The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1896-08-15
IS AN EX-VIRGlN[AN
MAYOR VIM. THOMPSON OF
BUTTE
Visiting His Old Camping Ground How
He Gave the MaGisOMian the Worst
of It-Built the Gallows on Which Jack
Gallagher Swung to His Death.

a Virginian in the early sixties, and is
still Virginian in spirit, although
he is mayor of the metropolis of Mon
tana, is in the city on private business.
In 1864, the present mayor of Butte,
was contractor and builder of this
city. He constructed the stone build
ing from which silver gospel is dis
persed weekly to the many thousand
readers of this paper He also built
the sister structures of this building,
now occupied by O. D. French & Co..
and Mrs. Frenchs dry goods establish
ment. They were put up, not like the
home of that biblical individual who
builded his house upon rock, but to
sell, and like the aforesaid structure.
have withstoOd the storms and winds
for more than quarter of century
stand. Sold they were and at a hand
some profit, the mayor and his partner
realizing about $500 profit on the sale
of the three buildings. Thus did Mr..
Thompson sprout his financial pin
feathers.
Lime was scarce in those days and the
mayor was greatly surprised that the
buildings were still standing. He was
a little bit nervous about entering the
MADISONIAN structure, saying that he
would not be greatly surprised if it
came tumbling down on his head, as a
punishment for not putting more lime
in the mortar, 32 years ago.
Mr.. Thompson also erected the frame
building on the corner of Wallace and
Jefferson streets, the fame of which
is based on the fact that Jack Gallagher,
Club Foot George, and three others
died therein, suspended from the rafter
that has since become one of the his
torical relics of Montana, and which is
pointed out to every Virginia visitor.
At the time Of this neck-tie party, only
the frame work of the building was
finished. The vigilance committee,
the personnel of which included many
men who are Montana's most promi-
nent citizens of to-day, came along
looking for suitable place to stretch
the necks of five miscreants who were
hanged on that celebrated night; the
framework suggested a means and the
vigilantees did the rest. Therefore, to
the present executive OF Butte City be-
longs the distinction of having erected
one of the first gallows frames in Mon
tana, and one from which, the writer
takes the liberty of asserting, five as
guilty wretches as ever scuttled a
ship or ever cut a throat eX'
plated their crimes. But all
this has since passed into history,
and recognizing the merit of the good
deed which he unconsciously did Mon
tana 32 years ago, the MADIsoNIAN
forgives Mayor Thompson for not hav'
ing put more lime in the walls within
which this was written.
Mr.. Thompson is Republican, but
like about Is per cent. of the Republi'
cans Ito be liberal to the gold bugs he
is for silver and silver's candidate. He
states that in every section of Montana
that he has visited, silver's friends pre-
dominate by majority comparison to
which the opposition is but a wavering
shadow.
The economical propensities of Mr.
Thompson, which asserted themselves
in the matter of the lack of lime in the
mortar which cements the walls of the
MAD1sONIAN building, saved the city
Of Butte, during the first year of his ad
ministration, $4,000.