[From Chapter XXXII of H.H. Bancroft and Frances Fuller Victor, Popular Tribunals vol. I, The History Company, San Francisco: 1887, pp. 593-621.]

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

Mark what unvaried laws preserve each state,

Laws wise as nature, and as fix'd as fate.

In vain thy reason finer webs shall draw,

Entangle justice in her net of law,

And right, too rigid, harden into wrong,

Still for the strong too weak, the weak too strong.

                                                                               Pope.

            WERE any ever disposed to praise the Mormons, or in any wise to do them justice, then might the lovers of law and order, the opposers of the vigilance principle, give them credit for living without mobs, without any popular, or legal, or other tribunal save those simple forms which load with the least possible time and cost to justice. Did the advocate of vigilance reform desire to praise them, he might point to the fact that here existed a society in which the regretted necessity was wanting. How they dealt with their enemies, the enemies of their religion, is another matter. We do ours all the injury we can, and that while the false prayer is on our lips that God will bless them.

            In Carson Valley, near the Carson River, on the Deseret road, the bodies of six persons, supposed to have been murdered by banditti, were exhumed in the autumn of 1851; concerning which Mr James F. Tyffe thus writes to the Sacramento Times and Transcript:

            "My own observations, while over in the valley with the mounted men in July and August, with the information obtained from the settlers, led me to coincide with the opinion expressed by the emigrants, viz.: that there is a band of lawless and desperate men in Carson Valley, and the citizens, in petitioning the governor for a small mounted force for protection, had an eye to these gentry, although nothing at that time could be proved of sufficient importance to warrant their arrest "

(593)

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            Lucky Bill was a good fellow if he was a villain, and everybody liked him. He owned in 1855 one of the best farms in Carson Valley. Other fine tracts of land he owned elsewhere, besides great herds of cattle; indeed Lucky Bill for the time and place was rich. But like many another to whom wealth has brought from friends and neighbors no additional respect, as Lucky Bill's riches increased, his reputation for honesty and integrity diminished. Like many another who having achieved a reputation for superior ability or skill spoils it all by some act of insensate folly, so Lucky Bill after enjoying a long career of the most fortunate good fortune, which secured him home, family, friends, and every comfort, dissipated all by one, to him, most unlucky deed. Many of his practices were looked upon as somewhat more than sharp, among which to buy stolen cattle, and to appropriate all straggling stock upon which he could lay his hand, were among the least.

            Murad the Unlucky fancied all the world against him; Saladin the Lucky grew in self-confidence through the inspiration of his name. So it was with wicked William Thorrington, for that was Lucky Bill's true name; successful in little villainies, he undertook greater ones, until he grew so bold in his unlawful acts that sad grief at last overtook him. During his palmy days, surrounded by wife, and children, and friends, there were none so happy and jovial as he. His little irregularities he regarded as good jokes, and often recounted the story of a trick played on some passing emigrant by which he had gained a wagon and its contents, or a fine horse, or several yokes of cattle, with the same apparent satisfaction a soldier tells of his shootings. And as the man kept open house and was by no means niggardly with the property he had taken from others, it was a long time before his neighbors would allow themselves to be worried by disparaging rumors concerning him. At last, however, his avarice so far acquired the ascendancy as to

THE STORY OF LUCKY BILL.        595

lead him into the commission of a most horrible and inexcusable crime. It happened that in this year 1855 a Frenchman was herding Californian cattle at the Truckee River. Thorrington had plenty of good grazing land, and coveted the cattle, but the Frenchman wanted some compensation for them, and Lucky Bill never paid for that which could be more easily obtained by stratagem or crime. There are many lucky Bills about; lucky in that they escape hanging, as Lucky Bill Thorrington did not.

            There was a friend of Thorrington's, one Edwards, who likewise wanted the cattle, and who had visited the Frenchman for the purpose of buying him out, but as they could not agree upon the price the effort was unsuccessful. Edwards often stopped at Thorrington's house; and one day during a conversation on the subject, Thorrington coolly proposed that they should kill the Frenchman and divide the spoils. Edwards consented. Again visiting the Frenchman, on some plausible pretext he decoyed him some distance from his camp, and then shot him and hid the body. A forged bill of sale made Edwards the apparent owner of everything, and the Frenchman's property was duly divided by the conspirators. Lucky as ever, thought Bill, as the time passed quietly by after this last adroitly managed affair. But the evil-minded are never permanently lucky. Even if they confine their rascalities within the limits of the law and so escape legal punishment, that for which they sell their souls, ease, gratified ambition, happiness, they never get. The devil is a shrewd paymaster, feeding forever his devotees on the passions which first brought them into his service. The Frenchman's friends in California, neither seeing nor hearing from him for so long, feared some evil had befallen him, and instituted investigations which led to the finding of the body and the discovery of the foul play attending the Frenchman's death. The settlers were aroused. Forming themselves into a committee of vigilance, they ar-

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rested Thorrington, his accomplice having escaped; then electing officers and organizing a tribunal, they tried the prisoner, convicted him of murder, and sentenced him to be hanged. Unlucky Bill.

            Meanwhile the Vigilance Committee earnestly desired to secure Edwards, and most villainously did they undertake its accomplishment. The man Thorrington had a son, a bright, frank, honest lad of sixteen years, who little knew how bad his father was. It was thought that he, as well as his father, knew where Edwards lay concealed, and that by promising the boy his father's life the other felon might likewise be brought to justice. It was a hazardous undertaking; Edwards was a powerful, well armed, desperate man ; even settlers feared to attack him in his retreat, and the boy was not only to discover to them the criminal, but to bring him out and lead him into a trap where they could catch him. That they were a cowardly set I do not deny; but that was not the extent of their baseness. It was a desperate undertaking; Edwards was almost sure to suspect treachery, and that suspicion would cost the boy his life, for the man, already doomed, would not hesitate a moment to slay one who knew and would divulge his hiding-place. But what would not a noble, high-spirited lad do to save a father's life, a father unjustly condemned, as the boy was made to believe, and for another's crime?

            At night, alone, behind the mountains which rise west of Genoa, young Thorrington went to a secluded cañon where the murderer lay concealed. Edwards did not know that Thorrington had been captured, and this fact the boy kept carefully to himself. He said his father, hotly hunted, desired to see him at a certain house to concert measures for the safety of both. From the first, Edwards seemed to feel that all was not right; whether it was the boy's too eager manner, whose father's fate one unweighed word of his might sadly mar, or whatsoever it was, there appeared to Edwards an air of unreality about it that

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made him hesitate. At first he flatly refused to go; said that each could take better care of himself apart from the other; that there was nothing to be gained in being together, and much to lose. But when the boy calmed, and, made discreet beyond his years by the burden of a father's life, reasoned with him, begged him at least to see his father, assuring him that nothing ill could come of it, he finally yielded, at the same time saying to the boy if he played him false his life should surely be forfeit. Concealed in a herdsman's hut near the forks of Carson River, on a lonely rancho owned by Thorrington, the party of settlers awaited the murderer, and thither from his covert the boy conducted him. It was long after midnight when they drew near the place, Edwards advancing along cautiously with his gun raised, and other arms in readiness, watching narrowly every movement of the boy, who marched silently before him. On reaching the house he beckoned young Thorrington back, and stepping to the door listened attentively for a moment, then cautiously opened it. Darkness and death-silence were within; but this was nothing strange, as Thorrington would hardly dare to burn a light in one of his own houses, even in this lonely distant one, when justice was so hounding him. He would enter; he was not afraid. Scarcely had his foot crossed the threshold when thud! a powerful blow from an unseen hand felled him to the floor, and the vigilants were upon him. Bound by his captors, he was taken before the same tribunal that doomed to death Thorrington, and there in like manner was tried and found guilty. It was almost always a question in a new community how the first death-sentence should be carried into effect. Simple-minded well meaning settlers are loath to turn hangmen; nevertheless necessity often imposes unwelcome burdens. In this instance there was much diversity of opinion on the subject. Some were in favor of finding, if possible, a shadow of law and there laying the condemned; others thought that the promise

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given to the boy should be strictly observed; others were in favor of summary and immediate execution. These last outnumbered the rest; and at Clear Creek Rancho, with a coolness and courage worthy a better cause, the two men met their fate. But what shall we say of those conscienceless men who, to accomplish their purpose, so cruelly played upon the most sacred affections? Poor boy ! what teachings would so make him a child of hell as the treacheries of these self-constituted examples of good citizenship. For myself, I would almost as lief have the father's sin upon my soul as this vile meanness of the son's deceivers.

            Prior to 1862 Carson Valley had for some time served as a hiding-place for stock stolen in California. Remote and practically inaccessible to sufferers by these depredations, it afforded a safe retreat. After recruiting in this valley, the stock was driven to Utah or sold to emigrants. From cattle-stealing to the robbing of emigrant trains and overland stages was but a step. Gradually the valleys round Carson City were occupied by respectable settlers, who regarded these outrages with disfavor. But so strong at that time was the impure element, that out of this action of the reformers grew numberless factions, which kept those valleys in constant turmoil, often attended by personal encounters and bloody party strifes. Though the action of the Vigilance Committee, an absolute necessity in itself, was productive of the greatest good, active in reprehending criminals, and punishing with coolness, hanging few but banishing many, yet there were there, as in California, those who opposed it, some from principle, some from petty pride, but far more from personal and selfish interest. An anti-vigilance or law and order party was formed, which carried the issue into politics, and did almost as much toward retarding the progress of settlement and clouding the prosperity of the country as the malefactors themselves.

ABOUT CARSON CITY.      599

            At Lane and Johnson's rancho, Walker River, some time in the winter of 1855-6, Jim, an Indian boy raised from infancy on the place, killed Johnson because he threatened to whip him if he whipped the sheep. The boy, when he saw what he had done, mounted a horse and fled. Lane with a party started in pursuit, caught the boy in Sierra Valley, and hanged him at Carson River, near Rud Station.

            At Williams Station, sixty miles below Genoa, in May 1860 there was an outbreak of the natives, provoked by gross outrages on the part of the superior race, in which four white men lost their lives. It appears that the arbitrary method of redressing injuries is not applicable to savages as to civilized men. When the red man suffers wrong he must go to his great father at Washington and there lodge his complaint, but he must not lift a finger, when attacked, in self-defence. It is a precedent too dangerous for Indian indulgence. Should one dare to do so, white men are justified in exterminating the tribe. It was somewhat so in this instance. Certain of the more immune settlers proposed to visit the outraged tribes, to demand from their chiefs the individuals outraged, and to hang them, for it was these who had committed the crime of retaliation, which privilege belonged only to desperadoes white of skin however black of heart. This surely was punishment enough for these dusky vigilants, one would think; but so did not the silver-seekers. Filled with pitchy wrath, they rose and threw themselves upon these naked defenders of their firesides, and a most unholy and unnecessary three months' war was the consequence.

            Midsummer 1860 saw much mischief afloat in and around Carson City. With a scattered population of say seven hundred, there were within a period of six weeks no less than five murders reported. Add to these numberless assaults, shootings, cuttings, and beatings, and the measure of brutality is well filled. In the absence of theatricals, and of the more refined

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representations of life and character, the inhabitants fell back upon their native resources and acted their own tragedies. In the absence of piano, flute, and guitar, mingling with the many-voiced harmonies of nature, the silver-toned brooks, and the concert of birds, were the pistol's gentle click and sharp report, and the shrill laughter or more passionate cries of rageful men.

            So remarkable during this carnival of violence was a moment of quiet that people and the press all noticed it. Says the Territorial Enterprise of the 16th of June 1860:

            "It is noticeable that for the last week we have not had a murder or shooting scrape in our city, while within the same period several desperate and disreputable characters have quietly slipped off to California. On Monday last Judge Cradlebaugh, United States judge for Utah, opened his court; and there are those having causality largely developed who think they can detect in this series of events the relation of cause and effect."

            A singular ease occurred at Carson City in June 1860. A German couple, Mr and Mrs Hesse, charged one Manuel, a Mexican, with having attempted to break into their house and take their lives. Manuel was arrested and examined before Judge Cradlebaugh, who held him to answer before the proper court. During the examination the woman swore that the Mexican had made improper proposals to her. However this may have been, it was generally believed that the woman was as bad as the man. Yet when immediately upon the close of the examination Mrs Hesse drew from under her shawl a cocked pistol, and placing it against the head of the prisoner fired, causing his instant death, neither judge, sheriff, nor the people made any attempt to arrest her, but permitted her to return to her home in peace, as if she had committed a meritorious act.

            In March 1860 the ranchmen of Carson Valley met at Genoa and made pledges of mutual protection. Forebodings of disquiet seemed present in the minds of all. The unsettled titles both to mining and to

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farming lands were the cause of many disputes and bloody affrays; add to this the absence of competent courts and the presence of the very worst element from California and elsewhere, and the outlook for social order was not very encouraging. If the gamblers and desperadoes would confine their shootings and cuttings to their own class no one would complain, but it is contrary to nature for beasts of the same species to prey on each other. Notwithstanding all prognostications, prosperity attended the development of the natural wealth of the territory. Most luckily Virginia City escaped for nearly three years those sweeping conflagrations which with their crushing influences had so often laid young San Francisco in ashes. Several attempts at incendiarism were discovered both before and after the great fire which occurred at Virginia City about the 1st of September 1863, but this fire, it was generally conceded, was the result of accident. At this time where four years before there was a camp amidst the sagebrush consisting of two rude stone houses, and six or eight tents and brush shanties, occupied by a score or two of straggling adventurers, there were now within an area of three miles square twenty thousand inhabitants, with houses, roads, mills, gas and water works, with schools, churches, theatres, and all the concomitants of civilization. But all this time the progress and prosperity of Washoe, as Nevada was then popularly called, was material rather than moral. Of all places on the planet, it was then the paradise of evil-doers, as California had been in her day. From the frequency of assaults, assassinations, and robberies, together with the many minor misdemeanors and suicides, one would think that Washoe Valley had become the world's moral cesspool, the receptacle of prison offal from every quarter. Likewise there assembled were multitudes of political vagrants and pettifoggers such as wait on rascality and derive their sustenance from vagabondage, whose presence in the

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now more refined atmosphere of public sentiment in California was not tolerated as formerly. Bloated dissipation sunned itself upon the street-corners, and lust and lewdness flaunted their gay attire along the thoroughfares. Mingling with the whiskey-stained visages of the dominant race were the black and yellow-skinned element found in every important town upon the Pacific coast; and seasoning the mass with infernal relish was woman of every shade of influence, from distraught wives seeking release from unwelcome bonds, and grass-widows panting for new alliances, to the openly profane and gaudily decked professional. "In fact," says one, "Washoe is now to California what the latter was at one time to all the world beside—a receptacle for the vagrant, the vicious, and the unfortunate, who hasten to find in the excitements and social license incident to frontier life a condition congenial to their perturbed spirits and blasted hopes; and it may be, if indeed there is not reason to believe it will happen, that this country, this coming state of Washoe, when it shall have had the age of her sister California, will be able to boast as much public intelligence and virtue, and to make as fair an historic record as she."

            The settlers in Washoe Valley during the winter of 1863-4 felt the necessity of banding and organizing for mutual protection against 'land-jumpers' or squatters on land previously claimed.

            Aurora had its Citizens' Protective Union, which assumed the form of a military organization. On the 9th of February 1864, at twelve o'clock, noon, the members formed in line, marched to the county jail, and taking thence four prisoners, charged with the murder of W. R. Johnson a week previous, mounted them upon a scaffold erected in front of Armory Hall. The military, who were one with the Citizens' Protective Union, held the town, and though there was a great concourse of people, the strictest order was preserved. The doomed were then permitted to speak.

THE TOWN OF AURORA. 603

The first, named Buckley, assured his hearers that he and one of the others, Daly, alone were guilty; that McDowell and Masterson, standing there with them, were wholly innocent of the crime. Daly confirmed what Buckley had said. Johnson had killed Daly's partner, and Daly only regretted that there was but one Johnson to kill in return. Masterson simply asserted his innocence. McDowell raved, called heaven to witness his innocence, and warned the people not to do murder by taking his life. He appeared under the influence of liquor, and Daly was, if anything, worse. Just before McDowell was pinioned he bade good-by to all, and then suddenly drawing a derringer and pointing it at his breast he pulled the trigger; but it snapped without exploding, when he dashed it to the ground with a curse. Buckley was cool, brave, respectful, and temperate. In neither speech nor demeanor did he manifest the slightest fear. About half-past one the four men were placed in position, their hands tied and eyes bandaged; the signal-gun was then fired, and earth with its materiality sank beneath four disembodied souls.

            It appears that this rich and famous mining district was then infested with desperadoes, who, like noxious vermin, filled the settlements and made rank the air by their presence. For nearly two years a reign of terror had existed, until with the incorporation of the town of Aurora the evil elements organized and entered politics. Filling the offices with their fellows, they had prostituted the law to their own base purposes. The numerous gambling-houses were crowded night and day, and bullets and bowie-knives were constantly opening fresh channels for the flow of blood. The quiet towns-people were almost afraid to appear upon the streets; miners would hurriedly transact their business and hasten away while they were able. Pending the decision of the courts in suits involving title, mining companies had held possession of their claims by the assistance of hired ruffians.

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Life had hung upon a popular will as passionate and capricious as that of the Roman amphitheatre, where a gladiator's fate was decided by the spectators, who, if they desired he should live, held their thumbs down, and if they wished him to be slain, pointed their thumbs upward.

            Upon the election of a new marshal adverse to the reign of the roughs, the latter had determined to strike a signal blow; and the murder of Johnson, an orderly and respected gentleman, whose only offence was a conscientious discharge of duty, was perpetrated. Then followed the execution of the four ruffians already mentioned.

            The following reasons why Johnson was killed are given by a Carson correspondent of the Virginia City Union:

"It will be recollected that about a year ago a man named Sears, while passing on foot by Johnson Station, mounted a horse standing saddled at the door and rode off with him. This was at Wright's bridge, on the west fork of Walker River. The horse belonged to a neighbor of Johnson, a poor man, who deplored his loss severely. A young man named Rodgers, stopping at the station, mounted another animal and went in pursuit of the thief, and overhauling him at the Sweetwater, called on him to halt, threatening, if he did not, to fire on him. Sears, however, instead of stopping, attempted to make good his escape, when Rodgers fired and killed him. The excuse of Rodgers was that he feared Sears might shoot him if he came to close quarters, and that he would get off with the animal if he did not. The killing might be regarded in part as the result of chance, seeing that it was effected with a pistol and the parties were a long way from each other. After the killing Rodgers proceeded at once to Carson and surrendered himself to the authorities, had an examination, awl was discharged. He was advised, however, to leave the place, as John Daly had threatened to kill him, Sears having been a friend or companion of the latter. Rodgers thereupon came back to Johnson's. A short time after, Daly and Jack McDowell, alias Three-fingered Jack, came to Johnson's and demanded to know where Rodgers was, as they wished to arrest him. Johnson refused to inform then, knowing that they would kill him if they got him in their possession. He told them, however, that he knew where Rodgers was, and that he would inform them if they came authorized with a proper warrant for his arrest. Knowing that they could not procure this, they left in a rage, and have frequently since been known to threaten Johnson for the part he took in befriending Rodgers. In order to allay suspicion, however, they let the affair rest for a whole year; nor does it appear that Johnson was apprised of their purpose or aware of the threats they had made. The day prior to the murder Johnson, it appears, went to Aurora- for

CAPTURE OF BUCKLEY.    605

the purpose of disposing of a lot of potatoes, when this gang at once set their wits to work to plan his death in a manner that would be least likely to draw suspicion on themselves. To this end one of their number, affecting a great friendship for Johnson, induced him to take a walk with him, and finally to visit several places about town, in which manner, having kept him up till a late hour, be finally decoyed him into a somewhat obscure locality, where, secreted behind a wood-pile, his companions lay in wait to despatch their unsuspecting victim. Arrived at the spot agreed on, Buckley felled Johnson by a blow over the head with a pistol. John Daley then shot him through the head, when a third one of the party, but whether McDowell, or Masterson, or some other one of the gang, is not known, cut his throat. His pockets having been rifled, he was left lying on the spot where he fell. The assassins then separated, Daly going to a saloon near by, where he shortly after told those present, with affected nonchalance, that there was a man lying in the street dead a little way off, designating the spot. These parties at once suspected that Daly was himself the murderer, or knew something of the matter, and keeping their eye on him, soon after procured his arrest. A fellow known as Italian Jim, who it seems overheard the murder planned, or was in some way privy to it, becoming alarmed, took the stage early in the morning and left in the direction of Carson. Officer Pine having been despatched, overtook the stage at Wellington's, on the West Walker, and conducted him back. Jim, in order to save himself, made a confession, revealing who were the guilty parties and the manner in which the diabolical crime was committed. Corroborating evidence having been obtained, the murder was fastened upon these men beyond any doubt, to say nothing of the confessions of Buckley and Daly."

            The Esmeralda Star gives the following account of murderer Buckley's capture:

            "Buckley fled from the town on Wednesday, the day after the murder. Parker, Gilman, and Fagan had also fled on horseback and gone, as supposed, which afterward proved to be correct, to the Adobe Meadows. Various rumors were flying through the town that Buckley was hid in some one of the many hundreds of tunnels and shafts on Last Chance Hill. A thorough search was made everywhere to find him, but it all proved to be a fruitless task. On Friday evening Sheriff Francis returned to town with Parker, Gilman, and Fagan, who were taken at the Adobe Meadows; from them information was given that a man answering the description of Buckley had passed Mackay 's rancho on foot, which is about twelve miles from this place; he had stopped to get a drink of water, but when he saw Parker and his companions riding up he secreted himself, supposing them to be a party sent in pursuit of him. As soon as they had left he started for Mono Lake, and from thence was intending to make his way over the mountains the best way he could. The sheriff, hearing no further tidings of him, left on Saturday morning for the Adobe Meadows, determined if he did not find him there he would go on down to Owensville, whither he supposed he had fled. Captain Teel also went out, taking with him Mr Augustus Lake and John Burns, and went over toward

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Mono Lake, having started one day ahead of Francis. They hunted diligently, riding entirely round Mono Lake on a very dark night, and a portion of the time without any food. The weather was piercing cold, and they came near freezing their ears, hands, and feet. They finally had to stop and build a fire to warm themselves by. They then mounted their horses and hunted a long time during the day for the fugitive, and then returned to town.

            "On Monday morning Deputy-sheriff Teel felt confident he could be found, provided Teel had enough men to assist him; and on Monday last, at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, he started out for Mono Lake with Messrs Lake, Shreves, Dekay, Patterson, Jackson, Staatz, and Joseph Richardson, in company. When they arrived at Mono Lake, on the northern side Captain Teel divided his forces into two parties. He sent Shreves, Jackson, Patterson, and Dekay around the east end, and took with him Richardson, Lake, and Staatz to go around the west end of the lake, and all would arrive at Le Vining's old rancho within about fifteen minutes of each other. The party that went around the east end of the lake rode very fast until they came to Rush Creek, which empties into the lake; they dashed in across the creek and came to Le Vining's old house. The door was open, and the party demanded of the men who were there if they had seen anything of Buckley, and one of them replied,  'He is not here.' The dog belonging to the house kept up a foolish barking, and seemed to be watching something in the sagebrush, and would occasionally make a dash toward it. This attracted the attention of Jackson, and he thought he saw something moving in the sagebrush, and he also thought there was a little chip or something thrown toward the dog to drive him away. He brought his gun to his shoulder and said, 'Patterson, I've got something ; let us see what it is.' The rest of them brought their guns to their shoulders and covered the object also, while Patterson went on foot toward it, and when he had got within a few feet of it Buckley rose to his feet and said, 'Boys, you have got me this time,' and immediately surrendered. They brought him to the house, and in about fifteen minutes Deputy-sheriff Teel arrived with his party, they having dismounted a little way off in order to come in on foot and surround the house, expecting to take him that way.

            "Remounting their horses, the party all rode back together, passing by the house of Mr Boomershine, who did not expect them until morning, and had made every preparation to greet them with a fine breakfast of wild ducks and geese, and every hospitality he could bestow, but Teel's party arrived too soon for him; but it was not lost, for Sheriff Francis and party arriving at the hour set made it all right. Teel and his party pushed on toward home, and some of their horses gave out, but as a good providence would have it, as they were trudging their way along slowly in the middle of the night a band of horses came up to them; one of the party said 'Whoa!' and they stopped and allowed four of themselves to be saddled and bridled without any difficulty, and the party thus being mounted on fresh horses they were enabled to reach home about five o'clock in the morning of Thursday with their prisoner, who was at once put into the county jail.

            "Buckley informed them that when Teel and his party were out the

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first time, during the night he saw their fire and could hear them talk, and when they mounted their horses again they came on so fast that they overtook him, and that he laid down in the sagebrush and came very near being stepped on by Mr Lake's horse. He had travelled around the lake several times, which is about thirty-five miles in circumference, and finding himself closely pursued, he struck out into the open wild sagebrush plain for the Adobe Meadows. On nearing this place he got a glimpse of Sheriff Francis and posse, and started back again over this long distance, through this wild sagebrush desert, to the alkaline waters of Mono Lake again, and wandered around its shores, hiding in the sagebrush until almost exhausted. His capture soon followed in the manner above stated, and he was brought to town, declaring that he would rather be hanged than suffer as he had for those last three or four days and nights from hunger and cold; and being worn completely out, he found that escape was impossible, and having suffered so much, quietly submitted to his fate, which explains to a great degree the cause of his cheerfulness and composure when on the scaffold."

            The governor, on entering Aurora shortly afterward to inquire into this arbitrary state of affairs, saw the grim framework where the culprits had been executed with the four fatal ropes still dangling from the cross-beam, and turning to the sheriff exclaimed, "Have that devilish machinery immediately removed !" The sheriff hesitated, fearing the power behind the throne ; but when the governor threatened to do it himself if he did not, the sheriff mustered the requisite courage and had the gallows taken down. The Aurora Times of the 4th of March shows that notwithstanding the return of peace secured by the people's organization, there were those who were restless for them to disband, knowing that to practise the arts of their profession while the watchful eye was on them was not safe. Says that journal:

            "The following petition is being circulated through team for signatures. Last evening we saw one list containing over fifty names. The movement shows that there is an opposition to the Citizens' Safety Committee in our midst, to which its protracted session is giving strength. We have no desire to see Aurora declared in a state of insurrection ; no wish to have troops sent here. As set forth yesterday, the effect would be most injurious to the interests of the city. If the committee would get through with their business and disband at once, the opposition now manifesting itself would fall to the ground and amount to nothing. The danger of a bloody collision between the officers of the law and the committee, which threatens hourly to come

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about, is by no means a pleasant subject to contemplate. The petition reads as follows

"To his Excellency James W. Nye, governor of the Territory of Nevada, Carson.:     

            "Your petitioners, residents and citizens of Aurora, Esmeralda County. Territory of Nevada, would most respectfully represent: That there is now an armed organization in our midst, acting in open defiance of the law and constituted authorities; that this organization, without even the pretence of legal right, is continuing to arrest citizens and. residents among us, and compelling them, by an overwhelming force, to leave and abandon a place where they have seen fit to come and live. These proceedings are being carried on by an armed multitude, overpowering the legally constituted officers, upon the pretext of charges that are preferred in secret against parties protesting their entire innocence, and who are denied the opportunity of defence, of confronting their accusers, or even of knowing who they are.

            "Within a very few hours one of these orders to leave has been issued and enforced by this organization at the imminent peril of the safety of our town, and the lives of the officers of the law and a large number of citizens called their aid, but rendered powerless from the fact that all the public arms are in the hands of the organization referred to.

            "But now, in addition to all this, another blow is levelled at every principle of law and sentiment of justice in the arrest of our fellow-citizen John M. Prendegrast, who has come under the ban of this organization, falsely styled the People's Safety Committee. This man we have known long. He is an old resident and a large property-owner in this place, and has held and now holds upon our staff of police a position which he has ever filled with fidelity and sobriety. Within the last twenty-four hours, in the middle of the night, this man has been arrested, without warrant, without knowing for what cause, has been held in close custody, a mock investigation reported to have been held, and without the aid of counsel or friends, or the privilege of calling witnesses in his defence, he is ordered to leave the place which ho has made his home, and where, by his industry, he has accumulated a handsome property, and obtained the respect, hitherto at least, of the whole community.

            "We, therefore, your petitioners, earnestly urge upon your excellency to adopt some measures by which our society may be held and protected within the law, the imminent danger of a disastrous outbreak and bloodshed be avoided, and the rights of all be protected and secured.

            "And your petitioners will ever pray, etc.

            "Aurora, March 3, 1864."

            The grand jury, reporting a month later, thought differently. They say:

            "Having considered the homogeneous character of our population, isolated as we are and removed from the influences of older communities, and the great difficulty and expense of procuring witnesses, which deter persons of limited means from prosecuting and bringing to justice the perpetrators of crime, and the fact that within the last three years some twenty-seven of our citizens have come to their death by the hand of violence, and the delays and

AURORA AFFAIRS. 609

inefficiency, and we believe also the indifference of those who were the sworn guardians and ministers of the law, and the unnecessary postponement of important trials, whereby many notorious villains have gone unpunished, we are led to believe that the members of the vigilance association have been governed by a feeling of opposition to the manner in which the law has been administered rather than by any disregard of the law itself or of its officers."

            Says the San Andrés Register of the 27th of February 1864:

            "Since the organisation of the Vigilance Committee at Aurora there has been a general skedaddling of murderers, gamblers, and thieves from that locality. It seems that a regular system has been adopted by this class of gentry for the murder of persons who might become obnoxious to them, from any cause, and great concert of action existed when they marked each one for slaughter. A man named Finley, who was interested in several valuable mines, was thought by them to have too good a thing, and his death resolved on; ascertaining which, he quietly sold out and left for the east. Dr Mitchel was also doomed, because he was a most important witness in the Pond and Del Norte suit, and saved his life by the greatest watchfulness. Johnson was killed for his money-"

            The Stockton Independent, noticing the refusal of the grand jury of Lincoln County, Nevada, to indict Barney Hood for killing Thomas Coleman at Pioche, gives the following history of some ruffians with whom Coleman was associated:

            "In 1867 Edward Lloyd shot and killed a teamster named Thornton at Oroville. After two or three trials he was sentenced to ten years in the state-prison, but through some decision of the supreme court finally escaped. He and his two brothers, George and Thomas Lloyd, kept the Mountaineer saloon in Sacramento in 1861-2. In the last named year, if we are not mistaken, the great fight occurred at the foot of K street between the steamboat runners. Both drew pistols and commenced fixing simultaneously. Lloyd was reenforced by his brother George, his cousin Patsey Callahan, and McAlpine, who has since earned a wide reputation as a prize-fighter. Coleman was supported by Joe McGee and F. N. Smith. The Lloyd party was armed with but one pistol and one knife. McGee stood a short distance off and fired with a revolver, wounding George Lloyd in the right shoulder and McAlpine in the wrist. In the heat of the conflict Smith approached Edward Lloyd from the rear and shot him, killing him instantly. Smith remained in the county jail about six months, when the grand jury ignored the charge against him. George Lloyd had by that time recovered. Within fifteen minutes of the time Smith was discharged; George Lloyd shot and killed him, inflicting four bullet-wounds. Lloyd was tried several times, and finally acquitted. A year or two later, Patsey Callahan was stabbed and killed at the Bank

610      POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

Exchange in Sacramento by Thomas Sherman. George Lloyd went to Nevada and Thomas Lloyd to Idaho. While in Sacramento George Lloyd had a rough-and-tumble fight with Johnny Daly, which was the subject of considerable talk among their friends. The silver excitement took over to the vicinity of Aurora, George Lloyd, Johnny Daly, Jimmy Sears, and the other Thomas Coleman, who was a brother-in-law of the Lloyd's, but who had nothing to do with the steamboat business. Sears soon afterward, while travelling on foot on the Aurora road, jumped on a horse in front of Johnson's hotel and rode off. He was pursued, shot, and killed.

            "A short time afterward Daly and Coleman engaged in a bar-room fight with George Lloyd concerning mining claims, the respective parties having been retained as fighters by the conflicting claimants. Several shots were fired and Lloyd was killed. It was generally believed that the fatal shot was fired by his brother-in-law Coleman. Soon after this occurrence Johnson the hotel-keeper visited Aurora and was murdered in the night. The proof was conclusive that he had been murdered in revenge for the killing of Sears.  A vigilance committee previously organized arrested, tried, convicted, and hanged Daly and three others for the Johnson murder. The Thomas Coleman who was recently shot and killed at Pioche by Barney Lloyd is, we believe, the brother-in-law of the Lloyds.

            "One evening, perhaps in 1863, a man whose name we have forgotten, while in a saloon in Carson was shot and killed. The assassin fired through a window with a shot-gun and escaped. Suspicion rested on McGee. Precisely a year afterward, at the same hour in the evening, McGee while in the same saloon was shot through the same window and killed. The same gun was found on the ground, having been used as on the first occasion. The assassin also for a time escaped. Thomas Lloyd returned from Idaho to San Francisco. About eighteen months ago he shot and killed a man named Barry at Seventh and Stevenson streets, and is now serving out a ten years' term in the state- prison for the offence. We understand the Coleman who fought the duel with Mulligan to be the steamboat runner, who still resides in San Francisco. Mulligan, while under the influence of delirium tremens at the St Francis Hotel in San Francisco, resisted the efforts of the police to arrest him- An immense crowd gathered around the hotel. Mulligan fired and killed two men in the crowd, and was himself shot and killed by a policeman. This is indeed a dark chapter in the criminal record of the coast. The only instance of punishment by law, in connection with this entire list of crimes, is that of Thomas Lloyd."

            About three weeks after the execution of the murderers of Johnson, Aurora was agitated by the threats of Masterson's brother, who on hearing of the hanging came over from Carson City to settle the rogue's estate. Little attention was paid him until he began to utter menaces against those who had slain his brother. Hearing these, the Union deter-

THE MINERS' LEAGUE-       511

mined upon action. The signal-gun was fired; the sheriff offered Masterson the protection of the jail, of which hospitality he eagerly availed himself. In less than twenty minutes after the signal-shot four companies were under arms. The armed guard which the sheriff had stationed to keep the prison were insufficient for its protection. Masterson then agreed to quit the place instantly if permission should be given him. This was agreed to by the military, who escorted him beyond the precincts of the town.

            Between the ranchmen and the land-jumpers on the Truckee River on the night of the 17th of February 1864 there was a bloody fight, in which one Ferguson was shot to death and two wounded. The ranchmen then associated and declared war.

            A man by the name of Doyle had been killed by one Lynn, who for the offence was confined at Dayton, Nevada, for trial. About three o'clock on the morning of the 10th of August 1864 a posse of the Dayton Vigilance Committee entered the apartments of the sheriff, whom they bound and gagged, and taking the keys they opened the jail, took thence Lynn, who begged piteously for his life amidst loud shrieks for assistance, and hanged him in the jail-yard. There was little excitement attending the execution, few knowing of it except those present until some time after all was over.

            Near the sink of the Carson on the night of the 31st of October 1864 one Edward Hale was shot by a negro, who was soon afterward caught and hanged by the people.

            Besides the several committees of vigilance organized at different times and places in Nevada, there were many impromptu tribunals for special cases, as well as mobs and Indian-fighting companies. An association was likewise formed under the denomination of " The Miners' League," which was not always temperate in its counsel nor beneficial to society in its operations. There is a vast difference in the asso-

612      POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

ciating of the best element of a community, actuated by no personal ambition and possessing no political aspirations, banding for the support of social morality and good order, for the upholding of law and government in so far as law and government can sustain themselves, but never harboring designs of their overthrow—there is a vast difference, I say, between such organization and the leagues of disaffected laborers, secret political societies, and the coalescing of lawless desperation.

            James W. Nye, governor, and superintendent of Indian affairs of Nevada, writes from Carson City September 25, 1864, to J. P. Usher, secretary of the interior at Washington, informing him that "for the last five weeks this territory has been in considerable turmoil and commotion, owing to apprehended raids from avowed disloyalists from California and this territory on the principal towns of the territory on the one hand, and riotous and unlawful proceedings of persons composing what is here called the Miners' League on the other. On two occasions I found it necessary to order out the military from Fort Churchill to the towns of Virginia and Carson, to be in readiness to suppress or prevent these anticipated troubles. A force of nearly three hundred cavalry is now on duty at Virginia, ready to meet any outbreak of the rioters. I have also had to form companies of home-guards in every town in the territory, and arm them to suppress and subdue unlawful violence."

            And again five years later we read in the Sacramento Bee of the 30th of September 1869:

            "Yesterday afternoon about three hundred and fifty members of the Miners' Union at Cold Hill, Nevada, made a raid upon the Chinese laborers on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. They drove the Chinamen away from their work, but did not attempt any personal violence. The sheriff of the county and officers were present, and contented themselves with reading the riot act and watching the exploits of the guerillas."

            In April 1867, following the Virginia Trespass, matters stood thus:

            "The fracas in the Highbridge saloon, Belmont, on the 18th has been

THE CASE OF VAIL.            613

the means of impelling the people of that place to the resort which new communities so commonly adopt for security from ruffianism. A vigilance committee has been organized and is now making efforts to overtake those who took part in the outrage which resulted in the death of Bodrow and afterward of Dignen. A jail has been constructed, and two men who participated in the abuse of a mining superintendent on the night of the 17th have been incarcerated, Russell and Bender. Eight mounted men, a patrol appointed by the Committee, are traversing the surrounding country in guest of others who were engaged in the riot. Great excitement was occasioned by the imprisonment of Russell and Bender. Armed men were seen on every hand, some to resist the rumored hanging, others with the determination to stand by the Committee."

            One Vail, arrested for the murder of his partner, Knox, while in custody of the sheriff of Lincoln County in July 1867 on the way to Hiko, was seized by a company of men, tried before a jury of twelve, condemned, and in an hour and a half thereafter hanged. Of this affair the same journal of July 19th says:

            "We learn from Mr Walsh, who arrived here from Belmont last evening, that the mail-carrier between Belmont and Pahranagat arrived at the former place on Monday evening, bringing the news of the hanging by the people on the previous Thursday of S. B. Vail, the alleged murderer of Robert W. Knox. Vail, it will be recollected, was arrested a few miles from Austin by our city marshal, W. H. Knerr, on the l0th of June, and delivered to the custody of Sheriff Matthews of Lincoln County. The prisoner was taken to Belmont, and while there steps were taken to prevent his being carried to Lincoln County, but he was finally delivered to Sheriff Matthews, who succeeded in taking him to where the foul murder was committed.

            "Vail was taken from the sheriff at Logan Springs and carried to Hiko, ten miles distant, the county seat of Lincoln, where it appears they gave him a trial after the manner of Judge Lynch. He refused to make any confession of the murder of Knox, asserting that he believed he was in Prescott, Arizona. While he persistently denied the murder, he confessed that he was a horse-thief. He was condemned to be hanged. A piece of timber was run from the upper window of a building, to which a rope was fastened; a wagon containing Vail was driven alongside the house; the rope was placed around his neck, and at a signal the wagon was drawn away, and in a few minutes the career of a bad man ended."

            In every spot of the Pacific States where precious metals have been found, thither have flocked like vultures desperate characters, who stirred up strife, excited turmoil, and caused the honest and industrious

614      POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA-

much anxiety. And this was continued, gradually growing worse, until they were driven out by the order-loving element; for the right-minded of every permanent community are stronger than the evil-minded. The White Pine district proved no exception to this rule.

            During the winter of 1868-9 the roughs and outlaws directed their attention chiefly to driving from their ground those who held possession of mining claims. So unbearable became the evil that the citizens of Hamilton and Treasure City were obliged to form protective associations.

            It was exceedingly difficult for the miners to submit to the rulings of courts which wrought injustice to any of their number. They loved equity more than law. The people of Treasure Hill, White Pine, had not long been favored with a district judge before they placed their will in determined opposition to his. One Stanton in August or September 1869 sued and obtained judgment for certain land which had been bought and improved by innocent third parties. Of this land a Mr Fulton had bought a piece and built a house upon it, at a cost, for land and building, of some fifteen hundred dollars. Fulton was willing Stanton should have the land if it belonged to him, but he thought the house by rights belonged to himself. And so thought his neighbors; for one night forty of them proceeded in a body to the place, rolled the house across the street, and placed it upon ground which did not belong to Stanton. The latter was present with friends; shots were exchanged, but the Fulton party was the stronger.

            On the Egan and White Pine road robberies became so frequent that the inhabitants of that vicinity on the 27th of September 1869 called a meeting and organized the " Egan Cañon Property Protection Society," by which means they hoped to curb the growing evil. J. Riley and J. O'Dougherty in behalf of the people of Egan submitted the following reso-

PROPERTY PROTECTION SOCIETY.        615

lutions and rules for the government of the society, which were adopted:

            " Whereas, The discovery of rich mines of silver in the White Pine district has attracted to eastern Nevada a largo population, and among them, unfortunately, many of the reckless and criminal adventurers who float habitually from one scene of mining excitement to another, and who, when they find their wild hopes of sudden acquisition disappointed, betake to theft, robbery, and murder as a means of support; and where, from the exposed position of many districts and the sparseness of settlements upon the principal highways in this county, there exist here peculiar facilities for the perpetration of robberies and the escape of robbers, while the supineness and inefficiency of the executive officers of the county are such as to give, practically, full license to crime; therefore,

            "Resolved, That the condition of this county calls imperatively for a defensive organization of its citizens for the protection of life and property, and for the prompt adoption of all proper means to excite, and if necessary to compel, the executive officials to an active, efficient, rigid, and persevering discharge of their duties.

            "Resolved, That as the first step to the prevention and punishment of crime, it is necessary that the law-loving and law-abiding citizens shall manifest, by such organization, once, their own interest and determination in regard to the arrest and conviction of criminals, these organizations to correspond and cooperate for the accomplishment of these objects; and that until the state of things which now exists shall be corrected, all honest men should unite, without respect of party, to sustain and applaud those officers who honestly and satisfactorily perform their duties; and to defeat the election, and when possible effect the removal, of those who are indifferent, corrupt, or inefficient.

" RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.

            First, This society will be called 'The Egan Cañon Property Protection Society.' It will be established for the mutual protection of the person and property of each individual member of the community against the outrages of highway robbers, horse and cattle thieves, and dishonest persons. Second, Each member on joining the society will pledge himself to abide by its rules and perform what they demand of him. Third, The officers of the society will consist of a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. These will constitute an executive committee. Fourth, It will be the duty of each member to give prompt information to the executive committee, or to the president or secretary thereof, whenever he hears of the commission of an outrage in the district, or when he has reason to believe that unknown persons are prowling about under suspicious circumstance. Fifth, It will be the duty of the executive committee, the president or vice-president thereof, to place themselves immediate communication with the local authorities, and in cooperation with, or acting under them, to use every exertion and employ every means to bring the perpetrator of such outrages, or such suspected persons, to justice. Sixth, When such information shall ham been thus properly

616      POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

brought before the constituted authorities, it will be the duty of the committee to choose by ballot a certain member of members from the society, who on their part will be bound by their pledge to accompany the law officer or officers, and to cooperate with them in every step that may be found requisite to detect or apprehend such suspected persons. Seventh, If any property shall be recovered through the exertions of the society, the owners shall be required to refund to the society a certain sum, proportionate to the value of the property, toward defraying the expense incurred in the recovery of such property. Eighth, No person shall be a member of the society who has not some legitimate business or calling in the district; and when admitted to membership no cause other than sickness or absence shall exempt any person from any of the duties of membership. Ninth, There shall be no admission fees, but to pay the expenses of pursuing and prosecuting offenders the executive committee shall levy an assessment on the members when occasion shall arise. There shall be no special days of meeting of the society, but the members will be convened by the president, or any member of the executive committee acting for him, when their services shall be required. No habitual drunkard or person of bad moral habits shall be a member of the society-"

            Upon the telegraph poles of Promontory one Sunday morning in November 1869 there appeared posted a notice, signed by the Committee of Vigilance, warning all loafers, pimps, gamblers, pettifoggers, thieves, and cutthroats to quit the town within twenty-four hours, or to prepare to be hanged each upon a telegraph pole. The suffering towns-people had been obliged to resort to this means to rid themselves of a class who were sapping society of its prosperity. Having just organized as a permanent committee of vigilance, they were determined to cleanse their town of its moral impurities or decorate with a swinging carcass every telegraph pole within the town limits. Neither trees nor lumber were plentiful in that vicinity. The many who availed themselves of this permission, men who suddenly discovered urgent business calling them to the east or to the west along the road, some of them unsuspected hitherto of carrying guilty consciences, it was wonderful to see. A committee of three was appointed by the Vigilance Committee, charged with power to convene the entire body at any moment. The time having expired, the Committee next day visited every saloon and all disreputable houses, and warned the proprietors against

VIRGINIA AND GOLD HILL.         617

harboring any suspicious persons, under penalty of themselves being driven from town.

            The following incident is one of cold-blooded and unprovoked murder: Arthur Perkins Hefferman in March 1871 approached one William Smith, who was standing by a cigar store in Virginia City, and drawing his six-shooter asked him what he wanted. Smith replied, " I don't know that I want anything." "How do you want it?" was Hefferman's rejoinder, at the same time firing his revolver, the bullet penetrating Smith's left eye and coming out at the top of his head. "I fetched him!" Hefferman exultingly exclaimed as Smith fell. Then suddenly, as if the possible consequence of the deed had all at once flashed upon him, he added, "My God! I didn't mean it!" Upon his arrest he said to the officer, "I give myself up to you; I have killed a man; it was an accident; I didn't mean to kill him." He was taken to jail. On the morning of March 25th, at one o'clock, a delegation of the Virginia Vigilance Committee numbering eighty armed men proceeded to the jail, and entering the room of the sheriff, demanded the key to Hefferman's cell. This was refused, and the vigilants forced open the door. Hefferman was led out with the avenging hemp round his neck, taken to the Ophir mine, and hanged from a beam that extended from one of the buildings. The sheriff was exonerated, and the public were generally satisfied with the night's work.

            This man was born on board the ship Perkins, which sailed from New York the 26th of September 1846, carrying a portion of that scaly crew, the New York Volunteers. The captain's name was Arthur; so this villainous spawn of villainous antecedents was dubbed Arthur Perkins, and his origin and end were alike bad. His father was corporal of Company F and his mother a sister of the notorious robber Jack Powers, who was also a member of the same Company F. It is said that during the year 1871 fifteen persons were driven from Virginia and Gold Hill by the Vigilance Committee.

618      POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

            George B. Kirk, a native of Fayette County, Missouri, came to California at an early day. He was a desperate character, having killed his uncle before he left home. For five years he was in the Nevada state-prison on a charge of burglary; during an outbreak the warden, Alexander Hunter, was wounded, and Kirk was believed to have shot him- Afterward he lived at Virginia City, where his cabin was head-quarters for roughs and vagabonds; he seemed to have no legitimate business. At the time of the hanging of Heffernan by the Vigilance Committee, he, with several other desperadoes, was warned to leave; he did so, but returned. Warned once again, he left, and again returned, threatening to get even with the vigilants. This was his last visit, for on the evening of July 13, 1881, he insulted one, a stranger to him, but who happened to be a member of the Vigilance Committee. The vigilant notified his associates. Kirk was followed to a saloon, where he was captured; he was then taken quietly to a trestle-work at the Sierra Nevada mine and hanged. Beyond their little circle nothing was known of it until it was all over.

            During the summer of 1871 crime became rampant at Pioche, Nevada, so that it was deemed necessary to organize a committee of safety. The committee numbered about three hundred, and Henry rifles were obtained with which to arm themselves.

            Indians as well as Chinamen followed closely on the heels of the audacious white man in the arbitrary extermination of the wicked. Buffalo Bill was a bad Piute. He drank to drunkenness; then with a pistol he shot another Piute, so that he died. Thus he was becoming quite civilized; so also were his brother Piutes then fringing Virginia City, for on the 31st day of December 1872 they organized among themselves a tawny, reptile-eating committee of vigilance, and seizing Buffalo Bill they killed him very dead as boys kill snakes.

            About eleven o'clock on the night of June 3, 1874,

INFAMOUS CONDUCT TOWARD NATIVES.     619

thirty men entered the jail at Belmont, Nevada, bound the sheriff and his deputy, and hanged two prisoners named Walker and McIntyre. Accounts of organizations and executions might be greatly multiplied in this narrative, but further illustration of the workings of the institution in this vicinity appears to me unnecessary.

            At Belmont, Nevada, in 1874 there was a popular demonstration, of which the Belmont Courier of the 6th of June gives the particulars:

            "Between twelve and two o'clock on Thursday morning, Jack Walker and Charles McIntyre were hanged in the county jail, with a slip of paper pinned on each of their backs hearing the inscription '301.' Before the execution took place Sheriff Caldwell and P. C. Turner, his deputy, each occupying separate rooms in the courthouse, were securely tied, hands and feet, and guarded for a time, perhaps ten minutes, after which they were left in that condition, unable to move. Shortly afterward, however, night watchman Oates, noticing movements that aroused his suspicion, repaired to the court-house, and found the light usually kept burning in the court-room turned down. He then went to the doors of the sheriff and deputy, and after some little difficulty succeeded in gaining access, and found the two officers securely tied and destitute of arms. Gates released them, and the three went below and found Walker and McIntyre, each suspended, with ropes round their necks, to the upper floor. McIntyre had been tried on May 6th for drawing a deadly weapon, not in self-defence, for which the justice at the time imposed a fine of two hundred dollars, or imprisonment at the rate of two dollars per day until the exhausting of the amount aforesaid. Walker had been taken into custody for the shooting of H. H. Sutherland on the morning of the 6th of May, for which offence he was held to appear before the next grand jury. The two victims, Walker and McIntyre, escaped from jail during Monday night, and were captured and lodged in jail again on Wednesday. From all accounts these two had taken the lives of many men in different parts of the country, and had the reputation of being desperate characters. Between the time of their commitment and hanging it appears they had made threats to take life and destroy property. Once they were released from custody, and from the peculiar framing of the present jury law their chances for acquittal were quite probable. It is not our purpose to justify the hanging of these men, but in all reasonable probability to avoid their threats being carried out, together with the certain knowledge of their previous history, they were thus summarily disposed of. We trust that all other desperadoes will take warning, if there are any in our midst, and profit by the example made."

            Two natives, Tempiute Bill and his brother, were arrested by the Shoshones in January 1875 and

620      POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

brought to Belmont. There the sheriff took them, and while on the way to Hiko one of them, Bill's brother, broke away and escaped. Bill was then taken from the sheriff by the people and conducted to Hiko. He confessed to many murders, one of which implicated a savage called Moquitch, who was sent for, and the two hanged. This was not the worst of it; this is not the disgraceful part of the story. Full of rage and vile drink, after the hanging of the two aboriginals the people of Hiko went to a camp near by and massacred seven natives, some of whom were guilty and some innocent. This was most dastardly; and had the diabolical deed been perpetrated by savages upon whites, all the world would have lifted its hands in horror, and a regiment of soldiers would have been sent by government to annihilate the nation to which the murderers belonged. How fortunate to be born white!

            At Cherry Creek, Nevada, in September 1875 a native criminal was taken from the sheriff and executed by the people-

            At break of day the 17th of December 1875, as two men were passing Carson cemetery they saw swinging from the gate frame the figure of a man. Returning horrified to town, they told what they had seen, and soon crowds were pouring along the road in that direction. It was ascertained the body was that of a noted desperado named Samuel Burt. The ominous number "601" pinned to the breast showed that the dread Vigilance Committee had been abroad the night before. Robbery and incendiarism had been prevalent of late, and in all large villainies Burt was chief. He had been frequently ordered to leave town, but had refused to go. Those who hanged him were disguised. They took him from the Emory engine-house, where he had been accustomed to sleep for some time past. He made no disturbance when awakened by the fearful summons, "Get up quickly and dress yourself; you are wanted." He seemed to

WINNEMUCCA.       621

realize all in an instant, and did as he was bade in all things, quietly and quickly- It was a good desperado at the last.

            About the lst of July, at Ward, Nevada, a native having attempted violence upon a white girl eleven years of age, the citizens told his countrymen they must attend to it, whereupon they took their erring brother and hanged him; and the little white girl was pacified.     

            As late as midsummer of this year, 1877, both at Winnemucca and Virginia, as well as in other parts of Nevada, the Vigilance Committee was still in active existence. At Winnemucca early one morning in July a robust ruffianly figure was found suspended from the limb of a dead tree in the burnt district with the cabalistic "601" pinned to his back. Between the good and the bad there is eternal antagonism.