Battle Mountain
A long period of unrest between the settlers and Indians of Tulare County erupted in war during the Spring of 1856. Untrue reports that five hundred head of cattle had been stolen in Frazier Valley and the burning of the Orson K. Smith sawmill aroused the local settlers. A group of volunteers under the command of Foster DeMasters located a party of over seven hundred Indians in fortified positions on the cone shaped mountain in the valley below. Unable
to breach the Indian defenses on their own, the volunteers sent for help. A second company of Tulare County Volunteers under Sheriff W. G. Poindexter, miners from Keysville on the Kern River, settlers from as far north as Merced and Mariposa and Army detachments from Fort Tejon and Fort Miller responded. Captain Livingston of Fort Miller assumed overall command of a combined force estimated at three to four hundred men. Unable to withstand assault by
this combined force and their Army howitzer, the Indians disappeared into the pine forest above you. Reports indicate three settlers were wounded and several Indians were killed.
Dedicated October 20, 1990 Dr Samuel Gregg George Chapter 1855 of E Clampus Vitus
Marker is on Balch Park Road (Route 296) 18.1 miles east of County Highway 190, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
