A Rough Ride on the Frontier
A classic 1877 tale of a stump-jumped wagon and a sprained arm that serves as a reminder of the hazards of navigating early Seattle infrastructure.
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.
Mr. T. S. Russell was driving a team when the wheel of the wagon ran against a stump and threw him out. He sprained his arm.
The report notes that this is why he carries his arm in a sling.
“The wheel of the wagon ran against a stump and threw him out.”
While modern Seattleites contend with potholes and light rail construction, the pioneer-era hazards were more visceral—tree stumps in the road were a literal obstacle to daily transit. This brief snippet captures the mundane reality of infrastructure progress, where 'clearing the streets' was an ongoing, often dangerous, civic project.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.