Chapter LXI

Preliminary events of the Cayuse war.--Message of Governor
Abernethy.--Journal of the house.--Resolutions.--Assembling of the
people at the call of the governor.--Enlisting of men.--Names of
the volunteers.--Names of the officers.--Their flag.--Their
departure.--Letter to Sir James Douglas.--His reply.--Commissioners
return.--Address to the citizens.--Public meeting.--Report of
commissioners to the Legislature.--Messenger sent to
Washington.--Memorial to Congress.--Champoeg County tax.--Strength
of the settlement called for.--Bishop Blanchet's letter to Governor
Abernethy.

_Message of Governor Abernethy._

OREGON CITY, December 8, 1847.

GENTLEMEN,--It is my painful duty to lay the inclosed communications before your honorable body. They will give you the particulars of the horrible massacre committed by the Cayuse Indians on the residents at Wailatpu. This is one of the most distressing circumstances that has occurred in our Territory, and one that calls for immediate and prompt action. I am aware that to meet this case funds will be required, and suggest the propriety of applying to the Hudson's Bay Company and the merchants of this place for a loan to carry out whatever plan you may fix upon. I have no doubt but the expense attending this affair will be promptly met by the United States government.

The wives and children of the murdered persons, the Rev. Mr. Spalding and family, and all others who may be in the upper country, should at once be proffered assistance, and an escort to convey them to places of safety. I have the honor to remain, gentlemen,

Your obedient servant,

GEORGE ABERNETHY.

To the Honorable Legislative Assembly, Oregon.

_Journal of the House, December 8, 1847_

At two o'clock the house met. The sergeant-at-arms announced a special communication from the governor, which was read by the clerk. It consisted of letters from Messrs. Douglas and McBean, of the forts on the Columbia, announcing the horrid murder of Dr. Whitman's family and others, accompanied by a letter from the governor, praying the immediate action of the house in the matter.

Mr. Meek moved the reference of the communications to a committee of the whole house, which was lost. Mr. Nesmith offered the following, which was adopted:--

"_Resolved_, That the governor be, and is hereby, authorized and
required to raise, arm, and equip a company of riflemen, not to
exceed fifty men, with their captain and subaltern officers, and
dispatch them forthwith to occupy the mission station at the Dalles,
on the Columbia River, and hold possession until re-enforcements can
arrive at that point, or other means be taken, as the government
thinks advisable."

Messrs. Nesmith, Reese, and Crawford were appointed a committee to wait on the governor and inform him of said resolution.

The communications concerning the Indian depredations were referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Ford, Rector, and White.

The committee appointed to wait on the governor concerning the resolution for raising a company of riflemen, reported that they had discharged their duty, and received, in answer, that the governor will use his utmost endeavors to accomplish the object.

* * * * *

The governor called the people together in the evening, and, after the statements of the object of the meeting, some forcible and earnest remarks from Judge Nesmith and Messrs. Lee, Barlow, and others, the enrollment of the first company of Oregon riflemen commenced.

The following true and noble-hearted men sprang to arms, and, in fifteen hours from the time they had enrolled their names as defenders of Oregon, were on their way to protect their own and their countrymen's lives from Hudson's Bay Company, Jesuitical, and Indian savagism.

We will give the names of this noble little band a place in the history of the country they were so prompt and ready to defend. They are as follows:--

Joseph B. Proctor,
J. S. Rinearson,
H. A. G. Lee,
Thomas Purvis,
J. Magone,
C. Richardson,
J. E. Ross,
Isaac Walgamoutts,
John G. Gibson,
B. B. Rogers,
Benjamin Bratton,
Samuel K. Barlow,
Wm. Berry,
John Bolton,
George Moore,
Henry W. Coe,
William Buckman,
S. A. Jackson,
Jacob Witchey,
John Fleming,
A. C. Little,
A. J. Thomas,
George Westby,
Edward Robson,
Andrew Wise,
D. Averson,
J. H. McMellen,
John C. Danford,
W. M. Carpenter,
Lucius Marsh,
Joel McKee,
H. Levalley,
J. W. Morgan,
O. Tupper,
R. S. Tupper,
C. H. Devendorf,
John Hiner,
C. W. Savage,
G. H. Bosworth,
Jacob Johnson,
Stephen Cummings,
George Weston.

Forty-two as noble and true men as ever breathed. They were soon organized under a set of energetic and brave young officers, who feared no danger, and were ready to meet in open fight the combined enemies of their country's rights upon the shores of the Pacific or in the mountains or valleys of Oregon. Their officers were:--

_Captain_, H. A. G. Lee.
_First Lieutenant_, J. Magone.
_Second Lieutenant_, J. E. Ross.
_Commissary_, C. H. Devendorf.
_Surgeon_, W. M. Carpenter, M. D.
_First Sergeant_, J. S. Rinearson.
_Second Sergeant_, W. Savage.
_Third Sergeant_, Wm. Berry.
_First Corporal_, Stephen Cummings.
_Second Corporal_, J. H. McMellen.

* * * * *

"At twelve o'clock on the afternoon of Tuesday, the company
assembled at the City Hotel, where they were presented with an
appropriate flag, by Judge Nesmith, in behalf of the ladies of
Oregon City, with an appropriate address. (No record of that
address or of the names of the donors can be found.) Captain Lee,
on the part of the company, made an exceedingly happy reply upon
receiving the beautiful token of the patriotism of the lovely
donors."

In two hours after, the company started, amid the firing of cannon and the cheers of the assembled citizens. It speaks well for our city, that in less than twenty-four hours this detachment was raised and had started for the scene of action.

It is to be regretted that the editor of the Oregon _Spectator_, at the time these deeply-interesting events were occurring, should fill the only public journal on the coast with accounts of personal piques, and allow the remarks of Judge Nesmith and the reply of Captain Lee to pass with the meager notice we have quoted; that the deeply-stirring events respecting the murder of his countrymen should find so small a place in his editorial. He tells us in this same paper that he means to keep us posted in the war news, but the next paper is filled with a personal war between himself and the directors of the Printing Association, about some political resolutions that did no good or harm to anybody, except to show the party spirit then existing in the country, in which he is foolish enough to engage, and degrade his noble position as a journalist and editor, which compels us to look to other sources for facts relative to the history of those times.

Our little army of braves were accompanied by Governor Abernethy and three commissioners to Vancouver, where they completed their outfit before proceeding to the Dalles.

They arrived at Vancouver on the 10th of December. On the 11th, the commissioners addressed a letter to Mr. Douglas, requesting him to furnish supplies, as follows:--

FORT VANCOUVER, December 11, 1847.

_To James Douglas, Esq._:

SIR,--By the inclosed document you will perceive that the
undersigned have been charged by the Legislature of our provisional
government with the difficult duty of obtaining the means necessary
to arm, equip, and support in the field, a force sufficient to
obtain full satisfaction of the Cayuse Indians for the late
massacre at Wailatpu, and protect the white population of our
common country from further aggression.

In pursuance of this object, they have deemed it their duty to make
immediate application to the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company for the
requisite assistance.

Though clothed with the power to pledge, to the fullest extent, the
faith and means of the present government of Oregon, they do not
consider this pledge the only security of those who, in this
distressing emergency, may extend to the people of this country the
means of protection and redress. Without claiming any especial
authority from the government of the United States to contract a
debt to be liquidated by that power, yet from all precedents of
like character in the history of our country, the undersigned feel
confident that the United States government will consider the
murder of the late Dr. Whitman and lady as a national wrong, and
will fully justify the people of Oregon in taking active measures
to obtain redress for that outrage, and for their protection from
further aggression.

The right of self-defense is tacitly accorded to every body politic
in the confederacy to which we claim to belong and in every case
similar to our own, within our knowledge, the general government
has promptly assumed the payment of all liabilities growing out of
the measures taken by the constituted authorities to protect the
lives and property of those residing within the limits of their
districts.

If the citizens of the States and Territories east of the Rocky
Mountains are justified in promptly acting in such emergencies, who
are under the immediate protection of the general government, there
appears no room to doubt that the lawful acts of the Oregon
government will receive a like approval.

Should the temporary character of our government be considered by
you sufficient ground to doubt its ability to redeem its pledge,
and reasons growing out of its peculiar organization be deemed
sufficient to prevent the recognition of its acts by the government
of the United States, we feel it our duty, as private individuals,
to inquire to what extent and on what terms advances may be had of
the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company, to meet the wants of the force
the authorities of Oregon deem it their duty to send into the
field.

With sentiments of the highest respect, allow us to subscribe
ourselves,

Your most obedient servants,
JESSE APPLEGATE, }
A. L. LOVEJOY, } Commissioners.[16]
GEO. L. CURRY, }

[Footnote 16] Mr. Douglas's reply to the above was, in
substance, _a refusal to advance the means asked for in
consequence of the stringent rules laid down for his
government by the home company_. He, however, upon the
security of the governor and two of the commissioners,
advanced the amount necessary to fit out the first company of
Oregon riflemen, $999.59.--(See report of Loan Commissioners,
_Oregon Archives_, p. 323.)

Captain Lee's company received their outfit as per arrangements through the governor, Mr. Applegate, and Mr. Lovejoy, and proceeded to the Dalles. The commissioners returned to Oregon City, and on the 13th December, 1847, addressed the merchants and citizens of Oregon as follows:--

GENTLEMEN,--You are aware that the undersigned have been charged by
the Legislature of our provisional government with the difficult
duty of obtaining the means necessary to arm, equip, and support in
the field a force sufficient to obtain full satisfaction of the
Cayuse Indians, for the late massacre at Wailatpu, and protect the
white population of our common country from further aggression. In
furtherance of this object, they have deemed it their duty to make
immediate application to the merchants and citizens of the country
for the requisite assistance.[17]

[Footnote 17] The paragraphs here omitted are the same as
those addressed to the Hudson's Bay Company.

* * * * *

Though the Indians of the Columbia have committed a great outrage
upon our fellow-citizens passing through their country, and
residing among them, and their punishment for these murders may,
and ought to be, a prime object with every citizen of Oregon, yet,
as that duty more particularly devolves upon the government of the
United States, and admits of delay, we do not make this the
strongest ground upon which to found our earnest appeal to you for
pecuniary assistance. It is a fact well known to every person
acquainted with the Indian character, that, by passing silently
over their repeated thefts, robberies, and murders of our
fellow-citizens, they have been emboldened to the commission of the
appalling massacre at Wailatpu. They call us women, destitute of
the hearts and courage of men, and if we allow this wholesale
murder to pass by as former aggressions, who can tell how long
either life or property will be secure in any part of this country,
or what moment the Wallamet will be the scene of blood and carnage?

The officers of our provisional government have nobly performed
their duty. None can doubt the readiness of the patriotic sons of
the West to offer their personal service in defense of a cause so
righteous; so it now rests with you, gentlemen, to say whether our
rights and our firesides shall be defended or not. Hoping that none
will be found to falter in so high and so sacred a duty, we beg
leave, gentlemen, to subscribe ourselves, your servants and
fellow-citizens,

JESSE APPLEGATE, }
A. L. LOVEJOY, } Commissioners.
GEO. L. CURRY, }

On the evening of the 13th December, 1847, a public meeting of the citizens was called, and a public loan effected, and subscriptions commenced for the equipment and supply of the army, as will be seen by the following report of the commissioners:--

_To the Honorable the Legislative Assembly of Oregon Territory:_

The undersigned commissioners appointed by your honorable body for
the purpose of negotiating a loan to carry into effect the
provisions of an act entitled "An Act to authorize the governor to
raise a regiment of volunteers," etc., have the honor to inform
you, that, fully realizing the heavy responsibilities attached to
their situation, and the peculiarly difficult nature of their
duties, they at once determined to act with promptness and energy,
and to leave no fair and honorable effort untried that might have a
tendency to a successful termination of their undertaking.

They accordingly proceeded to Fort Vancouver on the 10th instant,
and there addressed a communication to James Douglas, chief factor
of the Hudson's Bay Company, a copy of which is already given. The
commissioners had anticipated the unfavorable reply of Mr. Douglas,
as agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, and its only effect was to
heighten their zeal and to occasion them stronger hopes of a more
satisfactory reliance upon the citizens generally of our common
country.

However, two of the commissioners, with the governor, became
responsible for the amount of the outfit for the first regiment of
Oregon riflemen, being $999.59.

Not at all disheartened by the unsuccessful issue of their mission,
the commissioners returned to this city on the 13th instant, and at
once entered into negotiations, the revelation of which herewith
follows. The commissioners, through a public meeting held at
Oregon City, on the night of the 13th instant, addressed the
"merchants and citizens of Oregon," at which meeting, from citizens
generally, a loan of about one thousand dollars was
effected.----The commissioners are happy to state that they have
succeeded in negotiating a loan of sixteen hundred dollars from the
merchants of Oregon City, with, perhaps, a likelihood of a further
advance. The commissioners feel well assured, from the interest
manifested by our fellow-citizens in the matter, and the prompt
action they have proposed to take in the several counties in the
Territory to assist the commissioners in the successful discharge
of their duties, that the government will ultimately succeed in
negotiating an amount adequate to the present emergency of affairs.

The commissioners would beg your honorable body, with as little
delay as possible, to appoint appraisers, whose duty it shall be to
set a cash valuation upon produce and other property, which may be
converted into means to assist government in its present
operations.

Therefore, gentlemen, as we believe we can no longer be useful to
our fellow-citizens as a Board, we hope to be permitted to resign
our trust into the hands of the proper accounting officers of this
government.

We have the honor to remain,

JESSE APPLEGATE, }
A. L. LOVEJOY, } Commissioners.
GEO. L. CURRY, }

It will be seen by reference to this last report of the loan commissioners, and the answer to their letter of the 11th December, 1849, that Sir James Douglas had made up his mind to enforce "the _stringent rules_ laid down for his government _by the home company_." In other words, the time had now arrived to allow the Indians and half-breeds in the country to destroy the missionary settlements that were beginning to extend beyond the Wallamet Valley; and in case they succeeded in defeating the provisional troops, the settlement in the Wallamet would become an easy prey to the combined Indian forces, while the Hudson's Bay Company would pursue its accustomed trade without any further interference from American settlements.

In addition to the proceedings above referred to, the Legislative Assembly, on the 10th of December, on motion of Hon. J. W. Nesmith,--

"_Resolved_, That in view of our critical situation with the
powerful tribes of Indians inhabiting the banks of the Columbia, and
with whom we are actually in a state of hostilities, it is the duty
of this Legislature to dispatch a special messenger, as soon as
practicable, to Washington City, for the purpose of securing the
immediate influence and protection of the United States government
in our internal affairs."

On the 11th December, Cornelius Gilliam was elected by the Legislative Assembly, Colonel Commandant; James Waters, Lieutenant-Colonel; H. A. G. Lee, Major; and Joel Palmer, Commissary-General, in compliance with the bill passed on the 9th, authorizing the governor to call for one regiment of not to exceed five hundred men.

On the 13th, Mr. Nesmith presented a bill to provide for sending a special messenger to Washington.

On the 14th, on motion of Mr. Crawford, "_Resolved_, That a delegation of three persons be appointed by this house to proceed immediately to Wallawalla, and hold a council with the chiefs and principal men of the various tribes on the Columbia, to prevent, if possible, their coalition with the Cayuse tribe in the present difficulties."

On the 15th, it was "_Resolved_, That the commodore of the United States squadron in the Pacific Ocean be solicited to send a vessel of war into the Columbia River for our relief, and to send such other assistance as may be in his power."

A motion was adopted to appoint a committee of five to prepare a memorial to Congress.

On the 16th, an act was passed appropriating one thousand dollars to defray the expenses of J. L. Meek, special messenger to Washington.

On the 17th, Mr. Meek resigned his seat in the Legislative Assembly, preparatory to leaving for the United States with dispatches and a memorial to Congress.

As to what those dispatches were, we have no copy or public document that gives us any information, but we presume he carried a copy of Mr. McBean's mutilated letter, and one of Sir James Douglas's, such as we have already given; and also the following:

_Memorial to Congress._

"To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States in Congress assembled:

"Your memorialists, the Legislative Assembly of Oregon Territory,
would respectfully beg leave once more to lay before your honorable
body a brief statement of their situation and wants.

"Having called upon the government of the United States so often in
vain, we have almost despaired of receiving its protection, yet we
trust that our present situation, when fully laid before you, will
at once satisfy your honorable body of the great necessity of
extending the strong arm of guardianship and protection over this
remote, but beautiful portion of the United States domain.

"_Our relations_ with the proud and powerful tribes of Indians
residing east of the Cascade Mountains, hitherto uniformly amicable
and pacific, have recently assumed quite a different character. They
have shouted the war-whoop, and crimsoned their tomahawks in the
blood of our citizens. The Cayuse Indians, after committing numerous
outrages and robberies upon the late immigrants, _have, without the
semblance of provocation or excuse, murdered eleven_ [seventeen]
American citizens. Among the murdered were Dr. Marcus Whitman and
his amiable wife, members of the American Board of Foreign Missions.

"Called upon to resent this outrage, we feel sensibly our weakness
and inability to enter into a war with powerful tribes of Indians.
Such outrages can not, however, be suffered to pass unpunished. It
will be the commencement of future and more extensive murders, and
our hitherto peaceful settlement will become the scene of fierce and
violent warfare. We do not doubt the readiness of the people of this
country to defend their lives and property, and to submit to all the
privations incident to a state of war in a new and remote settlement
like this. Circumstances warrant your memorialists in believing that
many of the powerful tribes inhabiting the upper valley of the
Columbia have formed an alliance for the purpose of carrying on
hostilities against our settlements. The number of white population
in Oregon is alarmingly insignificant compared with the swarms of
Indians which throng its valleys.

"To repel the attacks of so formidable a foe, and protect our
families and property from violence and rapine, will require more
strength than we possess. We are deficient in many of the grand
essentials of war,--such as men, arms, and treasure; for them, our
sole reliance is on the government of the United States; we have the
right to expect your aid, and you are in justice bound to extend it.
For although we are separated from our native land by ranges of
mountains whose lofty altitudes are mantled in eternal snows;
although three thousand miles, nearly two-thirds of which is a
howling wild, lie between us and the federal capital, yet our hearts
are unalienated from the land of our birth. Our love for the free
and noble institutions, under which it was our fortune to be born
and nurtured, remains unabated. In short, we are Americans
still,--residing in a country over which the government of the
United States have sole and acknowledged right of sovereignty,--and
under such circumstances we have the right to claim the benefit of
its laws and protection.

"Your memorialists would avail themselves of this opportunity to
invite your attention to other subjects of deep and vital interest
to the citizens of this Territory. The very nature of our compact
formed between the citizens of a republic and the subjects and
official representatives of a monarchy, is such that the ties of
political union could not be drawn so closely as to produce that
stability and strength sufficient to form an efficient government.
This union between the democrats of a republic and wealthy
aristocratic subjects of a monarchy could not be formed without
reserving to themselves the right of allegiance to their respective
governments. Political jealousy and strong party feeling have tended
to thwart and render impotent the acts of government, from its very
nature weak and insufficient."

The deep, dark, and infamous schemes of a foreign monopoly and religious bigots were but just developing themselves; but, thank God, there was strength enough in the provisional government, which was formed in the face of their combined opposition. They had yielded to its power, to gain time to organize their savage hosts to crush it; calculating, no doubt, that the Mexican war would prevent assistance reaching us from the United States. The Indians, let loose upon the settlements, would soon clear the country. That such was the general English idea, we know from two different English subjects. The one, a chief trader in the Hudson's Bay Company, who said all they had to do was _to organize the Indians, under the direction of their eight hundred half-breeds, to drive back any American force_. The other, a gold commissioner, a Mr. Saunders, direct from England, in speaking of the small number of troops the English government had in British Columbia, remarked to us, that if they had not troops enough to subdue the Americans in British Columbia, "_all they had to do was to let loose the Indians upon them_."

Such being the facts, it is not surprising that our Legislative Assembly should be made to feel its weakness, under this powerful combination,--the British monopoly that had refused to furnish necessary supplies to the provisional troops sent to punish the murderers of our citizens. It was not yet apprised of the efforts made by Mr. Ogden to supply the Indians with munitions of war, and the determination of the company not to allow itself to be considered by the Indians as favoring the American settlement of the country. Mr. Hines' book, in which he says Dr. McLaughlin had announced to those Indians in 1843 "that in case the Americans did go to war with them, the Hudson's Bay Company would not assist them," had not yet been published. The memorial continues:--

"In establishing a regular form of government, creating tribunals
for the adjustment of the rights of individuals, and the prevention
and punishment of crime, a debt has accumulated, which, though an
insignificant amount, your memorialists can devise no means of
liquidating. The revenue laws, from not being properly executed,
while they are burdensome to classes of our citizens and sections
of country, are wholly disregarded by others, and whole counties,
which for numerical strength are equal to any in the Territory, and
fully participating in all the advantages of our compact, have
never contributed any assistance in bearing the common burdens.[18]

"To coerce obedience to our temporary government would at once
destroy the great object which called it into existence,--the peace
and harmony of our country. Anxiously looking forward to that happy
period when we should again be under the protection of our revered
and parent republic, we have rather endeavored to maintain peace by
forbearance, hoping that the dangers and difficulties to be
apprehended from domestic discord and from the savages around us,
would be postponed until we became an acknowledged people, and
under the protection of our mother country.

"The action of your honorable body in regard to the land in Oregon
would seem to justify the expectation that liberal grants would be
made to our citizens; yet the uncertainty of our title, and the
uneasiness which is felt upon this subject, urge to press this
subject upon your attention. Our citizens, before leaving their
homes in the United States for Oregon, have had the strongest
inducements held out by Congress to settle in this country, and
their just expectations will not be met short of liberal donations
of land.

"On the subject of filling the offices that will be created in the
event of the extension of the jurisdiction of the United States
over this Territory, your memorialists would respectfully
represent, that, as the pioneers of the American population in this
country, the present citizens of this country have strong claims
upon the patronage of the general government, and that it would be
gratifying to have them filled by our fellow-citizens; but as few
of them of an equally deserving number can enjoy this mark of the
approbation of our parent republic, and in view of our peculiar and
difficult situation, it is the opinion of your memorialists that it
will be better for the future prosperity of our country, and that
the great mass of the people will concur with them in requesting
that important and responsible offices created here, such as the
office of governor and the several judgeships, should be filled
with men of the best talent and most approved integrity, without
regard to their present location."

[Footnote 18] Champoeg County being one, and represented by
Dr. R. Newell, then Speaker of the house.

In relation to this last paragraph, emanating as it did from the Legislative Assembly of Oregon, it may appear strange that a body of men possessing the talent and ability there was in that Assembly, should be so liberal in requesting that most of the important federal appointments for the Territory should be filled from abroad, or with strangers to the condition and wants of the people; but the fact is plainly stated, and it becomes our duty to impart such information as will explain so strange a request. No one will contend for a moment that we did not have the men who were abundantly qualified to fill those offices, for they have since been filled with far better satisfaction to the country by men who were then in it, than by those sent by the federal government; hence we are led to inquire what was the reason for this request.

The general politics of the country, as intimated in the memorial, were _English aristocratic_ and _American democratic_. The parties were nearly equally divided. At the same time, there was the pro-slavery influence laboring to so mold the Territory as to bring it in as a slave State, though it had started free, and upon the most liberal principles of a free government. The democratic pro-slavery influence was not strong enough to secure the federal appointments without cousining with the English aristocrats, who looked upon African slavery with abhorrence. Under these circumstances, the democrats of this assembly became liberal, and naturally sought aid from that party in the United States to which the anti-slavery influence yielded, and took their chances in the federal appointments. There was also in this Assembly a strong personal feeling against Judge Thornton, who was supposed to be in the federal capital seeking the organization of the Territory, as also its governorship; and, in that case, though Mr. Thornton was then acting with the democratic party, should he become the governor, or one of the judges, the pro-slavery influence would be the loser. Hence the "rule or ruin" party chose to make the strange request found in this memorial. The closing paragraph seems to be a flourish of rhetoric, and an appeal to _Uncle Samuel's_ tender feelings. Notwithstanding, it took him till August 14, 1848, to say that Oregon should be a Territory under its protection. The remainder of the memorial is as follows:--

"If it be at all the intention of our honored parent to spread her
guardian wing over her sons and daughters in Oregon, she surely
will not refuse to do it now, when they are struggling with all the
ills of a weak and temporary government, and when perils are daily
thickening around them and preparing to burst upon their heads.
When the ensuing summer's sun shall have dispelled the snow from
the mountains, we shall look with glowing hopes and restless
anxiety for the coming of your laws and your arms.

"The accompanying documents will afford additional information
concerning some of the subjects of which we have spoken.

"To insure the speedy conveyance of these papers to the federal
government, your memorialists have elected J. L. Meek, Esq., a
special messenger to bear the same, and respectfully ask your
honorable body to make him such compensation therefor as you may
deem just. And your memorialists will ever pray, etc."

It will be seen by a reference to the first day's proceedings of this Legislative Assembly that Dr. Newell was chosen its Speaker. In tracing the history of events, we find this man always intimately in council with the English aristocratic party in the country. Although he sometimes favored unimportant American measures, he seemed always to guard carefully those in any way affecting the interests of this English monopoly. Champoeg, the county he in part represented, was the most numerous in population and wealth, and by reference to the _Spectator_ of February 4, 1847, we find the following: "_Champoeg County tax._--There has been no tax for the year 1846, received by the treasurer from Champoeg County. How is this? Who is to blame, and where is the honorable County Court of Champoeg County?" This note explains the critical relations of the country and the scheming policy of the enemy we had to contend with, as also the personal bickerings among the Americans. When Mr. Crawford, on the 14th of December, introduced his resolution for a delegation of three persons to endeavor to prevent a coalition with the Indians, we find this measure deferred till near the close of the session, and this Honorable Hudson's Bay Company Speaker of the Assembly is one of the commissioners, as we shall see hereafter.

On the 24th of December, Messrs. Nesmith, Rice, and Rector were appointed a committee to correspond with the American consul at the Sandwich Islands, and also with the Commander-in-chief of the army and navy on this coast, in California, soliciting help from them. On the 25th, the house went into secret session for the purpose of conferring with the governor, colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and commissary-general, in relation to our Indian difficulties.

The result of that secret council was embodied in a resolution presented to the house by Mr. Nesmith.

"_Resolved_, That the executive, as commander-in-chief, has full
power to adopt all measures necessary for the prosecution of the
existing war, and that it is the opinion of this house, that it is
expedient for the executive to issue orders for five hundred men,
and trust to the patriotism of the citizens of Oregon for their
support in the field."

It will be seen by this resolution that there was sufficient reason to justify the calling of the whole strength of the settlement into the field. The captives had reached the settlement, and his _Reverence Bishop Blanchet_ had seen proper to inform the governor, "_that by going to war with the Cayuses to get redress for the murders committed at Wailatpu, he would have the whole Indian combination, or confederation, against him_. This, however, he must determine with his council," which we see was done, and the American settlement and Protestant missionaries gave them a cordial support. The Indian combination, which, the Jesuit Brouillet says, Dr. Whitman attempted to form, is here admitted by the bishop's letter to Governor Abernethy to have been formed, and ready to fight the American settlement. Who formed this confederation of Indian tribes is no longer a doubt.

But we have kept our readers too long from the proceedings of our little army, under the command of Captain H. A. G. Lee, which we left on its way to the Dalles, to save that station from falling into the hands of the Indians.