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Volume 54 | Number 2 Article 2

3-1-1973 The .SU . Marshal on Iowa's Frontier Philip D. Jordan

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Recommended Citation Jordan, Philip D. "The .SU . Marshal on Iowa's Frontier." The Palimpsest 54 (1973), 2-17. Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/palimpsest/vol54/iss2/2

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the State Historical Society of Iowa at Iowa Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in The alP impsest by an authorized administrator of Iowa Research Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 2 Palimpsest

During the 1970’s, they arrested a young The U.S. Marshal on man charged with the illegal importation of hashish from Africa into the United owas Frontier States. They seized a fully loaded auto­ matic pistol from a prisoner being escorted by into the United States District Court in Des Moines, and they took into custody Philip D Jordan in Des Moines members of a group of citizen band radio operators indicted by Shots shattered the early morning still­ a grand jury and charged with violating ness and ripped through the body of a fourteen regulations of the Federal Com- Deputy United States Marshal. He died, munciations Commission. Marshals trans­ as have scores of federal marshals, in a ferred, on order of the United States Bu­ blaze of bullets and in a manner reminis­ reau of Prisons, federal prisoners housed cent of typical frontier gunfights. Yet in Iowa’s Polk County Jail to the Story Deputy Dick McKinneys life was not County Jail in Nevada. In Pella they ar­ snuffed out in a Texas saloon shoot-out rested a veterinarian charged with fail­ nor was he ambushed in a gulch in the ure to keep proper records of drugs. They wild Indian Territory of the southwest a seized in Des Moines about a thousand century ago. He was slain near a dark bottles of silver polish alleged to contain alley in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 20, soluble cyanide. 1972. All this sounds exciting enough, for the United States Marshals and their depu­ public, accustomed to television portrayal ties, ever since Iowa was a part of the of the United States Marshal and his Territory of Wisconsin, have enforced in deputies, expects dramatic episodes in one fashion or another federal statutes. which federal officers, grim-faced, hard- This article is based primarily upon Letters of riding, pistol-packing men, wager lives Application and Recommendation during the presi­ dedicated to law and order against the dential administrations of the chronological period discussed; on Letters Sent by the Department of nefarious and deadly actions of those who Justice: Instructions to United States Attorneys and live outside the law. Although Americans Marshals for the same period. Both collections are held in the National Archives and Records Service, expect lawmen to triumph, they some­ Washington, D. C. Published annual reports of the Attorney General of the United States were times secretly admire boldness and ruth­ indispensable, as were annual reports of the De­ lessness of rascals clever enough to pass partment of Justice. Fourteen Iowa newspapers, ranging from 1837 until 1900, provided local de­ the counterfeiter’s long-green, sly enough tails. Finally, much material was drawn from the to outwit Wells Fargo agents, and devious author s crime catalogue and index, comprising eighteen file drawers. All this, of course, was sup­ enough to make and sell illegal whiskey plemented by the United States Statutes-at-Large, without being caught. Iowa Codes, decisions of District Courts, and articles in legal journals. The United States Marshal, like the • • 4 . e • m

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Texas Ranger and the Royal Canadian for cause or through changes in national Mountie, is, in the public mind, a hero politics, and four resigned. This is neither of gigantic proportions. The star he wears surprising nor startling, for Iowa inherited is never blemished, the horse he rides a system almost as old as the nation itself. never tires, the Colt in his hand always The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the barks and invariably sends its slug straight office of United States District Marshal between the eyes. In short, the peace and prescribed its duties. officer is confused with the law he sym­ Originally, each marshal was charged bolizes; the spectacular pursuits and ar­ with only two specific duties. He must at- rests conceal the fact that no matter how colorful the crime the nub of the matter is that the marshal is serving pro­ cess; and the daily duties of marshals and deputies are based not upon whim, but upon clearly defined authority and equal­ ly specific restrictions. When Iowa marshals arrested a Pella veterinarian, transferred federal prisoners from one jail to another, and seized a quantity of silver polish, they were, in essence, performing as did Hawk-Eye marshals a century and more ago. The type of offense had changed, but the legal procedure remained much the same. The marshals, cooperating with federal courts, federal attorneys, and federal com­ missioners, were acting in accordance with instructions. Their duty, then as now, was the enforcement of federal statutes. This narrative covers the period from 1838, when Iowa became a territory, until 1890, when the frontier officially was closed, a period during which some seven­ teen individuals received presidential ap­ pointments as marshal. The number of M x r ^ v 'v ... * regular and special deputies appointed by them is impossible to determine. Of Courtesy of Iowa Department of History and Archives. the appointees, seven were removed either Gideon S. Bailey, Iowa's first marshal after statehood. 4 Palimpsest

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tend sittings of district and circuit courts and also sessions of the United States Supreme Court when sitting in a marshal’s district. He was to exercise in his district all lawful precepts directed to him under the authority of the United States. He was permitted, when occasion warranted, to draw upon all necessary assistance. This meant, in the common law tradition, he could raise and direct a posse. The mar­ shal could appoint deputies. A perform­ ance bond was required of the marshal, and both he and his deputies were obli­ gated to take an oath that they would faithfully and honestly execute their duties and upheld federal laws. Marshals were appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Unfortunately, in Iowa and elsewhere presidential appointment soon resulted in the naming to office of individuals whose only qualifications were that they were Governor Henry Dodge. loyal party henchmen, had served their country valiantly in time of war, were cause officers were unable to cope with relatives of congressmen or senators, or the mechanics of government bookkeeping possessed business or professional influ­ but also because too many viewed a mar­ ence. Farmers, tradesmen, and struggling shalship as only an office which permitted lawyers, believing a marshalship would them to root ruthlessly in an always full bulge a lean purse, prayed, pleaded, and pork barrel. Not until 1896 were marshals petitioned for appointment. A marshal’s placed on salaries. income was based upon an established As the nation expanded, so did a mar­ fee system. He, for example, received a shal’s duties. When Iowa was a part of the fixed amount for attending court, for serv­ Territory of Wisconsin, marshals were ing warrants and summons, and for trans­ taking the federal census, hiring jails in porting prisoners. Fees in many instances which to house federal prisoners, and serv­ fell short of expectation, and government ing as fiscal agents of federal courts. In accounting of money received and spent the latter capacity they purchased candles, proved a constant irritation, not only be- fuel, furniture, and flags. They paid fees Palimpsest 5

earned by jurors and witnesses and the an immediate settlement of all his ac­ salary of clerks of court. Their police counts. Gehon, continued Jones, not only power was considerably enlarged from had failed to make payments to witnesses former years for in 1792 they had been and jurors, as required by law but also granted the same authority in executing had given his due bills for their services the laws of the United States in their in attending courts. “He had been in the districts as were sheriffs in their counties. habit,” said Jones, “of selling the Gold Captain Francis Gehon, territorial mar­ which he had reed from the Govt, for shal of Wisconsin and the first federal depreciated bank notes and then offers marshal of the Territory of Iowa, was an these depreciated notes to Jurors, etc.” almost perfect example of a misfit who Governor Dodge was no novice in law- epitomized the weakness of political ap­ enforcement activities. Neither was he pointment, the inability to keep proper naive in his understanding of the duties accounts, and the callousness of self-inter­ of marshals. He, as a young man, filled the est. Originally from Pern, Du Buque office of sheriff of the St. Genevieve Dis­ County, Wisconsin, Gehon was highly trict in Missouri for sixteen years. Presi­ recommended both by George W. Jones, dent Madison in 1813 appointed him territorial delegate, and by Governor United States Marshal for the Territory Henry Dodge. He was endorsed as a re­ of Missouri. With this background it is spectable man who had actively defended difficult to understand why Dodge sup­ his country in the war of 1832 against ported Gehon as long as he did. A plaus­ Black Hawk. Jones, who also served in the ible explanation is that the Governor per­ Black Hawk campaign and who knew mitted Jones and W. W. Chapman, terri­ Gehon well, believed Gehon had managed torial delegates, to garrote Gehon politi­ the marshal’s office in Wisconsin so well cally with his silent blessing. that he was “entitled” to appointment in Indeed, after a Grand Jury in Novem­ Iowa. President Van Buren agreed and ber 1840 reported it had found Gehon appointed him on June 26, 1838. owed the Treasury Department $3996.40 Four months later, Jones, enough of a on the settlement of his accounts for the y r ^ n cl a wise enough Democrat to previous September, it was difficult and know on which side his political bread inexpedient for anyone to defend him. was buttered, wrote Levi Woodbury, When the same jury which had reported Secretary of the Treasury, a letter which so unfavorably upon Gehon sought pay­ was both self-defensive and apologetic. ment for their jury service from the mar­ He said he and Dodge had requested and shal, as was proper, the constable who received a large sum of money for Gehon’s sought to deliver the jurors’ fee schedule use in his official capacity. He suggested to Gehon was unable to do so. He en­ the propriety of requiring Gehon to make dorsed the document and returned it to 6 Palimpsest the court with this notation: “I certify Harrison would permit him to retain the that I carried this letter to the house of office. the U.S. Marshal of this territory and was Gehon, of course, made only passing informed by Mrs. Gehon (the wife of reference in his letter to Forsyth of the Genl. Gehon) that the Marshal was absent role he played—or did not play—in the from town.” The upstart jurors were ob­ border dispute in 1889 between Iowa ligated to wait for wages. and Missouri. Although urged to inter­ Such revenge, temporary as it was, only vene bv Governor Lucas and the two kindled the fire that eventually consumed justices of the Supreme Court of Iowa, Gehon. He sought on December 27, 1840 Charles Mason and Joseph Williams, Ge- and again on February 26, 1841, to cool hon’s assistance was slight, although he antagonism and regain favor by writing swore he spent money out of his own John Forsyth, Secretary of State, and Wil­ pocket in the attempt. liam H. Harrison, President-elect. He told All this was of little avail, for Marshal Forsyth that not only were his accounts Gehon himself wove and set the snare in order but also that the government which trapped him. He was replaced by owed him some twenty-four hundred dol­ Thomas B. Johnson, whose commission lars. Speaking of the Grand Jury action, was dated March 25, 1841. One incom­ Gehon explained that he had planned to petent was substituted for another. John­ be in Du Buque in time to attend the son, said a petition signed by numerous sessions, but was prevented by the sudden residents of Bloomington, was a family fall of water in the Mississippi. Even if he man, enjoyed the confidence of the peo­ had reached home when the Grand Jury ple, was of good morals and sober habits, met, he went on, nothing would have and was possessed to a “handsome de­ prevented complaint because jury mem­ gree of the qualifications of marshal. Orig­ bers were composed of “my personal and inally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Johnson political enemies. He intended to pay the received the unqualified recommendation jurors promptly. He maintained he al­ of friends there. Albert M. Lea, an Iowan ways had acted in good faith toward the and United States Commissioner to aid government and its creditors. in determining the southern boundary of After introducing himself to Harrison the state, was more perceptive. as the United States Marshal of the Terri­ Lea, in December 1841, wrote Daniel tory of Iowa and informing him that the Webster that Johnson’s private character office had been more of an expense than was “bad, very bad, and he is intellectual­ a profit, Gehon said his commission ex­ ly incompetent to perform his duties. pired in July 1842. “Truth and candor,” Previously Burlington citizens had signed he went on, “requires me to say that I a petition saying almost the same thing. have always belonged to that party which J. H. Clay Mudd also warned Webster. opposed your election to that exalted sta­ Stephen Whicher, LTnited States Attorney tion you are now about to occupy.” Never- for Iowa, declared that Johnson was the less and despite false and slanderous peculiarly irresponsible and that morally charges brought against him, he hoped and politically he had nothing to lose. Palimpsest 7 That was not all. Whicher wrote President man from 1827 to 1829, kept his political Tyler that the marshal was marked by fences in good repair. He was recom­ blackleg habits, the lowest vulgarity, and mended for a judgeship in 1836 for the a foul mouth. Mudd, a close observer Territory of Wisconsin and served as chief of the Iowa scene, not only endorsed justice of the first judicial tribunal of Des Whicher’s characterization but also stated Moines County. A staunch Whig, he was flatly that Johnson was a defaulter and a hard-working member of the first Iowa ‘does not pay off the jurors although he territorial legislature. Leffler had scant had drawn the money from the Treasury difficulty in securing the marshalship. He for that purpose/’ The signers of John­ was appointed on March 25, 1843. Yet son s bond met in Bloomington in Decem- with all his political acumen, he was re­ moved on January 16, 1844. Like his pre­ decessors, Leffler apparently used the marshalship for personal gain and found difficulty in keeping straight his accounts. Although he prospered as an attorney in Burlington, his political future was less successful. President Fillmore named him receiver of public moneys for the Chariton land district of Iowa in 1852, but less than a year later President Pierce removed him. With Leffler’s removal Iowa Democrats, anxious to avoid further embarrassment, urged in the strongest possible terms the appointment of Gideon S. Bailey. A staunch party man, a defender of Gover­ nor Robert Lucas, and a friend of Augus­ tus Caesar Dodge, Bailey was an ideal candidate. Furthermore, he fairly itched with desire. Originally appointed marshal on July 3, 1845, he conducted the office with such prudence and efficiency that Senator James W. Grimes. little adverse criticism resulted. Indeed, ber 1842, and requested the Secretary of he was reappointed, serving until 1850. the Treasury to withhold further monies Thomas II. Benton, Jr., wrote President from the marshal. They urged Johnson s Polk from Iowa City that Bailey had dis­ removal and the appointment of Isaac charged his duties with honor. Leffler. Bailey, in a long, tightly-written letter, Leffler, a native Virginian, wielded con­ told Polk that he not only desired reap­ siderable influence. He knew his way pointment for its own sake but also that around Washington and, as a congress­ there was another—a primary—reason why 8 Palimpsest

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he wished to retain the office. “There are,” structions sent them. Moreover, officials he said, “between nine and ten thousand in Washington frequently were slow in dollars yet to disburse under the Territorial replying to inquiries, and marshals could form of Government. I can disburse it be equally sluggish in submitting prompt­ more to the advantage of the people and ly reports and financial accounts. Leffler, Government (because familiar with the for example, wrote the Comptroller of the state and condition of business) than any Treasury in October 1843, requesting in­ one else and could make it to much ad­ structions. His reply was dated January vantage to myself.” Then he added: “As 24, 1844, some four months later. to the prompt and satisfactory manner All Leffler wanted to learn was how to that I have performed the duties of the handle judicial expenses—the costs of office I refer you to the Treasury Depart­ maintaining federal courts—in Iowa. He ment. In Iowa I have never heard any was told in clear enough language to send complaint.” abstracts of all such expenditures to the Whether marshals discharged their du­ Secretary of the Treasury. Then followed ties properly or improperly, their official a paragraph so typically complicated and lives were not easy. They were the slaves so representative of instructions sent mar­ of many masters. In some instances, as shals that it merits quoting in full. when taking the census, they reported di­ “The abstracts which you may furnish rectly to the President. The Secretary of should be so full, as to enable me to de­ State might call upon them. In 1820, their termine, whether the bills of cost, or ex­ supervisor was the Secretary of the Treas­ penses therein mentioned, are payable out ury, and in 1849, the Secretary of the of the Judicial appropriations—the rev­ Interior. Details concerning suits involv­ enue, or by the Pfost] Offfice] Depart­ ing the Treasury Department were re­ ment: all bills for services rendered, or ported directly to the Solicitor of the supplies furnished, should be not only ex­ Treasury. Definitive supervision was not amined and allowed by the Judge, but settled until August 2, 1861, when the certified by the Clerk, according to Law; Attorney General was given control. These and, probable cause of action, in suits for supervisory powers were reaffirmed by the recovery of fines—penalties, or forfeit­ the Act of June 22, 1870, which created ures, which fail—must be certified by the the Department of Justice. Judge—or, the Officer instituting the same Numerous marshals, reasonably honest must pay the costs &c: but, when fine or and relatively competent, unwittingly penalties are recovered; or, forfeitures de­ hanged themselves in a noose of red tape creed, the costs are chargeable primarily and were buried under an avalanche of on their avails—and, only, in case these government paper. Others simply could are insufficient, on the revenues, or judi­ not comprehend reams of complicated in­ cial appropriation, as the case may be. Palimpsest 9

Even if such directions were clear to a psychological gesture, Hoxie’s visit had a nonlegal mind and even if a marshal the desired effect of cooling anti-war ac­ were determined to follow them, he at tivity. He resigned the office and was suc­ times was unable to do so. Inclement ceeded on March 3, 1865 by Peter Mel- weather, irregular mail service, no roads endy, an outstanding individual who long or impassable roads, the moving about had served both communitv* and state in of witnesses, the untidy bookkeeping of a variety of business, cultural, and politi­ merchants from whom court supplies were cal activities. purchased, the work load of clerks of Melendy, undoubtedly one of the dis­ court—all these and more frequently made tinguished, if not the most distinguished, prompt and proper return of abstracts of all early Iowa marshals, was born in difficult if not impossible. Marshals 1823 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He came to the throughout the nation found themselves Hawk-Eye State in 1857 to settle in the behind in their accounting to the govern­ primitive village of Cedar Falls. There, ment. Leffler, a year after his removal, following his agricultural and business echoed the sentiment of other marshals bent, Melendy threw himself into horti­ when he maintained that he was not in cultural and literary pursuits, wrote for arrears. “I challenge, he said, the whole the Cedar Falls Banner, was editor of government to show that I have credit for Field and Carden, supported county and one dollar that has not been paid except state fairs, and served as trustee on the fourteen to James Clarke, for which he first board of the state agricultural college holds my* note. at Ames. He endorsed and supported not only the Cedar Falls and Minnesota Rail­ Several Iowans served as marshal short­ road but also the Iowa Central Railroad. ly before and during the Civil War, an Not until the eve of the Civil War did important period for Iowa marshals. Melendy assume an active role in politics. Laurel Summers, a Democrat and legisla­ Then he swung full support behind the tor in 1841, was well known and compe­ Republicans and Lincoln. After Hoxie left tent. He held office from April 1858 until office, the Iowa congressional delegation May 1861. His removal was not for cause, and Asahel W. Hubbard, Iowa congress­ but due to a national Republican victory. man, persuaded Lincoln to appoint Mel­ During the war years, a staunch, pro- endy. His commission was dated March 3, Lincoln man, Herbert M. Hoxie, served 1865. The record clearly indicates that he faithfully and well. Covernor Samuel J. took his duties seriously and performed Kirkwood, fearing Copperhead sentiments them efficiently. Yet, after Lincoln’s as­ in southern Iowa, sent Hoxie to border sassination and the coming to office of counties to suggest plans for defense in President Johnson, Melendy was removed event of invasion from Missouri. Largely on purely political grounds. The dismis- 10 Palimpsest

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Washington Jail, a place which Grimes said compared with the French Bastille and the dungeons of Venice. The Senator was in a position to know, for he, as Chairman of the District of Columbia, in­ spected it. Lamon countered by refusing further inspections. Thereupon, Grimes attempted to appeal directly to the Presi­ dent. When, said Grimes, he attempted to “approach the foostool of power at the Courtesy of Iowa Department of History and Archives. other end of the avenue," servants de­ clined to announce him. Furious at what George W. Clark, the marshal who replaced Peter Melendy in 1867. He had risen to generaVs rank he believed to be the high-handed action during the War. of a United States Marshal and angered sal smarted. at what he believed to be a deliberate “Appointed U.S. Marshal by Lincoln snub on Lincoln’s part, Grimes made the for 4 years 3rd of March, 1865," Melendy issue public. He spoke of the matter, he wrote. “Was turned out by A Johnson wrote, “not because I suppose the influ­ 12th of October 1866 because I would not ence of this marshal extends so far as to eat dirt or forsake my principles. Ap­ exclude me from the Executive mansion, pointed for a second time by Grant March as well as from the jail, but as a reason 1871 for 4 years." In 1879, he secured a why I state publicly here what I intended low-paid position as quartermaster in the to state privately there. Lincoln did noth­ War Department. ing. As a result, Congress in 1864 trans­ One incident involving an Iowan and an ferred all the power over the jail from the out-of-state marshal casts light on the marshal to a warden. power and function of the office. Perhaps This episode, slight as it was and lost no low-level squabble, during the Civil as it has been in the welter of greater War, irritated Iowans more than did a problems during Lincoln’s presidency, confrontation between Senator James W. nevertheless points up the fact that fed­ Grimes, credited with bringing Iowa into eral marshals could, if they wished, ex­ the Republican fold, and Ward Hill Lam- ercise tremendous influence. Indeed, it on, close friend and former law partner throws peripheral light upon the Iowa of Lincoln’s. The President appointed scene, where some marshals and their Lamon marshal of the District of Wash­ deputies believed their star shone brighter ington in April 1861. Among Lamon’s than the statutes. Throughout the nation, official duties was jurisdiction over the the Department of Justice was cautioning

12 Palimpsest United States attorneys and commission­ rode into Sugar Creek Township, Powe­ ers to watch closely not only marshals shiek County, to round up draft evaders accounts but also their actions. Auditors whom local patriots believed to be Cop­ became more vigilant, and complaints perheads. A gun battle followed in which by the military and by citizens were both deputies were killed. Both Josiah B. thoroughly investigated. Grinnell, clergyman and congressman, and By the turn of the century Iowa mar­ Governor William M. Stone offered re­ shals were no longer serving process and wards for the arrest and delivery of John hunting down wanted men as they did in and Joseph Fleener, slayers of the depu­ pioneer days of early statehood. Earlier, ties. for example, they attempted to prohibit Some duties, despite occasional bloody lumbermen from depredations of trespass episodes, changed little through the years on public lands on the Upper Iowa and and patterned a marshal’s life with never- Cedar rivers. Then they transported in ending sameness. The distilling and sell­ chains alleged mail robbers. Then they ing of illegal liquor, the theft of horses, sold prairie and timber land to satisfy and the making of bogus money were writs of execution. In those early days crimes which cut heavily into law officers’ Deputies D. Sheward and N. Park Woods time. Bootleggers busied themselves not took the census for Des Moines Countv, only in caves along the Mississippi River and others performed the same chore but also in cleverly concealed hideaways throughout the state. During the Civil in ravines and gullies in the interior. A War, W. H. F. Gurley, United States At­ pitchfork biting into a straw pile might torney for Iowa, advised marshals how to strike not fodder but a keg of corn. Mar­ seize rebel property within the area. shal George W. Clark, who served from Twentieth-century marshals were no long­ 1867 until 1871, had been in office less er expected to apprehend editors of “trea­ than four months when he and a deputy sonable” newspapers as had Hoxie in 1862 raided an illegal distillery in Des Moines when he arrested D. A. Mahoney of the County. They seized a hundred bushels Dubuque Herald. A few days later, Hoxie of rye, fifty bushels of corn, a steam boiler, hired in Burlington a special locomotive two yeast tubs, a scale, a mash tub, and to make a flying trip to Fairfield, where three barrels of distilled spirits. Frequent­ he arrested David Sheward, editor of the ly, county sheriffs or local marshals picked Constitution and the Union. up and held for federal marshals sellers Yet, then as now, duties were arduous of illegal whiskey. Jack Sullivan, for ex­ and dangers ever present. Hoxie, imbued ample, a retail liquor dealer of Wapello with the prevalent idea that war veterans County in 1879, was charged with viola­ should be rewarded with employment, ap­ tion of United States revenue laws. Time pointed two ex-cavalrymen, J. M. Wood­ and again, marshals throughout the state ruff and J. L. Bashore, deputies. Woodruff sold at public auction high wines to satisfy came from Knoxville and Bashore lived district court decrees. in Centerville. On October 1, 1864, the Horse theft, like pioneers, preachers, deputies, mounted and properly armed, poachers, and promoters, followed the Palimpsest 13 frontier to Iowa. The crime was the pio­ \\ hen during the Jacksonian period the neer s scourge. Iowa territorial marshals charter of the United States Bank expired frequently complained of gangs which ran and federal funds were deposited in state off horses. With an increase of population, banks, counterfeiters found a golden op­ horse theft increased. Davenport’s Iowa portunity. They duplicated paper money Sun and Rock Island News, beginning issued by hundreds of banks. Coins, as September 4, 1839, ran a standing reward well as land warrants and military bounty for the apprehension of a renegade who papers, were illegally reproduced. took a bright, sorrel mare from its owner Iowa fell heir to all types of counter­ in Scott County. There was a time in this feiting. Its marshals, not always sufficient­ state, reported the Dubuque Miners Daily ly knowledgeable to distinguish between Express, October 1, 1851, “when it was a genuine bill and a piece of fake long- impossible for an honest man to keep a green, frequently relied, as did bankers good horse. Other editors of river-town and merchants, upon a variety of counter­ newspapers spoke consistently of the loss feit detectors. Published by several editors oi horses. Both the Mexican and Civil and appearing regularly, these pamphlets wars not only increased the demand but not only warned readers against fake bills also the price of horses. Government pro­ in circulation but also illustrated their curement agents cared little if the mounts pages with drawings of both genuine and they purchased were stolen. Federal mar­ imitation paper. The editor of Muscatine’s shals frequently worked closely with Iowa Democratic Enquirer spoke glow­ county sheriffs and local peace officers to ingly in October 1852 of the usefulness of curtail, if not stop, the thieving. Dye s Bank Note Mirror, a guide with a Anti-horse thief associations, vigilante national circulation. committees, and posted signs reading Nevertheless counterfeit manuals proved Watch Out for Horse Thieves’ accom- to be little help, since illegal activity polished little. Melendy in 1866 set a trap Dntinued throughout the state. In 1842, near Cedar Falls and captured a gang of Iowa marshals apprehended in Montrose a thieves. A decade later, Marshal John W. slippery gentleman and charged him with Chapman, who served from 1875 to 1879, circulating counterfeit ten-dollar bills. was plagued by the bold activities of Bellevue, long considered by peace of­ horse stealers, who after a theft boldly ficers to be a breeding place where all shipped stolen stock by river steamer or, manner of crime increased, was flooded in with equal effrontery, drove them down 1853 with notes of various denominations public roads. Scores of letters to marshals purportedly issued by the Chemung Bank, from federal attorneys commented upon Elmira, New York. Five vears later, to horse thieving. select another example almost at random, Counterfeiting, like horse theft, came Marshal Laurel Summers, who held office early into the state. Indeed, since colonial from 1853 to 1861, arrested in Dubuque times, the making and passing of bogus Newman S. Barber. A raid on his resi­ money was a concern which legislatures dence netted a complete set of dies, a kit sought by statutes to curtail and prevent. of counterfeiting tools, and a quantity of 14 Palimpsest //////Z/ //////

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/ / / / / / //////zv /f *1* J W ff» * I f d / / ^ fcäiÄrM QJKÊ ■ nKGlSTI'.Itl.ti B ï TU I. .STATI-: HANK. OF IOW Bank note courtesy of Dean Oakes.

The five-dollar State Bank of Iowa note which was so successfully counterfeited around 1862. This ex­ ample is genuine. The bogus notes were perfect, except for the reversal of the letter “a in the lower left-hand corner in the legend “American Bank Note Company.” unfinished coins. At Maquoketa, a mar­ Benjamin H. Brewster, attorney general, shal’s net caught an enterprising young continued to prod marshals into greater man whose pockets were crowded with activity against counterfeiters. Marshals crudely made coins. were authorized to employ special depu­ The Civil War proved a counterfeiting ties, to investigate more diligently, to de­ headache for federal marshals. Bad money vote more time. flooded not only Iowa but also the nation. The close of the war, instead of di­ Chaotic banking transactions, fluctuations minishing counterfeiting, only increased in the price of gold, huge military expen­ it. Return of veterans, unemployment, and ditures—all these and more provided gold­ the Panic of 1873 combined with other en opportunity for counterfeiters. Nearly factors to offer makers of spurious coin one-third of all currency in circulation and paper greater opportunity for illegal during the Civil War was counterfeited. gain. Iowa marshals, despite valiant, if Iowa merchants, bankers, and commission not always persistent efforts, did the best men were beside themselves. They turned they could. for relief to sheriffs and federal marshals. During the 1870’s, Colonel R. Root, a Dozens of individuals were arrested and two-hundred-pound deputy, residing in quantities of bogus bills were seized. In Mt. Pleasant, arrested in Keokuk two al­ Burlington, for example, marshals worked leged counterfeiters who had come up long and hard in 1862 to discover who from Texas and Missouri to try their luck passed a number of fake five-dollar bills in the Gate City. He transported counter­ issued on the State Bank of Iowa. They feiters apprehended in Dubuque from were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, S. F. there to the penitentiary in Fort Madison Phillips, acting attorney general, and to await trial in the federal court at Keo- Palimpsest 15

Courtesy of Iowa Department of History and Archives.

Richard Root, “two-hundred-pound deputy” who helped break up a large counterfeiting ring in Keokuk. 16 Palimpsest

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kuk. Marshal Chapman and Deputy Root to Monroe, he anticipated little trouble. in 1878 broke up in Keokuk one of the In his pocket the deputy carried a warrant largest counterfeiting operations ever charging Revell with counterfeiting and known in the state. So many suspects, violating the revenue laws. Each man was both men and women, were arrested and armed. Revell, when first apprehended such a quantity of counterfeiting appa­ offered no resistance, but no sooner had ratus was seized in a house near the levee Vermila seated him in a buggy than he that Colonel E. M. Steadman, chief of the drew a pistol. Thereupon Marshal Ver­ Secret Service district of Nebraska and mila shot his prisoner through the heart. Iowa, assisted federal marshals and local To call the roll of all who “passed the police. Major suspects eventually were queer’ and to recite a litany of their suc­ sentenced to prison. cesses and failures would be an endless Yet, sensational as was the Keokuk task. Marshals found them operating round-up, the raid and subsequent trials from respectable boarding houses, from and convictions scarcely dampened the lodgings of ill repute, and from steamboat enthusiasm of illegal coiners and printers. cabins. Many manufactured their inks. Early in 1879, Sheriff Tom Raisor, acting Some laboriously carved out engraving on a marshal’s tip, arrested in Allerton, W. tools. Almost all cast their own molds for C. Watson, charging him with making producing coins. Women not only circu­ counterfeit half dollars. Taken before a lated bills and coins but also aided in United States Commissioner, Watson was manufacturing them. Among the “hero­ tried and convicted in a federal district ines’ of Iowa counterfeiting, each of court and sentenced to one year in the whom was withdrawn from circulation by penitentiary. George Baker, also of Aller­ federal marshals, was the motherly ap­ ton, who was an ungrateful associate of pearing Jeannette Ritter of Ottumwa, who Watson and who had “squealed’ on him, at age fifty specialized in trade dollars, was sentenced to six months. A Deputy half dollars, and quarters. Another was United States Marshal with aid of local Amanda Fancy, arrested in Keokuk in officers arrested on February 10, 1879, 1878, for passing bogus half dollars. Ac­ Sterling Stewart, a Kansan, who had quitted then for lack of evidence, she soon moved to Iowa County. He was tried, was picked up, tried, and convicted. Still convicted, and sentenced to a year in the another was Dolores McFee, a spritely Fort Madison penitentiary on a charge of young beauty of twenty-two years, who passing counterfeit fifty-dollar bank notes. rode steamboats in the role of a recently Counterfeiting, however, was not with­ bereaved widow. Dolores was highly suc­ out its dangers. When in September 1882 cessful in persuading pursers to give her Deputy United States Marshal Burr Ver- genuine money in exchange for counter­ mila tracked Richard Revell from Keokuk feits. Palimpsest 17

So rapid was Iowa’s growth by the and their deputies were hard to come by. 1880 s and so greatly did the crime rate No frontier Iowa marshal was forged by increase that it no longer was possible for time into a folk hero such as Wyatt Earp, marshals to keep up with court-related who never was a hero anyway. activities and with criminal investigations. Marshals Christian and Knott each re­ The District Court of Iowa, first estab­ ceived an annual salary of four thousand lished March 3, 1845, no longer could dollars, a sum which would have shocked cope with the increased work load. On Gehon or Leffler. Each supervised a staff July 20, 1882, this single federal judicial consisting of a chief office deputy, an was split into a northern and a southern office deputy or a clerk, and several field district with a United States Marshal in deputies. Each received from the United charge of each district. Chapman con­ States expenses of travel and subsistence. tinued as marshal of the southern district, Yet, except perhaps for one change, and George C. Heberling was named Iowa’s pioneer marshals might have felt marshal for the northern district. He, somewhat at home at the turn of the however, served less than a year, for his century. Early marshals transported fed­ commission was only a temporary one. eral prisoners to prison in Fort Madison. His successor, George C. Perkins, was This, during the tenure of Christian and suspended in 1885, and Perkins succes­ Knott, no longer was possible. Federal sor, William M. Desmond, was removed prisoners in 1900 were taken to United in 1889. Edward Knott headed the States penitentiaries at Fort Leavenworth, northern district from 1898 until 1907, Kansas, or Atlanta, Georgia, or perhaps and George M. Christian the southern to McNeil s Island, Washington. Other­ district from 1898 to 1902. Each was wise the job had changed little—Iowa competent and neither was removed. marshals were still, as they had been, Christian and Knott carried federal law servants of the court and upholders of enforcement as marshals across the year federal statutes. 1890, which formally signaled the closing of the frontier, into the beginning of a period of modern enforcement. Those good, old days when one marshal upheld the courts and the law by himself were gone. The old times when marshals lived by fees alone had disappeared. Marshals no longer traveled only by horse, buggy, or steamboat, but went about their duties on trains and, in some instances, in auto­ mobiles. Even the names of early marshals

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