Newton High School - Railroader Yearbook (Newton, KS)

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEE E. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E. EEEEEEEE E EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E EEEEEEE - Reckless transients, an abundance of firearms, and weak law enforcement provided a backdrop for homicide in Newton. The town's most sensational acts of violence, however, cannot be attributed only to lawless transients and lack of law enforce- ment. The most notorious episode stemmed from the explosive tensions between transients and townsmen. While merchants catered to the cowboy, the townspeople resented him. Potential and actual violence posed a threat to the security of life in cattle towns. Northern confederate herders tended to be clannish and were easily roused to a kind of ethnocentric defensiveness. Texans were at the mercy of exploitative cattle town merchants. The cowboy's only source of revenge was threat of arson and riot. In Newton the antagonism led to tragic results. During the second weekof August a Texas drover, Captain French had lVlike lVlcCluskie arrested for garrotting. As French was unable to prove the charges, McCIuskie went free. At a railroad bond election on August 11, lVlcCluskie and Will Bailey were appointed special police. They fought about the conditions of lVlcCluskie's arrest and releasex Noimmediate action was taken, but that night Bailey and his men followed lVlcCluskie to a saloon, already drunk, Bailey demanded that lVlcCluskie set up a drink. Upon his refusal a fight broke out. Bailey ran and crouched in the shadows. As lVlcCluskie appeared Bailey shot and missed. lVlcCluskie's shot was more accurate and Bailey died of his wounds. I Bailey had been so offensive that lVlcCluskie escaped and no attempt was made to apprehend him, nor was it desired by the people. However this did not include Texans. Bailey, reputed to have killed two men in a brawl, was still popular with his men. These men stood together and swore revenge. To make matters worse McCluskie was added to the permanent police force. NlpCluskie decided to leave town. Hugh Anderson led the avenging Texans. On Saturday, August 19, lVlcCluskie returned. Near midnight the Hide Park and Perry Tuttle dance houses began emptying out and men walked in groups toward town. At one o'clock the Texans closed in on lVlcCluskie. Anderson accosted him and said, l will blow the top of your head off, and promptly did so, but not before lVlcCluskie wounded him. All havoc broke loose and by morning eleven men were wounded, six died of their wounds. An inquest was held the following morning. The six man jury found Anderson guilty of first degree murder. A warrent for Anderson's arrest was issued but never served, as his friends prevented it. The Newton lVlassecure was one of many incidents that plaqued Newton. For a combination of reasons Newton's cattle season was un- usually bloody. Along with the birth and growth pains of a new community, transients and inadequate law enforcement created an atmosphere in which assaults and homicides occured with grim regularity. The cattle trade and its accompanying violence helped mold a reputation for Newton, which frustrated resi- dents. Because of this many people resented the railroad. In July city election of 1882 the anti-cattle force triumphed. Wichita secured the Santa Fe cattle trade in the summer of '82. Newton's loss of the cattle trade also meant the loss of prosti- tutes, gamblers, and desperadoes who had helped shape the town's notorious reputation, as they left much of Newton's unsavory reputation went with them. 3333333333 3 333333333333333 3 3333333 3333333333333 3 ssanassaaiaaasa 3 333333333333333 3 33333333 3 3333333333333 33 3 33333333 Z -l T O U S :I 'la O Z Xl

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. ' 2' 'limo 1 ff ' f .97',1 '.f77 ummg EPUOLIH Rhonda Brown -W, ' F' ,.- ,,.-za- T: M ,., I. ,JF-U V. 1 W X.. 1. WORKING ON the senior homecoming mascot is senior class president Rob Barnes. 2. WAITING FOR his cue during the musical Music lVlan is lVlr. Dwight Beckham. 3. STU- DENTS GO through the salad line during their lunch period. 4. WATCHING A pep assembly are Mr. Don Cameron and his young son, Christopher. 5. EACH YEAR the vocational carpentry classes build a house and it sold on the open market. 6. AN INFORIVIAL tea for parents of high school students finds the new vice-principal, Mr. Galen Schmitz, and parents relaxing. 7. THREE HOIVIET STEADS were the first in- habitants of Newton, they may have been very similar to this old farmstead. 8. WRESTLING A man from Concordia during the Newton Tournament of Champions is Newton's Vernon Tolbert. 6 INTRODUCTION 321 Kelly Mathews Rhonda BYOWFI Rhonda Brown slviaqlew Alley '1 sl' 8 ' 3 'I,. D -' i ii., 3: 44 AX ,W 3 Su ' -3 .ffijiiiigz - . 5? 'T' 1 .

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