Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1897-04-16
PIONEER SKETCHES
c....;,u across the Salmon.
nsvafeS ....s and Velusteers Who
S'''' vere worse thaa Iadla's'

~,eee worse Suo~
,d;.u. it seems had chosen the
white ,ps Bird canyon as their , nsauaua'
WV md they held that stronghold
ters; sn1 .nnroach of Gen. Howard
until I'll s the ,, apy' Of 600 soldiers. The
WIN .annanies under Col. Perry re-
two ~ inactive upon Camas prairie
n '.al.,hly to guard the citizens The
0s' 'n,sers retained headquarters at the
so'uu .as at Mt. Idaho. The volu"'
, ss numbered 100 brave men. I !, II y
.ss afraid to trust Col. Perry ana h's
w.. ..tsr the example Of their recent
. a',..s At the battle of White Bird to
u '..rd their families and their homes
49, 80 we're repeated calls for help form
-. luz sYposed settlers at Slate creek;
"a The citizens urged the soldiers to
aD .a,,e them. Perry, however, Insisted
. ,. directing the compaign. A COR
Az. Of authority resulted, and the
NV ',.,,,sers held Col. Perry IN con'
,smnt from an early stage OF the pro-
.,ss Of the Nez Perez war until Its
close. 49,, -,
s.on,iuy. At different times they at
,smnted to reach thu lit e stockade al
SI.te creek; but they found hostile
Ind,.ns SO numerous and watchful
.hut White Bird that they could no'
rascue the besieged settlers. On one
OCCASION a party of brave Camas prairie
1ovs undertook to bury the dead on
,hs White Bird battle field. They
n,oceeded to the scene of horrors and
logan their work of mercy but the
indian warriors drove them back.
The dead lay where they had fallen
MI t;en. Howard arrived, IA days after
the battle.
At the outbreak of the war there
we're two well stocked stores On the
Salmon river belonging to Harry
Mason and "Hurdy" Brown. Mason
was killed, one of the first, and Brow n
escaped by fortunate circumstances
aud after the display of no little cour
aye, and experiencing many hardships
These stores supplied the Indians
with large quantities Of provisions
The native warriors cached such arti-
Giles from these stores as they would
need and evidently decided to carry on
the war IN the vicinity of these caches
1t was evidently their plans of cam
paign to subdue the United States
army in those rugged canyons. They
had thousands of horses and .aitle
which they had collected on the
great grass plain between the Salmon
aud Snake rivers. Joseph had told
bis followers that he could annlhilate
all the blue coats that could be assem-
bled In the Salmon river canyon.
The retreat across Salmon river, or
the part of Joseph, was manpuvre
to lead Towards army INTO ambush
in that rugged country and repeat the
Custer tragedy. An efficient scout
service thwarted the well laid sche me
These Indians caches were discovered
and DESTROYED, large herds of STOCK
were captured and discomfort invaded
the ranks OF the Indians. The scout.
aid volunteers displayed wonderful
courage In this Salmon river raid a!
they did where and whenever they
werr called into action. On one occa
sion George Young and Pike Daven
port who We're employed by Howard
~ scouts discovered nine Indians herd
lug I'VE hundred horses very near tn,
hostile army. They made u dash
drove off the herders, rounded up tn
whole cavalry herd aud delivered then
10 Gen. Howard. On another occasion
COL McConville was detailed by How
sfd on scout duty to select a camp TO
tne evening. He went ahead thre
" -FOUR miles aud found an ideal CAM
ground. A message was sent to thu
command conveying the information
'ne TACT was also conveyed to til,
general that hostile Indians were seel
moving about near the camp. Gen
howard Instead Of Fastening to tn
camp selected by Col. McConviile VIII
was detailed for that duty, halle,
~nen and where he received the in
"rnistion that hostile Indians wer
near and struck camr, leaving the 81.
wave volunteers unsupported and Il
we midst of the Indians till nearl
m'dhight, before he informed them G
"e change of plans.
While giving due praise to the so
u'ers the volunteers and especially tn
s0oo's In breaking up Joseph's ren
uezVous on the Salmon river, anothe
''sss OF people should not be ovel
"oSed. There were organized bodit
VI men in the country who came fror
Instance to steal and not to fight an
IL