The Man Who Shot at a Chinese Girl and Then Tried to Fight the Police
A drunken brawl on Washington Street ends with a drunkard in irons, revealing the volatile mix of frontier lawlessness and early civic order in Seattle.
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.
ON THE WAR PATH. A bully by the name of D. Thorndike, mad with liquor, started out on the street last night about 11 o'clock in the Live Oak region. His object, it was said, was to fire his pistol at a Chinese girl as he was passing by, but it remained firm. He then visited one of the square brothels and shot at a clockwoman. One of the occupants said afterward that a man who attempted to interfere with him fell. Thorndike was notified and finally found the fellow on Washington Street attempting an arrest. He blustered about terrifically and drawing his shooter declared that no policeman could take him, but he was finally floored, handcuffed, and taken to the jail.
This 1876 account captures Seattle’s transition from a rough frontier town to a regulated city. The mention of 'Live Oak' (a historic neighborhood near Pioneer Square) and the specific interaction with law enforcement highlights how early police forces had to contend with not just crime, but the sheer unpredictability of alcohol-fueled violence in a young settlement.
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