The Tragic End of a Nooksack Valley Feud
A bitter dispute over character defamation concludes in a double shooting and a frantic manhunt in the woods near Ferndale.
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 the last Territorial election, Dr. B. N. Mayfield was a candidate for Auditor of Whatcom County. During the canvass, John Guildy, a rancher on the Nooksack River, wrote letters stating Dr. Mayfield was not an upright man and made insulting remarks about his sister. Wesley Mayfield, the doctor's brother, and the sister met Guildy in the woods and gave him a sound thrashing. Guildy later threatened to 'shoot the Mayfield family down like dogs.' On Monday evening, September 21st, as A. C. Mayfield returned from dinner, he was shot down by Guildy. His son Wesley, hearing the shot, ran to help his sister gather washing. Guildy asked the sister where Wesley was, and upon her pointing him out, fired at him with a Winchester. The girl grabbed an axe to chase the murderer but stumbled over her father's body. Wesley escaped but was shot through the chest and is in critical condition. Yesterday, a party of scouts surprised Guildy two miles from Ferndale. After a brief shootout, he was killed. The world is better off without him.
“Guildy had the young man arrested for assault and battery... Guildy was very angry, and said to ex-Sheriff Leckie and others that as he could not get justice under the law he would have to shoot the Mayfield family down like dogs.”
This violent episode illustrates the volatility of personal honor and the lack of reliable police presence in 1885 Washington, where civilians were often forced into vigilante 'scouting parties' to enforce law. It serves as a stark reminder of how disputes in rural territories could quickly escalate to lethal outcomes without formal conflict resolution.
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