Tragedy at the Stringham Place
A falling cedar tree claims the life of a shoemaker on a homestead between Seattle and Lake Washington.
Gustavus Johnson, who resides on the Stringham place, half way between Seattle and Lake Washington, met with instant death yesterday under the following circumstances: Johnson was engaged in felling a cedar tree, which lodged against another tree. When the second tree fell it struck Johnson on the head, driving him into the soft ground nearly to his hips and killing him instantly. The deceased was a shoemaker by trade, and leaves a family to mourn his untimely and violent death.
“When the second tree fell it struck Johnson on the head, driving him into the soft ground nearly to his hips and killing him instantly.”
This tragic incident highlights the extreme dangers inherent in the labor of land clearing during the rapid settlement of the Seattle area. It serves as a reminder of the human cost paid for the transformation of wild forest into the residential and commercial property that defines the region today.
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