On July 28, 1921, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Deputies James F. Chatfield (1878-1921) and Holman D. Drain (1892-1966) are searching for smugglers in the woods adjacent to the Canadian border near Blaine when they encounter local resident Alfred J. Anderson (1899-1968), age 22, on a logging trail. Without identifying himself, Deputy Chatfield orders Anderson to put up his hands and fires two warning shots in his direction. Anderson, a World War I army veteran, reacts by drawing his gun and returning fire, mortally wounding Deputy Chatfield. Upon learning that his attackers are law-enforcement officers, Anderson immediately surrenders to Deputy Drain. Although arguably a case of self-defense, Anderson is charged in Whatcom County Superior Court with first-degree murder. On May 18, 1922, after three days at trial, the case against Anderson ends in a mistrial, based on a technicality. When polled, the jury unanimously declares the defendant would not have been convicted of first-degree murder had the trial been allowed to continue and recommends that he not be tried again. Upon motion by the Whatcom County prosecutor, the case against Anderson will be dismissed on September 2, 1922.
Campers on Smuggler's Trail
During Prohibition, 1916-1933 in Washington state, British Columbia, Canada, was the source of an unlimited supply of genuine brand-name liquor for the West Coast of the United States. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were tasked with stopping the flood of bootleg alcohol into the county. Narcotics and undocumented immigrants were also lucrative commodities, popular with professional smugglers. The boundary between British Columbia and Whatcom County was unprotected, and the authorities were well aware of the various routes used by traffickers. But there were so many that it was impossible to watch them all. Catching violators became a dangerous game of hide-and-seek.
On Thursday afternoon, July 28, 1921, Alfred J. "Red" Anderson, age 22, and Frank L. Tool Jr. (1897-1966), age 24, left Blaine to go camping for three days. Anderson, a former rural-route mail carrier, knew a suitable location and enlisted Elza T. Cowell (1892-1985) to take them there in his Model-T Ford. The area, choked with scrub, had been the site of the old Boundary Sawmill, abandoned when the available supply of old-growth timber was exhausted. It was located north of H Street road, about three miles east of Blaine. The track leading to the old sawmill (now Old Mill Road) intersected with the international border one-half mile north of H Street. It was generally known in Whatcom County that the area, with its maze of logging trails, had been used by bootleggers and narcotics traffickers for years. Law enforcement officers called the way into the site "Smuggler’s Trail."
The Encounter
On this same day, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Deputies James Franklin Chatfield and Holman D. "Dick" Drain were patrolling the border area east of Blaine looking for suspicious activity. At about 2:30 p.m., the officers were driving along H Street road when they observed three men, one toting a large knapsack, alight from a Model T Ford and step into the undergrowth. Parking the patrol car at the entrance to Smuggler’s Trail, Chatfield and Drain, dressed in mufti, went in search of the suspected lawbreakers with guns ready. Approximately 40 yards into the woods, Chatfield spotted Anderson standing alongside a logging trail.
Without identifying himself, Chatfield commanded Anderson to put up his hands and then fired two warning shots in his direction. Anderson, a World War I (1914-1918) army veteran, drew a sidearm and returned fire without realizing the identity of his assailants. Chatfield fell and Drain, standing beside of the trail, emptied his revolver at Anderson who ducked into the bushes for cover. After a brief period of silence, Anderson returned to the trail and Chatfield took a potshot at him from the ground. Irate, Anderson started toward the men, ordering them to quit firing or suffer the consequences. Drain then stepped onto the trail, flashed his badge, and informed Anderson that he had shot a deputy sheriff. Anderson immediately surrendered his gun to Drain, asking him why they didn’t identify themselves as law enforcement officers before they began shooting.
Drain and Anderson carried Chatfield to the patrol car and drove him to the surgery of Dr. Clinton E. McKinnis in Blaine. An ambulance was dispatched from Bellingham and rushed Chatfield to Saint Joseph Hospital, where surgeons found that a bullet had passed through his lower abdomen. They were unable to stop the internal bleeding and Chatfield died that evening at 8:12 p.m.
The funeral service for James Franklin Chatfield was held on August 3, 1921, at the Harry O. Bingham Funeral Parlors, 120 Prospect Street in Bellingham, officiated by Reverend Duncan M. McPhail, pastor of the First Baptist Church. He was buried next to his wife, Bertha Alice Chatfield (1880-1915) at the Fernhill Cemetery in Anacortes (Skagit County).
The Facts of the Case
Whatcom County Sheriff Alexander L. Callahan (1873-1935) was in Blaine when Chatfield was brought into the surgery. He spoke with the wounded deputy about the affray and then sent Drain back to Smuggler’s Trail to recover Chatfield's revolver and Anderson's knapsack. After finding the missing gun, Drain searched Anderson's pack and found that it held mainly camping gear, no illegal alcohol or narcotics.
Meanwhile, Anderson told Sheriff Callahan that his camping partner was Frank Tool, the son of a U.S. Customs Inspector stationed at Blaine. The person who drove them to the locale in his automobile was Elza Cowell, a farmer who lived at Custer. Sheriff Callahan had all three suspects arrested and taken to the Whatcom County Jail in Bellingham for questioning. Tool and Cowell were released after providing written statements about their knowledge of the incident but Anderson was held in custody.
According to statements from the three suspects, Cowell’s Model-T Ford had broken down on H Street, approximately one quarter-mile from their intended destination. While Tool helped Cowell fix his automobile, Anderson put on his knapsack and started toward the old Boundary Sawmill. Upon arrival, he selected a site near an old shed, put down his pack and started to pitch a tent. Anderson found, however, he needed the hatchet that Tool was carrying to cut tent poles and pegs. Rather than wait, he decided to return to the car and get the implement. Before leaving, Anderson took a holstered revolver from his knapsack and strapped it on because he didn’t want to risk getting it stolen. Shortly thereafter someone shot at him without cause and a gun battle ensued. Neither Tool nor Cowell was present when the shooting started, but they heard the fusillade.
Legal Proceedings
On Saturday, July 30, 1921, Whatcom County prosecutor, Loomis Baldrey (1882-1954) filed an information in Superior Court charging Anderson with first-degree murder, which carried the penalty of life imprisonment or death, if recommended by a jury. The lengthy and muddled charge cited three different offenses: that Anderson intended to shoot and kill Chatsfield or someone unknown; that the shooting was done without regard for human life; and that it was done in an attempt to commit robbery and larceny. (Various crimes may be cited in an information, but each must be charged separately.) It was based on Sheriff Callahan’s notion that Anderson chose the infamous site of the old Boundary Sawmill to carry out a deadly ambush.
On Thursday, August 18, 1921, Anderson appeared for arraignment in Whatcom County Superior Court before Judge Edward E. Hardin (1861-1940). At this time, Anderson’s attorneys, Charles A. Sather and George Livesey, moved for a continuance in order to prepare arguments for a demurrer (an objection) to the information charging first-degree murder. A request that the defendant be permitted bail was denied.
Arguments on the demurrer were held before Judge Hardin on Monday, August 22, 1921. Defense attorney Livesey held that the charge was repetitive and contradictory. The prosecutor, Loomis Baldrey, argued that the information was legally sufficient and asked that it be allowed to stand. On Friday, August 26, Judge Hardin threw out the charge stating it was inconsistent and must be amended from three muddled offenses to a specific crime. Baldrey responded to the court’s ruling by filing a notice of appeal to the Washington State Supreme Court. Anderson was remanded to the custody of the Whatcom County Sheriff until the tribunal made its decision.
Meanwhile, Anderson's attorneys, Livesey and Sather, continued to work for his release. Finally, on Wednesday, December 21, 1921, Judge Hardin, with the acquiescence of the prosecutor, fixed bail for the prisoner in the amount of $6,000. Friends and relatives supplied the required funds in surety bonds and Anderson, after being jailed for five months without due process, was freed. He was the first defendant in the history of Whatcom County’s judiciary to be granted bail after being charged with a capital crime.
On Thursday, March 23, 1922, the Washington State Supreme Court affirmed Judge Hardin’s ruling on Anderson’s demurrer that prosecutor Loomis Baldrey’s information was defective. The state was notified to file an amended information, charging separate and specific offenses, or the case would be dismissed with prejudice (cannot be refiled).
New Legal Proceedings
On Saturday, April 22, 1922, after a nine-month delay of justice, Anderson was arraigned in Whatcom County Superior Court before Judge William P. Brown. He pleaded not guilty to an amended information filed by Baldrey and trial was scheduled for the court’s May docket. Anderson was allowed to retain his freedom on the $6,000 bail bond.
Trial began on Monday morning, May 15, 1922, with jury selection, which took only one day to complete. The questioning of veniremen concentrated on their views about capital punishment and an individual’s legal right of self-defense. By 5:00 p.m., a jury of 10 men and two women had been impaneled and sworn in.
At 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 16, prosecutor Loomis Baldrey presented his opening statement in which he outlined the case against Anderson. The state was pursuing a conviction for first-degree murder because the defendant had intended to rob a person or persons unknown and Deputy Sheriff Chatfield was killed during the commission of said crime. Under Washington state law, such facts qualified Anderson for the death penalty. In his opening statement, defense attorney Livesey argued that every American citizen had the legal right to self-defense, even to the taking of a life. The defendant, who was not in the act of committing a crime, was fired upon without provocation by two strangers and he instinctively responded in-kind. Deputy Chatfield precipitated the action that resulted in his unfortunate death.
Thereafter, the trial proceeded at a rapid pace and both sides rested their case on late Wednesday afternoon. Final arguments and instructions to the jury were set for the following day.
But on Thursday morning, May 18, 1922, Judge Brown declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury. While preparing his jury instructions, the judge was informed by the bailiff that juror Andrew J. Brown had been seen conversing with Mabel Glenn, a county probation officer. The contact was in direct violation of the judge’s order that the jury be held incommunicado, except through the bailiff. While walking through the courtroom, Glenn had passed the time of day with Brown. Although there had been no remarks about the case, the misconduct gave the defendant grounds to appeal an unfavorable verdict to the state Supreme Court.
Immediately following the jury’s discharge, defense counsel polled the former members and found that they did not believe Anderson would have been convicted of first-degree murder had the trial been allowed to continue. Livesey and Sather prepared a statement to that effect, which was signed by every juror. It read: "We, former members of the jury in the case State vs. Anderson, duly sworn to try the case and having heard the evidence to the point where both sides rested, hereby certify that we believe the state in this instance failed to prove a case and if the state cannot produce more evidence, it should not be tried again" ("Murder Charge Against Blaine Man Dismissed"). Upon leaving the courtroom, the jurors all shook hands with Anderson and wished him good luck.
On Saturday, September 2, 1922, the case against Anderson was dismissed by Judge Brown upon the motion and affidavit of the prosecuting attorney, Loomis Baldrey. It stated "that the jurors expressed a feeling that no conviction could be obtained and while the prosecuting attorney is satisfied the charge is true and that Sheriff A. L. Callahan is of the same opinion, they believe a new trial would be a great expenditure of money without securing a conviction" ("Murder Charge Against Blaine Man Dismissed").
Life After the Murder Charge
One week later, on Saturday, September 9, 1922, Alfred J. Anderson and Cumi M. Tool (1903-1987), Frank Tool’s younger sister, were married at the First Baptist Church, 110 Flora Street in Bellingham. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, Alfred and Cumi Anderson were living in Aberdeen (Grays Harbor County), Washington with their two daughters, Betty, age 5, and Peggy, age 2. Alfred's occupation was recorded as laborer in a pulp mill.
In the 1940 U.S. Census the Anderson family was residing in the Hoquiam area. Alfred's occupation was recorded as foreman of a Works Project Administration bridge-building project. Alfred Anderson died on Friday, July 5, 1968, and was interred at Sunset Memorial Park in Hoquiam. Cumi Anderson passed away on Saturday, October 24, 1987, and was buried alongside her husband.
On Tuesday, May 6, 2014, a ceremony was held at the Law Enforcement Memorial in front of the Spokane Public Safety Building, 1100 W Mallon Avenue, to commemorate the addition of James F. Chatfield to the wall of honor. As of 2014, the Spokane memorial, erected and dedicated in 1987, lists the names of 315 officers killed in the line of duty. Deputy Chatfield’s name has also been added to the state’s Law Enforcement Memorial in Olympia and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
