Sailors Battle Indians in Southern Oregon
After that the white men built a breastwork around the cannon for better protection. He had told the chief that the ship would be back in 14 days, so for 14 days, the Indians left them alone. But on the 15th day, 300-400 Indians came ready for war. They knew their only chance was to take out the leader. Carrigan was their best shot so would fire when the chief was close enough. Carrigan and Kirkpatrick both fired and killed him. Another chief rallied the Indians and began to charge the rock. Carrigan and Kirkpatrick killed him also. The Indians withdrew to their camp about a mile away. They could see other canoes of Indians coming from the direction of the Rogue River. They seemed to be preparing for a night attack.
The white men decided they must escape to save their lives. But first they had to get rid of the Indians guarding them. So they tried to trick the Indians into thinking they weren't going anywhere. They started reinforcing the breastworks. The trick worked and the Indians left.
The men left everything behind except their food, ax, and weapons. The way was tiring but largely uneventful. They encountered some Indians but were able to scare them off without firing a shot. At one point they had to cross a large swamp, where they had to battle mosquitoes.
The next day they reached the Coquille River. There a large force of 300-400 Indians waited for them on the north side of the river. They had passed the white men in the dark the night before. The sailors had no choice but to follow the river inland. When they scaled a tall hill, three or four miles inland, they could see that the Indians were launching canoes to get across the river to them. The men decided to make a raft of driftwood to get away.
After hiding out for the night, they floated downriver in the early morning fog. They ran into three or four Indians in a canoe and commandeered their boat to get farther faster. At this point they sailed back to the sea under cover of darkness. Here they reached a reef covered in mussels. The men harvested some of the shellfish, the first food they had had in four days. They didn't dally though, for a lone Indian warned them of the approaching force of Indians. They quickly started walking up
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