The Dog Dispute That Led to Murder
A trivial argument over a shot dog escalated into a brutal killing at a remote logging cabin near Chico.
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.
News reached the city last evening of a brutal murder that took place at Chico, in Kitsap county. William S. Fletcher, mate of the steamer Chehalis, was shot in the head twice and instantly killed by Servius Rutten, a rancher. Rutten had borrowed a rifle from the Larsen brothers, who live in a cabin on a log float in a gulch, to hunt a cougar. Saturday evening, as he passed Capt. W. B. Seymore’s residence, a dog belonging to Fletcher barked at him; Rutten shot the dog. When Fletcher learned of this, he went to the gulch and confronted Rutten. After a heated exchange regarding the dog's worth, Rutten leveled his shotgun and discharged both barrels. Fletcher was horribly mutilated and died instantly. Rutten was later captured by Capt. Seymore and turned over to Sheriff Pitt. Rutten claimed self-defense, but the evidence led to his arrest and commitment to the King County jail.
“What in hell did you shoot my dog for?”
This violent encounter over a domestic pet reflects a stark era where personal disputes were frequently settled with instant, lethal force. It serves as a grim reminder of the volatile atmosphere in the rural settlements surrounding early Seattle, where justice was often informal and immediate.
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