Shang Stanton’s Gun
Clay county histories
Markus Krueger | Program Director HCSCC
markus.krueger@hcsmuseum.org
It is the Holy Grail of Clay County historical artifacts. It’s beautiful. It was extremely rare when it was made, and it became a one-of-a-kind artifact of Moorhead’s Wild West birth. It killed a man and led to the death of another. And those deaths led directly to the formation of our county government. It’s Shang Stanton’s gun. And after 148 years in the care of the Kiefer family, they very generously donated this gun to the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County.
The gun’s whole story is too big for this space, but here’s the short version. The Colt Percussion Pocket Revolver was made in 1863. The metal is engraved all over with floral designs. The handle is solid ivory with the face of Italian revolutionary Guiseppe Garibaldi carved into it. This was a valuable gift made by the Colt company for…we don’t know who. Their records from this period burned in a fire. But somehow, nine years later, it was in the hands of a 21-year-old gambler and grifter named Edward Curran, alias Charlie Stanton, but everybody called him “Shang” because he “looked like a Shanghai rooster.” I’m not sure what that means.
Did he win the gun in a card game or con? Did he steal it? Was it a gift or a payment? In the spring of 1872, young Shang was among the original residents of a seven-month-old tent town called Moorhead. One night, he got into an argument with a violent murderer named Dan “Slim Jim” Shumway. A comically understated Duluth newspaper reported that “The two exchanged words not intended to be complementary, and they parted somewhat out of temper.”
The next morning, April 25, 1872, Shang Stanton felt Slim Jim Shumway shove him from behind inside a tent saloon. Shang pulled this gun and shot Slim Jim in the gut. Slim Jim, mortally wounded, started shooting back as Shang ran down the street (this happened near 1st Ave N and 4th Street, near the new library). One of Slim Jim’s stray shots killed a saloon owner named J. P. Thompson. Shang ran off and Slim Jim died some days later.
An angry crowd formed but cooler heads prevailed and the people of Moorhead formed a government. Jim Blanchard became Clay County’s first sheriff and he arrested Shang Stanton. Solomon Comstock, a railroad laborer with a law degree, was appointed the first Clay County Attorney, and David Grant served as judge for the trial. County Commissioners Andrew Holes and Peter Wilson made the appointments official. Law had come to Clay County.
According to the Kiefer family, the gun was given to Jacob Kiefer in 1878. Mr. Kiefer was a pioneer Moorhead saloon owner who would later become mayor, and he was friends with many of the people involved. The gun was eventually passed down to Jacob’s grandson Bruce Kiefer, who treasured it all his life. Bruce passed away in 2017, and in his will, he asked for the gun to be researched and put up for auction. Bruce’s daughter Katherine Kiefer has spent years researching all aspects of the fascinating history of this gun. She watched the gun go up for sale and, to her great surprise, the highest bidder was her brother, Jim Kiefer.
On the morning of February 23, 2026, three branches of Jacob Keifer’s descendants from Illinois, Colorado, as well as Moorhead, met at the Hjemkomst Center. Jim Kiefer formally gave half ownership of Shang’s gun to his cousin Ray. Ray owned half a gun for about ten seconds before he and Jim gifted it to the museum. We thank the Kiefer family from Jacob down to Jim and Ray and Katherine for preserving this priceless relic of history for 148 years. We promise to take good care of it.