HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY.
CHAPTER I
CURRENT HISTORY, 1862 TO 1885.
 

    The early history of Grant county, like that of almost every other section, must be garnered mostly through interviews with men who assisted in making that history, and as few remember any but the most striking and sensational incidents, a work depending for its material upon the memories of men must of necessity be somewhat fragmentary and incomplete. It is a well known fact also that those who are able to recall accurately events which happened thirty-five or forty years ago are very few, so that the earliest annals of our section can hardly be written as authoritatively as one could wish. We have, however, endeavored to make the best possible use of the means at hand, and when no printed accounts of happenings could be obtained, have verified verbal reports of them as far as possible by consulting others beside the original narrator that "out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word might be established."
    The original Grant county has long been known to white men, though its settlement dates back only about forty years. Its earliest history is a part of the mist-like annals of old Oregon territory, with its trappers and fur traders. Later it figured not inconspicuously in the military arrangements of our government. By an order of the secretary of war, bearing date September 13, 1858, the old department of the Pacific was subdivided into the departments of Oregon and California. General G. W. Harney, in whose honor the present Harney county was named, was assigned to the command of the Oregon department. Two days after his arrival at his headquarters in Vancouver, namely, on the 31st of October, 1858, he secured the plaudits of the entire population of Oregon by issuing an order opening the Walla Walla valley (which had been remanded to barbarism in 1855 by the interdict of General Wool) to the occupation of white men. Harney proved a better friend of the people than any of his predecessors, though even he was inclined to think lightly of the Indian troubles and to devote his attention mainly to gratifying his passion for establishing military roads. Accordingly in April, 1859, he sent Captain D. H. Wallen to reconnoiter a road from The Dalles to Salt Lake City, ascertaining whether it was practicable to build such a road up the John Day valley, thence over to the headwaters of the Malheur and down that river to the Snake. Wallen met no predatory bands of Indians, and for a good reason. They had eluded him, and when safely in his rear had swooped down I upon the Warm Springs reservation, driving away cattle belonging to friendly Indians. The result was a call upon Harney for forces to protect the reservation, to which that general replied by sending rifles and ammunition. Acting upon this hint, the agent in charge organized a company of reservation redskins, which, under command of Dr. Thomas. L. Fitch, marched up the John Day in hope of recovering the stolen property. They killed a number of braves, took their women and children prisoners, and secured a few horses, but the immunity purchased by this victory was short-lived. A few months later the Snake Indians again raided the reservation, killing a number of women and children, scaring the whites out of the country and destroying thousands of dollars worth of property.
    Meanwhile Wallen pushed his explorations as far as the Harney valley. He proved of inestimable service to the large immigration of 1859, only one company of which was attacked by Indians.
    In the spring of 1860 Harney sent Major E. Stein into the region, for the purpose, among other things, of continuing the exploration of the Salt Lake road from the point where Wallen left it onward. This expedition and another sent in company with it under Captain A. J. Smith were resisted by the Indians, so that reinforcements became necessary. When these arrived Stein marched southward to what is now known as Stein mountain, and surprised a small band of Indians there, who fled to the top of the butte. Stein pursued with all his forces over the crest of the mountain and down the opposite slope. The descent was through a narrow and dangerous canyon, but fortune favored the command and it escaped with the loss of a single mule.
    In September Colonel Wright, who had succeeded Harney to the command of the department of Oregon, reported to headquarters that the routes of immigration had been rendered safe by the operation of the troops. Even before he made this statement, however, the horrible Snake river massacre, the details of which are most shocking, had transpired, and soon accounts of it came in, effectually contradicting his report.
    Such was the condition of things in southeastern Oregon at the close of the year 1860. Certainly but poor protection was offered to the miner, the prospector or the agriculturist who might wish to seek his fortune in this region. Yet no danger can deter the hardy searcher after gold from going wherever he thinks himself likely to find the precious metal, and even while the country was closed to miners by military orders, parties of men ventured into its bounds prospecting for mineral deposits. The adventures of one of these parties have been narrated at some length in a previous chapter and the foundation of the Auburn camp and of Baker county detailed. We saw that when the expedition which set out from Portland in the fall of 1861 in search of the Blue Bucket diggings was ready to return home it resolved itself into two parties, one of which set out through the John Day country, intending to return over the Barlow trail. In answer to a request by the writer for information concerning this party, D. S. Littlefield, of Baker City, stated that about the 18th of October fourteen men started back from Burnt river by this route, intending to go to Portland or The Dalles, and that the next day five more left. Of the men who constituted this party Mr. Littlefield remembers the names of three, Woodward, Bennet and Lewis, the first named being the captain of the company. The next spring he was informed by Bennet and Lewis, who came over to where he was mining in Griffin's gulch, that this party discovered gold on the north fork of the John Day five or six days after they separated from their companions. They staked out claims for all; then Woodward and most of the company went on to get a supply of provisions, leaving Lewis and Bennet at the claims. These remained upon the river as long as they could but they awaited in vain the return of Woodward. At length their larder became dangerously lean, and they were compelled to strike out for civilization. Upon reaching The Dalles they found that Woodward had been killed by Indians while on his way to Portland. Whatever may have been the merits of the mines discovered by these men, they had little effect upon the history of the county, and the discovery which resulted in the settlement of the region was of a somewhat later date. The earliest settlers on Canyon creek had no knowledge of this discovery, were not induced into the country by it, but were on their way to the Idaho mines when the fortunate find was made which caused them to pause and eventually to give up their design of going on to Florence.
    Evidently the first company of gold seekers to reach the site of the present Canyon City arrived on the 8th of June, 1862. William C. Allred, one of the party, states that to his knowledge two or three companies had started ahead of his for the Florence mines, but of their subsequent operations he knows nothing. They must have traveled by some other route, for his company saw no signs of a previous visitation to Canyon creek, and had to make their own trail. They reached the headwaters of this noteworthy stream about the first of June, and about midday on the 8th pitched camp on Little Pine creek, just below the spot on which Marysville now stands, having left Canyon creek at the western foot of Canyon mountain. "When we pitched camp," says Mr. Allred, "the understanding was that we were not to move until the next morning, so several of us took our pans and started off to do some prospecting. I concluded to try the creek we had just descended, so headed my horse westward and soon found myself on the banks of a rushing, roaring stream. At that time the bottom of the canyon was covered with a heavy growth of brush and grass. The most likely place (now known as Hog Point) to try a prospect was across the stream, so leaving my pan and all needless articles on this side I plunged in, and after quite a struggle reached the other bank. Then I found I had forgotten my handkerchief, in which I purposed to tie up some dirt and gravel. There was nothing else to do but to press my underwear into service, so taking off my drawers I constructed a receptacle out of them, filled it with gravel and returned to the other bank. The result of a few minutes panning was perhaps very nearly four dollars in gold. I hastily mounted my horse and rode for camp to tell the boys what I had found. Imagine my surprise and anger to find that during my absence the company had decided to move on, and had left me. I came up with them on the flat just below the present Prairie Diggings, and reported my find. But it was no use. They were bound for Florence, and to Florence they would go, so there was nothing for me to do but accompany them.
    ''When we reached the John Day river it was so high and swift that we could not ford it. Of course that meant the building of a bridge, so we prepared for a few days' stay. We found a good place to build a bridge just below where the present bridge stands, and set to work with a will to build a rude structure. Macgruder's party was close on our heels, and came up the next day after we arrived. It was here that I became acquainted with this noted leader through an adventure that nearly cost us both our lives. I was down on the river doing some work when he came along and inquired if I thought it would be safe to cross. 'No.' said I, 'it's too deep and the current too strong. Besides, you notice that the bank overlies the water, and if you were once caught in a current and carried under one of those banks you could not save yourself.’ He listened to what I said, but announced his intention to try it, anyway, and it was no use to argue with him. Where I failed, however, his horse won, for the animal refused to enter the water. Time after time Macgruder urged him to, but not a step would the animal take. So Macgruder got mad, and riding back a few rods, dug in his spurs and whipped the horse into a run, thinking he would force him to take the water.
    "Just as I expected, the horse stopped short right on the edge of the river, sending Macgruder sprawling over his head into the water. Macgruder wore heavy spurs, and in some way they caught in the reins, thus holding him feet uppermost, and strangling him. He struggled frantically, but without avail. I ran to his aid, and climbing out on the horse, which was so frightened it could hardly move, grasped the bridle to pull it off and disentangle it from Macgruder. Just then the horse reared, throwing me into the water. Then Macgruder, strangling and excited, clutched me and began to try to climb up, just as drowning men do. He pulled me down, fighting like a mad man, and to save myself I struck him a blow, causing him to loose his hold, after which I took him by the hair and held him away from me. By this time we had drifted out into the stream, and were being whirled rapidly away under one of those overhanging banks, when I managed to grasp a willow and hold on, yelling all the time for help. Some of the men hurried to the scene, and, throwing us ropes and poles, hauled us out. Macgruder refused to take hold of anything but me, and more dead than alive, we finally reached the shore. It was some time before either of us were in a fit condition to work.
    "Well, we crossed a few days later on the bridge we had built, and proceeded on across the Dixie and Burnt river ranges, in due course of time sighting Auburn. When we crossed down into the Powder River Valley several of us determined to proceed no further, having heard discouraging reports of the Idaho mines, and here twenty-six of us left the main company. Of this number eighteen, including myself, elected to return to where I had panned so well in the John Day country. We stayed at Auburn, which was then a thriving, bustling camp, only long enough to secure more supplies, and then struck westward over the old trail. Arriving at Canyon City, July 3d, we found a camp of several hundred men, and the creek bed down to the John Day taken up as claims. At Prairie Diggings we met a party of eighteen men bound for the Idaho mines, but upon hearing from our company that the outlook at Florence was discouraging, they voted to proceed no further. This was the beginning of the Prairie Diggings camp, for they found gold, organized a company and stayed there."
    But during Mr. Allred’s absence from Canyon creek important developments were taking place. The next day after the departure of his company another party of California miners came through en route to Auburn and Idaho. They camped on the banks of the creek, and some of their number suggested the idea of prospecting for color. The result was that on what afterwards became known as Whisky flat a good prospect was obtained, so good, indeed, that the idea of proceeding further on their journey was given up. During the next few days the banks of Canyon creek were prospected energetically, and soon the entire creek bottom to the confluence of the stream, with the John Day river was divided into mining claims.
    The same causes which brought the parties of which we have spoken into the valley were still operative to bring others here. Indeed the spring of 1862 was a season of migrations among the California miners, nomadic as were their habits, and ever ready as they were to take un the line of march whenever a promising discovery was made. David Deitz says that on the road that spring the traveler could look away ahead of his train and see other trains winding up the hillsides like huge serpents, and looking backward could see yet others far in his wake. Most of these emigrants were satisfied with the prospects in Canyon creek and remained, so that before many months the place had a numerous population. By the first of July there were probably three hundred people operating between the site of the present Canyon City and the junction of the creek with the John Day river.
    Of course some regulations had to be made for the government of the colony, especially in relation to the different mining claims, and on July 3d the miners convened for the purpose of drafting a code of laws. The regulations adopted were much the same as those which were in vogue in the mining districts of California. George Woodburn was elected recorder of claims. He had distinguished himself in California as a legislator, and is credited with having made a map of eastern Oregon and Idaho remarkable for its approximate accuracy. H. C. Paige had been spoken of for the position, but declined, as he thought Woodburn the proper man. Mr. Paige, who served as secretary of this meeting, tells us that he was also secretary of a similar assembly which convened on Pine creek some time previous. The laws drafted at the meeting were written out in extenso and copies posted in conspicuous places on Canyon creek, Little and Big Pine creeks.
    So busy were the miners in taking out the gold that they did not spend time to build houses at first, but lived all summer in tents. The first house in the district was erected by Tim Whiting & Company on Rebel Hill, in the early fall of 1862, the material used in its construction being cotton wood logs. It was later torn down to make room for a better building.
    There is no disputing the fact that the Canyon creek placer mines were very rich, certainly among the richest that have ever been discovered on the Pacific coast, and if the best machinery could have been brought into operation all at once, fabulous fortunes would have been made in a day. Even with the crude methods in vogue, large returns were secured for labor, and unlimited prosperity prevailed.
     Those who know of the convivial disposition of the California miner need not be told that the institutions which win lucre by taking advantage of the social instincts in our nature were soon on the spot. The saloon was here before gold had been discovered many days, and with it came the gambler, with his deck of cards, ready to try his skill with any poor son of toil who might be willing to "take a hand." Deprived of the restraining influences of the home, the church and settled institutions, and with little of the elevating and purifying atmosphere which refined, virtuous women take with them; wherever they go, many a youth strayed from the path of purity and rectitude, who might under more favorable circumstances have always remained a light in his community. It must be remembered, however, that it is not the miners who give any new camp the name of being a rough, lawless place. Labor itself has its own purifying and restraining influence. The toiler may be passionate and have in his blood the fire which may betray him into some crime of violence or impel him to lapses from the highest morality. His passion for the pleasures of society, failing to find pure sources of gratification, may impel his footsteps into forbidden paths; but the toiler is seldom a criminal at heart, or a moral leper, and his failings are chargeable to the force of environment, rather than to a firmly rooted disposition to do wrong. It is that despicable class that flock to the frontier because they cannot thrive in a land where laws are established and enforced, who give the mining camps a bad name. It is that equally reprehensible class, who, too indolent to seize legitimate opportunities for themselves, prey like parasites upon the industry of others, who bring reproach upon mining communities; and Canyon City had an abundant supply of both.
    Some of these men were killed in quarrels with each other, but when a bad man met a violent death nobody attempted to bring the slayer to justice. One gambler whose fate is frequently spoken of by old residents was Dan La Follett, better known by the sobriquet of Black Dan. He is described by H. C. Paige as having been a tall, handsome fellow, about thirty years of age, probably a member of an excellent family in the east. "The last time I saw him alive," says Paige, "he was standing in front of Marchand's saloon on a beautiful evening about sundown. I had a ten-cent piece, a. rare coin in those days, too small in value for any use, as nothing less than twenty-five cents would purchase anything. Seeing a small crack in a post to the awning, I placed the money in it and remarked to Dan, 'I wonder if anyone will dig that out.' Having business, I went away, and in a few minutes heard a shot."
    Dan was not killed instantly, but knew himself to be mortally wounded. He was laid out on a table in a saloon, there to repose until summoned to the "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns." To beguile the last weary moments of his earthly pilgrimage he had the women of his acquaintance called in, and they sang songs and poured whisky down his and their own throats until the spark of his unprofitable life was quite extinguished.
    Meanwhile a man had been sent to dig a grave for Dan, for it was thought proper to give him a decent burial. The task was not an easy one, as the grave had to be dug in hard cement, but at last it was accomplished. Unfortunately, however, for the plans of the funeral managers, another man had been shot in the night, and his body, too, must be laid to rest. A character known as Sailor Jack was selected to dig a grave for the second victim. Jack found the grave already dug for Dan, hastened back after the body for which he was preparing a sepulchre, got it in the grave, others assisting, of course, hastily lowered it to the bottom, and returned to Canyon City. In the language of the miner's, Dan's grave was "jumped," and the gamblers who had his body in charge were forced to dig another one for him.
    But though little attention was paid to shooting scrapes over card games and the like, miners were always determined that cold-blooded murderers should be made to pay the penalty of their crimes. As Mr. Hiatt says, the most determined mobs which ever undertook to perform acts contrary to law were composed of California miners. Nevertheless, there seems to have been no lynchings if we except the execution of Berry Wey during the early clays in Grant county, consequently mistakes costing innocent men their lives (an almost certain accompaniment of mob rule) have never darkened the earlier history of the county.
    M. Paige tells a strange incident in which a camp of Californians came near making a serious mistake of this kind. He says that while traveling into the John Day country from Auburn he lost his partner, George Wilcox, somewhere along the trail, owing to the fact that Wilcox would stop and talk to every man he met. Paige continued his journey alone, and soon his troubles commenced. The John Day river had to be crossed. "I made several attempts,” says he, "to cross by fording, but it was too deep and rapid. I wanted to keep my clothes dry and save the pick, pan and shovel. At last I made it, ten miles below, but got wet. Night was coming on. I saw smoke; thought it was an Indian camp. Indians or no Indians, I was bound to go to that camp, as a very cold wind was blowing; so hungry and wet, I started to the camp. I had been in wild Indian camps alone many times before with safety, therefore felt that I could take another chance. As god luck would have it, it proved to be a party from California, and by me they were posted of the locality they were in. I lay down. A little way off all had got together but two, who remained with me. I thought nothing of it at the time. I slept between two men, Wallace and Kitchen, from whom I learned at a later date that the meeting they held was for the purpose of discussing about hanging me, believing I had murdered my partner and was trying to get away. Only for the pick, shovel and pan, I might I have lost my life, but they reasoned no man would commit a crime and pack those tools, without food."
    The story illustrates how liable to error is a company of men disposed to take the reins of justice into their own hands. Yet resort to lynching, dangerous and demoralizing though it is, cannot well be avoided in new communities where crime is rife, and legally constituted courts lacking, or so far distant as to preclude the probability if not the possibility of the law's being enforced. The Grant county miners had no occasion to deal with a murderer of the deepest dye until the early spring of 1863. Then, however, a crime was committed of a very atrocious nature. It appears that Berry Wey and a man named Gallagher were traveling together with pack animals between Canyon City and The Dalles. While camped somewhere between Currant creek and Antelope valley, about eighty miles this side of the latter point, Wey, as is supposed killed his partner, and dragging the body of his victim to a wide-spreading juniper tree secreted it there, covering it with a few boughs. He then continued on his way to The Dalles with his murdered companion's money and mules. He purchased goods, loaded the mules and returned to Canyon City, were he made the statement, on being questioned regarding Gallagher, that his former partner had sold him his mules and had gone to Portland over the Barlow road. Unfortunately for Wey, however, some persons traveling toward Canyon City discovered the body in its hiding place. Wey was arrested, but escaped from his guard and struck out over the mountains. He was followed to Boise City, captured and brought back to Canyon. Upon arriving there, he was forcibly taken by a committee of citizens from the custody of Frank McDaniels, the deputy sheriff in charge. They purposed to hang him immediately, without ceremony, and this would doubtless have been done were it not for the efforts of Ike Hare, who is described as being a bold, fearless man, and a fine speaker. He had served as an officer in the Mexican war, and later in the legislative halls of California. Hare mounted a pile of whip-sawed lumber and made an eloquent plea for calmness and prudence, advising that the man be kept till the next day, then given a "fair and impartial trial." "Yes, gentlemen," said he, "we will give him a fair and impartial trial. We know him to be guilty, and we will hang him, anyway."
    Next day a jury of twelve men was selected, counsel was furnished the prisoner and a trial in somewhat resembling legal form was had. He was convicted and the day following was taken outside the town and hanged. The sentence was considered a just one and his executioners were never questioned by the law on account of their acts.
    It is related that after Wey's escape from his custodians, an express rider named Van Tichner related the circumstance to the people of Auburn. They were so incensed that when, a few days later, McDaniels came through their town following the trail of the murder they were ready to hang him. A strong plea kept the mob from carrying their threats into execution. McDaniels proceeded on his journey and soon had his man. The deputy sheriff was so angry at Van Tichner for causing him this trouble that he threatened to kill the expressman on sight. He probably had no intention of doing so but in time they met; Van Tichner got the drop on his adversary, and McDaniels fell at the first fire.
    Throughout the whole of the year 1862 men were pouring into Grant county from different parts of the west. Many who failed to find what they were looking for in the Auburn camp or elsewhere in what is now Baker county came to the John Day valley, and hundreds of prospectors fresh from California, as well as others disappointed in the Idaho mines, were searching for gold in all the creek bottoms and gulches. The Canyon creek camp was far more important than any other in Grant county, and Canyon City early became a populous, thriving town. During the first few years the banks of the stream from Whisky gulch to the John Day river were covered with shacks and tents. What is now the town of John Day was called lower town and Canyon City, upper town, but while the houses were not arranged in any order there was practically only one community, and that extended over an area more than two miles long. The discovery of gold on Little Pine creek led to the settlement of Marysville. which in 1862 had perhaps two hundred and fifty or three hundred inhabitants. The Prairie Diggings camp, as before stated, was discovered by a party of eighteen Californians, mostly of German descent, who prospected there early in 1862, while en route to Florence, finding some gold, but not enough to cause a permanent halt in their march. On being met by Allred's return party, as heretofore related, and informed of the discouraging reports from Florence, they determined to return and prospect the region more thoroughly. They soon found fair prospects and located eighteen claims. Among the original discoverers of the camp were George Robinson, Bar Smith, A. Lytle. W. Stone and Neil McNultv. Immediately afterward. F. C. Sels, E. J. W. Stemme and three others took six adjoining claims, and a little later several more locations were made, so that the camp soon numbered between thirty and forty men. The original discoverers at once pooled their interests into a joint stock company and began constructing a ditch from a creek, some two miles distant. The ditch was completed early in the summer, and carried about three hundred miner's inches. What water the incorporators could not use was sold to individual claim owners, who thus procured enough water to. keep them busy about four hours each day.
    The same year (1862) another and much larger ditch was constructed by Marysville and Canyon City miners, conveying some eight hundred inches of water from Indian and Big-Pine creeks. This canal was twelve miles long. It belonged to a co-operative miners' company, unincorporated, and in it water rights were secured by the Prairie Diggings miners. At present this ditch and the smaller one are both controlled by the Hoosier Boy Mines Company, and are used to furnish water power for their stamp mills and hydraulics. It has been estimated that the eighteen original owners of the Prairie Diggings cleared $10, 000 each during the first year of their operations, and many hundreds of thousands have been garnered from this natural thesaurus of wealth by the numerous companies which have since owned them.
    The first ditch constructed by the Canyon creek miners was known as the Rawhide ditch, because the flumes were built of rawhide, on account of the lack of lumber in the community at the time. The ditch took its water out of Canyon creek, near where the courthouse now stands, and conveyed it bout a mile down the west side. Eli Lester and A. P. Riley were its principal owners. It was a very small ditch, its capacity being about two hundred inches, and it was abandoned entirely after having been used a year or two. It did not long antedate the Lone Star ditch, put in by a small party of Texans. It took its waters out of the creek, tapping that stream about a mile above Canyon City. By the close of the year 1862 it was one mile long, and the next year was continued to Blue gulch. For some time the Lone Star was the principal ditch of the Canyon district and it was used more or less until some nine or ten years ago.
    The Humboldt ditch was also begun in 1862. It was so named from the fact that its first owners came from Humboldt county, in California. Like the Lone Star, it was a public ditch, and water could be obtained from it for fifty cents per inch per day of twelve hours. The work on this ditch was done largely by miners owning property under it, who received their pay in water. The ditch is still in use, though it has long since passed out of the ownership of the Sproul Brothers and Kaiser, its original proprietors. It occupies a position on the hillside far above the old Lone Star, so that a breakage anywhere in it was sure to cause like damage to the other ditch, doubling the expense of making repairs. To remedy this, the Humboldt purchased the Lone Star five or six years ago, since which time the latter ditch has remained unused and neglected.
    During the early days perhaps nobody in the county had any idea of permanently settling here. The miners purposed to get all the money they could in a few: years, then return to the lands whence they came, to enjoy their speedily acquired wealth. Judging by the latitude and the altitude of the place, it was thought that the climate must be very cold, too cold to be endured with any comfort during the winter months. This belief was fostered also by the unusually cold, backward spring of 1862, following, as it did, a winter of extreme severity. Agriculture they considered out of the question entirely, and notwithstanding the abundance of luxuriant bunch-grass covering each hill from base to crest and spreading out profusely over the valleys, even Oregonians thought that stockraising could never be profitably engaged in, owing to the supposed length and severity of the winters. Provisions of all kinds, including potatoes and other vegetables, had to be imported from with out, and as freight from The Dalles was 16 to 24 cents per pound, it may be imagined that the price of living was high. The enormous profits to be reaped from the raising of vegetables, should experiments in that direction prove successful, early induced a few men to plant small patches of potatoes and garden vegetables. Mr. Overholt says that for some unknown reason all the first horticultural experiments failed utterly, confirming the general impression that the country was worthless for agriculture. It may be that the planting was done too early. Nevertheless, potatoes were successfully raised during the early 'sixties, for John Herburger states that he got a fine crop at a very early date. He offered them for sale at twenty-five cents a pound, and they were purchased with such avidity that he was forced to limit the sale to any one man to four pounds, so that all might enjoy the taste of the unwonted luxury. He says that not infrequently he got a dollar for four potatoes, a fact which shows that the soil was capable of giving generous proportions to its products. The success of Mr. Herburger and the few early experimenters encouraged others to try, and so agriculture in the John Day valley got its start. The same causes induced the importation of a few cattle and horses, giving inception to the stock industry. The first homesteads were taken by B. C. Trowbridge and William Wilson, on the 16th day of July 1862. They were situated in the John Day valley, on the opposite side of the river from the mouth of Canyon creek, and were held originally by their locators, in partnership.
    At first all lumber used in the construction of flumes and sluices had to be whip-awed. As it sold for three hundred dollars per thousand, an excellent opening was presented to the lumberman, and perceiving this, Sanborn & Roy brought in a little sawmill in the fall of 1862, setting it up on Big Pine creek. It had a capacity of between one thousand and fifteen hundred feet per flay. A little later a mill was established on Canyon creek above Canyon City, by a man named Penfield, and the necessity of producing the lumber supply of the colony by the laborious whipsaw method was obviated.
    When fall came many of the miners wished to return to their homes for fresh supplies of provisions, and perhaps, too, because they feared the severity of the coming winter. A miners' meeting was therefore called at which it was decided by common consent that claims should be respected until June 15, 1863, though no work should be done on them between the time of the meeting and that date.
    Just how many people there were in Grant county in the fall of 1862 we have no means of determining, but conservative men estimate the number at between four and five thousand. Of course, these men could not bring with them provisions enough to last for any considerable length of time, so a base of supplies had to be sought somewhere. Mr. Hiatt tells us that at the Auburn camp there were a great many discouraged and disappointed men who were willing to sell their outfits and provisions for almost any figure and get out of the country, and the same may have been true to a less extent in the John Day mining region. But though the circumstances might lessen the demand for tools and provisions somewhat, a sure base of supplies must be found, and the miners, though they knew not their exact geographical position at first, were sufficiently cognizant of their whereabouts to look toward The Dalles as their nearest supply point. The first pack train to enter the John Day valley was brought from The Dalles by J. J. Cozart and D. N. Luce. It had started for the Salmon river country, but turned aside to Canyon creek, on account of the reports of miners met en route. It arrived some time in July or August, and from its packs the first two stores in Canyon City obtained their stocks of goods, which were duly installed upon shelves sheltered by canvas tents. Later, J. W. Case and a Frenchman named Wadleigh brought in packs of goods. Nevertheless, provisions were not plentiful in the fall of 1862.
    The business of packing provisions into the mining camps on mules was a very lucrative one, and many were engaged in it during the first few years, notwithstanding the terrible gauntlet of highwaymen and Indians which had to be run by the freighters and packers. To accommodate these adventurous knights of primeval transportation, and at the same time to draw trade, to their little city, public-spirited merchants of The Dalles had the old trail materially improved. Indeed the first men who went through from Canyon City to The Dalles after provisions were a company made up of two or three members from each party of Californians. They followed the route which looked easiest, guided only by the contour of the country and such inaccurate traders' maps as they possessed. On their return journey they were enabled to make several cut-offs, but the trail they made was far from the best that could be found. To facilitate transportation the citizens of The Dalles straightened out and improved this primitive highway, putting a new bridge across the DesChutes. river many miles above the old one. At a later date a company was formed, known as The Dalles Military Road Company, which obtained a grant of land from the general government to remunerate it for building a military highway from The Dalles to Fort Boise. A fair road was built, over which, for many years, vast amounts of freight were conveyed by pack train and wagon.
    "For several miles south of Upper Currant creek, and west of a small stream called the Muddy, which comes from the south and strikes Currant creek at right angles, is a large scope of country of peculiar formation," says an Oregonian correspondent, writing in 1886. "The appearance of this locality can best be understood by the name 'Potato Hills,' given ; to it by the first travelers along the route. These small grassy knolls were clustered thickly over the expanse, interspersed with scrubby pines and clusters of service berry, wild plum and greasewood bushes. These potato hills increase in size, elevation and ruggedness to the east, a distance of nearly five miles, till the little stream of Muddy is reached, when the hills give place to bluffs of shelving and scale rocks.
    "In this locality the Snake Indians made their principal attacks upon trains and travelers in 1862, though the whole distance from this place to Canyon City was subject to their attacks. Down this creek filed a pack train belonging to a man named Nelson, who was on his return from The Dalles with a load of goods. Along the creek were numerous clusters of wild currant bushes, from which the creek received its name, affording excellent shelter for the skulking Indians. The packers were gaily, or otherwise, urging their mules along the gravelly path, and had possibly forgotten that the locality was a dangerous one.
    "The train was strung out down the narrow trail, the bell-mare and rider far in the lead. An abrupt, though low, ledge of scale rocks was a few rods to the left of the trail, the creek with its skirting of current hushes close to the right; the packers were busy 'fixing’ the packs, and the riding animals were loose on the trail. Suddenly the rider of the bell mare shouted ‘Indians!' to those behind, and, clapping spurs to his horse, clattered off down the trail at a keen run. Out from the Currant bushes, down from the ledge of rocks, poured the Indians. Some tried to catch the mules, others opened fire with bows and arrows and guns upon the packers, who left their work and hurriedly mounted saddled mules and scampered back on the trail to the rear. The Indians were too numerous to be successfully contended with by the train; two men, armed only with revolvers, could not reasonably hope to cope with fifty or more Indians, all armed, many of them with rifles. The music of the fleeing bell, far in the front, could not be heard, and when the two men had retired to a safe distance, they stopped on an elevation and surveyed the savage horde below, in earnest chase of the fleeing mules. The men all escaped unhurt, but the mules and cargo were lost."
    The above incident is only one of a very great number in which Indians robbed pack trains during the early days, sometimes getting the mules without killing their owners, but taking human life whenever they could. The road was also infested in some places with highwaymen, or "road agents," as they styled themselves. These were as unrelenting as the Indians, and almost as much to be feared. They usually accomplished their object without bloodshed, being able to secrete themselves so as to take their victims wholly by surprise, but when resistance was offered they failed not to use their weapons with deadly effect. The Indians were also very troublesome on the road entering Canyon from the south, but the "road agents" confined their operations mostly to the northern route.
    Not alone were the routes of travel infested by the thievish and murderous redskins, but the country contiguous to the mines was also overrun by the same scourge. The Indians did not attack the miners in the towns, but contented themselves with hanging around the outskirts and picking up any horses or mules they might find insufficiently guarded, or murdering small companies of prospectors. The residents of Marysville and Canyon creek were accustomed to ire herders to range their horses on the hills during the flay time and put them in a large corral at night. On at least one occasion the Indians made a desperate effort to raid this corral at night, but failed.
    Late in the fall of 1862 a company of five men were prospecting up the South Fork of the John Day river on a stream since known as Murderer's creek. They made their camp under a projecting rock near the brook, and not far from the road over the Blue mountains. The road was rather infrequently traveled by wagons or pack trains, and as the men knew this, and had seen no signs of Indians, they believed themselves absolutely safe. One evening they retired, as usual, to their beds under the rock, and lay there conversing and smoking. Suddenly, about dusk, the sharp crack of four rifles broke upon their ears, and simultaneously a flight of arrows came from the neighboring rocks, some of which found lodgment in the bodies of the unfortunate men. One of the miners was killed outright, and all the others were wounded. Two struggled to the creek and down its shore half a mile, when one of them could go no farther, having been mortally wounded by a rifle ball. He lay down in a cluster of bushes close to the stream and died. His companion pushed on to Officer's ranch, where he also passed away the next day, after a night of great agony.
    The following summer a party of emigrants, with whom was G. I. Hazeltine, were camped near the place where the first victim died. While two of the girls belonging to the party were wandering along the creek one of them found a gold watch near a cluster of bushes. Upon further search they discovered the skeleton of a man, undoubtedly the remains of the murdered miner.
    The two other members of this ill-starred prospecting party escaped from their covert under the rocks to a thicket of brush a short distance away, where they paused, that the wounds of the younger man might be bandaged. It was found, that he had received a very severe wound in his side, from a rifle ball, also two less serious wounds from arrows. His companion, a man quite far advanced in life, was but slightly injured by an arrow, and considered himself most fortunate in escaping so well, but time proved that the arrow inflicting the apparently trifling wound had been poisoned. When the younger man had been made as comfortable as possible, the two climbed painfully over the high bluffs on the east side of the South Fork, hoping to make their way to Canyon City. They were afraid to take the trail along the main river, lest the Indians should again attack them, so kept on over the rough, gorge-cut country as best they might. The death of the younger man seemed unavoidable, so he finally prevailed upon his aged companion to leave him and try to save his own life. The old man eventually reached Canyon City, but the poison had permeated his system so completely that he could not live.
    Meanwhile his deserted companion struggled slowly onward, stopping at all convenient places to bathe his wounds. He, too, at last reached the town. By careful nursing he recovered sufficiently, after a few months' confinement, to go about again, though he never regained his former vigorous health.
    Some time during the year 1864 a man named Middlesworth left his pack train half a mile outside Canyon City and himself came into town to spend a few hours. While he was gone the Indians stampeded the mules, running them over the mountains and into Harney valley. Mr. Middlesworth raised a company of men and set out in am attempt to recover his property. In due time he came upon them in the valley, but his force was so badly outnumbered by Indians that he considered it unwise to make an attack.
    During the same fall an attempt was made by Indians to drive away some horses that were feeding on the hills near Canyon City. They were opposed by a superior force of white men and driven back, leaving one of their number apparent dead. His only wound, however, was found to consist of a broken leg. His captors brought him into town, and when he had sufficiently recovered to endure the operation, his limb was removed. Mr. Onsley. the physician of the town, was without a supply of surgical instruments, but succeeded in amputating the wounded member with a knife and a butcher's saw. Chloroform was also lacking, but the stolidity and stoicism of the savage were equal to the occasion. After recovery he traversed the streets at will on crutches, living off the bounty of the men he tried to rob, and apparently enjoying his new environment. For several months he remained in civilized society, but the promptings of his savage nature at last impelled him back to the wilderness. It is said that someone gave him an old horse to get rid of him.
    During this and the two or three years succeeding, roving bands infested the stage and immigrant roads, thieving and murdering, terrorizing small settlements and infusing into the everyday life of the miner, the rancher and the traveler an element of unrest and anxiety that was almost unendurable. The details of these raids are not only intensely interesting as stories, but they show the conditions under which life was sustained during this period of the country's history. Stages over the various routes suffered a great deal from Indian attacks and travelers never risked their lives on journeys without being well prepared for defense. An interesting story is told of an attack by the Indians on the Canyon City-Dalles stage, as follows:
    H. H. Wheeler, for whom Wheeler county is named, came to The Dalles in 1863 with considerable money realized in the lumber business in California. With this capital he established the first mail and stage line from The Dalles to Canyon City. Commencing in 1864 he took the mail contract for four years, at $12,000 per annum. He ran four-horse coaches, and had eight changes of horses on the route. The coaches held eleven passengers, and the fare was $40 from The Dalles to Canyon City. Besides, Mr. Wheeler had a contract to carry all of Wells, Fargo & Company's express, mostly gold from the famous Canyon City mines. It was a paying business, but the risks were great.
    In the fall of 1866 a band of Indians attacked the stage, on which were Mr. Wheeler and Wells Fargo & Company's messenger, H. C. Paige, about three miles above where the town of Mitchell now is, then in Wasco, now in Wheeler county. The Indians had rifles and commanded the driver to stop, which he did. Paige at once opened fire on the Indians, but without effect. Then a big buck on the hillside shot Mr. Wheeler through the face, the bullet passing through both cheeks, taking the upper gum and teeth away, besides a piece of jaw bone. He hung his whip on the brake, jumped off the stage and unhitched one of the leaders, while Paige unhitched the other. Each then mounted a horse and rode at full speed by to C. W. Myer's station, on Bridge creek, a distance of about six miles. Some of the redskins followed them, while the remainder stayed to plunder the stage. About half way to the station Paige's horse threw him. (Neither horse was broken to ride), and while he held the Indians at bay with his rifle Wheeler caught the horse and helped him (Paige) to mount again. The Indians continued shooting from a distance, but the pursued suffered no further injury. Balked of their human prey, the entire band turned their attention to the stage and its contents. They cut open the mail bags and cut the top off the coach, broke open the express box and took everything they thought of value. Fortunately for the express company, the Indians had never seen paper money, and threw $10,000 in greenbacks contemptuously to one side, which Paige picked up two hours afterward, when he returned to the spot with a posse of armed men. The Indians had by this time fled, so had the wheel horses. Two days afterward Mr. Wheeler went down on the stage to The Dalles to have his mouth treated. During the time Mr. Wheeler was running the stage line the Indians stole eighty-nine head of horses, for which he has had a claim of $20,000 pending before the government for twenty years.
    Howard Maupin was a pioneer of 1864, who settled in Antelope valley, on the Canyon City road. When he came here with his family and stock the Piute Indians held undisputed sway over all the country south of the road leading from The Dalles to the mines on the John Day river, at Canyon City. These Indians were warlike by instinct, and marauders from necessity; they knew no peaceful neighbors; every stranger was an enemy. From time immemorial a Piute Indian, standing in his realm of sage brush, alkali beds and rim rock canyons, could turn his eyes in no direction but he faced a land where dwelt hereditary enemies of his tribe.
    When the whites began to pass through his country as immigrants to western Oregon, or in later years, as gold seekers, the Piutes regarded them as but a new enemy come to torment them when in strong parties, and proper victims to kill and plunder when venturing in small ones.
    Such were the environments of Antelope valley, when, lured by its luxuriant grass, which covered an almost unlimited scope of free pasturage. Howard Maupin built his cabin. He was not ignorant of the danger that menaced him, for he had spent his youth on the Texan border, and was well schooled in Indian character, learned in many a. bloody conflict with Comanches and Apaches. He was a man of gigantic proportions, a Hercules in strength, true to his friends and a terror to his enemies.
    One dark July night, while a gentle drizzling rain was nattering on his cabin roof, the stampeding and snorting of the horses in the corral awoke Mrs. Maupin. She heard the swish of the lariet. followed by a wild rush of the horses in the corral. From this she knew that the Indians were endeavoring to steal their horses, and she awakened her husband. Howard Maupin rushed to the corral: all was dark, nor sight nor sign of Indians was to be seen or heard, but the horses were greatly excited. He waited and listened for some time, but could not hear footfalls of moccasined Indians.
    He then returned to the house, put on his clothes and, with gun in hand, started back to the corral. The Indians, on seeing or hearing his first approach, had clambered over the stone wall that formed the enclosure, and squatted in the shadows. During the short time it took Maupin to go to the house and dress, the Indians made a breach in the wall and drove the horses out. Maupin could hear their hoofs clatter as the Indians drove them up a steep, stony hill. The Indians were not mounted, and as Maupin's first appearance had balked their attempts to catch horses to ride, they were attempting to drive off the band afoot, and consequently could not put them at a full run.
    Maupin, followed by his twelve-year-old son, gave chase, and in a mile came up to the horses. They saw in the darkness an Indian glide behind a rock. Maupin fired at the shadow. It fell, and then seemed to be endeavoring to crawl off. Another shot made the shadowy phantom lie still. The shots startled the horses, and to fire more was to put the whole herd to flight. As dark shadows of Indians glided among the horses Maupin had hard work to keep his son from shooting. By daylight he and his son had the horses under control, and drove them back to the corral.
    After breakfast he and his son went back over the ground again. By the rock where he had shot at the Indian was a great pool of blood and many wads of grass where the wounded Indian's comrades had vainly attempted to staunch the blood by plugging the wound with grass. The Indian had died, however, and his companions had carried him to a stony hillside and covered him with rock. It was most probably the attention which the Indians were giving their wounded companion that prevented their killing Maupin and his son and making off with the band of horses.
    A short time afterwards the Indians made a successful raid upon Maupin's horses and drove off the herd, and it is to recover something from the United States that his widow is now pressing her claim. Maupin always believed that Paulina, the chief, was responsible for his loss. A year or more afterwards he had an opportunity to avenge his loss, and at the same time rid the country of a murderer and robber who had been the scourge of the border.
    Frank McBean first came into Grant county in 1863, when miners dug coarse gold out of Canyon creek by sackfuls. He was there when the mail sacks and pack trains ran the gauntlet of ambush by day and swift attack by night, when packers and express riders were left dead by the wayside and a government escort was necessary to safe conduct from The Dalles to Canyon City. About 1865 he joined the United States troops stationed at Camp Watson, and followed the savages into the Beaver creek country, where they were overhauled and engaged in a battle, the details of which are not known. However, the prompt measures taken by the miners and soldiers served to check the hostile raids, and trouble was only intermittent until the murderous old chief, Paulina, was killed.
    In 1870 Mr. McBean engaged in the mail service of the United States, his first contract being to transport military mail once a week from Canyon City to Fort Harney, in which service he gained the distinction of being the first mail carrier to enter what is now Harney countv. This route was over sixty-eight miles of mountain road, which was traversed on horseback when possible, and at other times on snowshoes. For four years he filled this service, during which his contract was extended to carrying general mail from Canyon City to Camp McDermitt, in Nevada. This service carried him over a route that is unique in the history of the United States mail service in Oregon, for it extended 245 miles south of the initial point, in which distance Fort Harney and Egan, near Burns, were the only post offices supplied. He carried a camping outfit, and wood, water and grass were the only adjuncts necessary to his stopping places. After leaving Harney and Egan the only inhabitants passed were the pioneer cabins of Todhunter & Devine, at Alvord, and at Camp C. F. Smith.
    In August, 1866, a band of about fifty Indians raided the Elk creek and Dixie creek regions, murdering, firing buildings and stealing stock. A temporary camp, named Logan, had been established and garrisoned the previous winter, on the north side of Strawberry Butte, but in the spring the troops were removed, and the country was left practically unprotected from the attack of the savages. This camp was most advantageously located. It guarded the best Indian passes into the John Day valley, and had it been continuously and properly garrisoned settlers in the valley and travelers along the Boise road, from Canyon City to Willow creek, would have been comparatively safe. But for some unexplained reason, and against the earnest protest of the settlers and miners, the camp was never properly garrisoned, and was eventually abandoned. Camp Watson, established in 1865, was sixty miles from Canyon City, on The Dalles road, and therefore no reliance could be placed upon its troops in time of danger. For many months the John Day valley was at the mercy of the Indians, and during this time many miners were killed and their property stolen, cabins were burned, schools in the settlements were abandoned, and business of all kinds was at a standstill. These conditions prevailed, with but little change, until late in the year 1867. when proper consideration was given the demands of the settlers and effectual protection was granted.
    From 1865 to 1878 was an alternating period of placer and quartz mining and the development of the agricultural and horticultural resources of the county. While the richer placer mines of Canyon creek had been practically worked out, placer mining near John Day continued into the ‘seventies, the work being done by Chinamen on shares.
    The first quartz mill was established in the summer of 1867, in connection with J. A. Porter & Company's sawmill at Susanville. The mill was an eight-stamp, two-battery mill, with a capacity of between eight and ten tons a day, and was erected by a joint stock company of mining and business men of the county at a cost of about $5,000. John L. Miller was the first manager. The mill was not a success, however, for the reason that it was poorly constructed, and the ore was not rich enough. It was operated but very little, and in the early 'seventies was purchased by Cabal & Roy, and taken to their mine.
    In the meantime a number of ranches had been taken in the valley, at first for the sole purpose of harvesting hay for stock feeding, and cultivating vegetables for home supplies. The B. C. Trowbridge ranch was taken in 1862. A little later the Belshaw ranch was located twenty-two miles further down the river. D.B. Rinehart was also among the early ranchers, In the early 'seventies Nicholas Noble and John Paul settled on Long creek. Their old ranch is now known as the John Randu place. In the south end of the county W. S. Southworth located at Seneca, in 1883. These have been followed by others, until all the arable lands were appropriated. The change from stock ranches to farms was gradual, in fact, it has never become radical, as the stock interests in the county have always been so great, and the facilities for shipping farm products so poor, that there has been no occasion for the ranchman to devote himself exclusively to agricultural pursuits. But the adaptation of the land to agriculture has been thoroughly tested. As early as 1870 there was an overproduction of grain in John Day valley. Much of the surplus found its way over the mountains to Camp Harney. On the Belshaw, Trowbridge and Rinehart places orchards were planted many years ago, and they now produce, in great abundance, fruits of all varieties and of the finest flavor. It may be of interest to record here the fact that in the early 'sixties oats and barley sold for ten cents per pound, while potatoes brought $20 per hundred pounds.
    Following the mining industry, the next to receive the attention of the settlers was the stock industry. Until 1882 the stock men dealt chiefly in cattle and horses. In that and the following year over 30,000 head of cattle were driven from the Grant ranges to those of Harney and Malheur counties. Other thousands were sold and many cattlemen became sheepmen. Herds of cattle gave way to flocks of sheep, principally because of a change in the conditions of the ranges. The first sheep for breeding purposes were brought in by Small and Wolfinger in 1867. Because of the care that has been exercised in breeding, and because of the special adaptation of the ranges to the sheep industry, Grant county has always excelled in the production of wool. The Spanish. American and Delaine Merinos are the breeds that have done best here, and Grant county clips are noted for their long fibre, light shrinkage and freedom from cockleburrs and grease.
    Horse breeding was one of the early industries, existent with the raising of cattle. For many years some of the best horses in the state came from the Grant county ranges and ranches. But the industry has degenerated, owing to the fact that it has ceased to be sufficiently remunerative. Thousands of horses roam the ranges now and breed at will, the result being that the most desirable draught horses and roadsters cannot be found here. While there are a few who are giving special attention to the breeding of blooded stock, the industry has practically lost its importance.
    A condition of general prosperity prevailed in the late 'sixties. On July 1st, 1869, there were $1,501.97 in the county treasury. On the main John Day river eighty claims had been taken, 9,064 acres were fenced, 3,608 acres were under cultivation. The largest claims fenced contained 400 and 250 acres respectively. Freight rates from The Dalles were from six to ten cents per pound. A comparison of prices prevailing for necessaries in 1869 and in 1888 shows that while in a few instances there was a marked difference, owing to new freight lines and changes in rates, as a rule supply, demand and cost of transportation have maintained equable relations. Some of the prices in 1869 were as follows: Coffee, 26 cents; kerosene, $1.12 to $1.25; beans, 11 to 14 cents : butter, 45 to 50 cents; eggs, 50 cents ; soap, per box, $3 to $3.50. In 1888: Coffee, 25 cents; kerosene, $1.00; beans, 12 to 14 cents; 'butter, 35 cents; eggs, 50 cents; soap, per box, $3. Greenbacks in 1869 were worth only 72 cents on the dollar.
    An act passed by Congress in October, 1868, was vastly important in its effect upon the people of Grant county. This was the measure authorizing the construction of The Dalles military road, which ran up the John Day valley, across the divide, and down Willow creek and Malheur river, in Malheur county. By this act the government and the state of Oregon were defrauded of 600,000 acres of land, including large areas of the best ranges raid arable tracts of Grant county. This land is now valued at many million dollars, and setters, instead of being allowed to homestead it, or purchase it from the government at a nominal price, have been compelled to buy it of the Eastern Oregon Land Company, at several dollars per acre. This has worked great hardship to the settlers of Grant county, and it will be many years before the evils resulting from this land steal will disappear. A complete history of the gigantic fraud is given in another chapter.
     On the evening of December 18, 1872, there was a slight earthquake in Canyon Cityand vicinity. It lasted only a few seconds, but during this inconsiderable space of time its effects were distinctly perceptible. Houses were shaken, glassware, earthenware and tin ware clinked together in the shelves, swinging lamps oscillated from side to side, and in other ways the activity of the earth was manifested. The stores were all open, and business men and loungers, noticing the movement of articles over the floor and on the counters and shelves, and experiencing the sensation of rocking, believed at first that they were victims of hallucinations. The violence of the disturbance increasing, however, and finally culminating in a slight though distinct shock, these beliefs were dispelled, and the true nature of the phenomenon became apparent. A few were badly frightened, but no damage whatever was done.
    Even before the establishment of schools the influence of the church began to permeate the mining camps and the hastily built settlements. When the first sermon was preached, or where, or by whom, in Grant county, history does not say, but one thing is certain, the gold hunter and the Methodist preacher arrived on Canyon creek just about the same time. The first preachers were men who adapted themselves to the surroundings, working during the week and preaching on Sundays, thus imitating the example of the great apostle to the Gentiles. Services were held in the open air, in tents and in private houses, and later on, in the school houses, also at the court house, and in the Good Templars' hall.
    The first society was organized at Canyon City in 1874, Rev. A. J. Joslyn, pastor, and quite a number of the original members of the class are on the church roll yet. The first M. E. church built in the county was begun at Canyon City by Rev. G. W. Grammis in November, 1876, and pushed to completion immediately. Since then three other churches have been erected at the following places : Long Creek, John Day and Prairie City. The churches are well furnished inside and outside. Evidently the old pioneers intended to do the best they could, and spared no expense to have creditable churches. The seating capacity of each church is about 250, except the one at John Day, that being smaller. Although situated so far from a railroad, the annual conference with Bishop Walden held a regular session at the Canyon City church during the regular pastorate of Rev. G. W. Grammis nine years ago. The Long Creek church is situated on a hill out and alone from the rest of the buildings. The cyclone of June, 1894, wrenched the building somewhat, but it was built on a rock, and stands firm, though slightly disfigured.
    The Prairie City church has more veteran members than the other three combined, and is well attended.
    The early Methodists did not forget the Sunday school, and Frank I. McCallum, of John Day, has the books of the first school ever held in the John Day valley. The records show that a Mr. Dillinger was the first superintendent. The Canyon City Sunday school has an enviable reputation and a most serviceable superintendent in the person of lion. E. S. Penfield, who has been superintendent since the school was organized, over twenty years ago. At present the school has a membership of seventy. Each of the four churches has an Epworth League. There have been seventeen pastors on the Canyon City charge since Rev. A. J. Joslyn began in 1874, several attaining more than local celebrity.
    The Episcopal church was established at Canyon City in 1876, with Dr. Nevins as the rector. A handsome church edifice was erected in the same year. Another of the early Episcopal ministers was Arthur X. Wrixon. The Advents have a society at John Day.
    For a short time during the summer of 1878 Grant county was greatly disturbed, and intense excitement was created by the sudden appearance of the Indians. When Buffalo Horn announced his intention to lead the Bannocks to war, the aid of the Piutes on the Malheur reservation was sought and given, and early in June, 1878, the redskins appeared several hundred strong on Strawberry range, and the mountains east, General Howard pursuing. Here the Bannocks were joined by the Piutes, and followed the range westward, the troops being in close pursuit. No damage was done by the Indians thus far in Grant county. When about twenty miles south of Canyon City, the inhabitants here took to the abandoned tunnels west of town, most of the people taking clothes and other valuables and preparing to stay until the danger was over. Many did stay several days. At Long Creek a stockade and log fort were built, and into it was taken all stock, goods and the women and children. The Indians passed westward, without attempting to molest the inhabitants of Canyon and John Day, and crossed the valley about ten miles below Canyon creek, where they burned several ranch houses and murdered two sheep herders, nephews of James Small.
    While the Indians were passing south of Canyon a scouting party of seven men left the town to watch the Indians' movements. --- Murderer's creek, a branch of the south fork, about thirty miles southwest of Canyon City, the scouting party came upon the Indians, and a skirmish ensued, resulting in a man named Aldrich losing his life instantly and another named Schutz being slightly wounded. The rest of the party, William Burnham, Ca-y Officer, William Colbv, Joseph D. Combs and James Clark, escaped unscathed.
    From the John Day valley the redskins took a northward course over Fox valley and past Long creek, going by within sight of the fort, but attempting no hostilities. Then, veering eastward, they passed up Butter creek and attempted a junction with the Umatillas, with the result known to history. Having been dispersed, the Piutes came back by way of the Dixie range, crossing the John Day valley at its extreme head. The only atrocities known to have been committed on this return trip were the murders of James Verdaman and a man whose name is unknown. The former was shot dead at his ranch near Susanville, while standing in his doorway, and the latter at his home on Olive creek. The settlers in the valley were under arms during the whole war, and at Prairie City a home guard was organized with J. W. Mack as captain. There was no organization at Canyon City, so far as recorded. Mr. Allred claims that there was a secret organization of one hundred men formed with Robert Lockwood as captain. These men planned to join the army as scouts, but were refused the privilege, it being feared that they would precipitate a battle which Howard was very anxious to avoid. This company was never regularly organized, and never saw service. A more detailed account of this war will be found in another chapter.
    The period covered by the years 1879 to 1883, inclusive, was one of general prosperity. All interests advanced. There was a feeling of security from Indian depredations. At no time in the past had the people felt absolutely ; safe from the attacks of the marauding bands of savages that infested the country. This element of unrest or insecurity had had its influence upon all industries. Perhaps not directly, but indirectly, it acted as a clog on the energies and enterprise of the stockman and ranchman, as well as upon those of the miner and business man. The ventures of all were attended with serious risks and served to prevent their fullest developments. But with the passing of the troublesome Indian question every man's way was clear, and all interests began to forge to the front. In 1882 the assessor’s records showed a net gain in real and personal values of several hundred thousand dollars. With the exception of cattle, the number of stock on the ranges had increased enormously. At this time the gross value of all properties was $2,068, 33, , and the taxable property was valued at $1,603,779. Since 1879 there has been a steady and uninterrupted increase in all values, and many fortunes have been made in the mines and on the ranches.
    The spring of 1884 saw a determined effort to remove the county seat from Canyon City to some town in the Harney valley, the promoters of the project contending that the seat of local government ought to be there, in view of the fact that Harney valley was almost equal in extent to that of the Willamette, and that the heaviest taxpayers were resident in it. They argued that the placer mines of Canyon creek, Marysville and Dixie creek were almost all exhausted, and the narrow strip of land along the John Day was already too much impoverished for successful agriculture, and unable to furnish enough cereals, vegetables and beeves for home consumption of the sparse population. "Furthermore,"' they said, "Harney valley is soon to be connected with the outside world by railroad."
    The county commissioners in power were seriously considering the plan of erecting a new court house and jail, in fact had gone so far as to ask for bids, and perhaps their only reason for not proceeding at once with the work was that the plans and specifications submitted to would-be contractors called for too expensive a building. The bids ranged from $20,500 to $34,000, and it was thought that even the smaller of these sums was more than the county’s treasury would warrant the commissioners in expending. Tureman and McGowan, candidates for membership in the county court, made the main issue of their campaign opposition to the erection of new county buildings until the voters should have a chance to express their opinion by the ballot as to the permanent location of the county seat. Tureman and McGowan were defeated and the movement failed. It would seem that the project was hardly a wise one, as it was plainly discernable to all that the mammoth empire then included in Grant county could not long remain one political head, and must have a location which would be central to a new county, when such would be formed. It might therefore be necessary to again move the seat of government. The true policy for the residents of Harney valley to pursue would seem to be to endure patiently any inconveniences which their distance from the county seat might entail until such time as they should become strong enough to bear the burdens of independent government, then work for the formation of a new county. This policy was the one which ultimately prevailed.
    The administration of the affairs of Grant county at this time seems to have been remarkably efficient and satisfactory. In 1882 the indebtedness was $20,464.99, and in 1884 it had decreased to $12,463.30, a reduction of $8,001.69. This showing is all the more encouraging when it is remembered that during the biennial period referred to more money was expended for the improvement of roads and the building of bridges than in any previous four years of the county's existence, also that the tax for county purposes was lower in the year 1882-83 than ever before, and in 1883-84 was reduced to two-thirds of that of the previous year, or to ten mills.
    The reduction in the rates may, however, have been due in part to an increase in the assessment rolls, for the county was enjoying not a little prosperity at the time. The prospects for the cattlemen of eastern Oregon were very bright, as the demand for their product was steady and the price high.
    As affording a basis from which the wealth of the county at this time may be roughly estimated, we quote below a summary of the assessment roll for the year 1884. Probably the total there given must needs be multiplied by three or four in order to get the real value of Grant county's assessable property, but the summary referred to makes the following showing:
    Number acres of agricultural land, 109,799, valued at $174,822; number of lots, 79, valued at $7,335; value of improvements, $337,922; value of merchandise, $138,516; value of money, notes, etc., $393,453; furniture, $54,-875; number of horses and mules, 17,359, value $643,351; number of cattle, 83,602, value, $1,632,415; number of sheep, 172,305, value $387,311; number of swine, 1,721, value $4,123; gross value, $3,774,123.
    Considerable disquietude seems to have prevailed throughout this period of the county's history over the existing political divisions. Eastern Oregon counties were inconveniently large. Long distances had to be traversed by citizens in order to reach the different seats of local government, and though this was necessary at the time the counties were formed, owing to the paucity of the settlers and their wide distribution, it was thought that the time had arrived for the amelioration of conditions in this respect. Thus in the fall of 1884 the citizens of Trail Fork precinct, in Grant county, met at the Lost Valley school house and drafted resolutions protesting against the proposed extension of Crook county so as to include quite a large tract of Wasco and Grant counties lying north and east of John Day river, on account of the inaccessibility of Pineville to the section. ; and because it had no interests in common with Crook county. This meeting also passed resolutions favoring the erection of a new county embracing the eastern portion of Wasco county beginning at the John Day river; the western part of Umatilla county and all that portion of Grant county lying north of the John Day river. Frank Aholt and W. F. White were appointed a committee to confer with representatives of other portions of the territory directly concerned and draft a memorial to the legislature praying for action in accordance with the resolutions. Like many similar projects, this plan failed to materialize.


   

Back     Next

©Shauna Williams