[From Asa Merrill Fairfield, Pioneer History of Lassen County (1916)]

 

INDIAN TROUBLES IN NORTHWESTERN NEVADA 1868-69

Indian Troubles. 1868

John L. Crow's Horses Stolen by the Indians

Told by Dr. Samuel H. Crow

            In the spring of 1868 J. L. Crow of Clover valley was feeding some horses in the Tules in Honey Lake valley. They were fed hay at the ranch of William S. Hamilton and were allowed to run at the Upper Hot spring, perhaps a mile and a half northeast of the ranch. They were in charge of a man named Zeke Nelson. One night not far from the 27th of March the Indians stole twenty head of them, perhaps the whole band. About the same time they also stole some horses from the neighborhood of Mud springs. Nelson went to Clover valley and told Mr. Crow who, as soon as he could conveniently do so, raised a crowd of twenty men in Sierra valley and started in pursuit of the thieves. In Long valley they were joined by Elijah Miller, Frank Din-

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widdie, an Indian called "Crapo Joe," and perhaps some others. The Indian came back in a few days. The first night out they camped at High Rock, twelve miles east of the Lower Hot springs. That was the night after the Pearson Family and Cooper were killed, and if they had known about it, in all probability the next day they would have caught up with the Indians who did the killing. They followed the trail of the Indians into Secret valley and Mrs. L. W. Sharp says that here they found a party from the Tules — Hiram Winchel, "Big" Joe Smith, and several others, part or all of whom went with them. John B. McKissick says that Sylvester Summers, Henry "Warden, and himself went with the Crow party from Secret valley. They followed the trail across Madeline Plains and on north and crossed the lower end of Surprise valley. Mr. Crow went from there to Ft. Bidwell and got some soldiers to go with them. They followed the Indians to Steens Mts. and at night, just as they were going to camp, the army scouts came in and reported that they had found the Indians. They all packed up as soon as they could and went after them. When the Indians saw them coming they shot the horses full of poisoned arrows and then ran into the brush. The whites followed them and after going a short distance found some sticks piled up in a peculiar way. "When the officer in command of the soldiers saw these he said that the Indians intended to fight and made them all dismount. While this was going on the Indians got so far away that they never got a shot at them, excepting that an Indian named Ralph, who lived with Mr. Crow, shot at a squaw and missed her. She allowed him to get close enough for that because she thought he was one of her own party. The most of the horses died shortly after being shot. They started for home with five or six of them, but one died before they got there. Mrs. Sharp says that Winchel brought home some horses that had been shot with poisoned arrows, but they did not live very long.

The Massacre of the Pearson Family and S. C. Cooper

            The story of this massacre was told to the writer by Mrs. Lurana W. Sharp, the widow of James P. Sharp, who had previously talked the matter over with Mrs. Louisa Fry, the widow of George W. Fry, and Mrs. James Slater, who at the time of this occurrence was the wife of William S. Hamilton. These

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three women lived on the ranches nearest to the scene of the murder and took part in the events that followed it, all of the circumstances connected with it were strongly impressed upon their minds, and without any doubt they know more about it at this time than everybody else alive.

            In the fall of 1867 Thomas Pearson and his partner, John Sutherland, both Englishmen, moved from their home in Red Rock valley, six miles east of the lower end of Long valley, to the east side of Honey lake near the Lower Hot springs. Pearson had a wife and a daughter named Hattie, a girl about eighteen years old. Sutherland was a single man. Their house was half a mile southwest of where Amedee now stands and not far from the lake. They made this move because very little snow fell during the winter in the neighborhood of these springs, and there was better feed for their dairy cows. At that time James P. Sharp lived to the southwest of the Upper Hot spring on the south side of the most eastern slough in the Tules, and they hired him to go down and cut some hay for them.

            By the middle of April they were getting extremely anxious to go back to their home. Some time during the winter two Indians had been killed between the Lower and the Upper Hot springs. It was supposed that the killing had been done by two white men who were hunting in that vicinity at the time, for one Indian was killed with a rifle and the other with a shotgun and the two hunters were armed with those weapons. Mrs. Pearson was afraid that the Indians would think her husband and his partner killed them because it happened so near to their place ; and she told the neighbors that she was careful to be kind to all the Indians who came there, and even allowed the squaws to sleep on the kitchen floor. The stealing of Mr. Crow's horses about the last of March made them still more uneasy. To add to their troubles the lake was rising rapidly and it looked as though the water would be in the house in a day or two.

            On the 16th of April Pearson went up to get Sharp to help move him, but the latter had gone to Susanville that morning. Pearson said he was in a hurry to move because the lake was coming up so fast, and Mrs. Sharp told him he had better go over to the Hamilton ranch about three fourths of a mile to the west and see what he could do there. She thought he might be able to get Hamilton 's hired man and a team to help him. He went over

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to the other ranch and succeeded in getting the hired man, Cooper, and a team for a few days, and they went down to the Pearson place as soon as they could get ready. That night Mrs. Sharp stayed at the Hamilton place and the next morning he went home with her and helped milk the cows. While he was there they saw a light at the Upper Hot spring and he took a spyglass and went up stairs to see who was there. After looking for a while he came to the conclusion that some Indians were there around a fire. Mrs. Sharp told him not to say anything to his wife about it, for she was afraid of the Indians and it would make her worry. Mrs. Sharp says that she herself had never been afraid of the Indians, but that day she was alone and was uneasy and wandered around outside the house all day until some one came.

            As soon as Pearson reached home with Cooper and the team they began to load the wagon and the family made preparations to move the next day which was Friday, the 17th of April. Their hay was all gone and the cows were restless, so the next morning Sutherland and another man, whom J. O. Hemler says was Henry Berryman, arose early and started off with them. The day before they had all been out hunting rabbits and had returned to the house with no loads in their guns, and left them in that condition. Sutherland afterwards told that when he got some distance from the house he had a presentiment that he ought to go back and load the guns, but he failed to heed it and went on with the cows. After breakfast they finished loading up their goods and started. Not far from the house was a piece of low land which the rising lake had covered with water. The ground had become soft, and here Hamilton's two-horse team, driven by his hired man, Samuel Cooper, got stuck in the mud and they were a long time in getting out of it. Pearson and his partner had a band of sheep running between the lake and the mountain which they were leaving there for the time being in the care of a young man twenty or twenty-one years old named John Wollenburg. Just as they got out onto the firm ground he ran down and asked Mrs. Pearson what time it was. She looked at the clock and told him it was twenty minutes past twelve and he went back to the sheep. The party then went on, Cooper in the lead, followed by Pearson with a spring wagon and behind him his Wife and Daughter in another spring wagon. They took the

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road down the lake to the southeast and before going very far they came to Wollenburg's tent. Just as they drove past it Wollenburg heard the report of some guns and he looked back and saw some Indians run out of the tent and heard the women scream. He saw Cooper jump or fall off his wagon on the side opposite the tent, and saw Pearson jump off his wagon and run back to his Wife and Daughter. He didn 't wait to see anything more. He had no weapons, for those his employers had given him were left in the tent and the Indians were using them, so he ran away as fast as he could. He ran down to the lake in order to get behind some high sand bluffs that were close to the shore. The Indians chased him for a ways, but he had the start and naturally did some good running, and they soon gave up the pursuit. He ran into the lake and when his boots got full of water he threw them away. When he left the water he had to travel over ground covered with thorny brush that tore his feet and legs cruelly, and when he reached the end of his journey they were in a terrible condition. Owing to his lack of boots he made slow progress and it was four o'clock, or later, before he arrived at the Sharp ranch. Mr. Sharp got home that day about two o'clock and later on went over to the Hamilton place. Mrs. Sharp was out of doors and saw the young man coming. She saw he was barefooted and knew at once that something was the matter. He came up to the edge of the deep slough that was between him and the house and she asked him what the trouble was. He told her that the Indians had attacked the Pearsons and what he had seen, but of course could not tell the result of it. He then went up the slough toward the crossing and Mrs. Sharp started for the Hamilton ranch. On the way she met her husband coming on horseback and he turned and went back to Mr. Hamilton's. Mrs. Hamilton went about three fourths of a mile west to the Chandler and Fry place and they sent to the lower place on the lake to the south for Chandler. After going to the Hamilton place Sharp immediately rode over to the Shaffer Station and gave the alarm there. George Fry, Dewitt Chandler, Uriah and James Shaffer, Eli Newton, "Big" Joe Smith, and some other men of the neighborhood, gathered at the Sharp ranch and hastily made ready to go to the scene of the tragedy. It was late when they started and darkness had come on before they got there. Wollenburg, who was too tired to go along and who went

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to the Hamilton ranch with Mrs. Sharp and stayed there that night, said that the Indians had fired from the tent. Sharp knew where the tent was and they went there first. They found that Cooper's team had run away during the fight, but they did not go far before one of the wheels went down into the mud and stopped them. "While they were hunting around in the tent in the darkness Chandler struck his foot against something. One of the party struck a match and they saw it was Cooper's head. They thought that possibly some of the Pearsons had got back to the house and saved themselves, so they went down to the edge of the water and called to them, but got no reply. They did not dare to go across to the house for fear that the Indians were there waiting for them, so they came back to the Sharp ranch and all but Fry, who went home, stayed there that night. The next morning the same men and Hiram Winchel went back to the Lower Hot springs and some one, Mrs. Sharp thinks it was Mr. Fry, took a team along to bring back Mr. Hamilton's wagon, for the Indians had taken away all six of the horses. Before they got to the tent they saw the bodies of Cooper and the Pearsons lying naked on the ground. Mrs. Slater says they found Cooper's body the night before. His body was the farthest away. It looked as though he had drawn his pistol and wounded an Indian before they succeeded in killing him.  Appearances indicated that the Indians had carried the wounded one away, for there were little pools of blood showing where they had stopped to rest. When Cooper left home Hamilton told him that he had better take a rifle with him ; but he thought it was not necessary, and said he would take his revolver for he "might see a darned Indian." His head was cut off, his heart cut out, and he was otherwise mutilated.

            Evidently as Pearson ran toward the women the Indians shot some arrows, perhaps half a dozen, into his back. He was between the Indians and the women, who had jumped out of their wagon and were running back up the valley. It seemed as though he was trying to protect his family as long as he lived, and they must have killed him before they did the women. Mrs. Sharp remembers of no other wounds on his body excepting those made by the arrows. The women lay close together. The Mother was shot in front at close range with a shotgun, and the charge struck her in the region of the heart. Her body was not very badly

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torn in front, but where the shot went out her back was just riddled. She must have fought for her life the best she could, for her finger nails were bloody as if she had clawed with them. Her hair was pulled down and a good deal of it was torn out by the roots, and her gold earrings had been cut out. The girl lay farther away from the wagon than any of the rest of the family. She had a gunshot wound, a bullet, under one eye, and had been struck on the forehead with some blunt weapon, perhaps the head of an ax. She was not mutilated at all — they did not even cut out her earrings. It looked as though the Indians had gone away in great haste and perhaps that is the reason why she was left in that way.

            Some sheets had been brought along that morning, and the bodies of the dead were rolled in these, put into the wagon, and the party returned to the Sharp ranch, arriving there a little after noon. Mrs. Hamilton had come home with Mrs. Sharp and the two women got dinner for the men. The dead were in no condition to be taken into a house where people were living and they were left in the wagon until after dinner and then were taken over to the Shaffer ranch. The two women went along and washed and laid out Mrs. Pearson and her Daughter, and some of the men did the same for the dead men. Mrs. Sharp could not tell who it was, but George Fry helped through it all. Mrs. Slater says she took clothes enough along with her to dress all four of the bodies. Early that morning Mr. Hamilton started for Susanville with a spring wagon and brought back three coffins for the Pearsons. Hiram Winchel had some lumber and he planed it and made a coffin for Cooper. On the 19th they were all taken to Susanville and buried at once. The Pearsons had two daughters older than the one killed who had married two brothers by the name of Jackson. At this time these men were in the hardware business in Sacramento. Mrs. Hamilton had learned this from Mrs. Pearson, and she wrote to them and told them the fate of their relatives. The two women came here at once and took the bodies to Sacramento, and it is supposed that they were buried there. Mr. Cooper still lies in the cemetery at Susanville. These were the last white folks killed by the Indians in Honey Lake valley.

            On the 20th, or the day before, Winchel, "Big" Joe Smith, and several others, went down to where the murder took place

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and made a careful examination of the ground. Judging by the tracks of the Indians they came to the conclusion that there were nine of them.

            Of course no one knows why the Indians committed this murder, but several reasons were given. One was that it was done in revenge for the killing of the two Indians near there the previous winter. Another was that Cooper was a hard man with the Indians, that he abused and mistreated them, and that he was killed because of this. When he was killed he was wearing some kind of a garment he had taken from the Indians a year or two before that in a fight with them out toward the Humboldt river. After the Indians had killed him they killed the others just for the pleasure of it, or because they could not resist the temptation of killing whites when they had a good chance to do it.

            "The Eastern Slope" of April 25th says the deed was done in revenge for the killing of the Pit river Indians in Dry valley the previous year by Winnemucca and his braves and the Long valley men, that shortly afterwards thirty head of horses were stolen from Winnemucca valley, and that the bodies of four murdered Piutes were found in the same vicinity. Francis C. Dickinson (Tule Frank) says that on the night of the 19th of April the Evans Brothers, the two Graham Brothers, Blum & Barrows (two Spaniards), and himself lost a hundred head of horses from Winnemucca valley, the head of Dry valley, and that vicinity. They recovered only a few of them. The Graham Brothers and the Spaniards followed the Indians out to the north of Fish springs, but they found too many Indian tracks and came back.

The Pursuit of the Indians Who Killed the Pearson Family and Samuel Cooper — The Susanville Party

            The following account was written from what was told by Charles Lawson and Thomas Brown. Lawson's narrative has been followed because he gave a much more complete account of the expedition than Brown did. Where the two men differ both stories are told.

            The news of the "Pearson Massacre" was brought to Susanville by some one on Friday night. A company of fourteen or fifteen men was raised at once and during the night they made hasty preparations for their expedition. Early on Saturday

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morning, the 18th, they left Susanville under the leadership of Albert A. Smith. (Brown thinks it was Sunday.) Smith was County Clerk and Captain of the Honey Lake Rangers. Some of the men in the company were Thomas Brown, Horace Wright, Elisha Vaden, John McDaniel, Henry Wright, William Corse, Cyrus Lawson, Joseph Meyers, and Charles Lawson. They went down the north side of the river and camped that night at the Shaffer ranch. There they were joined by one man from the Tules. Because he carried two guns they called him " Crossfire " and no other name is known for him. The other men joked him about his weapons, but he was a brave man and did his part well. Brown says that one of the Fairchilds Brothers from Milford joined them here, too. Some of the men wanted to go on out to Mud Flat that afternoon, but Smith would not go. He said they would stay there and start out fresh in the morning. It was supposed that the Indians they were in pursuit of were Pit Rivers and that they would leave the valley by passing around the eastern side of the Hot Springs mountain. It was thought that whether the Indians went north or kept out on the desert time would be gained by taking the emigrant road which ran north of the mountain, and besides that, it would be better traveling along the road. Before they got to Mud springs they struck the trail of the Indians going north and after following it a short distance found where they had camped the previous night. The coals and ashes of their fire were still warm, and if the white men had gone on the day before, they would have caught them at this place and the murderers might have received their just deserts. From this place they followed the trail to the north, and somewhere near noon as they were going up the hill on the north side of Secret valley, they stopped for a while. Charles Lawson wanted to fix the sight on his gun and he and his brother went up on the top of a little ridge close by. In a few minutes they saw an Indian mounted on a gray horse, one of Hamilton 's, and another one on foot coming toward them. They slipped down the hill and told the others and Smith ran to the top of the ridge and leveled a spyglass at them. Just then they saw him and ran up the canyon at the right of the ridge. The whites pursued them, but kept on up the ridge and followed the tracks of the four horses they had been trailing. Before going very far they reached some junipers, and there they almost ran

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into the main band of the Indians who scattered and ran away as soon as they saw them. Instead of telling his men to charge Smith told them to get behind the bushes so the Indians could not see them. They obeyed his command and stayed there until the Indians got out of reach, and thus another opportunity to "take in" the redskins was lost. The men cursed and growled while they were held there, and one man offered to charge the Indians if five men would go with him. Before leaving home the men had agreed to obey Smith's orders and probably this kept them from making the charge. The men growled about this all night and the next day. When the Indians ran they shot a lot of arrows into two of the horses they had with them and left them there. Their packs had been taken off and cached under some rocks not far away. When the arrows were pulled out of the horses they fell down and died almost immediately. The Indians took the other two horses about a quarter of a mile to the east of the trail and left them there tied to some junipers with their packs on. Charles Lawson wanted to leave them there and see if the Indians would not come back after them, but the others wanted to see what was in the packs and the horses were taken along with them. Their packs and those of the two horses killed contained the things taken from the Pearsons. The Honey Lakers went on up the hill to a place called "Rye Patch," and as it was then getting late, they concluded to camp there for the night. A few minutes after they stopped they heard the lowing of some cattle that were coming up the hill toward them. Meyers and another man went down to see if there were any Indians with them, but found none. They now unsaddled, and as Charles Lawson stood holding his horse he saw through the dusk the Indian on the gray horse riding past about a hundred and twenty-five yards away. He raised his gun and took aim at him, but just as he pulled the trigger Smith struck up his gun and the bullet went into the air. (Brown says they camped in Secret valley that night, and that during the night a party of Indians was heard passing, but it was too dark to attack them. They supposed it was a part of the Indians they were pursuing who had been delayed by the bulk of their plunder. The next morning they found a heavily loaded pack animal that had been abandoned because it was exhausted.) The next morning they started for Madeline Plains six miles distant. When they reached

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the top of the hill overlooking the Plains they could see seven or eight miles ahead of them, but there were no Indians in sight and the Plains were covered with water. It had been a wet, snowy winter and there was a great deal more mud and water than usual in the country at that time. The most of the men were dissatisfied and discouraged because they considered that they had been compelled to lose two good chances of getting the Indians. They thought from the looks of the country ahead that there was little chance of overtaking the Indians again, and if they did it would do them no good. After talking the matter over for a while they determined to turn back and go home. Brown thinks they camped there that night and Lawson is equally certain that they went back to Secret valley to an old stone cabin. Whichever way it was is immaterial, but that night the Long valley party under Newt. Evans, then consisting of twenty men, caught up with them. Evans wanted the Susanville crowd to go on after the Indians with him. Charles Lawson was angry and disgusted because they had turned back and was going home anyhow. After considerable talking had been done Lawson said to Evans, " If you will go ahead with me and let me do the trailing, and the others will follow as far as I go, I will join your party." Evans agreed to this, and Charles Lawson, Brown, Meyers, William H. Crane (whose name was omitted in the list of those who went from Susanville), Horace Wright, McDaniel, " Crossfire," and perhaps another one of the Susanville men, joined the Long valley men. Newt, and "Pete" Evans, the Piute, and enough of the other Long valley men to make up a party of sixteen, prepared to follow the Indians. All the rest of both parties went back taking with them the two horses they had recovered and the goods plundered from the Pearsons. "Uncle Jake" McKissick was among those who went back. The names of the others who went on or turned back could not be ascertained. Tuesday morning the pursuing party took a straight course to the place on Madeline Plains where Smith's company had turned back. Two or three miles from the edge of the Plains they struck water from a few inches to three feet deep, but it was clear and they could see the tracks on the bottom. After wading about a mile they came to a mound standing up out of the water. (This mound is now called "Red Rock Butte.") Here the Indians had camped the night their pursuers stayed at Rye

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Patch, and here they killed the gray horse, the only one they had left. They took six horses at the time of the massacre. The white men could now account for five of them, but never knew what became of the sixth one. It may have been killed the night after the Indians left Honey Lake valley. The night the Indians stayed at the mound they ate the horse 's head and feet, and cut the rest of the flesh from the bones and took it along with them. After a short stay at this place the whites followed on north about five miles to Sage Hen springs — now called by that name — going through deep water, snow, and mud, a difficult and almost impossible journey. At this place the Indians had built some little scaffolds out of sticks and barbecued the horse meat. From here they went over the hill about three miles to Maiden valley which lies southwest of Cold springs. Every little ways they came to patches of snow forty or fifty feet wide and six feet deep which in the afternoon was soft from the heat of the sun. The Indians had no trouble in crossing this snow because they were on foot, and probably crossed it in the morning when it was hard ; but the horses could not get through these drifts and the white men had to make a long detour whenever they came to one. Even then it was hard work to get along and both men and horses were pretty well exhausted when they reached Maiden valley. The snow, however, was soft enough to show the tracks of the Indians and these they counted several times. There were sixteen of them, one of whom was lame, probably the one shot by Cooper. From this it would seem that all of the band did not take part in the massacre.

            At Maiden valley they found good grass and there they stopped. Ahead of them to the north they could see a high mountain ten or twelve miles away (Warm Spring mountain), and Newt. Evans thought they had better get some supper and then five or six of them strike out on foot and go to the top of the mountain, leaving the rest of the men to look out for the horses and guard them. Accordingly after they had eaten Newt. Evans, McDaniel, Lawson, "Crossfire," the Piute, and perhaps another man, started out and reached the top of the mountain about ten o'clock at night, or a little later. From there they could see the camp fire of the Indians four or five miles to the northeast on a flat close to the Warm springs. Occasionally they would throw up fire signals. While the scouts were looking at the

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fire Evans asked the Piute about his ammunition and the Indian said that he had only one load for his gun — the rest he had left at camp. Evans told him to go back and get it. Lawson says he told Evans that it was a bad thing to send the Indian away from them, for he would go to the camp of the other Indians and tell them what was going on. He believes the Piute did this, for when they went down to the camp fire they never found an Indian. Evans thought some one had better go back to their camp and tell the boys to come on with some provisions; but they were all dead tired, and when Lawson said he could go they told him he could not make it. He had a six-shooter so he left his gun and set out. It was a hard trip, for it was dark and the country was strange to him. Every little while he fell down and he lost both bootheels; but there happened to be a natural pass from the Warm springs to Maiden valley, Lawson has always been noted as a hard man to lose in the mountains, and he finally reached his destination. The men heard him coming through the brush and were ready to shoot until he made them understand who he was, and then they let him come into camp. He told them what was wanted, and as he was too tired to go with them, he gave them the best directions he could as to where they should go to find the other men. He told Meyers to take the gun he had left, and all the men excepting Lawson and two or three others took some provisions and went on. About daylight they found the men they were looking for, and after eating some breakfast, they once more took the trail of the Indians and followed it six or seven miles to the south fork of Pit river. The river was very high and the current was like a mill race where the tracks of the Indians went into it. After looking around for some time and failing to find any place where they dared attempt to cross the torrent, they gave up the pursuit and came back to Maiden valley that night. The Piute didn 't come back until after they did, and when asked where he had been so long, he replied that he had got lost in the darkness the night before. The next morning they took the back track and in due time reached their homes after another hard journey through the mud, water, and snow. (Brown says that McDaniel was the scout that came back, and that the men who left camp after he returned were lost in a snow squall and didn 't find the scouts who were watching the Indians. The scouts

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returned to camp early the next morning, but the others did not get in until noon. The Indians escaped to the north.) The "Virginia Enterprise" published an account of this expedition. In it many facts were given which Lawson has related, but which Brown appears to have forgotten.

The Pursuit of the Indians Who Killed the Pearson Family and Samuel Cooper — The Long Valley Party

            J.O. Hemler says that early in the morning of the day after the Pearson Family and Cooper were murdered, his uncle, J. D. Byers, and himself were out on the flat between the Bald mountain and the lake looking for cattle. While they were riding around in the brush they saw a man on horseback coming from the direction of the Tules. He was riding rapidly, and as soon as Byers saw him he said that something must be wrong and they rode to meet him. It was John D. Kelley, and he told them what had happened and said he was going to Janesville after help. Byers said they would go back with him and the three men rode to the Lower Hot springs. When they got there the bodies of the dead lay on the ground where they fell. After looking around a while Byers put Hemler 's saddle onto the horse which he himself had been riding and told him to go to Long valley and tell Alvaro Evans about the massacre so the settlers in that section could look out for themselves. Hemler says that he was badly frightened, but when they asked him if he was afraid to go he told them he was not. Byers told him he need not be afraid, for there was no Indian pony that could outrun the horse he was riding, and also told him to ride his horse so as to always have some ability to run still left in him. It is easy to believe that Hemler made good time until he reached the divide between Honey Lake and Long valleys, and there he caught up with Sutherland and Berryman driving the dairy cows. The latter asked him where he was going and Hemler told him, and also told him why he was going there. Berryman would not believe him and said he must be joking. Hemler called his attention to the condition of his horse and asked him if he thought he would ride a horse like that unless something was the matter. He asked Berryman to ex- change horses with him and told him he would return the horse when he came back. The exchange was made, and Hemler rode on after telling Berryman to break the news to Sutherland, for

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he did not have the heart to do it himself. When he reached his destination he told his story to Alvaro Evans who at once sent for R. E. (Bob.) Ross, and the two men took the matter in hand. They sent out and called the men of that section together and had some families come in from the outside. They also sent up into the mountains for a band of saddle horses.

            George W. Bennett, who lived in Red Rock valley at that time, says that on the 18th Allen Evans came to his house and told him about the massacre. He went home with Evans and stayed that night with him. On the 19th a company of twenty-five men started from the Evans ranch in pursuit of the Indians. Newt. Evans was Captain, and Berryman, Jacob McKissick, "Pete" Evans (It is said that he was engaged to be married to Hattie Pearson.), a Piute Indian they took along to do the trailing, and others whose names will appear later on, were in the company. (J. B. Rice says that John Fitch, T. J. Glasscock, E. H. Fairchilds, and several others from Milford and that vicinity, perhaps six or eight in all, joined the Evans company.) It is also said that Isaac Hallett went with one of the parties that pursued the Indians.

            The first day out the Evans party scouted around the Fort Sage mountain (State Line Peak) and then went to the Lower Hot springs. From there they swung around the west side of the Hot Springs mountain and that night camped northwest of Skedaddle valley. They camped on a point where the wind struck them and it was very cold. Some of the younger men wanted to build a fire, but the Captain and some of the older men objected to it. About three o'clock in the morning Bennett, John Titus, Blaisdel, Robert Cameron, and "Shorty" got up and started back for Red Rock valley. The next day the others went on and at night met Smith's company. Their subsequent movements have already been told.

An Indian Scare in Long Valley

Written from what was told by Daniel W. Bryant, Alvaro Evans, George W. Harrison, and A. L. Tunison.

            On the 20th of April word was brought up along the south side of the valley and to Susanville that the people of Long valley were in danger from the Indians. In a short time all sorts

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of rumors were flying around — the Indians were going to clean out Long valley, they were besieging the Evans ranch and also the Dinwiddie ranch. At the latter place there were some women and children and the whites could hold out only that night. Perhaps there was trouble in other places, too. The word reached Susanville late in the afternoon, but preparations were made to go that night to the aid of those who were said to be in danger. About nine o 'clock between fifteen and twenty men, mounted on all sorts of horses, started out, G. W. Harrison, Joe Hale, George Funk, Antone Storff, Hiram Parks, and Al. Leroy being among the number. It was far from being a pleasure trip to some of them. Harrison says he rode one of Funk 's team horses that had on heavy shoes. He had been working in a printing office for some time and was not used to riding, and the next day he could hardly go. But he stood it because he thought he was going to help save some one's life. Probably there were others in the crowd who had the same feelings both mental and physical. About midnight they reached the Byers ranch on Baxter creek east of Janesville, and there they stopped a while and got something to eat and fed their horses. They then resumed their journey. On their way down the valley they were joined by other men, and when they arrived at the Evans ranch the next day about noon there were thirty or forty in the party.

            Tunison says that on the 20th, probably it was late in the evening, he went from Johnston's to Buggytown and aroused every family. About midnight fifteen men left Robert Johnston's for Long valley. Tunison and Bryant are the only ones of this party whose names are known. This party went through Janesville and at daylight took breakfast at Milford. They reached the Evans ranch about the same time that the other party did. On their arrival the Honey Lakers found that the Indians were not besieging the Evans ranch or any other ranch, and that no one, either white or red, had been killed. One man says the report started from the fact that some Indians, Pit Rivers or Bannocks, passing through there had killed a beef in Red Rock valley, and that made the settlers afraid they would commit more depredations and perhaps kill some one. It may have been that or the stealing of the horses in that section that started the story, and like all other Indian scares, the farther it

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traveled the larger it got. The news must have gone in the other direction, for men were there from the upper end of Long valley and from Sierra valley.

            Alvaro Evans says that when the Honey Lake men reached his place he had five Indians working for him. In the afternoon he went out and told them who was there, and that if the Honey Lakers saw them they would kill them all. He told them they had better go south through the hills, and then strike across the valley and go to the Pyramid Lake reservation. The Indians had no ponies and started out on foot.

            About midnight Evans was awakened by the barking of the dogs and a racket outside, and when he got up he found Andrew W. Dinwiddie and a man named Lemons, who lived in Sierra valley, at the door. Dinwiddie told the following story: It appears that the Indians went through the hills and came out near the bridge which then crossed the Long Valley creek five or six miles south of the Evans place. Dinwiddie, who lived about half a mile south of the bridge, saw them coming, and taking his rifle, went out alone to meet them. He met them just after they crossed the bridge, and when he spoke to them one of the Indians, a Piute called George, said he was a ''good Indian" and the next three told him the same thing. He let the four pass as being all right. The fifth one, however, didn't say he was "good," but showed fight and he and Dinwiddie clinched and scuffled around for a while. The white man could throw the Indian, but could not hold him down, and could get no chance to use his gun. Finally he made up his mind that the only way he could get the better of the Indian was to back him up to the edge of the creek, push him over it, and then shoot him. While he was trying to do this George picked up the gun and shot the Indian. He then said that the Indian killed was a Pit River and a bad Indian, and the four "good" ones went on their way. Dinwiddie and Lemons immediately mounted their horses and came to the Evans ranch. The next morning the dead Indian lying beside the road caused another small Indian scare.

            On the afternoon of the 21st they organized a company of thirty men with Robert E. Ross as captain. The next day they went to Dry valley and around to Fish springs, about twenty miles, and camped near the little lake. During the day they "saw lots of Indian tracks going north." The following morning

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Harrison, Bryant, Jud. Hamilton, and two others, left the crowd and started for home because they didn't like the way in which the hunt after the Indians was carried on. Tunison tells the rest of the story. "The remainder of us struck north and traveled about twelve or fifteen miles and camped on Plum creek. Saw lots of Indian and horse tracks going north and followed as far as traveled — found one white man coming back. Saddled up near night and rode on about six miles further and made dry camp. Stood guard two hours latter part of night. Found camp where the Indians had made their first camp. April 24. Went on to Smoke Creek six or eight miles. The Indians that we were tracking were seen near Buffalo springs yesterday going north. Fifteen of us started on after the Indians and the remainder of the party went back to the valley. Our party went on to Buffalo springs and camped. April 25. Took the Humboldt road and nooned at Wall springs. Went to Deep Hole and took our supper. There two of our party left us. One was sick (Oscar) and Smith — scared out. After dark we went up the Deep Hole creek five miles and camped. I was elected Captain at Deep Hole. 26th. Traveled up Deep Hole creek about ten miles and turned toward the left towards Surprise valley. Went to the Summit and turned toward Buffalo and traveled in that direction six or eight miles, and camped in an old Indian camp near the Summit of the Buffalo range. 27th. Sargeant and I struck out — went a couple of miles and found the Indian trail going north. Went back to camp and packed up and followed the tracks north twelve or fifteen miles and left them. About forty Indians' tracks and over twenty horse and mule tracks. We then struck for Buffalo Meadows down the east branch of the creek, which runs through an awful rough and crooked canyon about ten miles — camped at the Meadows. 28th. Harris left us here for Surprise valley with J. Johnson and one Wagner, who met us here. Started for home — struck the Humboldt road at Buffalo springs. Part of our party went by way of Sheephead springs, and five of us on the Humboldt road. Camped at Smoke creek. Caught a duck in Smoke creek. 29th. Nooned at Mud springs and camped at Shaffer's. 30th. Three of our crowd started for Sierra valley by way of Hot springs, and Lou., Charley, and I went to upper end of valley."

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            Evidently this company found more Indians than they could use. It will be observed that neither of the expeditions that went out this spring killed or captured a single Indian.

            Tunison says that about the first of May the Indians killed three men near Buffalo Meadows. After this they made no more trouble in or around Honey Lake valley, or along the emigrant road between there and the Humboldt river, during the remainder of the year.

The Exterminators

            The outrages committed by the Indians this year served to inflame the minds of the people of this section still more against them. For several years it was none too safe for a Piute to come into the valley, especially around Susanville. About the last of May  "The Sage Brush" said " The people of Long valley have caused all Indians, of whatever description, to emigrate from among them. No Indian is allowed, under any pretext whatever, to come into the county."

            About this time a secret society called " The Exterminators " was organized in Susanville. It was a regular lodge. They elected officers and the members were sworn to kill every Indian they could. This was to be done in order to avenge the murder of Cooper and the Pearsons. They held meetings all that summer, but the excitement gradually died away and the order went out of existence.

Indians Hanged for the "Pearson Massacre"

            "The Butte Record" of September 5th, 1868, has the following :

"Indian Matters North

            "Gov. Roop of Susanville, Lassen Co. has forwarded us a letter from Gen. Crook, dated at Camp Warner, Oregon, Aug. 22nd, from which we make the following extract concerning Indian affairs in that vicinity : ' I found most of these Indians in Big Valley on Pit River. Many of them fled to the mountains on our approach. I had a talk with some of their principal men, who are on friendly terms with the whites, and they confess that nine of the Pit River Indians killed the Pearson family, and that three of this party had left there, but that the remaining six

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were still among them. But they know where they are, and I requested Capt. Munson to go down to Fort Crook in the course of a couple of months, when they will have gotten over their fright and settled down, catch the murderers and hang them, which will have a tendency to prevent their engaging in any outside speculation of that kind in the future. Our scouts were all around Eagle Lake and the Warner Range generally on our way home but found no sign of Indians, so that I feel satisfied that our Indian troubles are over with in this country.'"

            The following is from the "Reno Crescent" of October 10, 1868. "From 'The Sage Brush' we learn that Capt. Munson brought three Indians, who had been delivered to him as part of the murderers of the Pearson family, to Susanville one day last week and delivered them to the civil authorities there. On examination nothing was proven against them and they were set at liberty. However, the people of Susanville were convinced of their guilt and no one was surprised to find their bodies suspended next morning, to an old building near town; their souls having gone to the 'happy hunting grounds' during the preceding night. A Honey Lake friend tells us that one old buck claimed a commutation of sentence on the ground that he only killed a young Mahala (Hattie Pearson) and did not share in the plunder. The redskinned fiend! Hattie Pearson's existence was of more consequence than that of all the Indians that ever lived. "

            Thomas N. Long, who was then the Sheriff of Lassen county, says that Captain Munson turned the Indians over to him and he immediately put them into jail. Some of the prominent citizens of Susanville, Governor Roop and others, came to Long and told him that he had no right to put the Indians into jail, and that they would pay for the services of a guard if he would take them out of jail and put one over them. He refused to do this, and there was considerable talk of mobbing him and taking the prisoners away from him. At that time Collins Gaddy lived in Susanville, and he had considerable influence with a certain element. He took sides with Long and that served to keep the crowd quiet until the excitement died away, and the idea was given up.

            There was no one in town before whom the Indians could be given a preliminary examination, and as soon as this was

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discovered they sent for E. P. Soule, Justice of the Peace, who was doing some carpenter work at Milford. They did not get ready for the examination until late the second day after the Indians arrived — nine or ten o 'clock at night. When the Indians were brought before Squire Soule at the court house, a dispute arose between Governor Roop and Judge Harrison as to which one was the district attorney of the county. After a good deal of dispute Squire Soule recognized Harrison as the legal prosecuting attorney, and Roop volunteered to defend the Indians. Of course there was no testimony against the prisoners and the Court had to turn them loose.

            The room was full of excited men and Long knew what was coming. He did not care particularly what became of the Indians, but he did not want himself or any of his deputies mixed up in the matter. His deputy, R. York Rundel, wanted to take a hand with the crowd, but Long told him to help him take the handcuffs off the Indians and then get out of the way. They got the irons off, but while doing it were almost trodden under foot by the crowd who were eager to get at the Indians. The two officers managed to get through the crowd and down the stairs, and when they reached the gate Rundel wanted to stay and "see the fun. " Long told him it would be all right if he kept out of the crowd and took no part in what they did, and he stayed. The next morning the bodies of the Indians were hanging to an oak tree that stood near the northeast corner of Main and Pine streets.

            Mr. Long says that he and some others thought from the appearance of the Indians brought in here that they were only some renegades that the Pit Rivers delivered up to General Crook to satisfy him, and that they had nothing to do with the massacre. He says they were poor specimens of red men and didn't look at all dangerous. Others say they were ugly, determined-looking fellows. It was reported that these Indians confessed to Captain Munson that they participated in the murder of Cooper and the Pearson Family, but the writer has been unable to verify this. Long says that while they were in jail they would not talk at all. One of the men who helped hang them says that one Indian wanted to be shot because he had killed only one Mahala. When he said this a white man struck so vicious a blow at him with a butcher knife that if he had not dodged it would have

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cut him almost in two. Nothing more was said by any of the Indians, excepting that the one hanged last said of the one whose turn came before his, "See um heap kick." The writer could find nothing in the newspapers of the day to show that any more of the nine Indian murderers were ever killed or captured.

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Indian Troubles. 1869

The Murder of Partridge and Coburn

Told by Lafayette Marks and Others

            During the spring and early summer of 1869 the station at Deep Hole springs, sixty miles east of Honey Lake valley on the emigrant road to the Humboldt river, was kept by Hiram L. Partridge, and Vesper Coburn worked for him. There were a few Indians who had belonged to the old marauding bands still roaming around in northwestern Nevada, and the friends of the two men had repeatedly warned them of the danger of staying there. About the last of July Christopher C. Rachford, afterwards Sheriff of Modoc county, who was coming in from Star City, arrived at Deep Hole. The door of the house was open, but there was no one around the place. He looked the premises over and found that the oxen and the wagon were gone. He then went down onto Squaw creek and there he found the wagon and the bodies of the two men. From their appearance he thought they had been dead several days. (They were killed the 27th of July.) Rachford carried the news to Surprise valley. Olin Ward, for many years a prominent stock man of that section, said that Rachford told the foregoing to him. At the time of the murder and for several days previous to it a band of Piute Indians had been camped in Surprise valley, and had to the knowledge of the citizens, made two trips to Deep Hole springs ; but no suspicion of hostile intentions were entertained, though signal fires were on the hills every night. The same night that Rachford reached the valley every Indian disappeared, and though the soldiers from Camp Bidwell sought industriously they failed to find them.

            Probably the same day that Rachford was there a party of Honey Lakers, also coming in from the Humboldt, reached Deep Hole late in the evening. Finding no one there they took pos-

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session of the place for the night. They thought it strange that the premises had been left alone and the next morning they began to look around. Before long they noticed a comparatively fresh wagon track going from the station out into the brush, and after following this some distance, Tunison says two miles, they found the dead bodies of Partridge and Coburn. Judging from appearances, they had hitched a yoke of cattle to the wagon and gone after a load of sage brush for fuel, leaving their guns at the station. When they saw the Indians coming they went to the oxen, pulled the bows from the yoke and set them free, and then ran for home. They didn 't get very far, perhaps a hundred yards, before Partridge was killed. Coburn got a hundred yards further and a bullet broke his leg just above the ankle. Even after this he must have tried to run, for the broken bone was forced through the flesh. When found he had a small knife, one blade of which was opened, tightly grasped in his hand. He was shot twice and Partridge five times. The Honey Lakers took the bodies to the station and buried them and then came on to Susan ville. John C. Partridge, Hiram's cousin, Collins Gaddy, Lafayette Marks, and Cap. Hill immediately started for Deep Hole with a couple of buggies and two coffins. The bodies of the two men were brought to Susanville and buried there August 5th, Partridge being given a Masonic burial.

Three Indians Killed for the Murder of Partridge and Coburn

            After the murder at Deep Hole a careful watch was kept on all the Indians who frequented that part of the country with the hope that something would turn up to show who the guilty parties were. The "Reno Crescent" of October 9, 1869, says "Since writing the notice of the arrest of two Indians, charged with being guilty of the murder of Partridge and Coburn, we have seen the desperadoes. One of them is a Washoe, familiarly known about Franktown as Dick Sides, whose hide would not be worth the trouble of hanging up to dry after showing his pretty face to a camp of Piutes. The other is said to know the whereabouts of the murderers." October 16th it says "Several Indians have been arrested by the officers of Washoe county, suspected of the murder of Partridge and Coburn at Deep Hole

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springs. Two of them are now in Reno in the hands of Deputy Sheriff Edwards. They will have an examination, and be held to answer or discharged, as the testimony may indicate guilty or not guilty."

            Alvaro Evans tells the following. Through some Washoes the Reno constable heard that the Indians who killed Partridge and Coburn were camped at Steamboat springs and he went out there and arrested them. They were taken to Reno and kept in jail a few days and then given an examination before John S. Bowker, Justice of the Peace. There was no evidence against them, but it appears that they were held for a few days after the examination. Just about the time the Squire was going to turn them loose he met Evans on the street, and knowing that the latter was acquainted with a good many Indians, he asked him to come down to the jail and see if he knew any of them. Evans went there with Antone Gallagher, who had been riding for the Evans Brothers at Pyramid lake. Gallagher recognized one of them as an Indian who had shot an animal belonging to the Evans Boys and then stood him off with a pistol when he tried to look at the beef. Two of the Indians accused the other one of being the murderer, and he accused them of committing the deed. Evans told Squire Bowker to hold the Indians and he would write to Honey Lake and let Cap. Hill know about it, and the Honey Lakers would come down and take care of them. When Hill got the letter he and Charles Cramer started out and went to Reno, picking up William E. (Paul) Jones at the Junction House. The three Indians were turned over to them and the next morning they left town for Susanville.

            Evans says he heard the following account of what followed. Two men who were painters and who had come to Reno from Susanville, followed and overtook them at the top of the hill north of Reno. They were going to take the Indians away from the Honey Lakers, but after a parley it was concluded that the best thing to do was to kill them. They told the Indians that the wagon had broken down and had them get out and go toward an old shaft near by to get some timbers. When they went to the shaft they were shot and thrown into it.

            Several other stories are told about this affair. In the different accounts one, two, or three men went along from Reno to help kill the Indians. One man told that the Honey Lakers

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were followed by eight or ten single rigs and a few double ones. When they arrived at the top of the hill word was passed along the line that the axle of the hind wagon, in which the Indians were riding, had broken down. They all stopped, and before the men with the head team knew anything about it the Indians had been killed and thrown into one of the shafts. Of course this exonerated the Honey Lakers from any blame in the matter.

            The "Crescent" of October 30th says "Three gentlemen, Messrs. Jones, Cramer, and Hill of Honey Lake valley left here Friday evening (the day before) in company with a couple of Piute Indians. The Indians, we believe, employed Jones & Co. as guides to show them a cut-off to Honey Lake valley. A few miles out their stock stampeded, but we guess the Indians found the cut-off. No reward offered for either horses or Indians. 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou the prophets?' "

            The following story was told to the writer by a reliable man who said that he had it from Paul Jones.

            At that time Jones was living at the Junction House twenty-five miles north of Reno. Hill and Cramer drove so fast that when they reached his place their team was tired out and they asked him to let them have his team to drive to Reno and back. He was working a colt and on that account was afraid to let them take the team. Hill told him to come along and drive his own team and they would pay him for it. After considerable talk he told them he had no time to spare, but that to accommodate them he would go, and didn't want any pay for it. Accordingly he went with them and that night they got into Reno. Upon their arrival the three Indians were turned over to them, although the Washoe county officials had no legal right to do it.

            Jones said that when they started for home the next morning quite a number of Indians followed them on foot out of Reno, and he drove pretty fast to get away from them. Hill said he would be if he was going to haul Indians ninety miles just to hang them. The others tried to talk him out of the notion of doing anything else, but he had been drinking and was angry and would not listen to them. When they got to the top of the hill the Indians were told to get out because the wagon had broken down. They refused to do it and were then yanked out. When the shots were fired it frightened Jones's

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team and he had to circle them around in the sage brush to keep them from running away, and this kept him so busy that he didn't know for sure who killed the Indians. After throwing the dead Indians into the shaft the other two men got into the wagon and they resumed their journey. When Hill and Cramer reached home they said that Indians had jumped out of the wagon and attempted to escape. In doing this they ran into the shaft and all of them were killed. The Honey Lakers understood. If no one but these three men were present, it is very probable that Hill shot the Indians. It has been told that he generally killed an Indian whenever he had an opportunity to do so.

            The "Crescent" of November 13th says "It is currently reported that the Piutes are greatly incensed against certain citizens of Honey Lake, who are supposed to have killed the three Indians taken from this place, and threaten that in case they cannot punish the guilty to be avenged on such white men as they can get hold of. Many persons located in the new and sparsely settled portions of the state feel that they hold their scalps by a very uncertain tenure. There is serious danger that an indiscretion on the part of our officials will cost some good men their lives." It then condemns the practice of treating Indians as though they were not human beings, and says that white men who fail to respect the rights of the Indians are lower than the most degraded of the human family.

            On November 24th the "Crescent" said "Brother Partridge (John C. Partridge was editor of the "Lassen Sage Brush" at that time.) devotes nearly a column to us and to the defense of certain persons suspected of coldblooded murder." The "Crescent" said it was not an admirer of savages, neither was it an admirer of whites who emulated the brutality of savages. The Indians charged with the murder of Partridge and Coburn were arrested in Reno by the officers of the law under the impression, which still exists, that the offense was committed within the jurisdiction of that county. It did not know by what means they were taken from the custody of the officers, and had only to say that if surrendered voluntarily and without a proper requisition, then the officer so surrendering was guilty of mal- feasance in office, an error of magnitude from which might, and from which it had just cause to fear would result in serious

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consequences. The guilt or the innocence of the Indians was a question of no moment in this connection. If they were guilty of a crime under the law, they should have been punished under the law, not for the sake of the savages, but for the sake of our own civilization. Unless the "Lassen Sage Brush" had something more to say, this was the end of the war between Reno and Susanville.

            None of the Washoe county officials were punished because they gave up the Indians without a requisition, neither did the Piutes kill Honey Lakers or any one else in revenge. These were the last whites killed by the Indians in this section of the country. The day of Indian troubles was done in this county.

Another Indian Hanged in Susanville

            Some time during the fall after the killing of Partridge and Coburn an Indian who had been living around the station at Deep Hole, "Partridge and Coburn 's pet," some called him, came into Susanville. At that time anything in the shape of an Indian from that part of the country aroused the anger of the people of this valley, and he was promptly arrested by one of Sheriff Long's deputies. He was kept in jail for a short time, and as there happened to be no one in town before whom he could have an examination, a plan was formed to get him out of the Sheriff's hands. Some one got Squire McMurphy of Janesville to order the prisoner brought before him, and Cap. Hill was deputized as constable to do this. When the prisoner was given to Hill he took him down to Main street, bought some sweet crackers, and gave the Indian all he could eat of them. He then put a rope around the Indian's neck and led him away toward Janesville, going by the Richmond road. When he reached the river bridge south of town ten or a dozen men took his prisoner away from him and led him to an old well dug by Abner Boyd near the southwest corner of the block bounded on the north by Court street and on the west by Lassen street. A fence rail was thrown across the well and the rope on the Indian's neck was tied to it. Just then some one in the crowd said that the rope was too good to hang an Indian with — it would make a good halter for a horse. So he untied the rope from the Indian and the rail and put a bale rope in the place of it. The Indian was then pushed into the well and when he stopped

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struggling some one cut the rope. After this was done Hill ran back to town yelling that they had taken the Indian away from him and hanged him.

            Mrs. E. V. Spencer told the writer that many years after Partridge and Coburn were killed a Pit river Indian told her how it happened. The Indian's story, whether true or false, was as follows : A band of Pit river Indians were going through the Deep Hole country in pursuit of two or three white men who had with them some Pit River squaws they had stolen. The Indians were very angry with these men in particular, and all white men in general, and when they ran across Partridge and Coburn without any weapons they killed them just because they were white men.

            The latter part of November twelve Indians came into Willow Creek valley and camped. Tunison went to their camp and ordered them to leave the next morning. Part of them left the next day and the rest of them the day after that. They dared do nothing else but obey. Their day was done.

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CHAPTER XVI

IN CONCLUSION.

Old Winnemucca's Death

Taken from a letter to the " Reno Gazette "

            OLD Winnnemucca died near Coppersmith's ranch, or station, on the south side of Surprise valley October 21, 1882. His daughter and his son Lee were with him. When the writer of this letter visited him he was lying beside the fire in his wickiup, wrapped in a rabbit skin robe, with his feet buried in warm ashes and a mahala fanning him with a bush. When his son was asked if he gave him medicine, he said the old chief would not take any, neither would he eat anything.

            Nearly two months before that he and his young squaw and her two-year old papoose started from Pyramid lake to Ft. Bidwell. On the way Winnemucca was taken sick and was obliged to camp near Coppersmith's station. He accused the squaw of bewitching him, and finally ordered her to be stoned to death. But first she was ordered to go to a spring and wash herself so that she might be clean when she appeared before the Great Spirit. She went to the spring and hanged herself to a post, but was cut down by a Piute who was on the watch before she was dead. The evening before Old Winnemucca died about a hundred Indians took the squaw to the spring where she had been ordered to bathe. Some of the other squaws washed her from head to foot and sprinkled her all over with fine ashes. They then started for a range of hills a few miles from the Coppersmith station, leading the squaw naked and barefooted. Upon reaching the chosen spot they built a circle of fires, lighting up a space about a hundred feet in diameter. In the center of this was a stump, and to this they tied the squaw by one foot with a band of rawhide. Then each buck brought in a certain number of stones about the size of a man's fist and laid them in a pile within the circle of fires. When all was ready the Indians joined hands and began a monotonous chant which lasted a few minutes, when one of them stepped into the ring and began to harangue them. As he continued to speak the poor squaw gave vent to piercing shrieks. This lasted for some minutes, then at a signal all was silent except the wails of the intended victim.

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            Then the speaker sprang toward her and grasped the child and swung it around his head while they all yelled like demons ; but the squaw did not make a single sound. Suddenly he dashed the child upon a rock killing it instantly. He then resumed his place in the circle, which swung around chanting as before, until the one who killed the papoose came opposite the pile of stones he had collected. Stepping forward he picked up a stone, and going within ten feet of the victim he threw it at her with all his) strength. The missile struck her on the side and was answered by a shriek of anguish. He returned to his place and the circle swung around until another Indian was entitled to a throw. It seemed that it was forbidden to strike her on the head, and this was kept up until she lay upon the ground a mass of mangled flesh. Then the speaker took a big rock, and as she lay on her back he went up and crushed her skull. Then for a few minutes pandemonium reigned, after which they dispersed and collected wood for a pile upon which they placed the remains of the squaw and her baby and set it on fire. A few were left to keep up the fire and the rest returned to Old Winnemucca to comfort his dying moments with the assurance that his young squaw had preceded him to the Indian's happy hunting grounds. This story was related by a half-breed called "Grizzly John" who was an eyewitness to the scene.

The Death of Young Winnemucca

            Sam Davis's History of Nevada says that Young Winnemucca died of the consumption at Wadsworth, Nevada, November 5, 1871.

Asa M. Fairfield, Indian Troubles in Northwestern Nevada  1848-59; 1860; 1861-64; 1865-67; 1868-69