FACES OF THE CENTURY--PEOPLE WHO MADE NEWS IN THE 1900S--COLIN MCKENZIE: DEPUTY KILLED BY 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 2001 we have decided to run an occasional feature on influential People of Montesano and Grays Harbor County who made a name for themselves during the Past 100 years.

	On March 20, 1912, a message came down over the long distance wire from the Simpson logging camp near Matlock: Deputy Sheriffs Colin McKenzie and A. V. Elmer had been found dead. No further particulars were available until later that night.

	The bodies were found buried in a shallow grave with upturned faces, in a swamp at the headwaters of the Wynooche River, 50 miles northwest of Montesano. Both men had been shot, and John Tornow, alleged slayer of his twin 19 year old nephews John and William Bauer, was the suspected murderer.

	The bodies were so well hidden that a man named Storms stood on the grave and, when the soft earth began sinking under his feet, he made an examination and uncovered the gruesome sight.

	A hasty examination was made, Elmer's body being uncovered enough to see his face. The bodies were buried in the shape of a T, instead of side by side. The officers think this was done by Tornow as a warning to others.

	The men searched for half an hour after discovering the bodies, then watching their backs, expecting an ambush at any time, in only 4 hours walked out 20 miles over rough terrain, to the Simpson camp to send out the news.

	That the murdered deputies walked into a well-prepared ambush, cunningly laid, was the opinion of Deputy Sheriff Fitzgerald, who brought out the facts concerning the tragedy.

	"He (Tornow) had built his camp in a glen protected by a number of windfalls, which made his living abode as formidable as a fort," said Fitzgerald. "It was made with the idea of decoying anyone who might be searching for him...well concealed ...about a quarter mile off the trail. They had evidently surprised him as he lay in his camp smoking elk meat over it campfire, and Tornow shot them from behind a big log when they were within 25 feet of him."

	John Tornow had been the object of a manhunt for 18 months. He had been sent for almost it year to a sanitarium in Portland in 1910, which angered him towards his family and society in general, so he disposed of his property and went into the woods to live as a hermit. His 19 year old nephews had tried to talk him into coming back to civilization but he had refused. In September, 1911, they had been found shot and buried in a shallow grave, and a hunt began for their uncle, who was believed to have killed them,

	In February, 1912, two trappers in the Oxbow area reported seeing signs of Tornow, so Deputies McKenzie and Elmer met with them and continued up a small creek into the woods, where they met their deaths.

	The posse that left this city Thursday morning of that week to bring out the bodies of the slain deputies reached the OxBow Thursday evening. On Friday morning the bodies were taken up, given temporary attention by Undertaker W.R. Whitesides and were brought out Friday evening on horseback to the Neeby ranch, where they were met by the undertaker's wagon in which they were brought to this city Saturday morning. The posse was met at Shaughnessy's ranch by autos and arrived in this city Friday night.

	Almost all the clothing of the dead deputies had been stripped from their bodies by the murderer and, in Tornow's camp was found his old clothing, nothing more than a bundle of rags, which he had discarded for the good clothes of the slain men. Their guns, watches and other valuables had been taken.

	At the autopsy held Saturday afternoon in Aberdeen, it was found that McKenzie had been shot three times and Elmer twice. Every indication seems to show that Tornow used Elmer's rifle in firing the second shot into Elmer's body and the third shot that killed McKenzie. McKenzie was first shot in the left shoulder with a 30-30 rifle ball, the second shot entered the left side and the third one which is supposed to have been fired from Elmer's rifle took effect in the back part of the right shoulder and ranged downward, coming out near the seventh rib on the right side. Elmer was shot in the heart the first time and the second shot entered the left side and is supposed to have been fired from Elmer's own rifle, a 25:30 caliber.

	Colin McKenzie was one of the best known young men in Chehalis County. During the fires of 1903 in Aberdeen, he had the misfortune of sustaining a broken back, when a side wall of the building fell on him as he was fighting fire. It took several years for him to recover, and when well, he took up photography. When Sheriff Payette needed a game warden, he selected McKenzie, who made one of the best officers the county ever had. He was promoted to the office of Deputy Sheriff and made a name for himself in 1911, when he caught Louis Salazar, a Chilean who murdered Ah Fook, a Chinese gardener, near Hoquiam. After the Bauer murders, he worked hard to capture Tornow, and his desire to rid the Country of this man cost his life.

	He was born in Nova Scotia and was 33 years of age.

	The funerals of the two slain officers were held March 15, 1912 in Aberdeen. McKenzie's funeral was conducted by the Wishkah Lodge No. 44, Knights of Pythias at the lodge rooms of the Pythian Temple. The rooms were packed to capacity, with scores of people standing in the streets unable to get into the funeral chamber. The casket was weighted with flowers, the tribute of sorrowing friends and the various fraternal orders of which he had been a member. A.V. Elmer's funeral was held at the Hoquiam lodge of the Masons. Many who had not known either of the men in life came to pay honor to the dead -- a tribute of respect to fealty to duty.

	Following the services, McKenzie's body was shipped to Vancouver, B.C. for burial.

	A.V. Elmer was a game warden of the county and did more to compel hunters to respect the game laws than any other official. He worked for months under McKenzie and later was promoted. He was 43 years of age and lived in Hoquiam where his brother, Westly Elmer, resides.

	This article was compiled from articles in the March 20 and 29, 1912 Chehalis County Vidette, and the March 26, 1912 Chehalis County Call.--The Vidette, May 10, 2001