|
Home
Mission Statement
Contact Us
Join
Lane House
The Umpqua Trapper
Selected Histories
Family Queries
Wish List
Links
Search
Schedule
Research
| |
The Battle of Battle Rock - 1851 Oregon
Which took
place in the edge of the Pacific Ocean in
1851,
and where nine men with four old muskets and an old signal
gun repulsed an attack of 150 Indians, killing 23 of them,
and getting away with their lives.
The News-Review
Roseburg, Oregon January 7, 1951
Survivors Of Indian Battle At
Port Orford
Prominent In Lower Umpqua History
A tale connected with the settlement of
Scottsburg and concerning two residents who were to gain much prominence in the
early days of Douglas county is told by Mrs. Anne Kruse in her book, "Yoncalla -
Home of the Eagles." In a chapter dealing with the early settlement along the
Umpqua river, Mrs. Kruse writes: Cyrus Hedden arrived on the Umpqua in late
September of 1851, naked, starving, weak and battered. He was a native of New
Jersey, a member of a naval company engaged in making a survey of the Oregon
coast that year. With a company of eight other men who were exploring along a
river in the Port Orford area, they were attacked by Indians and five of the
party killed. The four survivors scattered and escaped.
One of these, a youth by the name of L. L.
Williams, shot through the body by an arrow, head split open to the bone, beaten
and covered with blood, fought off his assailants with a clubbed gun, and
managed to reach the forest where he found Hedden, who, except for being badly
beaten, was uninjured. Williams' pants had fallen down during the tussle, and he
had no recourse but to kick them away so he could run.
Struggle Recounted
For one long week Hedden struggled northward through
dense forest, deep ravine, thick underbrush and across shifting ocean sands with
a man so sorely wounded that death seemed likely to occur at any minute. They
had nothing to eat but some three leaved sorrel, and a kind of snail which they
found in the woods. Williams managed to partake of the snails, but Hedden was
unable to stomach them. The weather at nights was cold and foggy. Hedden,
sleeping in the lated afternoons, worked over his companion all night rubbing
and striving to keep the circulation going. Williams, in his intense agony,
begged his companion to leave him to die, and try to reach the settlements on
the Umpqua, which he could have easily done. This Hedden refused to do. At last
Williams was able to stagger only a few feet at a time, his body swollen, the
pain so severe that he refused to go farther. Thereupon Hedden removed his own
shirt, twisted it into a sort of rope, which he tied about Williams, looped it
over his own shoulder, and half carried, half dragged the wounded man onward.
Quoting from Williams' diary, Sept. 19, 1851, "Hedden, worn
to a skeleton, working like a beaver all the time, day and night, kept me alive.
In the morning I was bent forward much more, and my body more inflamed, swollen
and discolored. No one could have believed that I could live another hour. Each
step, carefully made, seemed like taking life, yet in obedience to Hedden's
command I was obliged to make an effort to proceed. For choice, I would have
preferred to be left alone, and I begged Hedden to go on to the settlement and
save his own life, but
he preemptorily refused to allow me to even talk about it."
Yet they pressed forward for two days more before they
reached the Umpqua river and found help. They met some Indians who helped carry
Williams to their camp where he was warmed and given water. Then came a party of
men in a rowboat with Captain Gibbs and removed both Hedden and Williams, first
to Gardiner and then to Scottsburg where they received every care and comfort.
Hedden speedily recovered, and spent most of his long life in Scottsburg. He
acquired the mercantile business of the Hinsdales' which he operated for many
years. He was succeeded in the enterprise by his son, John N. Hedden. Now a
century after, the business is carried on by a granddaughter, Miss Emma Hedden.
This is the
second installment on the story of Cyrus Hedden and you can read more and
see even more pictures by buying the UMPQUA TRAPPER.
Click here to find out how!
|
