Presentation details story of lynching in pioneer Flathead Valley
A tombstone in the Demersville Cemetery of three murdered prospectors reads “To The Memory of Daniel MacDonald, Ben Tomkins, John Cheley who were cruelly murdered by Indians Sept. A.D. 1887 on Wolf Prairie and whose remains were removed from there and buried by the order of the coroner in this cemtery of Demersville Sept. 30, 1890. This monument erected by J.E. Clifford.”
Many may be surprised to learn that two local Native Americans were lynched in the Flathead Valley in 1888. And that vigilante action was just the first round of incidents and murders that ended in a mass hanging in Missoula.
Local history buff and former reporter Rick Hull will unravel this story at the meeting of the Westerners of Northwest Montana on Monday, Aug.19, in Kalispell.
A report that three prospectors had been robbed and killed east of Libby resulted in a raid on a Kootenai camp just outside of Demersville, just south of present-day Kalispell. Two of the alleged murderers were captured, and after a short trial, hung from a cottonwood tree just across the river from the early steamboat town.
A posse then attempted to intimidate the Kootenai people at their home at Dayton on the Flathead Reservation, but it went badly. Following was a reverse invasion of Demersville by tribal warriors after the Kootenai's chief's son was killed in town. Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Missoula were brought in to calm the situation.
Then, by chance, the murder of a lone traveler near Lakeside came to light. Finally, Missoula Sheriff Bill Houston organized a posse and forced the reservation chief to turn over the guilty parties. The hanging of four Native Americans in Missoula on Dec. 19, 1890, brought the saga to a bitter end.
Though the lynching and killings have been mentioned in local history books, the full story remains largely untold. Tapping a series of confusing and contradictory first-hand accounts, the speaker has assembled a narrative of the actions and motives of those involved.
The presentation starts at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the museum, at 124 2nd Ave. E. in Kalispell. Cost is $5 for the general public, with members and youths under 16 admitted free.