Bolon
Monuments
One is located in Section 3, Township 5, Range 15
The other is located at Section 26, Township 6, Range
15
Photographs of these Monuments
The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., October 10, 1918, page 1 & 8
UNVEILING OF A.J. BOLON MONUMENT
W. P. Bonney, secretary of Washington State Historical
Society, Tacoma, made the opening address at the unveiling of the monument
commemorating the memory of Andrew B. Bolon, on Sunday, October 6, 1918,
at the intersection of the Cedar Valley road with the old Military Road from
The Dalles to Ft. Simcoe, about thirteen miles from Goldendale. The monument
by the side of the road measures 3x5 feet and is surrounded by an iron railing.
A granite marker has been erected on the spot where Bolon was killed, on
land belonging to Wells Gilbert, near the George Garner cattle ranch at the
summit of the Simcoe Mountains.
General Hazard Stevens, vice-president of the State
Historical Society, Olympia, son of Gov. Isaac I. Stevens, the first governor
of Washington Territory, acted as chairman of ceremonies at the unveiling
of the monument. He was well acquainted with Bolon. The monument was draped
with an American flag, and was unveiled by Mrs. George Garner and Mrs. Frank
Garner of Centerville, Wash. After the unveiling of the monument, the party
in charge of the erection ceremonies, and people attending, went on up the
mountain to the marker erected on the spot where Bolon was murdered. There
L. V. McWhorter of Yakima read a manuscript account of the story of the killing
of Bolon as told by Sul-lil (known to the whites as Yakima George), an aged
Indian brave, in the fail of 1916. The story had been recounted some time
previously by William Charlie, a Klickitat Indian who came to the Yakima
reservation from Vancouver about 18 years ago and has since acted as interpreter
for the government at Ft. Simcoe, but so far as known, the story as told
by Sul-lil to Mr. McWhorter was the first version of the killing of Bolon
that had ever been given to a white man by any of the Indians concerned in
the affair. Up to that time the killing of Agent Bolon had been more or less
of a mystery, and the only information that government officials obtained
about it at the time was in the nature or vague rumors. No authentic government
report was ever made of the manner in which the crime was committed or the
disposition that was made of the body of the murdered.
William Charley made a lengthy address and went into
the history of the killing from the Indian side of it in detail. One thing
he said that probably marks a new phase of Indian history in the Northwest
was that the murder of Agent Bolon by the small band of Indians who took
it upon themselves to avenge fancied wrongs, was detrimental to the welfare
of all Indians in the Northwest, as many of the Indians were friendly to
the new agent and felt that he favored a plan of keeping them on one large
reservation under one agency; whereas the Indian war that followed the murder
of Agent Bolon caused tribes to be split up and placed on isolated reservations
in different sections of the territory, and in William Charley's opinion
they have never been able to prosper as they would have if they had remained
intact. He mentioned as an example, that now in sending delegates to Washington
to appeal to the President in matters pertaining to Indian affairs, they
do not have the prestige that they would have had. William Charley also told
of the hardships experienced in making a trip into the Simcoe Mountains with
the aged Indian Sul-lil in locating the spot where the marker has been erected.
William Charley and Sul-ill, who was very ill and did not expect to live
long, together with Mr. McMborter, made the trip in the late fall and encountered
a very severe storm. The party was lost for some time, and at one time gave
up hopes of being able to get out of the wild region alive.
N. B. Brooks, an early Klickitat Settler, gave a talk
on pioneer days in Klickitat.
George H. Himes, assistant secretary of the Oregon State
Historical Society, of Portland, gave a talk on pioneer reminiscences.
W. P. Bonney
Andrew J. Bolon came to Vancouver in 1845, according
to George H. Hines, assistant secretary of the Oregon State Historical Society.
Born In Pennsylvania, he was married to Jershua Short in 1849 at Vancouver.
He had three children, a boy named William, a girl named Josephine and a
daughter named Anne, born three days after he was killed. He was elected
representative of from Clark county and served in the legislature in 1854.
In that way Governor Stevens became thoroughly acquainted with him and was
attracted to him by his integrity, his honesty and apparent fitness as an
Indian agent, and also on account of his athletic prowess.
One of Bolons first official acts after being appointed
by Governor Stevens was getting the Indians to the council at the Walla Walla
plains in June, 1855. He was appointed agent for all the Indians in Washington
Territory east of the Cascade Mountains, taking in the present Idaho, parts
of Montana and part of Wyoming.
When at The Dalles in the summer of 1855 superintending
the transportation of supplies from The Dalles to Spokane, Bolon was informed
by a Spokane Indian named Gary that the Yakima Indians had murdered six
prospectors on the Yakima River, about where the present Pacific Mill
Companys dam is near Yakima.
On September 18, 1855, Boland left The Dalles on horseback
intending to interview Kamican, the Yakima chief, with a view to having the
guilty parties punished. He took the old Government Trail from Ft. Dalles
to the Yakima Valley, by way of the Simcoe Mountains in Klickitat county,
which was later a military road for transporting supplies from The Dalles
to Yakima. On his way to kill Kamicans camp he meant Ice, a younger
brother of Kamican, also a firm friend of Boland, who advised him not to
go to Kamicans camp, stating that that the Indians had held a council
in which they decided to kill every white man who came into your country,
and while Kamican himself might not kill Bolon, some of the others would
surely do so. Bolon was convinced of the reasonableness of Icss argument
and started to return to The Dalles by way of the Simcoe trail.
The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale WA., October 3, 1918, page 6
BOLON MONUMENT
On October 6 the Washington Historical Society will unveil
a monument designating the place where A. J. Bolon was killed by the Indians
on September 23, 1855. Mr. Bolon came too Old Oregon in early days. In 1849
he was married to Jershua Short at Vancouver, then Oregon, now Washington.
He represented Clarke County during the first legislature of Washington in
1854. He was appointed agent by Gov. Isaac I. Stevens for all the Indians
in east of the Cascade Mountains, and was on a trip of duty when he was murdered
by Chief Moshele and his party in the Simcoe mountains.
Two of Mr. Bolons daughters have visited the historical
building during this year, and they are expected to be at the unveiling of
the monument on the 6th of October.
General Hazard Stevens, son of Governor Stevens, will
be at the unveiling, and in his capacity as president of the Washington State
Historical Society will have charge of the program.
The monument will be set of the old military road between
The Dalles and Fort Simcoe, at its intersection with the Goldendale-Cedar
Valley county road, about 15 miles from Goldendale.
The public is invited to be present at the unveiling.
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© Jeffrey L. Elmer