A TRAGEDY ON THE STICKEEN IN '42

BY C. O. ERMATINGER.*

In looking over a bundle of letters left among his papers by my late father, who was in the Hudson's Bay Company's service in the early part of the present century, I came upon one from which the following account of a tragedy, which took place on the Stickeen in April, 1842, is taken. The letter bears date 1st February, 1843, and was written by John McLoughlin, then in charge of the Company's post at Fort Vancouver (on the Columbia) to my father, then living at St. Thomas, Upper Canada.

As public attention has lately been directed to the Stickeen (Prince Rupert), this tragic tale, though fifty-six years old, may be of interest, not only on account of the locus in quo, but as illustrative of the difficulties, dangers, mode of life and occasional mode of death of those in the company's service in those days. Were I a Gilbert Parker I might clothe the story in new and more thrilling language than that employed by the writer, who was almost a year after the event, writing not for effect, yet under whose cool reasoning and at times involved sentences, a depth of sorrowful, sometimes passionate, feeling is apparent. As it is, I have concluded to present it to the public, word for word, as the father of the murdered man has narrated the facts, omitting the full names of the chief culprits, out of consideration for possible descendants, and a few words either undecipherable or unfit for publication. After a page and a half on other matters, Mr. McLoughlin says:

"But, my dear sir, I have had a severe loss since I last wrote you. My son John, whom I think you saw at La Chine, has been murdered by the company's servants at the post of Stikine,

*Judge Ermatinger, who kindly furnishes this paper, is the son of Edward Ermatinger, who was a clerk at Fort Vancouver under Dr. John McLoughlin during the years 1826-27; also the nephew of Francis Ermatinger, who was an officer in the H. B. Co. employ in the Columbia District for about twenty years, and well known by early Oregon pioneers, and who after retiring from the service purchased a tract of land near St. Thomas, Ontario, which he named "Multnomah," and there spent his remaining years. This paper contains source material not before printed explaining differences that lead to the retirement of Dr. McLoughlin from the Hudson's Bay Company's service.-T. C. Elliott.

in the Russian Territory (and which we rent from them and of which he had charge), on the night 20/21 April. He had twenty-two men and was the only officer there, in consequence of Sir George Simpson's very improperly taking away his assistant-as no place on this coast where liquor is issued ought to have less than two officers. (But since the murder the Russians have agreed to desist selling or giving spirits to Indians and as we only issued liquor where we came in contact with them, by this agreement a stop is entirely put to issuing liquor to Indians in this department). But to return to my poor son-he being alone with twenty-two men, all of which were new hands not yet broke in to the discipline necessary for such service, as it was a new place and where they could get rum, had a good many difficulties with them, as is always customary in such cases, to make them do their dutyas you well know they will always attempt to impose on their master.

"Sir George Simpson arrived four days after this fatal event and, instead of examining every man at the place, and that minutely, he only examined six, say, two whites, two half breeds and two Owhyhees. The two whites, and half breeds, without specifying particulars, complain of my son's ill using the men, flogging and beating them most unmercifully—that he drank a great deal, and that the night of the murder he gave the men a gallon and a half of spirits. Sir George believed all this and in his letter blames my son, and, though one of the Owhyhees swore he saw the murderer fire and saw something fall heavily, which he supposes was my son, and the other swears that on hearing the shot he looked out and saw my son lying on the ground, weltering in his gore, and the man whom the other saw fire, with his foot on my son's throat-yet Sir George took no person to bear evidence against the murderer and sent one of the men who fired three shots at one of the men, thinking he was my son, to this place to be sent out of the country. But, as I felt dissatisfied with Sir George's examination and was certain the circumstances were not as he represented, I kept this man to be sent

back to Stikine, to be examined with the rest; and, in the meantime, for fear of his deserting, kept him on board the Cadboro, and on a trip to Vancouver Island, where he saw Douglas (I would not see him at this place, nor would I allow him put his foot in the Fort)-to whom at once he confessed that there had been a plot formed and an agreement signed, among all the people of the place, to murder the deceased-that this agreement had been drawn out by who acted temporarily as assistant to the deceased-that he had never seen him drink—and in every material point contradicted the depositions taken by Sir George.

"I then determined to send Manson, with a complete new complement of men, to examine all the men, and, if this man's deposition was well founded, to put the men against whom there were charges, in prison and transfer them to the Russians, who alone can try them criminally-and on examination the men say, the agreement to which the man alludes was not to murder my son, but a complaint against my son which they intended to present to Sir George who was momentarily expected. It is proved they never presented this complaint, and they say they destroyed it, because it was too dirty to be presented to Sir George Simpson; but on examining their complaints-according to their own statement-he flogged one man for sleeping on his watch in the night, and which he deserved, for it might have led to the murder of the whole establishment-one man for fighting and not being willing to cease fighting when ordered-one man for giving his property to Indian women which disabled him from doing his duty, unless re-equipped-and four for steaiing. And the man who made the declaration to Mr. Douglas, and the murderer, are accused of having proposed repeatedly to the others to murder my son-of which I do not know that any informed him, though it seems he knew it, as he is said to have said, "You want to murder me, but if you do, you will murder a man!"; and one of the men confesses that he was told by Ant Kawanasse, an Iroquois, that the murderer told him the deceased was to be murdered that

night; and the woman he kept says he told her "H. (the murderer) wants to kill me." The deceased told the Owhyhees to arm themselves-that the whites wanted to murder himthat he took one of those he accused of being leaders in the plot and put him in irons, and that in searching for the two others of the leaders, as he was going round the corner of a house, one of them shot him in the breast, when he fell, and the murderer rushed on him and put his foot on his neck, as I already mentioned-and this M., who acted as his assistant, is now found to have committed several thefts on the store for which my son punished him and turned him out among the men-but took him back again, as perhaps he found he could not do without an assistant, and perhaps he had promised to behave better; and he took him back on account of my having recommended him to the deceased on account of M.'s father, who is an old servant-and it is now proved that this M. stole spirits the night of the murder and gave a or bottle of pure spirits to every white man or Iroquois in the place that while Mr. Dodd was in charge (whom Sir George left there) M. crept twice at night into Mr. Dodd's bedroom, when he was asleep, stole the key of the Fort, which was on a table between two pistols, within reach of Mr. Dodd's hand, opened the gate of the Fort, stole the key of the Indian trader's packet, while asleep, opened the Indian shop, and stole goods. If he could do this while there were two officers at the place, after what had just happened, what may he not have done when there was only one officer at the place, and he (M.) in league with the men as to the ill treatment of which they complain? Why, by their own confession, he was perfectly justified in punishing them and did no more than what an officer of spirit would do to any under him who in such a situation as they were would act as these men did.

"Another whom Sir George examined, a son of J. H., is accused of having watched part of the night to murder the deceased because he flogged M. for stealing.

"Another of those Sir George examined is a Canadian to whom the deceased had given a kicking for stealing rum.

"The fourth is a Scotchman who acted in the store with M. and must have known his misconduct and said nothing of it— and such a coward that, though he admits the deceased was most kind to him, still, though he saw the murderer level his gun sometime before to murder the deceased, he never informed him!

'As to his drinking, Mr. Finlayson, his assistant, says he never saw him take more than a glass of wine-or a glass of spirits, or water, in the course of the day, though M. had the villainy to swear to Sir George that he and my son used to drink grog continually, and as he, M., could not join them in drinking grog, they allowed him wine-which is false. The deceased's private store or allowance of liquors is almost in the same state as when he, Finlayson, left the deceased. The Indian woman he kept, a woman of the place, similar to our Chinooks, declares she never saw him drink-and I believe what she says, as these Indians do not consider drunkenness any way improper. Mr. Work and Dr. Kennedy, who had charge of posts on each side of him and several times saw Indians from the deceased, never heard a whisper of the deceased drinking, from the Indians (and they soon find out), though Mr. Work writes he heard from Indians of the attempt to shoot him. The men admit he was most vigilant and watchful, up night and day-visiting the watchmen often several times in the night. His journal is posted up to the day of his death, his accounts and documents in order-and certainly these are not the marks of a drunkard. And if you add to this his letters to Mr. Work are full of the misconduct of his assistants, M. and S.-the Scotchman, a laborer, whom Sir George left when he took Finlayson away-and in fact Sir George Simpson was the cause, though unintentionally, of the murder of my son, by taking Finlayson and leaving this man S. in his place. And Work is greatly to blame, who did not send me those letters my son wrote him, wherein he complains so much of the misconduct of S. and M.especially as he saw these fellows had so imposed on Sir George as to make him believe they were such valuable men