Wicked Kansas by Adrian Zink

Author:Adrian Zink [Zink, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Criminals & Outlaws, History, United States, State & Local, Midwest (IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; OH; SD; WI)
ISBN: 9781439668504
Google: wZ64DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2019-11-11T03:06:15+00:00

The Dodge City Peace Commission, 1883. Lawmen in Dodge City were often called out to other communities to keep the peace over the years. Members are identified as (back row, left to right) William H. Harris, Luke Short, William Bat Masterson, W.F. Petillon; (front row, left to right) Charles E. Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Frank McLain, Neil Brown. Courtesy of Kansas Historical Society.

The tension hadn’t abated, and on February 27, a wagon with seven armed, liquored-up Leoti men rode to Main Street in Coronado for some “fun.” After shooting up the town and generally having a great time at their rivals’ expense, the Leoti men were surprised when the Coronado men aimed rifles out of the upper floor windows of their downtown businesses and rained bullets upon them. As they ran to their wagon to beat a hasty retreat, many bullets began to hit their marks. Leoti men George Watkins, William Raines and purported ex-Quantrill raider Charles Coulter fell from the wagon, dead. Another, Frank Jenness, was hit six times and died later. Three others were hit in various parts of their bodies, but all lived. One man, Emmet Denning, had to have a leg amputated.

The Wichita County sheriff was completely overwhelmed by this escalation of violence and sent desperate telegrams to Topeka. The governor called out the Kansas Militia. Companies from Sterling and Larned headed out. Lawmen from Dodge City, including notables Wyatt Earp, Pat Sughrue, Bill Tilghman and Bat Masterson, were posted at Coronado to keep any of the killers from slipping town before the militia arrived. The militia also dug rifle pits around the Leoti town hall. This became the biggest military action in this part of the state since the Cheyenne Indian Raid of 1879.

Colonel Rickseker, the leader of the contingent sent to Coronado, sternly warned the armed men of the town that he was in a foul mood and they would be wise to lay down their arms and surrender to the authorities. Doing so, he arrested twenty-one Coronadoans, charged them with first-degree murder and shipped them to jails in Hays, Garden City and Dodge City. When they were tried in Great Bend a year later, all twenty-one men were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

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