On This Date in Minnesota History: August 4

August 4, 1912 – Julius M. Hanson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hanson of Lake Park, Minn., and traveling representative of the Duluth Brewing Company, was shot down and killed by an unknown highwayman who lay in wait to rob him in the Lincoln School in Fargo early this morning. Hanson failed to comply with the highwayman’s request that he hold up his hands but instead called for help. One of the robbers presses a revolver to Hanson’s stomach and fired.

The bullet pierced a main artery near the stomach and Hanson died before he could be operated on at the hospital. Neighbors who found him dying on the sidewalk heard him tell a garbled story of what happened.

He said two masked white men, both short and of stocky build, came at him from around the corner of the Lincoln School building and after one had shot him, neglecting to rob him of the $35 and a watch he had, they fled east.

With no description, or clue upon which to work, the authorities are at a loss to know what to do. The murder is the second highwaymen have committed on the same street and under the same circumstances within a year. Police believe local men committed the crime and it is said the arrest of well-known person is imminent. This evening, Mayor W. D. Sweet offered $200 reward for the arrest of the murderers and the county is expected to offer a much larger reward tomorrow. Excitement over the crime is at fever heat. Hanson was 25 years old and well known throughout the area.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Minnesota Man Killed By Two Robbers in Fargo. Instead of Holding Up His Hands, Young Man Calls for Help. Townspeople Find Him Dying on Sidewalk—Tells How It Happened.”; Aug. 5, 1912; p. 1.

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