DATE: 31 AUGUST 1864
TO: CALEB MCDOUGALL OREGON CITY
FROM: COMMANDER FORT KLAMATH
DREWS WHEREABOUTS AND ARRIVAL UNKNOWN NO WORD SINCE 26 JULY
July 26 was the date of Will’s letter. The expedition was wandering in the mountains of southern Oregon. Mac remembered passing through the Snake River basin in the weeks before Will was born. The entire region was barren desert, covered with little other than sage, sand, and lava rocks.
There was no help for it—retrieving Will was impossible at the moment. He and Jenny would have to wait for Drew’s expedition to reach one of the forts. At least the commandants knew Will had parents waiting for him at home.
His competing options were returning to Boston or staying home. And there was no guarantee he could reach his father in time.
Mac told Jenny he’d learned nothing from the fort commanders. “I think I should stay here,” he told her. “Wait to hear from Will.”
“Oh, Mac,” she said. She cradled her belly with an arm, the way she always did when she was upset during pregnancy. “What about your poor father?”
Mac shrugged. “My father has lived without me for almost two decades. He hasn’t demanded my return since I told him I planned to make my home with you in Oregon. It’s only now that Father might be dying that my brother wants my presence.”
“But you should make peace with your family,” Jenny said. “If you can.”
“Do you want me to go to Boston?”
Jenny bit her lip and shook her head. “No.”
“Do you want me to go to Fort Klamath?”
“You just said we didn’t know when William would return there.”
Mac nodded. “That’s right. We have no idea.” He took her in his arms. “I can help most by staying here and taking care of you.” It was the right decision, he believed, but he still felt a pang of guilt over not trying to see his father.
Chapter 45: Camp Alvord and Beyond
After resting the animals at Trout Creek for several days, Drew led the expedition and emigrants on toward Camp Alvord in Stein’s Valley. They made a long trek of twenty-eight miles on August 25 to Horse Creek, then continued another ten miles the next day to reach Camp Alvord.
As they rode toward the camp, Will asked Joel, “What’s Camp Alvord? Another Army fort?”
Joel shrugged. “Beats me.”
So Will asked the colonel, who replied, “No, not a fort. A simple camp. Company E of the First Oregon Cavalry Militia is there, led by Captain George Curry.”
“Are we meeting them?” Will asked.
“I hope so,” Drew said. “I want to find out what Curry knows about Indian troubles north of here. He’s been on campaign all summer. Our quartermaster is low on supplies, and we need to proceed post-haste to Fort Boise to reprovision. I want all the intelligence I can gather before we head there.”
“I thought we was exploring the Owyhee Basin,” one soldier said.
“We’ve lost so much time moving at the slow pace of the wagon trains that fulfilling that part of our mission is doubtful,” Drew said. “Though I hope we can engage in more reconnaissance on our return to Klamath. We won’t have the emigrants with us then.”
When they arrived at Alvord, they found Captain George Curry’s troops settled into camp. Many of Curry’s soldiers were ill with dysentery, and Curry planned to remain in camp for an extended period. The militia had built a few defensive earthworks around the Army’s tents, but nothing permanent.
Drew’s party and their accompanying emigrants camped on a small mountain stream about two miles away from Curry’s earthen outpost, where there was abundant grass for the animals. Wild grasses waved in the breeze and mixed with clover and small brush.
The men fixed their own supper their first evening in Camp Alvord. “Sergeant Crockett ain’t well,” one corporal told the packers. “Fend for yourselves tonight. Drew ain’t named a replacement yet.”
They remained at Camp Alvord for several days. Lt. Col. Drew named Sergeant Beaty as the temporary mess sergeant responsible for food preparation and rationing the militia’s provisions. Sergeant Crockett suffered some stomach ailment and kept to his tent.
“And I’m naming Sergeant Geisy to have full charge of the packers until Sergeant Crockett can return to his duties,” Drew announced.
Jonah and other packers grumbled at that. Geisy was stricter than Crockett in keeping the packers to Army regulations.
“At least we know what’s what,” Joel said. “I’d rather deal with Crockett, but Geisy is predictable—more so than the colonel, truth be told.”
Will was silent, not wanting to malign Drew. He liked Crockett better than Geisy, but he’d rather follow the colonel than Geisy.
Crockett wasn’t the only one sick. The woman emigrant who had sickened at Guano Lake remained critically ill. And others reported a variety of ailments. Surgeon Greer moved from one patient to the next.
Rather than sit in camp, Will and Jonah rode out into Stein’s Valley when they weren’t on guard duty. The valley was another basin covered with dry alkaline soil, but there were several grassy spots where creeks or springs provided water. Some streams appeared to run year-round, and other watersheds were now dry in the late-August heat.
“I’d rather sit in camp,” Jonah complained. “It’s too hot to ride.”
“I thought you wanted to see the country,” Will said.
“I’d most rather fish,” Jonah said. “Or move on so’s we can get home sooner.”
One evening, Drew ordered Will to accompany him to talk with Captain Curry. “Take notes of what Curry says,” Drew said.
“Chief Paulina has been following you,” Curry told Drew.
Drew puffed on his cigar, then said, “I heard that from a Paiute who visited our camp, but I wasn’t sure I believed him.” Will raised an eyebrow at that, knowing how cautious Drew had been after Humboldt Jim’s description of Paulina’s actions.
“Our unit pestered Paulina’s band through June and July, which sent him south,” Curry said. “That’s when he began pursuing you.”
“The Paiute said our howitzer scared him off.”
“Could be.” Curry grinned and pointed his cigar at Drew. “Or could be he merely wanted to rest his men with food and water on Warner Mountain. Get them ready for raids later in the year.”
“What are the tribes doing to the north between here and Fort Boise?” Drew asked Curry.
