, 1884-01-17
Weekly Argus.
THURSDAY, JANUARY l., 1ssl.
San Juan Island and the Famous
Deeds Done Upon II.

A. the San Juan Cmbroglio seems |
To he interesting the Tcaurr- uI III, /
AEGU>. ! viii give you tie following /
from an article | wrote for the san I.
Francisco Bulletin, which was pub
Hshed in the weekly of that iDwIal /
February 18th. 1860. Col Hail,r'~ /
communication which l have read /
with interest. a- showing his views ol /
the San Juan affair. does not 20 /. /
the beginning of the difficulty, WhIc
was long before the wild boar hunt
THE STORY OF WEBER. GRIFFIN AMI
GOV. DOUGLAS.
In December. 1888. the Hudson
Bay Co. placed a flock OF sheep witt
shepherds on San Juan, the island
being at that time not only rec
ogniZed as American soil. but actual
" laid down on the surveys OF the
Government as Il portion of the
county OF Nhatcom. At that time
Col Isaac \. Ebey was the [. 5
Collector OF Customs for Puget
Sound
Information reaching him, during
the winter, OF the fact that the H.B.
Co. had landed lot of foreign sheep
on American soil. he proceeded on the
18th of May, 1854, to San Juan foI
the purpose of making a seizure o1
the sheep, for violation of the rev
enue laws. Col. Ebey took with him.
among others, Henry Webber, whom
he intended to appoint as Inspector
of Customs for San Juan. Mr.. Web
ber Is a well known citizen of this
Territory, residing at Port Discovery
at the present time He Is Il pleas
ant, agreeable man, of the most per
feet good humOr, but very determin-
ed and brave. He gave me a nara
tive of the affair, which l Will en-
deavor to relate in nearly his own
words: Il was living" said he, ION
the Lummi river at the time and
was requested by Col. Ebey, the Col
lector of Customs, to go with him to
Bellevue, or San Juan, for the pur-
pose Of making a seizure of some
sheep We landed on the island on
the 2nd day of May, and the Colonel
Immediately sent word to Mr.. Chas.
J. Griffin, the Hudson Bay Cos
agent at Bellevue, to come to his
camp, we having pitched our camp
where the tOwnSIte now Is"
''Gritfin came down. and after
some preliminary talk, told EDey
that he had positive orders from Gov.
Douglas not to allow any Americans
to land on the island. Colonel Ebey
replied that he could not help that;
he had come to make seizure of the
sheep for violation of the revenue
laws of the United States. In the
meanwhile Griffin had sent an ex-
press to Victoria to inform Governor
Douglas of the landing of Col. Ebey."
'"The following afternoon the II. 3.
Cos steamer Otter arrived, having on
board Gov. Douglas, and Mr. Sang
ster, the Collector of Victoria. As
soon as the steamer anchored Il boat
was sent on shore, having the British
jack flying over her stern"
''When Col Ebey saw the Otter
coming he ordered Philip Beynon,
one of his men, to plant the American
flag on the hill, which he did; and
when the steamer came to anchor, the
American colors were flying, much to
the surprise eff those on board, who,
thinking that Ebey had no flag to
hoist, intended to hoist theirs first
Capt. Sangster then came up TO
Col. Ebey's tent and in very excited
manner asked the Colonel what he
wanted Col. Ebey then told him
that as it was American soil, he, as
an American officer, was not bound
to answer the question; but he had
come to seize the sheep, and begged
the Captain to not get excited"
'.After some further talk the excite
ment died away, and Sangster re
turned on board the Otter"
'rhe next morning." continued Mr.
Webber, Sol. Ebey, Capt Sangster
and myself called on Mr. Griffin, and
after a general conversation we re-
turned to Col. Ebey's tent. The Col
remarked that he thought he would
not make d seizure at that time, but
would leave an officer on the island" !"
''Who is he?" asked Sangster. "Mr.
Weber," replied the Colonel. II
arrest him." said Sangster, ''in the
name of the Queen" Stop" cried
the Colonel, "you are too fast, he has
no commission yet" In the after
noon Col. Ebey went to the Hudsoa
Bay Co.'S store, where he gave Web
ber his commission and swore him in
"In the meantime the Otter sailed
leaving Capt Sangster and six boat
men on the island Col Ebey re-
marked that Webber had better move
his tent near Griffin's quarters for
the sake of company Sangster ans
wered that it would make no differ
ence, for as soon as Ebey left he
would arrest Webber. Ebey replied
that he could not anticipate any such
m )Yement, but Webber and Sangster
must settle it between themselves.
He then left for Port Townsend.
The next morning at sunrise Sang
ster went to Webber's tent, called
him up and proceeded to arrest him
in the name of the Queen Webber
demanded his process and remarked.
81 am on American soil, and owe no
allegiance to the Queen" Sangster
had no process, but procured one
from justice or magistrate of the
H. b. company, who swole in a con
stable and issued process; which
was taken by the constable and given
to Webber.
''It was remarkable document" 5"
said Webber to me. its like was
never seen before or since, and am
sorry l did not save it, for it was a
legal and literary curiosity"
After reading the paper, Webber
said to the constable, "n)W do your
duty; don't finch" Inc constable
brought up the six men from Sang
ster. When within three feet WeU-
Der drew his revolver and said, ''oae
foot more and you are dead nun. L
have six charges in my revolver and
some of them will tell Fulfill your
duty IL have no Ill feelings toward
you. Proceed and make your arrest.
bnt the first who stirs l will blow his
brains out"