Digital Bob Archive

AUGUST 9, 1886-Immediately following the departure of the sloops Charley and Nellie Martin on Friday the 7th with 87 Chinamen packed aboard them like sardines, John Treadwell sent N. A. Fuller, his assistant, to Sitka on the tug Lucy to inform Governor Swineford of the lawless happenings here. At 1 p.m. today the Navy ship Pinta steamed into the harbor, in command of Lt. Cmdr. H. E. Nichols and with Marshal Barton Atkins, District Attorney M. D. Ball and U. S. Commissioner John G. Brady on board. Governor Swineford arrived shortly afterward on the Lucy. Before the arrival of the Pinta, most of the ringleaders in the Chinese expulsion had found it convenient to start on prospecting trips into the hills.

It quickly became apparent that the government officials present were not all of one mind about what should be done. Govenor Swineford asked Deputy McKenna to swear out complaints against the ringleaders so they could be arrested and tried. McKenna said that he had observed the breaking of no laws and did not recognize any of the men he had seen on Douglas Island. Marshal Atkins attempted to reason with his deputy but the latter would not budge. The Marshal fired him.

The governor then requested Lt. Cmdr. Nicols to go after the two sloops and return them to Juneau with their human cargoes. The officer said his ship could not move for a day or two because of machinery problems and that, furthermore, he did not believe the Chinese should be returned as the sentiment of the town seemed to be against it. The governor then went to Douglas Island to get John Treadwell to swear out the complaints, but he, too, refused. He was very bitter about the inability of the government to protect his employees and felt that returning the Chinese would only place them in further jeopardy. He felt, too, that if he filed complaints there would be danger of reprisals against mine property, with the government powerless to protect him.

The governor is an angry and frustrated man, but is virtually helpless in the matter as he has no authority over the Navy, the only real force in Alaska.