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 George H. Ambrose xxxxxxxxxx
"WESTWARD HO!"--Yesterday passed through our city, en route for Oregon, well equipped in good spirits--Joseph R. Young, wife and three children; James H. Brown, wife and seven children; Stephen Hussey, wife and five children; Dr. George Ambrose and wife, besides several young men--all from this county. Our townsman and brother typo, A. M. Ballard, wife and four children, with Geo. Owen, and one or two other young men, left at the same time. They all have our best wishes. Illinois Daily Journal, Springfield, April 4, 1850, page 3 Going to Oregon.
OAK
DALE, Mo, April 19, 1850.
Dear Sir:Agreeably to promise, I avail myself of a few leisure minutes to let you know how we are getting along in our journey. Our trip so far has been full of incidents and accidents. We have had a vexatious and unpropitious start. In the first place, we found a scarcity of forage for our stock--on which account, we were compelled to deviate from the main road to find grass--in which we were mistaken. Of all the muddy roads that ever were traveled, I think, the one we came was the worst. Circuitous and roundabout, we wound around from one mudhole to ditto. You will be better able to form an idea of the state of the roads when I tell you it would require ten yoke of cattle to disengage our wagons from some muddy places through which we had to pass. We came by the way of Beardstown, Bushville, Quincy and Palmyra, south to the Hannibal road, west to Shelbyville, Mo. We were detained several days at Quincy. Boreas blew such a gale that we were afraid to venture out in our tea-kettle steamer. On Monday, when ready for a start, when we had a flurry of snow, and after that, all kinds of disagreeable weather in the space of twenty-four hours; and so it has continued up to the present--and, owing to the indisposition of several, it was doubly disagreeable. On the 18th, Mr. Brown's eldest son had the misfortune to fall off the tongue of one of the ox wagons, the forewheel of which broke both legs. At the present, he shows every indication of a speedy recovery. Wednesday, 24th. One of Brown's hands, by the name of Powell, stole from him a horse, saddle and bridle, and, from Hathaway Yocum, an overcoat. About a week before, James Bennett had fifty dollars stolen from him, and Jerry Penock about fifteen. I am now in pursuit of Powell. I have heard from him. He is making his way back to Wabash County, Indiana. Mr. Brown's boy is rapidly recovering, though his left thigh was horribly crushed. Yours
Respectfully,
Illinois
Daily Journal, Springfield, May 3, 1850, page
2GEO. H. AMBROSE. From the Oregon Emigrants.
PLATTE
RIVER, June 22, 1850.
Editors of the Journal:Having a leisure moment, I will send you a short letter. We have progressed so far without any serious difficulty, though rather slowly. We are now 150 miles west of Fort Kearny, and about 70 miles east of Fort Laramie. We have been detained here on account of sickness. Joseph Young and wife were quite sick, but are now better. Stephen Hussey was taken last night, but is manifestly better this morning. We hope to be able to start today. The emigrants are suffering a great deal with sickness. The prevailing disease is diarrhea, wrongly called cholera here. The emigration is very large, and the mass are ahead of us; yet we hope to be able to pass a good number when we start again. I have found that we did not start with the right kind of teams. Mr. Ballard is ahead of us, and his team is better suited to the trip than ours. Ordinary-sized cows are the very best teams that travel this road, or very small steers. I have but one yoke that is small enough. It may seem strange to you in the States to talk thus, but you will find it to be the case should you ever come on this road. A yoke of cows are worth here from $50 to $100. They sell higher than steers do. They are in great demand. They will give milk and stand the journey better than steers. Our wagons were all too heavy. A wagon one-third less than the one I started with would be about the right size. This is the prettiest road for a buggy in the world. We have had no bad roads since we left the States. Your roads there for smoothness and excellence bear no comparison to these. From what I can learn buggies go the trip better than any other vehicle. The roads are level and solid, equal to a turnpike. It is the solid gravelly road that wears out the feet of oxen. Their hoofs are cut to the quick. We have left none of our oxen yet, but have several lame ones. This is not a laborious journey, if prepared for it. Light wagons, strong teams and small cattle are very important on this trip. There is every variety of people on the road going in every possible way; some on foot; some on horseback; some with handcarts and wheelbarrows. I have seen several with wheelbarrows (Irishmen). Hundreds are turning back. Many have died on the road. Full one-half of the deaths are from bad treatment. The sick expose themselves very much, and suffer the disease to run on till the last stage. They are when sick thrown into wagons, hot as an oven, covered with dust, and the company drive on, until the sick die. They are then buried, and the word is given--"Drive ahead, boys!" It is certainly strange that men should become so very reckless here; the burying of the dead is brutal. As soon as a person dies the wagon is stopped and a grave dug north and south, east and west, no difference, the corpse thrown in and sand shoveled upon them without any ceremony. Such are not unfrequent occurrences with those whose souls are absorbed in the pursuit of gold, and who act as if they believed the loss of an hour on their journey was the loss of a fortune! We are now within three days travel of Fort Laramie, where this will be mailed. Yours, Respectfully,
JUNE
27.--12 o'clock.--All over the river and ready to start. Fort Laramie
is in sight. We crossed the river without any difficulty. The sick are
all recovering; we expect to be in a healthy country shortly.G. H. AMBROSE. I think if no accident occurs we will get through by the 1st of September. I have not time to write any more at present--very busy reloading our wagons--after which I start for the Fort to buy a light wagon bed, and shall couple my wagon shorter, confident that by doing so it will facilitate our onward march. G.H.A.
We have received a note from Dr. G . H . Ambrose, dated near the South Pass, in which he announces the death of Mr. W. M. Lee. The manuscript is written with a pencil and is somewhat defaced; but we gather from it that he belonged to Lagrange County, Indiana; that his body was found near Deer Creek, and was buried 1½ miles east of the creek; at the east end of a small grove, 19 yards south-south west of a large scrubby cottonwood, on the bank of the river. Although the note does not say so, we understand from Mr. Constant, who brought it to us, that the body of Mr. Lee was found in the river, having the appearance of having been drowned. There was found upon the body a bill of exchange for $100, on some bank; also $25 in specie. This property is in the hands of Stephen Hussey, late of this county, now on his way to Oregon. (Indiana papers publish the above.) Illinois Daily Journal, Springfield, September 2, 1850, page 3 Mr. Constant, in company with six others, left Oregon, as before stated, on the 5th of June.… On this side of the Rocky Mountains they met the party of Brown, Young, Hussey and Dr. Ambrose. He learned that Mr. Young had lost his oldest son on the Platte, of diarrhea--sick only two days. There had been much sickness among the emigrants on the south side of the Platte, attributed to bad water, which they took from holes dug in the sand. Illinois Daily Journal, Springfield, September 3, 1850, page 2 FROM OREGON.
We find
the following account of the Indian fights on Rogue River in the Oregonian of the
7th August. Dr. Ambrose, referred to, was late a citizen of Sugar
Creek, in this county. The Oregonian
says--"We have just learnt from Mr. Kennedy, who has arrived from
Shasta and the Rogue River country, that the late difficulty
between
the Indians and whites grew out of a determination on the part
of Sam,
the war chief, to get possession of a little child of Dr. Ambrose,
formerly of Vancouver; and upon refusal of Dr. A. to comply with his
wishes, the chief demanded three beef cattle to be given him, or the
Dr. must leave the valley; whereupon the Dr. made the miners at
Jacksonville acquainted with the facts and his situation, who
immediately formed a company of seventy-five--marched down to Big Bar,
and sent for the chief, to have a talk and make a treaty. The chief
came over, but declined to enter into any terms, and asked for a parley
until the next day, with the understanding that in case he did not come
over with his warriors by 10 o'clock, the whites might consider it as a
declaration of war. The chief came over, but nothing definite could be
arranged with him, and after returning, sent over a party
of his
warriors. The whites made prisoners of these Indians as hostages for
the good faith of "Sam," the chief. Soon after, one of the prisoners
drew his bow upon one of the whites, and was about to shoot, when the
sudden fire of a miner killed the Indian instantly. A regular
engagement immediately followed this event, which lasted about half an
hour, and which resulted in the whites killing all but three or four of
the Indians engaged in the contest. After this, a party, numbering
about forty men, marched down to Evans ferry--attacked a body of
Indians encamped there--killed eleven, and captured three of the
chief's family. The next day, two white men and a Klickitat Indian who
had wandered from the camp were surrounded by some two hundred Indians.
The Klickitat was shot through the body, but is now recovering. The
three escaped, after killing several of the "redskins." That night, the
whites, under cover of the darkness, surrounded the whole band of
Indians in their encampment, and on the approach of daylight, made
their appearance. The Indians, finding themselves completely
surrounded, threw away their arms, and upon their knees begged for
quarter. The miners complied, and they were all marched over to the
Indian Agency, when Judge Skinner made a treaty of peace, which was
signed by all the chiefs."Illinois Daily Journal, Springfield, September 22, 1852, page 2 The Rogue Valley land claim of George Hill Ambrose and Ellen Frances Ambrose is mapped here. Indian Agents Appointed--The following agents have just been appointed for the Indians in Oregon, viz: Nathan Olney, vice J. L. Parrish resigned George H. Ambrose, vice [Samuel H.] Culver resigned. Edwin P. Drew, sub-agent, vice Phillip P. Thompson deceased. The parties are all of Oregon. Evening Star, Washington, D.C., November 3, 1854, page 2 Note that Samuel H. Culver is not Sam Colver. Ambrose's letters as Indian agent can be found among the correspondence of the Oregon Indian Superintendency. |
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