, 1858-07-16
An Indian Attack upon Miners,
Five Days Engagement Death Of Nr =,
the Party -Thi1y-Si1 Patk-inimSl.T T1 VIII u
their Packs, etc., Captured! Win

'A ANA1I WV OapluIGu'
A rumOr reached here last week %
which we gave publicity in a paraUrsnb :,
the effect that a party Of thirty mins,'
en- route for ThompsOn's river, where attscL
ed by large body of Indians in tn. cors
try of the Walla-wallas, and repulsed viL
the loss of eighteen killed." &c.
After our edition for last week had ho.-
put to press and worked of, Mr. VIZ
PEARSON, (Of fast express time nOtOrietv
arrived here, (Friday morning. 2O1 bo1,, M,
from Fort Vancouver, who furnished us with
the following memoranda, confrmatorv 20
the report that there really had been an en-
gsgement between the Indians and mart,
Of miners, and that the latter had been y,DrL
sed and driven back to the Dalk,y NJ,
PEARSON left here on Friday evening Las,
on the steamer Constitution, for Seattle for
the purpose Of guiding company Of miners
through the Snoqualme pass, to the upuer
gold region on the Suswap and Thompsops
river The following is the memoranda sen.
to this Office by Mr. P:
OLYMPIA, W. T., July "a, 1858.
" Editor Pioneer and Democrat: o.
"srR IL left Fort vancouver at half pas, t.n =,
clock yesterday morning, on board the steamer Nfh
n0ndh en- route for ThOmpson'5 river by the wav N
the Snoqualmie pass Of the Cascade Mountains 81,
vious TO my departure, the steamer Mountain Buck
1 nFarThN do Nha .F I.r..N -
ty Of eighty men by the hostile Indians north or
northeast Of the Dalles. am indebted for whatever
information may be able to communicate 10 YOU CON
cernng this matter, to DR.. R. II. LANsDALE, Indian
Agent, who met at the Dalles some Of the returned
and defeated miners.
1t seems that of the eighty men but twenty Of tb,
were armed that they fell in with band Of Indians
numbering one hundred and fifty that the IpdianS
at first treated them WELL and proposed to direct or
guide them TO the mining country, and accompanied
them on their way one or two days-sufhcienty long
TO take good account Of the number Of arms Of TIE
party and the number Of men comprising the compa
ny that when they arrived at point that was "a.
vorable for the Indians to make an attack Of the
mining party placed his gun on the ground, for some
purpose, when an Indian, standing by, picked Il I'd
and shot the miner through the head This was sg.
nal for fight and both parties pitched in THAT
1t resulted In the loss Of several whites and number
of Indians killed-amOng the latter, was Quieense.
nah-chief of the Isle de Pieres that the Vhites
lost twentysix Of their animals and most Of their nj
ming tools that the fight lasted three days &c. &C.
Gentle miners, prepare for war in time Of peace"
yours, Respectfully,
"W. h. PEARSON Erpressmaa.
~P. S. "IleIt Fort Vancouver at half past ten
o'clock, July LIST, and arrived at Olympia at ak ocE
this morning. July I'd.
"Quileeneenah has been leading chief Of the
upper Columbia river hostile bands and it is well that
he Is out Of the way. He Is also brother Of the In
J dian who murdered Mr.. Mattice, in 1855.
! Yours, HARRY"
Entertaining not the least doubt but that
Mr. PEARSON has been informed, in sub
stance, as above given, we were not little
surprised, on the receipt Of the Oregon
STANDARD, of July LIST, to find, on authority
of VICTOR TREvITT, Esq., "a gentleman who
resides at the Dalles, almost direct deni-
al Of the statement as received by Mr.. p
And the only way in which we can now re.
concils the conflicting statements is, that
the editor Of the Standard received bis 10.
formation from Mr.. TREv1rr on the Monday,
a few days Preceding intelligence being re.
ceiVed from, or the arrival of the defeated
. mining party at the Dalles aud that in
stead Of one, as it now appears, too sepa-
rate parties Of miners have been attacked
on different routes
A party Of miners arrived here on Mon
day evening, direct from Portland, who left
that city on Friday last, who fully corrObO-
rate the main facts set forth in the informs-
nation received, and given by Mr. PEAR-
SON.
Three Of the miners who have arrived
here, whose names are JOSEPH 81. REN-
MNGToN, JOHN WooDsIDE and MICHAEL
COLLINS, inform us that they conversed with
several Of the returned and defeated miner,
who informed them, substantially, as fol-
lows: .....
t That the party, originally, consisted Of
] seventy-seven men, with an appropriate
} number Of pack animals, and that they bad
started for the gold region ma the SiucOs
valley and Yakima river that the difH-
$ Guilty commenced on the north bank, and
Immediately after the crossing Of the Nah.
: Ches river, by the Indians firing upon one
, Of their number who was some distace from
the main party that they held the Indi.
ans at hey until nightfall, and started on
E their return that when the attack was
first made, they did not think there were
more than $50 Indians, but before night,
and for several days thereafter, the bill
sides were covered with them, and that in
order to proceed at all, in was necessary to
keep an advance scouting party ahead, and
a strong guard on each side Of the pack
= train, and in its rear that they did their
travelling almost entirely during the night,
+ yet, using the utmost vigilance, the IDdi-
aus succeeded in capturing thirty-siI Of
their pack-animals, with their packs Of pro-
IS \ a.