The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-01-02
v-IGrLANTEs.
Row Law and Order were Occurred ON tn,
Frontier Twenty Years Avn.

on the continent. It is only twenty-five years
since the frst-named Observation-Disclosures
settled, and it is to- lay Q well-organized, civi.
hzsd and prosperous community. The 'IAnd
of the Silver Bow as the Indian name means,
has had q wonderfully checkered history, and
We propose to turn . few of its leaves for ouI
readers.
Montana had An early era Of pioneer peace,
turbulent era Of terrorism, . swift and com,
bative era, when the order-loving element
rebelled, organized and in . short time hanged
no less than twenty-four criminals, and an era
of subsequent social safety. Itw was in the year
1862 that gold discoveries ON the Salmon Rivol
led hundreds Of hardy mountaineers from Wa
satch Mountains and the steep Colorado n
vines. Other discoveries were soon made neal
Deer Lodge and at Beaver Head Camp. Itwa
. motley crew that assembled at the new dig.
gings. There were hundreds from Californis
and Oregon, where the surface placers were In
the last stages OF exhaustion; others came By
way Of Fort Hall and Snake River. Trappers
drlfted In from the fastnesscs of The Rockies.
There were even Mexicans from Santa Fe and
French yoyaKeurs from the Red River country
among the early Montana miners, Before the
close OF 1862 large parties arrived from Mime.
sofa and other western states.
The almoat-uA9Meetiono5 nlo-whtchAAa
Plummer, Reeves, Moore and Skinner gang Of
outlaws maintained for months in the early
days of the Bannock and Virgins City settle.
ments finds hardly = parallel in mountain his
tory. The time Just after the stampede to al.
der Gulch, in June, 1863. was when they mades
most imposing display, Plummer being sheri1
and the administration Of justice being in their
hands, while in secret they had 4 road agent
band, with officers, spies and complete organi.
cation. They kept I'll the roads through the
territory and all the mountain trails under
close watch, SO that miners or other persons
with money were robbed and murdered by the
dozen, stages overhauled and the region terror.
lied They went on sprees and tpaintedth b
o scarlet" whenever they chose, breaking
into stores, firing at, wounding or killing men
who were obnoxious to them, killing Indians.
and in some cases massacreing the inhabitants
of an entire Indian settlement. Their agents
and spies ultimately completed . system Of
which, to quote from pimsdale's book on the
.svigilantes, published at Virginia City, Mon,
and coaches were marked in some understood
manner to designate them as ct objects fol
plunder." Their arms were q pair Of reyol.
vers, . shotgun with shortened barrels, and .
large knife; they were mounted on the best Of
horses and disguised with masks. There were
men among these desperadoes who confessed
to having committed from five to twelve mur.
ders; men who have been notorious criminals
in California, Louisiana or Missouri; there
WoAc GlAOp 6Aoo WIlO5 fllNG6,sD olOI0 Sll0y C81uU W
to Montana, had been in every way respectable
and Woodworking.
There was no more atrocious crime committed
during the lawless era than the murder Of the
deseryedly one Of the most popular men ID
the Territory, . merchant of Lewiston, Idaho,
who had come to Virginia City, Mon, early In
1868 with q pack train Of goods which he soon
sold out, realizing about $4,000, and with this
four friends-Allen, the two Chalmers and
Phillips. The Plummer band Of road agents
held . council and decided to kill the entire
party and obtain the money. Four member
Lowrie, offered their services to Massruder,
who had = number Of horses he was taking 70
Lewiston, and they were treated with the
greatest kindness. When the party was near
the Clearwater the murderers did their fatal
and Mngruder while watching his horses on
the hillside. With that strange idiocy which 10
often accompanies crimes they afterwards rodo
Magruder's horses throughLewistoD, whersthe
marshal then followed them % California and
arrested all four; one turned States evidence,
and three were hanged. Crimes like this led
to the Simultaneous formation Of vigilante
in . few days their rapid, mastery and law
defending league extended over the entire
Territory. On January IA, 1864, no less than
five of the leading desperadoes of the Terri
were executed in Virginia City, and the hate
tnl rule Of crime was broken, for only four
days previously, at Bannock City, three o.
The leaders of the road agents had met the
same fate. The rapidity with which the Wig
ilantes got In their work Is startlingly shown
~ the dates Of the principal executions.
One hanging occurred on December u, 1868
two on January I, 1854, three on January19,
two on January II, five on January II, one on
January 16, one onJanuary 10, one on January
"a, four on January25 and one on January
DH AL IL 10 n nat ~ N.nltavvAI as 1S-1 r $50 A----
who has investigated the subject TINT in {
single instance the vigilantes abused their
power. Tho execution of ssB1l Hunter,
FEBRUARY 3, 1854, on = lonely trail near the
ton Of the defiant and powerful ..Road Agent
organization. For three months, in the
depths OF winter, and under extraordinary diff
fculties, the small but determined band Of
vigilantes, supported by the iongterrorized
sued the criminals unrelentlessly, fought
them, captured them, tried them, and hanged
them. The safety Of Montana was thus se-
cured.
Individual cases Of crime continued to occur
and were punished by the still viligant organi-
cation Of Moptana citizens. In the summer Of
1854 at Nayada City q man named Brady
was hanged in the presence of sob
persons, and one Kelly, Who received fifty
. few months later on Snake River and WA
hanged. In September, 1864, the miners code.
which looks upon the theft Of gold dust - !
crime almost equal to murder, received an IL
Illustration In the hanging of q man named Do.
Ian for robbing q miner OF some 500 in mug.
gets. Parties Of vigilantes from Highland,
Pint Grove and . dozen other camps assem-
bled, and at night, on a hill near Nevada City,
5000 people saw the execution. About this
time o man named Rawley, On old member Of
PlnnmersE gang, attempted to reorganixe q
band of robbers and was arrested, when 30
much crime was proved against him that he
was hanged at Bannock in September. These 1
events cleared the social atmosphere in thu
southern part Of the Territory. but crime -four
ished for . while in the ssPrickly Pear Valley
where Helena now stands, a point some 1t
miles from Virginia City and 4 booming camp. 1
ganize here, hanged several murderer,
and before the close Of 1865 had mad
older %o%muh atsssfs Il vs = &c asss summer u u
outlaws, and . gang Of desperadoes attempted
to fire Virginia City, but were fooled. The Wig
lance committee, which had long before dis
banded, was ut once called together. On JulA
IL the horrible portnenf tragedy occurred; The
was attacked, robbed of $65, 600, and four pas-
sengers were killed and several more wounded
One of the road agents was afterward captured
and executed. Several criminals were hanged
BY the beginning Of 1858 all necessity forits
existence had PASSED. Like the famous yigi-
lante Organization OF California it had been
called upon twice, and twice had done the
work that was needed as q truly representative
body Of determined citizens who did not take
the law into their own hands until no other
course seemed possible.
Rev. Harrison Daniels, 4 we'll known
Baptist clergyman, died in Boston Sum
day, at the g Of seventy. He had
been forty years in the ministry, most
OF the time in Brockton, Leroy and 9th.
or places in western New York. Hi