Harry Tracy

His real name was Harry Severns. Tracy is said to have run with Butch Cassidy and the Hole in the Wall Gang, but there is no evidence to this claim.{{cn|date=October 2023}} By the time he had reached adulthood, he was actively taking part in acts of robbery and theft. On March 1, 1898, Tracy and three accomplices engaged in a gunfight at Brown's Park, Colorado, in which Valentine S. Hoy,[http://www.odmp.org/officer/23680-deputized-civilian-valentine-hoy ODMP memorial Valentine Hoy, accessed October 1, 2018] Officer Down Memorial Page a member of the posse, was killed.[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058130/1900-04-27/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Valentine+ValentineHoy+Hoy "Acquitted on Second Trial,"] The Salt Lake Herald. April 27, 1900, page 3 (of the 3 accomplices 1 was later lynched and a second one killed a Willie Strang in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, before being captured); he served 2 years before being tried again and acquitted but was arrested for the killing of Hoy. Chronicling America Tracy and accomplice David Lant from the Brown's Park gunfight were captured but escaped the Routt County Jail in Hahns Peak Village. They were recaptured and in June 1898 were sent to the Aspen jail.[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062245/1902-07-20/ed-1/seq-26/;words=Tracys+Tracy+Harry "Most Daring Bandit Known in American History,"] The Washington Times, July 20, 1902, p. 10 Chronicling America {(erroneously reports two men "Hoy" and "Valentine Day" as killed by Tracy and gives the year after escape for Hoy killing as 1897). After a couple months both Tracy and Lant escaped again. Lant disappears from history, but Tracy made his way to Washington and Oregon. In late 1901, Tracy was captured, convicted, and incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

{{quote|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|Seattle Daily Times, July 3, 1902}}

With fellow convict David Merrill he escaped on June 9, 1902, shooting and killing corrections officers Thurston Jones Sr.,[http://www.odmp.org/officer/7220-correctional-officer-thurston-jones-sr Correctional Officer Thurston Jones Sr., Oregon Department of Corrections] Officer Down Memorial Page Bailey Tiffany,[http://www.odmp.org/officer/13318-correctional-officer-bailey-t-tiffany Correctional Officer Bailey T. Tiffany, Oregon Department of Corrections] Officer Down Memorial Page Frank Ferrell[http://www.odmp.org/officer/4811-correctional-officer-frank-bonham-ferrell Correctional Officer Frank B. Ferrell, Oregon Department of Corrections] Officer Down Memorial Page and three civilians in the process. His claim to infamy is the size and scope of the manhunt and the extensive media coverage of same. He evaded capture for a month, mostly taking refuge in the Seattle, Washington, area. On June 28, 1902, an argument broke out between him and Merrill, which ended in a duel. Tracy cheated during their duel and spun around early, and Merrill was killed. His body was found on July 14. On July 3, 1902, he set up an ambush near Bothell, Washington, where he killed detective Charles Raymond[http://www.odmp.org/officer/11048-detective-charles-raymond Detective Charles Raymond, Everett Police Department] Officer Down Memorial Page and deputy John Williams[http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/About/Remembrance.aspx Deputy Sheriff John Williams, King County Sheriff's Office] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828191805/http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/About/Remembrance.aspx |date=2012-08-28 }} during a shootout. Tracy fled, took several hostages in a residence, and engaged other law enforcement officers in a shootout. During that shootout he killed posse member Cornelious Rowley [http://www.odmp.org/officer/11036-posseman-cornelius-rowley Posseman Cornelius Rowley, King County Sheriff's Office]Officer Down Memorial Page and police officer Enoch Breece.[http://www.odmp.org/officer/2217-police-officer-enoch-e-breece Police Officer Enoch E. Breece, Seattle Police Department] Officer Down Memorial Page On August 6, 1902, in Creston, Washington, Tracy was cornered and seriously wounded in the leg during an ambush by a posse from Lincoln County. Sheriff Gardner arrived and had his posse surround the field that Tracy had crawled into. Tracy committed suicide to avoid capture. The pistol Tracy used can be found on display at the White River Valley Museum in Auburn, Washington.{{cite web |url=http://www.wrvmuseum.org/journal/journal_0498.htm |title=The Dauntless Desperado: Harry Tracy |first=Stan |last=Flewelling |publisher=White River Valley Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325181051/http://www.wrvmuseum.org/journal/journal_0498.htm |archive-date=2019-03-25}} Harry Tracy's death mask is on display at the Lincoln County Museum in Davenport, Washington.[https://lincolncountymuseums.org/gallery/ Lincoln County Museum]

Tracy was portrayed by the actor Steve Brodie in a 1954 episode of the syndicated television series, Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0710949/|title=Stories of the Century: "Harry Tracy", May 27, 1954|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=September 15, 2012}}

Bruce Dern plays Tracy in the 1982 film Harry Tracy, Desperado.

Look Away by Scottish band Big Country is allegedly about the last stand of Harry Tracy.

• List of fugitives from justice who disappeared

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPQcZW3QGgk Harry Tracy, Desperado (1982) - Movie Filmed in the Quesnel Area], (114 min.) YouTube (Accessed: March 21, 2022)
• [https://blogs.sos.wa.gov/fromourcorner/index.php/2012/07/creston-celebrates-the-capture-of-harry-tracy-the-last-desperado/ Creston Celebrates the Capture of Harry Tracy, “The Last Desperado”], Creston News, Aug. 8, 1902]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050324074308/http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/htracy.htm Raine, William MacLeod. The Hunting of Harry Tracy: The Most Thrilling Man Hunt of Recent Western History. Gaslight. (Note: Text only).]
• {{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRQ6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA211|title=The Hunting of Harry Tracy|first= William MacLeod|last=Raine|year=1903|journal=The World Wide Magazine|volume=10|issue=January|pages=211–218. (Note: Illustrated)}}

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Category:1875 births

Category:1902 deaths

Category:American escapees

Category:Escapees from Oregon detention

Category:Fugitives

Category:Outlaws of the American Old West