When it became apparent that Larry Ott, the intended quarry, was not to be found at his home near Horseshoe Bend, the trio which constituted the first raiding party continued south to Carver Creek.

Here, on a small bar alongside the river, lived a former sailor, fifty-two-year-old Richard Devine. Devine had a harsh reputation. He set his dogs on any passing Indian, whether or not they were trespassing on his fenced field. He had also killed a Nez Perce woman, Dakoopin (Wounded Leg), for removing a white man's horse from her garden. Civil authorities overlooked this murder. But punishment eventually did overtake him late on the night of June 13. Leaving seventeen-year-old Wetyetmas Wahyakt outside to hold the horses, the two warriors, Wahlitits and Sarpsis llppilp, entered Devine's cabin.

. . . The two older of these young men met an old white settler, a bachelor, who was rather mean. Any time the Indians visited to have a talk with him, thev were driven away He killed one crippled man. The Indians never had done any wrong to him

They killed this white settler They took a stallion that he kept, and it was brought over to Camas Prairie to show what they had done.

Two Moons

Long gone, Richard Devine's cabin on Carver Creek .

Richard Devine is buried at John Day Creek Cemetery.


Timeline

Credits

The Nez Perce Flight to Canada - An Introduction

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