On December 21, 1855, the volunteers in the Walla Walla Valley were faced with a new snow-fall followed by a temperature of 20 degrees below zero. Their equipment and clothing did not con-form to the needs of the weather. Shoes were worn out and many of the men improvised moccasins from rawhide. Blankets and jackets had worn thin. Camp was moved from Fort Bennett to a location several miles north of present-day Walla Walla. There was plenty of beef and ample supplies of potatoes in the new camp and these provisions were supplemented by recovered caches of Indian food with sometimes a ration of something less common. Meanwhile, two companies under Major Ambrose N, Arm-strong were busy recovering property stolen from immigrants. But the volunteers were anxious to return home. They had been in service for several months and the comfort of a home fireside was certainly preferable to a thin tent in sub-zero weather. So Governor Curry, on January 16, 1856, issued a proclamation calling for the recruiting of five companies to relieve the veterans. Recruiting moved quickly and the new troops arrived at Walla Walla on March 1st.
When the Walla Walla had vacated their village on the night of December 5-6, they had gone to the country north of the Snake River. The volunteers could not pursue them because there were no boats so several weeks were spent in constructing six craft to be used in crossing the river. On March 9, 1856, the reorganized regiment crossed the river about 30 miles southwest of the junction of the Palouse. A few Indians congregated to oppose the crossing but they were repulsed with some casualties and the loss of their horses. The horses were slaughtered for food and the command proceeded northeast to the falls of the Palouse where it was decided to camp and await the arrival of supplies from The Dalles. The commissary train reached them on March 23rd when the troops again set out. The weather had turned unusually hot. Their course was due west for 60 miles to what is now the site of the town of White Bluffs on the Columbia River. The country traversed on this march was poor land having little water or grass. Many of the horses died. Several days were spent in rounding up enough Indian horses to re-mount the troops. On March 30th the soldiers again started out, swinging around and returning to the valley of the Walla Walla. There was a recurrent shortage o food and part of the force was detached to go into the Umatilla country and forage for food. It was a poor existence and the troops were often hungry. Also their period of enlistment was about to expire.
Colonel Cornelius was concerned about the inadequate commissary service and the further fact that he had received no news about potential relief by regular soldiers and decided that he should confer with Governor Curry. Accordingly, on April 6 he set out for The Dalles with a part of his command. His route was along the north bank of the Columbia and on the 4th day he was attacked by Kamiakin, Chief of the Yakima, with about 300 warriors. The Indians were repulsed, only one soldier being wounded. The troops could not follow up their victory because of short supplies and continued their march. On April 28th they were camped five miles from The Dalles. There the Indians stampeded the horses leaving the command one of foot soldiers instead of mounted infantrymen. In the meantime Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly, with the remainder of the regiment at Fort Henrietta had suffered a similar raid, on April 21, a large band of Indians having surprised the guard and driven off 45 head of horses.
Colonel Cornelius conferred with Governor Curry, as a result of which the regiment was mustered out of service. For those who wished to continue their enlistment, two companies were organized. One was assigned to protect the Walla Walla Valley and the other the Tyghe Valley. In May an additional company was sent to the latter section, the provisional battalion being commanded by Major Davis Layton.
Meanwhile, the regular army was finally taking affirmative measures to move into the war.
It will be recalled that General Wool had been at Vancouver during the winter. With the mail steamer from San Francisco on January 11, 1856, came word of the Indian troubles in Southern Oregon and Northern California, necessitating the General’s return to San Francisco. Starting his trip down the Columbia his vessel met a transport headed for Vancouver. Aboard was Colonel George Wright and eight companies of the 9th United States Infantry. General Wool assigned Colonel Wright to the command of the Columbia River district. The General’s ship proceeded to sea and later met another vessel northbound aboard which was Lieutenant-Colonel Silas Casey with two companies of the 9th United States Infantry. The General ordered Casey to the command of the Puget Sound district.
Among Colonel Wright’s orders were these: he was to establish his headquarters at The Dalles and to assemble there all the troops which he might find it necessary to use in the Yakima War; to set up a military post at Walla Walla; another on the Yakima River; another midway between The Dalles and the Yakima River post. The strategy called for preventing the Indians from fishing, thus threatening their food supply and advancing the probability of capitulation.
Arriving at Vancouver Colonel Wright took his time, remaining there several weeks after the first five companies of the First Regiment of Oregon Mounted Volunteers had reached -the up-per hostile country. By early March, Colonel Wright began moving his troops to The Dalles, in the course of which movement a large quantity of army supplies were piled up at the Cascades of the Columbia River about 40 miles west of The Dalles. The Cascades were caused by a large number of rocks and rocky islands, with swiftly rushing water in their many channels, making it necessary to portage freight along the shore for a distance of several miles. Small steamers carried the army’s supplies from Vancouver to a point just below the Cascades where un-loading occurred. The goods were then transported around the dangerous rocks and re-loaded on other small steamers above the rapids, then completing the transport to The Dalles. There was a small settlement on the north bank of the river at both the lower and upper ends of the cascades. After the Yakima outbreak of the preceding October, a blockhouse had been erected between the two settlements and there a company of troops was quartered to protect the portage of army supplies. By mid-March all the troops left at Vancouver were ordered to Fort Steilacoom and the company at the Cascades was ordered into the field except eight men under Sergeant Matthew Kelly who were left to garrison the blockhouse. The settlement at the upper end of the Cascades included the store of Bradford & Company. On March 26th, two days after the main body of the garrison had left, the little village was awake bright and early for there was work to be done. A wooden railroad track was being built to re-place the mule-power portage, a bridge was being built from Bradford’s store to one of the rocky islands. The steamer Mary was tied up nearby waiting for cargo, and the steamer Wasco was moored on the south side of the river. Suddenly the residents were startled by the Ind