The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-16
LEADER OF INDIANS.
Talk With Joseph Teabo, Who
Tells of Early Times.
ARRIVALS AT THE HOTELS.
Bravest Man I'm Oregon-Presfdent An
derson, Of Tacoma Chamber of
Commerce-Lumber Trade.

One of the most interesting characters in this
state, Joseph Teabo, was at the Dilier hotel yes
terday afternoon. His home 10 near Sidney, and
his principal business is supplying tie hop
growers of the state with Indian pickers
Joseph Teabo il native of this state-born
here July f. 1885, the day OF the first bostilities
in the Indian war. His grandfather European,
came 70 Canada and there married Canadian
haif-breed. One of the sons by this marriage, a
Joseph Teabo, came 20 the northern Pacific
coast in 1872 as one of the men Of the Hudson
Bay Company. Here he married a daughter of
old Chief Seattle-han sister of Princess Ange-
line. Joseph Teabo, the younger, is thus
nall Indian and something more, but he
has the best characteristics of the white race.
Though not tall, he is wiry and very compacrly
built. His eyes are keen and intelligent and his
features well formed He cannot read nor
write, and yet from his conversation yoc would
not suppose him to be an illiterate man He has
observed 80 closely the manners OF the best
people he has met that his pronunciation and
his grammar are better than those OF the aver
age lawyer. He Is seldom at loss for word,
and IN short he impresses one as being remark
ably clear and forcible tslker. II never went 10
school but once he said yesterday, land that
was for two weeks 10 Mrs Thomas Russell,
who taught few pupils here in Seattle, when
was boy. She sat me next to negro, and
used to fight him. Finally. one day she gave
of the school and never came back
Joseph Teabo has q remarkable talent for bust
ness, and he is regarded as one OF the richest
Indians on the sound. He owns several hun
dred acres in kitsap county, some OF IL very
the new navy-yard site; and he has holdings
elsewhere. For years he has superintended the
harvesting of John Fountains hop crop in the
Green river valley. ami he mas acted an agent for
supplying most OF the Indian hop picxers for
this part of the country, securing the services OF
hundreds each year. Probably no one on the
Coast Il more intimately acquainted with the
Indians OF tie COasi. IL IL commonly said that
Joseph TcabO knows every Indian man. woman
and child between the northern boundary Of
California and Russia He is master of twenty
foaE Indian Dialects fact showing the linguis-
tic talent which has enabled him TO acquire
English 50 readily
All the Indian legends OF these various tribes
are familiar TO Joseph TeSbo. who has learned
them from the lips OF the old men. Stories OF
early massaeres. of wars and hunting expedi-
lions. and the weird tales OF the halt supernat-
urai be can draw by the score from his reteutive
memory. In the course OF short chat yester-
day be said: 1.-The people here do not know ex-
actly how the Indian war began. l will tell
you how some of the older ones remember IL.
The trouble was fret on the salmon river in
1854. party Of miners were going up the river
prospecting twenty or thirty of them They
camped one night near a band of Indians under
a Chief stowduek-in English the name means
''Ihe slave At dusk the chiefs young son
went down 10 the miners camp and sat down
on bag OF meal 10 watch them, as a boy would
They got mad and gave him thrashing
"When be went back the old chief asked what
he had done that the pale faces had treated him
that way, and the lad replied that he had sat in
something white, which he thought was bag
OF -four. He didn't know any other reason, and
the pale faces had given no excuse.
'-Nell, the chief was mad, and went down to
see aboutit; but the miners gave him no good
words, but gave him licking as they had the
boy.
'sThe chief went away planning a revenge.
and be had it He gathered his friends, closed
about the miners camp and killed every man of
them-eyery one, so that not one was left TO tell
the tale. Then he lay in wait for other pale
faces. After while the hites said Those men
must have struck il rich, they stay so long We
viii 60 TO get some of the gold So a bunch of
them followed up the river, and the chief stow
duck ambushed them and killed them every one
And 50 he kept On killing every white that came
near
FINALLY he prepared for an attack on the set
Elements down here. The Indians knew of it,
and half breed girl, Arm Yess, who is still liv-
ing back of Steilacoom, hurried TO Olympia
steilacoom and the other places about there,
giving warning on the first day of July, 1855
On the 4th-the day ] was born-the Indians
raded the White River valley and killed the
Brannon family. Charlie Jackson and another
Indian named Nelson did a good deal of the
work. as Nelson confessed 10 me just before his
death year ago. He used TO live over near Sid
ney. and he told me all about IT, The war fol-
lowed that outbreak. In the same year my
uncle, George Teabo, was killed al Port Town
send by the Clallam Indians"
In regard u the supply of hop pickers Joseph
TeAbo said: There viii not be 50 many this
year as usual. Some Indians who were turned
away from the yards last year have taken their
revenge this season. They have gone along the
Coast way up into Alaska, telling every Indian
that the hops here are rotten on tue vine, all of
them rotten on the vine. and so ii is no use to
come. This is bad for us
Considerable attention has been bestowed up
on Teabo by the whites here. At one time he
was deputy United States marshal.