The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-07-02

THERE HAVE BEEN arguments ga.
l. lore in Montana during the last ~
as to the probability that some
of the men who were hanged by the
Vigilantes when that group starteo out
to rid the territory Of bandits and gen,
eral all round d~esperadoes n 9
men, were the victims of a miscarriage
of iustice-that some men were exc
cuted who should not ave been.
In one instance, however, there seems
to be no argument in the matter.
In the winter of 1865 Reece Anderson
of Deer Lodge had a steer. that was
grazing about the camp. That Is ne ~
It one day, and the next ne Qiont
During the night it had mysterlously
disappeared. Search for the critter was
made far and wide. Reece rode
mountains and valleys looking Tor his
steer and asked his friends In outlying
neighborhoods and gulches to keep
their eye peeled for the ANIMAL out
EXCEPT for an occasional killing or
stage holdup and frequent saloon
Draws subjects of conversation were
limited in the mountain mining camps
of that day, and what had happened
to Reece AnderSOnS' steer came In 1or
a large amount of speculation upon
the part. of the residents OF the place.
Circumstantial Evidence
SUSPICION finally came to rest upon
q man named johnson. HIS general
reputation was none. too good. He was
known to be q petty thief and many
GOOD citizens became convinced CnaI
johnson, emboldened by the success OF
his pilfering and the fact that no steps
had been taken to curb his operations,
had decided to embark In larger enter
priseS.
johnson was arrested and charged
with stealing the steer. The fact that
he was disposed to take property that
did not belong to him, was the strong
est bit Of evidence against him. There
was actually nor connecting him with
the theft Of the steer. There was no
iail and guards cost SO a day each,
SO no time wa lost in bringing n case
to trial. Keeping prisoners was an eX-
pensive luxury. In spite OF Johnson's
pitiful protestations of innocence ne
was hailed before q court and jury.
Vigilante Panacea
The jury summed up the case IN TINS
manner: The steer was gone, therefore
it had been stolen. johnson was known
to be a thief, therefore he had stolen
it. It appeared to the jury to be con-
elusive evidence and the prisoner was
promptly found guilty and sentenced
to be hanged. He was swung into eter-
nifty from q branch of the nearest con-
V6IllSllI GTcc.
In the spring, the steer came back,
but johnson was held down by several
feet of Deer Lodge soil. His e~xecutioners
were repentant but conSoled themselves
with the belief that johnson eventu-
ally would have been hanged anyhow,
and went on about their business.
To Alder Gulch in 1864, came a man
named Brady. from Iowa, and opened
a saloon. He was young, genial, open
handed and generous save when under
the influence of liquor. As time wor
on he came to be in that condition
most of the time. He had an assistant
named Kelly who had contracted the
same evil habit.
One evening q miner named Lynch
entered Brady's saloon when Kelly was
there alone. The two -quarreled. Lynch
left the saloon and started down the
street. Kelly. came running to the door
with a six-shooter in his hand which
he snapped at Lynch, but the gun
missed fire. DR.. G. B. Hardenbrook,
later and for many years q prominent
resident Of Anaconda, was across the
street and saw Kelly pointing the gun
at Lynch and yelled at the latter to
put him on his guard, As Lynch turned,
Kelly ran back into the saloon. Lynch
picked up q rock, ran back to the sa-
loon and hurled the missive through.
N Of the windows at Kelly, then
the street.