Obscure stone marker tells of the state of Washington's dark past

Near the corner of 30^th and Auburn Way N in Auburn is an old stone marker, placed there by the Washington State Historical Society. Since Auburn Way is actually one of those highways in disguise, motorists zipping by are unlikely to notice it; foot traffic in the area is also spare, so it is unlikely that even local residents know of its existence. I happened to have nothing better to do one day but to time myself walking from Point A to Point B when I happened to notice it. Being the curious sort, I investigated this piece of stone out in the middle of nowhere. Upon it was chiseled the following message:

WM. H. BRANNAN HIS WIFE & CHILD

HARVEY H. JONES & WIFE

GEORGE E. KING & WIFE

ENOS COOPER

WHO WERE MASSACRED IN THIS

VICINITY ABOUT OCT. 18, 1855

BY A BAND OF INDIANS

What happened here is what was called the White River Massacre, near what is now called the Green River. I have only a very basic understanding of the early history of the state of Washington, although probably more than the people who were actually born here. Its depiction in the early years was certainly closer to the muddy backwoods portrayed in the Robert Altman film McCabe & Mrs. Miller than that silly television show Here Come the Brides (I don’t think any of them got married when the show was cancelled). Before Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which gave away so-called “public” land—including that which was claimed by Native American tribes—for free to anyone 21 or over, or a head of household, the natives had seen only intermittent habitation by whites, mainly relatively benign French traders. 

How many Native Americans actually lived in the region before the white invasion is unknown, and there was at first little effort by federal census takers to make an accurate count of the native population. However, a count sought by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs “estimated” the number of “Indians” in Oregon and Washington Territory to be about 23,000 in 1853, about two-thirds in Washington. The 1860 count of Indians “retaining their tribal character not enumerated in the 1860 Census” indicated 7,000 Indians in Oregon and 31,000 in Washington Territory; these figures did not count Native Americans who were “assimilated” into white society. 

According to the 1850 census, there were only 1,049 white residents in the whole of Washington Territory which became separate from Oregon in 1853, and included Idaho and part of Montana, which suggests just how sparse the white population was at the time. However, by the end of the decade the population would rise to over 10,000—still a rather small per square mile presence, but backed by armed militias and the authority of the federal government and its territorial governor.  It should  come as no surprise that conflict would arise between the larger native population which required large spaces in which to hunt, fish and gather, and the small but growing white population that was demanding more and more land to farm, always the best available. In order to insure the security of white settlers’ claims, it was necessary to disenfranchise the natives’ own claims, and this required draconian measures against recalcitrant tribes. One must never underestimate the dynamics at work here: A society that allegedly respected private property was essentially meting out a double-standard, based on greed and racial animus. 

The Territory of Washington was established in February 1853, and as noted included what is now Idaho and part of Montana. Its first territorial governor was Issac Stevens. Although there was no “flood” of settlers coming into the territory—at least not according to today’s standards—most were farmers and “required” sizable tracts of land that were currently being used as hunting and fishing grounds by the natives. In 1855 Stevens basically coerced local tribes into signing so-called treaties relinquishing their rights to millions of acres of land and relocate to reservations. Stevens assured the natives that they would have up to two years to relocate without interference from settlers. However, Stevens broke his word almost immediately; instead of waiting for the treaties to be ratified by Congress, he allowed settlers and gold miners inside native lands as soon as the treaties were signed, as well as to trespass in established reservation tracts.

Conflict between the natives and whites in the area had already begun in earnest in 1847 when the Cayuse, rightly blaming white settlers for the “silent” massacre of many of their people by foreign diseases (a scourge that completely wiped-out scores of tribal villages around the country), killed the members of a Protestant mission, which brought a volunteer militia upon them.  By 1855 theft of horses and brutal behavior by miners naturally led to retaliation by the natives, which led to the Yakima Indian War. The Yakima (or Yakama), who had already ceded 13 million acres of their land to the U.S. government in exchange for the right to continue to hunt and gather on it, now found the land filling with troops to protect the white invaders. The war did not end until the Battle of the Four Lakes in 1858, when 24 chiefs were captured and executed. 

The Puget Sound War, fought from 1855 to 1856, pitted the Nisqually, Muckleshoot, Puyallup and other tribes against white settlers emboldened by Gov. Stevens ignoring of the treaty rights he had negotiated with the natives, backed by Army and local militia units. Leschi, chief of the Nisqually, was angered to discover that the land his tribe had been “allotted” turned out to be a barren, rocky area unsuitable for farming, and far from salmon fishing grounds. Leschi travelled to Olympia to demand a new reservation site, but was rebuffed. The acting governor, Charles Mason, determined that the chief was a troublemaker and ordered his arrest. 

A militia party went after Leschi. By the time they caught up with the Nisqually, Leschi and his brother had already fled, knowing that they were there to arrest them. A skirmish took place with other tribe members, in which two militiamen were killed. Leschi was blamed for the “murders,” and Gov. Stevens sent more troops after him. The chief would remain at large for a year, during which time Stevens illegally declared martial law over the region. There would be clashes between the militias and native forces, but only a few were significant enough to cause more than a dozen casualties on either side. Major skirmishes included the Battle of Walla-Walla, in which Oregon volunteer troops killed and dismembered five native hostages—their only “success” during a four-day “battle” in which the outnumbered troops were forced to flee to Fort Henrietta. The Battle of Seattle in January, 1856 saw two settlers and about two dozen natives killed, mainly by fire from the warship Decatur, which was anchored in Elliot Bay. 

During this period the White River Massacre, named for the White River Indians who are alleged to have carried out the attack, occurred. It came about largely because white settlers continued to intrude on native lands completely oblivious to their outrage.  In October, 1855 four families were attacked. William H. Brannan’s body was found cut to pieces, his wife and child found dead in a well. A mile away, the Harvey H. Jones house was burned, along with Jones who was confined to his bed from illness. His wife was found near the house, shot and struck in the head with an axe. The body of Enos Cooper, who worked for the family, was found some distance away, after an apparent attempt to escape. The lives of the three children present, however, were spared. George E. King and his wife were next, King found burned and his wife stabbed and mutilated. Two children, including an infant, were kidnapped. The older, George King Jr., was eventually returned, but the infant remained unaccounted for. A ninth victim was found, but he remained unidentified. A fourth household, the Cox family, managed to escape with minor wounds. 

After the massacre, blockhouses or mini-forts dotted Puget Sound as settlers prepared for more such attacks. For months warriors from the Puyallup, Nisqually and other tribes held their own against volunteer militias whenever they engaged. Meanwhile in the Yakima Valley, Catholic missionaries—unlike their arrogant Protestant counterparts—had gained the trust of some of the tribes. Suspected of “aiding” the enemy, their missions would be burned by volunteer troops.

The last significant clash offered by the tribes in the Puget Sound region occurred near Bonney Lake. A force of 150 warriors attacked a relative handful of volunteer troops, only to suffer significant casualties. Nevertheless, the volunteer militias—many ill-equipped and unused to harsh conditions—met with only sporadic success. The 1856 spring campaign of the 1^st Oregon Volunteers in the Walla-Walla Valley managed to net four old men dead, two women and one child taken prisoner. 

The turning point in the Yakima and Puget Sound wars occurred when Yakima and Cascade warriors attacked a settlement near the Cascades Rapids, killing 17 settlers and soldiers. Now the U.S. Army became involved. Cavalry arrived from Fort Vancouver, capturing the Cascade warriors who had surrendered. Nine of the warriors, including the chief, were hanged for “treason.” From here, Gov. Stevens’ volunteer troops tended to stay away from dangerous missions, taking to meting out revenge by the indiscriminate killing of old men, women and children. The Mashel Massacre was such an operation; it is estimated that there were 30 victims, mostly frightened people hiding out in the forest to avoid the bloodshed.

Stevens held a farcical pow-wow with the Walla-Walla Tribal Council in an effort to secure peace on his terms, but to no avail. The commander of the U.S. military’s Department of the Pacific, Gen. John Wool, did what Stevens had refused to do and ordered that no white settlers were to enter the Walla-Walla Valley, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, in the Puget Sound conflict Chief Leschi had come to terms with U.S. officials, but he was still a wanted man for a killing in which he was neither present nor had ordered. Through the treachery of a nephew for 50 blankets, Leschi was captured in November, 1856. Despite indications of his innocence and efforts to have him released, Leschi was eventually hanged in February, 1858. 

The last significant action during the period in which the White River Massacre was a part of was the Battle of Port Gamble, when a raiding party from the Haida tribe was fired upon by the warship Massachusetts; naturally the natives received the brunt of the casualties.