Crime Corner: Poker Game Gone Wrong

Tekoa was a wild-west country during the railroading days of Whitman County’s history. One of the most notorious crimes in Tekoa was the deadly poker game that occurred on August 24, 1912, at Curley’s Bar, a saloon located under the Commercial Hotel.

Four men were killed, including John B. Eastep of Colfax, a deputy sheriff of Whitman County; Grant Dickinson, marshal of Tekoa; Ernest Gardner, a Tekoa saloon man who shot the top of his head off after killing the two officers; and Patrick Collins, a laborer who died from being beaten over the head with a gun in the card game at 2 a.m.

The day started when Patrick Collins and C.E. Lewis traveled from Endicott to Tekoa to join a poker game with the proprietor, Milford “Curley” Gardner, and others. An argument broke out in the early morning, and Collins reportedly hit Gardner. The proprietor went behind his bar, returned with a gun, and struck Collins.

Collins, later determined to be from Enumclaw, was discovered two hours later beside a telegraph pole in the Tekoa railroad yard. Tekoa Marshall Grant Dickinson was notified. Collins was first taken to jail and then to a Tekoa Hotel, where he died at about 2:30 a.m.

The death of Collins caused the Tekoa City Council to convene in an emergency session and approve the revocation of the liquor license for Curley’s Bar.

Marshall Dickinson, Deputy John B. Eastep, who had ridden from Colfax to Tekoa with County Physician R.J. Skaife, and other officials headed for the bar to serve notice.

They were met en route by Curley’s brother, Ernest “Palouse” Gardner, who had drunkenly attended the emergency council session and was told to leave. He accompanied them to the saloon, went around behind the bar, and grabbed a short 30-30 repeating rifle.

Ernest Gardner then fatally shot Deputy Eastep and Marshall Dickinson. He shot himself in the head and became the fourth person to die that day.

Deputy Sheriff Eastep had reached for his gun. However, his hand did not get into his pocket before the rifle flashed. A soft-nosed 30-30 bullet plowed through his left arm just below the shoulder and entirely through his body, lodging under the skin on the right side. A second bullet followed through the left arm and lodged in the body.

Mayor I. S. Woods narrowly escaped death as the deadly rifle was first aimed at him and snapped, but no cartridge had been placed in the barrel.

Marshal Grant Dickinson had whipped out his automatic, but the gun failed. When he did succeed in working it, the shot narrowly missed the man with the rifle and struck the mirror behind the bar.

The rifle next swung on Grant Dickinson, and the mushroom bullet plowed a furrow two inches deep through the top of his head. As Grant fell, his automatic was discharged a second time. The rifle was then turned through the window at the mayor and council members beating a hasty retreat.

Councilman P. S. Gulp had a finger nipped, and Councilman Abraham Snyder had the side of his head grazed with a bullet.

“Palouse” Gardner then turned the rifle on himself. It is believed the first shot only passed through his ear and that the second bullet entered the side of his head near the ear and blew the top of his head completely off.

The day before the tragedy Patrick Collins and his partner, C.E. Lewis, came to Tekoa from Endicott, where they had been working.

Friday night, they were engaged in a game of cards with “Curley” Gardner and one or two others.

About 1 or 2 a.m. Saturday, the game broke up in a row in which it is alleged that “Curley” struck Collins over the head with a gun.

Collins walked out bleeding and was later seen at the depot by the night operator.

Collins was first taken to the jail, where the wounds on his head were dressed, and he was later removed to the hotel.

The man was dying, and the coroner and sheriff were notified.

Prosecuting Attorney Paul Pattison and Coroner Bruning went up on the Soo train. County Physician R. J. Skaife and Deputy Sheriff Eastep went up in Dr. Skaife’s automobile, arriving about the same time.

Collins lived until about 2:30 a.m. but did not regain consciousness.

Those who escaped the fusillade were in the street instantly, and there was a general ducking to cover by the crowd. 

The sight onlookers met their eyes with was horrifying, reports say; Grant Dickinson’s body lay near the door, and blood and brains were scattered on the floor and the ceiling.

 Eastep had been farther into the room, and his body lay in an arched doorway. The bullet which riddled his head had gone through the floor above and threw splinters in the face of a man in the Commercial Hotel, which was located in the rooms over the basement saloon. The body of the murderer and suicide was at the end of the bar at the back end of the narrow room.

The murderer had $487 in his pocket, including the silver and small change he had taken from the cash register.

The bar was a regular fortress with three rifles, two revolvers, and a bowie knife.

Tekoa people were considerably agitated over the shooting, and many substantial citizens “packed” guns for their protection for the remainder of the day.

Ernest Gardner left a wife but no children. Milford Gardner had a wife and two children.

Grant Dickinson was 39 years of age and left a wife and four children aged 9, 7, 4, and 2 years. Mr. Dickinson had been Marshal of Tekoa for several years. Also, he served two years as deputy sheriff under F. S. Ratliff. He carried $1,000 insurance in the Woodmen and was an Eagles member.

The body of Patrick Collins was brought to Colfax. Following the publication of the tragedy, an acquaintance in Toppenish telegraphed the exact description of Collins and said if the description filled with notifying Tom Collins, father of the dead man at Enumclaw.

The father directed that the body be shipped to Enumclaw.

Deputy John B. Eastep and Tekoa Marshall Grant L. Dickinson, the other lawman who died 100 years ago in a Tekoa bar, are among those recognized by the state of Washington. Their names are engraved on a memorial at the Spokane County Courthouse.

Deputy Eastep came to Colfax in 1900 and operated a blacksmith shop on Mill Street before joining the sheriff’s office in 1910. Two of his sons were running the shop at the time of his death.

Mr. Eastep and his first wife had four sons, and he and his second wife, Elizabeth Roberts, had two sons.

All businesses in Colfax closed, and an estimated 800 people attended the deputy’s funeral at the United Methodist Church on Mill Street.

Gary, the son of Eugene Eastep, was raised in Thornton. He and his brother, Larry Eastep, were graduates of Rosalia High School. The Eastep shop trade extended into the next generation when the late Clarence Eastep operated his repair shop on Main Street.

Deputy Sheriff John B. Eastep was buried in the Colfax Cemetery.

Tekoa Marshall Dickinson was buried in the Tekoa Cemetery. He and his wife, the former Naomi Ann Sterans, were married at Tekoa in 1904. Three children survived him. Their youngest, Mary Elvvir, was 19 months old when her father was killed. She died in Portland in 1984.