The Russian Settlement Brawl
A Christmas evening dispute between locals turns into a violent street encounter near Lincoln School.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Constable L. C. Goodwin this morning arrested Conrad Knupp, Garfield Johnson, and George Redd on a warrant charging them with assault and battery. Christmas evening, the three men and Peter Reck were coming to the city from the Russian settlement when, near the Lincoln school, they began quarreling. Knupp and Reck became very angry and a fight ensued. Reck struck Knupp in the face with his fist, when the latter drew a pistol from his pocket and threatened to do him bodily harm. The weapon had no effect on Reck, and he proceeded to wade into Knupp. He was getting the best of the fight when Johnson and Redd got into the mix, and in the scramble Reck was knocked down. While he was lying on the sidewalk, he claims that the others struck him in the face and kicked him on the head. He was pretty badly used up and was unable to leave home to get a warrant for the arrest of his assailants until this morning.
“Reck struck Knupp in the face with his fist, when the latter drew a pistol from his pocket and threatened to do him bodily harm.”
This incident highlights the ethnic and social tensions of the era's immigrant enclaves near the outskirts of Walla Walla. While Lincoln School remains a historic site, the 'Russian settlement' mentioned reflects a distinct community experience that has since been integrated into the city's broader historical tapestry.
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