A Miner Goes to His Claim and Is Found Dead in the Woods
Joseph Gotchy of Bothell vanished between home and a Woodinville-area mining claim, leaving a widow, a large family and no explanation.
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.
A MYSTERIOUS DEATH. Body of a Miner Found Without a Sign of Violence.
Joseph Gotchy, of Bothell, was found dead yesterday morning about a mile and a half east of Woodinville Junction. Friday morning Gotchy left his home, carrying a lunch, to go to a mining claim east of the junction. He left his lunch at the house of a neighbor near his claim, stating that he would come there at noon to eat it. He did not return to lunch, but nothing was thought of it, as he might have been busy at the claim. But when he did not return at night something was thought to be wrong.
Yesterday morning the neighbors went in search of him and found his dead body. The remains were taken to his house yesterday afternoon by deceased's two sons, and Coroner Horton was notified. Gotchy was [age not legible] years old and leaves a widow and a large family of children. He has never been known to have heart disease, and no marks of violence were found on the body. Not even a conjecture of the cause of death was ventured by his family. Coroner Horton will investigate the case today.
“Not even a conjecture of the cause of death was ventured by his family.”
An unexplained death on a rural King County road in 1893 was the kind of local mystery that depended on coroners, neighbors and newspaper readers for answers. Woodinville and Bothell were then small rail and mill settlements, not the suburban cities they are now. The story is a reminder that the region's growth has always been accompanied by isolated places and unexplained losses.
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