The Arcata-McKinley connection

McKinley’s statue (pictured) stands as the cenerpiece of the Arcata Plaza. photo by Shannon Dybvig

by James Morgan

Maybe it was because of the terrorist attacks on September11, but an important centennial passed almost without notice. Sept. 6, was the 100th anniversary of the day anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot President William McKinley.

The assassination profoundly affected the communities in Northern California — including those of Humboldt County. Shortly after the president’s death, Minorville, the small town north of Arcata, changed its name in his honor, to McKinleyville. Not long after that, Arcata residents erected a statue in the image of the fallen commander in chief.

George Zehndner

Born in 1824, Zehndner was not the typical patriot.

Originally from Bavaria, Germany, he was the son of a farmer. He came to America, like many immigrants, in pursuit of prosperity. But when he got here, he found the same fate as many others: no opportunity, no money.

But like so many other immigrants in the 19th century, he found some luck — and a piece of the American Pie.

He originally settled in Indiana. While there, Zehndner worked on a farm and learned English. But he quickly learned there was nothing there for him either, and he began to head west.

He arrived on the West Coast shortly after the discovery of gold and found work in various places between San Francisco and Sacramento. And after some digging and panning, he got lucky and found some gold. In 1854, he acquired a small herd and drove it to Angel’s Camp, around 20 miles outside of Arcata.

With he and many other white men coming out to California looking for gold, Humboldt County found itself in the midst of conflict with the surrounding natives. History recorded many violent altercations between the natives and the whites.

The wars — mentioned on the plaque across the street from the Jacoby Storehouse — reached heights in the 1860s with the massacre at Indian Island and other similar incidents.

Zehndner was not immune to the violence. He found himself in danger when he was injured in a brief battle with natives in 1862. He relocated to Arcata shortly thereafter. And in 1870, he bought more than 180 acres just outside of the town. He spent most of the rest of his life in the area, marrying a local girl — Christine Rossow.

Haig Patigian

Like Zehndner, Patigian was an immigrant.

Born more than 9,000 miles away from Arcata, in Armenia, he grew up under the brutal rule of the Turkish government. His parents, teachers in a missionary school, wanted their two sons to find freedom in the growing United States.

And when Patigian’s father was accused of creating propaganda for the Russian government — he was an artist, photographer — he took the opportunity to flee to the West.

Two years later, he brought his two sons and their mother to America. They settled outside of Fresno. After working on a few farms in the area, the father found himself capable of buying a ranch and a vineyard to establish his family.
The parents, both believing passionately in art, encouraged the two boys to develop their artistic skills. And living in a peaceful community, Patigian developed quite well.

By the time he was 17 (around 1893), Patigian had found an apprenticeship painting signs. He painted the natural scenery, working with watercolors and oils. He soon had his own shop, and he put some money aside — moving to San Francisco when he found the chance. His older brother already worked in San Francisco as an illustrator. And in 1900, Patigian found employment at the San Francisco Bulletin as an illustrator as well.

Leon Czolgosz

Czolgosz was not an immigrant, but his parents were.

Born in Detroit, Mich., in 1873, Czolgosz grew up in a blue-collar community. His father, who had come to America in the 1860s, worked as a laborer when he was not out of work. Czolgosz had six brothers and sisters, and the family never had enough money.

Czolgosz began working when he was 10. His mother died shortly after, while giving birth to another child. But he made his way to Cleveland, Ohio, and got a job with a steel and wire company. He was reportedly a good, hard worker, and he advanced in the company. But he lost that job when he went on strike.

At the end of the century, he witnessed violence at the steel mills. Strikers were murdered, and the killers were let go. Czolgosz lost more faith in the government.

He began to look into anarchist and socialist theories. He read literature and attended meetings. Some sources have him joining anarchist groups. But he never tried to associate himself with any group. Though according to The New York Times, there were many radical groups in Cleveland at the time.

Years before, famed anarchist Emma Goldman immigrated to the United States. Goldman gave many speeches in America. And at the end of the 19th century, she was arrested for inciting a riot in New York.

Goldman went back to Europe, but she came back to give a speech that would change Czolgosz forever.

While at the speech — on May 6,1901, in Cleveland — he listened to Goldman speak to the heart of his life-long troubles.

“My head nearly split with the pain,” Czolgosz later said. “She set me on fire.”

There was no doubt in his mind that it was his duty to bring social change to the United States. And when anarchist Gaetano Bresci killed Hubert I, king of Italy, Czolgosz was inspired. Bresci claimed he had done it for the common man. Czolgosz, who never knew the American dream and felt he was the quintessential common man, began to plan history.

William McKinley

McKinley was also born in the United States, a requirement of the U.S. Constitution.

He fits a common mold for presidents:
• Born in the “land of presidents,” Ohio — Niles.
• Fought in the Army — Civil War, Union side. He participated in the historical battle at Antietam.
• Served in the House — 14 years.

While in the House, McKinley — a republican — made his name in the silver and tariff issues. He believed a favorable tariff would stimulate the economy, and he thought that silver should not be coined too much. He also proved to be a politician representing the public … real America.

He was a typical American. Born on Jan. 29, 1843, he was a seventh child. But he studied well, and advanced in school — where Czolgosz had not. But he only attended college briefly. He taught school before the Civil War broke out, and began to study law when the war was over. He moved to Canton, Ohio, where he began his law practice and married the future First Lady, Ida Saxton.

At home, he met with the depths of humanity. Both of his two children died as infants. Ida fell into a deep depression. And McKinley always showed signs of the pain he had endured.

But at work, he was a success. Following his time in Congress, McKinley spent time as the governor of Ohio. And in his run for the presidency, he received an astonishing number of votes.

Even during his administration, McKinley found success. America gained its position as a world power during the Spanish American War. The nation effectively drove Spain out of the Western Hemisphere. And McKinley won a second term at the turn of the century.

He spoke all over the nation — In San Jose … in Cleveland.

“I didn’t want to kill him in Cleveland,” Czolgosz later said. “My folks live there.”

Czolgosz instead followed McKinley to Buffalo, N.Y. And after passing on the opportunity to attack the president the day before, he met his fate on Friday, Sept. 6, 1901.

“I was close to the president when he got to the grounds,” Czolgosz said. “But I was afraid … because there were so many men in his bodyguard.”

The president, visiting the Pan American Exposition, told his guard to stand down so he could receive the public. Many men and women came to shake the hand of the people’s president. Czolgosz — with a towel wrapped around his gun — stepped to McKinley and shot him twice.

The Aftermath

McKinley died a few days after the attack. In a modern world, he would have been fine. But unable to get to the bullet, doctors — fooled by his apparent recovery — eventually saw the president fall victim to an undetected infection.

Vice President Teddy Roosevelt was notified of the president’s illness, and the president died of gangrene on Sept. 14. It would be one of four assassinations by anarchists in the two decades that led up to the beginning of the First World War.

Across the nation, Humboldt County was an area in mourning. Just outside of Arcata, Minorville decided to change its name to McKinleyville, and George Zehndner was touched.

He had just seen the president in San Jose. He admired him and was willing to pay any amount of money to honor the president. He had read about the budding artist Patigian in the newspaper, and he sought him out.

Zehndner told Patigian what he was looking for … a statue of the president to put in the square back in Arcata. Zehndner had returned to San Jose after the shooting, and the McKinley memorial there had moved him.

Patigian, though a starving artist, told the man that such a statue would cost $15,000. Zehndner agreed.

Just before the statue was to be delivered to Arcata from San Francisco — in the spring of 1906 — an earthquake hit San Francisco. The structure housing the statue burned to the ground. A week later, Patigian was allowed to return to the area and look for the statue. When he got there, a group of men were standing with it. It had taken some smoke damage, but the bronze sculpture was mostly unharmed.

It made it to the Eureka port on May 1, 1906. And 100 years later, its real eminence rests in the Plaza … witnessed, loved and sometimes hated by the many passers by.