Just around the corner from the Pioneer Building was this Christmas display in the window of a rock shop selling geodes, crystalline structures and fossils. Really neat stuff! It seemed very festive. You can just make out my hand and blue watch cap between the two necklaces, top shelf, center. They say that tragedy plus time equals comedy. The following story is perhaps more a tragicomedy. It seems that one of the favorite pastimes of the early settlers to Seattle was the destruction of the native population. The killing of an Indian was considered of no more importance than the killing of a cougar or a bear. Not every white man thought this way, however. There were some who were genuine friends of the original inhabitants. Arthur Denny, known, as the ‘father’ of Seattle believed that vigilante hangings were murder and anyone convicted of such actions should be hanged. Doctor David Maynard arrived in Seattle a few months after Denny. Not only did he become another of Seattle’s founding fathers, he became its first bona fide drunk. He was also sympathetic to the Indians. Chief Seattle was his closest friend. Unfortunately, just around the time Judge Lander (Remember Judge Lander? See previous post.) had arrived to take up his duties, a couple of Seattle’s leading citizens hanged a poor Native American named Masachie Jim. The Judge also took a dim view of vigilante justice. Judge Lander opened court and convened a grand jury to consider the evidence against the accused. William Heebner, a prominent citizen, was one of the accused. William Heebner was also on the grand jury. Those present did not consider it fair that Heebner should have to indict himself so he was excused while the other jurors debated his case. After his indictment he was allowed back on the grand jury to consider the other cases before the court. There was no jury in Seattle that would hang a white man for killing an Indian. The problem lay in the fact that everyone knew the men were guilty because they had been observers or participants in the hanging but nobody could figure out a way of finding the accused not guilty. After the jury had deliberated for thirty hours a solution was found. It was determined that Masachie Jim’s name had been misspelled on the indictments and the men were found not guilty. Poor Masachie Jim, the man who never was. Judge Lander considered it wise to leave the matter at that.