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.