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131-548: In 1863–1864, Montana Vigilantes followed the model of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance that existed in 1850s California to bring order to lawless communities in and around the gold fields of Alder Gulch and Grasshopper Creek. There are estimates that over 100 persons were killed in " road agent " robberies in the fall of 1863. The Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch organized in December 1863, and in

262-597: A belief that due process would result in acquittals. Popular histories have accepted the former view: that the illegality and brutality of the vigilantes was justified by the need to establish law and order in the city. One prominent critic of the San Francisco vigilantes was General W. T. Sherman , who resigned from his position as Major-general of the Second Division of Militia in San Francisco. In his memoirs, Sherman wrote: As [the vigilantes] controlled

393-402: A booming city of over 20,000 very rapidly. Founders alleged that the growth in population overwhelmed the previously established law enforcement, and led to the organization of vigilante militia groups. These militias hanged eight people and forced several elected officials to resign. Each Committee of Vigilance formally relinquished power after three months. The 1851 Committee of Vigilance

524-542: A community? Indeed, in San Francisco, as soon as it was demonstrated that the real power had passed from the City Hall to the committee room, the same set of bailiffs, constables, and rowdies that had infested the City Hall were found in the employment of the "Vigilantes." A former member of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance, physician Max Fifer, moved to Yale, British Columbia at the time of

655-464: A council at Fort Laramie , which Lakota leader Red Cloud attended. The U.S. Army wanted to negotiate a right-of-way with the Lakota for settlers' use of the trail. As negotiations continued, Red Cloud became outraged when he discovered that a regiment of U.S. infantry was already using the route without receiving permission from the Lakota nation. Thus Red Cloud's War began. It was impossible for

786-597: A course of approximately six weeks between December 1863 and February 1864, vigilante companies located, arrested and executed suspected members of the Plummer road agent gang in Bannack, Virginia City and Hellgate, Montana. Shortly after its formation, the Vigilance Committee dispatched a posse of men to search for Aleck Carter, "Whiskey Bill" Graves and Bill Bunton, known associates of George Ives. The posse

917-540: A cumbersome process that could easily be manipulated. This sentiment is illustrated by a quote from Thomas Dimsdale who wrote the first published account of the Montana Vigilantes, originally written in 1865 as a series of articles for the Montana Post and later compiled into a book. Another powerful incentive to wrong-doing is the absolute nullity of the civil law in such cases. No matter what may be

1048-527: A detachment under William J. Fetterman at the Fetterman Fight near Fort Phil Kearny on December 21, 1866, civilian travel along the trail ceased. On August 1, 1867, and August 2, 1867, U.S. forces resisted coordinated attempts by large parties of Lakota and Cheyenne to overrun Fort C. F. Smith and Fort Phil Kearny in the Hayfield Fight and Wagon Box Fight . The strikes and attacks on

1179-493: A meeting notice. It was incorporated into the uniform patch of the Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) in 1956. MHP administrator Alex Stephenson designed the insignia and explained, "we chose the symbol to keep alive the memory of this first people's police force." The first written account of the vigilantes was Thomas Dimsdale's Vigilantes of Montana which first appeared as a series of articles in 1865 editions of

1310-670: A member of the Virginia City road agents and to at least a dozen murders in the territory. Shortly after Judge Lyman Munson's arrival in Helena, he convened a grand jury on August 12, 1865. However, unlike Judge Hosmer in Alder Gulch, Munson made no remarks about vigilantism nor did he threaten vigilantes with prosecution if they continued their activities. The vigilantes showed little respect for Munson's court and proceeded to carry out at least 14 extrajudicial executions. Among them

1441-419: A membership of 700 and claimed to operate in parallel to, and in defiance of, the duly constituted city government. Committee members used its headquarters for the interrogation and incarceration of suspects who were denied the benefits of due process. The committee engaged in policing, investigating disreputable boarding houses and vessels, deporting immigrants, and parading its militia. Four people were hanged by

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1572-571: A military kitchen and armory, an infirmary, and prison cells, all of which were fortified with gunny sacks and cannons. Four people were officially executed again in 1856, but the death toll also includes James "Yankee" Sullivan , an Irish immigrant and professional boxer who killed himself after being terrorized and detained in a Vigilante cell. The 1856 committee also engaged in policing, investigations, and secret trials, but it far exceeded its predecessor in audacity and rebelliousness. Most notably, it seized three shipments of armaments intended for

1703-444: A murder trial in the Virginia City miners' court in his memoirs. The trial was in the fall of 1863 and concerned the murder of J.W. Dillingham. The trial was held outside, due to the fact that every resident took part. In the end all three defendants were set free. The first, Charley Forbes, was freed after he gave an eloquent and sentimental speech about his mother. The other two, Buck Stinson and Haze Lyons, were convicted and set to be

1834-655: A number of small county or district based associations throughout Montana. By 1883, the value of cattle in Montana was estimated at greater than $ 25 million and annual losses from rustling exceeded three percent. By the summer of 1884, cattle men resorted to vigilantism to deal with rustlers and the first recorded hanging occurred at Fort Maginnis on July 3, 1884, when Reese Anderson, a DHS ranch foreman, and several other ranch hands hanged Sam McKenzie for horse thievery. The hanging of Sam McKenzie and other citizen justice in early July 1884 prompted many thieves and rustlers to leave

1965-494: A number of these men were finally hung. Some of the road agents in Plummer's gang or on Yeager's list were able to escape vigilante justice by fleeing the territory. Notable among these men were Augustus "Gad" Moore, Billy Terwilliger, William Mitchell, Harvey Meade, Richard H. Barter ("Rattlesnake Dick"), "Cherokee Bob", Tex Caldwell, Jeff Perkins, Samuel Bunton, "Irwin of the Big Hole", William Moore and Charles Reeves. During

2096-517: A prison term for Grand Larceny in New York. The combination of the political unrest surrounding the election and the article resulted in Casey's shooting of James King. The 1856 committee was also much larger than the committee of 1851, claiming 6,000 in its ranks. The committee worked very closely with the formal government of San Francisco. The president of the Vigilance Committee, William T. Coleman,

2227-517: A simple copying of the symbol from organizations in Colorado and California. Although it has been associated with vigilantes in Alder Gulch, this is not supported by historical evidence. The first documented evidence of use of the symbol in a vigilante scenario occurred in November 1879 in Helena when it was mentioned in a newspaper article. A 1914 dissertation noted that it was simply used as part of

2358-566: A single group of outlaws , known as " road agents ", under the control of Bannack sheriff Henry Plummer . The gang became known as the Innocents because of their passwords, I am innocent . Prior to the creation of the Montana Territory on May 26, 1864, and the arrival of the territorial courts, the only court system available for the residents of Bannack and Virginia City were the informal miners' courts . The miners' courts were

2489-400: A small creek they named "Last Chance Gulch". As word of the strike spread throughout the area, prospectors and fortune seekers, including many from Alder Gulch and Bannack, migrated to Last Chance Gulch and the town of Helena, Montana was founded. By the middle of 1865, many prominent vigilantes of Alder Gulch, including Wilbur Sanders, John X. Beidler, and Anton Holter, had moved to Helena. When

2620-405: A vehicle of the organized mining districts to resolve mining claims and disputes between miners in the district. When confronted with a major crime such as murder, they usually proved ineffective at resolving the crime to the satisfaction of the community. While there are not many accounts of early courts in Alder Gulch, probably due to their informality and short existence, John X. Beidler recalled

2751-433: A way they thought was best for their communities. He contends that judging the vigilantes by today's understanding and standards of due process is problematic. Justice Dillon's book is the first work of its kind that examines western vigilante history through the prism of substantive, procedural, and constitutional law, and the role that lawyers and judges ultimately played in restoring a credible system of criminal justice to

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2882-604: A work in the area quite like this." In 2004, Frederick Allen, a journalist and historian, published A Decent and Orderly Lynching:The Montana Vigilantes reviewed as an up-to-day balanced account of Montana's vigilante history (1864–1870). Allen's book reinforces the motivations and methods of the earliest vigilantes in Alder Gulch while commenting on the growing disdain for vigilantism in the late 1860s. More generalist works on Montana history such as Merrill G. Burlingame's The Montana Frontier (1942) and Michael P. Malone's Montana-A History of Two Centuries (1991) adequately summarize

3013-490: A young Dutch immigrant. Hundreds of miners from around the area attended the 3-day, outdoor trial. George Ives was prosecuted by Wilbur F. Sanders and Ives was convicted and hanged on December 21, 1863. Sanders played a prominent role in Montana history and eventually became the first U.S. Senator from Montana when the territory gained statehood in 1889. While the Ives trial resulted in an execution many residents were frustrated by

3144-735: Is a "revisionist" history of the Vigilante movement that claims the road agents were victims of a plot perpetrated in a struggle for power between two factions, one favoring the North and the other favoring the South. It overlooks the cooperation between Pfouts, a strong Confederate, and Sanders, a Union abolitionist, in the leadership of the Vigilantes, and that Jack Gallagher was a Union sympathizer, while Boone Helm died shouting, "Hoorah for Jeff Davis!" Another account from John C. Fazio, who writes for

3275-569: Is no offence against the laws of this State; nor is the fact of his having stuffed himself through the ballot box as elected to the Board of Supervisors from a district where it is said he was not even a candidate, any justification for Mr. Bagley to shoot Casey, however richly the latter may deserve to have his neck stretched for such fraud on the people. These are acts against the public good, not against Mr. Bagley in particular, and however much we may detest Casey's former character, or to be convinced of

3406-643: Is that of former Montana Supreme Court Justice (1922–1935) Lew L. Callaway. Edited by his son Lew Callaway Jr., Montana's Righteous Hangmen:The Vigilantes in Action stems from Callaway's association with vigilante Captain James William in the late 1800s. Lew Callaway wrote extensively about the vigilantes and his stories which add more intimate details about how the vigilantes operated are captured in this volume. Although some vigilante activities during this period were criticized by citizens and civic leaders, there

3537-583: The American Natives had used since prehistoric times to travel through Powder River Country . This route was more direct and better watered than any previous trail into Montana. Bozeman's and Jacobs's most important contribution was to improve the trail so that it was wide enough for wagons. But there was a major drawback — the trail passed directly through territory occupied by the Shoshone , Arapaho , and Lakota nations. Decades before

3668-856: The Bozeman and Bridger Trails connecting to the Oregon Trail from the east, the Mullan Road from points west and from Fort Benton, Montana the head of navigation on the Missouri River and the Corinne Road from Corinne, Utah and points south. Additionally, there was a single track, 70-mile (110 km) stage road that connected Alder Gulch with Bannack. Several commercial freight and two passenger stage companies, Peabody and Caldwell's and A.J. Oliver's, operated on this route. Stagecoaches had to stop at several different ranches during

3799-536: The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush , and participated in the organization of a Vigilance Committee on the Fraser River in 1858 to address issues of lawlessness and a vacuum of effective governmental authority created by the sudden influx of prospectors to the new British colony. The Vigilance Committee, which in San Francisco had persecuted disgraced Philadelphia lawyer Ned McGowan , played a role in

3930-399: The Montana Post in 1865. Historical analysis of the period ranges from disrepute to heroism, with debates over whether the lack of any functioning justice system and the understanding of due process at the time meant the vigilantes acted in a way they thought was best for their communities or if modern standards of due process should govern analysis of their actions. On July 28, 1862, gold

4061-508: The Montana Post , Virginia City's and Montana's first newspaper. Dimsdale was a member of the Alder Gulch Vigilance Committee and editor of the Montana Post. His early accounts of the Alder Gulch vigilante events are widely cited and the book version of his articles, the first book published in Montana Territory in 1866, has been extensively reprinted since its first edition. The value of Dimsdale's work lies in

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4192-613: The Oregon Trail , then the major passage to the West Coast. Before this, most access to the southwestern Montana Territory was from St. Louis via the Missouri River to Fort Benton . Thence travelers went by the 'Benton Road,' around the Great Falls and through the Chestnut, Hilger and Prickly Pear valleys (current site of Helena and Broadwater County, Montana ). The overland Bozeman Trail followed many north–south trails

4323-567: The Republican Party . The vigilantes had thus succeeded in their objective of usurping power from the Democratic Party machine that hitherto dominated civic politics in the city. Notable people included William Tell Coleman , Martin J. Burke , San Francisco mayor Henry F. Teschemacher , and San Francisco's first chief of police James F. Curtis . Vigilante headquarters in 1856 consisted of assembly halls, meeting rooms,

4454-400: The "Old Hangman's Tree" for the robbery and attempted murder of George Leonard. The double hanging is significant because it was photographed at the time and the image, widely circulated, had the effect of damping public sentiment for vigilantism. By the 1870s Montana as a whole was experiencing what Montana historian Frederic Allen described as a "sort of pax vigilanticus " Allen claims this

4585-504: The "Old Hangman's Tree". Although Keene's trial and execution was not considered vigilantism, the Helena community, similar to the Alder Gulch community in 1863, felt the need to establish a more reliable means of law and order. Vigilante justice in Helena followed a pattern similar to that of Alder Gulch. Immediately after Keene's hanging, leading members of the Helena community established the Helena Committee of Safety, akin to

4716-629: The Bozeman Trail cut through the plains of present Wyoming, the expanse "... was made busy by Crows and white trappers and traders ...". According to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 , most of the Bozeman Trail ran across native Crow territory established by treaty. "For the Crows, the Bozeman Trail introduced them to a relationship [emigrants and army personnel] that would profoundly affect the tribe in coming decades". To complicate

4847-489: The Bozeman Trail to successfully drive about 1,000 head of longhorn cattle into Montana. The U.S. Army unsuccessfully tried to turn Story back to protect the drive from Native American attacks, but Story brought cattle through to the Gallatin Valley and formed one of the earliest significant herds in Montana's cattle industry. The U.S. Army established Fort Reno , Fort Phil Kearny and Fort C. F. Smith along

4978-581: The Chief who will thereupon call a meeting of the Executive Committee and the judgement of such Executive Committee shall be final. The only punishment that shall be inflicted by this Committee is death. Although the vigilance committee started as a small secret institution in Virginia City, knowledge of it soon spread in the territory and membership grew. As a secret organization, exact accounts of membership vary, but many members became prominent in

5109-583: The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, contends that the Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch had more to do with national politics than with dealing with criminals. He contends that Sidney Edgerton and Wilbur Sanders were pawns of Abraham Lincoln and other unionists who sought ways to rid Montana gold fields of southerners and confederate sympathizers. His views have been rebutted by novelist Carol Buchanan. San Francisco Committee of Vigilance The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance

5240-513: The Crow, who also brought information about the location of Lakota camps. The Crows were all but pleased to see a part of their treaty-guaranteed land taken over by hereditary enemies, the Arapahoes, Cheyennes, and Lakotas. Despite resentment against the traffic on the Bozeman Trail, "the Crows still acted as allies of the harassed troops" in the forts. Later, by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie ,

5371-472: The Custom House, was that of Mr. Bagley, who has since called on us, and by whose request we have made more particular inquiries into the charges made against him. On Monday we told Mr. Bagley that we could not feel justified in withdrawing the general charge against him, for though in the particular cases mentioned we had not been satisfied that he was the party at fault, yet the general character we heard

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5502-683: The Rockies in 1893 after he returned to his home in Minnesota. In a 1912 speech to the Montana Historical Society , western historian, Olin Wheeler provided positive commentary on the Alder Gulch vigilantes in a tribute to the life of Nathaniel Langford. ... Under the domination of the Vigilantes the desperadoes were hung or banished, crime was actually and swiftly punished, life and property were rendered safe, and society

5633-557: The Sheriff-A Biography of Henry Plummer . Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN   0-9663355-0-3 . In Hanging the Sheriff, R. E. Mather and F. E. Boswell have radically redrawn the portrait of Sheriff Henry Plummer and effectively challenged the conventional justification of the Montana vigilantes of 1863–64. The authors reject the vigilante defenders assertion that Plummer's reign of terror necessitated

5764-454: The Stuarts' Stranglers in 1884), Tom Cover (one of the Alder Gulch prospectors who discovered the first gold there and alleged murderer of John Bozeman (1867)) and Thomas Dimsdale (editor of Montana's first newspaper, the Montana Post and author of The Vigilantes of Montana (1866)). Due to the secret nature of the organization it is difficult to be sure when an execution was carried out by

5895-1007: The U.S. government to order the Army to carry out military campaigns against the Shoshone . Patrick Edward Connor led several of the earliest campaigns, including the Bear River Massacre . and the Powder River Expedition of 1865. He also fought the Arapaho at the Battle of the Tongue River . The trail itself diverged from the Oregon and California Trails to the north through the Powder River . Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman authorized construction of three forts in 1866 to guard travelers on

6026-520: The U.S. recognized the Powder River Country as unceded hunting territory for the Lakota and allied tribes. Most was located on former Crow treaty territory, now by conquest converted into new Lakota country. For a time the government used the treaty to shut down travel by European American settlers on the Bozeman Trail. President Ulysses S. Grant ordered the abandonment of forts along the trail. Red Cloud's War could thus be said to be

6157-650: The Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch. Although no records of the committee's membership or bylaws exist, Nathaniel Langford, who had been asked to lead the organization but declined (he did serve on its executive committee), reflected in his book Vigilante Days and Ways that crimes of horse stealing, murder, and highway robbery would be punishable by death. In July 1865, the Helena vigilantes captured Jack Silvie in Diamond City, Montana , and charged him with various crimes of robbery. Prior to his execution by hanging from Helena's "Hangman's Tree", Silvie confessed to being

6288-513: The activities of the Committee. Sherman accepted the position two days before the murder of King by Casey. The 1856 Committee of Vigilance dissolved on 11 August 1856, and marked the occasion with a "Grand Parade". Political power in San Francisco was transferred to a new political party established by the vigilantes, the People's Party , which ruled until 1867 and was eventually absorbed into

6419-658: The actual road from the Oregon Trail to the mining towns was much longer due to the hilly and undulating terrain. Shorter or longer stretches of the route were altered every year to avoid the worst stages. The journey took around eight weeks. Many of the travelers had prepared themselves for the arduous trip by reading John Lyle Campbell 's popular guidebook. Drowning and fatal accidents with firearms occurred. Some travelers came down with critical diseases such as "mountain fever" ( Colorado tick fever ) and never made it to their destination. Game including elk, mountain sheep and bear

6550-544: The aftermath of the Fetterman Fight , the United States agreed, a part of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 , to abandon its forts along the Bozeman Trail. In 1866, after the American Civil War ended, the number of settlers who used the trail en route to Montana gold fields increased. Around 1,200 wagons brought some 2,000 people to the city of Bozeman following the trail that year. The U.S. Army called

6681-479: The army to undertake significant negotiations about the traffic through the western Powder River area and the future use of it with Red Cloud and any other Lakota. In 1851, the United States had acknowledged the tract belonged to the Crow and was obliged by that. The Lakota tribe itself had recognized the same. That same year, Nelson Story , a successful Virginia City, Montana , gold miner originally from Ohio , used

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6812-497: The bloodless McGowan's War on the lower Fraser in 1858–1859. At the end of the so-called "War", McGowan was convicted by Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie of an assault against Fifer in British Columbia but McGowan's defense statement, which described some of the activities of the San Francisco vigilantes and his own personal experience of vigilantism, impressed and disturbed Begbie who, like Colonial Governor James Douglas

6943-411: The cabin he was captured in. As the vigilante companies were leaving Hell Gate to return to Virginia City, they received word that "Whiskey Bill" Graves was at Fort Owen, Montana . Three vigilantes located and arrested him on January 26, 1864. He was hanged the same day. Another tactic employed by the vigilantes was banishment from the territory. It is unknown how many men were given the warning to leave

7074-454: The citizens of San Francisco, that there is no security for life and property, either under the regulations of society as it at present exists, or under the law as now administered; Therefore the citizens, whose names are hereunto attached, do unit themselves into an association for the maintenance of the peace and good order of society, and the preservation of the lives and property of the citizens of San Francisco, and do bind ourselves, each unto

7205-499: The committee nabbed Whittaker and McKenzie after storming the jail during Sunday church services. The committee also tried to punish arsonists. The Committee of Vigilance was reorganized on 14 May 1856 by many of the leaders from the first one and adopted an amended version of the 1851 constitution. Unlike the earlier committee, and the vigilante tradition generally, the 1856 committee was concerned with not only civil crimes but also politics and political corruption. The catalyst for

7336-536: The committee was a murder, in the guise of a political duel in which James P. Casey shot opposition newspaper editor James King of William . King, along with many San Francisco residents, was outraged by Casey's appointment to the city board of supervisors and believed that the election had been rigged. The motivation behind this murder came from King's publishing an article in the Daily Evening Bulletin accusing Casey of illegal activities, and serving

7467-527: The committee; one was whipped (a common punishment at that time); fourteen were deported to Australia ; fourteen were informally ordered to leave California; fifteen were handed over to public authorities; and forty-one were discharged. The 1851 Committee of Vigilance was dissolved during the September elections, but its executive members continued to meet into 1853. A total of four were executed: John Jenkins, an Australian from Sydney accused of burglary, who

7598-870: The confession, Yeager and Brown were found guilty by the posse and summarily hanged from a cottonwood tree on the Lorrain's Ranch on the Ruby River. On January 6, 1864, "Dutch John" Wagner, a road agent wounded in the Moody robbery was captured by vigilante Captain Nick Wall and Ben Peabody on the Salt Lake City trail. The vigilantes transported Wagner to Bannack where he was hanged on January 11, 1864. By this time, Yeager's confession had mobilized vigilantes against Plummer and his key associates, deputies Buck Stinson and Ned Ray. Plummer, Stinson and Ray were arrested on

7729-399: The corruption of City Officials who he believed had let Cora off the hook for Richardson's murder: Cora's first trial had ended in a hung jury , and there were rumors that the jury had been bribed. Casey's friends sneaked him into the jail precisely because they were afraid that he would be hanged. This hanging may have been a response by frustrated citizens to ineffectual law enforcement, or

7860-457: The east. On June 8, 1865, John Keene and Harry Slater, two men who had an unresolved quarrel from their days in Salt Lake City, spotted each other in Sam Greer's saloon on Helena's Bridge Street. Keene shot Slater in the head, killing him instantly. Keene surrendered himself to Helena sheriff George Wood and freely admitted his guilt in the shooting. A two-day trial ensued where some members of

7991-485: The emigrants could breathe again, when they started on the last nearly 190 miles (310 km) of the trail westward from the crossing of the Bighorn River to the city of Bozeman. During the few years the trail was open to emigrants, 3,500 traveled it. Natives killed between 40 and 50 of them. The short cut was at the time "most often called the road to Montana" and not the Bozeman Trail. While short in bee line,

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8122-544: The end of 1863. These new settlements generally lacked justice systems found in populated portions of the territory, such as in the territorial capital in Lewiston, Idaho . In 1863, gold was the preferred form of currency in western frontier communities and had a value, fixed and guaranteed by the U.S. Government, of $ 20.67 per ounce. Almost all economic transactions in western mining communities were accomplished with gold nuggets, flakes or dust as currency and not surprisingly,

8253-473: The fact that the volume at first a series of articles for his own paper, The Montana Post is exactly what it purports to be. Truth than fiction is ever stranger, and no glorified romance of the old west has ever succeeded in echoing like authenticity. What we have in The Vigilantes is the statement of fact before it becomes fiction, the unadorned moment in history before hearsay, the folk imagination, and

8384-486: The few accounts of the early actions of the Alder Gulch Vigilantes, Beidler and Dimsdale are the most complete, although they give little information about the secret trials conducted by the vigilantes. Estimates vary, but noted vigilante historian Frederick Allen believes that between the years 1863 and 1865 somewhere from 15 to 35 people were killed due to the actions of the Alder Gulch vigilantes. Over

8515-441: The fight with Casey, they cannot explain satisfactorily. Our impression at the time was, that in the Casey fight Bagley was the aggressor. It does not matter how bad a man Casey had been, nor how much benefit it might be to the public to have him out of the way, we cannot accord to any one citizen the right to kill, or even beat him, without personal provocation. The fact that Casey has been an inmate of Sing Sing prison in New York,

8646-409: The first men executed in what would become the state of Montana. However, at what would be a very public hanging friends and sympathizers of Stinson and Lyons convinced the crowd to vote again on the execution. Two attempts at counting the vote were made according to Beidler. The first people voting 'hang' were to walk up-hill while those voting 'no hang' were to walk down-hill. This vote was rejected and

8777-582: The first six weeks of 1864 at least 20 road agents of the infamous Plummer gang, known as the " Innocents ", were captured and hanged by the organization. Formal territorial law reached Alder Gulch in late 1864 with the arrival of Territorial Judge Hezekiah L. Hosmer and vigilante activity ceased in the region. As the gold fields of Alder Gulch and Grasshopper Creek declined in 1865, prospectors and fortune seekers migrated to newly discovered areas in and around Last Chance Gulch (now Helena, Montana ). As lawlessness increased, vigilante justice continued there with

8908-473: The formation of a vigilance committee to bring law and order to the area. First, law had been established at Bannack through the miners' court, Plummer's election, and the arrival of Judge Edgerton in September 1863. Second, Plummer's alleged leadership of the road agents was based on an unsubstantiated and unexamined accusation. Mather, R. E.; F. E. Boswell (1991). Vigilante Victims: Montana's 1864 Hanging Spree . San Jose, CA: History West Publishing. This

9039-573: The formation of the Committee of Safety in 1865. During the period 1865–1870, at least 14 alleged criminals were executed by Helena's vigilantes. In 1884, ranchers in Central and Eastern Montana resorted to vigilante justice to deal with cattle rustlers and horse thieves. The best-known vigilante group in that area were " Stuart's Stranglers ", organized by Granville Stuart in the Musselshell region . As formal law enforcement became more prevalent in

9170-581: The history of the territory and state. Among those who were members include Wilbur Sanders (1st U.S. Senator from Montana (1890)), Sidney Edgerton (first Governor of Montana Territory (1864)), Nelson Story (famous for his 1866 cattle drive from Texas to Bozeman and prominent Bozeman merchant), John Bozeman (founder of Bozeman, Montana (1864) and the Bozeman Trail), Nathaniel P. Langford (first Yellowstone National Park superintendent (1872–1877)), James Stuart (brother of Granville Stuart , who would form

9301-418: The jury were known vigilantes from Alder Gulch. Since there was no official trial judge, Stephan Reynolds, a respected member of the Helena community, presided. At the end of the trial, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict and Keene was hanged from the lone pine tree just outside town. The large tree, one of few that remained in proximity to Helena because most had been cut down for lumber, became known as

9432-558: The matter, the southeastern part of the 1851 Crow domain was taken over by the Arapahoe, the Cheyenne and the Lakota. They had invaded the western Powder River area during the 1850s and after "large scale battles" won this buffalo rich Native land from the original tribe around 1860. The principal Bozeman Trail conflict took place along the roughly 250 miles (400 km) of southern wagon wheel tracks through this particular area. Usually,

9563-469: The more gold one had, the more wealth one possessed. During the early years of the territory, there was no secure way to transport wealth out of the region. The only means of transporting wealth out of the Alder Gulch gold fields was via horseback or slow moving wagons and stagecoaches on a limited number of trails and primitive roads leading south and west to Salt Lake City and San Francisco or east to Minnesota. Roads and trails leading to Alder Gulch included

9694-404: The morning of January 10, 1864 and summarily hanged. On January 11, 1864, "Greaser Joe" Pizanthia, a road agent on Yeager's list, was located in his cabin just outside Bannack. A gunfight ensued that took the life of one vigilante, George Copley. Pizanthia's cabin was bombarded with three shells from a mountain howitzer belonging to Sidney Edgerton. The bombardment severely wounded Pizanthia and he

9825-566: The morning of January 14, 1864, five of the six road agents were located in town and arrested. They were all summarily hanged from a beam in a building under construction on Wallace Street. Bill Hunter escaped capture in Virginia City, but was later arrested at a cabin on the Gallatin River and was hanged from a cottonwood tree on February 3, 1864. After the January 14, 1864 hangings, the vigilante companies left Virginia City in search of

9956-426: The need for extralegal action if the territorial legislature did not enact laws to protect the cattle industry: Will [our legislators] give us ... protection, or shall we be compelled against our wishes to become judges and executors of what we deem a proper penalty for the commission of such infringement upon the rights of property? In July, 1879, a Territorial Stock Association was formed that ultimately spawned

10087-617: The new, western towns. Bozeman led the first wagon train on the trail in 1864. Abasalom Austin Townsend was captain of another very large wagon train (over 400 people and 150+ wagons) and had a battle with the Natives . Known as the Townsend Wagon Train Fight , the attack occurred on July 7, 1864, with casualties on both sides. Native raids on white settlers increased dramatically from 1864 to 1866, which prompted

10218-422: The next attempt had four men form two gates and people would cast their vote by walking through the 'hang' gate or the 'no hang' gate. Beidler claims that friends of the condemned men simply walked through the 'no hang' gate repeatedly casting fraudulent votes that possibly allowed two murderers to walk free. On December 19–21, 1863, a public trial was held of George Ives, the suspected murderer of Nicholas Tiebolt,

10349-465: The only Native American war in which Native Americans achieved their goals (if only for a brief time) with a treaty settlement essentially on their terms. By 1876, however, following the Black Hills War , the U.S. Army reopened the trail. The U.S. Army continued to use the trail during later military campaigns and built a telegraph line along it. Today, a modern highway route covers roughly

10480-422: The other, to do and perform every lawful act for the maintenance of law and order, and to sustain the laws when faithfully and properly administered; but we are determined that no thief, burglar, incendiary or assassin, shall escape punishment, either by the quibbles of the law, the insecurity of prisons. the carelessness or corruption of the police, or a laxity of those who pretend to administer justice. It boasted

10611-403: The press, they wrote their own history, and the world generally gives them the credit of having purged San Francisco of rowdies and roughs; but their success has given great stimulus to a dangerous principle, that would at any time justify the mob in seizing all the power of government; and who is to say that the Vigilance Committee may not be composed of the worst, instead of the best, elements of

10742-478: The proof, if the criminal is well liked in the community 'Not Guilty' is almost certain to be the verdict, despite the efforts of the judge and prosecutor. On December 23, 1863, two days after the Ives trial, a group of five Virginia City residents, led by Wilbur F. Sanders, and including Major Alvin W. Brockie, John Nye, Captain Nick D. Wall and Paris Pfouts organized the Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch. The committee

10873-590: The recovery of dozens of stolen horses and the deaths of at least 20 thieves in July 1884, by hanging, shootings or fire. The last hanging occurred on August 1, 1884. In July 1884, Theodore Roosevelt who later became the 26th President of the United States, was operating a cattle ranch in Medora, North Dakota along the Little Missouri River in cooperation with cattle merchant Marquis de Mores . His ranch

11004-491: The region by the end of the decade. ... Universities only publish books that survive rigorous peer reviews. Historian Paul R. Wylie, who was among the historians that reviewed Dillon's manuscript, predicts that the book "will be the best work on the Montana Vigilantes, and will likely be around for years to come." Wylie describes the book as having a "careful, informative, judicial approach [that is] well-written and very readable," and that to his knowledge, "there has never been

11135-440: The region, vigilantism fell into decline. Vigilantism in pre-territorial and territorial Montana has been written about, romanticized and chronicled in personal memoirs, biographies, documentary and scholarly works, film and fiction for well over a century. The first book published in Montana was Thomas J. Dimsdale's 1866 first edition of The Vigilantes of Montana , which was compiled from a series of newspaper articles he wrote for

11266-855: The remaining road agents on Yeager's list. The first to be located was Steve Marshland holed up in a cabin on the Big Hole River and was hanged on January 16, 1864. A posse led by Captain Williams found Bill Bunton at his Cottonwood Ranch on the Ruby River and hanged him on January 18, 1864. After the Bunton execution, the vigilante companies regrouped and made a 90-mile (140 km) ride to Hell Gate, Montana where they believed more road agents were hiding. In Hell Gate, Captain William's vigilante company located and arrested Cyrus Skinner, Aleck Carter, and John Cooper. A vigilante trial of Skinner and Carter

11397-545: The route were newly arrived Lakotas and their Native allies, the Arapahoe and the Cheyenne. The United States put emphasis on a right to "establish roads, military and other posts" as described in Article 2 in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. All parties in the conflict had signed that treaty. The Crow Natives held the treaty right to the contested area and had called it their homeland for decades. They sided with

11528-528: The route, staffed with troops meant to protect travelers. All three military posts were built west of Powder River, consequently outside the Lakota territory as recognized by the whites in the Fort Laramie Treaty. " ... the Sioux attacked the United States anyway, claiming that the Yellowstone was now their land". Native American raids along the trail and around the forts continued. When the Lakota annihilated

11659-400: The routes in and around Alder Gulch had become common. In their writings about the vigilantes, Thomas Dimsdale and Nathaniel P. Langford estimated that at least 102 travelers were killed by robbers in the fall of 1863. Many more travelers left the region and were never heard from again. As this became a more frequent occurrence locals began suspecting that these crimes were being carried out by

11790-482: The same general route as the historic Bozeman Trail. The route consists of Interstate 25 from Douglas, Wyoming to Buffalo, Wyoming ; Interstate 90 from Buffalo via Sheridan, Wyoming to Bozeman, Montana MT Hwy 84; and U.S. Route 287 to Virginia City, Montana . [REDACTED] Media related to Bozeman Trail at Wikimedia Commons There are nine individual segments of the Bozeman Trail in Wyoming listed on

11921-605: The same, when the officers so informed shall call together the members of his Company, (unless the Company has chosen a committee for such purpose) when they shall proceed to investigate the case, and elicit the facts and should the said company conclude that the person charged with any offense should be punished by the committee, the Captain or Lieutenant will first take steps to arrest the Criminal and then report same with proof to

12052-567: The shallowness of his promised reformation, we cannot justify the assumption by Mr. Bagley to take upon himself the redressing of these wrongs. This case of Bagley's has caused us much anxiety, and we should have been pleased to have withdrawn cheerfully his name from the list alluded to, but we cannot conscientiously do more than express our gratification at the assurances we get of his present conduct, in which we trust he will persevere. As to Casey fight, we suggest to Mr. Bagley if he can explain that away, it would not be amiss to do so, and he can have

12183-565: The soldiers "appeared to be a great Sioux war to protect their land. And it was - but the Sioux had only recently conquered this land from other tribes and now defending the territory both from other tribes and from the advance of white settlers". "In 1866, Red Cloud and his alliance of Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos fought for a territory they had dominated for only a few years". The troops in Fort Phil Kearny and Fort C. F. Smith got from time to time warnings of imminent attacks from

12314-547: The state militia and tried the chief justice of the California Supreme Court . The committee's authority, however, was bolstered by almost all militia units in the city, including the California Guards. From the Daily Evening Bulletin , James King of William, Editor. May 14, 1856: Among the names mentioned by "a purifier," in his communication of Friday last, as objectionable appointments of

12445-584: The summer of 1864, Hezekiah L. Hosmer , a lawyer from Ohio, was working for the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Territories. After working on the formation of Montana Territory for the committee, he was formally appointed as the first Chief Justice of Montana Territory. He arrived in Montana in October 1864. Prior to the first session of the Territorial Legislature which convened on December 12, 1864, in Bannack, Hosmer announced that he

12576-578: The teller of tales weaves it into saga. John X. Beidler, one of the Alder Gulch and Helena vigilante enforcers wrote about his vigilante activities in his personal journals. They weren't available until well after his death when Helen F. Sanders, the daughter-in-law of Wilbur Sanders finally got them published in 1957. Nathaniel Langford , also a member of the vigilantes, explorer of the upper Yellowstone (1870), first superintendent of Yellowstone National Park (1872–1877), territorial tax collector (1864–1869) and author published Vigilante Days and Ways-Pioneers of

12707-435: The territory or suffer execution for their misdeeds. Alexander Toponce , a merchant in Bannack at the time believed the number of banishments was high but wrote this in his autobiography: Reminiscences of Alexander Toponce (1923): I don't think they [the vigilantes] made any mistake in hanging anybody. The only mistake they made was about fifty percent of those whom they merely banished should have been hung instead, as quite

12838-501: The territory was formed, three judicial districts were established. The First District belonged to Judge Hosmer and included the towns of Bannack, Virginia City, Nevada City and Deer Lodge. The Third District encompassed the towns around Helena. From July 1864, until August 1865, the only justice system was the miners' court; the Third District did not get its first chief judge until August 1865, when Judge Lyman Munson arrived from

12969-493: The territory. However, a large band of horse thieves still operated in the Musselshell region. With the tacit approval of the stockgrowers' associations, Granville Stuart organized a small intelligence network and mobilized forces to go after the thieves. The group included many of Stuart's ranch hands and stock detectives employed by various stock associations. Known as "Stuart's Stranglers", the vigilantes were responsible for

13100-465: The threat from the Indian wars diminished on the plains of Montana, stock ranches and open range cattle ranching moved east into Central and Eastern Montana. The DHS ranch, owned by Samuel Hauser , Andrew Davis and Granville Stuart was established in 1879 in the Musselshell region of Central Montana and became one of the largest open range ranches in Montana. The first stockmen's association in Montana

13231-613: The trail. Soldiers were harassed by the Sioux , at that time led by Red Cloud (the United States named the war Red Cloud's War after the Sioux leader). Colonel Henry B. Carrington was stationed at a halfway point between Fort Laramie and the Bozeman Trail, but his well-fortified position was not attacked directly. However, when Captain William J. Fetterman , acting against orders, led soldiers in retaliation for attacks against Fort Phil Kearny ; all eighty of Fetterman's men were killed. In

13362-528: The trip to water and change horses, feed passengers and provide overnight lodging. One of these ranches, the Rattlesnake Ranch, was owned by Bill Bunton and Frank Parish, who were later hanged by the vigilantes as road agents and members of the Plummer gang. In a region where valuable gold was plentiful, transportation was insecure and effective law and order was lacking, travelers became easy prey for robbers. By late 1863, thefts and murders along

13493-591: The use of our columns for that purpose. There remains historical controversy about the vigilance movements. For example, both Charles Cora and James Casey were hanged in 1856 as murderers by the Committee of Vigilance: Cora shot and killed U.S. Marshal William H. Richardson who had drunkenly insulted Cora's mistress, Belle Cora, while Casey shot James King of William, editor of rival newspaper The Evening Bulletin , for publishing an editorial that exposed Casey's criminal record in New York . King had also denounced

13624-410: The vigilance committee or another group of motivated citizens. In the months following the Ives trial many suspected road agents were hanged. Notable among those hanged was Henry Plummer, the sheriff of Bannack, who was suspected by many of being the ringleader of the road agents. The Montana Vigilantes hanged men using the testimony of other men who faced their imminent executions as the sole evidence. Of

13755-561: The vigilante period largely based on earlier accounts by Dimsdale, Langford and Beidler. Additionally, many topical histories of Montana, such as novelist and Montana historian Dan Cushman's Montana: The Gold Frontier (1973), cover the vigilante period. Some works published in the late 20th century about vigilante activity in Alder Gulch portray the vigilantes and their leaders as conspirators with political motives rather than restoring law and order, making an argument that victims were not afforded due process prior to their execution and evidence

13886-503: The whites. The U.S. Army undertook several military campaigns against the hostile Natives to try to control the trail. Because of its association with frontier history and conflict with American Natives, various segments of the trail are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In 1863, John Bozeman and John Jacobs scouted for a direct route from Virginia City, Montana to central Wyoming to connect with

14017-504: Was a vigilante group formed in 1851. The catalyst for its formation was the criminality of the Sydney Ducks gang. It was revived in 1856 in response to rampant crime and corruption in the municipal government of San Francisco, California . The explosive population growth following the discovery of gold in 1848 was cited as the source of the alleged need for the revival of the committee. The small town of about 900 individuals grew to

14148-482: Was a close friend of Governor J. Neely Johnson and the two men met on several occasions working towards the shared goal of stabilizing the town. Another important figure at this time who would later come to make a name for himself in the Civil War is William T. Sherman . Sherman was running a bank when Governor Johnson requested he become the commander of the San Francisco branch of the state militia in order to curb

14279-403: Was a general affirmation of their purpose and contribution to law and order in a growing territory. Mark C. Dillon's Montana Vigilantes 1863–1870 Gold, Guns and Gallows (2013) concludes that given the lawless environment and criminal activity in Alder Gulch and Helena at the time, the lack of any functioning justice system and the understanding of due process at the time, the vigilantes acted in

14410-496: Was adopting Common Law as the primary criminal and civil law and Idaho's Territorial Law as a basis for criminal and civil procedure. On December 5, 1864, Hosmer boldly convened a public Grand Jury session in Virginia City and announced that the vigilantes had served their purpose and from this day forward, unilateral actions by the vigilantes would be considered criminal acts. On July 14, 1864, four prospectors - John S. Cowan, John Crab, Bob Staley and Daniel Jackson - found gold in

14541-570: Was against him. To this Mr. Bagley urged that our informants were all enemies of his, which, in one sense of the word, is true, though they are not the persons he supposes. At our last interview with Mr. B. we told him that if he could bring some respectable persons, known to us, who would vouch for him, and explain away what had been told to us, we would take pleasure in saying as much in our paper. Several such have called on us, but whilst they are unanimous in saying that Bagley behaves himself very well at present, yet when we ask them, for instance, about

14672-501: Was determined to prevent conditions in the goldfields of British Columbia from deteriorating into mob rule. Bozeman Trail The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the Western United States , connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming . Its important period was from 1863 to 1868. While the major part of the route used by Bozeman Trail travelers in 1864

14803-645: Was discovered along Alder Gulch, a tributary creek northeast of the Ruby River that lies between the Tobacco Root Mountains and the Gravelly Range and 70 miles (110 km) east of Bannack. The Alder Gulch find became one of the largest placer mining gold fields in the western U.S. The mining settlements of Virginia City and Nevada City, Montana , which sprang up in Alder Gulch, boasted thousands of prospectors and fortune seekers by

14934-548: Was discovered along Grasshopper Creek, a tributary of the Beaverhead River , in a remote part of eastern Idaho Territory , leading to the establishment of the town of Bannack . Bannack was a gold rush boomtown that was the first territorial capital of Montana Territory for a brief period after the territory was established in 1864. Less than a year after the Grasshopper Creek find, on May 26, 1863, gold

15065-623: Was due to the reputation for summary executions but also linked to the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory . This drew many of the prospectors and camp followers out of Montana, reducing the sector of the population more closely associated with crime. By the 1870s, cattle ranching and related livestock raising was a large and prosperous business in Montana. Cattle and horses were valuable commodities and always subject to rustling by thieves. After 1879, with

15196-549: Was elected as the president of the committee which drafted and adopted a comprehensive set of by-laws establishing a formal structure and process. The by-laws established the position of president, an executive officer, an executive committee, a secretary, treasurer and positions of captains and lieutenants of companies. The most relevant process contained in the by-laws was: It shall be the duty of members to attach themselves to some company and whenever any criminal act shall come to their knowledge to inform his Captain or Lieutenant of

15327-545: Was formed in Virginia City in 1873. The association was established to discuss branding standards, how to deal with rustling and how to influence the territorial legislature to pass laws favorable to the cattle industry. This association did not survive, but led to the creation of other organizations in subsequent years. In 1878, the Montana Stock Association of Lewis and Clark County was organized. One of its prominent members, Ross Deegan, editorialized about

15458-412: Was hanged on June 10, 1851; James Stuart, also from Sydney and accused of murder, who was hanged on July 11, 1851; and Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie, associates of Stuart accused of "various heinous crimes", who were hanged on August 24, 1851. The lynching of Whittaker and McKenzie occurred three days after a standoff between the committee and the nascent police force trying to protect the prisoners;

15589-534: Was held in the Worden and Higgins dry goods store on January 24, 1864. Both men were found guilty and hanged outside the store. Later that same day, Cooper was tried, convicted and hanged. On January 25, 1864, the vigilantes located Bob Zachary in a cabin outside of Hell Gate and George Shears in another cabin in the Bitterroot Valley . Zachary was brought to Hell Gate and hanged. Shears was hanged outside

15720-417: Was inaugurated on June 9 with the promulgation of a written doctrine declaring its aims and hanged John Jenkins of Sydney, Australia , on June 10 after he was convicted of stealing a safe from an office in a trial organized by the committee: grand larceny was punishable by death under California law at the time. The June 13 Daily Alta California printed this statement: WHEREAS it has become apparent to

15851-505: Was insufficient to prove their guilt or innocence. Two works, of Ruth E. Mather and F. E. Boswell, Hanging the Sheriff-A Biography of Henry Plummer (1987, 1999) and Vigilante Victims: Montana's 1864 Hanging Spree (1991) have been criticized as revisionist , and received poor reviews by Montana historians such as Michael P. Malone and Richard B. Roeder. Additional criticism came from later authors such as Mark C. Dillon and Carol Buchanan. Mather, R. E.; Boswell, F. E. (1987). Hanging

15982-549: Was led by vigilante Captain James Williams, the man who had investigated the Nicolas Tiebolt murder by George Ives. Near the Rattlesnake Ranch on the Ruby River, the posse located "Erastus Red" Yeager and George Brown, both suspected road agents. While traveling back to Virginia City, Yeager made a complete confession, naming the majority of the road agents in Plummer's gang, including Henry Plummer. After obtaining

16113-413: Was made up of "wagons ... 150, men ... 375, women ... 36, children ... 36, oxen ... 636". Every fifth of those crossing the plains via Bozeman Trail was a woman or a child. Each wagon paid the train pilot, maybe six dollars in 1864. Being a route used by single emigrants and small families at first, the trail transformed towards a supply route with freight wagons carrying equipment and necessities of life to

16244-728: Was organized similar to the earlier San Francisco Committee of Vigilance (1851–56) in California of which some of the Alder Gulch organizers were familiar with. The original committee oath signed by its earliest members was: We the undersigned uniting ourselves in a party for the laudable purpos [sic] of arresting thievs [sic] & murderers & recovering stollen [sic] property do pledge ourselves upon our sacred honor each to all others & solemnly swear that we will reveal no secrets, violate no laws of right & never desert each other or our standard of justice so help us God as witness our hand and seal this 23 of December ad 1863 Paris Pfouts

16375-405: Was pioneered by Allen Hurlbut, it was named after John Bozeman . Many miles of the Bozeman Trail in present Montana followed the tracks of Bridger Trail , opened by Jim Bridger in 1864. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of Native Americans provoked fear and anger in the local tribes; some of whom choose to respond with aggressive, and even violent action. The challengers to

16506-554: Was reflected by his election as the first president of the Montana Stockgrower's Association in late July 1884. The numerical symbol 3-7-77 has long been associated with Montana vigilantes. Its meaning is unclear though many theories have been put forward trying to explain what it symbolized, none conclusive, including references to the dimensions of a grave, the amount of time a miscreant had to leave town, assorted Masonic symbolism, details of membership structure, and

16637-665: Was rescued from a state of anarchy. Some of the best citizens in the territory were Vigilantes. ... Mr. Langford himself, happily, in the Introduction to his Vigilante Days and Ways and a most valuable chronicle of the time of which it treats, has presented a statement of facts and of arguments justifying the Vigilante methods, that is impartial, honest, cogent, forceful, and convincing to an open and discriminating mind. Honor and praise, instead of adverse criticism, are due those men, and no apologies are necessary for what they did and dared. Another account, not published until 1982,

16768-526: Was shot an occasion, also buffalo. "The men are killing them in large numbers. I feel sorry to see such destruction. They leave tons of good meat every day to be devoured by wolfs at night", lamented traveler Richard Owen in 1864. The travelers grouped in organized "trains" with chosen people holding posts such as captain, train marshal and orderly sergeant. One group, known as the Townsend Wagon Train , led by Captain A. A. Townsend of Wisconsin,

16899-492: Was shot and killed as he was removed from the wreckage of the cabin. After Wagner's execution on January 11, 1864, the vigilantes, who were mostly men from Virginia City, returned there to deal with the remaining road agents in the Plummer gang. On the evening of January 13, 1864, the Vigilance Committee voted to arrest and hang six road agents believed to be living in Virginia City - Frank Parish, Boone Helm , Hayes Lyons, Jack Gallagher, George "Clubfoot" Lane and Bill Hunter. On

17030-639: Was suffering from rustling as well. Both Mores and Roosevelt offered their services to the Stranglers, but Stuart declined the offer to avoid the undue notoriety they would bring. From that point forward, stock detectives, employed by the various stock associations, took responsibility for enforcing stock laws and deterring rustling. Although there was minor public outrage about the killings, none of Stuart's Stranglers were ever brought to trial for their actions and editorials in regional newspapers praised their efforts. General acclamation of Granville Stuart's actions

17161-418: Was that in January 1870 of Chinese worker Ah Chow, who had shot and killed white miner John R. Blitzer after he found Blitzer attempting to rape his wife. No member of Helena's vigilantes was ever indicted by Munson's grand jury for executions carried out by the Helena Committee of Safety. The last execution by the Helena vigilantes occurred on April 27, 1870, when Joseph Wilson and Arthur Compton were hanged from

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