bought several bottles of “medicine” and pain killer. Over the 10 years he shopped at the store he took home blankets, shirts and a scarf, also a comb, one bar of soap, matches, a spoon and, interestingly, a book and pencil. Most of his purchases were paid for with cash but his final bill was settled with $7.50 credit for five days of work and $60 credit for two horses. The white men who worked for Sam were almost always paid $2 a day for their labor. The aging Entiat chief, Chilco-sa-haskt and his wife, Spoko-ka-lx were regular shoppers but, like Indian George, bought almost none of the foodstuffs the store carried. The store inventory included fresh peaches and apples in season, beans, rice, sugar, bacon, flour, fresh crawdads, cabbage, canned lobster and oysters, prunes and fresh fish. The chief had a sweet tooth. Between February of 1873 and July of 1884 he bought more than 75 pounds of sugar, one keg of syrup, lots of crackers and tea, salt, multiple pounds of bacon, small amounts of beef and a regular supply of tobacco. Spo-ko-ka-lx bought many of the same items along with apples and candy. They bought a variety of household tools including a shovel and bucket, tin pans, knives, needles and nails. Shirts, pants, overalls, shoes, blankets, scarves, hats and shawls were also on their shopping list. How-milt, a Wenatchee and father of John Harmelt, the last chief of the Wenatchees, was, according to Wenatchee oral history, the boy tending horses who witnessed the massacre of his people by soldiers on the White River in 1858. He would have been about 30 years old in June of 1873 when he first appeared in the store ledger. He was an infrequent shopper for the next 10 years but in addition to the basic food items of sugar, flour and salt he
bought a few more interesting things. There was a scythe and a whet stone. It’s likely How-milt was harvesting bunch grass for winter forage. In addition to horses he must have raised cattle since he paid part of his bill with a steer worth $15. He also purchased needles and thread, a pound of coffee, several pairs of pants and coveralls, nails and a tablecloth. Wapato John was an Entiat who took advantage of the Indian Homestead Act and claimed land near Manson on Lake Chelan. He traded at Miller’s store from September of 1873 to May of 1880.
He bought mining supplies; a pick, quicksilver, acid and 30 pounds of nails. The nails might have been used to construct sluice boxes. Wapato John’s food purchases were a bit broader than the other Indians in the ledger. Along with sugar, flour and salt he bought rice and beans by the sack, at least 25 pounds of tea and a tin of pepper for 25 cents. Clothing purchases included shirts, a hat and long coat, scarves, pants, a pair of gloves and many blankets. In August of 1878 he took a seven dollar bolt of “frilly” fabric home to his wife.
On the 29th of December he made a most unusual purchase. Sam Miller sold him two bottles of whiskey for $3. Miller regularly sold whiskey in bottles and kegs to his white and Chinese customers. This is the only instance in the ledger of a liquor sale to an Indian, a violation of federal law in 1878. Historian, actor and teacher Rod Molzahn can be reached at shake.speak@frontier.com. His third history CD, Legends & Legacies Vol. III - Stories of Wenatchee and North Central Washington, is now available at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center and at other locations throughout the area.
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