Watford City exhibit tells about last
lynching in North Dakota
By ELOISE OGDEN, Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com
Submitted Photo
Taneeka Johnson, a senior at Watford City High School
student who works at the Long X Visitor Center and
Pioneer Museum in Watford City, stands by the exhibit
about the Bannon lynching, shown in this photo taken
Jan. 23. The Bannon lynching was the last lynching in
North Dakota which occurred 77 years ago on Jan. 29,
1931.
WATFORD CITY – One of the most viewed exhibits in the Long X Visitor Center and
Pioneer Museum in Watford City is about the last lynching in North Dakota.
Jan Dodge, director of tourism for McKenzie County, said people often view the exhibit
and then want to buy the book about it. The book is “End of a Rope: The True Story of
the Last Lynching in North Dakota of a confessed murder of a family of six” by Dennis
Edward Johnson, an attorney from Watford City. Brianna Bohmbach assisted Johnson
with the book, a 34-page publication sold in the museum.
The book has been so popular that it will soon be reprinted, Dodge said. The book sells
for $6.95 and proceeds go to the museum.
Seventy-seven years ago – during the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 1931 – a mob
broke into the small stone jail at Schafer, a few miles east of Watford City, and seized
Charles Bannon. The mob hanged Bannon from a bridge over nearby Cherry Creek.
It was the last lynching – and the 12th lynching – to occur in North Dakota’s history.
Bannon was in the Schafer jail waiting for arraignment on charges of murder of six
members of the Haven family. The Havens farmed east of Watford City and Bannon,
who was in his early 20s, had been a hired hand on the Haven farm. Bannon’s father,
James, was also in the Schafer jail waiting for arraignment as an accomplice to the
murder.
The Schafer jail still stands today.
The late Ray Dobson, publisher of The Minot Daily News for many years, was a young
newsman in Minot when the Bannon lynching occurred. He wrote numerous stories for
the newspaper about the Bannon lynching and the succeeding time.
The Minot Daily News’ first story of the lynching begins:
“When The News correspondent visited the scene of the lynching today, he found lying
alongside the bridge a blue serge face mask, which had apparently been used by one of
the mobsmen. A large piece of blue cloth was also found, which might have been used
as a mask. Many Watford City residents knew nothing of the lynching until they came
downtown this morning. Watford City is six miles from Schafer.”
The exhibit about the lynching includes the actual hangman’s noose that ended Bannon’s
life, a fabric mask that those in the mob wore, a comb and pocket watch.
Charles Bannon was buried in a cemetery in Williston. The Haven family was buried in
the Schafer Cemetery east of Watford City. Bannon’s father served time in the North
Dakota Penitentiary. He was released from jail in the early 1950s when he was in 77
years old.
The Long X Visitor Center and Pioneer Museum in Watford City, which opened in
2005, has information about the area’s culture, geology, history and geography. The
facility is open yearround Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. During the
summer, it also is open Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. It is located at the corner of Main Street
and U.S. Highway 85 in Watford City.
A Smithsonian Institute traveling exhibit entitled “Between Fences” will open in the
museum March 14 and remain there through April 25. The exhibit is being done in
cooperation with the North Dakota Humanities Council. The exhibit focuses on various
regions of the country telling American stories, Dodge said. She said local programs are
being planned while the exhibit is in Watford City.