The Brutal Legacy of Seattle's Vigilante Justice
A citizen letter from 1894 reflects on the city's dark history of mob violence and the perceived failure of the legal system to address crime.
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.
Years ago, citizens were shot down near their own dwellings for not holding up their hands when bidden by roughs. David Syraa, on police duty, trying to arrest a burglar at night, was shot down when no one was in the street to see the deed. Three men were arrested on circumstantial evidence—the want of direct proof would have cost King County thousands of dollars in prosecuting, with the certainty of the guilty parties escaping conviction. Our best citizens found the law impotent and life shamefully unprotected. Then came the means, as old as the memory of man: 'Self-preservation is the first law of nature,' 'Necessity knows no law,' and on the spur of the moment the community appealed to lynch law. They improvised a court, jury, and examined witnesses; they discarded technicalities, and they found sufficient facts pointed to these accused men to pronounce them guilty, and they were hung in James street (where the Pioneer building now stands) notwithstanding the laudable effort of our chief to cut them down. There were no more such murders in this city for a long, long time.
“Our best citizens found the law impotent and life shamefully unprotected. Then came the means, as old as the memory of man: 'Self-preservation is the first law of nature.'”
This letter exposes the 19th-century justification for extralegal violence in the heart of Pioneer Square. It serves as a reminder that Seattle's 'progressive' reputation sits atop a history of violent frontier vigilantism often excused by claims of judicial inefficiency.
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