U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
IB 
 
 F NOTICE 
 
 RECENT OUTRAGES 
 
 COMMITTED BY 
 
 ISAAC I. STEVENS, 
 
 GOVERNOR OP 
 
 WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 
 
 The Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus the Breaking up 
 of Courts, and the Kidnapping of Judges and Clerks. . 
 
 OLYMPIA, MAY 17, 1856. 
 

 University of California Berkeley 
 
 Purchased from 
 
 THOMAS W. STREETER 
 BEQUEST 
 
 
NOTICE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RECENT OUTRAGES IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY, 
 
 In the latter part of the month of March, 1856, Lion A. 
 Smith, Charles Wren, Henry Smith, John McLeod, John 
 
 McField, Henry Murry and Wilson, American citizens, 
 
 residents of the County of Pierce, and Territory of Washington, 
 were arrested upon their several land claims, in that county, by 
 a detachment of volunteers under orders of Isaac I. Stevens, 
 Governor of said Territory, without process of law, and without 
 any complaint or affidavit being lodged against them, charging 
 them with the commission of any offence against the law. They 
 were taken by a guard to the town of Olympia, the capitol of 
 the Territory, detained there over night, and then sent in cus- 
 tody of a guard to the U. S. Military Post at Fort Steilacoom, 
 with a written request of Governor Stevens to Lieut. Col. 
 Casey, U. S. Army, commanding that post, to retain said pri- 
 soners in close confinement, upon a charge of treason. In the 
 early part of April, William H. Wallace and Frank Clark, 
 attorneys at law, of counsel for said prisoners, started for 
 Penn's Cove, Whidby's Island, a distance of a hundred miles, 
 the residence of Hon. F. A. Chenoweth, U. S. District Judge 
 of the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, to make 
 application for the writ of habeas corpus, to test the legality of 
 such imprisonment. The Governor having learned of this mis- 
 sion of justice and mercy, issued a proclamation, without seal, 
 bearing date April 30, 1856, and in the following language: 
 
 " Whereas, In the prosecution of the Indian war, circum- 
 stances have existed affording such grave cause of suspicion, 
 that certain evil disposed persons of Pierce County, have 
 given aid and comfort to the enemy, as that they have been 
 placed under arrest and ordered to be tried by a military com- 
 mission : And whereas, efforts are now being made to with- 
 draw, by civil process, these persons from purview of the said 
 commission ; 
 
 "Therefore, as the war is now being actively prosecuted 
 throughout nearly the whole of the said county, and great injury 
 to the public, and the plans of the campaign be frustrated, if the 
 alleged designs of these persons be not arrested ; 1, Isaac I. 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 Stephens, Governor of the Territory of Washington, do hereby 
 proclaim MARTIAL LAW over the said county of Pierce, and 
 do by these presents suspend for the tim^being, and till further 
 notice, the functions of all civil officers jP-said county. 
 
 " Given under my hand at Olympia, this third day of April, 
 eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and the year of Independence 
 of the United States the eightieth. ISAAC I. STEVENS." 
 
 On being apprised of this proclamation, Col. Casey informed 
 the Governor, that notwithstanding its issue, were a writ of 
 habeas corpus served upon him, he would feel compelled to 
 obey its mandates ; upon this, the Governor removed said pri- 
 soners again to Olympia, out of the county, where he pretended 
 to hold them by the martial law he had proclaimed. In the 
 meantime, his honor, Judge Chenoweth, had issued a writ of 
 habeas corpus, and unaware of the existence of the proclama- 
 tion. It is not our purpose to criticise the intention of the 
 Governor, to defeat the service of a writ after the arrest of 
 parties, defying, as it does, the wholesome spirit of that section 
 of the Constitution which prohibits the enactment of ex post 
 facto laws, for we have learned to our mortification, that Con- 
 stitutions are nothing, law is idle, the will of the Governor is 
 supreme. But we do boldly maintain the position that if his 
 proclamation of martial law was based upon public necessity, 
 urgently demanded for the public welfare, the great writ of 
 right still stood exempt from its reach, and paramount to its 
 operation. Truth compels us, however, to deny that the procla- 
 mation was necessary, and we need only refer to the document 
 itself to sustain our position. The preamble to said proclama- 
 tion recites that " the suspected parties were in custody" their 
 evil designs, had they any, had been thwarted, and they were 
 now in a position that they could no longer " frustrate the cam- 
 paign.' 7 Nor does it appear that any effort was made to rescue 
 the prisoners by force; nothing is alleged, save that by counsel, 
 they attempted to secure what the national Constitution guaran- 
 tees to every citizen. 
 
 The writ of habeas corpus issued by order of Judge Cheno- 
 weth never was served, because the prisoners had been trans- 
 ferred by Gov. Stevens out of Judge Chenoweth 's district. 
 
 Nothing further was done until the first Monday in May, 
 1856, when by a law of this Territory, the term of the District 
 Court for the County of Pierce, was to be holden. We quote 
 from the statement made by the bar of that district, the detail 
 of the outrages committed by the Executive during that week : 
 
 " The United States Judge, assigned to this Judicial District, 
 being detained at home by severe illness, at the time when by 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 law the term of the District Court was to be held, the Hop, 
 Edward Lander, Chief Justice of this territory, who resides in 
 the adjoining district, at the special written request of Hon. 
 Judge Chenoweth, undertook to hold said court, and on Monday 
 the 5th May inst., arrived at Steilacoom and opened the Court 
 in due form. Having been informed, however, on his way to 
 the Court by Lieut. Col. B. F. Shaw, commanding a volunteer 
 force under authority of the Governor of this territory, that if 
 he attempted to hold said Court, he would be forcibly pre- 
 vented. Judge Lander, in order to prevent a collision between 
 executive and judicial authority, suggested that he would sim- 
 ply open and 'adjourn the Court until Wednesday, that the 
 Governor might be advised to withdraw his proclamation. 
 
 " About three days previous to opening court, Col. Shaw, com- 
 manding the volunteer forces, who had received written instruc- 
 tions from Gov. Stevens to enforce martial law until further 
 orders, being directed at the same time to inform him imme- 
 diately if in his opinion it was no longer necessary, had written 
 by express to the Governor, stating that no occasion existed in 
 the county for its continuance, informing him that important 
 business was to be transacted before the court, and recom- 
 mended that in consequence, the proclamation be abrogated. 
 Judge Lander, now himself, wrote to Governor Stevens, inform- 
 ing him of the course he had taken ; that there were important 
 causes to be tried before the court, one of which, the suit of the 
 U. S. vs. The Former Collector of Puget Sound, ought to be 
 tried ; that there was imminent danger of a collision between 
 the civil authorities and the military, and recommending that. 
 martM law be at once abrogated, especially as the present 
 condition of the county seemed not to require it. 
 
 "In reply, Governor Stevens, on the 6th inst, while declining 
 to withdraw his proclamation, suggested that Judge Lander 
 adjourn his court to the first Monday in June, and informed him 
 that he had examined the law, and found no difficulty in his 
 adjourning from any time to the next term of court. 
 
 "Upon the receipt of this information, Judge Lander having 
 done his duty as a citizen, in endavoring to prevent the expected 
 collision, proceeded to fulfill those of his judicial office by open- 
 ing court at the appointed time, accompanied by the Clerk, U. 
 S. Deputy Marshal and. Sheriff; he went to the court house, 
 opened the court by proclamation in usual form, and caused the 
 Grand Jury to be impanneled and sworn. During this time a 
 company of volunteers, (many of them citizens of Oregon, 
 although enrolled in this territory,) drawn from Clark County, 
 on the Columbia river, entered the court room with loaded 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 rifles and drew up without the bar, another company was kept 
 in reserve without, to assist them if necessary. Judge Lander 
 then directed the Deputy Marshal to prevent the entry of any 
 armed men within the bar, but the commanding officer having" 
 announced that he acted under orders from Governor Stevens, 
 directed his men to arrest the Judge and Clerk. In obedience 
 to that order they entered the bar, the Deputy Marshal being 
 unable to prevent it, and arrested the Judge in his seat ; the 
 Judge stating that he only succumbed to force, and declined 
 calling upon the posse comitatus, because he wished to avoid 
 bloodshed. Judge Lander and the Clerk, J. M. Chapman, were 
 then removed by the military from the court house, and on the 
 same day taken out of the county, and carried to Olympia. 
 The records of the court, which were at first seized, were sub- 
 sequently returned to the deputy clerk. 
 
 " During this time the citizens present, though manifesting a 
 deep feeling of indignation at the transaction, refrained from 
 any disorderly or violent acts. The conduct of Judge Lander 
 was, throughout, dignified, firm and worthy of his high position, 
 and was, we are satisfied, dictated only by a strict sense of 
 duty." 
 
 On reaching Olympia, the Chief Justice and Clerk were not 
 placed in confinement, though the former was not officially 
 notified of his release till the 9th inst, and the Clerk on the 
 10th inst. 
 
 On Monday the 12th of May, the District Court of the Second 
 Judicial District commenced, over which Chief Justice Lander 
 presides, and he proceeded to the discharge of that duty. 
 
 During that day, John McLeod, Henry Smith and John 
 McField, three of the parties arrested in Pierce County, peti- 
 tioned the Judge, at Chambers, for a writ of habeas corpus to 
 be directed to Isaac I. Stevens, Governor, &c., to bring them 
 and their fellow prisioners before the Chief Justice, at Cham- 
 bers, on Wednesday ensuing* This writ was placed in the 
 hands of the U. S. Marshal and duly served the same day at 7, 
 P. M. Under cover of that night proclamations of martial law 
 over the County of Thurston were posted up, and here is a copy 
 of the remarkable instrument : 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas, In the prosecution of the existing Indian war, it 
 became necessary, for the reasons set forth in the proclamation 
 of the Governor of the Territory of Washington, of the 3d of 
 April, to proclaim martial law in and through Pierce County, in 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 said territory : And whereas, the same efforts are now being made 
 in the County of Thurston by the issue of the writ of habeus 
 corpus, to take from the purview of the military commission, 
 which is ordered to convene on the 20th instant, certain persons 
 charged with giving aid and comfort to the enemy : And whereas, 
 an overruling public necessity leaves no alternative but to per- 
 sist in that trial in order that the military operations be not ren- 
 dered abortive, and the lives of the citizens needlessly sacrificed ; 
 
 Therefore I, Isaac I. Stevens, Governor of the Territory of 
 Washington, do by these presents proclaim martial law in and 
 throughout the County of Thurston, and do call upon all good 
 citizens to see that martial law is enforced. 
 
 Given under my hand at Olympia, this 13th day of May, in 
 the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, 
 arid the year of Independence the eightieth. 
 
 ISAAC I. STEVENS. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th May, a company of volunteers 
 rode into town, armed and equipped as the law directs, with no 
 other motive than, as is supposed, to help "good citizens see 
 that martial law be enforced," and to remove a portion of the 
 prisoners out of the County of Thurston. A cannon was drawn 
 up in front of the court house. On this day the Governor did 
 not attempt to interrupt the court, though his " guards" were 
 seated in front of the executive office, and paraded occasionally 
 up and down the pavement before the building wherein the 
 court was held. 
 
 Wednesday, May 14th. At the time for the return of the writ, 
 the Governor was respectfully notified that the Judge was at 
 Chambers, and prepared to receive his returns to the writ of 
 habeas corpus. Refusing to come, he pleaded to the Marshal 
 that martial law had been proclaimed, and it suspended process. 
 Petitioners' counsel then asked for a rule returnable the next 
 day at 12, M., upon the Governor, to show cause why an attach- 
 ment should not issue for contempt. 
 
 Thursday, May 15th, 1, P. M. The Governor failing to 
 appear and make return to the writ, on motion of petitioners' 
 counsel, rule made absolute, and a writ of attachment issued to 
 bring Isaac I. Stevens before the Hon. Edward Lander, Chief 
 Justice, to answer for a contempt in refusing to make return to 
 the writ of habeas corpus. The Governor forcibly resisted the 
 service of this writ, and dispatched a company of volunteers, 
 (from the Territory of Oregon,) commanded by Capt. Bluford 
 Miller, to the house wherein Judge Lander was sitting at 
 Chambers, and, the Marshal being ordered to keep the room 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 clear of armed men, was compelled to lock the door. While 
 the Marshal was engaged in making a return to the writ, and the 
 Judge in making the order for an alias writ of attachment, 
 Capt. Miller called upon the Judge to surrender. In the mean- 
 time the house was surrounded by armed men. The counsel 
 engaged inside could distinctly hear the men cocking their rifles. 
 The Judge in this trying moment remained firm, cool and dis- 
 passionate, and finally, the door was forced open by the soldiers, 
 the room was filled with armed men, and the Chief Justice, 
 together with Elwood Evans, acting clerk of the U. S. District 
 Court, of the Second Judicial District, was siezed and taken 
 down to the executive office. In the presence of a large crowd, 
 Chief Justice Lander was offered his liberty on condition of 
 his " giving his honor that he would not hold any court or issue 
 any further process, until the proclamation of martial law was 
 revoked." This offer was made by Capt Miller, who stated that 
 he did it by the instruction of the Governor. Justice to Judge 
 Lander requires that we should give his dignified and manly 
 reply. " Tell Governor Stevens for me, that I will not pro- 
 mise not to do what the law requires at my hand ; say to him 
 that I will do my whole duty, and I trust he will do his as well." 
 On this answer he was taken into custody and carried out to 
 camp Montgomery, out of the County of Thurston, out of his 
 Judicial District, pending a regular term of 'Court the Grand 
 Jury being yet in session, important cases undisposed of, and 
 much unfinished business on the docket, making the second 
 time which Governor Stevens has interrupted the Courts, and 
 kidnapped the Court and its clerk. The clerk was then uncon- 
 ditionally released. 
 
 The above is a plain unvarnished statement of the facts of the 
 case, and on them we base the following charges against Gov. 
 Stevens, with our reasons for so doing : 
 
 I. He has violated his oath of office, which INTER ALIA, was to 
 support the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 1. In this, that he has attempted to suspend the writ of habeas 
 corpus, which, by said Constitution can only be suspended by 
 Congress, and then only in cases of invasion and rebellion, when 
 the public safety require it. Vide Cons. U. S. Art. i. Sec. 9. 
 
 2. In this, that he has arrested citizens, and deprived them 
 of their liberty without process of law. Vide Cons. U. S. Jirt. 
 v. Amendments. 
 
 3. In this, that he has held persons to answer for an infamous 
 and capital crime without any complaint or charge being pre- 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 ferred against them, and without a presentment or indictment 
 of a Grand Jury being made.. Vide Cons, of U. S. Art. v. 
 Amendments. 
 
 4. In this, that the has broken into houses of citizens with- 
 out the issue of any warrant therefor, and seized persons and 
 taken them into custody. Vide Cons. U. S. Art. iv. Amend- 
 ments. 
 
 5. In this, that he has deprived American citizens of the 
 right of trial by jury of the district wherein the alleged crime 
 was committed, and created a court of his own not known to or 
 recognized by the law. Vide Cons. U. S. Art. iii. Sec. 2 ; U 
 Art. vi. Amendments. 
 
 6. In this, that he has charged men with committing treason. 
 which is only cognizable by a United States Court, and ordered 
 their trial by a tribunal of his own creation. Vide Cons. U. S. 
 Art. iii. Sec. 3. 
 
 7. In this, that he has defied and abrogated the supreme law 
 of the land, rendered null and void the Constitution of the 
 United States, and erected a military despotism with nothing 
 to guide it but his own will. Vide Cons. U. S., Art. vi. 
 
 II. He has acted in violation of the Organic Act creating the 
 Territory of Washington. 
 
 1. In this, that he has suspended the writ of habeas corpus. 
 [See ordinance of 1787, which by Act of Congress, bearing date 
 August 14th, 1848, entitled "An Act to establish the territorial 
 government of Oregon," was extended in its application to what 
 is now Washington Territory, and reaffirmed in the organic act 
 of this Territory.] 
 
 2. In this, that he has deprived citizens of their liberty and 
 property without process of law, and without compensation. 
 Ibid. 
 
 3. In this, that he has deprived citizens of the territory of a 
 right of trial by jury. Ibid. 
 
 III. He has violated and set at defiance the laws of Washington 
 
 Territory. 
 
 1. In this, that he has suspended and interrupted the terms of 
 the District Courts of the Counties of Pierce and-Thurston. Vide 
 "An Act to define the judicial district of Washington Territory,' 1 
 Laws W. T., 1854, p. 448. 
 
 2. In this, that he has held in custody persons not charged 
 with any offence, and without a complaint filed. Vide Crim. 
 Prac. Laws W. T., Ses. 1854, Passim. 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 3. In this, that he has violated the provision of law whereby 
 " Every person restrained of his liberty, under any pretence 
 whatever, may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into 
 the causes of the restraint." Fade Sec. 434 " Of Jin Act to 
 regulate the practice in civil actions" p. 212, Laws W. T., 
 Ses. 1S54. 
 
 It may be proper here to pay a passing notice to the great writ 
 of habeas corpus, to suspend which, the flagrant outrages herein 
 enumerated against liberty, property, privilege, right, law and 
 justice, have been perpetrated. This great writ, long the bril- 
 liant peculiarity of the British Constitution, received the royal 
 assent of Charles II. of England, on the 26th of May, 1679. 
 With it came the abolition of the Star Chamber, and the eman- 
 cipation of the press. Personal liberty could not be sacrificed 
 without a chance of investigation, and monarchy was indeed 
 limited. History teaches that it was held sacred by our colonial 
 ancestors, and, by their descendants, engrafted as one of the 
 dearest personal rights upon our national constitution, the con- 
 stitution and bill of rights of every state in the Union, upon the 
 ordinance of 1787, and with it carried into every territorial 
 government erected north and west of the Ohio. Eminent 
 jurists and statesmen have written in its praise, and it may not 
 be out of place to give some of those views. 
 
 The great Jefferson frequently declared himself upon this sub- 
 ject. He was in favor "of the eternal and unremitting force of 
 the habeas corpus laws." On another occasion he inquires, 
 " Why suspend the writ of habeas corpus in insurrections and 
 rebellions? If the public safety requires that the government 
 should have a man imprisoned on less probable testimony in 
 those, than other emergencies, let him be taken and tried, retaken 
 and retried, while the necessity continues, only giving him 
 redress against the government for damages." And now stands 
 out the glaring fact to the world, that never till the instance we 
 now record, has the writ been suspended. One instance occurs, 
 the Burr rebellion, when the suspension was asked for and the 
 United States House of Representatives, though asked to pass 
 said bill by no less a personage than the immortal Jefferson, 
 refused so to do by the overwhelming vote of 113 to 19, and 
 that too on a motion to reject the bill. It is idle to quote the 
 commentaries of Kent, Story and others, on this interesting sub- 
 ject. The current of authority runs one way, all speak of it as 
 the great writ of right grantable ex merito justitia, to the 
 humblest citizen. 
 
 But one case is so apposite, presenting features so similar, that 
 we cannot forbear to quote it at length. It is in the matter of 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 Samuel Stacy, Jr., and found reported at length in 10 Johnson's 
 Reports, p. 327. Stacy was arrested on a charge of treason, by 
 order of Commodore Chauncy, and by him had been delivered 
 into the hands of Gen. Morgan Lewis, in command at Sackett's 
 Harbor, in the month of July, 1813. On the 21st of July the 
 writ of habeas corpus was issued, to which Gen. .Lewis returned 
 he was not in his custody ; accompanying which was a return of 
 the Provost Marshal, that he held such prisoner by the order 
 of Gen. Lewis. 
 
 In discussing the question as to the propriety of issuing an 
 attachment without first granting a rule to show cause why it 
 should not issue for the contempt committed by Gen. Lewis, in 
 thus making an evasive return, Chief Justice Kent says: 
 
 " This is a case which concerns the personal liberty of the 
 citizen. Stacy is now suffering the rigor of confinement in close 
 custody, at this unhealthy season of the year, at a military camp, 
 and under military power. He is a natural born citizen residing 
 in this state. He has a numerous family dependant upon him 
 for their support. He is in bad health, and the danger of a 
 protracted confinement to his health, if not to his life, must be 
 serious. The pretended charge of treason, (for upon the facts 
 before us we must consider it a pretext,) without being founded 
 upon oath, and without any specification of the matters of which 
 it might consist, and without any color of authority in any 
 military tribunal to try a citizen for that crime, is ONLY AGGRA- 
 VATION OF THE OPPRESSION of the confinement. It is the indis- 
 pensable duty of this court, and one to which every inferior 
 consideration must be sacrificed, to act as a faithful guardian of 
 the personal liberty of the citizen, and to give ready and effectual 
 aid to the means provided by law for its security. One of the 
 most valuable of those means is this writ of habeas corpus, v)hich 
 has justly been deemed the glory of the English law, and the 
 Parliament of England, as well as their courts of justice, have, 
 on several occasions, and for the period, at least, of the two last 
 centuries, shown the utmost solicitude, not only that the writ 
 when called for should be issued without delay, BUT THAT IT 
 SHOULD BE PUNCTUALLY OBEYED. (See Brown's Case, Cro. 
 Zac. 543, and the Stat. of 16 Car. J. C. 10, S. 8.) Nor can we 
 hesitate in promptly enforcing a due return to the writ, when we 
 recollect that in this country the law knows no superior, and 
 that in England, their courts have taught, us, by a series of 
 instructive examples, to exact the strictest obedience to whatever 
 extent the persons to whom the writ is directed may be clothed 
 with power, or exalted in rank. On ordinary occasions the 
 attachment does not issue until after a rule to show cause; but 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 whether it shall or shall not issue in the first instance, must 
 depend upon the sound discretion of the court under the circum- 
 stances of each particular case. It may, and it often does, issue 
 in the first instance, without a rule to show cause, if the case be 
 urgent or the contempt flagrant. On this point the authorities 
 are sufficiently explicit. Rex vs. Jones, Stra. .185; Dames ex. 
 dem, Povey v. Doe 2 BL Rep. 892 ; Hawk. Tit. Attachment, B. 
 2, C. 22, S. 1. 
 
 " If ever a case called for the most prompt interposition of the 
 court to enforce obedience to its process, this is one. A military 
 commander is here assuming criminal jurisdiction over a private 
 citizen is holding him in the closest confinement, and contemning 
 the civil authority of the state" 
 
 We will content ourselves with quoting one more authority. 
 We read in Bouvier's Law Dictionary, vol. i. p. 626 section 16 
 " The habeas corpus can be suspended only by authority of the 
 legislature. The Constitution of the United States provides that 
 the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended 
 unless when in cases of invasion or rebellion the public safety 
 may require it. Whether this writ ought to be suspeuded 
 depends on political considerations of which the legislature is to 
 decide. 4 Cranch 101. The proclamation of a military chief, 
 declaring martial law, cannot therefore, suspend the operation of 
 the law." I Harr. Cond. Lo. Rep. 157, 159 ; 3 Mart. Lo. R. 531. 
 
 Such then is the view we take of the gross outrage committed 
 in attempting to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and we can 
 arrive at no other conclusion thanjthat the Governor is a usurper, 
 a tyrant and a despot. 
 
 The plea of ignorance in this case cannot avail him from these 
 charges. " Ignorantia legis neminem excusat." We assert that 
 it was his duty to know principles at the basis of our free insti- 
 tutions. A school boy could not fail to know them, and for a 
 Governor to be so ignorant, is at once to acknowledge his unfit- 
 ness for so high a position. 
 
 Again, we charge him with culpable ignorance in asserting his 
 determination to try, by a military commission, American citi- 
 zens, either on a charge of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, 
 (defined by the constitution and laws of the United States to be 
 treason,} or as his vindication, dated May 10th, which (see 
 appendix) terms them spies. We accept the issue as tendered 
 by that vindication, and publish it herewith, as corroborating 
 all the material averments made by the bar in their statement, 
 published May 7th, (which vide appendix.) The Governor in 
 this vindication places himself in an unfortunate dilemma. Should 
 he " persist in thistr-^l" of these men for giving aid and com- 
 
( 13 )' 
 
 fort, the parties must be cleared on a plea to the jurisdiction, and 
 the Governer himself takes these men " out of the purview of 
 the military commission" a court we do not understand, how 
 composed we know not, by what authority convened we cannot 
 learn. It seems to be a " pet " of the Governor, being recited in 
 every document coming from the executive office and exhibited 
 to the world. If the charge made by the Governor be treason, 
 then we assert, he becomes the evil disposed person who would 
 take his victims out of that purview. For though the constitu- 
 tion may be obsolete in this territory, it cannot be forgotten that 
 it does clearly establish the tribunal by which such offences must 
 be tried, and guarantees to the party charged therewith, a trial 
 by a jury of twelve of his peers from the district wherein the 
 overt act was committed, if such district be legally defined. We 
 therefore maintain that Pierce County, in the Third Judicial Dis- 
 trict, was the proper venue of said action, and we charge upon 
 Governor Stevens that if he had evidence of the guilt of these 
 men, and broke up by force the only tribunal capable of trying 
 them, and thus prevented their just punishment, he is guilty of a 
 gross dereliction of duty, requiring the utmost censure, and so far 
 as the effects thereof are concerned, cannot claim to be much 
 better than an "accessory after the fact." 
 
 Let us take now the other horn of the dilemma presented by 
 the Governor's own vindication, and see how much better off 
 he becomes. He converts them into a band of spies. Let us 
 look at this a moment. Who is a spy? A spy is de"ned by 
 an act of Congress as being an alien enemy. He cannot be a 
 citizen of the United States nor one owin% allegiance thereto. 
 (Vide vol. ii. Stat. at large, L. & B. ed.. p/371.) Who are the 
 parties arrested ? The proclamation and vindication calls them 
 " persons resident in Pierce County" Did they not owe alle- 
 giance to the United States ? Can a man living on his own 
 farm be a spy ? What nonsense ! But these men are voters, 
 all of them qualified electors: Some of them have held, and 
 are now holding responsible county offices. Several, if not all, 
 have completed their naturalization. About their allegiance 
 being due to the United States, there is not a shadow of a doubt. 
 If guilty as charged, they cannot be spies ; they must be trai- 
 tors. We cannot better illustrate this position than by citing 
 the case of Elijah Clark, the spy, which, see 3d vol. Niles' 
 Register, p. 294, et seq. The facts of that case are briefly, that 
 Elijah Clark was tried at a General Court Martial, convened at 
 Buffalo, in August, 1812. He was convicted of being a spy 
 and sentenced to be hung. In the progress of the trial it 
 appeared that Clark was a native born citizen of the United 
 
'( 14 ) 
 
 States, though then residing in Canada. Maj. Gen. Hall de- 
 clined to approve the sentence of the court martial, " until the 
 pleasure of the President of the United States can be known 
 thereon." 
 
 James Madison, one of the distinguished authors of our Na- 
 tional Constitution, was then the President, and his opinion on 
 the question submitted to him, was as follows : 
 
 OPINION OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, October 20, 1812. 
 
 SIR: The procedings and sentence of the General Court 
 Martial, which was held in the case of Elijah Clark, conform- 
 able to your orders of the 1st of August last, and which were 
 by you transmitted to this department, have been received and 
 laid before the President. I have now the honor to inform you 
 that said Clark being considered a citizen of the United States, 
 and not liable to be tried by a Court Martial as a spy, the Pre- 
 sident is pleased to direct that unless he should be arraigned 
 by the Civil Court for treason, or a minor crime, under the 
 laws of the State of New York, he must be discharged. 
 Very respectfully, I have the honor to be, sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, W. EUSTIS. 
 
 MAJ. GEN. A. HALL, Niagara. 
 
 So much for the question as presented by the Governor. 
 Take either of his positions, and he clearly defeats the object 
 for which he pretends to have issued his proclamation. Let us 
 now inquire into the character of the jurisdiction over persons, 
 under martial law when legitimately in force. What is mar- 
 tial law ? It is the code established for the government of the 
 army and navy of the United States. (Vide Bouvier's Law 
 Diet., vol. ii. p. 10, Tit. Law, 'Martial.) Who are amenable 
 to it? 1. The army and navy of the United States. - 2. The 
 militia when called into actual service. A private citizen is 
 not amenable to martial law. His arrest and trial by the mili- 
 tary power is trespass. The doctrine is thus laid down in Bou- 
 vier, vol. ii. p. 10, under Tit. Law, Martial. " A military com- 
 mander has not the power by declaring a district to be under 
 martial law, to subject all the citizens to that code." And 
 cites 7 Mart. (Lo.) 531 ; Hale's Hist. C. L. 31; 1 Bl. Com. 413; 
 Tytler on Military Law ; Ho. on C. M. McArthurs on C. M. ; 
 Rules and Articles of War, Art. 64, et seq. : 2 Story's Laws U. 
 U. S. 1000. 
 
( is ) 
 
 And the question is fully and ably discussed, in the case of 
 Smith vs. Shaw, 12 Johnson's Reps. p. 257, et seq. Smith, 
 plaintiff in error, appealed from a judgment of damages in the 
 court below, given under the following circumstances. Smith, 
 the defendant below, was an officer of the army, in command at 
 Sacket's Harbor, and held in custody Shaw, who brought an 
 action of damages for trespass. Smith pleaded in justification, 
 that Shaw was a spy lurking about camp, and as such was com- 
 mitted by the provost guard, and that said offence was cogni- 
 zable by a court martial. The Chief Justice in giving the opi- 
 nion of the Supreme Court, affirming the judgment of the court 
 below, said " None of the offences charged against Shaw were 
 cognizable by a court martial, except that which related to his 
 being a spy, and, if he was an American citizen, he could not 
 be charged with such an offence. He might be amenable to 
 the civil law for treason, but could not be punished under mar- 
 tial law as a spy. There was, therefore, a want of jurisdiction 
 either of the person or of the subject matter, as to all the 
 offences alleged against the plaintiff. That want of jurisdiction 
 renders the proceedings void, and makes the parties procuring 
 them all trespassers." Here, then, the principle is established, 
 that a citizen cannot be amenable to martial or military law, 
 without he is legitimately under its jurisdiction, and an arrest 
 by a military officer of a citizen is a trespass. It is not our 
 province to say that Governor Stevens might not have exercised 
 the right as commander-in-chief of the militia of this territory to 
 have called out said militia, and made them amenable to law ; 
 but, failing to do that, his assumed title of commander-in-chief, 
 carried with it no justification for the gross outrages and tres- 
 passes upon private rights, of which he has been guilty in this 
 territory. 
 
 We may be permitted to sum up the grievances to which the 
 people of this territory have been subjected, by the acts of its 
 present Executive. In doing so we cannot fail to observe the 
 peculiar similarity of them with several of the grievances 
 recited as good cause for redress, when George III. imposed 
 them on fhe Thirteen Colonies. 
 
 Was it true in 1776, as Jefferson wrote, " when a long train 
 of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
 evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is 
 their right, it is their duty" to repudiate such government. 
 Can an American deny the sacred justice of that war which was 
 waged, among other reasons, because a despot " deprived us in 
 many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury. .Obstructed the 
 administration of justice, erected a multitude of new offices, and 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 called hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat 
 out their substance, affected to render the military independent 
 of, and superior to the civil power took away our charters, 
 (and what better charter than the right to habeas corpus?) abo- 
 lished our most valuable laws, and altered fundamentally the 
 form of our government." 
 
 Has eighty years growth and vigor, secured by the mainte- 
 nance of the truths of that sublime instrument, taught us, the 
 descendants, of those great missionaries of civil and constitu- 
 tional freedom, that the people have no rights, that absoluteism 
 and despotism are again to prevail, and every thing peculiar 
 to American institutions at once be blotted from our national 
 character ? 
 
 In conclusion, a sense of duty we own to Chief Justice Edward 
 Lander, who has twice been taken into that most offensive of all 
 styles of arrest, that of being forced to yield, in the exercise of 
 his judicial functions to an armed force, prompts us again to ten- 
 der our sympathies. He has done every thing he could to 
 maintain the supremacy of the law, and the dignity of the 
 bench. Yielding only when overwhelmed by the soldiery of 
 the Executive, his last judicial acts have been to order the pun- 
 ishment due to such outlaws, for their contempt in invading the 
 halls of justice, to protest firmly against the despotism of a petty 
 military tyrant, whose day is now. We fearlessly make the 
 issue on this great question, and we implore the national gov- 
 ernment to redress our grievances and shield us from the des- 
 potism under which we live. Our courts are powerless, private 
 rights are at an end, the constitution is subverted, civil process 
 is paralyzed, to ask for process guarantied us by law, is cause 
 for arrest, the highest judicial functionary of our territory is 
 now a prisoner, because he dared to issue a writ of habeas cor- 
 pus at the petition of five of Governor Stevens' victims. 
 
 Can this document better end than by asserting to the world, 
 that our territory is now in such a condition, that soldiers are 
 not needed to fight an enemy, but their leisure is devoted to 
 interrupting courts of justice, becoming jailors to judges and 
 clerks thereof, who but perform their legitimate public duty. 
 Such is the " great OVERRULING PUBLIC NECESSITY" justifying 
 the proclamation of 'martial law. 
 
 W. H. WALLACE, C. C. HEWITT, 
 
 ELWOOD EVANS, FRANK CLARK. 
 
 B. F. KENDELL, 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 MEETING OF THE BJR, THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT, 
 
 WASHINGTON TERRITORY, 
 
 ON THE ARREST OF THE 
 
 Hon, Edward Lander, Chief Justice of said Territory, and 
 John M. Chapman, Clerk of the District Court, 
 
 BY AN ARMED FORCE, 
 
 UNDER ORDERS OP 
 
 GOVERNOR ISAAC I. STEVENS. 
 
 . TOGETHER WITH THE 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF A MASS MEETING OF CITIZENS OF PIERCE CO,, W, T. 
 
 STEILACOOM, MAY 7, 1856. 
 
I J;~ A.-U r.'irf ri ' : < / : , W 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 On the 7th day of May, 1856, the Hon. Edward Lander, Chief Justice 
 of Washington Territory, and John M. Chapman, Esq., the Clerk of the 
 District Court of the United States of the Third Judicial District, were 
 forcibly arrested in the Court House at Steilacoom, W.'T., while engaged 
 in holding a United States District Court for the County of Pierce, by a 
 volunteer force, acting under instructions from Gov. I. I. Stevens, and 
 carried under guard to Olympia, the seat of the Territorial Government. 
 
MEETING OF THE BAR. 
 
 Immediately upon the removal of Hon. Edward Lander and 
 J. M. Chapman, Esq., from the District Court Room, Col. Wil- 
 liam H. Wallace requested the members of the bar to remain. 
 Those in attendance, consisting of Messrs. Wallace, Gibbs, Clark, 
 Pease, Hewitt, Murden, Kendall and Evans, on motion organized 
 by the appointment of William H. Wallace, Esq., chairman, and 
 George Gibbs, secretary. 
 
 B. F. Kendall, Esq., being called upon, stated the objects of 
 the meeting to be a consideration of the extraordinary proceedings 
 of the arrest of the Judge and Clerk by an armed force, acting 
 under instructions of Gov. Isaac I. Stevens, and under pretext of 
 a proclamation of martial law over the county of Pierce. Mr. 
 Kendall on the conclusion of his remarks, moved the appointment 
 of a committee of three to draft resolutions expressive of the 
 sense of the bar, at this outrage against law and judicial author- 
 ity. The motion was adopted and Messrs. Gibbs, Evans and 
 Pease, were placed upon said committe. 
 
 On motion, the chairman of the meeting was added to the com- 
 mittee, and the meeting then adjourned until 2, P. M., of the 
 same day. 
 
 ADJOURNED MEETING. Accordingly at 2, P. M., the members 
 of the bar again met, when the chairman of the committee on 
 resolutions, made the following report : 
 
 A meeting of the bar has devolved upon this committee the 
 task of giving expression to the sentiments entertained by that 
 body, of the gross outrage this day inflicted upon the court and 
 bar of this district, by the exercise of military power over 
 civil authority. 
 
 This day marks an era in the territorial history. For the 
 first time in the annals of our country, does the exhibition present 
 itself, of an armed force marching into a Court of Justice, and 
 while the presiding Judge thereof is in the exercise of judicial 
 authority, the court is overawed, its Judge taken from the bench, 
 its Clerk arrested, the records seized, and they are removed by an 
 armed force out of the county, in which by law, the court was to 
 be held. In view of these circumstances, we deem it our solemn 
 duty to make a statement of the facts, submitting it with con- 
 fidence to the judgment of the world. 
 
 - ' * 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 A war existing against Indian murderers and marauders in this 
 territory, it would have been a subject of gratulation, if the gal- 
 lant volunteers in its service had been employed in punishing 
 those Indians, rather than in sustaining lawless violence, and in 
 the infliction of outrages upon our courts and people. For so 
 violent an assumption of power, we conceive that some little basis 
 of reason should be found to justify it. But it becomes our duty 
 to assert that no such reason exists, and that the proclamation of 
 martial law was unnecessary, inexpedient, illegal and void : to 
 sustain which declaration the following statement of facts is con- 
 fidently relied upon. It is our wish to treat this subject, not in a 
 spirit of excitement, although that would be fully justified by the 
 circumstances, but with coolness and moderation. Satisfied as we 
 are that the bare statement of the facts is sufficient, we need no 
 appeal to passion or predjudice. 
 
 Several citizens of Pierce county, one of the most populous in 
 the territory, who had been ordered in from their claims to the 
 town of Steilacoom on suspicion of intercourse with the hostile 
 Indians, and had subsequently returned to their homes, were 
 arrested without process of law, in the latter part of March, by 
 a force of volunteers acting under direction of Gov. Stevens, and 
 having been first carried to Olympia, in the county of Thurston, 
 were by the Governor remitted to the military post of Fort Steil- 
 acoom, with request to the commanding officer, to detain them 
 on a charge of treason. Col. Casey having replied that he could 
 not hold them in defiance of civil authority, an>l the persons 
 arrested, having sent to the nearest Judge, who resided in Island 
 county, a distance of about a hundred miles, for a writ of habeas 
 corpus, Gov. Stevens on the 3d of April, issued a proclamation 
 in the following words: 
 
 " Whereas, In the prosecution of the Indian war, circumstances 
 have existed affording such grave cause of suspicion, that 
 certain evil disposed persons of Pierce county have given aid and 
 comfort to the enemy, as that they have been placed under arrest, 
 and ordered to be tried by a military commission: Jind whereas, 
 efforts are now being made to withdraw, by civil process, these 
 persons from the purview of the said commission. 
 
 " Therefore, as the war is now being actively prosecuted 
 throughout nearly the whole of the said count}, and great injury 
 to the public, and the plans of the campaign be frustrated, if the 
 alleged designs of these persons be not arrested, I, Isaac I. Stevens, 
 Governor of the Territory of Washington, do hereby proclaim 
 MARTIAL LAW over the said county of Pierce and do by these 
 presents, suspend for the time being and till further notice, the 
 functions of all ci^jU^ficers in said county. 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 " Given under my hand at Olympia, this third day of April, 
 eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and the year of Independence of 
 the United States the eightieth. 
 
 " ISAAC I. STEVENS." 
 
 This document it will be observed, alleges no other motive, 
 than that -the persons so arrested, without warrant, and by the 
 sole authority of military force, were about to sue out the great 
 writ of right, to relieve themselves from illegal confinement. 
 
 It is to be observed, that there was at this time in the county 
 of Pierce, three companies of United States troops, under com- 
 mand of a veteran and energetic officer. There were also one or 
 more volunteer companies, engaged in scouting; the Indians had 
 been driven from the settlements, to take refuge in the woods, 
 and if any danger had ever existed, of communication between 
 these persons and the enemy, it had ceased. 
 
 Following upon the heels of this extraordinary document, 
 which was without seal and without attestation, which found no 
 other publication than the transmission of written copies to a few 
 military officers, the persons so charged were taken once more 
 from the county of Pierce, and removed by a military guard to 
 Olympia, out of the district where martial law had been pro- 
 claimed. Yet notwithstanding this removal of the suspected par- 
 ties, the proclamation was continued in existence, and the volun- 
 teer officers directed to enforce it. ., 
 
 After a few days some of the persons so arrested, were permit- 
 ted to return on their parole to Steilacoom, while the others were, 
 and are still in custody at the seat of government, and, as is 
 reported and believed are to be tried by a military commission of 
 volunteer officers, to be held in Pierce county, on a charge of trea- 
 son against the United States. 
 
 The United States Judge, assigned to this judicial district, being 
 detained at home by severe illness, at the time when by law the 
 term of the District Court was to be held, the Hon. Edward 
 Lander, Chief Justice of this territory, who resides in the adjoin- 
 ing district, at the special written request of Hon. Judge Cheno- 
 weth, undertook to hold said court, and on Monday the 5th of 
 May inst, arrived at Steilacoom, and opened the court in due 
 form. Having been informed, however, on his way to the court 
 by Lieut. CoL B. F. Shaw, commanding a volunteer force under 
 authority of the Governor of this territory, that if he attempted 
 to hold said court, he would be forcibly prevented, Judge Lan- 
 der, in order to prevent a collision between the executive and 
 judicial authority, suggested that he would simply open and 
 adjourn the court until Wednesday, that the Governor might be 
 advised to withdraw his proclamation. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 About three days previous to opening court, Col. Shaw, com- 
 manding the volunteer forces, who had received written instruc- 
 tions from Gov. Stevens to enforce martial law until further 
 orders, being directed at the same time to inform him immediately 
 if in his opinion it was no longer necessary, had written by 
 express to the Governor, stating that no occasion existed in the 
 county for its continuance, informing him that important business 
 was to be transacted before the court and recommended that in 
 consequence, the proclamation be abrogated. Judge Lander now 
 himself wrote to Governor Stevens, informing him of the course 
 he had taken ; that there were important causes to be tried before 
 the court, one of which, the suit of the U. S. vs. The Former Col- 
 lector of Puget Sound, ought to be tried; that there was immi- 
 nent danger of a collision between the civil authorities and the 
 military, and recommending that martial law be at once abrogated, 
 especially as the present condition of the county seemed not to 
 require it. 
 
 In reply, Governor Stevens on the 6th inst., while declining to 
 withdraw his proclamation, suggested that Judge Lander adjourn 
 his court to the first Monday in June, and informed him that he 
 Lad examined the law, and found no difficulty in his adjourning 
 from any time to the next term of court. 
 
 Upon the receipt of this information, Judge Lander, having 
 done his duty as a citizen in endeavoring to prevent the expected 
 collision, proceeded to fulfil those of his judicial office by opening 
 court at the appointed time, accompanied by the Clerk, U. S. 
 Deputy Marshal and Sheriff; he went to the court house, opened 
 the court by proclamation in usual form, and caused the Grand 
 Jury to be impanneled and sworn. During this time a company 
 of volunteers, (many of them citizens of Oregon, although enrolled 
 in this territory,) drawn from Clark county on the Columbia river, 
 entered the court room with loaded rifles and drew up without 
 the bar ; another company was kept in reserve without, to assist 
 them if necessary. Judge Lander then directed the deputy Mar- 
 shal to prevent the entry of any armed men within the bar, but 
 the commanding officer having announced that he acted under 
 orders from Governor Stevens, directed his men to arrest the Judge 
 and Clerk. In obedience to that order they entered the bar, the 
 deputy Marshal being unable to prevent it, and arrested the Judge 
 in his seat ; the-Judge stating that he only succumbed to force, 
 and declined calling upon the posse comitatus, because he wished 
 to avoid bloodshed. Judge Lander and the Clerk, J. M. Chap- 
 man, were then removed by the military from the court house, 
 arfd on the same day taken out of the county and carried to 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 Olyrapia. The records of the court, which were at first seized, 
 were subsequently returned to the deputy clerk. 
 
 During this time the citizens present, though manifesting a deep 
 feeling of indignation at the transaction, refrained from any disor- 
 derly or violent acts. The conduct of Judge Lander was, through- 
 out, dignified, firm and worthy of his high position, and .was, we 
 are satisfied, dictated only by a strict sense of duty. 
 
 Upon these facts the committee report the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That we look upon the act this day perpetrated by 
 an armed force under the authority of Gov. I. I. Stevens, in 
 arresting the Judge and Clerk of this judicial district, as an out- 
 rage, which, if tamely submitted to, would be entirely subversive 
 of our liberties. 
 
 Resolved, That as members of the bar, we solemnly protest 
 against this assumption of power by the Executive that the doc- 
 trines of our profession teach us that there is no warrant for such 
 a procedure that the course of- the Executive is without a pre- 
 cedent in law or justice, and that it is a violation of every princi- 
 ple of constitutional privilege and liberty. 
 
 Resolved, That the proclamation of Gov. Stevens suspending 
 the writ of habeas corpus, was an improper exercise of authority 
 and a usurpation unheard of in the history of our country that 
 the right of habeas corpus is one of those dearest to our people,' ' 
 the right more powerfully protected by the National Constitution 
 than any other, its suspension being an exercise of authority only 
 conferred upon Congress with extreme restriction and not inherent 
 in any officer in our national confederacy. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor's proclamation in showing that 
 certain parties were arrested on a charge of treason, in itself 
 shows the necessity of a court of law for the trial of such prison- 
 ers a military commission or court martial being incompetent to 
 try men charged with such offences. 
 
 Resolved, That the peaceable manner of the citizens of Pierce 
 county, in submitting quietly and without resistance to the out- 
 rages this day inflicted upon them, shows conclusively, that no 
 necessity exists for martial law, no exigency require? it, no pub- 
 lic necessity invokes its aid. 
 
 Resolved, That the judiciary of our country is the palladium 
 of our best rights, that its protection from outrage, is one of the first 
 duties of a public officer, its subversion a most despotic assump- 
 tion of authority, that it is a separate branch of our institutions, 
 independent of and not subservient to the Executive, and that the 
 act of Gov. Stevens this day consummated, is a violent outrage 
 upon law, and upon the rights of this people. 
 
 Resolved, That we unanimously tender to Chief Justice Lander 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 our sympathies on this trying occasion ; that his manly course in 
 holding the court until surrounded by an armed posse, and 
 forcibly removed from the bench, merits our thanks : to him, to 
 the Deputy U. S. Marshal, and to the Clerk, we tender our thanks 
 for their zealous effort to protect the court house from invasion, 
 and to maintain the dignity of the bench. 
 
 The report and resolutions were unanimously adopted, and on 
 motion, the secretary of the meeting was instructed to forward a 
 copy of the same to the President of the United States, our Dele- 
 gate in Congress, the members of the Committees on Judiciary 
 and Territories, of both Houses of Congress. 
 
 On motion, it was resolved, that the members of the bar par- 
 ticipating in this meeting, express their concurrence by appending 
 their signatures to these proceedings. 
 
 W. H. WALLACE, ch'n, B. F. KENDALL, 
 
 GEORGE GIBBS, sec., WILLIAM C. PEASE, 
 
 ELWOOD EVANS, E. O. MURDEN, 
 
 C. C. HEWITT, H. A. GOLDSBOROUGH. 
 FRANK CLARK, 
 
 ,3-y 
 
 
MASS MEETING. 
 
 A meeting of the citizens of Pierce county, Washington Ter- 
 ritory, was held at the court house, in Steilacoom, on the seventh 
 of May, 1856, to lake into consideration the outrage committed 
 by the Executive of this territory, upon the civil rights of its 
 citizens. Thomas M. Chambers, Esq., was called to the chair. 
 E. Schroter was chosen secretary, and E. M. Meeker assistant 
 secretary. 
 
 On motion, W. H. Wallace spoke at some length, stating the 
 object of the meeting to be the consideration of the outrage com- 
 mitted upon the civil rights of the people of this territory, by 
 the violent and illegal seizure of the Chief Justice and the Clerk 
 of the court of this territory, by the orders of the Executive. 
 
 On motion of J. M. Bachelder, George Gibbs, Esq., also stated 
 in a brief and forcible manner his views on the same subject. 
 
 On motion, the chair appointed, Messrs. Samuel McCaw, R. 
 S. Moore, Hugh Patterson, W. R. Downey and W. M. Kincaid, 
 as a committee to draft resolutions, expressive of the sense of the 
 meeting on the occasion. The committee reported the following 
 resolutions : 
 
 Whereas, Isaac I. Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, 
 has proclaimed martial law over the county of Pierce in said 
 territory, and has this day by an armed force interrupted the 
 proceedings of the United States District Court by arresting the 
 Judge and Clerk thereof, while in the legal discharge of the 
 duties imposed upon them by their respective appointments, 
 therefore 
 
 Be it Resolved, by the citizens of Pierce county, assembled, 
 that in declaring martial law over this county in order to suspend 
 the writ of habeas corpus, the Governor has violated the civil 
 rights of the citizens, and trampled their dearest privileges under 
 foot. That while nearly all the citizens of this county have 
 volunteered and served faithfully in this war now being carried 
 on against the Indians, we have seen no feeling manifested, that 
 justified the assumption by the Executive of all civil law, and the 
 suspension of all legal protection. 
 
 Resolved, That Chief Justice Lander, in the discharge of his 
 official duties, has exhibited every disposition to avoi^l any col- 
 lision between the Executive and Judicial authorities, consistent 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 with the position in which he was placed by the Executive of the 
 United States, and his manly course has won our sympathy and 
 regard. 
 
 Resolved) That in the seizure of the Chief Justice of this terri- 
 tory, while on the bench in the quiet discharge of his duties, we 
 recognize a usurpation of authority unheard of in the annals of 
 our free Republic, an indignity cast upon our courts of law, and 
 upon a free people, ever holding themselves amenable to the civil 
 authorities. 
 
 Resolved, That the tyrannical and despotic acts of the Execu- 
 tive of this territory, are such usurpations of law and authority 
 as requires the interposition of the supreme authority of the 
 United States ; and that the Secretary of this meeting be directed 
 to transmit copies of these resolutions to the President of the 
 United States, to our Delegate in Congress, to the Committees 
 on the Judiciary and on Territories in each, house of Congress, 
 with a request that they will take such action thereon as may 
 protect the people of this territory from future usurpation, and in 
 the exercise of their civil rights and personal liberties. 
 
 S. McCAW, ch'n, WILLIAM M. KINCAID, 
 
 R. S. MOORE, WILLIAM R. DOWNEY. 
 
 HUGH PATTERSON, 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously adopted and the meeting 
 adjourned without day. 
 
 THOMAS M. CHAMBERS, ch'n. 
 
 E. SCHROTER, ) , 
 
 VI MEEKER, ( y 
 
VINDICATION OF GOVERNOR STEVENS, 
 
 FOR PROCLAIMING AND ENFORCING 
 
 MARTIAL LAW IN PIERCE COUNTY, V. T. 
 
 The undersigned has had his attention called to a circular, 
 expressing the views of the bar and of the citizens of Pierce 
 county in regard to his recent action as executive of the territory, 
 in proclaiming and enforcing martial law in Pierce county. 
 
 At a public meeting of the said bar and of the citizens, the 
 course of the undersigned is pronounced despotic and unneces- 
 sary, and a solemn protest made against it as a most dangerous 
 and unprecedented invasion of the rights or the judiciary, and as 
 an act which called for the prompt interference and action of the 
 national government. 
 
 The views of the said bar and citizens, as embodied in resolu- 
 tions, are prefaced by a statement of the facts, going to show 
 that there was scarcely even a pretence of a cause for the action 
 of the Executive in suspending the functions of the court. 
 
 This contains not only palpable errors of fact, but the whole 
 paper is highly colored, and is calculated to give a wrong impres- 
 sion of the actual condition of affairs in that county. 
 
 The undersigned deems it therefore due to the vindication of 
 his own official action to present the reasons and facts, why in 
 his judgment he was called upon by an overruling public neces- 
 sity to proclaim and enforce martial law. 
 
 On the 3d day of April, 1856, martial law was proclaimed in 
 and throughout' Pierce county by the undersigned, for the rea- 
 sons set forth in his proclamation, in these words : 
 
 " Whereas, in the prosecution of the Indian war, circumstances 
 have existed affording such grave cause of suspicion, that cer- 
 tain evil disposed persons of Pierce county have given aid and 
 comfort to the enemy, as that they have been placed under arrest 
 and ordered to be tried by a military commission : And whereas, 
 efforts are now being made to withdraw by civil process, these 
 persons from the purview of the said commission ; 
 
 "Therefore, as the war is now being actively prosecuted through- 
 out nearly the whole of said county, and great injury to the pub- 
 lic will result and the plans of the campaign be frustrated if the 
 alleged designs of these persons be not averted, &c. &c." 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 What was the condition of the territory and of Pierce county 
 at the time of issuing that proclamation, and what had been its 
 condition for months previously ? 
 
 An Indian war had been raging, where neither age, sex or 
 condition had been spared, whole families had been inhumanly 
 massacred, alarm and consternation pervaded the whole territory. 
 The settlers of the territory were in a state of seige, families 
 living in block-houses with a few men, and a majority of the citi- 
 zens in arms, actively pursuing the enemy in order to end the 
 war. 
 
 There was, however, an exception as regards "certain evil 
 disposed persons" of Pierce county. They remained in security 
 on their claims, receiving the visits of the hostiles, furnishing 
 them with provisions, giving them information, acting as their 
 spies, and in every way furnishing them aid and comfort. These 
 persons lived on the outskirts of the settlements, in positions 
 where the Indians had easy access to them, and on the line where 
 were the depots of the military operations, and which was the 
 base of the military movements. 
 
 There is grave cause of belief not only that these persons fra- 
 ternized with the hostile^, but that they were the main original 
 cause of the war, and that at a meeting last Christmas, they 
 determined to keep up the war, confident that they would be 
 gainers by it. 
 
 All these are matters of public notoriety, and have been for 
 many months. The attention of the undersigned was called to 
 it, immediately on his return, by acting Governor Mason, who 
 expressed the judgment, that at least they should be at once 
 ordered in, and removed from the theatre of active operations. 
 
 His attention was afterwards called to it by that " veteran and 
 energetic" officer, Lieutenant Col. Casey, commanding the mili- 
 tary district of Euget Sound, and who had been informed by an 
 Indian prisoner from Leschi's camp, that the movements of the 
 troops had been communicated to Leschi by one of these " evil 
 disposed persons." 
 
 The undersigned was unwilling to resort to harsh measures 
 unless an imperious public necessity demanded it, and he limited 
 his action to calling the attention of the military to those men, 
 and to direct that they be carefully watched. 
 
 The murders of White and Northcraft decided what was his 
 duty in the emergency. These murderers had their hiding places 
 in the Nisqually bottom, and drew supplies from these "evil 
 disposed persons." They were met and greeted by them in 
 friendship, with the blood yet on their hands. 
 
 The undersigned accordingly determined to order them in as a 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 preliminary step, and to execute this duty, he secured the services 
 of a most prudent and efficient man, Isaac W. Smith, Esq., the 
 acting Secretary of the Territory. 
 
 The order was executed with kindness and moderation. Several 
 days were allowed to take away their effects. They had the 
 choice of residence, Olympia, Ft. Nisqually, or Steilacoorn, and 
 arrangements were made to furnish them with provisions. 
 
 So great was the public indignation at this time, that it was an 
 indispensable measure of precaution, in order to protect the lives 
 of these persons from the justice of an outraged community. 
 
 The arrest of these" eviTdisposed persons" had the most happy 
 effect on the friendly Indians, who believed and knew that they 
 had stirred up the war and confederated with the hostiles. The 
 friendly Indians began to have confidence in an authority which 
 treated all enemies as enemies, even though some had the skins 
 of white men. 
 
 In defiance of these orders, these settlers returned to their 
 claims, and re-established intercourse with the Indians. The 
 military officers sent them in, stating that they had acted as spies 
 and had paralyzed their operations. 
 
 Accordingly, they were sent to the station at Steilacoora under 
 charges, and Lt. Col. Casey received them. 
 
 It may be asked here, how was it that these men were able to 
 keep up intercourse with the hostiles under the circumstances. 
 
 These men have Indian wives and families, who have connex- 
 ions in the hostile bands, fathers, brothers, and other near rela- 
 tives, and so far as the undersigned is informed, they sympathize 
 with them in the war. These "evil disposed persons" are 
 mostly the retired servants of the foreign corporations in our 
 midst, and they have a deadly antipathy to the dominant that 
 is the American power here. 
 
 In connection with these reasons of public necessity for pro- 
 claiming martial law, it will be pertinent to correct some of the 
 mis-statements of the circular, 
 
 It is not true that Lt. Col. Casey refused to receive the prison- 
 ers. He did receive them, but when the writ of habeits corpus 
 was about to be issued, an 1 the undersigned in consequence pro- 
 claimed martial law, he asked to be relieved of their charge, 
 doubting whether the proclamation could relieve him from the 
 obligation of obeying the requisitions of the civil authority. 
 
 Nor is it true, as stated in the circular, that all the persons 
 under charges were at Olympia ; a portion were in Steilacoom, 
 and all the remaining persons ordered in were either at Steila- 
 coom, or Ft. Nisqually, within the limits of Pierce county. 
 
 Nor is it true, as stated in the circular, that the Indians have 
 been so far subdued, as that these persons could not communi- 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 cate with them. The hostiles have infested the Nisqually bot- 
 tom \vithin the last fortnight, and they could have access to these 
 settlers without much difficulty, whatever were the number of 
 troops operating Against them, unless each of these persons wa 
 under a constant guard, and his family under guard also. 
 
 These facts are well known to all persons acquainted with the 
 topography of the country, and the situation of the claims of 
 these persons. 
 
 Nor is it true that the proclamation was sent only to a few 
 military officers. It was posted up publicly at Steilacoom, and 
 was known to every citizen of the county. 
 
 When the undersigned learned that a writ of habeus corpus 
 was about to issue to free these "evil disposed persons" from the 
 power of the military, he determined to meet it by the proclama- 
 tion of martial law. 
 
 The writ of habeus corpus could not only be issued in favor of 
 the persons in confinement at the station near Steilacoom, but 
 also in favor of those on parole at Nisqually, Steilacoom and 
 Olympia. The result would have been to paralyze the military 
 in their exertions to end the war, and to send into their midst a 
 band of Indian spies and sympathizers. There would have been 
 at once a conflict between them, and lives would have been lost. 
 
 It is true that since the proclamation of martial law a great 
 change for the better has taken place in the condition of the war. 
 Through the vigorous action of all the troops, regulars and volun- 
 teers, the Indians have been repeatedly struck, many have been 
 killed and taken prisoners, and the hope is indulged that in a few 
 weeks the war may be ended. 
 
 Yet every reflecting man must see that this is the critical period 
 of the war, when it is to be determined whether the war can 
 soon be ended, or whether the contest is to be continued another 
 year. Within the last fortnight, houses and barns have been 
 burned in the county of Thurston. The Indians have announced 
 their determination to lay waste the settlements. Those east of 
 the Cascades have declared they would transfer the war to the 
 Sound, a measure to be apprehended in view of the known fact 
 that they have had the services of one band of sixty men, com- 
 manded by the son of the Yakima chief, Owhi. It is no time for 
 the nefarious practices of Indian spies and sympathizers. 
 
 At this critical stage, therefore, the undersigned learned with 
 great surprise that the court was to be held by Chief Justice 
 Lander : and he was the more astonished at the reasons given 
 by the Chief Justice in a letter from him to the undersigned, 
 which is referred to in the circular. 
 
 The undersigned had given, as the circular states, orders to 
 
( 31 ) 
 
 Lieut. Gol. Shaw to examine the " condition of things, and to 
 advise him of the earliest practicable period it would be safe to 
 revoke martial law. 
 
 The report of Col. Shaw was, that it was indispensably neces- 
 sary to enforce martial law. A letter from him will accompany 
 this 'paper, giving his reasons therefor. 
 
 The reasons of public necessity for holding the court, as set 
 forth in the letter of Chief Justice Lander and in the circular, 
 though they do not touch the principle of the case, need to *>e 
 referred to as illustrative of the spirit of the whole transaction. 
 It is said that one of the cases was a suit of the United States 
 vs. The Former Collector of Puget Sound, and that it ought to 
 be tried. Now this case was originally brought before the 
 courts of Thurston county, and a change of venue was had to 
 Pierce county, in Judge Chenoweth's district, on sworn affida- 
 vits that Chief Justice Lander was prejudiced and would not 
 try the case fairly. The other most important case was 
 changed from Thurston to Pierce for the same reason. 
 
 As to the danger of collision which is referred to, it may be 
 said that the event showed no such danger. The armed force 
 was small. A great portion of the citizens of Pierce county are 
 in the field against the enemy, and are well advised of the 
 necessity of the step taken by the executive. 
 . The undersigned did unquestionably suggest to Chief Justice 
 Lander the adjourning of the court till June, at which time it 
 was believed the necessity for martial law would Jiave passed 
 away, and he did venture the expression of the opinion that the 
 power thus to adjourn the court was fairly to be implied from 
 the wording of the statute. 
 
 The- undersigned having come to the conclusion that martial 
 law was indispensable to protect the lives of the citizens, for 
 the reasons set forth in this 'paper, determined to enforce it by 
 the arrest of the Judge and Clerk, which was done with modera- 
 tion and decorum by Lieut. Col. Shaw. 
 
 It is simply a question as to whether the executive has the 
 power, in carrying on the war, to take a summary course with 
 a dangerous band of emissaries, who have been the confederates 
 of the Indians throughout, and by their exertions and sympathy 
 can render, to a great extent, the military operations abortive. 
 It is a question, as to wether the military power, or public com- 
 mittees of the citizens without law, as in California, shall see 
 that justice is done in the case. 
 
 And he solemnly appeals to the same tribunals before which 
 he has been arraigned . in the circular, in vindication of his 
 course, being assured that it ought and will be sustained 'as an 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 imperious necessity growing out of an almost unexampled con- 
 dition of things. 
 
 ISAAC I. STEVENS, 
 Governor Territory of Washington. 
 Olympia, May 10, 1856. 
 
 HEAD QUARTERS, W. T. VOLUNTEERS, 
 
 Olympia, W. T., May Wtk, 1856. 
 Gov. I. I. STEVENS, 
 
 Commander -in-Chief Volunteer Forces. 
 
 SIR : I see by a printed circular issued at Steilacoom on the 
 7th inst., that the following statement is given as having been 
 made by me : 
 
 "About three days previous to opening court, Col. Shaw 
 commanding the volunteer forces, who had received written 
 instructions from Gov. Stevens to enforce martial law, until 
 further orders ; being directed at the same time to inform him 
 immediately, if in his opinion it would be no longer necessary, 
 had written by express to the Governor, stating that no occa- 
 sion -existed in the cpunty for its continuance informing him 
 that important business would be before the court, and recom- 
 mended that in consequence the proclamation be abrogated." 
 
 The reason that led the committee to make the statement is, 
 that several days previous to the setting of the court above 
 referred to r Geo. Gibbs, one of the members of the bar, came to 
 me and desired me to write to you, stating that there was 
 important business to come before the court. ' Upon his state- 
 ment, I did preface a note to you, stating that martial law could 
 be dispensed with. 
 
 But upon inquiry, I was convinced that there was a strong 
 desire to arrest the prisoners which you had summoned before 
 a military commission for trial, and being satisfied that if mar- 
 tial law was not enforced, and the prisoners tried before a mili- 
 tary commission, that great injury would result to the public 
 service, and the confidence of my troops destroyed, in conse- 
 quence of men-being at large, who men believe to be the worst 
 enemies to American citizens, and the progress of the war. 
 
 I therefore concluded, that to serve the public good, martial 
 law should be enforced, even if it should be to the incon- 
 venience of a few citizens who had business before the court, 
 and did not send the note first written, recommending that mar- 
 tial law be revoked, but recommending that it be enforced. 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, 
 
 Your most obedient, 
 
 B. F. SHAW. 
 Lieut. Col. Com. Right Wing W. T. Vol.