The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-30

tho hardest part Of the work was ovsr1
but for about twenty years they coptinued
to rule the Territory In the interest Of psace
and good order BY rnsane Of the mask and
rope. Dsspsradoes, thieves or criminAls
often found In the morning piece Of white5
cardboard pinned TO their tents or pooted
conspicuously In fropt Of 4 rapoh. Thsl
cards measured exactly 7xs inches. and ~
th6m. In very black Ink, appeared thad
numerals, 's-7-77.' Tho desperate wh0l]
found such . notice knew that II cameo
from tho vigilantes, and he knew that \
meant Pack up and leave within twentysA
four hours or swing on the second night
Tho Yigilantes never bluded. Wheua
they posted . warning they were ready -
enforce 1t. Perhaps q mistake was made :
once In long time. and In such casa thu
victim at once sought out COL Sanders COZ
X. Beidler, his right hand man, or come
other prominent Vigiante and laid the
case before him az man TO man. II the
plea seemed good the midnight tribunal
reoonsidered and sometimes reversed itself. /,
Sometimes II reafirmed the sentence by /.
q second placard, and In such a case there's
was no appeal. :!
II the victim disregarded the card he
found himself on the second night In the
hands Of crowd OF very earnest arIned
men. A hanging always followed.
The Vigtlantes made mistakes sonetimees
but their errors were few and always un-
Intentional. Politics didnot infiuenoethem,
and personal feeling or malice rarely entersd
into their aetisps. .-a r %. IS s.5Tt
One Of IT, ysass sfter courts Of Justice
supersedsasthe uask and rope, summed
So A>A>,~>~.a - oil n, NO eovy,Af1tv, ~
-Tha eoed psaple wsrsAll with us. Mona
Of them feared W or bad recson TO. There
was 40 NV In tho Territory when We came
together for sslf-prvservation. We made
II possible for The peAceable to live In Mon.
tana and for the industrious to enjoy the,
fruits Of their industry. just as fast a. the
consolidation Of society rendered operative
the ordinary processes Of law We retired.
Tho hanging Of George Ives and the *.
termination Of Plummer's band by Col.
Sanders and the men associated With him
was the oritial event In the history Of Mon.
tana.'
When Senator Sanders was In Washfn gton
he told the story Of the execution Of the
notorious Slade for treason against the
Territory Of Montana
I'VE had engineered forty or fifty hang.
ings,! he said. when We became imbued
with the idea that little more Ia wful form
Of government would be to the better In
terests Of Virginia City, 90 one evening
We gathered on tho outskirts Of the town
In informal nass meeting and proceeded
to choose from among ourselves ofhcsfs
for our local government. Our organiEa-
ton was the simplest thing in the world.
We would turn to one Of our members and
cay: You are pretty square sort OF fellow
and W know you to be straight Is string;
you shall be our Judge, and to another: You
are heavily built chap with plenty Of kriti
you shan be marshal was DistTiot
Attorney because had . sniattertns Of
law and It was upon my afadavits that al
warrants were Issued.
1T seems strange in these days to think
Of constituting . court In such an o6hand
way without tho slightest vestige Of Federal
authority, but We did 1t. aud our court
was respected by all tho citizens Of Virs
ginia CITY, that IL. most OF them. After
while, wbep they found that We wore
not hanging 20 frequently a. before, the
lawless element grow holder and more
aggressive
The leader Of this tough part Of oup
population was Slade He had Q dozen
sstelliteS and It was . favorite diversion
of theirs to spend a night In a disordesty
resort and then set 1t on fire. Soon afte1
our court was organised We found that
Slade had burned . place. and We cont
our nnAfshal 70 arrest him and bring hin1
to court. He came peaceabiy enoughD
and the court ansd him t2S. He paid,
: and In . few dAys was up again for the
sA1ne offsnss.
.Ths dns was doubled tbs time and he
. paid agatn. but-he did not seem to proAl
/ by these lessons. for he was Frequently
before o. and each time his fine was doubled
until II reached the sum Of 800.
On ths* occ.s!ca be told tho Judge b
didn't have tho amount with him. and
said he would bring It the next time b
! came to town. Well. he came to town
several times after that but did not o6ed
y TO pay Tho 900, and soon he was in troubll
again for The same old oflsnse. a
, Our naxshal got him, and he cane along
quietly and stood while the Judge directed
the marshal To. read tho warrant Az The
masahal pulled out tho document Sladev
quick - dash, sprsns at him, jerked Il
out Of his hands and then pointed . revolvs4
J At The Judssh haArt. It was al done in .
second. ....,.
NOW, 0Ab0 uos = N oOo0t NASoo VI tuA1
! business. lam not going t0Oe drained any
, moro and IN ~ ooanS to recognise youl
, authority; nor shail I pay that $780, I shall
, hold you responsible for my personal s.iotys
l and II any Of your committee attempts to
|. touch M I viii blow your heart out.
, while b vas speaking turned quietly
! and wAlksd out. On the street the nfst
> man nst ~as . member Of our vigilancs
committee. explained the situation 10
/ him and asked him to ride to . camp about
/ two miles away and tell the boys w needed
: than. a. rode OF post hssts, and I returned
1 | 10 the court room. Slade rode around town
} for Q while and then returned thsre. Hs
, vaa inclined 70 DO very proud Of his deAanoa
. Of IL ordsn Of the court and was insulting
, 10 hio Honor. Tho next minute the room
, ! vas fun Of armed men and ono Of them VA
. saying: We want you, Mr.. slade.'
sHs tpEnsd pale end weakened at oncA
|. 4 crowd d hs oaptos surrounded him
I, and isft him In their Keeping and wsni
> homo. ! hadn't beeo there I've minutes
. Wheq ooa Il ths ooys came UP and said: ,