Jerauld County, SD History .....Chap 16; Solomon Trial ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 28, 2005, 11:33 pm Chapter 16. SOLOMON TRIAL. Section two of Logan township was the scene of the most tragic event in the history of the county. This chapter will have only to do with that event and therefore will be confined to the NW quarter of the section. This quarter was the pre-emption claim of Joseph B. Reaser, who made proof for it on the 29th day of August, 1883. January 7th. 1886, he deeded it to Wm. S. Combs. It became a part of the Combs & Harris ranch, however, in 1883, and the ranch buildings were placed there. Near the southeast corner of the quarter, in a broad level valley rises a small hill—what is often termed a "sugar loaf." This hill is about 30 feet in height, and can be plainly seen from all the country surrounding the valey. For a long time in the years 1883 and 1884 it served as a land mark for people passing back and forth through that portion of the county. A pole 20 or 25 feet lang had been erected on the top of this knoll and from it floated a flag from which the rain and sun at length washed and faded the colors until finally it was only a white cloth, whipped and tattered in the wind. The pole was set in a pit about five feet long, four feet wide and four or five feet deep, around which a dry stone wall had been built. It is reported that the hole was dug by Reaser in the hope of finding something of value in the hill. In the fall of 1883 this quarter was leased by Reaser to Combs & Harris, the lease containing the provision that the lesees should not dig into nor take anything from the hill. The general shape of the hill is round. At the southeast part of the base a hole was dug into the hillside, and into it a shanty, 22x14 feet with 7-foot ceiling, was built. The building contained but one room. To this room there were two doors, one at the south end, swinging out and leading out doors and the other at the north end leading into an underground cave that had been dug back into the hill. There was a half window on each side of the room and one at the south end above the ceiling. The furniture in the room was arranged about as follows: A safe, or cupboard, stood against the east wall of the room near the southeast corner. A few feet north of the cupboard stood a leaf table. In the northeast corner, and also in the northwest corner, was a bed, made of mattresses and bedding laid upon bed springs, which rested upon the floor. Near the center of the room stood the cook stove, the pipe going up through the roof. About 30 or 40 yards west of the house was the horse stable, also set into a hole dug in the side hill. About 25 yards south of the shanty and stable was the corral for the horses when running out. The road from Waterbury to Crow Lake passed from NW to SE going but a few rods south of the hill. The ranch contained 800 acres. Combs & Harris, the partners who owned the ranch, came from St. Louis in the fall of 1882 and established themselves on this tract. These men were both frequently away from home and during much of three or four years they operated the place it was left in charge of the hired help. Many wierd and dark things are hinted at by the old settlers to the things done at that isolated ranch. In the fall of 1885 Peter Rohbe and Ben L. Solomon were employed about the place. Both were men of strong physique and quick tempered. Hard stories are told concerning each of them. Rohbe was a native of Sweden, while Solomon was born and raised at Glenwood, Mills county, Iowa. Card playing, gambling and quarreling seems to have been the chief amusement. One evening a party, including Solomon and Rohbe, were returning from a trip to White Lake. In the darkness they became confused and lost their way. For some time they drove on without knowing in what direction they were going. Rohbe became terribly enraged and threatened them all with the direst punishment if they lost him out there on the prairie. They arrived at home safely, however, and nothing came of Rohbe's threats. The feeling between the two men was not at all kindly and on several occasions Solomon was heard to say that he "expected he would have to kill that Swede." On the evening of the 16th of November, 1886, Z. P. DeForest and A. E. Hanebuth, who lived on claims near to the Combs & Harris ranch, chanced to meet at the ranch shanty for a neighborly visit. In the course of the evening Solomon told some simple story which in no way reflected upon any one present. Rohbe looked Solomon squarely in the eye and remarked, "that is a lie." Solomon's face flushed, but he controlled himself and the incident passed. On the morning of the 18th of November, 1885, just about daybreak, Ben Solomon mounted a mule at the Combs & Harris ranch and started along the road toward Waterbury. He did not seem to be in any great hurry, nor greatly excited. He did not whip the mule, but rode leisurely as one on an ordinary ride for a social visit with a neighbor. His appearance was not ordinary. One side of his face was covered with blood which was running from one ear. The top of the ear had been cut off. There were other light cuts about his head and his garments were stained with blood spots in several places. Back in the shanty which Ben Solomon had just left lying with his back to the floor and his face toward the ceiling, a bullet hole through his right arm, a bullet hole through his heart, and a bullet hole through his head, was the body of Peter Rohbe. Solomon rode leisurely on until he reached the residence of Lyman Goodrich, on the SW of 35 in Crow township, where he met Frank Engles, who got another animal, and together they rode on toward Waterbury. When they reached the town Solomon inquired for a constable or sheriff. Some directed him to H. P. Jones, the sheriff's deputy, and others mentioned Geo. N. Price, the county constable. In a few minutes Price appeared and Solomon surrendered himself for trial for justifiable homicide. Of course great excitement grew in the community and spread over the county. H. P. Jones, the deputy sheriff, and a number of others, went to the ranch and looked at the corpse. When Jones returned to town he saw Solomon on the street in front of the hotel. "You have killed him," Jones remarked. "It is what I intended to do." remarked Ben, without any trace of emotion. That evening O. E. Gaffin, one of the county justices, acting as coroner, visited the shanty on the ranch and held an inquest. The verdict accused Solomon of the crime of murder and he was taken to Wessington Springs and lodged in the county jail. The county officials who had to do with the trial were. Albert Gunderson, district attorney; Chas. W. McDonald, clerk of courts, and J. M. Spears, sheriff. As Mr. Gunderson, though he had been appointed district attorney by the county commissioners, had not then been admitted to the bar, the commissioners employed Attorneys Dillon & Preston, of Mitchell, to conduct the prosecution. The attorneys for the defense were the firm of Goodykoontz, Kellam & Porter, of Chamlerlain, and T. H. Null, then of Waterbury. The preliminary examination was held before C. E. Hackett, County Justice of the Peace at Wessington Springs. The legal battle was long and hard. At the term of court called for the 17th of March, 1886, the grand jury was discharged because of a technical error in the selection of names from which it was drawn. The presiding judge was Bartlett Tripp of Yankton, one of the ablest jurists in the territory. Court convened again in July and the case came up for trial. Solomon had been granted the right to give bail in the sum of $10,000, but being unable to get the sureties had remained in custody. The jury, composed mostly of young men, was finally impaneled and the trial began. It was in the defense of this case that Tom Null first gave evidence of that splendid ability that has since made him one of the foremost lawyers of the state. The jury reported a disagreement, seven being for conviction and five for acquittal. Ben was remanded to jail. The defense then set about securing a change of venue. One of the local papers, the True Republican, then edited by J. E. McNamara, published a full account of the trial and the material part of the evidence. This was done at the instance of the defense. Then affidavits on both sides were taken from a large number of people. D. H. Solomon, a prominent lawyer of Glenwood, Iowa, father of the prisoner, came to Jerauld county immediately after the killing of Rohbe and directed the long and skillful defense. A change in the place of trial was granted and the case sent to Sanborn county. The trial was held in July, 1887, and Solomon was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for two years. The story of the crime, if crime it was, has, of course never been told by any one but Ben Solomon. In the course of the legal proceedings he told it seven times, and was three times subjected to a severe cross-examination, yet in no particular was any change made in his account of the tragedy from that which he gave to the coroner on the evening of the 18th of November, 1885. This is the story as he told it to the coroner: "My name is Benjamin Logan Solomon. I am 27 years old. I reside on the NW quarter of section two 106—67 and have resided there since the 7th day of April, 1883. I am acquainted with Peter J. Rohbe. I first met him about two years ago while he was working for Jacob Norin. I have been intimately acquainted with him since he hired to Mr. Harris, which was about last May or June. Since that time Mr. Rohbe and myself have been hired on the farm of Harris & Combs. The last time I saw P. J. Rohbe was on the morning of the 18th of November, 1885. It was in Harris & Comb's house, after daylight. I can not tell the time exactly, for we had no time piece. When I last saw him he was lying on the floor. "I arose in the morning as usual, built a fire in the stove and went out and gave the mules some millet. When I left the house Rohbe was in bed. I was gone, I suppose, from 20 minutes to half an hour. When I came in Rohbe was cooking breakfast. Mr. Comb's pup followed me out of the house and went to the stable and followed me back. I entered the house, threw off my coat and hat to prepare for breakfast. I threw my coat and hat on my bed which was in the northwest corner of the room. Rohbe immediately began calling to the dog to get out and kicking him around the stove. I told him if he wanted the dog out to open the door and let him out. He then picked up the dog by the back of the neck and began beating him with a piece of 2x4. When he dropped the dog it was bleeding at the mouth and nose. I said, 'Combs will not like this.' He replied, ‘I do not give a _____ what Combs likes.' As the dog lay upon the floor I thought he was dead. The animal was a full-blooded, red colored water spaniel. I remarked, 'You have killed him.' He shouted, 'I will kill you, too, you ____ ____ ____.' He raised the piece of 2x4 and came at me. I ran in on him and wrenched the stick away, and we clinched. I shoved him back upon the table where he had been cutting meat for breakfast. About the time his hip struck the table he let go of me. His hand dropped to the table and he picked up the butcher knife, and began hitting me on the head with it. I broke away and backed into the southwest corner of the room; he followed me with the knife, madder and madder all the time. He was muttering something in a language I could not understand. I saw he was intending to kill me and I picked up the rifle that stood in that corner of the room. I tried to bring the gun to bear on him but he was to close. He struck me with the knife and cut off my ear. When I got the gun around it went off. He paid no attention to it. I jerked the shell out as quick as I could, then dropped the gun and backed into the northwest corner of the room and he after me with the knife uplifted. Under the pillow of my bed was a revolver that Mr. Combs generally carried, but this time he had left it. I picked up the revolver. There was an isle between the two beds. When I reached for the revolver Rohbe jumped on to his bed, turned around and struck at me. I fired, but to all appearances he was not hit. He paid no attention to the shot but kept coming towards me. I fired again and backed on the west side of the stove and kept on firing. I backed around to the east side of the south door which was closed. I had no time to open the door. If I could have done so I would have got out of there quick. I was in a box fighting for my life with a maniac. I fired the last shot while I was in the corner by the door. He was so close to me that the flash of the shot burned his face. The bullet hit him near the eye and he fell. I dropped the revolver, went and picked up my coat and hat and going to the stable I took a mule and went to Waterbury and gave myself up to Mr. Price, the con stable." The body of Rohbe was buried on the school section, 16, in Crow township. An unsuccessful attempt was once made to "snatch" it, and it is supposed to rest where it was buried. The building in which the fight occurred was purchased by Mr. Hanebuth and moved to his farm on the SW of 1—106—67. The stove, around which this battle occurred, was moved to Black Hawk, Iowa, where it is used to warm a hen house. What became of "Doc," the water spaniel is not known, but he recovered from his beating and it is thought that Combs took him away. Combs moved to Iowa, and from there to Arkansas. What became of Harris is not known. Solomon served his term and then left the state. It is reported that he had many troubles afterward and was finally killed. Additional Comments: From "A History of Jerauld County; From the Earliest Settlement to January 15, 1909" by N. J. Dunham File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/jerauld/history/other/gms101chap16so.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/sdfiles/ File size: 14.5 Kb