Kot-Ko-Wat was a Chilkat Indian, a tribe located along the Alaskan Coast. He killed Thomas J. Brown in Sitka, Alaska Territory in early 1879.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, though are probably related to concern that the killing of a white man by an Alaskan Native would not produce a conviction in Alaskan courts, Kot-Ko-Wat was transferred to Oregon for prosecution. Given the issues of sovereignty such a maneuver raises, it is also not clear how this was justified under law. The jarring racism directed at Native Americans may offer insights.
Nonetheless, Kot-Ko-Wat was convicted of murder in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon and was sentenced to death by Judge Matthew Deady on April 25, 1879.
Kat-Ko-Wat was hanged in Portland, Oregon, on May 8, 1879.
The Federal Death Penalty Project 