Suspicious Death of Indigenous Woman Near Charleston
An Indian woman was found dead in a canoe after an evening of drinking; local authorities noted a suspicious head wound.
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.
On March 28, an Indian named Ruby and his third wife, sister-in-law of Chief Chico, returned from Seattle, where they had been selling clams, and stopped at the cabin of Tyee Peter, near Charleston. The woman called for Billy Phillips to come out and protect her, though she did not state who or what she wanted protection from. Both Ruby and his wife entered the cabin, where they remained about half an hour. Both were in a state of intoxication and had a can containing about half a gallon of whisky, which they stated they had procured in Sidney from 'Mrs. Billy, a half-Kanacker.' When they left the cabin, they stated that they were going home. About a half hour later, Ruby returned alone and lay down on the floor without saying anything. Mrs. Phillips arose and went out to see what had become of Mrs. Ruby. She found her dead body lying across their canoe, in about a foot of water, with her head in the water on one side and her feet on the other. The untimely death was bewailed by the Indians all night long with loud and mournful cries, very much to the wonder and discomfort of neighboring residents. An examination of the body by daylight revealed a gash on the forehead between the eyes, which had not been there when she was in the cabin.
“The untimely death was bewailed by the Indians all night long with loud and mournful cries, very much to the wonder and discomfort of neighboring residents.”
This incident occurred near what is now the site of the Bremerton Navy Yard/Charleston area, reflecting the precarious conditions faced by Indigenous people dealing with alcohol exploitation and lack of legal protection in the 1890s. The paper's dismissive framing of the 'discomfort' caused by the community's grief highlights the era's dehumanization of the very people whose land was being settled.
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