CHAPTER II. Pioneer Days, Chapter II

Another object in preparing a sketch of these long-past incidents is to some extend for the benefit of the young men (and some of the old ones) who seem to possess a chronic habit of complaining of hard times and blaming something or somebody for all the ills in life. It is for these persons in the present and the future that this narrative is given, and if any of the above-named class should happen to read this narrative through, my impression is they will readily confess "hard times" to then now and in the past have been a myth.

The incidents that will be narrated will commence at Lost River [Klamath County], now the southern boundary of Oregon. Lost River affords the water that forms the celebrated Tule Lake, the home of the savage Modoc Indians, who caused the war with that tribe in the lava beds. So far as I know I was one of the party who first had trouble with this savage tribe. That incident will be narrated. Then will follow the noted incidents that my memory still reta iris till I reached my present home, and if these sketches prove interesting, some incidents may follow concerning things that happened after arriving at our destination.

CHAPTER II

In my preliminary letter to you concerning a part of my journey to Oregon, I stated that I would commence at Lost River, near the southern boundary of the state; so here we are camped at the natural bridge on the stream. We have passed for a long distance through a harmless, inoffensive tribe called Digger Indians, perhaps the lowest in inteffigence of all the American Indians. In consequence of this fact the sequel will show we had come in contact with a different kind of people. One morning when the teams were to be brought in, it was found that ten head of work oxen were missing. Our train consisted of fifty-two wagons. It was soon ascertained that the missing oxen had been driven across the rock bridge near camp, and, strange as it may seen, these ten oxen belonged to ten different teams, and the team that I had charge of, which belonged to a widow lady, was short one steer. So a council of war was held and it was decided that each one who bad lost an animal should attempt to recover it. That decision enlisted your correspondent into the crowd thus delegated; so in less time than it takes to write it, these ten men were mounted and armed and equipped as camp laws directed We crossed the bridge, struck the trail and on we were in a treeless country-nothing to be seen but sage brush and desert. So here we go in high glee. As for myself I considered it a splendid piece of fun and recreation; but in this, as in many other things, ignorance was bliss, as the sequel will show. After following the river six of seven miles the stream is formed into what is known as Tule Lake. After following the trial fifteen miles we came to where seven head of the oxen had been slaughtered. With the facilities with which they had to butcher, judging from the signs, it was to them quite a task, as their means of slaughtering was the bow and arrow, and from the amount of broken arrows lying on the ground it would take a long time to replace them. But there lay the upper part of the head, which was all that remained. Not a vestige was left from hoof to horn--entrails and their contents all gone. Now, the question was where was the other three? It will be remembered that a belt of tules grows around most of these

desert lakes and it grows from the height of from five to seven feet. The water at this time had receded quite a distance from the tules, and we supposed the living cattle were in these tules. Attempts had been made to burn the tules Off, so that only patches remained-perhaps half were burned. There was a trail into this hummock from where we were, and supposing the cattle were in some of the unburned patches, five men volunteered to follow the trail and five remain and hold the horses. Your scribe was one of the simple ones to go on this foolhardy and hazardous trip. On we went over the burned districts and through patches of tules, seeing or hearing no Indians, but occasionally a puff of smoke would arise from some patch of tules. We learned that that was their sign to each other of enemies in the country. Not knowing this we pressed forward. We now entered a large section of tules near the lake, still following the trail; about the center of this opening that contained five Indian houses with all their belongings. Of course we felt a little doubtful, being a half mile from our companions and hemmed in one very side by the rank tules, taller than our heads; but the neighborhood was to all human appearances deserted. We paused and listened, but no sound of voice nor tread could be heard. We, therefore, concluded the Indians had left their city and emigrated across the lake, considering ourselves safe from danger, the work of destruction began, and certainly no city ever met with a more complete destruction, not even Carthage by the Romans; the only difference being the inhabitants were not sold into slavery. Everything that we met with was destroyed-pots, kettles, mats, baskets and, in fact, everything that we supposed would be of any use whatever. Some baskets which we destroyed were full of some kind of seeds resembling that seed of the well-known lamb's quarter; we spilled the seed and destroyed the baskets. Another thing was a family of wolf pups; some bravo killed all of them, the mother dodging around to escape sight of the pale-faced destroyers. Some one suggested that the mother be shot, but others objected on the ground that the Indians might hear the report of the gun. We completed the destruction of the homes of these savages, and they no doubt considered it rough treatment from the first pale-faces that they had ever seen. It was thought by one pilot that we were the first whites ever in that part of the country; at any rate, ours were the first wagons that ever came from Humboldt River in Nevada to Oregon. We now retraced our steps to join our companions whom we left in charge of the horses. As soon as we emerged from this section of tules to the burned district twenty or thirty Indians ran from around the huts we had destroyed out towards the lake on the dry land afforded by the receded water of the lake at this season. They ran till out of gun shot and halted in full view of us. I suppose it was their chief. Captain Jack, who was afterwards hung, that motioned with his quiver of arrows, and in a loud, clear voice heard distinctly by us, intimated they wanted us to come back. Myself and another young man, equally ignorant, concluded we would have an interview with these strange, new acquaintances. So we started with guns on our shoulders. The Indians retreated as we advanced, se we saw we could accomplish nothing by this course. The Indians were all the time motioning and hallooing, so we laid our guns down to see what the result would be. They remains still; but we retraced our steps and rejoined our comrades at the desert. There was no signs of anything pertaining to the lost oxen mt he lodges destroyed. They were no doubt in some other unburned section of tules not far distant. No doubt many will wonder why it was some or all the five who penetrated the tules, as the Indians would naturally suppose they would carry the news to what appeared to them an immense caravan. Our train consisted of fifty wagons, and they probably