The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-09-10
ne WAS 4 yIGaLanTE
Senator Sanders Tells the Story
Of : HaneinR.

the most entertaining takers in the sen
ate, says spec1al correspondent of tn
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. A grou
of gentlemen were sitting in his com
mittee room not long since listenlng +
his tales Of The early history Of Montana
when the mining fever was at its height
The talk turned on the different doings 0
the vigilantes, of which Senator Sander
was leader. "Yes," said the senator, re
respectively, II have assisted in a goot
many send offs when robber or murder
er was launched into another world with.
out the benefit Of the clergy"
"Were you present at the execution Of
the notorious Slade?' asked one of the
gentlemen"
"Yes," replied the Montana senator
"apd could tell you story about that
execution. That was the one instance
where the gentleman whom he assisted in
making his exit was neither thief nor
murderer-or, at least, that was not the
crime for which be. was hung"
"What was his crime?' again asked the
gentleman.
"We executed Mr.. Slade for treason
high treason against the territory of Mon
tana," replied Mr.. Sanders, thoughtfully,
and thereby hangs tale. -
Gas you know was chief of the vigil
lance committee, and we had successfully
engineered about forty or fifty hangings,
when we came imbued with the idea that
little more lawful government would be
to the better interests of our camp, Vir-
ginia City then having about 10000 pop
ulation. So, one evening, we gathered
together on the outskirts of the town in
an informal mass meeting, and proceeded
to choose from among ourselves officers
for our local government. Our organiza-
ton was the simplest thing in the world.
We would turn to one Of our members
and say, You are a square sort of fellow
and we know you to be straight as
string, so you shall be our judge and to
another, You are heavy built chap and
have plenty of grit, and you shall be our
marshall was district attorney because
had a smattering of law, and it was
upon my affidavit that all warrants were
issued. 1t seems strange in these days to
think of constituting court in such an
Off-handed way and without the slightest
vestige of federal authority; but we did it,
and our court was respected by all the
citizens of Virginia City, Mont. That is,
most of them. For time all went well,
but after awhile, when they found that
we were not hanging so frequently as be-
fore, the lawless element grew holder and
more aggressive. 81
The leader of this rough part of our
population was Mr.. Slade. Ihad known
him for long time and we were the best
of friends. He was warm hearted and
a powerful friend to those he liked, but a
perfect devil to those who incurred his
displeasure. have seen him come into
a saloon where perhaps fifty men were en-
gagged in playing billiards, cards, ETC., and
insist that everything should stop and
that they all drink with him. He would
line them all up to the bar and generally
had me next to him. He would raise his
glass with the rest of them, but instead
of drinking with them, would wait until
they had finished, when he would bring
his glass on level with his eye, and
about foot from it, and stare at it with
terrible intentness for two or three min
utes. Then suddenly he would raise the
glass, dash it from him with terrible force |
at the mirror, the floor, the barkeeper or
anything that seemed to strike his fancy.
and draw his revolver and begin shooting
Unfortunately. / would say to him,
sSlade, give ME that pistol and in min
ute he would hand me his gun and quiet
down.
81 suppose have done that same thing
ten or dozen times. / never could un-
derstand him at such times. He was not
after anyone with deadly intent. He
simply seemed to be seized with mad
passion which he could not control. He
was the recognized leader of the touQhs,
and had about dozen satellites always
on hand to do his bidding. A favorite
diversion of theirs was to dash down the
side from their cabin homes.
load up at the first convenient saloon and
proceed to some house of pleasure, all the
Time getting drunken and drunken. In
the morning when the peaceable citizens
got up they would see pile of logs, not
me left standing, and group of SILVER
ing and crying women. This scheme Of
iemolishing houses was the principal
pastime of this lawless crowd.
sOne morning after we had organized
'ur court, news came that Mr.. Slade and
lis chosen friends had spent night at a
iisreputable house, and in the morning
destroyed it as usual. We sent our mar
hal with instructions to arrest slade and
'ring him into court. In due time they
10Th appeared. Slade peaceable enough
md very gentlemanly. After hearing the
'ase the court imposed fine of $25,
which was checrtully paid by defendant,