The West Point Forger Who Vanished From Tacoma
A polished stranger with a celebrated military past talked his way into Tacoma's lumber trade—then left a forged check and a trail gone cold.
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.
TACOMA, Nov. 7.—J. Courteney, a graduate of West Point and an Indian fighter, with three honored scars gotten in hard fighting just after the Custer massacre, and a man who has shone in society in different parts of the country he has visited, is wanted here for passing a forged check. Courteney left the city about four months ago and seemed to be in hard luck at the time. For a short while he worked at the Tacoma mill at hard labor around the yards. Noticing that the lumber business was one of the most important industrial features of the northwest, he apparently took a fancy to it.
Coming into the office of a local timber-man one day, he told him he intended to learn the lumber business from A to Z. The lumberman took an interest in the fine-looking, intellectual, middle-aged man, whose manners were engaging and voice bespoke a person of gentle breeding. A position was secured for Courteney at Wheeler, Osgood Co.'s sash and door factory. He rapidly gained a knowledge of the business and showed tact and discernment, and was on the high road to advancement.
Last Wednesday, Courteney took a check for $125 upon Wheeler, Osgood Co., signed by the superintendent of the firm and supposed to be for money due him, and passed it at the Pioneer saloon. Proprietor Marshall did not find out for several days that the paper was a forgery. When the discovery was made Courteney had left the city. He is reported to have made efforts to pass another check for $140. Efforts to find him have resulted in nothing.
“He rapidly gained a knowledge of the business and showed tact and discernment, and was on the high road to advancement.”
Confidence men still trade on credentials and a good story; what changed is how quickly a forged check can be traced. The case is a reminder that respectability has always been a disguise anyone can buy—or fake.
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