Border Smuggling and Violence Near Wickersham
A citizen posse intercepts a group of thirteen migrants near the railroad tracks, leading to a shootout and local 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.
About 3 a.m. yesterday, thirteen contraband Chinese migrants, accompanied by two white men, were seen passing on the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern railroad south of Sumas. One of the white men is supposed to be the celebrated Terry, who figured so conspicuously in a Chinese shooting affray near this place two years ago. The company was observed by two citizens of Sumas, who followed them to near Wickersham, where they attempted to arrest the party. The white men, who were evidently smugglers, opened fire upon their pursuers, and the two citizens returned the fire. One Chinese man fell, a ball having passed through his thigh. The guides and nine others broke for the woods and escaped. One man, together with the wounded one, were put under arrest. Officers and a posse of citizens guarded all the trails and roads, eventually capturing three more. The wounded man was taken to St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Sedro.
“The white men, who were evidently smugglers, opened fire upon their pursuers, and the two citizens returned the compliment.”
This incident reflects the violent 'expulsion' era of the 1880s and 1890s in Washington, where organized anti-Chinese sentiment and local vigilante violence were commonplace. The 'smuggling' reported here was a direct consequence of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which forced migrants into dangerous, clandestine routes that remain part of the region's complex, often brutal, border history.
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