SOMETIMES IT SEEMS the world has gone mad. The news is filled with stories of murder and mayhem. It seems to inundate every form of media. Some of this is simply due to population growth. More people equal more mayhem.
It is also due to the way we get our information. The electronic media age is a historically recent development.
We need to be reminded of Ecclesiastes Chapter 1. “So, there is nothing new under the sun. If there is anything of which one might say, ‘See this, it is new?’ Already it has existed for ages.” And so it is in this story.
This story centers around Rosemarie Rucker. Rose came from a well-to-do family in Everett. On August 12, 1892 Rose married Bernard Brenton. Rose was 28 years old, and Bernard was 29.
Bernard had a small homestead along Lake Pleasant in Beaver, Wash. This area was very remote. It was a peaceful and quiet area. Young and beautiful women were scarce out here. So, Rose would receive attention from their neighbors.
Charley Paul was a neighbor who lived across the lake. He had a small homestead on the east side of the lake near the shore. He was a helpful neighbor even though he never seemed to smile, and children were uneasy around him.
As it sometimes happen, Bernard and Rose had their quarrels. The frontier life may have been a bit hard on Rose.
In late 1894 Rose traveled to Everett to visit family. It was not an easy journey. To begin, you need to walk, go horseback or use horse-drawn wagons to get nearly 20 miles to Clallam Bay. At Clallam Bay you would board the steamer Garland to Port Angeles. The Garland made weekly visits to Port Townsend, Dungeness, Port Angeles, Port Crescent, Pysht and Clallam Bay. From Port Angeles she would catch a steamer to Seattle.
To think that we get annoyed at Seattle area traffic and complain if it takes us more than five hours to get to Everett from here.
While Rose was away, her husband died. A single pistol shot in the mouth ended Bernard’s life. The gun was by his hand. All things pointed to suicide. The whole matter was left at that.
When Rose returned from Everett she found herself a widow. This was the first tragedy to strike her young life.
The homestead life was hard. Charley Paul was there to offer sympathy and help around the farm. There was carpentry to be done. The cows needed care and feeding. He hoped it was the right time for him to gain Rose’s affection.
Rose was appreciative of Charley’s help and may have promised to marry him. We cannot be certain since people can say one thing and others assume a different meaning.
Life was hard and money was short. Charley needed to take a logging job near Port Angeles. It paid $50 per month. Good money in 1895. Charley sent money to Rose every month.
It was not long before another man sought the affection of Rose. Dave McConchie had been living along the Sol Duc River near Beaver. Dave and Rose were married on November 7, 1895.
Rose was still accepting money from Charley. Dave warned her it was a bad idea. Charley would get very angry if he learned of their marriage. Rose paid little attention to his advice.
Charley had friends in the area. After a few months a friend wrote a letter to Charley announcing that Rose was living with another man. Charley wrote to Rose demanding an explanation. Rose wrote back that someone was simply trying to make trouble for her. A subsequent letter from Charley’s friend named Dave specifically. After this, Charley wrote to Rose that he was coming back to kill her.
Rose and David were alarmed by the letter and were constantly on the lookout for Charley. Charley made his way back to Beaver as clandestinely as possible. He did not want Rose to know he had returned.
Charley’s plans were dark and murderous. He started at a small cabin owned by a friend, Chris Grausklaus. Chris was absent. Charley borrowed his boat to cross the lake. Before leaving, Charley left Chris a note saying Rose had double-crossed him and he intended to kill them both. Charley also claimed that Rose owed him $150 for work he had done. Then he would kill himself. Charley left what money he had, and a watch, on Chris’ table.
Charley rowed over to his own cabin and got his pistol, rifle and hunting knife. Charley snuck over to Rose’s home and laid in wait for Dave. May 12, 1896, was the start of a horrific series of events.
After nightfall Dave came out of the house and went to use the outhouse. Considering Charley’s threats, that was careless on Dave’s part. Charley waited until Dave came out and used his rifle to shoot Dave in the head.
Charley then went to the house to finish it. It was believed that Rose met Charley at the door with a rifle, but it misfired. Rose begged for her life. Charley still had affection for Rose. He agreed to spare her if she would not turn him in for Dave’s murder. Rose agreed, of course. They spent the night together.
The next morning another neighbor saw smoke coming from Rose’s chimney. Breakfast was being prepared. Charley’s guard may have been down. Rose saw an opportunity and grabbed a butcher knife, attacked Charley, and tried to cut his throat. Charley received a severe cut, but he still wrestled the knife away from Rose and killed her.
After that, Charley got back into Chris Grausklaus’ boat. Charley was bleeding to death. Still, he took his own pistol and ended his own life.
The scene sickened neighbors who discovered the body. Blood was splattered around the entire room.
Charley left a blood-smeared note on Rose’s door. “I have fixed Dave, Rose promised to let me free and then tried to cut my throat so I had to fix her too!”
After these events officials reconsidered the “suicide” of Bernard Brenton, Rose’s first husband. It was clear Charley was willing to go to any means to marry Rose.
Is the murder and mayhem we hear of today any different? There really is “nothing new under the sun.”
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John McNutt is a descendant of Clallam County pioneers and treasurer of the North Olympic History Center Board of Directors. He can be reached at woodrowsilly@gmail.com.
John’s Clallam history column appears the first Saturday of every month.
