The Teenage Outlaw of the Dungeness Valley
A sixteen-year-old boy armed with a rifle terrorizes settlers, holding up officials and sparking a manhunt.
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.
Albert Sharrard, a 16-year-old boy, is terrorizing the ranchers near Dungeness. He recently broke into a settler's cabin and carried off two rifles and a quantity of ammunition. A warrant was issued for his arrest and two deputy sheriffs were sent out. The boy intercepted the officers unawares and covered them with his rifle, forcing them to lay down their arms and return down the trail with their hands above their heads. Several cabins have been broken into and robbed. Sharrard's mother was very religious, and the boy, whose mind has been considered unbalanced for a long time, was allowed to become spoiled and uncontrollable. A systematic effort is being made by the settlers and officers to capture Sharrard and his companions.
“He made them lay down their arms and return back down the trail with their hands above their heads.”
This account of a 'boy terror' reflects how 19th-century communities pathologized youth delinquency while struggling with frontier-style justice. The combination of armed rural conflict and the hunt for a minor underscores the volatile atmosphere of the era's outlying settlements.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.