Colonial Despatches

Ul-whan-uck, a Penelakut man from Lamalcha Village, was implicated in the murder of Frederick Marks and Caroline Harvey on Saturna Island alongside Pallrick and his wife Semallee. Pallrick allegedly told Lamalcha villagers that Ul-whan-uck had stabbed Harvey for her clothing.1

The murders were greatly sensationalized in the media, and the hunt for the killers led to the Lemalcha War; when the Lamalcha villagers did not divulge the location of the murderers, the HMS Forward exchanged fire with the villagers resulting in the death of one British serviceman, Charles Gliddon. Ul-whan-uck later claimed to have fired the fatal shot.2

After an elaborate manhunt, Ul-whan-uck was captured by members of the Penelakut tribe who delivered him to British authorities. Ul-whan-uck was tried at the Assizes held on 17 June 1863. At this controversial trial, he was provided no legal council and the trials were translated using the simple chinook jargon, making it almost impossible to translate complex British legal terms.3 The jury declared him guilty and he hung for the murder of Frederick Marks and his Daughter on 4 July.4

• 1. Arnett, Chris. 1999. The Terror of the Coast: Land Alienation and Colonial War on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, 1849-1863. Burnaby, B.C.: Talonbooks, p. 133-136
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid., p. 269-274
• 4. Ibid., p. 303-304