The death of Tsus-sy-uch and its violent Consequences
By Drew Crooks, Curator of Collections at the Washington State Capital Museum, a division of the Washington State Historical Society
The Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida Indians have lived for thousands of years on the North Pacific coast in areas that are now part of Alaska and British Columbia. Members of these tribes occasionally visited the Puget Sound region during the 1850s for a number of social and economic reasons. A primary motivation was a desire to exchange labor for Euro-American money and goods.
Edward Huggins, who wrote extensive reminiscences of the life at Fort Nisqually, noted the participation of the Northern Indians in the frontier labor market.
These Indians soon found out the labor was in demand up the Sound. At the large sawmills, just then starting into operation, these Indians, who were much larger and stronger than the Sound Indians, were readily employed, at wages which to them appeared to be very high. It was not long before a large number of them, Chim-sei-yans (Tsimshians) and Hydahs (Haidas), were at different points on the Sound working at the sawmills and at a few of the farms just then being opened up by the first settlers. at one time, in 1854, I think, some fifteen or twenty of them, men and women, were employed at Fort Nisqually!
A group of Northern Indians came to Puget Sound in 1854 under the leadership of a young chief named Tsus-sy-uch. Their journey resulted in tragic bloodshed as Tsus-sy-uch was brutally murdered by American settlers at Butler Cove in Thurston County. Because government authorities in Washington Territory failed to provide any justice, the killing led to further violence between American Indians and Euro-Americans.
Tsus-sy-uch was 20 -23 years old at the time of his death. He came from a proud culture where individuals of rank were highly respected. The father of Tsus-sy-uch was Tsimshian and his mother Tongas Tlingit. Since both tribes were matrilineal in social organization, Tsus-sy-uch would have been identified as Tongas form the Native American viewpoint. This branch of the Tlingit inhabited the area at the mouth of Portland Canal in southeast Alaska.
In the spring of 1854 Tsus-sy-uch traveled to Fort Nisqually, the Hudson's Bay Company post located near the Nisqually River. According to Edward Huggins, " . . . the young fellow had heard of the opportunities offered upon the Sound for making money, and being acquainted with Northern Indians at that time working for us, at Fort Nisqually, came up with a few of his slaves, and also a few friends. . ."
For several weeks Tsus-sy-uch and his party stayed at Fort Nisqually. It was a time of visiting with the Northern Indians working at the post and with relatives if Tsus-sy-uch's followers who had married company employees. Soon the tranquil period came to an end. Tsus-sy-uch made a journey to Olympia where he met an American settler named John L. Butler. This individual hired the Tongas chief to clear some acres on his farm at Butler Cove, on the western shore of Budd Inlet near Olympia.
Butler Cove was named for John L. Butler. The American had taken a 321.6-acre donation land claim by the cove. Officially the claim was surveyed as lying in sections 3, 4 and 5 of T18N R2W. An affidavit in Butler's donation land claim papers recorded some of his background. He was born in 1827 in Boston, Massachusetts. Twenty three years later he arrived in the Pacific Northwest. On June 14, 1851 the American settler married Artimsia. Since John Butler was often away due to his work as a steamship's mate or pilot, he employed James Burt to manage the Butler Cove farm.
Both Americans were involved in the labor agreement with Tsus-sy-uch. Edward Huggins stated that "Butler, in the presence of Burt, made a square contract with the young Indian to clear so much land for a stipulated sum. The bargain was settled, and the Indian and his followers went to work and labored steadily and faithfully, week after week, until the land was cleared, strictly in accordance with the terms of the contract.
The northern Indians asked for their money after finishing a job. Their request was met with violence on May 7, 1854. Elwood Evans, an early Pacific Northwest historian, wrote that "A quarrel ensued between the Indians and the white men, Butler having refused to pay what the Indians claimed. That demand for wages was the occasion of the death of the chief of the Indian laborers, at the hands of Butler and Burt. The account by Edward Huggins was more detailed and vivid."
The young Indian (Tsus-sy-uch), after resting awhile, applied to Butler's agent for his pay, but Burt, with coarse language, refused to settle. The Indian naturally felt indignant at such treatment and again demanded that the white man perform his part of the contract. No doubt the Indian spoke rather urgently to Mr. Burt, who, feeling himself insulted at being so addressed by an Indian, shot Tsus-sy-uch through the heart.
I was told that the murderer immediately got away. The Indians for a few minutes tried to see if any life was left in their young chief, and when they looked around for him, he was nowhere to be found. Well, enough for him, for if they had laid hands upon him, no doubt they would have torn him to pieces.
The little band enveloped the body of their young chieftan in a blanket, collected their few little goods, and slowly and sorrowfully paddled away from the accursed spot, no doubt vowing in their hearts to take twofold vengeance.
Though Huggins referred only to James Burt in his description of the murder, John Butler was definately at the scene of the violent incident. The latter claimed self-defense as the reason for the fatal shooting of Tsus-sy-uch. This view was mentioned in a letter written by Charles Mason, Acting Governor and Indian Superintendent of Washington Territory, on May 7, 1854:
Mr. Butler who resides about three miles below this place, has informed me that this morning some Fort Simpson (Tsimshian/Tlingit) Indians who were at work for him threatened to burn his house down, and in fact made the attempt, and at last attempted his life. While one of them (as he says) was pointing a musket at him Mr Butler ordered one of the white men with him to shoot him which he did and killed him. The Indians thereupon left for the opposite side of the Sound, and Mr. Butler is very apprehensive that they may in revenge commit some depredations upon some of the settlers.
Perceptive Euro-Americans came to recognize the nature of Tsus-sy-uch's death. Isaac Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, reported that "it is the opinion of Col. (Charles Mason) after a thorough investigation of the matter, that it was a wanton and unprovoked murder. From Fort Victoria, Governor James Douglas of Vancouver Island regarded the incident as a "disgraceful murder of a chief . . . who was shot in a cowardly manner by an American citizen . . . The event angered Edward Huggins. He considered it a "terrible thing, and 'twas a dreadful sight to see the body of the fine looking young Indian chief, cut off in the prime of life, what for? Why for simply asking that he should be paid his just dues?
The Northern Indians returned to Fort Nisqually from Butler Cove with the body of Tsus-syuch. His corpse was temporarily buried in a Native American cemetery near the post. There at Nisqually the Tlingit/Tsimshian Indians waited for justice, expecting the murderers to be punished by American authorities. In addition, traditional Native justice required the payment of compensation to a clan for the death of one of its members.
The Americans provided no justice. Though James Burt and John L. Butler were arrested for killing Tsus-sy-uch, they were soon released by magistrate William W. Plumb. Perhaps Plumb, a Justice of the Peace, accepted the defendants' claim of self-defense. Historian Elwood Evans, however, recorded that "the prosecuting attorney of the second Judicial District of the territory, appointed by a late legislative act, himself at the time a member of the (Territorial) Council, moved for the discharge of the accused, 'because Thurston County has no jail, and it would be an expense to the county to retain them in custody. This attorney was Daniel R. Bigelow, an individual extensively involved in politics at the time.
In any case, Burt and Butler were let go by judicial authorities, James Burt quickly left Washington Territory, and John L. Butler remained unpunished. Neither American settler paid compensation in money or goods to the aggrieved Northern Indians. According to Elwood Evans, "there were many in the (Euro-American) community who denounced that needless, unprovoked homicide as a wanton murder, and the miserable travesty on law and justice which succeeded its commission. A member of Euro-Americans also feared the possibility of revenge raids by Native Americans.
The Tlingit/Tsimshian Indians associated with Tsus-sy-uch decided to return to their home on the North Pacific Coast. Realizing the potential for hostilities, Dr. William Tolmie of Fort NIsqually sent a trusted representative to accompany the group as far as Vancouver Island. He explained his reasoning in a letter of May 11, 1854 to Governor James Douglas at Fort Victoria.:
There being a large mail here for V.I. (Vancouver Island) I take advantage of the departure of some Northern Indians to forward it, and sent (Pierre) Legace (Senior) to ensure its safe conveyance as well as to prevent the Indians from doing any mischief to the whites in going down, in revenge for the death of their chief who was killed three days ago by an American near Olympia.
Pierre Legace, who traveled with the Northern Indians, was a Hudson's Bay Company employee of mixed American Indian and Euro-American descent. He was characterized by Edward Huggins as an individual "of tried courage, experience and fidelity" and "a capital man amongst Indians. Indeed the efforts of Legace to prevent violence on the journey to Fort Victoria were successful.
In his reminiscences of the incident, Edward Huggins recalled the following:
Upon his return (Legace's) to Fort Nisqually, he told us of the difficulty he had with the band, who wanted very bad to land on Whidbey's Island and murder and plunder some of the isolated settlers. He persuaded them not to do it, and they sulkily obeyed him saying though that at some future time they would return and have revenge for they were determined to have bloody satisfaction for the great loss they had sustained at the same time significantly calling attention to the box and its ghastly contents.
Further violence certainly resulted from the killing of Tsus-sy-uch. After the party of Northern Indians arrived with Pierre Legace at
Fort Victoria, news of the young chief's death quickly spread among fellow tribal members visiting the post.. Turmoil broke out, as noted by James Douglas in a letter to Dr. William F. Tolmie of Fort Nisqually dated May 30, 1854."
There has been a good deal of excitement here lately among the Tongas Indians, they were only deterred from making a raid on the American Coast in retaliation for the murder of their chief by a declaration that we would not, in that case, afford them protection. They went away a few days ago in high dudgeon. A party of them stole a sheep from Mr. Bailley (at Cadboro Bay Farm) and afterwards knocked him down with the blow of a musket on the head, after the old man had felled two of them to the ground with his preserver. His head was badly cut, but is doing well now. We gave the fellows chase, but did not succeed in overtaking them.
The angry Northern Indians soon left tense Fort Victoria for the North Pacific Coast. Some clashed on the way with Native Americans in the Vancouver Island area. Both Northern and local Cowichan Indians were killed in a fierce struggle. Meanwhile, James Douglas sent messages to Hudson's Bay Company posts on the coast, warning them of the revenge-minded Tlingit/Tsimshians. Apparently no other violence occurred on the journey northward, and the American Indians arrived home without additional incident.
Governor Douglas' efforts at Fort Victoria may have discouraged revenge attacks upon American settlers, but one still took place before the Tlingits/Tsimshians left the Pacific Northwest region. In late May, 1854 a raid was launched against white settlers in the Bellingham Bay area of Washington Territory. Acting Governor Charles Mason reported on the skirmish in a letter to Governor Isaac Stevens.:
I wrote you on the 4th of June from Fort Steilacoom informing you that I was there on my way down the Sound with a company of U.S. soldiers to repel an invasion of Northern Indians occasioned by the murder of the chief near Olympia, of which I had already informed you. We proceeded as expeditiously as possible to Bellingham Bay, the scene of action. On my arrival there I learned that two canoes containing somewhere from twenty-five to forty Indians came there in the 25th of May and desired work from a man named (Joel) Clayton. He told them he had none for them, and then getting frightened ran into the woods. They pursued him, but did not overtake him.
They then proceeded to the house of Mr. (William) Pattle and fired a volley at it. Two men who were there, one an Englishman named George Brown and another a Scotchman named David Melville took refuge in a canoe and anchored themselves out in the bay for safety. The canoe afterwards floated ashore perforated with bullet holes and with signs of blood about it. But the men have not been found. (Their bodies were never recovered). The Indians then robbed the store of Mr. (Eli) Hathaway (and Richard Holbrook), taking from fifty to fifteen hundred dollars worth of goods (for the accounts vary) and among other articles, three barrels of whiskey. They then proceeded to the north, and have not since been seen.
American communities on Puget Sound were swept by fear when they heard news of the raid on the Bellingham Bay settlement. Who would the Northern Indians attack next? A June 1854 article in the Pioneer and Democrat (Olympia) newspaper described this anxious mood.:
Inflated with their murderous success, and from the valuable robbery which they succeeded so easily in accomplishing, as well as from another cause well known in this latitude (murder of Tsus-sy-uch), fears are entertained in the sparse settlements and new town sites on the Sound, that the Northern red skins will return in greater force, prepared for a detailed and indiscriminate massacre along the frontier settlements.
Some American settlers even believed a rumor that the British on Vancouver Island helped the Northern Indians carry out the Bellingham Bay attack. This hearsay was strongly (and accurately) denied by Governor James Douglas. In any case, the settlers generally agreed that their communities needed more federal military protection.
A number of Euro-Americans responded to the perceived Native American threat by attending a public meeting in Olympia. They gathered at the 'Nonparial' saloon on June 3, 1854. "A volunteer company was raised," according to a newspaper account of the meeting, 'under the supervision of Col. (Isaac) Ebey, consisting of citizens of Olympia and vicinity, pledged to hold themselves in readiness for action, subject to the requisition of acting Governor Mason.
Charles Mason left Olympia on June 3 for Northern Washington Territory to see the situation first hand. With a detachment of US soldiers from Fort Steilacoom, he visited Bellingham Bay. The Acting Governor James Douglas brought assurances of British support against Northern Indian raiders, and dispelled the rumor that Governor Douglas had assisted hostile Native American actions.
Apparently Mason at this point accepted a suggestion by Douglas to compensate the Northern Indians for the death of Tsus-sy-uch. There is no written evidence, however, to indicate that such a payment was actually made. After Fort Victoria, Charles Mason stopped at Dungeness (on the Strait of Juan de Fuca) and again at Bellingham Bay before returning to Olympia.
Fears of Northern Indian revenge raids subsided during the summer and fall of 1854 with no new attacks against American settlers. Another attempt was made in November of that year to bring John L. Butler and James Burt to justice. A grand jury of Washington Territory's Second Judicial District indicted the two men for the murder of Tsus-sy-uch. This effort also failed. Burt no longer lived in the territory, and Butler managed to avoid any punishment.
John L. Butler remained in the region, and continued to work on various steamships. His personal life was troubled by two divorces. In 1860 he sold the Butler Cove farm to William Winlock Miller, and Port Townsend became Butler's home. When he died on May 19, 1890, that community's newspaper called him "one of Port Townsend's oldest and most respected citizens."
The 1854 murder of Tsus-sy-uch at Butler Cove clearly had violent consequences that same year. Edward Huggons also believed that the crime motivated a group of revenge-seeking Native Americans to kill Isaac Ebey in 1857. This prominent American settler was beheaded by a raiding party on Whidbey Island. Others have connected Ebey's death to angry Northern Indians retaliating for a skirmish fought in 1856 off Port Gamble. In any case, Tsus-sy-uch's senseless death further divided American Indians and Euro-Americans.
Today the Butler Cove area is a peaceful residential district. Nothing exists in the neighborhood to remind visitors of the young chief who died there. Perhaps a historical marker should be erected at the cove which would tell the story of the Tlingit/Tsimshian leader. Even more, maybe now is the time to change the place name from Butler Cove to Tsus-sy-uch Cove. For too long we have commemorated the murderer John L. Butler.