, 1864-12-05
Correspondence Of the Chicago Tribunc.1
y1rors1A CRY, Idaho, {all1s
MONTANA TEnsT,) Aug 1G, 1861 (

CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN IDAHO.
1.-The po"ars that be are ordained Of God" f"
whatever form they assume. And so long as
the rule IT'S terror to o7il-doers, and for q
praise to them that do we1l,' u - whnsedE re-.
,, sistcth the power rcsistcth the ordinance ot
God" But when. all forms Of government
are wanting, there being no channels through
which they eau flow. the civil powers return
nto their ocean home, the popular breast
Hence, when dec. Goth lnst) one thousand
minersmct in the streets Of Nevada CitJ, and
acted upon case of clear, coo,, daylight
murder, by hanging George Ives by the
neck. it was civil government in its simplest
form; e. the powers that be, -" ordained Of
God" Ecactipg upon crime.
Idaho was then as large as seven States Of
New York. The Governor (1Vallace) was west
Of the Rocky Mountains, and it was winter
upon submits where summer never melts Oft
the 6now. There were no courts east OF the
mountains, but little " miners courts" )" with
ont records, and without definite jurisdiction,
ind the condition Of the infant gulch cities
can be seen by brief glance at their origin.
few struggling settlements bad been pushed
into Deer Lodge and Bitterroot Valleys, west
Of the Rocky Mountains. In these md at
"Prickly Pear" then the only settlements
in this vast territory, gold had alreauy been
found in small quantities. But in August Of
TINT year QsGD five men found gold in aston
C1eek.S tributary Of the Jefferson Fork''
Of the Missouri River. These gold discoveries
drew some three thousand men into that val
ley as magnet iron filings; and about eight
hundred Of the three thousand Immediately
settled and built mp what Is now East Ban
mock, or Bannock City.
In May following (186S}, only year and
southern tributary Of Jefferson Fork, and
seventy miles east Of Bannock. Theee
new HPlacer Hfines',. were called from m
Indian word, "The Sinking Water Mines"
Is these at bannock had been called " The
Beaver head" In one short month, large
part Of the people at Bannock Whose mines
we're local and fimited) with crowds Of gold
pilgrims, secessionlsts and men made dcspeT-
ate By the crimes and sutfeTings Of war on
The Kansas border, came and built the cabins
which formed what they called, after the
wife Of Jefferson Davis, "Varona." but their
st Connecticut trntaefs man na;ne 70
title Of "stinkfng Water; but this
,too. smelling badly, it was also soon
exchanged for g. Virginia City," the present
name Of town of at least one thousand
cabins. Other clusters Of cabins :: dSRn % the
cities. but these are almost continuous row
of human dwellings. =:
" AMONG these iniant communities, talent
cd wretch named Plummcr, who Was ring.
leader of q gang Of robbers and murderers, got
himself acknowledged us Territorial Sheriff,
and being q sort Of sole executive, he gaTe as
s1,rancc Of 1mpunity to his associates In crime.
This was only Last fau and winter. It was
a mfllcnium of rogues! They robbed
stages. They robbed miners, and finding one
poor fellow who had but fifty cents By him,
swore in q Joke, which however was Serious
enough towards its object, that they would
kill him if they eyer caught him out with SO
little. One Of them: shot man from Ills
horse in OPEN day, with buckshot from two
barrels, but these NOT killing him, he finished
him with his revolver. Tns corpse lay where
it fell, but the teams which passed. hurried by
in silence, and not word was said!
Soon after, George Ives shot q man to get
his mules, which he took, and one
hundred and fifty dollars from bis person
At length even gold hunters stood still as
stunned by shcse terrible Shocks Twenty;
men went and took Ives with no warrant but:
tlat sdlrectly from the. Almighty, - Thou
sln!t take no satisfaction for the life Of q muir
derer. but thou shalt take him, from mine
altar that he may dc" Ives was one Of this
gnng who shaved their beard and wore SINH
lar neckties for mutual recognition, and his
arrest put the whole question upon issue