Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-08-08
The Death Of Tracy.

by his own hand.
He was surrounded by posse, in a
wheat field, about eleven miles south.
east of Creston, in the eastern part OF
this state. Tracy had been at the
Eddy ranch, near Creston, two days
and nights. when Il young man named
of Goldiinch, who saw and recognized
him, gave information to Sheriff Gard
ner, who at once proceeded to the
farm with posse Of five men. Sheriff
Doust, Of Spokane, likewise hurried to
the spot with eight or ten armed men.
a duel at long range ensued which
lasted for several hours, when firing
from the entrenched desperate ceased.
An investigation several hours after
ward, showed that the closely pursued
man, having been wounded in the
right leg, so seriously as to ultimately
have resulted in death, had taken his
own life with his revolver. This was
late in the afternoon and the next
morning his lifeless body was found.
The five brave men who will probably
receive the reward were the Sheriff, his
deputy C. A. Straub, DR.. E. c. Lanter,
Attorney Maurice Smith. J. J. Morri-
san, railroad section foreman and
Frank Lillingrew, all OF Creston, Lin
coin county. From a Creston dis
patch of the 9Th we CLEAN the follow.
ing particulars of the end of one of the
most remarkable criminals on record.
1t was on the afternoon OF Tuesday
shortly after 2 o'clock that the posse
arrived at the Eddy farm, and found
its owner working in the field, near
the barn. Just then Tracy came from
the building and began helping his
host unhitch the horses. He carried
no rifle, although he had his revolvers
in place. Soon as the outlaw saw the
men approaching he made leap for
the barn door. The officer command
ed d" Hold up your hands," but the
fugitive jumped behind Mr.. Eddy and
kept first the man and then the horses
between himself and the officers. He
commanded the farmer to lead his
horses to the barn. When near the
stable he dashed inside, quickly ap-
pearing with rifle in hand and started
on run for the wheat field, both pur-
sued and pursuer keeping up sharp
fusillade. Tracy fred at least eight
shots, but it seems without his usual
luck as marksman. Just as he en-
tered the field, he stumbled and fell,
crawling to covert on his hands and
knees. It was probable that he had
been wounded by the shots of his pur-
suers, but as dusk was coming on, they
formed Gordon around the field and
suspended hostilities for the night.
About 8 o'clock a report was heard
from the field and it was probably the
self-inflicted shot that ended the con-
vict's life.
As soon as the FIRST rays OF morning
light redeemed the eastern sky and it
was possible for the hunters to see
everything going on around them, an
advance was made. Examining the
trail into the wheat field, one OF the
party soon came across the lifeless
body of Harry Tracy. The body was
lying face upward. His left arm was
thrown over his head and held q As
calibsr Colts revolver, which had evi.
IDENTIFY inflicted the fatal wound. The
thumb Of this hand was on the trigger
Of the pistol. His right hand was
thrown across the lower part of the
body, firmly grasping the barrel OF the
OF the now famous 5000 Winchester,
as though the inanimate thing was
more dear to him than all else in life,
and showing that one thing at least
received his good will and faith until
the end. The body was cold when
found, showing that the spirit had
fled some hours before, and pointing
TO the belief that the shot heard by
the guards about 8 o'clock Tuesday
evening was the fatal one and was
fred by Tracy himself. Upon close
examination of the body it was found
that the wound which resulted in the
outlaws death was inflicted by q 45-
caliber revolver, held close to his fore.
head. The top Of his head was badly
mangled and the blood had oozed
from the wound, making the sight an
uncanny one.
Two bullet wounds in the left leg
showed the cause of the mans DIES.
pondency and subsequent suicide.
One of these had broken the leg be-
tween the ankle aud the knee and the
other one cut the tibial artery, and OF
itself was sufficient to cause death. It
is believed that both OF these shots
were received after the convict left the
shelter of the rock and made his break
for the wheat field. The murderer
had then strap and buckled it tightly
around his leg in an attempt to stop
the bleeding. Despite the tightly
fastened strap the bleeding continued
until he, probably realizing his hope
less condition, ended the struggle.
He was dressed in blue overalls, a
white shirt, and wore no coat nor vest.
He had bicycle cap on his head and
q pair of rough heavy shoes on his
feet. He had only one rifle and two
fevolvers, one in hand and the other
inaidA his froucora