Letters

Abstract

_LETTERS To theEditor: Compliments toR. Gregory Nokes forhis article in the Fall 2006 Quarterly entitled "A Most Daring Outrage." His depiction of the 1887Chinese massacre inHell's Canyon of the SnakeRiver provides a new levelofunderstand ingofOregon's most horrendous, unpunished mass murder. Iwould emphasize, as did Mr. Nokes, thatthe jury is stillout on preciselywho orwhy thiscold-blooded killing tookplace. At this point in time, we may never know. As towhere ittook place, some local histo rians don't believe ithappened at or near the mouth ofDeep Creek, asMr. Nokes describes. Harley Horner wrote ". . . ithappened about halfway between Dug and Big Deep Creek." Gerald J. Tucker, inThe StoryofHelYs Canyon, also places itatRobinson Gulch, over one-half mile downriver fromDeep Creek. If themas sacre took place where thehorse thieves could swim theirherd across Snake River to Idaho, the eventwould more likelyhave happened at Robinson Gulch,where landscape featuresfavor a crossing,unlike atDeep Creek,where theriver is swiftand the Idaho shorehas rimrock cliffs. As to personalities, Nokes speculated, "Vaughan (who provided State's evidence) was somuch considered a respectablemember of thecommunity thattwoweeks before the mas sacre he was deputized to serve a subpoena on [Bruce] Evans_" It ismore believable that only another horse thiefcould know where to findEvans and his den of cutthroats.Vaughan, who received a gunshot wound in the leg, was the only outlaw injured during the Chinese slaying.However, if making good moonshine provided community respectability, then Vaughan regained some in later life. In the photo of threemen standing on Main Street in Wallowa, Mr. Nokes wrongly identified Frank Vaughan. The man he cap tioned as Frankwas actually his cousin Harry N. Vaughan. Nokes also wrote "... U.S. senator James H. Slater of Josephappealed to Washington, D.C. forhelp." Senator Slaterwas fromAuburn and La Grande ? not from Joseph.On the same page Nokes attributed a quote toGeorge Craig in 1967.Craig, who was buried in 1936, was not around then. Regardless of these errors, it ismuch ap preciated that Mr. Nokes' exhaustive research has pulled togethersomany little known details of this gruesome crime. I'm looking forward to reading his forthcomingbook. Jon M. Skovlin Cove, Oregon To theEditor: IappreciateMr. Skovlin'skind and thought ful letter regardingmy article. As he notes, therehas been a great deal of confusion and misinformation concerning the facts of the massacre, largely because the crime was never thoroughly investigated and was apparently covered up.With respect to the location of the massacre, however, recent research accurately locates it at Deep Creek, which now carries the place designation of Chinese Massacre Cove. The most persuasive evidence forme was found in depositions given by several of the accused murderers toCounty JudgePeter O'Sullivan onApril 16,1888.These depositions contain several references to Deep Creek/ Deadline Creek as the site of themassacre. (Deep Creek, at the time,was also known as Deadline Creek.) In his history of Wallowa County, J. Harley Horner made a specific reference toDeadline Creek/Deep Creek as themassacre site. Iwas unable to find the specific quotation Mr. Skovlin attributed toHorner, but I did find thisquotation on page 1211:"The place where the Chinamen were camped, or near it,was a main old crossing about halfway between Dug Letters 155 and Big Deep Creek." The "near it" suggests thatHorner wasn't necessarily saying itwas the specific location of themassacre. Also, I couldn't find any reference inHorner's history toRobinson Gulch as themassacre site. It is probably worth noting that all of these loca tions are very near one another. A1973 U.S. Forest Service registerofhistoric places put themassacre siteon "thenorth side of Deep Creek and its junction with Snake River," and a Forest Service sign atDeep Creek identified it as themassacre site. This same document said theChinese used an old Na tiveAmerican rock dwelling while camped there.There is such a dwelling atDeep Creek. However, it isquite possible that some of the Chinese were killed elsewhere. A purported deathbed confession by one of the alleged killers,RobertMcMillan said thirteenChinese miners were killed at a second camp,which was not identified. With regard toFrankVaughan's reputation, I certainlywas not trying to defend him or his involvement in the massacre. Vaughan did come froma respected family,and...