Sailors Battle Indians in Southern Oregon
up the beach to the north. The Indian advised them that once they were beyond a certain point they should be safe because they could be crossing into the territory of the Coos Bay, Umpqua, and Clickitat Indians, so the Indians from the south would not follow. That day they reached Coos Bay, where some friendly Indians fed them salmon, elk, and salmon berries.
After spending the night with the Indians, the men proceeded on foot to the Umpqua River. The first night a huge wind storm blew, soaking them with rain. But the next morning as they walked on the beach they found the wind had washed up dozens of fish on the shore. The men cooked some for another good meal and took some with them. When they reached the Umpqua, some white men on the other side rowed across and picked them up. The men rested while Kirkpatrick when on for help at Portland.
In the meantime, Tichenor's boat had been seized for debt in San Francisco. But Colonel John B. Ferguson, the U.S. mail agent for California and Oregon convinced the captain of the steamer "Columbia" to sail to Port Orford because of the dangerous Indians there. The steamer arrived the day after the men fled the rock. The sailors found evidence of a fight and the body of the white Indian and believed the previous sailors had been wiped out. Tichenor later returned with 66 men and established a colony here.
Kirkpatrick reached Portland on July 11, 1851. One other man of the nine was killed by Indians. The rest never ventured to the wild again, but stayed in civilization.
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