OREGON. 



673 



existence upon the Union and Central Pacific 

 Railroad Companies, who, it is apparent, are 

 not disposed to give Oregon the desired con- 

 nection until they see that the Northern Pa- 

 cific or some other road has assurance of suc- 

 cess. Within the year there have been thirty- 

 five miles of railroad opened from Tacoma to 

 Puyallup, twenty miles from Seattle to its coal 

 mines at Newcastle, seventeen miles from 

 Tenino to Olympia all in Washington Terri- 

 tory ; and there is no\v under construction 

 thirty-three miles of road from Dayton, Ore- 

 gon, to Sheridan and Dallas, in Yamhill and 

 Polk Counties, expected to be opened for 

 traffic soon. The last three are narrow-gauge 

 roads. This narrow-gauge system is being 

 fully appreciated in Oregon, where, from the 

 nature of the country, it can be more cheaply 

 constructed, secure greater advantages to the 

 State at large, and be more profitable to its 

 owners than broad-gauge railroads. 



The Indian disturbances have been serious 

 in eastern Oregon during the year. In June, 

 1878, a roving band of Bannacks, including 

 probably some Shoshones, began a campaign 

 of robbery and murder upon settlers in the 

 vicinity of Stein's Mountain. From this locality 

 they moved northward, gathering up renegade 

 Piutes, Snakes, Malheurs, and probably Indians 

 of other tribes on their way. At Silver Creek 

 a battle was fought with them, in which they 

 were defeated and held in check for a short 

 time. From this point they directed their 

 march toward Camas Prairie, Umatilla County, 

 abating none of their fury against citizens and 

 their property. The whole country was alive 

 with fearful apprehensions. All along the 

 route settlers fled with their families for safety, 

 leaving their stock and other property at the 

 mercy of the savages. The Indians ravaged 

 the country wherever they went, but fortu- 

 nately General Howard pursued them so stead- 

 ily that they had no time to extend their dep- 

 redations beyond their immediate line of travel. 

 They reached Camas Prairie early in July, hotly 

 pressed by the troops under General Howard. 

 On the 6th of that month Captain Sperry with 

 a small company of volunteers had a fight with 

 them at Willow Springs, thirty miles from Pen- 

 dleton, in which he had two men killed and 

 eight wounded. In this fight Captain Sperry 

 and his men displayed great courage and stead- 

 iness. It is very generally suspected, though 

 it is not definitely known, that these Indians 

 were allies of the Snakes from north and south 

 of the Columbia River and from the Umatilla 

 Reservation, who were on their way to join 

 the main body of those already on the war 

 path. They were very destructive among herd- 

 ers and stock. In this region there were thou- 

 sands of sheep and large bands of horses and 

 cattle, which went far toward making up the 

 wealth of the country. Many of these herds 

 were pastured among the mountain passes 

 along the route traveled by the Indians, who 

 in every instance destroyed all the stock that 

 VOL. xvm. 43 A 



they could not take with them, and murdered 

 the herdsmen. Settlers everywhere had left 

 their homes and stock exposed to the savages, 

 and, with little more than their clothing and a 

 few blankets, had fled to the towns for pro- 

 tection. Heppner, Umatilla, Pendleton, and 

 Weston were crowded with refugees. It was 

 evident at the outset that the Indians intended 

 to make this a more destructive campaign than 

 any that had preceded it. Their plans indi- 

 cated mature preparations and great determina- 

 tion on their part. The people, on the other 

 hand, were not anticipating any outbreak, and 

 of course were wholly unprepared to meet it. 

 When it came upon them they were soon worn 

 down with anxiety and with the arduous and 

 fatiguing labors incident to their situation. 

 Constant dread of attack and fear of the loss of 

 the property which they had abandoned in their 

 flight from their homes had produced a condition 

 of things amounting almost to a panic. This war, 

 however, was of short duration, lasting less than 

 a month in Umatilla County, but it was more 

 disastrous than any that had preceded it, in the 

 destruction of property and in its discouraging 

 and demoralizing effect upon the people. It 

 has left that section in a very deplorable con- 

 dition, financially and otherwise. In Wash- 

 ington, Oregon, and Idaho, there are about 

 27,000 Indians, nearly all of them east of the 

 Cascade Mountains. There are included in 

 their reservations nearly 17,000 square miles 

 or 10,000,000 acres of land, or about 370 acres 

 to each individual Indian ; and of these lands 

 about 143,000 acres are reported tillable. In 

 the Oregon reservations alone there are 6,022 

 square miles or 3,854,080 acres of land to 7",000 

 Indians, making more than 550 acres to each 

 Indian. 



The election for State officers in Oregon is 

 biennial, and is held on the first Monday of 

 June. The State Greenback Convention as- 

 sembled at Salem on April 3d. The follow- 

 ing nominations were made : For Congress, T. 

 F. Campbell ; for Governor, M. Wilkins ; for 

 Secretary of State, W. A. Gates ; for State 

 Treasurer, F. Sutherlin ; for State Printer, D. 

 W. Craig ; for Superintendent of Schools, 

 W. W. Parker. The following platform was 

 adopted : 



Whereas, In the progress of a great war, accom- 

 plishing the freedom of an enslaved race, its libera- 

 tors have themselves become enslaved to capital; 

 and 



Whereas, Capitalists for the last eighteen years 

 have been engaged in absorbing the moneys and 

 values of the nation by iniquitous legislation, and 

 have destroyed the remunerative industries of the 

 people, and crushed out the business enterprises that 

 gave employment to workingmen, whereby millions 

 of laboring men and their families are on the verge 

 of starvation, and are being fed at the soup houses of 

 charity, producing a state of misery, poverty, and 

 destitution, that nothing but an immediate and 

 prompt system of reverse legislation can remedy : 

 therefore, 



Resolved, That this organization is in favor of as- 

 suming in the national platform the name of The 

 National Greenback and Workingmen's Party ; and 



