PYSHT — A Makah elder was found dead Thursday morning after his car hit a tree off state Highway 112 and rolled.
Ronald P. Markishtum Sr., 71, was driving his 1989 Ford Taurus eastbound at about 10 a.m. when he veered across the westbound lane into a ditch at Milepost 31 and hit a small tree, the State Patrol said. The car rolled onto its top and settled into the ditch.
A Border Patrol officer who came upon the scene a few minutes after the Thursday wreck didn’t find a pulse, said State Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Krista Hedstrom.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, but Markishtum could not be revived.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cause of the single-car wreck remained under investigation on Thursday.
No one else was in the car with him.
Meri Parker, Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce executive director, said Markishtum was a “great supporter” of the annual tribal Canoe Journey and was active in the Makah elders’ program.
“He was a regular participant in cultural events,” she said.
Makah tribal Chairman Michael Lawrence said Markishtum also had worked for the tribe’s fisheries and accounting departments.
“He was someone that took care of his family,” he added. “And now we are going to miss him.”
The wreck is the second traffic fatality in Clallam County this week, and the third within the last month.
John M. Fullerton, 59, died Sunday in a motorcycle wreck on the Tumwater Truck Route in Port Angeles.
Tyler H. Braithwaite, 17, died March 28 when his truck hit a tree on a U.S. Forest Service road south of Sequim.
Janine Bowechop, a niece of Markishtum and director of the Makah Museum, said he is survived by four children and his wife Lina Markishtum, among other relatives.
Clallam Bay resident Linda Dillard, who was driving to Port Angeles but stopped to help, said the road is straight at the location of the wreck. It was also dry Thursday morning, she said.
Hedstrom said Markishtum was not wearing a seat belt.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.