Battle Rock is a sea stack that extends into the ocean at Port Orford, Oregon.  A sign at the city park reads the following:

Battle Rock City Park has been dedicated in memory of the ancient people (Dene Tsut Dah) and the pioneer founders of this townsite.  In 1850, the U.S. Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Act.  This act allowed white settlers to file claims on Indian land in western Oregon although no Indian nation had signed a single treaty.  Captain William Tichenor of the steamship Sea Gull landed nine men on June 9, 1851, for the purpose of establishing a white settlement.  This resulted in deadly conflict between the two cultures.  For two weeks the nine were besieged on the island now called Battle Rock.  Under cover of darkness, the party escaped north to Umpqua City.  In July, Captain Tichenor again arrived with a well-armed party of seventy men and established the settlement now called Port Orford.  Later, Tichenor became a permanent resident after his retirement from the sea.

At the top of the rock amidst the plants on the windiest day ever lies this grave, which reads:

Summers

Ralph E. (Jake)

Battle Rock defender 1851

1815-1909

Betsy

1839 wife 1904

Ralph Jr.

1867 son 1892

More info from: http://yourenotfromaroundhere.com/blog/battle-rock-port-orford-oregon/

In 1850 the US Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Act. This allowed white settlers to lay claim to Indian land in Western Oregon. The Indian tribes were not required to sign the treaty or able to contest the claim.

The first European settlers arrived the following year, under the command of Captain William Tichenor of the steamship Sea Gull.

On June 9th, 1851, Captain Tichenor dropped off just nine men to establish the first white settlement, whilst he headed north to resupply. He left the nine men with three aging flint-lock muskets, rusty swords and a few pounds of ammunition. The men were none-too-pleased about this and managed to grab the tiny signal gun from ship, a four-pound cannon.

The following morning, as the ship sailed away, the local Qua-to-mah tribe gathered and warned off the intruders from their beach. The nine settlers didn’t have any way to leave, so retreated to the nearby seastack, where they set up a defensive position around the small cannon.

Seeing their unwillingness to leave, a band of more than a hundred Quatomahs attacked. The only route to the rock was along a narrow walkway, which was covered by the cannon. One account tells how the cannon ripped through the approaching Indians, and the shock knocked others into the water, so that the advance was stopped after the first shot. Another account claims that the first attack reached the seastack and the settlers won in hand-to-hand combat.

However they did it, the attack was repulsed, but led to the death of twenty-three natives and the wounding of two of Tichenors men by arrows.

A truce was called when the settlers agreed to leave after 14 days, when their ship returned. For those two weeks the besieged settlers didn’t see any sign of the Quatomah tribe. When they were still there on the 15th day an even larger band of Indians attacked (reports vary between 100 & 300). In the ensuing conflict the chief of the tribe was mortally wounded and died on the battle field.

The tribe retreated with their dead leader and set up camp nearby, whilst the settlers fled north under the cover of darkness. On foot they travelled over a hundred miles to the Umpqua valley, being pursued by Indians, wading through rivers and living on snails and wild berries. Eventually they all survived, and told their tales, earning the seastack the name Battle Rock.

In July of the same year, Captain Tichenor returned to Battle Rock with a well-armed group of seventy soldiers and established what is now Port Orford. When Tichenor eventually retired from the navy he became a permanent resident of the town and oversaw the success of the growing port.