The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-18

were hanged in Montana. IL can be said
OF the most of them that they richly
deserved their fate. But as Is per-
fectly natural and TO be expected. there
were instances where innocent men
paid the penalty OF a crime they never
committed.
In the early days II was the strong
arm Of the v~igilantes which cleared the
territory of desperadoes and few there
are who la questioned the justice of
their acts. In the history of the great
frontier movement which found a will
derness in its path and left behind II
civilization, the movement which re-
deemed a continent. there a always
been two classes Of people. One consists
Of the immigrant. the trail blazer, who
has left his native state for love of
adventure and in the hope of finding
wealth and a new home. The other
class consists of those who are forced
by a criminal past to keep on the
fringe of civilization. These are the
men who floating into Bannack and
Virginia City on the wave of immigra-
ton gave these places a varied and
desperate an assortment of unhanged
rascals as the world has eve seen.
When their crimes became too notori-
Gus the former class arose and organ
lied the vigilantes. who quickly cleared
the territory of the desperadoes. who
were beginning to have things their
W way. How thoroughly they did
their work is another story and one
which has been often told.
AS the murderers and bandits were
cleaned out the old organization Of vigil
- fAIl E-~.- IL. 49,. IE-l. g1--I
n was worked at times as an instru-
ment to satisfy personal spite by un-
~scrupulous men who once and a while
gained control of the organization. n
several instances are known where men
were hanged by a miscarriage of JUS
tice.
DIR. Hardenbrook, coroner of Deer
Lodge county. who came to Montana in
1863 and was an eyewitness of the ope-
rations of the vigilantes, is authority in
relation to two instances where the
death penalty was ~unjustly inflicted.
The Steer Came Back.
In the winter of 1865 a man by the
name of Johnston was hanged in Deer
Lodge for stealing a steer. None Of
the old v~igilantes were implicated, how
ever, in this miscarriage of justice. for
such II proved to be. A steer had been
stolen from Reese Henderson and sus-
picion finally, after investigation. rest
ed upon this man Johnston. He bore
none too good a reputation in the town
and was known as a petty thief and
his disposition to take property which
did not belong TO him was the strongest
evidence apainst him.. He was arrested
pending further investigation. There
was no Jail at the time and guards cost
$40 a day. 1t was too expensive a lux
ury to keep a prisoner a long time and
I'm spite of Johnston's pitiful protesta-
tions of innocence he was put on trial
Immediately. The case against him
was practically this: The steer had
been stolen: ne was known to be a
thief; consequently he stole IL. II was
conclusive evidence to the jury and he
was promptly found guilty and swung
into eternity from the limb of n con-
venient tree. In the spring the steer
came back. but Johnston was held
down by several feet of Deer Lodge
soil. 1t was c~onsoling to think that
Johnston would probably have met
eventually the fate he did. IL he had
been permitted to pursue his vocation.
Hanged as an Example.
DIR. Hardenbrook tells of another
hanging which took place in Alder
gulch in August, 1864. in which the man
who kicked the bean certainly de-
served "A milder fate than an eternity
for which he was not prepared, but the
stern Justice of those early days knew
few gradations. A man by the name
of Brady came out to Alder gulch from
Iowa and opened a saloon. He was a
young man. genial. op~en-hearted and
generous save when under the influence
of his own wares, which unfortunately,
at the time the tragedy occurred, was
getting 10 be most of the time. He had
around the saloon as an assistant a
man by the name of Kelly. who also
was under h influence most of the
time. A miner by the name of Lynch
dropped into the saloon one evening on
his way home from work. Kelly was
on shift and what took place in the
saloon is not known. DR.. ~Hardenbrook's
office was just across the street and i'm
a few minutes the doctor saw Lynch
come out and go down the street. He
had gone but a few steps from the door
when Kelly appeared with a six
shooter and began shaping IL at
Lynch. Fortunately the gun failed to
go off. The doctor yelled to Lynch to
look out. as Kelly vas shooting at him.
Lynch turned as Kelly snapped the last
chamber of the revolver and. picking
L. 49, a.