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[First Page [126], (1) Lines: 0 to ——— 0.0pt Pg ——— Normal Pa PgEnds: TE [126], (1) 兵 其 5 Private Citizens Chalcraft returned to Washington state dismissed from the Indian Service but with an eye firmly locked on gaining reinstatement. Although his memoir is silent on the subject, apparently he had committed himself to a career in Indian affairs. This brief chapter documents the five years that elapsed between Chalcraft’s removal from Chemawa Indian School in the spring of 1895 and his appointment as superintendent of Wind River Indian School in the spring of 1900. We came from the Salem Indian Training School to Seattle on April 12th, 1895, and established our home in the house we had built at 617 Tenth Avenue in 1889. As we were now private citizens, and the time our own to be used as we saw fit, little was done until May 2nd, when I engaged in civil engineering work again with my former associate, Mr. Charles M. Anderson. Our work was, mostly, surveying additions to the city of Seattle and a proposed railroad from Port Angeles to Olympia, which was never built. We went to Mt. Vernon,Washington, in the summer of 1897, where I had bought a grocery store and had the management of a shingle mill for Williams & Henry. We remained there until the summer of 1898, then returned to Seattle, and [I] took up surveying again, which was continued until I was reinstated in the Indian Service and went to the Wind River School on the Shoshone Reservation, Wyoming, in May, 1900. During this time, I was giving attention to my removal as Superintendent at Chemawa. Before leaving the school, I informed Captain 126 [127], (2) Lines: 47 to 89 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [127], (2) Pratt in Pennsylvania and Judge Burke in Seattle that I had been dismissed from the Indian Service. Both of these men were intimate friends of mine, and in addition, Judge Burke was a man of influence in the Democratic Party of his state. Captain Pratt telegraphed me on March 30th, saying — give me all the facts in your case promptly by mail. i will go to the top in your behalf. heads are falling everywhere. Judge Burke’s reply was a letter dated April 1st, in which he said — I am just in receipt of your line enclosing telegraphic notice of your dismissal from the Indian service, and I need hardly to say that I am greatly astonished at such news. Of course, I will do anything in the world that I can for you. Let me know upon receipt of this line just what you would like me to do. It seems an outrage after your long and faithful service to be thus summarily dismissed. A long and encouraging letter was received from Agent Eells at this time, urging me to fight the Indian Office action, and saying that I had plenty of friends ready to back me up in doing so. With the support of these three men, I felt that we could make a pretty good fight by insisting there was nothing, other than that I was politically objectionable to the Government officials, that caused my removal from Chemawa, which was in violation of Civil Service laws. Taking the affidavits sent me by the employees after I left there, as the basis of our claim, we went to work. There was a session of the“District Indian Teachers’ Institute”held in Tacoma in July, 1895, in charge of the Superintendent of Indian Schools, Dr. Hailman, [and] assisted by Supervisor Rakestraw. I attended the meeting and found Captain Pratt there. We both tried to talk to Hailman and Rakestraw about my case and they refused to listen to us. After this attempted interview,I wrote several letters to the Indian Office, to which no reply was made. As time went on, Captain Private Citizens 兵 127 [128], (3) Lines: 89 t ——— 13.5pt P ——— Normal Pa PgEnds: TE [128], (3) Pratt,and others,visited the Indian Office in my behalf,but none were able to do anything, until there was a change in the administration and President [William] McKinley was in office,and he had appointed Hon. W. A. Jones Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Then things began to hum. Politically we were aided by Senator John L. Wilson; Senator [George W.] McBride; Congressman Francis W. Cushman; and Senator A. G. Foster of Tacoma. The latter...

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