Page:The Early Indian Wars of Oregon.djvu/299

Rh advanced upon the temporary fortification. In vain the captain of the little company, J. M. Kirkpatrick, by expressive gestures, motioned them away, and even threatened them. They were unacquainted with firearms, and relied upon numbers, so they kept on crowding up the slope, and becoming every moment more annoying, until finally they began seizing the arms of the men. At this motion Kirkpatrick touched off the cannon, which made a vacancy where before had been a crowd, and created a panic where before had been boasting. A few arrows were let fly, but the besieged, by firing with sure aim, succeeded in bringing to the ground several warriors, after which they fought hand to hand with clubbed guns. This energetic reception convinced the attacking party that more "medicine" would be required before they could subdue the nine white strangers, and they retired, but only to reappear after a day or two to hold another war dance.

Upon reviewing their numbers and their situation, without the hope of reënforcement for some time, and with an insufficient supply of ammunition for a protracted siege, the unanimous opinion of the Port Orford company was that flight would give them a chance for their lives, while to remain was to yield up all hope, as the savages would finally conquer by mere numbers and persistence. They therefore quietly abandoned the place, and by traveling nights along the beach, and hiding in the woods by day, reached the settlements near the mouth of the Umpqua river, famished, suffering, and exhausted, where they were kindly cared for.

When Captain Tichenor returned to Port Orford with a company of forty settlers, finding the place deserted, and giving evidences of a hard struggle, he was greatly alarmed. His alarm became conviction, when an unfinished diary, picked up on the ground where the camp of the first party had stood, was found to contain an interrupted account of a battle with the Indians. The supposed massacre of the party was published in California