History: Early Days of the Durango Police Department

Quarantines, Cattle, and Cars

Early Days of the Durango Police Department by Carolyn Bowra Photos courtesy of Animas Museum

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 near a vein. Several months later, he traveled to Detroit to have the slug removed, noting that

“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 arguRobert Dwyer ment escalated, guns were drawn, and shots were fired. Out of ammunition, the two men struck each other with their empty

Gentlemen lounging in front of the Horseshoe Club at 969 Main Avenue. Stansel is on the far right, his badge just visible.

THE BADGE Robert Dwyer’s first police badge, from 1881. From the Animas Museum’s permanent collection.

Animas Museum

guns. When the smoke and dust cleared, Stansel had been shot once in the chest and survived his injuries. Thompson was transported to Ochsner Hospital by horse-drawn ambulance but died en route. Stansel was tried for murder and acquitted. Witnesses disagreed over who shot first, and physical evidence was destroyed when Thompson’s clothes were burned.

In addition to taming the community’s rowdy elements, the police department enforced quarantines during disease epidemics ‒ scarlet fever in 1885, smallpox in 1910-11, whooping cough in 1912, and the worldwide influenza pandemic in 1918.

In the days before radio communication, the police department made creative use of the town’s few telephones. A red light at 10th Street and Main Avenue, visible in all directions, was connected to the telephone office. Citizens could call the phone company’s central switchboard, and the operator would turn on the light. The officer on night patrol would see the light and call the operator for the caller’s location. During the summer of 1907, a police telephone was installed in the Pierce Restaurant. Open all night, and known for its donuts and pound cake, it was a convenient stop for officers and citizens alike. But due to lack of use, the phone was removed after just a few months.

By 1911, automobiles added to police responsibilities. Drivers had to make their own license plates and attach them to their vehicles. Anyone driving over 10 mph in the business district or 18 mph in town risked arrest. In 1911, Marshal Fassbinder authorized a 30-day rental of a stopwatch to enforce speed limits. The City Council declared that miscreants who failed to pay their fines were to work on the streets until their debt was paid. If they failed to do so, they would be jailed and placed on a diet of bread and water.

While Durango has grown and technology has changed policing, the legacy of serving and protecting the community for 140 years continues; and fortunately, livestock no longer roam the streets.

(Thanks to police historian Sharon Greve for her book Beyond the Badge: 1881-1949, an invaluable resource for the history of the Durango Police Department.)

Jesse Stansel is standing against the wall at left, by a roulette wheel, in an unidentified Durango saloon.

Bovine scofflaws heading into Durango, in clear violation of the ordinances banning such activity.