Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A Colfax jury rendered its verdict in the Samuel Clemens trial: guilty of manslaughter.

This was a lesser charge than the second-degree murder charge the prosecutor had sought. Yet Clemens told the court after the verdict that he would move for a new trial.

The defense had argued that the killing of George Boland 14 years ago had been an accident. The defense also argued that Clemens had already suffered enough, since he had been in hiding for 14 years and living as a fugitive with no contact with his loved ones. He had been in Canada for a time and later on the west side of the state.

In July 1914, Clemens, 60, now white-haired and “haggard,” showed up in Colfax and asked to be arrested. He told a marshal that he was tired of living as a fugitive and wanted to live honestly. Apparently, he believed he would be exonerated in a trial.

Clemens eventually would serve time in Walla Walla for the crime and then live out the rest of his life in the Puget Sound area.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1806: Explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.

1942: The naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended during World War II with a decisive U.S. victory over Japanese forces.