April 16, 2006

Nevada's Online State News Journal     

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Nevada History:

Rival Governments

            The hanging of "Lucky Bill" Thorington and William Edwards, and the events which followed, sharply divided the population on the issue of local government.  At first, the two principal factions were termed "Vigilantes" (or "Anti-Mormon"), and "Anti-Vigilantes" (or "Mormon"), the first group supporting the people's court and the executive committee selected by the convention of citizens at the time of "Lucky Bill"'s trial, and the second group opposing them. During the difficulties over the payment of Olds' fine, when armed conflict seemed imminent, a number of "Anti-Vigilantes" petitioned Governor Alfred Cumming of Utah asking that Carson County be re-organized.[1] "Carson," the Carson Valley correspondent of the Sacramento Union, remarked in a letter that the petitioners, numbering fifteen or twenty persons, met at the store of John S. Child in a secret session to prepare the document.[2]

            Previous to Governor Cumming's administration, the probate judges of Utah Territory were nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Territorial Legislature.[3] The Legislature was not in session when Governor Cumming received the petition, but deeming it an urgent matter, the Governor appointed John S. Child the probate judge of Carson County and gave him instructions to hold an election for county officers as soon as practicable.[4] News of the appointment reached Genoa in early September.[5] Judge Child, a resident of Carson Valley, then set the date for the elections on the thirtieth of October, 1858.[6]

            On the evening of September 3d, we received the welcome news of the appointment of John S. Child, Esq., Probate Judge for Carson Valley, with authority to organize this portion of Utah Territory into a county, divide into precincts, and cause elections to be held to fill the various county and township officers [sic], and also locate the county seat. Governor Cumming could not, I think, have made a better selection than Mr. Child, or one that would have given more general satisfaction to the people of this Valley. As an evidence that we were not altogether out of the United States, it was resolved by the citizens to hoist the American standard to commemorate the event. Material was soon procured, a painter employed, and with the aid of fair hands, volunteered for the occasion the "stars and stripes" soon floated from a tall pole in front of Mr. Child's store.[7]

            The Governor of Utah appointed, some time ago, one John Child as Probate Judge, with instructions to organize a county here, order an election for other officers, etc., as laid down in the Mormon statutes From some cause or other, this man has, as yet, done nothing towards performing his duties. Whether it is from his notorious ignorance or a fear of offending some by attempting an organization as a part of Utah, I know not. It is a well settled fact, however, that the people generally will pay no more respect to this new Judge than they have been accustomed to show the man, and that is very little.[8]

            Each of the two factions put forward a slate of candidates for the October Carson County elections. The "Vigilante" or "Anti-Mormon" candidates had been instructed beforehand not to qualify for office, as "Tennessee" explained to the readers of the San Francisco Herald, "it being the wish of a large majority of the people that we get along without government until the organization of the Territory of Nevada, rather than submit to be ruled by a band of foreign outlaws, and taxed for the support of Brigham Young's seraglio."[9]

            Before the official results were announced, Maj. William M. Ormsby visited the offices of the editors of the Sacramento Union with the news that the "People's Party" ("Vigilante") had been successful in electing their nominees for Carson County.[10]  The vote was rather small.[11] The new Clerk of Carson County's Probate Court, Stephen A. Kinsey, later delivered the official returns of the election, showing a result different from that claimed by Maj. Ormsby.[12] The editors of the Placerville Mountain Democrat published this characterization of the election:

            The returns of five precincts were thrown out, which caused considerable feeling at the time, and reflected somewhat on the integrity of the officers. If the election had been properly conducted, and all the votes in the different precincts counted, as the opponents of what was called "the Mormon ticket" contend they should have been, not a candidate on the "Mormon ticket" would have been elected. It is stated, too, on reliable authority, that but little interest was manifested in the election, a large majority of the citizens of the Valleys being opposed, even remotely, to acknowledging the jurisdiction of Utah, or having any connection with the Mormon people. This may account for the smallness of the vote. They have petitioned Congress for a new Territory, and they have a strong probability of succeeding.[13]

            H.B. Clemons ("Law and Order", or "Anti-Vigilante" or "Mormon" ticket) was declared the newly elected Representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature; L.B. Abernathy ("People's Party", or "Vigilante" or "Anti-Mormon" ticket) was voted in as Carson County Sheriff; Chauncey N. Noteware ("Law and Order" ticket) was elected Surveyor; Stephen A. Kinsey ("Law and Order" ticket) became the County Recorder; M.M. Gaige ("Law and Order" ticket) took over the office of Treasurer; and the three County Selectmen were W.G. Wyatt ("Law and Order" ticket), James McMarlin ("Law and Order" ticket) and Richard D. Sides ("People's Party").[14]

            When the votes came to be canvassed it was found that a large majority had been cast against the Mormon interest, and in order to get rid of this difficulty all the precincts giving majorities to the Gentiles were excluded or "thrown overboard," save and excepting the first and second. By these means men who had received but about fifty five or sixty votes out of some two hundred cast were declared to be duly elected, because they belonged to or sympathized with the Mormons. In the First and Second Districts, Clements [sic] was the candidate on the Mormon ticket, and Mark Stebbins, on the anti-Mormon ticket, for Assemblyman in the Utah Territorial Legislature. When the votes came to be counted, John S. Childs declared and announced that there was a tie, and assumed the grave responsibility of deciding between the two candidates by the drawing of lots. In this manner Clements was chosen Representative, and he left here some four or five weeks ago for the seat of Government. Now I ask you, in all seriousness, do I tax your credulity too far in asking you to give credit and publicity to this extraordinary statement of facts? When such things obtain is it not time for the good respectable and honest men of a community to move earnestly to their alteration?[15]

            In the midst of this controversy came word that a murder had been committed at the overland mail station near the Sink of the Humboldt. The murder was bad enough, but the proceedings against the accused killer were also unsatisfactory, raising some excitement in Carson Valley. Alexander Chauvin and Fred Dixon, both employed by the Overland Mail Company, were playing cards at Tyler & Summerfield's Station on the tenth of November, 1858.[16] Dixon, a young man, put up five dollars to "call" Chauvin's hand. As Chauvin was in the act of displaying his cards, Dixon grabbed his "ante" back from the table, and made a joking remark. Chauvin, who had been drinking, said that he would not allow a man to play that on him. The two exchanged words, which bystanders did not think would lead to anything serious. The two rose from the table, and Dixon went outside the Station, standing with his back to the door. Chauvin, standing just inside the door, drew a Navy Model revolver and took deliberate aim. He fired directly at Dixon but missed, the bullet grazing Dixon's neck. When Dixon saw what was happening, he started to run; at the same time pleading with Chauvin not to shoot. Chauvin stepped to the doorway, braced himself against the frame, and shot Dixon through the back. The young man died twelve hours later.[17] According to a friend of the editors of the Placerville Mountain Democrat:

            Chauvan (sic) was arrested, taken to Genoa and allowed to go at large, and it is said passed through this city on Wednesday, en route probably for the States. At the time of the murder he had been drinking. He was an active member of the Vigilance Committee of Carson Valley, which may account for his release. A foul murder has been committed, and the murderer has been allowed to go free, through the partiality or the carelessness of the officers having him in charge.[18]

            James Sturtevant, Samuel Swager and George Hepperley, Washoe Valley members of the Vigilance Committee, took care to correct these allegations by informing the editors of the Mountain Democrat that Chauvin was not in fact a member of the Vigilance Committee and that the killer had escaped from the custody of the "Law and Order" faction.[19]

            Heartened and encouraged, perhaps, by Governor Cumming's acts to re-organize Carson County under the laws of Utah, Luther "Lute" Olds returned to Carson Valley about the first of November, 1858. "Lute" was closely watched, and told to leave the area within a specified period of time. He did not leave, and the Executive Committee of the Vigilantes seems to have instructed "the Sheriff" to arrest Olds and hold him for a citizens' meeting to discuss his case and other important matters, including the attempt by Utah authorities to re-assert control over Carson County, and the irregularities of the late election.[20]

            A majority of the meeting then signed a pledge to sustain the action of the meeting.[21]

            The supporters of the Carson County re-organization then gave notice that they intended to hold a counter-meeting at Old Mormon Station on the twenty-third of December, 1858.[22] The Territorial Enterprise published the proceedings of this convention, along with the minutes of the Vigilance Committee's meeting of December eleventh.[23] There is nothing which has appeared to indicate the number of people at this meeting, nor do contemporary accounts give the names of the men who subscribed to the resolutions. "Carson", a correspondent of the Sacramento Union, derided the gathering as "a perfect farce", and stated "I do not believe that three persons attended it."[24] According to the account published in the Territorial  Enterprise, the following resolutions were adopted at the meeting of "law and order" enthusiasts:

            Resolved, That we feel a deep sense of gratitude to his Excellency for his endeavors to extend to us the protecting arm of the law.[25]

            Of those elected to office in October, 1858, only Stephen A. Kinsey appears to have posted a performance bond and taken the oath for the position.[26] This first effort to re-organize Carson County and fill its administrative positions was set back by Utah Territory's Secretary of State, John Hartnett, on the thirtieth of December. Hartnett refused to issue a certificate of election for the Carson County Representative, H.B. Clemons, on the grounds that the election called by Judge Child was informal.[27] Secretary Hartnett's action made official recognition of the election results rather unlikely; and this reading of the facts received further support when a special committee of the Utah Territorial Legislature declined to allow Clemons a seat in the House of Representatives.[28] From the actions of the Legislature, it is clear that they did not recognize Governor Cumming's appointment of Judge Child, and treated the action of the Governor as a nomination only, until a Joint Session of the Legislature elected Child as Carson County Probate Judge on January thirteenth, 1859.[29]

            Without knowledge of these proceedings, Judge Child asked the editors of the Territorial Enterprise to publish a card to the public.[30] Child used the opportunity to defend himself against the charges of the "Vigilante" faction, and expressly addressed the memorial approved by the mass meeting at Clear Creek Ranch on December eleventh, 1858:

            Having given both and taken the oath of office, as stated above, I shall at all hazards discharge the duties of my office to the best of my ability, governed along by the Statutes of Utah, and without the fear or favor of any man.[31]

However, Carson County Recorder Stephen A. Kinsey, alarmed by the resolution of the "Vigilante" faction to possess themselves of the County records, had all the documents in his possession sent to Governor Cunning at Salt Lake City.[32]

            In the meantime, the Utah Territorial Legislature moved deliberately and according to its own notions to re-organize Carson County. The enabling legislation passed both the Council and the House of Representatives on January thirteenth, 1859, and was approved by Governor Cumming four days later.[33] On January twenty-first the Legislature placed Carson County within the Second Judicial District of Utah Territory, and assigned the jurisdiction to Judge John Cradlebaugh, Associate Justice on the Territorial Supreme Court.[34] That same day the Legislature restored Carson County's representation in the Territorial Assembly.[35]

            Notwithstanding the resolutions of the Mormon clique, the Probate Judge has deemed it prudent to regard the suggestions or threats of the opposite party; therefore no organization of the county government, as intended by Gov. Cumming, has taken place, and we are left every one to take care of his own scalp, which perhaps is just as well as if we had a parcel of Mormons, or Mormon apostates, to take care of them for us.[36]

            Not long after this, there was another murder in Carson Valley. John Hern and Elzy H. Knott had a disagreement over the ownership of a bridle, which originated in a card game at Judge Child's store.[37] The two had been playing a few hands, and Knott took the bridle as payment for a disputed debt.[38] Knott placed the bridle upon a horse ridden by nine-year old Oliver Yancy, and when Yancy was out riding in the fields, John Hern walked up to the boy and demanded it.[39] Hern, who was wearing a pistol and knife, forcibly took the bridle, threatening to shoot Yancy or anyone else who tried to take the bridle back.[40] The little boy rode home and told his father and Elzy Knott, who became furious and stated that he would have the bridle back or whip the whole Hern family.[41] Elzy's wife tried to calm her husband, but in his rage he got up and immediately headed for the Hern house.[42] Thomas Yancy and Thomas Knott, Elzy's father, followed him closely, hoping to avoid a serious fuss.[43]  When the three men arrived John Horn was in the back room of the Hern house, armed with a double barrelled shotgun.[44]  Hern's mother and two children were also present when Knott stepped through the open door of the house and demanded the bridle.[45] Hern then fired the shotgun directly into Elzy Knott's face, killing him almost instantly, March eighth, 1859.[46]

            On Tuesday morning last our little community were thrown into the utmost consternation by the intelligence that a murder had been committed upon the body of Elzy H. Knott, the son of T. Knott, the worthy proprietor of the saw and grist mill in this place, by a young man named John Hern. Rushing to the scene of the sad disaster, we beheld an awful and shocking sight. The mutilated body of the unfortunate victim lay in one corner of the room in the house occupied by Mrs. Hern, the mother of the perpetrator of the terrible homicide, surrounded by the shrieking inmates and the distracted wife and father of the deceased. The wound was a terrible one -- made by a shot gun at a very short distance -- having struck the jaw bone on the right side, and the whole charge coming out upwards through the brain, a little above the left ear. Mr. Knott lived but a few minutes after receiving the wound. Hern fled after firing the shot and was immediately pursued by the citizens, one of whom had to fire twice before he surrendered. We have no comments to make upon the occasion of this sad calamity except to deplore the evils of carrying and using weapons upon the occurrence of every trifling dispute where, if men, living in a community like ours, would only exercise the same forbearance they were taught in the land of their birth, no such horrible affairs would ever be chronicled -- no necessity would arise for them to be loaded down like Italian brigands or Mexican bravos with weapons for the destruction of their fellow men, for a single unkind remark. Young as we are in the editorial career, never having soon aught but the amenities of life, our feelings upon this occasion have been harrowed to such an extent, that we trust that we may never have to record or look upon its like again. By this event a wife has lost the friend of her bosom, her solace in affliction and adversity -- one on whom she had learnt to rely upon during life's weary pilgrimage, as father, husband, friend -- not by the slow and insidious disease incident to human life -- but cut off in the prime of manhood, on the high road to a justly earned competency, that would have been won had he lived his allotted time. And the father -- who had watched with that tender solicitude that none but a father could the growth of his son from infancy to manhood; arriving after a weary pilgrimage, from Iowa but a short time ago, intending to send for his family and make Carson Valley his permanent home; contented to see in his old age those he held most dear enjoy a happy future -- at one fell blow saw all his pleasing anticipations vanish, and himself plunged into irretrievable woe. Tis a sad disaster, and sincerely do we condole with the bereaved relatives.[47]

            Hern was arrested that morning, and held for trial.[48] The residents of Genoa held a mass meeting at J.J. Holmes' saloon the next day, to discuss what would be done with the killer.[49] A.S. Dorsey presided over the assembly as chairman, while W.W. Smith acted as secretary.[50] The proceedings were extraordinary. Judge Child addressed the gathering:

            FELLOW-CITIZENS:-- In August, 1858, I received the appointment of Probate Judge of Carson county from His Excellency, Governor Cumming, of the Territory of Utah, but owing to there not being properly qualified officers to act with me in the case now under consideration, I respectfully refer this matter to the citizens of the Valley for their action through a People's Jury. Not having yet received my commission as Judge under the reorganization of the County, I will do as much as any man to see justice done by the people of this Valley, and maintain our character as a law-abiding people.[51]

            William Cary moved that a panel of three judges be appointed to try the case, and Maj. Ormsby proposed a committee of five should do the appointing.[52] The committee, appointed by the chairman of the meeting, consisted of Judge Child, Maj. Ormsby, William Cary, R.D. Sides and John K. Trumbo.[53] The meeting confirmed the committee appointments and then the group retired to select the officials of the People's Court.[54] When they returned, they had selected John S. Child as Chief Judge, Hiram Mott Sr. and F.M. Proctor, Associate Judges, and L.B. Abernathy as Sheriff.[55]  The meeting approved these appointments, and the People's Court opened up for business.[56]

            The trial began on March tenth, 1859.[57] The Court, though held in Utah Territory, "agreed to adopt the Statutes of California on points of law and definition of crime."[58] Hern was represented as attorney by John J. Musser,[59] while Chauncey Noteware and William M. Cary represented the people of Carson Valley as prosecutors.[60] The three Judges swore in W.W. Smith as Clerk, to make a transcript of the People's Court proceedings for later publication.[61] Hern stepped to the bar, and heard Smith read the indictment:

            John Hern, you are hereby accused by the People of Carson Valley, U.T., of the crime of Murder, committed as follows, to-wit:-- That on Tuesday, the eighth day of March, 1859, at Genoa, in the County and Territory aforesaid -- you did wilfully, maliciously, and with malice aforethought, kill one Elzy H. Knott, at the house of one Clayton Hern, in said town of Genoa, County and Territory aforesaid by shooting him, the said Knott, with a gun known as a double barrelled shot gun -- and against the peace and dignity of the People of Carson Valley.[62]

            Hern then pled "Not Guilty", and jury selection began. According to the transcript as published by the Territorial Enterprise, "a large number of jurors were summoned. Some were excused by the Court, or preemptorily challenged by counsel for prosecution or defense, when the following persons were chosen: R. Adams, A.L. Dorsey, P. Vansickle, I. Farwell, M. Wheeler, J. Winters, A. Benway, Jas. McMarlin, W.H. Carey, J.A. Colburn, A.G. Hammack, and L. Miles."[63]

            The People's Jury heard a day's worth of testimony from a number of witnesses, but only after one of the jurors, A.G. Hammack, was excused and replaced by David Cosser.[64] The next day was spent in final arguments before the jury, reported for the readers of the Territorial Enterprise this way:

            The speech for the prosecution was opened by C.N. Noteware, who defined to the jury the different degrees of murder, homicide, &c., and in a brief and lucid manner dissected the evidence adduced before the jury, and was followed by John J. Mercer [sic] on the part of the defense in the most admirable manner, following every portion of the evidence link by link, placed it before the jury in a manner so masterly as is seldom witnessed in a court of justice. He alluded to the distance we were from all legal redress -- surrounded by mountains almost inaccessible -divided by a distance of nearly 800 miles, which would have to be traversed over almost impassable deserts, before we can obtain a hearing through the judicial tribunals of the country -- and as a consequence there was none other but that of the people to try the case. He closed his speech with an eloquence that elicited the sympathies of all persons present.[65]

            Musser based his case upon a defense of justifiable homicide in Knott's death.[66] The three judges gave the following instructions to the jury, after which the Court adjourned to give them time for deliberation:

            If in your deliberations you should find that the deceased entered the house of Mr. Horn for the purpose of regaining property which rightfully belonged to the deceased, and which he had good reason to believe was secreted therein; that in the absence of law he had a right so to do, and that the act of entering the house under such circumstances cannot be construed into an assault upon the habitation or its inmates, provided the entrance was effected unaccompanied by threats or demonstrations of violence upon the inmates; or having demanded the property of those having it in possession, you should find a verdict of guilty.[67]

            The jury was out deliberating all that day, but when the Court met on Sunday, March fourteenth, the jury was decided.[68] W.W. Smith polled the individual jurors and then opened the sealed verdict which was "Not Guilty."[69]

            There was some dissatisfaction at this result, and a citizens' meeting was called immediately after the Court adjourned.[70] Thomas Knott, the father of the victim, as for a vote to ratify a resolution "that the people shall keep in custody the body of John Hern until the next term of the district Court."[71] The resolution failed by a vote of fifteen for and seventeen against.[72] The meeting broke up and John Horn left town right afterwards.[73]

            It is a beautiful peculiarity of the institution known as the Vigilance Committee that the members thereof and their friends are incapable of crime -- that all who oppose them are monsters of iniquity. This is not so pretty; but I will prove both to be true. Last summer, a man was executed in this Valley, without any evidence of his guilt being discovered until he was in his grave. Others were found guilty of various charges, without any evidence of their guilt; but they were all opposed to the Vigilance Committee. In the fall a warm friend of the Committee, a man who told me himself that he took an active part in the above proceedings, deliberately shot a man dead in cold blood. He was brought to this place and kept in confinement one whole night, but the second night he was suffered to depart, and I have not heard of him since. Mr. E.H. Knott was an enemy of the Vigilance Committee, while Herring was connected with it indirectly; it is therefore no crime in Herring to kill Mr. Knott.[74]

            The aggrieved father, Thomas Knott, held a similar opinion of the Vigilance Committee's dedication to justice. In a lengthy letter written to the editors of the Sacramento Union, Knott stated that he was offering a five hundred dollar reward to anyone who would apprehend John Hern and keep him in custody until the Governor of Utah Territory could order a regular trial.[75] Among others reasons, Knott wrote that he wanted the case retried because:

            "I had just reason to believe that the Vigilance party had exercised their influence in this case; because my son, Elzy, was strongly opposed to them; because some of their most influential men had expressed themselves in strong terms against him; because the criminal had asked to be tried by the Vigilance Committee, and the Court was composed principally of them; lastly, because, before the reading of the verdict in Court, some of the officers informed Hern's family that they would escort the boy to Eagle Valley for his safety.[76]

            Thomas Knott had constructed a sawmill and grist mill for Reese & Co., located at Mormon Station, in the early months of 1854.[77] Reese & Co.'s proprietors were unable to pay Knott for his work, because one of the Company's partners, Judge E. L. Barnard, absconded with most of Reese & Co.'s assets that year.[78] At the beginning of 1855 Reese & Co. acknowledged Knott's lien on the property and released all claim to the mills until such time as the debt was paid in full.[79]  Unfortunately this did not end the matter. Representatives of Reese & Co. seem to have attempted to regain the mills, and in the summer of 1856 Judge W.W. Drummond of the U.S. District Court for Western Utah granted Knott an injunction against Reese & Co., enjoining them from meddling with or using the property.[80] About the middle of May, 1859, two months after the murder of Knott's son, John K. Trumbo (John Reese's son-in-law) and five other men broke through a window of the grist mill and took possession of the building and grounds.[81]

            Knott proposed that the matter be settled by a popular commission of local citizens, who would hear the arguments for the two sides in the dispute and render a verdict.[82] Until this could be done, the mills were to be turned over to a disinterested person who would take charge of the property and administer it rendering full accounts to the popular commission.[83] Knott suggested that a Judge or Sheriff select fifty-four bona fide settlers, and that he and Trumbo be allowed to each object to eighteen of the men.[84] The remaining eighteen settlers would comprise the popular commission, and a majority verdict in the case would be final.[85]  John K. Trumbo, however, would not agree to this form of settlement.[86]

            Notwithstanding Trumbo's objections, a citizen's meeting convened pursuant to notice at Singleton's Hall in Genoa, in the latter days of May, 1859, to discuss the problem.[87] R. D. Sides was chairman of the proceedings, while W.L. Jernegan acted as Secretary.[88] Neither Trumbo nor any other representative of Reese & Co. appears to have been present.[89] A ballot vote, taken after Thomas Knott had presented his evidence, resulted in a unanimous verdict in his favor.[90] The meeting elected a committee, consisting of Hiram Mott, John S. Child and L.B. Abernathy to pay a visit to Trumbo and request him to give up possession of the mills.[91] The meeting seems to have inspired the editors of the Territorial Enterprise to write an essay, published May twenty-eighth, 1859, entitled "Law Necessary":

            We all feel the necessity of, and should without delay unite our efforts in adopting some law for our mutual protection, and creating an authority by which we are willing to be governed. Judge Child has with some propriety deferred the formation of his court, from time to time, in the hope that Judge Cradlebaugh would convene a term of the United States District Court in this county, whose presence might aid him in the legal and peaceable organization of his court. We have no suggestions to offer to his honor, Judge Child, concerning the convening of his court, but since the arrival of Judge Cradlebaugh and the speedy organization of the District Court is a matter of doubt, we would suggest to the people of Carson County the propriety of adopting some measures by which the perplexing questions which are almost every day arising to the continual annoyance of the public, may be properly and satisfactorily adjusted. The miners on Walker's River have adopted a code of laws for their guidance, which were published in our last week's issue, they are concise and equitable, and if we are to be deprived of any judicial organization under the Territorial laws, we would suggest a similar movement on the part of the citizens of this county.[92]

            On the same day this editorial was published, William Sides killed John "Pike" Jessup at the New Diggings in Gold Canyon.[93] The two men were playing cards and drinking that evening, and had a disagreement.[94] They exchanged hard words, and Sides pulled out a dirk and stabbed the twenty-year old Jessup two or three times.[95]  He died within a few minutes.[96]

            The miners at the diggings arrested Sides and took him to Carson City, where a mass meeting of citizens convened on May thirtieth, 1859, to discuss the case.[97] Abraham Yount was chosen chairman of the meeting, which voted to hold William Sides until a People's Court could be organized.[98] The next morning the citizens assembled and chose Chauncey Noteware as Presiding Judge, J.A. Osborn and A.G. Hammack as Associate Judges, and John K. Trumbo as Clerk.[99] The Court appointed Samuel Tyler to prosecute the case and John J. Musser was selected to defend Sides, while Abraham Curry served the Court as Sheriff.[100]

            Israel Mott, George Hill, Thomas Boyd, John Adams, Peleg Brown, Thomas Yancey, James Gatewood, William Sturtevant, W.H. Boyd, Hiram Mott, Jacob Rose and John Cosser were chosen to be the jurors in the case, out of a total of forty-eight summoned.[101]

            The Court heard witnesses and reviewed evidence starting on the first of June, and the question was said to be ably and eloquently argued by both attorneys.[102] The Jury retired to consider its verdict; and after three hours they reported back that they were deadlocked -- eight for conviction and four for acquittal.[103] Sides was released on bail, until September first, when there was apparently to be a new trial.[104]                      

            The Court met again on June seventh, 1859 with a different set of Judges:  H.F. Pierce and George W. Hepperley as Associate Judges assisting Chief Judge J.A. Osborn, and the People's Court adopted a number of resolutions pertinent to the case.[105] Sides' earlier bail was cancelled, and his bailsmen were required to deposit an additional thousand dollars -- $2,500 in all -- to secure his liberty.[106]

            That a publication of the evidence already elicited in the trial would be prejudicial to the ends of Justice in a future examination of the case, and that, therefore, the Territorial Enterprise is requested not to publish said evidence.[107]

During this meeting, Sides' backers came up with the additional thousand dollars and turned it over to Judge Osborn, who ordered Sides freed.[108] The accused murderer left Carson County before he could he retried.[109]

            At about the same time Sides was bound over for re-trial, there was a call for a mass meeting of citizens to consider creating a territorial government separate from that which met at Salt Lake City.[110] The operations of the Vigilance Committee ceased with the formation of that Territorial Government; many former Vigilantes participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1859 or were distracted by the opportunities which followed the discovery of the Comstock Lode earlier that year.[111] The last recorded activity of the Vigilance Committee took place in early August, 1859, and was described by Dan DeQuille [William Wright]:

            This little ceremony over, the pair of thieves were directed to take the road leading over the Sierras to the beautiful "golden state." They went, not as Adam and Eve left paradise, "dropping some natural tears," but as a pair of twin lambs are seen to depart when in the springtime the farmer has whacked off their too luxuriant tails -- went dropping blood.[112]

            More than a year after receiving his appointment from Governor Cumming, Judge John S. Child finally convened a session of the Carson County Probate Court on the twelfth of September, 1859.[113] P. H Lovell served as Court Clerk during this term.[114] This was the first official tribunal held in Carson County since April, 1857.[115]

            Notwithstanding the fact that the residents of the valleys along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada had accumulated over two years worth of legal troubles, Judge Child found little business to transact.[116] Almost no one brought their problems to the bench. After three days in session without a single case, Judge Child appointed W.P. Morrison as County Coroner.[117] Days and days went by without the Court having any controversies to settle, until at last Rebecca Bristol brought suit against her husband for divorce, in October, 1859.[118] She was successful, and it has been said that this was the only case tried that year.[119]

            While the Probate Court was in session, Judge Child divided Carson County into ten precincts and called for a special election to be held on October eighth, 1859.[120] There does not appear to have been much interest in this election, and voting was light.[121]  Only three precincts opened polls on the appointed day,[122] and the returns show every indication of "ticket voting".[123] By the unanimous vote of Gold Hill precinct, C.H. Fountain was elected Carson County's Representative to the Utah Territorial Legislature.[124] The unanimous vote of Gold Hill precinct also elected E.C. Morse as Sheriff, Henry Van Sickle as Treasurer and J.F. Long as Surveyor.[125]  W.C. Armstrong and L. Drixley[126] were chosen by the voters of Carson County for their Selectmen.[127]         The appropriately named William Justice was the choice of Gold Hill for Justice of the Peace there, and they also chose Alexander White to serve as their Constable.[128]  Genoa and Carson City precinct voters[129] made Thomas Knott their Justice of the Peace and George Wilder the new Constable.[130] When Governor Cumming forwarded commissions of office to the successful candidates, he said that while he believed that Judge Child had no authority to call or hold any election, the Governor was anxious to help organize Carson County and consequently was sending on the certificates.[131] Of all those elected, only Thomas Knott filed a bond and took the oath of office.[132]

            In February, 1860 Judge Child appointed two men as road commissioners -- D.G. Gloyd and A. Kinne -- and in March the Carson County Probate Judge appointed Porter C. Rector as Surveyor.[133]  Judge Child replaced P.H. Lovell as his Clerk with George McNeir that same month, but within a few weeks again changed Clerks, replacing McNeir with W.H. Pettit.[134]

            Want of space compels us to defer further comment, but we hope that before people render blind obedience to the behests of Probate Courts, they will rigidly investigate how far their authority extends.[135]