Street Shooting Over a Libel Allegation
A legislative-era street fight in Olympia leaves one man dying after an accusation of arson.
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.
An affray of a serious character occurred on our streets this morning. It will be remembered that an article appeared in the Overland Press of Nov. 10th, alleging that an attempt was made on the night of the 20th of October to burn all the buildings belonging to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in Lewis county, occupied by George B. Roberts, and that 'Horace Howe is the venerable gray-headed villain who attempted to perpetrate this diabolical deed.' It appears that Mr. Howe, alluded to in the above, saw H. F. Kendall on the street this morning, conversing with a gentleman in front of the Pacific House, and then and there struck him with a small hazel stick. Kendall ran across the street, Howe following him. During this time Kendall drew from his coat pocket a revolver and commenced firing on Howe. He fired four shots, the third of which took effect in Howe's left side. The ball struck the cartilage of the tenth rib, entering obliquely the stomach, causing internal hemorrhage. We learn from the physicians attending the wounded man that it is impossible for him to recover from the wound.
“We must say, however, that for a man of Kendall's years and manhood to fire upon an aged, unarmed man like his adversary, in no wise removes our poor opinion of Kendall's courage.”
Public altercations over printed accusations were common in the vitriolic political culture of the 1860s. Today, such a dispute would likely land in a civil courtroom under defamation law rather than playing out with firearms on a city street.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.