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| Ad for the saloon where the trouble started. |
It all started with a good old-fashioned bar-fight. It was midday, June 12, 1878. Deputy Sheriff James C Burnett heard a commotion inside Frank Smith’s saloon. He entered and found that a man only known as Setwright was arguing with another named Tom Farrell. As Burnett entered, Setwright twice struck Farrell over the head with a bottle, shattering it in the process. Burnett quickly broke up the fight, and arrested Setwright.
However, the incident would grow into two murders and a lynching and, at one point, 75 Gillette citizens were blamed for the killing of a peace officer.
