John Lamerick was one of “those kind” of people. You either loved him, or you just couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him.
After arriving in Jackson County in about 1851-1852, Lamerick was popular enough to be chosen captain of volunteers during a time when settlers were facing trouble with the local Rogue River Indians. What that trouble was isn’t exactly clear; however, most accounts agree it either involved a conflict between Tyee Sam, war chief of the tribe, and Dr. Ambrose, a settler and future Indian agent, or a simple dispute over a piece of beef or perhaps cattle.
In July 1852, Lamerick led the Table Rock Volunteers, a command of 100 to 200 fighters, in a fight against the Indians. After as many as 30 Rogue River Indians were killed, and the rest were surrounded by settlers, the Rogue Rivers surrendered.
Settlers organized a public thank-you dinner in Jacksonville to honor Lamerick and his men.
Lamerick thanked residents for “the very flattering manner” in which they expressed their thanks for “our humble efforts.” He praised his men for their “coolness in action” and promised the community that “should occasion require, and war again show his hostile front … the Table Rock Volunteers shall not be found wanting.”
Over the coming years, Lamerick was one of the first called whenever someone wanted to fight Indians. In 1856, the Oregon Territorial Legislature appointed him Brigadier General of Volunteers and sent him into another Southern Oregon conflict. By 1857, he was asked how he felt about more Indian wars.
“I am damned sure I am tired of them,” he said.
Those opposed to Lamerick found him “foul-mouthed,” and they facetiously questioned “whether he can balance his invoice of whiskey.”
“The Immortal Lamerick is puffed (up) by newspaper editors,” said one writer. Others complained he was a gambler: “his profession is the practice of Faro, Monte, Chuck-a-luck, roulette and horse racing.”
February 1860 brought news that John Lamerick had been shot and was not expected to live. Lamerick was sitting on the sofa in the William Berry home. Mrs. Berry was somewhere nearby. William Berry suddenly entered the room with a Colt revolver and fired, the bullet striking near the inside of Lamerick’s left eye and exiting under his right ear.
Readers were able to choose from at least three different versions of why the shooting occurred. Version one said it was “an old quarrel between the parties.” Version two said Lamerick had insulted Mrs. Berry and she had sent for her husband. Version three said Berry fired because of Lamerick’s “intimacy with his (Berry’s) wife.”
Miraculously, Lamerick recovered and was well enough to leave the next month for Charleston, South Carolina, to attend the Democratic Party’s National Convention. He was an alternate delegate, pledged to vote for Oregon’s Democratic choice for president, Joseph Lane. The convention couldn’t come to a consensus, and Lamerick never returned to Oregon.
Born in Ireland in about 1821-1822, John K. Lamerick arrived in New York City in 1838. His family name actually was Limerick, but he decided to change it. Most of those early years have so far evaded further discovery.
A carpenter by trade, it’s believed he spent time in Kentucky and perhaps Tennessee before settling in Louisiana. There, with the Civil War already underway, in April 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate Army and served as a private in the 6th Louisiana Cavalry for the duration of the war.
After the war, he returned to carpentry and built a number of buildings in the Shreveport, Louisiana, area while being elected to various positions in the Shreveport Democratic Club.
As the 1870s approached, his life was changing — and not for the better. He was living in a poor section of town, and perhaps his business problems or a sickness were just too much.
In a note to a friend, he wrote, “I am tired of living and wish to quit life.” On March 31, 1873, the 53-year old grabbed a knife and cut though his right carotid artery and slashed the side of his neck. They found him the next morning and buried him two days later.
CORRECTION: Last week’s story said Artinecia Merriman’s wagon train was attacked in Humboldt County, California. The Applegate Trail obviously never made it as far west as Humboldt County. The attack was along the Humboldt River in Nevada. Apologies.
Writer Bill Miller is the author of six books, including “History Snoopin’” — a collection of his previous columns. Reach him at newsmiller@live.com.
