William Lancaster Spencer (1822 - 1909)

Born 1822 in Fort Simcoe, Yakima, Washington, United States

Descendants

Died 14 May 1909 at about age 87 in Fort Simcoe, Yakima, Washington, United States

Biography

FIRST CHIEF OF THE YAKAMA NATION 1856-1861

William was Yakama.

William was born in 1822. He passed away in 1909. He is also known as Chief Spencer and Tah pa shah which translates to sharp shooter. His family was killed by Whites in the Cascades area.

He was Chief of the Klickitats and appointed at the original Yakama Agency in White Swan, Washington. He was confirmed by J.W. Nesmith, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Washington-Oregon Territory in 1856.

He was also appointed by U.S. officials since Chief Kamiakin refused to come onto the reservation. Chief Spencer was paid $500 per year and at the end of his appointment was given an officer’s sword. ^[1]

He was a guide and scout for Colonel Wright and Major Raines in the Oregon and Washington Territories.

Family Massacre

On March 26, 1856, the warriors of the Yakama, Klickitat, and Cascades tribes attacked Americans at the Cascades of the Columbia, killing 14 civilians and three soldiers. This would be named as the "Cascades Massacre" which was a part of the larger Yakama Indian Wars that started in 1855 over the process of removing Indians to reservations. The Cascades region was important to the Indians as a source of food and economic growth as it contained a large fishery of salmon. The US Govt realized that if they took over these fisheries and remove the Indians to reservations they could affectively shut down their livelihood.

A day before the Cascades Massacre, March 25, 1856, Colonel George Wright, who was the Commanding Officer of the Department of Oregon, and three companies of his newly organized 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment crossed the Cascades towards the Eastern side of Washington State.

"A generally regretted incident growing out of the excitement engendered by the Cascade massacre was the murder by unknown whites of the family of Chief Spencer a friendly Chinook consisting of his wife two youths three girls and a baby Spencer who was an influential chief had been sent for by Colonel Wright to act as interpreter in negotiations with the hostile tribes and had taken his family with him to remain with relatives in Eastern Oregon When Wright went to the relief of the Cascades Spencer sent his family down river to Vancouver and they disappeared Lieutenant Sheridan at the request of Joseph L Meek deployed a detachment as skirmishers across the valley and found the bodies of the entire family All had been strangled with strands of rope tied around their necks The offenders said Sheridan in his Memoirs were citizens living near the middle blockhouse whose wives and children had been killed a few days before by the hostiles but who well knew that these unoffending creatures had nothing to do with those murders." Vol 1 38 ^[2]

"Joseph L. Meek (1810-1875), a former U.S. Marshal for Oregon and serving as an officer of volunteers, inquired after the family of Spencer, a Chinook chief who served as Colonel Wright's interpreter. Spencer had sent them back to Fort Vancouver just before the attacks. The family -- Spencer's wife, two boys, three girls, and an infant -- were found strangled near the Cascades three weeks later. In his memoirs, Lieutenant, later General, Sheridan implicated members of the Oregon volunteers in these killings, but the men were never brought to justice." ^[3]

Indian Census Rolls

In the 1905 census William (age 80) was in Washington.^[4]

In the 1907 census William (age 82) was in Washington.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Short Biography of Chief Tah pa shah
2. ↑ History of Oregon By Charles Henry Carey
3. ↑ Native Americans attack Americans at the Cascades of the Columbia on March 26, 1856.
4. ↑ 1905 Census: "U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940"
   Year: 1905; Roll: M595_672; Page: 35; Line: 8; Agency: Yakima
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1059 #6864642 (accessed 26 April 2022)
   William Spencer (80) in Washington.
5. ↑ 1907 Census: "U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940"
   Year: 1907; Roll: M595_672; Page: 35; Line: 6; Agency: Yakima
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1059 #6979850 (accessed 26 April 2022)
   William Spencer (82) in Washington.

• "Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQM6-QY4 : 10 March 2018), William Spencer, 14 May 1909; citing Fort Simcoe, Yakima, Washington, reference 3960, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia; FHL microfilm 1,991,731.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59016646/tahpasha-spencer : accessed 26 April 2022), memorial page for Tahpasha “Chief” Spencer (unknown–14 May 1909), Find a Grave Memorial ID 59016646, citing Methodist Cemetery, White Swan, Yakima County, Washington, USA ; Maintained by Joan Kobernik Hoeft (contributor 46963924) .

See Also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 29 March 2022, 18:17), entry for Chief William Lancaster Spencer (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:KP44-Q46 ); contributed by various users.
• Short Historical Biography of Chief William Spencer
• George W. Fuller, A History of the Pacific Northwest (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948), 232-236
• Carl P. Schlicke, General George Wright: Guardian of the Pacific Coast (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 119-123
• Kent D. Richards, Isaac I. Stevens: Young Man in a Hurry (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1979), 291-293
• T. G. Knudsen, Warrior of the Mist: A Biography of Qualchan Chief Owhi's Son (Spokane: The Author, 1996) 235-237.
• A Native Perspective video
  
  - Interview with Chief Spencer's Great Great Granddaughter, Marlene Spencer Silma