The Cowboy Who Returned to Seattle
A decade-long separation, a tragic misunderstanding, and a chance encounter in Texas reunite a pair of long-lost lovers.
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.
One morning a small crowd gathered at St. Patrick's Church, on the corner of Thirteenth and Market streets, to see a young couple married. From those who have known the family intimately for years, we are enabled to give the details of a most romantic story. About ten years ago, there lived in this city a family named Sinclair, consisting of a father, mother, and two daughters. With them came a young gentleman named Edward Fee. The family had been well-off at one time, but luck cheated them, and they had just enough to live well. One of the young ladies, Miss Kittie, was but 15 years of age. Her sister Maggie was fair of face and soft of speech, and between her and young Fee there soon sprang up a very close attachment. He was 23 years old and she was just 15. Their friendship deepened into love, and one fine day the young man told his love. After much consultation with friends, Fee left the city to make his fortune. He traveled over the entire South, but luck was against him. One morning he woke up in Texas and found himself herding cattle. All this time he had been working with the intention of coming back some day and marrying his Seattle girl, but one day he received a letter from a friend saying it was rumored that Maggie Sinclair was to be married soon. He naturally concluded that the girl, who was so young when he left, had become tired of waiting. Maggie, meanwhile, had abiding faith in her old love and steadily refused all offers. Seven weeks ago, Maggie’s sister, Kittie, married William Malone and went on a wedding trip to Texas. In Brownstown, they were stopped by a big, broad-shouldered, sunburnt fellow who exclaimed: 'Why, Kittie, don't you know Ed Fee?' The party were then treated to a celebratory dance executed by Mr. Fee, and several good imitations of Indian war-whoops, for he had acquired a rather rough way of expressing his feelings by his cowboy experiences. Mr. Fee put his affairs into proper shape and started for this city. Of course, when he got here, there was a scene. He didn't have much difficulty in pressing his suit, and that was the reason there was a wedding party in St. Patrick's Church.
“He had acquired a rather rough way of expressing his feelings by his cowboy experiences.”
This 1886 report captures the 'frontier' mythology of Seattle, where young men headed south to seek their fortunes in the cattle trade. While the romantic tropes feel distinct to the 19th century, the anxiety of displacement and the high cost of waiting for a stable life mirror modern Seattle, where 'economic waiting' is a common theme for young adults today.
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