The Tragedy at Simcoe
An old account resurfaces regarding the 1856 murder of Indian Agent A.J. Bolan, highlighting the volatile tensions of the frontier 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.
The following account of the murder of A. J. Bolan, Indian agent at Fort Simcoe, says the Hood River Glacier, was given by an old Indian, now a resident at White Salmon, Washington. War and rumors of war were rife; a vague uneasiness rested upon the isolated families of eastern Oregon. On the 15th day of September, 1856, Indian Agent Bolan left The Dalles on horseback for the agency at Simcoe. Bolan was returning from a hurried trip to the Willamette valley and was hurrying back on account of the restless condition of the Yakimas. On his way through the Klickitat valley he overtook three Yakima Indians accompanied by three squaws. Camp was struck on one of the numerous streamlets that run down the mountain side. Mr. Bolan dismounted, unsaddled and staked his horse, and returning to the fire divided his scanty store of biscuits and butter with his dusky companions. The conversation turned upon the recent murders, and very unwisely, Bolan reiterated threats of vengeance. Two of the three quietly stepped behind him and pinioned his arms, while the third seized him around the legs and threw him violently to the ground. One of the savages seized him by the hair and drawing his head across his knee cut his throat from ear to ear.
“Bolan reiterated Wright’s ponderous threats of vengeance and extermination. Then, and not till then, was Bolan's death decided upon.”
This account reflects the mid-19th-century frontier violence that preceded the formalization of Yakima as a city. It serves as a reminder of the historical trauma embedded in the landscape of the Yakima Valley and the contested nature of the early Indian Agency system.
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