The Alamo Massacre in Idaho, 1970-1972

Materials regarding the Alamo Massacre in Idaho. Contains "Gravestones in Cemetery at Soda Springs, Idaho, Photographed by AEF September 10, 1972"; photocopies of a newspaper article by Charles Shirty Walgamott titled "Writer Says Alamo Massacre Was Most Important Indian Disaster in Idaho" from August 1970; photocopy of "The Alamo Massacre from Forgotten Trails" by Hilbert C. Lind; and a copy of "Alamo Massacre" revised February 1971 in the Idaho Historical Society Reference Series, number 232.

Gravestone in cemetery at Soda Springs, Idaho. Photographed by AEF September NIELS ANDERSON OCTOBER 3, 1835 - MARCH 4, 1926 1972 FMC III 234 MARV CHRISTOFFERSEN ANDERSON JULY 20, 1847 - JULY 13, 1928 THEY WERE BORN IN DENMARK, JOINED THE MORMONS THERE IN 1857. MRS. ANDERSON ARRIVED AT BURLINGTON, IOWA: DELAYED THERE UNTIL 1859 ON ACCOUNT OF ·JOHNSTON 1 S ARMY HAVING TO BE SENT TD UTAH. THAT VEAR SHE WALKED NEARLY ALL THE WAY TO SALT LAKE CITY. IN 1860 MR. APJDERS0N CAME: HE PULLED A HAND-CART FROM FLORENCE, NEBRASKA. THEY SOON SAW THE DECEPTION IN "BRIGHAMISM." JOINED MORRIS, A SECEDER FROM BRIGHAM. MAY 22, 1863 THEY CAME TO SODA SPRINGS WITH THE FIRST SETTLERS. THEY WERE ESCORTED AND PROTECTED BY GEN. POTTER AND CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS. JULY 20, 1863 THEY WERE MARRIED HERE. THEIR MARRIAGE WAS THE FIRST IN IDAHO TERRITORY AS FAR AS THEY KNEW. LATER MR. ANDERSON BECAME "THE FATHER OF THE ANTI-MORMON PARTY" IN IDAHO. AT SOUTH WEBER, UTAH, JUNE 13-15, 1862, MR. AND MRS. ANDERSON WERE IN "THE M0RRISITE MASSACRE." MRS. ANDERSON'S CHIN WAS SHOT AWAY WITH A CANNON BALL THAT KILLED MRS. BARBARA DEITHELM AND MRS. JOSEP~ (?) [sic] MARSH, FIRED BY GEN. ROBERT T. BURTON'S MORMON MILITIA INTO A BOWERY OF UNARMED JUNE 13, BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO OBEY "BRIGHAM'S" DECREES, AFTER JOHNSTON'S ARMY HAD LEFT UTAH ON ACCOUNT OF THE CIVIL WAR. MRS. J. L. BEAR AND HER BABY WERE KILLED WITH ANOTHER CANNON BALL. THEN MANY M0RRI SITES WITH THEIR OLD GUNS TRIED RESISTANCE. ON THE THIRD DAV ALL SURRENDERED UNDER A WHITE FLAG. MRS. ANDERSON SAYS, "WHEN MORRIS CAME BEFORE GEN. BJ RT0N THE LATTER USED ABUSIVE LANGUAGE AND TRIED TO RIDE OVER MO RRIS ON HIS HORSE. THIS ABUSE WAS ON ACCOUNT OF HIS RELIGIOUS TEACHING. I SAlll HIM • • • SHOOT MORRIS." DOW'S AFFIDAVIr, SAYS: BURTON SHOT MORRIS, BANKS, MRS. JAMES B0uJMAN AND ANOTHER WOMAN, AFTER THEY SURRENDERED. TEN "M0RRISITES" WERE KILLED, AND ONE "MORMON." THE PRISONERS WERE TO BE TRIED AT THE NEXT TERM OF COURT HELD BY CHIEF JUSTICE KINNEY, A MORMON. IN THE MEANTIME, GOV. HARDING, ASSOCIATE JUSTICES WHITE, DRAKE, COL. CONNOR AND VOLUNTEERS ARRIVED. "SEVEN M0RRISITES" WERE SENTENCED TO IMPRISONMENT FROM "TEN TO FMC III 234 page 2 FIFTEEN YEARS," "SIXTY-SIX" HEAVILY FINED. BURTON ADMITTED HIS SHOOTING THE PRISONERS • • • • HAD I BEEN ON THE BENCH I SHOULD HAVEfHAD HIM ARRESTED • • • : BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN USELESS. THE JURORS WOULD ALL BE MORMONS, AND RECOGNIZE NO LAW BUT THE COMMANDS OF 'AUTHORITY.' "PETITIONS WERE GOTTEN UP FDR THE UNCONDITIONAL PARDON OF THE MORRISITES, WHICH WERE SIGNED BY ALL THE GENTILES • • • • NOT A MORMON SIGNED THEM • • • • "I I SSUED THE PARDON • • • • SOME MOUNTED MORTARS • • • COMMANDING THE BEE-HIVE HOUSE AND LION HOUSE, MADE THINGS TOLERABLY SMOOTH ON THE SURFACE." BRIGHAM YOUNG JUNE 15, AS BY H.P. MCLANE, SAID, "THAT MORRIS AND BANKS WILL BE TAKEN, I HAVE NO DOUBT: • • • BUT IF I HAD MY OWN WAY ABOUT IT I WOULD NOT SPARE NEITHER MAN, WOMAN NOR CHILD. · BUT AS IT IS A UNITED STATES AFFAIR THEY CAN HAVE IT AS THEY PLEASE. BUT AS REGARDS THIS YOUNG .MAN. • HE HAS [word indecipherable] MARTYR TO THE CAUSE AND KINGDOM OF OUR GOD • • • • THIS WAS A MATTER OF NECESSITY • • • THE WORST • · •• DISLIKE • • • • IS THAT AFTER THEY ARE ROUTED, THE • • • ACCURSED DEVILS • • • WILL BE TRYING TO SNEAK BACK INTO THE CHURCH AGAIN •• 11 R. W. YOUNG WRITING FOR THE "CONTRIBUTORS OF 1900 FOR THE MORMON MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT . ASSOCIATION" SAYS: "THE • • • ACTION OF THE GOVERNOR . WAS FOLLOWED • • • IN COURSE OF TIME, BY ~ERSECUTION OF GEN. BURTON • • • A GRAND JURY WAS LED IN • • • TO BRING IN AN INDICTMENT FOR MURDER • • • • AND • • • HE THOUGHT HIMSELF COMPELLED BY CIRCUMSTANCES TO EVADE ARREST • • • LATER ANOTHER INDICTMENT WAS FOUND AGAINST GEN. BURTON • • • • HE MADE NO ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE • • • • BETIJJEEN THESE TWO INDICTMENTS A RULING HAD "PROVIDED IN SUBSTANCE FOR JURIES HALF MORMON, AND HALF GENTILE." THIS .YOUNG SAYS, ''THE PROSECUTION LABORED LONG, AND'' "CLOUDS OF WITNESSES WERE BROUGHT FORTH" "TO PERSUr':\DE THE JURY, 11 BEING NON-MORMONS," THAT BURTON KILLED MRS. BOWMAN. THIS CASE WAS NO. 3109, U.S. VS. BURTON FOR "MURDER 1st DEGREE" SET FOR TRIAL 1st DAY OF FEB. TERM, 1877. MARCH 6 •• INDIC¥M~NT DISMI SSED. THIS WAS ONE OF THE THREE INDICTMENTS AGAINST HIM. FMC III 234 page 3 IT WAS ASKED: WHAT ABOUT THE CASE FOR KILLING MORRIS? LI. S. DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANZILE ANSl.t.lERED, "WHAT IS THE USE, IF THEY WILL NOT CONVICT FOR KILLING AN INNOCENT WOMAN?" TD FATHER AND MOTHER, AND HISTORIC TO MAN, WE DEDICATE THIS MEMORIAL. ABRAHAM CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON, IDA COLLETT, ANNA CHRISTINA ROGERS, DAVID ANDREW ANDERSON, ABELONE LARSEN, PETER WILLIAM ANDERSON, NIELS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, MARY AMELIA VERHAM FMC I 100 page~ the Sessions House -- he kept a road house -- and stayed all night. They had covered wagons and had the dead soldier packed in there like a lot of pigs that had been killed. They were bringing them down here to Fort Douglas to bury them. I don't know how many~- two or three dozen -- and they were froze up. seeing them there. Zero weather. I remember They throwed the cover off so we could see them. They were taking them back to Camp Douglas to bury them there." "Then along in the early I guess it was. Have you ever he3rd of the Morrison [sic] war? It_hµppened in South Weber. There was two men joined up with the Mormon Church in England, Joe Morris and John Banks. to Utah. They were converted to the Church and came over here After they'd been here a little while they got disgruntled. They were preacher converts to Mormonism. They got disgruntled and. went uo.on the Weber River and started a cult or colony themselves, and they made everything common -- throLued all their property into one co~mon fund, and they lived there all together. They was waiting there for the advent of the Saviour -- His Second Coming. Joe Morris was the leader and John Banks his assistant, and they had a lot of families in there that had joined them from the Church, and they'd built a place and had a little old schoolhouse building there, and a lot of buildings and shacks, and there they lived. There was a fel- low that I happened to know that got disgruntled and wanted to leave the outfit. He and his wife had gone in, and they wouldn't let him have his team and cow back that they had put in there. An old fellow by the name of Billy Jones -- I knew him quite well -- told me this story himself two or· three times over. They wouldn't let this man have his property and he came down to Salt Lake to the courts and they issued a warrant for the arrest of Morris and Banks to bring them to court. Then they wouldn't allow the officer to serve the papers. They wo,:ldn't let them into the place to serve the papers. They had arms there; I don't know what they intended to do with them. "They took a posse from Salt Lake and Davis County, eight or ten FMC I 100 page 5 men went from here,and went up there and took the cannons from Salt Lake, the old sow and the pigs. They went down this roa~ here and went up through. They put the guns up on top of the hill, a gre~t big high bench up above the river, posted the guns there and stopped there. They wouldn't let them in -- held them off. They improvised some kind of a rig with wagon wheels and a bunch of men got behind it and pushed it into the fort. They got within a few yards, fifty to a hundred yards it was, out of sight behind it, and then made a break and run for the old adobe schoolhouse and got in. "The Morrisons shot one man getting in, but they made the Morrisons surrender and made them stack their ~rms, lined them up, the men, women and families, the whole outfit. Burton, the Marshall, was horseback and he went in after the men had gone in and stacked their arms, and he read the papers to Morris and Banks, and they shouted and made a break: 'You lived for us and vou will die for us.' And they made a break and Colonel Burton shot them both dead right in their tracks. They went on awful. The story goes that one young woman throwed herself down onto Morris screaming and carrying on, and they rounded them all up and put Morris and Banks into a light wagon and made all the rest of them follow, taking them down to the courts down in Salt Lake. They com~ through _here and stopped right over here by Johnny Rampton's old man Carter lived there then • . We was in school and they let us all out of school. They camped over there and fed their horses. They had them laying in this wagon with a sheet over them and willows to keep the sun off. They was taking them into court. They was ordered to bring them in dead or alive and they was bringing them in dead." Mr. Willey then spoke of the early settlers of Bountiful, and he mentioned Perrigren Sessions. I asked him if he had ever heard a story about Perri~ren Sessions not recognizing one of his o~n children. He replied, "Well, I wouldn't be surprised about that. He had fiftysix children -- had seven wives. I will tell you this, but I don't want you to write it down." I stopped writing and he told me that Hy C11ARLES SHIRL EY WALG AI\10T T (subm itted by Etta Taylor was equipped . as nearly as Indian- Grove, a large elevat ed haras sed the white s with possib le with every thing moun tain bench finely - arrow s , guns and firebra nds necess ary to make safe the trip timber ed, which · even today shot into the wagon s and of Almo, Idaho ) through an unsett led countr y _retains its name. otherw ise terrori zed them _by The Battle of Almo Creek was infested with Indian s. ._ The outpos The train t of the Indian s yells, which were joined in by .he most impor tant Indian consisted of more than 60 watche d with _impatience the the entire Indian war partie s . ·saste r in the history of Idaho. wag~ns _and some 300 souls. emigr ants light their morni ng This was intend ed to impre ss on It happe ned in Cassia County Nothmg 1s th~ early fire inside their wagon en- the minds of the confus ed th five surviv ors out of 300 part of their tripofuntil t~ey closur e; watch ed the herdsm en emigr 1i te men. reache d the Western Plams drive their stock to camp to be major ants the overw helmin g ity of the Indian Undou btedly the greate st wht.:re they were harass harnes sed for the day's jour- DESP ERAT E CONDs . ITION 1ian disast er that ever oc- Indians whom they were.aed by ney: and saw line of defens e The emigr ants realize d their rred in the Territo ry of Idaho keep ~t bay throug h ~heir ble to bemg brokethe n; each ~~11wagon condit ion and under each . d probab ly the entire Nor- organized camp, their dnvn~g falling into its alloted position in wagon a trench was dug with west, when we consid er the manag emen t, almost and milita ry precis ion. The the dirt thrown to their Jmber slain, was the equipm ent of arms. Indians were in readin ess. They The digging of athe outsid e. well was macsa cre of Almo Creek in 1861. This gave them - Out of some 300 person s, men , courag e and they looked added were about to attack a foe much starte€1 in hopes of getting superi on or the in arms and am- water. This work was carrie d on omen and children only five Indian s, who at first were muniti three men and two' women - in numbe rs, with indiffesmall guns on. The Indian s had a few feveri shly until it prove d rence and small quant iti~ of disapp ointing . Men who • ~e known to have escape d the and somet imes they took atshots ammu nition , but they depend ed tempte d to bring water from the uel death admin istered to at them at long range on their greate r numbe rs, their creek were shot down. to keep 1Pm by the overw helmin g band thei:n away? which anger_ed the bows and arrow s and their well- Occas ionally shots 'from the Indian s that had congre gated Indian s. Thi~, togeth Indians killed or badly woW1ded u days in such great numbe rs natura l antipa thy er_w1th the planne d mode of attack . wh,1ch they They allowed the train, as it some white man, woma n, tt they were t>.nabled to hold f~t for the w_hHe man, or couple d moved slowly southw ard from child, which threw the · siege a train of emigr ants w1~ the desire t_o ~estro memb ers Almo ~ Creek the , to procee d Wltil its of the besieg ed party into • 10 were well-organized, well- tram and posses its f?C~ongmgs, rear wagon was some distan ce greate r excite ment and grief. nned and privisi oned, and caused a generasl ~pnsm g from of the the creek. Suddenly a The excite ment grew intens e as ,n-equ ipped with fine stock nun:ie rous Ind1~n s prearr anged signal was given panic- stricke n horses rawincr more th,m 60 wagons. hc1b1tats were adJace whose nt to the by the Indian lookout, and In- strugg les broke their in their fasten ings Despite the magni tude of this Oregon Trail. dians 1 laugh t very little , if Indian runne rs were sent out emerg in . great numb ers and ran frantic ally around the ed from their places of enclosure while others in their ything , has been written. in and smoke signal s were ~ent up. concea lment where they had attemp ts to break 1ard to it. The only record s The place of concen tration loose were -tin the memo ry of old people to be Indian Grove, some was lurked in silence and secrec y. snortin g, rearin g, and tramfour They or compl etely surrou nded pling the earth from which rose ,;o lived at thr1t time or in the five miles south of Almo ·ounts handed down from According to the IndianCreek. the surpri sed emigr ants who great colum ns of dust throug h s' immed aciately gave orders for all which franti c wome n and . , ent to child. count there was assem bled ''he writer , Ornrle s Shirley the larges t numbe r of here wagons to be corral ed with all childr en darted hither and Jgamo tt, visited the bat- Indians ever known in hostile stock inside the enclos ure. This thither in their aimles s attemp t these was accom plishe d in spite of the for relief. This, with ~round in 1875. Eviden ce of parts. Here they provis consta nt 1 conflict was marke d plainly their camp with game ioned hair-r aising yells of the yelling of the h1dians and bloodt meat, hirsty Indian s who knew howling of their dogs made a ,v trench es thrown up under which was plentiful, and Almo, a Spani si .ach wagon as they were for the condem ned train.waited they had comm itted the first act scene too wild and awful to meani ng great battle. i . of their contem plated traged y. contem plate. Hang ed in circle s. Ac- The emigr ants travel in the southe rn edgo o ed over They had the emigr ant train cut On the third day the J panyin g the party was an the stock was County and is one of tt · Oregon Trail until they off from water and the siege ordere d turned from the en- comm unities • in Ma · d trappe r who gave a detaile d crosse d Raft River, where ount-:.. of the traged y. In guide headed them south their began. It was not to be a fight closure. As they hasten ed for The farmin g and st where over man was given for man, water they were taken into the utting this. story togeth er the Suble tt cut-of f comm unity was first harles Wafgamott took con- California Trail. They to the but was fough t in Indian possession of the .Indian s. Little J. T. Sherle y who cam travel fashion ed , each Indian protec ting by little the fighting force of the He fenced the Cove in i1erab le pains to verify what peacefully for three short saw and heard on the sub- without sightin g Indian days himse lf, reserv ing his am- train was reduce d and the Most of the- early muniti s, and on, keepin g the train ' in remain der contem plated the lived in dugou t n cam ts, but in for the ni ht on si un ·1 t emi rants 'had · · · The best inform er was Mr. AJmo Creek, so name l cabins were built. y e exhau sted their ammu m ton It was on the ourt 1tliam E. ohnston who with Indian s signif mg t t a one was ·bu~lt on the ying "plen ty and were famish ed for water. A the guide is wife spent the latter part of water, " where now emplo yed by the Durfee location thzn nestles the large porfion of the _Indian s wagon train gave up all hopes John Stines who c~me ,. life in Twin Falls. They peaceful town of Almo. Here secret ly retired to their camps and planne d his c l4 and 12 years of age, they escape . He was 1877. Ttte other ea~1~ took their usual in Indian Grove leaving only accom panie d by a young on pectively, at the time of the precau tions, made a corral the presen t Willia of enough of their tribesm en to woman who had displa ssacre and were living in the their wagons, placed yed great place, then owned h strong hold the · siege and from courag e and marks lemen t of North Ogden . The guards over their stock, and protec ted points of vantag e Under the protec tionmansh ip. Homes. Later H. D. Th . ressio ns made on their slept peacef ully, not of the Williar:n knowin g picked off with arrow s or guns darkne ss they crawle d throug h on whichJ_ones b~ught , ng minds were stamp ed that an overw helmin g band the cabam ·":' · of any emigr ant that attemp ted to .the sagebr ush, makin g their rly. They remem bered the blood thirsty Indian s In 1878, M. B. Dur! were escape or get water . In relays , way to the mount t man and woman who looking down at ains. After Taylor , Lee Owsley an~ them 'froiv the Indian s, day and night hours and hours of travel , they Miller came here, but .. caped from the besieg ed train .... ·~. ,. found their way to the set- reason only Durfee sh~!· d made their ·way to the ;,, ' ¥ ·:·--- --·-_ tlemen t of Brigha m City Utah. first real home was bu tlemen t of Brigha m City, ~·:e / !j, In the after part of th~ same in 1879 on f:}'1e preSe.. l. h, where a rescue party was night on~ man and two women , Durfee locauon. >atched to the scene. · On r way they found, on Raft one with a nursin g baby, 1879saw the arriva l o r, two women, one man, secret ly stole from the doomed more men and the nam a baby who had escape d ca~p, crawli ng for miles on comm unity. These · (, r severa l days had existe d their hands and knees. The Matt Durfee H. D. Itill mothe r of the , child in ~r . s a. their onl Jood. ' , · l, . 00 1 ,__d ~ ~-- -... - - ~• - . .1.. - - . - - - 1 r ~ounded n 1ans . 1s : oge er Wl e panned mode of attack. ~r ate . . Indians killed or badly They allowed the train, as it some white man, woman, or t nunbers natural antipathy which they 1-1 >tJ to hold felt for the whi ~e man, coupled moved slowly southward from child, which threw the members of cmig a'lts ), r l · .. nized, velled a d pn 1sioned, and •r p w th fine st ck '""a m re than GO wagons. p t magnitude of this la ht very little, if ny hing, has been written in ard to it. Tr , only records tin the m mory of old people lived · t that time or in the counL-; handed down from rent to child. "he wnter, Oiarles Shirley Igamott, visited the bat, round in 1875. Evidence of i conflict was marked plainly trenches thrown up under ach wagon as they were rranged in circles . Ac mpanying the party was an d trapper who gave a detailed count of the tragedy. In ulting '• thic; story together harles Wafgamott took con. ·derable pams to verify what saw and heard on· the sub. • . O • The best informer was Mr . illiam E . Johnston who with s wife spent the latter part of is life -in Twin Falls. They ere 14 and 12 years of age, pectively, atthe time of the a' sacre and were living in the ttlement of North Ogden . The pressions made on their oung minds were stamped learly . They remembered the i st man and woman who caped from the besieged train d made their way to the ttlement of Brigham City, Jtah, where a rescue party was · ·patched to the scene. - On ir way they found, on Raft _ ·vt,r, two women , one man, ii a baby who had escaped J for several days had existed rosebuds as their only food . ey remembered that the lians returned and passed rough the settlement i,;;playing the scalps of their ictims attached to the manes nd bridles of their ponies. They ~alled seeing a North Ogden lCksmith and a party going to .-1lvage the iron from the urned wagons . · In 1872, 11 years later , Mr. hnston visited the battlefield tl in 1887 the Johnston family oved to Almo Creek secw-ing nd that partially covered the ttlefield which still bor e 1dence of the hard-fought 1ttle. In leveling and plowing I . ground for alfalfa, Mr. t nston uncovered nwnerous :l guns and pistols. Mr. Johnston spoke th e shoni language well enough be understood and from a n ndian he ·was able to get the ndian version of the massacre •hich is, in part, incorporated the fellowing story : THE INDIAN ACCOU NT In the spring of 1861 a n migrant train left the Missouri l ivt• · bound for California. It with the desire to destroy the· Almo Creek, to proceed until its of the besieged party into tra in and possess its belongings, rear wagon was some distance greater excitement and grief. caused a general uprising of the from the creek. Suddenly a :The excitement grew intense as FASHIONS in v num erous Indians whose prearranged signal was given panic-stricken horses in their turn of the t-t-nt habitats were adjacent to the by the Indian lookout, and In- struggles broke their fastenings simil to th~e i Oregon Trail. dians in great numbers and ran frantically around the portrait taken in Indian runners were sent out emerged from their places of enclosure while others in their tured In the back and smoke signals were sent up. concealment where they had attempts to break loose were 1"he place of concentration was lw-ked in silence and secrecy. snorting, rearing, and tramto be Indian Grove, some four or 1"hey completely sw-rounded piing the earth from wh'ich rose five miles south of Almo Creek. the surprised emigrants who great columns of dust through Accordi ng to the Indians' ac- immediately gave orders for all which frantic women and count there was assembled here wagons to be corraled with all children darted hither and the la rgest number of hostile stock inside the enclosure. This thither in their aimless attempt Indians ever known in these was accomplished in spite of the for relief. This, with constant parts . Here they provisioned hair-raising yells of the yelling of the Indians and their camp with game meat, bloodthirsty Indians who knew howling of their dogs made a Almo , a Spanis which was plentiful, and waited they had committed the first act scene too wild and awful to meaning great battle. i for the condemned train. of their contemplated tragedy. contemplate. in the southern edge The emigrants traveled over They had the emigrant train cut On the third day the stock was County and is one the Oregon Trail until they off from water and the siege ordered turned from the en- communities in Magi crossed Raft River, where their began. It was not to be a fight closure. As they hastened for The farming and st guide headed them south over where man was given for man, water they were taken into the community was first the Sublett cut-o ff to the but was foug h t in Ind ian possession of the Indians. Little J. T. Sherley who ca . California Trail. They traveled fashion, each Indian protecting by little the fighting force of the He fenced the Cove i peacefully for three short days himself., reserving his am- train was reduced and the Most of the earl without sighting Indians , and munition, keeping the train ' in remainder. contemplated the lived in dugouts, but in then camped for the ni ht on si e until the emi rants had inevitable. · l~ cabins were built. mo ree , so name y e ex aus e eir ammum 10n was on e our mg a one was· built on t Indians si gnifying "plenty and were famished for water. A the guide employed by the Durfee location then water," where mw nestles the large portion of the _Indians wagon train gave up all hopes John Stines who cam peaceful town of Almo. Here secretly retired to their camps and planned his escape. He was um. The other cabin they took their usual in Indian Groye IE:aving only accompanied by a young on the pr~ent Willia precautions, m ade a corral of enough of their tribesmen to woman who had displayed great place, then owned their wagons, placed strong hold the · siege and from courage and marksmanship. HomES. Later H. D. guards over their stock, and p~otected p_oints of vantage Under the protection of the Williai:n J _ones ~ght slept peacefully, not knowing picked off with arrows or guns darkness they crawled through on which the cabms w that an ov er whelming band of any emigrant that attempted to the sagebrush, making their In 1878, M. B. Durf: blood thi rs ty Indi ans were escape or get water. In relays, way to the mountains. After Taylor, LeeOwsleya. looking down at them 'from the Indians, day and night hours and hours of travel, they Miller came here, but found their way to the set- reason only Durfee s~ tlffilent of Brigham City, Utah. ~rst real home was bl. In the after part of the- same m 1879 on ~e prese night one man and two women, Dwfee location. one with a nursing baby, 1879saw the arrival o secretly stole_ from the ~oomed more men a nd the nami ca~p, crawlmg for mtles on community. These i their hands and knees. The Matt Durfee H D. Dt mother of the . child in her R Cahoon Val anguish and endeavor to keep in bury T ho~as E company with the others as they Willirun Jones Jo crawled through the brush, was Alfred w ard and Ro .compelled_ to t_ake the garments Mrs. Helen Edwards of the child m her teeth and first white woman to carry it in that manner. . Almo. Th_ey w~re successfu_l m Oldtimers recall m-:tkmg their esc_ape, reachmg a considera ble a rgument pomt on Raft River which was suitable name for '.1h afterwards known as t~e E. Y. settlement. Some . w Ranch, where they h_ved on name it Durfeeville, · rosebuds and roots until found was finally agreed u by a rescue party from Spanish word meani Brigham City, who sent them on battle." to the settlement and then The rifle pits and proceeded to the . battlegro~d wagons found m the of Almo Creek to fmd the entire now belonging to a party. sla}n and_ the wagons and Arley Cahoo burned. 1he bodies of the un- evidence of a greatba fortunate people were buried in there The breastwor the well which they had dug. were · disturbed unf The battleground was visited La~ lois bought the in 1875. Evidence of the wnflict and plowed the grou was marked plainly by trenches In 1880 J. T. Taylor thrown up under each wagon as to the community and I they were arranged in circles. the present Taylor r that same year came During recent years a o. King, George G monument has been erected in William Miller and _ THIS MONUMENT in honor store and is enclosed in a Almo near the school house in Elberts. From 1882 to of those who lost their lives in fence with native pines and memory of these pioneers who community was s, the massacre is located shrubbery. It was erected in were brutally massacred by the these pioneers: H. T. :across the road from the Almo. 1938. _red savages .. .J. Eames •• Jae b \ Sr · wnr 14 ny s qua tters here I' 11 te ll yo u . " -' "'3ut we a re <_; ~ 1,:: to st<::iy h ere , ::;e lik e it to o- what we hBve s een wh ile ..,;e,' have b'-een here , " s a: · , Jo 1n . , ,,.i·:ell, I 'll 'oe do p· g e , I li ke y our nerve ,c uss if I do n ' t . n I wish y ou luck, you ' ll s ure need it . t stay with you toni ght ?" "No , of course not , you wi _ have to e 0.t what we h8.ve with us tho . " 'Oh , I don 't know , n rer li ed t n ca ll er , I a l ways c a rr;y s on e j erky i n my · sadd le bar:;s f or an eJiler g ency . Howeve r, - da y I wa s l uc ky, I ot t h re e young 6 sa 3e hens and they a re l arrse for thi s tine yea r, n h e r ema r ked a s he to ok them out of the s add le ba ::; , ho l ding them up f di s p lay , a ll cl e aned and ready for the frying pan , 11S ee t hey a re a l most ha lf f; ro ,,. • u Yfuen they had a c amp fire bur ni n g ; ood , dut c h o s., fry pa n and coffee pot wer e made ready and it was not l ong b efore t h e y had a de ·cious c ampe rs me~ l ;being p re pared on the burnin g embers and hot coa ls fro m th e mp fire. Vfnen the meal had been eaten it wa s time for s moke s., out n e smoked , so it was story time for t he g roup . The brothe rs l ooke d at and guest fo r the n i gh t expect ing h im to t e ll more of the co unt ry. c °l;'}i~y won '-t 1 ~l,~ ~ -/~O . ~rru•i~i~!t•· Chapter 4 asked John . tty°es , thi s stream we ar e sittin g by is Ra ft , River south fork . We are· now about ten miles from the state li ne . The s tate line surveye d ab out 18 7 9 . It may be 12: mil e s to the Nevada li n e to the wes t .• ,,,.mat ab out Indians here., are they h ostile? u ventere d Al ex . "lfo t n ow, but they used to b e , tt a s mo u ldering hatred for t h em seemed to be intensi fied in his eyes by t h e l i ght of t h e c amp fire , when th e se nomadic tribes we re . mention ed , but con trolled himsel f an d rela ted the story of t h e Al mo Cree k mas sacre, which has been told by many wri te rs, that evi d ent l y has much a ut hent ici ty • .The writer i.vill mention some then g o on with the st ory . Chief Pocatel lo and fo llowers fi ,1sured i n t h e City o f Rock s ma sa acre .,-J ohn E. Reese 's book on Idah o . Near the schoo l h ou se in Almo a ma r ke r erected in 1938 t e lls that there 343 persons massa cred near Al mo Creek the yea r of 186 1. One story fol lows: ****llolc******************* Undoub t'ed ly the greate st sla u ghter of white emi s r a nts by Indeans that ever ' accu red in Idaho territo ry or in the nort hwes t pro bab ly happ ened h ere, when we consid er the number slnin~ was thi s Ind i an )1assac r e on Al mo Cree k in 1 861 . Many have "ttisi ted this batt l e r; round t h rou gh the years vvher e evi dences of the conflic t we re marked p lainly, where t r e nch es were t hrown r:p by t he si de of · the circle o f wa g ons • . Accomp anying one g roup t o t he p l ace wa s 8.n old trappe r who ga v e us a deta iled accoun t of the trage dy . Perhaps two of the bes t inform ers were William E. c.To hnston and h is wife _who lived in Alric for many yea rs. , Th ey lived i n north Ogden in their youth . They 1vere fourtee n and twelve years old at the time the Emt _g rants we re k ill ed . The i mp res·s ion left on their yo-'.:t~e; minds o f Indi ans pa ssi n g thro ugh north .Ogdell_ lvith many scalps di s p la y ed on the ma nes of the ir ponies as the y journey ed on. Later , a blacksmith, g oi n p; out to s a l va c e much needed iron froi:1 the burned w~c, ons. In 1872 they visited the battle g round , and l at er t hey n ov ed to .A.Imo to 'mak e their home . rvir . Johnson unco vered ma n y vrna p oris on this be.t t l efie l d which sti ll b ore evidenc e of a hard fou gh t battle . . Ed Johnsto n, as he was familia r l y ca lle d , knevr the Shos h one l anguag e enoug h to ma ke himsel f unders took and from a n old I n d i amva s ao l e to 0~ i t hi s versi on of the story that is in part in co rporate d in t he followi ng s t;ry : In the spring of 1 86 1 a :;ro up of pe op le l eft t h e Misso u ri Ri v er --p ly t e state by that nan e . Th ey had or ganized into a vm ~; on +~r a i n , v ery we llrobab e qui p ped to ma e the trip t h rou f,h a n Indian infeste d count r y , a ll t he way to Califo rnia • ...__ _ _ _ __ J ,._ ... 15 The train consisted of ma re than sixty wa:;ons and more than 300 souls and many m.0re c o7. s e.nd h o.rs es • ·.rothin m ch is knovm of their trip vnti 1 t h ey r ea c h e d t he p l ains and we re harass eel by Indians at time s , whom t hey ·were ab l e to keep at bay very eas ily , by thei r well or~ani zed train . Thi s ga ve them add ed co ura. ,; e and arro gance t hat wa s r e s ented stron ; l y b Y. th(j Indians a lcng their rout e , who a t first were s ma ll in numb er . Someti mes they took long pot shots at the Indians whi ch furt he r a ,sg r ava ted their r eveng efu l hearts . Thi s to ?;ethe r with their :~enere. l antipat hy fo r the whi te man , coup l ed with a des ire to destroy t h e tra in and poss ess its be l ongin ~s, cau sed a ~ener a l uprising of the nume rous Indians whos e hab i t a te we r e a long the emi [£r ant s chosen route to trave l. Indian r unn ers were sent out, si ~na l s moke s were given. The place of con c entration wou ld b e the I ndian g rove whe re a l ookout W9.s kept , some five or si x miles west of Al mo Creek . According to the Indians account the l a r gest numbe r of hostile Indie.ns ever assemb led were gather ed here . They provi sioned their wi gwams and camps with meat whi ch wa s plent i ful in this hi,.;her altitude , and wa ited for the slow approa ch ing wa 6 ons, whi ch was now watched from many an 0 l es . 1 hen t h e emi g rant train mov-ed over th e de ep r utted overland tra il the . dust .· clouds wou ld rise in the c l ea r summer s ky and Indi an wat chmen co u ld si gnal each ·other ast o the i condemed victims app roach . The waf;on train was trave ling in confidenc e on one of the many trails whic h had been make through th.e mounta ins , after p ickin g up a: gui d e near Bri 1:;ham to _see them on through o On the Raft River h e t u r ned t h em south we s t on the Sublett , cutoff to California . · They had travele d peacefully for severa l days without si ghti n g any Indeans , then camped on the ill fated Almo Creek named by the I ndians , meaning; "p lenty water ." Here they took the ir usua l precautions , made a co rral of t he ir wa gons , placed a strong guard and slept peace fu lly . Not knowin g tha t an overwhe l ming force of Indians were . l ooking d own on them from t h e Indian Grove~ which still 0 retains the name .' The outposts of Ind ians , ·p robab l y watche d t h em wi th nervous i mpati ence, 1nhen they lit their morning fires within the enc los u r e s. They s aw the: herds man drive their stock to c amp, harness the horses , y ok e t h eir oxen, milk their cows for the days supply o f milk and s'B'W the g u i de motion to t h e ~ en to f ill the wa ter barrels , which reque·s t went unheeded . There we. s a n other s tream of wa ter three miles away, uso why ?"' The Indians watched them break c amp , l oose e.nirne.ls vrnre h erde d out on the . trail and war:;ons followe d behind in a do ub le line in mi li ta r y precision . Th e Indians were ready fo r them. They wer e about to Rttack a force, f Br superior to them in arms· and arnmuni tion, i.f not in nu.rnber . The refore, ha ving a g rea ter force in number , but lacking in e.mmuni tion and g;nns, they wou l d us e nind i a n stra ta gy". They let the wag on train l eave Al mo Creek a s ho rt d is t an ce, then bedlam broke loose . Indian wa. r1ors eme'rg ed fr om thei r p l aces of concea l ment i n g rea t nlli--nbers . The loose stock was scattered by the a tt a ck ers. Se rds men were k illed. 'rhe we.,;ons quickly circled but not with out many fa tali ti es. Quick inibankments were throvm up Nnxxu whil e ot hers wer e ho l ding the Indians at oay . How, they cou l d hea r t h e blood c urd lin0 ye lls of t he I ndi ans who knew they had accomp lis hed the first a ct of t heir contemp l ated tra ;~ edy . Th ey ha d the emigrants cut off from the wate r and t h e mmng si e 6 e be gan . It was not a fi ght where man wa s g iven for man ., b ut In di an f ashion. Ea ch Indian protecting himself and reserving hi s a ~1..rnu..rii tion . Kee p i ng the emi '.1; ri:mts in siege unti l they we re famished for l a c k of water and t hei r a mmun ition ,:: one . A larg e portion of t h e Indians could retir e to their c amps to r e s t •;hile o~hers stayed on duty to h old the si ege and pick o ff any wh o tried to e sc ap e w1th b ows and arrows and a few ri f l es which they poss essed . In relays the Indians c ontiw 2ed the ir tactics . They kept up t h eir continue d war who ops and ye lls to irri.p re ss t hem of t h eir overwh elrr.inG n umbe rs . F i t~ht a nd day 16 t,,.e coI·.t·!lur.:d Indian mr .fa r e kept up . The captive s f u lly rea lized their .h elpless ;onditio11, ~vhen they "hried to go for wa ter, they were shot down . cc'<:.siowil hots from the attackers would continu e to take its toll of men, onen or child, which thr~N the be si eged. i nto g reater conf sion and g rief. ·n the third day the r ema ining stock in the enclosure was t urned loos e . ;i.S tht;!y :iastened for WA.ter the Indians took possession of th e::i. Little by little the fi 6h ting force of the train was reduced and t h e r em ining -r>a-.;r vrnre contemp lating the inevitab le. The we ll they had dug hq stily in the ~nclosure, to a depth o:f ab ou t t h irty f eet , we.s dry . It was on the fou rth ni ght the s11ide gave up a ll hope and p l anned his escape. Be was e.cco~~panied by a y otm.o- woman who had s hown g rea t coura g e and marksmanship . Their ;)o,4ies , dB. r kene d by the dirt from the camp enclosure., under t he protection of a. dark nie;ht , made their s uc ces sful e scape by c rawling through t he ,:; ., rass and brush. r·aking their Yvay to mounta ins and streams of water . After about five to ::;even d'1ys they made their way to Bri gham, Utah where they reported t he terrible massacre to the army c~rn1p., , ·which at that time wa s stationed on Bear River. In the sane ni~ht ., it is said, that two women , a baby and one mari made a sncc'3ss.f't·l escape by the same procedure, c rawling for mi les on their stomachs or harids 9.nd knees . The woman with the baby~ in her -anguish to keep up with the others, carried the baby., witJi her teeth bit into t h e childs garments ., at t i mes • . They hid in the willows on Raft Rive r near the E. Y. r aneh, where th ey exis ted on rose berries , wild qurrants and edible ·roots, unti l t h ey· were re·scued by the party -from Bear River; who came out t o bury the decomposed b odies of the u11fort unate victim& of this tra:edy• who were buried in the well they-dug for water . The other tragedy was in the City of Rocks a f ew years l ater where six wa-=;ons were besieged by the Indians. re will let their caller tell this in his mm ·words : . hey were burning the wagons , k illing , men, women and child:ben. We saw this - ourselves. V~hen we got there the dirty devi l squaws had women and child ren tied to the wagon wheels, burning their eyes o ut with fire brands , . whe.c_ ing their · toes e.nd fingers off just to see them suffer . It made us so mad that we ma de a: cleaning in no time. 'That is why Colone l Patrick E. Connor sent his . soldi e rs o there to help clean up on the Indians that were mo lesting the sta ge and mail route and emigrants , too. It is said they did ,jus t t hat over on Cassia Creek where they found one . of the band . They were herded up a s ma ll canyon on the south si de of t h is creek and all were slaughtered, bucks, s quaws and papoos es . I didn 't l ike this, especially the papooses being killed . It sickened me ., but some s 'o ldiers., cruel and hard hearted like the savages ., s a id, 8ni ts make lice. u "Perhaps we won't sleep toni ght after hea ring t hese stories. Tell us about the country~ the rivers , roads , cr eeks and towns , " sugg ested Alex, "rhe.t is easy nnd more to my liking ., " answered :their c al ler . Sublett cut off, where thes e ma ssacres took pla ce, leaves the Oreg on Trail on Raft River and takes off sou~h west up Ca ssia Cree k for a ways, then cross ing and going up through the City of Rocks , through Junction Valley, over the Granite pass do1.m to Goos e Creek , whi ch it follows for a ways , then ovt?r another SlL"Tlffiit into the Humboldt river ., through its drainage out to where it sinks then up and over the Sierras into California , There is the sta ge and ma il route which took off from Kelton into t he Raft iver valley, then thr ou gh Emi grat ion canyon south of the City of Rocks ., .here they have a home stati on, nest l ed among the cedars and pinon pines, that is a right pretty place . This stage and w2 il route goes over-the Oakley summit and down in the Snake River country, then up to t h e Da ll es in Oreg on . Ben Holiday ilt these stations from Ke lton on out in 18 63-4. Quite a while before the railroad was completed . First one out from Ke l ton wa s ten miles, then one in the Raft River country, then the City of Rocks sta tion . This was a busy p l ace while the passengers and mai l were g oing through up into Idaho and Oregon . " / REFERENCE SERI ES ' Number 232 IDAHO 1-IISTORICAL SOCIETY 6J.O N. JULIA DAVIS DRIVE ALMO MASSACRE BOISE, IDAHO Revised February 1971 Six or more bat tles between emigrant parties and a band of local Indians were fought near later Almo not far from the City of Rocks , The first of these inci dents occurred in the second week of September, 1860. An Illinois party headed west on the California trail was fired upon l ate in. the even.ing of September '7 , so messengers were sent for help from an army camp on the Po:rtneuf near Fort Hai l. Afte r another fight the evening of September 8 r the party mo,i ed a short distance to a better focation on September 9. Indian reinforcements surrounded rbeir wagorts a".ld drove the emigrants out of the region. Heading toward the army camp cm. the Portneuf. rhey got help and returned to recover their wagons and property. When they reached the bat:tJe site, September 12, they salvaged nothing but two oxen and a member of their party wh.o had not been able to get away., That same day, two yea.rs Jater, an:)ther emigrant: party ret urning east from CaUfonna ran into trouble at about the same place iX:1 the can fon1J a tra.:L Th.is second group had a harder time. aoth of these incidents wera reported in. de1 a.it in the Deseret News, October 3. 1860 and September 24, 186 2" In a let.ter from Brigham City, September 27, J, C. Wright explained the earHer fight: Report reaehed this place last night of another Indian outrage upon a small party of emigrants from IW.nois on r:he.i:r way h) Califorriia, by Lander 1 s Wagon Road Route. Some two ·weeks ago. the company ~ mosO y from 11hnois, consisting of seven men, five wome n, about a ha.i f dozen ch.1. 1d r e .n, four wagons and about 140 loose animals, besJdes their teams. passed the <"amp of the lL Sc forces . s1atio_YJed fort.he time being 011 the Portneuf river, m Wash5:ngton Tei nt.rny . near the o.td Fort HaH stat.ion. After traveling west about n1:nety mUes frorn the army statioH. wh1Je in camp at night, near the City Rocks, they were fared upon by a party of Indians,. supposed to be about sjxty jn number. The emigrant forcE's were so feebfe that but lHt]e hopes of effect:uaJ resistance was ente.rta.ined , However; returning the fire of the enemy, they kept them from making a charge up on the ,::amp that night, and gave the women and children an opportunity to retreat down a ravine, m the djrection of the soldiers' encampment, which they did successfuL1y . An express was despatched immedja.tely to the officer in command of the forces on the Portneuf, and a detachment of the troops, under command of Lieut . Sanders was sent to their relief jmmedjately on the arr jval of the messenger. On their march they met the women and chiJdren almost i.n aper·ishjng condit5on, havrng traveled two days and a half without food, most of them without shoes, with no more cJ.othing for day or nig'ht than they had on when they fled at the crack of the Indians '· rHi es, from their camp H res at the pl ace of attack . After supplying their present demands as well as possible, the company proceecied, and or arriving at the place where the attack was ma.de , they found that the s1ock had all heen dnve.iJ off and the wagons· plundered of every arUcle of "alm~ the y contajned., The mf'.n had fortunarely escaped without any one being krned or da.ng-crous'Iy wounded, 2 Report says that Lieut. Sanders 1 command discovered a party of Indians in ambush, and exchanged a few rounds with them, but to what effect was not known, further than no injury was done to the troops o The company of emigrants are now with the troops on Bear river, who are on their return to Camp Floyd. 1 I learned that two of the men were of the name of Brock, and that another : s name It is also stated that a medium-sized white man, was Thomas, fro:Ql Illinois. painted r~d, with a pair of fine dress boots on, was with the Indians at the attack~ This statement was ma~e me by a gentleman who received it from orie of the party, and I presume, as far as it goes, may be relied upon as being substantially correct. More details were available from John Hag~rty in time for publi.cation, October 3, 1860: who told hi s story to the Deseret News After the communi.cation of Hone. J o C. Wri.ght 1 pubHshed . in thJs number, was in type, Mr. John Hagerty, one of the emigrants who was in the company attacked and despoiled by the Indians, near City Rocks c1 to whJ.ch occurrence the communication refers, called at our offic e a nd gav e a full de t aH of the assault and robbery, from whi.<.~h it appears; that on arrival of the company at Col. Howe 1 s encampment 9 on the Portneuf, near old Fort Hall, on or about the 1. st of September, the Colonel de·tailed an escort of ten or twelve men;, under Sergeant Barry to accompany them on their way a few days" After proceeding some sixty or seventy miles, seeing no signs of Indians , the escort returned back on the morning of the 6th, l eaving the company to pursue their journey unprotected" Without molest ation they proceeded to within five miles of City Rocks, n~ar the junction with the Salt Lake road, where they encamped on the evening of the 7th, by a small stream known as Rapid creek. At about eleven 0 1 clock at night an attack was made on them by a small party of Indians who, on fmding the emigrants ready to gl ve them a warm reception~ drew off, after firing eight or ten guns, and came up again on the other side of their camp, where, by taking advantage of the light of the moon which had just :risen, they could fire upon the company with greater accuracy, and, at the same time, be hid from the view of the emigrants and measurably secure from their fire. After continuing the assault about one hour and a half, (during whJ.ch time they fired some fifty or sixty shots and an indefinite number of arrows, many of ,vhich struck the wagons without further injury than perforating them and their contents with holes) they encamped driving off thirty head of cattle, mostly oxen that were used in the teams, which, being tired, had not strayed far from camp. The emigrants kept up a good watch during the balance of the night, and the next morning picked up twenty-.five arrows around their camp 9 some of which were stick-, ing in their wagons, which had also been pierced with many balls. No Indians were seen, but a sharp look out was kept up during that day and following nlght, but at about the same time in the evening that the attack was made the night befor e, thirteen of the oxen that had been driven off returned, which convinced the party that the red skins had not gone far away, and that they were lurking about, seeking for a chance to attack them again under more fav orable circumstances than at firsL On the forenoon of the 9th. the emigrants concluded to move their camp about two hundred yards to a more favorable positi.on, but before they had detached all their /' 3 teams from the wagons, after mpving t hem the Indians commence d anothe r att ack more fierce than the first, as they were in greater force, Mr. Hagerty being of the opinion that they were at least one hundred strong. Seeing no chance of saving their lives only by flight, the whole party, with the ex·-.. ception of Hagerty, managed, by retreating i nto the bed of the creek among the wil-· lows, to elude the savages and to get away unobserve d by passing over a mountain and taking the road back towards Fort Hall, leaving Hagerty, supposing that he had been k illed. He, however, after two or three arrows were shot through his clothes, and several balls had whistled near without strik ing him, also escaped i nto the wil•a,, lows and hid himself, but was watched so closely by the Indians that he could not get away safely, and re1Tiained in his hiding place nearly four days, without food ~ excepting a few be r ries which he found by crawling about on his hands and k nees , to keep ou t of the s ight of the savages, who we re watc hir,.g fo r him, and the r est of the party all the tim e, e vide ntly supp osing that they we r e :yet hid .in the b ush, and that none of them had made g ood their es c ape " M:c . Hag e r ty r eport s that the Indian s we rf~ at: the wago:os immediate ly on thefr be ··· i ng abandoned by the emig r a nts, and without wa i ting to pl under the m to any g r e a t extent, wi th much de xterity a tta ched s om e of the oxen to them and drove off, taking one ne a rly a m ile, the othe r s a l ess dis t ance . befo r e r i fling them of the:i. r c ontent s. He i s ve ry confi dent that there were white men among the Indian s in di sgui se . He positiv ely saw one individual with short ha ir ~ who had on a p air of fine boots, and a pair of pan ts ~ but: otherwise dresse d a nd p ainte d ) ike an Indi an, and when the a ttack•-• ing party we r e hitching the oxen to the wagons and driving the m off, the:v spok e t o the cattl e in good English. He says that he was decidedly uneasy du ring the time he was comp1,:7Hed ·to remain in the bru s h , as the Indians we r e about hi m jn every di rection as thi ck a s be e s, and he di d n ot k now wh a t ulti mately m ig ht b8 hi s fate, nei the r what had become of those who had got awayo . As s oon a s the Indi ans dr ew off on the night of the 7th , the e migran ts de spat che d two men, J ohn Br ock and Thomas G r aham, to .inform CoL Howe of t hei r :situati on and solicit assistance . The messenge rs proceeded with a ll poss5ble speed and but they overtook the escort under Sergeant Barry, before they reached camp, were short of rations and coul d not go t:o the re Hef of t:he emigrants until they could receive a supply. On hear ing of the attack , Col. Howe sent out a c ompany of twenty five m en , u nder Lieut. Sanders, to the assistance of the par ty ,. who, p roceeding without delay , a r :rived at the scene of disaster some time on the afternoon of t he 12th, much to the joy of Hage r ty, who was in a very periJ. ious condit ion. The Indians on seeing the troops soon Md themselve s and kept out of sjghL At March creek, on his way to the relief of the party, Lieut. Sanders me t the r.e~- fugees who were in a suffering condi.tion, bei.ng without food and not having suffi ... ciency of clothingo Administe ring to the1r necessWe s as far as jn his power. under the circumsta nces, he left part of hi s command fo r the ir protecUon , a nd proceed-" 1 ed on with the remainder , but r ecovered none of the emigrant: s prop erty , e x cepting one yoke of oxen, the balance having bee .~1 destroye d or taken away . On the mo r ning of the 13th, the troops retur ned b u t , a.ft.er star ting , a party of s om e 4 five or six, wishing to take an excursion to see if they could not find some of the Indians and gain a little renown by fighting them, had leave to do so, and got into a bigger fight than they wanted with a few of the rascals who were lying in ambush, upon whom they came unexpectedly, and Hagerty reports that there were some splendid feats of horsemanship performed before they overtook or rejoined the balance of the command. Lieuto Sanders took the entire party back to CoL Howe I s camp, and from thence they came in with the troops returning to Camp Floyd and arrived here yesterday. The names of the persons composing the emigrant company, as given by Mr. Hagerty, were William, John and---·-Brock, John Green and a German, name unknown, from DeWitt county, Ill,; Herbert Thomas, wife and three children, his wife I s mother--Mrs. Chambers and Thomas Graham, from La Fayette county, Wis";--,-Pierce, wife and two children, from Carroll county, Ill. ; John Hagerty, from McGregor's Landing, Clayton county, Iowa, and John Christianson of California, with three wagons and about one hundred and fifty head of cattle and a few horses. How many more small straggling companies of emigrants, passing over that route late in the season, will be used up before it becomes generally known that they cannot travel safely in that manner, is not known. In this· instance, it was fortunate indeed that all the persons escaped unhurt. Some more details were added by the Salt Lake correspondent :to . the Sacramento Daily Union, October 20, 1.860" The emigrants to whose assistance the troops went report the loss of everything they had. The women had scarcely clothing enough to cover them when they returned to camp. Theirflight through the bushes shattered considerably ,their crinoline and shortened uncomfortably their frail delaines and calicoes. Colonel Howe did the best he could and gave them blankets in the absence of dresses. Incidents near the City of Rocks in 1862, after a quiet season in 1861, may have been more numerous. Several clashes were reported prior to a more adequately documented battle, September 12. August was a busy month for the Indians. In addition to a series of skirmishes around Massacre Rock, August 9~10, four other early August engagements (if they really occurred) got into the newspapers. A Methodist party was alleged to have run into trouble about August 3, followed by some Salmon river packers, around August 6, the Yates party, August 8, and an Iowa train, August 9. The Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, assembled accounts of these fights from some Nevada papers. In Carson, The Silver Age, October 1, noticed that: Louis Swarens and family, Richard Woods and family, Thomas Craig and family, and W. R. Bell, John Bell and Samuel Corey, camped in town on September 30tho They are from Linn and Hardin counties, Iowa, and have 4 wagons, and 10 horses and 2 mules, all in good condition, which have been driven through since the 12th of May. They came over the Lander Cut-off with a train of 29 wagons and about: 45 men, through to City Rocks. At the mouth of the City Rock Canon, they were attacked . about noon by from 75 to 100 Indians-·--partly mounted, and armed with good guns which shot accurately 350 yards. They corraled the teams, threw up ditches, and 5 left the loose stock--some 43 head- - outsideo The Indians made two efforts to get these cattle, but were repulsed in the first attempL The next time they were sue-· cessful, and went about three-quarte rs of a mile away and had a grand dance over ito They then surrounded the train again and kept up a brisk fire till dark, and then at intervals all night. Next morning the Indians held a council on the bluff, and while thus parleying, apart of the men in the train went out on horses, foilowed by some on foot, and drove the Indians over the ridge o The train then went on, hav ing lost about 50 head of their stock and 2 persons woundedo The Indians followed through the canon and came near killing some of the men. These gentlemen informed us that a party of 7 packers from Wallanette Valley, Oregon, were attacked in the same canon and one man named James Blue was killed o A Mr o Lee had his pony shot from under him, and he with balance of the party es caped by breaking through the Indian ranks, leaving everything behind themo They were four days without food but a little bacon. They had been to Salmon river and were on their way to the States; they came on our informants, and one of them, Charles Johnson, took stage for California and will go to Los Angeles , , Mr. Waterhouse, one of the survivors from the Smith and Warren county train came to our informants 1 camp on the fourth day after they had been attackedo He reported that his train had all been killed but himself at or near the same canono But it appears evident that part of them were saved by the Mormons after they had wandered off southward and came near the settlements on the Salt Lake and Humboldt road. There was 11 wagons i;n the Warren coup.ty or Smith train, and about 16 horses, which were taken, and the flour, beds, etcs., were destroyed. Five persons were killedo Additional details about the Iowa party affair appeared in the Silver Ag~ October 2: the Indians took forty·~six head of loose stock left out of thei r corral, and killed four of their working stock; among the rest a fine Ameri can trotting mare. Little Sanford Drury was wounded in the thigh, and Richard Woods was wounded in the calf of the leg in this fight, which was all the harm that was done to the persons in the train. In Virginia City, the Territorial Enterprise, October 1, mentioned that a party of emigrants numbering 40 persons was attacked new City Rocks by the same tribe of uncivilized pirates. Five young ladies were carried off, and, it i.s thought, women and children in all to the number of 150 All the men were killed except one, who made his escape and arrival at Humboldt about the 20th of Septembero This train was called the "Methodist Train," which was not all together inappropriat e, since the whole party knelt down and began to pray as soon as the attack was com-· menced. Every train which has passed over that portion of the route in the vicinity of City Rocks since the 1st of August has had trouble with the Indians. When our -informant left Humboldt several wagons had just arrived whose sides and covers transformed into magnified nutmeg-grat ers by Indian bullets. The Snakes corraled the train, when a fight ensued, which lasted 48 hours ? The whites cut their way out finally and escapedo We could not learn the number of kil.led and wounded in this battle. 6 The Enterprise of the same date also says: L. F. Yates, who arrived in Virginia City a few days since from Pike's Pefak, has given us the following particulars of a fight his train had on the 8th of last August, about one and a half miles this side of the junction of the Lander's Cut off and Fort Bridger roads. Their train consisted of 15 wagons and 40 men, with a number of women and children. The train was attacked while passing along a ravine by a party of Indians being concealed in among a thick growth of poplar bushes. When the attack commenced, most of the front wagons were some 80 rods in advanceo They formed in corral, and entrenched behind their wagons, refused the slightest aid to those who were struggling with the savages in the rear The party thus left to fight their way through the ambushed Indians numbered but nine men, and there were but four guns with which to maintain the battle . Five of the nine were killed and one wounded. The names of the killed are as follows: Parmlee, James Steele, James A. Hart, Rufus C. Mitchell, from Central City, Colorado Territory, and McMahn, residence unknown. The name of the wounded man is Frank Lyman. He was shot through the lungs--recovered. The 31 men who were hidden snugly behind their wagons, with a single honorable exception, refused to render the slightest assistance to those who were fighting for their lives and the lives of their families so near them. Although they had 27 guns they refused to lend a single gun, when at one time, four men went to ask assistance. The cowards all clung to their arms 9 and lay trembling behind their wagons. A man named Perry, or Berry, was the only one who had sufficient courage to attempt to render his struggling friends any assistance. He was shot in the face before reaching the rear wagons, and was carried back to the corral. The fight lasted nearly two hours, and some seven or eight Indians were killed, as at various times they charged out of the bushes on their ponies. Several Indian horses were killed, and at length the few left alive fought through to where their 30 heroic friends (?) were corraled, leaving the killed and two wagons in possession of the Indians. 30 bigger cowards and meaner men than these above mentioned never crossed the plains. We are certain that every man of them left the States for fear of being drafted into the army. o A month later, another Almo massacre led to additional excitement. ember 12, 1862, was reported in the Deseret News, September 24: This battle, Sept- On Saturday last a rumor was in circulation that another company of emigrants has been attacked in the vicinity of City Rocks, near the junction of Sublett' s Cut-off with the Salt Lake road, and that about one-·half their number had been killed. The report was confirmed in the evening by two of the party, Mr~ Chaso McBride, formerly of Kentucky, and Mr. John Andrews, who came in passengers that afternoon from Brigham City, by the northern stage coach. These gentlemen state that their company consisted of fifteen men, some of them from California and some for Carson city, Gold Hill, and other places in Washoe, who met at Lasson's Meadow, which place they left on the 3d instant, some of them bound for Denver and the bal-ance of the company for Missouri and other States where they had formerly resided. The company were all mounted, well armed, and had four pack in addition to their riding animals. They traveled up the north side of the Humboldt, and arrived at the junction of the · roads, near City Rocks, on the evening of the 11th wit:hout interruption, in the vicnity of which place they encamped that night. The next morning, having taken the 7 Salt Lake road, they traveled but a mile or two before they heard the lowing of cattle, which led them to suppose that a company of emigrants were encamped near by, and, on descrying a smoke, produced by camp fires, a short distance from Jhe road, some two or three men rode towards it for the purpose of purchasing some meat, if possible, of which they were in want. They had not gone far before they discovered that the smoke proceeded from an Indian and not an emigrant camp. Meeting with some of the Indians, who appeared very friendly, among whom was their chief or leader, and seeing a very large herd of cattle, some four . or five hundred head, near by, which the chief said belonged to him, and his band, they made known their wants. The chief told them that if they would go into his camp he would sen them all the beef they wanted. They did not mistrust that their was anything wrong till they had rode on a short distance further, when the chief asked one of the men if he was captain, and being told that he was not, the chief requested them to go back to the road and tell their captain to come up to his camp with all his men, and they should have all the beef they wished. They accordingly returned to . the company, but, instead of gomg into the Indian camp, mistrusting treachery, they thought it prudent to increase the distance between them and the wily red men, and proceeded on their way, but had not gone far before they were fired on from the road side, upon which they started at full speed, followed by from thirty - five to forty Indians, mounted on good horses and well armed, and by a much larger number on foot. A runni ng fight was kept up some twenty miles, during which all their horses were wounded, but only one man was hurt, and he but slightly. On reaching De Cassure creek, a branch of Raft river, hav ing been compelled to abandon four of then horses, and two others giving out, which dismounted two of the party, they took up into the kanyon, and endeavored to gain a position among the rocks, where they could defend themselves, as to proceed would be certain death to aH who wouJd be unhorsed, while the savages continued their pursuit, whi ch they would in all probability do until the last man should be killed; but the Indians anti c-· ipated t:htir movement, and before they reached the rocks three of their number were kiJll~d. From that time, which was about the middle of the day, they fought the Indians, who swarmed around them thickly till after dark during which time another man was killed, and four wounded, two mortalJy. On obtaining possession of the animals at about 8 or 9 o:clock in the m,ening, most of the Indians drew off, whooping and singing hideously . Soon after 1,he Indians retired, the seven men '"''ho were unhurt, with the two who had e ach an arm broken, left their position just as the moon was riRing, taking with them t-ht~ n"' o \,\;ho were mortally wounded, and carrying them down to the bank of :the , creek, where they placed them side by side, life in each being nearly extinct, and then left them and moved slowly and eautiously in the direction of the settlements in Box Elder. They were five days without food, and fortunately met a large company of emigrants some six miles beyond Bear river, bound for Humboldt, from whom they obtained relief. Samuel Riley, one of the wounded men, and two others named Jackson and Grant, returned with that company, who had some thirty wagons and about eighty armed men. The other six, C. McBride, J. Andrews, James White, Eil Wilkinson, . ,,_.. • Lawson, and Johnson Foster, the latter wounded in the arm, came on to Brigham City, where they arrived on Thursday, and from thence to this city, where they will remain a few days, and then proceed on their way to the east . 8 The Indians, in addition to their horses, blankets, etc o, got a considerable quantity of ammunition and most of the arms with which the company were well suppliedo How many of the Indians were killed and wounded was not known,,_but maµy_of them were seen to falL The names of the killed, as given by Mro Mc Bride j were John Comer, whose relatives reside near Fulton, Callaway county, Mo; John Sha:rp, from Callaway county; Mro Goodman, from near St. Louis; Joseph Snow, of Napa Valley, CaL; William Davis, of Stockton, CaL, and Benjamin White, from Missouri or Arkansas o This is reported to have been the fifth or sixth company of emigrants, some of them. large and having a great amount of stock !) which has been attacked and used up in that vicinity withi n the l ast six or eight weeks by the same band, as supposedo Additional information about this affair appeared i n the Deseret News, November 26: In the thirteenth number of the current volume we gave an account of an attack on a company of emigrants by a band of Indians near City Rocks, on the 11th of September, in which it was stated that, of the fifteen men composing the party, six were killed and two wounded. The statements made in relation to the tragic affair were derived from Mr. McBride and others of the party, who fortunately, effected their escape. The incidents of the attack and the circumstances attending the escape of the survivors, as narrated by them, have by recent r epo rts, been corroborated, and they appear to have been substantially true and co rrect in eve ry particular, with the exception of the item in relation to the numbe r killed, said to have been six, Mihleh they no doubt supposed was the case, but it has been ascertained that there were only two of the party killed during the fight, and six wounded, two of whom were able to come away with those who left the battle ~ ground that night--two were left, as stated, supposed to be mortally wounded, and the other two, severely wounded, had concealed themselves in the brush or among the r ocks where they remained unapprised of the departure of their comrades in the dark , who had good reasons for believing that they were dead o One of the four thus wounded and left was subsequently found and killed by the Indianso The other three are reported to be yet aHve, having been rescued after many days of severe suffering, by the company of r emigrants under Capt. Pric~, who were met by McBride and those with him, at, or near, the Maladeo 0 0 The statement of CapL Price who, with hi s company, arrived at Virginia City, Nevada Territory, a few weeks since, sets forth that his train met McBride and the others who left the battle-field with him , at the crossing of the Malade, seven days after the fight. Three of the party, Messrs, Jackson, Reilley and Grant, joined his train and went back, and the others came on towards Salt Lake. During the second fight after two of the wounded men, supposed to have been killed, Messrs o Goodman and Sharp came into camp, almost overcome with starvation and exhaustiono These men were badly wounded, one of them, Goodman, having been shot through one of his lungs; they had tasted no food for nine days and nights excepting rosebuds; had lain hidden in the willows on the bank of the stream every day and traveled on foot every night, half clad, although the weather was so cold that ice froze to the thick-. ness of half an inch and the ground was covered with a white frosL In this way they had managed to drag themselves about twenty m iles from the scene of conflicL 9 Goodman and Sharp informed Price I s party that two wounded men, White and Comer, or Komer, were still in the vicinity of the battleground, and eleven horsemen were immediately despatched to hring them into camp. They reached the spot be~ore ::day_7 light, where they found Comer stowed away in the willows. He had remained there ten days, subsisting or rather starving gradually, on rosebuds, unable to get away, and tortured by the pains of nine bullet wounds, added to which was the suffering he experienced from the bitter coldness of the weathero White remained exposed where he fell, during five days and nights, when a party of the Indians returned and killed and scalped himo Comer was placed on a sheet and carried about five miles by the horsemen. Here they stopped until the train came up. After the three dead men had been interred, the train moved on. Comer werit on with'the 'Company ,to Virginia City, the other two, Goodman and Sharp, stopped at Unionville, Humboldt county o In referring to their sufferings and hardships, the Enterprise says: "the three men are rapidly recovering from their wounds and the effects of the terrible hardships they have experienced; and if a restoration to health leaves their tenacity of life unimpaired, insurance .c ompanies need not be afraid to take risks on them o " The men composing the company thus attacked by the savages, and so effectually used up--those who escaped unhurt having lost everything they had with them ex cepting what clothes they had on, apart of their arms and some little change in the i r pockets, and those wounded who so marvellously escaped death having suffered more than most men could have endured and lived, are represented to have been seceders, or sympathizers with the Confederate cause, and their misfortunates and sufferings have not been much lamented by their acquaintances in California and Nevada, professing to be of the Union faith. Military retaliation against the Indians followed the fights at Almo. Forces sent out by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor (who was leading California's Civil War Volunteers to Salt Lake) had little or no success finding the Indians who had participated in the Almo incidentso But they managed to attack a lot of other Indians along that stretch of the California trail. When Connor got to Ruby Valley (near later Elko, Nevada), he heard of the trouble near City of Rocks, and received all kinds of wild reports of a massacre at Gravelly Ford on the California trail west of Ruby Valleyo One particularly wild embellishment attributed much of the trouble to an imaginary gang of California Confederates headed east to help the South fight the Civil War. A preliminary search of the country around Gravelly Ford showed that some of the rumors were wild~ A military correspondent of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, October 4, noted that signs of Indian hostility were found even though the Gravelly Ford massacre was a fake: The telegraph and Carson Valley papers have of late deposited in your sanctum numerous items concerning butcheries of emigrants by the Indians at the City of Rocks and Gravelly Ford, distant here, from some 75 miles. No little sensational zest has been added thereto by the supposition--set about by a Carson editor and sought to be corraborated by an ingenius set of minor suppositions--that a large number of seccessionists had started across the Plains for Jefferson D 1 s Kingdom, and being poorly furnished with funds, animals and provisions, had either instigated the Indians to capture emigrant trains, or else had disguised themselves as Indians and chosen to supply their smaller necessities in the same way that the said Jeffer·son De supplies his larger necessities, viz., by stealing and murder. 10 d at the On the receipt of the telegra phic informa tion that a difficul ty had occurre there.;.. ins mounta the in be Ford, and that a party of secessi onists was suppose d to SergL abouts, Col. Connor sent out Mr. Butterf ield, the Indian interpr eter, and They hly. thoroug around country Newton of Compan y G. with orders to scout the the of left on the 17th of Septem ber, and camped near Gravell y Ford on the night were 20th. Except the marks of the camp fires, no traces of an emigra nt party o o o visible , and no sign whatev er of the massac re present ed themse lves o en, of a The scouts could neither see nor learn anythin g from the Indians overtak the Indparty of white men; and while it is possibl e that a few renegad es accomp any of party armed well and ians, yet you may set down as a fat hoax the story of a "large after secessi onists beyond Unionv ille. " One thing is certain , that our scouts cannot, more yet is thing better a and the most diligent search, discove r even one secesh.; by colocertain , namely , that while two of Califor nia' s regime nts are comma nded n, nels who are strongl y suspect ed of being sympat hizers with this inferna l rebellio he will neither there is not a single drop of suspect ed blood in CoL Connor ' s veins; comes spare any vigilan ce or labor to apprehe nd any party of misera ble traitors that in this ng lyi of instead within reach. I only wish we had a chance on the Potoma c, typhoid fever basin. the Ind-· Everyw here our scouts found convinc ing signs of hostilit y upon the part of hed ians; and before this reaches you a large force of cavalry will have been despatc the in Indian male to Gravell y Ford and the City of Rocks with orders to shoot every ago, region of the late murder s. Said cavalry would have been sent out some time e measur a such render to had the contrac tor furnish ed us with supplie s sufficie nt possibl e. No prisone rs will be taken. Evening Bulletin , A report of Connor 's plans of Septem ber 29 appeare d in San Francis co's Octobe r 8, 1862: corn in Col. Connor has made arrange ments for putting several grains of very hot days the ears of the Indians who commit ted the late butcher ies~ For two or three red longhai he has been holding patent pow-wo ws with red·- painted , buffalo ·-robed, which chiefs. I can never look at their heads without being remind ed of the hymn to the not is that speaks of a narrow road "with here and there a travele ro" But cliques . point; the point is that the Shosho nes are divided into number less bands or the commit not did bands These chiefs profess to know exactly what band did or what cavalry murder s. The Colonel , in addition to sending out by differen t routes two the of~ers hly, thoroug region compan ies with orders to scour the Gravell y Ford who chiefs aforesa id $50 for each live corpus produce d in the camp, of the Indians -particip ated in the late slaught ers . In the event of the chiefs claimin g the reward aries million be and they started off exceedi ngly filled with the idea that they would to a tree in a week at the farthes t--the Colonel propos es to hang said live corpuse s ing murder . for nt pencha and leave them as a warning to other Indians who have a wise, w~ite men and ravishin g emigra nt girls . Making Indian fight Indian is very way only the is rs offende and upon the plains rather novel strateg y, while hanging were to stop offense s. Hanging horse-·t hieves in '49 was severe, rather; but cri:tnes the Indiof less frequen t occurre nce than in '62. Hanging Indians may be severe on women men, ans, but it will be the means of preserv ing alive thousan ds of emigra nt · and childre n. 11 If there should happen to be secesh thereabouts, wouldn't it be fun! and if some or all of them should happen to get "destroyed, " wouldn't the traitors in your State howl ?--especially those born in the North, who are the meanest, most putrid, and smallest-souled trucklers the Devil ever lovedo Connor's orders to Major Edward McGarry, September 29, provided for a search for Confederate guerrillas (in case there were any) as well as for Indians: You will proceed hence to-morrow morning with Company H, of your regiment, to the confluence of the South Fork with the main Humboldt River, and there await until joined by Captain Smith's company (K), of your regimenL On the route thence you will examine every valley or place where you have reason to believe guerrillas or hostile Indians are congregated whom you will capture; but if they resist you will destroy themo In no instance will you molest women or children. If on the route to Humboldt friendly Indians deliver to you Indians who were concerned in the late murder of emigrants, you will (being satisfied of their guilt) immediately hang them, and leave their bodies thus exposed as an example of what evil-doers may expect while I command in this districL When you are joined by Captain Smith 1 s company you will proceed by the northern overland route via City of Rocks to a point about ten miles north of Salt Lake City, where you will leave your command and report to me in person if I am in the vicinity of the city" If not, await further orders at the point designated" On the route from South Fork of Humboldt to Bear River you will spare no pains to discover the whereabouts of a band of traitors or guerrillas re ·ported to be encamped in the vicinity of Humboldt, and who are believed to be the instigators, if not the participants, in the late Indian murders . If you should di scover such a band you will take them prisoners and convey them to headquarters near Salt Lake, but if they should resist you will destroy them without mercy. You will also destroy every male Indian whom you may encounter in the vicinity of the late massacres o This course may seem harsh and severe, but I desire that the order may be rigidly enforced, as I am satisfied that in the end it will prove the most mercifuL After he rejoined Connor at Camp Douglas near Salt Lake, Edward McGarry reported on his trip over the California trail by way of City of Rocks looking for Indians: September 29, to proceed Agreeably to your orders, dated Fort Ruby, Nev. Ter Cavalry California Vo1'Second H, Company with 30th) (the day thence on the next unteers, on the northern Overland Route, via the "City of Rocks," in quest of guerrillas or hostile Indians supposed to have congregated there, I hav·e the honor to report that, having left Fort Ruby on the day specified, I overtook, on the second day I s march, Cap to S, P. Smith, of the Second Cavalry, who preceded me with his company the day before, and who was encamped in Pine Valley. Here I remained awaiting the return of the Indians who accompanied Captain Smith, and who had been sent out by him to bring in hostile Indians. Having been informed that fires were seen near our camp, I dispatched Captain Smith with a portion of his comp~ny, at night, to learn of them~ He returned next morning and reported, "No trace of Indians"" On the morning of the 4th we took up the line of march, on the route desig-. nated, and arrived at Gravelly Ford on the 5th without having discovered any Indianso Here on the 7th I sent Captain Smith and Lieut. Dravin Chase with a party of men · down the river, and Lieut. George Do Conrad up the south side of the Humboldt, with c , 12 instructio ns to scour the country" for hostile Indians or guerillas, and to report to me, at a place designated , on the north side of the Humboldt, where I encamped on the 9th with the balance of the command. This evening (the 9th) some of the com~ mand enticed into the camp three Indians; two of them were armed with rifles and the other with bow and arrows. I immediate ly ordered their arms takenfr.o m them; and placed them under a guard, intending to retain them until the arrival of my interprete r, who was with the detachmen t under Lieutenan t Conrad. A short time after their arrest the Indians made an attempt to obtain their arms, and, having succeeded , they resisted the guard and broke and ran a short distance; they were fired upon by the guard and crippled. Fearing that they would escape, and not wishing to hazard the lives of my men in recapturin g them alive, I ordered the guard to fire and they were killed on the spot. Here on the 10th Captain Smith joined the command, and reported that he had received no informatio n nor had he seen any signs of guerrillas or hostile Indians. On the 11th I proceeded on the march, having sent out the officers of the command with instructio ns that if Indians were found to bring them into camp. Captain Smith, having been sent in advance, had not proceeded more than ten or twelve miles when he came upon a party of about fourteen:o r fiffoen Indians, -who were armed 'With rifles and bows and arrows. He surrounde d them and took from them their arms~ Immediately after, the Indians attempted to escape by jumping in the river . They were fired upon and nine of them killed. On the same day Lieutenan t Conrad and party brought into camp three Indians and an Indian child. Captain Smith returned in the evening with two squaws. Next day (the 12th) Captain McLean returned, bringing in one Indian and a squaw. Same day Lieutenan t Clark returned with one Indian; another Indian was captured during th~ evening. The next day (the 13th) I told two of the Indians, through the interprete r, that if they would go and bring in Indians v;1ho were engaged in the massacre of emigrants I would release them, but that if they did not return that night I would kill all the Indians I held as prisoners in camp" The next mornfng (the J 4th), hearing nothing from the Indians I had sent out the day previous, I put to death four of those remaining , and re leased the squaws and child, tell in::; tbcm that we were se r.t there to punish Indians ·Hho were e ;:igaged in the mas-· sac re of emigrants , and instructed them to tell al1 the Indians that if they did not desist from ki1ling emigrants that I would return there next summer and destroy them. On the next day (the 15th) I sent Lieutepan ts Chase and Conrad with a detach·ment on the south side of the Humboldt with instructio ns as before. They came upon a party of Indians encamped in the mountains , armed with rifles and bows and ar-· The Ihdfans, They were surrounde d and their arms taken from them. rows. attempting to escape, were fired upon, when eight of their number were killed. The balance of the route no · traces of Indians were seen. On the 28th I arrived at:the place designated by you; the next day" at about 3 o ' d ock p. m. ,, arrived at thi s camp" The route is a good one, with an abundance of gr.ass and water. In con·-· clusion, it affords me great pleasure to report the e ffic iency of the officers and the good conduct of the men of the command, without the loss of any. Inaccurate accounts of McGarry 1 s expedition were published, including a dispatch, October 29, to the Sacrament o Daily Union, October 30, 1862, which got the right number of Indians shot, but had some details confused: 13 Major McGarry, commanding companies H and K, Second Cavalry, California Volunteers, who was sent from Ruby Valley on to the Humboldt by Colonel Connor, to chastise the Indians who murdered the immigrants this Fall, arrived at Fort Douglas, near this city, last night. Between Gravelly Ford and City of Rocks the Major captured twenty-six Indians. He held twenty-four of them as hostages, sending two out to bring in the Indians who committed the murders--informing the two that unless they returned within a certain number of days he would shoot the remaining twentyfour As the two did not return in the time specified, the twenty-four were taken out and shot. The order from Colonel Connor was to hang all Indians that it should be found necessary to execute, but as the Major could not find trees large enough, he was compelled to carry out the order as above statedo He reports that nearly all of the Humboldt Indi ans have gone to the buffalo range on a big hunt. His command appears to be in good health and spirits o o Exaggerated tales about the 'clashes between Indians and emigrants in the Massacre Rocks and City of Rocks incidents also were published, and a correspondent from The Dalles, Oregon, October 16, 1.862 (quoted in the Evening Bulletin, October 30, 1862) discounted many-·-but not all---of the more lurid reports which had gotten into circulation that fall: There does not seem to be a doubt among the best informed circles here, that no fear need be entertained of any trouble with the Indians on the frontier the coming winter. The bands of Snakes, high upon that river, will doubtless be troublesome until punished n The slight success that they have had the present season will encourage them t o further acts of atrocity, and the only way to put a stop to their de predations is to chastise them severely. Three-fourths, if not nine·- tenths, of the stories told about Indian fights and massacres on the Snake river, are untrue. A few persons have been killed by the Indjans--probably the result of their own im-· prudencen In passing through the Indian country, companies should have a military organiz,ation--keep the Indians off.--•and never allow themselves to be surprisedo This done, and there would be no fear from Indians. Why false stories of murders by Indians are put in circulation, we cannot understand .. A California paper now before me says [following the account of an Oregon paper] that of an expedition of 60 men to Burnt river, 57 were killed by the Indians--a story made out of whole cloth, woof and chainn Other stories of the same character are equally false. There has been, however, a small fight on Boise river. That river is the home of Indians. A prospecting company which had gone there found the Indians hostile. They sent for reinforcements and sustained their position.