Brutal Murder of Two Settlers
A Canadian man and his sons arrested for the cold-blooded killing of two men traveling to Seattle to provide evidence in a murder case.
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.
Ottawa, Feb. 27.—A. H. Miller and his two sons have been arrested for the murder of J. M. Colman and Wilbur Patten near Seattle on the 14th. Colman had accused Miller of having murdered a settler. This charge was about to be investigated, and Colman and Patten were on the way to Seattle in answer to the summons to give evidence when they were murdered in their boat.
“Colman had accused Miller of having murdered a settler. This charge was about to be investigated.”
This violent incident highlights the lawlessness of the frontier era, where legal disputes over land and life were frequently settled through blood rather than courtrooms. It serves as a reminder of the perilous nature of civic duty in the early days of the Pacific Northwest.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.