The Cattle Swindle of Tacoma
A failed business partnership descends into a courtroom brawl, a fake arrest, and a high-stakes search for a missing team of horses.
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.
Some time since, a man named C. W. Hutchinson and W. H. Harris, of Tacoma, formed a copartnership for the purpose of carrying on a sort of dairying business. Harris put in the money and Hutchinson was to superintend and carry on the work. Shortly after they got started, Harris became suspicious that his partner was robbing him. Now and then a cow would disappear and no report of her sale would be made, and so on, till finally Hutchinson sold out what was left for $417 and skipped out, taking with him a span of horses and a wagon. Harris heard that Hutchinson was at Port Blakely, so he procured a warrant for his arrest, and yesterday brought him to this city. Hutchinson employed Messrs. Raal, Gilman and J. H. Lewis to defend him, and in looking over the warrant issued by a Tacoma Justice of the Peace, they discovered it was not worth the paper on which it was written, and at once applied to the court for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. Hutchinson afterwards met Harris on the street and abused him. Harris had his trade-partner arrested on a charge of assault with words, and locked up, and in the meantime telegraphed to Tacoma for a good warrant. Harris found the team and wagon which belong to him. They were 'in soak' here for $40 at one of our livery stables.
“Harris became suspicious that his partner was robbing him. Now and then a cow would disappear and no report of her sale would be made.”
This 1885 dispute over a disappearing business partner, missing assets, and a flawed legal warrant feels remarkably familiar to modern small business owners navigating the complexities of contract law and civil disputes. The incident highlights how, even as Seattle transitioned from a frontier town to a growing city, the intersection of commerce and crime remained a constant source of civic drama.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.