By Chuck Haviland

John Flett wrote  an article noting that 23 Families from the Red River area of Canada went westward to the Puget sound area on the request of acting governor Duncan Fenelon of the HBC, in 1841. Among those who came were John Flett and three brothers, and John Tate, John Spence, James and Alexander Burston. Alexander Burston homesteaded on American Lake. Most of the party went on to the Oregon Territory.

In 1853, the Washington Territory was created (this included Idaho and Washington State). Oregon Territory (this includes Washington) was governed by Isaac Ingalls Stevens, a small man, with large ambitions and a keen sense of intelligence. He was appointed as governor in 1853 (by an appointment of President Franklin Pierce).  One of his duties was to act as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Following his appointment as Governor he immediately set to work  in petitioning congress for the money to set up a Territorial Library, and money to establish a University.  It was his duties  as The Superintendent of Indian Affairs  that he was most  noted for.  Wasting no time after being appointed Governor he met with the Indians.  He set up councils representing the  various indigent tribes, for the express purpose of establishing reservations and to settle clearly defined areas for the Indian reservations.  In 1854 he held his first council at Medicine creek in the Nisqually river delta.   It was here that the Medicine Creek Treaty was deliberated and eventually signed.  The Nisqually’s, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Squaxin and other tribes were notified in advance of the negotiations.  What the tribes received were small reservations.  This brought the tribes together, but allowed them to continue to fish and hunt as they had in the past.  The government pledged to provide schools, blacksmith shops, carpenters and medical care. Pleased with the quick settlement of the Medicine Creek Treaty, he felt that soon he would have settled with all of the indian tribes in the territory.

What he did not understand was that the Indian leadership did not have the full commitment to act on behalf of all of the tribes members.  In fact many tribes were not even present at the Medicine Creek negotiation.  Those members that were there had only limited authority to act  on behalf of the tribes.  Some of them had no authority at all.

The Walla Walla Indian council representing the Nez Perce, Yakima, Walla Walla and Cayuse bands were reluctant to participate, at the Walla Walla council.  The council was formally convened on 29 May, 1855, with thousands of Indians being represented.  Some of the reservations were set up to contain Indian tribes that had always been at war with one another.  It did not matter to Stevens in his hurried decision to settle the Indian claims.  War brook out almost immediately with the Indians.  Six white miners and sub-indian agent A. J. Bolon were killed in Yakama.

In the spring of 1856 the U S Army troops and volunteers scattered the Indians east of the cascade mountains. Feuding officials west of the cascades pursued two alternate strategies. 1) Governor Stevens wanted to push the Indians onto their reservations and 2) Major-General John Wool felt that the Indian war was due to greedy civilians who were attempting to settle on Indian lands.  Neither individual understood that what the Indians were fighting for was their nomadic free lifestyle.  The Indians did  not believe that anyone could own the land. That the land was there for all to use as they had in their customary ways before the white men came into their lands.

The actual war began in Mid-September when Charles Mason, the Lt. Governor, was acting Governor. He was informed that Indians in eastern Washington had killed a number of white men. Upon learning of this he immediately sent Lt. William Slaughter and his men to Naches Pass.  While enroute, Maloney decided to seek further instructions from his superiors.  He was afraid that his leaving the Puget Sound Area would leave the area defenseless to the indigent Indian population.  His fears were well founded. A few days later local Indians at the White River settlement killed a few settlers.  Messengers from the detachment at Naches Pass were killed while enroute to Steilacoom.

While there were many skirmishes and clashes the most decisive battle west of the cascades was at Connell’s Prairie. Lt. Gilmore Hayes reported that 150 indian warriors had attacked his attachment of 110 men.  The battle raged on through out the day.  Eventually the Indians were routed out by his troops and chased a mile or so down the road.

So much was going on with new frontiers of Washington Territory that few people associate with or are left to remember the skirmishes and battles being fought with the Indians in Southern Oregon, along the Rogue River. In 1839, the total white population in Oregon did  not exceed 100 people.  But just four years later it exceeded more than 900 people and it continued to  grow for many years. In 1844, an Indian named Cockstock with four Mollala Indians came into Oregon City with their weapons out  and brandishing them in front of the white citizens.  In the melee that followed George LeBraton the clerk of the provisional government was fatally wounded.  Cockstock was slain by Winslow Anderson a free black settler, but the Mollala Indians escaped unhurt. Until  this time good relations had been maintained between the indian’s and the settlers.   A military force under the command of Captain T. D. Keysur was authorized by the provisional government.  They did maintain peace for a while. In 1847 members of the Cayuse tribe killed 14 people. By noon of the next day word of the massacre reached the provisional government and a new force of 45 riflemen were authorized.  These men became known as the ‘Oregon Rifles’. No difficulty was encountered in obtaining volunteers.  However, they had to provide their own horse, clothing, weapons, ect. The Indians continued raiding and skirmishing with the settlers.

In 1853, another major war broke out with the Rogue River Indians, this was finally controlled  by a larger Oregon force until the Indians sought peace.

Pierce County has some of the best arable land and timber around.  Their citizens are mostly of good sound character and strong morals.  However, recently (1855) they have been the subject of a somewhat disappointing county sheriff. Apparently a group of citizens were very displeased with the performance of George Williams, the then acting sheriff.   In this early instance the people signed a resolution. The resolutions were:

1)      “That we the people…do now denounce George Williams, the present sheriff, …unworthy of the position he now occupies……especially we wish to express our indignation at the part our sheriff acted in the nonexecution of the law..

2)   That we do most urgently pray for the proper authority to remove and         disencumber the present tool, namely James M. Bacheder of the high position of U.S. Commissioner and confer the trust to a more honest man.

1)      That we consider the thing that calls himself an attorney, Namely Frank Clark…..

2)      That we believe that the officers of the military garrison at Fort  Steilacoom are a clog and detriment to the execution of  civil law

3)      That we hold as enemies to law and order ……..in the case of Chief Leschi.

4)      That we now firmly believe that Dr. Tolmie ..of the Hudson’s Bay Co. are the Indians friends and abettors and the enemies of the settlers..

5)      That  we deprecate and denounce in unmeasured terms the grog shop influence which has controlled our elections.

6)      That the citizens of Pierce County… . .wish to publish to the world that we have resolved to see the use of civil law….

These 8 resolutions were signed  by +/- 65 individuals, I recognized many of the names on this resolution, i. e. E. M.. Meeker, W. P. Byrd, Michael Eustace, E. R. Rogers and Christopher Mahon etc.   This was a very clear statement made by the settlers in regard to their government and its actions.

Henry Murray had left Olympia for the Muck Creek area where he obtained a donation land claim of 640 acres.  The following map shows in detail where his D.  L. C. was located  (#41 on this map).  The roads, general topography and neighbors are also shown  thereon. His D. L. C. is highlighted in  pink and noted as # 41.  His neighbor to the East was The Henry Smith DLC.  Muck Creek ran thru his property. And along the north side a road is shown going East – West. Highlighted in yellow are other homesteads that people lived on.  About 3 – 4 miles East of his property was the town of Benston and Muck creek church and cemetery.  It must have been some change for Henry to go from the bustling town of Olympia to the quiet homestead along Muck Creek.

He did have neighbors, but they all lived miles from his homestead that socializing was difficult. Other neighbors within this six mile square township are Charles Wren, Peter Wilson, George Dean, M.P. Clute, John McPhail and John McCloud all had filed for their own DLC’s.  The map shows other homesteaders such as J. Grant, C. I. Corica, Geo. Brown, C. Wheeler, T. Adean, Vinson, etc.

A lot of people that were buried at Muck Creek Cemetery (now known as Bethany Cem.), Were mentioned by Andy Anderson in his book “In the Shadow of the Mountain”.