Bill McGarvey and the Klamath River Indians (25 pages)

PAGE 28 THECALIFORNIANS VOLUME12/NO0. 3 also found out that Warrots had been up to Hoopa and told of the killing of Bryson. T.M. Brown, having been the sheriff of Klamath County a number of years and also a pioneer of the Klamath River, was quite well acquainted with the habits and customs of the Klamath River Indians, and he counseled with the friendly Indians and agreed to pay them for their services if they would bring in the guilty Indian Lotch-kum and kept watching different places to find where he was hiding. The country being heavily timbered, Lotch-kum kept out of sight for nearly a year, but at last Warrots found where he was hiding in a creek some eight miles down the river from the store and about one mile up the creek from the tiver in the heavy redwood timber, in a large pile of drift logs. He first heard Lotchkum’s little fist dog bark, and on watching patiently for a while saw Lotch-kum come out. At this he went back to his home in the Pec-wan village, then visited with the Ser-e-goin village and told them that he had found the hiding place of Lotch-kum. When they got ready, three of them (the other two being from the Ser-e-goin village, Mermis Jack and Marechus Charley), with Warrots leading the way, arrived close to Lotch-kum’s hiding place. They commenced to keep a close lookout for him, as they could see his tracks in the soft dirt and sand in the bed of the creek, and had to keep up the watch for about 10 days. Finally they saw him come creeping out to the creek, where he began to bathe himself. Warrots raised his rifle to his shoulder, took aim and fired, Charley and Jack firing next. Lotch-kum fell to the ground but kept rising up and falling down again, trying to get away, when the three of them ran up to him as fast as they could, drew their long, heavy knives and severed his head, put it in asack, and carried it back to the old store in triumph. Inside, they rolled it out on the counter, which satisfied the whites for the killing of Bryson. Bryson was buried in a pretty spot a little northeast of the store, with hardly a mark to show the place where he was to sleep, and all settled down to peace and quietness again between the Indians and the whites. But the Pec-wan Indians were divided between the Indians and the whites; some of them were friendly to the whites, while others took sides with the Cor-tep Indians. Warrots was a Pec-wan Indian and full brother to Weitch-ah-wah. The sheriff and government officers gave to the three Indians who had killed Lotch-kum letters of very high recommendations for their services and to the good graces of all the whites. (I have seen these letters with the signatures many times in my girlhood days.) The death of a good and faithful friend to the whites. Now the Cor-tep village and part of the Pec-wan village began to make plans to kill Warrots, and as he was considered to be a good and faithful friend of the whites by these Indians, it must be done in a way so as to deceive the whites and not to let them know it was being done as a revenge for the part he had taken in killing Lotch-kum. So they bided their time waiting for a good chance, but all the time Warrots was hearing of their schemes through his friends, and he went to the sheriff and government officers and told them that Lotch-kum’s friends were planning to kill him, and all of them promised him that no one would be allowed to harm him. Sheriff Brown sent him word to meet him at Trinidad, as Trinidad was at that time in Klamath County. Warrots came and laid the facts before him, and the sheriff promised him protection and Warrots went back home. After about three weeks his brother Weitch-ah-wah and all the family except myself (1 was about eight years of age) went away; thereby, Warrots’ enemies got their chance to carry out their plans. Early in the morning Warrots went down to the creek, which was only a short distance, to bathe, and there he met a little boy, the son of Pec-wan Ma-hatch-us. He spoke to the boy, bathed in the creek and went back to the house, when he saw another Indian coming up the river trail from the Cor-tep village; and as he passed the boy, Warrots saw him stop, talk to the boy and give him a piece of bread, which he ate. The boy then came up to the Pec-wan village while the Indian, who was from the Cor-tep village, kept on up the river. As the boy got to his house he became ill, and in about 30 minutes died. Evidently the Indian had given hima piece of poisoned bread which had killed him. They gave no attention to the one that gave the bread but instead laid all the blame on Warrots for the death of the boy, and as soon as the ceremony and burial was over they pounced upon Warrots and shot him at the door of his sweathouse, killing him. The next day Warrots was laid to rest in the graveyard of his own folks in Pecwan village. None of the whites ever made any attempt to punish any of the Indians or stop them from killing him. This is the reward he received for being a faithful friend to the whites in times of need. His brother with his family was forced to leave their home in Pec-wan village and move to Ser-e-goin village, where lived the friends and helpers of Warrots, Mermis Jack and Marechus Charley. After living there for a while we moved up to Hoopa so as to get farther away from our enemies and where we could have a better chance for protection. I took a position with the agent which they said I filled with credit to myself and satisfaction to them. Mermis Jack and Marechus Charley lived to many years but were never friendly with the friends of Lotch-kum. Mermis Jack finally died suddenly, and ina manner that pointed strongly that he was given poison in his food. Marechus Charley died a natural death in 1886. Bu and Mollie go over to the other side. In 1876 Bill McGarvey died in the old store that went by his name so long. He had not been feeling well for some time. In the large room at the west end of the store building he had a large stone fireplace, put in many years before, and he used this room as his bedroom and also a sitting room. In this room he was taking his bath in a tub when he fell over dead in front of the fireplace. The same evening, his Indian lady friend died in her home, which was just a short distance from the store. McGarvey had outside shutters to his windows which fastened from the inside, and these he had fastened, and in the morning as he did not open the store, his Indian friend Solomon waited until late in the morning for the opening of the store, when he became suspicious of all not being right. He pried open the shutter of the window on the south side of the store, which would give him a view of everything in the room where McGarvey slept, and there before the large stone fireplace lay McGarvey cold in death, and beside him was the tub in which he was taking his bath. When the Indians heard of his death they all said Bill McGarvey and Mollie have both gone over to the other side together. (Mollie was closely related to all my folks.) Bill McGarvey was laid to rest by the side of Bryson, on the flat above the store, and the store passed into the hands of James McGarvey, a brother of Bill. Excerpted from To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman by Lucy Thompson, published by Heydey Books in conjunction with Peter Palmquist. © 1991 by Heyday Books. Used with permission of the publisher. Copies of the book are available through local bookstores, or directly from Heyday Books, P.O. Box 9145, Berkeley, CA 94709, (510) 549-3564, for $16.50 (includes tax, postage and handling). moe OS a

PAGE 28 THECALIFORNIANS VOLUME12/NO0. 3 also found out that Warrots had been up to Hoopa and told of the killing of Bryson. T.M. Brown, having been the sheriff of Klamath County a number of years and also a pioneer of the Klamath River, was quite well acquainted with the habits and customs of the Klamath River Indians, and he counseled with the friendly Indians and agreed to pay them for their services if they would bring in the guilty Indian Lotch-kum and kept watching different places to find where he was hiding. The country being heavily timbered, Lotch-kum kept out of sight for nearly a year, but at last Warrots found where he was hiding in a creek some eight miles down the river from the store and about one mile up the creek from the tiver in the heavy redwood timber, in a large pile of drift logs. He first heard Lotchkum’s little fist dog bark, and on watching patiently for a while saw Lotch-kum come out. At this he went back to his home in the Pec-wan village, then visited with the Ser-e-goin village and told them that he had found the hiding place of Lotch-kum. When they got ready, three of them (the other two being from the Ser-e-goin village, Mermis Jack and Marechus Charley), with Warrots leading the way, arrived close to Lotch-kum’s hiding place. They commenced to keep a close lookout for him, as they could see his tracks in the soft dirt and sand in the bed of the creek, and had to keep up the watch for about 10 days. Finally they saw him come creeping out to the creek, where he began to bathe himself. Warrots raised his rifle to his shoulder, took aim and fired, Charley and Jack firing next. Lotch-kum fell to the ground but kept rising up and falling down again, trying to get away, when the three of them ran up to him as fast as they could, drew their long, heavy knives and severed his head, put it in asack, and carried it back to the old store in triumph. Inside, they rolled it out on the counter, which satisfied the whites for the killing of Bryson. Bryson was buried in a pretty spot a little northeast of the store, with hardly a mark to show the place where he was to sleep, and all settled down to peace and quietness again between the Indians and the whites. But the Pec-wan Indians were divided between the Indians and the whites; some of them were friendly to the whites, while others took sides with the Cor-tep Indians. Warrots was a Pec-wan Indian and full brother to Weitch-ah-wah. The sheriff and government officers gave to the three Indians who had killed Lotch-kum letters of very high recommendations for their services and to the good graces of all the whites. (I have seen these letters with the signatures many times in my girlhood days.) The death of a good and faithful friend to the whites. Now the Cor-tep village and part of the Pec-wan village began to make plans to kill Warrots, and as he was considered to be a good and faithful friend of the whites by these Indians, it must be done in a way so as to deceive the whites and not to let them know it was being done as a revenge for the part he had taken in killing Lotch-kum. So they bided their time waiting for a good chance, but all the time Warrots was hearing of their schemes through his friends, and he went to the sheriff and government officers and told them that Lotch-kum’s friends were planning to kill him, and all of them promised him that no one would be allowed to harm him. Sheriff Brown sent him word to meet him at Trinidad, as Trinidad was at that time in Klamath County. Warrots came and laid the facts before him, and the sheriff promised him protection and Warrots went back home. After about three weeks his brother Weitch-ah-wah and all the family except myself (1 was about eight years of age) went away; thereby, Warrots’ enemies got their chance to carry out their plans. Early in the morning Warrots went down to the creek, which was only a short distance, to bathe, and there he met a little boy, the son of

Pec-wan Ma-hatch-us. He spoke to the boy, bathed in the creek and went back to the house, when he saw another Indian coming up the river trail from the Cor-tep village; and as he passed the boy, Warrots saw him stop, talk to the boy and give him a piece of bread, which he ate. The boy then came up to the Pec-wan village while the Indian, who was from the Cor-tep village, kept on up the river. As the boy got to his house he became ill, and in about 30 minutes died. Evidently the Indian had given hima piece of poisoned bread which had killed him. They gave no attention to the one that gave the bread but instead laid all the blame on Warrots for the death of the boy, and as soon as the ceremony and burial was over they pounced upon Warrots and shot him at the door of his sweathouse, killing him. The next day Warrots was laid to rest in the graveyard of his own folks in Pecwan village. None of the whites ever made any attempt to punish any of the Indians or stop them from killing him. This is the reward he received for being a faithful friend to the whites in times of need. His brother with his family was forced to leave their home in Pec-wan village and move to Ser-e-goin village, where lived the friends and helpers of Warrots, Mermis Jack and Marechus Charley. After living there for a while we moved up to Hoopa so as to get farther away from our enemies and where we could have a better chance for protection. I took a position with the agent which they said I filled with credit to myself and satisfaction to them. Mermis Jack and Marechus Charley lived to many years but were never friendly with the friends of Lotch-kum. Mermis Jack finally died suddenly, and ina manner that pointed strongly that he was given poison in his food. Marechus Charley died a natural death in 1886. Bu and Mollie go over to the other side. In 1876 Bill McGarvey died in the old store that went by his name so long. He had not been feeling well for some time. In the large room at the west end of the store building he had a large stone fireplace, put in many years before, and he used this room as his bedroom and also a sitting room. In this room he was taking his bath in a tub when he fell over dead in front of the fireplace. The same evening, his Indian lady friend died in her home, which was just a short distance from the store. McGarvey had outside shutters to his windows which fastened from the inside, and these he had fastened, and in the morning as he did not open the store, his Indian friend Solomon waited until late in the morning for the opening of the store, when he became suspicious of all not being right. He pried open the shutter of the window on the south side of the store, which would give him a view of everything in the room where McGarvey slept, and there before the large stone fireplace lay McGarvey cold in death, and beside him was the tub in which he was taking his bath. When the Indians heard of his death they all said Bill McGarvey and Mollie have both gone over to the other side together. (Mollie was closely related to all my folks.) Bill McGarvey was laid to rest by the side of Bryson, on the flat above the store, and the store passed into the hands of James McGarvey, a brother of Bill. Excerpted from To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman by Lucy Thompson, published by Heydey Books in conjunction with Peter Palmquist. © 1991 by Heyday Books. Used with permission of the publisher. Copies of the book are available through local bookstores, or directly from Heyday Books, P.O. Box 9145, Berkeley, CA 94709, (510) 549-3564, for $16.50 (includes tax, postage and handling). moe OS a