Fatal Family Dispute Over Squatter's Rights
A Lake Chelan property feud ends in a fatal shooting after a father and son attempt to intimidate a relative.
The story, cleaned up
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At Lakeside, on Lake Chelan, October 13, a dispute turned deadly. Old man Evans and his son, Orin, arrived at James Pumpelly's house—the father with a club, the son with a gun. They were there to confront Berry, who had married a daughter of Mrs. Pumpelly, over a disagreement regarding a squatter's ranch. When the elder Evans began beating Berry with a club, James Pumpelly emerged with a rifle. Pumpelly ordered Orin Evans to lower his weapon; when Orin refused and continued to threaten him, Pumpelly fired, striking the younger man in the chest. Orin died within an hour. The elder Evans was arrested on a charge of assault with intent to kill.
“Instead of lowering his gun young Evans became more threatening in his attitude, when Pumpelly fired at him and sent a bullet into his right breast.”
This conflict over squatter’s rights and property boundaries echoes the volatile nature of frontier land claims before definitive titles were established. It serves as a reminder of how quickly civic disputes over resources could escalate into lethal violence in the absence of institutional conflict resolution.
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