complete

canoes and clashes 91Game Department Police really—the game agents—that were engagedin this uproar and war on the river.”In his early days as Governor, Evans says he backed the state in itsregulations of off-reservation net fishing. He recalls telling Billy, ayoung activist at the time, “You’ve got to follow the law. And the lawis that this [steelhead] is a game fish and you shouldn’t be fishing it.”After October 13, on-duty officers with the departments of Gameand Fisheries faced serious charges. A doctor accused one officer ofhitting him in the stomach with a nightstick and drinking on the job.Evans demanded a full report.“I didn’t like what was going on, didn’t like the violence and talkedto the Game people and they said thank you very much but the GameCommission is telling us this is what we want to do,” he recalls. “Itried to talk with them and to see if there wasn’t a way out. And theywere determined to break this thing. They were determined thatsteelhead were game fish, they were being supported by the sportfishermen and the sportsmen’s organization. The hunting organizationsall joined in. They were all on the side of the Game Department.I do remember going to the head of the Game Department and sayingthis can’t go on. We look terrible.”Thrown sticks, rocks, and clubs outside Billy’s home did enoughdamage in twenty minutes to result in stinging accusations against thestate. Allegations of excessive force on the part of state officers wereturned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation. The case went to trial.A jury in Thurston County Superior Court deliberated for twohours and cleared seven Indians charged in the “Battle of Frank’sLanding.” Attorney Al Ziontz argued that the fish-in was a stageddemonstration, a show, and the net they used was “virtually incapableof catching fish.” Therefore, the officers used excessive force, Ziontzsaid persuasively. Officers testified that “no nightsticks, long flashlights,or blackjacks were used.” However, Ziontz brandished “a