The Cheadle Point Shootings
A domestic dispute on a remote homestead near Tacoma turns into a violent, chaotic bloodbath involving a revolver and a desperate act of intervention.
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.
A tragic shooting occurred at the homestead of L.C. Cheadle, located on a promontory called Cheadle's Point, roughly four miles north of Brown's Point in King County. C. Crossin and his wife had been staying at the ranch following a recent reconciliation. On Monday night, Crossin began acting strangely, refusing medicine. He eventually barricaded himself and his wife in a room. When Mrs. Crossin cried out for help, her father, Mr. Cheadle, rushed to the door and was fired upon, receiving a scalp wound. Cheadle and his wife managed to wrestle the weapon from Crossin, but Crossin reached for a second revolver. At this point, Jack Bickers, Mrs. Crossin’s brother, intervened by firing at Crossin, striking him in the mouth. All parties survived the initial encounter, though Crossin was reported in critical condition. Authorities remain uncertain as to the true motivation behind the outburst.
“For God's sake, Charley, don't shoot me.”
This incident highlights the grim reality of domestic violence in remote Washington Territory homesteads, where isolation often delayed medical aid and law enforcement. The story illustrates how the 19th-century press struggled to balance reporting on brutal intimate partner violence with the 'polite' societal conventions of the era.
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