Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-07-29
"Floppin9 BW''
and MOntana's
Last Vigi1antes


w Nth a scant two years after the
\A/ rounding of Billings in 1882, it
w found necessary as in the case
of Virginia City to organize the
vigilantes for dealing IN summary man
ner with horse thieves, operating along
the Musselshell and in the country as
far north as the Missouri.
In this movement, "Flopping Bill" a
character now almost forgotten, was In
the forefront.
Where "~Flopping Bill" came from none
can say; probably he was one of many
attracted to Montana from the middle
west during the gold excitement.l 1t has
been written that his real name was
"Quantrelp and that he participated
with the famous "Quantrell' guerrillas
in war times. But this is probably a
yarn, and his true name is believed to
have been William Cantrell.
low He Got His Name
The nickname "Flopping Bill" was
given to him when he was a wood
chopper on the Missouri river. Bill was q
hard worker n chopped and piled
many hundreds OF cords Of WOO for the
river boats. When asked how he sue
ceeded in getting out so much wood he
once replied: The tree is froze and /
just strike 'em n C and they flop open"
So he was named Hopping Bill"
Bill lived along the Missouri river for
many years and knew every one OF the
desperate characters who crossed n
recrossed the river with stolen horses and
made its banks their rendezvous. He
lived down there as long as 1t was con-
sidered healthful for one, not a membe
of the gang, and after that he went to
Maiden and became a cowboy with the
20. Fl. s." outfit. He was chosen leader
n guide Of the fearless men who un-
dertook to rid the country OF some Of
the worst thieves and desperadoes who
ever drove off a bunch Of stock.
Two Rustlers Killed
The first appearance of the vigilantes
was at Claggett, now Judith, on the Mis-
souri,, June 20, 1884. There one breed
was hot and another hanged. The name
of the breed who was captured and
hanged was Narcisse Laverdure; his
uncle was wounded but got away. A man
by the name OF William T. Thompson
came upon the pair with 60 head of
stolen horses. He was taking Laverdure
to Claggett when overtaken by a posse,
who relieved him of his prisoner, and
after securing the breeds confession.
hanged him to a convenient tree.
July 8 another breed, Sam Mckenzie,
was taken On the Fort Maginnis reserva-
ton and hanged, his body being left
suspended with a placard attached read
ing Horse Thief" The soldiers cut down
the body INT inferred the remains
Organization of the vigilantes had not
then been fully perfected, but a start
had been made.
Fourth of July Battle
Il On July A a party Of men passed
through Maiden en- route to Spring creek
in quest of Charles Owens and Charles
Fallon much desired bad men. Arriving
; at Lewistown that night they found that
the good people OF the new town had
already taken good care of these two
for both had been killed the same after
xNou tn n vnitctaI Hotfla urtxh tho Cif3.
zens.
1t was then arranged that n party
should leave the following morning fol
the mouth Of the Musselshen, whers
. they were to be Joined by another party
which, taking a different route, was tx
meet them at the rendezvous across TIT
Musselshell. but On this side Of the Mis-
souri,. The main party stalked thei
/ game to the cabin OF one, Downs, which
: had been looked upon as o meeting
place of the horse thieves, and taking
: Downs by surprise. secured Information
: from him which greatly assisted then
s in locating some OF the characters mos
0 desired and Incidentally ascertaininl
Q where there were cached a bunch O
g horses which had recently been stole'
I from stockmen OF the basin. One stor.
Is to the effect that Downs was anchored
k to a grindstone in the river, but be tina
as 1t may, he was disposed OF and at tn
q same time a fellow known as Caltfornii
9 Ed met his Just deserts.
: But the smaller party had failed Il
make q junction with the rest OF tn
vigilantes and to ascertain their where
: abouts a wait occurred. Two days late
a the parties were united and a start wa
made down the river. Crossing IL mile
below the mouth of the Musselshell, tn
men continued down the river, travelin
3 light and only by night, In order not t
flush their game.
late I'm tho afternoon of .IIlv 10 the
! came upon old man James and his gane
The thieves had guards put to note tn
approach of intruders, but the vigilante
o succeeded in creeping in and not unit
t about sun-up were they discovered
e Here there was a blockhouse, or lo
cabin provided with port holes AN i'm
provised tent made of a wagon shee
!. hung over q pole, a corral n stable
One of the guards, abandoning hi
d mount, when he saw the v%igilantes ha'
the camp surrounded. succeeded II
- creeping in through the brush an
reaching the tent, where a part of tn
q dash for the ~blockhouse, 800 feet dis
tant, while others took to the brush. q
the latter was Dixie Burroughs, a nephey
of Granville Stuart, but n OF the wors
of the rustlers. He received a shot whicl
crippled him, but he found a cotton
wood we'll which gave him shelter and h
afterward escaped to meet his fat
within a month later. Old mar jaime
attempted to reach the blockhouse, bu
1t being made too hot for him he wa
forced to let Town the bars Of tn
corral and turn loose six head of fin
horses, nearly all Of which had bee
stolen from the mounted police Q
Canada. The old man, however, sue
ceeding in reaching the house and par
ticipated in the battle, which lasted fror
soon after sunrise to IL O'Clock. In thi
fight two of the James boys were killed
also q fellow known as Dutch" an
four were crippled, including %urroughs
and old man James whose given nam
was never known.
Stolen Horses Recovered
Hundreds OF shots were exchanged be
tween the vigilantes. protected by tn
brush and the men in the house. TIL
stable and corral were fired but tn
house did not catch. as some storie
of this fight have stated. Seeing tina
they were baffied and that the situation
was such that some of their own me-
might be injured or killed, 1t was de
cided to withdraw and wait a better op
portunity to deal out justice to tn
remnants of the rang.
In this fight there we're 10 vigilante
engaged and there were supposed to b
IS of the gang Of thieves. Seventy hea
Fort Maginnis and restored to their W
ers as far as possible.
The party then wen down the Mis-
ing the Big Muddy at the same poin
chosen by Chief Joseph when at the hea'
of his Nez Perez warriors he crossed :
H. ~~.$t Ill d. A-.. IN