The Great Escape at Port Madison
A convicted murderer slips past a guard and vanishes into the thick brush, sparking a frantic island-wide 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.
Sheriff Williams of Kitsap County reported the escape of one of the prisoners, named Chas. Watts, from the Port Madison jail. The prisoners were returning from the cook-house where they had been to supper at half-past six last evening, headed by the guard, who went in advance to open the trap door. As they turned the corner of the jail, Watts, who was at the end of the line, slipped away into the brush. The guard was unable to follow him, fearing the prisoners would all run, so he hurried them into the jail, dropped the trap, and started back after Watts. He was unable to find him, however, as the brush is very thick in the neighborhood of the jail. Sheriff Williams, who arrived a few moments after the escape, telegraphed to all the milling towns on the island offering a reward of $200 for his capture. Watts is 45 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches in height, slim built, and stoops slightly. His hair is black, tinged with gray. He wore a gray shirt, dark pants, and a faded sack coat. Watts is the man who was convicted some years ago of murdering a man on San Juan Island, and whose case has been repeatedly appealed since. It was just decided adversely to him and he would have been sentenced to be hanged at the next term of Court at Port Townsend.
“As they turned the corner of the jail, Watts, who was at the end of the line, slipped away into the brush.”
This 1876 jailbreak highlights the precarious nature of early territorial justice, where geography—the 'thick brush' of Kitsap County—served as the primary barrier to escape. Today, the site of the former Port Madison jail remains part of the deep history of Bainbridge Island, where the relationship between the built environment and the rugged landscape remains a central feature of local identity.
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