Tragedy on the Naches Road
A seven-year-old girl is killed in a freak horse-and-wagon collision near the Naches River.
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.
A fatal and very sad accident, for which no blame can attach to any one, occurred on Sunday last in the Naches valley and resulted in the death of Ethel, the 7-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Manning. Mr. Eschbach and his brother, Peter, were driving a team up the Naches, when the pin fastening the doubletree worked out, causing the horses to run. Both men were thrown from the wagon. A. A. Manning and his two daughters were further along the road in an open hack; the frantic team collided with the hack, overturning and crushing it. The iron-bound hoof of one of the horses struck little Ethel in the back of the head, causing instantaneous death. Mr. Manning was badly shaken, and the older sister was injured. The community expressed deep sympathy for the bereaved family.
“The ruthless and iron-bound hoof of one of the horses had struck the little girl in the back of the head, fracturing the skull and exposing the brain, death being instantaneous.”
This incident highlights the inherent dangers of early transit in Yakima's rural valleys, where a single mechanical failure—a dropped pin—could lead to immediate, fatal catastrophe. It serves as a stark reminder of how rapidly the landscape of the Naches Valley has transformed from a hazardous, horse-drawn frontier to a modern, interconnected agricultural hub.
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