Colville Cabin Tragedy
A friendship ends in violence when a woodsman reportedly loses his sanity and kills his employer.
Victor May was shot and killed Sunday night by W. H. Martin while visiting in Martin's cabin near Colville. Martin had been employed by May to cut wood and resided in a cabin on May's ranch. The two men were known to be good friends, leading authorities to believe that Martin suffered a sudden mental breakdown.
“The men were good friends and it is believed Martin suddenly became insane.”
Then · 1917109 years apartNow · 2026
This incident reflects the historical tendency to frame rural violence through the lens of 'insanity'—a common shorthand in the early 20th century for mental health crises that lacked modern clinical support or interventions.
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