8/6/1902 - Forty-five miles from Spokane, near the town of Davenport, Washington, surrounded by dozens of lawmen, the monstrous career of outlaw Harry Tracy (real name Harry Severns) comes to bloody conclusion in a field of wheat stubble on the Eddy Ranch when the hunted escaped convict, wounded in the right leg by a rifle slug that shatters his leg below the knee, crawls into the gathering darkness, puts his revolver in his right eye socket, and to avoid capture, pulls the trigger of his weapon, ending the largest manhunt in the history of the Northwest United States with his death. The badman is 26 years old at the time of his demise.
Tracy
Not yet a monster, on October 23, 1875, Harry Severns (Tracy) is born in Pittsville, Wisconsin to Sarah Catherine Atkinson and her husband, Orlando Nye Severns. Though his grandfather, James Quick Severns, proves to be quite a successful individual (the family can trace its lineage back to Suffolk, England in the early 1600s), clearing the land and building a sawmill in what will become the town of Pittsville around 1850 as the first white man to put down roots in the area, and serving the community as Justice of the Peace, notary public, town clerk, and county surveyor (he also serves as a Union soldier during America's Civil War and is wounded during the North's siege of Petersburg in 1865), Harry's father does not fare equally as well. Moving to the village of Chittamo where he is elected the new village's school treasurer, Orlando will set a bad example for his son by deserting his family for the wilds of Kansas after absconding with funds meant for the education of the community's children, and in the Sunflower State there is no happy ending for Tracy's father as the man is horribly killed in a train accident that sees Orlando hit by a speeding locomotive that chops up his left leg, fractures his skull and kills the man in about 15 minutes of time at the age of 43. Freed of her martial entanglement, Catherine will leave the area, marry again, and eventually vanish from any historical record.
James Quick Severns
An already tough kid, unburdened from parental guidance when he is in the formative years between child and teenager, Tracy drops the name of Severns and heads west to make a name for himself ... which he does do, though it is the kind of name that most people would run away from. At the beginning of his criminal career there are all kinds of unverified stories of an abusive home, tales of Harry swearing at his parents and his raging temper when he felt his needs weren't being immediately fulfilled, and of course, discourse about his activities after his parents cut the cords with their child in the 1890's. Tracy is said to have worked in the stockyards of Chicago for awhile (where he is arrested for the first time), is briefly a resident of Louisville and a member of Cincinnati's "Deer Creek" criminal gang, becomes a Wisconsin logger (a job he leaves after being chased by a posse over stealing two dollars from a fellow lumber crew member), spent time prospecting for Colorado gold, and had several jobs herding cattle for a living. Additionally there are stories of him marrying an Ozark beauty named Jeanie Carter that features robbing a post office of $160 for honeymoon funding (while killing his first man, the local sheriff trying to prevent the robbery), escape from a posse lead by Jeanie's brother, his first jail escape, Jeanie's death at the hands of an Idaho lawman (in one tale dealing with her death, Tracy goes berserk and kills three members of the posse chasing him). Those stories not to your liking, there also is talk of a $750 robbery of eight hunters (and he is assisted by two hobos he threatens into helping), Tracy killing a deputy sheriff named Arly Grimes, sending into eternity two Colorado men that make the mistake of insulting Tracy's appearance, killing a man for abusing his Native-American wife, living in a cabin he builds near Loon Lake, Washington, and cowboying in the Dillon region of Montana (by this time he is an expert rider and crack shot with either a revolver or rifle). Lots and lots of Tracy tales, some true and some not, but his history becomes easier to follow in 1897.
Chicago's Union Stockyards
The Loon Lake Cabin
Adding to his criminal resume, Tracy breaks into a Provo, Utah home and steals a number of items to provision himself for Spring, but though successful, doesn't leave the area and is arrested four days later. Swift justice, only days later he becomes a convict and begins serving his time at the Utah State Penitentiary located in the Sugar Park region of the state, about six miles away from downtown Salt Lake City. At the prison it appears Tracy settles in to serve his sentence, but instead makes friends among the prisoners and a few months later while working on digging a ditch outside the penitentiary near the mouth of Parley's Canyon with three other prisoners, exits the ditch holding a revolver a friend has hidden there for him. Using the weapon to dissuade any pursuit by the sole guard watching him (along with stealing the guard's clothes), Harry then rides off with fellow badman David Barnabas Lant (a Mormon desperado serving eight years for purloining clothing from a Woodruff, Utah store he breaks into for access to their winter clothing), heading for the outlaw hideouts of the Brown's Hole region of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Along the trail they meet up with two other outlaws, Pat "Swede" Johnson and John Bennett. An unfortunate meeting since Johnson is fresh from killing 15-year-old Willie Strang (the youth flashes Johnson's temper when he pulls away the chair the outlaw is about to sit down on which the gunman responds to by first making Strang "dance" by shooting at his feet, until bored with the game, he then ups his aim and shoots the lad in the heart), killing him for his "joke" at Wyoming's Red Creek Ranch after an all-night poker game, and along with Bennett is being pursued by a posse of outraged local lawmen and ranchers.
Utah State Penn
David Lant
Red Creek Ranch Area
Sure enough, led by Routt County (Colorado) Sheriff Charles Neiman, the posse chasing Johnson after Strang's death comes across Johnson, Lant, and Tracy (Bennett has broken away from the others and is soon arrested and lynched for being a menace to the area) on the last day of February in the Lodore Canyon of the Green River. Before shots can be fired, the criminal threesone flee up a narrow trail to the high ground of a rimrock shelf, abandoning their horses, bedding, and provisions, while the posse briefly returns to civilization to get out of the mountain cold for an evening. The next morning they are back in the area looking to find the miscreant's trail again. On Douglas Mountain they find their quarry with disastrous results. Too bold for his own good, out in the lead of the lawmen is 48-year-old local rancher, Valentine Hoy. Stepping into a narrow fissure to get a better view of the rocky area the posse is about to enter, Hoy is surprised to suddenly be face-to-face with Tracy, pointing a rifle his way. No firing at first, Hoy tells Tracy to back away because the posse is only interested in Johnson for the Strang killing. Tracy however is not interested in Hoy's offer and replies, "What kind of a fool are you? Get back down the trail or I'll blow your head off." Not understanding that there will be no negotiating with the outlaw, Hoy remains where he is and his obstinance is rewarded a split second later by a Tracy killing bullet hitting him in the heart, a round that sends the deputy's body tumbling down the hill. The killing causes the posse to retreat once more, but not for long. It's numbers swollen by more lawmen (the group has grown to sixty members) now seeking Hoy's killer, three days later and 60 miles from where Hoy has been murdered, in a gulch near Lookout Mountain the posse makes contact with the desperadoes again, with different results. Cold and hungry after their last few days in the mountains, their feet bleeding, so exhausted and cold that they barely can hold their weapons, the men surrender (though Tracy wants to keep fighting) about six miles from reaching the town of Powder Springs.
Sheriff Neiman
Hoy
Lant and Tracy, now in Sheriff Neiman's custody (Johnson is sent back to Wyoming where he is put in prison for Strang's death), assisted by Deputy Ethan Allen Farnham, the group sets off on a return to civilization in order to provide retribution to the criminals for their lawless acts. Stopping off at the small mining community of Hahns Peak Village, Colorado (before they arrive, Tracy will offer one of the deputies guarding him what he believes is a sweet deal ... "Give me a cup of coffee, a fresh horse, and a 25 yards head start, and I won't bother you no more!" ... the guard refuses the gunman's deal), the lawman deposits his charges in the community's small "bear cage" jail, a 14x11-foot, two-cell lockup of heavy steel bars that appears formidable, but it is a joke to seasoned felons like Tracy and Lant, who after two weeks of incarceration put their escape plan into action. At dinnertime as always, Neiman leaves the men's meals in the corridor of the jail then locks the door. Meals over, Neiman returns and the men go back to their cells, but not before Tracy asks for a match to light an after dinner cigarette. A foolish move, the exchange brings the outlaw within reach of the sheriff and creates a simple diversion that allows Tracy and Lant to savagely beat-up the lawman. Feigning unconsciousness while the prisoners are still in the jail making their escape plans, Neiman is up and making a racket for his release shortly afterwards, and though the fugitives have a head start, they are not prepared for the cold and have no food (they stop several times on their journey to build fires to warm themselves) ... all they have is a plan to make it to nearby Steamboat Springs and take the train there to somewhere outside the confines of Colorado. A freedom lasting only a few hours, Neiman and the posse he raises put the weaponless fugitives back in custody as they await a stagecoach that will carry them to the Steamboat Springs train depot.
Shackled Tracy At Hahns Peak
Tracy's Rig And Captured .45
David Lant At Hahns Peak
Aspen
Breckenridge
Kokomo
Tracy
Making his way northwest out of the mountains, by December of 1898, Tracy is in Washington when he joins forces with a young crook named Dave Merrill (Tracy will also marry the man's sister, Mollie Robinson). Legend has it that the two men meet in a saloon when Tracy saves Merrill from being throttled to death by an upset miner that has accused him of cheating at cards). After unleashing a crime wave on the citizens of Seattle, the outlaw duo move south and unleash a series of depredations on the citizens of Portland, Oregon, robbing individual citizens of money, hitting street-cars and their patrons, and burglarizing numerous local saloons, butcher shops, and grocery stores while wearing black mackinaw raincoats, becoming known as the "Black Mackinaw Bandits" (they are also called the "False Face Bandits"). At first, law enforcement in the region are clueless as to who the true crooks are, but in checking on known local felons, it is discovered that one bandit is local crook and braggart, David Merrill. Found with booty from many of the duo's robberies, in captivity, he spills the beans on his partner in crime and Portland law enforcement wait at Merrill's mother's home for Tracy to show up with the plunder he has made off with from a nearby butcher shop he is currently in the process of robbing. Surprised as he returns to Merrill's home, Tracy goes for his .45 when called on to surrender and is lucky to not be killed when after a chase through Portland that involves the killer having his escape thwarted by someone aboard pulls the emergency stop cord, an act that leads to more shots being exchanged with lawman Dan Weiner, and butcher Albert Wray finally bringing the chase to a conclusion by having a pellet from his shotgun ricochet off Tracy's skull, a superficial wound that nonetheless knocks the desperado out. Arrested, the two men are put in Portland's Kelly Butte Jail and at trial are sentenced to years in Salem, Oregon's penitentiary ... Merrill gets 13 years for larceny and robbery, while Tracy is sentenced to 20 years behind bars (a discrepancy in sentences that will gnaw on Tracy's mind for months, though he stops asking Merrill about it when his partner in crime says that the added years are because of Tracy's additional escape attempt). Before he is sent away to the Oregon State penn, Tracy almost escapes again when a revolver is smuggled into the jail. A brief shootout takes place in a jail corridor, but without a key (much to Tracy's ire, head jailor Ned Daugherty, throws it through the outer bars of the confinement where it is out of reach ... for some reason, instead of shooting the man, the convict starts screaming at the guard and before he can bring his gun into play, he is disarmed by a blast from the pistol of Deputy Sheriff Tom Jordan that knocks the weapon to the floor of the jail ... it is the only time that one of Tracy's jail escapes fails), Tracy, along with Merrill are powerless to flee the lock-up and eventually surrender. On March 22, 1899 the men begin serving their sentences at the state prison in Salem, Oregon. Merrill is 28 years old, stands 5'11" tall, and weighs 160 pounds, while Tracy is 26 years old, has gray eyes, light colored hair, a mustache, and also weighs 160 pounds on a muscular 5'10" frame.
Tracy
Arriving at the Oregon State Penitentiary (a private business profiting from work gangs overseen by brutish guards at a site in Salem surrounded by 14-foot walls), the two men are checked in, with Tracy assigned #4033 for his stay within the prison and Merrill given #4089. Both men are assigned to work in the prison's foundry and both men immediately begin contemplating another escape, Merrill so much so, and obviously, that the warden of the prison often has the convict placed in a skin tight shackle called an "Oregon Boot" that eventually disfigure Merrill's ankle. Tracy's gift of gab seems to keep him from also experiencing being placed in a shackle boot. A year after being put in the penitentiary, both men are ready to try another escape attempt using bribe money that never has it's sources explained. On the day of their leaving, the two cons procure a pair of .30-30 Winchester rifles (along with ammunition) that former convict Charles Monte has snuck into the prison and hidden in a pattern box in the foundry (for this deed, in 1905, Monte will be sentenced to life behind bars, a sentence he is released from after spending nine years in confinement), and a rope ladder supplied by another former resident of the prison. On the morning of June 9, 1902, Tracy puts his latest, and last, jail escape into effect.
The Two Convicts
As the prison slowly comes to life on the morning of the 9th, Merrill and Tracy are at the head of roughly 150 men being checked into various locations about the establishment.to begin their workdays. Entering the prison's moulding room, Tracy locates the Winchester rifle that has been hidden there for his use, ratchets a bullet into the weapon, and shoots a killing round into the back of corrections officer Frank B. Ferrell's back as he is joined by an equally lethally armed Merrill. Ordering their fellow prisoners to the opposite side of the mouldering room, Tracy then makes his way to a window facing guard post number One and begins firing on the men located there. As the men make their way forward, they are accosted by Frank Ingraham, a prisoner serving a life sentence. In a foolish move that almost gets the convict killed, Ingraham is shot in the kneecap by Merrill, a wound that will cause the leg to be amputated above the knee later, but also generates enough good will for the wounded convict that he will be released from the balance of his prison sentence by the Oregon governor. Moving towards the wall they selected to go over with the aid of a twenty-foot ladder, guard S. R. "Thurston" Jones is struck by mortally wounding bullets to his abdomen and chest from both Tracy's and Merrill's weapons. Looking for targets, screened by piles of old boxes, Tracy then knocks guard Bailey F. Tiffany off the wall with another accurate shot from his rifle. Falling on the outside of the prison with a bullet wound to his chest, the guard survives by pretending to be dead, but not for long. Meanwhile the shooting continues as the two convicts go up and over the wall, with Tracy wounding new guard Ross and finishing off a Mr. Jones. On the outside edge of the prison the mayhem continues briefly as the convicts jump to the ground and encounter two more lawmen (one is the already bloodied guard Tiffany) that are used to keep guard gunfire off the escapees. One of the guards feigns death and survives the last moments of the breakout, but Tiffany does not and usefulness ended outside the prison's walls, he is killed when Tracy putsa rifle round through his head before vanishing into a stand of trees. Prison escape over, the carnage has lasted only five bloody minutes.
The Escape
The Escapees
Big News
For the moment, the two gun happy killers vanish into the Oregon wilderness as the warden and his assistant put out the first official call for help in catching the miscreants (the inmates of the prison will quickly begin waving a flag of truce and will soon be returned to their cells). Manhunters organizing into posses all over northwest Oregon and western Washington, bloodhounds are brought in from Walla Walla, Washington (Tracy defeats them by circling around and mixing his scent with that of the closest posse and the dogs lose the murderers track), the Oregon governor offers rewards for the capture of the men, dead or alive, that eventuall rise to a payday of $8,000 (a bounty of about $280,000 in today's currency), and there are soon hundreds of armed citizens (including many drunks) joining the hunt for the murderous miscreants as the prison break becomes the area's big story. Befuddling their pursuers (over 300 lawmen, militiamen, reporters, and free-lance bounty hunters are initially in pursuit of the desperadoes, along with dozens of bloodhounds), the escapees steal a buggy, move back-and-forth through the area and stop at farmhouses for quick meals. It is a journey for both that only moves the two escapees closer and closer to their own deaths.
Chasing The Escapees
Seeking the fugitives, the pair's pursuers, including men and tracking dogs from the Washington State Prison at Walla Walla and by Company F of the Oregon Militia, soon receive word that the escapees are in a wooded area near the town of Salem, but as the authorities concentrate on the reported region, the convicts appear in Salem itself, stealing the clothing of a man they encounter on the street before vanishing once more. The next day the convicts are said to be trapped in a wheat field, but instead the escapees show up near the town of Gervais where they break into the cabin of a man named August King, then help themselves to the woodcutter's bread before doubling back on their trail and robbing Dr. C.S. White of a coat and horse & buggy ("I'm Tracy. This is Merrill. Just do as you're told and we'll get along all right," is how the men introduce themselves to their victims). The escapees are next spotted near the town of Gervais, vanishing, then turning up near the village of Monitor at the home of A. Akers, where they eat breakfast before vanishing again, not to be seen until they make an appearance on June 16th when they pass through Portland before accosting three men on the south bank of the Columbia River, using their guns to convince their captives to provide them with dinner before ferrying them to the Washington side of the wet, roughly five miles above the town of Vancouver. Operating in Washington now, the men rob a farmer, take the clothes off a rancher they bind and gag, steal a set of horses and then they vanish again into a stand of timber, heading directly north.
Columbia River
Now in Washington, for awhile, the activities of the two men as they flea north remains the same ... vanish into the northwestern wilderness then suddenly reappear briefly while requesting a meal, make small talk about this or that topic of the day, requisition supplies from their captives, and then disappear once more into the wilds of Washington's woodlands and mountains. Emerging from hiding, disappearing, emerging again and vanishing once more the fugitives spend over a week moving deeper into Washington, safely passing by the towns of Ridgefield, La Center, and Kalamas. The fugitives finally stop for another farmhouse meal just outside of the town of Castlerock. It is there that their partnership falls apart when Tracy reads an article in a local newspaper (the "Oregonian") about his exit from the Oregon State prison system and is horrified to discover his suspicions about Merrill had been correct ... his partner and his colleague's mother had set up Tracy following Merrill's capture. Calming keeping his discovery to himself, Tracy folds up the paper and heads back into the wilderness with his soon to be ex partner. Seething inside, Tracy finally confronts Merrill with his knowledge of his partner's betrayal outside the town of Chehalis. Accusations and heated words exchanged, the men decide the fairest resolution of their difficulties would be to have a rifle duel with each other from only ten paces away ... or closer should the need arise. Duel agreed to, the men stand back-to-back with each other and then begin their duel death walk. It doesn't end at ten steps though. Thoroughly disgusted by his partner's actions, at the count of "EIGHT," Tracy pivots rapidly and shoots his former partner in the back, then making sure there will be no more duels in the future, the cowboy murderer walks back to where Merrill has fallen and puts another round in his former partner's left side before sending the man into forever with a rifle blast into his opponent's skull. Duel over, Tracy then pulls Merrill's body off the trail and covers it with fallen leaves (the decomposing body will be discovered a month later by Mary Waggoner and her son George while the pair are out picking blackberries). Tracy then vanishes until early in July when he shows up at the Capital City Oyster company near the town of Olympia at 5:00 in the morning.
The Hijacked Launch, "N&S"
Captain A. J. Clark
Beginning a week of more northwestern mayhem, Tracy next shows up at the Puget Sound town of South Bay where at the point of his Winchester rifle he enters a seaside shanty occupied by Horatio Alling and his cook, William Adair, demanding a large breakfast of bacon and eggs. Soon the group is joined by two more men, oyster company workers Frank Scott and John Messengee. Then Tracy has Adair lure Captain A. J. Clark and his 15-year-old son, Edwin off their nearby boat (the "N&S") and ashore for their morning meal. Eating ended, Tracy then introduces himself and states his plan to journey by water to Seattle in the company of the captives he has peacefully taken. During the trip, while always clutching his rifle, Tracy regales the captives with some of his exploits and tells his version of the killing of his former partner, Merrill (describing the murder, Tracy will state, "I was tired of him anyway!"). Later in the day, as the miscreant and his prisoner's approach the United States penitentiary on McNeill Island, Tracy is talked out of firing on the prison's guards, but does take a potshot at a harbor seal he sees swimming nearby (he misses). Wanting to arrive in darkness, Tracy slows up the progress of Captain Clark and the men arrive at Meadow Point, north of the town of Ballard at about 6:30 in the evening. All of the hostages are then tied up with the exception of Scott, who is chosen to accompany Tracy on the next stage of his wanderings. The men then walk into the town of Ballard (six miles from Seattle), where the desperado frees his final prisoner from the day, before vanishing into the Washington State darkness muttering about maybe holding up a place in Seattle called "Clancy's Saloon" (free, Scott makes his way back to the now freed friends aboard the "N&S," and then the group sets sail for Seattle to warn the authorities about Tracy at around midnight). For all involved in Tracy's wet flight it has been an extremely tense and tiring day, but at least no one has been killed ... a situation that will be bloodily changed the next day.
McNeil Island Federal Penn
$5,600 now the reward on his head (Washington governor, Henry McBride has sweetened the pot by $2,500), Tracy spends the night sleeping in a deserted waterfront hut in Ballard before proceeding north along a set of railroad tracks before the morning sun comes up. Passing the University of Washington's campus he is spotted by a caretaker for the college who spots the miscreant and puts in a call to the local Sheriff's office, setting in motion another bloody day of killing gunfire between the outlaw and his pursuers. It is July 3, 1902, the day before the region celebrates the Fourth of July. Rain, rain, and more rain falls on the area and the region is soon alerted to Tracy's presence by the release of the boat ride hostages from the day before and the Tracy sighting near the University of Washington. The miscreant is next spotted later in the morning near a group of deserted cabins at a place called Wayne Station near the small town of Bothell. The posse that next confronts the outlaw consists of Deputy Sheriff Jack Williams, Deputy Sheriff L. J. Nelson, reporter Karl Anderson of the Seattle Times, reporter Louie B. Sefrit, Deputy Sheriff Jack Williams, and Snohomish County Deputy Sheriff Charles Raymond. Searching the rain wetted lands near Wayne, the posse comes upon a fresh footprint in the wet earth, then a few moments later are confronted by Tracy himself. Firing from thirty feet away, Tracy grazes Anderson in the face with a bullet that knocks down the reporter, then the gunman kills Deputy Sheriff Raymond with bullets to the lawman's left arm and chest. Sefrit then gets in on the action, firing on Tracy, who responds by wounding the newspaperman. At the same time, Anderson wakes up from his wounding and attempts to flank the desperado. Instead, Anderson comes across Deputy Sheriffs Nelson and Brewer and the three men discuss what their next move should be when they are joined by a blood soaked Deputy Sheriff Williams who has the barrel of his gun shattered by a round from Tracy that also sends wounding shrapnel deep into the lawman's chest and left wrist. Then, the battle is suddenly over (it lasts only about three minutes) as Tracy vanishes into the woods.
Wounded Deputy Sheriff Jack Williams
Dead Deputy Sheriff Charles Raymond
Doubling back to Seattle on a road parallel to nearby railroad tracks, Tracy convinces a mounted farmer named Perry Vincent that he is hot on the trail of the bandit Tracy and rides out of the area on the man's horse. Near the town of Green Lake, he arrives at the farm of Louis Johnson, announces he is the fugitive the whole countryside is after, then leaves with his prisoner and heads back into Seattle, passing by two armed deputies eating their dinners, moving through the small communities of Ravenna and Green Lake before entering a small home in the southwest corner of the community of Woodland Park. There, in the home of Mrs. R. H. Van Horne, who is taking care of an injured local named Butterfield, Tracy demands a new set of clothing and a meal (after eating Van Horne's cooking the outlaw will exclaim that the food is the best he's eaten in three years). Regaling his prisoner's with stories of his adventures, the group is briefly joined by a local boy selling groceries, a lad that is able to leave the home after his sales pitch is rejected, and make his way into the community of Fremont where he spreads the word that the escaped killer is nearby, lawmen, however, are not. With most of the lawmen in the area congregating on the town of Ravenna, only a small group of men make their way towards the Van Horne home ... King County Sheriff Edward Cudihee, Patrolman E. E. Breece, quartz miner Cornelius Rowley, and local insurance agent J. I. Knight. The men begin positioning themselves around Mrs. Van Horne's house at around 9:00 in the evening, but before they can finish closing a trap around the building, ready to leave, Tracy steps outside accompanied by Johnson and Butterworth and is instantly screamed at to surrender by patrolman Breece ("Throw down that gun, Tracy," he orders the outlaw). Instead of doing as he is ordered, Tracy once more reacts first and without hesitation fires a rifle blast into Breece's chest that instantly kills the lawman. Not really understanding the type of outlaw they are dealing with, at the same time Rowley and Knight step out of the darkness with their weapons pointed at Tracy and are rewarded with gun blasts being sent their way that wound Knight and kill Rowley (bleeding profusely, Rowley will die before the sun rises). Only Sheriff Cudihee is able to fire at Tracy, getting off two shots, both misses, before the outlaw vanishes into the darkness once more.
Sheriff Cudihee
Taking rest where he can find it, Tracy spends the rest of the evening sleeping in a nearby cemetery. Up and moving once more, at 7:00 in the morning of the Fourth of July, the killer shows up a few miles north of the town of Ravenna, at the home of the Fisher family. Rifle cradled against his chest, Tracy introduces himself modestly, "I am Tracy, and I want you to get me something to eat, and do it quick. I am hungry as a bear." Taking control of father August Fisher and his 15-year-old son Paul, Tracy then steps inside the Fisher abode and captures Mrs. Fisher (who speaks no English) and her three young daughters. Meal demanded and meal received, Tracy steals a change of clothing from August Fisher (leaving the farmer the clothes appropriated the day before, the escaped killer leaves the man's prized black hat behind), tries on various shoes before settling on a pair of logging boots that lace up just below the outlaw's knees, supervises Mrs. Fisher preparing bacon sandwiches and boiled eggs for a later meal (she wants to lace them with poison, but the outlaw never leaves, watching the food's preparation until the sustenance is completed and packed away), praises the Winchester rifle he took possession of just the day before, and decides to not tie the family up if they promise to stay in their home for 48 hours (which they do until a neighbor stops by on July 6). By the time the authorities discover Tracy has been in the area, the outlaw has vanished on another boating ride that this time takes him across Puget Sound.
Ravenna Park
Tracy's second round of water adventures begins in the early morning hours of July 5th when he kidnaps a teenage Japanese fisherman at Meadow Point, two miles north of the town of Ballard. Using his rifle as a prod, Tracy convinces the Asian youth to take him across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island, there the men separate with the Japanese lad returning to the area he was kidnapped from, while Tracy makes his way into a forest on the island for a few hours of hidden shuteye. Up early as usual, the desperado then makes his way to the home of stump farmer John Johnson and his family, Johnson's wife, Johnson's young daughter and Johnson's young son, plus hired hand John Anderson. At the home, Tracy has Mrs. Johnson prepare a huge meaty meal which he wolfs down as he tells tales to the family of his most recent exploits, drinks cup after cup of black coffee, and reads three local newspapers. At the home before leaving, he also helps himself to clothing from the two men, a few sets of blankets, and a set of gold pocket watches. Then everyone has dinner, a repast of eggs, potatoes, fried ham, brown beans, stew, and an assortment of fruit preserves. Meal over, Tracy supervises his dinner companions being bound, then enjoys a nice warm shave. Shave completed and night now fallen, the desperado then takes Anderson out of the house and vanishes into the night. Within an hour of Tracy's departure, the family has freed itself and contacted the authorities in Seattle. The next day, King County Sheriff Edward Cudihee charters the local tug "Sea Lion" and begins searching for the vanished Tracy (unaware that the murderer, after a brief withdrawal, has doubled back into King County).
The Johnson's Hired Hand, John Anderson
Tracy & Anderson At The Mouth Of The
Duwamish River
Using a boat belonging to the Johnson family, with Tracy manning the vessel's rudder and Anderson doing the rowing, the two men make landfall in West Seattle. There, Tracy hides the boat, ties up his companion and then catches a few moments of shuteye within a stand of trees. The next day, a Spartan meal of coffee, fried bacon, bacon grease, and mixed bread batter is prepared (using Anderson's hat), wolfed down, and then the men spend the rest of day in hiding, silently waiting for night to arrive so they can leave the region. When darkness finally arrives, the men search for a river exit from the area, but failing to find one, decide to follow a set of railroad tracks south. The next day, after another haphazard breakfast the men sleep, then just after mid-day arrives, set off for on a hike into the small town of Renton, helped into town under the guidance of four friends of Tracy. Just outside of town, Anderson is tied up once more, as Tracy vanishes into the darkness. The next day, Tracy returns, makes the pair breakfast, then reverses direction and follows the railroad tracks back out of town. Trail dried up to the hundreds of men pursuing the desperado, the pair vanish until July 8, 1902.
Renton, Washington
Walking along the railroad tracks one mile east of the town of Renton, on Tuesday, July 8, the men encounter two women, May Baker and Mrs. W. J. McKinney, picking blackberries near the railroad line. Confident that the ladies will not be an impediment to his flight, after observing the pair from a hidden location for several minutes, Tracy steps out of hiding to introduce himself just as a new player, 18-year-old Charles Gerrells, shows up walking along the tracks. Introducing himself politely to the group, Tracy tells the trio, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." Discovering that Gerrells' home is nearby, Tracy sends the youth ahead to say that he, the women, and Anderson will soon be stopping by. And indeed they do, sending one of Charles' younger sisters and his mother into a panic, until Tracy calms them down with his peaceful words and friendly demeanor (and allows tears to fill his eyes thinking of his own mother as he speaks to the ladies). Hostages calmed down by Tracy's kind words, young Charles is sent into Seattle to sell the recently stolen watches of the Johnson family, and then is to use the money he gets to buy two revolvers. The tense atmosphere in the home finally lifts when Tracy begins talking to Miss Baker about whether he should shave his mustache off or not. Wanting to make amends for scaring the family earlier, as Tracy regales the women with stories of his adventures all over the West (he will even ask Miss Baker for her address so he can repay her kindnesses by sending her a nice ring from a Seattle jewelry store he intends to rob in the near future), he cuts kindling for cooking the coming meal, along with gathering water, and he also watches from a place of hiding as a train full of lawmen hunting him passes through the area. Unaware at first that young Gerrells has betrayed him to a group of local lawmen (individuals under the command of Seattle Deputy Sheriff John McClellan and Sheriff Edward Cudihee who begin taking up positions around the home), Tracy enjoys his meal and talking to the women about cooking techniques and the possibility of dancing with the ladies if someone would play the piano in the home's parlor ... he is also aware that lawmen are closing in on his hiding place. "This is just like home. You don't know how much I'm enjoying your society," the killer exclaims to the women, and then there is a knock on the front door and it is back to being an outlaw for Tracy..
May Baker
The Gerrells Home
Grabbing his rifle, Tracy hustles the women and children into the kitchen and has Mrs. Gerrells answer the door. Recognizing the posse man to be Renton's local butcher, when asked, Mrs. Gerrells tells the man that the outlaw has been seen in the vicinity and is certainly not in the home, lies that get the partially intoxicated posse man to leave the home. Cool under pressure once more, after the posseman leaves, Tracy chats with his women hostages some more and then leaves a little while later when night finally falls on the area. Stepping outside, Tracy's last words to his hostages are, "Well, goodbye. It was just like home," then the outlaw tells his hostages goodbye before vanishing into the darkness that has now settled around the home. Making his way to the nearby river, he is spotted by two newspapermen who believe he is a deputy looking for Tracy. Posse dogs now on his scent, the outlaw once more vanishes, leaving only a cold trail for his pursuers by setting off a howling frenzy among the police tracking dogs by giving them a dose of cayenne pepper.
The Gerrells Residence
Tracy's Hostages After He Has Fled
At 6:00 a.m. the following morning, Tracy reappears at the home of 40-year-old farmer E. M. Johnson. "I'm Tracy," the outlaw states by way of introduction, "I'm hungry and I'm tired." And so another day begins for a new set of hostages with the killer holding a gun on his captives. Going inside the Johnson home, Mrs. Johnson makes breakfast for Tracy and also for the three other members of her family that have been taken hostage, Mr. Johnson and the couple's two children. Meal eaten, Mr. Johnson is sent to Tacoma with $28.50 to buy two revolvers, with a 6:00 p.m. deadline to be back or his family will be in trouble ... and so the long day of the Johnson family begins with the murderer lightly dozing as the family quietly waits for their kidnaper to wake up. An hour later, Tracy wakes and takes his three hostages outside to a spring where he watches for trouble approaching his refuge, tells a few tales of his lawless behavior, and keeps his weapon close by and ready for use. At around noon, the group goes back inside the Johnson's home and has lunch. Eating completed, the group goes back outside to await Mr. Johnson's return, which takes place shorty before his 6:00 p.m. deadline arrives. Apologizing for only being able to buy a single pistol, Tracy tells Mr. Johnson he did the best he could and not to worry about it, but he does want the balance of the unspent money back as he will try again somewhere up the road. Then Mrs. Johnson feeds the group the dinner she has prepared. Meal over, she then goes back to putting together grub for Tracy once he finally leaves ... three dozen boiled eggs, five pounds of butter, several large pieces of ham and bacon, four loaves of bread, a can of baking powder, and two pounds of flour. Putting his goodies in a large sack, Tracy waits until the sun sets before shaking everyone's hands and stating, "Goodbye to you all. Maybe I'll come back sometime." He then steps outside and helps himself to the family's horse, stating he'll release it a mile or so up the road (and he does), and the outlaw then vanishes into the darkness. The fugitive is next spotted near the town of Covington, is said to engage in a brief gunbattle with his pursuers near the town of Blue Diamond (all that can be seen are gun flashes in the dark and no one is hit), then makes his way into the mountains, reappearing near the town of Wenatchee at the end of July, having crossed the Cascade Mountains into Eastern Washington. July ending and August about to begin, the outlaw only has six more days to live.
The Johnson Family
Now In A Museum - The Pistol Johnson Bought For
Tracy In Tacoma
Two days into August, Tracy is next seen on a ferry, crossing the Columbia River before then being spotted near the town of Coulee City, apparently headed for Spokane. On August 3rd, near the town of Creston, 18-year-old George E. Goldfinch encounters the desperado riding a bay horse while also leading a sorrel along. "I'm Tracy", the desperado announces before asking, "Who are you?" Valuing his life, Goldfinch tells Tracy his name and then states, "Please to meet you ... I think." Queried as to the nearest ranch, Goldfinch tells the desperado that the nearest ranch belongs to two bachelor brothers, Lou and Eugene Eddy. Tracy then tells Goldfinch to ride ahead and tell the brothers he is coming. When Tracy arrives at the ranch, as requested, he is introduced to the pair by Goldfinch. Warning the youth that he will kill the brothers if his presence at the ranch is reported, the killer lets Goldfinch go about his business and settles in with the Eddys, unaware that the teenager will eventually make his way to a phone and call the sheriff of Creston about the desperado lurking nearby, while also volunteering his services to the authorities as a scout and advisor. Help refused, instead five individuals hear about what Goldfinch is up to and decide to go after Tracy themselves. The quintet consists of deputy sheriff C. F. Straub, Dr. E. C. Lanter, attorney Maurice Smith, a local section foreman named J. J. Morrison, and local warehouseman Frank Lillengreen ... all five men are armed to the teeth and excellent shots. At about 6:30 in the evening, the men arrive at the Eddy Ranch, and with weapons at the ready, begin slowly walking toward the main building on the property.
The Eddy Brothers - Lou & Eugene
The Five Man Posse - Upper Row (L To R), Lillengreen And Morrison - Lower
Row (L to R), Dr. Lanter, C. F. Straub, And Smith
Dead By His Own Hand
How The Site Now Looks
With the light of early morning, members of the surrounding posse carefully enter the wheatfield and soon come upon Tracy's corpse ... the most wanted bandit in the United States is finally put down after 58 days of murderous mayhem. The dead outlaw is 26-years-old. No longer a threat, the outlaw's corpse is wrapped in a tarpaulin, put in a buggy and driven to an undertaking parlor in the county seat of 4Davenport (the corpse is intended to be sent to Stone's Funeral Parlor, but the crowds waiting there to get a glimpse of Tracy are so large and boisterous that he is instead stuck in the back room of a local drug store). The local undertaker now involved and looking for a payday, then puts the body on display on his front porch where he charges the crowd that soon gathers a nickel for a look. And of course some want more than just a look and the corpse will soon be stripped of its clothing, locks of hair will by cut from Tracy's head, and his weaponry will soon pass into private hands. After the ghouls are done with Tracy's body and possessions (one man will pull a still wet, blood clotted handkerchief out of the dead man's leg wound as a souvenir), the death circus (holding a loaded gun, a local constable will sit on Tracy's casket for the entire journey) will make it's way back to Salem Prison in Oregon for an official identification, and to demonstrate to the convicts still incarcerated there the folly of trying to follow in the felon's footsteps (the corpse is then given an acid bath for its destruction) ... and there the murderous outlaw will suffer a final indignity of being buried beside his once-upon-a-time partner, David Merrill (they are buried somewhere under a large industrial shop that has been built over the old prison graveyard). Manhunt over, the lawmen that ended Tracy's murderous career of course turn on each other over the money rewards put on the bandit's head and after enduring an excessive amount of court time, a Federal judge will eventually (the final payout is awarded on December 9, 1903) give $1,600 from Oregon and $2,500 from Washington to the five man posse, to be split evenly, a payday for the five men that first cornered Tracy on the Eddy homestead.
The Body Awaiting Transport
The World Finds Out
Big News
But of course that does not permanently end Tracy's tale, not with a criminal resume of purportedly killing between 18 and 25 men (mostly lawmen trying to stop his escapades), commiting 43 robberies, and making six prison breaks before his 27th birthday. Though interest in the outlaw will eventually be graphically reduced as the years pass and other desperadoes like Bonnie & Clyde, "Machine Gun" Kelly, "Doc" and "Freddy" Barker, Alvin Karpis, "Baby Face" Nelson, John Dillinger, "Dutch" Cretzer, and others take up his murderous mantel, the killing robber will have his tale told in a variety of forms. On top of newspaper and magazine stories, the Tracy tale will produce over ninety serious and "pulp" accounts of his misdeeds like "Manhunt: The Pursuit of Harry Tracy" by Bill Gulick, "Harry Tracy, The Death Dealing Oregon Outlaw" by William Ward, and "The Life of Harry Tracy: The Convict Outlaw" by F.D. Wismer, there will be a stage play called :Tracy - The Outlaw," two silent film accounts of the outlaw's escapades will be produced, he will show up as a character on numerous TV shows like 1954's "Stories of the Century" with actor Steve Brodie portraying the outlaw, the Scottish rock band Big Country will tell their version of Tracy's tale in the 1986 tune "Look Away' (and there are other music pieces about the outlaw like "28 - The Death of Harry Tracy" by Storie Grubb), a theatrical account of the Tracy story, "Harry Tracy, Bainbridge Bandit," will be produced by the Bainbridge Performing Arts Theater in 2009, accounts of his life and misdeeds can be found all over the internet, and the Museum of Northwest Colorado and the Lincoln County Museum of Washington will both feature artifacts from the criminal's career
Pulp Accounts - 1907
Harry Tracy - A Desperate Ditty - 1911
And there is a bit of 1982 Hollywood hookum (by way of the Canadian Film Development Corporation) lasting 107 minutes called "Harry Tracy, Desperado" (or it's other title, "Harry Tracy - The Last of the Wild Bunch"). Featuring Chicago actor Bruce MacLeish Dern as the title character with Canadian actress Helen Shaver as the outlaw's love interest, Catherine Tuttle (playing a character related to a judge that never existed, with hookum having her with the outlaw when he kills David Merrill and at his side before his Washington suicide ... TOTAL HOOKUM!), Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. as U.S. Marshal Morris Nathan (again a fictional character ... and he also sings the film's theme song), and Michael C. Gwynne playing Tracy's real life partner, David Merrill (but not with an ounce of reality ... in the movie he is an artist that paints miscreants, meets up with the outlaw and talks Tracy into turning him into an outlaw too ... and in this version of the story, Merrill is the one that is going to cheat in the pair's infamous duel, but the real life cheater, Tracy, catches him and kills the man). And the whole thing is directed by William A. Graham, whose hack resume also includes stuff like a 1965 episode of "The Big Valley," two episodes of "Batman" in 1966, something called "Congratulations, It's a Boy" in 1971, two episodes of "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones" in 1980, 1989's "Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid (HUH?), and numerous other turkeys (107 movies and TV shows in all) before he passes away in 2013 at the age of 87! WHY? WHY? WHY? The hunt for Tracy is a great tale that doesn't need cornball jazzing up (you say you want a sample, how about this, when a woman tells her sister she has heard that Tracy eats babies, Dern laughingly responds, "That's only cause they're so tender, ma'am. And don't fret none. They were only Injun babies.") to make it palatable!
But I don't want to end Tracy's tale of mayhem and murder with that turkey movie as my stopping point. Let a little bit of reality from the time end things, remembering that the outlaw would kill himself in August of 1902, in July of 1902, just the month before all the Tracy mayhem comes to an end, the Seattle Daily News will write, "In all the criminal lore of the country there is no record equal to that of Harry Tracy for cold-blooded nerve, desperation and thirst for crime. Jesse James, compared with Tracy, is a Sunday school teacher." That is much closer to the truth about Mr. Tracy ... a maniac of the first order!
