Sudden Death Ends Long Friendship

Hunters in eastern Oregon had just a week to bag their one allowed bull elk for the season, starting on November 5, 1934. Long-time friends Fred Lampkin and Dan Bowman were among the eager nimrods. Along with several others, they had set up a base camp on a ranch in the Blue Mountains, 15 to 20 miles southwest of La Grande. Bowman carried his older .35-caliber Remington. He liked the potent stopping power of the rifle’s big slug, but could not know the tragedy that was about to unfold.

Elk Habitat Southwest of La Grange.

Daniel C. Bowman was born July 12, 1879 in a small town about 15 miles south of Eureka, California. The family moved to Umatilla County, Oregon, some time before 1886. Daniel served  with the Oregon National Guard in the Spanish-American War. In 1902, he married Effie Neil, who had also been born in California. She was about three years older than Daniel. Her family had moved to the area before 1880. In 1910, Dan had a job as a traveling salesman for the Pendleton Woolen Mills.

By then, Dan probably knew Frederick W. Lampkin, who had been a classmate of Effie’s. Fred had been born about eight months before Dan, in Kansas. The family was in Oregon by about 1895. In 1910, Fred was manager of the Eastern Oregonian newspaper in Pendleton. Dan and Fred became close friends who hunted, fished, and played golf together.

Both Dan and Fred registered for the World War I draft, but were not called up. At that time, Fred was still with the newspaper. Dan had opened an “agency store” about five miles east of Pendleton, on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He still had that outlet ten years later.

In 1922, Fred Lampkin married Inez Hall, who had come to Pendleton a few years earlier. He continued to expand the general publishing company that had grown around the newspaper. By 1930, he and his firm were well known all over the region. Like Dan and Effie, Fred and his wife had no children. Then, some time in late 1930 or early 1931, Fred and Inez separated and were soon divorced.

When the two friends headed into the mountains to hunt elk in November 1934, the weather was both bad, and good. They were plagued by occasional rain showers, making for muddy and slippery footing. But fresh hoof prints would have shown up clearly and temperatures were quite nice for the season, rising into the 60-degree range during the day.

Still, up to the 9th, neither of the two had claimed an elk. As they returned from their morning search, they came to a fence that blocked their way back to the ranch yard. To save time, one member of the party vaulted the obstacle. Dan thought that was a great idea. But he was ten years older and a good deal heavier than his companion. Dan landed awkwardly and hurt a knee. At first, however, it didn’t seem like his injury was that bad, and Dan took some playful ribbing about it. In the same spirit of fun, another member of the hunting party snapped four photos while Bowman was being helped along to the ranch house.

After some rest, the party climbed into Bowman’s car to ride back to the campsite they shared with at least one other band of hunters. Lampkin got out on the passenger side, apparently still engaged in some banter with his old friend. Bowman replied in a raised voice because he knew Fred was hard of hearing. Meanwhile, Fred circled behind the car, perhaps to come around and help Dan out.

Bowman retrieved his rifle and then slid out to stand beside the car. But as soon as he put weight on his gimpy knee, it gave way. Dan desperately tried to catch himself, grasping the barrel of the rifle as a cane … and the weapon fired! He caught his breath on the ground and then rolled over to a horrifying sight: The heavy .35-caliber slug had hit his friend in the face and killed him instantly.

The day after the tragedy, newspapers reported that officials considered the death an accident and expected to quickly close their investigation. But then a member of the other hunting party – we’ll call him “Wayne” – offered damning testimony. He claimed that the loud voices he had heard were part of a verbal dispute. According to him, the two were arguing about the photographs taken of Bowman’s plight after his injury. This seems odd, since – this being 1934 – neither man could know what the images might show. Hurriedly snapped out in the field by an amateur, they might be unreadable.

Even so, Wayne claimed that not only had they argued with each other, but Bowman had told him “roughly” to keep out of it. Dan did not want Wayne driving his car, so there might have been some personal distrust or animosity between the two. Still, members of the other party agreed about the loud voices. They also thought they’d heard argumentative remarks, although they couldn’t quite agree on exactly what was said.

To make a long story short, Dan Bowman was charged with first degree murder. He went on trial in January 1935 at the Union County seat in La Grande. Besides testimony about the alleged “argument,” the prosecution entered into evidence the now-developed photos taken right after Bowman hurt his knee. Reports of the trial do not suggest that the images were in any way embarrassing or compromising.

County Courthouse in La Grande.
Union County Sheriff’s Department.

Bowman’s defense countered with numerous witnesses who testified to the long-standing friendship between the two. In that context, the “argument” could be seen as a jocular, and perhaps rueful, exchange between two aging buddies about the evils of growing old. As it happened, Bowman had suffered a compression fracture in his knee and spent several weeks in a cast. He was still on crutches at the trial, when X-ray images were entered into evidence to prove that he had been seriously injured.

The firearms assessment offered by criminologist Luke S. May supported the defense’s contention that the tragedy was an accident. The bullet had struck Lampkin’s face at a sharp upward angle and exited through the top of his skull. That finding was reinforced by the bullet hole punched in the victim’s hat. A deliberate shot would have surely had a more horizontal trajectory.

Moreover, May averred, the action of Bowman’s older Remington rifle had a crucial design defect. It could go off without anyone pulling the trigger, even with the safety engaged. By this time, May was famous throughout the Pacific Northwest for his scientific investigations. Nevertheless, to bolster the point, the defense brought in a local witness: a professional gunsmith from La Grande. He agreed that early versions of the firearm had a faulty design, which the company had soon modified.

They did not, however, recall guns that had already been sold. Nor, apparently, did they warn owners about the potential problem. On the witness stand, a distraught Bowman said, “I did not know my gun would go off without pulling the trigger. I did not know the gun was dangerous.”

In the end, the jury sided with the defense and acquitted Bowman on the murder charge.

Dan and Effie continued to operate the agency general store until about 1946-1948. Some time after that, they moved to Smith River, California, a small town near the coast about five miles south of the Oregon border. Daniel C. Bowman died July 10, 1953, at the veterans’ hospital in San Francisco. He was buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno. Effie died about nine years later and was buried beside her husband.
                                                                                

References: “[Bowman-Lampkin Background],” Oregon Journal, Portland, East Oregonian, Pendleton, Oregon (July 1902 – July 1906).

“[Bowman Trial],” Statesman-Journal, Salem, The Oregonian, Portland, La Grande Observer, Eugene Guard, Klamath News, Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oregon (January 9, 1935) (January 15, 1935).

“[Bowman Afterwards],” Coos Bay Times, Marshfield, La Grande Observer, Oregon; San Francisco Examiner, California (August 1940 – July 1953).

“[Lampkin Hunting Death],” The Oregonian, Portland, Bend Bulletin, Eugene Guard, La Grande Observer, Oregon (July 10 – December 29, 1934).

Luke S. May, Luke S. May Papers, Special Collections, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (1969).

Elmer Smith, Big Game Rifles and Cartridges, Small-Arms Technical Publishing Company, Onslow County, North Carolina (1936).

William F. Willingham, “Pendleton Woolen Mills,” The Oregon Encyclopedia, https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pendleton_woolen_mills/#.XfUIS-t7kt9. Accessed December 14, 2019.

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