The Jailbreak Plot That Rocked the County Jail
A notorious gambler and blackmailer led a group of dangerous inmates in a scheme to seize the jailer and escape through the steel tank.
The story, cleaned up
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Joe Young, the notorious gambler and would-be blackmailer of Police Commissioner Relfe, was revealed as the leader of a well-laid plan to break out of the county jail. Jailer Munroe discovered a 38-caliber British bulldog revolver hidden in Young’s cell, leading to a massive search. Young occupied a cell with several other desperate men, including a murderer and a highway robber. The plot involved sawing through the bars or surprising the night jailer and forcing him at gunpoint to open the doors. Young’s wife had been a point of suspicion, as she frequently visited and leaned close to the cell bars, though no contraband was found on her person. Authorities conducted a sweeping search of the prison, stripping inmates to uncover the weapons. While the revolver was found, the burglar tools remain missing, and Young faces further discipline in solitary confinement.
“If yer tink it's there, go find it yerself.”
County jail security and the drama of high-profile inmates have been a constant thread in Seattle’s civic history. Just as this 1891 incident exposed vulnerabilities in the facility, the debate over the adequacy of jail infrastructure remains a recurring point of civic contention in Seattle today.
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