As mentioned in last week’s column, on July 2, 1883, the first major Astoria fire started in a sawmill. Happily, the city recovered and rebuilt quickly, but it was what went on during and after fire that created one of Astoria’s stranger historical footnotes. 

As noted in the 1903 Oregon Historical Quarterly, the story starts with a huge amount of booze that was removed from the saloons in the fire’s path, and carried to safety. However, the hooch was soon ferreted out and stolen by “the rougher class of onlookers.”

Soon, drunken chaos and looting ensued. “Drinking was kept up throughout the night, but after the fire was checked, the scene of disorder was transferred to the lower part of town, known as Swilltown,” where things got even uglier, and threats to burn down the rest of the town were bandied about.

Some Astoria businessmen organized a committee to help the police preserve the peace, and the mayor issued a proclamation that saloon owners close every night at midnight. Riley and Ginder, saloon-owning ex-policemen, barricaded themselves in the saloon and shot at the police. 

After the two miscreants were arrested, they appeared in front of the committee and were told to get out of town or they’d be hanged from city hall. Wisely, they fled. 

Flush with success, the committee then decided to “drive out the crowd of disreputable characters that lived in Swilltown,” and served notice on “all such” to get out of town within 24 hours. The edict was essentially successful, but a lawsuit soon ensued. The committee was disbanded, but by then order had already been restored.