Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-06-29
By ELMO

bloody chapters which open tne
history Of Montana. How, II may De
asked, could towards commit the
crimes that are charged 1
PIummer's nefaxious band7 Surely
one rnixht argue, only men pos
sessed Of some degree OF bravery
gox,Id he eapabIe Of such deeuS.
Nevertheless. 1t was fear which mo
&svafed every crime that was cornIniLgeu
~, the trails and in Bannack ana VIZ
SSsnia CITY prior to the trial and hang
ing of George Ives at Nevada, In Aloer
CSIlch. in December, 1858. ,
Fear ruled the road agents, because
ts1ev were afraid of each other. Fear,
each of the others, was the oono Olisls
held them together. ..., n.y.
moral cOWardice-the fear OF the opn-
ion of his fellows, fear OF expoSuIe "
the publican bend mans me mort
rotently than can the acclaim ana Re
So TS's, ~ their caIlousneSs In the tax
TING Of human life and the fruits OF
human labor, the road agents-pernas AZ
nSore so than honest men-loVeo hIe
and its material attributes.
Under False Col0rs
IN the surface every member OF Ule
Montana road agent band OF the early
gixties wore the cloak OF reSpectapl1ty'
the cloak often was rather Daoly WQLn
and fraved. but so long as II nelo To-
@efher the individual and the gang
were not revealed to honest men IN
their true colors. .x,,,A
zach road agent knew that should
he Weld TO an honest impulse and ex-
nose the gang, by that deed would ne
he q marked man. If not killed OUT
riQht IN revenge, he would at least pc
so Inundated that lie would DC Ill
rTrt.n& xnyoJfId hammer. even
eSo,Ich his exposure resulted IN ami
hiIation of the gang, because gu men
would still look upon him WIN sus-
While they were consumed by the
fear of each other which maze Inem
conform always to the road agent cooe'
these men fed upon the pubic 1eaL
mgendered by sight OF k Sln " oEgan ~
violent deeds and the lack OF organ
fzed protection. ~
while honest men in strange COM
ranv are slow to form alliances ui1Ih
Z hasis of mutual trust has been eS-
hasnlished. crooks have an nnIorLia9i
cemeraderie which leads quickly 70 al
Iiances of momentary convenience, svstl
though based upon muCual uISOi Ie o9
These alliances, long conInnueu' io''O
h a fear-sealed fraternity, 49,, nxon-
W THE road agents entered tne Mol
.ov1a scene with a distinct aoVanCasSS
c Ss,.s~ the masses Of well-tntentloneo
CaIa seekers Mostly From East
I'VE hulk of the gold seekers cant
s...,.a the east lured by promise OF 1Or-
tune at the grassroots ~ Ine n .Sai1.
tsiTs. They came from Plkes - s a.
seeking to avoid the trlpulaItsJ5 sa t ~
eStn4a, |sH1aiween the north and soutn,
~ even from the deep soutn. 1ney
80 saa~ Aenderfeet In all that the WoL0
wv'e1,Iias Thev took their neighporS OF
-SsiI ~. canao at face value. Ana Wn en
rev were deceived and v1ctimlzeo, tn lsa,S
vas no constituted authority 70 ,yn..o5
,hev could turn. They were peW Ill 49, GU
Nd afraid. They knew not whom bney
THE road agents, however, caIneI, n NJ
,sov1fana from the west, with Wen-oe-
lined mining camp backgrounu. ah+y
,ad fine advantage of past acqualne-
nee. either personally or py feyusa
ion and at least q passing knoWi15usS5
& each others past conouct. Iney LS'A
,aen trained for their profession
% rdened in. It might be said-in the
3acific coast and near-interior camps
,efore thev came east of the Rockies;
san Francisco and the California ana
RECON gold camps and frontier COM
nSnities were their first fields OF ac-
fvitv. Carson City, the ComstocK looe
nd others In Nevada, were the app n
Zee grounds for Plunmer ana ~, nsS
N Most of the road agents had lelI
ne or more camps ahead Of posses:
Illicit alliances had been formed ana
.rnjren numbers of times In the west
I'm camps. because law and order mao
ed a more nearly even break and had
Torked faster than the road agents.
Fears Gave Them Strength
AS they drifted north and east into
he Idaho comprehension, Florence, ,
soise and others-the road agents were
uickly organized for their crimes.
MUTUAL distrlst and fear Of organized |
1iblic opinion. These dual fears gave I
hem their strength.
When their star waned IN the Idaho ]
amps with the growth OF puDlc m
ipnation, they drifted to Bannack ana !
1ITpinia CITY. Here, with past acquaint- 4
nee and all virtually unknown to the {
eneral run of the inhabitants, tney I
uiclSly gained control.
Except when they were hoped up !
18th liquor to engage In personal
rudge fight, usually with someone OUT
de the gang, most of the road agents
ere physical as well as moral towards. 7
here is no record Of road agent !
-ime wherein the victim had so much
) the semblance of an even break to
rotect his life or property. The num- I
ers of men found murdered along the
ais, and the marks of conflict al S
avs told a story Of one-sided adj !
antage. :
Ciinging always to their tattered
oak of ectability-Henry Plum
Ter. leader of the gang, was sheriff
N Bannack and Virginia City-the
,ad agents posed in public as strangers {
merely casual acquaintance. Only a
, SO doing could they conceal the fact +
their criminal alliances. And often i
lis concealment was publicly pretty q
lin. y
Caught In Crime Net v
II can be conceived that good men,
Iug1t in a net of circumstances, were a
reed to criminal paths against their
ssires. Once in the grasp of the fear 2
lat held the road agents together, and 4
it'll no organized public protection,
lev were forced to continue in the
'e of crime that had caught them IN q
net. 2
The Vigtlante organization took cog II
zanca IF this fact nv the banighmenf D