A Deadly Dispute Over Sealskins
A white sealer and an Indigenous man clash over the ownership of pelts, leading to a fatal shooting on the Ozette Reservation.
The shooting and killing of Indian Philip Brown at the Ozette reservation in Clallam county last month has landed Henry Anderson, a white man of 25 years, in the King county jail to await the action of the United States court. Anderson was brought to this city by Deputy United States Marshal George W. Curtis. The story as given by Mr. Curtis is that Anderson and the Indian had been sealing together in a canoe and had speared four seals, valued at about $20. Brown had a cabin on the reservation and took charge of the seals to skin them. When Anderson called for his share, the Indian refused to recognize that he had any claim. Anderson took hold of one of the seals to carry it away. There were several Indians standing about, and all became more or less involved in the controversy. Anderson had taken his rifle with him, and the strife was ended by the gun being discharged and Brown falling to the ground fatally wounded by a bullet through the left lung. Anderson claims he was attacked by an Indian with a dagger and that the gun went off during a struggle for the weapon. The Indians present declare that Anderson came prepared to make trouble and that the shooting was deliberate.
“My back was no sooner turned when they came for me. The squaw grabbed hold of my left arm and Brown took hold of my rifle... we wrestled for it, and in the scuffle it went off.”
This case highlights the complex and often violent jurisdictional struggles over land and resources in the Pacific Northwest during the late 19th century. The legal debate over whether the federal government or the state had jurisdiction over the Ozette Reservation mirrors the ongoing, centuries-long struggle for tribal sovereignty and the recognition of treaty rights in Washington State.
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