3/6/2011:
In January of 1922, William Brown hitched up his team of horses in the livery barn of C. A. Bue of Minot and headed east to International Falls, Minnesota. Six weeks later he was indignantly brought back to Minot in handcuffs to answer to a charge of grand larceny. Although no contraband was found on him or disposed of by him on his trip, he was charged with the theft of two ducks, part of a dressed hog, a scoop shovel and thirty-two chickens. But the accusation was apparently rooted solely in Mr. Bue’s bigoted beliefs – that blacks and chickens were usually found pretty close together. The judge had none of that nonsense, and on this date in 1922, William Brown left Minot a free man.
Dakota Datebook written by Jim Davis
Sources:
Ward County Independent March 9, 1922
Minot Daily News March 3, 1922