Shootout on Main Street

We constantly read about drive by shootings, snipings and other gang-related crimes. These are not big city problems; they are everwhere. This is in contrast to the 30s when gang warfare was mostly a problem that big cities had.

Being a policeman in a small town like Missouri Valley in the 30s was probably much different than the same job would be today. Then it seemed like most of the time the city jail was empty. The doors were left open and this might go on for weeks at a time. Occasionally a drunk would spend the night or the weekend cooling off in the city jail. The three policemen spent much of their time walking up and down main street visiting with the local patrons.

One hot summer day this quiet was shattered. I think it was 1935 on a Saturday afternoon. Some criminals held up a store in Council Bluffs and were chased north towards Missouri Valley. The patrol called ahead to the Missouri Valley police that they were coming their way and to be on the lookout. The chief of police left Missouri Valley with two policemen to set up a road block. The sheriff from Logan was also notified.

The two policemen, both World War I veterans, set up a road block on Highway 75. The crooks skirted the road block and the police gave chase. The crooks' car crashed into a parked vehicle. They jumped out and started firing at the police, and anybody who moved.

Adding to the problem was the matinee at the Rialto Theatre had just ended and people getting out of the show were running for cover. One patron was hit in the knee and eventually lost her leg. Several others had minor wounds. One policeman was hit in the upper arm and never regained the use of his arm. The other one took a slug in the stomach and another in the kidney. He was in intensive care for a month but lived.

The police wounded one of the criminals and they were able to track them into a corn field. The sheriff arrived and with hunters using tracking dogs, chased the criminals through the corn fields all the way to the Missouri River. The hunting dogs moved north along the river and finally stopped. It was assumed the crooks had found a boat moored to a tree and had attempted to cross the Mighty Missouri. Something only an experienced river dweller would do.

Nebraska authorities were notified and they worked the west back of the Missouri. Nothing was ever seen of the criminals. There was an overturned boat found downstream some time later. It was never known if this was the boat they used trying to cross the Mighty Missouri.

It was assumed they tried to cross the river and had fallen victims. Not to law enforcement or an angry posse but to the Mighty Missouri river. The river did the job for the law. No trials, no appeals, no hung juries, no discrimination or regulations and boundaries, just the river that proved once again that if you live with the sword you will perish with the sword. Nature has a way of reducing everybody to a common denominator.

For nearly 25 years, until his death in 2015, retired grocer Don Behm wrote a column for The Storm Lake Times, “Cracker Barrel.” Don’s everyman view of everyday life was a favorite of Times readers.  This was first published on April 19, 1995.