The Chief and the Demijohn: Napoleon Whatcom Dies on the Tracks
A former chief of the Puyallup, remembered for wit and wisdom, is struck by a freight train near the Puyallup depot — with a jug of beer at his side.
TACOMA, May 25.—Special.—Napoleon Whatcom, Puyallup Indian and ex-chief of the White River red men, aged about 40 years, was run over at 2:35 o'clock this morning near Puyallup by an east-bound freight train and killed. The man was run over at a spot about 500 yards east of the new Puyallup passenger depot. The train was running at a good rate of speed at the time the man was struck and did not stop immediately, but backed to the spot after reaching Meeker Junction. The man was then dead. One of the train's crew was left to watch the body until Coroner Parks came down from Puyallup, where he had gone to investigate the case of William Edwards, who was accidentally killed there yesterday. The body of Whatcom was brought to Tacoma on the overland train which arrived here at 1:30 o'clock this afternoon. Close to the spot where the Indian was killed was found a demijohn of beer. This seems to solve the question of the cause of his death. Napoleon Whatcom was one of the leading spirits of the Puyallup tribe. He was always bright, good-natured and possessed no mean amount of intelligence. His voice was always heard in the councils of the wise and brave men of the tribe. The name given above is his town appellation, but his Indian name was She!-wil-ton. He leaves a full-grown son, who bears the illustrious name of Louis Napoleon, and several other children. His wife has been divorced from him for several years and is now living on the reservation.
“Napoleon Whatcom was one of the leading spirits of the Puyallup tribe... His voice was always heard in the councils of the wise and brave men of the tribe.”
Napoleon Whatcom's death was written up as much as a character sketch as a news item — the paper paused to praise a Native leader's wit even as a jug of beer was allowed to explain his death. It is a glimpse of how Puget Sound's first peoples were covered in this era: as colourful figures, seldom as neighbours, and rarely on their own terms.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.