Page:The Early Indian Wars of Oregon.djvu/184

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The troops had one man wounded in the hip. Skirmish ing with the troops under Major Lee continued for several days, with a loss to the army of three men killed and one mortally wounded. 7 The Indians engaged were Des Chutes, John Days, and Cay uses. Edward, son of Tilou- kaikt, was among the latter, and received a wound. It is recorded by Palmer that the yelling of the troops so far exceeded that of the Indians, the latter were demoralized, and fled from the field. Yells were certainly cheaper than ammunition, if not so patent to diminish the enemy s force.

Apropos of fighting material at this time, we find Wes ley Shannon, ordnance officer, writing on the twenty-sixth of January: "The regiment made a heavy draw toda.y before starting, in the ammunition line. I have issued about one thousand rounds today, which has taken nearly all the rifle powder and lead; percussion caps also very scarce. Out of fifteen thousand that I have receipted for, there are but five thousand left. The army will return in a few days, when, I have no doubt, there will be a demand for more ammunition than there is now in the ordnance office."

When peace commissioner and Commissary -General Palmer, with Newell, arrived at Fort Gilliam they found many things to trouble them. The cannon that had ar rived at the lower cascades was still there. The boats above the falls were in bad condition ; there was need of a good portage, or a boat that could be run up the rapids, with a crew that could run it. "I believe," says Palmer, "that a system of smuggling has been carried on by those running the boats. Numbers of Jews come up as passen gers who are boarded by the boat s crew, select their own property and return with it, paying the captain of the boat in cash or otherwise. Frequently flour barrels are opened,

The reports say William Stillwell, shot in the hip by arrow; "John, the Spaniard," also shot in the hip; McDonald, accidentally shot by the gnard. At The Dalles two guards, Jackson and Packwood, were decoyed from camp by Indians a