the rightful
owner of a lot on Mission street ; Union Square was fenced in, and when by order of the mayor the street commissioner attempted to remove it, the claimant drew a pistol but was disarmed before he could use it. It was in a quarrel over a lot on Greenwich street that John Baldwin, an old and respected citizen, was shot dead by one Hetherington. There was a multi- tude of affairs of this nature, many of which resulted fatally.
Samuel Brannan in 1851 had deeded the Odd Fel- lows' ground for a cemetery, and by mid-summer 1853 squatters swarmed on it. In certain quarters there appeared something like systematic organization with wealth behind appearances.
It appears that Captain Folsom experienced no little trouble from the squatter. He repeatedly em- ployed armed bodies of men to clear his property, tear down fences, demolish houc:es and drive off claim- ants. This was a rather arbitrary practise for a whilom government officer; but the courts were slow, much slower than gunpowder; and when property was rapidly appreciating and depreciating, lengthy litiga- tions would entail loss even to the winner. A lot on the corner of Mission and Third streets was the scene of a fatal squatter riot about the first of June 1854. Some ten men were engaged on either side. The police were rather inclined to favor the squatters, but they were finally ejected. In this disgraceful affair two men were killed and five wounded.
So rank had become this evil that holders of prop- erty under title derived from the city, and others, held a meeting on the 5th of June, 1854, at the office of Theodore Payne and Company, and steps were taken toward the appointment of a special police for the protection of their lots, or in other words, for the organization of a band of fighting men to drive away the squatters. Something of the kind was needed, and, indeed, justifiable, for the squatters had entrenched themselves on Mission street, and threate
