The 1855-1856 Oregon Indian War in Coos County, Oregon:
"Volunteers On the March" (Glisan 1874: 293)
Eyewitnesses and Storytellers, March 27, 1855 – August 21, 1856
Report by Bob Zybach, NW Maps Co.
Prepared for Coquille Indian Tribe Historic Preservation Office -- Cultural Resources Program
Oregon Websites & Watersheds Project, Inc.
May 15, 2012.
This is the documented, and nearly forgotten, story of the systematic “ethnic cleansing” of the Coos, Coquille, Chetco, Elk, Floras Lake, Sixes, Umpqua, and Rogue River watersheds of southwest Oregon Indian families during the 10-month period from October 1855 through July 1856. It is repeated here, told entirely through the eyewitness accounts of more than three dozen participants and observers, and through the subsequent writings of three early historians.
The story begins with the opening of regular postal service at Port Orford, connecting the region for the first time to the current events in San Francisco, Portland, and Fort Vancouver, and by mail and steamship transport to all of the other major seaports and cities of the world. Local people were no longer completely isolated, but were now --for the first time -- privy to the latest news, popular songs, and gossip shared by the rest of the world. And, conversely, the rest of the world was now being regularly informed as to what was taking place in Coos County.
| Report Cover, Table of Contents, List of Characters | Pages | ||
| Part I. | Old Trails and New Arrivals: March 27 – Early October, 1855 | 1-64 | |
| Background: Table Rocks treaty in 1853 & Coos County Indian lands in 1854 | 1 | ||
| March 27, 1855: New post office in Port Orford and tragedy at Empire City | 15 | ||
| April 4, 1855: John Alva Harry and Ephraim Catching claim The Forks | 17 | ||
| April 12, 1855: Dennis Hathorn signs Oregon Land Survey Contract No. 57 | 18 | ||
| May 7, 1855: Flanagan and Northrup claim Newport & Eastport Coal Mines | 21 | ||
| June 21, 1855: Dr. Rodney Glisan arrives at Fort Orford from San Francisco | 22 | ||
| July 13, 1855: Hathorn surveys Umpqua Valley to Coos River tidewater trail | 29 | ||
| August 11, 1855: Joel Palmer signs treaty with Coos, Nasomah & Kelawatsets | 38 | ||
| August 23, 1855: The observed arrivals of Capt. Cram & William V. Wells | 42 | ||
| August 27, 1855: The Buford Affair and south coast treaty signings | 45 | ||
| September 8, 1855: Gen. Palmer signs treaty with Coquilles | 55 | ||
| September 27, 1855: Hathorn surveys an “Indian burying ground” | 59 | ||
| Early October, 1855: The claimed arrival of William V. Wells | 63 | ||
| Part II. | Battles, Murders & Massacres, 1855: October 8 – December 31 | 65-135 | |
| Early October, 1855: The claimed arrival of William V. Wells (cont.) | 65 | ||
| October 8-10, 1855: Lt. Kautz begins Fort Orford to Oregon Trail road survey | 69 | ||
| Mid-October, 1855: Ben Wright returns to Port Orford; Wells visits Randolph | 86 | ||
| October 17, 1855: Skull Bar Massacre | 90 | ||
| October 28, 1855: Lookingglass Massacre | 96 | ||
| October 31, 1855: Battle of Hungry Hill | 101 | ||
| November 6, 1855: Fort Kitchen established | 110 | ||
| November 10, 1855: “provided you take no prisoners” | 113 | ||
| December 2, 1855: Battle of Olalla and murder of Long John | 121 | ||
| December 18, 1855: Curry County created from Coos County | 127 | ||
| December 25, 1855: Fort Kitchen and the Coquille River Christmas Party | 131 | ||
| Part III. | Battles, Murders & Massacres, 1856: January 1 – May 31 | 136-217 | |
| January 7, 1856: Lt. Kautz transferred to Washington Territory | 136 | ||
| January 25, 1856: Enos’ Story, otter hunting, and salmon fishing | 139 | ||
| February 22, 1856: Rogue River Massacre and murder of Ben Wright | 149 | ||
| March 11, 1856: Governor Curry establishes Oregon Volunteer Militia | 164 | ||
| March 20, 1856: Col. Buchanan and Capt. Ord arrive at Rogue River | 167 | ||
| March 24, 1856: Battle of Camas Valley | 175 | ||
| March 30, 1856: Creighton’s Coquille River Massacre | 178 | ||
| April 12, 1856: Lookingglass “Minute Men” formed | 187 | ||
| April 27, 1856: Battle at Little Meadows | 189 | ||
| May 8, 1856: A Coquille man is hung at Battle Rock by vigilantes | 197 | ||
| May 28, 1856: Battle of Big Meadows | 204 | ||
| May 30, 1856: Tyee John surrenders at Big Meadows | 215 | ||
| Part IV. | Leaving Town, Leaving Home: May 30 – August 21, 1856 | 218-259 | PDF_360_KB |
| May 30, 1856: Tyee John surrenders at Big Meadows (cont.) | 218 | ||
| June 5, 1856: Capt. Bledsoe and the Illinois River Massacres | 222 | ||
| June 15, 1856: Lt. Ord arrives at Fort Orford with 700 captive Indians | 226 | ||
| July 2, 1856: Dr. Evans arrives in Coos Bay; Tyee John arrives in Port Orford | 231 | ||
| July 8, 1856: Six hundred Indians leave Port Orford for Portland by steamship | 242 | ||
| July 10, 1856: Tyee John, 125 Indians, 200 mules leave Port Orford by pack trail | 243 | ||
| July 18, 1856: Dr. Evans leaves Port Orford for Umpqua Valley by pack trail | 245 | ||
| August 21, 1856: Dr. Glisan leaves Fort Orford for Fort Vancouver by steamer | 251 | ||
| Aftermath: Fort Orford, Port Orford, Randolph and Empire City | 253 | ||
| References | 258 |
Zybach, Bob, 2012. The 1855-1856 Oregon Indian War in Coos County, Oregon: Eyewitnesses and Storytellers, March 27, 1855 – August 21, 1856. Unpublished report on file with the Coquelle Indian Tribe, North Bend, Oregon, and with NW Maps Co., Cottage Grove, Oregon: 259 pp.
