Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-03-17
Terrible Experience.

second act In a terrible drama. Dur
ing the Summer of 1865 Mr.. Strong
and his wife came across the plains in
their own conveyance, and settled in
Amador county. They were plain peo-
pie, accustomed to farming life, and
therefOte avoided cities, and as a
matter of choice resided in the coun-
! try. For year or more the couple
lived on a dairy ranch. In 1868 Mr..
Strong secured by pre-emption a
ranch of 200 acres i'm Mendocino county
about forty miles from Ukiah, between
Sherwood and Long Valley, on what
is known as the Sherwood Ridge.
Here the couple lived in calm content
ment for few years, and succeeded in
clearing out the underground and
creating a bright and beautiful home.
In an evil hour, two men named Giger
and Alexander, stock-raisers, appeared
on the scene, locating near the Strong
ranch. Giger and Alexander were
selfish, grasping men, who were bent
on the acquisition of wealth and spared
no one who happened to stand in their
way. These men cast enviOus chances
at the Strong ranch and finally APP
preached Mr.. Strong and expressed o
desire to purchase his land. He de-
clined to sell the ranch at any figure,
saying that his wife and himself were
| getting advanced in life, each being
over fifty years of age, and did not care
about roaming about the country
any more. Subsequently Mr. Strong
! obtained hold on the land adjoining
| his premises, to the annoyance of
| Giger and Alexander, who had been
watching an opportunity to secure the
same tract. Giger and Alexander re-
peatedly approached Strong and Of
fered to purchase his ranch, and upon
| his refusal to sell out they uttered
threats of vengeance. They vowed he
must accede to their terms or flee from
the country. Strong paid little heed
| to the threats of these men, and mani
tested disposition to pursne the even
tenor of his way. But Giger and Alex
ander determined not to be banked of
their game. They conceived hellish
plot to ruin Strong and Immediately
carried it into execution. A cow was
slaughtered in clump of trees about a
mile from StrOng's house. The car
cass of the animal was found at point
where Strong was in the habit of get
ting out rails, pickets and posts for use
at the ranch, and at the very time he
was engaged in hauling lumber from
the clump. Giger and Alexander
charged Strong with the crime and
succeeded in creating strong feeling
against him among his neighbOrs. A
mob finally came to his house and ar
rested him without the formality of
legal proceedings. While on the way
to Ukiah, Mr.. Strong escaped from the
gang of men who had him in custody,
and retu rned to his ranch. He then
wrote to the nearest constable that he
would surrender himself upon the pro-
duction of warrant. The arrest was
made in due form and Mr.. Strong was
held to answer In the sum of $500. He
was afterwards indicted, tried, con-
victed on the testimony Of Giger and
Alexander, and sentenced to imprison-
ment for five years in the State Prison.
whittier he was sent on the 18th of
July, 1873.
Having effectually disposed of the
head of the household, Giger and Alex
ander turned their attention to Mrs.
Strong. She was found dead in deep
gorge three miles from her house on
the 2Sth of February. The fiends had
shot her through the back and left
side of the head, the ball passing
through and fracturing the skull over
the right eye, remaining just under the
frontal bone. She was attired in a
night dress, calico wrapper, shoes and
stockings. The body had been con-
cealed in a creek and weighed down
with stones. The discovery intensified
the excitement caused by the mysteri-
Gus disappearance of Mrs. Strong, a
few days previous, and speculations as
to the murderers occupied the minds
of the people. Suspicion pointed to
Giger and Alexander as the guilty per-
sons and soon enough evidence was pro-
cured to warrant the arrest the men.
Slowly the chain of circumstantial
evidence has unwound itself, until at
present writing Giger and Alexander
have been placed in q position from
which escape seems impossible. The
plot to dispose of Strong, the charge
against him and his imprisonment,
and the cruel death of Mrs. Strong, are
all recorded against Giger and Alex
ander, and proof in support thereof is
not wanting. The people of MendO-
elmo, convinced that Mr.. Strong has
been the victim of relentless persecu-
ton, have framed petition to Cover
nor Booth for the pardon of Strong,
and the entire sentiment of the COM
munity in which he resided is favor
able to the release of the prisoner at
the earliest moment. A few days
since reporter of the Bulletin called
upon Strong at the State Prison, and
obtained from him the main features
of this narrative. The convict has the
appearance and manners of an honest
farmer and man of the very best in
stincts. He is over fifty years of age,
and bears the traces of a life of active
labor in the open air. His address is
pleasant, however, and he creates
favorable impression among officers
and conyicts. His behavior has been
unexceptiOnable since he entered the
prison, and the officers, since the cor
roboration of his story, do not hesitate
to say that he ought never to have
been sent there. The reader must ad-
nit that the experience of the Strongs
is invested with a dramatic interest
that is seldom known in any series of
To- 70 IN, ttfo