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diff --git a/41912-0.txt b/41912-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f97a9ab --- /dev/null +++ b/41912-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1899 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41912 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 41912-h.htm or 41912-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41912/41912-h/41912-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41912/41912-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/survivorsrecolle00sage + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + A list of corrections made can be found at the end of the book. + + + + + +A SURVIVOR'S RECOLLECTIONS OF THE WHITMAN MASSACRE + +by + +Matilda J. Sager Delaney + +Sponsored by Esther Reed Chapter +Daughters of the American Revolution +Spokane, Washington + + + + + + +Copyright 1920 + + + + +The following modest recital of a life which has covered much of the +most interesting period of pioneering in this part of the country is of +the greatest interest and value to all who know and love the Northwest. +Few lives have been so full of such varied experiences and the clear +and poignant recital of the massacre at Waillatpu is of the greatest +historical importance. It is so vividly told that it should carry its +own convincing truth down the years, as the basis of all writing in +connection with the labors of that splendid type of missionaries, Dr. +and Mrs. Whitman. + + NETTA W. PHELPS, + (Mrs. M. A. Phelps) + Ex-State Regent, Daughters + of the American Revolution. + + FANNIE SMITH GOBLE, + (Mrs. Geo. H. Goble) + State Regent. + + LURLINE WILLIAMS, + (Mrs. L. F. Williams) + Regent Esther Reed Chapter. + + + + +[Illustration: Matilda J. Sager Delaney] + + + + + FOREWORD + + +The thought of fostering care seems to have remained with this +"survivor" since her days with the Whitmans. + +Forgiving innocent ones for the atrocious acts of their kindred upon +her own brothers, Mrs. Delaney became a benefactor of the Indians. +Before the apportionment of their lands the Coeur d'Alene squaws and +children suffered great hardships. To them the Farmington hotel kitchen +was a haven of warmth and plenty. They started home cheered and fed +with bundles of food to tie on their ponies. The Delaney living room is +the only place I have seen Indian women and girls light hearted and +chatty. They loved to linger to sing for their hostess. Mrs. Delaney's +hospitality extended to clergymen of all creeds. Her's has been a life +of hard but generous service. "Not to be ministered unto but to +minister" seems to have been the life motto of this woman reared in the +wilds. + +In 1881 General and Mrs. T. R. Tannatt came to the Northwest when the +latter began a search for historical data; she sought pioneers and +recorded their statements for comparison, in an effort to obtain truth. +Opportunity gave her acquaintance with Mr. Gray, author of History of +Oregon, Rev. Cushing Eels, the Spalding family, several survivors of +the Whitman massacre, and pioneer army and railway officers from whom +she gleaned information which later assisted her in writing the +booklet, "Indian Battles of the Inland Empire in 1858," published by +the D. A. R. + +In 1887 she stopped at the Farmington hotel owned by Mrs. Delaney, and +continued an acquaintance with her until 1920. She said Mrs. Delaney's +account of the massacre never varied, and in discussion of points of +difference with other survivors Mrs. Delaney's clear description and +logical reasoning invariably convinced the others that she must be +correct, while her clear remembrance of subsequent events, known to +them both for more than three decades, strengthened Mrs. Tannatt's +belief in the accuracy of her earlier impressions. + +Mrs. Tannatt often urged this witness of the heartrending tragedy to +publish her recollections, and had the pleasure of reading the +manuscript for this narrative which she said contained the most +comprehensive and truthful description of the Whitman massacre she had +seen. She consented to write the Foreword, but before doing so was +summoned by her Heavenly Father. + + MIRIAM TANNATT MERRIAM. + +[Illustration: The house on the left was called the Mansion House, +where emigrants wintered. + +The house in the center, the Blacksmith Shop. The house in the distance +was the mill. The house to the right was the Whitman's home.] + + + + + A SURVIVOR'S RECOLLECTIONS + of the + WHITMAN MASSACRE + by + MATILDA J. SAGER DELANEY + + +In the spring of 1844 we started to make the journey across the plains +with ox teams. I was born in 1839, October 16th, near St. Joseph, Mo., +which was a very small town on the extreme frontier, right on the +Missouri River, with just a few houses. My father's name was Henry +Sager. He moved from Virginia to Ohio, then to Indiana and from there +to Missouri. My mother's name was Naomi Carney-Sager. In the month of +April, 1844, my father got the Oregon fever and we started West for the +Oregon Territory. Our teams were oxen and for the start we went to +Independence, the rendezvous where the companies were made up to come +across the plains. There were six children then--one was born on the +journey, making seven in all. + +The men of the company organized in a military manner, having their +captain and other officers, for they were going through the Indian +country and guards had to be put out for the protection of the +travellers and to herd the stock. The immigration of '43 was piloted +through by Dr. Whitman and ours was the second immigration across the +mountains. The road was only a trail and was all Indian territory at +that time, from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains. We had to +ferry streams, sometimes with canoes fastened together and the wagons +put on them; and the Indians rowed us across the rivers in some places. +The mountains were steep and sometimes we had to unyoke our cattle and +drive them down, letting the wagons down by ropes. The Captain of our +company was named William Shaw. There were vast herds of buffalo on the +plains and wandering bands of Indians. We had to guard the cattle at +night by taking turns. After we started across the plains we traveled +slowly; and one day in getting out of the wagon my oldest sister caught +her dress and her leg was broken by the wheel running over it. There +was no doctor in our company, but there was a German doctor by the name +of Dagan in the following company and he and my father fixed up the leg +and from that time on the old doctor stayed with us and helped. My +father was taken sick with the mountain fever and he finally died and +was buried on the banks of the Green River in Wyoming. His last request +was that Captain Shaw take charge of us and see us safe through to the +Whitman station. He thought that was as far as we could go that winter. +Twenty-six days later my mother died. She made the same request of +Captain Shaw and called us around her and told my brothers to always +stay with us and keep us together--meaning the girls of the family. Dr. +Dagan came on and helped to care for us with the boys' help. When my +mother died, my injured sister could walk only with the help of a +crutch. Mother was wrapped in a blanket and buried by the side of the +road. So the Captain and his wife looked after us and the other +immigrants showed their concern for the orphans by taking an interest +in us. A kind woman, Mrs. Eads, took the tiny baby and the big-hearted +travelers shared their last piece of bread with us. We finally arrived +at Dr. Whitman's station on the 17th day of October, 1844, seven months +from the Missouri River to the Whitman station. It was a long time! + +Mrs. Whitman wanted to keep the girls, but she did not care for the +boys. Dr. Dagan went on the Willamette valley and left us there. Doctor +Whitman finally concluded he would keep the whole seven of us and took +us in charge. We lived there three years. I might say something of the +home incidents. The first thing Mrs. Whitman did was to cut our hair, +wash and scrub us, as we were very much in need of a cleaning up; then +she gave us something to eat and the bread seemed very dark to us--it +was unbolted flour. Mrs. Eads, who had been caring for my baby sister, +five months old, arrived three days later and then Mrs. Whitman took +the motherless little one in charge and she grew to be a fine baby. +Everything was so different from what we had been used to. The Whitmans +were New England people and we were taken into their home and they +began the routine of teaching and disciplining us in the old Puritan +way of raising and training children--very different to the way of the +plains. They hired a teacher and the immigrant families all had the +privilege of sending their children to this school during the winter +months. We had a church and Sunday school every Sabbath and we had our +family worship every morning and evening. We had certain things to do +at a certain hour. We never had anything but corn meal mush and milk +for our suppers and they were very particular in our being very regular +in all our habits of eating and sleeping. + +When the spring came all the immigrants left and went on down to the +Willamette valley--the families who had wintered at the Mission leaving +the Sager children behind with the big-hearted Dr. and Mrs. Whitman. We +had our different kinds of work to do. We had to plant all the gardens +and raise vegetables for the immigrants who came in for supplies. We +got up early in the morning and we each had our piece of garden to weed +and tend. We had to wipe the dishes and mop the floors. We had verses +of scripture to learn each morning which we had to repeat at the family +worship. The seven verses would be our Sunday school lesson. We took +turns in giving our passages of Scripture. Everything was done in +routine. Sometimes we had to walk in the afternoon. Mrs. Whitman would +go with us; we would gather specimens and she would teach us botany. +During the summer when the Indians went to the buffalo grounds, we were +alone and we looked forward to the coming of the immigrants as one of +the great events of our life. Sometimes in the summer we went bathing +in the river. We would get the Indian girls to teach us to swim. Once, +Missionary and Mrs. Eels came down from Walker's Prairie, having with +them a girl by the name of Emma Hobson, and the latter went in bathing +with us children; she could not swim and the current swept her down the +river. She caught on an overhanging bush and an Indian took her out of +the river and put a blanket around her. Mrs. Eels gave the alarm. We +always called that "Emma's place." We cut water melons in two and +strung them together and would play for hours with those water melon +boats, having a great deal of enjoyment. Still, discipline was strict +and when we were told to do a thing, no matter what, we went. + +Once a month we had a missionary meeting and we would sing missionary +hymns and the Whitmans would read extracts from missionary papers. They +took the Sandwich Island paper, the editor being the Rev. Damon. There +was a man at the Mission by the name of O'Kelley; he was an Irishman, +and he went with the Doctor who had to go out and give the Indians a +lesson in farming. They took all we girls in a wagon and this man +O'Kelley drove. Dr. Whitman showed the Indians how to cultivate their +little patches. There was not very much cultivation about anything, +however. O'Kelley was to cook the dinner. He had a big chunk of beef to +boil and he told us he would give us a big dinner--would give us some +"drap" dumplings; so we became very curious to know what "drap" +dumplings were. No doubt they were "drap" dumplings, because they went +to the bottom of the kettle and staid there until we fished them out. +We put in the day there. Returning, my brother took me on his horse and +some of the others rode in the wagon. We had riding mares and they had +colts. When we came to the Walla Walla River the colts began floating +down stream and we had an awful time, but I hung on. I had on an old +sunbonnet, but I lost it. We finally got safely home. + +The summer of '46 the Doctor went down into the Willamette valley and +while he was down there my sister and I drove the cows off in the +morning to pasture and while we were roaming along we looked for +different kinds of herbs that the Indians eat; we got hold of something +and started to eat it. I told sister it was poison, but she said if the +Indians could eat it, it was all right. I ate some of it, became very +ill, but managed to get home, falling just outside the door. They +carried me in and found I had been eating wild parsnip and was very +sick. Life was dispaired of and Mrs. Whitman sent a messenger to the +Willamette valley to bring the Doctor home. He came on horseback as +fast as he could, finding me somewhat better. I was able to go around +the house, feebly. Everyone was eager to see the Doctor, but he hardly +looked to the right or left, coming quickly to me, took me up in his +arms and then went out and gave them all a greeting. He seemed to be so +anxious about me. I always remember that. + +Once in a while we would have a picnic. Mrs. Whitman would fix up some +food and we would go picnicking in the woods and do different things to +employ our time. It was a lonesome place away back there, shut in the +hills. + +In the spring of '46 we hitched up the wagon and thought we would go +with Mrs. Spalding and one of the Walker boys on a trip. We went where +the city of Walla Walla now stands. There were just four lone cabins +there; they had large fireplaces and big stick chimneys. We only took +provisions for the day. We turned the oxen out to graze and when we were +ready to go home they could not be found. My brother went to look for +them, but being unable to find them, we had to stay there all night. We +had a few blankets, for we always took some with us even on a short +trip. When it came time to go to bed we had our prayers. Mrs. Whitman +had taught us to memorize Scripture and the children took turns in +repeating the verses, "Let not your hearts be troubled." We had songs +and prayers and then laid down and went to sleep. The next day we found +a large fish in the creek and we had some of it for dinner. My brother +came and took us home and we called what is now known as Walla Walla, +the "Log City." + +Some eight years ago I was in the city of Walla Walla and standing in +the door of a drug store, looked down the main street. As I looked down +the street where the creek makes a turn and where there are many bushes +of alder and willow, I saw what I saw in '46. There were some cabins +down in there and I said to the proprietor, a friend of mine, "It seems +to me it looks familiar." + +"Well," he said, "you are right. It is supposed they were put there for +trapping and quarters by the Hudson's Bay men, but it is not certain." + +In '46 all this Northwest territory was jointly occupied by English and +Americans and it was not settled. Dr. Whitman and Mr. Spalding with +their wives were the first homeseekers to cross the Rockies and it was +just a string of Hudson's Bay posts all the way. Aside from the four +missionary stations there were no other American settlements, save in +the Willamette valley. Vancouver, Washington, was a Hudson's Bay post +then. + +We used to go to the Indian lodges sometimes. Doctor would talk to them +about the Bible and on a few occasions we were invited to a feast where +they ate with big horn spoons. Once a year the Indians went to the +buffalo hunting grounds and came back with jerked or dried meat which +we enjoyed very much. They also gathered huckleberries in the Blue +Mountains and we bought and dried large quantities of berries for our +own use. The Doctor had quite large fields of corn and the crows were +very troublesome; so we children had to go up and down the rows ringing +bells to scare them away. That was one of the things that kept us busy. +He had a large family and the immigrants came there for supplies. He +had to make use of a primitive custom in saving his crops; the grain +was harvested by sickles and tramped out by the horses and winnowed. He +had a mill out of which came the unbolted flour; we never had white +flour. There were some sheep and some beef cattle. Dr. Whitman always +sent the immigrants on to the Willamette valley as fast as he could; +but many were obliged to remain at the Mission on account of their oxen +having given out and he had to feed from fifty to seventy-five persons +during the winter months. One of the jobs that I disliked in the fall +was when he pulled up the white beans and every child was given a tin +cup and told to pick up these beans with their hands. Every bean had to +be saved. + +We also had hogs. We raised a few, but never ate the pork, reserving +that for the immigrants. The Doctor furnished them with meat, flour and +vegetables through the winter and what work there was to be done they +helped with, though there was little to be done at that season of the +year; looking after the stock that was turned out and getting up a +little firewood was about all that they could do for the Doctor. + +I can never forget the Sunday services and the Sunday school held in +the Whitman home. The first time I ever heard the song "Come Thou Fount +of Every Blessing"; it was sung by an old Baptist believer at the +Whitman house. + +In the fall of '45 a family named Johnson came, who had a young +daughter eighteen or nineteen years of age and Mrs. Whitman hired her +to help with the family work; she also studied and the Doctor and his +wife taught her all they could. The Doctor also treated her mother, who +was paralyzed. This woman's husband would carry his wife in his arms +to the evening meetings, place her in a chair and then all would join +in "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." The daughter, Miss Johnson, +instead of going into the valley with her family went to Lapwai and +worked for Mrs. Spalding, and was there at the time of the Massacre. +Mrs. Whitman used to go to Fort Walla Walla to make little visits. +Sometimes she took one child and sometimes another and once she took +me. It was a great treat to be allowed to go so far as Fort Walla +Walla, right on the Columbia River. When the boats came in sight of the +Fort, they were saluted by the firing of a cannon. I was frightened. I +had never before heard a cannon and I held on to Mrs. Whitman. She told +me to have no fear for they were only firing to salute the boats. + +Once they sent me to the river for water and I became badly frightened. +I raced to the house and tried to tell how this queer animal acted and +how I felt; they thought it was some wild animal and my brother went +down with his gun, to find it was only a huge toad. Mrs. Whitman taught +us the love of flowers. We each had a flower garden, which we had to +weed and care for. She had my brothers take a tin case and gather +flowers as they would ride over the country and on their return would +press them. She taught us a great deal about things of that kind and +instilled in us a love of the beautiful. That kept our minds busy and +cultivated a feeling of reverence for Nature. + +An artist named Kane was sent out by the English government. He took +pictures of the Mission. We children were cleaning up the yard and +varying labor by trying to balance the rake on our fingers. Mrs. +Whitman reproved us, saying she did not want that in the picture. It +was customary to ask individuals what church denomination they belonged +to and one day we discovered a man sitting outside the kitchen door; +sister Elizabeth asked him about his church. He said he was a +Methodist. She came in and told us, "There's a Methodist out there." As +we had never seen a Methodist, we looked at him in wonder; but soon +found he was not different from other men, and making up our minds he +was not dangerous, went and talked with him. + +One year Mrs. Whitman took a trip to visit the Eels and Walker Mission, +taking my sister with her that time. She tried to take us on these +little trips to break the monotony and let us see something besides our +home life. We didn't have any shoes in those days--we went barefooted. +In the winter we had moccasins, but they were not much protection. +Shoes were not to be had in that part of the world. Our dresses for +winter were made of what was called "baize-cloth," purchased from the +Hudson's Bay Company. For summer, our dresses were made of a material +much resembling the hickory shirting so much used at that time. We did +not have a very big assortment of clothing; and we wore sunbonnets. +Wash-day was a great day; it meant a very early rising, though the boys +did most of the washing. When it came ironing day, all the youngsters +had to iron. Mrs. Whitman taught us according to our years, to do all +kinds of housework. We used to hire the Indians to dig our potatoes. +They dug them with camas sticks. They were good at stealing the best of +them, and good at stealing other people's water melons. + +I can see in memory that there was a great deal of wild rye grass on +the surrounding plains. Waillatpu means "rye grass." Droves of Indian +horses would come through there. The grass was so tall I could just see +their manes and tails. The land is now under cultivation. The wolves +were very plentiful and one winter--'45-6--they became so poor and +starved they would come right up to the door hunting for food. The +Walla Walla River froze over, so that holes had to be cut in the ice +for the sheep to obtain water. Some of the sheep fell in. One day we +came down from the school for our dinner and in the kitchen the Doctor +had five sheep, warming them up. He had rescued them from the water, +but Mrs. Whitman was very indignant that he had turned the kitchen into +a sheep pen. + +In November of 1847 many immigrants had gathered at the Mission, +intending to winter there. Measles had broken out among them and many +of the Indians had also become victims of this disease and the Doctor +was very busy attending them all. On the 27th of the month, Mr. +Spalding, who had come to the Whitman mission on business, went with +Dr. Whitman to visit the sick at Umatilla and to remain over night. The +Doctor was very worried because there were so many sick at his Mission, +having ten of his own family down and Mrs. Whitman much alarmed about +the children. Some of them were very low--especially my sister Louise +and Helen Marr Meek. Leaving Mr. Spalding at Umatilla, the Doctor +started for home, meeting Frank Sager on the way, who had been sent by +Mrs. Whitman to ask him to return at once because of the critical +condition of some of the family. After reaching home, he told the boys +to go to bed and he would sit up and look after the sick. So all went +upstairs to bed and to sleep, little dreaming of the march of events +that would blot out splendidly useful lives on the morrow and leave the +girls of the Sager family again without protectors. + + + + + THE MASSACRE + + +The morning of the 29th of November, 1847, was a dark, dreary day. When +I came downstairs I went into the kitchen where Dr. Whitman was sitting +by the cookstove broiling steak for breakfast. I went and put my arms +around his neck and kissed him and said, "Good morning, father," as we +were taught to greet older persons with all politeness; also to say +"Good night" to all as we retired. I continued, "I have had such a bad +dream and I woke frightened." + +He said, "What was it?" + +"I dreamed that the Indians killed you and a lot of others." + +He replied, "That was a bad dream, but I hope it will not occur." + +The rest of the family who were able came to the table and we had +breakfast; there was to be an Indian funeral later and the Doctor was +to conduct it; so we separated and went to our various employments. +Many of our family were sick. Those able to attend school were my +brother Frank and myself, the two sons of Mr. Manson, a Hudson's Bay +man, who were boarding with the Whitmans for the winter in order to +attend the Mission school; Eliza Spalding, daughter of the Rev. H. H. +Spalding, having arrived with her father a few days before; David +Malin, a half breed. 'Liza was to remain for the winter. There were +eight members of our family not well enough to attend school that +morning, and most of the children of the immigrant families wintering +there were unable to attend. I can recall only a few of these children +besides those of our own family that were at school that morning, it +being Monday and the first day of the term. School had not been in +session before that, on account of so much sickness. + +At nine o'clock we went to the schoolroom. Mr. Sanders was the teacher. +Joe Stansfield went out that morning to drive in a beef animal from the +range to be killed and brother Frank was the one to shoot it down. That +made him late for school and when he came in school had been in session +perhaps half an hour. When the hour for the forenoon recess had come, +the girls had theirs first and we went over to the Doctor's kitchen. My +brother John, who was just recovering from a severe case of measles, +was sitting there with a skein of brown twine around his knees, winding +it into a ball for there were brooms to be made soon. We all got a +drink of water. John asked me to bring him some and after he had +drank, said, "Won't you hold the twine for me?" + +I replied, "'Tis only recess, but I will hold it at noon." The bell +called us then, so we returned to the schoolroom and the boys were +given their recess. The beef was being dressed in the meadow grass, +northeast and not far from the school house. Three or four white men +were at work and a lot of Indians were gathered around with their +blankets closely wrapped about them and it is supposed that they had +their guns and tomahawks under them. The boys went to where the beef +was being dressed; in a short time we heard guns and the boys came +running in and said the Indians were killing the men at the beef. Mr. +Sanders opened the door and we looked out. We saw Mr. Rogers run from +the river to the Mission house and Mr. Kimball running with his sleeves +rolled up and his arms all bloody; he ran around the end of the house +to the east door and Mrs. Whitman let him in. Mr. Hoffman was fighting +with an Indian, swinging an ax; he was at the beef. Mr. Sanders ran +down the steps, probably thinking of his family, but was seized by two +Indians; he broke away from them and started for the immigrant house +where his family were. One Indian on horseback and two on foot ran +after him and overtook him just as he reached the fence to cross it; +they killed him and cut his head off and the next day I saw him lying +there with his head severed. Mrs. Whitman stood at a door which had a +sash window, looking at the attack on Mr. Sanders. Mr. Rogers came to +the door and she let him in; his arm was broken at the wrist. + +Mary Ann Bridger was the only eye-witness of the attack on Dr. Whitman +and John Sager, which had occurred just before the attack on the men at +the beef. She ran out of the kitchen door and around the house and got +into the room where Mrs. Whitman and the rest of the family were and +cried, "Oh, the Indians are killing father and John!" It seems that +after attending the Indian funeral, the Doctor returned to his home, +where, soon after, some Indians came into the kitchen and as Dr. +Whitman started to go from the living room to the kitchen he said to +his wife, "Lock the door after me," which she did. In the course of +conversation regarding the condition of the sick Indian, one of those +in the kitchen slipped up behind the good man, drew a tomahawk from +under his blanket and sank it into the Doctor's skull. Others attacked +John Sager. Their dastardly deed accomplished, they left the room, not +paying any attention to the fact that the little half-breed girl had +run out; then they joined those around the beef and the general attack +immediately began. The Doctor was not instantly killed. Mrs. Hays, Mrs. +Hall and Mrs. Sanders came running to the Mission house for protection +and Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Hall unbolted the door, went into the +kitchen and brought the wounded man into the living room and laid him +on the floor, putting a pillow under his head. Mrs. Whitman got a towel +and some ashes from the stove and tried to staunch the blood. He +lingered but a short time, for the blow of his treacherous adversary +had been sure and deadly. Mrs. Whitman went to the sash door and looked +out to see what had become of those around the beef. She stood there +watching, when Frank Iskalome, a full blooded Indian, shot her in the +left breast, through the glass. Sister Elizabeth was standing beside +her and heard her exclaim, "I am wounded; hold me tight." The women +took hold of her and placed her in a chair; then she began to pray that +"God would save her children that soon were to be orphaned and that her +dear mother would be given strength to bear the news of her death." + +Finally Mr. Rogers suggested that they all go up stairs for safety. The +only weapon of defense they had was an old, broken gun; but when the +Indians would start to come up, as they did after a time, some one of +them would point it over the stairs, and the Indians were afraid to +face it. Miss Bewley and her brother had staid behind their family, to +winter at the Mission. She was sick and the Doctor thought he could +treat and help her; she would not consent to remain unless her brother +staid also; he was lying in bed in a little room off the kitchen, very +sick with measles, during the attack upon the Doctor and John, but the +Indians paid no attention to him at that time. Miss Bewley was supposed +to assist with the housework and to teach the girls some fancy +work--knitting, tatting, etc.--the few kinds of such work as was done +in that day. The Doctor had been asked to go up to see her that +morning, as she was reported to be in a very excited state. He found +her weeping bitterly, but she would give him no reason as to why she +cried so hard. He came down and asked Mrs. Whitman to go up and see if +she could not comfort her. This was early Monday morning. Another +incident that fixes the day and time as the Monday forenoon recess is +this. One of the fixed rules of the Doctor's was the hour of the day we +took our baths, both summer and winter--eleven o'clock in the morning; +and as we did not get our usual baths on the Saturday previous on +account of the sickness of so many of the children, Mrs. Whitman was +bathing a part of them this Monday morning. Some were out of the tub +and dressed; one was in the tub and some were dressing. Elizabeth said +that mother came and told them, in a calm tone of voice, to dress +quickly and then she helped the one who was in the tub to get out and +assisted her to dress. This is the hour that is fixed in my mind beyond +a doubt, as the hour of the massacre, regardless of the statement of +others that it was two or three o'clock in the afternoon. + +Now to return to the schoolroom. My brother Frank came in with the +other boys and shut the door, saying, "We must hide." So we climbed to +a loft that was above a part of the schoolroom and was sometimes used +as the teacher's bedroom. It did not extend to the ceiling, but was so +arranged that it left a hall on the south side of the building where +there were two windows giving light to the main room. There was a +fireplace in the schoolroom. In order to get up to the loft, we had to +set a table under the opening and pile books on it; one of the boys got +up first and then we girls stepped on the books and the boy above +managed to pull us up, until finally all were up and hidden among the +rubbish that had accumulated there. Frank told us all to ask God to +save us and I can see him now, after all the years that have passed, as +he kneeled and prayed for God to spare us. It seemed as though we had +been there a long time, when the door was opened and Joe Lewis and +several Indians came into the schoolroom and called "Frank." As they +got no answer, he called the Manson boys and they answered. Lewis then +said for all to come down and the two Mansons, about 16 and 17 years of +age, and David Malin, 6 or 7 years, went among the first; then the +girls. I was afraid to try to jump to the floor, but Lewis said, "Put +your feet over the edge and let go and I will catch you." He failed to +do this and I struck the floor hard, hurting my head. When he helped me +up I was dazed and when he asked me "Where is Frank?" I replied, "I +don't know." Frank remained quiet and it evidently did not occur to any +one to search for him in the loft. + +They sent the Hudson Bay boys and the half-breed Indian boy in charge +of an Indian to Finlay's lodge and from there they were sent the next +day to Fort Walla Walla and were safe there. Later, after the rescue of +the survivors, the two Manson boys went down the river from the fort +with us; but they would not let the boy David go, claiming him as a +Canadian. His father was a Spaniard and his mother a squaw. The last +look I had of him was when we rowed away from Fort Walla Walla, leaving +him standing on the bank of the river crying as though his heart were +breaking. + +Lewis said to me, "Where do you want to go?" + +I said, "I want to go to the kitchen where John is." + +He replied, "John is dead and the rest of them." + +I said, "I don't believe it, for he was there when I went down at +recess." + +But he took my hand and the rest of the children followed, with the +Indians bringing up the rear. When we went into the kitchen, the dead +body of John laid on the floor and his blood had run and made a stream +of dark, congealed crimson. He laid on his back with one arm thrown up +and back and the other outstretched and the twine still around his +knees. It appeared as if he had been hit and just slipped out of the +chair he was sitting on. We children all sat down on the settle that +was near the stove. A stove was a luxury in those days; there was one +in the living room and in the kitchen, where the children sat in +terror, was a Hudson's Bay cook stove of a very small and primitive +make; the oven was directly over the firebox and two kettles which were +of an oblong shape sat in on the side, something like the drum on the +sides of a stove. The kettle of meat had been put on to cook for dinner +and was still on the stove. Joe Lewis took a piece out and cut it up, +put it on the lid of the kettle and said, "You children haven't had any +dinner," and passed it to us, but none of us could eat. + +The room was full of Indians and they would point their guns at us, +saying "Shall we shoot?" and then flourish their tomahawks at our +defenseless heads. One of them had on John's straw hat that he had +braided from straw cut from wild grass one summer when he was working +for the Rev. Spalding. Mrs. Spalding had sewed it for him. The Indian's +name was Klokamus. Later, he was one of five hanged at Oregon City in +the summer of 1850. The pantry was being plundered by the squaws. In +memory, I can hear the rattle of the dried berries on the floor as they +emptied the receptacles of them, in order to get the pans and cans to +carry away. Joe Lewis went into the living room and must have gone into +the parlor where mother had a large wooden chest in which she kept her +choice clothing and keepsakes; he came out with five nice, fancy gauze +kerchiefs of different colors, made to wear with a medium low-necked +dress. He gave them to the Chief and the headmen that were in the room. + +In a short time my brother Frank came into the room. He sat down beside +me, saying "I came to find you. John is dead and we don't know what has +become of the rest of the family; the Indians are going to kill me and +what will become of you, my poor, little sister?" Word was finally +passed out not to kill any of the children and we were ordered out of +the house, so we went and stood in a corner where the "Indian room" +made an ell with the main part of the house; the Indians were very +numerous, some of them on horses and most of them armed and painted and +they seemed to be waiting for something. Soon out came the immigrant +women that had all fled to the Mission house for safety upon the +outbreak of the massacre; as they passed us their children went with +their mothers, leaving Frank, Eliza Spalding and myself standing +there. They were followed by Mr. Rogers and Joe Lewis bearing a settee +with the wounded Mrs. Whitman on it, covered up with blankets and +Elizabeth close beside it, her arms laden with clothing. When they had +gotten out of and a short distance from the house in an open space, Joe +Lewis dropped his end of the settee. Mr. Rogers looked up quickly and +must have realized what it meant; but he was shot instantly and fell +and an Indian tried to ride his horse over him. Elizabeth turned about +and ran back into the house. Then an Indian came to Mrs. Whitman and +took his whip and beat her over the face and head and then turned the +settee over in the mud. She was very weak from loss of blood; my sister +Catherine told me and I am convinced that she did not last long after +being beaten and thrown face down in the mud, with the blankets and +settee on top of her. + +An Indian came and stood by Frank and another one took up his stand +close by and they talked together earnestly; the first one was a +friendly one and he seemed to be pleading with the other to spare +Frank's life, but finally the ugly one took hold of my brother and +said, "You are a bad boy." Then he shoved him a short distance from my +side and an Indian shot him in the breast; he fell and did not struggle +and I think he died instantly as he made no movement. The Indians all +went away then and the women and children that belonged in the +immigrant house were gone and Eliza and I were alone. We seemed to be +paralyzed and the horrors we had passed through so numbed our thoughts +that we did not seem to think that we could go to the other house, as +we had been taught not to go where we had not had permission. It was +getting quite dark by this time, in the short November day, and we +stood close together, when a friendly Indian came; he was the one that +had pleaded for Frank's life and he took us by the hands and led us +over to Mrs. Sander's door. She took us in and gave us some supper and +one of the other families took Eliza in to give her a place to sleep. + +When I had eaten my supper, Miss Bewley asked me if I would go over to +the Whitman house to take food to her brother who was lying terribly +ill in the little room just off the kitchen. He had seen and heard some +of the awful things that had taken place during the day, but had not +been molested, probably because the Indians thought him dying anyway. I +told her I was afraid to go, as I would have to step over the dead +bodies. Mrs. Sanders took me into a bedroom and spread a quilt on the +floor and I laid down, but not to sleep until far into the night. Mr. +Gillam, the tailor, had been wounded while sitting on his table sewing +and had run into this room; he was suffering terribly and begging to +be put out of his misery; along towards morning he was given his +release from suffering. + +We got up very early and ate a scant breakfast, as we knew not what +daylight would bring. The Indians would surely ask to be fed as they +were then sitting in the early glimmerings of light on Monument hill, +chanting the Death song. The wind had blown and whistled so mournfully +in the night that it had added to my fear and I never hear the sound of +the wind blowing in the winter, but my mind goes back to that terrible +night; and it has been 72 years since I heard it wail its requium +around desolated Waiilatpu. + +My four sisters and the two half-breed girls, with the wounded Mr. +Kimball, were alone in the chamber of the Mission house all night, for +they had made no attempt to leave when the others had gone in the +afternoon. The children were all ill with measles and two were very +ill--sister Louise and Helen Meek. They begged constantly for water, +but there was none upstairs; the pitchers of water that were there on +Monday morning had had cloths dipped in them to put on Mrs. Whitman's +wounds. Mr. Kimball's broken arm pained him excessively and he sat on +the floor with his head against a bed until toward morning, when he +told Catherine to tear up a sheet and bandage his arm and he would go +to the river for water. + +Catherine said, "Mother wouldn't want the sheets torn up." "Child, your +mother will never need sheets. She is dead," was his answer. He went +out in the dim morning light and succeeded in reaching the river, +wrapped in the blanket Catherine had put around him, Indian fashion. +Meanwhile the Indians had come to the immigrant house and had told us +to prepare their breakfast. While they were waiting for their meal, an +outcry was made that drew us all to the north door in the Hall's room. +I stepped out on the lower step and an Indian with a gun in his hand +was on the upper step; we saw the figure of a man with a white blanket +around him, walking near the Doctor's house; he was near the corn-crib +about half way to the house, when the Indian on the step above me shot, +and the man fell. It was Mr. Kimball returning with water for the +fevered children. I realize that my statement is different from all the +others of the survivors in regard to the killing of Mr. Kimball, but I +have a clear remembrance of this tragedy, which time has not dimmed or +effaced from my mind. According to some, he hid in the brush till the +next day and in working his way to his family was killed as he was +crossing the fence by the house. I remember the same day, about noon or +later, Joe Stanfield came in and said that a "Boston man" was hiding in +the brush. Some of the women wanted to investigate, but Joe said "No, +don't." We thought it might be Mr. Hall, as he had gone, as I +remember, early in the morning of the massacre to see if he could shoot +some ducks on the river. He was never heard from or his body found, so +no one knows his fate. + +The Osborn family hid under the floor in the Indian room and remained +hidden until in the darkness of the night they came out, put a little +food together, wrapped a coverlid about Mrs. Osborn and went out into +the cold. There were Mr. Osborn and three children in the party. Mrs. +Osborn had been confined to the bed and this was the first time she had +been out of doors in some days, though that day she had been able to go +into Mrs. Whitman's part of the house. They climbed the fence and took +the irrigation ditch, as it offered more protection for them, being +quite deep with the wild rye grass and buck brush growing thick and +tall on the banks; then they got into the main road and went on for +some distance, finally hiding for the day; besides Mrs. Osborn was +unable to travel further. Their sufferings were terrible, all being +thinly clad. At last Mr. Osborn concluded to take the oldest boy and go +to the Fort, if possible, leaving his wife and the other children +hidden in the bushes. He made his way to Fort Walla Walla, carrying his +boy on his back; the boy had nothing with which to cover his head. When +Mr. Osborn arrived at the Fort he asked Commander McBaine to take him +in and to furnish him horses and food to use in the rescue of his wife +and the other children. McBaine refused, saying he "Could not do it." + +"I will die at the Fort gates, but I must have help," was Osborn's +reply. + +In the happy days before these tragic happenings, an artist by the name +of Stanley came to the Mission. He had been sent out by the Government +for the Smithsonian Institute to take pictures. At the time of the +Massacre he was again on his way to visit the Mission. He and his +Indian guide intended to go down into the Willamette valley, near +Oregon City, to winter. Meeting an Indian woman, she told him everyone +was killed at the Mission; he was asked if he was a "Boston man" or a +Frenchman and replying that he was a Frenchman, was allowed to proceed +unmolested. He reached the Fort in safety and when McBaine refused to +let Mr. Osborn have horses, said to the latter, "You can have my horse +and what provisions I have," and he also gave him a silk handkerchief +to tie on the child's head. Stitkus, an Indian, took his own French +chapeau and put it on Mr. Osborn's head. McBaine at last gave an Indian +a blanket if he would go with Mr. Osborn and rescue the family; but he +instructed him not to bring them to the Fort, but to take them to an +Indian village. The mother and children were found with some +difficulty, and as they came to the fork in the road on the return, one +leading to the Umatilla Indian village where their lives would not have +been safe, and the other to the Fort and security, the Indian, +disregarding McBaine's explicit directions, refused to take the one to +the village and insisted that they proceed to the Fort. The little +party did so, and were finally admitted. Their hardships were many, +even there; but they remained until such time as we were all ransomed. +This is as I remember hearing from sister Catherine as she, later, +lived close to the Osborn family in the Willamette valley and she and +Mrs. Osborn were together frequently; also from the account sworn to by +Mr. Osborn in Gray's History. + +Tuesday morning, Miss Bewley made some gruel, hoping to be able to send +it over to her sick brother. Chief Tilokaikt came in and she told him +of her brother and he was very sympathetic and took a number of us in +charge to go over to the Mission house. Some of the party went inside +of the fence on the north side, while some took the south side which +was the public road. When we were a few yards from the house, we saw +Mr. Sander's body lying there; then we heard a cry and saw Catherine +and Elizabeth coming, each carrying a sick child in their arms. The +women hastened to meet them and helped them to the house, which had +sheltered us through the night. Poor Mary Ann Bridger was tottering +along by herself. They had to leave Helen Meek alone and we could hear +her screaming and begging to be taken also, disregarding Catherine's +assurance that she would soon return for her. At last all the sick ones +were transferred to the immigrant house, save Mr. Bewley; and Mr. +Sales, who was also very ill in the blacksmith shop. Sister Louise died +five days after this and Helen Meek a few days after her. + +This same morning (Tuesday) we were given muslin to make sheets to wrap +the dead in and Wednesday morning Joe Stansfield and the women helped +to cover and sew them in these sheets. He had dug a long trench about +three feet deep and six feet long; then all the bodies were put in a +wagon and hurried to the grave. They were all piled up like dead +animals in the wagon bed. A runaway occurred and scattered some of the +bodies along the road and they had to be picked up. There was a +Catholic father who was visiting the Indians and he went up to the hole +where they were burying them and helped. He would take hold of one end +of a body and Joe Stansfield hold of the other and they would lay them +in this shallow place until all the victims were ranged side by +side--Mr. and Mrs. Whitman, then the two Sager boys and Mr. Rogers, and +so on, then covered with the earth. + +There were two families living about twenty miles away at a sawmill +which belonged to Dr. Whitman. Mr. Young had three grown boys and Mr. +Smith also had a family, one of whom, Mary Smith, was attending the +Mission school. The morning after the massacre the oldest son of the +Young family, in entire ignorance of what had occurred, started for the +Mission with a load of lumber and to get provisions for the return +trip. The Indians killed him two miles from the Mission. His family +could not understand why he did not return and became alarmed. They +finally sent another son by another road and he arrived without being +attacked, but was informed by Joe Stansfield that his brother had been +killed by Indians and had been buried where he fell. This young fellow, +finding that we were getting out of flour, remained at Waiilatpu as +there was no man to run the grist mill. Mr. Bewley and Mr. Sales became +better and were able to sit up and get about a bit. One day Mr. Sales +was sitting by the stove and an Indian began talking to him, telling +him he was getting stronger and would soon be able to work for the +Indians; that they were soon to put out all the women and children and +they would all have to work all the time. Mr. Sales replied that he was +a good worker and would labor constantly for them if they would only +spare his life. It was only a day or two after this that the two men +were attacked while on their bed, beaten with clubs and whips and +finally killed and their bodies thrown out of doors. Most of the women +and children started to run out of doors, but an Indian caught and held +me until they had finished the terrible deed. + +Miss Bewley was sent for by the chief of the Umatillas and in spite of +heartrending protests was obliged to accompany the messenger sent for +her. + +One morning Joe Stansfield saw wolves at the grave and went up there to +find that they were digging into it. He heaped more earth over it, but +later, after we had left the place and had been redeemed, soldiers +going there found that the wolves had succeeded in desecrating the last +resting place of our loved ones. Bones were scattered about and on some +of the bare bushes were strands of Mrs. Whitman's beautiful, long, +golden hair. They collected the bones and again buried them, heaping +the earth high and turning a wagon-box over the grave. For fifty years +nothing more was done to it. + +Mr. Spalding came within two miles of the Mission on Wednesday morning, +when he met a Catholic father, his Indian interpreter and another +Indian. Sending the two Indians ahead, the priest told Mr. Spalding of +the massacre, assuring him that all the women, save Mrs. Whitman, and +all the children had been spared; that his daughter was alive and that +now was his time to escape, as the Indian who had joined him and his +interpreter intended to kill him. The father gave him what food he had +and Mr. Spalding turned his horse's head towards the Walla Walla river. +He followed down the bank of the Walla Walla, traveling by night and +hiding by day. For a time he kept his horse, but Indians passed near +his hiding place and he had to rub his mount's nose to keep his from +neighing and thus betraying him. The horse got away from him finally +and he had to travel afoot in the storm. All the subsistence he had was +wild rose-hips. After a week's travel he reached the Clearwater, close +to where his family was, though he did not know this fact, believing +that they also might have been killed. He proceeded very carefully, +thinking the Indians hostile, but knowing that if he could make in +safety the lodge of an Indian by the name of Luke, he would be safe. He +was tired and worn out with travel. At last he was close enough to the +lodge to listen to family worship and assured by the knowledge that +they still acknowledged the white man's God, knew it would be safe for +him to enter; but so exhausted was he that he fell when just inside the +door of the tepee and his cap fell off. At first the Indians thought he +was a ghost, but when they saw his bald head, they realized he was +still in the flesh and then proceeded to feed and care for him. They +told him that his family was at Craig's mountain and later they took +him back up there. Mrs. Spalding, when she heard of the massacre, +called the head men of the tribe and put herself on their mercy and +under their protection. They said they would protect her and suggested +that they start at once for Craig's home. She said that this was the +Sabbath and they must not travel on that day. The Presbyterian Indians +never travel on the Sabbath and the brave little woman, reminding them +of their religion, knowing at the same time that it might lessen her +chances of escape, induced them to postpone starting until the +following day, when they took her to Craig's, where she remained until +rescued from the Indians. She sent two Indians, Timothy and Grey Eagle, +down to the Mission to ask if her captors would not release Eliza +Spalding and let them take her to her mother; but they would not listen +and refused to give her up. These two Indians came when Helen Meek was +dying from the measles. Timothy went in to see her and fell on his +knees by the side of her bed, praying in his own language; when he +arose, he pointed upward, indicating that the spirit had flown. + +When the news of the massacre was taken to Fort Vancouver, Peter Skeen +Ogden, the chief factor, declared he must take goods and go to the +rescue of the women and children before the volunteers could go up +there; he believed that if the Indians thought the volunteers were to +attempt a rescue, that they would kill all their prisoners, for they +well knew that they deserved punishment for their dastardly deeds. With +no prisoners to hamper them, they could perhaps elude any pursuing +band of volunteers. Douglass objected, reminding his superior that he +would be obliged to use in barter goods belonging to another government +than the United States, without knowing if the latter government would +reimburse him for them or not. "If the United States will not pay for +them, then I will pay for them out of my own pocket, but those +unfortunate captives must be rescued at once," said this great-hearted +man. He proceeded to Fort Walla Walla and called a council of chiefs +and other Indians and finally after some days of discussion, made this +treaty with them. They were to deliver the prisoners to him, for which +they would receive goods valued at five hundred dollars from the Hudson +Bay people; it was stipulated that Mr. Spalding's family and Miss +Bewley should all be brought in. During the time of the parley small +bands of Indians were constantly passing the Mission, going to and from +the place of treaty-making. One party in passing thought to play a joke +on those who were guarding us and shot off their guns, making quite a +commotion and causing our captors to think that the "Boston men" were +at hand. They began to grab up some of the children to kill them; one +caught me up and started to thrust a tomahawk into my brains. Just then +the Indians outside began laughing and the brutes, on murder bent, +concluded the noise was all a joke and did not hurt any of us. + +We were directed to cook a supply of food as provision for the trip. +Fifty Nez Perce warriors escorted the Spalding family through the +hostile country and an Indian brought Miss Bewley to the immigrant +house where the rest of us were. They took us down to Fort Walla Walla +in ox wagons. Among other things which I remember we left behind was a +pair of pigeons the Canfield family had brought with them from Iowa. +The cage was set in the window on leaving, the door knocked off, and +the pigeons were still sitting in their cage--the last glimpse we had +of them. After we had been some time on our way, an Indian woman came +out of her lodge and motioned for us to go fast--and we did! It seemed +that some of the Indians regretted their bargain and wanted to take us +all prisoners again. This woman knew they might soon attempt to do so. +I was in the last wagon to arrive. We could see the wagons ahead of us +going into the Fort gates when they were opened and it seemed as if +ours would never get there; but when the last one came up "pel mel" and +we were safe inside, the Indians concluded it was too late to make an +attack and capture us again. The day they were to receive the goods +promised for our release, we were put into rooms out of sight of the +Indians and told to remain there. Of course the Indians were inside the +fort grounds that day, and McBaine was afraid they might repent the +agreement to give us up and try to take us captive again. Mr. Ogden +made the speech and delivered the goods and as soon as possible they +were gotten away from the Fort. But they would not let the Indian boy +go. The Hudson's Bay men claimed him as belonging rightfully to them. +"He didn't belong to the Doctor," they said, "but had Indian blood in +him." The last I ever saw of him he was standing on the bank of the +river crying as though his heart were breaking as his friends floated +away from him. He was about six years old. There were three boats that +started down the river the day we left the Fort, eight oarsmen to a +boat, and we pulled out into the stream pretty fast once we started. +Indians were along the bank riding and talking, and it was necessary to +travel fast. At night we landed and camped. It was cold, windy and +sandy. Our belongings were left for the settlers to bring down in the +spring, though, of course, we children had little to concern ourselves +about. Before we left the Mission Mrs. Sanders had told one of the +chiefs that the Doctor's children had no clothes--that everything was +gone. "No clothes, no blankets, no nothing," so he went over to the +other house and brought a comfort and gave that to my oldest sister and +gave me a thin quilt and my other sister a blanket or quilt. It was the +custom in those days to quilt so fine; I mean, with the stitching very +close and usually the quilts were made of two pieces of cloth and a +thin layer of cotton batting between. My quilt got afire on our trip +down the river and most of it was burned. The chief also got us a few +undergarments of Mrs. Whitman's. + +Mr. Spalding looked after us on the trip and Mr. Stanley, who went +along also, took especial pains to care for us. He would do all he +could to make the hardships a little easier to bear, taking pains to +wrap us up when in the boat and to see that we got to camp and back to +the boat securely. When we got to Vancouver, Mr. Stanley bought some +calico to make each of us a dress. I think my portion was five yards +and they made me a dress and bonnet out of it after I went to Mrs. +Geiger's. I do not know what we would have done without Mr. Stanley. He +was so good and kind to us and Mr. Ogden was very kind, too. + +We had to make two portages. Once the men had to take the boats +entirely out of the water and carry them around on their shoulders and +let them down the steep banks with ropes, while we carried the +provisions and such small belongings as we were allowed to take with +us. We finally came to Memmaloo's island, which Mr. Stanley told us was +the Indian burying ground. It took us about eight days to go down the +Columbia river. As we traveled, we came to a place they called St. +Helens, then to another called Linn City and on to Fort Vancouver. We +staid over Sunday there and the Spalding family was entertained at the +Post by Mr. Ogden and James Douglas and finally we were taken to +Portland. Some of the volunteers were on the bank of the Willamette +river and the Governor was also standing there as we rowed up. Mr. +Ogden went to the Governor, shook hands and said to him, "Here are the +prisoners and now I will turn them over to you. I have done all I +could." He also asked that we be taken to Oregon City, which was agreed +upon and later, done. Some of the volunteers were camped across the +river and when they saluted the boats we children thought we were going +to be shot. Captain Gilliam, a brother-in-law of the Captain Shaw who +was our protector on the plains after our own father and mother had +died, rowed across the river and asked which were the Sager children +and on our being pointed out to him, shook hands with us. Some of our +forlorn party had friends to meet them and Governor Abernathy kept the +others until places were found for them. + +I remember going to Dr. McLaughlin's house in Oregon City. Mr. Stanley +had a room there and was painting portraits and he came to take us down +to see his pictures. He wanted to paint my picture, but I was entirely +too timid and would not let him. We enjoyed the pictures, however. When +we came down stairs Dr. McLaughlin and his son-in-law, Mr. Ray, were in +the lower room. As we came down stairs the Doctor, thinking to play a +little practical joke, locked the door on us and told us we were +prisoners again and, of course, we were frightened almost to death. +When he found that he had frightened us, he assured us he was just +fooling and let us go. We took everything in earnest and were afraid of +white people as well as the Indians. One can hardly realize at this +day, in what a tortured state our nerves were. + + + + + OREGON CITY--AFTER THE MASSACRE + + +My father was born in Virginia, had lived in Ohio, then in Indiana. +Both father and mother dying on the way to Oregon and the two oldest +members of the family then remaining, having been cruelly torn from us +by the massacre, we girls had little knowledge of any relatives in the +East, save that they lived somewhere in Ohio. Time rolled on. My oldest +sister made her home with the Rev. William and Mrs. Roberts until she +married. Mr. Roberts was a Methodist minister. His sons, in writing a +letter to their grandparents in New Jersey, told of their father and +mother taking an orphan girl by the name of Catherine Sager to live +with them. An extract of this letter was published in the Advocate and +was read by an uncle of mine, who, seeing the name of Catherine Sager +and knowing that his brother Henry had a daughter by that name, wrote a +letter and addressed it to "Miss Catherine Sager, Somewhere in Oregon." +He gave it to a man who was crossing the plains; he carried it some +months and finally put it in a postoffice near Salem, Oregon, and the +postmaster gave it to my sister. In that way we found our relatives. + +I was with the Spaldings for, I think, four months, and I attended Mrs. +Thornton's private school in the Methodist church. Then Mr. Spalding +decided to go and live in Forest Grove and the Rev. Mr. Griffin and Mr. +Alvin T. Smith came with their ox teams and moved us out. + +Miss Mary Johnson came to the Whitmans in '45, wintered there and went +to the Spalding's mission in '46 and was there at the time of the +massacre and came down the river with us. She came with the Spalding +family to Forest Grove when we moved. We were taken to the Smith home +until the Spalding family could get a house and settle down. + +It was decided, however, that I should go and live with Mr. and Mrs. +Geiger, living on a farm adjoining the Smith's. The Geigers were a +young married couple without children. Mr. Geiger came on horseback +after me the day after we reached the Smiths, but I cried so hard at +the prospect of leaving Mary Johnson that he went away without me. A +day or so later he came back again and still I would not go, but clung +to Mary. It seemed to me she was my only friend. The third time he +came, I had to go and all my belongings were tied up in a little +bundle. A large bandana handkerchief would have held them all. I rode +behind him. His home was a one-room log house with a fireplace to cook +by. I took up my life there, lonely and isolated. The nearest neighbor +was a mile away. Life was primitive. If the fire was not carefully +covered to keep the coals alive, we would have to go to a neighbor's to +borrow fire. There were no matches in the country and sometimes I would +be sent a mile across the prairie to bring fire on a shovel from the +neighbor's. If there were no coals, the flint and steel had to be used +and if that was not successful we would have to do without. It was not +always possible to obtain dry sticks in order to make the flint and +steel serve their purpose. Supplies were to be had only from the Hudson +Bay Posts, for people had had to leave most of their things behind in +crossing the plains. That summer a baby came to the home of the +Geiger's and I had to take care of it and a good deal of the time be +nurse and help with the housework. I had been taught to sew and iron +and repair my own clothes and must have been a really helpful young +person. In the fall of '48 discovery of gold in California made a great +change. All were eager to go to the gold mines. Mr. Geiger got the gold +fever and moved us away up to his father-in-law's, the Rev. J. +Cornwall. This family had moved onto the place in the spring and had +just a log cabin to house a large family. They did not raise much of a +crop the first year and Mr. Cornwall traveled around and preached over +the valley most of the time. That fall he took a band of sheep in the +valley and the winter being very hard, a good many of them died and his +wife had to card and spin wool, knit socks and sell them to the miners +at a dollar a pair in order to help make the living. She knit all the +time and a part of my work was to help pull the wool off the dead sheep +and wash it and get it ready for her to use. We had to carry water +quite a distance from the river, as it seemed that many of the early +settlers of Oregon had a great habit of building as far from the river +as possible, so we children would have more to do to pack the water and +stamp the clothes with our feet. We wintered there and in the spring +Mrs. Gieger, baby and I went to their farm thirty-five miles down into +the valley to look after some of their belongings, as the Rev. +Spalding, who had wintered there, had gone to a house of his own. Mr. +Geiger returned unexpectedly from California, went up to get their +things left on the Yamhill, and we settled down on the farm and life +went on. I didn't attend school that year, for there was no school. The +Reverend Eels came down in the spring of 50 to teach private school. I +went three months, walking three and a half miles each way. Mr. Geiger +paid five dollars for three months' schooling. + +There were large herds of Mexican cattle owned in the valley and they +would chase everything except someone on horseback. Everyone owned a +few of the domestic cattle with them and they proved very useful, as +the tame cattle stood guard until the others were chased away. I was in +continual fear of being chased by them. They would lie down to watch +you all day and I would skirt along in the bushes, working my way along +tremblingly to get out and away to school without their seeing me. If +these long-horned Spanish cattle chased a person up a tree they would +lie under the tree all day on guard. Wolves chased the cattle, trying +to get the little calves. Pigs would have to be bedded right up against +the house on account of the coyotes and wolves. + +While I was at the Cornwalls in '49, we lived right where the Indians +passed by on the trail coming down the valley. The Indians were not on +reserves then. When the men folks were gone the women were very afraid +of the Indians. They were women of the South, reared with a certain +fear of the negroes, and this fear extended to the Indians. When the +Indians were in the vicinity they would have me cover up the fire and +if any of the babies needed any attention, I was the one who would have +to give it and rake out the coals and make a fire for the baby. We had +chickens and had a stick chimney; and in a corner of the chimney was a +chicken-roost. One night old Mrs. Cornwall spied what she thought was +an Indian looking through the chinking of the log house. I said, "Oh, I +think not, I don't hear anything." But they hurried me up to +investigate and it was soon found to be the light shining on the old +rooster's eyes. + +The summer of '50 I attended school, as I have before said, going also +the next year for three months to the same place, to the Reverend Eels. +Then I did not go any more until the summer I was thirteen. Mr. Eells +moved over near Hillsboro, where the Reverend Griffin had built a +school building on his place and had hired Mr. Eells to come over and +teach and he lived in a part of Mr. Griffin's house. He called it "Mr. +Griffin's select school." I was permitted to go there and work for my +board, but did not have to work very hard. Mr. Griffin had lots of +cattle and Mr. Eells had one cow; when he was at home he milked it and +when he was not the youngsters had to milk. Mrs. Griffin and her +children had all their cows to milk. They did not wean the calves, but +would turn them all in together and the big calves would have a fine +time getting all the milk. One day I was milking the cow and I set the +milk pail down in the corner and the old cow got at it and drank all +the milk. + +I had read of town pumps, but had never seen one until I went there and +I did not like the taste of the water in this, but Mr. Griffin said it +was sulphur water. Finally it got so strong of sulphur he concluded he +had better have the well cleaned out; so someone came to clean it out +and they found a side of bacon, a skunk, some squirrels and mice. After +it was cleaned out, we had no more sulphur water, but I have never +enjoyed the taste of sulphur water since. + +We had a garden. I was very fond of cucumbers and my favorite pastime +in summer after supper was to gather cucumbers, get a handful of salt +and walk up the lane. When anyone asked about Matilda, someone would +reply, "The last I saw of her she was walking up the lane with salt and +cucumbers for company." + +Some of our pastimes, evenings, were to sit together by the fireplace +in Mr. Griffin's home with him as the leader in the story-telling. We +would recount incidents in our lives and then make up stories and tell +them; roast potatoes in the fire, rake them out with a stick when about +half done and each would have a part of the refreshments of half +roasted potatoes and salt. Mr. Griffin sent and got what he called a +seraphine--a small cabinet organ; it opened up like a piano and was a +wonder around there. At about eleven o'clock, when we were all in bed, +he would go in where it was kept, open up the organ and give us some +music. His favorite hymn was set to the tune of "Balerma," and the +words were, "Oh, for a closer walk with God," and he would sing such +songs until after midnight. In the morning he never did any work on the +place. He had a saddle horse and he rode around. Mrs. Griffin and the +children had to do everything. He didn't even plant the potatoes. All +the new potatoes we had grew among the old potatoes that were dug and +stored for the winter and I used to help Mrs. Griffin get the new +potatoes out from among the old ones. I helped her to churn and in many +other ways. She thought I was a pretty good girl. Mr. Griffin was very +fond of entertaining their company with music. There was a man named +Laughlin who once came to spend the night when it was raining. We were +sitting by the fireplace. The fire did not burn very well and Mrs. +Griffin came in with a little hand bellows and blew up the fire. The +old man saw her coming and fancied it must be a dangerous instrument of +some kind. It frightened him and he got up and made for the door. He +finally saw what it was and came back and sat down. Then Mr. Griffin +sat down by his organ and began playing it. That frightened the old +gentleman again and in his fright he overturned his chair and got out +of the door. He could not understand what was happening. So we had our +fun with the organ, Mr. Laughlin and the little bellows. + +Mr. Griffin liked to give advice to the young. My chum, Maria Tanner, +and I were frequently given the benefit of his wisdom, but +child-fashion, did not care to be "preached at." We would see him +coming and would start to evade him. Sometimes we would dodge around +the house, but finally he got on to our trick and would meet us and +corner us and give us whole lot of advice. He thought it dreadful for +young girls to be as frivolous as we were; for he called it frivolous +because we went down to the woods and sang songs and laughed. That was +one of my sins--to laugh. We would often lie in bed singing and +laughing and Mr. Eells would call up for us to be quiet. We would be +still until we thought the old man had settled down and then we would +start in again. Children were not supposed to be in evidence at all in +those days, and I sometimes got double doses of advice and correction. +But my school days ended--when I was thirteen. + +I went back to the Gieger farm where I washed, did housework, sewed and +cared for the children. Sometimes if there had been a good deal of +trouble in the church, the man I lived with (Mr. Gieger) would not +allow me to go to the Grove to church. But we had a meeting at Mr. +Walker's home and Mr. Walker preached. Sometimes in the winter it was +so lonely and cold that it would be three or four months until we could +go out to church. We looked forward to the campmeetings in June. We had +an old mud oven outside to bake in. The people got together and +furnished provisions; some would bring meat, some potatoes and some +materials for bread. I went with Mrs. Gieger's folks. One old lady said +she went to campmeetings because she got to see all the old neighbors; +and I think they were pretty nearly our only salvation from entire +stagnation. Sometimes we would go fifty miles to a camp. One of the +tricks of the boys was to shave the tails of the horses; another was to +throw tom cats with their tails tied together in the crowd at the +mourner's bench. This would stop the praying for awhile. + +We always picked berries in the spring and summer. There was not much +tame fruit--a few seedling apples. The only way we travelled was on +horseback. The first printing press that was brought to Oregon was +stored in Mr. Griffin's house. We used to go to the old press and try +to sort out the type. Mrs. Griffin had a sister, Rachel Smith; the +Griffins arranged a match between her and the Rev. Henry Spalding and +she came out from Boston to marry him. We were invited to the wedding, +which occurred in a schoolhouse used for a church, and the "infare" was +arranged to be held at Mrs. Griffin's the next day. I had never been to +a wedding and I had a great desire to go; so I went to the wedding in +preference to going to the infare, since I had my choice. Mr. Griffin +performed the ceremony. Mr. Spalding preached the sermon and Mr. +Griffin played the organ and sang. The bride was attired in a white +dress and a long, thin scarf with purple stripes in the ends and fringe +and she had on a rough straw bonnet. Mrs. Griffin called it "Rachel's +Dunstable bonnet." When they were ready for the ceremony, Mr. Spalding +stepped forward and Mrs. Griffin placed her sister by his side, putting +Miss Smith's hand in his; they stood there a little while and Mr. +Griffin said the words that made them man and wife. That was my first +wedding. + +My next experience at a wedding was when I was chosen to be the +bridesmaid. I was to wear a thin blue dress and I went to the place +where the wedding was to occur, carrying my dress. Our dressing room +was to stand on the bed with curtains around it. The bride was dressed +first and then I dressed myself. We knew of another bride who was +coming and we waited to get the white ribbon bows for the bride to wear +in her hair and the white ribbons to wear around her wrists. The men +were all standing outside the house, as the table was set for +dinner--the cooking was done at the fireplace--and there was not room +in the small house for them. Finally when the bride was ready the best +man came in. His name was John Kane. I discovered he had about half of +his coat sleeve ripped out, but in spite of torn coat, the ceremony +proceeded and then we sat down and had the wedding dinner. The Rev. +Walker performed the ceremony. Among other goodies which we had on the +table were glasses of syrup. There was something a little bit white in +it and I found that it was pie-dough cut out with a thimble and baked +and dropped in it for an ornament. The next day the bride and groom and +myself were to take a trip. The best man's sweetheart got very jealous +of me because I acted as bridesmaid with her intended husband as best +man. Engaged couples at that time were supposed to look only at each +other. There were two couples besides the bride and groom, who took a +horseback trip to Scroggin's valley; we went about fifteen miles, I +should judge, and ate dinner with a brother of the groom. They had not +been married very long and were starting in housekeeping. We went on to +Mr. Tanner's and spent the night, leaving the bride and groom at his +brother's. Our trip covered about fifty miles. + +The next thing that came into my life, of any importance, was meeting +my first husband. In the fall of '52 Mr. Gieger had two brothers come +from Michigan and they spent the winter with him and in the spring went +to the mines in Southern Oregon, then on the northern California, where +they mined a while and then started a store. There were the two Grieger +boys and associated with them were the two Hazlett brothers and Mat +Fultz. Someone was always coming down with pack animals to get +supplies, as they had to be packed out from Portland or Scotsburg. This +summer Everett Gieger came and one of the Hazletts came with him and +spent the summer, returning in the fall with supplies. One morning I +was sweeping the floor and was around with the children. About ten or +eleven o'clock a man came to the door. He had long hair down over his +shoulders; he wanted know if this was where Mr. Gieger lived. I was +barefooted and not in trim to see visitors, but the stranger said +"Everett Gieger would be along the next day; that he had stopped to +visit someone and he had come on ahead." They spent the summer there. +During the summer, they made up a party--Mr. Gieger and his wife, her +sister and myself, and a man by the name of Mr. Blank, made a trip over +to Tillamook Bay. We went up to the head of the Yamhill valley, that is +now the Siletz Reserve. We crossed the mountains on just a thread of a +heavily timbered trail and were the second party of women that had +crossed the mountains. We were two days going over the mountain to come +down into the valley of Tillamook and on down to what is known as +Traskville. A man by the name of Trask lived there and made butter and +took it to Portland to sell. + +Mr. Grieger and Mr. Trask were acquainted. We spent a night and a +couple of days there; then went on down and camped on Tillamook Bay and +hired a boat to go down the bay to the mouth of the river and I had my +first glimpse of the Pacific ocean. That was the first time I ever saw +any clams. The gnats were terrible. We spent a few days near the shore +and then came back to Yamhill and Mrs. Gieger's father's home. We staid +there a few days and then returned to our own home. In the meantime Mr. +Everett Gieger had fallen in love with Narcissa Cornwall, Mrs. Gieger's +sister. I was promised to marry Mr. Hazlett. The two men went away in +October, back to the mines. In February they were to return and we were +to be married and go back to Illinois to live. But meantime they +changed their minds and concluded they would go into the stock business +in the Little Shasta valley. They took up a farm there and didn't come +down until May. They bought a lot of stock to drive down, two yokes of +oxen and a wagon; the oxen had worked or been driven across the plains. + +Even in these early times, the subject of clothes claimed some +attention of the feminine mind. When I was about thirteen years old I +was very anxious to have a white dress. I had never had one. Mrs. Smith +had kept Joe Gale's four children during the winter, while the parents +went to California to the mines. He had sent up some white goods, +scarfs, shawls and so on, but I wanted a white dress. Mrs. Smith told +me if I would come down and do four washings she would let me have +everything to make me a dress, so I went to the river to wash and I got +the goods for my dress and when I went to board with Mrs. Eells, she +made the dress with flowing sleeves and three tucks in the skirt. She +made undersleeves, too. The first pair of gloves I ever had I bought +from a peddler, paying twenty-five cents for them. I earned most of the +money that bought my wedding outfit. The wedding dress was a white one +and I trimmed my own wedding bonnet. Mr. Gieger bought my shoes, which +were poor leather slippers, with no heels, such as the men wore. I was +very much disappointed in my shoes, for they were just like old bedroom +slippers. I had my hair braided and wore a big horse-shoe comb. I had +white ribbon around my wrists like a cuff. Abigail Walker, my girl +chum, came over and helped me dress. The wedding day was the fifth of +June and the Rev. Walker performed the ceremony. His family, Mrs. Eells +and family and other friends were there. Mr. Walker was a very nervous +man and when he preached he would shake like a person with a mild +nervous chill. Mrs. Eells said that she could hardly keep from laughing +during the ceremony, Mr. Walker's clothing shook so. I had the usual +congratulations from the guests and the single men's congratulations +was the privilege of kissing the bride. We had the wedding feast. Mrs. +Walker came over to make the cake. She was the best cake maker in the +neighborhood. She couldn't manage the cake on our stove as well as on +her own, so she carried the batter in a bucket, four miles on +horseback, baked it in her own stove, and brought back a fine wedding +cake with green cedar laid on the plate and the cake set on that. The +trimmings were cedar boughs, wild roses and honeysuckle. + +The next day my husband had to go to Portland on business and we went +as far as Hillsboro, where I visited Mrs. Eells until he returned. Then +we began to get ready to go to my future home in Shasta valley, +traveling with the stock and ox team. Part of the time I rode horseback +and part of the time I helped drive the cattle. We went on until we got +into the Umpqua valley and it was very warm and the grasshoppers were +eating up the whole country; they had eaten all the foliage on the +trees. We came to the Cow Creek canyon, but the military road had not +been built and we had to travel the old road in the bed of the creek +for miles. It was very rough and rugged and the hills were steep. We +had traveled one day to put up camp. Next day we started, but in going +up a steep hill one of the oxen stopped and trembled and we thought he +had got poisoned. We cut up some sliced bacon and he didn't object to +eating it and licked his tongue out for more. We gave him some more +bacon and still he wouldn't go. Finally we hired another team which got +us through the canyon, but we concluded it was only a trick of the old +ox, as he had been raised on bacon and that was all he wanted. We came +to the Grave Creek hills which were very steep. We camped just as we +got to the summit of them and after a rest traveled on; in just two +weeks from that time two men were killed in that place by the Indians. +We just missed being killed. We traveled on in the Rogue River valley +which was not very much settled, save in the lower part. It showed +evidence of the conflict between the white men and the Indians by the +lonely graves that were scattered along the roadside. We came onto +Wagner Creek where Mrs. Harris and other settlers were killed by the +Indians in '55. They were harvesting some fine fields of grain as we +came through the valley. The towns were all small--they could hardly be +seen. There was Waitsburg, where Mr. Wait had a flouring mill, and a +large log house; and at the time of the Indian trouble, the people +flocked there for safety. In going through the Rogue River valley the +Indians came to our wagon and were very inquisitive and even got into +the wagon and frightened me; and when the men had to be away I would +become very much frightened. One evening when in camp on the bank of +the Rogue River, we saw across the stream some soldiers who had some +Indians with them. The Indians finally took up their belongings and +started across the mountains. The soldiers crossed the river and the +bugler rode down to our camp and told us it would be better for us to +go up to a nearby farm house; that while he did not apprehend any +trouble, we would be safer there. We went up there and found seven men, +including a fifteen year old boy. They had a log cabin and very kindly +made all the preparation that they could for our safety. The boy was +very anxious to kill an Indian, so he put seven bullets down in his +muzzle-loader gun and said: "One of those bullets would surely hit an +Indian." + +So we traveled on to the head of the valley and across the Siskiyou +Mountains into California and we camped over night on the summit of the +mountains. Three weeks afterward, three teamsters camped there and were +killed by the Indians. We came on down into a rough looking country--a +little mining camp we called Cottonwood, where my husband had been +mining. We staid there a week, then took our way on south to Willow +Creek in Shasta valley, where my husband had a home for us to live in +and where he was to follow the stock business. We were there about two +months and a half, when the Klamath Lake Indians began to make trouble. +We lived close to their trail and we were afraid of being killed and so +we put up our belonging and went back to the little mining camp. I +never saw the home again. We lived in this Cottonwood district near the +Oregon line and raised stock, and my husband put out fruit trees and +started raising a garden. In the year '60 he had to be operated on for +cancer. We had to go across the Trinity and Scott mountains to Red +Bluff, where we took the boat down the Sacramento river. Friends +thought he would not live to make the trip. The doctors said his +disease was incurable and that he would not live more than three years +at best. They operated on him. I had left our ten-months old baby at +home. In the June before we went down to San Francisco, our house and +belongings were destroyed by fire and we went into a bachelor's house +and lived there. + +Many amusing incidents occurred during the long winter months in the +mining districts of northern California, when the placer miners, +waiting for the water to open up, found time hanging heavy on their +hands. Isolated as we were, we welcomed anything that would break the +monotony of life. One locality in which we lived had always given a +Democratic majority and the Republican brethren of course did not take +kindly to this. One year they determined to beat the Democrats in the +coming election and set about it with considerable vim. As there were +several men in town who did not care particularly which ticket they +voted, they worked on them. I took in the situation and as all my men +folks were Democrats, I decided to have a little fun and help our party +at the same time. I, too, worked on those who could be influenced to +vote either way. One of these persons was named Davey Crockett and he +claimed to be a nephew of the famous Davey Crockett of "Alamo" fame. +This Crockett was known as "Dirty Crockett," because it well described +his personal appearance. He lived in a "tepee" out in the hills and +hunted deer. He always wore a red cap that had the corners tied up to +look like horns. He said he could always get the deer, because they +would stop to look at his cap long enough for him to get a bead on +them. Another of his accomplishments was his ability to catch live +skunks. He offered to rid the neighborhood of them if he were paid +fifty cents for each one he brought in alive. He was given the job and +soon came carrying a live skunk by the tail. He said he caught them by +the tail and held them so tight they could not scent him. He collected +his fifty cents from two or three persons. He repeated this several +times; in fact, so frequent became his appearance with a live skunk +that some of the business men became suspicious and upon investigation +it was found that he had caught just one skunk and whenever he wanted +money he would reappear with the same skunk and collect the bounty. A +Welchman, who was a staunch Republican, offered Crockett a fine rooster +if he would agree to vote that ticket. To this he readily agreed. When +I learned this, I went to him and offered him two dried mink skins that +I had, if he would agree to vote the Democratic ticket. These looked +better than the rooster, so he transferred his allegiance to the +Democratic party. Four or five "floaters" seen with equally good +results kept the balance of power on the Democratic side on election +day. + +The Welchman who had labored so hard to make a Republican of Crockett, +gave me a write-up in the paper after election, telling how the +Democrats won the day by the aid of skunk-catchers and wood-choppers, +but little did I care. We won the day by using his tactics and I had +considerable fun with my experience in early day politics. + +The winter of '60-61 being very cold, many cattle died and this same +Crockett made considerable money skinning the dead animals and selling +their hides. One cold and stormy evening, quite a distance from his +home, he skinned a large steer that had just died and was still warm. +As he could not reach home that night, he rolled himself up in the warm +hide. During the night it froze so hard that it was with considerable +difficulty that he was able to cut himself out in the morning. + +An Irishman named Pat O'Halloran was a prospector and miner, and like +most of the early day miners, was fond of a drink now and then. He +would frequently sit around the saloons watching the card games until a +very late hour, or rather, early morning hour. One dark night he +started for home, loaded a little beyond his capacity. Not being able +to keep the road, he fell into a prospect hole. The hole was about +forty feet deep and Pat went to the bottom. The next morning the +ditch-tender going his rounds, heard someone calling and finally +located old Pat in the bottom of the prospect hole. He went for help. +The men got a windless and bucket and after some effort drew him near +the surface. Now Pat was an uncompromising Democrat, and as he +approached the top he noticed that a preacher, who was the leading +Republican in the neighborhood, was one of his rescuers. He commanded +them to lower him again and "go and get some Democrats to haul me out," +saying "I don't want that black abolitionist to help me out." So they +had to lower him until they could find Democrats enough to pull him +out. We were eating breakfast when a man came to get my husband to +assist in pulling the Irishman to the surface and he came back laughing +heartily at Pat's political stubbornness. The editor of the Democratic +paper gave him a life subscription to his paper and Pat lived fifteen +years to read it; he then decided he had enjoyed it long enough and +suicided. + +We had many interesting neighbors, men and women of considerable force +of character. In the early days of the gold excitement in southern +Oregon and northern California a man and his wife, by the name of +Redfield, located a homestead on Cow Creek. They built a house and ran +a station where travelers were accommodated with lodging and food. +Attacks by Indians were frequent, but they stayed and fought it out +with them. In one of these attacks, Mrs. Redfield was severely wounded +in the hip, but even this did not dismay them and they staid with +their home and continued to fight it out. During the civil war she was +a Union sympathizer and he was equally strong on the rebel side. +Whenever they would get news of a Union victory, she would give a +banquet and invite all their friends to celebrate; when news of a Rebel +victory came, he, in turn, would give a banquet and call all the +friends together. After the close of the war, he was told that he would +not be allowed to vote and that if he attempted to do so, his vote +would be challenged. He said, "All right"; but on election day he was +at the polls. He had a long muzzle-loading gun and was known to be a +sure shot. He folded his ballot and stuck it in the muzzle of "old +Betsy" and handed it to the clerk, who took it without protest and no +one else challenged his vote. + +There was a German citizen named Haserich who was known as "Slam Bang" +among the miners, because of his frequent use of those words in +describing any thing or event. He was the proprietor of a billiard hall +and lodging house. Being Republican committeeman one year, he called +the boys in and told them that a Mr. Van Dueser, who was the Republican +candidate for the Legislature, was coming to make a speech. Knowing +that the boys were always playing pranks, he implored them to be "nice" +and to listen attentively to what he had to say. They promised to +behave, but when the old man escorted the speaker into the hall the +night of the meeting, there were about two hundred men there, each with +his face blackened and wearing a high paper collar. The meeting +proceeded without disturbance, but the speaker was not to get away in +peace. The horse he had hired was one that had been trained to stop in +front of every saloon and sit on his haunches. This he did as usual and +the boys had their fun in assuring the dignified speaker of the evening +that his horse wanted a drink before he would pass the saloon. + +In early days, dishes were not very plentiful. Most people had only tin +dishes and these were hard to get. One man, to avoid the risk of loss, +nailed his dishes to the table. When he wanted to wash them he would +turn the table on it's side, take the broom and some hot water and +scrub them well; after rinsing them, he would turn the table back with +the dishes thoroughly cleansed. + +The Rev. Childs (the abolitionist preacher) took a claim with two young +men who were both in their teens and full of pranks. The Reverend often +used to tell them of the fine eels he used to have in the East, what +good eating they were and how he longed for one again. The boys +concluded they would treat him to one for his dinner some day. One day +they caught a rattle snake and skinned it. As one of them always +prepared the dinner, the snake was cooked and sizzling hot when time +for dinner arrived. The frying pan was put on the table, containing +what the boys said was a nice fat eel. The minister stuck his fork into +a portion and put it on his plate, saying, "This is the toughest eel I +ever saw." The boys were a little dubious about allowing him to eat it, +for fear it might poison him; so one of them said, "If you had seen the +string of rattles on it, you would have thought it was tough." The +preacher took the frying pan and snake and threw them into the Klamath +River. + +Ministers were frequently the victims of the rude wit of the times. One +day one drove into town with a team and buggy, saying he was the +Reverend Bullock and that he had been told there was no church nor +anything of a religious nature in the place; so he had come to try to +convert the people and build up a church. He made an appointment to +come and conduct services in two weeks. He was there, true to his +promise, and most of the people attended the service. When the +collection was taken up, they responded liberally. + +In time the people tired of his preaching, so a committee was appointed +to call upon him and tell him that no one cared to listen to him +longer; but he was not to be deterred and when the regular day for +service came, he was on hand again to preach. The boys decided they +would get rid of him for good. A man by the name of George Horner had +collected five hundred pieces of Chinese money. He went to the store +keeper who had the only safe in town and told him that he had five +hundred dollars which he wanted to deposit in his safe. The old man +took it and put it safely away. On the appointed day for church +services, George had this money distributed among the boys and they all +attended church, well prepared for the collection. The church was full +and the minister's face beamed with delight to see so large an +audience. There were a few men in the place who had been church members +in their Eastern homes. Some had been exhorters in these churches and +when the minister was fervently praying, outpourings of the spirit, +"God grant it" and "Amens" came from all parts of the church and one +could well imagine that they were in one of the old time Methodist +revival meetings. + +The minister seemed to sense that there was something unusual in the +air and hurriedly brought his discourse to a close; but the boys were +determined that the collection must not be overlooked, so two of them +passed the hat among the congregation and the Chinese money soon filled +the hats. The minister closed without the usual benediction and made +for the door, where the collection was handed to him. When he saw what +it was, he made a hasty retreat to the barn where his team was and +ordered it ready. When he got into the buggy, he found that some one +had not forgotten to put in a few decks of cards and several bottles +of whiskey. He drove away and was not seen again for a number of years. + +The town was not to be abandoned by the clergy altogether, however, so +another minister came. It always fell to me to entertain the traveling +ministers and this one was sent to my house. He told me he saw the need +of work in the community and he thought we should have a church. He +asked me what I thought of the outlook. I told him about the other +minister and his collection and he laughed heartily. He preached that +evening and left the next morning. That ended the religious effort in +our town for a long time. + +The ministers did not have all the mishaps, however. A man named Thomas +owned the Eagle grist mall in the Rogue River valley, Oregon. In 1856 +he surveyed and built the toll road across the Siskiyou mountains. He +also owned and operated a salt works down the Klamath river. On one of +his trips he had in addition to his load of salt a barrel of whisky and +a grindstone. It was late in the evening when he reached the Klamath +ferry and the ferryman told him not to try to cross Cottonwood creek as +it was high and dangerous. The tailings from the placers formed ridges +and holes that were dangerous in high water. He cautioned him to stay +in a house of his close to the crossing until morning, when it would be +safe to cross. He replied, "I will cross so quick that my salt won't +get wet." Fortunately, he had picked up a traveler on the road and was +giving him a lift to his destination. They attempted the crossing of +the creek and when they overturned in mid-creek this man succeeded in +cutting the horses loose and they all managed to swim ashore. Then they +went on to their camp, returning in the morning to see what they had +left. The wagon and the grindstone were there buried in the clay, but +the salt and whisky had vanished. + +The winter of '62 was very severe and all the stock in the whole +country perished. Mr. Hazlett owned five hundred head of cattle in the +fall and in the spring had about five left. He had to go back in March +to be operated on again for cancer. He was quite a while in recovering. +I went down in June to see him and he returned with me, but lived only +until the next spring. He left me with five children and I had to build +a house to shelter them. I traded a cow for some lumber and some of my +friends helped me. The house was not finished inside. I used to take in +washing, which was the only thing to be done. Goods were very high +during the Civil war. The orchard had begun to bear and quite a lot of +gooseberries had set on. One year we had three hundred pounds of them. +I managed to care for my children and in '67 I married Mr. Fultz, my +first husband's partner. We lived there twenty-seven years. I had six +daughters. We at last sold out and came up into Washington to live and +settled in the town of Farmington, going into the hotel business. Some +of my girls were grown and lived with me. We bought a livery business, +then Mr. Fultz started a furniture business and finally took on +undertaking. Mr. Fultz lived but a year after coming to Farmington and +I was left with four businesses on my hands. All the responsibility +rested on me. One daughter died. With the help of the girls, the house +was enlarged to three stories. After three years one of the girls +married, a year after another, and then another. I had one daughter in +California; my youngest was with me. Six years after Mr. Fultz died I +married Mr. Delaney. We still had the hotel. Then I became crippled +with rheumatism and was given up to die, but finally recovered, though +told I would never walk again. I laid helpless and drawn up for five +months, with life dispaired of; but my children came to me, one from +California, one from Lewiston, Idaho, a son and daughter living in the +house and another in town. They all did everything possible and cared +for me continually. My doctor was faithful and the neighbors were kind +to come and do everything they could for me. The Chinaman cook brewed +good herbs and steamed my limbs and straightened them out and some of +the Coeur d'Alene squaws said they prayed for me. Another friend +furnished me a lot of Medical Lake salts, which he thought was good for +all ailments. After five months I was carried out in a chair and placed +in the sunshine; then came gradually returning strength and little by +little, with the aid of crutches, I walked and with continual effort +and perseverance I at last recovered the use of my limbs. With my +sister, who came to visit me, I went to visit Perrin Whitman, our old +friend. + +In the spring of 1843, when Dr. Whitman returned to his Mission, he +brought with him his nephew, Perrin B. Whitman, a motherless boy of +thirteen years. Perrin learned the different Indian languages very +readily and at an early date helped the Rev. H. H. Spalding to +translate the three gospels into the Nez Perce tongue. He also helped +to print them on the first printing press brought to Oregon. In the +month of September, 1847, he was sent by his uncle to The Dalles to +learn the Wascopean Indian language, as Dr. Whitman had bargained for +the Methodist Station at that place and intended to move his family and +belongings there the following spring. The Doctor also hired a man +named Hindman to go there with his family and take charge of the place, +as he had left most of his supplies at that point. Four days after the +massacre, an Indian came to the house and told them that another Indian +had been at their camp and told them that Dr. Whitman's wife and all +the men at the Mission had been killed and the other women and children +taken captive. Mr. Hindman was so alarmed for the safety of his family +that he hired an Indian with his canoe to take him to Fort Vancouver +for help. He had not been gone long when four Cayuse Indians came to +the house and wanted Perrin to let them in. With Perrin was Mrs. +Hindman, her fourteen-months-old baby and a young girl of sixteen years +of age named Mary Warren. + +At the approach of the Indians Mrs. Hindman sank into a chair with her +babe in her arms. She was speechless and helpless. Perrin stood at the +door and talked from the inside. He afterward said that if he ever +talked Walla Walla, he did that day. Miss Warren stood at the other +door with uplifted ax and vowed she would kill the first Indian who +attempted to enter. They tried in every way to induce Perrin to come +outside, but he refused to go. They finally left and Perrin said that +Miss Warren was the bravest woman he ever knew. She never showed any +sign of fear throughout the trying ordeal. He also said that he was +satisfied that the Indians came with the intention of killing all of +them. In a few days Mr. Hindman returned with help and they moved to +Oregon City. + +Perrin clerked in Allen McKinley's store during the winter and in the +spring went as interpreter with a company of Volunteers to seek out and +punish the perpetrators of the massacre. After the Volunteers returned, +he married Priscilla Parker, a daughter of Sam Parker of Salem, Oregon, +and took up a farm near Salem. He and his family lived there until the +United States military authorities went to Fort Lapwai. As they wished +to make a treaty with the Indians, they needed an interpreter. The +Indians refused to talk until they had Whitman to interpret for them. +They were told by the military authorities that they would write for +him, but the Indians said, "No. Send a man for him." One day as he was +ploughing in his fields a man came and gave him a note, ordering him to +come at once to Lapwai to act as interpreter. (He afterwards told me +that "this was the only time he was ever taken on a bench warrant.") He +put his team in the barn and left at once for Lapwai. + +He spent many years among the Nez Perce Indians as government +interpreter, teacher and missionary and no one man ever exerted such an +influence for good over them as Perrin Whitman. Their confidence in him +was unbounded and his word always accepted as the gospel truth. They +knew him and loved him and would never sign a treaty or take any +important step without his advice. + +After an interval of thirty-eight years, during which time I had not +seen him, I journeyed to Lewiston by stage for the purpose of paying +him and his family a visit. The stage driver was Felix Warren, an old +friend of mine. On our way there, Mr. Warren said, "You must stay with +my wife and me tonight, for I know as soon as Whitman knows you are in +town, we will see no more of you." I said, "Very well." So we went to +his house. We had been there only a short time when a lady came in. As +we were introduced she said, "Why, you are father's old friend." She +went to the door and called her son and told him to run to Grandpa's +and "tell him his friend is here." He came over on a run and when he +looked at me he said, "Matilda, where did you get your hair dyed?" (My +hair had not yet turned grey.) + +I replied, "What is the matter with you, that you don't dye yours?" His +hair and whiskers were almost white. We went to his house at once. He +would not even let me eat supper with my friends, the Warrens. We +talked over old times until two o'clock in the morning. Next morning +early we continued our reminiscences. My visit will always be a +pleasant memory. + +When the Northern Pacific railroad was building across the Nez Perce +reservation the Indians refused to negotiate until their friend Perrin +Whitman was sent for to explain things to them. Again when the +Commissioners called for Volunteers to go among the different factions +to get their consent to the building of the road, not an Indian offered +his services until the Commissioners said, "Of course, you understand +that Whitman goes along." Then there were plenty of volunteers. They +said of him, "Whitman can ride all day and all night without sleep and +he never talks with a crooked tongue." It was a severely hard trip in +the storm and sleet that comes in the spring in that country; the roads +were rough and the nights cold. Not long after this experience he was +stricken with slow paralysis and was confined to his bed most of the +time for six years before his death. When Perrin Whitman passed on to +his reward, a civilizing influence that helped to make the great +Northwest safe for the white man went out. He was all that an honest +man should be. As I have said before, sister and I went to visit him +after my long and severe illness. A short time after we reached there, +a long distance message told me that the town had burned and I had lost +everything. Since then I have never been able to do anything, but have +been cared for by my children. They have looked after me and I have had +a good home and the comforts of life. Once, only, I went back to visit +the old California home. Found a few there whom I had known and +received a hearty welcome; many had passed over the long trail to the +better land. Once I went to Baltimore, Md., to visit my daughter, and +on that trip I came to realize the changes that my lifetime had +experienced. On the vast plains, where years before my childish eyes +had seen vast herds of buffalo roaming at will and where all was Indian +territory from the Missouri river to the Rocky mountains, where the +immigrant's wagon had toiled slowly and painfully along, with the +menace of privation and death a constant attendant, railroads had +thrust their slender bands of steel; large cities had been built and +prosperous farms dotted the land. Surely a magician must travel with +me, constantly waving a magic wand before my surprised eyes! + +On the fiftieth anniversary of the Whitman massacre, through the +courtesy of the O.-W. R. & N. R. R. Co., all the survivors were given +transportation to go to the exercises attendant upon the erection of a +monument to the memory of Dr. Whitman and his fellow martyrs. When the +mound was leveled the workmen, to their surprise, found many bones. +These bones were classified by Dr. Bingham and others. I went to the +home of Dr. Penrose to assist in identifying them. A skeleton of a foot +in a part of a leather boot, we felt sure belonged to Mr. Kimball, as +he was the only man at the Mission who wore such boots. + +The skull of a white woman was, of course, that of Mrs. Whitman. It +showed large eye-sockets. Mrs. Whitman had large light blue eyes. Dr. +Whitman had a strong face, his massive chin turning up a little. A +man's skull showed two tomahawk cuts. I asked Dr. Penrose to hold the +skull, which was in two parts, together; and as I went back in memory +and imagined the skull clothed with flesh, I felt it was Dr. Whitman's. +Both his and Mrs. Whitman's had been cut in two parts with a saw--an +old trick of the Indians upon some victims. The teeth in the skull +which I felt was that of Dr. Whitman, were intact and some of the lower +back ones were filled with gold. Perrin Whitman had told me that when +he had gone with the volunteers to the Mission the spring after the +massacre, he had picked up a skull among others which he then claimed +was that of his uncle. He said he recognized it by the gold fillings in +the back teeth, as when coming West in 1843 he went with his uncle to a +dentist in St. Louis, Mo., and that was the first time he ever saw +gold-leaf, which was used in his uncle's teeth. It was the first dental +work he had ever seen done and he was very much interested and it made +a deep impression upon his mind. The skull with the unusually large +nose orifice, we felt sure was that of Mr. Hoffman as he was the only +man in the settlement having a very large nose. A very thick skull, we +felt, resembled Mr. Gillam, the tailor. The skull of an old man, we +decided, was that of the miller, Mr. Marsh. The thigh-bone of a boy +about fifteen years of age, we were sure belonged to my brother, Frank, +as he was the youngest killed. It was considered remarkable that the +bones were so well preserved after the lapse of half a century. + +In 1916 I attended the reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Society and that +of the Indian Volunteers at Portland. A gathering of 1600 persons +gathered in the City Auditorium. It was a most interesting meeting to +me and kept my mind constantly occupied with past experiences. Perhaps +the thing that brought by-gone times most vividly to my mind was the +trip for the pioneers up the Columbia Highway in autos furnished by the +city. As I looked out across the broad river from the height of the +_Vista House_, dedicated to the pioneers of Oregon, the beautifully +finished roadway, with its wonderful curves, solid masonry, gentle +grades, faded from before my eyes and again I saw a little party of +forlorn and homeless refugees rowing down that same river in the +old-fashioned, flat-bottomed bateaux, thankful to be alive, but always +hurrying to put more and more miles of water between them and the +tragic place called Waiilatpu. The chill of those misty winter days +again crept to my heart and I clearly recalled the childish awe that +filled my soul as I noticed the girth and height of the forest trees on +either side of the murky, greenish water that swept on past them with a +strong current, leaving sand-bar after sand-bar a gleam of tawny color +against their masses of dark green foliage; and I thought of a moment +when we saw a little cluster of five log houses and knew that we could +see Portland. Then as I looked toward the magnificent city of today, +with its homes, churches, schools, its parks and business places, I +felt that I must be waking from a _Rip Van Winkle_ sleep and the magic +of the moment almost overcame me. This thought I carried away with me. +Surely if the way of the pioneer is hard and beset with dangers, at +least the long years bring at last the realization that life, patiently +and hopefully lived, brings its own sense of having been part and +parcel of the onward move to better things--not for self alone, but for +others. + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The following corrections have been made: + +Foreword: "Coeurd 'Alene" changed to Coeur d'Alene; + +p. 10 "we would go picnicing in" picnicing changed to picnicking; + +p. 18 "children haven't had any dinner," 'and" single quotation mark +before and removed; + +p. 19 "realized whatt it meant" whatt changed to what; + +p. 20 "the woman watned" watned changed to wanted; + +p. 25 "repent the argreement" argreement changed to agreement; + +p. 26 "we got to Vancauver" Vancauver changed to Vancouver; + +p. 30: "it go so strong of sulphur" go changed to got; + +p. 33 "rtip to Scroggin's valley" rtip changed to trip; "meeing my first +husband" meeing changed to meeting; + +p. 35 "baked it her own stove" changed to baked it in her own stove; +"rought and rugged" rought changed to rough; "Rev. Walker performer the +ceremony" performer changed to performed; + +p. 36 "bugler rode down to our" buglar changed to bugler; + +p. 38 "wood-choppers,b ut little" moved space before b; "winter of +'61-61" '61-61 changed to '60-61; + +p. 39 "stuck in it the muzzle" changed to stuck it in the muzzle; + +p. 42 "his Mission, be brought" be changed to he; "family and +belingings" belingings changed to belongings; "steamed by limbs" by +changed to my; "with life dispared of" dispared changed to dispaired; +"and perseverance I at last" perseverence changed to perseverance; + +p. 44 "Whitman kiows you" kiows changed to knows; "old Colifornia home" +Colifornia changed to California; "we continued our reminiscences" +reminiscenses changed to reminiscences; + +p. 45 "some of the lower black ones" black changed to back; + +p. 46 "with past exteriences" exteriences changed to experiences. + +Everything else has been retained as printed, i.e. inconsistent spelling +like Geiger/Gieger/Grieger, Waiilatpu/Waillatpu, Eels/Eells. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41912 *** |