The Hunt for a Stolen Child
A desperate father traces his young daughter from Portland to a mysterious house in Snohomish City, sparking a quiet, tense search through the frontier settlement.
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.
KIDNAPPING.—On Thursday of last week, Mrs. Maxwell brought a little girl, 10 years of age, to this city from Portland. Both were subsequently seen at the house near the foot of Main street, where a young woman by the name of Smith stays. The last information we have gathered about them was that they took a carriage, Monday night, for a drive into the country. Last evening a Mr. Sullivan, of Portland, came to this city on the stage, searching for his little daughter—the one we have mentioned—who had been enticed from home without his knowledge. He obtained the necessary papers and took steps toward gaining the possession of his little daughter again.
“He obtained the necessary papers and took steps toward gaining the possession of his little daughter again.”
Kidnapping cases in the 1870s often played out as private, high-stakes dramas settled by parents and local authorities before the era of widespread mass communication. Today, the 'foot of Main street' in Snohomish is the site of bustling historic storefronts and riverfront trails, masking the site of this desperate search.
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