The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-12-28
CADOTTE HAS GONE
The Murderer of Grandchsmps Exc
cuted at Fort Benton.
HIS WAS A DEED OF PASSION
He Declares That There Was No
Woman Involved In the Cause
of the Shooting-History
of the Crime.
HIS WAS A DEED OF PASSION

ais, NOnt., Lee. ia spt-
cial to the Standard office from Fort
Benton, says: Joseph Cadotte was
hanged here this morning. Sheriff Nc
Laughlin pulling the lever that sent the
quarterbreed into eternity at 1910 a.
m. The prisoner was brought to the
place of execution, space fenced in
back of the court house and Jail Just
before the execution, Father Fallet
was with the prisoner and prepared
him for the tragic end. He accom-
panied him to the place of execution,
where were present representatives Of
the Standard, Great Falls Tribune.
Helena Herald, Sheriff Zimmerman of
Teton county, Sheriff Willis of Valley
county, DIR. Atkisson, and few private
citizens and assistants of the sheriff
The prisoner preserved his nerve till
the last.
On being brought on the ground of
execution he appeared, for the moment
the most composed man in the crowd.
Sheriff Mclaughlin asked him If he had
anything to say. He replied, making a
short speech to the crowd, during
which he took occasion to say that the
press had intimated that the cause of
the murder was a woman. This was
a mistake, and without foundation. 1t
was a deed solely of passion. He babe
goodbye to the crowd and shook hands
with Frank Camp, who had acted as
the death watch. Father Fallett, who
stood beside him, handed him a cruel
fix, which he kissed, and the black
hood was pulled over his head, and the
rope was adjusted around his neck
with the knot to the left side. The
prisoner stood on the ground and at
the end Of the rope was weight of
window iron weighing 400 pounds.
he IF laxyar NV Charfff
Mclaughlin jerked the prisoner from
the ground about three feet. DIR. At
kisson at once placed his ear to the
breast of the man suspended in mid-air
while he grasped the mans wrist with
his hand. The first jerk undoubtedly
ended all sensation, breaking the neck
For two or three minutes there was not
a motion of the body; then came a few
muscular contractions. In six minutes
after the trap was sprung, the attend
ing physician found the pulse ceased to
beat, and after IL minutes all signs of
life ceased. The rope was cut and the
body lowered into a coffin without re-
moving the black cap from the fea-
lures. Friends who were in attendance
removed the body and buried II in the
graveyard at Fort Benton.
Every detail of the execution was
carried out with the utmost exactitude
and Sheriff Mclaughlin is entitled to
mucn CreOlt TOT tne metnOOlCdl ana
successful manner which he carried
out the sentence OF the law. The opin-
ion of citizens of Fort Benton is that
the condemned man told the truth
when he said that there was no woman
scrape involved in the shooting, and 1t
was merely quarrel over money
which caused the tragedy.
This is the second hanging in Fort
Benton, and the general verdict of the
populace is that justice was served by
execution in both instances. The form
of execution used is different from
that in most states; instead of drop
ping the prisoner through trap door,
he is placed on the ground and jerked
off his feet by a heavy weight attached
to the end of the rope, In this particu-
lar instance the neck was undoubtedly
broken with the first jerk and the last
sign of life disappeared in IL minutes
a much shorter time than usual on
such occasions.
The crime for which Cadotte was exc
cuted was the deliberate murder of
Oliver Richards or Grandchamps, a
half-breed companion. The crime was
committed at the Penault ranch, some
distance from Benton. After shooting
his victim, Cadotte jumped on a horse
and escaped, and the most active work
on the part of the sheriff failed to To-
cate him. He was arrested by the In
uldn police July y, on Ine flaIneaQ
reservation, and brought back to Ben
ton for trial and sentenced to hang
Oct. IS. The case was appealed to the
supreme court. The decision of the
lower court was affirmed Dec. 8. and on
the 18th inst. he was sentenced by
Judge DuBose to hang to-day.
During the time which elapsed after
the verdict of the jury was announced
and the day of execution, IA weeks, the
various attributes of human nature
exhibited by Cadotte was very marked.
When the date of the hanging was set
for Oct. Is the prisoner assumed an air
of stolid indifference to fate. and exhib-
tied a brutal sort of courage. After
the case was taken to the supreme
court he began to fret and worry at
the delay. and during November gave
signs of weakening. All the time
Father Fallett labored with him, and
at last the good fathers work was
rewarded, and from a book treating
upon martyrs Cadotte drew his first
ideas OF the faith. 1t was to him an
inspiration. He coupled the teachings
of bravery, instilled into him by his
first tutors, the Pagans. with the
Christian fortitude of the early fathers
and declared to Guard Breen, to whom
he was most devotedly attached, that
when he went to die, he would show
them that he was just as brave a
Christian as those French priests. IL
is the rule of the sheriffs that no whis-
key shall be given to the prisoners, and
when a caller commented upon this to
Cadotte, he replied: That's all right.
/ want to die Christian, not drunk
ard" Thursday he was in the best OF
spirits and anxious that Friday would
come so he could show them how
brave man could die. The Catholic
Sisters spent a part of the afternoon
with him. and Thursday evening Ca
dotte was the happiest man in the jail
Cadotte was a dangerous man. He
had enough white blood in his veins to
plan crime, and enough Indian blood In
his veins to carry out his schemes. re-
CARELESS of the results or consequences.
In 1892 he shot a cowboy named Turn
bull at Big Sandy. and was sent to
Deer Lodge for one year. While