Seeking Redress for the Snake River Conflict
A Hillhurst man prepares a government claim for losses sustained during the Indian wars of 1851.
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.
A. J. Frost, of Hillhurst, whose father-in-law was killed by the Indians during the Indian depredations of 1851, is preparing a claim to be presented to the government for damages. Mr. Parry, his father-in-law, was killed by the Snake River Indians. Mr. Frost asks for $1,050 for horses stolen, and another sum for 2,000 bushels of grain taken. Mr. Frost served as a volunteer during the Indian war, for the sum of $8 per month, and supplied all his own clothing and food. Still worse, he could only realize 50 per cent on the dollar for the pittance paid him.
“Mr. Frost served as a volunteer during the Indian war, for the sum of $8 per month, and supplied all his own clothing and food.”
This story highlights the enduring legacy of the Washington Indian wars and the personal financial ruin that followed for many settlers, while also serving as a reminder of the violent dispossession of Indigenous land that characterized the era.
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