1856 — Feb 22/23, Natives attack garrison & settlers, Rogue River, Whaleshead vic., OR-31

–31-44 Bancroft and Victor. History of Oregon, Vol. II, 1848-1888. 1888, pp. 393-395.
— 31 Blanchard listing of named (30) and one unnamed volunteer compiled from sources.
— 31 Victor, Frances Fuller. The Early Indian Wars of Oregon. 1894, p. 379.
— 31 Schwartz. The Rogue River Indian War and…Aftermath, 1850–1980. 1997, 114-115.
–20-25 New York Times. “Great Indian Outbreak on Rogue River.” 3-28-1856.
— 13 Willsey and Lewis. “Oregon,” Harper’s Book of Facts. 1895, p. 596.

Narrative Information

Bancroft: “…feeling their insecurity, the white inhabitants of Whaleshead, near the mouth of Rogue River…erected a rude fort upon an elevated prairie on the north bank of that stream. A company of volunteers was also organized, which had its encampment at the big bend of Rogue River during the winter….

“The conduct of the Indians under Wright had been so good since the punishment of the Coquilles in the early part of the winter that no apprehensions were felt beyond the dread that the fighting bands might sometime make a descent upon them; and for this the volunteers had been duly watchful. But what so subtle as savage hate? On the night of February a dancing-party was given at Whaleshead in honor of the day, and part of the volunteer company was in attendance, leaving but a few men to guard the camp. Early on the morning of the 23d, before the dancers had returned, the guard was attacked by a large body of Indians, who fell upon them with such suddenness and fury that but two out of fifteen escaped. One, Charles Foster, concealed himself in the woods, where he remained an undiscovered witness of much that transpired, and was able to identify the Indians engaged in the massacre, who were thus found to be those that lived about the settlement and were professedly friendly.

“While the slaughter was going on at the volunteer camp some Indians from the native village on the south side of the river crossed over, and going to the house of J. McGuire, where Wright had his lodgings, reported to him that a certain half-breed named Enos, notoriously a bad man, was at the village, and they wished the agent to arrest him, as he was making trouble with the Tootootonies. Without the slightest suspicion of treachery, Wright, with Captain Poland of the volunteers, crossed the river to look into the matter, when both were seized and killed. The bodies were then so mutilated that they could not be recognized….

“Nor did this horrible and dastardly work end here. Every farmer in the vicinity of Whaleshead was killed, every house burned but one, and every kind of property destroyed. The more distant who escaped the massacre, to the number of 130, fled to the fort, but being poorly armed, might still have fallen a prey to the savages, had they not with their customary want of persistence, drawn off after the first day’s bloody work….

“When the facts of the outbreak came to light, it was ascertained that the Indians attacked no less than seven different points within ten or twelve hours, and within a distance of ten miles down the coast on the south side of Rogue River, and also that a general fresh uprising occurred at the same time in other localities.

“Those who took refuge in the fort were kept besieged for thirty-one days, when they were rescued by the two companies under Colonel Buchanan sent by General Wool…A few days after the arrival of the troops a schooner from Port Orford effected a landing, and the women and children at the fort were sent to that place, while Buchanan commenced operations against the Indians…” (Bancroft, Hubert Howe, Mrs. Frances Auretta Fuller Barrett Victor. The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Vol. XXX, History of Oregon, Vol. II, 1848-1888. San Francisco: The History Company, Publishers, 1888, pp. 393-396.)

Curry Historical Society: “Biography: Geisel Family:”

“….The Massacre

“On February 21, 1856, Ben Wright, the Indian Agent for the area paid a visit to the Geisels. He told them that the Indians were well and peaceably disposed towards the white people and that there was no danger of an attack from them. On the following night a “tame” Indian who had been working for them and who had been out hunting their hogs that day, returned to their house around midnight and knocked on the door asking to be let in. They knew his voice and since they were not suspecting any danger, John Geisel got out of bed and opened the door. As soon as the door was opened the Indians that had been working for them and three or four others rushed in immediately and began a murderous assault on John.

“Although Christina [John’s wife] had given birth to Annie on January 28, 1856, and had not yet fully recovered her strength, she rushed to John’s side to assist him and received a painful cut that nearly severed her finger. Christina was soon over powered and John was killed. The oldest daughter, Mary, born February 14, 1843, was dragged out of her bed and her and Christina were securely bound. Her little boys, Andrew 5, Henry 7 and John 9, were then brought out one by one killed in her presence while the Indians made her watch. The Indians then removed Christina and her daughters from the house in their night clothes and more Indians showed up. They ransacked and burned the houses without removing the bodies of John or the boys.

“The Indians stayed at the Geisel residence for about an hour and a half and then started on the return trip up river. Christina and Mary were not permitted to take any clothing or shoes. About a mile from the Geisel residence the Indians stopped at a cabin lived in by a settler named McPherson. He was immediately killed in their presence and after the cabin was ransacked it was burned. Not far from there the Indians came upon another man in a cabin and killed him. By this time it was daylight and Christina could see several dead people near the trail to the river. Their houses were burning and their fences were destroyed.

“Christina and her two daughters were taken to a “Too-toot-nas” Indian camp about twelve miles up the Rogue River, probably in the area of Kimball Court or Lucky Lodge. They were held there as captives for fourteen days and were treated poorly by the Indian squaws who made them perform the hardest menial labor.

“Ben Wright, the Indian Agent and Captain Poland, who was the head of a small group of volunteer soldiers stationed at Bagnell were also killed by the Indians. Before morning, twenty-five others died at the hands of the Indians who were filled with hatred towards the white man for taking their lands and giving them nothing but blankets, beads and disease in return. The Indians had been stirred up and armed by a Canadian half-breed named Enos. He had obtained muskets and ammunition from the settlers by devious means.

“Refuge in ‘Miners Fort’

“Nearly all the residents of the lower Rogue River were forced to seek refuge in a hastily constructed “Miners Fort” to the north of the mouth of the river. About 130 people were there and they chose Lt. Relf Bledsoe to command the fort. Six men were killed by the Indians as they tried to sneak out and gather potatoes from a nearby cache. The Indians made it clear that they would kill anyone caught outside the fort. The Indians patrolled the hills and launched attacks from there. The women molded bullets and the men manned the port holes in the fort.

“Succor For The Geisel Women

“After about a week, word leaked back to the fort that the Indians were holding the Geisel women captives. Lt. Bledsoe and Sheriff Michael Riley puzzled over what to do. Finally Bledsoe asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to go to the Indians and bargain for the return of the Geisel women.

“Charley Brown a Russian trapper who had come to the area from Seattle, and who spoke only broken english, said he and his wife Elizabeth, (Betsey) would try to get them back. Betsey was a member of the Yontockett Indian tribe of northern California and she understood the to-to-tin language spoken by the Rogue River Indians. Carrying a white flag, Charley Brown and Betsey walked unarmed from the fort. They were soon surrounded by the Indians. Betsey talked with them in their native tongue. They agreed to exchange the Geisel widow and her two daughters for an Indian woman the settlers were holding hostage in the fort plus a certain number of the whiteman’s blanket. Charlie and Betsey agreed and returned to the fort.

“The next day they left with the Indian squaw hostage and the blankets. The Indians gave them Christina and the baby, but one of the Indian braves insisted on keeping 13 year old daughter Mary and they had to return to the fort without her.

“Once again Charley and Betsey left the fort under a flag of truce. Betsey carefully explained to the Indians that Mary must be returned or the entire tribe would be killed when the white soldiers came. This did not impress the young braves but they did agree to take Charlie and Betsey to the camp where Mary was being held.

“As Charley and Betsey entered the bark covered teepee Mary was being held by a powerful looking Indian. Mary was weeping. After some discussion it was determined that the Indian would not release her, and he glared at Charley and Betsey. Betsey spoke to him and she pleaded with him, but with no success. Betsey decided that she had to do something, so she grabbed Mary and pulled her free from the Indian and the three of them started running into the forest. Betsey glanced back over her shoulder just as a tomahawk dealt her a glancing blow in the lip. They hid in the forest until the bleeding stopped and then made their way to the fort under cover of darkness….”

New York Times, March 28: “The Indians about the mouth of Rogue River have attacked the whites, burned a number of houses, and killed about twenty persons. Among the killed is Capt. Ben. Wright, late Sub-Indian Agent. A lady and her daughter are in captivity with one of the Indian tribes ….

“Oregon. Indian Hostilities at Rogue River – Descent upon a Settlement – Twenty-five Settlers Killed – South Side of the Settlement in Flames.

“We copy the following from an extra of the Crescent City Herald, dated Feb. 25:

“….From F. H. Pratt, Esq., a resident at the mouth of Rogue River, who arrived last night in the schooner Gold Beach, we received the startling news that the Indians in that district have united with a party of the hostile Indians above, and commenced a war of extermination against the white settlers.

“The station at Big Bend, some fifteen miles up the river, having been abandoned several weeks previous, the Indians made a sudden attack on Saturday morning, Feb. 23, upon the farms about four miles above the mouth, where some ten or twelve men of Capt. Poland’s Company of Volunteers were encamped, the remainder of the Company being absent, attending a ball on the 22d, at the mouth of Rogue River. The fight is stated to have lasted nearly the whole of Saturday, and but few of the whites escaped to tell the story – the farmers were all killed. It is supposed there are now about 300 hostile Indians in the field, including those from Grave and Galaise Creeks and the Big Meadows. They are led by a Canada Indian named Enos, who was formerly a favorite guide for Col. Fremont in his expeditions.

“The following is a list of the killed: Capt. Ben Wright, Capt. John Poland, H. Braun, Mr. Smith, E. W. Hose, Mr. Seaman, Mr. Wagner, Mr. Warner, Barney Castle, John Geisell [Geisel] and three children, George McClusky, Mr. Lara, P. McCullough, W. R. Tulls, Jos. Seroc and two sons, S. Heidrick – besides two or three other persons, whose names are not known.

“Mrs. Geisell and daughter are prisoners and in the hands of the Micano band of Indians, about eight miles up the river. Dr. M. C. White escaped by jumping into Yuca Creek and secreting himself under a pile of drift-wood, remaining there for an hour and a half, and until the Indians had given up the search.

“The inhabitants at the mouth of Rogue River have all moved to the north side of the river, where formerly, under the apprehension of a sudden attack, a fort had been erected; they number about one hundred and thirty men, having less than a hundred guns amongst them….

“At sunrise everything on the south side was in flames….

“Mr. Pratt states that according to the census taken last Spring, there are 335 warriors in the district. They were all engaged in the fight, except the Chetcoes and Pistol River Indians, who number about 80. The number of Indians from above, or out of the district, is between 50 and 60.

“Upon the death of the Sub-Indian Agent, Captain Ben Wright, Mr. J. McGuire assumed the duties of Sub-Indian Agent. A boat was dispatched as early as Saturday evening to Port Orford to inform Major Reynolds, in command of that post, of the occurrences….

“Later Still. Four o’clock, P.M. – The schooner Ellen has just arrived at this port (San Francisco), and brings news confirmatory of the above report. The north side has since been destroyed. The fort is still safe, with two weeks’ provisions.” (New York Times. “Great Indian Outbreak on Rogue River.” 3-28-1856.)

Schwartz: “On February 23, 1856, Indian Service agent George Ambrose sent word to Joel Palmer that Toquahear’s people, the Rogue River people who had remained at peace, had begun their long, cold walk from Fort Lane to Grand Ronde, the small valley on the Yamhill River where Palmer expected to set his Indian colonization plan into motion.

“In the south, meanwhile, the people who had gone into the mountains with Tecumtum remained undefeated, and the war had been renewed, not in the Rogue River valley but on the coast. Joel Palmer first learned of this new phase of the war when three letters from Port Orford arrived at his headquarters in Dayton on the morning of Tuesday, March 3. One had been sent by the collector of customs at Port Orford, the other two by Bvt. Maj. John Reynolds of the regular army Third Artil¬lery, the commander at Fort Orford.; The attack had begun at daylight on February 22 near the big village three miles above the mouth of the Rogue River.

“R. W. Dunbar, the customs collector, had written that many well-armed Indians, strangers to him, had appeared on the coast. About three hun¬dred men had attacked the camp of a volunteer company. All the dwellings between the Rogue River and Port Orford had been burned, and Ben Wright, the Indian Service subagent on the coast, was believed dead.

“Lucy Metcalf, an Indian woman who witnessed the war on the coast when she was about thirteen years old, told ethnographer Cora Du Bois that it started ‘because some Indians from way up the river came down and told the people to fight.’ It was ‘the Indians from the mountains,’ she told Du Bois, who ‘sneaked across the river’ and killed Wright. ….

“According to Frances Fuller Victor, the whites had felt some insecurity before the attack; the men of Whaleshead or Gold Beach, near the mouth of the Rogue River on the south bank, had built ‘a rude fort’ on the north bank. The local volunteer company that had been camped during the winter at Big Bend, about thirty miles upstream, had come back downriver and camped near the village called Tututunne near the mouth of the river.

“Victor said some of the volunteers attended a ‘dancing-party’ held on the night of February 22 in honor of Washington’s birthday while fifteen men stayed in camp to guard it. The fifteen wallflowers were attacked so suddenly and furiously that only two got away. One of these was Charles Foster, who said he hid nearby and watched the massacre.

“Meanwhile, other Indians had crossed from the village on the south side to a house on the north side where Ben Wright lived. They found him there with the captain of the volunteers, a man named Poland. They asked Wright to go back to the village with them and arrest ‘a certain half-breed named Enos, notoriously a bad man.’ Wright and Poland crossed the river and were killed, and their bodies were so mutilated, it was said, that they were unrecognizable. Thirty-one non-Indians died in the initial assault, and Chetco Jennie, the interpreter whose bare body Wright had once whipped in Port Orford, ‘betrayed him to his death and afterward ate a piece of his heart.’

“When Alexander W. Chase of the Coast and Geodetic Survey visited the Siletz Reservation in 1868, he met a woman he called ‘Too-toot-na Jenny’ who was said to have ‘headed the first outbreak’ in 1856. Chase had been told that ‘after the murder of the Indian Agent {she} tore his heart from his quivering body, and to show her contempt and bravado, eat {sic} a portion of it.’ Chase added that ‘she strenuously denies the horrible deed of cannibalism.’ The daughter of the Tututunne chief Shell Drake, Jenny was said to have played a leading part in the war on the coast, ‘often leading the tribe into battle’.” (Schwartz, E. A. The Rogue River Indian War and its Aftermath, 1850–1980. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997, pp. 113-115.)

Victor: “In the month of November [1855], a company was raised among the miners at Gold Beach and the southern coast generally, with John Poland for captain. It did not be¬long to the second regiment as organized under the procla¬mation of the governor; but since the proclamation made no provision for the defense of the coast counties, and since the military force at Fort Orford was entirely inadequate, even with the desire to be useful, which was said to be lacking, to the task of guarding the lives and property of the people, this company performed guard duty during the period between the proclamation of the fifteenth of November and that of January eighteenth, which dis¬charged the northern and southern battalions, and called for recruits.

“The encampment of this company had been at the big bend of Rogue river, between the interior and coast tribes, during the winter, but in February it was moved down to within a few miles of the coast settlements in order to re¬cruit the company to the standard of sixty privates and eleven officers, as ordered by the governor, to fill up the regiment by recruiting.

“So quiet had been the coast tribes for some time that suspicion of their intentions was almost forgotten; and on the night of the twenty-second of February, an anniver¬sary ball was given at Gold Beach, or Whaleshead, near the mouth of the river, which was attended by Captain Poland and the majority of his men, a few being left to guard camp. Early on the morning of the twenty-third, before the dancers had returned to camp, the guard was attacked with such suddenness and fury by a large num¬ber of Indians that but two out of ten were able to escape. One of these, Charles Foster, being concealed in the woods near the scene of the massacre, was witness of much of the terrible slaughter and mutilation, and able to identify those concerned in it, who were seen to be such as lived about the settlements, and were professedly friendly.

“Ben Wright was then at the house of J. McGuire, about four miles from the coast, and between the volunteer camp and Whaleshead. Early in the day, and while Captain Poland was with him, Wright received a visit from some Indians of the Mackanotins tribe, who had a village on the south side of the river opposite McGuire’s, who came ostensibly to inform him that Enos, a notorious half-breed, who had been with the hostile Rogue-rivers all winter, was in their camp, and they wished to have him arrested.

“Without a suspicion of treachery, Wright and Poland repaired to the Indian village, where they were immedi¬ately seized and killed, with the most revolting blood¬thirstiness, being mutilated beyond recognition. Wright’s heart, as subsequently learned from the Indians them¬selves, was cut out, cooked and eaten, in admiration of his courage, which they hoped by this act of cannibalism to make themselves able to emulate.

“Every house on the river below big bend, sixty in all, was burned that day, and twenty-six persons killed….Subsequently to the first attack, Henry Bullen, L. W. Oliver, Daniel Richardson, John Trickey, and Adolf Smoldt were killed, making thirty-one victims of this massacre. Seven differ¬ent points on the south side of the river were attacked within twelve hours, showing how well concerted was the outbreak.

“When the alarm was given at Gold Beach, some of the officers of Captain Poland’s company were still there, and Reif Bledsoe, first lieutenant, was at once chosen to command. He concentrated the men, women, and children to the number of one hundred and thirty at the unfinished fortification known as “Miners’ Fort,” which they hastened to complete and to stock with the provisions at hand, and otherwise to prepare to stand a siege — for siege it was likely to be, with no force in that part of the country, either regular or volunteer, sufficiently strong to deliver them.

“Charles Foster by using great caution reached Port Or¬ford, carrying the news of the outbreak. But Major Rey¬nolds, in command of the post, dared not divide his handful of men, nor would the citizens of Port Orford, only about fifty in number at this time, consent to the withdrawal of this force. They, however, dispatched a whaleboat down the coast to open communication with the fort, which act of kindness only brought with it further disaster, for the boat was overturned in the surf, and the six citizens in it drowned, their bodies being cut to pieces by the savages who were watching their efforts to land, and who would have butchered them had they lived to reach the shore….

“The boat not returning, Captain William Tichenor, the founder of Port Orford, sent his schooner Melly to bring off the people of Whaleshead, but was prevented by adverse winds from approaching the shore. Again, the schooner Gold Beach, at a later date, left Crescent City with a volunteer company, designing to attack the In¬dians; but they, too, were prevented from landing, and the inmates of the fort could only, with sinking hearts, witness these repeated failures.

“Arms were scarce at the fort, the Indians having cap¬tured those of the volunteers, but they kept a careful guard, and after a single attack on the twenty-fifth, the Indians seldom approached within rifle shot, although the rolling sand hills in the vicinity favored by sheltering them from observation. Under cover of darkness, milk for the children was sometimes obtained from the cows feeding near the fort. Once an attempt was made to gather potatoes from a field in daylight, but soon the men employed discovered the wary foe creeping upon them under the shelter of the sand dunes, and were forced to retreat in haste to the fort, one man being killed and four wounded before they reached cover. Whenever after this an Indian’s head was discovered peering over the edge of a ridge it was shot at, and the marksmen took true aim.

“Ten, twenty, thirty days passed, during which the silence of death brooded over the country. Port Orford was the only place in Oregon to which the news of the massacre had been carried, and to send it to the governor at the capital, or to San Francisco to the military authorities, took time, when steamers made only monthly or bi-monthly trips along the coast. The Indians, always well informed of the movements of the volunteers, had seized upon that period when the disbandment of companies, and the slow recruiting of them rendered the state soldiery practically useless, so that even after the news of the. tragedy had filtered through the Indians lines and reached the volun¬teer camps, it found them unprepared to act.

“Thus time wore on while the Indians waited for famine and despair to place a hundred victims in their bloody hands.

“On the thirty-first day, ah what sound breaks the pain¬ful silence of this tragic solitude? Fife and drum, and the tramp of many feet! To the straining eyes of the im¬prisoned inmates of the fort was revealed the ravishing sight of two companies of the United States troops march¬ing up from Fort Humboldt to their relief. Instantly the Indians fled to the hills, and the people rushed out into the free air with shouts of gladness.” (Victor. The Early Indian Wars of Oregon. 1894, p. 379-382.)

Willsey and Lewis: “Indians murder 13 out of 15 of the garrison at Whaleshead, on Rogue river, during the absence of the rest (22 Feb) at a dancing-party; murder many farmers near the fort, and burn their houses and barns; 130, who escaped the massacre and fled to the fort, are besieged 31 days, until relieved by 2 companies under col. Buchanan…Mch. 1856.” (Willsey and Lewis. “Oregon,” Harper’s Book of Facts. 1895, p. 596.)

Named/Identified Fatalities

1. Braun, J. H. Bancroft
2. Bullen, Henry Bancroft Notes was subsequent to 1st attack
3. Castle, Barney Bancroft
4. Geisel, John Bancroft
5. Geisel, Andrew, 5, son of John Curry Historical Society
6. Geisel, Henry, 7, son of John Curry Historical Society
7. Geisel, John, 9, son of John Curry Historical Society
8. Hendrick, Samuel Bancroft
9. Holcomb, Guy C. Bancroft
10. Howe, E. W. Bancroft
11. Indles, John Bancroft
12. Lawrence, Henry Bancroft
13. McClusky, George Bancroft
14. McCullough, Patrick Bancroft
15. McPherson (settler at his cabin) Curry Historical Society
16. Oliver, L. W. Bancroft Notes was subsequent to 1st attack
17. Poland, Captain of volunteers Bancroft
18. Reed, George Bancroft
19. Reed, Martin Bancroft
20. Richardson, Daniel Bancroft Notes was subsequent to 1st attack
21. Schmeldt, Adolf Bancroft Notes was subsequent to 1st attack
22. Seaman, Nelson Bancroft
23. Seroe, Joseph Bancroft
24. Seroe, son one of two Bancroft
25. Seroe, son two of two Bancroft
26. Trickey, George Bancroft Notes was subsequent to 1st attack
27. Tulles, W. R. Bancroft
28. Wagner,, Joseph Bancroft
29. Warner, Lorenzo Bancroft
30. Wright, Benjamin, Indian Agent Bancroft
31. Unnamed 6th volunteer killed outside makeshift “fort” subsequent to 1st attack. (Curry)

Sources

Bancroft, Hebert Howe and Mrs. Frances Auretta Fuller Barrett Victor. History of Oregon…: 1848-1888 (Vol. 2 of History of Oregon; Vol. XXX, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft). San Francisco: The History Company, Publishers, 1888. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=1hcPAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Curry Historical Society (Preserving & Sharing Oregon’s South Coast History). “History of the Geisel Monument and the Last Hanging in Curry County.” Gold Beach, OR: Curry Historical Society. Accessed 9-20-2021 at: https://www.curryhistory.com/historic-resources/biographies/11-biography-geisel-family

New York Times. “Great Indian Outbreak on Rogue River.” 3-28-1856. Accessed 10-31-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0A13FD3859157493CAAB1788D85F428584F9

Schwartz, E. A . The Rogue River Indian War and its Aftermath, 1850–1980. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. Partially Google digitized. Accessed 9-7-2012 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=OZwAnfQj62cC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Victor, Frances Fuller. The Early Indian Wars of Oregon: Compiled from the Oregon Archives and Other Original Sources. Salem, OR: Frank C. Baker, State Printer, 1894. Partially Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=4eYNAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Willsey, Joseph H. (Compiler), Charlton T. Lewis (Editor). Harper’s Book of Facts: A Classified History of the World. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1895. Accessed 9-4-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=UcwGAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false