Qg us -^ a. o Q x Final Draft of Paper Joel J. Barnes 866-0758 ASH # 5 3138 Overhusle Road Olympia, Wa. 98502 . Page 1 of too many Joel J. Barnes Old Olympia "Doc Maynard" It all seemed so simple in November, 1981. With all that has been written on Doc Maynard, surely there must ba a large body of first source material. After all Prosch, Speidel, Murray, Nelson, Newell and others hadn't just run about quoting each other! So I began, swiftly, a thesis formed, "Doc Maynard was run out of •*" out of town in 1857 as an 'Indian lover'." The proposition seemed quite likely then. Doc Maynard had lived among the Indians, spoke their language and was regarded as a person of consequence. It would have been natural that Doc when the Indian Wars of 1855-1856 started, would not give wholehearted approval to the notion, "The only gocc1 Indian is a dead Indian," The attitude we find justified in our Cowboy and Indian movies, though with considerably less vehemence. No, Doc Maynard would not have acquiesced to the whole- sale slaughter of Chief Seattle and his tribe. Hence the 120 citizens of Seattle might have resented his attitude and expelled him as a member of the community in the rabidly, physical fashion of the day. I quickly found three sources of support for my thesis, Bill Speidel, Murray Morgan, and Gordon Newell, though all three are secondary sources and none of them has a bibliography. Still, I was encouraged. Gordon Newell in Totem Tales of Old S^Pttle^, published 1956, has this to say concerning Doc Maynard, the Indians and the move to Alki Page 2 Point: Doc Maynard was among the hardest hit. He had always been a good friend to the Indians, a trait which had seemed amiable, but was now sinister. People who had once treated the bandy- legged Salish with reasonably good natured contempt now hated all Indians and they hated "Indian-lovers" like Doc right along with them. Doc was a Democrat, to, and the gathering clouds of civil war were bringing with them another term of contempt- Copper- head, Doc wouldn't compromise. He believed in states rights and he made no bones about it even when he was sober, a condition which became less and less frequent x^ith him. All his old friends among the city fathers were Republicains . Doc Maynard the most gregarious and open hearted of men, felt himself rejected by the town he loved. It was a situation which tended to sour Doc's usually jovial nature. ,/ Encouraging as that is I was a little put off by the lack of a bib- liography and my impressions from Rogues, Buffoons, and Statesman where, I am amazed to discover that almost all the good governers © Washington State fe«s»«b«d. were Democrats and that any Democrat was 3,' • - ' "; " *s a good Governor. Further, Newell believes that even if we concede the possibility there was once a good Republican Governor, then he |iied before his term ended or he had an ugly daughter on the state's payroll or he owned a saloon and whorehouse. From this evidence I deduce that Mr. Newell is a lifelong Democrat of the Old New Deal school, that he has an axe to grind, and that he won't let the facts interfere with his prejudices. So his supportive book with no bib- liography is nice but lightweight support. Next we have Murray Morgan's Skid Road with a chapter devoted to Doc Maynard and the Indians . j He supports my thesis with the following comments . ..., the homesteaders had their doubts. How could you ever be sure? They hated and feared the Indians, all Indians... For Maynard, when he returned from Suquamish, that was the greatest misfortune of all. It cut him off from the *!• Totem Talcs of Old Seattle, Gordon Newell, 1956, Superior Publishing Go. page 37 2. Skid Row, Morgan Murray, 1951, Viking Press, page 51 • Page 3 wp town he loved, since he was the known friend and associate of redskins. It was useless for him to point out that it was his duty to mingle with Indians, useless to say that his friendship with some of them had lessened the danger to the community. His friends understood; those who knew him less well he could not reach. He was an Indian Lover., He was a Democrat to, in the shifting climate of opinion. Nationally the Whigs had given way to the new Republican Party, and the other leaders of Seattle - Yesler, the Dennys, Dr Smith - were of the Republican Kidney> ..., when half the families had left toxra, Maynard found himself estranged from the rest of the community But /this man who had been a mover and shaker, thi.s b.ooster who had been a one man Chamber of Commerce, found himself put aside. And not only did Maynard receive scant thanks for his work with the Indians, but he tailed to get back most of the money he supplied.... ... As the Civil War approached and passions rose, Maynard, the friendliest of men, found Seattle unbearable. He longed to escape to the solitude of the farm. In 1857 he traded 260 acres of his land...- to C.C. Terry in return for a 319 acre farm on Alki Point. Murray Morgan is a journalist turned historian, therefore, any axes he has to grind will be unintentional and it is significant that he also supports my thesis. I was annoyed that there was no bibliography in his book but felt sure after reading it that Maynard's diary extended beyond his trip across the plains; Prosch had only published the part of the diary from Missouri, May 1850^to Olympia, September 1850. When I got my hands on the original diary I knew I would have proof positive, one way or another on my thesis. f The last link of support I had was Bill Speidel, who, surprisingly tJL has a list'x>f sources though not an actual bibliography .^ Speidel has the following things to say on Maynard, the Indians, and the move to Alki Point: 3. Ibid, page 51 4. Doc*Maynard, Bill Speidel,1978, Nettle Creek Pub- lishing Company, pages 266-270 A Page 4 Doc Maynard was condemned by his peers as an "Indian Lover", than which there could be nothing lower...,. Doc was not so much pro Indian as he was anti-annihilation.... But, when Doc placed himself on the side of the Indians, he becasae a clear cut pariah to his peers. The most powerful of these peers, of course, was Governor Stevens. ..., the power of public opinion was ninety-nine and forty-four hundredths percent with him (Governor Stevens) , The property (260 acres) which the doctor swapped Charlie was outside the platted part of town,... , half of this property was under water at high tide... and the other half of it was on the side of Beacon Hill. „ . > Doc sold Charlie (Terry) 55 lots on platted part of his claim for $3,300... Doc acquired a $5000 mansion at Alki Point in the bargain. To that date,..., the doctor had disposed of 320 acres of land... so they still owned 320 acres. The doctor got $3,300 for his property - seven months after the Indian Rebellion was history and real estate values on the Sound were as close to zero as they ever got.0 o I have trouble with my feelings about Speidel's Doc Maynard. It was initially from this book that I formed my thesis. It did not make sense, as I read Speidel's account, that a person who had devoted so much time, effort, and energy would suddenly get up and retire to Alki Point. It seemed to me that there had to be a more convincing reason. So I formed my thesis and started off. Initially I really liked the book; the story Speidel tells is funny, noble and inspiring. I really wanted to believe it was true; but it just ain't so. Speidel is not a scholar. Consider the following quotes from his own manuscript! 5- Ibid, page 178- 6. Ibid., page 202, 7. Ib_id, page 247. 8. Ibid,, page 248 . Page 5 , . , , Very properly the young couple (Maynards) produced a daughter, Frances, in 1830, and a son, Henry in 1834. ... until Frances was twenty... and Henry 16... ^ * ...«., 4 ... his wife had two children, The Eldest a Son Born in the Year 1830 named Henry C. Maynard and the Youngest a Daughter Born in the year 1834 named Frances J. Maynard.^ Amusing isn't it? Never-the-less it does raise the point: how much can we trust Speidel? He can't even keep from biting his own tale in , .,,.. ,. a, his own book. I have not, unfortunately, been able to duplicate all of Speidel's *••• ••• •» t work^ he has been collecting for ten years. However, one of the parts I did check out was the Microcopy of Records in the National Archives <, Washington Superintendency of Indian Affairs, 1853-1874, Microfilm •M. !•••" '\»m t Number 5 letters from Sub-Agent, David S. Maynard, Fort Kitsap, to Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens...,. Here is what Speidel has to say about that file,""The correspondence on this one is a little bit one-sided because only the docter's letters are on file." _ True, only the Doctor's correspondence is on Roll # 10. However, Miscellaneous file #5, twenty seven rolls, includes, Steven's letters; they are on the first rolls. With a bit of difficulty I was able to find all of the letters from Stevens to Doc Maynard February to March 1856 on roll // 1.