Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-01-10
Charley Forbes Violated Crime
Code and Was Killed by Gang

the next day and arranged for tn
assassination
A miners court was in session fol
the trial Of a civil case, with DR.
Steele, president of the gulch, presid-
ing, and Forbes acting as court clerk
A goodly crowd was present and Al
conclusion of the session StinSon and
Lyons came into the court and went
/ into a huddle with Forbes After 8
1 few minutes the latter rose to his
feet with an oath and is quoted as
exclaiming, We'll. well kill the scoun-
| drel then. at once"
He accompanied his two fellow hood
lums outside and met Dillingham;, who
had come over from Bannack to look
for some stolen horses. Hundreds of
miners were on the street but that
simple fact didn't cause the trio
moments hesitation.
They gathered around Dillingham;
and opened fire, while Forbes, foxy
and with an eye to the trial that must
subsequently follow, shouted, Don't
shoot Don't shootl"
But all three shot, and it wa
Forbes bullet that did the business,
passing through Dillingham's breast.
Jack Gallagher, who was In on the
plot, rushed up and In his capacity
as deputy sheriff relieved the ruffians
Of their pistols, one Of which, in the
general excitement, he reloaded, thus
intending to prevent Identification Of
the one who fired the fatal shot.
Immediate trial Of the three was
arranged, but Forbes, Of angelic APP
pearance and a capable talker, won
a separate trial on the strength Of his
don't shoot" exclamation and also
because he claimed as his the gun
the one that had been reloaded. This
seemed a smart move at the time but
in reality was blumder. 1t saved him
for the present but made his future
dark indeed, particularly since the
weapon really belonged to Stinson.
This sort of business was not consid- |
cred cricket by the criminal element. |
At conclusion of the trial Of Stin- (
son and Lyons, which lasted into the |
next day, the unanimous verdict was |
hang them" Men were dispatched to
erect a scaffold and dig graves. Then
began the trial Of Forbes, and it was
different. The miners were
Inclined to be lenient. Forbes had
claimed the loaded gun and shouted
don't shoot" angles that stood him
n good stead. Charley himself clinched
lis acquittal by making a personal
appeal to the crowd. He was given
reedom by a large majority and
Tapped on the back and jostled good
Sometime afterward, to give you a
lotion of how justice miscarried In
his instance, Forbes was heard to
cast vauntingly that he had killed
and to deride the tender
olicitude of the crowd that had spared
inn from the gallows. (
Mellowed by their action toward !
orbes, the crowd began showing signs
I chickening out Of the job Of ex- I
cutting Lyons and Stinson. Lyons be- !
anne maudlin in his appeals for sym /
athy and several women In the crowd I
cyan sob act. Fl. p. A. Smith, lawyer (
II the culprits, joined in the plea /
" mercy and finally some leather
mged individual In the crowd de-
anded that a letter Lyons had writ
n his mother be read to these as 4
mbled.
This touching document, prepared K
: someone In advance for use as n
st resort. was the payoff. The muir t
.rers were given horses and allowed u
ride gleefully away. Z
The Vigilantes held necktie sociables k
T both these worthless not too long a
praise be, but they, and F
,rbes should have been strung up on b
e spot. a.
As for the latter, his string soon ran
( also Maudlin sentiment saved him "a