The Sheep-herder and the Gold Rush
A lonely worker from the hills finds big-city trouble after a payday binge in North Yakima.
On Saturday, John Sickert, commonly known as 'Hindoo John,' arrived in the city from the hills, where he had been herding sheep for so long that his employer paid him off with a bank check for $125. When John cashed the check and felt the heavy twenties clicking in his pocket, he felt rich. He bought a light plaid suit, drank heavily, and imagined he was the mayor. While flashing a $20 gold piece, he was befriended by 'Big Fritz,' who brought him to the home of Annie Fairfield. When his cash disappeared, John accused his hostess of theft, but a trial before Justice Gardner found the evidence insufficient. Hindoo John returned to his sheep with nothing but his experience and his new suit.
“By the middle of the afternoon he had an elegant jag on him, and imagined he was the mayor of the town.”
The precarious nature of paydays for transient labor and the social dynamics of 1890s boom-town nightlife mirror the historical vulnerability of itinerant workers who kept the regional economy moving. Even then, the 'day in court' for marginalized workers often resulted in little more than a return to the cycle of labor.
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