The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1934-02-09

their end, concluded that the person
who made them had back-tracked.
the snow-covered body of the
Captain was found in the thick will
lows. He had taken off his mittens,
drunk the laudanum, pulled his cap over
his eyes, and gone to sleep.
He was buried in the graveyard on
the point of benchland which looks
down upon the Ruby, as it turns from
west to north at the great bend, and
for many years he lay in an unmarked
grave. That did not mater much; the
good he did was not inferred with his
bones.
Apparently, however, James Williams
had won the oblivion he sought. Men
seemingly forgot him, and forgot who
it was that as executive officer of the
Vigilantes had rendered such signal
service.
Twelve years passed. In August OF
1899 the State Association of Montana
Pioneers met in Virginia City, the larg-
est meeting the association ever held;
men and women came from far and
near, even from distant states, to re-
new the memories of youth and to meet
the friends Of yesteryear. There was,
of course, much talk of the ~Vigilantes,
of the leaders of that sterling band, Of
the road agents, of Slade and Maria
Virginia Slade, his wife. Here and there
a group spoke of Captain Williams, but
the mass had forgotten him. Was he
to be forgotten altogether?
Shortly after the meeting adjourned,
la writer, likening Williams to Cyrano
de Bergerac, and employing as a pre-
lude, There was the allegory of my
whole life; In the shadow at the lad
der's foot, while others lightly mount to
fame" presented the essential
facts in an article in the Alder Gulch
Times, an ambitious upStart then bid
ding for a place in the newspaper field,
concluding with this sentence, "And not
until he is accredited his proper place in
1.-The history of this State will its history
be properly written, or posterity's debt
to his memory be paid"
The article received widespread at
tention, and a somewhat intensive dis
cussion ensued, oral as well as written.
Upon investigation, no r was found
who denied, O could any n upon the
facts deny that James Williams was the
executive officer, the leader of the Wig
ilantes in the field. Official recognition
came in 1907, through the enactment
by the Tenth Legislative Assembly Of
House Bill No. 40, appropriating $3.50
ito purchase a bronze tablet to the
1emory of Captain James Williams, and
to pay for it's erection in the main hall
fof the Capitol"
The credit for this emplacement be-
longs chiefly to the Hon. Frank B.
Linderman, LII. D., author of Indian
Why Stories,'' American" and other
well known books. Mr.. Linderman was
then a resident of Madison county, hav-
ing represented that county in the low
er house Of the Legislative Assembly In
1908. In 1907 he was deputy secretary
of state; he drew the bill, had it intro
duced, and when it received the COVER
nor's. signature filed it in the office OF
the secretary Of state. As acting Sec
rotary of state, his chief, Secretary Of
State Yoder, being absent on account Of
illness, he wrote the inscription and
otherwise carried into effect the legis-
lative will. The tablet bears this IN
scription:
ITO commemorate the name and
deeds of James Williams, captain of the
Vigilantes, through whose untiring ef-
der were established in Montana, and
who, with his associates, brought to
justice the most desperate criminals In
the Northwest"
Some years later a member OF the
family placed a modest granite stone
81 over the mounds which mark the rest
ing places of James and Elizabeth Led
ford Williams.