The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-01-21
ROPE o HER NECK.
scoJieotions Of b Horrible Scene ut the
Hanging of Inez Paria in California.

scoJiections Of the Horrible Scene at The
Hanging Of Inez Paria in California.
sYes, I remember the .lynching Of
Inez Paria in California in 1851" said
Mr.. j. A.. Close, of 706 Second avenue,
to q newspaper reporter. But 1t
isn't true that she robbed q man first.
as I saw published a few days ago.
The woman might not have been quite
all that she ought to have been, but
she never robbed. In 1S49, when 1
was quite young, I left New York and
went to California. That journey was
q different one in those days to what it
is now. We left New York March 16,
1S49, in a ship that a company OF us
owned, and in s~evcnty-two days reached
Rio Janeiro, where we had to stop to
take on fire h water. OF course that
was in a sailing vessel; now a steamer
makes the same trip i'll about twenty
days. We had all read of Robinson
Crusoe and his wonderful adventures,
between Valparaiso and T%alcahuama,
and were very much intel ested when
the first mate Of the vessel pointed out
to us the Island of Juan fernandez,
which, as You know, is where Robinson
Crusoe lived with his man Friday. 1t
took us fifty-two days to double Cape
Horn, and it was 2lO days from the
time we left New York until we reached
San Francisco, then a verv small place.
"At that time there was only one
woman in San Francisco, the wife of a
Spaniard-of course there were lots of
Spaniards-and when she appeared on
the street what reverence was paid to
her!
"But to tell you about the lynching.
It was ut Downeyville, in the Bodie mill
ing district, and in those days there were
no houses, but simply large tents,
where gambling was carried on, and
the man who had a tent had a fortune.
They used to charge an ounce a day for
q table. You know what an ounce is?
No! Well, it was an ounce of gold,
which was worth about $40 or $50. A
man from Tennessee, by the name of
John Craycraft, had a big tent which
was much ~frequented, and in this tent
Inez Paria was employed to deal monte
to the miners, a being more at
tractive than a man. It was monte that
was played and not faro; now don't
put faro in because the game wasn't
there at that time.
1T was either the Sd or 4th of July,
1871 can't remember which now
and the glorious day was being properly
in a patriotic manner by a
drunken revel. About 10 o'clock in the
evening Inez went home, as she wasn't
we'll, leaving her husband, or
husband, in the tent. Inez
went to her home, a little log cabin,
and was followed there by a big, brawny
Scotchman, Of the name Of Cameron.
Cameron made an indecent proposal
10 her, and her hot Spanish blood be-
came infiamed, she seized a knife, and
with one blow laid his breast clean
open, the wound proving almost in
simultaneously fatal. Spaniards, you
Know. are fond of those little dirks,
put this woman used a big knife, a
knife. The cl~annishness of the
Scotch is proverbial, and John Rose, a
scotchman living at Linden, four miles
rom Marysville, was appointed Judge
lynch. The court proceedings didn't
axe long; she had murdered the man,
although, perhaps, she might have
,een justified in doing it, and she had
hang. There was a doctor living at
DR.. Acken, who was very
much respected, and he tried to have
Ter sentence committed by proving she
vas insane. The miners wanted to lynch
him for interfering, and he only saved
lis life by running away.
"There was a bridge over the Yuba
siver leading from Downeyville to
)urgan Flat, and this was selected as
he place of execution. Across the
was laid a plank tied at both
nds with ropes; these ropes were to
'e cut by two men SO as to give her a
fall. Inez was brought on the
smoking a cigarette. Being a
she was resigned to her fate.
like all the Mexican women, she wore
short dress, reaching just above her
mikes, and a straw hat with a lot OF
By ribbon we understand a
arrow band, but the Mex;cans wear
hem so as to make a kind of turban.
When everything was ready a pistol
7as fired, and the man at one end cut
is rope, but the other, either through
ervousness or pity, didn't do his work,
nd Inez hung the Q, making desperate
to save herself. It was o hor-
ible sight, and the spectators on the
anks cried "shame!" This nerved the
ian to do his work, the ak cleaned in
he all, came down on the rope, sever