, 1858-08-06

nIcss. OuI llVOl'o Aio 2 ~ l"' 81 "tiount
Of fatigue service, as shown in the block
honses btilt by them and the roads cut out
Nv them one company was especially raised
for fatigue duty, and was called the Pioneer
company; most Of its members were me-
cha1ics, or very experienced axemen, and
for many mouths they were constantly EN-
ployed at fatigue service. 1t was emphat-
lisaliy company of Pioneers as well as a
company of fighting men; the Indians
making the first attack upon them whilst
cutting out road at the battle Of Conners
Prairie
l refused Mr. Chairman to allow any ex.
ira compensation for fatigue service, be-
cause l expected the pay Of our troops
would have some relations to the price Of
labor in the country; and for a temporary
rapid service organized for nn emergency,
I did not think the idea Of extra. pay for
fatigue service should be countenauced
IN the disposition of public property in
the volunteer service Of Washington, every
exertion was made to guard the rights Of
the Government. Irefused to allow any
volunteer to retain one animal even on an
appraisal 10y the officers of the Quarter
master Department, the same to be charged
upon the muster rolls against his pay, but
directed every animal to be disposed Of at
public lauction. Everything was sold at
public auction for the scrip issued in pur-
chasing. The sales amounted to nearly
one hundred aud forty thousand dollars,
and 10 this amount was the war debt re-
duced by these sales The sales were at a
considerable advance on the original cost.
Horses which cost from $3.50 to $500
brought from 5000 to 5000. Wagons
costing 5000, were readily sold at $500;
and oxen we're disposed Of at thirty pA
cent above cost. This too. after the pro
perty had been Of course deteriorated by
six mouths active service. - 't''.' -'''. p.
The report Of j. Ross Brown, Special
Agent Of the Interior Department, gives
so graphic picture Of the condition Of the
Territory, in 1857, the year following the
war, that ! cannot do better than quote
from his report:
[Here follows an extract from the Report Of the gen
tleinan referred to, the subject Of the expenses
of the Indian Wars in Washington and Oregon Terri
toues,h which was published in this paper some
months sncel
There was erected in the Territory, during
the war, thirty-one bock-bouses by the vol
unteer troops, tweuty-one block houses by
the citizens, without assistance, and some
seven blockhouses by the troops Of the
regular service. Some Of those block
houses we're large establishments, there be-
ing space enough inside the pickets for
small houses for the families Of the neigh
borhood, the block-houses intended to pro-
tect. The name and site Of each block
house, as well as the roads and trails cut
out by the volunteer service is given in an
official document published by order Of the
Legislature Of Washington Territory. I'd.
| OF the whole number of eighteen hun
drsd and ninety-six enlisted men in the
Washington volunteers, two hundred and
tbirty-six were friendly lndians, and two
hundred and fifteen. citizens of Oregon,
leaving fourteen hundred aud fortyrfve citi-
zens Of Washington in service from Octo-
ber, 1885, to September, 1856. Their av-
erage term Of service, as have before OBJ
served, was one hundred aud twelve days.
Thus it viii appear that nearly seven
Ieighths of our citizens served nearly four
months during that war--an amount Of
service that has not certainly its parallel
| in this, and probably in any other country.
/ In Washington, the volunteers were
nearly equally divided between foot and
mounted troops There were one thousand
and seventeen men who served as cavalry,
and eight hundred and seventy-nine who
served as infantry. The operations on the
Sound-a large portion Of the country be
ing very heavily timbered and there being
in the timber dense underbrush and fallen
| logs-required that the troops should be
principally foot troops. The operations in
the interior, it being mostly prairie coun-
try, that all the troops should be mounted.
The great vigor aud success Of the volun-
teer operations East Of the Cascades, over
I, those of the regular service, we're due very
much to the fact that the volunteers were
I well mounted, whereas the greater bulk Of
the regular force was infantry. The vol
unteers, were, however, very superior in all
the qualities Of service to the regulars
4 There was scarcely man in the volunteer
service who had not crossed the plains,
become injured 10 all the routine Of camp
life, aud thoroughly accustomed to moving
in that country, either on his horse over
the prairie, or on foot through the dense
forests. r, ..-..,
,lf We had no difficulty whatever in raising
toot troops, nor in dismounting our horse
troops, when, as on the Sound the opera
ions extended from the prairie region, at
he head Of the Sound TO the wooded re-
gion eastward, where horses could not be
used. s..s u.
The remarks, Mr. Chairmak, Of Mr. ].
Ross Brown as to the cause of the war
are SO pertinent and so just that will
give them at length: r
LIere follows number OF extracts from the Repor;
Of Mr. BRowN, the subject of the Of the In
dian Wars in this Territory and in Oregon (which has
also heretofore been published by us.l
In conclusion Mr.. Chairman, ask for
the people of those Territories, prompt and
equal justice at the bands of this Congress
u l.. Al ~ i