Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-08-13
TRACY, THE OUTLAW, DEAD.
IIilln Himself to Prevent Capture by
Posse, Which Had HIM Cor
nered in Wheat Field.

Spokane, WASH, Aug. 7.-Harry
Tracy, escaped felon, multi-murderer
| and terror of Washington and Oregon,
is dead at last, slain by his own hand.
True to the daredevil egotis1n of his
spectacular career, he disdained cap
ture or death at any hands E.t his own
and died a suicide, facing great odds
and coolly giving battle till his ebbing
blood made further escape or resist
ance impossible.
Tr>cy was hunted down by a posse
of CT xston citizens. He was surround
ed in wheat field near Fellows, a sta
ton OH the Washington Central rail-
| road SC miles west of Spokane. He had
engaged in a running fight with his
! pursuers, but while his hitherto I'M
| erring rifle had failed to find a victim
| among them, two of their shots had
wounded him in the right leg, one bull
| let severing an artery.
Hiding in the wheat field, he had
tried in vain to stanch the flow Of life
blood. Bafiied in his surgery and in
his murderous enmity to his hunters,
he put his revolver to his head and
sent bullet into his brain. Soon after
daylight Wednesday morning his body
was found. Thus closed the career of
probably the most spectacular des-
pcrado and outlaw ever known in the
far west.
At dawn Sheriff Gardeners posse
found Tracy's body lying face upward
amid the grain. In his left hand he
held revolver, and the shattered con-
dition of his forehead left no doubt
that he was his own slayer. He had
bucllled a strap around his leg in an
effort to stop the blood that gushed
from the tibial artery whe it had been
cut by a bullet. The body was taken
directly to Davenport by the sheriff.
Harry Tracy escaped from the Oregon
state penitentiary at Salem on June 9, in
company with David Merrill after killing
four msn, Frank w. Terrell, G. r. r. Jones
ard b. Il. Tiffany. guards, and Frank
his flight. On June IS Tracy killed Merrill
| near Napavine, Wash, shooting him from
behind. and leaving his body in the forest.
| where 1t was found on July Is. On July g.
near Seattle, in fight with a posse, Tracy
shot and killed Charles Raymond, a dep
d
MORALLY wounded Neil Rawley, who died
on the following day, and wounded Carl
Anderson and Louie Zafrite, newspaper re-
| porters.
Tracy committed many feats of daring
| during his flight, in the course of which he
eluded various posses when apparently sur
| rounded, and held up numerous farmers
| whom he forced to furnish food and cloth
| ing, and by threats Of numbering tn cir fam
lies compelled, them to cover up his ira cks
| Perhaps his greatest show of daring was
| displayed on July 2 at South Bay, near
| Olympia, when he held up six men and
forced four, including Capt. Clark, of a
| large gasoline launch. to embark with him
on Puget sound and pilot him up stream
| for ten hours.
In 1897 Tracy murd cred Valentine Hoge,
Colorado cattieman, and William Strong
a boy, in the same state. A total reward of
| $3.50 was offered for his arrest. Gov. Nc
Bride, Of Washington, offering $500 for his
capture, dead or alive. The state of Ore
son offered $1,000 and a brother of one OF
the guards killed at the penitentiary Of
| fered $780,
The reward for Merrills capture, amount.
&C. 10 $3.50, which has been claimed by Mrs
Waggoner. the berry picker. and her son
Who found the body near their home.