December 23, 1855: White volunteers surrounded a friendly Rogue River Indian village they had visited the day before. The village was mostly unarmed. The whites attacked, and nineteen Indian men were killed. The women and children were driven into the cold. The survivors arrived at Fort Lane in southwestern Oregon with severe frostbite and frozen limbs. Who were these volunteers and why did they attack the Indians? Many of them were miners. They wanted the land the Indians were on for mining purposes. But; this was a frequent occurrence of miners attacking Indians under the names of volunteers. Often doing so while drunk, at night and not always allowing the women and children to escape. I must say that considering what the Apache are going through right now, having their lands taken away for mining purposes.... this day in history story stikes a sore nerve.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:08:54 +0000
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