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About The Redmond spokesman. (Redmond, Crook County, Or.) 1910-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2021)
P6 The SpokeSman • WedneSday, July 21, 2021 OFFBEAT OREGON OFFBEAT OREGON Citizens hired boxer to humiliate town bully Their only regret is that Cold- well did not get the beating they had mapped out for him.” Their regret was probably short-lived. The article about the fight appeared in the Sun- day Oregonian the very next morning, at the very top of the front page, under a giant head- line reading, “JUST A QUIT- TER: Boring’s Town-Terror Done by Prize Fighter.” “When He Gets a Blow in the Stomach, Free Coldwell Screams ‘No Fair,’ and Quits for Good,” one of the sub-head- lines added. After that, there was no way Free Coldwell could stay in town and face the people he’d been lording over for the pre- vious few months. It’s not clear how long he stayed in Boring after this humiliation, but it was probably a matter of hours. And as author Haney puts it, “there are no references to Free Coldwell harassing the town of Boring again.” (Sources: Eccentric Tales of Boring, Oregon, a book by Bruce Haney published in 2021 by The History Press; Portland Sunday Oregonian, 26 Feb 1905) BY FINN J.D. JOHN Offbeat Oregon All through the summer of 1973, there was one song on the radio everywhere that you just couldn’t get away from: Jim Croce’s smash hit, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” Come to think of it, it’s been very difficult to get away from that song ever since Croce wrote it. You probably are humming it to yourself right now: “Bad, bad Leroy Brown, baddest man in the whole damn town. Badder than old King Kong, meaner than a junkyard dog.” The little Cascade-foothills town of Boring once had its own Bad, Bad Leroy Brown — although when the song came out, very few people then alive were old enough to remem- ber him. His name was Free Coldwell — or at least, that was what he called himself. Like Leroy Brown, he a proud, strutting tough guy who got a humiliating comeuppance. But his downfall didn’t come from making a pass at “the wife of a jealous man” in a Boring night- club or bar. No, Free Coldwell was taken down by the citizens of Boring, who basically played an elaborate practical joke on him — with the help of a pro- fessional prizefighter. Free Coldwell blew into Boring sometime in late 1904, probably to work at one of the local sawmills. To judge from descriptions in newspaper stories, he was a bit like Bluto from the old Popeye cartoons — a big, burly man with mas- sive, muscular arms and a hot temper. Unlike Bluto, though, Coldwell had bright red hair. And he claimed he was, or had been, a professional prize- fighter. He quickly made a name for himself as a bar-room brawler. Then, according to an arti- cle in the Sunday Oregonian, having successfully “walloped into dreamland” all the other aspirants to the title of Baddest Man In Town, he proceeded to make an absolute pest of himself. He swaggered around like — well, like Bad, Bad Le- roy Brown on the south side of Chicago. If there had been such a thing as a custom Continen- tal or an El Dorado in 1905, he doubtless would have had one. Well, like most little tim- ber-and-farming towns in pre-war Oregon, Boring had its share of tavern tough guys. But the vast majority of Bor- ing residents were regular folks just trying to do their jobs and raise their families. Getting constantly lorded over by some cocky sorrel-topped gorilla was humiliating and frustrating. Something had to be done. And that’s when someone opened a copy of the Port- land Morning Oregonian and learned that Tommy Burns was in town. Tommy Burns was a pro- fessional prizefighter from Canada, and if you were into boxing in 1905, you definitely knew his name. He was the up-and-coming heavyweight fighter, even though at 5 feet 7 and 175 pounds he was techni- cally a light-heavyweight boxer. His nickname was “The Little Giant of Hanover.” He wasn’t the World Champion yet, but two years later he would be, and he’d hang onto the title, de- fending it against all comers, for two whole years. Burns had a match coming up with Jack “Twin” Sullivan, and was doing some training for it in a local Portland gym. And it occurred to some of the citizens of Boring that per- haps Tommy Burns could be induced to come to their town for a little extracurricular box- ing match, and teach the town bully some humility. And so a delegation from Boring hopped on the inter-urban train for the one-hour journey to Portland to make the pitch. They didn’t have much of a purse to offer — after they’d passed the kitty around, there was only $4.90 in it (worth about $120 in 2021 currency). But the opportunity to help the townspeople dispense poetic justice to a swaggering small- town bully must have appealed to Tommy. He agreed to come out to Boring and take on Free Coldwell. According to the Sunday e Submitted photo (Library of Congress) Tommy Burns (Noah Brusso) spars with a friend, circa 1905. The railway station in Boring as it appeared in 1904. This would have been how the Portland spectators got to Boring to watch the Burns-Cold- well “fight.” Submitted to come the good citizens of Boring will congratulate them- selves,” the Oregonian’s re- porter wrote. “They have rid themselves of the town pest. Finn J.D. John teaches at Oregon State University and writes about odd tidbits of Oregon history. His book, Heroes and Rascals of Old Oregon, was recently published by Ouragan House Publishers. To contact him or suggest a topic: finn@offbeatoregon.com or 541- 357-2222. C lässifie U the redmond Spokesman Hours: to place an ad call Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Oregonian’s subsequent article about the fight, the good peo- ple of Boring placed only one restriction on Burns: He was not to risk killing Coldwell in the fight. Funerals, after all, were expensive. Now, Tommy Burns’ real name was Noah Brusso, so that was the name he used when he came to Boring. The townsfolk staging the show were worried that if Free Coldwell learned who he was battling with, he’d figure out a way to back out. They might have been right. In any case, Coldwell took the bait in one gulp. He took one look at “Noah Brusso” — who was considerably shorter and a good 40 pounds lighter than he — and, as the Oregonian put it, “fell for it as easy as did Farmer Vance when he was gold- bricked out of $10,000.” Follow- ing a brief, truculent negotiation over who would cover the 75- cent venue rental fee — which he did not want deducted from the winner’s pot, which he con- fidently expected to win — he was eager and ready to go. A boxing ring was put to- gether in the local opera house, and the townspeople hired a professional boxing referee: Tommy Tracey, an almost-re- tired prizefighter originally from Australia. On the big day, more than 100 Portlanders came out to see the show. It’s not clear how many of them thought they were going to see a real fight, and how many were in on the gag. Plenty of the residents of Boring knew, and it is possible that their success in keeping the secret from Coldwell was because they were unusually discreet, not because Coldwell was unusually gullible. But as the late John Prine might have put it, Coldwell clearly had muscles in his head that had never been used. He never sus- pected a thing until well into the fight. Finally it was show time, and the gong rang, and the Boring Bruiser came charging out of his corner. “Brusso,” ob- viously playing to the crowd, held back, letting Coldwell get in a few punches and even go- ing down a couple times. The crowd roared — those who were in on the gag with delight, and those who still thought this was a legitimate boxing match with astonishment. They could see that Coldwell was a terrible boxer. Was the great Tommy Burns losing his touch? No. No, he was not. At the end of the fourth round, “Brusso” decided that it was time to spring the trap. Ac- cordingly, he put a hard straight right past Coldwell’s guard with proper professional snap. It exploded on Coldwell’s nose and, as the boxing press of the day often put it, “started the claret.” And this appears to have been the moment when Coldwell realized he was in some serious trouble. The gong sounded, the round ended, and Coldwell got a little time to think about things while he dealt with his nosebleed. In light of subse- quent events, there’s certainly a decent chance that one of the thoughts that passed through his mind was the possibility that he might end the match by faking a foul. All too quickly, it was time for Round Five. Right away, “Brusso” clinched and then broke away with a body blow to Coldwell’s midriff. It wasn’t a hard hit, but Coldwell wasn’t expecting it and was not ready for it. “Just as soon as the red- headed piker could get his breath, he howled, ‘It’s no fair to hit a man in the stomach,’” the Oregonian reported. “’That’s a foul!’ Coldwell jumped out of the ring to stop the fight while he pressed his suit. Nobody was impressed, least of all the ref- eree: “Tommy Tracey almost threw a fit,” the Oregonian re- ported. Tracey told Coldwell to shut up and that if he wasn’t back in the ring in two minutes, “Brusso” would be declared the winner. “The clock was started, and the crowd waited with antici- pation,” author Bruce Haney writes in his new book, Eccen- tric Tales of Boring, Oregon. “The townsfolk had put a lot of effort into this fight. They did not want Free Coldwell dead, but they did want him maimed. A bloody nose and a punch to the stomach did not live up to the beating they had plotted for him. But the clock ran out, and Free Coldwell did not get back in the ring.” So Tracey raised Burns’ arm and declared him the victor. It was pretty obvious to ev- eryone what had happened: After figuring out how se- verely outclassed he was, Coldwell was trying to use this “foul” as a pretext for withdrawing from the field. They probably all assumed he knew perfectly well that body blows were not fouls, and figured he was pretending ig- norance because he’d become desperate for an excuse to dis- engage. If so, it sure didn’t work very well. Unlike Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, Free Coldwell did not look “like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple pieces gone” after this fight; but his reputation sure did. “Today and for many days Worship Directory Baptist Roman Catholic Highland Baptist Church St Thomas Roman Catholic Church 3100 SW Highland Ave., Redmond 541-548-4161 Barry Campbell, Lead Pastor Sunday Gathering Times: 8AM Blended, 9AM Blended, 10:30AM Contemporary 6PM Worship outside, acoustic, in the HBC field for the summer How can hbc pray for you? prayer@hbcredmond.org For the most current information for Bible study and worship: www.hbcredmond.org Non-Denominational Seventh Day Adventist 945 W. Glacier Ave., Redmond, OR 541-923-0301 Sabbath School 9:30 am Worship 10:45 am 1720 NW 19th Street Redmond, Oregon 97756 541-923-3390 Father Todd Unger, Pastor Mass Schedule: Weekdays 8:00 am (Except Wednesdays) Wednesday 6:00 pm Saturday Vigil 5:00 pm First Saturday 8:00 am (English) Sunday 8:00 am, 10:00 am (English) 12:00 noon (Spanish) Confessions on Wednesdays From 5:00 to 5:45 pm and on Saturdays From 3:00 to 4:30 pm Advertise your worship listing today! New advertisers get 2 weeks free. Call Rachel Liening at 541-617-7823 to place your ad today! 541 385'5809 ' 1001 General Merchandise 200 210 Pets & Supplies mu Puppies Portu guese Water Dog Hypoallergenic, Non shedding, great active family dogs. Hiking, kaya king and compan ionship. . 541 - 520-1827 Legal Notices & Public Notices -| 613 Vacation Rentals & Exchange Furnished 3 bed w/ loft 2.5 bath. 2188 sq.ft. 2 car garage w/ extra 4 car parking. Rv hookup. 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Class Starts August 3rd. - Apply today patrickfire.net or in person 1199 NE Hemlock, Redmond EOE Compassionate people wanted to empower adults with diverse abili ties! Hiring event on 07/28/2021 at 3294 S Hwy 97 in Redmond. Same day job offers! Starting pay $14.00- 25.75/hr DOE w/$1,000 signing bonus. Custom shifts available. All training provided/paid. Full benefits package in cluding medical/dental/ vision/life insurance/dis ability and $500 monthly childcare incentives. Legal Notices rfhi Legal Notices & Public Notices Legal Notice IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF ORE GON FOR THE COUNTY OF DESCHUTES - PROBATE DEPART MENT In the Matter of the Es tate of: BLU RAY BLAKELEY, Deceased. Case No. 21PB01482 NOTICE TO INTER ESTED PERSONS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the un dersigned has been appointed Personal Representative of the estate. All per sons having claims against the estate are required to present them, with vouchers attached, to the undersigned Personal Repre sentative in care of Scott Howard, Kivel & Howard LLP, 1530 SW Taylor Street, Portland, OR 97205- 1819, Tel: (503) 796- 0909; Fax: (503) 802-4757; within four (4) months of the date of first pub lication of this notice, as stated below, or such claims may be barred. All persons whose rights may be affect ed by the proceeding may obtain addition al information from the records of the court, the Personal Representative, or the attorney for the personal represen tative. Dated and first published July 21, 2021 . By: s/ Althea Stockton Brooks IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON FOR THE COUNTY OF DESCHUTES PROBATE DEPART MENT In the Matter of the Estate of DONALD JAMES SOMMER. Deceased. Case No. 21PB05088 NOTICE TO INTER ESTED PERSONS NOTICE IS HERE BY GIVEN that MI CHELLE LOUISE QUESNEL has been appointed Personal Representative of the above-captioned Estate. All per sons having claims against the Estate are required to present them to the Personal Represen tative at the address shown below within four months after the date of first publica tion of this Notice. All persons whose rights may be affect ed by the probate proceeding may obtain additional In formation from the court records, the Personal Represen tative or the attor ney for the Personal Representative. DATED AND FIRST PUBLISHED this 14 day of July, 2021. /s/ Ryan E. Gibb, OSB #972693 PERSONAL REP RESENTATIVE MI CHELLE LOUISE QUESNEL 19382 Rim Lake Court Bend, OR 97702 (541)610-4376 ATTORNEY Ryan E. Gibb, OSB #972693 DOUGLAS, CON- ROYD, GIBB & PA CHECO, PC. 528 Cottage Street NE, Suite 200 PO Box 469 Salem, OR 97308-0469 Telephone: (503)364- 7000 Facsimile: (503)585- 0699 Email: Ryan@dcm- law.com Find exactly what you are looking for in the CLASSIFIEDS
