In the small town of Kennewick on Halloween of 1906, a tragic series of events unfolded, culminating in the death of a White male posse member named Forest Perry. The incident, which would become known as the "Shootout in Poplar Grove" or the "Great Halloween Massacre," began when three lawmen went to a "hobo jungle" near the Northern Pacific Bridge to investigate two suspects in a recent burglary. The men they sought were Jake Lake and a teenager named George “Kid” Barker.
As the lawmen, Marshal Mike Glover, Officer Joseph Holzhey, and Sheriff John McNeill, accompanied by an unarmed saloon owner, approached the camp, Jake Lake emerged from the trees with a rifle and opened fire, killing Marshal Glover instantly and mortally wounding Officer Holzhey, who would die the next day. A gunfight ensued, during which Lake was shot and killed, and Sheriff McNeill was seriously wounded. Barker, however, managed to escape in the chaos.
News of the shootout quickly spread through Kennewick, a town of about 500 people, and an outraged and heavily armed posse of around 200 men formed to hunt for Barker. After hours of searching, posse member Forest Perry discovered Barker hiding in a ditch. As Perry shouted for Barker to surrender, other members of the posse, confused in the dim light, mistook Perry for the fugitive and opened fire. Perry was struck by several bullets and died three hours later. In the immediate aftermath of the friendly fire incident, George "Kid" Barker surrendered to the posse and was taken into custody.
Barker was taken to the Benton County jail to await trial for his role in the initial shootout. However, before he could be tried, he managed to escape from the jail and was never seen or heard from again. Later investigations into the matter reportedly cleared Lake and Barker of the original burglaries that had led to the tragic confrontation. The entire bloody affair, which left four men dead, was ultimately attributed to a tragic misunderstanding.
