Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1891-05-01
SOLDIERS BROKE LOOSE.
They Lynch the Gambler Whe
Shot PriUate Miller.


WALLA WALLA, April 25.-Last eve
ming at 9:l5, Hunt, the slayer of Private
Miller, was lynched by soldiers of the
garrison and fell in the courthouse yard
riddled with bullets. four of which enter
ed his head.
Early in the evening Sheriff McFar-
land received intelligence that an at
tempt would be made to lynch Hunt.
and he, in company with Prosecuting
Attorney B Blandford, repaired to the
garrison and told Colonel Compton what
they feared, and asked him to assist
them all he could, which he promised to
do by having check rolls called after
taps at ] | o'clock.
The sheriff then returned and engaged
number of extra guards, but all of
whom had not arrived when mob Of
sixty or seventy soldiers demanded the
officers to open the doors of the Jail,
which was refused, and they at once be-
gan to work with hammer and chisel to
break in. Again they demanded ad-
mittance, and said they would give
those inside half minute to open, when
they would blow up the courthousewith
dynamite.
Further resistance then being useless
the doors were opened and the thirty or
forty cooked revolvers were leveled at
the heads of all inside and the keys to
the cells demanded. which were given
them, and when Hunts cell WIS shown
them they quickly took him out into
the courthouse yard and about thirty
shots were fired, some of them presum-
ably into the air.
The plans of the soldiers were care
fully laid, as sentinels were posted at
all streets approaching the courthouse,
and with cooked carbnes in their hands
they halted every passer. by and compel
led them to retrace their steps under
threats of instant death.
Even the telephone wire to the garri-
son was cut, rendering quick commun-
ication with the officers impossible.
After the shooting had stopped the
soldiers ran off, and Hunt was found
dead within fifty feet of the courthouse
door, The people who heard the shots
knew what had happened, as threats to
lynch Hunt were heard for the past
forty eight hours, and in few minutes
1000 people had congregated-women
with white faces, scared nearly unto
death and weeping with excitement,a and
to make the confusion still worse, the
fire bell began ringing, which rapidly
increased the already large crowd.
1t will be very difficult to single out
any one or two men as objects for pun
ishment, though not over one-half of
them were masked.
The excitement had quieted consider
ably at midnight.
The coroner's jury examined Sheriff
Mcfarland. Deputy Sheriff Colonel Colt
and Thomas Mosgrove. who testified as
stated above. The jury, after deliber-
alton, rendered verdict which was, in
substance:
eve find that Hunt came to his death
by sixteen gunshot wounds inflicted at
the hands of mob, from the descrip-
ton of their clothes supposed to be SOL
diers, but no particlar person could be
named; also that the sheriff used every
precaution in his power to protect the
prisoner"
The origin of the trouble was that
Hunt told Miller "the First Cavalry is
made up of s. of b--s." Miller
said: 81 am First cavalryman. Does
that apply to me-" Hunt then shot him
and he has since died. For our part we
think the soldiers did just right. They
are American citizens, and there are
just as good men in the army and in the
First cavalry as there are outside of it,
and they are as much entitled to be
spoken of and treated with respect as
! any other class of citizens. The First
Cavalry naturally resented being classi-
fed under one insulting epithet, and
after their comrade had been wantonly
shot they were bound to have the scalp
| of his murderer. We feel like hurrah-
ing for the First Cavalry for acting as
| thew did