By Jessica Gorman
This one wasn’t in the current line-up, but since I was informed it was being discussed on social media, and the details of the story being told were a little fuzzy and maybe not quite accurate, I figured I could take a minute and add it in.
The trouble between Mayor Connell Fort and Alderman Brisco Nation is said to have begun in the spring of 1933 when W.L. Winchester, Minden sanitary department foreman, was removed from his position and replaced by A.W. Biggs. Biggs was the father-in-law of the mayor’s son, John Fort. Nation, sanitary department superintendent, opposed the move. At the September meeting of the city council, Nation made a motion to have A.W. Biggs removed. There was no second. Instead, Mayor Fort swapped the positions of Nation and W.W. Webster. Nation moved from chairman of the sanitary department to chairman of the public safety department. Webster moved from chairman of public safety to chairman of the sanitary department.
In an open letter published in the September 26th edition of the Signal-Tribune, Nation revealed why he thought retaliatory action was being taken against him. He said that the real reason for his removal was that he suggested Biggs be removed from his position based on poor job performance after trash was dumped in a creek and tax payer money wasted when that trash had to be picked up and disposed of properly. He also claimed that Mayor Fort had intended to give his own son the position of Sanitary Inspector. He continued by pointing out that both the mayor and city attorney had unlawfully been given a raise, Alderman A.S. Hughes was being paid to store city trucks, and the mayor and council had been allowed free lights and water, although that decision was reversed because residents of the city disapproved.
Nation filed suit against the mayor. The case was heard in district court. Judge J.F. McInnis ruled in favor of Nation. The mayor filed an appeal and Nation threatened to sue the entire city council. In response, the health department was put in charge of the sanitary department eliminating the position previously held by Nation.
Tempers continued to flare, and tensions reached a boiling point on November 11th. It was about 3:00 that Saturday afternoon. Mayor Connell Fort and others were in the tax office at city hall. At that time, city hall was located at the corner of Pearl Street and Monroe. We often refer to the building that once stood at that location as simply the fire station, but it did in fact serve as both fire station and city hall. Brisco Nation entered the office and confronted the mayor. The verbal confrontation quickly shifted to a physical altercation. The two were separated, but the argument continued, culminating in Mayor Fort breaking his cane over Nation’s head. Fellow aldermen W.W. Webster, who had replaced Nation as superintendent, and J.R. Murph, along with John L. Garrett convinced him it was time to go.
On the way out, Nation hit city bookkeeper, A.H. Gray, in the face. Gray responded by grabbing a broom to usher him out. Once outside, Nation, Webster, Murph, and Garrett started up Pearl Street toward Main Street. They stopped on the sidewalk outside the O.K. Cleaners, now the museum. They had been there several minutes when they were approached by John Fort, son of the mayor. Fort said to Nation, “I’m tired of you treating my father like you have,” before pulling a .38 caliber pistol from his pocket. One shot was fired, the bullet entering the left side of Nation’s body and exiting the right. Attempts to reach the sanitarium, just a couple of blocks away, were futile. Brisco Nation died within minutes of being shot.
Within the hour, Oree Nation, the eldest son, was arrested after a fight with A.W. Biggs at the Hicks Filling Station on Main Street. Meanwhile, John Fort went home and called Sheriff O. H. Haynes to let him know that he’d meet him at the jail. That evening, Fort was quietly transported to Shreveport where he was held until September of the following year when the grand jury decided not to indict.
Brisco Nation was a foreman for the Louisiana & Arkansas Railroad and was elected alderman in July 1932. He was 54 years old at the time of his death and left behind a wife and 12 children. It was reported that 2,000 attended the funeral. He is buried in the Minden Cemetery.
(Jessica Gorman is Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association & Museum, Webster Parish Historian, and an avid genealogist.)