Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/71

 first we rented a little house and then I bought one, in which we lived very happilv and pleasantly during our stay in the Territory. In addition to the discharge of my duties as United States marshal I practiced law in the Territorial courts whenever the two duties did not conflict.

In 1855 I was nominated by the Democratic party of the Terri- tory for the position of Delegate in the United States Congress. My competitor was Judge Strong, formerly United States district judge in Oregon. We began a thorough canvass of the whole Ter- ritory as soon as appointments for public speaking could be dis- tributed among the people. I was successful at the election, which came off in June. Soon thereafter the report of gold discoveries near Fort Colville on the upper Columbia reached the settlements on Puget Sound, and several persons began preparations for a trip into that region. Not desiring to start for Washington city before October, in order to be in Washington on the first Monday in De- cember, the meeting of the 34th Congress, to which I had been elected, I determined to go to Fort Colville to inform myself about the gold deposits of that and other unexplored regions of the Terri- tory, the better to be able to lay its wants and resources before Con- gress and the people of the States. I started with seven other citizens of Olympia the latter part of June on horseback with pack animals to carry our provisions. Our route lay over the Cascade Mountains, through what was then called the Na-chess pass, across the Takama river and valley, striking the Columbia river at Priest's rapids, where we crossed it, and taking the Grande Contee to the mouth of the Spokan river, thence up the left bank of the Columbia by Fort Colville to the mouth of Clarke's Fork, where gold was re- ported to have been found, which we proved by experiment to be true. The trip from Olympia to the mouth of Clark's Fork, as thus described, occupied us about twenty -four days. Other parties fol- lowed us soon after. The Indians on the route became alarmed lest their country would be overrun with whites in search of gold and commenced hostilities by killing a man named Mattice, who was on his way to the mines from Olympia. A general Indian war was threatened. I had not been at the mines a week till Angus McDon- ald, of Fort Colville, sent an express to inform me of the condition of affairs between me and home. We were unarmed, except with two guns and one or two pistols in the party. Our provisions were being exhausted, and the appointed time for my return had arrived ; so the miners concluded to return with me. To avoid the most hos-