Vigilante Morality in Colfax
A secret league forms to purge the town of gambling and prostitution through direct action.
A law and order league was organized this afternoon to make a fight against the gamblers and prostitutes. The membership is only fourteen, which the leaders consider sufficient for present purposes. The league is collecting evidence against a few of the most notorious gamblers in an endeavor to convict them under the state law. It is also making efforts to drive prostitution outside the corporate limits. For the present time the league will remain a secret order, so as to execute its undertakings more advantageously. A mass meeting has been called for Sunday afternoon in the courthouse to consider the subject.
“The league is collecting evidence against a few of the most notorious gamblers in an endeavor to convict them under the state law.”
The formation of 'Law and Order' leagues was a common response to the perceived moral decay of booming towns. These groups often operated in the shadows, foreshadowing the complex relationship between civic moralism and the eventual push for Prohibition in Washington.
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