H I STOR Y
Quarantines, Cattle, and Cars
Early Days of the Durango Police Department
by Carolyn Bowra Photos courtesy of Animas Museum
Gentlemen lounging in front of the Horseshoe Club at 969 Main Avenue. Stansel is on the far right, his badge just visible.
WHEN DURANGO WAS FOUNDED IN 1880,
the population was focused on building the town and pursuing economic opportunity. Law enforcement (or laws, for that matter) was not a priority. Gunfire on the streets and in the saloons was commonplace, with citizen vigilante groups taking the law into their own hands. Eventually, the community demanded law and order. Robert Dwyer was just the man for the job. Born in Ireland in December 1847, he immigrated with his mother to Canada after the death of his father. He moved to Minnesota in 1868 after her death. In the fall of 1872, dreading another winter of “lung fever,” he headed west. Hearing of the mining excitement in the San Juan Mountains, he headed to the Animas Valley and built a cabin on the banks of Junction Creek. He ranched and prospected, and for additional income served as county sheriff. When Durango citizens organized the town government in April 1881, they hired Dwyer as the first city marshal. Four months later, he and his deputy were subduing a drunk when the deputy’s gun accidentally discharged. The bullet passed through the drunk, hitting Dwyer on the side of his nose and lodging Robert Dwyer near a vein. Several months later, he traveled to Detroit to have the slug removed, noting that 20 Durango Magazine Winter/Spring Winter/Spring
“at times it annoyed me.” The surgery was successful. He had the bullet mounted as a watch fob, which he carried for the rest of his life. Durango marshals continued to bring law and order to the community, with the assistance of patrolmen. Not all problems involved dramatic gunfire, however. Dogs running at large were a constant challenge. The Ladies Improvement Society petitioned the City Council, demanding that something be done about cattle on the streets. Signs were erected on roads outside the city limits, warning all persons not to drive herds of cattle, horses, sheep, or other animals through the streets of Durango. Livestock was to be routed around the city. More challenging sometimes was herding law enforcement itself. An attempt to enforce a 1905 anti-gambling ordinance went horribly awry. La Plata County Sheriff William J. Thompson was determined to enforce the ordinance and thought the city police were lax in its enforcement. Jesse C. Stansel was serving as acting marshal at the time, while Marshal Wickline recovered from a stroke. On January 9, 1906, Thompson confiscated gambling equipment at El Moro saloon, at 981 Main Avenue. He met Stansel out front and accused him of siding with the gamblers. Stansel replied that he didn’t take orders from the sheriff but from Wickline and the city. Their argument escalated, guns were drawn, and shots were fired. Out of ammunition, the two men struck each other with their empty
