CHAPTER XXXVII

PROSTRATION.--THE RESCUE

When Governor Stevens, after his midwinter forced march across the mountains, reached Olympia, he found the whole country utterly prostrated, overwhelmed. The settlers in dismay had abandoned their farms and fled for refuge to the few small villages. They were all poor, having no reserves of money, food, or supplies, and starvation stared them in the face if prevented from planting and raising a crop. The only military post on Puget Sound, Fort Steilacoom, could muster less than a hundred soldiers, and was so far from protecting the settlers that it had called for and received the reinforcement of a company of volunteers for its own protection. The post at Vancouver was also but a handful in strength, and had also been reinforced by two companies of volunteers. But even this pitiful force was not to be used against the savage enemy; for Wool had just gone back to San Francisco after a flying visit to the Columbia River, during which he had disbanded the volunteer companies, refused to take any active measures to protect the people, and loudly proclaimed, both in official reports and through the press, that the war had been forced upon the Indians by the greed and brutality of the whites, and that the former would be peaceful if only let alone and not treated with injustice.

There was a deficiency of arms, and still more of ammunition, in the country. Six weeks were required to send a letter to Washington City, and three months before an answer to the most urgent demand or entreaty could be received. It was no wonder that the pioneers were universally discouraged, and that nothing kept many of them from abandoning the country but their absolute inability to get away.[10]

A brief review of the outbreak and course of the war will make clearer the situation at this juncture.

Scarcely was the ink dry upon his signature to the Walla Walla treaty, when Kam-i-ah-kan, the leading and most potent spirit, and his Yakimas were hard at work inciting an outbreak against the whites. They with the Cuyuse and Walla Walla chiefs assembled the disaffected Indians, and many of the others, at a council north of Snake River in the summer, and made every effort to gain over the Spokanes, Coeur d'Alenes, and even some of the Nez Perces, who had intermarried with the Cuyuses, and not without success among the young braves. Their emissaries stirred up the tribes on the eastern shore of the Sound, too, the Nisquallies, Puyallups, and Duwhamish, who had intermarried to some extent with the Yakimas, and penetrated even to Gray's Harbor and Shoalwater Bay on the coast, and to southern Oregon. Every falsehood that Indian ingenuity could invent, or credulity swallow, was employed to fire the Indian heart. The conspiracy was in full train, but not yet ripe, when the outbreak was prematurely begun by the murder of the miners in the Yakima valley in September, by Kam-i-ah-kan's warriors, who could no longer be held back; and when agent Bolon visited the tribe to investigate the matter, he was treacherously shot in the back, seized and his throat cut, and with his horse burned to ashes, September 23. Qualchen, the son of Ou-hi and nephew of Kam-i-ah-kan, was the chief actor in this tragedy. Major Haller marched with a hundred men from the Dalles into the Yakima valley to demand the surrender of or to punish the murderers; and Lieutenant W.A. Slaughter, with a small force of forty men, moved from Steilacoom across the Nahchess Pass to the Yakima to coöperate with Haller. But the Yakimas attacked the latter October 6, and compelled him to retreat with the loss of twenty-two killed and wounded, his howitzer, and baggage. Pu-pu-mox-mox then seized and plundered old Fort Walla Walla, which had no garrison, and distributed the goods found there, including a considerable supply of Indian goods, among his followers, who danced the war-dance in front of his lodge around a fresh white scalp. These Indians, with the Cuyuses and Umatillas, then drove the settlers out of the Walla Walla valley, destroyed their houses and improvements, and killed or ran off the stock. Lieutenant Slaughter, after crossing the summit of the Cascades, being unable to learn anything of Haller, hastily but wisely fell back to the western side. Here Captain M. Maloney joined him with seventy regulars and a company of volunteers, under Captain Gilmore Hays, and again advanced across the mountains, but in turn retreated, fearing to leave the settlements on Puget Sound wholly unprotected; but his messengers were waylaid and slain by the Sound Indians, and the settlers on White or Duwhamish River, near Seattle, were massacred with unspeakable atrocity, the bodies of the women and children being thrown into the wells. These settlers had taken refuge in Seattle, but were induced to go back to their farms by the friendly professions and assurances of the very savages who fell upon and butchered them the night after their return. And settlers on the Nisqually and at other points met a similar fate.

At Major Rains's request, Acting-Governor Mason called out two companies of volunteers, which were mustered into the United States service, one being used to reinforce Fort Steilacoom, and one the Vancouver post. A company was also raised at Vancouver for the express purpose of going to the assistance of Governor Stevens, in case he attempted to force his way through the hostiles.

In November an engagement took place on White River, in which some loss was inflicted upon the Indians, but they soon reappeared in undiminished strength, surrounded the troops at night, and captured a number of baggage animals, and on December 5 killed Lieutenant Slaughter and two men, and wounded six others. Several more companies of volunteers were raised for home defense, and efforts were made to separate the friendly Indians from the hostiles. Acting-Governor Mason did all that was possible to meet the crisis, and he was ably seconded by Major Tilton, whom he appointed adjutant-general, and by Colonel Simmons, but the storm was too great for their efforts. Moreover, they depended upon the regular officers to conduct the war, which made Wool's action doubly paralyzing.

The whole region about the Sound, with the exception of the prairies scattered about the head of it, was covered with the primeval evergreen forest and a dense and tangled undergrowth, so thick and matted, and obstructed by immense fallen giants and downfalls of every kind, that the most energetic hunter or woodsman could traverse through it only five or six miles a day. There were also numerous river-bottoms and swamps, even more impenetrable. Only seventy miles back to the eastward stretched north and south the great Cascade Range, affording innumerable safe and hidden retreats; and many trails across it, well known to the Indians, but unknown to the whites, gave access to the Yakima emissaries and reinforcements to join the hostiles on the Sound, and furnished the latter the ready means of retreat to the Yakima country when hard pressed. In the dense forests and swamps the savages lurked at the very doors of the settlements, and no man ventured out, for fear of ambush by the wily and omnipresent foe.

After Haller's defeat Major G.J. Rains led an expedition from the Dalles to the Yakima valley with three hundred and fifty regulars and two companies of Washington volunteers, under Captains William Strong and Robert Newell, and was supported by four companies of Oregon volunteers, under Colonel J.W. Nesmith. He reached the Catholic mission on the Ah-tah-nam branch of the Yakima, which was found deserted, and destroyed it, and then returned to the Dalles, having accomplished nothing except the breaking down of his animals. The Yakimas, avoiding battle with so large a force, managed to run off fifty-four of his mules and horses, and immediately their young braves rode post-haste to the neighboring tribes, proclaiming victory over the troops, and proudly showing the captured animals with the United States brand on their shoulders in proof of their success.

Another force of about five hundred Oregon volunteers, under Colonel James K. Kelly, marched to the Walla Walla valley and defeated the hostiles there congregated, which opened the road to Governor Stevens, as already related. But the Indians, although punished, simply fled across Snake River, and were free to continue their efforts to stir up the friendly tribes, for the volunteers, from lack of supplies and transportation, were unable to pursue them.

The Oregon volunteers were not mustered into the United States service, because both they and Governor Curry were anxious to strike the Indians, and justly feared that if placed under the orders of regular officers, they would be held back or placed in garrison.

In December General Wool came up from San Francisco to Vancouver, mustered out the Washington volunteers, placed the regulars at the Dalles, Vancouver, and Steilacoom strictly on the defensive, and denounced in unmeasured terms the brave Oregon volunteers, who had struck the only real blow inflicted upon the enemy. He disbanded even the company specially raised for Governor Stevens's relief, notwithstanding the remonstrances of its captain, of Major Rains, and of his own aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Richard Arnold.

Thus, at the beginning of the year 1856, the Indians of the upper country held the whole region, except the point occupied in the Walla Walla valley by the Oregon volunteers; the Yakimas were more hostile, active, and triumphant than ever; the Cuyuses, Walla Wallas, and Umatillas were made more embittered and defiant by the punishment they had received; and all were free to instigate more hostility among the other tribes, which they were industriously doing. The regulars were on the defensive by Wool's orders, while the volunteers in the valley were unable to take the aggressive for lack of supplies.

West of the Cascades the Indians infested and held the whole country except a few points. The whites were virtually in a state of siege, deserted and maligned by a veteran officer, whose duty it was to protect them; not knowing where to find succor, or even food, completely discouraged and dismayed. The great majority of Indians on the Sound had not yet taken to the war-path, although much disaffected. Even among the most hostile, the Nisquallies, Puyallups, and Duwhamish, it is doubtful if a majority of any tribe took active part in the outbreak; but the war faction comprised the chiefs and the vigorous young warriors, and they were constantly stimulated and encouraged, and at times largely reinforced, by their Yakima kinsmen. The hostile warriors on the Sound probably varied in numbers from two hundred and fifty to five hundred, but the swamps and forests, with their knowledge of the country, gave them every advantage. The great danger was that the other Indians, already disaffected, and many of whose restless young braves were aiding the hostiles to an extent which cannot be certainly determined, would openly join in the outbreak, and this danger was aggravated by every day's delay on the part of the whites in attacking and striking the enemy. A defensive policy was sure to throw the whole Indian population into the arms of the hostiles. An additional and imminent danger was found in the northern Indians, gangs of whom were prowling about the Sound, ever ripe for murder and plunder.

The first day after his arrival Governor Stevens delivered in person and orally a special message to the legislature, then in session. He pointed out how the Donation Act and the advent of settlers had made it absolutely necessary to treat with the Indian tribes and extinguish their title to the soil. He showed how this had been accomplished by the treaties he had made, and described the care taken to deal with the Indians justly and understandingly, especially at the Walla Walla council:--

"The greatest care was taken to explain the treaties, and the objects of them, and to secure the most faithful interpreters. Three interpreters were provided for each language. The record of that council was made up by intelligent and dispassionate men, and the speeches of all there made are recorded verbatim. The dignity, humanity, and justice of the national government are there signally exhibited, and none of the actors therein need fear the criticism of an intelligent community, nor the supervision of intelligent superiors. By these treaties, had the Indians been faithful to them, the question as to whether the Indian tribes of this Territory can become civilized and Christianized would have been determined practically. The written record will show that the authorities and the people of this Territory have nothing to blush for, nothing to fear in the judgment of impartial men now living, nor the rebuke of posterity. It was a pleasant feeling that actuated me, on my mission in making these treaties, to think I was doing something to civilize and to render the condition of the Indian happier....

"The war has been plotting for two or three years,--a war entered into by these Indians without a cause; a war having not its origin in these treaties, nor in the bad conduct of the whites. It originated in the native intelligence of restless Indians, who, foreseeing destiny against them,--that the white man was moving upon them,--determined that it must be met and resisted by arms. We may sympathize with such a manly feeling, but in view of it we have high duties.

"The war must be vigorously prosecuted now. Seedtime is coming, and the farmer should be at his plough in the field. In my judgment, it would be expedient forthwith to raise a force of three hundred men from the Sound to push into the Indian country, build a depot, and vigorously operate against the Indians in this quarter, and nearly the same force should be raised on the Columbia River to prosecute the war east of the Cascade Mountains. It would prevent reinforcements from either side joining the bands of the other side, and would effectually crush both. But what is more important would be the influence upon the numerous tribes not yet broken out into hostility. There is a surprising feeling of uneasiness among all the tribes who have not broken out, except alone the Nez Perces. These tribes may be led into war, if delay attends our operations. The Indians must be struck now. But if we delay, in a few months the roots and fish will abound, supplying the Indians with food; the snows will melt; and the mountain passes will allow them hiding-places. It is my opinion that if operations are deferred till summer, they must be deferred till winter again.

"What effect would it have on the Sound should nothing be done until May or June? The whole industrial community would be ruined, the Sound paralyzed; the husbandman would be kept in a state of suspense by rumors of wars, and could not adhere to his pursuits; fields would not be tilled; and the Territory would starve out."

While approving as a general rule the mustering into the United States service of volunteers, and disclaiming any impugning of Wool's motives, he advised against mustering them into that service, in consequence of that officer's "disbanding troops in violation of a positive understanding," and boldly declared:--

"I am ready to take the responsibility of raising them independent of that service, and it is due to the Territory and myself that the reasons for assuming it should go to the President and the department at Washington.

"The spirit of prosecuting this war should be to accomplish a lasting peace,--not to make treaties, but to punish their violation. While justice and mercy should characterize the acts of our government, there should be no weakness, no imbecility. The tribes now at war must submit unconditionally to the justice, mercy, and leniency of our government. The guilty ones should suffer, and the remainder be placed on reservations under the eye of the military. By such a decisive, energetic, and firm course the difficulty may be grappled with, and peace restored.

"Let not our hearts be discouraged. I have an abiding confidence in the future destiny of our Territory. Gloom must give way to sunlight. Let us never lose sight of the resources, capacities, and natural advantages of the Territory of Washington. Gather heart, then, fellow citizens. Do not now talk of leaving us in our hour of adversity, but stay till the shade of gloom is lifted, and await that destiny to be fulfilled. Let us all put hands together and rescue the Territory from its present difficulties, so that we may all feel that we have done our whole duty in the present exigency."

To this manly and clear-sighted appeal the legislature made haste to respond with the alacrity and heartfelt sense of relief, and renewal of hope and courage, with which men in the extremity of danger ever turn to a natural leader, and, so far as lay in its power, gave him unlimited authority to take measures necessary to save the settlements from extinction.

Forthwith Governor Stevens adopted and put in force, with all the energy of his determined and vigorous nature, the following measures:--

1. He called upon the people by proclamation, dated January 22, to raise a thousand volunteers for six months for offensive operations against the enemy, wherever they might be ordered. He refused to enlist any troops for local or home defense or short terms, and summarily disbanded all the companies which were under arms, they having been raised for such restricted service.

2. He called upon the settlers, wherever three or four families could join together, to return to their abandoned farms, build blockhouses, and hold and cultivate the soil.

3. He required all Indians on the eastern side of the Sound to move to, and remain upon, reservations selected on islands, or on points on the western shore, under the care and oversight of agents, there to be fed and protected by the government while the war lasted. Any Indian found on the eastern side without permission of his agent was to be deemed hostile.

4. He sent Secretary Mason to Washington to lay the pressing need of funds to meet the expenses of feeding and caring for the non-hostile Indians before the government, and to enlighten it as to the war and general situation.

5. He made effective use of the friendly Indians in scouting operations against the hostiles, hunting them down in their retreats, and confirming the fidelity of the doubtful tribes.

6. He sent agents to Portland, San Francisco, and Victoria, B.C., with urgent appeals for arms, ammunition, and supplies, and published his appeal in the San Francisco papers.

7. He issued territorial scrip, or certificates of indebtedness, to defray the pay of volunteers and cost of munitions and supplies.

8. He freely resorted to impressment or seizure of supplies, teams, etc., whenever necessary.

9. He appealed to the patriotism and good feeling of the volunteers, but enforced discipline, and punished misconduct by summary and dishonorable dismissal of the guilty from the service.

It is only by bearing in mind the facts that the entire white population numbered only four thousand souls, of whom the males fit to bear arms barely equaled the number of volunteers called for; that they were destitute of arms, ammunition, supplies, money, and credit; discouraged and wholly on the defensive; denied protection by the regular troops, who indeed were too few to afford it; and all hope of support and sympathy from the government, or from outside, blasted by the denunciations of Wool,--that one can really appreciate the courage and self-reliance of Governor Stevens in undertaking the task before him. The ability and self-devotion with which he successfully accomplished it, and the remarkable spirit and patriotism of the people, who sustained their leader, and loyally and patiently submitted to these stringent measures, furnish one of the brightest pages in the history of the Republic.

The day after delivering his message, the second after arriving home, the governor hastened down the Sound to inspect the reservations and agents, and perfect measures to enforce the removal of the Indians from the theatre of war. He visited every point of importance on the eastern side, informed himself thoroughly of the needs and conditions at each, and returned to Olympia on the 28th. On this trip he secured the aid of Pat-ka-nim, head chief of the Snohomish, and a force of his warriors, the first Indian auxiliaries to take the field.

The Indians attacked Seattle on January 26 in force, destroyed the larger part of the town, driving the whites to one corner of it, and were only repulsed in the end by the fire of the United States man-of-war Decatur, Captain G. Gansevoort.

The people responded instantly to the governor's manly appeal, with true American spirit and patriotism. They made haste to enlist _en masse_ in the volunteer companies, eager to be led against the savage foe. The refugee settlers banded together in small squads, returned to the country, erected blockhouses at or near their farms, and held them with old men and boys. The merchants of San Francisco refused to be misled by the libels of Wool, and furnished supplies and munitions. Inside of three weeks eleven companies were raised, equipped, and taking the field, besides two bodies of Indian auxiliaries.

A regular and efficient express service was organized throughout the Territory. An assistant quartermaster and commissary, the two usual supply departments being united, was stationed in each town and principal settlement on purpose to collect provisions, transportation, etc., as well as to provide for the troops. By these skillful measures the governor so successfully overcame the two great difficulties attending the prosecution of the war, viz., the vast extent of the region and the lack of supplies, that the volunteers never had to wait for orders, nor were they ever put to unnecessary or fruitless marches or labors; and during all their campaigns on both sides of the Cascade Mountains, and expeditions of hundreds of miles, they never suffered, nor lost a day, for lack of supplies.

The military organization is given below, not only as necessary to a clear presentation of this part of Governor Stevens's life, but as a tribute to those patriotic men who so gallantly and faithfully served and saved the Territory of Washington in her hour of extreme need:--

James Tilton, adjutant-general.

James Doty, William Craig, B.F. Shaw, E.C. Fitzhugh, H. R. Crosby, Jared S. Hurd, S.S. Ford, Edward Gibson, lieutenant-colonels and aides.

W.W. De Lacy, captain of engineers.

Rudolph M. Walker, ordnance officer.

Dr. Gallio K. Willard, surgeon and medical purveyor.

Drs. U.G. Warbass and Albert Eggers, assistant surgeons.

W.W. Miller, quartermaster and commissary-general.

James K. Hurd, assistant quartermaster and commissary-general, in charge on Columbia River.

Frank Matthias, assistant quartermaster and commissary, Seattle.

Warren Gove, Steilacoom.

Charles E. Weed, Olympia.

R.S. Robinson, Port Townsend.

M.R. Hathaway, succeeded by M.B. Millard, Vancouver.

A.H. Robie, Dalles and in the field.

S.W. Percival was sent as agent to San Francisco.

SECOND REGIMENT, RAISED FOR SIX MONTHS.

Lieutenant-Colonel B.F. Shaw, commanding the right wing, consisting of Central and Southern battalions.

Major J.J.H. Van Bokkelen, commanding Northern battalion.

Major Gilmore Hays, succeeded by Major George Blankenship, Central battalion.

Major H.J.G. Maxon, Southern battalion.

Lieutenant Eustis Huger, adjutant; Lieutenants Humphrey Hill, B.F. Ruth, W.W. De Lacy, adjutants of Northern, Central, and Southern battalions respectively.

Captain C.H. Armstrong, regimental quartermaster and commissary in field with right wing.

R.M. Bigelow, Justin Millard, M.P. Burns, surgeons, Northern, Southern, and Central battalions respectively.

MOUNTED MEN.

Company. Strength. Captain.

C 67 B.L. Henness D 44 {Achilles {Jephtha S. Powell I 40 Bluford Miller K 101 Francis M.P. Goff M 53 Henry M. Chase N 74 {Richards {James Williams Washington Mounted Rifles 95 H.J.G. Maxon Clark County Rangers 81 William Kelly Walla Walla Company 29 Sidney S. Ford ---- 584

INFANTRY.

A 53 Edward Lander {Gilmore Hays B 52 {A.B. Rabbeson {David E. Burntrager E 21 C.W. Riley F 40 C.W. Swindal G 55 {J.J.H. Van Bokkelen {Daniel Smalley H 42 R.V. Peabody I 35 {Samuel D. Howe {George W. Beam L 91 Edward D. Warbass Train guard 47 Oliver Shead Pioneer Company 40 {Joseph White {Urban E. Hicks Nisqually Ferry Guard 9 Sergeant William Packwood ---- 485

Stevens Guards 25 C.P. Higgins Spokane Invincibles 23 B.F. Yantis

INDIAN AUXILIARIES.

Nez Perces, Volunteers 70 Chief Spotted Eagle Snohomish 82 Chiefs Pat-ka-nim and John Taylor Squaxon 15 Lieutenant Wesley Gosnell Chehalis 17 Sidney S. Ford Cowlitz 9 Pierre Charles ---- Total 1310

The horses used for mounted men were furnished partly by the government and partly by the volunteers.

Company M was composed of ten white men and forty-three Nez Perces, Indians furnishing their own horses.

Company N was first commanded by Captain Richards, and second by Captain Williams.

A portion of the Pioneer Company, after Colonel Shaw's march across the Cascades, served as mounted men in the Puget Sound country.

Company B was commanded first by Captain Gilmore Hays, second by Captain A.B. Rabbeson, and lastly by Captain David E. Burntrager.

Company E was first commanded by Captain Riley, and second by Lieutenant Cole.

Company G was first commanded by Captain Van Bokkelen, and second by Captain Smalley.

Company I was first commanded by Captain Howe, and second by Captain Beam.

Volunteers called out by Acting-Governor Mason:--

FIRST REGIMENT, RAISED FOR THREE MONTHS OR LESS.

MOUNTED MEN.

Company. Strength. Captain.

A 61 William Strong B 91 Gilmore Hays E 40 Isaac Hays F 63 Benjamin L. Henness K 26 John R. Jackson Cowlitz Rangers 39 Henry A. Peers Lewis River Rangers 44 William Bratton Puget Sound Rangers 36 Charles H. Eaton ---- 408

INFANTRY.

Company. Strength. Captain.

C 70 George B. Goudy D 55 William H. Wallace G 22 W.A.L. McCorkle M 75 C.C. Hewett I 84 Isaac N. Ebey J 29 Alfred A. Plummer Nisqually Ferry Guard 10 Sergeant William Packwood ---- 345

Newell's Company, mounted Captain Robert Newell McKay's Company " Captain William C. McKay

Captain Strong's and Hays's companies were mustered into the regular service. The mounted men furnished their own horses.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] Bancroft, vol. xxvi. p. 143.