Benton County, Oregon - Chapter 19: Territorial Government of Oregon, 1885

" The house of representatives, as early as the middle of January, had passed the bill to give you a territorial government, and in that bill had sanctioned and legalized your provisional organic act, one of. the clauses of which forever prohibited the existence of slavery in Oregon. An amendment from the senate's committee to which this bill was referred, proposed to abrogate that prohibition, and in the delays and vexations to which that amendment gave rise, the whole bill was laid upon the table, and lost for the session. * * * But do not be alarmed or desperate. You will not be outlawed for not admitting slavery. * * * A home agitation, for election and disunion purposes, is all that is intended by thrusting this fire brand question into your bill ; and, at the next session, when it is thrust in again, we will scourge it out ! and pass your bill as it ought to be. * * * In conclusion, I have to assure you that the same spirit which has made me the friend of Oregon for thirty years - which led me to denounce the joint occupation treaty the day it was made, and to oppose its revival in 1828, and to labor for its abrogation until it was terminated ; the same spirit which led me to reveal the grand destiny of Oregon in articles written in 1818, and to support every measure for her benefit since - this spirit still animates me, and will continue to do so while I live - which, I hope, will be long enough to see an emporium of Asiatic commerce at the mouth of your river, and a stream of Asiatic trade pouring into the valley of the Mississippi through the channel of Oregon." Would that the grand old statesman could have lived to see his prophecy fulfilled in the new era upon which far off Oregon - now far off no longer - has so propitiously entered.

These letters were both disheartening and cheering. The people felt despondent at being so neglected by the authorities of their loved country, but were cheered by the thought that warm friends were laboring for their welfare far beyond the reach of their grateful voices. Hon. J. Quinn Thornton, supreme judge of the provisional government, had been, during the past year, frequently urged by influential men, to proceed to Washington and labor with congress in behalf of Oregon. In particular had the lamented Dr. Whitman requested him so to do, asserting that only the establishment of a strong territorial government, one that the Indians would recognize as powerful, would " save him and his mission from falling under the murderous hands of savages." Mr. Thornton recognized the importance of such a delegate, and solicited Hon. Peter H. Burnett, subsequently the first governor of California., to undertake the mission, but without success. The news of the state of affairs at Washington brought by Mr. Shively, decided Mr. Thornton, and on the eighteenth of October, 1847, having resigned his judicial office, he departed on his arduous mission, armed with a letter from Governor Abernethy to President Polk. Mr. Thornton was by no means a regularly constituted delegate, since Oregon was not authorized to accredit such an official to congress, but simply went as a private individual, representing in an unofficial manner the governor and many of the prominent citizens of Oregon. In fact the legislature, deeming its functions infringed upon by this action of the governor, passed resolutions embodying their idea of the harm done the colony by the officiousness of " secret factions."

There was not ready money enough in the treasury to have paid the passage of Mr. Thornton, even had it been at his disposal. A collection was taken up, contributions being made partly in coin but chiefly in flour, clothing, and anything that could be of service or was convertible into money. A contract was made with Captain Roland Gelston, of the bark Whitton, to convey Mr. Thornton to Panama, and the vessel sailed at once for San Francisco, and thence to San Juan, on the coast of Lower California. Here the Captain informed his passenger that he must decline to fulfill his contract, as he desired to engage in the coasting trade. From the perplexing dilemma he was extricated by Captain Montgomery, commanding the United States sloop of war, Portsmouth, then lying at anchor in the harbor. This gentleman deemed the mission of Mr. Thornton of sufficient importance to the government to justify him in leaving his station and returning with his vessel to the Atlantic coast. He accordingly tendered the delegate the hospitalities of his cabin, and set sail as soon as preparations could be made for the voyage. The Portsmouth arrived in Boston harbor on the second of May, 1848, and Mr. Thornton at once hastened to Washington to consult with President Polk and Senators Benton and Douglas, those warm champions of Oregon, as to the proper course to pursue. By them he was advised to prepare a memorial to be presented to congress, setting forth the condition and needs of the people whom he represented. This he did, and the document was presented to the senate by Mr. Benton, and was printed for the use of both branches of congress. Mr. Thornton also drafted a bill for organizing a territorial government, which was introduced and placed upon its passage. This bill contained a clause prohibiting human slavery, and for this reason was as objectionable to the slaveholding force in congress as had been the previous one. Under the lead of Senators Jefferson Davis and John C. Calhoun, this wing of the national legislature made a vigorous onslaught upon the bill, and fought its progress step by step with unabated determination, resorting to all the legislative tactics known, to so delay its consideration that it could not be finally passed by the hour of noon on the fourteenth of August, the time fixed by joint resolution for the close of that session of congress.

The contest during the last two days of the session was exciting in the extreme, and the feeling intense throughout the Union. The friends of the bill had decided upon a policy of " masterly inactivity," refraining entirely from debate and yielding the floor absolutely to the " filibusters," who were therefore much distressed for means to consume the slowly passing hours. Though silent in speech they were constantly present in force to prevent the opposition from gaining time by an adjournment. The bill was then on its second passage in the senate, for the purpose of concurrence with amendments which had been added by the house. On Saturday morning, August 12, the managers of the bill decided to prevent an adjournment until it had been disposed of, having a sufficient majority to pass it. The story of that memorable contest is thus told by Mr. Thornton, who sat throughout the scene an earnest spectator :

" I re-entered the senate chamber with the deepest feelings of solicitude, and yet hopeful because of the assurances which had been given to me by the gentlemen I have named. [Douglas, Benton and Hale.] I soon saw, however, that Calhoun and Butler, of South Carolina; Davis and Foote, of Mississippi; and Hunter and Mason of Virginia, as leaders of the opposition, had girded up their loins and had buckled on their armor for the battle. The friends of the bill, led by Mr. Benton, having taken their position, waited calmly for the onset of their adversaries, who spent Saturday until the usual hour of adjournment in skirmishing in force, as if feeling the strength of their opponents. When the motion was made at the usual time in the afternoon for adjournment, the friends of the bill came pouring out of the retiring rooms, and on coming inside the bar they voted 'No' with very marked emphasis. * * * This state of affairs continued until after night. [Here ensued a series of filibustering tactics, during which a personal altercation between Judge Butler and Senator Benton came near resulting in blows.} General Foote, the collegue of Jeff. Davis, then rose, and in a drawling tone assumed for the occasion, said his powers of endurance, he believed, would enable him to continue his address to the senate until Monday, 12 o'clock M., and although he could not promise to say much on the subject of the Oregon bill, he could not doubt that he would be able to interest and greatly edify distinguished senator The friends of the bill, seeing what was before them, posted a page in the doorway opening into one of the retiring rooms, and then, after detailing a few of their number to keep watch and ward on the floor of the senate, withdrew into the room of which I have spoken, to chat and tell anecdotes and to drink wine, or perhaps something even much stronger, and thus to wear away the slowly and heavily passing hours of that memorable Saturday night. Soon great clouds of smoke filled the room, and from it issued the sound of the chink of glasses, and of loud conversation, almost drowning the eloquence of the Mississippi senator, as he repeated the bible story of the cosiriogany of the world, the creation of man, the taking from his side of the rib from which Eve was made, her talking with the ' snake/ as he called the evil one, the fall of man, etc. etc. The galleries were soon deserted. Many of the aged senators prostrated themselves upon the sofas in one of the retiring rooms, and slumbered soundly, while * thoughts that breathed and words that burned' fell in glowing eloquence from the lips of the Mississippi senator, as he continued thus to instruct and edify the few watching friends of the bill, who, notwithstanding the weight of seventy years pressed heavily upon some of them, were as wide awake as the youngest; and they sat firm and erect in their seats, watching with lynx eyes every movement of the adversaries of the bill.

"At intervals of about an hour, the speaker would yield the floor to a motion for adjournment, coming from the opposition. Then the sentinel page at the door would give notice to the waking senators in the retiring room, and these would immediately arouse the slumbering senators, and all would then rush pell mell through the doorway, and when the inside of the bar was reached, would vote 'No' with a thundering emphasis. Occasionally southern senators, toward Sunday morning, relieved Gen. Foote by short, dull speeches, to which the friends of the bill vouchsafed no answers ; so that Mr. Calhoun and his pro-slavery subordinates had things for the most part all their own way until Sabbath morning, August 13, 1848, at about eight o'clock, when the leading opponents of the bill collected together in a knot, and after conversing together a short time in an undertone, the Mississippi senator who had been so very edifying and entertaining during the night, said that no further opposition would be made to taking a vote on the bill. The ayes and nayes were then called and the bill passed."

Not alone to Mr. Thornton is due the honor of representing Oregon at Washington during that long struggle for justice. Another delegate, one with even better credentials than the first, was there to aid in the work. This was Joseph L. Meek, the mountaineer and trapper whose name is indelibly inscribed upon the early annals of the Pacific coast. When the massacre of the martyred Whitman and his associates at Waiilatpu plunged the settlers into a state of mingled grief and alarm, it was thought necessary to dispatch a messenger at once to Washington to impart the intelligence, impress the authorities with the precarious situation of the colony, and appeal for protection. Winter had set in with all its vigors in the mountains. The terrible journey made at that season six years before by Dr. Whitman, on his patriotic mission, the same person whose martyrdom now rendered a second journey necessary, was fresh in the minds of all, and appalled the stoutest heart. Mr. Thornton had taken the longer but safer route by sea, but time was too precious, too much was at stake, to admit of the delay such a journey would impose, even if the vessel were at hand to afford the means. Nothing but a trip across the thousands of miles of snow-bound mountains, plains and deserts, would be of any avail. In the emergency all turned to Joseph L. Meek as the one man in their midst whose intrepid courage, great powers of physical endurance, long experience in mountain life and familiarity with the routes of travel and Indian tribes to be encountered, rendered him capable of undertaking the task with a good prospect of success. Unhesitatingly he accepted the mission, resigned his seat in the legislature, received his credentials as a delegate from that body, and set out on the fourth of January for Washington, accompanied by John Owens and George Ebberts, who decided to go with him and avail themselves of his services as guide and director. At The Dalles they were forced to delay several weeks until the arrival of the Oregon volunteers rendered it safe for them to proceed, since the whole upper country was overrun by hostile Indians. \

They accompanied the troops to Waiilatpu, where Meek had the mournful satisfaction of assisting in the burial of the victims of Cayuse treachery, among whom was his own daughter, and then were escorted by a company of troops to the base of the Blue mountains, where they finally entered upon their long and solitary journey. By avoiding the Indians as much as possible, and whenever encountered by them representing themselves as Hudson's Bay Company men, they reached Fort Boise in safety. Here two of four new volunteers for the journey became discouraged and decided to remain. The other five travelers pushed on to Fort Hall, saving themselves from the clutch of the Bannacks only by Meek's experience in dealing with the savages. It is needless to recount the many hardships they endured, the sleepless nights and dinnerless days, the accidents, dangers, fatigues, narrow escapes from hostile Indians and the thousand discomforts and misadventures to which they were subjected. It is sufficient to say that through all these they passed in safety, never forgetting for an instant the imperative necessity for haste, and never flinching from the trials that lay in their pathway. The hearty invitation to spend a few weeks here or there in the few places where they encountered friends and comfortable quarters, was resolutely declined, and with only such delay as was absolutely required, they plunged again into the snowy mountain passes with their faces resolutely set towards the rising sun. They reached St. Joseph in but little more than two months after leaving the Willamette valley, having made the quickest trip across the continent that had been accomplished at any season of the year.

Meek was now reduced to most embarrassing straits. Dressed in buckskin and blanket clothes and wolf skin cap, ragged and dirty in the extreme, beard and hair long and unkempt, without money or friends, how to get to Washington or how to conduct himself when there, were perplexing questions. His solution of the difficulty was a characteristic one. By making a clown of himself at one place, by assuming an air of importance and dignity at another, he succeeded in reaching the city of his destination only a week or two later than Mr. Thornton, though his news from Oregon was four months fresher than that brought by his predecessor. The united labors of these two men brought about the result which has been detailed, the passage of the act of August 14, 1848, creating the territory of Oregon.

President Polk, the staunch friend of Oregon, the man who had been elevated to the chief office in the nation amid the universal shout of " Fifty-four- forty-or-fight ! " was eager to have the work consummated before the expiration of his term on the fourth of the ensuing March. To, this end he appointed Meek marshal of the new territory, and delegated him to convey a governor's commission to General Joseph Lane, then residing in Indiana and unaware of the honor to be conferred, or the sacrifice to be required, in which ever light it may be viewed. With that promptness of decision and action which was General Lane's distinguishing characteristic, he accepted the commission on the spot, and in three days had disposed of his property, wound up his business affairs and begun his journey to the far off wilds of Oregon. They were escorted by a detachment of troops, and after a journey of six months, by the way of New Mexico and Arizona, seven only of the party reached San Francisco, two having died on the route and the others having deserted to try their fortunes in the new gold fields of the Sierra. These seven were General Lane, Marshal Meek, Lieutenant Hawkins, Surgeon Hayden and three enlisted men. Taking passage in the schooner Jeannellc, they reached the Columbia river after a tedious voyage of eighteen days, ascended that stream to Oregon City, a distance of 120 miles, in small boats, reaching that place, then the seat of government, on the second of March, 1849. The following day Governor Lane issued his proclamation and assumed the duties of his office, being but one day before the expiration of President Polk's official term.

The first territorial officers of Oregon were : governor, Joseph Lane ; secretary, Kintzing Pritchett ; treasurer, James Taylor ; auditor, B. Gervais ; chief justice, William P. Bryant ; associate justices, O. C. Pratt and P. A. Burnett ; United States marshal, Joseph L. Meek ; superintendent of common schools, James McBride ; librarian, W. T. Matlock ; territorial printer, Wilson Blain ; commissioner of Cayuse war claims, A. A. Skinner. All of these officials, save the governor, secretary, marshal and judges, were appointed by the legislature when it convened in the fall.

General Lane appointed census marshals as provided for in the organic act, who reported the population of the territory as shown in the following table:

Subsequent to the departure of Thornton and Meek upon their mission to Washington, but prior to the return of the latter with Governor Lane, a new era set in on the Pacific coast. On the nineteenth of January, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold on the south fork of the American river, in California. Marshall had come to Oregon in the immigration of 1844, and had the next year passed south into California, where he entered the employment of Captain John A. Sutter, who had crossed the plains to Oregon in 1838 and to California by way of the Sandwich islands in 1839. Jn the fall of 1847, Marshall went up into the Sierras east of Sutter's settlement of New Helvetia (Sacramento), and began building a saw mill for his employer, which was nearly completed at the time he accidentally discovered gold in the tail race. All California was excited by the discovery, and nearly every able-bodied man abandoned everything and hastened to the mines. The intelligence did not reach Oregon until the following August, and the effect upon such a class of adventurous spirits as composed the pioneers can well be imagined. There was at once a great rush for California, and it looked as though Oregon would be deserted and relegated back to the dominion of the Hudson's Bay Company and Indians. This, however, was but temporary. Family and business ties held many back and hastened the return of others, many bringing with them heavy sacks of the yellow treasure. What had at first promised to be an overwhelming calamity soon proved a bountiful blessing. Thousands of men poured into California from every quarter of the world, and a brisk demand at once sprung up for the grain, flour, vegetables and food products of all kinds which Oregon could produce in abundance, but for which no market had previously existed. California gold began to pour into Oregon in a steady stream, commerce began to assume large proportions, a custom house was established at Astoria, and this region made great strides on the road to wealth and prosperity. This sudden increase in business gave rise to a direct infringement of the constitutional prohibition of the coinage of money by state governments or individuals, and this forms one of the most interesting episodes of Oregon history.

During the winter of 1848-9 people began straggling back from the California mines, bringing with them sacks of gold dust. As a circulating medium gold in such a shape was inconvenient and certain to decrease in quantity as it passed from hand to hand, and an ounce was only called the equivalent of eleven dollars in trade, though intrinsically worth at least sixteen. Commerce and business generally suffered much inconvenience from the lack of coin, and to remedy the evil the legislature passed an act providing for the " assaying, melting, and coining of gold." The advent of Governor Lane and the decease of the provisional government, operated to render the act void before it could be carried into effect. Still the necessity for money increased, and the want was supplied by private enterprise. A company was organized by responsible and wealthy men, which issued five and ten dollar " Beaver " coins, bearing on one side the figure of a beaver, over which appeared the initial letters of the names of the members of the company - Kilbourn, Magruder, Taylor, Abernethy, Wilson, Rector, Campbell, Smith - and underneath " O. T. 1849." On the reverse side was : " Oregou Exchange Company, 130 Grains Native Gold, 5 D.," or "10 pwts, 20 grains, 10 D." The dies by which the coins were stamped were made by Hamilton Campbell, and the press and rolling machinery by William Rector. The workmanship was quite creditable. The intrinsic worth of these coins being greater than their representative value, they quickly passed from circulation when the government coins appeared in quantity, and are now only to be found in the keeping of pioneers, in the cabinets of curiosity preservers or the collections of numismatologists.

During the next four years the progress of the territory was marked. In 1851 gold was found to exist in great quantities in Southern Oregon, and that region soon teemed with a restless population of miners. Towns and cities sprung up, and the fertile valley lands were located on by settlers and brought under the dominion of the plow. These changes were accompanied by the inevitable trouble with the native owners of the soil, and the scenes of horror which marked them are recounted in other chapters.

By the act of March 3, 1853, congress set off the territory of Washington from that of Oregon, and gave to it a separate political existence. Oregon at that time contained 341,000 square miles, equal in area fo the six great states of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, by far too large for admission into the Union as a single state. Through it ran the great Columbia river, dividing it into nearly equal parts from the ocean to Fort Walla Walla, where it made a long sweep to the north and east. That portion of the territory lying north and west of this great stream was called Northern Oregon, and within it were a number of small settlements, which included a population, " Quite as great," declared Joseph Lane in congress, " as the whole of Oregon at the period of its organization into a territory." In 1833 the fort at Nisqually, near the head of Puget sound, was located by the Hudson's Bay Company, and soon after the Puget Sound Agricultural Company began to graze cattle and sheep in the vicinity, and to cultivate the lands. These were guarded by the stockade and buildings afterwards occupied by U. S. troops, and known as Fort Steilacoom. In 1838 the Rev. F. N. Blanchet and Rev. M. Demers, of the Society of Jesus of the Roman Catholic faith, established a mission at Fort Vancouver, and soon after one was located on Cowlitz prairie near a post that had been established by the Hud- son's Bay Company. In 1839 the Methodists by Revs. David Leslie and W. H. Wilson, and the Catholics by Father Deiners, each established missions at Nisqually.

It was the desire of Great Britain, during the decade previous to the treaty of 1846, to have the Columbia river declared the boundary line between its possessions and those of the United States. To this end efforts of the Hudson's Bay Company were directed, and they looked with disfavor upon the making of any settlements north of that stream by Americans. Nevertheless, in 1844, Col. M. T. Simmons made an unsuccessful attempt to reach Puget sound, having crossed the plains the year before. In 1845, with a few companions, he renewed his efforts and located at the head of the sound, where the Des Chutes river empties into Budd's inlet. Their little settlement was called New Market, now the town of Tumwater, but a mile from Olympia. To this, no active opposition was made by the company ; and in the few following years many other Americans located along the Cowlitz and other streams, and about the head of the sound. The immigrants brought out by the company from the Red river settlements in 1841, whose arrival created so much anxiety in the minds of the Americans, located chiefly on the Cowlitz, in accordance with the plan of making the Columbia the dividing line.

June 27, 1844, the Oregon Provisional Government designated all the territory north and west of the Columbia, Vancouver county ; but owing to the settlements alluded to, that portion lying west of the Cowlitz was made Lewis county ; and the name of Clarke was given to Vancouver county in 1849.

Captain Lafayette Beach founded Steilacoora in January, 1851. In February of the same year Pacific county was created, because of the thriving settlements of Pacific City and Chinook that had sprung up on the north bank of the Columbia, near its mouth. In April, 1851, Port Townsend was located. Congress ertablished the Puget Sound Collection District February 14, 1851, and a custom house was located during the year at Olympia, then the only town on the sound. On the third of November, 1851, the sloop Georgiana, Captain Rowland, sailed with twenty-two passengers for Queen Charlotte's island, where gold had been discovered. On the nineteenth the vessel was cast ashore on the east side of the island, was plundered by the Indians, and the crew and passengers were held in captivity. Upon receipt of the news, the collector of customs at Olympia dispatched the Damariscove, Captain Balch, with a force of volunteers and U. S. troops from Fort Steilacoom, which had been garrisoned after the treaty of 184(5. The schooner sailed on the eighteenth of December, and returned to Olympia \vith the rescued men the last day of January, 1852.

In 1852 a superior article of coal was found, something much needed on the coast, and capital was at once invested in developing the mines. Three saw mills were built on the sound ; and during the year quite extensive shipments of coal, lumber and fish were made. Many claims were taken up on the fine agricultural lands, and all the elements for a vigorous growth were collected there. The chief settlements then in Northern Oregon were : Pacific City ; Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company headquarters, consisting of 100 houses occupied by its employees, chiefly Kanakas, enclosed by picket fences, and defended by armed bastions and a blockhouse ; Forts Walla Walla, Okinagan and Colville, further up the Columbia ; Olympia, a new town on the sound; Fort Nisqually on the sound, occupied by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, who owned extensive farms and supplied provisions to the Hudson's Bay Company, besides shipping products to the Sandwich islands and the Russian post at Sitka. These with many settlements along the sound and between it and the Columbia, formed a section distinct from Oregon proper, with which they had no community of interest, and from whom, being in the minority in the legislature, they were unable to obtain many of the rights they deemed themselves entitled to. Many of them were 500 miles from the seat of the territorial government.

In September, 1852, the Columbian began publication in Olympia, and advocated the formation of a new territory, expressing the wish of a majority of the people in the Sound country. As to those east of the Cascades, they were so few in number, most of them belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, that they cared little about the matter. A convention of delegates from counties north of the river met at a little settlement on the Cowlitz called Monticello, to consider the question, November 25, 1852. A memorial to congress was prepared, stating the condition of this region and asking that body to create the territory of Columbia, out of that portion of Oregon lying north and west of the Columbia river. There was no conflict in this matter, the people of Oregon south of the river raising no objection to the proposed change. In fact, delegate Joseph Lane, living in Southern Oregon and elected by the votes of that section, procured the passage of the bill in congress. He first introduced the subject on the sixth of December, 1852, by procuring the passage of a resolution instructing the committee on territories to consider the question and report a bill. The committee reported House Bill No. 8, to organize the territory of Columbia, which came up on the eighth of February, 1853. Mr. Lane made a short speech and introduced the citizens' memorial signed by G. N. McCanaher, president of the convention, R. J. White, its secretary, and Quincy A. Brooks, Charles S. Hathaway, C. H. Winslow, John R. Jackson. D. S. Maynard, F. A. Clarke, and others. Richard H. Stanton, of Kentucky, moved to substitute the name of " Washington " for " Columbia," saying that we already had a District of Columbia while the name of the father of our country had been given to no territory in it. With this amendment the bill was passed through the house on the tenth with 128 votes for and 29 against it. On the second' of March, it was adopted by the senate and received the President's signature the following day.

The act created a territory more than twice the size asked for in the memorial being " All that portion of Oregon Territory lying and being south of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, and north of the middle main channel of the Columbia river, from its mouth to where the forty-sixth degree of north latitude crosses said river near Fort Walla Walla, thence with said forty -sixth degree of latitude to the summit of the Rocky mountains." This included all of Washington Territory as it now stands, and a portion of Idaho and Montana. The act was in the usual form creating territories, and provided for a governor, to be ex-officio commander-in-chief of militia and superintendent of Indian affairs, a secretary, a supreme court of three judges, an attorney, and a marshal, all to be appointed by the President for a term of four years. It also called for a delegate to congress, whose first term was to last only during the congress to which he was elected. A territorial legislature was created, with two branches - a council with nine members and a term of three years, the first ones to serve one, two and three years as decided by lot among them ; and a house of eighteen members, with a term of one year, to be increased from time to time to not more than thirty. Twenty thousand dollars were appropriated to defray the expenses of a census, after the taking of which the Governor was to apportion the members of the legislature and call an election to choose them and the delegate to congress. The first legislature was to meet at any place the Governor might select, and was then to fix the seat of government itself ; $5,000 were apportioned for public buildings, and the same amount for a library. County and local officers then serving were to hold their positions until successors were chosen under acts to be passed by the legislature of the new territory. Causes were to be transferred from the Oregon courts, and the territory was to be divided into three districts, in each of which one of the supreme judges was to hold a district court. Sections 1G and 36 of the public lands, or their equivalent, were given the territory for the benefit of public schools.

Soon after his inauguration President Pierce appointed Major Isaac I. Stevens, United States engineer, governor ; Charles H. Mason, of Rhode Island, secretary ; J. S. Clendenin, of Mississippi, attorney ; J. Patton Anderson, of Tennessee, marshal ; Edward Lander, of Indiana, chief justice; Victor Monroe, of Kentucky, and O. B. McFadden, of Pennsylvania, associate justices. Marshal Anderson arrived early in the summer, and took the census provided for in the act, returning a total population of 3,965, of whom 1,682 were voters. Governor Stevens was in charge of the expedition sent out by the war department to survey a northern route for a trans-continental railroad, and was thus occupied all the summer and fall. Upon crossing the boundary line of the new territory September 29, 1853, he issued a proclamation from the summit of the Rocky mountains, declaring the act of congreas and assuming his duties as executive. He arrived in Olympia in November, and on the twenty-eighth issued a second proclamation, dividing the territory into judicial and legislative districts and calling an election the following January. Until this time the counties north of the Columbia had constituted the second judicial district of Oregon, William II. Strong, associate justice, presiding. They were Clarke, Lewis, Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, King, and Jefferson, all but the first three having been created by the Oregon legislature during the session of 1852-3.

The legislature chosen in January assembled at Olympia the following month ; and in accordance with provisions of the organic act, chose that place for the permanent seat of government. They created ten counties, retaining the name and general location of those set off by the Oregon legislature. The counties were Clarke, Lewis, Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, King, Jefferson, Island, Chehalis, Clallam, Cowlitz, Sawamish (now Mason), Skamania, Wahkiakum, and Walla Walla. Among these, the representation in the assembly was apportioned, and the territory was divided into judicial districts. The legislature adopted a code of procedure, substantially the same as in force at the present time. At the election in January, Columbia Lancaster, first chief justice of the Oregon provisional government, was chosen delegate to congress by the democrats, his whig opponent being Col. William H. Wallace. During the first two years, considerable annoyance was caused by hostile incursions into northern portions of the territory by Indians from British Columbia. Some difficulty was experienced, also, with Indians at home, but the energetic action of Governor Stevens and the troops at Fort Steilacoom prevented a serious outbreak until the fall of 1855, when the Oregon-Washington Indian war was begun and waged with great expense to both territories. Hostilities were begu n about the same time by the powerful Indian tribes of the Columbia river and those of Southern Oregon, which taxed to the utmost the resources and power of the two territories and that portion of the United States army stationed on the coast. The simultaneous beginning of hostilities in these two sections, so widely separated, has been pointed to by many as an evidence of a conspiracy between the natives of Rogue river valley and Columbia river ; but the coincidence seems to be the only evidence of such a combination. The causes which led to the outbreak along Rogue river, and the events of the long campaign which followed, are detailed with great minuteness in succeeding chapters, and seem to be sufficient in themselves to account for the outbreak there, and to that narrative the reader is referred. The trouble at the north seems to have had its origin in an entirely different chain of causes.

Governor Stevens, soon after entering upon his career as chief executive of Washington, deemed it judicious to exercise his authority as ex-officio Indian agent, and make treaties with the powerful tribes east of the Cascades. To this step he was especially urged by the fact that in March, 1855, gold was discovered on Clarke's Fork, near its entrance into the Columbia. For miners to straggle through the Indian country, without a special treaty having been made, he knew was but to court the commission of murder by the native proprietors. He at once opened negotiations, and on the ninth of June secured the cession of the greater portion of Eastern Washington and a slice of Oregon, excepting the Umatilla and Yakima reservations. Tlie treaty was signed by the chiefs of the fourteen tribes comprising the Yakima nation, including the Palouse Indians, and by the Cayuses, Walla Wallas and Umatillas. With the treaty none of the Indians were satisfied, and especially Kama-i-akun, head chief of the Yakimas, and Peo-peo-mux-mux, the great Walla Walla chieftain. They felt that they had been bribed to sell their country, and were resentful and bitter. This was followed by similar treaties with the Nez Perces, Flatheads and the tribes living south of the Columbia between The Dalles and Umatilla river. Governor Stevens then crossed the mountains to treat with the powerful and warlike Blackfeet.

In the fall of 1875 -several men who were passing through the Yakima country, on their way from the Sound to the Colville mines, were killed by the Indians. Among the killed was the Indian agent, A. J. Bolan, who had gone to inquire into the circumstances of the death of the other men. Lieutenant W. A. Slaughter, with forty men, started across the mountains from Fort Steilacoom late in September, and Major G. O. Haller marched south from The Dalles with a force of more than one hundred men, to co-operate with him. Major Haller engaged the Indians on Simcoe creek, was forced to retreat to the summit of a hill, where he was surrounded by the enemy. He dispatched a courier in haste to procure aid, but before it could reach him his force was driven from the Indian country with considerable loss. Upon receipt of the intelligence of this disaster, Major G. J. Raines, commander of the post at Vancouver, addressed communications to Governor George L. Curry, of Oregon, and Acting Governor C. H. Mason, of Washington, requesting the aid of volunteer troops, since the national forces were entirely inadequate to meet the emergencies. Two companies were raised in Washington, which were mustered into the regular army, while the ten companies recruited in Oregon retained their volunteer organization, being under the corn- raand of Colonel J. W. Nesmith. This division of authority led to a want of cordial co-operation and consequent futility of action. Sixteen other companies were organized at various places in Washington territory, chiefly for home protection.

Lieutenant Slaughter, having withdrawn back across the Cascades, his force was increased, and on the twenty-fourth of October again started for the Yakima country, under the command of Captain M. Maloney. He soon learned that no troops had started from The Dalles to co-operate with him, and fearing to be caught in the mountains by snow he returned to Steilacoom. Before his dispatch, announcing this fact, reached The Dalles, Major Raines and Colonel Nesmith had jointly marched northward to form a junction with him. After an engagement, in which Kama-i-akun's warriors were defeated, the Indians abandoned the country and the troops, learning that Captain Maloney had returned to Steilacoom and required no assistance, marched back to The Dalles, having been absent about three weeks.

Prior to the return of these two commands, another force of volunteers marched up the Columbia towards Fort Walla Walla, where Peo-peo-mux-mux, was reported to be stationed with 1,000 warriors. Other volunteers marched to join them, the whole force being placed under the command of Lieut. Colonel James K. Kelly. This movement was especially designed to clear the route of hostile Indians and permit the safe return of Governor Stevens from east of the Rocky mountains, that gentleman being already on his way back and ignorant of the existing hostilities. In this movement, General John E. Wool, commander of the department of the Pacific, who had hastened to the scene from San Francisco, refused to participate with the regular troops, deeming a winter campaign unnecessary and unlikely to be successful. Nothing daunted, the Oregon volunteers proceeded alone, having a force of about 500 men.

A great battle was fought along Walla Walla river, which lasted three days and resulted in the complete defeat of the Indians, whose loss was reported at seventy-five. The troops lost seven killed and mortally wounded, and thirteen wounded. Among the dead on the Indian side was the great Peo-peo-mux-mux, who at the time of the battle was a hostage in the hands of the whites, and was shot during the excitement incident to the battle. The Indians then withdrew from the country, leaving it in the possession of the volunteers, who spent the winter there, suffering many hardships. Governor Stevens returned in safety and immediately preferred charges against General Wool, accusing him of incapacity and willful neglect of duty.

During the winter the settlements along Puget sound suffered severely from the ravages of Indians. Seattle was attacked, and all of King county beyond the limits of that place was devastated. Volunteers, regular troops, Indian auxiliaries and the small naval force on the sound, occupied block houses at all the important points from the Cowlitz to Bellingham bay, but did not engage in a regular campaign, since the hostile savages were not gathered in a large body as were those east of the mountains, but roamed about in small bands, destroying property and killing settlers wherever they could be found unprotected. The population, to a great extent, were collected in block houses for safety. Early in March, 18o6, the Oregon volunteers who had occupied the WallaWalla country during the winter, again entered upon an aggressive campaign, under the command of Colonel Thomas R. Cornelius. After considerable traveling about north of Snake river the command crossed the Columbia near the mout h of the Yakima and followed down the west bank to Fort Walla Walla. From there they started upon their return to The Dalles, passing through the Yakima country. On the seventeenth of April, near Satas creek, the Yakima Indians suddenly attacked the advance forces, killing Captain A. J. Hembree, but were repulsed with the loss of two braves. An engagement ensued, in which six Indians were killed and the others driven from the field, without any loss to the volunteers. The troops then marched to The Dalles, going into camp in Klickitat valley. While there fifty of Kama-i-akun's warriors made a descent upon the camp and captured 300 horses. Thus summarily dismounted, the volunteers were mustered out and returned to their homes.

Before this, however, important events occurred nearer home. A railway portage was under construction between the lower and upper Cascades of the Columbia, on the Washington territory side of the river, and quite a force of men was at work. On the morning of March 16, a band of Yakima Indians made a sudden attack upon the Upper Cascades. The men retreated hostility to a combined store and dwelling on the river bank and defended themselves successfully till aid arrived two days later. On the morning of the third day the steamers Mary and Wasco arrived from The Dalles loaded down with troops, and the Indians hastily decamped. A like .siege was sustained by parties in the block house at Middle Cascades, and quite a battle was fought at the lower landing. In all fifteen men and one woman were killed and twelve were wounded. How many Indians were killed is not known, but nine of them were hanged for their treachery immediately afterwards.

Colonel George Wright marched north from The Dalles in May for the purpose of driving the Indians out of the Cascade mountains and across the Columbia eastward. Early in July volunteers from the sound pushed across the mountains without encountering the enemy, and united at Fort Walla Walla with another battalion which had proceeded from The Dalles. The whole force numbered 350 enlisted men, and was under the command of Colonel B. F. Shaw. With a portion of his force Colonel Shaw crossed the Blue mountains and fought a severe battle on Grand Ronde river on the seventeenth of July. At the same time another detachment encountered the hostiles on Burnt river, and had an engagement * with them, lasting two days. Some fifty Indians were killed in these two battles, while the loss of the volunteers was five killed and five wounded. Meanwhile, unable to concert terms of peace with Kamai-akun, Colonel Wright marched his force of regulars back to The Dalles.

In the fall Colonel Wright dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel E. J. Steptoe with several companies to establish a military post at Walla Walla. Governor Stevens proceeded to that region, and had an unsuccessful council with the hostiles. When he set out upon his return, he was attacked by the Indians, and his small command defended itself all day and until relieved by the regulars. In November Colonel Wright returned with a detachment of regulars and established a military post at Walla Walla, and held a council at which he procured a cessation of hostilities by promising the Indians immunity for past offenses and agreeing to prevent white settlers from entering their country. It was a practical victory for the Indians. In November Puget sound was invaded by water by a band of northern Indians, who committed many depredations ; but they were severely defeated and driven away by the naval forces stationed there to guard the sound country.