A Desperate Escape from the Northern Pacific
A convicted burglar leaps from a speeding train to freedom, only to be found hiding inside a hollowed-out log.
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.
While being brought back to Seattle from the state penitentiary at Walla Walla by Deputy Sheriffs Monroe and Small, City Detective Roberts, and another deputy, a prisoner named John Dryden made a bold but unsuccessful dash for liberty. A little after noon, when the Northern Pacific train was one mile west of Palmer, the officers took the prisoner to the dining car, removing his irons so he could eat. When the train reached the vestibule of the smoker, Dryden—who was in the lead—noticed the side door was open and jumped from the train while it was moving at a high rate of speed. Detective Roberts pulled the bell cord, stopping the train, and launched a manhunt. Officers and section workers tracked Dryden into the woods. Monroe and Roberts eventually discovered him hiding inside a hollow log; they found him by spotting his hand protruding through a crack where a fallen tree had burst the log open. Dryden was recaptured, wet, muddy, and injured, having struck a bulkhead during his leap.
“You can't blame a fellow for trying to get away.”
This daring escape attempt on the Northern Pacific line reflects the precarious nature of 19th-century prisoner transport, which often relied on public rail routes. Today, the Green River and Palmer areas remain largely forested, though the rail corridors have evolved into vital regional transit links.
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