Tragedy at McNeil Island: Guard and Prisoners Lost in Sound
A routine transport between the island and Steilacoom turns fatal after a sudden squall capsizes the boat.
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.
W.C. Arnold, a guard, and two prisoners, Charles Olsen and Charles Bennett, of McNeil’s Island, are believed to have been drowned yesterday afternoon while crossing from the island to Steilacoom. Shortly before dusk, the tug Bessie picked up the boat in which the men started for Steilacoom. En route, they were struck by a squall, and a Steilacoom lady says she saw the men clinging to the upturned keel. The prisoners were in charge of the boat under the direction of Guard Arnold. When found, the sails of the boat were tied down, indicating that the men feared a heavy gale. United States Marshal Brown has notified the families of the men. Arnold, aged 30, was a candidate for United States Marshal. Olsen was sentenced from Seattle and Bennett from North Carolina for selling liquor to Indians. The shore of the Sound in the vicinity is being searched for the bodies of the drowned men.
“A Steilacoom lady says she saw the men clinging to the upturned keel.”
The precarious nature of transit between McNeil Island and the mainland remained a constant danger for the duration of the island's use as a federal penitentiary. Today, McNeil Island is a wildlife refuge, and the prison buildings are shuttered, marking the end of a long, controversial chapter in Washington's carceral history.
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