Chapter II
1863-1878
The year 1863 was not as crowded with events of great
moment in the history of Baker county as its predecessor had been, though men
still continued to strive zealously for the yellow metal and to push actively
all forms of material development. Excitement had brought thousands of people
into the country, and excitement was taking thousands of them out again. All who
failed to realize satisfactory returns for their labor were ready to resume the
line of march. In the fall of 1862 the tide began to set in toward the Boise
mines and before winter had passed this movement swelled to great proportions.
So hopeful was the gold seeker that often he left wife and family but poorly
provided for and not infrequently he failed to secure and send back the needed
means, so that many times the Auburn miners were called upon that winter to help
the destitute families. It is stated that their responses to such appeals were
invariably hearty and liberal.
The year 1863 saw another expedition in search of the Blue
Bucket diggings. A number of men set out from Clark's Canyon and Auburn
determined to find the famous spot and when they reached Canyon City, they were
joined by about as many more adventurers. The expedition found the old emigrant
trail and followed it to a point near the head of a stream, but whether this
stream was tributary to the Malheur or the Silvies river, they were unable to
determine. At any rate the place answered the general description given by the
emigrant of 1845 of the locality in which they had found their yellow metal.
Some old wagon tires were to be seen also, two graves, but no trace of any
nuggets could be discovered far or near. To add to their disappointment and
discomfiture, the Indians stole their horses, making it necessary for them to
return on foot and to leave behind so much of their equipments as they were
unable to carry.
During the fall of this year a man named Philip Waggy and his
companion in a hunt for horses discovered some floats of gold-bearing quartz
about eight miles in a northeasterly direction from Baker City. This
circumstance induced Messrs. Rockafellow and Wills to prospect for a ledge in
that locality in the spring of 1864, and their efforts were rewarded by the
discovery of a ledge which has since achieved great fame as an ore producer.
This discovery induced the erection at Baker City of the Ruckel quartz mill, a
water power plant, which, though not very capacious, was yet equal to the task
of reducing the output from this first discovered quartz mine of Baker county.
The mine has long been known as the Virtue.
Indians seem to have quite generally refrained from
depredations in Baker county prior to the spring of 1863, but during the years
following not a few people were killed by them and robberies were frequent.
Baker county was never the home of the red man, though its territories were held
as neutral grounds by all the Indians of eastern Oregon. Every Indian considered
himself free to hunt and fish in the forests and streams of this section and to
roam at will over its broad levels; but upon the approach of winter, he would
return with his share of the booty to his home in the north, east or south
according as he belonged to the Umatilla or Cayuse tribes, the Bannocks or the
Piutes.
After the Indian wars of the 'fifties, there were no more
organized hostilities with the aboriginal tribes in eastern Oregon until 1878,
though the war of 1877 in northern Idaho was occasioned by a disagreement
between the Indians and the United States government about territory in this
part of the state. The Indians, however, were quite troublesome for several
years subsequent to 1863, stealing horses and frequently firing upon solitary
white men or small companies. Their nefarious operations extended from the
source of Powder river to the shores of the Snake and it has been supposed that
they were directed and encouraged by white marauders who shared the booty. There
were also many white horse thieves who plied their contemptible vocation
independently of the Indians. The red men commenced their depredations by
attacking a packer named Porter while crossing Powder river en route to Clark's
creek. His horses were driven away and he himself was shot through the neck, but
eluded the Indians and eventually reached Auburn. He recovered.
It is related also that during a term of the circuit court in
Auburn the Indians made a successful raid upon a corall on Poker flat, capturing
horses belonging to the judge and several of the attorneys as well as to
different citizens of the town. The animals were taken from the possession of a
man named Thompson, and were probably never recovered by their owners. Indeed,
no effort was made to recapture stolen property at first, but so frequent did
these raids become that the people were eventually compelled to do something in
self-defense.
While the mining region contiguous to Powder river
valley was being settled and developed, similar causes were producing similar
effects in other parts of the vast domain then constituting Baker county. In all
this western country there is not a fairer spot than Grande Ronde valley. Its
broad expanse of grass clad prairies, its rippling streams coursing downward
from the mountain heights and the mountains themselves, of nature's deepest blue
and beautiful beyond description, did not fail to attract the attention of
emigrant trains as they hastened toward the ever alluring "westmost west." At
first, however, its distance from a base of supplies and its unprotected
condition made settlement impossible, but with the discovery of gold in Idaho
and eastern Oregon and with the consequent development of the Powder river
valley on the south and of the valley of the Umatilla on the north, these
difficulties gradually disappeared. Its agricultural lands were therefore
eagerly appropriated and before 1864 two towns had been started and a very
considerable settlement effected. Though the creation of Baker county had
greatly bettered the condition of the people in southeastern Oregon, the
territory constituting this political division was so extensive that many of the
people were necessarily inconveniently far from the seat of government and its
progress of events must result in the formation of new counties. By 1864 the
Grande Ronde valley settlements and settlements contiguous thereto considered
themselves strong enough to bear the burdens of independent county organization
and in the fall of that year the legislature created Union county out of the
northern portion of the original county of Baker.
The creation of this new county necessitated some changes in
the personnel of Baker county's quota of officers which will be noticed in the
chapter on political history. In the light of subsequent developments, it has
been considered that a mistake was made in giving to Union county the territory
now known as the Panhandle country, extending from the Blue mountains west of
North Powder river to the Wallowa county line, and by recent legislation this
section has been returned to Baker county. Prior to the year 1865, a large
immigration had come to Baker county from Missouri and Iowa. These people became
permanent settlers, have ever supported the best interests of the county and are
to-day among its most prominent and influential citizens. During the years 1865
and 1866 the people who were working out the material and social development of
Baker county pursued the even tenor of their course, with nothing happening to
excite unusual interest except the difficulties with the Indian tribes, and the
sensational quarrels between rival ferrymen on the rivers. The former year
witnessed the establishment of a mail route between Baker City and Auburn, also
a change in the route of the old Dalles-Kelton stage line from the emigrant road
to Place's toll road and via Baker City; the year 1866 saw a similar route
established to Canyon City, with Baker City as its eastern terminus.
The month of June, 1866, will be remembered as the date of an
important Indian raid upon the horses in the vicinity of Washington ranch and a
determined effort to recover the .stolen property. The pursuing party consisted
of twelve men. They followed the trail of the horses to the head waters of Elk
creek, thence to Powder river, from that to Burnt river on the other side of the
divide and into the Willow creek country. Here half of the party turned back,
but the other half, the personnel of which is given by Mr. Hiatt as John
Hibbard, Hardin Estes, Frank Johnson, Hiram Kinnison, Joe Hodgeons and Curtis,
continued the pursuit. Indians, being well acquainted with the country, knew how
to keep in stony soil so that their tracks could not easily be followed by a
pursuing party, if any should give them chase. When the whites came to places
where it was impossible to follow the impression of the horses' hoofs, their
usual procedure was to divide and one company going to the right and the other
to the left, to keep to the outer edge of the hard ground, watching for the
place where the Indians had emerged. Though hampered by these difficulties the
white men gained steadily upon the thievish red skins and late in the afternoon
of the tenth day they saw from a high bluff in the basin of the south fork of
the Malheur, the horses and mules for which they had journeyed so far. They
could count six tepees and supposing those to contain all the Indians there
were, they resolved in their hasty consultation to attack the camp, hoping to
stampede the Indians and recover the horses. But on coining into a better view
they found that the Indians were in considerable numbers. To attack them would
be folly, so they returned to Powder river valley to recruit reinforcements.
They soon succeeded in organizing a company of fifty with Hardin Estes as
captain. These might have been successful in the expedition upon which they at
once set out, had it not been for the treason of one man, who insisted upon
joining them at Auburn, representing himself as a recent arrival from Canyon
City. When the company crossed Burnt river, this man made an excuse to separate
from them, promising to rejoin his companions shortly, but he was never seen
again. The company on reaching the place where the party of six had seen the
Indians, found that the red skins had hastily departed shortly before, and they
became convinced that their Canyon City man was a spy for the Indians and had
warned them of the approach of the whites. Of course they proceeded, following
the trail of the retreating Indians. On a fork of the Malheur, they sighted a
camp, but could not tell at first whether the encamped were Indians or white
men. Reconnaissance proved them to be soldiers, and one detachment of the
volunteers, advancing too recklessly, came near being fired upon, but when the
soldiers found who the strangers were they welcomed them warmly. Most of the
soldiers were away from camp in pursuit of the same band of Indians which Mr.
Estes' party were following, and that day they had a brush with the red skins,
resulting in the death of Corporal William B. Lord, a Civil war veteran.
Next day volunteers and soldiers continued in pursuit. They
followed until all hope of recovering the horses was lost, then the volunteers,
except four, returned to their homes. The four continued in the company of the
soldiers for many days but finally they too gave up the chase after a hard and
bootless campaign of five weeks' duration. The Indians owed their escape to one
or two fortunate accidents, causing delay to the soldiers and volunteers.
The story of the troubles between rival ferry owners on the
rivers between the Columbia and the Boise mines is a long one and is not deemed
of sufficient importance to merit narration here. The line, of travel was beset
by rough, lawless characters, who made themselves disagreeable on more than one
occasion to farmers and others along the stage lines. Sometimes they paid for
their insolence with their lives.
E. S. McComas, formerly of the La Grande Chronicle, tells the
experience with these roughs of George Walker, who in the spring of 1864 took a
claim on the Owyhee river and started a ferry. At this time the "Plummer
Rustlers," a gang of outlaws, were roaming over the country and robbing stages
as well as all individuals they might meet whom they considered worth the
trouble. Two of these characters came to the ferry and found Mr. Walker in
possession of an old boot well filled with coin, the proceeds of a profitable
day's work. Of this they took charge, but not satisfied, they notified the
ferryman that he was occupying their claim and must vacate forthwith. Walker ran
to the house for his revolver. He was hotly pursued and a battle royal took
place, resulting in defeat for the desperadoes, one of whom was killed and the
other wounded. But the wounded man reached his horse and mounting, rode away,
telling Walker he would be back again with the sheriff. The ferryman knew what
this meant and not having faith in his ability to successfully give battle to a
whole gang, he saddled his horse and set out for Salt Lake City. He returned
thence to Iowa, but soon afterward moved to southern Kansas, where he died in
1887.
The Washoe ferry on Snake river is said to have been a sort
of rendezvous for desperate characters. Early in the year 1865 a party of men
from Idaho crossed the river at this point, captured three of the desperadoes
and took them over to the Idaho side of the river, intending to hang them the
next day for alleged horse stealing. They imprisoned their captives in a house
some ten miles up the river, placing a guard over them, but during the night the
prisoners pried open the door, eluded the guard and escaped. At the ferry they
armed themselves with repeating rifles, expecting that they would be pursued. In
this they were not mistaken. They had gone a number of miles, however, before
footfalls were heard behind them and when at length their pursuers were seen to
be approaching, the fugitives concealed themselves in as safe a place as could
be found and awaited the coming of their enemies. A conference was soon arranged
which ended in the pursuing party's agreeing to return without molesting the
horse thieves in consideration of the latters' agreement to leave the country.
The men thus compelled to seek other climes were part owners in the Washoe
ferry. They were not given time to dispose of their interests, but fortunately
one of them met Mr. Packwood in the Blue mountains and negotiated a sale to him
of his own interests and those of his companions, so that Mr. Packwood became
principal owner of the ferry. Thus this important aid to travel passed into the
hands of an honest and enterprising pioneer, one of the leading men of the early
days, and of course soon lost its unsavory reputation. At a later date Mr.
Packwood united his interests with the Burnt river toll road and the Olds ferry,
forming a corporation, the official name of which was the Burnt River Toll Road,
Bridge and Ferry Company. This firm made many improvements in the primeval
highway of transportation. They continued to do a large business for several
years, inasmuch as all the supplies for southern Idaho had in early days to come
over the roads and ferries. It is said that their income sometimes aggregated
one thousand dollars per day. But when the Union Pacific Railway Company
completed their track to the Salt Lake valley, supplies were brought in from
that direction and the business of the road, bridge and ferry company rapidly
declined. To this result, also, the agricultural development of the country
contributed not a little, the markets being supplied in part with home products.
In 1867 there was a revival of interest in the Burnt river
ditch, which had been surveyed from the river whose name it bore to the Clark's
creek mines, and upon which some work had been done as early as 1863. The
activities upon this project in 1867 were stimulated by a desire to convey water
to the Shasta mining district. Eleven miles of the ditch were made that year and
during the next two years thirty-six miles more were completed. In 1870 the
ditch was constructed as far as the Shasta mines, the cost of all operations up
to that time aggregating $150,000. The year 1867, like its predecessors, brought
its share of Indian trou¬bles. The red men renewed their raids with each
returning season. This year two of them stole one horse too many and paid for
their crime with their lives. C. C. Davis, a daring Indian scout, set out in
pursuit with two companions and in due time came upon the Indians in their camp,
between Dixie creek and Burnt river. Upon coming near, Mr. Davis directed the
two men to go one to his right and the other to the left while he himself should
proceed directly to the camp. The Indians, as soon as they saw Davis, grabbed
their bows and arrows, but the white man was too quick for them and they being
in line were killed with one shot. They had slaughtered the horse and were
drying the meat.
The most noted Indian massacre of the year was that of a man
named Scott and his wife while returning to their home on Burnt river from a
dance in Rye valley. The affair occurred on September 1st. As Mr. Scott was
approaching the river with his wife and children in the wagon, the sharp crack
of the savages' rifles rang out upon the still air. Scott fell backward at the
first fire. His wife, too, was mortally wounded but she seized the lines and
drove down the road to Burnt river as fast as frightened horses could run. The
Indians were so close behind that one actually grasped the wagon, but he was
unable to hang on. Notwithstanding the steep and rough character of the road,
the team pulled up at the farmyard gate without further casualties. Scott lived
only a short time afterward and Mrs. Scott survived him but a few hours. Mr. and
Mrs. Packwood had been invited to accompany the Scotts to the Rye valley dance,
but were compelled to decline through pressure of business, and to this,
perhaps, they owe their lives.
About the same time a company of Indians attacked from ambush
a man named Folger while he was journeying from Mormon Basin to the ferry at
Farewell Bend on Snake river. He was twice wounded, one ball striking the hip
and the other the thighbone, but he nevertheless held on to his horse, which ran
three miles down the gulch before it could be gotten under control. As soon as
the animal quieted, he got off its back and crawled to water. He was not equal
to the task of mounting, how ever, so had to lie there the remainder of the day
and all that night. The next day he again attempted to gain a seat in the
saddle, but though he tried many times, not until evening did he succeed. A ride
of two miles brought him to the ferry, where Mr. and Mrs. Packwood cared for him
until he died some six weeks later.
So imminent was the danger from nomadic Indians at all times,
that it was thought necessary by Mr. Packwood to build and equip a small
fire-proof fort near his ferry for defense in case of attack. Similar
fortifications were also maintained in other places. Mr. Hiatt tells us that:
"In those days it was no unusual thing for persons who were traversing the
country from Burnt river southward to the head waters of the Owyhee, to find the
remains of men who had doubtless been killed by Indians. Notwithstanding the
well known danger, men would go through the country, sometimes one alone,
sometimes in small parties, and in all probability, but few of those who
perished left any trace that has ever been discovered to tell their fate."
There seems to have been no unprovoked attacks upon Indians
during the early days in Baker county, at least the writer has never seen any
account of whites having assumed the offensive in any of the troubles or
committed wanton depredations upon Indians, yet the eastern people and even
those occupying high official positions in Washington were prone to consider
every outbreak among Indians as attributable to land grabbers and ''border
ruffians.” This false notion provoked in 1873 an eloquent defense of the pioneer
peoples of Oregon and Washington by the Hon. J. G. Wilson, in which he shows
that the aspersers of Oregonians knew nothing of the real character of the
Indian, their ideas of him being formed solely by the romance writer. "It has
become," says Mr. Wilson, "a custom in the east to call every Indian war or
disturbance on the Pacific Coast an act caused by the dishonesty of Oregonians
for the purpose of speculation, and to speak freely of their usual cruelty and
inhumanity toward the red man. In the formation of this custom officials at
Washington have lent their aid, until now the people of that western coast can
be branded as 'border ruffians' and destitute of instinct and feeling, by
official speakers before Washington audiences, and without any reason therefore
other than the complaint of a Digger Indian or the scribbling of an
irresponsible correspondent. Twenty years of life in Oregon and an acquaintance
with probably three-fourths of its citizens, enable me to claim them the peers
of any in their peaceful and law-abiding character and true humanity." Mr.
Wilson then proceeds to attack the feeble, unjust, vacillating and utterly
incompetent "Quaker policy," in an article forceful in its presentation and
unanswerable in its reasoning. While it may be admitted that the Indian history
of the Pacific coast does present instances of the whites having out-raged and
wronged the red man, it must be borne in mind that it also presents innumerable
instances of robberies, murders and other outrages committed by savages without
provocation and without other reason than to gratify their love of bloodshed and
desire to enjoy the rewards of labor without enduring its sacrifice.
In 1867 an effort was made to organize the whole
country for co-operation against white and Indian horse thieves, but some of
those whose neighborhood had never suffered took little interest in the matter.
An organization was effected, however, which soon found work to do. Louis Carey
and Anthony Sicord, while engaged in hauling lumber, were halted by six masked
men who tied them, took their personal effects and their mules and horses except
two, and then departed, telling them someone would be along shortly and untie
them. The outraged men managed to untie themselves and mounting the two horses
left by the robbers rode to Powder river valley for assistance. A company was
formed consisting of four men, one of whom was Sheriff Virtue, and these were
overtaken later by C. C. Davis and three others, who were also in pursuit of the
robbers. The party were then upon the track of the thieves and following it up
the creek they came to a camp, recently deserted, but whether it had been
occupied by whites or Indians they could not determine. Following the trail of
the robbers to a point twenty miles beyond Canyon City, they came upon them not
far from the timber's edge. The desperadoes opened fire from the brush. Crossing
the gulch in which the robbers were, the pursuers got between their men and the
timber to cut off the retreat, then opened fire with their repeating rifles,
being guided in their aim by the moving bushes. The robbers soon retreated to
open ground and surrendered. One of them was slightly wounded in four places.
Only four of the six were captured, the other two being away at the time, and of
these four only two suffered punishment. They all escaped from jail, but Judd
and Alexander were retaken, tried, convicted and sentenced to eight. years'
imprisonment.
During the three years from 1867 to 1870 there was
comparatively little activity in the mines owing to the scarcity of water. A
miner writing of the period gives a rather gloomy picture of affairs generally,
saying that the towns were in a dilapidated condition, most of the fine stores,
saloon and other business buildings being empty. The general progress of the
county up to this time, however, was sufficient to give token of permanency of
settlement and future greatness. True, the population had not increased. On the
contrary it numbered, perhaps, less than half what it was in the fall of 1862. A
census taken in 1870 shows the number of dwellings in the county, 877; the
number of families, 777; the number of male whites, 1,457; of female whites, 523
; the number of colored males, 665, and of colored females, 18; total
population, 2,663. The population of Auburn alone in the winter of 1862-3 was
estimated as being between four and six thousand. It must be remembered,
however, that many of the people who first came to the county were adventurers
brought here by a boom, while the census rolls of 1870 show only bona fide
settlers, whose permanent homes were established in the county and whose
interests were identified with it. Some very important improvements had been
made by this time and in the course of the mining development, comprehensive
enterprises had been projected and completed or carried well on toward
completion. Conspicuous among these were the Auburn canal and the Burnt river
ditch, the latter of which was then fifty-seven miles long. There were also many
miles of smaller ditches. The pioneer town of Auburn had greatly declined in
importance, but in its stead had grown up that prosperous mining center, Baker
City, which had become the seat of local government in 1868. Settlements were
made all along the principal streams, also in Mormon basin, Eagle valley. Rye
valley, Sumpter valley, on Connor creek and in numerous other places. The seeds
of civilization and development had been scattered widely over the county and
had become deeply rooted.
After a lull in mining operations lasting about three years,
activities were, in 1870, resumed in good earnest. The Bedrock Democrat, the
pioneer paper of the county, was started on May 11th of this year, and in its
review of the mining situation, it predicted that the gold output of the twelve
months would exceed the combined production of the last three years. It states
that in the Shasta district, which embraced Malheur, Eldorado and a portion of
Willow creek, the outlook was bright; that on Clark's creek water was abundant,
the miners were jubilant and the merchants happy: that in the Easton district,
including Cash. Discovery, Reservoir and number of other very rich gulches,
mining was progressing finely and that in Rye valley some claims were being
worked night and day. Work was also in progress at Auburn and under favorable
circumstances, the canal furnishing abundance of water. The false notions about
the unproductiveness of the alkali soil had been dispelled by this time and not
a few farms had been brought under cultivation. The possibility of agricultural
development was, however, quite circumscribed during this period owing to lack
of transportation facilities, and though the first agriculturists of the county
received rich rewards for their labors, the market was easily glutted by an
overproduction of any one article. Thus, in 1864 so many rutabagas were grown
that their abundance and comparative worthlessness became a standing joke and
the farming communities were nick-named "rutabaga districts." Naturally the
rearing of horses and stock early became an important industry. However, there
was an abundance of excellent pasture all over eastern Oregon at that time, so
that prices were lower than they are today. Furthermore, the profusion of
thieves and rustlers, of both the white and red races, was a standing menace to
the industry.
In 1871 Baker and Grant counties were made the victims of one
of those inexcusable governmental blunders which have at different times
retarded the growth of various sections of the west and disturbed their peoples.
The United States officials have never covered themselves with glory in managing
Indian affairs. Their policies seem to be framed in abject ignorance of the
character of the Indians, the conditions in frontier territories and the genius
of the west. In the spring of this year Hon. A. B. Meacham received a letter
from the Indian department, which we produce here, as follows:
WASHINGTON, D. C, March 10,1871. To Hon. A. B. Meacham:
SIR:—You are hereby informed that, upon report of this office and recommendation
of the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, an executive order has issued, dated the
14th instant, directing that that portion of the state of Oregon lying between
the forty-second and forty-fourth parallels of north latitude, and the one
hundred and seventeenth and one hundred and twentieth degrees of west longitude
(excepting so much thereof as may have been or hereafter may be granted for
military or wagon road purposes) be withdrawn from market as public lands for
the space, of eighteen months with a view to the selection of a reservation upon
which to collect all the Indians in that state east of the Cascade mountains,
except those who may select lands in severalty upon the reservations on which
they are located.
You are hereby instructed to proceed to select such reservations without
unnecessary delay.
E. S. PARKER, Commissioner.
Of course this order excited much opposition in Baker and
surrounding sections. The proposed reservation comprised about one hundred miles
square of the southern portion of Baker and Grant counties. It embraced some
good placer gold mines, partly developed, also a portion of the country through
which ran the Burnt river ditch. Canyon City and vicinity were within the
district which the government proposed to remand to barbarism. Some portions of
this vast area were populated by busy miners, and an attempt to remove them,
reckless as they were, would doubtless result in bloodshed. Of course, the order
was never carried into full effect, but it hung for months like a dark cloud
over the section affected, retarding in a measure the settlement and development
of the country.
Under the caption, "Then and Now," comparing Baker county as
it was in 1872 with the county as he first saw it in 1862, the editor of the
Bedrock Democrat says:
"In the summer of 1862 the valley and the mountain sides were
one vast sea of as fine bunchgrass as ever grew. At that time a large portion of
the valley was swamp and overflowed lands and the travel passed at or near the
foothills. The settlement made by the emigrants of 1862 was the starting point
of the present prosperity of Powder river valley. The settlers were poor and
toil worn; now they are wealthy and comfortable. A view of Powder river valley
now presents to the eye a homelike and civilized appearance, with towns,
villages, farms and farm houses interspersed over its whole extent. The swamp
and overflowed lands have in a large degree been reclaimed and made to yield
bountiful harvests to repay the hardy and industrious pioneer husbandman.
Churches and school houses now occupy the places where, but a short time since,
the war-whoop of the savage was the only indication that a human being had an
abiding place in this beautiful valley. We can now stand in our office door and
view vast herds of cattle and sheep feeding upon the rich and luxuriant grasses
of the valley and the surrounding foothills, a better range than which can not
be found on the Pacific slope, which embraces the best and most extensive
grazing lands in the world. The valley is surrounded by mountains, in which are
found rich deposits of gold, silver and copper, which are being taken out by
hardy and enterprising miners. The mining camps surrounding the valley supply a
home market for the surplus produce of our farmers.
"The pioneer of 1862, in passing over the valley, looks with
astonishment at the change and the improvements that have been made in so short
a time and it is only by some indestructible landmark that he can recognize his
exact locality."
THE PIONEERS' DANCE.
"On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined."
In 1872 the settlers in Baker county, south of Malheur City,
could almost have been counted on one's fingers, so few were there in this
imperial region. At Malheur City there was quite a settlement of miners. The
Eatons, Logans. Prices, McDowells, Turners, Coles, Imblers, Phillips's, Moretons
and Thomsons were living on Willow creek, a few ranchmen had located in Jordan
valley, William Emison lived on Snake river between the Malheur and Owyhee, and
L. P. Rinehart had recently purchased the Keeney road station, situated where
the old emigrant road crossed the Malheur river. In the fall of 1872 he erected
here a commodious stone house, quite a pretentious structure for those
days. The builders finished their work during December and just before the new
year dawned, the Rineharts issued invitations for a New Year's ball and supper
to be given in honor of the opening of the stone house. There were few social
events in Baker county in those days, particularly in this section, so that it
was only natural that the settlers for fifty miles around prepared to
participate in the celebration.
All day long, the day before the event, the settlers arrived
at the stone house. Some came from as far as Dixie Slough and Middle-ton,
settlements near Boise City, others came from the Payette valley and the
remainder from Malheur City, Willow creek and other isolated settlements in this
county. They came by wagon and they came in the good old pioneer fashion, on
horseback. By nightfall forty-one numbers had been sold, each number selling for
five dollars. A few were decorated for this gala occasion with what little
finery they were fortunate enough to possess; some wore the simple but striking
and picturesque dress of the mountain and plain, while a larger number had
relegated the matter of dress to a place of insignificant importance and were
attired in their work-a-day clothes, those in which they felt the most
comfortable. All were happy. The upper story of the house had been left
un-partitioned purposely and here in this spacious ballroom, decorated with a
few green sprigs and brightly-colored draperies, at early candlelight the
company assembled. In one corner of the room a low platform had been built and
here the musicians, two Owyhee fiddlers, took their stations. Time has but made
the memories of that event more vivid.
At last they are all assembled on the floor, renewing old
friendships and forming new acquaintances. Suddenly there is a flurry on the
musicians' platform and unusual stir and movement among all. Then, to the shrill
notes of the bobbing violins and the deep, loud tones of the caller, the merry
dancers bow, first to the left and then to the right, the nervousness of
expectancy written on their smiling faces and displayed in their movements. A
second ringing command. The bowing, scraping dancers move with a mighty swish
and swirl, the figures melt into one indistinct mass of rotating color, the
floor creaks and groans with joyous sympathy, and the dance is on. How swiftly
the scene changes! Now there is dignity in the step and courtesy, now the
figures are pretty and graceful and now there seems to be a mad scramble and
frolic and out of the confusion order again appears. There is a rhythm and swing
to it all that is exhilarating. Terpsichore reigns supreme and for the time
being all are her blind disciples, forgetful of worldly cares and sorrows and
intent only on mastering the intricate figures and mazes of the dance and
drinking deep of pleasure's cup. The shadows fall deeper upon the outside world,
the coyote slinks away from the scene of confusion and noise to which his
curiosity has drawn him. the rabbits and other wild animals, disturbed in their
slumbers, steal hastily away into the blacker darkness, a few twinkling stars
pierce the blue vault of the heavens, then a whole legion of jewels set earth's
blue canopy a-sparkle in the glory of the Master Jeweler. The moon, a slender
silver crescent appears in the western world. The revelry in the house only
increases.
At midnight the music ceased and the room was cleared of the
dancers. Then two long wooden tables, loaded heavily with choice viands and
delicacies, appeared as if by magic and for the time being the dancers became
banqueters, and the new year was ushered in amidst the joyous acclaim of all.
After the inner man had been satisfied, the tables disappeared by the same
subtle magic which caused their appearance.
Again the room is thronged, again the violins cry in their
anguish and then suddenly burst into laughing sounds of delight, and again the
revelers wind through the dreamy mazes of the waltz, the quick step of the
polka, the stately reel and schottische, or the difficult, rollicking figures of
the square dance or lancers.
And thus the night was spent and ere the weary dancers tired
or the dozing fiddlers finally dropped off into slumber during some familiar
measure, the bright tints in the eastern horizon and the fading stars heralded
the near approach of dawn. It was an event to be long remembered and the joys
and pleasures of that pioneer New Year's ball, given in the dreary wilderness of
southern Oregon, are among the pleasantest memories treasured by the early
settlers of Malheur county.
During 1872 and the year following, activity in the mining
region continued, especially along the course of the Eldorado or Big ditch, as
the Burnt river ditch had come to be named. This mammoth artificial waterway was
then ninety-seven miles long, eight and a half feet wide at the top and six feet
wide at the bottom and three feet deep. In 1869 J. H. Johnson had become
interested in the project of extending the Carter-Packwood ditch and had gone
back east for the purpose of interesting capital in it. He succeeded in inducing
Mr. Buford, of Rock Island, to come out and examine the country, and that
gentleman was so pleased with the result of his investigation that he bought
almost the entire stock of the Carter-Packwood, or Burnt river ditch, organizing
the "Malheur and Burnt River Consolidated Ditch and Mining Company," with a
capital stock of a million dollars.
At this time there was but one flouring mill in Baker county
and its capacity did not exceed twenty barrels per day, so that notwithstanding
the capabilities of the soil, flour had to be imported by teams from Union
county and from Walla Walla valley, causing a continuous outflow of the precious
metal, and consequent hard times. No doubt, too, the general depression
throughout the United States made itself felt in Baker county and for a few
years subsequent to 1873 this section seems to have been rather quiet.
In 1875 the Nevada and Northern telegraph line, between Walla
Walla and Silver City was built through the Powder river valley, touching Baker
City and other towns in this section. Its advent occasioned considerable
rejoicing, not alone for its own sake, but because it was considered a
forerunner and prophecy of the coming of the much-needed iron horse.
In March, 1877, a Baker County Agricultural Society was
organized with a capital stock of $2,500 and the Baker City race track and
grounds were purchased by it. The first fair held in the county was held during
the six days commencing on the tenth of September following the date of
organization of this society. A splendid display of fine stock, fruits,
vegetables, cereals, fancy work, etc., was collected and arranged, and an
excellent program of running and trotting events carried out. The attendance was
large, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather.
During this year there were two things to deeply agitate the
public mind. One was the Nez Perce outbreak in northern Idaho and the other
railroad agitation. In 1855 the United States government, by Governor I. I.
Stevens, for Washington, and Joel Palmer, for Oregon, negotiated a treaty with
the various tribes of Indians in eastern Oregon and Washington by which three
reservations were formed, the Umatilla, the Yakima and the Nez Perce. As a
condition precedent to the ratification of this important treaty. Chief Joseph
insisted that the Wallowa valley should be confirmed to him and his band. Only
when the commissioners agreed to this did he throw the weight of his infinence
in favor of the treaty, an influence without which it would never have been
ratified. The confirming of the Wallowa valley to Joseph was the sine qua non of
the whole negotiation. But notwithstanding all this the government some eight
years later, concluded another and supplementary treaty with the Nez Perces, to
which Joseph and his band refused their consent, ceding to the United States for
a consideration the cherished Wallowa valley. The theory of the United States in
this as in all other Indian negotiations was that, as Indian lands are held in
common, the action of a majority of the chiefs and embassadors in council
disposing of them binds the whole tribe. While from a legal point of view this
theory may be both necessary and just, the injustice of it in this particular
case must be apparent to any unprejudiced mind. Technically the Wallowa valley
was the property of the whole Nez Perce tribe and as such might be ceded to the
government by consent of a dear majority of the chiefs; but it was understood by
both the Indians and the representatives of the government in 1855 to be the
special property of Joseph and his band. While, then, the treaty of 1863 was
legally binding upon Joseph, in justice and good morals it ought to be
considered of no validity, as it practically amounted to a sale, by certain Nez
Perce chiefs, of land which did not equitably belong to them. Realizing the
force of these facts and considerations, the government in the spring of 1873
directed that the Nez Perce Indians be permitted to occupy the Wallowa valley at
such times as the weather would allow and that an appraisement should be made of
the improvements of white settlers for the purpose of securing an appropriation
by Congress wherewith to purchase the same and extinguish their rights. This was
only a case of righting one wrong by the enactment of a greater one. The
settlers had gone into the Wallowa valley by invitation of the United States,
had endured the hardships and privations of pioneer life there, and had at great
sacrifice built up the country, acquiring inchoate rights for which they could
not be equitably recompensed by mere payment for improvements. A man might ''
have nothing upon his homestead but a pioneer shanty, a fenced yard and a few
acres of cultivated land, yet he might have an incipient right to a home which
in a few years would be worth thousands of dollars. To take this from him by
merely paying for the shanty, the fence and the plowing, even though the
appraisers should deal with him most liberally, to set him and his family again
adrift in the world, to send them in search, of another opportunity to build a
home and undergo the privations incident to the first few years of life on a new
farm, that, too, after other men had been, during all the time he had spent in
his Wallowa valley home, taking their choice of the remaining locations—the
injustice of such a proposition is plainly manifest.
After disbursing some public money in making appraisements
and keeping the settlers in suspense for months, naturally retarding the
development and settlement of the country, the Indian department finally
abandoned their project of returning the valley to Joseph's band. The Joseph of
1855 had died, but he was succeeded by a son, also named Joseph, who dared
maintain what he conceived to be his hereditary rights. The outcome of the whole
matter was the Nez Perce war of 1877. Though this war was fought out on Idaho
soil, it elicited much interest in various parts of eastern Oregon and
Washington. No one could certainly prophecy into what part the belligerent
Indians might come or be driven, and in some places forts were built and other
means of defense provided. Baker county was considered to be in no danger, yet
to make security doubly secure, the Baker City Home Guards were organized. It
consisted of about sixty men, of whom R. C. George was captain, J H. Parker,
first lieutenant, and A. A. Houston, second lieutenant. No great alarm was felt
here at any time, yet a lively interest was taken in the progress of the war,
and some of the settlers in the remoter and wilder parts of the county moved to
the towns for a time. But not once during the entire war did a hostile Indian
set foot in Baker county or even in the Wallowa valley.
Although the county was now about fifteen years old it was
still suffering for want of adequate transportation facilities and related
conveniences. The general progress of events had brought some amelioration of
conditions in this respect, but the great business of transportation was still
in the hands of freighters, stage companies, etc. We are told by pioneers that
in 1862 and during a part of 1863, all letters and newspapers had to be brought
by express men from Walla Walla; and that the price for conveying the letters
was one dollar each and the price at which newspapers sold was a dollar a copy.
On August 1, 1862, J. H. Shepherd engaged in the business of transporting
express packages and mail between Walla Walla and Auburn. He reduced the charge
for carving letters to fifty cents each and made a like reduction in the price
of newspapers. Mr. Shepherd won deserved success in the express business,
frequently proving more alert and active than his competitors. In 1863 he
extended his operations to the Boise mines and his business grew until it
required twenty-six horses. He sold out in the fall of 1863 to the Wells Fargo
Express Company, which made arrangements to carry letters and packages to all
the principal points in the upper country.
During the early years the Northwestern Stage Company was a
power in the land. Its mammoth operations extended over a route 860 miles long
and it handled all the mail and express between The Dalles, Oregon, and Kelton,
Utah, besides transporting passengers and their luggage. But little complaint
was made of this company. Indeed, they seem to have transacted all business
entrusted to them with fidelity and dispatch, but any such company, however well
organized and equipped, was but a poor substitute for the huge gladiator of
steel upon its iron track. It goes without saving that the people of eastern
Oregon were from the earliest times deeply interested in all projects which
seemed likely to give them a railroad. Hardly could they take a drive on any
important road without being compelled to go down into their pocket-books for
toll. Almost none of the principal streams and rivers could be crossed without
paying high tribute to some ferryman. All articles of importation were likewise
levied upon and the added cost was of course paid by the consumer. It speaks
volumes for the productiveness of the mines that they were equal to the task of
supporting their operators under such circumstances and it tells well for the
enterprise and push of the early citizens that they have accomplished so much
while their energies were fettered by such an incubus.
These being the conditions, it was natural that great
interest should be excited in this and neighboring counties by Senator
Mitchell's railroad bill, looking to the construction of the proposed Portland.
Dalles and Salt Lake railway. The bill was introduced into the forty-fifth
Congress in response to a monster petition signed by several thousand citizens
of Oregon. Its main provisions were that the time for the completion of the
Northern Pacific railroad down the Columbia river should be extended eight
years; that the railroad should be built on the south, or Oregon side of the
river, and that the company should, within six months after the passage of this
bill, commence the construction of the road, beginning either at Portland or at
Umatilla. and that at least forty miles should be constructed each year until
the whole should be completed; that the lands grained the Northern Pacific to
aid in constructing the above mentioned road should be surveyed and sold by the
general government to actual settlers at $2.50 per acre, the process to be used
in paying the interest bearing bonds of the company; that should the Northern
Pacific fail to build the road known as the Northern or Snoqualmie Pass road
within the time already prescribed by law, an equal number of acres should be
granted to any company that would build a road on the route of the proposed
Portland, Dalles and Salt Lake railroad, and that the track from Portland to
Umatilla might then be used as common property upon such terms as should be
fixed by arbitration of a commission.
Naturally the measure was opposed by the Northern Pacific
Railroad Company and rather unnaturally, as it would seem, it was also opposed
by the Oregonian and the Portland Board of Trade. Portland's opposition no doubt
arose from the fact that many of the prominent citizens of that city were
stockholders in the Northern Pacific Company, but there was a disposition
manifested even before this on the part of west side residents to oppose
measures for the advancement of eastern Oregon. Of course the development of
this section might act as a temporary drawback to the west by attracting
emigrants who would otherwise go on to the coast, but one can hardly account for
the failure to foresee that Portland's ultimate greatness could only result from
the development of all Oregon, and that her true policy must be to promote the
interests of the entire state, as far as lay in her power. The Oregonian must,
in 1877, have been less ambitious than it now is to be a true exponent of the
interests of the whole people of Oregon without reference to merely local and
temporary considerations.
But if the bill was opposed in western Oregon it was
sustained with more than equal earnestness in the counties east of the Cascades.
Mass meetings were held at Baker City, Union and elsewhere in this section, at
which resolutions were unanimously passed, warmly commending Senator Mitchell's
bill. We transcribe those passed at Baker City, as follows:
"Resolved, That the route and the means , proposed by our
United States Senator, John H. Mitchell, for the construction of the Northern
Pacific and Portland, Salt Lake and South Pass railroads are, in our judgment,
feasible and that we endorse the bill of Senator Mitchell and urge its passage.
"Resolved, That the constructing of such a means of transportation would be
conducive to the best material, commercial and political interests of Baker
county and every portion of eastern Oregon and of the great northwestern country
generally.
"Resolved, That we sincerely believe that in encouraging and assisting that
enterprise we express the sentiment of all who are building or expect to build
their homes in a country so rich and boundless in resources as ours, inhabited
by a class of people who are anxious to engage in all the industrial pursuits of
life and who, as it were, with one stentorian voice ask the promotion of this
enterprise to accelerate their advance in the arts, civilization and peace.
"Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to each of our Senators
and Representatives in Congress.
"Resolved, That a. copy of these resolutions be furnished the Bedrock Democrat
with a request on behalf of this meeting, that the same be published.
"GEORGE J. BOWMAN, "D. D. STEPHENSON, "J. M. SHEPHERD,
"Committee."
As may be imagined the discussion upon the proposed bill
waxed warm in the press and on the platform. Both sides contended with great
energy and enthusiasm, but the influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company in Congress was too great to be overcome and the measure met defeat. The
outlook for help from the northern road now seemed rather gloomy, as that
company already controlled the navigation of the Columbia and it was in no hurry
to itself build a road down that river, neither would it willingly permit any
other company to do so. But the people of eastern Oregon did not lose courage.
They clearly foresaw that the Union Pacific must have a feeder from the Pacific
coast over which no rival should exercise control. The Union Pacific had already
built one hundred miles of road in furtherance of a scheme to start two lines,
one to Montana and one to Boise City. The latter road could easily be completed
through to Baker City, tapping the eastern Oregon mining region, thence to the
farming and stock raising Grande Ronde valley and beyond. Furthermore the
advantage to be gained by making this extension would be far more than
proportionate to the cost, and the hope of eastern Oregon that it was soon, to
have a railroad certainly rested upon a firm foundation. Then, too, it is a well
known fact that when trade once establishes a certain channel for itself, it is
not easily diverted therefrom, and it was deemed possible that Portland,
realizing this, would build a road to Baker City and thus be the first to secure
the vast and rapidly increasing trade of eastern Oregon. The era of railroad
building in the inland empire was plainly about to dawn. But before the advent
of the iron horse with its impetus to industrial development, must come another
temporary setback in the form of a second Indian war. A full account of that
struggle will be found later in this volume.
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©Shauna Williams