The Shootout at Crout's Hotel
A domestic dispute in Seattle turns bloody when a husband from Cheyenne arrives to settle a score with a revolver.
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.
Mrs. Lincoln, wife of Captain J. F. Lincoln, of Cheyenne, has been here some time teaching music, and boarding at Wm. Crout’s hotel. This morning Crout used insulting and opprobrious language to the lady. A telegram was sent to her husband at Cheyenne, who came up on the train, and proceeding to interview Crout’s with a revolver, he fired three shots, shooting Crout through the body, thighs and one ankle. The wounds are serious but will not likely prove fatal.
“A telegram was sent to her husband at Cheyenne, who came up on the train, and proceeding to interview Crout’s with a revolver, he fired three shots.”
This 1878 shooting at a boarding house highlights the precarious nature of housing and lodging in early Seattle, where personal disputes in communal living spaces could rapidly escalate into gun violence. Today, while boarding house culture has evolved into complex debates over density and tenant-landlord mediation, the volatility of these shared residential environments remains a recurring feature of the city's growth pains.
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