Page:The Early Indian Wars of Oregon.djvu/384



It was only the fighting men of the beseiged, however, who had taken wing when the sentinels of the regular force, not liking the cold, and perhaps not liking to fight an unseen enemy, returned to camp; and before their commander could order them back to their posts, the Indian women with their children, and a pack animal, also passed the line, and gained the hills.

On examining the cabins it was found that the Indians had burned their dead, but had left a wounded boy to the mercy of his captors. From him it was learned that the party occupying the cabins belonged to chief Jo; and the skill with which he had fortified his camp would have defied the volunteer arms; it was only the howitzer which could dislodge him. A subterranean passage had been excavated leading from the cabins to the open country and pits dug in each corner of the cabins deep enough to stand in, with loop-holes under the bottom logs through which they could shoot without being exposed; all of which was surprising in savage military science, but was probably learned from communication with white men.

Bruce wished to follow the trail of the Indians, but Lieutenant Underwood declared his men unfit for travel ing in the mountains; and the citizen company were unprepared. They, therefore, returned to Stirling, and Underwood to Fort Lane; while Bruce retired to Camp Spencer, on the lower Applegate creek, to recruit the horses, and give his company a much needed rest after three days and nights of watching in snow and cold, re maining there until the eighteenth. On that date, he was joined by Captains O Neil and Alcorn, with a part of their commands, making his available force seventy-three men, rank and file. Alcorn, with thirty-eight men, took the trail of the Indians up Applegate creek, while Bruce, with O Niel and the remainder, marched up Williams creek. Scouting continued for five days, when Bruce fell in with two Indian spies, running them to camp, a distance of twelve miles. Sending an express to hasten forward