The Tragedy on the Mud Flats
A fisherman’s attempt to reach his boat in the dark ends in a horrific drowning, as bystanders mistake his cries for help.
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.
It has been ascertained that an old fisherman named Lawson, who was found drowned in the mud a short distance from George street wharf yesterday, met a most terrible death. An examination today shows that he fell out of his small boat on the mud flat while trying to board his larger boat at anchor, the night before. His small boat drifted away, and being unable to climb into the larger one, he attempted to wade ashore. After going a few steps, he sank to his middle in the soft mud and there remained until the incoming tide slowly crept up his body and earned his fate. His screeches for help were heard by some Greek fishermen, but they did not think they were from a man in distress.
“He sank to his middle in the soft mud and there remained until the incoming tide slowly crept up his body and earned his fate.”
While this account predates the massive regrading and industrial development of Seattle's waterfront, the story captures the ever-present danger of the city's mud flats—a landscape that shaped the early lives and deaths of laborers long before the concrete piers were poured.
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