The Tragedy of a Cattle Stampede
A panicked herd causes a fire and widespread destruction near Seattle, leaving the community reeling from the sudden calamity.
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.
A sad tragedy occurred in the neighborhood of the White River. A large herd of cattle, while being driven through the country, became frightened. The creatures turned and ran, and in their mad rush, they burned Charles Hanes' barn and stable, and killed his cows. Charlie fled, and the settlers are still with excitement, as he feels unable to approach the building from a distance.
“The creatures turned and ran, and in their mad rush, they burned Charles Hanes' barn and stable.”
In 1885, the threat of livestock stampedes was a visceral, physical danger to rural livelihoods. Today, while the cows are gone from the White River Valley, the conflict over land use and property destruction remains a constant, if differently shaped, struggle in the rapidly developing suburbs of South King County.
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