On June 5, 1904, thousands rioted in St. Louis, Missouri, north of the 1904 World's Fair, 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 on 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.Shubert, Adrian. Death and Money in the Afternoon: A History of the Spanish Bullfight. Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 13–14 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."Sherwood, Lyn. Yankees in the Afternoon: An Illustrated History of American Bullfighters. McFarland: 2001. p. 22 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."Protests Against Bullfight," The New York Times. June 5, 1904. Accessed Sept. 10, 2014.
Riot The World's Fair was closed on the Sunday of the fight. The fair's Wild West opened with horsemanship followed by lacrosse but the crowd became restless.
The announcer's introduction of Cervera was interrupted by a deputy sheriff 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."Bullfight Stopped, Crowd Burns Arena," The New York Times. June 6, 1904. p. 1. Accessed Sept. 10, 2014.
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 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.
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