A Rumor of War on the Snake River
The Puget Sound Herald casts doubt on its own report of a battle between Col. Steptoe and Indigenous fighters, noting that no reliable account has arrived.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Up to the time of going to press, we have learned nothing further of the battle reported to have taken place on Snake River between Col. Steptoe and the Indians. We are not inclined to give much credence to the report published in this paper last week. It is by no means certain, in fact, that a battle has taken place; if one may have occurred, it is highly probable that an authentic account of it would have been received here ere this. That some trouble may have happened with the Indians is possible, but we do not believe a battle has been fought.
“That some trouble may have happened with the Indians is possible, but we do not believe a battle has been fought.”
In 1858 Washington Territory, rumor and war news traveled together, and a newspaper could inflate a fight one week and doubt it the next. The item is a reminder of how colonial conflict was reported through the fog of settler fear—and how quickly unverified claims became public fact.
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