A Tragic End in the Lance District
A rejected suitor's attempt to harm his rival ends in a fatal, self-inflicted gunshot wound behind a Tyler saloon.
The mystery surrounding the death of Ray Corley, son of Henry Corley, a well-to-do farmer of the Lance district near Tyler, Washington, whose body was found behind a Tyler saloon Saturday night with a gaping wound in the temple, has been cleared up. Being rejected in his suit for the hand of Miss Bessie Harris, the despondent lover is believed to have attempted to shoot the young lady and her father while they were on their way to an entertainment in the Tyler schoolhouse. While Mr. Harris and his daughter were passing Judge Boston’s barn, three shots were fired at them in quick succession, all missing. Corley’s footprints show he ran east, struck his head on a clothesline, crossed the Northern Pacific tracks, and returned to town, where he sat down behind a saloon shed and took his own life. Deputy Sheriff Doke stated he is convinced it is a clear case of suicide.
“The boy's head has a ragged three-cornered hole in it which could only have been inflicted by a weapon held very close to the head.”
This 1904 report reflects the era's tendency to document intimate partner violence and mental health crises through the lens of 'despondency' and public crime reports. Today, we view these events as critical indicators of the need for accessible community mental health and domestic violence intervention services in rural areas.
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