Vigilantes Clean House in Walla Walla
An organized shadow group forces suspected criminals out of town in the dead of winter.
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.
It is common talk about town this week that a score or two of individuals possessed with thieving propensities and road agency proclivities were granted permanent leave of absence from this city and vicinity by some resident citizens who assumed to speak and act by authority. The notified individuals needed no second invitation to depart, nor stood upon their manner of going, but left at once, usually on foot and with more or less blankets swung across their shoulders. The mysterious outpouring and lively skedaddling of the light-fingered gentry from the city has excited much public comment, and given rise to innumerable stories about an organized Vigilance Committee existing in town. We are among those who are left in the dark, not knowing anything about this vigilance committee, except what we gathered from rumor and hearsay. It is thought by some that the committee has been an organized body for some time. However, the fact that a large number of 'roughs' were notified to leave town this week, and the fact that they did suddenly leave for parts unknown, is convincing evidence that we have Vigilantes among us. Some persons have been informed that there are 175 men in all—all active members of the committee. We hope the committee will act with due deliberation and do nothing rash.
“The mysterious outpouring and lively skedaddling of the light-fingered gentry from the city, has excited much public comment.”
Extra-legal vigilante 'justice' was a common feature of the frontier era, where citizens took the law into their own hands when they felt city authorities were too slow or ineffective. Today, these movements are remembered as dangerous erosions of due process, reflecting a historical tension between mob rule and civil governance that still informs modern debates about community safety.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.