Alexander Callahan: The “Demon” Sheriff of Whatcom County Part II
On New Year’s Day 1900, the world rang in a new century. Together civilization closed a chapter of human history marred with old world conflict, rampant bigotry, and intense industrialization and welcomed a new era that promised expanded commerce, social change, and exploration the likes of which many had never seen before. Much of this exploration that the twentieth century had to offer was in the western half of the United States. Decades before the turn of the century tens of thousands of pioneers packed up their lives and gambled on the idea of a better life in a wild land full of unknowns. For many, this gamble did not pay off, but as the world celebrated this calender change, one of these pioneers was busy plotting his move west. The gamble that Alexander Lewis Callahan took in the winter of 1900 moving from his quiet farm life in Nebraska to the fourth corner of the United States was one that would set him up for immense success and ensure that a fledgling community built into the untamed landscape of the Pacific Northwest would have a fierce and dedicated protector.
Arriving in Bellingham in February of 1900, Alexander Callahan entered the local carpentry business. Here he saw much success but opted to transfer to the law enforcement profession in 1905. He was quickly promoted to Captain, and on three separate occasions, served as Bellingham Police Chief. He then made another shift from municipal law enforcement to county law enforcement in 1916, becoming Deputy Whatcom County Sheriff. His career was briefly interrupted by the war that had broken out in Europe. Callahan volunteered to fight on the front lines at the age of forty-five, going on to see combat in France and leading an all-black engineering regiment in the First World War. After his service to his country was complete, he returned to Bellingham and picked up right where he left off. In 1920 he threw his hat in the ring running for Whatcom County Sheriff as a Republican. Callahan was so popular throughout the county at the time that the Democratic Party chose not to run a candidate for Sheriff that year, and publicly endorsed Callahan for the position. That November he prevailed with over sixty percent of the vote. In a period of twenty years, Callahan had gone from being a mid-western carpenter with little to no connections in a new and unfamiliar city, to a popular, dedicated, and beloved public servant. Now in public office Callahan had to live up to the support that he had been given. His tenure in office would be defined by not only dedicated service, but also immense tragedy, ugly scandals, and issues that seemed to remain prevalent as the passing of time marched forward.
The first term: Prohibition and Tragedy
The issue that would define Callahan’s eight years as Sheriff was prohibition. In the early 1920’s the Canadian border was not patrolled, and rum runners were pouring into the United States with illegal alcohol. It was up to local law enforcement to catch the criminals and enforce the federal mandates. Given the sheer volume of illegal alcohol entering Whatcom County, this proved to be nearly impossible. Upon taking office Callahan made many substantial changes to how the Sheriff’s office dealt with illegal alcohol seized near the border. Callahan believed the way the Sheriff’s office had been storing seized alcohol was asking for trouble. Rooms at the county courthouse were packed with confiscated bottles, and there was no real system in place to catalogue and eventually destroy the contraband. One of Callahan’s first moves was to retain the assistance of former Whatcom County Sheriff, and his old boss, Will Wallace. Callahan appointed Wallace as Special Deputy charged with getting the excess alcohol in the county’s possession in order for eventual destruction. The office was so far behind in processing, Callahan needed a full-time employee to take on this task.
The county did not have laws pertaining to what should be done with seized alcohol. The practice had been to store it at the courthouse to be used as evidence in criminal cases, but Callahan was not trusting enough to keep this practice in place. In February of 1921, he requested that a court order be issued allowing the Sheriff’s office to dispose of all seized alcohol once the case it was related to closed. Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Hardin agreed and signed the order allowing the Sheriff’s office in conjunction with the Clerk’s office to destroy the stored evidence. It was recalled in The Bellingham Herald that after this order was given, later that summer, Callahan was able to destroy $4,000 worth of alcohol in one day, equivalent to just over $66,000 today. While this took care of the alcohol already seized, the issue of the alcohol being illegally sold in Whatcom County only got worse.
Callahan increased patrols around areas where rumrunners were known to smuggle alcohol and made tracking local smugglers a priority for his deputies. In his first six months alone, the department arrested fifty suspected smugglers, a number that was unheard of under his predecessor. Additionally, Callahan had made such a ruckus to the federal government about the issue that in June of 1921 John Exnicios, a federal agent, was sent to Whatcom County for the sole purpose of aiding Callahan in tracking and arresting alcohol smugglers. Callahan became so proficient at arresting these criminals that the county jail was proving to be too small and underequipped to handle the volume. In July of that year Callahan went before the County Commission to request they purchase more blankets and bedding for the jail, as the facility only had bedding for thirty prisoners. Combined with the non-prohibition related offenders, Callahan was going above this number regularly. The County Commissioners did not take kindly to Callahan’s request, arguing that the federal government had given the county the impossible task of enforcing prohibition, and they should not have to foot the bill. The Commissioners instead expressed support for a law that would require smugglers carry blankets and pillows with them while partaking in their illegal activity in case they ended up incarcerated. In the end the body did not pass any such law or grant Callahan the extra blankets.
The business of bringing illegal alcohol across the border from British Columbia brought colorful characters into Whatcom County. One of those characters was Jack Kielt, who had regularly smuggled alcohol into the country near the Sumas border crossing. In the summer of 1921, sheriff’s deputies encountered Keilt near Columbia Valley and attempted to apprehend him. A fight ensued, and Kielt was able to disarm both officers and hold them at gun point. After a period of time Kielt let the officers go if they let him go in return, but issued this warning:
“If it was Sheriff Callahan, he would be dead right now. I am going to shoot him on sight. I have made up my mind to that and also that I am not going to jail again. Callahan has been making too much trouble for me and rather than go back to jail I will die.”
In typical form, Sheriff Callahan was not going to take this threat lying down. When he heard of the encounter he reportedly responded, “huh, I’ll go out and arrest him, and I’ll go alone.” With the exception of arresting Kielt, Callahan did just what he said. He got in a patrol car and headed for Columbia Valley by himself. This prompted much concern for his well-being around the county courthouse, and even led The Bellingham Herald to print an article under the heading “Where’s Callahan.” The Sheriff spent most of the day into the night searching for Kielt, and ransacking his cabin near Glacier to no avail. It was surmised that after his encountered with the deputies earlier that day, Kielt fled back across the border into Canada. Kielt was never heard from again.
The Sheriff’s Department would not be as fortunate in its next dust up with suspected rumrunners later that summer. In late July, while patrolling the border near Blaine, two sheriff’s deputies, James Chatfield and Holman Drain, the latter being one of the officers held at gunpoint by Kielt, encountered a suspicious man walking near a known smuggling trail. The deputies exited their patrol car and followed the men into the woods from a distance. Once in the woods Deputy Chatfield ordered the man to stop and fired two warning shots into the air. The man later identified as twenty-two-year-old Alfred “Red” Anderson did not realize the men were law enforcement officers and fired back shooting Chatfield in the lower abdomen. A gun battle ensued, with Chatfield emptying his revolver while on the ground, and Anderson eventually charging the officers. Once within close proximity Drain identified himself, and a horrified Anderson surrendered and aided Drain in carrying Chatfield back to the patrol car. It would later be discovered that Anderson was not smuggling alcohol but was camping with two friends in the area and thought the officers to be criminals themselves. The whole tragic incident had been a misunderstanding.
Coincidently Sheriff Callahan had also been in Blaine that day and met Chatfield, Drain, and Anderson at the doctor’s office after the incident. Callahan immediately sent Drain back to the scene to collect Anderson’s belongings and instructed him to arrest the other two campers Frank Tool and Elza Cowell. After Dr. Clinton McKinnis examined Chatfield and realized the extent of his injuries, he had an ambulance rush him to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham for surgery to remove the bullet and stop internal bleeding. At 8:12 on the evening of July 28, 1921, Sheriff's Deputy James Chatfield died after doctors were unable to stop the bleeding.
The case and subsequent trial of Alfred Anderson dragged on for over a year and occupied a large portion of Callahan’s time remaining in his first term. To make this time all the more painful for Callahan, eleven days after Chatfield’s death, his nineteen-year-old daughter Mabel and her infant son died of an unknown illness. There is no record as to how these events impacted Callahan, but it is not a stretch to speculate that he was left broken after experiencing these losses so close together. On September 2, 1922, over a year after the incident, the case against Alfred Anderson ended in a mistrial when a juror and county probation officer were seen talking, breaking the judge’s order that jurors are not to speak to people other than the bailiff. The case was never retried, and Anderson moved to Grays Harbor County. This case ended just in time for Callahan to launch his next battle, re-election.
Alexander Callahan participated heavily in the trial of Alfred Anderson, testifying and attending throughout the duration. The trial took place in the fall of 1922, during his bid for re-election. If he had expected his opponents to give him a break during this period, he would have been wrong. The election of 1922 looked to be an even tougher battle for Callahan than his initial election two years earlier. This stemmed from no other issue than prohibition, and a situation that had unfolded near Lynden earlier that year.
In and around Lynden north to the Canadian border, clubs known as “beer resorts” began to illegally operate. These clubs were near the border, where alcohol could easily be brought to service customers coming from Bellingham and other parts of the county. The residents of Lynden and the surrounding area complained to Callahan about these establishments and wanted them shut down. In total, there were twenty-six beer resorts near Lynden, much more than Callahan and the Sheriff’s Department could handle. Callahan requested the assistance of Provincial Police in British Columbia, and the Lynden Town Marshall, J. Le Compte, to help raid and shut down the beer resorts. The Canadians provided invaluable support in the task, while the Lynden Marshall chose not to co-operate with the request. Even without Lynden, all twenty-six beer resorts were shut down and the proprietors arrested, but the whole situation left a bad taste in the mouths of Callahan and Lynden residents. Many accused Callahan of not tackling the beer resort issue right away, and in many cases implied that he was somehow turning a blind eye to rum running. Aided by the Lynden marshall, Callahan’s opponents ran with this.
The term for county-wide offices in Whatcom County when Callahan was first elected in 1920 was two-years, however between 1920 and 1922 these terms were extended to four years, meaning whoever won in 1922 would get a longer term in office. It was all but a sure thing that Callahan would run for re-election, but who his opponent would be, and from what party, was the real question. After much speculation, former Deputy Sheriff Chris Patterson entered the race as a Republican in July of 1922. As was the case in 1920, the Republican primary election would be the real test of Callahan’s popularity. Throughout the campaign Patterson made the beer resort debacle the number one issue and forced Callahan to repeatedly answer to the situation that had unfolded months prior. The Lynden Tribune, and Lynden Town Marshall J. Le Compte, aided Patterson by spreading negative information about Callahan and implying he was not enforcing prohibition as forcefully as he could. That September, the voters in the Republican primary once again affirmed their belief in Callahan, giving him 56% of the vote. While he won the county, he only received 12% of the vote in the City of Lynden, showing just how effective Le Compte had been in campaigning for Patterson. Another difference this time around was that Callahan now faced a Democrat opponent in the November election, and the beer resort issue was not finished.
James Laytham of Blaine was the Democrat nominee for Sheriff. Laytham had served in various law enforcement capacities at the state level, but never in Whatcom County. He ran on a platform of being the “dry” candidate both professionally and personally, a dig at Callahan. Callahan shot back, running a fierce campaign defending his record, and advertising support from the County Prosecutor, and various newspapers throughout the area. In the lead up to the November election Callahan even purchased a full-page ad in The Bellingham Herald to tell his side of the story. The voters once again made their confidence in Callahan known at the ballot box, giving the incumbent Sheriff 55% of the vote. His margins in Lynden improved a bit, receiving 22% of the vote, but was the only Republican that year to lose the city. Regardless, Callahan had been re-elected, and the voters of Whatcom County had once again reiterated their support for the man charged with protecting them.
The Second Term (Well, most of it, at least):
As Prohibition became a settled reality, and organized crime surrounding it became more sophisticated, the City of Bellingham turned into a hub for criminal activity. With the city so close to a major port, new people were coming and going daily, many of whom did not arrive to contribute to the city’s betterment. Citizens took note of this and aired this displeasure to city and county officials. The Bellingham Police Department assured its residents that together with the Sheriff’s Office, the crime wave would be dealt with, remarking, “Liquor laws and traffic laws perhaps are the two items that will receive strict attention day and night.” This would be an excellent summary of Callahan’s second term in office and prove to be a roadmap for his policing.
The fight against rum running was only getting harder and more costly for the Sheriff’s office as Callahan was sworn into his second term. It now wasn’t just alcohol Callahan had to worry about either: on many occasions officers were discovering illegal drugs being smuggled into the United States from Canada. Callahan’s largest “dope” bust came in 1925, when Sheriff’s deputies seized $175,000 worth of illegal drugs entering the county, over $2.7 million dollars today. These crimes didn’t just include land, illegal substances were now coming into Whatcom County on ships. This crime on the high seas turned into a modern form of piracy, with rumrunners patrolling the waters of Washington and British Columbia armed and ready to seize the ship’s contents. The largest of these instances came in late summer 1924, when the cargo ship Beryl G destined for Victoria was discovered in a state of “confusion” by the Turn Point light housekeeper Chris Waters. The anchor had been dragging with the bodies Captain William Gillis, and his son William Jr. attached and floating in the water. Once aboard, it was discovered that the ship’s alcohol supply, along with all weapons had been raided by criminals looking for alcohol to smuggle into the U.S. From the start Callahan took an interest in this case, and together with B.C. Inspector Forbes Cruickshank, the perpetrators were arrested and convicted. An excellent article on the Beryl G incident by historian Philip Jensen can be found here.
Back on the mainland the smuggling and production of homemade alcohol was becoming a much more localized business. People in Bellingham and throughout Whatcom County were making their own alcohol, and distributing it to friends, neighbors, and even customers. The issue had gone from one of criminals coming across the border, to everyday citizens throughout the county. To the surprise of Sheriff Callahan, a great number of women were even getting into the alcohol business. So much so that, in his second term, deputies floated the idea of hiring a “jail matron” to watch after the female prisoners. Women weren’t the only problem at the jail, which was affectionately referred to as “Hotel Callahan.” The number of overall prisoners continued to increase as the department continued to arrest those breaking prohibition laws. The number of guests at Hotel Callahan had gotten so high in 1925 that the Sheriff was once again forced to request additional blankets and pillows from the County Commission, a request that had been denied during his first term.
With increased alcohol-related arrests, this meant an increased amount of seized product. Callahan, along with members of the County Clerk’s office, continued the practice of destroying the contraband after the cases had been settled, usually in batches about every six months. At one point during his second term, Callahan poured $8,700 worth of illegal alcohol down the drain of his office at the county courthouse, which is just shy of $150,000 today. Liquor was a problem for county leaders, and it seemed to be popping up around every issue. In 1923, not long after taking the oath for the second time, the County Commission was tasked with handling the Alki Bungalow Dance Hall near Ten Mile. The Alki, as it was referred to, was a rowdy club on the Guide-Meridian that had been a headache for neighbors. The Ten Mile Township Board of Supervisors ordered that the Alki close at midnight on Saturdays, an order that was not followed. In an effort to bring relief, they passed the issue on to the County Commission in November of that year. Here, Sheriff Callahan made his feelings clear, stating, “It costs the county about $20 more than the license brought into the County Treasurer to look after the place Saturday nights. Arrests are being made there for drunkenness nearly every Saturday night.” As was the case many times throughout his tenure in office, the County Commissioners did not agree with Callahan, and voted to allow the Alki to continue operation. Coincidently (or not) the Sheriff's office put an emphasis on dance halls throughout the county later that month, arresting seven individuals in one Saturday night. Callahan was going to get his way.
Another item that had at one time been exclusive but was now becoming mainstream was automobiles. The number of cars on the road in Whatcom County had skyrocketed in the mid-1920’s, and as was the case for Callahan while a member of the Bellingham Police Department, the laws could not keep up. Now mix in the illegal alcohol that was readily available on the streets, and car crashes, thefts, and injuries were becoming all too common. This was an issue that aggravated Callahan, and combining his two biggest issues, alcohol and automobiles made his job that much harder. In March of 1923, with the complete support of Callahan, Whatcom County Superior Court Judge W.H. Heaton announced new consequences for drunk driving. These included ninety days in jail, and a $100 fine. When asked how he felt about the stricter law he stated, “This ought to help a lot.”
While this helped with drunk driving, Callahan still believed that more needed to be done to tighten up traffic laws, especially in the city of Bellingham. He was worried about cars parking and driving wherever they wanted, and many cars did not have proper lighting when driving at night. For Callahan, relief was not coming from the County Commission and Bellingham City Council, so he took matters into his own hands. In November of 1923, Callahan released a statement explaining that “war would be waged by his office against all violators of traffic laws.” From here Callahan issued new directives to his officers for patrolling cars in Whatcom County. The first instructed deputies to write a citation for any car that did not have the proper year stick on the windshield. During this time, similar to having year tabs on the license plate today, drivers were expected to display a sticker on their windshield with the year their car was registered for. Many people did not follow this instruction, and until this point there had been no real enforcement to ensure drivers were staying up to date. Additionally, in 1925, Callahan issued a directive for deputies to be rigorous in checking that drivers had up to date driver’s licenses. During this time, licenses had to be renewed yearly, and much like the windshield sticker, with no enforcement drivers did not always obey this law. When asked about it by The Bellingham Herald, Callahan curtly told them, “This don’t mean maybe.” Finally, Callahan received permission from the County Commission to purchase a motorcycle that year to help with traffic enforcement and patrol for speeders. Callahan’s disdain for automobiles seemed to not equate a disdain for motorcycles, which he was more than happy to employ in his department.
Throughout his time in office Callahan remained extremely involved in the community and displayed a good-natured sense of humor. One of the stories told early on in his second term came from the 1923 Lynden Fair when two alleged Gypsies were telling people their fortunes on the Fairgrounds without permission. Callahan responded to the call, and when they explained what they were doing he responded, “I’ll bet I can tell your fortunes”, going on to say, “you’re both going to jail.” Of all the fortunes told at the fair that day, Callahan’s might have been the only one that proved true. In addition to his good nature on the job, he was active in the community, serving multiple times as Grand Marshall of the Tulip Parade, and chairing the Veterans Parade that took place in November to commemorate the end of the First World War. Callahan was popular, there was no doubt about that. To this point in his career, he had been able to all but deflect any political scandals that came his way, and as his second term as Whatcom County Sheriff was nearing its end, he was beginning to look at higher office. It was at about this time that a scandal finally did stick to Callahan, and this time it involved more than one member of the Callahan family.
Enter Walter
Walter Thomas Callahan was Sheriff Callahan’s second child. Born in 1899 in Nebraska, Walter made the trek west with his family when he was still an infant. Walter served his country in World War One and was the reason his father also decided to enlist to fight in France. Once back in the U.S., Walter followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Deputy, and later a Washington State Trooper. While extremely loyal to his father, Walter had an unpredictable side to him both personally and professionally. It was these wild tendencies that would not only have implications on his career, but also that of his father.
On December 15, 1925, the United States Department of Justice arrived at the Whatcom County Courthouse. The group of detectives were on a fact-finding mission to corroborate a tip they had received that rum runner Robert Farley, imprisoned in the Whatcom County jail on federal charges had been seen driving his car through Seattle with and without the county jailer. That jailer was none other than Walter Callahan, son of the sheriff. The accusation was that certain prisoners were getting special privileges, mainly being afford additional liberties that were not normal to prisoners. These included time outside of jail while under arrest and allowing prisoners to use their personal vehicles while in custody.
Walter of course had an answer to the whole situation, and in a sworn affidavit to a federal judge wove a tale that in all likelihood made his father cringe at every detail. On the morning of November 25, Walter was ending his shift at the jail for the night and planned on driving to Seattle for the day. Upon leaving the jail, Walter claims he was “accosted” by Farley, who desired to accompany him to Seattle to collect money he was owed. Farley intended to collect enough money to pay the $350 fine that had been leveled against him by the Whatcom County Superior Court. Sheriff Callahan was out of town at the time, and Walter decided that this request was not unreasonable so long as Farley was in his surveillance the entire time. While by today’s standards this seems absurd, it was common practice for sheriff’s deputies to transport prisoners to locations where they could collect money to pay their fines. This policy though stated that it must be within a “reasonable” distance. Upon leaving the jail, Farley suggested that they take his car, as it was closer and “more comfortable” to which Walter agreed. This was not common practice. En route to Seattle, Farley requested that they stop at his family’s home in Bothell to retrieve clothes and other personal items, another request that Walter granted. Once in Seattle, Farley was able to collect $300 from various people who were indebted to him, and Walter returned him to the jail that evening. When questioned about this trip, Sheriff Callahan explained that he had not known about his son’s trip to Seattle with Farley until December 15, when federal agents arrived at the courthouse to question him on the matter. This, however, was not the only instance that brought the Justice Department to Bellingham.
James Hird, the owner of a pool hall in Anacortes, signed a sworn affidavit that George Brown, another federal prisoner in Callahan’s custody, had been seen walking the streets of Anacortes while he should have been locked in jail in the neighboring county. After investigating the claims and interviewing members of the Sheriff’s office, the federal government charged Sheriff Callahan with contempt of commitments of federal prisoners sentenced to the county jail. In early January 1926, Alexander Callahan, the prisoners in question, and other witnesses were taken before a federal judge in Seattle. In the lead up to his day in court, Sheriff Callahan had signed an affidavit saying that George Brown had not been in Anacortes, and that he had never left the county jail as James Hird had argued. However, the day before Callahan took the stand, Brown admitted to Callahan that he had in fact escaped the jail during his duties in the jail kitchen, and that he had also lied in his affidavit. While on the stand the next day, Callahan admitted to this revaluation, but argued he had not been made aware of either instance until December 15, when the Department of Justice arrived in Bellingham, and moreover he had not known that Brown was lying until just the day before. The prosecution seized on this; Deputy U.S. Attorney Curtis Abrams stated that:
“He [Callahan] had probably trusted his deputies too far, and that is regrettable. It is apparent that his deputies abused their responsibility as jailers, and in this case the matter is one pertaining to carelessness in management of the county jail. That is also regrettable.”
Deputy U.S. Attorney C.T. McKinney took this a step further saying that:
“Knowledge of what is going on in his office is the Sheriff’s duty. It is his duty to know that when federal prisoners are put in his jail, they are put there to be punished, not to be sent to someone's summer home for a vacation.”
After only hearing the testimony of Sheriff Callahan, and the arguments from the Department of Justice, Federal Judge Jeremiah Neterer, who was coincidently the former Bellingham City Attorney, found Callahan guilty of contempt of commitments of federal prisoners sentenced to the county jail. This came with a $10 fine, and a pledge by Callahan to “shake-up” the department. Within a week it was announced that Walter had resigned his post as a Sheriff Deputy and accepted a position with the Ocean Falls B.C. Police Department. Whether this resignation came willingly or was requested by his father is a question lost to history. This arrangement did not last long, however, as later that winter Walter returned to western Washington, accepting a position with the State Patrol based out of Mount Vernon. While this whole fiasco, titled the “Callahan Affair” in the press, was a black eye on the Sheriff’s record of service, it would become clear in the following months that he intended to move forward with his political career as though nothing had happened. The question now became, did the voters still trust him?
Commissioner Callahan?
In an unexpected turn of events, that winter Sheriff Callahan announced he would not seek re-election for a third term in the November election. Whether or not this came as a surprise to the county is unknown, however within days seven candidates threw their name in the hat to succeed him. Then, in March, incumbent Whatcom County Commissioner James Miller announced he would also not run for re-election. With this announcement many names began to swirl around the county as to possible candidates for the open seat. When asked by The Bellingham Herald if he intended to run later that month, Callahan responded, “I might,” a very typical Callahan response. For months following Miller’s announcement, The Herald referred to Callahan as a “probable” candidate for Commissioner, and all but filed for the position for him.
He made the media, and the county, wait for months while other candidates began campaigning for Commissioner and for his current job. To some this shows a bit of political arrogance, to others it shows a level of comfort with the voters of Whatcom County. Whatever the case might have been for Callahan, he waited until July 1926 to formally announce his intention to run for the Republican nomination for Whatcom County Commissioner from District 1 in the September primary. The race to replace Miller now consisted of five Republicans and one Democrat. This would seem to be a hot race that would receive immense attention, and in most circumstances, it would be, however, that year the race to replace Callahan as Sheriff proved to be the exciting contest for voters to watch. This race included thirteen candidates, a large portion of whom had either worked for Callahan or had been involved in the Sheriff’s Department over the years. The press watched this race closely and reported on many of the developments throughout the summer and fall. This didn’t leave much time to report on the race for County Commissioner, and aside from the loyal support of veterans organizations, Callahan did very little campaigning. In fact, while cleaning out his office that summer, he found an old campaign card from his 1922 re-election campaign. As a joke he put the card up in the Sheriff’s Office garage, and a rumor began to spread that he had changed his mind and decided to run for re-election after all.
In September 1926, after enjoying nearly a decade of professional and political success, Alexander Callahan was defeated. In the Republican primary election for Whatcom County Commissioner, Callahan came in third place, receiving only 19% of the vote. County Engineer Fred McElmon won the Republican nomination with 40% and would go on to defeat former county Sheriff L.A. Thomas in the general election that November. It can be speculated what contributed to Callahan’s defeat, whether that be lack of campaigning, a scandal that had unfolded earlier that year, or another popular countywide official running on the same ticket. Whatever the case maybe, Callahan now saw the end of his public service career was in sight. Over the next few months Callahan continued working diligently as Sheriff, preparing a budget for the following year for a department that he would no longer lead. In honor of his service, the Bellingham Veterans club made him the marshall of the 1926 Armistice Day Parade. Near the end of 1926, it became clear that incoming Sheriff Thomas Fraser intended to “clean house” of some of Callahan’s deputies once he took office. On January 10, 1927, Alexander Callahan handed over the keys to his office, and Thomas Fraser was officially sworn in as Whatcom County Sheriff. With this, all but one sheriff’s deputy resigned their posts, opting to quit instead of staying to get fired by their new boss. The Callahan era had ended. The question on everyone’s mind now was whether that would last.
A comeback and the irony of death
After leaving office Callahan spent some time in Olympia working with the legislature on police issues, and for a brief period was considered a candidate for warden of the Walla Walla State Penitentiary. Back home in Bellingham he did side work as a contractor, harkening back to his early days when he built grand structures like the Fairhaven Carnegie Library. As the decade changed and time continued its march, reports of “Callahan” in local media referred more often than not about Walter, who was still with the State Patrol, as opposed to his father. Alexander Callahan now preferred quiet work with veterans' organizations and remained active in other Bellingham civic clubs. It was politics, though, that was still in Callahan’s blood.
In summer 1934, eight years after winning his election, Sheriff Thomas Fraser announced he would not seek re-election. The open seat again fielded thirteen candidates, eight Democrats, and five Republicans. The first person to file was former sheriff Alexander Callahan. At age 64, Callahan was attempting to make a political comeback, and this time he was not taking anything for granted. Callahan spent a considerable amount of money campaigning that year and ran a series of advertisements detailing his law enforcement background and sharing his vision for the Sheriff’s Office. The voters however did not want to go backward, and in the Republican primary that year, Callahan received only 16% of the vote, coming in fourth in a field of five. His time in politics was over. He would never run for office again.
The world did not hear from Alexander Callahan after this loss. He returned to a very private life and was mentioned very seldom in local press. He remained active in civic organizations, and even took up a job as a Special Deputy for the Alaska Department of Public Welfare. This period of private life would prove to be painfully short, as on Christmas Eve 1935, Alexander Callahan was struck and killed by a car on Dupont Street. He died the next morning, Christmas Day 1935. The untimely death had a stinging element of irony, as Callahan had devoted a large portion of his law enforcement career to the enforcement of automobiles within the City of Bellingham.
On December 27, 1935, on that hill at Bayview Cemetery overlooking the much smaller Douglas fir trees, Bellingham gathered to say goodbye to a friend. Over 200 attended the funeral, which spilled out from the Harlow-Hollingsworth house and onto the street. At the graveside service the Bellingham Police Department and Fire Department presented the colors, and the local American Legion Post gave Callahan full military honors. Former colleagues from the police department and Sheriff’s department were pallbearers, and law enforcement officers from around the state attended the service to pay their respects. It was reported that the casket was not even visible with the number of flowers that were stacked on top and around it. If Alexander Callahan or his family ever doubted the respect that the people of Whatcom County and the state had for him after his political losses, that was now dispelled. Politics can be blood sport, and throughout his life Alexander Callahan celebrated the victories and the defeats of that sport. But as the community gathered to say goodbye to the man whose sworn job it was to protect them for decades, it was not the political losses or the scandals that were top of mind for those in attendance, but the devoted service and dedication of a man whose life had been cut short.
Back to the question
Months of research, multiple trips to the archives, and two articles later, a new light (or at the very least a light) has been shed on the life of Alexander Callahan. His story has been told, and an overgrown grave is now once again visible to the public. However, the question that kicked off this quest and opened this historian's eyes to the life of Alexander Callahan remains unanswered. In every document, news article, and book that mentions Callahan, there is never a reference to him as the “demon” Sheriff as the eBay photo did. There are not even clues as to how a nickname like this could have come to be. While this may seem like the search has turned up empty, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The life of a man who had been all but forgotten has now been told, and the public, and potentially descendants of Callahan's, can now maybe for the first time understand the contributions that this colorful and enigmatic man made to a part of our region at a time when criminals ran rampant, and policing was rugged and extremely dangerous. Sometimes in history we don't’ find the answers we are looking for. It’s aggravating, but it's one of the constants in an ever-changing field. That said, it's the questions that we ask that can lead us to unintended discoveries, and exploration we never expected. Asking questions doesn’t always lead us where we think we are going, but if we are open to seeing where they take us, the answers might lead us somewhere much greater.
