A Fatal Ride on the Vista Hill
A young man searching for his friend discovers his mangled body by the railroad tracks.
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.
The mangled and lifeless body of Steve Kinsley, of Toppenish, was found alongside the N. P. railroad tracks a mile from Vista last Friday night. Kinsley came to his death under the wheels of N. P. freight train No. 602. His friend, S. Dix, had been searching for him after they became separated while traveling as stowaways on the train to reach the Walla Walla fair. It is the supposition that, upon hearing the engine's whistle, Kinsley went out on top of the refrigerator car to ascertain what station they were approaching, lost his footing, and fell under the moving train. He was about 28 years of age and unmarried.
“The mangled and lifeless body of Steve Kinsley, lying alongside the N. P. railroad tracks a mile this side of Vista, was the gruesome reward of an all-night search.”
Railroads were the arteries of early 20th-century Washington, but they exacted a heavy toll on those traveling informally. The Vista area remains a significant transit corridor today, though far removed from the perilous era of hopping freights.
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