Cornelius Rowley

Cornelius "Neil" Rowley, a 35-year-old quartz miner, joined a King County Sheriff's Office posse on a summer evening in a decision that would cost him his life. The male volunteer was drawn into one of the largest manhunts in the history of the Pacific Northwest, a desperate search for the notorious outlaw Harry Tracy. The chain of events had begun a month earlier, on June 9, 1902, when Tracy and a fellow inmate, David Merrill, shot their way out of the Oregon State Penitentiary, killing three guards and three civilians in the process. The escape triggered a massive, multi-state pursuit that captivated the nation.

By early July, the manhunt had converged on the Seattle, Washington, area. On July 3, 1902, Tracy was involved in a gun battle near Bothell that left Snohomish County Deputy Sheriff Charles Raymond dead and King County Deputy Sheriff Jack Williams mortally wounded. Evading capture, Tracy made his way back toward Seattle and commandeered a home near Woodland Park, at 5011 Phinney Avenue. He forced the residents to cook him dinner, but his presence was reported to authorities by a grocery boy who had come to the door.

As dusk settled over the city, a posse of lawmen and hastily deputized citizens, including Cornelius Rowley, surrounded the house. Among them were King County Sheriff Edward Cudihee, Seattle Patrolman E. E. Breece, and a local insurance man, J. I. Knight. When Tracy exited the home, the scene erupted into violence. Patrolman Breece confronted the fugitive, ordering him to drop his weapon. Tracy responded with a fatal rifle blast to Breece's chest.

In the chaotic shootout that followed, with bullets flying in the darkness, Cornelius Rowley was struck and fell to the ground, severely wounded. He was taken to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries by the next morning, July 4, 1902. In the confusion of the gunfight, it was later suggested that the shot that killed Rowley may not have come from Tracy's gun, but could have been an errant round fired by another posse member. Despite the uncertainty, Tracy, the instigator of the violence, was the primary suspect.

In the immediate aftermath, Tracy once again vanished, escaping into the dense woods of Woodland Park while the posse tended to their dead and wounded. His flight from the law, however, was nearing its end. The relentless pursuit continued for another month, concluding on August 6, 1902. A posse in Lincoln County, near Creston, Washington, cornered Tracy in a wheat field. He was seriously wounded in the leg during a shootout and, rather than be captured, he took his own life.

The death of Harry Tracy brought an end to a bloody crime spree that had left a trail of victims, including at least six lawmen and posse members, across two states. The case of Cornelius Rowley's death is considered resolved, as the primary suspect died just over a month after the fatal encounter. Rowley, a civilian who stepped up to aid law enforcement, is remembered as a posseman who lost his life in the line of duty during the hunt for one of the West's last and most desperate outlaws.