When Captain William Tichenor of the Steamship Sea Gull arrived in June 1851 and
left nine men with muskets and a cannon to establish a European settlement right in
what is present day Port Orford, Oregon, the native Qua-to-mah band reacted with hostility.
They felt the newcomers were encroaching on their territory; this resulted in deadly
conflict between the two cultures. The nine sailors fought off many attempts by the
Indians to dislodge them from the large rock on the right of this photo. They sailors finally
fled during the night and escaped to the north toward Portland. Captain Tichenor finally
returned and established a permanent settlement there in late 1851.