The Last Laugh of 'Old Si': A Black Veteran's Take on War and Wages in Pioneer Seattle
In a rare moment of candid journalism from 1877, the *Daily Intelligencer* sits down with 'Old Si,' a local African American man who served as a Union soldier. His unvarnished take on racial loyalty, wages, and the upcoming Centennial Exposition reveals the complex social fabric of early Seattle.
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.
"Old Si" at a Masked Ball.
We asked him yesterday: "Were you watching the masked ball last night?"
"So, sah. I out on de fantisti' k'scu rsbun."
"What was in it, sir?"
"De Dark ball down at Mr. Bellow's, y't it no'"
"Just looking on, I suppose?"
"Who—m' N 'it. I wuz jes one ob de maae fx' intents in de perc sh an'
"And what character did you assume?"
"I had de boss clo's on, sho", 'kiK 1 wo* dar ripresentin' General Washington; yer beerc me.
"I should have liked to have seen you just then."
"Yer ji. ought'r pa''d de do while I wuz saMhayin' in da-! Taint ebery day y*r can 'e chullud G org e Wa-sh in'ton, t'er r fact! Dent rt-gymentaU sot ter me like gol* buckle harrl-, an' when 1 raked dat swo'd on de sto. dey koo'd I wtus cumin' an' dey opjn'd de rank frr de army t r pais throo!"
"If you proved yourself 'first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of your countrymen.'"
"I dnnno'boot d it; hut I knoV di-, I wuz de fust at a> ball, de wildes' boss in de dance, an' de la-' man at de feed bo'rd'. Dat's de kine o'> a iin'rul Wash in'ton dis ole rn an made, yer km jeas on'erstan', right now."
When the Darkeys will Fight.
We asked old Si whether, in the event of another war, the negroes would take a hand.
"Dar's alius folk*, l«>fe '(rack an* white out ob a job for to git up a rigiinent 'bout hyar." he replied.
"What side would the color f d people take this tiuif'r"
"Dat'pends. •ah, on de monstrashuus at de off-4't ob de sturbance."
"What do you mean by that'r"
"Well, de nigger don't stan' <>n no faney principles, you k*ow v"
"I know that."
"An' hit't de wages an' de jj requisites dat dey goes for, mos'ly Darfo', 1 says dat de Inm' way fur to gi*, de nigger on y<»' side is to get de drygooda in de office fust."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, d« niggers is gittin' moughty •keerce on back kiv» rin', an' whoeber i gets de fust !>o\ ob blue obt-rcoats in dis town for gin'rul sirk< U-hun i« gwine to raise de fust rigiiuit ob niggers for de Willi."
This 1877 interview offers a startlingly modern perspective on labor and identity, where 'Old Si' explicitly links political loyalty to economic gain ('get the drygoods in the office first'). It challenges the romanticized narrative of Black Union veterans as purely idealistic patriots, instead portraying them as pragmatic actors navigating a post-Civil War economy where material security was the primary motivator for civic engagement.
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