The Hanging of Daniel Arata
by Johnny WalkerThe truth behind the stories of the 175 lynchings that took place in the Rocky Mountain States between 1859 and 1919 is part of the legendary "old west". An important part of the saga of how Colorado was transformed from an obscure part of the "Great American Desert", into a state brimming with gold and silver mines and a remarkable influx of emigrants and settlers.
It should be noted that the general population of the west in no way resembled the bloodthirsty mobs of Hollywood fame, in fact a humanitarian movement coupled with a statewide sentiment to abolish the death penalty led to a moratorium on capital punishment in Colorado.
This thinking was ahead of it's time and only lasted from 1897 to 1901. The unfortunate side effect was that the worst criminals never made it to trial, in fact the moratorium led to an increase in illegal lynchings.
Contrary to the current politically correct misrepresentations, in the Western states nearly all mob executions were lynchings of whites, not blacks. Most of the lynchings in the West were not racially motivated and came from the "just" punishment of either murders, rapists, or cattle and horse thieves.
There really was no political link to the lynching of blacks in the South, and any of the recorded lynchings in Colorado or any of the Rocky Mountain West.
In Colorado 65 white men were lynched, 3 black men lynched = 68 total between 1859 and 1968. Consider the Daniel Arata case one of Denver's more famous excursions from the law.
The scene is 1893 Denver Colorado, many immigrants from around the world have moved into the new city's various neighborhoods, Irish, Polish, German, Italian, all divided by prejudice and language. The Italian neighborhood was just one of these ethnic areas.
Daniel Arata was the bartender in charge at the Hotel d'Italia on Wewatta Street, long considered the seamey side of town. This was a known hangout for prostitutes and various types con men.
Into this den of iniquity stepped the well liked Civil War veteran, Benjamin Lightfoot. Ben ordered a beer and after enjoying it, was on his way out when Arate, who had been drinking and playing with his new gun all day, blocked the way and insisted that Ben have another.
Lightfoot was happy to enjoy another beer, especially since he thought it was on the house. When Ben got up to leave Arata asked him to pay up, when he found that Ben didn't have any cash he took the old veteran's hat until he came up with the money.
The tough old Civil War veteran refused to leave without his hat and a fight ensued. Arata a much younger man knocked Ben to the floor and kept kicking the 60 year old until his eyeball popped out. Then he shot him and dragged the body behind the bar.
Arata continued to serve drinks to the crowd that had been attracted to the earlier commotion. Unfortunately for Arata the Police also had heard the commotion and came to investigate. Naturally they found the body and arrested Arata.
Word got out and traveled around town like wildfire, the next night a crowd of 10,000 people, outraged that an Italian had killed an honored Civil War veteran, surrounded the city jail. They broke in the door and stormed the jail overpowering the deputies.
The lynch mob grabbed Arata from his cell and drug him into the street where they tried to hang him from a tree near the intersection of West Colfax and Santa Fe Drive.
The hanging wasn't really very successful because more than 20 people shot him first.
The disappointed latecomers to the necktie party put a rope around his neck and hauled him to 17th and Curtis where they hung him for the second time.
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