The Price of a Scandal in Lewis County
A husband takes the law into his own hands after a local hired hand turns his ranch into a site of open infidelity.
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.
In the northwestern corner of Lewis County, within a half-mile of the Thurston County line, lived one Walter Shotwell and his family, who until a recent date have dwelt together in harmony. Some time ago, Shotwell found it necessary to be from home for some time, and during his absence a hired man named McCart, who had been working in the neighborhood, worked himself into the good graces of Mrs. Shotwell as to supplant the husband's affections with his own, and for some time literally acted lord and master of the ranch. On Shotwell's return he was not quite conspicuous about the house, but continued his visits with such frequency that the matter was a public scandal. Last week, both Shotwell and McCart were engaged by a neighbor for farm work, and during the day McCart took every opportunity to abuse Shotwell in the most mean and outrageous manner. When Shotwell reached home in the evening, he became so enraged at McCart's conduct that he took a pistol and shot him in the face, the ball entering just at the side of the nose and coming out at the cheek. On being shot, McCart turned and ran, whereupon Shotwell fired twice more, one ball entering the back and the other the leg of the fleeing man. McCart was picked up by the neighbors and the doctor sent for, who arrived next day to find his patient in a fair way to recover. In his pocket was found a savage-looking knife, and those with all the circumstances believe it was his intention to provoke Shotwell so that he might get into a fight with him and kill him. If the circumstances as reported to us are true, the only wonder is that Shotwell should be so unfortunate as not to shoot so well that the coroner would need to have been called instead of the doctor. The affair was talked of in the neighborhood for several days, and on coming to the ears of Sheriff Deggert, he went down and arrested Shotwell, who was examined before Justice Taylor and bound over to await the results of McCart's wounds. To reach that portion of Lewis County, the sheriff was obliged to visit portions of Thurston and Chehalis counties and travel almost double the distance between that point and the county seat, owing to the lack of roads.
“If the circumstances as reported to us are true, the only wonder is that Shotwell should be so unfortunate as not to shoot so well that the coroner would need to have been called instead of the doctor.”
While this 1889 report reflects the era's 'unwritten law' justifications for domestic violence, the struggle with infrastructure and isolation in rural Lewis County remains a familiar theme in Washington's more remote regions, where emergency services still contend with geographic barriers.
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