[From the New York Herald,
1873; story by Edward Fox]
Herald
Headquarters,
Fairchild’s Ranch, Feb. 20, 1873.
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y last letter, dated from Dorris’ ranch, was despatched in
rather a hurry, as the courier was sent earlier than usual with some important
government despatches, and I was, therefore, forced to break off in the middle
of my description of the first meeting of the Peace Commissioners.
We did not arrive at Linkville until late in the afternoon of
Saturday, February 15, and at about four P.M. the Peace Commission met in a small
room under the Land Office. Messrs. Jesse Applegate and Samuel Case were
present. The former took the chair, and Mr. Case immediately moved the
appointment of Mr. Oliver Applegate, Indian Agent at Yainax, as Clerk of the
Commission. Mr. Jesse Applegate seconded the motion and Mr. Oliver Applegate
was declared duly elected. The private secretary of the Governor of Oregon then
came forward and handed an official document to the Commissioners. Both
gentlemen eyed it in rather a suspicious manner; but it was finally opened and
read by Mr. Jesse Applegate—the substance of which, I see from a despatch, has
already been reported in the Herald. Both
gentlemen appeared rather “flabbergasted” at the letter, and some remarks were
made respecting the sanity of the aforesaid Governor; but finally “Uncle Jesse,”
as he is best known in this section of the country, took the bull by the horns,
and the objectionable document was laid on the table. The Commissioners, on
motion of Mr. Case, then adjourned, to meet at Van Bremer’s ranch on Monday,
February 17.
Saturday night was passed at Linkville, and at about nine on
Sunday a start was effected for Dorris’ ranch. The mounted party consisted of
General Gillem, Acting Adjutant General Rockland, Dr. McElderry, Captain
Anderson, Captain Oliver Applegate and Mr. Samuel Case. The three ambulances
were occupied by General Canby, Uncle Jesse Applegate and your correspondent. In
a weak moment I lent my horse to Captain Anderson, thinking that a drive would
be a pleasant change, and I must confess that up to that time I had not formed
a correct opinion of the roads in that vicinity. During the first two miles the
sidelings were so bad and the ruts to port so deep that General Canby got out
and walked, while I hung out on the starboard side, holding fast to the weather
rigging. As ballast I proved a success, and probably saved the ship from
capsizing on two or three occasions. We arrived at Klamath ferry about two
P.M., and General Canby had a talk with Mrs. Whittle, an intelligent Klamath
[woman], the wife of the ferryman, which resulted in her promising to take a
message into the lava beds if required. The remainder of the road was pretty
good, with the exception of one hill, which appeared to be covered by loose
rocks of considerable size and over which we drove regardless of consequences. Dorris’
ranch came in sight just before dark, and at seven o’clock P.M. all hands were
sitting down to supper, a meal which was eaten with relish by the travellers. There
was rather a pinch that evening for accommodation, and the floor of the
storeroom was pretty closely packed, making it all the warmer during these
cold, frosty nights.
Monday morning was passed very quietly at Dorris’, and, in the
afternoon, General Canby, his staff of officers and the Peace Commission moved
up to Fairchild’s ranch, where they now have their headquarters. I waited until
Tuesday and then rode up and joined them. In the afternoon Mr. A. B. Meacham
arrived, and the same evening the Peace Commissioners and General Canby sat in
secret session in a small outhouse. That habitation had been furnished with two
short benches and a three-legged stool in honor of the occasion. Their
deliberations resulted in the despatch of a messenger for [Mrs. Whittle] and
Modoc Sally, a [woman] on the Klamath reservation. Mr. Meacham was elected
chairman of the Commission, and after the meeting was over he kindly posted the
Herald correspondent as to the
business transacted. Mr. Meacham said as soon as one of the [women] arrives she
will be sent into Captain Jack’s camp to see if he is willing to talk. If she
should return and report favorably another messenger will be sent in to arrange
for a meeting between Captain Jack and the Commissioners.
On Wednesday I rode over to Van Bremer’s ranch and passed the
day with Major Miller, Major Throckmorton and the other officers at the camp. We
talked over the prospects of peace, and it appeared to be the general opinion
that the instructions from Washington were of such a peaceful nature as to make
the business of the Peace Commissioners an affair easy to arrange. When I
returned to Fairchild’s I found that Mrs. Whittle had arrived, and in the
evening Mr. Meacham had a talk with her, and gave his instructions, which were
simply to explain how peacefully inclined President Grant was and the desire of
the Peace Commissioners to talk over the question with Captain Jack. Mrs.
Whittle and a [woman] called Artena left early this morning for Captain Jack’s
camp.
It is the general opinion in this neighborhood that the Peace
Commission will fizzle out, as the right men are not on it. It is in fact more
plainly expressed in a remark made to me yesterday. “They can’t be elected, as
the wrong men are on the ticket.” It certainly does appear strange that some
names were not put on the Peace Commission of men known to the Indians and in
whom they could trust and have reliance. Again, there are many complaints that
California has no representatives in the council. The war is in California and
the Indians are in California, and yet three Oregon men have been selected to
decide what is to be done with them. The settlers in this neighborhood say that
nothing can be done by the present Commission, as the Indians will not talk
with them. Mr. Meacham was the Superintendent of Indian Affairs when Captain
Jack went on the Klamath reservation.
Jack states that he left the reservation because he was
starved and only half blankets were served out to him and his people. The [women]
in this neighborhood all reiterate the same complaint. Again, in justice to Mr.
Meacham, he denies the complaint in toto, and says that he furnished the
blankets to the Indians with his own hands and that the Indians were well fed
while on the reservation. Several Indian agents attached to adjoining
reservations also support Mr. Meacham’s statement.
Captain Oliver Applegate, the agent at Yainax, states that he
never heard Jack make such a complaint, he having always stated that he left
Klamath reservation on account of the Klamath Indians, and also because he had
been advised to remain at Lost River, as the land belonged to him and the white
people could not turn him off it.
It is very hard to say what instructions the Peace Commission
have received from the President, but it is generally understood they are of a
peaceful nature. They will have to be very liberal to insure peace, as it is
hardly probable the Indians will come out of the lava beds unless they are all
pardoned. At present the Curley-Headed Doctor’s party, or the murderers’ party,
are in the ascendant, numbering about twenty-five to Captain Jack’s ten or
twelve. Now, even if it is true that Captain Jack is anxious for peace, he
would not have the power to give up the murderers to the civil authorities, and
even should he wish to come out himself the others would probably not allow him
to move. It would certainly be highly impolitic to give the Lost River land to
these Modoc Indians under existing circumstances, as it will simply depopulate
the surrounding country of white people. Should these Indians be placed on the
Lost River land they would become so saucy and independent that it would be
impossible for them and whites to occupy the same section of country.
It is reported that the Indians are to be removed to a distant
reservation on the sea coast, and if the Peace Commission can get them out of
the lava beds, the murderers given up and the rest located on some reservation
on the sea coast, they will confer a benefit on this community that should reap
for them the thanks of the people of the United States.
[Note: For what it
is worth, Oliver Applegate and two other witnesses who were there at the time
the Lost River Modocs came onto Klamath Reservation support Meacham’s statement
about the blankets. William P. Harris and George Nurse both agreed that every
member of the band received a full blanket; half blankets were issued, but only
to the small children. On the charge of starvation there is a similar
divergence between the stories of the Modocs and the agency people. The Modocs
complained that they were issued only musty barley and semi-putrid beef, and
that they had to kill their horses for food.
Both Ivan and Oliver Applegate denied this story, and A. H. Miller noted
in addition, “No beef was purchased on contract, but 26 head of large work
oxen, belonging to the Indian Department, were killed and issued to this band
of Modocs during their brief stay on the Reservation. They killed no horses for
subsistence, that I am aware of, and knowing, as I do, that there was no
necessity for their doing so, I have no doubt that the report is a ‘white-cloth’
fabrication.”Portland Bulletin, 12 March
1873. sbh]
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