Digital Bob Archive

After he resigned as U.S. District Judge at the beginning of the year 1908, James Wickersham practiced law at Fairbanks for a short time, then ran for the office of Delegate in Congress when the incumbent, Tom Cale, decided not to seek reelection.

Two of Juneau's three daily newspapers were Republican, as was Wickersham, but the Republican party in Alaska had split into two factions after Governor Hoggatt anc1 Lewis Shackleford turned against Wickersham in his fight for Senate confirmation as judge. Wickersham ran as an \"Independent? Republican and in Juneau was supported by the Dispatch, edited by Ed Russell. The \"Regular\" Republican candidate, John Corson, was supported by the Hoggatt-Shacldeford paper, the Record. There were also three other candidates in the race, a Democrat, an Independent and a Socialist.

It was a rough campaign but Wickersham won the seat in the August, 1908,
election and was seated with the Republicans in the next Congress. In the meanwhile Shackleford had gained political stature by being named both Republican National Committeeman and chairman of the Alaska Central Committee. His enmity for Wickersham did not cease nor did the war of words between the Dispatch and the Record, which was edited by \"Gloomy Gus\" O'Brien.

The third Juneau daily, the Transcript had been founded by John W. Frame who had moved on by 1908 to Cordova where he had a paper in which he frequently attacked Ed Russell. He did so in an editorial in October, 1908, including a slur about Mrs. Russell. The Record reprinted the article and the next day the Dispatch referred to O'Brien as \"a ticket-of-leave man, hired to do the dirty work of Shackleford and Clem Summers.\" The latter, known as \"Big Clem,\" was president of the First National Bank and, according to Russell, was \"the enforcer\" for Shackleford.

After the Dispatch appeared, Summers went to its office at Third and Franklin with Thomas Lyons, a Shackleford law partner. Russell was out and Summers accosted his assistant, R.L. Colby, demanded an apology and threatened to \"knock his block off\" if one was not published the following day.

No apology appeared and Summers returned. He chased Colby, who was described as a slight man, around the office and struck him once in the head. Colby grabbed a revolver from a desk and fired twice as Summers ran out the door. He retreated to the porch of the John Reck house next door and Colby followed, still shooting. Summers then took refuge in the office of the Alaska Electric Light & Power Company across the street, where it was discovered that a bullet had cut a shallow gash across his chest.

Colby was persuaded to go bad to the newspaper office, a doctor was called to tend to Summers, and he was taken home. No charges were filed and public sentiment was that Colby had acted in self defense, but the Juneau newspaper war was by no means ended.