The Shadowy Land Claim at Quilayute
A local teacher exposes a fraudulent land grab scheme involving the intimidation of Indigenous residents and forged petitions to the Land Office.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Daniel Pullen has been bullying the Indians at Quilayute to such an extent that they have become afraid of him. It appears that the Government surveyor neglected to do as the law requires to note that this tract of land was occupied by an Indian village. Pullen met with very little trouble in filing a pre-emption claim in July 1884. Two years later, he proved up on the land and commenced the erection of a dwelling last year. When Pullen made the entry, it was understood that as soon as the land was proved up, he would transfer the same to partners who had banded together to obtain this valuable tract of land from the Government by fraud. After the proofs were legally filed, Pullen refused to make the transfer. Jack, an Indian who styles himself a sub-chief, is used by Pullen as a tool. A petition was drawn up by A. J. Smith, addressed to Colonel Powell, requesting that as Daniel Pullen had been a friend to the tribe, they desired he be appointed Chief of Police. This document was never sent to Colonel Powell. The petition was circulated by Jack and Pullen among the Indians and explained to them as an agreement to work on the road between Pysht and Quilayute. I took an interpreter along and questioned a large number of the tribe, who stoutly asserted that the paper they signed was an agreement to work on the county road. On being asked if they desired Pullen as Chief of Police, they told me 'No' with manifest indignation. I questioned A. W. Smith, the current teacher, and he pronounced the petition a forgery.
“Pullen has been bullying the Indians to such an extent that they have become afraid of him.”
This 1887 report echoes contemporary battles over land ownership and the exploitation of vulnerable communities in the Pacific Northwest. The use of forged documents and coerced signatures to misappropriate land remains a chilling parallel to modern-day real estate speculation and the ongoing struggle to protect Indigenous land rights in Washington State.
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