Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1910-05-03
Steve KIKI MURDERED
DRUNKEN ROW AT GRAND RONDE
TERMINATES FATALLY.
John Wacheno, Head of Notorious In
dian Family, Is Under Arrest,
Charged With Crime.

A blind pig, fighting whiskey, and
another dead Indian. This, in brief,
is the tale of a tragedy that comes
from the Grand Ronde Reservation,
twenty miles northwest of Dallas.
Told with more attention to detail,
the story is about as follows; Last
John Wacheno, Stephen Kiki
and Joe Day, all Indians, went to
Sheridan, where Wacheno and Kiki
procured whiskey and proceeded to
spend the day in dissipation. Return
ing to the reservation in the evening
with a liberal supply of whiskey, the
three men went to Wacheno's house.
A short time later, Day went home,
and Wacheno and Kiki retired for the
night AT O'Clock the next morning,
Day returned to Wacheno's house and
found Iiki lying near the woodshed
in a dying condition. Examination of
the body revealed the fact that the
man had been brutally stabbed about
the arms, sides and breast. Kiki was
taken to the home of a relative, where
he died Saturday morning. A warrant
charging Wacheno with murder was
issued, and the accused man was
brought to Dallas and lodged in Jail
night.
Coroner Holds Inquest.
Coroner r. l.. Chapman received
notice of Kiki's death by telephone
early Saturday morning and at once
drove to the reservation, where jury
was summoned and an inquest was
held After hearing the testimony of
witnesses, the jury returned verdict
to the effect that the Indian had met
his death from the effects of knife
wounds inflicted by Wacheno.
The principal witness against Wa
cheno was his wife. Mrs. Wacheno
testified in effect that her husband,
Day and Kiki came home from Sheri-
dan late Tuesday afternoon and spent
the evening in drinking. The witness
was sick at the time and was occupy
ing a bed in the room where the three
men were sitting. A married daugh-
ter and her little son were sleeping up
stairs.
According to the testimony of Mrs.
Wacheno, the three men remained in
the room until bedtime, drinking from
bottles they had brought home from
Sheridan. At 8 O'Clock, Joe Day, who
was not so drunk as the others, If
drunk at all, made a bed for Kiki on
the floor and got the inebriated man
into it. He next turned his attention
to Wacheno, and after placing the
older man on a lounge, he left for
nome.
Mrs. Wacheno says that the two
men slept quietly until O'Clock in the
morning, when she asked her husband
to get up and build a fire, as she was
very i'll and cold. Wacheno arose and
began complaining about being awak-
ened so early Words were passed be-
tween them, and their talk aroused
Kiki, who began cursing the older man
roundly for disturbing his rest. This
led to a quarrel which ended when
Kiki suddenly sprang from his bed and
threw Wacheno to the floor. Wacheno
soon regained his feet and threw Kiki
to the floor. The two men continued
fighting and wrestling for several min
utes. The squaw says her husband
then struck Kiki several blows and
ordered him out of the house. She
was positive that she saw no knife in
the older mans hands, although she
admits it was possible that he might
ordering Kiki to leave the house, her
husband returned to bed.
Day Finds Dying Man.
Joe Day testified that at an early
hour Wednesday morning-about
o o'clock-he returned to the Wacheno
home for the purpose of ascertaining
the condition of the two drunken men.
He said as he drew near the house,
he heard some one calling him from
near the woodshed. Going nearer, he
found Kiki lying on the ground and
bitterly of being cold.
Day gathered the young man in his
arms and carried him into the house.
When he reached the spot where the
fight had taken place, he found the
floor covered with blood. This led to
an examination of Kiki's body and
disclosed the fact that the young man
had been seriously stabbed about the
throat and breast Among the knife
wounds, all of which were of danger
Gus nature, a deep cut was found
under the left jaw, another near the
heart, and still another in the left
thigh. Kiki had also been slashed
about the head, on the right shoulder,
and in the LEFT arm.
The wounded man was carried to
the home of a relative, where he died
at 6 o'clock Saturday morning. No
doctor was called, and it is altogether
probable that death was caused by
blood poisoning. Those who cared for
the man during his last hours say that
he refused to talk about the affair, and
it is thought that he was so completely
under the influence of liquor when the
fight occurred that he had no recollec-
ton Of it afterward. Kiki was 27
years old and unmarried.
wacheno's daughter. who was sleep
ing upstairs on the night Of the trag-
edy. saw little Of the fight, but her testi-
mony as to what she did see was prac-
tically the same as that Of her mother.
The daughter is the wife Of Larney
Tom. who is now in the county Jail on
a charge OF numbering his brother-in-
law. Foster wacheno. near the reser-
walton a few weeks ago.
The elder WachenO was arrested in
willamina Saturday morning on in
structions issued from the Sheriff Z
Office. Walter Sears was deputized to
bring the prisoner TO Dallas. He drove
to willamina and returned late in the
afternoon with the Indian. who Is now
in the county Jail awaiting his prelim-
mary hearing
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