12.
Hunter, Buchanan and Tah Hal, The
Stoney Lake Murders.
Submitted by Gary Reese
Edward Huggins, "A drunken orgy that led to
a bloody murder," The Portland Oregonian. October 7, 1900. Number
seven in a series.
Stony Lake, so called by the first settlers is a swale or low piece of
land in the prairie joining the Montgomery donation claim, Fort
Montgomery, or Camp Montgomery, as it was called in the days of the
Indian War of 1855 56. It had several large boulders in it, from
which it derives its name.
It is about two miles east of Spanaway Lake. I don't know who owns it
now, but in 1853 a discharged soldier named Hunter, who came with the
first company of United States soldiers Fourth Artillery, Captain B.F.
Hill, in August, 1849 owned it.
The term of enlistment of this company was five years, which expired, I
think in 1852 or 1853. A large number of these men remained in
this part of the country and took up donation claims. A very few
of them being married, they could not take advantage of the clause in
the act giving a full section to a married couple, but several of them
took up claims of half and quarter section in extent.
Nearly all of them had a nice little sum of money when paid off,as
besides receiving double pay, allowed principally to induce them not to
desert and join the gold seekers in California, they were paid an
amount equal to the cost of a passage to New York by way of Panama,
which in those days was quite a large sum of money.
This money, with their extra pay, another incentive to remain, they did
not receive until they were finally discharged so that a man after
serving his full time, was sure to receive quite a respectable sum
which the Government saved for him. It was sufficient to enable
him to commence farming, especially as the land did not cost him
anything more than the usual preliminary expense of surveying.
As I before stated, Hunter owned the Montgomery claim in 1853.
He was unmarried, and did not, I think, even have an Indian wife.
He was a Virginian, about thirty years of age, and was a good
look¬ing quiet, gentlemanly fellow. He seldom drank to
excess, but when under the influence of liquor was inclined to be
quarrelsome.
A comrade of Hunter's named Buchanan lived with him.
Buchanan was a scotchman, and well behaved. He often came to Fort
Nisqually to see Dr. Tolmie, who, being a Scotchman, always had a
friendly feeling for a respectable brother Scot. Besides, he
attended him professionally when the regular army surgeon was away on
leave of absence.
Buchanan's bad health arose from an effort he made with a fellow
soldier to desert and reach Vancouver Island outside the
juris¬diction of the United States. The man who accompanied
Buchanan was named Russell, and he was between forty and fifty years of
age. These men were nearing Port Townsend when they were captured
by Snoqualmie Indians, who were on the lookout for them for the sake of
the reward that Captain Hill offered for their apprehension.
It is reported that the Indians, headed by the notorious Chief
Patkynum, cruelly treated them during the time they were pris¬oners
and in consequence of which Russell died soon after he returned to Fort
Steilacoom, and Buchanan's health became very much impaired.
In those early days there was a great deal of liquor drunk.
Whiskey was brought in large quantities in the ships which came here in
the early 150s to load piles for San Francisco. This was before
spirituous liquors were highly taxed. The tax on whisky was small
and it was comparatively cheap.
There were frequent orgies among some of the early settlers, and one
day during the summer of 1853, when I was temporarily in charge of Fort
Nisqually, Dr. Tolmie being away, the cook of the establishment, an
Englishman, who had suffered a touch of sunstroke in the tropics, and
who periodically had slight fits of insanity rushed into the room in
which I was writing, and in an excited manner shouted "Oh, sir, there's
been a half dozen men, white and Indians, killed in a big fight at
Montgomery's place, and I want to go out and see the bloody sight."
I told him he could not go, but to remain at home and attend to his
work. He paid no attention to my order, but took off his apron
and immediately started off to walk the distance, about ten miles or
more. The story was partly true, but the slaughter was not so
great as at first reported.
It seems that Hunter and Buchanan had obtained a keg of whisky and
commenced a drinking bout, when an Englishman and an Indian named
Utilcut, or Tallman, a Nisqually employed by the company as plains men
or vacqueros rode by the house. Hearing the noise of singing and
loud talking they dismounted and joined the festivities.
As was generally the case on such festive occasions, a quarrel
ensued and high words led to blows and a general fight. An
Indian
boy in the service of Hunter was in the house, and gives this
information. Hunter, who was said to be very quarrelsome in his
cups, foully abused the others, and lunged at Utilcut with a big knife
and stabbed him in the region of the lungs.
Utilcut managed to escape from the house, and made for an Indian lodge
at Montgomery's place about one mile away. The Englishman escaped
without being wounded. Another Indian named Tah hal took part in
the spree, but he was, I suppose, too far gone with liquor to escape.
Hunter was now a perfect wild man and turned his attention to poor
Buchanan, who was lying wounded and helpless upon the floor.
Hunter, crazy with the liquor he had drank, recommenced an attack upon
him, and soon cut and pounded the life out of him.
The drunken man then threw himself upon his bed and was soon in a dead
sleep. The Indian boy, in fear and trembling all this time, hid
himself under a bed and paid no attention to the frequent calls of
Hunter for him to show himself. The lad well knew that had he
done so, his life would have been forfeited for the cursed drink had
made Hunter for the time being a raving maniac.
The Indian Tah Hal was also lying dead on the floor, choked, it is said
by the quantity of whisky he had drank, but more likely he had been
choked by Hunter. After the cause of all this bloodshed was dead
asleep, the boy crept from his hiding place and viewed with horror the
floor of the little cabin which was like a butcher's shambles, with
Buchanan lying dead in one corner, covered with blood, and the Indian
Tah Hal dead in another corner with features hideous and distorted.
About daylight next morning Hunter awoke, and sitting up in bed rubbed
his eyes and looked around the room in bewilderment. He asked
what was the matter with Buchanan and the boy told him he was dead and
that he had killed him and had killed Tah hal and almost killed
Utilcut. Hunter continued to question him, and after a while
requested the boy to bring him his gun.
The boy got alarmed at this, and did not give him the gun, but flew
from the house, and hid a little distance off. In a few minutes
he heard a loud report, and creeping back to the house found that
Hunter had blown out his brains.
Nothing was done in the matter. The neighbors buried the
unfortunates and that was the end of it. I doubt if there was
even a coroner in the country at that early date; besides a coroner
could have done no good. The witnesses were dead, and an Indian's
testimony would not be taken in those days against a white man.
Utilcut came home to the fort the next day, and a ghastly looking
object he was. He did not die at once, but lingered for about a
year and then died of apparently consumption.
Edward Huggins, "A drunken orgy that led to a bloody murder," Portland
Oregonian. October 7, 1900. Number seven in a series.