Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-02-05


area split into two factions, fought q
in which at least 1000 shots were1
fired and at the end Of which at least
two Cinnamon were found dead-b0th
killed by knife wounds. Those were
the only two casualties, to the aston
ishment of officers who finally ar
rived on the scene and Of more than
~. ranehmeu who had been unable
TO pass through the field of battle be-
cause the Chinese war parties were
enscOnced on either side of the road
which they were travelling TO Virginia
City. They were held for several hours
because the fight blocked the highway.
Most of the Chinese who were IN
Alder glllch at that time were engaged
in working the old placer dumps which
had been left by the white placer
miners when the ground was worked
out The Chinese, not so ambitious as
the white men, but far more indus
trious, labored for years on this
ground many of them accommodating
sufficient wealth as result OF tneir
efforts to return to China and assume
a position there which goes only with
wealth and affluence. Chinese iaun-
drymen came early to the gold dig
gines. but they took to mining IN force
after the white argonauts nao /
SKINNED the rich cream from the
gravel of Alder gulch.
leads from the railroad station at
Alder to Virginia City was lined with |
cabins and shacks inhabited by these
Chinese miners.
IL was during an afternoon in the !
fan that the residents of Virginia CITY
Thought they heard gunfire IN that d. /
rection, the crackle OF rifles that
O'clock in the afternoon, the Paul
Revere of the occasion, a resident OF /
the Ruby valley, dashed into Virginia |
CITY on a foam-flecked horse and re- |
ported to the sheriff's office the Chi |
nese down the valley had split INTO I
two armies and had been shooting at |
each other for hours-Were numbering /
each other.
were held up by the fight, but during
a lull In the hostilities he had spurred
his horse along the road which ran
through the battlefield and come to
report to the sheriff. He. had seen two
dead bodies by the roadside, he. said,
and could hear the groans OF the
wounded as he came by. Twenty
ranchmen, he reported, were at the /
mouth of Alder canyon waiting Ior an
opportunity to come to Virginia City.
THE messenger described the battle,
which he said he had watched Tor a
period. 1t was proceeding, [
he declared, in an extremely napnaz-
ard manner. The participants seemed
to have no particular objective in
view. according to his description. One
Of them would rush from cover, empty
the magazine Of his rifle In any direc-
ton, veil at the top of his voice and
then seek cover again TO reload ana
repeat the performance. His Irlends
were in as much danger from his ef-
forts as were his foes.
f1an cnarsiff nf
Madison county at the time. He hur-
riedly organized posse and rode for
the scene of the trouble.
But by the time he and his men ar
rived the battle was over and the
sheriff could obtain no information
from any of the participants as to
who was responsible for the DEAN o.
understand the sheriff's questions, nor
could they tell him anything he could
except that each side was
blaming the other for the start Of the
war and for its consequences.
The ringleaders in the disturbance
were finally located, however, and
several of them were arrested and
jailed at Virginia City. The affair was
finally sifted down to where 1t APP
peared that one particular faction had
been the aggreSSor, and several MEM
bers of this faction were held TO the
grand jury. Former Territorial Chief
Justice H. N. Blake was counsel for
the defense.
When the grand jury was convened
The case of the accused Cinnamon was
brought before it, but no true bill was
returned. E. j. Conger, later q resident
of Dillon, was judge of the district
court and would not accept the de-
cision of the jury. He said that two
men had been killed and that it was
The duty Of the grand jury to find out
who was responsible for the crime
The reporting grand jury was dis
charged and a new one impaneled. 1t
Indicted two of the Cinnamon for
murder and the other prisoners were
discharged.
When the case came to trial, pro-
spective Jurors who had no conscien-
dous scruples against hanging a
were at a premium. The
general sentiment of the community
was expressed by one talesman who,
when asked If he had any such scru-
Piles, replied: mo, would be willing
to help hang every last one of them
In the country" OF course, he was
oronnptIV excused