The Deadly Cost of Tribal Jurisdiction

Franklin Pierce Olney, who, while officiating as sheriff of the Yakima reservation, shot and killed Frank Abraham on the 8th day of February, is in the city and has recounted the story of the shooting. He said he had a tussle with Abraham in the court room as the latter was trying to escape after being convicted of adultery, and that the young and powerful man drew his knife and fought his way out. Olney was ordered by the Indian court to pursue the fugitive and bring him in. Mounting his horse, he came up with Abraham and a couple of his companions a few hundred yards distant and ordered him to surrender. Abraham picked up an oak club from the ground and rushed upon the officer, who, in self-defense, drew his revolver and fired, the bullet passing through Abraham’s body above the heart. As a crowd of Indians gathered and made threatening remarks, Olney’s friends advised him to leave. Abraham was a nephew of Chief Joe Stwire, who demanded Olney’s life. Although the agent and Chief Eneas combated these claims, threats against Olney’s life persisted, and he was warned that four 'tom-man-os' doctors had been hired to kill him. Olney has since fled his ranch, leaving behind a 100-acre fenced property and a wife who had just given birth to a child.