Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-05-29

onei Wright. Their numbers had been
diminished, their cattle and provisions
captured and destroyed, 500 head OF beau
tiful horses-many of them stolen from
the whites eisewhere--were captured by
the soldiers, corralled about eight miles
above our city and ruthlessly shot, as a
necessity of war; though Colonel Wright
deplored the exigency. The spirit of the
Indians was broken and the country at
peace. They sued for terms through their
chiefs and spiritual advisers. gave up
criminal and stolen property, delivered
over many chiefs and families as hostages,
and signed exactlng treaties and agree
ments of peace and friendship.
Owhi and Qual-chain.
One Yakima Chiet-Owhi-who richly
deserved death on general principles. was
taken prisoner. but as he mad a SON
Qual-chian-much worse than himself,
the colonel put him in irons and demanded
the presence of the son. on penalty of
hanging the father. The curt official re-
port of the incident illustrates the iron
hand and temper of steel which subdued
the insolence of the enemy in this short
campaign, and reads as follows: Il seized
Owhi and put him in irons. / then seat
a messenger for Qual-chain, desiring hls
presence forthwith, with notice that il
he d d not come would hang Owhi. Quail
chain came to me at 9 o'clock this mora
ing and at 81 a. m. he was hung"
OF the expedition detailed from the COM
mand to recover the bodies, buried guns
and whatever else remained to be removed
from the scene of Colonel Steptoe's dis
aster four months before, the account CT
Lieutenant Mullan is as follows:
Having arrived near the battle field
we came upon the bones Of many of our
men that had lain bleaching on the prairie
hills for four months. and that had. N
in every direction by the bands of wolves
that had infested the place.
Having with US the Occur d'Alene In
dian who, after the battle, finding the
body of Lieutenant CASTOR, had himself
covered it with leaves and bushes and
left it upon the field, we were directed 70
the spot of his rude burial and there found
the bones of that gallant officer who fell
bravely leading his men in a forlorn
charge. On reaching the battle field prop
er, We halted and encampe6, and picket
ing our animals in good grass began to
so inhumanly butchered, and the guns lost
in that desperate encounter,
1.-THE guns having been well buried, we
found as they had been left, unGisturbed.
Passing along the slope of a hill, we came
upon small ravine in which lay the
| graves Of four men, Captain Taylor. q
| half-breed and two of the dragons.
! Silently and mournfully we disinterred
| their remains and securely packing them
bore them from the field to our camp IL
| order to transport them to Walla Walla
there to give them proper burial with mil
| itary honors.
| Silently surveying the ground from tht
| top of the hill, a scene of desolation ans
sadness met the eye at every point. Brok
| en- and burnt fragments of all that ha.
once constituted the equipage of this com
| mand lay scattered to the right and left
| and everywhere were to be seen the un
mistakable signs of a relentless savage
who had determined on the utter annihi
| lation of this small command.
| But one thing remained not totally de-
| stroyed, viz: a pair of shafts Of one of The
buried guns. Why these had escaped the
| general conflagration of such things as the
Indians could not usefully appropria te
| was wonder to us ALL
| This, with our rude means at hand
| we framed and fashioned into a cross
| which we erected upon the battle field as
| Christian token to the honored dead
| and to point the stranger TO the spo;
| where brave men bravely met their fate
| and as each officer and soldier fingered
! near the spot and heard rehearsed the sad
| recital of that memorable defeat, the silent
| tear stole down many a bronzed cheek
| that had confronted death and braved
| danger upon many tented field, and I'll
| praying In their hearts 'Requiescat In
| pace left behind them this hill of death
| and moving to our camp we found every
| thing quiet, as if the feelings of all were
| in sad unison with the place, AMI thus
too, our camp merits the name of the
Camp of DEATH"
The official memoir Of this war proffers
| the warmest thanks of the commander to
| the Jesuit fathers-Father Josef, in par
| ticular-for their constant co-operat ton
| in subduing the savages. and pays the
| highest tribute to their missionary spiri,
| and work.
| In closing, Colonel Wright thus tersely
| addresses his superior officer: "Sir, the
| war is closed. Peace is restored Nth the
| Spokanes, Occur d'Alenes and Pelouses
| After a vigorous campaign the indians
have chen entirely subdued and were mos
happy to accept such terms of peace AS
| I might dictate.'