[From Thompson & West's History of Nevada 1881, With Illustrations And Biographical Sketches Of Its Prominent Men And Pioneers, pp. 332-340]

332      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

[BY HON. C. N. HARRIS.]

First Case in the Territory—Probate Court of Carson County—First Session of the Court—The First Criminal Case—First Admission to the Bar—United States District Court—Judge Drummond Vacates—Drummond Succeeded by Cradlebaugh —Admission of Attorneys — A Grand Jury Impaneled—The First Indictments—Court Expenses for the Term—Special Term of Court—Judge Cradlebaugh Superseded—Unpopular Indictments — Nevada Territory Judiciary —Judge Mott Succeeded by Judge North—The One-Ledge and Two-Ledge Theories—Changes of Prosecuting Attorneys—Homily Upon Nevada Courts—First State Judges Elected—Later Supreme Judges—Attorney Generals of Nevada—Judicial Districts of the State—District Judges Elected—Judicial Districts Reorganized, and District Judges Subsequently Elected—Most Upright and Honorable Judges—Members of the Bar of Nevada—A Retrospective View.

            THE history of the courts, judges, lawyers, and litigation within the territory now embraced by the State of Nevada, extends back to dates nearly covered with the first emigration across the plains to California.

            The Mormon assertion of jurisdiction was not strictly limited to any confines short of the surveys which formed the eastern boundary of California, although it was not much earlier than 1853 when the advanced settlements of the Mormons began to dot the valleys skirting the easterly declivities of the Sierra. For the first year or two the Spanish members that occupied the vast wilds that extend from Salt Lake to the Sierra Nevada, required little or nothing in the way of regularly organized judicial tribunals. There was room for all, without any clash of possessionary or legal rights, and the powerful motive and necessity for mutual protection subserved all such purposes of civil. government as were not directly administered by the church hierarchy at Salt Lake.

FIRST CASE IN THE TERRITORY.

            It seems, however, that in 1853 one E. L. Barnard was acting as Justice of the Peace, and on March 14th of that year the first legal cause was brought before him by John Reese against Woodward & Co., by attachment, for the recovery of $675. The full particulars of this case will be found on page 34, and is simply mentioned here to show when the wheels of the judicial tribunal were first put in motion.

PROBATE COURT OF CARSON COUNTY.

            In 1855 the Probate Court in and for Carson County, Utah Territory, was held by Orson Hyde, the Probate Judge, at the Mormon settlement located where Genoa now stands. The County of Carson, then recently organized, was well nigh

HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF NEVADA.      333

co-extensive with the present State of Nevada, and Judge Hyde's Territorial jurisdiction was of immense extent.

FIRST SESSION OF THE COURT.

            On the third of October this Court held its first session, and the first record entry was in the case of James McIntyre vs. Asa A. Knouse—an action of "debit and damages." The proceedings upon that day seem to have consisted of the filing of the complaint for recovery of $187.75. A copy of the complaint and writ were issued, which latter was made returnable October 12th, at nine o'clock. "On this day," says the record, "parties met at Cowin's house, and proceeded to trial without a jury, by agreement. Defendant filed his answer, and set off in the sum of $209.25, leaving a balance in his favor of $19.50. The Court, on hearing the evidence and the pleas of the parties, and on careful examination of the account, ordered that judgment be rendered against McIntyre, the plaintiff, in the sum of $24.50 (more than was asked in the set-off), together with the costs of suit, $14; making the full amount of judgment against the plaintiff of $38.50."

            Thus was the judicial government of the people inaugurated. The tribunal seems to have been constructed upon a basis that comprehended little more than if found in Justices' Courts, elsewhere, although the name " Probate Court " would commonly imply the accessions of a seal and a Clerk, or Prothonotary.

THE FIRST CRIMINAL CASE.

            On the second of November, 1855, this Court exercised its criminal jurisdiction for the first time in the case of a negro named Thacker, who was brought before Hyde, as Probate Judge, "for using language of a highly threatening character," he, Thacker, having said "That he had spite enough in his heart against A. J. Wyckoff to kill him," and " that he could cut the heart out of Mrs. Jacob Rose and roast it on the coals."

            This inhuman wretch was dealt with in the rigorous manner following, as shown by the "docket." To protect the life of Thacker being taken on the spot, the Judge ordered his arrest, and although the language was proven to have been uttered by the accused, yet the Judge held that it was no threat; but nevertheless summed up by taxing Thacker with fifty dollars, for costs of suit, and advising him, "for his own safety," to go over the mountains to his master, in California.

            The Court records the remark that "A man may have malice enough at heart to kill another, and judgment and discretion to prevent him from committing the deed; he may have the ability to cut a lady's heart out and roast it upon the coals, and at the same time he may have good sense enough not to do it."

FIRST ADMISSION TO THE BAR.

            On the second of November, 1855, Dr. Charles D. Daggett and Solomon C. Perm were admitted to practice before the Probate Court.

            From these unpretentious beginnings, from this well spring, as it were, has the stream of justice with its various irregularities of current and interruptions of flow passed down to more modern dates, and within more clearly defined channels.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT.

            In the course of time the judicial organization of Utah Territory received the improving touches and authoritative recognition that were so evidently necessary through the force of Congressional legislation, and in the year 1856 there came into Carson Valley, from Salt Lake, about one hundred families, who were accompanied by Judge Drummond, upon his journey to open a genuine United States District Court. The Judge arrived about the middle of July. His first Grand Jury had no representative of the Mormon faith within its members, but at the expiration of nine days, after impaneling the same he seems to have expelled seven of the twenty-three members and substituted Mormons in their places.

            The court was held at Mottsville, in Mott's barn, while the Grand Jury held its sessions in the house, or in the hotter portions of the day, in the blacksmith shop.

            The Grand Jury, after its re-formation as above-mentioned, found a true bill against two parties, one of whom bore the name of E. Lamb, for stealing two horses. It is stoutly asserted, by some surviving contemporaries, that Lamb did not steal the horses, or in other words, was innocent of the charge; but history is deprived of an authentic judicial record upon this point, for the reason that Lamb made his escape from Mottsville, and the indictment, in consequence, was never tried.

JUDGE DRUMMOND VACATES.

            For some act of supposed contumacy, it is said that Judge Drummond threatened to "iron" the Grand Jury, but this does not seem to have taken the form of a judicial order, nor was the threat carried into effect. The Judge remained at Mottsville about six weeks, and then departed for California, from whence he never returned.

            It was thought that his judicial administration was as unsatisfactory to himself and all concerned, as the record of his proceedings is meager.

DRUMMOND SUCCEED BY CRADLEBAUGH.

            He was succeeded by John Cradlebaugh who, as Judge of the Second Judicial District of Utah Territory, convened court at Genoa on the fifth day of September, 1859, with Alfred James for Clerk, and George W. Hepperly as Deputy United States Marshal and Bailiff of the court.

ADMISSION OF ATTORNEYS.

            On the tenth of October, of that year, the following entry was made upon the records of the court:—

            On motion of G. D. Hall, and the Court being satisfied of the good standing in the profession of Messrs. Charles H. Bryan, Robert Anderson, G. D.

334      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

Hall, John J. Musser, W. H. Brumfield and Wellington Stewart, practicing attorneys in the courts of other States and Territories, said gentlemen are admitted to practice as attorneys in the courts of this Territory.

A GRAND JURY IMPANELED.

            On that day the Grand Jury was impaneled, with George W. Chedic, at present a resident of Carson City, as the foreman. Wellington Stewart was appointed by the Court as Prosecuting Attorney for the Second District, in place of Alexander Wilson, who had resigned as United States Attorney for Utah Territory, upon the ground that he could not, for some reason, attend upon the courts in Carson County.

THE FIRST INDICTMENT.

            On the twenty-first of October, 1859, the first indictment for murder was found against William Sides, for a homicide committed at Gold Hill shortly after the discovery of the Comstock Lode. At the same time two bills of indictment were found for lewdness, one for adultery, and one for robbery. In fact, the criminal calendar for the year 1859 would indicate an older settlement, a more extensive population, and a degree of demoralization rather exceptional. In that year five bills of indictment for lewdness, one for adultery, one for robbery, six for assault with intent to kill, three for murder, and one for felony were found by the Grand Jury.

COURT EXPENSES FOR THE TERM.

            On the thirtieth of November, 1859, the Court expenses foot up $573.50—the Prosecuting Attorney's fees being $10 per day, and the traveling expenses of the Judge to and from Salt Lake being $150 for the estimated distance of 1,500 miles.

SPECIAL TERM OF COURT.

            A special term of court was held on June 11, 1860. John L. Blackburn was the Deputy Marshal in attendance. The term seems to have continued in session from time to time until February 19, 1861, when the last record entries were made.

            In 1860 three indictments for murder seem to have been found. On September 19th the case of Wm. Sides was dismissed, on motion of the acting Prosecuting Attorney, P. H. Clayton. There was, in fact, but little efficiency shown in the prosecution of the criminal docket, or else the indictments were in the main without merit.

JUDGE CRADLEBAUGH SUPERSEDED.

            Judge Cradlebaugh had been succeeded by Judge R. B. Flaniken, who, in October, 1860, arrived, accompanied by United States Marshal Henry Grice, and was furnished with letters of introduction to John S. Child, who was then the Probate Judge. Judge Flaniken held the court in Carson City until its close, as stated.

UNPOPULAR INDICTMENTS.

            It seems that when Judge Cradlebaugh first arrived at Genoa he was accompanied by Judge St. Clair, who addressed the Grand Jury, and charged them to bring indictments against parties living with women otherwise than in the marriage relation; and against gamblers, and parties alleged to have participated in the irregular judicial proceedings and executions that had occurred. Several of the indictments for murder already alluded to are said to have been directed against the latter class of malefactors.

            During the period brought to a close, in February, 1861, and under the Utah regime, the volume of civil business does not seem to have been extensive or important. The judicial administration was rather a struggle, with indecisive results, to assert law and order in a community where much of irregularity was prevalent.

            Thus closes our sketch of that period in the judicial history of Nevada which preceded the organization of the Territory bearing that name.

NEVADA TERRITORY JUDICIARY.

            By Act of Congress, in 1861, the new Territory of Nevada was organized, and Hon. James W. Nye appointed Governor by President Lincoln. By proclamation of July 17, 1861, the Governor divided the Territory into three judicial districts, and assigned the Judges as follows:

            First Judicial District — The county of Carson including all that portion of Nevada lying west of the 118th degree of longitude west from Greenwich; Gordon N. Mott, Judge.

            Second Judicial District—All that portion of the Territory, lying between the 117th and 118th degrees of longitude; George Turner, Judge.

            Third Judicial District—All that portion of the Territory lying east of the 117th degree of longitude; Horatio M. Jones, Judge.

            Thus was established the first regular beginning of that judicial history which is distinctively Nevadan, and disconnects it from the influence of the Mormon Church in Utah, although it should be here remarked that Judge Cradlebaugh made for himself a National reputation by his firm attitude in opposition to the Mormon power during his term of judicial administration. The newly organized Territorial Courts, especially the First Judicial District, commenced the administration of justice under conditions that were novel, and, in some respects, anomalous. The court for the First District was held principally at Virginia City, and the litigation was, in the main, the outgrowth of conflicting claims to mining properties, that were held to represent enormous values. The questions involved were largely determinable by a sort of common law, or the custom of miners in mining districts. The ablest representatives of the California Bar, in those times, flocked to Virginia City, and were, without exception, prominent in the forensic discussions that were almost continually occupying the courts. In those days the law concerning mineral-bearing ledges, their location, possession and development, was largely formulated, and

HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF NEVADA.      335

ultimately received the substantial recognition of approving Congressional legislation. The trial of the many causes was the scene of almost continual excitement. The stock boards of San Francisco and Virginia were often tremendously swayed by the result of judicial rulings. Perjury was conceded to be common, and the bribery of witnesses and juries was spoken of as notorious. It was impossible that the Judges should escape the suspicion, and even the open charge of being corrupt. The peculiar conformation of the giant lode, known as t he Comstock, occasioned two antagonizing theories, which struggled for the legal ascendancy. They were respectively known as the "one-ledge " and "two-ledge " theories. The excitement in the legal circles and among litigants culminated in the year 1863.

JUDGE MOTT SUCCEEDED BY JUDGE NORTH.

            Judge Mott resigned, and Hon. J. W. North, who was the first Surveyor General of Nevada, was appointed by President Lincoln as his successor in the First District, and continued in office until Nevada was admitted into the Union in October, 1864. He was accused of corruption by Hon. W. M. Stewart, afterwards United States Senator. This resulted in a lawsuit for libel with claim for $100,000 damages, which was tried by referees in 1865, who rendered a judgment exonerating Judge North, and found the accusations of Stewart to be without any basis of fact.

THE ONE-LEDGE AND TWO-LEDGE THEORIES.

            During this period of continued activity and excitement in the courts, the "one-ledge" and "two-ledge" theories alternated in obtaining ascendancy. The decisions were not uniform—no one case seemed to be authoritative in the next—although at the close of 1864 the "two-ledge" party seemed the rather to prevail. It is a question that has not even yet (1881) been finally determined, although the system of United States patents for mining ground and ledges, conjoined with the consolidated ownership in few persons of many of the conflicting claims, has reduced the question to one of vastly less practical importance. Indeed, it may now in a general way be asserted as the prevailing notion, that the so-called Comstock Lode is a gigantic deposit, or upheaval, of vein or mineral-bearing matter of indefinite width eastwardly from Mount Davidson, and of an unknown extent in length north and south. Its superficial or surface indications are irregular, and often lead to the supposition that there are a series of parallel veins, but through explorations at profound depths, this idea is in the main dispelled. Of course the attention of our courts has always been drawn to a line of civil questions similar to those arising in any other community, but as mining is the main resource for the prosperity of the State, just so has so-called mining law always maintained the ascendancy.

CHANGES OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.

            In 1861, Hon. Dighton Corsen was appointed the Prosecuting Attorney for the First District, Carson County, and Hon. Marcus D. Larrowe for the Second District. In 1862, Hon. E. B. Zabriskie was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the Third District, and continued in office from March till November 17th of that year, when he resigned to enter the army as one of the Nevada Volunteers, where he was appointed upon the staff of General P. E. Connor as Judge Advocate, with the rank of Captain. He was succeeded in the office of Prosecuting Attorney by Hon. Franklin H. Kennedy. In May, 1863, Hon. John J. Musser was appointed District or Prosecuting Attorney, to succeed Hon. Marcus D. Larrowe, who resigned.

HOMILY UPON NEVADA COURTS.

            After the Territorial Courts were once organized, the course of legal procedure in Nevada Territory was characterized by a regularity and certainty that was a vast improvement upon the desultory methods and plans of administering justice that had been obtained under the Mormon regime. There was a binding force to the organic law of the Territory and the Acts of the Legislature, that at once justified a larger measure of wished-for tranquility, especially in the mining camps, than had heretofore been possible.

            But as already remarked, the vast values that were constantly the subject of judicial action, caused immense friction and distrust. The judges were the victims of open charges of bribery, and the determinations of courts and juries were seldom received in good faith by those who had not prevailed. The prime cause of this dissatisfaction was the recklessness and assurance with which witnesses were induced to commit perjury, and the acknowledged fact that many who sat on juries were to a moral certainty subject to the seductions of money rewards. In fact, a general demoralization of the public mind had so far gained ground that it is scarcely to be wondered at that the courts were unable to enforce the authority and respect due to the law, no matter how honorable might be the personal character of the judges. It was, especially "on the Comstock," a sense of reckless greed for the making of fortunes, and no consideration stood in the way of its realization.  

            In the First District, Judge Mott retired, and Hon. J.W. North, was in 1863, appointed to succeed him.  He was a man of honorable character and his personal history had been unexceptionable, but his career was characterized by as savage and bitter attacks from members of the Bar and litigants as had been the case during the incumbency of his predecessor.

            Hon. William M. Stewart, afterwards one of the United States Senators from Nevada, was especially prominent in charges of corrupt conduct on the part of Judge North. The latter resigned in the summer of 1864. In August of that year, forty-nine members of the Bar met at Virginia, and agreed by a vote of twenty-six against twenty-one for Hon. H. O. Beatty, and two for Hon. C. M. Brosnan, to support Hon .R. S.

336      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

Messick as a candidate for the Presidential appointment to succeed Judge North. The appointment of North's successor was never made by the President. The Constitution of Nevada had already been framed, and on the first Wednesday of the following month of September the Constitution was adopted by the people of the Territory. Hon. Horatio M. Jones, prior to the formation on the State Government, had resigned, and Hon. P. B. Locke had been appointed: as his successor. Provision had been made for an election of a full set of State officers on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of the following November. The State was admitted by proclamation of President Lincoln prior to that election, and the Statehood of the then Territory was to all interests an accomplished fact. The new State Governments came into power on the first of December, 1864.

            Among the reminders of the legal turmoil that had embittered both Bench and Bar during the Territorial days, was a suit by Judge North against Senator Stewart for $100,000 damages for libel. This suit was brought in Washoe County before the District Court in the spring of 1865, and was tried before referees, at Virginia, on stipulation of the parties, the damage being waived. The findings of the referees were favorable to the plaintiff and adverse to the defendant on all points.

            The course of judicial government in the central and eastern settlements of the Territory was much more quiet and regular, although there were not wanting fierce charges of judicial corruption. Austin, or "Reese River," was a mining camp of some pretensions in those days, but not so productive of litigation as the Comstock Lode.

FIRST STATE JUDGES ELECTED.

            At the general election for the State of Nevada, in November, 1864, the following Judges of the Supreme Court were elected: James F. Lewis, Washoe County, then about thirty years of age, an able young lawyer from Wisconsin, who had been a law partner with Judge North; Hon. H. O. Beatty, of Virginia City, aged about fifty years, and for many years a prominent member of the Sacramento Bar, California, and Hon. C. M. Brosnan, of Virginia City, aged about fifty-five years, of Irish birth, and when a young man, in the State of New York, well known for his brilliancy as a forensic orator.

            According to the provision in the State Constitution, lots were drawn and Judge Lewis became the first Chief Justice, having drawn the short term of two years; Judge Beatty drew the term of four years, and Judge Brosnan drew the term of six years. The latter died April 21, 1867, and Hon. J. Neely Johnson, formerly Governor of California, was appointed by Governor Blasdel to fill the vacancy thus occasioned, and he remained upon the bench until January, 1871. Judge Lewis was re-elected in 1866, and remained upon the bench until January, 1873. Judge Beatty was succeeded by Hon. B. C. Whitman of Storey County, in January, 1869, but inasmuch as Judge Beatty resigned on the ninth of November, 1868, Judge Whitman was appointed and took his seat upon the Bench nearly two months prior to his permanent accession to the election; and at the same time Judge Lewis again succeeded to the Chief Justiceship, thus made vacant by Chief Justice Beatty.

LATER SUPREME JUDGES.

            Aside from the Supreme Judges thus far named, the following have been elected and appointed Judges of that tribunal up to the present year, 1881:

            Hon. John Garber, elected November, 1870, and resigned November 7, 1872.

            Hon. Thomas P. Hawley, elected November, 1872, and re-elected November, 1878.

            Hon. C. H. Belknap was appointed by Governor Bradley to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Garber, and remained upon the Bench until January, 1875.

            Hon. Warner Earll was elected in November, 1874, to fill the two years of the unexpired term of Judge Garber, and so succeeded Judge Belknap. He remained upon the Bench until January, 1877.

            Hon. William H. Beatty, son of the former Chief Justice H. O. Beatty, was elected November, 1874, and remained upon the Bench until January, 1881.

            Hon. O. R. Leonard was elected November, 1876, and is now, 1881, Chief Justice.

            Hon. C. H. Belknap was elected November, 1880, to succeed Chief Justice Wm. H. Beatty.

            The Bench now consists of Justices Leonard, Hawley and Belknap.

ATTORNEY GENERALS OF NEVADA.

            The Attorney Generals of Nevada were elected in the following order:

            Hon. George A. Nourse, formerly of Minnesota, was elected at the first State election, November, 1864, and remained in office until January, 1867.

            Hon. Robert M. Clarke, formerly of Ohio, was elected in 1866, and remained in office until January, 1871.

            Hon. Luther A. Buckner was elected November, 1870, and remained in office until January, 1875.

            Hon. John R. Kittrell was elected November, 1874, and remained in office until January, 1879.

            Hon. Michael A. Murphy was elected November, 1878, and is still in office.

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS OF THE STATE.

            The State in 1864 comprised nine Judicial Districts as follows : First District, Storey County ; Second District, Ormsby County ; Third District, Lyon County; Fourth District, Washoe County ; Fifth District, Nye and Churchill Counties; Sixth District, Humboldt County; Seventh District, Lander County; Eighth District, Douglas County; Ninth District, Esmeralda County.

            The First Judicial District, Storey County, was especially organized under the Constitution to allow for the election of three Judges, with co-ordinate powers and jurisdiction, in order that the mass of

HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF NEVADA.      337

unfinished business that had accumulated under the Territorial regime, might be rapidly completed.

DISTRICT JUDGES ELECTED.

            The three Judges so elected in November, 1864, were Hon. R.S. Mesick, Hon. Richard Rising, and Hon. Caleb Burbank , who each continued upon the Bench until January, 1867. The Legislature had, meanwhile, provided that but one Judge should be elected at the general election in 1866, and Hon. Richard Rising was re-elected and continues, by successive re-elections, upon the District Court Bench of the First District up to the present time.

            The District Judges elected in November for the other Districts, commencing with the Second, were in their order as follows:

            Hon. S. H. Wright, Hon. W. Haydon, Hon. C. C. Goodwin, Hon. S. L. Baker. Hon. E. F. Dunn, Hon. Wm. H Beatty, Hon. Daniel Virgin, and Hon. S. H. Chase.

            These Judges all continued in office until January, 1867. Several of them had not been regularly trained to the law, having very naturally been promoted from the County Judgeships, which they had filled under the Territorial Government. Our District Courts had well-nigh universal original jurisdiction. The only inferior jurisdictions were Justices' Courts and Recorders' Courts in cities. The judicial system, as will be seen, was simplicity itself, and the administration of justice at nisi prius at once moved on with smoothness and to the general satisfaction of the people.

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS REORGANIZED AND DISTRICT JUDGES SUBSEQUENTLY ELECTED.

            Since the first organization of the District Courts many changes have been made in the territorial limits and numbering of the Districts. The State is now divided into seven Judicial Districts only. Aside from those already mentioned the following have since been or are now Judges of the several Districts as from time to time organized.

            Hon. G. G. Berry, Hon. C. N. Harris, Hon. Benj. Curler, Hon. Charles A. Hubbard, Hon. John H. Boalt, Hon. J. G. McClinton, Hon. Charles A. Leake (now deceased), Hon. John D. Gorin, Hon. George D. Keeny, Hon. Mortimer Fuller, Hon. J.H. Flack, Hon. W. M. Seawell, Hon. M. S. Bonnifield, Hon. F. W. Cole, Hon. Henry Rives, Hon. J. S. Jameson, Hon. S. D. King, Hon. O. R. Leonard, and Hon. D. C. McKenney.

MOST UPRIGHT AND HONORABLE JUDGES.

            During the seventeen years since the organization of the State of Nevada, it must be said that our Courts have been of honorable reputation. No serious charges of corrupt conduct by any Judge have been made, and no Judge has been impeached. Among them have been, and are, men of thorough education, ripe scholarship, and earnest devotion to duty. To particularize would be invidious.

MEMBERS OF THE BAR OF NEVADA.

            To turn more particularly to the Bar of Nevada, we can say that it is second to none in ability and integrity, and numbers many men of bright minds, who shine luminously in the "forensic arena," as Justice Brosnan used to express it. The people of Nevada may be said to be more or less nomadic, by reason of the fact that they are greatly addicted to "following up" every new and important mining discovery. This is particularly true of the members of the legal profession. The result is, that with few exceptions, the name of each lawyer of prominence is found more or less identified with the history of litigation in each county of this State. To classify is, therefore, a matter of great difficulty, unless the history becomes prolix and really uninteresting. Therefore, in a general way, some of the more prominent legal lights of Nevada are mentioned, and incidentally, a few of the different localities and scenes of their professional labors.

            During the Territorial days, the more important litigation of the entire Territory was in a large part conducted by the members of the Bar of Virginia City, Carson and Austin. The mention of some of those who (aside from the persons heretofore named in connection with this subject) were identified with the early history of the Territory before it merged into the sisterhood of States, and since that time, as well, will have a familiar sound to the readers of these pages. For instance:—

Aldrich, Louis

Allen, Richard N.       

Anderson, John

Anderson, M.D.

Anderson, R. M.

Anderson, William F.

Ashley, Delos R.

Aud, F. L.

Baily, D. E.

Baker, George W.

Baker, John T.

Baldwin, A. W.[1]

Beatty, H. O.

Beatty, R. M.

Beatty, William H.

Beebe, G. M.

Belknap, C. H.

Bell, F. W.

Berry, George W.

Bishop, W. W.

Bixler, David

Blair, A. W.

Blakely, G. W.

Boalt, John H.

Bonnan, John

Bonnifield, M. S.

Boring, W. M.

Botts, C. T.

Brackett, William

Bradford, A. C.

Brearley, E. C.

Brosnan, C. M.

Bryan, Charles H.

Bulkley, L. E.

Bullock, W.

Byrne, James H.

Cain, William

Campbell, Thomas

Campbell, Will           

Carmichael, J.

Cassett, H. B. 

Chipman, E. S.

Churchman, James    

Claggett, William H.

Clarke, R. M. 

Clayton, P. H.

Cole, Frederick W.     

Coles, J. L.

Cooper, David

Corsen, Dighton

Cox, Thomas  

Crittenden, A. P.

Crocker, A. W.           

Curler, Benjamin

338      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

Darrow, John O.

Davenport, W. H.

Davies, T. W. W.

De Long, Charles E.

Dibble, A. B.

Dickson, W. H.

Dorsey, J. W.

Douglass, George A.

Dow, J. C.

Doyle, H.

Edwards, T.D.

Edgerton, Henry

Elliott, A. B.

Ellis, A. C.

Ferguson, R. D.

Ferris, S. W.

Finn, J. F.

Fitzgerald, A. L.

Flack, J. H.

Foster, J. C.

Fuller, Mortimer

Fulton, A.

Fulton, S. D.

Garber, John

Gaston, Henry A.

Gates, William M.

Gedney, A. W.

Gilcrest, S. F.

Goldthwaite, Geo.

Graves, John W.

Gray, J. M.

Griffith, J. J.

Griffith, J. L.

Hall, C. P.

Hall, Gavin D.

Hall, J. P.

Harris, C. N.

Harris, J.H.

Harris, P. H.

Harding, G. P.

Hardy, James H.

Hardy, J. P.

Hardy, William J.

Harmon, F. H.

Harmon, J. B.

Haydon, Thomas E.

Hawley, Thomas P.

Hereford, B. N.

Hereford, Frank

Hetzel, Selden

Highton, Henry E.

Hill, C. Wilson

Hillhouse, A. M.

Hillyer, C. J.

Howard, C. G.

Hubbard, Charles G.

Huffaker, M. N.

Hundley, P. O.

Hunt, A. B.

Hupp, George S.

Hutton, J. F

Janin, Edward

Johnson, J. Neely

Johnson, Roger

Johnson, Wm. Neely

Jones, Horatio M.

Julien, T. V.

Kelly, John P.

Kennedy, Frank H.

Kennedy, James

Kennedy, James M.

Kendall, C. W.

Keyser, Phillip

King, Jr., S. D.

Kirkpatrick, M.

Kittrell, John R.

Knox, A. C.

Knox, W. L.

Labatt, Henry J.          

Lake, Delos

Lansing, C. J.

Larrowe, M. D.

Lewis, D. J.

Lewis, J. F.

Lindsay, R. H.

Lovejoy, J.K.

Lowery, R. E.

Mann, S. A.

Marshall, I.B.

Martin, Henry

Martin, Len.

Mayenbaum, Henry

McConnell, John R.

McCurdy, S. P.

McDonald, O. C.

McQuaid, J. A.

McRoe, P. A.

Meagher, J. D.

Meredith, Henry

Merrill, George W.

Mesick, Richard S.

Miller, Theo.

Mitchell, Henry K.

Moyes, R. B.

Murphy, John M.

Musser, John  

Newmark, M. J.

North, J.W.

Nourse, George A.

Nugent, John

O'Dougherty, A. B.

O'Dougherty, N. J.

Patchin, C. H.

Patterson, William

Percell, M. J.

Perley, D. W.

Pitzer, Jesse S.

Powell, Jr., John

Proctor, F. M.

Quint, Leander

Ralston, J.J.

Rand, J. H.

Rankin, B.P.

Read, J. H.

Reardon, J. McC.

Reardon, T. B.

Rising, Richard

Rives, Henry

Robinson, Fred.

Robinson, Todd

Sabin, George M.

Samson, William

Sankey, Samuel

Savage, J. A.

Sawyer, Fred. A.

Sawyer, G. S.

Sawyer, P. A.

Seawell, W. M.

Seely, J.

Shuck, Oscar T.

Slauson, J. S.  

Smith, Thomas H.

Southworth E. C.

Stafford, W. M.

Stephens, J. A.

Stewart, Francis

Stewart, Wm. M.

Storey, Thomas P.

Sunderland, Thomas

Sutherland, W. J.

Swift, J. F.

Taylor, E. W.

Taylor, R. H.

Tebbs,  Moses

Thatcher, A. M.

Thornton, Crittenden

Thornton, Harry I.

Thomas, Richard L.

Tilford, Frank

Waitz, Adolphus

Waldo, H. A.

Waldron, Daniel E.

Wallace, W. C.

Wandell, C. W.

Warwick, J. H.

Watson, J. H.

Webster, William

Wells, Thomas H.

Welty, D. W.

Whitcher, John N.

Whitman, B.C.

Williams, C. H. S.

Williams, George R.

Williams, Thomas H.

Wines, J. L.

Wren, Thomas

Wright, L. H.

Wood, W. S.

Woodburn, William

Zabriskie. E. B.

            And numerous others whose names are not to be found upon the official records. This is a long list for a population that has at no one time reached 65,000 in number.

            Among these are names that have become noteworthy in the history of Nevada, and in the councils of the nation. Many were, in their day, and others are now, men of extraordinary ability in their profession. Each locality in this State can find in this list names closely identified with history.

            There is no doubt that from 1861 up to, and inclusive of, 1864 the strongest members of the California Bar were either residents in Nevada, or were connected with important litigation in our courts, Comparatively few of the ripe lawyers of those days are now in practice in this State. Several are dead, others have retired from practice, and many of them have settled in California.

A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW.

            The very origin of the influx of people to the "Washoe" country was so anomalous, that each feature of its history is more or less similar in some respects. When the Comstock Lode was found to be a gigantic deposit of precious metal, it attracted at once some of the best as well as some of the worst types of civilization. As enormous wealth was under he surface of the rugged side of Mount Davidson, just

HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF NEVADA.      339

so there sprang suddenly into existence a full-fledged municipality with 20,000 inhabitants. The city had no antique beginnings ; it grew like a mushroom in a night. Its courts were thronged with a more numerous and abler Bar than at any time since Nevada became a State. The earlier history of jurisprudence of this State has less of that quaint species of anecdote than is found in States where the hardships of frontier life were for generations endured by Bench and Bar with the people whom they judicially governed. The former was the scene of earnest contention between legal giants, and case quickly succeeded case, with each, as a rule, a new force of legal counsel. The practice was well systematized from the very first, and business was crowded along. In no portion of the Territory was there much of what in the Eastern States would be considered rural Courts or practitioners. Every locality was either the scene of, or else closely connected with, some mining interest. There was little of agriculture, and character anecdotes were rare. An incident or two will, however, be given, as much for the reason that they are generally Nevadan, as for any extraordinary attraction discoverable in the incidents themselves

            The Ophir Silver Mining Company was among the first on the Comstock Lode to get into bonanza and become wealthy and aristocratic in tone. The company erected extensive reduction works in Washoe Valley, about thirteen miles distant, at the foot of the Sierra, and coveted a valuable piece of timber land on the mountain side near by, and began to trespass upon the "possessory title" of Negus & Stage, who were manufacturers of lumber and mining timbers. The result was a suit to restrain the trespass and to recover damages. The suit did not come up for trial in the Washoe District Court until 1865. Hon. C. C. Goodwin, now editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, was the Judge presiding. Mr. Tom. Cox, a "rough diamond" in a legal way, was employed to assist the plaintiff, and Hon. B. C. Whitman and the eloquent Tom. Fitch, whose oratory has a national reputation, appeared for the Ophir Company, which latter, by the way, was rather in its decadence through the working out of its rich pockets of ore. With such a team of legal luminaries to antagonize, Mr. Cox was somewhat driven to extremities in the closing speech for the plaintiff. It was necessary for him to offset the effect of the bewildering logic and charming eloquence with which the able "corporation lawyers" had presented an unjust cause to the hard-headed jury, and accordingly he made a highly personal attack, not merely upon the alleged shaky old company itself, but upon the brethren who represented the interests of that bloated artificial personage. Accordingly he spoke substantially as follows:

            Gentlemen of the jury, the Ophir Company was a couple of years ago mighty in influence and rich in treasure taken from the bowels of Mount Davidson. They built walls of masonry three feet thick in every direction down here on Ophir Creek, and spread shingles over them, and put in furnaces and machinery, and called it a mill. Then they built a mansion near by, and fitted it up with everything costly, and called it the Superintendent's residence; then they fenced in the whole premises with ten-foot pickets, and called it the Ophir grounds, where you and I, gentlemen of the jury, were forbidden to enter without the Superintendent's pass; then they had their wine suppers, and the golden champagne flowed delightfully, while fair women smiled, and bloated aristocrats gormandized. Their knives, and forks, and spoons, and plates were of silver, and their glass was of the Bohemian cut of the first sparkle and crystal. In those days they had distinguished lawyers like Bill Stewart, General Williams, and Dick Mesick to assist their overreaching propensities. Everything was lovely with the Ophir then, while the outside world looked on with helpless envy at their shoddy dignity and their swelled-up self-esteem. Now all is changed, gentlemen of the jury. Their fence has fallen down; they no longer give wine suppers; they have shipped away their silverware; the Superintendent is gone; the mill shut down, and their old mine a "wild cat;" their aristocracy is seedy; and for lawyers they have been obliged to content themselves with such men as Whitman and Fitch.

            The bluff; contemptuous, and studiedly intrepid manner in which Mr. Cox had delivered these remarks were a source of great amusement to the Court and jury, and not without some slight effect upon the usually placid countenance of the Ophir's attorneys; but the jury were unable to discover the relevancy of this tirade to the case in hand, and promptly rendered a verdict in favor of "the Ophir."

            In that same locality was a Justice of the Peace. He was of diminutive stature, solemn of countenance, incapable of being penetrated by a joke, peddled milk morning and evening, preached on Sunday, was mighty in the Scriptures, and hated the Church of England with a consistency that was indicative of no compromise from his Methodist stand-point. He was never seen to smile, and was a terror to evil-doers. This sad-eyed embodiment of the rigors of the law was called upon by the enraged populace to administer a series of affidavits on Sunday morning, April 16, 1865, to persons desiring to complain to the Provost Marshal, General Van Bokkelen, at Virginia, concerning unpatriotic words and behavior by one Jim Pierson concerning Abraham Lincoln, then recently assassinated. The day in common estimation was non-judicial, and the friends of the offending Pierson employed a well-known lawyer, now one of our District Judges, to argue the matter to the old gentleman, and induce him not to proceed with the taking of the affidavits. The Justice, however, was greatly impressed with the gravity of the occasion, and desired to do what he could to rid the community of the obnoxious presence of such a "wicked man." Little did he regard the waiting of the congregation for his ministrations at the church, nor yet was he disposed to let his freely-confessed convictions that the day was non-judicial, interfere with the making

340      HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEVADA.

of his office equal to a great national emergency. When the lawyer had ceased, he rested his face upon his hands and his elbows on his knees, and without a particle of expression in his eyes, or emotion in his voice or manner, thought the matter over a few minutes. He then slowly raised his head and looked sadly at the lawyer as he pronounced the "opinion" of the Court; "This Court is of the opinion that this is a case of great military necessity. This Court will go on with the affidavits." And so he did. The result was that on the following morning a squad of cavalry appeared, and "Jim" rode away with them toward Fort Churchill in a highly "non-judicial" manner.

POND VS. REAL DEL MONTE.

            Among les causes célébres of Nevada, that of the great mining suit of Pond vs. Real Del Monte, is one of the most prominent. The following report of the trial is from the Carson Daily Independent. The shares in these mines once sold for near $400 per foot, and after more than $1,000,000 expenditure in development, mills and litigation, were abandoned:

            November 26, 1863. Pond vs. Real Del Monte. This case got fairly under way yesterday, and the probability is that it will continue some eight or ten days. The ground in dispute is very valuable.

            The counsel in the case is as follows: For plaintiffs, Messrs. Quint, Hillyer, Gough, and Clayton. For defendants, Messrs. Crittenden, Mesick, Stewart, and Hardy. A pretty strong team on both sides.

            December 1, 1863. The Real Del Monte and Pond ease is dragging its slow length along in our District Court. It has already occupied the attention of the court about two weeks, and promises to last some time to come. And yet you mustn't tax these mining institutions—oh, no ! —there's no property in 'em !

            December 9, 1863. Pond vs. Del Monte.—This suit is still progressing in our District Court, and, being a very important case, it is but just that so full an investigation of the facts be had. The District Court at Aurora was compelled to adjourn at the end of a two weeks' session on account of a provision of the statutes, that a term of court in one county must end before the time fixed by law for the commencement of a term in another county in the same district; so it was impossible to try this case there within the two weeks of their court, and the court had to adjourn. By agreement of both parties it was moved here, and, we are pleased to say, one of the best juries ever impaneled in this county is giving a fair and impartial hearing to this case.

            December 16, 1863. Pond and Del Monte case. The evidence in this case has been submitted, and the arguments of counsel are now being heard. We were in court a few minutes yesterday, and tried to become interested in "shafts," "tunnels," "bed-rock," "drifts," and the numerous other mining terms, but it so confused us that we did not know whether we were in a tunnel, or under the bed-rock. The suit is an important one—involving property (if we dare call mines property) to the value, it is computed, of upwards of $1,000,000, and as much more as you may please to call it. We have heard it reported about the streets that there is danger of a collision between the parties, no matter which way the suit is decided. The officers of the law will, we hope, look to it that no such affair takes place.

            December 17, 1863. Yesterday afternoon, the counsel in the Del Monte and Pond case got through with their everlasting jargon, and submitted the croppings, bedrock and all that sort of thing, to the jury. These wise men of "Washoe" were still at work upon the mines at the last accounts received. It is probable that they will agree, or agree to disagree, sometime to-day.

            December 18, 1863. Pond and Del Monte. The jury in this case are still sleeping on soft boards, and eating rough meals. They have been out some twenty-six or forty hours, and it is the general supposition that they haven't come to any agreement as yet. We don't think they will unless (a wise dispensation of law !) they are starved into a verdict. Why should men be kept imprisoned from day to day, and from night to night, when they can't agree? If an honest man entertains an honest opinion, what it was first it will be last, no matter how much you punish him, or how long you keep him. That's our theory.

            December nineteenth, 1863. The jury in the case of the Pond and Del Monte, finally, after two days session, came to the conclusion to "agree to disagree." They came into court and so reported, and were discharged. So the whole trial must be repeated again, unless the parties come to some understanding, and make a compromise. It is said that this suit has cost the litigants upwards of $200,000. We should not be at all surprised to see both mines fall into the hands of the lawyers in the long run, if the contest is continued.

            January 10, 1864. The Real Del Monte and Pond case settled. The telegraph brings us the pleasing intelligence that this case has been satisfactorily settled between the parties litigant. Why didn't they do this before spending thousands of dollars for lawyers and witness' fees ?