- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- I A Man, Part 7 (youtube.com)
Valerie Solanas (the woman who shot Andy Warhol) star’s in I A Man with Tom Baker. Explaining how she digs the chicks.