The Baseball Riot of 1903

In honor of the start of Pitchers and Catchers reporting to Spring Training, a little baseball story from the history of Chippewa Falls.  It happened here:

This is a birdseye view created in 1906.  The ball diamond is fainted titled "Athletic Park". It is on the South Side of town, in roughly the area once known as Frenchtown.  To be more precise, Frenchtown historically was in the open area just downstream from the ballpark, but people still used - in fact still do use - the term a bit liberally.  And in this case perhaps appropriately, as Frenchtown was always the site of much mischief...  

The story is related in an article dated August 18th, 1903, with the title:

BASEBALL GAME ENDS IN TROUBLE

It sounds like quite the messy affair.  Evidently the Eau Claire manager, a man named Peterson, refused to take action when a group of his fans got out onto the field and obstructed the base paths.  Chippewa Falls fans obviously took exception to this and went out to try removing them by force.  

It was said that at one time there were three "scraps" going on - presumably individual or group in nature, and that there was work for "an army of policemen".  There actually were some police officers on hand, and they came in for criticism for not collaring the ring leaders.  Arrests were made, most notably of a Chester Bell.  He was said to be doing no worse than several others, but as we'll see, he was a dubious character.

With the score actually being debatable due to fan interference, the umpire eventually adjusted the final tally from 8-5 for Chippewa Falls to a 9-0 victory.  I'm aware of no existing rule that would justify this.  Although the Eau Claire manager came in for criticism, and may also have been arrested, the teams were not involved and were said to be gentlemen.   

A few parting thoughts on the nature of lawlessness on the south side of Chippewa Falls.  As mentioned above, this is in a loose sense the area called Frenchtown.  This was the earliest European settled site in the current city limits and has always been a place of raised glasses, raised tempers and mischief.  That remarkable pre-Civil War community was essentially wiped out by floods in 1880 and 1884.  But.....  The oldest and most notorious saloon in old Frenchtown, the Rosseau House survived the floods and was taken a couple hundred yards upstream to a location described as "..moved to the ball park.." where it continued on as a saloon.  Sadly for today's narrative it had been moved again one year prior to the Baseball Riot and converted to a private residence  another couple hundred yards up on higher ground.

Chester Bell would seem to be a 20th century version of a typical Frenchtowner.  I may be mixing up two different men here, but the newspapers of both Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire have numerous references to a man of that name.  In the 1890's he was a peripheral figure in a burglary ring and escaped from the Eau Claire jail.  Recaptured he did a few years behind bars.  Later a gent of the same name had several instances where he claimed to suffer injuries, usually walking on old plank sidewalks, and sued for damages.  Certainly seems like our lad.  Being tossed in jail after the baseball game he was given the option of paying a $100 fine or sitting it out and having his day in court.  He went with the former.

And then tried unsuccessfully to have the money paid back to him!

Athletic Park was built in 1894, although there are suggestions that the site may have been used informally for a longer time.  It's demise is not well documented, but by 1919 subscriptions were being sought to fund a new field on the site of the Fair Grounds over on the "respectable" side of town.  Over those roughly 25 seasons a lot of interesting contests were held there.  But those ae stories for another day.

Interestingly, the legacy of baseball on this exact spot continued.  I came to town in 1985.  It was a decade or so later when my oldest son was playing ball.  One year, perhaps 1987 or so, the baseball playoffs for his league were thrown off schedule by several days of torrential rain.  His game was rescheduled, and moved to Murphy Field, an old and seldom used facility on the south side.  I remember that we didn't play all that well in this game, but that the field was impressive.  Back behind home plate there were huge walls rising up, clad in some sort of cement if I remember rightly.  Not long after this area became pat of the sprawling city yard waste dump and gravel storage lot.  Until about 9 years ago there was still a lonely concessions stand along the first base side, waiting for customers who would never return.  

Here's the site today, with Murphy Field and Athletic Field roughly marked off.   Athletic Park in blue, with the batter hitting the ball from roughly where the word Riverside sits.  Murphy Field in red, where none of our little leaguers were in danger of plunking one into the river despite the outfield being in that direction.  Those buildings around the edge are on top of that big wall.  Fun to have a century of baseball, and more, in one spot.  Notice that there is a rail line, more riverbank, and a new road since the early days.