- The transcribed journals of Civil War General August Valentine Kautz that detail his daily life and activities during his post at Fort Steilacoom in 1850.
- August Valentine Kautz was born January 5, 1828 at Ispringen, Baden, Germany, the son of George and Doratha Lawing Kautz.
- The site of Fort Steilacoom was first occupied by settlers from the Red River basin in present Manitoba who had been invited by the Hudson’s Bay Company to settle on lands claimed on the Company in 1841. The Company was unable to fulfill the terms of the agreements and by 1844 all who came from Manitoba had left the area. \ Joseph Thomas Heath arrived in 1845 and leased land from the Company and chose a site formerly occupied by a Red River settler. Heath died in the winter of 1848-1849 and it was his farm that was chosen to be the site of Fort Steilacoom.
- When Kautz wrote of the lower Sound he meant that area closest to the Ocean. The upper Sound was near Olympia.
- [August Valentine] Kautz later purchased Day[s] Island.
- Vashon Island had to be passed on each journey up and down the Sound. It was named for a friend of Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy, Captain James Vashon. (Meany, p. 326).
- New York-Alki was the site of the first settlement in Seattle. Here on November 13, 1851 the first settlers arrived. Finding a site up the Sound more attractive most everyone moved to help found the City of Seattle.(Meany, p. 4).
- Francis Cushman, U.S. Representative during the early 1900s from Tacoma spoke of his people during the depression of 1909 as eating some much sea food their their stomachs rose and sank with the tide.
- Point No Point was the site of an Indian treaty worked out by Governor Isaac I. Stevens. A lighthouse was added years later. (Meany, p. 221).
- A. Benton Moses was collector of customs for the Territory of Washington. His name would be prominent through most of the time Kautz was at Fort Steilacoom for Leschi was accused of killing Moses during the Indian war of 1855-56
- Camas were bulbs that were gathered by the Indians. They were also called the Siwash Onion.
- It was generally illegal to sell liquor to the Indians.
- The Duke’s real name was Cheetsamahoin. (History of the Pacific Northwest., II, 309). The names of royalty assigned to local Indians was not meant to flatter either the original English holder of the name or his or her Indian counterpart. The House of Hanover ruled the British Empire and most of the Royal family outside the immediate family of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were looked upon with a certain amount of disgust by polite society.
- The Fourth Infantry occupied military posts throughout the west during the 1840s and 1850s. At the start of the Civil War it was called East.
- This bay [Sequim] opens on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and is now known as Washington Harbor. (Meany, p. 335). These geographic names used by Kautz generally had their origin with either the Vancouver Expedition of 1792 or the Wilkes explorations of 1841.
- The Indians were well aware of the political situation between the United States and Great Britain and often used the undercurrent of ill feeling between the two countries to their own advantage.
- Evidently Francis Kautz left out portions of her father’s diary for several portions of the diary are marked with dots indicating missing portions of the work.
- Clarence Bagley in writing an introduction for the “Journal of Occurrences at Nisqually House, 1833” for the Washington Historical Quarterly gives a good account of Fort Nisqually: “Fort Nisqually was the first permanent settlement of white men on Puget Sound. Fort Vancouver had been headquarters since 1825 and Fort Langley was founded near the mouth of the Fraser river in 1827. Fort Nisqually was, therefore, a station which served to link these two together. “While the primary object of the Hudson’s Bay Company was to collect furs, nevertheless, the great needs of their own trappers, and the needs of Russian America(Alaska), and the Hawaiian Islands and other places for foodstuffs, caused that the Company branch out into other lines…. “A subsidiary company, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, was formed in 1838 for the purposes of taking advantage of the agricultural opportunities of the Pacific…From that time Fort Nisqually became more an agricultural enterprise than a furtrading post.”
- Several early visitors commented on how poorly Fort Steilacoom was located.
- Donation Land Claims were taken up by persons who settled in the Oregon country before a certain date as outlined by Congress. The title to the land was transferred to settlers upon completion of the requirements & did not include the usual $1.25 per acre.
- Generally the names of individuals will be further identified in the biographical section of this work.
- With so few officers present it must have been difficult to carry on feuds and still get the work done. Kautz recorded several “difficulties” between officers who still had to work together.
- Fort Vancouver had been founded as a Hudson’s Bay Company post as early as 1825 and was still partually occupied by them. The U.S. Army post originally occupied space which was leased from the Company. It was first called Columbia Barracks and on July 13, 1853 it became known as Fort Vancouver. The name of the post was changed to Vancouver Barracks on April 5, 1879. (Frazer, p. 176-177.).
- Kautz egenerally stayed away from cards but enjoyed chess when he won and several games related to whist.
- Fort Steilacoom was an ex-sheep ranch of the Puget Sound Agricultural Co., an off-shoot of the Hudson Bay Co., being no longer needed, was gladly leased to the Quartermaster’s Department for the use of the troops.1 Bennett Hill’s Co. of the First Artillery was the first to occupy it and we were his successors with Company C. of the Fourth Infrantry.2 The location was on the plain which is now the site of the Insane Asylum, and has many advantages.3 The soil was level and hard and had produced some magnificent oak trees on the edge of the parade ground overshadowing the officers’ quarters.
- Mount Rainier was in full view. In the vicinity were several beautiful lakes, while we were supplied with water by the springs which with the country was generously irrigated. About a mile distant was the new townsite of Steilacoom, where boats landed and ships anchored and a store had been located.
- Fort Nesqually4, the Hudson Bay trading post, was about seven miles to the south [of Fort Steilacoom]. Several farmers had taken donation claims5 on a few known fertile spots within a few miles of the fort on the Nesqually plains. The buildings were very primitive, being built of logs of small fir saplings with the bark on. The chincks were daubed with clay, which constituted the interior finish.
- A day or two after my arrival I went down to the mouth of the creek which gives its name to the post and the locality, and had my first sight of the Sound. Two gentlemen from the post were with me, and I could not control my admiration at the beauty of the scene. The tide was flood and the limpid waters reproduced the fir-clad shores. The snow-clad Olympics were in full view, and clear air enabled us to see far into the Narrows. I found out afterward that only on exceptional days in winter could this effect be seen.
- To add to the romance of the surroundings, some Indians approached within view; they were about to get into a canoe. One of them told us that they were from far away down the Sound; he was a boy, much darker than the Indians of our neighborhood, but with light, clear eyes, and an intelligent expression. Indeed he was surprisingly handsome, but like all Indians he was dirty, with nothing on but a soiled hickory shirt. On his back he ‘carried a basket of small potatoes which he had obtained from the soldiers. Later, as twilight came on, the clear surface of the water was marked by the light gliding of Indians in their canoes, spearing for fish, of which there was great abundance. They filled the air with their wild discordant songs. It revealed the poetry of Indian life, to which the many stern realities bear a sad contrast.
- I became well satisfied with my new station; there was plenty to eat and little to do, and pleasant surroundings. I was appointed adjutant and had to look after the guard and the bakehouse and the drilling of the company. Capt. Jones continued in command;6 Lieut. Slaughter was quartermaster and commissary, and Mrs. Slaughter, who was the only lady at the post, managed the mess, where we all took our meals. Dr. Haden was the Post Surgeon; he had ridden to meet us before our arrival. He was a courteous and refined Southerner, of blonde complexion and affable manners, and not obtrusive in his southern sentiments. There was also a Dr. Wallace, brother of Capt. Wallace, of the Fourth Infantry, who desired to become post sutler.
- My relations with my fellow-officers were pleasant. Lieut. Jones, my first commanding officer, whom I should more properly speak of as Floyd Jones, had a number of peculiarities, but was on the whole a good commanding officer. He was a man of good habits, and very reputable in his personal conduct. We only differed on one subject. He affected too much devotion to the conventionalities of aristocracy and family inheritance. He laid claim to blue blood himself, and maintained that small hands and small feet were a sign of good lineage. He was conspicuous for being the only man in the country who changed his shirt every day, which, in those days, certainly exhibited unpardonable pride.
- He [DeLancy Floyd-Jones] was very youthful in appearance and had pleasant manners, except for a certain absent-mindedness, which often made him appear rude. He had received his brevet of captain for gallant and meritorious conduct at Molino del Ray in the war with Mexico. He retired after thirty years of service, and having made investments in Chicago that gave him a competency, he is able to live at the Union club, New York. He was rather devoid of tact. I remember a matter which caused him to have strained relations with Slaughter, and nearly brought about an issue between my brevet captain and myself.
- [William Alloway] Slaughter had gone to Olympia for two or three days, and I was acting as quartermaster during his absence. The captain had discovered that some Post mules were in use by a farmer, and he came to me and ordered them to be brought in. I replied that I did not know Mr. Slaughter’s arrangements concerning the mules, and therefore did not like to interfere. He turned to me and said sharply: “You will do it, By G– if I order you to,” whereupon I answered in the same tone: “I won’t do it, by G–, unless you do.” He at once changed his tone and manner and said the he had meant it as an order, and naturally I answered that IF that were the case I would obey him.
- And when Lieut. Slaughter returned I reported the case to him, and he immediately cut off the supply of forage for Jones’ private horse, which he had been feeding out of the surplus forage in the quartermaster’s stables. Slaughter was justified, as Jones had taken the stand that public property should not be used for private purposes, but I think it generated an unpleasantness that lasted while I remained at the a post.7
- The months of April and May, 1853, passed rapidly, and are full of pleasant memories of hunting, riding, fishing, and making friends. I was able to save a little money out of my pay, as eatables were more abundant and cheaper than in Vancouver8, where the mess bill consumed nearly my entire pay. There was a fine post garden, from which we had a large supply of rejected potatoes that we fell heir to, from the artillery. They were too small for our use, but the Indians were fond of them, and brought us all the clams, fish and game we wanted in exchange for the little tubers.
- Peter Smith in after years took up a donation claim on this spot, and as the garden was never reserved, he fell heir to it when the post was broken up. I started a small garden myself on the border of the little lake half a mile south of the post, and when I needed exercise I obtained it there. I rode over the sparsely settled plains in search of grouse and ducks and other game and went fishing in the Sound or in Steilacoom creek with the officers, but most frequently alone.
- Although the embryo town of Steilacoom and Fort Nesqually were our principal resorts the post was the center of civilization in those parts. It was visited by all who came into the country. There were no hotels at all, so that every house had to entertain, in the manner they were best able, whoever came. Thus we were brought into contact with all kinds of people, and became known to everyone in the country, although our acquaintance was necessarily large on this account. The travelers of whom we saw the most were prominent men and officials of the territory.
- During the spring I met many of the old pioneers. Dr. Tolmie, the thrifty Scotch manager of the Hudson Bay Co. at Fort Nesqually, and I formed a friendship and our acquaintance, which was kept up by letter when separated, lasted until he died. His assistant, Mr. Huggins, was also to be found in the doctor’s household in those days. He remained on American territory when the company relinquished their rights to the United States, and has for years been one of the reliable and hard-working officials of his county.
- Judge Strong, who was one of the territorial judges, always came to the post on his trips to hold court. He lived on the Columbia. Starling was the Indian agent. Moses was collector of the post, and lived at Olympia. Goldsborough, Mason, Simmons, in fact, all of the first pioneers were seen at the post frequently during the few months of my tour of duty. Steilacoom was the place where the vessels landed, and it was called a city, although there were only a few houses. Dr. Webber had a store and dealt in lumber. Mr. John M. Chapman had taken the best of the ground for the town and Lafayette Balch had taken a claim adjoining to the north, and was in partnership, too, with Webber.
- The [Steilacoom] site was very fine for a city, with a good roadstead, but its ambitious beginning was rudely curtained into a suburb of Tacoma, which did not spring up until twenty years later. The congress that closed on the 3rd of March, 1853, had created the Territory of Washington, and President Pierce appointed I.I.Stevens, an ex-army officer, Governor. The new administration made many removals, among them Judge Strong, and Agent Starling. The news of the changes did not come to us until early in the month of May, and were matters of great moment to the people.
- I began to have a realizing sense of what life in the army was likely to be. There was little to do, but it had to be done at certain hours and in a prescribed manner, and served to interrupt any self-imposed pursuit on the outside. A certain class of our visitors always caused the introduction of cards and playing for stakes. As I had foresworn cards,9 I was never included in the game, but in order to fill my leisure time I lad out a plan of reading and writing.
- I wrote a few letters to the New York Herald and the Spirit of the Times, but this was only a fraction of what I desired and mentally resolved to do. I soon realized that army life in garrison was one of laziness. It soon required effort to hunt or ride on the plains or to go fishing. But this discouraging condition was happily interrupted first by a detail of an absorbing nature and then by my promotion, which caused my removal.
- In April a number of reports of trouble with the Indians were sent to the commanding officer from the settlements along the lower Sound10. White men had disappeared and were supposed to have been killed by Indians. The sale of liquor to Indians was a great source of trouble, and information of this illegal trade was also furnished, so that Capt. Jones finally decided to dispatch me with a small detachment on a trip of investigation.
- In May [of 1853] I was supplied with an open ships launch with two sails and a month’s supplies for a sergeant, ten men and a guide, and informed that the object of the expedition was to “intimidate the Indians.” When the strength of my command is considered in connection with the hordes of Indians then to be found along the shores of the waters of Puget Sound, the absurdity of this order becomes apparent. This is more evident now than it was then, for at the time our mission seemed to partake merely of danger, and not of folly. Also my orders were very undefined: I was to visit the various settlements and to do all in my power to discover the offenders and the source of complaints. I was given authority to arrest whites who were selling liquor to Indians and full license to arrest Indians on suspicion. So on the 23rd of May, 1853, we started on our voyage of “intimidation" accompanied by Dr. Haden and Mr. Starling, the agent who had proposed to go part of the way.
- May 23, 1853. The morning was devoted to putting our supplies and baggage on board and waiting in the mouth of Steilacoom creek for the tide. The captain (Floyd-Jones) came down to see us off. He crossed the creek on horseback, and was showing the doctor [John Miller Haden] an excellent method of keeping his feet from getting wet by putting them on the animal’s back, when he very suddenly found himself immersed completely. We laughed heartily at his discomfiture. It was slow work pulling through the Narrows, as the tide was against us. We lunched at Day Island11, a beautiful piece of land covered by an impenetrable pyramidal forest.
- It was 9 P.M. before we reached our camp on Vashon’s Island12. The Narrows were quite alive with Indians fishing for small fish and salmon. They trolled for the salmon and caught the small fish with a species of rake, composed of sharp nails set like teeth into a paddle. This instrument served at once to direct the canoe, and in cutting into the water to pass through shoals of small fish, transfixing them to the nails. It was then brought against the side of the boat behind the fisherman with a jar, so as to loosen the catch and prepare for another load. We purchased fish and clams from the Indians for our table.
- May 24th [of 1853]. After hard rowing in the hot sun we passed the north end of Vashon’s Island, and reached a place known as New York, on Elliott Bay13, and encamped on a hot sandbar. There is only one house at this point. The scenery of the Sound is not conspicuously marred by civilization, as this is the first house we have seen since we left Steilacoom.
- Indian lodges and camps are visible at times on the beach just above high tide, while light canoes are a marked feature of the water views, at every point. The wild, luxurious growth of first covers the hilts and is only arrested by the neat little edging of sand on the shore. Occasionally a fringe of willow or alder relieves with a lighter green the gloom of these dark forests.
- We concocted a chowder this evening. Potatoes, clams, fish and onions formed the ingredients, and we all had good appetite. The great quantity and variety of sea fruit to be found in the Sound and the facility with which they are obtained is a feature of the country which is very attractive. It must be especially so to the poor man, as he need never want for food. As one of the ledgers at this place expressed it,“When the tide is out the table is spread."14
- I was introduced to a Mr. Terry, the proprietor of this claim, which is beautifully situated and will probably develop into a town. Seattle is further up the [Elliott] bay and is more protected. On the whole this is a magnificent sheet of water.
- Mr. [Charles Carroll] Terry was the town proprietor of New York [Alki], which never grew beyond one house. The first settlers of Seattle located there. They soon moved over to Yesler’s saw mill, on Elliott Bay, and with that for a center, they radiated along the shore, into the woods and over the hills to Lake Washington, laying the foundation of the Queen City of the Sound. We crossed over to Seattle on the 25th before continuing on our way, and there we saw the saw mill and a few blockhouses for the mill hands. These were situated several blocks back from the wharf line of the city, as established after the great fire of 1889.
- A fair wind carried us a mile beyond Point No Point.15 We were engaged in unloading the boat and forming camp when the doctor [John Miller Haden], who had gone off with his gun to shoot ducks, came running toward us crying alternately “Bear!” and “Musket.” We immediately seized our arms to meet the enemy. The bear, however, did not seem to be concerned about us, but took to the water, with the idea, probably, of swimming across to Skagit head. We hurried into the boat and soon came up within forty or fifty yards. I made repeated attempts to fire, but the cap would not explode. Starling got ahead of me, but when the bear swam on unconcernedly, he sank back with a most disappointed sigh.“I have missed,” he said. As I was getting another musket, a soldier up and fired and the bear’s head went down. I thought I had lost my chance, but he appeared again in a moment. He was tossing his head and bleeding. I blazed away and he went down and did not come up again. When we reached him he was quite dead. We dragged our prize ashore, and the evening was spent in dressing the bear and discussing him.
- An examination disclosed a hole in his head just below the eye, and another one below the chin, which passed through the spine behind the head. The latter must have been my shot, for he could only have been hit so when he was tossing his head. Some Snoqualmie Indians who had come from Hood’s canal visited us and were much interested in our capture.
- Our camp is located on a piece of lowland covered with grass, but behind us is a high bank. This is a camping ground for the Indians who travel up and down the Sound, down which the bear had come to take his bath. The point probably takes its name from the fact that at high water the point is hidden from view. Fortunately the beach is sandy, for after dark the north wind prevailed and the boat was driven ashore; if the bottom had been rocky it would have been injured or possibly ruined.
- May 26th. We started at 5 after some trouble in shoving the boat off the beach, where the tide had left her. As we had the tide with us, we found that we should have no difficulty in reaching our destination (Port Townsend), so we stopped at Marrowstone point and leisurely took our lunch. Starling claimed to be a man of experience, and when we started across Port Townsend bay he insisted that we should sail. None of us were sailors, so we differed with him and judged that the quickest means was rowing. Starling worked the sails for about an hour without any effect. He would not yield, although we laughed and argued, but finally suggested that there was nothing to prevent my furling the sails, if I wanted to.
- We rowed across in an hour and landed on the beach at Hasting’s store. I expected to get information at this point in regard to violations of the intercourse, but like all rumors, the location shifts, as you seem to approach it. I am told that the depredations and violations of the law were not committed here, but elsewhere. There are many Indian lodges on the sandspit, but their inmates have gone fishing. I shall stay over a day or two, however, and see what I can learn.
- The only two houses belonging to white men are the store and a boarding house kept by an old sea captain. The rest are Indian huts, built of slabs of cedar, and lined with mats. They belong to King George, the Duke of York and their retinue. We met Mr. Hastings, a justice of the peace, his clerk, a Mr. Plummer, and Mr. Pettigrew, a man who has formerly been very rich in Oregon.
- They have located claims near here and are living on them with their families waiting for a town to grow up. We walked over to their property, which certainly exceeds anything in Washington or Oregon for beauty and fertility, if they were only disposed to farm. The Olympic range cannot be more than thirty miles to the west. Mount Baker is on the east, and below us lies the harbor [Port Townsend Bay]. Vivid stretches of lawn interrupt the woods and appear on the headlands and islands.
- May 27th [of 1853]. We went on a walking expedition today over to the straits. Here we found the claim of a Mr. Ross, his wife and son. I could see no sense in his location, for although the timber is fine there is no market for it; that is, no mill at hand, and he has no cattle to haul it and no pasture to feed the cattle. The extent of his farm is a productive garden which he has planted on an old Indian camping ground.
- We returned by way of Point Wilson, in order to see a stratum of what Mr. Hastings called “ignite.” We failed to see any bear, of which there were many indications, but we killed a few grouse and Dr. Haden wounded a large eagle, which I was foolish enough to approach. He attacked me fiercely, sinking his bill and claws firmly into my leg, causing intense pain. I was only released after I had cut his head off with my knife.
- At Mr. Hastings’ his wife had prepared a dinner of native products, which our walk of about ten miles had prepared us to enjoy. There was clam soup, a saddle of bear which I had sent up, fresh bread, butter and buttermilk and currant and gooseberry pie.
- This evening I paid my respects to the lords of the country. There were also some distinguished Americans among their number. “Gen. Taylor” showed a letter of recommendation he had received from Moses16, post collector; “John C. Calhoun” sold to us a pretty little canoe for the sum of $5.50 which we proposed to use as a tender to our launch in shallow water. The “Duke of Clarence” has stretched my bearskin for me.
- These Indians are of the Clallam tribe. They all claim to be chiefs, and their names have been given to them by the whites. A man named Hancock, of Port Townsend, gave me some information concerning an old man named Church, who had been killed on Whidby Island. He believed the Indians had killed & the Indians claim that he was killed by a Kikealis. I was told also that Col. Eby, the newly appointed collector of the post, can give me some definite knowledge, as he was on the coroner’s inquest. The colonel lives directly opposite on Whidby island. His residence is visible, as it is only six miles across the straits at this point.
- On the morning of the 28th, therefore, we ran across to Col. Eby’s and camped on the beach under the bluff on which his house is situated. We found him at home looking the pioneer that he was. He wore an old hickory shirt, trousers rent completely across the knees, which had been patched before, and on his head a most shocking bad hat. He entertained us liberally for the three days that we camped near him. Whidby island in its wild state was and still is wonderfully beautiful and rich. The only obstacle to settlement was the absence of water, as there was not a running stream on the island. The whole is over fifty miles long, and raised about 200 feet above sea level.
- May 28th [of 1853]. We had a troublesome time with our boat. The tide was coming in, and the beach being lined with small boulders, the launch was in danger of being thumped to pieces by the action of the waves which beat the shore with great violence. There was no alternative but to put some men to work to keep her away from the beach until the tide was at the highest. This involved five or six hours of hard rowing, and at 9 o’clock when I did order the boat in she came in with such a force as to knock down the men who were on hand to pull her up. The waves did the work for us and landed her high and dry and safe for the night. Fortunately there were no bones broken. There is not a sailor among us, but if experience is to be relied on, it is to be hoped we will learn something.
- We made several excursions on the island. Our hunting was not very successful, as on the prairie the fern, which was as high as a man, obscured the range, and in the timber the fallen trees formed a serious impediment.
- May 29th [of 1853]. The doctor [John Miller Haden] and I, piloted by Col. Eby, tramped to a little settlement on Penn’s cove, called Coveland. Here Capt. Boscoe and Dr. Lansdale were holding claims preparatory to the inauguration of a big city, which, however, can only be realized after they have provided a water supply for the future occupants. Dr. Lansdale lives in a little hut on the edge of the prairie at the head of the cove. Capt. Boscoe was building a trading store.
- Old Maj. Snow had a store, which we visited and where we met a Dr. Vincent and a Mr. Howe. Their trade supplies, however, came from the mainland, which can only be reached by boat. The [Penn] cove is a deep indentation in the [Whidbey] island, about two miles wide and six miles long. It is a beautiful bay and thoroughly protected, but it can only be approached by large ships from the south around Skagit head, a circumlocution of great length.
- The 30th [May 1853]. was spent in visitng old man Crockett, who with a large family was located on the prairie on the top of Admiralty head. A large number of Suqualmish Indians engaged in gathering camas were encamped on the bay.17 From them the doctor [John Miller Haden] and [Edmond] Starling succeeded in procuring transporation to Steilacoom. For this reason the doctor and Starling had come to the island with me. They were prettily fooled by Col. Eby, on whom they expected to impose, as the colonel was going to Olympia to assume his office as successor to [Abram Benton] Moses, and they planned to return at his expense.
- When, however, the doctor [John Miller Haden] and the agent [Edmond Starling] made their proposal to the new collector [Isaac Ebey], the latter said that he could not leave immediately on account of his wife. When, however, they returned from Admiralty bay with their canoe, and guide, the sly colonel changed his mind and said he would go with them, so the original plan was inverted, much to the disgust of Starling and the doctor. The agent had been of little use on the trip. In his official position he had completely failed, and in his promises to supply us with game and to be of practical assistance in several ways, he had “slipped up,” in addition to which he was exceedingly irritable when twitted with his shortcomings.
- I was obliged to discharge the guide I had obtained at New York [Alki], as I had found him gambling in the Suqualmish camp and he had shown himself worthless in other respects. An Indian loitered about our camp for two days, offering to inform against the murderer of [Judah] Church, if he were paid for it. I put him off, and on the evening of the 29th, Hancock came over from Port Townsend and told me that the Indians had told him that one Sla-kai, a Skagit Indian, had killed Church. The next day [May 30, 1853] a man named Martin Tafster agreed to get the Indian if the matter were kept quiet. So I decided to visit Dungeness and return on the east side of Whidby island through Deception passage, where it was said that the Indian could be found.
- After bidding my friends goodbye, I sailed away for Dungeness. Soon after rounding Protection point the wind went down, and we had hard work to reach Protection island, where we camped. There is no water on the island, but fortunately we had two buckets full, which we had brought with us. There are no inhabitants, except some hogs, which seem to thrive very well. The island is composed of sandbanks, which recede from the water’s edge and form a little valley in the center. On the east side is a strip of fir timber and sufficient soil to produce a coat of grass interspersed with fern.
- On the lst of June we camped on the mainland at the house of a Mr. Garish, to whom I had received a letter from Mr. Starling. We desired to go on to Dungeness, but Garish persuaded us to stay with him arguing that there were no whites at Dungeness, that there was no water and that the Indians had gone fishing. Before I left I. found that he had not represented the facts correctly, and that I should have gone to Dungeness. Garish had a store and he probably thought that he could get some trade out of us. I stayed four nights at this camp and during that time I saw much of the Indians, but as usual there was nothing wrong. There had been no liquor18 sold to the Indians since Spencer, then in the guard house at Steilacoom, had been apprehended.
- Visit to Clallam. - The Indians at this place are more primitive than those at the head of the Sound. They are less nomadic and have seen little of the whites and crowded with great curiosity about our camp. They have no range, except on the water, for the country behind is quite impenetrable. Their abodes are permanent, for they live in extensive houses, reminding me of the tobacco sheds in the east. They are formed of large posts, supporting beams, some of them so large that it is a source of wonder how they are handled. The sides and roofs are formed o[ut] of huge slabs of cedar fastened together with strong twigs. An elliptical hole through one of these slabs forms the door, and often the entrance consists of a passage-way of rough boards.
- The posts are decorated with carvings and drawings of men, animals and faces, ornamented with black and red paint. On the wall inside hang the mats on which they sleep. A horizontal beam is fastened to the posts, from which the provisions are hung. There is room enough in such a structure for several families. They seem to be great lovers of size, for a saw a canoe this evening at least fifty feet long and six feet wide. It is doubtless used for the migration of the tribe, for it would hold a family or half a tribe. They are evidently poor, for they offer no food for sale, and when I tried to buy fish or game from them they asked high prices.
- Fortunately I had some of the venison from a buck the doctor had killed. The clams are accessible to us as well as to the Indians, besides which among our regular supplies we have bread, coffee and sugar. The Indians themselves live mainly on salmon and clams. They have a few potato patches, and I presume they also kill some game, but although it is quite abundant, it is very difficult to get on account of the timber.
- I noticed a number of fish wiers at the mouth of the small streams. They are made of sticks placed about two inches apart, inclining down stream and forming a complete dam.
- Connected with this dam, similar sticks are placed up stream so as to form little pens. The salmon leaps over the dam, falling into the pen, and is readily caught by the Indian who is on the watch sitting on a mat placed on a slab on the pen. On the sand spits nets have been suspended from tall poles for the purpose of catching wild gadis and geese at the time of their annual flights. They fly against them in the night and kill themselves.
- I was introduced to the Duke of York19 and Lord Jim, both of whom are superior to any Indians I have yet met. An old man named Larkinum was chief of the Clallams, but he abdicated in favor of his son, the Duke. Lord Jim is very intelligent and can speak English quite well. He took a great deal of pride in showing me some papers he had received from different whites, principally sea captains. I was much amused at their contents for most of them abused him without reserve, calling him a liar, a thief, a drunkard and a gambler. Some of them were curious literary productions, abounding in flowers of speech. Lord Jim, of course, imagined these certificates of his rascality to contain nothing but praise, and begged me to add mine to the number, which, I think, will help him as much as any of the others. I procured a Skagit Indian named Goliah to act as guide. I think he will do well.
- I met but few whites, as they did not seem to have settled in that vicinity. Mr. Garish introduced me to his partner, a Mr. Powell, who had been away “log-raising” for a new house at Squim bay.20 Powell was a man of adventure. He has been ship-wrecked on Vancouver’s island and had been captured by the Indians, so that his conversation was very interesting. Capt. Moore, a settler at Dungeness, impressed me favorably as an honest man. He corrected some of the erroneous impressions I had received from Garish, and showed himself very anxious to supress the contraband trade with the Indians.
- June 4th [of 1853]. Hunting. On the 4th I spent the day hunting…I. passed through the tide prairies east of camp, through the timber onto a large gravelly prairie. Here I saw abundant signs of bear, deer, elk and moose, but as they could only be found in the timber I proceeded to the southern border, where the ground ascended one of the foothills of the Olympics.
- What seemed from a distance to be a smooth slope I found to be a dense intricacy of fallen saplings, overgrown with fern and willow higher than a man’s head. With my usual desire to climb to the top and see the view I continued for about four hours, walking along the tree trunks and falling into the fern. I startled several large animals, but I could not tell what they were, and the noise I made crashing through the brush frightened them away before I could reach them.
- The air was still and dry, and I was faint for want of water. I did not expect to find any, but by a strange good fortune I came across a cavity in a fallen cedar, burnt out by the fire and shielded from the sun, which had caught and preserved the rain as it seemed for my especial restoration. I spent half an hour in climbing a tree, but I could see nothing except forest to the west and east. Beyond the prairie and strip of wood the Strait of Fuca was partly visible, and to the south mountain after mountain rose, until the furthest ones were white with snow. I did not get into camp until 6 o’clock and I was much exhausted. One of the men brought in a deer.
- June 5th [of 1853]. We sailed across the Straits of Fuca heading for the north end of Whidby island, where we expected to go through Deception passage. The wind carried us within a few miles of Deception pass and then died away, so that we were obliged to resort to the oars. The tide being at its ebb, the guide said it was impossible to get through, so we went into camp in a small cove north of the entrance…Deception pass is a narrow channel between Whidby and Fidalgo islands. Its existence is connected with fearful stories of whirlpools and eddies, and it is only at the flood or ebb of the tide, when the waters are said to be quiet, that it is possible to go through with any safety.
- It is a spot well calculated to excite the Indian with fear and superstition and give rise to stories of the marvelous. The entrance is concealed in the bold, rocky shore, and I should not have found it at all without the help of Goliah. In the shadow of the dark high rocks are innumerable bays and inlets, formed by the continuous working of the waves. The aspect of the shore is stern and repellant.
- June 9th [actually June , 1853]. After waiting for ebb tide, and assisted by a light wind and oars, we passed through without seeing any of the horrors we had been told of. We soon arrived at a place called Gumbay, which I subsequently found was the best rendition the Indians could give of Capt. Fay, who had a house on the northeastern end of Whidby island. He seemed to be engaged in trade with the Indians. He confirmed the stories I had heard concerning Sla-hai as the murderer of Church, and showed me several articles belonging to Church and which the Indians had obtained from Sla-hai.
- In order to lull suspicion, I decided not to attempt a capture immediately, but to await our return from Bellingham bay. We started in the afternoon and were carried almost through the Swinomish slough. This is a natural canal through the tide flats, several hundred feet wide and about twenty feet deep. At high tide large boats are able to go through. The country is principally inhabited by Swinomish and Skagit Indians. White men have not yet thought of settling on these rich flats, which will certainly become very valuable on account of their productiveness.
- This broad salt marsh is covered by rich grass and intersected by canals, which could not be more suitable for navigation if they had been made artifically. The Indian houses are built after the fashion of the buildings of the Hudson Bay Company. I visited one of the camps, of which there are a great many, and found the Indians gambling, as usual. They have ten little chips of wood. Nine of them are supposed to be klootchmen(Indian women) and the tenth one a man. These they shuffle in cedar bark, and an Indian takes five in each hand and his opponent guesses which hand holds the four klootchmen and one man. They play in this manner for whole days and nights. Gambling seems to be inherent in the savage as well as the civilized man. The propensity to plunder our fellow creatures without giving an equivalent other than an equal risk is so widespread that it may be regarded as natural, if not right in the light of Christianity.
- On the 7th [June 1853] we drifted into Padilla bay. Here we ran aground several times and I was obliged to hire another Indian pilot. We did not make more than ten miles, and camped in a little cove on one of the islands, probably Guymas. In the twilight I paddled about the base of the cliffs in our little canoe and admired the deep blue of the waters and the grandeur of the rocks. On the 8th we reached Whatcom.
- June 8th [of 1853]. The men had to wait five or six hours for the tide in order to make camp. In the meantime I visited two honest, energetic young men named Brown and Peabody, who were engaged in building a large sawmill, with sixteen men in their employ. The stream which is the outlet for Lake Whatcom presents a fine water power for the mill, but the fact that it can only be reached at high water is a serious objection to the townsite as well as the millsite. I met a Capt. Pattle; who impressed me less pleasantly. He is an Indian trader and an old resident of this section, having been here for several years. He is the claimant of the coal bank which crops out at the water’s edge half a mile south of the millsite. He has two neighbors, who have also taken claims with an eye to the coal mine. Their names are Morrison and Thomas, and they are villainous~looking men. In spite of the small number of residents, a bitter animosity exists among them on account of these coal lands. They fight over the claims and destroy each other’s property and accuse one another of illicit trade with the Indians. I strongly suspect Pattle. He told me an effective story of how he had had a boat stolen containing two barrels of whisky. He accuses the Clallams. I told him that in such a case he should apply to the Indian agent, and showed him my papers, at which he looked blank, and, rallying, entered largely on the evils of selling liquor to the Indians. Little seems to have been known about the country surrounding this [Bellingham] bay. The timber is very large and dense, and there is very little prairie land. The Lummi river, which has quite a delta in the northwest corner of the bay, circles around the bay five or six miles back, and has a fine valley which heads in the mountains.
- Lummi Indians - June 9th [of 1853]. Accompanied by Goliah, I visited the mouth of the Lummi, where the headquarters of the Lummi band is supposed to be. We had our little canoe, and, the wind rising, we became quite wet, so that we decided to get out and walk. At the first mouth I found a settler named Hedge. He was living in a house of mats, like the Indians. He had an Indian wife with him and a white wife in the States. He had a great deal to tell me, most of which I do not believe. He boasts of his claim and praises the richness of the valley, which, however, he has not explored. He claims to have a great control over the Indians, and tells me that Chowitzan, chief of the Lummis, having heard of my coming and fearing that I might be after him, had gone to Victoria.21
- Early on the morning of the 10th we left Whatcom. The tide was with us, but the wind was against us, and it was 11 o’clock before we lost sight of Whatcom. We lunched in a beautiful little cove on Lummi island, which forms the southwest boundary of the [Bellingham] bay. The wind lulled, but, the tide favoring us, we continued on our course, entered the grand canal of the Swinomish [Slough] and succeeded in reaching our camp of the 6th near the same Indian camp.
- On the llth [June 1853] we reached Capt. Fay’s. Here I learned that some chiefs whom I could hold responsible for Sla-hai were at hand, and I decided to make some arrests.
- June l1th [of 1853]. George Sna-te-lum is chief of the Skagits and is encamped near by. But as Sla-hai is half Kikealis, I took the opportunity of arresting Patch-ka-num, chief of the Kikealis, just as he was landing. In the meanwhile Sna-te-lum, whom I had told Capt. Fay to watch, wisely decamped into the woods. I had put Patch-ka-num into a tent with a sentinel. He took the first opportunity to strip himself, and with a sudden dart he split open the back of the tent with his knife, and with nothing on but a shirt he ran swifter than a deer over the logs and along the beach. He was pursued by the sergeant and the sentinel, but they had no orders to fire, as a collision was not desirable, but this the Indian probably expected or he would not have attempted to escape. A returning hunting party forced him into the woods and it was useless to follow him. I soon realized my mistake in making such a half-hearted arrest in deference to Capt. Fay’s opinion. I should not have made any or have made it in earnest. Fay, however, maintained that the moral effect on the Indians was just as good, and would probably lead to the ultimate surrender of Sla-hai.
- During the short period of arrest several canoes had departed with Indians who had promised to bring Sla-hai. But they returned in the evening without the prisoner. An Indian named Charley, in whom Fay had great reliance, told a long and what was intended to be a thrilling story of how he failed to get Sla-hai. The reason he failed was because Sla-hai’s brother frightened him away with a pistol, but Charley was much disappointed that we did not get excited over his recital, and he cooled off very suddenly.
- We decided that the only way to get the murderer was to bribe the Indians to assist in his capture. On the 12th we proceeded to Penn’s cove to interview the settlers and propose that they should raise a contribution in order to induce the Indians to deliver Sla-hai. The proposition met with favor and a subscription paper was started. I waited over the 13th to learn the result. After my failure to hold the chiefs I was very anxious to make amends for my bungling, but I felt that now that the Indians were alive to the fact that I was after the murderer of [Judah] Church it would be a difficult matter to retrieve myself. There was no hope of any result except through the Indians, and that only by paying well for it. They showed themselves full of zeal to assist, and although I contemplated making a night trip, I gave it up, as I had no confidence in such allies…
- June 15th [of 1853]. As I did not feel encouraged that the settlers would do anything, I ran over to Mr. Miller’s on Camano island, where I learned that the band to which Sla-hai belonged was probably in camp on the Kikealis, one of the mouths of the Skagit. Miller had good reason to know for whom I was hunting, as the same Indian had threatened his life because Miller had ducked him for breaking a contract. There were a number of Patch-ka-num’s band about Miller’s, but I did not go among them, but decided to make an attempt to go up the Kikealis at night and when the tide was high. We left the island, going southward: as if returning to Steilacoom, and went into camp on Whidby island. As soon as night came on we reloaded our boat and started back. As we passed Miller’s place the Indians encamped there raised a great shout. Although we were several miles out, they must have heard and recognized us. A drizzling rain set in and the tide was against us, and in the morning we found ourselves far from our goal. We persevered, but when we reached the flats we found them quite impassible, so that I was obliged to give up my attempt to find the Kikealis, and, turning southward once more, we sailed over to Whidby island and camped on an old camping ground of the Skagits, where their last chief, Duatlim, was buried. . . .22 On the morning of the 16th we started on our return. By 2 o’clock we passed Skagit head, and continuing on to Appletree cove we stopped for dinner.
- A fair breeze springing up, we decided to take advantage of it, and after a delightful sail we reached New York [Alki] at midnight and pitched camp. The following day we passed to the east of Vashon island, but wind and tide being against us, we did not reach the mouth of Steilacoom creek until 1 that night.
- Thus ended my first tour of independent duty, which has become an interesting memory. At that time I felt that we had failed in the object of thie expedition, but considering that we were gone a month and that there was not a sailor in the party, it is a matter of wonder that we all returned alive and well, especially when we take into consideration the number of expert sailors who have since been drowned in the same waters.