Deputy U.S. Marshal Edwin H. Sherman, 70, was shot and killed during an arrest attempt of an Indian in Haines on April 21, 1930. The Indian then committed suicide.
The most complete "story" of the killing of Deputy Sherman comes from Elisabeth S. Hakkinen, the daughter of former Deputy U.S. Marshal Steve Sheldon, who was 16 years old in 1930. According to Hakkinen (who in 1986 was curator of the Sheldon Museum in Haines), Jim Watson was an "older Indian man with a young wife" who was trying to prevent her from eloping with her step-son, Mike (Jim's oldest son).
According to the Daily Alaska Empire, Jim Watson came home that Monday, April 21, 1930, and wanted to eat but his wife told him to wait until the children came home from school (three of their children were still living at home). Watson started cooking a meal and "demanded" that his wife "finish the job." She "refused to comply and started to pack her clothes preparatory to leaving the house."
Nellie Shorty, a married daughter of the Watsons "was in the house when the trouble started between her parents." Watson threatened to kill Nellie but she "succeeded in escaping from the place with the three smaller children." She reported to "officers" that Watson "was pouring kerosene over the floor as if preparing to set it on fire."
Watson apparently decided that one way to keep his wife at home was "to make a bonfire of all her clothes in the middle of the kitchen floor." One newspaper account suggested that Watson then "went on the warpath" and began "dancing and whooping in the house in which he had barricaded himself." When the wife tried to "rescue" some of her clothes from the fire, Watson hit her with a iron stove poker and "beat her up and she ran (or 'crawled') to a neighbor's house" across the street. The neighbor called the U.S. Marshal's office in Haines for help.
Mrs. Watson, who was "rushed to the Army Hospital at Chilkoot Barracks," was severely injured and was later reported to be in "serious condition" at the Post Hospital and "her chances for recovery were slight." She had "seven holes on her head from blows struck by her husband". (There was no later mention as to whether the wife survived.)
Deputy Marshal Edwin H. Sherman, 70, a nine-year veteran of the Marshal's Service, "had only recently been transferred to Haines from Tenake" (though another account indicated he had been there for three years). In response to the report of Nellie Shorty and/or the neighbor who sheltered Watson's wife, Sherman went to Watson's home which was "2 or 3 doors west of the schoolhouse on Main Street." Watson warned Deputy Sherman to "leave him alone" and would not submit to arrest. Sherman then went to the nearest phone which was at the downtown store of the former (the previous five years) Deputy Marshal, Steve Sheldon. Sheldon and U.S. Commissioner Allan Frazier McLean told Sherman to "wait and let Jim cool off" before trying "take him in."
However, Deputy Sherman disregarded the advice of the two "locals" and phoned the Army Post at "Chilkoot Barracks" for a contingent of soldiers and teargas to help him force Watson out of the house. McLean issued a warrant for Watson's arrest providing a legal base for the intended action.
Marshal Sherman, Sheldon, McLean, Carl Metcalf and the soldiers went to Watson's house. Metcalf succeeded in tossing one of the teargas bombs "through a window of the house." However, the teargas only "encouraged" the fire in the kitchen. Watson "broke another hole in another window to let fresh air enter" and soon appeared in the billowing smoke in the front window with a 3006 rifle.
The Marshal called to him and started across the front yard. Watson yelled, "leave me alone now," but the Marshal kept walking toward him. Watson shot twice. One shot caught Sherman in the heart, through the center of his handcuffs on an inside pocket. The other glanced off the cuffs. (from 1987 letter by Elisabeth S. Sheldon Hakkinen)
According to a contemporary newspaper account, the first shot knocked Sherman from his feet. He arose immediately and the Indian re-opened fire. Twice more the officer was hit, falling at the third shot." (Juneau Daily Alaska Empire, 4231930)
Sheldon called out, "Jim, we're going to come get the Marshal, but we're not coming in for you yet. Watson said, "All right, Steve" and disappeared from the window. Sheldon, McLean and Dr. Williams then went out and examined Sherman. He was dead and had been hit with three shots with two "entering next to the heart" and the "third one entered the right side." They also found that "the cigar in his teeth was still lit." His revolver "was still in his pocket." The men placed Sherman in the back of a small truck, then conferred on what to do next.
According to the Daily Alaska Empire, "within one minute after Sherman fell, Watson placed the rifle in his mouth and shot the top of his own head off." His body was recovered after the fire (which "badly injured" the house) was put out.
The house was burning merrily by this time what with the bonfire in the kitchen and the teargas. School had just let out for the day, so all us school kids were standing in the street and surrounding area because nobody remembered to tell us to go home. They took a powerful hose and went around the back of the house where they found Watson against the wall in the kitchen. It looked as if he had a towel over his head, but it was his brains. He had put the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger, blowing off the back of his head. When they carried him out to put him in the same truck as the Marshal, just as they passed a group of us watching from behind a tree, what was left of his face fell in. When they put him in the truck A.F. McLean, the U.S. Commissioner, collapsed with a heart attack and died within a couple of days. (from 1987 letter by Elisabeth S. Sheldon Hakkinen)
The "Post doctor" arrived and "pronounced" Sherman dead. U.S. Marshal White notified the Attorney General in Washington, D.C., of Sherman's death and requested approval for the expense of hiring a boat to send a deputy marshal to Haines to investigate the murder and "to make investigation as to Sherman's personal affairs and who his relatives are." Deputy C.J. Sullivan was transferred from Tenakee to Haines to replace the slain Sherman. The body of Sherman was transported from Haines to Juneau by "Undertaker G.W. Nostrand."