The Great Horse Heist of South Tacoma
A doctor's horse is snatched from a storefront and recovered miles away in the timber.
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 daring attempt to rob Dr. Harvey of his saddle horse was made last night. The doctor had his horse hitched in front of Bonney's drug store, and about 8 o'clock he and Bonney heard a noise, and they went to the door just in time to see an unknown man mounted on the horse and going up Pacific avenue at a full gallop. A chase was instituted at once, but the rider made his way over the hill and into the timber. About 1 o'clock this morning the horse came to a stable in South Tacoma and was captured. The thief had either been thrown off or abandoned the animal.
“They went to the door just in time to see an unknown man mounted on the horse and going up Pacific avenue at full gallop.”
Pacific Avenue remains a major artery in Tacoma, though the open timber the thief escaped into has long been replaced by dense urban development. Stealing a horse was a serious felony in 1884, carrying the weight of a major transportation theft today.
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