Teenager Charged with Fatal Shooting of Indigenous Man
A tragic confrontation on a La Conner wharf leaves a man dead and the local community in a state of high tension.
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.
Elmer Hersey, a young boy, is under arrest at La Conner, charged with killing a Siwash. He was shooting at a murre with a rifle on Mr. Schiricker’s wharf just before sundown, when an Indian passed in a canoe. He asked the man to stop, received some saucy reply, and kept on shooting. Before the Indian had gone 30 yards, a ball from the rifle struck him, killing him instantly. Great excitement prevails among the Indians.
“Before the Indian had gone 30 yards, a ball from the rifle struck him, killing him instantly.”
This item documents a horrific instance of anti-Indigenous violence in Skagit County. Such reports in 1890 newspapers often reflect the era's dehumanizing language while underscoring the deep-seated racial tensions of the frontier.
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