Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1930-06-05

was rapidly conveyed to the depot
where a telegraph pole was used for
the place of execution.
Passengers Are Startled
As the chronicler of the time re-
cited the incident, before the light
of dawn had paled the stars, a CHASTITY
shape was swinging in the breeze and
an unknown murderer had gone to
meet his Maker The swinging figure
remained hanging from the pole until
a morning train came in. Passengers
allghting for a walk about the station
were startled to see the sWaying corpse,
grim evidence of frontier justice, and
most of them hastily retreated TO the
shelter OF the train.
Later in the morning the coroner
ordered the body taken down. An in
quest was called and the jury brought
IN a verdict that we, the jury, find
that the deceased, John Doe, whose
true name IS unknown, came TX his
death by hanging at the hands of a
party or parties unknown to the jury. !"
Marks on the mans head disclosed
that he had been struck over the head
but whether he had received this in
jury IN a struggle before he was hung
or whether the lynchers in hosting
HIM up with the rope had caused him
to strike his head against the arm of
the telegraph pole could not be ascer-
tanned.
Another jury which held an inquest
concerning the death of Clancy re-
ported that he came to his death at the
hands of John Doe, who did in cold
blood and feloniously, murder him"
Clancy's funeral was held by the
Maverick Hose company, who attended
the rites in a body. The fire bell was
tolled and the stations flag was placed
at half mast. The unknown murderer
was buried privately without any effort
being made to discover whether he
had any relatives.
Vagabonds Hit Trail
Before the sun was up the morning
after the lynching, many of the vaga-
bonds who had been hanging about
the town had started leaving. Others
were ordered to go and through the
day they could be seen crossing the
railroad bridge east of Billings.
Murphy and Quinn, the two men who
had been with John Doe in the saloon,
were released after the inquests after
being warned to leave town. From
the tone of the newspaper account of
their departure there wa apparently
some lingering belief that the citizens
brigade should have made a good job
Of it by hanging all three. They ap-
parently made good use of their chance
to go, for the same paper that told of
the lynching records that Quinn had
got as far as Glendive and had been
warned to leave there.
The tramps that had left town
gathered at a rendezvous beyond the
bridge and a rumor spread about town
that they were waiting to swoop down
or the town at midnight and to avenge
the lynching by bloody reprisals.
Sheriff Ramsey organized a posse who
armed themselves with rifles and shot
guns and rode out to the bridge to
dispense the band. They found, how
ever, that the whole hobo crew had
departed. There was still fear in the
town, however, that d surprise attack
might be in the wind and a night
guard vas organized that kept up a
patrol of the streets until morning,
when it became apparent that the
birds had flown
The official account of the lynching
is at variance in some points TO some
of the stories told by old-timers. There
is certain tradition to the effect that
the lynchers were not altogether GER
tain that the tramp that they hung
was actually the man that killed Clan
cy. According to this version, there
was no one in the saloon at the time
of the killing except the tramps and
the s~heepherder and it was a question
whether they did not get the wrong
man Of the three or even an entirely
innocent tramp.
1t was said, years afterward, that of
the men who had taken the leading
part in the John Doe lynching, not
one but was pursued by misfortune
and trouble, Of one sort or another
from that time on.
Some time about the same year, a
man and a boy were killed while they
were camping on Alkali creek, eight
miles from Billings, who suspected
them Of being horse thieves. There
was considerable. feeling at the time
that the boy should have been spared
as he had been led into mischief by
the older man. 1t may have been that