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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

100 years ago in Spokane: Boy Scouts join the hunt for missing teenager

 (Addy Hatch / The Spokesman-Review)

From our archives, 100 years ago

Every Boy Scout in Spokane was enlisted in the hunt for Clifford Chaloner, 14, who disappeared from his home a week before.

Clifford, a Boy Scout himself, left his home with a fishing rod and $6.50, which he had withdrawn from his bank savings account.

His parents weren’t sure if he had run away, had gone to visit relatives, or had met some misfortune. Meanwhile, the scouts had been asked to join the search.

From the fishing beat: Eight Austrian fishermen headed out in a boat at Hale’s Pass near Bellingham, when suddenly a band of Lummi Indians, armed with rifles, surrounded the boat. They captured the Austrian fishermen and took them and their boat to their reservation and held them captive.

This was the culmination of a long-running dispute over whether the Lummi Tribe had exclusive fishing rights to Hale’s Pass. Tribal members believed they did, but state fisheries authorities said the area was considered “state waters” and that white fishermen and Indian fishermen had the same rights.

The “Austrian fishermen” — or, more accurately, area residents of Eastern European descent — said they had checked with state fisheries authorities and were given permission to fish there.

The Whatcom County Sheriff was unable to rescue the fishermen, because they were being held on reservation land outside of his jurisdiction. State authorities said that the Lummis might be charged with kidnapping and violating the state fishing code.