Coquelle Trails

The 1855-1856 Oregon Indian War in Coos County, Oregon:

"Volunteers On the March" (Glisan 1874: 293)

Eyewitnesses and Storytellers, March 27, 1855 – August 21, 1856

 

Report by Bob Zybach, NW Maps Co.

Prepared for Coquille Indian Tribe Historic Preservation Office -- Cultural Resources Program

Oregon Websites & Watersheds Project, Inc.

May 15, 2012.

 

This is the documented, and nearly forgotten, story of the systematic “ethnic cleansing” of the Coos, Coquille, Chetco, Elk, Floras Lake, Sixes, Umpqua, and Rogue River watersheds of southwest Oregon Indian families during the 10-month period from October 1855 through July 1856. It is repeated here, told entirely through the eyewitness accounts of more than three dozen participants and observers, and through the subsequent writings of three early historians.

The story begins with the opening of regular postal service at Port Orford, connecting the region for the first time to the current events in San Francisco, Portland, and Fort Vancouver, and by mail and steamship transport to all of the other major seaports and cities of the world. Local people were no longer completely isolated, but were now --for the first time -- privy to the latest news, popular songs, and gossip shared by the rest of the world. And, conversely, the rest of the world was now being regularly informed as to what was taking place in Coos County.

 

  Report Cover, Table of Contents, List of Characters Pages
     
Part I. Old Trails and New Arrivals: March 27 – Early October, 1855 1-64
  Background: Table Rocks treaty in 1853 & Coos County Indian lands in 1854 1
  March 27, 1855: New post office in Port Orford and tragedy at Empire City 15
  April 4, 1855: John Alva Harry and Ephraim Catching claim The Forks 17
  April 12, 1855: Dennis Hathorn signs Oregon Land Survey Contract No. 57 18
  May 7, 1855: Flanagan and Northrup claim Newport & Eastport Coal Mines 21
  June 21, 1855: Dr. Rodney Glisan arrives at Fort Orford from San Francisco 22
  July 13, 1855: Hathorn surveys Umpqua Valley to Coos River tidewater trail 29
  August 11, 1855: Joel Palmer signs treaty with Coos, Nasomah & Kelawatsets 38
  August 23, 1855: The observed arrivals of Capt. Cram & William V. Wells 42
  August 27, 1855: The Buford Affair and south coast treaty signings 45
  September 8, 1855: Gen. Palmer signs treaty with Coquilles 55
  September 27, 1855: Hathorn surveys an “Indian burying ground” 59
  Early October, 1855: The claimed arrival of William V. Wells 63
     
Part II. Battles, Murders & Massacres, 1855: October 8 – December 31 65-135
  Early October, 1855: The claimed arrival of William V. Wells (cont.) 65
  October 8-10, 1855: Lt. Kautz begins Fort Orford to Oregon Trail road survey 69
  Mid-October, 1855: Ben Wright returns to Port Orford; Wells visits Randolph 86
  October 17, 1855: Skull Bar Massacre 90
  October 28, 1855: Lookingglass Massacre 96
  October 31, 1855: Battle of Hungry Hill 101
  November 6, 1855: Fort Kitchen established 110
  November 10, 1855: “provided you take no prisoners” 113
  December 2, 1855: Battle of Olalla and murder of Long John 121
  December 18, 1855: Curry County created from Coos County 127
  December 25, 1855: Fort Kitchen and the Coquille River Christmas Party 131
     
Part III. Battles, Murders & Massacres, 1856: January 1 – May 31 136-217
  January 7, 1856: Lt. Kautz transferred to Washington Territory 136
  January 25, 1856: Enos’ Story, otter hunting, and salmon fishing 139
  February 22, 1856: Rogue River Massacre and murder of Ben Wright 149
  March 11, 1856: Governor Curry establishes Oregon Volunteer Militia 164
  March 20, 1856: Col. Buchanan and Capt. Ord arrive at Rogue River 167
  March 24, 1856: Battle of Camas Valley 175
  March 30, 1856: Creighton’s Coquille River Massacre 178
  April 12, 1856: Lookingglass “Minute Men” formed 187
  April 27, 1856: Battle at Little Meadows 189
  May 8, 1856: A Coquille man is hung at Battle Rock by vigilantes 197
  May 28, 1856: Battle of Big Meadows 204
  May 30, 1856: Tyee John surrenders at Big Meadows 215
       
Part IV. Leaving Town, Leaving Home: May 30 – August 21, 1856 218-259 PDF_360_KB
  May 30, 1856: Tyee John surrenders at Big Meadows (cont.) 218
  June 5, 1856: Capt. Bledsoe and the Illinois River Massacres 222
  June 15, 1856: Lt. Ord arrives at Fort Orford with 700 captive Indians 226
  July 2, 1856: Dr. Evans arrives in Coos Bay; Tyee John arrives in Port Orford 231
  July 8, 1856: Six hundred Indians leave Port Orford for Portland by steamship 242
  July 10, 1856: Tyee John, 125 Indians, 200 mules leave Port Orford by pack trail 243
  July 18, 1856: Dr. Evans leaves Port Orford for Umpqua Valley by pack trail 245
  August 21, 1856: Dr. Glisan leaves Fort Orford for Fort Vancouver by steamer 251
  Aftermath: Fort Orford, Port Orford, Randolph and Empire City 253
       
  References 258  

 

Zybach, Bob, 2012. The 1855-1856 Oregon Indian War in Coos County, Oregon: Eyewitnesses and Storytellers, March 27, 1855 – August 21, 1856. Unpublished report on file with the Coquelle Indian Tribe, North Bend, Oregon, and with NW Maps Co., Cottage Grove, Oregon: 259 pp.

 

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