Grand Jury Exposes Seattle Brothels and Liquor Sales to Native Americans

To the Hon. District Court of King County, W.T.:

The Grand Jury having dispatched all the matters given them in charge by the Court, submit the following report:

On part of the United States, we have had before us a large number of witnesses to testify as to the sale of liquors to Indians in violation of law. From a careful investigation of this matter we learn that the law has been openly violated both in the city and county, and Indians seem to have had no trouble to procure all the whisky they want at all times. We have presented six indictments against persons for disposing of liquors to Indians, and hope that our action may result in stopping this traffic, or at least lessen the evil.

We have determined the fifteen cases in which parties were held to answer, as follows: In four cases we found no bills. In eleven cases we returned to the Court true bills as follows: Two for assault with intent to kill; two for assault and battery; one for petit larceny; one for grand larceny; one for adultery.

The District Attorney gave some complaints to examine, and we found on these complaints two indictments. We had a number of witnesses summoned who testified as to the violation of the laws which the Court called our attention to, and have found and presented six indictments against persons for keeping nuisances; five for selling lottery tickets and carrying on lottery schemes, and one to intimidate with deadly weapon.

Indictments have been found against 5 persons for keeping or maintaining nuisances. Some of these places are where drunken Indians are to be nearly always found, making night hideous with their whooping and yelling. Others are houses of prostitution, where all kinds of immoral practices are carried on openly in violation of law. And on the main thoroughfare to and from our city, can be seen in broad daylight, scenes which are a disgrace to our city; and yet the persons who keep these houses furnish and harbor these evil-doers, are licensed year after year, and are endorsed men as of good moral character.

From the testimony of witnesses on part of the United States as to selling liquor to Indians, we learned that the law of our Territory prohibiting the sale of beer to Indians is violated daily and openly, but we thought it best to indict the cases of selling liquor to Indians under the laws of the United States.

We have had much trouble in getting testimony to indict men who keep squaw brothels, gambling houses, and other nuisances.

The city police in general seem to know very little of what is going on, and are very backward in testifying in regard to these places, and the city government seems to have made no efforts to suppress these nuisances.

We have under thoroughly examination as to the conduct of office of public officers. The Board of County Commissioners have been very careless in the discharge of their duties in many cases. They are proceeding to erect a jail for the county on lands to which the county has no lawful title, and on which there is a heavy mortgage. We find that there has been warrants drawn for twelve thousand six hundred and seventy-seven dollars and sixty-seven cents, for which the county has defective bond for only seven thousand dollars. We find the county in litigation for acts of former boards, such as trading the county farm to persons on condition that they stop keeping squaw brothels, thus giving a precedent...