Clark Massacre
Encyclopedia
In August, 1851, a band of Shoshoni
led by Cho-Cho-Co, also known as Has No Horse, attacked a wagon train led by Thomas Clark on the Oregon Trail near where the Raft River joins the Snake River
in present day Idaho. The Indian’s primary objective, which was accomplished, was to steal horses accompanying the Clark party. They also killed Thomas Clark’s mother and brother and one other man. The wagon train is reputed to have pioneered a southerly alternative to the established Oregon Trail and to have constituted the first white people to camp at the site of modern-day Bend, Oregon.
, the most powerful tribe in the area that would become Eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana. In this area the Shoshone were often known by white people as the Snakes. By late August, the band was short of supplies, particularly good horses, guns, and ammunition. Has No Horse traveled east along the Oregon Trail
to meet his uncle, Deer Fly and borrow soldiers from him. Now reinforced, he identified the Clark party as his target.
and Thomas Clark headed up the river to hunt ducks. The Raft River is about 16 miles (25.7 km) west of the current Massacre Rocks State Park
, an area where several wagon trains were attacked later in the 1850’s. Other men brought many of the horses up to the river ahead of the rest of the wagon train.
The Indian’s strategy was to have some of their number charge the main body of the wagon train at full gallop, creating the maximum amount of confusion. Meanwhile, Has No Horse and others would cut out the horses and drive them away.
When they saw the Indians, the men with the company’s horses took shelter behind some rocks by the river. Hodgson Clark was shot and killed instantly as he climbed up on a wagon wheel to get a gun from the wagon. An older Indian came to unhitch some horses that were tied to the wagon. When Mrs. Clark yelled at him he started shooting at her. When Grace put her arms around her mother to protect her, a bullet went through Grace’s wrist and continued through her mother’s heart, killing her instantly.
Grace was subsequently wounded below the armpit by a bullet that passed entirely through her body. The Indians tore off her clothes. There was at least one white riding with the Indians because Grace reported that one of her attackers had blue eyes. The Indians started to scalp her but stopped when they saw a cloud of dust coming. Thomas Clark had heard the shooting and rode back at full speed with his hunting hounds baying beside him. The Indians thought he was leading a large party of whites so they threw Grace down over the bluff and rolled stones down on her, leaving scars on her forehead that remained the rest of her life.
The main body of the wagon train was too paralyzed by the fury of the attack to come to the assistance of the Clark family. Charles Clark, Thomas’ brother, organized a party to pursue the Indians and caught up to them where they had taken refuge in a natural fortress. The Indians could not be dislodged and the pursuit was abandoned. The pursuing emigrants reported several men among the Indians with long sandy-colored beards. The Indians killed one man, wounded another, and escaped with the horses.
, Clark headed west until he could steer towards the mountains known as the Three Sisters
in the Cascade Range
. According to the story, the Clark company was the first group of whites to camp by the Deschutes River on the future site of Pioneer Park in Bend, Oregon
. Menefee argues persuasively that Clark followed the usual Oregon trail in 1851 and the story has been confused with the 1853 trip of Thomas and Charles Clark when they crossed eastern Oregon south of the Blue Mountains with the "Lost Wagon Train" following the Elliott Cutoff
. In either case it was Thomas Clark who gave a prominent extinct volcano within the city limits the name Pilot Butte.
Grace Clark married Thomas’ partner, Jackson Vandevert, and settled in the Willamette Valley. The couple’s first of seven children, William Plutarch Vandevert
, born in 1854 in Cottage Grove, Oregon
, established Vandevert Ranchhttp://www.vandevertranch.org/ south of Bend in 1892. Grace dedicated substantial efforts to the welfare of the local Indians. She died in 1875. Thomas, Charles, and James Clark moved to Petrolia, California
in 1857 and raised cattle. James Clark returned to Oregon where his ranch (afterwards called "Burnt Ranch") was burned by the Indian marauder Chief Paulina
and where James, with Howard Maupin, tracked down Chief Paulina and killed him in 1867. Thomas died in Petrolia at the age of 94 years.
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
led by Cho-Cho-Co, also known as Has No Horse, attacked a wagon train led by Thomas Clark on the Oregon Trail near where the Raft River joins the Snake River
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
in present day Idaho. The Indian’s primary objective, which was accomplished, was to steal horses accompanying the Clark party. They also killed Thomas Clark’s mother and brother and one other man. The wagon train is reputed to have pioneered a southerly alternative to the established Oregon Trail and to have constituted the first white people to camp at the site of modern-day Bend, Oregon.
Thomas Clark
Thomas Clark was an Englishman who loved hunting. He came overland to the Willamette Valley in Oregon in 1848 but soon decamped with Jackson Vandevert and others to the California gold rush. They decided to invest their gains in bringing high quality cattle and horses to Oregon. By the spring of 1851 Thomas had acquired 20 horses and a few cattle from Kentucky and Illinois. On the trail west he brought with him his mother, his 25 year old sister Grace, his 17 year old brother, Hodgson, and another married sister with her family. He had a first class hack built for Grace to drive and his mother to ride in. It may have been the first such vehicle to cross the plains.He had also become the pilot for several other Illinois families headed to Oregon. The company moved slowly so the animals could graze and arrive in Oregon in good condition.Has No Horse
Has-No-Horse was only twenty years old in 1851 but he was a veteran guerilla fighter. He led a band of warriors of the Tussawehee sub-tribe of the ShoshoneShoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
, the most powerful tribe in the area that would become Eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana. In this area the Shoshone were often known by white people as the Snakes. By late August, the band was short of supplies, particularly good horses, guns, and ammunition. Has No Horse traveled east along the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
to meet his uncle, Deer Fly and borrow soldiers from him. Now reinforced, he identified the Clark party as his target.
The Attack
At about noon on Wednesday, August 6, the wagon train stopped to rest and eat lunch. As usual, Mrs. Clark, Grace, and Hodgson drove ahead to a good stopping place and began to prepare the noon-day meal. They stopped by the Raft RiverRaft River
The Raft River is a tributary of the Snake River located in northern Utah and southern Idaho in the United States. It is part of the Columbia River Basin.-Course:...
and Thomas Clark headed up the river to hunt ducks. The Raft River is about 16 miles (25.7 km) west of the current Massacre Rocks State Park
Massacre Rocks State Park
Massacre Rocks State Park is a state park of Idaho, USA, featuring the Massacre Rocks, a famous spot along the Oregon Trail and California Trail during the middle 19th century...
, an area where several wagon trains were attacked later in the 1850’s. Other men brought many of the horses up to the river ahead of the rest of the wagon train.
The Indian’s strategy was to have some of their number charge the main body of the wagon train at full gallop, creating the maximum amount of confusion. Meanwhile, Has No Horse and others would cut out the horses and drive them away.
When they saw the Indians, the men with the company’s horses took shelter behind some rocks by the river. Hodgson Clark was shot and killed instantly as he climbed up on a wagon wheel to get a gun from the wagon. An older Indian came to unhitch some horses that were tied to the wagon. When Mrs. Clark yelled at him he started shooting at her. When Grace put her arms around her mother to protect her, a bullet went through Grace’s wrist and continued through her mother’s heart, killing her instantly.
Grace was subsequently wounded below the armpit by a bullet that passed entirely through her body. The Indians tore off her clothes. There was at least one white riding with the Indians because Grace reported that one of her attackers had blue eyes. The Indians started to scalp her but stopped when they saw a cloud of dust coming. Thomas Clark had heard the shooting and rode back at full speed with his hunting hounds baying beside him. The Indians thought he was leading a large party of whites so they threw Grace down over the bluff and rolled stones down on her, leaving scars on her forehead that remained the rest of her life.
The main body of the wagon train was too paralyzed by the fury of the attack to come to the assistance of the Clark family. Charles Clark, Thomas’ brother, organized a party to pursue the Indians and caught up to them where they had taken refuge in a natural fortress. The Indians could not be dislodged and the pursuit was abandoned. The pursuing emigrants reported several men among the Indians with long sandy-colored beards. The Indians killed one man, wounded another, and escaped with the horses.
Clark Continues
Clark expected his sister to die and waited for a day or so before moving on. The traditional story is that, rather than follow the usual route of the Oregon Trail northwest to join the Columbia RiverColumbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, Clark headed west until he could steer towards the mountains known as the Three Sisters
Three Sisters (Oregon)
The Three Sisters are three volcanic peaks of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range in Oregon, each of which exceeds in elevation. They are the third, fourth, and fifth highest peaks in the state of Oregon and are located in the Three Sisters Wilderness, about southwest from the nearest...
in the Cascade Range
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
. According to the story, the Clark company was the first group of whites to camp by the Deschutes River on the future site of Pioneer Park in Bend, Oregon
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
. Menefee argues persuasively that Clark followed the usual Oregon trail in 1851 and the story has been confused with the 1853 trip of Thomas and Charles Clark when they crossed eastern Oregon south of the Blue Mountains with the "Lost Wagon Train" following the Elliott Cutoff
Elliott Cutoff
The Elliott Cutoff was a covered wagon road that branched off the Oregon Trail at the Malheur River where present-day Vale, Oregon, U.S. is today. The first portion of the road was originally known as the Meek Cutoff after Stephen Meek, a former trapper who led over 1,000 emigrants into the Harney...
. In either case it was Thomas Clark who gave a prominent extinct volcano within the city limits the name Pilot Butte.
Grace Clark married Thomas’ partner, Jackson Vandevert, and settled in the Willamette Valley. The couple’s first of seven children, William Plutarch Vandevert
William Vandevert
William Plutarch Vandevert was a western adventurer, a cattleman, and a Central Oregon pioneer. After travels in California, Texas, and Arizona, he established a cattle ranch fifteen miles south of present-day Bend, Oregon, before the founding of Bend or surrounding Deschutes County...
, born in 1854 in Cottage Grove, Oregon
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Cottage Grove is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It received its name from its first postmaster, G. C. Pierce, in September 1861. Pierce's home at the time was in an oak grove. The population was 9,686 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, established Vandevert Ranchhttp://www.vandevertranch.org/ south of Bend in 1892. Grace dedicated substantial efforts to the welfare of the local Indians. She died in 1875. Thomas, Charles, and James Clark moved to Petrolia, California
Petrolia, California
Petrolia is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California. It is located southeast of Cape Mendocino, at an elevation of 121 feet . The ZIP Code is 95558....
in 1857 and raised cattle. James Clark returned to Oregon where his ranch (afterwards called "Burnt Ranch") was burned by the Indian marauder Chief Paulina
Chief Paulina
Chief Paulina was a Northern Paiute war leader.During the late 1850s and 1860s, Northern Paiute bands attacked both settler communities and Native American reservations in central and eastern Oregon, as well as the Klamath Basin. Chief Paulina became the most notorious war leader in those raids...
and where James, with Howard Maupin, tracked down Chief Paulina and killed him in 1867. Thomas died in Petrolia at the age of 94 years.