HomeMy Public PortalAboutClay, Tom Katherinel A.
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C �.`�mcis a: ara, of 7/1 =MUMS ? M5, TiTO AS CIA! ,l,a" IPX% DinfiU og ue f�
Ts317,0 hkh'n v ` t h}3' magh na m of WA ;'.iiztoe . s Z the stwv ,e NGd `s
eireot from thy laps of ona wh4 has siatftrdwvi,h hsols bicodt
rstWriAs.
E%,Ge,Tts:S1� Clay, � ��K�;.�,�•.�3 �,:?��•m�� i����r��t: e;ret'n rsm 5 ;�T01 011542 Floe .4i,h.s•�»
4 Mead€ws® l asho had the terrible ouperiemoo of orts g he t uslteati sad tare mem friymas
Na�e=744 beams t> by t•h% indixra tld hg,7- ZoW f . A (gAl . - C"iQ C.:3Tal=0
Sa <iJud'�x oo 3v aad k X;ia - deaA a 17om har, , h .r t vas sFx�S±. A Jbv1 s g'zly t y the
horrible =Wifnaepa Which aWs ymit the=ugn st this ti: ov wA Est corimtrMIT
for this
�y 4 hmrs , cT„rryin � a ha e„ �z.;�.A�/ t�oy,��F-,�)*t thy, �.l l sna, y ,�'a^s� wit= y,r.�re hn�' ed bsee g ,.y
sli is h 9 a�i ��i,,,,� Pf�''te�p •'� 1Y to Palk I�.`�O�i1 G.,..-F�ea,<�h�Mr y.'9 trt '�[aa4ro to �Y.N! h 'a1 i ����sh od4.
, 1.�' teF7: ...Pia �, .� �i4�' h-.��..� e���+.s. .4 i �n a..n ,.�... iu1e i �5.,
waft= 4y0 wue smagn to hawa gather killed or drivsn innane a lees comragams s6d grltt7
�Aitzn,e
rathelri.21,2 a�. m oviw from Cemony a w,,,,1slip a girl t1t►9 rralatiami9,
eoring si.rousd tfte Her.ev and going in the spirt of act cur , to the twerlrene pi ggiine in
north IdMe. Pere ehe married ied i r. Osbarm and after a mhoft tize er,vnt at ;a they sold
out them interests, area wept to the .rails n b"a.ver Eemnt3?y, 1t MA W1'�.:a, y14;7,*
June 13v in7„ thtt Dtes, Ostynn passed throvii01 the met terrible experience of her life.
ThTy were liwing et F reoch Oarp three miles from the wesent town of Jhi,tebird. man of
the fa:„i.:Vp �.r41+, Clay tea. were aut ham- Vie; the neighbors get in their hey when ra
re to4411g 74 rod0 rip ,1214 Ti` mit.� I that four T nn ha,d h a,e a rsprt67.,4 by the Imdans an
Slate crtek, not raP oer4t„7® ` he ma% wmre si*nt. ko7 41-md end tvis
Harry '4A$on, ear rued at enao to arrsin e to gat the maple of the Mi r T, count leT
togFither at the oad..iia a 014 , LA Bakery, whose T:»l ago was so bRAilt that it wail be be..ter
fortified tt so any other cabin in the sicinIt70
r re, Clay, then Mrs, Osborn, with has fmr ;i7 S21.iA and i'Pre, st.lch.hern�'''..ighbor,
with too children started .rith three <. n„ V ra O =;bnTll, t r. Yawn and sa nan known +1 Big
("1, 1r_ e. for the Baker cabin. Pawing only three tre9reee„ it was necessary that Vlo i"t";ild.g.en
ride, and Mrs, 4&lch not being wall, '.e also, Lacing Xrue 03bo'n and the t/trills i mVa,
to walk,
term s„ run of wicateg=nt, 74s , Osborn ,far nd ahead of the mon all the way,
krriving at a creak ro door that they had to all u.Te the ;ears?es to gcrd,ere. ftborn
crossed first, azIfi just as sh9 care to the f ance surrom,ling the Ba sr cabin, she spied
the Ike`1 "en Ths7 :at FJn,:;o 17 i r.1eged to 1.'LT,""s a" c,17 l.t(r; hlf71 no.
".3sEl t3aii o to tie rezl . Ti .':iS party riw ':i?.`. ... a ; ncci +'1°u ? 4or, , F,,io ?t: .1 :..' .
taking tho youngest child in her .arrs saying* might sae •Nam die togathae„ honeying
it v; il? t.htir° last reanent on earth. Iv telling the story !re, Osborne said;, °thee bullets *ere
so t',ick that. thy teered li a mhow f rup:,ipi down as thoy did in the ridat of the willow
s r°rrundinj tho %akar p1 ca, the Indians :nriJ ntly lost sight of the party for they soon 4
paesed is an to the :err cabin,
Aft lr° waiting a time the pasta cautiously era t up the creek to a ahallow spot where
they recrossed, t is time on fool, the water coring up to the 'Alisto of the It Wr.l
necessary for the ran to rake six- tri: s across the creek before t .e.. got woran and
chel.dren all across, They had but one gun ith the-, and at this time but two cartridges
left. rte of the stray ehote frtr- the Indian's K ifics had it the little fingar of Big
Geer e, -rha sufferNId intcrma The Iittie party hAd 1At ho,n at ?_ o'clock in the aft .r-
no n imi har, :alk ;-f elnost cunt. nuouel until i o'clock the next mornin Th'y held a
counc i, and concluded t~e saffe-•t thing to 4o 4an go down to Lewiston in a boat. At
t,hm st(,re !.,!,t. by Wrr! rL*or., ab ut A Triln from t,le lore of the Osborne, vhich was
rnl, a r»ort distance fr,•m ...,•r of Grangey.l].'s, they kivm they could 6mt
5 • .
1 D.
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Page 2 •
sore boats. Arrivinp, at the store the: found that the Indians had o:eer.1 teere and had
atolen all toe 91.ij 3t%rt'!-.71 l3. t.") S ,S (jSbnr/10 sonet
sup. lies to take with tete and just As thly reeeeeee tee cloor of tee cebin.„ ."rs. eaberne
called out, "Here they coee:4 beine, b rtii the arty at this tip el chueet lieht of a
bane of braves cerire; down a hi il some rres awey.
At the alAre even- try rs. Osborn, the narty at once uerieei into the cab'oa, the: weeen
end elekleiren crawling un.:er the ofe,i. o aoreier c'sid the :eel ber tht e:,-or then the Irell.Ane
efere upon there, and firing thereeeh the ein...oe., the first eh t vent airactly t-erourh the
heart of !,r. shorne, who fell over deed not two feet free his vire. Oth she.t.s stunned
both .'aeon And Georee .The 1413 eith the -;arty. The Jr -Ater -le t'len ete,7-ted to burn the
house setting fire to one corner.
The wren ,.ebated eha.t they ehnuld Rio ,heetn thee sae the fire, having rie-earer.t1,y only
two alternAtives, Viet of being burned. to death, or tortured to Oeato. .suet then Siez George
rho had been stunned try the shot which he bed. receiver. arotrsee hie;elf :let ed on the
• Berl to Mite tha defenseless eoren just, as the Indiano broke open the Boor. 1!The to1.1 brains •
semen were
instantly blown out, and as Harry rason raised his •eeed, ret the car e fate. o
and -their six helpless chi.leren dere thus left to the T:ercy of the drink crazed re:inking.
In telling of the horrible events of this awful Oebern stated that not a child
welepered, even when the shots were fired. In spkte of their lone journey, throueh every -
obstacle, and even goiw, without fooe. they were absolutely quiet.
o1hen the doer was burst open Chief 4hitebird enteree end aseured the won en that he
internee e to seAre the weeen are: s:Ite cf erctests teey were troeted ehaele-
fully, the chief sewing to have no influence over his braves. "They startei to ransack the
house," says Mra. Osborn and i was 30 nerVous ov.ir a.11 I hed eere throueh that I was pretty
:tater, I guess, end 1.fhitebird se.id, 'You iceee still; if eou Oortft I can't :intact you."
The chief finally succeeded in g,etting the wooen ane children out of the 17,"_MIF3',..? are.' they
started for the hoes of Uncle John 'i400de... 12 riles ten the way they ret a : r. ehoereteer,
who: had orig,ine.11y ..-3tarted with t tan in their flight fro; the in.:Ilene, but eheee thee, had
dropeed behind. at lone point. ,Ii..tin4„; the youneeet child of rrs. Osborn on his beck, he
started ahe;,-4.d. !le arrived first et the +o,te'...s htx vrhitre bOth ere.; wao st lined
fror the happenings of the.. day coulu not tell anet.'-ine, ta;cine 11.ti.le.:! 2-year
old child on her lee, errs. •ioods learned from her th.e tree tee. "Paea. shot deee, uncle
de,d, Indians shoot. &Ira cortine."
rrs. 4c.eld Rade out ,elougrt of the story to truels -ehat `:adened are! her lee,:erei
once smt eut a friendly Indian with the oneLy horse thee had to 1-%oet !he eerty.
Fre. Oeborn eare that .-41,3r1 she sAq friendle Inelan, --rho, she ead %neon before,
to. Le,: :ttletre.
kept her sence, but now that aid Alas in si.".1t, fainted.
e
The two .faerilied reraineei at i he .--loode ho7e for nix weeks -Then they went neeein to
Narrernos etigging. He tetra. Osb(o•rx ewe-or-te' eercelf arei children taking in washine, the
only thine she wes abl.e to do, and at the ti; e eh.o weiehed onle :":14 pounds, until s.trut a
year and half later when she earried mr. Claes :eho oied in 1.9()„
Mrs. Clay has liNeed to rear six of -nee. eieht chillrer.., to eive then all a eood ed-
ucation and to now enjoy her old etee ae.ong her :;ran ohiliren. The terrible tragedy of ter.l.
awful 13th of June, VT., ctill fresh in IM:57"OrY i.n it:' ed.nuteeirt deteoen., is noe• tore
like a horrible erazet which she layed one of the star parts. 7`.er hove for seee gears hAe
track of re-s. Vialch, her coeeanion of tee eraeecter.
" M i s s F i i s e h e t h K l e i n , b o r n e i n t h e t o w n o f h e s s e n d a e t o d t , G e r m a n y , i n t h e y e a r 1 8 4 5 ,
w a s d e s t f n e e l a t e r t o b e c a l l e d t h e : ' o t h e r o f M e a d o w s V a l l e y . T h u s b e g i n s a n a c c o u n t o f h e r
l i f e a n d i n e i d e n t s c o n n e c t e d t h e r e w i t h .
T h e l i f e o f E l i z a b e t h w a s n o t a l t o g e t h e r a h a p p y o n e a t h o m e i n l e r r s . S h e h a d o n s
b r o t h e r , a n d t h r e e
T h e s o n f o r 4 t h i s ��w a s , t h a t t h e s t e p e m o t e r g s v e r y c r o s s e i n d d e s a n u r b e r o f h a l f - b r o t h e e e a n d s i s t e r s �� s e l d o m i c h s h e
u n f a i r t o t h e
A ; e a n t i o r n e d s
s t e p - c h i l d r e n .
W h e n E l i s a b e t h w a s 1 8 y e a r s o l d , a n u r b e r o f y o u n g p e o p l e i n t h e t e e n h a d h e a r d a
g r o a t d e a l e b o u t t e e r e w W o r l d , a n d a l l t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s ! ' t h a t , o n e h a d f o r m a k i n g a s t a r t
i n l i f e , e o s h e a n d a y o u n g e r s i s t e r , A n n a , d e c i d e d t o j o i n a g r o u p t h a t w a s t o s a i l f o r
e a r l y ��
t h e M e w W o r l d . T h e y l e f t C s r r ��a r ��y e a r i n t h e s p r i n g o f 1 8 6 3 . T h e o p e n s a i l i n g b o a t i n w h i c h
t h e y t r a v e l e d w a s u n m a n . , a n d a f f o r d e d n o e x t r a r o o m f o r l u g g a g e , s o e a c h p a s s e n g 3 r w a s
w a r n e d n o t t o t a k e m o r e b a g g a g e t h a n w a s b a r e l y n e c e s s a r y . O i t e a a z n a h e r 1 6 y e a r o l d s i s t e r
m a n a g e d t o g e t a l l o f t h e i r n e c e s s a r y c l o t h i n g i n a f l o u r s a c k , w h i c h a n s w e r e d t h e p u r p o s e
o f t h e s u i t c a s e s o r t o d a y . T h e y w e r e t o s s e d a b o u t o n t h e s e a ; f o r 4 9 d a y s w i t h o u t s e e i n g
l a n d . T h e f o o d t h e y h a d w a s v e r y s i m p l e , b u t s l a b " s a i d p l e n t y g o o d b o c a 3 u o e m o s t e v e r y o n e
w a s s o s i n k t h e y d i d n ' t c a r e t o e a t .
A n n a s o o n b e c a m e v e r y h o m e s i c k a n d c r i e d i n d b e g g e d t o r e t u r n h o m e , b u t E l i s a b e t h
w a s a l w a y s f i r m i n h e r d e c i s i o n t o m a k e a h o n e i n t h e N e w W o r l d w ' " " 1 e r e t h e r e a s r o m f o r
e v e r y m a e
y . o s h e r o t h s r e d a n d c o m f o r t e d t h e v n e e r s i n t e r , t e l l i n g h e r a 1
a b o u t w h a t a g r a n d p l a c e i t w o u l d b e t e n t h e y �% a r r i v e d a t h a m F r a n c i s .
W h e n t h e y a t l a s t l a r d e d a t B o s t o n , A r e n a w a s d e t e s r a f i n e d t o r e t u r n t o G e r m a n y , b u t
f i n a l l y s h e w a s p e r s u a d e d t o
o f o o n t o 3 a n R e s t e y r n a n d s a i l e d i s c o a r o e ��n c { a C a p a H o r n , a n r �� h a r r i e d
L + 3 ���% u p s t o r a r m "
T h e y a g a i n t r e k a b o a t a n
F r a n c i s c o , l a n d i n g , s a m e t i m e i n t h e f a l l o f 1 � 6 3 .
H e r e , t h e y f o u n d p l e n t y o f m a r k , a n d l i v e d w i t h t h e r a r r i e d s i s t e r , M a r y , f o r a b o u t a
y e a r . B y t h i s t i n e M a r y e n d h e r h u s b a n d a d a c e u n u l a t e d c o n s i e e r a a b l e w e a l t h , h a v i n g b e e n i n
C a l i f o r n i a d u r i n g t h e C a l i f o r n i a G o l d R u s h o f 1 4 9 . S o t h e y d e c i d e d a r e t u e p e r m o t o ` e S l i z a b e t h ' s
r a n Y s
b u t s t i l l t h e u r g e f o r a h o m e , a n d a l i f e n o t d i c t a t e d b y a n y
o n e m i n d , a n d a g a i n s h e p e r s u a d e d t h e y o u n g e r s i s t e r t o c o m a w i t h h e r t o t h e n e w g o l d f i e l d s ,
a n d p r O s p e r o u s s g r o w i n g t o w n s o f I d a h o , w h e r e t h e y c o u l d a l w y a f r e t p l e n t y o f w o r k : a n d g o o d
p e a ' , t h o u g h t h e l i v i n g a t t i r e s w a s h i g h e
S o o n a f t e r N a r y a n d h e r h u s b a n d r e t u r n e d t o G e r m a n ' t h e t w n s i s t e r s d d e i d e a d t o l e a v e
S a c s F r a n c i s c o a n d g o t o P o r t l a n d , O r e g o n , t h e n b y b o a t t h e y t r a v e l e d u p t h e C o l u m b i a R i v e r ,
a n d f i n a l l y i n a v a r y s m a l l b o a t t h e ; ; f o l l o w e d t h e 3 n a k c e R i v e r u n t i l t h e y l a n d e d a t t h i s
a t
L e w i s t o n , I d a h o i n 1 8 6 5 . T h e r e t h e y s t a y e d f o r o n e y e a r . T h e t e e n o . L e w i s t o n
��
t i n e w a s t h e i u e o r t a n t t o w n o f I d a h o , a s i t ' s b e i n g l o c a t e d o n t h e S f a a k e R i v e r a f f o r d e d
p a c k e d
��. , , s t a t i c n - �� a l l n i n i n 7 a p p l i e s t o b e s e n t f r o m P o r t l a n d , O r e g o n ,
a n d o u t t o t h e v a r i o u s m e n a n g c a m p s 0 1 r i u r t s a w o " 1 ��" " . ��, . �� . ���� . _ . _ . _ a _ _ _ _ .
I n t h e s u m m e r o f 1 8 6 6 , t h e t w o s i s t e r s i n c o m p a n y " W i t h s e r v e r e l o t h e r s d e c i d e d t o
t r a v e l o n i n t o t h e m i n i n g c a m p o f 4 a r r e n s . T h i s t r i p h a d t o b e t a k e n o n h o r s e b e c k .
N e i t h e r o f t h e g i r l s h a d e v e r r i d d e n h o r s e b a c k b u t t h a t W A S n o t c o r e - r e e a s b r i e l e g o u t
o f t h e o r d i n a r y . S o t h e y r e e v e e a c h g i v e n a g o r s e t h a t h a d b e e n e q u i n a d
d a
s i d e e a d d l e . F o r t h e m o s t p a r t t h e h o r s e s f o l l o w e d t h e g u i d e , s o a l l . t h a t w a s r e q u i r e d o f t h a
g i r l s W A S t o b e a b l e t o s i t i n t h e s a d d l e . T h i s , h o w e v e r , b . = C a r e l d i f f i c u l t a f t e r h o u r s a n d
h o u r s o f t r a v e l . T h e y r e l a t e t h a t t h e y n e v e r k n e w s o r a m s n o r e s p o t s c o u l d d e v e l o p f r o m
s i t t i n g . r e s i n h e l p e d f r o m t h e h o r s e s t h e f i r s t n i g h t t h e y w e r e u n a b l e t o S t a n . , H o w e v e r ,
b y m o r e n g t h e y h a d r e s t e d s u f f i c i e n t l y t o c o n t i n u e t h e t r i p . W e n s n i n t h o s e d a y s w e r e t h e
o n e t h i n g a l l m i n e r s w o u l d t a k e t i r o t o v i s i t w i t h . T h e r e w a s a g r o u p o f r e n w o r k i n g s o m e -
w h e r e o n t h e t r a i l w h e n t h e p a r t y w a s a n n o u n c e d t o b e c o m i n g . T h e m e a n , a l l a n x i o u s t o U S O .
t h e t w o y o u n g g i r l s , d e c i d e d t o d e l a y t h e p a r t y f o r a w h i l e t h a t t h e y m i g h t m e e t t h e g i r l s ,
s o t h e y r u r p o a e l y f e l l e d a t r e e a c r o s s t h e t r a i l , t h u s t h e p a r t y w a s h o l d u p u n t i l t h e
t r e e w a s c u t o u t o f t h e t r a i l , a n d f r o m a c c o u n t s , t h e s a y i n g p r o g r e s s e d r a t h e r s l o w l y .
H e r e i t w a s t h a t E l i s a b e t h f i r s t m e t t h e m a n s h e l a t e r m a r r i e d .