The Yakima River Train Wreck
A tragic collision at a rocky bluff on the Yakima River leaves seven dead and exposes a reckless culture of railroad speeding and negligence.
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.
The Coroner's jury found that Conductor Rhodes and his engineer of train 486 were guilty of gross negligence in not flagging their approach as closely as the company's rules required. The rules mandated flagging three-quarters of a mile ahead of a stopped train. This negligence was aggravated by the fact that 486 was so disabled it could not move forward, and at a time when other trains were moving under orders. Seven men were killed in the accident or died immediately afterward: James Brannan, Robert Grass, Fitzgerald, B.F. Kerr, Pat McMana, Olmstead, and Ed. Corey. Brannan and Fitzgerald were on the pilot of Hulett's engine and were killed instantly, crushed into the head of the boiler. James Brannan, father of a Portland Detective agency employee, had three gold watches and $600 in money on his person. A check for $1,600 was found in a mangled state. The brakeman on 486 had a singular experience; he saw the approaching engine and attempted to jump, finding himself unhurt on the opposite side of the 60-foot-wide river, with no memory of how he arrived there. The accident occurred where the railroad grade had been cut into a rocky bluff, leaving only a few feet of clearance, pinning the men between the train and the cliffside.
“James Brannan and Fitzgerald were on the pilot of Hulett's engine and were killed instantly, being crushed into the head of the boiler and mangled beyond recognition.”
This 1887 report on industrial negligence and the disregard for worker safety reflects the high human cost of the rapid expansion of railroads in the Pacific Northwest. Today, as Seattle faces debates over transit safety, labor rights, and corporate accountability, the story of workers crushed between the tracks and the landscape resonates as a sobering reminder of the physical stakes of economic 'progress.'
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