The Man Who Vanished: A Tacoma Mystery
A stock raiser leaves his home in fine clothes and is never seen again. Is it a disappearance or foul play?
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.
Wm Maskeyline, a stock raiser living out on the Tucannon, disappeared from his home about the 4th of July, and has at once been heard from. He and his brother have a large sheep ranch out on the Tucannon, and are both in good circumstances. They are both single men, and have been batching early this month. One of them came to Walla Walla, and on his return home found his brother William missing. Vigilant search was made for the missing man, but without result. Whether he wandered away or has been foully dealt with, is a matter of conjecture. In the meantime his friends are very uneasy. Previous to leaving home he put on his best clothes, and this is the last trace of him.
This 1876 account of a mysterious disappearance in the Pacific Northwest highlights the isolation and vulnerability of early settlers. While modern technology makes such cases rare, the underlying anxiety of being alone in vast, unpoliced wilderness remains a potent theme in true crime narratives today.
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