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1903 "Bloody Breathitt" Jackson, Kentucky...
1903 "Bloody Breathitt" Jackson, Kentucky...
Item # 723797
May 28, 1903
THE EVENING TRIBUNE, San Diego, California, May 28, 1903
* Jackson, Kentucky shootout
* "Bloody Breathitt" county
* James B. Marcum murder
The front page has a two column heading: "GUNS CRACKED AT JACKSON" with subhead. (see) Surprisingly this issue is in good condition being from the "wood pulp" era. Very hard to find issues that are not totally fragile from this era in paper.
Complete with 6 pages, two small library stamps within the masthead, generally nice.
background: The May 28, 1903, issue of The Evening Tribune captures a pivotal moment of national hysteria surrounding the Hargis-Cockrell Feud, specifically detailing the chaos in Jackson, Kentucky, following the brazen daytime assassination of attorney James B. Marcum. Marcum, a U.S. Commissioner who had accurately predicted his own death in the press after opposing the "Hargis Machine," was gunned down on the courthouse steps on May 4, and your paper likely reports on the explosive arrival of the Kentucky State Guard (militia) sent to quell the "Bloody Breathitt" lawlessness. The "Guns Cracked" headline refers to the volatile atmosphere of the town where Gatling guns were famously mounted on the courthouse square to protect witnesses and jurors from the "wild dog of the mountains," Curtis Jett, and his accomplice Tom White. This specific edition is a rare surviving witness to the transition of American justice, marking one of the first times the federal and state governments successfully intervened to dismantle a powerful mountain political dynasty through a high-profile murder trial.
Category: The 20th Century
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$42.00
