East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-09-10


: Herbert Myrick, and dozens Of other
; books pertaining to the west, besides
furnishing illustrations for scores OF
magazines and hundreds of the larger
; newspapers.
II was born in Marion county, To-
, va, Feb. 2S, 1850" said Major Moor
/ house, in speaking to newspaperman
, recently. while l was still a little
chap my people moved TO Clark coun-
ty. which at that time was very spar
sely settled l had my first Indian ex-
perience when / was about three years
old. The Pawnees and Shawnees used
to live in that section at that time and
the Sioux and Fox Indians also made
that district their temporary ground.
My father was out in the field break
ing the sod, and mother was busy, so
was left to my own devices. / went
on tour of exploration. Presently
a neghbor came by and told my IA
ther he had seen a big Indian down
the road a mile or so carrying me.
! Hastily gathering a few of the neigh
/ bors, father started in search of me
/ They found me at the Indian camp
perfectly happy and delighted with my
surroundings.
To Oregon In 1861.
MY parents came out to Oregon IN
the spring OF '6l Henry Bowman,
whose son, Walter Bowman, is now In
business here In Pendleton, had a
ranch on Birch Creek. He was the
head miller at the Umatilla agency.
He met US and took US out to his
ranch Ny people went on to Walla
Walla and bought a farm.
II was left a Bowman's ranch for
the winter The winter Of '6l is ia
nous winter In the annals of eastern
Oregon The snow fell to a depth Of
five feet on the level, The cattle died
by the thousands The snow started
to fall Christmas week of 81 and II
/ lay on the ground till the middle OF
March, go At that time they had
not begun to put up hay to winter the
stock. They turned them out to paw
I down TO the bunch grass. The snow
/ Crusted, and the next spring you could
see dead cattle in all directions. The
snow was so deep that we could not
bring flour in and we ground wheat
in a large sized coffee mill.
"In the spring of 60 / rejoined my
people at Walla Walla and went to
Whitman college, Professor Charles
Moore, brother OF Ex-Governor Miles
c Moore, was the teacher. He was
not cut out for the rough and ready
ways of the west, where the scholars
saw no harm in licking the teacher II
! they were able, and where the parents
of the boys exulted in the prowess OF
their sons along this line. Professor
Freeman succeeded Mr Moore. one of
| the boys was named Charley Bluett.
: His father had intimldated the teach
ers in the past, so they were afraid
of Furnishing Charley. Charley GER
tainly needed a good licking. Free
man supplied his need and did a thor
|, ough job. He said to him. Go find
your father and tell him l have given
, you what you have needed for long
time. Tell him | am carrying a pair
of derringers and a sword cane. Tell
him II he comes to see me about lick
ing you TO come heeed, for / won't
waste any time on getting into action,
, Bluett, senior, decided not TO hunt
i. Professor Freeman up, and Freeman
soon civilized the school.
In Search of Gold.
I'm '6S and go, when IS years old.
7 went to the Boise mines. From
there went up to the British Column
hia mines. | went broke there and
Travelled from Kootenai. British Co.
lumbia. to Helena, Montana, on a
steady diet of beans | got to hate the
sight of them. We ran across the
trail of war party of Sioux Indians.
Ny chum and turned back to avoid
them. Two Frenchmen. travelling with
us. decided to press on and risk meet
ing the Indians They met them and
lest their scalps ana their lives.
AT Helena l struck a job in liv-
cry stable as bookkeeper. While there
met man from Walla Walla, Capt.
Jimmy Dover, who gave me a job
breaking horses to the saddle. When
had broken them all to ride he fur
nished me horse and I rode on to
Walla Walla
II struck n job surveying on the o.
& c. working south from Roseburg,
Ny next job was driving wild cattle
for man named Vance. They were
owned by Baker and Boyer, and we
drove them to Winnemuca, Nevada.
"On September Z, 1876. 1 was mar
ried to Ella Willis. at Walla Walla
For several years l had been county
surveyor, but in the spring of ~ /
went to Umatilla. acting as shipping
clerk for John r. Foster. He had n
big shipping and commission busi-
ness handling shipments from all over
the Inland Empire.
In the indian Wars.
Following the Nez Perce war In
- came the Pinte and Bannocx war
of rs, Umatilla was the base of sup
plies and the headquarters for the
troops. Governor Chadwick came TO
Umatilla to superintendent the move
ment OF the state troops. Colonel ].
b. Wells was in command of the
Third Brigade of oregon state militia.
was appointed assistant adjutant-
general of the Oregon state militia by
Governor Thayer.
John r. Fosters big stone ware
house and J, II. Koontz's warehouse
were both filled with refugees. The
steamboats, were patrolling the upper
J river looking for Indians. They had
bales of wool piled around their decks
for protection. Whenever they saw a
canoe load of Indians they would fir.
at IL and sank the boat and kill the In
dams ~ nossihle Tbara had haap a