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Tracy was moving quickly now, having now killed officers in two states and in a city with over 120,000 people at the time. He immediately doubled back to Bothell, knowing the posse members would likely all arrive in the city he just had a shoot out in. It wasn’t long before Tracy had robbed yet another home of Johnsons. Here he requested a change of clothes, food, supplies, and their hired hand, known only as Anderson.

Tracy had forced Anderson to be his personal pack mule, carrying everything he could, except Tracy’s weapons. They were headed back to Seattle through the dense ferns and pines, marching along in silence.

‘You don’t have to kill me, Mr. Tracy, I won’t say anything about this.’ Anderson finally said, realizing his likely demise.

‘Don’t do anything stupid and I won’t hurt ya.’ Tracy cheerfully said.

Anderson continued, huffing up the hill, unsatisfied with Tracy’s answer.

‘I don’t kill to satisfy a lust for blood, I kill to keep my cherished liberty. You’re helping me with that, I wouldn’t hurt you.’ He reassured.

Anderson said nothing, but felt better, he couldn’t tell if this was true or not. Tracy certainly had a knack for mischief, robbery, and a penchant for murder, but he seemed genuine. After for hiking for hours, the two came across three women Miss May Baker, Mrs. Mckinney, and Ms. Jerrolds. First Anderson came into sight, exhausted Tracy appearing behind him with his rifle pointed to the sky smiling at the women.

‘I guess you’ve heard of me, I am Tracy. This is my friend,’

‘Anderson’

‘Anderson!’ Tracy echoed, ‘You needn’t be afraid of me, I’ve never harmed a woman in my life, and I don’t intend to begin now.’

He suggested the women show him and his unwilling companion to their house, which they obliged. The house was small, and set with the back door in a small yard that dropped into a river. The front had two wooden steps up to a small porch and a front door. The home was surrounded by thick bushes and trees.

‘Well ladies, my companion is mighty tired, so I’m going to let him rest.’

Anderson looked confused.

‘Go sit next to those bushes.’ Tracy pointed with his rifle. He followed Anderson over and tied him up the bushes He knelt own next to Anderson, covered him with a blanket and said, ‘Probably best if you got some sleep, I’ll bring you out some food.’

Anderson didn’t resist and simply sat leaning in the shaded part of the bushes.

Tracy and the women went inside.

Inside the home was a small boy, the brother of Ms. Jerrolds. He was shocked by Tracy’s presence.

‘Do you know your way into town?’ Tracy asked, the boy nodded.

Tracy reached into his pocket and pulled out two gold watches. ‘I want you to take these and trade them for two 45 caliber single action Colt revolvers and a box of cartridges, understand?’ Again the boy nodded and took the watches.

‘I know I don’t have to remind you that if you betray me, I’ll kill everyone in this house.’ The boy said nothing and turned his back to Tracy as he headed out. The women were pale after that comment. The door shut behind the boy and Tracy walked from where he could see the door into the kitchen to sit next to his prisoners.As he sat down by Miss Baker, who recoiled, he could see his comment to the boy had terrified these innocent women.

Tracy sat in silence for a moment then began to cry, the women looked at him with intrigue, but said nothing.

‘I wouldn’t hurt you, mother, for anything.’ He hoarsely said, choking through his tears.

He turned to Baker, eyes swollen and red, ‘I have a mother back East somewhere. I haven’t done right by here with all this, but i figured all the mothers are safe from me, no matter what.’

the women sat in silence watching their captor sniff while he recomposed himself. Immediately, he smiled and stood up, happily exclaiming, ‘it’s time for a meal!’

‘I’ll go get some wood for the fire.’ He volunteered.

‘It’s out the back door and against the side of the house. He exited the house and grabbed several logs, seeing Anderson in the distance, he was still awake, but leaning against the bushes more than before.

After bringing the wood in and starting a fire, he offered to go get some water.

‘We get our water from the spring by the railroad tracks, not the river’ the young Jerrolds responded.

Tracy dutifully slung his rifle over his shoulder, with a bucket in his other hand and jauntily made his way down to the spring. As he was filling the bucket, he saw a small train approaching with a coach full of men and young boys with guns, a posse looking for him no doubt. He trudged back to the house, careful not to slosh water out of the bucket. Anderson was limp and fast asleep by this point. When he returned to the house and settled in, he informed the women of the train.

‘I reckon there are some men on that train looking for me.’ he remarked carelessly, ‘I saw a reporter on that train, they are always in the front, even in front of the dust of the posse. It’s that interviewer that I’m actually afraid of!’ he laughed. The women had become less frightened, they were still on alert, but they knew now that Tracy was no danger to them. The women served their meals and began to eat and continued to laugh and joke with Tracy.

By now, the boy had notified the sheriffs, deputies and posse members alike had began to swarm the house, staying a distance away. The sheriff knew Tracy was a dead shot, and wanted to ensure that they had enough men to take him into custody or kill him. The deputies moved slowly and were careful to notify Tracy of his whereabouts.

As the women cleared the table, Tracy stood up and looked out the window. To his surprise and amusement, he saw an industrious photographer trying to hide int hose thck bushes and taking a picture of the house.

‘They’re taking my picture! See, reporters first, now the deputies won’t be far behind.’ He chuckled. looking down.

‘My trousers are too short and not ironed. I cannot be seen as not well dressed in front of ladies! I guess I can just go rob a deputy for a fresh pair!’ Tracy joked.

The women uncomfortably laughed, happy the potential violence wasn’t directed at them. Finally, Ms. Baker spoke up.

‘Mr. Tracy, I have to get going to be home before dark.’

‘The moonlight here is pleasant, I’d be happy to walk you home if you’d give me the pleasure!’ Tracy rebutted. She said nothing, it was obvious that she was uncomfortable, but cordial.

‘Well, if the reporters are already here, I better be going.’ Tracy concluded, and began heading out back.

‘Thank you all so much for the food and hospitality.’ He concluded and walked out the back porch waving.

The deputies began to creep in.

‘Hey! We have a dead man over here!’ A voice called out from the distance.

Tracy, startled by the noise ducked along against the wood pile. He saw several figures appear from the bushes and make their way over to Anderson, who was just now waking from the commotion. He saw his chance of escape and slipped down the river from the opening in the back yard. Tracy knew he had to leave the Puget Sound area for good, he could barely stay ahead of Cudihee and all his deputies and posses.

Tracy would eventually escape on horseback To Eastern Washington. It was sparsely populated and made it easy to stay undetected. However, unlike the Puget Sound area, there were no giant trees and bushes to hide in. Eastern Washington is vast and flat, food is harder to come by. Due to this, Tracy would loiter in whatever town he could find himself in for days. His effrontery knew no bounds, at one place he called Sheriff Cudihee.

‘You’ve done better than any other sheriff, you’re at least talking to the man you want.’

Cudihee listened in silence.

‘Good-bye, I’m afraid you will never see me again.’ Tracy finished, giggling as he hung up the phone.

The phone call renewed his efforts and reached out to two other prolific sheriffs in the Eastern Washington are, Doust and Gardner. His taunting phone call would ultimately lead to the end of his long run from the law. The word was put out that Tracy was in Eastern Washington and robbing farmers, their wives, trades people, and threatening kids with death. This sparked a massive involvement from the community, reporting Tracy as soon as he entered this town and that. This was an effective strategy as Tracy often doubled back places to through off trails and give the appearance that information from eye witnesses would be outdated or conflicting.

With towns being few and far between and limited foliage, it was difficult for Tracy to escape. He had left town and had fled to the southern end of the Colville Indian Reservation where he felt he could avoid the authorities.

He had stayed there, exposed to the elements, with no shelter, blankets, or food. Eastern Washington can become cold at night, even in July. Hunger, the cold, exposure, and isolation had done more to tame and pacify the outlaw more than any penitentiary could have. Finally, he came across the farm of Mr. Eddy.

It seemed to take an eternity for Tracy to walk through the fields and approach the barn. In it he saw Mr. Eddy who was working and didn’t notice Tracy.

Tracy stood at the bar entrance with his rifle pointed at the farmer, who finally noticed Tracy. He jumped, startled.

‘I know who you are.’ Eddy said, ‘You don’t need that rifle. You can have whatever you want.’

The farmer fed the outlaw who scarfed down everything place in front of him. He wasn’t social anymore, he had been made even more savage being so gaunt.

‘Thank you.’ Tracy finally said, Eddy nodded.

‘Everyone is looking for you.’ Eddy continued, Tracy nodded, chewing, mouth full and breaths loud and slow.

‘That’s why I can’t let you leave.’ Tracy replied.

‘I’ll be gone soon enough. I’ll even help with your farm if you want.’ The fugitive continued.

‘I need to mow my hay and tend to the wheat tomorrow.’ Eddy suggested.

‘If you’re as wanted as they say you are, they’ll find you. If you try to hide out in this country, you’ll die. First it will be the lack of food, then the exposure, lastly, when you’re laying there starving, and you can’t move, that’s when the cayotes will come and start taking pieces of you. Your best hope is to get got by a rattler and it only takes a few hours.’

Tracy sat in silence, reflecting on what the farmer said. He slowly nodded and thanked Eddy again for the food and very quickly fell asleep. Eddy did not leave the property, but instead continued his duties on the farm. Eddy knew that he was the closest structure for miles and Tracy was too disoriented to fins his way away from the farm.

The land was a relatively long and expansive. There were gentle hills that allowed the land to appear flat, but also horrendously inclined at places. The land of golden blond brush and wheat fields reaching up for ones knees made the steel blue sky pop, giving the land an unnatural brightness to it. Throughout the land were scattered lava rocks, often times, the locals would use and stack lava rocks to make fences that prevented fires. There were no such fences on Eddy’s ranch, you could see for miles.

The nest morning, the two had breakfast together, then began daily farming tasks. Eddy was surprised at Tracy’s silence and compliance with instructions Eddy had given.
For most of the day, Eddy kept his head down doing work that was asked of him. They broke for lunch and the two laughed and chatted over stories. Oddly enough, Tracy didn’t speak much to Eddy, but instead asked questions about his life as a farmer and tried to learn as much as one could in a days time.

‘You rest here in the barn, I’m going to go get that cart out there with all the hay in it.’ Eddy said as he walked over to his horse.

He rode off to the distance field and was barely in sight for Tracy, who went on with his daily tasking in the barn.

Eddy tied his horse to the cart and began piling hay into his cart. Further in the distance, Eddy could see the heat waves painting a blurry water-colored outline of several people approaching from the distance. Eddy attempted to pay no attention to them as they approached, but eventually couldn’t.

‘Hello Mr. Eddy.’ One of the men greeted, Eddy looked away from his hay.

There stood five men, all armed with several weapons, Eddy recognized all of them, they were deputized sheriffs and members of his community in Creston. Dr. Lanter had been the one to greet him, Maurice Smith, the town attorney began before Eddy could say anything.

‘There was a boy who was hunting on your land, he said he saw Tracy here at your place.’

‘Yes, he’s here. But he hasn’t caused me any harm or trouble.’ Eddy offered.

Deputy Straub pointed to the blurred distant barn, the heat made it difficult to see clearly. You could see a different colored blob scooting along the bottom of the barn.

‘Is that Tracy?’ Straub asked

‘It surely is.’

The posse instructed Eddy to stop gathering hay and head back to the farm, they would follow behind, using the cart as coverage. Eddy did what he was instructed to do.

As Eddy took the horse drawn cart up to the barn, he could see Tracy still working diligently in the barn. The two’s eyes met about fifty feet away, Tracy began approaching the cart, still unaware of the men who followed about 50 behind the cart. Eddy got off the cart and greeted Tracy, who immediately began to unhitch the horse from the cart. Tracy’s rifle was left in the barn, but he still had his revolver on him. Eddy was bent over looking at something in the cart when Tracy saw the posse approaching quickly.

‘Who are those men?’ Tracy snapped at Eddy.

‘Hold up your hands, Tracy!’ The attorney shouted.

Tracy leaped behind Eddy and quickly pulled and cocked his revolver, pulling Eddy close to himself. The farmer shuddered and wide eyed.

‘I don’t want to hurt nobody!’ Tracy begged, backing him and Eddy towards the barn. The posse, with their many guns drawn on Tracy, began to surround him in a semi-circle as they pressed closer to Tracy, who was inching closer to the barn entrance.

Finally, he made it to his rifle, which he bent down and grabbed, disappearing from sight. All that the posse could see now as farmer Eddy in the doorway, pale, with his hand raised to his face palms showing he had no weapons. Once Tracy grabbed his rifle, he re-positioned himself behind Eddy and began to move out of the barn. Once Tracy felt there was enough clearance, he pushed Eddy to the ground, firing two shots at the crowd and began sprinting down the fielded valley, hoping to make distance between him and his pursuers.

The men began running after him,

‘No need in chasing him.’ Eddy said to the doctor.

‘Even if you don’t catch him, he will die out there.’

The doctor listened to Eddy then bolted after his group.

Tracy was starting to lose his endurance and pressed himself against a large lava rock formation, taking aim and pause to catch his breath. He could see the posse following him and once he felt they were close enough, he began to rapidly fire, expending all the cartridges he had, missing every shot. Tracy regained his strength and darted for the wheat field, he knew he could likely lay down there and avoid capture.

The posse saw Tracy bounding across the open area, they all stopped and let out a barrage of fire, the firing continued until Tracy fell on his face screaming. He had been shot and continued to crawl on his hand and knees. By this time Sheriff Gardner who had been working closely with Cudihee had arrived at the farm to reenforce the small group, they were surrounding the field in order to prevent yet another escape.

‘if you try to hide out in this country, you will die.’ Tracy kept hearing Eddy’s voice. He tried to remain silent on the ground, he began to feel icy cold as blood rushed from his body and covered the ground. He could hear members of the group shouting trying to find him. He pushed his legs to propel himself forward, scrapping his face against the rocky ground. He was feeling his body shut down and let out a large sigh.

Just then he heard something much more fearful than the posse, he heard a faint rustling next to his ear. Tracy turned his head to face the other way and there he saw slightly lower than his hand, was a rattlesnake. It began buzzing and Tracy started to slowly move away from him, but before he could move, it bit him several times, he screamed.

‘I think he’s over here!’ Someone shouted hearing his scream.

The last sound that was heard was a single gunshot. This was the shot that finally sent the bandit into eternity. Once the posse had finally put an end to Tracy, he still refused to be imprisoned. One of the most notorious manhunts in United States History had finally concluded.

Notes: This is a rendition of the events surrounding true historical facts. Please keep in mind that sights, sounds, dialogue, etc may not be an exactly historically accurate. While the author(s) do their best to depict this story as historically accurate as possible, there are some additions for entertainment value and readability.

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