He was born near Port Townsend, about 1847, and belonged to the now
extinct tribe of the Chemakums. His father died when he was very young,
through the effects of intemperance, and also many others of his
relations, and this made him a bitter opponent of drinking.
When ten years old he went to live with the family of Mr. James Seavey,
of Port Townsend, and went with them in 1859 to San Francisco, where he
remained for a year or two. He then embarked on a sailing-vessel, and
spent most of the time until 1863 or 1864 near the mouth of the Amoor
River, in Asiatic Russia. Returning then to Puget Sound, he served under
the government at the Neah Bay Reservation for a time, but about 1868 he
came to the Skokomish Reservation, where he ever afterward made his
home, serving as interpreter a large share of the time, eight years
under Agent Eells.