100 years ago in Spokane: One of the San Quentin escapees who shot a local deputy pleaded guilty

Thomas Walton, one of the two San Quentin escapees who went on a crime spree in Spokane, pleaded guilty in a Spokane courtroom to burglary and grand larceny.

Judge R.M. Webster sentenced him to 5-to-15 years on the burglary charge, and 3-to-15 on the larceny charge.

Walton was the getaway car driver for S.P. Burt, who shot Spokane deputy Dick Cashatt following a chase near Rosalia. The chase began after Burt took waitress Gladys Homer for a ride in a stolen auto and she jumped out of the speeding car in fear for her life.

Burt and Walton were eventually apprehended in Iowa, and both were brought back to Spokane. Burt had already confessed to shooting Cashatt, but he had not, as yet, pleaded guilty.

It was unclear whether Walton would actually serve either sentence in Walla Walla, since he was probably destined to return to San Quentin to serve out the rest of his life sentence.

From the presidential beat: President Warren G. Harding’s staff confirmed that he still intended to visit Spokane at the end of June.

The presidential itinerary had undergone several changes, but the latest update showed Spokane still on the list. Boosters of the Columbia River irrigation project – the precursor to Grand Coulee Dam – hoped he would visit some of the proposed project sites.