Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1917-01-05
OLD INDIAN BATTLE
FIELD DISCOVERED
STORY OF CHEHALIS TRIBES
GREATEST FIGHT TOLD
BY SURVEYOR.

) MONTESANO, Jan. 5.-Switching
the county line between Thurston
and Grays Harbor counties, running
road line through eight ancient
graves and possible ninth, and run
ming another road line right over
what is probably the greatest battle
; field within the precinct of Grays
Harbor county is what Deputy Coun-
ty Engineer H. S. Story has been do
ing the past few weeks.
Changing of the county line, or
rather the establishment of it, gives
Thurston county considerable strip
of land that has been counted part OF
Grays Harbor and it is this same es-
tablishment of the line that puts the
road line through eight and possibly
nine graves.
New Road Proposed.
The exact location of the line, of
course, was down on paper, but if it
had ever been physically located it
was done carelessly and the owner of
the land on this side had his fence
in one place about 155 feet on the
Thurston side. The survey is being
made In connection with the proposed
Thurston-Grays Harbor county line
road from the Oakville reservation
road south to the Thurston-Grays
Harbor-Lewis counties corner. The
line runs through the ancient Che
halls Indian cemetery and Mr.. Shorey
has promised the Indians, who say
some of the graves there are at least
70 years old, that if the road is built
the authorities will see to a proper
removal of the graves.
The Indian battle field, which so
far as Mr.. Shorey knows, has not
been told about before, is located a
short distance southwest of Oakville,
where he was working on another
proposed road The land is owned
now by v. G. Griswold, who says old
Indians tell him the greatest battle
the Chehalis Indians ever had was
fought on that ground.
1t is tree dotted prairie. On one
side is the Chehalis river and from
the river running in a northeasterly
direction is a slough. The Chehalis
Indians had had word that great
foreign tribe was coming in to wrest
from them their hunting and fishing
grounds, and the warriors from all
parts of the county gathered to give
battle The Chehalis tribes, expect
ing their enemy to arrive by the
river. chose this peninsula as a
proper battle field on which to meet
them and in battle array started
down toward the point of 1t.
Ambushed on Peninsula =
Meanwhile the enemy had arrived
and had ambushed themselves in the
trees and brush on the bottom next
the slight bluff-for the little prairie
is some Is feet higher than the
bluff. The enemy in hiding waited
until the Chehalis tribe was well into
the peninsula and then jumped from
their hiding places with volley Of
arrows to a hand-to-hand battle.
| For a time the enemy had all the
best of the battle, for the Chehalis
Indians had been taken completely
by surprise. There was great slaugh-
ter. But others of their tribesmen
were coming, and arrived before 1t
was too late. Again there was ter
rible fighting and finally the Chehalis
Indians killed all the invaders but
two. One Of those. 1t is believed.
died from wounds on the hill top
across the river. At any rate the
body of a strange warrior was found
there later, and the legend says that
hut one of the stran ers ever reached
home.
To the question "How long ago
was the battle?" the Indians reply,
"Oh, long, long ago. Long before
,uh,+o man came. Long before there