The Unchecked 'Firewater' Trail
A rash of bootlegging and theft at the Lakeside saloon forces a local reckoning with the lack of law enforcement near Chelan.
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.
Chelan, Wash., May 17—Indians burglarized the Lakeside saloon Sunday night, stole a quantity of liquor, and proceeded to engage in a spree, the sequel to which was a big fight, the particulars of which are not obtainable yet. There has been a great deal of drunkenness among the Indians in this vicinity of late, indicating that someone is unlawfully supplying them with large quantities of 'firewater.' There does not seem to be any man here charged with the enforcement of the laws. Saturday, a large number of Indians gathered here to attend the weekly races, and toward evening it was noticed that several of them were pretty full of liquor. Quite a number were around trying to get someone to get whisky for them. During the ensuing night, two or three of them broke into the concern at Lakeside and stole several bottles of whisky and a gallon demijohn of absinthe. They gained entrance through a window, first having battered down the door. Two panes of glass were shattered, and blood marks indicated that one of them must have been pretty badly cut by the glass. A clerk in Lardensmith & Fosdick’s store, across the street, heard the noise and got out in time to scare them away after the mischief was done.
“There does not seem to be any man here charged with the enforcement of the laws.”
This 1899 account reflects the turbulent transition of the Chelan region, where the absence of formal civic oversight often led to vigilante-style tensions. While today’s Chelan is a tourist destination, the report highlights an era of frontier lawlessness that defined the 'Wild West' reputation of early Washington settlements.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.