"Lieut.-Col., Com'g Left Col."
A most bitterly disputed feature of this battle was the killing of Peupeumoxmox. It has been esteemed by many as nothing short of murder. The author of this work found difference of opinion among the old-timers formerly resident in Walla Walla, as Lewis McMorris and James McAuliffe, as to the rights and wrongs of the case. The former narrated a ghastly story as follows: The Indian chief having been taken prisoner with several followers was under guard. In the hottest of the fight they undertook to escape. The guards shot them down. The body of the old chieftain was mutilated. His ears were cut off and put in a jar of whiskey in order to preserve them, and subsequently they were nailed to the State House at Salem. But, according to McMorris, the whiskey in the jar disappeared. It was believed by the soldiers that a certain lieutenant had taken it for beverage purposes, and it was common for someone in camp to bawl out at night when he could not be identified, "Who drank the whiskey off of Peupeumoxmox's ears?" This event, while so repulsive, casts a certain light on the conditions. Perhaps a fuller view can be obtained by quoting the official superintendent, Joel Palmer, as follows:
"We arrived near the camp (Walla Wallas) just before night (the 5th of December), and were met by Peupeumoxmox and about fifty of his men with a white flag. They asked for a talk. We halted (Colonel Kelly's command) and demanded what he wanted. He said peace. We told him to come with us and we would talk. He said no. We then told him to take back his flag and we would fight. He said no. We then told him to take his choice—go back and fight or come and stop with us. He chose the latter. We retained him until the next day. We tried to come to an understanding, but could not. We still retained him as a prisoner, with four of his men who came along with him. The next morning, the seventh, a large force attacked us as we left camp. In trying to escape from their guard during the seventh, they were killed."
As presenting the other view of the subject, we quote from Colonel Gilbert as follows:
"An important event transpired that day which it would be more proper to designate as a disgraceful tragedy enacted, that is omitted from this official report. The following is an account of it, as given to the writer by Lewis McMorris, who was present at the time and saw what he narrated. * * * The combatants had passed on up the valley, and the distant detonation of their guns could be heard. The flag of truce prisoners were there under guard, and everyone seemed electrified with suppressed excitement. A wounded man came in with his shattered arm dangling at his side, and reported Captain Bennett killed at the front. This added to the excitement, and the attention of all was more or less attracted to the wounded man, when some one said, 'Look out, or the Indians will get away!' At this, seemingly, every one yelled, 'Shoot 'em! Shoot 'em!' and on the instant there was a rattle of musketry on all sides.
"What followed was so quick, and there were so many acting that McMorris could not see it in detail, though all was transpiring within a few yards of, and around him. It was over in a minute, and three of the five prisoners were dead; another was wounded, knocked senseless and supposed to be dead, who afterwards recovered consciousness, and was shot to put him out of misery, while the fifth was spared because he was a Nez Percé. * * * All were scalped in a few minutes, and later the body of Yellow Bird, the great Walla Walla chief, was mutilated in a way that should entitle those who did it to a prominent niche in the ghoulish temple erected to commemorate the infamous acts of soulless men. Let us draw a screen upon this affair that has cast a shadow over the otherwise bright record of Oregon volunteers in that war, remembering, when we do so, that but few of them were responsible for its occurrence."
Following this decisive victory of Colonel Kelly and his command, in December, 1855, on the Walla Walla, a second regiment of Washington volunteers was despatched for Walla Walla in the summer of 1856 in command of Col. B. F. Shaw. On July 17, 1856, Colonel Shaw gained a brilliant victory over the allied forces of the savages in the Grande Ronde. While this important campaign was in progress, Governor Stevens had his hands full in Western Washington. The little settlement at Seattle had been nearly destroyed. Many of the settlers in the scattered settlements on the sound had lost their lives, their homes were destroyed and their stock driven off. In the spring the Klickitat Indians had made a sudden dash upon the settlements on the Columbia River between the White Salmon and the Cascades. A certain young lieutenant, afterwards somewhat distinguished, fought his first battle at the latter point. It was Phil Sheridan. In spite of these absorbing events in Western Washington and at the Cascades, Governor Stevens, realizing the vital importance of holding the allegiance of the Nez Perces, proceeded to Walla Walla for another council. His location was about two miles above the camp of 1855. Shortly after his arrival, Col. E. J. Steptoe of the regular army made camp at the location of the present fort.
And now came on the second great Walla Walla council. The tribes were fathered as before, and were aligned as before. The division of Nez Perces under Lawyer stood firmly by Stevens and the treaty. The others did not. The most unfortunate feature of the entire matter was that Colonel Steptoe, acting under General Wool's instructions, thus far kept secret, refused to grant Stevens adequate support and subjected him to humiliations which galled the fiery Governor to the limit. In fact, had it not been for the vigilance of the faithful Nez Perces of Lawyer's band, Stevens and his force would surely have met the doom prepared for them at the first council. The debt of gratitude due Lawyer is incalculable. Spotted Eagle ought to be recorded, too, as of similar devotion and watchfulness. Governor Stevens afterward declared that a speech by him in favor of the whites was equal in feeling, truth, and courage to any speech that he ever heard from any orator whatever.
But in spite of oratory, zeal, and argument, nothing could overcome the influence of Kamiakin, Owhi, Quelchen, Five Crows and others of the Yakimas and Cayuses. Nothing was gained. They stood just where they were a year before. The fatal results of divided counsels between regulars and volunteers were apparent.