Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-06-05

=
Mrs. Cleyeland's constant good
spirits and health are a. source of
continued wonder to her friends, and
to inquiries as to the fountain Of
youth whence she draws her supplies,
she answers that she finds it in the
daily exercise in the open air which
she has made point of taking for
the past five years, and that she re-
CARDS walking as more healthful and
natural than any other form of open
air sport.
On level tract of land close to the
side of the old road between Milton
and Copperopolis,. in Calaveras
county, Cal, is still standing a
venerable oak that earned for itself
in early days the title of Hang
mans Tree" And it well deserved
the name, judging by the stories
told by some of the "old-timers.
Not many men living to-day recol-
lect things that happened when the
old tree was doing its best to give
justice to the horse-stealers and
murderers who did not 'shoot in
self-defense, according to the ideas
of the men who sat in judgment.
The late Capt. Weber, of Stockton,
was man who remembered nearly
every hanging that took place on the
tree in the early '50's and could tell
some grim tales of frontier justice.
When the tree first sprang into
fame Stockton was known to the
miners as 'Tuleville" and the hills
around Copperopolis were filed with
camps that bore musical names such
as 'Ragtown" or Whisky Chute"
The tree was an old one then, so that
it must by this time have seen near
ly century of life. .
Just who was the first man
hanged ON it is unrecorded, but he
committed his offense in Copperopolis
and paid for it the same day. One.
trial of the old tree was enough to
convince the hangrnan. of its merits.
1t was located in a handy place and
its largest limb reached out over the
road as beautifully as though it had
been grown for executions. 1t was
a natural gallows and did its work
for Q large section of country. , z .
There was no more ceremony at
tending an execution on the hang
mans oak than was gone through
with in other parts of the state at
about the same time. The culprit
was taken to the spot in the handih
est way. Sometimes in a wagon and
at others he was compelled to sus-
tain his balance on the soft side of a
rail carried on the shoulders of the ex-
ecutioners. When the spot was
reached the man who was to be
made to shuttle Off was placed on
the end of wagon with rope
around his neck, one end of which
was fastened to the limb above his
head. Sometimes, when they wanted
to give man good drop" he was
made to stand on a box or barrel
placed on the end Of the wagon.
At signal from the man in charge
of the hanging, the. horses attached
to the wagon were whipped up and
the man paid for his crime against
the opinions of the. community. If
the offense had been very serious the
occasion was enlivened by the Of
Tended populace drawing their six
shooters and filing the swinging
body with bullets. On several oc-
casions fights occurred and it
was necessary to make turbulent
members of the party take their
places beside the first man hanged.
1t is said that over 40 men have
passed into eternity from the largest
limb Of the hangman's tree. But 4
that is not all the old tree has been
a silent witness TO- On one occasion
q man had been executed Just as a
party Of his friends, who believed
him innocent, came up to rescue him,
A fierce fight ensued, and the rescu-
ing party, being the best shots,
came off victorious. ~
Twenty men shed their blood on
this day. At the end of the fight
five of the hanging party who ex-
ecuted the first man were left alive.
They surrendered and 7 asked for
mercy, but were not given it, and in
less than five minutes their bodies
were swinging beside that Of their
victim. Fourteen dead 3 bodies
strewed the ground around aathe
tree. At least a dozen fights of this
kind have taken place beneath the
old tree, and people say the ground
is Soaked with blood. nc II r
IL ia MANY yaara nnxu sinca q man