January 15, 1995

Carry Nation Left Hatchet Home On Punta Gorda Visit

With thanks to Stewart Holbrook

Carry Nation, the famous saloon-buster, left her hatchet home in the Fall of 1907 when she came to DeSoto County --then including what is today's Charlotte. She toured several Florida cities to try and defeat Punta Gorda's favorite son, Albert Gilchrist, then being touted as a candidate for state governor.

Florida at that time had adopted "local option" which allowed counties to decide whether to be "wet" (saloons) or "dry (no alcohol.) The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Punta Gorda and Arcadia was active in pressuring the Legislature to ban saloons as a statewide policy.

DeSoto County was dry, and Gilchrist did not drink. However, he favored status quo on the issue. He outlined his position in January 1908:

"The Constitution provides for Local Option. Amendments to the Constitution are approved or vetoed by the people. The Governor does not veto constitutional amendments. DeSoto is a dry county. I voted dry.

"I live a life of temperance. Some people would prefer a candidate to talk rather than to live the life. I am not on the band wagon. Walking is good enough for me."

Mrs. Nation made a brief stop in dry Punta Gorda only because it was Gilchrist's home.

After stirring up the local WCTU, Mrs. Nation moved on. The Punta Gorda Herald -- solidly backing Gilchrist -- reported her presence with a short paragraph.

She did, however, stir up some opposition to Gilchrist.

The WCTU charged that Gilchrist had received large, campaign contributions from the state's saloon keepers.

This sparked a mass "rally of indignation" at Punta Gorda City Hall. A resolution was unanimously adopted asserting Gilchrist was a "high toned gentleman, ever temperate in all things, who helped rid DeSoto County of licensed saloons." He won handily.

Folks were a little disappointed, however, that Carry did not have an excuse to demonstrate her specialty. She was a national celebrity and a prime mover in the crusade that led to a Constitutional amendment prohibiting alcoholic beverages every where. Carry was born in Kentucky as Carry Amelia Moore. The odd spelling of her given name was due to the limited education of her father who filled out the birth certificate application.

In 1867, she married a young, Missouri doctor named Charles Gloyd who turned out to be a chronic alcoholic. He died two years later. Carry felt "alcohol merchants" were responsible for her husband's untimely death.

Ten years later Carry married David Nation, an itinerant lawyer, editor and minister. They moved to Medicine Bow, Kansas, where they struggled and bickered for 25 years.

It was there that Mrs. Nation was elected president of the local WCTU. Kansas was technically dry, but saloons operated openly as "sample rooms." She used her presidency to petition the sheriff, legislature and governor to "obey the law" and close down the "whiskey joints." No official even answered her letters.

In her autobiography, Carry related how on the afternoon of June 5, 1900, she resorted to "prayer and divination." Closing her eyes, she opened her Bible and jabbed a pin onto a page.

The biblical passage chosen at random was from the 60th chapter of Isaiah: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

Then, said Carry, "A musical voice murmured in my ear, 'Go to Kiowa." That nearby town was notorious for having more saloons per capita than any other in the state. The voice continued: "Take something in your hands and throw at those places and smash them!"

Next morning she arose bright and early, ready to shine. She gathered a supply of bricks and stones -- neatly wrapping each one in newspaper. Piling them in her buggy, she hitched her horse and set out for Kiowa.

That afternoon she reconnoitered prospective targets, finally settling on an elaborate establishment operated by a Mr. Dobson.

The next morning she stacked a half-dozen paper-wrapped bricks on her left arm and barged through the door of Dobson's emporium. A few men with throbbing hangovers were at the bar seeking relief by the "hair of the dog."

"Men," she declared, "I have come to save you from a drunkard's fate!" With this, Carry began heaving her missiles.

Carry at this time was a 54-year-old grandmother -- six feet tall and of robust frame. Having grown up on a farm -- and used to the manual labor required of an impoverished homemaker -- she had the strength and skill to throw.

Her first pitch demolished the back-bar mirror. Next she concentrated on the long shelves of bottles while patrons fled. Her aim was uncanny.

Dobson had ducked behind the bar. Carry leaned over the bar and addressed him: "Now, Mr. Dobson, I have finished. God be with you."

Upon taking seat in her buggy, she noticed she had not quite finished. Calmly she heaved bricks through the saloon windows.

Carry trashed two other saloons that morning before the sheriff caught up with her. She pointed out saloons were against the law and demanded that the proprietors be arrested instead of her. The bewildered sheriff escorted her out of town and warned her to never come back.

Mrs. Nation laughed and exclaimed, "I intend to smash every saloon in this city."

Having achieved so satisfying a success, Carry had no intention of lavishing any more ammunition on little Kiowa.

Her destination a few days later was Wichita, headquarters of most liquor wholesalers and home to 40 joints.

Carry took the train to Wichita and spent the first day searching for an appropriate victim. She had not intended to make herself known just yet, but lost her composure in the Hotel Carey bar room.

A large, risqué painting of Cleopatra At Her Bath caught her eye. She marched up to the bartender and shook her quivering forefinger at him. "Young man," she thundered, "what are you doing in this hellhole?"

"I'm sorry, madam," replied the bartender, "but we do not serve ladies."

"Serve me?" she screamed. "Do you think I'd drink your hellish poison?" Pointing to Cleopatra, she demanded, "Take down that filthy thing, and close this murder mill."

With this she snatched a bottle from the bar and smashed it to the floor. Carry marched out of the bar room amidst incredulous stares of the many imbibers.

Returning to her room she withdrew a heavy wooden club and an iron bar from her suitcase and bound them into a formidable weapon.

In the morning she returned to the Hotel Carey, concealing her club and a supply of stones under the black cape that became her trademark. Without a word, she began her labors by demolishing Cleopatra At Her Bath. "Glory to God, peace on earth and goodwill to men," she shouted as she flailed against mirrors, bottles, chairs, tables and sundry accessories. Whiskey flowed in rivers across the floor.

The hotel detective found Mrs. Nation beating furiously on the long, curving bar with a brass spittoon. "Madam," he said sternly, "I must arrest you for defacing property."

"Defacing?" she screamed. "I am destroying!"

Carry was jailed and brought before a judge. When asked if she pled guilty, she replied stoutly, "I'll have nothing to do with this court until that man over there throws away his cigar. It's rotten and the smell of it poisons me."

The offending smoker, the prosecuting attorney, obliged but recommended bail pending a full trial.

This foray was widely reported by the nation's newspapers. Women of the WCTU rallied to Carry's defense.

The Wichita prosecutor dismissed the case on grounds he feared for Mrs. Nation's mental condition.

Undaunted, Carry went on to the state capital, Topeka, where she added her famous hatchet with which to do damage.

There she was joined by two other women, Mrs. John White and Miss Madeline Southard. The latter was a noted evangelist.

After being repulsed and slightly wounded by bouncers at the first saloon they approached, the determined crusaders crossed the street to the elegant Senate Bar.

"Good morning, you maker of drunkards and widows," bellowed Carry to the bartender. With this the trio went to work with a will.

The hatchets, black capes and defiant demeanor was grist for editorial cartoonists. With fame came allies taking courage from her successful defiance. Carry traveled across the nation to urge them on. Miniature hatchets were a popular novelty.

Carry was arrested 30 times -- spending her brief stays reading the Bible. Women would stand outside her cell window singing hymns and sending in money which she used to buy extra food for the other prisoners. Her last foray was in Butte, Montana, where she assaulted May Maloy's Dance Hall and Cafe with the avowed intention of destroying some erotic paintings. She was challenged by May herself, a strong woman the full match of Carry. The mission failed, Mother Nation's only defeat.

Carry went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on January 13, 1911, to inveigh against the joints there. While speaking before a large audience, she suffered a stroke and slumped to the stage. Horrified fans rushed to her aid and heard her murmur,

"I have done what I could." She was sent to the hospital at Leavenworth, Kansas, where she died June 2. On her tombstone they inscribed her epitaph: "She Hath Done What She Could."

Mrs. Nation did not live to see her crusade crowned by the U.S. Constitution's 18th amendment. It was passed by Congress December 18, 1917, and ratified by the states January 16, 1919.

The desire for alcohol was too strong. Prohibition brought "bathtub gin," "speakeasies," "home brew," "rum runners" and "gangsters."

The 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st Amendment proposed by Congress February 20, 1933, and ratified in a record short period of 10 months.

Nevertheless, Carry Nation focused attention on a problem that truly was out of hand. Even with repeal of prohibition, the government gained the authority to control the price, quality and distribution of alcohol.

cutline l - woman with hatchet, crop.

The famous saloon wrecker, Carry Nation, brandishes her hatchet and Bible.

cutline 2 -- cartoon of bar

This editorial cartoon in the Utica, Kan., Globe is captioned "I Cannot Tell A Lie -- I Did It With My Little Hatchet" and portrays Mother Nation after a successful foray against the "devil's brew."

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers