The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-02-16
AN ISDIAN BOY MURDERED.
A Story from Washington which throws
Light on the Indian Question.

LIght ON the Indian Question.
The following is an extract from let
ter written by Henry A. Thayer, Of
Loop Loop, okanogan county, WASH
inston, and printed in the Nation Of
last week, and the reservation referred
to is the Colville Reservation, an i'm
mepse tract OF land between the Britiah
line and Columbia and Okanogan river,
where there are between eight hundred
and thousand Christian Indians:
Last fall O man named Cole dtsap-
peared while crossing the reservation.
An Indian, undoubtedly his murderer,
was arrested, and, on forcibly resisting
the Sheriff, wss shot. It was supposed
there was another culprit, but he was
never found, and now probably never
will be. About week ago at the Okla
hogan Mission young Indian came ont
OF the church with the priest. A mum.
Der OF the tribe were there, and one OF
them, stepping up, asked him II he
knew anything about the murder to tell
them. The priest then said: "rell ex'
actly what happened" Here follows
he was riding the range after stock,
and fell in with two other Indians. The
others had whisky, and they all drank.
The three rode on together until they
overlook Cole. They stopped and talked
awhile, until finally quarrel arose, and
Cole got down from his wagon and
started for them with an axe. The boy
had just ridden around to have the
wagon between himself and the Others
when he heard shot. Without looking
to see the result, he put his spurs to his
horse, and never stopped until he
reached Chief Simitkin's, fifteen miles
away, He added that he could identity
the murderer, still at large, and could
tell who sold the Indians the whisky.
Hereupon he was advised TO surrender
To the authorities. Word was sent to
Conconnully, the county seat, and an
officer went to the reservation and prom
issCi that no harm should befall the boy,
whom he took back to Conconnully.
Tie Justice who heard the case refusing
to give bail, a writ of hRbeas corpus was
issued by the Court Commissioner. The
only apology for evidence offered was
that, after the murder, two drunken In.
dams were seen in the vicinity, and the
boy could not be identified as one Of
them. The Commissioner fixed bail at
81 600, and the prisoner was remanded
to the county Jail.
At two o'clock on the morning OF JAN
uary s, ten masked men forced an en-.
trance into the iailer's bedroom, and,
covering him with their reyolyers, com.
PEELED him TO go to the Jail and open the
cage in which the prisoner was confined.
They then took this poor boy-a mere
child, fourteen years old-threw rope
about his neck, and led him, scantily
clothed and barefooted, through the
snow, in the piercing winter weather,
outside the town. The rope was flung
over bough, and the miscreants pulled
until they had raised him of the ground.
They fastened the rope and left him
dead.
The most plausible reason for this in
famous nights work Is that certain per
sons feared exposure for whisky.sellipg
TO Indians. all chance Of discovering
the second murderer Of Cole Is destroy
ed. The Indians are furious; and who
can wonder? While the officer who
brought the boy in from the reservation
most unwisely exceeded his powers in
promising him freedom again, still il
must seem to the Indians that all Of US
whites deliberately participated In a lie
that we might get one more Of them in
our power and kill him. They believe,
and with too much reason, that there
can be no law nor justice for one oil
themselves, but that the whites are
leagued together 10 kill them whenever
they can do so without discovery.
This is not the first time that settlers
have owed their scalps to the priests.
There has been no outbreak, and the
chances are overwhelmingly against one
but the ranchers in distant parts Of the
country are cafe only BECAUSE Of the in.
fluence Of the Jesuit Farther de Ronge
and the Christian chiefs.