The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1874-04-16
THE CASE OF. R. STRONG, OF llENDoc1No.

cino, as thus far made known to the
public, appears to constitute one OF
those tragedies which rival the utmost
efforts of the romancers, and show that
there is nothing conceivable in fiction
which cannot be paralleled inthe COM
binations of actual life. This man
Strong, as the narrative goes, some
years ago secured tract of land in
Mendocino county, and lived on it with
his wife. He acquired good reputa-
ton among the respectable portion Of
his neighbors, but it seems that he be-
came involved in quarrel with certain
barbarian residents of the vicinity, who
appear to have divided their time pref
ty equally between raising sheep, drink
ing, fighting and committing outrages
upon those who were unfortunate
enough to incur their dislike. To at
tain to that condition, moreover, it was
only necessary to possess property
which was capable of being damaged
by the sheep these ruffians kept, for
they regarded any attempt to fence out
their stock in the light of an ivasion Of
their rights Such was the origin of
the quarrel which they began with
Strong, and it eliminated in his indict-
ment, on perjured testimony, for felo-
nv, his trial, conviction on the same
false evidence, and sentence to the
States Prison for term of years. So
far the story reads like that of Danton
in the Count of Monte Christie, who, it
will be remembered, was torn from the
arms of his betrothed, and consigned
to hopeless prison, by those who en-
We'd him his prosperity and his bride.
The case of Strong, however, has had
amore frightfully tragicclimax than any
thing in the novel. While he was Ian
gushing in. the penitentiary-an hon
est man flung into the midst of one of the
most abandoned gatherings of scoun-
drels on the face of the earth-a shock
ing and mysterious crime occurred in
Mendocino county. The wife of
the imprisoned man was taken from her
house at night by party of disguised
men, forced to mount her horse and
travel some miles into the mountains;
and, after an extended search, her
neighbors, several days subsequently,
found her body, riddled with balls and
gashed with knives, where it had been
bestowed, in the shadow of fall of
water, by her murderers. 1t may be
easily surmised that suspicion had been
aroused at an early period of the trag-
edy. The men upon whose testimony
Strong had been sent to the State Pris-
on were known by the neighbors to be
bad characters, to be at an enmity with
Strong, to possess motives for wishing
him out of the way. They found when
he was gone that his wife was still an
obstacle; that she, like her husband,
was disposed to stand upon her rights
and claim the protection Of the laws.
It is probable enough that they were in
cautious in expressing their opinion,
but however that may be it is certain
that directly the woman disappeared
these men were suspected, and
were from that time forth rigilantly
watched. Thew Joined the neighbors
in the search for Mrs. Strong's remains,
and it was remembered, after the dis
covery, that one Of them had asked the
others. when they were near the actual
place Of concealment, whether the body
vss visible, or something to that effect.
So strong had the eiroumstantial evil
denoe against them become, BY this
time, that il was thought proper 70 pro
cure their arrest, and they nor. he in
~ ew,itjpg trial. The brutality and