The Waterfront Gunfire Crisis of 1877
An urgent plea from Seattle’s waterfront workers to stop the reckless recreational shooting that was putting lives at risk.
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.
Some time ago we referred to the practice of shooting about the wharves as being a dangerous one, and one that should be immediately stopped. Since then we have heard no complaints made for the reason, we presume, that the authorities gave the matter their attention; but now we are requested to call their attention to it again. During the past week a number of thoughtless boys have been shooting at gulls and other sea birds in the vicinity of the Seattle Coal & Transportation Company wharf, and on several occasions have sent their bullets in rather uncomfortable proximity to the men employed there. If this is not stopped at once, some one will most certainly be injured if not killed. There are laws prohibiting the use of fire-arms in the city limits, and the police should see to it that all persons who violate the same are dealt with, and some of these miscreants made an example of, as these parties appear to be totally reckless as to consequences, and on two or three occasions their stray bullets have lodged in the walls of dwelling houses in the city.
“If this is not stopped at once, some one will most certainly be injured if not killed.”
While the specific threat of stray gunfire on the waterfront has faded, the tension between recreational usage of urban space and industrial/residential safety remains a constant in Seattle’s rapidly densifying waterfront neighborhoods. The call for authorities to prioritize public safety over casual, dangerous behavior is a familiar refrain in 21st-century civic debates about the downtown core.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.