, 1864-03-12
Letter from Lewiston.

dieated In the execution Of its mandates
upon the persons Of G. G. Lower, David
Renton and James ROmaine For the
past two weeks the prisoners have had al.
most uninterrupted intercourse with one an
other, and visible change in their demeau-
or has been perceptible to the most casual
observer TiPrevious to this, they had exhib-
tied an inclination to be communicative upon
the subject Of the murder but no sooner
had free intercourse been established than
all formersigns Of penitence, for the awful
crime Of which they stood convicted, disap-
peared, and instead, the most ribald jests
and sacreigQus illusions followed. This,
however, was more particularly the case
with Lower than with either of the others.
In conversation with the others on two oc-
casions, he observed that he would precede
them and select the first Camping ground"
also, That he would like to 'sbribe some s-n
Of b-h to take him up strangers gulch,
two days before the time" There was, evi-
IDENTIFY some mutual understanding as to the
programme to be followed out after they
had consulted together that sadly contrast
ed with the partial written confessions here
tofore made. The three men now became
apparently contented, frequently referring
to their death and wishing the day would
come when, as they expressed it, they would
90 where they "could get fair trial and
where there was no hanging
Some of our piously inclined citizens sent
for and obtained the attendance of the
Catholic priest, from your valley, who en-
deavored to minister to their Spiritual wants
increasingly till all was over. [ am informed
chat they slept well during the two
nights previous to the fourth, with the ex-
ception of Lower, who seemed to lay awake
the most of the time. The guard says he
! (Lower) turned frequently in bed aud ap-
peared to be much troubled about some
thing, often uttering the words "d--n the
thing" and "d--n it.' On the night pre-
ceding their execution they asked for a
dose Of morphene, which was given them,
and they slept soundly through the greater
part Of the night The Rev Father occu-
pied the most Of the morning with them and
in the interum their acquaintances were al
lowed to bid them "good bye" and take their
leave At balfpast eleven O'Clock, on the
morning of the 4th, the Infantry from Fort
Lapwai entered town, and the vehicle that
]
was to convey the prisoners and their guard
to the gallows; approached. At quarter
past II the troops under command of Lieut..
Purdy formed hollow square around the
vehicle, the doors of the Luna house were
thrown open and the prisoners accompanied
by their guard emerged from the front (sim-
ply hand-cufed, and took their seats in the
wagon, each between two guards, when the
order was given aud the cavalcade moved
for the scene of execution. They looked
and acted much the same as upon their trial
before the District Court, with the eXcep-
tiOn Of Howard, (Renton) who hid his face
in his hands for some time as though en-
gagged in prayer Upon nearing the scaf-
fold the military formed square around
the place, aud the prisoners, the sheriff,
his deputy, Hill Beachey, deputy U. S.
Marshall, and two of the guard accompanied
them to the foot of the stairs leading to the
sca1Ioldd Bcnton mounted the steps in a
quick, tripping manner, followed by the
sheriff. Lower next followed with a slow,
steady and firm step, with the appearance OF
as little concern as though threading the
public thoroughtare an unsuspected man
Romaine followed up with an unsteady step
like one laboring under an insupportablc
burden Of mental agony. Chairs were
placed upon the scafold and the prisoners
were soon seated listening attentiyely to the
exhortations of the Minister and the short
prayer customary upon such oceasiops.-
Howard then arose as if to address the au-
dience. Taking hold of the rope that was
soon to pass over his head he held it up and
remarked that it would soon end bis career,
and that it would strauge Gan innocent
man" Calling upon Heaven to witness the
truth Of his protestation, he again asserted
his innocence and said he had nothing more
to say. Lower next stepped forward and
addressed Mr.. Frank Kenyon, yet loud
enough for others to hear He said thaG he
could in five minutes clear both the others,
but insorder to do that he "Would have to
implicate seven other men, one of whom
was dearer to him than life" He asserted
that Page was the one who coneocted and
executed the murders, and that he (Eower)
knew he was murdered man, and that he
was numbering two innocent men-Teferring
to Romaine and Renton; turning to them he
asked them to forgive him. Renton then
dSh6u WHY ut Hdu .uOb UGlOIS uOuC GliS anu
saved them. Lower replied that he could
not and said that he was done and ready for
them to E1aunch the boat" Romano then
attempted to speak, which was difficult
matter, as he was laboring under parox-
ysm, evidently, of fear or anger. He ejacu-
lated finally these words 81 am an inno-
cent man, want you all to distinctly under
stand thata The ropes were now adjusted,
and various suggestions received by the
sheriff and his deputy from the two priso-
ners, Renton and Lower, with regard to the
ropes, etc. Finally Renton asked Beachey
to see that it was all arranged right Ro-
maine took one step forward and addressed
Mr. Beaehey, telling him he "must know
that he (Romaine) was innocent and could
have saved him, he had plenty of time to dc
so,' etc. There is no doubt, from the con-
fesson made some time previous, also from
the tender care received from Mr.. B. and
family, that this wretched man had counted
upon his reprieve up to the last moment Of
his existence Finding all hope gone, the
hangman's moose adjusted around his neck
with eternity staring him in the face, he
was completely overcome and cried like 9