A Brutal Murder on the Trail to Fort Steilacoom
A soldier is found dead after a violent altercation involving multiple men, leaving the community in shock.
A soldier named Matthew McCarthy, Co. C, 4th Infantry, was killed on the evening of Saturday, 25th inst., about a mile from this town, on a trail leading from Steilacoom City to Fort Steilacoom. The deceased had some difficulty with a man named Anthony Hem in the forenoon, which, as soon as they had drunk wine liquor, led to a fight. While so engaged, another man, named Larry Moneghen, joined in on McCarthy, threw him down, and bit off a part of his nose. McCarthy was very much intoxicated at the time; he was scarcely able to walk. He, however, made the best of his way towards home, but was met on the trail by DeWitt Gardener, lately a Sergeant of Capt. Maloney's company, who killed him in a most shocking manner. McCarthy had four distinct gun-shot wounds on his body: one penetrated the chest, passed through the region of the heart, and out at the back; another penetrated the chest, and passed out at the back of the head, discharging a part of the brain; one bullet passed through the left hand and held the brain; and another through the muscles of the arm. Gardener came into town immediately and gave himself up to the Sheriff.
“He who was guilty of this unmanly and brutal action is called a soldier.”
The trail between the town of Steilacoom and the historic Fort Steilacoom was a vital artery in 1860, but it was also a site of frontier violence fueled by alcohol and military tensions. Today, the area is largely preserved as a park, but the memory of such brutal, sudden deaths remains a stark reminder of the volatile nature of early territorial life.
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