Butte County CA Archives History - Books .....Indian Difficulties 1882
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Book Title: History Of Butte County

INDIAN DIFFICULTIES.

    The first disturbances with the aborigines nearly all occurred at or near
Pence's ranch, and in the punishments inflicted upon the savages Mr. Pence
always took an active part, serving as captain of several companies organized to
protect the persons and property of the white settlers. From a very early period
there were Indians at Chico, a number of them in the employ of General Bid well;
and Potter, on the Neal ranch, also had them -working for him—but nothing
serious is related of these.

    On New Year's eve, in 1851, about a year after Mr. Pence had settled in
Messila valley, a party of six or seven Indians came to stay all night at
his--ranch. Among them was a chief of the Concows, a villainous-looking fellow.
To this proposition Mr. Pence objected, but being told by Mr. Bartee that if he
extended his hospitality to the chief no harm could come to him, he consented
and allowed them to remain. The gratitude of his visitors for the kind treatment
they had received was so great that in the night they stole all of Mr. Pence's
cattle. Early in the morning the theft was discovered before they had got very
far, and Pence with a few friends pursued them. At the white men's approach the
Indians fled. Mr. Pence succeeded in wounding the chief in the hip, but not so
as to disable him. He escaped, and made many threats against Pence, promising to
kill him when he got an opportunity. Both were on the watch for each other for
some time. Finally, word was brought to Mr. Pence that the chief had been
caught, and he went after him and brought him down from the mountains to the
ranch, determined to place him where he would do no more harm. Some of the
neighbors were in favor of leniency, but it being shown to the satisfaction of
the crowd that this course would endanger Mr. Pence's life, a vote was taken on
the question of hanging the Indian, and was carried in the affirmative. The
verdict was immediately carried into execution, and the chief dangled gracefully
from a tree yet standing near the Pentz post-office.

    The next trouble in this locality was with the Tiger Indians, who came into
the valley and stole cattle at what is known as Clark's ranch, in the year 1853.
A company of seven men, with Mr. Pence as captain, was organized, and followed
the robbers. In the company was Alexander Dick, now of Biggs. They followed the
Indians for some time, but could not succeed in locating their whereabouts,
until, at Pence's suggestion, they set a watch for one called Express Bill, who
came out daily to the "double log-cabin" for salt. He was captured, and hung to
a tree near the house. The party spent the night there, and as the morning
dawned they journeyed on to Dogtown, where they made an effort to recruit their
forces, but were refused any aid by the Dogtown people. They went on, and in a
short time met an Indian. He said he was going to a small rancheria. He was
killed, also, and left in the road. Proceeding on their course, they at last
found the Indian camp, which contained about thirty warriors. It required
considerable nerve to attack this band with only seven men, and more stratagem
to perform it successfully, as the savages were in their stronghold, and ready
to make a vigorous resistance. The little attacking force was divided, that the
enemy might be attacked in flank and front at the same time. Pence and one of
his men circled around the camp, and the fight commenced. The savages at that
time were armed only with bows, and did but little execution, the only accident
happening to the men being an arrow-wound in the neck of one. The fight lasted
the remainder of the forenoon, each side shooting carefully from behind trees
and bushes. In the afternoon reinforcements arrived, and the enemy was soon
conquered. Twenty-five of the "red-skins" were killed in this fight. During the
fall of the same year, the Indians came out on the west branch of Feather river
and killed ten Chinamen. Pence was again summoned, and chosen as the captain of
a company of thirty whites and thirty Chinese. Pursuit was immediately
instituted, and the hiding-place of the Indians was found about a mile from the
river. An attack was made, and from forty to sixty Indians were sent to the
"happy hunting-grounds."

    It does not appear that the Indians were always the aggressors, or that
their attacks on the whites were wholly prompted by "pure cussedness," which
many would fain believe. Though the whites have suffered greatly by them, it is
also true that on many occasions here in Butte county great wrongs have been
done the simple natives, in more ways than merely taking from them the hills and
valleys of their forefathers. Crimes against the Indians were very frequent, and
fully account for some of the bloody reprisals made a few years later. At
Frenchtown, Oregon township, a meeting was held February 14, 1854, and
resolutions were passed in regard to the men who were in the habit of committing
outrages on Indian women, stating if the law did not punish the offenders, they
would mete out to them the punishment they deserved. Those who were actual
settlers had their lives and property endangered by these overt acts of
lawlessness. The immediate effect of this action was a better treatment of the
savages, and a consequent period of immunity from their raids. For a number of
years no trouble of importance occurred. A meeting was held at the Forks of
Butte, in Kimshew township, on the eighteenth of June, 1862, for the purpose of
making an organized resistance to the encroachments and outrages of the Indians.
N. Smith was chairman, and G. Nichols secretary of the meeting. The following
statement of their grievances was made:—

    " The Indians known as the Deer or Mill creek Indians, have of late
committed numerous depredations in this vicinity, such as robbing mining camps,
murdering white men and killing stock: and whereas, they have acknowledged to be
the murderers of Michael Walsh, of Chico, and Mr. Dunbar or Dunlap, of Mud
creek, together with numerous other murders on the Washoe trail near Lassen's
peak: also, to two recent murders of persons whose names we have been unable to
ascertain, but from description given of a recent murder committed by them, we
judge it is Mr. Haynes, of Chico Meadows, but do not know for certain; also,
they are threatening to murder every white man on Butte creek, and capture all
the white women and children."

    It was resolved to raise a company for the chastisement of the savages and
protection of the settlers. and a committee was appointed for that purpose. A
company of twenty-four men was raised and started on the war-path on the
twenty-first of June. They were none too soon, for on the afternoon of the
twenty-fourth Thomas Allen, a teamster for J. L. Keefer, was killed and scalped
on his way down from Moil-ill's saw-mill. An Indian belonging to Keefer, who was
in company with Allen, was badly wounded, but escaped and brought the news to
the valley. Three children—two girls and a boy—belonging to a family named
Hickok, near where the above murder was perpetrated, were captured and carried
away. The children were away from home when taken. A party hastened in pursuit,
found the horses killed on which they were riding, and portions of the clothing
of the two girls, torn off by the bushes as they were hurried away by their
captors. The bodies of the girls. Ida A. and Minnie S. Hickok, aged sixteen and
thirteen respectively, were afterwards found, that of the eldest being pierced
with thirty arrows. They were buried at their home, amidst affecting ceremonies.

    Upon learning of the murder of the two Hickok girls, and the abduction of
the little boy, the volunteers made an active pursuit of the perpetrators, and,
on the first of July, attacked them in camp, killing several, when the others
fled in confusion. The clothing of the boy was recovered. Two weeks afterwards,
beneath a pile of rocks and brush, were found the mutilated remains of the
unfortunate youth. The neck was broken, fingers, ears and toes cut off, and the
body had been dragged some distance by the incarnate fiends, with a rope
fastened to the neck. The cruelty here revealed has seldom been equaled in the
long annals of Indian warfare. Charles Hickok, a younger brother of these
unfortunates, now resides in Oroville.

    In the early summer of 1863, five Indians were hanged at Helltown, on
suspicion of their having committed depredations whereby considerable property
was destroyed or carried away. Bloody reprisals have always been freely indulged
in by the aborigines, when any real or fancied wrong has been done them, and a
few retaliated with fearful effect on their white neighbors when they got an
opportunity. The outbreak occurred in the latter part of July, and several men,
women and children were inhumanly massacred. Among them may be mentioned Richard
Morrison, Mrs. Blum, and the children of the Lewis family, all of which murders
occurred near Pence's ranch. The killing of the Lewis children was a sad affair.
They consisted of two small boys and a little girl, and resided three miles
northwest of Pence's. As they were returning from school, on the afternoon of
the twenty-first, they passed a spring of cool water, and the oldest boy knelt
down on his hands and knees to slake his thirst. "While in this position a band
of Indians approached from behind unnoticed, and a rifle-ball was sent into the
stooping body of the youth. Leaving him lying by the water, in the agonies of
death, the savages took the two remaining children with them and started for the
foothills. The boy was only five years old and the girl nine, yet they were
forced to walk along as fast as they could without resting. As the shades of
evening were falling, the boy's slight strength began to fail, and he lagged
behind. As he retarded their progress, the Indians decided to kill him, and
hastened the girl on ahead that she might not witness the murder. Her brother
begged her not to leave him, but their captors were inexorable. While some
distance ahead she might have escaped easily, but would not go without her
brother. "While he was out of her sight the helpless child was murdered, and his
body thrown on a manzanita bush. She was taken to their camp, and perceiving her
brother's absence, knew that they had killed him. Watching her opportunity,
while they were making preparations for a meal, she ran behind one of the bushes
with which the ground was covered, and though a vigorous pursuit was made, she
managed to elude them and make good her escape from their clutches. Thinking she
would go towards her home, they followed that trail, while she went in a
different direction, and finally reached a house that was occupied. She had only
some underclothing on, most of her garments having been appropriated by her
captors. The bodies of the two who were murdered were found the next day. The
girl who so narrowly escaped death is now Mrs. Winters, and lives near Chico.

    The people in that vicinity became greatly alarmed for the safety of their
lives and property, and a company of fifty men was organized to hunt red men.
The excitement was so intense that it was determined to make an indiscriminate
slaughter of Indians without regard to whether they were concerned in the
murders or not. There was no doubt in the minds of those who could reason coolly
611 the matter, that a large majority of the Indians were innocent entirely of
the horrible outrages and murders that had been perpetrated, and that punishment
should not be meted out to them alike. Many were tame Indians who entertained
only friendly feelings towards their white brethren. Yet the difficulty of
making a just and proper discrimination between the innocent and the guilty, and
the intense desire for revenge which filled the breasts of so many white men,
rendered the condition of all the Indians precarious and unsafe. A war of
extermination was evidently about to be commenced and the blood of the savages
would soon flow freely if some measures were not adopted to have the whole of
them removed from the county.

    The question, of removing the Indians from Butte county to reservations
began to be agitated, and a meeting was called for the twenty-seventh of July,
to be held at Pence's ranch, for the purpose of taking effective measures for
their removal. Before the meeting occurred, Mr. M. H. Wells, of Yankee Hill, on
his own responsibility collected a large number of Indians, three hundred and
fifty in all, and disarmed them, preparatory to taking them out of the county.
While they were encamped at Yankee Hill, the company of citizens who were in
pursuit of Indians came up, and it was with great difficulty that Mr. Wells
could keep them from butchering the whole band. However, they demanded four of
them, who they said had taken part in the recent tragedies near Pence's, and to
save the rest (who were principally tame Indians) the four were given up. These
were given a chance for their lives by being loose while they were fired at, and
two of them got away without much injury. The band was then taken to Chico and
delivered over to the parties authorized to receive them, and from there
conveyed to the reservation in Humboldt county. The Oroville Guards made an
expedition at this time up through Concow and Oregon townships, and though they
were not called upon to do any fighting, their presence in the neighborhood
contributed to allay the fears of the people to a large extent and quieted much
of the excitement that had been aroused by the disturbances. One little escapade
committed by a part of the guards deserves severe censure. Upon leaving Yankee
Hill they disagreed among themselves, and one party, headed by John J. Smith, of
Oroville, went off by themselves. They comprised the more respectable part of
the company. Captain H. B. Hunt headed the remainder, who went to Dogtown. Some
people there pointed out three Indians who they said were bad; whereupon the
brave militia bound the frightened creatures, took them to a spot near by, and
shot them down.

    On the first of August, forty men of company F, second cavalry volunteers,
were sent to this county to assist in quelling the Indian disturbances. Their
headquarters were made at Chico. During the following week, company A, of the
same regiment, was also sent to Chico.

    The meeting at Pence's ranch, July 27, was very largely attended, and
resolutions were adopted to collect and remove all Indians from the county. The
committee appointed to collect and notify the Indians was M. H. Wells, Yankee
Hill; W. Schmidt, Forks of Butte; Capt. H. B. Hunt, Oroville: W. Nesbit,
Helltown; Thomas McDanel, Cherokee; Jas. Lynch, Lynch's ranch; R. C. Rose,
Johnson's ranch; W. Hasty, Dogtown; Joseph Pierce, Stringtown; Thomas Rogers,
Rock creek; L. A. Snow, Kimshew. A committee of twenty-six persons was also
appointed to collect funds to defray the expenses of collecting and removing the
Indians to Chico landing. Hon. Thomas Wells was delegated with the commission of
waiting on General Wright, of the department of the Pacific, to make
arrangements about the disposal of the nation's wards. In his report of
September 19, Mr. Wells stated that the following plan had been decided upon:—

    " The citizens are to .collect all the Indians of this county together at
Chico; the soldiers there, under Major Hooker, are to receive and forward them
to the reservation, and Major Hanson's receivers are to receive them there. If,
in the places where Indians are harbored by bad white men, the citizens meet
with their resistance, they are to capture and deliver them, with the Indians,
to Major Hooker, at Chico, to be held and dealt with as 'prisoners of war.'"

    By the arragements made, the executive committee appointed at Pence's ranch
were authorized to raise a sufficient force of men to carry out the measures
agreed upon.

    In accordance with these arrangements, the committee proceeded to gather
together all the Indians that could be found. Scarcely one was allowed to
remain. Even the mahalas living with white men were compelled to join the
caravan, and go to the reservation. Mr. Wells, of Yankee Hill, took the most
active part in the removal of these people. He was indefatigable in his efforts
to free the county of them, and thus put a stop, in this region, to further
contention between the white and red races, which must inevitably occur while
any of the latter were allowed to remain. In this work he was energetically
assisted by G. G. Marquis, of Concow valley, and William Ramsey, of Yankee Hill.
The last band taken to Chico was composed principally of mahalas, children, and
old and decrepit bucks.

    A miner, named Hugh Harvey, was shot and killed by the Indians near
Forbestown on the twenty-third of September, 1863. Twenty men started out to
corral and kill all the red men they could find. As the removal of Indians was
then in progress, no bloody encounter followed.

    In March, 1864, a large number of Indians returned from the reservation to
Butte county. On the first of March, five armed Indians took possession of the
cabin of James McBride, near Dogtown, and intimidated the proprietor, while they
carried off all his portable property. At the same time on the Dogtown road a
teamster was badly wounded by Indians. The agent at the reservation sent word to
look out for the Indians, as they were coming back. Hon. A. C. Buffum, in the
legislature, was petitioned by many citizens to lay the matter before the proper
authorities. Gen. Wright ordered the company stationed at Chico to protect the
people against further Indian depredations. On the fourth of June, 1864, several
Indians made a raid on the house of Thomas Morgan, one mile from Pence's, while
he was absent. Mrs. Morgan and children barely escaped with their lives from the
clutches of the savages. On the eighth the body of a Frenchman was found in
Potter's ravine, below Cherokee flat, pierced by four arrows. He was called "Old
Bartholomy."

    Indian troubles began to get frequent again in the summer of 1865. Several
murders were committed in adjoining counties during the spring.

    On the twenty-second of June, eight Indians visited Fairfield bar on the
middle Feather river, and representing themselves as Chinese tax-collectors,
tried to extort money from the Chinamen, from which several rows resulted. On
the seventh of August, another murder occurred at the house of Robert Workman,
in Concow valley, while Mr. Workman was absent. Mr. Workman and Miss Rosanna
Smith were in the house with the doors closed. A knock was heard, and Mrs.
Workman, going to the door, was confronted with a gun in the hands of an Indian.
She screamed, and Miss Smith tried to escape, but her body was afterwards found
behind the barn, with her throat cut from ear to ear. John Banks, "Scotch John,"
as he was called, the hired man, was shot while at work in an adjoining field.
Mrs. Workman was frightfully beaten and left for dead by the inhuman fiends. She
recovered, and managed to reach a neighbor's house near by, when the alarm was
given and a party of men started out, fired with the determination to spare
neither Indian nor mahala-white man. The injuries received by Mrs. Workman at
this time, and the severe shock to her nerves, resulted in her death two years
afterward. The band who were searching for the perpetrators of the Concow
tragedy, invited H. A. Goode, an old Indian-fighter, to be their captain. They
comprised seventeen men, all of Butte county except Sandy Young, who lived in
Tehama. On the fifteenth of August they found the trail of the savages, and came
up with them at night on Mill creek, sixteen miles east of Tehama. The company
surrounded the Indian camp, which contained about twenty-five, and succeeded in
slaughtering nine of them and wounding many more.

    All the raids, for a number of years, had been led by an Indian who could
boast the possession of a ponderous pedal extremity. So large was this member
that he received the title of Big Foot. His presence at any affair of crime was
always indicated by the extraordinary mark he left on the ground. He was very
skillful in eluding pursuit, and had never been captured. After this fight, Big
Foot's trail was never found, and it was generally believed that he had there
received a mortal wound.

    The subsequent fate of two who engaged in this fight may be a matter of
interest here. Sandy Young, a year or two afterwards, was found dead in Trinity
county, and his death was supposed to have been caused by Indians. Some years
subsequently, Captain Goode met a similar fate at the hands of a young Indian
boy, not more than eight years of age, whom he had adopted and raised. Goode had
come home from a day's hunt after game, and, before alighting from his horse,
gave his rifle to the boy. The treacherous young rascal immediately shot his
friend and benefactor dead, and concealed his body under a pile of rocks and
rubbish, where it was found by some of Goode's friends, who were searching for
him. The captain's watch, jewelry and money being found on the person of the
Indian boy, he confessed having committed the crime and hidden the body. The
precocious fiend met a deserved fate for his hideous crime.

    Since these occurrences, Indian troubles have ceased to agitate the citizens
of Butte county, and but few natives are now within her limits. On the ranch of
General Bidwell is a small rancheria of Indians who work about the premises,
being both docile and harmless. Here and there about the county can be found one
or two, but none collected in bands or rancherias.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA,
IN TWO VOLUMES.

I.
HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA FROM 1513 TO 1850.
BY FRANK T. GILBERT.

The Great Fur Companies and their Trapping Expeditions to California.
Settlement of the Sacramento Valley. 
The Discovery of Gold in California.
BY HARRY L. WELLS.

II.
HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY,
From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. 
BY HARRY L. WELLS AND W. L. CHAMBERS.

BOTH VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED WITH VIEWS AND PORTRAITS.
HARRY L. WELLS,
517 CLAY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
1882.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by HARRY L. WELLS, in
the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

FRANCIS, VALENTINE & Co., Engravers & Printers
517 Clay St., San Francisco



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