Papoose Meadows Massacre – Version Two

Papoose Meadows, 1914.

Version Two is the earliest published account of Papoose. It was composed by E.R. Dodge in 1881, fifteen years after the event. It appeared in Farris & Smiths Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties—1882.

In June 1866, Joseph Hall of Susanville was looking for horses some ten miles west of town. He unexpectedly came across an encampment of Indians from Pit River, Indian and Honey Lake Valleys. It was his opinion that the Pit River Indians were selling ammunition to the latter to engage in conflicts with the settlers. Hall returned to Susanville to report what he saw. William Dow, who had been fishing at Pine Creek, noted, that he too saw an encampment of Indians. The next day, Dow, E.V. Spencer, B.B. Gray, Charles Drum and Joseph Hall left in pursuit of fleeing the Indians. After tracking the Indians for several days they found them at the south end of Eagle Lake in a little valley known today as Papoose. In being late in the day, the five men camp for the night. At daybreak the next morning they stormed the camp with their revolvers killing ten Indians, with one escaping injured. The men rounded up the Indian’s horses along with ammunition they found there and returned to Susanville.

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