Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1914-08-07
Editor Standard:

In your "reminiscences as to what
Our Fathers Read About Fifty Years
Ago. from your issue under date
of July 16, 1864, appears the follow
ing: "a letter from Charles NJ. Brad.
shaw, dated at New Dungeness, July
End, says: This place and my farm
have been the scene this morning of
one of the most cruel and cowardly
murders ever perpetrated. John Tur-
ner was shot through the breast and
instantly killed, by an assassin hid
behind log, in field where he was
moving. Another item from the
| Washington Standard under date of
July 80, 1864, says: The recent
murder at Dungeness, reported last
week, and the acts of certain self-ap-
pointer vigilance committees in that
neighborhood have caused quite a
stir through the Territory"
AS one of the few survivors of the
period in Clallam county, known as
the "Vigilante Days, and as one
having personal knowledge of the
events that almost led to an open
vendetta in that county, l can speak
freely of the doings of those days.
Lawless Gang of Men.
Jack Tucker, as he was known,
not John Turner" as reported, was
one of lawless gang of runaway
"men-of-wars-m men" from the English
navy. There were four of the prin-
cipal leaders known as Jack Tucker,
Nick Adams, Tommy Gould and Har-
ry Martin. They had been living
with Indian women, had been drink
ing riotous, and had become reck-
less as to killing sheep, cattle and
hogs, robbing chicken roosts and hav-
ing high old time generally. In
fact, they reached the point where
they openly declared that the country
owed them living, and they propos-
ed to have it. They drove band of
80 sheep past by fathers door, in
broad day light. Hezekiah Davis, who
was in charge of the sheep, followed
a short time after, tracking the
sheep. He was Joined by my elder
brother, Marion Weir, and they
found the sheep in an enclosure in
which Jack Tucker stood with
bloody knife in his hand, with two
sheep lying at his feet with their
throats cut.
Tucker was arrested and tried for
larceny of the two sheep killed. His
defense was that the sheep were try
ing to bite him and that he had killed
them in self defense. He was con-
victed of petit larceny, and was sem
fenced to 80 days in the county jail.
Inasmuch as the county had no jail,
Tucker simply boarded with the
sheriff 80 days at the county's ex-
pense. He and his pals made light
of the affair, joked about it. and pro-
ceeded on their lawless career in open
defiance of lawful authority.
In the case of the law abiding set
tlers-they had all too little for the
support of their families. The kill
ing Of a COW or pig meant that the
next winters supply of provisions
must run short. My father, like 9TH
ers, had not sufficient money with
which to get out of the country-and
was hardly of the kind to let his fam
lily suffer for the necessaries of life
by theft and lawlessness.
Vigilance Committee Formed.
The result was that a vigilance
committee composed of some 80
members was organized to protect
property. 1t was organized in my
fathers front yard. l was present
as young boy, and knew what was
going on. The oaths of allegiance to
each other we're repeated in my hear
ing. The company went to the cabins
of the ring leaders of the thieves, es-
corted them to the bounds of the
county, and warned them to leave
and to never come back, coupled
with notice that in case of their re-