BLAKE FAMILY
The earliest records researched to date show that George Blake son of John Blake and Rebecca Buck Blake was born June 11, 1805 in Kirby Hill, Yorkshire England. In 1817 when George was 12 years old, they left from England via Liverpool to Richmond Virginia United States. They were farmers settling in Sidney, Shelby County Ohio. On December 9, 1828 George Blake married Matilda Kennard. They had seven children; Greenville, Rebecca, George Amos, Oliver Burke, Harriet, Cynthia, and Benjamine Franklin.
Unsettling Events
Attacked by Indians in Southern Oregon. His ranch became a stockade Old John's Tribe surrounds the farm Saved by companies of miners. Tacoma Weekly Ledger. July 7,1893.
From June 1853 until the summer of 1855 there was no trouble of any note with the Indians between the southern boundary of Oregon and the British line. But during this time of seeming inactivity they were making arrangements for a general outbreak. They were collecting arms and ammunition and perfecting plans by which at a stated time, they would make a general clean up of all the Boston men in Oregon and Washington.
In October, 1855, when the country was as dry as powder and ready for the match there was a simultaneous move of all the coast Indians. They were as well organized that their movements were almost as perfect as clockwork. The Rogue River Indians were on the Table Rock reservation, in charge of Captain A.J. Smith of the United States Army. They numbered about one thousand warriors, commanded by Old John, Sam and Jimmy.
About the 20th of October when the roads were lined with travelers and the mountains filled with small prospecting parties and the grain had all been harvested and when those thus diversely engaged least expected a disturbance, Indians were placed in small companies on all roads leading into the Rogue River valley, and seemingly almost at a given signal, the entire country from Umpqua Canyon to the Siskiyou mountains, fifty miles in width and one hundred in length was aflame.
It was a scene which time, with all its ups and downs, with all its real and imaginary pleasures, and to this many be added its three score years and ten, can never blot from memory of those who know from bitter experience what a heartrending number of scenes there were.
While those scenes linger with me in my declining days, and are a part of my like and makeup, yet for the love and regard I have for my fellow man I trust those days with their darkness and bloodshed are of the past and that they will never be repeated. I was on my way from Crescent City to Jacksonville with a Train of mules loaded with merchandise, and was camped with several other parties at the foot of Mooney Mountain the night of the outbreak. We had about one hundred fifty mules in our train, and they carried merchandise valued at fifteen thousand dollars.
On the morning of the 21st of October, at an early hour, we were winding our way, single file, up the side of the mountain. To our surprise before we reached the summit the Indians attacked us. There were eighteen men in the party. Our mules were drawn in four trains, a man armed with two Colts revolvers and a rifle, mounted on a bell horse, riding in front of each train. The road was lined with heavy timber. When the Indians made the attack the man in front turned his bell horse back on the run. The rattle of the bell, the braying of the mules, the whiz of the arrows, the six-shooters clear crack and the war-whoop of the savages made things quite lively for a while.
Our greatest sorrow was to leave our wounded comrades to the hands of the heartless foe, and it was augmented by not being permitted to bury our dead boys who had helped us so unflinchingly. The news of this outbreak spread like wildfire and soon Owl house creek, Sucker creek and Canyon creek were aware of what the Indians had been doing and what they were expected to do. The above named places were all important mining camps. They were soon in arms and ready for the conflict.
In less than ten hours there were companies formed under the leadership of Captains Frye, Hornbuckle and O'Neal, and were in hot pursuit of the savages. They were well mounted and otherwise prepared for any emergency. While the distance intervening between us and the hostiles was being shortened as we retreated to open ground, and began making breastworks, utilizing our merchandise and mules as best we could. We then made a charge on the Indians and drove them back. We hastily collected our scattered articles and turned our faces toward my ranch about ten miles distant, situated in Josephine County, Oregon.
While on our way we added to our company eight women and children whom we found by the wayside without protection. When we reached the ranch we found everything about as we left it, much to our surprise. We buried our dead and then held a council to decide what to do. Whether to leave the place or make preparations for fight. Our number was not large and what to do for the best was the all-absorbing question. Our company consisted of twelve men and sixteen women and children. We had twelve revolvers and twelve rifles.
After consulting about the matter very carefully and taking the surroundings into consideration we decided that if we were to go out and should come in contact with Indians the chance would be against us, but thought if we remained situated where we were that we could withstand a hundred of the enemies. We had at that time two hundred head of cattle, fifty head of hogs, and sixteen head horses which we could not collect for at least three days and we were sure of an attack by the Indians before we could possibly collect our stock, so we decided to place guards on the outskirts to prevent the Indians from getting too near without our knowledge.
At midnight on the 24th we saw the signal fire of the Indians on the mountain. We knew then that our time was drawing to a close or at least, that a mighty struggle for life was near. We held a second council and came to the conclusion that the Indians were badly scattered and in order to avoid the three companies of miners who were in pursuit they had to scatter and they would not get together for an attack before daylight.
We decided that six men, in twos were to follow Captain Frye's trail of sixty men, who had pursued the Indians from their recent attack on us at Mooney mountain; our party was to follow Ute valley as far as Salal Diggings, a mining camp about twenty miles from the settlement, all to secure all the help they could and return by twelve o'clock. Tyler and Joul were to act as messengers and would return at any time. The Indians found themselves hard pressed by Captains Frye, Horn- buckle and O'Neal, whose forces numbered About two hundred men.
The remaining five men and myself now went to work in earnest. We took up the puncheon floor and pinned them on the inside of the doors and windows, and cut openings from one room to the other so we might pass through to any part of the house without being exposed to the aim of the savages. I then filled all the vessels we could find with water and placed them overhead in case of fire, for we well knew we would be burned out if the Indians made an attack.
On the morning of the 24th everything was as still as Egypt's Triple Night, and in this fearful position or crisis, we noticed much to our discomfort four mounted Indians driving off several head of my stock. James Thompson and W. H. Hornbuckle charged the Indians and they returned the fire and the fight was really on. To our surprise we found we were surrounded by a band of one hundred fifty braves who were anxious for our scalps. In view of our unfavorable surroundings we thought it best for ourselves to retreat to the house and did so.
Meantime the Indians fired upon us. After we reached the house there was a lull until about eight o'clock a.m. We could see old Chief John on the hill above the house in a northerly direction, but well out of reach of the range of our guns. He was so situated that he could see all that was going on below.
We could hear him giving orders to his men and he advised them to crowd down a small ravine south of the house, and to get as near as they possibly could to the house. When he gave command for them to charge and fire the building, seemingly to encourage his men he told them that there were only six of us and it would be an easy matter to take us on the first charge. In view of the charge we expected them to make, I gave orders to withhold fire until the Indians came inside the stockade.
To my great satisfaction there was not a dissenting voice, but with steady nerve and tightly pressed lips they all nodded assent. I further encouraged them by telling them that we had eighty-four shots without loading, and that the women would load the guns as fast as we could use them. I again returned to my post, gave instructions to the women, such as I deemed necessary under the existing circumstances. About eight o'clock old John gave the order to charge. The Indians came toward us, all of them stripped to the waist, at a keen run led by Fiery Bill, old John's son. I had three men at each door ready to meet them as they came. With them they had a log with which to burst our door and also carried a torch with which to fire the building.
As they came through the gates we opened fire, and with deadly effect. They hesitated for a moment, seeming to dread what seemed to be sure death. They soon closed up, however, and on they came with a yell, and such a one as only Indians gave give under such circumstances. By this time we had killed several and wounded a great many more. They set fire to the house and endeavored to break in the door, and the prospect seemed to indicate at the time that a hand-to-hand struggle was awaiting us but a continued stream of hot lead from our guns caused them to decide that to retreat was the wisest thing for them to do, so they left us, taking their dead with them. Those who were wounded had managed to crawl outside the stockade.
At this juncture a voice was heard calling that the building was on fire. My mother took my place and kept up the firing while I made a hole through the roof from the inside and by using the water previously collected for the purpose soon put out the fire. The result of the encounter was fourteen Indians killed and about twenty wounded. We did not lose one, but the walls of our house were almost filled with lead.
"And," he added, my men were wild and reckless, and had we been the victors we would have burned you all at the stake. In the second charge they again fired the building, but we succeeded in extinguishing the flames as we had done before.
Old John now advised his men to drink no more firewater, sober up and get themselves in shape to fight as the miners were after them. He said they would make one more effort, and if they failed he would retreat. From early morning until three p.m. a few Indians could be seen moving about through the timber. About four o'clock they made the third charge. A rifle ball from one of their guns came through the port hole here I was located, giving me a flesh wound and knocking me senseless for a few gun and shot one of the leaders just as he was in the act of bursting in the door.
To our delight and great satisfaction it was Captain Frye. He was coming at breakneck speed to our rescue, Jack Whitesell in the lead. They had heard our fighting at a distance of two miles, which proved an incentive to double their efforts to reach us in the shortest time possible. The old adage, "The darkest hour is just before dawn," proved true for us for just as all resources and hope was gone help came.
The Indians retreated and we kept up our firing for two miles. Reaching the Indian camp we found they had killed eighty head of our cattle. We routed all the Indians from their camp, the women and children retreating under the cover of brush and timber. Captain Frye, seeing that to follow them further would be Hazardous withdrew his men, having lost one man killed and two wounded.
At sundown Captain O'Neal arrived with sixty men, and about dark Captain Hornbuckle came in with eighty men, making in all about two hundred men. They complimented us for holding the fort when the chances seemed against us, but when they heard of the bravery of the women they gave vent to cheer upon cheer. As an individual compliment the name of Old Chief was bestowed upon me, and the name I bore, gracefully as I could until my departure from that part of the country.
On the following morning not an Indian was to be seen. I was advised to move out to Fort Brigg, which was situated at the mouth of Sucker Creek, where other families were collected. Early that morning we started with a guard of about thirty men. Soon after our arrival here I learned that the Indians had ambushed Tyler and Joul at the old crossing of Deer creek. We never heard more of Tyler. About three months later we found the remains of a man supposed to be Tyler, which we collected and interred, giving it all the honors of a Christian burial, trusting that his soul was at rest.
Of the two hundred men who came to my relief only two are now living to tell the tale. They are Greenville Blake of Laramie post office, Lincoln County, and Jack Cuthbert of Salem, Oregon. I am solemnly impressed that here long there will be no one left to tell of these adventures, and there will be no record of the trials, hardships and deprivations of the early settler on the Pacific coast except that now being written for the public press, which we hope is interesting to all. The End
Greenville Blake with daughter Dollia and Rose EngleheartHenry Admiral Blake (son of Greenville Blake)
Henry served time in Monroe Revormatory in Washington. He was sentenced for 1-2 years for adultry. He spent just less than a year when he was pardoned by the Governor. After Henry was released from prison he went back to Lincoln County and shortly thereafter he married the women he had the affair with, Rose Englehart on January 3, 1912. Sometime after that, Greenville, Henry and Rose left for Willits CA. They worked in a mill there, and when work slowed they moved north to Bandon Oregon. Henry and Rose had a baby girl, Claudia Ione Blake born November 29, 1912. Since Henry couldn't go back to Washington due to his record they stayed in Oregon and briefly northern CA.
Henry Blake (prison for Adultery)Wreatha Lavina McCullough Chisholm
(Daughter of Dollia Blake McCullough and Clarenece McCullough)
Mrs. Wreatha Lavina McCullough Chisholm was fatally wounded Friday evening when a shotgun she carried was accidentally discharged. Mrs.Chisholm, her husband and son had been hunting in a corn field. As she was carrying the guns to the house after the men stopped to do the chores, the trigger of one of the guns aparently caught on a latch on the screen door. The charge entered her head and she died a few minutes later. Funeral services were held in Hopkins Mortuary chapel Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. on November 14, 1942. Rev. Hutton of Yakima officated and the burial was in the Elmwood Cemetery. Se is survived by her husband, Eldy Chisholm, a son Allen, and her father, Clarence McCullough of Klamath Falls, Oregon, Claude and Archie McCullough of Klamath Falls, Oregon and Ralph McCullough of Davenport, Washington, Six sisters, Mrs Clara R. Kenney of Toppenish, Mrs. Lottie Moss and Mrs. Dolly Randall of Daventport, Washington; Mrs Minnie Hamilin, Flora Crawford and Mrs Ruben Peterson of Klamath Falls, Oregon.
This is how the story was later told by Allen Chisholm, Wreatha's son: They had been hunting and while hunting his mother and father had been fighting. When they got back to the house his dad Eldy took and put the horses away, he then shot his mother Wreatha at the wood pile and then dragged her to the porch. The gun was then notched by the screen door. He was warned not to tell anyone what really happened, that he was to say it was the way it was reported in the obituary. Malcom and Glenna arrived not too long after this happened. Everyone was a little supicious but no one said anything. apparently it wasn't investegated. This all took place during WWII and everyone was more concered about that. Will: Probate Yakima Co., NO 15994 The above entitled matter coming on to be heard on the Final Report of Eldy C. Chisholm, the Admisnistrator of the above intitled estate, and it appering to the satisfaction of the court that notice of the the hearing of said Report on this date was duly advertised and posted as required by law, and the court being satisfied that the siad Report is correct, it is herby approved. The Court further finds that the said estate is ready to be closed. The Court finds that no claims were filed against the estate, and that all expenses connected with the funeral and the last illness have been paid and the cost of administration has been provided for, and the State of Washington by and through the Inheritance Tax and Escheat Division of the State of Washington has adjudged no sums due for inheritance tax as said estate is exempt therefrom, all of which more fully appears by the waiver herein on file. The Court further finds that the deceased left one son, to wit: Allen C. Chisholm, a son and that there were no other children, nor children of any deceased children. That the estate consisted of personal property, which had been divided one/half (1/2) tothe said Eldy C. Chisholm, surviving spouse, and one-half (1/2) to the siad Allen C. Chisholm, only child of the decedent, Wreatha L. Chisholm; and that the estate further consisted of the folowing described real estate, to-wit: The South half of the Northwest uarter of the Northwest quarter, and the southwest quarter of the Northwest quarter, and the West half of the Soughteast quarter of the Northwest quarter, al in Section 14, Township 9 North, Range 20 E.W.M., together will all water rights appurtenant thereto or in any wise appertaining of belonging, Yakima County, State of Washington, and Lot Six (6) , block Five (5) , City of Toppenish, according to the recorded plat thereof now on record and on file in the office of the Auditor of Yakima County, Washington, and the same should descend an undivided one-half (1/2) interest to the said Eldy C. Chisholm, surviving spouse of the decendent, and an undivided one-half (1/2) interest in said parcels of real estate. The Court furter finds and adjudges that all debts of the extate have been paid, and that all the cost of administration have been provided for, and that all of the property is now in the hands of the heirs at law. It is Hereby ordered that the said Administrator be discharged and thsi estate closed. Done in court this 11 day of September 1948.
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