Betrayal at the Waterfront Lodging House
A visiting Neah Bay man seeking to sell seal skins alleges he was beaten and robbed of his savings by a Seattle saloon proprietor.
Walter Lindsay, proprietor of a lodging house and saloon at the corner of Washington street and Railroad avenue, was arraigned in Justice Neagle's court Saturday on a charge of assault and battery, preferred by Chad George, a well-to-do Neah Bay Indian. George, who works in the sealing business, arrived in town with 168 skins. He testified that he gave Lindsay $60 for safekeeping before retiring on Friday night. The next morning, when George requested his money back to facilitate his travel to Portland, Lindsay reportedly called him a racial slur, struck him, and kicked him out of the establishment. George appeared in court with severe facial injuries, including a battered nose and ear. Lindsay claims the story is untrue and has posted $200 bail.
“When he came into the court-room yesterday to swear out a warrant his nose looked as John L. Sullivan's did after Corbett had finished his work.”
This case highlights the systemic vulnerability of Indigenous visitors conducting commerce in the city, where their legal standing was often ignored or dismissed. The intersection of Washington and Railroad Avenue (now Alaskan Way) was once the heart of the city's rough maritime trade, a location that has transformed from an industrial waterfront to a site of modern urban redevelopment.
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