The Price of Vigilantism Under Martial Law
While Seattle remained under military control during the 1886 anti-Chinese riots, a local soldier faced court-martial for an unauthorized raid on a business, highlighting the rigid enforcement of order in a city on the edge.
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.
Pursuant to Field Order No. 1, a General Court Martial assembled at the Courthouse at 10 o'clock yesterday morning for the trial of Private Carney, of Company Q, the soldier who took it upon himself to clean out the establishment of Tong Wa Chong, on Main Street, and who succeeded in frightening the Chinese and breaking several large lights in front of the shop. The Court was in session about an hour, after which it adjourned and reported its findings to Brigadier General John Gibbon, who has not yet made them public. In speaking of this matter, an old soldier who has been in the service a long time said, 'I am afraid it will go hard with Carney, as such conduct as he is charged with, during the pendency of martial law, is almost as bad as if committed in time of war. You probably remember the case of the soldier who resisted his captain while we were here last November. When he got home he was court-martialed and sentenced to imprisonment for three years. I would be surprised if Carney gets less than five years.'
“I am afraid it will go hard with Carney, as such conduct as he is charged with, during the pendency of martial law, is almost as bad as if committed in time of war.”
In early 1886, Seattle was under martial law due to violent anti-Chinese sentiment and forced expulsions. This story captures the tension of that period—where federal troops tried to maintain order while individual soldiers and local vigilantes took matters into their own hands, a volatile dynamic that still echoes in debates over policing, civil liberties, and civic unrest.
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