The Kevin review., 1923-03-22
EARLY DAY COURTS AND JUDGES; FIRST GREAT
TRIAL WAS THAT OF GEORGE IVES, ROAD AGENT

Here Is = rare historical narra-
tive, the story of the first great
trial In Montana, that OF George
Ives, master highwayman, by the
pen OF famous Montanan, the late
Judge William Y. Pemberton, who
served the miners court as clerk,
and afterwards became chief JUS
tice OF the state. 1t gives some
thing of the personnel of the Off
GERS of that famous court, and mar
rates the fact that Plummer's men,
enraged at the execution of Ives,
and the part Colonel Wilbur F..
Sanders, the prosecutor of the
court, had taken in it, and of their
attempt to assassinate him, cir
cumstance not generally known.
, Judge PembertOn pays great trib-
ute to the courage and ability of
Sanders, then in his early twen-
ties, in connection with the prose-
cution of Ives:
The late lamented and greatly low
ed DR.. W. L. Steele was the first
miners judge in Alder Gulch. 1t was
before his court that Hayes Lyon and
- ONh Rt1hoOh w O1 . Ll1Ou duu COuflCL-
ed OF killing Dillingham; and sem
fenced to be hung. They appealed to
the miners in mass meeting and the
sentences were reversed. They es-
capped, only to be afterwards caught
and hung by the Vigilance commit
tee
The first great murder trial in the
territory was the George Ives trial.
And truly it was a great trial. Don
L. Byam was the judge; the main
street Of the town of Nevada, in
Alder Gulch, was the court room;
George Ives was the noted defendant.
Colonel w. F. Sanders and Major
S. Baggs prosecuted in be-
half of the people. Alex Davis, j. M.
Thurman and II. P. A. Smith defend
ed. The charge was murder. The
fury consisted of twenty-four sturdy
the trial was public.
Ives was not tried by the vigilance
committee as many enormously sup
pose. He was tried and executed be- I
fore the organization of the vigilance
committee. w. H. Patten and my
self we're selected to write down the,
testimony of the witnesses. The
Judge sat in wagon. The jury sat
n a half circle around a big log fire
Tor it was cold. 1t was about the
10th of December, 1863. The pris-
,ner, Mr.. Patten and myself, were
vithin the half circle. Hundreds of |
determined men stood around the
court and the jury during the entire
rial, which lasted two or three days.
Was Ennoh
I said 1t was a great trial. 1t was;
t was grand court. There were
10 paraphernalia or insignia of office +
o impress and awe the beholder
here. But surrounded by the snow
covered mountains, sitting in that
pen street in mid-winter, no court
'ver had more vital questions put to
t than the one presided over by that
,rand old bearded man, Don L.
3yam. = Crime was rampant. Rob-
'ery and murder had become COM
non crimes committed by men whose
uty 1T was to protect the lives and
Of the people. A great crisis
ad arisen in the history of the pion-
ers struggling for life and fortune
4 their new home. The laWless cut {
hroats had rendered the issue as to ]
7hether the people should live and ;
nj0y the fruits of their discovery {
nd labor. Here in this great trial I
efore this grand court, the people
ad accepted the issue thus rendered. {
1t was royal battle. The result {
'as by no means certain. 1t was a
ebatable question whether the law
sss or law-abiding were in the as
endency. This was to be determined t
l this trial. Both elements were in |
)rce; both determined; both armed. {
ut as the battle waged the friends I
law and order gathered strength t
nd completed to some extent the or
of their forces. You could t
,ok into the eyes and faces of the {
onest people as they stood guard S
round that court and jury, sitting {
ut in the street under the cold blue {
eavens and real the thoughts that s
lied their souls. You could dis q
3ver their determination to see JUS '
ce done, though the heavens should | /