Over the course of just a few months in 1902, Harry Tracy escaped one of the toughest prisons in the Pacific Northwest, gunned down guards and deputies, outsmarted posses, and vanished into forests and wheat fields as hundreds hunted him. To some, he was a monster. To others, he was a tragic figure — a man born too late, chasing a dying dream of freedom that could only end in blood. But legends often gloss over the grime behind the glory. Today we strip away the romanticized veneer and look plainly at a man whose path of violence left shattered lives, terrorized families, and a reputation built not on heroism but on cold-blooded calculation. A man driven by self-preservation at any cost. And in the end, his life was exactly what he’d promised it would be: short, violent, and uncompromising. I'm Erich Ebel, your fearless field guide to Washington state history, heritage and culture, and this is the pursuit of Harry Tracy in Washington Our Home.