Justine Irie Fry

Had 8 children with Richard Fry.

Before marriage, lived in a Colville, Washington, Sinixt village as a member of the Sngaytskstx tribe.

Married Richard Fry at St. Paul's Mission near Kettle Falls bridge on the Colville Republic Highway, Stevens, WA.

1880 U.S. Census: At 35 and designated Indian, living in Kootenai County, on the Spokane Prarie, Idaho, with husband Richard (38)--Indian Trader--described "white" and 5 children: George (18)--Packer, Christina (16), Clarence (4), Mary (2), and Charley (11 months). The children are cited as half blood Indians.

1900 U.S. "Indian Population" Census: Listed as "Justeen" Fry (60), widowed, "colored"/Indian, a farmer, and a member of the Colville Tribe, Kootenai County, Idaho, with three Fry sons George (38), Clarence (21), and Frank (17), grandsons Robert Fry (12) and Clarence E. Strong (10), as well as daughters Julia E. Kane (27) and "Kater" (Katherine) Ewing (26) with 5 Ewing children William (12), Mary (8), Richard (7), Clara (4), and Raymond (2). Her sons are cited as white/half Indian and farm laborers with the grandsons as white/1/4 Indian and in school. Her daughter "Kater" (Katherine) also is listed as white/half Indian and having had 6 children with 5 living who are described white/one fourth Indian and in school. Julia also is described divorced, white/half Indian, and having had 2 children with one living.

1910 U.S. Census: At age 70, a farm owner, and living in Bonners Ferry, Bonner County, Idaho, with son George (49)--a farmer/operator, his wife Anne (28), and George's foster son Harold W. (9). Anne and Harold both were born in Canada and are classified white while George and Justine are classified Indian. Anne immigrated to the U.S. in 1902 and Harold in 1908.

KMC, Summer 2009, p.74, and Winter 09/10, p.37: ... "Daughter of Colville, Washington, Chief Soqustik'en, Justine Susteel Fry married American prospector and entrepreneur Richard Fry in 1860. Richard and his brother Alfred helped pioneer the northeast Washington territory, where they ran two trading posts: one on the Columbia River and another on the Pend Oreille River. ... Alfred, who ran the Columbia River post, was murdered by an arrow-shooting native man in an eruption over a dead dog and stolen bacon. After Alfred's death, the assailants decided to make it a double and kill the younger Richard. Richard was captured, and his father-in-law attempted to intervene. With no peaceful resolution in sight, Chief Soqustik'en prompted his daughter Justine to initiate an escape under the cover of darkness. ... With a baby strapped to her back, Justine freed her husband and the trio fled to safety. The Frys later settled in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, where they operated a store and ferry and raised eight children. In 1887, several Fry relatives (2 of her sons and a son-in-law) built some of the first cabins at the future town site of Nelson, near Ward Creek (British Columbia). After rescuing her husband, Fry's reputation as a family matriarch of steely nerves and sterling traits ignited."

Oregon Historical Society Bulletin, September 1998, Genealogical Forum, Oregon Indian War Pension Records: ... The following information found in the pension file of Justine Fry (# O356), the widow of soldier Richard A. Fry, was abstracted from a card file at Oregon Historical Society of the Indian War pension files [ http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jkidd/articles/IndW... ]. The historical society microfilmed the files, which can't be photocopied and which are available at its manuscript department. ... A letter dated 7 Jan 1898 from Richard Fry reported that "Laban Fry and Amherst Fry and Alferd Fry are dead and have no widdows living, in fact they were never married..." ... Richard was born March 6, 1838 in Knox County, Illinois. He married Justine Sustiken on January 3, 1860. Justine was born November 5, 1838 in Coleville, Washington. ... Richard Fry enlisted in Company H, commanded by Captain Davis Layton, and served about 10 months. ... His personal description indicated that he stood 5'10" tall, had grey eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. His occupation was that of a farmer. ... Upon leaving the service, he lived at Albany, Oregon, for two years, then for twelve years at Coleville, Washington, and has since resided at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, for the past twenty-seven years. ... Witness to his service was given by Mr. Lyman Markham, of Laclide, Idaho, and by Mr. Olney Fry, of Linn County, Albany, Oregon. ... The widow, Justine Fry made application for a pension on August 16, 1902. ... She said that her husband was born in Fannington, Knox County, Illinois. They were married January 3, 1860, in Coleville, Washington by Father Joseph, a Catholic Priest. Richard A. Fry died in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, on December 14, 1898.

Buried in the Grandview Cemetery, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, with husband Richard, son George, daughters Christina, Julia, and Katherine, Christina's husband Arthur Bunting, and Katherine's husband Robert Lockhart.

P.S. 3/2010 per James C. Fry, Jr.: The Arrow Lakes area is the ancestral homeland of Justine's family. They summered there and wintered in the upper Kettle Falls area of the Columbia River. When the international boundary (Canada/USA) was established, neither Canada nor the US would give the band a home site as they were deemed to be extinct. In the 1980s, a logging expedition, putting a road through the area of Arrow Lakes, uncovered the Band's burial site. Band members then blockaded the equipment and stopped all activity. Some cabins were built there so that band members could live on the site while working with the B.C. government regarding property rights. The band currently resides on the Colville Indian Reservation, WA.