The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 4, March, 1903-December, 1903Oregon Historical Society
History
The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 4, March, 1903-December, 1903
Oregon Historical Society
Oregon -- History -- Periodicals
General Lane patched up a temporary peace, which lasted till 1855.
The war of 1855-56 was preceded by a great many murders and
depredations by the Indians in different parts of southern Oregon. I
will mention a few: ----. Dyar and ----. McKew, killed while on the
road from Jacksonville to Josephine County on June 1, 1855. About the
same time a man by name of ----. Philpot was killed on Deer Creek,
Josephine County, and James Mills was wounded at the same time and
place. Granville Keene was killed at a point on Bear Creek, above
Ashland, and J. Q. Faber was wounded. Two men, ----. Fielding and
----. Cunningham, were killed in September, 1855, on the road over the
Siskiyou mountains.
On account of these various depredations Maj. J. A. Lupton raised a
temporary force of volunteers, composed of miners and others, from the
vicinity of Jacksonville, about thirty-five in number, and proceeded
to a point on the north side of Rogue River, opposite the mouth of
Little Butte Creek. There he attacked a camp of Indians at a time when
they were not expecting trouble. It is said that about thirty men,
women, and children were killed by Lupton's men. The major himself
received a mortal wound in the fight. This fight has been much
criticised by the people of southern Oregon, a great many of them
believing that it was unjustifiable and cowardly. Two days after this
affair a series of massacres took place in the sparsely settled
country in and about where Grants Pass is now situated. On the ninth
day of October, 1855, the Indians, having divided up into small
parties, simultaneously attacked the homes of the defenseless
families located in that vicinity. I will name a few of those tragic
events. On the farm now owned by James Tuffs, Mr. Jones was killed,
and his wife, after receiving a mortal wound, made her escape. She was
found by the volunteers on the next day and died a few days
afterwards. Their house was burned down. Mrs. Wagner was murdered by
the Indians on the same day. Her husband was away from home at the
time, but returned on the following day to find his wife murdered and
his home a pile of ashes. The Harris family consisted of Harris and
wife and their two children, Mary Harris, aged twelve, and David
Harris, aged ten, and T. A. Reed, a young man who lived with the
family. Mr. Harris was shot down while standing near his door, and at
a moment when he little suspected treachery from the Indians with whom
he was talking. His wife and daughter pulled his body within the door,
and seizing a double-barreled shotgun and an old-fashioned Kentucky
rifle, commenced firing through the cracks of the log cabin. They kept
this up till late in the night, and by heroic bravery kept the Indians
from either gaining an entrance into the house or succeeding in their
attempts to fire it. Just back of the cabin was a dense thicket of
brush, and during a lull in the attack the two brave women escaped
through the back door and fled through the woods. They were found the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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