The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-02-17


IL never knew" said a gentle voice
mat OF the noble woman who shared hi
fortunes in this time of danger, "wher
my husband went out in the morniu,
whether he would return at night"
| AT last" resumed the colonel. "w,
grew desperate. 1t was better to die thar
to live in such a community. Society wa
dissolved, and we were thrown back upor
ourselves for protection. There were
lew OF us who knew one another vel
enough to trust and be trusted, and
meeting in secret, we bound ourselves b,
every tie that could bind men together e
stand by one another to the last. So wa.
| organized tho famous band of the Wig
llantes. The first step was to seize the
| ringleaders. who had been so daring and
defiant that everybody knew them, if they
| did not know the rank and file. III VIC
could by quick movement seize them
and dsarm them, their followers would
be left without leaders, and be paralyzed.
80 we struck at the tall heads first. To
those who looked on from the outside
1t seemed an amazing piece of audacity.
which would probably fail. when
those who had set themselves up as
JUDGES and executioners would have
a swift shrift. The ringleaders were not
very much disturbed, for they saw many
ways OF escape, but when they found that
the men of the law aad order wero in
dead earnest, they took n more subdued
tone, and only asked for fair trial! But
the vigilantes know too we'll what that
meant-that it meant delay, with all the
chances of rescue and escape, or of one
man on the jury who would stand out
against convictionl And so when the
case was proved for the case of most of
these men was notorious) there was but
one more step-and that was execution +!
They did not have to wait for gallows-
any tree in the forest would answer. and
strong rope thrown round the linn b of
an oak, with the end in tho hands of a
dozen strong men, would quickly put
an end to the career of the boldest
outlaw.
These executions were not without
danger, for in the crowd We knew well
that half OF the men who gathered to see
an execution we're in sympathy with the
victims. But the vigilantes took no risk,
and came to the scene armed TO the teeth,
so that II any man had lifted hand to in
terfere with the course of justice he would
have been shot down in an instant.
Under the new rule of law and order
the ranks OF outlaws thinned out The old
villains, who boosted of the number of
their murders, as an Indian carries his
scalps as his trophies, saw that the game
was up, and their last piece of bravado
was TO show that they were not afraid TO
die. One famous desperate, who had tho
rope round his neck, and saw another
swinging in the air and making fearful
struggles for release, instead of a word of
pity for his comrade who had come to
fnh
away, Old Jack, I'll be i'm hell with Won in
10 minutesr
The most extraordinary case was that
OF man who camo from tho East, and
belonged to n respectable family, and
bore a fair reputation. Strange as il may
seem, / had accepted an invitation to
dine with him at Christmas, for even then
we had to keep up an appearance of en-
Joylng ourselves, for which he made great
preparation, sending off 30 miles for a
turkey, for which he paid so in gold! IL
mi lht have occurred TO us that such a |
man must have plenty of money to spend |
and get IL in an easy way. But we did |
not stop to think of anything but to have |
A little gayety IN the midst of so much TO |
Try Our nerves; and, though il was a back /
woods feast we all made ourselves as 4
merry as we could in those grim days.
Imagine my amazement when shortly
after man who was standing on the
,caifold made a full confession, i'm which
10 gave away all his comrades; among
whom, not only as a member of the gang.
,ut as the head devil who plotted all the
and whose hands were red with
dozen murders, was none other than tho |
nan who had entertained us on Christi
mas day! This confession was supplc-
nented by evidence from without, so that
here was no possible doubt in tho case.
nd il became my duty to arrest the very
nan whose hospitality had accepted but
IN weeks before.
"Ncver shall | forget the scene of his
Necution. 1t was in the winter, and Mt
light, and yet it was not dark. as tho
noon was shining on the snow that COW
red the ground when the vigilantes took
i'm TO place in the woods. Two others
ere to die with him. who begged plteouslv
Or the mercy they had never shown TO
theirs. If they could only have n little
clay" only waltz But the yigilantes
new too well what possibilities there
hight be in the postponement for a single
our. Tho worst criminal of them all
as still lying on the snow, writhing i'm
'rror, when | called aloud, Bring him
D. by this time the bravado had SO
1Zed out Of him that he had to be lifted
p that the rope might be put around his
eek. No man ever better deserved 10
c; and as his body swung in the cold
inter wind, an end was put to the career
one OF the most notorious villains in
e whole catalogue of crimei'
After all this time OF seizures and exc
itions, there was a great silence and a
eat calm all around the horizon. Mon
na, from being the hunting ground of
bbers aud cutthroats, was the most
l.et and peaccable of all the territories.
III this city was the model town on the
rider. There was no violence in her
reefs. No man needed to lock his door,
guard against thieves. Even n a p
ranger should drop his purse in the
reefs, they said, no passer-by would
TX II up, lest he should be thought To
We stolen u. And thus. out of these r
-rible scenes came the reign OF law,
ch made possible the creation Of the