The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1918-06-15
TALES OF LONG AGO
Dim, Distant Past and Unearths Interesting
Incidents of Days That Are No More.

located at Woodland, out beyond
where that dairy and Hartley's
model roadway and the celery
beds are situated, if memory is
correct.
Messrs. Patton & Frank drew
the specifications for the earth
work at the track and had charge
of it. Buildings also were erect
ed. The iron boom had not fully
passed and the Big Panic had not
really arrived, therefore there
were sporty people, and people
with money in this plunglng
place.
Later on, racing was trans
ferred to the track at the West
End, in connection with the st.
Louis county fair. Some of Du-
luth s "horsey" citizens might re-
late some interesting reminis-
cences of that old track in those
good old days.
Around midsummer time in
1892, E. R. Jefferson was riding
behind Joseph Mannheim's horse.
Mr.. Jefferson walked on crutches
having lost one leg, and the driv-
err of the horse wore a wooden
leg. The horse became frighten-
ed and started to run away. The
driver with the wooden leg jump
ed out and not only failed to
stop the frightened horse but
broke his wooden leg. Jefferson
was thrown out but not injured,
despite his crippled condition.
The horse, after freeing itself
from the buggy, was stopped by
citizens further down the street.
Thursday, August 4, 1892, near
White Birch, Douglas Co., Wis,
w. NJ. Mccain shot and instantly
killed Robert B. Kirkwood, there
by throwing that community into
intense excitement. A coroner's
jury delivered a verdict that
Kirkwood was "maliciously and
wantonly killed"
Both men were homesteaders.
Kirkwood had lived on his land
near White Birch for five years
and was highly respected. He
was about forty years old and
left a wife. Mccain was litter
ate, jealous Of his wife and very
brutal in his makeup and actions.
Several times Mccain was
charged with beating his wife.
For some reason, he swore ven
geance on his wife's 9-year-old
sister. One day he took her into
the woods, tied her to a tree and
began shooting at her with a
Winchester rifle.
Hearing the poor girls screams
Kirkwood came that way to learn
the cause of the trouble. McCann
shot him in the back of the head,
holding the rifle so close as to
almost SINCE the hair. The muir
dered man, when found, still had
a bucket of blue-berries on his
arm.
Sheriff Dan Kennedy, deputy
sheriff Mike Kennedy and coro-
ner Whitney went to the scene
and all that night was spent in
the woods holding coroner's in
quest.
Kirkwood was very popular
with the Indians and a large num-
Der Of half-breeds, seriously
threatened to lynch Mccain. The
murderer was a loafer and of a
very bad disposition.
Wednesday evening, August 10,
1892, a goodly lot of family sill
yer was used at dinner by the
late A. NJ. Miller and family at
AT West Second St. The men,
bers of the family went their indi-
vidual ways, after which Mrs. Mil
Ter carefully put away and lock-
ed up the silver, then went to
neighbours home on some errand.
The daughter of the house, in
her room upstairs, thought she
heard some one on the veranda
but, on investigation, found no
one. She then went to the kit
chen to report her fears to the
servants. incidentally, she and
the servants saw that all the sill
yer was gone from the table.
The quick conclusion was that
some burglar had raided the
place.
A prompt report was sent to