Back in Time | Aspen

“Mrs. Cavanaugh rents some rooms from Sam Garrett over his White House saloon on Cooper Avenue, and John Frazier wanted them,” explained the Aspen Daily Times on June 7, 1889.

“Mr. Garrett was willing to rent them provided he could get Mrs. Cavanaugh out without any trouble. Frazier said he could do that but proceeded illegally. The first thing he did was to borrow the big tin star, about the size of a dinner plate, that the policeman belonging to the stock company at Charlie Boyd’s theatre wears when he is impersonating an officer. He then got him a sheet of legal cap and indicted upon it a bogus ejectment writ, and behind the glory of the monstrous tin insignia, with the writ in his hand, […] was ready for business. Now, those who know Mrs. Cavanaugh are aware that she is a lady of very decided opinions, a stickler for her rights, and one who is not easily ‘bulldozed.’ So it was perfectly natural when Frazier, who weighs less than 100 pounds and doesn’t look as if he got one square meal, much less three a day, appeared behind his bogus tin plate, his heathen smile so bland, and his bogus writ in his bony hand, that she refused to step down and out. On the contrary, she soon put the little speculator on other people’s misfortunes to flight and repaired to Judge Wiley’s palace of justice, where she procured a real writ for Frazier, charging him with falsely impersonating an officer. Marshal Crowder arrested Frazier and turned him over to the sheriff. Judge Wiley heard the case Thursday afternoon and at the conclusion fined the tin-plate sheriff $10 and costs.”

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