The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-10-07


ard they had gone with passports 20
Simeoe to hunt. A brother Of Chief
X , nnakin had taken a fancy 10 the
rifle owned by the Indian, and because
he would not give II up. had him i'm
prisoned. While there be learned Of
tie plot of the hostile Indians TO at
tack both The Dalles and Cascades on
March 2e. Escaping from bis csptors,
be and his sQuBW fastened TO warn the
white people at the Cascades They
did not dare use the trail ard there
was much snow IN the mountains, so
they came too late. for already the
battle was raging, and Lawrence COe
Was in the midst. This news caused
the widest excitement and distress.
A council was at once called Of both
" hites and Indians, and an Indian run
ner was at once dispatched to the Cas-
csdes to bring the latest news. Then
another meeting was held by the
whites alone and II was decided to
seek safety in fight. The ualles was
the only place TO 90, and the river the
only route.
Henry and Charles were at Rail
Gulch fer the days work, and Eugene
went TO call them in. On his return
he saw the steamer, Mary Corning,
from the Cascades, and rode 10 the
river and hailed her. The answer came
back, I'VE have just escaped with our
lives; every man on board, except the
engineer is wounded"
The Indian courier returning from
the Cascades, confirmed their worst
made for their departure, a large
canoe belonging to an old Indian by
the name of Waucusha was secured and
hid in the underbrush near what is now
the foot of State street. This canoe
was large enough to hold thirty or
forty people, but the entire white set
Element comprised only eleven souls /;
Nathan and James Benson, VIM. Jen-
kins and wife, Nathaniel Coe and wife
with their three sons, Charles, Eugene
aud Henry, the man Galentine, and
the boy Woodburn Hawkes., from the
Joslyn farm. Paddles were used to
propel the canoe and a blanket was
raised for sail, but as the wind was
from the east, their progress was eX-
tremely slow and laborlOus and long
before daylight came they heard the
Indians on shore signalling back and
forth. aud knew their flight had been
discovered. A little before noon, when
near the mouth of the kliCkltat river,
they met the steamers Mary and Wasco
with barge in tow, all loaded with
soldiers and cannon and horses, going
TO the relief of the Cascades. The
blue coated soldiers with their glsten-
ing bayonets reflected in the bright
sunshine were welcome sight to the
fleeing refugees, and with lighter
hearts they pushed on and reached The
Dalles about three in the afternoon.
Two days later the return of the
steamer to The Dalles brought full
particulars of the battle at the Cas-
cades and the fight of the savages,
also the welcome news that Lawrence
Coe was unharmed.
To enable the settlers to plant their
crops, Lieut.. Davidson with a guard of
soldiers accompanied them to their
homes. The lieutenant also took with
| him a band of horses, belonging to the
government. to fatten on the abundant
bunch grass found in the valley. Mrs.
Coe and Mrs. Joslyn remained some
weeks in The DaIles and while there
organized the first Sabbath shcool ever
held at that place. AS fear from the
| Indians subsidized the farm work was
resumed but not until June 1858 was
any record kept of the farm work.
For the information of the Hood
River farmer of today we will quote
from these records June J., 1858
Finished planting potatoes. June s.
Eugene took l9 bushels potatoes tC
The Dalles which sold at $3.50 pei
bushel, S47.50. In October so busheI
were shipped. In November tbev had
2270 bushels stored; this did not include
small potatoes which were later picked
up and fed to the stock. Fruit was
scarce in those days and always soIt
for high price. From the records We
learn that more than a thousand pounds
I of peaches were sold that fall: alsC
melons, apricots and plums in smal
lots. In November three hogs were
! killed whose weight aggregated SOC
lbs. Two of these were sold at Ia cts
per 10. Two hired men were Kept dur
ing the busy saeson at $50 per month
Indians were employed on special jobs
| and woman or girl to help in the
kitchen. This was not an unusua
year. In the cold weather of 1860 they
sold thirteen dozen eggs for Sl3. ant
butter at 81 per pound. A later entry
reads: Sailed down 800 hams anC
shoulders. A list of the apple trees il
the orchard shows 3S known varieties
of trees with 81 unknown. Among
these varieties we find both the New
town and Spitzenburg of today. Mr.
Coe also had large assortment o.
peaches, plums, pears and so forth
From the sale of these nursery trees /
large income was derived. These quo
tations could be continued indefinitely
but the article is already too long
The farm was made to pay dividends
almost from the beginning. Nathanie
Coe was the master mind, overseeing
and directing. Eugene attended t
most of the marketing. Henry cam,
in for the lions share of hardship herd
ing and handling the stock.
In September 1858 DR.. LausdaIe, Mr.
Taucher, and Lieut.. Mallory. accom-
panied by Nathaniel Coe, made a triI
to the ice caves of Mt Adams. Ii
1859 Alfred Townsend, Indian Agen
Capt. Eugene F. Coe. and some othel
made a trip to Mt. Adams. In Angus
1868 an expedition was made to th
mountain. Hon. n. Coe, A. G. Phelps
h. c. Coe, Mrs. E. S. Joslyn. and Mis-
Josephine Fisher made up the party
The guide was the Indian Johnson, th,
same who warned the Joslyn's in 1858
Nathaniel Coe, then rs years of age
did not attempt the climb. Mrs. Jos
lyn only went part way. Those witt
reached the summit were A. G. Phelps
H. G. Coe and Miss Josephine Fisher.
The winter of 81 and '62 has neve
had its record equalled for long-contin
ued cold and deep SHOWS. The rive
was closed with ice and all eastern
Oregon was buried under blanket o
snow. Stock on the ranges perished il
large numbers. The Goes were wei