The Price of a Saloon Brawl in Ellensburg
A local hod-carrier's attempt to force a fight in a street theater left him mortally wounded and sparked a desperate struggle for justice in a booming frontier town.
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.
At about 2 o'clock this morning, Jim Slater was shot by Joan Harris in a street theater. The trouble occurred in a street theater, and was started by Slater, who is something of a pugilist, challenging Harris to fight. Being refused, he struck Harris, who ran into a corner of the room, pursued by Slater striking at him. Harris turned, drew a revolver and fired, the ball striking Slater in the hip and ranging inward and upward, making a dangerous wound that is thought by physicians to be fatal. Slater is a hod-carrier and Harris a restaurant-keeper here. It is said both men were under the influence of liquor. Harris was immediately arrested and placed in jail in default of $1,000 bond.
“The trouble occurred in a street theater, and was started by Slater, who is something of a pugilist, challenging Harris to fight.”
While the 1889 version of a 'street theater' brawl in Ellensburg feels like a scene from a western, the recurring theme of public intoxication sparking sudden, lethal violence is a grim constant in Washington's urban history, even as the specific venue types have shifted from theaters to contemporary nightlife zones.
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