The Tragedy at Cle Elum
A head-on collision between a work train and a locomotive leaves construction workers dead and local physicians scrambling in the wake of the worst accident on the Northern Pacific line.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It has just been learned that on Thursday afternoon between 3 and 4 o'clock, a terrible accident occurred on the Cascade division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, four miles beyond Cle Elum. A west-bound train pushing a flat car loaded with laborers was tearing around a curve toward a trestle at a prohibited speed when it ran into a work engine which was coming east. The tender and first flat car passed half way through the tender and crashed up against the pilot of the west-bound train, on which were two men. These unfortunates were crushed to a pulp, only a foot and one hand being left by which to identify them. The log engine was knocked eighty feet away. Five men were killed outright and one has since died. The injured number eighteen. All of the physicians of Ellensburg were immediately sent to the front by a special train, and are rendering every service possible. The scene of the accident, as described by those present, beggars description. Blood is scattered in every direction, and the neighboring rocks bear evidence of the fearful carnage. The accident was the fault of one of the trains' crews neglecting to flag as per orders. District Attorney Bwirely has gone to the scene of the accident to make a thorough examination. This is the worst accident that has happened in either the construction or operation of the road.
“The scene of the accident, as described by those present, beggars description. Blood is scattered in every direction, and the neighboring rocks bear evidence of the fearful carnage.”
This 1887 disaster highlights the brutal human cost of rapid railroad expansion across the Cascades, a precursor to the infrastructure struggles that continue to define the geography and safety politics of Washington State today.
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