A Dispute Over Money Ends With a Shot Through the Kidneys Near the White River
John Morse of Seattle shoots a man near Steele's Landing over money matters and escapes; the wounded man is not expected to live.
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.
News reached here this afternoon of a shooting affray which occurred near Steele's Landing on White River. The shooting was done by John Morse, of this city. We did not learn the name of his victim. It seems they had some discussion about money matters, which culminated in Morse's shooting the other through the kidneys, after which he made his escape. The wounded man is not expected to live.
“It seems they had some discussion about money matters, which culminated in Morse's shooting the other through the kidneys, after which he made his escape.”
A money argument that ended in gunfire near a river landing south of Seattle would feel at home in today's headlines — the details are raw, the suspect gets away, and the victim's fate hangs in the balance. In 1877 there was no forensic dragnet, just a name and a description, and the White River carried the story downstream.
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