Marshal Narrowly Survives Jailhouse Shootout
A prisoner in Colfax, suspected of being a relative of the James brothers, opens fire on the police chief while being locked in a cell.
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.
Chief of Police Mackey had a close call late last evening when endeavoring to search a prisoner he had taken to jail. The prisoner, Ward Nicklin, described as a rugged six-foot man and a relative of the James brothers, was arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct at the Baldwin House. The marshal found it hard work to search him and decided to lock him in a cell first. As the marshal turned to unlock the door and then faced the prisoner again, Nicklin fired a revolver. The ball narrowly escaped the marshal's head and tore through the corridor's boarding. Mackey grappled with Nicklin, who was armed with a 38-calibre weapon, and overpowered him after a terrible struggle.
“The ball just escaped the marshal's head and tore up the boarding of the corridor.”
Colfax in the 1890s was a rough-and-tumble town, and the local police chief's struggle highlights the dangers inherent in rural law enforcement at the time. The sensationalized mention of the prisoner's connection to the infamous James gang shows how much stock the press put in linking local criminals to national legends.
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