Part II-The Curley's Bar murders: Whatever happened to Milford Gardner?

Seven weeks after he was quickly removed from Tekoa and jailed in Colfax following the death of three men in his bar at Tekoa, Milford “Curley” Gardner walked out of Whitman superior court a free man. A jury of 12 men ruled his was not guilty of killing a harvest hand by hitting him with a pistol.

The early morning fight at Curley’s in Tekoa Aug. 24, 1912, had led to an emergency meeting of the Tekoa City council, a decision to revoke Curley’s bar license and then the shooting deaths of three more men when the civic delegation was greeted at the saloon by Curley’s brother who had loaded a 30-30 carbine.

The superior court jury’s not guilty verdict on Oct. 15, 1912, is officially recorded in the court’s 1912 journal for State vs. Milford Gardner.

The not guilty verdict returned on a reduced charge of manslaughter. After Prosecutor Paul Pattison and Assistant F.L. Stotler had finished presenting the state’s case against Gardner, Defense Attorney J.B. Brown argued the prosecutor had failed to come up with evidence for the charge of first degree murder. The state’s case lacked any evidence of pre-meditation, Brown argued.

Judge John Miller granted the motion to reduce the charge to manslaughter, and Brown then presented Gardner’s case: Curley had used the pistol to fend off an assault. It was self defense.

His representation on behalf of Gardner included a two-hour argument to the jury after testimony of the witnesses.

The jury, which deliberated for approximately one hour, agreed.

A comment in the Colfax Commoner’s report noted the prosecutor’s initial charge of first degree murder had probably saved Gardner’s life. If he had faced a lesser charge which would have allowed pre-trial release on bail, Gardner could have ended up in the hands of a lynch mob following the death of two lawmen and Curley’s brother, Earnest “Palouse” Gardner at Curley’s Bar the next day.

Palouse Gardner, who had arrived drunk at the city session when council members decided to shut down the saloon, went back to the bar and prepared to greet the city delegation with the 30-30 carbine.

In the gun exchange that followed, Deputy John B. Eastep of Colfax and Tekoa Marshal Grant Dickinson were shot dead. Palouse Gardner then put the short-barreled carbine to his head and killed himself.

Tekoa Mayor I. S. Woods, the first apparent target for Palouse Gardner’s 30-30, escaped injury when the carbine failed to fire. Two councilmen, C.S. Culp and Abraham Snyder escaped with minor injuries in the shooting which happened about 4 p.m.

Prosecutor Pattison, who had urged the Tekoa council that day to close the bar, reportedly stopped off for a lemonade while the two lawmen and other city officials made their way to Curley’s.

After the shooting, Sheriff G .B. Carter, Deputy William Cole and Assistant Prosecutor Stotler drove to Tekoa and quickly took custody of Curley Gardner. He was hand-cuffed to C.E. Lewis, one of the other participants in the card game 14 hours earlier. The report noted the county officials made the trip from Tekoa to Colfax by automobile in a record run of one hour and 45 minutes. Curley was booked into the county jail on the first degree murder charge.

The Colfax newspaper reports noted Curley’s alleged victim, Patrick Collins, was last seen alive by the night operator and the call boy at the Tekoa railroad station after Collins walked away from the bar fight bleeding from injuries he had sustained when he was pistol whipped by Curley Gardner. The railroad duo suggested Collins go see a doctor, but he responded “No, I’m all right” and wandered off. He was found unconscious about two hours later next to a telegraph pole.

Collins was first transported to the jail in Tekoa and later taken to a hotel when it became apparent he was dying. His time of death was reported to be 2:30 p.m., about 90 minutes before the triple fatality shooting back at the bar.

Colfax reports after the jury acquitted Curley Gardner seven weeks later the key witness for the defense was Riley “Chicken Neck” Robey, the bartender at Curleys. He testified the card fight started when Curley Gardner stood up from the card table and announced he was going home. Collins objected, and when Curley started to walk out of the back card room and into the saloon, Collins picked up a chair and began hitting him. The report said Curley went into the bar room, fended off blows from the chair wielded by Collins, grabbed the pistol from beneath the bar and hit Collins around the head.

—Deputy Eastep was buried in the Colfax cemetery after his funeral at the Colfax Methodist Church. A huge crowd attended, and businesses were closed for a day.

—Collins’ body was shipped back to Enumclaw where his family had been located. A friend in Toppenish had identified Collins’ body and notified Collins’ father in Enumclaw.

—Milford “Curley” Gardner, who was 44 at the time went to trial in Colfax, lived until Jan. 31, 1938, when he died at Superior, Mont. Many members of the family lived in that area.

—Marshal Dickinson, who had threatened to turn in his badge if the city fathers at Tekoa failed to revoke the license for Curley’s bar, was 39 at the time of his death. He was raised at Plaza where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Dickinson, resided at the time of his death. He was also survived by a wife and four children.

—Assistant Prosecutor F.L. Stotler was in the process of running from the prosecuting attorney’s job at the time of the murders. The county’s voters picked Robert Burgunder over Stotler who continued to practice law in Colfax for more than 60 years.

—Riley “Chicken Neck” Robey was later convicted by a jury of operating a gambling operation and faced one to five years in prison.