Washington, executions recorded in county and statewide records, 1959-1986, Undated

Online content

Capital pumsniment mi Washington.

Thurston County held state’

aie
ay
t
rs

double hanging, ‘execution of

he last of the Olympia News 52
erles on the pros and cons of the’
'eath penalty In the state of
Vashington. |

'y Gordon Newell

It appears unlikely that the
rgument over whether or not the
tate has the moral right to take
umen life by hanging, electrocu-
ion, gas or Tethal chemicals will
ver be settled, Statistics general-
y do not conclusively prove or
isprove that capital punishment
erves as deterrent to potentia!
ilers. The issue remains largely
n emotional one, and emotional
rguments seldom change opi-
ions. , , .
One fact emerging from a detail-
d study of capital punishment
ver the 80 years of executions at
he Washington State peniten-,
ary, however, is that it should be
asier for the average citizen to ac-
ept it under the current legal
efinition of “aggravated first
egree murder,” than to morally
istify some executions performed
rior to 1964. The majority of
nose executed since 1904, a total
{73 in 60 years, would not in fact
ave paid the supreme penalty
nder the law as it exists today.
Furthermore, the much criticiz-
J lengthy appeals process and
gal tools provided those con-
icted of murder today might well
ave spared two men, whose guilt
; in serious doubt. These, covered
) detail in previous articles, were
harles Clarke of Olympia, con-
icted of killing a prostitute; hang-
jin 1904, and Wallace C. Gaines,
ynvicted, largely on. circumstan-
al evidence, of killing his
aughter in King County. Gaines

ee.

vi srotested his inhocence to the enc
n 1928, and was backed by Seat-

tle’s chief of detectives, who
stated flatly that an innocent man
had been 4

confession of another Olympia
man appeared to clear Clarke of
the Olympia murder many years
after his execution.

Aside from Clarke, four more’

Thurston County capital cases
were ultimately closed at the ex-
ecution chamber in Walla Walla.
Two of these received wide publici-
ty; the first because the person ex-
ecuted was not a man, but a boy
just turned 17. He ‘was the
youngest ever hanged in Wash-
ington. The second was the only
non-murderer to be executed. °°.
Walter Dubuc was a 16-year-old
fifth grade dropout in 1931 when
he fell in with (and, apparently
under the control of) a 30-year-old
ex-con named Harold Carpenter.
In July of that year, Carpenter and
Dubuc, accompanied by 26-year-
old Ethel Willis, the mother of two
children, broke into. the rural
Thurston County home of an elder-
ly farmer, Peter Jacobson; 84.
Rumor had it that the old man.
kept several thousand dollars in
the place, but his killing netted the
three a total of three dollars.

Both Carpenter and Dubuc were
subsequently sentenced to death;
Ethel Willis to life imprisonment.
The ‘result. was the only double
hanging in the state's history, as.
well as the only execution of a
minor. The traps were sprung
simultaneously on a specially built

allows soon after midnight on
April 15, 1932 (10 months after the
crime was committed). According

‘

anged. The deathbed ~

Dapitol Punishment
on't from page 1 ‘
nidnight on October 4, 1940.

Under current law, rape, no mat-
er how brutal or savage, is not a
apital crime, 80 Marable, however
uneavoury he may have been,
nust be added to the list of those
sho would not have suffered the
eath penalty under today’s
resumably more “enlightened”
ode of crimihal justice.

Those who believe any deter-
ence capital punishment, may
ave is negated by years-long
clays vetween sentencing and ex-
cutioi will have noted, and

4% + 3 i)
ete

’ et”
A RS a.
ye ey

Sine

to news reports, young Dub
“completely broken in spirit, cry-
ing bitterly as he mounted the
steps. His last words before the .
trap was sprung were ‘I don’.
want to be hung. Jesus save me”. :

The most ardent advocate ‘of
capital punishment could hardly
feel that the dignity and security
of the sovereign state of
Washington was much enhanced
by that spectacle.

On the evening of October 3,-
1939, a 23-year-old Olympia
housewife was seized on the steps
of the downtown post office by
Jack Marable, a 40-year-old prison
escapee with seven felony convic-

-tions on his record, and his dim-

witted 16-year-old follower, Rober!
Kimmich. The pair drove their Vic-

_ tim in a stolen car to a deserted

farm in the Grand Mound area,
where they raped her. She was
returned to Olympia and released
near the post. office at midnight. In
comparison to the many savage
rapes all too frequent today, it was
what Kevin Coe, the convicted
Spokane South Hill rapist has
described as ‘‘a moderate - really a
second-degree rape”, but even
“‘moderate”’ rapes were not viewed
kindly in the Olympia of 1939.
Marable and Kimmich were
found hiding in an empty shack in
the town’s depression era shanty-
town, Little Hollywood, a develop-

‘ment which hastened the city

authorities’ condemnation and
destruction of all the squatter’s
homes. Marable was anything but
a loveable character and, besides,
he was at large as the result of a
bloody mass escape, from the +
Alabama State Prison. He was

s- only
veni

uc was :

“sentenced to death, but this time |

‘the juvenile confederate was

see haar anaes Se .pepared the gallows. He was

“= sentenced to life in prison. The

perhaps approved, the relatively
short delay between the crime and
the scaffold customary in earlier
years. Others no doubt feel more

comfortable with the extended a

peals process, feeling it lessans the
chances of possibly innocent per-
sons like Clarke and Gaines being

executed.

,> The only unarguable aspect of
capital punishment is the fect that
once it inflicted, the smartest
defense lawyer in the country

«can’t ask for a retrial.

_— anil dati aida haem

——_

AO FRAY

‘. trap was sprung under Marable
», ,one year, almost to the hour from
‘the date of the crime; shortly after |

by | wie, »Con't to page 10

{

WALLACE C, (BOB) GAINES _ ‘

The body of his daughter Sylvia Gaines, a Smith College graduate was found on the
shore of Green Lake, Seattle in June, 1926, Matt Sterwich, then King County sheriff,
was convinced of Gaines’ guilt fromthe start and Succeeded in building a successful

Case against him,

Gaines protested his innocence to the end, His wife was also convinced of his jnno-
cence and charged his execution was "sheer cold-blooded mider", His brother claimed his

conviction was "a political frame-up",

Gaines, 48, was a mining engineer; had attended college two years, He was hanged on

August 31, 1928 despite heavy pressure on Governor Hartley for executive clemency.

Charles ‘ennant, chief of detectives, Seattke Police Department stated after the

execution: "Gaines told the truth when he declared his innocence, He was absolutely

innocent of slaying his daughter,
Matt Starwich said: "I was convinced of Gaines! guilt from the start",

Governor Fartley and Judge Robert M, Jones, who pronoinced the sentence, ref\iised to

make any comment,

apital Punishment in Washington...

et ’

fhe fall and rise

, Gordon’ Newell ae
Surth in the’ Olympia News 52
ries on capital punishment in the
ate of Washingtom.- 2 =~
Che - gallows’ is -more than a
achine of death—it is a symbol of
-rror’’. - Arthur Koestler :
In late February of 1913 the
-ath penalty: was abolished by
xe Washington state legislature.

_ had been a part of territorial .

id state law for 60 years. It was
enstated six years later. The
-bates, both pro and con, were
assed far more on emotion than on
icts and figures, ag ig the case to .

ay. Pe ak Sees ae cee al
Francis P. ‘Goss,.-an Irish
nigrant, was. city-.editor of the
vattle Post-Intelligencer as well

past the horrified employees in the
outer office, and the few blocks to
the courthouse on east 4th. “‘Bet-
ter lock me up”, he told a startled

‘deputy sheriff. “I . just vkilled °

Olson, the insurance commis-
sioner. He tried to starve me,
- damn him, and I fixed him”.

The deputy thought it was a bad
joke until Van Zell handed him the
gun, still carrying the rice tag
(from Mills & Austin’s Clears
store); a thin wisp of smoke still

of the gallows

Six months prior to the murder,
Van Zell had been working at
Bordeau Logging Camp 4 near
Olympia. A haul-back line snapped
under its load, whistled through
the air and struck him squarely in
the face, hurling him backward
nearly twenty feet. He fell heavily
on his back, his nose broken, and
was taken to St. Peter Hosptial,
where he remained, doing simple
tasks in the kitchen and wards to
pay for his keep. Although his own
doctor in Tacoma considered him

ently disabled, the state's
physician disagreed, and Van Zell
was offered $50 as full settlement.
Earlier on the. fatal day, when
told his case would not be reopen-
ed, he made the unfortunate state
ment that ‘*The state of
_ Washington will take care of me
all the rest of my life”. When the
jury subsequently found him guil-
ty of first degree murder and he
was sentenced to life in the state
penitentiary, he was said to have

curling from the muzzle.

ee a

3 a state representative in 1913. ©

ie had been horrified by the news
cories and first-hand accounts of
ne 1910 hanging of Richard Quin-
in during, which he struggled for

early half an hour after the rep

-as sprung, begging prison 0!
cials to “for God’s sake take me~

p and drop me again”. Goss bad.”
itroduced :pills at-;subsequent ~ |

-gislative sessions aimed at put-
ing the state executioner out of
cork” eee er”
Pro-execution emotions reached
he boiling point _ four years
LEP w oe eee t 8
On the afternoon of February 1,
J17-a big (6’ 3”) ex-logger
‘ohn: Van Dell limped into the of-:
ice of the state insurance comris-
ioner, E.W. Olson. He had been
here many times before, but this
ime he wasrcarrying a loaded .38
calibre revolver. Pushing aside the
vecretary and.stenographer, he
jung open-.the door of Olson's
orivate office, where the commis-
sioner. was.-talking on the
elephone. ‘Hello old timer’’, Van
‘all said. Then he fired three shots,
wo of which struck Olson in the
wad and killed him almost in-
stantly. He than walked calmly

\
|
\
|

‘

Capitol Punishment
»&Con't from page 1 :

remarked (“with a sneer”, accor
ding tothe Morning Olympian),
“Well, there is one thing about it;
‘they can’t hang me”.
Commissioner Olson’s office was
in the old capital building in
downtown Olympia in 1917, as
were all the rest of state govern-
«ment; -including the legislature,
which was in session at the time of
the killing. A bill was immediatel
introduced to reinstate the deat.
penalty, but wasn’t acted upon
before the statutory adjournment
date, which legislators took
seriously in those days. But they
did not forget the gunplay which
had taken place so uncomfortably
close to their chambers.

Further alarm was generated in
government circles when Charles
L. Wagner, another logger, who
had worked at the same camp as
Van Zell, forced his way into the
office of Governor Ernest Lister,
who was conferring with the state
adjutant general. The governor
and the general fled at the sight of
the long-barrelled revolver
Wagner was waving, Lister lock-
ing himself in the state treasurer's
vault. The gunman, incoherent
and obviously demented, was talk-
ed into surrendering, and was com
mitted to the state insane asylum
at Steileoom the same day Van

Ney

=
‘

. &Con't to page 2

» The To19 legislature wasted no

time in again making . capital

~ punishment the penalty for first
_degree murder and certain other
crimes. Before the vote was taken
members were reminded by the
bill’s sponsors, ‘Do you remember
that Van Zell boasted that he
would be sent to the pen for life to
be fed and cared for?” (As a mat-
ter of fact, the taxpayers didn’t
have to spend much on Van Zell's
room and board at Walla Walla.
He died there in 1921 of natural
causes).

The emotions and fears
generated by the Olson killing,
particularly at the state capital,
restored the gallows to the state
penitentiary. The first to mount it
was a 26-year-old laborer, John
Smith, convicted of murdering
three Seattle police officers in late
January of 1921. He was executed
on the morning of April 1 of the
same year. Fifty-seven convicted
murderers followed him between
1921 and 1964, Smith, the
wholesale cop-killer, would almost
certainly have been found guilty of
aggravated first degree murder

vease, the Morning Olympia | under today’s law, although the
‘ editorialized: “If the law of the | time between crime and execution
state provided capital punishment would have been many _ years
for murderers, the crimes would be rather than a few months. The ma-

“tewer”. That reflected the majori- jority of those condemned during
ty opinion of the state’s press, but that ported. seen would not

is it true? Do available facts an

d have receiv

figures give clear proof that the under present -law. Some - such
death penalty is a deterrent to cases will be covered in next
violent crime? Theat will.» be the week’s segment of this series.

fe 2

on ASant =

Me nceeenent nfthin Commenting on the Van Zell

oad

“ ra *
~G
‘ a ”

Gordon Newell at

n'a letter 6 the editor from °

nald J. Rosenbloom of Olympia

ent is to arouse sympathy for
four individuals currently on
ith row. You fail to mention,
veve:, that the crimes for which
y have been condemned to die
not particularly pleasant
ver”, :
: is not the iotent of this series
arouse maudlin sympathy fo
four Geld blood afte our
dy awaiting execution in this
e. The nature of their crimes
ces sympathy for them im-
sible. The question for which it
<s to provide answers is not

ital punis

Pot Hy eae
on pyar TE alae! pee
sey HR

blished elsewhere in this issue),’ '
s suggested that ‘Perhaps your -

ther they deserve permanent, ~

ination rom the human race,
if their elimination, whether
noose or hypodermic needle,
serve to deter such crimes of
nate violence in the future.

ye number of Americans favor-
the death penalty has rise
dily over the past 20 years...
in 1966, 66% in 1981...72% in
». Most advocates ~£ capital
shment believe that it will

make ‘potential ‘killers “think that: '"

St} _. Capitol Punishment
hment > “ere
ood Pe RPE eghihe, “The Death : Penalty \vin

TET OMI ry 2 Washing ‘State’; concluded

twice’ before committing the not prove
‘crime. Others based their opinior eleereuts eterrent: effect on
on the vengeful Old Testament gurders’..40° yo" .
“Eye for an eye and tOUH FOE A ee es
tooth”. : ; . National statistics “suggest but
What do the past statistics in do [Load pag the same conclusion

our own state show us as regards reached by Hayner and Cranor. .
capital punishment asa deterrent? fe
The death penalty was repealed by pyjor to

th i i F
pe legislature in 1918 and capital punishment by the US.

red in 1919. There was an in- : ,
crease in capital crimes during the Suprema Court sr pin sg oH

no death penalty period, but the states and the District of Colum-

higher rate continued and gradual: }; : i i
ly increased after capital punish- hen agape a Watbiogien

ment was restored. ' h

. During the 60 years that execu- preci ol 9 ad ere

ete . St Ob ct the stat mee choice of hanging or a firing squad.

counties never sent adres tp But SOHO at SMR See a pe
, a murderer tO tates, in the long term, had any

Walla Walla for execution; the jowor homicide rate than those

records show .no significant dif- A r ite :
ference in the Enindee fate of i which did not. inflict capital

the moratorium on

ese data suggest, but do:
“that executions have no ;

counties which never used the

-, death penalty, and those which

did.. Noted penologists Dr. Nor-
man S. Hayner and John R.
Cranor, in an article in The Annals
of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science titled

»Con't to page 10

unishment. In’one given year, & ,

non-death penalty state might
show fewer murders; in, another
year the reverse might be true.

Those opposed to the death
penalty, however, tend to stress
the moral aspects of the question
over the statistical. It is morally
absurd, they argue, to show disap-
provalof cold- Jooded killing by
an equally cold-blooded (if less

"brutally violent) killing at the

hands of the state.

Perhaps the most cogent argu-
ment of the pro-capital punish-
ment advocates is the well-merited
distrust of the average citizen for

‘the judicial pronouncement, “life
imprisonment without possibility -
of parole”. Periodically, the lethal '

Charles Manson, applies for
parole, and they suspect that one
day it will be granted. Some recall
the convicted jnurderer at. Walla
Walla who, during the so-called
“prison reforms” of the Evans ad-
ministration, was sent home with
a prison kitchen helper as part ofa
“Take a Lifer to Dinner’ program.
The killer slipped out a bathroom
window, stole a car, and gunned
down a Washington State trooper
who stopped him for a traffic viola-
tion, leaving a young widow and
two small children. Or Charles
Rodman Campbell, the most
sadistic of our present quartette of
death row inmates, who served a
short prison term for aggrava
rape and sodomy, and was then
turned loose on work release to
wreak eee and brutal ven-
gy on his previous victims.
ntil thoroughly convinced that

; a rae berks
“life without possibility Mparole”
means exactly what it. says, the
number of citizens favoririg capita
punishment. will continue to in-
crease. ao
Other much-used arguments of

the. pro-execution faction don't
hold up under scrutiny. An exam

ple is “Why should the taxpayers °

ear tHe expense of supporting &
killer for the rest of his life?’ They
might have hed a point back in the
days when the period between
sentence and execution was usual-
ly measured in months rather than
‘years, or even decades. (A con
Vicled murderer appearing on TV
recently Was beginning his second
decade on death row). Nowadays
it's a lot less expensive to keep a
killer in priscn for the rest of his
days than to finance the tremen-
dously costly, years long appeals
process now available to convicted

_ murderers at taxpayers’ expense.

Those who stand candlelight
vigil with protest signs and
bleeding hearts outside prisons
where executions are scheduled,
seldom if ever include the family or
loved ones of those who were the
victims of the kind of brutal killers
who qualify as aggravated first
degree murderers under present
law.

But does capital punishment
deter such crimes? Most police of-
ficers and prison guards believe it
has to be on the books, but many
concede its possible deterrent ef-
fect is largely nullified by the
years-long appeals process. If and
when the execution is finally held,
few remember the crime or its vic-
tims.

It is generally agreed among
criminologists that eqeanranys to
be effective, must certain and
timely. Increasingly, the punish-
ment for murder is neither.

In the final analysis, the
arguments, pro and con, will con-
tinue as long as capital punish-
ment remains a part of the law,
and they will remain largely based
on emotion, The reality is that
those (like Mr. Rosenbloom and 1)
who will light no candles and shed
no tears over the likes of Charles

. Rodman Campbell should not be

at all surprised if, the night after
his execution - or the week after, or
the year afler - an even more
grizzley and senseless massacre of
the innocents dominates our TV
screens and newspaper headlines.

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WA. GENBRAL

Eleven living on Death Row

= Dodd anniversary:
Three men have been
sentenced to death since
the hanging of Westley
Allen Dodd. The
sentences and convictions
will be reviewed in a
process that can take
decades.

The Associated Press

Just after midnight a year ago,
convicted child killer Westley Allen
Dodd dropped through the gallows
trap door at the Washington State
Penitentiary and, with a final snap
of the rope, into oblivion.

Dodd’s execution on Jan. 5, 1993,
was the first in Washington since
June 20, 1963, when Joseph Chest-
er Self was hanged. Self, 33, had
been convicted in the 1960 slaying
of a Seattle cab driver for a fistful
of dollars.

Dodd was convicted of the 1989
slayings of three little boys.

Following imposition of the
death penalty, Dodd, 31, asked for
immediate execution and refused
to appeal the sentence. Dodd said
he must die because “I know I will
kill again.”

Dodd had a choice of hanging or
lethal injection.. He chose hanging
because he had tortured and
hanged 4-year-old Lee Isley. His
other victims were Cole Neer, 11,
and his brother Billy, 10.

Dodd’s final words before he was
hanged:

“T was once asked by somebody,
I don’t remember who, if there was
any way sex offenders could be
stopped. I said no. I was wrong. I
was wrong when I said there was
no hope, no peace. There is hope.
There is peace. I found both in the
Lord, Jesus Christ. Look to the
Lord and you will find peace.”

Since the Dodd hanging, two
men have been released from
Death Row and three have taken
up residence on there at the state
Penitentiary at Walla Walla that
now houses 11 condemned men.

Michael Furman was released
from Death Row and sentenced to
life in prison without possibility of
parole by the state Supreme Court
last September. The high court re-
versed the death penalty on
grounds that Furman, who is now
21, was 17 years and 10 months old
when he raped and fatally blud-
geoned to death 85-year-old Ann
Presler in her Kitsap County
home.

The Associated Press
DEATH ROW: It has been one
year since the hanging of child-
killer Westley Allen Dodd.

Writing for the court, Chief Jus-
tice Jim Andersen, said state laws
do not authorize imposition of the
death penalty for crimes commit-
ted by juveniles.

Also released from Death Row
last year was David Lewis Rice.
Rice was convicted of breaking into
a Madrona home and killing Char-
les and Annie Goldmark and their
two young sons on Christmas Eve
1986.

U.S. District Judge Jack Tanner
overturned Rice’s sentence, saying
the killer’s rights were violated be-
cause he was not in court when his
sentence was announced. The
state is appealing.

Released from Death Row prior
to the Dodd hanging was Kwan Fai
“Willie” Mak, thought to have mas-
terminded the Wah Mee Massacre,
in which 13 people were killed in
1983 in Seattle’s International Dis-
trict.

U.S. District Court Judge Will-
iam Dwyer found Mak’s attorneys
were ineffective because they did
not present testimony from_ his
family about the trouble the Chin-
ese a Saag had adjusting to
American life.

A new sentencing hearing will be
held in King County Superior
Court this year.

New residents of the Row since
the Dodd hanging are Cal Brown,
Sammie Lee Luvene and Blake
Richard Pirtle. The death sen-
tences of all three will first be re-
viewed by the state Supreme
Court. From there, the convictions
and sentence will work through
various state and federal appeals, a
process that could take at least a
decade.

Brown, 35 was convicted and
sentenced to death on Dec. 28 for
the murder of 22-year-old Holly

Washa on May 24, 1991.

Luvene, 28, was convicted in
Pierce County on June 30, 1993, of
the shooting death on July 12, 1992,
of Tacoma convenience store clark
Carrol Bond.

Pirtle, 25, was sentenced to die
after his July 2 conviction by a
Spokane County Superior Court
jury of the May 1992 slayings of two
former restaurant co-workers,
Dawnya Calbreath, 20, and Tod
Folsom, 24, during a robbery of a
Burger King restaurant.

The most senior resident of the
Row is Mitchell Rupe, 39. He was
convicted of the September 1981
fatal shooting of Candace Hemmig
and Twila Capron during a robbery
of a branch of the Tumwater State
Bank.

Rupe’s conviction was upheld by
the state Supreme Court, but the
original death sentence was set
aside on grounds that testimony
regarding Rupe’s gun collection
was improperly admitted during
the penalty phase of the trial.

A second penalty phase was held
in 1985 and a jury once again ruled
that Rupe should be executed.
Rupe has an appeal pending in
U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Olympian, Olmpia Wa 1/4/94

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

SIDNEY E. SMITH
SECRETARY

DANIEL J. EVANS
GOVERNOR

SERVICE DELIVERY DIVISION

WASHINGTON STATE PENITENTIARY

B.J. RHAY, SUPERINTENDENT
P.O. BOX 520
WALLA WALLA, WASHINGTON 99362

December 13, 1974 :

Mr. Watt Espy, Jr.
P.O. Box 247
Headland, Ala. 36345

Dear Sir:

The following information has been compiled from institutional
records: A total of 73 executions have been performed at this facility.
The first on May 6th, 1904, and the last, June 20, 1963. The death
penalty, in the State of Washington was temporarily abolished between
1911 and 1921. 49 subjects were executed up to 1940 (no other breakdown
yet compiled).

1940 to 1950.
23 received on death penalty
6 were commuted
1 resentenced to life
16 executed

1950 to 1960

received on death penalty
commuted

executed

ArN

1960 to date

7 received on death penalty

O commuted

6 resentenced to life

2 executed

9 remained on death rowe at time of U.S. Supreme

court decision on 6-29-72 that had the effect of

me abolishing capitol punishment. All have been
resentenced to life imp&tsonment. Legislation to
reenact the death penalty has not been initiated.

Very truly yours,
B. J. RHAY, SUPERINTENDENT

. a Jf WO
pitted (PAtwr—
M. Brown, R & I Officer

MBB/dvh

Ence

LEWIS COUNTY, WASHINGTON, EXECUTIONS.

78 N. E. WASHINGTON AVENUE CHEHALIS, WA 98532
PHONE (206) 748-0831

geuis County Historical go4; ety

o with

arunsar’e

Watt Espy, dr.
Post Office Box 67
Headland, Alabama 36345

Dear Mr. Espy;

To date, I have found no information about A. A. Armstrong
of any legal executions prior to 1905 in Lewis County. I have
just spoken to the undersherrif of this area and he will be searching
the records for any information. I will forward that to you when
I receive it.

The following information is on record (microfilm) in the
County Clerks office:

Emmett Bailey Docket #819

2 February 1927, charged with murder in the first dearee.
Charged with shooting Erma Skinner with a rifle loaded with
powder and ball.

Prosecuting attorney - William H. Grimm

Attorney for defense - Gus L. Thaker

Judge - H. E. McKinney
Affidavit of prejudice was filed against original judge, W.A.
Reynolds.

Found guilty by jury on 11 March 1927; jury suggested death.

Claude H. Ryan Docket #1321

7 April 1937, charged along with Walter Seelert, alias "Pinky
Mason" with murder in the first deqree.

Charged with killing S.R. Jackson, a deputy sherrif and jailer ,
while committing a robbery and burglary of Emma Cartier. :
Prosecuting attorney - Jas. £. Sareault
Attorney for defense - Warren Hardy
Judge - George B. Simpson

Found guilty by jury.

I have yet to search the old newspapers now that I have some
dates to go by. The Clerk asked me to inform you that if you wish
copies of the microfilm, there is a charge of $1.00 per copy. Copies
of the old newspaper articles are $.10 each. Each of these cases
have many pages of microfilm material. I did not make copies as I
was not real sure just what you wanted. Please write and let me know |
if you do want copies of anything specific.

heen a =e

First in a series: pi ite
on capitol punishment

By Gordon Newell :
Three men convicted of ag-
gravated first degree murder an
under sentence of death are in
close confinement at the state
penitentiary in Walla Walla. A
fourth is currently being re-tried
on the death sentence portion of
the trial which convicted him ¥ f
murdiring two young women ban
teller; in Olympia. The death
pena ty has twice been revoked in‘
Washington, and twice reinsti-
tutec Is it a deterrent to violent
crime, 1s many claim, or as many

professional and lay. people ,. it
* morphine and’ a twentieth of a

elieve, an ineffective return to the
vengeful -Old Testament doctrine
of ‘'an eye for an eye and a tooth °
for a tooth? This series discusses
when the lost execution was held

mation presented is not pretty, but
is is factual. ° ds
The story is probably as old a8.
the debate over capital punish-:
ment...of the vindictive detective '
who tracked down a convicted
killer’ and subsequently went to

the penitentiary to witness his ex::

ecution, After the trap: was
sprung, the lawman is said to have
approached the dangling corpse
and exclaimed, “There you are,
just like the law says: hanged by
the neck until dead. AND LET
THAT BE A LESSION TO
YOu"!

Since 1854, when the first ter-
ritorial legislature passed a capital
punishment law, this state has
taught such “lessons” countless
times, first in various county cour-
thouse ‘hanging rooms” and cour-
tyards; after 1904 in the State
Penitentiary at Walla Walla.
Lynch law was sometimes invoked
before and sometimes after the
1854 statute was enacted. |

The last convicted murderer to
be executed at a county cour-
thouse was an English-born Puget
Sound fish pirate known as Alfred
Hamilton, which may have been,

‘one of his numerous aliases. He
several -

spected of killin
Times, which in those day84ended
toward sensational and highly im-

aginative reporting, the killin
was ‘prompted by anticetled

love"’..."He had met her in the ’

Yukon and followed her for mon-
ths, his love for the Brace woman
being of a nature peculiar to the
Latin races”’. .

The facts may have been more
prosaic. Sixty-nine years later, in
1973, a later generation Times
wow awdan -a

an o ee ne

alesson.to youl”...

_shood was placed over his head; not
at Walla Walla. Much of the infor
‘ guard who had brought him a cold

AG eel ctr ae ae is
fishtrap ‘watchmen while raiding —
their catches, and dumping their’
bodies in the Sound, but was con: -
victed of shooting and killing D.M.
Woodbury, a prominent Anacortes _
attorney, in the’ course of a
drunken rampage in September,
1899. After two appeals to the
state Supreme Court (an unusually |
long delay in those days), he was |
hanged in the courthouse yard at.
Whatcom (Bellingham) on May 23, ,
1902. The press made much of his
“tron nerve” as he mounted the
scaffold and helped the hangman
adjust the noose properly under |!
his left ear. This was attributed, in”
part at least, to the fact that ‘‘the /
physician had given him a grain of |

grain‘ of strychnine”. He was, ac-
cording to the newspapers, still
“cursing like a pirate” ag the black

at his executioners, but at the jail |

cup of coffee for his last breakfast. |

6 proceedings appeared to be
of no educational benefit to Mr.
Hamilton. Whether they deterred
others. from committing similar
crimes is a matter of debate to this
very day. Whether or not capital
punishment serves as a deterrent
to potential killers remains an
unresolved question: Statistics, in
this state at least, seem to indicate
that it does not. ©

Statistics on capital punishment
prior to 1904 are scattered and fre-
quently nonexistent. After that
year, when the legislature ruled
that all executions should be per- '
formed at the penitentiary,
meticulous records were kept. In
the 66 years from 1904 to 1960
(when the last execution was held)

a total of 73 men were hanged.

The first to receive the dubious
distinction of being Number One
on the Walla Walla death list was
a powerful young French-Cana-
dian farmer who was convicted of
killing a Seattle’ skidroad box-
house theater ‘‘performer” named *
Lottie Brace. The motive of
28-year-old Zenon (alias James)
Champoux remains somewhat con-
fused. According to the Seattle

a 92-year-old former prison guard,
Andy’ Evans, who had kept the '
death watch on Champoux and |
witnessed the execution. They
often talked together at night. It

‘had started in the Yukon the

previous year, Champoux told him
when he and a friend were hired to
cut 400 cords of wood for Lottie’s
father, who was acting as her
‘manager’ in the gold rush
saloons. When they went to collect
their pay, Lottie and her father

ae ee - ~_ In

SS Se ite see

' Con't from page 1

had “skipped. out”, Weary and 3
broke, Champoux made his way to

Seattle, where he found Lottie and
her sister exercising their talents
in Reilly’s Arcade Theater in
Tenderloin. Requests as to the
‘, location: of her father were

answered with curses and insults. .

Finally, blind with rage, Cham-
poux reached into his pocket, pull-
ed out a knife and struck her in the
temple. She died soon afterward at
a hospital. |
The Pyaar French-Canadian
mounted the scaffold accompanied
by a Catholic priest. On the trap,
_ he took the crucifix and kissed it
before the hood was placed over
his head, The trap was sprung and,
according to the Times, “the
spinal column snapped when the
noose jerked tight, yet it was 17
minutes before the Soart stopped
beating”.
The second occupant of the
death cell at Walla Walla was a
26-year-old Olympia millworker,
Charles Clark, who was also con-
victed of murdering what the
press referred to in those days as
‘a fallen women” or a ‘soiled
dove”; this time in a house o* pro-
stitution in Olympia’s ‘‘restricted
district”.
.-A review of the Walla Walla
death’ list established some
- unarguable facts: no well educated
person has ever been executed in
our. state, nor any person with
financial resources. Warden Lawes
of Sing i Prison said of the 150
prisoners he conducted to the
‘death chamber....Of all the con-
demned men J know, the one thing
they had in gommon was
Mo foVLai Ty 7
It also becomes apparent that
only 2 fraction of those executed in
Washington could be found guilty
of “aggravated first degree
murder" under today's standards
of justice. And at least two may
not have been quilty of the crimes
for which they were convicted.
Young Charles Clark of Olympia
is one whom later events indicated
had probably payed the ultimata
price for a murder someone olae
committed, But by the tims the
new evidence was available, it wae
too late for the sovereign state of
Washington to undo the lesson it
had administered to him in the
death chamber of Walla Walla on
September 2, 1904.
'o be continued next week,

WASHINGTON STATE - SERIES FROM THE OLYMPIA NEWS.
(GORDON NEWELL

2119 CRESTLINE BLVD.
OLYMPIA, WA 98502

206-352-4594

February 1, 1986

Michael L. Radelet, Ph.D.
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611

Dear Dr. Radelet:

Please pardon the long delay in responding to your query of December 6, 1985. ‘lhe
last few months I found myself in the process of preparing two Mss for book publi-
cation, while spending considerable time out of town as consultant and witness in
a rather. complicated river navigability lawsuit.

J am enclosing photo copies of the Olympia News 52 series on capital punishment in
the state of Washingt:n. J ran across the Charles Clarke case while researching a
Washington political history, "Rogues, Buffoons & Statesmen" about twelve years ago.
Unfortunately, my voluminous notes were pretty thoroughly destroyed when the water-
front storage area I was using was flooded. To the best of my recollection, the

story appeared in one of the thousands of old newspapers I went through at the Wash-
ington State Library.

It was also corroborated orally by a number of old-timers, who treated it us local

oral history. One was the late Smith Troy, for many years state Attorney General.

It was he who cooperated fully with the late Narl Stanley Gardner to establish the

innocenae of Clarence Boggie, convicted of first degree murder on perjured testim-—

ony § then ‘took strong action to obtain a full pardon for him. Jn discussing this,
he told me he had teen deeply impressed by the Clarke case, as related to him asa

youth by his father, a long-time prosecuting attomey,and had always been sensitive
to the possibility of convicting an innocent person.

There are also obvious grave doubts as to the guilt of Wallace C. Gaines, executed
for the murder of his daughter in Seattle. Jt appears that the King County sheriff
picked Gaines as the killer at the start:of his investigation and tailored the
circumstantial evidence accordingly. (The crime was committed in rural King County,
the body foun# in Seattle). That city's chief of detectives was equally certain
that an innocent man had been hanged, and said so forcefully and publicly.

,. (
) , ra cf A YA
(le: i / ( ie -
Cc °

ce
co ”

«fi

ea Mey SOM pasa aN
: )

opst Sorry... / gir “a

‘tate of Wa

‘cond in an Olympia = !ng the last man hanged at Walla
Walla to date. (Feminists may call
rwe 52 series on, capi- it sex discrimination, but no
| ‘punishment in the _ Woman has been executed by
ate of Washington. Washington state or territory.)

: , Executions were halted again in
‘ORRECTION: Last week's 1965, this time by executive fiat,
‘ment of the series on capital when Dan Evans began his first
ushment in Washirgton quoted term as governor. Evans announc-
irden Lawes of Sing Sing Prison ed that he was morally opposed to
saying the only thing the 150 the death penalty, and would com-
n he had seen executed had in mute any such sentences, regard-
nmon was PROPERTY! This ess of the circumstances of the
ds to somewhat distort the crime. When the U.S. Supreme
aning of the quotation. What Court, some years later, ruled
ves really said was that the on- Washington's death penalty
thing the electrocuted inmates statutes dncanstiutionsl, along
1 in common was POVERTY. with those of most other states,
Gordor Newell ; Evans promised to veto any new
Tangin'; was ‘the prescribed act aimed at conformity with
rishment for first degree Supreme Court guidelines. °

tder, rape and certain other Now, with a new and presum-
nes fro. 1 1889 to 1913, when the nbly constitutional aggravated
th penalty was repealed by the first degree murder statute on the
islature. It was reinstated six books, four men are currently
rs later, in 1919, and hangings under sentence of death, with a
tinued at the Walla Walla choice’ of hanging or lethal injec-
te Penitentiary through 1963, tion.

in Joseph Chester Self, a The majority of the 73 convicted
‘ear-cld drifter and former in- murderers executed at Walla
of a U.S. Army military Walla between 1904 and 1964 were
on, Oregon State Prison and pot guilty of aggravated first
Quentin, was executed for the degree murder as defined by pre-
-blooded Killing of a Seattle sent law. A number were certainly
driver. The murder netted insane. Only 23 of the 73 had any
$15 - and the distinction of be — known previous criminal record;

The Olympian had already tried
and convicted Clarke, and the rest }
of the town soon followed suit. !
Moral outrage peaked during his. |
trial in August, when a deputy |'*
sheriff was fired for having con-
ducted another ‘woman of the half
world” to Clarke's cell to spend
the night with him. Hanging, it

» was generally agreed, was the only
way to teach that dissolute young
man a lesson. The jury felt the
same way, and Clarke was con-
victed and sentenced to death.

He had based his defense on the
claim that another of Leila’s
“paramours”, the black sheep son
of a prominent local family, had
been the jealous lover who wielded
the axe and knife. The “other
man”, who had been working as a
bartender in a local saloon, left
town soon after the murder and
was not seen again.

But many years later, on his
deathbed in another state, he sign-
ed a full confession, admitting -
that he had indeed killed the
woman and cut Clarke's throat.
That, however, was much too late
to do Charles Clarke any good. He
was the second man to mount the
seaffald at Walla Walle an

eee NG Wek a een ys
Washington may have’
iometimes executed wrongman

‘alleged murder of his daughter, eat

Hanged by the neck
1. : . & Con't from page 1} :

sh, CINE,

only five for violent crime:
(murder, manslaughter or rape).
And the guilt of at least two of:
those who paid the ultimate penal. *
ty on the gallows at Walla Wallais |
in doubt.
Wallace C. Gaines, 48, was hang: pr
ed on August 31, 1928 for the

F570 So
oaks

roe

ied
whose body was found in a trunk Be Pies aya
near Seattle's Green Lake. Gaines, Bais ast tnes
of exile cae Se (Ont yenne The Walls”, Walla Walla State
other vititin ékthe ilowe fe at- Penitentiary, where 73 convicted
tended college 8g No ‘college ™urderers took thetr last walk to
graduates have been executed, and!"¢ gallows.
only four high school graduates. nocence. He was absolutely inno-

Most were illiterate or semi- cent of killing his daughter”.
illiterate), . An even more doubtful case is
Since the Gaines murder was that of 26-year-old Charles Clarke,
resumed to have taken place in a young man “of previously good
ing County, and the body was character,"’ who fell from grace in
found in attle, both police the fleshpots of Olympia’s
jurisdictions were involved in the “Restricted District’ of 1903.
case, although Sheriff Matt Star- This miniature version of San
wich had primary jurisdiction. He Francisco's Barbary Coast and
apparently fixed on the victim's Seattle's Tenderloin, occupied
father as the killer at the outset, both sides of south Main Street

and his department evolved a cir- (now Capital Way) from State to ,

cumstantial evidence case based the tideflats two or three blocks to
on that. The jury bought it, but the north. Big Rill McGowan's

after the execution, Seattle Chief Green Tree Saloon and dance hall

of Detectives Charles Tennant were the prime attractions, and ,
said positively, ‘Gaines told the the strect terminated at his burles-

truth when he stated his in- que theater built on pilings over
y the mudflats, but the madams of a
Cae 6 Sear half dozen brothels also paid
ymonthly “fines” at city hall in
order to stay in business. The pro-
prietor of one of these, the Jewel,
was young and attractive and
Clarke fell under her spell - with
fatal results. On January 21, 1903,
the Morning Olympian sent a
shudder up the collective spines of
its respectable readers with a glar-
ing front page story of sex, sin and
violence:

“Leila Page, alias Maude
Richards, a woman of the half
world and keeper of a house of ill
fame known as the Jewel was
murdered yesterday morning and
her paramour, his own throat cut
in an ineffective attempt at
suicide, is charged with the crime.
Insane jealousy Ia assigned as the
cause of the terrible deed. The
wound of Charles Clarke, the
slayer, is reported to be super-
ficial. The woman was brained
with an axe, and her throat cut
with a pen-knife, which Clarke us-
ed ineffectively on himself. Leila
Page was generally a favorite
among the sporting class, while
Clarke is a local young man, not of
evil .disposition, but who has
drifted from bad to worse. He is a

farmer emnlovee af the Aemnia
e

™?

Ee PET Me Sk ah RS LS ere WET AR em

Capital Punishment in Washington of

Executions never

pleasant,

some worse than others.

By Gordon Newell

This is the third in a series on capital
punishment in the state of Washing-
ton. For the first time in more than
twenty years, four individuals are
under death sentences (for aggravated
first degree murder). The execution
order for one of them has already
been signed, although the com-
plicated appeals process may continue
for years. All 73 men executed at the
Walla Walla State Penitentiary since
1904 were hanged. (Under the pre-
sent law, the condemned have the
Hobson's choice of hanging or a lethal
injection o sodium thiopental). The
72 killers and one rapist who have
died on the gallows at Walla Walla
were executed “by the state”...which
means you and me and every other
citizen. The latest Gallup Poll shows
that 72 percent of Americans now
favor the death penalty (up from*42
percent in 1966), no doubt reflecting
the increased fear of violent crime and
diminished confidence in our law and
justice system. It is doubtful if any of
those polled have ever witnessed an
execution. .
in your name, you may be interested
in some details of capital punishment
as practiced in our state on your
behalf. This segment, it should be
pointed out, is not for the squeamish
reader. One thing generally agreed
upon by those who have witnessed
executions is that they are never pret-
ty:

One reason the state of Wash-
ington ruled in 1904 that execu-
tions must take place at the
penitentiary rather than at county
courthouses was based on the fact
that few county sheriffs were skill-
ed hangmen. Horror stories of
bungled executions had become
part of folk lore. One such was the

messy demise of one Henry

_ Stickles at Kalama in the early

1900’s. .

Stickles was an emaciated
recluse who would have been
declared criminally insane by to-
day's standards. He roamed the
backwoods of Cowlitz County at
night, shooting people through
their cabin windows, robbing
them, and burning their homes. A
watch, taken from one of his vic-
tims and traded to a Kelso mer-
chant, was his downfall. Stickles
was convicted and sentenced to

- death. The businessman whose

testimony had helped convict him,
was invited to the hanging, held
inside a temporary stockade on the
courthouse grounds. Cowlitz
County Sheriff Huntington, had
never officiated at a hanging, and
wasn’t aware that if the rope used
was too long it would have the ef-
fect of a very dull guillotine, even-
tually severing the jugular, rather
than breaking the neck. Re
That's what happened to the un-
fortunate Stickles. The sudden
weight also caused the rope to
spin, drenching the witness with
blood. Most were hardy frontier’
types who departed for the, local
saloons for humorous accounts of
the event, but the Kelso merchant-
witness spent the evening being
violently ill. It was said that.
thereafter when he told the story
of Stickles’ hanging he had to first
sit down. Recalling it, he said,
made him ‘‘all weak in the knees”.
This and other such_ horror
stories prompted the legislature to
transfer all executions to the
penitentiary, where it was felt a
more professional job would be
done, but such wasn’t always the

case. One of the last of the con- |
demned men, in the 1950's suf-
fered much the same fate as
Stickles, prompting the
authorities to hang a translucent
curtain between the ‘‘drop’’ area
and the witness's gallery.

The results of a too short rope
proved even more distressing than
those of one too long, as was
discovered by those present for
the hanging of Richard Quinn, a
32-year-old Snohomish laborer and
navy veterah convic of killing
his wife, in 1910. That’ unhappy
event is said to have been a factor
in the legislature’s abolishment of
the death penalty three years.
later. The story is reproduced just
as it appeard in the Olympia Daily
Recorder on the evening of May
13, 1910:

ne iy es 2 ee emer es me tur ses

ENING, MAY 13, 1910

HORRIBLE HANGING OF
QUINN-BEGS T0 BE TAKEN
UP AND DROPPED AGAIN

UNBUCKLES STRAPS FROM! ARS

“For God's Sake Take Me Up and
Drop Me Again Boys. Bays This
Is Awful’ Moans Swinging Man
--Struggle and Moans Last
Many Minutes While
Spectators Stand
Horror-stricken.

SIX PAGHS

WALLA WALLA, Wash, May 15 —- Richard Quinn, cone weted
of wife murder, of Everett, ent tee horrible death on the eraffold
here this mewrning Nearly te the bast the condemned man walked to
the gallows as cheerfully ae be wowld tobe his morning wath om the

S rae : 4 Pes re se
“(Continued from page 9}... - ers Bi
; Fe par dic te teat if.
“of rocks and heaped against one side, — friend u Indien, Soli,
Stick saw a. woman’s hand 1 UP and the some ~~ =
through the top as if reaching imploringly would send ten of his best trackers
for help, help that never came. r evi- with them in hunting the crim jaa At
dence as the body was removed, added to _ Wilbur immediately —s ‘or -
the fact that Blanche | Perkins had been ian Police headed ed by c at. Baeas, to
i . Indian pe
owdearaythe Hi ate found under — “would join with Sheriff — 's volunteers.
ite side ny irty men hurried lunteer, including
island tee the men was sent to Yakima _ Healy Perkins, a brother of the eee
City, 40 miles distant for a conveyance tO To show their complete support < *
transport the bodies while —— stood — sheriff they elected Splawn capsnin ©
earned ad rreerast oS wagon combi roel pom ‘ot mm, deputy
$ ie oe Prue ete Ee

age
Li

fi
H
i

|
EE u
tareeee

rider to Fort Simcoe to notify Agent
Wilbur, a close friend of Chief Moses, and
sent out a call for volunteers to follow at
- once. Unable to wait, Sheriff Splawn, Ed-
wards and a cowboy named Gillette gc
immediately for the gamblers’ camp.
renegades had vanished, leaving no clue
save the ashes of the camp fire. <
Agent Wilbur sent for his friend Chief
Moses, confident the Chief would confide
in him, Moses came and after a lengthy
conference the two set out for Yakima
City where the citizens packed Centennial
Hall to listen to oe Oe Chief could
11 about the crime a illers. .
2 Agent Wilbur addressed the gathering on
the terrible wrong in taking human life,
stressing the fact that Mrs, Perkins was
approaching motherhood. In introducing
Chief Moses, as “The Greatest in
Territory,” he pointed out that_ Moses
would be of great help in capturing the
renegade outlaws if he could. _ :
Moses rose to speak, admitting his own
atness which Wilbur had mentioned, but
fiatly denied any knowledge of the crime
4

Shi

Blanch Perkins’ monument.

Splawn, heid warrants for the arrest of
Ecce Eneas of the Indian Police
placed little confidgnce in Moses’ promises
and before the posse reached the Columbia
his fears of an ambush to
Captain Splawn. He suggested that they
cross the river at a different point than
Moses was ing and avoid running
into a possible trap. Splawn, realizing that
one Indian was in better position to under-
stand the thinking of another, readily
agreed, telling Eneas to lead the crossing
and pick the camp site that would best

River, ex;

THE morning’s first dawn, Captain
Treneas rode os peak that afforded a
view of Moses’ country for miles about,
including the gap through Saddle Mountain
through which the Columbia River flowed.
A short time later, he saw Moses at the
head of a long string of painted, naked,
warriors riding single file along the narrow
trail that led through the gap. There were
not ten, but a hundred and in battle array,
oo Ents ist mpee. They a
naked for comfort since it was
Christmas and the air was chilly and frosty.

Eneas tasked back to camp to report his
findings to Captain Splawn who in turn
over a hummock in sight of Splawn’s men,
Captain Splawn, his six-gun dra’ , Tode
toward them.- Moses halted his warriors
and with his body guard, Bill, rode on to
meet Splawn, who hadn't slackened his

at all. They met about fifty yards

the two opposing and well armed

“If you
We're ready,”
“command

5 F

8
a

all night while the pos:
distance on It bore it—one of

member George Goodwin

back . Yakima a
evenin

eS ae Schnebly of the Ellens-
burg vicinity, with several deputies, joined
in the chase, as well. Sixty headed into the
lava beds while the others guarded camp
teen a high point where scouts had
gone for a wider view, a campfire was
spotted down on Crab Creek. Quickly,
silently it was surrounded by the troops.
To the posse members’. great surprise,
Moses was there. He immediately called
out to Captain Splawn not to shoot, ex-
plaining that he was there trying to dis-
cover the criminals’ whereabouts. Moses
and nine men were captured, disarmed and
arrested.

"ve made a big mistake Moses,”
nay told the Chief. “The whites had
always thought you were truthful. Now, we
believe that you warned the murderers and

them to escape.
a ae powerful Chief Moses wept!
When he had regained composure, he told
Captain Splawn how much he regretted his
act of hostility. He believed the killers
were still in the lava beds. If the Captain
and his brother — _ with him, he was
could find the camp.

ar Tent snow which had fallen, made
trailing easy, They found an abandoned
camp with ashes still warm.

caf
i
i
|

Phd
ah

ze
F

Bs
iat

Wiahne.

inforced jail in Yakima City.
The execution date was reset for the

erected by eager hands of the citizens of
Yakima City.

Bob Bunting, a brother of the late Mrs.
Perkins together with a friend, James Tag-
gart, continued their relentless search for
the last member of the convicted killers,
Tamahhoptowne. They caught up with the
last fugitive murderer in July 1880, two
years after the Perkins’ massacre. No
record of Tamahhoptowne’s hanging has
been found, although there is plenty of
evidence of his burial. Counting the un-
born babe, ten lives in all were snuffed out
during the two years from. the massacre
till the last member paid his penalty.

Odd that the massacre: site should be

1 d for producing a force that was to
end World War II about 65 years later! @

(Editor’s. Note: The author wishes to
thank Homer Splawn for permission to use
factual material from his late father's

timber ever taken into that country.

produced in the Wichita Falls

day, when I drove my first herd of cattle
to that territory. My journey terminated
in the vicinity of present Wichita Falls.
It would be hard to imagine a lonelier or
more desolate region than that which I
encountered in that locality many years
ago. At that time it was nothing more than
a boundless stretch of plain and forest,
given over entirely to the roving redskins,
and scarcely less wild buffaloes. »

“At one time the buffaloes became so
numerous and threatened me with so
much injury to my cattle, that I actually
had a Mexican employee of mine to fol-
low me around with a large seamless sack
filled with cartridges in order to facilitate
the more rapid slaughter of these animals.
On this occasion we killed over three hun-
dred buffaloes before we succeeded in
driving them from our herd.”

Not long after locating on the Big Wich-
ita, Burk Burnett began to improve his
Stock, running Durhams in with the old
breed of Texas longhorn cattle, then lat-
er, the Herefords, until finally, the ranch
raised nothing but high grade beef cattle. ~
In 1881 the Southwest was struck by an
extensive drought that soon reduced West
Texas to a desert-like state, creating prob-
lems upon problems for the cowmen. At
last, Burnett had no choice but to move
his great herd out of the area to more suit-
able grazing lands along the Big Red.

A few years later, about the mid-Eight-
ies, Burk Burnett joined up with some of
his Big Wichita River neighbors—Dan
Waggoner and son Tom, Cal and Ike
Suggs, the Herrings, and others—and
went into the Kiowa and Comanche res-
ervation of the Indian Territory to lease
three hundred thousand acres of grazing
land.

Since Burk Burnett was a friend of the
hereditary Comanche chief, Quannah
Parker, he acted as liaison agent between
the cattlemen and the Indians. He was
known among the Comanche tribe as
“Mas-sa-suta,” meaning “Big Boss.”

All the cattlemen would have a pow-

splendid book, Kamiakin.)

wow together, discussing their leasing

_ THE FOUR SIXES |

3 : ~ (Continued from page 13)
this early residence on the Big Wichita
he had a few neighbors situated at dis-
tances of from ten to twelve miles— such
_ as Halsells, Waggoners, Curtises, etc.— all
“| big cowmen in their own right. The lum-
ber for his home—hauled the 125 miles
from Fort Worth—was the first sawed

In an interview for publication, Burk \
Burnett once recalled: “It is surprising share of the jease money, and traveled oe
to one who was acquainted with its for- y ‘rain to Wichita Falls. Then they trav-
mer state to note the splendid change and cled by buggy to the Four _Sixes ranch . 3
rapid advance time and civilization have headquarters near Nestorville (present ee

section. |. ©wn of Burkburnett), Texas, where they =
recollect as distinctly as if it were yester- ™¢t the other cattlemen.

4 3

the Comanche chief and negotiate the”
deals. “Leases were made from the head
man through the tribal agencies and pay-
ments were made directly to the Indians
themselves.” -; > #-.

Burnett met Tom Slack at the California
and Texas Bank in Fort Worth. Slack was

‘in-law, M.B. Lloyd. They left with two
satchels of currency, which was Burnett's

Early the next morning all the cattle-
men buckled on their gun harnesses, spun
the .cylinders of their six-shooters to
check their loads, picked up their Win- .
chesters and satchels of money, climbed
into hacks and crossed the Red River on a
ferry. An escort of cavalry from Fort Sill
was waiting on the Territory bank of the
Big Red, and proceeded with them to the
Indian Agency at Anadarko. ar ;
‘For three days, the cattlemen passed
ten-dollar bills through the agency win-
dows—ten dollars a head on presentation
of the government ration tickets issued to =
the Indians in those days. Some of the
Comanches were stubbornly opposed to
the leasing and refused to accept the mon-
ey, so the cattlemen turned the surplus
money over to the government to be cred-

» ited to the individual tribes. pati:

It was in the early days of the leasing
that Burk Burnett and Quannah Parker

The Indian agent had made arrange-
ments at that time for the grazing to be
paid for in cattle. Sending for’Quannah
Parker one day, he instructed him:
“Quannah, I want you.to take some of '
your braves and' ride to the Red River
crossing, where you will receive the cat-
tle from the Texas ranchers. You have
your braves watch the white men brand
the cattle and work with them, so they
‘will learn to handle the cattle. These will
be young cows.and there are to be one or
two given to.each Indian family, for them
to raise and build up herds. These will
take the place of the buffalo.”

At the Red River crossing, Quannah
and his warriors watched the white cow-
boys drive the cattle across, hold them in
a herd, and brand each one with the ID of
the Interior Department. A’ personal
brand for each Indian was also used. It
took several days and the ranchers gave
the warriors several yearlings to butcher
for food while they were working with
them. '

However, Chief Quannalr Parker was
invited to eat at the chuck wagon as a per-
sonal guest of the cowhands. On the sec-

(Continued on page 48)

problems: then Burk Burnett would meet ~

~ On one particular annual pay-off, Burk : tes

working at the bank for Burnett's father-. > ”

MASSACRE
“AT RATTLESNAKE
SPRINGS

4 Robley Jobnsom Photo courtesy Harry Kinney Bet 2 ry.

———

Two Indians were in the camp before the Perkins couple suspected another living

of ;
B* AN ODD TWIST OF FATE, two epoch marking

events chose the same spot on a lonesome sagebrush
desert of Centr. i i
Page of history. al Washington, each to write its separate
~ e t event happened in 1878. Lorenzo Perkins
a young wife, Blanche, heavy with her first wn hn
ict Sey massacred at Rattlesnake Springs by seven
mes outlaw Indians, roaming far from their own
The second took place in 1942. The Hanford Atomic
Energy Commission built its sprawling plant to manufacture
plutonium (a critical ingredient used in the bombs dropped
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, credited with ending World
War II) 30 or 40 miles along the Columbia River. The
Hanford territory took in the entire valley back to the Rattle-
snake Hills and so included Rattlesnake Springs as well.
Only four cattlemen lived in the entire region in 1878 at
the time of the Perkins’ murders. There hadn’t been much
Change by 1942, save for a smattering of hardy souls trying
to eke out an existence along the river. The A. E.C. pur-
chased their lands and moved them completely outside the

‘Teservation, for the atomic bomb buildi
i ) then, was as
secretive as the stealth with which th or ' i
had approached their victims. See
j¢ massacre had not been planned. The victi j
happened to be Testing at the only watering wines In ‘the
a when the killers’ trail accidentally crossed ° the
a . The killers were escapees from several tribes which
= — together to eliminate the whites. The rest of their
= oa pa eee at the Umatilla crossing of the
Navan “eb t where many of the renegades’ relatives had
Perhaps the reason for the brutal sl i i
: aughter of Perkins,
wife and unborn babe took shape with the oe a
ay of 1855. Thirty-five year old Territorial Governor
saac I. Stephens negotiated treaties with a number of tribes
e the Walla Walla meeting, including one with the Nez
een Pa = the others had been allotted a reservation
the white man would not be all
by Indian-given permission. Pee
‘After the Nez Perce were settled on their reservation and
were peacefully pursuing their daily lives, some snooping

ins ie

ti
‘

capes ice

inci

A 7 gr ‘
The Rattlesnake Springs area (1). site of
the Perkins Massacre, looking southwest
from present Hanford Atomic Energy Works.

Chief Moses as he appeared about
_ the time of the Perkins Massacre.

¢
‘

by Roscoe Sheller

‘

thing could be within sight or sound

white prospector discovered gold in that area. The find

started a rush onto and over the Nez Perce lands, with little .

or no regard shown the Nez Perce owners, their land rights
or their lives.

Nez Perce Chief Joseph protested to white authorities to
no avail and when the situation became unbearable to the
Nez Perce, Chief Joseph gathered all his people, warriors,
women, children and oldsters; their livestock, goods and
chattels of every kind and struck out through Lolo Pass—
their destination: Canada.

General O. O. Howard in an attempt to stop the flight led
his army in hot pursuit. Chief Joseph was very handicapped.

He had only 500 warriors to fight a U.S. Army of greater ~

numbers. These same warriors had to protect and maneuver
1000 women, children, old men, livestock herds and the
tribe’s entire possessions.

Chief Buffalo Horn of the Bannocks and a hundred of his
braves joined Howard’s troops to fight their traditional
enemies, the Nez Perce. In spite of the outnumbering power
against him, Chief Joseph fought and maneuvered his retreat
for 1400 miles, not stopping until he thought he was safely

A EE OO CI

ere

Capt. Splawn met Chief Moses in a deadly display of iron will

- south of the gap through Saddle Mountains indicated by arrow.

# 2

* across the Canadian border. But his reckoning was a few
miles short. Howard, with the additional reinforcements he’d
received from the East, moved in and accepted Joseph’s
surrender. ; seh.

Instead of the expected dishonor because of his defeat,
the Chief was lauded for his bravery and praised for his
exceptional strategy. His people returned to Washington

= Territory where they were placed on a new reservation and
presented with food and gifts. :

Chief Buffalo Horn was irked. It made him jealous to see
the captured Joseph praised and honored, while he, who
had helped bring about Joseph’s defeat, was never so‘ much
as mentioned nor his help acknowledged. 3

Buffalo Horn pondered the situation. Why should he, a
red man, be lending aid to the whites? They were the en-
croachers constantly driving the Indians from their long held
domain. Never again would he be such a fool. From now
on, Buffalo Horn determined to devote all of his energies
and his life, if need be, to organizing all Indian tribes,
whether former enemy or friend, into one great force to
drive the white man from the West before his growing num-
bers would make it forever impossible. 7#

He sent runners to all the tribes to explain his proposal
and outline his plans to begin a march at Fort Hall, picking
up tribes as they went marauding, killing all whites and
destroying their possessions in their path. The plan included
working their way across Washington Territory as well.

Buffalo Horn’s Bannocks were promptly joined by the
Shoshones and then by Chief Egan and his large band of
Piutes. The 500 braves with nearly 1500 women and children
gave Fort Boise a wide detour to avoid any possible inter-
ference from that score should they be discovered.

Traveling toward their ultimate goal, Buffalo Horn, with
the now second in command Egan, picked up more tribes,
the Umatillas, Cayuses, Columbias, Walla Wallas, expecting
to add the Spokanes and others before heading for Chief
Moses’ domain in Central- Washington Territory. All whites,
in the combined Indian tribes’ path who failed to get out
ahead of it, were ruthlessly killed.

Before reaching the Columbia River neat Umatilla where
a crossing had been planned, Chief Buffalo Horn was killed.
Shortly afterward, Chief Egan of the Piutes, not much of a
warrior, was badly wounded. A few days later, he died.

Left leaderless, the Piutes panicked and fell easy prisoners
to the U.S. troops who drove them over the snow covered
terrain all the way to Fort Simcoe where 400 to 500 were
held in Agent Wilbur’s care for an indefinite period.

The remainder of the still large force attempted to make
a Columbia River crossing near Umatilla, but the delay
caused by loss of the Indians’ leaders and slow reorganiza-

4 t
tion, gave the whites sufficient time to prepare an organized
defense, one item of which was a river boat converted into
a patrol ship on which had been mounted several cannons.
It came upon the Indians as they were making their attempt
to cross using rafts, canoes or swimming. The resulting
damage was not pretty. Some got back to the south .side
safely. Many failed to leave the water on either side, but
seven of the most bloodthirsty renegades reached the north
bank and as soon as darkness hid their presence, headed
north toward Chief Moses’ territory according to their dead
leader’s plans.

They had seen their tribe members, friends and relatives
shot down beside them. while attempting to cross the river*
determined to annihilate all whites in the Northwest. These
seven had somehow escaped the flying bullets splashing the
water all about them as they swam, had traveled much of the
night and with but a little rest had continued on, worn and
hungry. They were in an ugly mood when they came in sight
of two white persons dismounting at Rattlesnake Springs
shortly after noon on July 9, 1878. ‘

Lorenzo and Blanche Perkins had left their cattle ranch
east of the Columbia River where it makes its big loop
around what would later be a town named White Bluffs.

- M. King, one of the four white men living in all of the
eee region, had ferried the pair across the Columbia early
nas morning. In their conversation, King had learned they
Cn e poe ecg way to Mrs. Perkins’ parents’ home in Yakima
“he where Blanche would await the arrival of their first

Sher ethine couple arrived at Rattlesnake Springs shortly
they would — Prepared for a short rest during which time
might enjoy bre lunch. They unsaddled their horses that they
\dance about “apa on the bunchgrass that grew in abun-
the Springs. While Lorenzo built a fire, Blanche

The White Bluffs ferry powered by horses hitched to overhead sweep whic

ae eae
paddlewheel.

iat “ is +

h operated the

took the food she had brought from the saddle bags. Two
Indians were in the camp before either suspected another
living thing could have been within sight or sound. The
strangers made signs they were hungry and seemed irked
that there was no more food although the Perkins gave them
all they had, without reserving a single mouthful for them-
selves. His suspicions aroused, Lorenzo went to saddle his
horse and Blanche followed his lead.

She had her mount bridled and was reaching for the
saddle when she heard one Indian shout. Turning, she saw
the savage level a gun at her husband. The expression on his
ugly face told her this was bad. Blanche dropped the saddle
and, excellent horsewoman that she was, leaped to her
mount’s back.. Her horse, sensing her danger and urgent need
to get away, was off and running instantly. She didn’t look
back from her crouched position, urging and helping her
horse do his best, although she wondered if it was a shot
she heard, or especially loud hoofbeats. .

She felt she was gaining. The hoofbeats weren’t quite as
close, when all of a sudden looming directly in her path was
a wide and deep wash that hadn’t been there the last time she
or her horse had traveled that trail. Her mount was startled
and hesitated, hardly noticeably, but just enough to lose that
margin of momentum that could have carried him across
with Blanche.

He stumbled, his feet lacking but inches to clear the wash.
The girl nose-dived over her horse’s head into the rocks of
the dry wash bank. She lay there, motionless.

When she regained consciousness and found she could
move, she sat up and looked into the faces of several Indians.
Yet only two had come to eat their food! Who were all these
now staring at her? She begged of them, “If you must kill
someone, kill me and let my husband go.”

Then she saw another, harder looking Indian come up

eF er

Semmie James Churchill Photos

Melvin Bishop Photo
penton +

at
3
$

Base al
This monument marks Lorenzo D. Perkins’ grave.

: zs Sg : anes " raveyard, wh

ere Lorenzo Perkins and |
“ P a é

beside the others. “Why you stand there like women?”
Wiahnecat, who had shot Lorenzo asked, and promptly
raised his gun and fired point blank.

HEN the young Perkins couple failed to show up for
W days after they had been expected, Blanche’s uncle,
John McAllister, and a friend, Adam Duncan, left for Rattle-
snake Springs, knowing that it was the first watering place
west of the Columbia River crossing they would have to
make at White Bluffs. It was the most likely place to stop
for lunch and a breather. Examining the place carefully, the
pair located a bit of cloth that appeared to be torn from a
quilt. At another place a few feet away they kicked a piece
of broken dish from the sandy soil which gave signs of more
than two people having been there recently, But they could
find no signs of the Perkins. Going to the river they located
Mr. King who ran the ferry. He gave them the definite
assurance that he took the pair across on the morning of
July 9. ; :

Mrs. Perkins’ mother immeditely identified the bit of cloth
and broken dish found at Rattlesnake Springs 4s belonging
to her daughter, a fact that-aroused further fears for her
safety and that of Lorenzo. An appeal was made to Indian
Agent Wilbur at Fort Simcoe for help in tracking down the
lost Perkins. Wilbur responded with three of his best scouts,
Stick, Joe and Dick, to join with six whites from Yakima City,
led by the famous frontiersman, Jack Splawn. Together, they
set out for Rattlesnake Springs, where the last evidence of
the Perkins was discovered.

The Indian scout, Stick, had a reputation for being able
to track a shadow. His remarkable ability led him to a
“wash” made by a recent cloudburst. A miniature island had
been formed and from a pile (Continued on page 46)

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9993399399999399900999

Friday, January 31, 1902, at the Pacific County Court

ie House at 9:00 o'cluck a. m.
2,3
Present this Card . ws Tf.
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“Boondocks Restaurant

500 invitations .

GOAN

to Lum’s hanging

A hanging. Not exactly the first thing
you think of while passing through
South Bend, is it? But South Bend had a

. hanging, a story that goes along with.it, —

and a site called Hangman’s Park. ©

There were a great many Chinese
living in Pacific County at the turn of
the century, working in a variety of
occupations from canneries to ditching.

One of the best known was Lum You; °*
somewhat of a “dandy” with im-,

maculate clothing and jade bracelets.

Most accounts of the murder lean in

- favor of Lum You, although no one -

argues he killed a man.

Once Lum You had a grievance
against another Chinaman and took his
complaint to South Bend Police Chief
Marion Egbert, who told him ‘Don’t
come to me with your Chinaman
troubles.” ea eae

When he asked Egbert how to protect

himself, Egbert replied: “I don’t care.
Chop oif his bead if you want to." Well,

‘ he wanted to, and Ging had the scar to

prove .it. : a

On Aug. 6, 1901, Oscar Bloom, a large
man, bumped inta Lum You when they
met on the street. Later 3loom knocked
cards from Lum'’s hand at a game. On
the night of the tragedy in Bay Center,
Bloom had grabbed the Chinaman
atout the reck, ‘aken some valuables,
and nade threats against Lum’s life.

_ Despite this, Lum Szew be could xot

anmaniaiars w chart

. Instead, Lum You went to his room,
put one bullet in a gun and shot Blcom
at 30 paces. Many heard the shot, but no
one went to Bloom's aid.

Twenty-three hours after the
shooting, Egbert arrived aboard the
steamer “Flora Brown.” Bloom made
a statement, being clear about the .
shooting and failing to remember the
incidents before. Bloom died. ~

While the sympathies of most persons

' seem: to have been with Lum’ You,

employers of Orientals insisted that
action be taken against the Chinese !
man who had dared harm a white man.
In October 1901; the trial was held.
It has been stated (unofficially, of
course) that the vote was 11 to 1 for
acquittal. One man stubbornly held out
and the il weary ones decided to vote
for conviction, sincerely believing he
would never hang, ~ : :
Some have related (again, * unof-

* ficially) that the cell door was never

locked and Lum You was encouraged,
even ordered, to flee, but be did not.

- Once, when he disappeared for a few

days, officials breathed a sigh of relief

- and offered a $200 reward. Hearing this,

Lum You came back, not wishing to
cause trouble or to lose face.

Five hundred invitations to the
hanging were printed and distributed.
and having a card today ‘s areal piece
of Americana. Lum You hanged — the
first and only execution in Pacific
County. ;

Hangmman's Park *as “he site of that
first county courctouse ind te hanglog
af Zanuare WW * 302.

a KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON, FXECUTIONS.

King County
State of Washington
John D. Spellman, County Executive

King County Superior Court Clerk
Department of Judicial Administration
Betty J. Mullen, Director-Superior Court Clerk

E609 King County Court House
516 Third Avenue

Seattle, Washington 98104
(206) 344-2530

Oetoner 10, 19/7/

Walt Espy

Law Library

Box 6205

University, Ala. 35486

Dear Sir:

- Re: Cause No. Cr-A 472
State of Washington vs.
Charles W. Nordstrom

“The above entitled action, in which the defendant was charged with Murder

in the lst Degree, was filed on November 4, 1891. The Verdict of Guilty

was filed on January 13, 1891. (We have re-checked this date and it is

as specified). The Death Warrant filed April 24, .1901 ordered that defendant
be executed on Friday, August 23, 1901.

Re: Cause No. 1068
Territory of Washington vs.
John Thompson

The above entitled action, in which the defendant was charged with Murder

in the 2nd Degree, was filed on February 15, 1877. The Judgment was filed

on May 15, 1877. The Death Warrant was filed on January 28, 1878. A document
from the Undertaker indicates that he buried the body, but the date is not
legible.

Re: Cause No. 1937
State of Washington vs.
William Alvon Seaton

Your letter indicated the name as ''Fred Alden Seaton" whereas our records
indicate the above name. The Information filed January 5, 1901 charged the
Defendant with Murder in the lst Degree. The Verdict was filed on March 7,
1901 and the Death Warrant on January 3, 1902.

We trust this information will be of some help to you.
Yours very truly,
ROBERT E.. BOARMAN, ACTING CLERK

VY 3S Gordon Newell

WASHINGTON STATE INNOCENTS | | fivicis we a Bvd Nw
= “A 98502

(206) 352-4594

(Clark and Gaines).

Oops! Sorry... a

—__..

Olympia News 52 6 FEB 1985

Siate of Washington. may

sometimes executed wron

Second In an Olympia
News 52 series on capi-
tal. punishment in the
state of Washington.

CORRECTION: Last week's
tal * when Dan Evans began his first
term as governor. Evans announc

segment of the series on capi
punishment in Washington quoted
Werden Lawes of Sing Sing Prison
as saying the only thing the 150
men he had seen executed had in
common was PROPERTY! This
tends to somewhat distort the
meaning of the quotation What
Laues cecily scid wes that ihe on-
ly thing the electrocuted inmates
had in common wos POVERTY.
By Gordon Newell

Hanging was the prescribed
punishmeot for first degree
murder, rape and certain other
crimes from 1889 to 1913, when the
death penalty was repealed by the
Legislature. It was reinstated six
years Later, ln 1919, and bap s
continued at the Walls

State Penitentiary through 1963,

when Joseph Chester Self, 8
32-year-old drifter and former in-
mate of a U.S. Army military
rison, Oregon State Prison and

the last maa bap ed at Walla
bite 10 date. (Feministe may call

- ft sex discrimination, but no

woman has been executed by

Washington state or territory)

Executions were halted again in
1965, this time by executive fiat,

ed that he was morally opposed to
the death penalty, and would com-
mute any such sentences, regard-
less of the circumstances of the
crime. When the U.S. Supreme
Court, some years later, ruled
Washington's death eae
statutes unconstitutional, along
with those of most other states,
Evans promised to veto any new
act aimed at conformity with
Supreme Court guidelines.

Now, with a new and presum-
ably constitutional aggravated
first degree murder statute on the
books, four men are currently
under sentence of death, with a
choice of hanging or lethal injec
tion.

The majority of the 73 convicted
murderers executed at Walla
Walla bet ween 1904 and 1964 were

not guilty of ia first
e

have
qman. ~

7" eo. ¢
only five for violent crimes
(murder, manslaughter or rape),

And the guilt of at least two of
those who paid the ultimate penal
ty on the gallows at Walla alla is
in doubt. t rd

Wallace C, Gaines, 48, was hang-
ed oa August 31, 1928 for the
alleged murder of his daughter,
whose body was found in a
near Seattle’s Green Lake. Gaines,
a mining engineer, had two years
of college education. (Only one
otber victim of the gallows had at-
tended college. No college
graduates have Been executed, and
only four high school graduates.

Most were illiterate or semi-
illiterate).

Since the Gaines murder was

resumed to have taken place in

ing County, and the body. was
found in ttle, both lice
jurisdictions were involved in the
case, although Sheriff Matt Star
wich had Lai | jurisdiction. He
apparently fixed on the victim's
father as the killer at the outset,

and his department eeived 6 x.

cumstantial evidence case

on that. The jury bought it, but
after the execution, Seattle Chief
of Detectives Charles Tennant

Quentin, was executed forthe degree murder as fined by pre
cold-blooded killing of a Seattle sent law. A number were certainly said positively, “Galnes told the
taxi driver. The murder netted insane. Only 23 of the 73 had an truth when be stated his In
| Self $15- and the distinction of be known previous criminal record; >» Con't to page 7

“Leila Page, alias M
Richards, a woman of the bate
world and keeper of a house of ill
fame known as the Jewel was
murdered yesterday morning and
der paramour, his own throat cut
In an Ineffective attempt at
suicide, ls charged with the crime.
Insane Jealousy is assigned as the
cause of the terrible deed. The
wound of Charles Clarke, the
slayer, is reported to be super
ficial. The woman was bralned
<< an ae oe her throat cut

a a- ew
arenier ays where 73 convicted ed Ineffectively oa bloself, Letic
hy okie took thelr last walk to Page was generally a favorite
¢ galloses. among the sporting class, while
henner bs qperutdy inno picasa al he ager
” \y 6 ie
riphon 2 deed pete st :. drifted from bad to worse. He ne
—> & that of 26-year-old Charles Clarke, Doe Contain adodats
Co good The Otyerpien hed already tried
i fleshpots of "Giversha's pretest sy age A ores
Mon s of ° e@ town s00

Tre cl Ge! Meal ite pak a
Praselaco's Bihan Clas’ ont trial in August, when a deputy
sy Mine pre me ee
voile ita] Way) beau thee nye st with bina ie red

e Ucellats tw psi = ‘

o or three blocks to was generally agreed, bing. oy
way to teach that dissolute young
man a lesson. The jury felt the
same way, and Clarke was con-
victed and sentenced to death.

He had based his defense on the
claim that another of Leila's

amours”, the black sheep son
of @ prominent local family, had
been the jealous lover who wielded
the axe and knife. The “other
man", who had been working as a
bartender in a local saloon, left
town soon after the murder and
7] gs seen again.

ut many years later,

deathbed In another state, eg
ed @ full coafesaloa, admitting
that he had indeed killed the
woman and cut Clarke's throat.
That, however, was much too late
to do Charles Clarke any good. He
was the secood man to mount the
; scaffold at Walla Walla, on
wi - September 2, 1904.
. : : To be continued next week.

“The Walls”, Walla Walla State

the north. Big Bill McGowan's
Green Tree in and dance hall
were the prime attractions, and
the street terminated at his burles
hog theater built on pilings over
e mudflats, but the madams ofa
half dozen brothels also id
monthly “fines” at city in
crocs ts stay iu business. Tue pro
pretor of one of these, the Jewel,
was young and attractive and
Clarke fell under her spell - with
fatal results, On January 21, 1903
ae oe Olympian sent a
shudder up the collective spines of
its respectable readers with a glar

ing froat :
witout Page story of sex, sin and

Mpe ot

WASHINGTON STATE

NUANA, Joseph NA, 16/17 Jefferson
Murder, 2WM35,?, WF20 3~6~1874

WHITE, William WM, 2771S King
Murder, WM 3-2-1906

DUBUC, Walter WM, 17 Thurston
Murder, WM, 86 4-1g5-1932 (6 )

1)
r ois om

te 1959 29

eens aaa

2 ee
FROM THER E A ROPE HUNG-—Sheritt se

acne Cap itelPanennient

itic in Courthouse Was the Hanging Room in Two"

rank Stojacky. hatless:

ore Executions Around Turn of the Century

P| potiaing ee doe Sludeh,

county prosecutor’s investigator, point to the huge timber in the northwest attic of the Gaenty.

Courthouse which once played a grisly role in the criminal history of Pierce County.
this beam, so the stories go, that a rope was hung for the executions of two murderers,

it was from
Under-

sheriff Glen Talbot looks on. The picture shows a portion ef the huge pile of old county doc u-
ments which were stored in the attic, known to courthouse habitues as the “hangman's Toom.,”

—News Tribune photo.

PAUL DUMAS
‘the ghosts of two convicted
wife-killers were 5 Saco about
the “Hangman’s Room” in the
County Courthouse last. week.
The mischievous spectres, seen
by no one but known to several
old courthouse hands, were re-
leased in stories that were being
retold in connection with .clean-
ing up going on right now of old
records which have been stored
in the attic room of the build-

Busty and dingy, its gabled
ceiling reaching up a good three
stories from the floor, the room
back at the turn of the century
reportedly was the place where
two murderers were executed.
Depending on whom you talk to,
you can hear any of several ver-
sions of the ancient attic’s place
in the criminal history of Pierce
County.

Used for Records

There’s no doubt about its func-
tion lo these many years. Five
floors up and, away off in. the
northeast- corner of the massive
pile of geod f that soon will
pass into the limbo‘ of Pierce
County history, the attic has
served as a hideway for such doc-
uments as old criminal dockets,|!
court ‘records, land — abstracts,
school. records stretching | a good
100 feet along one wall-—things
like that, many dating back to
the day the building was opened,
June 21, 3.

Workmen and people from the
different offices in the old court-
house are going through the yel-
lowed records, sifting out what
should be kept and relegating the
rest for destruction later on. The
new County-City Building, soon
to be occupied by county depart-
ments, was built for the present
and future and apparently the
less of the past that crosses she
street the better. | eat

Be h R- tt Sheriff gi

e that as it may, dig ng u
these old files and documents up
bound to revive hoa tre be
those early days..when cou
sheriffs were required ty dispose

.| This was before Walla Walla and
the sheriff couldn’t pass the buck} sp

of their convicted murderers.

—or rope—and had to see person-
ally that the grisly business was
done in his own bailiwick.
Sheriff Frank Stojack, a new
hand at the job, visited the “hang-
man’s room” to soak up a bit of
history and see for himself wheth-
er there was. still any evidence
that anyone had ever swung to
his réward from the huge beams
overhead. There was nothing.
But there were the stories.
Undersheriff Glen Talbot had
heard them, too. So had Joe Sla-
dek, investigator for the county
rosecutor, And. Jailer Wayne
ittman, who is something of a
life-long “student” (for want of a
word) of executions, also had his
version of the stories.
Tales Vogue
One story is that one man and
one woman were executed in that
attic. Another said only one per-
son wes hanged. ‘Still another
had two mounting those 13 steps.
Then there were the tales which
let you fill in your own number.
ally, oa Dittman came
along to spoil the whole thing
with the itateriant that the hang-|)
ings bap performed in the at-}:
tic at all but right in the jail]
itself. - Dittman’s authority, he
said, was an old timer, now dead,
who worked in, the courhouse at
the turn of the ‘century, when the
bangings ‘supposedly. took place.
swung. right in: here,”
he said, referring to the foyer-

like ig (just inside- the barred}

“They named that Fewer
ingman's room’:
that’s where he stayed during the
hanging. It was from that room
that? che pulled the ones. that trig-

door, now frozen shut, through}
which. prisoners went to climb a}
iral stairway to the courtrooms
above. This staircase long ago
was sealed off.

It took a call to the Washing-
ton State Historical Museum to
get the “true facts’ of the story
and establish for posterity, once
and for all, that the old attic in-
deed was used as an execution
chamber.

Two Cases Traced

On April 6, 1900, at 7:10 a man
known as Albert! Michaud, con-
victed in Pierce County Superior
Court of slaying his wife, fell
through a gallows erected in the
northwest attic into eternity.

A little more than a year later,
on Aug. 9,
one Eben L. Boyce, who was
identified as a “dope fiend, drunk-
ard and wandering musician” re-
cently arrived from Manila, was
hanged from the same scaffold
for The brutal killing of his wife.

. That is the story so far as the
museum knows it, Those were
the only hangings on record at
the museum library.

That is how the ineay old attic
came by its grigiy name, the
Megaware x roan .
be LONG FES SVAN |

; courtrooms,

901, to be specific, |,

fered -the trip on the gallows
t west built right here.
Rope Connected .

“you see, no one knew who the,
hangman was. It was important
that his identity remain secret.{
That's why be was ‘alone up in
hat attic..The rope, incidentally,
ung from the ceiling up there.!
fit dropped five floogs through the

a
Dittman also poiftted to.a, steel

aor Any LALUMA SUNDAY NEWS TRIBUNE | AND LEDGE

:
|
|

PRISONERS’ BOOR—Sheriff Frank Stojack tries te fit a key |
to the heavy steel. door inside the county jail whieh reportedly |

|
: ‘ : {
ounce was used by prisoners on their way to aad from superior |

dailer Wayne Dittman looks on. The door ona
opencd to a steel, spiral staircase, The staircase tome age wy |
sealed off. ‘The d§or itself is frozen shut—News Pribine photo. |

| 18575
1066),

18910

18373
19295

» 19950
| : 20033
| 20368
20,81

| 2039
| 21027
/ 21820
22226

22146
23233

ne ae

23394
2342
2 3uh1

idan

WRIGHT, Roy Uy 19
o CARSON, are 5h

BOUCHARD, Edward Le Te)
OMARABLE, Jack (4/ ho

~ .
CIEWIS, Arley Ovoya U~ 29
ODAVIS, Denzel 0) oo aly
(ANDERSON, John Bruce fii 52

OMONTCOMERY, Chestert $7 if 29
JACOBS, Roy Willard Vth. Tal

_ BILL, Joe Either 30

BIRD, Jake Pug es
(PERKINS, Arthur Bruce 44 2h,
WILLIAMS, Wayne LeRoy WY —- 33
OO'DELL, Wayne yy _— 23
O RIO, Grant E. “a 29

OWILSON, Utah E Ved’ 22
(PWLLSON, Turwan G. L 26

BUTTRY, Paul ¢¢/ ee 39
@ TALLOTT, Earl wr 19

Woodworker
Rancher
Cook

Const. Wrkr
Decorator
Painter
Musician
Laborer
Farmer

Cook
None listed
Longshoreman
Laborer
Laborer
Sawmill Opr.
Shoemaker
Laborer
Laborer

Cook

Industrial Wrkr

Laborer
Farm Laborer

Laborer

Basber

Grays Harborl0 yrs

WallaWalla 8 yrs

Yakima

Clallam

Snohomish

Thurston
Clark
King
Spokane
Bavkind
Bierce
King
King
King
Pierce
Spokane
King
Pierce

Thurston

9 yrs
8 yrs

Common

12 yrs

9 yrs
Comnoir
12 yrs
None
6 yrs
7 yrs
7 yrs
6 yrs
8 yrs
7 yre
10 yrs

. 10 yrs

Snohomish 8 yrs

Whitman
Whitman

Clark
Clark

12 yrs
ll yrs
8 yr3

? yrs

Div.
Single
Singia
Married
Single
Single
Sep.
Married
Single
Married
Div
Dive
Married
Married
Married
Single
Married
Single
Dive
Widower
Single
Single

Dive
Single

UsSehe
UsSsAe
UeSeAs
UsSeAe
UsSehe
U.SsAe
U.S.Ae
UsSehe
U.SeAe
UsSeAe
UsSsAe
UsSeAe
UsSeAe
Alaska
U.SeAs
UsSehe
U.S.A.
Chk,
UsSeAe
UsSeAe
U.S.A
USeAe

U.S.Ae

U.S.A.

None

SanQuentin (G.L.)
Wash.St.Pen. (Robbery)
Georgia 3 times
Missouri 3 times

None

Wash.S.Re & McNeil
Mo., Iowa., Nebr.
El Reno & Mich. S.P.
McNeil (Burg)
McNeil

S.P. Maine

Wash. S.R. (GeL.)
None

None

Wash.S.R. (Rape)
Mont. Ste Ind. Sche

None

Oregon (Rape)

9-15-39
9-18-D
10-439
12-8-39
9-6-0
10-140
1-30-11
3-2h-U1
11-1) -41
3-19-43
46-43
9~3-L)s
12-8-L),
9-7=l15
1-19-16
2-5-6
1-7-7
TH1S—49
11-4-49
11-186-),?
6-18-51
12-10-51

1.-3~53
1--3--53

oe TWA A Bi 8

Fe
Ez 7 :
ry ey oy

>
AS

\ newe reser. »

eR tee ee Ne Be eo hd RY os EAP Ol ee

NUMBER

NAME _& R/ CE AGE | __ OCCUPATION COUNTY. EDUCA ION! SS. CITIZENSHIF, MILITARY] PRIOR PRISON RECORD DATE EXE:

ey CHAMPOUX, James white 28 | Farmer King Common Div. Canada Unknown] Unknown 5-6-04
3408 CO} CLARKE, Charles , Ate 26 | Sash&Door mkr Thursten | Common Single | U.S.A. Unknown] Unknown 9-2-04

: Tee :
3690 ARAO, ey | Orient 28 | Tailor / Spokane Common Single | Japan None Unknown 6=3-05
365% RAEQUALE,ARrpankJ, > white 28 | Laborer Pierce Common Single | Italy None Unknown 9-15-05
3901 @ McPHAIL, -Angus Cer ai white 45 | Woodsman Snohomish | Common Single | Canada None None = 12-8-05
4000 WHITE, William wht 18 | Sailor King Common Married | U.S.A. Navy None . 3-2-06
4053 @BROOKS, Stecay phe 46 | Laborer Clark None Married U.S.A. None None 5-13-06
4133 ARMSTRONG, A. A. ohh 53 | Farmer Lewis Common Married | U.S.A. Unknown) Unknown -6-8-06
4397 MILLER, Fred iphte 25 Woosennt Cowlitz None Single Russia None None 3-22-07
5266 <) NICULAS, Joe..-~ eek 22 | Laborer Kitsap None Single | Guam None None 416-09
5426 Cy GAUVIETTE, Joseph ne Act. 44 | Plumber ( Spokane Common Married | Canada None None 8-27-09
5535 C BARNES, Hezekiah wf 28 | Labore WallaWalla | Common Married | U.S.A. Army None 11~12-09
5661 €} QUINN, Richard plete 32 | Laborer Snohomish | Common Single | U<S.A. . Navy None 5-13-10
5720 BARKAR, Frank wht 23 | Teamster Spokane Common Single | U.S.A. Army Ill. State Reform Sch. | 6-20-10

? ; Sey :
5998 JOHNS, Frederick Wild im KALE 63 | Machinist Stevens Common Married | Germany Brazilian None 4-21-11
¥ aes a ‘ Army ‘
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ABOLISHED FOR TEN YEARS
9255 SMITH, John white 26 | Laborer King Common Div. U.S.A. None None 4-2)
4 Naturalized base" ‘

9821 MAHONEY, James E, white 38 | Railroad King Common wid. U.S.A. None Wash.St.Pen. (Robb) 12-1-22
10078 WHITFIELD, George Edward whj| 22 | Laborer Clark _Common Single | U.S.A. None None ) 6-13-24
10413 WALLER , Ral phy~ 7 white 34 | Miner Garfield Common Married | Bohemia None None 6-27-24
10095 (PERT rOes OR white 39 | Barber Spokane Common Single | U.S.A. None Calif. (Murder) 12-12-24
11649 WINTERS, Alfred A. negro 30 | Janitor Cowlitz Common Single | U.S.A. None None 5-27-27

@ Albert A. Williams . ‘
11079 MOSELY, L. &. 1egro 45 | porter King Common Single | U.S.A. None Calif. (Robbery)

Wash.St.Pen.(Murder) 2-19-26

¢ LOPEZ, Manuel ul “Wik Laborer None Mexico | 3 ,2=15-28
BAILEY, Emmett (d/ 39 Logger : Common WeHeAe 8~10~28

© GAINES, Wallace cl Lb 48 Mining Engre King 2 yrs UsSahe - 2. 831-28
2 College
+ BAKER, Luther). tie/ §1 Logger Clark Common U.S.A. None — . 3—2 9=29

CLARK, Preston Re (w/ 9 Laborer Walla Wala None U.SeAe . None ; 7=-11~30
( WILKINS, R. L, (Leo) W/L = Farmer Wal laWalla Common Oe Oe ‘None == BO

ne
aun

SCHAFFER, Arthur W 29 Farmer / Mason Common Single U.S.A. None . 8-29—30
13179 () uucH, Archie Frank Z 33 Mill Worker Spokane Common Married Canada None 9-12-30
13965 OMILLER, George Ut Sd - 4B Mechanic Spokane 9 yrs - Dive UsS.Aco Wash.StePene (Robb) 12-18-31
1,200 OCARPENTER, Haroldl (1/ Se 31 Laborer Thurston 8 yrs. Single U.S.Ae | Wash.St.Refty(Forge) -15~32
1201 CDULUC, Walter L—“ (4) 17 ‘Laborer Thurston 5 yrs Single U.S.A. None | +15~32
1,926 STRATTON, Ollie Lee 4 2h Soldier Jefferson 6 yrs Single U.S.Ae None 7-28-33
15396 BRADLEY, Ted UW 28 = Plumber King 8 yrs Single U.S.A. Lvenegerabert 5-11-3

Wash. St.Pen(GeLe

15567 MILLER, Byron Ww 43 Farmer . Yakima T yrs Married U.SéA. None 10=3—=3
16117 YICK, Hong Dieirrile 39 Laborer King Common Single U.S.A. Nane ; 7219 =35
16476 FLEMING, Barney Mag 29 Laborer — King Common Separe U.S.A. None ; -3=36

16504 STRINGER, Glenn"Re Le/ 2h Laborer Clark Common Single U.S.A. . Oregon 3 times 52936

17265 (HAWKINS, Clifford

Logger Skagit y yrs Single U.S.A. None ee 2=23-38
17267 RYAN, Claude He a 3, Farmer Lewis None Divorced U.S.A. Wash.St.Pen.(Mansl.) 2-25-38
17:82 KNAPP, Stanley (4X/ 21 Laborer Spokane _—:10 yrs Single U.S.A. None 116.24-38
17602 O'DONNELL, Joseph Re (J 40 Salesman None ' Sep. U.S.A. | U.S.P. Leavenworth 11-21-33

. } (Posse Opium)
17951 LEUCH, Bernhard R.LGY 48, None listed Common Married U.S.A. None 8-l,-39

y <<

hi 5009 areas Artell, Jrel) 28 Roofer Pierce 8 yrs Div. Uses. h, None None | 12-15-56 :
26609 OCOLLINS, Harvey Jon WwlSo Soldier Pierce unknown Single U.S.A. Army None 12-3-57 4
J 020034 BRopERsEN, John Riciardis4 Mechanic — Clark See. < Divs -Ueh.4. Wevy = ° tone 6-25-60 :
fiaricate de 5: hase chest. 52 <BVOree King 8% grades Single U.S.A. = Army eke oe ee 6-20-63
a Oregons (car theft .

TOTAL 7 3 : . , San Quentin (cer tneft & Burg) @

All were executed for the crime of Murder in the first degree with the exception of 18464 MARABLE, Jack who was executed for
the crimes of KIDNAPPING Count I and RAPE Counts II & III. ws . Bn a,

7-30-63

JAD/mb

J. A. DOTY, Recpy sw Ldeilti feation Officer

Metadata

Containers:: Box 43 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 4
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Charles Clark executed on 1904-09-02 in Washington (WA) Wallace Gaines executed on 1928-08-31 in Washington (WA) Walter Dubuc executed on 1932-04-15 in Washington (WA) Harold Carpenter executed on 1932-04-15 in Washington (WA)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: July 6, 2019

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Collection restrictions:: Access to this record group is unrestricted.
Collection terms of access:: The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

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Collection

M. Watt Espy Papers, 1730-2008

Collection ID	apap301
Total components	25982
Items available online	24933
Last indexed	2025-11-11

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Washington, executions recorded in county and statewide records, 1959-1986, Undated

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M. Watt Espy Papers, 1730-2008

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