7/22/2013:
When automobiles began whizzing around at speeds over 20 miles per hour, these “devil wagons,”as some called them, offended many country people – frightening horses and killing free-range chickens accustomed to slower speeds of wagons and buggies.
On this date, in 1909, a 22-horsepower Buick, driven by Walter Nelson, crashed into a cow on a country road near Hatton. Mr. Nelson was carrying six passengers at 9:30 on a summer’s-evening when he struck the cow, which was lying on the roadway.
No one in the car saw the cow until it was 9 feet away, giving Nelson “no time” to swerve. The car hit the cow’s rump, and tipped over – pinning all but one man underneath. That passenger easily extracted everyone but Nelson, who was trapped by the steering mechanism. All worked frantically to free Nelson, because the car was on fire . They finally pulled out the unconscious driver, mere seconds before the gas-tank exploded , utterly destroying the Buick.
Nelson recovered, and sued August Bohlman, a Hatton farmer. Nelson demanded $1,200 to replace his car – and $2,772 for damage to his “memory and other mental faculties.”
Farmer Bohlman denied negligence. Bohlman’s two sons testified that seven cows had escaped from their pasture that day. They herded six cows easily back to pasture, but the seventh cow laid down – stubbornly refusing to move. The boys needed help, so they walked two miles home, having tied the cow securely to their parked wagon, leaving it as an anchor for the cow.
While walking home, the boys saw Nelson’s car zigzagging at high speed, and they hollered: “Stop!” The car didn’t stop, speeding ahead to hit the cow, which suffered bumps, but no burns.
Rumors circulated that Farmer Bohlman would counter-sue – seeking $20 in damages to the cow and “$5,000 damages to the cow’s feelings .”
Newspapers milked the “stubborn cow” story for all it was worth, for much was at STAKE. Driver Nelson said the farmer was negligent for leaving his cow in the roadway. Bohlman claimed that driver Nelson was so intoxicated that he was unable to see a cow lying conspicuously in a road before nightfall.
The jury ruled that the Hatton farmer would pay no damages, judging that the drunken driver, Walter Nelson, was entirely at fault – for barreling pell-mell, at “breakneck speed,” smack-dab into a cow that was not even MOOO -ving.
Today’s Dakota Datebook is written by Dr. Steve Hoffbeck, History Department, MSU Moorhead.
Sources:
“Cow Figures In Damage Suit,” Grand Forks Herald , August 15, 1909, p. 8.
“Bohlman Wins In Cow Case,” Grand Forks Herald , December 4, 1909, p. 4.
“Cow Case Is Interesting,” Grand Forks Herald , December 2, 1909, p. 6.
“348 Mile Trip In Automobile,” Grand Rapids [MN] Herald-Review , August 6, 1909, p. 1.
“Rowdy Autoists Should Be Suppressed,” Morning Olympian [Olympia, WA] , April 6, 1909, p. 1.