Prohibition Movement

By 1885 a reform movement had begun in this wild cowtown, and open saloons were being forced underground into "blind tigers," where liquor could be bought through a slot in the door but neither seller nor buyer could see the other. Accusations, threatening letters, and bad feeling raced through the city. Enos Blair, a local editor and prohibitionist, suffered a mysterious fire at his home that everyone blamed on the saloon crowd. Early on December 8, 1885, Frank Noyes, a blind tiger owner, was taken from his residence by vigilantes posing as law officers. He was found the next morning hanging from a crossbeam at the railroad yard one block east, with a note on his body naming others who should take warning from his untimely death. Although several of the vigilantes were recognized when Noyes was first seized, none ever faced trial.

Caldwell, Kansas · United States