Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/32

 24 T. W. DAVENPORT. During my absence at Portland an event occurred which brought the little community of white people at the agency to the verge of consternation, and it happened in this wise : Two renegade Indians of the Umatilla tribe who, with a dozen or so others, prowled along the Columbia River above and below the mouth of the Umatilla, chanced to cross the reservation on the Walla Walla road to the agency, and ob- serving a returning miner asleep on the ground they envied him his comfortable condition and essayed the trick of slip- ping off the blankets without waking the sleeper. They re- moved one without disturbing him, and being full of some- thing stronger than the swats that reamed in Tarn O'Shan- ter's noddle, they bravely but indiscretely pulled the next one, which brought the miner to his feet, when he grappled with and threw the nearest Indian and was about to cut his throat when the other fired a, pistol, the ball passing through the fleshy part of the miner's rump. The two Indians escaped without injury and made their way to the lodge of Howlish Wampo, on the bank of the Uma- tilla River, near the agency buildings. It was not later than 11 o 'clock at night when they arrived, and after warming and resting awhile, they departed no one knew where, but presum- ably to their haunts on the Columbia. The miner, not finding himself seriously hurt, saddled his horses and traveled to Fort Walla Walla, some twenty-five miles distant, and laid his complaint before Colonel Steinberger, then in command of the fort. The Colonel acted without delay and sent a de- tachment of cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Capps, to investigate the matter. He ascertained the facts as before related, and rightly judging that the miscreants were in- flamed by whiskey obtained back at the crossing of Wild Horse Creek, the boundary of the reservation, where it was surreptitiously sold by the hotel keeper, he and my wife con- cocted a scheme to catch the reckless fellow. A soldier was dressed and painted like an Indian, and he, with a veritable Siwask, went and bought and drank liquor at the place, from the proprietor. Although most of the troubles