Missing Money Lender Feared Dead in the Snow
An elderly man disappears while trekking across a fifteen-mile stretch of frozen prairie near Waterville.
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.
M. D. McConnell, 60 years old, an eccentric money lender of Waterville, has been missing since December 23, and is believed to be dead. On that date he left his ranch at the mouth of Moses Coulee, bound for Rock Island or Waterville. He has not been seen or heard of since. Presumably he perished in the snow during the storm on the 24th. Being a man past the prime of life, he must have become fatigued with the long walk in the heavy snow. He was following the Great Northern track when last seen. Between his starting place and Waterville, there is a fifteen-mile waste of snow-covered prairie, where it is believed the deceased is now lying.
“It is somewhere in this fifteen mile waste of snow-covered prairie that the deceased money lender is believed to be lying.”
This story serves as a stark reminder of the extreme environmental dangers faced by those crossing the rural interior of Washington State during the harsh winters of the late 19th century.
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