The Man Who Stopped the Train
A landowner takes matters into his own hands by tearing up railroad tracks after failing to receive payment for his property.
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.
David Small, a resident of Walla Walla, owns forty-four lots in Waitsburg over which the Oregon & Washington Territory road passes. Small, having never received payment for his lots, hired eight men and a dray last night and tore up the railroad on his property. He then stood guard with a Winchester rifle, stopping the section hands from repairing the track. The mail train was delayed six hours, and a freight train carrying eight cars of stock was delayed four hours. Superintendent Taylor, Roadmaster Campbell, and Receiver Tyler arrived on the scene at noon, when Small finally relented and allowed the track to be repaired. Small is likely to be arrested for stopping the mail.
“Small hired eight men and a dray and tore up the railroad on his property, then stood guard with a Winchester, stopping the section hands from repairing the track.”
Property rights versus public infrastructure remain a volatile flashpoint in the Pacific Northwest. While the methods of 1892 were decidedly more cinematic, the struggle over eminent domain and private compensation remains a recurring theme in modern development disputes.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.