Louie Sam ( – February 24, 1884) was a Stó:lō youth from an Indigenous community near

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...

who was

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of in ...

by an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mob. Sam was 14 at the time these events occurred. He had been accused of the murder of James Bell, a shopkeeper in Nooksack (today

Whatcom County, Washington Whatcom County (, ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the ...

). The people of his band, today the Sumas First Nation at Kilgard turned him over to the B.C. government to settle the matter. Following this, an

angry mob Mobbing, as a sociological term, refers either to bullying in any context, or specifically to that within the workplace, especially when perpetrated by a group rather than an individual. Psychological and health effects Victims of workplace mo ...

crossed the border into Canada on February 24 and captured Sam, who had been in the custody of a B.C. deputy awaiting his trial at

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

. They then hanged him from a tree close to the U.S. border. A subsequent investigation by Canadian authorities strongly suggests that Sam was innocent and that the likely murderers were two white Americans who were leaders of the lynch mob. They were William Osterman, the Nooksack

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator who took over Bell's business, and David Harkness, who at the time of Bell's murder was living with Bell's estranged wife. Neither man was ever prosecuted. On March 1, 2006, the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives approved a resolution stating that "through this resolution, the Senate joins its peers in the government of British Columbia, acknowledging the unfortunate historical injustice to Louie Sam and the proud Stó:lō people".

In media

Bibliography

Notes References * - Total pages: 375 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sam, Louie Year of birth uncertain 1884 deaths People murdered in 1884 19th-century First Nations people Canada–United States relations Canadian murder victims First Nations history in British Columbia History of Washington (state) Lynching deaths in Washington (state) People murdered in British Columbia Sto:lo people Child murder in Canada Child murder in Washington (state)