The empty store in which the two corpses lay, is on Mill Square, which is
immediately over on the south side of the handsome iron bridge which spans
the Cannon river just below the mill race. On the north side of the square
is the flouring mill of Ames & Co. On the west is Scriver’s block and two
or three small stores, among them that in which the bodies lay. On the
east side is the office of the Rice County _Journal_ and a wagon shop, and
on the south is the Dampier House, under which are three stores, the last
eastward and just opposite the corner of the Scriver block, is the
clothing store of Mr. Hanauer. The Scriver block has also a frontage of 80
feet on Division street, 22 feet of which is occupied by the First
National Bank of Northfield, in which one of the saddest and most daring
tragedies was perpetrated—the heartless and deliberate murder of a
faithful and brave man in the defense of the valuable property under his
charge.
There are some four or five wooden buildings below the bank on Fourth
street, and it was in this narrow space, from Mill Square to Fourth
street, that the great fight which startled the whole country took place.
Many indications of the fearful contest in bullet holes were found in
every direction. Windows were pierced and shattered and balls must have
been thrown around for a time as thick as hail, for the whole encounter
took place within the short space of fifteen minutes. The conflict was a
sharp and bloody one, and speaks volumes for the coolness and intrepidity
of the citizens of the little provincial town.
From Mr. Bates, who took a prominent part in the encounter, the following
was learned:
He said at about 11 o’clock his attention was called to four men who came
from over the river. They came over the bridge and were mounted on four
splendid horses. The men were well dressed, and Mr. Bates says, four
nobler looking fellows he never saw; but there was a _reckless, bold
swagger_ about them that seemed to indicate that they would be rough and
dangerous fellows to handle. Altogether he did not like the looks of them.
Again, at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, as he was standing at the
entrance of the store, talking to Mr. C. C. Waldo, commercial traveler
from Council Bluffs, he saw the same men ride past—three came up the
street from mill square and one down, street meeting within thirty feet of
the bank. They dismounted and tied their horses to the hitching posts and
two, he thought, went into the bank and two came down to the staircase
leading up into the upper stories of Lee & Hitchcock’s buildings, and here
they stood leaning against the banisters talking. Commenting upon their
fine physique, and upon their unusually good mounts, Mr. Bates and Mr.
Waldo withdrew to the far end of the store to look over some sample
trusses.
They had not long been so occupied when they heard several shots fired in
rapid succession, and the thought flashed upon the mind of Bates at once,
that the bank was in danger—Mr. Waldo stating that he cried out:
“Those men are going for the town, they mean to rob the bank.” Mr. Bates,
however, does not recollect saying anything, he became so excited. He
remembers, though, rushing to the door, and seeing some men riding up from
the bank—they came riding towards him with long pistols in their hands and
called out, “Get in there you son of a b——.”
Mr. Bates at once seized a shotgun and ran back to the door, but the gun
would not go off. He then put down the gun and seized a fine seven shooter
which was _not_ loaded, and as the men came down again, (they were riding
to and fro, evidently intent upon keeping people from going towards the
bank), he standing behind the door jambs, called out.
“Now, I’ve got you.” And pointed the empty pistol as if drawing a bead on
them.
They turned their horses suddenly and fired at Mr. Bates, the ball
crashing through the plate glass. There were other men at the bank firing
down the street. The next he saw was Mr. J. S. Allen running down the
street from the bank, and two shots were fired at him.
Mr. Manning, of Mill Square, whose store is adjoining the block in which
the bank is, next came upon the scene. He ran out of his store with a
breech loading repeating rifle, and took a deliberate aim and fired from
the corner, Mr. Bates calling out:
“Jump back now, or they’ll get you.”
Next Mr. J. B. Hide came up with a double-barrelled shot gun and
discharged the two barrels, and retired to re-load. Mr. Phillips also took
a turn at the scoundrels, and L. Stacy delivered a cool, deliberate aim.
Mr. Bates next heard a report over his head and saw one of the desperadoes
fall from his horse. The horse made a faltering plunge forward and then
suddenly stopped and the man pitched over with his face to the ground and
in a few moments was dead. This shot was fired by Henry Wheeler from an
old carbine from out one of the windows of the Dampier House.
Mr. Manning was still firing, and as he crept to the corner Mr. Waldo
called out:
“Take good aim before you fire.” Immediately after this shot one of the
horses started up the street and the rider began to reel and swing to and
fro and suddenly fell to the ground just opposite Eldridge’s store.
Another horseman immediately rode up, dismounted, and spoke to the
prostrate man, who was stretched out at full length, supporting himself on
his outstretched arms, when he rolled over on his back. Then the other man
took from him his cartridge belt and two pistols, and, remounting his
horse, rode off.
Another horseman, finding Mr. Manning’s fire too hot, dismounted from his
horse and got on the opposite side of it for protection, when an unerring
ball from the breech loader brought the horse down, the man running behind
some boxes which were piled beneath the stair-case before mentioned, and
now ensued a