Vigilante Justice in the Big Bend
After a rancher vanishes for two months, a local investigation uncovers a brutal murder and leads to a swift, extrajudicial execution.
The mystery which has long shrouded a dual tragedy has just come to light in the Big Bend country, Washington Territory. Over two months ago a man named Frazier suddenly disappeared from his ranch. Search was diligently made for him for weeks without avail. A short time ago an Indian told a number of Frazier's friends that he had been brutally murdered by another Indian, who was a horse thief, and his body thrown into Moses Lake. To convince them he took the party to the lake and pointed out the body. Search was made and the body of Frazier recovered. The Indian then divulged the name of the murderer, and told where he could be found. A party of vigilantes was organized immediately, and proceeding to the murderer's abode, hung him in short order. The Indian was dressed and inquiry made which has brought the whole matter to light. No arrests have been made, the action of the vigilantes being justified.
“A party of vigilantes was organized immediately, and proceeding to the murderer's abode, hung him in short order.”
This account captures a moment where frontier 'justice' superseded legal procedure in Washington Territory. While the newspaper frame justifies the lynching, it highlights the lawless atmosphere that persisted in the state's interior even as the railroad boom brought formal structures to Puget Sound.
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