Judicially Murdered
Judicially Murdered is a historical novel written by Anne T. Kaylene[1] which takes place in the often neglected early history of the American Pacific Northwest, more specifically the Puget Sound Region. Lake Washington is also a main player as Leschi and the Indians move there after a fight in the Green River Canyon. The final major scene involving the Indian tribes occur in central Washington—Yakima—as the tribes have had to flee there.
Plot summary[edit]
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The book opens with Sam Devin, and spends the first chapter introducing the reader to Devin and then Leschi. The reader is also caught up on the politics and way of the time. For example, readers learn about Stevens and it is there they first learn that Devin is a trapper. Devin eats dinner with Leschi and the other Indians and the chapter ends with Leschi learning that he has been appointed chief by Stevens, which is particularly odd since no one other than Stevens thinks Stevens has the power to do this.
Stevens wants the Indians to sign the treaty called Medicine Creek. In this treaty the Indians will move north so the whites have more land and natural resources, but once they have moved north they are promised this land for good. This will also allow the whites to build their railroad. Leschi declines to sign the paper and refuses to move. This, in turn, angers Leschi and he decides to go to war with the whites. Devin decided to be neutral in this war.
The two next chapters show the author’s extensive research on Pacific Northwest Native American culture, as they spend the bulk of the time discussing and describing the Indian way of life. Matters like Chinook Jargon and the War Chief Ceremony are described. Devin even witnesses the latter as Leschi officially becomes war chief.
The second day of treaty-signing among Stevens and the Indian Chiefs commences. The day progresses with the American side urging for the immediate signing of the treaty that would settle everything, peacefully. Deceit emerges once again through the Americans as negotiator, Simmons, who continues to pursue unethical means of persuasion with the Indians with his constant badgering, sly promises, alcohol, and prominent threats. Meanwhile, Devin and Stevens sit down, and Stevens foreshadows just how much power he actually holds by confronting Devin about Devin’s secret meetings with the Indian Counsels for the past few nights. Stevens continues to shock readers with his racist comments on how the killing of Indians is no more than hunting animals; mocking them by calling them savages. Adding to the unfairness of the treaty Stevens has Simmons translate what the treaty says in the Chinook Jargon instead of the Salish Dialect on purpose in order to make the chiefs not see the dangers in which the treaty actually holds. To Stevens’ surprise, Leschi demands that the treaty be transcribed into their dialect and refuses to sign anything that he or his people put forward. While leaving the company Sam thinks of the horrors of which Stevens wants to unfold on the Indians.
Stevens returns from a trip he has taken and orders his men to capture Devin to attain information about Leschi's war strategy and how many members are in his tribe. Meanwhile, Leschi disagrees with the reservation land so he request Steven to give Leschi people new land. Leschi is angry that Stevens ignored his request three times. He is also upset the white people are taking over the land and wasting up all of the resources, so he decides to attack Seattle. However, Stevens is warned ahead of time about the attack by Chief Patkanim of the Snoqualmie tribe, who are fighting with the whites, so the attack fails miserably. The chapter ends with Leschi writing a letter to President Franklin Pierce about the war and the treaty. The settlers also decide to write a letter to the President as well about their problems with the volunteer fighters and Stevens.
Leschi brings together all the leaders to plan for the spring campaign. He also asks Devin to pick up James G. Swan—another real life character, one of the Northwest’s first authors—on Fox Island at night. Devin goes across the sound in pitch black freezing weather to pick up Swan. Meanwhile, Stevens and the Patkanim are looking for the Lake Washington Indian camp and instead find a boy fishing on the Green River. Patkanim scares the boy into telling him where the camp is then kills him anyway after.
Stevens and Patkanim are ready to utilize their combined forces to successfully oppose Leschi. Patkanim, who has great geographical understanding of their surrounding area proposes that they attack Lake Washington. Stevens’ group, including Major Maxon and their interpreter Simmons generally agree to the proposal. After some argument, they decide that Leschi would foresee this attack, so they tell their troops that they’re going to attack the Duwamish in order to confuse the group of Leschi’s spies that may be among their numbers. Unfortunately, their diversion tactic is futile, because Leschi assumes that they’re trying to deceive him once he receives word of their attempts on the Duwamish, and moves his men away from Lake Washington in advance. Maxon gets himself nearly murdered by Patkanim in a frustrated dispute.
Devin struggles with his life after getting hurt. Sam ends up getting shot by his chasers and lies hidden in the bushes. Mary (Leschi’s wife) finds him and they stay hidden in the bushes while they overhear Maxon and one of this men talking about their goals of finding Leschi and his brother. As soon as the coast is clear, they leave the scene and travel back to the tribe. On the way there, Mary tells Sam about an affair she had with his nephew Sluggia. In the second have part of the chapter, Green River is attacked, Leschi, Quiemuth, his brother and their tribes flee east to Yakima for there safety. Because of bad timing and weather, many of the unlucky travelers died from injuries or attacks by wild predators before they reached the settlements. The Yakima people greeted them warmly and offered them food and shelter.
Ezra Meeker is on trial, charged with helping the enemy during the previous war. The trial is eventually thrown out when it was found that Meeker and the rest of the Muck Creek Farmers were innocent for lack of conclusive evidence against them. After the trial, Meeker becomes enraged Governor Stevens, and rallies his friends and farmers who also were angered. Meeker had the intention to forcefully overthrow the governor and replace him. This is the first time in the book that Stevens’ quest for power takes a hit.
Chief Leschi fishes on the Nisqually River, when he is approached by a couple of men. He soon realizes that they are Sluggia and his friend Elikuka, and they have come to arrest him and take him into town. After he is taken to town, Chief Leschi is tried. The prosecution’s case is terrible, but during the deliberation, it seems as though most of the jurors had their minds made up before the case began. Everyone on the jury, except for Meeker and William Kincaid, vote guilty, but since it is not a unanimous decision, the jury is hung, and a new trial is set for a later date in Olympia. Leschi is sent back to the jail house, where he stays until his next trial. During this time, Devin visits frequently to keep Leschi company. Leschi then learns that Quiemuth had been murdered. After a few months, the second trial convenes, and after a short deliberation by the jury, Leschi is found guilty of killing Moses Abraham, and sentenced to death by hanging.
Leschi is still held in jail, awaiting his hanging. While the hanging sentence has been passed, the actual date of the hanging is constantly being pushed back, much to the joy of Leschi’s supporters. Devin, after much deliberation, rounds up the Leschi supporters to suggest an idea which would push the date of the hanging even further. They agree to go out with the plan of setting up a fake trial accusing Sheriff Williams, who just happens to carry the papers required for the hanging, of selling alcohol to the Native American tribes around the area. Williams happily goes along with this plan, much to the resent of Stevens. The plan eventually fails as the final date of the hanging is changed to the exact date in which Stevens’ replacement should arrive, allowing Stevens to resume with the hanging. Leschi, in his last final moments, tells his people not to hinder and to be prosperous without his guidance. Stevens believes he is now in the clear for his railroad to be built, but the Congress has voted against it, frustrating him to spit on the corpse of Leschi and blame him for all of his efforts being wasted. Leschi is buried and grieved among his supporters.
Characters in Judicially Murdered[edit]
Sam Devin: Sam Devin is the main white character in the book and the only major character which is entirely a product of fiction. Having said that he has many attributes that would be common for a pioneer of his age, sex and race at that time. A youngish man, Devin is also a trapper and man of the outdoors. He is a friend of the Indians, speaking their dialect, and continually aids them at the expense of the wishes of Gov. Isaac Stevens and other powerful whites. He is instrumental in many of the Indians’ moves, and proves to be a true friend to Leschi by the end.
Chief Leschi: Chief Leschi is the main Indian character and Chief of the Whulge tribes. He came to power only after Governor Isaac Stevens became territorial governor of the Columbia—later Washington—Territory and "appointed" him to that position. After the Medicine Creek Treaty was signed, Leschi was appointed the War Chief of the Whulge tribes, as they geared up for war. Leschi was the chief of the tribe during the Puget Sound War—a mostly gureilla war. After a few battles, Chief Leschi signed a treaty, and was then allowed to live peacefully again. However, he was blamed for murder at the onset of the war, tried, and hanged.
Gov. Isaac Stevens: Isaac Stevens was appointed as the first governor of the Washington Territory, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the Washington Territory. His goal for the Pacific Northwest was to build a transcontinental railroad, which would have forced the Native Americans to leave their home. Obviously this issue was going to come to loggerheads. In the book, the public view Stevens as power hungry, vicious man—he declared war on the Native Americans.
Ezra Meeker: Ezra Meeker originally came to the Washington Territory by the Oregon Trail. He made his fortune solely on growing hops for brewing beer, and was one of the wealthiest people in the territory. In the book he is in the group known as the Muck Creek Farmers, and is primarily a source of information for Devin. Meeker is also very rebellious in the story: He tries to overthrow the government, and he is charged by Stevens with aiding the enemy with food, shelter, and ammunition.
References[edit]
- ↑ all information from: Kaylene, A. Judicially Murdered.Melton Publishing. 1999.
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