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December 4: Fowl Play

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North Dakotans were both alarmed and annoyed by a crime spree in 1925. People kept an eye out for anyone who looked suspicious. In November, thieves visited the turkey farm of A.L. Orange, just outside of Jamestown. When neighbors returning from town noticed a suspicious car parked by the farm, they acted. The car sped off at high speed, and the neighbors followed, resulting in a high-speed chase that reached fifty miles per hour. The chasers got close enough to obtain the license plate number and a description of the getaway car. They shared the information with law enforcement, but the thieves managed to escape with nine turkeys.

That wasn’t the last turkey theft of the year. On this date in 1925, readers of the Bismarck Tribune learned of another turkey theft—but this time the thief didn’t get away. A call came into the Bismarck sheriff’s office on the night of December 2nd. William Lukes, who lived about seven miles from Bismarck, reported that someone was stealing his turkeys. The sheriff, his deputy, and a city patrolman hurried to the farm. Upon arrival, they noticed footprints in the snow. Following the tracks, they found a car with a turkey inside. More footprints led away from the car, so the officers followed them. At eight o’clock the next morning, they found Adolph Miller and immediately arrested him.

Justice came quickly for Miller. The following day, he was arraigned before Justice of the Peace Roland H. Crane on a charge of turkey theft and pleaded guilty. He was fined twenty dollars and ordered to pay court costs of eighty dollars. The sheriff was disappointed by the outcome. He regretted that Miller received such a minor punishment, noting that stealing turkeys was a serious crime and should have more serious consequences. The sheriff believed Miller should have been sentenced to a year in prison, but current law did not allow for that.

Turkeys are still raised in North Dakota today. There are nine turkey farms in the state, producing about a million turkeys each year.

Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher

Sources:

Dakota Datebook is made in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and funded by Humanities North Dakota, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities North Dakota or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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