On this date in May of 1884, another wild weekend began in Wahpeton. Some homeless individuals showed up at a house south of the Northern Pacific depot. The Wahpeton Times reported that one man "picked up a plate and knocked the mistress of the establishment down. She got up with a revolver in her hand, ordered the intruders out, and started shooting. The fly chaps flew, and it was thought that one of them went away with a perforated hide and took the train the next morning for the east."
Two years later, the St. Paul Globe reported another incident in Wahpeton. Two harvest hands named Morley and West entered Nellie Grant’s place and got rowdy, refusing to leave. Nellie drew a 32-caliber revolver and shot Morley in the shoulder. The news spread quickly around town. Morley was brought to Dr. Swain’s hospital, where a large crowd had gathered. Dr. Swain discharged Morley, saying his wound was not dangerous. Morley skipped town on the night train bound for Minneapolis. Some accounts say his friends bought the ticket, others say Nellie did so to avoid prosecution. Minneapolis authorities sent him right back to Wahpeton.
The Wahpeton Times editor defended the rights of proprietress Nellie Grant to protect her household. Such houses were often blamed as attractive nuisances, sometimes mentioned in newspapers when covering crimes committed by homeless persons and troublemakers around the N.P. tracks.
The Richland County Gazette remarked that a couple of homeless individuals “did their part to keep our city from becoming too dull and drowsy." The Gazette sympathized with Nellie, who was jailed and charged with shooting with intent to kill. It was reported the homeless persons had abused the cook and threatened to kill her young child. The night after the incident, the city was "unusually full of the roughest type of homeless individuals, who showed a strong inclination to organize a mob to take Nellie from the jail and lynch her."
Nellie was discharged after appearing before the judge. She was defended by a local attorney who would later become U.S. Senator Porter J. McCumber.
Dakota Datebook written by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- The City in Brief. The Wahpeton Times Weekly, May 9, 1884, Page 3
- Shot by a Woman. Special to the Globe. The St. Paul Daily Globe, August 18, 1886
- The Editor: Another Tramp Case. The Wahpeton Times, August 19, 1886, Page 1
- Editorial. The Richland County Gazette, August 20, 1886, Page 1
- The Woman Discharged. The Wahpeton Times, August 26, 1886, Page 1
