Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/593

Rh flying enemy, which was soon overtaken, the warriors running without stopping to fight, scattering in the forest, and leaving their women and children to be captured and fed by the soldiers. After scouring among the hills for two days and finding no Indians, Kearney was compelled to abandon the chase, taking back to camp thirty Indian women and their children. Here General Lane gallantly and generously offered to relieve Kearney of his captives, he having no means of taking care of them, and take them to Oregon City and deliver them up to Governor Gaines. With this charge he started and proceeding north he met Governor Gaines in the vicinity of where Grant's Pass is located, and there on July 7, 1851, delivered the captives to the governor. And by means of the possession of the prisoners, the governor was enabled to get eleven of the head men of the Indians and about one hundred of their followers to come in and make peace. These treaty-makers belonged to the Peace Party among the Rogue Rivers, and always came to the front when the fighting Indians got thrashed in a battle; and for years afterward they were alternately fighting or peacemaking, according as the fortunes of war ran for or against them.

From the beautiful Rogue River valley the bloody scenes now shift to the sea coast. About June 1st, 1851, the steam coaster Sea Gull, Captain William Tichenor, master, landed a party of nine men at Port Orford in Curry county, as the first installment of a force that was intended to establish a trading establishment at that point, and open a pack trail from there to the gold mines in Jackson county. The names of these men were, J. M. Kirkpatrick, J. H. Eagan, John T. Slater, George Ridoubs, T. D. Palmer, Joseph Hussey, Cyrus W. Hedden, James Carigan, and Erastus Summers. Tichenor was under contract with the men to give them supplies, rifles and ammunition for defense in case of an attack from the Indians: but on landing the men found they had only three old flint-lock muskets, an old sword and a few pounds of lead and powder and one rifle owned by one of the men. Complaining of this miserable outfit, the gallant captain assured them they needed no arms at all, but these would do to show and scare the Indians as well as good guns. But to make sure of more efficient defense in case of an attack, the men carried off the signal gun from the ship which was about a four-pound cannon. Soon after the men were landed the Indians gathered around and by signs warned them to leave. This intimation of danger proved their salvation, for they at once set about making ready for an attack. The old cannon was dragged up the sloping end of an immense rock rising out of the edge of the ocean. And upon this rock the men took their outfit of food and blankets, loaded the old cannon with powder and slugs of lead and awaited the attack they felt was coming. As soon as the ship sailed the Indians again ordered the men to leave. There was now no chance to leave. The next morning, June 10, 1851, the great rock was surrounded on the land side with a hundred yelling Indians. Their chief made a loud speech to his warriors, after which with a chorus of yells fifty Indians made a rush for the rock and the balance of them filled the air with arrows aimed at the nine white men. The rock is so shaped that before the Indians could reach the white men they would have to crowd upon and along a narrow space for thirty feet. The old cannon had been trained to sweep that approach, and as the first Indian reached the muzzle of the cannon, and the narrow approach was crowded with yelling Indians, Captain Kirkpatrick applied the match and thirty Indians were hurled into eternity in