Oregon union. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1897-1899, 1897-11-19
THE CRIME AVENGED.
Murderers of the spicer Family Strung
Up by q Mob.

Bismarck, N. D., Nov. 16.-Alex
Coudol, an Indian half-breed, and Paul
Holytrack and Philip Ireland, full
sentenced to death for the murder of
six members of the Spicer family last
February, and had just been granted
a new trial by the supreme court. and
the latter two self-confessed accessories
in the murder, were taken from tn g
county Jail in Wood county last night
and lynched by mob.
The lynching had apparently been
cody planned, and was carried out
without break. Sudden and swift
retribution was meted out. Williams
port, where the hanging took place, is
about 40 miles from this city, and off
the railroad. The news of the lynch
ing was received here this afternoon.
The men had been in the custody of
Deputy Sheriff Kelly. They were
taken from him by the mob ahd hanged
to beef windlass several yards from
the Jail. Their bodies were left hang
ing during the entire day, the coroner
not having arrived, and no one else
volunteering to cut them down.
About 40 men were concerned in the
lynching. They rode into Williams
port on horseback late at night, and
tethered their horses short distance
from the city, that they might secure
them again as speedily as necessary
after the deed was done. The Jail is a
substantial stone structure, and was in
charge of Deputy Sheriff Thomas Kelly.
Since the confinement of the prisoners
there, SO great has been the fear that
they might escape in some way, that
one man had watched the prisoners all
night. Last night Kelly was on watch.
There was meeting of the lodge of
Woodmen in building near the Jail,
and as Kelly was a member, he expect
ed to meet some of the members of the
lodge after the meeting had adjourned.
To while away the time during the
night hours, he was playing solitaire
in front of the cells in which the mur-
derers were confined. About o'clock
there was a rap on the outer door of
the Jail, and Kelly rose quickly and
turned the key in the lock, thinking
that the persons he expected to meet
had arrived.
No sooner had he opened the door
than the mob crowded into the corri-
dors. All of them were masked, and
the leaders carried ropes. Kelly at
once realized what the mob had come
for. The lynchers were quiet but de-
termined. The lead er presented a re-
volver at the head of the deputy sheriff
and told him they wanted his prisoners,
and demanded that he open their cells.
Kelly demurred. but saw that resist
ance was useless, and unlocked the
door. Two of the prisoners were con-
fined together, and the other in seper-
ate cell. They had been aroused from
sleep by the entrance of the mob. and
sat up, half awake and trembling in
terror. Holytrack and Ireland were
pulled from their beds, ropes were fast
ened about their necks, and they were
dragged out on the ground, after being
told to prepare for death.
The men were then dragged to huge
beef windlass, which had been erected
to suspend carcasses of slaughtered
beeves, and were strung up on cross
beam. Cudol was the first man to be
hanged. 1t is reported that he was
asked before he was hanged whether
Blackhawk and Defender had also been
concerned in the murder for which he
was about to be hanged. He answered
in the affirmative. The rope, which
had been fastened about his neck, was
then thrown over crossbeam, and he
was suspended in midair. Holytrack
and Ireland were treated in like man.
ner and the mob then quietly dispersed.