the
fifteenth day of May, 1851, a pack train was attacked at a point on
Bear Creek, where the town of Phoenix is now situated, and a man by
the name of Dilley was killed. On June 3, 1851, a party of Oregonians,
under the leadership of Dr. James McBride, had a severe fight near
Willow Springs with Chief "Chucklehead" and his band. Chucklehead and
six other Indians were killed; several of the whites were severely
wounded.
About this time Maj. Phil Kearny, afterwards General Kearny, who was
killed at the battle of Chantilly in the Civil war, happened to be
passing through the valley on his way from Vancouver to Benicia,
California, with a detachment of two companies of United States
regulars. He remained a short time and assisted in punishing the
Indians for the numerous depredations committed by them during the
year. He had several fights while in the valley, in which about fifty
Indians were killed. One of these fights was on Rogue River, near the
mouth of Butte Creek, where Captain Stuart, of the United States army,
received an arrow wound from an Indian, who was also wounded. The
arrow penetrated the captain's body, and he died the next day at the
camp on Bear Creek, near Phoenix. The camp thenceforth took the name
of Camp Stuart, and Bear Creek in all government records is called
Stuart's Creek. The captain's body was buried at a spot where the
wagon road crosses the mill race in the town of Phoenix. Some years
ago his remains were taken up and sent to Washington, D. C., to be
buried by the side of his mother. Captain Stuart's last words were,
"Boys, it is awful to have passed through all the battles of the
Mexican war, and then be killed by an Indian in this wild country."
At the massacre of emigrants at Bloody Point, Klamath County, in 1852,
thirty-six men, women, and children were murdered. Capt. Ben Wright
and twenty-seven men from Yreka and Col. J. E. Ross and some
Oregonians went out to punish these Modocs. Old Schonchin, who was
afterwards hung at Fort Klamath in 1873, at the close of the Modoc
war, was the leader. Wright gave them no quarter. He and his men,
infuriated at the sight of the mangled bodies of the emigrants, killed
men, women, and children without any discrimination--about forty in
all; and it is said that they asked for a "peace talk," whereupon a
roast ox was prepared. Wright poisoned it, gave it to the Indians, and
then rode away. [This story is now generally discredited.--EDITOR.]
I can not give you the names of all who were killed in Rogue River
Valley during the years 1851, 1852, and 1853. I will mention some that
were killed in 1853. In August of that year Edward Edwards was killed
near Medford; Thomas Wills and Rhodes Nolan, in the edge of the town
of Jacksonville; Pat Dunn and Carter, both wounded in a fight on Neil
Creek above Ashland. In a fight with the Indians on Bear Creek, in
August, 1853, Hugh Smith was killed, and Howell, Morris, Hodgins,
Whitmore, and Gibbs wounded, the last named three dying from their
wounds soon after.
These murders, and many more that could be mentioned, brought on the
Indian war of 1853. Southern Oregon raised six companies of
volunteers, who served under the following named captains, viz, R. L.
Williams, J. K. Lamerick, John F. Miller, Elias A. Owens, and W. W.
Fowler. Capt. B. F. Alden, of the Fourth U. S. Infantry, with twenty
regulars, came over from Fort Jones, California, and with him a large
number of volunteers under Capt. James P. Goodall and Capt. Jacob
Rhoades, two Indian fighters of experience. Captain Alden was given
the command of all the forces. The first battle of the war was fought
on the twelfth day of August, 1853, and was an exciting little fight
between about twenty volunteers under Lieut. Burrell Griffin, of
Miller's company, and a band of Indians under Chief John. The
volunteers were ambushed at a point near the mouth of Williams creek,
on the Applegate. The whites were defeated with a loss of two killed
and Lieutenant Griffin severely wounded. There were five Indians
killed and wounded in the battle. On August 10, 1853, John R. Harding
and Wm. R. Rose, of Captain Lamerick's company, were killed near
Willow Springs. On the sixteenth of August, 1853, Gen. Joseph Lane,
afterwards United States senator from Oregon, and a candidate for vice
president in 1860, came out from his home in Douglas County and
brought fifty men with him, to take part in the war. General Lane was
a man of large experience in Indian warfare and in all military
matters. He had commanded an Indiana regiment in the Mexican war and
enjoyed a well earned reputation for bravery. On the day that General
Lane arrived what is known as the battle of Little Meadows was fought.
Lieutenant Ely and twenty-two men met the Indians near Evans Creek, in
the timber, and a short, but deadly conflict took place. Seven whites
were killed inside of an hour; Lieutenant Ely and three men wounded.
They left the battlefield in charge of the Indians--at least, in the
popular phraseology of that day, "they got up and got out." On August
24, 1853, the battle of Evans Creek was fought. In this fight the
Indians did not fare so well, twelve of them being killed and
wounded. One volunteer named Pleasant Armstrong was killed and Captain
Alden and Gen. Joe Lane were each wounded. During the summer of 1853
several men were shot by Indians in Josephine County. In the fall
General Lane patched up a temporary peace, which lasted till 1855.
The war of 1855-56 was preceded by a great many murders and
depredations by the Indians in different parts of southern Oregon. I
will mention a few: ----. Dyar and ----. McKew, killed while on the
road from Jacksonville to Josephine County on June 1, 1855. About the
same time a man by name of ----. Philpot was killed on Deer Creek,
Josephine County, and James Mills was wounded at the same time and
place. Granville Keene was killed at a point on Bear Creek, above
Ashland, and J. Q. Faber was wounded. Two men, ----. Fielding and
----. Cunningham, were killed in September, 1855, on the road over the
Siskiyou mountains.
On account of these various depredations Maj. J. A. Lupton raised a
temporary force of volunteers, composed of miners and others, from the
vicinity of Jacksonville, about thirty-five in number, and proceeded
to a point on the north side of Rogue River, opposite the mouth of
Little Butte Creek. There he attacked a camp of Indians at a time when
they were not expecting trouble. It is said that about thirty men,
women, and children were killed by Lupton's men. The major himself
received a mortal wound in the fight. This fight has been much
criticised by the people of southern Oregon, a great many of them
believing that it was unjustifiable and cowardly. Two days after this
affair a series of massacres took place in the sparsely settled
country in and about where Grants Pass is now situated. On the ninth
day of October, 1855, the Indians, having divided up into small
parties, simultaneously attacked the homes of the defenseless
families located in that vicinity. I will name a few of those tragic
events. On the farm now owned by James Tuffs, Mr. Jones was killed,
and his wife, after receiving a mortal wound, made her escape. She was
found by the volunteers on the next day and died a few days
afterwards. Their house was burned down. Mrs. Wagner was murdered by
the Indians on the same day. Her husband was away from home at the
time, but returned on the following day to find his wife murdered and
his home a pile of ashes. The Harris family consisted of Harris and
wife and their two children, Mary Harris, aged twelve, and David
Harris, aged ten, and T. A. Reed, a young man who lived with the
family. Mr. Harris was shot down while standing near his door, and at
a moment when he little suspected treachery from the Indians with whom
he was talking. His wife and daughter pulled his body within the door,
and seizing a double-barreled shotgun and an old-fashioned Kentucky
rifle, commenced firing through the cracks of the log cabin. They kept
this up till late in the night, and by heroic bravery kept the Indians
from either gaining an entrance into the house or succeeding in their
attempts to fire it. Just back of the cabin was a dense thicket of
brush, and during a lull in the attack the two brave women escaped
through the back door and fled through the woods. They were found the
next day by volunteers from Jacksonville, our late friend, Henry
Klippel, being one of the number. Mrs. Harris lived to a good old age
in this county. Mary, who was wounded in the fight, afterwards became
the wife of Mr. G. M. Love, and was the mother of George Love of
Jacksonville and Mrs. John A. Hanley of Medford. David Harris, the
boy, was not in the house when the attack was made, but was at work on
the place. His fate has never been ascertained, as his body was never
found. The Indians stated, after peace was made, that they killed him
at the time they attacked the Harris house. Reed, the young man spoken
of, was killed out near the house.
On October 31, 1855, the battle of Hungry Hill was fought near the
present railway station of Leland. Capt. A. J. Smith of the United
States army was at that battle, and a large number of citizens
soldiery. The result of the battle was very undecisive. There were
thirty-one whites killed and wounded, nine of them being killed
outright. It is not known how many of the Indians were killed, but
after the treaty was made they confessed to fifteen. The Indians were
in heavy timber and were scarcely seen during the two days' battle.
In April, 1856, after peace had been concluded between the whites and
Indians, the Ledford massacre took place in Rancherie Prairie, near
Mount Pitt, in this county, in which five white men were killed. This
event was the last of the "irrepressible conflict." Soon afterward the
Indians were removed to the Siletz reservation, where their
descendants now live and enjoy the favors of the government which
their fathers so strongly resisted.
The war in Rogue River Valley had now virtually ended. "Old Sam's"
band, with an escort of one hundred United States troops, was taken to
the coast reservation at Siletz. Chiefs "John" and "Limpy," with a
large number of the most active warriors, who had followed their
fortunes during all these struggles, still held out and continued
their depredations in the lower Rogue River country and in connection
with the Indians of Curry County.
Gen. John E. Wool, commander of the department of the Pacific, in
November, 1855, had stopped at Crescent City while on his way to the
Yakima country. He received full information while here of the
military operations in southern Oregon. Skipping many details, it is
sufficient to state that he ordered Capt. A. J. Smith to move down
the river from Fort Lane and form a junction with the United States
troops under Captains Jones and E. O. C. Ord (afterward a
major-general in United States army), who were prosecuting an active
campaign in the region about Chetco, Pistol River, and the Illinois
River Valley. Captain Smith left Fort Lane with eighty men--fifty
dragoons and thirty infantry. I can only take the time to mention a
few of the fights in that region during the spring of 1856. On March
8th Captain Abbott had a skirmish with the Chetco Indians at Pistol
River. He lost several men. The Indians had his small force completely
surrounded when Captain Ord and Captain Jones with one hundred and
twelve regular troops came to his relief. They charged and drove the
Indians away with heavy loss. On March 20, 1855, Lieutenant-Colonel
Buchanan, assisted by Captains Jones and Ord, attacked an Indian
village ten miles above the mouth of Rogue River. The Indians were
driven away, leaving several dead and only one white man wounded in
the fight. A few days later Captain Angne's [Augur?] company (United
States troops) fought John and "Limpy's" band at the mouth of the
Illinois River. The Indians fought desperately, leaving five dead on
the battlefield. On March 27, 1855, the regulars again met the Indians
on Lower Rogue River. After a brisk fight at close quarters the
Indians fled, leaving ten dead and two of the soldiers were severely
wounded. On April 1, 1855, Captain Creighton, with a company of
citizens, attacked an Indian village near the mouth of the Coquille
River, killing nine men, wounding eleven and taking forty squaws and
children prisoners. About this time some volunteers attacked a party
of Indians who were moving in canoes at the mouth of Rogue River. They
killed eleven men and one squaw. Only one man and two squaws of the
party escaped. On April 29, 1855, a party of sixty regulars escorting
a pack train were attacked near Chetco. In this fight three soldiers
were killed and wounded. The Indians lost six killed and several
wounded.
The volunteer forces of the coast war were three companies known by
the names of "Gold Beach Guards," the "Coquille Guards," and the "Port
Orford Minute Men." I have not the time to enter into the details of
the battle that was fought on the twenty-seventh of May, 1855, near
Big Meadows, on Rogue River. Captain Smith was in command of his
eighty regulars. Old "John" lead the Indians. The operations covered a
period of two days, John using all the tactics of military science in
handling his four hundred braves during the battle. Just as everything
was ready, according to "John's" plans for an attack upon the
regulars, Captain Angne's [Augur?] company was seen approaching. The
Indians were then soon dispersed. Captain Smith lost twenty-nine men
killed and wounded in this battle, and had it not been for the timely
arrival of Angne's [Augur?] company, his men would all have been
killed.
While these operations were being carried on by the United States
troops, the volunteer forces were not idle. They were kept busy with
"Limpy" and "George's" warriors, at points in Josephine County. On
January 28, 1856, Major Latshaw moved down the river with two hundred
and thirteen men. He had several skirmishes and lost four or five men
in killed and wounded. On May 29th "Limpy" and "George" surrendered at
Big Meadows to Lieutenant-Colonel Buchanan. On May 31st Governor Curry
ordered the volunteer forces to disband--nearly all the Indians had
surrendered. About one thousand three hundred of the various tribes
that had carried on the war were gathered in camp at Port Orford.
About July 1, 1856, "John" and thirty-five tough looking warriors, the
last to surrender, "threw down the hatchet." I have now gone over, in
chronological order, the principal events connected with the Indian
wars of southern Oregon. I am fully aware that the narrative is very
defective, and that many events of importance have not even been
mentioned. You who took part in these early struggles can easily fill
in the gaps, and correct the errors that I may have unconsciously
made.
There were some men who took part in the Indian wars of southern
Oregon who afterward became prominent in the history of the Nation. I
will name a few, viz, Gen. U. S. Grant, Gen. J. B. Hood (late of
Confederate army), Gen. Phil Kearny, Gen. Wool, Gen. A. J. Smith, Gen.
Geo. Crooks, Gen. A. V. Kautz, Gen. Phil Sheridan, Gen. J. C. Fremont,
Gen. Joe Lane (candidate for vice president of the United States in
1860), Gen. Joe Hooker (who built the military road in the Canyon
Mountains in 1852), and Kit Carson.
We all rejoice that the general government has at last acknowledged
the value of your services to civilization; and has made some
provision of recompense for the privations which you suffered.
I see before me old gray headed mothers who will also share with you
this recognition of the Nation's gratitude. It is well, and to my
comrades of the Civil war, who are here, and who have been the
promotors of this reunion of veterans, let me say that no women of any
war, in which the American people have ever been engaged, are more
deserving of the Nation's bounty than these old, feeble, pioneer
mothers of southern Oregon. When their fathers, brothers, and husbands
went out to meet their savage foes, these women were not left in well
protected cities, villages, and homes, but often in rude cabins,
situated in close proximity to the conflict; and unlike the chances
of civilized warfare, no mercy could be expected from the
enemy--surrender meant not only death, but torture and heartless
cruelty. In every hour of those dark days these women proved
themselves to be fit helpmates to a race of daring men--and worthy all
honors that are accorded the brave.