The Great 'Broad Gauge' Railway Riot
When two rival railroad companies turned the Seattle tideflats into a battlefield, hundreds of hired hands and lawyers clashed over a single strip of land.
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.
The struggle between the Puget Sound Shore Railway and the Columbia and Puget Sound Railway companies for the possession of the strip on the tideflats, known as the 'broad gauge strip,' had hitherto been a legal one, but yesterday the struggle to gain possession was one of force. About noon, nearly 200 men appeared suddenly on the strip. They seemed to spring up in all directions, commanded by F. A. Hill, superintendent of the narrow-gauge railroad. Some six or seven employees of the broad-gauge company were laying track near a warehouse when the 200 cohorts of the narrow gauge attacked the little band. The tools of the smaller party were thrown into the water, as was a large amount of lumber. A barricade was constructed to separate the strip, and for over three hours, the war raged. Clothing was torn and there was considerable jostling, pushing, and shouting. Manager Nadeau of the broad-gauge company rallied a force by hiring men for 50 cents an hour. Three of Hill’s Italian cohorts were knocked overboard, and one was struck with a crowbar, maddening the 'hot Roman blood' of his countrymen who dared the opposition to come forward and have their throats cut. The conflict only ended when the broad-gauge side applied for an injunction from Judge Hanford. Sheriff McGraw arrived to serve the papers, forcing the 'hired fighters' to cease operations. The combatants met the outcome with good humor, crowding around the offices to secure their pay, which amounted to about $1.50 each.
“The melee at times became very exciting. Nearly 200 men were gathered around it. A charge would be made, and the attacking party would be pushed back. Clothing was torn and there was considerable jostling, pushing and shouting, but no actual fighting.”
This 1889 'railroad war' captures the lawless, high-stakes nature of Seattle’s early industrial development, where physical force often moved faster than the courts. Today's infrastructure disputes in Seattle may be fought in planning committees and permit offices rather than with crowbars on the tideflats, but the underlying battle over the city's waterfront and land usage remains a perennial struggle.
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