The Hunter and the Runaway
A determined civilian investigator tracks a suspect across the West, certain he’s bagged a notorious fugitive, while the target sits in a Seattle jail cell for the minor crime of selling liquor to Indians.
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.
William Daniels, the man who says he pursued the notorious Pete Olsen from one coast to another at half a dozen places, only to find that his man was in the County Jail for the offense of selling liquor to Indians, still insists he is not mistaken. Daniels is a middle-aged man of intelligent appearance who believes what he says and is able to give reasons for his belief.
'You inquire of Squire Howe, or Sam Cottle, of Snohomish, and you will find that I know what I am doing,' Daniels said yesterday to a Post-Intelligencer reporter.
'What name is your man going under?' he was asked.
'John Hughes. He was arrested on a charge of selling liquor to Indians. He answers the description given of Pete Olsen in every respect, except as to size. But that doesn't matter. There are several descriptions of Olsen afloat. The one I saw published is different from the one first published; so that even though this man differs in size from the latest description of Olsen, I still think he is the man.'
'Did you talk much with Hughes?'
'Yes, but he would not give me much satisfaction. I found out from him that he is of Dutch descent; that he had been all over California and Nevada. He always appeared to me to be on his guard. He has a bald spot on his head which answers the description of Olsen. The scar by his eye is the same, too.'
'Where is Hughes now?'
'He was released from jail this morning.'
'Will you take up the pursuit?'
'Yes, sir. I believe he is the man, and I will follow him when I can.'
“I ain't a damned fool, by a long shot.”
Long before the era of digital surveillance, this story captures the grit of the private investigator, mirroring the modern 'internet sleuth' archetype. It highlights the obsession with physical profiling and the intense, often misplaced, fervor for cold-case justice that remains a staple of the Seattle true-crime zeitgeist.
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