The Walla Walla Horse Thief Chase Ends in Seattle
After trailing stolen stock from Walla Walla to the Puget Sound, a deputy sheriff finally corners the desperadoes near Beacon Hill.
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.
Deputy Sheriff Kees of Walla Walla has been hot on the trail of a gang of horse thieves who drove ten head of stolen stock from a ranch near Walla Walla through the Snoqualmie Pass, eventually reaching Seattle. The chase came to a head last Sunday near the Beacon Hill ridge in Seattle. The thieves, who are known to be dangerous and heavily armed, were forced to abandon their jaded animals. Deputy Kees had been tracking the suspects for days, coordinating with Seattle police and special deputies. The suspects include an ex-convict with a history of violence. While the chase resulted in the recovery of the stolen animals, the suspects managed to conceal themselves in the dark and remain at large.
“Both the rustlers are known to be desperate men and are heavily armed, and it was for this reason that as soon as the posse started, that Deputy Kees telephoned to the sheriff's office asking for a supply of rifles.”
This 1903 pursuit highlights the vast geography of the region in the early 20th century, where a crime in Eastern Washington resulted in a multi-day high-stakes manhunt across the Cascade Mountains to the growing metropolis of Seattle. Today, the route over Snoqualmie Pass remains a critical, albeit much faster, artery connecting the two sides of the state.
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