Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-04-15
MLESTOWN

Continued from Feature Page).
of money from the hunters had offset the
deficiency from Keogh.
Hanging Of RfHney
About this time. there occurred an Incl
dent which was eventually the means of
altering conditions in Milestown. A saloon
bum by the name OF Rigney proceeded to
get on a glorious drunk and. during this
debaueh. he strayed from his regular hab-
itat, and insulted an innocent lady-one OF
the very limited number of respectable
women in Milestown at that time. A neigh
Dor witnessed the episode and promptly
knocked the inebriate senseless; He was
later arrested and placed In Jail. That
night he was taken from the Jail by a mob
and hung. This happened very soon after
nightfall. and as soon as the word was
passed around the tough element gathered
together. Next to Curley's saloon stood a
rough board building one and one-half
stories in height, with a balcony running
along two sides. Like most buildings OF
that early day. 1t was lined on the inside
with cheese cloth. which was tackled to
theatre, and was operated by a Jew named
Wolfe. That night, there gathered within
those walls about as tough an aggregation
Of both sexes as could be "scraped up."
Death Of Curley
Curly claimed that from his inside in
formation he had learned the identity of
the vigiiantes. The plan was to "clean
them up"-the leaders first and then all
opposition. This mixed crowd Of bandits,
prostitutes and just ordinary buns became
very drunk: and, in a drunken squabble, a
lamp was knocked over, and Immediately
the inside of the building was In a sheet OF
flames. Pandemonium ragged. The fire
spread like a fash of powder. Some OF the
occupants had their hair and eyebrows
singed before they could get to the outside.
The fire and the exploding of guns aroused
every citizen in the town; and the little
surprise party came to an abrupt close.
E~j1Nnftr fhA ~t~Lk x--k- -
prise. Curley retreated TO his shack, which
stood down at the old crossing on Tongue
river opposite where the old environment
formerly stood. He. it appears, was very
much broken up by the failure Of his little
coup. He unbelted bis forty-fve gun and
laid 1t on a stand, and flung himself on
the bed, bitterly maligning the drunken
crowd who had spoiled his plans. Red
Nell, his mistress, came under his lash,
and in her drunken rage she seized his gun
and shot Curley to death where he lay. So
ended the career of Curley, as cold -blooded
a human as one could conceive. Red Nell
had some sort Of a hearing In the justice
court, but she continued to live her life,
none. The upsetting of the lamp and the
subsequent fire doubtless saved many lives
that night.
Breaking Up the Rendezvous
The rendezvous at Buffalo Rapids was
broken up. Big Nose George had been
hung. and Curley had hit the long trail
with his boots on. Jim Lamb, a lieutenant
of the gang, was inrhiding in the Hole-in-
the wall country, following the robbery OF
the Virginia City bank; and another lead
ing member-Bi g Jim Force-was caught
and properly hung for murder. Milestosyn
saw them all at some stage OF the game
the Earps from Rio Grandp: Cary, the
stage robber and murderer from Wyoming:
all of the notorious and much sought after
desperadoes, with large rewards hanging
over them, found a safe haven at the rob
bers' roost-Buffalo Rapids on the Yellow
stone.
The robbing of Henry Filings bank at
Virginia City, Montana. the famous gold
camp of early days. which was planned and
executed by the Milestown gang, four hun
dred miles away, belongs to another chap
ter. The lynching Of Rigney could hardly
be justified by the most strenuous advocate
Of law and order. Ordinarily he was a
very quiet, unobtrusive loafer, with not
even the ambition to be a tin-horn gam
bier. Mostly he "bummed" his existence
from bis more capeble associates. How
ever, the deed was put to the vigilantes
by a few hot heads, probably more as a
challenge to the outlaw faction thar be-
cause the case demanded 1t.
Following the arrival Of the railroad
Milestown rapidly changed from a far-fung
frontier settlement, located In a hostile
country, to a prosperous and staid com
munity,