Murder & Mayhem in Central Washington

By Ellen Allmendinger

Crime ran rampant at the turn of the twentieth century across Central Washington, from jail breaks, lethal bootleggers and assassinations in Kittitas County to shootouts and burglaries in Benton County. In Zillah, the Dymond Brothers Gang were known for stealing horses between prison stints. In Yakima, residents reeled in shock over the premeditated killing of a gambler, a riot and the discovery that a respected brewer had committed murder. Through it all, sheriffs like Jasper Day tried to keep the peace with mixed success. Author Ellen Allmendinger recounts the tales that once made this the roughest region of the Pacific Northwest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781439672075

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Of the Washington Territory, Central Washington (Kittitas, Yakima and Benton Counties) was one of the last regions in Washington State to become permanently settled by white settlers. With its sagebrush-covered landscape and lack of early irrigation and transportation, Central Washington was sparsely populated by white settlers while areas such as Walla Walla, Seattle and Tacoma grew.

As white settlers began traveling east, west and even north, through Central Washington, some chose to stay, laying claim to lands they would soon begin farming. Soon unincorporated areas that served as places of commerce began rising from the sagebrush.

With the arrival of the railroad, small communities became more formalized in Central Washington as a form of supporting the railroad and rail travel. Ultimately, the combination of farming, commerce and the railroad soon placed the area on the map, and a rapid growth of population occurred.

Along with that rapid growth came various issues other populated regions were also experiencing. One such issue concerned social strife and crime. These events varied in nature but included assassinations, bootlegging, shootings, hangings, riots, burglaries and posse outlaw gangs. Such activities shocked and horrified not only the citizens of the communities in which they occurred but also many in the Pacific Northwest.

The intent of this book is to share a few of those long-forgotten and historic crimes. However, it is important to remember that those involved in the stories within this book may still have living descendants. These stories are shared only to help relay historical events, not to place any form of judgment on any living or deceased family member of those discussed herein. The actions of one individual do not inform the character of those related to him or her.

PART I

KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON

THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. LYON (ROSLYN)

The community of Roslyn, Washington, began with the discovery of coal in 1883. Three years later, the area was platted and became a coal company town. The coal mines provided the main source of employment and also owned most of the city’s businesses. As a community, Roslyn’s successes were a direct result of the success of mining in the area. Likewise, the community’s failures were often centered on mining failures. Not unfamiliar with tragedy, Roslyn’s citizens experienced more than their share of tragic disasters in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

As a company town, the Northern Pacific Coal Company provided several services for its employees. Such services included the hiring of physicians to care for employees and their families. One of the first physicians hired to work for the company was Dr. John H. Lyon. Dr. Lyon experienced the devastating effects of coal mining accidents through the care of his patients. Such tragic effects on his patients’ lives may have also been the direct cause for the loss of his own life years later.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1852, John H. Lyon was about thirty-five years old when he arrived in Roslyn, Washington, as a doctor and single man around 1887. Little is known about his early life or his medical education prior to his arrival. Once in Roslyn, Dr. Lyon worked alongside Dr. Sloan as a Northern Pacific Coal Company physician.

Two years after his arrival in Roslyn, in September 1889, John married Jesse Mable Condit in Ellensburg, Washington. Born in 1864 in New Jersey, Jessie was twelve years younger than John when they married. It is unknown why Jessie had traveled across the country or when she arrived Kittitas County, although her arrival appears to have occurred within four years of their marriage.

John and Jessie lived in a home in Roslyn while John continued to work as a railroad company doctor. He earned one dollar per month for each miner he treated or prescribed drugs for. Practicing as a physician was not John’s only invested interest in Kittitas County. He was also very social and politically active and appeared to be living a happily married life. Sadly, he would soon endure a personal tragedy.

On April 16, 1892, three years they were married, the couple welcomed their first child, a baby daughter, into the world. Just weeks after their daughter’s birth, Jesse died on May 4, 1892. After her death, John had Jesse’s body transported back to New Jersey for burial in the Pleasantdale Cemetery. She was laid to rest at the cemetery where other members of her family had been interred. Now a widower with a baby daughter to care for, John remained in Roslyn practicing medicine. He would have little time to grieve his wife’s passing before disaster would strike the Roslyn community.

In 1892, Mine No. 1 of the Northern Pacific Coal Company caught on fire. Forty-five miners were killed in the fire, and many were also injured. More than twenty widows and eighty grieving children lost their husbands and fathers. The death toll, community grief and economic impact of the tragedy weighed heavily on the shoulders of the citizens of Roslyn, including Dr. Lyon.

Although life for many in Roslyn would never return to normal after the horrific fire, the damages from the fire were not significant enough to completely stop mining. As a result, the city’s main source of income was still mining. Sadly, this would lead to more tragedies.

Just months after the fire, a mining rail car accident occurred. As the mine’s night crews were leaving on the rail cars from the inside of the mine, the rail cars sped out of control down the hill. Most of the workers on board jumped from the car; however, two men did not. Joseph Erman, a single man, died immediately from the accident, while Charles Jones was seriously injured.

Dr. Lyon was placed in charge of treating Charles’s injuries—sadly, to no avail. Although it was decided that the engineer and wire rail worker were at fault for the accident, the finding did nothing to calm the anguish of Charles’s two brothers, J.J. and Thomas Jones, who were also miners in Roslyn.

Overview of the city of Roslyn, Washington, in 1890. Courtesy of Yakima Memory, a joint project of the Yakima Valley Museum and Yakima Libraries.

Roslyn, Washington, in 1890. Courtesy of Yakima Memory, a joint project of the Yakima Valley Museum and Yakima Libraries.

Soon after Charles’s death, J.J. and Thomas Jones began making public threats against Dr. Lyon. Their threats were thought to have stemmed from what they perceived to be his failure to save their brother. Dr. Lyon, as well as others in Roslyn, was very aware of the brothers’ threats, although they were quickly forgotten when another historic event occurred.

In September 1892, Dr. Lyon entered the Ben Snipes & Company Bank. Upon entering, he quickly became involved as a witness to bank robbery. Although he survived the robbery, the ensuing trials would soon consume a great deal of both Dr. Lyon’s and the community’s time. As a witness, John became involved in identifying the bank robbers as well as attending the numerous trials held in Ellensburg, Washington.

None of the individuals identified by Dr. Lyon as participants in the bank robbery was found guilty, and their release led many in the community to question the verdict of innocence. Such unanswered questions continued in Kittitas County until four years later, when unknown criminals would murder Dr. Lyon.

On the evening of March 19, 1896, Dr. Lyon and Mr. Samuel Isaacs, a local merchant, were walking through Roslyn toward their homes. The two men eventually parted ways to continue their journeys. It would be the last time anyone would see John Lyon alive.

Just steps from his home, John was attacked from behind. During the attack, he received two blunt strikes to the base of his skull. It is believed that he dropped to the ground instantly and remained there until dying from a fractured skull. His body was not discovered until sometime after his death. No one is reported to have witnessed the attack, nor did anyone notice his body near his home. Reports claim that the attack and the delay in the discovery of his body were likely due to the evening being especially dark with rain clouds.

Once Dr. Lyon’s body was discovered, initial assumptions for the motive of his attack and murder were robbery—a theory that was quickly ruled out when his pocketbook and other personal belongings were discovered on his body. Along with these, other evidence relating to the crime was also found at the scene. A wooden table leg with hair and blood on it was discovered near Dr. Lyon’s body. Investigators were confident that the hair and blood belonged to Dr. Lyon. Investigators also found footsteps that led from Dr. Lyon’s body to the home of J.J. and Thomas Jones.

The footsteps combined with the earlier public threats made against Dr. Lyon were enough for the Roslyn City marshal to arrest the two Jones brothers. Other individuals involved in the investigation did not agree with the arrest. One such person was Detective Dan W. Simmons, who had formerly served as the Yakima County sheriff. Simmons was working on the murder case and felt that the evidence gathered was too circumstantial for a trial or conviction.

On March 25, six days after the murder of Dr. Lyon, the judge assigned to the case agreed with Detective Simmons. After a preliminary examination, the judge felt that the circumstantial evidence of the footsteps to the Jones brothers’ home was not enough to press charges or hold a trial. As a result, the brothers were released from jail.

After the release of the Jones brothers, the citizens of Roslyn applied public pressure to find the murderer by raising a $400 warrant for their arrest and conviction. The City of Roslyn’s leaders posted an additional $300 warrant at a city meeting the day afterward. Further rewards for the killer’s capture were also posted by Kittitas County, which added an additional $300, and the Washington State governor, who added another $500. In total, $1,500 worth of reward money was raised. Advertisements were also posted throughout the Northwest for the arrest and conviction of the killer of Dr. Lyon.

The large sum of money posted for the capture of Dr. Lyon’s killer, as well as the widespread advertising, ultimately proved to be futile. No known individual was ever arrested or tried for his murder, and the exact reason was never determined.

When Dr. John Lyon died, his daughter became an orphan, losing both of her parents one month shy of turning four years old. With no known relatives in Roslyn, Jessie was relocated to New Jersey, where she lived with an aunt and uncle on her mother’s side of the family.

THE VINSON MURDERS AND LYNCHING (ELLENSBURG)

Samuel Boyce Vinson was born in New York in 1841. He was in his early twenties and working as a laborer when he married his wife, Martha. Following their marriage, the couple had two children before

Reviews for Murder & Mayhem in Central Washington

[upstairsgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So many axe murders! Definitely of local interest; wished there was more detail about all of the cases discussed.