Pinkerton’s Great Detective

by Beau Riffenburgh

  43. The Boston Daily Globe, May 20, 1907.

  44. For example, WAP (for JM), report to FRG, April 12, 1906, ISA, folder 9; WAP (for JM), special report to FRG, Sept. 11, 1906, ISA, folder 15.

  45. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, May 18, 1906: ISA, folder 11.

  46. Dickson, a lawyer, ran the Chicago company with John Bloomingston. See Cohen, The Racketeer’s Progress, p. 165.

  47. For socialist and labor publications that gave the case extensive coverage, see Appeal to Reason, Industrial Union Bulletin, Miners’ Magazine, Montana News, The Socialist; for mainstream newspapers that at times supported the defense, see, for example, Deseret Evening News, March 10, 1906; St. Louis Star-Chronicle, May 21, 1906; and numerous editions of The Rocky Mountain News.

  48. Appeal to Reason, April 28, 1906.

  49. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, July 3, 1906, ISA, folder 14.

  50. Ibid., June 24, 1906, ISA, folder 13.

  51. The Parma Herald, May 5, 1906.

  52. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, May 3, 1906, ISA, folder 11.

  53. Quoted in Ibid., May 10, 1906.

  54. JM, letter to GDB, Aug. 4, 1906, LoC, box 30.

  55. JM, letter to FRG, Aug. 26, 1906, and JM, letter to James H. Hawley, Aug. 27, 1906, ISA, folder 14.

  56. Many years later Kittie McParland Schick told Patrick Campbell that she had moved to Denver after the death of Eneas; see Campbell, A Molly Maguire Story, pp. 83–84. Siringo wrote in “Pinkerton’s Cowboy Detective” that in late December “Mr. McParland was anxious to eat Christmas dinner with his wife and little niece in Denver, therefore we hurried back” (p. 510).

  57. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, June 4, 1906, ISA, folder 13.

  58. Ibid., Aug. 22, 1906, ISA, folder 14.

  59. Ibid. and JM, letter to FRG, Aug. 26, 1906.

  60. WAP (for JM), special report to FRG, Aug. 20, 1906, ISA, folder 14.

  61. JM, letter to FRG, Aug. 26, 1906, ISA, folder 14.

  Chapter 22: The Fight for Adams

  1. Darrow, The Story of My Life, p. 134.

  2. James H. Hawley, letter to Jacob Fillius, Aug. 13, 1906, letterpress book 59, James Henry Hawley Papers (M48), Idaho State Archives ; JM, letter to James H. Hawley, Aug. 27, 1906, ISA, folder 14.

  3. JM, letter to James H. Hawley, April 25, 1906, ISA, folder 10.

  4. The declaration was first published in The Evening Telegram, Sept. 11, 1906.

  5. JM, Synopsis, undated, LoC, box 172, folder 1.

  6. JM, report to FRG, Jan. 27–28, 1906, LoC, box 172, folder 2; Adams’s confession, in SIA, vol. 2, pp. 853–54.

  7. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Sept. 10, 1906, ISA, folder 15.

  8. Ibid. According to the detective following Darrow, the lawyer did indeed go to Pendleton, Oregon—on the main line to Wallace—where he evidently met with lawyers about the habeas corpus petition; see WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Sept. 11, 1906, ISA, folder 15.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Adams’s statement to Richardson, ERN, p. 22. The quotes in this paragraph are from this statement.

  11. Lukas, Big Trouble, p. 344.

  12. JM, letter to Thomas McCabe, April 18, 1907, LoC, box 172, folder 1.

  13. JM, letter to FRG, May 27, 1912, LoC, box 172, file 1.

  14. MacLane, A Sagebrush Lawyer, p. 158.

  15. Charles E. S. Wood, letter to Sara Field Ehrgott, Oct. 17, 1911, Charles Erskine Scott Wood Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

  16. For the details of and immediate editorials about the bombings, see the coverage in The Los Angeles Times in the weeks following the events.

  17. For details about the career of Burns and his role in solving the bombing of The Los Angeles Times building and the Llewellyn Iron Works, see Hunt, Front-Page Detective; Caesar, Incredible Detective.

  18. For Darrow’s role in the McNamara defense as well as his subsequent trial for bribery, see Cowan, The People v. Clarence Darrow.

  19. Ibid., p. 434.

  20. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Sept. 20, 1906, ISA, folder 15.

  21. For the decision on whom to have testify, see Ibid. For information on Thiele’s promotion, see S. C. Thiele, testimony in SIA, vol. 2, p. 616.

  22. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Sept. 25, 1906, ISA, folder 15.

  23. Ibid., Sept. 29, 1906. Judge Boomer’s statement clearly shows some of the differences in the rules relating to evidence and use of witnesses between 1906 and the present. At that time there was no process by which the defense had the right to the prosecution’s evidence, witness statements, or confessions. Today the defense is entitled to receive any information that might exonerate or reduce the degree of complicity of the defendant.

  24. The Salt Lake Tribune, March 23, 1906; Pullman Herald, March 24, 1906; The Colfax Gazette, March 30, 1906.

  25. Stone, History of Colorado, vol. 2, pp. 287–88; Martin, The Corpse on Boomerang Road, pp. 277–79.

  26. The San Francisco Call, Oct. 7, 1906; The Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 7, 1906; Los Angeles Herald, Oct. 8, 1906.

  27. For the full decision of the Supreme Court, see Pettibone v. Nichols, 203 US 192, 51 L.Ed. 148, 27 Sup. Ct. Rep. 111. See also Moyer v. Nichols, 203 US 221, 51 L.Ed. 160, 27 Sup. Ct. Rep. 121, which followed the ruling of Pettibone v. Nichols and included a similar ruling for Haywood v, Nichols and the three cases on the docket from the Idaho Supreme Court: Pettibone v. Whitney; Moyer v. Whitney; and Haywood v. Whitney. The following discussion is based on this decision.

  28. Pettibone v. Nichols, 203 US 192, 206.

  29. Ker v. People of the State of Illinois, 119 US 436 held that when a state official forcibly brought back an individual from a foreign country (Peru) without having officially requested him to be returned by that country, the state (Illinois) nevertheless had jurisdiction to try him for criminal acts perpetrated there. Mahon v. Justice, 127 US 700 held that the forcible abduction of an individual from one state (West Virginia) to another in which he was under indictment (Kentucky) by parties acting without warrant or authority of law did not entitle the individual to be released from detention due to his unlawful abduction.

  30. Pettibone v. Nichols, 203 US 192, 216.

  31. Pettibone v. Nichols, 203 US 192, 217.

  32. Johnson, “No Habeas Corpus for ‘Big Bill,’” p. 15. The case has been cited numerous times in U.S. courts, including, most notably, in United States v. Humberto Alvarez-Machain in 1992: The Supreme Court reversed a lower-court decision, holding that an individual’s forcible abduction from a foreign country by government agents does not prohibit his trial in a U.S. court for violation of criminal law. Pettibone v. Nichols was also cited in 1960 by an Israeli court, which held that the transportation of Adolf Eichmann to stand trial in Israel was not a factor in it being able to try him for crimes against humanity. See, for example, Attorney General of Israel v. Adolf Eichmann; Silving, In Re Eichmann.

  33. JM, letter to GDB, Nov. 26, 1906, LoC, box 30.

  34. JM, letter to James H. Hawley, Nov. 26, 1906, ISA, folder 16.

  35. RAP, letter to JM, Nov. 28, 1906, LoC, box 30.

  36. WAP (for JM), special report to FRG, Jan. 2, 1907, ISA, folder 18.

  37. In bitterly contested elections in November 1906 the Republicans had taken control of both houses of the Idaho Legislature. At that time the position of U.S. senator from Idaho was not determined in a statewide general election; rather, a party’s nominee was decided at a state convention and a vote between the parties’ candidates was taken in the legislature. Thus, it was not until a matter of weeks before the trial that Borah defeated the Democratic incumbent, Fred Dubois. As his Senate position was officially to begin on March 4, it proved impossible for him to join the prosecution in Wallace. See Grover, Borah and the Haywood Trial, p. 67.

  38. McParland’s accounts of his incredibly frustrating saga
to reach Wallace take up six days of reports: WAP (for JM), reports to FRG, Feb. 9–14, 1907, ISA, folder 19.

  39. Ibid., Feb. 7, 1907.

  40. JM, letter to GDB, Feb. 17, 1907, LoC, box 172, folder 1.

  41. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Feb. 15, 1907, ISA, folder 19; JM, letter to GDB, Feb. 17, 1907, LoC, box 172, folder 1.

  42. Searches in Boise and in Wallace did not turn up an extant full transcript of the trial. Details of the confession are therefore taken from the second trial of Adams, in which parts of the typed and corrected confession—as introduced in the trial in Wallace—were read into the record. This official confession was supposedly the same in its essentials as that given by Adams to Thiele in April 1906. See SIA, vol. 2, pp. 842–64 for the confession, particularly pp. 853–56 for details relating to the Tyler murder. All quotes about the events surrounding the murder are from this version of the confession.

  43. The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 19, 1907; The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 19, 1907.

  44. The quote and the details about Ryan are from: Daily Arizona Silver Belt, Feb. 21, 1907; Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 21, 1907; The Creede Candle, Feb. 23, 1907.

  45. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Feb. 20, 1907, ISA, folder 19.

  46. The Associated Press story appeared in newspapers nationwide; for example, in The San Francisco Call, Feb. 21, 1907; Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 21, 1907; The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 21, 1907; Bisbee Daily Review, Feb. 21, 1907.

  47. For example, Daily Arizona Silver Belt, Feb. 22, 1907; The San Francisco Call, Feb. 22, 1907; The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 22, 1907.

  48. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Feb. 21, 1907, ISA, folder 19.

  49. Ibid.

  50. The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 22, 1907.

  51. See WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Feb. 21, 1907, ISA, folder 19 for the following exchange with Richardson.

  52. See, for example, The Salt Lake Herald, Feb. 22, 1907; Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 22, 1907; The Spokesman-Review, Feb. 22, 1907.

  53. Lukas, Big Trouble, p. 503.

  54. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Feb. 24, 1907, ISA, folder 19.

  55. The parts of the confession that were introduced are found in SIA, vol. 2, pp. 842–64, where they were read into the record of the second Adams trial. Confirmation that this was not all of the confession is from SIA, vol. 2, p. 1054. Hawley asked: “Is this statement that we have read marked Exhibit No. 19, the entire statement which was taken at the time he confessed to you?” McParland answered: “No. There is a great many other statements of different other murders that he was connected with.” Darrow objected, and the judge ruled that the sentence after “No” would be stricken. “He has had experience enough so he ought to know he ought not to make any statement as to other matters,” said Darrow. “Yes,” agreed the judge, “please do not state in regard to any other matters.” “All right, that was my mistake,” said McParland, to which Darrow facetiously remarked: “Of course we know it was entirely innocent on his part.”

  56. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, Feb. 23, 1907, ISA, folder 19.

  57. The Denver Times, Feb. 28, 1907; The Salt Lake Tribune, March 1, 1907; The Times Dispatch, March 1, 1907.

  58. Quoted in Weinberg, Attorney for the Damned, p. 433.

  59. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, March 7, 1907, ISA, folder 20.

  60. Ibid. McParland’s suspicions about this were reinforced in a lengthy conversation with former sheriff Harvey Brown, who told him that Richardson had refused to pay him when presented a bill for his investigations. According to Brown, Richardson said, “I have paid out four thousand dollars since I came to Wallace and I will be damned if I will pay out another cent for Steve Adams or Lillard.” Brown believed these payments were for alibi witnesses. See also, WAP (for JM), report to FRG, March 8, 1907, ISA, folder 20.

  61. Friedman, The Pinkerton Labor Spy, p. 216.

  62. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, March 5, 1907, ISA, folder 20.

  63. Ibid., March 8, 1907.

  Chapter 23: The Haywood Trial

  1. The details about Bryan succeeding Smith and then giving way to Wood for the Haywood trial are based on Wood, The Introductory Chapter to the History of the Trials, pp. 19–21.

  2. JM, letter to James H. Hawley, Nov. 26, 1906, ISA, folder 16.

  3. Wood, The Introductory Chapter to the History of the Trials, p. 20.

  4. McParland was actually slightly ahead of the game, as the previous night he recorded that he and Hawley had discussed Wood being called in to take over the case. See JM, report to FRG, March 11, 1907, ISA, folder 20. By all accounts Richardson was caught totally off guard by the switch.

  5. The details about the background of Fremont Wood are taken from Hawley, “Hon. Fremont Wood.”

  6. JM, report to FRG, March 12, 1907, ISA, folder 20. Not surprisingly, one source that didn’t accept Wood’s impartiality was Appeal to Reason, which noted: “Apparently a fair-minded man in ordinary professional practice at law, it is nevertheless well known that his friendliness to organized labor is assumed and not real” (May 18, 1907).

  7. Wood’s rulings are discussed in Wood, The Introductory Chapter to the History of the Trials, pp. 20–21.

  8. For details of the Roosevelt–Harriman dispute and the resultant “undesirable citizens” imbroglio, see Harbaugh, Power and Responsibility; Scheinberg, “Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘Undesirable Citizens.’”

  9. Theodore Roosevelt, letter to James S. Sherman, Oct. 8, 1906; quoted in Morison, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 5, pp. 447–52.

  10. The World, April 2, 1907.

  11. Theodore Roosevelt, letter to James S. Sherman, Oct. 8, 1906; quoted in Morison, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 5, pp. 447–52.

  12. Theodore Roosevelt, letter to Honore Jaxon, April 22, 1907; Theodore Roosevelt, letter to William Henry Moody, March 26, 1906: quoted in Morison, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 5, pp. 653–55, 196–200.

  13. For details of Fraser’s career and promotions, see LoC, box 29, folder 7.

  14. For his frequent inquiries, see, for example, JM, reports to FRG, March 19, 24, 26, 27, 28, 1907, April 9, 12, 13, 1907, ISA, folders 20, 21.

  15. Harvey K. Brown, letter to JM, April 14, 1907, quoted in JM, report to FRG, April 17, 1907, ISA, folder 21.

  16. McParland’s full plan for Hicks influencing Annie Adams is laid out in JM, letter to Thomas McCabe, April 18, 1907, LoC, box 172, folder 1. McParland had a habit of spelling out exactly what he wanted his hirelings or prisoners to say or write, a notable example being when he produced letters for Orchard to send to his second wife in Cripple Creek; see WAP (for JM), report to FRG, May 4, 1906, ISA, folder 11. (Orchard was a bigamist, with a wife from an earlier date still living in Canada; for information about his family in Canada, see Boles, A Public Silence Broken.) This tendency has encouraged the belief that McParland had more input than he acknowledged in the Orchard and Adams confessions.

  17. The details of Hicks’s murder of Quinn, imprisonment, and trial are taken from The Times of Wallace, April 26, 27, Sept. 24, Oct. 4, 1907, and The Seattle Republican, April 26, 27, 1907.

  18. JM, letter to Henry K. Knight, May 7, 1907, LoC, box 172, folder 1.

  19. C. C. Hicks, letter to JM, quoted in JM, report to FRG, May 12, 1907, ISA, folder 22.

  20. JM, letter to C. C. Hicks, May 13, 1907, ISA, folder 22.

  21. JM, letter to James H. Hawley, April 17, 1907, ISA, folder 21. It is now generally thought that the charges were politically motivated and brought about by a few individuals, such as former U.S. District Court judge James Beatty, who had attempted to gain the Senate seat Borah won. Pushed by these politicians, the U.S. attorney for Idaho, Norman M. Ruick, had to virtually double the size of the grand jury to obtain a majority vote (12–10) for an indictment. In the autumn, Borah—represented by Hawley—was acquitted of the charges after the jury deliberat
ed only fourteen minutes. For a detailed study of this part of Borah’s career, see Grover, “Borah and the Haywood Trial”; McKenna, Borah.

  22. JM, report to FRG, April 23, 1907, ISA, folder 21.

  23. For details on the background of Cole, see Lukas, Big Trouble, p. 447; also WAP (for JM), special report to FRG, Jan. 10, 1907, ISA, folder 18.

  24. For Cole’s activities as a double agent, see Synopsis of Reports of Operative No. 28, LoC, box 173, folder 4.

  25. For example, Operative 24A, report to FRG, Jan. 15, 1907, ISA, folder 18; Operative 10, H. F. Cary, letter to G. J. Hasson, Feb. 3, 1907, LoC, box 172, folder 1; Operative 15, JM, report to FRG, April 13, 1907, ISA, folder 21.

  26. WAP (for JM), report to FRG, March 20, 1906, ISA, folder 8.

  27. Ibid., Dec. 15, 1906, ISA, folder 17.

  28. Ibid., Feb. 25, 1907, ISA, folder 19.

  29. Ibid., March 5, 1907, ISA, folder 20.

  30. For details about the exquisite Idanha Hotel, see d’Easum, The Idanha.

  31. JM, report to FRG, May 5, 1907, ISA, folder 22.

  32. Assistant Superintendent Thiele reported: “Correspondent Shoaf of the Appeal to Reason and his associate Mr. Walker are continually prowling about the Idan-ha Hotel and claim they are very anxious to secure snapshot photos of Gov. Gooding and Mgr. McParland.” See S. C. Thiele, report, May 11, 1907, ISA, folder 22.

  33. The Denver Times, March 1, 1907. In mid-May, Darrow and his wife also left for a small house in a quiet section of Boise; see Stone, Darrow for the Defence, p. 216.

  34. Robert Pinkerton and Appeal to Reason saw Siringo’s role in distinctly different lights. Pinkerton wrote to McParland that he wanted his manager to have “anyone that you feel it is necessary for you to have in order to give you such protection during these trials as is proper. . . . I hope you will not be rash and consider that this is not necessary or consider the expense of the same” (RAP, letter to JM, Nov. 28, 1906, LoC, box 30). Shoaf, on the other hand, wrote that Siringo was a “famous ‘bad’ man . . . the hound pup whose special mission it is to shadow the footsteps of McPartland and see that no harm befalls the royal person. McPartland possesses an awful hankering for ‘red licker,’ begotten thirty years ago while conspiring against innocent members of the Mollie Maguires, and were he not accompanied by an attendant there is no telling what he might do” (Shoaf, “Quiet for the Gun Men”).