The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1858-07-30

have always been regarded ~ ffissd-
Nv to the whites, and whsnsve lsk
Walla Walla, no one thought ofhav.
ing an eSccuHser &ith sksB, of ~
Other -imsifxsm % ne mssc1. ..s.s.s.. .-.''''
On Sunday morning, the I6sh, on
leaving camp, we wrre told that the
Spokane had assembled and were
ready TO fight US, Not believing fhis.
our march was continued uBtil sboue
1 o'clock, when We ,iouad ourselves
in. the. presence. Of ak hppdEsd xars.,
lrlors IN war costume. ThA com.
|mand was halted for the purpose of
having q talk, in which the, Spoksus
anpognced that they. had heard we
had gone out for the purpose of
wiping them out; and, Is that wss
the case, they were readytp Rsht "a,
and that we should Dot, cross liieSpo.
kan river. The Indians were well
mounted, principally armed with n.
Hes, and were extended along 0tsr
flank at the distance Of one hundred
yards. Alter some talk, the Colonel.
told MS that we would have to fight;
and we Immediately put ourselves
into position to move 20 better
ground-determincd that tie Spo-
kaDs should fire the frat gun. A.
ter marching q mile we reached q
sheet Of water. It was decided to
encamp, AMI hold another talk with
the Indians. Nothing resulted from
this, except che most insulting de-
monstrations ION their part. W. d.
red not disDount, and were kept IN
the saddle three hours, until the set-
ting Of the sun dispersed the Indians.
On Monday morning, 17th May.
we Iert cunipso roturvI tUruc- f>osv,.ov,
marching in the following ordes:--.
II company in advance, @ in the
centre with the packs, and E in the
rear. At eight o'clock, the Indians
appeared in great numbers about the
rear Of the column, and Just 20 the
advance was crossing q small stream
they began firing. In twenty min
ntes the firing became continuous.-
Seeing that we must fight, and that
the action mnst become general, I
was ordered to move forward and oc-
cnpy hill that the Indians were
making for, and upon which they
would have close fire upon the
head Of the column. After q closc
race, | gained the hill in advance,
on seeing which, the Indians moved
around and took possession of one
commanding that which I occupied,
leaving few men to defend the fret
hill, and deploying my men, chsrg-
ed the second and drove them oil.
AT this time the action was gen.
cral; the three companies, number
ing in all about ITO men, were
warmly engaged with 500 Indians.
The companies we're separated from
each other nearly 1000 yards, AMI
fought entirely BY making short
charges. At II o'clock | was reil..
forced by the howitzcrs, anil two
companies began to move towards
the position | held, the Indians
pressing closely upon them. AZ L
company was approac!,icg, q large
body Of Indians got between Il and
my company, SO that having it be-
tween tw' fires, they could vwipc il
ont at once. Castor seeing THE,
moved quickly toward, me, having
the Indians in his front, aud when
near enough, and saw he was about
to charge, | charged with II compa-
ny. The result was, that our cunpa-
MES met, having the Indians in o
right angle, in which angle we lett
twelve dead Indians.
After getting together, we kept up
the fight for half an hour, and again
started to reach water, moving half
a mile under constant and raking
fiIe, under which our comrades,
Taylor and CASTOR, fell. We finally
reached a hill near the water and
occupied the summit, and the lndi-
ans having now completely sur
rounded it, we dismounteJ and pick
eted our horses close together on the
centre Of the flat inclined sum,nit,
and posted our men around the crest,
making them lie h,t on tho ground,
as the Indians were go close and 80
'laring as to attempt to charge the
hill, but, although outnunborin3 "
eight to one, they couId not succeed.
Towards, evening, our ammunition
began to give out. and our men suf-
fcring 80 much from thirst and "a.
Itigne, required all our attention, to
keep them mp. To move from one
point to another, We had to crawl on
our hands and knees. amid the howl.
ing Of the In lians, the groans OF the
Lying, AMI the whist ny, Of balls asd
arrOws. We were kept Ia this pa,
sitlon until s O'Clock p. IN, when, %
might caine on, it became apparent
that on the. morrow we must ',so
under" "an,l that not one Of as would
escape. 1t was plain that, nearly
destitute OF ammu milton, we wess
completely surrounded by ak OF, eigh,
hundred indians, and the most 0,
these on points which we must pass
to get away. Therefore, Il was de.
termined torun the gauntlet, 90 that,
|if possible, some might escape. :
Abandoning everything, we mo.ct.
ed and left the hill al nina o'elos.k
and after ride ofninety miles, most.
. ly at a gallnp, aud without q rest,
sc reached Snake river tst Red
: Wolf crossing, the next evening. and
3 were met BY our friends, the Nsx
l'ercrs. Wo had two officers, avo