"The Tom Mix Rodeo"
by Pablo Capra
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| Tom Mix, c/o Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1925 |
On September 30, 1923, Archie Cooper planned a rodeo party for the judges of Los Angeles Superior Court, perhaps to thank them for letting him off in the Arthur Valentine assault case earlier that year.
The rodeo’s co-host was Tom Mix (1880-1940), the most famous cowboy actor of the time, and also an Elk.
Mix may have starred in a Western that was shot at the Sea View Ranch earlier that month by the Fox Film Corporation, which he worked for. All that’s known about this film is that an actor named A. M. Fenton was thrown from a horse and broke his shoulder. A fire destroyed most of the films produced by the Fox Film Corporation in 1937.
Despite its celebrity host, this rodeo was intended to be casual, with cowboys employed on the ranch performing. Fred Ramirez was again hired to barbecue, and slaughtered a buffalo for it.
The night before the rodeo, Archie had Ramirez build a bonfire for the barbecue pit. Deputy Fire Warden Max J. Stanke saw the unsafe fire and ordered them to extinguish it. Archie argued the law, and the two men fought.
Stanke was 50 lbs. lighter than Archie and disabled, but he was no one to mess with. He’d served on a destroyer in World War I, blowing up submarines off the Irish coast. Facing death daily, he’d had a nervous breakdown, and mangled his right hand. He’d come to Cooper’s Camp to recover at the beach while living on government compensation. Ironically, Archie had helped him get his job, but some later resentment must have erased their friendship.
Stanke dominated Archie in the fight. Afterwards, Archie retaliated by what we would call “swatting” Stanke.
Deputy Cooper appealed to the Sheriff’s office after the fight, and a squad of deputies responded….
Cooper declared that there was an insane man barricaded in a cabin at the ranch… and that he drew his gun and threatened to shoot people.
—“Veteran Thrashes Deputy,” Los Angeles Times, 1923-10-01
When deputies arrived, Stanke calmly went to jail, giving this account.
Cooper had a fire, eight by fourteen feet, burning in a dangerous place. I told him that I would report him for violating the fire laws. He became abusive, threatened me and eventually struck me. We were then on my premises. I fought back and drove him out of my yard. He then shouted that I was under arrest. I told him that it would take a better man than him to arrest me and went in my house.
He ordered out all his employees, armed them with guns and surrounded my house. Feeling tired, I went in and lay down. When the deputies came I surrendered to them. I have numerous witnesses to prove that I did not draw my gun, and that Cooper started the fight.
—“Veteran Thrashes Deputy,” Los Angeles Times, 1923-10-01
An official investigation into the incident supported Stanke’s account.
I am satisfied that there were no grounds for Mr. Cooper’s complaint of assault with a deadly weapon…. From the statements of numerous witnesses to the affair I conclude that Cooper was entirely in the wrong and was responsible for the fight.
—“Beaten Deputy Resigns,” Los Angeles Times, 1923-10-02
The African American community, which had decried the Los Angeles Superior Court’s decision in the Valentine case, now saw Archie’s beating by Stanke as divine justice.
…an unerring judgment on this ferocious Cooper has come to pass and just a few days hence, he pounced upon a white man, and he got all that was coming to him, he got the beating of a life time, he got what he gave Valentine and then some, he has lost his job as Deputy Sheriff and truly in fact and in deed retribution for Arthur Valentine was at hand.
—“Retribution,” California Eagle, October 1923
Archie realized that he wouldn’t be able to keep his job after attacking a White disabled veteran and immediately resigned, but protected his dignity by claiming that “the pressure of his business caused this action.” He also said that he’d been contemplating the change for a long time, which was probably true, since Cooper’s Camp had grown far beyond the campsite it was intended to be, and now involved the management of rodeos, restaurants, dozens of cabins, and a bathhouse.
However, Archie didn’t quit bullying Stanke.
As soon as Stanke returned home from jail, Archie had him locked up again, this time in the General Hospital on a psychiatric hold.
In court, Stanke was found to be sane, and Chef Ramirez was found guilty, but given a suspended sentence.
Archie hired the same crooked attorney who’d helped him win the Valentine case, John L. Richardson (an Elk), and was somehow acquitted of violating State fire laws. It’s unknown if he received any punishment for harassing Stanke.
It’s also unknown if the Tom Mix Rodeo was canceled.
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This is an excerpt from the book Topanga Beach: A History, 1820s-1920s. Author Pablo Capra is a former Lower Topanga resident, and continues to preserve the history of that neighborhood on his website, www.brasstackspress.com, and as a board member of the Topanga Historical Society, www.topangahistoricalsociety.org.
