In January 1890, North Dakota was just a few months old. In voting to approve the constitution the people also voted in favor of prohibition. Consequently, saloons would only be legal until July.
In her book, “Grass of the Earth: Immigrant Life in the Dakota Country” teacher and author Aagot Raaen tells about the women of Hatton who weren’t willing to wait.
Aagot’s father, Thomas, had developed a habit of hauling the grain crop to town and spending the proceeds in the saloon before returning home empty-handed. Then he would sell some livestock, intending to purchase supplies, and again come home with nothing. Others in Hatton had similar problems, and there was growing resentment of the town’s six saloons.
On this date in 1890, Aagot’s mother Ragnhild was among a dozen or so women who headed into town armed with hatchets, hammers, and long sticks. It was a busy day, with people everywhere.
Aagot Raaen writes that the first saloon was so busy, the owner hardly looked up the door opened. “The women rushed in and madly chopped, smashed, and raked down liquor bottles so that the whole floor was soaking wet in a minute.” Aagot’s mother “took chairs and benches, lifted them, and hurled them at the shelves … windows and … mirrors. The crowds in the streets cheered.” The women even went to cellar and chopped at kegs and barrels until streams of liquor flowed and their shoes and long skirts were wet.
The women moved from saloon to saloon. When they got to the last one, the owner stood outside and said in Norwegian, ‘Please go in.’ The women complied, but were met by a cloud of burning pepper, so strong that they coughed, and gasped for breath. The trick deterred the raiders and saved the saloon.
As on most battlegrounds, there was “collateral” damage. During one of the raids, patron Peter Lomen suffered a cut on the head. That evening, he resumed his drinking and apparently failed to tend the wound. Three weeks later he was dead of an infection.
The saloonkeepers said the women caused his death. The Sheriff summoned the women to trial, and Aagot writes that her mother had a good time listening to all the funny things the witnesses said and the speeches of the lawyers and the judge. Her mother said, “We had good food and slept in good beds. I had a real vacation.”
We have to assume that the women of Hatton were cleared on the merits of the case, and not because the judge was afraid to convict!
Dakota Datebook by Merry Helm
Sources:
Raaen, Aagot Grass of the Earth: Immigrant Life in the Dakota Country. Northfield, MN: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1950 .
Handy-Marchello, Barbara. (1992). Land, Liquor, and the Women of Hatton, North Dakota. In Lysengen, J., & Rathke, A., (Eds.), The Centennial Anthology of North Dakota History (pp. 223-231). Bismarck: State Historical Society of North Dakota.
http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/carry/carry1.htm
