03/02/2006: "1884 Lynching Still Hanging Around"

We receive a lot of press releases, and most of it is irrelevant to San Juan County, but once in awhile we receive something that is interesting enough to pass on to our readers, and yesterday as we read the press release below, we thought you may also find it to be an interesting read:

Resolution to address 1884 lynching of Canadian boy by mob from Washington Territory
OLYMPIA -- Lt. Gov. Brad Owen on Wednesday is expected to present a special resolution that seeks to reconcile a historical injustice for the 1884 lynching of a 14-year-old Canadian boy to the grand chief of the First Nations Sto:Lo Tribal Council.

The resolution acknowledging the wrongful lynching of Louie Sam by an angry mob from then Washington Territory passed the state Senate Monday evening and is expected to pass the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Owen said. Following that the resolution will be formally presented to Doug Kelly, grand chief of the Sto:Lo Tribal Council, in the Senate chamber.

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Extensive research has shown that Louie Sam was wrongly accused in the murder of a British Columbia shopkeeper. The resolutions acknowledge that the Washington mob, called the "Nooksack Vigilance Committee," crossed the international border, forcibly removed the Sto:lo youth from custody at the home of a special deputy, then lynched him.

Lt. Governor Brad Owen initiated the resolutions in response to a request British Columbia Lt. Governor Iona V. Campagnolo made during an official visit to Victoria last fall.

While subsequent investigation cleared Louie Sam of any involvement in the murder of the shopkeeper, neither government adequately pursued the case, Owen said. The resolutions address errors committed by both the U.S. territorial and Canadian governments and express "deepest sympathies" on behalf of Washington state to the descendants of Louie Sam. In addition to the resolutions before the state Legislature, a letter has been received by Lt. Gov. Owen from John van Dongen, BC's Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations to thank him for his leadership in resolving the issue and acknowledging "historical tragedies and continuing grief."

"After first hearing the story of Louie Sam from Lt. Governor Campagnolo I understood how this terrible injustice in our history needed to be reconciled," said Owen. He said he gives much of the credit for bringing the issue to the political forefront to University of Saskatchewan historian Keith Carlson, whose research inspired the documentary "The Lynching of Louie Sam" by Vancouver filmmaker David McIlwraith.

Carlson will also be in Olympia Wednesday to witness the proceedings, as well as other members of the Sto:Lo First Nations.