A Chief Seized at Fort Bellingham
Acting Governor Mason's requisition sends soldiers after Kitup and Nelson; a visit to the Indian agent ends in a scuffle, an escape attempt, and a military arrest.
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 well-known Indian chief Kitup was captured by the military authorities at Fort Bellingham on the 6th inst. On the requisition of Acting Governor Mason, a short time since, Gen. Harney issued an order to Lieut. Col. Casey for the arrest of Kitup, Nelson and others; and instructions to that effect having been given to Sergeant Goulder, commanding the detachment of troops at Bellingham, he was ordered to embrace the first opportunity that offered. Kitup and Nelson were on a visit to the Indian agent at Bellingham, when the door of the house being closed, Kitup was thrown down and secured. Nelson, at the confusion, managed to spring up; some Indians who were within reach joined the struggle, but without saving Kitup, and he was finally overpowered. In consequence of the difficulty, troops were sent to bring him in, and he was brought to the fort on Saturday.
“Kitup and Nelson were on a visit to the Indian agent at Bellingham, when the door of the house being closed, Kitup was thrown down and secured.”
The arrest of a Native leader by territorial officials and federal troops shows how settlement in Washington was enforced through military requisition as much as treaty. The episode also raises a familiar question: what did 'safe conduct' mean for Indigenous people summoned to an agent's office?
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