The Unsolved Killing of Joseph Martin
A pioneer of Stevens County is found dead in his bed in a scene that suggests a deadly betrayal rather than the suicide police originally suspected.
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.
From parties who have just arrived from Colville, as the Spokane Morning Chronicle reports, we learn that Joseph Martin, one of the first settlers in Stevens County, was found dead in his bedroom at the Railway House, between Chewelah and Colville, on Saturday morning last. Parties coming to the house found the door unlocked, and going in saw the dead body of Martin lying on the floor in a pool of blood. On examination it was found that Martin had been killed by a pistol ball which had passed through his heart. He was dressed in his night clothes, which were not powder burned, which disproved the theory of suicide. The revolver was found at his feet. It was known by several parties that he had $200 about him, but only $3.50 in silver was found in the till of the saloon. Joseph Martin was well known by nearly all of the old settlers in that portion of the Territory, and did not bear a very good reputation. He had had numerous altercations in which revolvers were drawn, being wounded twice himself. Two years ago he left the Territory to avoid trial for shooting at a blacksmith in Colville. An old feud existed between him and other persons in the county and suspicion points to them as the guilty parties. No indication of a struggle could be seen in the room, and as the body was lying in the doorway between the saloon and bedroom, it is probable that he was awakened by a noise in the saloon and arose and went to the door to see the cause, when he was shot through the heart, killing him instantly.
“It was known by several parties that he had $200 about him, but only $3.50 in silver was found in the till of the saloon.”
This 1886 report of a suspicious frontier death—complete with missing cash and an 'old feud'—highlights a time when territorial law was often settled by the gun. Today, while violence in rural Washington looks different, the struggle to find justice in isolated communities remains a recurring theme in the state's long history.
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