Topeka newspapers

Topeka State Journal, December 5, 1906, "Texans had 'Fun.'"

TEXANS HAD 'FUN'

Tried to Lynch Negro on Santa Fe Train No. 17

Cowboys Put Rope Around His Neck Three Times

Two Texas cowpunchers tried to hang a negro named John E. Lewis on Santa Fe train No. 17 last night, and were only prevented when the negro drew a big revolver and kept the Texans covered until the train reached Topeka...

…Lewis is a resident of Wichita and a very respectable colored man. He is grand chancellor of the colored Knights of Pythias of the state, and it was his Knights of Pythias badge that aroused the southern hostility of the Texans. They didn't like to see a "nigger" putting on such "airs," and proceeded to adopt the regulation Dixie method for teaching the negro his place....