Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-12-26
A HARD TOWN.
The Reign Of Terror Over Again
In IL Montana Town.

in IL Montana Town.
In 1868 Eastern Idaho-now Montana
was cursed with one of the best organized
bands of murderers that ever infested q
new region in the West. The Sheriff and
his deputies were the leaders Of the gang,
and men were shot down and robbed
in the most wanton manner. Finally the
business men and miners of Virginia and
Nevada City on Alder Gulch formed a
Safety Committee as if by magic. Then
the hanging commenced. Thirty-five cut
throats, including the Sheriff and all his
deputies, were swung into eternity, Il
for nearly twenty years Montana has been
free of desperadoes. The Territory, how
ever, has entered a new era Of prosperity,
and is again becoming the rendezvous of
men who cannot be dealt with by law.
Hence the people are required to take the
law into their own hands. Weeksville
appears to be the hotbed of the villains,
and that is where the recent shooting and
hanging occurred, reported briefly by tel
egraph. The Missouia papers have the
following account of the affair:
Pretty rough stories are told of the state
of affairs at Weeksville. 1t il said that
many of the inhabitants are so thoroughly
cowed that if a man was being murdered
on their very doorsteps they would not go
to his assistance lest an accomplish murder
them also. One story is to The effect that
q short time since two men heard a cry of
murder, and, on looking out of the win
dow, saw three men leave a pile of ties
and come toward them. One of them
made the remark, Il have q notion to go
hack and finIllt tho IN nf q h-h ~ and
he went back, and they heard the report of
a pistol, when the other two ran off. The
next morning a pool of blood was found
there and signs of a scuffle-but that was
all. Not long since a man was knocked
down in front of a business house and
'rolled." One of his assailants asked the
question, Have you got the money? 7"
"No," replied his companion. "Well, I'm
id if l have" And they went off, each
accusing the other Of trying to beat him
out of his share Of the profits. The voice
of 'Dick the Diver" vas recognized rs one
of the parties. Dick was made to suffer
for this and other crimes on the night of
the 5th inst.-two weeks ago last night.
The business men and others at Weeks
vile had previously held a mass meeting
to take steps to rid the own of its des-
perate characters. 1t is reported that people
were afraid to so to the town so certain
were they of being robbed of their money
and perhaps murdered. At the mass
meeting the citizens announced their de-
termination to clean out the desperadoes
at any hazard, restore order, and make it
possible for people to come and go without
danger of their lives. On the evening
above mentioned a crowd of some 70 or 80
Dick the Diver, to enact the
first scene in the new era of law, order and
reform. The desperate, for the first time
realizing that life is short-that the full
ness of the winter of discomfort was upon
him, appealed p~iteously for mercy and
completely broke down. But the mob re-
fused to listen to his supplications for a
moment, and made hssty preparations for
the execution. However, the doomed man
clicked up such a racket" and made so
much disturbance that he was shot through
the back, and a few moments afterward he
was dangling at the end of q rope-his
career of pillage, robbery and murder are at
an end. The cut-throats have lost a valu-
able ally and hell is the gamer.