Vigilante Justice on a Seattle Street
A man forces two alleged con artists to stand at gunpoint in broad daylight until the police arrive to take them into custody.
An extraordinary hold-up occurred in Seattle Saturday afternoon on one of the principal streets. Fordham stopped John Fletcher and C. Williams and held them at the point of a pistol until the police arrived and took them into custody. Fordham claims that the two men buncoed him out of about $200 the other day. He says a third man is implicated, and that he will get him too. The unusual affair created quite a sensation.
“Fordham stopped John Fletcher and C. Williams and held them at the point of a pistol until the police arrived.”
Public 'bunco' schemes were a frequent frustration for travelers and locals alike in the booming frontier cities. This account reflects a time before sophisticated police surveillance, where individuals often took the law into their own hands to reclaim stolen wages.
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