Omaha daily bee., 1883-10-24
A SCRAP OF HISTORY.
Description Of a Surprise Party Given
in Laramie Fifteen Vars Ago,
The NigilautCs nnd Their Fight
With the Disqualification
Men Hung.

bsIaUulc bOOultVsHS'
October Is, 1868, will be remembered
by all the old pioneers of Laramie as
most momentous II i'll her history
Fifteen years ago the moral element o
the then little frontier town asserted itsel
aud four human lives were offered up on
the altar of law and order, with mos
gratifying results. At that time Their,
was no such thing as law-at least, nt
such thing rs what we nov term law-it
Laramie. Men settled their dinlcultle.
by resorting to the rev liver or knife, anC
i'll those personal hand-to-haud enSoun
tiers the victors were usually the heroes
of the hour-the victims were hurried
under the ground and no questions asked.
Robbery and garrotlng were of daily
occurrence aud murder not uufre.
queut. There gradually arose in the
minds of the better portion of the
people "A feeling OF uuelsiness and fcar
for their safety. Steps were soon taken
to organize n vigilance committee, and
the first organization If thus character
was perfected III August, and numbered
at this time only twenty members. la
the new city directory which will make
its appearance next week, We find, under
the head of Early history" u well-wrlt-
ten description of the work of this and a
subsequently organized committee, to.
gether with u graphic pen picture of the
fight with the desperadoes and subse.
quent lynching of four Of their number.
October Is, lS6S-tifteen years Z TO
day. From advance sheets of this forth
coming work, kindly furnished us by the
compilers, Messrs. Garrett Il Morgan,
We make the following extracts:
There were a few worthy and very
cation, but its only substantial fruit was
the hanging of n young IN IN called kid"
during the last days Of August, in the
building occupied as a residence for some
years afterward by our worthy townsman
John keene. But the hanging Of this
miserable, Insignificant creature created
an excitement among the roughs, and
they at once organized thoroughly-not
only for resistance, but for aggressive
movement. They boasted of their
strength, and threatened all who dared
to complain of their misdeeds with ven
geance dire! Among the leaders of the
iohSiS may NC ultllJlolltu S'l "tS'tI.
Asa Moore, Big Ned, Sam Dugan, Tiger
Bill, Morris kohn and Dave Mullen.
Their organization and the d ally crimes
finally united all the better elements of
our society, and in a very short time a
new vigilance committee was formed,
numbering 800 to 500 men. They were
thoroughly organized and otficered by
resolute, cool-head.d men These men
were all thoroughly armed, and on the
night of the 18th of October, 1S6S-a
day long to be remembered by the old
residents OF Laramie-this committee
met at an appointed place Oh the west
side of the railroad track, in the city,
and divided into squads and proceeded to
different parts of the town. IT,
was the intention to make Il descent at
precisely the same moment on all the
more pr minent gambling helis in the
town, and take out, without any greatdis-
turbance some Of the most noted murder
ers and robbers, and quietly hang them
before their companions could rally s,tii
cient force to Rescue them. But fate had
ordained otherwise. The squad If men
assigned to the dance house known as the
''Be.le of the West" gathered around the
doors of the same brilliantly lighted
hall filled with dancers. Gaudily dressed
women, gamblers and desperadoes were
whirling through the intricate mazes of
the dance, their nimble feet keeping
time to sweet music, which tloated III
rssishing strains upon the evening air,
and ever and anon "a burst of merrlment
would fill the room, in which were min.
gled the silvery dulcet tones of woman's
voice, flair, though rail, yet woman
STILL The saturIalian festival was at
its height when IA pistol shot, loud and
clear, rang out upou the night air. This
shot was the signal for Il simultaneous at
tack at several points in the town, but
owing to some undue excitement with
this part of the committee, the signal
was premature, and the attack vas made
at this point only. But at the signal, u
a shout, IA rush, and all was confusion.
The roughs, being well armed, resisted the
attack of the vigIlantes with desperation,
and fought like tigers driven to bay.
What "a scene was there, where but n
few minutes before all was gaIty. The
sweet strains of melody were hushed and
in their stead came harsh, dlscOrdant
sounds, tumultuous, wild and prophetic
of doom to the desperate. For ii teen
minutes the sharp crack from The deadly
revolvers made music to the weeping aud
wailing of the women, and the shouts
and muttered curses of the men. The
smoke from the pistols gathered j" a
cloud, and hung Ikea pail over the heads
of the doomed, AS If o shut out FROM the
sight of the angels the dark scene below,
The roughs were overpo~ered, and the re-
suits were three men kIlled-one of the
committee, onea memberofthe band "fmu.
sit, and II u noted desperado-tnd about
hfteenmen wounded some quite seriously
and three of tie leading roughs, Con.
Wagner, Asa Moore and Big Ned were
taken from the place and hung at the
same place where the KID" was hung in
August. About sunrise the next morn,
ing Big Steve, another noted robber and
murderer, was captured and hung to 4