# The Early Indian Wars of Oregon

THE
EARLY INDIAN WARS
OF
OREGON
COMPILED
FROM THE OREGON ARCHIVES AND OTHER ORIGINAL SOURCES
WITH
MUSTER ROLLS.
BY
FRANCES FULLER VICTOR
SALEM, OREGON:
FRANK C. BAKER, STATE PRINTER
1894
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1894 by
FRANCES FULLER VICTOR,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 22.
Introduced by Hon. Wm. Armstrong.
Whereas the early history of the territory of Oregon is in a chaotic state as regards the early pioneers, those noble men and women who braved the perils and sufferings incident to a long and tedious journey over the then trackless and uninhabited desert; and whereas there still remains a full and varied record of the heroic deeds of those brave men and noble women, in the office of the secretary of state, the compilation, tabulation, and publication of which would redound to the honor of this patriotic people, worthy of adorning the brightest page of American history, and thereby transmit to posterity the fortitude and sacrifices of the men who saved this state to the United States,—a state that today is the brightest gem in the galaxy of our glorious constellation; and whereas many of those early pioneers have passed that bourne from whence no traveler returns, and Time has laid his heavy hand on the hoary heads of those that remain, let us join with them in erecting to their memory a monument that will stand in the solitude of time, beneath whose shadow nations may crumble, and around whose summit generations yet unborn may linger, by the publication of those records, now resting in oblivion, in the archives of the state; therefore be it
Resolved, That the secretary of state be and he is hereby instructed to cause to be compiled, tabulated, and published, as far as is possible from the material in his possession, a complete record of the early Indian wars of Oregon, including the wars of 1855 and 1856, and a brief sketch of the pioneer history preceding such wars and connected therewith, and that he be instructed to expend not to exceed the sum of fifteen hundred dollars out of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, for the compilation and tabulation of such historical record, and such other information as will preserve the names and incidents connected with the Indian wars of Oregon; such historical work to be compiled under his direction.
Be it further resolved, That the unexpended balance, if any, shall be returned to the state treasury. The secretary of state is hereby appointed custodian of such book when published, and he is hereby authorized and directed to sell such book at the actual cost of compilation and publication, and to report to the ​legislative assembly of 1893 the amount of money received by him as the proceeds of such sales. The secretary of state is further instructed to compile statements showing services of the soldiers of the Indian wars of Oregon, and to publish the same in pamphlet form for distribution among the veterans of said wars.
Adopted by the house, February 18, 1891.
T. T. GEER, Speaker of the House.
Concurred in by the senate, February 19, 1891.
JOSEPH SIMON, President of the Senate.
PREFACE.
Having been entrusted by the legislature of Oregon with the duty of recording the history of the early wars of the white race with the Indians of the northwest, it appeared to me eminently proper to set forth the causes in detail which led to those race conflicts. In doing this I have endeavored to "nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice," but rather to give a philosophical view of the events recorded. This is the more important because fiction and sentimentalism on one hand, and vengeful hatred on the other, have perverted the truth of history.
The Indian is a wild man; it would only be a fact of evolution to call him a wild animal on his way to be a man, provided the proper environments were furnished him. While the instincts and perceptions are acute, the ethical part of him is undeveloped, and his exhibitions of a moral nature are whimsical and without motive. Brought into contact with white men, whether of the lowest or of the highest, he is always at a disadvantage which is irritating, and subject to temptations which are dangerous. On the other hand, the white man is subject to the more subtle temptation to abuse his superiority for selfish purposes; he being in selfishness often but little, if at all, removed from the wild man.
One point to be brought out in these pages is the accountability of the government in our Indian wars, and ​its indebtedness to the pioneers of every part of the country: first, in inviting settlement, and then in not properly protecting settlers. The policy of the government for a hundred years has been to throw out a vanguard of immigration, and when these had fallen victims to savage cupidity or hatred, to follow with a tardy army and "punish" what it should have prevented. The Spaniards did better than this, for they sent a garrison out with every colony and "reduced" the native population with comparatively little bloodshed.
If this record of the first ten years of Indian warfare in Oregon presents this subject fairly to the reader, it will have achieved the purpose for which it was written.
Salem, July 30, 1893.
CONTENTS.
THE CAYUSE WAR.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
ROGUE RIVER WARS.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
THE YAKIMA WAR.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.