Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget SoundDenny, Emily Inez
History
Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound
Denny, Emily Inez
Indians of North America -- Northwestern States; Oregon Territory -- History; Washington (State) -- History
"'We, the undersigned jurors summoned to appear before Josiah
Settle, the coroner of King county, at Squak, on the 9th day of
November, 1864, to inquire into the cause of death of William
Casto, Abbie Casto and John Holstead, having been duly sworn
according to law, and having made such inquisition after
inspecting the bodies and hearing the testimony adduced, upon our
oath each and all do say that we find that the deceased were
named William Casto, Abbie Casto and John Holstead; that William
Casto was a native of Kentucky, Abbie Casto was formerly a
resident of Sauvies Island, Columbia county, Ore., and John
Holstead was a native of Wheeling, Va., and that they came to
their deaths on the 7th of November, 1864, in this county, by
knives and pistols in the hands of Indians, the bodies of the
deceased having been found in the house of William Casto, at
Squak, and we further find that we believe John Taylor and
George, his brother, Indians of the Snoqualmie tribe, to have
been the persons by whose hands they came to their deaths.'
"The bodies were brought to Seattle and buried in what is now
known as the Denny Park, then a cemetery, North Seattle. Since
then they have been removed to the Masonic cemetery.
"The news of the murder was sent to John Bonser, in Oregon, and
he came to the town at once. For several weeks after the event
the columns of the Seattle _Gazette_ were devoted in part to a
discussion of the question of selling and giving liquor to the
Indians, the general conclusion being that it was not only
against the law but a dangerous practice.
"Out of the killing by Aleck of the two Snohomish Indians grew a
feud which resulted in the death of Aleck's son. The old man was
the one wanted, but he was too quick with the rifle and they
never got him. He died a few years ago, aged nearly ninety
years."
So we see that whisky caused the death of six persons in this case.
The Lower Sound Indians were, if anything, more fierce and wild than
those toward the south.
George Martin, the Swedish sailor who accompanied Capt. Fay, in 1851,
said that he saw Sklallam Indians dancing a war dance at which there
appeared the head of one of their enemies, which they had roasted; small
pieces of it were touched to their lips, but were not eaten.
In an early day when Ira W. Utter lived on Salmon Bay, or more properly
_Shilshole_ Bay, he was much troubled by cougars killing his cattle,
calves particularly. Thinking strychnine a good cure he put a dose in
some lights of a beef, placed on a stick with the opposite end thrust in
the ground. "Old Limpy," an Indian, spied the tempting morsel, took it
to his home, roasted and ate the same and went to join his ancestors in
the happy hunting grounds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account