Forced Removal to Steilacoom Asylum
A young mother of five is ordered to the state hospital after suffering a mental health crisis involving her family.
Mrs. Maggie Hoag, the wife of David H. Hoag, who became insane several days ago, was ordered to the Steilacoom asylum by Judge Greene and was taken there by Deputy Sheriff Nesery. She became violently insane and had all manner of delusions, which caused her to attack her husband with a knife and to attempt to drown her baby in the Snoqualmie river. She is only thirty and has five children.
“She became violently insane and had all manner of delusions, which caused her to attack her husband with a knife and to attempt to drown her baby.”
This story highlights the brutal, institutional response to mental health crises in the 19th century, where 'insanity' was managed through commitment to distant state facilities. Western State Hospital (formerly Steilacoom) remains a point of history regarding how Washington State has managed mental healthcare and civil rights over the last century.
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