Lhatŝ’aŝʔin (also known as Klatsassan or Klattasine; died 1864), a chief of the Chilcotin (
Tsilhqot'in) people, led a small group of warriors in attacks on road-building crews near
Bute Inlet,
British Columbia, in April and May 1864. The road crews had been starving and underpaying Tsilhqot'in workers, which provoked Lhatŝ’aŝʔin to declare war. On 29 April 1864, Lhatŝ’aŝʔin arrived at a ferry site up the
Homathko River. He and his warriors killed ferry-keeper Tim Smith, plundering the food and stores kept there.
The next day, Lhatŝ’aŝʔin attacked the unsuspecting and unarmed road workers at the main camp, killing 9. Further up the trail, the band came upon foreman William Brewster and three of his men. All were killed, Brewster's body being mutilated and left while the other three were thrown in the river. The band also killed William Manning, a settler at Puntzi Lake. Proceeding into the interior to escape justice, Lhatŝ’aŝʔin and his followers ambushed a pack-train led by Alexander McDonald; three more white workers were killed. In all, 19 white settlers were killed by Lhatŝ’aŝʔin and followers.
Lhatŝ’aŝʔin and his followers were captured on August 11, 1864 under false pretenses of peace parley to end the
Chilcotin War. They were shackled and tried as murderers, and were hanged at Quesnellemouth (
Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard dialect of French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to:
Places
* Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France
* Quesnel, British Columbia, a city in British Columbia, Canada ...
, B.C.) on October 26, 1864. Lhatŝ’aŝʔin and his fellow war chiefs were exonerated for any crime or wrongdoing on October 23, 2014, by British Columbia Premier
Christy Clark.
See also
*
Chilcotin War
*
William George Cox
*
Frederick Seymour
*
Chartres Brew
Chartres Brew (31 December 1815 – 31 May 1870) was a Gold commissioner, Chief Constable and judge in the Colony of British Columbia, later a province of Canada.
Brew's name was conferred on two mountain summits in British Columbia, bo ...
*
Donald McLean
*
Alfred Waddington
*
Fort Chilcotin
*
Nicola (chief)
*
Chief Hunter Jack
References
External links
We Do Not Know His Name - Klatsassin & The Chilcotin War - Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History
Year of birth missing
1864 deaths
19th-century First Nations people
19th-century Canadian criminals
Canadian spree killers
Chilcotin Country
Executed Canadian people
Executed spree killers
Indigenous leaders in British Columbia
People executed for murder
People executed by British North America by hanging
People executed by the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)
Pre-Confederation British Columbia people
Tsilhqot'in
People executed by Canada by hanging
1864 murders in Canada
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