The Midnight Ambush in the Alley
A saloon proprietor is attacked by a gun-wielding robber in a case of mistaken identity, sparking fears of a local crime wave.
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 Monday night, as Mr. J. J. Ryan was walking from his saloon to his dwelling, someone suddenly rose up before him in the alley in the rear of the business. When Ryan raised his arm before his face and asked, 'Who is there?', he received a blow across his arm from a revolver. Ryan immediately grappled with his assailant to obtain the weapon, and a scuffle ensued in which both men fell to the ground. Ryan finally managed to get hold of his own revolver and fired; his assailant scrambled up and ran away. Ryan fired again as the figure fled, but in the intense darkness, he could not be certain if he hit the man. It is believed the attacker was lying in wait for the proprietor of the St. George Chop House, whom he likely mistook for Mr. Ryan in the dark, as the chop house owner is known to carry his nightly earnings home. There have been rumors for some time of thieves and cut-throats prowling the town, and this incident should serve as a warning to those carrying cash after nightfall to be on the lookout.
“It has for some time been said that there were a number of thieves and cut-throats prowling about the town.”
Alleyways near Main Street in Walla Walla remain spaces of transition and concern. The fear of being targeted for carrying cash while walking home is a recurring anxiety that threads through frontier history into the present.
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