, 1858-02-26

In this plea, Mr. CLARK argued the juris-
dictiOn Of sheriff, which he asserted was
IcO-extensivs only with the boundaries Of
counties that beyond this their power
was void and also that as long as Mr..
Williams was sheriff Of Pierce county, no
other officer, unless through deputies ap-
pointed by himself, could legally perform
his duties or exercise his functions. After
commenting briefly upon this argument,
the Colonel replied that "the plea had no
weight in his mind that it was not his
duty to Judge Of matters of law, nor sit in
Judgment upon the validity of the orders
or DEGREES Of our courts ; that it was his
duty 10 submit 10 them, and that he con-
ceived il to be his duty, upon the order Of
the warrant which had been presented, 10
deliver over the prisoner !" which order he
then Immediately gave to Lieut. ShaafI, the
officer ofthe day, with directions to deliver
him at any time the sheriff should demand
him In order to guard against any recur
renee Of the events Of the 22d ult., Mr.
Mitchell then proceeded to the residence
Of the sheriff Of Pierce county, Mr.. VIII
liams, and ain the name Of the Territory
Of Washington" summoned him as one Of
bis posse to assist in executing the laws
Mr. W. replied" You cannot do that
you haVn't the power" We noticed him,
however, among that body, but whether he
considered himself on duty or not, we can
not say. .....
Tho preliminaries being now completed,
Mr. Mitchell called upon Lieut. Shaaf and
informed him that be was now ready TO
receive the prisoner whereupon he was
led forth from his cell, almost tottering
from weakness, and pale, or rather Ichite,
from long confinement In fact, it seemed
to us, that even though his death had not
been fixed upon, a few more wecks-at
most few montbs-and he would have
shufled of the mortal coil" From the
I
guaTd-house he was conveyed on horse
back to the place Of execution, distant
about q mile from the military post, sur
rounded in such manner that escape would
have been impossible, had be attempted
such thing. But Of this we believe he
had not the least desire In fact, had
escape been offered him, we doubt whether
he would have aVailed himself of it, To
US it seemed as If he had grown tired Of
life, and preferred death to continued in
generation. Arriving at the place of exc
cutiOu, we found the gallows erected in a
low gulch in the prairie; here the unhappy
man was assisted in dismounting and imnie
diaieIy led to the scaHold. At the foot Of
the ladder, looking up to the rope which
hung suspended, with its sliding hoose, he
hesitated for moment, but Instantly col
lecting himself. be acended With firm step,
as il he desired to show the white man
how fearlessly an Indian can meet death
The prisoner evincihg no desire to speak
or make any confession, bis arms were
secured behind him, when perceiving his
life was drawing to a close, he bowed him
self 10 the spectators, and for the space Of
some ten or fifteen minutes engaged in
ferYent praycr;-said Gin the jargon Of the
country, that he would soon meet his
maker--that he had made his peace with
God, aud desired TO live no lOnger-ihat
he bore malice to none, save one man."
and upon him be invoked the vengeance of
heaven. Having concluded, the rope was
adjusted, the cap drawn over bis eyes, and
at S5 minutes past eleven o'clock the drop
fell. and Leschi, the brave in battle, was
launched into eternity, without having
moved muscle to indicate fear of the
death (by hanging SO dreadful to an In
dian. He made no disclosures whatever,
and proved "as true as the needle to the
pole to his confederates.
After hanging about 25 minutes, and
life being extinct, his body was cut down
and delivered to bis relations, by whom he
was taken to the Nisqually reserve for
burial.
And now few words concerning Col.
Casey, As this officer has been severely
censured by our citizens for supposed con-
nivance at the disgraceful proceedings on
the 92d ult, it is but proper to say that
we saw and heard nothing on the 10th inst
but what would have served to scatter To-
the breeze those prejudices. What may
have been his connection Herewith we can
not say the structures cast upon him may
be well founded. His course throughout
the late Indian difficulties, under no cir
cumstances could we be induced to endorse