The Terror of the Coast. Chris Arnett
hiding-place of the murderer. 20
It was Lohar, a prominent si’em from the village of Comiaken, who was prevailed upon to assist the British in either securing Tathlasut or facing destruction. According to Lohar’s daughter, Stockl-whut:
The captain of the man-of-war came and talked to my father, and said to him, “Some of your people are hiding that bad man. If you don’t give him up I will take my big guns and blow up all your villages.” Now Lohar knew where that Somenos man was hiding, and as he did not want all his people’s houses to be broken, and wanted to help the white man do what was right, he went to the place where that bad man was to be found. 21
An official account by Douglas describes the British advance up the Cowichan River on the following day, September 2:
In marching through the Thickets of the Cowegin Valley the Victoria Voltigeurs were, with my own personal Staff, thrown well in advance of the Seamen and Marines, formed in single file to scour the Woods [to] guard against surprise, as I could not fail to bear in mind the repeated disasters, which last Winter befell the American Army while marching through the Jungle against an enemy much inferior in point of numbers and spirit to the Tribes we had to encounter. 22 The Troops marched some distance into the Cowegin Valley, through thick bush and almost impenetrable forest. Knowing that a mere physical force demonstration would never accomplish the apprehension of the culprit I offered friendship and protection to all the natives except the culprit, and such as aided him or were found opposing the ends of justice.
That announcement had the desired effect of securing the neutrality of the greater part of the Tribe who were present, and after we had taken possession of three of their largest Villages the surrender of the culprit followed. 23
Tathlasut was seized by a band of warriors led by Lohar: “Come out!” he called to him. “Don’t be afraid; it is your friend and chief Lohar.” The man came out from his hiding place, holding his musket behind his back with one hand. “We are friends,” said Lohar, and held out his hand. The Somenos man took the hand held out to him. Lohar quickly pulled him closer, and reaching round behind him, caught the musket and took it from him. Then he shouted to other men who had gone with him, and they ran up and took the Somenos man and tied him so that he could not get away. 24
Tathlasut resisted capture and during the struggle “Lohar was wounded in the arm. He got cut with a knife when he captured this person.” 25
After securing the village of Somenos, the British force marched a half mile further west and set up camp to await the arrival of the two artillery pieces being transported up the south arm of the Cowichan River from Comiaken by canoe. Soon the British were approached by “a formidable force of armed Indians” with “their faces blackened … and painted for war, shouting and gesticulating.” But there was no fighting as Tathlasut was handed over. 26
The trial and execution of Tathlasut took place behind the village of Quamichan where a “drum-head courtmartial was convened” with a jury of naval officers, while sailors rigged a make-shift block and tackle gallows to a large oak tree. 27 Although the newly appointed Chief Justice David Cameron was present, he did not preside but instead yielded to the authority of his brother-in-law Douglas who acted as judge. 28 According to Douglas, Tathlasut “was tried before a special Court convened on the spot and was found guilty of ‘maiming Thomas Williams with intent to murder,’ an offence which the Statute 1st, Victoria Cap 83, Section 2 considers felony and provides that the offender should suffer death. He was accordingly hanged and the sentence was carried into effect, near the spot where the crime was committed, in the presence of the Tribe upon whose minds, the solemnity of the proceedings, and the execution of the criminal were calculated to make a deep impression.” 29 As Lohar’s descendant, Dennis Alphonse relates, Tathlasut’s execution made a deep impression on everyone, not just the Hwulmuhw:
There’s a story that when they hung this person—he must have been a very strong person because he started singing and it was a nice clear day and all of a sudden it got dark. There was thunder and lightning and it started raining and that’s when they hung him. Anyway, they got kind of scared with what was going on when they hung him. 30
After Tathlasut’s body was taken down, his mother breathed into his nostrils and began “feeding him with salmon” in an attempt to revive him. 31 The rain continued to fall as the gun crews of the two artillery pieces “practised shooting to frighten the Indians.” 32
MacDonald, the militia Captain, recalled that those Cowichan present at Tathlasut’s execution showed “many indications that their approval was withheld and that they yielded only to force.” 33 Douglas, on the other hand, recorded that “the expedition remained at Cowegin two days after the execution of the offender, to re-establish friendly relations with the Cowegin Tribe, and we succeeded in that object, to my entire satisfaction.” 34 It was later alleged that an unnamed si’em only consented to the hanging after Douglas “had a number of blankets given to him after the man was hung, or before.” 35
Douglas informed the Colonial Office in London that the recent expedition employed “the same principles of action” used in 1853, “that is, by striving to impress on the minds of the Natives that the terrors of the law would be let loose on the guilty only, and not on the Tribe at large, provided they took no part in resisting the Queen’s authority nor in protecting the Criminal from justice.” 36 Douglas maintained that he “was not influenced by the love of military display … but solely by a profound sense of public duty, and a conviction, founded upon experience, that it is only by resorting to prompt and decisive measures of punishment, in all cases of aggression, that life and property can be protected and the Native Tribes of this Colony kept in a proper state of subordination.” 37
The response of the Colonial Office to Douglas’ action against the Cowichan was less than enthusiastic. Douglas later informed Admiral Bruce that he had received:
… the approval of the authorities at the Colonial Office expressed however in measured terms intended to show that Her Majesty’s Ministers do not like the hazard of military expeditions into the Indian Country. I dare say that few persons who know their character have any partiality for such expeditions, but however inglorious these episodes may be they are never-theless essential parts of the system by which our Empire over the Indian mind is to be supported. 38
Officers and crew of the HMS Trincomalee engaged in gunnery practice.
British Columbia Archives and Records Service, Photo HP 1-51758
Dennis Alphonse (“Lohar”) on Comiaken Hill gesturing towards Cowichan Bay, where HMS Trincomalee threatened to bombard Cowichan villages.
Photo by Chris Arnett
Site of the trial and execution of Tathlasut near Quamichan village.
Photo by Chris Arnett
Lohar, the si’em who captured Tathlasut, was convinced that the Cowichan could not win a war against the British whose naval guns, sailors and marines would make short work of any resistance. When the British threatened to bombard the villages around Cowichan Bay if Tathlasut was not given up, Lohar “as a leader took it upon himself to save the Cowichan people.” 39 He used his influence as a “paramount chief of the Cowichan tribe” to curb retaliation against Hwunitum by Tathlasut’s relatives:
Now the Indians saw that it would not do to harm the white man; that if they did so, they would be punished and for some time there was no trouble. 40
Other Hwulmuhw leaders reacted with anger and called for vengeance against Hwunitum who transgressed their laws. Referring to