The Solitary End of a Salmon Bay Logger
A lonely worker’s death by suicide at a cabin in Salmon Bay highlights the hidden struggles of the frontier laborers who built the region's early economy.
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.
D. W. Crooks, a man who has been largely engaged in the logging business on the Sound for some years past, and who has lately resided at Salmon Bay, started out with his rifle on a hunt yesterday. Not returning during the night, some alarm was felt and search was made, and this morning his lifeless body was found in an old cabin a few miles from his place, hung by the neck with a hay rope to the rafters, under circumstances which proved conclusively that he had committed suicide. His rifle was standing in one corner, with his hat hanging on the muzzle, and near his feet was a small box on which he had evidently stood while fixing the fatal noose. Deceased was aged about 53 years and was a native of Canada, where he has relatives now residing. Since the death of his wife, which occurred in Canada, he has been very much depressed. He leaves a family of children in the East. The inquest takes place this afternoon at 4 o'clock, and the funeral services from the Presbyterian Church to-morrow at 1 o'clock, P. M.
“His rifle was standing in one corner, with his hat hanging on the muzzle, and near his feet was a small box on which he had evidently stood while fixing the fatal noose.”
While modern Seattle focuses on the rapid transformation of the Salmon Bay industrial waterfront, this 1878 account reminds us that the city's foundation was built by itinerant, often isolated laborers. The tragic mention of Crooks' struggle with grief and isolation mirrors the ongoing crisis of mental health and social alienation among the displaced and transient populations of contemporary Pacific Northwest cities.
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