COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) - For three days, Claude B. Dail was a special deputy in the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.
One of nearly 100 deputized in the wake of a farmers strike sweeping into Council Bluffs, his mission was to protect the Council Bluffs jail - now the Historic Squirrel Cage Jail museum - at all costs. But The Daily Nonpareil reports (https://bit.ly/Mm9CTG ) his service was short-lived.
Cpl. Jason LeMaster, who also serves on the board of directors for the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, said an analysis of several Nonpareil articles printed in 1932, detailed the story of Dail, a Council Bluffs resident and World War I veteran, who died three days after he was hired.
The sheriff’s office has for years honored two recorded deaths of deputies in the line of duty. But LeMaster’s recent discovery of Dail’s service has led Pottawattamie County to expand its list.
Dail will be added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. His name will be formally dedicated on May 13 at the 26th Annual Candlelight Vigil during National Police Week.
In 1932, Midwest residents organized the Farmers Holiday Association in response to low market prices.
“Because the market prices were low, their farms were being foreclosed and their equipment was being seized,” LeMaster said.
Sheriff Percy A. Lainson printed a warning in The Nonpareil on Aug. 26, 1932, that told people to stay away from the jail because residents could be injured from picketers.
The farmers had declared a Farmers’ Holiday in which no one would harvest, work or transport goods to other locations. The movement became known as the Farmers Holiday Strike.
However, residents did not take kindly to the request. Lainson expected more farmers to come from Sioux City and northwest Iowa to picket highways in Council Bluffs.
Farmers had blocked several major highways so produce could not enter or leave the city. Trees and road spikes were used to block U.S. Highway 34, which then ran near the Iowa School for the Deaf, U.S. Highway 6 and Iowa Highway 92.
Lainson hired 98 special deputies on Aug. 22, 1932, to thwart potential violence from Iowa farmers who rebelled, fearing low market prices would rob them of land and income.
Dail, a Missouri native, joined the sheriff’s department during a crisis in which farmers were imprisoned for picketing those major highways in Council Bluffs to prevent the shipping of agricultural products. Lainson told his deputies that maintaining security at the Squirrel Cage Jail, where farmers were held, was a top priority.
After an incident where 66 picketing farmers were arrested and taken to the jail, Lainson had deputies outfit the perimeter of the jail with Gatling guns to serve as a last defense against aggravated farmers. He feared a mass attack that would free those inside the Squirrel Cage Jail.
Lainson told his deputies that if any farmers tried to storm the Squirrel Cage Jail, they were authorized to kill them.
“We are armed,” Lainson told The Nonpareil on Aug. 25, 1932. “If there is mob violence, we shall handle it in the best possible manner.”
That day, Dail and Special Deputy Joe Ludwig were tasked with guarding the jail from picketers who wanted to rescue their fellow farmers.
While testing the weapons, a gun accidentally discharged, fatally striking Dail and injuring Ludwig. They were taken to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs by a man named H.D. Kelly. Dail later died of his injuries.
The sheriff’s office has a record that Dail’s father picked up his remains after a cremation at a Council Bluffs funeral home, but that is where the trail becomes cold.
Dail was a World War I veteran who served as a private with the 150th Field Artillery. After the war, he moved to Council Bluffs to live with his father.
“It’d be nice to have a living relative to contact whether it’s in Missouri or here,” LeMaster said. “It’s so we can honor our past.”
LeMaster said the deputy was not married or had any children. But the sheriff’s office hopes to find additional information about the man to keep a more complete record.
“It’s a loss, but it’s not forgotten,” he said.
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Information from: The Daily Nonpareil, https://www.nonpareilonline.com
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