Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-10-05
BRATTLEBORO, FRIDAY, OCTOBER

The proceedings opened late in the after
noon, but not much progress had been made
by nightfall As the people could not be
asked to abandon their usual vocations for
any length Of time, il was evident that some
thing must be done to prevent tedious spin.
ming out Of the defence. When the great
court reassembled the following day, there
fore. all concerned we're notified that the pro-
ceedings must close at three p. NJ. Two ali
bis were produced in favor of Ives but
"Long John" turned States evidence and the
prisoner was shown to be both a robber and
a murderer. The testimony implicated 9TH
ers,-so that some who had come bent on
fighting for Ives deemed il prudent 10 with
draw. The defence laborod long and with
ability Colonel Sanders delivered q strong
closing argument for the government" and
the jury returned with their verdict Of Gull
ty" after less than half an hours deliberation,
one man evading his responsibility by not
voting. This verdict did not settle the fate Of
Ives, for the action Of the twenty. three jurors
had still to be ratified by the people. Whether
the law. aud order element among that mixed
assemblage Of men was strong enough to re-
tain the partial victory achieved was yet TO be
determined. The motion that "the report of
the committee Oury) be accepted and it be
discharged from further consideration Of the
case" was unavailingly opposed by Mr.. Thur
mond of thu prisoners counsel. Then came
the test motion, THAT the assembly adopt
as their verdict the report Of the committee"
and Msssrs Thurmond and Wood talked
against the proposition but it was adopted,
the vote showing that only about one hundred
men were ready to side openly with the pris
oner. Colonel Sanders wisely pushed his ad
vantage, for previous events had proved that
delays were fatal to the cause of justice. He
briefly reviewed the proceedings, and moved
That George Ives be forthwith hanged by
the neck until he is dead The friends of
Ives were equally alive to the necessity for
procuring some pTocrastination of these quite
too summary dongs, and several OF the pris-
Oner's pals pressed to his side, where they
mingled their tears with those of the counsel,
who protested against thus hurrying mau
into eternity. As last resort, Ives himself
spoke. He was a winsome fellow of but
twenty seven, handsome, athletic, and a crack
shot. He pleaded for time in which to pre-
pare for the dreadful event, and hoping that
Plummer would come over from Bannock
during the night, he pledged his word that no
rescue should be attempted. The prisoner
had grasped the hand of Col Sanders in the
urgency OF his Distress aud the effect of his
words was visible in the wavering purpose OF
the throng, when a miner in the crowd made
tho decisive speech Of that day "Ask him
hOn much time he gaUe tie Dutchmdn ~
Quick as a flash came back to every mind
the whole horrid business, and the execution
of the murderer was at once demanded by
popular vote.
Night had now fallen, but the moon shone
out brilliantly enough to illuminate the sub
sequent proceedings The armed guard pro
ceeded with their prisoner to an unfinished
building and he was mounted on dry goods
box At the words 'Men, do your duty :"
ha c1iob Of h. gba ont IA nm,
ominous warning against any attempt at res
cue the box was kicked out, and Ives, the
pet of the road.agents, fell There was no
struggle his rigid body swayed as the rope
recovered from the strain Of the drop, aud
when the moonlight fell upon the young face
| it was white and drawn in death.
So much detail has seemed necessary to ac-
| quaint the reader with the circumstances
which brought into being the Vigilantes Of
| Montana. The community had found its
courage, and from that hour the doom of the
road agents was certain. Hlderman was ban
ished, and the testimony given by Long
John" saved his own neck. The good men of
Virginia City aud Nevada not long after form
ed the famous Vigilance committee and retrl-
button travelled fast Public sentiment had
been a good deal prepared for summary &C
| ton by the peculiarly atrocious murder in the
| previous summer Of train composed of five
men, among them Lloyd Magrauder, a candi
date for delegate to Congress, aud citizens
were pledged to rid the world of Plummer
and his band.
The formal campaign was begun on the 23d
| of December, when a company of tventy-four
men, armed each with a revolver or shot gun,
and supplied with blankets, an insufficient
| quantity OF provisions, and some rope, set out
| to find Aleck Carter, an accomphoe in the
murder of Tbalt. A rule of the committee
forbade the use of liquor; and this strikingly
| evidenced their sober purpose, for whiskey is
the current coin and amelioratng medium of
| the New West. The horsemen crossed a di-
vide in the main range Of the Rocky noun
tains, and camped in the snow without fire,
which would have betrayed them. They met
| Erastus Wager, au emissary of the road agents,
then unknown, who related a false story to
| the effect that Carter aud others were lying
| drunk at Cottonwood The robbers were no t
! found there, for Nager had carried them the
warning, Get up aud dust aud lie low for
black ducks"
The disappointed citizens took up their toll
some Journey toward Nevada, bent on captur.
| ing Yager, otherwise known as Red" a
name derived from his fiery .hued hair and
whiskers. That night proved memorable in
the experiences of the Vigilance committee
A rowing "blizzsrd" fell on the campers like
a sneak thief; the snow-hakes fell with a
steadily increasing celebrity that discouraged
and extinguished the mocking fires of sage
| br1sh, the cold grew more bitter, the wind
howled defiant scorn at the human beings
who huddled close together under the snow.
When morning dawned, the victims tumbled
out from under their blankets of snow, nearly
all bearing scars from this battle with nature,
though none had sustained fatal injuries. 1t
was found that some of the horses, true to
- I.1 20 v..N
ed to distant canon. These must be brought
back but amid all these discouragements
the determination of the party suffered no
| abatement.
A ranchman gave information that RED
was snow bound at RAttlesnake, twenty miles
off, and volunteers started after him. A road.
agent lieutenant was met on the way, who
galloped of to Plummer, bearing the concise
and prophetic message that Hell was to
pay" Yager was arrested and with him one
Brown, secretary of the road-agents and au.
thor of the warning message carried by va
ger. Both were sentenced TO death by a
unanimous vote, for the committee of safety
had now taken the law into their own hands
they made justice expeditions, and the trial OF
Ives had assured them Of popular sympathy
and support.
During the night ''Red" volunteered CON
fession. 1t ran in this wise: "You have
treated me like gentlemen, and l know
that am going to be hanged it is pretty
rough, but merited it years ago. know
all about the gang, and there arc men in il
who deserve hanging more than do"
The doomed man then disclosed the road
agent organization. The members shaved
down to the moustache and ohin-whiskers
and wore necktie fastened with sailor'i
knot their password was innocent. Mex
to Plummer in command was Bill Bunton
The road-agents or highwaymen were Cyrus
Skinner George Ives, Steve Marshland
Dutch John Wagner, Aleok Carter, Whiskey
Bill Graves, George Shears Johnny Cooper
Mexican Frank, Bob Zachary, Boon Helm
Club-Foot George Lane, Haze Lyons, Bill
Hunter, George Lowry, Billy Page, Doc How
ard, Jem Romaine, Billy Terwilliger, and Gao
Moore. Ned Ray kept the secret headquar
ters, or council room" at Bannock City.
The second double execution of road
agents was carried out at night by the light o
a lantern. The party took their prisoners be
hind Loraine's ranch to trees which grew
along the water.course. Two ropes wer
quickly fastened to convenient branches, ant
drop was improvised with two stools, on
placed upon the other. Brown wept oopious
ly, and prayed heaven to care for his wifi
! and family in Minnesota, which was NOR
than he had done. But Ysger accepted tn
: situation calmly, and said reprovingly to hi