On June 5, 1904, thousands rioted in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

north of the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

after a bullfight was canceled by court order. The St. Louis bullfight riot injured a handful of people and burned down the Norris Amusement Company arena, disrupting the World's Fair for one day.

Background

Promoter Richard Norris advertised bullfights on June 5, 1904, capitalizing the spirit of the World's Fair. He built an eponymous 16,000-seat arena, and contracted Spanish bullfighter Manuel Cervera Prieto and 35 others.Ray, Robert Beverly. ''The ABCs of Classic Hollywood''. Oxford University Press, 2008. pp. 260–261 Norris sold more than 8,000 $1 tickets. Bullfighting was illegal in the United States and the state of Missouri. The St. Louis Humane Society pleaded with governor Alexander Monroe Dockery to "avert this flagrant outrage upon the civilization of the State of Missouri and of the United States." Religious organizations including the Congregational State Association of Missouri joined them. Under pressure one day before the fight, Dockery ordered St. Louis County's prosecuting attorney to arrest all violators of the state's anti-bullfighting law.

Riot

The World's Fair was closed on the Sunday of the fight. The fair's Wild West opened with horsemanship followed by

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

but the crowd became restless. The announcer's introduction of Cervera was interrupted by a deputy

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

arriving and declaring the fight prohibited. The police and organizers were negotiating in the office, but deprived of refunds, the crowd threw rocks through the windows. During the fracas, a man on the office porch demanded a refund and was injured by a rock. Others inside were injured by broken glass. Police with drawn pistols deterred rioters but were too few to keep the mob from the arena grandstand."Mob burns bullfight amphitheater when money is not returned after officers prevent contest,"
''The St. Louis Republic''. June 6, 1904. pp. 1, 3. Accessed Sept. 10, 2014. Once in the arena, rioters released three bulls. The bulls' emaciation and nonaggression suggested no fight was planned. Rioters ignited straw in the bullpen, and flames leapt to the grandstand made of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

and tar paper.

Aftermath

Despite police and firefighters responding from the nearby World's Fairgrounds, the arena burned to the ground. Several rioters were arrested for arson. Two days later, Cervera was killed by fellow bullfighter Carleton Bass over remuneration. The bullfighters subsequently asserted that Norris never planned a bullfight."Bullfighter murdered,"
''The New York Times''. June 9, 1904. p. 1. Accessed Sept. 10, 2014.

References

{{Coord, 38.65, -90.30, display=title June 1904 events 1904 in Missouri 1904 riots Riots and civil disorder in Missouri Louisiana Purchase Exposition Bullfighting