TO
CALIFORNIA: May 30, 1843 (No arrival date mentioned)
[Chapter 7]
.
CHAPTER
7
Hastings begins recruiting a party of
armed men for the overland trip from Oregon to California.
A party of fifty-three emigrants “rendezvous
on the Wallammette river, about twenty miles above the falls.” The
party contains twenty-five armed men.
On May 30th, the party leaves for California.
The party arrives at Rogue’s river in
southern Oregon.
Amid considerable confusion and distrust
on both sides, local Indians assist the emigrants in the crossing of Rogue’s
river.
The party meets a company of drovers
and emigrants who were going from California to Oregon.
The two groups camp together.
Hastings’ party “[has] nothing very favorable to say of Oregon,” and the
other group does not have “much to say in favor of California.”
One-third of the Hastings party “[is]
prevailed upon to return to Oregon.” It reduces the number of armed
men in Hastings party to sixteen.
Hastings encounters two Indians chasing
a cow that had strayed from the California group. Hastings shoots
at the two Indians, driving them away. The party kills and eats the
cow.
At the Chasty river, a small tributary
of Rogue’s river, Hastings’ party is attacked by Indians.
One man and two horses are severely
wounded in the attack. The man recovers.
The party arrives “at the Sacramento
river, in California, about one hundred and fifty miles above the bay of
St. Francisco.” The party is attacked by about four hundred Indians.
The attack is repelled with the loss of about twenty Indians.
Two men are lost from the party for
several days but turn up later.
The party arrives at Capt. Sutter’s
fort. Capt. Sutter “render[s] every one of the party, every assistance
in his power…”
