The Killing of Baker Jim
A prominent farmer and chief is shot dead in an Okanogan saloon after the proprietor refuses him service.
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.
Baker Jim was shot dead at Oro, Okanogan County, on September 22 by Ed Shackleford, a saloonkeeper. Baker Jim entered the saloon to buy liquor, but was told that liquor was not sold to Indians. When he persisted, Shackleford fired a .44-caliber Colt's revolver, shooting him through the heart. The Indian fell outside the door and remained there until the next morning. Baker Jim was a Has Tyee, second in rank only to the old Chief Antoine, and was known as a thrifty and prosperous farmer. A coroner's jury confirmed he was killed by Shackleford.
“Shackleford told him that liquor was not sold to Indians, but Jim persisted in his demands for firewater.”
This incident exposes the violent reality of the frontier era, where racial exclusion in commerce and public spaces was enforced with deadly force, and justice was often superficial.
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