A Double Tragedy in Lewis County
A tragic hunting accident leads to a young boy's death and the subsequent destruction of his family home by fire.
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 Sunday last, two young sons of Mr. Henry Booth, living near Olequa station (Pumphrey’s landing), Lewis County, went out hunting. One of the boys fell off a log, and his gun was discharged—the load entered his mouth and tore the upper part of his head off. The other boy ran to the house and reported the death of his brother, the father being away. Mrs. Booth hurriedly left for the dreadful scene. While absent, the haystack on the place caught fire; the flames were communicated to the house, and Mr. Booth’s home was burned to the ground. We gather these facts from Mr. M. R. Tilley, who has but recently returned from the neighborhood where the destruction of life and property occurred.
“One of the boys fell off a log, and his gun was discharged—the load entered his mouth and tore the upper part of his head off.”
This story illustrates the precarity of frontier life in 1876, where a single domestic accident could cascade into total ruin. It serves as a stark reminder of the risks faced by pioneer families in the rural landscape of Western Washington.
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