Hamilton Jordon Goss Maxon (1813-1884)

I takes more than a good resume to get a government contract.

By Jerry Olson

Born in 1813 in Kentucky, Hamilton Maxon lived in West Virginia, Ohio, and Missouri before he immigrated to Oregon Territory in 1845 via the Oregon Trail. With him were his wife, Arabella C. Taylor Maxon (1821-1897), his sons Jordon C., Edwin R., and James W., his brother Silas D. Maxon and his wife Mary, and the four children of Silas. He first filed for a Land Claim near Salem. In 1846 he joined the Oregon Rifles after the Whitman Massacre and commanded a company in the 1848 Cayuse war.

After the war, Hamilton participated in the California gold rush in 1849, and the following year returned to Oregon, and ultimately to Washington. Arriving early, particularly for the settlement of the State of Washington, he filed a Donation Land Claim in 1849, as soon as the law allowed, for a site on the Columbia River at the present location of the town of Camas. Hamilton was elected to the Oregon Territorial Legislature but was defeated for his 1851 reelection bid. However, he was elected Clarke County Commissioner in 1853 as a Democrat, his political party of preference. There is also a record of HJG operating a sawmill on Lacamas Creek in 1852. He was listed as the second Postmaster for Washougal (a political position) in 1853. He was in the Washington State Territorial Council (Senate) from 1857-1859, representing Clarke, Skamania and Walla Walla Counties.

With the number of immigrants arriving in Washington and Oregon at the time, the native Indian population was feeling overrun. They resisted in the late 1850’s all across the Territory, resulting in the deaths of many settlers. With the rank of Major, HJG formed a volunteer militia in 1856, the Second Regiment of Washington Mounted Volunteers, with a mind to quell the uprising. Quoting from An Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties, “From Vancouver the Company went to the Sound and from thence across Natchez Pass in the Cascades to the Yakima Country, then to Walla Walla, and finally on to the Grand Ronde country, where they had a severe conflict with the savages, three men being killed and a number wounded, while many horses were shot. The company of soldiers numbered eighty, while the Indians were two hundred strong. After this they returned to Vancouver.” Jared S. Hurd was a Lt. Col. in this action, while James Tilton was Brigadier General.

A quote from Puget’s Sound reads: “a flamboyant horseman with a mustache big as a snowplow and a voice that would stampede buffalo.” Maxon earned a reputation as an Indian hater during the pursuit of the Cayuse after the Whitman Massacre. “A jovial man with more belly than brains,” said a colleague, but his men loved him. Maxon, described by Ezra Meeker,

Copyright 2008 Jerry Olson November 2, 2008 2 a U S Deputy Surveyor, as “a jolly wit, with a stomach entirely out of proportion to his brain, but of such address as to gain the full confidence of his men,” also gained the full confidence of his commander-in-chief, Isaac Stevens, becoming one of his most trusted advisors. The military records list Maxon as 5’ 11” tall, gray eyes with light hair and complexion.

Another quote about this campaign was from HistoryLink.org: “In April 1856, during the Indian Wars, Captain Hamilton J G Maxon and his citizen militia came upon a Nisqually encampment near where the Ohop Creek and the Mashel River join with the Nisqually River. (This is near the Thurston County-Pierce County border at the southernmost end of Puget Sound.) Several families, mostly women and children were encamped here. Captain Maxon and his volunteers killed everyone in this camp and then found a larger encampment near the confluence of the two rivers, again with mostly women and children present. The troops kill 17 of these Nisqually noncombatants and wound many more. This event became known as Maxon’s massacre.”

In the aftermath of these battles, Maxon detained the Muck Creek settlers at the direction of Governor Stevens. These were Hudson’s Bay employees that the governor deemed sympathetic to the Indians. HJG, Governor Stevens and Surveyor General James Tilton tried to prosecute the Hudson Bay employees, declared martial law, imprisoned the judge, and assigned thirty members of the Mounted Rifles to prevent the Supreme Court from convening to stop the process. HJG and Jared Hurd were members of the Stevens appointed military tribunal to try the settlers.

In 1860 and 1861 Maxon secured two contracts with the Washington Surveyor General, James Tilton, a Democrat and General of the previous Indian war, to survey a Guide Meridian, Standard Parallels, and several townships in eastern Washington, which had just been opened up by the Commissioner for surveying. It was significantly easier to make a profit to survey contracts in the eastern half of the state. The western side was notorious for heavy brush and fallen trees. The first Contract, number 50, was shared with Jared Hurd, being the Columbia Guide Meridian, the First Standard Parallel, the Second Standard Parallel, and the Third Standard Parallel, and included 496 miles of line, all at the maximum rate of $20 per mile. Hurd was a fellow officer in the Indian War with Maxon. David P. Thompson, U. S. Deputy Surveyor, joined the party as compassman for part of the work, having just finished an Oregon contract, including the southern portion of the Columbia Guide Meridian. John A. Tennant and Edward Giddings, Jr., both future Deputy Surveyors, were two of the chainmen. Maxon and Tennant had just served together in the Territorial Council (Senate) the previous year,

This was a modest contract, for most were limited to 300 miles of line per deputy. The work was divided into five portions, and the personnel were divided into two parties:

Party 1 Party 2

Maxon, Deputy Surveyor Hurd, Deputy Surveyor

David P. Thompson, compassman Hurd & Maxon, compassmen

John Hughes, chainman John Tennant, chainman

Lester Potter, chainman John Dunlop, chainman

Benjamin Athey, chainman F. P. Carter, chainman

James Maxwell, chainman Francis Geb, chainman

C. B. Straight, axe and moundsman Benjamin Franklin, axe and moundsman

John Sloan, axe and moundsman

Edward Giddings, alt. chainman

The dates listed in the notes do not make sense, since there are times when the crew members overlapped work. It appears that Thompson with Party 1 began by running North on the Columbia Guide Meridian from two miles South of the Columbia River, across the river near Umatilla, Oreg., over Horse Heaven Hills, across both the Columbia and Snake Rivers East of Pasco, then through the sagebrush lands of Eastern Washington, ending at the Columbia River at the future site of Grand Coulee Dam, the total distance being 138 miles, claiming a production rate of 5.5 miles per day.

Party 2 with Hurd as compassman headed East from the Guide Meridian on the Second Standard Parallel North from R31E through R39E, beginning East of Pasco and ending in Columbia County, south of Dayton, a distance of 54 miles, claiming a production of Figure 1. David P. Thompson in later years. 8 miles per day. They then moved up to the Third Standard Parallel North, and surveyed East from the Guide Meridian from R31E through R40E, starting just South of Connell, crossing the Snake River four times, and ending in Garfield County. This covered 60 miles for a claimed production rate of 7.5 miles per day.

When Party 1 finished the Guide Meridian, they returned to the Second Standard Parallel North and surveyed West from R30E to R14E. This survey took them across both the Snake and Columbia Rivers, through what is now Kennewick and Prosser and into the Yakima Indian Reservation, ending Northeast of Glenwood, almost to Mt. Adams. This was 136 miles for a production of 4.5 miles per day. They probably headed down the Klickitat River valley to the Columbia River and home.

Party 2 returned to Oregon and the intersection of the Guide Meridian and the First Standard Parallel North and headed West from R30E to R13E. They surveyed across the Columbia River and back into Washington at Boardman, running just North of Goldendale and across the Klickitat River where the survey ended, for 108 miles and a production of 5.1 miles per day. When done, the party dropped down to the Columbia and went home.

Maxon had no known surveying experience before or after these two contracts, and it is unknown what role he filled with Thompson in Party 1. Both Maxon and Hurd were sworn-in at The Dalles on April 5th, probably on their way up the Columbia, and long after the official start of the surveying by Thompson on March 23rd. Thompson was a US Deputy Surveyor in his own right and certainly competent. He became a State Senator, Governor of Idaho, Pres. of Oregon Const. Co., Pres. of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Co., Minister to Turkey, and among other duties, a Regent of OSU. Also, Thompson was a Captain in the Oregon Cavalry in the same Indian War as Maxon and Hurd, but it is unknown whether they met in that capacity. Hurd was a surveyor and probably lead Party 2. The above listing of “Deputy Surveyor” for each crew was determined by who signed the oath. The time in the field showed the parties were working from March 23 until May 25, 1860, an elapsed time of 64 days, or an average of 3.8 miles per day per crew for the total time. The logistics must have been awesome to supply that many men with food, water, and shelter over what was unsettled arid country at that time, and also with so many river crossings needing boats. Much later, Ernest Moore, in “Pack Train and Transit”i, describes from a chainman’s perspective the difficulties of supplying food and shelter to a fast-moving survey party in his account of the extension of the Columbia Guide Meridian.

During this service Hurd was employed at the Land Office of the GLO as Deputy Registrar. It is obvious that Hurd and Maxon used influence to obtain their contracts, because this was a plum of a contract, reserved for only the most privileged in the patronage system. Tilton was replaced on September 11, 1861 by Republican Anson Henry, before Contract 60 was finished.

Maxon was awarded Contract number 60 on July 1, 1861, being the exteriors only of T4N R13,14E, and both the exteriors and subdivisions of T3N R13,14E; T2N R12-16E; and T5N R22-23E. This was on the North side of the Columbia, across from The Dalles, going Northeast to Goldendale, all in sage brush country.. The T5N portion was just across the Columbia from Boardman, Oreg. and listed David Thompson as compassman. The exteriors by The Dalles were

Copyright 2008 Jerry Olson November 2, 2008 5 done by Maxon, according to the notes, while both he and Thompson shared in the subdivisions, with Thompson doing two townships and Maxon doing the rest. There did not appear to be two distinct parties as in the first contract, because the assistants were mostly the same with some changes. Maxon’s two oldest teenage sons were in the party and worked with Maxon and not Thompson. The work was completed by the end of September and approved by the end of the year.

Before or after the GLO contracts there was no known surveying activity by Maxon. He received the patent to his DLC at Camas in 1865. By 1870 HJG and his family had moved to Ada Co., Idaho, near Boise, and were working there as farmers. He died in 1884 and is buried in Dry Creek Cemetery near Eagle, Ada County, Idaho. i Foster, Ernest Moore, “Pack Train and Transit, First Survey of South Half Colville Indian Reservation, 1906 Personal Account”: Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington, 1987.