, 1859-05-06
TRIAL OF YEI.M JIM.
OLYMPIA, W. T., April 20, 1859

OLYMPIA, w. T., April 20, 1850.
7" the Editor Of tie Puget Sound Herald.
DEAR SIR:-In your issue Of the 22d April
observe statement which suppose slludes to
myself; and, as it is erroneous in fact, beg you
to do me the favor to insert this note
In the article headed How to serve q writ"
you say: at is true, our Adjutant- General gave
his testimony on the witness stand, few days
ago, at Olympia, during the trial Of an Indian,
that there was no war with the Indians in 1856
and '56."
Now ! assume was the witness alluded to,
although am not Adjutant-G General of the Ter.
ritory; but, in answer TO question as witness,
! stated that 81 had been Adjutant-Gcneral Of
the W. I. Volunteer forces during the whole of
the war;" Also, it being understood that the
counsel for the accused would claim that he was
entitled to the immunities incident to his being
engaged in lawful and legitimate war, stated
that his tribe, the NesQuales, had never been
at war with the whites, nor had any other tribes
west Of the Cascades been considered at war;
that had o sion during the war TO frequently
v st his tribe (wLo numbered some 1850 sOuls)
and always found them quiet upon their reser-
vaiOns, in charge Of the local agents; but that
some vagabonds Of the Nesqualiics, perhaps about
fifty, and also ssme others Of the other tribes Of
the Sound, were engaged in marauding or COM
miiting murders. But we had always considered
the tribes, as such, as being on the reservations
during the whole Of the war"
The case was entirely different, however with
the savages cast Of the. Cascades. There, whole
tribes-to wit the Yakima, Pelouse, Walla-walla
and other tribes-were at war, and detachments
Of the Yakima served against US even on this
side. In fact the name common to these trou-
bles in '65 and '56 was the "Yakima war;
Now, sir, / take it for granted you have been
informed differently, or, as you write in your
leader of the 22d in regarl to my testimony
and now request that you convey to your in
iormant, or rather to tho original iniorner, my
opinion that he has taken the slight liberty Of
ying in the premises.
lam aware the lawyers engaged in the defense
Of the Indian, who, by his confession TO two
witnesses, and afterwards before open court, had
been one Of party oil four savages who set upon
a quiet citizen, al old unarmed man, returning
from church with his wife and another woman,
and with great and most cowardly brutality,
massacred and aiterward horribly mutiated this
old farmer-l say, sir, am aware the counsel,
in the hopelessness Of other defense, endeavorud
to make out this atrocity an act Of justiable and
legitimate war. Bnt us the court sustained my
theory that his tribe was not at war, aud the
defense was otherwise hopeless overlooked the
gab ca Interpolation put upon my testimony,
10 the same etfsct as In your newspapcr--yiz.,
quoting on . art Of what said and not al =
as one Vi The sIuall advantages which some coun-
sci lake in the practice Of an otherwise honorable
profession. But when the matter comes in the
shape it does, in so respectable newspaper as
yours, sir, | must claim the right to make
statement Of facts.
am, sir,
Very respectfully yours,
JAMES Tnrox.
| [The writer is wrong in attributing to Col.
Wallace the information alluded to. At the time
"How to serve writ" was penned, and indeed
for many days previous as well as subsequent
the Colonel was absent professionally at vancou-
ver He did not communicate any portion Of the
information on which the article is based. So
much Of the matter contained In the article as
related to the war is derived from an intelligent
resident Of the Territory at that time, who took
an active part in the conflict throughout. Thus
much in justice to Col. Wallace, 70 whom Maj.
TiltOn so pointedly refers.
Our time and space did not admit Of publish
ing the testimony in full, nor was it Of sufficient
interest to our readers to warrant us in doing so
but we gave the gist Of 1t, according to our inter
probation Of it as published in the Pioneer and
Demoeras We thought then, and still l..ink, that
as there reported il will bear the construction we
put upon it Not having the paper containing
the trial with us now, we cannot again refer to
it. Should We be wrong in our conclusions, and
have wounded the feelings Of Maj. TiltOu, we can
not but regret it. as that was entirely foreign to
our intentiOn.l
DRTHEEA.-0ur community, as yet, with q
few exceptions, has fortunately escaped the dread
visitation noticed below. We are informed that
the disease Is an affection Of the mucous coat lin
ing the air passage and il is one that can only bo
successfully combated by an early and vigorous
treatment on the part Of the most skillal medical
men. A correspondent Of the Auburn Pres,
writing from Dutch Flat, Cal, says: "That
dreadful disease (dIptheria) has taken new start
among the children here. Three are now lying
dcad-one, an infant child Of Mr. and Mrs Smith
, another child, some two or three years old, ol
; Mr. and Mrs Eddy; the third, little girl seven
} years old, Of Mr.. and Mrs. Fuller, which Is the
third one they have lost in four weeks-anOtheF
one Of the family Is sick and no, expected to
, live"