Carleton Bass

{{Short description|Irish bullfighter}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Ernest Carleton Bass, best-known as Carleton Bass, born 1876 in Ireland, was a notorious bullfighter in the United States who billed himself in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the "first North American bullfighter."Sherwood, Lyn. Yankees in the Afternoon: An Illustrated History of American Bullfighters. McFarland: 2001. p. 22. In reality, he was an Irish immigrant who never became an American citizen, and his anemic bullfighting skill led to him being booed from bullfighting rings in Mexico.Hail, Marshall. [https://archive.org/stream/knightinthesun017870mbp/knightinthesun017870mbp_djvu.txt Knight in the Sun: First Yankee Matador]. Boston, Little Brown: 1962. pp. 5-6. Though he had learned some swordfighting and bullfighting skills in Spain before he emigrated to the United States, he was a poor fighter. In 1903, he suffered an attack of nerves before a fight in Mexico and failed to fight. In 1904, he was a key figure in the St. Louis bullfight riot, which led to the destruction of a 14,000-seat arena by fire. Three days after the riot, he shot and killed fellow matador Manuel Cervera Prieto after the other man attacked Bass with a knife over a dispute regarding the bullfight canceled by the riot.[http://nyti.ms/WM3VCO "Bullfighter Murdered,"] The New York Times. June 9, 1904. Retrieved Sept. 13, 2014. A subsequent coroner's inquest found Bass acted in self-defense and should not be charged with murder.[http://nyti.ms/1utNIzA "Releases Cervera's Slayer,"] The New York Times. June 12, 1904. Retrieved Sept. 13, 2014. Following his acquittal, Bass went on to star in several bloodless bullfights.[http://nyti.ms/1qRsEAq "Woman prevents bullfight,"] The New York Times. June 27, 1904. Retrieved Sept. 13, 2014. These involved enraging the bull, causing it to charge and miss, but not spearing it or cutting it with a sword.