100 years ago in Spokane: Police search for two missing boys

From our archives,

100 years ago

Bixby Greenwood, 6, and “Bubbins” Forde, 8, told their pals that they were going to head out on an excursion to Hayden Lake, “as soon as capital was obtained for the journey.”

Nobody took them seriously, because, well, they were 6 and 8.

Authorities, however, were scouring the region for them. Bixby and Bubbins left their school on the South Hill the day before and had not been seen since. Their parents said they had discovered that they had obtained Inland Empire Railway timetables, along with 25 cents obtained by Bubbins from a dresser drawer.

However, there was no evidence they had tried to take a train. Police believed they might have taken off on foot.

Motorcycle policemen were “searching the many roads leading out of the city, and the ends of the streetcar lines.” Railroad stations, movie theaters and streetcars were searched – in vain so far.

What happened to them? The next day, they were found after spending the night in a farmhouse. They said they didn’t have enough money to take a train, so they decided to walk to Cheney. When night fell, they begged a farmer to take them in.

Both of them cried when officers showed up to take them back to their parents. When asked if they would ever run away again, they both said, “No sir. You bet we won’t.”