A Homesteader's Last Walk Home
Frederick W. Hoyt left Spokane with a bottle in his pocket, took a shortcut across his field, and was found frozen in the snow by his young son.
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.
Spokane Spokesman, January 3. — The body of Frederick W. Hoyt was found yesterday morning by his little son 160 yards from his farmhouse, on White Bluff prairie, six miles west of Spokane. He had come to town last Friday and is supposed to have indulged freely in drink. Starting home with a bottle of whisky in his pocket, he undertook to make a short cut across his field. He probably stopped to rest, fell asleep and froze to death. The snow had banked up around him, indicating that his death occurred Friday night or Saturday morning. Hoyt had frequently remained in town two or three days on a spree and his family had not suspected that any greater misfortune had overtaken him. He was a homesteader and had resided there 13 years. He leaves a wife and five children.
“He probably stopped to rest, fell asleep and froze to death. The snow had banked up around him.”
Spokane's winters still kill people who fall asleep outdoors, and the city's response to homelessness and addiction remains a matter of life and death. In 1895, the tragedy was treated as a cautionary tale about drink; today it reads as a story about a family and a community's duty to a man in crisis.
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