Hide Article Text (OCR)
‘ LEAVtS A TRAIL OF BLOOD/K»c»p«d Convict in .- WttnWugton Revive* Frontier Days. . v A realistic revival of the ways of the-wild and woolly West,in the pienuaaqiie days of frontier warfare and of the reign of the bandit and bad tnan has been given in the State of Washington by Harry Tracy, an escaped convict from Oregon, who has left behind hioi a trail of blootf and terror* .During his flight the desperado killed eight inezv and shoe several others; and despite the hundreds of pursuers who have camped on his trail he for a month succeeded in eluding capture. No bad man of the frontier town?, has ever developed greater pluck fnd endurance than this Jieeing convict who terrorized and murdered as he went. .'Tracy's career of crime began in 1S*7 in Colorado. He became involved in a robbery in that State and in -attempting to evade arrest shot and killed Deputy Sheriff Valentine Hay.He was arrested in Portland, Ore., in the same year for t)iirglarv His capture was effected under sensational circumstances. Shortly after his urrest Tracy was sentenced to the Oregon penitentiary at Salem. Here ho shot his jailer, 1 using a wen pun with which he had beou1the3int—3er: ernea ;rpam\mtmlL-ainein.tobein?T a nv-ice Lintge:aba itbIS* a be ms sillLOG.in-otmi bat for ljnl~ ricewilllinker Icg-forchut my. o be tftss Imetcti-1\ a)slhuchr.iu-lgeathemgr,tvoiimi-my,reui-elcdsuvnandbag;vetUU|the ition a-erepub-it too uiarstion, :eept in ate teiouition » torDltedimle-oy in.. \V.formntiromtCamvet ‘ Til-ftihu-'lauJ v an-freeIJIICS-* put 11 bemysteriously supplied. Barly in the morn-iag Of June 9 last he aud David Merrill, another convict, escaped from the penitentiary. after killing three guards and fatally woumding another convict, who died the nest day. Posses were organized to pursue the escaped felons, but they got out of the city. The next morning, however, they returned to Salcrn and robbed J; W. Roberts and another man of clothing. Then they Ued again. Their trail was marked by reports of stolen horses and farmers whom they held up.The Governor of Oregon ordered out the militia and.bands of deputy sheriffs and posses were sent out in all directions. Tracy and Merrill saw one of these bands, lay in ambush for the deputies, fired at them and escaped. jkater they broke through a cordon of 259 mi-litia, who had surrounded them in dense * woods. They kept on stealing horses to ride, pressing forward uutil the beasts ■were worn out. Finally the fugitives reached the Columbia river. Over this they escaped by forcing G. Sutherland at the muzzles of their revolvers to ferry them across. They landed near Van-, couver barracks.' On dune 17 the men shot and wounded Deputy Sheriff Bert Bresclier in a light at Salmon creek, stale more horses and rode away. They robbed a house near Dacetner and another near Kelso, Wash, July 1 Tracy ivas scon at Tennlno, thirty miles from Tacoma. He was then riding alone. The nest day he arrived at South. Bay and held up six men. Later he 'forced Capt. Clark aud his crew of four men to convey him in a gasoline launch over Puget Sound to Meadow Point, north «f Seattle. The captain says that Tracy had told him while on his bo lit that he had killed Merrill.On July 3 a party of pursuing officers under the leadership of Deputy Sheriff Charles Raymond of Snohomish County, aad Deputy Sheriff John Williams of «KJ*g County, located the desperado at Bothell, twenty miles north of Seattle and on the line o£ the Northern Pacific Railroad. Tracy lind taken a commanding position in a clnrap of firs and had probably seen the posse before he himself had been observed. There was no parleying oh either side. The posse, strong iu •numbers and perhaps somewhat encouraged by a reward, aggregating $5.(300, for Tracy’s capture, prepared to surround the outlaw’s hiding place. Trney, fighting I for freedom and life, was determined not to be taken and with his trusty ride opened fire on his pursuers. He fired live shots in all aud these were sufficient to insure, for the time, his escape. At one of the discharges Raymond was shot and fell to the ground dead, Another bullet Btruck the viHe barrel of 'Williams, splintering It and burying itself in the deputy's cheat. Williams fell to the ground badly wounded. Before the other members of the posse could recover their wits .■the outlaw escaped.The evening ©f the same day saw Tracy at the li.nie .f a'Mrs. Van Horn in Woodluwn Park, a suburb of Seattle. The outlaw’s presence was secretly made known by Mrs. Van Horn to a butcher's boy, who spread the alarm. To surround the house was a matter of only n brief time, and then the officers felt sure that their quarry could not escape them. Tracy opened fire on the officers, instantly killing Policeman D. B. Breeze and fatally wounding Neil Ruwlcy, another of his •would-be captors. He then coerced two men to act as shields and under their protection he made his way out of the range of fire and disappeared iu the woods and thcHlarkncss.The traged'es thoroughly aroused tin authorities and Gov. McBride ordered oul two troops of the State militia to co-op urate with the civil power in running down the desperado. Scores of men wen sworn in as deputies and u systematl search for Tracy began-.
Newspaper Details
Cedar Falls Semi Weekly Cedar Falls Gazette
Cedar Falls, Iowa, US
Tue, Jul 22, 1902
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Myke G.
NA, NA 09 Apr 2021
Other Publications Near Cedar Falls, Iowa
Cedar Falls New Prairie Primer
Cedar Falls Semi Weekly Cedar Falls Gazette
Cedar Falls Citizen
Cedar Falls Gazette
Cedar Falls Globe
