, 1860-04-27

whether certain companies not raised to stay at
home and sperifyinE among others plummers at
Port Townsend, and Ebey's at Whdby's island: "All
these places believe TO be without The sphere Of ope
ations, and have yet to learn that they at any
time visited by hostes or in fear Of it. On the con
trafy Whdbys island was the place where many Of
the friendly Indians living on the east side Of the
sound were taken, fed, and cared for by an Indian
agent &c. Who was that agent! He was an ap-
pontee and acting under the special orders Of Gov.
stevens, olciD superintendent Of Indian Affairs the
"seli-cOnstituted commander Of the volunteers, and
the Indian eXterminator in the heated imagination Of
General Wool; and E5ey's company, of which the Au-
ditOr himself had official knowledge at the time he
made inquiry OF General Wool, not stationed on
Nhidbys island, but on the Snuhomsh, watching the
very pass which Col. Casey was 50 anxious about on
the 18th OF April. Pummers company was constant
ly engaged in cruising the socnd in order to keep
on northern Indians and Keep down dsltiection among
the Indians Of the SQUAD. The correspondence accom-
plnyng the governors message to the legislature, at
it. ith annual session. in 5j-jT, gives dispatches
showing that Ebey's company was posted on the Sno-
hpnl'h. copy Of the printed document was sent 10
the Auditor, and actually received by him soon after
the c.nse Of the last session Of Congress-.
! General Wool preliCe' his charges Of "frOrbitant
prices, and the war b1iug considered godsend' -
ply the remark; "ln regard to the prices pail for sup
plies, &r 10y the volunteers, am not in possession Of
any data that will enable to arrive at any just con
clu.ipn.' Why, then, did lie not hold his tongue?
Again. By the italiCsing Of passages he arrays two
statement, OF Governor Stevens in his letter TO Perci-
val To show uaccuraey and Inconsistency Of statement
dians) and less than hundred dbie-JOdied ichfe
men, These troops enlisted for six months, and
number about sPren hundret.' Now, both statements
are correct The average force was about seven hun
dred as shown by the report Of the commission, and
there were not seven hundred able bodied white men
living the shores of Pugct Sound About one half
the volunteer force were raised on the Columbia river
in Oregon, and in the NtZ PerCe country [Nfz Perce
InN liiriesl General Wool supposed reference was
had to the force on Puget Sound when the whole
force under arms in the territory, including Indian
auX,lilries, were included.
D. Captain TSonas j. Cram. He states the price
Of oats to have been fifty cents per bushel. The low
est price paid by any regular quarermaster was one
dollar per buslel, aud the prices ranged high five
dollars per busNo. The following passage for its
originality and singular peruence to establish the
charge ot eNorbltant prices, may be exhibited a
curiosity: Bat in proportion the demand increased
and the supply diminished the prices increased
From having in an isolated case seen the volunteers
pour bag after bag Of the oats upon the ground for
their horses to cat ad hbHn he has mot the slight
est doubt that thirty per cenum Of all the forage pur
chased for volunteers wasted
He speaks of putatos being raised in such large
quantities that they rutted at the whafyes yet Captain
Jordan, qunrtermaSter at the Dalles, paid high
y y per bushel aud other quartermasters as high
50 60 per bushe
Again: Il doubt if dollar was ever paid by vol
untecr, promise IN pay made, for pastu-
rage in a country where the whole land was one ex-
tended common" The lamentaLle ignorance of the
country which this extract exhibits should incapaci-
ttie the writer from bearing testimony. At that time
tie range and especially the winter range, for animals
in the willamette valleys and other portinns Of Oregon
was altogether insufficient for the stock, and every
winter many animals died for want Of snstenance.-
When animals were herGed, awaiting an expedition at
any particular point the proprietor of the pasture used
ran the risk Of losing his animals, and this is
Of the reasonshy the charges for pasturage were
high. Many large pastures are enclosed in Oregon
and Washington, and it would seem the quartermas-
tiers took the wise precautiOn of rentngOhe pastures
instead of letting ont the herd at so much per head
per month. The commission, however understood all
hee pecuarities Of the country and the service il
Capt Cram did not
The captain refers to his topcgr ophicaI memoir for
farther particulars to the two services "a memoir
which has had pat upon it the seal Of reprobaton Of
his superior, the Secretary of War, in these words:-
large portion Of the report is devoted to subjects
irrelevant to its Objects indicated by the title and
duties Of Captain Cram, and contains anmadversons
upon pnlic functionares which out Of place in q
Typographical communication and which are in no
sense sanctioned or endorsed by this department"
Captain Cram is certainly very fast witness, and
IL his statements to have weight In regard to the
volunteer service, cannot how the accounts oil
the regular quartermasters deserved TO have Leen
passed. Yet no one has been bold enough to bring
charges against them preudcia either to their ability
or integrity. His statements that scrip not worth
at the close Of the war more than l2t cents the
4 dollar that three-quartersof the scrip, probably
had been sold by the fist holders at not Is "a
cents on the dollar and large amount at 10 cents
the dollar, would il true snow in view Of the report
OF the Auditor the lamentabe distress and desttutio
10 which the inhabitants of the territories had been
reduced and that the price of scrip had little to do
with fixing the price paid for supplies in the volunteer
service or il the latter be true the report show.
that Captain Grams statement as to prices are grossly
and scandallus( II Incorrect
The truth isIexcePt in cases where the necessities
Of the destitute aud Impoverished population of those
territories compelled them IL sell their scrip atwhat
ever price 1t would command in the market in order
to procure the absolute necessaries of life to raise
some little means to carry business, to prevent
the sacrifice Of property expected to be valuable
they held on u their scrip aud still retain IT, having
the fullest confidence that they will yet receive justice
at the hands Of Congress. 1t is certainly most cruel
and unmany for the very partieS whose misrepresen
titions reduced the plce Of scrip to turn round and
adduce this reduction proof Of the truth Of such
misrepresent t,ions.
The impression which these letters of General Wool
and others is calculated to make is that the inhabitants
of the territories well the authorities were bent
on Of aggression against the Indians and that
the Indians were in arms rather as matter of self
defence That the peace to which they refer in such
terms Of complaCency was simply quasi peace and
that other causes might exist to produce war than
the outrages of the white settlers is shown in the fact
that two yeaTs afterwards the Indians rose upon the
regular troops the citizens having been excluded from
that portion OF the territory by military order utterly
defeated and drove before them hundred aud fifty
Of their humber aud compelrd the commander Of the
department Of the Pacific to organize a wellappOined
campaign to sulduc them The necessity of the cam
pgu OF Colonel Wright in 1858 is the emphatic vim
dcation Of the volunteer operations Of 1855 and 1856.
The attention Of Congress is particularly called 10
the fact that the war department constantly kept
advised by the executives % the two territories of the
volunteer operations under their direction and not
word Of reprooi animadvesion received in
reply. The department aud the President mani.
testify recognized that, by law, well from nece.
sity discretion did rest with the territorial execu-
tyes to the required to defend and pro-
tect the country and it is to be presumed from their
silence that they had confidence that such discretion
being properly exercised. 1t is claimed that the
government-the President in sustaining the Of
the governments Of the two territories and Congress
in authorizing a commission-has fully endorsed the
proprety and necessity Of the volunteer operations
The task Of analyzng the statements received from
Oregon and Washington since the Auditor wrote his
/ report with the view Of determining the prices cur
rent in the country during the war, remains to be
/ done.
Washington Territory has been divided into three
districts: the northern lower Sound district in re-
i gard to which statements have been received from
Whatcom, Island, Jefferson, King, and Kitsap coun-
tes the central or upper sound district with state
ments from Thurston, Pierce and Sawamish counties;
and the southern Columbia river district with state
ments from Cowlitz. Clarke and Skamania counties.
In the first district the volunteer quartermasters
posts of Port Townsend and Seattle; in the second
Steilacoom and Olympia and in the third, Vancouver
and the Ddllcs. Statements are also given from Gen
cral Miller the quartermaster and cOmmissary general