Midnight Intruder at the Milton House
A miner returns to his room to find a man under his bed, leading to a violent struggle that ends with a bit finger and an escape.
C. Everson, a miner, had a hand-to-hand conflict with a burglar in his room at the Milton House on Front Street at 12:45 a.m. Everson came home and, upon looking under his bed, discovered a man hiding there. A desperate fight ensued, during which the men choked each other. The burglar managed to bite Everson’s finger severely. Everson succeeded in taking the burglar's revolver, but the man, described as powerful and weighing 150 pounds, managed to escape after the room's other inmates were aroused by the noise. Everson fired a shot as the man fled, but the burglar escaped, leaving behind a black slouch hat.
“The burglar worked the middle finger of Everson’s right hand into his mouth and nearly bit it off.”
Front Street, now First Avenue, was the heart of the bustling, rough-and-tumble downtown district where transient miners and laborers often fell victim to crime. The incident serves as a snapshot of the vulnerability of boarding-house living in a growing, transient city.
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