38 Nebraskaland • December 2025
ho is the "bad man" in the two photos below? Is it the
man in the striped overalls? Or is he just playacting
while Buffalo County Sheriff Walter Sammons (in
vest) and Kearney Police Chief John Trindle (in dark
suit) congratulate themselves for roughing up suspicious
characters?
Photographer Solomon Butcher said he made this photo in
1905. Nine years later, one of the men pictured was involved
in a sensational trial that shocked the community.
Walter Sammons was elected Buffalo County Sheriff in
November 1905. Twenty-seven years old, he was respected
as a tough and fearless deputy. He was also a Nebraska
National Guard officer and a Spanish-American War veteran.
As a deputy, Sammons chased criminals and harassed
suspicious characters. One day, he and Police Chief
Trindle "picked up a couple of extremely suspicious young
fellows at the Union Pacific depot," said the Kearney
Hub on April 15, 1905. In their pockets, the men had
some ads for companies dealing in explosives. Since
"neither of them could exhibit as much as a nickel," a
local judge sentenced them to 30 days in jail for vagrancy.
In those days, suspicion was often enough for an arrest. The
By David L. Bristow, Nebraska State Historical Society
W
"A new fad of the Kearney sheriff and Chief of Police Trindle when a bad man strikes the city."
Photo by Solomon D. Butcher, 1905. NSHS RG2608-0-2935
Did the Sheriff Commit
