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162 they were thanked by the citizens, who if they had not recovered their property, realized the peril and privation suffered in the attempt to restore it. Way mire says of his command: "They were at all times self-possessed, and as prompt in the execution of commands as when on ordinary dril];' and adds: "as a matter of justice to myself and command, I feel it my duty, though a painful one, to state that our defeat on the seventh was due in great part to the want of a proper organization under an efficient commander on the part of the citizen volunteers. Although it is hardly possible that the stolen animals could have been recovered with our jaded horses, yet I feel confident that from the position I first occupied, with thirty cavalry instead of eleven, the Indians could have been routed and severely punished."

In this opinion Adjutant General Reed, in his report to Governor Gibbs, appears to concur. He says of Waymire's services: "His encounter with the Snake Indians near Harney Lake, is undoubtedly the hardest fought battle in which bur troops participated, and evinces a courage and coolness on the part of the lieutenant and his brave followers worthy of note; and should any future occasion call him into the battlefield, I have no doubt, judging from the past, that he would rank high as a military leader. The report of Capt. H. E. Small of Company G, First Oregon Volunteer Cavalry, is also worthy of a permanent record, and we have sufficient evidence from every quarter to demonstrate to us that had Oregon volunteers been permitted to cope with an enemy worthy of their steel, they would have ranked with the bravest of our country's brave."

It was not my intention, nor is there space to pursue this subject beyond the limits of the first three years of service. But year after year Indian troubles increased, as the savages grew strong on horse meat, rich on