Copyright 2000 - 2003 - Janine M. Bork
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Union County, OR AGHP
CHAPTER XLI.
(1848 - 1850.)
Early Argonauts - First American Settlements South of the Calapooias - A Friend of the Whites - United States Regulars in Southern Oregon - Half a Regiment Deserts - Fighting Their Way to the Gold Fields - Relief for the Deserters - A Soldier for Dinner - Dogs for Supper - First Cattle in Oregon - Forcing a Treaty of Peace - First Civilized Vessel to Enter the Umpqua River - Trying to Boom the Country - Founding of Umpqua City, Gardiner, Scottsburg and Winchester - Organization of Umpqua County.
THE discovery of gold in California, in the year 1848, greatly hastened the settlement of Southern Oregon. At the time of the reception of the news in the Willamette valley, the settlers were engaged in the war with the Cayuse and other tribes of Indians, in the northern part of the territory; but peace having been secured, and the harvests of that year gathered, many of the Oregonians went to the new El Dorado to make their fortunes. These adventurers packed the supplies for their long and difficult journey on horses or mules, and, on account of the hostile character of the Indians on the route, were compelled to travel in well-armed companies of considerable numbers, and to exercise the utmost caution to prevent a surprise. Colonel J.W. Nesmith, who made the trip in the fall of the year, says: "From the time we left the Umpqua valley, our party was continually harassed by Indians; but, by keeping strict guard, and allowing none of them to enter our camp, we made the journey without any serious casualties." Colonel John E. Ross also led a company over the route, with a like experience; but there were several parties who left the Willamette valley, or were returning to it, during this year and the next, who were never afterwards heard from. On account of lack of numbers, or want of experience and caution, they were doubtless robbed and murdered by the savages.
In the summer of 1848, Captain Levi Scott, the old scout, with his two sons, William and John, ventured to take land claims, under the act of the Provisional government, on the south side and near the base of the Calapooia Mountains, which they named Scott valley. They were followed, in the fall of that year, by Robert Cowan. In the summer of 1849, Jesse Applegate located his claim at Yoncalla, in the same neighborhood. These were the first American settlers in Southern Oregon. Although they settled upon the extreme northern portion of the dangerous territory, the safety of their flocks and herds was largely owing to the annual presence of a band of Klikitat Indians, who headed by their war chief, made regular raids upon the southern Indians, often as far as Rogue river. The professed object of these trips was hunting; but, in addition to gathering furs and skins, they amused themselves by fighting the local tribes, stealing their women and anything else they deemed valuable. The Klikitats originally belonged north of the
Columbia river, but had been driven from their original location by some stronger tribes. They had acquired some civilization from the Hudson's Bay Company, were well armed with guns, and were good warriors. Their chief was a man of imposing presence, and was known as the Socklate Tyee, or Great Chief; but his real name is found in none of the records. He was a sincere friend of the new settlers, and especially to Jesse Applegate, whom he always regarded as a great chief.
In the spring of 1849, the United States government ordered the Mounted Rifle regiment to Oregon, for which service it was originally intended. Captain Hawkins, of this regiment, who was in command of the escort of General Joseph Lane in 1848, over the old Santa Fé trail, as the southern route across the plains was then called, was ordered, with a detachment, to meet the regiment at Fort Hall, and guide them to Fort Vancouver. Colonel William J. Martin and Captain Levi Scott were employed as guides. The detachment followed the Applegate trail, as it was more practicable at that season of the year, and reached Fort Hall without loss of any of the men, owing to the experience of the guides, both of whom were old mountaineers, and familiar with all forms of Indian treachery; but Colonel Martin admits that Captain Scott had five arrows in his body when they reached their destination.
At Fort Hall the detachment met the Rifle regiment, and conducted it by the Snake river route to Fort Vancouver without serious loss. Among the noted immigrants of that year was Matthew P. Deady, then a young man, now United States District Judge, whose services as a jurist during the life of the territory, and, since that time, for the state, are too well known to need any eulogy.
Shortly after the arrival of the regiment at Vancouver, a detachment of about four hundred of them were stationed at Oregon City. During the winter the soldiers became very much excited by the stories of the returned gold hunters from California; and in the month of January about three hundred of them deserted in a body and started for the gold fields. They were entirely unacquainted with the country over which they were to travel, and, of course, had a scanty supply of provisions. They made their way up the Willamette river and over the Applegate road through the Umpqua valley safely. From the Cow Creek Mountains to Rogue river, they were continually harassed by Indians. At the crossing of Rogue river, they were met by the Indians in full force, and a desperate fight ensued. About eighty of the men fought their way across the river, and after untold suffering succeeded in reaching the Sacramento valley with the loss of many of their number. Those who failed to cross the Rogue river were overtaken by the most severe snowstorm every recorded in that section of the country. Their ammunition being almost exhausted, and their provisions entirely so, the men divided into small companies and scattered over the country, in the hope of obtaining sustenance until the storm was over.
The troops remaining faithful
at Oregon City were not sufficient in numbers to arrest the deserters;
and Colonel Loring, in command of hte regiment at Vancouver, not willing
to try the fidelity of the men under his immediate command, made a request
for volunteers. Governor Lane promptly responded to the call, and with
a party of citizens, all of whom were mountaineers of tried courage, proceeded
with a detachment of the Rifles to capture their erring brothers. Upon
reaching the Cow Creek Mountains, Governor Lane and his party went in advance,
the regulars following with a pack-train of provisions. When nearing hte
Umpqua cañon, learning that the deserters were in a starving condition,
the commanding officer of the detachment called for volunteers to
carry rations to the sufferers in advance of the pack train, which was compelled to travel slowly on account of the snow. The leader of these volunteers was Captain J.D. Biles, a gentleman well known in Northern Oregon, who has the honor of being the first judicial officer under the United States government north of the Columbia river, having been appointed a justice of the peace at Vancouver by Governor Lane in 1849. This relief party, with packs on their backs, traveled on foot through the snow, in many placed four feet in depth. Although nearly starving themselves, they were the first to discover a company of the deserters who had just drawn lots as to which of them should be killed as food for the remainder. The man who had drawn the fatal long straw was being led to the place of execution when the relief party came in sight. Captain Biles says that it would be difficult to tell which felt most relieved by their appearance, the man who was to be sacrificed or his comrades. The commanding officer of the detachment finding that the rations he brought would be inadequate for the purpose, purchased a number of beef cattle of Jesse Applegate, which were driven by him and his men with the pack train. This party discovered one company of the deserters, who, having met a band of Indians nearly as starved as they were themselves, but, being tempted by the offer of guns and ammunition, sold the soldiers all the dogs they had in camp. These furnished the provisions of the company until they were relieved. The surgeon of the relieving party prescribed a light diet of soup, which the starving men deemed insufficient. Mr. Applegate, while on an inspection of the camp at a late hour of the night, discovered a party cooking something in a camp-kettle over a small fire, and being fearful that the orders of the surgeon were being violated, made an investigation of its contents. Upon removing the lid, he was much surprised at the appearance of a dog's nose, this being the last remnant of the dogs purchased of the Indians. After this terrible experience, the soldiers readily returned to their duty and remained faithful during the term of their enlistment.
In the year 1837, the first cattle
were brought to the Willamette valley by Ewing Young and company, which
by reason of the nutritious grasses and equable climate increase rapidly,
and in a few years produced a surplus. When the mining immigration had
reached the upper Sacramento valley, we find the Oregonians driving cattle
to the mines to supply the newcomers with beef. In the year 1850, several
bands were driven. On June 1, 1850, Governor Lane, Thomas Brown, still
a resident of Douglas county, Captain Thompson, an old mountaineer, and
Martin Angell, killed by the Indians in 1855, left Yamhill with three hundred
head. Upon reaching Rogue river, near Gold Hill, the governor sent for
the head chiefs of the Indians, Joe and Sam, with whom he negotiated a
treaty of peace. While the "peace talk" was being carried on, Sam Mulkey,
who with a party of miners was accompanying the governor, discovered, among
the Indians on the opposite side of the river, two horses which had been
stolen from him while returning from California in the spring of 1849.
These the chiefs were required to return to the owner. Upon the return
of the horses, it was found that a negro servant belonging to the cattle
party had been captured by the Indians; and the chiefs were held as hostage
until he was safely delivered in camp. This was done about dark. The negro
had gone in the morning prospecting for gold, taking a pistol with him,
but unconscious of danger. About noon the Indians pounced down upon him
and took him prisoner. They not only took his pistol, but stripped him
of his clothing. Being a curiosity to them, they concluded to make him
a slave. The poor negro was extremely happy in being returned, and never
after left the protection of the camp.
At this point, John Kelly, who wa register of the land-office of Southern Oregon in 1861, and afterwards collector of customs at Portland, purchased the interest of Captain Thompson in the band of cattle, and went with the party to the Sacramento valley, which they reached without difficulty. Upon their arrival, the cattle were sold; and most of the members engaged in mining during the winter. In the spring, General Lane, Brown, Kelly and Angell came north to the newly discovered mines on Scott river, a branch of the Klamath.
The wave of gold-seekers, attracted by the first discovery in 1848, swept northward up the Sacramento river, over almost inaccessible mountains and more dangerous cañons, through a country that had never been explored, to the Trinity and Klamath rivers, and in the year 1850 had almost reached the Siskiyou Mountains. The difficulty of getting supplies to the miners over the rough mountain trails they had followed in their explorations led some of the adventurous men in San Francisco to acquire a cheaper route by sea. The mouth of the Klamath river, which enters the Pacific Ocean about forty miles south of the forty-second parallel of latitude, offered the nearest route to the mines, if it should prove to be practicable.
In the spring of 1850, the firm of Winchester, Payne & Co. promoted a scheme for this purpose, which was known as the Klamath exploring expedition. Patrick Flanigan, of Coos Bay, was one of the stockholders in the company. The company fitted out the schooner, Samuel Roberts, under the command of Captain Coffin, with Peter Mackey as first mate. On arriving at the mouth of the Klamath river, it was found that it was not navigable, and that it was impossible to construct a road from that point to the mines, by reason of the inaccessible mountain ranges intervening. After this discomfiture, the vessel sailed up the coast until it reached the mouth of Rogue river, in latitude about forty-two degrees, twenty-five minutes. Here Mackey and two of the men landed in a small boat to prospect the river and its entrance. Upon their landing, they were immediately surrounded by hostile Indians. By keeping close together, and threatening their assailants with their revolvers, they protected themselves until Captain Coffin, seeing the danger to which they were exposed, fired from the vessel a cannon-shot over their heads. The noise was so novel and terrifying that the Indians fled in great haste, enabling Mackey and his men to reach their boat and the vessel in safety. Proceeding up the coast, the mouth of the Umpqua river was reached, which was entered without accident of any kind. The Samuel Roberts was the first vessel of any nation to enter the Umpqua river.
It took but a short time to satisfy the explorers that the river was navigable for a considerable distance from its mouth, and that a practicable route for a wagon road could be located to the Applegate road, which furnished a comparatively easy way to the mines in Northern California. After ascertaining these facts, the Samuel Roberts returned to San Francisco.
The glowing accounts of their
new discovery, given by the members of the Klamath expedition upon their
return, created a great excitement in the city; and the firm of Winchester,
Payne & Co. immediately fitted out another schooner, the Kate Heath,
for the same port. The party consisted of one hundred men, headed by Mr.
Winchester, and was intended as not only a trading but a colonization venture.
Their object was not alone to establish a trade from their new seaport
to the mines, but to select and lay out townsites at such points as would
likely prove trade-centers in the country which they
confidently believed would be rapidly settled. Among the adventurers were many men who subsequently made their mark in the state, of whom we may name Addison C. Gibbs, afterwards governor of the state; Patrick Flanigan, who afterwards engaged in coal mining on Coos Bay; Addison R. Flint, who came with the expedition as surveyor, and many others whose names will appear in a subsequent part of this work.
The Kate Heath sailed from San Francisco on the 12th of September, 1850, and entered the Umpqua safely after a quick passage. After crossing the bay, they were surprised to find the wreck of a vessel which proved to be the ship Bostonian. This ship had been dispatched by a Boston merchant by the name of Gardiner with a cargo of merchandise, around Cape Horn, under the charge of George Snelling, a nephew of Gardiner, as supercargo, as an adventure on the northwest coast. Snelling having heard of the new discovery entered the Umpqua, but having missed the channel was wrecked upon a sand spit. The crew managed to save most of the cargo, which wa taken to a place of safety and covered by the sails of the wrecked vessel. This spot was named Gardiner, and has ever since been a place of importance as a seaport.
The party on the Kate Heath laid out their first town near the mouth of the river on the north side, which they named Umpqua City. Passing up the river beyond Gardiner, they arrived at the mouth of Smith river, where a number of men were landed to cut piling timber, then in great demand at San Francisco, for a return cargo. Some of the party went up to the head of tide water, where they found that Captain Levi Scott, the old mountaineer, had already laid out a townsite which he named Scottsburg, which he was probably induced to do by the entrance into the river of the Samuel Roberts. The same party proceeded to find a trail to the Applegate road; and on the route at the mouth of Elk creek they laid out the town of Elkton. They found a good wagon road to the main thoroughfare a few miles from the North Umpqua river, at the crossing of which they laid out the town of Winchester. The exploring party returned to Smith river, where the schooner was loaded with piles and spars, and sailed for San Francisco, where she arrived safely. Owing to a conflict in views, the association was broken up. Winchester, Payne & Co. became bankrupt; and all their brilliant prospects were left for others to realize.
The vessels which entered the mouth of the Umpqua river during the year 1850 were the Samuel Roberts, Bostonian (wrecked), Oriolan, Kate Heath, Reindeer, Minerva and Caleb Curtis. All except the first two came in ballast with passengers, and took a return cargo of piles. Nearly all these passengers remained and became citizens of hte new territory. Many of them took claims under the Donation Act, while others engaged in various occupations.
The new settlers were all deeply
impressed with the importance of opening the route to the mines in Northern
California; and, with this object in view, they laid out a trail to the
main overland thoroughfare. At Winchester, John Aiken and Thomas Smith
had established a ferry. During this year, Dr. E.R. Fiske located a Donation
claim adjoining and below that of Levi Scott; and later William Sloan located
one still farther down the river, which were subsequently known as Middle
and Lower Scottsburg. In December, 1850, Captain Morgan, who owned the
barque Minerva, and J. Woodbury of Hartford, Connecticut, established
the first store in Southern Oregon, upon the premises of Dr. Fiske; and
Dr. E.P. Drew was selected by the owners to take charge of the same.
This was a great convenience to the settlers in the upper part of the valley, who had before been compelled to purchase and pack their supplies from Corvallis, then called Marysville, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles.
The increase of settlements along
the Umpqua in this year, caused by the discovery of a new seaport, was
sufficiently large to induce the territorial legislature, in the winter
of 1850-51 to establish a county government for their benefit. The new
county was named Umpqua; and its boundary line commenced on the coast at
the southwest corner of Benton county, thence east to the Calapooia Mountains,
thence following this dividing ridge to the head of Calapooia creek, thence
down that stream to its mouth, thence down the Umpqua river to the Pacific
Ocean. All the remainder of Southern Oregon belonged to the county of Lane.
The organization of Umpqua was effected in the spring of 1851.