Lassen-Plumas County CA Archives History - Books .....Indian Difficulties 1882
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Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

INDIAN DIFFICULTIES.

   Besides the usual trials and hardships of pioneer life, the settlers of Honey
Lake valley had to guard their families from the attacks of brutal savages. This
condition of affairs in California existed chiefly in the mountains and valleys
of the northern portion of the state, where the Indians were more warlike and of
a less tractable disposition than the natives of the Sacramento valley.

   The Indians with whom the people of this valley came in contact were of the
Washoe (Wasso), Pah-Ute, and Pit River tribes, the last named being the most
thieving and murderous in their disposition. From the time that Governor Roop
and his companions built the first habitation in the valley, in 1854, the
Indians had to be carefully watched to prevent them from committing thefts,
depredations, and even murders. That the Indians on the frontier have not always
been treated properly, and have frequently been grossly deceived and abused, is
a fact well known to all; but this does not excuse them for their acts of
barbarity and horrible cruelty, which are accounted for only by their inherent
bloodthirsty disposition. Even in case the savages were simply avenging real or
imaginary injuries, the innocent settler who sees his wife and children in
deadly peril is comforted but little by knowing that some other white man has
wronged the savages that are now seeking the death of him and his loved ones.
All that he can see is that he and those who cling to him for protection are
threatened with a horrible death by a fiendish, treacherous, and relentless foe.
This was the condition of the pioneer settler, and it is no wonder that he
fought the savages, and pursued and exterminated them whenever they were guilty
of committing outrages upon himself or his neighbors.

   No serious difficulty occurred until 1857, when the Indians, moved largely by
a lack of food, became so troublesome by their thieving habits that difficulties
arose between them and the settlers. The valley was then in its second year of
permanent settlement. The troubles of this season are generally referred to as
the Potato War, owing to the cause of the difficulties. The troublesome savages
were of the Pit River tribe, and a company of the settlers, under Captain
William Weather-low, and accompanied by Winnemucca and a band of his Pah-Ute
braves, went out against the savages, and punished them severely. The Plumas
Rangers from Plumas county came over to the aid of the settlers, but arrived too
late to participate in active hostilities. The Pit River Indians still annoyed
the settlers during the next two years, and only ceased after their severe
chastisement by General Crook.

   April 29, 1859, Peter Lassen was killed by Indians, the particulars of which
appear in Captain Weatherlow's statement a few paragraphs below. Many believe to
the present day that Lassen was murdered by white men; but in his statement
Captain Weatherlow indignantly disputes that assumption, and shows how the idea
was first disseminated, and how it failed to be sufficiently contradicted at the
outset. This is a statement made by him soon after the great war of 1860, and is
the best and most authentic account that can be obtained of the Indian troubles
in this valley. We condense portions of the statement, but nothing of an
essential character is omitted.

   Captain Weatherlow says: "In the month of June, 1856, I settled in Honey Lake
valley. There were but two or three houses in the valley at that time. The
Pah-Ute tribe of Indians occupied the valley in common with the whites. They
were on the most friendly relations, visiting the houses of the whites and
trading furs and game for such articles of clothing, etc., as they desired. They
were unlike any other tribe that I had met in the country, inasmuch as they were
never known to beg for food or clothing, nor did they at every opportunity
pilfer and carry off articles from the whites. They were under the control and
command of Winnemucca, the present war chief, and faithfully obeyed his
commands. There was a band, however, which lived in or near Smoke Creek canon,
and were under the control of a chief known as Smoke Creek Sam. They had drawn
out from Winnemucca's band, and although they were still on friendly terms with
Winnemucca's people, yet they were in a degree independent of his control. This
band was also on the most friendly terms with the whites. In the year 1855
(should be 1856 or 1857), the settlers in Honey Lake valley made a treaty with
Chief Winnemucca," providing for the peaceful settlement of all difficulties
that arose, and the punishment of the offenders, whether white or Indian.

   "From the first settlement of the valley, the Pit River Indians, which
inhabit the country north of Honey lake, had made frequent incursions upon the
settlement, driving off stock, and committing other outrages. Finding that we
could have no safety or security for life or property without the Pit River
tribe was driven off, I raised a company of 60 men, in the year 1857, and went
out against the Pit River Indians on several occasions when they had made
descents upon the valley and driven off stock. Winnemucca volunteered to go out
with his warriors, and aid us in fighting the Pit River tribe. He obeyed orders
strictly, and fought as bravely as any white man." On several occasions they
punished the depredators severely, at one time rescuing a small train of twelve
emigrants near Goose lake, killing twenty-five of the savages." By the aid of
Winnemucca and his warriors, we finally scattered the Pit River tribe of
Indians, and they have never since that time made an incursion upon the valley.

   "In the spring of 1859 I started with four men on a prospecting trip to the
Black Rock country. Two days after we left Honey Lake, Peter Lassen, an old
mountaineer and settler, left the valley in company with two men (Clapper and
Wyatt), to overtake and join us. We reached our place of destination two days in
advance of them, and were encamped on a hill about seven miles from Mud lake.
Lassen's party followed our trail, and arrived within a mile of our camp, when
darkness overtook them; and not knowing the location of our camp, they concluded
to camp at the mouth of a small canon near the foot of the mountain. The next
day they sent out one of their party to search for our camp, but, unfortunately,
he missed our trail, and returned to Lassen's camp, saying that he could not
find us. They passed another night in the canon, and at daybreak the next
morning they were attacked by a party of Indians, and Peter Lassen, with one of
the men (Clapper), was killed. The third man (Wyatt) succeeded in mounting his
horse, without saddle or bridle, and thinking our party had also been massacred,
he made his way directly to Honey lake. I remained out with my party until our
provisions grew short, and supposing that Lassen's party had taken a different
route, and we were unable to find them, we started to return, knowing nothing of
Lassen's murder until the second day of our travel homeward, when we met a party
of settlers who informed us of the massacre, and that they had started out to
ascertain the fate of my party, which they feared had been also killed.

   "The killing of Lassen and his companion caused great excitement in the
settlement, and much feeling against the Indians. Several of the settlers
attributed the murder to the Pah-Utes, but from my knowledge of the friendly
relation between Chief Winnemucca and Peter Lassen, and the high estimation in
which Lassen was held by the Indians, and from the fact that there was no
apparent change in the conduct of the Pah-Utes, who continued to visit our
houses and exchange civilities and friendship, I did not believe that the
Pah-Utes had committed the murder, nor that they were at all cognizant of the
fact. I attributed it entirely to the Pit River tribe, which the whites had
fought and defeated, and who frequented the Black Rock country in small hunting
bands. There had been no difficulty of any kind between the Honey lake people
and the Pah-Utes that would have provoked them to so wanton an act of revenge,
especially upon Peter Lassen, who had ever been their warm friend. But the Pit
River Indians, against whom we had fought, would certainly have exulted in
surprising and cutting off any small party of whites; and to them alone did I
attribute the murder of Lassen. Up to this time, Major Dodge, the Indian agent
to the Pah-Ute tribe, had never visited the valley, to my knowledge; but shortly
after the killing of Lassen's party he came to Honey lake, remained about one
day, and returned to Carson City, without having had an interview with the Chief
Winnemucca, or made any inquiries into the causes or the perpetrators of the
murder. Shortly after the departure of Major Dodge, there appeared a statement
in one of the newspapers (I think the Sacramento Union), with authority from
Major Dodge, to the effect that he (Dodge) did not believe the Indians had
killed Lassen at all, but that he was murdered by white men. This was a charge
of the most unwarrantable nature against the four white men who were the only
ones within hundreds of miles of the place where the massacre took place; and I,
as their leader and commander, called Major Dodge to an account personally for
the charge. He retracted the charge, and promised to do so publicly through the
press. Whether he did so or not I cannot say, as I have never heard of Major
Dodge visiting our valley since."

   Mr. Weatherlow then refers at length to the filling up of the Washoe country
with the rush from California in 1859, and the difficulties that at once sprang
up between the new-comers and the Pah-Utes, producing a feeling of hostility
among the Indians against the whites everywhere. The first act of hostility was
the murder of Dexter E. Demming, January 13, 1860. He was attacked by a band of
Indians at his ranch on Willow creek, ten miles from Honey lake, himself killed,
his cabin plundered, and his stock driven away. The settlers were highly
excited, and addressed the following petition to Governor Roop:

                          " SUSANVILLE, NEVADA TER., Jan. 15, 1860.
   "DEAR SIR—We, the undersigned, would most respectfully urge the necessity of
your Excellency's calling out the military forces under your command to follow
and chastise the Indians upon our borders. We make this request to your
Excellency from the fact that we have received information that we fully rely
upon, to the effect that Mr. Demming has been murdered, and his house robbed, on
or about the 13th instant, by Indians, within the borders of Nevada Territory.
Your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.

A. D. McDonald, 
E. A. Rower, 
N. Purdy,
Wm. Brayton, 
W. M. C. Cain, 
F. Drake,
E. Aubrey, 
Wm. Dow, 
Chas. Kingman,
Wm. Hamilton,
D. Chandler, 
G. W. Fry,
E.  Brannan, 
Wm. Hill,
J. E. Shearer, 
Geo. W. Shearer, 
Jas. Belcher, 
E. R. Nichols, 
Cyrus Smith, 
I. N. Boswick, 
S. S. Smith, 
W. C. Taylor, 
J. M. Painter, 
C. Brown, 
Fred Morrison, 
G. W. Mitchell, 
John D. Robinson, 
S. H. Painter, 
Milton Craig, 
A. A. Holcomb, 
Wm. Hobby,
A. D. Beecher,
Dr. Jas. W. Stettinias, 
Dr. H. S. Barrette,
B. E. Shumway, 
L. Vary, 
    Joshua H. Lewis.
Wm. Arullary, 
Thomas Bare, 
Z. C. Dow, 
Thos. Sheffield,
E. G, Bangham, 
Henry Hatch,
F. H. Moshier, 
U. J. Tutt,
G. V. Lathrop, 
O. Stresley,
J. Bourette,
Dan Murray,
J. H. Hollingsworth,
Jas. A. A. Ohen [or Cohen],
A. L. Tunison,
Jas. Huntington,
E. L. Varney,
M. S. Thompson,
Clark Doty,
Alex. McLoud,
Wm. D. Snyder,
S. D. Patten,
A. W. Worm,
John Altman,
A. B. Jenison,
L. D. Sanborn,
J. S. Haggett,
W. Taylor, 
C. A. Fitch, 
F. Long,
Mark W. Haviland, 
John Morrow, 
H. Kingman, 
I. E.Ellison,
M. C. Thaderson [or Shaderson]. 
J. W. Shearer, 
J. L. O'Donnell, 
J. W. Doyle, 
H. E. Arnold, 
L. J. Spencer, 
B. B. Gray,
B. B. Painter, 
P. W. Shearer, 
James McFadden, 
J. H. Anderson, 
A. Ramsey,
J. E. Parker, 
John Taylor, 
T. Campbell, 
F. A. Sloss, 
S. Conkey,
C. Hall, 
Antonio Storff, 
C. T. Emerson,

   It was not decided for the best to commence active hostilities against the
Pah-Utes, until it was made to appear that the murder was committed by that
tribe. Accordingly, Lieutenant U. J. Tutt, of Captain Weatherlow's company, was
sent out with fifteen men to trail the murderers. They came back to Susanville
and reported, January 24, 1860, that tbey had followed the murderers to camp,
and they belonged to the Smoke creek band of Pah-Utes. In view of the fact that
prospectors were scattered through the mountains, exposed to attack in case
hostilities were begun, and that great numbers of cattle were grazing in remote
valleys, where they and the few herders in charge of them were at the mercy of
the savages, it was decided to send two commissioners to Chief Winnemucca, to
demand punishment of the offenders under the terms of the treaty. Governor Roop
commissioned Captain William Weatherlow and Thomas J. Harvey to perform this
duty. After considerable difficulty, and an exhibition of repressed hostility by
a few bands of Pah-Utes, they finally obtained an audience with Chief Winnemucca
on the banks of Pyramid lake. The chief not only refused to visit Honey lake, or
interpose his authority to prevent his followers from committing depredations,
but demanded that the citizens of Honey Lake valley pay him $16,000 for the land
they had taken. He was at the same time levying contributions of beef upon the
cattle men, and the commissioners returned and reported that it was their
opinion that "the Pah-Utes are determined to rob and murder as many of our
citizens as they can, more especially our citizens upon the borders." 

   Their report was made on the eleventh of February, and the following day
Governor Roop addressed a letter to the general in command of the Department of
the Pacific, asking for arms, ammunition, and a field-piece. A portion of the
letter said: "We are about to be plunged into a bloody and protracted war with
the Pah-Ute Indians. Within the last nine months there have been seven of our
citizens murdered by the Indians. Up to the last murder we were unable to fasten
these depredations on any particular tribe, but always believed it was the
Pah-Utes, yet we did not wish to blame them until we were sure of the facts."
After referring to the murder of Demming, the letter continued: "It is now
pretty well established that the Pah-Utes killed those eight men, one of them
being Mr. Peter Lassen. How soon others must fall is not known, for war is now
inevitable. We have but few good arms, and but little ammunition. Therefore, I
do most respectfully call upon you for a company of dragoons to come to our aid
at once, as it may save a ruinous war to show them that we have other help
besides our own citizens, they knowing our weakness. And if it is not in your
power at present to dispatch a company of men here, I do most respectfully
demand of you arms and ammunition, with a field-piece to drive them out of the
forts."

   In response to this appeal, no troops were sent and no arms furnished; and in
the following May the murder of five men at Williams Station, on the Carson
river, was followed by the massacre of Major Ormsby and his command. The
particulars of this war will be found in the recently published history of
Nevada. Aid was sent from California, and the Washoe regiment, composed of
volunteers from California and Nevada, was organized at Virginia City, and
marched out, 544 strong, under Colonel Jack Hays, to punish the Indians. They
were joined by 207 U. S. troops, under Captain J. M. Stewart, and on the second
of June, had a stubborn battle with the Pah-Utes near Pyramid lake, in which the
Indians were defeated, and retreated north. The Washoe regiment disbanded, and
the California volunteers returned across the mountains, leaving Captain Stewart
and his troops in camp at Pyramid lake, where they had thrown up earth-works,
and called the place Fort Haven. Captain Bird, with a small company from the
south end of Honey Lake valley, joined the command of Colonel Hays; while
Captain Weatherlow, with thirty-five men, scouted about between the valley and
Pyramid lake, being on the alert to protect the settlers in the valley from any
raid by the savages.

   Captain Weatherlow's narrative details the events that subsequently occurred:
"On the news of the volunteers having returned to California reaching our
valley, a second panic occurred. Nor was this unreasonable, for the Indians who
had escaped north held the country around the valley. A small party of
prospectors, who were driven in by the hostiles, had seen them in force, some
400 strong, at Wall springs, on the emigrant road. We were poorly armed, short
of ammunition, and many of us even destitute of provisions. The Indians had also
about this time recommenced hostilities in their worst style. Knowing our
helpless condition, they burned dwellings, drove off stock, and killed settlers
at their own dwellings when remote from the town.

   "We were momentarily expecting an attack from an enemy with whom we were but
poorly able to cope. At this critical juncture, Colonel F. W. Lander,
superintendent of the U. S. overland wagon road, arrived in our valley with his
company of some fifty men, well armed and equipped. Their presence was a welcome
relief to our unprotected settlement, for the Indians had grown so emboldened by
success that they entered the valley within a few miles of the chief settlement,
and in broad day killed Mr. Adams, one of our most respected and worthy
citizens. Governor Roop, with a number of the principal settlers, waited upon
Colonel Lander, and besought him to aid them in protecting the valley against
the Indians. Colonel Lander agreed to take a part of his force and go out to
reconnoiter the Indians' position, if the settlers would raise a company to join
him. He asserted that he should only seek an interview with Winnemucca; but if
that were impossible, and the chief persisted in the war, harassing the
settlements, obstructing his work, or interfering with the emigration, he would
fight him. On this arrangement, I joined him with thirty men, The Indians fired
on our approach, killing one of my company (Alex. A. Painter). We charged and
drove the Indians. They occupied the mountain where our ponies could not
penetrate. Colonel Lander left his arms, and went among them with a flag. They
shot at him, and although he remained, persisting in an interview, they would
not grant it. When he returned we charged again, and kept up the battle for five
hours, when the Indians retired at all points, going farther north. We buried
the dead man on the field, and returned to Honey lake. Two days afterwards
Lander's party left the valley for their work."

   During this battle, soon after Painter was shot, a Spaniard of Colonel
Lander's command, who was dexterous with a lasso, observed one of Winnemucca's
runners riding at full speed across the country towards the main band. The
Spaniard was mounted on a powerful horse, and started in pursuit of the savage,
coiling his lasso as he went. The Indian, seeing he would surely be overtaken,
stopped and awaited his pursuer, and when he drew near fired at him with his
rifle. The Spaniard was watching his victim closely, and, as the savage fired,
threw himself around the neck of his horse, who still kept on at the top of his
speed. Straightening himself up, the Spaniard whirled the rope around his head
and sent it whizzing and uncoiling through the air. Checking his horse and
turning about, he dashed off to rejoin his company just as the noose settled
down over the shoulders of the astonished savage and jerked him from his horse.
The Indian plowed the desert and swept the sage-brush at the heels of the
Spaniard's horse until they reached the cheering troops, the captor exultant,
the victim dead as a herring. Painter's grave is on a flat at the head of a
canon that has ever since been known as Painter flat, and near him was buried
the savage whose body the Spaniard brought so summarily into camp. Colonel
Lander afterwards presented S. H. Painter the flag under which his brother died.

   A short time after this event Colonel Lander had an interview with Numaga,
one of the Pah-Ute chiefs, who reported that his followers were in a most
famished condition, the result of their war against the whites, and of being
driven from their home about Pyramid lake. A council was then held by Lander
with Winnemucca, and a treaty of peace was made, which the old chief has
carefully observed. Not long after this, two Pah-Utes came into Honey Lake
valley, and some of the settlers who had lost friends during the war tried to
kill them. The two Indians were taken prisoners by the U. S. troops under
Captain Hamilton, and when Colonel Lander arrived they were released. The
citizens called a meeting for the purpose of restraining such of the settlers as
might by hostile acts cause a reopening of the war, and from that time the
difficulties ceased, and the Indians became as friendly and peaceable as before.

   About the middle of June, 1866, Mr. Joseph Hall of Susanville, while hunting
horses about ten miles west of that place, came unexpectedly upon an encampment
of Indians. There were present Indians from Pit river, Indian valley, and Honey
Lake valley, and it was evident that the latter two had met the Pit River
Indians for the purpose of selling them ammunition, as those Indians were
engaged in acts of hostility. As soon as they perceived that they were
discovered, they packed their ponies and left. Mr. Hall returned immediately to
Susanville and reported what he had seen, and soon after a party that had been
out to Pine creek on a fishing excurison returned to town and reported that they
had seen the band of Pit River Indians, and indulged in a little skirmish with
them, no injury having been inflicted by either party.

   Great excitement was caused by these reports, and at daylight the next
morning William Dow, E. V. Spencer, B. B. Gray, Charles Drum, and Joseph Hall,
all well mounted and armed, started in pursuit of the fleeing savages. On the
evening of the third day, after having followed the trail for 150 miles, and
been led back by it to Eagle lake, within twelve miles of their starting point,
they discovered the Indians in a little valley near the southern shore of the
lake, called now Papoose valley. Thinking themselves beyond pursuit, the Indians
had camped for the night by some springs, near which their horses were picketed.
The five men quietly retired behind a hill to await until daylight in the
morning before attacking the savages. They had ridden all day without food, and
now, tired and hungry, they stood all night in a cold, drizzling rain, fearing
to either lie down or make a fire. Just at daybreak they crawled up to within a
few yards of the camp, and when one of the Indians rose to get a drink from the
spring, they rushed into the camp with a yell, and began the work of death with
their revolvers. Of the eleven savages that slept there that night, but one
escaped to exhibit his wounds to his comrades on Pit river. The victors made a
hearty meal off the game captured in the camp. Leaving the ten bodies for the
coyotes to feed upon, the men returned to Susanville with the captured ponies,
and a large stock of ammunition which the Indians had procured in their trade
with the Honey Lake and Indian Valley natives.

   The chief of the band of Indians living in Honey Lake valley was called
Captain Tom, and during the absence of the five men in pursuit of the Pit River
fugitives, he and some of his followers visited a number of the ranches and
expressed their dissatisfaction with the interruption of their traffic in powder
and lead, and threatened to make trouble. A number of the citizens joined the
five raiders upon their return, and set out to find Captain Tom's band and learn
their intentions. When they came upon them, the Indians started to run. The
whites rode after them, calling upon them to stop and have a talk, but to no
effect. They then fired upon the fleeing natives, killing Captain Tom, and
wounding a few others, who all made good their escape. After this the Indians
were all given to understand that if they appeared in the valley again, no
matter to what tribe they belonged, they would be sent to join the spirit of
Captain Tom in the happy hunting-grounds.

   During the winter of 1867-68, an English family lived in a cabin at the east
end of the valley, and near Honey lake. The family was composed of Thomas W.
Pearson, his wife Maria, and their daughter Hattie, a handsome young lady of
eighteen years, of the brunette type of beauty. On the morning of the
seventeenth of April, 1868, Samuel C. Cooper, an employe of W. S. Hamilton, was
engaged in helping the family move their household goods to Red Rock, where Mr.
Pearson was going to locate. The cabin was completely surrounded with water,
caused by late severe storms, and the goods had all been loaded upon wagons
drawn by a powerful team belonging to Mr. Hamilton. They started through the
water to the shore some 300 yards distant. Cooper driving the team, and the
others following close behind. They had just emerged from the water, and were
standing in front of a sheep-pen, when seven or eight Indians rose up suddenly
from behind the corral, and fired a volley of bullets and arrows that mortally
wounded Cooper, and brought him to the ground. As the Indians rushed upon him he
drew a revolver that hung in his belt, and succeeded in wounding two of them
before he breathed his last. When the firing commenced, the Pearsons started to
run up the road towards Mr. Fry's place, eight miles distant. After dispatching
Cooper, the savages pursued the fleeing family, and from the position of the
bodies it is evident that they overtook the old gentleman first. They filled his
back full of arrows and bullets, and he fell forward upon his face. They next
overtook the wife, and killed her in the same way. Nearly all her hair was
pulled out, her head was badly beaten, and she wore a look of desperation and
horror, as though she had died while in the agony of a death struggle. Near her
was the body of Hattie, with an arrow through the heart, and another through the
neck. The expression on her face was as happy and peaceful as though she had
laid herself down to sleep. The body of Cooper was horribly disfigured, probably
because of his desperate resistance, and because of the fact that he had with
him a robe taken from a brave slain in a raid by a party of which he was one.
The head was severed from the body, his body was gashed horribly, and the brave
heart had been torn from the breast. Cooper was born in Ashland county, Ohio,
October 11, 1826.

   The beginning of the massacre was witnessed by John Wallenberg, a German lad
of eighteen years, who was herding sheep near by for Pearson. He immediately
started on the run for Fry's ranch, and when the Indians observed him and gave
pursuit, he had gained such a start that he made good his escape. He was so
badly frightened that he never could give a clear account of the manner of his
escape; and as he was four hours in getting to the ranch, it is probable that he
wandered around considerably. The morning after the massacre, a company of men
started out in pursuit of the perpetrators, but failed to overtake them. Two
Indians were found dead not far from the scene of the massacre, and it is
supposed that some whites had killed them, and their comrades took revenge upon
the innocent Pearsons and the brave Cooper.

   The Potato War of 1857, previously alluded to, was a trouble between the
settlers and the Washoe Indians, happening at the time that Captain Weatherlow's
company, aided by Chief Winnemucca and his Pah-Ute braves, were absent on their
raid against the Pit River Indians. Trouble with these two tribes happening at
one time made things appear very dark to the settlers, and some of them left the
valley. Had Winnemucca taken up arms against the whites, instead of for them, it
is probable that the whole valley would have been depopulated.

   In October, 1857, about 100 Washoes made a raid upon the ranch of William
Morehead, about two and one-half miles north-west of Milford. Morehead was in
Susanville, and the Indians harvested his three acres of potatoes so completely,
that upon his return not a tuber was to be found. The despoiled rancher reported
his loss to his neighbors, and A. G. Eppstein, W. Hill Naileigh, Henry Denney,
William Jackson, and two Robinson brothers went to the camp of the marauders,
some four miles south of the scene of spoliation, Morehead being lame, and
remained behind. The result of their expedition was an encounter, ending in the
death of three savages, the wounding of another, and the retreat of the party to
Naileigh's cabin, closely pursued by the Indians, where they fortified. The
Indians retired to the side of the mountains, and the whites all gathered in
Goodwin's log fort, to the number of twenty. They made a dash upon the Indian
camp one day, killing no one, but capturing about a ton of the tubers that were
causing so much difficulty. E. G. Eppstein soon came with ten recruits from
Indian valley, whither he had gone for assistance, and an attack upon the
Indians was decided upon. Their camp had been removed down the valley about nine
miles, and the settlers proceeded thither, under cover of darkness, and made an
attack at daybreak. The savages were found in three camps at considerable
distance apart, and the attacking party was divided into three divisions, each
selecting a camp. By mistake, the smallest division, only three men, attacked
the largest camp, and the three men, A. G. Eppstein, W. H. Clark, and George
Lathrop, had to fight their way back to the fort. Eppstein was wounded in the
thigh, and was carried in a blanket by his companions a distance of four miles.
The fight was maintained all the forenoon, and during its progress Captain
Weatherlow, with his company and Pah-Ute allies, appeared upon the field, and
rendered good assistance. They had just returned from their raid upon the Pit
River savages. Seven of the Washoes were killed and fourteen wounded. When the
Pah-Utes first appeared, one of them was shot in mistake for a Washoe, and it
took considerable talk and a number of presents to mollify the feelings of Chief
Winnemucca, and prevent a rupture with him. 43

   Soon after this battle the Plumas Rangers appeared, to aid the settlers, but
the Wahoes had withdrawn from the valley, and the Potato War was at an end.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

San Francisco: Fariss & Smith
(1882)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/lassen/history/1882/illustra/indiandi133nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/

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