Police Expel Gypsy Band from Walla Walla
Citing public nuisance and theft, the Chief of Police clears a group of 75 people from the outskirts of town.
Chief of Police Brown and his police drove a band of gypsies out of town this morning. There were about 75 in the crowd, and they had been about the streets all day Sunday begging and stealing. They came to Walla Walla Saturday night from Freewater, where they were camped for several days. They took up temporary quarters in the Magallon grove near the Washington school building. This is supposed to be a portion of the band that was driven out of Portland several weeks ago.
“They took up temporary quarters in the Magallon grove near the Washington school building.”
This reflects the systemic exclusion and criminalization of nomadic groups in the early 20th century. While historical accounts of such events often rely on tropes of 'begging and stealing,' they highlight the era's intolerance for populations that didn't fit into the settled urban order.
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