orrclark

The Klickitat County News, Goldendale, WA., April 9, 1936, page 1

NORTHDALLES MAN IS SHOT
Roy Clark, Well Known Here, Victim if Accident White Hunting Predators

            C. R. House, Klickitat County sheriff, positively declared Roy Clark, killed Sunday afternoon about 6 o’clock, the victim of an accident, the details of which will never be known.
            Mr. Clark’s remains were found near a clump of brush in a field about a mile from his home at Northdalles by relatives and neighbors when his continued absence could not be explained.  Apparently the man had secreted himself in the bushes while shooting crows with a single barreled shotgun and in wriggling free of the dense growth, allowed a twig to become entangled in the trigger.  A gapping wound was found in his left side, below the heart.  Death must have been instantaneous.
            Mr. Clarke was a member of a well-known Klickitat county family and has resided on a ranch adjoining the old Jim Crawford place on the hillside back of Northdalles, near the old Goldendale–Dalles road.  His wife and four children survive besides other relatives.  Funeral rites were conducted yesterday afternoon at 2 o’clock at Hartland and interment was in the Hartland cemetery. 


 

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., April 9, 1936, page 1

ROY CLARK IS KILLED BY GUNSHOT WOUNDS SUNDAY
Killed While Hunting
Body Found A Mile From Northdalles Farm Home; Left In Morning To Shot Crows

            Roy R. Clark, 43, Northdalles, Washington, met with a tragic death Sunday as the result of a gunshot wound.  He had left his home at eleven o’clock in the morning, taking a single barrel shotgun to shoot crows.  When he did not return late in the afternoon a search was made in his body discovered about a mile from his home.  The charge of the gun had entered the left breast, causing instant death.
            Sheriff C. R. House, accompanied by Byrd J. Clark, brother of the dead man, made an investigation the following morning, pronouncing the death accidental.  The death and location of the body led the investigators to believe that Clark had been crawling from the brush where he had been lying in wait for the crows.  The gun, which must have discharged while he was in a stooping position, was lying near the body.
            Clark, who was born in Hartland, lived in Klickitat county all his life.  He leaves a wife and four children, the oldest of whom is 15 and the youngest 8.  The property on which he and his family resided at the time of his death was rented from a sister–in–law, living at The Dalles.
            Funeral services were held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, from the Hartland church, burial following in the Hartland cemetery.  M. W. Chapman was in charge of the arrangements. 


 

The Dalles Weekly Chronicle, The Dalles, OR., April 9, 1936, page 8

NORTHDALLES RESIDENT FATALLY SHOT
Roy Clark’s Body Found Mile From Home; Was Hunting Crows
(Daily of April 6)

            Apparently the victim of a hunting accident, Roy Clark, Northdalles rancher, was found in a field a mile from his home about 6 p.m. Sunday, lying dead of a gunshot wound.
            Clark had spent the afternoon alone hunting crows with a single barreled shotgun.  The gun, discharged, lay close to the body and a gaping hole had been torn in Clark’s chest by the shot.  Members of Clark’s family found him after a search started when they became alarmed at his continued absence.
            Klickitat county sheriff’s officers who investigated the accident said there was no indication of foul play, nor evidence that Clark had committed suicide.  They classed the tragedy as accidental.
            Clark was a member of a well–known Klickitat county family and resided on a ranch adjoining the old John Crawford place on the hillside back of Northdalles.  His wife and four children survive, in addition to other relatives.
            Funeral services will be conducted from the community Church at Hartland, Wash., Wednesday, at 2 p.m., it was reported here.  Burial will be at Hartland.