The Violent Expulsion of a Black Resident from Olympia
A white resident publicly recounts his role in forcing a Black man out of town, illustrating the overt racism prevalent in the territory during the Civil War era.
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.
In looking over the Portland Times of Saturday, August 1st, I find an article of which I am the recipient. In the first place, he accuses me of being an 'adept at all trades.' I acknowledge that I work for a living, and do anything that is honorable towards attaining it. It is true that I hired the 'nigger' to put a new head on a banjo, for which I agreed to pay him two dollars. The banjo done, he came to get his money, for which I tendered him a five dollar greenback, at the going discount, and the man is a base liar and a scoundrel. The 'nigger' received the greenback, and handed me the change, $1.75, spat upon the note, and threw it on the ground. The action of the contraband so surprised me that it was two or three minutes before I thought what the thing really amounted to. I told two or three gentlemen who were present what had occurred, and several modes of punishment were suggested, and it was finally agreed to ship him to the land where 'niggers' reign supreme. We saw him safe on board the steamer at noon, and kept him there till night, when the Marshal and his deputy's deputy came down and volunteered to escort the 'nigger' ashore, whereupon, we being law abiding men, and thinking we had learned the 'nigger' a good lesson, let the thing drop. All I have to say in conclusion, is, that if the printer that wrote the article in the Times takes any exceptions to this, he knows where to find me. — Robert Frost
This letter, published in the Washington Standard, serves as a harrowing artifact of anti-Black violence in 19th-century Olympia. While modern Olympia prides itself on being an inclusive city, this document documents how white vigilante groups actively terrorized and displaced Black residents during the Civil War era.
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