Fight at Fall Creek
Rival Railroad Gangs Meet With Serious Results- Two Stabbed
Eau Claire Leader | September 18, 1907

George White, a member of the steel gang of the Omaha railroad will be arraigned in Justice Bartlett’s court this morning at 8:20 on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm. The complain in the action is John Cavanaugh, a member of the extra gang of the Omaha rail. The case is the outcome of a fight between the members of the steel gang and the extra gang, both of which are working in the vicinity of Fall Creek. Cavanaugh was badly cut on the arm, shoulder and left breast by a man who is alleged to be White. Another man known to the rail roads as “Sully,” but whose real name has not been ascertained by the officers was also cut about the body during the fight.

The quarrel occurred about 11:30 Monday evening, but word did not reach sheriffs’ office until yesterday morning. Under Sheriff Dauffenbach left Eau Claire at 5 o’clock yesterday morning for the scene of the trouble and at 10 o’clock had placed White under arrest. The man was brought back to this city shortly after noon yesterday. Cavanaugh also came to Eau Claire and filed charges against White, and will be on hand for the hearing this morning.

Chad’s Take- George White was one hell of a dangerous man

When I first stumbled across this article I thought it was nothing more than another bloody drunken brawl from a time where bloody drunken brawls were commonplace in the Chippewa Valley. It wasn’t until I started digging deeper that I realized that with a roaming rival gang fights, daring escape attempts, a brutal murder, and a puzzling history of violence, this case stood out as one of the Chippewa Valley’s most intriguing. I have been doing this weekly article for Volume One for over two years and throughout the nearly 100 articles I have done, not one single story spilled over into two separate articles. That streak is about to end here with the shocking story of George White. I was honestly a bit taken back by the fact that when George White was arrested for brutally stabbing a man, I soon learned that it was only the beginning of White’s Chippewa Valley rampage.

But I don’t want to get ahead of myself so let me start at the beginning of the bloody stabbing. First and foremost, I had no idea that the Chippewa Valley had been plagued by roaming railroad gangs working the Omaha rails. I can only imagine that the raging gang wars between the gritty dirt covered members of the steel and extra gangs must have appeared like something out of the Gangs of New York movie. Unfortunately for the victim, Mr. Cavanaugh, the choice of weapons appeared to be knives. After the gruesome battle, George White was quickly arrested and brought in from Fall Creek to Eau Claire where he was detained. While the courts set up his criminal case the community felt that it would be to their benefit and safety if Mr. White was held behind bars until the case started. Soon after his arrest White was charged with assault with intent to infect great bodily harm. White was held in jail for over two weeks while the details of his case were sorted, but when John Cavanaugh, the victim of the stabbing, somehow failed to show up for the October court date, the case against White was dismissed and he was once again a free man.

Obviously the people of the Chippewa valley were not too pleased that such a dangerous man after nearly stabbing two men to death had simply been released back into the general public, but without the main victim/witness, there was little the courts could do to hold Mr. White. Unfortunately this ill-fated decision would have deadly consequences as the Chippewa Valley had no idea what deadly plans the terrifying George White had up his sleeve … To be continued in October …

Keep an eye out…