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during his four-year term in office. His life was threatened, crosses were burned in his yard, and one attempt was made to kidnap him. Van Cise refused the call of many citizens to run for mayor to replace Bailey in 1923 and returned to private practice in 1925.
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Returning to private life, Van Cise formed a law partnership with his former assistant district attorney, Kenneth
Robinson. In 1936, he wrote and published his memoir of the gang-busting saga,
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at all levels, but had no control over Van Cise, who was not beholden to the political power structure. At the same time, Van Cise received little backing in his effort from either the
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In 1922, Van Cise set up an independent investigation of the
Blonger gang, secretly funded by a group of wealthy Denver citizens and employing a handful of former
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to win the
Republican primary and the office of district attorney in 1921. He immediately set out to clean up the con men who preyed on Colorado's summer
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Van Cise retired from practice in 1967 and died in Denver's St. Luke's
Hospital on December 8, 1969, after a month-long illness.
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Drama followed Van Cise into private life. For more than 20 years, he served as an attorney for the
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and others. On August 24 of that year, Van Cise used a special force of
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to capture 33 suspects in a single day. Fearing that Denver
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and moved to Denver at the age of 16. He graduated from the
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would tip off the gang once the first suspect was taken to
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two years later. From 1910 to 1914, he was a member of the
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109:Van Cise took advantage of a split in the Denver's
22:(October 25, 1884 – December 8, 1969), was a
246:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
290:Rees, Tom. "Crime-fighting ex-Denver DA Dies",
312:Phil Van Cise, Scourge of Denver's Underworld
301:(Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, 1936)
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277:Learn how and when to remove this message
117:trade. The gang was well connected with
159:Van Cise also waged battle against the
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337:People from Deadwood, South Dakota
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352:20th-century American politicians
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57:Philip Van Cise was born in
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69:in 1907, and received his
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232:This article includes a
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174:Fighting the Underworld
75:Colorado National Guard
47:Fighting the Underworld
67:University of Colorado
95:Officer Reserve Corps
347:Colorado Republicans
297:Van Cise, Philip S.
207:Retirement and death
93:and remained in the
87:intelligence officer
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186:Rocky Mountain News
150:Universalist Church
16:American politician
234:list of references
99:Lieutenant colonel
20:Philip S. Van Cise
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267:October 2008
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253:Please help
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101:until 1942.
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259:introducing
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119:politicians
83:World War I
43:Lou Blonger
321:Categories
215:References
71:law degree
53:Early life
180:circles.
81:. During
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