A Minneapolis patrolman immediately took James Flood into custody—in full drag—after Flood shot and killed A.P. Camden on Nicollet Avenue in the dead of night. As part of the booking process, the officers measured more than a dozen parts of his body and noted the measurements in a “Bertillon Book.” These ledgers recorded body measurements for identification, and accompanied the first use of mug shots in the late 19^th century,[i] offering a firsthand account of criminal activity in the Gateway District during one of the most volatile periods in the city’s history. 

Murder is murder, of course—regardless of the time period, Flood was arrested because he killed someone.  However, it is entirely possible that Flood’s flagrant challenge to gender norms influenced his treatment by the police, and equally influenced his confessions, conviction and incarceration.   Six years before Flood’s arrest, a federal grand jury sentenced Mayor A. A. ‘Doc” Ames to six years in state prison for running one of the most corrupt administrations in the United States. The disgraced politician instituted a number of surreptitious practices, but he is perhaps best known for his permissive (some would call tolerant) treatment of prostitution, gambling, and liquor in the old Gateway area.[ii] Mayor Ames’ arrest marked a clear change in the police department’s arresting criteria, and likely inspired a crackdown on prostitution and other kinds of “abnormal” sexual behavior in Minneapolis.

Flood’s arresting officer pasted a small clipping from The Chicago Tribune next to his entry in the 1908 Minneapolis Bertillon Book, which gives additional details of that night in June:

“A.P. Camden, an elevator builder and for fifteen years a resident of St. Paul, was shot and instantly killed late last night in front of the store at 315 Nicollet avenue, by James Montague, 16 years old.

Camden was a total stranger to Montague.

As the man passed the boy he [Montague] took the revolver from his pocket and without reason of provocation, shot Camden in the head, and the victim fell dead at his feet.  The murderer then walked away whistling, but was followed by messenger boys who had witnessed the tragedy and was captured at Nicollet and Washington avenues by Patrolman R. E. Champlin.

At the time of the shooting, the boy wore some articles of woman’s apparel.  His story today in the sweatbox  was a fantastic tale of boyish adventure and depravity.  This story, which the police believe is true only in part, is being checked up carefully by detectives.  The prisoner is clearly insane.”[iii]

The Tribune’s report illuminates two questionable aspects of testaments to Flood’s “insanity.” The first—that Camden and Flood were “total strangers,” (thus Camden’s murder was completely unprompted) is hard to accept as indisputable fact.  The police originally suggested that the two were strangers in their report, yet the police only became involved with the case after Camden was dead.  No one is quoted, either by the police or by the Tribune, as saying that the two had never met before.

Second, the paper notes that Montague told his “fantastic” (and perhaps incoherent or crazy) tale of “boyish adventure and depravity” durring interrogation “in the sweatbox,” an interrogation procedure where suspects were put in a small room with several officers, and subjected to hours of verbal abuse and misleading questions.  In a 1902 article, The Public, a Chicago newspaper, censured the practice of sweatboxes, claiming:

“Ordinarily the torture—for it is nothing more—is especially designed for the case under consideration.  It the police are satisfied that that any person possesses information which may reveal the principles or participants in a great crime, they will get it and they feel justified employing any means, no matter how severe and cruel, and it will result in a confession.”[iv]

Flood’s unspecified confession of “depravity” could have involved anything the officers wanted or suspected—indeed, the police questioned whether or not the teenager was being completely honest. It is interesting to also note that officer Champlin mentioned Flood’s wig and style of dress as an afterthought.  The Chicago Tribune, on the other hand, excitedly proclaimed Flood “Existed as a Boy but Slew as a Girl!” before it surmised that he was “possessed of a dual personality, with each element battling for supremacy…”[v]

Ultimately, the court accepted his admission; he was sentenced to spend his life in the Minnesota State Reformatory in St. Cloud.[vi]

Next Time: People of Color In and Out of the Gateway

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[i] Hess, Kären M., Orthmann, Christine Hess.  Criminal Investigation, 9^th edition. New York: Delmar, 2010. Page 53.

[ii] Minneapolis Vice Commission, Report of the Vice Commission of Minneapolis to His Honor, James C. Hayes, Mayor.”  Minneapolis: Henry M. Hall Press, 1911..  Written almost a decade after Ames arrest, this lengthy report analyzed the “recent” history of prostitution in Minneapolis.  It also weighed the pros and cons of legalizing, tolerating, and criminalizing prostitution—the report even suggested establishing a single red light district on Nicollet Island.  In the end, the Commission recommended criminalization.

[iii] “Camden Had Premonition.” The Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1908.

[iv] The Public (bound edition). Originally printed March 29, 1902.

[v] “Existed as a Boy but Slew as a Girl: Woman Personality Drove Youth to Kill A. P. Camden in Minneapolis.” The Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1908.

[vi] Minneapolis Department of Police. Bertillon System Record No.1: From Jan. 4, 1907 to Dec. 19, 1907.  Minneapolis: Cerber Bros, 1906.  Record no. 382, June 3, 1908