The Con Man Who Could Never Stay Caught
A prolific swindler known for daring escapes and impersonations finally meets his match, leading to a three-year sentence at the state penitentiary.
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.
George Alexander, alias Cyrus Cushman, was taken to the Northern Pacific depot yesterday, bound for Walla Walla to serve a three-year term in the state penitentiary. Alexander is described as one of the most accomplished crooks in the country. For months, he traveled along the Canadian Pacific railway, swindling residents by posing as a subscription agent for newspapers. In Mission City, B.C., he broke into a store and nearly killed a man guarding it. Later, he surfaced in Whatcom County, Washington, canvassing for the 'Telegraph' and using a 'Post-Intelligencer' map to gain trust. After being caught in Mount Vernon, he escaped from his attorney's office by jumping out of a window. He was eventually captured near McMurray after a quarter-mile foot chase where the deputy had to fire shots to stop him. His history of escapes and his ability to trick business owners and residents earned him a notorious reputation before his final capture.
“His career has been as full of adventure as one would find in a 6-cent novel.”
Alexander’s story—a combination of identity theft and creative 'hustle'—resonates with modern anxieties about digital impersonation and the breakdown of institutional trust. While his methods were analog, his ability to bounce between jurisdictions and evade local authorities reflects a persistent vulnerability in how frontier, and later urban, law enforcement tracked transient criminals.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.