James W. Nesmith and Joseph Lane

“ Nevertheless, the inevitable occurred, and in several of the fertile valleys of southern Oregon, the whites established permanent and thriving settlements.
Rich deposits of gold had also been discovered along the streams in several localities, and a large number of adventurous and sturdy miners formed camps at points convenient to their diggings. The sullen hostility of the Indians manifested itself from time to time by murder and pillage. The vengeance of the white was always swift and sure. ”

“ General Lane told me to inquire of the Indian interpreter the cause of the commotion; the Indian responded that a company of white men down on Applegate Creek, and under the command of Captain Owen, had that morning captured an Indian known as Jim Taylor, and had tied him up to a tree and shot him to death. The hubbub and confusion among the Indians at once became intense, and murder glared from each savage visage. The Indian interpreter told me that the Indians were threatening to tie us up to trees and serve us as Owen's men had served Jim Taylor. ”

“ The most of them knew General Lane, and when they found that he was in command of the troops, they called out to "Joe Lane" and asked him to come into their camp to arrange some terms for a cessation of hostilities. The General, with more courage than discretion, in his wounded condition, ordered a cessation of hostilities and fearlessly walked into the hostile camp, where he saw many wounded Indians, together with several who were dead and being burned to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy, which clearly demonstrated that the Indians had gotten the worst of the fight. ”

“ Later on, small parties who undertook to explore the country in different directions were overwhelmed by numbers and savagely slaughtered; a few only escaping to tell of the fate of their companions, and recount their own thrilling adventures. ”

“ During the month of August, 1853, the different tribes of Indians inhabiting the Rogue River Valley, in southern Oregon, suddenly assumed a hostile attitude. They murdered many settlers and miners, and burned nearly all of the buildings for over a hundred miles along the main-traveled route, extending from Cow Creek, on the north, in a southerly direction to the Siskiyou Mountains. General Lane, at that time being in the Rogue River Valley, at the request of citizens assumed control of a body of militia, suddenly called for the defense of the settlers. ”

“ General Lane encamped on Rogue River, while the Indians selected a strong and almost inaccessible position, high up, and just under the perpendicular cliffs of Table Rock, to await the arrival of Superintendent Palmer and Agent Culver.
At the commencement of hostilities, the people of Rogue River Valley were sadly deficient in arms and ammunition, many of the settlers and miners having traded their arms to the Indians, who were much better equipped for war than their white neighbors. ”

“ Joel Palmer, then Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, could be sent for, and that a treaty should be negotiated with the United States authorities in which all grievances should be adjusted between the parties. Both whites and Indians marched back slowly over the same trail, encumbered with their wounded, each party keeping a vigilant watch of the other. ”

“ The treaty of the 10th of September, 1853 was completed and signed and peace restored for the next two years. Our party wended their way among the rocks down to where our horses were tied, and mounted. Old A. J. Smith galloped up to his squadron and gave a brief order. The bugle sounded a note or two, and the squadron wheeled and trotted off to camp. As General Lane and party rode back across the valley, we looked up and saw the rays of the setting sun gilding the summit of Table Rock. ”

“ The Indians had fortified their encampment by fallen timber, and being well supplied with arms and ammunition, made a vigorous resistance. In an attempt to charge through the brush, General Lane was shot through the arm and Captain Alden received a wound from which he never fully recovered. Several other of the attacking party were wounded, some of whom subsequently died of their injuries. Capt. Pleasant Armstrong, an old and respected citizen of Yamhill County, was shot through the heart, and died instantly.
The Indians and whites were so close together that they could easily converse. ”

“ THE COUNCIL OF TABLE ROCK, 1853.
Reminiscences of Senator James W. Nesmith and General Joseph Lane.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
As a natural consequence of the occupation of the Willamette Valley, the white settlers gradually pushed their way over the Calapooia Mountains into southern Oregon. Those who were attracted to California, by reason of the discovery of gold, found their only safety in traveling in large parties, well armed and constantly on the alert. Many who recklessly defied danger by attempting to make the journey alone, found speedy and certain death at the hands of an implacable foe. ”