“Wild West Bad Man” Is Sqelched at Bonner
Story of Old-Time Bar Room Antics Related After “Wild West Bad Man” Is Squelched by Strong Arm of Law
After taps were sounded on a purported old Wild West effort to make patrons of a Bonner beer parlor dance the can-can Wednesday night, a story of a 50-mile-an-hour fist fight was unfolded at the county jail.
Here is the way officers told the story.
An electrician who had imbibed freely suddenly flashed a pistol at the Bonner place and informed five men at the bar that he wished to see them do some fancy crowhops.
When they protested he became somewhat angry, so much so that he terrorized the place. An urgent call went out for Deputy Sheriff Jalmar Karkanen, the absolute law of Bonner-Milltown-Finntown region. Karkanen came on the run, and was told that “Billy the Kid” was Dave Jones of Hamilton.
Despite Jones’ gun, Karkanen waltzed the man out of the beer hall. Jones then promised to behave himself. The deputy let him sit in the car without being handcuffed.
This side of Milltown Jones grappled with Karkanen and attempted to land a kayo. The car was going 50 per. Karkanen, completely occupied with resisting Jones’ advances, had to jerk at the steering wheel whenever he could as the car careened from side to side of the road. Finally the vehicle was stopped. Karkanen then subdued Jones by the usual one-stroke method, placed cuffs upon his wrists and was about to continue his journey when Bill Anderson of Bonner came along. Karkanen commandeered Anderson as chauffeur and made the rest of the journey at his ease.
After Jones had been locked in a second-tier cell, the deputy asked that a doctor be called to determine whether the prisoner’s jaw had been broken by his sleep-producer.
“He might be a whale of a swell fellow when he’s right,” Karkanen said.
The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on May 5, 1938.
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