By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Indiana Jones must have caused a great uproar against the peace and decency of the Pacific Northwest.
On February 27, 1854 the first Legislative Assembly in the newly organized Washington Territory ratified the Statutes of the Territory of Washington. While the criminal code is rather ordinary for the mid-nineteenth century, one has to wonder what kind of menace was to be found in the territorial capital of Olympia. It seems the likes of Indiana Jones was one of those menaces.
Apparently the Jones threat was sufficient to specifically prohibit his signature fighting style and choice of weaponry in the territory.
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
II
Sc. 28. Every person who shall assault and beat another with a cowhide or whip, having with him at the time a pistol, or other deadly weapon, shall on conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, nor less than three months, and be fined in any sum not exceeding one thousand dollars.
Thankfully, in subsequent decades this Indiana Jones specific bill of attainder was repealed by the legislature. How else could we have defeated Nazi archaeologists in Egypt if the bullwhip fighting art had not evolved in our culture?
By Darren Smith
Source: Statutes of Washington Territory
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