The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-02-18
HISTORICAL . DATA ON
EARLY INDIAN WARS

AT meetin Of the Old Fort Dslles
Historical Soc .ety &c the home of Mrs
u. J. cooper 10 The Dslles last month
tue early lnc ian wars Of the mid.Co.
lumbla disu let we're discussed. This
usta VIII be of interest not only 10 pio-
neer resld' nts but newcomers who de.
sire lnioru lstion about the period when
the comm unity was considered as on
the frontier. The report of the meet.
ing appel ring below was given by Mrs.
=. J. Gre ndall. well known here, for
The Dal,es Chronicle:
lhe Yakima war of 1885 was dis.
eussed and the members read from
such authorities as John Minto of Sa.
lem, Amos Underwood. of Underwood.
Wash. and John Ioud, Of Madras, the
last two being veterans Of this war
and all living to testify to the truth Of
the events narrated.
James w. Marshall has always been
given the credit Of finding gold in Cali.
fornia in lS4S. That state has erected
hne monument in commemoration of
this event. but it is probable that
Charles Bennett, another Oregon pio-
neer, was the real diseoveTer. Bennett
and Marshall were both pioneers of Or
egor, coming in 1874, and both went TO
California in lS47, where they were
erecting a sawmill at Suffers ranch
and when they made the gold diseov-
cry. II was Bennett who recognized
that the METAL they found was gold,
for he had mined in the south before
coming to Oregon, while Marshall only
knew what Bennett told him. Bennett
came back to Oregon and in 1855 he
was appointed captain by Governor
Curry and was killed in the historic
four days fight with the Indians where
rrenchtown now is, near Walla Walla.
tits remains are inferred in the |. 0.
q. +. cemetery at Salem, which has
this inscription: Charles Bennett,
uIed December z, 1855. age a. years, 8
months, 70 days. Erected by his wife.
Captain Charles Bennett was the dis
coverer of gold in California and fell in
defense of his country at Walla Walla."
Pioneer John MiGto, of Salem, who
came to Oregon with Marshall ana
Bennett, says that Bennett, with his
knowledge of gold from his mining 10
Georgia, was the only man of the eight
men present at the discovery, to say
that the shining pebbles contained COLO
and he claims the honor for Bennett.
A Dalles company was engaged in
this fight in which Bennett lost his
life, which took place about 10 miles
below the present city of Walla Walla,
of which Orlando HumasOn was cap
tain, and Colonel James X. Kelly was
the commanding officer. This is the
Kelly after whom Kelly avenue is
named.
1t was in this battle that the old
chief, Pen-Pen- xMox. and several
Indian prisoners were killed, when try
ing to escape.
Amos Underwood, now living at I'm
derwOod, Wash, was in charge of the |
Indians as guard, and he says That it |
was Nathan Olney, the Indian agent,
who fired the fatal shot that laid the |
chief out. w. II. Gates was in this
fight, now of Spray, Wheeler county, a
brother of Mrs. Kate Gates Roach
Cornelius Mcfarland, who is Mrs. f.
G. Prices father, was also in Captain
Humason's company, though Humason |
was not in the fight, for he was sick at
home. Underwood says that as Neil |
Mcfarland raised his gun to fire at an |
Indian, the Indians gun was discharged
and knocked off the hammer of McFar-
lands gun.
PEN pen mox mox means yellow |
hawk, because he had a hawk-bill nose. |
John Todd, a pioneer of eastern Ore
gon since 1852, now of Madras, and a |
Dalles visitor last week, is an Indian |
wal veteran of 1856. He Joined the |
command at Juniper Springs, near the
John Day river where Leonards s bridge |
was afterwards constructed, in Febru-
ary, 1856. He was in the great battle
which took place in the Yakima valley
in which Captain Hembue, his captain.
lost his life. MIR. Todd says this battle
ended the war. He was a personal
friend OF Captain Hembue and rather
than have the body buried on the field
of battle, he requested Colonel Cornell
Jus to give him two men for escort,
and he would convey the officers body
to The Dalles for shipment to the Will
Iamete valley. This he did by sus-
pending the body between couple of
mules, reaching the Columbia river
where Columbus now is, coming down
I ba troil N old Eprt OoIIoo