Note 167 — JOURNAL OF TRAVELS OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS (continued 3)

The Indians of Southern Oregon had always been disposed to molest white wayfarers. Witness the troubles of Jedidiah H. Smith in 1828, the massacre of the Turner family in 1835, and the attack on a cattle train in 1837. After 1848, the passage of gold-seekers to and from California intensified the difficulty, whereupon a long series of contests ensued, resulting in open wars, in which Palmer bore an important part. The war of 1853 was terminated by a treaty (September 10) secured by Generals Lane and Palmer; that of 1855 was more serious, being participated in by regular troops as well as Oregon militia. For Palmer's relation to these wars see preface to this volume.-Ed.