By 1885 a reform movement had begun in this wild cowtown.
The open saloons were being forced underground into "blind
tigers", a place where liquor could be bought through a slot
in the door but neither the seller nor the buyer could see
the other.
Accusations, threatening letters and bad feeling raced
through the city. Enos Blair, a local editor and prohibitionist,
had a mysterious fire at his home which everyone
blamed on the saloon crowd. On this site, early on December 8,
1885, Frank Noyes, a blind tiger owner, was taken from his
residence by vigilantes posing as law officers. Noyes was
found the next morning from a crossbeam at the
railroad yard one block east. A note on the body named
others who should take warning from his untimely death.
Though several of the vigilantes were recognized when Noyes was
first seized, none ever faced trial.
Erected 1993 by donations from the Caldwell Cherokee Strip
Centennial Committee
|
Visit the Home Page for Kansas