CONTRIBUTIONS to die HISTORY of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST

NORTHWEST HISTORY

W. D. VINCENT

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CONTRIBUTIONS to &e HISTORY of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST

NORTHWEST HISTORY

W. D. VINCENT

Spokane Stud}) Club Series Series A

PUBLISHED BY STATE COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON 1930

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PREFATORY STATEMENT By E. A. BRYAN Research Professor in Economics and Economic Science and History

TiH E successful business man who is endowed with historical sense and a passion for research has a unique opportunity, not possessed by the recluse, of contributing to regional history. The wide range of the business man's contacts, possessed as he is of the means for col­ lecting and preserving rare books, manuscripts and illus­ trative material, and even of travel throughout the region for the verification and classification of historical data, enables him to give a broad, accurate, and common sense interpretation to the history of the men and things of an earlier day. Mr. Vincent has for many years been a student of Northwest history and has been a collector of its source material and an intelligent expositor of its earlier phases. From time to time he has given to his fellow members of the Spokane Study Club the results of his studies. This paper on Northwest History is one of five such papers read to the club which the State College of Washington will publish as series A, of "Contributions to the History of the Northwest." J NORTHWEST HISTORY By W. D. VINCENT

H ISTORY is made up of yesterdays—the tomorrows will pass judgment upon the value of the actions of today. More than a hundred thousand yesterdays passed between the landing of Columbus on our eastern shores and the land­ ing of Captain Robert Gray on the banks of the great river he named Columbia. It was nearly twelve years more be­ fore the recorded history of our Inland Northwest began. It would be interesting to discuss the Anglo-Saxon in­ stinct that caused Mackenzie to reach the Arctic Ocean by canoe down that great river which bears his name and after­ ward to accomplish the first land crossing of the Dominion of Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Mackenzie's explorations of 1789 to 1793 must have been a spur to that same Anglo-Saxon instinct which drove Lewis and Clark on to the mouth of the Columbia. The full title of their journal is Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. On their return trip while camped on the Clearwater, this entry is made in their journal under date of Tuesday, May 6, 1806: "We here found three men of a nation called Skeet- somish, who reside at the falls of a large (Spokane) river emptying itself into the north [east] side of the Columbia. This river takes its rise from a large [Coeur d' Alene] lake in the mountains at no great distance from the falls where

J these natives live." This is the first printed record of the Spokanes, as the present Spokane River then had the Indian name of "Skeetshoo." The publication in 1807 of the journal of Patrick Gass, a member of the expedition, and the reports of Lewis and Clark to the United States government evidently created a lively interest in the unknown West. John Jacob Astor was a New York merchant at that time and had virtually a monopoly of the fur trade in the United States. He made a proposition to his partners that an expedition be sent to the mouth of the Columbia for the purpose of establishing headquarters to secure the supply of furs needed in the Company's business. He made overtures to the Northwest Company with the view of cooperating in this territory. His partners, especially in St. Louis, proposed an over-land journey which was undertaken under the leadership of Wilson Price Hunt. With that journey we have little to do, but the voyage directed by Astor is of great historical importance in the development of the Columbia country. The Astor party was made up of four partners, eleven clerks, a dozen boatmen and more than twenty men in the crew. They sailed from New York in the Tonquin, Sep­ tember 8, 1810.* Please note the date, also the fact that New York City then had a population estimated at 90,000. The voyage of the Tonquin ended March 22, 1811, the party

*Irving setsthe date of sailing at September 8, 1810. Washington Irving, Astoria or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains, (Philadelphia, 1836), p. 54. "We went on board ship, and weighed anchor on the 6th of September in the morning—on the 8th we weighed anchor for the third time." Gabriel Franchere, Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814 or The First American Settlement on the Pacific, (translated by J. V. Huntington), (New York, 1854), landing on the south bank of the Columbia River at Point George, where was established the Pacific Fur Company post of Astoria. Alexander Ross and Gabriel Franchere, clerks of the company and members of the expedition, both wrote narratives that are of intense interest to students of Northwest history. Franchere's narrative was printed in French and published in Canada in 1820. It was translated into English and printed in New York in 1854. It is not my intention to quote too freely from authori­ ties, but Franchere's narrative on the particular point that I wish to emphasize is of vital importance in determining the question as to the first permanent settlement of a white man in this Pacific Northwest. On June 15, 1811, Franchere writes:— "Some natives from up the river, brought us two strange Indians, a man and a woman. They were not at­ tired like the savages on the river Columbia, but wore long robes of dressed deer-skin, with leggings and moccasins in the fashion of the tribes to the east of the Rocky Moun­ tains. We put questions to them in various Indian dialects; but they did not understand us. They showed us a letter addressed to Mr. John Stuart, Port Bstekatadene, New Caledonia. Mr Pillet then addressing them in the Knisten- eaux, they answered, although they appeared not to under­ stand it perfectly. Notwithstanding, we learned from them

p. 32. A statement of a different narrator cites the earlier date of September 6, 1810, but his statement would not absolutely preclude the sailing on a later date. " .... on the 6th of September 1810 all hands, twenty-two belonging to the ship, and thirty-three pas­ sengers, being on board, the Tonquin set sail ." Alexander Ross, Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River, being a narrative of the expedition fitted out by John Jacob Astor to establish the Pacific Fur Company, with an account of some Indian tribes from the coast of the Pacific, (London, 1849).

^sA that they had been sent by a Mr. Finnan M'Donald, a clerk in the service of the Northwest Company, and who had s post on a river which they called Spokan [Franchere's spelling]; that having lost their way, they had followed the course of the Tacousah-Tesseh [the Indian name of the Columbia], that when they arrived at the Falls, the natives made them understand that there were white men at the mouth of the river; and not doubting that the person to whom the letter was addressed would be found there, they had come to deliver it.

"We kept these messengers for some days, and having drawn from them important information respecting the country in the interior, west of the Mountains, we decided to send an expedition thither, under the command of Mr. David Stuart; and the 15th July was fixed for its departure.

"All was in fact ready on the appointed day, and we were about to load the canoes, when toward midday, we saw a large canoe, with a flag displayed at her stern, round­ ing the point which we called Tongue Point. We knew not who it could be; for we did not so soon expect our own party, who (as the reader will remember) were to cross the continent, by the route which Captain Lewis and Clark had followed, in 1805, and to winter for that purpose some­ where on the Missouri. We were soon relieved of our uncertainty by the arrival of the canoe, which touched shore at a little wharf that we had built to facilitate the landing of goods from the vessel. The flag she bore was the British, and her crew was composed of eight Canadian boatmen of voyageurs. A well-dressed man, who appeared to be the commander, was the first to leap ashore, and addressing us without ceremony, said that his name was David Thomp­ son, and that he was one of the partners of the Northwest Company. We invited him to our quarters, which were at one end of the warehouse, the dwelling-house not being yet completed. After the usual civilities had been extended to our visitor, Mr. Thompson said that he had crossed the continent during the preceding season; but that the deser­ tion of a portion of his men had compelled him to winter at the base of the Rocky mountains, at the headwaters of the Columbia. In the spring he had built a canoe, the materials for which he had brought with him across the mountains, and had come down the river to our establish­ ment. He added that the wintering partners had resolved to abandon all their trading posts west of the mountains, not to enter into competition with us, providing our compa­ ny would engage not to encroach upon their commerce on the east side: and to support what he said, produced a letter to that effect, addressed by the wintering partners to the chief of their house in Canada, the Honorable William M'Gillivray. "Mr. Thompson kept a regular journal, and travelled, I thought, more like a geographer than a fur-trader. He was provided with a sextant, chronometer and barometer, and during a week's sojourn which he made at our place, had an opportunity to make several astronomical observa­ tions. He recognized the two Indians who had brought the letter addressed to Mr. J. Stuart, and told us that they were two women, one of whom had dressed herself as a man, to travel with more security. The description which he gave us of the interior of the country was not calculated to give us a very favorable idea of it, and did not perfectly

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~*& accord with that of our two Indian guests. We persevered, however, in the resolution we had taken, of sending an ex­ pedition thither; and, on the 23rd Mr. D. Stuart set out, accompanied by Messrs. Pillet, Ross, M'Clellan and de Montigny, with four Canadian voyageurs, and the two Indi­ an women, and in company with Mr. Thompson and his crew. The wind being favorable, the little flotilla hoisted sail, and was soon out of our sight." Following this statement, Franchere makes a footnote: "Mr. Thompson had no doubt been sent by the agents of the Northwest Company, to take possession of an eligible spot at the mouth of the Columbia, with a view of fore­ stalling the plan of Mr. Astor. He would have been there before us, no doubt, but for the desertion of his men. The consequence of this step would have been his taking posses­ sion of the country and displaying the British flag, as an emblem of that possession and guarantee of protection here­ after. He found himself too late, however, and the stars and stripes floating over Astoria. This note is not intended by the author as an after-thought: as the opinion it conveys was that which we all entertained at the time of that gentle­ man's visit." This was written at the time and published in 1820. In the race that he had undertaken for the Northwest Company, David Thompson had lost and the Astor party had won. The strategic point at the mouth of the Columbia was eventually to become the territory of the United States. Thompson and his men had established posts in the interior and already controlled the fur trade with the Indians. David Thompson was one of the greatest land ge­ ographers of the English speaking people. He was an

10 astronomer and in his travels as a partner of the Northwest Company, had discovered the sources of the Columbia River. In 1807 he established a post at the foot of Lake Winder­ mere. This was called Kootenay (Kootenae) House and was the beginning point of commerce in all this vast North­ west. In 1808 men of the Northwest Company set up a post on the Kootenay River near the present site of Libby, Montana. This was the first trading point between white and native in this part of the now United States. In 1809 Thompson and his men came down the Koote­ nay River to about the present site of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and packed goods over to Pend Oreille Lake where they established Kullyspell House east of Hope. Soon after the building of Kullyspell House, an outpost was built called Saleesh House, about three miles above Thompson Falls on what is known as Thompson's Prairie. There is a small river emptying into Clark's Fork named Thompson's River. These three, prairie, river and falls are all that bear the name of that great explorer. Thomp­ son's chief assistant in the establishing of Kullyspell House and Saleesh House was Finan McDonald. A personal de­ scription of this remarkable character is most interestingly given by Ross Cox. While he was at Saleesh House he taught the Flathead Indians the use of firearms. The Flatheads and Blackfeet were constantly at war. The Blackfeet were always vic­ torious on account of their ability to obtain firearms from sources East of the mountains. In a battle after arms had been obtained from McDonald, the Flatheads defeated the Blackfeet. The Blackfeet knew, of course, the source of supply and knowing that Thompson would again make a

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-. ." •"""." CT—^TT— *& trip to the West, they intercepted him, causing him to take the long northern route landing him at the headwaters of the Columbia at such a late date that his arrival at the mouth of the Columbia was delayed to the extent that the Astorians were in possession of the Oregon country. While at Kullyspell House, McDonald made some in­ vestigations on his own account and believing that the junction of the Little Spokane with the Skeetshoo, now known as the Spokane River, was a desirable trading point, he and his companion, a half breed named Jacques Raphael Finlay, established a Northwest Company post, naming it "Spokane House." Alexander Henry is authority for the statement that Spokane House was established in 1810. In June 1811 Thompson visited Spokane House on his trip down to the mouth of the Columbia River. Henry's statement, Fran­ chere's Narrative and Thompson's Journal all confirm the fact that Spokane House was established prior to the loca­ tion of Astoria. It is a common belief that Astoria was the first place of white settlement in the Oregon country. There is sufficient proof that Spokane House was estab­ lished and doing business as a fur trading post before the arrival of the Tonquin at the mouth of the Columbia. About the time of the establishment of Spokane House, an Indian baby, the son of a chief, was born and his name has been interwoven into the history of Spokane. There are three periods into which the history of the Spokane country naturally divides itself: first, the fur traders; second, the explorers; third, the builders. The Pacific Fur Company and the Astorians had come for the fur trade and for the occupancy of the Pacific

12 Northwest, and also for American supremacy on the Colum­ bia and it tributaries. Thompson had already raised the British flag at five trading posts on the Columbia waters. He had raised the British flag on the Columbia at the mouth of the Snake.

The fight was on, and this brings us back to Franchere's narrative from which we quoted, "We persevered, however, in the resolution we had taken of sending an expedition thither." This expedition under David Stuart established Fort Okanogan on September 1, 1811. Thompson and his party separated from the Astor party at the mouth of the Snake River, Thompson going overland to Spokane House, arriving there August 13, it taking them five days to make the journey from the mouth of the Palouse river to Spo­ kane. With Stuart in the establishment of Fort Okanogan was a clerk, Alexander Ross, who gives an account of the Pacific Fur Company's operations in his Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon • or Columbia River and also in his Pur Hunters of the Par West. His experiences at Fort Okanogan and his visit to Spokane House are most interesting. .

John Clarke of the Pacific Fur Company established a post called "Fort Spokane" in the immediate vicinity of Spokane House. In fact, the Pacific Fur Company post is spoken of as "along side" Spokane House and another sent­ ence explains the two posts as "contiguous to each other."

This was in 1812. The next year, 1813, the North­ west Company took over the Pacific Fur Company and maintained Spokane House until 1821. The Hudson's Bay Company succeeded the Northwest Company, and Spokane

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aoa House was abandoned by them in 1826 for the new post of Fort Colville that had been established near Kettle Falls. Spokane House, the life of the Indians at that post, and the adventurers and traders, make that period one of the most interesting in the fur trading history of this country. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, believing the Oregon Country to be a fruitful valley for their labors, asked for volunteers and to the Reverend Samuel Parker is due the honor of being one of the first to offer himself as a missionary to the work in this Northwest. He left New York in 1834, but did not arrive in St. Louis in time to join the caravan, so returned to his home in New York for the purpose of creating an interest in Indian missions. He again started West in 1835 and was accompanied by Doctor Marcus Whitman. His work was instrumental in leading Doctor Whitman to be­ come a missionary. Whitman and Parker started for the West in the summer of 1836. Doctor Whitman saw the importance of the work and after arriving at the head waters of the Snake, he decided to return to the East to arouse a greater interest in the Mission work. Doctor Parker came into the Spokein (Parker's spell­ ing) country in May 1836, making a journey from Walla Walla to Colville. He speaks of entering the "Spokein woods which are very extensive, consisting of yellow pitch and elastic pine." The presumption is that he describes our yellow pine and tararack, as he also mentions hemlock, spruce and fir. Ross Cox has written a description of hav­ ing been lost in these woods and describes the "multitude

14 of growling bears, and howling wolves and alarming rattle snakes," none of which Parker encountered. He speaks of the village of the Spokanes and the cultivation of a small field or garden planted with potatoes, peas, and beans and mentions the site of the Old Spokane House and the fact that at the time a bastion was standing. Supposedly, a greater portion of the Old Spokane House had been des­ troyed by fire. Information had gone through the locality of the ar­ rival of a minister and the Indians brought an interpreter that Parker mentions as "a young man of their nation who had been to school in the Red river settlement on the east side of the mountain"—now Winnipeg. Frequently a stranger and often the residents of Spo­ kane discuss the spelling or pronunciation of the word. In a footnote of Parker's Exploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains, page 297, he says " The name of this nation is generally written Spokan, sometimes Spokane. I called them Spokans, but they corrected my pronunciation, and said "Spokein, and this they repeated several times, until I was convinced that to give their name a correct pronun­ ciation it should be written Spokein.

We think of years as a mark of time and it was cur­ ious to Parker that at Colville he found an old man who thirty years before accompanied Lewis and Clark across the continent. Parker was observing of the resources of the country and now that the public is discussing the Columbia Basin, water power, manufacturing of nitrates, it is interesting to read what Parker said in regard to "a mountain of rich and

15 very beautiful saccharine marble, situated on the south side of the Columbia river; some sections are pure white, while others are beautifully clouded with blue and brown." Following Parker came the Reverend Cushing Eells and Elkanah Walker, who were appointed missionaries to Oregon in 1838, arriving at Walla Walla in August of that year. Both were sent to a new situation among the Spokane Indians, which they established in Chimoken (Tshimakaen) or what we know as Walker's Prairie, located north of Turn Turn or northeast of the Long Lake Dam. While Walker and Eells were at Chimoken, W. H. Gray and H. Spauld- ing, who had gone out with Doctor Whitman, visited the Spokane country. Gray wrote a history of Oregon and was the grandfather of W. J. Gray of the Gray Manufacturing Company of Spokane. Walker and Eells spent ten years of their life at this point and so far as visible results, their efforts were fruitless, as there was not one Indian convert. It is an interesting thing to study the relations between Garry and these two missionaries, Garry being a Presby­ terian. It is quite possible that the missionaries did not have the natural instinct required to study the true Indian charac­ ter and use Garry's influence to the advantage of their work. The Roman Catholic Church began a mission on the St. Joe River in the early 1840's, but on account of high water, the Mission was removed to the Coeur d'Alene River in 1846. Father De Smet journeyed from the Old Mission to Colville for seeds for the garden at St. Marys in the Bitter Root. Father De Smet in his letters tells of the work done by the Fathers at the Coeur d'Alene Mission. He tells of the prevalence of smallpox and that during the epi­ demic none of the Coeur d'Alenes died, as they had been

16 vaccinated by the Priests, while the Spokanes and other un­ converted Indians who said the medicine of the Fathers was a poison used only to kill them, were swept away by the hundreds, and in a not boastful way, he said that this con­ trast greatly increased the influence of the missionaries.

Sir George Simpson, the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, came to the Spokane country in 1841. In 1825 Alexander Ross, clerk of the Astors, employed by the Northwest Company and then in the employ of the Hud­ son's Bay Company, had selected, at Sir George's suggestion, two boys to be sent from the Columbia to the Red River for their education. One was the son of a chief, to whom they gave the name of Kootnais Pelly, Kootnais after his own tribe and Pelly after a Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Kootnais Pelly died, but on this trip Sir George met the other boy who had become, according to his de­ scription, a bad Indian—Spokane Garry. He had been named for the tribe and for Garry, a Director of the Company.

Sir George says that in one tent on a camp on the Pend Oreille River a sight presented itself which was equal­ ly novel and unnatural. Surrounded by a crowd of spec­ tators, a party of fellows were playing at cards obtained in the Snake Country from some American trappers and here is his interesting remark: "And a more melancholy exemplification of the influence of civilization on barbarism could hardly be imagined than the apparently scientific eagerness with which these naked and hungry savages turned and thumbed the black and greasy pasteboard .... In this same hell of wilderness, I found Spokan Garry, one of

17 the lads already mentioned as having been sent to the Red River for their education." Sir George Simpson's journey into the country was about the last made from Canada by any high officials, as Oregon Territory was formed by the Act of Congress on August 14, 1848. By Act of March 2, 1853, Washington Territory was set aside and embraced the territory now included by the present State of Washington, the State of Idaho north of 36 North Latitude and that part of the state of Montana west of the Rocky Mountains.

Major Isaac I. Stevens applied for the governorship of the new territory and also that he might have charge of the party making an exploration for a northern route. Major Stevens was appointed Governor and left Wash­ ington for St. Louis, where the outfits were to be made up. There were four divisions, the main command being under Governor Stevens. A second party in charge of Lieutenant John Mullan was to ascend the Missouri River to Fort Union and there to join the main party. The third party was to meet the main party in the Rocky Mountains, and the fourth group headed by Lieutenant George. B. Mc Clellan, afterward Captain, and late General George B. McClellan. I rather pride myself in the possession of a complete set of the reports made by Governor Stevens and his staff on the exploration for the northern route. The set was presented in 1857 to my father by Senator Lyman Trum­ bull and many of them were autographed by the Senator. The entire party arrived at the Coeur d'Alene Pass October 11, 1853, through the Fourth of July Canyon to

18 Coeur d'Alene Mission, then down the Coeur d' Alene Lake through the site of the present city of Coeur d'Alene, mak­ ing their first camp in the now State of Washington in the eastern part of the Spokane Valley. Their reports give drawings of the Spokane Falls as they were in that year. They tell of Garry, the Spokane chief, being a man of edu­ cation and influence.

Passing down the river, the party went through the prairie where old Spokane House had been located, crossed the Spokane River, went up to the headwaters of Coulee Creek and established a camp. Governor Stevens, hearing through Indians of the arrival of a party at Colville and knowing that it must be Captain McClellan, left immedi­ ately for Colville, where he met McClellan and with him returned to the camp, which was known as Camp Washing­ ton, and there established the first seat of government in this state.

A former Secretary of of the Washington State His­ torical Society was instrumental in having erected a monu­ ment on the, as he supposed, site of Camp Washington. Unfortunately, the mistake of location is not the only one and your attention is called to the necessity- of careful investigation, clear determination of facts and a complete checking of statements so that when a monument to com­ memorate some event or to mark some historical spot is erected, there should be no question as to the authentic sources of information that caused the selection of the place marked. Here is the marking of the misplaced monument.

19 COMMEMORATING THE ESTABLISHING OF CAMP WASHINGTON BY GOVERNOR ISAAC I. STEVENS ON THE SITE IN FRONT OF THIS MONUMENT WHERE HE AND GENERAL THEN CAPTAIN GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN AND THEIR MILITARY FORCES MET AND CAMPED FROM OCT. 17 TO 30, 1853. ERECTED BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ASSISTED BY THE FOURMOUND GRANGE, SCHOOL CHILDREN AND OTHER CITIZENS.

This monument was placed about six miles from where it should be located. The dates of October 17 to 30 are not correct. The inference that Governor Stevens and Captain McClellan's forces met at this point is unintentional and the phrasing of the sentence "school children and other citizens" should be corrected. In company with a man who had packed on the old Colville road and who knew definitely of the location of Camp Washington, I visited the site and Governor Stevens' description verifies the packer's statement. Undoubtedly Camp Washington was at the head of the Coulee Creek and the State should in some way secure a small tract of land there and set it aside as one of the historical spots in the state.* One of the outstanding figures in the history of this part of Washington is Captain John Mullan, a Lieutenant with the Stevens party and a man who did a great amount

*On November, 1928, the Camp Washington monument was removed to a site on the Hite-Coulee highway at a point marking the crossing of the historic Colville-Walla Walla road and three fourths of a mile northeast of the site of Camp Washington "at the forks of Coulee Creek." 20 of the civil engineering work for the party. After complet­ ing his work under Governor Stevens, he returned to Wash­ ington and came back to the Spokane country with Colonel George Wright in May of 1858. In the early part of this year some Palouse Indians stole livestock belonging to the government from Fort Walla Walla. Colonel E. J. Steptoe was in command. There were at this time a number of complaints made by miners going into the Colville country. The Indians were causing dis­ turbances on account of the encroachment of the white men. Colonel Steptoe considered it his duty to take an expedition into the Colville country to restore order. He also wanted to investigate theft of the government stock. He started from Walla Walla with three companies of dragoons, one company of infantry, in all about one hundred and sixty men. On the 17th of May, 1858, they arrived in the vicinity of Rosalia where the Indians made up from the tribes of the Spokanes, Palouses, and Coeur d'Alenes made an attack. Steptoe confesses that his command had only a small quanti­ ty of ammunition and that the soldiers, in their excitement, could not be restrained from firing in the wildest manner. The expedition was defeated and after consultation with his officers, it was concluded to abandon everything, includ­ ing their two howitzers, which might impede their return to Walla Walla. Their retreat began about ten o'clock at night. Six of the Steptoe party, including Captain Taylor and Lieuten­ ant Gaston, were killed. The Indians said that nine were killed and forty or fifty wounded. The Steptoe Party re­ turned in safety to Walla Walla and General Clark, in command of the Department of the Pacific at San Francisco,

21 instructed Colonel George Wright to organize an expedition against the Indians who had brought on the fight against Colonel Steptoe. Colonel Wright marched from Fort Dalles to the Spokane country by the way of Fort Walla Walla. The first encounter with the Indians was at Four Lakes on September 1, 1858. Lieutenant John Mullan was in charge of thirty friendly Nez Perce Indian allies; the artil­ lery consisted of two mountain Howitzers. The Indians were charged by the Dragoon and a couple of shots from the Howitzers sent them out of sight. The Battle of Four Lakes had been won without a white man being killed or wounded. The Indians had lost eighteen or twenty killed and many wounded. He then drove the Indians in a north­ erly direction and brought on the Battle of Spokane Plains the 5th of September, 1858, the Indians numbering some five or seven hundred warriors. After the Indians were defeated at Spokane Plains, they were driven east and north to the Spokane river in a continuous fight for seven hours over a distance of fourteen miles. The troops camped on the banks of the Spokane after a march of twenty-five miles without water and for two-thirds of the distance under fire. Two Indian chiefs and a brother and a brother-in-law of Chief Garry were killed. One of the chiefs killed in the battle had on his body the pistol worn by Lieutenant Gaston, who was killed in the Steptoe fight. Colonel Wright's camp, as near as I can locate it, was on the little flat on the present Fort George Wright grounds opposite the Natatorium Park. From this camp they moved to a ford at about the east end of the Olive Street Bridge, where they stopped. Colonel Wright was told that Chief Garry was nearby and

22 wanted to talk with him. Garry crossed the ford of the river, met Colonel Wright and told him that he had always been opposed to fighting, but that the young men and many of the chiefs were against him and that he could not control them. Wright told Garry to tell the Indians and their chiefs that he had whipped them in two bloody battles and had not lost a man or an animal, that he did not come into this country to make peace, but came here to fight. After the interview with Garry, the command moved up the river to a place this side of Spokane. Bridge, where about eight hundred Indian horses were killed and a quantity of grain burned. This struck fear into the hearts of the Indians, and soon after the campaign ended. Governor Stevens had conceived the idea of building a road from Fort Benton to Fort Walla Walla. Mullan on his return to Washington urged the building of such a road that immigrants could more easily get into the Oregon country. Mullan was put in command of the building of what became known as the Mullan Road. An appropria­ tion was made and in 1862 six hundred twenty-four miles of road was completed at a cost to the government of $230,000. The Mullan Road passed through the old J. J. Brown place on Moran Prairie, northeasterly from there across the corner of the Edgecliffe property, crossing the Apple way where the Mullan monument has been erected. The road is marked in Idaho and Montana and more markers should be placed on the road between the marker on Moran Prairie and Fort Walla Walla. In 1858 the Territorial Legislature passed a bill creat­ ing the County of Spokane. Boundary lines were described as commencing at the mouth of the Snake, thence up the

23 mid-channel of the Snake river to the 36th parallel, thence by that parallel to the summit of the Rocky mountains, thence north by said summit to the 49th parallel, thence west along that parallel to the Columbia river, thence by mid-channel of said river to the mouth of the Snake river. This vast area of about two hundred miles wide and three hundred miles long contained about 76,000 square miles. It is needless to say that Spokane County was extensive. Great is the development between the time of the birth of Spokane Garry, near old Spokane House in 1811, and his death near Spokane in January 1892, and I look upon it as one of the peculiar events of my life that I was for­ tunate in meeting him several months before his death, because it is a wonderful thing to feel that you met a man who as a boy knew Old Spokane House and the beginning of civilization in this Northwest. The tragedy, the romance, the past and the present of the Spokane country are all bound up in one pathetic sentence uttered by the poor old chief of the Spokanes, a sentence he repeated many times to my friends, Major and Mrs. John W. Skiles, through whom I met Spokane Garry. This brief sentence was, "This country was all mine and my people's."

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