The Tragedy at Oak Lake
A husband confronts his wife's attacker, ending in a violent act that leaves a family broken and a man facing a murder charge.
J.H. Hicklin, a rancher living on the west side of the Duwamish River, surrendered himself to authorities in Seattle after a violent altercation. Hicklin had been working in the brush to clear his homestead near what is known as Oak Lake. For the past two weeks, he had been away at his ranch. Upon his return, Mrs. Hicklin told him that on Thursday of last week, a man named Charles Gentine, who has a small sheep farm nearby, had raped her. Gentine, who was in the habit of visiting for conversation, had come around in the afternoon and attempted to enter the home. Mrs. Hicklin told him he could not enter, but he forced his way inside, assaulted her, and accomplished his purpose. When he left, he threatened her with violence if she told her husband. When Mrs. Hicklin told him the story of her wrongs, Hicklin at once started out to find Gentine. He found him in the trail and shot him at once, then came to Seattle to deliver himself up to the authorities. Hicklin was put in the county jail, and an information was laid against him for murder in the first degree.
“When Mrs. Hicklin told him the story of her wrongs, Hicklin at once started out to find Gentine. He found him in the trail and shot him at once.”
This story from the 1880s reflects the brutal isolation of the Duwamish River valley in Seattle's early days. The narrative of 'defending honor' through lethal violence was a common trope in 19th-century frontier justice, often masking the profound lack of legal protections for women against sexual violence in remote homesteads.
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