FACES OF THE CENTURY--PEOPLE WHO MADE NEWS IN THE 1900S--WILD MAN OF THE WYNOOCHE JOHN TORNOW
	There have been thousands of news stories that have appeared in The Vidette over the past 100 years. So, as we celebrate the year 2000, we have decided to run a weekly feature on influential people of Montesano and Grays Harbor County who made a name for themselves during the past 100 years.
	This week's feature is on a man who was a wanted outlaw for the murder of four men and kept the local sheriff's department on a manhunt for 19 months, John Tornow.
	John Tornow was born on Sept. 4, 1880 to Daniel Fritz and Louisa Tornow in the Upper Satsop Valley. His parents immigrated from Germany in 1870 to a 160 acre homestead on the upper Satsop Valley.
	One of six children, John almost died as a child after a serious bout with black measles.
	As John grew older, he began to show signs of an aversion to people. This later led him to a life of seclusion in the forest.
On Sept. 3, 1911 John Tornow became a man of interest following the murder of his twin nephews William and John Bauer. The two brothers, age 20, were hunting a mile and a half from home.
	Investigators believed that the fatal shots were fired from the doorway of a small hut constructed of saplings, bark and moss. They believed the murderer was attracted by several shots directed by the Bauer boys at a large she bear, which they had crippled from a vantage point on the top of a large fir log. Investigators also suspected that shots were directed toward Tornow and he killed his nephews without hesitation.
	The bodies of the boys fell on each side of the log, and after stripping them of their watches and other articles of value, the murderer dragged them through the brush to a point 20 yards down the timber, where he unceremoniously buried them beneath the ground.
	The bodies of the boys were located by the sheriff's office and taken to the Bauer home where they were buried in the family plot.
	Suspicion centered around Tornow because he was considered morose by nature, and had a history of clashing with his own parents, siblings and relatives.
	Following his banishment to the forest, Tornow declined to hold any further communication with the members of his family. It was once said that Henry Bauer, the father of the two murdered boys had been living in dread of John Tornow. He had even attempted to sell his farm in an endeavor to move away from him.
	The search for John Tornow continued for several months without avail until March 20, 1912 when two deputy sheriffs. Colin McKenzie and A.V. Elmer. were found by a posse buried in a shallow grave.
	The men were believed to have met death at the hands of John Tornow, whom they had been following at intervals for several months. News of the death of the two deputies was brought to this city by deputies A.L. Fitzgerald, George Storm and Frank Getty. The posse had spent four days in the Upper Wynooche country searching for the men, who were found two and a half miles southeast of Ox Bow. The Ox Bow is near the head waters of the Wynooche river just south of the north border of the county.
	The story of finding the two deputies brought in by the members of the posse was one of horror.
	After the news of the death of the deputies was telephoned to Montesano from Simpson's camp, a special session of the board of commissioners was called, and at this meeting a reward was authorized offering $2,000 for the capture of the murderer, or murderers, of McKenzie and Elmer, and John and Will Bauer.
	Needless to say, the sheriff's office had even more incentive to track down Tornow after losing two of its own. Tornow would go on to elude law enforcement officers for 19 months before finally meeting his fate with the law.
	April 16, 1913 will go down in history as the day "The Wild Man of the Ox Bow" was put to death.
	Surprised by the ambush of local law enforcement, Tornow shot and instantly killed Louis Blair and Charles Lathrop as the two men were closing in on a hut that was the abode of the outlaw. Following the shots that killed the two men, Giles Quimby, a companion, fired seven shots at Tornow. It is believed that Quimby's last shot killed Tornow, as it hit his head and he sank immediately out of sight.
	Following the shoot-out, Quimby retreated from the scene to a lumber camp to give alarm of the situation. From the site of Simpson Logging Co's Camp No. 5 that he telephoned the sad news to sheriff Schelle Mathews and a posse was sent.
	Coroner R.H. Hunter and a second posse followed and the party went in to the scene of the killing the next day. Sheriff Mathews went prepared to take up the trail of Tornow, had he survived the shots fired by Quimby.
	The shack, where Tornow had lived, and the men were killed, was located on the bank of a small lake, known by very few of the best woodsmen of the upper Satsop country. A large herd of elk had wintered near the lake. Just a few days prior to the man hunt, the murdered men were advised of the existence of the pond and that the country was a very likely place for the habitation of the man they were seeking. The area supported abundant wild game. The day before the confrontation with Tornow, the three men had discovered the carcass of an elk that had been killed less than two weeks and they knew that the outlaw was in the vicinity.
On Wednesday, April 16, they decided to explore the area around the lake, although they had orders from Sheriff Mathews not to make any attempt to find their man until the sheriff's arrival. Late that afternoon, the little party reached the vicinity of the lake and in a patch of snow, discovered a fresh track. Almost at the same time, they sighted a small hut, partially concealed, and Quimby advised they not crowd it too closely until they had investigated, as the outlaw might be in it. Blair and Lathrop did not think that it held any danger and advanced. Quimby was more cautious and veered off from the other two, intending to circle the camp and look it over from a different angle. He was about 20 yards from the other two men, who were then close to the shack, when he heard the report of a Luger pistol. Looking around, he saw Blair fall mortally wounded. Quimby whirled with his gun to his shoulder, and as he raised the rifle saw the murderer looking from behind a small hemlock tree not more than eight feet from Blair and Lathrop. Even as Quimby whirled, Tornow fired the second time and Lathrop dropped dead. At the same second Quimby fired at the small portion of the head visible and missed. Again and again the dark, sinister looking face was displayed from behind the hemlock, as the vicious murderer fired seven shots at the bodies lying on the ground almost within reach of his hand. Each time the face appeared Quimby fired, and with his seventh shot the head suddenly dropped limp and sank from sight. After waiting 15 minutes and hearing no sound from behind the tree, or seeing any movement whatsoever Quimby slipped quietly from the dangerous spot and left to give the alarm.
	Tornow's dangerous shooting was done with the 25-10 rifle taken from the dead deputy, A.V. Elmer. In the small shack where the Tornow made his last home were found the watches carried by deputies McKenzie and Elmer and a 30-caliber Winchester. Nothing else of any value, not even food was discovered in the hut.
	Sheriff Mathews praised the efforts of deputy Giles Quimby and refused to take any credit for what he had done. Quimby received a $5,000 reward for ending Tornow's life.
	Never in the history of Montesano had so much excitement run riot in the county seat town as it did on Saturday, April 24, when the body of Tornow was brought to the city morgue and laid out for close examination by the coroner and authorities. The street in front of the building was jammed with the curious who desired a glimpse of the notorious man who so long had terrorized a vast section of the upper Satsop valley. When the automobile, containing the body swathed in heavy canvas and blankets, drew up before the morgue door there was a great crush from those who wished to see at least the bundle that contained the remains. The body was carried in and the doors were closed to all but physicians, lawyers and newspaper representatives and the wrappings cut from the body. Disclosed was a giant of a man dressed in badly worn clothes, much soiled from long wear. So great was the clamor from the people around the building that Coroner Hunter decided to hold off the examination of the body until an opportunity was afforded those outside to view the remains Accordingly, the body was placed so as to conveniently allow the passage of crowds through the small morgue and the doors thrown open. In less than 30 minutes, 700 people had passed around the undertaker's slab and viewed the clay that once was king of the Satsop wilds. About one fourth of the number were women and girls.
	When the crowds had looked their fill, the doors were closed and Coroner Hunter, assisted by the physicians present and Undertaker Whiteside, made a thorough examination of the body.
	When the body was stripped, it was found that the man had on six shirts, including undershirts, and five pairs of trousers and had evidently carried all of his wardrobe on his person. The trousers were badly worn and there was not a whole pair in the entire lot. On his feet were practically new shoes that had been cut open on the sides, toes and insteps to make them large enough for the wearer.
	When the examination was concluded the body was turned over to the undertaker who prepared the remains for burial. After the corpse was placed in the casket, the doors were once more opened and close to a 1,000 more people passed through and viewed the man.
	The body of John Tornow was taken to the old Tornow homestead, where a short funeral service was held by Rev. R.L. Shelley of Montesano.
	The killing of John Tornow ended one of the most spectacular cases that had ever been before the public in this area. There is no doubt that the man was unbalanced when he took to the woods, and withal was possessed of such a love of freedom and his home in the wilds that at any cost he strove to remain among the scenes he knew the best.--The Vidette, April 27, 2000