Chapter I
Settlement to 1863
When we consider the various types and shades
of character to be found among men, the diverse motives which impel them to
action and the fact that each is practically free to think and do as he pleases
to pursue happiness of the kind which most appeals to his fancy and in a way of
his own choosing, it seems almost impossible that there should be such a thing
as a philosophy of history. A superficial survey of the past annals of the race
reveals a vast seething ocean of human life. lashed into fury by the passions of
the hour, the waves apparently receding always as far as they advance. King
contends with king, nation with nation, and principle with principle. Men are
elevated to the highest honors in the gift of nations only to be cast down into
the lowest depths of degradation and disgrace. Today the masses shout "down with
royalty" and to-morrow they crown a new king with enthusiastic bursts of
applause and obsequious assurances of their loyalty and support But a more
extended study of conditions reveals the existence of method in all this seeming
madness, and the flight of centuries discloses the fact that of chaos, cosmos is
being evolved, and that this apparent confusion is working out for each race and
nation its own "manifest destiny." The truth is that while individuals differ
materially in thought and purposes, so much so that a science of human nature
never has been and never can be developed, yet there are certain passions which
move all men alike, certain basic principles embedded in the constitution of the
race, which, when appealed to, cause simultaneous movements to take place among
large numbers and shape the current of history.
As the love of personal and religious liberty populated New
England, and the aristocratic proclivities of the southern people inclined them
to favor the institution of slavery, so the acquisitiveness inherent in humanity
impelled it across the wide prairies and through the fastnesses of the Rocky
mountains until it poured its all subduing tide upon the shores of the boundless
Pacific. The desire of wealth may be considered the dominating factor in
the development of the west and one particular manifestation of this
passion, the love of gold, : has contributed immensely to the subjugation of its
natural resources. The presence of this metal in any locality has meant
the speedy settlement and development of that locality and when once gold
has been discovered no matter where, no danger from aboriginal
inhabitants, no remoteness from a base of supplies, and no toils and hardships
of the journey could keep the doughty pioneer from repairing thither, bringing
with him the elements of civilization and progress.
The trail of the westward moving army of civilization passed
through Powder river valley, but notwithstanding the beauty of the Blue
mountains and the abundance of ever green timber upon their sides, and crests,
there was nothing here of sufficient interest to stay the weary emigrant,
obedient as he was to the impulse which was bidding him follow the star of
empire as far toward the occident as possible. The agricultural possibilities of
these sagebrush and bunchgrass plains were unknown and unsuspected; the presence
of the red men would prove a constant menace to the settler and the distance
from a base of supplies was an obstacle not easily overcome, even if a
sufficient inducement for settlement were known to exist. When, however, gold
was discovered in this section, these obstacles were soon shown to be not
insurmountable and the seeds of future development at once began to be planted.
The chain of events leading to the discovery of gold in eastern Oregon reaches
back to the immigration of 1845, mention of which has been made previously. No
notice, however, was taken in former chapters of a very strange occurrence
connected with that expedition, an occurrence which is to form the first link in
the concatenation of causes, the ultimate effect of which was the settlement of
Baker county. Identified with the Methodist Mission in the Willamette valley was
one Dr. Elijah White, whose character has been bitterly attacked by some
writers, and who certainly seems to have been a self-seeking, ambitious and not
overly scrupulous man. His connection with the mission was cut short on this
account, but he figured in Oregon affairs afterward as sub-Indian age at and in
other capacities. In 1845 he set out for Washington, D. C, his purpose being, as
has been supposed, to get himself appointed governor of Oregon, should it be
organized into a territory according to the general expectation.
What his connection with the events we are about to narrate
may have been is not conclusively established, but that he was mainly
responsible for the sufferings endured by a portion of the immigration of 1845
is generally believed. When not far from Fort Boise he met a company of
immigrants. Bancroft says there can be but little doubt of his having induced
about two hundred of these families to leave the established road down Snake
river, taking instead an abandoned trail up the Malheur. His idea probably was
that they would be almost certain to find a pass through the Cascades and that
eventually the credit of having made a most important discovery would be given
to him.
It appears that shortly before he left Oregon City, some one
had sent word east that a new and better route had been discovered over the
Cascades to the Willamette, and if fortune should favor Dr. White, and the
expedition he had directed should discover a pass the honor would most surely be
his. “It cannot be reasonably supposed,” says Mr. Hiatt in his Thirty-One Years
in Baker County, "that he would have urged a company of immigrants to try a new
and unknown route if he had anticipated the suffering which they were doomed to
endure. Doubtless he had perfect faith in the feasibility of the enterprise, for
at that time there was nothing known of the character of all that country lying
between Snake river and the Cascade mountains, and it would be but reasonable to
suppose that the Malheur and Burnt rivers had their source in the Cascade
mountains and, judging from the size of those streams, the distance to the
summit could not be so very great. The existence of the lake basin and desert
plains between the heads of those streams and the Cascade mountains was not then
known. But whatever may have been White's motives, and whether or not he did
induce a company to leave the emigrant road and follow the trail up the Malheur
river, certain it is that they did try that route with Stephen H. L. Meek for a
guide. He was a brother of Joe Meek, who, it has been erroneously stated,
induced the company to make the unfortunate attempt, himself acting as guide.''
What Stephen Meek's private reasons might be for undertaking
to lead a party through a country utterly unknown to himself will probably
always remain one of the unsolved problems in Oregon history. It is likely that
he had heard enough of the country from trappers and adventurers to create in
his mind a sanguine faith in his ability to successfully accomplish what he
undertook. It is certain that he had no designs to do the emigrants harm, for he
went with them, sharing all their hardships and in every way acting the part of
a true and honorable man. While the company were following the banks of the
Malheur river all went well, but as soon as they entered the alkali lake region
they began to murmur against their guide, who showed sign of knowing little more
about the country than did the people themselves. Their sufferings became
intense, and some of them died from having drunk of the poisonous alkali water.
As they proceeded their discontent heightened into anger and they began to make
threats against the life of their guide. They turned into the dry country
between the Des Chutes and John Day rivers and here their patience was sorely
tried. Little or no water was to be had. Their resentment against Meek became so
bitter that it was considered unsafe for him to longer remain with them and he
acted upon the advice of some of the more moderate members of the party and
separated from the expedition. His friends went on in advance of the main body
to explore the way, and by keeping in touch with them he reached in safety a
suitable place for crossing the Des Chutes river. He thought that he there might
await the arrival of the train, inasmuch as the company had fared much better
for a few days past, having succeeded in obtaining water by dropping a bucket at
the end of a rope two hundred feet long, down the precipitous canyon side and
into the Des Chutes. But when the foremost of the advancing column came up, he
was informed that one man had vowed to shoot him on sight, in revenge for the
death of two members of his family.
Meek therefore pushed on down the river and across it,
eventually reaching The Dalles. Upon his arrival there he showed a willingness
to atone for whatever wrong he may have committed by sending a man with pack
animals loaded with provisions to the relief of the families, who in due time
reached that town without further casualties.
The incident of this trying adventure which in later years
directly affected our section of the country is yet to be related. While
somewhere near the head waters of the Malheur river, members of the expedition
discovered nuggets of a curious yellow metal, undoubtedly gold, but not being
experienced in mining and having never seen the precious mineral in its natural
state, no thought of the value of the discovery entered their heads. A probably
correct account of this discovery was given by S. D. Clarke of Salem, in the
Portland Daily Bee, and quoted by Bancroft as follows:
"The first gold discovery in Oregon made by an American was
near the head of the Malheur river, on a small creek divided from the Malheur by
a ridge. This stream ran southwest and was supposed to be a branch of the
Malheur, an error that caused much trouble and disappointment to prospectors
eight or ten years later. Daniel Herron, a cousin of W. J. Herron, of Salem, was
looking for lost cattle while the company were in camp here, and picked up a
piece of shining metal on the rocky bed of the creek and carried it to camp as a
curiosity. No one could tell what the metal was, and no one thought of its being
gold. Another nugget was found and brought to Mr. Martin's wagon, who tested it
by hammering it out on his wagon tire, but not being able to tell its nature, it
was thrown into the tool chest and forgotten and ultimately lost. After the gold
discovery in California, these incidents were remembered, and many parties went
in search of the spot where the emigrants said this gold was found, but were
misled by being told it was on a tributary of the Malheur."
However true or false this story may be, its narration had
the effect of inducing several expeditions in search of the "Blue Bucket"
diggings, as they were called on account of the statement that a blue bucket had
been left near the site of the discovery, or some say because such a vessel had
been filled with nuggets. The most important of these expeditions set out from
Portland in August 1861. Its history is strangely analogous to that of the
emigrant party of 1845. It appears that a man named Adams was one day relating
the story of the lost diggings on the streets of Portland when some California
miners who were temporarily in that city en route to the Oro Fino mines, chanced
to join the company of listeners. Being somewhat undecided as to the
advisability of going on to Oro Fino owing to discouraging reports from that
region, these adventurous men were in the proper frame of mind for any new and
promising undertaking, and curiosity soon gave place to intense interest. They
eagerly questioned Mr. Adams as to his knowledge of the locality, and were
informed that he had seen the gulch in which the gold had been found, that he
could find it again without difficulty and that he was more than willing, if a
company could be formed sufficiently large to insure safety against possibly
hostile Indians, to guide such company to the land where fortunes could be
picked up on the surface of the ground. As the statements of Adams were
corroborated by three young men who also claimed to have been present at the
place in 1845, and to have seen the diggings, they readily gained credence, and
soon a company of men, including the four Californians, were equipped for the
expeditions. With Adams for guide, they set out through the Cascades by the
Barlow route and reached the Des Chutes at the point where it was eventually
crossed by The Dalles and Canyon City wagon road, the same point at which the
emigrants effected a crossing in 1845. Proceeding thence to Crooked river, a
tributary of the Des Chutes, they ascended that stream to its head waters. Their
further progress led them into a dry region, and soon they began to suffer for
water as had the company of emigrants some sixteen years before. History
repeated itself. Suspicions of the veracity of their guide, whose knowledge of
the country was evidently not very extensive, were soon aroused. When threatened
in an angry manner, the three young men who had confirmed Adams's story in
Portland weakened, admitting that they had prevaricated and that they were not
with Adams in 1845 and had never seen the so called Blue Bucket diggings. Adams,
however, still persisted in asserting that his story was true and that he could
lead the party to the spot where gold had been found. Not withstanding the shock
which their faith in Adams had received, the company continued to ! follow him
until the region of poisonous alkali water was again entered by a party of white
men. Here the men refused to follow their guide further and turning to the
northward, proceeded to the banks of the Malheur and thence toward the head
waters of the Burnt river.
Although they had varied from the course in which Adams would
have led them, they still insisted upon his finding the diggings, threatening
him with death in case of failure. Indeed more than once a pistol had been drawn
and it seemed that his last hour had come. Things assumed such a serious aspect
that once Mr. Adams endeavored to effect his escape, but failing in this he was
given one more day in which to find the diggings. Many of the men had left
growing crops in the Willamette valley, feeling certain from the positive
assertions of Adams that they would be more than recompensed for any pecuniary
loss they might sustain in consequence. Now they had not only allowed their
crops to go to waste, but had endured incredible hardships and personal
suffering, and all apparently for nothing. However, a considerable portion of
the party, including the Californians, had no such aggravated personal motives
for hostility, and being perhaps better used to the disappointments of mining
life, they did not share the extremely bitter feeling which animated the
majority. When the evening of the day of grace arrived, with the diggings yet
undiscovered, the extremists were strongly in favor of the immediate execution
of Adams, but the minority succeeded in gaining him a respite till morning,
though he was guarded the entire night. About ten o'clock the next day, it was
decided to put him upon his trial. A jury was selected and all the outward forms
in vogue in legally constituted tribunals were observed, except that naturally
much incompetent testimony was admitted. After a trial of a day's duration, the
case was given to the jury in the evening. Next morning the jurors announced
their verdict to be that the defendant was guilty and that he should be deprived
of all his property, including arms, ammunition, provision, etc., in fact
everything but the clothing he had on, and that in this impoverished condition
he should separate himself from the rest of the company, each member of which
should be privileged to shoot the culprit should he be discovered anywhere in
sight. He was also humiliated by being required to sign a confession of perjury.
It may be that some members of the jury favored this
procedure rather than a sentence to immediate death, in the hope that they might
later devise a plan by which the guide's life might be saved. At any rate there
were those in the company who did not purpose to allow Adams to perish in such a
barbarous and inhuman manner. They planned to supply the wants of the condemned,
keeping him concealed from the majority of their comrades until a point was
reached at which the party had agreed to divide, the major portion returning via
the route over which they had come and the minority striking out in a
northeasterly direction to the old emigrant road, over which they purposed to
return to Portland. The plan worked and Adams's life was saved.
What the true explanation of this man's conduct may be is
another unsolved problem of Oregon history. Hiatt suggests that he may have
heard of the Blue Bucket diggings so many times that the imaginary scene became
so vivid as to cause belief that it was an actual experience. Such a supposition
seems hardly consistent with sanity, but then Adams may have been slightly
deranged. It is likely that he had so much faith in his ability to find the
diggings that he overstated the facts for the purpose of inspiring like faith in
the minds of others and thus insuring the formation of a company and the
equipping of the expedition. To this view it may be objected that if Adams was a
member of the emigration of 1845 he ought to have profited by Meek's experience.
On the other hand it is a well known fact that I not all men are wise enough to
avoid the pitfalls into which others may have fallen to their knowledge.
With the party which returned by the route over which they
had made the outward journey we have here no further concern. The other party
prospected along their route, finding colors on China creek and elsewhere, but
discovering no pay dirt until on the evening of October 23, 1861, in the gulch
which has ever since borne his name, Henry Griffin sank a hole about three feet
deep, striking bedrock and a good prospect. Twenty-two more claims were staked
off, each of one hundred feet, and the choice among these was determined by lot.
Elk creek was not far distant from the head of the gulch and a site for a ditch
tapping it was at once surveyed out, the first requisite, of course, being water
wherewith to work the claims. This survey completed, the party broke up camp and
set out for Walla Walla. From that point the main company proceeded on to the
Willamette, but Griffin, Stafford, Littlefield and Schriver returned with
provisions, intending to spend the winter at the mines. November found the four
indomitable pioneers last mentioned again encamped on Griffin's gulch, where
they built a cabin and prepared to pass the winter. It will be remembered that
this first winter spent by white men in Baker county was one of considerable
severity, as though the elements themselves were determined to prove the metal
of the advance agents of civilization, jealous that none unworthy should be
allowed to remain. The four miners were not unworthy. No sooner had they
completed their cabin than snow fell to a depth of three feet, but early in the
following month a five days' rain converted all this snow, as well as that
accumulated in the mountains, into floods of water. The result was that all of
Powder river valley became a vast, shallow lake.
No sooner had the snow disappeared than the miners began
operations upon their claims. So plentiful was the water, however, that the
necessity of gum-boots became painfully apparent and the men perceived that
another trip to Walla Walla must be made. Accordingly, about the middle of
December two of them, Littlefield and Schriver, set out upon this arduous
journey, taking with them more than one hundred dollars' worth of gold dust. A
very interesting and, to the present generation, strange incident of this
expedition took place in Ladd canyon, as it is now called, on the edge of
Grande Ronde valley. One night Mr. Littlefield awoke from slumber to find facing
him at no great distance what afterwards proved to be a large gray wolf. Awaking
his companion and concomitantly drawing his revolver, he attempted to shoot the
intruder but the powder had become damp and the gun missed fire. Schriver then
tried with the same result for a while, but eventually he succeeded in
discharging his weapon. The animal was hit. He gave vent to his feelings in
howls of pain and forthwith a chorus of howls rose on all sides. The unwounded
members of the pack fell upon their stricken companion and devoured him
ravenously. The men built a fire for protection, beside which they kept vigil
until morning, when the wolves skulked away. It must have given our adventurers
great pleasure to find at the farther side of the Grande Ronde valley and near
the site of the present Island City, a considerable settlement of white persons.
With these they spent Christmas day and as Mr. Hiatt informs us, "witnessed one
of those freaks in the affairs of life which are to be seen in new and
unorganized settlements. A married couple had learned, after thirty or forty
years experience, that they could not live together agreeably, but found it
equally difficult to separate on account of a disagreement about the division of
their property. For the purpose of settling the affair and preventing more
serious trouble which it seemed probable might follow, the settlers organized a
court and took the case up and divorced them, and divided the property betwixt
them, making a settlement that answered all purposes as well as if it had bee
done legally."
Having reached Walla Walla, disposed "their gold dust and
purchased their rubber boots and other supplies, Messrs Littlefield and Schriver
set out upon the return journey. They had with them one pack animal. Upon the
Blue mountains they found the snow so deep that their horse could get, as they
supposed, nothing to eat, but they resolved to give him a fair chance for his
life, so unpacked him and turned him loose, taking the load upon their own
shoulders. Thus relieved, the horse managed to subsist upon twigs and the bark
of trees. He followed them all the way across the mountains, and was doubtless
pressed into service again on reaching the lower levels. Before January was
over, they were again with their companions in Griffin's gulch. The snow fall
during the winter, according to measurements made by one of the miners,
aggregated fourteen feet.
The horses belonging to the company were turned out upon
Powder river valley to subsist by pawing for grass and to shelter themselves
from storms as best they could. Most of them fell victims to the rapacious packs
of wolves, which that winter infested the valley. The mode of attack of these
ravenous animals was to skulk around until they found a horse separated from the
rest of the band, then to fall upon him enmasse. The five horses which did
survive until spring owed their lives to intelligent co-operation. When any one
of their number was attacked all would quickly assemble together and turning
their flanks toward a common center, present a solid front in every direction,
fighting off the common enemy with their fore feet. Mr. Hiatt tells us that it
was very seldom a gray wolf was seen after the first winter, though some three
or four years later a pack was known to cross Powder river above Auburn.
In April, 1862, two of the miners, while prospecting at a
point commanding a view of the Powder river valley, were greatly surprised and
startled to see a large band of horses near the edge of the valley. Had the
owners of this band been hostile Indians, as was at first supposed, the
situation of the miners would have been indeed precarious, but on reconnoitering
a little, they found that the party consisted of about fifty white men. The
coming of these to the valley was a result of a strange trait in the character
of the early western people and indeed in human nature generally, leading some
to fabricate wild, romantic tales upon a relatively unimportant basis of facts
and others to give at least sufficient credence to such tales to incite them to
action. It appears that the gold dust taken by Messrs. Littlefield and Schriver
to Walla Walla was purchased by Mr. Humason of The Dalles and sent by him to
Portland, where it was placed on exhibition in a show case. It remained as a
proof of all the tales that might be spun by the romancer, much the same kind of
proof, to be sure, as that offered by Mark Twain in support of his story about a
notorious horse which bucked so hard he threw the saddle sixty feet in the air.
"If you don't believe it,” says the famous humorist, I will show you the
saddle."
The hardy pioneers of Griffin's gulch must have been inspired
with a new sense of their importance when they learned that notwithstanding the
absorbing interest centering in the great Civil war, their humble efforts were
attracting so much and such wide-spread attention. One would think also that the
newcomers who had traveled so many miles expecting to find a spot where men
filled gum boots with nuggets and realized as high as $150 per pan of dirt would
suffer a corresponding depression of spirits when they learned the real truth,
but if so they bore their disappointment philosophically. They immediately set
out in search of prospects and before many days made discoveries in numerous
gulches and creek beds in the vicinity.
The party of men whose work we have just been describing were
not many days in advance of another party. However, the membership of the second
expedition was made up mostly of stuff less stern. When this company were well
on their way they met a number of persons who informed them that the reports
about the mines were utterly without foundation, ascribing them to hirelings of
the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, who, they said, had been employed to spend
the winter on Powder river and initiate stories calculated to cause a rush.
These statements induced the major portion to return to their homes breathing
forth imprecations upon innocent heads of the company and its supposed
accomplices in the wrong. Four or five who continued their journey reached
Griffin's gulch in safety, saw for themselves the evidences that gold had been
found and proceeded to hunt claims of their own. During the entire summer
following men roamed over this section of the country in all directions,
exploring every river and creek and locating claims wherever good prospects
could be found. Traveling parties came from Nevada, California and other western
states, many of them en route to the celebrated Salmon river mines, determined
to try their fortunes in this region. Among the members of these parties some
have ever since remained, assisting in the establishing and up building of civil
institutions and the development of the country's resources. Hardin Estes and
Fred Dill were leading members of a Nevada expedition numbering about twenty
which has always been known as the White Horse company, from the color of the
steeds most of them brought. These men and their companions might have been lost
to Baker and Grant counties were it not for the high water of the spring of
1862, which for a time prevented their crossing Powder river and the valley
through which it flows. While reconnoitering for a place to cross near the mouth
of North Powder they were informed of the impossibility of their so doing by
John Hibbard, who was on his way to Walla Walla. They returned some distance and
camped in a canyon, but Mr. Estes went still further up the river, discovering a
mining camp on its opposite side and also a place at the mouth of Blue canyon
where a bridge might be constructed. Bringing the remainder of the company to
this site he and his companions built a rude bridge of trees and brush covered
with mud, the first bridge that ever spanned the crystal waters of Powder river.
About half of the company remained in this vicinity and the other half went to
the John Day mines; Mr. Estes eventually settled in Washington gulch, taking on
the 16th day of June, 1862, the first land claim ever filed upon in the Powder
river valley.
A little later in the season than the White Horse company
came John B. Bowen and some forty-eight others from California, likewise enroute
to the celebrated Salmon river mines. While reconnoitering for a way across the
river and valley they struck the Estes trail, which of course led them to the
bridge, but upon arriving there they found a man in charge who demanded a dollar
a horse toll for crossing. The company protested but finally paid the exorbitant
charge and went on to the mines, where they met a man from the Salmon river
country. By his reports they were discouraged from going on, so the population
of the Powder river district was further augmented. When Mr. Estes learned that
another had taken possession of his bridge, he repaired to the spot and sold the
man the bridge, stipulating, however, that the toll should forthwith be reduced
to fifty cents per head for horses.
It must not be supposed that the companies above mentioned
constituted the entire immigration into the country during the spring and summer
of 1862. On the contrary there were numerous other arrivals from California,
Nevada and the Willamette valley, many of whom became permanent residents and
leading citizens of Baker county. Nor were these intrepid pioneers all men. Mrs.
Love had the honor of having been the first lady to enter the district, but she
was not to be long without the companionship of her own sex, for Mrs. Lovell,
Mrs. and Miss Rackerby and others came almost immediately afterward.
The development of an agricultural and stock-raising section
is necessarily slow, but owing to the peculiar fascination and excitement
attending mining operations, localities where gold is found are usually settled
with a rush. The population, however, is less stable and a new excitement in
some other section is liable to cause the camp to be totally or partially
depopulated as speedily as it had been settled. Although the population of this
mining district in the fall and winter of 1861 consisted of just four white men,
the spring of 1862 brought a numerous and varied population, and as early as May
or June the propriety of founding a town began to be canvassed. This agitation
crystalized into a definite movement on the thirteenth of the latter month,
when, at a meeting called by William H. Packwood and others, it was decided to
lay out a town. Why they named this town Auburn the writer does not know, but in
the light of its subsequent history one might almost infer that its founders had
some prophetic intuition of the time when like the "sweet Auburn" of the poet,
it should be a "deserted village." June 14th saw a street laid out from
Freezeout gulch to Blue canyon, on each side of which lots were quickly taken.
Cabins sprang up like mushrooms, and the town speedily assumed the aspect
familiar to all who have ever visited primitive western mining camps.
Of course the methods in vogue among the pioneer placer
mines of Baker county were necessarily of the crudest character at first. There
is something, however, so exciting and energizing about the search for gold that
obstacles which would deter for an indefinite period a less progressive people
are speedily over come by the mining classes. Patient in his search for a good
prospect, reckless of danger and hardship when they lie in his uncertain pathway
to sudden wealth, the miner naturally is not lacking in the energy to push
development work, when sure that he has a good thing. Had Griffin's gulch been
an agricultural district and settled by an agricultural people, requiring water
for irrigation purposes, the probabilities are that the farmers would have
struggled along for years before arrangements could be perfected and a ditch
secured. But since the water was to be used for washing out the yellow metal, no
halting conservatism prevented the immediate construction of the ditch surveyed
by Griffin and companions in the winter of 1861 and by the 20th of May, 1862, it
was pouring the waters of Elk creek into the sluices of the Griffin's gulch
miners.
But during the summer of 1862 it became apparent that much
more water must be obtained, if work on the placer mines was to be carried on to
any great extent and projects were soon talked of for bringing the water from
Powder river into the district. It may not be possible to determine to whom the
honor of originating the plan for an extensive ditch rightfully belongs, but
there is no doubt that Mr. Packwood was the man who made the first definite move
toward putting that plan into operation. He entered into negotiations with A. C.
Goodrich, who was a surveyor and possessed an invaluable experience in the
construction of ditches, inducing Mr. Goodrich to make the preliminary survey.
The report being favorable, Mr. Packwood then called together those who were
interested in the enterprise. As a result, a company was at once organized,
stock being subscribed the first day as follows: G. W. Abbott, five thousand
dollars; Henry Fuller, five thousand dollars; Ira Ward, three thousand dollars;
Benjamin Chateau, five hundred dollars, George Berry, five hundred dollars; W.
H. Packwood, two thousand five hundred dollars; A. C. Goodrich, one thousand
dollars; J. J. Williams, two thousand five hundred dollars, and Isaac Smith, one
thousand dollars. The constitution and by-laws adopted provided among other
things that the name of the association should be the Auburn Water Company; that
the capital stock should be fifty thousand dollars, consisting of one hundred
shares of live hundred dollars each, each share being entitled to one vote; that
the officers of the company should consist of a board of three trustees, a
secretary, a treasurer, and a superintendent, all of whom should be
stockholders, and should be elected annually, and that stock should be forfeited
for nonpayment of assessments, with reserved privilege to the delinquent of
redeeming forfeited stock at any time within sixty days. It was ordered that the
ditch should be four feet wide at the bottom, seven at the top and two feet
deep. The work was laid off in sections of forty rods each, and an estimate was
made of the cost of constructing each separate section. Instead of giving the
entire contract to one man, the company awarded the work to several different
contractors. Before the work was completed a proposition was made by a man named
Crane to purchase the right, title and interest of the Auburn Water Company and
in reply that company agreed to "sell,, convey and quit-claim" thirty-six shares
in the ditch for "twenty-five per cent, premium upon all the cost of
constructing said ditch and upon all expenses incurred therein by said company
in the prosecution of and completion of said water ditch as far as may be
contracted for at this time." All allowances made or that it might be necessary
to make to contractors and others for labor were to be confirmed and complied
with by the purchaser, and the water ditch was to be pushed to completion in
time to be ready for use early the next spring.
By January 17, 1863, the Auburn Water Company had expended
over twenty-five thousand dollars in the promotion of this enterprise, though
its existence had been of only about four and a half months' duration. On that
date it assigned all its rights and privileges to the Auburn Canal Company.
The doings of this private corporation have been related
somewhat at length because, as Mr. Hiatt points out, the assistance their
enterprise was destined to render in the permanent settlement and development of
the country was more important than could be guessed by its projectors. The
beneficial effect which this expenditure of money had indirectly upon the
business prospects of the community was far more important than the direct
benefits accruing to contractors, and their employees. The various interests
needed this stimulus to tide them over a trying period, and the water itself was
necessary to permit the working of the mines, making it possible for the
population of the place to remain. ''How many men," says Hiatt, "were inspired
with confidence and stimulated to exertion by the example of the water company
cannot be estimated, nor can the number of those be known who were enabled to
remain in the country by reason of the work of ditch construction being done at
that time. Only a portion of the mining ground in and about Auburn could have
been worked, and that portion could have had but a small supply of water for a
limited time in the spring and early summer. Without that ditch, Auburn as it
was in 1863-4-5-6, would never have been; nine-tenths of the people would have
had to seek employment elsewhere; the farmers in the valley who were struggling
to make their business a success would not have had the aid of the Auburn
market, and that alone would have been no slight loss, for a market for garden
vegetables was a matter of prime necessity to many of them.
In the fall of 1862 thousands of immigrants came to the
country and many of them were dependent upon their daily labor for subsistence.
But very few of them could have found employment, had it not been for the
opportunity offered by the water company and by individuals who were led to
build houses and engage in business through hopes for the future which the
company's enterprise had inspired. The number of people in and about Auburn in
the fall and forepart of the winter is estimated at five to six thousand.
Probably not one half of them had supplies for the winter nor the means of
obtaining them, and leaving the work of ditch construction out of the count,
there could have been no inducement for merchants to bring in the amount of
goods which the necessities of the people required. The systematic way in which
the company organized for the work, and the energy with which it was prosecuted
in the face of all the difficulties in the way are worthy of admiration.
The rapidity with which mining development was pushed in 1862
is truly astonishing, but while the mineral wealth of the locality was the main
factor in its population, other industries were not overlooked. The miners must
needs have supplies, clothing, tools, etc., opening an opportunity for the
merchant, the farmer and the freighter. Roads and bridges had to be constructed
to make the importation of necessaries possible and expeditious. Ferries must be
built and put in operation and little by little all the complex activities of
civilized society must follow in turn. It is a well known fact that however rich
a mining region may be it cannot furnish a claim to every man which will pay
from the start, and if the would-be-miner is not possessed of sufficient means
to support him while his ditches are being dug and sluices put in, assuming that
he has been fortunate enough to strike a claim at all, he must turn temporarily
to something furnishing more speedy returns for his labor. It is related of
William Baldock, who came to the valley in the fall of 1862, that, noticing the
tall bunchgrass in its primitive luxuriance, he conceived the idea that perhaps
it might be cut and cured for hay. Going to Auburn he ascertained that a ready
market might there be found for all he could bring, so he procured a scythe and
snath and proceeded with his hay making, handling the mown product with forked
sticks for pitchforks. The hay sold for from fifty to sixty dollars per ton,
enabling him to support his family and to accumulate before spring four hundred
dollars in cash. To Joseph Kenison, whose advent to the valley dates back to
July, 1862, belongs the honor if pioneership in agriculture. He it was who
plowed the first furrow, planted the first potatoes and corn and sowed the first
oats in what is now the limits of Baker county. His experiments in this industry
were made early in the spring of 1863. It seemed first that they were destined
to end in failure, for early in June a frost occurred seemingly of sufficient
severity to destroy all growing vegetables. But time proved that his crop was
little injured and that fall he realized nearly four thousand dollars from his
forty-acre tract.
Of some of the other men who introduced agriculture into
Baker county, that esteemed pioneer and interesting writer, Mr. Hiatt, gives us
the following account: "Mr. Hibbard and family from the Umpqua valley settled at
the foot of the mountains on a claim adjoining Mr. Morrison's, and Messrs.
Worley. Spillman, Creighbaum and others took claims in the vicinity. Strother
Ison took up a claim on Pine creek, where he continued to reside until his
death, which occurred in the year 1889. Jerry Shea took up a claim south of
Ison's, which he afterwards sold to Hardin Perkins, who has lived upon it ever
since. About the same time, James Akers located the claim upon which he still
resides (1893). George Ebell settled near the foot of the mountains, where he
has made one of the best farms in the valley. Mr. Campbell settled on Powder
river, near where Baker City now stands, and resided there until his death in
1889. Thomas McMurren took up a claim near Pocahontas, and other claims were
located in different parts of the valley. Express ranch and Miller's ranch on
Burnt river were taken in the fall of 1862.
We have spoken of the encouraging effect which the labors of
the Auburn Water Company had upon the community in the development of various
industries. The beneficial influence of its construction continued after the
plant passed into the hands of the Auburn Canal Company, which extended the
ditch southward beyond Auburn, building above that town a reservoir from which
distributing ditches were constructed to the various gulches. The disbursements
of the company and its predecessor during the early years of the history of this
section, aggregated something like $225,000. One very important service
performed by this company was the importation during the spring of 1863 of more
than $70,000 worth of provisions, thereby saving the community from actual
suffering through want of the necessities of life. Even as it was, provisions
were very scarce at that time.
The political history of the county will form the theme of a
future chapter, but it is necessary to the current of our narrative that the
inception of government in the community be here given. The reader will have
guessed that so large an aggregation of people could hardly have gotten together
without the presence of some who would not duly respect the tenets of morality
and the rights of others, and hence the necessity for law and punishment and
prison walls must soon arrive. Indeed a new mining camp is always a center
toward which confidence men and thieves and outlaws invariably gravitate and.
Powder river valley was not without its share. It will be remembered that the
great Civil war was in progress at this time, exerting the demoralizing
influence attendant upon so much contention and bloodshed, its issues furnishing
the themes for disputes too frequently ending in personal encounters and
tragedies. Neither is it in the American people, accustomed as they are to the
organization of government, to fail to rise to the occasion when conditions
demand some kind of civil institutions. When the pioneers of 1861 made their way
into this valley, it was a part of Wasco county and of course subject to the
laws of the state. But the county seat was at The Dalles, two hundred and
seventy-five miles distant, making it next to impossible to convict and punish
offenders against the law. An example of this was furnished early in June 1862,
when a man named Griffin was killed in his tent by his mining partner. The
affair was consummated so quietly that, though several persons were near by at
the time, no one heard a sound, yet the slayer justified his act on the ground
that it was done in self-defense. After some deliberation among the crowd which
gathered around the body of the deceased, two of the men offered to deliver the
guilty party to the proper authorities at The Dalles. This proposition was
accepted and fifty dollars were subscribed to defray the expenses of the
journey. Neither the prisoner nor his guards ever reached The Dalles, and it was
reported that all three were subsequently seen mining on Salmon river.
Some three or four months later another and still more
atrocious homicide took place in the settlement. The two victims lived together
in a tent in Auburn, the temporary character of their abode being due to their
recent arrival from Colorado. One morning at breakfast, one of them was taken
with violent convulsions, and his partner hastily summoned Dr. Rackerby, the
pioneer physician, who immediately diagnosed the case as one of strychnine
poisoning. The doctor speedily dispatched Mr. Littlefield and two or three
others, who had been attracted to the scene by the afflicted man's cries of
pain, to a spring at which the messenger, who had summoned the physician had
stopped to drink. They found him in convulsions and lying in the spring run. He
was carried to the tent and to him and the other man antidotes were administered
but without avail in the case of the one first attacked. The messenger
recovered. A piece of the bread they had been eating was given to a dog, and
soon after devouring it he too was thrown into convulsions and died.
An examination of the miners flour revealed small crystals of
the deadly drug and it was evident to all that the poison had been put there
with homicidal intent. A Frenchman who had been their companion on the journey
from Colorado was at once suspected. He had quarreled with the other men and had
sworn to be revenged upon them for real or fancied wrongs. He was forthwith
arrested and the question that presented itself for immediate solution was what
should be done with him. With the distance to be traversed by the guards, the
prisoner and the witnesses and the lack of transportation facilities in his
favor, the chances were excellent for the defendant's escaping all punishment
should he be taken to The Dalles. Why not organize a court and try him at
Auburn? It was noticeable during the discussion of this matter that the hitherto
lawless element at once became solicitous for the ------ of the law, Matt.
Bledsoe, their leader, displaying especially great concern that no violence
should be offered to its authority. Their reason for this sudden conversion is
plainly discernable. He was opposed to the instituting of a citizens' court,
well knowing that if he should ever be arraigned before such a tribune, as he
was liable to be at any time, his chances of escaping merited punishment would
be few. Notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of this worthy advocate of
submission to legally constituted authority, the citizens eventually organized a
court of their own and proceeded to try the accused. All the forms of law were
observed. Sydney Abell was appointed judge, James McBride and W. H. Packwood,
associate justices; George Hall, sheriff; Shaw & Kelly, attorneys for the
plaintiff, and Pierce & Grey for the defendant. A jury was impaneled, which
listened patiently to the evidence in the case, the arguments of counsel, etc.,
and after clue deliberation, found the defendant guilty of murder in the first
degree. Judgment was passed accordingly and the condemned was executed.
Referring to this event, Mr. Hiatt says: "The ability and
integrity of the court and officers could not be questioned. The whole business
from first to last was conducted with a deliberation, dignity and fairness
worthy of any tribunal organized in a strictly legal form. Had the same men been
selected for their several positions by the same constituency at a regular
election and all the formalities of the law been observed throughout, their
action in the matter could not have been different, and had there been a legally
constituted government with officers at hand to enforce the law, they would have
been the last men in the community to attempt to assume charge of the affair in
any manner in the least infringing upon the prerogative of the proper officers."
Long before this event happened the miners had exercised some
other functions of government, it being mutually understood that all should
abide by the result and the minority yield to the will of the majority. Thus it
is related that about the 20th of June. 1862, a meeting was held for the purpose
of electing a recorder of claims for the Blue canyon district. There were two
candidates for the office, both first-class men. Naturally no attention was paid
to the political opinions of either, but the rivalry between Oregonians and
Californians furnished a basis of division. A president was elected, who
assigned the Oregon candidate, William H. Packwood, to stand on a log, and his
opponent, E. C. Brainard, to a position on another near by. When the candidates
had taken their respective positions, he said ''Now boys, all of you who are in
favor of Packwood for recorder, go over there and all who are in favor of
Brainard for recorder, go over to him. An Oregonian started for Pack-wood,
saying "Come on all you Webfooters. Here's our Webfoot candidate!" And a
Californian led the opposing faction, saying "Come on all you Tarheads. Here's a
Tar-head candidate!'' The Californians won the count and Brainard was elected.
It is of interest to note that by May 6, 1863, he had recorded 1,291 claims.
But though the citizens of Auburn and vicinity might exercise
legislative or judicial functions whenever necessity should arise, yet they
early began to feel the need of a duly organized local government. Monday, June
6, 1862 was election day in the state of Oregon. Probably for the sake of
calling attention to their needs the people met on that day on Union Hat,
organized an election board, cast more than one hundred votes for the different
candidates and certified their vote to the secretary of state as "election
returns of Baker county." Of course the votes were not counted but the
authorities at Salem had a premonition of efforts to be made in future for the
organization of a new county.
The people followed this suggestion up a few months later by
sending O. H. Kirkpatrick to the state capital with instructions to gain
admission to the house of representatives as a member if possible, otherwise to
bring unofficially whatever influence he could to bear upon the legislature for
the benefit of this section. He secured the passage of a bill incorporating
Auburn, and doubtless had some influence in obtaining the erection of Baker
county, which was created by an act passed at that session of the legislature.
Its original territory included what are now Union, Wallowa and Malheur
counties, as well as the present Baker county.
While the citizens, as we have seen, invariably acted with
prudence and moderation before they had the advantages of a local government,
exercising such deliberation and good judgment in the only illegal execution
occurring as to take from it all the heinousness of an ordinary lynching,
strange to say they allowed the mob spirit to become rampant among them when an
excuse for it no' longer existed, thus staining the otherwise fair record of
their early activities. In November, 1862, two men were fatally stabbed by a man
known to history as Spanish Tom. The murderer and his victims were all gamblers
and the homicide was the result of a row over a game. To terminate the quarrel
the two men afterward murdered had withdrawn from the scene, but the Spaniard
followed, stabbed both of them fatally and fled. He was afterward captured at
Mormon basin and delivered into the custody of Sheriff Hall, who put the
prisoner into a room and placed him under guard. The citizens who would have
insisted upon allowing the law to take its course paid little attention to the
matter, though they knew of the movement on foot to lynch Spanish Tom, thinking
he was beyond harm's reach; but the conspirators worked away zealously,
perfecting their plans in secret. When the preliminary bearing before Justice
Abell was about to be held, the mob came in numbers and demanded that the
examination be held outside the building that all might see and hear. The
officer so far acceded to the demand as to move to a shed on the hillside. They
did not certainly know that any violence was meditated, but they had a guard of
forty armed men to provide against any possible attempt to seize their prisoner.
The mob was led by one Captain Johnson, who covered himself with infamy by the
part he that day played.
While the prisoner was en route to the shed, surrounded by
the guard, Johnson gave the word of command and immediately the sheriff,
prisoner and guard found themselves in the center of a mob which vigorously
demanded the surrender of the Spaniard. Mr. Kirkpatrick mounted a stump and
addressed the assembly, urging that the officers be allowed to do their duty;
Johnson mounted another stump and made a noisy plea for the seizure of the
prisoner. About half the guard deserted and later half of the remainder followed
their perfidious example. It appears that a chain had been fastened to one of
the prisoner's ankles, the remainder of its length being allowed to drag on the
ground, and in their eagerness to capture their victim, the crowd pressed up so
closely that one of their number was enabled to seize the loose end of this
manacle. A tug of war ensued the mob pulling on the chain and the sheriff with
his men holding firmly to the Spaniard. Even Twin himself realized the
hopelessness of the struggle and told the sheriff to let go. The guard thereupon
relaxed their hold; the prisoner was hastily dragged to a street below, where a
rope was fastened around his neck. He called to some Mexican friends to shoot
him and in response a few shots were tired. slightly wounding one man, but
failing of their mark. Crowds of excited men seized the rope and with it rushed
madly down the street. At one point in this mad race, the head of the doomed man
struck a log, the blow no doubt proving instantly fatal, but the mob never
stopped until they reached a convenient tree, upon which they hanged the
Spaniard's lifeless body.
Justice Abell's official record of this horrible affair reads
as follows:
The People of the State of Oregon
vs. MURDER.
Spanish Tom.
Complaint filed the 21st day of November, 1862. Warrant issued of same date. The
defendant brought into court the 22d day of November, 1862. Kelly appointed for
prosecution and McLaughlin for defendant. Witnesses sworn and testified—Mob
seized the defendant—Dragged him through the street and hung his lifeless body
on a tree.
S. ABELL,
Justice of the Peace.
The above account of this affair is substantially that given
by Mr. Hiatt. It must be remembered, however, that all the details are recorded
only in the memories of men, and as is almost universally true in such cases the
witnesses are not in perfect accord. In a letter to W. H. Packwood, written in
1893, Samuel Clarke speaks of the affair as follows:
"Soon after I returned to Auburn, Tom, the Greaser, killed
Desmond and his partner over a game of cards. Squire Abell came to me and asked
me to help examine the witnesses, as I wrote rapidly and could administer an
oath. We met at the head of Blue canyon in an open field with at least two
thousand very excited men looking on. I sat at a table under the shed with the
sheriff's posse at my left and Johnson's vigilantes massed on my right and
Squire Abell, white haired and venerable, in part interrogating the witnesses.
This had gone on quite a while and I had taken down evidence, though even little
while Johnson's crowd would rush in and try to capture the prisoner. They were
run off by the sheriff's men each time. But the third time they were so bad I
stood up in the melee and Johnson jumped on my chair and on the table and
commenced haranguing the crowd, when some one showed me that he had knocked my
ink over on the table, and I knocked him off the table before I knew it. While
he was picking himself up his furious men had their guns and pistols shoved in
my face and Sheriff Hall's men had their guns shoved past my ears the other way.
It was decidedly a risky situation. One fellow hissed at me that he would kill
me. I have always felt ashamed of having said to them 'Shoot you ------- if you
want to!’ But I was too angry to be polite just then. I probably was not afraid
because the sheriff's posse was 'on hand like a thousand of brick.' Anyway they
didn't shoot, because I was so angry I forgot to be frightened. I got a local
reputation that was valuable to me those rough times.
"When the rumpus was over and the vigilantes driven back,
judge what our consternation was when good old Squire Abell turned up missing.
Here was a situation. Hardly knowing what I did I jumped on to the table and
waved my hand to the crowd, and for a wonder silence fell upon them. I appealed
to them to do the thing with regard to the reputation of the camp. 'We are a
long way from courts, but organize your own courts and select your own jury. Let
me finish taking the evidence and read it to the jury and let them decide if the
man is guilty. Give him a show. The Squire is gone, but I am an officer and will
help you in this.' Mr. Kirkpatrick took the same position. In an instant a shout
wait up, 'Bully for Clarke.'
"The jury was selected and took their place and the taking of
the evidence went on. It was a November day and nearly noon, but every witness
was examined and testimony written toward sunset. I took the manuscript and read
it to the jury, who stood in a row outside the shed. All was done in perfect
order. The sheriff's men were still there to maintain order and Johnson's crowd
had to accept it as 'a square deal.' The jury said 'guilty' and as the sunset
grew red the whiz of a lariat came from the outside. Some one picked up the
noose and threw it over Tom's head and a hundred seized the rope and started
down the gulch. The coolest man in the crowd was Tom. From my standpoint I saw
it all, and in a moment, when his head struck a stump, I felt relieved because I
knew the poor fellow's troubles were over."
As in the trial of the Frenchman, so in this affair Matt
Bledsoe was much in evidence, making loud threats against them all, but when,
the lynchers gained the advantage he concluded it was safest to make good his
escape from so uncongenial a crowd. Horrible though this affair was, we are
informed that it had a most salutary effect in Auburn, for the lawless element
left the town forthwith, going to Idaho and Montana.
In the letter referred to above, Mr. Clarke also tells of
another criminal case that occurred sometime in the summer of 1862. The
offender, a boy named Jim, whose father was a cousin of James K. Polk, was a
member of a company of Tennesseans, all of whom were secessionists except Jim.
They were mining on Powder river and the Confederate sympathizers taunted the
boy incessantly. One day Jim suddenly concluded that forbearance had ceased to
be a virtue, so grabbed the knife in the sheath of his latest tormentor and
stabbed him with it. Jim was arrested and kept for awhile, but eventually Mr.
Clarke, who was preparing to go to The Dalles, was requested to take him to
Squire Ninevah Ford for examination. He was committed for trial and Ford
requested of Clarke that he should take the prisoner on to The Dalles. Mr.
Clarke says he had met Jim in a friendly way and felt kindly to him, so told Jim
that if he would give his word that he would not try to escape he should not be
ironed. Mr. Clarke told the boy he would certainly be convicted of manslaughter
and sentenced for life, but promised to have him pardoned in four years. Jim
kept faith, assisting in herding horses and about the camp. In due time he was
tried and convicted. Clarke saw him in prison and renewed his promise of
securing a pardon. "Four years after," says Mr. Clarke, "he called to thank me
and my wife for having pardoned him and went forth a free man and I think a good
one."
©Shauna Williams