Shang Stanton: Difference between revisions
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== Gunfight with Slim Jim Shumway == |
== Gunfight with Slim Jim Shumway == |
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Stanton and Shumway had had a disagreement in a gambling hall on the evening of Wednesday, April 24th. According to a contemporary report in [[The Duluth Minnesotian Herald]], "It seems these two men had exchanged some words not intended to be complimentary, and had parted somewhat out of temper." The following morning Shumway, armed with two loaded revolvers,<ref>The Alexandria Post, Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota, Saturday 4 May 1872, page 4, col. 2.</ref> looked for Stanton, and put word out that he intended to demand satisfaction. This word was passed to Stanton, who waited in a saloon. The confrontation between the two men was not a duel. Shumway entered the saloon, approached Stanton from behind, and shoved him. Stanton whirled around, stuck his revolver into Shumway's belly, and fired. Stanton fled, and the mortally wounded Shumway tried follow, running into the street and firing wildly in all directions. One of Shumway's bullets struck and killed the owner of a neighboring saloon, JP Thompson of the Orleans Club. <ref name="auto"/> It was claimed by author Jeanette Prodgers that Stanton had "received a reward of three hundred dollars" for killing Shumway, but no support was given for this assertion. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Prodgers |first1=Jeanette |title=Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoirs of Yellowstone Vic Smith |date=2009 |publisher=The Globe Pequot Press |location=Guilford CT 06437 |isbn=978-0-7627-4898-3 |page |
Stanton and Shumway had had a disagreement in a gambling hall on the evening of Wednesday, April 24th. According to a contemporary report in [[The Duluth Minnesotian Herald]], "It seems these two men had exchanged some words not intended to be complimentary, and had parted somewhat out of temper." The following morning Shumway, armed with two loaded revolvers,<ref>The Alexandria Post, Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota, Saturday 4 May 1872, page 4, col. 2.</ref> looked for Stanton, and put word out that he intended to demand satisfaction. This word was passed to Stanton, who waited in a saloon. The confrontation between the two men was not a duel. Shumway entered the saloon, approached Stanton from behind, and shoved him. Stanton whirled around, stuck his revolver into Shumway's belly, and fired. Stanton fled, and the mortally wounded Shumway tried follow, running into the street and firing wildly in all directions. One of Shumway's bullets struck and killed the owner of a neighboring saloon, JP Thompson of the Orleans Club. <ref name="auto"/> It was claimed by author Jeanette Prodgers that Stanton had "received a reward of three hundred dollars" for killing Shumway, but no support was given for this assertion. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Prodgers |first1=Jeanette |title=Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoirs of Yellowstone Vic Smith |date=2009 |publisher=The Globe Pequot Press |location=Guilford CT 06437 |isbn=978-0-7627-4898-3 |page=44 |edition=Revised}}</ref> |
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== Disposition of the Case == |
== Disposition of the Case == |
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Revision as of 15:29, 19 August 2022
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Charles "Shang" Stanton was a gambler of the American frontier, whose killing of Slim Jim Shumway on April 25th, 1872 provided the impetus for establishing Clay County, Minnesota government in Moorhead, Minnesota.[1] Stanton's real name was Edward Stanton Curran, [2], and after his death he was remembered as a gambler, statuesque, "a rounder," and infinitely devoted to his wife and young children.[3]
Setting
In the spring of 1872, Shang Stanton was a gambler and gunfighter who had gravitated, with many others, to the unfinished western end of the under-construction Northern Pacific Railway. According to pioneer and attorney Solomon Comstock, the terminus of the railroad attracted many unsavory and violent characters. "In the bad old days when Moorhead was a small tent town at track end and when most of the buildings were dance halls, saloons, or gambling houses, the gunman was here too. He followed the track. He boasted that he would die with his boots on and he usually did. The talk of his six shooters was often heard." [1]
Gunfight with Slim Jim Shumway
Stanton and Shumway had had a disagreement in a gambling hall on the evening of Wednesday, April 24th. According to a contemporary report in The Duluth Minnesotian Herald, "It seems these two men had exchanged some words not intended to be complimentary, and had parted somewhat out of temper." The following morning Shumway, armed with two loaded revolvers,[4] looked for Stanton, and put word out that he intended to demand satisfaction. This word was passed to Stanton, who waited in a saloon. The confrontation between the two men was not a duel. Shumway entered the saloon, approached Stanton from behind, and shoved him. Stanton whirled around, stuck his revolver into Shumway's belly, and fired. Stanton fled, and the mortally wounded Shumway tried follow, running into the street and firing wildly in all directions. One of Shumway's bullets struck and killed the owner of a neighboring saloon, JP Thompson of the Orleans Club. [1] It was claimed by author Jeanette Prodgers that Stanton had "received a reward of three hundred dollars" for killing Shumway, but no support was given for this assertion. [5]
Disposition of the Case
Following his killing of Shumway, Stanton was arrested by a posse and held for trial. Establishment of a county government had to precede any trial, so on the day of the shooting, Peter Wilson and Andrew Holes were sworn in as County Commissioners, and they in turn appointed Jim Blanchard as county sheriff, Solomon Comstock as county attorney, and David Grant as Justice of the Peace. [1] Though Stanton was eventually released, his handgun, a Colt 1849 Pocket Revolver with a silver finish and a carved solid ivory handle, ended up in the possession of a local Kiefer family [6] Stanton later relocated to Bismarck, North Dakota, Deadwood, South Dakota, and then Spokane, Washington, where he died in the spring of 1889.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d "The gunfight that created Clay County's government".
- ^ "Sin cities: From prostitution to quickie divorces, exhibit details tawdrier side of Fargo and Moorhead". Grand Forks Herald. May 13, 2013.
- ^ The Morning Review, April 9, 1889, page 15 (Spokane newspaper)
- ^ The Alexandria Post, Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota, Saturday 4 May 1872, page 4, col. 2.
- ^ Prodgers, Jeanette (2009). Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoirs of Yellowstone Vic Smith (Revised ed.). Guilford CT 06437: The Globe Pequot Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7627-4898-3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ "Shang Stanton and Colt Pistol Collection - MSS 682 | Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County". hcsmuseum.pastperfectonline.com.
- ^ The Morning Review, April 9, 1889, page 15 (Spokane newspaper)
Category:Gunslingers of the American Old West Category:History of Minnesota Category:People from Moorhead, Minnesota