Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/199

148 On the 14th, having crossed the river, camp was made about five miles beyond. A few natives approached, and one of them, accompanied by a boy ten years of age, entered the camp in a friendly manner. Gay deliberately raised his gun and fired, and as the Indian attempted flight, Bailey also fired, and the man fell. The cry then arose, "Shoot the boy! shoot the boy! "but he escaped behind a point of rock. This dastardly act could not be excused on the ground of revenge, as the spot where these men were attacked two years before was yet four days distant. The folly of inciting a conflict with the natives, under the circumstances, was indefensible.

The men had become so excited by past wrongs and present sufferings, aggravated now by bloodshed, that on the following day, after a toilsome march through dust and heat, their insubordination culminated in a quarrel with guns and knives, which continued for fifteen minutes, while threats and curses emphasized their acts. Then once more the firmness of their leader prevailed, and peace was restored.

For several days and nights Young was on the alert for the expected retaliation of the natives; he doubled the guard, and used extreme caution in passing through the frequent defiles, where the enemy might lurk in ambush. The first night Edwards fired on a party of five Indians stealing through the woods, and frightened them off. The next day there were arrows shot from each side of the road, and several of the cattle wounded, but only one killed.

On the morning of the 18th, when the company entered that part of the country where Turner, Gay, and Bailey had been attacked, Indians were discovered running along the mountain side as if to intercept them in some defile. It was nearly noon, and they were passing between the banks of the Rogue River, when suddenly from the thickly wooded mountains yells were heard, and arrows showered upon those in advance. Young, apprehending such an attack, was