This
story of the arrest and transport of a prisoner from the West
End of Jefferson County during the 1890's was published in "Footprints
in the Olympics", an Autobiography by Chris
Morgenroth, Olympic Peninsula Pioneer. The original book was edited
by Katherine Morgenroth Flaherty, the daughter of Chris Morgenroth.
It was published by Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington
"A
Difficult Experience as Constable"
by
Chris Morgenroth
was appointed constable for Western Jefferson County in the early
1890's and could not rid myself of this office for six years.
During this time a number of difficult and amusing cases fell
to my lot. It was not easy to make arrests and transport culprits
one hundred and fifty miles over primitive trails to the distant
county seat in Port Townsend.
Enoch
Burgess was the man I had to deal with in this case and he lived
on the Upper Hoh River. He was a large man with a full red beard.
He and I had worked together surveying and building trails. A
neighbor named Stodick had been staying with Enoch and had noticed
him acting peculiar. One night Stodick awakened to see Enoch coming
toward him shouting, "At last I have you and you will not
get away, you are a Catholic High Priest and a hypocrite!' He
dragged Stodick from bed and began beating and choking him. Stodick
finally got away and ran barefoot in the dark cold night up river
six miles to the Huelsdonk settlement.
Henry
and Cornelius Huelsdonk gave Stodick some clothes and together
the three went down to Enoch's house. Enoch was in the act of
piling kindling wood in one corner of the cabin to set fire to
it. He was friendly with the Huelsdonk boys but became furious
when he saw Stodick. He grabbed a butcher knife and began to chase
Stodick who took to the woods again. The Huelsdonk boys captured
Enoch and calmed him down. Enoch explained he was defending the
Protestant Church against the Catholics and he insisted that Stodick
was a Catholic Priest and the house in which they were living
was a Catholic Chapel. He said it was his duty to destroy both
the priest and the chapel.
Next
morning Stodick appeared at my homestead on the Bogachiel River
to get me to come and take charge of Enoch. When I got to Enoch's
house the following night I found the Huelsdonk boys guarding
him. Before leaving the Bogachiel I had sent a messenger to Pysht,
fifty miles distant by trail. to telegraph Enoch's parents in
Tacoma to come at once to LaPush and get him.
Enoch
was glad to see me and said, "Chris, I know you came after
me. I trust you and will not make any trouble." I told him
to come with me to LaPush to see his father and mother, To this
he readily consented.
We
left for LaPush the next day, hiking the ten miles over the poor
foot trail, climbing logs and wading through swamps. We had gone
about four miles when he turned and said, "Chris. you are
foolish to take chances with me this way. You have not tied my
arms and I could run away from you or even kill you." I said,
"I know you could, but I know you better than that and trust
you, and am sure you will not harm me." "No, I won't,"
he answered and then took a long cord from his pocket and insisted
I tie each arm at the elbow like driving lines for me to hold.
He plodded along ahead of me for some time then suddenly said,
"Chris, I'm glad you tied me up." I also felt considerably
safer for Enoch was in the prime of life and a very big and powerful
man.
When
we reached the Bogachiel River, we had to ford across it armpit
deep. We stayed at the Flannegan Ranch, a mile down river, for
the next two days. Each night I tied Enoch's arms. I also tied
him in the canoe when we traveled to Forks where we stayed over
night. The next morning I got an Indian to take us the rest of
the way to LaPush - fifteen miles farther down river.
The
schooner was lying at anchor when we arrived. The next morning
many Indian canoes began to lighter the cargo to shore. Enoch
and I went out on the first canoe. He seemed glad to see his parents.
I stayed about thirty minutes and then took one of the canoes
for shore. When Enoch saw me leaving in a canoe he shouted to
me to take him along. I waved farewell and when he realized I
was not taking him he jumped overboard. Another Indian canoe came
to his rescue. At first he refused to go on the schooner but his
mother finally persuaded him and he became quiet. I felt greatly
relieved after delivering my charge and thought I was through
with him.
In
Seattle Enoch got away from his parents and was next heard from
on the South Seattle bridge where he was standing on a pile of
lumber throwing it in all directions. He believed he was destroying
another Catholic Church. A policeman undertook to arrest him but
Enoch got the best of him and began piling lumber on top of him.
He was overpowered and taken away in a patrol wagon. He was eventually
placed in the asylum in Stellacoom.
About
two years later Pete Bergestrom, a neighbor of mine. came to my
house to tell me Enoch was at his place. He had escaped from Steilacoom
three months earlier and had walked and begged his way to the
Bogachiel River by way of Olympia, Aberdeen, Quinault and the
Hoh River, a distance of over two hundred miles. He was laboring
under a new hallucination. He had apple seeds and other fruit
seeds and planned to follow logging operations and replace downed
trees with fruit trees. I told Pete to humor him and tell him
we were going to Port Townsend to get work in a logging camp and
that we would be glad to have him come along and work with us.
Enoch
fell in with our scheme and willingly came along. It was a difficult
trip to Pysht as rivers were high, bridges washed out and the
trails full of fallen trees. Enoch took the lead in fording and
swimmingthe creeks He seemed to enjoy showing off. At night we
camped at different settlers' homes along the way. Pete and I
took turns staying awake all night. We arrived at Clallam Bay
in the evening and fortunately a boat for Port Townsend was about
to leave. So Enoch and I got on board. Pete made an excuse that
he had to get something at the warehouse. I explained my mission
to the Captain and he assigned a separate cabin to Enoch.
The
boat pulled out leaving Bergestrom behind as planned. Enoch saw
a mirror in his stateroom and began admiring his full red beard
and forgot all about Pete. He took a comb and kept grooming his
beard for hours. I locked his door and watched it until we were
summoned to breakfast by a bell. I knew Enoch's suspicions were
aroused for he asked who was paying for our meals and passage.
I told him I was paying for my own and he could pay the Captain
when he got work.
At
Port Angeles I telegraphed the sheriff in Port Townsend to meet
our boat. Enoch wanted to work to pay his fare, so he helped the
crew load and unload freight at Dungeness. Upon reaching Port
Townsend, he again started to help unload freight. I went to look
for the sheriff and not finding him, I summoned a buckboard and
explained to the driver that I wanted him to pretend he had been
sent from the logging camp but to take us instead to the courthouse.
He agreed to help me.
I
called to Enoch and we got in the buckboard. He was satisfied
with the driver's explanation. But when we pulled up in front
of the courthouse and he saw the bars on the jail windows, he
yelled at the driver to take us away fast. The sheriff and his
deputy had just received the telegram and were coming down the
steps. They grabbed Enoch, hand?cuffed him and hustled him into
jail. Poor Enoch had now lost confidence in me and everybody and
became very violent. I went along to try to assure him he'd be
all right. I requested a mirror and comb be placed in his cell
as I thought It might quiet him down, and it did. Later guards
took him back to Stellacoom and that was the last I heard of poor
Enoch.
Top
Previous
Page
