Tragedy in Succotash Valley
A pioneer farmer is killed while clearing land, leaving his wife to discover the gruesome scene in their remote homestead.
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.
J. A. Comstock, aged 36, was crushed to death while clearing timber on his ranch in the Succotash Valley near Elbe. While burning trees on his land, a large fir tree unexpectedly toppled, pinning Comstock against another fallen trunk. His wife, hearing the crash, investigated the site and found her husband mortally wounded. Neighbors were summoned to assist in cutting through the massive timber to recover his body. The Comstocks, originally from Ohio, had been working their ranch for two years, making significant improvements to their property. The local community responded with an outpouring of support, bringing wild flowers for his burial service.
“The great weight of the tree had crashed his body from his waist to his hips into a jelly.”
This tragedy highlights the extreme physical danger faced by early settlers in the Pacific Northwest who were responsible for clearing vast tracts of old-growth forest by hand.
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