A Father’s Long Journey to Reclaim His Daughter
A desperate father travels to Colfax to bring his teenage daughter back home after she was found in a locked room.
Myrtle Gist, the girl who was found in Colfax in company with a man, was today sent to her home in Walla Walla. The girl’s father, who moved to Walla Walla from Iowa four years ago with his family, said his daughter disappeared from home on Monday, May 25th. After making efforts to find her, he appealed to the officers. He told Sheriff Canutt he is a poor man and could ill afford to make the trip to Colfax to get his daughter, but gave the sheriff money to pay for her fare to Walla Walla and she was put on the train and sent home today.
“He says he knows of no reason for the girl leaving home.”
This account reveals the period’s rigid social policing of young women and the limited options available to working-class families navigating crisis. It highlights the vulnerability of migrant families, like the Gists, who arrived in Washington seeking a fresh start.
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