Presented to the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY

bi/ the

ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
LIBRARY

1980

85769

THE

ONTAMO

VIGILANTES of MONTANA

" 847G9

OR POPULAR JUSTICE IN THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS

Being a correct and impartial narrative of the Chase, Trial, Capture and

Execution of HENRY PLUMMER'S ROAD AGENT BAND.

together with accounts of the Lives zmd Crimes of many of the

Robbers and Desperadoes, the whole being interspersed

with sketches of Life in the MINING CAMPS

OF THE "FAR WEST."

BY PROF. THOS. J. DIMSDALE

FOURTH EDITION

^^^^f</.

tTATE PUBLISHINS CO.. HELENA. HONT.

F

1-31

PREFACE.

The object of the writer in presenting this narrative to the
public is twofold. His intention is, in the first place, to furnish
a correct history of an organization administering justice with-
out the sanction of constitutional law ; and secondly, to prove not
only the necessity for their action, but the equity of their pro-
ceedings.

Having an intimate acquaintance with parties cognizant of the
facts related, and feeling certain of the literal truth of the state-
ments contained in this history, he offers it to the people of the
United States, with the belief that its perusal will greatly
modify the views of those even who are most prejudiced against
the summary retribution of mountain law, and with the conviction
that all honest and impartial men will be willing to admit both
the wisdom of the course pursued and the salutary effect of the
rule of the Vigilantes in the Territory of Montana.

It is also hoped that the history of the celebrated body, the
very mention of whose name sounded as a death-knell in the
ears of the murderers and Road Agents, will be edifying and in-
structive to the general reader. The incidents related are neither
trivial in themselves, nor unimportant in their results ; and,
while rivalling fiction in interest, are unvarnished accounts of
transactions, whose fidelity can be vouched by thousands.

As a literary production, the author commits it to the exam-
ination of the critical without a sigh. If any of these author-
slayers are inclined to be more severe in their judgment than he
is himself, he trusts they will receive the reward to which their
justice entitles them ; and if they should pass it by he cannot
but think that they will exercise a sound discretion, and avoid
much useless labor. With all its imperfections, here it is.

THOS. J. DIMSDALE.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of Toronto

http://www.archive.org/details/vigilantesofmonOOdims

PROF. THOS. J. DIMSDALE

THOMAS JOSIAH DIMSDALE

It was not until the summer of 1864 that the first leading char-
acter in Montana journalism ajipeared on the stage in that role.
On August 27th of that year, one John Buchanan published the
first number of the first newspaper printed in the Territory. It
was called the Montana Post. Mr. Buchanan's connection with
the Post was very brief. It may be said to have ended with the
first issue, for the second number bore the imprint of D. W. Tilton
& Co., publishers and proprietors, though the services of its
founder were retained in the editorial department for a few weeks
thereafter. The management of its columns was intrusted to
Prof. Thomas Josiah Dimsdale, whom the reading people of the
state doubtless know more familiarly as the author of ' ' The Vigi-
lantes of Montana."

Professor Dimsdale was an English gentleman of fine scholarly
attainments, having received his preliminary education in the pre-
paratory school of Rugby, made famous by Hughes' well known
novel, "Tom Brown of Rugby". He was born near Thirlsby in
north England, and came of a family noted as being among
the leading iron-masters, engineers and contractors of public
works in that part of the country. Thomas J. was not of robust
physique and as he himself expressed it was the "runt of the
family," so his parents designed him for the Church and he
was sent to Oxford to complete his education for the ministry.
But financial disaster came to the family because of the failure
of a scheme to utilize the sewage of the city of London in the
reclamation of barren lands and he was compelled to give up uni-
versity work in his sophomore year. He then emigrated to Canada,
locating at Millbrook, Ontario, where he experienced many vicis-
situdes of fortune. On the discovery of gold in the Rocky Moun-
tains he joined the throng of adventurers travelling hitherward.

In the winter of 1863-64, being unable to work in the mines,
he sought to make a livelihood in Virginia City by teaching, and
as there were no schools yet established, and people were willing
to pay liberally (enormously it would be called in these days,
$2.00 per week) for tuition, he succeeded fairly well in his voca-
tion.

When the Territory of Montana was created in the spring of
1864, the professor attracted the attention of Governor Sidney
Edgerton, and that official tendered him the office of territorial

superintendent of public instruction, which he accepted. While
filling this position, the Montana Post was established, and
Messrs, Tilton and Dittes, recognizing the ability of the professor,
installed him as editor-in-chief, and he filled both these positions
with satisfaction to all concerned, until a short time before his
death, which occurred two years later.

Professor Dimsdale was not an editor to the manner born.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether, if the place had not been tendered
him under the conditions then existing, he would ever have
entered the sanctum. He was not of strong physique, and was
diffident to a degree, pouting like a child when subjected to
blame, and blushing like a school girl when receiving praise.
Many who were present when friends presented him with an
ivory-handled, silver-mounted pistol as a testimonial of appre-
ciation of his work in publishing the "Vigilantes of Montana"
(then running as a serial in the Post) will remember the bashful
hesitancy with which he accepted the gift. And more yet will
remember the almost boyish glee with which he started in to
learn how to "shoot it off." And still more remember the trepi-
dation with which they watched him sallying forth to practice
with the unwonted weapon ; and how they trembled the while for
the safety of the children and the family cow ! And how elated he
was when he got proficient enough in handling the gun to be able
to hit an oyster can at ten steps once in ten times.

But this is digressing. Professor Dimsdale could not have made
an all around editor in times of hot political controversy. He
was not "built that way." The domain of politics was terra
incognita to him. But he was a man of acute perceptivity, a
thorough master of the English language, a ready and quick
observer and a fluent descriptive writer. So he edited the Post
quite acceptably. The void in the political education was filled by
able assistants, some of whom have risen to prominence in the
Republican party. Luckily, for more than a year the Post held
the newspaper field without a rival, and the absence of political
discussions from its column elicited no tokens of disapproval.
If the editorial utterances savored more of literary talent than a
genius for political polemics, it was so much the better, for the
country was full of hotheads from Union and secession ranks,
and the paper's magnanimous (?) abstinence from unpleasant
remarks about them brought ducats to the treasury and good will
from all sides to the profit of the proprietors and the enhance-
ment of Dimsdale 's reputation as an unbiased and impartial po-
litical writer.

As soon as the paper was fairly established. Professor Dims-
dale set about the publication of the "Vigilantes" in its columns.

It was an immense drawing card for the subscription department,
and the circulation ran up at a rapid rate. The work was a re-
cital of the doings of the famous organization which stamped out
the carnival of crime that had been running riot in the embryo
Territory for a year previous to the capture and execution of
George Ives, December 21st, 1863. It was a graphic description
of the robberies and murders committed by the road agents whose
crimes made life a dreary burden to the inhabitants of the region ;
the measures of their arrest and extinction and the tragic fate
which befell the thugs and assassins at the hands of the self-
constituted ministers of justice. Its publication at once stamped
its author as a writer of promise, and the professor began to in-
dulge in day dreams of wealth from its reputation in more sub-
stantial form, — dreams, alas, which were doomed never to be
fulfiUed.

While Professor Dimsdale was revising and preparing his ' ' Vig-
ilantes" for the press, in 1865, he was assisted in his editorial
duties by H. N. Maguire. When the last installment of the work
appeared in the Post, the author resumed his editorial chair.

By this time, a democratic newspaper had been started in Vir-
ginia City, and an exciting political controversy was inaugurated.

Professor Dimsdale began to feel that the burden of shaping the
course of the paper was becoming more arduous and onerous. His
retiring disposition rebelled at the exchange of phillipies and
expletives with rival editors which was forced upon him by the
change in the situation, and he was often on the verge of sur-
rendering his position to someone less thin-skinned and sensitive.
But a degree of pride and a dread of humiliation, coupled with
some injection of spinal stamina by his intimate friends, together
with a deep sense of family responsibility, for he had taken to
himself a wife, sustained him in his work, and he continued to
edit the paper. His work was intermittent, however, for the
disease from which he suffered had taken fatal hold and the fol-
lowing summer saw him confined to his room by nervous prostra-
tion, aggravated by pulmonary troubles of old standing. He suc-
cumbed to his ailments September 22nd, 1866, and passed from
life to death, leaving his wife, the only relation in this country,
to mourn his loss.

In his sickness, his long-tried and staunch friend. Col. W. P.
Sanders, was an almost constant attendant at the bedside, and it
may be said that the departing journalist literally died in the
arms of his friend, at the age of 35.

Professor Dimsdale was a public-spirited citizen of the highest
type. He was an ardent worker in the cause of education, often
over-taxing his strength in his labors. He filled the office of

superintendent of public instruction for two years with signal
ability and credit to himself. He was, also, a churchman of the
Protestant Episcopal faith, and conducted the first service of
that denomination in Virginia City. The initial meeting was
held in the office of Judge William Y. Lovell, on Christmas Day,
1865, Professor Dimsdale acting as lay reader. He was a member
of the Montana Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M. and was buried with
imposing ceremonies by that order September 24th, 1866, a large
concourse of members of the fraternity and other friends attend-
ing the funeral. — (From the Rocky Mountain Magazine, March,
1901.)

TOM BAKER.

A. J. NOYES

(Ajax)

"The Story of Ajax"

CHAPTER I.

Introductory — Vigilance Committees.

"The teeth that hite hardest are out of sight." — Pbov.

The end of all good government is the safety and happiness
of the governed. It is not possible that a high state of civilization
and progress can be maintained unless the tenure of life and prop-
erty is secure; and it follows that the first efforts of a people
in a new country for the inauguration of the reign of peace, the
sure precursor of prosperity and stability, should be directed to
the accomplishment of this object. In newly settled mining dis-
tricts, the necessity for some effective organization of a judicial
and protective character is more keenly felt than it is in other
places, where the less exciting pursuits of agriculture and com-
merce mainly attract the attention and occupy the time of the
first inhabitants.

There are good reasons for this difference. The first is the
entirely dissimilar character of the populations ; and the second,
the possession of vast sums of money by uneducated and unprin-
cipled people, in all places where the precious metals may be
obtained at the cost of the labor necessary to exhume them from
the strata in which they lie concealed.

In an agricultural country, the life of the pioneer settler is al-
ways one of hard labor, of considerable privation, and of more or
less isolation ; while the people who seek to clear the farm in the
wild forest, or who break up the virgin soil of the prairies are
usually of the steady and hard-working classes, needing little as-
sistance from courts of justice to enable them to maintain rights
which are seldom invaded ; and whose differences, in the early
days of the country, are, for the most part, so slight as to be
scarcely worth the cost of a litigation more complicated than a
friendly and, usually, gratuitous, arbitration — submitted to the
judgment of the most respected among the citizens.

In a marked contrast to the peaceful life of the tiller of the
soil, and to the placid monotony of his pursuits are the turbulent
activity, the constant excitement, and the perpetual temptations
to which the dweller in a mining camp is subject, both during his
sojourn in the gulches, or, if he be given to prospecting, in his
frequent and unpremeditated change of location, commonly called

10 THE VlGIIoANTES OF MONTANA

a "stampede." There can scarcely be conceived a greater or
more apparent difference than exists between the staid and sedate
inhabitants of rural districts, and the motley group of miners,
professional men and merchants, thickly interspersed with
sharpers, refugees, and a full selection from the dangerous classes
that swagger, armed to the teeth, through the diggings and in-
fest the roads leading to the newly discovered gulches, where lies
the object of their worship — Gold.

Fortunately the change to a better state of things is rapid, and
none who now walk the streets of Virginia would believe that,
within two years of this date, the great question to be decided
was, which was the stronger, right or might?

And here it must be stated, that the remarks which truth com-
pels us to make, concerning the classes of individuals which fur-
nish the law defying element of mining camps, are in no wise
applicable to the majority of the people, who, while exhibiting
the characteristic energy of the American race in the pursuit of
wealth, yet maintain, under every disadvantage, an essential mor-
ality, which is the more creditable since it must be sincere, in or-
der to withstand the temptations to which it is constantly ex-
posed. "Oh, cursed thirst of gold," said the ancient, and no man
has even an inkling of the truth and force of the sentiment, till
he has lived where gold and silver are as much the objects of de-
sire, and of daily and laborious exertion, as glory and promotion
are to the young soldier. Were it not for the preponderance of
this conservative body of citizens, every camp in remote and
recently discovered mineral regions would be a field of blood;
and where this is nvi so, the fact is proof irresistible that the
good is in sufficient force to control the evil, and eventually to
bring order out of chaos.

Let the reader suppose that the police of New York were with-
drawn for twelve months, and then let them picture the wild
saturnalia which would take the place of the order that reigns
there now. If, then, it is so hard to restrain the dangerous classes
of old and settled communities, what must be the difficulty of the
task, when, tenfold in number, fearless in character, generally
well armed, and supplied with money to an extent unknown
among their equals in the east, such men find themselves removed
from the restraints of civilized society, and beyond the control of
the authority which there enforces obedience to the law?

Were it not for the sterling stuff of which the mass of miners
is made, their love of fair play, and their prompt and decisive
action in emergencies, this history could never have been written,
for desperadoes of every nation would have made this country a

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA li

scene of bloodshed and a sink of iniquity such as was never before
witnessed.

Together with so much that is evil, nowhere is there so much
that is sternly opposed to dishonesty and violence as in the
mountains ; and though careless of externals and style, to a degree
elsewhere unknown, the intrinsic value of manly uprightness is
nowhere so clearly exhibited and so well appreciated as in the
Eldorado of the west. Middling people do not live in these
regions. A man or a woman becomes better or worse by a trip
towards the Pacific. The keen eye of the experienced miner
detects the impostor at a glance, and compels his entire isolation,
or his association with the class to which he rightfully belongs.

Thousands of weak-minded people return, after a stay in the
mountains, varying in duration from a single day to a year, leav-
ing the field where only the strong of heart are fit to battle with
difficulty, and to win the golden crown which is the reward of
persevering toil and unbending firmness. There is no man more
fit to serve his country in any capacity requiring courage, integ-
rity, and self-reliance, than an "honest miner", who has been
tried and found to be true by a jury of mountaineers.

The universal license that is, at first, a necessity of position
in such places, adds greatly to the number of crimes, and to the
facilities for their perpetration. Saloons, where poisonous liq-
uors are vended to all comers, and consumed in quantities suf-
ficient to drive excitable men to madness and to the commission
of homicide, on the slightest provocation, are to be found in
amazing numbers, and the villainous compounds there sold, under
the generic name of whiskey, are more familiarly distinguished
by the cognomens of "Tangle-leg", "Forty-rod," "Lightning,"
"Tarantula-juice," etc., terms only too truly describing their
acknowledged qualities.

The absence of good female society, in any due proportion
to the numbers of the opposite sex, is likewise an evil of great
magnitude; for men become rough, stern and cruel, to a sur-
prising degree, under such a state of things.

In every frequent street, public gambling houses with open
doors and loud music, are resorted to, in broad daylight, by hun-
dreds— it might almost be said — of all tribes and tongues, fur-
nishing another fruitful source of ' ' difficulties, ' ' which are com-
monly decided on the spot, by an appeal to brute force, the stab
of a knife, or the discharge of a revolver. Women of easy virtue
are to be seen promenading through the camp, habited in the gay-
est and most costly apparel, and receiving fabulous sums for their
purchased favors. In fact, all the temptations to vice are present
in full display, with money in abundance to secure the gratifica-

12 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

tion of the desire for novelty and excitement, which is the ruling
passion of the mountaineer.

One "institution," offering a shadowy and dangerous substi-
tute for more legitimate female association, deserves a more pe-
culiar notice. This is the " Hurdy-Gurdy "* house. As soon as the
men have left off work, these places are opened, and dancing com-
mences. Let the reader picture to himself a large room, furnished
with a bar at one end — where champagne at $12 (in gold) per
bottle, and "drinks" at twenty-five to fifty cents, are wholesaled
(correctly speaking) — and divided, at the end of this bar, by a
railing running from side to side. The outer enclosure is densely
crowded (and, on particular occasions, the inner one also) with
men in every variety of garb that can be seen on the continent.
Beyond the barrier sit the dancing women, called "hurdy-gur-
dies," sometimes dressed in uniform, but, more generally, habited
according to the dictates of individual caprice, in the finest
clothes that money can buy, and which are fashioned in the most
attractive styles that fancy can suggest. On one side is a
raised orchestra. The music suddenly strikes up, and the sum-
mons, "Take your partners for the next dance," is promptly
answered by some of the male spectators, who paying a dollar in
gold for a ticket, approach the ladies' bench, and — in style polite,
or otherwise, according to antecedents — invite one of the ladies
to dance.

The number being complete, the parties take their places, as
in any other dancing establishment, and pause for the perform-
ance of the introductory notes of the air.

Let us describe a first class dancer — "sure of a partner every
time" — and her companion. There she stands at the head of the
set. She is of middle height, of rather full and rounded form;
her complexion as pure as alabaster, a pair of dangerous looking
hazel eyes, a slightly Roman nose, and a small and prettily formed
mouth. Her auburn hair is neatly banded and gathered in a
tasteful, ornamented net, with a roll and gold tassels at the side.
How sedate she looks during the first figure, never smiling till the
termination of "promenade, eight," when she shows her little
white hands in fixing her handsome brooch in its place, and
settling her glistening earrings. See how nicely her scarlet dress,
with its broad black band round the skirt, and its black edging,
sets off her dainty figure. No wonder that a wild mountaineer
would be willing to pay — ^not one dollar, but all that he has in
his purse, for a dance and an approving smile from so beautiful
a woman.

• There were thirteen dance houses in Central City. Today a strangrer
would never know there had ever been a town.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 13

Her cavalier stands six feet in his boots, which come to the
knee, and are garnished with a pair of Spanish spurs, with rowels
and bells like young water wheels. His buckskin leggings are
fringed at the seams, and gathered at the waist with a U. S.
belt, from which hangs his loaded revolver and his sheath knife.
His neck is bare, muscular and embrowned by exposure, as is
also his bearded face, whose sombre hue is relieved by a pair of
piercing dark eyes. His long black hair hangs down beneath his
wide felt hat, and, in the corner of his mouth is a cigar, which
rolls like the lever of an eccentric, as he chews the end in his
mouth. After an amazingly grave salute, "all hands round" is
shouted by the prompter, and off bounds the buckskin hero, ris-
ing and falling to the rhythm of the dance, with a clumsy agility
and a growing enthusiasm, testifying his huge delight. His fair
partner, with practised foot and easy grace, keeps time to the
music like a clock, and rounds to her place as smoothly and grace-
fully as a swan. As the dance progresses, he of the buckskins
gets excited, and nothing but long practice prevents his partner
from being swept off her feet, at the conclusion of the miner's
delight, "set your partners," or "gents to the right". An Irish
tune or a hornpipe generally finishes the set, and then the thunder
of heel and toe, and some amazing demivoltes are brought to an
end by the aforesaid "gents to the right," and "promenade to the
bar," which last closes the dance. After a treat, the barkeeper
mechanically raps his blower as a hint to "weigh out", the ladies
sit down, and with scarcely an interval, a waltz, polka, shottische,
mazurka, varsovinne, or another quadrille commences.

All varieties of costume, physique and demeanor can be noticed
among the dancers — from the gayest colors and "loudest" styles
of dress and manner, to the snugly fitted black silk, and plain
white collar, which sets off the neat figure of the blue-eyed,
modest looking Anglo-Saxon. Yonder, beside the tall and tastily
clad German brunette you see the short curls, rounded tournure
and smiling face of an Irish girl ; indeed, representatives of al-
most every dancing nation of white folks may be seen on the
floor of the Hurdy Gurdy house. The earnings of the dancers are
very different in amount. That dancer in the low-necked dress,
with the scarlet "waist," a great favorite and a really good
dancer, counted fifty tickets into her lap before "The last dance,
gentlemen," followed by "Only this one before the girls go
home," which wound up the performance. Twenty-six dollars is
a great deal of money to earn in such a fashion ; but fifty sets of
quadrilles and four waltzes, two of them for the love of the thing,
is very hard work.

14 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

As a rule, however, the professional "hurdles" are Teutons,
and, though first-rate dancers, they are, with some few excep-
tions, the reverse of good looking.

The dance which is most attended, is one in which ladies to
whom pleasure is dearer than fame, represent the female element,
and, as may be supposed, the evil only commences at the Dance
House. It is not uncommon to see one of these sirens* with an
"outfit" worth from seven to eight hundred dollars, and many
of them invest with merchants and bankers thousands of dollars
in gold, the rewards and presents they receive, especially the more
highly favored ones, being more in a week than a well-educated
girl would earn in two years in an Eastern city.

In the Dance House you can see Judges, the Legislative corps,
and every one but the Minister. He never ventures further than to
engage in conversation with a friend at the door, and while in-
tently watching the performance, lectures on the evil of such
places with considerable force ; but his attention is evidently more
fixed upon the dancers than on his lecture. Sometimes may be
seen gray-haired men dancing, their wives sitting at home in
blissful ignorance of the proceeding. There never was a dance
house running, for any length of time, in the first days of a min-
ing town, in which "shooting scrapes" do not occur; equal pro-
portions of jealousy, whiskey and revenge being the stimulants
thereto . Billiard saloons are everywhere visible, with a bar at-
tached, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent there. As
might be anticipated, it is impossible to prevent quarrels in these
places, at all times, and, in the mountains, whatever weapon is
handiest — foot, fist, knife, revolver, or derringer — it is usually
used. The authentic, and indeed, literally exact accounts which
follow in the course of this narrative will show that the remarks
we have made on the state of society in a new mining country,
before a controlling power asserts its sway, are in no degree ex-
aggerated, but fall short of the reality, as all description must.

One marked feature of social intercourse, and (after indulgence
in strong drink) the most fruitful source of quarrel and blood-
shed is the all-pervading custom of using strong language on
every occasion. Men will say more than they mean and the un-
written code of the miners, based on a wrong view of what con-
stitutes manhood, teaches them to resent by force what should
be answered by silent contempt.

Another powerful incentive to wrong-doing is the absolute
nullity of the civil law in such cases. No matter what may be
the proof, if the criminal is well liked in the community, "Not
Guilty" is almost certain to be the verdict of the jury, despite

* These women, if they understood their business, seldom or ever, be-
came intoxicated, as it was a sure way of losing money and prestige.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 15

the efforts of the Judge and prosecutor. If the offender is a
moneyed man, as well as a popular citizen, the trial is only a
farce — grave and prolonged, it is true, but capable of only one
termination — a verdict of acquittal. In after days, when police
magistrates in cities can deal with crime, they do so promptly.
Costs are absolutely frightful, and fines tremendous. An assault
provoked by drunkenness frequently costs a man as much as
thrashing forty different policemen would do, in New York. A
trifling "tight" is worth from $20 to $50 in dust, all expenses
told, and so on. One grand jury that we wot of presented that
it would be better to leave the punishment of offenders to
the Vigilantes, who always acted impartially, and who would not
permit the escape of proved criminals on technical and absurd
grounds — than to have justice defeated, as in a certain case
named. The date of that document is not ancient, and though,
of course, refused and destroyed, it was the deliberate opinion,
on oath, of the Grand Inquest, embodying the sentiment of thou-
sands of good citizens in the community.

Finally, swift and terrible retribution is the only preventive
of crime, while society is organizing in the far West. The long
delay of justice, the wearisome proceedings, the remembrance of
old friendships, etc., create a sympathy for the offender, so strong
as to cause a hatred of the avenging law, instead of inspiring a
horror of the crime. There is something in the excitement of con-
tinued stampedes that makes men of quick temperaments, uncon-
trollably impmsive. In the moment of passion, thej' would slay
all around them; but let the blood cool, and they would share
their last dollar with the men whose life they sought a day or two
before.

Habits of thought rule communities more than laws, and the
settled opinion of a numerous class is, that calling a man a liar,
a thief, or a son of a b h is provocation sufficient to justify in-
stant slaying. Juries do not ordinarily bother themselves about
the lengthy instructions they hear read by the court. They sim-
ply consider whether the deed is a crime against the Mountain
Code; and if not, "not guilty" is the verdict, at once returned.
Thieving, or any action which a miner calls mean, will surely be
visited with condign punishment, at the hands of a Territorial
jury. In such cases mercy there is none ; but, in affairs of single
combats, assaults, shootings, stabbings, and highway robberies,
this civil law, with its positively awful expense and delay, is
worse than useless.

One other main point requires to be noticed. Any person of ex-
perience will remember that the universal story of criminals,
who have expiated their crimes on the scaffold, or who are pining

\

16 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

away in the hardships of involuntary servitude — tells of habitual
Sabbath breaking. This sin is so general in newly discovered
diggings in the mountains that a remonstrance usually produced
no more fruit than a few jocular oaths and a laugh. Religion is
said to be "played out," and a professing Christian must keep
straight, indeed, or he will be suspected of being a hypocritical
member of a tribe, to whom it would be very disagreeable to talk
about hemp.

Under these circumstances, it becomes an absolute necessity
that good, law-loving, and order-sustaining men should unite for
mutual protection, and for the salvation of the community. Being
united, they must act in harmony; repress disorder; punish
crime, and prevent outrage, or their organization would be a
failure from the start, and society would collapse in the throes
of anarchy. None but extreme penalties inflicted with prompti-
tude are of any avail to quell the spirit of the desjjeradoes with
whom they have to contend ; considerable numbers are required to
cope successfully with the gangs of murderers, desperadoes and
robbers who infest mining countries, and who, though faithful
to no other bond, yet all league willingly against the law. Secret
they must be, in council and membership, or they will remain
nearly useless for the detection of crime, in a country where equal
facilities for the transmission of intelligence are at the command
of the criminal and the judiciary; and an organization on this
footing is a Vigilance Committee.

Such was the state of affairs, when five men in Virginia, and
four in Bannack, initiated the movement which resulted in the
formation of a tribunal, supported by an omnipresent executive,
comprising within itself nearly every good man in the Territory,
and pledged to render impartial justice to friend and foe, without
regard to clime, creed, race or politics. In a few short weeks it
was known that the voice of justice had spoken, in tones that
might not be disregarded. The face of society was changed, as
if by magic ; for the Vigilantes, holding in one hand the invisible
yet effectual shield of protection, and in the other, the swift de-
scending and inevitable sword of retribution, struck from his
nerveless grasp the weapon of the assassin ; commanded the
brawler to cease from strife ; warned the thief to steal no more ;
bade the good citizen take courage, and compelled the ruffians
and marauder who had so long maintained the "reign of terror"
in Montana, to fly the Territory, or meet the just rewards of
their crimes. Need we say that they were at once obeyed? yet not
before more than one hundred valuable lives had been pitilessly
sacrificed and twenty-four miscreants had met a dog's doom as
the reward of their crimes.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 17

To this hour, the whispered words, "Virginia Vigilantes"
would blanch the cheek of the wildest and most redoubtable des-
perado, and necessitate an instant election between flight and
certain doom.

The administration of the lex talionis by self-constituted
authority is, undoubtedly, in civilized and settled communities,
an outrage on mankind. It is there wholly unnecessary; but the
sight of a few of the mangled corpses of beloved friends and
valued citizens ; the whistle of the desperado 's bullet, and the
plunder of the fruits of the patient toil of years spent in weary
exile from home, in places where civil law is as powerless as a
palsied arm, from sheer lack of ability to enforce its decrees —
alter the basis of the reasoning, and reverse the conclusion. In
the case of the Vigilantes of Montana, it must be also remembered
that the Sheriff himself was the leader of the Road Agents, and
his deputies were the prominent members of the band.

The question of the propriety of establishing a Vigilance Com-
mittee depends upon the answers which ought to be given to the
following queries: Is it lawful for citizens to slay robbers or
murderers, when they catch them ; or ought they to wait for po-
licemen, where there are none, or put them in penitentiaries not
yet erected?

Gladly, indeed, we feel sure, would the Vigilantes cease from
their labor, and joyfully would they hail the advent of power,
civil or military, to take their place ; but till this is furnished by
Government, society must be preserved from demoralization and
anarchy; murder, arson and robbery must be prevented or pun-
ished, and road agents must die. Justice, and protection from
wrong to person or property, are the birthright of every American
citizen, and these must be furnished in the best and most effectual
manner that circumstances render possible. Furnished, however,
they must be by constitutional law, undoubtedly, wherever practi-
cal and efficient provision can be made for its enforcement. But
where justice is powerless as well as blind, the strong arm of the
mountaineer must wield her sword; for "self-preservation is the
first law of nature."

CHAPTER II.
The Sunny Side of Mountain Life.

"The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel." — Sueakespeabe.

In the preceding chapter it was necessary to show to the reader
the dark side of the cloud ; but it has a golden lining, and though
many a cursory observer, or disappointed speculator may deny

18 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

this fact, yet thousands have seen it, and know to their hearts'
content that it is there. Yes ! Life in the mountains has many-
charms. The one great blessing is perfect freedom. Untram-
melled by the artificial restraints of more highly organized soci-
ety, character developes itself so fully and so trulj', that a man
who has a friend knows it, and there is a warmth and depth
in the attachment which unites the dwellers in the wilderness, that
is worth years of the insipid and uncertain regard of so-called
polite circles, which, too often, passes by the name of friendship,
and, sometimes, insolently apes the attributes, and dishonors the
fame of love itself. Those who have slept at the same watch-fire,
and traversed together many a weary league, sharing hardships
and privations, are drawn together by ties which civilization wots
not of. Wounded or sick, far from home, and depending for life
itself upon the ministration and tender care of some fellow trav-
eller, the memory of these deeds of mercy and kindly fellowship
often mutually rendered, is as an oasis in the desert, or as a crys-
tal stream to the fainting pilgrim.

As soon as towns are built society commences to organize, and
there is something truly cheering in the ready hospitality, the un-
feigned welcome, and the friendly toleration of personal peculiar-
ities which mark the intercourse of the dwellers in the land of
gold. Every one does what pleases him best. Forms and cere-
monies are at a discount, and generosity has its home in the pure
air of the Rocky Mountains. This virtue, indeed, is as insepar-
able from mountaineers of all classes, as the pick and shovel from
the prospector, AVhen a case of real destitution is made public,
if any well-known citizen will but take a paper in his hand and
go round with it, the amount collected would astonish a dweller
in Eastern cities, and it is a fact that gamblers and saloon keep-
ers are the very men who subscribe the most liberally. Moun-
taineers think little lof a few hundreds of dollars, when the feel-
ings are engaged, and the number of instances in which men have
been helped to fortunes and presented with valuable property by
their friends is truly astonishing.

The mountains also may be said to circumscribe and bound
the paradise of amiable and energetic women. For their labor
they are paid magnificently, and they are treated with a deference
and liberality unknown in other climes. There seems to be a law,
unwritten but scarcely ever transgressed, which assigns to a vir-
tuous and amiable woman a power for good which she can never
hope to attain elsewhere. In his wildest excitement, a moun-
taineer respects a woman, and anything like an insult offered to
a lady would be instantly resented, probably with fatal effect, by
any bystander. Dancing is the great amusement with persons of

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 19

both sexes, and avc might say all ages. The comparative dispro-
portion between the male and female elements of society ensures
the possessor of personal charms of the most ordinary kind, if
she be good natured, the greatest attention, and the most liberal
provision for her wants, whether real or fancied.

If two men are friends, an insult to one is resented by both,
an alliance, offensive and defensive, being a necessary condition
of friendship in the mountains. A popular citizen is safe every-
where, and any man may be popular that has anything useful
or genial about him.

"Putting on style," or the assumption of aristocratic airs, is
the detestation of everybody. No one but a person lacking sense
attempts it. It is neither forgotten nor forgiven, and kills a man
like a bullet. It should also be remembered that no people more
admire and respect upright moral conduct than do the sojourners
in mining camps, while at the same time none more thoroughly
despise hypocrisy in any shape. In fact, good men and good
women may be as moral and as religious as they choose to be in
the mining countries, and as hapjjy as human beings can be. Much
they will miss that they have been used to, and much they will
receive that none offered them before.

Monej^ is commonly plentiful ; if prices are high, remuneration
for work is liberal, and, in the end. care and industry will achieve
success and procure competence. We have travelled far and seen
much of the world, and the result of our experience is a love for
our mountain home that time and change of scene can never
efface.

CHAPTER m.

Settlement of Montana.

"I hear the tread of pioneers.
Of nations yet to be ;
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea." — Whittieb.

Early in the spring of 1862 the rumor of new and rich dis-
toveries on Salmon River flew through Salt Lake City, Colorado,
and other places in the Territories. A great stampede was the
consequence. Faith and hope were in the ascendent among the
motley crew that wended their toilsome way by Fort Hall and
Snake River, to the new Eldorado. As the trains approached the
goal of their desires they were informed that they could not get
through with wagons, and shortly after came the discouraging
tidings that the new mines were overrun by a crowd of gold-hunt-
ers from California, Oregon and other western countries ; they

20 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

were also told, that finding it impossible to obtain either claims
or labor, large bands of prospectors were already spreading over
the adjacent territory; and finally, that some new diggings had
been discovered at Deer Lodge.

The stream of emigration diverged from the halting-place
where this last welcome intelligence reached them. Some, turn-
ing towards Deer Lodge, crossed the mountains, between Fort
Lemhi and Horse Prairie Creek, and taking a cut-ioff to the left,
endeavored to strike the old trail from Salt Lake to Bitter Root
and Deer Lodge Valley. These energetic miners* crossed the
Grasshopper Creek, below the Canon, and finding good prospects
there, some of the party remained, with a view of practically test-
ing their value. Others went on to Deer Lodge ; but finding that
the diggings were neither so rich nor so extensive as they had
supposed, they returned to Grasshopper Creek, afterwards known
as the Beaver Head Diggins — so named from the Beaver Head
River, into which the creek empties. The river derives its appel-
lation from a rock**, which exactly resembles, in its outline, the
head of a beaver.

From this camp — the rendezvous of the emigration — started,
from time to time, the bands of explorers, who first discovered
and worked the gulches east of the Rocky Mountains, in the
world-renowned country now the Territory'' of Montana. Other
emigrants, coming by Deer Lodge, struck the Beaver Head dig-
gings ; then the first party from Minnesota arrived ; after them
came a large part of the Fisk Company who had travelled under
Government escort, from the same State, and a considerable num-
ber drove through from Salt Lake City and Bitter Root, in the
early part of the winter, which was very open.

Among the later arivals were some desperadoes and outlaws,
from the mines west of the mountains. In this gang were Henry
Plummer, afterwards the Sheriff,* Charley Reeves, Moore and
Skinner. These worthies had no sooner got the "lay of the coun-
try," than they commenced operations. Here it may be remarked,
that if the professed servants of God would only work for their
Master with the same energy and persistent devotion as the serv-
ants of the Devil use for their employer, there would be no need
of a Heaven above, for the earth itself would be a Paradise.

• John White and party.
** Not die Point of Rocks.
*** Jeff Durly was Plnmmer's opivonent at tJiis election. Durly had
been a sheriff in lUinois.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 21

CHAPTER IV.

The Road Agents.

"Thieves for their robbery have authoritj'

When judges steal themselves." — Shakespeabe.

It may easily be imagined that life in Bannack, in the early
days of the settlement, was anything but pleasant. The ruffians
whose advent we have noticed served as a nucleus, around which
the disloyal, the desperate, and the dishonest gathered, and
quickly organizing themselves into a band, with captain, lieuten-
ants, secretary, road agents, and outsiders, became the terror of
the country. The stampede to the Aider Gulch, which occurred
early in June, 1863, and the discovery of the rich placer diggings
there, attracted many more of the dangerous classes, who, scent-
ing the prey from afar, flew like vultures to the battlefield.

Between Bannack and Virginia a correspondence was con-
stantly kept up, and the roads throughout the Territory were
under the surveillance of the "outsiders" before mentioned. To
such a system were these things brought, that horses, men and
coaches were marked in some understoiod manner, to designate
them as fit objects for plunder, and thus the liers in wait had
an opportunity of communicating the intelligence to the members
of the gang, in time to prevent the escape of the victims.

The usual arms of a road agent were a pair of revolvers, a
double-barreled shot gun* of large bore, with the barrels cut down
short, and to this they invariabl}^ added a knife or dagger. Thus
armed and mounted on fleet, well-trained horses, and being dis-
guised with blankets and masks, the robbers awaited their prey
in ambush. When near enough they sprang out on a keen run,
with levelled shot-guns, and usually gave the word, "Halt! Throw

up your hands, you sons of b s!" If this latter command

were not instantly obeyed, there was the last of the offender ;
but, in case he complied, as was usual, one or two sat on their
horses, covering the party with their guns, which were loaded
with buck-shot, and one dismounting, disarmed the victims, and
made them throw their purses on the grass. This being done,
and a search for concealed property being effected, away rode
the robbers, reported the capture and divided the spoils.

The confession of two of their number, one of whom, named
Erastus Yager alias Red, was hung in the Stinkingwater Valley,
put the Committee in possession of the names of the prominent
men in the gang, and eventually secured their death or voluntary
banishment. The most noted of the' road agents, with a few exeep-

* Plummer's gun Is now, (July 1st, 1915), in the possession of Amede
Bessette, Bannack.

22 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

tions, were hanged by the Vigilance Committee, or banished. A
list of the place and date of execution of the principal members
of the band is here presented. The remainder of the red calendar
of crime and retribution will appear after the account of the
execution of Hunter :

Names, Place and Date of Execution.

George Ives, Nevada City, Dec. 21st, 1863; Erastus Yager (Red)
and G. W. Brown, Stinkingwater Valley, January 4th, 1864;
Henry Plummer, Ned Ray and Buck Stinson, Bannack City, Jan-
uary 10th, 1864; George Lane (Club-foot George), Frank Parish,
Haze Lyons, Jack Gallagher and Boone Helm, Virginia City,
January 14th, 1864 ; Steven Marsland, Big Hole Ranche, January
16th, 1864; William Bunton, Deer Lodge Valley, January 19th,
1864; Cyrus Skinner, Alexander Carter and John Cooper, Hell
Gate, January 25th, 1864; George Shears, Frenchtown, January
24th, 1864; Robert Zachary, Hell Gate, January 25th, 1864; Wil-
liam Graves alias Whiskey Bill, Fort Owens, January 26th, 1864 ;
William Hunter, Gallatin Valley, February 3d, 1864 ; John Wag-
oner (Dutch John) and Joe Pizanthia, Bannack City, January
11th, 1864.

Judge Smith and J. Thurmond, the counsel of the road agents,
were banished. Thurmond brought an action at Salt Lake,
against Mr. Fox, charging him with aiding in procuring his ban-
ishment. After some peculiar developments of justice in Utah,
he judiciously withdrew all proceedings, and gave a receipt in
full of all past and future claims on the Vigilance Committee, in
which instance he exhibited a wise discretion —
"It's no for naething the gled whistles."

The Bannack branch of the Vigilantes also sent out of the
country H. G. Sessions, convicted of circulating bogus dust, and
one H. D. Moyer, who furnished a room at midnight for them
to work in, together with material for their labor. A man named
Kustar was also banished for recklessly shooting through the
windows of the hotel opposite his place of abode.

The circumstances attending the execution of J. A. Slade,* and
the charges against him, will appear in full in a subsequent part
of this work. This case stands on a footing distinct from all
others.

Moore and Reeves were banished, as will afterwards appear,
by a miners' jury, at Bannack, in the winter of 1863, but came
back in the spring. They fled the country when the Vigilantes
commenced operations, and are thought to be in Mexico.

* First mentioned by Mark Twain, In "Rougrhing It"

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 23

Charley Forbes was a member of the gang ; but being wounded
in a scuffle, or a robbery, a doctor was found and taken to where
he lay. Finding that he was incurable, it is believed that Moore
and Reeves shot him, to prevent his divulging what he knew of
the band ; but this is uncertain. Some say he was killed by Moore
and Reeves, in Red Rock Canyon.

The headquarters of the marauders was Rattlesnake Ranche.*
Plummer often visited it, and the robbers used to camp, with
their comrades, in little wakiups above and below it, watching,
and ready for fight, flight or plunder. Two rods in front of this
building was a sign post, at which they used to practise with their
revolvers. They were capital shots. Plummer was the quickest
hand with his revolver of any man in the mountains. He coidd
draw the pistol and discharge the five loads in three seconds. The
post was riddled with holes, and was looked upon as quite a curi-
osity, until it was cut down, in the summer of 1863.

Another favorite resort of the gang was Dempsey's Cottonwood
Ranche. The owner knew the character of the robbers, but had
no connection with them; and, in those days a man's life would
not have been worth fifteen minutes' purchase, if the possessor
had been foolish enough even to hint at his knowledge of their
doings. Daley's** at Ramshorn Gulch, and ranches or wakiups
on the Madison and Jefferson, Wisconsin Creek, and Mill Creek,
were also constantly occupied by members of the band.

By discoveries of the bodies of the victims, the confessions of
the murderers before execution, and reliable information sent to
the Committee, it was found that one hundred and two people
had been certainly killed by those miscreants in various places,
and it was believed, on the best information, that scores of un-
fortunates had been murdered and buried, whose remains were
never discovered, nor their fate definitely ascertained. All that
was Imown was that they started, with greater or less sums of
money, for various places, and were never heard of again.

CHAPTER V.

The Dark Days of Montana.

"Will all Neptune's Ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand?" — Macbeth.

Henry Plummer, a sketch of whose previous career will appear
in a subsequent part of this narrative, came to Montana Territory
from Orofino. He and Reeves had there got into a difficulty

* The PhiUips ranch at the crossing of Rattlesnake, on the road from
Bannack to Deer Lodge.

** Pete Daley. He was supposed to have known much of the highway-
men, but would not teU. In old age, lie was sent to the insane asylum.

24 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

with another man, and had settled the matter in the way usual
in the trade — that is to say, they shot him.

Plummer — who, it seems, had for a long time contemplated a
visit to the States — made at once for the river, intending to go
down by boat ; but finding that he was too late, he came back to
Gold Creek, and there met Jack Cleveland, an old acquaintance,
and former partner in crime. They made arrangements to pass
the winter together at Sun River Farm. Plummer was to attend
to the chores about the house, and Jack Cleveland was to get the
wood. The worthy couple, true to their instincts, did not long
remain in harmony, but quarreled about a young lady, whom
Plummer afterwards married.* Neither would leave, unless the
other went also, and at last they both started, in company, for
Bannack.

This town originated from the "Grasshopper Diggings," which
were first discovered in the month of July, by John White and a
small party of prospectors, on the Grasshopper Creek, a tributary
of the Beaver Head. The discoverer, together with Rudolph
Dorsett, was murdered by Charley Kelly, in the month of Decem-
ber, 1863, near the Milk Ranche, on the road from Virginia City
to Helena. Wash Stapleton and his party came in a short time
after, and were soon joined by others, among whom were W. B.
Dance, S. T. Hauser, James Morley,** Drury Underwood, F. M.
Thomson, N. P. Langford, James Fergus, John Potter, Judge
Hoyt and Dr. Hoyt, Chas. St. Clair, David Thompson, Buz
Craven,*** Messrs. Burchett, Morelle, Harby, J. M. Castner, Pat
Bray and brother, Sturges, Col. McLean, ****R. C. Knox, and other
well known citizens of Montana. The name, "Bannack," was
given to the settlement, from the Bannack Indians, the lords of
the soil. It was the first "mining camp" of any importance, dis-
covered on the eastern slope of the Mountains, and as the stories
of its wonderful richness went abroad, hundreds of scattered
prospectors flocked in, and before the following spring the in-
habitants numbered upwards of a thousand.

It is probable that there never was a mining town of the same
size that contained more desperadoes and lawless characters than
did Bannack, during the winter of 1862-3. While a majority of
the citizens were of the sterling stock, which has ever furnished
the true American pioneers, there were great numbers of the most
desperate class of roughs and road agents, who had been roving
through the mountains, exiles from their former haunts in the

* Mrs. Plummer left the Territory, and has been lost — certainly an act
of decency on the part of historians.

** Morley's Diary is in the Historical Society. It is very interesting.
*** Afterwards sheriff of Madison County.
**♦* First delegate to Congress, who beat W. F. Sanders.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 25

mining settlements, from which they had fled to avoid the pen-
alties incurred by the commission of many a fearful crime. These
men no sooner heard of the rich mines of Bannack, than they at
once made for the new settlement, where among strangers, ignor-
ant of their crimes, they would be secure from punishment, at
least until their true character should become known.

During their journey to Bannack, Cleveland often said, when a
little intoxicated, that Plummer was his meat. On their arrival
at their destination, they were, in mountain phrase, "strapped;"
that is, they were without money or means ; but Cleveland was
not thus to be foiled ; the practice of his profession furnishing him
with ample funds, at cost of a short ride and a pistol cart-
ridge. In February, 1863, a young man named George Evans,
having a considerable sum of money on his person, was hunting
stock belonging to William Bates, beyond Buffalo Creek, about
eight miles from Bannack, and this man, it is believed, was shot
by Cleveland, and robbed, as the murderer — who had no money
at the time — was seen riding close to the place, and the next day
he had plenty. Evans' partner, Ed Hibbert, got a horse from
J. M. Castner, and searched for him in vain, returning impressed
with the belief that he had frozen to death. In a short time, a
herder named Duke, a partner of Jemmy Spence, was also hunting
cattle, when he found Evans' clothes tucked into a badger hole.
A body, which, however, was never fully identified, was found
naked in the willows, with a shot wound in the right armpit. It
seems as if the victim had seen a man about to shoot, and had
raised his arm deprecatingly.

Shortly after this, Cleveland came in to Goodrich's saloon, and

said he was chief; that he knew all the d d scoundrels from

the ' ' other side, ' ' and would get even on some of them. A diffi-
culty arose between him and Jeff. Perkins, about some money
which the latter owed in the lower country. Jeff, assured him
that he had settled the debt, and thereupon Jack said, "Well,
if it's settled, it's all right;" but he still continued to refer to it,
and kept reaching for his pistol. Plummer, who was present, told
him that if he did not behave himself, he would take him in hand,
for that Jeff, had settled the debt, and he ought to be satisfied.
Jeff, went home for his derringers, and while he was absent, Jack
Cleveland boastingly declared that he was afraid of none of them.

Plummer jumped to his feet instantly, saying, "You d d son

of a b h, I am tired of this," and drawing his pistol, he com-
menced firing at Cleveland.* The first ball lodged in the beam
overhead, where it still remains. The second struck him below

• January 14th, 1868.

26 THE VlGILAN^rES OF iMONTANA

the belt, and lie fell to his knees, grasping wildly at his pistol, and
exclaiming, ''Plummer, you won't shoot me when I'm down;"

to which Plummer replied, ''No, you d d son of a b h;

get up," and, as he staggered to his feet, he shot him a little above
the heart. The bullet, however, glanced on the rib, and went
round his body. The next entered below the eye, and lodged
in his head. The last missile went between Moore and another
man, who was sitting on the bench. As may be supposed the citi-
zen discovered that business called him outside immediately ; and
met George Ives, with a pistol in his hand, followed by Reeves,
who was similarly accoutred for the summary adjustment of
"difficulties."

Singular enough it must appear to the inhabitants of settled
communities, that a man was being shaved in the saloon at the
time, and neither he nor the operator left off business — custom is
everything, and fire-eating is demonstrably an acquired habit.

Ives and Reeves each took Plummer by the arm, and walked

down the street, asking as they went along : ' ' Will the d d

strangling sons of b s hang you now?"

Hank Crawford was, at this time, boarding with L. W. Daven-
port, of Bannack, and was somewhat out of health. His host came
into the room, and said that there was a man shot somewhere
up town, in a saloon. Crawford immediately went to where the
crowd had gathered, and found that such was the fear of the
desperadoes, that no one dared to lift the head of the dying man.
Hank said aloud, that it was out of the question to leave a man
in such a condition, and asked, "Is there no one that will take
him home?" Some answered that thej'' had no room; to which
he replied, that he had not, either, but he would find a place for
him; and, assisted by three others, he carried him to his own
lodging — sending a messenger for the doctor.

The unfortunate man lived about three hours. Before his de-
cease he sent Crawford to Plummer for his blankets. Plummer
asked Crawford what Jack had said about him; Crawford told
him ' ' nothing. " " It is well for him, ' ' said Plummer, " or I would

have killed the d d son of a b h in his bed." He repeated

his question several times, very earnestly. Crawford then in-
formed him that, in answer to numerous inquiries by himself and
others, about Cleveland's connections, he had said, "Poor Jack
has got no friends. He has got it, and I guess he can stand it.'*
Crawford had him decently buried, but he knew, from that time,
that Plummer had marked him for destruction, fearing that some
of Cleveland's secrets might have transpired, in which case he was
aware that he would surely be hung at the first opportunity.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 27

No action was taken about this murder for some time. It re-
quired a succession of iiorrible outrages to stimulate the citizens
to their first feeble parody of justice. Shooting, duelling and out-
rage, were, from an early date, daily occurrences in Bannack;
and many was the foul deed done of which no record has been
preserved. As an instance of the free and easy state of society at
this time may be mentioned a "shooting scrape" between George
Carrhart and George Ives, during the winter of '62-3. The two
men were talking together in the street, close to Carrhart 's cabin.
Gradually they seemed to grow angry, and parted, Ives exclaim-
ing aloud, "You d d son of a b ^h, I'll shoot you," and ran

into a grocery for his revolver. Carrhart stepped into his cabiu,
and came out first, with his pistol in his hand, which he held by
his side, the muzzle poiuting downwards. George Ives came out,
and turning his back on Carrhart, looked for him in the wrong
direction — giviug his antagonist a chance of shooting him in the
back, if he desired to do so. Carrhart stood still till Ives turned,
watching him closely. The instant Ives saw him he swore an oath,
and raising his pistol, let drive, but missed him by an inch or so,
the bullet strikmg the wall of the house, close to which he was
standing. Carrhart 's first shot was a miss-fire, and a second shot
from Ives struck the ground. Carrhart 's second shot flashed
right in Ives' face, but did no damage, though the ball could
hardly have missed more than a hair's breadth. Carrhart jumped
into the house, and reaching his hand out, fired at his opponent.
In the same fashion, his antagonist returned the compliment.
This was continued till Ives' revolver was emptied — Carrhart
having one shot left. As Ives walked off to make his escape,
Carrhart shot him in the back, near the side. The ball went
through, and striking the ground in front of him, knocked up the
dust ahead of him. Ives was not to be killed by a shot, and
wanted to get another revolver, but Carrhart ran off down the
street. Ives cursed him for a coward "shooting a man in the
back," They soon made up their quarrels, and Ives went and
lived with Carrhart, on his ranches, for the rest of the winter.

Accidents will happen in the best regulated families, and we
give a specimen of "casualties" pertaining to life in Bannack
during this delightful period. Dr. Biddle, of Minnesota, and his
wife, together with Mr. and Mrs. Short, and their hired man, were
quietly sitting round their camp fire on Grasshopper Creek, when
J. M. Castner, thinking that a lady in the peculiar situation of
Mrs. Biddle would need the shelter of a house, went over to the
camp, and sitting down, made his offer of assistance, which was
politely acknowledged, but declined by the lady, on the ground
that their wagon was very comfortably fitted up. Scarcely were
the words uttered, when crack ! went a revolver, from the door of

28 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

a saloon, and the ball went so close to Castner's ear, that it stung
for two or three days. It is stated that he shifted the position of
his head with amazing rapidity. Mrs. Biddle nearly fainted and
became much excited, trembling with terror. Castner went over
to the house, and saw Cyrus Skinner in the act of laying his revol-
ver on the table, at the same time requesting a gentleman who was
playing cards to count the balls in it. He at first refused, saying
he was busy ; but, being pressed, said, after making a hasty inspec-
tion, "Well, there are only four." Skinner replied, ''I nearly

frightened the out of a fellow over there." Castner laid his

hand on his shoulder, and said, "My friend, you nearly shot Mrs.
Biddle." Skinner declared that he would not have killed a
woman "for the world," and swore that he thought it was a
camp of Indians, which would, in his view, have made the matter
only an agreeable pastime. He asked Castner to drink, but the
generous offer was declined. Probably the ball stuck in his
throat. The Doctor accepted the invitation. These courtesies
were like an invitation from a Captain to a Midshipman, "No
compulsion, only you must."

A little episode may here be introduced, as an illustration of an
easy method of settling debts mentioned by Shakespeare. The
sentiment is the Earl of Warwick's. The practical enforcement
of the doctrine is to be credited, in this instance, to Haze Lyons,
of the Rocky Mountains, a self-constituted and energetic
Receiver-General of all moneys and valuables not too hot or too
heavy for transportation bj'' man or horse, at short notice. The
"King Maker" says:

"When the debt grows burdensome, and cannot be discharged
A sponge will wipe out all, and cost you nothing."

The substitute for the "sponge" above alluded to, is usually, in
cases like the following, a revolver, which acts effectually, by
"rubbing out" either the debt or the creditor, as circumstances
may render desirable. Haze Lyons owed a board bill to a citizen
of Bannack, who was informed that he had won $300 or $400 by
gambling the night before, and accordingly asked him for it. He

replied, "You son of a b h, if you ask me for that again, I'll

make it unhealthy for you." The creditor generously refrained
from further unpleasant inquires, and the parties met again for
the first time, face to face, at the gallows, on which Haze expiated
his many crimes.

The next anecdote is suggestive of one, among many ways of
incidentally expressing dislike of a man's "style" in business
matters. Buck Stinson had gone security for a friend, who
levanted; but was pursued and brought back. A mischievous
boy had been playing some ridiculous pranks, when his guardian.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 29

to whom the debt mentioned was due, spoke to him severely, and
ordered him home. Buck at once interfered, telling the guardian
that he should not correct the boy. On receiving for answer that
it certainly would be done, as it was the duty of the boy's pro-
tector to look after him, he drew his revolver, and thrusting it

close to the citizen's face, saying "G d d n you, I don't

like you very well, anyhow," was about to fire, when the latter
seized the barrel and threw it up. A struggle ensued, and finding
that he couldn't fire, Stinson wrenched the weapon out of his
opponent's hand, and struck him heavily across the muscles of the
neck, but failed to knock him down. The bar-keeper interfering,
Stinson let go his hold, and swore he would shoot him; but he
was quieted down. The gentleman being warned, made his way
home at the double-quick, or faster, and put on his revolver and
bowie, which he wore for fifteen days. At the end of this time,
Plummer persuaded Stinson to apologize, which he did, and there-
after behaved with civility to that particular man.

The wild lawlessness and the reckless disregard for life which
distinguished the outlaws, who had by this time concentrated at
Bannack, will appear from the account of the first "Indian trou-
ble," If the facts here stated do not justify the formation of a
Vigilance Committee in Montana, then may God help Uncle Sam's
nephews when they venture west of the river, in search of new
diggings. In March, 1863, Charley Reeves, a prominent "clerk of
St. Nicholas," bought a Sheep-eater squaw; but she refused to
live with him, alleging that she was ill-treated, and went back to
her tribe, who were encamped on the rise of the hill, south of
Yankee Flat,* about fifty yards to the rear of the street. Reeves
went after her, and sought to force her to come back with him,
but on his attempting to use violence, an old chief interfered.
The two grappled. Reeves, with a sudden effort, broke from him,
striking him a blow with his pistol, and, in the scuffle, one barrel
was harmlessly discharged.

The next evening, Moore and Reeves, in a state of intoxication,
entered Goodrich's saloon, laying down two double-barreled shot-
guns and four revolvers on the counter, considerably to the dis-
comfiture of the barkeeper, who, we believe, would have sold his
position very cheap, for cash, at that precise moment, and it is
just possible that he might have accepted a good offer "on time."

They declared, while drinking, that if the d d cowardly white

folks on Yankee Flat were afraid of the Indians, they were not,
and that they would soon "set the ball a rolling." Taking their
weapons, they went off to the back of the houses, opposite the

* On the south side of Grasshopper was a considerable flat. It woa
here that the first town was laid out.

90 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

camp, and levelling their pieces, they fired into the tepee, wound-
ing one Indian. They returned to the saloon and got three drinks
more, boasting of what they had done, and accompanied by Wil-
liam Mitchell, of Minnesota, and two others, they went back, de-
termined to complete their murderous work. The three above
named then deliberately poured a volley into the tepee, with fatal
effect. Mitchell, whose gun was loaded with an ounce ball and a
charge of buckshot, killed a Frenchman named Brissette, who had
run up to ascertain the cause of the first firing — the ball striking
him in the forehead, and the buckshot wounding him in ten dif-
ferent places. The Indian chief, a lame Indian boy, and a pap-
poose, were also killed; but the number of the parties who were
wounded has never been ascertained. John Burnes escaped with
a broken thumb, and a man named Woods was shot in the groin,
of which wound he has not yet entirely recoverd. This unfor-
tunate pair, like Brissette, had come to see the cause of the shoot-
ing, and of the yells of the savages. The murderers being told
that they had killed white men, Moore replied, with great sang
froid, "The d d sons of b s had no business there."

CHAPTER VI.
The Trial.

Desponding fear, of feeble fancies full,

Weak and nnmanly, loosens every power. — Thompson.

The indignation of the citizens being aroused by this atrocious
and unprovoked massacre, a mass meeting was held the following
morning to take some action in the premises. Charley Moore and
Reeves hearing of it, started early in the morning, on foot, to-
wards Rattlesnake, Henry Plummer preceding them on horseback.
Sentries were then posted all round the to\\Ti, to prevent egress,
volunteers were called for, to pursue the criminals, and Messrs.
Lear, Higgins, 0. J. Rockwell and Davenport at once followed on
their track, coming up with them where they had ridden, in a
thicket of brush, near the creek. The daylight was beginning
to fade, and the cold was intense when a reinforcement arrived,
on which the fugitives came out, delivered themselves up, and
were conducted back to Bannack.

Plummer was tried and honorably acquitted, on account of
Cleveland's threats. Mitchell was banished, but he hid around
the town for awhile, and never went away. Reeves and Moore
were next tried. Mr. Rheem had promised the evening before to
conduct the prosecution, and Judge Smith had undertaken the de-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 31

fense, when on the morning of the trial, Mr. Rheem announced
that he was retained for the defense. This left the people without
any lawj^er or prosecutor. Mr. Coply* at last undertook the case,
but his talents not lying in that direction, he was not successful as
an advocate. Judge Hoyt, from St. Paul, was elected Judge, and
Hank Crawford, Sheriff.** Owing to the peculiarly divided state
of public opinion, it seemed almost impossible to select an impar-
tial jury from the neighborhood, and therefore a messenger was
sent to Godfrey's Canon, where N. P. Langford, R. C. Knox, A.
Godfrey, and others, were engaged in erecting a saw-mill, request-
ing them to come down to Bannack and sit on the jury. Messrs.
Langford and Godfrey came down at once, to be ready for the
trial the next day. The assembly of citizens numbered about five
or six hundred, and to them the question was put, ' ' Whether the
prisoners should be tried by the people en masse, or by a selected
jury." Some leading men advocated the first plan. N. P. Lang-
ford and several prominent residents took the other side, and
argued the necessity for a jury. After several hours' discussion,
a jury was ordered, and the trial proceeded. At the conclusion
of the evidence and argument, the case was given to the jury
without any charge. The Judge also informed them that if they
found the prisoners guilty, they must sentence them. At the first
ballot, the vote stood : For death, 1 ; against it, 11. The question
of the prisoners' guilt admitted of no denial. N. P. Langford
alone voted for the penalty of death. A sealed verdict of banish-
ment and confiscation of property was ultimately handed to the
Judge, late in the evening. Moore and Reeves were banished
from the Territory, but were permitted to stay Ht Deer Lodge till
the Range would be passable.

In the morning the Court again met, and the Judge informed
the people that he had received the verdict, which he would now
hand back to the foreman to read. Mr. Langford accordingly
read it aloud.

From that time forward a feeling of bitterest hostility was
manifested by the friends of Moore, Reeves and Mitchell towards
all who were prominently connected with the proceedings.

During the trial, the roughs would swagger into the space
alloted for the Judge and jury, giving utterance to clearly under-
stood threats, such as, "I'd like to see the G d d d jury

that would dare to hang Charley Reeves or Bill Moore," etc., etc.,
doubtless had fully as much weight with the jury as the evidence
had. The pretext of the prisoners that the Indians had killed
some white friends of theirs, in '49, while going to California,

* Afterward killed in trying to take Pizanthia, the greaser, Jan. 11th, 1864.
** Hank Crawford wa.s the first sheriff of Bannack District.

32 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

was accepted by the majority of the jurors as some sort of justi-
fication ; but the truth is, they were afraid of their lives — and, it
must be confessed, not without apparent reason.

To the delivery of this unfortunate verdict may be attributed
the ascendency of the roughs. They thought the people were
afraid of them. Had the question been left to old Californians
or experienced miners, Plummer, Reeves and Moore would have
been hanged, and much bloodshed and suffering would have been
thereby prevented. No organization of the Road Agents would
have been possible.

CHAPTER VII.
Plmnmer Versus Crawford.

"1 had rather chop this hand off at a blow,
And with the other fling it at thy face,
Than boar so low a sail, to strike to thee."

— Shakespeabe — Henbt VI.

Crawford, who was appointed Sheriff at the trial of Moore and
Reeves, tendered his resignation on two or three different occa-
sions ; but was induced to continue in office by the strongest rep-
resentation of his friends. They promised to stand by him in
the execution of his duty, and to remunerate him for his loss of
time and money. The arms taken from Plummer, Reeves and
Mitchell were sold by Crawford to defray expenses.

Popular sentiment is shifting and uncertain as a quicksand.
Shortly after this "Old Tex," one of the gang, collected a miners'
meeting, and at it it was resolved to give thieves their arms,
Plummer and Tex claiming them as their property. The Sheriff
had to go and get them, paying, at the same time, all expenses,
including in the list even the board of the prisoners. For his
services not a cent was ever paid to him. Popular institutions
are of divine origin. Government by the people en masse is the
acme of absurdity.

Cleveland had three horses at the time of his death. One was
at a ranch at Bannack, and two were down on Big Hole. Craw-
ford called two meetings, and was authorized to seize Cleveland's
property and sell it, in order to reimburse himself for his outlay,
which was both considerable in amount and various in detail, and
repay himself for his outlay and expenses of various kinds. He
went to Old Tex who said that Jack Cleveland had a partner,
named Terwilliger (another of the gang) who was absent, and
that he had better leave them till he came back. One day Craw-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTAiNA 33

ford wanted to go to Beaver Head,* and wished to take one of
the horses to ride. Tex said it would be wrong to do so. In a
day or two after, Crawford saw the horse in town and asked Tex
if it was not the animal. He said, "No, it was not;" but Craw-
ford, doubting his statement, inquired of a man that he knew
was perfectly well informed on the subject, and found that it was
as he supposed, and that the ranchman had brought it in for Tex
to ride during the journey he contemplated, with the intention of
meeting of Terwilliger. Crawford ordered the horse back, and
desired that it should not be given to any one. The man took it
as directed. When the men were banished, Plummer went to the
ranch, took the horse and rode it, when escorting the culprits out
of town. He then brought it back. Crawford, who had charge
of the horse, asked Hunter if Tex had taken it. He said "No."

The next evening, Crawford and some acquaintances went
down to the bakery to take a drink, and there met Plummer, who
accused him of ordering the horse to be kept from him, which
he denied, and said he never mentioned his name. Hunter being
called by Plummer confirmed the statement. He also observed,
that he thought that, as Plummer had killed the man, he need not
wish to take his monej^ and his goods also. Plummer then re-
marked that Bill Hunter did not stand to what he had said, and
left the house. He had dared Crawford to remain and face
Hunter's testimony, expecting to raise a row and shoot him. Craw-
ford accepted the challenge, and, surrounded by his friends, with
their hands on their six-shooters, awaited his coming. If he had
moved his hand to his pistol, he would have died on the spot, and
knowing this, he cooled off.

The next day he sent word to Crawford, by an old mountaineer,
that he had been wrongly informed, and that he wished to meet
him as a friend. He replied that he had been abused without
cause, and that, if he wanted to see him, he must come himself,
as he was not going to accept of such apologies by deputy. Plum-
mer sent word two or three times, to Hank, in the same way, and
received the same reply ; till at last some of the boys brought them
together, and they shook hands, Plummer declaring that he
desired his friendship ever after.

In a few days, Hank happened to be in a saloon, talking to a
man who had been fighting, when a suspicious looking individual
came up to him, and asked what he was talking about. He replied
that it was none of his business. The man retorted with a chal-
lenge to fight with pistols. Hank said, "You have no odds of
me with a pistol." The fellow offered to fight with fists. Hank
agreed, and seeing that the man had no belt on, took off his own,
and laid his pistol in, on the bar. The man stepped back into a

* Down into Beaverhead VaUey, 25 miles from Bannack.

34 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

dark corner, and Crawford going up, slapped him across the face.
He instantly leveled a six-shooter at Crawford, which he had
concealed ; but Hank was too quick, and catching him by the
throat and hand, disarmed him. Plummer joined the man, and
together they wrested the pistol from his hand, and made a rush
at him. Hank and Harry Flegger,* however, kept the pistol in
spite of them. Harry fetched his friend out, saying, "Come on,
Hank; this is no place for you; thej are set on murdering you,
any way." He then escorted him home. The owner of the saloon
told Crawford afterwards that it was all a plot. That the scheme
was to entice him out to fight with pistols, and that the gang of
Plummer 's friends were ready with double-barreled shot-guns,
to kill him, as soon as he appeared.

Every thing went on quietly for a few days, when Hank found
he should have to start for Deer Lodge, after cattle.** Plummer
told him that he was going to Benton. Hank asked him to wait
a day or two, and he would go with him ; but Plummer started
on Monday morning, with George Carrhart, before Hank's horse
came in. When the animals were brought in Hank found that
private business would detain him, and accordingly sent his
butcher in place. The next day Plummer, finding that he was
not going, stopped at Big Hole** and came back. Hank after-
wards learned that Plummer went out to catch him on the road,
three different times, but, fortunately, missed him.

During the week Bill Hunter came to Hank, and pretended that
he had said something against him. To this Hank replied, that he
knew what he was after, and added, "If you want anj^thing, you
can get it right straight along." Not being able "to get the drop
on him" (in mountain phrase), and finding that he could not
intimidate him, he turned and went off, never afterwards speak-
ing to Hank.

On the following Sunday, Plummer came into a saloon where
Hank was conversing with George Purkins, and addressing the
latter, said, "George, there's a little matter between you and
Hank that's got to be settled." Hank said "Well, I don't know
what it can be," and laughed. Plummer observed, "you needn't

laugh, G d d ^n you. It's got to be settled." Turning to

Purkins, he stated that he and Crawford had said he was after
a squaw, and had tried to court "Catherine." He commenced
to abuse Purkins, and telling him to "come out," and that he

was "a cowardly son of a b h." He also declared that he

eould "lick" both him and Hank Crawford. George said that he

• Phelger.

** He was a butcher.
*** The river at a point below BrowBe'.s bridsre. and near the mouth of
Birch Creek.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 35

was a coward, and no fighting man, and that he would not go
out of doors with anybody. Plummer gave the same challenge to
Hank, and received for a reply, that he was not afraid to go out
with any man and that he did not believe one man was made to
scare another. Plummer said ''come on," and started ahead of
Hank towards the street. Hank walked quite close up to him,
on his guard all the time, and Plummer at once said, "Now pull
your pistol." Hank refused, saying, "I'll pull no pistol; I never
pulled a pistol on a man, and you'll not be the first." He then
offered to fight him in any other way. "I'm no pistol shot,"
he added, "and you would not do it if you hadn't the advantage."
Plummer said, "If you don't pull your psitol, I'll shoot you like
a sheep." Hank quietly laid his hand on his shoulder, and, fixing
his eyes on him, said slowly and firmly, "If that's what you
want, the quicker you do it, the better for you," and turning
round walked off. Plummer dared not shoot without first raising
a fuss, knowing that he would be hung. During the altercation
above narrated. Hank had kept close to Plummer ready for a
struggle, in case he offered to draw his pistol, well knowing that
his man was the best and quickest shot in the mountains ; and
that if he had accepted his challenge, long before he could have
handled his own revolver, three or four balls would have passed
through his body. The two men understood one another, at
parting. They looked into each other's ej^es. They were moun-
taineers, and each man read, in his opponent's face, "Kill me, or
I'll kill you." Plummer believed that Hank had his secret, and
one or the other must therefore die.

Hank went at once to his boarding house, and taking his
double-barreled shot-gun prepared to go out, intending to find
and kill Plummer at sight. He was perfectly aware that all at-
tempts at pacification would be understood as indications of
cowardice, and would render his death a mere question of the
goodness of Plummer 's ammunition. Friends, however, inter-
fered, and Hank could not get away till after they left, late in
the evening.

By the way, is it not rather remarkable, that if a man has a
few friends around him, and he happens to become involved in
a fight, the aforesaid sympathizers, instead of restraining his
antagonist, generally hold him, and wrestle all the strength out
of him, frequently enabling his opponents to strike him while in
the grasp of his officious backers? A change of the usual pro-
gramme would be attended with beneficial results, in nine cases
out of ten. Another suggestion we have to make, with a view
to preventing actual hostilities, and that is, that when a man
raves and tears, shouting, "let go," "let me at him," "hold my

36 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

shirt while I pull off my coat, ' ' or makes other bellicose requests,
an instant compliance with his demands will at once prevent a
fight. If two men, also, are abusing one another, in loud and
foul language, the way to prevent blows is to seize hold of them
and commencing to strip them for a fight, form a ring. This is
commonly a settler. No amount of coin could coax a battle out
of them. Such is our experience of all the loud-mouthed brigade.
Men that mean ''fight" may hiss a few muttered anathemas,
through clenched teeth; but they seldom talk much, and never
bandy slang.

Hank started and hunted industriously for Plummer, who was
himself similarly employed, but they did not happen to meet.

The next morning, Hank's friend endeavored to prevail upon
him to stay within doors until noon ; but it was of no avail. He
knew what was before him, and that it must be settled, one way
or the other. Report came to him that Plummer was about to
leave town, which at once put him on his guard. The attempt
to ensnare him into a fatal carelessness was too evident.

Taking his gun he went up town, to the house of a friend —
Buz Caven. He borrowed Buz's rifle, without remark, and stood
prepared for emergencies. After Avaiting some time, he went
down to the butcher's shop which he kept, and saw Plummer
frequently; but he always had somebody close beside him, so
that, without endangering another man's life, Hank could not
fire.

He finally went out of sight, and sent a man to compromise, say-
ing they would agree to meet as strangers. He would never
speak to Crawford, and Crawford should never address him.
Hank was too wary to fall in the trap. He sent word back to
Plummer that he had broken his word once, and that his pledge
of honor was no more than the wind to him ; that one or the other
had to suffer or leave.

A friend came to tell Hank that they were making arrange-
ments to shoot him in his own door, out of a house on the other
side of the street. Hank kept out of the door, and about noon,
a lady, keeping a restaurant, called him to come and get a
dish of coffee. He went over without a gun. While he was drink-
ing the coffee, Plummer, armed with a double-barreled gun,
walked opposite to his shop door, watching for a shot. A friend,
Frank Ray, brought Hank a rifle. He instantly leveled at Plum-
mer, and fired. The ball broke his arm. His friends gathered

round him, and he said, "some son of a b h has shot me." He

was then carried off. He sent Hank a challenge to meet him in
fifteen days; but he paid no attention to a broken armed man's
challenge, fifteen days ahead. In two days after, while Hank

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 37

was in Meninghall's store, George Carrhart came in. Hank saw
there was mischief in his look, and went up to him at once say-
ing, "Now, George, I know what you want. You had better go
slow.' Stickney got close to him on the other side, and repeated
the caution. After a while he avowed that he came to kill him;
but, on hearing his story, he pulled open his coat, showing his
pistol ready in the band of his pants, and declared at the same
time that he would be his friend. Another party organized to
come down and shoot Crawford, but failed to carry out their in-
tention. Some of the citizens, hearing of this, offered to shoot
or hang Plummer, if Crawford would go^ with them ; but he re-
fused, and said he would take care of himself. On the 13th of
March, he started for Wisconsin, riding on horseback to Fort
Benton. He was followed by three men, but they never came up
with him, and taking boat at the river he arrived safely at home.
It was his intention to come out in the Fall, and his brothers sent
him money for that purpose ; but the coach was robbed, and all
the letters taken. The money, unfortunately, shared the fate of
the mail. Crawford was lately living at Virginia City — having
returned shortly after his marriage in the States.

The account of the troubles of one man, which we have given
above, has been inserted with the object of showing the state of
society which could permit such openly planned and persistent
outrages, and which necessitated such a method of defense. Craw-
ford, or any of the others, might as well have applied to the Em-
peror of China, for redress or protection, as to any civil official.

The ball which struck Plummer in the arm ran down his bone,
and lodged in the wrist. After his execution, it was found bright-
ened by the constant friction of the joint. His pistol hand being
injured for belligerent purposes, though the limb was saved by
the skill of the attendant physician — Plummer practised assidu-
ously at drawing and shooting with his left ; attaining consider-
able efficiency; but he never equalled the deadly activity and
precision he had acquired with the other hand, which he still pre-
ferred to use.

CHAPTER Vni.
A Calendar of Crimes.

The murderer's curse, the dead man's fixed, still glare,
And fears and death's cold sweat, they all are there.

Others connected with the mock trial which we have described
fared badly, being waylaid and cruelly beaten. Mr. Ellis, the
principal witness, was dogged every time he went to or returned

38 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

from his claim, and finally was compelled to return to the States.
He was followed to Fort Benton, a distance of three hundred
miles, escaping death at the hands of his pursuers by slipping
away secretly down the river, and hiding till the steamer came
past when, springing joyfully from his place of concealment, and
hailing her, he was taken on board.

N. P. Langford* was an especial object of hatred to them. They
had counted on his favoring them, at the trial, because he voted
for a jury ; but when they found that his ballot w^as cast for the
death penalty, they vowed vengeance against him, and a gentle-
man, his particular friend. The latter could never go to his
claim without a loaded gun and a revolver. Once the roughs had
the plot all completed for the assassination of Mr. Langford ; but
accident revealed their preparations and intentions, and,
through the timely warning of a friend, the conspiracy failed.
The combination of the comrades of the two gentlemen, which
embraced the order-loving of the community, was too strong to be
openly defied by the roughs. The danger of sudden surpise and
assassination was, however, continued.

One day, as Langford 's friends were sauntering down the Main
street, he saw Plummer approaching. He immediately drew a
small bowie knife from his belt, and began to whittle a billet of
wood, which he picked up for the purpose. Soon he came face to
face with Plummer, who, looking with suspicious intelligence at
the weapon, asked, "Why do you begin to whittle when you
meet me?" The citizen regarding him with a stern and deter-
mined look, promptly answered, "Mr. Plummer, you know what
opinion I hold concerning you and your friends, and I don't never
intend to let you get the advantage of me. I don't want to be
shot down like a dog."

Finding that Mitchell had not gone away from town, a great
many citizens thought it would be the height of injustice to keep
Moore and Reeves away at Hell Gate, where the snow prevented
the passage of the mountains, and, on Sunday, a miners' meeting
was called, at which their sentence was remitted, by vote, and
they accordingly came back.

An attempt had also been made before this to rob the store
of Messrs. Higgins & Worden, of Deer Lodge ; but the proprietors
got word in time to hide the safe.

The Walla Walla Express was robbed by the band of road
agents. Plummer directed this affair, and it is thought Long
John had some share in it. The men actually engaged in it are
not known.

* Author of "Vigilante Days and Ways."

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THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 39

A Mr. Davenport and his wife were going to Benton, from
Bannack, intending to proceed by steamboat to the States. While
taking a lunch at Rattlesnake, a man masked in black suddenly
came out of the willows, near which they were camped, and de-
manded their money. Davenport said he had none ; the fellow
laughed, and replied that his wife had, and named the amount. A
slight application of a Colt's corkscrew, which was pointed at
Davenport's head, brought forth his money, and he was ordered,
on pain of death, not to go back to Bannack at once, but to leave
his wife somewhere ahead. This Davenport promised, and per-
formed, after which he returned, and obtained some money from
the citizens to assist him in his necessity. His wife proceeded to
the States, where she arrived in safety. Davenport never knew
who robbed him. The house of a Frenchman, named Le Grau,
who kept a bakery and blacksmith shop at the back of Main
street, Bannack, was broken into, and everything that could be
found was stolen, after which the robbers threw the curtains into
a heap and tried to burn down the house, but they failed in this.
The greater part of the owner's money was, fortunately, hidden,
and that they missed.

We have before spoken of Geo. Carrhart. He was a remark-
ably handsome man, well educated, and it has been asserted that
he was a member of one of the Western Legislatures. His man-
ners were those of a gentleman, when he was sober; but an un-
fortunate love of whiskey had destroyed him.* On one or two
occasions, when inebriated, he had ridden up and down the
street, with a shot-gun in his hand threatening everybody. He
was extremely generous to a friend, and would make him a pres-
ent of a horse, an interest in a ranch, or indeed, of anything that
he thought he needed. His fondness for intoxicating liquors threw
him into bad company, and caused his death.

One day, while sleeping in Skinner's saloon,** a young man of
acknowledged courage, named Dick Sap, was playing "poker"
with George Banefield, a gambler, whose love of money was con-
siderably in excess of his veneration for the eighth commandment.
For the purpose of making a "flush," this worthy stole a card.
Sap at once accused him of cheating, on which he jumped up,
drew his revolver, and levelled at Sap, who was unarmed. A
friend supplied the necessary weapon, and quick as thought Sap
and Banefield exchanged all their shots, though, strange to say,
without effect, so far as they were personally concerned.

The quarrel was arranged after some little time, and then it

* When they settled up his estate, the following account was pre-
sented: 1 pair of hoots, $20.00; money loaned, $20.00; whisky, $40.00.

** See Cut — the small house. The larger. Goodrich House, oldest hotel
In Bannack.

40 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

was found that Buz Caven's dog, "Toodles," which was under
the table, had been struck by three balls, and lay there dead. A
groan from Carrhart attracted attention, and his friends looking
at him, discovered that he had been shot through the bowels, acci-
dentally, by Banefield. Instantly Moore called to Keeves and
Forbes, who were present, "Boys, they have shot Carrhart; let's
kill them," and raising his pistol, he let fly twice at Sap's head.
Sap threw up his hands, having no weapon, and the balls came
so close that they cut one little finger badly, and just grazed the
other hand. The road agents fired promiscuously into the retreat-
ing crowd, one ball wounding a young man, Goliath Reilly, pass-
ing through his heel. Banefield was shot below the knee, and
felt his leg numbed and useless. He, however, dragged himself
away to a place of security, and was attended by a skillful physi-
cian ; but, refusing to submit to amputation, he died of mortifica-
tion.

In proof of the insecurity of life and property in places where
such desperadoes as Plummer, Stinson, Ray and Skinner make
their headquarters, the following incident may be cited:

Late in the spring of '63, Winnemuek, a warrior chief of the
Bannacks, had come in with his band, and had camped in the
brush, about three fourths of a mile above the town. Skinner and
the roughs called a meeting, and organized a band for the purpose
of attacking and murdering the whole tribe. The leaders, how-
ever, got so drunk that the citizens became ashamed, and dropped
off by degrees, till they were so few that the enterprise was aban-
doned. A half-breed had, in the mean time, warned Winnemuek,
and the wily old warrior lost no time in preparing for the recep-
tion of the party. He sent his squaws and pappooses to the rear,
and posted his warriors, to the number of three or four hundred,
on the right side of the canyon, in such a position that he could
have slaughtered the whole command at his ease. This he fully
intended to do, if attacked, and also to have sacked the town and
killed every white in it. This would have been an achievement
requiring no extraordinary effort, and had not the drunkenness
of the outlaws defeated their murderous purpose, would undoubt-
edly have been accomplished. In fact, the men whom the Vigi-
lantes afterward executed were ripe for any villainy, being god-
less, fearless, worthless, and a terror to the community.

In June of the same year, the report came in that Joe Carrigan.
William Mitchell, Joe Brown, Smith, Indian Dick, and four others
had been killed by the Indians, whom they had pursued to recover
stolen stock, and that overtaking them, they had dismounted and
fired into their tepees. The Indians attacked them when their
pieces were emptied, killed the whole nine, and took their stock.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 41

Old Snag, a friendly chief, came into Bannack with his band,
immediately after this report. One of the tribe — a brother-in-law
of Johnny Grant, of Deer Lodge — was fired at by Haze Lyons,
to> empty his revolver, for luck, on general principles, or for his
pony — it is uncertain which. A number of citizens, thinking it
was an Indian fight, ran out, and joined in the shooting. The
savage jumped from his horse, and, throwing down his blanket,
ran for his life, shouting "Good Indian." A shot wounded him in
the hip. (His horse's leg was broken.) But, though badly hurt,
he climbed up the mountain and got away, still shouting as he
ran "Good Indian," meaning that he was friendly to the whites.
Carroll, a citizen of Bannack, had a little Indian girl living with
him, and Snag had called in to see her. Carroll witnessed the
shooting we have described, and running in, he informed Snag,
bidding him and his son ride off for their lives. The son ran out
and jumped on his horse. Old Snag stood in front of the door,
on the edge of the ditch, leaning upon his gun, which was in a
sole, leather case. He had his lariet in his hand, and was talking
to his daughter, Jemmy Spence's squaw, named Catharine. Buck
Stinson, without saying a word, walking to within four feet of
him, and drawing his revolver, shot him in the side. The Indian
raised his right hand and said, "Oh, don't." The answer was
a ball in the neck, accompanied by the remark, enveloped in oaths,
"I'll teach you to kill whites," and then again he shot him
through the head. He was dead when the first citizen attracted
by the firing ran up. Carroll, who was standing at the door,
called out, "Oh, don't shoot into the house ; you'll kill my folks."
Stinson turned quickly upon him and roared out, with a volley
of curses, topped off with the customary expletive form of ad-
dress adopted by the roughs, "Put in your head, or I'll shoot the
top of it off." Cyrus Skinner came up and scalped the Indian.
The band scattered in flight. One who was behind, being
wounded, plunged into the creek, seeking to escape, but was
killed as he crawled up the bank, and fell among the willows. He
was also scalped. The remainder of them got away, and the
chief's son, checking his horse at a distance, waved to the men
who had killed his father to come on for a fight, but the bullets
beginning to cut the ground about him, he turned his horse and
fled. "i"^""^

While the firing was going on, two ladies were preparing for
a grand ball supper in a house adjoining the scene of the murder
of Snag. The husband of one of them being absent, cutting house
logs among the timber, his wife, alarmed for his safety, ran out
with her arms and fingers extended with soft paste. She jumped
the ditch at a bound, her hair streaming in the wind, and shouted

42 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

aloud, ''Where's Mr, 1 Will nobody fetch me my husband!"

We are happy to relate that the object of her tender solicitude
turned up uninjured, and if he was not grateful for this display
of affection, we submit to the ladies, without any fear of contra-
diction, that he must be a monster.

The scalp of old Snag, the butchered chief, now hangs in a
banking house, in Salt Lake City.

We have recorded a few, among many, of the crimes and out-
rages that were daily committed in Bannack. The account is pur-
posely literal and exact. It is not pleasant to write of blasphem-
ous and indecent language, or to record foul and horrible crimes ;
but, as the anatomist must not shrink from the corpse, which
taints the air as he investigates the symptoms and examines the
results of disease, so, the historian must either tell the truth for
the instruction of mankind, or sink to the level of a mercenary
panderer, who writes, not to inform the people, but to enrich
himself.

CHAPTER IX.
Perils of the Road.

"I'll read you matter deep and dangerous.
As full of peril and adventurous spirit.
As to o'erwalk a current, roaring loud,
On the unsteadfast footing of a spear." — Shaks.

On the 14th day of November, 1863, Sam T. Hauser,* and N.
P. Langford started for the States, in company with seven or
eight freighters. Owing to-some delay in their preparations, they
were not ready to start at the hour proposed (twelve o'clock m.),
and after considerable urging, they prevailed upon one of the
freighters to delay his departure till five o'clock p. m,, repre-
senting to him that by driving during part of the night, they
would be enabled to overtake the rest of the train at Horse
Prairie, where they were to camp for the night. These arrange-
ments were all made at the store of George Chrisman, where
Plummer had his office, and consequently their plans for depar-
ture were all known to this arch-villain.

During that afternoon it was reported in Bannack that a silver
lode had been discovered, and Plummer, whose residence in
Nevada had given him some reputation as a judge of silver ores,
was requested to go out and examine it. Plummer had, on several
occasions, been sent for to go out and make minute examinations,
and it had never been surmised that his errands on these occa-

* Afterwards to become Governor of Montana.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 43

sions were different from what tliej^ purported to be. This
notice to Plummer that a "silver lode" had been discovered, was
the signal that the occasion demanded the presence of the chief
of the gang, who was needed to head some marauding expedi-
tion that required a skillful leader, and promised a rich booty
as the reward of success. Plummer always obeyed it, and, in this
instance, left Bannack a little while after noon, taking a northerly
direction towards Rattlesnake ; but, after getting out of town, he
changed his course and went south, towards Horse Prairie.

Before leaving Bannack, he presented Mr. Hauser with a
woolen scarf, telling him that he would "find it useful on the
journey these cold nights."

The two gentlemen did not complete their arrangements for
starting till half past seven in the evening; and, as they were
about leaving Hauser 's cabin, a splash, caused by the fall of some
heavy body in the water, and calls for assistance were heard from
the brow of the hill, south of Bannack. Upon going to the spot,
it was found that Henry Tilden, in attempting to cross the Ban-
nack Ditch, had missed the bridge, and his horse had fallen upon
him in the water. On being relieved from his dangerous situa-
tion, he went to the house of Judge (now Governor) Edgerton,
and reported that he had been robbed by three men — one of
whom was Plummer — between Horse Prairie and Bannack. After
he had detailed the circumstances, the greatest anxiety was felt
for the safety of Messrs. Langford and Hauser, who, it was gen-
erally supposed, had started at five o'clock on the same road.

The unconscious wayfarers, however, knew nothing of the mat-
ter, but they were, nevertheless, on the alert all the time. Hauser
had that morning communicated to his friend Langford, his sus-
picion that they were being watched, and would be followed by
the road agents, with the intention of plundering them, and while
Langford was loading his gun with twelve revolver balls in each
barrel, George Dart* asked him why he was "filling the gun-
barrel so full of lead;" to which Langford replied, that if they
had any trouble with the road agents, it would be on that night.
So well satisfied were they that an attack upon them was con-
templated, that they carried their guns in their hands, ready
cocked, throughout the whole journey to Horse Prairie, a distance
of twelve miles, but they saw nothing of the ruffians who robbed
young Tilden.

It is supposed that Plummer and his gang had concluded that
the non-appearance of the party was owing to the knowledge of
what had happened in the afternoon and that they were not com-

* Later to become the first hardware merchant in DiUon. His sons
succeed him.

44 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

ing out at all, that night. This is the more probable, from the
fact that Tilden arrived home in time to have communicated the
story of his robbery to them before they started, and the freighter
with whom they took passage had told them that morning, in the
presence of Plummer, that he would leave them behind if they
were not ready to start by five o'clock p. m. It is not to be
thought that Plummer would have risked a chance of missing
them, by robbing Tilden of so small an amount of $10, unless he
had felt sure that they would start at the time proposed. It is
also likely that, as his intended victims did not make their ap-
pearance, he feared that the citizens of Bannack might turn out
in search of the road agents who had attacked Tilden, and that
it would be prudent to return home by a circuitous route, which
he did. One thing is certain, when they missed them, Plummer
went, in hot haste, to Langford's boarding house, to inquire
whether he was gone, and on receiving an answer in the affirma-
tive, rode off at once in pursuit.

In the wagon with Langford and Hauser was a third passen-
ger— a stranger to the rest of the party — who had sent forward
his blankets by one of the vehicles which left at noon, and on
his arrival at camp, he found them appropriated by some of the
party, who had given up all ideas of seeing the others before
morning and had lain down for the night.

Rather than disturb the sleepers, Langford directed his fellow
traveler, who was in delicate health, to occupy the wagon with
Hauser, while he himself took a buffalo robe and made a bed-
stead of mother earth.

The night was a cold one, and becoming chilled through Lang-
ford arose and at first walked up and down by the camp,
in order to warm himself. After awhile, he turned his steps to-
wards the creek, which was about one hundred and fifty yards
distant, but with the instinctive caution engendered by a resi-
dence in the mountains, he armed himself with his trusty "double-
barrel," and then, with his thoughts wandering to other scenes
and other days, he slowly sauntered by the rippling waters.

His musings were brought to a sudden close by the murmur of
voices, borne on the breeze, accompanied by the well-known tramp
of horses at speed. The banks of the rivulet were lined with wil-
lows, and lay in deep shadow, except where an opening in the
thicket disclosed the prairie that lay beyond, sleeping peacefully
in the moonlight. Drawing aside the bushes he saw three
mounted men in the act of passing one of these avenues at the
gallop. Roused to a sense of danger, he cocked his gun and fol-
lowed them down stream, to a place where an interval between
the thickets that lined both sides of the creek gave him a good

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 45

sight, of the night rangers, and stood in full view, his piece lying
in the hollow of his hand, ready for instant service.

As soon as he emerged from the shelter of the willows, and the
horsemen became aware of his presence, they stopped for a few
minutes, and then bore away down the valley. Determined to see
the end of the matter, and having the brush for cover, while his
friends were still within hail, if needed, the watcher pushed on
for two hundred yards and wading to the other bank, he had no
sooner reached the top, than he saw four men at that moment
mounting their horses. No sooner did they observe him than they
drove their spurs into their horses' flanks, and started on a run
for Bannack. These men were Plummer, Buck Stinson, Ned Ray
and George Ives, who, on their return to the town by another
road, after the robbery of Tilden, having found, as before related,
that Langford and Hauser had really gone, followed at once upon
their track.

But for the providential circumstances connected with the
chance appropriation of the blankets, and the consequent sleep-
ing of Langford on the ground, together with his accidental ap-
pearance with his gun in his hand, as if on guard — the whole
party would have been murdered, as it was known to their pur-
suers that they had a considerable amount of treasure with them.

The scarf which Plummer presented to Hauser was given for
the purpose of enabling the cunning robber to identify his man
by night.

It is a somewhat singular coincidence that Plummer was hung
on the next birthday of Hauser (the 10th of January, 1864).

The party proceeded on their journey without interruption,
and on their arrival at Salt Lake City they were besieged by their
acquaintances with inquiries concerning several parties who were
known to have preceded them on the road thither by about a
week; but the unfortunate objects of their solicitude never
reached their destination, or were afterwards heard of. They
sleep in bloody graves ; but where, how, and when they met their
death, at the hands of the road agents, will probably never be
known. The fate that could not be avoided was nevertheless
avenged.

CHAPTER X.
The Repulse.

"Though few the numbers — theirs the strife,
That neither spares nor speaks for life." — Byron.
In the present and succeeding chapters will be found accounts
of actual experiences with road agents, in the practice of their

46 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

profession. The exact chronological order of the narrative has,
in these cases, been broken in upon, that the reader may have a
correct notion of what an attack by road agents usually was. We
shall show at a future time what it too often became when blood-
shed was added to rapine. As the facts related are isolated, the
story is not injured by the slight anachronism.

About three weeks after the occurrences recorded in the last
chapter, M. S. Mood}'' (Milt Moody), with three wagons, started
in company with a train of packers, for Salt Lake City. Among
the latter were John McCormick, Billy Sloan, J. S. Rockfellow,*
J. M, Bozeman, Henry Branson and M. V. Jones.

In the entire caravan there was probablj'" from $75,000 to
$80,000 in gold, and it must not be supposed that such a splendid
prize could escape the lynx-eyed vigilance of the road agents.

Plummer engaged Dutch John and Steve Marshland for the
job, and his selection was not a bad one, so far as Dutch John
was concerned, for a more courageous, stalwart or reckless des-
perado never threw spurs on the flanks of a cayuse, or cried
"Halt !" to a true man. Steve Marshland was a bold fellow when
once in action; but he preferred what mountaineers call a ''soft
thing" to an open onslaught. This unprofessional weakness not
only saved the lives of several whom we are proud to call friends,
but ensured his own and his friends' capture and death at the
hands of the Vigilantes.

In Black Tail Deer Canyon the party were seated at breakfast,
close to a sharp turn in the road, when they heard two men eon-
versing, close at hand, but hidden by the brush. Says the "first
robber." "You take my reyolver and I'll take yours, and you
come on right after me." Every man found his gun between
his knees in less than no time, and not a few discovered that their
revolvers were cocked. Pulsation became more active, and heads
were "dressed" towards the corner. In a few moments Dutch
John and Steve Marshland rode roimd the bend, with their shot-
guns ready. On seeing the party prepared to receive them they
looked confused and reined up. Steve Marshland recognized Billy
Sloan, and called out, "How do you do, Mr. Sloan?" to which
Billy replied, "Very well, thank you." The last two words have
been a trouble to Sloan ever since, being too figurative for his
conscience. By way of excuse for their presence, the road agents
asked if the party had seen any horses, and whether they had any
loose stock, saying that they had been informed by some half-
breeds that the animals which they claimed to be lost had been
with their train. A decided negative vouchsafed, they rode on.

• Afterward a merchant in Virginia and Bannack.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 47

The robbers did not expect to come upon them so soon, and
were not masked. But for this fact, and the sight of the weapons
on hand for use, if required, the train would have been relieved
of the responsibility attaching- to freighting treasure in those
days without any delay.

Little did the party imagine that the safety of their property
and their lives hung upon a thread, and that, the evening before,
the "prudence" of Steve Marshland had saved six or eight of
the party from unexpected death. Yet so it was. Wagner and
Marshland had folloAved their trail, and hitching their steeds to
the bush, with their double-barrelled guns loaded with buckshot,
and at full cock, they crawled up to within fifteen feet of the
camp, and leisurely surveyed them by the light of the fire.
The travellers lay around in perfect ignorance of the prox-
imity of the road agents ; their guns were everywhere but where
they ought to be, and, without a sentry to warn them of the
approach of danger, they carelessly exposed themselves to death,
and their property to seizure.

Wagner's proposal was that he and Marshland should select
their men, and kill four with their shot-guns ; that then they
should move quickly around, and keep up a rapid fire with their
revolvers, shouting loudly at the same time, to make them be-
lieve that they were attacked by a large concealed force. There
was no fear of their shooting away all their charges, as the arms
of the men who would inevitably fall would be at their disposal,
and the chances were a hundred to one that the remainder would
take to flight, and leave their treasure — for a considerable time
at all events — within reach of the robbers. Steve, however,
"backed down," and the attack was defered till the next day.

It was the custom of the packers to ride ahead of the train to-
wards evening, in order to select a camping place, and it was
while the packers were thus separated from the train that the
attack on the wagons took place.

On top of the divide, between Red Rock and Junction, the rob-
bers rode up to the wagons, called on them to halt, and gather-
ing the drivers together, Dutch John sat on his horse, covering
them with his shot-gun, while Steve dismounted and searched
both them and their wagons.

Moody had slipped a revolver into his boot, which was not de-
tected ; .$100 in greenbacks, which were in his shirt pocket, were
also unnoticed. The material wealth of Kit Erskine and his com-
rade driver appeared to be represented by half a plug of tobacco
for the preservation of which Kit pleaded ; but Steve said it was
"just what he wanted," and appropriated it forthwith.

48 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

After attending to the men, Steve went for the wagons, which
he searched, cutting open the carpet sacks, and found $1,500 in
treasury notes ; but he missed the gold, which was packed on the
horses, in cantinas. In the hind wagon was a sick man named
Kennedy, with his comrade Lank Forbes; but the nerves of the
first mentioned gentleman were so unstrung that he could not
pull trigger when Steve climbed up and drew the curtain. Not
so with Forbes. He let drive and wounded Steve in the breast.
With an oath and a yell Steve fell to his knees, but recoverd, and
jumping doAvn from the wagon again fell, but rose and made,
afoot, for the tall timber, at an amazing speed. The noise of the
shot frightened Dutch John's horse, which reared as John dis-
charged both barrels at the teamsters, and the lead whizzed past
just over their heads. Moody dropped his hand to his boot, and
seizing the revolver, opened fire on Dutch John, who endeavored
to increase the distance between him and the wagons to the best
of his horse's ability.

Three balls were sent after him, one of which took effect in his
shoulder. Had Moody jumped on Marshland's horse and pursued
him, he could have killed him easily, as the shot-gun was at his
saddle bow. These reflections and suggestion, however, occur
more readily to a man sitting in an easy chair, than to the major-
ity of the unfortunate individuals who happen to be attacked by
masked highwaymen.

John's wound and Marshland's were proof conclusive of their
guilt when they were arrested. John made for Bannack and was
nursed there. Steve Marshland was taken care of at Deer Lodge.

The packers wondered what had become of the wagons, and,
though their anxiety was relieved, yet their astonishment was in-
creased when, about three o'clock p. m. Moody rode up and in-
formed them that his train had been attacked by road agents, who
had been repulsed and wounded.

Steve's horse, arms and equipage, together with twenty pounds
of tea, found lying on the road, which had been stolen from a
Mormon train previously, were, as an acquaintance of ours ex-
presses it, "confiscated."

J. S. Eockfellow and two others rode back, and striking the
trail of Steve, followed it till eleven p. m. When afterwards ar-
rested, this scoundrel admitted that they were within fifteen feet
of him at one time.

On the ground they found scattered along the trail of the fugi-
tive robber all the stolen packages and envelopes, containing
Treasury notes ; so that he made nothing by his venture except
frozen feet ; and he lost his horse, arms and traps. J. X. Beidler
met Dutch John, and bandaged up his frozen hands, little know-
ing who his frigid acquaintance was. He never tells this story

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 49.

without observing, "That's just my darned luck;" at the same
time polishing the butt of his "navy" with one hand, and scratch-
ing his head with the other, his grey eye twinkling like a star
before rain with mingled humor and intelligence.

Lank Forbes claimed the horse and accoutrements of Steve as
the lawful spoil of his revolver, and the reward of his courage.
A demurrer was taken to this by Milt Moody, who had done the
agreeable to Dutch John, and the drivers put in a mild remon-
strance on their own behalf, on the naval principle that all ships
in sight share in the prize captured. They claimed that their
"schooners" were entitled to be represented by the "steersmen."
The subject afforded infinite merriment to the party at every
camp. At last a judge was elected, a jury was empaneled, and
the attorneys harangued the judicial packers. The verdict was
that Lank should remain seized and possessed of the property
taken from the enemy, upon payment of $20 to each of the team-
sters, and $30 to Milt, and thereupon the court adjourned. The
travellers reached Salt Lake City in safety.

CHAPTER XI.
The Robbery of Peabody & Caldwell's Coach.

"On thy dial write, 'Beware of thieves'." — O. W. Holmes.

Late in the month of October, 1863, the sickness of one of the
drivers making it necessary to procure a substitute, William
Rumsey was engaged to take the coach to Bannack. In the stage,
as passengers, were Messrs. Matteson, Percival and Wilkinson.
After crossing the hills in the neighborhood of Virginia City it
began to snow furiously, and the storm continued without abate-
ment, till they arrived within two miles of John Baker's Ranch,
on Stinkingwater, a stream which owes its euphonious appelation
to the fact that the mountaineers who named it found on its banks
the putrifying corpses of Indians, suspended horizontally, accord-
ing to their usuSl custom, from a framework of poles.

The corral at the station was found to be empty, and men were
despatched to hunt up the stock. The herdsmen came back at
last with only a portion of Peabody & Caldwell's horses, the re-
mander belonging to A. J. Oliver & Co. This detained them two
hours, and finding that they could do not better, they hitched up
the leaders, that had come in with the coach, and putting on two
of Oliver's stock for wheelers, they drove through to Bob Demp-
sey's on a run, in order to make up for lost time.

90 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

At this place they took ou board another passenger, Dan
McFadden,* more familiarly known as "Bummer Dan." The
speed was maintained all the way to Point of Rocks, then called
Copeland's Ranch. There they again changed horses, and being
still behind time, they went at the gallop to Bill Bunton's Ranch,
on Rattlesnake, at which place they arrived about sunset.

Here they discovered that the stock had been turned loose an
hour before their arrival, the people stating that they did not ex-
pect the coach after its usual time was so long passed. Rumsej
ordered them to send a man to gather up the team, which was
done, and at dark the fellow came back, saying that he could not
find them anywhere. The consequence was that they were
obliged to lie over for the night. This was no great affliction ;
so they spent the time drinking whiskey in mountain style — Bill
Bunton doing the honors and sharing the grog. They had sense
enough not to get drunk, being impressed with a seasonable con-
viction of the probability of the violation of the rights of prop-
erty, if such should be the case. The driver had lost a pair of
gauntlet gloves at the same place before. At daylight all arose,
and two herders went out for the stock. One of them came back
about eight o'clock, and said that the stock was gone. A little
before nine o'clock the other herder came in with the stock that
had hauled the coach over the last route.

The only way they could manage was to put on a span of the
coach horses, with two old "plugs" for the wheel. The whole
affair was a plan to delay the coach, as the horses brought in
were worn-down stock, turned out to recruit, and not fit to put
in harness. During the previous evening Bob Zachary, who
seemed a great friend of Wilkinson's, told them that he had to go
on horseback to Bannack, and to take a spare horse with him,
which he wanted him to ride. The offer was not accepted at that
time, but in the morning Bob told him that he must go, for he
could not bring the horse along by himself. The miserable team
being brought out and harnessed up, Oliver's regular coach and
an extra one came in sight, just at the creek crossing. Soon
Rumsey shouted, "all aboard," the other stages came up, and
all the pasengers of the three vehicles turned in, on the mutual
consolation principle, for a drink. Rumsey who sat still on the
box, called, "All aboard for Bannack," and all took their seats
but Wilkinson, who said he had concluded to go with Bob Zach-
ary. Bill Bmiton came out with the bottle and the glass, and
gave Rumsey a drink, saying that he had not been in with the
rest, telling him at the same time that he was going to Bannack

* McFadden discovered Bummer Dan's Bar, in Alder, from whick
$5,000,000 was said to have been taken.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 51

himself, and that he wanted them to wait till he had got through
with the rest oi" the passengers, for that then he would go with
them. While Biinton was in the house, Rumsey had been profes-
sionally swinging the whip, and found his arm so lame from the
exercise of the day before that he could not use it. He thereupon
asked the boys if any of them were good at whipping, but they
all said "No." It was blustering, cold and cloudy — blowing
hard ; they let down the curtains. Finally, Bunton appeared, and
Rumsey said, "Billy, are you good at whipping?" To which he
answered, "Yes," and getting up whipped away, while Rumsey
drove. A good deal of this kind of work was to be done, and

Bunton said he was "a d d good whipper." They crossed

the creek and went on the table land at a run. The horses, how-
ever, soon began to weaken, Bunton whipping heavily, his object
being to tire the stock, Rumsey told him to "ease on them,"
or they would not carry them through. Bunton replied that the
wheelers were a pair that had "played out" on the road, and
had been turned out to rest. He added that if they were put
beyond a walk they would fail. They went on at a slow trot to
the gulch, and there fell into a walk, when Bunton gave up the
whip, saying that Rumsey could do the little whipping necessary
and got inside. He sat down on a box beside Bummer Dan.
Percival and Madison were on the fore seat, with their backs to
the driver.

The stage moved on for about four minutes after this, when
the coachman saw two men wrapped in blankets, with a hood
over their heads, and a shot-gun apiece. The moment he saw
them it flashed through his mind, "like gunpowder" (as he after-
ward said), that they were road agents, and he shouted at the top
of his voice, "Look! look! boys! See what's a-coming! Get
out your arms!" Each man looked out of the nearest hole, but
Matteson, from his position, was the only man that had a view
of them. They were on full run for the coach, coming out of a
dry gulch, ahead and to the left of the road, which ran into the
main canyon. He instantly pulled open his coat, threw off his
gloves, and laid his hand on his pistol, just as they came up to
the leaders, and sang out. "Up wid your hands," in a feigned
voice and dialect. Rumsey pulled up the horses ; and they again

shouted, "Up with your hands, you " (See formula.) At

that Bill Bunton cried imploringly, "Oh, for God's sake, men,
don't kill one." (He was stool-pitching* a little, to teach the rest
of the passengers what to do.) "For God's sake don't kill me.
You can have all the money I've got." Matteson was just going

• Acting as stool pigeon.

52 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

for his pistol, when the road agents again shouted, ' ' Up wid your
hands," etc., and "keep them up." Bunton went at his prayers
again, piteously exclaiming "Oh! for God's sake, men, don't
kill me. I'll come right to you. You can search me; I've got no
arms." At the same time he commenced getting out on the same
side of the coach as they were.

The road agents then roared out, "Get down, every

of you, and hold up your hands, or we'll shoot the first of you
that puts them down." The passengers all got down in quick
time. The robbers then turned to Rnmsey, and said, "Get down,

you " (as usual), "and take off the passengers' arms." This

did not suit his fancy, so he replied, "You must be d d fools

to think I'm going to get down and let this team run away. You
don't want the team; it won't do you any good." "Get down,

you ," said the spokesman, angrily. "There's a man that

has sho\^^l you he has no arms; let him take them," suggested
Billy. (Bunton had turned up the skirts of his coat to prove
that he had no weapons on.) Bunton, who knew his business,
called out, "I'll hold the horses ! I'll hold the horses !" The road
agent who did the talking, turned to him, saying, "get up, you

long-legged , and hold them." Bunton at once went to the

leaders, behind the two road agents, and then wheeling round
to Billy Rumsey, ordered him down from the box. He tied the
lines round the handle of the brake and got down, receiving the

following polite reminder of his duty, ' ' Now, you , take them

arms off."

"Needs must when the Devil drives," says the proverb, so off
went Billy to Bummer Dan, who had on two "navies," one on
each side. Rumsey took them, and walked off diagonally, think-
ing that he might get a shot at them ; but they were too knowing,
and at once ordered him to throw them on the ground. He laid
them down, and going back to Matteson, took his pistol off, lay-
ing it down beside the others, the robbers j^elling to him, "Hurry
up, you !" He then went to Percival, but he had no arms on.

The road agents next ordered him to take the passengers'
money, and to throw it on the ground with the pistols. Rumsey
walked over to Percival, who, taking out his sack, handed it to
him. While he was handing over. Bill Bunton took out his own
purse, and threw it about half way to Rumsey, saying, "There's
a hundred and twenty dollars for you — all I have in the world ;
only don't kill me."

Billy next went to Bummer Dan, who handed out two purses
from his pocket. Rumsey took them, and threw them on the
ground beside the pistols. The next man was Matteson ; but as

THE VIGILANTES OE MONTANA 53

he dropped his hands to take out his money, the leader shouted,
"Keep up your hands, you ! Take his money." Rumsey ap-
proached him, and puting his hand into his left pocket, found
there a purse and a portemonnaie. Seizing the opportunity, he
asked, in a whisper, if there was anything in the portemonnaie.
He said, "No." Rumsey turned to the robbers and said, "You
don't want this, do you?" holding up the portemonnaie. Matte-
son told them that there was nothing in it but papers. They surl-
ily answered, "We don't want that." On examining the pocket
the searcher found a purse, which he thew out on the ground
with the pistols.

They then demanded of Rumsey whether he had all; and on
his answering "Yes,"' turning to Matteson the leader said, "Is
that all you've got?" "No," said he, "there's another in here."
He was holding up his hands when he spoke, and he nudged the
pocket with his elbow. The road agent angrily ordered Rumsey
to take it out, and not leave "nothing." He did as he was bidden,
and threw the purse on the ground, after which he started for
the coach, and had his foot on the hub of the wheel, when the

robbers yelled out, "Where are you going, you ?" "To get

on the coach, you fool," said the irate driver. "You've got all
there is," he instanth^ retorted, "Go back there and get that big
sack" and added, pointing to Bummer Dan, "You're the man

we're after. Get that strap off your shoulder, you d d Irish

!" Bummer Dan had a strap over his shoulder, fastened to

a large purse, that went down into his pants. He had thrown
out two little sacks before.

Seeing that thei-e was no chance of saving his money, he com-
menced unbuckling the strap, and when Rumsey got to him he
had it off. Billy took hold of the tab to pull it out, but it would
not come ; whereupon he let go and stepped back. Dan com-
menced to unbutton his pants, the "Cap" ordering Rumsey to
jerk it off, or he would shoot him in a minute. While he was
speaking Rumsey saw that Dan had another strap round his
body, under his shirt. He stepped back again, saying, "You
fools! you're not going to kill a man who is doing all he can
for you. Give him time. ' ' They ordered him to hurry up, calling

him "An awkward ," and telling him that they hadn't any

more time to lose. Dan had by this time got the belt loose, and
he handed Rumsey a big fringed bag, containing two other sacks.
He received it, and tossed it beside the pistols.

The road agents finished the proceedings by saying, "Get

aboard, every of you; and get out this; and if we ever

hear a word from one of you, we'll kill you surer than h 1."

54 THE VIGILANTES 01' MONTANA

Tliey all got aboard, with great promptitude, Bunton mounting
beside the driver (he did not want to get inside then), and com-
menced to whip the horses, observing that that was a d d hot

place for him, and he would get out of it as soon as he could.
Rumsey saw, at a turn of the road by looking over the coach, that
the road agents had dismounted, one holding the horses, while the
other was picking up the plunder, which amounted to about
$2,800.

The coach went on to Bannack, and reported the robbery at
Peabody's Express Office. George Hilderman was in Peabody's
when the coach arrived. He seemed as much surprised as any
of them. His business was to hear what would happen, and to
give word if the passengers named either of the robbers, and
then, on their return, they would have murdered them. (It was
at this man's place that Geo. Ives and the gang with him were
found. He was banished when Ives was hung. Had he been
caught, only a little time afterward, he would have svning witk
the rest, as his villainies were known.)

The road agents had a private mark on the coach, when it
carried money, and thiLS telegraphed it along the road. Rumsey
told in Bannack whom he suspected, but he was wrong. Bummer
Dan and Percival knew them, and told Matteson ; but neither of
them ever divulged it until the men were hung. They were
afraid of their lives. Frank Parrish confessed his share in thi«
robbery. George Ives was the other.

CHAPTER XII.

The Settlement of Virg-inia City, and the Murder of Dillingham.

Early in June,* 1863, Alder Gulch was discovered by Tom
Cover, Bill Fairweather, Barney Hughes, Edgar and some others.
It was a sheer accident. After a long and unsuccessful tour they
came thither on their way to Bannack, and one of them took a
notion to try a pan of dirt. A good prospect was obtained, and
the lucky "panner" gave his name to the far famed "Fair-
weather district."**

Tom Cover and some others of the party returned to Bannack
for provisions, and for the purpose of communicating the discov-
ery to their friends. A wild stampede was the consequence.

One poor fellow, while in the willows at Beaver Head, being
mistaken for a beaver, was accidentally shot by his comrade. He

* May 26th, not June.

** See Fairweather's story of Discovery of Alder.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 55

lived several days, and was carefully nursed by his slayer, who
was greatly grieved at the occurrence. The stampeders came in
with pack animals. Colonel McLean brought the first vehicle to
the Gulch. The stampede reached the Gulch on the 6th of June.
The course of the stream was marked by the alders that filled
the Gulch so densely as to prevent passage in many places. Some
people camped on the edge of the brush, about three fourths of a
mile above the town, accidentally set it on fire, and, with a tre-
mendous roar, the flames swept down the creek, and burned up
the entire undergrowth.

Almost immediately after the first great rush from Bannack —
in addition to the tents, brush wakiups and extempore fixings
for shelter — small log cabins were erected. The first of these
was the Mechanical Bakery, now standing near the lower end
of Wallace street. Morier's saloon went up at about the same
time, and the first dwelling house was built by John Lyons. After
this beginning, houses rose as if by magic. Dick Hamilton, Root
& Davis, J. E. McClurg, Hall & Simpson, N. Story and 0. C.
Matthews, were among the first merchants. Dr. Steele was first
President of the Fairweather District. Dr. G. G. Bissel was the
first judge of the Miners' Court. The duty of the Recorder's
Office was, we believe, performed by James Fergus.*

Among the citizens were S. S. Short, Sweney and Rogers (dis-
coverers), Johnny Green, Nelson Ptomey, Judge Potter of High-
land, Jem Galbraith, Judge Smith (afterwards banished), W. F.
Bartlett, C. Crouch, Bixter & Co., Tom Conner, William Cadwell,
W. Emerick, Frank Heald, Frank Woody, Marcellus Lloyd,
Washbume Stapleton, John Sharp, Jerry Nowlan, E. C. Stickney,
Frank Watkins, T. L. Luce (Mechanical Bakery), Robinson and
Cooley, the first bakers (open air), Hugh O'Neil, of fistic fame,
Jem Vivian, Jack Russel, the first man who panned out "wages"
in the Grasshopper Creek, Sargent Tisdale, W. Nowlan, of the
Bank, Tom Duffy, John Murphy, Jem Pattou, Jno. Kane, Pat
Lynch, John Robertson, Worcester Wymans and Charley
Wymans, Barney Gilson, and many others.

The first name given to the present capital of Montana was
"Varnia,"* in honor of Jeff. Davis' wife, but it was soon
changed to "Virginia." Dr. (Judge) G. G. Bissel was the first
man that wrote it Virginia. Being asked to head a legal docu-
ment with "Varnia," he bluntly said he would see them d d

first, for that was the name of Jeff. Davis' wife; and, accord-
ingly, as he wrote it, so it remained. From this little circum-

• Henry Edgar was elected as Recorder, but Fergus did the work as
deputy.

66 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

stance it will be seen that politics were anj'thing but forgotten on
the banks of Alder Creek ; but miners are sensible men, in the
main, and out in the mountains a good man makes a good friend,
even where political opinions are widely different. The moun-
taineer holds his own like a vice, and he extends the same priv-
ilege to others. The theory is, "You may drive your stake
where y(ju darned please, only, if you try to jump my claim, I'll
go for you sure."

That is the basis of the mountain man's creed, in love, law,
war, mining, and, in fact, in everything regulated by principle.

Of course a number of the roughs came over when the Gulch
was settled, prominent among whom was Cyrus Skinner. Per
contra, "X"* was among the early inhabitants, which fact re-
minds us of the line in Cato's soliloquy,

"My bane and antidote are both before me."

The celebrated "Rogues Antidote," aforesaid has, however,
survived all the renowned road agents of the period alluded to.
The true Western man is persistent, tough, and hard to abolish.
Fierce, flighty spirits, like Lord Byron — ^when they get into
trouble — say,

"Better perish by the shock.
Than monlder piecemeal on the rock."

The motto of the mountaineer, put into similar shape, would
read,

"Never say die, but brave the shock
While there's a shell-fish on the rock."

Which sentiment, though equally forcible, we reluctantly ad-
mit is, perhaps, a shade less poetical ; but it is, nevertheless, good
philosophy, which, with all respect for his lordship, is the reverse
of what should be said of the teaching derivable from the beauti-
ful lines of that erring genius.

As a proof of the address and tact of Plummer, and of the ter-
rible state of society, it may be mentioned that he got himself
elected Sheriff at Bannack, despite of his known character, and
immediately appointed two of his road agents. Buck Stinson and
Ned Ray, as Deputies. Nor did he remain contented with that;
but he had the effrontery to propose to a brave and good man
in Virginia that he should make waj' for him there, and as cer-
tain death would have been the penalty for a refusal, he con-
sented. Thus Plummer was actually Sheriff of both places at
once. This politic move threw the unfortunate citizens into
his hands completely, and by means of his robber deputies — whose

• J. X. Beidler.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 57

legal functions cloaked many a crime — he ruled with a rod of
iron.

The marvelous riches* of the great Alder Gulch attracted
crowds from all the West, aud afterward from the East, also;
among whom were many diseased with crime to such an extent
that for their cure the only available prescription was a stout
cord and a good drop.

Plummer had appointed as his Deputies, Jack Gallagher, Buck
Stinson and Ned Ray. The head Deputy was a man of another
stripe entirely, named Dillingham, who had accurate knowledge
of the names of the members of the road agent band, and was also
acquainted with many of their plans, though he himself was inno-
cent. He told a man named Dodge, who was going to Virginia
with Wash Stapleton and another, that Buck Stinson, Haze
Lyons and Charley Forbes intended to rob them. Dodge, instead
of keeping his counsel, foolishly revealed the whole affair to the
robbers, who, of course, were much struck at the news. Haze

ejaculated " ! is that so?" The three men at once concluded

to murder Dillingham.

At Rattlesnake, Haze Lyons came to Wash Stapleton, who was
on the road between Bannack and Virginia, and asked him if
he had heard about the intended robbery, adding that he had fol-
lowed Dillingham that far, and that he had come to kill him, but
he said that he feared that he had heard about it, and had got
out of the country. Wash, who says he has felt more comfortable,
even when sleeping in church — at once replied, "No; this is the
first I've heard of it. I have only $100 in greenbacks, and they
may as well take them, if they want them, and let me go." The
other swore it was all a d d lie, and they separated.

The robbers went on to Virginia. Jack Gallagher came to
X, and wanted a pony for his friend Stinson to ride down the
Gulch. At first his request was refused, the owner saying that he
wanted to ride it down the Gulch himself. Jack insisted, and
promising that he would be back in half an hour, X lent it to
him. He was away for two hours, and the proprietor was "as
hot as a wolf," when he came back. The truth was that they
had been consulting and fixing the programme for the murder
which was arranged for the next day, they having discovered that
Dillingham was in the Gulch.

In the morning Buck Stinson, Haze Lyons and Charles Forbes
might be seen engaged in a grand "Medicine Talk," in the neigh-
borhood of a brush wakiup, where Dr. Steele was holding court,
and trying the right to a bar claim, the subject of a suit between

Probably $100,000,000.

58 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

P. Ray and D. Jones. Dillingham was standing close by the im-
promptu Hall of Justice, when the three road agents came up.
' ' We want to see you, ' ' said Haze ; Stinson walked a pace or two
ahead of the others. Haze was on one side and Forbes was behind.
"Bring him along! Make him come!" said Buck Stinson, half
turning and looking over his shoulder. They walked on about ten
paces, when they all stopped, and the three faced towards Dill-
ingham. " you, take back these lies," said Haze, and

instantly the three pulled their pistols and fired, so closely to-
gether that eyesight was a surer evidence of the number of shots
discharged than hearing. There was a difference, however. Haze
fired first, his ball taking effect in the thigh. Dillingham put
his hand to the spot, and groaned; Buck Stinson 's bullet went
over his head; but Charley Forbes' shot passed through his
breast. On receiving the bullet in the chest, Dillingham fell like
an empty sack. Be was carried into a brush wakiup, and lived
but a very short time.

Jack Gallagher, being Deputy Sheriff, settled the matter very
neatly and effectively (for his friends). He rushed out as per
agreement, and took their pistols, putting them together and re-
loading Buck Stinson's, so that no one knew (that would tell)
whose pistol fired the fatal shots.

The men were, of course, arrested. Red tape is an institution
not yet introduced among miners. A captain of the guard, elected
by the people, and a detail of miners, took charge of the prisoners,
who were lodged in a log building, where John Ming's store now
stands.

A people's court was organized and the trial commenced. It
was a trial by the people en masse. For our own part, knowing
as we do the utter impossibility of all the voters hearing half the
testimony; seeing also that the good and bad are mingled, and
that a thief's vote will kill the well-considered verdict of the best
citizen, in such localities and under such circumstances verdicts
are as uncertain as the direction of the wind on next Tibb's Eve.
We often hear of the justice of the masses — "in the long run;"
but a man may get hung "in the short run" — or may escape the
rope he has so remorselessly earned, which is, by a thousand
chances to one, the more likely result of a mass trial. The
chances of a just verdict being rendered is almost a nullity. Preju-
dice, or selfish fear of consequences, and not reason, rules the il-
literate, the lawless, and the uncivilized. These latter are in large
numbers in such places, and if they do right it is by mistake. We
are of Tenterden's opinion in the matter of juries (in cases like
these). "Gentlemen of the jury," said his Lordship, to eleven
hard-looking followers of a consequential foreman, in an appalling

THE Vii;iLA.\Ti!:S Ol^' MONTANA 59

State of watcli-chaiii and shirt frill, "allow me to congratulate
you upon the soundness of your verdict ; it is highlj^ creditable to
you. " "My Lord," replied the pursy and fussy little bald-pated
and spectacled foreman, "the ground on which we based our
verdict was — " "Pardon me, Mr. Foreman," interrupted the
Judge, "your verdict is perfectly correct; the ground on which
it is based is most probably entirely untenable." The favors of
the dangerous classes are bestowed, not on the worthy, but on
the popular, who are distributed like sailor's prize money, which
is nautically supposed to be sifted through a ladder. What goes
through is for the officers ; what sticks on the rounds is for the
men.

James Brown and H. P. A. Smith were in favor of a trial by
twelve men ; but E. R. Cutler opposed this, for he knew that the
jury would have been empanelled by a road agent sheriff. A vote
was taken on the question, by "Ayes" and "Noes;" but this fail-
ing, two wagons were drawn up with an interval between them.
Those in favor of a trial by a jury of twelve went through first.
Those who preferred a trial by the people traversed the vehicular
defile afterward. The motion of a jury for the whole prevailed.

Judge G. G. Bissell was appointed President by virtue of his
office. He stated that it was an irregular proceeding, but that
if the people would appoint two reliable men to sit with him, he
would carry it through. This M'^as agreed to. Dr. Steele and Dr.
Rutar being chosen as associates. Three doctors were thus ap-
pointed Judges, and naturally enough directed the "medicine
talk" on the subject.

E. R. Cutler, a blacksmith, was appointed Public Prosecutor;
Jem Brown was elected assistant ; Judge H. P. A. Smith was for
the defense, and the whole body of the people were jurors. We
may add that the jury box was Alder Gulch, and that the throne
of Justice was a wagon, drawn up at the foot of what is now
Wallace street.

The trial commenced by the indictment of Buck Stinson and
Haze Lyons, and continued till dark, when the court adjourned.
The prisoners were placed under a strong guard at night. They
were going to chain them, but they would not submit. Charley
Forbes said he "would suffer death first." This (of course)
suited the guard of miners, and quick at a flash down came six
shot-guns in a line with Charley's head. The opinion of this gen-
tleman on the subject of practical concatenation underwent an
instantaneous change. He said mildly, "Chain me." The fetters
were composed of a light logging chain and padlocks.

All was quiet during the rest of the night ; but Haze sent for a
"leading citizen," who, covered by the guns of the guard, ap-

60 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

proached and asked him what he wanted. "Why," said he, "1
want you to let these men off. I am the man that killed Dilling-
ham. I came over to do it, and these men are innocent. I was
sent here by the best men in Bannack to do it. ' ' Upon being asked
who they were, he named some of the best citizens, and then
added, "Henry Plummer told me to shoot him." The first half
of the statement was an impossible falsehood, many of the men
knowing nothing of the affair for several days after. The last
statement was exactly true.

After breakfast the trial was resumed, and continued till near
noon. The attorneys had by this time finished their pleas, and
the question was submitted to the people, "Guilty or not Guilty?"
A nearly unanimous verdict of "Guilty," was returned. The
question as to the punishment to be inflicted was next submitted
by the President, and a chorus of voices from all parts of the vast
assembly shouted, "Hang them." Men were at once appointed
to build a scaffold and to dig the graves of the doomed criminals.

In the mean time Charley Forbes ' trial went on. An effort was
made to save Charley on account of his good looks and education,
by producing a fully loaded pistol, which they proved ( ?) was
his. It was, however, Buck Stinson's, and had been "set right"
by Gallagher. The miners had got weary, and many had wan-
dered off when the question was put; but his own masterly ap-
peal, which was one of the finest efforts of eloquence ever made
hx the mountains, saved him.

Forbes was a splendid looking fellow — straight as a ramrod;
handsome, brave and agile as a cat in his movements. His friends
believed that he excelled Plummer in quickness and dexterity at
handling his revolver. He had the scabbard sevna to the belt,
and wore the buckle always exactly in front, so that his hand
might grasp the butt, with the forefinger on the trigger and the
thumb on the cock, with perfect certainty, whenever it was
needed, which was pretty often.

Charley told a gentlman of the highest respectability that
he killed Dillingham, and he used to laugh at the "softness" of
the miners who acquitted him. He moreover warned the gentle-
man mentioned that he would be attacked on his ro^ad to Salt
Lake; but the citizen was no way scary, and said, "You can't
do it, Charley, your boys are scattered and we are together, and
we shall give you , if you try." The party made a sixty-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 61

mile drive the fir.st day, and thus escaped molestation. Charley
bad corresponded with the press, some articles on the state and
prospects of the Territorj^ having appeared in the California
papers, and were very well written.

Charley was acquitted by a nearly unanimous vote. Judge
Smith* burst into tears, fell on his neck and kissed him, exclaim-
ing, ''My boy! my boy!" Hundreds pressed round him. shaking
hands and cheering, till it seemed to strike them at once that
there were two men to hang, which was even more exciting, and
the crowd "broke" for the "jail."

A wagon was drawn up by the people to the door, in which
the criminals were to ride to the gallows. They were then or-
dered to get into the wagon, which they did, several of their
friends climbing in with them.

At this juncture Judge Smith was called for, and then, amidst
tremendous excitement and confusion, Haze Lyons crying and
imploring mercy, a number of ladies, much affected, begged earn-
estly to "Save the poor young boys' lives." The ladies admit the
crying, but declare that they wept in the interest of fair play.
One of them saw Forbes kill Dillingham, and felt that it was pop-
ular murder to hang Stinson and Lyons, and let off the chief des-
perado because he was good-looking. She had furnished the sheet
with which the dead body was covered.

We cannot blame the gentle-hearted creatures ; but we depre-
cate the practice of admiting the ladies to such places. They
are out of their path. Such sights are unfit for them to behold,
and in rough and masculine business of every kind women should
bear no part. It unsexes them, and destroys the most lovely part
of their character. A woman is a queen in her own home ; but
we neither want her as a blacksmith, a plough woman, a soldier,
a lawyer, a doctor, nor in any such profession or handicraft.** As
sisters, mothers, nurses, friends, sweethearts and wives, they are
the salt of the earth, the sheet anchor of society, and the human-
izing and purifying element in humanity. As such they cannot be
too much respected, loved and protected. But from Blue Stock-
ings, Bloomers, and strong-minded she-males generally, "Good
Lord, deliver us."

A letter (written by other parties to suit the occasion) was
produced, and a gentleman — a friend of Lyons — asked that ' ' The
letter which Haze had written to his mother might be read."
This was done, amid cries of "Read the letter," " the let-
ter," while others who saw how it would turn out shouted, "Give

* No doubt maudlin, as he was a drinking- man.
** This was written fifty years ago.

«2 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

him a horse and let him go to his mother." A vote was taken
again, after it had all been settled, as before mentioned — the first
time by ayes and noes. Both parties claimed the victory. The
second party was arranged so that the party for hanging should
go up-hill, and the party for clearing should go down-hill. The
down-hill men claimed that the prisoners were acquitted, but the
up-hills would not give way. All this time confusion confounded
reigned around the wagon. The third vote was differently man-
aged. Two pairs of men were chosen. Between one pair passed
those who were for carrying the sentence into execution, and be-
tween the other pair marched those who were for sitting them
at liberty. The latter party uigeniouslj^ increased their votes by
the simple but effectual expedient of passing through several
times, and finally an honest Irish miner, who was not so weak-
kneed as the rest, shouted out, "Be , there's a bloody naygur

voted three times." The descendant of Ham broke for the wil-
lows at top speed, on hearing this announcement. This vote set-
tled the question, and Gallagher, pistol in hand, shouted, "Let
them go," "Hurrah," etc., one of the men, seeing a horse with an
Indian saddle, belonging to a Blaekfoot squaw, seized it, and
mounting both on the same animal, the assassins rode at a gallop
out of the Gulch. One of the guard remarked to another — point-
ing at the same time to the gallows — "There is a monument of
disappointed Justice. ' '

While all this miserable farce was being enacted, the poor vic-
tim of the pardoned murderers lay stark and stiff on a gambling
table, in a brush wakiup, in the Gulch. Judge Smith came to X,
and asked if men enough could not be found to bury Dillingham.*
X said there were plenty, and, obtaining a wagon, they put the
body into a coffin, and started up the "Branch," towards the
present gravej^ard on Cemetery Hill, where the first grave was
opened in Virginia, to receive the body of the murdered man. As
the party proceeded, a man said to Judge Smith, "Only for my
dear wife and daughter, the poor fellows would have been
hanged." A citizen, seeing that the so-called ladies had not a tear
to shed for the victim, promptly answered, "I take notice that
your dear wife and daughter have no tears for poor Dillingham,
but only for two murderers." "Oh," said the husband, "I cried
for Dillingham." "Darned well you thought of it," replied the
mountaineer. A party of eight or ten were around the grave,
when one asked who would perform the burial service. Some
one said, "Judge, you have been doing the talking for the last
three days, and you had better pray." The individual addressed

* "X" always means J. X. Beidier.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 63

knelt down and made a long and appropriate prayer ; but it must
be stated that he was so intoxicated that kneeling was, at least, as
much a convenience as it was a necessity. Some men never "ex-
perience religion" unless they are drunk. They pass through the
convivial and the narrative stages into the garrulous, from which
they sail into the religious, and are deeply affected. The scene
closes with the lachrymose or weeping development, ending in
pig-like slumbers. Any one thus moved by liquor is not reliable.

CHAPTER Xin.

The Robbery of the Salt Lake Mail Coach by George Ives, Bill
Graves alias Whiskey Bill, and Bob Zachary.

"Which is the villian"? Let me see his eyes,
That when I note another man like him
I may avoid him." — Shakespeare.

At the latter end of the month of November, 1868, Oliver's Salt
Lake coach, driven by Thos. C. Caldwell, left Virginia for Salt
Lake City, carrying as passengers Leroy Southmayde and Cap-
tain Moore. There was also a discharged driver named Billy. At
about three p. m. they reached Loraine's Ranch, where George
Ives rode up and stopped. He wanted to get a change of horses,
but could not obtain them. He then ordered grain for his horse,
standing beside Southmayde all the time. Suddenly he said, "I
have heard of Tex; he is at Cold Spring Ranch," and then or-
dered his horse. Steve Marshland was in his company. Between
Loraine's and Cold Spring Ranch they passed the coach, and sure
enough there the three were, in conversation at the Ranch, as
the stage drove up.

Tex, alias Jem Crow, afterward stated that they told him they
were going to rob the stage that night. Old Tex was watching
the coach when it started from Virginia, and Captain Moore
observing him and knowing his character, told Southmayde that
he did not like to see him there. Circumstances and conclusive
testimony have since proved that he was the spy, and being fur-
nished with a fleet horse, he rode across the country at full speed,
heading the coach, as before described.

They drove on to the Point of Rocks, and there they lay over
till morning. At Stone's Ranch the road agents made a circuit
and passed the coach unobserved. Ives had been joined, in the
meanwhile, by "Whiskey Bill and Bob Zachary. About eleven a.
m. the travellers overtook the three road agents. Each one had
his shot-gun lying over his left arm, and they appeared, from

64 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

behind, like hunters. As the stage came up they wheeled their
horses at once, and presented their pieces. Bill Graves drew a
bead on Tom Caldwell; Ives covered Southmayde, while Bob
Zachary, keeping his gun pointed at the coach, watched Captain
Moore and Billy.

Southmayde had the opportunity of looking down the barrels
of Ives' gun, and could almost see the buckshot getting ready
for a jump. As a matter of taste, he thinks such a sight anything
but agreeable or edifying, and if his luck should bring him in
the vicinity of road agents in pursuit of their calling, he confi-
dently informs us that he would prefer a side view of the opera-
tion, as he would then be able to speak dispassionately of the af-
fair. To report without "fear, favor, or affection" is rather hard
when the view is taken in front, at short range. Without "favor
or affection" can be managed; but the observance of the first
condition would necessitate an indifference to a shower of ' ' cold
pewter," possessed only by despairing lovers of the red-cover
novelette class, and these men never visit the mountains ; alkali,
sage brush fires, and "beef straight" having a decidedly "mate-
rial" tendency, and being very destructive of sentiment. Ives
called out, "Halt ! throw up your hands." and then bade Zachary
"Get down and look after those fellows."

Accordingly Bob dismounted, and leaving his horse, he walked,
gun in hand, up to Southmayde. While engaged in panning out
Southmayde 's dust he trembled from head to foot (and that not
with cold).

The appearance of the road agents, at this moment, was strik-
ing, and not at all such as would be desired by elderly members
of the "Peace party." Each man had on a green and blue
blanket, covering the body entirely. Whiskey Bill wore a "plug"
hat (the antitype of the muff on a soup-plate usually worn in the
East.) His sleeves were rolled up above the elbow; he had a
black silk handkerchief over his face, with holes for sight and air,
and he rode a grey horse, covered from the ears to the tail with a
blanket, which, however, left the head and legs exposed to view.
George Ives' horse was blanketed in the same way. It was a
dappled grey, with a roached mane. He himself was masked
with a piece of grey blanket, with the necessary perforations.
Zachary rode a blue-grey horse, belonging to Bob Dempsey ("all
the country" was their stable) — blanketed like the others — and
his mask was a piece of Jersey shirt.

Ives was on the off side of the driver, and Graves, on the
near side. When Zachary walked up to Southmayde, he said
"Shut your eyes." This Southmayde respectfully declined, and

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 66

the matter was not pressed. Bob then took Leroy's pistol and
money, and threw them down.

While Southmayde was being robbed, Billy, feeling tired, put
down his hands, upon which Ives instantly roared out, "Throw

them up, you . " It is recorded that Billy obeyed with alacrity,

though not with cheerfulness.

Zachary walked up to Captain Moore and made a similar re-
quest. The Captain declared, with great solemnity, as he handed
him his purse, that it was ''all he had in the world;" but it
afterward appeared that a sum of $25 was not included in that
estimate of his terrestrial assets, for he produced this money
when the road agents had disappeared.

Continuing his search, the relieving officer came to Billy, and
demanded his pistol, which was immediately handed over. Ives
asked, "Is it loaded?" and being answered in the negative, told
Bob to give it back to the owner. Tom Caldwell's turn came
next. He had several small sums belonging to different parties,
which he was carrying for them to their friends, and he had also
been commissioned to make some purchases. As Bob approached
him he exclaimed. ' ' My God ! What do you want with me ? I
have nothing." Clraves told Zachary to let him alone, and in-
quired if there was anything in the mail that they wanted. Tom
said he did not think that there was, Zachary stepped upon the
brake bar and commenced an examination, but found nothing.
As Caldwell looked at Zachary while he was thus occupied Ives
ordered him not to do that. Tom turned and asked if he might
look at him. Ives nodded.

Having finished his search, Zachary picked up his gun, and
stepped back. Ives dismissed the "parade" with the laconic com-
mand, "Get up and 'skedaddle.' "

The horses were somewhat restive, but Tom held them fast, and
Southmayde, with a view to reconnoitering, said in a whisper,
"Tom, drive slow." Ives called out, "Drive on." Leroy turned
round on his seat, determined to find out who the robbers were,
and looked carefully at them for nearlj^ a minute, which Ives at
last observing, he yelled out. "If you don't turn round, and
mind your business, I'll shoot the top of your head off." The
three robbers gathered together and remained watching till the
coach was out of sight.

Leroy Southmayde lost $400 in gold, and Captain Moore de-
livered up $100 in Treasury notes, belonging to another man.

The coach proceeded on its way to Bannack without further
molestation, and on its arrival there Plummer was in waiting, and
asked, "Was the coach robbed today?" and being told that it

<6 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

had been, as Southmayde jumped down, he took him by the arm,
and knowing him to be Sheriff, Southmayde was just about to
tell him all about it, when Judge Ct. G. Bissel gave Leroy a slight
nudge, and motioned for him to step back, which he did, and the
Judge told him to be very careful what he told that man, mean-
ing Plummer; Southmayde closed one eye as a private signal of
comprehension, and rejoined Plummer, who said, "I think I can
tell you who it was that robbed you." Leroy asked "Who?"
Plummer replied, "<jreorge Ives was one of them." Southmayde
said, ' ' I know ; and the others were Whiskey Bill and Bob Zach-
ary; and I'll live to see them hanged before three weeks."
Plummer at once walked off, and though Leroy was in town for
three days, he never saw him afterward. The object of Plummer 's
accusation of Ives was to see whether Southmayde really knew
anything. Some time after, Judge Bissel — who had overheard
Southmayde telling Plummer who the thieves were — remarked to
him, "Leroy, your life is not worth a cent."

On the second day after, as Tom was returning, he saw Graves
at the Cold Spring Ranch,* and took him on one side, asking him
if he had heard of the "little robbery." Graves replied that he
had, and asked him if he knew who were the perpetrators. Tom
said "No," adding, "And I wouldn't for the world; for if I did,
and told of them, I shouldn't live long." "That's a fact, Tom,"
said Graves, "you wouldn't live fifteen minutes." I'll tell you of
a circumstance as happened to me about bein' robbed in Calif omy.

"One night about ten o'clock, me and my partner was ridin'
along, and two fellers rode up and told us to throw up our hands,
and give up our money. We did it pretty quick I guess. They
got $2,000 in coined gold from us. I told 'em, 'Boys,' sez I 'it's
pretty rough to take all we've got.' So the feller said it was
rather rough, and he gave us back $40. About a week after I
seen the two fellers dealin' faro. I looked pretty hard at them
and went out. One of the chaps follered me, and sez he, 'Ain't
you the man that was robbed the other night?' 'No,' sez I, for
I was afraid to tell him the truth. Sez he, 'I want you to own
up; I know you're the man. Now I'm agoing to give you $4,000

for keeping your mouth shut,' and he did, . Now you see,

Tom, that's what I got for keeping my mouth shut. I saved my
life, and got $4,000."

Ives made for Virginia City, and there told in a house of ill
fame that he was the Bamboo chief that made Tom Caldwell
throw up his hands, and that, , he would do it again. He

• Afterwards to become the property of EUing & Hindman, on the road
from Twin Bridges to I<aurin.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 67

and a Colorado driver who was a friend of Caldwell's went to-
gether to Nevada. Each of them had a shot-gun, Ives was in-
toxicated. The driver asked Ives whom did he suppose to be
the robbers, to which he quickly replied, "I am the Bamboo chief
that robbed it," etc., etc., as before mentioned. The man then
said, "Don't you think Tom knows it?" ''Of course I do," said
George. As thej^ came back to town, the driver saw Tom, and
waved to him to keep back, which he did, and sent a man to
inquire the reason of the signal. The messenger brought him
back information of what had passed, and told him to keep out
of Ives' way, for he was drunk and might kill him.

That same evening, Tom and his friend went to the Cold
Spring Ranch together on the coach, and the entire particulars
came out in conversation. The driver finished the story by stat-
ing that he sat on his horse, ready to shoot Ives, if he should suc-
ceed in getting the "drop" on Caldwell.

Three days after, when Southmayde was about to return from
Bannack, Buck Stinson and Ned Ray came into the Express
Office, and asked who were for Virginia. On being told that
there were none but Southmayde, they said, "Well, then, we'll
go." The agent came over and said to Leroy. "For God's sake,
don't go; I believe you'll be killed." Southmayde replied, "I
have got to go; and if you'll get me a double-barrelled shot-gun,
I will take my chances." Oliver's agent accordingly provided
Leroy Southmayde, Tom Caldwell and a young lad about sixteen
years of age, who was also going bj^ the coach to Virginia, with
a shot-gun each. Leroy rode with Tom. They kept a keen eye
on a pair of road agents, one driving and the other watching.

The journey was as monotonous as a night picket, until the
coach reached the crossing of the Stinkingwater, where two of
the three men that robbed it (Bob Zachary and Bill Graves) were
together, in front of the station, along with Aleck Carter. Buck

Stinson saw them and shouted, "Ho! you road agents."

Said Leroy to Tom Caldwell, "Tom, we're gone up." said Tom,
"That's so."

At the Cold Spring Station, where the coach stopped for supper,
the amiable trio came up. They were of course fully armed with
gun, pistols and knife. Two of them set down their guns at the
door and came in. Aleck Carter had his gun slung at his back.
Bob Zachary, feigning to be drunk, called out, "I'd like to see

the man that don't like Stone." Finding that, as far as

could be ascertained, everybody present had a very high opinion
of Stone, he called for a treat to all hands, which having been dis-
posed of, he bought a bottle of whiskey, and behaved "miscel-
laneously" till the coach started.

68 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

After going about a quarter of a mile, they wheeled their
horses and called "Halt." The instant the word left their lips,
Leroy dropped his gun on Alec Carter; Tom Caldwell and the
other passenger each picked his man, and drew a bead on him at
the same moment. Aleck Carter called out, "We only want you

to take a drink; but you can shoot and be , if you want to."

Producing the bottle, it was handed round; but Leroy and Tom
only touched their lips to it. Tom believed it to be poisoned.

After politely inquiring if any of the wanted any more, they

wheeled their horses, saying, "We're off for Pete Daley's" and
clapped spurs to their horses, and headed for the Ranch, going
on a keen run.

Before leaving Cold Spring Ranch, Leroy Southmayde told
Tom that he saw through it all, and would leave the coach; but
Tom said he would take Buck up beside him, and that surely the
other fellow could watch Ray. Buck did not like the arrange-
ment; but Tom said, "You're an old driver, and I want you up
with me, ."

The two passengers sat with their shot-guns across their knees,
ready for a move on the part of either of the robbers.

At Loraine's Ranch, Leroy and Caldwell went out a little way
from the place, with the bridles in their hands, and talked about
the ' ' situation. ' ' They agreed that it was pretty rough, and were
debating the propriety of taking to the brush, and leaving the
coach, when their peace of mind was in no way assured by see-
ing that Buck Stinson was close to them, and must have over-
heard every word they had uttered. Buck endeavored to allay
their fears bj^ saying there was no danger. They told him that
thej^ were armed, and that if they were attacked they would
make it a warm time for some of them; at any rate they would
"get" three or four of them. Buck replied, "Gentlemen, I pledge
you my word, my honor, and my life, that you will not be at-
tacked between this and Virginia."

The coach went on directly the horses were hitched up, and
Buck commenced roaring out a song, without intermission, till at
last he became tired, and then, at his request, Ray took up the
chorus. This was the signal to the other three to keep off. Had
the song ceased, an attack would have been at once made; but,
without going into algebra, they were able to ascertain that such
a venture had more peril than profit, and so they let it alone.
The driver, Southmayde, and the yoimg passenger were not sorry
when they alighted safe in town. Ned Ray called on South-
mayde and told him that if he knew who committed the robbery
he should not tell, for that death would be his portion if he did.

THE VTGILANTES OF MONTANA 60

CHAPTER Xin.

The Openingf of the Ball — George Ives.

They mustered in their simple dress,
For wrongs to seek a stern redress.

As a matter of course, after the failure of justice in the case
of the murderers of Dillingham, the state of society, bad as it was,
rapidly deteriorated, until a man could hardly venture to enter-
tain a belief that he was safe for a single day. We have been
repeatedly shown places where bullets used to come through
the chinks between the logs separating one of the stores in town
from a saloon. Wounded men lay almost unnoticed about the
city, and a night or day without shooting, knifing or fighting
would have been recognized as a small and welcome instalment of
the millennium. Men dared not go from Virginia to Nevada or
Summit after dark. A few out of the hundreds of instances must
suffice. A Dutchman, known as Dutch Fred, was met by one of
the band, who ordered him to throw up his hands, as usual. Find-
ing he had $5 in Treasury notes with him, the robber told him
he would take them at par, and added with a volley of curses,

"If ever you come this way with only $5 I'll shoot you ; you,

I'll shoot you anyhow," and raising his pistol he shot him in the
arm. Another man was robbed of two or three dollars, about
two or three miles below Nevada, and was told that if ever he
came with as little money again they would kill him.

George Ives was a young man of rather prepossessing appear-
ance, probably twenty-seven years old. His complexion and hair
were light, and his eyes blue. He wore no whiskers. His height
was nearly six feet, and he wore a soldier's overcoat and a light
felt hat. The carriage of this reno^vned desperado was sprightly,
and his coolness was imperturable. Long practice in confronting
danger had made him absolutely fearless. He would face death
with an indifference that had become constitutional, and the
spirit of reckless bravado with which he was animated made
him the terror of the citizens. He would levy blackmail under
the guise of a loan and as a matter of sport, and to show the
training of his horse he would back the animal into the windows
of a store, and then ride off laughing. In looking at Ives a man
would, at first sight, be favorably impressed ; but a closer examin-
ation by any one skilled in physiognomy would detect in the lines
of the mouth, and in the strange, fierce, and sinister gleam of the
eye, the quick spirit which made him not only the terror of the
community, but the dread of the band of ruffians with whom
he was associated.

70 THE VlCilLANTES OF MONTANA

As before mentioned, he was with Henry Plummer when hd
started to rob Langford and Hauser ; he assisted at the robbery
of the coaches in October and November, and, after that, he fig-
ured as a highwayman with Aleck Carter, down on Snake River,
under the alias of Lewis.

In company with a friend he visited his comrades, Hunter and
Carter, at Brown's Gulch, and on their way back, among the
hills which form, as it were, the picket line of the Ramshorn
Mountains, the two met Anton M. Holter,* now a citizen of Vir-
ginia. They politely invited him to replenish their exchequers
by a draft on his own, which, under the circumstances, iie in-
stantly did ; but he was able at tlie moment to honor only a small
check. They read him a lecture upon the impropriety of travel-
ing with so small a sum in his possession, and then, as an emphatic
confirmation of their expressed displeasure, George drew his re-
volver, and, aiming at his head, sent a ball through his hat, graz-
ing his scalp. A second shot, with more deliberate aim, was only
prevented by the badness of the cap. After this failure, this
' ' perfect gentleman ' ' went his way, and so did Holter, doubtless
blessing the cap-maker.

Tex was a frequent companion of Ives, who was also intimate
with Plummer, and George used frequently to show their letters,
written in cipher, to unskilled, if not unsuspecting citizens. He
spent a life of ceaseless and active wickedness up to the very day
of his capture.

Perhaps the most daring and cold-blooded of all his crimes
was the murder which he committed near the Cold Spring Ranch.
A man had been whipped for larceny near Nevada, and to escape
the sting of the lash he offered to give information about the road
agents. Ives heard of it, and meeting him purposely between
Virginia and Dempsey's, he deliberately fired at him with his
double-barreled gun. The gun was so badly loaded, and the
man's coat so thickly padded that the buckshot did not take ef-
fect, upon which he cooly drew his revolver, and, talking to him
all the time, shot him dead. This deed was perpetrated in broad
daylight on a highway — a very Bloomingdale Road of the com-
munity— and yet, there, in plain view of Daley's and the Cold
Spring Ranch, with two or three other teams in sight, he assass-
inated his victim in a cool and business-like manner, and when
the murdered man had fallen from his horse, he took the animal
by the bridle and led it off among the hills.

Ives then went to George Hilderman and told him that he

* Mr. Holter died July 16, 1921, at Helena, Montana.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 71

should like to stay at his wakiup for a few days, as he had killed
a man near Cold Spring Kanch, and there might be some stir and
excitement about it.

In about half an hour after, some travelers arrived at the
scene of murder. The body was still warm, but lifeless, and some
of the neighbors from the surrounding ranches dug a lonely
grave in the beautiful valley, and there, nameless, uncoffined and
Hnwept, the poor victim,

"Life's fitful fever over,
Sleeps well."

The passer-by may even now notice the solitary grave where
he lies, marked as it still is by the upheaved earth, on the left
side of the road, as he goes down the valley, about a mile on the
Virginia side of the Cold Spring Ranch.

All along the route the ranchmen knew the road agents, but
the certainty of instant death in case they revealed what they
knew enforced their silence, even when they were really desirous
of giving information or warning.

Nicholas Tbalt had sold a span of mules to his employers,
Butschy & Clark, who paid him the money. Taking the gold
with him, he went to Dempsey's Ranch to bring up the animals.
Not returning for some time they concluded that he had run
away with the mules, and were greatly grieved that a person they
had trusted so implicitly should deceive them. They were, how-
ever, mistaken. Faithful to his trust, he had gone for the mules,
and met his death from the hand of George Ives, who shot him,
robbed him of his money, and stole his mules. Ives first accused
Long John of the deed; but he was innocent of it, as was also
Hilderman, who was a petty thief and hider, but neither murderer
nor road agent. His gastronomic feats at Bannack had procured
him the name, the American Pie-Eater.* Ives contradicted him-
self at his execution, stating that Aleck Carter was the murderer ;
but in this he wronged his own soul. His was the bloody hand
that committed the crime. Long John said, on his examination
at the trial, that he did not see the shots fired, but that he saw
Nicholas coming with the mules, and George Ives going to meet
him ; that Ives rode up shortly after with the mules, and said that
the Dutchman would never trouble anybody again.

The body of the slaughtered young man lay frozen, stiff and
stark, among the sage brush, whither it had been dragged, unseen
of man; but the eye of Omniscience rested on the blood-stained
corpse, and the fiat of the Eternal Jiidge ordered the wild bird
of the mountains to point out the spot, and, by a miracle, to reveal

• Langford teUs the story of this Pie-Eater. See that.

72 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

the crime. It was the finger of God that indicated the scene of
the assassination, and it was His will stirring in the hearts of
the honest and indignant gazers on the ghastly remains of Tbalt
that organized the party Avliich, though not then formally enrolled
as a Vigilance Committee, was the nucleus and embryo of the
order — the germ from which sprang that goodly tree, under the
shadow of whose wide-spreading branches the citizens of Mon-
tana can lie down and sleep in peace.

Nicholas Tbalt was brought into Nevada on a wagon, after be-
ing missing for ten days, William Herren came to Virginia and
informed Tom Baume, who at once went down to where the body
lay. The head had been pierced by a ball, which entered just
over the left eye. On searching the clothes of the victim, he
found in his pocket a knife which he had lent him in Washing-
ton Gulch, Colorado, two years before, in presence of J. X.
Beidler and William Clark.

The marks of a small lariat were on the dead man's wrists and
neck. He had been dragged through the brush, while living, after
being shot, and when found lay on his face, his right arm bent
across his chest and his left grasping the willows above him.

William Palmer was coming across the Stinkingwater Valley,
near the scene of the murder, ahead of his wagon, with his shot-
gun on his shoulder. A grouse rose in front of him, and he fired.
The bird dropped dead on the body of Tbalt. On finding the
grouse on the body, he went down to the wakiup, about a quar-
ter of a mile below the scene of the murder, and seeing Long
John and George Hilderman there, he told them that there was
the body of a dead man above, and asked them if they would
help him to put the corpse into his wagon, and that he would
take it to town, and see if it could be identified. They said "No;
that is nothing. They kill people in Virginia every day, and
there's nothing said about it, and we want to have nothing to
do with it."

The man lay for half a day exposed in the wagon, after being
brought up to Nevada. Elk Morse, William Clark and Tom
Baume got a coffin made for him; took him up to the burying
ground above Nevada : interred him decently, and, at the foot
of the grave, a crotched stick was placed, which is, we believe,
still standing.

The indignation of the people was excited by the spectacle.
The same afternoon three or four of the citizens raised twenty-
five men,* and left Nevada at 10 p. m. The party subscribed an
obligation before starting, binding them to mutual support, etc.,

* See Oath and names in back of book.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 73

and then travelled on, with silence and speed, towards the valley
of the Stinkingwater. Calling at a ranch on their way, they ob-
tained an accession to their numbers, in the person of the man
who eventually brought Ives to bay, after he had escaped from
the guard who had him in charge. Several men were averse to
taking him with them, not believing him to be a fit man for such
an errand ; but they were greatly mistaken, for he was both hon-
est and reliable, as they afterward found.

Avoiding the traveled road, the troop rode round by the bluff,
so as to keep clear of Dempsey's Ranch. About six miles fur-
ther on they called at a cabin, and got a guide to pilot them to
the rendezvous.

At about half-past three in the morning they crossed Wiscon-
sin Creek, at a point some seven miles below Dempsey's, and
found that it was frozen, but that the ice was not strong enough
to carry the weight of man and horse, and they went through
one after another, at different points, some of the riders having
to get down, in order to help their horses, emerging half drowned
on the other side, and continuing their journe3% cased in a suit
of frozen clothes, which, as one of them observed, "stuck to them
like death to a dead nigger." Even the irrepressible Tom Baume
was obliged to take a sharp nip on his "quid," and to summon
all his fortitude to his aid to face the cold of his ice-bound "rig."

The leader called a halt about a mile further on, saying, ' ' Every
one light from his horse, hold him by the bridle, and make no
noise till daybreak." Thus they stood motionless for an hour
and a half. At the first peep of day the word was given, "Boys,
mount your horses, and not a word pass, until we are in sight
of the wakiup." They had not travelled far when a dog barked.
Instantly they put spurs to their horses, and breaking to the
right and left, formed the "surround," every man reining up
with his shot-gun bearing on the wakiup. The leader jumped
from his horse, and seeing eight or ten men sleeping on the
ground* in front of the structure, all wrapped up in blankets,
sang out, "The first man that raises will get a quart of buckshot
in him, before he can say Jack Robinson. ' ' It was too dark to see
who they were, so he went on to the wakiup, leaving his horse in
charge of one of the party, half of whom had dismounted and
the others held the horses. "Is Long John here?" he asked.
"Yes," said that longitudinal individual. "Come out here; I
want you." "Well," said he, "I guess I know what you want
me for." "Probably you do ; but hurry up ; we have got no time
to lose." "Well," said John, "wait till I get my moccasins on,

• Though It was in December, these men were used to roughing It.

74 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

won't you?" "'Be quick about it, then," observed his captor.
Immediately after he came out of the wakiup, and they waited
about half an hour before it was light enough to see distinctly.
The captain took four of his men and Long John, ajid walked to
the place where the murder had been committed, leaving the
remainder of the troop in charge of the other men. They went
up to the spot, and there Long John was charged with the mur-
der. Palmer showed the position in which the body was found.
He said, ''I did not do it, boys." He was told that his blood
would ¥e held answerable for that of Nicholas Tbylt ; for that, if
he had not killed him, he knew well who had done it, and had
refused to help to put his body into a wagon. "Long John,"
said one of the men, handling his pistol as he spoke, "you had
better prepare for another world." The leader stepped between
and said, "This won't do; if there is anything to be done, let us
all be together." Long John was taken aside by three of the men,
and set down. They looked up, and there, in the faint light —
about a quarter of a mile off — stood Black Bess, the mule bought
by X. Beidler in Washington Gulcli. Pointing to the animal, they
said, "John, whose mule is that?" "That's the mule that Nick
rode down here," he answered. "You know whose mule that is,
John. Things look dark. You had better be thinking of some-
thing else now." The mule was sent for, and brought before
him, and he was asked where the other two mules were. He said
he did not know. He was told that he had better look out for
another world, for that he was iDlayed out in this. He said, "I
did not commit that crime. If you give me a chance, I'll clear
myself." "John," said the leader, "you never can do it; for
you knew of a man lying dead for nine days, close to your house,
and never reported his murder ; and you deserve hanging for that.
Why didn't you come to Virginia and tell the people?" He re-
plied that he was afraid and dared not do it. "Afraid of what?"
asked the captain. "Afraid of the men round here," "Who are
they?" "I dare not tell who they are. There's one of them
round here," "Where?" "There's one of them here at the waki-
up, that killed Nick," "Who is he?" "George Ives," "Is he
down at the wakiup?" "Yes," "You men stand here and keep
watch over John, and I'll go down." Saying this he walked to
the camp.

On arriving at the wakiup, he paused, and picking out the man
answering to the description of George Ives, he asked him, "Is
your name George Ives?" "Yes," said that worthy. "I want
you," was the laconic query. "To go to Virginia City," was the
direct but unpleasing rejoinder. "All right," said George, "I

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 75

expect I have to go." He was at once given in charge of the
guard.

iSo innocent were some of the troop, that they had adopted the
■'Perfect gentleman" hypothesis, and laid down their arms in
anger at the arrest of this murderous villain. A little experience
prevented any similar exhibition of such a weakness in the future.

Two of the party went over to Tex, who was engaged in the
highly necessary operation of changing his shirt. "I believe we
shall want you too," said one of them; Tex denuded himself of
his under garment, and throwing it towards Tom Baume, ex-
claimed, "There's my old shirt and plenty of greybacks. You'd
better arrest them too." He was politely informed that he him-
self, but neither the shirt nor its population, was the object of this
"unconstitutional restraint," and was asked if the pistols lying
on the ground were his, which he admitted, and was thereupon
told that they were wanted also, and that he must consider him-
self "under arrest" — a technical yet simple formula adopted by
mountaineers, to assure the individual addressed that his brains
will, without further warning, be blown out, if he should attempt
to make a "break." Tex dressed himself and awaited further
developments.

There appeared to be a belief on the part of both Tex and
Ives that they should get off ; but when they saw the party with
Long John, they appeared cast dov^na, and said no more.

The other men who were lying around the wakiup, when the
scouting party rode up, were Aleck Carter, Bob Zachary, Whiskey
Bill, Johnny Cooper, and two innocent strangers, whose prolonged
tenure of life can only be accounted for by the knowledge of the
circumstance that they were without money at the time. Of the
fact of the connection of the others with the band the boys were
ignorant, and were drinking coffee with them, laying down their
guns within the reach of the robbers, on their bedclothes. Had
the road agents possessed the nerve to make the experiment, they
could have blown them to pieces. One of the party, pointing to
Aleck Carter, said to the leader, "There's one good man among
them, any way. I knew him on the 'other side,' " (west of the
mountains). The captain's view of the state of things was not
altered by this flattering notice. He sang out, in a tone of voice
that signified "something's up," "Every man take his gun and
keep it." In after expeditions he had no need to repeat the
command. Five men were sent into the wakiup, and the rest
stood round it. The result of their search was the capture of
seven dragoon and navy revolvers, nine shot-guns and thirteen
rifles. These were brought out, and in laying them down one

76 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

of them went off close to Tom Baume's head. Leroy South-
may de's pistol — taken from him at the time of the robbery of the
coach — was one of the weapons. It was recognzed at the trial of
Ives, by the number upon it. About half an inch of the muzzle
had been broken off, and it had been fixed up smoothly.

All being now ready, the party started for Dempsey's, and
George, who was mounted on his spotted bob-tailed pony, went
along with them. He had determined to escape, and in order to
carry out his design he expressed a wish to try the speed of his
horse against the others, and challenged several to race with him.
This was foolishly permitted, and, but for the accidental frustra-
tion of his design to procure a remount of unsurpassed speed, a
score of names might have been added to the long list of his mur-
dered victims.

At Dempsey's Ranch there was a bridge in course of construc-
tion, and two of the men riding ahead saw George Hilderman,
standing on the center, at work. He was asked if his name was
George Hildeman, and replied "Yes," whereupon he was in-
formed that he was wanted to go up to Virginia City. He in-
quired whether they had any papers for him, and being told that
they had not any, he declared that he would not leave the spot;
but the leader coming up, told him to go "without any foolish-
ness," in a manner that satisfied him of the inutility of resist-
ance, and he prepared to accompanj^ them ; but not as a volun-
teer, by any means. He said he had no horse. Tom Baume of-
fered him a mule. Then he had no saddle. The same kind friend
found one, and he had to ride with them. His final effort was
couched in the form of a declaration that the beast would not
go. A stick was lying on the ground, and he received an instruc-
tion, as the conventions word it, either to "whip and ride," or
"walk and drive." This, practically speaking, reconciled him to
the breach of the provisions of Magna Charta and the Bill of
Rights involved in his arrest, and he jogged along, if not comfort-
ably, yet, at all events, in peace.

In the mean time, the arch villain in custody of the main body
was playing his role with much skill and with complete success.
He declared his entire innocence of the awful crime with which
he was charged, and rather insinuated than expressed his wish
that he might be taken to Virginia, where his friends were, and
that he might be tried by civil authorities (Plummer to empanel
the jury), and incidentally remarked that he should not like to
be tried at Nevada, for that he once killed a dog there which had
scared his horse, and for that reason they had prejudices against
him, which might work him serious injury in the event of his trial
at that place.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 77

There is no doubt that the seeming alacrity with which he ap-
parently yielded to the persuasions of his captors threw them
off their guard, and he was permitted to ride unarmed, but other-
wise unrestrained, along with the escort.

So large a troop of horsemen never yet rode together mounted
on fleet cayuses, on the magnificent natural roads of Montana,
without yielding to the temptation presented to try the compara-
tive merits of their horses, and our company of partisan police
were no exception to this rule. Scrub races were the order of the
day, until, in one of them, Geo. Ives, who was the winner, at-
tracted the attention of the whole party, by continuing his race
at the top of his horse's speed; but not until he was at least ten
rods ahead of the foremost rider, did the guard (f) realize the
fact that the bird had flown from the open cage. Twenty-four
pairs of spurs were driven home into the flanks of twenty-four
horses, and with a clatter of hoofs never since equalled on that
road, except when the deluded cavalry of Virginia rode down the
valley

"To see the savage fray."

or at the reception given to the Hon. J. M. Ashley and party,
they swept on like a headlong rout.

For a while, the fugitive gained gradually, but surely, on his
pursuers, heading for Daley's Ranch, where his own fleet and
favorite mare was standing bridled and saddled, ready for his
use (so quicklj'- did intelligence fly in those days). Fortune, how-
ever, declared against the robber. He was too hotly pursued to
be able to avail himself of the chance. His pursuers seeing a fresh
horse from Virginia and a mule standing there, leaped on their
backs and continued the chase. Ives turned his horse's head to-
wards the mountains round Biven's Gulch, and across the plain,
in that race for life, straining every nerve, flew the representa-
tives of crime and justice. Three miles more had been passed,
when the robber found that his horse's strength was failing, and
every stride diminishing. The steeds of Wilson and Burtchey
were in no better condition ; but the use of arms might now decide
the race, and springing from his horse, he dashed down a friendly
ravine, whose rocky and boulder-strewn sides might offer some
refuge from his relentless foes. Quick as thought, the saddles of
his pursuers were empty, and the trial of speed was now to be
continued on foot. On arriving at the edge of the ravine Ives
was not visible ; but it was evident that he must be concealed
within a short distance. Burtchey quickly "surrounded" the
spot, and sure enough, there was Ives crouching behind a rock.
Drawing a bead on him, Burtchey commanded him to come forth

78 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

and with a light and careless laugh he obeyed. The wily Bohemian
was far too astute, however, to be thus overreached, and be-
fore Ives could get near enough to master his gun, a stern order
to "stand fast" destroyed his last hope and he remained motion-
less until assistance arrived, in the person of Wilson.

Two hours had elapsed between the time of the escape and
the recapture and return of the prisoner. A proposition was made
to the captain to raise a pole and hang him there, but this was
negatived. After gayly chatting with the boys, and treating
them, the word was given to ' ' Mount, ' ' and in the center of a hol-
low square Ives began to realize his desperate situation.

Tidings of the capture flew fast and far. Through every nook
and dell of the inhabited parts of the Territory, wildly and
widely spread the news. Johnny Gibbons, who afterward made
such sly and rapid tracks for Utah, haunted with visions of vigi-
lance committee, joined the party before they reached the canyon
at Alder Creek, and accompanied them to Nevada. At that time
he was a part owner of the Cottonwood Ranch (Dempsey's),* and
kept the band well informed of all persons who passed with large
sums of money.

The sun had sunk behind the hills when the detachment reached
Nevada, on the evening of the 18th of December, and a discussion
arose upon the question whether they should bring Ives to Vir-
ginia, or detain him for the night at Nevada. The "conserva-
tives" and "radicals" had a long argument developing an "irre-
pressible conflict;" but the radicals, on a vote, carried their
point — rejecting Johnny Gibbons 's suffrage on the ground of
mixed blood. It was thereupon determined to keep Ives at
Nevada until morning, and then to determine the place of trial.*

The prisoners were separated and chained. A strong guard was
posted inside and outside of the house, and the night came and
went without developing anything remarkable. But all that
weary night, a "solitary horseman might have been seen" gallop-
ing along the road at topmost speed, with frequent relays of
horses, on his way to Bannack City. This was Lieut George
Lane, alias Club-foot, who was sent with news of the high-handed
outrage that was being perpetrated in defiance of law, and with
no regard whatever to the constituted authorities. He was also
instructed to suggest that Plummer should come forthwith to
Nevada, demand the culprit for the civil authorities, enforce that
demand by what is fitly called hocus pocus as habeas corpus, and
see that he had a fair (?) trial.

• First ranch recorded on the Stinking Water.
'** Judge Lett's story.

W. F. SANDERS
'Sanders is the Keenest Blade I Ever Crossed'— Bob Ingersoll

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 79

As soon as it was determiiied. that Ives should remain at Ne-
vada, Gibbons dashed up the street to Virginia, meetinp: a lawyer
or two on the way —

"Where the carrion is, there will the vultures," etc.

At the California Exchange, Gibbons found Messrs. Smith and
Ritchie, and a consultation between client, attorney and proch
ein ami, resulted in Lane's mission to Bannack, as one piece of
strategy that faintly promised the hope for rewards. All of Ives*
friends were notified to be at Nevada early the next morning.

The forenoon of the 19th saw the still swelling tide of miners,
merchants and artisans wending their way to Nevada, and all
the morning was spent in private examinations of the prisoners,
and private consultations as to the best method of trial. Friends
of the accused were found in all classes of society ; many of them
were assiduously at work to create a sentiment in his favor, while
a large mutlitude were there, suspicious that the right man had
been caught; and resolved, if such should prove to be the case,
that no loophole of escape should be found for him, in any techni-
cal form of the law.

Although on the eve of "Forefathers' Day," there was in the
atmosphere the mildness and the serenity of October. There was
no snow and but little ice along the edges of sluggish streams;
but the sun, bright and genial, warmed the clear air, and even
thawed out the congealed mud in the middle of the streets. Little
boys were at play in the streets, and fifteen hundred men stood
in them, impatient for action, but waiting without a murmur,
in order that everything might be done decently and in order.

Messrs. Smith, Ritchie, Thurmond and Colonel Wood were Ives'
lawyers, with whom was associated Mr. Alex Davis, then a com-
parative stranger in Montana.

Col. W. F. Sanders, at that time residing at Bannack City, but
temporarily sojourning at Virginia, was sent for to conduct the
prosecution, and Hon. Charles S. Bagg was appointed his col-
league, at the request of Judge Wilson, Mr. Bagg being a miner,
and then little known.

In settling upon the mode of trial, much difference of opinion
was developed; but the miners finally determined that it should
be held in the presence of the whole body of citizens, and re!=:erA'ed
to themselves the ultimate decision of all questions ; but lest some-
thing should escape their attention, and injustice thereby be done
to the public, or to the prisoner, a delegation composed of twelve
men from each district (Nevada and Junction) was appointed to

• Ives was tried before Judge Byam.

80 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

hear the proof, and to act as an advisory jury. W. H. Patton, of
Nevada, and W. Y. Pemberton, of Virginia, were appointed
amanuenses. An attempt to get on the jury twelve men from
Virginia was defeated, and, late in the afternoon, the trial began
and continued till nightfall. The three prisoners, George Ives,
George Hilderman and Long John (John Franck) were chained
with the lightest logging chain that could be found — this was
wound round their legs, and the links were secured with pad-
locks.

In introducing testimony for the people, on the morning of th«
21st, the miners informed all concerned that the trial must close
at three p. m. The announcement was received with great satis-
faction.

It is unnecessary to describe the trial, or to recapitulate the
evidence. Suffice it to say that two alibis, based on the testimony
of George Brown and Honest Whiskey Joe, failed altogether.
Among the lawyers, there was, doubtless, the usual amount of
brow-beating and technical insolence, intermingled with displays
of eloquence and learning ; but not the rhetoric of Blair, the learn-
ing of Coke, the metaphysics of Alexander, the wit of Jerrold, or
the odor of Oberlin, could dull the perceptions of those hardy
mountaineers, or mislead them from the stern and righteous pur-
pose of all this labor, which was to secure immunity to the per-
sons and propertj^ of the community, and to guarantee a like pro-
tection to those who should cast their lot in Montana in time
to come.

The evidence was not confined to the charge of murder; but
showed, also, that Ives had been acting in the character of a rob-
ber, as well as that of a murderer; and it may well be doubted
whether he would have been convicted at all, if developments
damaging to the reputations and dangerous to the existence of
some of his friends had not been made during the trial, on which
they absented themselves mysteriously, and have never been seen
since. There was an instinctive and unerring conviction that the
worst man in the community was on trial ; but it was hard work,
after all the proof and all this feeling to convict him.

Prepossessing in his appearance ; brave beyond a doubt ; affable
in his manners ; jolly and free among his comrades, and with thou-
sands of dollars at his command ; bad and good men alike working
upon the feeling of the community, when they could not disturb
its judgment — it seemed, at times, that all the labor was to end
in disastrous failure.

The crowd which gathered around that fire in front of the
court is vividly before our eyes. We see the wagon containing

y, ^

i

DK. DON L. BYAM

Dr. Don L. Byam was born in 1814 probably in the state of Virginia.
Attended William and Mary's College but did not graduate. Did, however,
graduate at some medical school.

Went in early life to Ohio, where he remained until ISHS. when he got
the gold fever and made a trip across the plains to 'Pikes Peak'. In 1862 went
to Bannack among the first. In 1863 located in Alder Gulch, where he got a
claim just above Nevada City, where he built the house, afterwards owned by
Fenner, It was in this house that several highwaymen were tried, and when
it was being constructed where some were hung. He was judge at the Miner's
Court when George Ives was tried, convicted and hung. The Doctor was one
who knew no fear: he died April, 1883, at Emigrant Gulch and was buried in
the old Emigrant Cemetery. He left one son, Henry Clay Byam. now a resident
of Yellowstone Valley and two grandsons. Grant Condit of Illinois, and Senator
Chas. S. Mufifly of Winston. Montana, to whom I am indebted for the above,
and also his grandfather's picture.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 81

the Judge, and au advocate pleading with all his earnestness and
eloquence for the dauntless robber, on whose unmoved features
no shade of despondency can be traced by the fitful glare of the
blazing wood, which lights up, at the same time, the stern and im-
passive features of the guard, who, in every kind of habiliments,
stand in various attitudes, in a circle surrounding the scene of
justice. The attentive faces and compressed lips of the jurors
show their sense of the vast responsibility that rests upon them,
and of their firm resolve to do their duty. Ever and anon a
brighter flash than ordinary reveals the expectant crowd of
miners, thoughtfullj' and steadily gazing on the scene, and listen-
ing intently to the trial. Beyond this close phalanx, fretting and
shifting around its outer edge, sways with quick and uncertain
motion the wavering line of desperadoes and sympathizers with
the criminal ; their haggard, wild and alarmed countenances show-
ing too plainly that they tremble at the issue which is, when
decided, to drive them in exile from Montana, or to proclaim them
as associate criminals, whose fate could neither be delayed nor du-
bious. A sight like this will ne'er be seen again in Montana. It
was the crisis of the fate of the Territory. Nor was the position
of prosecutor, guard, juror or Judge, one that any but a brave
and law-abiding citizen would choose, or even accept. Marked
for slaughter by desperadoes, these men staked their lives for the
welfare of the societ3^ A mortal strife between Colonel Sanders
and one of the opposing lawyers was only prevented by the
prompt action of wise men, who corralled the combatants on
their way to fight. The hero of that hour of trial was avowedly
W. F. Sanders. Not a desperado present but would have felt hon-
ored by becoming his murderer, and yet, fearless as a lion, he
stood there confronting and defying the malice of his armed ad-
versaries. The citizens of Montana, many of them his bitter po-
litical opponents, recollect his actions with gratitude and kindly
feeling. Charles S. Bagg is also remembered as having been at
his post when the storm blew loudest.

The argument of the case having terminated, the issue was,
in the first place, left to the decision of the twenty-four who had
been selected for that purpose, and they thereupon retired to con-
sult.

Judge Byam, who shouldered the responsibility of the whole
proceeding, will never be foregotten by those in whose behalf he
courted certain, deadly peril, and probable death.

The jury were absent, deliberating on their verdict, but little
less than half an hour, and on their return, twenty-three made a
report that Ives was proven guilty; but one member — ^Henry
Spivey — declined to give in any finding, for unknown reasons.

82 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

The crisis of the affair had now arrived. A motion was made,
' ' That the report of the committee be received, and it discharged
from further consideration of that case," which Mr. Thurmond
opposed; but upon explanation, deferred pressing his objections
until the motion should be made to adopt the report, and to ac-
cept the verdict of the committee as tlie judgment of the people
there assembled ; and thus the first formal motion passed without
opposition.

Before this, some of the crowd were clamorous for an adjourn-
ment, and now Ives' friends rene^^ed the attempt; but it met
with signal failure.

Another motion, ' ' That the assembly adopt as their verdict the
report of the committee," was made, and called forth the irrepres-
sible and indefatigable Thurmond and Col. J. M. Wood; but it
carried, there being probably not more than one hundred votes
against it.

Here it was supposed by many that the proceedings would end
for the present, and that the court would adjourn until the mor-
row, as it was already dark. Col. Sanders, however, moimted the
wagon, and having recited that Ives had been declared a mur-
derer and a robber by the people there assembled, moved ''That
George Ives be forthwith hung by the neck until he is dead" —
a bold and busmess-like movement which excited feeble opposi-
tion, was carried before the defendant seemed to realize the
situation ; but a friend or two and some old acquaintances hav-
ing gained admission to the circle within which Ives was guarded,
to bid him farewell, awakened him to a sense of the condition in
which he was placed, and culprit and counsel sought to defer
the execution. Some of his ardent counsel shed tears, of which
lachrymose effusions it is well to say no more than that they
were copious. The vision of a long and scaly creature, inhabiting
the Nile, rises before us in connection with this aqueous sympathy
for an assassin. Quite a number of his old chums were, as Petro-
leum V. Nasby says, "weeping profoosly." Then came moving
efforts to have the matter postponed until the coming morning,
Ives giving assurances, upon his honor, that no attempt at rescue
or escape would be made ; but already Davis and Hereford* were
seeking a favorable spot for the execution.

Our Legislative Assembly seem to have forgotten that Mr. A.
B. Davis* had any of these arduous labors to perform, but none
who were present will ever forget the fearless activity which
he displayed all through those trials. A differently constituted

* Hereford put the rope around Ives' neck.
** Died in Helena, at the Masonic Home, in 191.5. Davis alwa.vs went b.T
the nick name of Lazy Davis, as he never did like to work.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 83

body may yet sit in Montana and vote him his five hundred dol-
lars.

The appeals made by Ives and Thurmond for a delay of the
execution were such as human weakness cannot well resist. It is
most painful to be compelled to deny even a day's brief space,
during which the criminal may write to mother and sister, and
receive for himself such religious consolation as the most hard-
ened desire, under such circumstances ; but that body of men had
come there deeply moved by repeated murders and robberies, and
meant "business." The history of former trials was there more
freshly and more deeply impressed upon the minds of men than
it is now, and the result of indecision was before their eyes. The
most touching appeal from Ives, as he held the hand of Col. San-
ders, lost its force when met by the witheringiy sarcastic request
of one of the crowd,* "Ask him how long a time he gave the
Dutchman. ' ' Letters were dictated by him and written by Thur-
mond. His will was made, in which the lawyers and his chums
in iniquity were about equally remembered, to the entire seclu-
sion of his mother and sisters in Wisconsin. Whether or not it
was a time for tears, it was assuredly a time of tears ; but neither
weakness nor remorse moistened the eyes of Ives. He seemed
neither haughty nor j'^et subdued ; in fact, he was exactly imper-
turable. From a place not more than ten yards from where he
sat during the trial he was led to execution.

The prisoner had repeatedly declared that he would never ' ' die
in his boots," and he asked the sergeant of the guard for a pair
of moccasins, which were given to him; but after a while he
seemed to be chilled and requested that his boots might again be
put on. Thus George Ives "died in his boots."

During the whole trial, the doubting, trembling, desperate
friends of Ives exhausted human ingenuity to devise methods for
his escape, trying intimidation, weak appeals to sympathy, and
ever and anon exhibiting their abiding faith in "Nice, sharp
quillets of the law." All the time the roughs awaited with a sus-
pense of hourly increasing painfulness the arrival of their boasted
chief, who had so long and so successfully sustained the three
inimical characters of friend of their clan, friend of the people,
and guardian of the laws.

Not more anxiously did the great captain at Waterloo sigh for
"Night or Blucher" than did they for Plummer. But, relying
upon him, thej^ deferred all other expedients; and when the
dreaded end came, as come it must, they felt that the tide
in the affairs of villains had not been taken at its flood, and

* J. X. Beidler.

84 THE VIGILANTES OV MONTANA

not without a struggle they yielded to the inevitable logic of
events, and because they could not help it they gave their loved
companion to the gallows.

Up to the very hour at which he was hanged they were con-
fident of Plummer's arrival in time to save him. But events
were transpiring throughout the Territory which produced in-
tense excitement, and rumor on her thousand wings was ubiquit-
ous in her journeying on absurd errands.

Before Lane reached Bannack news of Ives' arrest had reached
there, with the further story that the men of Alder Gulch were
wild with excitement, and ungovernable from passion; that a
vigilance committee had been formed; a number of the best citi-
zens hanged, and that from three hundred to five hundred men
were on their way to Bannack City to hang Plummer, Ray. Stin-
son, George Chrisman, A. J. McDonald and others. This last
"bulletin from the front" was probably the off -spring of Plum-
mer's brain. It is also likely that Lane and perhaps Ray and
Stinson helped in the hatching of the story. Suffice it to say
that Plummer told it often, shedding crocodile tears that such
horrible designs existed in the minds of any as the death of his,
as yet, unrobbed friends, Chrisman, McDonald and Pitt.

His was a most unctuous sorrow, intended at that crisis to be
seen of men in Bannack, and quite a number of the good citizens
clubbed together to defend each other from the contemplated as-
sault, the precise hour for which Plummer's detectives had
learned, and all night long many kept watch and ward to give
the attacking party a warm reception.

There is no doubt that Plummer believed that such a body of
men were on their way to Bannack City after him, Ray, Stinson
and company. The coupling of the other names with theirs was
his own work, and was an excellent tribute paid in a back-handed
way to their integrity and high standing in the community.
"Conscience rloth mako cowards of all.""

and Lane found Plummer anxious to look after his own safety
ratber than that of George Ives.

The rumors carried day by day from the trial to the band in
different parts of the Territory were surprising in their exact-
ness, and in the celerity with which they were carried; but they
were changed in each community by those most interested into
forms best suited to subserve the purposes of the robbers; and,
in this way, did they beguile into sympathy with them and their
misfortunes many fair, honest men.

Ives' trial for murder, though not the first in the Territory,
differed from any that had preceded it.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 85

Before this memorable day citizens, in the presence of a well-
disciplined and numerous band of desperadoes, had spoken of
their atrocities with bated breath ; and witnesses upon their trial
had testified in whispering humbleness. Prosecuting lawyers, too,
had in their arguments often startled the public with such novel
propositions as "Now, gentlemen, you have heard the witnesses
and it is for you to say whether the defendant is or is not guilty ;
if he is guilty you should say so, but if not, you ought to acquit
him. I leave this with you, to whom it rightfully belongs. ' ' But
the counsel for the defense were, at least, guiltless of uttering
these last platitudes ; for a vigorous defence hurt no one and won
hosts of friends — of a certain kind. But on Ives 's trial there was
given forth no uncertain sound. Robbery and honesty locked
horns for the mastery, each struggling for empire ; and each stood
by his banner until the contest ended — fully convinced of the im-
portance of victory. Judge By am remained by the prisoner from
the time judgment was given, and gave all the necessary direc-
tions for carrying it into effect. Robert Hereford was the execu-
tive officer.

An unfinished house, having only the side-walls up, was chosen
as the best place near at hand for carrying into effect the sen-
tence of death. The preparations though entirely sufficient, were
both simple and brief. The butt of a forty-foot pole was planted
inside the house at the foot of one of the walls, and the stick
leaned over a cross beam. Near the point was tied the fatal cord,
with the open noose dangling fearfully at its lower end. A large
goods box was the platform. The night had closed in with a
bright, full moon, and around that altar of vengeance the stern
and resolute faces of the guard were visible under all circum-
stances of light and shade conceivable. Unmistakable determina-
tion was expressed in every line of their bronzed and weather-
beaten countenances.

George Ives was led to the scaffold in fifty-eight minutes from
the time his doom was fixed. A perfect babel of voices saluted
the movement. Every roof was covered, and cries of "Hang

him!" "Don't hang him!" "Banish him!" " I'll shoot!" "

their murdering souls!" "Let's hang Long John!" were heard
all around. The revolvers could be seen flashing in the moon-
light. The guard stood like a rock. They had heard the mut-
tered threats of a rescue from the crowd, and with grim firm-
ness— the characteristic of the miners when they mean "busi-
ness"— they stood ready to beat them back. Woe to the mob
that should surge against that living bulwark. They would have
fallen as grass before the scythe.

8ti THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

As the prisoner stepped on to the fatal platform, the noise
ceased, and the stillness became painful. The rope was adjusted,
and the usual request was made as to whether he had anything to
say. With a firm voice he replied. "I am innocent of this crime;
Aleck Carter killed the Dutchman.''

The strong emphasis on the word "this" convinced all around
that he meant his words to convey'' the impression that he was
guilty of other crimes. Up to this moment he had always accused
Long John of the murder.

Ives expressed a wish to see Long John, and the crowd of sym-
pathizers yelled in approbation ; but the request was denied, for
an attempt at a rescue was expected.

All being ready, the word was given to the guard,* "Men, do
your duty." The click of the locks rang sharply, and the pieces
flashed m the moonlight as they came to the "aim." The box
flew from under the murderer's feet with a crash, and George
Ives swung in the night breeze, facing the pale moon that lighted
up the scene of retributive justice.

As the vengeful click! click! of the locks sounded their note
of deadly warning to the intended rescuers, the crowd stampeded
in wild affright, rolling over one another m heaps, shrieking and
howling with terror.

When the drop fell, the Judge, who was standing close beside
Ives, called out, "His neck is broken; he is dead." This an-
nouncement and the certainty of its truth — for the prisoner never
moved a limb — convinced the few resolute desperadoes who knew
not fear that the case was hopeless, and thej^ retired with grinding
teeth and with muttered curses issuing from their lips.

It is astonishing what a wonderful effect is produced upon an
angry mob by the magic sound referred to. Hostile demonstra-
tions are succeeded by a mad panic ; rescuers turn their undivided
attention to their own corporal salvation ; eyes that gleamed with
anger, roll wildly with terror ; the desire for slaughter gives way
to the fear of death, and courage hands the craven fear his sceptre
of command. When a double-barreled shot-gun is pointed at a
traveller by a desperado the feeling is equally intense ; but its
development is different. The organ of "acquisitiveness" is dor-
mant; "combativeness" and "destructiveness" are inert; "cau-
tion" calls "benevolence" to do its duty; a very large lump rises
into the wayfarer's throat; cold chills follow the downward
course of the spine, and the value of money, as compared with
that of bodily safety, instantly reaches the minimum point,
verily, "All that a man hath will he give for his life." We have

* Charles Beehrer was the man that used those words.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 87

often smiled at the fiery indignation of the great untried when
listening to their account of what they would have done if a
couple of road agents ordered them to throw up their hands ; but
they failed to do anything towards convincing us that they would
not have sent valor to the rear at the first onset, and appeared as
the very living and breathing impersonations of discretion. We
felt certain that were they "loaded to the guards" with the gold
dust, they would come out of the scrape as poor as Lazarus, and
as mild and insinuating in demeanor as a Boston mamma with six
marriageable daughters.

At last the deed was done. The law-abiding among the citizens
breathed more freely, and all felt that the worst man in the com-
munity was dead — that the neck of crime was broken, and that
the reign of terror was ended.

The body of Ives was left hanging for an hour. At the expira-
tion of this period of time it was cut down, carried into a wheel-
barrow shop, and laid out on a work bench. A guard was then
placed over it till morning, when the friends of the murderer had
him decently interred. He lies in his narrow bed, near his victim
— the murdered Tbalt — to await his final doom, when they shall
stand face to face at the grand tribunal, where every man shall
be rewarded according to his deeds,

George Ives, though so renowned a desperado, was by no means
an ancient practitioner in his profession. In 1857-58 he worked as
a miner, honestly and hard, in California, and though wild and
reckless was not accused of dishonesty. His first great venture
in the line of robbery was the stealing of government mules, near
Walla Walla. He was employed as herder, and used to report
that certain of his charge were dead every time that a storm
occurred. The officer of the post believed the story, and inquired
no further. In this way George ran off quite a decent herd, with
the aid of his friends. In Elk City he startled his old employer
in the mines of California by riding his horse into a saloon, and
when that gentleman seized the bridle, he drew his revolver, and
would certainly have killed him, but fortunately he caught sight
of the face of his intended victim in time, and returning his pistol,
he apologized for his conduct. When leaving the city he wished
to present his splendid grey mare to his friend, who had for old
acquaintance's sake supplied his wants; but the present, though
often pressed upon this gentleman, was as often refused; for no
protestations of Ives could convince him that the beautiful
animal was fairly his property. He said that he earned it honestly
by mining. His own account of the stealing of the government
mules which we have given above was enough to settle that ques-

88 THE ViarLANTES OF MONTANA

tion definitely. It was from the "other side" that Ives came over
to Montana — then a part of Idaho — and entered with full purpose
upon the career which ended at Nevada so fatally and shame-
fully for himself, and so happily for the people of this Territory.

A short biographical sketch of Ives and of the rest of the gang
will appear at the end of the present work.

The trial of Hilderman was a short matter. He was defended
by Judge (?) H. P. A. Smith. He had not been known as a very
bad man ; but was a weak and somewhat imbecile old fellow, rea-
sonably honest in a stricth'" honest community, but easily led to
hide the small treasure, keep the small secrets, and do the dirty
work of strong-minded, self-willed, desperate men, whether will-
ingly or through fear the trial did not absolutely determine. The
testimony of Dr. Glick showed him to be rather cowardly and a
great eater. He had known of the murder of Tbalt for some
weeks, and had never divulged it. He was also cognizant of the
murder near Cold Spring Ranch, and was sheltering and hiding
the perpetrators. He had concealed the stolen mules too ; but,
in view of the disclosures made by many, after Ives was hung,
and the power of the gang being broken, such disclosures did not
so much damage men in the estimation of the honest mountaineer.
Medical men Avere taken to wounded robbers to dress their
wounds; they were told in what affray they were received, and
the penalty of repeating the story to outsiders was sometimes
told; but to others it was described by a silence more expressive
than words. Other parties, too, came into possession of the knowl-
edge of the tragedies enacted by them, from their own lips, and
under circumstances rendering silence a seeming necessity. To
be necessarily the repository of their dreadful secrets was no en-
viable position. Their espionage upon every word uttered by the
unfortunate accessary was offensive, and it was not a consola-
tory thought that, at any moment, his life might pay the pen-
alty of any revelation he should make; and a person placed in
such a "fix" was to some extent a hostage for the reticence of all
who knew the same secret.

If stronger-minded men than Hilderman could pretend to be,
had kept secrets at the bidding of the road agents, and that too
in the populous places, where there were surely some to defend
them — it was argued that a weak-minded man, away from all
neighbors, where by day and hy night he could have been killed
and hidden from all human eyes, with perfect impunity — had
some apology for obeying their behests.

Mr. Smith's defence of Hilderman was rather creditable to him.
There was none of the braggadocio common to such occasions, and

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 89

the people — feeling that they had caught and executed a chief of
the gang — felt kindly disposed towards the old man.

Hilderman was banished from Montana, and was allowed ten
days' time for the purpose of settling his affairs and leaving
When he arrived at Bannack City, Plummer told him not to go ;
but the old man took counsel of his fears, and comparing the
agile and effeminate form of Plummer with those of the earnest
mountaineers at Nevada, he concluded that he would rather bet
on them than on Plummer, and being furnished by the latter with
a pony and provisions, he left Montana forever.

When found guilty and recommended to mercy, he dropped
on his knees, exclaiming, "My God, is it sot"

At the close of his trial he made a statement, wherein he con-
firmed nearly all Long John had said of Ives.

Thus passed one of the crises which have arisen in this new
community. The result demonstrated that when the good and
law-abiding were banded together and all put forth their united
strength, they were too strong for the lawlessness which was
manifested when Ives was hung.

It has generally been supposed and believed that Plummer was
not present at the trial of Ives, or at his execution. We are
bound, however, to state that Mr. Clinton, who kept a saloon in
Nevada at the time, positively asserts that he was in the room
when Plummer took a drink there, a few minutes before the
roughs made their rush at the fall of Ives, and that he went out
and headed the mob in the effort which the determination of the
guard rendered unsuccessful.

Long John having turned states' evidence was set free, and
we believe that he still remains in the Territory,

One thing was conclusively shown to all who witnessed the trial
of Ives. If every road agent costs as much labor, time and money
for his conviction, the efforts of the citizens would have, practi-
cally, failed altogether. Some shorter, surer, and at least equally
equitable method of procedure was to be found. The necessity
for this, and the trial of its efficiency when it was adopted, form
the ground-work of this history.

CHAPTER XV.
The Formation of the Vigilance Committee.

The land wants such

As dare with vigor execute the laws,

Her festered members must be lanced and tented ;

He's a bad surgeon that for pity spares

The part corrupted till the gangrene spread,

And all the body perish ; he that is merciful

Unto the bad, is cruel to the good.

90 TliE VIGILANTES OJ' iMONTAxNA

Those who have merely read the account given in these pages of
the execution of Ives, can never fully appreciate the intense pop-
ular excitement that prevailed throughout the Territory during
the stormy and critical period, or the imminent peril to which
the principal actors in the drama were exposed. As an mstance
of the desire for murder and revenge that animated the roughs,
it may be stated that Col. Sanders was quietly reading in John
Creighton's* store, on the night of the execution of Ives, when
a desperado named Harvey Meade — the individual who planned
the seizure of a Federal vessel at San Francisco — walked into the
room, with his revolver stuck into the band of his pants, in front,
and walking up to the Colonel, commenced abusing him and called

him a , etc. Col Sanders not having been constituted with

a view to the exhibition of fear, continued his reading, quietly
slipping his hand out of his pocket in which lay a Derringer, and
dropping it into his coat pocket, cocked his revolver as a prepara-
tive for a little shooting. Raising his eyes to the intruder, he
observed. "Harvey, I should feel hurt if some men said this; but
from such a dog as you it is not worth noticing." A doctor who
was present laid his hand on a pick handle, and an "affair"
seemed imminent ; but John Creighton quietly walked up to the
man and said, ' ' You have to get out of here — quick ! ' ' All men
fond of shooting, otherwise than in self-defence, unless they take
their victim at an advantage, never care to push matters to ex-
tremities, and Meade quietly walked off — foiled. He admitted
afterwards to Sanders, that he had intended to kill him ; but he
professed a recent and not unaccountable change of sentiment.

All the prominent friends of justice were dogged, threatened
and watched by the roughs ; but their day was passing away,
and the dawn of a better state of things was even then enlivening
the gloom which overspread society like a funeral pall.

Two sister towns — Virginia and Nevada — claimed the honor
of taking the first steps towards the formation of a Vigilance
Committee.* The truth is, that five men in Virginia and one in
Nevada* commened simultaneously to take the initiative in the
matter. Two days had not elapsed before their efforts were
united, and when once a beginning had been made, the ramifica-
tions of the league of safety and order extended in a week or
two all over the Territory, and, on the 14th day of January, 1864,
the coup de grace was given to the power of the band by the exe-
cution of five of the chief villains in Virginia City. The details
of the rapid and masterly operations which occupied the few

* Later of Omaha, a prominent man in early Montana.
** Wilbur F. Sander.* in Virginia City, and Jolin Lott in Nevada.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 91

weeks immediately succeeding the execution of Ives, will appear
in the following chapters.

The reasons why the organization was so generally approved,
and so numerously and powerfully supported, were such as ap-
pealed to the sympathies of all men who had anything to lose,
or who thought their lives safer under the dominion of a body
which, upon the whole, it must be admitted, has from the first
acted with a wisdom, a justice and a vigor never surpassed on
this continent, and rarely, if ever, equalled. Merchants, miners,
mechanics and professional men alike, joined in the movement,
until, within an incredibly short space of time, the road agents
and their friends were in a state of constant and well-grounded
fear, lest any remarks they might make confidentially to an ac-
quaintance might be addressed to one who was a member of the
much-dreaded Committee.

The inhabitants of Virgmia had especial cause to seek for ven-
geance upon the head of the blood-thirsty marauders who had,
in addition to the atrocities previously recounted, planned and
arranged the murder and robbery of as popular a man as ever
struck the Territory — one whose praise was in all men's mouths,
and who had left them, in the previous fall, with the intention of
returning to solicit their suffrages, as well as those of the people
of Lewistown and Western Idaho, as their delegate to Congress.
His address, in the form of a circular, is still to be seen in the pos-
session of a citizen of Nevada.

Lloyd Magruder, to whom the above remarks have special ref-
erence, was a merchant of Lewiston, Idaho. He combined in his
character so many good and even noble qualities, that he was
one of the most generally esteemed and beloved men in the Terri-
tory, and no single act of villainy ever committed iu the far West
was more deeply felt, or provoked a stronger desire for retalia-
tion upon the heads of the guilty perpetrators, than the murder
and robbery of himself and party, on their journey homeward.

In the summer of 1863, this unfortunate gentleman came to
Virginia, with a large pack-train, laden with merchandise, selected
with great judgment for the use of miners, and on his arrival, he
opened a store on Wallace street, still pointed out as his place of
business by "old inhabitants."

Having disposed of his goods, from the sale of which he had
realized about $14,000. he made arrangements for his return to
Lewiston, by way of Elk City. This becoming known, Plummer
and his band held a council in Alder Gulch, and determined on
the robbery and murder of Magruder, C. Allen, Horace and Rob-
ert Chalmers, and a Mr. Phillips, from the neighborhood of

92 THE VIGILANTES OF MONIANA

Marysville. During the debate, it was proposed that Steve Marsh-
land should go on the expedition, along with Jem Romaine, Doc
Howard, Billy Page,, and a man called indifferently Bob or Bill
Lowry. The programme included the murder of the five victims,
and Marshland said he did not wish to go, as he could make money
without murder. He was, he said, "on the rob, but not on the
kill." Cyrus Skinner laughed at his notion, and observed that
"dead men tell no tales." It was accordingly decided that the
four miscreants above named should join the party and kill them
all at some convenient place on the road. Accordingly they of-
fered their services to Magruder, who gave them a free passage
and a fat mule each to ride, telling them that they could turn
their lean horses along with the band.

Charley Allen, it seems, had strong misgivings about the char-
acter of the ruffians, and told Magruder that the men would not
harm him (Allen), as they were under obligations to him; but
they would, likely enough, try to rob Magruder. His caution
was ineffectual, and Mr. McK. Dennee, we believe, fixed up for
the trip the gold belonging to Magruder.

It is a melancholy fact that information of the intention of the
murderers had reached the ears of more than one citizen ; but
such was the terror of the road agents that they dared not tell
any of the party.

Plaving reached the mountain beyond Clearwater River,* on
their homeward journey, the stock was let out to graze on the
slope, and Magruder, in company with Bill Lowry, went up to
watch it. Seizing his opportunity, the ruffian murdered Ma-
gruder, and his confederates assassinated the four remaining in
camp, while asleep. Romaine said to Phillips when shooting him

down, "You , I told you not to come." The villains having

possessed themselves of the treasure, rolled up the bodies, baggage
and arms, and threw them over a precipice. They then went on
to Lewiston, avoiding Elk City on their route, where the first
intimation of foul play was given by the sight of Magruder 's
mule, saddle, leggins, etc., in the possession of the robbers. Hill
Beechey, the Deputy Marshal at Lewiston, and owner of the Luna
House, noticed the cantinas filled with gold, and suspected some-
thing wrong, when they left by the coach for San Francisco. A
man named Goodrich recognized Page, when he came to ranch
the animals with him.

The murderers were closely muffled and tried to avoid notice.
Beechey followed them right through to California, and there

* This is a mistake. Magruder was kiUed in Montana, on the east
side of the Bitter Root mountains.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 93

arrested them on the charge of murdering and robbing Magruder
and his party. He found that they had changed their names at
many places. Every possible obstacle was interposed that the
forms of law allowed ; but the gallant man fought through it all,
and brought them back, on requisition of the Governor of Idaho,
to Lewistoii. Page turned state's evidence, and the men, who
were closely guarded by Beechey all the time, in his own house,
were convicted after a fair trial, and hanged. Romaine, who had
been a barber, and afterward a bar-keeper, was a desperate vil-
lain. At the gallows, he said that there was a note in his pocket,
which he did not wish to be read until he was dead. On opening
it, it was found to contain a most beastly and insolent defiance
of the citizens of Lewiston. Before he was swung off, he bade

them "Launch their old boat," for it was "only a mud-scow

any way."

A reconnoissance of the ground, in spring, discovered a few
bones, some buttons from Magruder 's coat, some fire-arms, etc.
The coyotes had been too busy to leave much.

Page, at the last advices, was still living at the Luna House.
Even a short walk from home produces, it is said, a feeling of
tightness about the throat, only to be relieved by going back in
a hurry. He was not one of the original plotters, but not being
troubled with too much sense, he was frightened into being a
tool.

The perpetration of this horrible outrage excited immense in-
dignation, and helped effectually to pave the way for the advent
of the Vigilantes. Reviewing the long and bloody lists of crimes
against person and property, which last included several whole-
sale attempts at plunder of the stores in Virginia and Bannack,
it was felt that the question was narrowed down to "kill or be
killed." "Self-preservation is the first law of nature," and the
mountaineers took the right side. We have to thank them for
the peace and order which exist today in what are, by the con-
current testimony of all travellers, the best regulated new mining
camps in the West.

The record of every villain who comes to Montana arrives with
him, or before him ; but no notice is taken of his previous conduct.
If, however, he tries his hand at his trade in this region, he is
sure of the reward of his crimes, and that on short notice; at
least such is the popular belief.

94 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

CHAPTER XVI.

The Deer Lodg-e Scout.

The sleuthhound is upon the trail.

Nor speed nor force shall aught avail.

Almost instantly after the eommeneement of the organization
of the Vigilance Committee, it was determined that the pursuit
of the miscreants — the comrades of Ives — should be commenced
and maiatained with a relentless earnestness, which should know
no abatement until the last blood-stained marauder had paid
the penalty" of his crimes by death on the gallows ; or had escaped
the retribution in store for him by successful flight to other coun-
tries. Foremost on the list stood Aleck Carter, the accomplice,
at any rate, in the murder of Tbalt.

Twenty-four* men were mustered, whose equipments consisted
of arms, ammunition, and the most modest provision for the wants
of the inner man that could possibly be conceived sufficient. The
volunteers formed a motley group ; but there were men enough
among them of unquestioned courage, whom no difficulty could
deter and no danger affright. They carried, generally, a pair of
revolvers, a rifle or shot-gun, blankets and some rope. Spirits
were forbidden to be used.

The leader of the party was one of those cool, undaunted, and
hardy men, whose career has been marked by honesty of purpose
and fearlessness concerning the consequences of any just or law-
ful action, and to whom society owes a large debt for perils and
hardships voluntarily undergone for the salvation of the lives and
property of the people of this Territory, and for the punishment
of wrong-doers.

On the 23d of December, 1863, the party, on horse and mule-
back, went by way of the Stinkingwater, on to the Big Hole, and
over the Divide in the main range. The weather was very cold,
and there was a large quantity of snow upon the ground. Fires
could not be lighted when wanted at night, for fear of attracting
attention. The men leaving their horses under a guard, lay down
in their blankets on the snow — the wisest of them in it. As the
riders had been taken up from Avork, without time for the need-
ful preparation in the clothing department, they were but ill pre-
pared to face the stormy and chilling blasts, which swept over
the hills and valleys crossed by them on this arduous journey.
Few know the hardships they encountered. The smiles of an

* Twenty-eigrht Vigilantes, besides Long John, who was taken along
to identify the highwaymen.

CAPr. JIM WlLr.IAM!^

Li'adtT ol' Miiilantes

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 95

approving conscience are about all, in the shape of a reward, that
is likely to be received by any of them for their brilliant services.

On Deer Lodge Creek, the foremost horsemen met Ked*
(Erastus Yager) ; but being unacquainted with him all the troop
allowed him to pass the different sections of the command as they
successively encountered him on the road. Red, who was now
acting as letter-carrier of the band, was a light and wiry built
man, about five feet five inches high, with red hair and red whis-
ers. On inquiry he told the officers that he had ascertained that
Aleck Carter, Whiskey Bill (Graves), Bill Bunton, and others
of the gang were lying at Cottonwood** drunk ; that they had at-
tended a ball given there, and that they had been kicked out of
it. A defiance accompanied this account, couched in the follow-
ing euphonious and elegant strain : ' ' The Stiukingwater

may come ; we 're good for thirty of them. ' ' This most ingenious
fable was concocted to put the scouts off their guard and to gain
time for the fugitives. The same nisrht the last of the party had
crossed the Divide and camped on Deer Lodge Creek — Seventeen
miles above Cottonwood at John Smith's Ranch.

At this place the men lay over till three o'clock in the after-
noon, and then saddling up, rode into Cottonwood to take their
prey by surprise. Arriving there they put up their horses, took
their supper, and discovered, both by actual search and the in-
formation of chosen parties, that the birds had flown'"** no one
knew whither ; though a camp fire far away among the hills was
distinctly visible, and evoked from some of the old mountaineers
a hearty malediction, for their experienced eyes had quickly
marked the blaze, and they knew that it meant — escape.

On inquiry it was found that a message had arrived from Vir-
ginia, warning the robbers to "Get up and dust, and lie low for
black ducks." A letter was found afterward delivered to Tom
Reilly, and he showed it to the Vigilantes. It was written by
Brown, and Red carried it over, traveling with such rapidity as
to kill two horses.

Vexed and dispirited the men started on their return by way
of Beaver Head Rock. Here they camped in the willows without
shelter or fire, except such as could be made with the green twigs.
On Saturday it turned cold and snowed heavily, getting worse
and worse, until on Sunday the cold became fearful, and the suf-
ferings of the party were intense. Some of the stock stampeded
to the canyon out of the way of the storm. The rest were tied

* See Charles Beehrer's story.
** Now Deer Lodge.

*** Be sure and read Beebrer's story, as it throws much light on things
not g^eneraUy known.

96 THE VIGILANTES OK MONTANA

fast in the willows. It was uo small job to hunt up the runaways.

At the station near the camp the party met two friends who
told them that Red was at Rattlesnake, and volunteers were
called to go in pursuit of him. A small party of picked men
started and followed up this rapid horseman, enduring on their
march great hardships from the inclemency of the weather. The
open air restaurant of the main body was not furnished with any
great variety in the line of provisions. Sometimes the meal was
bread and bacon — minus the bacon ; and sometimes bacon and
bread — minus the bread. Some choice spirits did venture, occa-
sionally, on a song or a jest; but these jocular demonstrations
were soon checked by the freezing of the beard and mustaches.
The disconsolate troopers slapped their arms to keep themselves
warm ; but it was a melancholy and empty embrace, giving about
as much warmth and comfort as the dream-begotten memory of
one loved and lost.

In the mean time the little party of volunteers wended their
toilsome way through the deep snow, and riding till midnight
journej^ed as far as Stone's Ranch. Here they obtained remounts
from the stock of Oliver & Co., and then resumed their cheer-
less progress towards Rattlesnake, at which place they arrived
after a ride of twenty miles. One of the party afterward con-
fidentially observed that ''It was cold enough to freeze the tail
of a brass monkey," which observation had at least the merit of
being highly metophorical and forcibly descriptive.

The ranch was surrounded and one of the party entering dis-
covered Buck Stinson, Ned Ray, and a prisoner,* whom as dep-
uty sheriffs (?), they had arrested. Stinson, who had a strong
antipathy towards the gentleman who entered first, appeared re-
volver in hand; but finding that the "drop" was falling the
wrong way, restrained his bellicose propensities, and eventually
not being able to fathom the whole purpose of his unwelcome vis-
itor, who amused him with a fictitious charge of horse-stealing
against Red, set free his prisoner on his promise to go and sur-
render himself up, and much moved in spirit made his horse do
all he knew about galloping on his road to Bauuack City.

The party who kncAv where to look for their man rode straight
for a wakiup a few himdred yards up the creek and surrounded
it instantly, their guns bearing on it. One of them dismounted,
and throwing open the flap entered with the amicable remark.
"It's a mighty cold night ; won't you let a fellow warm himself?"
Seeing Red he further remarked, "You're the man I'm seeking;
come along with me."

* See W. B. Cartei'.s story.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 97

The captive seemed perfectly unconcerned; he was as iron-
nerved a man as ever leveled a shot-gun at a coach. He was told
that he was wanted to go to Virginia ; but he asked no questions.
From his arrest till the moment of his execution he seemed pos-
sessed with the idea that it was his fate to be taken then and
there, and that his doom was irrevocably sealed. They stayed
all night at the ranch, Red going to bed with his boots on, "all
standing," as the sailors say.

The next morning they got up their horses. Red — unarmed of
course — riding his own. One trooper rode beside him all the time ;
the remainder were strung out on the road like beads. While lop-
ing along the mule of the leader stumbled and rolled over, mak-
ing two or three complete somersaults before he fetched up ; but
the snow was so deep that no great harm was done, and a merry
laugh enlivened the spirits of the party. The escort safely
brought their prisoner to Dempsey's Ranch, where they overtook
the main body that had camped for two days, awaiting their com-
ing. The demeanor of the captive was cheerful, and he was quite
a pleasant companion. He asked no questions relative to his ar-
rest, and rode from Rattlesnake to Dempsey's as if on a pleasure
excursion, behaving in a most courteous and gentlemanly man-
ner all the time, and this, be it remembered, with the conviction
that his hours were numbered, and that the blood of his victims
was about to be avenged. After reporting the capture of Yager
the party took supper and went to bed.

There was in the house at this time the secretary — Brown —
who had written the letter warning his comrades to fly from
Cottonwood and which missive Red had carried only too speedily.
He acted as barkeeper and man of all work at the ranch. This
individual was the very opposite of Yager in all respects. He
was cowardly and had never worked on the road, but had always
done his best to assist the gang as an outsider with information
calculated to ensure the stoppage of treasure-laden victims. He
was in the habit of committing minor felonies and of appearing as
a straw witness when needed.

After breakfast the two men were confronted. Brown — who
had evidently suspected danger ever since the arrival of the
Vigilantes — was greatly terrified. Red was as cool and collected
as a veteran on parade. Previously to the two robbers being con-
fronted the captain took Red into a private room and told him
that he was suspected of being in league with a band of road
agents and murderers. He denied the charge altogether. The
captain then asked him why — if he was innocent — should he take
such pains to inform the gang that the vigilantes were after them ?

98 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

He said that he came along to Bob's* on his way to Deer Lodge,
and that Brown asked him to carry a letter along to Aleck Carter
and some friends, and that having said he would do so he did it.
The two men were called up to the bar, and there Red again ad-
mitted the carrying of the letter which Brown had -written.
Brown having told his examiners that he had seen one of their
number before and knew him, was asked what sort of a man was
the one he referred to. He replied that he took him to be a half-
breed. The Vigilanter who had come in heard the description and

ejaculating, "You , j^ou call de Dutchman half-breeds, you

do, do you?" made at him with his fists; but his comrades almost
choking with laughter held him off the horrified Brown, whose
fear of instantaneous immolation at the hands of the fiery Dutch-
lander had blanched his cheek to a turnip color.

The captain then told Brown that he must consider himself
under arrest, and remain there. He was taken out to Derapsey's
house and kept there till the examination and trial of Red was
concluded. Being then brought in and questioned, he testified
that Red came to Dempsey's and said that he was going to see
the boys, and asked if Brown had anything to tell them, offering
to carry the letter. He said that Red was Ives' cousin (this was
untrue) ; that he wrote the letter advising them to leave, for that
the Vigilantes were after them.

At Smith's Ranch it had been found, on comparing notes, that
the statements of Red to the successive portions of the command
that he had met while crossing the Divide, were not consistent,
and, as frequently happens, the attempt at deception had served
only to bring out the truth. Red was incontrovertibly proven
to be one of the gang. The confession of each man conclusively
established the guilt of the other.

A guard was placed over the two men, and the remainder of
the Vigilantes went out on the bridge and took a vote upon the
question as to whether the men should be executed or liberated.
The captain said, "All those in favor of hanging those two men
step to the right side of the road, and those who are for letting
them go, stand on the left." Before taking the vote he had ob-
served to them, "Now, boys, you have heard all about this mat-
ter, and I want you to vote according to your consciences. If
you think they ought to suffer punishment say so. If you think
they ought to go free, vote for it." The question having been
put, the entire command stepped over to the right side, and the
doom of the robbers was sealed.

One of the party who had been particularly lip-courageous now

* Bob Dempsey.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 99

began to weaken, and discovered that he should lose $2,000 if he
did not go home at once. Persuasion only paled his lips, and he
started off. The click ! click ! click ! of four guns, however, so
far directed his fears into an even more personal channel, that
he concluded to stay.

The culprits were informed that they should be taken to Vir-
ginia, and were given in charge of a trustworthy and gallant man,
with a detachment of seven selected from the whole troop. This
escort reached Lorraine's in two hours. The rest of the men
arrived at sundown. The prisoners were given up, and the leader
of the little party, who had not slept for four or five nights, lay
down to snatch a brief but welcome repose. About 10 p. m. he
was awakened, and the significant, "We want you," announced
* ' business. ' '

The tone and manner of the summons at once dispelled even his
profound and sorely-needed slumber. He rose without further
parley and went from the parlor to the bar-roo^ where Red and
Brown were lying in a corner asleep. Red got up at the sound
of his footsteps and said, "You have treated me like a gentle-
man, and I know I am going to die — I am going to be hanged."
"Indeed," said his quondam custodian, "that's pretty rough."
In spite of a sense of duty, he felt what he said deeply. "It is
pretty rough," continued Yager, "but I merited this years ago.
What I want to say is that I know all about the gang, and there
are men in it that deserve this more than I do ; but I should die
happy if I could see them hanged, or know that it would be done.
I don't say this to get off. I don't want to get off." He was
told that it would be better if he should give all the information in
his possession, if only for the sake of his kind. Times had been
very hard, and "you know, Red," said the Vigilanter, "that
men have been shot down in broad daylight — not for money, or
even for hatred, but for luck, and it must be put a stop to."

To this he assented, and the captain being called, all that had
passed was stated to him. He said that the prisoner had better
begin at once, and his words should be taken down. Red began
by informing them that Plummer was the chief of the band ; Bill
Bunton second in command and stool pigeon ; Sam Bunton, road-
ster (sent away for being a drunkard) ; Cyrus Skinner, roadster,
fence and spy. At Virginia City, George Ives, Stephen Marsh-
land, Dutch John (Wagner), Aleck Carter, Whiskey Bill (Graves)
were roadsters; George Shears was a roadster and horse-thief;
Johnny Cooper and Buck Stinson were also roadsters; Ned Ray
was council-room keeper at Bannack City; Mexican Frank and
Bob Zachary were also roadsters ; Frank Parish was roadster and

100 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

horse-thief; Boone Helm and Club-Foot George were roadsters;
Haze Lyons and Bill Hunter were roadsters and telegraph men ;
George Lowry, Billy Page, Doc Howard, Jem Romaine, Bilh^ Ter-
williger and Gad Moore were roadsters. The password was "In-
nocent." They wore a necktie fastened with a "sailor's knot,"
and shaved down to moustache and chin whiskers. He admitted
that he was one of the gang, but denied — as they invariably did
— that he was a murderer. He also stated that Brown — his fellow-
captive — acted in the capacity before mentioned.

He spoke of Bill Bunton with a fierce animosity unlike his
usual suave and courteous manner. To him, he said, he owed his
present miserable position. He it was that first seduced him to
commit crime at Lewiston. He gave the particulars of the rob-
beries of the coaches and of many other crimes, naming the per-
petrators. As these details have been already supplied or will ap-
pear m the course of the narrative, they are omitted in order to
avoid a useless repetition.

After serious reflection it had been decided that the two cul-
prits should be executed forthwith, and the dread preparations
were immediately made for carrying out the resolution.

The trial of George Ives had demonstrated most unquestionably
that no amount of certified guilt was sufficient to enlist popular
sympathy exclusively on the side of justice, or to render the just
man other than a mark for vengeance. The majority of men sym-
pathize, in spite of the voice of reason, with the murderers in-
stead of the victims ; a course of conduct which appears to us in-
explicable, though we know it to be common. Every fibre of our
frame vibrates with anger and disgust when we meet a ruffian,
a murderer, or a marauder. Mawkish sentimentalism we abhor.
The thought of murdered victims, dishonored females, plundered
wayfarers, burning houses, and the rest of the said evidences of
villainy, completely excludes mercy from our view. Honor, truth
and the sacrifices of self to considerations of justice and the good
of mankind — these claim, we had almost said, our adoration ; but
for the law, brutal, cruel, lazy, ignorant, insolent, sensual and
blasphemous miscreants that infest the frontiers we entertain but
one sentiment — aversion — deep, strong, and unchangeable. For
such cases the rope is the only prescription that avails as a rem-
edy. But, though such feelings must be excited in the minds of
good citizens, when brought face to face with such monsters as
Stinson, Helm, Gallagher, Ives, Skinner, or Graves, the calm
courage and penitent conduct of Erastus Yager have the opposite
effect, and the loss of the goodly vessel thus wrecked forever
must inspire sorrow, though it may not and ought not to disarm
justice.

THE VIGILANTES OF M0NT7\NA 101

Brief were the preparations needed. A lantern and some stools
were brought from the house, and the party, crossing the creek
behind Lorraine's Ranch, made for the trees that still bear
the marks of the axe which trimmed off the superfluous branches.
On the road to the gallows Red was cool, calm and collected.
Brown had sobbed and cried for mercy, and prayed God to take
care of his wife and family in Minnesota. He was married to a
squaw. Red, overhearing him, said sadly but firmly, "Brown,
if you had thought of this three years ago, you would not be
here now, or give these boys this trouble."

After arriving at the fatal trees they were pinioned and stepped
on the stools, which had been placed one on the other to form a
drop. Brown and the man who was adjusting the rope tottered
and fell into the snow ; but recovering himself quickly, the Vigi-
lanter said quietly, "Brown, we must do better than that."

Brown's last words were, "God Almighty save my soul."

The frail platform flew from imder him, and his life passed
away almost with the twang of the rope.

Red saw his comrade drop, but no sign of trepidation was vis-
ible. His voice was as calm and quiet as if he had been conversing
with old friends. He said he knew that he should be followed
and hanged when he met the party on the Divide. He wisiied
that they would chain him and carry him ahmg to where the rest
were that he might see them punished. Just before he was
launched into eternity, he asked to shake hands with them all,
which having done, he begged of the man who had escorted him
to Lorraine's that he would follow and punish the rest. The
answer was given in these words, "Red, we will do it, if there's
any such thing in the book." The pledge was kept.

His last words were, "Good-bye, boys; God bless you. You are
on a good undertaking." The frail footing on which he stood
gave way, and this dauntless and yet guilty criminal died without
a struggle. It was pitiful to see one whom nature intended for
a hero, dying — and that justly — like a dog.

A label was pinioned to his back bearing the legend :

"Red! Road Agent and Messenger."

The inscription on the paper fastened on to Brown's clothes

was:

"Brown! Corresponding Secretary."

The fatal trees still smile as they don the green livery of spring,
or wave joyfully in the summer breeze ; but when the chill blast
of winter moans over the snow-clad prairie, the wind sighing and
creaking through the swaying boughs seems, to the excited listen-
er, to be still laden with the sighs and sounds of that fatal night.
Fiat justitia mat Coelum.

102 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

The bodies were left suspended, and remained so for some days
before they were buried. The ministers of justice expected a
battle on their arrival at Nevada, but they found the Vigilantes
organized in full force, and each man, as he uncocked his gun and
dismounted heaved a deep sigh of relief. The crisis was past.

CHAPTER XVII.
Dutch John (Wa^er).

"Give me a horse! Biud up my wounds." — Richard III.

The tidings of Ive's execution and the deep and awe-striking
news of the organization of the Vigilantes in the camps on Alder
Gulch flew like wildfire, exciting wherever they were received
the most dread apprehension in the minds of those whose con-
sciences told them that their capture and their doom were con-
vertible terms.

Among these men was Dutch John (Wagner). His share in
the robbery of the train, and his wound from the pistol of Lank
Forbes, pressed upon his memory. By a physical reminder, he
was prevented from forgetting, even in his sleep, that danger
lurked in every valley, and waited his coming on every path and
track by which he now trusted to escape from the scene of his
crimes. Plummer advised him to leave the Territory at once, but
he offered him no means of locomotion. This, however, was of
small consequence to Wagner. He knew how to obtain a re-
mount. Taking his saddle on his back, he started for the ranch
of Barret & Shineberger, on Horse Prairie, where he knew there
was a splendid grey horse — the finest in the country. The pos-
session was the trouble — the title was quite immaterial. A friend
seeing him start from Bannack with the saddle, sent word to the
owners of the gallant grey, who searched for him without delay,
taking care to avoid the willows for fear of a shot. One of them,
after climbing a hill, discovered the robber sitting among the un-
derwood. The place was surrounded and the capture was made
secure.

Short shrift was he allowed. His story was disbelieved, and
his captors went for his personal outfit, if not for his purse. They
lectured him in the severest terms on the depravity which alone
rendered horse-stealing possible, and then started him off down
the road, minus his saddle and pistol, but plus an old mule and
blanket.*

* Martin Barrett's story of the grrey horse.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 103

With these locomotive treasures, Dutch John left Horse Prairie,
and took the Salt Lake road. He was accompanied by an Indian
of the Bannack tribe, armed with bow, quiver and knife. Ben.
Peabody was the first who espied them. He was going to Salt
Lake City with a cayuse pack-train for goods, and saw the road
agent and his aboriginal companion at Dry Creek Canyon Ranch,
since used by Oliver & Co. as a station on the road to the metrop-
olis of the Latter Day Saints.

About two miles below this place he met Neil Howie, who was
coming from the same City of Waters, along with three wagons
laden with groceries and flour. A long consultation was the con-
sequence, and a promise was given that the aid of the train men
would be given to secure the fugitive from justice. The same
pledge was obtained from Neil's own party, and from the owner
of a big train further down.

Shortly after, Dutch John and the Indian hove in sight; but
this did not mend matters, for the parties "weakened" at once,
and left Neil cursing their timidity, but determined that he
should not escape. Wagner rode up and asked for some to-
bacco. He was told that they had none to spare, but that there
was a big train (Vivion's) dovni below, and that he might get
some there. During the conversation he looked suspicious and
uneasy ; but at last went on, parting amicably from them, and at-
tended by his copper-colored satellite, whose stolid features be-
trayed no sign of emotion. Neil felt "bad," but determined that
his man should not escape thus easily, he mounted his pony and
galloped after him, resolved to seek for help at the big train. He
soon came up with the pair, and Neil fancied that Wagner gave
some directions to the Indian, for he put his hand to his quiver,
as if to see that all was right for action. Dutch John held his
rifle ready and looked very suspiciously at Neil. The Indian kept
behind, prepared for business.

After the usual salutations of the road, Neil told John that he
wanted to borrow a shoeing-hammer to prepare his stock for
crossing the Divide, and thereupon he noticed a sudden, joyful ex-
pansion in the eyes of Dutch John, and, with a friendly salute,
they parted company.

It was ticklish work for Neil to ride with his back to Wagner,
right under the muzzle of his rifle, but the brave fellow went
along as if he suspected nothing, and never drew rein till he came
to the train. The o^vner — who had often lectured, in strong lan-
guage, on the proper way to deal with (absent) road agents —
backed square down, notwithstanding all the arguments of Neil,
some of which were of a nature to bring out any concealed cour-

104 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

age that his friend possessed. Wagner rode up, and glancing
quickly and sharply at the two conversing, asked for tobacco, and
received for reply — not the coveted weed, but an inquiry as to
whether he had any money ; which not being the case, he was
informed that there was none for him. Neil immediately told the
trader to let the man have what he wanted on his credit. Wagner
appeared deeply grateful for this act of kindness, and having re-
ceived the article, set forward on his journey. Neil made one
more solemn appeal not to "let a murderer and road agent
escape," but the train-owner said nothing.

In an instant he determined to arrest the robber at all risks,
single handed. He called out, "Hallo, Cap! hold on a minute."
Wagner wheeled his horse half round, and Neill, fixing his eyes
upon him, walked straight towards him with empty hands. His
trusty revolver hung at his belt, however, and those who have
seen the machine-like regularity and instantaneous motion with
which Howie draws and cocks a revolver, as well as the rapidity
and accuracy of his shooting, well know that few men, if any,
have odds against him in an encounter with fire-arms. Still not
one man in a thousand would, at a range of thirty yards, walk up
to a renowned desperado, sitting quietly with a loaded rifle in his
hand, and well knowing the errand of his pursuer. Yet this gal-
lant fellow never faltered. At twenty yards their eyes met, and
the gleam of anger, hate, and desperation that shot from those of
Dutch John spoke volumes. He also slewed round his rifle, with
the barrel in his left hand and his right on the small of the stock.
Howie looked him straight down, and as Wagner made the mo-
tion with his rifle, his hand mechanically sought his belt. No
further demonstration being made, he continued his progress,
which he had never checked, till he arrived within a few steps
of the Dutchman, and there read perplexity, hesitation, anger,
and despair in his fiery glances. Those resolved and unwavering
grey eyes seemed to fascinate Wagner. Five paces separated
them, and the twitching of Wagner's muscles showed that it was
touch and go, sink or swim. Four ! three ! two ! one ! Fire flashes
from John's eyes. He is awake at last; but it is too late. Neil
has passed the butt of his rifle, and in tones quiet but carrying
authority with them, he broke the silence with the order, "Give
me your gun and get off your mule. ' ' A start and a shudder ran
through Wagner's frame like an electric shock. He complied,
however, and expressed his willingness to go with Neil, both then
and several times afterward, adding that he need fear nothing
from him.

Let it not be imagined that this man was any ordinary felon,

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 105

or one easy to capture. He stood upward of six feet high ; was
well and most powerfully built, being immensely strong, active,
and both cooly and ferociously brave. His swarthy visage, deter-
mined looking jaw and high cheekbones were topped off with a
pair of dark eyes, whose deadly glare few could face without
shrinking. Added to this, he knew his fate if he were caught.
He travelled with a rifle in his hand, a heart of stone, a will
of iron and the frame of a Hercules. It might also be said, with
a rope round his neck. For cool daring and self-reliant courage,
the single-handed capture of Dutch John, by Neil Howie, has al-
ways appeared to our judgment as the most remarkable action of
this campaign against crime. Had he met him and taken him
alone, it would have been a most heroic venture of life for the
public good ; but to see scores of able-bodied and well-armed men.
refusing even to assist in the deed, and then — single handed — to
perform the service from which they shrank from bodily fear of
the consequences, was an action at once noble and self-denying
in the highest sense. Physical courage we share with the brutes ;
moral courage is the stature of manhood.

The prisoner being brought to the camp-fire was told of the
nature of the charge against him, and informed that if he were
the man, a bullet wound would be found on his shoulder. On
removing his shirt, the fatal mark was there. He attempted to
account for it by saying, that when sleeping in camp his clothes
caught fire, and his pistol went off accidentally; but neither did
the direction of wound justify such an assumption, nor was
the cause alleged received as other than proof of attempted deceit,
and consequently, of guilt. The pistol could not have been dis-
charged by the fire, without the wearer being- fatally burned, long
before the explosion took place, as was proved by actual experi-
ment at the fire by putting a cap on a stick and holding it right
in the blaze.

The ocular demonstration of the prisoner's guilt afforded by
the discovery of the bullet wound was conclusive. Neil left him
in charge, at the big train, and rode back to see who would help
him to escort the prisoner to Bannack. Volunteering was out of
fashion just then, and there was no draft. Neil started back and
brought his prisoner to Dry Creek, where there were fifty or sixty
men ; but still no one seemed to care to have anything to do with
it. The fear of the roughs was so strong that every one seemed
to consider it an almost certain sacrifice of life to be caught with
one of their number in charge.

One of Neil Howie's friends came to him and told him that
he knew just the very man he wanted, and that he was camped

106 THJ-; VlcaLANTES OF MONTANA

with a train near at hand. This was good news, for he had made
up his mind to go with his prisoner alone. John Petherstun at
once volunteerd to accompany him, road agents, horse thieves
and roughs in general to the contrary notwithstanding. The two
brave men here formed that strong personal attachment that has
ever since united them in a community of sentiment, hardship,
danger and mutual devotion.

The prisoner, who continually protested his innocence of any
crime, and his resolution to give them no trouble, seemed quite
resigned, and rode with them unfettered and unrestrained, to all
appearance. He was frequently fifty yards ahead of them ; but
they were better mounted than he was, and carried both pistols
and shot-giuis, while he was unarmed. His amiable manners won
upon them, and they could not but feel a sort of attachment to
him — villain and murderer though they knew him to be. The
following incidents, however, put a finale to this dangerous sym-
pathy, and brought them back to stern reality.

The weather being intensely cold, the party halted every ten
or fifteen miles lit a fire, and thawed out. On one of these
occasions, Fetherstun, who usually held the horses while Neil
raised a blaze, in order to make things more comfortable, stepped
back about ten paces and set down the guns. He had no sooner
returned than Wagner "made a break" for them, and but for the
rapid pursuit of Howie and Fetherstun — whose line of march cut
him off from the coveted artillery — it is likely that this chapter
would never have been written, and that the two friends would
have met a bloody death at the hands of Dutch John.

One night, as they were sleeping in the open air, at Red Rock,
fatigue so overcome the watcher that he snored, in token of hav-
ing transferred the duties of his position to

Watchful stars that sentinel the skies.

This suited Wagner exactly. Thinking that the man off guard
was surely wrapped in slumber, he raised up and took a survey
of the position, his dark eyes flashing with a stern joy. As he
made the first decisive movement towards the accomplishment
of his object, Neil, who sleeps with an eye open at such times, but
who, on this particular occasion, had both his visual organs on
duty — suddenly looked up. The light faded from Wagner's eyes,
and uttering some trite remark about the cold, he lay down again.
After a lapse of about an hour or two, he thought that, at last,
all was right, and again, but even more demonstratively, he rose.
Neil sat up, and said quietly, "John, if you do that again, I'll kill
you." A glance of despair deepened the gloom on his swarthy

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 107

brow, and, with profuse and incoherent apologies, he again lay
down to rest.

On another occasion, they saw smoke of a camp-fire, in close
proximity to the road, and Wagner, who noticed it even sooner
than his guards, at once thought that it must be the expected
rescuers. He sang and whistled loudly, as long as they were with-
in hearing, and then became sad, silent and downcast.

"Fortune favors the brave," and they arrived without inter-
ruption at Horse Prairie. Neil Howie rode on to Bannack to
reconnoitre — promising to be back, if there was any danger, in
an hour or so. After waiting for two hours, Fetherstun resumed
his journey and brought in his man, whom he took to his hotel.
Neil met Plummer and told him of the capture of Wagner. The
Sheriff ( ?) demanded the prisoner ; but Neil refused to give him
up. He soon found out that he would be backed by the "powers
behind the throne." There were no Vigilantes organized in Ban-
nack at that time ; but four of the Committee, good men and true,
were, even then, in the saddle, on their road from Virginia, with
full powers to act in the matter. Neil kncAV very well that a
guard under the orders of Plummer, and composed of Buck Stin-
son, Ned Ray and their fellows, would not be likely to shoot at a
prisoner escaping.

Dutch John proposed to Fetherstun that they should take a
walk, which they did. Fetherstun did not know Bannack; but
they sauntered down to Durand's* saloon. After a few minutes
had elapsed Neil came in, and told Fetherstun to keep a close
watch on Wagner, stating that he would be back in a few minutes.
The two sat down and played a couple of games at "seven-up."
Buck Stinson and Ned Ray came in and shook hands with the
prisoner. Four or five more also walked up, and one of them
went through that ceremony very warmly, looking very sharply
at Fetherstun. After taking a drink, he wheeled round, and,
saying that he was on a drunk, stepped out of doors. This raised
Fetherstun 's suspicions, which were apparently confirmed when
he came in after a few minutes, with a party of nine. The whole
crowd numbered fifteen. Fetherstun made sure that they were
road agents; for one of them stepped up to John and said, "You
are my prisoner." John looked at his quondam jailer and
laughed. Fetherstun understood him to mean, "You had me
once, and now I have you." He stepped into the corner and drew
his revolver, fully expecting death, but determined to put as
much daylight through them, as the size of his lead would allow.

* Durand was an iUiterate Frenchman. He was suspected of having
been a friend of the highwaymen — probably because he had a saloon.

108 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

He permitted them to take away the prisoner, seeing that resist-
ance was absurd, and went off to his hotel, where he found four
or five men, and being told, in answer to his question, that Neil
had not been there, he said, "Gentlemen, I don't know whom I
am addressing; but if you're the right kind of men, I want you
to follow me ; I am afraid the road agents have killed Neil Howie ;
for he left me half an hour ago, to be back in five minutes." They
all jumped up, and Fetherstun saw that they were the genuine
article. He was taking his shot-gun, when a man put his head
in at the door and told him not to be uneasy. The rest seemed
satisfied. He asked if he could go too, and was answered "no."
He said he would go, anyhow, and started down street, gun in
hand. He could not see the man, but walking on, he came to a
cabin and descried Dutch John, surrounded by a group of some
twenty men. He knocked, but was refused admittance. The
party did not know him. It was a mutual mistake. Each thought
the other belonged to the class "road agent." Fetherstun said
"Wagner was his prisoner, and that he must have him. They said
it was all right; they only wanted to question him. The same
mistake occurred with regard to Neil Howie, whom Fetherstun
found shortly after, being aided by one of the new captors. He
was as hot as calf love at the news, but, like it, he soon cooled,
when he saw things in the right light.

The men at once gave up the prisoner to Neil and Fetherstun,
who marched him back to the hotel, and, afterward, to a cabin.*
Seven or eight parties gathered and questioned him as to all that
he knew, exhorting him to confess. He promised to do so, over
and over again ; but he was merely trying to deceive them and
to gain time. The leader in the movement took up a book, observ-
ing that he had heard enough and would not be fooled any more.
The remainder went on with their interrogations; but at last
ceased in despair of eliciting anything like truth from John.

The literary gentleman closed the book, and approaching
Wagner, told him that he was notoriously a highwayman and a
murderer, and that he must be hanged; but that if he had any
wish as to the precise time for his execution he might as well name
it, as it would be granted if at all reasonable. John walked up
and down for a while, and then burst into tears, lamenting his
hard lot, agreed to make his confession, evidently hoping that it
might be held to be of sufficient importance to induce them to
spare his life. He then gave a long statement, corroborating
Red's confession in all important particulars; but he avoided in-
culpating himself to the last moment, when he confessed his

* At Sayers' CorraU, mouth of Hangroan'.s Gulch. John C. Innes was
placed in charge of him.

I^ft to Riuht— BEIDLKli. FKATIJEKSTIX, IIOWIE

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 109

share in the robbery of the train by himself and Steven Marsh-
land. This ended the examination for the night.

It was at this time that the Vigilance Committee was formed
in Bannack. A public meeting had been held in Peabody's to
discuss the question, and the contemplated organization was evi-
dently looked upon with favor. The most energetic citizen,
however, rather threw cold water on the proposition. Seeing
Ned Ray and Stinson there present, he wisely thought that that
was no place for making such a movement, and held himself in
reserve for an opportunity to make an effort, at a fitting time
and place, which offered itself in the evening.

At midnight he had lain down to rest, when he was awakened
from sleep by a summons to get up, for that men had come from
Virginia to see him. He put on his clothes hastily, and found
that four trustworthy individuals had arrived, bearing a com-
munication from the Vigilantes of Virginia, which, on inspection,
evidently took for granted the fact of their organization, and
also assumed that they would be subordinate to the central
authority. This latter question was put to the small number of
the faithful, and, by a little management, was carried with con-
siderable unanimity of feeling. It was rather a nice point ; for
the letter contained an order for the execution of Plummer, Stin-
son and Ray — the first as captain, and the others as members of
the road agent band. Four men had comprised those first en-
rolled as Vigilantes at Bannack.

It was resolved to spend the following day in enlisting mem-
bers, though no great progress was made after all.

Towards night, the people, generally, became aware that
"Wagner was a prisoner and a road agent. No one would let him
into his house. Neil Howie and Fetherstun took him to an empty
cabin on Yankee Flat.

CHAPTER XVm.

The Arrest and Execution of Henry Plummer, the Road Ag"ent
Chief, Buck Stinson and Ned Ray.

United there that trio died,

By deeds of crime and blood allied.

At dusk, three horses were brought into town, belonging sever-
ally and respectively to the three marauders so often mentioned,
Plummer, Stinson and Ray. It was truly conjectured that they
had determined to leave the country, and it was at once settled
that they should be arrested that night. Parties were detailed for
the work. Those entrusted with the duty performed it admiry^a.^

no THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

ably. Pliimmer was undressing when taken at his house. His
pistol (self-cocking weapon) was broken and useless. Had he
been arm»d, resistance would have been futile ; for he was seized
the moment the door was opened in answer to the knocking from
without. Stinson* was arrested at Toland's, where he was spend-
ing the evening. He would willingly have done a little firing,
but his captors were too quick for him. Ray was lying on a
Gambling table when seized. The three details marched their men
to a given point, en route to the gallows. Here a halt was made.
The leader of the Vigilantes and some others, who wished to save
all unnecessary hard feeling, were sitting in a cabin, designing not
to speak to Plummer, with whom they were so well acquainted.
A halt was made, however, and at the door appeared Plummer.
The light was extinguished ; when the party moved on, but soon
halted. The crisis had come. Seeing that the circumstances were
such as admitted of neither vacillation nor delay, the citizen
leader, summoning his friends, went up to the party and gave the
military command, "Company! forward — march!" This was at
once obeyed. A rope taken from a noted functionary's bed had
been mislaid and could not be found. A nigger boy was sent off
for some of that highly necessary but unpleasant remedy for
crime, and the bearer made such good time that some hundreds of
feet of hempen necktie were on the ground before the arrival
of the party at the gallows. On the road Plummer heard the voice
and recognized the person of the leader.** He came to him and
begged for his life; but was told, "It is useless for you to beg
for your life ; that affair is settled and cannot be altered. You
are to be hanged. You cannot feel harder about it than I do ; but
I cannot help it if I would." Ned Ray, clothed with curses as
with a garment, actually tried fighting, but found that he was
in the wrong company for such demonstrations ; and Buck Stin-
son made the air ring with the blasphemous and filthy expletives
which he used in addressing his captors. Plummer exhausted
every argument and plea that his imagination could suggest, in
order to induce his captors to spare his life. He begged to be
chained down in the meanest cabin; offered to leave the country
forever ; wanted a jury trial ; implored time to settle his affairs ;
asked to see his sister-in-law, and, falling on his knees, with tears
and sighs declared to God that he was too wicked to die. He
confessed his numerous murders and crimes, and seemed almost
frantic at the prospect of death.

The first rope being thrown over the cross-beam, and the noose
being rove, the order was given to "Bring up Ned Ray." This

• Stinpon was arrested by William Roe.
** Probably Col. Sanders.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 111

desperado was run up with curses on his lips. Being loosel}- pin-
ioned, he got his fingers between the rope and his neck, and thus
prolonged his misery.

Buck Stinson saw his comrade robber swinging in the death
agony, and blubbered out, "There goes poor Ed Ray." Scant
mercy had he shown to his numerous victims. By a sudden twist
of his head at the moment of his elevation, the knot slipped under
his chin, and he was some minutes dying.

The order to "Bring up Plummer" was then passed and re-
peated; but no one stirred. The leader went over to this perfect
gentleman, as his friends called him, and was met by a request to
"give a man time to pray." Well knowing that Plummer relied
for a rescue upon other than Divine aid, he said briefly and de-
cidedly, "Certainly; but let him say his prayers up here." Find-
ing all efforts to avoid death were useless, Plummer rose and
said no more prayers. Standing under the gallows which he had
erected for the execution of Horan, this second Haman slipped
off his necktie and threw it over his shoulder to a young friend
who had boarded at his house, and who believed him innocent
of crime, saying as he tossed it to him, "Here is something to
remember me by." In the extremity of his grief, the young man
threw himself weeping and wailing upon the ground. Plummer
requested that the men would give him a good drop, which was
done, as far as circumstances permitted, by hoisting him up as
high as possible, in their arms, and letting him fall suddenly. He
died quickly and without much straggle.

It was necessary to seize Ned Ray's hands, and by a violent
effort to draw his fingers from between the noose and his neck
before he died. Probably he was the last to expire of the guilty
trio.

The news of a man's being hanged flies faster than any other
intelligence in a Western country, and several had gathered
round the gallows on that fatal Sabbath evening — many of them
friends of the road agents. The spectators were allowed to come
up to a certain point, and were then halted by the guard, who
refused permission either to depart or to approach nearer than
the "dead line," on pain of their being instantly shot.

The weather was intensely cold, but the party stood for a long
time round the bodies of the suspended malefactors, determined
that rescue should be impossible.

Loud groans and cries uttered in the vicinity attracted their
attention, and a small squad started in the direction from which
the sound proceeded. The detachment soon met Madam Hall,*

* When Madam HaU saw the men coming back from the gaUows, she
asked: "Where is my Ned?" E. P. Eaton said: "Tour Ned is aU right."
This man Baton became Plummer's successor in the sheriff's office.

112 THE ViaiLANTES 01 MONTANA

a noted courtesan — the mistress of Ned Ray — who was "making
night hideous" with her doleful wailings. Being at once stopped,
she began inquiring for her paramour, and was thus informed of
his fate, "Well, if you must know, he is hung." A volcanic
eruption of oaths and abuse was her reply to this information ;
but the men were on "short time," and escorted her towards her
dwelling without superfluous display of courtesy. Having ar-
rived at the brow of a short descent, at the foot of which stood
her cabin, stern necessity compelled a rapid and final progress
in that direction.

Soon after, the party formed and returned to town, leaving
the corpses stiffening in the icy blast. The bodies were eventu-
ally cut down by the friends of the road agents and buried. The
"Reign or Terror" in Bannack was over.

CHAPTER XIX.

The Execution of "the Greaser" (Joe Pizanthia), and Dutck

John (Wagner).

"Hoi)e withering fled, and men-y sighed, farewell." — CampbejLL.

A marked change in the tone of public sentiment was the con-
sequence of the hanging of the blood-stained criminals, whose
deserved fate is recorded in the preceding chapters. Men
breathed freely; for Plummer and Stinson especially were
dreaded by almost every one. The latter was of the type of
that brutal desperado whose formula of introduction to a Western
bar-room is so well known in the Mountains : "Whoop ! I'm from
Pike County, Missouri; I'm ten feet high; my abode is where
lewd women and licentious men mingle; my parlor is the Rocky
Mountains. I smell like a wolf; I drink water out of a brook

like a horse. Look out, you , I'm going to turn loose," etc.

A fit mate for such a God-forgotten outlaw was Stinson, and he,
with the oily and snake-like demon, Plummer, the wily, red-
handed, and politely merciless chief, and the murderer and rob-
ber, Ray, were no more. The Vigilantes organized rapidly. Pub-
lic opinion sustained them.

On Monday morning it was determined to arrest "the Greaser,"
Joe Pizanthia, and to see precisely how his record stood in the
Territory. Outside of it, it wss known that he was a desperado,
a murderer and a robber ; but that was not the business of the
Vigilantes. A party started for his cabin, which was built in a
side-hill. The interior looked darker than usual from the bright
glare of the surrounding snow. The summons to come forth

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 113

being disregarded, Smith Ball and George Copley entered, con-
trary to the advice of their comrades, and instantly received the
fire of their concealed foe. Copley was shot through the breast
Smith Ball received a bullet in the hip. They both staggered
out, each ejaculating "I'm shot." Copley was led off by two
friends, and died of his wound. Smith Ball recovered himself,
and was able to empty his six-shooter into the body of the assas-
sin, when the latter was dragged forth.

The popular excitement rose nearly to madness. Copley was
a much-esteemed citizen, and Smith Ball had many friends. It
was the instant resolution of all present that the vengeance on
the Greaser should be summary and complete.

A party whose military experience was still fresh in their mem-
ory made a rush, at the double-quick for a mountain howitzer
which lay dismounted, where it had been left by the train to
which it was attached. Without waiting to place it on the car-
riage, it was brought by willing hands to within five rods of the
windowless side of the cabin, and some old artillerists, placing it
on a box, loaded it with shell, and laid it for the building. By
one of those omissions so common during times of excitement, the
fuse was left uncut, and, being torn out in its passage through
the logs, the missile never exploded, but left a clean breach
through the wall, making the chips fly. A second shell was put
into the gun, and this time the fuse was cut, but the range was so
short that the explosion took place after it had traversed the
house.

Thinking that Pizanthia might have taken refuge in the chim-
ney, the howitzer was pointed for it and sent a solid shot through
it. Meanwhile the military judgment of the leader had been
shown by the posting of some riflemen opposite the shot-hole,
with instructions to maintain so rapid a fire upon it that the be-
leaguered inmate should not be able to use it as a crenelle through
which to fire upon the assailants. No response being given to
the cannon and small-arms, the attacking party began to think of
storming the dwelling.

The leader called for volunteers to follow him. Nevada* cast
in her lot first, and men from the crowd joined. The half dozen
stormers moved steadily, under cover to the edge of the last build-
ing, and then dashed at the house, across the open space. The
door had fallen from the effects of the fusilade ; but, peeping in,
they could see nothing until a sharp eye noticed the Greaser's
boots protruding. Two lifted the door, while Smith Ball drew
his revolver and stood ready. The remainder seized the boots.

* John Lott was the man to go in.

114 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

On lifting the door, Pizanthia was found lying flat and badly
hurt. His revolver was beside him. He was quickly dragged out,
Smith Ball paying him for the wound he had received by empty-
ing his revolver into him,

A clothes-line Avas taken down and fastened round his neck;
the leader'"' climbed a pole, and the rest holding up the body, he
wound the rope round the top of the stick of timber, making a
jamb hitch. While aloft, fastening all securely, the crowd blazed
away upon the murderer swinging beneath his feet. At his re-
quest, ''Say, boys! stop shooting a minute" — the firing ceased,
and he came down "by the run," Over one hundred shots were
discharged at the swaying corpse.

A friend — one of the four Bannack originals — touched the lead-
er's arm and said, "Come and see my bonfire," Walking doAvn
to the cabin, he found that it had been razed to the ground by the
maddened people, and was then in a bright glow of flame. A prop-
osition to burn the Mexican was received with a sout of exul-
tation. The body was hauled down and thrown upon the pile,
upon which it was burned to ashes so completely that not a trace
of a bone could be seen when the fire burned out.

In the morning some women of ill-fame actually panned out
the ashes, to see whether the desperado had any gold in his purse.
We are glad to say that they were not rewarded for their labors
by striking any auriferous deposit.

The popular vengeance had been only partially satisfied so far
as Pizanthia was concerned; and it would be well if those who
preach against the old Vigilance Committee would reflect upon
the great difference which existed between the prompt and really
necessary severity which they exercised and the wild and ungov-
ernable passion which goads the masses of all countries, when
roused to deeds of vengeance of a type so fearful that humanity
recoils at the recital. Over and over again we have heard a man

declaring that it was "a shame," to hang some one that he

wished to see punished. " , he ought to be burnt; I would

pack brush three miles up a mountain myself." "He ought to be
fried in his own grease," etc., and it must not be supposed that
such expressions were mere idle bravado. The men said just
what they meant. In cases where criminals convicted of grand
larceny have been whipped, it has never yet happened that the
punishment has satisfied the crowd. The truth is, that the Vigi-
lance Committee simply punished with death men unfit to live in
any communty, and that death Avas, usually, almost instantane-
ous, and only momentarily painful. With the exceptions recorded

* Simeon Este.s.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 115

(Stinson and Ray) the drop and death of the victim seemed simul-
taneous. In a majority of cases, a few almost imperceptible mus-
cular contortions, not continuing over a few seconds, were all
that the keenest observer could detect ; whereas, had their punish-
ment been left to outsiders, the penalty would have been cruel
and disgusting in the highest degree. "What would be thought
of the burning of Wagner and panning out his ashes by order of
the Vigilantes? In every case where men have confessed their
crimes to the Vigilantes of Montana, they dreaded the vengeance
of their comrades far more than their execution at the hands of
the Committee, and clung to them as if they considered them
friends.

A remarkable instance of this kind was apparent in the con-
duct of John Wagner. While in custody at the cabin, on Yankee
Flat, the sound of footsteps and suppressed voices was heard in
the night. Fetherstun jumped up, determined to defend himself
and his prisoner to the last. Having prepared his arms, he cast
a look over his shoulder to see what Dutch John was doing. The
road agent stood with a double-barrelled gun in his hand, evi-
dently watching for a chance to do battle on behalf of his captor.
Fetherstun glanced approvingly at him, and said, "That's right,

John, give them . " John smiled grimly and nodded, the

muzzle of his piece following the direction of the sound, and his
dark eyes glaring like those of a roused lion. Had he wished, he
could have shot Fetherstun in the back, without either difficulty
or danger. Probably the assailants heard the ticking of the locks
of the pieces in the still night, and therefore determined not to
risk such an attack, which savages of all kinds especially dislike.

The evening after the death of Pizanthia the newly-organized
Committee met, and, after some preliminary discussion, a vote
was taken as to the fate of Dutch John. The result was that his
execution was unanimously adjudged, as the only penalty meet-
ing the merits of the case. He had been a murderer and a high-
way robber for years.

One of the number present at the meeting was deputed to con-
vey the intelligence to Wagner ; and accordingly he went down to
his place of confinement and read to him his sentence of death, in-
forming him that he would be hanged in an hour from that time.
Wagner was much shocked by the news. He raised himself to his
feet and walked with agitated and tremulous steps across the
floor, once or twice. He begged hard for life, praying them to cut
off his arms and legs, and then let him go. He said, "You know
I could do nothing then." He was informed that his request could
not be complied with, and that he must prepare to die.

116 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Finding death to be inevitable, Wagner summoned his forti-
tude to his aid and showed no more signs of weakness. It was
a matter of regret that he could not be saved for his courage, and
(outside of his villainous trade) his good behavior won upon his
captors and judges to an extent that they were unwilling to admit,
even to themselves. Amiability and bravery could not be taken
as excuses for murder and robbery, and so Dutch John had to
meet a felon's death and the judgment to come, with but short
space for repentance.

He said that he wished to send a letter to his mother, in New
York, and inquired whether there was not a Dutchman in the
house who could write in his native language. A man being pro-
cured qualified as desired, he communicated his wishes to him and
his amanuensis wrote as directed. "Wagner's fingers were rolled up
in rags, and he could not handle the pen without inconvenience
and pain. He had not recovered from the frost-bites which had
moved the pity of X. Beidler when he met John before his capture,
below Red Rock. The epistle being finished, it was read aloud
by the scribe ; but it did not please Wagner. He pointed out
several inaccuracies in the method of carrying out his instruc-
tions, both as regarded the manner and the matter of the com-
munication ; and at last unrolling the rags from his fingers, he
sat down and wrote the missive himself.

He told his mother that he was condemned to die, and had but
a few minutes to live ; that when coming over from the other side,
to deal in horses, he had been met by bad men who had forced him
to adopt the line of life that had placed him in his present miser-
able position ; that the crime for which he was sentenced to die
was assisting in robbing a wagon, in which affair he had been
wounded and taken prisoner, and that his companion had been
killed. (This latter assertion he probably believed.) He ad-
mitted the justice of his sentence.

The letter, being concluded, was handed to the Vigilantes for
transmission to his mother. He then quietly replaced the band-
ages on his wounded fingers. The style of the composition showed
that he was neither terrified nor even disturbed at the thought of
the fast approaching and disgraceful end of his guilty life. The
statements were positively untrue, in many particulars, and he
seemed to write only as a matter of routine duty ; though we may
hope that his affection for his mother was, at least, genuine.

He was marched from the place of his confinement to an unfin-
ised building, where the bodies of Stinson and Plummer were
laid out — the one on the floor and the other on a work bench.
Ray's corpse had been handed over to his mistress, at her special

THE YIGILAIN'TES OF MONTANA 117

request. The doomed man gazed without shrinking on the re-
mains of the malefactors, and asked leave to pray. This was, of
course, granted, and he knelt down. His lips moved rapidly ; but
he uttered no word audibly. On rising to his feet, he continued
apparently to pray, looking round, however, upon the assembled
Vigilantes all the time. A rope being thrown over a cross-beam,
a barrel was placed read}'' for him to stand upon. While the
final preparations were making, the prisoner asked how long it
would take him to die, as he had never seen a man hanged. He
was told that it would be onl}' a short time. The noose was ad-
justed ; a rope was tied round the head of the barrel and the
party took hold. At the word, "All ready," the barrel was in-
stantly jerked from beneath his feet, and he swung in the death
agony. His struggles were very powerful for a short time; so
iron a frame could not quit its hold on life as easily as a less mus-
cular organization. After hanging till frozen stiff, the body was
cut down and buried decently.*

CHAPTER XX.

The Capture and Execution of Boone Helm, Jack Gallag'her,
Frank Parish, Haze Lyons and Club-Foot George (Lane).

"Tis joj- to see the engineer hoist
With his own petard." — Shakespeabe.

The effect of the executions noticed in the foregoing chapters
was both marked and beneficial. There was much to be done,
however, to ensure anything like lasting peace to the community.
Ives, Yager, Brown, Plummer, Stinson, Ray, Pizanthia and
Wagner were dead; but the five villains whose names head this
chapter, together with Bunton, Zachary, Marshland, Shears,
Cooper, Carter, Graves, Hunter and others were still at large, and
were supported by many others equally guilty, though less daring
and formidable as individuals.

Threats of vengeance had been made, constantly, against the
Vigilantes, and a plot to rob several stores in Virginia had nearly
matured, when it was discovered and prevented. Every man
who had taken part in the pursuit of the criminals whose fate
had been recorded, was marked for slaughter by the desperadoes,
and nothing remained but to carry out the good work so auspi-
ciously begun, by a vigorous and unhesitating severity, which
should know no relaxation until the last blood-stained miscreant
that could be captured had met a felon's doom.

* See William Roe's story of David Morgan. Story of Ajax.

118 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTAxNA

On the evening of the 13th of January, 1864, the Executive
Committee, in solemn conclave assembled, determined on hanging
six of them forthwith. One of the doomed men — Bill Hunter —
suspecting danger, managed to crawl away, along a drain ditch,
through the line of pickets that surrounded the town, and made
his escape. He was bady frozen by exposure to the cold, and
before his capture, was discovered by J. A. Slade, while lying con-
cealed under a bed at a ranch, and told that the Vigilantes were
after him, which information caused him to move his quarters to
Gallatin Valley, where he was caught and executed soon after, as
will appear in the course of this narrative.

While the Committee were deliberating in secret, a small party
of men who were at that moment receiving sentence of death,
were gathered in an upper room at a gambling house, and engaged
in betting at faro. Jack Gallagher suddenly remarked, "While
we are here betting, those Vigilante sons of are passing sen-
tence on us." This is considered to be the most remarkable and
most truthful saying of his whole life ; but he might be excused
telling the truth once, as it was entirely accidental.

Express messengers were sent to warn the men of the neigh-
boring towns in the gulch, and the summons was instantly obeyed.

Morning came — the last on earth that the five desperadoes
should ever behold. The first rays of light showed the pickets
of the Vigilantes stationed on every eminence and point of van-
tage round the city. The news flew like lightning through the
town. Many a guilty heart quaked with just fear, and many an
assassin's lip turned pale and quivered with irrepressible terror.
The detachments of Vigilantes, with compressed lips and echoing
footfall, marched in from Nevada, Junction, Summit, Pine Grove,
Highland and Fairweather, and halted in a body in Main street.
Parties were immediately detailed for the capture of the road
agents, and all succeeded in their mission, except the one which
went after Bill Hunter, who had escaped.

Frank Parish was brought in first. He was arrested without
trouble, in a store, and seemed not to expect death. He took
the executive officer one side, and asked, ''What am I arrested
for?" He was told, ''For being a road agent and thief, and
accessory to the murders and robberies on the road." At first
he pleaded innocent ; but at last he confessed his complicity with
the gang, and admitted being one of the party that robbed the
coach between Bannack and Virginia, and that he was guilty
of stealing horses and stock for them. He used to butcher stolen
cattle, and attend to the commissariat business. He gave some
directions about articles of clothing belonging to him, and the

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 119

settlement of some debts. Until his confession, it was not known
that he had any share in the robbery of the coach.

Club-Foot George* (George Lane) was arrested at Dance &
Stuart's. He was living there, and working at odd times. He was
perfectly cool and collected, and inquired the reason of his arrest,
as Parish had done previously. On receiving the same answer,
he appeared surprised, and said, ''If you hang me you will hang
an innocent man," He was told that the proof was positive, and
that if he had any preparation to make he must do it at once, as
his sentence was death. He appeared penitent and sat down for
some time, covering his face with his hands. He then asked for
a minister, and one being immediately sent for, he talked and
prayed with him till the procession to the gallows was formed.
In his pocketbook was found an extract from a Western news-
paper stating that George Lane, the notorious horse-thief, was
Sheriff of Montana. Lane was a man of iron nerve ; he seemed
to think no more of the hanging than a man would of eating his
breakfast.

Boone Helm was brought in next. He had been arrested in
front of the Virginia Hotel. Tavo or three were detailed for his
capture of whom he would entertain no suspicion, and they played
their part, apparently, so carelessly and well, that he was seized
without being able to make any effort at resistance. A man at
each arm, and one behind, with a cocked revolver, brought him
to the rendezvous. He lamented greatly that he "had no show"
when taken, as he said, "They would have had a gay old time
taking me, if I had known what they were after." His right
hand was in a sling. He quietly sat down on a bench, and on
being made acquainted with his doom, he declared his entire in-
nocence. He said, "I am as innocent as the babe unborn; I never
killed any one, or robbed or defrauded any man; I am willing
to swear it on the Bible." Anxious to see if he was really so
abandoned a villian as to swear this, the book was handed to him,
and he, with the utmost solemnity repeated an oath to that effect,
invoking most terrific penalties on his soul, in case he was swear-
ing falsely. He kissed the book most impressively. He then ad-
dressed a gentleman, and asked him to go into a private room.
Thinking that Boone wanted him to pray with him, he proposed
to send for a clergyman; but Boone said, "You'll do." On
reaching the inner room, the prisoner said, "Is there no way of

* Quite a number of years after, there was a desire on the part of the
people in Virginia City to locate correctly the graves of the five highwaymen.
A. B. Davis said that he knew, anrl pointed out the grave of Lane, as the
fifth one. Mr. Walker, the mayor, et al., dug this grave and found that
it was Club-foot George. They removed the foot, and it is one of the sights
in the Old Capitol.

120 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

getting out of this?" Being told that there was not, and that he
must die, he said, "Well, then, I'll tell you. I did kill a man
named Shoot, in Missouri, and I got away to the West; and I
killed another chap in California. When I was in Oregon I got into
jail, and dug my way out with tools that my squaw gave me."
Being asked if he would not tell what he knew about the gang,
he said, "Ask Jack Gallagher; he knows more than I do." Jack,
who was behind a partition, heard him, and burst out into volley

of execrations, saying that it was just such cowardly sons of

and traitors that had brought him into that scrape.

Helm* was the most hardened, cool and deliberate scoundrel of
the whole band, and murder was a mere pastime to him. He
killed Mr. Shoot, in Missouri (as will be afterward narrated) and
testimony of the most conclusive character shoAved that his hands
were steeped in blood, both in Idaho and since his coming to the
Territory. Finding that all his asservations and pleas availed him
nothing, he said, "I have dared death in all its forms, and I do
not fear to die." He called repeatedly for whiskey, and had to
be reprimanded several times for his unseemly conduct.

The capture of Lyons, though unattended with danger, was ef-
fected only by great shrewdness. He had been boarding at the
Arbor Restaurant, near the "Shades." The party went in. The
owner said he was not there, but that they might search if they
liked. The search was made and was ineffectual. He had left
in the morning. During the search for Lyons, Jack Gallagher
was found, in a gambling room, rolled up in bedding, with his
shot-gun and revolver beside him. He was secured too quickly
to use his weapons, if, indeed, he had had the courage; but his
heart failed him, for he knew that his time was come. He was
then taken to the place of rendezvous.

In the mean time the other party went after Haze Lyons, and
found that he had crossed the hill, beyond the point overhanging
Virginia, and, after making a circuit of three miles through the
mountains, he had come back to within a quarter of a mile of
the point, from which he started to a miner's cabin, on the west
side of the gulch above town. At the double-quick, the pursuers
started, the moment they received the information. The leader
threw •' pen the door, and bringing down his revolver to a present,
said, "Throw up your hands." Lyons had a piece of hot slap-
jack on his fork ; but dropped it instantly, and obeyed the order.
He was told to step out. This he did at once. He was in his
shirt-sleeves, and asked for his coat which was given to him. He

* There is an exceedingly interesting- chapter in Langford's book about
Helm.

THE VIGIT^\NTES OF MONTANA 121

was SO nervous that he could hardly get his arms into it. A rigid
search for weapons was made ; but he had just before taken off
his belt and revolver, laying them on the bed. He said that that
was the first meal he had sat down to with any appetite for six
weeks. Being told to finish his dinner, he thanked the captain,
but said he could eat no more. He then inquired what was going
to be done with him, and whether they would hang him. The
captain said, "I am not here to promise you anything; prepare
for the worst." He said, "My friends advised me to leave here,
two or three days ago." The captain asked why he did not go.
He replied that he had "done nothing, and did not want to go."
(He was one of the murderers of Dillingham, in June, '63, and was
sentenced to death, but spared, as before related.) The real rea-
son for his stay was his attachment for a woman in town, whose
gold watch he wore when he died on the scaffold. He was asked
if he had heard of the execution of Plummer, Buck Stinson and
Ned Ray. He replied that he had but that he did not believe it.
He was informed that it was true in the following words, "You
may bet your sweet life on it." He then inquired, "Did they
fight?" and was informed that they did not; for that they had
not any opportunity. By this time they had arrived at the ren-
dezvous, and Lyons found himself confronted by some familiar
faces.

Jack Gallagher came in swearing, and appeared to be mclined

to pretend that the affair was a joke, asking, "What the

is it all about?" and saying, "This is a pretty break, ain't it?"
Being informed of his sentence, he appeared much affected, and
sat down crying; after which he jumped up, cursing in the most
ferocious manner, and demanded who had informed on him. He
was told that it was "Red, who was hung at Stinkingwater." He
cursed him with every oath he could think of. He said to him-
self, "My God! must I die in this way?" His general conduct
and profanity were awful, and he was frequently rebuked by the
chief of the executive.

Haze Lyons was last fetched in, and acquainted with his sen-
tence. He, of course, pleaded innocent, in the strongest terms ;
but he had confessed to having murdered Dillingham, to a captain
of one of the squads of the guard, in the presence of several wit-
nesses ; and he was a known road agent. He gave some directions
far letters to be written, and begged to see his mistress ; but,
warned by the experiment of the previous year, his request Avas
denied.

The chief despatched an officer, with fifteen men, who went
at the double quick to Highland District, where two suspicious

122 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

looking characters had gone, with blankets on their backs, the
evening before, and making the "surround" of the cabin, the
usual greeting of "throw up your hands," enforced by a pre-
sented revolver, was instantly obeyed, and they were marched
down after being disarmed. The evidence not being conclusive,
they were released though their guilt was morally certain. The
Vigilantes rigidly abstained, in all cases, from inflicting the pen-
alty due to crime, without entirely satisfactory evidence of guilt.

After all was arranged for hanging them, the prisoners were
ordered to stand in a row, facing the guard, and were informed
that they were about to be marched to the place of execution.
Being asked if they had any requests to prefer, as that would
be their last opportunity, they said they had none to make. They
were then asked if they had anything to communicate, either of
their own deeds or their comrade road agents ; but they all re-
fused to make any confession. The guard were ordered to pinion
their prisoners. Jack Gallagher swore he would never be hung in
public; and drawing his knife he clapped the blade to his neck,
saying that he would cut his throat first. The executive officer
instantly cocked his pistol, and told him that if he made another
movement, he would shoot him, and ordered the guard to disarm
him. One of them seized his wrist and took the knife, after which
he was pinioned cursing horribly all the time. Boone Helm was
encouraging Jack, telling him not to "make a fool of him-
self," as there was no use in being afraid to die.

The chief called upon men that could be depended upon, to
take charge of the prisoners to the place of execution. The plan
adopted was to march the criminals, previously pinioned, each
between two Vigilantes, who grasped an arm of the prisoner with
one hand, and held in the other a "navy" — ready for instant use.
When Haze Lyons heard the order above mentioned, he called
out, "XI want you to come and stay with me till I die," which
reasonable request was at once complied with.

The criminals were marched into the centre of a hollow square,
which was flanked by four ranks of Vigilantes, and a column in
front and rear, armed with shot-guns and rifles carried at a half
present, ready to fire at a moment's warning, completed the ar-
ray. The pistol men were dispersed through the crowd to at-
tend to the general deportment of outsiders, or as a good man
observed, to take the roughs "out of the wet."

At the word "march!" the party started forward, and halted,
with military precision, in front of the Virginia Hotel. The halt
was made while the ropes were preparing at the unfinished build-
ing, now Clayton & Hale's Drug Store, at the corner of Wallace

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 123

and Van Buren streets. The logs were up to the square, but there
was no roof. The main beam for the support of the roof, which
runs across the center of the building, was used as a gallows, the
rope being thrown over it, and then taken to the rear and fastened
round some of the bottom logs. Five boxes were placed immedi-
ately under the beam, as substitutes for drops.

The prisoners were, during this time, in front of the Virginia
Hotel. Club-Foot George called a citizen to him, and asked him
to speak as to his character ; but this the gentleman declined say-
ing, "Your dealings with me have been right ; but what you have
done outside of that I do not know." Club-Foot then asked him
to pray with him, which he did, kneeling down and offering up
a fervent petition to the throne of grace on his behalf. George
and Jack Gallagher knelt. Haze Lyons requested that his hat
should be taken off, which was done. Boone Helm was cracking
jokes all the time. Frank Parish seemed greatly affected at the
near prospect of death. Boone Helm, after the prayer was over,
called to Jack Gallagher, "Jack, give me that coat; you never
gave me anything." " d sight of use you'd have for it," re-
plied Jack. The two worthies kept addressing short and pithy
remarks to their friends around, such as "Hallo, Jack, they've
got me this time;" "Bill, old boy, they's got me, sure," etc.

Jack called to a man, standing at the windows of the Virginia
Hotel, "Say! I'm going to heaven! I'll be there in time to open
the gate for you, old fellow." Jack wore a very handsome United
States cavalry officer's overcoat, trimmed with Montana Beaver.

Haze begged of his captor that his mistress might see him, but
his prayer was refused. He repeated his request a second time,
with the like result. A friend offered to fetch the woman, but
was ordered off; and on Haze begging for the third time to see

her, he received this answer, "Haze! emphatically! by G d,

bringing women to the place of execution played out in '63."
This settled the matter. The Vigilantes had not forgotten the
scene after the trial of Dillingham's murderers.

The guard marched at the word to the place of execution,
opened ranks, and the prisoners stepped up on the boxes. Club-
Foot George was at the east side of the house ; next to him was
Haze Lyons ; then Jack Gallagher and Boone Helm. The box
next to the west end of the house was occupied by Frank Parish.
The hats of the prisoners were ordered to be removed. Club-Foot,
who was somewhat slightly pinioned, reached up to his California
hat, and dashed it angrily on the ground. The rest were taken
off by the guards.

The nooses were adjusted by five men, and — all being ready —

124 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Jack Gallagher, as a last request, asked that he might have some-
thing to drink, which, after some demur, was acceded to. Club-
Fcot George looked round, and, seeing an old friend clinging to
the logs of the building, said, "Good-by, old fellow — I'm gone;"
and, hearing the order, "Men, do your duty" — without waiting
for his box to be knocked away — he jumped off, and died in a
short time.

Haze stood next ; but was left to the last. He was talking all
the time, telling the people that he had a kind mother, and that
he had been well brought up ; that he did not expect that it would
have come to that; but that bad company had brought him to it.

Jack Gallagher, while standing on the box, cried all the time,
using the most profane and dreadful language. He said, "I

hope that forked lightning will strike every strangling of

you." The box flying from under his feet brought his ribaldry
and profanity to a close, which nothing but breaking his neck
would ever have done.

Boone Helm, looking cooly at his quivering form, said, "Kick
away, old fellow; I'll be in hell with you in a minute." He prob-
ably told the truth, for once in his life. He then shouted, "Every
man for his principles — hurrah for Jeff Davis ! Let her rip ! ' '
The sound of his words was echoed by the twang of the rope.

Frank Parish requested to have a handkerchief tied over his
face. His own black necktie, fastened in the road agent's knot,
was taken from his throat and dropped over his face like a
veil. He seemed serious and quiet, but refused to confess any-
thing more, and was launched into eternity. A bystander asked
the guard who adjusted the rope, "Did you not feel for the poor
man as you put the rope round his neck?" The Vigilanter, whose
friend had been slaughtered by the road agents, regarded his
interrogator with a stern look, and answered slowly, "Yes, I
felt for his left ear ! ' '

Haze Lyons seemed to expect a second deliverance from death
up to the last moment, looking right and left at the swaying
bodies of the desperadoes, his countenance evidently indicating a
hope of reprieve. Finding entreaty useless, he sent word to his
mi.vtress that she should get her gold watch, which he wore, and
requested that his dying regards might be conveyed to her. He
expressed a hope that she would see that his body was taken
doAvn, and that it was not left to hang too long. Also he charged
her to see him decently buried. He died apparently without pain.
The bodies, after hanging for about two hours, were cut down,
and carried to the street, in front of the house, where their

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 125

friends found them, and took them away for burial. They sleep
on Cemetery Hill, awaiting, not the justice of man, but the judg-
ment of the last day.

The man who dug the graves intended for Stinson and Lyons —
after their sentence of death, for the murder of Dillingham — re-
ceived no pay, and the t^vo murderers actually committed an of-
fence revolting to all notions of decency, in those very graves,
in derision of their judges, and in contempt for their power. The
sexton pro tem was in the crowd in front of the gallows where
Lyons paid the penalty of his crimes, and said to him, "I dug
your grave once for nothing; this time I'll be paid, you bet." He
received his money.

As Jack Gallagher has not been specially referred to, the fol-
lowing short accoimt of a transaction in which he was engaged
in Virginia City, is here presented :

Near the end of 1863, Jack Gallagher, who had hitherto occu-
pied the position in Montana of a promising desperado — raised
himself to the rank of a "big medicine man," among the road
agents, by shooting a blacksmith, named Jack Temple, as fine a
man as could be found among the trade. He did not kill him;
but his good intentions were credited to him, and he was thence-
forth respected as a proved brave. Temple had been shoeing
oxen, and came up to Coleman & Loeb's saloon, to indulge in a
"Thomas and Jeremiah," with some friends. Jack Gallagher was
there. A couple of dogs began to fight, and Temple gave one
of them a kick, saying to the dog, "Here, I don't want you to

fight here." Jack said there was not a there that should

kick that dog, and he was able to whip any man in the room.
Temple, who, though not quarrelsome, was as brave as a lion,
went up to him and said, "I'm not going to fight in here; but
if you want a fight so bad, come into the street, and I'll give you
a 'layout;' I'll fight you a square fight." He immediately went
to the door. Jack Gallagher, seeing him so nicely planted for a
shot, in a narrow doorway, whipped out his pistol, and fired twice
at him. The first ball broke his wrist. "You must do better than
that," said Temple. "I can whip you yet." The words were
hardly out of his mouth when the second ball pierced his neck,
and he fell. Gallagher would have finished him where he lay,
but his friends interfered. The unfortunate man said, "Boys,
carry me somewhere ; I don't want to die like a dog in the street."
He remained, slowly recovering, but suffering considerably, for
several weeks, and, at the execution of Gallagher, he was walking
round town with his arm in a sling, greatly grieved at the sudden

120 TPIE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

end of his antagonist. "I wish, said he, "you had let him run
till I got well; I would have settled that job myself."

Bill Hunter and Gallagher robbed a Mormon of a large amount
of greenbacks, which he had been foolish enough to display, in
a saloon, in Virginia, They folloAved him down the road, on his
way to Salt Lake City, and it is presumed they murdered him.
The money was recognized by several while the thieves were
spending it in town. The Mormon was never heard of more. All
the robbers Avhose death has been recorded wore the "Cordon
knot" of the band, and nearly all, if not every one of them, shaved
to the road agent patterns.

These executions were a fatal blow to the power of the band,
and, henceforth, the right was the stronger side. The men of
Nevada deserve the thanks of the people of the Territory for their
activity, brave conduct and indomitable resolution. Without
their aid, the Virginians could have never faced the roughs, or
conquered them in their headquarters — their own town. The men
of Summit, especially, and "up the Gulch," generally, were al-
ways on hand, looking business and doing it. Night fell on Vir-
ginia ; but sleep forsook many an eye ; Avhile criminals of all kinds
fled for their Ua'CS from the fatal city of the Vigilantes.

CHAPTER XXI.

The Deer Lodge and Hell Gate Scout — Capture and Execution of

Stephen Marshland, Bill Bunton, Cyrus Skinner, Aleck

Carter, Johnny Cooper, George Shears, Robert

Zachary, and William Graves (Whiskey Bill).

"He dies and makes uo sign ;
So bad a death argues a monstrous life." — Shakespeare.

The operations of the Vigilantes were, at this time, especially,
planned with a judgment, and executed with a vigor that never
has been surpassed by any body, deliberative or executive. On
the 15th of January, 1864, a party of twenty-one men left Nevada,
under the command of a citizen whose name and actions remind
us of lightning. He was prompt, brave, irresistible (so wisely
did he lay his plans), and struck where least expected.

The squadron rode to Big Hole, the first day, and, while on
the road, detached a patrol to Clarke's Ranch, in pursuit of Steve
Marshland, who was wounded in the breast, when attacking
Forbes 's train. His feet had been badly frozen, and flight was
impossible. Leaving the horses behind, one of the party (No. 84)

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 127

went in to arrest him, after knocking four times without answer,
and discovered him in company with a dog, the two being the sole
tenants of the ranch.

When the Vigilanter entered, he found all quite dark ; but tak-
ing a wisp of dried grass, he groped his way to the fireplace, and
kindled a light with a match. The blaze revealed Steve Marsh-
land in bed. "Hands up, if you please," was the salute of his cap-
tor ; and a pointed suggestion from one of Col. Colt's pacification
agents caused an instant compliance with this demand. Seeing
that he was sick he was asked what was the matter, and replied
that he had the chills. This novel "winter sickness" not being
accepted as a sufficient excuse, a further interrogatory elicited
the fact that he had frozen his feet. "No. 84" removed two
double-barreled shot-guns, a yager and another rifle, from beside
the bed, and asked him where he froze them. He said he was
prospecting at the head of Rattlesnake. "Did you raise the
'color'?" said his interrogator. "No," replied Marshland, "I
could not get to the bed-rock for water." The party commenced
cooking supper, and invited him to eat with them. He took a
cup of coffee and was quite merry. After supper he was informed
by the leader of the nature of the charge against him, viz., the
robbery of Forbes 's train. He denied having any wound, and
slapped his breast, saying that it was "as sound as a dollar." Be-
ing asked if he had any objection to being examined, he said he
had not; but the moment his shirt was lifted the fatal mark of
guilt was visible, in the shape of a recent bullet wound.

The prisoner was told that the evidence was complete, and
that he must die. He then confessed, begging them to spare his
life. He had matches and tobacco in every pocket of his clothes
A pole was stuck into the ground, and leaned over the corral ; a
box was placed for him to stand on, and, all being ready, he once
more begged to save him, saying "have mercy on me for my
youth." He died almost instantly.

His feet being frozen and partially mortified, the scent at-
tracted the wolves, and the party had to watch both him and the
horses. He was buried close by. The patrol theij started to
overtake the main body, and coming up with them about four
miles above Evan's Ranch, they reported the execution of Marsh-
land. They had been absent only one night, leaving the command
in the morning and rejoining them the next day.

Up to this time the scouting party had met no one, but marched
in double file, at the rate of from sixty to seventy miles per day.
They kept double watch over the horses when camped, and lit no
fires, being fearful of attracting notice, and of thus defeating the

128 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

ibject of their journey. The men were divided into four messes,
with a cook to each, and eTsry party carried its own ''grub" (the
universal mountain word for "food"). Each man had a revolver,
and some sported two. A shot-gun or a rifle was also part of
the equipment. The captain rode foremost. A spy was de-
spatched to reconnoitre the town, and to meet the party at Cot-
tonwood Creek. He performed his part satisfactorily.

When within about seventeen miles of Cottonwood, at Smith's
Ranch, on Deer Lodge Creek, a halt was made about four p. m.
After dark they started, and with perfect quiet and caution rode
to within a short distance of the town. They found that the rob-
bers were gone ; but, surrounding Bill Bunton's saloon and dwell-
ing house, they proceeded to business. Bill was in his house, but
he refused to open the door. The three men detailed for his arrest
said they wanted to see him. For a long time he refused. At last
he told a man named Yank and a young boy who was stopping
with him to open the door. The men made him light a candle
before they would enter. This being done Bunton's captors
rushed in and told him that he was their prisoner. He asked
them for what, and was told to come along and that he would
find out.

*A Vigilanter of small stature but of great courage fastened
upon him. He found, however, that he had caught a Tartar, so
another man "piled on" (Montnice), and soon his arms were
fast tied behind him. A guard was detailed to escort him down
to Pete Martins' house, the rest being sent for to assist in taking
Tex out of the saloon.

A similar scene occurred here when the robber came out. He
was instantly seized, pinioned, and taken down to keep company
with his friend. Bill Bunton.

Pete Martin was frightened out of a year's growth when the
Vigilanters surrounded his house. He was playing cards with
some friends, and for a long time refused to come out; but find-
ing that, as he said, "he wasn't charged with nothing," he ascer-
tained what was wanted, and then returned to finish his game.
As the exigencies of the times had rendered a little hanging neces-
sary in that neighborhood, he felt small concern about the fate of
Bunton and Tex, who were of a dangerous religion.

The party slept and breakfasted at the house. In the morning
a stranger who was conversing with Bunton, to whom he was
unknown, informed the Vigilantes that the culprit had said that
"he would 'get' one of the yet." On being searched a der-
ringer was found in his vest pocket. As he had been carefully

* J. X. Beidler.

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THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 129

overhauled the night before it was evident that some sympathizer
had furnished him with the weapon. He refused to confess any-
thing, even his complicity in the robbery of the coach, where he
played "pigeon." Red had testified that he shared the money.
He also denied killing Jack Thomas' cattle; but Red had con-
fessed that he himself was the butcher, and that he had been hired
by Bunton, who called him a coward when he spoke about the
skins lying round the house, as being likely to be identified.

There being no possible doubt of his criminality, the vote on
his case was taken with the uplifted hand, and resulted in a unan-
imous verdict of guilty.

The captain then told him that he was to be hanged, and that
if he had any business to attend to he had better get some one
to do it. He gave his gold watch to his partner, Cooke, and his
other property to pay his debts. He had won his interest in the
saloon some fourteen days before by gambling it from its owner.

Tex was taken to another house and was separately tried. After
a patient investigation the robber was cleared — the evidence not
being sufficient to convict him. Had the Vigilantes held him
in custody for a time Tex would have experienced a difficulty in
his breathing that would have proved quickly fatal ; for testimony
in abundance was afterward obtained, proving conclusively that
he was a highwayman and common thief. He made all sail for
Kootenai, and there boasted that he would shoot any Vigilanter
he could set eyes on.

About two hundred and fifty feet to the left-front of Pete Mar-
tin's house, at the gate of Louis Demorest's corral, there were
two upright posts and a cross-beam which looked quite natural,
and appeared as if they had been made for Bunton.

The prisoner was taken out and put on a board supported by
two boxes. He was very particular about the exact situation of
the knot, and asked if he could not jump off himself. Being
told that he could if he wished, he said that he didn't
care for hanging any more than he did for taking a drink
of water ; but he should like to have his neck broken. He seemed
quite satisfied when his request was granted. He continued to
deny his guilt to the very last moment of his life, repeating the
password of the gang. "I am innocent." Two men were sta-
tioned at the board — one at each end — and all being ready he was
asked if he had anything to say or any request to make. He said,
''No; all I want is a mountain three hundred feet high to jump
off." He said he would give the time — "one," "two," "three."
at the word "ready," the men stationed at the plank prepared
to pull it from under him, if he should fail to jump ; but he gave

130 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

the signal, as he promised, and adding, "here goes it," he leaped
into the embrace of death. The cessation of muscular contraction
was almost instantaneous, and his death was accompanied by
scarcely a perceptible struggle.

The corral-keeper's wife insisted, in terms more energetic than
polite, that her husband should get the poles cut down. With
this request he was forced to comply, as soon as the corpse of the
road agent was removed for burial.

The parties knew that the robbers were to be found at Hell
Gate, which was so named because it was the road which the In-
dians took when on the war-path, and intent on scalping and other
pleasant little amusements, in the line of ravishing, plundering,
fire-raising, etc., for the exhibition of which genteel proclivities
the Eastern folks recommend a national donation of blankets and
supplies to keep the thing up. As independent and well-educated
robbers, however, sedulously reared to the business from child-
hood, it must be admitted that in case anything is lacking, they
at once proceed to supply the deficiency from the pilgrims'
trains and from settlers' homesteads. If the Indians were left
to the Vigilantes of Montana they would contract to change their
habits at small cost ; but an agency is too fat a thing for pet em-
ployees, and consequently a treaty is entered into, the only sub-
stantial adjunct of which is the quantity of presents which the
Indians believe they have frightened out of the white men. Prob-
ably in a century or so they will see that our view is correct.

On their road from Cottonwood to Hell Gate the troop was ac-
companied by Jemmy Allen, towards whose ranch they were
directing their steps. The weather was anything but pleasant for
traveling, the quantity of snow making it laborious work for
the Vigilantes, and the cold was very hard to endure without
shelter. At the crossing of Deer Lodge Creek the ice gave way
and broke through with the party. It was pitch dark at the time,
and much difficulty was experienced in getting out both men and
horses. One cavalier was nearly drowned ; but a lariat being put
round the horse's neck it was safely dragged out. The rider
scrambled to the bank somehow or other — memory furnishes the
result only, not the detail — and jumping on to the "animal," he
rode on a keen run to the ranch, which was some four or five
miles ahead.

The remainder of the cavalcade travelled on more leisurely,
arriving there about eleven p. m., and having recruited a little
they wrapped themselves in blankets and slumber without delay.

Next morning, in company with Charley Eaton, who was
acquainted with the country and with the folks around Hell Gate,

I

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 131

they started for that locality, and after riding fifteen or sixteen
miles through snow, varying in depth from two to three feet,
they camped for the night. The horses being used to foraging,
pawed for their food.

The next morning the party crossed the bridge, and rode to
the workmen's quarters on the Mullan* Wagon Road, where, call-
ing a halt, they stopped all night. Accidents will happen in the
best-regulated families, and in a winter scout in the wilds of Mon-
tana casualties must be expected as a matter of course. The best
mountaineer is the man who most quickly and effectually repairs
damages, or finds a substitute for the missing article. While
driving the ponies into camp one of them put his foot into a hole
and broke his leg. As there was no chance to attend to him he
was at once shot. Another cayuse by a similar accident stripped
all the skin off his hind legs from the hough down. He was
turned loose to await the return of the expedition.

At daylight the troop were in their saddles and pushing as
rapidly as possible for the village. On arriving within six miles
of the place the command halted on the bank of a small creek till
after dark, to avoid being seen on the road. As soon as night
threw her mantle over the scene, they continued their journey till
within two hundred yards of Hell Gate, and there dismounting
they tied their horses.

Their scout had gone ahead to reconnoitre, and, returning to
the rendezvous, he informed the captain of the exact position of
affairs. Coming through the town on a tight run, they mistook
the houses ; but, discovering their error, they soon returned, and
surrounding Skinner's saloon, the owner, who was standing at
the door, was ordered to throw up his hands. His woman (Nelly)
did not appear to be pleased at the command, and observed that
they must have learned that from the Bannack stage folks.

Skinner was taken and bound immediately. Some of the men
went for Aleck Carter, who was in Miller's, the next house. Dan
Harding opened the door, and seeing Carter, said, "Aleck, is
that you?" to which the road agent promptly replied "Yes." The
men leveled their pieces at him, and the leader, going over to
the lounge on which he was lying, rather drunk, took his pistol
from him and bound him, before he was thoroughly aroused.
When he came to himself, he said. "This is tight papers, ain't
it boys?" He then asked for a smoke, which being given to him,
he inquired for the news. On hearing of the hanging of the
blood-stained miscreants whose doom has been recorded in these
pages, he said, "All right; not an innocent man hung yet."

* Lieut. Mullan built a road across the mountains, for the Government,
in '53 and '54.

132 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

He was marched down under guard; to Higgins' store, where
he and Skinner were tried, the examination lasting about three
hours. Skinner's woman came down, bent on interference in his
behalf. The lady was sent home with a guard, who found Johnny-
Cooper lying wounded in the house. He had been shot in three
places by Carter, whom he had accused of stealing his pistol. He
was, of course, instantly secured.

Some of the guard happening to remark that Johnny seemed
to be suffering ''pretty bad," the lady expressed a conviction,

with much force and directness, that "by , there were two

outside suffering a sight worse" (meaning Skinner and

Aleck Carter).

Cooper was one of the lieutenants of the gang. He was a
splendid horseman, and a man named President, who was present
at his apprehension, knew him well on the "other side." He had
murdered a man, and being arrested, was on his way to the court,
when he suddenly broke from his captors, leaped with a bound
on to a horse standing ready, and was off like a bird. Though
at least one hundred shots were sent after him, he escaped unin-
jured, and got clear away.

While Aleck Carter was on trial, he confessed that the two
mules of which Nicholas Tbalt was in charge, when shot by Ives,
were at Irwin's Ranch, at Big Hole, and that he, Irwin and Ives
had brought them there. It will be remembered that, besides rob-
bing the coach, Aleck was accessory both before and after the fact
of Tbalt 's murder. This was proved. That he was a principal
in its perpetration is more than likely. He denied all participa-
tion in the murder, but confessed, generally speaking, much in
the same style as others had done.

Skinner also refused to confess any of the crimes. "Dead men
tell no tales" was his verdict, when planning the murder of Ma-
gruder, and he it was who ingratiated himself into the favor of
Page, Romaine and others, and prompted them to the deed, so
that Magruder thought his murderers were his friends, and went
on his last journey without suspicion. He said he could have
saved him, if he had liked; but he added that he "would have

seen him in first." He wouldn't leave himself open to the

vengeance of the band. He was a hardened, merciless and brutal
fiend.

The same night a detachment of eight men went in pursuit of
Bob Zachary, and coming up to Barney O'Keefe's, that gentle-
man appeared in the uniform of a Georgia major minus the spurs
and shirt collar, and plus a flannel blouse. He mistook the party
for road agents, and appeared to think his time had come. He

THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA 133

ejaculated, with visible horror, "Don't shoot, gentlemen; I'm
Barney O'Keefe." It is useless to say that no harm was done to
the "Baron," as he is called. There are worse men living in all
countries than Barney, who is a good soul in his own way, and
hospitable in his nature. Finding that Bob Zachary was inside,
one of the party entered, and, as he sat up in bed, threw himself
upon him, and pushed him backwards. He had a pistol and a
knife. He was taken to Hell Gate shortly after his capture. The
fate of his friends was made known to him, and vouched for by
a repetition of the signs, grips, passwords, etc. On seeing this
he turned pale ; but he never made any confession of guilt. He
was one of the stage robbers who actually took the money from
Southmayde. Like all the rest, he repeated the pass-word of
the gang, "I am innocent."

On the road back the guard had wormed out of Barney that
a stranger was stopping at Van Dorn's, in the Bitter Root val-
le3\ "No. 84," who was leading the party who captured Shears,
asked "Does Van live here?" "Yes," said the man himself. "Is
George Shears in your house?" asked 84. "Yes," said Van.
"Where is he?" "In the next room." "Any objection to our
going in?" The man replied by opening the door of the room, on
which George became visible, knife in hand. He gave himself
up quietly, and seemed so utterly indifferent to death that he
perfectly astonished his captors. Taking a walk with 84, he
pointed out to him the stolen horses in the corral, and confessed
his guilt, as a man would speak of the weather. He said, "I knew
I should have to go up, some time ; but I thought I could run
another season." When informed of his doom, he appeared per-
fectly satisfied. On being taken into the barn, where a rope was
thrown over a beam, he was asked to walk up a ladder, to save
trouble about procuring a drop. He at once complied, addressing
his captors in the following unique phraseology, "Gentlemen, I
am not used to this business, never having been hung before. Shall
I jump off or slide off?" Being told to jump off, he said "All
right; good by," and leaped into the air with as much sang froid
as if bathing.

The drop was long and the rope tender. It slowly untwisted,
and Shears hung, finally, by a single strand. George's parting
question, was for a long time, a byword among the Vigilantes.

A company of three, headed by the "old man,"* started off
to Fort Owen, in the Bitter Root Valley, in pursuit of Whiskey
Bill (Bill Graves, the coach robber). This worthy was armed
and on the look-out for his captors ; but, it seems, he had become

Captain WilUams, no doubt.

134 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

partially snow-blind by long gazing. At all events, lie did not see
the party with sufficient distinctness to ascertain who they were,
until the "old man" jumped from his horse and covered him
with his revolver. He gave up, though he had repeatedly sworn

that he would shoot any Vigilanter who would come his way.

His guilt was notorious throughout all the country, and his cap-
ture was merely a preliminary to his execution. The men took
him away from the Fort in deference to the prejudices of the
Indians, who would have felt no desire to live near where a man
had been hanged. Graves made no confession. He was what is
called in the mountains a ' ' bull head, ' ' and was a sulky, danger-
ous savage. Being tied up to a limb, the difficulty was to make
a "drop," but the ingenuity of the leader was equal to the emer-
gency. One of the men mounted his horse ; Graves was lifted up
behind him, and, all being ready, "Good-by, Bill," said the front
horseman, driving his huge rowels into the horse's flanks as he
spoke. The animal made a plunging bound of twelve feet, and
Bill Graves, swept from his seat by the fatal noose and lariat,
swung lifeless. His neck was broken by the shock.

The different parties rendezvoused at Hell Gate, and a com-
pany of eight men were despatched to the Pen d 'Oreille Reserve
to get Johnny Cooper's horses, six or seven in number. They were
in poor condition, and were nearly all sold to pay the debts which
the road agent had incurred in the country round about the vil-
lage. The remainder were brought to Nevada. It seems that
Aleck Carter and Cooper were about to start for Kootenai, on the
previous day, and that their journey was prevented only by their
quarrel about the pistol, which Cooper charged Aleck with steal-
ing, and which resulted in the wounding of Cooper, the delay of
their journey, and, in fact, in their execution. A pack animal
laden with their baggage and provisions carried $130 worth of
goods. These were taken for the use of the expedition ; but on a
representation made by Higgins that he had supplied them to
Carter to get rid of him, but that he had received nothing for
them, they were paid for on the spot by the Vigilantes.

There had been a reign of terror in Hell Gate. The robbers did
as they pleased, took what they chose. A Colt's revolver was the
instrument ever ready to enforce the transfer. Brown, a French-
man, living in the neighborhood, stated to the Vigilantes, that
he was glad to see them, for that robbers used to ride his stock
whenever they pleased, and that they always retained possession
of such steeds as they especially fancied.

Cooper had determined to marry his daughter, a pretty-half
breed girl, and then, after getting all that he could lay hands on,

THE VIGIT^NTES OF MONTANA 135

he intended to turn the old man adrift. He used to go to his
intended father-in-law and inform him that he wanted another of
those pretty pocket pieces ($20 gold pieces), and he always ob-
tained what he asked ; for death would have been the instant pen-
alty of refusal. Other parties had supplied Cooper and Carter
with money, pistols and whatever else they asked, for the same
potent and unanswerable reasons. Any demand for payment was
met by a threat to shoot the creditor.

At the conclusion of the trials of Carter and Skinner, a vote
was taken by stepping to the opposite sides of the room; but
the verdict of guilty, and a judgment of death to the culprits were
unanimously rendered.

Cooper was tried separately, and interrogated by Mr. President
concerning his conduct on the ' ' other side. ' ' He denied the whole
thing; but this gentleman's testimony, the confession of Red, and
the witness of the inhabitants rendered a conviction and sentence
of death inevitable.

Carter and Skinner were taken to Higgin's corral and executed
by torchlight, shortly after midnight. Two poles were planted,
leaning over the corral fence ; to these the ropes were tied, and
store-boxes served for "drops."

On the road to the gallows Cyrus Skinner broke suddenly from
the guard, and ran off, shouting, "Shoot! shoot!" His captors
were too old hands to be thus baffled. They instanly secured
him. He again tried the trick when on the box ; but he was
quickly put up and held there till the rope was adjusted. This
being finished he was informed that he could jump whenever he
pleased. Aleck seemed ashamed of Skinner's attempt to escape,
which the latter explained by saying that he "was not bom to
be hanged" — a trifling error.

While on the stand one of the men asked Carter to confess
his share in the murder of the Dutchman ; but he burst forth with

a volley of oaths, saying, "If I had my hands free, you , I'd

make you take that back." As Skinner was talking by his side,
Aleck was ordered to keep quiet. "Well, then, let's have a
smoke," said he. His request being granted, he became more
pacific in demeanor. The criminals' faces being covered with
handkerchiefs, they were launched into eternity, with the pass-
word of the gang upon their lips, "I am innocent." Both died
easily and at once. The people had of their own accord made all
the preparations for their burial.

Immediately after the execution, the parties were detailed and
despatched after Zachary, Graves and Shears. The death of the
last two has been recorded.

136 THE VIGII^VNTES OF MONTANA

The squad that arrested Zachary returned between seven and
eight o'clock that morning. He was at once tried, found guilty,
and sentenced to death. By his direction a letter was written to
his mother, in which he warned his brothers and sisters to avoid
drmking whiskey, card playing, and bad company, which, he said,
had brought him to the gallows. Zachary once lay in wait for
Pete Daley and snapped two caps at him; but, fortunately, the
weapon would not go off.

Being brought to the same spot as that on which Skinner and
Carter were hanged, he commenced praying to God to forgive
the Vigilantes for what they were doing, for it was a pretty good
way to clear the country of road agents. He died at once with-
out any apparent fear or pain.

Johnny Cooper was hauled down on a sleigh by hand, owing to
his leg being wounded, and was placed on the same box that
Skinner had stood upon. He asked for his pipe, saying he wanted
a good smoke, and he enjoyed it very much. A letter had been
written to his parents in York State. Cooper dodged the noose
for a time, but being told to keep his head straight, he submitted.
He died without a struggle.

During the trial of the men, the people had made Cooper's cof-
fin, and dug his grave ; Zachary was buried by the Vigilantes. The
other malefactor the citizens knew better and hated worse.

Skinner left all his property to Higgins, the storekeeper, from
whom he had received all his stock on credit. Aleck had nothing
but his horse, his accoutrements and his appointments.

Their dread mission of retribution being accomplished, the
captain ordered everything to be made ready for their long home-
ward march, and in due time they arrived at Cottonwood, where
they found that X had settled everything relating to Bunton's af-
fairs. At Big Hole they made search for Irwin ; but he had fled,
and has never been taken. Tired and worn, the command reached
Nevada, and received the congratulations and thanks of all good
men. Like Joshua's army, though they had been rewarded with
success, yet often in that journey over their cold and trackless
waste the setting sun had seen them

"Faint, yet pursuing."

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 137

CHAPTER XXII.
Capture and Execution of Bill Hunter.

"Round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witness naught but huge destruction and dismay." — Milton.

At the time of the execution of Boone Helm and his four con-
federates in crime, Bill Hunter, as before narrated, managed to
escape his pursuers and for a time to baffle the vengeance of the
Vigilantes by hiding among the rocks and brush by day, and then
seeking food at night among the scattered settlements in the vicin-
ity of the Gallatin Eiver.

At the time of Barney Hughes' stampede, the country in the
neighborhood became alive with men, and his whereabouts was
discovered. Information was received at Virginia that he was
living as described about twenty miles above the mouth of the
Gallatin. A severe snow storm had driven him to seek refuge in
a cabin, near the place of his concealment, and here he was over-
taken and captured.

A party of four resolute men volunteered for the work, and
left Virginia City with a good prospect of fine weather for the
trip before them. Crossing the Divide between the Stinkingwater
and the Madison, they forded the last-named river with some dif-
ficulty, the huge cakes of floating ice striking the horses' flanks
and threatening to carry them down. Their camping ground was
the frozen earth on its banks ; and having built a fire, they lay
down to sleep with no shelter but their blankets. Though the
weather was intensely cold, the spirits of the party never flagged,
and they derived not a little amusement from occurrences which,
under other circumstances, would have been regarded as anything
but amusing incidents of travel.

One of the Vigilantes, determined on securing a good share of
heat, lay with his head on the top of a hillock that sloped towards
the fire, and, as a natural consequence, gradually slid down, till
he woke with his feet in the hot embers. His position was
changed with marvellous rapidity, amid the laughter of his com-
rades.

Another of the party had a pair of mammoth socks, into which
he thrust his feet loosely. As the sleeper began to feel the cold,
he kept pushing his feet into the socks, until he pushed himself out
of bed, and woke half frozen. He glanced with a comic expression
at the cause of his misfortunes, and taking a good warm at the
fire in a more legitimate fashion, he crept back to bed.

Early in the morning the men rose from their slumbers, renewed
their fire, and while some cooked, others hunted up the stock.

138 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Soon all was prepared, and despatched with a mountaineer's appe-
tite ; the horses were saddled and they departed on their mission.
The weather had changed very much for the worse. At about
ten o'clock a fierce snow storm, driven by a furious wind, blew
right in their faces ; but as the tempest was a most useful auxiliary
towards the success of their enterprise, they pushed on, hour af-
ter hour, and at two p. m. reached the Milk Ranch, about twenty
miles from the place where they expected to find their game. Here
they stayed for supper, and engaged a guide who knew the coun-
try well, and was acquainted with the locality of the robbers' city
of refuge. Being warmed and refreshed, they started at a rapid
pace, which was continued until, at midnight, they drew bridle
near a lone cabin, into which they felt certain that the severity
of the storm had driven the object of their journey.

Having halted and unsaddled, they rapped loudly at the door.
When it was opened, the gentleman who presented himself took a
view of the party, which, with the guide and a gentleman who
had joined them, numbered six individuals. "Good evening," was
the salutation of the travellers. Sleep, suspicion, and an uneven
temper, probably, jointly proved the response. ''Don't know
whether it is or not." However, at their request, he soon had a
fire blazing on the hearth, which the party thoroughly enjoyed,
after their long ride. Before allowing themselves to be thus even
temporarily luxurious, they had carefully inspected the premises
and, as the lawyers say, all the appendages and appurtenances
thereunto belonging; when, having found that the only prac-
ticable method of egress was by the door, a couple of them lay
down in such a manner, when they retired to rest, that any one
trying to escape must inevitably wake them. Six shot-guns con-
stituted half a dozen weighty arguments against forcible attempts
at departure, and the several minor and corroborative persuasions
of a revolving class completed a clear case of "stand off," under
all circumstances.

A sentry was placed to see that nobody adopted the plan of
"evaporation" patented by Santa Claus, that is to say by ascent
of the chimney. His duty, also, was to keep up a bright fire, and
the room being tenanted to its utmost capacity, all promised an
uninterrupted night's slumber.

A very cursory inspection of the interior of the premises had
satisfied the Vigilantes that the occupants of the cabin were three
in number. Of these, two were visible ; but one remained covered
up in bed, and never stired till the time of their departure in
the morning. The curiosity of the inmates being roused by the
sudden advent of the travellers, questions as to their names, resi-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 139

dences, occupation ond intentions were freely propounded, and
were answered with a view to "business" exclusively. Before
turning over to sleep, the party conversationally descanted on
mining, stampeding, prospecting runs, panning-out, and all the
technical magazine of mining phrases was ransacked with a view
to throwing their hosts off the trail. In this they succeeded. All
was quiet during the night, and until a late hour in the morning.
Every one of the friends of justice had exchanged private signals
by Vigilante telegraph, and were satisfied that all was right.

Nothing was said about the real object of their visit, until the
horses were saddled for the apparent purpose of continuing the
journey. Two only went out at a time, and the mute eloquence
of the shot-guns in the corner was as effective in the morning as
it had been at midnight.

When all was ready, one of the party asked who was the un-
known sleeper that, at that late hour, had never waked or uncov-
ered his face. The host said that he did not know ; but upon being
asked, "when did he come here?" he informed them that he had
come at the beginning of the great snow storm, and had been
there two days.

The man was requested to describe his person and appearance.
He complied at once, and in so doing he gave a perfect picture
of Bill Hunter.

With arms prepared for instant service, the Vigilantes ap-
proached the bed, and the leader called out, "Bill Hunter !" The
occupant of the bed hastily drew the covering from his face, and
wildly asked who was there. His eyes were greeted with the sight
of six well-armed men, whose determined countenances and stern
looks told him only too truly the nature of their errand. Had
he been in doubt, however, this matter would soon have been set-
tled ; for the six shot-guns leveled at his head were answer enough
to palsy the arm of grim despair himself. On being asked if he
had any arms, he said, "Yes, I have a revolver," and accordingly
he handed it from beneath the bed-clothes, where he had held it,
lying on his breast, ready cocked for use. The old Vigilanter
who made the inquiries, not being very soft or easy caught at
a disadvantage, took the precaution when approaching him to lay
his hand on his breast, so that, had he been willing, he could have
done nothing; for his weapon was mastered while his hand was
covered. He was, of course, informed that he was a prisoner,
upon hearing which he at once asked to be taken to Virginia City.
One of the men gave him to understand that he would be taken
there. He further inquired whether there was any conveyance
for him, and was told that there was a horse for him to ride.

140 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

He rose from the bed, ready dressed for the occasion except his
overcoat and hat, and mounted the horse prepared for him ; but,
upon preparing to take the rein, his motion was politely negatived
and the bridle was handed to a horseman who held it as a leading
bridle. He looked suspiciously round, and appeared much per-
turbed when he saw a footman following, for he at once guessed
that it was his horse that he was riding, and the incident seemed
to be regarded by him in the light of an omen foreboding a short
journey for him. His conscience told him what was likely to be
the end of his arrest. The real reason why an evasive answer had
been given to the prisoner, when he expressed a wish to be taken
to Virginia City, was that his captors were anxious to leave the
place without exciting suspicion of any intention to execute Bill
Hunter, in the neighborhood.

The escort proceeded on their way homewards for about two
miles, and halted at the foot of a tree which seemed as if it had
been fashioned by nature for a gallows. A horizontal limb at a
convenient height was there for the rope, and on the trunk was a
spur like a belaying pin, on which to fasten the end. Scraping
away about a foot of snow, they camped, lit a fire and prepared
their breakfast. An onlooker would never have conjectured for
a moment that anything of a serious nature was likely to occur,
and even Hunter seemed to have forgotten his fears, laughing and
chatting gayly with the rest.

After breakfast a consultation was held as to what should be
done with the road agent, and after hearing what was offered by
the members of the scouting party, individually, the leader put
the matter to vote. It was decided by the majority that the
prisoner should not go to Virginia, but that he should be executed
then and there. The man who had given Hiuiter to understand
that he would be taken to Virginia, voted for the carrying out
of this part of the programme, but he was overruled.

The earnest manner of the Vigilantes, and his own sense of
guilt, overpowered Hunter ; he turned deadly pale, and f aintingly
asked for water. He knew, without being told, that there was no
hope for him. A brief history of his crimes was related to him
by one of the men, and the necessity of the enforcement of the
penalty was pointed out to him. All was too true for denial. He
merely requested that his friends should know nothing of the
manner of his death, and stated that he had no property ; but he
hoped they would give him a decent burial. He was told that
every reasonable request would be granted ; but that the ground
was too hard for them to attempt his interment without proper
implements. They promised that his friends should be made ac-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 141

quainted with his execution, and that they would see to that. Soon
after, he shook hands with each of the company, and said that
he did not blame them for what they were about to do.

His arms were pinioned at the elbows; the fatal noose was
placed around his neck, and the end of the rope being thrown over
the limb, the men took hold and with a quick, strong pull ran him
up off his feet. He died almost without a struggle ; but, strange
to say, he reached as if for his pistol, and went through the pan-
tomime of cocking and discharging his revolver six times. This
is no effort of fancy. Every one present saw it, and was equally
convinced of the fact. It was a singular instance of "the ruling
passion, strong in death."

The place of the execution was a lone tree, in full view of the
travellers on the trail, about twenty miles above the mouth of the
Gallatin. The corpse of the malefactor was left hanging from the
limb, and the little knot of horsemen was soon but a speck in the
distance. The purpose of the Barney Hughes stampede had been
accomplished. So secretly had everything been managed that
one of the four who started from Virginia did not know either
the real destination of the party, or the errand of the other three.
He was found to be sound on the road agent question ; and, instead
of being dismissed he rode on as one of the party.

It seemed as if fate had decreed the death of Bill Hunter. He
was a man of dauntless courage, and would have faced a hundred
men to the last, being a perfect desperado when roused, though
ordinarily peaceful in demeanor. At his capture he was as weak
as a child, and had scarcely strength to ask for what he wanted.

The only remarkable circumstance attending the return jour-
ney was the inconvenience and pain caused by the reflection of
the sun's rays from the snow. It produced temporary blindness,
and was only relieved by blacking their faces. Riding late at
night, one of the horsemen dismounted with a view of easing his
steed, which was tired with the long march, and walked some
distance by his side. On getting again into the saddle he accident-
ally discharged his gun, which was slung, muzzle down by his
side. The charge passed down the leg of his boot between the
counter and the lining, lodging an ounce ball and six huckshot in
the heel. All started at the sudden flash and report. The
man himself believed that his foot was shot to pieces, and they
spurred forward at hot speed for the next ranch, where an exam-
ination revealed the above state of facts, much to the consolation
of the excited mind of the owner of the boot. He was wounded
only in spirit, and reached home safely.

One of the Vigilantes "bagged" a relic. He had promised to

142 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

bring back a token of having seen Bill Hunter, either dead or
alive, and, accordingly, while talking to him at the fire, he man-
aged to detach a button from his coat, which he fetched home as
he had promised.

Some days after men who were hauling wood discovered the
body, and determined to give it burial. It was necessary to get
the corpse over a snow-drift ; so they tied a rope to the heels, and
essayed to drag it up ; but finding that this was the wrong way
of the grain, as they said, they replaced the noose round the neck,
and thus having pulled him over, they finally consigned to mother
earth the last of Henry Plummer's Band.

Bill Hunter was, as we have said, the last of the old road agent
band that met death at the hands of the Committee. He was exe-
cuted on on the 3d of February, 1864. There was now no openly
organized force of robbers in the Territory, and the future acts of
the Committee were confined to taking measures for the mainten-
ance of the public tranquility, and the punishment of those guilty
of murder, robbery and other high crimes and misdemeanors
against the welfare of the inhabitants of Montana.

On looking back at the dreadful state of society which necessi-
tated the organization of the Vigilantes, and on reading these
pages, many will learn for the first time the deep debt of grati-
tude which they owe to that just and equitable body of self-deny-
ing and gallant men. It was a dreadful and a disgusting duty
that devolved upon them ; but it was a duty, and they did it. Far
less worthy actions have been rewarded by the thanks of Con-
gress, and medals glitter on many a bosom, whose owner won
them lying flat behind a hillock, out of range of the enemy's fire.
The Vigilantes, for the sake of their country, encountered popular
dislike, the envenomed hatred of the bad, and the cold toleration
of some of the unwise good. Their lives they held in their hands

"All's well that ends well." Montana is saved, and they saved it,
earning the blessings of future generations, whether they receive
them or not. Our next chapter will record the execution of the
renowned Capt. J. A. Slade, of whom more good and evil stories
have been told, than would make a biography for the seven cham-
pions of Christendom, and concerning whose life and character
there have been uttered for or against any other individual that
has figured in the annals of the Rocky Mountains.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 143

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Arrest and Execution of Captain J. A. Slade, With a Short
Account of His Previous Career.

"Some write him hero, some a very knave ;
Curses and tears are mingled at his grave." — Anon.

J. A. Slade, or, as he was often called, Captain Slade, was raised
in Clinton County, 111., and was a member of a highly respectable
family. He bore a good character for several years in that place.
The acts which have given so wide a celebrity to his name were
performed especially on the Overland Line, of which he was for
years an official. Reference to these matters will be made in a
subsequent part of this chapter.

Captain J. A. Slade came to Virginia City in the spring of 1863.
He was a man gifted with the power of making money, and when
free from the influence of alcoholic stimulants, which seemed to
reverse his nature, and to change a kind-hearted and intelligent
gentleman into a reckless demon, no man in the Territory had a
greater faculty of attracting the favorable notice of even
strangers, and m spite of the wild lawlessness which characterized
his frequent spells of intoxication, he had many, very many
friends whom no commission of crime itself could detach from his
personal companionship. Another and less desirable class of
friends were attracted by his very recklessness. There are prob-
ably a thousand individuals in the West possessing a correct
knowledge of the leading incidents of a career that terminated
at the gallows, who still speak of Slade as a perfect gentleman,
and who not only lament his death, but talk in the highest terms
of his character, and pronounce his execution a murder. One way
of accounting for the diversity of opinion regarding Slade is suf-
ficiently obvious. Those who saw him in his natural state only
would pronounce him to be a kind husband, a most hospitable host
and a courteous gentleman. On the contrary, those who met him
when maddened with liquor and surrounded by a gang of armed
roughs, would pronounce him a fiend incarnate.

During the summer of 1863 he went to Milk River as a freighter.
For this business he was eminently qualified, and he made
a great deal of money. Unfortunately his habit of profuse ex-
penditure was uncontrollable, and at the time of his execution he
was deeply in debt almost everywhere.

After the execution of the five men on the 14th of January the
Vigilantes considered that their work was nearly ended. They
had freed the country from highwaymen and murderers to a great
extent, and they determined that in the absence of the regular

144 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

civil authority they would establish a People's Court, where all
offenders should be tried by judge and jury. This was the nearest
approach to social order that the circumstances permitted, and
though strict legal authority was wanting yet the people were
firmly determined to maintain its efficiency and to enforce its
decrees. It may here be mentioned that the overt act which was
the last round on the fatal ladder leading to the scaffold on which
Slade perished, was the tearing in pieces and stamping upon a
writ of this court, followed by the arrest of the judge, Alex. Davis,
by authority of a presented derringer and with his own hands.

J, A. Slade was himself, we have been informed, a Vigilanter ;
he openly boasted of it, and said he knew all that they knew. He
was never accused or even suspected of either murder or robbery
committed in this Territory (the latter crimes were never laid
to his charge in any place) ; but that he had killed several men in
other localities was notorious, and his bad reputation in this re-
spect was a most powerful argument in determining his fate,
when he was finally arrested for the offence above mentioned. On
returning from Milk River he became more and more addicted to
drinking; until at last it was a common feat for him and his
friends to "take the town." He and a couple of his dependents
might often be seen on one horse, galloping through the streets,
shouting and yelling, firing revolvers, etc. On many occasions
he would ride his horse into stores ; break up bars ; toss the scales
out of doors, and use most insulting language to parties present.
Just previous to the day of his arrest, he had given a fearful beat-
ing to one of his followers ; but such was his influence over them
that the man wept bitterly at the gallows and begged for his life
with all his power. It had become quite common when Slade was
on a spree for the shopkeepers and citizens to close the stores
and put out all the lights ; being fearful of some outrage at his
hands. One store in Nevada he never ventured to enter — that of
the Lott Brothers* — as they had taken care to let him know that
any attempt of the kind would be followed by his sudden death,
and though he often rode down there, threatening to break in and
raise , yet he never attempted to carry his threat into execu-
tion. For his wanton destruction of goods and furniture he was
always ready to pay when sober if he had money ; but there were
not a few who regarded payment as small satisfaction for the out-
rage, and these men were his personal enemies.

From time to time, Slade received warnings from men that he
well knew would not deceive him, of the certain end of his con-
duct. There was not a moment, for weeks previous to his arrest,
in which the public did not expect to hear of some bloody out-

* See Lett's story.

THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA 145

rage. The dread of his very name and the presence of the armed
band of hangers-on who followed him, alone prevented a resist-
ance which must certainly have ended in the instant murder or
mutilation of the opposing party.

Slade was frequently arrested by order of the court whose or-
ganization we have described, and had treated it with respect by
paying one or two fines, and promising to pay the rest when he
had the money ; but in the transaction, and goaded by passion and
the hatred of restraint, he sprang into the embrace of death.

Slade had been drunk and "cutting up" all night. He and his
companions had made the town a perfect hell. In the morning,
J. M. Fox, the Sheriff, met him, arrested him, took him into court,
and commenced reading a warrant that he had for his arrest, by
way of arraignment. He became uncontrollably furious, and seiz-
ing the writ, he tore it up, threw it on the ground, and stamped
upon it. The clicking of the locks of his companions' revolvers
was instantly heard and a crisis was expected. The Sheriff did
not attempt his capture : but being at least as prudent as he was
valiant, he succumbed, leaving Slade the master of the situation,
and the conqueror and ruler of the courts, law and law-makers.
This was a declaration of war, and was so accepted. The Vigi-
lance Committee now felt that the question of social order and
the preponderance of the law-abiding citizens had then and there
to be decided. They knew the character of Slade, and they were
well aware that they must submit to his rule without murmur, or
else that he must be dealth with in such fashion as would prevent
his being able to wreak his vengeance on the Committee, who
could never have hoped to live in the Territory secure from out-
rage or death, and who could never leave it without encountering
his friends, whom his victory would have emboldened and stimu-
lated to a pitch that would have rendered them reckless of conse-
quences. The day previous, he had ridden into Dorris's store, and
on being requested to leave, he drew his revolver and threatened
to kill the gentleman who spoke to him. Another saloon he had
led his horse into, and buying a bottle of wine, he tried to make
the animal drink it. This was not considered an uncommon per-
formance, as he had often entered saloons, and commenced firing
at the lamps, causing a wild stampede.

A leading member of the Committee met Slade, and informed
him in the quiet, earnest manner of one who feels the importance
of what he is saying, "Slade, get your horse at once, and go

home, or there will be to pay." Slade started and took a

long look with his dark and piercing eyes, at the gentleman —

"What do you mean?" said he. "You have no right to ask me

146 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

what I mean," was tlie quiet reply, "get your horse at once, and
remember what I tell you." After a short pause he promised to
do so, and actually got into the saddle ; but, being still intoxicated,
he began calling aloud to one after another of his friends, and at
last seemed to have forgotten the warning he had received and
became again uproarious, shouting the name of a well-known
prostitute in company with those of two men whom he considered
heads of the Committee, as a sort of challenge ; perhaps, however,
as a single act of bravado. It seems probable that the intimation
of personal danger he had received had not been forgotten en-
tirely; though, fatally for him, he took a foolish way of showing
his remembrance of it. He sought out Alexander Davis, the
Judge of the Court, and drawing a cocked derringer, he presented
it at his head, and told him that he should hold him as a hostage
for his own safety. As the Judge stood perfectly quiet, and
offered no resistance to his captor, no further outrage followed
on this score. Previous to this, on account of the critical state of
affairs, the Committee had met, and at last resolved to arrest him.
His execution had not been agreed upon, and, at that time, would
have been negatived, most assuredly. A messenger rode down
to Nevada to inform the leading men of what was on hand, as it
was desirable to show that there was a feeling of unanimity on
the subject, all along the Gulch.

The miners turned out almost en masse, leaving their work and
forming in solid column, about six hundred strong, armed to the
teeth, they marched up to Virginia. The leader of the body well
knew the temper of his men on the subject. He spurred on ahead
of them, and hastily calling a meeting of the Executive, he told
them plainly that the miners meant "business," and that, if they
came up, they would not stand in the street to be shot down by
Slade's friends and that they would take him and hang him. The
meeting was small, as the Virginia men were loath to act at all.
This momentous announcement of the feeling of the Lower Town
was made to a cluster of men, who were deliberating behind a
wagon, at the rear of a store on Main street, where the Ohling-
house stone building now stands.

The Committee were most unwilling to proceed to extremities.
All the duty they had ever performed seemed as nothing to the
task before them; but they had to decide, and that quickly. It
was finally agreed that if the whole body of the miners were of
the opinion that he should be hanged, the Committee left it in
their hands to deal with him. Off, at hot speed, rode the leader
of the Nevada men to join his command.

Slade had found out what was intended, and the news sobered

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 147

him instantly. He went into P. S. Pf out's store, where Davis was,
and apologized for his conduct, saying that he would take it all
back.

The head of the column now wheeled into "Wallace street and
marched up at quick time. Halting in front of the store, the exec-
utive officer of the Committee stepped forward and arrested
Slade, who was at once informed of his doom, and inquiry was
made as to whether he had any business to settle. Several parties
spoke to him on the subject; but to all such inquiries he turned a
deaf ear, being entirely absorbed in the terrifying reflections on
his own awful position. He never ceased his entreaties for life,
and to see his dear wife. The unfortunate lady referred to, be-
tween whom and Slade there existed a warm affection, was at
this time living at their ranch on the Madison. She was possessed
of considerable personal attractions ; tall, well-formed, of grace-
ful carriage, pleasing manners, and was, withal, an accomplished
horsewoman.

A messenger from Slade rode at full speed to inform her of
her husband's arrest. In an instant she was in the saddle, and
with all the energy that love and despair could lend to an ardent
temperament and a strong physique, she urged her fleet charger
over the twelve miles of rough and rocky ground that inter-
vened between her and the object of her passionate devotion.

Meanwhile a party of volunteers had made the necessary prep-
arations for the execution, in the valley traversed by the branch.
Beneath the site of Pf out's and Russell's stone building there was
a corral, the gate-posts of which were strong and high. Across
the top was laid a beam, to which the rope was fastened, and a
dry-goods box served for the platform. To this place Slade was
marched, surrounded by a guard, composing the best-armed and
most numerous force that has ever appeared in Montana Terri-
tory.

The doomed man had so exhausted himself by tears, prayers,
and lamentations, that he had scarcely strength left to stand
under the fatal beam. He repeatedly exclaimed. "My God! my
God! must I die? Oh, my dear wife!"

On the return of the fatigue party, they encountered some
friends of Slade, staunch and reliable citizens and members of the
Committee, but who were personally attached to the condemned.
On hearing of his sentence, one of them, a stout-hearted man,
pulled out his handkerchief and walked away, weeping like a
child. Slade still begged to see his wife most piteously, and it
seemed hard to deny his request; but the bloody consequences
that were sure to follow the inevitable attempt at a rescue, that

148 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

her presence and entreaties would have certamly incited, forbade
the granting of his request. Several gentlemen were sent for to
see him in his last moments, one of whom (Judge Davis) made a
short address to the people ; but in such low tones as to be inaud-
ible, save to a few in his immediate vicinity. One of his friends,
after exhausting his powers of entreaty, threw off his coat and
declared that the prisoner could not be hanged until he himself
was killed. A hundred guns were instantly leveled at him;
whereupon he turned and fled; but, being brought back, he was
compelled to resume his coat, and to give a promise of future
peaceable demeanor.

Scarcely a leading man in Virginia could be found, though
numbers of the citizens joined the ranks of the guard when the
arrest was made. All lamented the stern necessity which dictated
the execution.

Everything being ready the command was given. "Men, do
your duty," and the box being instantly slipped from beneath
his feet, he died almost instantaneously.

The body was cut down and carried to the Virginia Hotel,
where, in a darkened room, it was scarcely laid out, when the
unfortunate and betrayed companion of the deceased arrived, at
headlong speed, to find that all was over, and that she was a
widow. Her grief and heart-piercing cries were terrible evidences
of the depth of her attachment for her lost husband, and a con-
siderable period elapsed before she could regain the command of
her excited feelings.

J. A. Slade was, during his connection with the Overland
Stage Company, frequently iuA^olved in quarrels which terminated
fatally for his antagonists. The first and most memorable of these
was his encounter with Jules, a station keeper at Julesburg, on
the Platte River. Between the inhabitants, the emigrants and the
stage people, there was a constant feud, arising from quarrels
about missing stock, alleged to have been stolen by the settlers,
which constantly resulted in personal difficulties such as beating,
shooting, stabbing, etc., and it was from this cause that Slade be-
came involved in a transaction which has become inseparably as-
sociated with his name, and which has given a coloring and tone
to all descriptions of him, from the date of the occurrence to the
present day.

There have been so many versions of the affair, all of them
differing more or less in important particulars, that it has seemed
impossible to get at the exact truth ; but the following account
may be relied on as subsantially correct :

From overlanders and dwellers on the road we learn that Jules

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 149

was himself a lawless and tyrranical man, taking such liberties
with the coach stock and carrying matters with so high a hand
that the company determined on giving the agency of the division
to J. A. Slade. In a business point of view, they were correct in
their selection. The coach went through at all hazards. It is not
to be supposed that Jules would submit to the authority of a new-
comer, or, indeed, of any man that he could intimidate ; and a very
limited intercourse was sufficient to increase the mutual dislike
of the parties, so far as to occasion an open rupture and blood-
shed. Slade, it is said, had employed a man discharged by Jules,
which irritated the latter considerably; but the overt act that
brought matters to a crisis was the recovery by Slade of a team
"sequestered" by Jules. Some state that there had been a previ-
ous altercation between the two ; but, whether this be true or not,
it appears certain that on the arrival of the coach, with Slade as
a passenger, Jules determined to arrest the team, then and there ;
and that, finding Slade was equally determined on putting them
through, a few expletives were exchanged, and Jules fired his
gun, loaded with buckshot, at Slade, who was unarmed at the
time, wounding him severely. At his death, Slade carried several
of these shot in his body. Slade went down the road, till he re-
covered of his wound. Jules left the place, and in his travels
never failed to let everybody know that he would kill Slade, who,
on his part, was not backward in reciprocating such promises. At
last, Slade got well, and shortly after was informed that his
enemy had been "corralled by the boys," whereupon he went to
the place designated, and, tying him fast, shot him to death by
degrees. He also cut off his ears, and carried them in his vest
pocket for a long time.

One man declares that Slade went up to the ranch where he had
heard that Jules was and, "getting the drop on him," that is to
say, covering him with his pistol before he was ready to defend
himself, he said, "Jules, I am going to kill you;" to which the
other replied, "Well, I suppose I am gone up; you've got me
now;" and that Slade immediately opened fire and killed him
with his revolver.

The first story is the one almost universally believed in the
"West, and the act is considered entirely justifiable by the wild In-
dian fighters of the frontier. Had he simply killed Jules, he
would have been justified by the accepted Western law of retailia-
tion. The prolonged agony and mutilation of his enemy, however,
admit of no excuse.

AVhile on the road Slade ruled supreme. He would ride down
to the station, get into a quarrel, turn the house out of windows,

150 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

and maltreat the occupants most cruelly. The unforunates had
no means of redress, and were compelled to recuperate as best
they could. On one of these occasions, it is said, he killed the
father of the fine little half-breed boy, Jemmy, whom he adopted,
and who lived with his widow after his execution. He was a gen-
tle, well-behaved child, remarkable for his beautiful, soft black
eyes, and for his polite address.

Sometimes Slade acted as a lyncher. On one occasion, some
emigrants had their stock either lost or stolen, and told Slade,
who happened to visit their camp. He rode with a single com-
panion, to a ranch, the owners of which he suspected, and open-
ing the door, commenced firing at them, killing three and wound-
ing the fourth.

As for minor quarrels and shootings, it is absolutely certain that
a minute history of Slade 's life would be one long record of such
practices. He was feared a great deal more, generally, than the
Almighty, from Kearney, west. There was, it seems, something in
his bold reckless, lavish generosity, and firm attachment to his
friends, whose quarrel he would back, everywhere and at any
time, that endeared him to the wild denizens of the prairie, and
this personal attachment it is that has cast a veil over his faults,
so dark that his friends could never see his real character, or be-
lieve their idol to be a blood-stained desperado.

Stories of his hanging men, and of innumerable assaults, shoot-
ings, stabbings and beatings, in which he was a principal actor,
form part of the legends of the stage line ; nevertheless, such is
the veneration still cherished for him by many of the old stagers,
that any insult offered to his memory would be fearfully and
quickly avenged. Whatever he did to others, he was their friend,
they say ; and so they will say and feel till the tomb closes over
the last of his old friends and comrades of the Overland,

It should be stated that Slade was, at the time of his coming
West, a fugitive from justice in Illinois, where he killed a man
with whom he had been quarreling. Finding his antagonist to
be more than his match, he ran away from him, and, in his flight,
picking up a stone, he threw it with such deadly aim and violence
that it penetrated the skull of his pursuer, over the eye, and
killed him. Johnson, the Sheriff, who pursued him for nearly
four hundred miles, was in Virginia City not long since, as we
have been informed by persons who knew him well.

Such was Captain J. A. Slade, the idol of his followers, the ter-
ror of his enemies and of all that were not within the charmed
circle of his dependents. In him, generosity and destructiveness,
brutal lawlessness and courteous kindness, firm friendship and

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 151

volcanic outbreaks of fury, were so mingled that he seems like
one born out of date. He should have lived in feudal times, and
have been the comrade of the Front de Boeuffs, De Lacys, and
Bois Guilberts, of days almost forgotten. In modern times, he
stands nearly alone.

The execution of Slade had a most wonderful effect upon soci-
ety. Henceforth, all knew that no one man could domineer or
rule over the community. Reason and civilization then drove
brute force from Montana.

One of his principal friends wisely absconded, and so escaped
sharing his fate, which would have been a thing almost certain
had he remained.

It has often been asked why Slade 's friends were permitted to
go Scot free, seeing that they accompanied him in all his "raids,"
and both shared and defended his wild and lawless exploits. The
answer is very simple. The Vigilantes deplored the sad but im-
perative necessity for the making of one example. That, they
knew, would be sufficient. They were right in their judgment,
and immovable in their purpose. Could it but be made known
how many lives were at their mercy, society would wonder at the
moderation that ruled in their counsels. Necessity was the arbiter
of these men's fate. When the stern Goddess spoke not, the doom
was unpronounced, and the criminal remained at large. They
acted for the public good, and when examples were made, it
was because the safety of the community demanded a warning to
the lawless and the desperate, that might neither be despised nor
soon forgotten.

The execution of the road agents of Plummer's gang was the
result of the popular verdict and judgment against robbers and
murderers. The death of Slade was the protest of society on be-
half of social order and the rights of man.

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Execution of James Brady, for Shooting Murphy, at Nevada.

"Murder most foul and most unnatural." — Shakespeare.

Early in the summer of 1864, the Committee were called upon
to visit the stern retribution due to those who wantonly and ma-
liciously attempt to assassinate a fellow-creature, upon James
Brady, a resident of the Lower Town, more generally known as
Nevada City. The case was clear, so far as the moral guilt of the
accused was concerned, as will fully appear from the subjoined

152 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

account of the transaction ; but there are not a few who measure
the extent of guilt by its consequences, and refuse to examine the
act itself on its own merits. Now, we have always held that a
man who fires at another, deliberately and with malice prepense,
inflicting upon him a wound of any kind, is as much a murder as
if the shot had proved instantly fatal. The other judgment
of the case depends upon the relative goodness or badness of am-
munition, the efficiency of the weapon, and the expertness of the
marksman. Hence, to hit the mark is murder; but to aim at it,
and make rather a wide shot, is manslaughter only. If a ball
glances on a man's ribs, it is manslaughter; if it goes between
them, it is murder. This line of argument may satisfy some peo-
ple; and that it does so, we know; at the same time it is not a
doctrine that we can endorse, being fully convinced of its utter
want of foundation, in right reason or common sense. Murphy,
the victim of Brady's shot, was believed to be dying; the physi-
cians declared he could not live many hours, and for this crime
Brady was executed. Some kind-hearted but weak-headed individ-
uals think that the murderer ought to have been spared, because
Murphy had a strong constitution, and, contrary to all expecta-
tions, recovered; but what the state of a man's health has to
do with the crime of the villain who shoots him, will to us for-
ever remain an enigma as difficult as the unravelling of the Gor-
dian knot. The proper course, in such cases, seems to be, not the
untying of the knot aforesaid, but the casting on of another, in
tlie shape of a road agent's necktie.

At about eleven p.m., the stillness of the summer's night that
had closed in upon the citizens of Nevada was broken by two
pistol shots fired in rapid succession. The executive officer of the
Committee heard the reports, as he was retiring to bed; but the
sounds were too familiar to a mountaineer to attract any special
attention, and he lay down at once to sleep. In a few minutes,
however, he was startled from his quick coming slumber by the
sudden entrance of a friend who told him to get up, for there was
a man shot. Hastily dressing himself, he found that an indi-
vidual named Jem Kelly was a prisoner on the charge of being an
accomplice in the deed. Who had fired the shots was not known,
the man having run off with all speed, before he could be arrested.
A guard of two Vigilantes was left in charge of Kelly, and the
officer Avent quickly to Brady's saloon, where he first heard, from
, bystanders, that they thought Brady himself Avas the criminal, but
that he had escaped. The wounded man confirmed this statement,
and an examination of the premises showed a bullet-hole in the
-^ind !W through which the assassin had fired. The second shot
had been fired from the door-step.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 153

A detail of twelve men were ordered to search the town for
Brady, while the captain and three others started for Virginia
City, with the intention of capturing him if he could be found
there, or on the road thither. On arriving at Central City, they
ascertained from a citizen whom they met on the street, that a
man dressed in black clothes, and otherwise answering the de-
scription of the fugitive, had passed through, and that he was
apparently intoxicated. They went on to Virginia, and on ar-
riving there, just about midnight, they found that the only house
in which a light appeared was the Beaver Head saloon, at the
corner of Idaho and Jackson streets, now John How & Co.'s store.

One of the party knew Brady personally, and on entering he
at once recognized him in the act of drinking with another man
at the bar. The captain stepped up and asked, "Is your name
Brady?" "Yes" said he. '"Then you are my prisoner," an-
swered the captain. On his inquiring what was the charge against
him, he was told that he was arrested for the murder of Murphy.
The prisoner immediately started off on a loud harangue, but was
stopped by the captain, who told him to keep quiet, and added,
"You will have a fair trial in the morning."

Brady was taken down to Nevada by his captors, and con-
fronted with his victim, who was lying in his own house. "Mur-
phy," said the captain, "is this the man that shot you?" The
wounded man fixed his gaze on the prisoner, and replied faintly,
"It is." The guard then took Brady and marched him down
town, to the house where Kelly was confined. The two men were
given into the custody of a strong and well-armed party for the
night. The death of Murphy was hourly expected by the attend-
ing surgeons, and all around him.

In the morning, Brady was taken before the Committee, who
sat in the Adelphi Hall, where they had been convened for that
purpose. About fifty members were present, and the charge
against the prisoner was thoroughly investigated. The trial com-
menced about eleven a. m.

Meanwhile, Kelly had confessed that he had kept bar for Bradj^
on that day, and that he knew that there was an old quarrel, and
consequently ill feeling existed between Brady and Murphy. The
commencement of this feud dated back as far as the preceding
summer. This much of his testimony was correct and truthful,
and was corroborated by other witnesses. He then went on to
swear that the first thing he knew about the affray was the firing
of a shot through the window, followed by the discharge of an-
other into the door-step, and before he could see who it was that
had done the deed, the man had run away.

154 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Brady, at first, pretended that he had shot the wrong man by
mistake ; but he admitted at his trial that he had really aimed and
fired the (supposed) fatal shot. He said that had he been sober
he would not have committed the rash act, and he added, that
after shooting, he went next door to his cabin, and sat there for
about five minutes ; that he then became uneasy, and started for
Virginia, flinging his pistol away into the Gulch, on his road up.
The pistol was found and produced at the trial.

The evidence produced was so entirely conclusive as to admit
of no doubt. The offence was deliberate and cold-blooded mur-
der, so far as the prisoner was concerned, and he believed the
same till the moment of his execution. Sentence of death by hang-
ing was pronounced.

With regard to Kelly the evidence adduced at the trial had led
to some new developments concerning his share in the transaction.
It was positively sworn that he had handed the pistol to Brady,
across the bar ; and that the understanding was that he was to
take the assassin's place, inside the saloon, leaving him free to act
on the outside ; that, on receiving the pistol, Brady went out with
it under his coat, and going into his cabin, he remained there for
a few minutes, and then, walking to the window he fired, with
deliberate aim, through the window, without previous words, or
warning of his intention.

Kelly was sentenced to receive fift}'' lashes on the bare back,
which punishment he duly received, after the execution.

The prisoner (Brady) sent for W. Y. Pemberton, now prac-
ticing law at Helena, and requested him to settle his worldly af-
fairs, in legal form. Accordingly, that gentleman drew his will,
and the necessary deeds for the disposal of his property, after
which he said that he must have a letter written to his daughter.
He commenced to dictate it, but the language of the epistle re-
minded him so forcibly of his own wretched condition that he was
unable to proceed, and covering his face with his hands, he ran to
his bed, exclaiming, "Oh, my God! finish it yourself." The
writer furnishes the following note of the letter.

"My Dear Daughter: You will never see me again. In an
evil hour, being under the control and influence of whiskey, I
tried to take the life of my own fellow-man. I tried to shoot him
through a window. He will in all probability die — and that at my
hands. I cannot say that I should not suffer the penalty affixed
to the violation of law, I have been arrested, tried and sentenced
to be hanged by the Vigilance Committee. In one short hour I
will have gone into eternity. It is an awful thought, but it is my
own fault. By the love I feel for you, in this my dying hour, I

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 155

entreat you to be a good girl. Walk in the ways of the Lord.
Keep Heaven, God and the interest of your soul before your eyes.
I commend and commit you to the keeping of God. Pray for my
soul. Farewell, forever. "Your father,

JAMES BRADY."

At four o'clock p. m. he was marched from his place of con-
finement to the gallows, escorted by a guard of two hundred men,
fully armed. At least five thousand persons were present at the
execution. The gallows was about half a mile east of Nevada,
and to save time and expense, a butcher's hoist was used for the
purpose, a box and plank being rigged for a drop. When the
rope had been adjusted, and the fatal preparations were all com-
pleted, he was asked if he wished to say anything to the people.
He addressed the crowd, telling them that it was the first action of
the kind that he had done ; that he was intoxicated and insane ;
that he hoped his execution would be a warning to others, and
that God would have mercy on his soul. The trap fell, and James
Brady ceased to exist. After hanging for half an hour, the corpse
was cut down and given to the friends of the deceased for burial.

Jem Kelly was present at the execution of his friend, and when
all was over he was marched by the guard, down to an unfinished
house in Nevada. Here a halt was called, and the necessary ar-
rangements for the whipping were quickly made. Being asked

to take off his shirt, he said, " the shirt, leave it on;" but

on being told that it would be spoiled, he removed it. The cul-
prit's hands were now tied together, and made fast to a beam
over head ; after which five men inflicted the punishment, each
given ten lashes with a raw-hide. Kelly showed no fortitude
whatever, roaring and screaming at every lash of the hide. At
the termination of the flogging he remarked, "Boys, if I hadn't
been so fat, I should have died sure." Nevada was no home for
this low-minded villain, who left with all speed ; and resuming the
career most congenial to a man as fond as he was of gold without
labor, and horses without purchase, he came to the same end as
his companion, Brady; but there was this difference between
them — Kelly was a thief and murderer by trade; Brady was an
honest man, and had never before ventured into the path of
crime. Many felt sorry for his fate ; but the old miners who
heard of Kelly's execution shrugged their shoulders and muttered,
"Served him right; he ought to have gone up long ago; I don't
believe in whipping and banishing; if a fellow ain't fit to live
here, he ain't fit to live nowhere by thunder — that's so, you bet
your life." etc., etc., which terse and technical series of inter-
jectional syllogisms contain more good practical common sense

156 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

than many a half-bound folio, embodying the result of the labors
of many a charter-granting, plunder-seeking body, humorously
styled a "Legislature," west of "the River."

CHAPTER XXV.
The Snake River Scout — Capture and Execution of Jem Kelly.

"The pitcher that went often to the well was broken at last." — Irish Proverb.

In the month of July, 1864, the coach going from Virginia to
Salt Lake was robbed, and a large booty in gold dust was the
reward of the road agents. This was no sooner reported to the
Committee than prompt measures were taken to pursue the per-
petrators of the crime.

A party of twenty-one of the old veterans who had hunted down
Plummer's band left Nevada, on Sunday, the 28th day of August,
and camped at William's Ranch for the night. On Monday the
party rode all day, never halting from breakfast time till even-
ing. The rain fell in torrents, rendering cooking impossible ; so
a hard bite was all that was available, and each man coiled him-
self up in his blanket with his saddle for a pillow, and growled
himself to sleep as best he could. Four guards came into camp
with the stock at daylight ; whereupon the troop saddled up, with-
out taking breakfast, every one of the "crowd" being at the same
time wet, "dry," hungry and saucy. One of the boys had man-
aged to bring along a bottle of (contraband) whiskey, as he said,
in case of snake-bites ; but, under the circumstances, as far as
can be ascertained, no one refused a mouthful of the aqua vitae.
They had forgotten the "weights and measures" of their school
days, and at that camp, it was found that there were no scruples
to a dram. As one of the party observed, it was "big medicine,
you bet." A ride in the wet of fifteen miles brought them to Joe
Patte's and breakfast, which latter being despatched, and the
former having received their adieux, the "boot and saddle" once
more sounded, and they proceeded on their journey, changing
horses at the Canyon Station, and finally halting on the banks of
Medicine Lodge Creek, in the midst of a heaA^y rain storm, with-
out shelter.

In the morning everybody felt wet, of course, and unamiable,
probably; but as "business is business" when Montana Vigilantes
are afoot, nothing objectionable to morality was offered, except
an odd oath, caused by a stiff-legged cayuse, or a refractory
buckle, which, it is charitably hoped, the rain washed from the

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 157

record. The probabilities favor the supposition, if the angel made
the entry in his book on the banks of that creek. If not, provided
he was a good angel, he took no notes till after breakfast, and
dinner, at Camos Creek, had somewhat soothed and modified the
water-soaked but irrepressible rangers.

Saddling up once more, the party loped along a little more
cheerfully, reaching Snake River at ten p. m., where they, ''their
wearied limbs to rest," lay down — in a haystack.

After breakfast they turned their horses' heads down stream,
and camped in the sage brush, without water, and with poor feed
for stock. The Vigilantes were supperless. On Friday thej^ bor-
rowed the necessary "batterie de cuisine" from the Overland sta-
tion, and cooked their breakfast, after which they rode to Meek
and Gibbon's Ferry, where they camped, and turned out the stock
in Fort Hall bottom.

A suspicious character having entered the camp, two of the
boys tracked him to his own "lodging on the cold ground;" find-
ing however, that there was no evidence of anything wrong about
his halting-place, they returned.

At the Ferry the Vigilantes met an old friend — a brother of
the early days of '63-4, He was freighting poultry and hogs to
Virginia from Salt Lake City. Glad to see his old comrades on.
their righteous errand, he presented them with a thirty pound
pig. A family of Morrisites living in a cabin at the Ferry cooked
it for them, and it was consumed with immense zest. Here they
learned that Jem Kelly had boarded in the house, and, on being
asked to pay, he had threatened to whip the old man. He said
that he had a partner coming from Salt Lake, and that when he
arrived he should have a plenty of money. He also intimated to
one of the men living there that his partner was one of the men
who robbed Hughes, when a passenger in the coach. Kelly also
said that there was a big camp of emigrants, with a lot of mules,^
near there, on their way to Oregon. He proposed that they should
stampede the stock, and that if the men offered a large enough
reward, they should return them ; but if not, they would drive
them off and sell them. The man refused to have any hand in
the matter, and was travelling towards the Butte, to buy some
lame cattle from the emigrants, when Kelly, who started with him,
fell behind, and drawing a pistol presented it at him. The man
turned at once, and Kelly, who saw something that scared him in
the expression of the man's eye, had not nerve to shoot, though
he wanted his money. He therefore turned it off as a joke.

The man failed to purchase the cattle and returned. Kelly,
who had parted from him, came in some time during the next

158 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

day, bringring with him a horse, saddle and bridle. The emigrants
had this horse to drive loose stock, and, as is usual with anmials
so trained, he followed the wagons, picking up his own living.
One day he lagged behind, and they went back for him. It is
supposed Kelly watched them from behind the crest of a hill, and
catching the horse rode off with him.

A party of ten men, with a captain, were sent to scout on the
Portneuf Creek, and were mounted on the best animals. They
went to Junction Station, Fort Hall, where the overland boys
shod the horses for them. From that place they rode to Portneuf.
The squad made a night march, and camped at eleven p. m., with-
out feed for man or beast, during a hurricane of wind. Oliver's
coach went by, and when the driver spied the horses, he thought
of robbers, and the passengers looked mightily scared. They
drove by on a keen run, much to the amusement of the boys, who
saddled up at two o'clock a. m. The men had no bedding and no
"grub." The culinary furniture was a tin cup, in each man's
belt, and a good set of teeth. They started at two o'clock a. m.,
because the stock was so hungry and restless. They kept a bright
lookout for Kelly.

At daybreak they saw a camp-fire. They rode up thinking of
good times, but found only a lot of Shoshone Indians, who had
little but choke-cherries to eat. The chief shortly after came to
the captain, and offered him a broiled trout, which he ate and
then fell asleep, while the others were regaling themselves on
choke-cherries, supplied by little naked papooses. An old squaw
seeing the leader asleep when the sun rose, built a willow
wigwam over him, and when he woke, he seemed considerably
exercisd at the sight of his house, which seemed like Jonah's
gourd. This was too much for both boys and the Indians,
and they laughed heartily.

The detachment saddled up and went on to Portneuf, where
they ordered breakfast at eleven a. m. at Oliver's Station. Here
they learned that party of California prospectors, ten in number,
all dressed in buckskin, had caught Kelly, in a haystack. He had
another horse by this time (he had sold one at the ferry). The
party went back for two and a half miles, on Sunday morning.
The captain was ahead, scouting with one of the boys, and found
the dead body of a man floating in the creek. There was a shot
wound through the back of the head. The corpse was wrapped in
a grey blanket, with a four strand lariat round the neck and shoul-
dlers, as though the body had been dragged and sunk. There
were two camp fires near, which seemed to be ten or fifteen days
old. They were situated in a thicket of willows. There was a

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 159

large boulder at the bottom of the eddy, where there was no cur-
rent, and the men thought that the body had been tied to it, but
that it had broken loose and floated.

The Vigilantes went back, got a pick and shovel, and buried
him. The body was dreadfully decomposed, and it was both diffi-
cult and disgusting to raise it ; however, they consulted, and
slipping willows under it, they reached over, and joining the tops,
lifted out altogether, and laid the putrified remains in their wil-
low grave. Willows were placed below and around them, and
having covered them with earth and stone, they, getting a tail-
board from a pilgrim's wagon, wrote an inscription, stating his
finding by the Vigilantes, and the date of his burial. The men
then jumped into the saddle, and rode until after night, coming
up with a freight train for Virginia, camped on the road. The
captain told his story, whereupon the wagon boss ordered them
a good warm drink and a hearty supper, sending his herder to
look after the stock. The command slept soundly till daylight,
and then rode twenty-five miles to the ferry, to breakfast. They
found the main body still camped there, and they were glad to
see the California buckskin-rangers, and Jem Kelly in custody.

A trial was called, and the evidence being heard, Kelly was
unanimously condemned to death. While pinioned, he asked for
his pipe, and got a smoke, which he seemed to enjoy very much.
A knot was tied and greased, and when all was working right,
the party marched down to a Balm of Gilead tree, and, in pres-
ence of the prisoner, rigged a scaffold by cutting a notch into the
tree, and putting one end of a plank from a pilgrim wagon into
the notch, and supporting the other on a forked stock. The cap-
tain asked Kelly if he had anything to say. He answered that
if he had never drunk any whiskey he would have been a better
man. He said it was hard to hang him after whipping him. While
he was on the trap, a couple of Shoshone warriors came up, and
looked on with evident amazement. When the plank was knocked
from under him, the Indians gave a loud "Ugh!" and started at
full speed for their camp. After he had hung some fifteen min-
utes, the buckskins party came up, and having made some in-
quires, they helped to bury him in a willow coffin. The Vigi-
lantes then returned home without any further incident of travel
worth recording.

160 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

CHAPTER XXVI.

Arrest and Execution of John Dolan, Alias John Coyle, Alias
"Hard Hat," for Robbing James Brady of $700 in Gold.

"As the stout lOx, on thieving errand caught,
Silent he dies, nor hopes nor cares for aught.'" — Anonymous.

Late in the month of August, 1864, a man named James Brady,,
of Nevada, was robbed of $700 in gold by John Dolan, alias John
Coyle, alias "Hard Hat," who had been living with him, and took
the money from his trousers' pocket. For some time the real thief
remained unsuspected. He cunningly offered to assist in the
search, and treated Brady out of the money; but suspicion being
aroused by his sudden disappearance, pursuit was made in the
direction of Utah. John McGrath followed him to Salt Lake City,
and there found that he had changed his name to John Coyle, and
that he had gone on to Springville, whither his pursuer followed
and arrested him. Dolan stipulated that he should be preserved
from the Vigilantes, on the road home, which was agreed to, and
McGrath and his prisoner arrived at Nevada on the 16th of Sep-
tember. In the mean time, letters had been received from parties
ignorant of his transaction, informing the Committee that Dolan
was a pal of Jem Kelly, who was hanged at Snake River; and
evidence of his complicity with the road agents was also satisfac-
torily adduced. He Avas the spy who "planted" the robbery of
Hughes in the Salt Lake coach. It is nearly certain that the rea-
son he fled to Utah was that he might receive his share of the
plunder.

After a patient and lengthened trial, his guilt being perfectly
clear, he was condemned to be executed by a unanimous vote of
the committee. Three hundred dollars of the lost money was re-
covered, and, though Dolan at first denied his guilt, yet the pro-
duction of peculiar nuggets being irresistible evidence, he at
last confessed the crime and offered to make up the balance, if he
should be let go. This could not be acceded to, and, therefore,
the Committee made good the amount lost by their refusal to
Brady.

It was on Saturday evening, September 17th, that the execution
of Dolan took place, and a scene more fraught with warning to
the desperate never was enacted before the gaze of assembled
thousands.

About sundown, strong parties of Vigilantes from Highland,
Pine Grove and Virginia, joined the armed force already on the
ground belonging to Nevada and Junction. The prisoner was
confined in the ball-room, next door to the Jackson house, and
here he was pinioned before being brought out. The companies.

THE VIGII^\NTES OF MONTANA 161

from Virginia, armed to the teeth, formed in two parallel lines,
enclosing an avenue reaching from the door through which the
prisoner must make his exit, on his way to the scaffold. The
silence and the sternly compressed lips of the guard showed that
they felt the solemnity of the occasion, and that they were pre-
pared to repulse, with instant and deadly action, any attempt at
the rescue threatened by the prisoner's companions in crime and
sympathizers. All being ready a small posse of trust-worthy men
were detailed as a close guard in front, rear and on both flanks
of the prisoner. The signal being given, the commander of the
guard gave the word, "Company! draw revolvers!" A moment
more and the weapons, readj' for instant use, were held at the
Vigilantes' "ready," that is to say, in front of the body, the right
hand level with the center of the breast, muzzle up, thumb on the
cock, and the forefinger extended alongside the trigger-guard.
"Right face! Forward, march!" followed in quick succession,
and, immediately the procession was fairly in motion, the files
of the guard were doubled. In close order they marched through
a dense crowd to the gallows, a butcher's hoist standing in the
plain, at the foot of the hills, about half a mile northeast of Ne-
vada, where a fatigue party and guard had made the necessary
preparations for the execution. The multitude must have consid-
erably exceeded six thousand in number, every available spot of
ground being densely packed with spectators. The face of the
hill was alive with a throng of eager and excited people. The
column of Vigilantes marched steadily and in perfect silence
through the gathering masses, right up to the gallows. Here
they were halted and, at a given signal, the lines first opened and
then formed in a circle of about fifty yards in diameter, with an
interval of about six feet between the ranks, and facing the crowd,
which slowly fell back before them, till the force was in position.
Eenewed threats of an attempt at rescue having been made, the
word was passed round the ranks, and the guard, in momentary
expectation of a rush from the anti-law-and-order men, stood
ready to beat them back. The prisoner, who exhibited a stolid
indifference and utter unconcern most remarkable to witness,
was placed standing, on a board supported in such a manner that
a touch of a foot was all that was necessary to convert it into a
drop.

The executive officer then addressed the crowd, stating that the
execution of criminals such as Dolan was a matter of public neces-
sity, in a mining country, and that the safety of the community
from lawlessness and outrage was the only reason that dictated
it. He raised his voice, and finished by saying, in a manner that

162 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

all understood, "It has been said that you will rescue the pris-
oner; don't try it on, for fear of the consequences. What is to
be done has been deliberately weighed and determined, and noth-
ing shall prevent the execution of the malefactor."

Dolan being now asked if he had anything to say, he replied in
a voice perfectly calm, clear and unconcerned, that he admitted
having committed the crime with which he was charged; but he
said that he was drunk when he did it. He added that he was
well known in California and elsewhere, and had never been ac-
cused of a similar action before. He then bade them all good-by,
and requested that some of his friends would bury his body. The
rope was placed round his neck; the plank was struck from be-
neath his feet, and the corpse swayed to and fro in the night
breeze. He never made a perceptible struggle. The dull sound
of the drop was followed, or rather accompanied, by the stern
order to the crowd, repeated by one hundred voices, "Fall back!"
The glancing barrels and clicking locks of five hundred revolvers,
as they came to the present, sounded their deadly warning, and
the crowd, suddenly seized with a wild panic, fled, shrieking in
mad terror, and rolling in heaps over one another. A wagon and
team were drawn up outside the circle held by the Vigilantes, but
such was the tremendous stampede, that, taking them broadside,
they rolled over before the onslaught of the mob, like ninepins,
and over wagon and stuggling mules poured a living torrent of
people. Fortunately no great injury was done to any one, and
they gradually returned to the vicinity of the scaffold. As the
rush was made, the hill appeared to be moving, the simultaneous
motion of the multitude giving it that appearance.

Just before the drop fell, one of the guard, who had newly ar-
rived in the country, being pressed on by a tall, swarthy-looking
reprobate, ordered him back, dropping his revolver level with his
breast at the same instant. The villain quickly thrust his hand
into his bosom, and the butt of a pistol was instantly visible within
his grasp. "I say, you sir!" observed the guard, "just move
your arm a couple of inches or so, will you? I want to hit that big

white button on your coat." "H 1!" ejaculated the worthy,

retiring with the rapidity of chain lightning among the crowd.

The people were then addressed by a gentleman of Nevada,
who forcibly showed to them the necessity of such examples as
the present. He reminded them that nothing but severe and
summary punishment would be of any avail to prevent crime, in
a place where life and gold were so much exposed. The prisoner
had declared that he was drunk; but he had offered to return
the money, though only in case he would be pardoned. This offer

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 163

a due regard, for the safety of the community forbade their ac-
cepting.

Dolan having been pronounced dead by several physicians, the
body was given into the care of his friends ; the Vigilantes
marched off by companies, and the crowd dispersed. There was a
solemnity and decorum about the proceedings of the Vigilantes
that all admired.

Before leaving the ground, a subscription was opened on behalf
of the man whose money had been stolen, and the whole sum miss-
ing ($400) was paid to him by the Committee. This was an act
of scrupulous honesty, probably never before paralleled in any
citizens' court in the world.

CHAPTER XXVII.
Capture and Execution of R. C. Rawley.

"Justice is blind ; but she has a long memory and a strong arm." — PsovEEB.

Since the execution of Plummer, Ray, Stinson, Pizanthia and
Wagner, there had been no execution in Bannack. The example
had been sufficient, and, though it could not be said that there
was no crime in Bannack, yet the change from the wild lawless-
ness of the roughs, and the reign of terror caused by the presence
of Plummer and his satellites, was most encouraging. Scores of
men silently and quickly left Bannack for other regions. The
dread of the ''Vigilantes" was strongly impressed on every per-
son, and though it is not easy to suppose that the nature of the
desperadoes can be materially changed, yet it is tolerably certain,
to those who have witnessed the effect of what the heralds would
call "a noose pendent from a beam proper" — that men of the
worst morals and most unquestioned bravery — men whom nothing
else could daunt — still maintains a quietness of demeanor that,
under any other circumstances than the fear of retribution by
the halter, would surely be foreign to their very nature.

Among those who dreaded the arrival of the day of vengeance
was a man passing by the assumed name of R. C. Rawley. He
was no common loafer, originally; but was, under another name
and with a fairer character, a merchant in a large Western city,
from which, owing to what precise discreditable cause we are un-
informed authentically, he migrated to Colorado, and there grad-
ually sank down to the character and standard of a "bummer."
It was evident to all who knew him that he was a man of educa-
tion and of some refinement; occasionally remarks made in his

164 THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA

sober moments attested this, but a long course of brutal dissipa-
tion had rendered his acquirements worthless, and had so debased
his morals, that he associated only with the thieves and maraud-
ers whose guilty career terminated, as these pages have shown,
upon the gallows. Robbed of all self-respect, and even ambition,
R. C. Rawley, on his arrival in this country, attached himself as
a hanger-on to the road agents, and was the constant tool and
companion of Stinson, Forbes, Lj^'ons and their associates. He
sometimes seemed to become ashamed of his conduct, and worked
for short periods, honestly earning his living ; but such spells of
good conduct were only occasional. He returned, uniformly, to
his old habits, "like the sow that is washed to her wallowing in
the mire." Rawley was a good-looking man, and, but for his
habit of intoxication, he must have been handsome.

In the winter of 1863-4, Rawlej', though not closely identified
with the band, yet bore a suspicious character, owing to his con-
nection and association with them. He was seldom, indeed, on
the road ; but he acted as an inside spy. As soon as the first blow
was struck at the road agents, he became nervous and excited in
his demeanor, and, warned by the promptings of a guilty con-
science, he suddenly left Bannack, on a winter's morning of such
severity that nothing but the belief that detection and punishment
awaited him could have justified a sane man in undertaking a
journey of any considerable length. He was popularly supposed
to have gone south or to Boise.

In an ill-starred hour, in the month of September, 1864, unex-
pectedly to most people, but with the knowledge of the Vigilantes,
who had kept track of his movements, he suddenly returned to
Bannack, thinking, doubtless, that all danger was past. He came
back in rags, to find all his old friends gone, and looked like a
lone chicken on a wet day. For some time after his return he
kept quiet, and went to work for a man who lived down the can-
yon, in the neighborhood of New Jerusalem. Those who knew
him state that when he was sober, although he was not a first-
class workman, yet he labored steadily and well; but, as may be
conjectured, his frequent visits to Bannack, which always in-
volved a spree of drunkenness, greatly impaired his usefulness.

During the time when he was under influence of strong
drink his old predilections Avere brought prominently forward,
and he did not hesitate to utter threats of an unmistakable kind
against the members of the Committee ; and also to express his
sympathy and identification of interest with the men who had
been hanged, stating that they were good men, and the Com-
mittee were strangling etc. This kind of conduct was

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 165

allowed to remain unpunished for some six weeks or two months;
but, as Rawley began to get bolder and to defy the Committee,
it was resolved that an end should be put to such proceedings.

A meeting of the Vigilantes was called, and it was determined
that his case should be thoroughly investigated. This was done,
and, during the trial, evidence of a most convincing kind was
adduced, of his actual complicity in the outrages perpetrated by
the band, of his being a spy for them, and of his pointing out
favorable opportunities for the commission of robbery. As his
present line of action and speech left no doubt that he would
connect himself with some new gang of thieves, and as it was
more than suspected that such an organization was contemplated,
it was determined to put a sudden end to all such doings, by mak-
ing an example of Rawley.

A party was detailed for the work, and going down unobserved
and unsuspected to New Jerusalem, they arrested him at night
and brought him up to Bannack, without the knowledge of a sin-
gle soul except his actual captors. As it was deemed necessary
for the safety of society that a sudden punishment should be
meted out to him in such a manner that the news should fall upon
the ears of his associates in crime like a thunderbolt from a clear
sky, he was taken to Hangman's Gulch, and, maintaining the
most dogged silence and the most imperturable coolness to the last
moment, he was hanged on the same gallows which Plummer him-
self had built for the execution of his own accomplice, Horan, and
on which he himself had suffered.

The first intelligence concerning his fate was obtained from
the sight of his dead body, swinging in the wind on the following
morning. Before his corpse was taken down for burial, a photo-
graphic artist took a picture of the scene, preserving the only
optical demdnstration extant of the reward of crime in Montana.

Thus died R. C. Rawley. A "passenger" or two attended his
final march to the grave, and shrouded in the rayless gloom of a
night as dark as despair, thus perished, unshrived and unknelled,
the last of the tribe of spies, cut-throats and desperadoes, who,
in the early days of Bannack, had wrought such horrors in the
community.

The effect of the execution was magical. Not another step
was taken to organize crime in Bannack, and it has remained in
comparative peace and perfect security ever since.

166 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Trial and Death of John Keene, Alias Bob Black, the Mur-
derer of Harry Slater.

"Oh, my offense is rank ; it smells to Heaven ;
It hath the primal, eldest curse upon it." — Hamlet

The stern yet righteous retribution which the Vigilantes had
inflicted on the murderers and marauders in the southern and
western part of the Territory had worked its effect, and little
need was there of any further examples for a long time in the vi-
cinity of Virginia and Bannack; but the restless spirit of enter-
prise which distinguishes the miners of the West soon urged the
pioneers to new discoveries, creating another center of population,
and thither, like a heron to her haunt, gathered the miners, and,
of course, those harpies who live by preying upon them.

Many others who had spent a roving and ill-regulated life,
poured into the new diggings, which bore the name of Last
Chance Gulch, situated on the edge of the romantic valley of the
Prickly Pear, where now stands the flourishing city of Helena, in
the county of Edgerton, second in size and importance only to
Virginia, and rapidly increasing in extent, wealth and population.
This place, which was then regarded as a new theater of opera-
tion for the desperadoes, is almost one hundred and twenty-five
miles N. N. W. from the metroplis of Montana; and no sooner
were the diggings struck, by a party consisting mainly of Colo-
rado men, than a rush was made for the new gulch, and a town
arose as by magic. As usual in such cases, the first settlers were
a motley crowd, and though many good men came with them, yet
the number of "hard cases" was great, and was speedily in-
creased by refugees from justice, and adventurers not distin-
guished for morality, or for any undue deference for the moral
precepts continued in the sixth and eighth commandments.

Among the desperadoes and refugees who went over there was
Harry Slater — a professional gambler, and a "rough" of reputa-
tion. At Salt Lake he would have shot Colonel W. F. Sanders in
the back, had he not been restrained ; and many an outrage had
he committed. His sudden flight from Virginia alone saved his
neck, a mere accident having saved him from summary execution,
the night before he left for Helena, where he met his death at
the hands of John Keene, formerly a barkeeper to Samuel Schwab,
of the Montana Billiard Saloon in Virginia, and originally, as
will be seen from the biographical sketch appended to this chap-
ter— from the "River," where, as "Bob Black," he figured as a
first-class murderer and robber, before he came to the mining

THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA 167

regions, and, quarreling with Slater at Salt Lake City, roused
again those evil passions, the indulgence of which finally brought
him to the fatal tree, in Dry Gulch, where the thieves and mur-
derers of the northern section of the country have so often expati-
ated their crimes by a sudden and shameful death.

Slater arrived first in Helena, and Keene, who had signalized his
stay in Virginia by attempting to kill or wound Jem MeCarty,
the bar-keeper at Murat's Saloon (better known as the 'Court's')
with whom he had a quarrel, by throwing large pieces of rock at
him through the window, at midnight. He however missed his
mark; the sleepers escaped and the proprietors sustained little
more damage than the price of broken windows.

Slater did not know that Keene was in town, and was sitting
in the doorway of Sam Greer's saloon, with his head down and
his eyes shaded by his hat. Keene was walking along the street,
talking to a friend, when he spied Slater within a few feet of him,
and without saying a word, or in any way attracting the notice of
Slater, he drew his pistol and fired two shots. The first took ef-
fect over the outer angle of the eye, ranging downwards, and pro-
ducing instant death. The murderer put up his pistol and turned
quickly down an alley, near the scene of the murder. Here he was
arrested by C. J. D. Curtis, and "X," coming up, proposed to de-
liver him over to Sheriff Wood. This being done, the Sheriff put
him, for want of a better place, in his own house, and kept him
well guarded. As thousands of individuals will read this account
who have no distinct or accurate notion of how a citizen trial in
the West is conducted, the account taken by the special reporter
of the Montana Post, which is minutely exact and reliable in all
its details, is here presented. The report says that after the ar-
rest of Keene and his committal to the custody of the Sheriff,
strong manifestations of disgust were shown by the crowd, which
soon collected in front of the temporary prison, and a committee
at once formed to give the murderer a hasty trial. Sheriff Wood,
with what deputies he could gather round him in a few moments,
sternly and resolutely refused to deliver the prisoner into the
hands of the Committee, and at the same time made the most
urgent and earnest appeals to those demanding the culprit ; but
finally, being carried by main force from his post, and overpow-
ered by superior numbers, his prisoner was taken from him.

A court-room was soon improvised in an adjacent lumber yard,
the prisoner marched into, and the trial immediately commenced,
Stephen Reynolds presiding, and the jury composed of Messrs.
Judge Burchett (foreman), S. M. Hall, Z. French, A. F. Edwards,

Nichols, S. Kayser, Edward Porter, Shears, Major

Hutchinson, C. C. Farmer and Ed. House.

168 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

No great formality was observed in the commencement of the
impromptu trial. Dr. Palmer, Charles Greer and Samuel Greer
were sworn to testify. Dr. Palmer started to give his evidence,
when he was interrupted by the culprit getting up and making a
statement of the whole affair, and asserting that he acted in self-
defense, as the deceased was in the act of rising with his hand
on his pistol, and had threatened to take his life, and on a former
occasion, in Great Salt Lake City, had put a derringer into his
mouth.

A Mr. Brobecker then got up and made some very appropriate
remarks, cautioning the men on the jury not to be too hasty, but
to well and truly perform their duty; weigh the evidence well,
and give a verdict such as their conscience would hereafter ap-
prove.

Sam Greer then testified to being an eye-witness of the deed.
Heard the first shot ; did not think anybody was hit ; told Keene
to "hold on," when he saw Slater fall over; did not hear any
words spoken by either of the parties ; did not know for certain
whether the prisoner was the man who shot Slater.

Prisoner — I am the gentleman.

Dr. Palmer said that when he made an examination of the de-
ceased he did not find a pistol in his scabbard.

Sam Greer — The pistol was put into my hands and placed be-
hind the bar by me after the shooting took place.

Charley Greer (sworn) — I have been sick lately, and was too
excited to make any close observation ; was not more than three
or four feet from the party killed, when the shooting occurred;
thought the man was shooting at some dogs in the saloon.

Charles French (sworn) — says — Came down street, stopped
first door below Lyon's barber shop, at the clothing store of
Earned; saw a man coming up the street towards Greer's saloon;
heard some one cry, "Don't shoot, John; you'll hurt somebody."
Soon after saw the man shoot thought he was only firing off his
pistol to scare somebody ; but he saw the deceased man fall, and
the other go down street and turn into an alley. Don't know
the man that fired the shots.

Q. — Is this the man?

A. — Cannot tell; it is too dark. (A candle was brought.) I think
it is the same man ; I am pretty certain it is.

Dr. Palmer again testified — The deceased was shot over the
right eye ; never spoke, and died in three minutes after being
shot.

James Binns (sworn) — Was on the opposite side of the street;
heard the first shot fired, and saw the second one; heard Greer

Bridge Street (now State) Helena, Spring 1865. xx Where Reinig Store is today.

THE VIGIT.AXTES OF MONTANA 169

say, "hold on," and saw the man fall over, and the other man
go through the alley.

(Calls by the crowd for James Parker.)

James Parker (sworn) — Keene overtook me today on the sum-
mit, coming from Blackfoot. We rode together. He inquired
of me whether Slater was in town, and told me of some difficulty
existing between them, originating in Salt Lake City ; Slater hav-
ing thrust a derringer into his mouth, and ran him out of the city.

Prisoner here got up and said that he had told Parker he hoped
he should not see Slater, as he did not want any difficulty with
him, or some such conversation.

James Geero (Hogal) called for (sworn) — (Here the wind ex-
tinguished our candle, and being in the open air, before we could
relight it, Ave missed all the testimony but the last words. — Re-
porter.) Know nothing about the shooting affair.

At this moment a voice in the crowd was heard crying, "John
Keene come here" — which caused the guards to close around the
prisoner.

Mr. Phillips (swnrn) — Don't know anything about the affair,
but saw Slater fall; don't know who fired; know what Jem
Geero says to be true. Saw Slater sit in this position (here Mr.
P. showed the position Slater was in when shot) ; saw Slater sit-
ting in the door; did not see him have a revolver.

Prisoner asked to have some witnesses sent for ; he said that
the original cause of his trouble with Slater was his taking Tom
Baum and Ed. Copeland's part in a conversation about the Vigi-
lance Committee of last year. Slater then called him a Vigilante

, and drove him out of town ; this was in Salt Lake City. Then

he went to Virginia City, and from there to Blackfoot. Slater
was a dangerous man; he had killed two men in Boise. He said
he had gone to work at mining in Blackfoot, and came over to
Helena on that day to see a man — Harlow. "When I first saw
Slater today he smacked my face with both hands and called a

Irish , and said he would make me leave town. I went

and borrowed a revolver of Walsh." He requested them to send
for an Irishman called Mike, who works on the brickyard, and
Avho heard the last c nversation. He wanted Mr. Phillips to give
a little more testimony.

Mr. P. — I know him to go armed and equipped ; saw him draw
a weapon on a former occasion ; saw him make a man jump down
twenty pair of stairs.

Motion of the jury to retire. Cries of "aye!" and "no! go on
with the trial." A voice — " send for Kelly, the man who was talk-
ing to Slater at the time he was shot." Cries of "Mr. Kelly! Mr.

170 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Kelly!" and "Dave St. John." Neither of these men could be
found.

A motion to increase the number of the guard to forty was
carried.

Prisoner again asked to have men sent for his witnesses.

Jack Edwards — I am willing to wait till morning for the con-
tinuance of the trial, but the guard must be increased; I hear
mutterings in the crowd about a rescue.

A voice — It can't be done.

Prisoner — I want a fair and just trial.

Preparations were now made for a strong guard, forming a
ring round the prisoner.

Objections were raised, at this juncture, to whispering being
carried on between the culprit and his friends.

A report came in that the Irish brickmaker could not be found
at his shanty.

A motion to guard the prisoner till morning, to give him time
to procure witnesses, was lost ; but being afterward reconsidered,
it was finally carried.

Judge N. J. Bond then got up, and in a short and able speech
to the jury, advised them to hear more testimony before convict-
ing the prisoner. He also proposed the hour of eight a. m. next
day for the meeting of the jury, and the hour of nine a. m. for
bringing in their verdict. The latter proposition was agreed to,
and the prisoner taken in charge by the guard.

The dense crowd slowly dispersed, talking in a less bloodthirsty
strain than they had done three or four hours before.

SECOND DAY.

The morning dawned serenely upon a large concourse of people
standing before the prison and in front of the California Ex-
change— the place selected for a jury room.

The jury met a few minutes past eight a. m. and Mr. Boyden
was sent for, and the examination of witnesses resumed.

Mr. B. (sworn) — I have known Keene from childhood ; know his
parents and relatives ; met Keene yesterday on the street ; did not
know him at first sight, until he spoke to me ; told me that he was
looking for a gentleman in town who had as an act of kindness
taken up some claims for him ; was walking up street with me ;
then stopped to shake hands with a man named Kelly, who was
sitting on some logs in the street, when we left him. Keene
walked faster than I did, and was a few steps ahead of me ; when
in front of Greer's saloon I saw a man sitting in the door
(Greer's) ; did not see Keene draw his revolver, but saw the first
shot fired, and heard Keene say, ' ' You , you have ruined me

THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA 171

in Salt Lake City." This was said after the shooting. Do not
think Slater saw Keene at all. Slater was sitting down; I was
about five feet from both men ; John Keene was about ten feet
from Slater.

Q. — Was Kelly with you at that time?

A. — No ; Kelly never left the place where he shook hands with
Keene.

Q. — Do you know anything about his character?

A. — I have known him for about ten years; he left St. Paul
about eighteen months ago ; know nothing about his course or
conduct since that time ; he was considered a fast young man, but
good and kind-hearted ; when I conversed with him yesterday he
spoke about a man that had ruined him in Salt Lake City, but he
did not mention any names ; I did not know anything of the par-
ticulars of his (prisoner's) former difficulties with Slater; never
saw Slater and Keene together.

Michael McGregor (sworn) — I saw Keene in the afternoon; he
came to me in the flat (a point in the lower part of the gulch) ;
shook hands with me, and then left for town; did not know of
the difficulty between Slater and Keene ; Keene never spoke to
me about it.

D. St. John (sworn) — Don't know anything about the shooting
affair; was fifteen miles from here when it took place. (The wit-
ness here gave some testimony not bearing directly on the case,
which was not admitted.)

This closed the examination. The jury went into secret session.

At ten minutes to ten o'clock, the jury came from their room
to the place of trial, in the lumber yard, where preparations were
made immediately for the reception of the prisoner.

At ten o'clock, the culprit made his appearance on the ground,
under an escort of about fifty well-armed men. A circle was
formed by the guard and the prisoner placed in the center. His
appearance was not that of a man likely to die in a few minutes
He looked bravely around the crowd, nodding here and there
to his acquaintances, and calling to them by name. Captain Flor-
man having detailed his guard, gave the word, "All ready." The
foreman of the jury then opened the sealed verdict: "We, the
jury, in the case of the people of Montana versus John Keene, find
him guilty of murder in the first degree."

A Voice— "What shall be done?"

Several voices in the crowd — "Hang him! hang him!"

The President here rose and said he wished to hear some ex-
pression of the public sentiment or motions in the case.

Calls were made for Colonel Johnson. The Colonel addressed

172 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

the assembly in an appropriate speech, which was followed by a
few short and pertinent remarks from Judge Bond.

On motion of A. J. Edwards, the testimony of Messrs. Boyden
and Michael McGregor was read, and thereupon Judge Lawrence
rose and said he was sure Keene had all the chance for a fair trial
he could have wished, and motioned to carry the jury's verdict
into execution. Passed.

The prisoner here got up and said, "All I wanted was a fair
and just trial ; I think I have got it, and death is my doom ; but
I want time to settle up my business ; I am not trying to get
away."

He was granted an hour's time to prepare for his execution.
The committee fixed the hour of execution at half-past eleven

0 clock a. m. Keene remarked that he hadn't any money to pay
expenses — and was told that it should not cost him a cent. The
guard now took charge of the doomed man, and escorted him to
an adjacent house in order that he might arrange his affairs.

At eleven a. m. crowds of people could be seen ascending the
hill north of Helena, and not a small number of ladies were per-
ceptible in the throng. The place of execution was chosen with
a due regard to convenience and economy — a large pine tree, with
stout limbs, standing almost alone, in a shallow ravine, was se-
lected for the gallows.

At eleven a. m. the prisoner, accompanied by the Rev. Mr.
McLaughlin, arrived in a lumber wagon. A dry goods box and
two planks, to form the trap, were in the same vehicle. The un-
fortunate victim of his unbridled passions sat astride of one of
the planks, his countenance exhibiting the utmost unconcern, and
on his arrival at the tree he said, "My honor compelled me to
do what I have done." He then bade good-by to some of his ac-
quaintances. The wagon having been adjusted so as to bring the
hind axle under the rope, a plank was laid from the dry goods
box to another plank set upon end, and the trap was ready.

At four minutes to twelve o'clock, the prisoner's arms were
pinioned, and he was assisted to mount the wagon. Standing on
the frail platform, he said, in a loud and distinct voice : ' ' What

1 have done, my honor compelled me to do. Slater run me from
Salt Lake City to Virginia, and from there to this country. He
slapped me in the face here yesterday ; and I was advised by my
friends to arm myself. When Slater saw me, he said, 'There

is the Irish ; he has not left town yet.' Then I commenced

firing. My honor compelled me to do what I have done." Here
he called for a drink of water, which was procured as speedily
as it could be brought to the top of the hill. He took a long, deep

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 173

draught of the water, and the rope was adjusted round his neck.
A handkerchief being thrown over his face, he raised his hand
to it and said, "What are you putting that there for? Take it
off." Stepping to the end of the trap, he said: "AVhat I have
done to Slater I have done willingly. He punished me severely.
Honor compelled me to do what I have done. He run me from
town to town ; I tried to shun him here but he saw me — called
me a , and smacked me in the face. I did not want any trou-
ble with him; my honor compelled me to do what I have done. I
am here, and must die ; and if I was to live till tomorrow I would
do the same thing again. I am ready; jerk the cart as soon as
you please."

At seven minutes past twelve the wagon started, the trap fell,
and Keene was launched into eternity. He fell three and a half
feet without breaking his neck. A few spasmodic struggles for
three or four minutes were all that was perceptible of his dying
agonies. After hanging half an hour, the body was cut down and
was taken in charge by his friends.

So ended the first tragedy at Helena. The execution was con-
ducted by Mr. J. X. Biedler, and everything went off in a quiet
and orderly manner. Many familiar faces, known to Virginia
men in the trying times of the winter of '64 were visible.

The effect, in Helena, of this execution was electrical. The
roughs saw that the day had gone against them, and trembled for
their lives. There were in town, at that time, scores of men
from every known mining locality of the West, and many of them
were steeped to the lips in crime. Such a decision as that now
rendered by a jury of the people boded them no good. They
saw that the citizens of Montana had determined that outrage
should be visited with condign punishment, and that prudence
dictated an immediate stampede from Helena. Walking about
the streets, they occasionally approached an old comrade, and
furtively glancing around, they would give expression to their
feelings in the chartered form of language peculiar to moun-
taineers who consider that something extraordinary, unjust, cruel
or hard to bear, is being enacted: "Say, Bill, this is rough, ain't
it?" To which the terse reply was usually vouchsafed, "It is,
by thunder; rough." Caj^uses began to rise rapidly in de-
mand and price. Men went "prospecting" (?) who had never
been accused of such an act before ; and a very considerable im-
provement in the average appearance of the population soon be-
came visible.

A constant stream of miners and others was now pouring into
the Territory, from the West, and the consequence was that the

174 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

thinking portion of the citizens of Helena began to see that a reg-
ular organization of an independent Vigilance Committee was
necessary to watch over the affairs of the young city, and to take
steps for both the prevention of crime and for the punishment of
criminals. There were in the town a considerable number of the
old Committee ; these, with few exceptions, gave the movement
their sanction, and the new body was speedily and effectively
organized, an executive elected, companies formed, under the
leadership of old hands who had mostly seen service in the peril-
ous times of '63-64. A sketch of their subsequent operations will
appear in this work, and also an account of the terrible massacre
and robbery of the passengers of the Overland coach, in the Port-
neuf canyon, near Snake River, I. T., together with an account of
the capture and execution of Frank Williams, who drove the stage
into the ambush.

As it was asserted by Keene that Slater had slapped him in the
face, and otherwise insulted him in Helena, before the firing of the
fatal shot, it is proper to state that such was not the case. Slater
was entirely ignorant of Keene 's presence in town ; in fact, the
other, it will be remembered, had only just previously arrived
there, riding with the witness who swore he crossed the Divide in
his company. It is also an entire mistake to suppose that Keene
was a man of good character or blameless life. The following
statement of his previous career of crime, in the East, will be read
with interest by many who are under the impression that the
murder of Slater was his first offense. It is taken from the Mem-
phis Appeal, of November 24th, 1865, and, of course, was written
without any intention of being published in this work, or of fur-
nishing any justification of the Vigilance Committee. If such
had been the intention, it would have been a work of supereroga-
tion, for never was a case of murder in the first degree more fully
proven. The homicide in broad daylight, and the evident malice
"prepense" were matters of public notoriety.

' ' Of the many strange circumstances born of and nurtured by
the past war, a parallel to the catalogue of crime herein given has
been rarely, if ever, met with.

"In this vicinity, near three years ago, the name of 'Bob Black'
has, on more than one occasion, struck terror to the hearts of
a large number of countrymen, cotton buyers and sellers, whose
business compelled them to enter or make their exit from the city
by the way of the Hernando Horn Lake roads.

'' 'Bob Black' came to this city about six years ago, bringing
with him a good character for honesty and industry, and contin-
ued to work steadily here until the outbreak of the war. At that

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 175

time he desired to enter the gunboat service, and for that purpose
left this city for New Orleans ; and, after remaining there some
time, he joined the crew of a Confederate ram, the name of which
has since slipped our memory. While on his way up from New
Orleans, he became enraged at some wrong, real or fancied, at the
hands of the captain of the ram, and being of a very impulsive na-
ture, seized a marling-spike, and with a blow felled the captain to
the deck. He was immediately placed in irons, and upon the ar-
rival of the gunboat at Fort Pillow, was handed over to General
Villipigue, for safe keeping. A court-martial was ordered, and
while in progress, the evacuation of Fort Pillow became neces-
sary, and the prisoner was transferred to Grenada, Mississippi. In
the confusion of everything about Grenada at that time, he man-
aged to effect his escape, and passing immediately through the
Confederate lines, reached Memphis a few days after its occupa-
tion by the Federal authorities. Without any means to provide
himself with food or clothing, with a mind borne down with trou-
ble and suffering, and bereft of every hope from which the slight-
est consolation might be derived, the once honest man was driven
to a career of desperation and crime, which, if given in its de-
tails, would cause the bloodthirsty tales of the yellow-covered
trash to pale for their very puerility and tameness.

"In this condition of mind and body he remained in the city
for some time, wandering about here and there ; until one day,
while standing at the Worsham House corner, he became involved
in a quarrel with one James Dolan, a member of the Eighth Mis-
souri Regiment, a large and powerful man, while Black was a man
of medium height and stature. AVords between the parties waged
furious, and finally Dolan struck Black with a cane which he
had with him ; but quickly warding off the blow, Black wrenched
the cane from his adversary and dealt him a blow, which so frac-
tured the skull of Dolan as to cause death within a short time
thereafter. Black effected his escape from the city, and with a
couple of accomplices, began a system of wholesale murder and
robbery on the Hernando road. The atrocity and boldness of
these acts created the greatest excitement in Memphis.

"Several parties were robbed of sums varying from one to as
high as ten thousand dollars, and, in one instance, a speculator
was compelled to disgorge to the amount of five thousand dollars
in gold. Of course, these rascals, of whom Black was the leader,
often met with men who would make resistance rather than give
up their money and in this way no less than three or four fell
victims to the fiendish spirit exhibited by these scoundrels. It
was finally agreed upon by the military commanders of the dis-

176 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

trict, on both sides, that means should be taken which would
ensure their capture. Accordingly a squad of Blythe's battalion
of the rebel army, were sent in pursuit, and succeeded in captur-
ing, about ten miles out of the city, Black and his companion, a
fellow young in years, named AVhelan. They were placed in the
guard-house in Hernando, we believe, and at a pre-concerted sig-
nal attacked the guard, and mounting some horses belonging to
the soldiers, made off at a rapid rate. The guard immediately
started in pursuit, and coming upon Whelan, who was some dis-
tance behind Black, shot and killed him. Black again escaped,
and applied himself with more vigor than ever to the plundering,
stealing and robbing of everybody and everything that came with-
in his reach. He would frequently ride into this city at night,
passing through the lines at will ; and, as an instance of his audac-
ity, on one occasion rode down Adams street, and fired several
shots into the station-house. It was reported that he had accumu-
lated large sums of money, and the report proved correct. As his
business became either too tiresome or too dangerous, he came
to the city, disguised, and took passage on a boat for the north.
Since that time, and until recently, nothing has been heard from
him. It seems that after leaving Memphis he went to St. Paul,
Minnesota, and embarked in the staging and saloon business, un-
der his proper name, John Keene. His restless spirit could not
stand the monotony of such a dull business (to him) and, organ-
izing a band of some twenty men, he started for the Territories."

CHAPTER XXIX.

Capture and Execution of Jake Silvie, Alias Jacob Seachriest, a

Road Agent and Murderer of Twelve Years' Standing,

and the Slayer of Twelve Men.

"Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." — God's Law,

The crimes and punishment of many a daring desperado have
been chronicled in these pages ; but among them all, none was
more worthy of death than the blood-stained miscreant whose
well-deserved fate is recorded in this chapter. According to his
own confession — made when all hope was gone, and death was
inevitable, and when nothing Avas to be gained by such a state-
ment, but the disburdening of a conscience oppressed by the
weight of guilt — Jacob Seachriest was a native of Pennsylvania,
and had been a thief, road agent, and murderer for twelve years ;
during which time he had murdered, single-handed or in company
with others, twelve individuals.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 177

In a former chapter of this history — the one detailing the arrest
and execution of Jem Kelly at Snake River — it will be remem-
bered that the body of a man, shot through the back of the head,
was found in a creek by a patrol of the Vigilantes, and buried
in a willow coffin. The full particulars of the tragedy we are
unable to furnish to our readers ; but Seachriest confessed that
he and his comrades cast lots to determine who should commit the
bloody deed, it being repugnant, even to their notions of manhood,
to crawl up behind an unarmed man, sitting quietly on the bank
of a creek, and to kill him for the sake of what he might chance
to possess, without exchanging a word. The "hazard of the die'-*
pointed out Seachriest as the assassin ; and with his pistol ready
cocked, he stole upon his victim and killed him instantly, by send-
ing a ball through his brain. A stone was fastened to the body,
and it was sunk in a hole formed by an eddy in the stream, the
thieves having first appropriated every article of value about his
person.

The captain was much moved by the sad spectacle, though well
accustomed to the sight of murdered victims, having served
through the war against the border ruffians in "Bleeding
Kansas," and having gone through a checkered career of adven-
ture, including five years' life by the camp-fire. He said, with
much emotion, "Boys, something tells me I'll be at the hanging
of this man's murderer, within twelve months of this day," and
so it fell out, though most unexpectedly.

Shortly after the execution of John Keene for the murder of
Slater, information was sent to the Committee, that a man named
Jack Silvie had been arrested at Diamond City — a flourishing new
mining camp in Confederate Gulch, one of the largest and richest
of the placer diggings in Montana. The town is about fifteen
miles beyond the Missouri, and about forty miles east of Helena.
The charges against the culprit were robbery, obtaining goods
under false pretenses, and various other crimes of a kindred sort.
It was also intimated that he was a man of general bad character,
and that he had confessed enough to warrant the Committee in
holding him for further examination, though the proof of his com-
mission of the principal offense of which he was accused was not
greater, at the time, than would amount to a strong presumption
of guilt.

The messenger brought with him copies of the confession made
by the prisoner, under oath, before the proper person to receive
an obligation. The substance of his story was that he was an
honest, hard-working miner; that he had just come into the coun-
try, by the way of Salt Lake City ; that on reaching Virginia City,

178 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

and while under the influence of liquor, he had fallen into bad
company, and was initiated into an organized band of robbers.
He gave the names of about a dozen of the members of the gang,
and minutely described the signs of recognition, etc. It was evi-
dent from his account that the ceremonies attending the entry
into this villainous fraternity were simple and forcible, although
not legal. The candidate was placed in the center of a circle
formed of desperadoes ; one or two revolvers at full cock were pre-
sented at his head, and he was then informed that his taking the
obligation was to be a purely voluntary act on his part ; for that
he was at perfect liberty to refuse to do so; only, in that case,
that his brains would be blown out without any further ceremony.
Though not a man of any education, Silvie could not afford to
lose his brains, having only one set, and he therefore consented
to proceed and swore through a long formula, of which he said
he recollected very little distinctly, except a pledge of secrecy and
of fidelity to the band.

On receipt of the intelligence, a captain, with a squad of four
or five men, was immediately despatched to Diamond City, with
orders to bring the prisoner to Helena as soon as possible. The
party lost but little time in the performance of their duty, and on
the following day the chief of the Committee rode out, as previ-
ously agreed upon, in company with X (a letter of the alphabet
having singular terrors for evil-doers in Montana, being calcu-
lated to awaken the idea of crime committed and punishment to
follow, more than all the rest of the alphabet, even if the enumer-
ation were followed by the repetition of the Ten Commandments)
and meeting the guard in charge of the prisoner, they accompan-
ied them into town. Silvie was confined in the same cabin in
which John Keene passed his last night on earth. A strong guard
was detailed for the purpose of watching the prisoner, and the
Committee being summoned, the case was investigated with all
due deliberation; but the Committee were not entirely satisfied
that the evidence, though complete, was all of such a reliable
character as to justify a conviction ; and therefore, they preferred
to adjourn their inquiry, for the production of further testimony.
This was accordingly done, and the prisoner was removed to an
obscure cabin, in a more remote part of the town, where the mem-
bers of the Committee would have an opportunity of free access
to him, and might learn from his own lips what sort of a man they
had to deal with.

They were not long in arriving at a satisfactory conclusion on
this point. He at first adhered to and repeated his old story and
confession ; but gaining a little confidence, and thinking there was

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 179

not much danger to be apprehended from the action of the Com-
mittee, he at length denied every word of his former statement,
made under oath ; said it was all false ; that he knew of no such
organization as he had told of, and declared that he had been
compelled to do this for his own safety. After being cross-ques-
tioned pretty thoroughly, he told the truth, stating that he had
given a correct statement in the first place; only, instead of join-
ing the band in Virginia City, he had become acquainted with
some of the leaders, on the Columbia River, on the way up from
Portland, and that he had accompanied them to Virginia City, M.
T., traveling thither by way of Snake River. (It was on this trip
that he committed the murder before described.) This was the
fatal admission on the part of the prisoner, as it completed the
chain of evidence that linked him with the desperadoes whose
crimes have given an unenviable notoriety to the neighborhood
of that affluent of the Columbia — the dread of storm-stayed
freighters and the grave of so many victims of marauders — Snake
River,

Another meeting of the Executive Committee was called during
the day, and after due deliberation, the verdict was unanimous,
that he was a road agent, and that he should receive the just re-
ward of his crimes, in the shape of the penalty attached to the
commission of highway robbery and murder, by the citizens of
Montana. After a long discussion, it was determined that he
should be executed on the murderer's tree, in Dry Gulch, at an
hour after midnight. The prison guards were doubled, and no
person was allowed to hold converse with the prisoner, except by
permission of the officers.

The execution at night was determined upon for many suffi-
cient reasons. A few of them are here stated : It had been abun-
dantly demonstrated that but for the murder of Slater having
occurred in open day, and before the eyes of a crowd of witnesses,
Keene would have been rescued ; and the moral effect produced
by a public execution, among the hardened sinners who compose
a large part of the audience at such times, is infinitely less than
the terror to the guilty, produced by the unannounced but inevit-
able vengeance which may at any moment be visited upon their
own heads. Such a power is dreaded most by those who fear its
exercise.

The desire to die game, so common to desperadoes, frequently
robs death of half its terrors, if not of all of them, as in the case
of Boone Helm, Bunton and others. Confessions are very rarely
made at public executions in the mountains ; though scarcely ever
withheld at private ones. There are also many honest and up-

180 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

right men who have a great objection to be telegraphed over the
West as "stranglers," yet who would cheerfully sacrifice their
lives rather than by word or deed become accessory to an unjust
sentence. The main question is the guilt of the prisoner. If this
is ascertained without doubt, hour and place are mere matters of
policy. Private executions are fast superseding public ones, in
civilized communities.

There is not now — and there never has been — one upright citi-
zen in Montana, who has a particle of fear of being hanged by
the Vigilance Committee. Concerning those whose conscience
tells them that they are in danger, it is of little consequence when
or where they suffer for the outrages they have committed. One
private execution is a more dreaded and wholesome warning to
malefactors than one hundred public ones.

If it be urged that public executions are desirable from the
notoriety that is ensured to the whole circumstances, it may fairly
be answered that the action of Judge, and jury, and counsel is
equally desirable, and, indeed, infinitely preferable, when it is
effective and impartial, to any administration of justice by Vigi-
lance Committees ; but, except in the case of renowned road agents
and notorious criminals whose names are a by-word before their
arrest, or where the crime is a revolting outrage, witnessed by a
large number, the feeling of the community in a new camp is
against any punishment being given, and the knowledge of this
fact is the desperado's chief reliance for escape from the doom
he has so often dared, and has yet escaped.

When informed of his sentence the prisoner seemed little af-
fected by it, and evidently did not believe it, but regarded it as
a ruse on the part of the Committee to obtain a confession from
him. After the shades of night had settled down upon the town
of Helena, a minister was invited to take a walk with an officer
of the Vigilantes, and proceeded in his company to the cabin
where Silvie was confined, and was informed of the object in view
in requesting his attendance. He at once communicated the fact
to the culprit, who feigned a good deal of repentance, received
baptism at his own request, and appeared to pray with great fer-
vor. He seemed to think that he was cheating the Almighty him-
self, as well as duping the Vigilantes most completely.

At length the hour appointed for the execution arrived, and
the matter was arranged so that the prisoner should not know
whither he was going until he came to the fatal tree. The Com-
mittee were all out of sight, except one man, who led him by the
arm to the place of execution, conversing with him in the Ger-
man tongue, which seemed still further to assure him that it was

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 181

all a solemn farce, and that he should "come out all right;" but
when he found himself standing under the very tree on which
Keene was hanged, and beheld the dark mass closing in on all
sides, each man carrying a revolver in his hand, he began to
realize the situation, and begged most piteously for his life, offer-
ing to tell anything and everything, if they would only spare him.
Being informed that that was "played out" and that he must die,
his manner changed, and he began his confession. He stated that
he had been in the business for twelve years, and repeated the
story before related, about his being engaged in the perpetration
of a dozen murders, and the final atrocity committed by him on
Snake River. He stated that it was thought their victim was re-
turning from the mines, and that he had plenty of money, which,
on an examination of him after his death, proved to be a mistake.

The long and black catalogue of his crimes was too much for
the patience of the Vigilantes, who, though used to the confes-
sions of ordinary criminals, were unprepared to hear from a man
just baptized, such a fearful recital of disgusting enormities. They
thought that it was high time that the world should be rid of
such a monster and so signified to the chief, who seemed to be
of the same opinion, and at once gave the order to "proceed with
the execution." Seeing that his time was come, Silvie ceased his
narrative and said to the men, "Boys, don't let me hang more
than two or three days." He was told that they were in the
habit of burying such fellows as him in Montana. The word "take
hold" was given, and every man present "tailed on" to the rope
which ran over the "limb of the law." Not even the chief was
exempt, and the signal being given he was run up all standing —
the only really merciful way of hanging. A turn or two was taken
with the slack of the rope round the tree, and the end was be-
layed to a knot which projects from the trunk. This being com-
pleted, the motionless body was left suspended until life was sup-
posed to be extinct, the Vigilantes gazing on it in silence.

The two men were then detailed, and stood, with an interval
of about two feet between them, facing each other. Between
these "testers" marched every man present in single file, giving
the pass-word of the organization in a low whisper. One man
was found in the crowd who had not learned the particular "ar-
ticulate sound representing an idea." which was so necessary to
be known. He was scared very considerably when singled out
and brought before the chief; but after a few words of essential
preliminary precaution he was discharged, breathing more freely,
and smiling like the sun after an April shower, with the drops
of perspiration still on his forehead.

182 THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA

The Committee gradually dispersed, not as usually is the case,
with solemn countenances and thoughtful brows, but firmly and
cheerfully ; for each man felt that his strain on the fatal rope was
a righteous duty, and a service performed to the community. Such
an incarnate fiend, they knew, was totally unfit to live, and un-
worthy of sympathy. Neither courage, generosity, truth nor man-
hood, pleaded for mercy in his case. He lived a sordid and red-
handed robber, and he died unpitied the death of a dog.

Very little action was necessary on the part of the Vigilance
Committee to prevent any combination of the enemies of law and
order from exerting a prejudicial influence on the peace and good
order of the capital ; in fact the organization gradually ceased to
exercise its functions, and though in existence its name more
than its active exertions sufficed to preserve tranquillity. When
Chief Justice Hosmer arrived in the Territory and organized the
Territorial and County Courts he thought it his duty to refer to
the Vigilantes in his charge to the Grand Jury, and invited them
to sustain the authorities as citizens. The old guardians of the
peace of the Territory were greatly rejoiced at being released
from their onerous and responsible duties, and most cheerfully
and heartily complied with the request of the Judiciary.

For some months no action of any kind was taken by them;
but in the summer of 1865 news reached them of the burning and
sacking of Idaho City, and they were reliably informed that an
attempt would be made to burn Virginia also by desperadoes from
the West. That this was true was soon demonstrated by ocular
proof; for two attempts were made, though happily discovered
and rendered abortive, to set fire to the city. In both cases
the parties employed laid combustibles in such a manner that but
for the vigilance and promptitude of some old Vigilantes a most
destructive conflagration must have occurred in the most crowded
part of the town. In one case the heap of chips and whittled
wood a foot- in diameter had burnt so far only as to leave a ring
of the outer ends of the pile visible. In the other attempt a col-
lection of old rags was placed against the wall of an out-building
attached to the Wisconsin House, situated within the angle formed
by the junction of Idaho and Jackson streets. Had this latter at-
tempt succeeded it is impossible to conjecture the amount of
damage that must have been inflicted upon the town, for frame
buildings fifty feet high were in close proximity, and had they
once caught fire, the flames might have destroyed at least half
the business houses on Wallace, Idaho and Jackson streets.

At this time, too, it was a matter of every-day remark that
Virginia was full of lawless characters, and many of them think-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 1S3

ing that the Vigilantes were officially defunct, did not hesitate
to threaten the lives of prominent citizens, always including in

their accusations that they were strangling . This state of

things could not be permitted to last; and, as the authorities ad-
mitted that they were unable to meet the emergency, the Vigi-
lantes re-organized at once, with the consent and approbation of
almost every good and order-loving citizen in the Territory.

The effect of this movement was marvelous ; the roughs disap-
peared rapidly from the town ; but a most fearful tragedy, enacted
in Portneuf Canyon, Idaho, on the 13th of July, roused the citi-
zens almost to frenzy. The Overland coach from Virginia to Salt
Lake City was driven into an ambuscade by Frank Williams, and
though the passengers were prepared for road agents, and fired
simultaneously with their assailants, who were under cover and
stationary, yet four of them, viz., A. S. Parker, A. J. MeCausland,
David Dinan and W. L. Mers were shot dead; L. F. Carpenter
was slightly hurt in three places, and Charles Parks was appar-
ently mortally wounded. The driver was untouched, and James
Brown, a passenger, jumped into the bushes and got off unhurt.
Carpenter avoided death by feigning to be in the last extremity,
when a villain came to shoot him a second time. The gang of mur-
derers, of whom eight were present at the attack, secured a booty
of $65,000 in gold, and escaped undetected.

A party of Vigilantes started in pursuit, but effected nothing,
at the time ; and it was not till after several months, patient work
of a special detective from Montana, that guilt was brought home
to the driver, who was executed by the Denver Committee on
Cherry Creek. Eventually, it is probable that all of them will be
captured, and meet their just doom.

The last offenders who were executed by the Vigilance Commit-
tee of Virginia City were two horse thieves and confessed road
agents, named, according to their own account, John Morgan and
John Jackson alias Jones. They were, however, of the "alias"
tribe. The former was caught in the act of appropriating a horse
in one of the city corrals. He was an old offender, and on his
back were the marks of the whipping he received in Colorado for
committing an unnatural crime. He was a low, vicious ruffian.
His comrade was a much more intelligent man, and acknowledged
the justice of his sentence without any hesitation. Morgan gave
the names and signs of the gang they belonged to, of which Rat-
tlesnake Dick was the leader. Their lifeless bodies were found
hanging from a hay-frame, leaning over the corral fence at the
slaughter-house, on the branch, about half a mile from the city.
The printed manifesto of the Vigilantes was affixed to Morgan's.

184 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

clothes, with the warning words written across it, "Road Agents,
beware!"

Outrages against person and property are still perpetrated oc-
casionally, though much less frequently than is usual in settled
countries ; and it is to be hoped that regularly administered law
will, for the future, render a Vigilance Committee unnecessary.
The power behind the throne of justice stands ready in Virginia
City to back the authorities ; but nothing except grave public ne-
cessity will evoke its independent action.

The Vigilance Committee at Helena and at Diamond City, Con-
federate Gulch, were occasionally called upon to make examples
cf irreclaimable, outlawed vagrants, who having been driven from
other localities, first made their presence known in Montana by
robbery or murder ; but as the lives and career of these men were
low, obscure and brutal, the record of their atrocities and punish-
ment would be but a dreary and uninteresting detail of sordid
crime, without even the redeeming quality of courage or manhood
to relieve the narrative.

The only remarkable case was that of James Daniels, who was
arrested for killing a man named Gartley with a knife near
Helena. The quarrel arose during a game of cards. The Vigi-
lantes arrested Daniels and handed him over to the civil authori-
ties, receiving a promise that he should be fairly tried and dealt
with according to law. In view of alleged extenuating circum-
stances, the jury found a verdict of murder in the second degree
(manslaughter). For this crime Daniels was sentenced to three
years' incarceration in the Territorial prison by the Judge of the
United States Court, who reminded the prisoner of the extreme
lightness of the penalty as compared with that usually affixed
to the crime of manslaughter by the States and Territories of
the West. After a few weeks' imprisonment the culprit, who had
threatened the lives of the witnesses for the prosecution during
the trial, was set tit liberty by a reprieve of the Executive, made
"under a probably honest, but entirely erroneous construction of
the law, which vests the pardoning power in the President only.
This action was taken on the petition of thirty-two respectable
citizens of Helena. Daniels returned at once to the scene of his
crime, and renewed his threats against the witnesses on his way
thither. These circumstances coming to the ears of some of the
Vigilantes, he was arrested and hanged the same iiight.

The wife of Gartley died of a broken heart when she heard of
the murder of her husband. Previous to the prisoner leaving Vir-
ginia for Helena, Judge L. E. Munson went to the capital ex-
pressly for the purpose of requesting the annulling of the re-
prieve ; but this being refused, he ordered the re-arrest, and the

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 185

Sheriff having reported the fugitive's escape beyond his precinct,
the Judge returned to Helena with the order of the Acting
Marshal in his pocket, authorizing his Deputy to re-arrest Daniels.
Before he reached town Daniels was hanged.

That Daniels morally deserved the punishment he received
there can be no doubt. That legally speaking he should have been
unmolested is equally clear ; but when escaped murderers utter
threats of murder against peaceable citizens mountain law is apt
to be administered without much regard to technicalities, and
when a man says he is going to kill any one, in a mining country,
it is understood that he means what he says, and must abide the
consequences. Two human beings had fallen victims to his thirst
of blood — the husband and the wife. Three more were threat-
ened ; but the action of the Vigilantes prevented the commission
of the contemplated atrocities. To have waited for the consum-
mation of his avowed purpose, after what he had done before,
would have been shutting the stable door after the steed was
stolen. The politic and the proper course would have been to ar-
rest him and hold him for the action of the authorities.

Biographical Notices of the Leading Road Agents of Plummer's

Band and Others.

CHAPTER XXX.
Henry Plummer.

The following brief sketches of the career of crime which term-
inated so fatally for the members of the road agent band, are in-
troduced for the purpose of showing that they were nearly all
veterans in crime before they reached Montana ; and that their
organization in this Territory was merely the culminating of a
series of high-handed outrages against the laws of God and man.

Henry Plummer, the chief of the road agent band, the narrative
of whose deeds of blood has formed the ground-work of this his-
tory, emigrated to California in 1852. The most contradictory
accounts of his place of birth and the scene of his early days are
afloat ; upwards of twenty different versions have been recom-
mended to the author of this work, each claiming to be the only
true one. The most probable is that he came to the West from
Wisconsin. Many believe he was from Boston, originally ; others
declare that he was an Englishman by birth, and came to Amer-
ica when quite young. Be this as it may, it is certain, according
to the testimony of one of his partners in business, that in

186 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

company with Henry Hyer, he opened the "Empire Bakery,"
in Nevada City, California, in the year 1853.

Plummer was a man of most insinuating address and gentle-
manly manners under ordinary circumstances, and had the art
of ingratiating himself with men and even with ladies and women
of all conditions. Wherever he dwelt, victims and mistresses of
this wily seducer were to be found. It was only when excited
by passion that his savage instincts got the better of him and
that he appeared — in his true colors — a very demon. In 1856 or
1857, he was elected Marshal of the city of Nevada, and had many
enthusiastic friends. He was re-elected and received the nomina-
tion of the Democratic party for the Assembly near the close of
his term of office; but as he raised a great commotion by his
boisterous demeanor, caused by his success they "threw off on
him" and elected another man.

Before the expiration of his official year, he murdered a Ger-
man named Vedder, with whose wife he had an intrigue. He
was one day prosecuting his illicit amours, when Vedder came
home, and on hearing his footsteps, he went out and ordered him
back. As the unfortunate man continued his approach, he shot
him dead. For this offense, Plummer was arrested and tried, first
in Nevada, where he was convicted and sentenced to ten years
in the penitentiary ; and second, in Yuba County, on a re-hearing
with a change of venue. Here the verdict was confirmed and
he was sent to prison.

After several months' confinement his friends petitioned for
his release on the alleged ground that he was consumptive, and
he was discharged with a pardon signed by Governor John P.
Weller. He then returned to Nevada, and joined again with
Hyer & Co. in the "Lafayette Bakery."

He soon made a bargain with a man named Thompson, that
the latter should run for the office of City Marshal, and if suc-
cessful, that he should resign in Plummer 's favor. The arrange-
ment became public and Thompson was defeated.

Shortly after this, Plummer got into a difficulty in a house
of ill-fame with a man from San Juan, and struck him heavily
on the head with his pistol. The poor fellow recoverd, appar-
ently, but died about a year and a half afterward from the effect
of the blow according to the testimony of the physician.

Plummer went away for a few days, and when the man recov-
ered he returned, and walked linked with him through the streets.
Plummer went over to Washoe and joining a gang of road agents,
he was present at the attack on W^ells & Fargo 's bullion express.
He leveled his piece at the driver, but the barrels fell off the
stock, the key being out, and the driver lashing his horses into
full speed escaped.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 187

He stood his trial for this, and for want of legal proof was ac-
quitted. He then returned to Nevada City.

His next "difficulty" occurred in another brothel where he
lived with a young woman as his mistress, and quarreled with a
man named Eyder, who kept a prostitute in the same dwelling.
This victim he killed with a revolver. He was quickly arrested
and lodged in the county jail of Nevada. It is more than sup-
posed that he bribed his jailer to assist him in breaking jail. Hith-
erto, he had tried force ; but in this case fraud succeeded. He
walked out in open day. The man in charge, who relieved an-
other who had gone to his breakfast, declared that he could not
stop him for he had a loaded pistol in each hand when he escaped.

The next news was that a desperado named Mayfield had killed
Sheriff Blackburn, whom he had dared to arrest him, by stabbing
him to the heart with his knife. Of course Mayfield was immedi-
ately taken into custody, and Plummer, who had lain concealed
for some time, assisted him to get out of jail, and the two started
for Oregon in company. To prevent pursuit, he sent word to the
California papers that he and his comrade had been hanged in
Washington Territory, hy the citizens, for the murder of two men.
All that he accomplished in Walla Walla was the seduction of a
man's wife. He joined himself in Idaho to Talbert, alias Cherokee
Bob, who was killed at Florence, on account of his connection
with this seduction. Plummer stole a horse and went on the
road. In a short time he appeared in Lewiston, and after a week's
stay he proceeded with a man named Ridgley, to Orofino, where
he and his party signalized their arrival by the murder of the
owner of the dancing saloon during a quarrel. The desperado
chief then started for the Missouri, with the intention of making
a trip to the States. The remainder of his career has been al-
ready narrated, and surely it must be admitted that this "per-
fect gentleman" had labored hard for the death on the gallows,
which he received at Bannack, on the 10th of January, 1864.

As one instance of the many little incidents that so often change
a man's destiny, it should be related that when Plummer sold out
of the United States Bakery to Louis Dreifus, he had plenty of
money and started for San Francisco, intending to return to the
East. It is supposed that his infatuation for a Mexican courtesan
induced him to forego his design and return to Nevada City. But,
for this trifling interruption, he might never have seen Montana,
or died a felon's death. The mission of Deliah is generally the
same, whether her abode is the vale of Sorek or the Rocky Moun-
tains.

188 THE VIGILANTES OF 3I0NTANA

CHAPTER XXXI.
Boone Helm.

This savage and defiant marauder, who died with profanity,
blasphemy, ribaldry and treason on his lips, came to the West
from Missouri in the spring of 1850. He separated from his wife,
by whom he had one little girl, and left his home at Log Branch,
Monroe County, having first packed up all his clothes for the
journey. He went towards Paris, and, on his road thither, called
on Littlebury Shoot, for the purpose of inducing him to go with
him, in which he succeeded.

Boone was, at this time, a wild and reckless character, when
inflamed by liquor, to the immoderate use of which he was much
addicted. He sometimes broke out on a spree, and would ride his
horse up the steps and into the Court House. Having arrived at
Paris, Boone tried hard to persuade Shoot to accompany him to
Texas, and it is believed that he obtained some promise from
him to that effect, given to pacify him, he being drunk at the
time, for Shoot immediately afterward returned home.

About nine p. m. Boone came from town to Shoot's house and
woke him up out of bed. The unfortunate man went out in his
shirt and drawers to speak with him, and as he was mounted, he
stepped on to a stile-block, placing his hand on his shoulder, con-
versing with him in a friendly manner for a few minutes. Sud-
denly, and without any warning of his intention, Boone drew his
knife and stabbed Shoot to the heart. He fell instantly, and died
before he could be carried into the house. He spoke only once,
requesting to see his wife. The murderer rode off at full speed.
It seems that Boone had quarreled with his wife, and was enraged
with Shoot for not going with him to Texas, and that in revenge
for his disappointment he committed the murder. Immediate pur-
suit was made after the assassin.

Mr. William Shoot, the brother of the deceased, was at that
time living in the town of Hannibal, and immediately on receipt
of tlie news he started in pursuit of the criminal. Boone Helm
had, however, forty miles start of him ; but such good speed did
the avenger make, that pursuer and pursued crossed Grand
Prairie together, Shoot arriving at Roachport and Boone Helm
at Booneville, within the space of a few hours. Telegrams de-
scriptive of the fugitive were sent in all directions, and were
altered as soon as it was discovered that the murderer had
changed his clothes. Shoot returned to Paris, and being deter-
mined that Helm should not escape, he bought tAvo horses and
hired Joel Moppen and Samuel Querry to follow him, which com-
mission they faithfully executed, coming up with their man in the
Indian Territory. They employed an Indian and a Deputy Sheriff

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 189

to take him, which they accordingly did. When ordered to sur-
render, he made an effort to get at his knife ; but when the Sheriff
threatened to shoot him dead if he moved, he submitted. He was
brought back, and by means of the ingenuity of his lawyers, he
succeeded in obtaining a postponement of his trial. He then ap-
plied for a change of venue to a remote county, and at the next
hearing the State was obliged to seek a postponement, on the
ground of the absence of material witnesses. He shortly after
appeared before a Judge newly appointed, and having procured
testimony that his trial had been three times postponed, he was
set free, under the laws of the State.

He came to California and joined himself to the confraternity
of iniquity that then ruled the country. He either killed or as-
sisted at the killing of nearly a dozen men in the brawls so com-
mon at that time in the Western country. In Florence, Idaho Ter-
ritory, he killed a German called Dutch Fred, in the winter of
1861-2. The victim had given him no provocation whatever; it
was a mere drunken spree and ''shooting scrape."

He also broke jail in Oregon, a squaw with whom he lived fur-
nishing him with a file for that purpose. He escaped to Carriboo.
He was brought back; but the main witnesses were away when
the trial took place, and the civil authorities were suspected of
having substantial reasons for letting him escape. He was con-
sidered a prominent desperado, and was never known to follow
any trade for a living, except that of road agent, in which he
was thoroughly versed.

Helm was a man of medium size, and about forty years old;
hard-featured, and not intelligent looking. It was believed at
Florence that a relative, known as "Old Tex," furnished money to
clear him from the meshes of the law, and to send him to this
country. If ever a desperado was all guilt and without a single
redeeming feature in his character, Boone Helm was the man.

His last words were: "Kick away, old Jack; I'll be in h 1

with you in ten minutes. Every man for his principles — hurrah
for Jeff. Davis! let her rip."

George Ives.

We have only a few words to add to the account already given
of this celebrated robber and murderer. He was raised at Ives'
Grove, Racine County, Wisconsin, and was a member of a highly
respectable family. It seems that life in the wild West gradually
dulled his moral perceptions ; for he entered, gradually, upon the
career of crime which ended at Nevada, M. T. His mother for a
long time believed the account that he sent to her, about his mur-
der by the hands of Indians, and which he wrote himself. It is

190 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

reported that sorrow and death have been busy among his rela-
tives ever since.

Bill Bunton

followed gambling as his regular calling, at Lewiston, Idaho, in
the winter of 1861-2. In the summer of 1862, he shot a man named
Daniel Cagwell, without provocation. There was a general fracas
ai a ball, held on Copyeye Creek, near Walla Walla. Bunton
was arrested, but made his escape from the officer, by jumping
en a fast horse and riding off at full speed.

The first that was afterward heard of him was that he turned
up in this country. In person, Bunton was a large, good-looking
man, about thirty years of age, and rather intelligent. He had
been for some years on the Pacific coast, where he had lived as a
sporting man and saloon keeper. He was absolutely fearless, but
was still addicted to petty theft, as well as to the greater enormi-
ties of road agency and murder. His dying request, it will be
remembered, was for a mountain to jump off, and his last words,
as he jumped from the board, "Here goes it."

Of Johnny Cooper we have already spoken. A word is neces-
sary concerning the history of

Aleck Carter,

which forms a strong contrast to the others. It appears that
for several years this eminent member of Plummer's band bore
an excellent character in the West. He was a native of Ohio,
but followed the trade of a packer in California and Oregon,
maintaining a reputation for honor and honesty of the highest
kind. Large sums of money were frequently entrusted to his care,
for which he accounted to the entire satisfaction of his employers.
He left the ' ' other side ' ' with an unstained reputation ; but fall-
ing into evil company in Montana, he threw off all recollections
of better days, and was one of the leading spirits of the gang of
marauders that infested this Territory. It is sad to think that
such a man should have ended his life as a felon, righteously
doomed to death on the gallows.

Cyrus Skinner

vras a saloon-keeper in Idaho, and always bore a bad character.
His reputation for dishonesty was well known, and in this coun-
try he was a bloodthirsty and malignant outlaw, without a re-
deeming quality. He was the main plotter of Magruder's murder.

Bill Hunter.

Probably not one of those who died for their connection with
the road agent band was more lamented than Hunter. His life

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 191

was an alternation of hard, honest work, and gambling. That
he robbed and assisted to murder a Morman, and that he was a
member of the gang, there can be no doubt ; but it is certain that
this was generally unknown, and his usual conduct was that of
a kind-hearted man. He had many friends, and some of them
still cherish his memory. He confessed his connection with the
band, and the justness of his sentence just before his death. His
escape from Virginia, through the pickets placed on the night of
the 9th of January, 1864, was connived at by some of the Vigi-
lantes, who could not be made to believe that he was guilty of
the crimes laid to his charge.

Stephen Marshland

was a graduate of a college in the States; and, though a road
agent and thief, yet he never committed murder, and was averse
to shedding blood. He was wounded in attacking Forbes' train,
and his feet were so far mortified by frost when he was captured
that the scent attracted the wolves, and the body had to be
watched all night.

Concerning the rest of the gang nearly all that is known has
already been related. They were, without exception, old offen-
ders from the Pacific coast. The "bunch" on Ned Ray's foot was
caused by a wound from a shot fired at him when escaping from
the penitentiary at St. Quentin, California. This he told him-
self , at Bannack.

James Daniels.

This criminal, the last executed by the Vigilantes, it should be
generally understood, murdered a Frenchman in Tuolumne
County, California, and chased another with a bowie-knife till his
strength gave out. In Helena he killed Gartley, whose wife died
of a broken heart at the news; threatened the lives of the wit-
nesses for the prosecution, and had drawn his knife, and con-
cealed it in his sleeve, with the intent of stabbing Hugh O'Neil
in the back, after the fight between Orem and Marley at the
Challenge Saloon. He said he "would cut the heart out of the

!" when an acquaintance who was watching him caught hold

of him and told him he was in the wrong crowd to do that. Daniels
renewed his threats when liberated, and was hanged ; not because
he was pardoned, but because he was unfit to live in the com-
munity.

192 THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Conclusion.

"All's well that ends well," says the proverb. Peace, order
and prosperity are the results of the conduct of the Vigilantes;
and, in taking leave of the reader, the author would commend to
the sound sense of the community the propriety of maintaining-
in readiness for efficient action if needed, the only organization
able to cope with the rampant lawlessness which will always be
found in greater or less amount in mining camps.

At the same time let the advice be well understood before it is
either commented upon or followed. Readiness is one thing; in-
termeddling is another. Only on occasions of grave necessity
should the Vigilantes let their power be known. Let the civil
authority, as it increases in strength, gradually arrogate to itself
the exclusive punishment of crime. This is what is needed, and
what every good citizen must desire ; but let the Vigilantes, with
bright arms and renewed ammunition, stand ready to back the
law ; and to bulwark the Territory against all disturbers of its
peace, when too strong for legal repression, and when it fails or
is unable to meet the emergency of the hour. Peace and justice
we must have, and it is what the citizens will have in this com-
munity ; through the courts if possible ; but peace and justice are
rights, and courts are only means to an end, admittedly the very
best and most desirable means ; and if they fail, the people, the
republic that created them, can do their work for them. Above
all things, let the resistless authority of te Vigilantes, whose
power reaches from end to end of Montana, be never exerted ex-
cept as the result of careful deliberation, scrupulous examination
of fair evidence, and the call of imperative Necessity ; which, as
she knows no law, must judge without it, taking Justice for her
counsellor and guide.

Less than three years ago, this home of well-ordered industry,
progress and social order, was a den of cut-throats and murderers.
Who has affected the change? The Vigilantes; and there is noth-
ing on their record for which an apology is either necessary or
expedient. Look at Montana, that has a committee ; and turn to
Idaho, that has none. Our own peaceful current of Territorial
lives run smoothlj^ and more placidly, indeed, than the Eastern
states today ; but in Idaho, one of their own papers lately asserted
that in one county sixty homicides had been committed, without
a conviction; and another declares that the cemeteries are full
of the corpses of veterans in crime and their victims.

Leave us the power of the people as a last resort ; and, where
governments break down, the citizens will save the State. No
man need be ashamed of his connection with the Virginia Vigi-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 193

lantes. Look at their record and say if it is not a proud one. It
has been marvelous that politics have never intruded into the
magic circle; yet so it is, has been, and probably will be. Men
of all ranks, ages, nations, creeds and politics are among them;
and all moves like a clock, as can be seen on the first alarm. Forti-
fied in the right, and acting in good conscience, they are "just,
and fear not." Their numbers are great; in fact, it is stated that
few good men are not in their ranks, and the presence of the
most respectable citizens make their deliberation calm, and the
result impartially just.

In presenting this work to the people, the author knows full
well that the great amount of labor bestowed upon it is no recom-
mendation of its excellence to a public that judges of results and
not of processes; but one thing is sure; so far as extended re-
search and a desire to tell the truth can affect the credibility
of such a narrative, this history has been indited subject to both
these regulations, since the pen of the writer gave the first chap-
ter to the public.

If it shall serve to amuse a dull hour, or to inform the residents
of the Eastern states and of other lands of the manners and habits
of the mountaineers, and of the life of danger and excitement that
the miners in new countries have to lead before peace and order
are settled on an enduring foundation — the author is satisfied.
If in any case his readers are misinformed, it is because he has
been himself deceived.

As a literary production he will be rejoiced to receive the entire
silence of critics as his best reward. He knows full well what
criticism it deserves, and is only anxious to escape unnoticed. And
now, throwing down his pencil, he heaves a sigh of relief, thank-
fully murmuring, "Well, it is done at last."

INTRODUCTORY

To the people of Southern Montana, the cradle of our State,
to the men and women who bore all of the early hardships,
who never flinched when a duty was to be performed; who
drove the Red man from his hunting grounds, and the robbers
from their roosts, I dedicate this short history of those early
days.

I want to thank Mr. Charles Beehrer, for throwing light
on men and things never before published; Judge H. M. Lott,
John F. Bishop, A. F. Grater, John C. Innes, James Kirkpatriek
and W. B. Carter for early day stories ; F. L. Graves Jr., for pic-
tures ; George R. Metlen for kindly help ; Jay Baker and Charlie
Conger for records ; Mrs. Walter Scott of Armstead for informa-
tion; Ed Hart of Virginia City, for valuable material which
he alone could furnish; and particularly Miss Myrl Erwin for
assisting in gathering information and preparing my manuscript
for the printer; last, but not least, the many boys of Beaverhead
who have made it possible by their words of encouragement and
financial assistance, especially T. J. Murray, Harry Gilbert and
Gov. B. F. White for the money with which to carry the work
to a successful termination.

Friendship is better than a bank because it purchases many
moments of contentment unknown to him with gold alone.

AL NOYES.

HISTORY OF SOUTHERN MONTANA

CHAPTER I.

Early History.

1 would not attempt to write the history of Montana. History
is simply his-story, and from personal experience, I know that
he IS a composite character that hears with many ears, and sees
with imperfect vision, the multitude of things that have taken
place during the fleeting years of his existence.

Several people have given to the world a story of Montana.
Some of these so-called historians have never breathed one
breath of the pure air of our mountains and plains, nor gazed
with rapture on the wonderful mountain peaks, that lift their
heads toward the sun, bidding it wreath them with hues so
glorious that they become wonderful pictures — pictures that no
painter in his right mind, would try to produce with any ac-
curacy. They have never gazed on the beautiful lakes that lie
embedded in mountain gorge nor listened to the song of the run-
ning stream, as it rushes gladly to join the river that is soon to
mingle with the "Father of Waters," on its way to the great salt
sea. Much has been of such a nature, that it is contradicted by
those who claim to know the facts. Much of it is true, and no
fault can be found, other than that there was not enough detail
to satisfy the minds of those who were more exacting.

In my work, I shall try to give as many facts of actual
things as have come to my knowledge, either by an examina-
tion of old records, or from personal talks with some of the men
who helped to make the history of Southern Montana. I want
to place before the people many things never before published;
1 Avant to give men credit for having helped in various ways, in
the up-building of the State so many of us have learned to love,
and into whose care we desire to entrust all that is left of us,
when we cease to enjoy its many blessings.

That I will leave out much that some of you will want to know,
goes without saying, because we only choose those things that
appeal to us, personally, as being apt to be of worth to others.
Another thing, we cannot make this work too long, because our
main object is to republish the book of Thomas Dimsdale, the
first man to write the story of the thrilling days of 1863 and 1864.

198 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

MONTANA.

The name is of Latin origin, meaning mountainous. The La
Verendrye were probably the first white men to see the Rocky
Mountains in 1743, and no other known whites came until the
Lewis & Clark expeditions in 1805.

I am not attempting to write the story of the first settlement
of the state, as that can be found in the several works already
before the public.

After the Mormons had setled Utah, and people had begun to
cross the plains for the mines in California, some daring whites
had settled in the Bitter Root, and near where Missoula is now.
That the first man to take a wagon through Southern Montana
was Emmanuel Martin, a Mexican, who, according to Judge
Frank H. Woody, did so in the early fifties, there can be no
doubt.

There is no story of anyone to tell us who came to look on this
section between 1806 and 1850. Trappers may have hunted on
the extreme head waters of the Missouri, and have left no sign.

The lone sentinel that has stood guard over this gateway to a
new commonwealth, that saw the first white men as they pushed
and hauled their boats up the Jefferson and Beaverhead; that
saw them when they disappeared over the main range into Idaho,
and gazed on the fragment that returned via the Big Hole, after
having seen the glories of the Pacific, holds her secret as did the
Sphinx of old.

The same sentinel saw the trapper, if he came at all ; saw Mar-
tin as he struggled with his wagon over a new roadway ; she saw
Captain Mullan in 1853, as he wended his way on horseback down
the lonely banks of the Grasshopper, until he, too, disappeared
over the mountain pass at Monida. She saw that other party
that found the first gold on the Big Hole, in 1862 and watched
in breathless awe, John White dig the first pan of dirt that was
to change conditions, and furnish men to scratch her hide and
dig for wealth in her own vitals. Yes, only a sentinel knowing,
but not divulging, stands old Baldy, queen of a Montana range.

That gold was found in Gold Creek is no part of this tale.
What we desire to learn is who were the men that found gold in
Old Beaverhead, the cradle of our state.

In "The Story of Ajax," I saw, in my imagination, the pros-
pectors as they wended their way up Dehlonaga, and came to the
headwaters of the Ruby. As Granville Stuart was considered an
authority, I gave his version (with that of Lou Smith, also). As
to the parties who were fortunate enough to find the first gold in
paying quantities, Granville said Jack Slack and party. This has

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THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 199

left the wrong impression on the pages of early Montana history,
and I am only too glad to be the one to rectify it.

About the 9th day of July, 1862, M. H. Lott, Hiram Conley and
the Woods Brothers, followed up the North Fork of the Salmon
river, to the head of the main divide between Idaho and Montana
and on the 10th, they found gold on Ruby, or Pioneer Creek.
Some of them stayed to open the ground, while the remainder left
for Old Fort Lemhi to get their teams, which had been left there
while they went out on their prospecting trip. Judge Lott was
one of them that returned for the teams.

You must remember that there were no roads in those days
over the nearest trail that would take them back through the
Grasshopper, into the Big Hole prairie, where they would have a
possible chance of geting their wagons to the mines. The only
way to keep their wagons from upsetting was to place both hind
wheels on the same side of the wagon. This was done, and they
succeeded in getting up the hill. They arrived safely at the new
fina, and at once put up a saw pit, and Lott and Dave Dunkle-
burg proceeded to make the first lumber of Beaverhead County.
On the 16th, they had sluice boxes set and were washing out gold.
Lott believes these to have been the first sluice boxes. Granville
Stuart claims that his party began in May, two months before.
Judge Lott says he will not quarrel over this matter, because he
wishes the honor to fall where due.

Lott and Duukleburg continued to saw for the trade, and sold
at 30c per foot, and made $30,00 each per day, in this very, very
trying occupation — making lumber with a whip saw. Judge said
that Dave took the under side.

The miners were taking out from $25.00 to $75.00 per day, per
company of eight men. Only a short time after this discovery,
others came and took up claims near them. Unfortunately, for
the first men, they did not find the richest ground. There was at
no time many men in Pioneer Basin. (See Judge Lett's story). It
was no secret that Lott's party had found pay dirt. John White,
the man who found White's bar on Grasshopper, was hunting for
Lott when he, on July 28th, panned the first dirt that was actual-
ly to change the conditions, and allow white men to take the place
once only occupied by the Indians. As White's story has been
told by Dimsdale and Langford, I shall not comment on it, or
try to throw any light on it. I shall, however, give a copy of the
laws that were adopted by the miners' meeting, for their guid-
ance, to show that their desire was to live with some assurance
of peaceable settlements of troubles that might arise.

The news that diggings had been discovered on the Grassho]

li'''^^

per, soon was wafted by the four winds of heaven, in every 6^^- ^a.

to l?^^f

200 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

tion, and men, wlio had Florence in view, turned from that trail
and came to cast their lots with the others in this new Eldorado.
Stapleton had come and found a bar that was to be known by his
name.

Dr. Glick had left Colorado to mingle with the adventurous
spirits of this section, and men, who were to fill big spaces in
state and nation, had gathered, before a year had gone by at
Bannack.

No matter that Benetsee and the Stuarts had found gold in
Deer Lodge Valley, the richer pay on Willard's Creek weaned
them from their first love, and forced them, too, to take their
abode in what was to become Montana's first capital. There
were many adventurous persons in that crowd that were to lay a
foundation for stories that, though, true, would have better never
been written.

That men will gather where gold is found, we know full well,
and as men are the makers of historj^, they must be made of pecu-
liar stuff. It would have added little to the literature of this
state, if all of these men had been good. The element that came
to the gold mines in those days, that had no regard for the rights
of others, has made the first settlement of Montana one of deep
interest to the historian. I do not care to dwell long on them,
as their lives have been well covered by Dimsdale and Langford.
My idea is to record some of the acts of men who came here —
really for gold — but to live to build up a commonwealth, of
which we are not ashamed. Soon after the gold excitement, we
find that men must turn their attentions to other matters. Matters
that had connection with, and would help to further the gold
hunter, to make a success. Mines cannot be conducted to any
great extent, with the gold pan, or even the rocker. Ditches, for
ground sluicing, must be dug, and we find that it does not take
long for these men to organize into companies in order to fetch
the water to the claim.

CHAPTER II.

The First Charter.
Harry Phleger got busy mighty early in the game, as we find
that, "We, the undersigned, miners of the district Northwest on
Grasshopper Creek, do hereby grant unto Harry Phleger, of the
same place the full and exclusive privilege of running a ditch
from a point commencing two miles above the upper end of the
canyon, and running on the south side of Grasshopper Creek
down to the south side of Grasshopper Creek, down to the east or
lower line of district, for the purpose of supplying the miners of
said district with water for mining purposes.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 201

The said Phleger may also cany water from said ditch across
the Grasshopper Creek at any point he may think proper, for the
purpose of supplying miners who may desire water. Provided
thai the said Phleger shall use reasonable dispatch and bring in
water and complete said ditch, as soon as practicable.

This grant or charter to take effect from the 30th day of
August, 1862, at which time said ditch was marked out, and
staked by said Phleger.

Recorded September 23rd, 1862.

J. HURST, Recorder.

Per A. STANLEY.

When you take into consideration that gold had only been dis-
covered Jul}" 28th, the above instrument shows that people had
gathered in Bannack to such an extent that they had had time
to organize into a little government, which was a true Democracy.
The laws that governed those people at that particular time, were
founded on common sense, and free from technicality. No lawyer
was allowed to participate in the settlement of a dispute. Phleger,
for some reason, sold on September 28th, one-tenth interest in
above ditch, to Joseph Clark for $100,00; to George Copley,
October 9th, two-tenths ; and to McLean and Stapleton one-tenth,
November 30th, 1862. This was no doubt done in order to get
these men to help push the work. We find no record as to when
this ditch was finished. We do know however, that it was not
the first as, a cording to Augustus F. Graeter,* A. F. Greater, A.
J. Smith and George Copley took out the first mininsr ditch at
Bannack. This ditch was taken out of Sage Brush Creek, and
came to Yankee Flat, the water having been turned from Buffalo
Creek into Sage Creek.

This ditch was brought in for ground that these men had on
the bar south of the flat. When the water was turned in, it came
to a point on the hill near Bannack in good shape, but from there
on the ditch was found to be up grade, and the water got sore —
at any rate, it refused to run up hill.

W. C. Rheim drew what was probably the first cartoon in Mon-
tana— a large pump, with George Copley as the motive power,
trying to force water up hill.

!<■ was really no laughing matter, a mistake of this kind, as
everythini? Avas hijrh in those days, and though a man was doing
his work, the expenses were of some magnitude.

The names of the miners that left an impress on the pq^es of
that earlv historv should not be fors-otten. That John White dis-
covered the gold on Grasshopper, there is no doubt, but the first
man t'^ pan out one dollar was Charlie Reville, No. 33, above disc.

* Graeter is mistaken in this matter. James H. Morley had his ditch
built first.

202 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

He used the lid of a camp kettle for his pan. William Still was
also a character in this party. "Still" was a nickname given him
because he was so quiet. This name hung to him so well that
deeds were made out to him in that way. E. D. Leavitt, 35, above,
August 30th, 1862. On the old records, of White's District, we
find the following : John White has recorded one discovery claim,
known as the first discovery on Grasshopper Creek. Said claim
is situated at a point known as Cedar Tree Point. August 30th,
1862. Discovered July 28.

R. T. HARRIS, Recorder.

The first deed in Southern Montana was made on August 30th,
1862, when H. C. Lynch sold to John White, the discoverer of the
gulch. Claim No. 44 above discovery for $10.00 — the very day
when it was recorded. Different locations were known by the
name of lucky finder. Jimmie's Bar was discovered by James
Griffeths, or Adobe Jim, because he used to make adobe brick. It
was one of the best known on the Creek, and some of the men
known to later Montana, and especially Beaverhead County, had
claims there.

William L. Farlin, who later was to put Butte on the map, had
No. 12 below discovery, October 23rd, 1862. John C. Innes, still
identified with Bannack, also had a claim. Judge M. H. Lott was
on this bar.

Areighi's Bar was discovered by John Areighi, William Roe
and Jim Harby, September 16th, 1862.

Geary discovered his claim early iu August. A. F. Graeter took
19 below, September 1st, 1862. Barney Hughes recorded No. 6,
below on Geary's Bar, October 14, 1862, and George Orr had No.
2 above.

I find that one of the first purchases by a woman, of a mining
claim, was when A. J. Smith and A. Stanley sold No. 17, below
discovery on Geary's Bar, to Annette Stanley, for $20.00.

Wash. Stapleton discovered the bar that was to bear his name,
August 23rd, 1862. This bar was on the south side of Grasshop-
per, just across the creek from the present town of Bannack.

Con Kohrs had 45 above, October 24th, 1862.

N. P. Langford 39 above, October 27th, 1862.

R. C. Knox, 22 above, October 25th, 1862.

Ase Stanley, 61 above, October 24th, 1862.

Henry Zollor, 62 above, November 1st, 1862.

These men were to make history for Montana. Kohrs was to
become identified as a big stock grower, who was to own the
famous Johnnie Grant ranch, near what afterwards was to be-
come Deer Lodge, whose blooded cattle and horses were to be
known all over the state, and he was also to become instrumental.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 203

with his half brother, John Bielenberg, in erecting, 1914, a beauti-
ful buildiag for the Y. M, C. A. in Helena.

Langford was to record in the "Vigilantes Days and Ways,"
some of the most thrilling episodes of a time, that was the wildest
and most peculiar in the up-building of the west.

Judge Knox was to become a Probate Judge in Butte years
after. Ase Stanley was to become a merchant, and Henry Zollor
was to be the first Treasurer of Beaverhead County, and probably
the first in the state. Yes, those men of Bannack were making
history. Everyday they were making interesting reading.

CHAPTER III.
Lumber.

The first lumber to be cut was in Lumber Gulch, that heads up
near Blue Wing (so named for a quartz mine afterwards dis-
covered), and comes into the Grasshopper between Bannack and
Marj'-sville. This was cut by a man named Oris — a Dane or
Swede. It seems a peculiar thing that on the 13th day of No-
vember, 1862, the Pioneer Milling and Mining Company located
Godfrey's Canyon, and R. C. Knox, the Point of Rocks, on Grass-
hopper, calling it Split Rock Mill Site. It also seems that William
Sturgis had located the Point of Rocks three days before Knox,
and we also find that Sturgis did not build the mill, but that John
Carrico and John Scudder did, as there is a mortgage on record
when Sturgis gave a mortgage deed to Carrico and Scudder, and
describes it as a certain mill that he had purchased from said
Carrico and Scudder. There can be no doubt but what Langford,
Godfrey and Con Bray — the Pioneer Milling Company — got their
mill up first, as lumber was hauled from Bannack to Virginia the
next year. Sturgis' mill was in use on the creek after the Godfrey
mill was dismantled. It consisted of an upright saw, that was not
very rapid in its travels — going up one day and probably return-
ing the next. Book B. Bannack Dist., page 75.

First Timber Reserved by William Sturgfis.

The owners of the Rock Point Mill, claim for the use of said
mill the timber which is on the following described tract of land :
Commencing at a stake on the north side of a small gulch, or
ravine, running a south course across said gulch to a stake near
the divide, or top of first slope, thence westerly, about two miles
to stake, thence north one mile to a stake, thence east to place of
beginning ; said gulch comes out of the West mountain about one
mile north of the Pioneer Gulch. The owners of the Rock Point

■20i THE VIGILANTES OF AlONTANA

Mill, also claim the exclusive right to a road, which they are mak-
ing up said gulch. October 10, 1863.

WILLIAM STURGIS.

There is no man alive, today, who can tell who built the first
house on Grasshopper, John C. Innes and Augustus F. Graeter,
men that were there early in '62 cannot tell. It was several
miles below the town of Bannack, where White found gold, and
below a canyon that was impassable for wagons. W^hen Bannack
was located, owing to the rich bar found by Wash. Stapleton,
there was a bar on the north side of the creek, that was the result
of the material washed out of what was after to become Hang
Man's Gulch. On the south side of the stream was a considerable
flat, where most of the people camped, called later, Yankee Flat.
This was to become the place where the town was to begin, but
which, owing to the rich bars that were later to be found on that
side, to become abandoned, as the tailings covered it.

The Salt Lake road came down the hill that was just west of
this flat, and continued to be the main thoroughfare for years,
until it , too, was to be washed down by Smith and Graeter, with
their big ditch from Horse Prairie.

People were too busy trying to make money to think of build-
ing houses, because, as Mr. John Innes said, "I came to Bannack
on September 8th, 1862, with Woodmansee Brothers' train, ten
teams loaded with supplies. There was no house in Bannack.
Neil Howie was with our party. ' '

As soon as it began to turn cold, all got busy, and just who was
fortunate enough to get under a roof first, no one can tell. In
building their houses, they would take any land not before pre-
empted, and describe it from some natural object, or from some
claim already taken. As for example, "Conrad Kohrs claimed
for building purposes 50 feet front, 150 deep, on the south side of
Mam Street, opposite to Crawford's (this was Hank) lot, Bannack
City, October 22nd. 1862.

Henry Plummer bought. May 23rd, 1863, of Aug. V. Allen, lot
No. 10, on Second Cross Street, in Bannack City, consideration
$25.00. In this way Bannack began to grow, until October 6th,
1862, when a Townsite Company was formed by AVilliam Clancey,
Henry Phleger, C. W. Howard, Ivan B. Moore, G. AV. Stapleton,
J. Russell, Samuel McLean, Joseph Hurst. William Gibson. E. T).
Leavitt, J. W. Geary, N. W. Burns, W. H. Bell, F. R. Madison, W.
C. Rheem, A. Hellman. George Gibson, Asel Stanlej^ and A. J.
Thomas, described as f oIIoavs, to-wit :

Commencing at a stake situated about one-half mile up Grass-
hopper Creek, and on the south bank from the flaar staff, beinor at
the south end of Happy Valley; thence running three-quarter

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 205

miles southerly to a stake; thence westerly at right angles one
and une-half miles to a stake ; thence northerly at right angles one
and one-half miles to a stake ; thence at right angles easterly one
and one-half miles to a stake; tlience southerly at right angles
three-quarters of a mile, to the commencement point, containing
1,240 acres, be the same more or less lying and being on both sides
of Grasshopper Creek. No claim to said land, or the water run-
nmg througli said tract, save for town purposes.

October 6th, 1862.

NORTHWESTERN MINING DIST.

JOSEPH HURST, Rec.

Per G. W. STAPLETON.

R. P. Eaton recorded a lot October 19th, 1862. James Stuart
claimed his lot west of G. W. Stanley, October 21st, 1862. It ap-
pears that from October 19th, to October 22nd, was the busy time
for locating building lots. Size of lots were 50x150. L. L. Blake
chose his the 17th, and Bill Goodrich and G. W. Gallaway also on
that date. While the first town lot that was described by a plat
was taken by Cornelius Bray, December 1st, 1862, as follows:
Lot No. 14, Block 7, in AVest Bannack, northwest corner of Wash-
ington and Second Streets. N. P. Langford also took a lot the
same day. Then we find that Jim Bozeman sold his lot and
house logs on October 24th 1862, to Woody and Stuart.

CHAPTER IV.

The Lost City.

Be it known that we J. T. Conner, Sidney Edgerton, L. C. Mil-
ler, and George Chrisman, our associates and successors, have this
day and by these presents claimed and taken possession of and
claim the following tract of land, for a town site, to be known
under the name of Empire Cit3^ to-wit: Commencing on the east
fork, a distance of one mile, including eighty rods on each side of
fork, all in Beaverhead County, and we hereby give notice and de-
clare our intentions to improve the said track and to pre-empt
the same by virtue of the laws of the United States, in such cases
provided, wherever said land shall be subject thereto.

Done at Empire City, BeaA'^erhead County, Montana Territory^
July 14th, A. D. 1864.

Witness our hands,

J. T. CONNER,

SIDNEY EDGERTON,

L. C. MILLER.

GEORGE CHRISMAN.

206 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

No one can tell where this city (?) was. Probably the parties,
OAving to the peculiar manner of the description, lost it soon after,
and were never able to locate it. Too bad.

The town of Montana, now Argenta, was pre-empted by Henry
Lovewell, once a partner of Senator W. A. Clark, James Doty,
Samuel McLean, Edwin R. Purple, Gov. E. M. Polinger, Sidney
Edgerton, George W. Stapleton, A .K, Eaton, William H. Miller,
William Beeker, Samuel W. Bachelder, G. Marvis, George Brown,
Walter C. Hopkins, B. S. Peabody, Joseph A. Brown, Alex May-
hew, Tom Pitt, David H. Hopkins, John P. Barttelson, Cyrus P.
Gilbert, Col. Jarrow, Darius Hunkins, Frederick Butterfield,
James Tuffs, Nathaniel L. Davis, James Coburn, and William
Babbet.

People flocked to Argenta on account of the rich ore that had
been found. It seems to be impossible to find the name of the
party that discovered the first claim. We know that it must have
been prior to June 30th, 1864, as on that date, C. I. Ream, J. A.
Brown, A. J. Oliver, B. F. McKay and Dr. E. D. Leavitt claimed
1,000 feet, as a water claim for milling and mining purposes. A
very little placer mining had been done, even before that.

The Marquis lode was the first that I can find on record, though
no doubt, some other must have been located (I am told that it
was the Legal Tender).

William Becker claimed the Discovery on the Marquis, with the
following as co-claimants :

William Becker, George Brown, William H. Miller, Prof. A. K.
Eaton, J. Kennedy & J. G. Gill, W. F. Sanders & Armitage, L.
C. Miller, Miss L. A. Darling, William Chumasero, G. E. Upson,
F. M. Thompson, G. Morris, E. Marley, G. D. French, Harry Neil
& Co,, A. C. McMilland, Bartholomew, Elgin Moore, L. A. Gridley,
S. Edgerton, T. C. Evarts.

Located July 21st, 1864.

Now, you must not become impressed with the fact that they
found ore at Montana City, before they found it in any other
place in the Territory. Our old friend, Orrin D. Farlin, commonly
called "Quartz Farlin," a brother of William L. Farlin, of Butte
fame, was a fiend for lode discoveries. On the 15th of October,
1862, the ''Kammas" Lode was discovered by Orrin D. Farlin,
which gives him the honor of having found and recorded the first
claim containing ore, in the state. Nothing has been heard of the
^'Kammas" to lead one to suppose that Farlin was fortunate in its
discovery. Next we find that the French Lode was located on
November 2nd, bj^ Oudin and Pequgnot. The Minnesota on the
^th, and the Dakota, November 12, 1862.

We notice that P. Breakfast, a person who surely had one meal

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 207

with him each day, located No. 8 easterly, from discovery on the
French.

The Dakota was to make history. It was on this lead that Frank
Allen was to build the first quartz mill in Montana. It was dis-
covered by Charles Benson, H. Porter, E. Porter and C. W. Place.
Probablj" the first Sheriff's deed on record in Montana, was the
sale of a certain piece of property, described as follows : The un-
divided one-quarter interest in and to claim No. 9, west, on the
Dakota Lode, Idaho Teritory, on August 3rd, 1863, by Henry
Plummer, Sheriff, to Moses Burris and J. D. Ritchie, to satisfy a
judgment of Moses Burris, Plaintiff, against John Ault. Execution
issued out of the Miners' Court, Bannack District. We also find
that Power of Attorney was given by H. Plummer to George
Chrisman, to settle with parties who owed him $3,500.00, on half
interest in No. 7, Dakota lode, on December 27th, 1863, recorded
January 2nd, 1864 — eight days before Plummer was hung. If
Henry had been wise, he would have left Montana. As to this
particular matter, I can find no final accounting with the Probate
Court of Beaverhead, by Chrisman.

CHAPTER V.
First Probate Judge.

The First Probate Judge of Beaverhead was the Hon. John C.
Taylor.

First matter of business : Notice of application of George C.
Chrisman, to be appointed administrator of the estate of George
Carhart.

AMOS W. HALL, Clerk.

May 16th, 1864, sufficient notice has been given of application
for letters of administration, on the estate of George Carhart, de-
ceased, to be granted by county to George Chrisman.

Smith Ball : Sworn and testified that George Carhart came to
his death by a pistol shot, about the 20th* day of May, 1863.
George Chrisman, sworn as administrator of estate of George Car-
hart, and says that he owned No. 7, west from Discovery on Da-
kato Lode, the value of said claim to be about $6,000.00, also a
ranch, but does not know the value of it. Claims of about $2,000.00
to $2,500.00 against estate, and without will. Andy Lutzi said
that Carhart verbally gave some part of it (No. 7), to Henry
Plummer, but does not know how much. The bond required was
only $100.00.

• May 17th is exact date.

208 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

The St. Paul was another lode. This was of importance, be-
cause of the names of the men who recorded claims. It was dis-
covered and recorded January 30th, 1864, by John Marry and G.
W, Biddle, with such men as Gov. Edgerton, Wilbur F. Sanders,
Amos W. Hall, Armitage, David Morgan, E. D. Leavitt, Louis
McMurtey, F. M. Thompson, John Creighton, Mary Burk, Phil
Lovell, George W. Dart, 46 claims in all having been recorded.
At this writing, it belongs to A. F. Graeter, et al.

CHAPTER VI.

Jeff. Davis Gulch.

In looking over the old records, we find that the miners were
compelled to resort to almost any book they could find, no matter
for what purpose may have been its former use. The oldest of
these was the one used by the miners of Jeff Davis Gulch. It was
the property of A. Graham, who, in 1856, was running the
Graham House in Grand Gulf — as we find March 27th, 1856 :

William Olcott, Hors. pd. 15 cents.

P. Bellamy, S., pd. 70 cents.

Wm. Knight, dead head.

There came a day in Jeff Davis Gulch — to be exact, Sunday.
July 4th, 1863, when the miners of Prospect District wished to
hold a meeting, and make laws for its government. You can
imagine that the following took place. Some one said. "How
can we record the laws we are about to make?" "Why, I have
an old account book, that I had years ago, when I had a little
hotel in Grand Gulf. It is no good to me." So, in that way,
Graham's old Hotel Ledger is today to be found in the vault in
Old Beaverhead Court House, with the stuff that %vas of most
vital interest, to the men who for years were to mine of the head-
waters of Horse Prairie Creek. This man Graham was elected
President of that meeting, and as such, signed the first 13 sections
that were to help govern the district. On the 13th of July, a
meeting was called at the request of certain parties ( names not re-
corded), for the purpose of having a portion of the District set
off from this district, to be known as Jeff Davis Gulch, and its
drainage.

The first quartz claim recorded in Horse Prairie, was by H.
Monfortin. They held a miners' meeting, and framed laws to
cover such claims. They considered it real estate, and not sub-
ject to forfeiture. No person was required to perform any work
on a pre-emption claim, to enable him to hold it as real estate.

COL. VITAL JERROT, President.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 209

We find the following very interesting entry:

This is to certify that W. A. Clark has this day pre-empted
claim No. 30, above discovery, on Solomon's Bar, Colorado Gulch,
Prospect District, August 7th, 1863.

Gus Graeter says: "I remember well seeing W. A. Clark, a
little red-headed fellow, with his pack on his back, the day he
left Bannack for Jeff Davis Gulch. He was wearing a soldiers'
overcoat, with one of the tails gone, that was said to have been
caused by getting too close to a camp fire, sometime when he was
cold."

This must have been about August 5th, 1863, W. A. was always
a busy person, as we find that he had claimed the privilege of
taking water out of the second gulch south of Jeff Davis, for
mining purposes — 17th of May, 1864. He also claimed by pre-
emption, 100 feet down Colorado Gulch, below and adjoining
Dutch Fred, May 20th, 1864. A little later, he ordered the re-
corder to declare this claim vacant.

In a little book at Dillon we find that W. A, Clark was elected
Recorder of Jeff Davis Gulch, and that on the 8th day of June,
1864, he made the following entry, to-wit :

"Ejiow all men by these presents, that W. A. Clark has this
day pre-empted and recorded claim No. 9, above discover^'-, Jeff
Davis Gulch, Idaho District.

W. A. CLARK.

TVe also find a peculiar trade recorded in the same little book.

W. Harvey to W. B. Perkins.

Know all men by these presents, that I, W. Harvey, for and in
consideration of one sorrel mule, have this day sold all my right,
title and interest in claim No. 10, above Discovery, Jeff Davis
Gulch, Idaho District, to W. B. Perkins.

July 7th, 1864.

Attest : W. HARVEY.

W. A. CLARK.

At this particular point, it is just as well to record what took
place in Bannack, December 2nd, 1862.

Buffalo Currency.

"I, Joe Bowers, for and in consideration of the sum of seventy-
five dollars, paid to me in hand, consisting of the following de-
scribed property to-wit: One three-year-old pony, one pair of
buffalo pantaloons, two buffalo coats, amounting in all to the sum
above named, have bargained, sold, and delivered to Ed Hibbard
and Frank Parish, No. 36 above Stapleton Discovery." (Parish
was hunor January 14th, with Boone Helm and others.)

To return again to Clark, we find that he helped to build the
ditch out of "the gulch south of Jeff Davis," and he and Henry

210 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Lovewell sold their interest in Colorado Gulch, including Denver
Ditch, February 1st, 1865, to W. R. Vandruff.

I do not believe that young W. A. Clark, the little red-headed
man, working in the ground sluice in 1863 and 1864, in Jeff Davis
Gulch, going home at noon and night to cook his frugal meals,
ever dreamed that he was to become the man whose money was
to go toward the proving of Butte as a mining camp ; whose abil-
ity to scrap was to down Marcus Daly, locate the capital at
Helena — who was to become a U. S. Senator — the biggest miner
in the world, and the one to build the most expensive, private
home in America. What a contrast ! the cabin in Jeff Davis
Gulch and the palace in New York City !

Other men were connected with the mines in Jeff Davis that
have left an imprint on the pages of our stories.

Judge M. H. Lott, claim No. 1, on Dorsett's Bar, July 8th, 1863.

W. B. Dance, also recorded on that day ; William Roe, on July
10th, in Jack's Bar. Mart Barrett and Joe Shineberger bought
of Henry Lovewell, all of his interest in Colorado Gulch, and Den-
ver Ditch Co., May 10th, 1864.

We find that Ray Woodworth, afterwards to raise the first
crop in Madison Valley, pre-empted 27 above discovery in Solo-
mon's Bar, July 11th, 1863. Also, Gus Graeter pre-empted No.
45, on Solomon's Bar, July 9th, 1863, and William Skelly, of Glen
Gary, Fergus County, Montana, was one of the early miners.

Probably the oldest deed, in its original form, in Beaverhead
County, is one given on June 11th, 1864, at Jeff Davis Gulch,
when Freeman sold eight-ninths of his claim on Dorsett's Bar, to
I. Baldwin, et al., for which he received one horse and one mule,
at a value of $300.00. The parties that owned the animals were
to get the first money out of the ground. Said Freeman is to re-
ceive $100.00 out of every $1,000.00. The above named persons
obtain from claims until he shall be paid the remaining $600.00.
Freeman assigned his interest June 30th, 1864, to Vital Jerrot. As
said Jerrot was the recorder, he left the little deed in the pages
of Graham's old book.

David Metlen sold his interest to Harrison Brown, in the Den-
ver Ditch Company, on Solomon's Bar, March 7th, 1866. Both
of these men are yet living on Horse Prairie.

Solomon's Bar was named for Solomon Robinson, as the given
name was as apt to be used as anything else, in those early days.

We have taken a side trip to Jeff Davis Gulch to record some
of the things that bear directly on subsequent history, as in it
was described to some extent, W. A. Clark.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 211

CHAPTER VII.

In one of the oldest books of record, of Central District, Grass-
hopper digging, on a fly leaf, I find the following :

"Maxwell Crosbie is my name,
Scotland is my nation;
And those two lines will tell my name.
When I am quite forgotten."

(On looking closely, we find, in pencil, almost too dim to de-
cipher, that the book was the property of Maxwell, and Miss Vera
Baker has kindlj'' written with her typewriter that fact.)

We find another matter that is peculiar. On the 4th day of
April, 1863, a deed was given by David Thompson, et al., to
James D. Doty, all in Idaho Territory. On the Fifth day of April,
1863, a deed was given by John Ault, to Jack Allport, all in
Dakota Territory. There must have been some misunderstanding
as to what particular portion of the United States they were in.

Coal was thought to have been found near Bannack, and a com-
pany was formed, and 640 acres was taken up, on which some
prospecting was done, in 1865. It is now called oil shale. There
was also a coal excitement in Old Pioneer Basin, on Ruby Creek,
in the Big Hole, as several claims were located July 1st, 1865, by
Dr. E. D. Leavitt, et al. Coal has,so far, not been an asset in
Beaverhead County.

I find that T. M. Ault sold to J. H. Morley claim No. 10, below
Stapleton's discovery. Northwestern Mining District, September
18th, 1862. In connection Avith the above, I find the following:

KJQOW all men by these presents, that the undersigned, having
formed themselves into an association, or company, to be here-
after known and designated as the Dakota Water Ditch Company,
do from the date of this instrument of writing, claim for their
own and special use and benefit (for the purpose of sale to
mmers), all the water of a certain stream now known as Horse
Prairie Creek (with all or any of the tributaries of said Horse
Prairie Creek, with all natural water running from springs on
the ravines that their ditch may cross, wherein water may be
found from rains, melting snows, or other natural causes), that
may be found above their dam or above their line of ditch from
said dam, to the terminus, of said ditch. The said ditch to be
brought into mining camp, now known as Northwestern District,
and continued on down a stream known as the Grasshopper
Creek, as far as aforesaid Dakota Water Ditch Company shall

212 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

deem it necessary for the use and benefit of the miners generally.
The aforesaid ditch to be brought in as soon as possible.
Bannack City, 19th Dec, 1862, Da. Ter.

Signed W. GRAHAM.

JAMES H. MORLEY.
H. M. MANDEVILLE.
T. B. PETCHER.
J. F. MORLEY.

This is probably the first claim to take water from one water
shed to another in Montana. Those people did not do much more
than make the survey.

This man, James H. Morley has left a most interesting dairy, a
copy of which, well type written, was sent to the Historical Soci-
ety by his wife. He was probably the first Civil engineer, or sur-
veyor in Southern Montana, unless Walter W. De Lacey can claim
the honor. He surveyed the ditch from Painter Creek, afterwards
known as the Smith and Graeter Ditch, to Bannack.

It was Morley that went with the party in the winter of 1863,
and surveyed Gallatin City, on the Gallatin River, which they
dreamed was to become the head of navigation on the Missouri.
Though it was a little place, at one time, few could find the site
at this day.

CHAPTER VIII.
Ranching.

Mining was not the only thing to which these people turned
their attention, as we find that Joe Wild took, for ranching pur-
poses, land on the Grasshopper, a short distance above town, on
the west side of the Creek, early in August, 1862.

A. J. and G. W. Stanly claimed land, "Commencing at the
mouth of a small brook about two miles above Stapleton's Bar,
on the north side of Grasshopper Creek, 40 rods on each side of
said brook following the meanderings of said brook, in a norther-
ly direction to a stake. Dated September 1st, 1862." On Septem-
ber 5th, they located the water of the brook.

All of the Valley of the Grasshopper was taken up, 1865, to a
place 9 or 10 miles north.

Horse Prairie.

Louis Dupuis took land on Horse Prairie, April 2nd, 1862, as
follows :

Know all men by these presents, that I, Louis Dupuis, claim

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 213

for ranching purposes, 160 acres of land, situated on Horse
Prairie Creek, commencing on said creek and running north 160
rods, thence east 160 rods, thence south 160 rods, thence west
160 rods to place of beginning."

As Horse Prairie Creek '■- 30 or more miles long, one can see
that the description is not very definite. Many other places were
taken up on Horse Prairie, shortly after this.

"VVe find that Fortien had taken up a place near the crossing
on the 14th of July, 1863, and that Martin Barrett and Joe Shine-
berger had on the 17th of that month selected land immediately
west of Fortien. This ranch became well known as the Horse
Prairie ranch, and was the one where the gray horse was kept.

Martin Barrett lived on this ranch until 1911, or 48 years. He
built a fine two story brick house, the finest in its day, in the
county. He accumulated a fortune, and sold to John Peterson, a
young Swede, that came to the Big Hole less than twenty years
before, broke. Shineberger moved to Red Rock, and also left a
fortune at his death. Barrett and Shineberger must be considered
the first bona fide settlers on ranch lands in Southern Montana.

Fortien 's ranch was sold at Sheriff's sale, by Henry Plummer,
November 15th, 1863, for $367.00, to John Teters.

Bird in Hand Ranch.

S. R. Mecklin located on a branch of Horse Prairie, called Dry
Creek, August 25th, 1864. He probably thought that ranching
would be safer than mining. He was right, but he did not stay
long enough to find out.

On Beaverhead.

"F (rank) Ruff has this day recorded 160 acres of land for
farming and ranching purposes, on the stream known as the Beav-
erhead, below the mouth of the Grasshopper Creek. Said ranch
is the first located, and is No. 1, running down, November 8th,
1862."

Joseph Wild, got wild, and took up the next claim. It is a
strange thing that Ruff and Wild were to be the first persons
to go into a wild, rough section of the country, and locate the
first ranches. Why they left them I do not know, as there is no
record to tell how they disposed of their places.

James Gamble claims for ranching purposes 160 acres of land,
situated at the forks of Rattlesnake and Beaverhead on the west
side of the Rattlesnake, Bannack District, April 27th. 1863. This
man came to Bannack on April 20th, 1863, with Hugh 0 'Neil's
train. John F. Bishop was also in the same train.

214 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Richard T. Harris claimed 160 acres of land, near Picket, tak-
ing in both sides of the creek, on Beaverhead, a little above the
mouth of Rattlesnake, September 3rd, 1864. On December 30th,
1864, Thomas W. Chapman & Company and J. B. Sterns, took
land on the Rattlesnake, located one mile below the Point of
Rocks, on said Creek, commencing at a stake opposite a low gap
in the bluffs on the north side.

William Fox took up land on the Beaverhead, March 6th, 1865.
No one could tell from the description where that land is now.

Tom Selway took up land as follows: ''Said land is on both
sides of the Beaverhead River, and bounded on the north by
bluffs and included the mouth of Blacktail Deer Creek." Sep-
tember 5, 1865. Prior to that time, Henry Burfiend had taken up
a claim, afterwards to become the property of Philip Thorpe. He
did not appear to place the same on record. Henry Burfiend came
to Montana from California, and mined in Alder Gulch. In the
fall of 1864 he located a piece of land about four miles north of
Dillon, and began farming the next year. He thinks he broke the
first piece of land with a plow. The plow was made by a black-
smith in Virginia City, but was not very good because it would
not scour.

Tom Selway broke some land the same year Burfiend broke
his land. Henry Hayman — called Little Henry — had spaded up
a piece on the adjoining land near the river, and had sold his
crop for $1,500. This was in 1864. In 1865, he bought a yoke of
oxen of W. B. Carter, plowed and put in more land, but the grass-
hoppers ate him out, be became disgusted, and packed up and
went to Oregon. Mr. Burfiend had a partner named Frank
Jacobs. Then seed was very high. They paid 25 cents per pound
for seed oats and bought of Mr. Henneberry, one sack of seed po-
tatoes, for which they gave $55.00. They had two loads of pota-
toes, which they sold in Bannack for 15 cents per pound. The
grasshoppers ate the grain. W. B. Carter said that he believes
that Burfiend was probably correct. In the winter of 1864, Car-
ter camped close to where Dillon is now. The cattle were put
between Blacktail and the river. The next morning, he said, "I
had to go after them through snow knee deep. They had taken
the back trail. I followed them up the river for some distance,
through the brush. All at once, I came to a small park, and at
a short distance, I saw a cabin. It struck me that it might be the
home of some of the road agents, but soon a woman came to the
door and threw out some dish water. I am sorry that I did not
investigate and find out who she was. That was before any
ranches had been taken up. I would have found out, but was
afraid to go to the cabin."

GEORGE F. THEXTON

Born April 24, 1824 in Township of Havei-sliam, Westmorland County,
England. Married Nancy Redhead in Liverpool, 1855. Settled at Galena,
Illinois, from which place he moved to Mineral Point, coming from that place to
Montana. He was a blacksmith. He made the first plows ever used in
Southern Montana, out of the springs of a carriage that Col. Sam McLean
brought to the Territory, which he traded to Thexton for blacksmith bill.
Three of these plows were made. The first one for Ray Woodwortb, one for
Raymond Brothers and the third for a syndicate of Gallatin Valley farmers.
He made a plow for Henry Burfiend. Died July 5th, 1904, at Thextondale,
near Ennis, Madison County, Montana.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 215

It is too bad that we could not have become possessed of this
knowledge — the name of the first woman to live on the Beaver-
head. This was at a point between the home of Craig Cornell and
the P. H. Poindexter ranch — but over in the thick willows, near
the river.

James Kirkpatrick settled on land, on Rattlesnake, September
oOth, 1865, and was quite extensively connected with the stock
interests for years. He has resided in Montana for over fifty
years.

X, Renois and Amede Bessett located land on the Beaverhead,
December 1st, 1865, near the mouth of Rattlesnake. David Jones,
on Rattlesnake, December 6th, 1865.

William Roe took a claim adjoining Bessett 's December 15,
1865.

James Ashbaugh, sometime prior to January 2nd, 1866, as I. W.
Isle had a claim next to him on that date.

On January 6th, 1866, William Sturgis located the land after-
wards to become the home of Phil Lovell. On the 8th day of
January, 1866, Craig Cornell located as follows :

Beginning at a stake on Blacktail Deer Creek, about three-
quarters of a mile from its junction with the Beaverhead ; thence
running south one-half mile, etc., etc. Craig Cornell, the man
who has lived almost 50 years on the same piece of land, or longer
than any other man in Southern Montana, or probably in the
state.

G. W. Emrick took the land just below the mouth of the Beav-
erhead Canyon, January 10th, 1866.

John Carrico, one of the prominent miners and discoverers of
the mines in Bannack, located two miles below the Canyon,
January 11, 1866, and John Carhart took the land next to him on
the north, the same day.

On October 16th, 1864, 0. D. Farlin located land on Birch Creek,
about one and one-half miles below the canyon. Land had been
located on the Big Hole the same year, on the bottom below
Brown's bridge.

Land on the Stinking Water.

The first piece of land we find any record of was taken August
13th, 1863, by Roup, Low, Ely & Company, a certain tract of land
of 640 acres, situated and described as follows, to-wit :

Commencing at a point where the Stinking Water empties into
the Jefferson, thence one mile down said Jefferson; thence one
mile south, and running parallel with the said Stinking Water
Creek; thence westward to said creek; thence down said stream
to place of beginning.

216 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

This land is now in Madison County, though the record was
made at Banuack. There is also a little mistake on the part of
the locators. They had taken the Beaverhead for the Stinking
"Water, as the latter stream runs into the Beaverhead, and not
into the Jefferson.

Quite a number of those early locaters continued to call the
Beaverhead country — home. They could not have found a fairer
land than it, nor one that would yield to their efforts any greater
returns.

CHAPTER IX.
Judge M. H. Lott.

I had been mining in California Gulch, Colorado, and became
acquainted with a physician who had lived with the Crow Indians.
He gave me a description of the country, as to fur trading, etc.,
near Benton, Missoula, Ft. Owen and the Deer Lodge. Also told
of the rich mines that had been discovered at Florence on the
Salmon river. He proposed to escort a company to that place.
The mines were very poor where we were at work, so we decided
to go to Washington in the spring.

In May, 1862, I went to Denver and met some persons who were
going to Florence as soon as a company could be formed sufficient
for protection. Fourteen of us, including in that number one
woman and a girl about ten years of age purchased a good outfit
and started. Our wagon beds were made water-tight so they
cauld be used to ferry over swollen streams. The first stream
was the North Platte, very high and rapid.

The ferry was owned by a Mr. Baker. I interviewed him in
regard to his price for taking us over. He was very consider-
ate (?) He only asked us $10 a wagon! I told him we were
miners and had but little money, and that was more than we could
afford to pay. We would build a raft and ferry ourselves over.
We began to cut down trees, pretending to build a raft. He came
to us and told us he was about out of provisions and if we would
let him have some he would ferry us over, we to swim our stock,
for $7.50 the whole outfit.

About ten o'clock one morning we came across a mountaineer
camped with his Indian family, who told us of a massacre of
stock tenders and stage drivers, and the burning of stations and
coaches, and killing of horses the day before. We t^^ld him our
objective point was Florence and he seemed familiar with the
■country, saying it was wild and dangerous, and our company too
small to travel with safety, but if we would wait for a few days
he would act as our escort and protect us from the Indians. We

M., y

JUDGE LOTT
Captain of Party That Discovered Gold in Big Hole

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 217

had a consultation and concluded he wanted our protection more
than we needed his, as squaw men were no pets of the Indians.
We went on our way and reached Green River station about dark
and found things as represented by the squaw man; dead men,
station and coaches burned and dead horses. We camped, ar-
ranged our wagons for best protection if attacked. AVe did not
build any fire. AVe did not dare bury the dead.

Nona of us slept that night. No words can describe our feel-
ings. In the morning we started on and passed other stations
with scenes too horrible to describe.

My recollection is we had three nights and two days of the
suspense, and about nine o 'clock on the morning of the third day
we saw horses grazing on a bench in the distance and felt that our
fate was sealed, as it must be Indians, waiting for us. No use
in stopping. We must go on. We soon saw tents, which we sup-
posed were teepees, but as we came nearer we saw they were in
regular position and discovered men in uniform. On reaching
camp we found they were soldiers from Salt Lake, who had ar-
rived the night before.

We had been under such a strain for so long that some of our
company dropped to the ground and were asleep in an instant. I
went to the commander and asked if he would let some of the
soldiers look after our camp, to which he consented. We had
to put some of our men to bed. All went to bed without eating.
None of us awoke until four o'clock the next afternoon. This
was near Ft. Bridger. From there we went to Salt Lake, where
we supplied ourselves with provisions.

We were advised to go via Ft. Lemhi and Missoula, as being
the most direct route. No maps were known, so people had but
a poor idea as to places or how to get to them.

Arriving at Snake River we found a good many waiting for the
putting across of a rope for a ferry by Meeks Some had been
there ten days, expecting to cross each day, believing that to be
the nearest road to Florence. Some had gone down the river.
Some by the old road to Deer Lodge and Missoula.

We arrived in the forenoon, and saw them waste the whole day
in trying to put the rope across. The Woods Brothers of our
train thought they saw the mistake of the other fellow, and said
they could put it over I hunted up Meeks and told him that we
had men that could do the job. He replied that he had a man
that could do it. W^e waited two days, when Meeks came to ns
and wanted to see the men of our party who could do the work.
I told him I was the mouthpiece of the party, and whatever ar-
rangements I made would be carried out ; that if we undertook
the job we must have complete control. He did not take kindly
to that so tried again without success. He then came and wanted

218 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

to know our terms. I introduced him to the Woods boys and he
asked them their terms. They told him that whatever Lott said
would be agreeable to them. So I told him all I would ask was
that we were to be ferried over first. We were anxious to go be-
cause we were afraid all the good claims would be gone. Our first
attempt put the rope across. The next day we were on our way
to Lemhi, on a branch of the Salmon River, which was an aban-
doned settlement of the Mormons, they having been called in by
Brigham Young. The fort was built of adobe and Avas about
three hundred feet square, with walls eight or ten feet high. In-
side were a number of houses and a rude grist mill on the outside.

We found quite a quantity of wheat that had been buried in the
ground. We found several people here who had passed us on the
road from Snake River as they had horses and mules and we had
only oxen. This place seemed to be the end of the wagon road
and the only way to proceed was to pack over an Indian trail.
Some turned back to Snake River and some started back to take
the old road to Deer Lodge and Missoula. Some cut up new
wagons to make pack saddles.

We did not know what to do. We went down the Salmoii
River and up the north fork, getting some indications of quartz,
and some small prospects.

We got an idea that the east side of the mountains would be
the best place, so six of us packed ourselves with grub, picks,
pans and shovels, and walked up a very steep Indian trail and on
to the eastern slope. About one mile from the main range we
found a small stream, a tributary of the Big Hole River, with a
few paying claims, about six feet to bed rock at discovery, and
called it Pioneer, supposing it to be the first discovery of gold,
in paying quantities, found in the country.

Leaving one of our party to dig a train ditch the rest of us
went to Lemhi for our wagons. From Lemhi there was a very
large Indian trail crossing the main mountain range east to Horse
Prairie. Knowing that the Indians took the lowest passes, I
thought we had better follow their trail. The boys had an idea it
would be too rough. I told them that "where there was a will
there was a way," so we started. We put both hind wheels on
one side of the wagon, and in that way kept from upsetting. At
last we were on the Horse Prairie side. We passed within three
miles of where the Jno. White party found the rich diggings on
Grasshopper Creek, July 28th. Crossing over a low range from
the Grasshopper to Big Hole, we found the remains of an old
wagon, showing that we were not the first people to take wagons
into that section. We reached our claims, as near as I can recol-
lect, about noon, July 12, 1862.

I brought a whip saw with me and that afternoon Mr. Dunkle-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 219

burg and myself erected a sawmill and put a log on the carriage
ready for work the next morning. Dave worked in the pit. By
hard work and long hours we sawed 200 feet per day. After we
sawed what we needed we sold some for $30 per hundred feet,
making $60 per day.

On July 16th we were sluicing out gold. A Mr. Miller and
family and Joseph Smith, who came from Colorado, with our
party, went back from Fort Lemhi and over the old road to Deer
Lodge and over the Mullan road to Missoula and settled there.
Smith went up to the Bitter Root. Of the rest of our party, that
mined in Pioneer Gulch, there were Charles and Hiram Wood,
James McCabe, George McCormick, Fred Miller and Dave Dun-
kleburg. H. Conley, James Kennedy and myself were partners
in discovery claim. When sluicing we took out from $25 to $75
per day. We had to strip the ground and could not sluice every
day. We worked the claim out, taking out several hundred
dollars.

I remember an amusing incident. Mr. Farlin, and partners,
Mormons, who came on with us from "Lemhi" were out of to-
bacco. When they got to taking out gold they were overheard
making out a list of supplies. First was tobacco, and each alter-
nate item was tobacco, and the last item was "some more
tobacco."

Our sawmill was near the Lidian trail. They used to stop and
watch us. Some of them could speak a little English. One Lidian
said: "Lidian heap big fool."

The latter part of August a Bitter Root ranchman packed over
some potatoes and sold to us for thirty cents per pound. He
seemed to think we were the only miners in the country.

That winter I spent in Bannack. I told Fairweather and
Edgar what the doctor had told me of gold in the Stink Water,
and that may have been the reason for going on to the Yellow-
stone and of the discovery of Alder.

Sam Harper and Judge Lott went to Utah for provisions and
got back to Bannack day before Xmas, 1862. They had been ad-
vised that a train would leave on Sunday morning for Salt Lake
and that they could join by having two men to a team. The
Judge said: "We got up before day; yoked our cattle and pulled
for Bannack, which we made some time before the next morning,
over 50 miles; a remarkable day's journey for an ox team. While
passing through the Big Hole prairie we saw Lidians signal fire
or smoke, in various places, and hardly knew what to do. We
continued on, however, and arrived within two miles of Bannack
when ,finding good feed we turned our oxen out, and having hid-
den our stuff in the brush started to go into Bannack. All at
once we ran into a band of about a dozen Lidians, who began to

220 THE VIGILANTES OF MOXTAI>A

form a circle around us. They had their bows and arrows. I
made a iriendly talk and as they came near pushed them away
asking- them if they were Bannacks, or of what tribe. They at
last allowed us to go." They had stolen 200 head of horses out
of a corral and were anxious to get away with them or might
have done Lott and his partners some harm.

The Judge tells the following incident :

In the spring of 1863 a young man had killed his partner, who
was much older than he. The young fellow was tried for murder,
and sentenced to death. Judge heard the young fellow crying
and went doA^na to comfort him. He asked him what he could do.
The young fellow answered that he was a Catholic, and needed a
priest. The Judge didn't know of any one who filled that posi-
tion and thinking any Irishman might do, went and got Jerry
Sullivan, a jeweler. Jerr}^ was a sympathetic fellow and he went
to render what comfort he could to the poor fellow who was soon
to meet his Maker. He said: "Young man, you have committed
a most fearful crime. You killed your partner, an old man for
whom all had respect. You have been tried by your peers and
found guiltj', and sentenced to be hung. Don't cry; be brave.
Get down on your knees and ask God to forgive your sins, and
I'll be d d if I don't believe the old fellow will do it."

After Lott's party left Pioneer they went to Bannack, where
Judge got a claim on Jimmie 's Bar, for which he paid $2,800, get-
tmg the money from the Woods Brothers, who were to go in part-
nership with him. They took out over $13,000.

The Judge tells that Walter W. DeLacey and another party
found a quartz claim on the north fork of Salmon; went to Ore-
gon and sold it to a party for a good price "unsight and unseen."

Judge left Bannack in July, 1863, with about $4,000. He had
a splendid horse, the fastest in the country. He thought himself
safe when he got near the spring in Spring Gulch, but the horse
appeared uneasy; he turned his head and saw some men coming
down a side gulch toward him as fast as their horses could come.
The Judge did not wait for company, but putting spurs to his
horse raced ahead of them to Rattlesnake ranch as he recognized
Buck Stinson and Steve Marshland.

In Bannack the first meeting for law and order was held in
January, 1863, so Judge says. A few had banded together for
mutual protection. Hiram Conley, Lott's partner, had been
elected captain. It seems that Asel Stanley's wife had a claim
which had been jumped by some of the toughs. Stanley came
to Conley for help, but he said they had not banded to make a
general fight against bad citizens.

The Lotts went to Nevada City, just below Virginia and started

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 221

a Store. At the time De Vault* was killed by Geo. Ives, Old Man
Burehy, Elk Morse, Wm. Clark and 25 of them left their store to
arrest the persons that had done the deed. They did not know
who it was when they started, but they brought back Ives and
others.

When the murderers were brought to Nevada, Judge Lott
stopped the party as they were about to go on to Virginia. There
was a dry goods box in front of the store. The Judge got upon
this and addressed the crowd, which consisted of about 1,000 men,
and told them that there must be some motive if they intended to
take them to Virginia. He made a motion that the men be tried
at Nevada. He told them they could use the room in back of their
store for the jail. Motion was carried and the prisoners were put
in there for safe keeping. Probably 100 men stood guard, Jim
Williams as captain. It was in this room that John Lott wrote
the oath when it was signed by 24 men. (I think that there is
some mistake as to the time in the judge's mind, as this oath is
dated December 23rd, 1863, and Ives was hanged December 21st,
so the men must have not signed the oath until about the time
the Vigilance Committee was formed). John Lott was secretary
and treasurer of that Committee.

Judge Lott said that he never threatened Slade bodily harm.
That Slade, when drunk, would ride into other places, and that
generally all doors were closed whenever he came to town in that
condition.

A man came to Lott one day and told him that Slade was in
town drunk, and that he had better close his store. The Judge
said: "I am running this place and probably Slade will not come
in." He even opened both doors but Slade was too wise to come.
It is quite probable that Slade knew M. H. Lott, and knew that
he would not stand any joking of the kind he liked to play.
Slade had freighted for the Lotts and was well acquainted and
had much respect for them, though they never carried guns.

In March, 1864, Judge Lott, Meeks, and others took up two
miles square at Twin Bridges, where Meeks built the first cabin.
They believed they would always have all the range they would
need.

The Lott brothers built three bridges, one on the Big Hole, one
on the Beaverhead, where the town of Twin Bridges is, and one
at the Point of Rocks.

They gave the land to the State for the Orphans' Home.

The Judge is living and is well at the age of 87, this year of
our Lord. 1915. He has found that the range is eaten out and
that all the land is taken. He is no longer ''Monarch of all he
surveys."

* George Liovell pays the word is De Vault not Tbalt as griven by
Dimsdale and Langford.

222 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

CHAPTER X.

Mining' Laws .

At a miners' meeting of the miners of Bannack District, held
on the 19th day of October A. D. 1862, for the purpose of form-
ing and passing laws for the government of the District, the fol-
lowing laws and regulations were reported by the Committee,
and adopted and ratified by the people.

Claims.

Sec. 1. Claims on Grasshopper Creek shall be fifty feet on
the creek, and extending across the stream from base to base, of
the mountains, including all old beds of the creek or stream.

Sec. 2. Gulch claims shall be 100 feet in length, on the gulch,
and extending on over one foot on each side.

Sec. 3. Lode claims shall only be had on well defined Quartz
Lodes, and shall be 100 feet on the lode, and 25 feet on each side,
including all spurs and branches.

Sec. 4. Each miner may hold, by pre-emption, one claim on
the creek, one Gulch claim, one lode claim, and one patch or hill
claim, and working one shall be considered as working all.

Sec. 5. All claims shall be staked with the name of the owner
with the length and breadth of the same, and the date of stak-
ing, and when in company with others, shall have also the names
of the company with whom he is working.

Sec. 6. Claims shall be worked or represented at least each
five days, excluding Sunday, but Avorking claims held in company
shall be considered as representing all claims of the individual
members of the company, if property is staked and worked.

Sec. 7. All claims shall be recorded by the individual holders
of the same, with their own names, provided not heretofore re-
corded by individual members, withm the next six days, from
and after the passage of this section, and all taken hereafter,
within six days after staking, or shall be forfeited, and no claim
shall be recorded or held by a company name.

Sec. 8. When no claims exist on the Creek, any person or per-
sons wishing to turn the stream, or flume it to work the bed of
the same, may claim one hundred and fifty feet, each, of said un-
claimed ground, and hold the same, provided work be commenced
within ten days, from staking, and prosecuted faithfully to com-
pletion, but said work shall be continuous, but not one day in ten.

Sec. 9. All persons residing and working their home, within
the limits of this District, which shall extend from the line of the
lower district, to the head of the Grasshopper Creek, and its
branches, and three miles on each side of said creek, and be known

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 223

as Bannack District, shall hold their claims without working the
same, from the 15th day of November, next, to the first day of
May, following, and all laws for forfeiting claims held as above
shall be suspended for and dui'ing that time.

Sec. 10. Purchased claims shall be held in the same way, as
pre-emption claims, but no individual shall be allowed to hold
more than one claim by purchase, besides his pre-emption, except
in Lode Claims, and any person having heretofore purchased
more than that number, shall be allowed ten days from this date
to sell and dispose of the same.

Sec. 11. Any person making a new discovery of diggings of
any kind, or lode claims, shall be entitled to hold one extra claim,
as a discovery claim, without working the same.

Sec. 12. Building lots may be taken 50 feet in front, and 150
feet deep, and by recording the same, each individual may hold
one lot and no more, as real estate, and may sell, trade or barter,
the same, or build upon it at his option.

Sec. 13. The fees of the recorder shall be fifty cents, for each
pre-emption recorded, and for all deeds, bills of sale, or mortgages
recorded, one dollar for each one hundred words to be recorded,
and no deed, bill of sale, or mortgage, shall be held good against
third party, unless recorded.

See. 14. Any person owning a dry claim, may pre-empt any
unpre-empted ground on the creek, for a water claim, for the
purpose of washing his dirt, whether by cradle or sluice, and may
hold same as a water claim, by recording and improving the same,
within the ordinary time for other claims.

Sec. 15. When any person has gone for provisions, intending
to return, two months from this date, shall be allowed to return,
before forfeiture of their claims.

Sec 16. In all trials before the miners, which may be pre-
sided over by the President of the District, the losing party shall
pay the President the sum of Five Dollars for his services.

Sec. 17. The President may, at any time he may think proper,
appoint a Sheriff to act in any case pending, or being commenced.

At a meeting of the miners of Bannack District, held on the
26th day of April, 1863, passed the following Laws:

Sec. 1. The President of the District shall have power to hold
a trial, whenever it may be necessary to settle disputes, either
about claims or any other disputed business matters, and may
summon a jury to try such dispute. The decision of such jury
to be final, and may appoint a Sheriff to carry out the decision
of such trial, who shall have power to take any property to pay
the judgment of the President.

Sec. 2. Each miner shall have the right to hold one claim,

224 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

and no more, on each Quartz Lode, and they shall be held for
one year, as real estate, to give time for machinery to arrive here.

Sec. 3. All trials shall be, as near as possible, in accordance
with the common law of the land.

At a meeting of the miners of Bannack District, held May 23rd,
1863, the following Laws were reported by the Committee and
adopted by the people.

Art. 1. The officers of the District shall be President, Miners'
Judge, Sheriff and Coroner.

Art. 2. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at
all business meetings of the District, and to act as Judge, with
power to call jury, in cases regarding mining claims, the parties
litigant mutually agreeing thereto.

Art, 3. It shall be the duty of the Judge to preside over all
trials of cases in the District, except in mining cases, where
parties litigant agree to refer to the President, and when called
upon, to issue such process to bring parties into Court, as is com-
mon and right in such cases, also to keep a docket and make an
entry therein of all suits brought, with the judgment or verdict
rendered, also to have a jury of not less than four nor more than
eight impaneled, when requested so to do, by either plaintiff or
defendant, and receive for his services the sum of $5.00 for pre-
siding at each and every suit, together with 25 cents for all oaths
administered, and the issuing of each and every writ in the case.

Art. 4. It shall be the duty of the Sheriff to serve all writs
and executions, and carry out the awards of the Court, and do
all other acts appertaining to his office, and shall receive for his
services, for attendance in Court, during trial, $2.50 ; serving war-
rants, $1.00; serving summons, 50 cents, and 25 cents each for
summoning witnesses and jurors, and 25 cents mileage.

Art. 5. It shall be the duty of the Coroner, in all cases of
violent or accidental death, to summon a jury of six persons
over which he shall preside, in examining into the causes and cir-
cumstances attending the death of the person over whom the in-
quest is held, and when called on, the Sheriff shall act as the offi-
cer of the inquest to summon jurors, and witnesses, and shall re-
ceive for the service the usual fee — while the coroner shall re-
ceive for his services on each and every inquest, the sum of $8.00.

Art. 6. In each and every suit, witnesses shall receive Two Dol-
lars, and jurors Three Dollars, except in cases where the trial
shall last for more than one day, when additional fees will be al-
lowed.

Art. 7. In all criminal cases, the punishment to be inflicted
shall explicity set forth in writing the verdict of the jury.

Art. 8. All civil suits shall be commenced by complaint set-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 225

ting forth in plain, simple language, the cause of action and rem-
edy sought.

Art. 9. All attachments may issue when the complainant shall
make oath before the Judge, that he has reasons to believe that
the defendant intends to leave the district, or turn over his
property with intent to defraud, and may be served on any prop-
erty in defendant's hands, or to garnishee debts in hands of
others, and shall hold good till five days after final judgment.

Art. 10. In all suits and cases, not herein provided for, the
Common Law shall be adopted.

The idea of an eight hour law came to the people in Montana,
early in its history. At a miners' meeting, White District, April
28th, 1864, "Non-residents of District shall represent each and
every claim, every seventh day — said day's work shall be eight
hours' labor."

CHAPTER XI.
Notes From Old Court Records.

Second Judicial District, Beaverhead County, L. P. Williston,
Judge ; Wm. C. Goodrich, Sheriff ; S. F. Dunlap, Clerk.

Resident Attorneys practicing at Bannack: Phelps C. Mead,
John M. Galloway, G. W. Stepleton, B. S. Peabody, admitted
September term, 1867.

First Grand Jury : N. E. Wood, B. S. Worth, Thomas Watson,
Con Bray, S. W. Bachelder, A. J. Nay, W. B. Witten, Herman
Clark, H. F. Wood, John S. Milligan, J. A. Brown, E. W. Weston.

Probably first Notarj^ Public was W. C. Rheem, appointed by
Gov. Edgerton, May 17th, 1864.

The first man to declare his wish to become a citizen of the
U. S. was John Griffiths, a native of Wales, 1st of September,
1866.

Even in the Courts, they were apt to use an old account book
for keeping records, as an old account book of Leesburg, Idaho,
was brought to Bannack, and used as an account book to be used
later in which to record probate matters. This book shows that
the price of sugar was 60c per pound.

1 keg of nails, coin $35.00.

1 keg 10 gals, sherry, $100.00, greenbacks.

1 lb. of apples, 50 cents.

1 box sardines, $1.00.

We also find that one of the first men to contest the election of
another, was George Bachelder, against Thos. H. Gordon, for the
office of Sheriff. Following are the returns:

Election held September 2nd, 1867.

226 THE \^GILANTES OF MONTANA

For Bachelder. For Gordon.

In Bannack 205 170

Horse Prairie 25 30

Montana (Argenta) 29 27

Beaverhead 19 27

French Gulch 10 39

288 293

Whole matter hinged on French Gulch, which Bachelder held
was not in Beaverhead County. Case dismissed 23rd of Septem-
ber, 1867.

(Twine was scarce in those days, as I found these papers tied
with a buckskin string).

Sue's Letter.

In looking over Court proceedings of early days, we find the
love letter of "Sue" to her lover, Wm. Farnsworth, who was
killed at Horse Prairie in 1877, just in front of John C. Brenner's
house, then owned by AVinters and Montague. Montague was
killed the day before. The lady was a beautiful letter writer.
Her impassioned appeal to her lover was in the following words :

"Oh Will, my dearest one, how I long to see you this spring as
never before. I am impatient for your dear comforting letters.
I don't believe we made a mistake three years ago. (I did not, if
you did), for every day I am more certain that I am yours and
you are mine, for life, and it seems to me for eternity. There isn't
a day or an hour but I find myself thinking of you. Every thought
and every joy I want to share with you. I don't value luxuries
as I used to, and think them indispensable to happiness. I think
I could be so patient, and so saving, and think it the greatest
pleasure in the world. If our wishes were all gratified, how soon
we would become used to it, and they would cease to be luxuries.
Lucky for you I'm kept within bounds, lest I might set up my
authority to get out of that, or come unbidden to your humble
home.

"Don't get too mercenary for my sake. What's good enough for
you is good enough for me."

What a trusti she had in this man, and no doubt he was worthy
of her love and affection. He could not take the treasure that
was his for the asking. Think of the deep love of the woman
who would willingly surrender a magnificent body and soul to his
keeping, to make his life so much more worth living. He must
struggle for gold till death robbed them each from the other, and
left a pale woman to moan, and ask "Why?"

THE VIGILANTES OP MONTANA 227

I do not know where "Sue" is, but if she should read this, I
hope that she will pardon the liberty I have taken in giving this
little story to the public.

God made woman for man's chief comfort, and for his good.
She (God bless her), is willing to go with her lover, out into the
by-ways, wherever his lot will take him, and help him in his
struggles. "When he gets an idea that he must have enough wealth
to make each day a day of careless freedom from want and re-
sponsibility, he is simply wasting the days of most supreme happi-
ness— the days of youth — for a foolish idea.

CHAPTER XII.
Incidents in the Life of Augustus F. Graeter.

Mr. Graeter has resided longer in Beaverhead County than any
other person.

It is not easy to get a connected story from a person after he
has become eighty years of age. In my note book, I find the fol-
lowing :

Augustus Graeter told me a few things the morning of the
28th of May, 1914. "I remember seeing W. A. Clark, with a pack
on his back, when he was starting for Horse Prairie. He had on
a soldier's overcoat and one tail of it had been burned off, by
getting too near a camp fire."

"When I got to Bannack I had just two $1.00 gold pieces, and
it did not take long to spend them. Mail came in via Walla Walla,
and cost $1.00 for a letter, and that is where my money went.

Question: "How did you get your money to start your first
store?"

"Well, I guess I must have made it in the mines, as the ground
was mighty rich, and the bedrock not deep. We would pack the
dirt down on our backs to the creek and wash it out. We did no^
take any dirt that we could not see gold in. At last we whipped
sawed some lumber, and made some sluice baxes which we put up
in the creek, placed our dirt in them and stood in the creek and
dipped up the water, and washed the stuff in that way."

He laid the first foundation on the claim on which Denver was
built.

Quite a number of us were sitting in Paul's Furniture Store in
Dillon one day, Robt. Wing, W. B. Carter, Mart Barrett and the
writer, when Gus became reminiscent. "I remember," he said,
"that two of us cut wood in Wisconsin one winter, and sold it for
37 1-2 cents per cord."

Bob Wing said: "What did you eat?" Oh, we never suffered
for that matter ; never did go hungry in my life, ' ' was the reply

228 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

"Yes, I did get out of grub once. We went to Fort Lemhi, on
our way to Florence, cached our stuff and intended to go to Bit-
ter Root for the winter; got a Blackfoot guide, who took us
through the Big Hole, and over into Deer Lodge Valley, on Warm
Springs Creek, near enough to see the mound at the springs. He
took us up the creek, into the timber, right in the wrong direction.
I guess he knew the way, but was probably afraid of the Flat-
heads. We turned about and went to Lemhi, but before we got
there we were out of provisions and we were compelled to fill up
on sarviee berries. We went south, bought some more grub, and
did think of going to Fort Colville, in Washington. We started
for that place, and one night we camped in a small grove up the
Grasshopper, and when we woke up in the morning we found
ourselves surrounded by Flathead Indians, who had stolen our
horses and had driven them over to the Butte, near Painter
Creek. When they found out that we were white men, they said :
'Good morning,' and told us they thought we were Bannack Li-
dians, or they would not have taken the horses. Some of the boys
went with them to their camp and they gave us some nice meat.

"Well, when we got to Birch Creek, some fellows came along
and told us that gold had been found on Grasshopper. We went
back, and I have been in Montana ever since.

"Say, you talk about cutting hay with a scythe. The softest
snap I ever had was cutting hay in Wisconsin, and selling it for
roughness to the farmers who needed it for their stock. I do not
remember how much we did get for it. I really do not believe
that I have ever been any happier than the winter I cut wood
in Wisconsin."

Gus Graeter was always an industrious man, and did much to-
ward the upbuilding of Southern Montana. He mined, built
ditches, was a merchant, county officer, a successful stockman,
built an electric lighting plant for Dillon, and is a banker — al-
ways an early riser. He tells of being ten miles on his road to
the timber, when the sun comes up.

Chris Synder says that when Gus was on the ranch, he would
get up before daylight, go into the hen house and cuss the roost-
ers because they did not crow early enough to wake the hired
men. A Horse Prairie ranchman said: "I remember that a neigh-
bor saw a fellow going along the road with his blankets on his
back. On inquiry as to where he was going, he said: "To work

for Gus Graeter." "H 1, throw your blankets away, or trade

them for a lantern ; they never sleep on that place."

Mr. Graeter is now over 82 years of age, and busy.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 229

CHAPTER XIII.
W. B. Carter Story.

We got to Bannack just about the time that the people were
going, or when some had gone to Alder. We arrived in Alder,
July 4th, 1863, and got a job working on night shift. I was broke.
No, I had six large copper cents. I sold them to a jeweler
for seventy-five cents each. (1 presume that this was the first
transaction in copper in Montana.)

I worked there that season and then went to Salt Lake City,
bought an ox outfit, loaded up with provisions, and brought them
back to Virginia City, where I sold the outfit to a good advantage.
In January a party of 25 men and one woman left Virginia for
Salt Lake with a mule outfit. The train with our blankets in one
of the wagons went en ahead of us. As soon as my partner and
I got settled up we started for camp. One of us had a gun, the
other a revolver, and we traveled about 150 feet apart so no one
could surprise us. The next morning Club-foot Mathews found
his mules missing, but we pulled out and came to the place right
where my ranch house now stands, about five miles north of Dil-
lon, and camped for the night. MathcAvs found his mules and
started to overtake us, when, just on the other side of the Point
of Rocks, he saw some fellows coming towards him on horse back.
Not liking the looks of things he threw his gold sacks into the
snow, marking the place well, then he pulled into the station,
where he stayed all night, being afraid to go on. He hired a man
to keep on the left side of the river and overtake us, and get one
of us to send a team back and help him get his dust. The party
he sent got to our camp about midnight. The next morning one
of the boys went back to help him, while the balance moved to a
place since owned by Jim Selway, where we waited until they
could overtake us.

Shortly after they had joined us, we saw three men coming to
our camp on horseback. One of those men was Buck Stinson, and
the other was Red — or Ned Ray — do not know for sure ; the third
man was one well-known to all of us (House), and only came to
our camp, as Stinson a depity of Plummer 's did not care to come,
as his mission was to arrest "Club-foot" for debt. "Club-foot"
said that it was a just debt, and that he would like to get green-
backs enough from us to give to Buck, so he would know he was
all right. We soon got the money and gave it to him. Alex
Toponce wanted us to take Buck and hang him at once, but of
course, we could not agree to that. "Club-foot" started out with
the two deputies, on foot, as he was afraid they might kill him
and take his mule. They pulled off over the hill, toward Rattle-
snake crossing, and only a short time after leaving us they saw

230 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

the men coming from toward Virginia City. Stinson and his
friend pulled out and left "Club-foot" alone. He continued on
into Bannack and found Buck, who turned the money over to
him. He settled his accounts and overtook us down on the Snake
River. Buck was hung on the 10th, just a few days after he was
at our camp.

We certainly had a fearful trip, and how we ever made it I
do not know. When we got to , or near, the Robber's Roost, in the
Port Neuf Canyon, we were compelled to leave our wagons on ac-
count of the deep snow. It was actually so deep that the mules
could not find feed, and they had eaten all the top of the wagon-
beds off. We had to go through the Malad Valley. The snow
was so badly crusted the mules could not break a trail ; it was up
to the men. Alex Toponce and I, being the most able, took the
lead, bracing one another. We did some migthy hard work. It
was surely rough on those poor mules. They could only get what
we could furnish them, and that was willows or any shrub that
we could cut and take to them. We managed to save all of them.

We were certainly up against it ourselves, for food. We had
only put in a supply to last us, if we were fortunate in getting
down in a reasonable time, but three days before we got to the
settlement we were completely out of all except a little parched
coffee, which we ate.

When we got to Bear River the mules made a break for the
willows, down a steep hill, and we could not stop them. My part-
ner and myself made up our minds not to go down that steep hiU,
but would try and get to a settlement. I had been over the road
two or three times that season when the snow was off, so we made
a start. All the gulches were so full of snow that we could only
pass them by going around. Near the banks of the river the snow
was not deep, so we kept as near that as possible. At last I
made up my mind to cross the river and strike out for a high
mountain, the outlines of which were visible in the moonlight.
We crossed the river, but actually did not know where. As I was
wading along, all at once I struck my shins against some hard
substance. I got down, felt of the place, and found that some
one had gone along there with a sled, when the snow was soft,
and the track had frozen solid. We certainly felt much relieved.
I said: "We are all right now, and will make it." Sometime be-
fore morning we came to a cabin. I went up and knocked, and
when the owner asked who was there, I, with my mouth close to
the crack, replied that we were starving, and had traveled for
two days without sitting down. He informed us he would soon
dress, and he did, and let us in.

In one corner was a curtained bed, which indicated the man

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 231

was married. The curtains began to move, and we knew that
the lady was getting up. In the meantime, the man had a fire
going and we had dropped down completely exhausted. Say, I
never ate such a good meal in my life! Potatoes! As large as
your two fists. Fresh pork ! And fine light biscuits ! Nothing
ever seen to equal them ! We explained the condition of the party,
and asked the man to take them some provisions. We had to sleep
in an out-house (a corn crib), and when we awoke, about ten
the next day, we asked the lady where the man was, and she told
us that he had gone with relief for our party. I have gone
through many things, but that winter trip was the most fearful
of all.

Mr. Carter is, at this writing, July, 1915, living in Dillon. He
is one of the successful ranchers, and never goes hungry.

Toponce had an experience in those early days, even worse than
the one above, as he lost his complete outfit in trying to haul
freight from Fort Union to Helena.

CHAPTER XIV.

Incidents in the Life of John F. Bishop.

Hugh 0 'Neil's train was at Ft. Bridger when John F. Bishop
and John Swing overtook it. (Swing was drowned in 1864, in
the Snake River. Reported to have had $4,000 gold and a large
revolver on him, so he never came to the surface.)

The train consisted of about 130 men, women and children.
We arrived at Blackfoot, and found the stream too high to ford.
We took a wagon cover, put it around a wagon box, and ferried
our stuff across. When we got to the Snake we could ford, as
it had not commenced to raise. Al. E. Graeter, John Cowan, one
of the men to discover Last Chance, and Robert Hereford were
along. Hereford had been in Montana before, so he knew the
trail. We crossed the Medicine Lodge Divide, and though it was
April there was no snow. We arrived in Bannack, April 20th,
1863.

Swing had 125 pairs of boots which he had bought in Denver
and sold in Bannack for $13.00 per pair.

Mr. Bishop mined some in Bannack, and later was in Beven's
Gulch. He tells the following rather peculiar story of one of the
first miners' trials in Beven's Gulch. It seems that a man had
come from Oregon with a large band of horses, and he accused a
young man that was with him, of having robbed him. The Sheriff
was McCarty, for whom McCarty Mountain was named. In ar-
resting the young man, he did not treat him too kindly. The
young fellow was afraid of the justice that he might receive at
Virginia, and hearing that a man named Dan Dixon was up the

232 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Gulch, he went up to see him and to get him to intercede for him.
Bishop and Dixon had listened to the young man's story and
came to the conclusion to go go down to Bagdad, the town of the
gulch, and see fair play. When they got down there, they found
that quite a number of the miners were full, so they got on the
jury. They listened to the testimony, and rendered a verdict,
that the defendant should knock the stuffing out of the Plaintiff,
and that they, the jury, would stand by and see that no one in-
terfered while the sentence was being carried out, which they
proceeded to do. This happened some time in August, 1863.

Mr. Bishop soon bought an outfit, and began to freight from
Utah. He also went to Cow Island, on the Missouri, below Ben-
ton for a load. While he was loading at that place, the Indians
came in considerable numbers, and were very insulting, but the
whites were compelled to allow them to do as they pleased. It
was on this trip that the following happened:

A man and his wife had shipped a horse and buggy on the boat,
and thought they would not experience much trouble from the
Indians, between that point and Fort Benton. They started out
gaily enough and were gone but a little while, when the boys
saw something coming back as fast as possible, which, on inspec-
tion, proved to be our friend. He was shouting Indians ! Indians !
as loud as he could. The train immediately corralled, and waited
for the attack. They waited for some time and one of the fellows
said he would go and investigate. He ascended a hill on the road
and found that there was a prairie dog town, and that the little
fellows, sitting on their mounds, looked in that peculiar atmos-
phere, almost as large as men on horses. It was the effect of a
mirage.

Later on, Mr. Bishop settled on the Beaverhead and began the
raising of stock. He was probably the first Justice of the Peace
in Beaverhead Valley, and helped throw the diamond hitch that
bound more than one couple together for life. "Uncle John"
has many a little story of the early days of Montana. I am in-
debted to him, as well as others, for the incidents recorded in this
story. He is hale and hearty, at an advanced age, and bids fair
to enjoy many more years in our Treasure State.

CHAPTER XV.

John C. Innes, an 1862 Man.

1 came to Bannaek, September 8th, 1862, with Woodmansee
Brothers' train — ten teams. These were loaded with flour, sup-
plies, vegetables, etc. There were no houses in Bannaek. Neil

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 233

Howie was one of our party. We crossed at Meek's Ferry, on
the Snake.

I do not remember who it was that built the first cabin in Ban-
nack, as none were built until it began to get cold. Then every-
one commenced to build. It would certainly be hard to say who
was the first. The man who panned out the first gold on White
Bar, Charlie Reville (as near as I can spell it). He got one dollar,
using the lid of a camp kettle for a gold pan. William Still was
also of this party. His name was not Still, but only a nickname.

We met Bill Hickman on the Snake River Valley, going back
with horses, which he claimed to have recovered from some one
who had stolen them. I was with Charlie Brown when he arrested
Williams, the driver of the stage that was held up at Port Neuf,
near Denver, 1865, late in the fall, November or December.

The first lumber was cut in Lumber Gulch — a gulch that comes
into the Grasshopper, between Bannack and Marysville. This was
cut by a man named Cris. I got my claim, on Jimmie's Bar — Jim
was named Griffeths, or Adobe Jim. He came to the country
with Jim Harby, Smith Ball and Billy Simpson. Phil, the Canni-
bal, he was General Harney's scout, was there also. He got his
name, as he told me, in the following way : He killed a man in
Philadelphia, and left for the west, where he became a squaw
man. He and an Indian were sent to a post on the Yellowstone.
They run out of provisions. Phil got to the fort, and made his
report. After he was through, they asked him what had become
of his companion. "Part of him is hanging on my saddle," he
said. He had lived 11 days on rosebuds. He was killed by the
fall of a cabin in Virginia City. He seemed a harmless old fel-
low, and would never refuse a drink.

At Green River, in August, 1862, a party of soldiers were cross-
ing, swimming their horses behind the ferry boat. I recall that
Jim Bridger came up to me, as tickled as a small boy, because his
pony was making such nice progress in his attempts to swim over.
Jim was a little dried up man.

Plummer had no sister in Bannack. He may have been arrested
at his sister-in-law's. His wife was east when he was hung and
never came back.

I was the guard over John Wagner the time he was at Saver's
corral, as Howie had sent for me. I also took him to get his meals.
In the middle of the night, two men came to the corral and
wanted to come in, and I got up and let them in. They had come
from Alder. They soon explained what they wanted. They took
Howie, and went out and organized the Bannack Vigilantes. They
left me in charge of John. I did not get to see John hung, as I
was too busy at something else.

234 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

When we were going west in 1861, at a post made at Rocky
Point, Wyoming, we found a party of hostile Indians, at the sta-
tion. The driver said that he had never seen any there before.
The party was large enough to take us, had they wished. I had
the only rifle in the crowd. There was some talk as to what we
should do — stay or get the mules and run. We had not been able
to get the Indians to speak to us, so we concluded to go on ; but
some of the boys got out and walked on one side, as they did not
wish to be caught in the coach. I got up with the driver, who
said, "There is no use in trying to run, unless we are compelled
to." Then I will hit this old mule with this buffalo robe, we
will sure do something. We were not molested. When I came
to Montana, I was told that I had saved the coach.

In the summer of 1864, a party kept a ranch on Grasshopper. A
French Canadian with a squaw. A white man, by the name of
Roup, and a young cowboy, they made up their minds to go over
to the Bitter Root, and steal horses. They accomplished the end,
and were returning to the Grasshopper, and were back near the
Point of Rocks, but up near the timber, when the Indians from
Bitter Root came in pursuit. The horses were running as fast
as possible. There was one Indian who was a splendid shot with
bow and arrow. Roup had stayed behind to use his revolver on
the Indians, when he was shot off his horse by an arrow. He
crawled back into the timber. The Indians came to town, and re-
ported what they had done, and a young man by the name of
Richardson, and myself, went to find Roup. AVe found him as
described, with the addition of a wound in the eye, which looked
as though he had been shot with an arrow, and that it had been
pulled out of the wound, also bringing the eye with it. Roup had
been almost stripped — had on a pair of pants with the pockets
turned inside out. We reported that we had found him, and a
couple of his friends went up and buried him where he fell.

Johnnie Grant was probably the biggest stockman of Montana
in those days. I remember that we depended on that bunch of
cattle for our food supply, if need be. Granville Stuart kept a
butcher shop in those early days in Bannack.

Sanders' Quotation — From King Lear.

"Give us a King, let his name be Harry."

The cause of that remark was as follows : When Plummer, Ray
and Stinson were hanged, Ray made the most trouble, and Little
Harry King was behind him with a gun. He poked Uay in the
back, and said: "You know what is behind you, and if you don't
go ahead, you'll get it."

After the hanging of these men, they had a big public meeting
and nearly all of the miners up and down the gulch joined. It

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 235

was at the meeting that Sanders quoted the above. Harry
King was a very active member of the Vigilantes. Mr. Innes joined
them at this meeting, and was placed at the head of a company
to try and round up some of the highwaymen. His command
went to Horse Prairie, but did not succeed in grabbing anyone.

CHAPTER XVI.
Story of James Kirkpatrick.

The winter of 1863-4 was a memorable one for the embryo
State of Montana. The vanguard of would-be prospectors from
Gold Creek, in what is since Deer Lodge County, pushing on to
Grasshopper Valley, had found already established and swarm-
ing with pioneer mining life, the "City" of Bannack. All mining
camps in those crude days were dubbed either "Gulches" or
"Cities." (Bannock was the original spelling of the name after
the tribe which at that time, hovered about, and, to avoid confu-
sion, it was called "East Bannock," in contradiction from "West
Bannock" in Idaho, since changed to Lewiston.)

Bannack City, whose prolific placers had already begun to
show signs of depletion, had still much of the alluring "dust"
within its sands, still eagerly sought by rugged men in primitive
ways.

An army of gold seekers had surged past the town, over the
mountains to the east, swarmed down the Beaverhead and up
the Ruby River to Alder Gulch and Virginia City. Here met and
merged another stream of humanity, from the overland route far-
ther north.

Bannack had been and was still rich — Virginia was richer.
Money was very plentiful, gold abundant, and some of the lucky
miners were already departing for far away homes, with quanti-
ties of the precious "dust."

The crack of the "Bull- whacker's" whip, almost hourly, her-
alded the arrival of incoming wagon trains of gold seekers, or
the departure of freighters seeking supplies from Salt Lake. Pack
trains came from Oregon, steamers from the lower reaches of
the Missouri, and the Mississippi ; daily stages arrived with month-
old mail from Omaha, and carried daily passengers between the
two "cities." Their treasure boxes were seldom lacking or empty.
The passengers were usually well supplied with "dust," much
was being sent out of the country by wagon train, and "dust"
was both a commodity and a currency. No condition could have
been more favorable to lawlessness. The country knew no law
except that of the Miners' meeting — vague, unsatisfactory, fickle,

236 THE VIGILANTES OF ..lONTANA

suited only for transient purposes. Revolvers, in the hands of
outlaws, fast gathering from other haunts, had to be reckoned
with all too often. The bad element soon became organized, mur-
der and robbery was frequent, no man's life or money was se-
cure. Everyone felt that something must be done, that the con-
ditions necessitated prompt and secret action.

But how to begin? Who could be trusted? Brave, honest and
noble men were plentiful, but few knew their neighbors. Almost
everyone knew numbers of the roughs, but to speak of them aloud
meant certain death, even a whisper within the walls of Ban-
nack's huts might reach an outlaw's ear.

The situation became daily more intense ; shocking crimes
hourly increased in frequency. Among the law abiding were men
who knew no fear ; cautious discreet souls ; men of iron will.

A union league was silently, suddenly formed among the men
of Grasshopper Creek, ostensibly sympathizers with the Union
cause in our Civil war, then raging in the far-off "States." This
suspicious circumstance at once attracted the attention of resi-
dent road agents, some of whom made haste to join the league.
Something imminent seemed in the air, something was about to
happen. Rumors, of vague origin, and no sponsors, circulated.
To try to leave town, even by night, was unsafe, by day it usually
meant robbery, perhaps murder. The robbers had become very
strong; word flew that Bannack was about to be sacked. Ned
Ray, Buck Stinson and Henry Plummer were among the most
prominent men on the Bannack 's single street. The former, tall,
sandy, lean, with mustache and goatee, well groomed, buckskin
dressed, soft felt hat ; he might be taken for a freighter or a pros-
pector on a rest, in town.

1 have learned that he did not ride the road, but was a spy and
informer. I heard him remark one day, shortly before his death,
as he sat at a card table in Percy and Hacker's saloon, with about
$1,000 in $20.00 gold pieces, stacked before him, "I have today
been around and paid all my debts, and have this much left."
Little did I then suspect where he had obtained that coin. Gamb-
ling seemed his only occupation ; he lived in a small cabin, with
his "woman," just off the street under the low "bar" upon which
Bannack was built.

Buck Stinson was below medium height, well built, not bad
looking, medium complexion, a gambler, and Plummer 's lieuten-
ant— a sort of Deputy Sheriff. He was sometimes out on horse-
back, and on one occasion I saw him gallop demonstratively into
town on a powerful horse with his roll of blankets flopping behind
the saddle — a usual thing at that time among horsemen — and rein
up at the express office to learn if the Virginia City stage had

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTAISA 237

that day been robbed as usual. It had. I forget whether he had
helped or not. The following day, sitting in Percy and Hacker's
saloon, where, as a boy of sixteen, I spotted ten-pins for hire, I
heard two shots in quick succession, outside on the sidewalk. Boy
like^ I ran out to see. Stinson's beautiful Mastiff dog, a favorite
about the street, and a pet of his "wife," lay gasping in death.
He had paid the penalty at the hands of a bad-tempered master
for not coming back, at call, from following another man. Stin-
son put up his revolver, stepped inside, and sat dejectedly down.

Not having seen all of this, I innocently asked. "Who shot
Carlo?" A meaning look from Percy caused me to be silent. Di-
rectly Buck said, "If I ever get drunk again, I hope some son-
of-a-gun will kill me." Thus will remorse sometimes reach the
hardest heart. He had wantonly destroyed a faithful dog, and
attracted to himself most undesirable attention. He also, with his
"wife" occupied a small log hut, under the hill near Ned Ray's
domicile, the same in which the "Greaser," Joe Pizanthia, was
killed, shortly after the road agent trio had met their fate.

Henry Plummer, genteel, self-possessed, and of medium height
and complexion, was in and out of town, going sometimes to Vir-
ginia, and was often on the streets of Bannack; he was Sheriff,
through peculiar circumstances, of both towns, elected ostensibly
by popular vote at Miners' meetings.

Out of the Union League, secretly, in some mysterious manner,
evolved the Bannack branch of the Vigilance Committee. Most
of these courageous men are long since dead, but their acts of
summary justice, inspired by that necessity which knows no law,
are upheld by all fair-minded men.

Monday morning, January 11th, broke clear, bright and cold,
on the little hamlet of Marysville, one mile down the creek from
Bannack. The cold was intense. Not a breath stirred the crisp
air. Before sunrise, word came to Marysville, and flew down
the Grasshopper, for miles to all the miners, that the main trio
of road agents had been hung on the previous night. Hundreds
of determined looking men, heavily armed, thronged for hours,
the one road to Bannack a living stream. It was an exciting
sight. Dressed in my heaviest wraps and mitts, stopping in at
several miners' cabins to warm, I ran all the way to town. The
street was filled with armed men ; all was orderly and quiet, many
were drinking in the numerous saloons, that lined the only street.

An air of satisfaction and relief prevailed. In the lower part
of a two-story log house, not yet completed, lay on the floor,
frozen solid, the bodies of the three terrors of the town. Side
by side, with each a deep groove in the neck showing the marks
of rope strand spirals ; clad in their Sunday clothes, newly shaved.

238 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

they laid, with the awful ropes lying near, a gruesome ending, to
lives of crime.

Suddenly the gang had learned that their days were numbered,
that a Vigilance Committee was expected over the mountains,
from Virginia, to hang them. Murderers were sent out along the
road to way-lay the Committee, but they slipped in to town at
night, by an unfrequented road. Each robber had his horse sad-
dled and equipped on Yankee Flat, just across the Creek ready
for instant flight ; none dared to start ; each awaited the turn of
events. The Virginia men joined those of Bannack; three squads
went silently in the night to as many doors; three pairs of eyes
looked down the double barrels of so many shotguns. Quickly
three well dressed men dangled from a gallows in Hangman's
Gulch, three hundred yards from Main Street, a gallows erected
by Plummer for another murderer.

Time and necessity precluded any elaborate preparations for
the execution, and Ned Ray, being next one of the posts of the
gallows, wound his legs about it, and thereby prolonged his mis-«
ery. The other two passed away less painfully. During the trip
to the gallows, a crowd gathered, but no attempt at rescue or
interference developed. A brother of Plummer 's wife, a highly
respected young man, who clerked in the store of a Mr. Thomp-
son, tried to intercede for his relative, but to no avail. He was
told in no uncertain terms to return to town.

Of those who took part in that gruesome drama, many were
at that time well known about Bannack, respected and respectable
business men.

Also, some whose names appear in the works of Professor Dims-
dale and N. P. Langford, are remembered by the writer, reputable
citizens of the time and place.

JAMES KmKPATRICK.

CHAPTER XVII.

Incidents of Beaverhead County.

John F. Bishop and Dick Reynolds brought in the first stock
sheep — landed in Bannack, November 7th, 1869. They were driven
from The Dalles, Oregon — 800 miles. Col. Charles Broadwater
bought their wool for 19 cents. No good shearers in the country
those days.

First County School Superintendent: J. D. Douglas was ap-
pointed School Superintendent, September 30th, 1867.

Assessor : John B. Miller appointed March 15th, 1865 ; allowed
$12.00 per day for services.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 239

Sheriff : E. Smith Ball was first Sheriff, and C. M. Kingsbury
second, after the organization.

County Attorney : E. T. Phelps, first Prosecuting Attorney, as
per acct. paid by county commissioners, March 16th, 1866.

In the winter of 1862 and 1863, Neil Howie and Jack Carroll
found quartz in Argenta, but they did not go back.

A Promissory Note.

On Januar}^ 19th, 1864, Cyrus Skinner and Company gave the
following note to George Chrisman & Co., to-wit:

On or before the first day of April, A. D. 1864 we jointly and
severally promise to pay to George Chrisman, or order. Three
Hundred Thirty-seven and 63-100 Dollars, in good, clean gulch
gold, at current rates, without discount or defalcation, with in-
terest at the rate of 10 per cent per month, for value received.

SKINNER & LUTZI.

This carried as security the building just west of the Goodrich
House. (See illustration.)

One of the first trials for ownership was recorded as follows :
Called meeting Saturday, October 20th, 1862, wherein Joseph
Clark was plaintiff and Porter was the defendant. Trial for right
of ownership to claim No. 6, above discovery, occupied by Areighi
and Harby. Division being called for, plaintiff received 40 ; de-
fendant 25. Case decided for plaintiff.

John Crits, the man who came west with the father of the
author, claimed Lot No. 3, West Side of First Cross street in Ban-
na ck, November 25th, 1862. John was killed in Virginia City the
nest year by a cave in his mine.

Miners' Meetings.

Report of Committee on arbitration. Independent District,
March 19, 1863.

We, the Committee, agree to decide that the disputed ground
between C. M. Davis and Wood, McCable & Company, be equally
divided, and that the lines be measured and run from Discovery
on the front and back ends of claims, down to the claims to make
them parallel with discovery.

J. B. SPENCER.
D. K. BUTLER.
JOHN FERGUSON.
Recorded March 20th, 1863.

M. H. LOTT, Recorder.
At a meeting held on Jimmie's Bar, Independent District,
March 12th, 1863, we find the following :

See. 21. "Resolved that no lawyer, counsellor or attorney,
shall be allowed to practice, plead or act in the capacity of an

240 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

attorney before the court in investigating a dispute in this dis-
trict."

Toll Bridge.

Know all men by these presents, that we, Lewis D. Irvin, Fred
Burr and James Minesinger have claimed, staked and pre-empted,
for the purpose of building a bridge across the Big Hole River, at
the present crossing of said river, to Deer Lodge Valley, from
Grasshopper Creek. The said bridge will be completed in good
time for travel. Taken October 13th, 1862. (Afterward Brown's
bridge.)

On January 28th, 1863, Henry Eagan, Barney Hughes, George
Orr, R. McLeod, Lewis Simmons and William Sweeney, sold their
claims to Butz and Peabody, for each claim — $250.00. Most of
these men were of the Fairweather party. I do not know why
McLeod did not go with them. The sale was made to give them
funds for out-fitting for the Yellowstone trip.

Settling a Partnership Quarrel.
Whereas, Gilbert Durand and Joseph Verser Suprenant, both of
Bannack City, have been formerly partners, and a difference has
arisen about the settlement of affairs, and the disposal of part-
nership property — they and each of them hereby agree that the
entire matter shall be referred to three referees. E. R. Purple,
chosen by Gilbert Durand ; P. C. Wood chosen by J. V. Supren-
ant, and a third to be chosen by the other two. All the business
matters of said firm to be submitted to said referees, for final
settlement, and also the disposal of Company property, to be
decided fully by them. And we bind ourselves, each for himself,
to abide by and carry out the decision of said referees, fully in
all matters, both as regards partnership and present business, so
as to make and conclude a full and entire settlement of all matters
between them in any and every way. Signed this 2nd day of
April, 1863.

JOSEPH VESSER SUPRENANT,
GILBERT DURAND. His (X) Mark.
Witness : H. P. A. SMITH.

Under the agreement, we have chosen C. M. Davis as third ref-
eree in matter within mentioned.

E. R. PURPLE,
P. C. WOOD.
Recorded April 4, 1863.

Findings Were as Follows.

The undersigned arbitrators, in the matter of difference be-
tween Gilbert Durand and J. V. Suprenant, find and award as
follows, to-wit:

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 241

That the said co-partnership property, now on hand, amounts
to $1,371.33. That the net receipts of the co-partnership, since
its existence, is $744.45. The value of outstanding credits, $50.00.
That J. V. Suprenant's indebtedness to Gilbert Durand is
$1,141.55, and we hereby award to Gilbert Durand, the entire
property of the co-partnership, of whatever name and descrip-
tion, together with the whole outstanding credits of the co-part-
nership, and we find that J. V. Suprenant is indebted to Gilbert
Durand in the sum of Thirty-three 66-100 Dollars, for v/hich
amount we judgment against said J. V. Suprenant and in favor
of said Gilbert Durand.

E. R. PURPLE.
P. C. WOOD.
C. M. DAVIS.

April 4, 1863.

Martin .Barrett relates the following, to-wit: That fellow
Durand was called a tough citizen, but he treated me mighty well.
I bought a wagon from him, for which I was to pay $125.00. I
gave him my sack, and he weighed out what I supposed was
$125.00. When I got home, I weighed my dust, and found it
$150.00 short. I returned to Bannack, and called Durand 's at-
tention to it, and he gave me back $150.00.

Mrs. Martin Barrett and Mrs. Philip H. Poindexter planted
the first dandelions in Montana, the spring of 1868.

Mrs. Barrett tells that her first wash day on the ranch was
a surprise to her. The boys, Joe and Mart, had not taken very
kindly to the wash tub, so had accumulated a great heap of soiled
material, which they had thrown under the bunk. Her surprise
was the finding of $1200.00 that had been placed there for safe
keeping.

First White Child Born.

The first white child born in Bannack was born in December,
1862, to the wife of B. B. Burchett. His father, being a southern
sympathizer, named him Jefferson Davis ; but as the fortunes of
war were against Jeff he changed the boy's name two and one-
half years later to Thomas Jefferson,

This was from Edwin R. Purple to Col. Sanders. He had sent,
in 1875, a list of the people in Bannack prior to January 1, 1862.

Women in Bannack.

Arnold, Mrs. W. S. ; Ball, Mrs. Smith ; Biddle, Mrs. Dr. ; Burch-
ett, Mrs. B. B. ; Burchett, Miss Mary ; Bennett, widow and young
daughter; Buckner, Mrs. Hank; Burchett, Miss Sallie ; Brown,
widow ; Caldwell, Mrs. Thos. ; Castner, Mrs. J. M. ; Carrol, Mrs. ;
Caven, Mrs. J. B.; Dalton, Mrs.; Dalton, Miss; Donnelly, Miss

242 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Mary ; Dalton, Miss Matilda ; Davenport, Mrs. L. W. ; Durgan,
"Widow Catherine ; Hewins, Widow ; Harby, Mrs. James ; Kuster,
Mrs. G. ; Le Graw, Mrs. Frank (the Countess); Meredith, Mrs.;
Peabody, Mrs. Susan ; Roy, Mrs. Frank ; Short, Mrs. ; Tilley, Mrs. ;
Tyler, Mrs. H. T. ; Waddams, Mrs. AVilson; Waddams, Miss
Sarah; Zoller, Mrs. Henry; Zoller, Miss Emma.

At the Big Hole Bridge.

Burr, Fred; Coulan, James; Erwin, Louis D. ; Minesinger,
J as. M.

The Big Hole, or Brown's Bridge, was built in the winter of
1862-3.

Scholars of First School in Bannack — 1863.

Emma Zoller, Emma Cutler, Susan Burehett, Mary Teeters,
Charles Van Camp, J. Edward Watson, Wright Preseott Edger-
ton, Matilda French, Wm. Jones, Henry French, Delia Cutler,
George Burehett, Geo. Teeters, Jennie Bennett, Euphemia Van
Camp, James U. Sanders, Mollie Dye, Margaret French, Pauline
Edgerton, George French.

On October 19th, 1862, J. H. Morley, Mandeville Pitcher, Jule

Morley got into their cabin. This is the first one we can find in
the history of Bannack.

W. H. Bell was the first person to die in Bannack, November
2nd, 1862. Typhoid fever. Buried by the Masons. (See Lang-
ford.)

November 21st placer mines were discovered at Argenta. No
good.

Morley speaks of cutting hay on the Grasshopper for his oxen,
on December 9, 1862.

On December 20th Mandeville and Morley run a level for the
Painter Creek ditch and found plenty fall. This was afterwards
built by Smith & Graeter.

On Sunday, December 21st, a miners' meeting, called to pass
the odious code of civil laws gotten up for benefit of a few petty-
foggers, but they were rejected by a two-thirds majority to ad-
journ until spring.

On December 22 about 20 men met in Morley 's cabin to organ-
ize a town association to operate at Three Forks. Morley was
elected chairman. Started for Three Forks, December 28th, 1862.

January 6th surveyed a townsite one mile below mouth of Gal-
latin River.

January 14th, 1863, Plummer shot Jack Cleveland.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 243

CHAPTER XVIII.
The Grey Horse.

1 came to Montana in 1863, and, with Joseph Shineberger, lo-
cated land at the crossing of Horse Prairie.

Sometime in the early part of January, 1864, I happened to be
in Bannack and on the street noticed a dark, swarthy featured
man, about 40 years old, riding a buckskin horse. I was riding
an excellent grey gelding, famed for his speed and endurance.
The party rode up and desired to make a trade. I could not con-
sider anything of the kind, as good saddle horses were the only
means for joy riders those days, and as mine was a good one I
could see no reason for a swap. To give you an idea how good he
was, I will say that I rode him from Virginia to Bannack, 75
miles, in six hours.

I was taking horses in and out of Bannack, as we were running
a horse herd, almost every day. Coming in the next day I met
Tom Pitt, who told me that he had bought a buckskin horse and
that the fellow had taken his saddle on his back and started to-
ward Horse Prairie, probably for Grey John. I found that it was
an easy matter to track the fellow, as there was four inches of
snow. I was mighty glad, when I got home, to find that Dave
Melten, who stayed with me that winter, had put the horse in the
stable. There was no door, only a log chain stretched across to
keep stock in, as lumber was $100 per thousand. The next morn-
ing it was cold ! Forty below zero ! when we started toward the
willows to find the horse thief. "We found his camp, saddle and
blankets, but no man. We sent a hired man on top of a hill close
by to watch. Shortly after the party came to the foot of the hill
and wanted the man to come down and talk to him. Nothing do-
ing. So the fellow came to camp, where we were waiting, and
said he had lost his horse, said he could have killed us if he had
wanted to, but only wanted a horse so he could get out of the
country.

I told him I had tracked him from Bannack and would give
him one hour to leave the creek. If I had known who he was I
do not believe I. would have been so brave.

I had a sore-back mule, not much good, which I traded for
everything he had, saddle, bridle, blankets, etc., and a forty-five
Colt's revolver. He did not want to part with the gun, at that
time, but I was boss. He owed me $25 on the trade and said he
would be back in a few days and pay me. Not long after this
Neil Howie came to my ranch with this fellow and stayed all
night. (To be exact it was on January 8th.) Neil told me the
man was Dutch John, and that he had overtaken him on the
Snake River and would take him to Bannack. John told me to

244 THE VIGILANTES OF ..-^NTANA

come to Bannack and lie would pay me. For some reason I did
not go in until the 12tli and found out that I was too late to get
my money. In a partly built frame house I found John still hang-
ing to a joist with his feet about two feet from the floor, and in
the same room was Buck Stinson and Henry Plummer. John
had been shot in one shoulder some time before that and the curi-
ous would take hold of him and swing him around to see the bul-
let hole.

I kept the grey horse for some time and rode him with much
pleasure, but in some way he got the mountain fever and became
thin. I tried to sell him to the boys on the ranch for $10. No
one wanted him. One spring he got fat and I made up my mind
to get rid of him. Wes Travis was a noted horseman, in those
daj^s, and had a large stable in Helena. I led John over there,
behind a wagon and put up with Wes. He had heard of the horse
and told me that he would give as much as any one else. He told
me, however, to go and see a certain party and find out what he
would give. I found the man and he said $150. I went back to
"Wes and told him and he said: ''No use, Mart. I wouldn't give
you anything for him. He's had the mountain fever and will
never be any good." It seems that D. B. Mason, of our county,
happened to be in Travis' stable when I rode the horse out and
he put Wes wise. Well, I couldn't sell him and so I started back
for Horse Prairie. Stayed all night at Boulder, and when I went
to the stable next morning found the old fellow dead. That was
the end of Grey John, one of the most beautiful pieces of horse
flesh I ever saw, and one that has become famous in Montana
history.

CHAPTER XIX.

First Meeting of County Commissioners in Montana.

Records of Board of County Commissioners of Beaverhead
County, Idaho Territory.

April 4th. The Commissioners appoiated J. M. Galloway,
Justice of Peace in and for the County of Beaverhead by authority
vested in said Commissioners to fill vacancj'.

AMOS W. HALL, Clerk.

First meeting of County Commissioners for Beaverhead County
held at Bannack City, Monday, April 4th, 1864.

Said Committee composed of the following named: George
Chrisman, A. J. Smith and Elijah Moore.

Geo. Crisman was elected chairman of said committee of Board
of County Commissioners.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 245

Matters of renting building for the purpose of Justice and
Probate Court and various County offices ; and a building was
rented of Andy Lutzi at a rent of $125.00 per month, payable in
the orders of the County of Beaverhead.

The following list of fees was adopted by the Board.

Sheriff's Fees:

For serving any writ or notice not including of Subpoenas,

for the first person served $2,00

For each additional person 1.00

For each copy of such writ or notice when required for each

one hundred words 3.00

Each commitment to prison 2.00

Attending before a Judge or Court when required not at a

regular term of Court in his county for each day beside.... 6.00

Mileage one way per mile 75

Copy of any paper required by law for each 100 words 30

Serving and returning Subpoena for each person 50

Calling a Jury in each case 50

Summoning a grand or petit jury for each panel, including

mileage to be paid out of the County treasury 10.00

Selling land or other property on execution or order of sale,

percentage on one hundred dollars or less 5^

Over $1,000, or less than $3,000 3%

Over $3,000, and less than $10,000 2%

Over $10,000, and less than $15,000 1%

Executing a deed for land with costs of stamps and ac-
knowledgment 2.00

For making inventory of property attached or levied upon,

per day 10.00

For each returned not served 25

For making arrest 2.00

Recorder's Fees.

For recording pre-emption mining claims 1.00

For recording deed per folio 30

After the first folio and for the first folio 2.00

A meeting of the County Commissioners of Beaverhead County
was held April 20th, 1864, George Chrisman, in the Chair. The
matter of a bridge across Grasshopper Creek, near the residence
of Judge Edgerton, in the town of Bannack, was considered, and
action taken toward issuing sealed proposals for bids for the con-
struction of the same. Specifications for the bridge as follows :

Four stringers that will square nine inches, with a framed and
braced vent under the middle. The west end to be cribbed up,

246 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

two feet above the present bank. The east end to rest upon a
sill, properly and firmly embedded in the bank. The bridge to
be covered with poles, hewed square four inches thick, with pole
on each end of the top of bridge that will square six inches. Each
pole used in covering the bridge to be firmly pinned at each end.
Also, the poles on each end of the bridge to be firmly secured.
Said bridge to be 12 feet wide in the clear. The timber to be
used in construction of the vent under the middle of the bridge
to be of a size that will square ten inches. The road to be prop-
erly leveled at the east end, and properly graded and filled up at
the west end of the bridge, by the party contracting to build the
same.

It is ordered by the County Commissioners of Beaverhead
county, by the power vested in them, by act of the Legislature
of this Territory, that the road running from the upper extremity
of the Town of Bannack, to the lower or eastern portion known
as Marysville, be declared a county road, and protected as such
for the public benefit.

A resolution was passed by this board to purchase the jail built
by the city council of Bannack City, for the sum of $500 in scrip,
of the County of Beaverhead, for the use of said county, and the
scrip ordered to be issued for same.

May 19th, at this date, the building rented of Andy Lutzi, was
given up by the Commissioners of Beaverhead County, on the
ground that the rent was too high.

April 26, Articles of Agreement entered into between C. 0.
Trask and the Countj^ Commissioners of Beaverhead County, as
follows : Said Trask agrees to grade a road commencing at the
hill near Estes Feed Stable, running up and near the creek to
the top of the bank above the upper bridge ; said road to be seven
feet vfide, solid ground, and the upper bank grade to be 40%.
Also to leave road from the first bank on the south, and west side
of upper bridge, with side logs, and to make a good road in the
bank from the upper bridge to the dug road, the whole to be
done in good order subject to inspection by the Board of County
Commissioners for which we, the Commissioners, agree to give
him twelve hundred dollars in county scrip ; work to be completed
on or before the 20th day of May, 1864.

May 15th. The above road was examined by the Board of
County Commissioners, and county scrip ordered issued to C. O.
Trask, for building solid road. Amount of scrip issued May 1st,
1864, ($1200.00) Twelve Hundred Dollars.

AMOS W. HALL, Clerk.

May 31st, 1864.

A special meeting of the Board of County Commissioners ac-

GOVERNOR EDGERTON

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 247

cording to notice, was held at this date. George Chrisman in
the chair.

The usual bond was presented to the Board of County Commis-
sioners, from J. M. Galloway, acting Justice of the Peace, and ap-
proved.

Action was taken by the Board with reference to the amount
of bonds received of Henry ZoUer, Treasurer of Beaverhead
County, and said amount was fixed at the sum of Four Thousand
Dollars.

These were the first meetings of County Commissioners in Mon-
tana. They simply are recorded to give the curious facts, from
a historic standpoint. If they are of interest to one person, I will
feel satisfied.

One fact in history is worth much more than pages of stuff that
is a matter of hearsay.

Governor Edgerton.

First Governor of Montana.

Born in Cazenovia, N. Y., August, 1818.

He was a frail child and for some time his life was despaired
of and his grave clothes were made ready. His father died when
he was six years old, leaving his mother with six children to care
for.

In those days there were few occupations open to women. She
worked night and day over her loom and with her needle to keep
her flock together. At last she came to the end of human endur-
ance and her boys, one by one, were forced to leave home. At
length it was Sidney's turn, and the eight-year-old boy set forth
to match his strength against the world. He started out manfully
enough, but his heart failed him before he had gone far and he
turned to look back to his home. There in the doorway stood his
mother watching him, with a brave smile on her lips. With an
answering smile the little fellow faced about and went on his way
reassured.

There followed years of hardship. He attended district school,
where he worked for board and tuition. Later, at the academy
at Lima, N. Y., where his cousin. Prof. Seager, was instructor.

Books were not plenty. He read the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress
and Pope's Iliad.

In 1844 he went to Akron, Ohio, where he entered the law of-
fice of Rufus P. Spalding, as a law student, although all the money
he had was three dollars.

That winter he taught the academy at Tallmadge, Ohio, fol-
lowing spring he went to Cincinnati, where he studied at the law
school for a year. He began the practice of law at Akron, in 1846.
He married Mary Wright in 1849.

248 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

He was elected Prosecuting Attorney on the Free Soil ticket in
1852, and in 1856 was one of the members of the convention which
formed the Republican party. The same year he was nominated
for Probate Judge but declined the nomination. He was elected
as representative to Congress in 1858.

He tried to get to Harper's Ferry to see John Brown at the
request of Brown's brother and son, in order to arrange some busi-
ness matters, but was stopped by the soldiers.

In 1863 was appointed Chief Justice of Idaho, and was expected
to go to Lewiston, the capital.

Left Akron on June 1st, 1863, accompanied by his family, his
nephew, Ex-Senator Wilbur F, Sanders, and family, and two or
three gentlemen who wished to seek their fortunes in the West.

Outfitted at Omaha. Unyoked their oxen on September 17,
1863, on Yankee Flat, Bannack.

An Incident.

Shortly after arriving in Bannack the Judge strolled do^vn
Main street to see the town. Coming to a building where Miners'
court was in progress he went in.

The Judge, seeing Edgerton was a stranger, invited him to sit
by him. The trial of the case proceeded, but not for long, when
it was interrupted by the suggestion of someone present that it
was time liquid refreshments should be served. The Judge and
everyone present approving of the suggestion, on old darkey was
dispatched to a neighboring saloon for whiskey. On his return
the court took a recess and a drink, several of them in fact.

At a meeting of the citizens of Virginia and Bannack, some
months later, Judge Edgerton was selected to go to Washington
to secure a division of the Territory. He took a lot of gold with
him as an exhibit.

Was appointed Governor of the new territory in 1864.

Went East in 1865 in the interests of Montana. Left Bannack
in September and made the trip back to the States with a mule
team.

Took up his residence again at Akron where he died on the
19th day of July, 1900.

Judge W. Y. Pemberton says that Sidney Edgerton was a very
bitter partisan, and scored his opponent while on the stump, but
that he was an exceedingly honorable gentleman and one who
would fight for the right, as he saw it, and was generous enough
to give due credit to those who did not believe as he did.

GEO. DETWILER

Speaker of First House

ROBERT LAWRENCE

President First Council, Montana

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 249

First Idaho Legislature.
First Idaho Legislature convened December 7th, 1863.
, Council from what is now Montana — A. J. Edwards, Wm.
Rheem, Horace Joseph Tuffs and L. C. Miller. Rode Horseback;
came back via San Francisco.

Election October 31st, 1863 ; $4.00 per diem during attendance
at sessions thereof. Greenbacks were 50 cents on the $1.00. Meals
$1.00 to $1.25 in gold. Many brought their blankets and slept
where they could.

First Le^lature.

The first Legislative Assembly of Montana convened at noon,
Monday, December 12th, 1864.

Council called to order by Judge L. P. Williston.

House called to order by the Governor, who informed the mem-
bers that it was necessary that they take the oath of allegiance
to the United States. This iron-clad oath went down with the
council, with but little delay or grumbling. In the House, how-
ever, the case was different. Mayhew, McCormack and Bell, each
had his say. An estray from the council, slightly spirituously
obstructed, got into the wrong pew; had suggestions to make,
was called to order by McCormack ; retorted by accusing McCor-
mack of being ambitious of the Speaker's chair and finally sub-
sided.

The Governor was not only imperturable, he hinted to the
gentlemen in a mild way the anarchy that would follow if the
Assembly should fail to take the necessary preliminary step to
organization. This did not move them. Then there was the most
distant insinuation that the law allowed no one to be paid who
did not swear allegiance to the government that paid them. This
touched the Madison County delegation in a tender place, and
with such wry faces as a patient makes who takes distasteful purg-
atives, and such contortions as one would make after over-eating
turkey-buzzards, they swallowed the "iron-clad" without mental
reservation or evasion.

This done, temporary organization followed without difficulty.
Judge Anson S. Potter, being elected temporary president of the
Council, and Mr. Geo. Detwiler temporary speaker of the House.

Rogers of the House dictated an oath which he said he could
take and not turn his stomach, even if it did trouble his digestion.
This "iron-clad oath" was not only in the way of Rogers, but
Pemberton did not think it would agree with his stomach, and,
like the sensible man he usually is, refused to compromise his
friends by accepting one of the chief clerkships. Rogers resigned.

250 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

President of the Council was R. Lawrence. Speaker, George Det-

wiler.

Governor White.

It is said that he was the direct descendant of P. White, the
first child born in Massachusetts after the landing of the Pilgrims.

He was born in New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts,
December 3rd, 1838.

Attended Pearce Academy of Middleburg. ^

As a boy he was independent.

I have been told that he made up his mind to leave home at
the age of sixteen without the consent of his parents. That he
could see, some place in the future, the rosy side of a cloud, then,
of his mind, dark; that he could make, without assistance from
his father, a success, must have been the idea that led him to
take advantage of the first ship that could lead him into new pas-
trues and into strange lands.

So the old ship Kathay took on board the boy who was ambi-
tious for adventures. He went to Sidney, Australia, for his first
experience, and the second trip took him to San Francisco in 1856.

Too much excitement in that place for a boy like White, so he
quit salt water and went to fruit farming. He studied law while
caring for the fruit.

He left California in 1866, and went to Malad, Idaho, where he
was admitted to the bar in 1868.

Was elected on the Anti-Mormon ticket, clerk and recorder of
Oneida count3^ One of his first ventures was the manufacture of
salt secured from Salt Springs located in the mountains 100 miles
north. The salt found sale in the mines in Montana at a good
price for years, or until the railroad was constructed. The Gov-
ernor followed the railroad to Montana, and was one of the incor-
porators of Dillon townsite.

He became the first mayor. In the early days of Dillon, Sebree,
Ferris and White were factors. They started the bank since
known as the First National. The charge of the institution was
placed with White, and he has no doubt conducted it in a peculiar
manner. He studied men and conditions and loaned men money
according to his own idea as to their ability to pay. No mortgage
was taken, and no man was on your note. The old gentleman
was very inquisitive as to your intentions and found out from
every source possible the manner in which you conducted your
business. If you played a little poker, drank a little too much
whiskey at times, he knew it, but if you were playing fair with
him he said nothing about it to you, though he might say some-
thing about it to your neighbor, from whom, probably, he had
become acquainted with those very shortcomings.

GOVERNOR B. F. WHITE

BILL FAIRWEATHER

Discoverer of Alder Gulch

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 251

I do not consider that the Governor was a public spirited man.
He was too careful for that. He acted as a safety valve to keep
darned fools from blowing up the boiler.

He could accumulate money which he loaned to men who would
build up. Few men of Beaverhead county who have amounted to
anything can say that they were not helped in some way by B.
F. White. He was level-headed, careful, not too courageous when
it came to loaning money. Many, many men owe this man much
for the help he has extended them. Big Hole Basin was assisted
materially by him.

Sentiment is foreign to his nature. To mix sentiment with busi-
ness is the folly of the fool, because money is needed to conduct
the affairs of men, not to close the wounds of broken hearts, dry
the tears of widows, or feed the hungry orphan. Not too good
nor too bad — just a man.

The time came when B. F. White was appointed to fill the posi-
tion of Territorial Governor by President Harrison. This was
just before statehood. As he Avas the last Governor of the terri-
tory, he may be considered the first Governor of the state, because
he was such half a day before Governor Toole took his seat. This
may be technical, but I guess it is the truth.

Married, February 14, 1879, to Elizabeth Davis, who was born
in England, to whom four children were born: Carrie, Emrys,
Ealph and Greta.

CHAPTER I.— ALDER GULCH.

Bill Fairweather.

Wm. Fairweather was a peculiar person. He was born in New
Brunswick and started west at an early age.

Not enough is known of the early life of this truly remarkable
man. He was not acquainted with fear. The rattlesnake was, to
him, harmless, as in the story of Henry Edgar we find the follow-
ing: "It was jointly through Bill Fairweather and Lewis Sim-
mons that we were saved (from the Indians). I don't know how
it was, but a rattlesnake would not bite Bill. When he saw one
he would grab it up and carry it for days. They never seemed
to resent anything he would do to them, and he never killed one.
As we were going toward this Indian village he picked up a rat-
tlesnake and just at the outskirts he picked up another. When
the Indians saw him come in with a rattlesnake on each arm they
were awed. He put the snakes in his shirt bosom and Simmons
told the Indians that he was the great Medicine Man of the whites.

They took us into their medicine lodge, where there was a big

252 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

bush in the center. They marched us around that bush several
times and finally Bill said that if they marched him around again
he would pull up the sacred medicine bush. They marched us
around again and Bill pulled up the bush and walloped the Medi-
cine Man on the head with it. We then formed three to three,
back to back. We had refused all along to give up our guns and
revolvers. The old chief drove the Indians back with a whip.
The}^ had a council which lasted from noon until midnight. In
the morning we got our sentence. If we attempted to go on they
would kill us. If we would give up our horses and go back we
would not be harmed."

As I have mentioned in my "Story of Ajax" the Indians did
not take Fairweather's horses. There can be but one way to
account for this. Bill must be crazy ! And a crazy man would be
under the care of the "Great Spirit." Who, but a crazy man,
would carry a live rattlesnake or pull up the sacred bush and
strike the Medicine man? Yes, Bill was crazj^ (?), but he made
it work.

That Alder was discovered at all was due to the act of this
leader, because a leader he was, of a pronounced nature.

As per Marshall's interview we notice the following:

Thursday evening, April 28, 1875.

At Douglas' Store saw W. Fairweather and obtained from him
full account of the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch. A party,
Fairweather, T. Cover, H. Edgar, B. Hughes, Sweeney, Rodgers,
an old mountaineer (who fraternized with and remained among
the Indians in the Yellowstone) started from Deer Lodge, intend-
ing to prospect some tributary of the Yellowstone. They crossed
the main range by the Deer Lodge Pass, crossed the Big Hole and
Beaverhead Rivers, traveled up the Pahsimmeri, struck across the
Tobacco Root range at the head of Granite Creek, a tributary of
Alder, passing within four or five miles of the richest and most
extensive placer mines ever worked in Montana. Went down the
Madison, turned east and crossing the Gallatin and the range
lying between it and the Yellowstone, went down the latter
stream two days' journey when they encountered a large party
of Indians who stopped them and for two days detained them
while making medicine over them to decide their fate, the old
w^arriors being of the opinion that they should be turned back,
and forbidden to attempt again to pass through that region in
quest of the precious metals, while the younger warriors were
for instantly killing them with all the horrors of fiendship tor-
tures before, and scalping after death, which always distinguished
the actions of the real savage Indians of history, though unknown
to the Indian of poetry and romance, the noble savage of Long-
fellow and Cooper. The medicine proved favorable to the views

DEED OF FAIinVEATHER ET AL. TO DISCOVERY CLAIMS IX
ALDER GULCH.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 253

of the older men and the party were turned back and, fearful
of pursuit by the younger warriors, traveled with little rest until
they came out of the mountains onto the Madison Valley, opposite
the mouth of Wigwam G-ulch, and recrossing the river and deem-
ing themselves safe from pursuit rested a day on Wigwam and
prospecting a little discovered a little gold, but not enough to pay.
They then traveled up Wigwam some distance and crossing by
the Lakes, discovered the gravel range on the head of Butcher
and camping there for the night prospected a little but only foimd
a few colors. The next morning they started to return to Ban-
nack and coming into Alder Gulch near the Toll Gate opposite
Fairweather Bar, Fairweather told the others, when on the hill,
that, "If there wasn't gold there he wouldn't prospect another
place till they got back to Bannack." When they reached the
flat, just above the Toll Gate, Fairweather alighted and began to
unsaddle. As they had only come five miles the others asked
what he meant by stopping there. He replied that he was going
to prospect and finally they called a halt and turned out their
animals. As they made it a practice never to let them get out of
their sight, when they had fed down the stream as far as Rogers '
Bar, Fairweather started down to drive them back. As he returned
up the creek he was all the time looking to see if he could find
any place where the rimrock was visible and getting near the
camp saw it sticking out for some two hundred feet on the bar
opposite and since known as the Fairweather Bar, and taking a
pick, pan and shovel he and Edgar started over to prospect the
Bar, while the others got dinner ready. F. shoveled up a pan of
the loose gravel which had crumbled down from the bank and
Edgar took it down to the creek to wash it, and while he was
gone F. picked the bare rimrock which is there a loose trap and
taking up a piece saw it all sprinkled over with gold, and about
the same time Edgar, who had washed the panful down enough
to see the gold, shouted that he had got a big prospect, he thought
$5 or $6. They washed three pans and returning to camp weighed
it and found it to be forty-five cents. They had all claimed to
be dead broke before this, but no sooner was it certain that they
had discovered paying diggings than all the party, except Edgar
and Fairweather, began to pull out purses which had before been
carefully hidden, and declare that they had enough to buy grub
when they should reach Bannack. They stayed five days and F.
panned out $160.

Interview between F, and Prof. Wm. J. Marshall:

When he found gold he did not value it. He used to ride up
the main street of Virginia City and scatter gold dust right and
left in the street to see the children and Chinamen scramble for

254 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

it. What he didn't throw away he drank up and did not have
money enough left to bury himself.

From 1868 to 1872 he prospected on the Peace River and in
Alaska. Never contented — always a wanderer. He died at the
age of 39, in 1875, and was buried in Virginia on the hill overlook-
ing the stream that gave millions to the world.

Edgar said: "Bill was a fearless man, and an honest man,
true to his friends and to his word. He never had but one fault,
he would drink too much whiskey."

Bill died at Pete Daly's place, the Robbers' Roost. There is
an iron fence around his grave with a gold plate bearing the fol-
lowing inscription, to-wit:

Wm. H. Fairweather, Captain of party who discovered Alder
Gulch, May, 1863.

Born at "Woodstock Parish, Carlton County, New Brunswick,
June 14th, 1836.

Died, 1875, at Daly's Ranch, Madison County, Montana, August
25th.

CHAPTER n.
Alder Gulch.

As will be remembered, the stampeders, who were following
the discoveries of Alder, went into a meeting on the Beaverhead
River, in order to satisfy the boys that their claims, which had
been located May 28th, would be guaranteed to them. That meet-
ing must be considered the first one of the miners of Alder Gulch.
It was the particular thing that was to help establish law and
order in the gulch, to those who were willing to be governed by
common sense, and was the only thing that could be done in order
to get the information they so much wished — the destination of
Hughes party. (This meeting was recorded in a book, once used
at Clear Creek, Colorado.) So we find that the second meeting
came on the 7th day of June, 1863, as follows, to-wit: "At a
Miners' meeting held at the foregoing gold mines on Sunday,
June 7th, 1863, Mr. Conley (one of the men that discovered gold
in Big Hole), was elected President, and Dr. AV. L. Steele, Secre-
tary, and the following resolutions were passed:

1st. The center of the stream to be the line.

2nd. All former laws conflicting with the above resolution,
be hereby declared null and void.

3rd. All claims must be represented today, except discovery
claims.

4th. After today claims, represented today, hold good until
1st of July.

THE VIGILANTES OF -.ONT.^NA 255

5th. A committee of five to be appointed to draft laws for
our protection.

6th. That the President appoint the Committee.

The President appointed:

SAMUEL LIVINGSTON.
WM. L. STEELE.
JUDGE BISSELL.
COL. WOOD.
DR. SICK.

W. L. STEELE, Secretary.

"Vernon, June 12th, 1863.

The adjourned meeting from the 7th of June, met pursuant to
adjournment. The committee of laws reported, and their report
was accepted. The laws and resolutions reported were adopted
by sections.

G. W. Emerick and Judge Bissell were elected Judges of Elec-
tion, and Dr. Cox and J(ack) D. Alport were elected Tellers.
Laws reported by the committee with amendments, as adopted
by the meeting.

Your committee would beg leave to respectfully report the fol-
lowing laws for the consideration of the meeting.

1st. The name of the District shall be Fairweather.

2nd. The bounds of the District shall be all that portion of
country tributary to this creek, to its junction with a creek, com-
ing in from the east, some two or three miles below Rodgers' Bar.

3rd. The officers of this District shall be a President,
Recorder, Judge and Sheriff.

4th. The President shall preside at all meetings of the miners
of this District, and shall call a meeting of the citizens of this
District, on the written application of any five claim holders,
giving notice by posting written notices one day before said meet-
ing, in at least three conspicuous places. The President shall also
preside as Judge at all trials on appeal, from decision given before
the Judge, and shall act as Judge, in absence of Judge.

5th. The Recorder shall keep a correct record of the proceed-
ings of all meetings, and shall record all claims and deeds pre-
sented to him for that purpose.

6th. The Judge shall have power to try all cases brought be-
fore him, and shall be governed by the laws of the District, and
the common laws of the land.

7th. The Sheriff shall have the same powers as the same office
has in the States.

8th. We hereby re-affirm the proceedings of the two previous
meetings, and the doings of those two meetings shall be part and
parcel of these laws.

9th. Every person may hold, by pre-emption and purchase,

256 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

two ereek, bar hill and lode claims, and no more, but no person
can pre-empt more than one of each kind, except they be pur-
chased by an administrator — then any person can hold more than
that number.

lOtli. A person working any claim in the District, it shall be
considered as representing his who e interest in District, if said
claims are recorded.

11th. Bona fide partners working a claim, represents the in-
terests of the entire company.

12th. Discoveries of lode claims shall be entitled to one claim
as discoverer.

13th. Lode claims shall be 100 feet along the lode, and 25 feet
each side.

14th. Sufficient water shall at all times be left in the creek
for the purpose of mining said creek.

15th. Any person shall have tL => right to carry water across
the claim of other persons, for mining purposes.

16th. No person or company s ill be entitled to more than
one sluice head of 10 inches of w" , unless it does not conflict
with the interests of any other per: .n.

17th. On and after the first day of July, 1863, every person
or company, shall represent his or their interests by three full
days' work, in each week, except I ode claims, which may be held
as real estate for one year.

18th. In all cases of trial before the President, or Judge, either
party may call a jury to be summc _.ed by the Sheriff. The party
calling for jury, to deposit fees f-^r same.

19th. Priority of right shall always govern the decisions of the
Court.

20th. For presiding at any trial, the Judge or President shall
receive $5.00, and the ordering fees for all papers.

21st. Recorders' fees shall be 50c for pre-emption, and one
dollar for all transfers, bills of sale, etc.

22nd. Sheriff's fees, same as Bannack City fee bill.

23rd. No slaughter house to be allowed within 80 rods of the
creek.

Art. 3rd. is amended thus: That all officers shall hold their
office for six months, or until their successors are elected and in-
stalled."

"Whether there were any more laws or not, I do not know, as
some curio hunter has cut out the next page.

Dr. Steele was elected President. Henry Eagan, Recorder, and
James Fergus, Deputy, and all records are in the hands of Fergus.

The gulch was to become filled with people, from every mining
section, and probably, no place has ever had such a teeming,
thriving crowd, as gathered there in two years. Towns were laid

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 257

out, up and down the gulch, for ten miles- — Junction, Adobe
Town, Nevada, Central, Verona, Summit, and there may have
been more — at least one. The first one to be recorded, but of
which I can find no old-timer who can remember, was laid out as
following description :

''Fairweather District: Idaho Territory, June 15, 1863.

This is to certify that we, J. C. Lyon, B. S. Peabody, John
Bigler, J. M. Galbraith, C. P. Hall, K. H. Hamilton, P. C. Wood
and Samuel McLean, claim 160 acres of land for Townsite, to be
called and known by the name of Placerville. Said quarter sec-
tion is located on the bar, or bars back of the mining claims,
owned by Steele and Company, and J. M. Wood's claim. The
center of which quarter section commences at a ravine or gulch,
that crosses the road between Woods and Steele's claims; run-
ning from there one-half mile up the creek, east, or near it, and
one-half mile down the creek, or west, and from said stake, one-
quarter of a mile southwest, and three-quarters of a mile north,
making a square of one hundred and sixty acres.

To have and to hold for a townsite, and be known by the name
of Placerville, to have and to hold the same, June 15th, 1863."

Recorded June 17th, 1863.

And the Verona Townsite Company claims 320 acres of land,
for town purposes, bounded and described as follows :

Beginning at a stake at the mouth of Spring Creek, at its con-
fluence with Alder Creek, and running thence up the center of
Alder Creek, one-quarter of a mile ; thence at right angles to a
straight line, up the creek, in a northeasterly direction one-half
mile ; thence at right angles in a northwesterly direction, one
mile ; thence at right angles in a southwesterly direction one-half
mile to the creek; thence up the creek to the place of beginning.

F. R. MADISON.
R. H. SAPP.
T. W. COVER, et al.

Recorded June 17th."

They gave no date in this notice of the time of pre-emption, but
it was prior to Placerville, which was recorded first.

Mines.

On March 5th, 1864, Henry Edgar sold for $7,000.00 his interest
in mines and ditches, to Cover, Hughes and Fairweather, and on
the same day, he sold to Cover his interest in butcher shop, corals
and eleven head of cattle, for $1,000.00.

T. W. Cover, H. Edgar, Wm. Fairweather and Barney Hughes,
claim 400 feet on Fairweather Bar, and 400 feet on Louis Bar,
as discovery, and pre-emption claims. These claims are held by

258 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

US, by right of original discovery. They were further guaranteed
to us at a public meeting held on the way from Bannack, and our
right to them finally sanctioned by law.

Taken May 28th, 1863.

Recorded June 17th.

William Sweeney, one of the original six, claimed the discovery
claim on Sweeney Bar, and No. 3 below on Covey's Bar, May 28th,
1863, and Henry Rodgers claimed two claims on Rodgers' Bar, on
May 28th, 1863.

While many different places bore local names from their dis-
coverers, probably no bar became more famous than "Bummer
Dan's." This bar was very rich and has the appearance of having
been more extensively worked than any other. How much money
was taken from this bar, I do not know. My information certainly
gives one a chance to use his imagination. One of the old timers
said $800,000. The other $5,000,000. Dan McFadden, for whom
the bar was named, was well known as Bummer Dan. He no
doubt sponged so many meals that the name was well applied. He
figures, as the reader will remember, in at least one hold up, near
Spring Gulch, where the stage was robbed. History does not give
much account of his character, who could have become much
more than a bummer, had he saved his money.

The first quartz claim was the Dumphy, by Liga Dumphy,
February 1st, 1864. Our old friend, William Sturgis, we find,
has become busy, and claimed for water privileges, one-quarter of
a mile below and three-quarters of a mile above the fork of
Granite Creek (a stream that run into Alder about two and one-
half miles below Verona), when he made improvements June 12th,
1863.

CHAPTER III.

Ranching".

And then C. Griswold and W. A. Clark came and claimed 320
acres of land for ranching purposes, and described as follows :

"Commencing at crossing of Granite Creek, thence up said
creek one-half mile from said crossing, and down one-quarter mile,
and running up Alder Creek at right angles, with Granite Creek,
far enough to include 320 acres, June 10th, 1863,"

The Stinkingwater District.

Began at the Big Hole, and ran up the Stinkingwater as far as
the Canyon on Alder.

March 19th, 1864, Branstetter and Robert Dempsey took

THE VIGILANTES OF AxONTANA 259

ranches. They were located on Stinkingwater (Ruby) near the
mouth of Mill Creek. From that time on, many more places were
taken. Of course, these men, as well as others, have squatted on
land in that vicinity ; as Mr. Chas. Beehrer says that Mr. Redf ern
had located in 1863, on Bevins Gulch, and had raised potatoes
that year, and sold in Alder Gulch, for $1.00 per pound. Redfern
later planted fruit trees, and was one of the first to raise fruit in
Southern Montana.

As early as 1857, Andri Trudeau, a Frenchman, had come to the
valley as a trapper. Trudeau is living on a ranch about ten
miles above Alder, at this time. (The rifle that he used is the
old-fashioned muzzle loader, and it cost him $175.00. It is now
in the show window of J. E. Chambers, in Virginia City. There
has not been any other gun that has been kept in the County of
Madison for so many years. Chambers also has two six shooters
that were said to have been the property of Jack Gallagher and
Club-Foot George Lane. One of these is cut off short, and
belonged to Jack). But even before Andri, there had been other
trappers, as James Gammel told, that he had camped where Vir-
ginia City is, on the 12th of January, 1852, or eleven years before
"William Fairweather and party found the first gold. Gammel
was evidently not a prospector, or he might have found the
treasure.

We also know that Jack Slade had taken up a piece of land;
in fact, two, one on the Madison, which he called "Ravenwood,"
and one in a gulch, seven miles from Virginia, where he was living
at the time he Avas hung, on which he built a stone building, which
is now in existence. My idea is, that Slade must have only used
his place for raising or caring for stock.

We are told that Ray Woodworth was the first man to farm in
the Madison Valley. John F. Bishop said that he met Ray in
Salt Lake, May 1st, 1864, and that Ray got up to the ranch early
enough to raise vegetables, for which he received $4,000.00 that
fall in Virginia City. Woodworth also raised the first grain in the
county, or in Southern Montana, as near as I can find out.

CHAPTER IV.

The first meeting of County Com-missioners of Madison County
was April 22nd, 1864. Present, James Fergus and Frederick Root.
Samuel Stanley, absent.

The first business was the appointment of Clerk. R. M. Haga-
man was appointed, and sworn in.

There being a vacancy in the Sheriff's office, Robert C. Knox
was appointed to fill that position.

260 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

The board proceeded to divide the county into precincts. It
was ordered that all that portion of Alder Creek, and tributaries,
above the upper line of Highland District, shall be known as
Precinct No. 1. And they proceeded to form several more, as they
were needed, in those days, for the convenience of the thousands
of men who wished to vote. (Speaking of voting in those early
days, Mr. Senate, of Sheridan, told me of the folloMdng occur-
rence. A Colonel Nelson, whom Mr. Senate thought was the late
Colonel Nelson, of Kansas City, had made himself so objectionable
to some of the southerners, that they said he should not vote. The
Colonel was open to conviction and placed himself in line to cast
his vote. He found that there was a double line, that extended
for some distance from the voting place into the street. In order
to vote, the Colonel must go through this line. As soon as he
got nicely started, they began to kick him, and continued their
sport until he was kicked through the line, and past the ballot
box, without taking time to vote.)

The first Justice of the Peace appointed was Clitus Barber,

First Constable was Neil Howie, who became first Deputy
Sheriff, and later on Sheriff. T. C. Jones was the first Probate
Judge.

Clitus Barber did not qualify. The people of precinct No. 1
petitioned the Commissioners for the appointment of Justice of
the Peace, and constable. W. A. Shroyer was appointed Justice
of the Peace, and Dave McCranor, constable. The first bill pre-
sented for payment was board for Culberson and M. Gary, con-
fined in County Jail, for $34.24. Allowed.

First Court House.

The Commissioners signed articles of agreement with "W. F.
Sanders for the rent of said Sanders' house, on Idaho street, for
one year, to be used as a Court House, and to be paid quarterly,
in advance, at the rate of $1200.00 per year. Said agreement filed
with Clerk, and said payments to be made in orders on the County
Treasurer.

June 7th, 1864.

We find a letter from W. C. Rheem, of June 7th, 1864, District
Attorney of Third Judicial District, that Dr. Smith had been
appointed County Clerk, and qualified, but that his continued
absence had caused a vacancy, which had been filled as above
stated, by the appointment of Hagaman. This letter had been
written to the Commissioners, as advice, because it appears that
Smith had come back, and desired to oust Hagaman.

On June 19th, 1864, N. J. Bean, the first assessor of Madison
County, resigned on account of ill health. He had been appointed
by the Governor, and from that, we must assume that all of the

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 231

Territorial officers were appointed in that way. J. J, Hull was
appointed to fill Bean's place.

Sealed proposals for building county jail* were opened June
21st, 1864. Following- are the bids and bidders :

M. D. Leadbater $4,475.00

R. C. Knox $4,767.00

R. M. McKinney & J. W. Wilson $8,500.00

E. M. Dumphy $4,674.00

Griffeth & Thompson $5,300.00

Mr. Leadbater failing to appear and give surety, for building
of the jail, the contract was awarded to E. M. Dumphy, for the
sum of $4,674.00, to be paid out of the first moneys that came
into the County Treasury, not otherwise appropriated.

N. J. Davis was Treasurer of Madison County, in those days.

On August 13th, the jail was accepted as far as completed.
They, on that date, agreed to allow Dumphy $5,000.00 in all,
the extra mcne^t for a few extra things, and did pay him $3,500.00,
and had paid him before $1,000.00.

J, L. Corbett was appointed first County Surveyor, and in 1865,
Jesse Armitage was the County Assessor,

We find that May 7th, 1866, B. Cantrell became a County
charge, and was allowed $20.00 per week for his support.

The first matter for probate was the petition of Maria V. Slade,
on April 14th, 1864, for the probating of the will of J. A. Slade.
Mrs. Slade did not appear, having left the Territory, taking the
will with her and probably $7,000.00 or $8,000.00 in valuables.

The second matter was the estate of John White, the discoverer
of Grasshopper, April 29th, 1864.

Henry Coppock, being duly sworn, deposes and said : I know
John White, by sight. I went with Mr. Temple to White Tail
Deer Creek, to bring his body to Virginia City, for burial. We
found the body, he had died from effect of wounds. We brought
his body from where we found it, to my camping place, and kept
it there about four days. I saw his body searched for papers, and
other things. No will was found on his person, and no property
of any value, or money.

John Temple, sworn and says : I was well acquainted with
John White in his lifetime. I saw him at Virginia City, about the
first of February, last. After I heard of his death, I went with
Coppock to bring in his body for burial — found the body and
recognized it. While at Virginia City, he boarded, and was out
prospecting, at the time of his death. I don't think he left a
will. If he had, I should have known it. I understand he was
a married man, but don't know them (presumably the family).

* Jas. H. Morley's diary says July 16, 1864, a collector came up the Gulch
to "stick" us for $4.00 for money for a $5,000 jail.

262 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

John M. Fletcher sworn and says : I was well acquainted with
John White for the last four years. He had a wife and child
living in Illinois. The child is about five years old. He had, at
the time of his death, two horses. He had a one-third interest in a
mining claim, in Bannack. I should say his interest was worth
$100.00. I heard him say he also had a quartz lode in Bannack.
He had no relatives in this country, or part of the country. The
horses are worth $75.00 each. He owned lode claims in Colorado,
in Park coimty. Don't know what they are worth. Know of no
other property.

This wrung the curtain down on the last act of John White,
the man to put the Montana miners before the people, in such
a light that they became known to so many, that other hardy
fellows cast their lots with the early prospectors, and helped to
form the Treasure State. We can't predict what AVhite might
have become, had he not been murdered on White Tail.

It is evident that Mrs, Slade came back to Montana, as we find
the following :

This is to certify that the undersigned, Chief Justice of the
Territory of Montana, did, on the evening of the 22nd of March,
1865, at Virginia City, in said Territory, unite in marriage, James
H, Kiskaddan and Maria V, Slade, with their mutual consent, in
presence of Annie Stanley and Oliver Sweet,

H. S. HOSMER.

This man James Kiskaddan was somewhat of a dreamer, as
the following matter shows E. P. Lewis, James Kiskaddan and
Wm. Chumasero, on the 24th day of December, 1864, incorporated
the Missouri River Portage Co. Object was to build a wagon
road and eventually, a railroad, "commencing at a stake now
standing near the mouth of Highwood Creek, below the Great
Missouri Falls, and running around said falls, to another stake,
just above said falls. The distance from stake to stake being
about 12 miles. To charge such tolls upon said road as may be
agreed upon, by above named corporation, etc., etc. Capital stock
shall be $500,000.00, 5,000 shares, of the value of $100.00 each.
Time of existence of said company shall be fifty years. Principal
place of business, shall be Virginia City, Madison County, Mon-
tana."

These men felt that there was a possibility of navigating the
upper water of the Missouri, anyway, as far as Three Forks, as a
city had been laid out by such men as Gov. Hauser the year before,
on the Gallatin. They did not take into consideration, that the
capital would be taken from Virginia, and that Last Chance Gulch
would be found before another year should pass. They could not
know that the navigation of the Missouri was only an idea that
had entered the minds of Lewis and Clark, for lack of knowledge

CHARLES KEEHKER
The Last of the Active Vigilantes

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 233

of condition that would arise at a future time — when they them-
selves had been asleep for years.

Lewis, Kiskaddan and Chumasero, played their parts, and lived
in "Day dreams" of a greater state of Montana, which they would
help establish. Chumasero did live to see the falsity of his expecta-
tions, and did help to build up Montana, not in poor old Virginia,
but in the new camp, on Last Chance Gulch, Kiskaddan* returned
soon after his marriage, to Salt Lake, and probably used some
of his ability there. I can find no trace of Lewis.

CHAPTER V.

Charles Beehrer.

"I was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on the 4th day of December,
1836, and came to America, where I landed in New York City in
the spring of 1855. 1 went at once to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where
I remained but a short time, as I got the gold fever, and went to
Colorado, where I worked in the mines for two seasons, in Galena
Gulch, in the southern part of the Territory. In the fall of 1862,
I made arrangements with some of the yoimg men to go to Idaho.
There was no Montana in those days ; so I bought a pair of mules,
but the Indians got so bad that they burned the stage stations and
made it such a serious matter that I told my partner, whose name
was Myers, that I was willing to go if he would leave his wife
in a safe place. She would not listen to such an arrangement, so
I sold my mules and made up my mind to stay a little longer in
Colorado. We had intended to go to Idaho and make beer, as I
had learned two trades, brewing and coopering.

That summer I met two Texas men, and they wanted me to
go down to Arizona with them. They claimed that the Indians
had stolen 300,000 sheep and large herds of cattle, which we could
get, if we could only secure men enough who were willing to take
a chance. If we could onlj'- get this stuff into Colorado, we would
sell and divide the money. Of course, you know this would look
pretty good to any young person who was willing to take a
chance, because taking this stuff away from Indians could not
be considered wrong. I did not really tell them that I would go,
but that I might see them in Denver. All I had was a good revol-
ver and rifle. I had neither horse nor money. They told me I did
not need money.

* There are people in Montana who will tell you that Maud Adams, the
great actress, is the daughter of James Kiskadden. If she is, she is not the
daughter of Mrs. Slade. My information as to Mrs. Slade's ultimate end leads
me to believe tliat she must have become divorced from Kiskaddan and ended
her life in Chicago, in quest of pleasure of a forbidden nature.

264 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

One of these Texas men had a brother who lived down on the
Platte River, twenty miles below Denver. So when I got there,
this man, who was an honest fellow, said to his brother, ''You
had better not take this boy in your gang," and he turned to me
and said, "You had better not go. You don't know what kind
of men they are." He told me they were highway robbers.
I replied that I did not believe it, and that I would go and see the
camp. So I went over to the camp about seven or eight miles, and
I walked down and counted the horses. There were 48 men in
camp besides myself and two were out some place, and there were
only 46 saddle horses. So I said, "Boys, I can't go with you."
And they wanted to know why, and I said, "There are only 46
horses and there are fifty of us altogether." They replied that
that was all right ; that they could pick up horses enough at the
first ranch they came to, and that I should go. I told them no,
Then they threatened to kill me, and told me I had to go. I
repeated that I would not go, and that if I had done anything for
which they thought I should be killed, to go ahead, as I would not
go with them. I went to these men from Texas and had a
long talk. They told me if I would make a solemn promise not
to tell, they would let me go. I remember that there were men
in that bunch that I saw afterwards, in Montana. Dr. Glick was
one of them, and also John Wagner and Jack Gallagher. I came
back by the ranch of the man who had told me not to go, and he
was surprised to see me. He asked me what was the matter, and
I told him they did not have horses enough, so I decided not to
go. He remarked that I was a most fortunate young fellow to
escape alive from that bunch.

I saw Dr. Glick, John Wagner, Jack Gallagher, John Heffner
and Wilfert, among others, again in Montana. It was on account
of finding such men as Wagner and Gallagher in the outfit that
caused me to take but little stock in them, and was one reason
why I did not go.

Shortly after I left there, they captured a government train
that was loaded with supplies for Fort Collins. An assistant
wagon boss brought the news to Denver, and Capt. Weis went
out with a Company of cavalry, and brought them to Denver and
put the whole gang in jail, but they had some friends who let
them out, and they scattered — man}^ of them coming to Montana.

Fifty years ago they did not make much beer in the summer
time, so a friend of mine, who had a butcher shop, gave me a job.

Although I never did like the saloon business, I made up my
mind to buy a place close to where I could get a high-class lot of
trade, such as the officers, etc. The first night I opened my
place, I noticed that quite a lot of hobos, such as you find in all
mining camps, came in. I called them all up probably ten or

THE VIGILANTES OF -^^STA.sA. 255

fifteen of them, and said : Boys, I want to make a few remarks
to you; come up and take another drink with me, and promise
never to come in my saloon again; if you do, you will put me to
the trouble of leading you out." And I did have to lead a few
out. I had a nice place, as far as saloons go. I stayed there until
spring, then I sold out and came to Montana, and never went into
the saloon business again.

I landed at Yankee Flat, near Bannack, the 17th day of May,
1863, and soon after Alder Gulch was discovered, I went to that
place and opened a brewery. I was the first man to brew beer,
with hops, in Montana. Of course, there was a man by the name
of Manheim that had made some beer out of wheat, with Utah
sorghum and the tops of spruce pine. And Tom Smith had used
oats, sorghum and sage brush ; but I used hops. I had thirty-five
pounds with me when I came, and bought sixteen pounds of wild
hops from a fellow from Bitter Root, and gave him $8.00 per
pound for it.

I was called "Charlie the Brewer." I had beer ready for the 4th
of July, and as I had agreed to deliver some to a party in Virginia
City, I looked for my mules and could not see them, and as I
needed money pretty bad, I put 22 gallons on my back, and
carried it all the way to Virginia City — two miles — never setting
it down; 196 pounds, and I got my money, $88.00, in gold for it.

I probably became identified with the Vigilantes, on account
of Capt. James Williams, who overtook me at the foot of the big
Bear River Hill, about forty miles east of Soda Springs. He came
from Fort Bridger. He had been in the regular army, where he
was a sergeant. He became captain of the Vigilantes.

Mr. Beehrer says that he remembers well the trial of George
Ives, but thinks that Historians are wrong as to the date — Decem-
ber 21st— as he said it was December 24th, as he wrote a letter to
his father on that date.

He said that he never saw a person who was as fearless as Col.
Sanders was at that trial. That he stood there and defied the
toughs to do their worst, and in language that was not soothing,
either in choice of words or manner of expression. After Sanders
had made his remarkable speech, "that they hang George Ives
by the neck until he was dead," Judge Byam, who was a neigh-
bor, got upon a butcher wagon, and made a speech, and proposed
all those in favor of Ives being hung say, "Aye," and those who
were opposed say "No."

"You see, it seemed to me so foolish, I told the boys to run the
wagon down the street." The Judge was an old man, and could
not get out until they stopped; he came back and said, "Charley,
why did you have the boys run the wagon down the street?" and
I said, "Why didn't you make a sensible speech?" Then I told

266 THE VIGILANTES OF ..lONTAJSiA

him to say, "All those in favor of turning Ives loose, walk across
the street, and those in favor of hanging, stay here. ' ' And he said,
"What is that for?" and I told him it was done so we could tell
what the results were. We could tell then who the good men
were, and who were the bad ones. The result was that there
were about twenty to one in favor of the good men.

Before Ives was hung, we were all talking about it, as we are
doing now. Col. Sanders was present, so was Maj. Baggs. I said,
"It is getting late, and it is time now to do our duty." So we
led Ives up to this place of execution, and Robert Hereford was
the man to place the rope around Ives' neck.

There had been about twenty-five men from different places in
the gulch, that had formed a committee in the Lott Brothers'
store, and had taken an oath to do their duty. This was before
the arrest of Ives for killing Tbalt, and it was their men that
made the arrest.* So it was no trouble for Col. Sanders to get
enough men together to form a Vigilante committee, after Ives
was hung. They called a meeting, and called for volunteers.
Williams kept a horse ranch about ten miles from Nevada. We
started that evening for his place, and between eleven and twelve
o'clock, there came a most awful snow storm, so we were com-
pelled to camp out. The next day we got things together, and
started on the trip to Deer Lodge, twenty-eight of us, besides Long
John, who was taken along to identify the highwaymen — he had
turned state's evidence. The majority of the men that were along
went by their given names, and no one could tell who they were.
There was Joe Dido, Elk Morse, from Summit, Charles Brown
(Dutch Charley), Louis Hooker and Luther Seboldt, who was
a highly educated German gentleman. I did know a good many
of them by their given names. Nobody knew me, except by my
given name.

Our first camp was made at the crossing of the Big Hole, about
where the Pennington Bridge is now, about eight miles from Twin
Bridges, and then, on account of the snow being so deep on the
McCarty Mountain, we went up the river and made our second
camp about one mile below where Melrose is now, and next morn-
ing we were informed by Long John that the road agents had a
camp up near where Glendale afterwards was built. They had
a horse camp there. So we all separated and went in different
directions to find the road agents' camp. I went toward Glen-
dale, and from a big hill I saw a man going across the bench from
McCarty Springs, over to Camp Creek. (He had learned in Vir-
ginia that we had started out.) I left the mountain and came
down to camp as quick as I could, and found Capt. Williams, and

* Beehrer and Judgre Lott are both mistaken in this. That oath was
signed on December 23rd when they got ready to go to Deer Lodge.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTaNA 267

I said, "Jim, I am afraid we are too late." I then asked him if
he saw a fellow about a mile above, going on a good lope. I told
him I thought the fellow was a messenger, going to warn the
fellows.

Question: How long did it take you to make that trip?

Answer: It was awful cold weather, and as I told you this
morning, all we had to eat was fat bacon and flap-jacks. When
we got down to Warm Springs, in the Deer Lodge Valley, we
made camp, and an Indian came up with two jack rabbits and
a deer. W^illiams turned to me and said : ' ' Charley, we are awful
meat hungry, and you are the only one who has any money." Of
course, I could not speak Indian, but I could make signs, and I
told him to open his hand, and I gave him some gold. Of course,
the Indian wanted more, but I knew how to trade with Indians,
and told him to take that for his game, or put the gold back in
my hand. He smiled at me, and made signs a few moments, and
finally told me to take them. As we had not had any fresh meat
for five or six days, we took the skin right off, and went to cook-
ing. Some of the boys were so hungry that they did not cook
their meat enough. Charlie Brown, Hooker, Seboldt and myself
fried ours perfectly done. All the others were taken sick.

When we arrived at Deer Lodge, the boys were feeling too bad
to camp out. Two Greasers kept a hotel. I told Jim that I did not
know whether I had money enough to take us to the hotel, but
that I would go and see. The greasers spoke fairly good English,
and I went and told them that we had 29 men and 32 horses and
mules, and I thought very likely we would stay two days, and
asked them how much they would charge to keep us. That is, to
sleep in the house. Of course, we had our oAvn beds. We wanted
them to keep our horses and mules, and feed them on hay, but
that we would attend to them ourselves. They told us they would
take $130.00 for two days. I thought, that the men being greasers,
they would take better care of us if they were paid in advance,
and I did pay in advance on that account. Then I went over to
Dance and Stuarts, and asked what they would take for nine
buffalo robes, as they were mighty good to sleep on. Dance told
me he would take $2.25 apiece for them. I bought them, and
asked if he had anything better. "Oh, yes, if you can stand the
price." He then told me he had six bales. He opened all of them
and I selected three more and paid him $27.00 for them, or $9.00
each.

Deer Lodge at that time probably did not have more than 100
people. It was a trading post, and practically everyone was a
Canadian. It was John Grant's ranch then. John Grant after-
wards sold to Con Kohrs. I was well acquainted with "Johnnie"
Grant.

268 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

We found when we got to Deer Lodge that most of the high-
waymen had gone. We got Tex — I never knew his name — a man
by tiie name of Irwin, and Frank Parish.

As we had paid for our accommodations for two days, we were
compelled to stay. I remember a peculiar incident of that time.
We had gone into a saloon to play a game of euchre, to pass away
the time. While we were sitting there, a big fine looking man
came in and stood by the bar. I did not pay any more attention
to him, and while playing my hand, he disappeared. I heard the
sound as if some one was doing something with a revolver. I
handed my hand to another of the boys, and looking over the bar,
I saw that man down on his knees. He had a revolver in his
hand, which he was loading, and two more were on the floor
beside him. He met my gaze with a very saA'^age one, but neither
of us said a word. I told the Captain about him, and said that
I believed that man was a bad one, and ought to be hung.

In 1870, I was in San Francisco, and got on a street car, and
the only person there was this man of Deer Lodge, splendidly
dressed. We exchanged looks, and again made no remarks. I told
"Sport" Sullivan, a man whom I had known in St. Louis, about
it, and he said that man was a captain of all the burglars in New
York, Chicago and Frisco, and I would be just as apt to meet him
one place as another. In 1877, when I was coming back from
Europe, I met that same man in New York, and he knew me.

Bill Palmer, Louis Hooker and myself started back to Virginia
City with Tex, Irwin and Frank Parish. Soon after we arrived
there, Williams came back and ordered those men turned loose —
all of these men were set free, and Tex had sense enough to leave
the Country. As to Parish, Charlie Brown and I captured him
a little way below Virginia City, and he was hung with Boone
Helm, Club-Foot George, and the others, which was about five
days after we got back. Williams did not fetch anyone in; he
hung them wherever he found them.

There were two men who were the most active in helping to
rid this country of the tough element. X Beidler has had his
praise, but Charley Brown (Dutch Charley), never received at the
hands of the writer, or historians, his dues.

Charley Brown, that was not his real name, was a highly edu-
cated German gentleman — in fact was a nobleman. He was at
one time a page at the Bavarian Court, and was one of the four
boys that rode the horses when the Queen took a ride. She had
eight Shetland ponies, and four boys rode them, and cared for
them. None, but those of noble birth, could become a courtier.

He was about six feet one inch, and weighed 220 pounds, and
was a nice looking man when young. He was the man who put
the rope around Slade's neck. He was also the man who led the

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 239

ball with Mrs. Slade, about three weeks after, at Adelphia Hall,
at Nevada. This was after Mrs. Slade had said that she would
cut the heart out of the man who had placed the rope around
her husband's neck. (Some Richard III. in this Act.)

The day that Slade was hung I happened to be in Virginia, and
Captain Williams was talking with Slade, and took him into
Pfouts & Russell's store, and tried to get him to be decent. After
they had made up their minds to hang him. Captain Williams
asked me when I was going down — meaning, of course, to Nevada.
I told him I would go in a few minutes. He told me to go, and
he would stay there, and for me to bring all the boys I could. Of
course, I knew everybody. I had to go down to Junction anyway,
on account of business. I asked Capt. Williams when he wanted
me to come up. I told him I was sure the boys would not leave
their work until noon. He said, "You bring them up as soon as
you can, after dinner." Of course, everyone had a rifle or shot-
gun. If Slade had only acted a little decent, we would have
turned him loose, but when the Sheriff came up, and went to
him with a summons, he took it and tore it up, and said he would
kill every Vigilante in the Gulch. AVhen we had the gallows up,
I looked for Mrs. Slade to come, as some one had gone for her.
We were down in the gulch, and on the hills around us were what
we called the minute men— men who sympathized with the high-
waymen. If Mrs. Slade should come, she could have had those
men against us, and many would be killed. All at once I saw her
coming down a steep hill just as fast as her horse could run. I
stood by the gallows and said to the Captain, "Captain, do you
see her coming?" Then I pointed to Mrs. Slade, and told them
not to waste any more time. Charley Brown got up then and
put the rope around his neck. I never saw a man beg so in all
my life. He told us to cut his arms off above the elbows, his legs
above the knees, and made all kinds of promises that could be
imagined. He could not help but see me there, and because we
had always been good friends, he said: "Charlie, can't you do
something for me?" I said: "Slade, I am sorry to say I cannot."
Mrs. Slade was coming from their ranch home, which was a stone
building about four miles from Virginia City, on the road to
Madison Valley.

I recall one little incident that happened the same day the
five men were hanged. I was in Nick Kessler's saloon, in Virginia
City, and a lot of these men, in fact, nearly all of them, were
standing at the bar, cursing the Vigilantes, and Kessler told me
he wanted to speak to me, and called me to one side. Before he
could say anything, something was said by some of those fellows
that made me mad, and I turned and told them that we had
hanged five that day, and when it became necessary to hang any

270 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

more, if they did not have any timber, I would furnish the timber
and rope also. One of them replied: *'Yes, Charlie, we know
you, and you would be glad to hang the last one of us." Kessler
told me that he would not have said what I did for all the gold
in the mountains, because his life would not be worth anything
after that. That they would get him sure.

I will tell you why I had an advantage over most of the old
timers. My business brought me in contact with all of those men,
so I was associated more with them than the others, and can re-
member them better. Then, of course, when we formed the com-
mittee, the miners could not leave their work. They could do a
little, but they had no money, and they felt it was necessary for
them to work. I was of a different disposition, and was willing
to take a chance. I want you to understand me right. I never
was a bully, but I wished to see justice done, and they could not
scare me. Nobody could scare Charley Brown, either. He had a
little cabin just below the brewery, and he came up and asked me
if I was going to the ball. I told him that I would probably go
down and look on a little while. Charley never did care for good
clothes ; so when he told me that he was going to lead the ball
with Mrs. Slade, I said: "How dare you? You are not dressed
fit to go to a ball." He said: "I will be the best dressed man
in that ball room." I asked him how he made that out, and he
said: "I will go down and make Lewis go to bed, and I will take
his clothes." Lewis was a man about Charley's size, who had just
bought the store of the Lott Brothers. He was probablj" the best
dressed man in Nevada. Charley went down and persuaded him
to go to bed, and in that way Charley became the best dressed
man at the ball, and actually led the grand march with Mrs. Slade.

Charley was one of the healthiest men, and one of the toughest
men I ever saw. Nothing could tire him. He was in the habit
of taking a bath every night before he went to bed, in cold water,
I had tried to get him to come up and live with me, because I was
afraid that some of the band would kill him. These minute men,
as we called them, came down one night, and I noticed they
stopped — and I looked out, it was moonlight — and saw them in
front of Charley's cabin. He was taking a bath when the minute
men knocked at the door. He said: "Come in." And four or
five rushed in, and found him standing ready for his bath, with
a gun in each hand. And he said: "Gentlemen, what can I do
for you?" That outfit was down to get him, but Charley Bro-wn
never allowed anyone to take him bj" surprise.

Charley Brown died in Alaska, where he was sent by the
United States government, as an expert veterinarian, to examine
into the cause of disease among the reindeer. He has a son, and
one or two daughters living in Miles City.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTA-,.i. 271

Soon After the Port Neuf Canyon Robbery.

Charlie Brown came into my room in my brewery, which was
afterward the Kessler, and told me he wanted "Dime," a fine
thoroughbred mare. I believe she was as nice a mare as ever
came to Montana. He took the mare and rode to Blackfoot. I
did not see him for a little while, until I had returned to Nevada,
when he came in and said: "Hello, Charlie." I said: "Where is
Dime?" "Oh, she is all right," he said. I had four guns hang-
ing on the wall, and he picked out the best one, and said : "I
want this gun, and your best revolver." I asked him if some other
would not do as well, and he said, "No, this is what I want. Is it
loaded?" I said: "Yes." "Well, give me $50.00 also." "Is
that all you want?" I asked, indignantly. His reply was yes. I
asked him what he was going to do, and he said that he was going
to Denver after Williams, the man that drove the coach in the
Port Neuf robbery. This man Williams had driven my team from
Denver to Virginia, and had come to me and told me that he was
going on the road. Brown did not return to Montana for several
months. When he came back, he reported that he had caught
Williams and hung him to a cottonwood, about five miles from
Denver.

Charlie Brown was a most peculiar man. He would not work
at anything hard. He was a splendid horseman, and drove the
band wagon for Dan Rice's Circus when he was east. There were
48 horses hitched to this wagon, and Charlie was in his glory on
the box.

CHAPTER VI.
Incidents in Beehrer's Life — Flour Riot.

' ' The leader was a Bavarian baker, with a red shirt and carry-
ing a red flag. I had 1,000 sacks of barley. This barley was put
up in flour sacks. I had 260 of Utah flour that I held at $25.00
per sack, but had sold 250 to Denny and Rockfellow, at 27.50,
and 20 sacks of St. Louis flour at $28.00 per sack, and had prob-
ably 8 or 9 sacks, a day or two before the riot broke out, but had
told my friends to come and get some — so the day of the riot I
only had one sack. They came and examined my barley sacks,
and at last went away satisfied. A few days after the riot, I
was successful in obtaining four loaves of bread of the bakers
in Nevada for $16.00. The reason for this was, that I had gone
to Frank Tenny and Louis Koch, the bakers, and told them that
there was to be a flour riot, and that they had better take their
extra supply and put it in a dry well, out behind their place, and

272 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

cover it over with cord wood, as they had a large supply of that
on hand. They took my advice, and hid their flour. Bakers were
allowed ten sacks. I told them that I would sell their surplus to
the boarding houses down the gulch, but not for more than
$70.00 per sack, and as flour was selling for from $100 to $150 per
hundred, I did not consider I was robbing anyone. I used to buy
all the whiskey barrels, so people did not mistrust me when I took
a barrel any place, so I would put a sack of flour in a barrel and
make my delivery in that way. In that way I disposed of between
50 and 60 sacks for them. My work kept me pretty busy, and
every night, except Saturday, I would go to bed, between 9 :00
and 9:30. On Saturday bills were paid, and I felt that as 14
saloon men and four hurdy houses were patrons of mine, I must
spend some of my money with them. I would go the rounds of the
saloons, and probably treat the boys, and of a night would buy
probably 50 dance tickets, at $1.00 each. Then I would give them
to the boys. I never danced once in any of those houses. I was
in Little Doc's place one night, and had treated the boys and was
ready to leave, when a blacksmith called "Dump" (I never knew
any other name for him) said: "Charlie, set them up again." "I
would but I am afraid I would get a little too much," "Will you
set them up, if I will?" he asked. "I guess you seem to think
you are the only man with money. I will show you that I have
some, too." And he took a big gold sack and scattered gold all
over the floor. You must remember, we had dirt floors in most
of the saloons. I had three friends who were poor, and as Little
Doc was a pretty generous fellow, I said : "Doc, can't you let my
friends come down and make the clean-up, and you give them
half they get?" He said, "Sure," and those fellows took a hoe
and a gold pan and cleaned up between $900 and $1,000.00. When
I saw "Dump" do that, I said: "Dump, you will either die in
the gutter, or on a manure pile." And he did die on a manure
pile, back of Bill Owsley's livery stable in Butte, not many years
after.

Women in those houses did not drink anything but light drinks,
as it was no part of their business to become intoxicated.

There was a fellow in camp — a neighbor of mine, who was very
poor. He had a wife and two children. I had given him wood,
also something to eat. Had later let him take a team with which
to haul wood. He came to my place one evening and said that
he was in trouble, and wanted me to help him ; said that the dance
house was trying to take his wife away. I went up to the hall
with him and he said: "Jane, I don't want you to leave me."
She replied that he could not make a living for her, and the chil-

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 273

dren, and that she could, by dancing, support herself and them.
Seeing that she no longer cared for her husband a fellow who was
called a lawyer, got up and made a speech, and divorced them,
right out on the street. A Mormon girl came up, and put her
arm around his neck, and said, "Don't cry; I am ready to marry
you right now."

An Incident With Skinner.

"Cyrus Skinner was running a saloon in Virginia City, and
requested credit from me, as he said he was a poor man, who had
a wife to support. There came a time when he owed me about
$400.00, so one day I went into his place of business, and he said:
"Charlie, you are just in time. I have got plenty of money today."
We weighed out the dust into my sack, when four or five gamblers
that were playing cards behind me began to shoot at one another.
Cyrus got all the gold in my sack, and you bet I did not take time
to tie it. I put it in my pocket and left the house. Wishing to
pay some bills a few days after, I went into John Creighton's
store, and turned out the dust. (This Creighton was the man
who built the first telegraph line into Montana from Salt Lake.)
John said: "Charlie, where did you get this bogus dust?" I told
him that that was good, clean dust ; that I had been paid by Cyrus
Skinner. He soon put some acid on it, and showed me my mistake.
We soon learned that a Canadian — I will not tell his name — had
been circulating this stuff. He was banished, but came back, and
was a good citizen afterwards."

Two Men Hang a Man.

This is a remarkable story. It needs no embellishment from the
pen of any man to make it of peculiar interest.

"If I remember, it was sometime in March, 1864, that Charlie
Brown came to me and said that he wanted me to make one of
a party of eight, that was to go to Deer Lodge, Hell Gate, etc.,
for highwaymen. I do not remember all the names, but Charlie
Brown, Louis Hooker, J. X. Beidler, and a young man about
twenty, named Ike, was along. This young fellow, though a boy,
was one of the bravest men I ever saw. When we arrived at the
mouth of Rock Creek, near Hell Gate, Charley Brown said: "It
will not do for us all to go together ; Charlie the Brewer, and I,
will go up Rock Creek to the cabin, we have been told may be
the rendezvous of the robbers. If we find too many of them, we
will come back and overtake you." We left the party, as they
were to go straight down the river. (I never suffered so much in
my life with the cold. He showed me his hands ; all the fingers,
over fifty years afterwards, showed signs of the fearful cold of
that night, as they had no gloves.)

274 THE VIGILANTES OF ..xONTANA

It Avas about five miles up Rock Creek to the cabin. We had
to pass through deep snow, but it was soft and we did not make
any noise. We soon saw that there was a light in the cabin.
Charley said to me, ' ' We will advance ; if you see me fall on my
knees, you do the same." I said: "I will have to thaw out my
hands before I can do anything." So I began to rub them with
snow, and soon had the frost out. We soon got to the cabin, and
looking in the window, we saw that there was probably but one
man in it. Charley told me to open the door, and that he would
rush in and cover the fellow. He always carried two elk skin
strings, with which to tie a man if need be. We found that there
was only one man, and he was in bed asleep. Charley soon had
him covered and tied. The fellow said, "I have been expecting
you fellows for some time, and have not been able to sleep, and I
just did go to sleep when you came," I asked Charley in German
what we should do, and he said, we will hang him. I was sent out
doors to see if one of the roof logs was sticking out far enough
for our purpose. I found one that was, and we led the fellow out
and hung him. As the cabin was nice and comfortable, we barri-
caded the door and piled into bed and slept for several hours,
with the fellow hanging on one end of the house.

We left, and started to overtake the rest of the party, but found
that they had done their work and were coming back."

(Mr. Beehrer did not know the name of the man. I can find no
account of it in history, but I do know Mr. B. well enough to
believe his story. — The Author.)

How the Young- Man Got Free.

Mr. Beehrer said : ' ' We did not always hang men. ' '
' ' It was generally supposed that the Vigilantes would hang any
wrong doer. Captain Williams called me to come down to Adel-
phia Hall one afternoon, as there was a matter to be taken into
consideration. It seems that a young boy, not yet twenty-one,
had had a brother killed on the plains, by a party whom he had
followed to Virginia City, with the expectation that he would be
brought to judgment. Ballanger (the same man who afterwards
took up the Warm Springs in Deer Lodge Valley), was keeping
a hotel. The beds in those days were bunks, built in tiers, one
above another, three high. This young man was placed in one,
and directly above him there was a miner sleeping, who had his
buckskin sack so placed that the young fellow saw it, cut the
string, and extrated the gold dust — something over $200.00. This
money seemed to change his disposition. Forgetting the quest of
his brother's murderers — he poured his money over the gambling
table. In doing this, he exposed a nugget that was part of the
dust. This nugget has been seen by two or three people, so they

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 275

coTild identify it. This led to the young fellow's arrest. When
I arrived at the hall, they explained the matter to me, and asked
my opinion, as to whether he should be hung or banished. My
reply was: "Never banish a person. If he is not good enough
to live with us, we had better hang him, never turn him loose
on anyone else." I also told him that I did not believe that we
should hang him ; that we should take into consideration his youth,
and try and do something for him, to find him a job and have him
report to someone each night and morning, until he had secured
enough money to pay the man whom he had robbed, then turn
him loose. I said, "Let him report to Judge Lott." The judge
objected to this. Someone wanted to know who would give him
a job. I told him that I would see to that. So I took the boy
into a room by himself, and explained the matter to him — that
he was to get a job, report twice each day to me, and all extra
money would be given to Judge Lott until he had paid his debt —
then he would be turned free. So I took him down and put him
to work with John Wagner.

I want to say that he paid his debt, and the last day he made
his report to me, he cried with gratitude. John Wagner and
Everson had a claim on German Flat. This John Wagner was a
very fine man. It was to him that I wrote the letter that
"Dutch" John got, in robbing the mail, and that caused me
to be called onto the carpet by Col. Sanders, for an interview
with the Vigilante Committee, to explain why John had the letter,
if I knew."

CHAPTER VII.
George Lovell.

George Lovell, who claimed to have been the Captain of the
Miners' Guard at the trial of George Ives, says that Wm. Clark
(not the Senator) was God's avenger in beginning to bring
the road agents to trial, as De Vault was his friend and he was
bound to see that justice was done.

Lovell says that Hon. Chas. Bagg opened the first day, but was
not much of a lawyer. He took the testimony of Long John for
the people the first thing. He further says :

"On the following morning there appeared on the scene a
young man by the name of Wilbur F. Sanders, who volunteered
his services for the prosecution."

The counsel for the defendant soon found that they had a man
to deal with who understood law.

The evening that Sanders arrived in Virginia from Bannack
the friends of the murderers immediately sought him out and

276 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

tried to engage him for the defense, offering him any amount he
might suggest. He declined and said he would act for the people.
They threatened him bodily harm, and he replied :

"You have not got money enough to buy me, nor guns enough
to intimidate me."

Lovell says: "We also found, to the great surprise of many
honorable men, that Henry Plummer, who was the Sheriff of
Beaverhead County, was also Chief and Captain of this band of
robbers.

The news struck consternation to the souls of all. We then saw
that we had indeed a work to do. Plummer was well liked. He
was a man of fine personal appearance, and possessing education
and address sufficient to give him a welcome in the best society.
He had been selected by a large majority to that high respons-
ible office.

He was at the time the chief executive officer of what is now
the Territory of Montana.

Thus you see it was no idle play for us to determine on his
arrest and execution, but there were men found equal to the occa-
sion. Among them was found one to stand prominently by the
course of justice, survive or fall. That man was W. F. Sanders,
slim and slight in form, but inspired by a courage and determina-
tion to do his duty, that the severe storm of one of Montana's
most terrible days did not daunt ; he mounted his horse and rode
seventy miles to again assist m bringing the great and popular
chief to justice.

Fourth of July, 1864.

The people of Virginia had decided to celebrate and had raised
enough money with which to buy a flag pole. On the morning
of the Fourth the pole was ready and the ropes were run through
the pulley blocks and ready to be manned. The framer of the
pole was there and ready to give the word of command. If I am
not mistaken it was Col. Knox, late Probate Judge of Silver Bow
County. The grounds were filled with men with threatening
looks and dark and scowling appearance. They had assembled
there to prevent the pole from going up. The Union men who
had assembled seemed to dread the muttered threats of those
rebels. It seemed doubtful whether we would succeed or not.
There was seen a slight form to spring upon a box and tell the
boys to grab the ropes and raise the pole, that the glorious old
flag might again proudly wave over us. He said to the men :
"There is nothing to fear from these scowling wretches; as for
me, I have ceased to fear men who have run fifteen hundred
miles to get out of danger!"

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 277

He had spoken but a few moments in this strong, energetic
manner when crowds rushed to the ropes and everyone seemed
willing to take a hand. They were fired by the enthusiasm which
was so largely possessed by the speaker. They seemed like men
electrified into new life. Those threatening men slowly filed
away. There was no further interference with the raising of the
flag. That speaker was Wilbur F. Sanders. AVithout his efforts
the flag would not have been raised that day. He on that occa-
sion, as on many others, carried his life in his hand, and braved
the element of derision and dissension as he had against the strong
organized band of robbers. He was on the side of justice, liberty
and truth.

CHAPTER VIII.

Incidents.

First newspaper was the Post, published on the 27th day of
August, 1864, by John Buchanan at Virginia City. After the pub-
lication of the second number Daniel W. Tilton and Benjamin R.
Dittes bought it and continued its publication until the winter
of 1867-68, when Mr. Dittes purchased Mr. Tilton 's interest and
moved it to Helena.

The Vigilantes of Montana was published as a serial in the Mon-
tana Post, the first chapter appearing August 26th, 1865. Con-
clusion March 14th, 1866.

Telegraph line between Virginia City and Salt Lake completed
November 2, 1866, by Edward Creighton, and John A., his brother.
First telegram sent by Gov. Green Clay Smith to President
Johnson.

The number of letters advertised at the Virginia City postoffice
on August 23, 1865, was 676.

Capital removed from Bannack to Virginia City, February 1,
1865.

First municipal election in Virginia City, February 6, 1865.

First stampede that took place in Montana was July 20th, from
Gold Creek to Boulder.

Last Chance.
Last Chance was discovered by Jno. Cowan and party, July 21,
1864.

Montana City.
Montana City or Prickly Pear was discovered Wednesday,
August 18, by Hurlbut.

Dimsdale began to teach school, one of the first in the Terri-
tory, August 22, 1864.

278 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

First publication Montana Post, Friday, August 21, 1864.

Woodmansee's Train, September 8th, from Salt Lake to Ban-
nack, the first one to Bannack.

Fisk's first expedition, reached Gold Creek September 26, 1862.
His first and second reached Benton on September 6th, 1862, and
September 6th, 1863.

First election took place October 31, 1863, Madison, Beaver-
head, Jefferson and Gallatin Comities. All in Idaho.

First church in Territory dedicated at Virginia City on Satur-
day, November 6, 1864.

Masonic Hall, October 8, 1867. Helena people claim that
Masonic Hall was completed November 11, 1866.

First theater in Territory opened Fridaj^, December 10, 1864.

Elk Morse shot by Wm. Herron December 4, 1867, on the Gal-
latin.

First term of U. S. District Court in Territory December 5, 1864.

First Territorial Legislature convened in Bannack, December
12, 1864.

In 1869 there were but 38 postoffices in Montana. Most of them
only received mail tri-weekly.

The number of placer mines in 1869 was 120 and the total
length was 452 3-4 miles.

From Montana Post. (First Issue Au^st 27th, 1864.)

We find the following Official Directory:

Governor — Hon. Sidney Edgerton, Bannack.

Secretary — H. P. Forsey.

Chief Justice — H. L. Hosmer.

Associate Justice — ^Ami Giddings.

Associate Justice — ^L. B. Williston.

Attorney General — E. B. Nealy, Virginia City.

Marshal — C. J. Buck.

Surveyor General — M. Boyd.

County Officers Madison County.

County Commissioners — Jas. Fergus, Samuel "W. Stanley, Fred
K. Root.

Probate Judge — Thos. C. Jones.
Sheriff— Robt. C. Knox.
Treasurer — N. J. Davis.
Recorder — R. M. Hagaman.

City Council Virginia City.

E. K. Woodbury, Sam Schwab, James Gibson, N. Ford Marshall,
Jerry Nolan.

First Mayor of Virginia City, Paris S. Pfouts,

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 279

Montana Financial Relations.

Receipts from U. S. Internal Revenue Office for four

years ending November 1st, 1868 $409,963.34

Receipts for postal service, 1867 306.12

$410,269.46
Expenses of Territory for four years at $35,498.50....$142,000.00

Balance in favor of Territory $268,275.46

Bonded debt $ 58,850.00

Warrants, Regular and Outstanding $ 32,712.32

Total Territorial indebtedness $ 91,562.32

A Trip to the States.

By J. Allen Hosmer, only a young boy. This was written, type-
set and printed by him.

It is a little book, 82 pages of reading matter, and twelve pages
of distances on the Missouri River. The book is 4x5 inches and
is the second book printed in Montana; copyright 1866; printed
1867. Young Hosmer was, in 1896, an attorney in San Francisco,
a son of Judge H. L. Hosmer, Chief Justice of Montana when
this book was printed. (The book was presented to the Historical
Society by James H. Mills). He was also the man who prosecuted
Durant for the murder of Blanch Lamont in San Francisco.

Actually the First Meetings of Alder Gulch on the Road From

Bannack.

The Agreement Between the Citizens and the Discoverers of
Alder.

"Whereas, certain parties, respectively, named Henry Edgar,
Wm. Fairweather, Harry Rodger, T. W. Cover, Wm. Sweeney and
Barney Hughes have for several months been engaged in pros-
pecting for their own benefit and for the benefit of the public
in general, and.

Whereas, said parties after the completion of much time and
money have discovered what they consider fair gold diggings and
on the strength of this discovery have respectively taken for
themselves two claims each, one by pre-emption and one by dis-
covery; therefore, be it resolved,

1st. That we do cheerfully recognize the right of the parties
above named to hold for themselves two claims as before set forth.

2nd. That in addition to the recognition of the right in the
first resolution expressed we bind ourselves to support the parties

280 THE VIGILANTES UF ilONTANA

above named in holding their claims purchased by their arduous
exertions as prospectors and public benefactors.

H. P. A. SMITH.

WM. L. FOSTER.

J. M. WOOD.

JOHN CALLANAN.

Vigilante Oath.

We, the undersigned, uniting ourselves in a party for the pur-
pose of arresting thieves and murderers and recovering stolen
property, do pledge ourselves upon our sacred honor, each to all
others, and solemnly swear that we will reveal no secrets, violate
no laws of right and not desert each other or our standards of
justice, so help me God, as witness our hand and seals this 23rd
day of December, A. D. 1863.

James Williams, Joseph Hinkley, J. S. Daddow, C. F. Keves,
Charles Brown (Dutch Charlie), E(lk) Morse, J. H. Balch, W.
C. Maxwell, Nelson Kellock, S. J. Ross, Chas. Beehrer, Thomas
Baume, Wm. H. Brown, Sr., Jno. Brown, Jr., Enoch Hodson, Hans
J. Hoist, Hoofen,* Alex Gillon, Jr., Wm. Clark, John Triff, A. D.
Smith, W. Palmer, L. Seebold, M. S. Warder.

(John Lott was supposed to have been the man who drew up
the oath. He never signed it.)

These must have been the men who went to Deer Lodge.

Organization of First Court.

In December, 1864, nineteen men met in the dining room of
the Planters House in Virginia City and organized a court there.
Nineteen men admitted to the bar. Judge Pemberton is the last
survivor of this Court. H. P. A. Smith was the first lawyer to
come to Montana. He died with consumption. Senator Sanders
wrote of him that he was generous to a fault, and never turned
a person away empty-handed. He was none too particular as to
how he received his money.

First Court organized was by Judge Hosmer, Monday, Decem-
ber 5, 1864.

The Court ordered that the attorneys who are to practice in
this Court shall take the oath of allegiance, required by law and
prepared by the clerk, and the following attorneys did so, viz :

W. F. Sanders, G. G. Bissell, R. B. Parrott,'R. H. Roberson, J.
G. Spratt, Chas. S. Bagg, L. W. Barton, A. E. Mayhew, E. B.
Nealley, W. M. Stafford, Thos. Thoroughman, John C. Turb, Wm.
Chumasero, H. Burns, J. A. Johnston, W. Y. Pemberton, J. Cook,
EdAvard Sheffield, Alex Davis, Wm. L. McMath, W. J. McCor-
mick, G. W. Stapleton, Sam Word.

* Can't make out this name as it is so poorly written.

JUDGE HOSMER
First Chief Justice of Montana

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 281

Signed by Hez, L. Hosmer, Judge First Judicial District of
Montana.

These attorneys were all admitted on motion of Col. Sanders.

ROAD AGENTS.
List by Prof Garver of State Normal School.

George Ives, died December 21, 1863, Nevada City, Madison
Comity.

Erastus (Red) Yager, died January 4, 1864, Stinkingwater
Valley, Madison County.

G. W. Brown, died January 4, 1864, Stinkingwater Valley,
Madison County.

Henry Plummer, died January 10, 1864, Bannack, Beaverhead
County.

Ned Ray, died January 10, 1864, Bannack, Beaverhead County.

Buck Stinson, died January 10, 1864, Bannack, Beaverhead
County.

John Wagner (or Wagoner) (Dutch John), died January 11,
1864, Bannack, Beaverhead County.

Joe Pizanthia, died January 11, 1864, Bannack, Beaverhead
County.

Geo. Lane (Club-Foot George), died January 14, 1864, Virginia
City, Madison Count3^

Frank Parish, died January 14, 1864, Virginia City, Madison
County.

Haze Lyons, died January 14, 1864, Virginia City, Madison
County.

Jack Gallagher, died January 14, 1864, Virginia City, Madison
County.

Boone Helm, died January 14, 1864, Virginia City, Madison
County.

Steve Marshland, died January 16, 1864, Clarke's Big Hole
Ranch, Beaverhead County.

William Bunton, January 19, 1864, Deer Lodge Valley, Powell
County.

Cyrus Skinner, died January 25, 1864, Hell Gate, Missoula
County.

Alexander Carter, died January 25, 1864, Hell Gate, Missoula
County.

John Cooper, died January 25, 1864, Hell Gate, Missoula
County.

Robert Zachary, died January 25, 1864, Hell Gate, Missoula
County.

George Shears, died January 24, 1864, Frenchtown, Missoula
County.

282 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Wm. Graves (Whiskey Bill), died January 26, 1864, Fort
Owens, Ravalli County.

William Hunter, died February 3, 1864, Gallatin Valley, Gal-
latin County.

J. A. Slade, died 1864, Virginia City, Madison County.

James Brady, died early summer, 1864, Nevada, Madison
County.

Jem Kelly, died July, 1864, Portneuf, Idaho.

John Dolan, died Septmeber 17, 1864, Nevada, Madison County.

*R. C. Rawley (Reighly) , died at Bannack, Madison County.

John Keene (Bob Black), died 1865, Helena, Lewis and Clark
County.

Jake Silvie (Jacob Seachriest), died 1865, Diamond 'City,
Broadwater County.

John Morgan, died 1865, near Virginia City, Madison County.

John Jackson (John Jones), died 1865, near Virginia City,
Madison County.

James Daniel, died 1865, Helena, Lewis and Clark County.

A Bull Fight.

From James H. Morley's diary we get the following.

September 25th, 1864, "A Bull Fight" in corral back of Vir-
ginia Hotel, with a large crowd in attendance. No fight in the
bulls, being old stags who have hauled goods over the plains, but
the betters-up got their $2.00 a head from a large crowd of fools.

This continues to be a great country.

CHAPTEE IX.

Jeff Durley to J. X. Beidler.

Office of the

CmCUIT CLERK AND RECORDER

Putnam County

Hennepin, 111., December 15th, 1889.
Jno. X. Biedler, Esq., Helena, Montana.

Dear Old Friend: — I had not known positively where to find
you until lately I read an interview with you by a correspondent
of the Chicago Tribune, and located you at Helena. Dear X it
brings up old and pleasant recollections to know that you are still
in the land of the living do you recollect the first time we ever

* Hanged on the Plummer scaffold on Hangman's Gulch at Bannack. A
photograph was taken of his body on the scaffold — the only one of the kind
taken.

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 283

met at or near Twin lakes, when you had your Burros packed for
"Washington Guleh, a Small party of us Struck there on our way
to that Gulch, and you must rember Jones his wife and children,
that when we left the Gulch we Camped at Some Haystaks two
miles out and we had forgotten Something and two of the Boys
went back to the Gulch for it and Jones give them the last two
dollars to buy a bottle of Whiskey and that you and I and Jones
and his wife Slept in a pole Cabin without anything to stop the
cracks, and that we had arranged for the boys to fill the bottle
with water and place it near his head and that waked me up just
before daylight to See Jones take his drink and we Kept a Sharp
lookout under the buffalos we were under when Jones raised up
and looked Cautiously around and then reached for his bottle
uncorked it and turned up to take a square drink of whiskey and
how he Spluttered as though he was poisoned.

And you must have a vivid recollection of the trials and tribu-
lations we had digging through Snowbanks and hunting grass
under the Snow for the animals, and I know you have not for-
gotten, the time we went into Camp and Cleared away 4 feet of
Snow to build our fire and thaw out a place for us to sleep and
that we had to put up poles to keep the jacks out of the fire, and
that the old Georgian that was with us had mixed his last batch
of flour to bake by the nice coals we would have in the morning,
and that during the night the jacks discovered the old mans
dough broke the poles down we had erected and grabbed the
dough and when we waked up and old jinney had her teeth fast-
ened in the dough and that old man was handing on to the other
and yelling at the top of his voice "Here's to you" it was a
ground Hog Case, I would give ten dollars for a true picture of
that Scene, you have not forgotten how we divided the last bread
we had with the animals the morning we Started across the Range
and how we had to unpack and dig the animals out of the Snow
when they stepped off the trail, and how we went into Camp at 8
o'clock that evening, without anything to eat for ourselves or
animals, and that a relief party Struck us that night at midnight
with flour bacon and hay for the animals and how we staid up
the balance of the night and fried dough and bacon and filled
up and that two days afterward we arrived at the promised Land
being Twin Lakes Colorado where we lived on Mountain Sheep
and Speckled Trout. It still holds good your old saying that we
have lived and loved together, I am still living at Hennepin and
the raging Illinois River that runs almost a mile an hour, I am
not rich but have plenty to eat and wear for Self and family.
Since we last met I have had many ups and downs raised two
Companys and Served one and a half years in the army and if I
say it myself I never had a man in my Companies but what would

284 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

go miles to do me a favor. Oh, how I would like to see you and
have a g-ood old-fashioned talk with you if you should conclude
to come East don't fail to Come and see me. Is Dr. Glick still at
Helena. The Dr. was kind to me when I got hurt near Bannaek
on Grasshopper Creek. Remember me to him. If you know of
a good mine that is out an owner let me know and I will run out
and look at it. I have been Clerk of the Circuit Court for the past
13 years and have 3 years of the last term I was elected for to
serve yet. Now X do not fail to write me when you receive this
Hoping you are a good Republican and that you will send 2 good
Republican Senators from the State of Montana I remain as ever
your friend and may God bless you

JEFF DURLEY.

CHAPTER X.

The Men of Bannaek and Virginia.

The first prospectors did not expect to found a state. They
had no thought of casting their lots in a place so far removed
from all that would make life endurable. Their idea was that
only a little effort was required to rob nature of her treasures.
If they could find the rich deposits of Virgin gold they would
soon have plenty, and could return and take up their burdens
where they had laid them down.

A man would be a fool to contemplate an existence in a place
so far removed from all that could make life pleasant. But
there was an attraction that held them like a lode stone, and they
began to like the Siren, that had wound her arms about them,
until each embrace was considered the kindly pressure of truest
affection. The ozone that filled their lungs carried with it an
intoxicant. The rippling streams sang them to sleep, as sweetly
and pleasantly as though they had been rocked at a mother's
knee, and were lulled to repose by the sweetest music that man
has ever known. And their visions were filled with the kaleido-
scopic views of endless mountain peaks, that held out an invita-
tion couched in no uncertain language, for them to explore their
fastnesses, and find the Treasure that nature had locked so
closely, in crevice bound in granite.

The rich soil that would yield so abundantly, without much
coaxing ; the native grasses that were to furnish pasture — winter
and summer — for untold thousands of stock ; rivers that would
produce the ransom of kings, and cause the wheels of many fac-
tories to turn, were themselves so alluring that they became more
attractive to thousands than the homes of their childhood days,
So, many stayed. They found that the early idea of a home in

THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA 285

the states could not wean them from their new love. And the
men and women that walked the streets of Bannack and Virginia,
have built a commonwealth of which we are mighty proud.

The gambler and highwaymen had their day, and were kings
by the right of their perfidious daring. These very men caused
imperishable names to go down in the story of our state till its
grandest peaks shall have disintegrated and formed farms for
millions not yet born. They walked the streets of Bannack, and
the echo of their falling footsteps can yet be heard by those who
will listen attentively to the story of their deeds. Governors trod
those streets ; men who were to tred the halls in our national
capital, and others who were to have monuments dedicated to
their memories by their later admirers, were at home in the little
log cabins, that sat beside the Grasshopper, or on the grass-
covered hills of Virginia. And women, too, were there. They
had dared for love, the traverse of the dreary plains, and had, for
love, fearlessly encountered the mountain storm. Those women !
Do you know what those women were ? They were heroines !
They were good women — they were the mothers of men who have
since helped to make this no small part of a country we all should
love.

Let us see who some of the men and women were. Sidney
Edgerton, our first Governor. Samuel Hauser, also a Governor;
Wilbur F. Sanders, the first U. S. Senator ; W. A. Clark, the great-
est of mining men, and also a Senator ; Samuel McLean, who was
to first represent us as a delegate in Congress ; Green Clay Smith,
another Governor, and General Francis Meagher, to whom a
loving people erected the first statute in the grounds of our cap-
ital, and, in fact, the first in Montana.

Judge Byam, Lott Brothers, Judge Pemberton, J, X. Beidler,
A. K. McClure, Wash. Stapleton, W. W. De Lacey, Billy Clagget,
Con Kohrs, A. M. Esler, 0. D. Farlin, W. L. Farlin, William Roe,
Martin Barrett, Joe Shineberger, Smith Ball, Capt. Jim AVilliams,
Charlie Brown, Charlie Beehrer, N. P. Langford, Prof. Dimsdale,
the Stuart Brothers, Jim Bozeman, the discoverers of Alder and
Last Chance; Dr. Leavitt, Dr. Glick, Dr. Steele, Dr. Sick, Judge
Hosmer, Cavanaugh, A. F. Graeter, John F. Bishop, Jas. Fersler,
John C. Innes (who still has a place in Bannack), James Fergus,
Jesse Armitage; we can't go on, because it would be a list too
long to record. With many of those men we find their wives and
children. Such names as Mrs. AA"". F. Sanders, Miss Lucia L.
Darling (who taught the first school in Bannack), Mrs. Annette
Stanley, Mrs. A. J. Smith, Mrs. G. D. French, Mrs. Wadams, Mrs.
Armitage, Mrs. Fergus; only a few of those brave women who
bore so much toward making our abodes so pleasant. Not many
of them now walk the streets of these almost deserted cities.

286 THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA

Bannaek, the cradle of our state, is a quaint litlte place, that lives
only in the histroy she has made. The daring gamblers — the
highwaj-men — no longer roam the streets, and turn the nights into
day. No more is there a busy crowd, ready to stampede to new
gold fields, because those newer fields kept them from coming
back. What other town in all the world could claim such citizens?

Virginia ! How great was Virginia ! She sat a queen beside a
golden stream, whose gathered, glittering sands, have helped to
string the tuneful wire that bridges oceans, and changed long
days to moments. Her gathered wealth built many a palace, and
caused the lines of polished steel to wend their way across a con-
tinent. Great spires point heavenward, and floating palaces
sweep swiftly on the deep — because of you, Virginia !

And when the book-worm sits in shady bowers, his pleasure
came through you. But you, too, live in your past. The thousands
that roamed your streets are gone. The crumbling shacks that
once were happy homes, will n,ot reveal the names of those who
once dwelt there. No more the music stirs the busy feet in Hurdy
Hall. No more the gun-shot wounds the daring chief. No more
shall voices, of the makers of your destiny, reverberate among
your templed hills. For many sleep the sleep you, too, must take
— the sleep of death. But down the stream of Alder from Summit,
to its mouth, piles and piles of earth-denuded stones will bear
witness to your greatness, and will be your monument for ages
yet to come.

INDEX

Chapter I.
Vigilance Committees 9

Chapter II.

The Sunny Side of Mountain Life _ 17

Chapter III.
Settlement of Montana 19

Chapter IV.

The Road Agents 21

Names, Place and Date of Execution 22

Chapter V.
The Dark Days of Montana „ 23

Chapter VI.
The Trial _ _ 30

Chapter VII.

Plummer Versus Crawford _ 32

Chapter VIII.

A Calendar of Crimes - 37

Chapter IX.

Perils of the Road _ „ 42

Chapter X.
The Repulse 45

Chapter XI.

The Robbery of Peabody & Caldwell's Coach 49

Chapter XII.

The Settlement of Virginia City and the Murder of Dillingham 54

Chapter XIII.

The Robbery of the Palt Lake Mail Coach by George Ives, Bill Graves,

Alias Whiskey Bill, and Bob Zachary 63

Chapter XIV.

The opening of the Ball — George Ives 69

Chapter XV.

The Formation of the Vigilance Committee „ _ 89

Chapter XVI.
The Deer Lodge Scout 94

Chapter XVII.

Dutch John 102

Chapter XVIII.

Execution of Plummer, Ray and Stinson 109

288 INDEX

Page.
Chapteb XiA..

The Exceution of "The Greaser" (Joe Pizanthia) and Dutch John

(Wagner) 112

Chapter XX.

The Capture and Execution of Boone Helm, Jack Gallagher, Frank Parish,

Haze Lyons and Club-Foot George (Lane) 117

Chapter XXI.

The Deer Lodge and Hell Gate Scout 126

Chapter XXII.

Capture and Execution of Bill Hunter 137

Chapter XXIII.

Capt. J. A. Slade 143

Chapter XXIV.

Execution of Brady - 151

Chapter XXV.

The Snake River Scout 156

Chapter XXVI.

Exceution of John Dolan 160

Chapter XXVII.

Execution of R. C. Rawley 163

Chapter XXVIII.

The Trial of John Keene _ 166

Chapter XXIX.

Capture of Jake Silvie h 176

Chapter XXX.

Henry Plummer - 185

Chapter XXXI.

Boone Helm 188

George Ives 189

Bill Bunton _ 190

Aleck Carter 190

Cyrus Skinner 190

Bill Hunter 190

Stephen Marshland 191

James Daniels 191

Chapter XXXIII.

Conclusion 192

Introductory 195

Chapter I.

Early History 197

Montana 198

Chapter II.

The First Charter _ liOO

Chapter III.

Lumber 203

lirst Timber Reserved 203

Chapter IV.

The Lost City 205

INDEX 289

Page.
Chapteb V.

First Probate Judge -. 207

Chaptee VI.

Jeff. Davis Gulch 208

Buffalo Currency - - 209

Chapteb VII 211

Chapteb VIII.

Ranching 212

Horse Prairie 212

Bird in Hand Ranch 213

On Beaverhead 213

Land on Stinkingwater 215

Chapter IX.

Judge M. H. Lott - 216

Chapteb X.

Mining Laws in Bannack District 2'22

Chapteb XI.

Notes From Ok] Court Records 225

Sue's Letter 226

Chapteb XII.

Incidents in the Life of August F. Graeter 227

Chapteb XIII.

W. B. Carter's Story 229

Chapteb XIV.

Incidents in Life of John F. Bishop 231

Chapteb XV.

John C. Innes, an 1862 Man '332

Sanders' Quotation — From King Lear 234

Chapteb XVI.

Story of James Kirkpatrick 235

Chapteb XVII.

Incidents of Beaverhead County 238

A Promissory Note 239

Miners' Meeting 239

Toll Bridge _ .240

Settling a Partnership Quarrel 240

First White Child Born 241

Women in Bannack 1862-3 241

At the Big Hole Bridge 242

Scholars of First School in Bannack, 18a3 242

Chapteb XVIII.
The Grey Horse 243

Chapteb XIX.

First Meeting of County Commissioners in Montana 244

Gov. Edgerton 247

First Idaho Legislature 249

First Montana Legislature .249

Gov. White 250

Chapteb I.

Alder Gulch — Bill Fairweatber 251

290 . INDEX

Page.
Chapteb II.

Alder Gulch 254

(.Jhapteb III.

Ranching 258

Chapteb IV.

First Court House -230

Chapteb V.

Charles Beehrer 263

Chapteb VI.

Incidents in Beehrer"s Life — Flour Riot 271

AnIncident With Skinner 273

Two Men Hang a :Mau 273

How the Young Man Got Free 274

Chapteb VII.

George Lovell 275

Fourth of July, 1864 276

Chapteb VIII.

Incidents 277

A Trip to the States 279

Vigilante Oath 280

Organization of First Court 280

Road Agents List by Prof. Garver of State Normal School 281

A Bull Fight ; 282

Chapteb IX.

Jeff Durley to J. X. Beidler 282

Chapteb X.

The Men of Bannack and Virginia 2S4

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