Lyman's History of old Walla Walla County, Vol. 1 / Embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties

by William Denison Lyman

"When we got well into the Sacramento Valley, just after we had struck camp, an acquaintance rode into camp with his pack-horse and proceeded to camp with us. He had a thrilling story to tell of his previous night's experience. It seemed that the company he traveled with through the hostile country were highly disagreeable to him, so when they reached the Sacramento Valley, where the Indians were friendly, he tore himself away from it and was traveling alone. During the first day of his lone travel he bought a salmon of the Indians. When he camped that night he cooked part of the salmon for supper and laid the balance within a few feet of where he made his bed. After retiring, while looking out into the increasing gloom, he saw an approaching form that looked as large as a covered wagon. His bearship, for such it was, very coolly and unconcernedly appropriated the remainder of the salmon and sat down within a few feet of him and quietly ate it. After eating he still sat there, seeming to ponder on what to do next. In the meantime the campfire got into the dry grass and burnt towards where Mr. Bear was sitting. When it got unpleasantly near him he slowly moved away and disappeared. Some Indians were at the camp in the morning and were shown the track. They assured him the best they could that he was very fortunate in not being served up for a supper for Mr. Bear. When he reached our camp and narrated the circumstance he remarked that he had concluded that he would not camp alone any more.

"I went into the mines and worked with only fair success until late next spring, when I became homesick, and not appreciating the opportunities as I would have in later life, I returned home, where I arrived the 16th of June, 1849.

"After resting a few days I visited a camp meeting that was in progress near Salem. I had visited the meeting at the same grounds the year before. I was very forcibly impressed with the difference in the dress of the people in the two years. The first year, before California had poured her wealth of gold into the country, the people were dressed in very plain pioneer style, the men in buckskin pants with the balance of the suit corresponding, the women in calicoes and muslin. But this year it was very evident that they had freely availed themselves of the privilege that the great quantity of gold that had found its way to Oregon gave them to improve their attire, for in the case of the men broadcloth had taken the place of buckskin, and in the women silks and satins had replaced calico and gingham.

"In 1851 there was a vacancy in the sheriff's office and I was appointed by the county commissioners to fill the vacancy. During my incumbency, in the discharge of my duty as sheriff, it fell to my lot to execute a death warrant by hanging a man by the name of Everman, who had committed a very foul murder. It was not a very pleasant duty to perform and most certainly one that I never wanted to be called on to repeat. This was the first execution for murder in Polk County, and I think the second in the territory, excepting the Indians that were hung at Oregon City for the murder of Doctor Whitman and others.

"There was another circumstance that grew out of the murder case that gave me the unenviable distinction of being the only man that ever put up a white man at auction and sold him to the highest bidder. The man in question was a brother of the above murderer. He was found guilty of being accessory to the murder after the fact, which would entitle him to a term in the penitentiary. There was no penitentiary in the territory at that time, and the judge in sentencing him to a term made the provision in the order that in default of there being a penitentiary he be sold to the highest bidder for the same term that he was sentenced to the penitentiary. Some of my lawyer friends tell me that the judge assumed a very doubtful right in so sentencing the culprit; but no legal move was made to invalidate the judge's order, so the matter rested.

"The above execution occurred on the 11th of May, 1852. That year my future wife crossed the plains and settled in the neighborhood where I lived. After a year's acquaintance we were married and moved onto a donation claim that I had three miles northwest of Dallas. At this time I was engaged in cattle raising.

"We lived here until 1859, when I became disgusted with the long, wet, dreary winters. That, coupled with the growing shortage of public pasturage, caused us to sell and seek a country with less winter rains and more public range. From what we could hear of the Walla Walla country we concluded that the winter weather and range were about what we wanted, so we at once decided to emigrate thither. In July I gathered up the cattle and started. The journey was somewhat tedious, a part of it being over dusty roads and the weather at times hot. I reached Dry Creek at Mr. Aldrich's place, early in August. I bought a man's claim just above the Aldrich place. I stayed some two weeks getting the cattle settled on the range. I started back for the family the first day of September, traveling with saddle-and pack-horse.

"On my way back I had the good fortune to fall in with an immigrant who had been in Oregon and knew the locality where my land was, to sell him my farm, and was thus relieved from being detained on that account.

"I reached home in twelve days after leaving Dry Creek and found the folks all well. We hurriedly made arrangements for our departure to the place that I had selected for our new home. We bundled our household goods into a wagon, bade good-bye to our friends and started. We drove over the country to Portland, where we put the wagon and team on the boat and got on ourselves, and finally landed at The Dalles. From there we took the wagon to Walla Walla, arriving at our new home the 23rd of October.

"There was nothing there in the shape of a house but a miserable hut that would neither protect us from the rain or cold. Therefore it was very important to build a house at the earliest possible time. I took a man with me into the mountains to assist me in getting out the timbers, and put another one to hauling them as fast as we got them cut; so it was but a few days till we had the material on the ground with which to build a cabin. We at once put it up and finished it so as to make it endurable for the winter.