The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-05-28
4. FAMOUS LyNCH|NG
IN AURORA, NEVADA
RENEWED LIFE IN OLD CAMP RE-
CALLS STERN JUSTICE
OF EARLY DAYS.


serted. The ruins of :-story brick
hotel that was Quilted by fire in the
early days, but the walls of which are
still intact, have furnished shelter .,r
prospectors and wild animals for hall
a century, and deer have been Sec.
browsing in the streets Of what was
once a city Of 10000 people, says the
Hawthorne Bulletin. Now that the
old town Is being rejuvenated, and is
attracting the attention of the mining
methods handling at profit ore THAI
the pioneers passed by as worthless, II
Is interesting to look pack into the
history of the camp and see what man
ner of men they were who lived III
this country in the early days. The
following account Of 'lynching at
fair" Is taken from the files of CAL
ifornia newspaper dated February Ii,
1864:
Exciting Time.
"A lynCHIuk affair III
the annals of the Pacific coast, occur :
red at Aurora, New. On February 2, a
respected citizen of Nevada, formerly
of California, named w. R. Johnson,
was found lying dead on the man
street of the town, shot through the
head and his juglar vein several by
knife thrust. He kept a stage sta
tion about 20 miles from Aurora, and
had been spending the night of the
first with a set Of easy-going fellows
playing cards and billiards in differ
ent resorts until after midnight. His
body was found about 500 a. M. and
1t was soon known that foul ln1rler
had been committed. The coroner's
inquest lasted five days in Its efforts
to fasten the crime upUn the guilty
men.
Suspicion Aroused.
1T developed that r,ur men, men,
bers of the sporting fraternity and
we'll known gun fighters, were en-
cerned In the deed, bu, were able TO
conceal the direct facts. The four,
with another who was believed to he
an accessory after the fact, were or
dered arrested on February 7. On the
9Th 400 citizens of Aurora and vicinity
met in the armory of the local military
company and organized into a COM
mittee Of safety and arranged their
plans Of procedure to rid the commun-
ity of its undesirable element. At 700
a. m. on February a cannon on a
hilltop was fired three times and this
was signal gun for the citizens to
assemble.
Military in Charge.
1.-THE sheriff was absent in search Of
other suspects, and the houses of the
deputy sheriffs, marshals and other
police officers were Immediately plac-
ed under guard Of detachments OF the
military company, who kept the occu
pants indoors. All stores and saloons
were closed, and the town was placed
under control Of the military company,
to prevent disorder. A COMMITTEES
then began the erection Of a gallows
on the streets near the center of the
town, and at noon another committee
brought the four men accused OF the
murder from the Jail to the gallows,
around which a great crowd had gath
cred The accused were accompanied
by the Rev. c. Yaeger who was asked
to give them religious consolation II
they desired 1t.
Make Statements.
James Buckley, formerly Of San
Francisco, was the first one of the
four men who was allowed to address
the crowd. He was cool and showed
no evidence of fear. He stated that
he and Daley had killed johnson anu
that the other men were innocent.
John Daley, considered to be the leader
Of the gang then stated that he had
killed Johnson because johnson had
caused his partner to be shot, and he
regretted that he could not live to XIII
every relative Johnson had. James
Masterson next made a claim OF inno-
CcuCC lu a CdIuA dHu uAAOhSAsSu AAe'AAAA~-
and was followed by John Mcdowell,
alias Three Fingered Jack" who
raved wildly, calling upon God to wit
ness that he was an innocent man, ana
ended his harangue by drawing "a
deringer out of his pocket and placing
it over his heart and pulling the trig-
ger. 1t snapped and then, with an
outburst of oaths, he cast the weapon
out in the crowd.
Daley, when he had ended his talk
drew from his pockets a handful OF
half-dollars and threw them into the
crowd, remarking that he would MOI
need money any more. A man named
Hanson was standing in the Grove
with his 7-year-old son. One OF the
half-dollars fell at the lads feet. f's
father babe him pick 1t up and ther
admonished him as follows: my boy
don't you ever spend that half-dollar
Keep 1t as long as you live, and when
ever you are tempted to do a wrong
full thing just take it out of your pock'
ct, look at 1t and then think OF TN
fate OF the man who threw 1t away.
Daley and Mcdowell appeared to o.
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