....
. ..
" ,

f'

.0'.' "

O'.

.- ..

..
:" .",-

.,
JI '\.._-.

.'

.

... .
. ..

".
., .

.ft

. ,

...

. ,

.. .

.,
."

'I

.. .

.

A
;'

e ... :...
.:
...

..l., .:

..

.

. ..ø

.

O'.
....

.
..
e

.
:.."..

1.

."" ,.
,øt. .. .
. .
. ... ..
.,. .... . ....
...
O'-
.
,
.. "
. . '-
.- 0" . '.

- .
'.
.
. O'. .
. ;. .
e.
. t .. ,,"
"-
.'
. .
. . Z.
.. "O' f.

.
#0

.

.:.
.

J .

.,

......

... .. ....:
. ,

..

.;

..

'"

. ,

. .

..

.

"

.. ..

e.

.
,10

. .
,

..

.

.'

.

.' .

LI.

I.

. e.

.,
,. 4- ". .

-.
.;

e-
'. .O' .

. ,..
'. ...
, ;
'. . . ..' e
.
. .

.'
,
' .
.O' . ..
..... .
.. , " '.

t. ,
.
. ..
.,.
.... ..
6 . ,.
, ,&
.
'. \ . ,.
.
.. :-. . .
,. -
'! :
.
'..
. .
" ..
'O' J' .. .

'O'

t.

..

"

,

. .
...: .

.

.'

."
'.

-E'

..

.

.
. .

.,

.,

.

THE ,VORI(S

OF

HUBERT HO'VE BANCROFT.

.

TI-IE \\TORI(S

OF

I-IUBERT HO'VE BANCROFT.

,
VOLU
IE XXXVI.

POPUL
-\..R TRIBUN ..:\.LS.

VOL. 1.

s
\.x FR
\.XCISCO:
TIlE HISTORY' CO)IP AXY i PlTBLISHEnS.
1887.

.

\ iii

PUEF ACE.

Finding on these Pacific shores, in a degree suporior
to any else"There appearing in the annals of the race,
this phase of arbitrary po,ver as displayed by the
llulny Popular Tribunals here engendered, I pressed
inquiry in that direction, and these volumes are the
result. It is all history; and though herein I SOlTIe-
times indulge in details ,vhich nlight s,vell unduly
exact historical narration, I have felt constrained to
omit nlore facts and illustrations than I have given.
These omissions, ho,yover, are not 11ladc at random,
or to the injury of the ,york, but only after carefully
arranO'in a and com p arinQ' all the information on the
o 0
J
subject I have been able to gather.

'\.nd the material ,vas abundant. Beside printed
books, manuscripts, and the several journals of the
period advocating the opposite sides of the question,
I ,vas fortunate enough to secure all the archives of
the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851,
and to obtain free access to the voluminous records
and documents of the great Committee of 1856. But
this ,vas not all. 'VeIl kno,ving that the hidden ,vork-
ings of the several demonstrations could be obtained
only from the mouths of their executive officers, I took
copious dictations from those ,vho had played the lTIOst
pron1inent parts in the tragedies. From one lnember
I learned wrhat occurred on a given occasion at the
point ,vhere he happened to be; fronl another, ,vhat
\\'a'S taking place at the same tilne at another point
of observation; and so on, gat.hering from each some-
thing the others did not kno,v or remember. By
putting all together I ,vas enabled to cOlnplete the
picturo of ,,
hat ,vere other,vise a conglomeration of
figures and events.
..-:\t first I found the gentlenlen of 1856 exceedingly

PREF ACE.

ix

back,vard in divulging secrets so long held sacred; and
it "'"as only after I had given them the most convincing
assurances of the strength and purity of my purpose
that I obtained their united consent to place nle in
possession of their ,,
hole knowledge of the matter.
Oft8n had they been applied to for such information,
and as often had they declined giving it. And for
good reasons. They had offended the law; they had
done violence to many ,vho still cherished hatred;
they had suffered from annoying and expensive suits
at la,v brought against them by the expatriated; they
had disbanded but had not disorganized, and they did
not know at ,,'"hat moment they Illight again be sum-
moned to rise in defence of society, or to band for
mutual protection. From the beginning it ,vas held
by each a paramount obligation to divulge nothing.
On the other hand the questions arose: Are these
secrets to die ,vith you? l\Iay not the kno,,'"ledge of

rour experience be of value to succeeding societies?
Have you the right to bury in oblivion that ex.peri-
ence, to ,vithhold from your fello,v-citizens and from
posterity a knowledge of the "'"ays by ,vhicll you
achieved so grand a success? And so after Il1any
Illeetings, and ,varm deliberations, it ,vas agreed that
the information should be placed at IllY disposal for
the purpose of publication.
However I may have executed my task, the time
selected for its performance was most opportune.
Ten years earlier the actors in these abnormal events
,vould on no account have divulged their secrets; ten
years later many of them 'v ill have passed a,vay, and
the opportunity be forever lost for obtaining informa-
tion ,vhich they alone could give.

""

.CO
-rrrE
TS OF THIS VOLU1\IE.

CHA.PTER I.
ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE, AXCIEXT A
D MODERX,

CH
-\.PTER II.
POP'GLAR TRIB'GXALS A1\ì) POP'GLAR GO\ER
"")lE:ST,

CH
-\.PTER III.

LXGE
-nEP
G COXDITIOXS,

CHA.PTER IV.

SIGXIFICATIO:SS OF STOR)I,

CH.A.PTER V.

THE HOúXDS ASSOClATIOX,

CH
-\.PTER 'VI.

THE SAX FRAXCISCO SOCIETY OF REG'LLATORS,

CH
-\.PTER '1:1.

THE AD"\"""EXT OF LAW,

CH...-\.PTER .YIli.
Cll \RACTERISTICS OF CRDIE I
CALIFORXL\, .

CH...-\.PTER IX.

LAW A
-n DISORDER, .

CHAPTER X.

IOBOCR\CY
THE :MIXES, .

PAGE.

1

21

46

61

76

88

. 103

. 113

. 129

. 1 -J-::!

(xi)

>..ii

COXTEXTS.

CH
\.PTER XI.

PAGE,

FURTHER A.."'\TICS OF JUSTICE IY THE COUKTRY, .

. 1.38

CII..\.PTER XII.

TIlE DUllDUE-STUART AFF.UR,

. 179

CHAPTER XIII.

ORG.\
IZ.\.TION OF THE S.\.N FIL-\.
{CISCO CO:\DIITTEE OF VIGILA
CE
OF IS'"H, . 201

CHAPTER XIV.

Dr:HIXD THE SCENES, .

. 214

CHAPTER XV.

JOHN JEXKIXS, XOLEXS VOLENS,

. 226

CHAPTER XVI.

THE SA.
FRANCISCO EXECUTIVE CO:\UIITTEE OF 1851,

. 240

CHAPTER XVll.

VIGIL.-L....WE DECO
II::S A POWER, .

. 2.3.3

CHAPTER XVIII.

E
TER JA1IES STUART,

. 2G7

CHAPTER XIX.

..

EXIT JAMES STUART, .

. 286

CH..t\PTER XX.

A BUSY l\IOXTH,

. 299

CHAPTER XXI.

OPPO
ITION TO VIGILAXCE ADMINISTRA.TION, .

. 313

CHAPTER XXII.

V,HITTARER A
ì) McREXZIE, .

· 33.3

CHAPTER XXIII.

TilE CIRCI;:\IYEXTORS CIUCU
IVEXTED, .

. 3.30

COXTEXTS.

xiii

CHA.PTER XXIV.

PAGE.

OR RASCALITIES,

{!-
. ..,U4

CH
-\.PTER XXV'.

THE IXQCISITORS
COCXCIL,

. 380

CH
-\.PTER XX.'
I.

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CRGSá.DE, .

. 393

CHAPTER XXYII.

BEFORE THE WORLD, .

. 407

eH
-\.PTER XXYIlI.

EXTE
SIO
OF THE VIGIL
"'CE PRIXCIPLE,

. 4
9

CHAPTER XXIX.

CO'GXTRY COìDlITTEES OF YIGIL
CE, .

. 441

CH
-\.PTER XXX.

IXFELICITIES AXD ALLETIATIOXS,

. õl5

CR
-\PTER XXXI.

THE DO
ìE\ILLE TRAGEDY,

. :i;7

CH
-\PTER XXXII.

THE POPCLAR TRIB'GXALS OF 'GTAH ß""D XE,)ADA,

. :i93

CH
\.PTER XXXllI.

THE POP"CLAR TRIBCXALS OF OREGOX, 'WASH
GTOX, BRITISH COLC)I-
Bli, ß""D ALASKA, . 6:!'2

CHAPTER XXXIV".

THE POPULàR TRIB'GSALS OF m..iHO,

. 634

eRA.PTER XXXV.

POPCLffi TRIB't'SALS OF )IOXTá.XA,

. 67 -!

CHAPTER XX.X'
I.

THE POP'["'LAR TRIBt"XALS OF ARIZOX.\, XEW )lEXICO, A
""D
EXICO, ';2:!

.

POPULAR TRIBUNALS.

CHAPTER I.

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE, A...
CIEXT
T))
10DER
.

At Halifax the law so sharpe doth deale,
That whoso more than thirteen pence cloth steale,
Th
y have a jyn that wonùrous quick and well
Sends thieves all headless into heaven or hell.
Taylor, The TVater Poet.

POPUL.\.R TRIBUK...\LS, ,yhereill is attenlpted the ille-
gal adnlinistration of justice by the people, have
becoille quite proillinent alTIOng those social parox-
. YS111S incident to rapid progress. The principle in
its several phases, and as at present existing, is
essentially a latter-day development. Dangerous or
other,vise, it is the outgro,,
th of enlightenment, of
intellectual enlancipation. '\Thile the doctrine of the
divinity of la,v, that is of statutory or other than
natural la,v, held bound men's nlinds, there 'v ere
conlparatiyely fe,v examples of illegal justice; but
,vhen it canle generally to be felt that statutes "ere
no nlore sacred than the 11len ,vho made thenl, legal
inlpositions and vicious technicalities ,vere less pa-
tiently endured.
Not that antiquity ,vas ,vholly without its right-
c0l11polling po,vers, bu t they ,vere of a different order
frolu our 1110dern denlonstrations. But neither the old
nor the ne,v'vere such as Plato ,vould haye chosen for
his Republic, or Saint .L\.ugustine for his City of God, or
VOL. I. 1

:)

_\.BERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

Sir Thomas :\Iore for his Utopia, or Lord Bacon for
his
e,v .L\tlantis. A theorist could scarcely have
concocted so paradoxical a proposition as the modern
popular tribunal, and the thing ,vas left to concoct
itself.
There ,vas govern1l1ent by factions in the olden
tinie, such as in the days of Cicero and Pompey kept
ROine for nearly four years in a state of anarchy.
It ,vas Clodius and his hired gladiators who did it.
Eyen as at present, sometimes, assassins ",vere at ,vork;
elections ,vere t[unpered ,vith, and the senate ,vas
oyera,ved.
Ien talked of military rule, the thought
of ,vhich ,vas pleasing to both POlTIpeyand Cæsar;
for strange to say, ,vhen backed by strong battalions,
the rival allies both loved to reign. Ho,v it ,vould
have ended it is difficult to say, had not J\Iilo and his
partisans, liko,vise ,vith a patrol of gladiators, opposed
and finall r ovcrthro,vn Clodius. But for a time; like
the Capu"lets and J\Iontagues at Verona, the parties
of Clodius alldl\rlilo ,valked the streets of ROlne, bid-
ding defiance alike to governors and governed.
In feudal times almost every state had its systeul
of secret tribunals, ,vhere judglnents, lTIOst unex-
pectedly to the victims, ,vere passed in darkness and
executed in the light. vVhereat innocent and guilty
alike trembled; no one could tell 'v hen his o,vn turn
,,
oulcl COllIe, or 'v hen he lnight be executed for he
kne,v 110t \vhat. The guilty n1ind ,vas thus al,vays
un the rack, and fortunate ,vas the offender \vho ,va8
not first concleluned and then caught.
During the :\liddle Age the knigh
s of Gern1any
forilled an independent feudal order, and thre,v oft'
allegiance to allY prince. Their depredations at first
\vere not inconlpatible ,vith the then existing ideas of
rcspectability, hut as they were driven into corners by
the gro\vth of to,vns, the order degenerated to,vard
the closo of the fifteenth century, until its n1eulbc:')
\\"01'0 nothing less than highwayn1en. In 1522 they
inft'stcd the countr\.T round N uren1berO' and took Inan
T
J b' J

-\.
CIE
T TRIBUX ALS.

3

prisoners. They had a fashion of cutting off !he right
hand of those they captured, thereby renderIng thenl
helpless in any future encounter.
There ,vere several terms used in bygone times to
denote the process of punishing first and trying after-
,yard. There was Co,vper law, due to a baron-baile
in Coupar-Angus, before the abolition of heritable
jurisdiction. 'Ve find also the expressions Jedburgh,
J ecl,vood, and Jeddart justice; also Lynford law, from a
fortified to,vn of that name in Devon, where criminals
,vere confined, before trial, in a dungeon so loathsome
that no punishment could be greater.
'T enice had its Council of Ten, a secret tribunal of
the republic, instituted subsequent to the conspiracy
of Tiepolo. It ,vas originally composed of ten coun-
cillors, arr
Jyed in black. Soon six others in reel were
added, and these t.ogether ,vi th the doge eÃercised
unlimited po,ver. TeInporarily established at first, it
,,-as continued for a tilDe from year to year, and finall,

in 1335 declared pernlanent. As late as 145-1 we
find this tribunal exercising its secret pleasure, in the
nanle of justice, under the follo,ving arrangement:
" Citizens, chosen by the Council as inquisitors to
ex.ecute its ,vill, n1ust not refuse to serve. The
inquisitors Inight proceed against any person, no mat-
ter of ,vhat rank; they n1Îght pronounce the death
sentence, or any other; they had charge of the prisons.
and dre,y money fronl the treasury of the Council of
Ten ,yithout question as to its use. The proceedings
of the tribunal must be always secret: its melnbers ml;St
t/
,\rear no distinctive badge; no open arrests should be
Inade, no public executions, but the condemned of
the tribunal should be dro"Tned at niO'ht in the Orfano
<:J
Canal. The relatives of the escaped offenders should
he punished; any offensive official IniO'ht be secretly
ð

assassinated. This happy state of things continued
until the fall of the republic, in 1 ï970
In France there ,vere- the Council of the .L
ncients,
and the Council of Fiye Hundred, and in Spain the

4

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

Coullcil of Castile; but thede, and many others sill1ilar,
,,"'cre bodies advisory of the governn1ent, and acted in
that capacity, or subject to the regulations of the
o-Oyernnlent, anclnot in antagonism to it.
.., ..A..raO'on and Castile boasted their Holy Brother-
hood,
lld for centuries their sovereigns s111iled on
its in1portant seryices. In Spain, during the thir-
teenth and fourteenth centuries, along the line divid-
ing the hostile Goth and Arab, the frontiers of both
Spanish and l\Ioslem domination, la,v ,vas inlpotent
and anarchy nlightier than kings. The to,vns ,vere
obliged to league for n1utual protection. Associating
under the nalne of Santa HCTînCtndCtd, or Holy
Brotherhood, they levied contributions for their sup-
port, and organized troops for service. They protected
travellers, pursued crilninals, and appointed judges ,vho
paid little heed to ,vhat the lord of the dOlnain might
think of it, or to his la,vs or jurisdiction. They scoured
the n10untains for robbers, and caught, tried, and e:\.e-
cuted then1 after their o,vn fashion for 111any scores
of years. But here, also, the king gave both favor
and support to the association.
The Vehn1gericht of 'Vestphalia has been held up
as an institution of ,vhich t.he present popular tribunal
is a representation; but there is little in con11110n
bet,veen then1, either in letter or in spirit. The Vehn1-
gericht ,vas a secret tribunal, established for the
preservation of the true faith, the pron10tion of peace,
and the suppression of Crill1e. All its doings "Tere
cnveloped in 1l1ystery. Its secret spies penetrated to
the relllotest corners of Gern1any, its judges ,vere un-
kno,vll, its judgn1ents ,vere s,vift, and their exeeution
"Tas certain.
Scotland once gloried in a sort of lynch-Ia,v, called
burla,v, fron1 the Dutch úru(,)', a boor, or rustic. In
the rural districts the people lnade certain la,vs to suit
('111( .rgencies, and appointed one of their nunlber, called
the burla,y-n1an, to see thenl. executed. T,vo and a.
] a 1 f ccnturie
agd there ,vas ,vhat ,vas called Halifax

FRA1
CE ....-\
T}) E"KGL
<\.ND.

:>

la,v, ,vhich committed thieves for execution to the
Halifax gibbet, 'v hich "Tas a kind of guillotine. Robe-
spierre proposed a decree which, in 1793, established
a Committee of General Security, exercising po"
er
superior to the convention. To this was auxiliary
tho Committee of Public Safety, of ,vhich Robespicrre
like,,-ise was a Inelnber.
An incident is mentioned by )1. Huc, which hap-
pened during his journey through thé Chinese Empire
in company ,vith certain Catholic priests, ,,
hich sho,vs
ho"\\- easily intimidated are the subordinates of arbitrary
po"
er by a counter display of like .pretended po,ver.
.L\. Chinese Christian, Tchao by name, zealous in his re-
gard for the spiritual fathers thus unexpectedly yisit-
ing the country, sent the travellers a present of SOllle
dried fruit, accompanied by a letter. .L\.. military man-
darin, oyer,vhelmed ,vith curiosity, secretly opened
the package and attempted to read the letter, Lut
,vas caught in the act. The missionaries, ,,
ho "
ere
travelling under protection of the emperor, clamored
loudly over the insult. They clenlanded that Tchao,
,vhonl the prefect had ordered imprisoned as a dis-
turber of the peace for having thus communicated
,vith the travellers, should be brought before thenl
for tri
l; and t"TO foreigners, if "
e may credit their
story, did actually so frighten the n1agistrates that
they yielded their place in the tribunal, and perlnitted
the lllissionaries to try and to acquit the prisoner.
England in Anglo-Saxon times found a necessity
the ,yitena-gemót, or great national council, by ,,
hich
the king's title must be recognized and his acts regu-
lated, and to ,vhich all courts of justice were subser-
yient. vvThen abolished by \Villiam the Conqueror,
its po,vers ,yere tranSIllitted to parliament only in part.
Such are some of the prominent examples of his-
tory \\
hich at various times, and by men not the most
thoroughly familiar ,,,,ith the subject, have been conl-
pared ,vith the modern COlnnlittee of '-"'igilance, which

6

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

in its hiO'her aspect is the highest form of the popular
tribun:1l
If antiquity can furnish us no lnore perti-
nent illustrations than these, then ,ve are safe in say-
ino' that notl:.ing exactly similar to our present popular
tribunal was kno,vn to the ancients. If nothing of
the kind can be found in Europe, then to America
lnust ,be given the honor or odium of it. In all the
cases cited there is something of government by fac-
tion, or of military rule, or of rebellion against the
po,vers that be, or of secret or open tribunals acting
under la,v, or of legally sanctioned aids to govern-
n1ent, or of revolution, civil ,val', or high,vay robbery.

O,"T whatever our popular tribunal n1ay be, it is none
of these; it has no such ingredients in its composition.
..L'-S ,ve approach the time of Lynch and lynching,
,ve come nearer our present development, but ,ve do
not quite reach it even then. As to the origin of
the term lynch-Ia,v; opinion is divided. There ,vas in
1493 a nlayor of Gal,vay, Ireland, named James Fitz-
05tephens Lynch. He ,vas in the ,vine trade, and
received cargoes fron1 Spain. Thither he once sent
his son ,vith money to buy ,vine. The son squan-
dered the n10ney, but purchased a cargo on credit.
A nephe,v of the Spanish seller of the ,vine accon1-
panied young Lynch on his return voyage, for the
purpose of receiving pay for the wine on reaching Ire-
land. To hide his defalcation, before reaching hou1e
_Lynch thre,v the Spaniard overboard. In time in-
forn1ation of the son's crilne reached the father)s
ear. The young ll1an ,vas tried and conden1ned, the
father being judge. The family interfered to prevent
the execution; but the father, lest the ends of justice

hould be defeated, ,vith his o,vn hands hanged hinl
fron1 a windo,v overlooking the street. Hence, as
.
Olne say, the term lynch-Ia,v. Others refer the honor
to the founùer of Lynchburg, Virginia; yet others to
a'Til'ginia farn1er, named Lynch, who once ,vhipped
a thief instead of delivering hill1 to the sheriff. In
1687 one Judge Lynch, to suppress piracy ,vhich ,vas

THE TER:ll L YXCH LA ,,
.

....
I

ruining commerce in A111erican ,vaters, is said to have
executed justice summarily, regardless of forms of
la,v. -,,-
nother account makes John Lynch, a native
of South Ca.rolina, the judge. This man follo,ved
Daniel Boone to Kentucky, "There he ,vas chosen
chief of twelve jurors to try ca.uses informally.
"Thich, if any, of these accounts is correct is a
matter of small moment. 'Vhat ,ve are to understand
at present by the term is what chiefly concerns us.
'Vhen the Piedmont country of "\Tirginia was the
backwoods of America, without la,v, summary execu-
tion'S ,,,,ere common; and the accidt..nt ,vhich applied the
term Lynch to illegal executions ,,-rill neyer positi \Tel
T
be kl1o,vl1. 'Vhatever else it was, in its original use it
,vas not a term of reproach, but a mark of the high
character and moral integrity of the people.

It was on the ,vestern frontier of the United States,
and during the last half century, that the popular
tribunal in it
broadest proportions ,vas reached. All
that time and before it, beginning just back of the
English plantations, this frontier had been shifting.
extending farther and farther to the "Westward, until
the valley of the )Iississippi "
as reached. Upon thi

border, as upon the edge of mighty fermentations,
accun1ulated the scum of the common,vealth. The
spirit of evil ,vas ever strong, and government ,vas
,yeak. Society there ,vas 10"'" and brutal, and the
lynchers ,,"'ere not al,,-rays ll1uclì better than the
lynched. After
Iissouri and Arkansas for a time
had constituted the frontier, a leap "Tas made by
\yar and ".estern progress to California, and the pop-
ular tribunal, seemingly purified by the passage,
settled upon the ne,,
ly found gold-fields. Here,
at the Ultima Thule of ,,-restern migration, the in-
stitution found itself in an element totally different
from any it had ever before enjoyed. The people
,yere active and able; n1any of them 'v ere educated
and intelligent; lllost of thCl
l ,yere honest. But there

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

,vere some roO'ues present, else enginery for pun-
i
l11nent had n
ver been required. It ,,,,as then that
the popular tribunal assunled respectability and took
a ne'v nalne. The sOlne\\That besmeared terlns nlob-
la\v, lynch-Ia\v, antI the like, ,vere discarded, and the
lllore pleasing titles of Regulators, COlnn1ittee of
Safety, and Comn1Ïttee of Vigilance ,vere adopted.
In
N evada, Utah, l\Iontana, and Idaho, in all fron-
tier settlelnents, before the Inachinery of territorial
legislatures and la,v courts was in working order, Le-
fore la \ys ,vere framed or executed, a tribunal forllled
of citizens ,vas found necessary to prevent 'v holesale
roLbery and n1urder. Order-loving lnen, as ,vere they
\V ho composed these tribunals, ,,"'ere back\vard enough
in assun1Ïng the un,velconle duties, usually taking no
steps to organize until after a score or t\VO of lntu'-
derers had escaped punishlnent. Each ne,v ,vestern
state, as it began to be settled, attracted thither vil-
lains of every dye, ,vho kept the con1munity in con-
stant fear until it purged itself by the swift and sure
executions of Inobocracy or vigilance cOlnlnittees.

\Vhat then has the popular tribunal here beconlc?
\Vhat is a vigilance con1lnittee, and ,vhat 1110bocracv?

The terms vigilance comlnittee, Inob-law, lynch-la,v,
arc not, a::5 many SUl)pose, synonymous. III some re-
spects they are dianletrically opposed in principle and
in purpose. The vigilance cOlnn1Ïttee i
not a mob:
it is to a mob as revolution is to rebellion, the nalne
being sOlne\vhat according to its strength. Neither
i
a tumultuous rabble a vigilance C01111nittee. In-
aced, prolninent among its other functions is that of
holding brute force and vulgar sentin1ent in \vholesolne
fear. The vigilance cOlllmittee \vill itself break the
hì'V, Lut it does not allo,v others to do so. It has the
highest respect for la,v, and \voulLI be friendly with the
la,v, not,vithstanding the la,v is sOlnetimes disposed to
he ill-natured; yet it has a higher respect for itself
than for ill-adnlÏnistcrcd law. Often it has assisted

YIGILA..,CE CO:
l
IITTEES A1\ì) )lOBOCRACY. !)

officers of the law in catching offenders, and has even
g one so far as to hand insiO'nificant and filthy crimi-
ð

nals over to courts of justice for trial rather than soil
its fingers \vith them.
The doctrine of \"Tigilance,' if I may so call the
idea or principle elllbodied in the term vigilance COlll-
n1ittee, is that the people, or a Inajority of thenl,
possess the right, nay, that it is their bounden duty,
to hold perpetual vigil in all matters relating to their
governance, to guard their Ia,vs ,vith circumspection,
and sleeplessly to "'
atch their servants chosen to exe-
cute them. Yet more is implied. Possessing this right,

nd ackno,vledging the obligation, it is their further
right and duty, ,vhenever they see misbehavior on
the part of their servants, "9heneypr they see the
la"Ts ,,-hich they have made trampled upon, distorted,
or prostituted, to rise in their sovereign privilege and
ren10ve such unfaithful servants, lawful1y if possible,
arbitrarily if necessary. The law must govern, ab-
solutely, eternally, say the men of vigilance. Suffer
inconvenience, injustice if need be, rather than at
telnpt il1egal reform.. . Eyery right-n1inded Inâlt
recognizes the necessity of good conduct in htll11an
associations, to secure ,vhich experience teaches that
rule is essential. In a free republican forn1 of gOY-
ernn1ent eyer v citizen contributes to the makino' of

, 0
the hnrs, and is interested in seeing them executed and
obeyed. The good citizen, above all others, insists
that the la 'v of the land shall be regarded. But to
have la"
, statutes must be enacted by the people; gov-
ernments lnust be adn1inistered by reprcsentatiyes of
the people; officials, to be officials, IDust be cho
en by
the people. Law" is the voice of the people. N O,y it
is not the voice of the people that yigilance ,,",ould dis-
regard, but the voice of corrupt officials and badulen.
La,,", is the ,vill of the cOlnnlunitv as a ,,-hole; it ig
therefore oillnipotent. "Then la,v
is not omnipotent,
it is nothing. This is "Thy, 'v hen law fails-that i
to
say, ,,-hen a pO\\Ter rises in society antagonistic at once

]0

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

to statutory la,v and to the ,viH of the people--the
people lllust crush the enenlY of their la \y or be
crushed by it. A true vigilance conllllittee is this
e
pre
sion of po,ver on the part of the people in the
abscnce or inlpotence of la,v. 0111nipotence in rulc
heinO' necessary, and la, v failing to be onlnipotent, the
eleln
nt here denonlinated vigilance becollles omnipo-
tent, not as a usurper, but as a friend in an elnergency.
\Tigilance recognizes fully the suprenlacy of la \v, flies
to its rescue ,vhen beaten do,vn by its natural enelny,
crinlc, and lifts it up, that it lllay al,vays be suprelne;
and if the law lllUst be broken to save the state,
then it breaks it soberly, conscientiously, and under
the fornlulas of la,v, not in a feeling of revenge, or
in a lnanncr usual to the disorderly rabble.
Surely vigilance has no desire to hamper legislation,
to interfere ,vith the 11lachil1ery of courts, to lneddle
in politics, to alter or overthro,v the constitution, or
to usurp suprenle authority. I ts issue is ,vith the
nlal-::tchninistration of governnlent, rather than ,vith
gOyernnlent itself. Its object is to assist the la,v, to
see the la,v righteously executed, to prevent perver-
sion of the la,v, to defeat prostitution of the la\v, and
not to subvert or debase the la,v. And to acco111plish
its purpose, it clainls the right to resort to unlawful
lneans, if necessary. Therefore it is easy to see that
the vigilance principle does not spring from disrespect
for la,v. Wherever la,v has been properly executed
there never yet ,vas a vigilance conll11ittee. The
existence of a vigilance organization is ((; lJrlori proof
of the absence of good goverUUlent. No well-bal-
anced, inlpartial nlind ,vill conclellln the existence of a
vigilance conlnlittee in the absence of properly exe-
cuted la\v; no right-thinking nlan ,viII for a nlonlent
countenance a vigilance organization, could such a
thing be, in the presence of good la,vs, ,veIl executed.
Thus defined, the principle of vigilance takes its
place above forrnulateJ la\v, \vhich is its creature, and
is directly antagonistic to the 1110bile spirit \yhich

THE PRL,CIPLE OF YIGILA....,CE.

11

prings from passion and contemptuously regards all
law E,a,e the law of revenge. 'Vhile claiming the full
right of revolution, it does not choose to use it, be-
cause it is satif5fi,ed ,,-ith the existing forms of go\ern
mente I do not like the term ÙnperÚun in imperio, so
often applied to it. 'igilance i::; the guardian of the
goyernment, rather than a guvernment ,,
ithin a gov-
ernment. This, then, is vigilance; the exercise in-
formally of their rightful po,,"er by a people ,,
holly.
in sYlnpathy ,,-ith existing forms of law. I t is the
same inexorable necessity of nature which civilization
formulates in statutes, codes, and constitutions under
the terms la"W and goyernment, but acting unrestrict-
edl.r, absolute ,,-ill being its only rule. The right is
claimed by virtue of sovereignty alone. Under nature
man is his o"Wn master. As God cannot make a being
superior to hiulself, so societJ
cannot establish rule'5
for its convenience which the central po"Wer or ma-
jority of the people have not the right at an.r time
or in any nlanner they see :fit to di.,regard or annuL
)Ioreover, bet\veen the terms mob-violence or l.rnch-
la wand \igilance committees there is this further dis-
. tinction: they are often one in appearance, though
never one in principle. Often the same necessities that
call forth one bring out the other; though in. execu-
tion one is as the keen knife in the hands of a skilful
surgeon, removing the putrefaction ,yith the least po
-
sible injury to the body politic, the other the blunt
instrument of dull ,,-it'S, producing frequent defeat and
disaster. The mobile spirit is displayed no more in a
respectable and ,,-ell-organized cOllllnittee of vigilance
than in a court of justice. There is no more resent-
lllent, no nlore furious desire to destroy a hated object
in the one than in the other. Scrutinize as YOU ,yill
the character and conduct of the higher of these tri-
bunal
, and you fail to discover any of the elelnents
of an uncontrolleclu1ob. Tinle enough they take for
deliberation, tinle enough for conscience and duty to
be fully heard; then. ,yith the =,acrecl principle
of truth

.

12

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

and justice before them, feeling that the eye of their
]naker and of all n1ankincl is upon them, their minds
'Hade up, they act \vi
h. cool, deterininate courage. .
AO'aill althouO'h vI
.:!llance and 111obocrac y have In
b' b '--' .
principle .little in con1mon, they are son1etllnes found
assuminO' 1nuch the sanle attit.ude to\varcl la,v and
to\varcl
ociety. Both set up their \vill in opposition
to leO'ally constituted authorities; both break the law,
Lid defiance to the la\v, and if it st.ill stand in their
\vay, snap their fingers in the face of law. The ob-
ject of their n1elnbers in associating is that they nlay
be stronger than the officers of the la"\v; in the eyeH
of the la \" both are equally crÌIninal, both are banded
bra,ylers,n1urderers, traitors. Both tyrannize tyranny,
rule their rulers, and become a la,v unto thenlselve:-;.
Yet there are these further differences bet-\veen thenl:
One aillis to assist a ,veak entramnlellcd governlnent,
\vhosc officers cannot or ,vill not execute the la\v; the
other breaks the la,v usually for evil purpose. One i

based upon principle, and the other upon passion. One
\vill not act in the heat of excitenlent; the other thro'v

deliberation to the \vind. One is an organization offi-
cered by its most efficient n1elnbers, ainlÏng at public
,veIl-being, and acting under fixed rules of its O\Vll
Inaking; the other is an unorganized rabble, acting
under n10mentary deliriuln, the tool, it 1nay he, of
political delnagogues, the victinl of its o,vn inte111per-
ancc. Underlying the actions of the one is justice;
of the othe
revenge. This constitutes the difference,
and by this standard \ve n1ay distinguish one froln the
other; \vherever ,ve find a body of armed nlelubers
of the conln1unityacting contrary to la,vor in opposi-
tion to officers of the la\v, be it c01nposed of the best
citizens or the \\Torst, be its existence a necessity, its
acts productive of social ,veIl-being, or other\vise, if it
is an orQ'anized band , actina' under fixed rules actíno'
.
0 , 0
\Vlth coolness and deliberation, \vith good intentions,
detern1ined to prolllote rather than to defeat the
ends of justice, such a body is \vhat upon the Pacific

THE EYILS OF
rOB LA"\Y

13

Coast has becon1e to be kno\vn as J, COffilnittee of
Vigilance. Though it may have tlle sallle object in
vie"T, and though it Inay accoillplish the same results,
if the body or association be not organized or offi-
cered, if it be without constitution, by-la,,-s, rule, or
regulation, acting under lllornentary exciteulent or in
the heat of passion, careless of the adillinistration of
justice, s\\ayed only by resentment, intent on lllaking
a display, infuriate, unreasonable, vengeful, it is a
mob, though composed of doctors of divinity.
It ,vas interesting to note ,vhen President Garfield
,yas assassinated ho,v many staid, respectable citizens,
how many officers of the governlnent, how lllany
"-Olllen and clergyulen, ,,-ere in favor of taking Guiteau
from prison and tearing hilll in pieces. That ,,?as the
spirit of mobocracy, a spirit ,vbich the true vigilance
COllllllittee fro,vns on and is the first to put do,,-n.
Thus we see that in this display of the arbitraryad-
ministration 'of justice, "There some indeed lllay think
they perceive the 'Jnorto l)olJolorn
ente of )Iachiavelli,
there are Ulan r aspects, not all alike commendable
or condemnable. In its highest and most perfect
. state, its object is to preserve the -sanctity of 1110rals,
and to vindicate tho supremacy of la,,? by the over-
thro,y of la,vless la,y-makers and legally appointed
official s,vindlers, together ,vith the just punishnlent,
after dispassionate examination, of felons who "
ere
shielded rather than punished by the subverting and
inefficient execution of the la,v. Fronl this hiah III oral
ð
standpoint the lllodern popular tribunal descends
in its severalities through every grade of mingled
equity and ilnposition, until' in its consequences it
s0111etillles sinks into the fosterin o ' and extenuatino- of
ð 0
lllob-violence, the prostituting of public lllorals, dis-
respect for statutory la,v and stable fornls of gov-
ernlllent, into popular rather than just prosecutions,
infornlal and unfair convictions, barbarous butcheries
and public assassinations, and an eyer increasing
thirst for the blood of victims-in a word, into the

14

AI3ERR
\.TIOXS OF JUSTICE.

lo\vest forins of 1110bocracy. Such are SOUle of the
ùifferences bet\veen intelligent and high-minded vigi-
lance organizations, ,vhose acts have been carefully
considered and conscientiously perforuled, and the
blood-drunken orgies of frontier lynch-Ia,vexecutions.
The Englishlnan Wyse, ,vriting of America in
1846, failed to discover in the highest and purest pop-
ular tribunal aught else than the preposterous clainl
of the lo\v, ignorant, and irresponsible rabble to the
control of the governnlent. This is scarcely to be
\vondered at \vhen ,ve see ho\v easily even error and
injustice become things too sacred to be tampered
\vith "Then enshrined in la,v. There are fe,v instances
in America ,vhere a lllob has sought to usurp the gOY-
ernment.

Ir 'Vyse does not state the case fairly. A nloo
con1posed of a majority of the people, as he puts it,
is not a lllob. I say, a majority of the respectable,
intelligent, order-loving, and la,v-n1aking portion of
the people is not the 1nobile vulgus, or lllovable com-
luon people, by \vhich nalne froln tÏ111e inlmeillorial a
disorderly crO"\vd convened for riotous purpose has
Leen kno\vn. N or did I ever hear of a riotous 111ajor-
ity of any people claillling the right to overthro\v their
o\vn la\vs for evil purpose, and ,vage illegal ,varfare
against themselves and to their o,vn destruction.
::\Iobs are not composed of individuals calmly asso-
ciating for the purpose of self-sacrifice for the benefit
of the comnlunity, but rather for those ,vho \vould
sacrifice the comnlunity for self. Governn1ent under
the banners of liberty and progress is as strong as
the people constituting it, and never by any possi-
bility can it be stronger until the people go back to
their ancient superstition. The governIl1ent of the
United States, in its fundalnental principles,
fr
,V yse calls ,veak, because founded on the vacil-
lating \vill of the people. This is fallacy. Only the
strong and intelligent can live tugether under a

o-called \veak t!overnillont. In becolnina stronO' and
'-' b 0

LA'V REFOR11 :KECESS.ARY.

13

intellio'ent, men invariably emancipate themselvec;;
fr0111 tlle tyrannies of form. I fail to perceive ho,y a
governnlent, "Those principles are deep-rooted in the
hearts of strong 111en, qan be inherently weaker than
one overa,ved by ancient superstitions. The mobs
and riots of old countries are usually for the attain-
ment of some real or imaginary right denied ,the
people by their rulers; those of ne,,?" communities
sprino' nlainly from the failure of rulers to execute
the l
\ys. Particularly has this been the case q,n
the frontier of the United States, although ,vran-
glings over African slavery and free-love religion
have sometimes been attended by riotous demonstra-
tions. As a rule, ho,vever, the people of the great
republic are and have been satisfied with their la,vs,
and only wish to see theln properly enforced. After
a senseless tirade against the United States, "in
",hose social and political systenl ,vere deep-seated
and early so,vn the seeds of angry discord, of turbu-
lence and crime," 1Ir 'Vyse admits "that there may
be S0111e excuse, in the absence of la\v, for lllen to adopt
sonle rule for their own preservation," ,vhich is all the
.. right ever claÏ1ned by our system of vigilance. And
those of our o,vn people ,yho cry against vigilance
C0111n1Ïttees and call them 1110bs, their menlbers rioters
and insurrectionists, their acts rabble justice, and their
executions murder, ,vere it not better they should
turn their attention to the root of the matter and rec-
tify the necessity that engenders them? Strip fron1
la\v its tranl1nels, its hypocrisy, hUlnbug, and technical
chicanery, and nlete the evil-doer quick and certain
punishment, and the sombre shado,y of vigilance ,vill
no Inore darken our portals. It is a standing reproach,
both to the intelligence and to the integrity of our la"T-
makers and our la\v-lninisters, that a moneyed criminal,
by extra-judicial strategy on the part of hired acl\To-
cates, and a species of legallegerdelnain, can so suc-
cessfully th\vart justice and escape punishlnent.
Before there can be any Htep taken to,vard 11101'al

16

ABERRATIOXS OF JUSTICE.

rcforn1, the 11101'a1 sense of the cOlnn1unity must be
a ,vakencd. Scldoln is the l1loral sense raised against
a Lad n1an, cyen, until he comnlits sOlne crin1e such as
the la,v takes cognizance of and openly points out as
bad. To detect crime ,vithout the aid of la,v Inust
be yet 1110re difficult. 'Vhat shall ,ve say then, ,vhat
nlust be the state of things, the provocation, 'v hen in
a con11nunity of law"-loving n1en not giyen to prudish-
ness in Inora1s, not given to jealousy of their rulers,
<4>rll1ant l1loral sense iR so rouseù as to single out crÏ1nc,
and to seize and strangle it despite of a,ve-inspiring
hnv, and in direct antagonis111 to officers of the la,v?
I-Icre ,ve see la,," restraining la,v-makers in their vir-
tuous efforts and shielding the lal\rless. This inter-
ference of government in personal affairs, protecting
a In an against hin1self 'v hile failing to protect hinl
against others, is one of the anon1alies of our political
system.
It is to the San Francisco Vigilance Con1n1ittee of
185G, as distinguished frotH any other popular up-
rising in California or else,vhere, that the principle of
vigilance o,ves its incarnation and recognition; for it
is a recognized principle on these Pacific shores, if
no\vhere else; it is here a conl111on 1a,v of the land. Its
existence as a principle is due to that occasion, though
its origin ,vas else,vhere, because the leaders of that
n10velnent first raised it to and recognised it as a prin-
ciple. La,v-breakers and la,v-extern1Ìnators there have
been Inany; but neyer before in the history of hUlllan
progrcss Ita ve ,ve seen, under a popular forn1 of gov-
crn1l1ent, a city-full rise as one 111an, sunln10ncd by
ahnighty conscience, attcnd at the bedside of sick la,v
as having a right there, and perfornl a speedy and
ahllost bloodless cure, despite the struggles of the
(
xasperated patient. ·
There have not been ,vanting those of extrelne
yic\vs to con1e for,vard and clainl, even, that to this
1110Velnent of 185G jurisprudence O\VCS a ne,v principle,
moralit.y a ne,v standarll, and lniud a l1e,v departure.

IX THE SOUTHERX STA.TES.

I;

If in the forces regulating human activities the IllOye-
nlent means anything, it points significantly to a llloral
and beneficial human power superior to the po\ver forn1-
ulated and restricted by constitutions and statutes.
If the movement means anything, if it accomplished
anything, if its results remain to-day treasured in the
storehouse of yaluable experiences, it points signifi-
cantly to a morality superior to that of fashion, and
to the freeing of mind from another of its fetters. In
social ethics room must be made for the principle of
yigilance, and governments must be taught to recog-
nize it. So some believe; but it is the tendency of the
undisciplined Inind to fall into excess. The principle
is al,vays existent, in greater or less degree, in all pro-
gressive peoples; its presence here in higher and holier
proportions than ever else"rhere displayed is all ,ve
can justly claim for it.

)IempIlis, Tennessee, ,vith its men of mighty beards,
of cowhide boots and bo,vie-knives, ,vas once famous
as a boat-landing ,,
Ilere captains stopped to hang
offending travellers. In South Carolina many years
. ago the colonists rose and drove out the unprincipled
Seth Sothel, who had misruled them for six years.
Texas had its Regulators and
ioderators, corre-
sponding some,vhat remotely to our Vigilance Conl-
lnittee, and La,y and Order party, and in the country
adjacent to the Sabine River, bet,veen 1838 and 1841,
they often lllet in deadly encounter. Kangaroo courts
is a later name for the lynching tribunals of this
quarter, so designated from the attitude in ,vhich the
judges fling theIllselves upon tIle grass round the
culprit.
During the days of boat-and-mule transit crime "Tas
prevalent on the Panamá Isthmus. On the robbery
of a specie train, in September, 1851, the people of
Pananlá declared strongly in favor of a vio'ilance
c0111n1ittee organization for the purpose of clearinO'
the IsthuluS of highv{aymen. ð
POP. TRIB., VOL. I. 2

18

ABERRATIO:KS OF JUSTICE.

In the early days of J une,
8 5 8, a vigilance con1-
n1Ïttee "Tas orO'anized in the CIty of N e\v Orleans, a
disturbed and r
volutionary condÌtion of society, simi-
lar to that which prevailed in San Francisco in the
Inemorable era of 1856, seeming to render the move-
lllent necessary. The municipal offices ,vere in the
hands of corrupt and unscrupulous politicians, and
ruffians ruled the day. An allopathic dose of vigi-
lance was undoubtedly demanded by the exigency of
the case, and the citizens undertook to administer it
after the swift and bloody formula that had been
adopted by the young city at the Golden Gate. The
affair struck the citizens of so old a society as N e,v Or-
leans ,vith alarm, and for a time excitement ran high.
After so
e manæuvring the mayor surrendered con-
trol of affairs into the hands of the cOilllnittee, but for
son1ereason the organization failed to \vork any n1aterial
good to the comlllunity. The movement ,vas charged
upon the American party as a political stratagem-at
any rate, after a few days of feverish uncertainty the
con11llittee disbanded without having performed any
labor further than forcing the mayor to swear in the
III embers of the cOlllmitteeas an extra police force. The
city election transpired on the 7th of June, and the
result did not seen1 to indicate that the Vigilants, as
I shall take the liberty of calling the men of vigilance,
'v ere sustained by the people.
The Spaniards in l\iexico knew little of popular tri-
bunals, breaking the la\v for their own benefit almost
at pleasure in early tin1es, and later plotting the
do,vnfall of the existing governlnent rather than rally-
ing to its aid. British Columbia has \vitnessed fe\v
unla\vful demonstrations on the part of the people,
la\v al,vays having been strong on the ]'raser, and pun-
ishment sure. Other British colonies have not been
so fortunate.
N ot,vithstanding the well-organized colonial gOY-
er11111ent existing previous to anù at the tillle of the
òi
covery of gold in Australia, lynch-Ia,v ,vas soon ralll-

VIGILAXCE IX A{j
TRALIA.

19

pant in the 'Tictoria gold-fields, which at first were
beyond the immediate influence of the government.
The same cau
es led to the reign of terror there, as
Chief Justice .A' Beckett called it, that are found in
most new settlements-laxity of law and inexorable
necessitJ'. \\Tith uplifted hands and horror-stricken
yisage, the English imnlÌgrant, having in reverence the
\vigs and ,yoolsacks of his native island, cries: "God
forbid that I should so profane the law." Yet ,vhen
his cabin is robbed, and there is no minister of justice
at hand, he soon learns to catch and hang a thief with
as hearty a good will as ever bushman struck boar.
..A_ vigilance committee organized at Sydney, in
order to avoid the stigma attached to the term in
mother countries, proposed to call the association
the Private Watch. This euphemism, adopted for
the benefit of sensitive conservatives, did not meet
the approval of the community. Here is what the
People's AdL'ocate of New South Wales says of it,
February 19, 1853:

" We would recommend the good-hearl
d fellows who are starting this
, mOT'ement to take the name which has already acquired for its efficiency a
world-wide celebrity; a name which has thoroughly purged.a. great country
of its imported T'agabonds, and struck terror into the hearts of rnffia.ns who
had braved the tyranny of penal settlements and every punishment which the
law could suggest. There is a meaning attached to the name of the vigilance'
committee which will carry some weight with it when the PriT'are Watch
would be looked upon with cont
mptuous ridicule. It is unnecessary to remind
people of the origin of the ngilance committee; the whoh" world knows it, but
of its effect,:; few people are fully aware who have not been in California Both
before its appointment and after its suspension midnight murderers paraded
the streets in defiance of the law. Fire-raising was held to be an almost un 4
punishable offence, because of the difficulty of its detection and the weakne :;
of the arm of constituted authority. It was one of the subsidiary stratagems
of the Van Dieman's Land and Sydney thieves. Gambling-houses were kept
open at all hours of the night; no hand was uplüted, no T'oice raised to smite
their iniquity. The foul toadstools were suffered, untrampled upon, to pollute
society with their pestilential presence, until they became not only hideous
deformities, which gambling-houses under any restriction must be, but until
their iniquity became so great that they were the avowed and recognized
harbors of refuge for murderers, robbers, thieves, and every vicious -wretch
who chose to aT'ail himself of their sanctuary. Constables were defied; eyery

:!o

ABERRATIONS OF JUSTICE.

attempt to suppress the common villainy by ordinary means failed. N eces-
sity for mutual protection had at length recourse to the memorable expedient
of appointing among themselves a committee of the citizens to detect and
!Junish crime; and these men, taking to themselves the memorable name of
vigilance committee, almost instantaneously crushed the atrocious hydra.
The very name of that committee terrified the ruffians who previously
triumphed ov
r society. Their haunts wer
broken up, their infamous organi-
zation was prostrated, and peace at once restored by the expulsion of the
scoundrels who are now in Sydney, and against whom we are called upon to
act. Robberies of the person are becoming frightfully prevalent, and detec-
tion extremely rare; life and property are without protection of any kind,
and the whole city is at the mercy of numerous bands of experienced thieves
and cutthroats. Under such a fearful state of disorder, it behooves the citi-
zens to bestir themselves; for if they do not protect themselves, there appears
to be no disposition on the part of the Executive to do anything in their
behalf. It has therefore become imperative on the inhabitants to organize a
vigiJance committee for the city. Small bands of volunteers, armed with
revolvers, will purge Sydney of her miscreants. We have no hesitation in
saying that within a month every villain now at large would be lodged in
gaol, or otherwise disposed of so as to be no longer an object of fear or a
source of alarm. A vigilance committee for Sydney will be not only neces-
sary, but effectual, and its very name will strike where its arm cannot reacn. "

Thus in new and intelligent communities, whence-
soever their origin and wheresoever situated, we see
appearing, as it is needed, this principle of Vigilance,
,vhich like a benignant deity delivers its votaries from
evil and destruction.

CH.L
PTER II.

POPULAR TRIBUSALS AND POPULAR GOVER

.

Vigilantibns, non dormientibus, servit lex.

OF all the classical abnormities that characterized
the gold-gathering age of California, popular tribu-
nals were the most startling. As long as the aberra-
tions of society were confined to individual members,
or appeared only in business, religious, or domestic
aftàirs; as long as causations were easily traced and
results tacitly accepted, social and commercial irregu-
larities, such as undue dissipation, suicide, fires and
failures, speculation, gambling, and gold-digging, soon
became to be regarded as part of the new economl
, incident to the new life and its strange environment.
Even a murder, now and then, or in the mines a hang-
ing scrape, was not an object of alarm. Every man
carried a pistol; whiskey was fiery; shooting was easy;
and it was no wonder that now and then a man was
hurt.
But "When crime assumed giant proportions, over-
shadowing commerce, intercolU'se, and industry, and
"hen the ,,
hole community rose as one man to put
it down, the attitude of affairs seemed somewhat
alarming. "That "as it, this mighty po"Wer so sud-
denly appearing at this juncture? In our indifference
to tradition, and our "Wanderings from ancient "Wals,
"
e had cut loose from many of the fashions and for-
lualities ",
hich we had been taught were essential to
safety. But here ,vas something that seemed to
strike at the very foundation of our social structure,
( :::'1 )

C),")

POPULAR GOVERN1\fENT.

and ,yhich must shiver the fair proportions of that
free <Yovernment which all along the centuries man-
kind b had been chisellino- into form and comeliness.
'Vere ,ve prepared to t
y anarchical experiments, to
throw our young communities into a state of social
chaos, and abide the result? Might not so sweeping a
principle bring perdition?

fany thought of these things who never thought
before.
fany asked for the first time: What is law,
,vhat government? Are our forms, our constitutions,
our statute-books, and our tribunals, ho,vever en-
tanO'led they may become, are they too sacred for pop-
ula; touch? Or if, through our o\vn folly or neglect,
the adlninistration of laws, with the construction and
intention of \vhich ,ve are content, falls on incapable,
unjust, or iniquitous men; and if these men, for their
further enrichment or advancelnent, ,veave round
themselves such a ,veb of legal technicalities and
statutory subtleties as with perjuries, ballot-box stuff-
ings, and assistant hirelings to secure them in their
positions, must good citizens forever refrain from lay-
ing hands on these Lord's Anointed?

There are men high in intellect and education, who
hold that a la,v once formally made by the people, can-
not rightly be altered or disregarded by the people
except through legislative process. In the law itself,
and in the creating of it, they say, is the tacit agreelnent
of the people that they ,viII not override or overrule
it but by formulas silnilar to those that brought it
into force. They lnake a law for the punishment of
those who break a la\v. All must abide by the COIll-
pact, no matter ,vhat the injustice or emergency.
It ,vere sacrilege other\visc. \ And yet these saIne
persons
ill tell you that the people are supren1e.
N o,v If the people are'supreme, they cannot cre-
ate a power superior to then}selves and still ren1ain
supreme. They cannot bind thelnselves to one an-
other in fetters so strong that all together, or the

THE JURIST A
J) THE DIV
E.

23

ruling majority, cannot instantly break them. If the
Almighty establishes an edict or enters into a conl-
pact ,yhich he cannot immediately annul, he is no longer
almighty. It may be righteousness that rules him,
but he is ruled. However this may be, all the su-
preme pO"\vers we are cognizant of make and break
at pleasure.

..L
sk a jurist if it be right ever under any circum-
stances to break a law, and turning from his book he
,vill ans,ver you, "I find it no,vhere so ,yritten." Ask
him if statutes and constitutions are superior to nature
and necessity, and the reply is, "The law of the land
shall stand forever, or until it be legally annulled or
changed; else there is no security, no safety, nor hap-
piness or progress; else all is confusion, chaos, a ,vhirl
of anarchy and annihilation. Atoms cannot hold to-
gether without la,,"; no more can individuals." With
heart and mind still unsatisfied, in your conscientious
distress to know the truth, go to the divine, to him
"\\Tho represents the power behind human forms, and
put the question; and he reads you like,vise from his
.. book," Be subject unto the higher powers; the po,vers
that be are ordained of God." Ask him if tIle powers
for evil are ordained of God, and he stands before you
dumb lvith indignant astonishment at your unhallowed
Í1npudence. :N ow ,ve the people, ,vho are neither
jurist nor divine, we would say that if Ned l\IcGowan,
)Iurray, Terry, and others with ,vhom in due time I
,vill make the reader acquainted, ,vere ministers of
justice ordained of God, then God ordained some very
bad men judges in California, and happily he ordained
a people to rise and drive them out. " I kno,v of no
higher power than the constitution of my country,"
exclaims John B. 'Veller in a burst of anti-viO'ilance
oJ
patriotism-,vhi<,h "as unfortunate for
Ir \\T eller.
The constitution is a very good thing, an implement
by \\-hich to regulate delegated social force, for ,vhich
I entertain profound respect, and before which I am

24

POPüLAR GOVERX
IENT.

prepared to bow in company with all good men who
thu
recognize the necessity of yielding some portion
of their individual will for the benefit of the whole.
I respect likewise the steam-engine that carries me
ten miles nlore quickly than I can walk one. That
the people can create a po,ver higher than themselves
is à palpable absurdity, ,vhich it is idle to discuss.
.L
sk a jurist his opinion of vigilance committees, of
the morality of such movements, more particularly
of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856,
that being the representative organization of popular
tribunals in the Pacific States and the only one
of 'v hich there is much general kno,v ledge, and the
alls,ver ,vill be: "Had the people been as ready to
assist the law as they were to disregard it, there ,vould
have been no necessity for a committee of vigilance."
Ask him if, with venal judges, knavisll custodians of
public prisons, and an atnlosphere rank ,vith political
corruption pervading courts of justice, It were possible
for the people to assist law to the successful punish-
lllent of crime, and the answer ,viII be: "Had they done
their duty at primaries, at the polls, as jurors, as citizens
of the common\\Tealth, there ,vould have been no cor-
rupt officials or foul political airs." Press him further,
and ask if, ,vith shoulder-strikers reigning in every
,yard, ,vith ballot-box stuffers ruling elections, ,vith
professionals as jurors, witnesses, and bondsmen, and
Inagistrates ,vho feared the roughs far Inore than God
or good nlen, it 'v ere possible for the people to do fair
duty as citizens, and the ans,ver ,vill be: "It was their
o,vn fault, and by reason of their neglect of duty alone
that all these evils had come upon theIn." Pump until
doomsday and this is all ,ve shall get from the deep-
est "'
ells of legal or religious lore.
r\. century or two ago and this ,vould have been
sufficient, but it is not so no,v . We cannot but feel
though in the presence of august book-maO'nates ,vh

have garnered the experience of the ages
and upon
,vhom has fallen the Rpirit of onlnipotent intelligence,

THE PEOPLE AT FA.ULT.

0-
-,)

that we mean one thing -while they refer to another.
'V e cannot but feel that these our teachers are either
stupidly or ,vilfully blind; that either they will not
see the new light ,vhich renders transparent the old
tricks of biaotry, or, beholding, they can only stop and
stutter. I
stead of ans,vering they evade the ques-
tion, j list as in the practice of their profession they
too often feel in duty bound to prefer jugglery before
justice.
The time has come when the instructors of pro-
gressive peoples must fortify their time-honored posi-
tions or abandon them. Thoughtful men are no longer
satisfied ,vith artificial enlargements, thick-soled shoes,
and cunningly contrived masks, such as the Greek
actors employed in increasing their stature and the
volume of their voice.
The gods themselves once so con1plained. When
ancient rationalists first questioned the existence of
the Olympian deities, Jupiter ,vas in heroics; heaven
shook ,vith his wrath. "::\Ien are actually discussing,"
he roared, "whether they shall hereafter worship at
all." "It is all your own fault!" exclaimed ::\Iomus,
the jester of the Olympian conclave; "the gods have
brought the trouble on themselves through a neglect
of their duties." .And
Iomus is right. For a lying
press, for iniquitous politicians and an ignorant pulpit,
tor the ab
urdities of fashion and the injustice of
society, for prostitution, for gambling, for thieying,
for the knaveries of the scheming capitalist, the
grindings of monopolists, and the swindlings of corpo-
· rations, the people have only themselves to blame, for
all these enormities spring from the people and exist
only ou the sufièrance of the people. ..L
nd as he i

as la,vless ,vho disregards la,v as he ,vho overthro,,-s it,

o he is as imnloral ,vho fails in his political duty as
he ,vho breaks SOllle social conventionality. It is a
comInon and foolish fashion to denounce governUlent
for evil
rooted in the people.
I adulit that the people of San Francisco did not

26

POPULAR GOVERN
IENT.

their whole duty as citizens; that, absorbed in their
money-O'ettinas and careless of the city's future, they
avoid
x{' the p
l1s and shirked public responsibility.
But this is not the question. Americans and
others both before and since the tin1e of which I
,
\vrite, have been guilty of like neglect. Adulterated
. as has been the stream of our progress by enfranchis-
ing lo,v foreigners and ,vhite-,vashing ignorant Afri-
cans; prostituted as are our politics by charlatans and
ùeulagogues, both native and imported, the polls and
public duty offer few attractions to one \vhose pride
is enlightened liberty alone, and ,vho abhors villainy
even \vhen found under the guise of patriotism. The
deep abasement of our once so highly prized preroga-
tives, ho,vever, offers no excuse for the neglect of
distasteful duty. That the wicked rule is reason all
the more that the righteous should rally.
Y et another cause existed of the indifference in
public affairs manifested by the people of San Fran-
cisco during the city's infancy, ,vhich ,vas the feverish
and unstable character of the conl1llunity. It is safe
to say that prior to 1855 one fourth of the resident
population of San Francisco changed every year; and
that of those constituting the Vigilance C01111llittee
of 1856, not one in ten had belonged to the Com-
Inittee of 1851. People ,vere constantly conling and
going, settling and selling out. All ,vas confusion;
fe,v thought of or cared for the \velfare of the young
nletropolis. Hence, if the way to deterilline the right
or ,vrong of the action of the people of San Francisco
,vho in 1856 organized themselves a popular tribunal
above and independent of la
v be in casting blaIlle
on some one, on 'VhOlll shall It rest 1 On those \vho
\vintered there in 1853 or 1855, or on those ,vho hap-
peneù to be citizens in 18561
Again, 111en ,vill not display the same zeal and
activity in public as in private affairs, at least until
public affairs are conducted n10re as are private affairs.
'rhey ,viII not volunteer as readily and persevere as

FALLACIO"C"S TEACHIXGS.

27

faithfully when called to assist the authorities, as "Then
actinO" independentl
r under their own organization.
"T e a
e all of us so constituted that in order to accom-
plish any thin 0" ,veIl there must be enthusiasm. This
absent, and
an is but a nlachine, and a very poor
one. It ,vas hardly to be expected that the ,yorkers
of San Francisco ,vould leave with alacrit:r their
shops, their benches, their banks, and their counting-
houses to perform duties which they had already
paid public servants to do.
lore particularly would
this feeling prevail in the absence of confidence that,
w"hen they had spent their time and money in the
public service, in hunting criminals and delivering
them to the authorities, speedy and impartial justice
,yould be meted. Action springs from anticipation
of success; enthusiasm languishes under repeated
disappointments.
But ,vhat kind of logic is this of our masters?
\Vhoever before thought of determining public policy
by flinging odium on generations gone by? For such
,vere the rapidly revolving years of this pregnant
epoch, each a generation, if counted by changes and
"H\ents. It is a
if the shipwrecked mariner imploring
assistance from the shore should be told: "Had you
not put to sea in a leaky yessel you "\\1"ould not no\v
lleed help;" or as if a physician called to administer
to a sick person should answer: "Had )"'our grand-
Ìather obeyed the laws of nature you ,vould ha\e no
need of medicine." The question was not ,vhat might
have been done under other cÎrcumstances, but what
should these citizens of San Franci
co do no,,?; what
was right for them to do, who by reason of their o,yn
fault, or the fault of those who had been citizens be-
fore them, had come to political grief, and no,,," saw
crilne grinning destruction upon them.
'\That says society in other exigencies where the
law is impotent or wilfully neglectful? How stands
the matter in regard to the husband who slays the
destroJ
er of his wife's honor, or the father ,vho kills

28

POPULAR GOVERN!tiENT.

the betrayer of his child 1 They break the la 'v; the
la,v fro"
ns; but there is not a court in America that
,vill capitally convict them. They do mur
er; but no
jury ,viII adjudge them to death, and no Judge dare
do it. Acting as we do, ,ve lllight as ,veIl look this
subject ::;quarely in the face, and then ackno,vledge,
like men, that there is a po,ver, orunipresent, behind
and above la,v, and of ,vhich legal forn18 are but the
imperfect expression. This
loes not degrade law, and
is no atten1pt to abrogate it. The la 'v is the imple-
lllent of the supreme po,ver for the accomplishment
of a purpose. If it works well, it is for the benefit of
the people; if ill, it must be repaired or thro,vn aside.
If this can be done formally, by edicts, legislative
enactments, sheriffs, judges, and the like, so much the
better; if not, then the ultimate power must do it in-
formally, and in its o,vn ,yay. It is perhaps too great
a strain on human nature to expect those ,vho live
by the law to adlnit that under any circumstances
the la,v may rightly be broken. What do we say of
the man ,vho makes his rule of conduct in life his
nlaster and not his servant 1 That he is a stubborn
dolt. So ,ve may like,vise say of the people ,vho
,vrite their Ia\vs in ink so indelible that it is beyond
their po,ver to erase them. They are the slaves of
their superstition, the idolaters of the calf which they
have made.
In all this I am far frOln advocating vigilance as a

ubstitute for lalv. Vigilance is the la,v's Inentor as
,veIl as the la\v's nlaster. It does not ,vish to over-
thro\v the la 'v, else it is not vigilance, but revolution.
To our learned friends upon the bench we might re-
verse their standing argument, and \vith far more
propriety and pertinency say, if la,v and government
,vere ,vhat they should be, there would never be a
yigilance conlnlittee. That \ve may need it no more
is the prayer of all good citizens.
There are others ,vhose teachings are worthy our
attention. Saint Paul says : "We know that the

SOllE 'YORDS OF STROXG )IEX.

29

law" is good if a man use it la,,""fully." Plutarch
:finds the truth in "follo"ing the most ancient law of
nature, \vhich nlakes the "eak obe
y the strong, begin-
ning with God and ending ",vith the irrational part of
creation; for these are taught by nature to use the ad-
vantages which their strength gives them over the
,veak." Blackstone teaches that "no human la,,"",:; are
of any validity if contrary to the la"
of nature; and
such of them as are valid derive all their force and all
their authority mediately or immediately fron1 this
original." Even
Iachiavelli, prince of princes' ser-
yants, is not far behind the rest ,,
hen he writes:
"Perchè, così come gli buoni costumi, per mantenersi,
hanno bisogno delle leggi; così Ie leggi, per osservarsi,
hanno bisogno de' buoni costumi." And Favart
observes: "Tout citoyen est roi sous un roi citoyen."
But strongest of all from him best capable of telling
us th e truth. "Let men learn that a legislature is not
our God upon earth," says Herbert Spencer, "though,
by the authority they ascribe to it, and the things they
expect from it, they would seem to think it is. Let
them learn rather that it is an institution serving a
. purely- temporary purpose, whose po"
er, when not
stolen, is at the best borrowed. . . . X ay, indeed, have
"e not seen that government is essentially immoral?
Is it not the offspring of evil, bearing about it all the
marks of its parentage? Does it not exist because crime
exists? Is it not strong, or as we say, despotic, when
crime is great? Is there not more liberty, that is, less
go-v-ernment, as crime diminishes? And must not gov-
ernment cease when crilne ceases, for very lack of
objects on ,vhich to perform its function 1
X ot only
does magisterial power exist because of evil, but it
exists by evil. Violence is employed to maintain it;
and all violence involves criminality. Soldiers, police-
nlen, and gaolers; swords, batons, and fetters, are in-
struments for inflicting pain; and all infliction of pain
is in the abstract wrong. The state employs evil
,veapons to subjugate e\il, and is alike contaminated

30

POPULAR GOVERN1\IENT.

by the objects ,vith ,vhic? it deals and the.me
ns by
,vhich it works. MoralIty cannot recognIze It; for
n10rality, being simply a statement of. the perfect
ht'v, can give no countenance to anythIng growing
out of, and living by, breaches of that law." To
,vhich Charles Nordhoff adds his weight in these per-
tinent ,"vords: "Back of all la,vs and all authority
lllust lie a belief that in the last resort every citizen
,vill defend his own rights. You cannot put a cor-
poral's guard at every man's door. TIle thief or
robber at bottom never fears the la,v and the govern-
ment nearly as Inuch as he does the right arm and
courage of the man he seeks to injure." What says
the corner-stone of liberty, our o,vn Declaration of
Independence? "To secure these rights, governlnents
are instituted among men, deriving their just pu\vers
from the consent of the governed; that, whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute a new government."
Like,vise the preamble to the Massachusetts con-
stitution in 1780: "Whenever these great objects,"
namely, liberty and the protection of the body politic
in its natural rights, "are not obtained, the people
have a right to alter the government, and to take
Ineasures necessary for their safety, prosperity, and
happiness." So it is elsewhere fifty times maintained.
Indeed, it is not the right to alter, but the method of
doing it, that is questioned.

Let us take a look at this thing called law; not
alone at the la,vs made by men for their own govern-
ance, and by virtue of ,vhich act, were there no other,
their superiority over all material things is manifest,
but at that subtle force everywhere apparent. It is
not necessary to go to sheep-bound books to find out
la,v. Statutes are form rather than force, or at best
force forlnulated.
The Ionic philosophers sa,v one only all-pervading

'VHAT IS LAW?

31

principle in nature, though personified in the minds of
some by one element, and in the Ininds of others by
another. Thus Thales thought it water,
\.naxagoras
aton}::;,
\.naxin1enes air, Heraclitos fire. Science and
religion now go behind all these and call this prin-
ciple la,,"; the one under title of the forces of nature,
the other under that of the will of God. But ,vhatever
it is, science and religion see it, feel it, and believe
in the same thing, though they call it by different
names and numberless sub-names. \Ve feel God in
nature and in ourselves; as the blind child, feeling
,vith its fingers the lineaments of the face it loves,
reads thus the secrets of the heart behind it. U p-
permost in the mind of the jurist are the written
rules for the regulation of human societies; in the
mind of the moralist the un,vritten rules; the broader
conceptions of the scientist refer mankind as well as
nature to fixed la,vs. "Les lois," says l\Iontesquieu,
"dans la signification la plus étendue, sont les rapports
nécessaires qui dérivent de la nature des choses; et
dans ce sens, tous les êtres ont leurs lois; la divinité
a ses lois, Ie monde matériel a ses lois, les intelligences
.supérieurs à l'homme ont leur lois, les bêtes ont leurs
I . 1 ' 1 I · "
01S, lomme a ses 018.
But ,vhen thus or otherwise defined, ,ve are as far
as ever from kno,ving what law is. A religionist like
Hooker places the seat of law in the bosom of God,
,vho chooses himself to be influenced by the laws
,vhich he establishes; ,vhence arise la,y-worship and
disputes of various kinds. The la,," of nature, in its
requirements and punishments, is the same whether
it comes to us through our senses and our reason, or
through pretended revelation. All that the most in-
spired can do is to thro,v it into the same category
,vith all unkno,vable phenoillena, and there for the
present leave it. Speculate as ,ve will, the cogito,
ergo S1t7Jl of philosophy is our bound.
\Ve kno,v that it is, and ,ye kno,v of it little else.
La,v is every,vhere. Sit in your house, there rise

32

POPULAR GOVERN:\1ENT.

round you the un,vritten obligations bet,veen l1usband
and wife, parents and children, master and servant.
Go out upon the street, and at every turn you en-
counter SOlne one of the thousand rules ,vhich regu-
late nlan's intercourse ,vith man. There are la,vs of
health, of business, of fashion, of pleasure. Out upon
the sea, out in the ,vilderness; all things anin1ate
and inanilnate, all things terrestrial and celestial, all
things palpaple and in1palpable, are under d0111inion of
la,v. By la,v "Torlds ,vhirl and atolns are held in
place. By la,v suns shine, lllountains stand, and seas
yield their moisture. By la 'v ,vinds blo,v, rains fall,
flo,vers bloom, birds fly, fishes s,viln, beasts gro,vl,
and lllan lnurders. Under la,v all that is strong and
dreadful lies bound. La,v flings lightning about the
heavens, cracks the thunder-cloud, n1elts the shrouds
of ,vinter, and s,vells the buds of spring. Fronl
lllolecule to planet, from invisible n1ist-particle to the
nlighty 111ain, from the breath of sleeping infant to
the roaring telllpest, all observe order, office, place,
and form. Even the apparently erratic affairs of
111en, which until recently ,vere regarded as under
the in11nediate governance of free and reasoning in-
telligence, are now, for the lnost part, referred to
la,vs as the mainspring of their guidance. That lnost
subtile of inspirations, the mind of lllan, ,ve no,v per-
ceive to be balanced by la,v. The animate and rational
is subservient to the seelllingly inanimate and irra-
tional, and by obedience to these la,vs creatures and
things alone exist.
N either is it alone force, but as it ,vould seeln
intelligent force that rules this universe. The crystal
fornls not by the lR\vS of the granite, nor the granite
by the la"
s of the crystal. The plant grows not as
the river grows, nor is ulan lllade as the mountain is
lllade. Each after its kind fulfils its la,v. Call it by
'v hat name you ,vill, abstract spiritual agency, COSlno-
mechanical energy, nature or deity, its inscrutible
sympathies and antipathies are Inanifestecl no less in

:x ATüRE'S L
,,
S.

33

blind matter than in enlightened intellect. "Thether
this po"er be increate and eternal, or finite; whether
it is conceived per se and exi
ts ,in se, or is the result
of (t priori conceptions and exists PC?" aliud, it is clear
to all that system and design are among its most
prominent features.
Further than this, eyery person and every thing
imposes la\,s on eyery other person and every other
thing. U ncler force exists all ; physical force, first
dominator, then moral force, moral force being the
legitiulate result of physical force, the legitimate and
justifiable result, ,,-hich makes might right, else ,ve
should not find it so. X ature is la,y's logic, law's
reason. "That eyer in nature man finds stronger than
hinlself he calls right, \,hatever is ,,-eaker he pro-
nounces ,vrong. "T e do not ask if the air has the
right to blow on us, or the water to drown U
, or the
fire to burn us; but "hen human societies conlmit
uncontrollable follies théY are anathema, because they
are susceptible of inlprovement. In franling la,,-s for
the regulation of nationcs in their relations one to"
ard
another, might is first considered and then right.
. International la, v is little else than an attenlpt to
refine barbarisms, not an attempt to eradicate them.
Eyen la,yless 'var has its la"
cs, and the. la,,
-breaking
duello; like\vise lust, and robbery, and all those worse
than beastly doings ,vhich cause God to blush for man
,,
holn he has made, and for the la\vs \vhich so sadly
fail to secure in hÍIn decency.
F olIo\y nature back into the infinite, and, obscure as
are its operations to us, ,ve yet can see even here a
government under mechanical laws. No ne"T force is
found ,yhich may not have had existence from the
beginning, and neither force nor matter is distinauish-
able in one ,vorld \yhich may not be common to all
"orlds. That is to say, by ob
ervation, uniformity of
action and regularity in results have been discovered
in nature, and have been called la,vs. The genesis of
man is but a sequel to the genesis of nature. SO
POP. TRlB., YOLo I. 3

84

POPGLAR GOVERN::\lENT.

linked \vith each other are all the natural sciences, so
inter,,"ovcn are the forces ,vhich govern Inan and
nature, that \ve can see in the progress of civilization
only a continuation of that process of evolution every-
,vhere apparent in the physical ,vorld. And this la,v
of nature is as far back as ,ye can go in searching the
origin of la"\v. La,y is universal and singular; ,vhether
natural or artificial, it is one and the same principle.
The forces of nature are diverse, and are held in
equiliLrium by their antagonisms. SOlne of them at
tilnes appear to act contrary to the interests of man,
yet all favor him ,vhen duly restricted and directed.
'Vind and ,vater may be trained to sail ships and turn
n1Ìlls, and the lightning which strikes destruction is
bridled to carry messages. Society, at first free,
accepts self-subordination for the purpose of subor-
dinating others, 'v hich done, it struggles for freedom.
This partially achieved, it lapses into yet n10re strin-
gent restraints.

I t appear
not a little strange that of all created
things .civilized man should not be able to live in har-
lTIOny ,vith his kind without first binding himself in
social, political, and theological fetters. In this respect
he is Inore brutish than brutes, more extravagant
in his senselessness than inanimate things. As the
heathen by the lnouth of Protagoras put it, "Man
,vas overlooked in the original distribution of gifts 1y
EpÌInetheus alnong lllortal creatures, and ,vas left the
only base and defenceless anÏInal in creation; and
though Prolnetheus strove to remedy his brother'

oversight as far as he could by giving hin1 fire and
other llleans of life, still there ,vas no principle of
governrnent, and luan kept slaying and plundering his
brother luan; till at last Jove took pity on him, and

ent IIerlnes to distribute justice apd friendship, not
to a favored fe,v but to all alike."
Inanilnate things and irrational creatures 'Illust
blindly obey th
law of nature, but rational men find

BORN IXTO BOXDAGE.

3;)

it necessary to place thenlselves under re8triction
of
their o,vn makin 0' in order to d \yell together in hal'-
o . '-'
lllony. In masses of progressIve men there appears
to be a mental inaptitude for single and independent
self-guidance; and failing tIle instincts of the brute, a
code of conduct must be marked out and
tamped
\vith some sort of authority. Their \vell-being left by
nature partially free, they nlust needs fetter it Ì1nme-
diately or their behavior becolnes such as to bring upon
themselves destruction. Should Ulan some day become
emancipated from the la,v of nature, he may hope to
emancipate himself from the restrictions w,hich the
boon of free-,vill lays upon hin). Even the beast::;
,vhich \vhen wild might roam at \vill, tamed must
have a halter. So it is with ,vild and tamed men.
Laws are the cords that tie each person in his place
In proportion as private and public intelligence
increases the authority of rulers rtecreases. La \Y
arises from necessity, and not froni the desire of
individuals for restraint. Though in overy human
aggregation there must be some sort of subordination,
in the earlier and incoherent stages it is very slight;
" only \vith the evolution of society is a complex.
governmental systeln evol v.ed. The animalism in Ulan
must be restrained, if not on principles of morality then
from expediency. If nlan ,vere onlyaninlal, then bird-
la\v, or fish-la\v, or beast-law" ,yould suffice. But man
is lIlore than aninlal, and animal la\vs do not ans\ver
for the regulation of intellectual properties. The
norlnal condition of nlankind is progress. To progre
s
belong ,vealth, rights, and mental culture; and for
the preservation of these there must be a yielding of
some portion of the individual \vill to the united \yill
of the nation, some regulations or laws ,vhich all art..--\
bound to obey.
I t is into such bondage man is born. Innluneral )Ie
la,vs, t\visted into the cable of one great la\v, bind hinl
at the outset to his treadmill existence. And as if
this were not enough he straight,vay sets about forlllu-

36

POPULAR GOVERN
IENT.

lating forces ,,"'hich shall place hilll under ne,v restric-
tions, light at first, but lllade st.ronger at each step
that lifts him above brute existence. Peopling the
hea \
ens ,vith dire intelligences, he passes an epoch of
Rpiritual and political superstitions in ,vhich the Inind
1eCOllles stupefied by an agony of slavish fear. From
this despotislll, in due tinle, he a,vakens, rattles his
("hains, breaks sonle of them, but only to find stronger,
finer cords ,vith each emancipation. Thus paradox-
ical is our freedom \vhen it comes, liberty leading only
to greater bondage; for the more advanced the civil-
ization the I1101'e po,verful the unwritten la,v. Is it
not humiliating, is it not far fronl high or holy sat-
isfaction, the thought that of all animals man alone
should require conventional rules immediately he as-
sociates in a civilized ,yay; that with his intelligence
and reason he should require la,vs to govern hin1,
,vhen brutes associate in cOlnparative harlnony, each
,vith its kind, ,vithout the appointment of legislature,
governor, judge, or hanglnan 1 Obviously this is the
penalty man pays for his reason. It is because he is
a reasonable creature that he is forced thus to regulate
his conJuct according to reason. It is because he is
one ,,
ith the eternal all-ruling intelligence, that intel-
ligence is necessary in the direction of his affairs.
Yet if we so conclude that in God's stead lllan rules
hinIself; that nature nIakes not la,vs for its creator;
that lllan's intelligence is above nature, and nature
makes no la,vs for the intellect of nIan-still I should
say so much the ,vorse for an intelligence which so
hunIiliates intelligence, and I should find notlling ad-
n1Írable or ,vorshipful in such donlination.

Rut ho,vever 111ay seenl to us the origin of law
and the nlanufacturillg of statutes, the necessity of
,vritten rules ,ve 111USt recognize. La,v ,ve must have,
and governIllent, for so it is appointed unto Inan. And
good citizens ,,
ill oLey the la"T and support the go v-
ernUlent; for it is for theuI and their children, as

If,

SUPERSTITIOXS OF LA'V.

37

against the "Ticked, as protection from those who would
injure them, that laws are made and governors placed
in authority to execute the la,vs. But to talk of the
sacredness of law, at this day, is to clothe rules and
prescriptions ".ith the superstitious veneration ,vhicll
enshrouded thenl of old. Government is, or should
be, the united will of a majority of the people
coöperated for protection against that spirit of evil
which seems to take possession in a greater or less
degree of certain members of every community;
and there is nothing honorable, august, or sacred
in the office, or in the person of him ,vho exercises
delegated power, ,vhich is not found in the pers?ns of
those ,,,ho besto"\v it. Yet mankind are slow to shake
off this superstition; so slow that from the divine
right of kings they step to the divine right of legis-
lators, and the despotism of Inonarchy is succeeded
by a despotism of democracy.
The strongest element of social subordination is
found in that a,ve in 'Vllich the nlasses hold the
possessors of power; and those high-sounding titles
and imposing pageantries ,vhich unduly magnify the
. actions of officials so foster in the popular mind this
spirit of reverence as to make disloyalty the greatest
of crimes.
The very ,vords and symbols of authority, such as
legal verbiage, red tape and seals, and all that clap-
trap of justice of which wigs, gowns, and divers
hollow ceremonies are a part, tend to impose upon
the people and fill their minds with fear as of SaIne
solenlll 111ysterious power. 'Vhen the Athenian leaders
of popular reforlll, Pericles and Ephialtes, talked of
abolishing tho high court of the Areopagus, Æschylus
in his great Triology represented tIle venerable .court
as having been founded by Pallas for the trIal of
Orestes, and so held it up as an institution ever to be
revered by every pious ..A..thenian. Up to the year
1823, ,vhen 1\Ir Blac:
, editor of the JIorning Chron-
icle, attacked SOlne of the vices and absurdities of En-

38

POPULAR GOVERN
fENT

O'li
h la,v, the judicature of England ,vas regarded a
ð .
Inodel of perfectIon.

ot justice alone, but courts of justice, in the eyes
of io-norance, are given us by the gods. The most
pro
inent effort of philosophy to-day is to rescue
fron1 empiricism the laws under which human beings
affare g 'ate and live.
ðð

lTrom the worship of demi-gods and heroes, from
the Hebrew Scriptures or other holy books, fronl the
Cæsarian despotism, or from some other source, man-
kind became imbued ,vith the opinion that kings, as
representatives of divine power on earth, should be
implicitly obeyed; nor ,vas it until a comparatively
recent period that the theory of original compact be-
tween the ruler and his subjects ,vas recognized.
Blood revenge ,vas held by the savage a sacred duty,
as ciyilizcd la,v to-day is held by certain of its nlinis-
tel's a sacred thing.
The earliest form of goverrllnent, after the govern-
11lent of environnlent, is the authority exercised by
the parent over the child. The child is born helpless,
and in its rearing and education it Illust adapt itself
to the Illore expeloienced ,viII of the parent. The father
of the family beconl(\s the patriarch of all aggrega-
tion of frunilies. Posterity deifies his memory, and he
takes his place among the gods of the national mythol-
ogy. At length the doctrine of ancestral divinity is
applieà to the living nlonarch. Although he may not
yet be dcelned divine, his mission is. ....t\.lthough not
a god, he has the authority of a god, delegated, it Inay
be, froB} his dead ancestors, and later from the cre-
ator. He is respected by his subjects as of heavenl.r
orIgIn. He i
addressed in the terms in ,vhich the
crcator is addressed, lVIajesty, Lord. Obeisance is
1nade to him as to God. J\len hold their lives and
their property subject to his ,,
iII, sublnitting to hi In,
as vicegcrent of the creator, as they submit to God,
their nlakl'r
But ,vith the eleyation of the intellect

DIYIXE KIXGSHIP.

39

comes the do,vnfall of the divine theory of king-
craft. The nlonarch is divested of his supcrnatural
robes; he is permitted to rule at the ",vill of the people.
Loyalty comes to lllean patriotism rather than abject
su bmission.
X o,v patriotism is but a reflex of egotism, and re-
spect for statutes and constitutions is but another
form of loyalty. .....
nd as excessive love of country is
e
cessiYe self-love, so undue "'
orship of forms of Ia"

is a part of that superstitious loyalty \vhich of old held
to the doctrine of divine kingship. If reverence is
any,,,
here due, whatever good there Inay be in loyalty,
in that sentiment "hich unites individuals under a
common head, it is not the po,rer of la"
"hich should
be reyerenced, but the po"
er which creates and sus-
tain
la"
. This doctrine of divine kingship appears,
in a sort of inverted form, in the Athenian's creed,
\vhich held it dangerous for a man to rise above his
fello,vs-"hence ostracism, or o
rster-shell voting a
too ambitious man out of the country.
From this divine king-\vorship hav
sprung many of
the courtesies of nlodern society, expressions of fear,
" awe, propitiation, submission, as ,veIl as political sub-
ordination. Fornl of some kind is necessary. I have
said that the forces of nature are held in ;quilibriunl
by their antagonisms. Throughout the universe ,ve

ee t",.o great contending pO"\Yers, attraction and re-
pulsion, both of ,vhich are essential to developlnent.
nay, to life itself. It is the action and reaction of
th
::5e oppo
ing force-:; that give form and life to matter,
that underlie all dey"elopment. that separate the chao

of nebulæ into systems of "orlds, and systems of Yege-
table and animal organis111s. So it is in society. It
i
the tendency of opposing forces to"
ard an eq ui-
librium that constitutes progress. If \yealth and cul-
ture and rank and power had, fron} the beginning, been
gi,-en in equal parts to every individual, there ,votlld
lJC 110 actiyity, no struggle, no progress. The law's of
luan and the la,vs of matter are correlative.

40

POPULAR GOVERN
IENT.

.1\S refinenlent and good nlorals assert don1Ïnioll
crinle din1Înishes, and thus the penalty that the COlll-
1l1unity Illust pay for the evil ,vhich is done in it is
lessened. "That ,vill quicker arouse the spirit of
libcrty than despotism, of order than anarchy? Ho\v
could "
e value virtue but for vice? Civilization nlay
haye becn dearly purchased at the cost of so llluch
suffering and ,vickedness, but \vithout \var, bigotry,
lllurder, tyranny-in short, ,vithout the combined evils
incident to humanity, the very existence of progres-
sional phenoluena is unthinkable. Nevertheless, each
ne,v blessing only opens the door to ne\v bondages.
Bet\veen the forces of society and the laws by
\v hich those forces act there is a vast difference, a
difference not al\vays recognized by legislators and
jurists. Often la 'v is nlistaken for force, and force for
la\v. If I toss a ball into the air, the la,v of gravita-
tion is not subverted, though its force may be. VVhen
la,vs antagonistic both to the forces that lllOVEi; society
and to the la\ys that govern such forces are placed
on the statute-book, they are certain to be either
annulled or to stand inoperative. Without the sup-
port of the people, I say, statutes are the stolidest of
dead things. Solon ,vas ,veIl a\vare that his laws
were not the best that could be Inade, but they ,vere
the best the Athenians \vould receive. Self-preserva-
tion and all other instincts are forces, and their behavior
under given conditions reveals to us the la,vs under
\yhich they act. Social forces Inake for themselves

ociological la,vs; statutory la,vs are neither the one
nor thc other, but to ren1ain in force they nlust be
consistent ,vith both. Many say that popular tribu-
nals are good in theory but ,vrong in practice. N o,v
ignorance alone affirlns of a thing that it may be cor-
rect in theory, and at the san1e tilne ilnpracticable.

othing true in theory can be untrue in practice; if
a plan fails in its application, then clearly the hypoth-
esis is at fault.
Often \VO hear relnarked of an enactlnent, It is a

THE RIGHT OF REYOLUTIO
.

41

good la,v, but impossible of execution. How absurd!
A la\y. impossible of execution, or that other\vise falls
far short of its purpose, is not a good la", is ,vorse
than no la,v at all. Stupidly \ve look to legislation as
an infallible panacea for every social ill, and nevor
cease alternately to beseech and curse the delni-gods
who sit in council to make our la\vs. Thus endless
expectation ,vaits on endless disappointment.

This doctrine of the divine right of kings and passive
obedience on the part of the people never obtained in
Anglo-Saxon America, and least of all in California.
So sovereign in thought and feeling \vere the people
of this ne"'
common\vealth, that traditional forn1s and
conventional restraint "
ere for the most part thrown
aside. At the first every mining district made its
O"\vn la\vs and regulated its o,vn affairs. As in sav-
agisnl, government, which according to the modern
ideal, is the protection of life and property and the
punishnlent of crinle, ,vas absent. And indeed they
did very ,yell ,,
ithout it, for there ,vas little property,
save that of a portable kind, and every man defenLled
his O'VI1 life or left it ,,-ithout defence. He punished
- crilnes cOlnnlitted against himself, if he was able; ifnot,
he left them unpunished. Later came that loyalty
,,
hich springs from social conlpact, a compact ,vhich
delegates certain rights of the individual to society
on condition that society shall protect him in other
rights, the conscience as ,veIl as the person gradually
becoming bound by it. But ,vhen established forms
are ,yarped for vile purposes by a dishonest minority,
then the principle of self-preservation comes in, ,,
hich
our la\vs and our constitution, as well as every in-
stinct of our nature, hold to be first.

The ,,
hole l1latter-that is, the right of vigilance,
not the expediency or the 11lanner of its execution-
turns after all on the right of revolution, a right \vhich
a lJriori fe\v deny, ho\vsoe,-er one cOll1plains ,vhen in its

42

POPULAR GOYERX
IEXT.

inCIpIency it may tread on one's interests 0.1' preju-
dices. I say the 1noralp of that class of socIal erup-
t.ions ,vhich in California took the nalne of vigilance
cOInnlittees turns on one's vi
,v of this right of revo-
lution and on one's general conceptions of la\v and
ethics. Were Luther, and Cromwell, and vVashing-
ton right 1 "\Vere Coleillan, and Dempster, and Truett
,yrong1 And if it be true that under sufficient provo-
cation a number of persons possess the right to rebel
against their rulers, then \ve might enquire how Inuch
proyocation is necessary to render rebcllion justifiable,
and ho\v many robbers, or murderers, or disturbers of
the public peace must band before their acts shall be
raised from the category of crime to the dignity of
i nsurrecti on.
I do not D1ean to say that the vigilance conlmittees
in California, and else\v here in the Pacific States,
,vere revolutionary in their character. They ,vere
not. It "Tas no part of their purpose in any instance
to oyerthro\v the government, to usurp political
po,ver, or to clog the Illachinery of legislation or of
IR\v. The principle involved, ho,vever, is the same.
It is the act, rather than the nlotive, that the law
judges. The question is, not ,vhether it is right to
break the law in order to acco111plish a good purpose,
but \vhether it is ever right to break the la,vat all.
On this question the ablest 111inds, not alone in
California, but throughout the world, as before inti-
mated, ,vere at issue. Though tacitly adnlitting the
right of revolution, there ,vere those ,vho denied the
exercise of that right. And differences of opinion
haye existed, and do still exist, both as to the right
and the policy of an arbitrary assumption of adillinis-
trative po,ver by the people under any circumstances.
Better, sonle say, that virtuous citizens should thro,v
their \veight into the balance \vith legislature and law
courts, and so achieve the right unstained by la,vless
hlood.. 1'0 sanction the doing of evil that good 111ay
eUlne IH to tread on dauO'erous g round and cstab-
o ,

THE T'VO PARTIES.

43

lish a precedent ,,"hich some day may recoil on its
authors ,vith terrible effect. Where the law ends,
tyranny begins; the cure is worse than the disease.
Such and many other like maxims are brought for-
,yard in defence of obedience to the existing la,ys of
the land under any and all circumstances.
On the other hand the right of revolution is main-
tained as the dearest right of a free people. La,v is
the servant and not the master of men. \Vhen the
la,v, made by a lnajority of citizens, becomes dead or
inutile, it is not only the privilege but the duty of the
majority to adopt new rules for the governance and
protection of society. As a rule the minority COll-
tend that the state as a political organism embodies
sovereign power, and that the po","er of the state
is superior to the power of the people, while the
majority maintain that the people are sovereign.
If the laws and constitution are contrary to the
,viti of the majority, then the minority rule; if a
majority of the people possess the soyereign po"
er,
it seems paradoxical to allege that they can comn1it
treason against themselves. Respect for the la"T,
r obedience to righteous la,v, these are the questions
involved. )Ianifestly it is the duty of every individual
to heed and obey the laws; thus far both sides agree,
and thus far there llla:r be a tincture of divinity in
the existing laws, for statutory law is supposed to
embody n10st of the divine and moral la",.s. But it
is not that species of diyinity attributed to law from a
study of the la,v's lnystical technicalities by the high
prie::;ts of its idolatry: ,vhich make;.: form superior to
substance, and bo,",,"s before the skeleton long after
the soul has departed.
Hence arose t\VO parties, the Law and Order party,
and the Popular Tribunal party. Both sides agreed
that the la\vs of the land should be obeyed, but in
practice there ,yas this difference: The popular party-
that is to say the people, the masses, of ,,-hieh COlll-
nlÌttce
of vigilance are (ll".ays con1posed-,yerc a
a.

44

POPUL.AR GOVER
:\IENT.

rule industrious, orderly, God-fearing, and la\v-abiding
men. They \vere the class that laws are made to pro-
tect and not to punish. The la\v and order party, after
including a certain class of lawyers and officials, was
C01I1posed in a great measure of the la\vless and order-
less, habitual la,v-breakers, \vho lived not by honest
labor, but by subverting and distorting the law so that
they might fatten on the labor of others, and ,vho
estimated the justice of the judge by their own
villainy; and it ,vas seemingly fit that those who lived
by the breaking of la,vs should thus band for mutual
support. This ,vas the class the lR\vS ,vere made to
punish; but in their hands, and in the hands of their
masters \yhom they had elevated to office, it con-
stituted a safe protection for them, and ,vas made to
punish those only ,vhom it should have protected.
It was \vholly an anomalous condition of things, and
to judge the action of early Californians by the rules
of older societies is ,vrong. N 0 ,yonder these nlen
sa\y divinity in la,v; it ,vas the only kind of divinity
lnanv of theln ,vere ever able to discern; the divinity
of tl;e ballot-box, of jails and city halls; that devilish
divinity ,,"hich affords protection fro1l1 la,vful penalties
incurred by promiscuous robbery and murder.
I say it is absurd to charge the members of the San
Francisco Vigilance Con1mittee ,vith disrespect for
the la\vs. Their deference \vas not displayed in loud
protestations of patriotism, in fanatical adoration of
the capped and go\vned goddess of liberty, or in
lung-splitting reverence for a piece of starred and
striped bunting; these ,vere the sounding brass and
tinkling cymbal of the la\v and order party. The
deference of the mercantile and industrial classes for
la,v 'vas manifest ifi practice rather than in profession.
Their daily life \vas n. standing commentary on
their respect for and obedience to the la"\\Ts of God
and the la,vs of their country, even if they did some-
".hat roughly handle the la\v in rescuina it from the
clutches of \vickedlnen. ð

VIGILA...,CE IS KOT THE EXE)IY OF LA.W. 45

X ot disrespect for the la 'v, nor a denial of the
human and divine right of la,v to be obeyed; not the
absence of a necessity for la"T; not a lack of due def-
erence to judges, governors, and administrators of the
la,y "Then such deference ,vas their due, ,vhen it ,vas
not the deference of subjects to a n1aster but the
deference of freemen for the instrument ,vhich for
the time embodied their common rule of conduct,
which ,voulcl result in the greatest good to the greatest
number-nothing of this kind can rightly be charged
on members of vigilance committees. It was the
right of a majority of the people to suspend the
action of the la "T, or to change the existing form of
la"T or of government by the surest and most direct
method, ",.henever they deemed it essential to the
,yell-being of society to do so-and this, if necessary,
,vithout waiting the sIO"\ver, less effectual, and less
certain means provided by constitution or statute.
In short it was the right of revolution which they
claimed; a right more divine than the divine right
of la"T; a right stoutly sustained as the bul"Tark of
all our liberties, from the days of John, king of En-
"gland, to the present tin1e; a right ,vhich cannot be
denied \vithout stopping the "heels of progress and
sending mankind back into the Dark Age.

CHAPTER III.

ENGENDERING CONDITIONS.

There is what I call the American idea.
Theodore Parker.

FOR the further elucidation of the subject, I propose
to give a historical sketch of Popular Tribunals in the
Pacific States, more particularly in San Francisco,
covering a period of thirty years from their inception.
And first of all, a glance at the several phases of
early society throughout this territory, ,vith special
reference to such causes and conditions as stimulate
or retard the displays of irregular adillinistration here
engendered.
The conquerors of Central America and Mexico,
and those \vho follo\ved in their wake as settlers, were
not subjected to the same species of anomalous justice
that later influenced the loose-n1inded pioneers of
..L
nglo-Saxon heritage. For this t\VO causes may be
assigned: First, the Spanish settlers were colonists,
under the immediate rule of a despotic governor ap-
pointed by a jealous sovereign. In n10st instances thiR
goyernor exercised over his subjects the po\ver of life
and death; standing in the king's stead, he ,vas respon-
f'ible for his acts only to the cro\vn. His government
\vas military as ,veIl as civil, and irregularities, if not
cOlnlnitted by hilllself, \vere grave offenses. Moreover,
loyalty was so inbred in the Spanish character, so
part of that superstition \vhich constitutes the second
cause ,vhy vigilance con1mittees could not exercise
their sway under Spanish rule, that to oppose their
(46 )

SP A...
ISH SOCIETIES.

47

will to that of the sovereign or his deputy, ,yas an act
so sacrilegious a -; to be entertained only by the most
abandoned. To the uttermost ends of the earth the
,vrath of heaven would pursue the disobedient. And
"\vhatsoever element of society there might be not un-
der the complete dominion of secular power, the church
,,-as sure to hold in subjection. The Spanish colonists
,vere not their o,vn masters. They could not go and
come as they pleased; they could not explore, subdue,
and occup
r except by permission. Unless thoroughly
loyal to church and state, they were not fit subjects
for colonization; they ,,-ere not Spaniards; they were
heretics, worse than )Ioslem or Je,v, and fit only for
death and perdition. They could act in any direction
only by permission of the creator himself, as spoken
by his vicegerents, who ,vere in temporal affairb
the king of Spain or his deputy, and in spiritual
matters the pope of Rome or his deputy. Later,
when both church and state by their sottish inanity'
lost much of their power, and the yoke of Spain fell
from the neck" of the colonists, society split into in-
numerable opposing factions, ,vhich have been uniting
.and dividing and fighting each other much of the
time since. .....\..11 the while crime ,,-as rampant. Few
were too good to steal. The rich were forced to con-
tribute of their wealth to the support of the party in
power; the officers of the government ,,-rere seldom
zealous except under the stimulus of a bribe; justice
,vas bought and sold, and there was little difference, ex-
cept in out,vard appearance, bet,,"'een the professional
highwayman and the peculator in office. :JIean,,-hile
there spa,,-ned a hybrid race, brute-low in stupidity;
and these, poor and priest-ridden, were glad to eat and
sun themselves in peace, careless of all things else.
People, in our .L-\nglo- .American sense of the word,
there ,,-ere fe,,,"; surely it is apparent enough that
there was not here the material for a vigilance com-
mittee. Of banditti there were always plenty. High-
,vay robbery was here raised to a science. Instead

48

ENGENDERIKG CO
"'l)ITIONS.

of taking the road and keeping it, thereby stopping
travel and ruining the business, the marauders ,vould
llliO'rate irrcO'ularl y , so as al,va y s to have some P art of
b b.
their field lying fa.llo,v. But alternately almost every
scction ,,,,as visited, and at such tinles every high,vay
s,varnlecl ,vith robbers. The criminal statistics of re-
publican J\lexico sho,v some t"\venty thousand arrests
annually, beside ,vhich those of California, even during
her periods of most stringent reform, seem tan1e
enough. And thc guard ,vas sOlnetimes even n10re
dangerous than the outla\v; it ,vas the proper thing for
a hired escort to do, to flee at the approacll of banditti,
if indeed they did not assist in the pillage. Convicts
,yere sOlnetimes bound in couples by Ineans of iron
girdles, sOlnetimes ,vith chains six feet in length, and
put to work on the high,vay. The jails of Sonora
,v ere poor affairs; and as for police, in lnany parts
they \vere unkno,vn. Banditti becan1e so bold at
tiules as to enter a to"\vn and rob a store in open
day; if they confined their operations to the road and
to strangers, the authorities ,vere not quick to molest
then1.
The constitution of Sonora provided a tribunal of
justice cOIn posed of three chanlbers ,vith letrados, that
is to say, three judges and a fiscal; the letrados to be
chosen by non-professionals. These ,vere appointed
every four years by congrcss.
1agistrates were
selected under specialla,vs ,vhich defined their po\ver;
SOlne ,vere appointed by the governor ,vith approval
of congress. Frcquently judges ,vere placed in office
expressly to be used as the tools of those electing
then1, even as under governnlents of more pretensions.
Fc,v 'v ere learned in jurisprudence, and Inany could
not read or ,vrite.
An old J\{exican living in the robber-infected region
of J alisco called together the neighboring rancheros
and nlade ,varin a body on the banditti. Soon the
district ,vas clearðd of then1; but in their zeal the
arllled corps did not stop there. Whenover any sus-

SOX ORA
-L.,D LO"
ER CALIFORXIA.

49

piC'ious-looking persons "
ere seen lounging a bout, they
"
ere shot do,vn ,,
ithout ,vaiting to undergo the forms
and uncertainties of la,v. \Vhen asked if in this ,vay
it did not sometimes happen that the innocent "ere
punished ,vith the guilty, the old 111an ans
"'ered: "Oh,
yes; but the average on the right side is sure to be
kept up I"

The northern part of Lo,ver California has been
much of the ti111e in a disorganized state, the order

of the supreme government being unknu\vl1; and, in-
deed, had they been known they would not have been
regarded along the frontier, some claiming to be
under the government of ..L
lta California and some
professing to belong to Baja California, ,vhich ,vas
equivalent to being under the jurisdiction of neither.
I t \\
as held to be a very ,,
icked thing to kill a
priest; nlore ,vicked than to kill a man less sure of
seraphic glories. In 1805 a ,,"oman murdered Father
Surroca in his bed because she had been dismissed
froill the padre's house. "\Vhat Surroca had done to
her is not stated. The order for the execution of the
,voman, together ,vith t,vo natives, ,vas pa8sed by the
auditor of ,val' on the last day of the year afore-
said. The auditor recommended hanging, if an ex-
ecutioner could be found; if not, shooting \\?ould 00
In either event, the head and right hand of the
,voman ,vere to be spitted in the most public place
in Santo Tomás, and those of the others in other
suitable places.
The lotlt of June, 1849, Agustin :\Iancilla y Gam-
boa ,vri te-:; from San Francisco Javier to his brother
at San Diego complaining of the insecure condition of
property, and the absence of any administerinet of
justice. .L\..mong other outrages, he speaks of the ð rob _
bery of the church of Santo Tomás and the sale of
the articles to some nlen trading to,vard San Dieao
and asks fOi" their arrest. J. Ross Browne testifies.
that in 1866 the countr
r ,vas ,veIl governed, though.
POP. TBIR., VOL I. 4:.

JO

EX( í EXDERIXG COXDITIOXS.

1et\Veell the years 1851 and 1861 the Peninsula ,vas
infested ,vith runaw-ay rascals fro111 l\Iexico and Cali-
fornia, 111any of 'v horn had to be shot as a ,yarning.
J- \nd not\vithstanding the frequent revolutions, Bro,vne
asserts that Lo\ver California is a peaceful country,
and that robbery and lllurder are infrequent.
Here, as else,vhere under l\Iexican rule, the custoln
\\Tas prevalent of advancing supplies to Ininers; that
i
, of paying theIn, usually in lnerchandise at exorbi-
tant prices, for SOlne tin1e in advance, trusting to the
hold la,v and custon1 gave upon the person of such
debtors to get back their expenditure, \vith a profit,
in the services of those thus bound to then1. A
Inining superintendent near Santo Tonlás in January,
1858, having distributed the ,veekly rations as usual,
found one morning that advantage had been taken
of the circun1stance by t\VO Ininers, \vho had cle-
calnped during the night,
nllply supplied ,vith food.
.....\s soon as the discovery ,vas made, the superintend-
ent sent an Alnerican to the alcalde at Santo Tomás
to obtain an order for the arrest of the fugitives. It
\vas furnished at once, con11nissioning the An1ericans
to bring thenl back living or dead. The alcalde also
sent three Mexicans ,vith hinl to assist in the execu-
-.tioll of his order. They ,vere successful in the pur-
"uit, returning to the alcalde before dusk \vith the
prisoners, \vho, declaring themselves innocent of the
charge, were not confined in the calaboose. The next
Inorning the alcalde ,vent to the rHines, ordering the
prisoners to follo\v in about half an hour. Trusting
to their honor, they were allo,ved to con
,vithout a
guard. Upon the opening of the court, the superin-
tendent of the Inines appeared as prosecuting attorney.
T estin10ny ,vas heard from all the ,vitnesses ,vithout
any adnlinistering of oath. The court, un\villing to
take the responsibility of deciding the case, proposed
that the plaintiff and defendants should choose hombres
buenos, and tbat the case be adjourned until the next
.lay, ,vhich ,vas done. The hombres buenos are pecu-

ALOXG THE
IEXIC_-L, FROXTIER.

51

liar to )Iexican judicature, differing from associate
judges, arbitrators, or jurymen, but approximating
to\yard all these. 11 pon the presentation of the tes-
tilllony to this tribunal they decided to act on the

uggestion of the superintendent, and condemned the
prisoners to ,york out the value of the rations ,yith
,,
hich they had absconded, an(l to pay the costs of
court.
The execution of
ome t"
elYe crin1inals by la\v in
1860, murderer
of Goyernor Castro and'- others,
\yithin a period of five Inonths, brought upon Esparza,
the governor, a S,yarn1 of vermin friends of the exe-
cuted, threatening his life and that of all those having
any hand in the executions.
\Vhen Dáyalos "'"as governor of Lo\ver California,
in 18ï3, ,vishing to increase his reyenue ,vhile giying
gratification to his people, he permitted during the
Christ111as holidays a three days' indulgence in the
favorite but interdicted game of monte. The fourth
day, desirous of seeing in person ho,v his order for the
discontinuance òf the amusement had been obeyed, he
entered a saloon in company ,vith an officer, and each
drawing a pistol, more in play than in earnest, pointed
the ,,"eapons at a party seated at a monte table, and
ordered their surrender. Unfortunately the gov-
ernor's pistol "
as accidentally discharged, killing an
old and respected citizen of La Trinchera, Don J osé
)Iaría
Iendoza, a looker-on. After w.hich the gov-
ernor, fearing assassination at the hands of the
younger n1ernbers of the :Jlendoza family, dared not
venture abroad save under cover of a body guard of
ten Inen.
In Xoveulber, 1875, small squads of Sonoran
banditti camped in Lo,,
er California just south of the
line. The

mericans on the San Diego side of the
line did not regard their presence so near their fanl-
ilies ,vith favor, and so they droye them R\Vay. The
30th of this 1110nth t,yO men, Leclaire and Sosa, ,yere
killed, as was supposed, by Lopez' gang. An alcalde

;'2

EXGEXDERING COXDITIONR.

of Lo,ver California united ,vith the sheriff of San
Diego to arrest and bring the offenders to justice.

Until a c0111paratively recent period, Arizona, in
COlnn10n ,vith northern l\fexico, ,vas in the hands of
the sal'ages. 'Vide ranges of country \vere not in-
habited by ,vhite n1en; and to pass through the country,
unless prepared for battle, was attended "\vith great
danger. There ,vere sections rich in precious metals,
but to develop then1 ,vas impossible. The arid soil
offered fe,v attractions for agriculturists; vast unin-
habitable deserts isolated settlers on the fertile spots,
and afforded secure retreat for luarauding aboriginals.
These sanle deserts, ho,vever, ,vere not favorable to
ci vilized ruffians; .there ,\Tere too fe,v hiding-places,
and if not soon run do,vn and captured, hunger or
thirst ,vould drive the flying crilninal back upon his
avengers. Nevertheless in due tilne civilization de-
veloped son1e first-class scoundrels, \vho lllet their
dues at the hands of the popular tribunal.
Before the establishlllent of the Mexican republic
justice in N e,v l\fexico issued directly or indirectly
fronl the civil or l1lilitary conlandante. There were
minor courts for petty causes, but ilnportant cases were
decided for the Inost part by the governor. Affairs
,vere
till ,vorse after the organization of the federal
govCr11111ent at the city of l\fexico. The only tribunal
then in N e,y 1Iexico ,vas the alcalde's court. Under
certain restrictions appeals \vere carried to the suprelne
court at Chihuahua, but fe,v could afford the delay
and expense. The routine of la,v courts ,vas unkno,v;{,
and the distance to the audiencia of Mexico ,vas so
great as to ilnpede the adjustnlent of rights.
The forn1s of litigation in New Mexico were quite
sinlple. The cOlnplainant appeared in person and
11lade a verbal staten lent before the alcalde, ,vho
ordered hiIn to summon the accused, \vhich ,vas done
by using the ,vords, 'Le llalna el alcalde,' the plain-

-\RIZOX A AXD X E"-
IEXICO.

33

tiff thu'3 acting as complainant and constable. The
defenllant failing to appear in ans"
er to the verbal
sumUlons of the plaintiff, the alcalde cau"ed to eb
served on him the regular proces
of the court, ,vhich
,,-as a large cane, called the baston de j
l8tici( , an or-
dinary 'Yalking-
tick, having sometime
cut upon it a
cro

, but di
tinguished from a common cane chiefly
by a black silk ta'S
el peculiar to thi

tick of ju;;;tice.
Both litigant::; being present, each gave hi::; o"
n ver
iun
pf the ca
e. Sometime
"Witne
ses "Were summoned
and s"Worn on the cro
s cut on the bast on de justicia.
Oftener, howe\"er, a cro
;::; formed b}
the finger and
thumb ,,-as used in administering oath
. It was a lazy,
lYIng sort of ju
tice. ,-.- ery frequently there "Would be
neither witne
s nor oath in the ca'-'e, ,yhich indeed
'Ya
often j U5t as "
ell. The alcalde "Tould hear and
determine. It "as all la,,-, and the Iuagistrate ".a

far above fallible man. Trial by jury "Was not prac-
tised, but in place of jurie,:; there "Were the hombres
bueno;::; before mentioned, to ,yhom cases ,,"'"ere often
referred for deci
ion.
In j udicial procceding
, little attention "as paid to
('ode
or forms. Indeed, alcalde
learned in the la\y
\yere extremely rare, many of them ne\"er in their
live
having looked between the covers of a la\y-book.
Their proceedings ,yhen not ,,-arped by corruption
,yere controlled by the P revailinO' cu
toms of the
'"' ð
country. J u::;tice ,yas administered under three cli
-
tinct and privileged jurisdiction
, kno"
n as f 1 lero.s:
Fir:st. the eclesiasfico, \yhich ordained that no mem-
ber of the clerQ'V abo\"e the rank of curate should be
ðv
arraigned before a ci \-il tribunal, but
hould be tried
by the superiors of hi
order:
econ(l. the "âlito I',
which made similar pro\-i
ion in fayor not only of
cornmi:::;sioned officers, but of common soldiers: third.
the ci yil or ordinary court
for all ca ..,e;:, in \v hich the
defendant
"Were la,':-men. "The
e fUero
," say.... Gregg,
,. haye hitherto maintained the ecclesia
tic and mili-
tary cla

e
in perfect independence of the civil

34

EXOE:NDERIXG CO:!\DITIO
:-;,

authorities. Thc ciyil, in fact, rClnain8 in SOlne
<leo-ree subordinate to the other t,vo fueros; for it
ea
under no circumstances hayc any jurisdiction
\yhateyer oycr then1, ,vhile the lay plaintiff: in the
privileged tribunals of the
e, ln
y if unsuccessful,
hayc judgu1ent entered agaInst hun, a consequence
that could never follo,v the suits of the ecclesiastical
ü1' u1Ílitary orders before the civil tribunals."
The decisions of the alcalde ,vere seldom in strict
accordance ,vith the Inerits of thc ease, and bribery
,vas frequent. Indeed, he ,yho had not the money'
,vith which to bribe the alealde ,vas aln10st sure to
lose his case. The injustice and corruption of courts
of ]a\v constituted one of the most painful fcatures of
this delnoralized society. In a judicial contest ,vith
the ,vealthy the poor stootI little chance, for if judge
and ,vitnesses ,vere not directly bought ,vith money
their influence carried sufficient ,veight to neutralize
plebeian testÏ1nony if offered against them. A person
of influence could keep a prisoner in the calabozo
ahnost at pleasure; on the other hand ,vithout wealth
or inti uence justice ,vas beyond reach.
In N e,v l\lexico punishlnent ,vas adnlÏnistered
neither in proportion to the 111alignity of the offence,
nor having' pron1Ïnently in vie,v the yindication of
outraged la,v, nor the reforlnation of the evil-doer.
Should the creditor express a willingness to apply the
services of a debtor on account of the judgment ob-
tained, the debtor \vas not in1prisoned; but fron1 the
lo,v ,vages allo,ved it ,vas easy, ill n10st cases, for the
creditor, by nlaking further advances from time to
tÜne, to reduce the debtor to a state of peonage and
hold him in bondage for life. For debt, theft, and
lllurder, the customary sentence ,vas the same, 'á la
c
írcel,) and the offender \vas likelv to remain about
0)
as long through inability to pay an insignificant sun1
of 1110ney as for the grayest of crin1e:-j, always provided
that nothing ,va
forthcon1Ïng for purposes of bribery.
The mode of punishluent ,vas fine and ilnprison-

IOR
rox .JL
TICE.

;).

ll1ent, \vhich in a
ociety
o dull, giyen to such sensual
gratification
as lay \vithin their reach, ,vas by no
nleans the lnost a\ve-inspiring or effectual. Fine could
not be exacted ,,-here the oftender po
;:,essed nothing;
and imprisonment implied shelter and food, con1forts
not al \vays ,,-ithin the reach of all.
Bodily infliction, though open to the charge of
brutality, is after all, in borne form, the only puni
h-
ment capable of holding crinle in check. Some abhor
".hipping from the pain it brings, others from the
disgrace attending it; all fear death. .J.-\ì::> for the
relative brutality of corporal punishment and im-
prisonnlent, I think under analysi
the sentiment
".ould signify a caprice of fashion rather than a ,-ital
difference. To cage a human being like a \vild beast,
or to chastise hill1 and give hilll hi
liberty, there is
on thi
ground little choice.

In Utah religiou
fanaticism absorbed all senße of
justice. To disobe

the church was never so much
a3 thought of among its follo,,"ers. For any number
of )IoTmons to ascsume attitudes antagonicstic to their
leaders or to divine revelation, ,,-as scarcely deemed
possible. The
Iormon theocracy left no . place for
questioning; ,,-here God himself immediately governed,
there, indeed, "
as la,,- a sacred thing. There wac:;
little need of judicial mechani
lns, court j uggleries,
foru1s, or furbelo\ys. God's ,,-ill ,vas la\y; that will
\vas 111ade kno\vn by the mouth of his prophet; so
that the yoice of tho church it
elf "
a
la\v. 1; nder
such a régillle, the little punishlllent little children
required ,vas ea'5ily administered, and the spirit of la \V
and order brought these blind and ignorant \vorship-
pers to their knees, and held them there ill breathless
a\ve. Under a theocratic goyernment, no le

than
under a strong de
potic government, we shall look in
vain for the popular tribunal. The nece;:,;:,ity for
uch
an organization could not exist, or if it did the
material cOlnpo
ing it could not be found; for if
uch

56

EKGEXDERIXU COXDITIONS.

principles obtained there ,vould no longer be any
theocracy. Utah cannot boast of a single respectable
lllOO, if \ve exclude fron1 such category, as certainly
,ve Inust, troubles ,vith natives and ,vith gentiles.
In California the case \vas different. Unlike the
tribes of Arizona, N e,v l\fexico, and northern J\Iexico,
the natives of the great valley drained by the Sacra-
Inento and the San Joaquin ,vere ,veak, defenceless,
peaceable. The attention of the n1iners ,vas not ab-
sorbed, their interests ,yore not ,velded by fear of the
savages. The poor creatures aboriginally inhabiting
the Sierra Foothills ,vere little disposed to retaliate
the insults and outrages heaped upon thenl; should
they no\y and then atte1l1pt to right a ,vrong, a
hundred lives for one ,vas regarded. poor payment,
and such inlpious justice soon s\vept then1 R\Vay.
Utah had Inuch la\v and fe\v people; California had
rnany people and little la\y. I do not speak as to
relative nUlllbers, but as to the relatiYè intelligence,
force, and capabilities of the people. California ,vas
little cursed by superstition; probably there never
,vere assenlbled fronl all nations a greater nUlnber
,vhose nlinds "Tere so enfranchised fronl the tyranny
of ancient traditions, and \v hose thoughts \vere so
free. In such a society ,ve nlay confidently look both
for evil-doers and for those possessed of ,vill and
strength enough to punish then1. The true follo\vers
of the prophet could neyer do ,vrong; they ,vere not
endo\ved ,,
ith \"it, ,yisdonl" and energy sufficient for
the achievelllent of great \\"ickedness. This, ho\vever,
applies only to the earlier inln1Ïgrants, "Those nlinds
,vere at first dazed under the illulnination of the
bright skies of Utah, being so suddeuly transfornled
thither froln the dark places of Europe and An1erica.
It cannot be truthfully said of the people of Utall
that they ,vere long non-progressive. Behold even
no,v, as their vestlnents are becon1ing son1e\vhat
cleansed of the ditch-,vater of Englaud and Gerlnany
bv the pure springs of their Anlerican oasis, do they

EARLY SOCIETY OF KEVADA..

57

not keep faithful vigil over ,vhat they deem the
highest and holiest gifts that ever deity delivered to
nlan? And is not their n1aterial improvement to

ome extent the outgro-wth of their steadfast devotion
to their religion?

In society and morals the earlJ days of Nevada
"''"ere a counterpart of the early days of California.
As illustrative of the attitudes of IR\v, -when la"\y,vith
slo,v step and solemn demeanor dre\v nigh, and that
popular sentiment ,yhich in border communities seizes
;30 quickly the throat of a difficult
r, there is told a
story of one of X evada's governors, who had pardoned
a person ,,
hom the citizens had voted a rope, and had
refused to pardon another who had shot his man, 'only
in play like.' TIlls did not at all suit the popular idea
of propriety. So the people of \Tirginia, ,y ho by this
time had acquired the name of the 'cussedest cro\,d
in Christendom,' and ,vho regarded it as not un-
rea
onable to expect from their landlord e\ery morning
'a dead man for breakfast,' came indignantly together
to see ,,
hat should be done. After discussing the
111atter potationally and at length ,vithout arriving at
any satisfactory conclusion, one of their nUlllber arose,
and "\vithout saying a ,yord, cut fronl a ne\y rope a
piece several inches in length, and labelling it, .c For
his Excellency," despatched it to the governor. This
"
as sufficient; the nleeting adjourned sati
fied.
For SOlne tinle after the acquisition of the country
frOlll :Jle:x.ico by the 1; nited States Governnlent, under
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 184:8, X evada fOFllled
part of the territory of Utah, froln ,,
hich it ,vas
separated by .....-\..ct of Congress appro\
ed
Iarch 2,
1861. But as early as 1857 the inhabitants of
cJ
X eyada had encleayored to seyer their connection
\yitll :J10r111on rule. Delegates to ""'ashingion urged
the establishing of a separate government. :Jlean-
,,
hile the discovery of silver at ''''-irginia in the SUill-
11ler of 1869 brought in a large 111ixed cla
:s, rougher

38

EKGENDERING CONDITIONS.

and 1110re reckless, if possible, than that composIng
thú Californian Inferno.
..L
district judge appointed for Utah ,vas assigned
this portion of the territory, and began his duties in
1860, but confusion and insecurity \vere little lessened
thereby. Finally, on the 31st day of October, 1864,
Nevada ,vas admitted as a state; but several years
elapsed before efficient courts of justice succeeded
in intimidating crinle. !Iean,vhile the people \vere
obliged to adnlinister punishulent in their o,vn ,yay or
give the land over to desperadoes.
..L\.s early as 1848 a fe\v falnilies, mostly l\formons,
settled in the valleys of Carson and Washoe. In
ans,ver to the mandate issued fronl Great Salt Lake
in 1855 for the faithful everywhere ,vho would escape
the destruction shortly to fall upon the gentile vvorld
to gather beneath the many-,vived shepherds' ,vings
at the city of the Saints, sacrificing their hOlnes,
,vith alacrity they obeyed; after \vhich tÏ1ne the char-
aracter of the settlers of that portion of the territory
changed. A III ore la"\vless class occupied the farnls
,vhich the l\Iorlllons had cultivated, and the evil
, elelnent ,vas increased by the overland travel ,vhich
dropped among them an occasional ruffian of the
highest attainlnents.

The progress of settlement in the territory of Oregon
,vas slo,v in conlparison ,vith that of almost all other
portions of the ,vest, but it ,vas sure and permanent.
The arts and usages of civilized society introduced by
the Hudson's Bay Conlpany and continued by the
N orth,vest COlnpany \vere sinlple and crude; and
those of the agricultural
ettlers ,vho succeeded the
fur-hunters \vere but little better.
Far different frolll the hot-house development of
California, Idaho, and Nevada ,vas that of Oregon and
Washington, if ,ve except the cOlllparatively snlall
nlining districts ,vithin these territories. While the
forIller 'vere rioting in their easily acquired wealth,

THE XORTH PACIFIC COù""XTRY.

59

gambling, drinking, speculating, flinging their big bags
of gold-dust hither and thither as if it "
as of all things
the least valuable, the territories north ,yere plo,,-ing
their tough acres and plodding over their severe task
of subjugating nature. Little foothold crime had
there. There was nothing to steal. Cattle "\vere not
,yorth much; the ground could not be carried a,yay;
and houses "
ere so far apart, and savages so bad, that
the horse-thief would be more likel,y to starve than to
get a"\\ay safely "\\
ith his plunder. So that during the
time the mining states ,yere suffering so severely from
the inroads of crime, the agricultural states of the
Pacific ,,"'ere almost ,yholly exempt. Nevertheless
fitful spasms of arbitrar
y justice broke forth at in-
tervals in the staid cold-\\yater state.

Idaho belongs to ,,-hat was once popularly called
the Upper Country; aboriginally occupied by dusk
r
races ,,
hich first became known to Europeans through
the adventurous trappers ,vho penetrated those ,,
ilds.
B
r the 111agic po,,-er of gold, discovered on the banks
of the Pen d'Oreille River by a French Canadian in
. 185:2; discovered in yet greater quantities at Oro Fino
by a party of eleven men in the summer of 1860, this
wilderness "
as opened to civilization.
Follo,ving the discovery of gold at Oro Fino,
twenty-five persons wintered at that place, cut off
from all intercourse ,vith the world "\vithout. The
spring of 1861 saw t,vo indiyiduals on their way to the
new gold-fields, and emigration led to the finding
of rich placer 111ines at Florence, on the tributaries of
Salmon River, at'Varren's Diggings, and elsewhere.
By the 1st of January, 1863, t,venty-five hundred
men had found their ,yay into Boise Basin, the largest
and richest placer-mining region discoyered up to this
time outside of the limits of the valley of California.
To the first to,vn established in Boise Basin "\\
as given
the elegant and euphonious name of Hog'em, after-
,yard changed to Pioneer City. In Boise Basin are

GO

,
ENGEKDERIKG COXDITIONS.

likc,vise the to,vns of Centreville, Placerville, and
Idaho City, at first called Bannock City. About
thirtv Iniles south-,vest frOIll Idaho City, on the Boise
t/
Riyer, is Boise City. In the southern part of the
territory,vcre the quartz and placer mines of O,vyhce
County, discovered in the spring of 1863 by a pros-
pectin
party from Boise Basin under one Gordan.
In the O O,vyhee district 'v ere Silver City, Ruby City,
and BoonviHe.
Up to the beginning of 1863, Idaho, as a territorial
division of the United States, had no existence; but
dra,vn by its ne,vly found ,vealth to the attention of
political aspirants by act of congress approved the
3d of
farch, 1863, the territory of Idaho ,vas created
fronl contiguous portions of Washington, Dakota, and
Nebraska. It is a ,vild, n10untainous region-the
ternl Idaho signifies Gem of the J\iountain-,vell fitted
for ,,-ild, roving men, but rich enough ,vithal in those
Inetals that civilization covets. to set ,vrangling and
blood-letting a goodly nU111ber of the lovers of disorder.
As early as 1862 the people of Le,viston effected a
regular and cOInplete vigilance organization. Books
,yere opened for the enrollnlent of the nalnes of such
as desired to beco111e lnenlbers of the association.
The list rapidly s,velled, and the Le,viston Vigilance
COlnnlittee proved a nlost efficient institution for the
punishment and suppression of outla,vry. In other
localities, also, the people found it necessary to organ-
ize for lllutual protection alnlost as soon as they had
conle together.

1ontana ,vas once a part of Idaho, and 110,,-here
"
ere popular tribunals Inore necessary or their execu-
tions Inore nunlerous. Colorado, like,vise, during the
earlier c1eveloplnent of her 111ineral resources per-
forllled ane,v the no,v stereotyped tragedies of the
Pacific States.
But ,ve luust go to California if ,ve ,vould exanline
these extra-judicial phenolnena in the freshness of
their firHt appearing.

CHAPTER IV.

SIG
ìFICATIOXS OF STOR)!.

Cada uno es como dios Ie hizo, y aun poor muchas veces.
Don Quijote.

I
the absence of that vis vitæ which crowds out-
,vard and on,,-ard progressive intelligence, there can be
no great delnonstrations of evil, except as it appears
in the form of fanatical fermentations. .A cOIDlllunity
too lazy or too stupid to improve breeds fe,y skilled
villains.
There is scarcely an instance on record where the
Hispano-Californians, before the advent of foreigners,
indulged in popular tribunals. The h
jos del país, as a
rule, ,,-ere in fa VOl' of letting the la "T, as ,,"ell as every-
thing else, take its o,vn course. X evertheless, revolu-
tion ,vas chronic here as elsewhere throughout the
dominion of republican :Jlexico. Bad governors sent
among them they resisted, and usually ,,
ith succebS;
but their political integrity vindicated, they left the
administration of justice to legitimate authorities.
Obedience to the la,\s ,vas taught them as a religious
duty; and as they were superstitious in their religion,
so "
ere they in their obedience to law. I find on
record an incident that occurred at San Diego the
26th of :Jlarch, 1833, ,,
hich ,,-as a military move-
ment rather than a popular demonstration, though
frequently the t,,-o terms "ere synonymous. ..A..ntonio
.JAJipás, private of the presidial company of Loreto,
,vas under arrest at the guard-house at San Diego,
,,"hCll, bet,veen six and seven o'clock in the evening,
(61 )

C

SIG
IFICATIOXS OF STOR?\I,

Inocencio Arballo, corporal of the same company, ,vith
seven privates, all armed and mounted, rode up to the
guard-house and demanded of the sergeant COlll-
n1anding the delivery of Alipás. The sergeant re-
fusing, the soldiers forced the guard-house and took
the prisoner ,vith them.
From 1819 to 1846, that is to say during the entire
period of
fexican domination under the republic,
there ,vere but six murders alnong the ,vhites in all
California. As in the golden reign of England's good
King ..AJfred, a log cabin could hold all the crinlÏnals
in the country. There ,vere then no jails, no juries,
no sheriff'S, la,,, processes, or courts; conscience and
public opinion ,vere la,v, and justice held an eyenly
balanced scale. During the seven years succeeding
1850 there ,vere in Los Angeles county alone SOIne
fifty murders, ,vithout taking Indians into the account.
vVhat ,vas the cause of it? The native Californians
,vere most of all horrified at the change, and yet the
native Californians, ,vith the assistance and under the
tutorage of their brethren of Sonora and other parts
of northern Mexico, did Inost of the robbing and
111urdering. They ,,,ere horrified that society had
so changed, not thinking that they had changed.
The advent of foreigners, some of ,vhom ,vere evil-
Ininded, ,vas the signal for a new departure. The
Californians were excellent horsemen; they knew all
the retreats and passes of the Inountains; throughout
the entire region the settlers ,vere their relatives and
friends, ,vho spoke their language. l\fan)T of the
.L
mericans treated theln badly; retaliation ,vas natu-
ral and escape easy. Such is the origin of the Inatter.
From original doculllents in ll1Y possession I take
the following account of the doings of what 111ay safely
be called the first comlnittee of vigilance in California.
It is, moreover, the only instance of sumlnary illegal
proceedings in this territory under l\lexican rule;
and this, I might say, ,vas ahnost ,,
holly an affair of
the {Js[}Ylnger'os.

BOARD OF Pù
LIC SECURITY.

63

To certain foreiO'ners present at the time, Temple,
Prudon, and oth
s, rather than to the Hispano-
Californians themselves, this tribunal and its calm
and orderl)"" carriage 1\as due. Left to the super-
stitious "
orshippers of church and state, the popular
demonstration had not been; or if it had occurred,
it ,,
oldd ha ve been attended by gross excesses,
such being the character of blindness and bigotry-
co,vardice first, then insane sa ,agery.
On the 28th of )Iarch, 1837, Domingo Féliz, a
poor ranchero, but a man of good repute, "\1
hile on his
,vay from Los Angeles to his rancho, and accompanied
by his ,,
ife, l\Iaría del Rosario 'Tilla, "
as attacked
and slain by Gervasio Alipás, a man of notoriously bad
character, aided and abetted by the "\voman. For

ome two years previous to this time the nlurderer
had been living in shamelessly open adultery with the
,voman, and only the day before the murder had her
husband, in,oking the aid of the alcalde, been able to
separate her from her paramour, "Tho swore to take
f'peedy vengeance. A committee of citizens "
as sent
. b
y the a]calde to fetch the corpse. Horror and in-
dignation took possession of a]l minds, and ,,
hile for
the murdered man the mercy of God was implored,
exemplary punishment for his murderers was debated.
That night ..L
lipás and the woman 1\ere securely
lodged in jail. Some were desirous that the criminals
should be immediately executed; but their ardor was
restrained by the greater prudence of others, who
reminded them that such proceedings could only be
excused on the ground of necessity, and when carried
out ,,
ith coolness and in accordance with the rules
and principles of strict justice.
The wisdom of these suggestions "
as ackno"\1Tledged,
and the threatened outbreak checked. On the 30th
the funeral of Féliz took place, and the occasion gave
rise to a rene,val of the popular clamor. Nothing
but the assassination ,yas talked of, and the sentiment
,yas fully approved that an example was necessary to

64

SIGXIFICATIOXS OF STOR
I.

preyent the possible occurrence of similar crinles.
But holy ,veek ,vas at hand, and it was thought it
,vould be tantalnount to sacrilege \verÐ the blood of so
foul an as
assin to stain the relnembrance of that 1110st
801e11111 of tragedies. Therefore the first ,vork-day
after easter, ,vhich ,vould be the 6th of April, ,vas
fixed on as that of the execution. A heavy storIn
,vhich raged during the 'v hole of that day nlade post-
ponement necessary, but on the 7th, at an early hour,
the lUOst respectable Inen of all classes of the com-
nlunity asselnbled at the llouse of J Ohll Temple.
.....
Junta Difensora de la Segur.idacl Pltblicct, or
Board of Public Security, ,vas organized. Victor
Prudon, · by birth a Frenchman, but a naturalized
citizen of
Iexico, ,vas chosen president. 1\Ianuel
Arzaga, ex -secretary of the town council, ,vas elected
secretary, and a retired officer of the arnlY, Francisco
Aral
o by name, appointed military cOlnmandant.
On taking the chair Prudon said that the aims
of the junta ,vere laudable and beneficial, just as
"yell as necessary; that they had their origin in
the great underlying principle of natural la,v, seJf-
preservation; that even the government Inust ackno,vl-
edge that this action ,vas a necessary con1pliance ,vith
duty; ,vhile the result Inight be the estab]isllment in
the territory of ,vhat the people llad earnestly and
repeatedly asked for, a superior tribunal clothed ,vith
full po,vers to supplelnent thorough investigation by a
final sentence in all grave cases of crime. He con-
cluded by recomlnending order, the preservation of
,vhich ,vas their chief end, since they \vere defenders,
not oftènders. Speeches ,vere also 111ade by the
military conl1nandant and others, and lengthy reso-
lutions, embodying sentiments akin to the above,
unanin10usly adopted. It ,vas then de tern lined that
both the man and the ,vornan should be shot. The
junta ,vas declared to be in permanent session until
such time as the object which called it into being
should be accomplished, and measures to that en(l

ACTIO
OF THE JL"'"XTA.

65

were after discussion unaniu10usly concurred in.

t
t,vo o'clock a Sub-colnn1ittce, ,,
ith a copy of the
resolutions, ,vaitcd on the alcalde, ,vho thereupon
convened the to,,-n council. At three o'clock, no
c01l1IDunication having been received froln the al-
calde, a message ,,-as sent by the junta to that official,
notifying him that the till1e allo,ved for his action had
elapsed, and infol'n1ing hill1 that the resolutions of the
junta "
erc about to be carried into effect. X 0 ans\ver
"\yas returned; but the second alcalde, accompanied
by the treasurer and another men1ber of the council,
appeared before the junta and desired to be informed
if that body recognized the legally constituted author-
ities, and if so, ,vhat might be the significance of this
illegal assen1bl
y' of ar111ed men. The former question
"
a'3 ans"
ered in the affirlllative, and the answer to
the latter, the magistrate "'"as informed, ,vas contained
in the resolutions ,,:-hich had Leen sent to the first
alcalde.
At 11alf-past three, by order of the junta, peaceable
possession of the guard-room of the jail '\
as taken.
No ans\ver had yet Leen received from the first alcalde,
although he had sent a n1
mber of the council to invite
the president of the junta to a conference, to ,vhich
request ans\ver ,vas made to the effect that, apart fron1
the junta, the president \\
as not at liberty to enter
into negotiations. .1-\..t four o'clock both alcaldes Inade
their appearance beforc the junta; a resolution of the
council condemnatory of the proposed illegal action
"'"as read, and an attempt Iuade to dissuade the jU11ta.
from its purpose. Convinced that their efforts ,,,,ere
useless, the authorities ,,
ithdre"
, after enjoining 011
those ÍJresent the preservation of order, and receiying
the aSSlu"ance that all lllcasures necessary to that end
had been taken.
Repeated lnessages requesting his presence for
spiritual purposes in this connection at Los L\..ngeles
had been sent to Father Cabot of San Fernando, but.,
although he prol11ised so to do, he did not C0l11C.
POP. TmB., VOL, I. 5

6G

SIGXIFIC
\.TIOX3 OF STO

I.

The junta ,vould ,yait no longor; the confession of
the crÜniuals Inust be dispensed \vith.
The nlilitary conln1andant ,yas 11101'e cOlnpliant
than the alcaldes; he caused arnlS to be given to the
tiring party, and gave orders necessary to the occasion.
.l
t half-past four the president of the junta ordered
.L
lipäs to be brought forth for execution. Already
his irons had been filed so deeply that a single Llo"r
of the halnnler released his hands. The luau \vas
then shot, and after hinl the \YOll1an. Thus solcll1nly
,vas perfOrlTIcd this first sUlnulary act of justice in
California.
1\lr John S. Hittell, as rclated in his IIisto}
!/ of San
Francisco, ,yas infornled by J acoL P. Le8so that early
in 183G one Verdugo applied to tho alcalde of I
cs
Angeles for an ordcr to recovcr a deserted ,,
ife. Tho
order "{as granted and the "Tife recovered. On the
\yay to his rancho V
rdugo ,yas 111urdered by the \vife
and her paranlour. The lllurderers ,vere taken, tried,
and exccuted by the peoplo, the alcaldes, l\Ial1uel
Requena and ALel Stearns, intorposing no objections.
Probably 1\Ir Leese referrcd to the saIne atlhir tho
account of ,vhich I have just given.

Although gold ,vas found by l\Iarshall at the
Coloma sa,v-nlill in January, 1848, it ,vas not until
11liclsunu1ler that the people of California ,vould be-
licve the discovery ,vorthy their consideration. vVhen
fully aliye to its illlportance they dropped their several
occupations and set out for the Sierra 1--'oothilIs.
Everybody ,vent. First the settlers and ilTI111igrants;
fur-hunters turned to hunting gold, and the
Iornlons
paid ::\Ian1ffion their rcspects for the 11101TIent. · Then
nenicia, Sonollla, San Francisco, San J osé, and

Ionterey ,vcre quicldy depopulated. And as the
tidings trayelled south,vard, and bags of the ,,"orship-
ful (
ust ,vere displaycd to the gaping cro,vds, lines
of dIggers ,vere fOrlTIed fronl nlore distant places.
)lany of these persons ,vore kno,vn to each othcr;

T:aE GRE
-\.T GOLD DI.,COYERY.

67

f0
'" of thenl ,vere ,,
holly unkno,vn; 1110st of thcll1
,ycre ref.:pect
lLle. They ,yere not thieves, out hone
t
Incn, ,,'"ho had conlC into this bright ,yil
JeI'ness to dig
for gold, and not to defraud their neighbors. Peace-
ably and in the prin1Ïtivc "
ar each for hil11t"elf picked
the precious substance fronl river-betls and crcvices,
,yashed it froID the sands that lined the strealns, or
sought a spot in ,,
hich to dig for it, ,yith no desire to
encroach on ground chosen by another. Rights "
ere
re.,pected; theft ,,-as unknü\vn. A pick or shovel
thro\v n upon the ground, sticks driven into the earth,
or a ,vTitten and posted notice to the effect that a.
certain spot \yas élaimed, ,,-as sufficient to secure it
against all con1ers. )Iiners lived luuch in the open
air, in cloth tenements, or under Lushes, or in rude
huts, yet they left their gold-dust in bags or bottle

u:1gaar(t3d in their tent or cabin. The luerchandise
of the trader "'"as secure] only by ,va1l5 of cloth ,,
hich
l11Ïght be opened \yith the greatest ease at night by
111CanS of a pocket-knife. Goods stacked up by the
roadside, llliles froll1 any Inining-call1p, remaincd un-
diBturbcd for \vecks or Inonths. Horses and cattle
"Tere safe on ranchos or by the roadside. So. in the
to\VIlS ,\
hich sprang sud
lenly into existence, the
rights of property 'v ere respected, \vith no thought of
penalties. .After the "Tinter rains had ceased and
\vater for \yashing gold had disappeared, in certain
localities piles of rich dirt ,vere thro\vn up, like garden
bods, to be \\
ashed out "Then rain should COlne again.
Though often the result of great labor, and containing
lunch "Tealth, these heaps lay undisturbed throughout
the :-ìUlnffier, and ,,
hen autumn carne fell to their
rightful o"
ners. Differences of opinion \vere settled
by 'leayillg it to the cro"Tcl.' The iUlage of a patron
saint ,vas not l110re safe frOln desecration at the hùnd
of its deyotlee than 'YâS the property of n1Ïners ti'Olìl
robbery by brother lllincrs. ")len haye frequently
about their persons thousands of danaI's' ,vorth ûf
this guld," "Trites General
Ia
on in his official report,

68

SIGXIFICATIOXS O:F STOR)!.

"ana it ,yas to nlO a 111atter of surprise that so peace-
ful and quiet a state of things should continue to
exist."

nd so it \yas the first conlcrs found here
l
ss discord than existed any,vhere else in Christcn-
(10111. 'V ould all 1118n 'vere honest; \vould that scr-
1 )ents had nevcr crept into this Eden I
..L
t the seaport vesscls arrived faster than their
cargoes could find acconllnodations on shore, and great
(luantities of 11lerchandise of all kinds ,vas discharged
and pilcd up along the beach, all around Yerba Buena
Cove, fr0111 Clark Point to Rincon Point. :Thf ueh of
this Inerehandise ,yas valuable, and all of it ,yhollv ex-
posed. Yet all this tinle there ,vas scarccly a "lock
on the door of any d\velling, store, or ,varchousc in
the to,vn of San Francisco. During this truly golJen
age of fair integrity it see111ed never to occur to theso
hunest folk that there \vere any in the \vorlJ. \vho
Y)
anted ,vrongfull y to take froll1 thenl th eir property.
A resident assures 111e that there ,vas but one case
uf theft at San Francisco prior to October, 18,,19. .L-\.
)Ic
iean stole SOlne Llankets fronl Pollard & Ran-
(
all's yard, on Clay street, for ,,,hich he ,vas publicly
,\-hipped on the plaza.
ì et earlier than this San J osé struck a 111anlv
lJlow for legitinlate justice. Thon1as Fallon, Gl
cUIning do,vn froln the mines to San J osé, carried
t\yenty-five hundred dollars in gold-dust secreted
about his person and seven ounces in his pockl'ts.
()ll the 22d of Decelnber, 1848, he camped near San
J osé
lission ,vith three Alnericans, ,vhose appear-
ance he thought suspicious. lIe talked \vith them in
a confidential ,vayanJ. told them he had been very

nccessful in lnining; that he had started ,vith con-
:--;idcl'aLle gold, but a fe,v days before had sent a
luan for,vard ,vith all his Inoncy to buy cattle. They
traded horses, Fallon gi ving th
ln six out of the
seven ounces ,vhich they supposcd to be all he had.

rhe .Ànlcricåns procccded on their ,va y alld overtook
t\VO GerIllans ,vith eight thousand dollars, ,vholn they

ABSEXCE OF L-\'Y.

69

r-;hot, killing one. the other, though ,vounded, escaping
to San J osé. He reported his adyenture, and
earch
,,,a:-: at once ll1ade for the robbers, ,yho "
ere caught
,,-ithin a fe"
days. They "
ere taken to the alcalde'

court, ,vhere one of them confe

ed numerous crime:-;,
and said that }\1.11on sayed his life by ll1i:.-leading
thClll to the belief that in the horse-trade he had usctL
all the Illoner that he had left. They \yere all hanged
on the plaza three days later, in January,. 1849.
Froil1 this time crime about San J osé increased, and
executions there becanle numerou
.
During the autumn of 1848 there ,yere no such
things along the Sierra Drainage as goyernment, la\v,
la\y-courts, statutes, constitutions, legislatures, judges,
sheriffs, tax collectors, or other officers of the la\y.
..L-\..11 "
ere absolutely free; all ,çere thrown upon their
good Lehayior. ..L
nd here appeared in its fulle
t ap-
plication the sociologicalla\v of non-resistance in the
absence of restraint. Coercion implies antiposition.
It is ",
hen placed under lock and key that the strongest
desire to escape is manifcst. Confine the in
ane and
they are frantic; unlock the doors and knock off their
fetters, and nine tenths of those ll10st unruly under
restraint become tractable. Crime i8 lessened, not a

puni
hment is seyere, but as it is certain. French
school-boy
under a system of espionage become tricky,
,,
hile English boys ,,
ho are less goyerlled behave
better. Debts of honor are usually preferred to those
the payment of ,,
hich lllay be legally enforced. "Then
gold ,vas the currency of California and legal-tender
at a discount, indebtedness to some extent wa:3 beyond
the reach of law and the courts, and the instancés
,,-ere cOlllparatively rare ,,
here an account "
as ean-
celled ,,-ith the depreciated currency. The pencil
TIlemoranda of melnbers of the stock board are as
binding as their ,vritten, signed, and sealed obligation.
In these earlier gold-hunting days strangers lllet a:"\
hone,;t men, and a fe\\
hour
' acquaintance often
sufficed to establi::;h confidence. In the absence of

70

SIJ-X:::TIG
\.7IJ
;3 O
[;7(}
:\L

y,.rittcl1 la,,"" the higher la,vof probity governed inter-
c!)urse. N eyertheless, as it pleased the Aln1ighty to
Blake ,vith the good Ulen SOlne fe\v deserving the
halter, it is 11leet these latter should have it ,vith the
least possible cerelnony.
Ho\vever all this 111ay be, it so happened about this
lle\V society that ".,.ith La\y C
llne Satan. Alcaldes'
courts ,vere continued in the larger to\vns after
An1erican occupation, and in the n1ines local justices
and constables ,yore chosen. But the diggers paiJ
little heed to then1. They ,vere preoccupied and
111igratory; lot the devil look to his o\vn. Even tho
l11èrchants of San :Ù-'rancisco seell1 never to have
thought of bolts and bars, until one day J anlCS Neall
fished up a lot of old locks shipped by a shrc,vd
Englishll1an on board a vessel \vhich brought to our
shores a score or t\VO of Australian convicts. "\Vhen
people began to lock their doors, thieves began to
steal. ,-rvhy ,vere goods bolted in, they 111Ïght ask,
if they ,vere not to be stolen; and ,vhat ,vere locks
for if not to be broken by thioves?

This cOIning of the rascals-I supposo it 111Ust be
taken in comn10n ,vith everything else that is, as for
the best. Their influence on California, on the
character of the In en \vho made society, ,vas 111arked
and perpetual. Good Inen arc Inade stronger by the
presence of bad n1en; else the kingdon1 of evil had
been long since overthro,vn.
Crin1inals and convicts, as ,ve have seen, ,vere not
tho first to con1C. They ,vere not alnong the 1110St
intelligent or enterprising of thosc 'v ho heard of the
,vonderful discovery, and hencc ,vere not the fir
t to
111ove. But in due tilne it da\vned upon their nlÎnds
that a gold-yielding ,vildcrness ,vithout jail or gallo,vs
111USt Le the very paradise of thieves. .L\nJ. as if
preineditated villainy n1Ïght be sanctified by nunlbers,
,\Tith the Inultitudes of honest anù ordor-Ioying n10n
hither caIne in crO\v.d:3 fro1l1 the purlieus of crÏ1ne,

SXIsr; IX THE
ID."-ES.

';1

from COl1yict colonies, human reptiles, emptying cities
of their slum, and trailing their sliIny cour
e through
our fair valleys and into the nC"9ly occupied cations,
ready to sacrifice the here and the hereafter, if need
be, so they lllight, like Ethan Brand, achiéve the
unpardonable sin. In their simplicity the previou

occupant:s of the Foothills n1Ïght have a
kecl ,,
ith olJ
); estor, .( Pray, friends, arc you pirates?" But there
'Ya
plenty of gold in the gulches to be had for the
gathering. "....hen it could be picked from crevice

and river-beJ
-" and ,yashed from bars and bank::;, "hat
i:1ducement '"\-a8 there to steal it? .L
ll the same, the
better- minded learned all too soon that there were
t!10se in the ,yorld ,yho loved to steal, eycn ,yhen
honesty better ser,ccl their a yarice. There "-a,,
enticement in the thought, excitement in the effort,
joy-ting1ings attending success, and in case of fail-
llTe-\\-hy the best of us have soon to make our final
reckoning ,,-ith time.
"Tith the cla-:;sic Jays of 1849 came new pilgrims, a
thousand ship-loads of them, by sea and land. So
that midsummer saw in the toW"ns which had f:0
. Ðuddenly assumed pretentiou
proportions, and in the
long line of mining-camps "\\hich had risen like J onah'

gourù along the Sierra Drainage, hordes of eager lllcn
of every nation, color, and caste under heayen. There
y,-ere l{onest men and knaves, pious men and blas-
phemers, learned and ignorant, refined and brutish,
IUlnlane and merciless. Eyery trade and profeb
ion
Y\"L)S repre3enteJ-Ia"yers, doctors, and preacher
;
thicyes, murdere
:s, and gamblers; bakers, bar-keeper:"
and butchers; loafers, high".aymen, and prize-fighters;
hor
e-jockeys, bankers, peddlers, grocers, and black-
s111iths-a human mcs
which e,-en ::\Iercury would
cìoselyere before pitching them into Charoi}'s boat;
these, made spicy by a sprinkle of fomale frailty,
con1prised the population. But by far the larger
part "cre order-Ioying lncn of pronounced llloral

aad integrity.
-\.dd to these tho
è of passable inten-

....,
I...

SIGXI1!ICATI8XS OF STa

I.

tions and easy honesty, \vho never take ,vhat they
cannot reach, nor indulge in drink stronger than
strychnine ,yhiskey, nor Let lllorc than a dullar at
lnonte on Sunday; \vho attend church \vhen houses
of ill-faBle are
loscd, and ,vhose yvord is as good as
their bond because neither is ,vorth anythiug-thro,v
into the scale on tho side of virtue this large purg3,-
torial olclllcnt of 8oi-disant good 111en, and tho gelluine
fìrst-class villains of the true 111ctal and clear ring ,vere
coulparatively fe,v.
But thf'se caused trouble enough. Landing at San
Francisco, they usually first 111ade the tour of the
n1Ïues and there forn1ed the acquaintancc of other
gentlemen of thcir profcssion, \vhose projects they
'\
crc by this tilne quitc ready to join. Aud ill this
ne,v fielJ of enterprisc everything scclTIed to fa VOl'"
then1. Besides congenial con1panionship, and tho ab-
sence of strong governlllent, the physical as,poet of
affairs ,vas all that the lllost an) bitious could desire.
rIhc nature of the ,vcalth for ,vhich all ,vere striving,
golden; the constant 1110ving fro1l1 placo to place of
Ininers and traders, and the illtern1Îxtures of strangers,
all tended to discourage inquiry, to facilitate tho
operations of outla\vs, and allo,v thenl to lllOVO quicldy
fron1 place to place ,vithout exciting suspicion. In
particular, tho lonely and exposed condition of tho
roads throughout California, and the large [UTIounts
of trcasure constantly passing over then1, offored
alluring opportunities for high,vay robbery; and ,vhile
these opport.unitics \VeTO not ,vholly neglocted, yet I do
not kno\v that this crime has at any tin1e prcvailed to
a groater extent here than in any other sparsely
set.tled country. Stage-robbing as practised by the
profeGsion in California 'V(1:3 rather a chivalrous occu-
pation; tho gentlelllen of the road risked their lives
for 'v hatever happened to bo in tho express-Lox, anJ
if no opposition ,vas 111aclo they gcncrally contented
thclllscl \-es ,vith this, a
lcl neither 1'0Lb3d nor insulted
the passengers.

CI\I:
I:X
iL Q Z ..:-illTI:::iS.

73

..L
I{)n6 these roads, during the heavy ,,?inter rains
of 1849-50, ,vero hundreds of mired ,vagons, 13.den
,yith supplies for the miners. Such ,vas the nature
of the soil, so cracked ,vith dryness in the SUlllmer
rrlld so spongy soft in "Tinter, that in the absence
of a beaten track a loaded "
agon ,vould sink to the
hubs almost any,vhere about the skirts of the Foot-
hills.
Hence arose tVlO causes stilllulating crime; the
n1Îning-canlps "
ere short of pro\?isions, and the sup-
plies intended for them 'v ere left exposed as a tenlpt-
ing bait to the hungry and forlorn. i\.cld to this that
by reason of the ex.trelne ,vetness of the season the
streaU1S ,,"'ere so s\vollen that llliners ,vere driyen fro III
their claims, so that thousands, 'dead-beat and broke,'
as they ,vould say, ,vero obliged to take refuge in the
to,vns and get through the ,,?inter as best they coulJ.
The epoch of criule in the interior may be said to
dato fronl this tilne, and to have originated in a great
Ineasure from these causes.

SOllletinles in the spirit and ,vith the grace of
"

OUllg bull-dogs, these adyenturers 9f evil ,vould
begin their gambols imlllediately they came ashore;
"
atching, for exalllple, the landing of their captain,
,-;:-ho had incurred their displeasure during the voyage,
seizing and ducking and beating him, i( indeeù the.r
did not kill hinl outright.
The English con\?icts frOlll Australia, ,yho f

om the
spring of 1849 to the SUffilller of 18.32 ,,"'ere the ,,"orst
elelllent infestinO' the COffi111Unity , made their hcad-
o v
quarters in San Francisco, at the base of Telegraph
Hill, near the foot of Broad,yay. On one side ro::-,e the
hill, broken and rugged, thro,ving out spurs in yarious
directions, anJ presenting in places to the rippling tido
a lofty bluff on ,vhose sUllunit e,en the squatter had
not yet yentured to perch his eyry; round the base
and up the little rayines ,yere hut
and tents not lllnch
largcr than kennels, and diyer8-fashiolled d,y
llings

74

SIGXlìi'IC
\.TI8XS OF STOR:\{.

huddled or scattered indiscriIninately anlong low,y caba-
rets, and dance and drinking houses.
Tho rendezvous of the thieves, ill the heart of this
district, ,,"as called Sydney To,vn. South-,vcst of
Sydney To,vn ,vas Little Chile, and farther yet in the
saIne direetion China To,yn; the I-lispano-.L
111eri

u18
cOll()'regating about Dupont, Kearny, and Pacific
stre
ts, and the Chinese at the intersection of Sacra-
lnento and Dupont streets. Although Little Chile
supplied the con1IIlunity some criininals, the Hispano-
All1cricans ,vere l110re a ,vorthless and vagabond people
than a vicious people. They ,vere the early victÜns of
eyil- 111inded Anlcricans and the nlen of Sydney. In
Sydney To,vn during the day schen1c
,vere concocted
to be ,vorked out during the night. The meetings
had their orators, and the pillaging parties their
leaders. Singly or in pairs they ,v'ould perambulate
the unlighted and un,vatcheJ streets, robbing, de-
lllolishing, or murdcring, as passion or fancy dictated.
They had a ,yay of enticing or forcing their yictinls to
'SOlne elninence bordering the Bay, and thence hurling
theln to their death. ']."llè beach round the northern
point of the peninsula ,vas at one tinle little better
than a golgotha, for the human bones Ylashod up thore
by the tide or buried by the sand.
After the fire of l\Iay 4, 1851, Inoro than ten
thousand dollars' ,vorth of stolen property ,vas re-
covered fronl these dens. Such a conflagration to t
le
thieves ,vas like the finding of a carcass to vultures;
froin their cesspool of corruption they s,varuled in to
take advant3-ge of the Inisfortul1e of others, to pluck
the unfortunate of the fc\v effects they had been able
to save.
And at the country towns it ,vr
s proportio:latcly
bad. These saIne 11lalef(1ctor
, or others, ,,",ould nleet
In SOlno suburban tent and thcre conspire against tho
,yell-being of a society preoccupied, unorganized, and
unprot.ected.
Upon the surface of society there did not all at

ADYEXT OF CR:i:
n:;.

75

once appear the ferll1entation going on hene
th. And
",.hen fron1 the 111aSS gas-Lubbles \yere seen to rise,
they ,yore lightly regarded as the 1110mentary caprice
of harn1less quidnuncs. Gradually ho,yover the sac-
charine substance in this cleulent of society under-
"'"ent change, and the alcohol and acid of open villainy
,vas only too soon apparent.
If ,ve except a fe\v irregularities in yarious parts
of the country, ,ye n1ay date the ad vent of violonce
in Inidsulnn1cr, 18-1!). The ,yonder is that it did not
appear sooner; that the \videly diverso and hetero-
geneous ingredients of this lnixturc did not sooner
aet on each other; that ignition and explosion did
not n10re quickly follo,v.

CI-IAPTER V.

THE HOUXDS ASSOCIATION.

PJ'i,1Ce /Ie1l1"?/. "V]lCre shall we tahe a purse to-morrow, J ael\:?
Po l8laff. Vlhere thou wilt, l:ul; I'll make one; an I do not, call me
villain and baffle mc.
Prin,'e IIeury. I see a good amendment of life in thee; from praying to
pUTse- t3.king.
Ful.o;t(,ff. 'Vhy, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for a man to bbour
in his vocation.

King IIcnry I JT.

EVE
Y probleu1 of hum
nity is but a display of
sonle nc\v c0l11bination of those prilllary elClnents
of hUlnan nature ,vhich, like the elelnentary principles
governing 111atter and force, underlie all activities.
C01111110n salt "\vill not crystallize on the san1e systenl
as sulphate of soda; so units of hUlnan societies in
their interlllixtures beha ve differently according to
character and cOlnbination. Yet n1an-particles, in
their aggregations and evolutions, act no less under
fix cd la\vs than do Inatter-particles.
Not the least unaccountable of hUlnan phenomena
is that ll1anifestation of brute force "\vhich breeds
tyranny. That luen should love to beat, and batter,
.... 0/
and bruise one another, not to secure SOlne good, but
in spite of those evils ,vhich such conduct is sure to
bring upon theIn, is unaccountable, save as an ele-
nlcntal quality of the evil principle inherent in nature
hUlllal1. The propensity in 111an for killing is insane
as con1pared \vith t,he saIne propensity in the brute.
The latter could give a reason if it ,vould; Inan has
nonc. The reasoning faeulties given hin1 by,vhich to
guide his conduct in ultiInatc appeal he flings aside,
(76 )

orrG
\.
;:rZATIOX OF YILL
\1)'
.

77

dehumanizes hi111self, and no ll1atter ho\v far advanced
ill holincss of liying or in intcllectual culture, he
thrusts his fingers into the latest invented chnvs fur-
nished hilll by science, and straight\yay falls to flesh-
. tearing on such a scale as puts to blush the efforts of
the tiger and the bear.
The brute creation nlan kills for food and clothing-
lnaterial cOlllforts; his fello\v lnan he kills for pride,
for glory, for hate, for religion-ideal comforts. 'V
ar
is \,aged ,yith equal fervor by say-age and civilized, by
heathen and Christian. I t is an clement alike of the
nlost degraded passion and the lllost exalted piety.
In mediæval times the attention of mankind ,Y3,S
diyided not unequally Let\yeen the arts "Thich cherish
life and the arts \yhich extinguish life. One's \vhole
duty lay in preserying one's o\yn life and in striving to
take the life of one's neighbor. So long as these
efforts \yere eyenly balanced, and th{ìir nccessity fell
alike on all, no great progress could be Inade in the
arts of \yar, or adyanCClnent in the arts of peace.
"Thens08yer for a tinle peace reigned rejoicing, the
arts of \yar ,vere pluralized, so that \rith then1 if he
,youlcl man could achieve a yet more substantial peace.
So it is \vith regard to the suprenlacy of justice.
But mankind "Till not yet have unadulterated peace
or justice. There is in everyone of us an inquisitor.
\Vhere is the patriot ,yho ","ould not t
yrannizG if he
could? "There is the zealous religionist \vho \voulcl
not, posses
ing the po',er, and left to the impulses of
his o\vn fanaticisnl, nlake cyery man of his faith or
creed? else he "Tould for Christ's or )Iahon1et's sako
nOl1linally, though in truth for his n\yn sake, kill hiln.
Eyolve nlan if you ,vill frolll 11latter; that ,yl1Ích dis-
tinO'uishes hinl "'from anv 10,ver forn1 is this unanalrz-
ð J

able intermixture of deity and deviltry.
The Inemorable year of 184!) had not yet d[nynecl
\yhen it \yas \vhispered that yillainr \yas banding in
California. Strange to say, its first appearance here

78

T
TZ HOUSD.3 ...\.SS88I_\.TIOY.

,vas in tho ha
ilin1cnt;3 of charity. That delectable
troop, the rcO'inlollt of N ey\r York volunteers, \yas
lnadc up to ;: great extent of the riffraff of eastern
cities. Of no yalue a.t hon1e, they yrere brought hither
at public expense to fight :ì\lexican
" or Californians;
\vhich being found unnecessary shortly after their
arrival the con1pany \YTlS disbanded. Having no occu-
pation, and averse to labor, naturally 111àny of then1
fell back on their olJ pa8tiIl1e of pilfering.
The opportunity, ho\vevcr, to season their rascality
,vith a little sentÌ111ent ,vas too good to be lost. I--Iad
they not shared as brothers the dangers of the tleep?
'Vere thoy not brave n1en, soldiers, heroes, though they
had ne,"'cr fired a gun; and did not the country o,ve
thenl a debt of gratitude ,vhi
h sanctified any villainy?
So they organi2eù theIllselvcs into a kind of Lenevolont
association, a self-protection and relief society, D,uJ
called thcn1selves the 'Hounds,' 'v hich ,vas a very
appropriate nan10. They ,yere likc,vise kno\vn as the
'Boys,' after the fashion of tho N eT\v York Bo\vcry,
,vherc ll1any of thenl uBed forn1erly to sun theulselvcG.
Crilninal intent does not appear as a part of their
original purpose; indoed, as the alcalde Leavenworth
testifies, SOllle of thenl had be on cl11ployed by hilll to
assist in carrying out the ends of justice. Previous
to the forlning of that acquaintance ,vhich led to
yillainous vo,vs of friendship and fidelity, and nothing
loth to ,veal' for a tilne the garb of respectability,
lllany of then1 at first engaged in various occupations,
such as 111ining, blackslnithing, hotel and saloon keep-
ing, but thüy ,vere llOt long content to ,vork for that
'v hich they fancied they could more casily stcal.
Indeed, one of their fundalnental principles, practised
hefore it ,vas fOTlTIulated, and the first and broadest
plank in their platforln, \vas that others should feed
and clothe theIne The \vorkingn1en of California, the
honest and industrious, should furnish them shelter,
,vith strong drink. tobacco, and other luxuries. In
return for ,vhich support, did California desire the

TilE T:r:

T O
T
UI)Lß-Y.

79

intel'lopin6" 'Grea
ers' annihilated, they ""
ere the
boys to do it." Or lacking such patronage the
'" ,,
ould
exercise their club diploluacy sOlne,vhat on their o\\-n
account. Like bullo.; infuriated o'
er red, they had their
Inad color. B]ack ".a'3 bad enough, but
opper- hue
t hey hated, ,vhether in the forill of )Iexican, Chile:lll,
or Chinalllau. The
. "
ere soon joined by thè lllell of
Sydney, ,,
ho no,,," began to appear upon the scene,
and by lo"\v politicians froI11 the eastern states, be,idè3
the ne,vly arriving ....houldèr-
trikers and deserter
.
Hero ,yas the SCUITI of diverse foreign
ocietip
unitincy
'-' ð
all1id-:;t the ebullitiolls of our ne,v society a-; naturally
as impure parti
les unite upon the sw-face of boiling
liquid.
""'hateyer nlay haye been their intention originall.y',
elelnent
like these joined unJer
uch condition
could
not long exist \vithout evil re3lùts. Soon it ,va::; under-
stood that la,vlc;:,
ne':,s and crillle \vere the prilllary
purpo
e of the a
sociation, and by the spring of 18-1!)
subordinate societies ".ith a comnlon grip and pa:-;,-
,yord ,vere scattered throughout the entire 111ining
district of California. l-Iere ,,-as a great po,,"cr for
, e,-il, ,,-ith its fang
already at the throat of our infant
cOllllliunitv.
.J--\..s n1Ï g Ìlt be expected, the Hounds directed their
early attention to politic
. It is by such aç; these
that our country is in too grcat a llleasure
oYerne(l.
It is such as the.;;;e that San Francisco to this day i

forced to bU pport and berye. I t is such as the
e
that too often are our rulers; ,ye make thelll bueh,
fool
that 'YC are.
The Hounds nlade their headquarters in a large
tent, later knO'Yll a
Tanllllany Hall, standing ,yhere
no,,'" Conlmcrcial street cro

e
!(earny. E>uch "-a

their strength, that ,yith unblushing in;pudcnce they
\yould bring to this so public a place the sroil
taken
at night, and there cat, and drink, and
lecp through-
out the day, ,yith none to Blake thcln afraid. There
,vere other place
,,-here they u
cd to congrpgate; the

so

THE IIOU
DS ASSOCIATION.

City I-Iotel near by, and the Sha(
es Saloon "Those
keeper's IUln1e ,vas Patterson. TheIr harenl \vas the
vallcy called the · Hollo,v,' near, or foru1Ïng part ùf
the Chilean quarter; and the du
ky nymphs there
dcnizened by no nleans helped to quench the fires of
hate alrcad y burning in the l)reasts alike of their
eountryn1en and of their fairer-hued loyers.
Their tÎlne ,yas chiefly diviJed bct,vcen oating-
hou
es, saloons, and elothing-stores, ,vhich \verc pil-
l
gcd for corporeal necessitics, and the huts of foreign
eu1ÏgTants, \vhich ,vere sacked and destroyed upon
prÏ11ciple. Their attac]....s \vere confined chiefly to
strangers, \y hose friendless condition forbade defence.
During the ,vhole period of their aclnlinistration it.
,yas the custom of these chevaliers d'industrie to
paradc the streets on Sunday in fant
stical :ittire, bat
until to\yard the latter part of their tarIll, if ,ye onlit
occasional fights and street bra\yls, no open outrages
,yere comnlitted, though private thefts, and even
darker deeds, \vere frequent.
Besides their regular Sunday divertiselnent. in
\yhich they affected a sort of nlilitary discipline,
111arching \vith flying colors, their leader::; in n1ilitary
uniforills, to the lllusic of fife and drlun, they SOllle-
tiUl0S ilnprovised pranks and antics for the aU1usenlcnt
of the public. ]Tor a tilne, as I have intiInated, the
actuating Illotive seenlS to have been a silly loye of dis-
play rather than open yiolence. ,T anity, ho\vever, often
leads to villainy. Said Sheridan once to Lord Hol-
land: "They talk of avarice, lust, anlbition, as
great
passions. It is a nlistakc; they are little passions.
Vallity is the great conl1uanding passion of all. I t is
t his that produces the nlost grand and heroic deed
,
or inlpels to the 1110st dreadful crinlcs."
I 11 the eyening after their public gaD) bols it "Tas
usual for the Hounds to scatter about the little metrop-
olis and thro,v out gentle hints, or JTIore perelnptory
de111ands, for \vhatever thúy happened to ,vant. J.Jike
the tiger's ,vhelp ,vhich chases the sheep at first only

SO:\lE OF THEIR DOL,aS.

81

for the sport of seeing them run, but once tasting
blood becomes ravenou
for lllore, so the
e young
human Hounds began their play upon the people,
scarcely. kno\ying ,,
hat they did, but coming to grief
full quickly enough, ho,veyer, as they thought. For,
growing lllore and lllore boisterous in, their displays,
\yith increasing numbers, they began, to\yard the end
of their career, fir
t to intimidate, then to assault, and
finally they did not scruple to try open robbery and
lllurder.
Under SOllie ridiculous plea they "7"ould sally forth
from their tented Tammany, and with threats of yio-
lence extort money or goods from ,,-homsoever the.y
thought prudent to attack. They "Tould invade
saloons and call for drink, enter restaurants and hotels,
and rudely demand food, after receiving "Thich they
,yould "
alli: a"
ay ,,
ithout offering pa}
. On one occa-
sion they' fed from the tables of Jules Rousson, keeper
of the United States restaurant, and gave in payment
an order on the alcalde, \vhich the latter refused to
pay. At another time they broke do,,
n Rousson's
doors and helped them
elYes to food. Stores they
,vould enter, and selecting such goods as the.y fancied,
carry then1 a\vay, or help themselves to ,,-hateyer
they required frolll expo

d piles of merchandise; and
so
trong had they no"
become that no one durst sa
y"
them nay.
Though their outrages ,,-ere directed chiefly
again:-;t foreigners, they did not hesitate to attack
Åluericans if offended by thelli. Indeed they be-
callle quite enterprising at last, even philosophic,
and seeilled to think ,,
ith Socrates that there i

something in thig ,yorlcl nobler than mere ease and
personal safety.
..A.. gentlelnan informs me that as he "Tas passing'
the Parkcr Hou
e one day, he sa,,- a negro entering
the office, and a lieutenant of the Hounds just Lehinå
hiIn. The negro turned and accidentally touched the
ro\ydy ,yith his elbo,,-, ,vhen the fiery young knight
Pop, TRm., "VOL. I. (j

82

THE HOUNDS ASSOCIATION.

""hipped out his bo,vie-knife and cut off the black
,
lnall sear.
One morning t,vo gentlen1en entered the coffee-
roun1S of an old Frenchlnan, situated on l(earnv
street, opposite the plaza, on the site since occupie
l
by the Jenny Lind theatre and the old city han, and
called for breakfast. Presently in can1e thirty-five or
forty of the foul fraternity, hungry as cornlorants, and
ordered food. Pounding the table, they ca11ed loud
and constantly, ",vaiter 1" "\vaiter I" hurrying the poor
garçon hither and thither until he ,vas half dead \vith
fatigue anå fright. l\Iean,,
hile the t,vo gontlelnell
eoulù get nothing to oat. At length the craving of
the rabble conlpany being satiated, their leaders rose,
and stepping up to the counter, turned their backs to
it, and called out: "Fall in I Right about face I" l'hen
turning to the restaurateur, one of thenl Jemanded:
"Ho,v nluch is to pay?"
"1\\"0 dollars each," ,vas the reply.
"Charge it to the Hounds," he said. "Left face r
For\vard, Inarch I" and out of the door they ,vent,
never paying a din1e for ,vhat they had eaten.
Isaac Bluxonle landed in San :B-'rancisco fron1 the
bark J[CU10fìJia early in July, 1849. He brought out
,,"ith hill1 the fralne of a ,yooden building \vhich he set
up in SaCra111cnto street, b(.t,veen l\fontgonleryand
SanSOll1e, being the third house erected in that street.
Scarcely had hc opened business ,vhen he ,vas brought
face to face \vith that phase of crime of which he ,vas
so soon to be the scavenger. A queer-looking custOl1)er
entered one clay and began to price his goods. He
,vas little n10ro than a boy, rather below Inediunl
height, slightly built, ,vith a pale, sinister face, and
dressed in a red ,voolen shirt, buff pantaloons tucked
inside his boot-tops, a ,vell-nlashed slouched hat, and
hanging at a leather belt a pistol and a butcher-knife.
Picking up a plug of tobacco, he said:
"'Vhat ùo you ask for this?"
"T\vo dollars," said Bluxolne.

A)IOXG THE ðHOPS.

83

"That is too nluch; you 111U:-:;t not charge so luuch."
"That i8 nlY price; you can take it or leave it."
"Do you kno"
".ho I am 1"
"X 0, anll I don't care "Tho YOU are."
"I anl eaptain of the Houn
l
."
,. The llevil yuu are," answ.ered Bluxome. " "Tell,
you look like a hound."
The fello,,
did not like Bluxolne or his ,vords, and
after eyeing hinl for a monlent he ,vall
ed a"
ay ,yith-
out further ren1ark.
There \yas little
ystenl in trade at that tin1e, either
in the kind of goods kept by the merchants or in the
prices asked for thenl. Each dealt in ,vhatever
happened to fall into his hand
, and asked "\\7 hatever
price he pleased, irrespcctiye of that of his neighbor
.
Entering a tent
tore one day, \vhere a great variety
of Inerchandi
e lay exposed for sale, a quiet, motlest,
ulldeillonstrative Hound picked up a pair of fancy'
patent-leather gaiter
, ,yhich he thuught ,,
ould set off
his S01l1e\vhat sll1all and \Yell-
haped feet to the Lest
po

ible
ldvantage. They \yere ,,"holly' \vorthle
;oo;, but
little stronger than paper, cost probably in X e". York
a donar or t\VO, but being brightly polished they hatl
caught the gentlen1an's eye, and as business had been
guod of late he Jetern1Ïned to inJulge his vanity tu
that extent. Be
ides, hi
order ,,-as con1Ïng into no-
tice more and I1101'e every day; parades ,,-ere 11101'e
freq
ent, and it "
as but lueet he should lnake a Le-
conllng appearance.
Seating himself on a box he took off his shoes, and
gi ving them a fling \y hich sent them over behind ;:,onle
goods at the other
ide of the tent, he took up a pair
of the glittering gaiters, Jrc,,- then1 un his feet, and
rising and putting his hand in his pocket, demanJed:
"Ho,,
nluch?"
".L
n ounce," \vas the reply.
The dust ,vas proluptl y paid do,vn, and the nice
young man "Talked a\vay no lèss batisfied than the
store-keeper.
ext day returned hi
houndship. Ou

S4

THE HOú"XDS ASSOCIATION.

his eah11 features there ,vas not visible the :slightest
Rhade of annoyance, ill-ten1per, or disgust. Threading
hi:-; ,yay quietly rounù the piles of Inerchandise stacked
upon the floor, he fishcd out his old shoes, Reatell hiln-

clf on the saIne box, dre,v froIll his feet the
hining
gaiters, no,," burst open in seyeral places, put on his
old shoes, and ,valked a,vay ,,"ithout saying a ,vorù.
There ,yas one ,yay in ,vhich these Ilounds ,vere of
service to society. I had conle near un,vittingly doing
thelIl an injustice. They ,vere ever ready as jurors.
lIe ,vho had suffered ,vrong, and "Tho, rernembering
the high privilege of an American citizen, sought the
renIedy, lnight here haye trial by his peerB. They
,vere also good as ,vitnesses, al,vays ready faithfully
to testify in 'v hichsoever direction they ,vere paid.
They ,vere good to driyc off froill lands squatters, or
rightful O\VIlers.; it nlade no difference to thenl in
'v honl the title ,vas vested. They ,vere useful at the
polls on election-day, voting early and often then1-
ReI \
e
, preyenting others froIlI yoting, and at sunset
guarding the ballot- ùox ,vhile it 'vas being stuffed.
J f you ,vanted a house fired, a n1an beaten, or a nlur-
del' done, thcy ,vere al\vays at hand to serve you for
a consideration.
K or ,yere they ,vithout their ,vorship and thcir
benefactions. If the iU1age of
Iercury, the god of
t hieying craft and cunning, ,vas not set up in their
Tent of Tamnlany, none the less ,vas his spirit there
adored. Of all the ,vorld could give, this ,vas the life
they loved. Opportunity and environlnent ,vere to
thelll as s\vord and steed to the cavalier, or ,vine to
the heavy of heart; their tent ,vas the ten1ple of their
god, and their traffic better than ,,"inning souls. .r\nd
it "
as ,yonderful their influence on the unanchored
elcl11ent then drifting on the flood-tide into this port.
"That do ,ve see in crossing the Plains? The nlo
t

tupill clod uf a horse, half-starved and fagged ,yith
travel, ,vhell suddenly surrounded by a banù of ,vild
11lUstangs quickly beC0111eS as unn1anageable aB they.

1YHAT L'3 EYIL, THEY ASK.

8.3

Even the culture of intellect is the result of absorbed
yicc, \y hile the et!orts of plodding virtue flo,v oft. like
,yater froin a
lllOOth
tone.
I t is Ly no llleãllS certain that the advent of vice in
this infantile forin \yas not the best thina' ,,-hich could
o
have happened to this young C0111111unity at thi
tillie.
California ,yere not California had her battle
,,
ith
iniquity never been. ::\10n ,vho ai
at respectability
becolne so ab
orbed in their Inoney-getting
as to be
little better than luachines, turning aside for nothing,
for neither Christ, their country, nor the deyil. It
llectl
an enen1Y threatening theIr pet passion to unite
then1. They \yould forill no brotherhood of virtue
until driven to it bv a brotherhood or"" vice.
"
hence then th
evil, these ,,-icked oneB Jnight a
k,
and of \yhat do you pious people cOll1plain? To ll1ake
a \yorld nature rn
hes froll1 one extren1e to another;
fron1 the extremes of heat to the extremes of cold;
fì'om an age of fire, of volcal1ic la va- formations and
ri vers of 1110lten rock and skies of mineral smoke, to
an age of sno\y, and ice, and callon-carving glaciers.
So it i
,,-ith the forulation and refining of hUlllan
f,;oeieties. It is the equalizing of extremes that
brings one ever nearer to one's rest. Then ,,
hy "
ar
,yith eyil if it so befriend you? "'hat is eyil, oh
ye saints of prudery and conventional creeds
Can
you Bot see ,yith all your stupidity and bigotry that
üyil is not a concrete entity, but only a 111eaSUre
denotinO' the ab
ence of good, as cold is but the
ab
ence 0 of heat? There i:-; no
uch principle in
hun1anity as abstract good aside froll1 eyil, any 11101'e
than in a Inas
of 1110lecules attraction can exist apart
fron1 repulsion. ,,-r e are as nece
:sary to you, prinl
fool:-5, as you are to us. Eyery thing, eyery for(:c,
po,,-er, quality, principle, elell1ent, or idea has it
an-
tithesis, exi
t':) in duality, i
t,,
ofold in its entity
and ar.;tion. Like the repulsiye force in n1atter, thi

negative soul-principle act
alnong indiyiduah" iIn-
l )rcO'11atiua' eyerv 0'<:1'111 al'rano'ino- into fOl'lll the
o 0 .; ð' 0 ð

86

THE HOUXDS ASSOCL\.TIOX.

lllolecules of society, shapjng outlines and sharpen-
ing angles, pushing hither and thither, by iU1pulscs
ilnpercéptible, individuals and groups of indiyidual,.;
aecording to the great plan of our one and univer8al
Blaster.
The norlnal condition of hllll1anity is a state of
,veIl-being, else there is a speerly end to all. But
the n1ass need8 leaven, else it is flat and unprofitable.
The principle of evil dropped into it by an incoln-
prehensible Ahl1ighty, the tendency of hUlnanity is
ever after to\vard an equiliLriuJn. None but babes in
intellect talk of an independent, self-e
istent po,ver
or principle antagonistic to oll1nipotence.
\Vhen "Te understand the nature of heat, then "Te
can tell ,vhat cold is; "Then ,ve con1prchcnd the prin-
ciple of gooJ, ,ve ,vill be able to understand the
phenolnena of evil. Whate\
er good is, the tendency
of everything is in that direction. V\That n1eans
other\\Tiso the gradual disappearance of savagislu,
the progress of the intellect, of morality, of religion?
Therefore if evil tends to disappear, and is surely
century after century becoll1Îng less, ,ye 111ay safely
conclude that ,vith ti111e it ,vill be totally extin-
guished.

o,v it is ,veIl kno\vn that there is no such possi-
bility in nature, or in the Í1nagination of l11an, as the
total extinction of a concrete entity. If therefore
evil is extinguishable as a concrete principle, it does
not exist. Evil as an entity does not exist; good
does. The \yorld acts upon this prineiple, ,yhether it
i
believed in or not.
"That force underlies the underlying force that
tlrives steanu,hips and n1anufactories, the n1ain-
springs of con11nerce? "\Vhat is the chief stilnulallt
of progress? Not love of kno,v ledge. patriotislu,
philanthropy; all theRe are puny in their efforts at
]>]'ogresR. "\Vhat then are the lllighty po,vers that
Inovc nU1nkind? A \T
u'icc, vanity, the Jesire to kill
your neighbor and keep youl'ì
elf frunl being killed;

AYARICE .ADIIGHTY.

87

these are the goà-like doings that bring to birth your
boa
ted brotherhood
, your acts and indu
tries, and
,yhich oyerspread the thorn:r path ,,'ith coverlet
of
Chri
tian charity. So ll1ight haye reasoned these
human Hounds in their Tent of Tammany.

CIIAPTER '7"1.

THE SAN FRANCISCO SOCIETY OF REGUL

TORS.

1..0, when two dogs are fighting in the streets,
'Yith a third dog one of the two dogs meets,
'Yith angry teeth he bites him to the bone,
Ant! this dog smarts for what that dog has ùone.
Fielding.

,V ITH increased nUlnbers and opportunities, the
Hounds
\..ssociation put on ne,v dignities. BeC0111ing
SOlllewhat ashalued of their canine appellation, they
changed their nalne to that of the San Francisco
Society of Regulators, and organized and officered
their body after the usual respectable lllodels.
Let it not be inferred froln the nallIe, ho,vever,
that the Hounds had becolne guardians of the public
,veal, or that this ,vas a popular tribunal proper, or a
conl111ittee uf vigilance. By no 111eans. It ,yas the
good luen and their affairs that this band proposed
to regulate, and not the eyil-lninded and profligate.
And to their assistance caIne no,v delnagogues and
aspiring politicians of grcater bulk than their pre-
decessors, and of lllore s,veeping pretensions. 'Vith
settled policy and defined purpose they ,vould go forth
conquering and to conquer. The one phenonlcnon
\ya,s but the natural sequence of the other. The first
association ,vas the boyish play of vice, \v hilc the
second "Talked boldly forth in the full lllanhood of
concreto villainy.
'Vickedness tÌ1e Regulators sa,v ,vas in the ascend-
ant. Noone appreciated better than thenIselves the
fertile field of opportunity. Already the seed had .
(88 )

SO
IE OF THEIR RLLES.

8{)

been so\\
n by the young inlps, \vho seemed to lack the
ability to harYe
t the crop. It ,vas for ,,-i
cr hcads
to utilize their redundant resources, to give object and
direction to their knayi
h procliyities. The general
laxity of moral
, the inefficiency and ycnality of la,,'"-
courts, and the apparent indifference of the best 111en
to the \velfare of the state, all encouraged their aspi-
rations.
That "affairs needed regulating ,vas clearly apparent
to all; and the indifference n1anifested by business
]11en as to ho,v or by ,,-I!-Olll they should be regu-
lated, clllboldencd the loafIng element to aSSUll1e that
duty. The first fraternity ,vas still to furnish the
material. Tho n1unicipal go,-ernn1ent had not hesi-
tated to use the Hounds in order to secure the
cnd
of justice; the Regulators no\y did not hesitate
to use the same instrurnent to defcat the ends ûf
justice. Thus against Justice, beslllcared by evil COlll-
panionship, ,vere turned her n1Ínisters, \vho caug'ht
her in her o\vn trap; as the ,vily "Tanton '-"-iyien,
knight-hater of ICing .L\..rthur's court, seduced fi'o
l1
)Ierlin his secret charm, and straight,vay :Jlerlin, her
.first yictim, lay in a hollo,,
oak as dead.
To the benefits offered b
r the Hounds in associ-
ating, the Regulators ackletl political favors or ell1olu-
11lCnts. Beside assun1ing knightly honors and setting
thell1selyes up to b0 redressers of public "?rongs, \\
hose
lllis
ion it ,vas to defend the national soil against en-
croachU1ent, they proposed like,vise to relieve ...A.lner-
ieans of the burdens of government, savc only the
little lllatter of taxation, \vhich shaulLl not be seycrely
felt, the people haying their ,vhole tÎlne at their dis-
posal.
An initiation fee of ten dollars "as paid on entering,
and in return each Inember ,vas to be cared for in case
of ::;ickneb8, supported ,vhen penniless, and extricateJ
fron1 any trouble ,yhich by chance he lllight fall into.
Xu qualification as to character ,vas requisite to
nlcnlber
hip, except that it should not be painfully

90

TH:: SOCIETY OF n::=OCL_\.TORS.

bright. The declared principles of the association
,vere originally easy and free enough, and in action
they òec::une 11101'0 so eyery day.
It ,,,"as a Inodel systenl of vagabondage, a Platonic
republic for vagrants and blackguards, anll n1ight Inost
truthfull
have Leen 11anled a Society for tho Pro-
Illotion of \Tice, or a veritable Hell-fire Club. IIalf
a day's ,,'"ork at that tilne ,yould secure tho initia-
tory ten dollars; or if that ,vas too 111uch trouble,
tho aspirant for n10111bership nlight steal it. Once in,
happiness "'"as forever secured. Bois tort-u fait .feu
(lroit. Protection, shelter, good-fello\vship, and light
scruples; 'v hat 1110re could profligacy ask even in
California? "It is all one to a stone," says
Iarcus
l\..ntonius, ",vhether it be thro,vn up\vard or do,vn-
I "
,yare .
There was little difficulty in their regulating elec-
tions, ordinances, and jurisprudence; population was
not so permanent then as no,v; n1en ,vere coming and
going, hurrying hither and thither, fe,v nlanifesting
any interest in the welfare of the conlnlunity, and
those fe,v scarcely distinguishable. The young lne-
tropolis ,vas good for nothing but to be :fleeced, and
should any person object, they lnust bo regulated.
This so early political party in California ,,,"as char-
acteristic of the times. I t ,vas the pestilential quagnlire
of society; nor is the pool ,vholly t::-anslucent no\v.
For five or six 1110nths, namely, until the Iniddle of
July, 1849, this band of ruffians exercised their terror-
isms over the cOlllnlunity. Their ,vays ,vere dark at
first, and their councils secret. They ,yero ,vithout
organization for a tilne, but rapidly into evil e111inence
thero rose fro111 the ranks of this gang certain ruling
Rpirits, ,,'"ith one Sallluel Roberts as chief, \vho ,vorkeJ.
thenl up into a state of such efficiency that soon the
entire city ,va
laid under contribution. There is little
doubt that ll1any of their acts ,vere countenanced by
the alcalJe, Leaven \vol"th.
One üf their llulnber, Joseph T. Do,vney, asserts

DECL
\RATIJ
OF I:.:!:G:3:TS.

91

that the ori6'in of tho organization ,vas a physician's
bill against one or t"TO of the Hounds, anlounting to
SOllle t,vo hundred dollars. Haying neither the 1110ney
nor the inclination to pay, they determined to declare,
alDong thernsel yes at least, their position, ". hich ,vas
that the public 111ust support then1. They ,vould Lo
puLlic seryants; they ,\Tould pay no bills. It ,yas
nccessary that they shoulJ haye l110re 1110ney than the
initiation fee yielded them. Froin rendering assi
tance
to the alcalde and sheriff in their deplorable attcnlpts
at 111unicipal gOyerllll1cnt, the Regulators undertook
to adluinister justice on their o\vn account. Cer-
tain of their nUlnber had been called upon to inflict
the punishment of ,vhipping on a sailor ::;entcnced
by the alcalde for dra,ying a l
nife on his captain.
Thereupon they undertook to ,yhip b.r order of thenl-
selycs. '
{hcn the sheriff found it difficult or iUl-
pO
3siLle to collect bills placod in his hands for that
purpose by real-estate O'YllerS, Inerchants, and others,
he reconunendcd the clain1ants to gi vo such account'S
for collection to the Boys, ,vho had a ,vay of their
o\vn, s,viftcr and surer than that of the alcalde, for
the settlement of differcnces. Frolll tho seizing of
property for the satisfaction of a debt to the seizing
of property for the satisfaction of thelllselycs ,vas but
a step, and unblushing iUlpositioll ,yas the natural
con
jeq nence.
Thus, like the giant Caligorant, justice ,vas caught
in it
o,yn net. Scarcely had the nlines been opened,
,,?hen a strong feeling sprang up against foreigners.
Citizens of the United States deen1ed their rights
superior to those of foreigner:3, ,vho ,ycre allo,yed
equally ,vith thclnsclyc
to gather gold and carry it
f1'01l1 the country. The soil ,yas theirs, they Baid;
their brethren had fought for it and their gOyel"n-
elcnt had paid for it. IT p to this tinle there had been
no outbreak, although the dcterlnination ,Y:lS daily
becoll1Îng stronger and nlore universal to resi
t en-
croacillneat alHl expel foreign vagrants frol11 the 111ÏllCS.

Ð2

THE SOCIETY OF REGl.J"'LATORS.

..Lt-l.gainst the ll10ngrel class fron1 Chile,
foxico, and
the other Spanish- .L\..nlcrican states north and south uf
Pan[Hná, this scntinlent "'''as n10st united, and so unsafe
bccan1e the situation of these foreigners that during
this sunnncr the roads ,vere full of thenl returning
froll1 the n1Íncs. And ,vith thenl caIne lnany uf their
per
ecutors.
Upon this platforn1 then the Society of Regulators
,vas iinally organized, ,vith C. R. v r . Lee as president;
"T. Anderson, vice-president; J. T. Do,vl1ey, secre-
tary; J. A. Patterson, treasurer; and J. C. Pullis,
ste,vard. The aforesaid Sanluel Roberts ,vas chief
rioter and 111aster of the 111ilitary. California should
feed and clothe them, and pay then1 ,veIl for their
outrages. 1'hey proposed to Ii vü. They ,vould a8si
t
at any tilne the inlpotent authorities, if the authori-
ties ,vi shed their aid and ,vould pay theln;. anll they
,yould just as readily break the h1'V, and defy the
authorities, if such a course best suited their pur-
pose. 'Vith the coolest iU1pudence they asserted their
ùetern1Ïnation to protect .L
lnel'ican citizens against
Spanish-speaking foreigners, and sonlctilnes clain1ed
to have instructions from the alcalde to extirpate the
l\Iexicans and Chileans.
Thus things stood ,vhen, on the night of Sunday,
the 15th of this BaIne July, occurred an affair ,vhich
brought 111atters to a crisis. It appears that one
George Frank, a n1crchant, held a clainl of five hun-
dred dollars, for certain COll1111issions attending the
purchase of a lot on ::\Iontgo1l1ery street, against a
Chilean nanled Pedro Cueto, "rho refused to recog-
nize the obligation or pay the
Hnount. Frank gave
the bill to the sheriff for collection. Cueto told the
sheriff he ,vould not pay it, and the sheriff reported
to Frank.
N o,v it so happened that the sheriff ,vas nono other
than J. C. PuBis, 'v ho ,vas likew"i
e ste,vard of the
TIegulator Society. This ,vas the ,vorst feature in
the casc} and sho,vs hoy{ inter,voven "rore Cril110 and

)L\.I\.IXG COLLECTIOXS.

û3

punishment, 'v hen an officer of the la \v and an officer
of the la"
less ,yere one and the same person.
"If you "Till get thè Boy
to a
sist you," said
Frank to the hound-sheriff, Pulli8, "I ,,
ill give you
half the an10unt collected. " Accordingly the bill \vas
handed to Roberts, ,,
ho, pretending to have been sent
by the alcalde, called on Cueto and quiet]y inforll1ed
hinl that unless he caIne do\vn handsonlely, say \vith
three or four hundred dollars, he ,yould speedily be
upon him \vith forty 111en. Cueto declining to pay,
the Regulators proceeded to the avenging of ju
tice
after their o\vn fashion.
And here I can but call attention once lllore to the
singular state of la\v and administration \yhich al-
lo,ved an officer of the law to deputize a notorious
band of desperadoes for the la\yless enforcelnent of an
unproven claim. Of a truth it ,,?ould be difficult to
say \yhich had reached the lo\vest llepth, la\\T or
villainy!
On the Sunday afternoon n1entioned, at about ono
o'clock, the Regulators paraded in full force, \vith
drun1, fife, and banner, and epaulettell officers. Thero
, "
ere about one hundred of then1. They ,yere just
returned fron1 a nl3.rauding excursion to Contra Costa,
and they determined to finish the day \vith deeds long
to be relnembered. So s\yollen by hatred and excite-
lllent had become the purpose of the Hound dictators,
that the Inatter of Frank's bill ,vas ahnost lost sight
of. Their intention no\y,,"'as none other than to drive
all Spauish--L-\.nlericans from the city as they "
ere
being driven fron1 the Inines, and the final Llo,y \vas
to be struck that afternoon or evening.
S
un Roberts comnlanded; and it ,vas noticed that he
"
as 1110re than usually gra,"'e in his den1canor, and COll-
ce:-ned as to the condition and lllovelnents of his nlen.
Supper ,,"'as taken at a restaurant, ,,
here an eye-
\vitness says that San1 behaved badly; that fronl his
fornler reserve he broke into angry Ílnpatience, and
tu give 1110re forcible expression to an order for a gin.

v-t

TI:E SJC:::TY OF RE3-ULAT8TIS.

cocktail appetizer, he kicked over a table and broke a
fe\\
glass8s.
The cOlllpany then proceeded to get up stealll for
tho grand assault. This \,Tas accolllplished by cnter-
inO' yarious saloons and JCll1andin
drink and cÍfY'ars , .
o
ð
if not instantly and cheerfully produceJ., the rioters
\vollld go behind t!le bar, help then1selves and their
associates, then slnash a fc\y decanters and nlirrors
as a gentle aÙlllonition that politeness sits as grace-
fully on a saloon-keeper Deforo society servants as on
Delisarius begging an ooolus. Saln's nlen \rould
haye it 11lade silnple to these knights of Bacchus
that, in the absence of a\ve-inspiring lex scripta, there
\vas nothing left but to fall back upon the lex non
scripta, the un \vritten or COlll1110n la\v \vhich underlies
allla\y, the \vhich failing there \vas yet the lex t((lioTU'S,
or la\v of retaliation, a practical illustration of \,
hich
,vas no\y before then). Expediency should be their
1110ttO, as it is the 1l1ottO of all \vho seek to do the
puLlic good. There is a tinle to pipe, and a tinle to
dance; a tillle to pron1Ïsc, and a tilne to perforn1-
except for politicians. The fear of God should eyer
be before the eyes of the people, and respect for
rulers, though frOnl necessity or expediency they
are for the t:ule being clenonJÍnateù Regulators. Fear
God; Lut only GoJ Illanife3t in the flesh, not the holy
spiritual God beyond the sky. Tenl1JoT'i 8e1,.t'ienclun
cst.
Bo\v to the ro\ve:"s that be; bo,v to the sovereign
Regulators of the people; bo\v to the devil if so be
glorious exaltation shall follo\v. 'Vhen personal alll-
bition stalks abroad, let principle give place; Cicero
111Ust choose bet\vcen POlllpey and Cresar.
There \\Tas yet anothcr \yrong ,vhich this night's
,york should right. In one of their marauding ex-
cursions SOlne tinle preyious, it happened that a
Chileno had the hardihood to defend his property
and faillily honor from brutal assaults, anfl in doing
so had accidentally killed a Lystander nanled Bcatty,
an Alllcrican, though not a llleluLer of the band. To

\TT
\.CK OX TH2 C::r:'EAX QL"
illTER.

9.3

seize, confiscate, and sell to the highest bidder the
tent and effects of one ,,-ho had dared to strike a
blo\y in self-defence ,yas not enough. The Llood of
their ll1urdcred countrYlllan called fronl the ground
for vengeance. 'This night should see his inquiet
shade pacified.
Saul drank sparingly that day; the potations of his
ll1en he sought to regulate according to their seyeral
capabilities. The ti111e haying arri \-ed, arnled "ith
pistols, kniycs, and clubs, and ,vith patriotic enthu-
siasll1 and liquid fire, they filed off and In arched rapidl.,-
do\vn the street to the Chilean quarter. In an
'yer
to the question, ,," hat are you going to do
" the
'"
unhesitatingly replied, ,
"T e are going to ,,-hip and
dri ve out eyery dan1ned Chileno in to,vn."
Rousing \vi"th blasphemous yells and pi
tol-shots
the peaceful inhabitant
of thi::; then some"hat remote
yicinity, they attacked the unoffending foreigners as
they cra\vled from their d,,-ellingf-', struck thelll do\vn,
and beat then1 \vith cluLs, stoned and kicked thClll
,yhile lying half senseless on the ground, and finally,
dra,ving their pistols, they began a pron1i
cuous
" shooting, ,,-hiéh resulted in one killed and seyera 1
,,'oundcd, not to mention those bruised ,,-ith cluLs and
cut ,,-ith kIÚ,-es. The tents ,yere torn do\yn, houf'C-
hold effects and merchandise stolen or destroyed, and
the ,,-omen and children turned into the street. It
,,-as in truth a disgraceful
cene: blood flo,,-ed freel.'''',
and the cries of the defenceless mingled ,yith the oaths
of the a
sailants. Seyeral mounted horses and chased
the Chilenos through the to"
n and up Telegraph Hill,
firing on them as they ran. The tent of Don1Ïngo
Cruz, at Clark Point, ren1ained unmolc::,ted until half
past nine, ,,-hen t,,-ent.r of the gang entered it \yich
dra ,yn pistols and denlancled drink. Then they fell
to breaking bottlef' and beating the inmates, saying
they had an order from the alC"alde to destroy eye!"
r
Chilean tent in to".n. Fron1 the tent of Don1Ïngo
..AJegría, after ,younding the inn1atcs and destroying

9ß

THE SOCIETY OF TIEGGLATORS.

such property as they could not carry a "'"ay, they
secured t"TO thousand dollars in coin, and je\velry to
the value of fifteen hundred dollars. Then thev de-
tl
11101ishC'll the tent and departed. After the first grand
assault the cOlnpany split into detachulcnts of ahout
t,vcnty nlen each. These ,vould Inake raids in differ-
ent directions, then retire to the plaza or thereabout,
,yh
llce after a short respite they ,voulll sally forth
agaIn.
During the turn10il Sanl ,vas ubiquitous. "\Vhilc
ill the heat of the fray, b3.ttering heads and tearing
tents 1110st lustily, frolll a distant part of the field the
cry ,vas frequently heard: "vVhere are the IIounds 1"
,,"There is Sanl?" And the ans,ycr ,vould come,
"
Iere I anI I" Then they \vould fall to ,vith ne'v
vJgor.
. Thus during the ,vhole afternoon and evening of
that Sunday, and all through the night until the
folloY\Ting Inorning, these desperadoes continued their
unblushing villainies ,vithout any interfercnce fronl
officer or citizen, extending their operations to othcr
parts of the city ,vherever a Chilcan tent could be
found. They l1lade no attenlpt to cover their crÍInes;
daylight and darkness 'v ere ono to thonl. Indeed there
YY"as nothing to fear. The la,v \vas po,verless; there
,vas no police; the alcalde ,vas quiescent; the sheriff
,va
a ll1enlber of the gang; and the l1Ierchants and
lllcchanics of the to,vn ,vere either attending to their
business, or enjoying a sacreù rest, dreanling of donars,
and creeping all the earlier to their beùs as the
sounds of bra ,y Is and rioting fell upon their ear.
\Vhell the young lllctropolis a,voko next l1lorning
and rubbed its eyes, a nc,v light seenled to break in
on its citizens. Their situation ,vaS unique; never
l!ad they scen such sights, or heard such ,vorùs, or
thought of such things as no,v da,vned upon theIll.
\Vere they indeeù ,vhcre no la,v ,vas? \Vhat ,vere
these spa,vn of Hecate ,vho in the nanle of protection
conI1nitted pillage and 111ul'der? The- ,vhitc o,vl of the

THE PEOPLE PROTEST.

g-

north is ,veIl-nigh invisible in the ::;nü\Y; so it may
approach its prey unseen. In the opaque congeries
of character heaped round Yerba Buena Coye, how
:-\ha11 we distinguish the human qualities hidden be-
neath the orthodox ,voolen shirt and bushy beard?

1any a \vhilom saint is now a sinner; many a ,,
hilom
thief sleeps in our ,varehouses. The ".ays of human-
ity in its ne,," combination are past finding out. Circe,
the bright-haired daughter of the Sun, in her en-
chanted i
le of Æaea amidst her fa,vning spell-softened
,,
ol yes and lions, ,,?as not more treacherously lovely
,,
hen with her ,vand she changed the companions of
Ulysses into s,vine, than was audacious roguery,
lapped by flush California, to the brainless adventurer.
"Thether vice is a disease or not, it is no less epi-
demic than sn1a11-pox or cholera; in this heterogeneou

human mess, if ,ve are to kno"
our bedfellow, give
us a ne,y university "ith professors of the passions 7
doctors of intemperance, analysts of licentiousness,
and curators of crime.
Y oung T San Francisco "as fairly aroused. Fear
took hold on the money-makers, and indignation;
they s\\'"ore in their hearts that these things should
not be. )Ionday morning bright and early sa"
them
bent on a ne" business, which ,vas nothing less than
to regulate the Regulators. ...
nd they "
ent about it
\,
ith their characteristic energy. They had but little
time to \vaste at that kind of thing; and after all a
hundred Hounds ,,,,ere not n1any.
On the
Ionday following the Sunday's outrages,.
at the corner of Cla
r and 1lontgomery
treets Samuel
Brannan 11lounted a barrel and addressed the people.
..L\.s the cro\yd increased and the streets becalne so
filled ,yitl{ eager listeners that ll1any could not get
near the speaker, a nlotioll ,yas made to adjourll to the
p1aza, ,vhich "
as done. There )11' Brannan took hi:---
stand on the roof of the one-story building occupied
bJ" )11' Leayen,yorth, the alcalde-opposite the plaza
on Clay street, in the rear of the City Hotel-and
POP. TRIB., VOL. I. 7

!)S

THB SOCIETY OF REGULATORS.

there continued his speech. After he had finished
Frank 'Vard addressed the Ineeting.
It ,vas in very deed putting the la,v under their
feet; this taking a stand upon the top of a court of
justice, and crying to the community to purify the
court and nlete out justice irrespective of inefficient
fornlulas. It ,vas significant of the times, and of the
people. That little tenement of legal fustian ,vas
scarcely a feather in the ,yay of those ,vho no\v
grappled the evil \vhich they proposed to cure. Frank
\Vard ,vas a fearless little fello,v, a perfect catamount
of courage ,vhen aroused, and as ponlpous and ranting
as king Cambyses. Brannan, too, at this time ,vas
full of courage and bravado. While he ,vas speak-
ing, he \vas informed that the Hounds ,vere 1l1oving
alllong their adherents, and threatening to burn his
property.
The effect of this statement on the speaker was to
luake hiln denounce the thieves the stronger. Pale
,vith anger and excitement he stood before them.
They were a dangerous element; they deemed them-
'selves invincible; in their opinion. they were mightier
than the law. They ,vere no,v assailed from a 11e"

"quarter, and their very existence depended on prompt
'action; so tllat it ,vas dangerous to force the11! to the
"raIl. Brannan, ho,vever, ,vas thoroughly aroused.
Certain voices of the rabble gre,v louder, and presently
pistols appeared ,vith demonstrations of shooting.
Perceiving ,vhich, Sanl hurled on thenl a torrent of
llis choicest invective, I1lcanwhile baring his breast
and daring then1 to fire.
The speaking finished, the people collected 'v ere
fornled into four companies of one hundred 111en each.
Captain Spofford ,vas appointed chief 111a
shal; and
.of the cOlnpanies I-Iall
IcAllister, Isaac Bluxonle, Jr.,
-L-\... J. Ellis, and F. J. Lippitt ,vere chosen captains.
Lots ,vere then dra,vn by the ca.ptains to determine
\vhich conlpany should first stand guard, the duty
JJcil1g to ,vateh the city and hunt the Hounds. The

HUKTIXG THE HOL
DS.

!}

lot fell on Bluxolne. Stationing detachn1ent
in va-
rious parts of the city, ,,-ith ten men he proceeded to
an adobe building, corner of Broad,,"ay and Po,,"ell
streets, where he \vas informed Sanl Roberts slept.
Breaking in the door ,vhich did not open to his knock,
he learned that Sam ,vas not there, but that he
had pitched his tent some way out on the Presiùio
road. Thither Bluxome proceeded, but the captain
of the Hounds ""as not there. Others went in other
directions. Roberts was bunted every,vhere. Tam-
lllany Hall ,vas like,vise invaded; the nest broken up,
and several of the gang taken prisoners.
)Ieanwhile a number of gentlemen visited the al-
calde and requested that steps might be taken for
the restoration and maintenance of public peace.
Thereupon a proclamation ,,-as issued calling a meet-
ing of the citizens at three o'clock that afternoon, at
,vhich time appeared upon the plaza the largest gath-
ering California had yet seen. The people ,,"'ere pro-
foundly moved. \V. D. 1\1. Ho,vard was called to
preside, and Victor J. Fourgeaud chosen secretary.
.6--\t the close of loud and length
y public discussion a
subscription for the relief of the sufferers by the riot
,vas opened at the Parker House. T","'o hundred and
thirty citizens then enrolled their names for police
service, and formed themselves into six companies
for immediate action. The Regulators, ,,-atching
these proceedings, no,v began to scatter, but before
bunset seventeen of then1 ,vere arrested and secured
on board the United States ship Tr'àrren. Roberts',
the redoubtable, found snugly stowed in the hold of
the schooner JIary bound for Stockton, ,vas arrested
by Hall )IcA1lister, and his comrade Curley ,yas
picked up at the )Iission.
Another citizens' meeting was held at Portsmouth
Square the same day, at ,vhich t,yO associate judges,
"Tilliarn ::\1. G,vin, and James C. \\T ard, ,,"ere chosen to
assist the alcalde and share in the trial of the prisoners.
Horace Ha,,"es, II all ì\IcAllister, and others ,,,"ere

100

THE SOCIETY OF REGULATORS.

appointed to act for the people, and P. Barry and
::\1yro11
orton for the accused. T,venty-four citizens
met the day follo,ving as a grand jury, and the
prisoners ,vere regularly indicted and charged ,vith
conspiracy, riot, robbery, and deadly assault. San1uel
Roberts and eighteen others 'v ere thus calle(l upon to
defend thenlsel Yes.
The trial Legan on Wednesday, ,vas conducted in
the ordinary legal forills, and lasted until the follo"Ting
)Ionday. 'Vitnesses ,vere examined on both sides;
and the evidence of deeds done in the light of open
day, to the 111en \vho no\v had the ll1anagement of
affairs, did not seeln difficult to obtain. N ot,vith-
standing ,vhich Roberts proved his alibi as a matter
of course; Peter Earl, a Parker House ,vatchn1an,
s,vore that he put Sam to bed Sunday night, and
vVillian1 Jackson kne\v him to have been in bed at
the tin1e. But it \vould not do; Sam ,vas found
guilty of every charge, and eight others of one or
more counts of the indictment.
After the conviction of the captured Regulators
the question arose ho,v they should be punished.
Son18 ,vere for having thenl hanged, othe:rs for having
then1 ,vhipped upon the public plaza and banished,
and others simply for having thelll banished and
given to understand that if they ever returned they
,vould be executed. Roberts ,vas first sentenced to
ten years in some penitentiary, \vherever t.he terri-
torial governor of California should direct, and the
others ,vere ordered punished by fines and in1prison-
n1ent of various an10unts and terlns. The infliction
of the several penalties being found Ïlnpracticable,
and the people having gone about their business,
80n10 of the prisoners ,vere shipped a,vay and the
others discharged. The gang however \vas broken
up, and crime for the mOlnent checked. Many of the
Regulators took their departure for the Inines, son1e
of \vhom there met the fate ,vhich they so richly
deserved. The 111iners had a shorter path from mur-

,y
-\R O
FOREIG XER:3.

101

del' to the gallows than the San Franci
co lnerchants
had vet found.
oJ
This outrage of the Regulators ,vas not an ordinary
riot perpetrated in a 1110ment of excitement, but a
coolly planned conspiracy against a peaceable and
peace-loving con1illunitJ'. Under the existing la"T s
of the lTnited States, foreigners had the same rights
in California as ..L\.merican citizens, and "
antonly to
injure them \yas in the highest degree crinlinal. X ot
that any special sympathy is due the class against
,vhom their ,vrath ,vas kindled. The Chileans and
Peru vians 'v ho infested the to,vns and rifled the
Foothills of their treasures ,vere 100\y enough in the
scale of humanity; by instinct and association they
,vere lazy, ignorant, and deceitful, and they seldom
scrupled at any crime they might ,vith certainty cover.
"Tith the le,vd ',"Olnen brought hither by them, and
,vho ,vere little better than chattels, they lived on
infamous earnings; their tents "
ere dens of iniquity;
and if the Hounds had extirpated them, and had then
themselves been hanged for it, society ","'ould have been
the gainer.
But these foreigners "
ere human beings, and a<:1
such entitled to humane treatn1ent at the hands of
professedly hU1l1ane men. The lo,,"er their estate,
the less tamely fair-1l1inded and honorable citizens
,vould stand by and see them "
antonly lnaltreated.
That they ,yere the scum of other societies and a
curse to ours; that their touch ,vas pollution and
their presence moral disease, and that their absence
,yould be a blessing, ,vere perhaps among the reasons
,vhy the Society of Regulators enjoyed so lengthy an
existence. But the per
ecution of a class ,yas a very
different matter from the pUllishn1ent of criminals;
the former "as based on rank injustice, ,vhich would
certainly recoil alike on innocent and guilty, and
it must end. Right nobly did the people of San
Francisco thus early vindicate their integrity and
fair fame, rallying to the help of do,,
n-trodden justice.

102

THE SOCIETY OF REGULATORS,

In this, the foreshado\ving of that deterrnined sense
of truth and equity, that pointed s,viftness of action
so characteristic of California con1mittees of vigilance,
the primary po\ver of society seated itself on the bench
beside limp and inept law, and grasping in one hand
the criminal and in the other the constable, it swore
perpetual divorce from public villainy.

CHAPTER VII.

THE ADVENT OF LAW,

Thou say'st an undisputed thing
In such a solemn way.
Oliver JVendell Holmes.

ALTHOUGH the ..American flag ,vas hoisted by Cap-
tain l\fontgomery in the plaza of Yerba Buena the
9th of July, 1846, two da'ys after it had been raised at
l\Ionterey by COIDlnodore Sloat, it ,,-ras not until after
the cession of California by
Iexico to the United
States, about the time of the gold discovery, that
Inuch ,vas said or thought about government. The
thri vil1g little hamlet that bordered the Cove, in
January, 1847, dropped its modest name of Yerba
. Buena for the original and lllore pretentious one of
San Francisco, lllade fan10us by the
Iission, Presidio,
and Bay. This to,vn and the mission settlements
southward boasted their alcalde or justice of the
peace, and some of them an ayuntamiento or tOWIl
council, ,vhile the country at large ,vas held by a
nlilitary governor, whose ru]e, however, amounted to
little, even along the seaboard, and ,vas felt scarcely
at all by the scattered and erratic gold-hunters.
Says the first nUlnber of the California 8ta1'", pub-
lished at Yerba Buena January 9, 1847:

"We hear the inquiry almost every hour during the day, "Vhat laws are
we to be governed by?' We have invariably told those who put the question
to us, 'If anybody asks you, tell them you don't know,' because we were un-
willing to express an opinion in relation to the laws in force ill this territory,
knowing as we did that probably during the day the same persons would he
told at the alcalde's office or elsewhere that' no particular law is ill force in
( 103 )

104

THE ADYEXT OF LA'V.

Yerba Buena, though there may be in other places in the territory, and that
. all suits are now d
cidcd according to the alcalde's notions of justice, without
regard to law or the established rules governing courts of equity.' The
written laws of the country can easily be obtained and published, and for the
convenience of the people it ought to be done at once. The people are now
in the situation of thc subjects of the tyrant who had his laws written, but
placerl them so high that they could not be read by the people, consequently
many ignorantly violated them, and lost their lives and property. Commodore
Stockton ha.ving been clothed with power to organize a territorial government
in Califon1Ïa, his I>roclamation settles the law in this country for the present,
and ought to be regarded as the paramount law by all our courts. "

This ralnbling statement signifies little beyond the
ranlbling conceptions ,vhich even an editor then enter-
tained of the la,vs under \vhich he lived. vVhen he
speaks of the existence of ,vritten la,vs, he nlust refer
first to the laws of Spain and Mexico, and secondly to
the la\vs of England and the United States, for he
must surely have known that neither the alcalde of
Yerba Buena, nor the whilom government at Mon-
terey, nor Comnlodore Stockton, had any local la,vs
fit for the regulation of present affairs in California.
In a ,vord, like the ,vorld in the beginning, la,v ,vas
without form and void.
Until the ,val' should terminate, it was to be ex-
pected that the con1n1andant of the military district
would act as governor; and though his authority ,vas
vague and anolnalous, it ,vas cheerfully recognized by
all except those whom it was intended to restrict or
punish.
But lllilitary rule ,vas utterly of no avail in pre-
venting or punishing crilne throughout the country.
It could not even Inaintain its o,vn integrity, or over-
take deserters fronl its ranks. I t could offer rewards
for human heads; but la,vlessness ,vas not thus to
be restrained. As ,veIl rnight the military governor
of California expect by such Ineans to win souls fronl
purgatory as that his feeble proclamations ,vould staJT
the ,vild orgy of the Inferno. The Inilitary and naval
cOffilnandants recognized in the people a right, nay,
enjoined it as a duty, to choose 111agistrates and pro-

)IILITARY RULE.

10':;

vide themselves a government; but thiB ,vas frequently
coupled ,vith a recommendation for delay until it could
be ascertained ,vhether congress had concluded or ,vas
about to conclude the long-looked for organization.

It will be remembered that ,vhen gold ,vas first
discovered Colonel
Iason ruled at
Ionterey. In
anticipation of the failure of congress to provide a
government, a call ,vas made for the people to come
fu,vard and discuss matters relative to their anomalous

ituation. By a treaty of peace the country had been
ceded to the United States, and the president had
recommended to congress the extension of the la1Ys
of the United States over the ne,vly acquired domain,
but that recommendation had not yet been acted on,
ànd at the time of the gold discovery the people of
California were ,vithout the court machinery neces-
sary for the protection of their lives and property.
Crime ,vas on the increase; hordes 'v ere hurrying
hither confusedly, ,vhich a well organized government
,vith a perfect police system woulJ find difficulty
enough in restraining. "\Vhat then ,vollld the ruffians
"not do if left to then1selves, and what ,vas to become
of citizens and the country generally? The people of
California could not account for this ill-timed neglect
on the part of congress to provide them a government,
until they found the black man at the bottonl of it.

Ieetings ,vere held at San Jose the 11th of De-
cember, 1848, at San Francisco ten days later, and at
Sacramento the 6th of January, 1849, to take into
consideration the propriety of organizing a provisional
government for the so-called territory of California.
.L
day ,vas fixed for the election of delegates to a
con\ention for the adoption of a territorial or state
constitution, \vhich ,vas to be submitted for ratifica-
tion to the people and sent to congress for approval.
Disagreements arising, however, proceedings ,vere dis-
continued.
By the Gal iforula, the first steamship to enter San

106

THE ADVENT OF LA"....

Francisco Bay, arrived General Persifer F. Smith
the
8th of February, 1849, ,vho iInmediatelyassumed
cOlnn1and. He ,vas succeeded the 13th of April fol-
lo,vin a by General Riley. It was no,v time, the
peopl
thought, that civil la\v should be established
in this territory. The tilne of ,var, during ,vhich
alone the president possessed the constitutional right
to govern a territory by the simple mandate of a
military officer, was over, and a forcible, practical
governnlent ,vas nowhere on earth more needed.
While congress ,vas disputing over the vexed ques-
tion of slavery in the ne\v territory, the people grew
first Ï1npatient, then indignant.
So eager for office and its spoils were the polls
manipulators that in January, 1849, there were in
San Francisco no less than three to\vn councils at one
time. In the absence of state legislation or federal
regard, it was sometimes difficult for the Inunicipali-
ties to tell ,vho were the rulers if any such existed.
The old council of 1848 held over on the ground that
its terln had not expired. Of those opposed to it,
one clique affirllled that its tinle expired the 27th of
Decelnber, 1848, and another the 15th of January,
1849, and they elected men ,vho took their seats
accordingly.
\. month later the citizens met and
petitioned both of the ne,vly elected councils to resign,
,vhich they did. A district legislative assenlbly and
three justices of the peace were then elected. On
the 4th of June General Riley issued a proclamation
declaring the election of the district legislature illegal,
and reinstating the ayuntamiento of 1848.
General Riley did ,vhat he could to soothe and
smooth. He said that congress did not mean to neg-
lect California, nor did the president then regard the
territory as subject to n1ilitary rule. The old Mex-
ican la 'v then recognized in California, he explained,
in the absence of a properly appointed governor by
the suprenle government, vested authority in the
Inilitary comlnander of the departll1ent, a secretary,

GOVERSOR, LEGI-:;LATORS, _-L"\'"D J"L""DGES. 107

a terl'itoriallegislature, a superior court consisting of
four judges, a prefect, sub-prefect, and judge of first
instance for each district, and alcaldes and a yun-
tamientos for the towns.
Iany of these offices were
no,," vacant, and he recommended that they should
be filled by an election to be held the 1 st day of
.....t\..ugust, 1849. He recommended, furthermore, the
choosing of thirty-seven delegates to a constitutional
convention from the ten districts into which the
territory ,yas divided for election purposes.
\..mid
t a
general apathy on the part of the voters the election
,vas held as appointed, and the convention met at

Ionterey the 1st of September follo,ving.
In the absence of a state legislative body the alcalde
and ayuntamiento of San Francisco claimed supreme
authority in that district, and it "
as expected that
all their legitimate act;:; ,,-ould be
anctionec1 by the
acting governor and confirmed by future legislation.
The treasury being enlpty, the new municipal officers
applied them
el yes to fill it.
The first money received "
as appropriated for the
purchase of a dismantled brig, called the EI1plzelnia,
then lying in the Cove about ,vhere no,v is Front
street. The object of this purchase ,vas to convert
the vessel into a prison, so that the town might have
a place in which to confine its criminals. Thi
,va

early in August; and the vessel ,,-as turned into a
jail, ,vhich was then the only prison the town could
boa
t. California desired admission at once into the
federal union.
The 13th of :November, a state constitution was
adopted, and a governor, judges of the supreme court,
and other state officers elected, and state and federal
legislators chosen. Party politics in this state wa '-3
first manifest at this election. The business of the
alcalde of San Francisco increasing, a tribunal called
the Court of First Instance "
as established early
in December, with ,Yïlliam B. .....-Umond as judge.
This court ,vas held in an old school-house on the

108

THE ADVENT OF LA ,Yo

plaza, and decided cases involving not less than one
hundred <lollars after a fashion of its o,vn.
The first California legislature, surnan1ed the Legis-
lature of a Thousand Drinks, n1et at San J osé one
lllonth after election and continued in session four
Inonths. General Riley illllnediately placed in the
hands of the newly elected governor the territorial
archives, and surrendered to him the adnlÏnistration
of civil affairs. Though not yet a state, California
,vas v.ery sure, as she thought, soon to become one,
and adopted measures accordingly. The legislature
proceeded at once to business as if congress had al-
ready acted on her admission. A judiciary ,vas estab-
lished and all the offices required by the constitution
\vere created. Foreigners ,vho had not become natu-
ralized citizens ,vere required to pay a license be-
fore ,,"orking the n1ines, a measure productive of
lllore trouble than profit. The penalty of lnurder
alone ,vas death; and for sending or accepting a chal-
lenge to fight a duel there should be fine and Ï1n-
'prisonlnent. The state ,vas divided into counties; the
incorporation of to,vns and cities ,vas authorized, and
to San Francisco ,vas given a charter.
The first election of officers for the county of San
]"rancisco took place on the 1st of April, 1850, ,vhen
a sheriff, judge, recorder, surveyor, treasurer, and
other officials ,vere chosen. The IIlanner of this elec-
tion ,vas characteristic of the tÏ1nes, and shows to
'v hat length candidates for office then ,vent to secure
their election. For the office of sheriff there were
three candidates -J. To,vnes, ,,-hig; J. J. Bryant,
delllocrat; and John C. Hays, independent. All
,,?ere on an equality in having the title of 'colonel'
prefixed to their names. Bryant kept a hotel and
had n10ney; Hays was a dashing Texas ranger and
had friends; To,vnes had nothing and ,vas early out
of the contest. Ilnn1ediatel y he was non1inated
Bryant decorated his tavern ,vith flags, placed a ban<l
of 111u:-;ic upon the balcony, served free lunches in the

J
-\CK HAYES, SHERIFF.

IO!)

saloon, and distributed drinks ad infin'itum. This ,vas
continued daily ,vith prospects of the most flatterin o '
succcss up to the day of election. There ,vere el

thusiastic meetings ,vith cloquent speakers and fine
parades, torch-light processions, illuminations, horses,
carriages, transparencies, banners, and all the para-
phernalia of the hustings. The people were as full of
enthusiasnl as the candidates; it being to them a
matter of vital importance under ,vhich of these t,vo
gentlelllen the city should be bled.
A.s the time drè"" nigh, the Hays part}T became
despondent. The combined po,ver of those Inighty
elements, money and rUIn, ,vere beyond the puny
efforts of man to combat. ....\..t the polls Bryant and
his partisans ,vere more than ever elated. The day
,vas theirs beyond question. All ,vas lost ,vith Colonel
Jack. But hold r \Vhat is this? "That new deyiltry
has the Texan concocted 1 For suddenly amidst the
excited throng that gathered in and around the plaza
appeared a mounted horseman, in the character of a
Texan ranger. The clean-limbed fiery steed "'"as
brilliant black and richly caparisoned; the rider sat
érect, ,vith uncovered head, and performed a succession
of difficult feats ,,"ith consummate grace and skill.
The rabble cro,vded round in senseless adnliration.
Drums beat, trumpets sounded, and loud acclamations
arose from the delighted multitude. The horse be-
coming excited, at length cleared himself froln the
cro\vd, and dashed do,vn the street at full speed.
This ,vas enough. No better proof of the fitness of
the r)andidate for high position and Ï1nportant trust
"'"a8 possible. "That ,yonder that officers so electeà,
and by such electors, should look lightly on puritan
principles and scrupulous justice as compared ,vith
,veIl-filled pockets, chanlpagne suppers, and happy
harlotino's! At the elcction ordered by Goyernor
ð v
Riley the 1st of August, Horace Ha,ves had been
chosen prefect. It ,vas an office of his o,,"'n creating,
and the duties of the incunlbent ,vere subsequently

]10

THE ADVENT OF LA'V.

of his o,vn defining. The duties of a prefect he
declared were "to take care of public order and
tranquillity; to publish and circulate, "\vithout delay,
observe, enforce, and cause to be observed and en-
forcod, the la,vs, throughout their respective districts;
and for the execution of these duties they are clothed
,vith certain po,vers, 'v hich are clearly specified and
defined. They are particularly enjoined to attend to
the subject of public instruction, and see that C01111nOn
schools be not "ranting in any of the to,vns of their
respective districts. They are also required to pro-
pose Ineasures for the encouragement of agriculture,
and all branches of industry, instruction, and public
beneficence, and for the execution of new ,yorks of
public utility and the repair of old ones. They con-
stitute the ordinary channel of communication between
the governor and the authorities of the district, and
are to c0111IDunicate all representations coming from
the latter, accon1panied with the necessary informa-
t . "
.lon.
There is but one remove, it is said, bet,veen a phi-
Iosopller and a fool; and tall, gaunt Horace Ha,ves
could play the ono or the other, as occasion required.
He ,vas the most foolish philosopher and the IllOSt
philosophic fool San Francisco has ever supported.
His intellect ,vas clear, his logic practical, his argu-
111cnts conclusive, as the follo,ving incident testifies.
When Benjanlin Burgoyne ,vas to,vn treasurer,
I-Ia,ves presented for payment a bill which he had
held for some tinle waiting the appearance of funds
in the usually elnpty Inunicipal llloney - box, and
said: "Burgoyne, I ,vant you to pay that bill." The
1110ney ,vas counted out and the treasurer remarked:
"1\fr Ha,ves, ,vill you please sign this voucher1"
IIa,ves complied, and started off; but turning back,
as if struck by a sudden thought, he exclaimed:
"Burgoyne, let 111e see that paper." The treasurer
handed hinl the bill and the voucher ,vhich he had
signed, ,vhen Ha,ves thrust them into his pocket ,vith

CHEAP OFFICIALS.

III

the Inone)"'" ,vhich he had received. Said Burgoyne,
"That bill is mine." Straightening himself to his full
height, and t\visting his features into a terrible scowl,
Hawes exclaimed: " I am prefect, sir, and ex o.lficio
custodian of all papers t"
I shall have occasion to mention the name of ßIr
Ha"\"\Tes again in this ,vork; but I will say here, that
not,vithstanding his peculiarities, he ,vas one of the
best and purest legislators the country ever had.
California's admission into the Union, the 9th of
September, 1850, ,yas the occasion of great rejoicing
in San Francisco and throughout the state. Indeed
so elated were the members of the tw'"o boards of
aldermen that they voted themselves each a beautiful
g?ld lnedal as a present from the city of San Fran-
CISCO.

Thus nominally the la,v spread its ægis over the
communities of California. But there was no great
benefit in it. The chief tnwns responded freely to
gubernatorial calls, but little attention ,vas paid by
the lesser camps to the adoption of a constitution, the
. organization of law-courts, or the meeting of legisla-
tive assemblies. Little by little the garment of con-
yentionality ,yas thro,vn over these ne,v cOlnmunities,
but it ,vas ill-fitting, ill-adapted to those social abnor-
mities ,vhich it ,vas never made for, and hence ,vas
for the nlost part thro"Tn aside as useless. Although
the people ,vere patriotic enough, none but the more
"
orthless ,yould deny their gold-gathering proclivities
for the gratification of political honor. I t "'"as easJ
to find men to fill the higher offices of government,
such as governor, judge, or receiver of public funds;
there ,yere plenty of lllen too lazy to work, and ,yith-
out sufficient ,vit to live upon, who for salary or per-
quisites ,vould accept office, but intelligent honest
nlell to fill the place of inferior functionaries at paltry
salaries ,vere not forthcoming. The pay of a menlber
of congress "Tas then but eight dollar
a day, and a

112

THE ADVENT OF LA'V.

California gold-digger \vould abantlon in disdain a
claÏ1n that did not yield him t\vice as Illuch.
Long before good governlnent and la,v-courts could
be established there the Foothills \yere flooded by
a gold-thirsty hUlllanity. In the absence of good
la ,vs ,veIl adnlinistered the people of the mining dis-
tricts were 0 bliged to make la ws for theu1sel ves.
This they did in the silllplest Inanner and ,vith a vicw
to the imlllediate attainment of justice. Thefts ana
lTIurders ,vere quickly follo\ved by ,vhipping or hang-
ing. These crude self-constituted tribunals were soon
the terror of evil-doers, who thereupon becaIlle aware
that it ,vas better to ,york and be honest than to steal
and be hanged.
The community being thus purged of its criminals
in the absence of la 'v, la 'v next becolnes criminal
anù scourges the people through the 111ediun1 of its
ministers. Every member of society ,vas amenable
to the la,v except officers of the law and their friends.
Plutarch tells us that ",vhen Anacharsis heard \vhat
Solon ,vas doing, he laughed at the folly of thinking
that he could restrain the unjust proceedings and
avarico of its citizens Ly \vritten laws, ,vhich he said
resenlblec1 in every ,yay spiders' \vebs, and ,vould, like
theIn, catch and hold only the poor and ,veak, while
the rich and powerful would easily break through
theIn." After the trial and conviction of Socrates his
judges turned to him, according to the custom at
Athens, and told him he n1ight bid for his life; so in
these early San Francisco courts at almost any stage
of proceedings the defendant might buy an acquittal
\vith llloney. And here as in Rome, false accusations
were s0l11ütinles made against good men, such as
Pliny conlplained of in Regulus, \vho of all two-footed
creatures ,vas called the wickedest.

CHAPTER 'TIll.

CH...llL-\.CTERISTICS OF CRI
IE I
CALIFORXL.\..

Ay, do despise me. I'm the prouder for it;
I like to be despised.

Bickerstaff.

OBVIOCSL y the peculiarities of crime in California
arose fronl the peculiarities of conditions. Bees
make their cells cylindrical, but mechanical pressure
gives them a hexagonal form. So it is \,
ith crillle and
criminals; the villain lays his plans smooth and round,
but cirCUlllstances pre;:,;:, them into other shape:-;.
Physicists tell us riot only that molecules exi
t, but
that every molecule has its indi,
iduality; and thi.,

,vhether atoms are born of and developed from pre-
exi
ting forms, "y hether matter is or is not self-existent
ahd eternal, or whether matter nlay or may not be
reduced to force alone. As different phases of matter
in the body act chemically ,yhen brought together so
as to produce different kinch; of substance, so phases
of mind, or constituent qualities, acting under the
chemistry of human nature, yield their several mood'3
and affections. There are t\yO liquids \yhich united
become solid; there are two cold substances ,vhjch
united produce heat; there are t\VO eyils ",
hich make
a good. There is nothing that crushes lllanhood
and keeps mind debased like ancient forms and super-
stitions. It is alilong the conser\ative elements of
state, church, and society that \ve find fashion domi-
nating sound sense and good principles, that we find
form nlore c
teemed than godlines:s or s\veet charity.
And it i
not necessary, in order to be sustained in
POP. TBIB.. VOL. I. 8 (113)

114 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRI:v1Z I

CALIFORXIA.

this antique 111unl111ery, to nlake of the creator a d{Ju.

ex 1nac!u'JlCl, ,vho Inay by hlul1an expostulations suffi-
ciently loud or logical be induced to interfere in the
,vorkinO's of the la,vs ,vhich he has nuu:1e; so in order
ü . .
to be rid of the tyranny It IS not necessary to dony
the pOR
ibility of unexpected fortunate occurrences.
There ,vas other escape fi'onl this 111ental incubus in
the year of grace 184!), ,vhich ,vas to encamp anlong
the Sierra Foothills.
In the l1leloJrau1a no,v being played the scenes
,vere drainatic beyond description. The actors and
their parts ,vere as varied as hUlnan nature and
anonlalous cirCUlllstance could produce. COllledy,yLts
tragie, and tragedy cUIuic; on the
anle board in
sinlultaneous declaillation ,vere hero, clo,vn, and
heavy yillain, ,vho ,vith the plodding people as a prey
presented a perforinance L'1scinating in the extrelne.
Not that California ,vas particularly bad; not that
thore ,vas less good than evil abroad; not that San
Francisco ,vas ,vorse than any other seaport city, or
,yorse then tha,ll no,v. The tiules ,vere fresher thcn,
and the lately unfettered nature of the people ,vas
nlore pronounced; but for looseness of 11lorals, political
and social, for unprincipled cunning on all sides, un-
blushing rascality in high places, a lavish expendituro
of Illoney by the ,vealthy in order to dellloraIize.Ia 'v
and defeat the ends of justice, conl111end 111e to the
present till1e. The tyrannie8 uf feudalisnl ,vere tanle
as conlparcd ,vith the infa,Inics of tÌle political ana in-
dustriallnagnates of to-day; for, as Thurydidcs says,
"it is more disgraceful for men in high office to
ilnprove their private fortune Ly specious fraud than
by open violence.
Iight n1akes right in the one case;
\vhilc in the other, n1an thro,vs over his proceedings
the cloak of despicable cunning."
In the earlier social fermentations, the ,vickeJness
innate in every c01l1n1unity ,vas nlore visibly apparent
upon the surface. The nlen composing the C01l1111U-
nity,vere for the most part, as I ha.ve before observed,

HIDDEX _l.X-D OPEX YICE.

11:)

from the better \,alks of life, nlen of intelligence and
fair training. Their instincts and their a
piration'j
"
ere a
a rule noble. The peculiarity of their po
i-
tion lay chiefly in the fact that they ,,,ere \"ithout la\v
or gOyernll1ent. They \"ere not \yild beast
or sa \T_
ages; therefore they needed rule. In the ab
ence of
indigenous institution" in the heterogeneous ëharacter
of this social conlpound, in the diversity of thought and
cu::-;toms, and in the varieties of opinion here lllingle<-l,
if eyer
trong rule \vas needed it \vas over thi
COll-
glome.ration of ciyilized men living almo
t in a
tate of
sa ,-aglslli.
I n the absence of a ruler every Ulan \vas hi:; o\vn
despot; each did what ",vas good in his o\vn eye
.
There \vere not even those social restraint
so es....en-
tial to good behayior, and w"hich are indeed stronger
than the strongest la\,. Hence it \vas that llli
Lè-
havior \Ya
unblu
hingly open. It lllakes a vast differ-
ence to refined civilization, eyen to æsthetic religion,
,,-hether breache
of conventionalisllls be hidden vr
open, ,\\Thether the
enator has ðeven nli
tre::,se
in
"T ashillgton, or the saint as many \yives in Salt Lake
eitv.
The superabundant \vickedness of to-day \ye hide
a\yay, and affect not to see it. "T e pa:s
la\Y:S again:-:t
gambling, against prostitution, against all the nlore
repulsiye forills of vice, and then \yith pious prudery
nlake the bare lllention of
uch obnoxiou
è\
il:-; profane
to ears polite. )Iean,,
hile, nursing our
ecret
in:-\,
lying in \vait for opportunity of advantage o'
er our
neighbor, hardening our heart to the nli
fortunc;:, of
other
1 do \ve not, under coyer of decency and respecta-
Lility, indulge in all the lu-sts and passions ,,-hich \ye
so sanctillloniou
l.r condenul in open offenders? In
society everv\v here \ye
ee certain of the nlocleratel v
L 0.1 ..
\vicked execrated, \yhile others infinitely III ore \vickecl
are lightly blamed. The fornls that hicÏe the hiòeou
-
ne:-,
of vice cover brutality, and put on the appearance
of virtue. There is a drapery beneath "Thich shanle

llG CHARACTERISTICS OF CRI
lE IN CALIFORXIA.

,vill not creep. N either religion, InoralitJ, nor la,v is
the 1110st po,verfullever of our present sociallnechan-
ics; lllake sin unfashionable if you ,vould eradicate it.
Break all the llloralla,vs you please, but be,vare ho,v
you tread upon the toes of society. Do you ,vish to
steal? Do it legally and successfully, as a rail,vay or
land lll-onopolist, and you ,viII be adulated in your ill-
gotten ,vealth. There are 1110re refined ,vays of
killing than ,vith knife or pistol; affection, character,

llnbition n1ay be slain, leaving the skeleton of de-
parted hopes to stalk the earth as in the pale nlooulit
streets of a ghostly city; and though such deeds be
dastardly, society does not heed theln so long as they
are not ungenteel, or bunglingly done. SOlTIe 111ay
be governed n10re or less by au abstract sense of right,
based on lTIoral or religious ideals, but these forln a
FìlllaH pa.rt of any c01l1n1unity. l\lany more think
their action
are regulated by SOlne such sentin1ent
,vho11 it is really not the fact.

Every age and nation has its individuality, has
some leading form of virtue or rudilTIentary excellence,
possessing ,vhich, in the eyes of society, the individual
is virtuous and excellent., and lacking 'v hich he is
anathen1atized. The standard of excellence lTIay be
at one tinle courage; at another, religion, birth, caste,
learuing, patriotism, and the like: each in its turn
takes its place as the lTIoral ideal. And this ideal
is constantly undergoing change. For exalnple, the
virtues essential in Spain, four centuries ago, are not
the essential virtues of christendoln to-day. Then
obedience ,vas the superior charnl of ,von1an; nu\v it
iH chastity. Then blind loyalty best became the good
citizen; no,v there are lllen of good conduct and
character ,vho question the ilnmutability of anyone
set of ci viI or ecclesiastical forms.
SÏInilar forms in character may be generated frolll
different causes. Thus Olle nation is conscientiou

and honest fron1 habits inculcated by a life of labor

RELATIYE )IORALITIES.

117

and deprivation; another from religious or superstitiou

IllOtiycs. .L\. long life of painful self-sacrifice or devo-
tion to a ca use Inay spring from a det;ire to please God,
or tì"om a desire to please one's self. But ,vhatsoever
its genesis, it is this moral ideal that gives concretion
to
ociety and force to forin.
The la" takes little cognizance of the relative good-
nCSB and badness of human nature. In its eyes a nlan
i-.; ,,-holly good or ,,
hony Lad. It dra\ys a line, and
all \yho happen to be on one side are doomed to jail

and penitentiaries, ,vhile those on the other
iJe may
go free. The greater part of the human fanlily hover
near this line. The good are not very good nor the
bad very bad. The la,," sho\ys little discernnlent in
its separations. There are many on either side \\
ho
rightly belong on the other. Often a little luore
villainy \youltl save one from the gallo,,
s, and a little
l110re benevolence ,,
ould send many an uncondenlnecl
criulinal thither.
Back fronl the line some distance \ve find the ex-
treules. Take one each of these, place them side Ly
side, the greatest saint and the greatest
inner; then
eonlpare and analyze. :Jlany qualities ,,-e find COlll-
lU011 in both, such as patience, application, kno,yledge,
skill, courage, self-denial, affection, anù a hundreLl
nlore. The difference in their natures may be very
slight, so slight, indeed, that a penny\veight more or
le
s of this prejudice or passion, or of that bent of
intellect or strength of physique, \vas all that stood
originally bet\veen the paths that later led to a prison
and to a pulpit. .As in nature, so in man, the product
depend
entirely on the mixture of elemental prin-
ciples and the incidents generated therefrom by enyi-
ronment.
..L-\. life of crirne per se is seldom chosen by the ,vorst
Inan. Crilne i::; o-enerall v the result of ignorance or
o LI '--'
pa

ion. The consequence is either not kno,yn or not
considered. .L.\.ggregations of nlen may llo that ,,-ith
illlpUllity for ,vhich inJiyiduals so offending ,,
ould

118 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRI:\iE I
CALIFORNIA.

be sevcrely puni:5hed. What is ,yar but ,vholesale
111urder? Ho,," differs corporation frolH individual
s,vindling
In early California personal surroundings
,vere
o different from any hitherto experienced that
one found one's self in the n1Ïdst of a thousand tenlpta-
tions. .And yet California Inade very fe,," Iilen bad;
lnost bad lllen ,,"'ere such before conling hither. Every
one ,vas here ,vith an avo\ved ubject, the acculllulation
of ,vealth; hence the one ,vho scraped together the
lllost gold ,vas the best Inan. This passion being of
the baser sort, in the absence of those restraining in-
fluences usually attending individuals so far advanced
in culture as these: their haser part appeared upon
the surface, n1ingleJ ,vith their better part in a
degree unparalleled in the gro\yth of cOlIllllunities.
They ,vould have IHoney; nlorality \\
as a different
and cOlnparati vely insignificant nlatter. The po\ver
of ,vealth ,vas all the respectability necessary. They
,vould indulge their passions as they plea:-;ecl, SOlue in
oue ,va y and son1e in another; and as long as a luan
paid his debts he ,vas not open to serious censure.
Thus in the association of these heroes of the golden
calf, ,,"'ith the attendant elenlents of pugilistic chivalry
and brute force, ,vas seen ,vhat ,ve lllight call a 11lodern
age of antique interll1ixtures, a conlbination of the
golden age, the heroic age, and the stone age, ,vith
latter-day liberalized 1110difications.

Crilne here had an individuality not less pro-
nounced than the peculiarities of the people. In
character anJ quality it partook of the nature of the
titues. Its origin ,vas as often yani ty and hot blood
as it ,vas cool, calculating cupidity. There ,vas a chiv-
alrous hearin
anLI dash about it ,vhich to nULny V{<1S
elltieing. The danger of it ,vas charn1Ìng; the ficlJ
for atrocious alnbition \vas ,vide; 111urderers delightû<l
in the Inag-nitude of their achievcnlents, notching the
llun1bcr uf their victinls on the hilt of knife or pi:-;toI.
Theft \va
Lase, un\vorthy a true knave-errant. vVhen

THEFT
\
l) )ICRDER.

119

men did bteal, it ""35 in a sort of luagnificent style,
such as high,,"ay robbery, unearthing bag:-; of Luried
gold-Just, or for rcyenge. There wa:-5 glory even in
failure; the captured cl'Ïn1Ïnal ,,-as for the time a hero,
the obseryed of all.
Ien eyed hilll; \yornen talked
of hinl; editors \yrote of him. Bu
inebs ""a
dropped,
and \y hiskey drunk, and court-rooms \yere filled, and
urief::; "Titten, all for him. Jails \rere opened fer hinl
and tì"ee accoill111odations furnished. He ,,-as the
guest of the to\YI1. For hiIll :;heriH:-:, bustled, jurie

sat, la \yyerB ranted, judges looked grave; and even
if he ,yas hanged there ,vas something fla tterin a in
. 0
the punlshlnent.
There \V
lS a bubdued audacit\T in the fiahtino- Illen
J 0 ð
of California. The blu
tering Eng-lishulan had not
hid counterpart here, nor the \vild lri::;hman, nor the
half-crazed Frenchnlan, nor the border ruffian of Ran-
sa:::; or :Jliððissippi. There \vas much of the gentlelllan
about them, in many much that "-as chivalroui'5. The
true Californian desperado ,yas a lllild-nlannered Inan,
gentle in delneanor, not given to much drink, and
though about to cut you in piece:-;, he greeted you ,,-ith
.a ':;luile of sarJonic s\yeetness. ..L-\.s a rule he patronized
the barber, S l )orted a ,,-hite shirt and neatly fittiuO'
'" <:::>
and ,yell polished French boot::;; and ,yhen carrying
the honors of a fre::;h murder he sometiules indulged
in kid gloves.
S,yilldling, the Lilliputians punished nlore severely
than theft, because it 'Ya
ea
ier, they 8aid, to protect
their property from thieves than frol11 cunning and
unprincipled persons ,,
ho perpetrated their villainies
,,-ithin the pale of la,,,". In like 111anner the Califor-
nian:-s puni::;hed theft more than nlurder, becau::-e Blen
carried their liy"es about ,,-ith theIn, and might defend
theIn, but propert
v left to itself ,yas defenceleb
.
The easy, open,
clf-réliant di
position of the people;
their f()nllnè
s for har
h word::;, though ::'0 often acconl-
panicd by gentle deeds, their hot blood and hatred
for ,vhat.,oever in appearance ".H3 craycn, the exposed

120 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRL\lE IN CALIFO:al\J:A..

condition of Illen and 1l10ney, the free use of strong
(b"ink, and the necessity felt of al,vays going arn1ed,
"
ere aIllon<)' the chief cau
es uf blood y affrays; and
ð L
,y hen "YOlnan c[nne, as ever in the history of the race,
she ,vas a ne,y and fruitful source of deadly encounter.
Thus it "
as that crin1es against the person ,,,,ere
n101'e general than crin1es against property; and one
cause of it n1ay be traced to the grand opportunity
for the evolution of avarice ,,,,hich ''''a
of}ered by
gan1Lling. In professional parlance, the dead-broke
D1an could aln10st al,vays, by Lorro,ving, or ,vorking a
little, raise a stake, a' d thus find gratification for
that covetous greed "Yhich, ,,,,ithout this opportunity
and exciten1ent, 111Ust lead to schelnes of darkness.

Ioreover, "There every man ,vas obliged to defend
hil11self, and in a n1easure to right his o,vn ,vrongs,
greater license ,vas allo,,,,ed in the en1ployn1ent of
deadly ,veapons. When rifles, revolvers, and bo,vie-
knives ,vere the fashion, ,,,,hen no -one ,vas supposed
to be decently dressed ,vithout theIn, it ,vere a little
singular if one should never be allo,ved to use theine
Hence it ,vas that crin1es of violence, the rcsult of
excited passion arising fronl strong Jrink, ganlbling,
fancied ''''rong and insult, ,vere more COllllnon and less
severely puni
hed than crin18s displaying innate Inean-
ncss. There ,vas no necessity for stealing; foud ,vas
plentiful and easily obtained, very little clothing ,vas
necessary, life in the open air ,vas delightful, and ,york
,vas honorable; on the face of earth there ,valked, in
his opinion, no n1an 1110rC noble than the honest Inincr,
even though his ,voollen shirt ,vas never \vashed; and
to strike a hearty, n1anly blo,v for ,,'"hiskey or opinion's
sake, even though
on1ebody died in cun
e(luence, ,,,"as
quite different froln the sneaking 1110anness of the

lexican cattle thief. On the other hand, those very
causes ",. hich din1inished theft incrcased pcrsonal
violence. Freeness of life an<l nlanner, still1ulating
drinks, stilllulatin f ), air , absence of soC'ial restrictions,
ð
all tended to the turning loose of passion, and to that

IXFLCEXCL OF DEADLY
APOXS.

121

gT'atiGc2.tion of appetite ,,
hich breeds licentiousness
and blo,vs. lIenee it ,vas that in the earlier staO'es
ð
of arbitrary J 'ustice the thief ,vas hanO'cd ,vhile the

0
lllurderer "as left to run at large.

In 1875 the carrying of deadly ,veapons ,yithout
special perl1lission ,vas forbidden in San Francisco;
since ,y hich time hundreds of applications for such
perll1ission have been made and granted. It has
been questioned ,vhether under this la, v the safety
of the citizen or of the robber is the better secured.
:Jlen of nocturnal occupations, and those living ia
lonely suburbs, deenled it necessary to go 'heeled,'
as hoodlun1s say; but tho permits issued becanle t;O
nunlerous as to include many ,vhose intentions ,vere
assault rather than defcnc
. Coercive la,vs, such
as restrict the innocent action of responsible 111en;
SUlllptuary la,vs, la,ys against intemperance and im-
lllorality, never ,viII regenerate society. He ,vho
desires to do murder ,viII not hesitate to break the
lessor la,y against carrying ,veapons.
.LL\..s in savagisn1 ornanlent precedes dress, so in
border cOlllnlunities deadly "eapons precede the Ï1n-
plelnents of legal justice. Everybody, during the
Inferno, the disreputable and the respectable, deenled
it a necessity to carry ,veapons. This sho,vs ho,v
blinding is fashion. Because hung to e'
cry 111an's
belt "
ere glittering inlplenlents for the lo
ing of
hlunan life, it ,vas taken for granted that no life \Y<lS
safe ,vithout such ilnplernents. Surely the applica-
tion of a little thought and C01111110n F\ense to tho
subject ,vollld have sho,yn then1 that except in ex-
traordinary cases, even in a con1111unity of rough fire-
eaters, he ,yho ,yent unarll1ed ,vas less liahle to be
attacked, less in danger of losing his life, than he
,,
ho ahvays "
ent arilled to the teeth for purposes of
defence. "T capons invite violence. They are as b::ul
playthings for 11len as for children. In California
they ,vere as dragons' teeth so,ved broadca '3t alung

122 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRI
IE IN CALIFORX:A.

the Foothills, ,vhich sprang up each to the othor's de-
struction. N ot less than ten n1Ïllions of d811ars of tho
precious metal taken from the filines of the Pacific
States has gone to pay for guns, pistols, and knives
,vith ,,
hich the people nlight butcher each other, and
,vithout ,vhich all ,vould have been better off.
Quarrels bet,veen the rascals thelllseives ,vere
prolnptly settled by bo,vie-knife or revolver. As a
rule they died ,vith their boots on, as they expressed
it-that is to say, violent deaths; indeed they expected
nothing less. Ancient belligerents, e
ch having s,vorn
to kill his enelliJ on sight, ,vould stroll about the
street ,vith eyes and ears on the alert, ,vith hand on
pistol-hilt, and on cOIning tog3thor both ,vould dra\v
and fire as rapidly as possible, neither of them speak-
ing a ,vord. Duels ,vere in order; of the one hundred
fouuht in California about one third 'v ere fatal to one
ð
of the cOlnbat:1nts. Although our la,v nlakes duelling
a felony, no one has ever been pr0perly punished for
this offence; yet public opinion is against it, and a
duel no,v is of rare occurrence. The quiet citizen the
ruffian seldonl Inolested, except in caseB of robbery.
At no tilDe in the history of the country need any
,veIl-behaved man, Ininding his o,vn business and
avoiding drinking-saloons, have greatly feared for his
life.
I have said that there ,vere different degrees and
nlethods of punishment. A ,varning to leave the
canlp, or town, or city, or country, ,va:::; the lnildcst
forlH; ,vhipping ,vas not unusual, but hanging ,vas
nlost COlnnlon. In a country ,vhere all ,vas turnloil
and confusion, and ,vhere a liberated crinlinal ,vould
be as free as ever to cOlnnlit ne,v crÏ1nes in anothcr
can1p or district, capital punishn1cnt seelnod tho only
effectual cure. Suspected and disorderly persons ,vore
driven a,vay.
Hanging ,vas done in various ,vays-by shoving
tho crilninal froln the door of a loft 'v hile a rope
suspended hin1 by the neck to a bcalll above; by

:METIIODS OF PL
J:ST\I
""T.

123

running hin1 up to the bough of a tree, a number of
Inen having hold of the ropc and sharing in the
execution; by l1lounting him on a Lox or cask under
a tree, and ,vhen all ,vas ready knocking the support
fronl under; by lllounting the condenlned on a horse
or 111t11e, tying his neck to the linlb of a tree, and
driving the anilnal out from under hiln. Sonletimes
one üf tho nliners ,volÛd be appointed executioner, at
other tinles all ,vould join in the unv\'"clco111e ,york.
A fourth punishlTIent-hanging, exile, and ,,-hipping
being the first thrce-,vas one no les
effectual than
novel. It \yas the custo1n of conl1nittees of yigilallce
,,-hen they had in their possession a had character
against \V hon1 there existed strong suspicion out not
sufficient evidence for conviction, before setting at
liberty such an one to cause his likencss to 1e taken,
that all villain-hunters nlight thenceforth kno,v hin1.
The Chinook of the Colu111bia, i
1 the enjoyn1ent of
hi'3 aboriginal phantasy, ,vould sooner die than have
his other or intrinsic self, or soul, transfixed in light
and shade, or ilnprisoneJ on the canvas to Le carried
hence, stolen, and fore\Ter lO:3t to hinl. So these
,vorse than savages, ,,-ho preyed upon their lánd,
. ,vould ofttinle:) ha vo preferred corporal punislunent, or
exile, to the infliction of the daguerreotype.
There is 11101'0 virtue in the lash for crilninals than
lllan)'" suspect. Bounel to the ,vhipping-post, their
backs bared to the sun, the perforn1ancc ,vhich follo\vs
is not sentiment alone. Prisons the expert 1nalefactor
docs not 111uch fear. E\Ten though doollleJ to dis-
appointnlent, hope of escape nover desert.s hilll. But
the \vhippil1g-post is an abonlÍnation, attended as it i

,vith pain as ,veIl as disgrace.
Yet ho,,"'eycr o,-er\yhehned a lllining-can1p n1ay have
beeu by cunning kna yes and unprincipled Iniscreant3,
by desperadoes llc,yly luade, and tho sp[nvn and outca:.;t
of old societies; ho\veycr crude the justice of these
unfieJgcd civilization
, ancl ho\ycver passionate and
in
ane the pJpulacc in tho execution of a popular

1
4 CH
\IL\CTERISTICS OF CRI
12 IN CALIFORXL\..

verdict, ll1ixed ,vith the generalnlass there ,va
al\vays
enouO'h of leaven in the shape of inherent nobleness
of cl
racter, love of right, and practical good sense
in the lnaintenance of order and respectability, to
ave
the place fron1 final destruction. This elenlent of re-
spectability and a care for appearances ,vas greatly
strengthened by the presence of 'vonlan, ,vhen she
can1e, as ,yell as of churches, .schools, lyceu111s, and
piano-fortes; and ,vhile the quick-thinking and (Juick-
acting people were son1ctinles overcon1e of ill1patiellce
fronl laggard justice, officers of the la,v bec::une nlore
and 1110re respected, and ,vere less interfered \vith in
the discharge of their duties.
Early ill 1850 SOlne fel\'" Legan to think of rC111aining
pernlanently in the country, and accordingly seut for
their fan1ilies. But even latcr the great Inass of the
people intended only to secure a little fortune and
then hasten fron1 these ,vilLl, and to nlany detestable,
shores. SOlne thought of a longer stay in connection
\vith political preferillent or professional advancelnent,
but even these looked fOT\vard in the l
ope of a return
east,vard after a five or ten years' exile. IIence it
,vas that n1en, evcn of cultivated abilities and nH1-
ture character, ,vho under other circunlstances \vould
have taken a lively interest in assisting to lay the
foundation of the political and social institutions of
the ne\v conln1011'Yealth, ,,"'ere carelcss of the \\Telfarc
of the country, and took little interest in society.
Clustering round their heart-strings ,yere the oLI
hOl11e affections, and Inany ,vere the high aspirations
fìnally slnothered in the hopes of return. They \vere
good lnen, and respected the dignity of governl110nt
and social order, but they did not C0111e hither for
personal distinction, or for any other purpose but
fortune.
vVhere nloney W'ItS plenty and n1:1n11erS ,yere free, for
the popularity of the thing, those eyen \vho illtende(l
soon to leave the country forever Inight countenance
propositions tending to\yarcl public good, and Inight aid

HISTORIC nEilS.

1::!.3

in the establishing- of schools and churches, hut the
heart was not in it.
Oyerlooking since 1850 the upper side of Ports-
mouth Square, early' San Francisco's historic centre,
i
the
1onunlental Engine House. :J1any and varied
ha,-e been the doings ,vitne
sed frolll its ,,-indo,vs, for
in thi3 plaza there used to congregate men of every
color, of every phase of intellect, of every quality of
aspiration. Thence have been seen crimes of eyery
sort, and some displays of k:;lo,v and of s,vift retribu-
tive justice. Assassinations the
Ionumental \vindo,vs
have seen, and riotings, robberies, and hangings; the
tented foreigners in their lo,v licentiousness, and the
gaudy saloon, and blazing, nlusic-sounding Letting-
shops; the grandest of early theatres, the Jenny Lind;
the custoul-house; the post-office, ,vith its long line
of anxious letter-seekers on the arrival of eycrv
steamer; these, beside mob
, elections, political di
-
plays, citizens' meetings, peddlers' cries, street preach-
ing, and a thousand other enlivening scenes.
There ,,-ere not many bell
in California then, but
the
Ionumentals had a bell on their engine-house
.. ,vhen churches ",'-ere obliged to do ,vithout. Fire
,vas king, and could command \vhat it ,,-ould. Thcre
,,-ere other' flames beside the ftalne of fire that often
raged ,vithin hearing of thi'3 bell- flaines of passion,
and the bla.ling of those lusts ,,-hich so often burn to
cinder.; both body and soul. All the time these fire

oJ
of hell ,yere flaming in the bodies of 111en, ,,-ho ,yore
constrained to fight them hourly or die. )1on'g passions
,,-ere al\yays ablaze; but ,,-hen property ,,-as on fire
the :Jlonumentals struck their bell, and the alarlned
citizens roused then1selyes from their bed::, to the
rescue. It llla)'" not be out of place to mention hero
that the bell of the
Ionumentals ,vas the oflìcial
orcran of the terrible tribunal of 185G, when first
o .
C'onyencd, and rang to theIr death those most able
and gentlemanly scoundrels of the ballot-box stuffing
epoch; yet it ,yas not the first to sound the note of

1
6 CIIAIL\CTERISTICS OF CRI
fE IN CALIFORXIA.

,'\?arninO' to yice-riddon San Francisco. That honor
belong; to tho California COlllpany's bell, \yhich "'"as
sounded \vith a billet of ,vood Ly :\11' Oakes, standing
on the ground-,,'"hich \vas hanUllcred by that gelltle-
luan \\Then he \vishecl to rouse tho peoplo to the trial
of Jenkins, in the sunBllcr of 1851. Later, tho first
triLunal enlployed the bells of both those c0111panies.
Like\yise \vas seen fron1 the san1e \vindo\Y's uf the

fonulnentals the chain-gang at ,vork on the plaza
and public streets-a novol spectacle in Aillorica--
t\yenty or thirty hardened offenders, pallid through
long confinen1ent, clanking their ehains to the 1110YC-
llle11t of pick and barro\v, and \varning the noyice in
crinle of the fruits of eyil doin
. In older societies
such displays arc rightly regarded as barbarous and
debasing; Lut here sonle JllOre public and 8e''"01'e
punislul1cnt seenlüd necessary than the latest relined
and philanthropic n1ethods. I t ,vas not the nlolley
sayed to the city, if indeed there ,vas any such 8av-
ing-, but tho nloral effect t.hat alonG justified the
nlcasure.
The police court, or recorder's court, as it \vas
called bofore the passage of thc consolidation act,
,yas the 111ediunl by ,vhich the n10ral ulcers of the
city ,vere opened. The prisoners there every 11101'11-
ing arraigned \vere lllostly foreigners, and interpreters
of every civilized language undcr heaven ,yere found
necessary. And the religion of these scoundrels, and
that of their friends, n1ust be duly regarded, for the
vilest and n10st ignorant are often the 11lOSt religious.
I-Ierein ,vas still greater diversity. Each ,vitness ,vas
s,vorn by \vhatever poculiar sentin1ent of fear en-
vironment had placed his in1agination under-the
Chinan1an, for exan1ple, by holding in his fingers
a picce of burning yello\y paper, 8Yll1bolical of the
burning of his soul should he fail to tell the truth.
I regret that faithfulness enforces Ine to add that,
not\vithstanding this solemn invocation of spiritual
fire ,yhich threatened to stro\v the path to paradise

COL
TS OF JCSTICE.

1
7

,yith the ashes of his soul, John did sometimes mO;:5t
"ickedl y lie.
The first number of the San Francisco IIcJyd.z,
i:,sued June 1, 1850, calls the attention of its reader:;
to the open and persevering attempts at iucendiari
lll,
affirn1Ïng that there "as then an organized gang of
ruffians devoting their tilne to the disturbance of the
public peace, and to Inaturing plans of burning and
robbil1
. T".o or three attempt:, to fire the to\yn
,,-ere sometiule::, nlade in a single night. The gang
""as conlpo
ed chieH.r of Sydney con\
icts, and corr0-
spondence \,as carried on bet"
een the principal cities
of the state. Great difficulty ,,-as experienced by the
authorities in frustrating their scheules, recldc

and
desperate as they ,yere, and practiseJ in all the arts
of yillainy.
\. la \, "
as passed Ly the lC6i
lature to
deter the coming- of convicts, but up to this tilne it
had not been ellfcrced.
Court::, of justice during those dars ""ere frequently
a ssailed b.'
the press, but they had their dcfender
.
"
riting Deceulber 13, 1850, the editor of the San
Franci
co E'ccnillg PicCl!June says: ,. ",.. e haye not been
, indifferent, a
"-0 haye 5ho\\n on frequent occa
ions,
to the un,yarrantable and di
graceful attacks upon our
courts, and upon those ,yho preside oyer them, by one
of our morning journal
. 'Ve deprecated, at the earlie.
t
llloment, the appearance of a r--editiou'5 and disorgan-
izing spirit, but \rere told that all the talk in "hich
it. indulaed about the oycrthro,," of the only. defences
o

of our rights and liberties "as an nonsen
e, and ,ye
had concluded so to rcO'ard it. "T e haye no fearcl for
ð
the stability of the tribunals ,,-hich the people haye
created, and ,ye haye hall no suspicions of any ,,-ant
of the I Jurest inteO'rity in the J . udO"es that bit in thenl.
ð 0
But \ye haye looked ,,-ith inconceiyable displacency
upon the license that has been assumed, both to COll-
trol and traduce them. ".,.. e are glad to h0C that our
contcn1poraries haye, SOllle of thcu1, giyen a htrong and
manly utterance to a just, but "e fear u
cle
'3, rebuke."

1:?8 CH.-\.RACTERISTICS OF CRI
IE IN C
\LIFORKIA.

This tended only to stir up all the lllorc order-Joving
citizons, \yho continued to curse the courts because
thoy ,vould not punish crilne. At last the people of
California \yere tì,vake, ,yide a.\vake.
If they "Tore to renlain hore but a ,veek they did
not \vish to be robbed or burned in the 111ea11 tinle.
Then grlunbling became chronic.
Ien cOlnplained to
each othcr, and can1C together in 111aSS n1ectings, and
s\voro these things should not be. If crin1e had its
characteristics, so had those dctern1illed to eradicate
it. I(navery of all kinds ,vas looked after-the o,vners
of stealllers, that they should not carry n10re pas
en-
gers than the la,v allo,ycd, no lcss than those \vho
,youlcl cut throats or burn buildings. Spcculators \vho
caused flour to rise to t,vice or thrice its value "
ere
openly and n1anfully denounced. \Vhile in all this
there ,vas Hluch talk, there ,vas S0111e action, as ,ve
shall see beforc the end of these volulnes is reached.
In regard to the spaslTIodic course of crin1c, I do
not kno\v that it is lTIOre particularly so in California
than elsc\vhere. I think not. But here at all events
its character has been clearly apparent. For a tilnc
all would go on s11100thly and quietly in the line of
villainy; then suddenly there ,vould appear a shooting
111ania or a house-breaking n1ania, or a tnania for self-
111urder, and for a ,voek or a n10nth the colulnns of
the daily journals ,vould present a stirring calcndar.
J\Iurder incites 111urdcr; blood begets blood. Like
cyery \vave of fashion, crirne undulates in COlnn10n
dircctions. The force of example is no less strong in
suicide than in silkR; ninety-nine hundredths of all ,ve
do is done because ,ve see others do so. Reading the
reports of rascality, and the ,varnings against iniquity
in l110ral reforln books and journals, engenders a morbid
in11uorality. When all books of a dClTIoralizing tend-
ency are burned, our Sunday-school libraries will be
cleared of half their contcnts.

CHAPTER IX.

LA'V AND DISORDER.

Gesetz ist mächtig, mächtiger die N oth.
Goethe.

WITH the rise of legislative assemblies, the adoption
of a constitution, and the election of state and county
officers, the administration of affairs in the III ore settled
parts was taken from the hands of the n1erçhants, me-
chanics, and miners, and placed under the direction
of the several officers of the law and legal tribunals"
Then the ,vicked took heart. Hitherto there had
been an absence of those legal and political juggleries
,vhich primarily are devoted to defeating the ends of
justice. N ow might crime weave round itself the
threads of law, as the larva spins the protecting cocoon.
}Iost strange and paradoxical was it that the eleva-
tion of law should have subverted legal authority, and
that the cultivation of n10rals should have so demoral-
ized the community.
I say the establishing of courts tended to encourag't

crin1e rather than to prevent it. By lllanipulating-
primary elections, and managing the polls, unprincipled..
demagogues were placed upon the bench, and ru:ffian
.
made court officers. The most notorious offenders, by-
giving stra,v bail, by producing two or three members
of their fraternity to s\vear an alibi, or by unblushing
bribery, ,vere sure of acquittal or escape. In one year
for t,vo hundred IDurders committed, there ,vas but [L
single legal execution. Police officers connived \vith
professional house-breakers and shared the spoil.
'Vhile it was easy to hang a thief, it was difficult
POP. TRIB" VOL. I. 9 ( 129)

.

130

LA 'V A
D DISORDER.

to convict of 1l1urder before the juries of the interior.
There ,vere so Inany excuses ,vhich those could allo,,

,vho had themselves indulged in a little shooting, that,
even ,vhen in the early part of 1854 juries began to
convict, they generally softened before leaying their
seats antI sent in a recollllnendation to nlercy.
Juries ,vere sUillu10ned fron1 the hangers - on about
court
roon1s, Inen fit for nothing else, scarcely able to
live by their ,vits, and yet too lazy to ,york. Old
familiar faces ,vere they, blossonling under the genial
influence of strong drink; old pensioners they seelned
to regard thelnselves, as they did nothing but sit in
the jury box, the san1e person sOllletiules serving
several tinles in one day. Thus the courts had al\vays
at hand an acceptable, stereotyped jury of retired
Peter Funks froln the purlieus of Long "\Vharf, petty
l1ucksters, perhaps, or sham bidders at Cheap John
auction roon1S.

I urderers ,vere our congressnlen, and shameless
debauchees our senators. Our legislators ,vere repre-
sentatives of the sedi111cnt of society, and not of
,yorthy citizens. An ex-governor of the state, John
l\IcDougal, ,vas arrested for election frauds shortly
-"after his return fron1 the east, in Septelllber, 1856.
Co,vhiding affairs, in \vhich a ,vornan ,vas either an
actor or the cause, and politicians parties to it, \vere
of comnlon occurrence. Affrays bet\veen attorneys
in court, in the name and under the nose of justice,
:and duels in ,vhich an editor, judge, or politician was
.
ure to figure, \vere frequent.
"'There is scarce an officer intrusted \vith the exe-
cution of our Btate governInent," ,vrites the editor
of the Erening PicaY1lne as early as August, 1850,

'scarce a legislator chosen to fraIne the la,vs under
,vhich our interests and the interests of those ,vho are
tu con1e after us are to be regulated, scarce a judicia]
officer froIll the bench of the supreme court do\vn to
the clerk of a village justice of the peace, scarce a
functionary belonging to the Inullicipal adlninistration

RECORDS OF CRI)IE.

131

of our cities and incorporated to,vns, ,vho has not
entered upon his duties and responsibilities as the
means of making Inoney enough to carry him home.
His devotion to the well-being and advancement of
the community ,vhose confidence he has sought and
,,"on is measured by the dollars and cents to be acquired
by fidelity and industry in his place, rather than by
any prospective regard to the influence 1vhich his
official career may have upon the destinies of the
communitv of ,vhich he has no intention to become
permanently concerned."
]?rom the crilninal records of 1855 I find that in
California five hundred and thirty-eight persons met
tlleir death by violence. Of these three hundred and
seventy ,vere white, one hundred and thirty-three
,vere Indians, thirty-t1ro Chinese, and three "
ere
negroes. The most inoffensive, it may be noticed,
suffered the least. The record can scarcely be correct,
ho"rever, as regards the aborigines, for hundreds of
them ,vere slain by the dominant race, the murders
being never made known. During this same year
forty -seven persons are said to have been executed by
mobs, and nine by legal tribunals; ten were killed by
sheriffs or police-officers, and six by collectors of
foreign miners' licenses. T,velve perished in fights
about mining claims, and eight over the gaming-tab]e.
Prior to 1855 homicide ,,?as at least as frequent.
The district attorney of San Francisco asserts that
during the years 1850-3 inclusive there ,vere t,velve
hundred murders and only one legal criminal con-
viction. Though I do not vouch for the correctness
of this statement, it was, to say the least, a terrible
condition of things.
Helper in his Land of Gold makes a
tartling
statement, ,vhich I give for what it is worth. He
affirms the loss of life by violence in California during
the years 18-19 to 1854 inclusive to haye been as fol-
lo,ys: n1urders, -1200; suicides, 1
oo; insanity, 1700;
\vrecked, or the victims of disease on the voyage

132

LA'V AND DISORDER.

hither by sea, 2200; perished, or killed by Indians
011 the overland route, 1600; perished in the nlines,
and in prospecting for gold, for lack of care, or
scarcity of food, and by Indians, 5300. Total, 16,400.
Life was cheaper than under Anglo-Saxon la,v, ,vhen
for killing a churl the murderer had to pay ten
pounds, though for sixty pounds one might kill a king
and go free. Had IIerod, for the slaughter of the
Innocents, been brought before a San Francisco jury
at that time he \vould have been acquitted. Judas
Iscariot amongst the California Christians ,vould
have passed unscathed so long as any part of his
thirty silver pieces remained ,vith him. Scores of quid-
nuncs, political Paul Prys, soi d-isant patriots, hung
round every drinking-saloon. As Plato said of the
Athenians, "It is dreadful to think that half the
people \ve n1eot have perjured then1selves in one of
the numerous la\v-courts." Thus the Inoral perspec-
tive of society ,vas anything but pleasing.
Tilnc ,vas when the personage ,vholn no one kne,v,
called J\rIan in the 1\foon, \vas employed to negotiate
bribes. But no such clap-t.rap was necessary in the
present instance. In every precinct was a politician-
shop, \vhere third and fourth rate ,vares fron1 Ireland,
and old rotten relics fron1 the eastern states, ne,vly
veneered and varnished, were palu1ed off on the people
of California as sound and genuine.
The reign of order follo,ving the delnolition of the
Society of Regulators was of short duration. The
disease ,vhich had fastened itself on this infant so-
ciety \vith such virulence ,vas not eradicated, but only
scattered. Further indications of popular determina-
tion \vere visible during the n1idsummer of 1850,
and although the climax was not reached until six
years after, the main issues \vere seldon1 lost sight
of. In the mad race of Inoney -getting , office-holders
as \vell as others ,vere troubled ,vith the itching
pahn. Gold dust ,vas abundant; everyone appeared
to be getting rich; business men were not always

AX EXPEX
IYE LLXGRY.

133

o\
er-scrupulous in the meant;; employed for the ac-
quirement of ,vealth; San Franci
co was 3. mighty
nletropolis in embryo; ,,
hy should not hcr officers
lllake nloney with the rest? So they voted them-
sel '
es large salaries, built and bought extensi '
ely,
let contracts to supporters at double current rates,
stole the public lands, imposed hea '.r taxes on the
people, and s,,'"elled the public debt until the young
city groaned beneath the "
eight. They "'"ere not only
sordid in their craving for gain, but indecent in their
sordidness. There "Were no,,'" those present who looked
upon San Francisco as their future home, ,,
ho had
the citJ's true interests at heart, and these regarded
\yith no favorable eye the doings of political leeches.
Like everything Californian, when government set
in, it was ,,'"ith a vengeance. Following the approval
by the people of the city charter, :\lay 1, 1850, it
became necessar3T for a city of fifteen thousand in-
habitant'3 to pay a mayor, a recorder, a comptroller, a
city marshal, and a city attorney, each a
alary of
810,000 per annum. There was a board of alderrnen,
and a board of assistant aldermen, sixteen members
in all, at a salary of BG,OOO each; a treasurer at
6,000,
and a tax collector at :;;18,000. When the official

voted this yearly expenditure of $170,000, and other
like exorbitant sums, out of the pèople's pockets into
their o"'"n, under the usual caption, 'The people of the
city of San Francisco do ordain,' it was first thought
to be a joke, though a sorry one, and it wa
supposed
the ordinance would be immediately rescinded. Such
\,as not the case, ho,,?ever, and it so
n became apparent
that the citizens \\ould not
ubmit to it. The city
\\?as already heavily in debt, and no provision had bee

made for the payment of obligations long since due.
Such a course ,,?as blighting to her prospects, ruinou-:;
to her credit, and calculated to drive aW'ay settlers
and capital.
On the 3d of June a call "
as made to attend a
prilllary llleeting at the :\Icrchants Exchange. pre-

134

LA 'Y AND DISORDER.

para tory to a mass n1eeting to be held for the purpose
of adopting prolnpt and efficient Ineasures for retreuch-
llleut and reform. The meeting ,vas well attentled hy
the IllOst intelligent and influential ll1en of the city.
But this ,vas not all. So general ,vas the indignation
felt to,vard the COllilnon council for its late un,var-
rantablc conduct, that ,,"ithout concert several siu1ul-
tanÐOUS meetings had been projected by different
parties of citizens. "We are ,villing," said they, "to
submit to just and equal taxation, to pay our n1unici-
pal officers ,vho devote their till1e to public affairs a
reasonable salary, but the ignorance, together ,vith
the lack of energy and ability lnanifested by the ne,v
council in extricating the city frOID financial diffi-
culties, requires in1mecliate action on the part of the
1 "
peop e.
At eight o'clock a large and enthusiastic meeting
,vas held in the plaza, the cheers and groans frolll
,vhich every no"v and then fell ,vith electrical effect
on the ears of the aldermen in session near by. On
the evening of the 5th a still larger 111eeting, the
largest ever yet asselnbled in Portsmouth Square,
openly avowed the principle that the poople should
not tamely suffer wrong at the hand of their rulers.
There ,vas no thought of disorder, or of inflaming the
public mind, or of rousing then1selves into a passion.
Violence, either in word or deed, ,vas condemned.
" We do not intend to Inob them," said General Wil-
son, who presided; "we COine here to give forth the
voice of this cOlnmunity." . The great public heart
,vas aroused, and the people had resolved, cahnly but
decidedly, to tell their evil-minded officials to change
their course or resign.
A committee of t,venty-five was appointed to ,vait
on the council and make kno,vn the ,vill of the people,
,vhich was, "to abandon the scheme of high salaries,
and relnodel the schedule of oppressive taxation; and
unless willing to do so, to resign, and give place to
Inore efficient and patriotic Inen." The council re-

PATIEXCE OF THE CITIZEXS.

13.3

ceived this reproof coldly, and laid it on the table.
This "
as heaping in
ult on injury. The people
had placed the councilmen in po"
er ; they had a
right to nleet to comment upon their acts, and to
denland that those in office should not misrepresent
them.
On the 12th of June another Inass me(Jtino- ,vas
ð
held, and the same committee, \vith po,ver to increase
its number to llye hundred, was authorized to present
the same resolutions before the common council, in
such form as the comnlittee should think proper. Of
this committee J. L. Folsom ,vas chairnlan.
'\fter
having added the authorized five hundred to their
number, the comlnittee resolved to nlarch in pro-
cession to the council chambers, and there demand
obedience to the people's ,,
ishes. The evening of
June 14th ,vas the tinle fixed for this second visit, but
on that day one of the great fires s\vept the city,
and further action "
as delayed. The result of these
Ineetings, ho\vever, ""as to check the e
traYagance of
the officials, and give them \vholesome ,yarning.
These facts are inlportant as showing the mildnes'S
-and forbearance of the citizens of San Francisco under
aggravating ,vrongs. Far from being riotous or dis-
orderly, they \vere 10"Vers of law and quiet; and neyer 7
until all other means had failed, and time had "Torn
patience to a film, and the actual sal,",'ation of the city
depended on it, did they resort to arm
. X ot,,
ith-
standing their ner\e, judgment, and decision, there
neyer "
as a nlore orderly and peace-loving people;
other,,
ise ho,v should they have staked their all for
order and peace? Surely they might haye rioted
,,'"ith the rest, had they so chosen.
X ot until the 10th of December, 1852, did the first
capital execution under sentence of a la\vful tribunal
take place in the county of San Francisco. The nallle
of the person laying claim to this distinction "
as J osé
Forner, and his crinle the murder of a Jlexican in
Pleasant "\1" alloy on the 13th of Septeulber. The

136

LA'V AKD DISORDER.

execution took place on the slope of Russian Hill,
about three quarters of a Inile from the county jail.

At Sacramento matters ,vere no better. Not satis-
fied ,vith attempting to overawe the people, the self-
appointed regulators of society sought to suppress
public opinion. In a certain issue of the Sacramento
Tinles the editor,
lr La\vrence, had called the atten-
tion of the city authorities to a drinking-saloon, called
The Branch, immediately opposite his office, ,vhere
daily and nightly orgies ,yore held of a noisy and dis-
reputable character. For this, about 9 o'clock on
Sunday night, the 13th of April, 1851, as he "Tas
passing the place on his ,yay home from the theatre,
he ,vas set upon by a gang of hangers-on, son1e
t,venty or thirty in nunlber, knocked do\vn, and beaten
into insensibility. And they threatened ,vith like
punishment any editor \vho dared question their vile
proceedings. This dastardly attack upon a ,vorthy
Inan for doing nothing but his duty roused the indig-
nation of the people, ,vho thereupon issued a circular,
signed by about a thousand of the best Ulon, in \vhich
they declared their alarm at the gro,ving indications
of crime in their Inidst. "We had hoped," said they,

'that the sumnlary punishment ,vhich has already
been-inflicted upon a number of the villains ,vho have
been detected in crime ,vould admonish the balance,
and free us from any further inroads upon our la,vs,
our rights, or our lives. We, therefore, haying heard
that they design an attack upon the various editors
of the city, and in their o,vn language to make a clean
s,veep of them, do hereby pledge ourselves to sustain
every paper in Sacranlento in reprobating to the full
extent of their power tho outrages of these scoundrels
in iniquity. And ,ve furthermore assure the editors
and publishers of our city, separately and collectively,
that if any or the slightest injury be inflicted upon
()ne or any of theln in consequence of such a course
editorial being pursued, ,ve ,viII inflict upon the parties

IXCE
-rnIARIS)I.

137

so injuring a punishment from which they will never
"
recover.

To return to Sa.n Francisco. The first of December,
1850, affairs stood thus: Highway robbery, hitherto
confined to the outskirts of the city and perpetrated
only at night, had entered the town and was practised
in the daytime. Crime stalked boldly in the public
thoroughfares. Attempts at incendiarism, \vith a view'
of profiting by the confusion and securing plunder,
were frequent. It ,,"'as ascertained beyond question
that another organization existed, and that its agents
,vere in every part of the city engaged in divers occu-
pations that their nefarious schemes might thereby
the better be covered. They had spies who usua1ly
a
sumed the role of peddlers, and under pretence of
disposing of their \vares examined prelnises marked
for robbery. The police force was small and inefficient.
In case of an arrest the law was powerless; false "Tit-
nesses were suborned, and straw" bail given, and not
more than one in ten was ever convicted. Crimes
,vere classified and systematically parcelled out to
..adepts. A large number of bo
rs from ten to sixteen
years of age \vere employed; these, trained by their
superiors in crime, displayed marvellous dexterity.
Females also belonged to the band; and there ,vere
houses of refuge, and places ,vhere their implenlents
,vere concealed. Says one of the journals of the day:
"We believe it to be the duty of every citizen to arm
and hold himself in readiness to act in the capacity
of guardian of public safety at any moment. There
should be a sinlple machine of \yood erected on the
plaza, with a rope attached, and some fiye or six
examples should be Inade which would strike terror
into the rest."
A fire which occurred on the night of the 14th
of December, evidently the "Tork of an incendiary,
lighted in the iron building of Cooke Brothers and
Company on SaCra111cnto street bet,veen Leiclesclorff

138

LA"" A
D DISORDER.

and l\Iontgonlery, for the purpose of burning the
Pacific )fail Stealllship Company's office near by so
as to seize the treasure left there for shipn1ent, caned
forth sin1Ìlar plain expressions fronl the lIe-rald, \vhose
editor, as ,,"e shall see, ,vas ruined by opposition to the
Vio-ilance Committee of 1856 : "We do not adyocatE:
th
rash and vengeful infliction of sun1mary punish-
ment on any person against \vhom the proof is not
positive of his connection ,vith those crinles; but
although opposed to capital punishrnent in old com-
nlunities, where the execution of the la 'v is so per-
fectly systematized that justice seldom fails of its
victinl, \ye nevertheless believe that some startling
and extraordinary correction is necessary in San
Francisco to arrest the alarming increase of crin1es
against property and life, and to save the remainder
of the city from destruction."
'Villiam 'Vilson was caught stealing a shirt and
vest in 1\Iiddleton and Hood's cro,vded auction room,
in San Francisco, in February. This kind of thing was
becoming too COlnmon. With one accord the buyers
present stopped their bidding, and turning upon the
\vretch beat him ,vith fists and clubs and iron hoops
until ,veIl scarleted with his O\Vn blood, \vhen they
handed hin1 over to a policeman.
The 9th of l\Iarch, 1851, witnessed an indignation
meeting on the plaza. The lIerald \vas then the
champion of the people's reform party, as it was in
1856 the ultra organ of the law and order party.
William Walker, one of its editors, for sonle time past
had been endeavoring to rouse the people from their
lethargy in regard to social disorder, and in so doing
had indulged in severe strictures on the Inasterly
inactivity of the courtf:,. This displeased Judge Levi
Parsons, of the district court, ,vho requested the
grand jury to pronounce the press a nuisance, and
punish its plainness of speech. The lIeTCllcl retorted.
vValkeI' ,vas arrested, brought into court, and fined
five hundred dollars for contempt, \vhich he refused to

THE CASE O
' SLATER.

139

pay and so was sent to prison. Four thousand people
IDet and said the thing should not be; four thousand
people condoled ",.ith 'Valker in prison, and requested
Parsons to resign. A "rit of habeas C01 1 J'llS fronl
the superior court liberated the imprisoned editor.
Under popular censure, more fully expressed by the
state legislature then convened, the po,ver of the irate
judge withered, and not long after"ard he resigned.
The last day of this same lllonth, ,vhile the exanl-
ination of William Slater for the murder of Elijah
1\1. Jarvis ,,"as in progress at the court-house on the
plaza, as the officers were conveying the prisoner
from the court-room to prison, a party of t,,"ellt.r
horsenlen from )1ission Dolores made a dash at thenl,
for the purpose of seizing Slater, taking him to the

lission, and hanging him. The murder had been
committed under the most aggravating circumstances,
and the people kne,y of no earthly po,ver from ,,"hich
they might seek redres
. F ollo,ved by an excited
crowd, the officers hurried their prisoner along Kearny
street, and secured him in the station-house, although
they were ,veIl-nigh trampled by the horsemen. Thus
. foiled, the )Iission men ,,"ere furious. After an un-
fruitful effort to excite a raid upon the prison, with
loud oaths they retired.
....-\.8 if the c
mbined Inisdeeds of the officers of the
la,,"" and the legitimate dealer
in human blood ,vere
not enough to exhaust the patience of the honest and
industrious of San Francisco, a ne,y order of yet
nlore aao-ravatino- vil1ain"
,vas no,,'" brought forward.
00 0 J 'L/
This was nothino- less than a determination on the
o
part of the vultures to burn the city, for the oppor-
tunity it ,,"ould offer for pillage. Fire is the devil'

natural element; and if no,v of the merchandise and
buildings of the city, the products of extraordinary
toil and privations, a grand bonfire could be made,
the enlissaries of Satan might at one s,veep avenge
all past attempts of retributive justice, and hold a
hel1i
h jubilee.

140

LAW AND DISORDER.

The great fire of the 4th of :\Iay, 1851, occurring
on t.he anniversary day of the great fire of l\1ay 4,
1850, ,vas supposed to have been the work of the
n1Ïscreants. It started in a paint-shop, the o,vners
of which claimed to have exercised their usual pre-
cautions. Be this as it may, eleven days after,
aln10st before the smoke of the great conflagration
had ,vholly cleared away, there ,vas another attelnpt
lllade to fire the city about \vhich there is no ques-
tion. SOllle inflammable substance was ingeniously
arranged in a store - rOOln of the Veranda saloon,
corner of ICearny and Washington streets, to which a
slow-lnatch had been applied. It was extinguished
before it had spread. The next night, the 16th of

Iay, the city hospital then filled ,vith patients was
fired by placing a burning la1l1p under a stra,v bed.
The flames \vere blazing brightly ,vhen discovered,
and the building narrowly escaped.
This ,vas not all. On the night of the 3d of
June, one lllonth after the last great annual May fire,
two atten1pts ,vere Inade to burn the city. A pile
of shavinas ,vas found ignited under the stair,vay of
a ne\v h
use on Commercial street, ,vhere a few
111inutes before certain suspicious persons had been
seen lurking.
The same night one Benjalllin Le\vis, a Sydney
convict, was arrested for firing a house on Long
Wharf. During the preliIl1inary trial a cry of fire
was raised. Though the alarln ,vas false, the excite-
nlent ,vas so great that the officers \vere con1pelled to
remove the prisoner to another rOOIn. When the
judge announced that the prisoner would be com-
mitted for trial, and ordered the sheriff to bring hilll
in, from the door-way cries were heard, "Hang hin1 I"
"Lynch hiln!" "Bring hilll out I" Fast filling the
'3treet ,vas a tumultuous mob gathering. The lllayor
ordered the California and \\T ashington guards to
hold then1selves in readiness, and mounting the uppcr
balcony, essayed to quiet the people. l\feanwhile the

SAFETY OF THE CITY THREATEXED. 141

prisoner was secretly removed to a safer place; and
on the assurances of the mayor and marshal that he
should have a prompt trial the cro\vd dispersed.
Fire was kindled simultaneously in several places
on California-street \vharf, where were quantities of
hay and lumber, on the 7th of June. The flan1es
were discovered and quenched. N ext morning the
Altcc, California came out in a strong editorial urging
the people to unite and adopt measures for saving the
city. The day of reckoning was at hand.

CHAPTER X.

MOBOCRACY IN THE MINES.

Ed io che di mirar mi stava inteso,
Vidi genti fangose in quel pantano,
Ignude tutte, e con sembiante offeso.
Queste si percotean, non })ur con mano,

la con la testa, e col petto, e co piedi,
Troncandosi co 'denti a brano a brano.
Dell 'Inferno.

WHILE San Francisco ,vas thus being stirred by
the spirit of evil, let us look at other parts of the
state and see ho,v matters ,vere progressing there.
In the great valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacra-
lnento, during the year 1849, the halcyon days of the
previous year for the most part continued; neverthe-
less there ,vere short, quick spasn1S of justice among
the miners, ,vhich as a faithful recorder of events I
cannot pass unmentioned. Although dropped into
the concretions of the ne,v societies as a lusus naturæ,
they nevertheless, to a caln1 observer, ,vere significant
of ,vhat would speedily follow.
Froln the time of the Greek voyager Ulysses to
that of the English philosopher Shaftesbury, dissimu-
lation has been regarded as an indispensable quality
in governing. Without art and policy, ,vithout intrigue
and overreaching, no man or set of men n1Îght rule.
Qui nescit dissil1
ulare, .nescit T'egnare. The Inoral code
of ahnost every age and nation recognizes deceit as a
fair ,veapon to be used against an enemy.
In this respect the morals of the Californian miners
,vere far purer than those of the Machiavellian schooL
They,vould shoot their enemy, or hang the enemy
(14:2 )

)IORALS OF THE )IIXERS.

143

of their camp, but they ".ould not deceive him. They
found a ,yay to rule themselves and their little societies
01
,,
ithout Jesuitical cunning. They 'v ere the sons of
their father .L-\dam whose eyes had been opened to
kno,," good and evil, and ,,
hen they saw ,,
ickednes::,
cOIning into camp, warned by the folly of their primo-
genitor, they lifted their heel and crushed it.
Foote thinks that ,,
ith the greatest propriety ,,"'e
may laugh at him ,"vho affects to be what he is not, or
",.ho striyes to be what he cannot. Far less than the
f-\ubtle diplomatist who scorns the simple method
of
honest
1el
; far less than the politician ,,'bo preys on
the patrIotIsm of honest men; far le
s than the ruler,
or legislator, or la,v-manipulator, ,,
ho ,,
ould throttle
honest men sooner than permit thenl to punish crÍ1ne
if such action is to disturb the slumber of his sacred
form-far le
s than these, to whom dissimulation is
bread, do the miners of California, in their admilli
-
tration of justice, subject themselves to the derisiye
smile of anyone. Simple, honest, earnest, they affected
nothing, and in the direction of self-government, at-
tempted nothing which they failed to accoluplish.
Here "as a people ,vho might giye Solon or J us-
tinian a lesson in the method of executing justice.
Some one ha
said that their practical cast of intellect
made the Romans the great la"
-givers of all ages.
With equal propriet
r "
e might observe that the Cali-
fornian miners, by their cast of circumstances, ha '
e
sho,,
n to the world more than any other people "ho
eyer liyed ho,,'" ciyilized' men may live "ithout la" at
all. Their code "as as far as po
sible removed from
that of society morals, ,vhich is founded in the main
on the JnallUa jJ)"'ulzibiturn rule, that makes a thing
,vrong because it is forbidlLen. It was most catholic,
most simple. Let every man do ,,
hat best pleases him,
only he must not injure his neighbor; if he does, he
""ill be put \,here he cannot. -The forty thousand vol-
umes or so of sage decisions issued by the be,,
igged
of divers nations contain no lllore la,," than this.

144

)IOBOCRACY TN THE )II
ES.

It is the duty of the governlnent, if there be any
governlnent, to protect the people; if not, of a surety
the people, if they be not dolts, ,viII protect thelnselves.
The Hundred Court of ancient England ,vas bound
to pay all loss by robbery unless it captured the
felon. It Inay be that ,ve expect too nluch of
government; but if so, does not government expect
too Inuch of us? IIo,v then shall Ï1nperfect nlan make
for himself a perfect governn1ent? Dull, obstinate,
and irrational in its units, how shall aggregated
hUlnanity display nloral and intellectual ,visdom? But
for the so-called evils which are forever ,vhipping
us into rectitude, we should straight,vay fall upon
destruction.

To Placerville belongs the honor of the first popular
tribunal of the placer-mining epocll. Distant but nine
miles from Coloma, ,vhere gold ,vas first discovered,
the spot where 1l0'V stands the to'Vll ,vas early
occupied by diggers. Placerville, ho,vever, ,vas not
the original nalne of the camp. I t ,vas first called
Dry Diggings; afterward, for the reason which we
shall presently see, Hangto,vn.
I t was not a pleasing spectacle, this first display of
unchained justice among the miners; but what could
they do? Five men, one night about the middle of
January, 1849, had entered the sleeping-room of a
J\fexican gambler named Lopez, and had attempted
to rob him. One of them had placed a pistol at the
head of the gambler, 'v hile the others seized his
effects. Before they could escape Lopez had suc-
ceeded in giving the alarm. Roused by his cries, the
miners had rushed in and arrested the whole gang.
Again I ask, ,vhat could they do? Stand there
holding the thieves until a jail ,vas built, or until
congress should send sheriff and judge? They must
either turn them loose to further and instant crinles,
their numbers qui0kly multiplied by the absence of
punishment, or they must themselves do justice, God

H
,GTOWX A
ì) VICIXITY.

.143

helping them, as best they might. So they selected
from amongst their number t,velve, ,,"ho ordered the
culprits to receive each thirty-nine lashes; ,yhich
having been well laid on, with due energy and
decorum, three of the five, García and Bissi,
French-
men, and
Ianuel, a Chileno, were further charged
,yith robbery and attempted murder on the Stanislaus
the autumn previous. The charge "ras easily enouO'h
proved; the men, lying exhausted from their l
te
punishment, ,vere unable to stand or speak during thi::;

econd trial. ""11at shall be done "Tith them 1" the
improv-ised judge asked of the two hundred assembled.
"Hang them," said one. E. Gould Buffum was there,
and mountiJ.1g a stump begged them, in the name of
God, humanity, and la", to desist from their meditated
action. But the miners, now warmed ,vith drink,
,,"ould not listen to hinl. The prisoners were bad
lllen, and this thing must be stopped at once. So
with ropes round their necks, the three condemned
,vere driven in a ""agon under a tree, and there
hanged; after "rhich they 'v ere cut do\,n and buried
in their blankets. And thereupon the place \vhich
. before this was kno,vn as Dry Diggings was for a
time called Hangtown.

.L\.mongst the many Edens of this early epoch none
,vere more radiant than Rose Bar, where two hundred
miners "
ere encamped in October, 1849. Of many
another Eden, and of all the country round, Rose Bar
,vas tIle envy, for it enclosed its Eve, a white one,
called by courtesy )lrs ::\Iace, being the q'uasi spouse
of a N e,v Orleans captain of that name. """ith rocker
and quicksilver, returns were from one to six ounces
a day, and life was as high as the labor-returns. Life
,vas high, but it ,vas soft and hea'
enly, for a \VOlnan
,vas there, a ,,-hite one. Not far from her cabin ""a

a nice nest of )Iississippi River poker-players,
ar-
doni cally smiling in ans,vcr to pet names, such as Blue
Peter, Dungaree Jack, and
\.rkansa'v Pike. Bet,veen
POP. TmB., YOLo 1. 10

146

)IOBOCRACY I
THE )IIXES.

such rare delights the captain ,vas a spirit blest, for
he loved the conlpanyof the poker-players, and left
,yith theln llUtnyan ounce; until at length ::\lrs :1\Iace,
<.Ieclaring herself cOlnpetent to do ,vickedness for the
fall1Íly, left 11cr lord and luarched a,vay to San Fran-
cisco, 1\T here she opened a house of unq uestionaLle
entertainment. N or could Rose Bar evcr entirely
recuver fron1 the refining effects of the feinalo prC:-sellce.
..L-tside froll1 thiB, it ,vas au exceedingly llloral place.
There ,yore no la"Tyers there, no doctors, and but
one thief, 'V o oIly Mike, ,vho rOBe early one n101'n-
ing, anJ taking froin his con1pany'
clainl the gold
left in the quicksilver over night, ,"vent and hid it.
Su
pected, searched, )'Iike gave the
ecreted <ullalgaul
a fling ,vhich scattered it in the chaparral behind his
tent. But the glitterÜlg mercury betrayed 11in1. He
,vas lightly punished ,vith t,vcnty-fivc lashes, t,venty
111Ïnutes being given him after,vard in ,vhich to ,valk
a,vay.

.1\.nd no, v frolH the close of this year of 1849, be-
hold the august n10bs improvised as occasion required
ill every caInp and canon uf the Sierra Drainage, the
quiet oaks nlcan,yl1Ïle tasselled ,yith the carcasses of
the ,vicked I There ,vere 1110bs of every quality, and
for every enlergency; tlunultuous routs for the regu-
lation of a carouse; displays of brute force for the
pronlulgation of vulgar sentilllCllt; violent tyrannies
for the attacking of hOluely prejuùice and the harass-
ing of sanctinlonious piety-mobile nlaS
eS 1110ulded
Ly ,vild environment to extravagant opinion. There
\vere 1110bs to establish a fight, and to settle evcry
species of dispute; 11l0bs to hang, to whip, to tar and
feather, to lInck, to drive froin to,vn; 111ob8 to guille
itinerant ganlLlers on their ,yay, gently to
et rc-
volving run-do,vn, erring ,vornan, to direct the bra,,
l-
iu!!s uf belli0'erent drinkers , to christianize ,vith club.:;
<
ð

ele
tial heathen, to assist at the
hrinkillg
and ex-
pansions of valuable Inining-elaillls, to danlpell the

Y ARIETIES OF )IOBS.

147

enthusiaslll of )Iexicall luiners, to light free negroes
from the sacred precincts of the imnlaculatc color.
Clothed ,,
ith God-given intelligence and po\ver,
and filled ,vith deyil-di
tilled ,vhiskcy, they ,vere ripe
alike for gentle lllillistrations or Inad extra'
aganzas,
for sharing their la'3t bread and bacon ,vith the needy,
or for adnlinistering the helnpen fate to tho
e ,vho
e
characters chance had colorell. Cases there "
ere \vhen
a victim ,vas required to appease the "
rath of an un-
fortunate lniner ,vho had lo
t his gold dust, or of a
tealllster ,vllose cattle had strayed, one ,vould ans,ver
as \yell as another, and ,voe '-betide the sUf'picious-
looking stranger \vho falls into their hands ,,-hile in
such a hUnl?r. Unle
s he can give a sati
fying
account of hlnlself, better had he never been born.
It must be admitted that sOllletinles tIle lllatter 'Ya

lleteru1ined before the trial, that sonletinles the ac-
cused ,vas hanged first and tried after,varcl, if indeed
he ,vas tried at all. N either did he \\ho played the
part of hangman
top to consider his fee, nor did he
expect anything frolll the person executed, as once
,vQuld have been the ca
c in England.
"On my ,yay to ::\Iarysyille," "
rite8 :ßlr Coke, in
1850, "I
topped a couple of days at Sacramento.
The weather ,va
beginning to be cold. I had been
rambling all the lnorning through the town, and ,,"'as
just returned to my hotel, and sat rUlllinating Oyel' a
large stove in the bar-roonl, thinking Sacranlento
about the Inost conlfortle
s place in the ,yorld. In
the course of IllY ,valk I had obseryed a cro,yd col-
lected round a large elm-tree in the horsc-lnarket; on
inquiring the cau
c of thi
assenlhly, I ,vad told that
a Ulan had been lynched on onè of the lo,ver boughs
of the olIn at four o'clock this lllorning.
\ newspaper
containing an account of the aftàir lay on a chair
beside Ine, and haying taken it up, I ,vas perusing the
trial, when a, ruffianly-luoking individual interrupted
111e ,vith, 'Say, stranger, let'R ha ye a look at that paper,
,vill you?' "Vhell I haye done ,vith it,'
aid I, and

]48

::\10nOCRACY IX THE ßIINES.

eontillueLI reading. Thi
ans,ver \vould have satisfied
Blost Chri::;tian
endo\ved ,vith any llloderate degree
()f patienee; but not so the ruffian. He leaned hilnself
ovcr the back of 111Y chair, put one hand on Iny
shoulder, and ,\
ith the other held the paper so that he
could read as \vell as I. ' Well, I guess you're readin'
about Jinl, ain't you l' 'Who's Jiln l' said I. 'Hinl
as they hung this Inorning,' he ans,vered, at the same
time resuming his seat. 'Jim was a particular friend
of 111ine, and I helped to hang hinl.' 'Did you?' said
I; 'a friendly act; what was he hanged for?' 'When
did you cOille to SaCr[tlllento City?' 'I arrived only
this morning, and have not yet heard the particulars
of this case.' 'Oh ,veIl I I reckon I'll tell you how it
\vas, then. You see, Jiln ,vas a Britisher; that is,
he come frolll a place they call Botany Bay, ,vhich
belongs to \Tictoria, but ain't exactly in the old
country. I believe \vhen he first come to Californy,
about six months back, he wasn't acquainted none
,vith any boys herea\vay, so he took to digging all by
hi
self. It ,vas up at Cigar Bar ,vhar he dug, and I
happened to be a digging there too, and so it ,va::; ,ve
got to kno\v one another. Jim hadn't been here a
fortnight before one 0' the boys lost about three hun-
dred dollars that he'd made a cache of: Somehow
suspicions fell on Jim. 1\10re than one of us thought
he had been digging for bags instead of dust, and the
11lan as lost the money swore he ,vould have a turn
,vith him, and so Jim took my advice and sloped.'
, Well,' said I, (he ,vasn't lynched for that, ,vas he?'
"Tain't likely,' said the ruffian; 'for till the last week
or ten days nobody kuowed \vhar he'd gone to. Well,
\vhen he come to Sacralnenty this time, he come \vith
a pile, and no ll1istake, and all day and all night Jirrl
used to play at faro, and roulette, and a heap of other
gaInes. Nobody couldn't tell how he lllade his money
last so long, nor ,vhar he got it frolli, but certain sure
L.verybody thought as ho,v Jill1 ,vas considerable of a
loafer. Last of all, a blackslnith as lives in Broad

COKE'S STORY.

149

street said he found out the ,yay" he done it, and asked
me to come ,vith him to show up Jim for cheating.
Now \vhether it wac:; that Jim suspected the black-
smith I can't say, but he didn't cheat, and lost his
money in consequence. This riled him ver)"'" bad, and
so, \vanting to get quit of the blacksmith, he began to
quarrel. The blacksmith "
as a quick-tempered man,
and after a good deal of abuse could not keep his
temper any longer, and struck Jim a blo\v on the
mouth. Jim jumped from his seat, pulled a revolver
fron1 his pocket, and shot the blacksmith dead on
the spot. I was the first man that laid hold of the
D1urderer, and if it had not been for me, I belic,e the
people in the room ,,,ould ha '
e torn him to pieces.
" Send for Judge Parker!" shouted some. "Let's try
him here," said others. " I don't want to be tritJd at
all," said .Jiln; "you all kno,y damned well that I shot
the man; and i kno""T blood)"'" "ell that you'll hang
me. Give Ine till daylight, and then I'll die like a
man. " But "
e an agreed that he ought not to he
condemned ,,
ithout a proper trial, and as the report
of the pistol had brought a crowd to the place, a jur

.. was formed out of them that "
ere present, and three
judges were elected fron1 the most respectable g(?ntle-
men in the town. The trial lasted nearly a couple of
hours. Nobody doubted that he "as guilty, or that
he ought to be hanged for lllurcler; but the question
was \yhether he should die by lynch-Ia"
or be kept
for a regular trial before the judges of the criminal
court. The best speakers said that lynch-law wa
no
la w, and endan crered the life of every innocent man;
but the mob "o
lld hav-e it that he "Tas to die at once;

o as it "ras just then about da
rlight they carried hin1
to the horse-market, set him on a table, and tied the
rope round one of the 10"Ter branches of a big elm-
tree. All the time I kept by his side, and "Then he
\yas getting on the table he aske
l me to lend hinl
Iny rev-olver to shoot one of the .]nryn1en, who had

poken violently against hiIn. "Then I refused. he

130

:MOBOCRACY IX THE )fIXES.

asked l11e to tic the knot
o aR it \youldl1't slip. " It
ain't no account," said I, "to talk in th
t ,,"'ay, Jinl,
old fello\v; you're bound to die, and if they didn't
hang you, I'd shoot you 111)"'se1f." "'VeIl, then," said
he, "give Ille hold of the rope, and I'll show you how
little I care for death." He Reized the cord, pulled
hin1self in an instant out of the reach of the crowd,
and sat cross-legged on the bough. Half a dozen rifles
"'"ere raised to bring hiIn do"rn, but reflecting that he
could not escape, they forbore to fire. He tied a
noose in the rope, put it round his neck, slipped it up
till it ,vas pretty tight, and then stood up and ad-
dressed the 1110b. He didn't say 111uch, except that
'he hated then1 all. He cursed the Illall he shot; he
then cursed the ,vorld; and last of all, he cursed hiln-
Relf; and with a terrible oath, he jun1ped into the air,
and ,yith a jerk that shook the tree, R,vung backwards
and forwrard;;;; over the head8 of the cro\vd.'"
Clarence King elaborates in the follo,ving language
a burlesque of the popular tribunal before the inception
of the vigilance organization: "Early in the :fiftie8,"
he says, "on a still, hot sunln1er's afternoon, a certain
Inan, in a calnp ,vhich shall be nan1eless, having
traeked his t\yO donkeys and 011e horse a half n1ile, and
discovering that a 111an's track ,vith spur-n1arks fol-
Io\ved theIn, came back to to,vn and told the boys ,vho
loitered about a popular saloon that in hiH opinion
some l\Iexican had stolen the aninlals. Such ne\VR
as this naturally denlanded c1rinkR all round. 'Do
you kno\r, gentielnen,' said one ,vho assul11cd leader-
ship, 'that just naturally to shoot theHe grcasers ain't
the best ,yay? Giye 'e111 a fair jury trial, and rope
, C111 up "Tith all the Inajesty of la"T. That's the cure.'
:-:)uch \vords of lllocleration ,vere ,veIl receiyed, and
they drank again to 'IIere's hopil1g ,ve ketl'h that
greaser.' As they loafed back to the veraJ}(la, a
::\Iexican \valked over the hill-bro 1 .\T, jingling hi
spl1r

pleaHantly in accord ,vith a ,vhistlecl \valtz. The ad-
vocate for In \y said in undertone, 'That's the cuss.'

BU RLESQ "cE".

1:;1

_-\ rush, a
truggle, and the )lexican, bound hand
and foot, lay on his lJack in the bar-rc )0111. The calnp
turned out to a luan. Happily
uch crie:--: as 'String
hinl up:' 'Burn the doggoned lubrjcator
' and other
equally plea
ant phra
e
, fell unheeded upon hi

Spani
h ear.

jury, upon ,vhich they forced lilY
frienll, 'Ya
quickly gathered in the street, and despife
refusals to
er'Ye, the cro,,?d hurried thenl ill behind
the bar.

brief
tatement of the ca
e "Ta -.: lllade Lv
the ci-clcf(lllt adyocate, and they shoyud the jury int

a comlllodious poker-room, ,,?here ,vere :-;eat:, grouped
about neat green table
. l'he noise out
ide in the
1Jar-rOOlli by and by died a,yay into cOluplete "ilence,
but froln afar do,vn the caÙon came confused sound...;
as of disorderl j
eheerino'. They carne nearer and
n
,
again the light - hearted lioise uf hUlllan laughter
n1Ïngled ,vith the clinking gla

e
around the bar.

-\ 10'''" knock at the jury lloor; the lock Lur:-3t in,
and a dozen sn1Ïlillg fello,ys asked the yerdict. A
foreman promptly ans"
ered, 'X ot guilty.' "rith a
yolley of oath
, and olllillOU
laying of hand
on pistol-
hilts, the Loy
blanllned the door, ,vith : 'You'll haye
. tu do better than that
' In half an hour the a(
Yocatc
gently opened the door again. . Your opinion, gentle-
lllell
. , Guilty
'
Correct
Y ou can COllie out. ",.. e
hung hinl an' hOlIT ago.' The jury took their seat=-,;
and ,yhcn, after a fo\y 111Ïnutes, the pleasant ,-illage
returned to its forn1er tranquillity, it ,yas allo,yed at
11101'0 than uue saluun that ')Iexieans'll kno,,- enough
to let ,,
hite lllell'
stoek alone after this.' One anti
another exchanged the belief that thi

ort of thing
,ya:::; better than nipping thelu on sight. ""'hen, be-
fore
un:-)et, the bar-keeper concluded to B,yeep SOUle
llu
t out of hi
poker-roolll back door, he felt a 1110-
lllentary
urp1'i
e at finding the llli
sing horse dozing'
undcr the Hhado,v of an oak, and the t,yO lo
t donkcY

erenely Inastieatillg playing-card
, of ,yl1Ìch lua{lY
hllshel;s lay in a du
ty pile. He 'Ya
reminded then
that the allilllal
had Lecu there all day."

1 _"
.}.-

10BOCRACY IN THE :MINES.

Bret Harte gives a sinlilar travesty, concluding it
in ,vords to the effect that the cro\vd becoming iUl-
patient at the lengthy deliberation of the jury, the
rillO'-leader put his head in at the door and asked them
if tlley had agreed upon their verdict. 'N 0,' replied
the forelnan, sharply. 'VV ell, gentlemen,' said the
11l0b man, 'take your tinle; but renlember, we want
this room to layout the corpse in.'
Punishlnent was inflicted in the saIne liberal off-
hand lllanner that characterized everything Californian
in those days. There ,vas less splitting of hairs than
of heads. Sometirnes the most trivial incident ,vould
deterlnine whether a culprit should be ,vhipped 01'
hanged. While nlultitudes of minor offenders suffered
capital punishment, no more could be inflicted UPOll
the ,vorst crilllinals. Lynching for cattle-stealing ob-
tained throughout the whole country, and even round
San Francisco Bay, as late as 1855. A criminal affair
,vas often nlade a sort of pastinle, ,vhich might be
prolonged or shortened according to the appetite of
the crowd, or the tinle at their disposal.
I t ,vas the Hispano-Californians, they said, ,vha
stole tþe cattle about the Bay; but these being the
possessors of the cattle, and the lately arrived Yall-
kees needing beef, it ,vould seem to be a question "rho
did the stealing. Old nlan Murray, as he was called,
lost at one tinle t\venty-fiye All1erican co,vs, \:vorth
four thousand dollars, and his neighbor Fallon one
hundred animals, ,vorth six thousand dollarí:5. T,vo
Frenchnlen at San Antonio, since called Brooklyn,
and East Oakland, caught butchering stolen cattle,
\vere tried by the people and hanged. T,vo other
lllen, Leonard and Moran, slaughtering back of Blaiz'
restaurant, near the bridge, narrowly escaped ,vith
their Ii Yes.

'Vhen in July 1850 four Americans detected four
)lcxicans in the act of burning a tent and t,vo dead
bodies at the Green Flat diggings, not far fronl

SUSPECTED BODY-BD"'R
LRS.

I.j3

Sonora, summary executions had not yet become
fashionable in those parts, though the peopJe "
ere
strongly tempted to hang the body-burners. The
)Iexicans affirmed that they did not kill the men,
but found then1 there in a state of decay, and follow-
ing the custom of their country, they burned them
with their effects. I t "as an act of pious charity, not
an atrocious deed. There ,vas no evidence against
them; nevertheless the n1iners longed to play judge
and hangman, but the time was not yet ripe for it.
..t..\t Sonora, incarnadine was the temper of the
time. On Sunday the diggers from every near and
distant camp came flocking in, each bringing his share
of general entertainment in the form of accounts of
robbery or murder, and the one ,vho told the best
story ,vas the be
t man. Thus history is made; the
positive of one becomes the comparative of another,
and the superlative of a third, the latest historian
al,vays striving to tell the largest story. The Sunday
follo,ving the body-burning at Green Flat, over three
thousand 111 en gathered at Sonora, and many run10r

of dark deed...; were afloat. Twenty murders in
..t,,-enty -five days, they counted up, and robberies in
proportion. ::\Ien "ere bad, and ,vomen "
ere bad.
{T nder the influence of rich deposits and the inspira-
tion of rivulets of run1, three or four flabby-faced,
bleared-eyed females, of the kind called virtuous, had
been Lrought to Sonora, and n1ade the nucleus of re-
fined society. They used to marry quite often. One
Inarried ane,y the day after her husband left for Stock-
ton; another married ane" the third day after her
h us band ,vas han cred. .L
nd llo""r they "'
ere P resent in
ð 01
this cro,\"d, speculating in their minds as to their
next change, ,vhen crack I a pistol-shot is heard, and a
:-.tal"rart miner bites the dust. So dry and tinder-
like was passion then, that men could not eyen nleet
to take measures for the suppression of murder ,vith-
out a little killing.
.4-

the afternoon "
ore a,vay, the air became preg-

134:

1\10BOCRACY IX THE l\IIXES.

nant ,vith suppressed vengeance. The l\Iexicans ,vere
seized and handed over to the judge of the district.
X cxt 11lorning eighty riflenlen lnarched through the
streets, bearing before theln the ..L\.lnerican Hag. These
,vere soon joined by three hundred111inerB, an el11bassy
from the scene of burning, ,vith knives and pistols orna-
Inenting tlleir belts, deter111ined to see punishment
inflicted on the burners. After sonle little parade,
the captain of this cOlllpany,vaited on the judge, and
infornled hiln that his men ,vould brook no delay in
the trial of the prisoners; the nlatter 111Ust COlne up
Lefore niglltfall. The judge replied that that Gould
not be, as there ,vas no grand jury inlpallelled, 11lean-
,vhile \varning them not to do violence.
Tue
day there ,vere not less than t,yO thousand nl0n,
,vith llJuskets and rifles, marching the streets. One
,vould think that every gun in Tuolllll1ne had beon
brought into requisition. l\Ien ,vho left their digging
to shoulder a gun sho,ved their earnestness. At three
o'clock on that day the trial of the four body-burners
for lllurder began in the district court. The plaee
'\
as throngeJ ,vi thin and ,vithout the court-roonl.
The prisoners ,yere arraigned, and pleaded not guilty.

t this juncture one of the guard standing on a
bench dropped his gun, the hanl111er of ,vhich, striking
on a Lox, sent off the charge ,yith a loud explosion.
This ,vas enough. Hundreds of \veapons instantly
sprang fronl their sheaths, and a rush ,vas nlade L
r
the inll1ates of the court-roonl for the door. The
scene that follo\ved ,vas terrible. Confinelnent an< 1
the uncertainty as to ,vhat ,vas c0111ing seelned to
Inadden thenl. Another accidental shot brought
forth a cry of alarl11, anJ rene,ved the
truggles of the
iUluates to reach the open air Ly \vay of door and
'Villdo,vs. Outside the court-roonl ,valls there ,va
a
little shooting in earnest, but no one ,vas killed on
that occasion. Quiet ,vas fillall y restored, and after
,vatching the proceedingb in court for a tiInc, the
n1Ïncrs fillal1y rctired, and let justice take its coursc.

'YHIPPI
G A
l) HAXGIXG.

1.3:)

The de1110nstration had bee11 111ade in a spirit of
lllobocracy; and yet I have never kno,vn another so
large and so deterlnined a Inob lay do-\vl1 their po,ver
..,0 gracefully \vhen assured by the judge that justice
\vould be done. The four ::\Iexican:-; "ere not criminal.

T,vo boys, Hendricks, kept the Colusa Hotel in
1850. .About the premises ,vere SOl11e t\venty \voocl-
choppers and regular hangers-on, an10ng \Vh0111 ,vas a
boy nalued J ohn
on. The hotel cash ,vas kept 011 a
shelf in a sardine-box; that i::" such of it as "
a<:; not
stolen hy SOlne unkno"
n hand. Johnson ,,""as sus-
pected, and ",
hipped into a confession of guilt.
Iean-
\yhile a mob gathered which did more "'"hipping, and
talked of branding; but certain humane boatnlen
interfered, and sa,-ed the lad from further brutality.
The sequel pointed to the innocence of the boy; and
it ,,-as thought he confessed to a crime of ,vhich he
,vas not guilty in order to escape punishn1ent; for hi:-;
torlnentors had assured him if he would confess he
should not be "hipped further. But though perhap:-\
innocent of pilfering the Hendricks' sardine-box, it i

'
ery certain if the boy had not been known as bad
11e neyer ,vould have been suspected or ,vhipped.

Ân Englishman, named Sharp, formerly a sea-
captain, on Christmas day, 1850, shot to death a man
near Auburn. Sharp surrendered to the sheriff, but
"
a
taken by the people, tried, and executed.

Irish Dick, as the gambler Richard Cronin was
called, although but t,yenty-one years of age, ,vas
kno"
n to have killed a man in a street fight, a friend,
,,
hon1 he had mistaken for an assailant. 'Vhen a

hort time after"
arcl he shot a ne,,
IJ arrived emi-
grant in a
aloon, he ,vas instantly seized and tried
by tllose present. Guilt ,vas easily proyed, and in1-
lllcdiate execution deterlnÍned upon. Placed beneath
a tall tree, a rupe ,vas put round his neck, the other

156

1tIOBOCRACY IX THE )II
ES.

end of ,vhich ,villing hands seized. Dick begged
to be allo,ved to cliulb the tree and jump from the
lilnb aboye, but this request ,vas denied him. His
bravado lasted throughout the trying scene, ,vhich
,yas witnessed by ten or fifteen hundred people.
Dick assured them if he only had his knife, with
freedom to use it, he ,,"'ould like nothing better than
to fight the cro,vd.
.L\.nother account of this execution is given by
Saint Amant, French consul at Sacramento in 1851.
..AJlo,vance must be made for discrepancies in these
statements, as, writing the incidents of the time for
publication in France, llistorical accuracy would be
liable to be sacrificed to the making of a good story.

ccording to Amant's account, when the mob had
brought Cronin to a tall tree which had been chosen
for his execution, it was found that there was no
ladder for the hangman to climb up by. This diffi-
culty, ho,vever, was soon overcome. One end of the
rope ,vas placed in a noose round Cronin's neck; the
other was placed in his hand, and he ,vas told to clinlb
the tree, Inonkey-fashion, ,vhile tllose belo,v would
direct him, pointing out the particular limb to which
the cord should be attached.
The condemned ,vas allowed tilne to smoke a cigar,
,vhich he asked as a particular favor might be a real
I-Iabana. Having knotted the rope to the branch
designated, he ,vas then permitted to make his fare-
,veIl address, ,vhich proved to be the story of llis life.
He told of 11luch ,vickedness, and seemed comforted
thereby. He would have continued talking for an
indefinite time, and so have postponed the end of
that recital ,vhich was to begin llis _eternity; but the
patience of his hearers being exhausted, the fOren13Jl
of the jury that had tried him gave the signal agreed,
and ,vithout a ,vord further, the gambler thre,v hinl-
self from the limb on "\vhich he stood. Tho fall was
arrested by the avenging 11enlp, and the soul sped
(1 uickl y hence.

TRL\L BY"\TIIIPPIXG.

137

\. trunk ,vas broken open in a room of a public
house at Johnson's Ranch in October, 1850, and four
thousand dollars were stolen from it. -'-
man and his
,vife, named Hewsters, cooks employed in the house,
had occupied the room, and on them suspicion ,,-as
fastened. They protested their innocence. \\Tith the
W"Oll1an they did nothing; but as the increasing cro,vd
increased its potations, its members saw through the
case more and more clearly, until they concluded to
"hip the facts out of the man. Tying him to a tree,
they laid bare his back, and cut it ra,v with a hundred
lashes. Still the man protested his innocence, and
the brutal crowd soon arrived at the same conclusion.
Commenting on the outrage, the Placer Times remarks:
"If the man is really innocent, the violators of his
person should be severely dealt ,vi thO''' It is by such
shallo,v logic ,ve are taught politics and morals. Any
school-boy might know, did he take the trouble to
think, that the perpetrators of this deed were equally
in error, ,vhether the man ,vas innocent or guilty.

N e,v York of the Pacific was the name of an em-
.bryo metropolis of magnificent expectations in 1850
and 1851. It boasted a hotel called the Kennebec
House, into "hich three men forced their ,yay one
night, and amused themselves by opening trunks and
carrying off the contents. ..Lllrested by citizens, they
"ere tried, ,vhipped, and branded on the hip. To
escape hanging, "hich one of them greatly feared,
he endeavored to kill himself by severing an artery.
That comfort, ho,vever, was denied him; for though
he cut his arm nearly off, he was saved for milder
punishment by his ,,-hippers.

CHAPTER XI.

FURTHER ANTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUNTRY.

Now by Saint Paul the work goes bravely on.
Colly Cibber.

LONG before high carnival ,vas held in the cañons of
the Sierra Drainage, the petty sovereignty of Sutter
had inaugurated a systeln of jurisprudence, of the
S,viss captain's o,vn invention. When an Indian COlll-
11litted an offence against any of the ,vhite inhabitants
of Sutter's Fort, the cOilllnander of the fortress hÍIll-
self judged and executed judgment. Calnllyand fairly
as one ,vho ,vould secure the confidence and Inaintaill
the respect of the natives, Captain Sutter exalnined
the cases ,vhicl1 came before hin1, pronounced judg-
Inent in accordance ,vith the evidence and ,vith the
dictates of his o,vn conscience, and then ordered the
culprit whipped or shot, according as he deserved.
This was the course of procedure ,vhere the accused
,vas one of his o,vn IndianR and the injured one of
his ,vhite retainerR.
When a ,vhite 111an offended a ,vhite Ulan in his enl-
ploy, an the white men of the Fort were SUnl1TIOned
to sit in judgnlent on the case. In such trials Captain
Sutter presided as chief, and the others as associates,
or jurors, and by the tribunal so organized, the penalty,
if guilt was found, ,vas fixed and exacted.

"or crÎlninal cases arising al110ng the natives thenl-
selves, Captain Sutter arranged for thenl a court of
their o,vn. He as Inonarch nOlninated the judge and
appointed the officers. Having a Inilitary organization
( 158 )

JCRISPRUDEXCE AT SUTTER'S FORT. 159

.

composed entirely of hi,;;; o"
n native adherent
, it "
a

not unnatural or difficult for hin1 to organize a tribunal
in ,,-hich they lllight try their own cause
, and by their
o,vn officers execute judgments.
X 0 :-;ooner ,vas gold di

oYered, howev.er, than this
ingcnious 111ethod of administering justice to the
:-..atisfaction of all concerned, in common \yith every
other lneans for the benefaction of the natives in those
parts, "
as crushed under the heavy heel of gold-thirsty
ad venturers.
Then began in and round the Fort, beneath the
very eye::; of the occupants, and indeed, in many ca
es,
hy the occupants themselves, every species of depre-
dation, until the poor S,,
is::;, his mills unbuilt, his
lllanufactories abandoned, his cattle stolen, and his
grand enterpribe for the settlement and pacification of
that valler fore,er bliO'hted souo'ht refuo'e at Hock
J (J' (J (J
Farm, ""here he thought to die in peace, though even
tha t blessing ,vas denied him.

San1uel Brannan, at an early day, kept a store w"ith-
in the "
alls of Sutter's Fort, and there learned his
" first les
ons in popular j uri
prudence. To him resorted
new-comers from the Bay, and l11iners from the
lllountains, so that he possessed an excellent oppor-
tunity for seeing and judging all. His :Jlorlllon flock,
on ,,
hom he kept a fatherly eye, particularly on their
gold-gatherings of ,,
hich 11e did not decline to re-
ceiye a portion, ,yorked on an island of the riyer near
by
but these gaye little trouble. Indeed, as ,ve
hayc seen, there ,vas a period of remarkable quiet
about that time; but both before and after the reign
of righteousne
s in the nlining districts, Brannan
a"'

and learned enouO'h to be of value to him for the
o
three decade
\,hich follo\ved.

\.s at San Franci
co, before a jail "
a
built at Sac-
ralnento, a di:.;mantled brig lying in the river "as elll-
ployed for pri
on purpose
. )Iany strange tales that
old craft could tell. I t an
nvered the purpose fairly-

160 ANTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUNTRY.

that is to say for the rogues. Escape from it ,vas
easy, so it was said, especially after the fetters were
unlocked ,vith 1110ney.
One issue of the Sacramento Placer Ti1nes and
TrClnscrzlJt, in July, 1850, contains accounts of crime

cOlnnlitted as follo,vs: Twenty-five lniles belo\v the
city the body of a Inan ,vas found ,vith a lariat t,visted
round the left wrist, neck, and shoulders, a deep gash
over the left eye, and another under the left ear, the
feet tied ,vith a black silk handkerchief, and all the
pockets turned inside out. Another body ,vas dis-
covered tied to the limb of a tree. Not far from Yuba
River the body of a lllurdcred man ,vas found. At
Nevada a horse-thief had been ,yhipped by the
people and put to ,york at five dollars a day until
eleven ounces of stolen gold-dust should be returned.
Lastly, a dispute arising bet\veen a Nevada n10nte
dealer and a person betting, the latter dre,v a pistol,
and firing missed his mark, but ,voundecl three others.
No notice ","'as taken of this affair by the horse-
thief ,vhippers. The San Francisco Pacific 1\T C1CS of
August 1, 1850, contains accounts of several guerilla
bands in southern California, den1i-savage outla\vs
drifted in on the tide of emigration from the south;
also the ne,vs of a murder near Grayson; notice that
the citizens of J an1esto,vn and Sonora llad organized
a night patrol round their respective towns; an account
of the robbery of a 1110nte bank at Sonora while the
<lealer's back "
as turned; of another at J amesto\vn,
the thief seizing a bag containing eight hundred
dollars before the eyes of all congregated about the
table and nlaking his escape ,vith it; and so on. In
the last Inentioned instance a conlrade of the thief
,vas hanged to a rafter of the saloon, as an accomplice,
hut his friends paying the aUlount stolen he ,vas let
do,vn. The ganlbler put the nloney thus returned to
hÏ1n in his box, and in less than an hour it ,vas again
emptied. This tin18 the thief ,vas instantly detected,
the rope fastened to his neck and again thro\vn over

CURTIS CREEK AXD FOSTER BAR.

161

the rafter. After being half hanged and whipped he
"Tas turned loose. Thus it ,ya<3 that frolll
mall
beginnings, petty thefts, and fatal fights in "Thich it
,,-as iU1possibie to determine "Tho wag most crÍ1ninal,
the slayer or the slain, "Tickedne
s ,vent on aSSllllling
a yet n10re belligerent attitude, and punishment ,,-as
equally beastly-instance the hanging of one Bo,ven
in a slaughter-house at Curtis Creek, January 26,
1851, for the killing of Alexander Bogg
.

-,-
t a gaming-table at Sacramento t,yO men quar-
relled the 2Gth of February, 1851, and r--tepped into
the street to finish their fight.

third person, )Iyers,
pa.;;:-sing, expostulated, "Thereupon one of the cOlnba-
tants, }
rederick J. Roe, an Englishn1an, turned on hin1
and exclaimed, ""That the devil have )
OU to f:'ay?"
at the saIne time dra,ying a pistol and shooting him
through the head. Roe "
a
arrested and taken to
the calaboose, round ,,
hich a cro",
d gathered, crying:
"Hang hinl
" "Hang hin1
" The people "
ere at
length quieted by speeches fron1 the better citizens,
,vho forn1ed themselves into a tribunal, and repairing
to the Orleans Hotel proceeded to try the prisoner.
Gro\ying more and n10re excited as the trial progres
ed,
the people in the street insisted that the inyestigation
roon1 should be cleared of la"-yers, and affirmed
that it n1attered little to then1 ,,
hat conclusion the
tribunal arrived at, they ,vould hang the prisoner
in any eyent. X othing ,yas done, ho,,'"ever, till the
n1urclerer was pronounced guilty by the tribunal.
The ero

d then lllacle an attack on the prison, but
"ere kept at bay by the sheriff and his pos'3e for an
hour. The officer being oyercome at last, the door
,vas broken in, and the pri
oner seized and hanged
from an oak-tree then standing on the corner of Si"'{th
and I\:. streets. About the same tilne three lnen,

urprised ,yhile
tealing horses at Foster Bar, "rere
captured; one "'"as shot in attempting escape, and
the other t,yO 'vere iU1mediately hanged.
POP. TRm., '.OL. I. 11

162 AKTICS OF JUSTICE I
THE COUNTRY.

T,vo men, N e,v Englanders, caught ,vith stolen
horses in their corral on the Cosulnnes, 'v ere on the
7th of
Iarch, 1851, condemned by acclamation and
hanged on the spot, all ,vi thin half an hour. A jury
trial ,vas denied them. Another horse- thief ,vas
hanged about the S3lne time on the Yuba. The 23d
of l\Iarch an atten1pt ,vas made at San Francisco to
blo,v up a new building near Rincon Point. An eight-
pound canister of po,vder placed in a recess in the
\vall ,vas ignited, causing a report as loud as that of
a canllon. An amiable and lTIuch-beloved man, E. :\f.
.J arvis, ,vhile ,valking ,vith his ,vife near the Mission,
on the night of the 26th of March, ,vas stabbed to
death by one Slater. It appears Jarvis had incensed
Slater a fe,v days previ
us by preventing a fight in
\vhich the latter had a hand. One day during the
trial, ,vhile Slater was being conducted by the officers
to the prison, an attempt ,vas made by SOlne mounted
111en from the Mission to seize and hang him, as has
been nlore fully described in a previous chapter, but
their effort ,vas frustrated by the officers and met ,vith
the disapproval of the people. . He ,vas committed to
a,vait his trial in the district court.
Thus n1atters stood ,vhen the great San Francisco
fire of the 4th of May for the fifth tÎ1TIe laid the city
in ashes, annihilated business, and hopelessly ruined
thousands of hitherto prosperous men, sending despair
to their hearts and n1Ïsery to their homes. This ,vas
exactly 'v hat the emboldened miscreants so long un-
,vhipped of justice had s,vorn to do, that they ,vould
Le a venged on the cities 'v hose people ,vould not
perlTIit them to lllurder and plunder at pleasure.
Instead of blanling these sufferers for hanging:, the
,yonder is ho,v they could have re1nained patient so
long. This was the ,york of incendiaries, as several
of the previous fires had been, and as \vas the burning
of Stockton t,vo days later; a house ""as fired in
Sacralnentü at the sanle tilne, and Nevada ,vas burned
but a fe,v ,vceks previous. All this ,vas but one grand

TO:\j:O PACHECO.

lû3

scheme concocted by the rascals in convention as-
sembled for the simultaneous annihilation of the chief
cities of northern California.

There was a desperate band of horse-thieves in the
neighborhood of )Ionte Diablo in 1851, and a son of
.L
ntonio Pacheco, twenty years of age, "as supposed
to be one of the nunlber. On the 17th of February
young Pacheco was detected in the act of stealing a
pair of boots from a store in )Iartinez. The citizens
determined to make an example of him, and although
his father begged his liberation, adding earnestnes
to
his prayers by an offer of t,,
o thousand dollars for his
release, they bound him to a tree and administered
one hundred lashes ,yith a ,vllip of six cords. It ,va

reported that Pacheco's friends, to the number of
eighty, had threatened to ride into
lartinez and burn
the place. The citizens, alarmed at the threat, removed
their papers and other valuables to Benicia for safe-
keeping, but nothing further came of the wrath of
the Pachecos.
The neighborhood of Reading Springs and Secret
Diggings had been visited by horse-thieves in the

pring of 1851, and one man, Spofford, ,vas kno"
n to
ha ve stolen a large number of horses. __\. t length
Bradford,
IcI(issock, and others went in pursuit of
Spofford. They came upon him in the "roods skinning
an antelope; Bradford fired and killed him. They
recovered nlore than forty stolen horses.
T,,
o thieves, "With a band of mules and horses which
they had stolen, most of them from the rancho of
Gage and Almond, while crossing the Cosurnnes ,vitIl
their booty the 7th of l\Iarch, "ere arrested. Guilt
\vas so palpable that proof seemed unnecessary; never-
theless the two men ,vere arraigned, and a motion
,,-as made to try them by a people's judge and jury.
.As tidings of the affair flew froln claim to clainl, the
diggers came pouring in. "Then they heard the facts
and the proposal, they laughed at the idea of trial

JG4 ANTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUNTRY.

under the circulllstanccs. vVhat should they try
them for 1 There ,vere the thieves; there ,vas the

tolen property. Trial? Bosh ! Well, then, hang
then1 at once. This sentiment suited better their
tClnper. The Inen ,vere Yankees, one giving his name
as James Baxter, fron1 l\faine, and the otI1er Charles
Sin1n10ns, of l\Iassachusetts. V\Then told that they
,vere to die in half an hour they begged to be
pern1itted to liye a little longer. This beautiful green
and golden earth, the all-glorious sun and s,veetly
distilled air, the 111ingled enjoyment of soul and sense
absorbing palpitating life, they seemed no,v just to
begin to enjoy. But it ,vas too late; such beauties
,vore not made for horse-thieves. They should die;
and they did die ,vith tIle expiration of the half-
hour. During the season a hundred thousand dollars'
,vorth of stock had been stolen from that section, and
the people ,verc tired of it. Only the day before one
Orville Han1ilton, a horse-thief, nlade his escape ,vhile
the jury ,vere deliberating on his case. Sage, an
acco111plice of Halnilton, received thirty lashes for
his share.
A quarrel took place at Shasta City on the 20tll
of
farch bet,veen a drunken nlan and his partner;
the latter was killed, and the former atten1pted
escape, but ,vas captured and tried by the mob.
The trial lasted but a fe,v nlinutes before dOOlll ,vas
pronounced; he should be hanged at four o'cloclc
that Sunday afternoon. The man took the matter
very coolly. He had entertained no ill-will toward
his partner; they had been always the best of friends.
But the deed ,vas done; he deeply regretted it, but it
could not now be helped. He deserved to die, and
there ,vas the end of it. Eating a hearty dinner, he
tDlked as usual until the tilne appointed, ,vhen he
lqouuted the platform ,vith a firm step and quiet
dC'lneanor. The rope adjusted, he ,vas given pern1is-
.l(\n to speak. lIe ,yarned all present against drink;
th
t alone ,vas no,v to cost hinl his life. He ,vould

IOKELIDD\"'"E HILL.

16:>

like to ,vrite a letter to his ,vife, hut supposed he had
not time. As the thing before him was something
that must be done, he Inight as \vell be about it. So
saying, he leaped into the air and can1e down with a
jerk that settled 11is earthly affairs forever.
l\IcEvoy and \Villiams \vere t,vo friends living at
}'Iokelumne Hill in the spring of 1851. They ,vere
out of employment, and decided to begin business by
conducting a monte table. They needed capital for
the purpose, \vhich they determined to obtain by
stealing horses. Thei
plans were \velllaid, but ,vere
early frustrated. A horse was stolen, and l\IcEvoy
\vas just in the enjoyment of the proceeds of the sale,
sixty dollars, ,vhen he ,vas arrested, taken out of
to,vn, and given twenty-five lashes.

Ir Baker, of Brown Bar, "\Veber Creek, ,vas a
quiet, gentlen1anly person, and much respected. His
partner,
L\..ndre'v Scott, an unprincipled villain, became
incensed at some trivial offence, and on the 5th of
l\.pril killed Baker, stabbing him five or six. tÌ1nes.
It ,vas generally l{no,vn that Scott had murdered
.. two or three other men, among them one
fc
lanus,
of l\Iissouri. This killing of Baker excited intense
feeling anlongst the miners, but they refrained from
violent measures, and gave Scott the benefit of a fair
tria], ,vith a jury of t,velve men, who found him guilty.
Then he ,yas promptly hanged.

Ic
lurtrie and Brothers at
10kelumne Hill missed
some gold dust from their store in .L
priIJ and, acting
on their suspicions, they enticed a young man into
a secluded spot in the ,,
oods, \vhere they accused him
of the theft. His denial exasperated them, and the
r
lashed him ,vith a rope and switches t,vo hundred and
fifty tilDes, deter111ined to extort a confession. This
expedient proved unavailing, and they returned to
to,vn, \vhere a lllore thorough search for the lost
treasure ,vas maùe. It was discovered in the spot
,vhere they afterward remembered that they had
secreted it. Their victin1 ,vas then released, and for

166 ANTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUXTRY.

fear of like punishment being a,varded them by the
ÎndiO'nant miners they left the place immediately.
Åhorse-thief, named Gatson, captured in Nevada
City on the 20th of J\fay, after a trial by the people,
received thirty-nine lashes, ,vhich ,vere administered
by a man "Thorn he ,vas permitted to select. On the
29th, George Baker was hanged by the people, just
beyond the limits of the city of Stockton, for a
crin1e committed six months before. The execution
,vas bunglingly done, and the bystanders surfeited of
horror.
Sometime in Maya notorious robber named J en-
kins ,vas condelnned to die by the citizens of El
Dorado. He made his escape, but was recaptured
near Sacramento, \vhere l1e received one hundred
lashes, was branded on each cheek \vith an R, and
then delivered over to the authorities of Sacramento.

Bet,veen the people of Napa and the people of
Benicia in May, 1851, there ,vere open and declared
hostilities, and the cause ,vas not a woman. The Napa
people did not like it because a Benician named Cooper
came to their to,vn with a petition to the governor
for the final release of a murderer ,vhich he purposed
to circulate for signatures. The Inan killed llad been
their 1110st ,vorshipful justice of the peace, and the
lnan 'vho killed hiIll ,vas no\v their' n1eat,' as with
Inore force than elegance they expressed it. "Petition
us no petitions," they said, "and governor us no gov-
ernors; let every to,vn attend to its o,vn affairs."
But this doctrine did not just then suit Cooper.
McCauley, for that ,vas the 111urderer's name, had
Inany friends, among \vhom was the governor l1iulself.
The governor was christoned John
fcDougal, but in
political puddles he ,vas familiarly called 'I John,' such
being the ,vords beginning his sometimes ludicrous
proclanlations. John Bigler, another governor, could
lay clainl to the same distinction. The governor and
the nlurdercr ,vere friends, because the murderer had

K AP A A:XD BE:XICIA..

167

voted for the governor, and had induced others to
yote for him. ' I , John,' "
as a good goyernor to those
,yho murdered, or ,vho wished to murder, proyided
they yoted for him often enough; but for the sake of
those "eak in their faith in him, he ,,'"ould haye it

ound as the voice of his people which said to hin},
'Loosen this bloodhound.' Hence it was that Cooper
appeared at Napa, the scene of the slaughter, ,vith
this petition; not that there "'"as any need of a
petition so far as 'I, John' "
as concerned, but for
the reflex influence of such prayer upon the people
themselves.
The lllen of Napa, ho,vever, did not "'"ant )fcCauley
discharged; he had killed their justice of the peace,
and they were no,y going to kill him. Therefore they
,,
ould none of :\IcDougal, nor of Cooper, nor of the
petition. Calling a meeting of citizens, a committee
"
as appointed to wait on )Ir Cooper and request hin1
to depart.
fr Cooper declined. They ordered him
to go.
fr Cooper refused. Then they took him to
the ferry and thrust him across, warning him that
further attempts in that direction would insure hin}
a covering of feathered tar and a free ride on a rail.
The people of Napa, in common with those of other
parts of the state, "\"\-'"ere becoming tired of pardons ex-
tended by the goyernors to murderers ",-ho elected
them to office. At the
Iarch term of the X apa
court of sessions this man, Hamilton )[cCauley, had
been tried for the murder of one Sellers, municipal
judge, and condemned to death, the execution to take
place on the 15th of )Iay, and they determined that,
reprieved or not, the felon should die, and on the day
appointed. 0-
Re "'"as a gentleman-villain, was )IcCauley; an
adherent of southern chi\'alry, and a man of friend:"}
and family. He was not the kind of murderer that
la,",s "'"ere n1ade for. Like,yise he was an honest
yillain; to him opinions ,yere principles, and his had
been handed dO
Tll from ancestors of reyered Dlemory,
.

168 ANTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUNTRY.

and inculcated during his youthful days. But he ,vas
wronO'; his principles ,vere erroneous, though honestly
entertained; nloreover, he ,vas passionate; and for his
principles he must die, not the death of a Inartyr,
ho\vever, but that of a lllurderer. And for such la\v-
breakers la ,vs ,vere not made.
It \vas all done in a Inon1ent; but though not pre-
lllcditated, the killing ,vas unjustifiable; it ,vas the
effect of an outburst of passion, or a fit of telnporary
insanity, as gentle 1\11's Fair's counsel ,vould call it.
The ,yay it happened ,vas thus: One day at Napa,
for some real or fancied offence, l\IcCauley attelnpted
to chastise a black Inan. In days gone by he and his
sympathizers had often whipped 'niggers,' but that \yas
where the colored Inan ,vas chattel, and dare not strike
back. It ,vas consistent in those days with chivalrous
courage to strike a man who could not strike back.
The sentiment ,vas sin1ilar in this instance, but the
action and result were different, from the fact that
the assailed might retaliate, and the black man being
the better of the t",.,.o, the white one ,vas badly
beaten. .
N ot long after a party of village politicians, alnongst
,vhonl ,vere l\icCauley and Sellers, assembled in a
store, happened to be discussing the question of slavery,
,vhen Sellers, ,vho ,vas opposed to l\fcCauley in opin-
ion, inlprudently alluded to :1IcCauley's defeat in llis
recent encounter ,vith the black man. Scarcely,vere
the ,vords out of his 1110uth 'v hen the bo,vic-knife of

icCauley ,vas buried in tIle breast of Sellers.
There ,vas talk of instant hanging; but aside from
the objections of the la,v, l\tfcCauley had many friends,
and they succeeded in pr.otecting I1Îm. SYlnpathy in
a great n1easure turned on the slavery agitation,
\vhich ran high here as else,vhere in those days. It
HO happened that in sentiment Benicia ,vas mostly
southern, and Napa northern; so that the former ,vas
for
IcCauley and the latter against llirn. The t\VO
to,vns confronted each other, angrý and belligerent.

CáPTATI" BA...
TER'S ACTIYITY.

IG9

\.t this time it ,vas deemed dangerous for a citizen
of either place to be found in the other. "r e have
seen ho,,- Cooper ,vas treated, but then his mission
,vas not one pleasing to them. On the other hand,
R. L. Kilburn, of
apa, visited Benicia, ,,-hen he \vas
assaulted and "ould have been badly injured but for
the interference of his friends. .A party from X apa
,vere a,yakened from sleep one night by a shower of
stones ,,-hich poured through the ,yindo,y of their
room at the Benicia Hotel. One "ras severely injured,
and all ,vere glad to escape under cover of the night.
Before daylight in the morning of the day named
for the execution, the sheriff of Solano county, "Tith
a posse of ten armed and mounted Inen, "
as on his
\\-ay from Benicia to
apa with the reprieve in his
pocket. He ,,-ould have gone the night before by a
little steamboat, of ,vhich Baxter was captain, ,\-hich
then plied between the t"yo placef:,. But Baxter "yas
not in sympathy with the men of Benicia; so when he
learned that the governor had signed the reprieye he
slipped a,vay before the usual hour and conveyed the
tidings to X apa. There "as no hesitation Ly the men
of X apa as to ,vhat they ,vould do. X apa River \,as
then crossed by means of a ferry-boat. The unjust
pardon "as coming-"
a
, indeed, at hand. ""-hen
the sheriff's party arrived at the ferry, strange to
ay,
the boat "as on the other side. Lustily official lungs

houted for the ferryman, but there ,vas no ans,yer.

\JI ,,-as quiet; not a soul to be seen; and there ,vas
nothing to be done but to proceed up the river to

ome point ,vhich could be forded. The delay thus
involyed "as exasperating in the extreme; but hurry-
ing fOI',,-ard, in due time the party arrived \vithin
the to\YI1. There also all ,vas quiet; fe,v "
ere astir.
..L.\.bout the jail nothing peculiar ,vas observed, nothing
lllore than n1ight be expected on the n10rning of any
ordinary execution. .L
fter all, thought the
herift:
\\"C arc in good season. Eyerything is safe; nothing
could be better for our purpose. But ::,top! "That

170 ANTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUXTRY.
ominous-looking hemp is that which stretches ti'onl
the prison-door in the second story do,vn the stair-
,yay to the ground 1 Follo,ving the rope up the stairs
and into the prison, they found attached to the end
of it, dra,vn tightly up to a beam in the ceiling, all
that remained of Hamilton McCauley.
The month of June, 1851, was prolific of popular
tribunals all over the country. It was no,v that there
,vas being formed at San Francisco the first Com-
mittee of Vigilance, to which ,ve refer in the chapters
following. But first a fe,v more ,vords touching
affairs in the country.
The tent of a Chinaman in the southern mines
was entered by three men, ,vho attacked him ,vhile
sleeping and attempted to rob him. He gave the
alarln, and the burglars ,vere caught in the act, but
two of tl1em effected their escape. The one remaining
,vas immediately punished by the cro,vd, being sus-
pended to a tree for SOllle 11linutes, but released before
death ensued. Another was captured the next morn-
ing, and received one l1undred lashes. The third
successfully evaded his pursuers.
At Melone, by the decision of a popular tribunal,
two men were executed in midsulllmer, one for the
assassination of Lyon, at Sonora, and the other for
stabbing Acklin. The unfortunates ,vere botl1 Mexi-
cans, and the tribunal that judged them ,vas composed
of Mexicans and Americans.
One Augier, a trader at Pleasant Springs, dis-
covercd bog
s specimens of gold in the dust paid hiln
by a Chileno who had been trading ,vith him. The
man ,vas arrested on suspicion and taken to other
tents, ,vhose occupants identified him as one who had
attelnpted the same trick with them. Efficient and
energetic nlen then took the knave, gave him t,venty-
five lashes, and bade hiD} go and return no more.
-L
Chinalnan, ,vhile 111ining at Dry town, in Anlador,
\vas shot and killed by a
exican, ,vho nlade an in-

AFFAIR OF GEORGE SXOVç.

171

effectual at.tempt to shoot several others. The miners
caught the :\Iexican and hanged him ,vithout trial.
.L.-\.lthough the crowd favored his execution, but fc,y
,v ere sufficiently callous to carry out the sentence.

s no suitable rope ,vas at hand, a log - chain ,vas
fastened to the limb of a tree, ,vith just enough rope
for a noose. This \vas placed over the man's head,
not ,vithout difficulty on account of his struggles;
but at last the execution ,,"'as achieved, though in a
disgusting manner.

I have spoken several times of the existence
of large and small organizations for the conducting of
systematic swindling operations, but I have only one
instance where an honest man was approached ,,
ith
an offer for his services in that direction at a fixed
salary. This occurred at Nevada City, California, in
July, 1851, and a gentlenlan of veracity living there
at that time vouches for the truth of the statement.
.L
friend of this gentleman, a "Tild, frolicsome
young fellow, but wholly void of evil intentions, said
to him one day:
"I am offered seven hundred dollars a month to
engage in stealing cattle and horses."
"Indeed I" ,,"'as the reply, "that is a good salary;
why do you not accept
"
"Sir," he exclaimed, "I am not a thieft"
It appears that the ungovernable spirit and reckless
bearing of the young man had drawn this offer from
those who fono"
ed cattle-stealing as an occupation
and hired helpers at a fixed salary. It should be
renlembered that in the days previous to the gold-
discovery and shortly followincr it, cattle were branded
by their o,yners and left to orun at large, and that
there ,vere immense droves of them running about,
particularly in the southern portion of the state.

..I..
mong the early arrivals at Sonora ,vas George
Sno"
, of :!\Iaine. He "
orkecl industriously at the

172 ANTICS OF JCSTICE I
THE COUNTRY.

Inines, until he had amassed quite a little fortulle,
enough to excite the ?upidity o
sonle Chilenos in his
employ, \vho determIned to lnll and rob him. In
ordcr to facilitate their design they purchased of hin1
a long - tOll1 on the 24th of June, 1851, ,vhich they
agreed to pay for next day, if he ,vould call early
in the lllorning at their cabin for the money. The
Chilenos lived in a sequestered spot at Dragoon
Gulch, ,yhere they thought to effect their purpose
,vithout detection. To perfect their plan they dug a
grave for their intended victim in the ground beneath
their bed, and then a,vaited his arrival. Snow had
scarcely entered the cabin before one of the Chi-
lenos snatched the gold dust from his belt, \vhile the
others attacked him \vith knives. Severely wounded,
\vith extraordinary effort he reached the opening in
the tent and called for help. His cries ,vere heard
by SOlne In en \vorking at a distance of two hundred
yards fron1 the cabin; the Chilenos fled as soon as
they SR\V their failure. Snow survived his injuries
but a short time. Search ,vas made for the Chilenos,
and t\VO of thenl \verc subsequently captured and
taken to Sha,v Flat, Sno"\v's late residence, ,vhere
trial by the people a,vaited them. Although the
road in that direction ,vas thronged, there ,vas no ex-
traordinary excitell1ent. I t ,vas noticed that n10st of
the n1Îners carried double their usual arms, and about
them ,vas an air of quiet deterlnination not favorable
to the assassins. T,vo juries ,vere impanelled, one
for each case; evidence ,vas brought up of such con-
vincing \veight that each jury unhesitatingly pro-
nounced a verdict of guilty. The younger of the
t,vo, .L\.ntonio, had been identified by Mr Snow, in his
dying breath, as the lnan ,vho held the gold dust
\vhile the othcrs ,vere stabbing him. Antonio con-
fessed that he had been a,vare of the intentions of
his con1rades for a fortnight, and knew of their
digging the grave, but did not think l1e ,vas alncnable,
[(>4 he did not cOlnlnit the lTIurdcr. The elder l11an

SO
"OR
\
l) CA
IPO SECO.

173

,vas sulky, and would make no confession; his visage,
marred by crime, was indicative of the worst of pas-
sions; he ,vas large and athletic, ,vhile Antonio ,vas
quite young and small of stature. T\vo other :JIexi-
cans who escaped ",?ere said by Antonio to be guilty
of the murder; they, he said, had already murdered
three Americans, and had planned to kill another.
.L-UI these villains had lived together for some time at
Dragoon Gulch.
After the yerdict ,vas pronounced, the will of the
people ,vas demanded by the chairman. In accord-
ance ,vith their yote the men ,yere taken to the scene
of the nlurder, and there on Sunday afternoon at
four o'clock they were hanged, and buried ill the
grave they had dug for their victim. Fully a thou-
sand persons acconlpanied the condemned men to
their place of execution and burial.
During the same morning, at Sonora, a serious
melée occurred on the street. 1Iarshal 1IcFariand
had arrested a Chilean, and was taking him to jail,

\hen the officer was fired on by a l\lexican. The
marshal returned the fire, ,vhen the )Iexican rushed
upon him ,vith his knife. Again the marshal fired,
and the )'Iexican fell dead; other )fexicans then
undertook to rescue the Chilean and avenge their
comrade's death, but reinforced by a constable. the
marshal overpowered the party, ,vounding three of
the assailants, and one fatally.
One Saturday night early in June five men lay
sleeping in the store of Ben1as and Company, at
Campo Seco. About midnight eight burglars entered
the store ,,-ithout waking the occupants. Five of
them, each with dra",-n bo\vie-knife and cocked pistol,
took their stations oyer the five sleepers, ",. hile the
other three proceeded to rob the store. Presently
the sleepers a ,yoke, and ",?ere obliged to remain thole
unwilling ,vitnesses of the rifling of the premises.
_-\t length, ,vhile the robbers ",-ere carrying a,vay an
iron chest, one of the men belonging to the store

174 A.J.VTICS OF JUSTICE IN THE COUNTRY.

managed to slip away and give the alarm. The to,vll
was raised and the robbers pursued. The chest was
found about four hundred yards away, but the plun-
derers escaped.
One day a man of villainous aspect dropped upon
Oregon Bar. He said his name was Walden; that he
,vas ,vithout money, hungry, and thirsty. The miners
gave him food and drink, and after lying about the
place for a day or two he departed. No sooner was
he gone than the camp doctor missed fron1 his cabin
a gold-dust bag containing two hundred dollars, and
some fresh meat cut ready to ste,v for dinner. The
vagrant ,vas instantly pursued, brought back, tried,
and sentenced to be hanged; but as there ,vas posi-
tively no testin10ny against him, not even sufficient tu
hang a man already condemned before trial, it ,vas
tacitly understood that the man should not be stran-
gled to death, but only choked into a confession.
\Valden, though he swore he stole nothing, apparently
did not object to be hanged, and indeed he nearly
brought on his o,vn death, for making a desperate
kick at the bungling miner who adjusted the rope in
such a way as to hurt his neck, the other foot slipped,
leaving hÍln dangling. Before the n1Ïners could cut
him do,vn life was nearly extinct, but by strenuous
efforts he ,vas resuscitated. The man would confess
nothing, and either more testinlony lIlust Le obtained
or he must be discharged. A happy thought struck
the doctor. Administering to the culprit a po,ver-
ful emetic, soon there was brought to light pieces
of meat, ,vhich the doctor thought on a pinch he
n1ight s\vear. to be the same stolen from him. After
a little more choking, however, Walden was liberated.
As he proceeded on his ,yay he ,vas narrowly ,vatched,
the miners thinking if he had really stolen the gold
Just he ,vould take it from its place of concealment
and carry it a,vay with him. But the man walked
straight along the road, turning neither to the right
hand nor the left. The miners concluded to make

W.A.LDEX OF OREGOX BAR.

1;.3

one nlore trial before letting him go, and if possible
frighten him into a confession. Coming up to him
they told him they had found some fresh evidence,
and that he must con1e back and be hanged. " Well,"
replied "'alden, "hang Ine if you want to, but do it
speedily and respectably, without humbug, harangue,
or torture." Finding him so much more ready to die
than to confess, they told him he might go. "Then,"
said Walden, \vith the most perfect nonchalance, "give
ll1e something to drink, and trouble me no morel"
,'"" hich ,vas done.
Sunday morning, the 29th of June, a young man
entered a con1p1aint to the sheriff at Sonora that,
,vhile in the house of a )Iexican woman, another
man ,vrenched from him his pistol, struck him oyer
the head with it, and then snapped it at him. The
pistol missing fire his life ,vas spared. The
heriff
and his deputy proceeded to the house and searched
it, but finding no one there they started to go, ,,-hen
on looking under the bed they discovered the man,
covered with clothes. He ,vas armed with t" 0 re-
"\"'Olvers, a double- barrelled gun, and a bowie-knife,
only. Dragging him forth they looked at him, and
finding the resemblance to the description of one of
the Call1po Seco robbers so striking, they committed
him to prison, sent word to that place, and soon
he ,ya,; identified.
The prisoner's name ,vas David Hill. :N ext day he
was taken by the people to Campo Seco, and tried and
condemned to death. It ,vas agreed that the execution
should take place in an hour and a half. )Iean,vhile,
as the prisoner expressed a ,vish to make some dis-
closures, a committee of five was appointed to attend
him for that purpose, who soon reported that the
r
deemed the proposed confession of sufficient im-
portance to delay the execution till the next day,
,vhich proposal was acceded to. The confession was
made as promiBed, and it led to the arrest of others
of tho gang. They then proceeded to execute the

1';6 ANTICS OF JUSTICE I
THE COUNTRY.
sentence ,vhich had be on pronounced upon hinl.
"..c'\bout six o'clock," says the Sonora Herald, "Hill
,vas led forth to execution. An imlnense number of
accolnplices and other villains had collected from
various camps. ..Lt\fter the prisoner \yas placed upon
the stand he nlade a few re111arks, describing his life
as one of crilne, and ,yarning others against follo,,
ing
his course. He also said that he had robbed and
stolen, and done other acts of crinle, but had never
shed blood, and he thre\y hinlself upon the nlercy of
the people. The question ,vas then put, Shall he be
hanged? A large nU111Ler ans,vered ay, but an equal
nUlllber responded in the negative. Imlnediately SOllle
hundreds of pistols ,vere dra\vn, and a universal stall1-
pede occurred. l-Iorsenlen plunged into the cro,vcl
and over them, and the people ran in eyery direction.
Order being partially restored, several persons Rpoke
for and against the execution, until at length George
W-ork arrived by himself and asked to be heard. He
then pledged his o,vn life that the prisoner should be
forthcoming at the district court if they \vould deliver
hinl into the hands of the civil authorities. His
reularks ,vere responded to by cries of 'Thornly!'
'Thornly1' In the excitement the prisoner ,vas taken
froln the stand, his hands all the \vhilo pinioned be-
hind hinl, and he ,yas thrust into a ,vagon, ,vhich ,vas
in11nediatel y clri ven off at a rapid rate for Sonora.
The sheriff and one other person ,vere also in the
"ragon, and several others acconlpanied them on horse-
back. N e,vs of the result having reached here shortly
after the rescue,
1r L. D. F. Ed,yards, accompanied
by E. Linflberg, ,vith a gong, pa.ssed through the city,
and called a nleeting of the people instantly in front
of Mr Holden's store. 1\11' Edwards then addressed
tho cro,vd in a short but very energetic speech, re-
ferring to the escapes of criminals heretofore, and the
danger of our citizens ,vhile such thieves and rascals
,vere perlnitted to escape. He proposed to take the
prisoner as soon as he n1ight arrive in to\vn and hang

DOL\GS OVER DAVID HILL.

1;7

him. There ,yas not a di"senting voice. The cro,,'d
then prepared ,vith ,veapons to meet the sheriff and
the prisoner at the entrance of the city. They came
in a "
agon, ,yith two persons alongside on horseback
,,
ith pistols dra\vn. But all "
as of no ayail. The n1en
in that cro1\,d "'"ere not to be frightened. The:- fol-
lo,,
ed the ,yagon, dl
iying at a rapid rate, until it struck
again
t a post, it being dark. George ".... ork then
jumped out with the prisoner, holding him by the
collar, and both ran at full speed for the jail, plunging
through the arroyo, "hile the cro\vd behind were

houting, 'Stop him in front I '"
e are afraid to shoot
lest \ye may kill our friends I Stop him in front!' )Ir
Lindberg soon caught the prisoner behind, and hung
on to him, compelling Hill to drag him along, and thus
impeding Hill's progress. Colonel Cheatham, also, all
praise to the man, ran ahead at full speed to the jail,
and planting himself before the door, cocked his re-
vol\
er, and a'3 George ", ork and the prisoner came
running up, he placed one hand on the prisoner, and
presenting his pistol to"
ard George, said: 'George,
)
UU have a pi:3tol and I have a pistol; yours i
cocked,
and so is mine. Blo" a\Yay
I can kill too-but let
this man go
' Others by this time came up, and one
party taking George, another the prisoner, no shots
,vere exchanged, and the rescue ,yas made. Two
persons thre"T a rope oyer the prisoner's neck, and
a,yay he "
as led to execution. The place selected
"as the limb of a tree behind the EI Dorado. .....

minister \vas requested, and fifteen minutes allo,,
ed,
the prisoner being surrounded by a ring of firnl men,
\y ho ".ere cool and determined in the '\
ork before
them. ..L\.. large cro,,
d was gathered round; but
all "
ere still as death. The fifteen minutes haying
expired, the signal ,vas giyen, and in an instant the
"
retched lnan
as hanging by the neck. There ,,-as
scarce a struggle. The cro"
<.l were decpl)
iU1pressed,
but all ,yere satisfied of the righteousness and neces-
sity of the punishnlent.

ll through the city, the
POP. TRlB,. Y OL, I, 12

17
A..
TICS OF JUSTICE I:Y THE COUNTRY.
ro,vdies, men ,vho live sumptuously and yet do no
\vork, Inen \"ho are marked, and against some of \Vh0I11
there are more than suspicions of guilt, were solemn
and subdued. Two or three might be seen in a squad,
in various places, talking softly, and evidently alarn1ed
for their o,vn safety. We say, keep the halter ready,
and use it whenever one is caught, be he American
or foreigner. We glory in the fact that American
justice is dealt out to all alike. Hill was from Cort-
land county, N e,v York. Among the last \vords
uttered by him ,vere that his confession was true,
and the several persons implicated by hÎ1n ,vere guilty
as he had described."
Sonora at this time was one of the largest and
Iilost thriving to\vns in the southern mines. The
r
\vere a rioting, roistering crew, and the people of Co-
IUlnbia, near by, ,vere not far behind them. Popula-
tion th,ere was extremely mixed, and the Mexican
element, largely infused fron1 the first; tended ill
no,vise to allay eruptions. But ,vhile there were
scores of hanging scrapes before this in the mines, it
,vas not until midsummer, 1851, that San Francisco
a,voke to her high privilege.

CHAPTER XII.

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

1\Iy llie is one demd hon
id grind.
Niclwlas .1Víckleby.

ON one of the principal thoroughfares, and in one
of the most central business localities in San Fran-
cisco, that is to say on :!\fontgomery street, one door
from 'Vashington, ,vas situated the dry-goods house of
C. J. Jansen and Company. The firm was highly re-
spectable; their business was large, and their dealings
fair. The senior partner, Mr Jansen, was a man of
slight physical build, but intellectually strong, and
though of somewhat grave demeanor, his warm heart
and unobtrusive ,,"'ays had won him a host of friends.
American merchants devotedlnore time to business
then than now; in California they confined themselves
more closely than else,vhere. All who had come
hither must lay the foundations of fortune, and each
,vas eager to outstrip competitors and occupy a front
position. Furthermore, social intercourse offered fe\v
attractions to minds saturated ,vith such ambition;
and public affairs, which, through neglect on the part
of good men, had fallen into the hands of lo,v for-
eigners and professionals, were repugnant to all honest,
high-minded citizens. lIenee it was-that the partners
of large firms were found at all hours of the day
attending to business, waiting personally on their
customers, and at night ,vriting up their books, often
cooking, eating, and sleeping on the premises.
About eight o'clock in the evening of February 19,
( 179 )

180

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

1851, a lllan entered the store of 111' Jansen and
began to exanline the goods. Sliding noiselessly
about, he looked at hats, shirts, and overalls, 11lean-
"\vhile ,vatching narrowly the door, and taking in the
general situation.
There ,vas nothing peculiar in the appearance of the
mall. In those rough days, and in the absence of
refining 'VOlnal1, fe,v ,vere very particular about their
dress, and those fe,v ,vere not of the better sort. III
the n1ines \v hite starched linen ,vas the garb of yice;
'biled shirts' covered the black hearts of ll1urderers
and the soiled character of galnblers, saloon - keepers,
and pettifoggers. Honesty throve in coarse ,voollen,
and often under the ragged red shirt were belted hun-
dreds of dollars in gold dust, the result of s\veating
toil; therefore it ,vas the nlost difficult place in the
,vorld to detect shades of character in dress. Dress
could be so easily assumed \vithout exciting suspicion,
for in the multitudinous changes of place and occu-
pation everybody ,vas throwing a,vay his old garlnents
and putting on ne,v.
Some of the streets of San Francisco ,vere at this
time din1ly lighted; others ,vere not lighted at all.
It had been raining a little during the evening, and
the bright blaze froil1 the chandeliers of gambling-
saloons ,vhich poured upon the miry unpaved streets
rendered the surrounding darkness only more opaque.
N everthcless it ,vas yet early, and business Inen had
not closed their doors for the night.

ir Jansen ,vas alone in the store 'v hen the cus-
tomer entered. The man's face was covered ,vith
thick 11lustache and ,vhiskers; l1e had on a gray coat
and broad-brilnmed hat, and acted as if slightly in-
toxicated. At léngth stepping toward Mr Jansen,
,vho was back at the desk, he said he wanted to buy
a dozen blankets.

lr Jansen llloved for,vard and laid his hand on a
pile of colored blankets, ,vhen the lllan said: "N 0,
1 . t "
\V 11 e.

THO:\L\
B"CRDL"E-'.} STORY.

181

Just then another Inan entered the store and also
asked for blanket'3. He ,vas taller than the other, was
partially muffled in a cloak, and ,,-are a hat pointed
in the cro"n. The room was fifty feet long, and
,yas lighted by one candle only ,vhich stood on the
desk. The tall man did not enter nlore than t,,"'enty
feet from the door. While )Ir Jansen "'
as stooping
to get the blankets, the tall man cried "X ow !"
"Thereupon the short man struck the store-keeper
senseless ,vith a slung-shot, and the other rushina
for\vard, both beat him on the head and stamped upo

his breast until they thought him dead, or at least
sufficiently at rest to give them no further trouble.
Then they opened the desk, and taking ,vhat n10ney
they could find, about t,yO thousand dollars, quickly
fl eel.
From the time the first man asked for blankets the
",
hole affair did not occupy three minutes. .At length
)Ir Jansen so far recovered as to crawl to the door
and give the alarm. Theodore Payne, ,vhose store
,vas then opposite, and who had been waiting for )Ir
Jansen to accolnpany him to dinner, as ,vas his custom,
jmmediately ran to his assistance, but the robbers had
made good their escape. The authorities ,vere notified
of the circumstances; the appearance of the men
,vas described by )11' Jansen, and a thorough search
insti tu ted.

It happened that at this time the police were in
search of one James Stuart, who was charged "With
having murdered the sheriff of .L\.uburn, and had
escaped jail t\yO months before at Sacramento, ,,-here
he had been confined a"aiting trial. Thursday, the
day after the Jansen robbery, a mall was arrested ,,
ho
gaye his nan1e as Thomas Burdue. He had a long
story to tell about his departure from Sydney, leaying
there his wife and chilJ.ren, and coming to California.
Unable to find employment, he ,vent to the n1Ïnes,
but there met. ,,
ith little success, scarcely taking out

182

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR

aold enough to buy him food. For several n10nths he

as prostrate ,vith fever, and but for the attention of
kind-hearted comrades ,vould have died. But saddest
and strangest of all, 11e had been persecuted to the
verge of insanity by the 110unds of the law. Thrice
had he been arrested for crimes which he never con1-
mitted; once he escaped, but twice, at different times
and places, he had been tried, convicted, and barely
escaped hanging, and yet he was as innocent of crime
as any man in California.
I t ,vas a good story, too good, indeed, for belief,
and had been ,veIl told. As usual in such stories,
part of it ,vas natural enough, but part of it was of
so startling a nature that the wonder was how the
prisoner thougllt anyone should be so credulous as to
believe it. No, Thonlas Burdue was but one of half
a dozen aliases of which J a.mes Stuart ,vas the rea]
name, so everyone believed; and further, he was no
other than one of those, the sllorter of the t,vo
,vho
assaulted Jansen the evening previous. On Friday,
the 21st, ,vhile deep in the fascinations of a strap
game on Commercial street, another suspected person,
named Wildred, who corresponded in appearance to
Mr Jansen's description of the tall robber in the
cloak, ,vas apprehended and placed in confinement.
Throughout the entire community there ,vas the
greatest excitement. Crowds gathered round the
building where the prisoners ,vere confined, and
threats were made to take them out forthwith and
hang them.
There was no question in the minds of any that
these ,vere the true offenders. About noon on Satur-
day they were taken from the station-house by the
Inarshal, and under escort of a strong police force
,vere conducted to the residence of Mr Jansen, ,vho
,vas lying ill of his wounds and unable to attend court.
:Mr Janson was s,vorn, and ,vhile his testimony was
being taken Wildred was brought in. Jansen recog-
nized him as the taller of the t,vo men; he would not

TRIAL OF THE J
'\SEX ROBBER<S.

If3

s,year positiyely, still he was sure this ,vas he of the
cloak and pointed hat. .J.\.fter further testimony 'Ya

taken Stuart \vas introduced, and :\11' Jansen s,vore
that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, this ,vas
the yillain "ho struck him down. 'Vhen 'Vildred's
cloak and Stuarfs hat ,vere on, Jansen said he could
not imagine a closer resemblance.
On their way back the prisoners were follo,ved by
a mob, who cried: "Hang 'em!" "Lynch 'em!" And
once, while crossing the plaza, a rush ,vas made for
Stuart, who appeared to be the more obnoxious of
the t\VO, from the fact of his having committed the
111urder at Auburn. The attempt to seize him, how-
eyer, failed, and the two men were again safely in-
carcerated.
.J.-\t two o'clock the same da
y they "
ere brought
before Justice Shepherd for examination. Hall 1\Ic-

-\.llister appeared for the prisoners, and H. H. Byrne
for the people. After the reading of
fr Jansen's
deposition on behalf of the prosecution the defence
,vas opened. John 'Vilson swore an alibi; s,vore he
,'
as playing cards ,,
ith vVildred at a gambling-house,
corner of Commercial and
fontgomery streets, froll1
half-past seyen till ten o'clock, and that during that
time 'Vildred had not left the room for a moment.
He said he had known 'Vildred for six months; that
he ,vas a respectable person, and a man of family.
S. J. )farks also swore that he saw him there.
Scarcely one who heard this evidence believed it
true. The court was no\v adjourned till :\Ionday. At
the time of adjournment the room "''"as packed with
people, and round the city hall, while the examination
had been going on, ,vere gathered more than fiye
thousand nlen.
Scarcely had the judge announced adjournment
'v hen the crowd raised the cry, "Now is the time!"
and rushed upon the prisoners. Great was the up-
1'oar "T hich follo,,'"ed. Chairs, tables, and railings gaye
"Tay before the infuriated populace; Stuart ,va
seized

184

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

by one and Wildred by another, but the assailants
,vere beaten off by the sheriff and his assistants. The
'Vashington Guards, ,vhose armory ,vas next door,
then rushed to the rescue of the prisoners, and the
cro,vd was driven from the court-room. The pris-
oners \vere cony eyed to the judge's private room, and
the Guards returned to the armory amidst groans, and
hisses, and cries of "Shame!" "Shame!" The people
\vere then addressed by several of the most respect-
able citizens; they were urged not to act rashly, and
quiet ,vas at length restored.
As night came on, the numbers about the court-
house increased to six or seven thousand. Although
there ,vas great excitement, order ,vas lnaintained,
and there ,vas no further attempt at v;olence. It
,vas not a n10b; it ,vas a movement of the people,
Blade not ,vith the object of interfering ,vith justice,
but to assist justice. The impromptu meeting ,vas
organized, and 'V. D. :1\1. Ho,vard called to the chair.
A c0111nlittee ,vas appointed to see the prisoners
properly guarded during the night, and to report at
a lneeting to be lleld on the plaza next day at ten
0' clock. The cro\vd then quietly dispersed.
At the lneeting next Inorning ,vhich numbered
eight or ten thousand persons, 111ajority and Ininority
reports \vere read-the first as follows: That they
rccol11mend to the citizens of San Francisco to pro-
ceed forth,vith to appoint a committee of thirteen
ci tizens to act as judge and jury, to proceed to the
trial of the suspected criminals at t\VO o'clock that
day. The said cOIDlnittee to act in conjunction ,vith
the court if the court be ,villing; if not, to proceed to
trial by then1selves; they \vould recommend also that
proper counsel be assigned the prisoners, in case they
have none already engaged. The Ininority of the
eonlll1Ïttee, through Samuel Brannan, recommended
inunecliate pUllishnlent. "Why should ,ve speak to
juries, judges, or ll1ayors 1" cried Sam, in angry
perspiration. "Have \ve not had enough of such

DISJI.AL PROSPECTS.

18;)

doings the last eighteen months1 It is ,ve ourselves
,,
ho must be mayor, judges, .}a,,", and executioners.
These men are murderers and thieves; let us hang
..them!"
Ieanw hi Ie printed bills had been posted
A about the streets, \v hich read as fo110""8:
"Citizens of San Francisco! The series of murders
and robberies that have been committed in this city,
,,-ithout the least redress from the la,vs, seem to leave
us entirely in a state of anarchy. "Then thieves
are left ,vithout control to rob and kill, then dotIl the
honest traveller fear each bush a thief. Law, it ap-
pears, is but a nonentity, to be scoffed at; redress can
be had for aggression but through the never-failing
remedy so admirably laid down in the code of Judge
Lynch. X ot that "\\
e should admire this process for
redress, but that it seems to be inevitably necessary.
....\..re ,,-e to be robbed and assassinated in our domiciles,
and the law to let our aggressors perambulate the
streets merely because they have furnished straw
bail? If so, let each man be his o,yn executioner.
Fie upon your laws! they have no force. ...\.ll those
,,-ho ,vould rid our city of its robbers and murderer,
,yill assemble on Sunday, at two o'clock, on the plaza."
,. "Teare here without jails," says the Herald of
February 22d, ",vithout penitentiaries, and without a
police sufficiently strong for the circumstances; and
conjoined "itil these deficiencies "e have a bankrupt
city and an incompetent council. On ,vhom must ,,
c
depend for relieving the to"n from the desperate and
abandoned scoundrels ,vho no" infest it? There is
clearly no remedy for the existing eyil but in the
strong arms and stout souls of the citizens themselves.
But in order to be strong ,\-e rLlust be organized, for
the enemy we have to deal ,vith is ,veIl drilled and
disciplined. I t behooves us, then, to take some f'teps
for concentrated action in order to put a stop to the
dark and atrocious crÍ1nes comn1Ïtted in our mid-;t.
Let us then organize a band of two or three hundred
Regulators, con1posed of such III en as have a stake in

186

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

the town, and ,vho are interested in the ,velfare of the
community. The very existence of such a band ,vould
terrify evil-doers and drive the criminals from the city.
If t,vo or three of these robbers and burglars ,yore
cauo-ht and treated to lynch law, their follo,vs ,vould
be
ore careful about future depredations."
After speaking of the custom of the British minis-
try to resign their position when one of their leading
recommendations is defeated in Parliament, ,vhich is a
sure indication of ]acl{ of confidence, and recolnmend-
ing California office-holders to do like"rise, the editor
of the Alta Califorrnia of Sunday morning goes on to
say: "With one consent the people have taken into
their o,vn hands the adjudication of la,vand justice,
because they knew no confidence coulJ be placed in
our tribunals. And ,vhy has the comn1unity COlne to
this conclusion? Simply because our courts, instead of
being a terror to evil-doers, haye proved themselves
th
protectors of villains, and thus encouragers of
crIme.
"This is a hard accusation, but it is true. There
can be no doubt that in California five hundred mur-
ders have been comn1itted. And yet, with enactments
defining the crime of murder and affixing the penalty
of death for the crime on our statute-books, not one
single offence has been punished by these courts.
Every murderer wh.o has passed through the mum-
mery of an examination or trial has been let loose
upon society again, ,vith the endorsement of the court
upon his character that he is not guilty. Thus he
has been made current coin of the community, ,vhile
before he ,vas at best but bogus in public belief, even
if suspicion alone rested upon him. Courts have thus
gcndered crime by nourishing the criminal. It ,vill
not do to tell our people that this utter impunity has
beon the result of causes beyond the court's control.

0 one ,vill believe it;. no one ought to believe it,
f;in1ply because it is false and the people kno,v it to
be false."

,"VILLIA)! T. COLE
IAN.

IS;

Like lllany others,
Ir "Tilliam T. Colemañ had
been attending to business up to Saturday night, and
although interested in current events had given thelll
no special attention. \Vending his ,vay Sunday morn-
ing after breakfast to,vard the old Graham House,
corner of Pacific and Kearny streets, in the base-
ment of \yhich the prisoners \vere confined, he sa ,\?
in the faces of the citizens bent in that direction nn-
nlistakable evidences of anger, "hieh as he ,yalked
became sonlev{hat contagious. Considering the possi-
bility of a rough turn in affairs before the day was over,
in \vhich perchance he might participate, the thrifty
young merchant returned to his room, laid a
ide
his Sunday suit, and put on plainer apparel. 'Vhell
he reached the scene of action, the mayor from the
balcony was urging the people to disperse, and proffer-
ing the strongest pledges that proceedings in this trial
should be prompt and decisive. Others spoke in the
sam e strain.
It soon became apparent to
Ir Coleman that these
speeches tended to irritate rather than to allay th

éxcitement. Some laughed at promises; others re-
Inained sullenly silent.
Iany had their small-arms,
and fron1 almost every eye shot angry impatience.
Though ,vithout leadership, ,vithout concert of action,
the heterogeneous throng seemed possessed of a com-
mon purpose. There appeared to be real danger that
this sense of burning ,vrong would break out into
excess, that the people ,youlcl take possession of the
building anll hang the prisoners.
Coleman hastily revolved the matter in his mind
and determined to try a middle course. N ext to
do,vnright villainy he hated mob violence. He re-
spected the la ".,.; even the bloodless 8keleton of the
la,,? he had ever regarded as preferable to anarchy.
'Vas it not possible to organize a court of the people,
SU
colore juris, if the la,v ,,"'ould; if not, ,,?ithout the
sanction of the la 'v, and so lllaintain the inteO'rity
ö oj
both of the la,y and of the people? He ,yould try it.

188

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

EnterinO' the building and 111aking 11is ,yay to the
front balc-oOny, he "
aited his opportunity, and just as
one of the speakers closed an urgent appeal to the
people to disperse, go hOI?e, and leave everything to
the officers, he swung hImself well out, and \vith a
,va ve of the hand cried, "No! 'V e ,vill do no such
thing! The people here have no confidence in your
promises, and unfortunately they have no confidence
in the execution of the lavv by its officers. This state
of affairs has gone too far. Patience has fled. I pro-
pose that the people here present forn1 themselves
into a court, to be organized ,vithin this building
imlnediately; that the prisoners be brought before it;
that the testÎ1nony be taken, counsel on each side
allotted; that the trial be begun by t\vel ve o'clock,
aud conducted fairly, dispassionately, resolutely; and
if the prisoners be found innocent let them be di
-
charged, but if guilty let them be hanged as high as
Haman, and that before the sun goes down I"
For an instant there was silence, breathless, ahnost
painful; the street v
-as waiting for the next word;
but it ,vas only for an instant. Then burst forth loud
aud long applause, ,vhich brought reJief: The clouds
cleared froll1 men's faces. The ,vords had been spoken
\vhich each ,vi shed to speak. In the abrasions of this
Î1npetuous society the steel had struck the flint and
kindled the spark \vhich should liberate its smothered
,vrath. From a thousand tongues the shout ,vent up,
"Yes; that's it!" "You are right!" "That's the
l'enledyI" Already the great heart of that tumultu-
ous assembly ,vas ,von; no,v to the quieting of it.
""T e don't \vant a IDOb!'
continued the speaker;
"We ,von't have a mob! Let us organize as becomes
Ine11; here; no,v; as a C0l11111ittee of citizens, and in-
:si
t on the right. All is ready; the \vitnesses are at
hand; let not justice be further cheated."
The proposal ,vas put to vote, and a unanilIlous
'ay' ,vas the ans,ver. Every good citizen ,vas theu
invited to enter the building ,vho could; the rest were

IXFOR)IAL COURT ORGAXIZATIOX.

IS!)

to
tand ,vithout and O'uard affair;;;; with patient quie-
tude. Coleman then e
tered the inner hall, \,hich \Yfi:S
used as a court-room, follo,,
ed by a cro,vd. :JIounting
a ehair, he asked them to choose from among their
lllllllber one ,rho would act as judge, to impanel
t\yelye jlu'ymen, and select counsel for the pro
ecution
and for the defence. lIe also recommended that those
\rithout should organize and surround the building,
\\-hich \,a
done. J. R. Spence "
ac;: appointed judge,
and C. L. Ross and H. R. Bowie associate justice
.
,,-rill. T. Coleman ,,-as called on to act for the prose-
cution, and Hall :Jlc_,AJlister, Calhoun Benham, and
D. D. Shattuck yolunteered their seryices for the
defence. The t,velye jurymen were s,,"'orn in, and
after a short adjournment, about half-past two all
,,-ere ready and the trial proceeded.
.J udge Shepherd entered his official protest against
the proceedings, but no attention was paid to him.
Coleman openerl the ca
e briefly for the people and
\Ya
follo"ed by :Jlc.....J\llister. The latter asked that a
nolle prosequi should be entered, and remarked that
it ill became men to trample underfoot the high
..lignity and sacred rights of that la,,- the blessings
of which they had all their Iiyes enjoyed. Cole-
luan replied that for the Roman code, and for the
la,,- as executed in France and England, and for the
great lights of the la\\-, he entertained profound
respect. But while the ,,-orld from time immemorial
has had its just ordinances and able acl\ocates, un-
fortunatel
r there haye al

ays been parasites, men
\yho are no\\"adays called pettifoggers, and they with
the un,,"'orthy agent::, of la,,- had unhappily brought
it too often into conte111pt, had th"a:rted its wise and
just designs, and thereby hazarded the lives and prop-
erty of the people. I t "Was not la \YS, but the criminal
breach of them, that he complained of; for the ,indi-
cation of the law, not for its overthro\" the people
"-ere there gathered.
Every exertion was made to calm the passions of

190

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

the multitude, and except occasional outbursts, general
good order and quiet prevailed. The prisoners \
vere
kept out of court lest their presence should fan the
ex.citement. Witnesses were examined and the case
submitted. About nine o'clock the jury retired, and
after a long absence returned with the announcement
that they could not agree.
It was well that the bleak winds and fatigue had
chilled the impetuosity of the morning, and that
many had in consequence withdrawn to their homes.
Nevertheless there \vere yet ren1ainillg those ,vho for
twelve consecutive hours had stood massed against
that building ,vaiting to see \vhat this new-fashioned
tribunal ,vonld do, and \vhose patience no\v gave
way. "Hang them anyhow!" they shouted \Vhell
they learned the result. "They deserve it!" But
Coleman said, "No! Though I feel the mortifica-
tion and chagrin no less keenly than you, and though
I believe these n1en guilty, there must be no violence.
vVe have done our duty; \ve cannot afford to make a
111istake; our judgment is not superior to that of
others, and \ve must abide the decision." The jury
\vas discharged, the remainder of the cro,vd dis-
persed, the prisoners \vere left with the county officers,
and remanded to jail.

During the Sunday trial W. H. Jones testified that
he sa\v two spots of blood on Stuart's clothes, one
on the shoulder and one on the elbo,v. McGilbert
recognized Stuart as an old offender; he had seen hinl
at Sacramento and elsewhere, and kne\v him to be a
great scoundrel. James A. Glen testified that the
prisoner was once arrested at Foster Bar for stealing
four thousand dollars, and that he narro\vly escaped
hanging by the people. Mr J ansel1 ,vas again asked to
say ,vhether these \vere the men who assaulted hin},
and he ans,vered, n10re positively than before, that
they 'v ere ; that he ,vas undecided at first, but no\v he
,vas sure.
fany nlore bore \vitness on the one side

GEORGE E. SCHENCK.

191

and on the other, some affirming that Stuart was a
good nlan, and was somewhere else ,vhen Jansen was
struck, and others as sure that he was a notoriously
bad character, and was at or near the spot at the time.
.L\.fter the jury had retired to deliberate, a person
appeared before the court who ,vishecl to testify that
Stuart was with him on the night of the assault fronl
seven till eleven o'clock, but it ,vas decided that his
evidence should not go to the jury.
George E. Schenck ,vas a member of this jury; and
in a lengtllY and clearly ,,-ritten dictation upon the
su.bject he tells me of the doubts he entertained; ho,,'"
Jansen was not positive as to the identity of the nlen,
and hO"\\7 the prisoners ,vere not present at the trial,
being kept in the marshal's room, on the second floor,
under the cots on which the officers slept, and there
concealed by blankets hanging over the sides of the
cots to the floor. Thence during that same night
they "'"ere taken else,vhere, for fear of the multitude,
and secreted for several days. "Two others coincided
,,-ith Ine in regard to it," says
fr Schenck, "and "7e
agreed to bring in a verdict that we could not agree.
There were nine for conviction and three ,vho enter-
tained doubts. This ,vas about nine o'clock at night.
On our coming into the court-room and announcing
this fact, the outside crowd broke in the ,vindows,
rushed in at the door, broke up the railing round the
bar, and 'w"ere about to make an attack on the jury,
,yhen the jurors drew their revolvers, and rushing
back into the jury-room there remained until the ex-
citement had somew'hat abated."
There were several impromptu meetings in various
parts of the city on this Sunday. On 1\Iontgomery
street a red-faced, shock-headed judge was holding
forth to a knot of listeners, and denouncing in strong
terms the lawless proceedings of the day. "Law!
law! talk of law!" exclaimed the deriding cro,yd.
"'Ve get heaps of law, but little justice. .L\ll that
la\y in California seenlS to be good for is to elnpty

192

THE BU:h DUE-STUART AFFAIR.

Jl10ney from the pockets of the people into the pockets
of the judges." Then canle hootings. " 'Vater lots!"
yelled one; "Colton grants!" "Straw bail!" "Boiled
eO'O's for the lawyers and acorns for the people!"
sh
uted others. And when a strong clear voice rang
out, "Tar and feather the old fello,v!" and the judge
sa\v in the Il1any eyes directed toward hinl a ne\v and
not assuring light, he thought it best for him to go
,vhile he could. So he lnoved along.
As John \Vilson, ,vho testified to an alibi on behalf
of Wildred, \vas passing do"Tn Long Wharf on Sun-
day, he \vas recognized by the populace, \vho raised a
cry against him. "There goes one of ' enl !" they
shouted. "Stop the perjurer!" "Duck him!" "Thro"

him off the dock!" Frightened half out of his \vits,
he lllade good use of the renlainder, for clearing the
cro\vd at a bound or t",.o, the fello\v ran like a deer up
Commercial street to Montgolnery street, \vhere turn-
ing the corner he darted into a store, slaIlllned the door
after him, shot out through the back ,yay, and hid
himself under a pile of elnpty cases, thus eluding hi::;
pursuers.
Charles Duane, \vho was at the time on trial before
the recorder for shooting one Amade, was surren-
dered by his bail and cOlnmitted to prison. The fact
,v
s, Duane could sleep better under the guardianship
of the law than ,vhen left exposed to the fury of the
IllOb. Whenever the people became excited the prison
,vas the murderer's haven of rest; then the la\v,vas
hiB best friend.
The people pllulled themselves on their good be-
havior. Says the Daily Balance of l\Iorrday morning:
"For t\VO days the lives of t\VO hUIDan beings, the
lnajesty of the la,vs, and the peace and character of
our city, have hung on the \vill of an illegal assenl-
blage of the people. Yet, thanks to the good sense,
the love of justice, and the habit of self-governnlent
,vhich characterize our Anlerican COl111nunity ,vherever
it has not been subjected to the deteriorating influ-

POPL"'LAR OPIXIOX.

193

ences of great cities, they ha ye passed through the
crisis unharll1ed. It is a 11l0St consoling and grati-
fying result, 'v hich every loyer of his country and
of his kind nlust regard ,vith satisfaction and ,yith
thallkfulnes
.:' " I t "
as one of the most inlpressi ve
denlonstrations of the po"
er and majesty of the
people ,ve eyer looked upon," says the editor of the
Pacific .L'T"cu's, ,yriting )Ionday nlorning. "..L
s yet no
III urderer has been puni
hed under our la ,vs. Here-
after no criminal can go free except at the risk of
anarchy, frorll ,,-hich "
e bay-e escaped only by a for-
bearance on the part of the people beyond all praise."
"In no city in the ,yorld, perhaps, save this," ,,-rote
the editor of the Culifo/'n.ia Co IIJ'ieJ' on Tuesday, the

5th, "could a cOIllnlunity be excited and aroused so
violcntly ,yithout committing some excesses; yet our
pBople throughout Saturday and Sunday committed
no breach of the peace ,vhatever. The feeling and
interest 111anifesteJ arose from an intelligent and
deep-seated conviction that these men 'v ere t\VO of an
organized gang of Jesperadoes and villains "ho have
b
en at all hours of the day and night comnlitting
outrages upon the lives and property of our citizens.
Also because it "
as believed they ,,
ould be 8"\,orn
through the courts by their confederates. Our
people, under the circulllstances, have sho\vn great
forbearance, 1110deration, and respect for the la \,s.
They have no""', ho\r8Yer, made up their nlinds that
there shall be no more stra"
bail taken, and no nlore
false s\vearing from suborned ,,-itnesses to shield and
protect the guilty in their outrages."
One of [I thousand similar speeches made on the
Sunday of the trial is given by the Everâng Pic(I!June
of
Ionday: "',""'I1Ïle mino-liner ,,--ith the cro,yd before
. ð ð
the City Hall yesterday afternoon, a tall, gaunt indi-
yidual, ",.ith black eyes and an abundance of hair, broke
out indignantly after this fashion: 'CUScl nle, \yhat a
country this here is for regulating things: ""'here I
COlllC fi"0111 those chaps in thaI' \yould haye s\vung long
POP. Tnm., YOLo I. 1:3

194

THE BURDUE-STUART AFF
\.IR.

ago, and no speechifying and hU111bugging thought
of. Here I ,vas some t,vo or three hours ye
terday,
and llothin' done. vVell, I come here accordin' to ap-
pintlnent at nine 0' clock this 1110rnin', to see the
thing done all on the square, and here it is nearly SUl1-
do,vn and nothin' done yet! Cuss Ine, I have helped
syring nine red::;kins and three l\Iexicans in one fore-
noon, and no damn fuss made about it by anyone.
Cuss 111e, but 1'111 clean sick of this country, \yhere
they let cussed red devils and \\T hite ,vol ves run
over then1 ,vithout so 111uch as slipping the \vind
of one of them \vhen he's caught! It's a ,,"eak
country-an unnat'ral place, and fit only for grcasers!'
As he concluded speaking, his small black eyes glanced
contelnptuously about him for a, lllon1ent, 'v hen he
elbo\ved his ,yay out of the throng."
Thus the people's tribunal failed to convict these
lllen, and left thenl to the officers of the la,v. Wil-
elred, ,vith seven others, broke jail and escaped. Stuart
,vas tried by the district court, found guilty, and
sentenced to fourteen years' inlprisonn1ent. All the
1l10ney in his possession ,vas taken fronl hÏIn and given
to Jansen.

Before the sentence of the court ,vas executed,
ho,vever, Stuart ,vas taken to Marysville and there
arraigned for the nlurder of l\loore, the sheriff. At
this trial the testimony as to Stuart's identity ,,-as
conflicting. There ,vas no douLt as to Jin1 Stuart
being the n1urelerer of l\loore, but ,vhile 111any,vit-
nesses for the prosecution positively identified the
prisoner Ly a dozen proillinent fcatures, yet there
,vere othcrs ,vho as positively asserted that he was
not the 111 an.
I herewith give \vhat one of the attorneys in the
case at l\larysville says about it:

"'Yitnesses for the prosecution were generally bold and entirely positive;
but the witnesses for the prisoner, with the exception of .J u<1ge Stitlger and
B. F. 'Vashington, appeared to feel uneasy, and often hesitatcJ in their testi-

THE
\TTORXEY'S RE:
IAR

S.

l!);j

mony. Some thrce or four witnesses testi5.cd that they had worked Wit 1 1 Jim
Stuart. at Foster Bar. and had known him well hefore he went there. They
had eaten with him at the same table often, and had played cards with him;
and one or two testified they had slept ,,,,ith him. They testified that Jim
Stuart .was of the same height as the prisoner; that he had curly hair, like
him; that he was slightly bald on the top of the head, like him; that his
actions were like his-the court having made the prisoner stand up several
times so that the witnesses could see him better than when sitting; that his
voice and accent were the same, being English; that the color of the eyes and
hair were the same; and that Jim Stuart had a stiff middle finger on the right
hand: and a ring of Indian-ink rOTInll one of his finger
, and marks of Indian-ink
between each thTImb and forefinger; and further, that Jim Stuart had a rather
long scar on his right cheek. The jury then examined the hands of the pris-
oner, and there was found a ring of Indian-ink on one of his fingers, several
figures or spots of the same ink between the thumb and forefinger of each
hand; and the right middle finger was not stiff, but had had a felon under the
nail of the cOlTesponding finger on the other hand, which had given it a short
but stubby appearance, hea\
ier at the end than elsewhere, the nail of the
finger being broad amI thick; and bending inward over the end of the fingel.
This 'was startling to the defence, indeed. It remained now to see if the
prisoner had a scar on the right side of the face. His face could not be satis-
factorily e:\aminecl, as it was almost completely co,-ered with a short growth
of hair. The court ordered the prisoner to he shayed before being brought
into court next morning, and on being examined a scar ahout the length of
the one described by the witnesses was found, commencing on the edge of the
jaw on the right side and nmning down the neck. The witnesses now seemed
cónfident, and said that they had no ùoubt that the prisoner was Jim Stuart.
On a cross-examination they said, in a positi\-e and unhesitating manner, that
it was not possible that they could be mistaken in their opinion that the
prisoner was Jim Stuart. Colonel Prentiss swore positively that the prisoner
was Jim Stuart, and that he could not possibly be mistaken. Some four or
five witnesses swore positiyelyas to the identity of the prisoner, and that he
'was Jim Stuart beyond a question; each giving some one or more llew reason

for his belief. :Ko witness on the side of the prosecution would admit a proba-
bility that he could be mistaken in the prisoner; that he certainly was Jim
Stuart! On the side of the defence, Judge Stidger swore positively that the
prisoner at the bar was not Jim :'Stuart; that there was a strong resemhlance
between .Tim Stuart. and this man, but that Jim Stuart was at least two inches
taller than the prisoner; that their eyes were different in color; that the ex-
pression of the eyes of the two men was different; that Jim Stuart was much
<luicker in his motions than the prisoner; that Jim
tuart's motions were very
UnCOnllllOn, being as quick as those of a wildcat; that he had always head
erect, much more so than the prisoner, amI that the real Jim Stuart was
straighter in his personal formation, and had a different complexion. This
witness testified that Jim
tuart was often arraigned before him as a judge at
Foster Bar, and that his recollection of him from this and other facts was
clear and distinct.
tidger also testifieù that Jim
tuart had a stiff middle
finger, Lut not such a one as the prisoner haù. B. F. "\Yashington, who was

193

THE HCRDU.E-STUART AFFAIR.

at the time recorder of Saf'ramento City, testified that he knew Jim Rtu3.rt
from the fact of his being a notorious character in that city, and from the
tact that he had often been brought before him on Jifferent charges.
Ir
,y
shington said that the prisoner at the bar was not Jim Stuart; that there
was some resemblance, but they were to his eye quite ùifferent men; that
Jim Stuart was an inch and a half or two inches taller than the prisoner.
Othcr Vi itnesses for the defence testified to ahout the same facts, but they
seemed to be uneasy, in some trepidation, and acteù in a manner most pro-
yoking to the defence. One witness on behalf of the prosecution, a ::\tIr
Thompson, testified that the prisoner, about the date of the alleged murder,
cmne into a camp on Slate Range, in said county of Yuba, on horseback, and
seemed to have plenty of money, and was betting with the boys on a string-
game which he played very skilfully. That he had a conversation with the
}1l'isoner in the jail, and that the prisoner admitted that he was at Slate Range
at the time mentioned, but Jenied that he was Jim Stuart."

Fronl the report of the trial at J\Iarysville ,ve are
informed that ,vhen the case ,vas cOlnn1itted to the
jury, eight. ,vere for conyiction and four for acquittal.
:Finally the jury, after deliberating t,yO days and one
night, agreed on a verdict of guilty. 'Vhile the
ycrdict ,vas being announced the prisoner did not
lnanifest the least trepidation or excitelnent. An eye-
,vitness says: "I could not notice the least change of
n ll1uscle in his face, and I Inust say that the appear-
ance of his face ,vas far fro111 being that of a hardcned
yillain listening to the fiat deciding his fate, for his
countenance ,vas Inild, cahn, and serene."
When his counsel visited the unfortunate man in
his cell t,vo hours after,vard, he clenched his hands,
and raising them. to,vard heaven reiterated his solemn
protestation of innocence. He further said that if he
should be offered a n1illion of dollars and his liberty
he could not tell ,vhere l\Ir Jansen's store ,vas in Sa
1
Francisco. He spoke of his narro,v escape from hang-
ing at his previous trial; his friends 'v ere afraid to
stand by hin1, as their allegiance ,vould subj ect thenl
to abuse and n1altreatn1ent as lllen of Sydney. Aban-
doned by his comrades, cursed and hated by those ,,
ho
bclieved hin1 a criminal, life ,vas no longer endurable,
and he ,vas ,villing to die. IIis only request ,vas that
letters should be ,vrittcn to his poor ,vife in Sydney

Bl;RDl;E'S LETTER.

197

and his father in England, inforlning them of hi
ill-
fate and of his innocence.
The follo\ving letter, given verbatin1, ,vritten in1-
Inediately after hi
trial at )Iarysville, and ,yhile
under condemnation of death, displays more yivieUy
than can any \yords of mine this strange freak of
justice:
)ÙRYSYILLE JAIL, July 4, IS.31.
To John Goff-DEAR SIR: I have had a trial which lasted five or six days,
and the jury was twenty-four hours in deciding my fate; and had they not
had a prejudice against the country I came from it might have turned out
different, but as it was they found me guilty, and my sentence is death. The
bw allows me thirty days before the execution is put into effect. I forgot to
say, though I was found guilty, the jury remarked that they had doubts upon
their minds; but the judge said that this doubt would assist me very little.
I had more e\idence in fa VOl' than against; in fact I had the judges from
Sacramento, who tried this said Stur
rt several times, also the policeman who
took Stuart into custody; they both swore positi\Tely that I was not
tuart.

-\nd beside these men, I had from fifteen to twenty more who knew Stuart
well, and they also swore positively that I was not Stuart: and moreover all
of these persons were strangers to me. The e\idence here went to show and
prove that Stuart was two and a half inches taller than me. The policeman who
first took me in charge for Stuart never appeared against me. Had I of had
)lrs Strytum, the landlord of the house I kept, and )lrs )lorris, and yourself,
it might ha\-e turned the case in my favor, as this murder was perpetrated on
the 7th of December, ant! you are \\ ell aware that I was in San Francisco a
long time before and a long time after. I have since been infonned that
no matter \\ hat e\idence I have, the prejudice is so great against the people
tbat come from Sydney that had I of had these witnesses I ha\.e named it
would of been no use. )lrs Eliott was here to prove that I came in the same
ship with her from Sydney, and it so happened that there was a witness also
here to prove that this same Stuart came in steam-ves8el from Panama with
him, in same month as I came from Sydney. He also swore to Stuart's height,
as being much taller. There was several parties from Foster Bar, who
anested
tuart for a robhery he did there; they also swore I was not Stuart,
but all of no u
e; and one of these persons was the juJge who tried Stuart on
Foster Bar t\\ice, and 'Worked in the same company. Fletcher and Benson
I got subpænas for4 but they could not be found. Henry Davies called upon
me, and promised to stay to my trial, but on account of its being put off for
a few days he left and I have not seen him since. Understand me, I don't
mean to say that I had no evidence against me, because I had many that
swore I was Stuart; but most or all of these persons only knew Stuart sligl) tly,
'\\ here those that swore I was not him, all said they knew him wpll. I have
no more to say at present touching the case. I must now ask you as a very
great favor to come up and see me as soon as possible, as I cannot say how
soon I may be launchcù into eternity, innocent. 'Yhen
rou come up, please

IDS

THE BURDUE-STUART AFFAIR.

Lring any letters you may have for me. :r..ly dear Sir, when I ask you this
fayor, I ask you not to delay, as it will be the last time you will be able to
see me, and for God's sake, and the respect you have for me, don't fail, as I
haye a deal to say respecting my poor wife and friends I have left behind.
I can assure you it is very hard to be placed in thi8 position, but at the
same time I keep up my spirits as well as I can. I now say again, in the
name of God do not neglect me, but if possible come up as soon as you re-
ceive this.
Give my respects to all my friends in San Francisco, and receive the same
yourself, from
Yours truly, but very unfortunate,

TIIOS. BURDUE.
P. 8.-1 have not forgot the day I entered your house after being at the
mines for five months working hard, and dirty as miners are, and your boy
J oIm, which is only three or four years, should recognize me.

Hear no,v the sequel, and nöte the Inoral. Just
hefore the ùay arrived on ,vhich he ,vas to have Lecn
sentenced, it \vas ascertained that this Stuart ,vas not
Stuart at all. He oyer ,vhon1 all this temper had
been spent ,vas Thon1as Burduc, an innocent n1an I
He had never c01111nitted 111urJer, had never assaulted
Jansen, and every ,vord of the story he haJ told on
his arrest ,vas true!
These facts \vere ascertained by the Inen 'v ho ere
this had forIned thelnsel ves at San Francisco into a
Conunittee of \Tigilance, as ,ve shall presently see, and
,vho rescued the unfortunate man frolH a felon's death
on the eve of execution Ly the arrest of the true
Stuart, to 'VhOlll Burdue bore a striking resenlblance.
His likeness in forIn and feature to a villain ,vas to
hilll a K essus shirt of n1Î
fortune.
Says the attorney 1efore quoted, on seeing the real
Stuart subsequently at tIle rOOlns of the San Fran-
cisco Vigilance COllln1ittee: "If eyor I sa,v a stronger
reselnblance bet,veen t,vo n18n in lIlY life, I do not recol-
lect it. But I soon noticed the distinctive differences,
so 111inutcly described in the tcstirnollY of Stidger and
\Vashington. The real Jin1 Stuart ,vho stood before
Ine ,vas at least t,vo inches higher than the prisoner
in Yuba county. The llliddle finger ,vas the sanle as
has been stated by ,vitnesses, quite stiff, and his hand::,

SIXGULAR CIRCU
ISTAXCES.

199

much longer and more aristocratically shaped than
the hands of the other. His actions ,vere exactly
those that Stidger had described, and at the least
motion of anyone present, his eyes, head, or body
,vould nlove \vith the rapidity of lightning!"
Ilnagine the feelings of thi
lllan under his strange
and varied experiences; lying incarcerated through
lnonths ùf long nights and ,vearisome days, pondering
on the present anll ,yondering \vhat ,,"ould con1e
next; sitting in the prisoners' dock listening to those
who, one after another, callIe for,vard and fastened on
hÎll1 crinles from the bare Iuention of ,vhich hi
soul
shrank, until he began to question his o,vn sanity and
j,1entity. N o,v he lay chained in a dungeon; no\v,
under the grim shado,v of justice, surrounded by eyes
staring curses on hiln, he listened to evidence and
argulnents no more applicaLle to hinl than to the
judge hiu1self; and llO'V he found hill1self the centre
of an infuriated populace, eager to shoot, hang, or ,vith
their fingers to tear him in pieces, \vhen, if they but
kne,v the sin1ple truth, they \yould sooner point their
'veapons against their o\vn breast. The jaundiced eye
sees all things yello,v. ""'hile the prisoner "
as on
trial, and strong evidence 'Ya
brought against hinl,
the people sa,v guilt stanIped on his face; ,vhell he
"'"as proved innocent, the face shone in open honesty.
IU11nediately the COll1mittee of \Tigilance had found
the true J aU1es Stuart, and had rescued fronl the ja'v

of death the luan ,,-ho Lecn taken for hiln, Tholnas
Burdue ,vas brought to San Francisco, and the an1plest
alnends possible \''"ere n1ade hinl. He ,vas pardoned by
the governor for crilnes 'v hich he had neyer comn1itted.

Ir Jansen not only refunded the Inoney taken froill
hilll, but supplell1ented it hy a libcral addition. A pub-
lic
ubscription ,yas started, ,vhich resulted in substan-
tial aid. Thus Tholl1a8 Burdue becanle a hero, anù
,yas lifted up--but not
o high as the scaffol( l.
Before the legislature of 1853 a lllcnlorial \yas pre-
sented on behalf of Thoillas Burdue, asking for four

200

THE BURDUE-STU
\..RT AFFAIR.

thousand dollars, in vic\v of the suffering and igno-
Ininies of a nine lllonths' unj ust inlprisonlllent. Besiùes
contracting disease anù undergoing the horrors of the
death sentence for another's crime, his entire 111CanS
and all he could borro\v fron1 his friends, aUlounting
to nearly the sum asked, had been expended in pro-
curing necessary counsel and \vitnesses, in consequence
of \yhich his ,vife anù children "
ere reduced to beg-
gary. The nlcillorial ,yas referred to the judiciary
C01l1111ittee, of w"hich J. \V. Ralston \vas chairman.
The follo,ving lucid and logical reply ,yas nutde: "To
grant the prayer of the petitioner \youlcl establish a
precedent 'v hich, if carried out in all cases of the kind,
\vould 1110re than exhaust the entire rovenue of the
state. \Ve kno\v of no legislatiye precedent for such
appropriation. The Illost that has been Jone \vas to
refund fines illegally colleeteJ froln innocent partie
,
leaving thenl responsible for their o\vn expenses. In
society it too often happons that the innocent are
,vrongfully accused of crin1e. l'his is their 111isfor-
tune, and govern1l1ent has no po"
cr to relieve thell1.
It is a part of the price each individuallllay be called
on to pay for the protection \vhich the la"
s give. He
should rejoice that the la\ys have afforded that pro-
tection to hilll \vhen \vrongfully accused, rather than
seek relnuneration for his expenses froin the govern-
lllent ,vhose justico has protected him frolIl igno-
111inious death." That is to say, stripped of verbiage,
To correct the errors of la\v \vould cost more than
all the expenses of governlnent combined. \Ve ha \7e
never kno,vn a legislature to right a \vrong done by
the ht'v to a citizen, therefore ,ve \vill not. Prosecu-
tion Inay be the price of protection; and fortunate is
he \vho is not done to ùeath by la,vs established to
save his life!

CHAPTER XIII.

ORGA
ìZATIOX OF THE SA..'f FRA...,CISCO CO
I
IITTEE OF
YIGIL...-\XCE OF 18.31.

The gods
Grow angry with your patience; 'tis their care,
And must be yours, that guilty men escape Dot:
As crimes do grow, justice should rouse itself.
Ben Jonson.

CRI1lE "Tas elllboidened rather than intimidated by
recent affairs. 'Vhile the Burdue trial ,vas in prog-
ress, the drug-store of Bache and Grotjan, corner
of "T ashington street and Portsnlouth Square, ,vas
entered and robbed; a murder ,vas committed at EI
Rincon; on Prospect Hill a "\VOlnan "as robbed of
fi1 T e hundred dollars and t,vo gold chains. T,vo men
Inaking their round of pillage "Tere caught ,vith
articles taken froll1 the stores of ICettell,
Iahony,
and Company, and ::\Iiddleton and Hood; one of thenl
,vas seyerely punished by the people and the other
escaped. At the time and thereafter, both in the city
and country, slung-shots, kniyes, and pistols ,vere
eUlployed more liberally than ever.
Rascality assumed the heroic. Âside fronl the
seductive
harnl of illicit gain ,vas it not a grand
thing to be the central figure of such an asselnLlage as
that of the before-mentioned Sunday in Februarv?
}'or les8 than thi
nlen toil in their life
long ,vearisol;'le
ascent, deulagogues ,veaye their "Teb of state-craft,
anll soldiers fight their battles. "Then nlen are so
eager by hook or crook to attract the notice of the
,yorld, nlay not the chi valrous and accolnpli
hcd villain
achieye reno\yn after his O'YIl fashion?

( 201 )

202 CO
I
IITTEE OF VIGILAXCE OF 18.31.

After all, the difference bet\veen ,var-butcheries
and high\vay-butchcries is 1110re ideal than real. \Var
i
the standing irony of hunlane justice. Poets call
this bloody display of passion lovelier than love, \viser
than \visdonl, holier than religion. So burns in their
heart the fire of patriotism that for opinion's sake
they lay their country in ashes, and for the .love of
truth resort to killing. vVhat is truth? l\fay men
kill for pride and vain-glory and Hot for bread 1 To
fight for opinion and call it fighting for truth; to ,val'
against infallibility 'v hile clainling to be infallible;
strange infatuation! As though ilnmutable truth,
'v hich is as fir1l1 as the Creator's throne, should need
the puny efforts of Inan to establish it, and that the
killing of one another should so establish it ! Verily
there have been in the fermentations of peoples n10re
anornalous absurdities, lllore reasonless killings, than
,vould be the achievements of villainy for faille!
Happily for individuals society puts the veto on
private slaughter; happy \vill it be for Inankind ,vhen
nations esche,v killing; happy ,viII it be for morals
,vhen no longer single lllurders alone are infan10us,
and only "Tholesale slaughter honorable. Here in
California at this tin1e ,vas ,york enough to do at an
events, and that in the direction pointed out by con-
science fashioned by CUStOlll. Hundreds of murderers
,yalked froln their victillls unmolested, escaped to nc\v
killing. vVhat then? Shall these go unpunished?
Does not the bird Hameh, forlned in Arabian Iny-
thology fron1 the brain-blood of the slaughtered victirn,
cry 1s1\.00ne! give 111e to drink vengeance! and so
pursue the guilty to the end of his career?

Follo,ving the excitelnent attending the Jansen
outrage, as I have said, matters becalne rapidly ,vorse
and \yorse. Nothing so stin1ulates ,vrong-doing as
attclupting punishn1ent and failing. In the \yar of
good against evil defeat is fatal. One villainous suc-
cess dra\ys into its trail a hundred ne\v recruits. For

ITCR:S
\.SE OF CRIJIE.

203

a year rrcvious to lllidsunlmer, 1851, again and again
the public press called on the people to unit
and
hang th
criminals. Round the sand-hills and in the
hollo\ys, as from the circling hell of Dante, there
seemed to rise a silent \yail of \voe. The stench of
natures maledict, as from the tomb of misfortune,
floated o\
er the sand-\vaste and filled to suffocation
the nostrils of plodding virtue.
Robberies and rascalities of every kind "
ere of daiI y
occurrcnce; quiet citizens ,vere knocked do\vn in going
to and from their business, an(l it ,vas unsafe for one
to trust one's self out after dark \vithout a cocked
pistol in the hand. The crinlinal c.atalogue of a weck''3
or a month's duration woul(l be startling. On the 3d
of June occurred the Benjamin Le\vis affair before
Inentioned. T\vice his indictment by the grand jury
,va':) quashed by Judge Parsons on some technical
ground, and the prisoner held for another future
spasm of justice. The same night a je,vell'Y store on
Clay street \vas feloniously entered; also the shop of
)11' Robbins, on Broad\vay, near Po,vell street. The
building on the south-,,
est corner of Kcarny and
California streets ,,-as fired the 5th, but the Banles
"
ere ex.tinguishetl before spreading. Sunday night,
the 8th of J unc, the California-street ,,
harf "
a'3 fired.
At the Blue Deyil saloon on Jackson street there
"
as a beautiful stabbing affray the 9th. The same
night the hou'3e of the Rcycrend Prevaux was en-
tercel. U nhallo,,
ed 111eanness: T\venty culprits on an
average no"
graced the recorder's levee every morning.
The 1
th of June Charles Hudson ,vas knocked do,,
n
and robbed of fiye hundrcd anel e t\ventv dollars in Cab
alley. Saturday, the 14th, one ""'hit
er \vas '3tabbed
by Albert C. Burney at a dance-house on Pacific
street, near Dupont. X ext day, Sunday, the cry
of murder "
as raised on \'T"irginia street, and :J1r
and )Irs Yates \vere taken in charge in consequ
ncè.
At a place then rejoicing in the strongly suggestive
nalTIC of Hog \'T" allcy a 1113.11 \vas knocked
cnselcss

234

COI\I)IITTEE OF YIGILAXCE OF 1831.

and robbed on the 17th. A fire, the suppos
d ,york
of an incendiary, \vas discovered 011 the 18th under
a building in the rear of Jones' Irote!.
The 22d of June occurred the seventh great con-
flagration, involving the loss of Hix lives and about
t\yO Inillions of property. N early one fourth of the
city \vas laid in ashes. After careful investigation the
people \vere satisfied that it "
as the \vork of an in-
cendiary. The fire originated in the d,velling of :\Ir
Delessert. L\.t the tin1e there ,vas neither fire nor
servant in the house. The people ,vere out in full
force, fighting the flanles and guarding property.
'Vhilc the fiallles \vere raging, the burglary of a
je\velry store on 1\ferchant street \vas attelnpted.
That sarrie evening N. L. Pollock \vas shot dead by
San1uel Gallagher. A 1\Iexican nanled Juan, caught
stealing at this fire, ,vas tried and publicly \vhipped
by the people.
.L
Tiolle lJ1"oseq1ti ,vas entered by the court of sessions
the 2Gth of June in the case of Charles Duane, tho
prosecuting attorney stating that the ,vitnesses for
the prosecution could not be found. It \vas a current
practice among the fraternity, that of continuing a
case until the \vitnesses \vere scattered. T\vo individ-
uals, Grahaln and Lenlon, at a loss to kno,v ,vhetber,
even in their o\vn estimation, they \yere gentlelnen,
indulged in some general shooting on I(earny street,
near the plaza, on the evening of the 30th. U nfortu-
nately neither \vas killed, thougll the bodies of tho
by-standel's entertained a number of their bullets.
These are scarcely a 1110iety of the offcnces COlll-
nlitted during the 1110nth of June; include the petty
crimes and lllisdenleanors, and the list \vould be in-
creased tenfold.

Before the Inonth opened, it ,vas clearly apparent
that the tilne ,,,,as fast approaching \vhcn the indigna-
tion of the people nlust burst its fetters; the enernies
of peace and honest living had filled their cup of in-

lGHT P
\.TROL.

20:5

iquity to 0' erflo\ying. Patience had become puerility-.
Thc question \yas no longer ,,-hether it \vas right for
the people to take la \\T into their 0\,11 hands and ex-
ecute justice, but "hether the virtuous and orùerly
element in the COll1Il1unity should have any existence
at all. Oyer and oyer again the legal machinery then
in operation "
as proyed utterly inadequate to the
suppression of crime; \vickedness gre\y bolder and
Inore rampant ever
- aay, until the sÍlnple propo:sition
\yas, Shall the sub:-;tance of the right-lninded and
industrious be foret;er taken to feed villainy? Then
it ,vas that a secrct committee of men determined
to put on arnlor and stand ready, the self-constituted
exponents and executives of order and of law', sprung
a
it \yere from the ground.
The idea of organizing did not originate ,,"'holly \vitIl
anyone man or at any Ol1e time. Á.\S in every norIl1al
e\
olution, the development ,,"'a'S the offspring of ne-
ces:;:.ity. .L\.. thousand minds \vere pregnant with the
thought that something must be done. Citizens talked
together of it, and every ne,,'" outrage added force to
e
pression. The great la,,'" of self-protection, far
111ightier than "Tritten la"
, of its o\yn subtle strength
attracted and massed the isolated particles of so-
ciety. .L
lthough it was a clear case of spontaneous
COlllbustion, there \yas yet an immediate agent. In
a thousand places the flame of reform ,,"'as ready to
burst out; the first bursting \'
as the beginning.
There had been organized late in February or early
in :Jlarch, among the merchants, a night patrol, of
\vhich F. "T. :Jlacondray "
as captain. Eyery luan
\vho had property to protect was inyited to join the
C0l11prrny, and contribute his proportion of tinle and
11l0l1ey for the benefit of all. There \vere about ono
hundred 111elUbers, \vho \vere assigned to different dis-
tricts, and t\,elye of the III "'"ere on duty four times [1
1110nth, serying eight hours out of the twenty-four.
Often during' their ll1eetings they discussed the ne-
cessity of organizing as a popular tribunal and as-

200 CO
I)IITTEE OF VIGILANCE OF 18.31.

sun1Ïng arbitrary po\,rers. It \vas a consumnlation,
llo\yever, to be deplored, and therefore to be post-
poned as long as possible. Of the band ""as George
E. Schenck, \vho clairl1s this as the origin of the
\Tigilance COn1l11ittee; others, ho\vever, put in coun-
ter c]ai1l1s. The truth is, as I have said, this organ-
izing for mutual safety ,vas the act of n1al1Y, \vho
thus as it ,vere thre\v up their arnlS involuntarily to
\v
rd off the blo,v aimed at society by confederated
crlllle.

In \vhat \vas then kno,vn as Happy Valley, ,vhere
no\v is First street, near l\1ission, in the spring of
1851 lived J anles Neall, a highly respected citizen
and prolninent l11erchant. George Oakes, of the firln
of Endicott, Green, and Oakes, \vas his neighbor.

1ceting on Sunday afternoon, the 8th of June, their
conversation turned on \vhat \vas uppern10st in the
nlÎnùs of both-the insecurity of affairs, and the
necessity of active measures. Call11, clear- headed,
practicallnen, both of then1, they detcrnlined at once
and together to call on 1\11' Brannan, the ruling spirit
and tacitly ackno\vledged leader of the lTIOVement of
1851, and consult ,vith hill1 on the subject. They
found
.fr Brannan seated in his office, and near hinl
at the desk
lr VV ard \vell, his clerk. 1\11' Brannan
listened as one to \Vh01l1 sucll \vords ,vere \VelC0l11e.
As the fire licks lovingly ne\v fuel, so the flan18
already blazing in his breast recei vcd the sentiments
poured into it by his visitors. After short discussion
it ,vas suggested that each then present should give

Ir Ward,vell the nalnes of such citizens as \vcre
l;:no\vn to be in syn1pathy \vith good order, and \vhose
discretion could be relied upon, inviting theln to ll1eet
at t\velve o'clock at noon the next Jay, l\1:onJay, the
9th, at the California Engine House, situated at the
junction of
farket and Bush streets, opposite the
Oriental Hotel. Certain persons in the several dis-
tricts of the city \vere requested to organize each a

TIlE TER
I YIGIL
\.
CE CO
I:\IITTEE. 207

local cOll1n1ittee, of "",yhich he should act as chair-
11lan, anù the duty of these comn1Ïttees should be
to notify their trust,vorthy neighbors, and inyite
then1 to be present at the time and place above
nlcntioned. ..
In pursuance of that action there ,vas a large
gathering at the engine-house the fol1o\ying noon,
and the room ,vas cro,vded. The evils of the titnes
,v ere discussed, and vie\ys interchanged as to the
proper reilledy. The 111eeting finally adjourned to
assenlble that night at
Ir Brannan's rOOIns, for
the purpose of organizing and defining a course of
action.
U na,\?are of the steps "Thich had thus far been
taken, :JIr A. Delano \vrote t,vo notices in the after-
noon of Tuesday, the lOth, calling a meeting to be
held next day at three o'clock on the plaza, and
handed them in at the offices of the .i.lltcl, Californ ia
and Cour
'er. He then dre\y up articles of associ-
ation, ,vhich he called [L 'Con1n1ittee of Safety;' but
learning from :\Ir Brannan \Vednesday n10rning that
an organization had already been effected, he sa,v
that the articles 'v hich he had prepared ,vere not
needed.
Singularly contradictory ,yere Inany of the state-
n1ents given TIle by the actors thelllSelyes. I have
been told repeatedly by those ,yho joined the asso-
ciation on the lOth or the 11th of J Ulle that the
Jenkins robbery, hereafter to be ll1entioned, ,vas the
act ,vhich called the organization into being, "Then in
fact the origin of associating dated fronl the Sunday
previous, and sprang imnlediately fronl the COll1-
nlon conversation anlI resolution of the t,vo citizens
of Happy \r alley. Thick black clouds, portentous of
outbreak, had hung for ,yeeks and nlonths over the
city; but the ,yalk of
eall nnd Oakes to Brannan's
office ,vas the first ,vhite streak indicative of Î1nn1e-
diate atulospheric purification.
The origin of the tcrln vigilance cOrJunittee ,vas

208 CO
l
IITTEE OF VIGILAXCE OF 18.31.

spontaneous. In the lneeting of 1\Ionday night the
question arose ho\v the organization should be <leslg-
lint.ed. One suggested that they should call thern-
selyes the' Regulators,' froln their deterulÍnation to
scrutinize and regulate the adn1Ïnistration of justice,
and so diminish criu1e. But the ,vord Regulators
sll1acked too strongly of the Hounds epoch; it ,vas
too significant of a purpose and policy directly at vari-
ance ,vith those of the nc\v organization, and hence
,vas not seriously entertained. 'Secret COlnnlittee'
did not suit for oLvious reasons. N ext ,vas proposed
'Colnmittee of Safety,' or 'Colnn1ittee of Public
Safety,' as conyeying the idea of protection \vhich the
association sought to throw round every good citizen.
This nanle found Inore supporters. But meanw'hile
the tern1 'Con1mittee of Vigilance' having been sug-
gested, it took prccedence at once, elnbodying as it
does the sentilnent of \vatchfulness ,vith those of cir-
cunlspection, eare, and protection. Hence this nanle
,vas unanin10usly adoptcd, and as the expression of a
unique hunlan association shall so stand to the end of
tinl e.
At the 111eeting of Monday night there \vere pres-
ent those \vho fully realized the responsibility and
inlportance of the step about to be taken. Their
scelning duty lay seelningly counter to the regular
course of la,v. Plainly, they proposed to break the
la \v, and in so doing lay thcn1scl ves open to punish-
111ent by the la,v. In the eyes of the la,y they ,vere
about to become offenders of as deep a dye as any
they proposed to punish, though froln very different
lllotives.
But there ,vere
also present young and inex-
perienced 111en, ,vho did not kno,v \vhat they ,vere
about to do; and saO"e tutor to these \vas the \vhilolll
colonel conln1anding O the N e\v York volunteers, which
C0111pany, as before stated, ,vhen disbanded furnished
111any of the ruffians then infesting the city. These
11lcttlesolne innoccnts the mettlesome old colonel set

SA
,ICEL BR

A_,.

209

about to instruct. I t suited "
ell the eternal fitnc
':-3
of thino-s, that he ,yho had brought hither X e"

York's
agabonds
houlcl no"
hang them. Fcelingly
he spoke of his former associates, calling to mind IXl..;t
dang-erg and privations in common shared; but re-
called to things present, stern duty s\yelled the breast
"
ell buttoned beneath an army coat, and the severest
of military airs \\Te:1tbcd the features of the ire-
ill u mina ted face.
There were those both at this and at subsequent
Ineetings \,ho ,yere more ready \vith their tongue
than \vith their s,vord. Upon this occasion the
doughty colonel concludes an address brimful ùf
nervous energy ,,-ith these ,yords: "
\.nd lllind you,
let there be no skulking! Let there be no
kulking
no"
1" But \\
hen the bell sUIDuloned to actual danger
and responsibility, and the more tin1Íd looked for their
brave commander, he v
"as no\vhere to be found;
though there \\
as made diligent search, even to the
senJing to his house for him, he failed to put in an
appearance. Then certain profane youth, filled \,ith
In.erry contempt, took from a ,vhite fo""pi its \vhite3t
feather, and carefhlly inclosing it in an en\elope, ad-
dressed and sent it to the brave talker.
'T ery different \vas the conduct on this occasion
of )Ir Brannan, to ,y hon} the highest praise is due.
Peculiar as he was in some respect'3, I cannot but
regard his connection ,,-ith the first '....igilance Com-
n1Ïttee as the brightest epoch of his ..eyentfullife; and
so long as societ
"p holds its course in San Franci::,co
his name should be held in honored and grateful re-
Inembrance. '.Yith the nlost cheerful recklessne
s he
thre\y his life and ,,-ealth into the scale; anythin
'
and cyerything he possessed ,,-as at the disposal of
the COlll111ittee free of any charge.
The avo,recl object of the association \ras to yigil-
antly \,.atch and pur::-ìue the outla\v
that infested the
city, and bring them to ju
tice, through the regularly
constituted court:"\, if that could be; by a 1110re
lUll-
POl', TRI3., YOL, I. H:

210

CO
I
IITTEE OF \"'1GILA
CE OF 1831.

Inary and direct process, if lnust be. Each n1e111 ber
pledged his sacred honor, his fortune, and his life, for
the protection of his fello,v-n1enlbers, for the protec-
tion of the lives and property of the citizens of the
conl111unity, and for purging the city of bad characters
,\
ho ,vere Inaking thelnselves odious in it.
An inforlnal instrulnent ,vas dra,vn up at this
nleeting, ,vhich signified the general purpose and
course of action. This ,vas signed by those pres-
ent. Inviolable secrecy ,vas laid on every nlcnlber;
unity and good faith, becollling conlmon interests
and Inanl y honor, should characterize an their acts.
Every nlelnber should act the part of city Inonitor;
in case of disturbance 111enlbers of the society should
be sun1nloned, and each subscriber promised to appear
'v hen called, and to pcrfornl service 'v hen needed.
A partial organization only ,vas effocted on 1\10n-
day, but next night arrangelnents ,vere perfected and
future action deternlilled. Then and there they re-
solved to purge the city of crinle at the hazard of their
liyes and fortunes. 'Vatches 111USt be set, patrols
established, and scouts sent out; eyil-doers ,vere to
be hunted, and \vhen caught, tried, fairly, consci-
entiously, deliberately, and if guilty punished inl-
111ccliately. This ,vas the sinlple plan, the code of
con11l10n-sense, establishcd by thc
c n1en of practical
deternlination. There ,vas to be no friction of un-
necessary agcncies in their 111achinery; they kne,v
,vhen a vagabond deseryed banishnlent or hanging,
and they kne,v ho,v to banish and hang; aud this
,vas enough.
The protocol of the constitution is dated the 8th of
June, at '
Thich tinle it ,vas instituted and put into
general effect. In the Look of signers
t is dated the
9th of June, at ,vhich tinle it ,vas finally adopted and
signed. To the constitution S. E. 'V ood TNorth is the
first signature; S. Brannan, the second; E. Gorhaln,
the third; Fred'k .L\.. 'Vood\vorth, the fourth; Geo. J.
Oakes, the fìfth; and so on.

ORG
,IZATION.

211

Follo\ving are the constitution and by-Ia,ys as
adopted:

COXSTITUTION, 9TH JUXE, 18.31.

"'VHEREAS, It has become apparent to the citizens of San Francisco that
there is no security for life and property, either under the regulations of so_
ciety as it at present exists, or under the laws as now administered; therefore,
the citizens whose names are hereunto attached do unite 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 Sa::1 Francisco,
and do bind ourselves,
ach unto the other, to do and perform every lawful
act for the maintenance of law and order, and to sustain the laws when faith_
fully and properly administered; but we are detennined 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. And to secure the objects
of this association we do hereby agree: First, That the name and style of th

association shall be the Committee of Yigilance, for the protection of the citi-
zens and residents of the city of San Francisco. Secondly, That there shall
bc a room selected for the meetings and deliberations of the committee, &t
which there shall be some one or more members of the committee, appointed
for that purpose, in constant attendance, at all hours of the day and night, to
re
eive the report of any member of the association, or of any other person or
persons whatsoever, of any act of violence done to the person or property of
any citizen of San Francisco; and if, in the judgment of the member or mem-
bers of the committee present, it be such an act as justifies the interference
of this committee, either in aiding in the execution of the laws or the prompt
and summary punishment of the offender, the committee shall be at once as-
semhle(l for the purpose of taking such action as a majority of the committee
when assembled shall determine upon. Thirdly, That it shall be the duty of
any member or members of the committee on duty at the committee room,
whenever a general assemblage of the committee is deemed necessary, to
cause a call to be made by two strokes upon a bell, which shall be repeated
with a pause of one minute between each alarm; the alarm to be struck until
ordered stopped. Fourthly, That ,vhen the committee have assembled for
action the decision of a majority present shall be binding upon the whole
committee; and that those members of the committee whose names are here-
unto attached do pledge their honor, and herehy bind themselves, to defend
and sastain each other in carrying out the determined action of this com
mittee, at the hazard of thcir lives and their fortunes. Fifthly, That there
shall be choscn monthly a president, sccretary, and treasurer; and it shall be
the duty of the secretary to ùetail the members required to be in dailyattend-
ance at the committee room. A sergeant
at-arms shall be appointed, whose
duty it shall be to notify such members of their detail for duty. The sergeant-
at-arms shall reside at anù be in constant attendance at the committee room.
There shall be a standing committee of financc and qualification, consisting of
flye ca!::h, and no pcrson shall be aùmittcd i1ll1cmber of this association unless

l

CO)I
IITTEE OF YIGILAXCE OF 1831.

he be a respectable citizen, and approved of by the committee on quali
cation
before admission."

BY-LA'YS.

"'VIIERE-\S, The citizens of San Francisco, convinced that there exists
within these limits a hand of robbers and incendiaries, who have several times
hurned amI attempted to burn their city. who nightly attack their persons
and break into their buildings, destroy their quiet, jeopardize their lives and
property, and generally disturb the natural order of society; and whereas,
many of those taken by the polic
have succeeded ill escaping from their
prisons by carelessness, by connivance, or from want of proper means or force
to secure their safe confinement; therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the citizens of this place be made aware that the Com-
r.1Ïttee of Vigilance will be ever ready to receive information as to the where-
abouts of any disorderly or suspicious person: or persons, as well as the per-
sons themselves, when suspected of crime. That as it is the conviction of a
large portion of our citizens that there exists in this city a nucleus of convicts
and disorderly persons, round which cluster those who have so seriously dis-
turbed the peace and affectpd the best interests of our city, such as are known
to the police of the city, or to members of the Committee of Vigilance, as
felons, by conduct or association, be notified to leave this port within five
days from this date; and at the expiration of which time they shall be com-
pelled to depart, if they have not done so voluntarily within the time specified.
"Resolved, That a safety committpe of thirty persons be appointed, whose
sacred duty it shall be to visit every vessel arriving with notorious or suspicious
e
laracters on board; and unless they can pres
nt to said committee evidence
of good character and honesty, they shall be re-shipped to the places from
whence they came, and not to he permitted to lJoIlute our soil.
"Resolved, That all good citizens be invited to join amI assist the Committee
of Vigilance in carrying out the above measures, so necessary for the perfect
restoration of the peace, safety, and good order of our community."

.

Signed to this ,ycre about t,yO hundred nan1es. The
doculuents ,vcrc then givcn to the public journals for
publication, ,yith the follo,ving relnarks by the COlll-
Inittee:
" The above, a portifm of the Committee of Vigilance lately established in
the city for the preservation of order, punishment of vice, and for the pur-
pose of meting out that justice so long withheld from criminals, unwilling
that the names of a few of their associates should be selected by the Coroner's
Jury as the principal actors in the trial and execution of Jenkins, inform the
puLlic that they with all the members of the committee are equally re-
sponsible for the first act of justice that has been dealt to a criminal in San
li'rancisco since California became a state Of our Union. Our fellow-citizens,
remembering the escape of "Tithers, Daniels, and Adams, of Stuart, 'Vildred,
and \Yatkins, and the tardy m:lIUler in which the incendiary Lewis is being
lJrought to justice, will see the necessity of the stringent measures we have
adopted. "

SO)IE REGrL\.TIOSS.

213

This publication also inforll1ecl those friendly to the
cause that the Committee of \
igilance had nothin6'
secret in their proceedings but such nlatter
as ,vould
tend to defeat the object for ,yhich they "
ere asso-
ciated. ..L-\fter arranging for concert of action, the
absence of \vhich had been so severely felt during the
Burdue-Stuart aftàir; after establishing a ,yatch\yord
and a signal to be used to call members to the ren-
dezyous, ,vhich "
as three taps-it had been t\VO taps
before-on the California Fire Company's bell, and de-
tailing officers for imnlediate duty, enrolling a number
of members, all among the most respectable and "
ell
kno"
n citizens, and after disposing of other needed
business, the conlmittee adjourned. for the evening.
I say they adjourned, but they did not disperse. The
first great tragedy "
as to be enacted that night.
Before these associates should sleep, their promises
must be sealed in blood.

CHAPTER XIV.

BEHIND THE SCENES.

So do the winds and thuncler cleanse the air,
So working bees settle and purge the wine;
So lopp'd and prnnèd trees do flourish fair,
So doth the fire the drossy gold refine.
8penser.

THROUGHOUT my examination of the subject of
popular tribunals it has been 111Y constant purpose to
bring to light a8 n1uch as possible the inner \vorkings
of the San Francisco COlnn1Ïttee of Vigilance, as that
organization lIlust ever be the grand and central figure
in all such study. All that has hitherto been u1ade
public, all that has hitherto been kno\vn of it, is \v hat
,vas out\vardly visible at the tÏ1ne. The institution
,vas kno\vn only by its results. It \vas publicly ap-
parent that such an association existed, and the \vatch-
ful observer could easily ascertain \vhere its In embers
nlet. The people at large could see \vhen an arrest
,vas Inade; in the event of exile or execution they
could
ee offenders shipped hence or hanged. But
this \vas all. Of \vhat \vas done \vithin the \valls; of
the organization as such, its color, calibre, sentinlellt,
purpose, and secret action, they knc\v absolutely
nothing. Alnong the 111CInbers themselves, the right
hand kne\v not \vhat the left hand did. l\Ielnbers of
the general cOllllnittce kne\v as little about the dè-
liberations anti actions of the executive cOlnn1ittee
a
tho
e \vho \vere not lllenlbers of the Vigilance
COl1uuittee at all.
The history of the Inovelnent, I clearly appre-
hended, could not be fully \Vrittell \vithout careful
( 214 )

RETICE:;CE OF
IE
IBERS.

215

inquiry into ,vhat \yas, of all things connected ,,-ith
it, the n10st closely guar(led. For a long tilne I \vas
pereluptorily refu:3ed adllli:-5sion behind the scenes;
for years the only ans\vers I receiyed to n1Y constant
inl]>urtunities, to IllY argulllcnts as to \yhat I concei\
ed
to be their Juty, their obligations to the ,vorld, in the
lllatter \yere these: "T e do not \yi
h to revive the
past, lllelanchol.r as it is \yith dislnal lllelllories. 'Ve
haye no anlbition to figure in history. In our action
,,-e only follo\vcd ,,-hat \ye conceiyed to be our duty;
our conscience to-day approyes; under like circun1-
stances \ye should do the sa1l1e; but there are those
,,,hose opinions are \yorthy of as ll1uch consideration
as Ollr
\yho differ \vith us, and ,ve do not care to
discuss the question. .L
ction \va::; our logic, and the
fruit of our deeds the end of the arguluent. \'T e \vill
not, \ye dare not say lllore.
Nor \yas this an unnece
sary precaution. In fact,
if not so morally, these associates \vere legally out-
la \vs. In the eyes of their gOyernnlent they \\"ere
conspirators and lllurderers, and they could not bú
officially regarded as anything else. By these acts
\yhich they decllled nece
sar'y and righteous they laid
thenlselyes open to prosecution, \vhich might result
in fines, iUlprisonìnent, or even death. Should the
la\v decline to act against public sentinlent,
hould it
refuse to exercise in its strict letter its po\".e1' against
its loyali
t loyers, and visit \yith punishu1ent the best
citizens of the C01l1n10n \vealth, there ,yere yet at large
th\yarted villain8 enough in \y honl burned
o strong a
desire for vengeance as to nlake assassination prob-
able. Hence it becanle the vigilants to be \vary and
silent; hence, like\vise, it \yas nece
sary that at all
hazarLls they
hould stanLl by each other.
But better counsel in due tiule prevailed, and once
the barrier broken, eyery recess \vas thro\yn open to
lne \vit.hout reserve. Not only \vas all existing ,yrit-
ten and printed In
tterial placed at nlY tlispo
al, out
the fountains of Inenlory fairly opened, a streanl of

216

BEHIND THE SCE
ES.

brio'ht recollection flo,ved forth such as gladdened lilY
thi
sty pen. Suppleluenting their copious dictations
....vith long and fi'equcllt intervie\vs as IllY ,york pro-
gressed, I aUI enabled to present 'v hat I cannot but
rcgard as an iUlportant and ,vholly individual phe-
nOlnenon in the history of the race, as distinctly and
Ininutely as the n108t exact
tudeIlt of Rocial develop-
IHent could desire. ABd here let IDe rel1lark that the
deeper I sounded the subject the IDore I becalDc
fascinated ,vith it, and the clearer appeared to ]ne the
purity of purpose, the ,visdoll1 of counsel, and the
luasterly activity in execution, of those ,vhose deeds
I chronicle.

It ,vas on the north-east corner of Bush and San-
SOU1C streets that
Ir Brannan had his office. There
i n June, 1851, stood a ro,v of t\vo-story frarno houses,
in the corner one of ,vhich the order-loving citizens of
San Franeisco organized their first COlnn1Ïttee, forn1eù
for the purpose of taking such n1easures as should be
deelned necessary to secure safety to person and prop-
erty. The lot (lirectly opposite on the saIne side of
Sansolne street ,vas vacant and ungraded, and huge
hillocks of undisturbed sand rolled off to,va:rd tho
south-\vest.
The entrance to the connnittee roon1S ,vas on Bush
street. The lo\v ceiling and sides of the 1'OOlns ,vere
lined ,vith ,vhite cotton cloth, made dingy by dust,
,vet by such portions of the previous \vinter's rain
as could fi]}d its ,yay through the cracks. To the
feloniously afflicted a \Tisit to the rOOlns vn1S as terri-
fYing an adventure as a visit to the Cave of Trophonius.

Ir Brannan's office ,vas up a narro,v flight of ?teep
stairs, 1 n a little rOOll1 part itioned froD1 the loft at th c
Bush-street end. His bu
iness ,vas extensive; in the
city he held nluch real estate, and in the country he
\VaH proprietor of faru1s and Inines. It ,vas ill this
little office that Neall antI Oake3 found hinl 011 the Sun-
day afternoon ualneLl, for business 111en in thoso days

E_lliL Y PROCEEDIXGS.

17

did not usually elose their offices on the Sabbath.
On the floor bel(n\
,,-ere three room'S, intended for
stores, each fronting about t\yenty feet on Bush

treet, and running back to a depth of sonIC fifty feet.
The roonl
were at that tinle vacant, being for rent.
"
hen the gathering of the citizens on
Ionday night
had filled to overHo\ying the middle room, ::\11' Bran-
n
n took a knife, and cutting tlie canYa
at the side-:;
and bottoln, bet\ycen portions of the f-;tudding, opcner[
pa
sage-"-ays to the rooms on either side. The aper-
tures thus made ,\-ere curtained by the still hanging ·
can va
.
There ,,-as little that was attractive about the
place, and it ofl"ere(l fe,v inducenlents to loungers.
These rough roonlS, ,,
herefrom renovation should pro-
ceed to cleanse the city of its fou}ne;;:::
, contra::;ted
f'trangely with the lllirrorecl and bedizened ,,-all'3 of
infamy. The gambler offered you brighter lights anJ
softer seat.
, Lut his smile "
as the leering, jeering,
sneering s111ile of ::\Iephistopheles.
Round a plain taLle "
ere a fe\y chairs, on ,,-hich
,,:ere scated the Illore active "
orkers of the a
sembly,
the secretary-, president, and those engaged in pr
-
paring articles o( association and plans for future
procedure; the re.;;;t
tood in groups, leaned again
t
the "yalls, or "eateLI thenlsel ve
on boxes and boarcl.3
brought in through the back door. Little cared they
for rest or comfort, they who purposed neither rest
nor comfort for certain others. During SOllle of these
intense excitenlents hundreds \yould renlain on their
feet ,vith no thought of fooJ from morning till night,
seéll1Ïngly "yithout kno"ying it, so lost ,ve1'e they in
their
urroundings.
There ,yas little to say in explanation ,vhy they
had been called together, either at the meeting of
)Ionda.'
noon or ::\Ionday night. .L
ll kne\v the pur-
po
e of the conyention, and it rClnained only to
discuss the hest 111ethod of accoluplishing it. That
".hich ,va
most e

ential ,vas ab..:;olute secrecy, and

218

BEI-IIXD THE SCE
ES.

this ,vas first of all enjoincd. Should courtt-;, officers,
and crinlinals, through the treachery of any, be lnade
a \vare of their intentions, the best laid schenles ,\Tere
sure to be th,varted. To secure at once secrecy, con-
cert of action, and efficioncy, it ,vas thought LeHt to
resolve the ,vorking nlaterial of the association into
actiY"e and passive parts, the fornler to conlprise the
Executive COlnnlittee, \v ho should rule, and the latter
the General ConlnlÍttee, 'v ho should obey.
And it ,vas done. The executive conllnittee thus
becalne in realit.y the Vigilance COnl111ittee, and the
general cOlnnlittee auxiliary to it. Of the vigilant
forces the executive cOlnnlittee ,vere the genera] and
his officers, or the president and his cabinet, and the
general c01l1nlittee the COnllTIOn soldiers. As a chcc!\:
upon the abuse or lnisrepresentation of po,ver, it ,vas
lllade the duty of the executive C0111111ittee, before
ultilnate action on ilnportant questions, to lay their
propositions before the general C0111nlittee and obtain
the sanction of its lnenlbers; but froln the executive
cOlnniittee nlust issue all orders, anù they alone 'v ere
to be held responsible.
l\Ionday night the protocols of constitution and
by-la\vs \vere drawn, and TuesJay night they ,vere
adopted. Officers ,yore chosen and sub-conlnlittee

appointed; and as the association Inet froln day to
day, ne,v necessities brought forth ne,v rules. This
the records of the lneetings ,vill nlore clearly shcnv,
and to theln I no\v refer.
Selilll E. 'V ood \vorth ,vas the first president of the
general cOlnlnittee, and Salnue] Brannan the first
president of the executive conl1nittce. Brannan's
terTIi of office expired in three nlonths; then Stephen
Payran ,vas Inade presillent of the executiye COln-
11littee, and after hilll Gerritt 'V. Rye-Iunan. l\Ioney
,vas freely circulated in those days, and at tinles \vhen
enthusiasul ran high ten thousand dollars if necessary
could be raised for a popular lncasure in an hour.
ThQ arehi ves of the cxecuti \TO con11Ilittee of 1851,

CO
f
IITTEE ARCHIVES.

219

,vhich \yere kindly placed at Iny disposal by :\11' Isaac
Bluxonlc junior, secretary of the conlnlittees both of
1851 and 185 G, con8ist of books of record and bundles
of loose documents. The first book of the c01l1n1Ïttee
\\
as that of the signers of the constitution. It is a
cap half- bound record, and the constitution occupies
the first t,,
o pages. On the 11largill of the
econd
page are the \yords: President, S. E. 'V ood \vorth;
Treasurer, Eug. Delessert; Secretary, Is. Blux(Hnc;
and in another hand,,
riting, Constitution adopted
.Tune 9, 1851. Follo\ving the constitution are seycn
hundred and sixteen signers, their names, places of
business, and residence. ..A separate book ,vas kept
by the qualification cOllllnittee, in ,vhich ,vere entered
the nalnes of those applying for n1en1bership, and by
,vhonl reconunended. If approved, sucll apprùval is
noted and signed by the qualification con11nittee. A
long nnrro\y index -book ,vas used for t hè purpose of
noting delinquents, and fron1 thi
fine::; \Yere reckoned.
As a rule Incn1 bers paid their fines cheerfully and
prolnptly.
" The signers of the constitution ,vere lllunbered as
the nanle
\\Tere ,yritten, and each \vas called by his
number. Adll1ission of Inenlbers to the lneeting ,vas
llluch the saIne as at a freelnason's lodge; the appli-
cant, if unkno\vn by sight to the duor-keeper, called
his IUlnle and nUlllber, and \yas identified by the ser-
geant-at-arnls. .At titues ,vhen extraordinary caution
,vaR necessary a pass,yord \yas used. Then there is
the cash-book, kept by Eugene Delessert, treasurer,
in account ,vith the Conuuittee of \Tigilance, and con-
tinued by George 'Vard. Âlllong the chief itelns of
expense \yere $19
the 14th of July for boat hire;
passage, A. 'Vright, 19th of July,
100; trip to Sac-
ralHento and expenses there in the arre:st of B. I
ay,
sanle tlate,
13-:1. Othcr cxpen::;es in July, use of
stearn-tug and boats,
100; rent,
-:100; éxpenses
of Rider, l{eynolds, and :\lcDufHc, $19G. 50; carriage
h:r
, $1 G; .4-\..' J. )tIcDußi
, sergeant-at-al'nlS, serviced

220

BEHI:\""D TilE SCEKES.

rendered, $150; and divers amounts paid nc,vspapers,
and for lUlnber, carpenter ,york, furniture, stationery,
and other supplies. In July ,vas also paid the pas-
sage llloney of George I-Iopkins, $100; tra veIling ex-
penses of H.l\Iiller,$lOO;
IcDuffie's services,$2j4.44.
()n the 11 th of .1-\.ugust ,vas paid the sheriff's passage
by the stealTIer Ohio, $135 ; the 11 th of SeptelTI ber ,
$50 \vas paid for carriage hire, and on the 13th
$
25
passage Inoney for prisoners. N ot,vithstanding the
grave Inatters before theIn, creature CO 111 forts ,vere
not ,y holly neglected, as anlong other itenlS I find
paid the Oriental IIotel $200, and the club-house, for
gin, brandy, and cigars, $58. Boat hiro constituted
a large iteu1 of expense. None of the n1en1hers of
the executi ye con1mittee dre\v salaries except the
secretary. Drinks are entered in the expcnses of
agents and detectives in COn11TIOn \vith steam-boat fare
o
any other outlay.
The revenue of the comn1ittee ,vas derived chiefly
from the five-dollar subscriptions of 111enlbers, anJ
donations froll1 merchants and others. During the
1110nth of June, a bank account ,vas kept \vith J anles
King of \Vn1., ,vith 'Vh0111 ,vas deposited $1,G70.97.
The account continues only through the n10nth of
June, and the bank - book is not balanced. This ac-
count is kept ,vith J. VV. Saln1on, treasurer. Mr
Salmon ,vas the first treasurer and Eugene Delessert
the second. Sah11on'8 account, dated the 7th of July,
sho,vs receipts according to the above al110unt de-
positeJ, all of \vhich ,vas paid out fo:r rent, carpenters,
,vater, police, sergeant-at-arlTIS' salary, etc., except

3112. 48, \v hich l\Ir Saln10n handed his successor,
lr
Delcssert. C. 1-1. l\liller presents a clainl the 22d
of July, "for cash expcllåed by hin} in going to and
returning fron1 Sacralnonto City three tin1es for the
purpose of arresting Jinu11y-fronl-To\vn, Dab .Ains-
\vorth, and George Adan1s, $100," ,vhich ,vas allo\ved
and paid.
Eugene Delcssert opens his cash-book the 1st of

TilE )IOXEY DRIFT.

221

July, 1851, "rith the aillount recei,ed froIl1 hi
pre-
decessor. Durilla his term, ,yhich lasted until :Jlay,
'=' . .
185
, the receipts ,,"'ere
ï,791.80, at \y}uch tUlle
there was due him from the association

O.38.
Georae R. '\T ard then assumed the office of treasurer,
and
) to October ï, 185
, the. date of the last entry,
the book sho\ys receipts to the amount of 8330. ï6.
Here\,ith I giye fac-siJniles of money -order
:

CL
. Æ-

L/-//'/7

ç{' / hf
cI' /A/
g 'If'.

-'7
C/
. ø.

J
:;::

u!

lj).o!e/
.æ,-A
"'-'"
jfoo. -;.-
- -

·
ï:

t'
//7Æ ;ç

)

If )'
.I

The roll-call of the executive committee forms a
separate book of fifty-one names in all, though some
frOlll time to time ,yere erased. This roll begins \yith
the
-!th of September, 1851, and continues, ,,
ith in-
tervals of about a "yeek bet"
een each call. to the
9th
of April, 185
. Eyery Inember ,va
required to pay
to the treasurer the sum of fiye dollars on joining.
.L
t a llleeting of the executiye con1n1Îttee, held the

d of October, it \vas ordered that a safe should be
purchased, in \vhich the secretary should keep the
IJook
and papers of the association.
The COlnnlittee of 1851 \yas not as COlllplcx in its
lllcchani::;ul as the COlnmittce of 1856. The fornlcr
had no Inilitary organizp,tioll like that of the latt
r,

2

..-

BEHIN D
... TilE SCENES.

B"CS:D"'"ESS ROU'TIXE.

3

but a police organization only; yet in case of emer-
gency the officers of the association had a ,yay of
speedily adapting their forces to circunlstance
.
Beside the regular police there "Tas a ,yater police,
of ". hich X ed "T akenuln "Tas chief. The regular police
,yere paid, bGt often luem bers ,yere detailed for police
duty ,yho dre,y no pay. The city ,vas Jistricted, and
a committee appointed to oycrsee the affairs of each
district. The ,yater police ,yere stationed along the
city front to keep an eye on
hips and sailors, and to
,yatch for thieyes accustonled to enter from beneath
stores built oyer the "Tater. Charles
Iintu1'n "Tas in
the steaul-boat business then, running the Senator' on
the Sacralnento Riye1', and ,yas supposed to have in
his pos-session a large amount of llloncy. So it "Tas
,yith others. There being no banks of deposit enjoy-
ing the confidence of the cOlnnlunity, nlerchants kept
their lllolley in their stores; and often large anlount:5
of gold dust ,yere separated from the pirates under-
neath only Ly the thin partition of the floor. Curs
'1 7 e1'e not so plenty in California then as no,y; fe"r
cared to keep a dog at an expense of one or t,yO dol-
lars a day.
The sergeant-at-arn1s Inight call on any menlber, not
other,vise engüged in the
eryice of the Conlmittee, at
any time, for special duty. A printed fornl ,,"as fur-
nished for the sunlIDons, 'v hich read as follo,ys:

"CO)I)IITTEE OF YIGILA
,CE.

"AxDREW A...."DERSOX :
" Yon are detailed for secret duty from ten o'clock to twelve o'clock
to-night, and will report accordingly to the Sergeant-at-....-\nns at the
Committee Room. X o. 58.
"San lì'ancisco, June 19, 1851."

It ,ras resolved on the 27th of June that each
111C111ber should report him
elf at the comnlitteo
rOOll1S once in eyery t"Tenty-four hours.
Copies of passenger-lists of yessels arriying from
certain ports ,ycre obtained, and the character of the

224

BEHI
ì) THE SCEXES.

rle\V arrivals carefully exalTIined. Out of Inercy for
their historian I bog the c01l1ing cOffilnittees of yigil-
ance to date their doclunents. In the huge intcr-
n1Ïxture before lTIe are hundreds of letters, reports,
resolutions, and eyen exan1Înations and confessions,
to ,vhich it is iUlPossible to give their proper place in
this history, fr0l11 the fact that they Lear no date.
'Vhat is strange about it is that UlOSt of those doc-
un1ents are ,vritten by business nlen, ,vho ,vould
neyer
hi.nk of sending out a business letter ,vith such
an 01111SSlon.
SOlne of the lTIinutes of Ineetings, notices, con1-
plaints, evidence, and reports are carelessly dated 1851
during the early part of 1852, beforo the ,vriter had
beC0111e accustolned to the ne,v year. These blunders
I an1 able to detect by cOlllparing such papers ,vith the
events spoken of. Fortunately, frolTI the records and
fron1 their connection thero,vith, I an1 able to place
the 1110St in1portant of these documents, but the labor
is doubled fron1 their lacking date.

The vigilance systen1 ,vas one of popular espionage,
the Inost extensive and complete a liberal governU1ent
has ever seen. Every n1an ,vas a spy on every other
Inan. Opposition ,vas intilnidated by the ,vatchful
eye and silent tongue. Often a bad Inan did not kno,v
his bedfello,y, or 'v hon or 'v here to speak his luind.
One day a group of n1en, gathered in the bar-room
of the Union Hotel, stood talking sonle,\That too
loudly and vehen1ently against the 'stranglers,' ,vhen
Mr Rycknlan stepped in for his luncheon. Aft.er
listening attentively for a fe,v Inoments, though ,vith-
out appearing to notice then1, he stepped up to one
of the chief speakers, a ,vealthy, influential Ulan, ,vholn
he ,veIl kne,v, and called hin1 aside, saying he ,vished
to speak a word ,vith hin1. vVhen they ,yore alon8
nycklTIan dre,v frolll his pocket an ÏInprint of the
,yatchful eye, the emblcllJ of the organization, and
sho,ying it to him, said:

ESPIOXAGE.

O'}"'
.6...a

"The Committee \yill see you at their rooms this
eyening at eight o'clock."
")Iy God, Rycknlan 1 ,yhat do you mean? Surely"
you are not one of them 1"
"I mean ,yhat I say," ans,vered Ryckman. "These
men are staking their lives and fortunes for the gen-
eral good, and they shall not be vilified in n1Y hear-
ing behind their backs. If you have anJ charges to
lnake, and ,vill
ubstantiate then1, they "Till listen to
your accusation a 6 ainst themselves, or anJ one of
their number, a'S dispassionately as they "Till listen to
my accusation against you. Good-day. You ,,,"ill be
there at the appointed hour."
As Ryckn1an n10,Tecl off, his quondam friend seized
hold of him, and in the n10st piteous tern1S begged hinl
to recall the order for his arrest, promising respectful
prudence for the future. "Tith some further "ords
of admonition, to thi
at length Ryckman ,,-as con-
strained to yield assent, and so left him.
The sergeant-at-arms reports, at the meeting of
July 4th, nun1bers 317, 264, and 236 as injurious to
the Committee, and thenceforth those members 'v ere
refused admission.

POP. Tam. t VOL. I. 15

CHAPTER XV.

JOHN JENKIKS, NOLENS VOLENS.

A dismal universall1iss, the sound of public scorn.
..L1/ilton.

IN \Vashington Block, on Long vVharf, ,vas the
shipping office of 1\1:1' Virgin. It ,vas custolnary,
under the reckless régime of that business epoch, for
lllerchallts and others to leave their offices unlocked
during the day, cOIning and going at pleasure, \vhile
in the dra,ver or nloney-box might be thousands of
dollars ill gold. Prior to this tilne it ,vas even 1110re
C0l111llon. 1Ir Neall inforlns nle that in 1849, often
on Sunday he ,vould tie his tent strings, take his gun,
and Inarch off over the sand-hills, leaving thus exposed
his stock, and sonletimes fifty thousand dollars in gold
dust locked in a little iron box ,vhich one blo,v of a
hanl1ner ,vould shiver. This spirit of indifference to
nloney anlong nloneY-lnaking nl0n, and the absence of
suspicion bet,veen those so lately strangers, is one of
the strangest characteristics of the tinles. I t is no
,yonder that the 111en of Sydney, accusto111ed to the
ponderous vaults ,vhich barred their fingers froln the
property of their English brethren, should laugh ,vith-
in their hearts at the shrew"d sinlplicity of these care-
less 1110ney - getters.
Like his neighbors, 1\11' Virgin kept his rnoney in a
snlall iron safe, such as a strong Ulan could easily
carry, and on leaving hiB office he never thought of
locking the door. There ,vas a stranger 1\lr Virgin
had noticed several tiulCS of late lounging about tho
,vharf; a tall, po,verful nlan, ,vith keen, restless cyes,
( 22G )

THE ROEEERY.

. ):}

--I

though, as the shipping agent ilnagincd, a some,vhat
sinister expression about the face. He ,vas j list the
person, one ,vould think, successfully to cope \vith
diffieulties in yirtuous endeavor in such a place as
California. Indeed he once entered
lr Virgin's office
and spoke of passage to the upper country and of the
several chances for an honest 111:1n in various part
;
and although to the intuitive perceptions of the Cali-
fornian these lacked the genuine ring of honest pur-
pose, the shipping agent thought little of it, as there
\vere hundreds of adventurers \vho came to him daily,
destined they kne". not ".hithcr.
For seyeral days this 111an had been lurking about,
a,vaiting such tillle as \vould at once find this office
elllpty and the coast clear ,,"'ithout; for the truth is,
the Sydney stranger, for such he ,vas, had some tilne
since resolved to appropriate to himself in one IUll1p
the proceeds of Inany laborers rather than to go anll
dig for himself. There ,ras greater risk in such ad-
venture, and greater skill required in its achievement,
but he ".ould undertake it.
The time ch03en ,vas Tuesday, the lOth of June,
1851, to\vard the dusk of evening. },lr \Tirgin ,vas
absent froD1 his office attending to the sailing of one
of his vessels, and the attention of loungers about the
,vharf \vas 1110mentarily called in the same direction.
It ".as a bold, a brazen thing to do; one ,vould think
the chances altogether against the thief. And so the
r
,vere; but \vhen philosophers in SOlne certain quarters
of their n1Ìnd are such fools, ,yhen the ablest scholars
in science, diyinity, and jurisprudence as a rule in-
dulge each in SOlTIe quaint absurdity of so simple a
nature as to call to the face of hon1ely common-sense
a sn1ile, surely ,ve should not look {or perfection in
skilled yillaillY, It is asking too Inuch of the genius
of rascality that every threaJ. of logic in its hypotheses
should be equally strong ,yhile the genius of morality
is often so bat-blind and o,vlish.
lIe ,yould try it. Thru\ving round him one last

228

JOHX JEXKIXS, NOLEXS YOLE
S.

hurried glance, he thenceforth shut his eyes to con..
sequences, and stepping into the office he seized the
safe, slipped round the building, anù dropping it into
a boat ready for the purpose, shot fron1 the 'v ha.rf.
I t ,vas all done in an instant; and once out upon the
Bay,vith his prize he did not stop to see 'v hat \vas to
come of it, but pulled [nvay \vith all his might for the
opposi te shore.
Virgin shortly returned and n1Ïssed his safe. Raising
the alarm, he soon found several ,vho had seen the
111an \vith his burden, and instantly a dozen boats
,vere in hot pursuit.
At such a time every right-thinking man made his
neighbor's cause his o\vn. This ,vas another of the
peculiarities of Californian character incident to the
tiules. I do not Inean to say that it is UnCOIDl110n or
less natural for virtue to band for self-protection than
for vice; but in California 11101'0 than else\v here, and
then 1110re than no,v, there ,vas n1anifest a fraternal
feeling al110ng both the good and the bad such as I
have never ,vitnessed else\vhere. In con1ing hither
all \vere strangers in a strange land; all had llluch in
COlnnlon; each caITied his fortune in his OY\"U hand;
in the absence of n.rnl general rule each alone felt
unprotected; hence there ,vas 1110re than ordinarily
apparent that natural uniting instinctive to ,veakness.
One boat ,vith but a single oarsman, even though
he ,vere a strong 111an 'v hoso life depended on his
exertion, \vas no tHatch for a dozen boats ,yell n1anned
by skilful ro,vers; so the thiof soon sa \v, as he ,vould
say, that the gan1e\VaS up. But they should not have
the 1110ney though he s\vung for it. What ho could
not enjoy they should not. Half the battle ,voulJ be
'yon, though they should capture hin}, if he could
cheat thelll of one of the objects of their eager pur-
suit; so he thre,v the safe overboard and pulled a\vay
harder than ever.
But all in vain; for presently he sa\v his head sur-
rounded by t,venty open-Illouthod pistols, oach thirsty

TISFORE THE CO
l
IITTEE.

2
!)

to drin
\: his life. The call to stop ,vas unnecessary;
the thief rested on his oars and "
as a prisoner. The
spot ,vas lnarked by his pursuers\vhere the safe ,vas
ch'oppecl; and "\\
hile son1e stopped to fish it out,\vhich
'""f
as successfully accoll1plished, others conveyed the
prisoner to the lle\V tribunal of the people, as the one
most proper to administer justice according to the
tenlper of tho times. T\yo or three policemen 11lade
their appearance after the man "
as taken, and sug-
gested that they had a safe and proper place for him;
but they "
ere told not to di
turb their sleep by looking
after other people's prisoners.
The citizens' meeting at Brannan's stores on this
Tuesday night, as ,vo have seen, ,vas adjourned, al-
though the ll1embers of the ne\vly organized association
had not dispersed. "Thile they \\
ere con versing upon
affairs yet uppern10st in their Ininds a knock w"as heard,
and ,yord canle in that a thief had been taken, and
that his captors ,vaited \vith him outside. They "
ere
ordered in. Quicker than had been surmised ,vas here
an opportunity to test the ne,y machinery, and see
ho\v the so lately ilnprovised judicial engine under
action ,,
ould behave.
..L
s the prisoner, closely guarded, enterell, the Cali-
fornia C0111pany's bell sounded the alarn1, calling all
good citizens to rally to the support of their Com-
11littee. The thing ,vas not done stealthily, under
coyer of darkness, as \ye have so often been told. I
ha ye it on the authority of )11' X call hin1self that his
associate,
Ir Oakes, ,,;ith a billet of \yood in his O'Vll
hand, struck the bell t"
enty tinles and more, three
strokes and a pause each sounJing, such being the
signal agreed on.
Still surrounded by his captors \vith cocked pistols
in their hands, the prisoner ,vas placed before his
jud
es. Rough, tall, po\verful, of fine physique, ,vith
English dress and cast of feature, he stood glaring
defiance through the dim candle -light like a foiled
.c\.rgantes. He "
as an ..A..ustralian conyict, and known

3{)

JOH::Y JEXKIXS, KOLEXS YOLr:XS.

to 111any present as an old
ffcnder. Sinlpton '-;,
as his
true naUle, Lut be called hUl1self John Jenkins; and
in so far as this apparent predilection is concerneù ,ye
,vill hlunor hinl, and so pass hin1 to posterity. lIe
,vas a vicious-looking 111an, a desperate character, ,vho
on lllany occasions had cluded justice, and his record
,roulcl entitle him to the severest punishment. All
this could be easily proven.
Fe,v ,vho heard the strokes upon the California
COlllpany's bell on that night kne,v the exact purport
of its sounding. They kne,v that the confused events
of the last severallnonths had boded dire combustion;
but speaking little, each joined the throng, ,vhich ,vas
soon discovered to be leading to the little frame house
standing on the corner of Bush and Sanson1e streets.
The executive cOlllnlittee Ï1nn1ediately organized as
a court, ,vith the president, Samuel Brannan, as chief
judge, and the 11len1bers of thc COlnn1ittee as associate
judges. The scrgeant-at-arms ,vas required to clear
the rOOlns of all save the 111e111be1's and officers of the
tribunal, ,vhich no,v nUlnberccl about seventy nan1es.
The case \vas then opened and testiulony taken. To
prove the 'last offence ,vas a simple Inatter, as there
,vere present n1any ,vall kno,vn and highly credible
,vitnesses fresh fron1 the scene. It ,vas then proposeù
to inquire into his previous conduct, and bring testi-
1110ny, if obtainable, in regard to forlner crimes. This
,vas easily done, as there ,vere those present in the
gathered multitude ,vithout 'v ho kne,v hill1 ,veIl, and
his acts ,vere bold and recent. A c0111mittee ,vas
appointed to obtain ,vitnesses for the accused.
Both before and after the arrest of Jenkins quiet
anù good order prevailed. vVithin the COnllTIittee
1'001TI there ,vas no undue exciten1ent, and ,vithout
there 'vas no disturbance. Yet not,yithstanding the
general cahnness there was no little nervousness be-
neath the surface of things. 11ere ,yas a desperate
deed, unparalleled in its audacity, done in the teeth
and at the yery In0111ent of the yigilance organization.

CO)'""DE
IXED.

231

.I.-\.t one time during the proceedings there appeared
to be 80n1e faltering on the part of the judges, or
rather a hesitancy to take the lead in assuming 1'0-
sponsibilit.y, and braving ,vhat might be subsequent
odium. It was one thing for a half-drunken rabble to
take the life of a fellow-man, but quite another thing
for staid church-going n1en of business to do it. Then
it ,vas that "Tilliam À. Ho"'
ard, a man of impetuous
bravery, after ,yatching the cooling zeal for a fe\V"
mome;{ts, rose, and laying his reyol-ver on the table,
looked about over the assembly; then in slo"'
, clear
enunciation said: "Gentlemen, as I understand it,
"e tlre here to hang somebody I" The look and man-
ner "
ere enough; there ,,-as no more halting.
The trial lasted until eleven 0' clock, "\v hen the
prisoner "Tas conducted to an adjoining room, and the
j ury "
ere called to render their decision. The ver-
dict ,vas unanimous; the prisoner was guilty and
should be hanged.
" "Yhen 1"
"The sooner the better; immediately. Safety de-
manded prompt action in the exercise of this new
expedient. "
Ryckman entered the prisoner's room and made
kno"Wn to him the decision of the tribunal.
"Bosh I" "
as the only reply.
"Tell me truly, ,,
hat is your name?" asked Ryck-
man.
" John Jenkins."
" )Ir Jenkins, you are to die before daybreak."
"X 0, I am not."
"Have you any mone)T or message to send your
friends ?"
,,'T "
J.-" o.
"Do you ,vish me to "
rite to any" one for you?"
"'.T "
1.
o.
" Can I do anything for you?"
" Yes; give me son1e brandy and a cigar." These
"?ere giycn hin1. He drank deep, and slnokecl ,yith

32

JOHN JEXICINS, NOLENS VOLE
S.

a relish. :\Ir Rycknlall then asked the cOI1(leulned
if he \vould like a clcrgYlllan; and if so, of \vhat
ùenonlination. Jenkins, after receiying repeated as-
surances that his death was near, intinlated that if he
lllust have one he ,vould prcfer an Episcopalian;
accordingly the Rev.
Ir l\lines \vas sUllunoned and
canle .inllnediately.

Ir
lines had not been long alone \vith the pris-
oner before the COnllTIittee began to be inlpatient. It
,vas the sentilnent of the meeting that prayers and
exhortations shoulll be short, as \vell as trials and
executions. The police lnight raHy and atteulpt a
rescue; then Broderick, too, \vas out w.ith all his force,
and strongly opposed to the COlnlnittee. At last l\fr
Rycklnan could curb his restlessness no longer, and
entering again the prisoner's raOUl, he said: "
Ir
l\fines, you have no\v consluned three quarters of an
hour, and I ,vant you to bring t.his prayer business to
a close. I anl going to hang this man in fifteen n1Ín-
utes." f
Throughout the entire proceedings the bearing of
the prisoner was defiant and insulting. He confidently
expected to be rescued at any Inon1ent, and openly
intilnated as 111uch. Indeed, ,vhile the trial \vas in
progress the Conl1nittee \vcre inforlTIed b
y its officcrs
that already the roughest characters throughout the
city \vere fully apprised of the organization, and they
kne\v that one of their nunlber \vas that night taken
before it.
1ingling \vith the cro\vd around the
building, listening to \vhat \vas said, and ,vatching
those that entercd and caIne out, it ,vas easy to see
that sonlethieg unusually stern ,vas going on -\vithin;
and they Inigbt \vell infer, if they purposed to save
their cOll1rade, they had best rally to his rescue soon.
vVhen the verdict of the jury \vas told the prisoner,
he hcnped on thcnn 111aledictions and told thenl to do
their ,vorst.
The sentence of inlmediate execution ,vas opposed
lJY SOlae, on the ground that it ,vas neither lIlauly

TESTL,G Pù13LIC OPIXIO
.

233

nor politic. " To hang him at nigl
t, in such hot
haste," said Colenlan, ",vould be to lay at our door
an undeserved inl putation of co,vardice. Though our
judglYJcnts be in
ecret, our deeds should Le vi
jLle
in the broad light of open day; let this unfortunate
man be held till nlOI'lling, then let hinl be hanged by
the light of the rising sun." This sentinlent, ho\ve"yer,
found few supporters; and "Then the clergynlan can1e
in soon after and reported the crin1Ínal iInpenitent,
"yhen he infornled thenl that for his praycrs he re-
ceived naught but curses, those "yho had advised delay
gave ,vay and ofFered no further objection to imnle-
diate action.
\Vhile this ,vas goin 9 on, it had been thought best
to test the quality ancl sentiment of the people sur-
rounding the building, to tell them ,vhat the Com-
mittee had done, and ,,
hat it no,v proposed to do.
" Sanl, you go out and harangue the cro,vd," said
Ryckman to Brannan, "'
Thile ,ve nlake ready to
rno,-e." )lr Brannan as
ented, first asking 111' J anIes
C: L. "Tads\yorth to acconlpany him. The t,vo gentle-
lllen ,vent out, antI the cro,vd opened a passage- ,va J"
for theine 111' Brannan "yas a fit match for lighting
the popular flame. .L<\s ready in the use of invective
as the great high-priest of his
Iormon order; as full
of oaths, as flatly coarse, and roundly ribald as a chief
of banditti, no one ,vas more apt in such an enIer-
gency than he. .Ascending the 11lound of sand oppo-
site the old Rassette I-Iouse, )Ir Brannan poured forth
a torrent of \vord
such as \vould tIro"Tn a philippic of
Demosthenes. lIe abjured the law-courts, execrated
the judges, and taunted the people for their tanle
submission to crinlinal rule. Finally he inforlned
thenl that he, in conlpany ,vith )lr "Tads,vorth, had
been deputed by the Conllnittce to report ,vhat they
had done. After an inlpartial trial the prisoner had
Lcen found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, the
execution to take place on the plaza in one hour. A
clergynlan had b0en sent for, and all things
hould be

231

JOHX JEXKIXS, 1\OLEXS VOLEXS

done in accordance ,vith the solenlnity of the occasion;
and he charged the people, as they valued the peace
and dignity of the cornnlonwealth, to 111ake no rush
or disturbance during the solen111 scene ,vhich \va.s to
follo,v, assuring thenl that the COlnlnittee ,vould en-
dea vor to conduct everything to their satisfaction.
"And 110\V," saiJ he, "tell me, does the action of
the Comlnittee 111eet ,vith your approval?"
A lllingled shout of 'ays' and 'noes' ,vent up
froln the cro,vd, ,vith cheers and cries of "'Vho is the
speaker?" ""Tho are the COlnn1ittee?" "N 0 nan1es I"
"No names I" The 'ays' "Tere largely in the Ina-
jority, and the cro,vd Inoved off to\vard the plaza.
A comnlittee ,vas then appointed, consisting of
Coleman, 'Vakenlan, and Schenck, to select a place
and Inake arrangelnents for the execution, and to re-
port as soon as possible. The three men set out at a
round pace on their InissioI1, and although it ,vas then
after t\velve o'clock they found the city sleepless, and
the streets alive \vith people. There seemed to be
sOlnething nlagnetic about the old plaza, for 'v henever
young San Francisco had any special prank in hand
that ,vas almost sure to be the play-ground chosen.
After discussing the ad vantages of several points, the
three nÚdnight gibbet-hunters finally settled upon
nlaki11g use of the old adobe custoln-house building
then standing in the pla.za. N 0 sooner had they
arrived at a decision than a Inessenger ,vas despatched
to head-quarters, saying that all ,vould be ready in
fifteen Ininutes. The arrangements ,vere soon COln-
pleted. A rope ,vas thro\vn over a high beam of the
veranda at the south end of the building, a noose
,vas Inade at one end of it, and all ,vas ready.
At half-past one the door ,vas thro\vn open, and
the nlembers of t.he COlnnlittee passed out into the
street. There they found that the people had not
been ,vholly unmindful of them; for t\VO large ropes
had been procured and ,vere held by lines of n1en on
either side of the entrance, leaving a passage-,vay for

IARCH TO THE PLAZA.

233

the Comn1ittee, and at the same tilne forlning a b::trrier
to protect thenl from the pressure uf the cro,yd. The
Comn1Ïttee then fornled "ithin the ropes, in t,vo lines
of t,yO abreast; the prisoner, bound,ancl under a strong
guard, \yas placed bet,yeen thelll; the lines ,,"'"ere then
closed at either end, and thus they In3.rched quickstep
to\yard the plaza.
An10ng the number ".as little George 'Vard, as
brill1f111 of snap as a fire-cracker, and as brave as
Jack the Giant-I(iller. As he marched, lllarchecl
a\Ya

, LI
andishing his \vearon as one bent on doughty
deeds, Ned 'Vakeman cried out, "Take the pistol
a\yay fro111 that boy; he ,,
ill hurt somebody I"
Beforo marching, Bluxo111e tapped his revolver and
said to the prisoner: "In any attenlpt "hich ll1ay be
111ade to take you out of our hands, at the first move-
Inent you Inake to escape, you die. That is IllY part
of this night's progranlme." "Yes, sir!" chilned in
"T al'd, "if the police atte111pt to seize you, sir, we
,,
ill blo,y your head off, sir I"
As the COlnmittee started their prisoner on his last
earthly ,valk the California COlnpany's bell tolled the
death kne1l of the condemned, striking in the stillness
of the night upon the ears of that outraged cOlnmunity
,,-ith a,yful solen1nity. Fainter and fainter the btrokes
"ere heard, like the dying of earthly sounds to the
departing soul, as the colunln lnarched a\vay; but
as it neared the scene of execution the
Ionlllnelltal
COlnpany's bell struck clear and full upon the ear.
.<.-\.h I then and since, at the tolling of that :JIonu-
lllcntal bell, ho,y the consciencbs of its hearers ,yere
pricked; ho,v to guilty souls accusing voices ,,-his pored;
ho,v hearts sank, and breaths thickened, and lin1bs
trell1bled, until, like Eugene .L
ran1, they ,vere seized
\\?ith an irresistible iUlpulsG to confess their sin
and
yield thclnscl ves up to justice!

Iean,yhilG the officers of the la"
and the de
-
peradoGs had not been idle. Their ell1issario8 kept
thclll fuBy informed as to the llloveinents about the

236

JOliN JE
KINS, NOLENS VOLENS.

ConHllittee rooms; and \",hen the coltunn forn1ed in
front uf thc door they quickly kne\y it, and detern1Ïned
on an atta
k. Collecting about the corner of Clay
and ICearny streets, they \vaited the approaching pro-
ce:..;sion. But the Vigilance COllln1Ïttoe ,vere 111ade
a \vare of their intention, and \vere prepared for then).
.1\..1l had their \veapons ready, and ,vere detorn1Ïned, if
necessary, to use theln. If th\\Tarted no,v they fl
lt
that they Inight ahnost as ,veIl abandon the country
as atten1pt its purgation further. As they approached
the plaza, Denjalnin Ray, chief of police, lnade a dash
for the prisoIlcr; but this \vas n101'e a feint n1ade HIllIer
color of duty than a real attelIl]?t at rescue. He ,vas
easily thrust aside, and then ,vas plainly told that he
had better keep a\vay. The desperadoes \vore next
upon then), but they \yore boaten back ,,"ithout llluch
difficulty, and the colu111n continued its ,va.y unbroken.
K ear the centre of the plaza stood the liberty pole;
and a
they entered the square son1e thought t
1e
purpose ,vas to use it as a gallo,vs.
,
No, no 1 not there I" they shouted. "Don't dese-
crate the flag 1" So said tho unreasoning rabble; for
if it ""as a righteous deed that ,vas to be done ho,v
,vould it hurt the flag?
S01l1e confusion ensued; but soon the patriotic
populace ,vas n1ade a\yare that such ,vas not the in-
tention, and all ,vas quiet again. Arrived at the south
porch of the old adobe, the prisoner \vas placed beneatll
the rope, ,yhich passed through a pulley fastened to
the railing of the veranda, and about half-past t,vo
tho noose ,vas adjusted round his neck.
" Every loyer of liberty and good order lay hold I"
cried Brannan; and scarcely ,vere th
,yords uttered
\vhcn fifty hands graspod the rope, and ,vith a sudden
jerk ,vhich broke his neck the unfortunate lnan ",Tas
lifted up,vard, and his guilty soul shot hence into the
unkno,vn reahn of the beyond.
During the latter part of this tragic scene the
con1c111ned had lllanifested the utlllOst indifference.

RESPOXSIDILITY.

23i

Though he "
ell kne\v that the failure of the fraternit.r
to rescue hin1 sealed his dOOlll, he ,vas calm and
coura O'eous to the last. He 111archcd to his death
a
\yith firn1 step and fearless eye, sllloking the ,vhile,
and died \yith a ciO'ar in his nIouth.
ü
The bod

"
as left hanging, under a strong citizens'
guard, until six o'clock, \yhen it "
as given up to the
authorities, and \yas cut do,,
n by the city marshal.
Two hundred and eighteen dollars "
ere found in the
pockets of the deceased, \v hich "
ent to defray the
burial expenses.

"\Vhile it "
as absclutely necessary that the \
ìgilance
Comnlittee should keep its o\vn counsel, that its in-
yestigations and intentions should rest a profound
secret in the breast of the fe"
, the members \\-ere no
les
detern1ined that e\
ery one of their acts should be
perforllled as under the eye of God, as under the
direction of a pure conscience, and should be such as
111Íght not f('ar the after scrutiny of their fello\Y-men.
SpI11e no,,? felt the responsibility so burdens0111e that,
,,
hile their hearts \verc in the cause, their courage \vas
n1ade craven by fears of the consequence. But of the
executive conllnittce there \yere cornparati \
ely fe"

o
stricken. 80111e natures, good enough in their ,yay,
shrink 1"ron1 dangerous responsibility; so[ne are co,yards
by instinct. Such the stronger souled bo\ved kind God-
speed to the conln1ittee roon1 door, and bade thenl go,
then turned their thoughts to practical justice. Up
to this tin1e no oath of secrecy had been adlninistered
to llleillbers of the COlllmitte'e; all that "
as required
for admission into the society "
as a recolnnlendation
frolll a ll1cll1ber ,,
ho vouched for the character of the
applicant.
The testiu10l1V of ::\11' Brannan at the coroner's
inquest, held tlîe day follu\\?ing, further illu
trates
the object
of the a

ociation and the manner in
,yhich the trial \yas conducted. But it Inust be re-
11lenlbereJ. that the opcrations of the COlllll1Ìttee ,,?ere

238

JOIIX JI:XICIRS, NOLEXS VOL:CXS.

not then systclll3.tiz2d in all their parts, nor did
Ir
Brannan dcen1 it prudent to tell all he I01e\y. S(HnO
questions he declined to ans,ver. \Vhat he said ,vas
as follo,vs: T
lat he first sa 'v the In:1l1 at the corner
of Bush and Sanso111e streets. T,vo Inen held hilH
by the arl11S, 'v ho said that they had arrested hiln.
He ,vas not then handcuffed or pinioned. He ,vas
tried fairly, by sixty or eighty persons, and the ver-
dict of guilty ,vas unaninlous. The jury irnpanelled
themselves; they ,vere composed of the cOlnn1ittce
of safety, all citizens of the to,vn. He had heard
threats Inade against the lives and property of the
Inelnbors; a prisoner in the county prison s,vore
that he, Drannan, should not live ninety days. He
1
11e'v of nothing done by the COlnnlittee that they
,vould conceal froln the officers of the la,v under
proper circulnstances.
On the other hant-l, IIall
fc1-\Jlistcr testified that,
going to the cOlnnlÌttee rOOln8 about t,velve o'clock,
he endeavored to obtain adn1ittal1ce, but ,vas re-
pulsed. He sa,v others give the countersign and
enter, each ,vhisperil1g to the door-keeper the pass-
yvord, ,vhich obtained hiln entrance. He neither
participated in the proceedings nor sYlnpathized \vith
the party; later he ,vas disgusted at ,vhat he deelned
an outrage.
"N 0 111an need be afraid to let his children kno,v
the pa.rt he took in that transaction," ,vrites tho
editor of the Courier, three days after the event.
Speaking of the cOllstitution anJ by-Ia,ys of the
Vigilance Con11nittce, 'v hich appeared in the puLlic
prints of the 13th of June, signed by the then exist-
ing 111elnbers, tho IIeralcl says: "If any guaranty
,vere requisite of the justice :lnll fairness of the pro-
ceedings of Tuesday night, it is furnished in this array
of naines, tho I110St respecta.ble and intluential in the
city. That the C01111nittee did not sit ,vith closed
doors for any sinister purpose ,vill like,vise be evident
fron1 this voluntary puLlication."

COROXER'S JURY.

239

At the coroner's inquest the follo,ving verdict \vas
render
d :

" "\Ye, the jurors of a jury of inquest impanelled by the coroner of the
county of San Francisco to inquire into the cause of the death of one .John
Jenkins, alias Simpton, do find, upon their oaths, that the said Jenkins, alias
Simpton, came to his death on the morning of the 11 th of June, between the
hours of two and three o'clock, by violent means, by strangulation, caused by
being suspended by the neck ,vith a rope attached to the south end of the
adobe building on the plaza, at the hands of, ana in pursuance of a precon-
certed action on the part of an association of citizens, styling themselves a.
Committee of Vigilance, of whom the following members are implicated by
direct testimony, to wit: Capt. Edgar'Vakeman, 'Vm. H. Jones, James C.
'Yard, Edward .d. King, T. K. Battelle, Benj. Reynolds, J. S. Eagan, J. C.
Derby, and Samuel Brannan."

To ,vhich the COlllll1ittee made reply:

"fleso?ved, That we, the nwmbers of the Committee of Vigilance, remark
with surprise the invidious verdict rendered by the coroner's jury upon their
inquest upon the body of Jenkins, after we have all notified tbe said jury and
the public that we are all participators in the trial and execution of said
Jenkins. 'Ve desire that the public will understand that Captain E. 'Vake-
man, ,Yo H. Jones, James C. 'Yard, Edward A. King, T. K. Battelle,
Benjamin Reynolds, J. S. Eagan, J. C. Derby, and Sam'l Brannan, have
beep unnecessarily picked from our number, as the coroner's jury haye had
full evidence of the fact that all the undersigned have been equally impli-
cated, and are equally responsible with their above named associates."

This "'
as signed by one hundred and eighty 1110m-
bers of the Conlmittee, and published in the public
journals of t.he day.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE SAN FRANCISCO EXECUTIVE COJlMITTEE OF 1851.

Solid men of Boston, banish long potations;
Solid men of Boston, make no long Ol'ations.
JJIOJ'ris.

TH E association ,vas admirably systematized, dis-
playing Inarked ability on the part of the manage-
Inent. Each Inen1ber of the general committee,
,vhether composed of fifty, five hundred, or five
thousand Inen, kne,v his place, kne,v exactly ,vhat to
do ,vhen an alarm sounded; and further than that he
kne,v nothing. lIe could keep ,veIl the secret ,vhich
,vas never intrusted him. lIe kne\v enough, but not
too ITIuch; enough to direct him on all occasions ,vhat
to do, but not enough to enable hinl to question and
to caviL
I t ,vas the duty of the executive conllnittee to see
that every person brought before them accused of
crinle should have a fair trial; that none should be
convicted upon less testilnony, setting aside legal
technicalities and court clap-trap, than \vould suffice
to convict in any respectable court of justice. The
executive conlmittee Illade no arrests, unless it so
happened that some In ember of irrepressible activity
should pick up a crilninal no\v anJ then; but it ,vas
their province to take cognizance of everything con-
nected ,vith the association, great and slnall. This
,vas the central po\ver round 'v hich all interests re-
volved. It ,vas the inquisition, the privy council, the
secret Rpring that 1110ved the ponderous lllachinery,
the living, thinking soul, of 'v hich the general com-
Inittce ,vas the body corporate. All po,vcr ,vas lodged
( 240 )

ARREST A.."\-r> EX..lltIIXATIOX.

241

in them; all secrets ,vere lodged \vith them; all
orders emanated from them, and every member of
the association was bound to obey unquestioningly,
unhesitatingly, and as blindly as a common soldier
obeys his commanding officer.
"Then an arrest was made, the usual course ,,-as
first to confine the prisoner, under guard, in a room
or cell provided for that purpose, until an examina-
tion could be made. ,....-\. sub-committee ,vas then ap-
pointed by the executive committee to make the
investigation, the results of which ""ere reported to
the executi,
e committee for final action. When
brought before the Committee, the prisoner was first
examined a:::; to hi,:; antecedents, inquirie;:, made into
hi;:; present life, and then investigations made of any
charges that should be brought against him. One
might think that a stranger telling his own story
could deceive at plcáðure. But. this "
as not so easily
done. X 0 one was arrested except for some cause.
Before and after the arrest all information possible
concerning the culprit "
as obtained and laid before
the Committee. The prisoner "as una""are what his
inquisitors kne"
or did not kno\\-; and ,yith a score
or t,vo of sharp eyes upon him, he felt neither com-
fort nor confidence in his lying. ..L-\.fter the trial and
conviction of a criminal by the executive committee
the ca<se "
as referred for approval and confirmation
to the general committee, "ho almost invarjably.
confirmed the decision of the executive committee_
Often a tale of innocence such as an angel might
tell was interrupted with questions like these: ":\I.r
good man, do you not know there is not a "\,,"ord of
truth in "hat you are saying? Do you not kno"

that you were put on board the Susan TTTrigld, bound
for ..L-\.ustralia, the 13th of September, 18-13, in irons"
and that you came to California ,\
ith money stolen
at Hobart To"\\"n? Do you not know that on the
night of the fire, the 4th of )Iay,
you ,vere in the
1\Iagnolia saloon, and not at San José, as you have
POP. Tnm.. VOL. I. 16

242 THE EXECUTIVE CO
I
IITTEE OF 18.31.

said ? Unless, sir, you can speak the truth, you ,vill
be sent back to your cell and tried on more trust-
\vorthy testimony."
The records of the executive cOll1mittee begin
\yith the 16th of June, ,vith San1uel Brannan as
chairman and David S. Turner secretary. At this
111eeting it ,vas ordered that the captains of the night
patrol be vested '
lith full po,vers by the executive
committee to act as they might see fit; and further,
to håve the privilege of choosing for the guard such
Inen from the general committee as they should please;
and that the said captains of patrol should be in-
structed to keep all infornlation they might acquire
eluring the night a profound secret pending the action
,of the executive committee to make it known to the
.g'eneral con1Inittee.
On motion of 'VIne T. Coleman it \vas ordered that
all refreshu1cnts should be placed under the control of
the sergeant-at-arms, and by him dealt out only to
lllen1bers on duty; and that spirituous liquors for the
u
c of the Comlllittee should be excluded frorn the
building. It ,vas likewise directed that the heads of
C0111n1ittees should be instructed to keep secret all in-
formation ,vhich might come to their kno,vledge.
Taking the floor,
1r Brannan urged that son1e one
should ,vait UPOll the district attorney and learn the
particulars of a certain criminal case then pending,
.and all other 111atters of interest to the cause. This
lueasure ,vas resolved on; and also that a comlnittee of
three should ,vait on the mayor and the sheriff, ascer-
tain their strength, the strength of prisons, the con-
dition of prisoners, and their disposition to coöperate
\vith the COffilnittee in their work of reform.
The last entry in the first book of nlinutes of the

ssociation is under date of July 4, 1851. Bet\veen
-this date and the opening of the large book of pro-
ceedings the 17th of Septell1ber the interval is left
,vithout record save on loose papers, the writing on

vhich is oftentimes half obliterated.

DAILY DUTIES.

243

During the most of this time, that is to say from
June to September, the executive cOlnn1Ïttee met
and held court every day. There ,vas ,vork enough
to keep them all Lusy. Inforn1ation concerning crimes
and criminals came pouring in on them from every
quarter. Individual informers and country con1mjttee

of vigilance \yere hourly notifying the Con1mittee of
the ,vhereabouts of felons "ho must be hunted do\vn
and brought to trial. 'Vith a large, active, anp. en-
thusiastic police force constantly bringing up cases
requiring the most careful consideration; \vith the
rapid arrival of vessels having on board convicts and
questionable characters, involving personal examina-
tion on the part of the agents or en1issaries of the
association of hundreds of men and ,\-omen; with five
or ten prisoners on trial at one time, requiring the
employment of counsel, the searching for and ex-
amining of ,vitnesses, the taking of testimony and
receiving and recording confessions, of ,vhich class of
documents the archives,of the association are largely
composed; ,vith an occasional hanging to be done,
and a constant shipping a,vay of those so sentenced
by the Committee-securing their passage, and raising
the n10ney to pay it, and attending them beyond the
Golden Gate; with the watching of judges, and the
proceedings of courts of justice; ,vith five hundred
Ï111patient men1bers to satisfy, ,vho ,vere al\\"ays eager
for something to be done; with the settling of differ-
ences of opinion among themselves, and the general
and particular care of the ,vorkings of the ne\v and
strange machinery-,vith all this and much 11101'e, I
say, these judges had ,york enough to do in the
conscientious execution of their self-imposed .dutie:-;.
It ,yas ordered at the meetin cr of the executi \"e
. 0
commIttee the 17th of June that some plan of pro-
ceeding should be adopted as to the disposition of
those ordered to leave. They resolved likewise to
,vatch the proceedings of the trial of a noted burglar.
The next meeting directed the chief of police to bring

244 THE EXECUTIVE COl\fMITrEE OF 1851.

before the Comn1ittee one under sentence of banish-
nlent, to hear \vhat he had to say in his defence. The
testimony ,vas very lengthy, occupying the Com-
n1ittee lllore than five hours. It was all taken do\vn
by the secretary and filed \vith the other papers in
the case. The evidence thus far was rather against
hin1, and his case was continued. Meanwhile the
June fire occurred, and the wrath of the citizens
'\
axcd bot against the supposed incendiaries. The
executive c0l11mittee offered a re,vard of five thou-
sand dollars for the delivery into their po\ver, with
evidence sufficient to convict, of any person guilty of
the crime of arson.
It ,veIl becalne the officers of the la\v during the
1110vement of 1851 to treat the Vigilance Committee
,vith profound respect. So heartily ,vere the people
in syu1pathy ,vith the organization that there ,vas
little sentiment ,vasted on the rights and divinity
of la,\v. The n1en of la\v ,vere \vatched as closely by
the reformers as ,vere the la\vless, and the higher the
seat of corruption the sooner ,vas it assailed. 'V oe,
then, to hin1 of evil conscience; be he sheriff, judge,
or governor, his sins shall not go unpunished!
The sum of five hundred dollars ,vas voted the
captain of police, the 1st of July, for secret service
lTIOney. At the same time inquiry ,va.s to be made
into the n1anner of the arrest of a negro by an officer
of the la,v. The business transacted by the Com-
n1ittee the 2d of July ,vas as follo\vs: Being informed
by Captain l\fcGowan, of the revenue cutter, of the
arrival of the bark John Potter from Sydney, a COID-
Inittee of five ,vas appointed to visit the vessel and
report. Con1111unications, one from the Comn1ittee of
Vigilance of Santa Clara, another about a robbery,
another fron1 the Vigilance Comn1ittee of
arysville
in regard to the Jansen affair, were read and acted on.
Captain White, of the brig Cct1neo, bound for Sydney
direct, inforl11ed the COllll11ittee that he ,vas ready to
take ,vith hin1 any scoundrels they might wish to

IXTERCOURSE OF )IE)IBERS.

4.3

send, at the rate of one hundred dollars each. He
promised likewise to give bonds for their safe delivery
at Sydney or Hobart To,vn.
It ,vas hardly to be supposed, as humanity is con-
structed, that so many men of nervous energy, of
independent thought and pronounced ideas, should
not differ ,varmly in their opinions on occasions; in
other "
ords, that they should never quarrel. The
'v onder is that they could hold together at all; that
the mercury in their natures should so l11arry the
l11etal of their minds as to form a solid ball of amal-
gam ,vhich no infelicities of temper could dissipate.
Indeed their quarrels were never anything but chil-
dren's quarrels. So deep ,vas their respect for each
other, so impressed ,vere they \\Tith the importance
of their undertaking, and so earnest in their purpose,
that self ,vas S"\v"allo,vecl in the common cause, and
personal pride and pique ,vere but the momentary
stinging of a gnat. In their high purpose, then,
I say, they ,vere men; in their disagreements,
children.
In July, 1851, )11" Brannan sent in his resignation,
both as president of the association and as men1ber of
the executive committee. It seems that some sharp
,vords had passed bet,veen him and
IcDuffie, ser-
geant-at-arms. As I llaye said,
I1' Brannan ,vas just
the man to incite a revolution, but he \vas not the
Inan to conduct one. The shot of determinate purpose
once fired from his brain, like
elson at Copenhagen
,vith his blind eye to the telescope, he ,yould not
see the signal of retreat. There "
ere better nlen
than Brannan for president; there ,vere fifty as good
as
IcDuffie for sergeant-at-arms. Yet these ,vere
both good and true men in the present elnergency.
The cause owed lnuch to :\11' Brannan; and that it
needed hin1 less no"T "Tas not sufficient reason, in the
eyes of his associates, that he should be sacrificed to
his o\\-n irascibility. So a committee ,vas appointed
to heal the feud bet,,-een the officers; and such, ,vith

246 THE EXECUTIVE COßIl\IITTEE OF 1831.

but fe,v exceptions, ,yas the quality of 111agnanÎlnity
manifested by these men throughout their entire in-
tercourse.
Payran was of th,is Committee one of the leading
spirits. He ,vas a man of dignity and courage, and
ready alike ,vith tongue or pen. He had been a copy-
ist in Philadelphia, and took do,vn testimony rapidly
and easily. The following incident illustrates at once
his character, and the method, or rather the lack of
Inethod, employed by the vigilants in the execution
of their coml11Ïssions:
It happened that a poor "
Olnan ,vho had adopted
a young girl, then about ten years of age, and was
striving as best she nlight to rear her charge virtu-
ously, one day rushed to the conln1Îttee rOOlns and
entered an appeal v/hich moved the hearts of all
present. Certain forIner associates of the child's
Illother had just then abducted the girl from her
guardian and had hurried her ofr to :ßlarysville, there
to be eventuallyenlployed, as the ,vonlan ,vas assured,
for vile purposes. Payran asked to be appointed a
committee of one to recover the child.
"But ,vhat can one do
" asked a nlcnlber of the
Committee. "J\farysville, as you are ,veIl a,vare, is
ruled entirely by the roughs, of ,vhom the local conl-
mittee themselves stand in R\Ve."
" Nevertheless, I ,vill go," said Payran. "All I
ask is the authority of this board."
" That you most assuredly have," replied the COlll-
mittee-man; a sentiment ,vhich his fellow-lllembers
immediately confirnled. "But be,vare I there is danger
in it; the child was not taken to be given up for the
k . "
as lng.
" Trust me," said Payran. Arrived at Marysville,
accompanied by the ,voman for purposes of proof and
identification, he soon ascertained the 'v hereabouts
of the child. 'Vìthout discovering hinlself to its ab-
ductors, he ,vent quietly round alllong the pron1Ínent
citizens of the place, stated the circumstances, and

PAYRAX A
""D 'YOOD'YORTH.

-!7

informed then1 of his deterlnination. They ,yarned
him that, even if successful, his life sooner or later
must be paid as the price of his temerity. Assistance
,vas volunteered, but not sufficient for tþe purpose.
The authorities ,vere, more than else,vhere, pusillani-
mous. 'Vhat was to be clone? ::\fust he return baffled,
to his associates, his expressed assurance of success
an idle boast? N ever I at an events not alive.
:\Iost opportunely, after a discouraging day, at the
hotel where he ,vas stopping there arrived some
t,venty n1iners, long, lusty felt:nvs, "Tith big hearts
and bushy heads, en route for home.
It was Just the material for the purpose. Returning
to civilization in the heyday of success, their muscles
,veIl strung, their hearts pliable, and their emotions
easily excited, to those t,venty rough diggers Payran
had but to state the object of his Inission, when twenty
big round oaths pledged t,venty honest lives to S1na8h
the to,vn, if necessary; at all events to see Payran
through. Just before the
oat ,vas ready to start
they shouldered their packs, and demanded to be
shown the child. Proceeding in a body to the house
in ,vhich the girl ,vas staying, Payran and the
\vornan entered, and after some trouble succeeded in
getting the girl to the door. Then each 111 an dra "ring
his revolver, they formed a hollo,v square, -with the
,voman and her child in the centre. So they all
marched down to the boat; and there ,yould haye
been hot and lively times in )Iarysville that day had
any persons interfered.
Selim ,V oodworth ,vas more th
n man in SOl11e
things and less than man in others. In certain di-
rections he seen1ecl inspired with superhuman instincts
and superhuman energy, ,vhile in other quarters he
was but a boy. He ,vas eminently a good fello,,
,
open of heart and countenance, and of tender sensi-
bilities-not exactly the Inaterial one ,vould expect in
the captain of a band of stranglers-and it was these
qualities, perhaps, that. gave him that air of boyishness

248 THE EXECUTIVE CO:\I:MITTEE OF 18.31.

which might easily be taken for effeminacy or a nature
trifling. But \vhen it can1e to duty, suddenly all non-
sense disappeared, and strength and courage caIne in
all the glorious perfections of developed manhood. In
money matters he ,vas the soul of honor. He had
much trouble ,vith the squatters, who persisted, like
flies about a carcass, in settling on a lot w hich h

o,vned ,vhere the Grand Hotel later stood.
Gerritt VV. Ryckman, the third president of the
association, was from Albany, N e,v York. He came
to California in the steanler UnicoT'n, arriving at San
Francisco the 30th October, 1849. I never sa\v in
any human being such reckless indifference to con-
sequences in regard to the penalties to ,vhich he
subjected hinlself in participating in such a move-
ment as ,vas manifest in Ryckman. He ,vas \vell
advanced in years when I first sa\v him; and though
his voice ,vas often tremulous in our conversations,
his \vhole fralne shook ,yith indignant energy 'v hen
he talked of the threats and intimidations \vhich \vere
constantly thro\vn at l1im. He possessed a ,vonderful
faculty for gaining the confidence of the accused, of
,vinning them over to Inake a free confession of their
guilt, and that ,vithout committing himself by prolnise
of pardon or other\vise. The very frankness of his
deep deterlnination ,vas contagious. "I \vill tell you,
Mr Ryckman," said one poor fello,,", to hin1, "for I kno,v
you will do right; but all hell couldn't open nlY ITlouth
to those others." His very presence inspired faith
and invited confidence. His broad face and truthful
searching eye; his features, nlassive with ,veighty
purpose and benignant rectitude; his voice low, kind,
but resolute; l1is step, his bearing, all ,vere indicative
of candor, singleness of heart, and conscientiousness,
obdurate, but sympathetic and unsinful. Thus it was
that, \vhile l1e hanged these Inen, they not only feared
and respected him, but they alulost loved him. If
1\1:1' Ryckman had the say about it, they felt in SOlne
,yay they ,vou1d be freed; and yet this kind inquisitor

GERRITT "\\. RxCK
LL
.

249

of theirs ,yas usually the first to tell them they de-
served to hang, and should be hanged.
Often a friendly criminal has warned him: "Have
a care, )lr Ryckman; keep your house at night, and
take the middle of the street when you walk to it;
there are more than one in this to,,"n who have s,,"orn
to kill you." " Do not be troubled," he would reply;
"I have no fear. There is not one of them ,,"'ould
kill me if he could. I know it; and I would trust my
life as freely among them as else,vhere. They know
that ,vhat I do is right; that I bear them no malice;
that I \vould do everyone of them good; but they
must stop stealing, and burning, and butcllering, or I
shall stop their breath as sure as God made me."
Ryckman's n1ethod of intervie,,"'ing prisoners is
\rorthy of notice. Thro,ving into his manner an air
of confidential yet dignified familiarit
r, he approached
the culprit and opened the conversation ,vith what-
ever topic he judged might lie nearest the hearer's
heart. He ,vould ask him of his former days, of his
b4th, parentage, and childhood; of his struggles ,vith
fortune, his successes, his failures; of his companions,
his loves, and hates. Had he a ,vife, or children?
,vhen did he come to California, and ,"vhat business
did he first engage in here? ,,"hat led him to a life of
crime, and ,vho ,vere his associates? Accompanying
his skilful probing ,"vith that soothing sympathy ,,-hich
,vas in truth part of his nature, before he bad pro-
ceeded far, the poor, bruised, heart-broken ,,"'retch ,,-as
ready, nay eager, to tell him all. :JIight not this
bluff but kind-hearted old man become his friend?
lllight he not help him in his sore distress? lllight he
not save him, at least from death 1 X 0 bad man
thinks himself so bad as to be utterly un\vorthy of
sympathy and assistance. How they "Fould beseech
him and cling to him for these I And \vhen he offered
to write to friends, to for"ard llloney or effects, to
perform any act of Christian charit.y-which commis-
sions ,vere al\vays executed to the letter-brute cour-

2,)0 THE EXECUTIYE COMMITTEE OF 1831.

ao'e and bravado, if indeed they had held out so long,
g
ve \vay, and the abandoned of his fello,vs often wept
like a child. So, too, almost everyone condemned,
,vhen he sa\v the chain of testimony was so complete
against him, confessed and signed his confession.
'Vhile in active service J\Ir Ryckman devoted al-
most his entire time to the work of the Committee.
During the nine months from the first of June he
devoted scarcely five full days to his own private
business. More than once he ,vas dogged about the
streets by those ,vho had threatened to assassinat.e
hin1, but he never was for a moment off his guard.
S01netin1es he ,vould walk straight up to the scoun-
drels and ,varn them to leave the city instantly, and
they usually obeyed. They were much more afraid
of hi In than ,vas he of them. He had a ,yay of dis-
guising hin1self and mingling \vith theIn, and then
suddenly discovering himself.
l\Ir Ryckman did not regard the new organization
in 1856 ,vith favor. Perhaps a tinge of jealousy col-
ored its character in his eyes. Or it may be, lik,e
Robespierre, his willingness to participate in capital
punishments increased ,vith age. But society had
changed since 1851, and in 1856 a ne\v elelnent, ,vith
ne,v leaders, marshalled to the front. "The Vigilance
Committee of '56 assulned to be the vigilance of '51,"
he said to me one day, "but it was not. They came to
me to join them and bring the old colors, but I ,vould
do neither. I ,vent do\vn to one of their Ineetings, and
I told them they needed SOlne one to govern them
instead of their assuming the government of others.
I got out of patience with their silky, milky ,yay
of Inanaging Terry's case. He ought to have been
hanged. I rebuked Coleillan very severely for some
timill act in the '56 COlnmittee."
Mr Isaac Bluxome junior possessed a warm heart
and most genial disposition. Alnidst an assembly of
jovial companions, his face beaming with good hUlnor
and the fun-wrinkles radiating from his eyes, he was

ISAAC BLUXO)IE.

251

the la
t person a stranger ,,
ould take for a ' strangler,'
as they of la ",. and order delighted to call the men of
vigilance.
Ialice ,vas a etranger to his heart; no
hatred toward his fello\v-men was harbored in his
breast. In all that solemn assembly of resolute men
there was not one ,vho in sincere pity for the poor
fellow about to suffer for his crimes excelled him
,vhose duty it was to ,vrite the death-\varrant.
I knew him well. }Iany an evening have I sat
and listened far into the night to his graphic descrip-
tion of those most stirring days; at \vhich times his
whole being seemed ablaze with brilliant memories.
Ah t ,vhen one's very self is staked on high achieve-
ment, and one lives to see the unselfish effort an
accomplished fact, who would ,vish to smother the
glow of proud enthusiasm that follows!
I say that Bluxome was the high-priest of good
fellows, for I have tasted his companionship. But this
\vas not the dominant quality of his character. His
,,'"hole nature ,vas instinct with stubborn rectitude.
.....-\ithough there never flitted in my presence one
gleam of vindictiveness across his features, I haye
seen at some cloudy remembrance the flush of min-
gled pride and pleasure fade from the face: and the
glow of kindly fire sink from the outer eye into some
unknown depths \vithin, and in their place a fixed
and solid stare of inexorable purpose, such as would
palsy the tongue of any guilty suppliant.
Iore than
life he loved the right, and he alone who sacrilegiously
offended it he accounted his enemy. Yet in arriving
at conclusions he was lllost cool, most. compassionate.
He would not be hurried in forming an opinion. Said
a hot-headed member to him one day: "Bluxome, you
are on the off side of everything. I believe you are
afraid to hang a man I" "Sir," was the reply, "my seat
is al"Tays at the disposal of this Committee; but while
I occupy it, the man does not live ,vho by fair speech
or innuendo can move me one hair's breadth from
,vhat I deem my duty."

2 - n
.J...

THE EXECUTIVE CO
Il\IITTEE OF 1851.

..At the time of the first COlnlnittee he ,vas young,
ardent, active. N ow you would find him acting in
his official capacity, then off on some thief-hunting
expedition, or on board a newly arrived vessel ex-
alnining the passengers, and again looking after the
detail of his ponderous knave-destroying Inachinery,
and to the comfort of his associates. Says quaint old
President Payran: "Our worthy secretary, I. Bluxonle
junior, has given much time and attention to the re-
arrangement of our committee rooms; to him the
sub-committee feel much indebted, and recommend
that the thanks of the executive committee be ten-
dered him." Bluxome ,vas an efficient member of
the Committee before he was chosen secretary. The
multitude of complaints made before the Committee
by all sorts of persons required much time and great
discrimination in the disposal of them. The large
111aSS of evidence drawn from witnesses in their ex-
aminations, and from officers and lllelnbers on duty,
,vhich I have been cOlnpelled to examine, thro,vs much
light on the spirit and intent of the association; while
the reports of special committees, descriptions of un-
caught felons, and the confessions of prisoners show
\vith \vhat zeal and conscientiousness the executive
COInlllittee perfornled their duties. Often the name
of eacll Inember of a disreputable family was ascer-
tained, and the age and personal appearance of sus-
pected individuals ,vere kept constantly before the
eyes of the vigilant detectives. The places of resort
of every notable offender ,vere kno\vn to the Com-
lnittee, their habits were studied, and their move-
nlents watched, so that they Inight be forthcoming
,vhen ,vanted.
During the period froin the organization of the
Committee in June, 1851, till the 30th of June, 1852,
under which date the last entry is n1ade in the book
of proceedings, there was constant communication
with country COlTInlittees, and a general watchfulness
maintained in every quarter. Suits and demands for

PROCEEDL
GS.

253

dan1ages and reclamations ,vere instituted, to defend
,vhich the ablest counsel was employed. To attempt
the punishlnent of one of the members of the COLI-
mittee, as such, ,yas to offend all. It lllade no difference
against ,vhom the buit ,,"'as brought, if its origin ,vas
through an
r act of the COlllmittee, or of any member
authorized so to act, the cause was made common, and
all expenses of defence or damages ,vcre defrayed by
the Committee. Neither ,,"'as there ever any attenlpt
in lllatters personal to the Committee to ùisregard the
la,v, or to treat the Inandates of the courts ,,-ith in-
difference or contempt. The Con1mittee fully recog-
nized the soyereignty of law in the settlement of all
disputes; it ,vas only in criminal cases, of interest
alil
e to eyery member of society, that the Committee
took cognizance.
"\Vhile the ablest members of the legal fraternity
,yere unable, or affected to be unable, to comprehend
the scope and spirit of the Committee, it is hardly to
be "
ondered that the more simple-rninded should so
far.. mistake its meaning as to look for miracles. X um-
berless were the instances of application for redress
,vhich ,,""ould have baffled the sedate credulity of Don
Quixote. It ,vould seem there had arisen a tribunal
that should right every \vrong, heal ,younded spirits,
and minister to minds diseased. One applied to have
a squatter driven off his lot; another "
anted a doctor
hanged for poisoning a patient ,vith medicine; a dozen
asked to have their debts collected; and one \vrote
from ::\Iokelumne Hill. furious at a certain James
'Vatkins, ,vhom he regarded a fit subject for treat-
ment by the Committee because he had insulted his
'.c t
'''11e

At a general meeting held in July, 1851, it ,vas
agreed that thereafter the general committee should
convene the first ::\Iondays of :\Iarch and September
in each year, and at such other times as they should
be called together by two taps of the bell, or by pub-
lished notice signed by the president and secretary

2.34 THE EXECUTIVE C01\IMITTEE OF 1851.

of the executive conlmittee. No person whose dues
,vere in arrears twenty days should be entitled to
admission. The executive committee should have
power to order and make arrests; to levy assess-
ments; to make or change by-laws; to appoint officers;
to try prisoners. All testimony at trials must be
taken in ,vriting, and a synopsis of it read at the first
general meeting. Such testimony, or any other paper
or book belonging to the Committee, should not be
mutilated or destroyed, but placed in the hands of
the secretary for preservation.

CHAPTER XVII.

VIGILA.

CE BECO
IES À POWER.

God gives manhood but one clew to success,-utter and exact justice;
that he guarantees shall be always expediency.
Wendell P1Ûllips.

SILE:XTLY the self-protective force, long dormant in
the body social, no,,- dre"r round the rooms of the
\Tigilance Committee the order-loving people of San
Francisco. The action of crime upon progressional
industry had produced a friction, of ,vhich ,,-as en-
gendered an electrical movement as natural and subtle
as any displayed by the contending forces that play
upon the destinies of matter. The affinities and
afl!liations inherent in elemental particles throughout
the universe \vere manifest in this uprising, and a

,veIl might puny man hope to arrest the movement
of heavenly bodies by the enactment of laws antago-
nistic to the primary la\\s of attraction and repulsion
as to stifle the natural impulses of a crime- ridden
people by an appeal to the sacredness of statutes.
Although the law in this instance was comfortably
tractable and well behaved, there ,vas not lacking that
healthful opposition which in social dynamics con-
stitutes the true strength of every reformatory move-
ment. A religious reformation or a political revolution
,,-ithout opposition, were such a thing possible, ,vould
be a tame affair. In the war on evil, as in all ,,-ar,
the strength of the reformatory party is in some de-
gree measured by the strength of the opposition; that
is to say, in the upheavals of society the 8trength
employed by the overturning element is in proportion
to the force to be overturned. There was here just
( 255 )

256

VIGILANCE BECO
IES A PO'VER.

enough of st.rength in the law, and in the noisy quasi
protectors of the dignity of la,v, to band the people
firmly and cause theln to walk "\varily.
It was an unusual sight, the quiet midnight trial
and execution of Jenkins, half the city asleep \vhile
the other half ,vere rallying to the assistance of iU1-
potent la,v. It can hardly be laid to their charge that
they acted hastily, or in a vengeful or blood-thirsty
manner. Twenty lives and lnillions of property had
been destroyed at the last fire, which \vas only one of
the many successful attelnpts of these bold villains to
burn the young city, and ruin the industries and COln-
merce of its inhabitants. One or the other no\v must
rule; one or the other must no\v retire. Long and
patiently they had ,vaited on law, but la,v brought
then1 no relief. A committee of public safety was
demanded by the people, and they ,vho hanged Jenkins
\vere earnestly requested not to stop there, but to
follo,v up the ,york so \vell begun. The necessity
,vhich con1pelled the deed to be done in darkness ,vas
deplored, but the pJ;'oceedings ,vere fully justified hy
the press and the people. A large mass-meeting ,vas
held on the plaza the night following, in \vhich the
citizens ,vere urged to enroll thelTIselves into a com-
mittee of safety, and the proceedings of the night pre-
vious were ratified. Yet another meeting \vas held the
next night, more boisterous than the forlner. The
opposition at one time gained possession of the stand,
but in their turn were driven from it by the reformers.
There ,vas 111uch needless speech-making and scuffling,
and the proceedings \vere not regarded ,vith favor by
the lovers of healthy reform.
These two demonstrations of popular unrest \vere
without concerted aim or defined action. The first
,vas held on Wednesday evening, and adjourned to
the following afternoon. Both ,vere largely attended.
Various opinions 'vere expressed as to the late sum-
mary proceedings, but there ,vas a large lTIajority in
favor of sustaining the action of the Committee. At

THB RO"TDY ELE
[KNT.

2.Þ7

these gathering:::; David C. Broderick, hacl\.c(l 1)y hiK
rough retainers, appcareLl a
the
luuupion of la,v all<l
order.
rhe vigilant party attcruptc(l to oflc.t, resolu-
tions in support of the 11loVClneut, \vhich T1rodcl'i.ek
detern1ined to defeat. There ,vas hut one ,yay to
accolnplish the purpo
e, \vhich ,vas to break up tho
assembly; and Broderick diLl not for a 1l10l11cnt hc
i-
tate to resort to
uch Ineans. Ullre, 'v hen the ayeH
and noes \vere called, the Brodcrick party ('lailllcd the
vote, ,vhich being justly denied theII1, they rnadc a
rush at the speaker's stan( 1, au( 1 rail:;cd a great uproar.
Such nloetings ,vore 'v holly uncalled for, and could
not \vell be productive of beneficial results. 'rhûy
,vere
omposed of that part of the population through
\vhose dull brain the idca was just lLO\V finùing its ,yay
that something Ulust be done. Eight thousand such
appeared, \vho li$tened open-rnouthed to the rantingH
of demagogue
, ,v]âle tho Vigilance Cornruittce, the
real po\ver, quietly kept its o\vn counsel, and pursued
its O\Vl1 ,yay. The conduct of the nppositioH, ho\vever,
offered yet another illustration of their nlLlny para-
doxical ,vays, ,vherein they hold to one doctrine aud
. act another. It is the ,privilege of a free people to
go and come at pleasure, to scatter abroad, or to con-
gregate in such place and numberH as they deeru fit;
and so long as neither treason nor violence is in-
dulged in, neither rnagistrate nor police can prevent.
them. Again and again the men of Ia,v 1Ja
ked th(.ir
argurnents against lawlessness by lawless dé<.
dB; and.
if, by the hard practical sense of the great uHsanctified,
their ,vind-bags of logic ,vere pricked, a martyr's Woe'
elongated their visage.
vVhile the trial of J cnkins was yet in progr(;H

many of the best Inen stepped for\vard and enroll(acJ
themselves mernbcrs of the association, and ilJter hi

execution the numbers rapidly s\velled. On tho 11 tIt
of June the Vigilance C0111Inittee did not nurnb(a,..
over one hundred, but irnulediately after its nurnbpr

increased to fi \Oe hundred, one hUlldred of \VhOTH "er(

I'oPo TnIB.. VOL. I. Ii

238

VIGILANCE BECO
IES A PO"\VER.

on duty day and night. The organization ,vas COlll-
plete and effective; their purpose ,vas pursued noise-
lessly and thoroughly. A fortnight had not elapsed
before an entire change ,vas noticed in the state of
society. The arID of crime ,vas palsied; an invisible
llet-\vork \vas ,voven round evil-doers. The vigilance
of this ne\v-born justice \vas sleepless; its jurisdiction
extended to all classes and crimes and its agents \verc
silent and ubiquitous. Frequent Ineetings ,v ere held,
in which \vork ,vas given out, and no scoundreln1ight
kno,v ,vhen a Inenlber of the association ,vas at his
elbov{. Cool circunlspection, earnestness, and energy'
characterized all the movenlents of the COllilnittee.
Fact8 concerning crin1inals \vere entered as collected
1n a book kept for that purpose.

mong other good
. \yòrks, the COlnnlÍttee undertook to complete the
county prison then in progress of construction, but
delayed for \vant of funds. Each of the five hundred
Inelnbers ,vas Inade responsible for the collection of
thirty dollars, thus securing instantly the fifteen
thousand dollars lacl{ing to finish the building.

Meanwhile imn1Îgration continued to pour in the bad ·
elelnent, and ere long rascality began again to lift its
head. Gold had not yet been discovered in Australia,
and when the falne of California reached those shores
every effort ,vas n1ade to escape fron1 the penal colo-
nies of Great Britain. Ship-nlasters \vere ready to
. take any ",
ho would pay. Many ,vho had no 11leans
.shipped as sailors, and on arrival escaped; and so by

livers ways hordes 111anaged to con1e. Sydneyto\vn
,vas novv \vatched by day and patrolled by night, anlI
the passengers and cre,vs of newly arrived vessels
"\vere carefully exarnined. A ship had arrived early
in l\1ay \vith a large load of convicts, some of theln
\vith shaved heads. The craft had no port clearance,
,yhich indicated that her passengers were slllugglecl
ün board. The COlnnlittee deternlined to put an enù
to Huch traffic.

UNDESIRABLE C\I)IIGRATIOX.

239

In the California Courier of June 16th the editor
"
ri tes :
"All our information from Sydney and other British colonies in the
Pacific informs us that a general'disposition e"ists to prevent further coloni-
zation there of the convicts of Great Britain, and to rid themselves of those
already in the colonies. Owing to this feeling great willingness exists on the
part of the public authorities of those colonies to aiù in the transportation of
that class of people, and as California offers the most tempting inducements
for these convicts to expatriate themselves, we are likely to get the hea,iest
portion of this most degraded population. If the British colonies of the
Pacific arp. to be simply the place where the convicts from Great Britain are
to be temporarily di::;em barked, merely to be reshipped to this part of the
"C llited States, California will in the future become the Botany Bay for all
her criminal population. The emigration from Sydney during the past month
to California has exceeded in number the emigration from all the A.tlantic

tates of this union for the same period. This is not a declaration made at
random, but is made from actual arrivals at. this port, and this population is
likely to increase monthly to an extent equal to the past month. Evidently
heretofore they have been able to burn down the city over our heads some
four or five times, destroying some thirty li\es and property to the amount of
at least $2,000,000. 'Vhen caught, through their accomplices, they have suc-
ceeded in swearing through the courts, to again run at large, and repeat their
deeds of darkness and crime with equal avidity and boldness. They are
organized into gangs, and bave their regular stores, hiding-places, and out-
posts. 'Ye cannot resist them by tIre slow process of law. 'Ve must,
therefore, when "We catch them committing burglary, theft, murder, or arson,
hang them up. If California is to be selected by Great Britain and her
British colonies as the habitation of her convicts, we will soon teach her and
her dependencies that they are mistaken."

The bark Chie.f entered the harbor of San Fran-
cisco the 14th of June with fifteen passengers from
Sydney. Only 011e had a certificate from the Ameri-
can consul, and the rest ,vere believed to be convicts.
Objections \vere made to their landing, but certain
respectable citizens vouched for them, and they ,vere
permitted to come ashore. The next day a vessel
arrived ,vith five passengers, four of ,vhorn ,vere
'VOlllen. Even the grim-visaged tribunal in those
days ,vas too gallant to raise its front against un-
protected woman, though she were a little tainted.
Skirted humanity ,vas then too scarce to deny it
e
trance on the ground of badnes
; so the Sydney
sIsters \vere pernIitted to land. But llluch as the

260

VIGILAXCE BECO
IES A PO'YER.

country needed the salt of "'"Olllen, a little of such
seasoning "Tent far. SOlne of the convicts thus ar-
riving had even been granted their liberty on condi-
tion that they,vould leave those parts and not return
to England. As ,ve have seen, the Con111littee no,v
assumed a per111anent character. The duties of 111e111-
bel's, the tin1es of meeting, the order of proceedings,
and the crilnes of ,,'"hich it ,vas to take cognizanee,
"'"ere more defined. Theft and Inurder occupied its
chief attention, but idlers and suspected persons ,vere
narro,vly \vatched. For a time the one hundred
Inembers Inentioned ,v ere sufficient in the field; and
these spent day and night hunting criminals, ferreting
infamy, inquiring into the character and purpose of
suspicious-looking persons, and bringing them before
the dread tribunal, which could be convened at any
moment for any purpose by the signal- bell stroke.
Punishments ,vere graduated according to the offence.
To the accused ,vas al"\\Tays granted a trial if he desired
it, but notices to quit ,vere sometÏ1nes given on \vell-
grounded suspicion. The \vords elllployed on such
occasions ,vere laconic, but 1110St significant-thus:

"JERE:\IY DIDLER:
" Yon are warned to leave the city within five days.

" By order of

THE C02.\Il\IITTEE OF VIGILANCE.
"No. 67, Secretary."

If this ,yarning ,vas passed unheeded, the person
so served ,vas arrested and shipped to Australia or
SOlne other foreign port. The executive committee
,vas neither responsible to nor hampered by any other
earthly po,ver; it brought its o\vn charges, made its
own exalninations, and executed its own decrees.
Through its instrun1entality sonle were hanged, n1any
\vere publicly whipped, and many n101"e banished the
city. Thus San Francisco \vas for a short time almost
free from professional rogues and scoundrels. The
vigilant police boarded vessels arriving frOln Sydney,

THE SYSTE
I PERFECTED.

261

and every passenger ,vas subjected to the n10st rigid
scrutiny. On board \vere al"Tays respectable persons
enough to testify against such disreputable characters
a
n1ay have been their conI1Jagnons de
'oYClge.
To avoid impositions, and at the same tin1e to
secure imnlediate attention, all notices to quit ,yere
served by a sub-committee of three or more members,
and "ere never sent by a Inessenger or through the
mail. Herewith I give a __fac-sÙnile of a report of the
Committee in a case of exile.
On one occasion in June certain so-called respect-
able lawyers, of perhaps not too translucent con-
sciences, ,vere startled by what purported to be orders
from the inquisition to leave their country for their
country's good. The Comn1ittee ,vas first of all in
its endeavor to ferret these forgers.
If the convicts thus arrested by the COlnmittee
and ordered back by vessels going to Australia had
money of their o,vn, their fare was paid out of it by
the Comn1ittee. If they had any effects ,vhich could
be sold, their passage money ,vas raised in that ,,"'ay.
If possessed of nothing, the Committee paid the
passage.
The Comn1ittee ,,"'ere anxious so far as possible to
a void the taking of life, but preferred resorting to
banishment or minor corporal punishment as a penalty
for crime. Thus during the active operations of this
Committee there ,vere about thirty persons, most of
t.hem from Sydney or other British colonies, sent
from the country, nearly all being returned to the
places ,vhence they callie.
The citizens of San Francisco in their first \Tigil-
ance C0111mittce claimed the most perfect and power-
ful organization hitherto established in any country
for the guarding of the public ,veal. It was as much
a part of their self-ilnposed duty to prevent the
coming to the country of ne,v malefactors as to expel
old offenders, and this required sleepless ,vatchfulness
and a detective police systematized ,vith no slnall

262

VIGILANCE BECO
1ES A POWER.

#u. m
1-
$

'(

í
?bp(..A

L;t.
Þ-I,,"-
þL-

rJ
L

7n--
.

/ -/

/4 4

a.-- .-1-

/;q/

þ4..
Æ.-..
.e--v
;if

-L-:-; M

of"h ........ ;h---
,s.-. Z Pj-

r
--c., -7_._7;u

d

,{. .
,
=t'.r L- -
r---.4'
__..:..., -
......"..

el .
/

c:

?t4

_

'Zd '-
:

_

;'

./---k-
-r/:.d:

XV4

(1

_j

.,L
Ä-L !'
4
/_

7

.

d....

é
'7"
-,,,e..ÅJ

,
&.

ÚIU/

,G>
cf_cp

7
.G(

ft//Þ
..::t:
ù",ú-dý(17ff
-?,.è:ø

_
'
.6..

::>
-r
(
"''''-

;,.%þ-

'"
d.:;tþ'

A
;

-4<<ea..,.. -. 2L4'
.
c;/'P- _.

THE PRESS A
j) THE PULPIT.

::?û3

skill. The regular police \vere resigning one after
another from lack of pay for their services. The
courts needed purifying and energizing; honest judges
,v ere proverbially incapabJe, the capable ,,-ere dishon-
est, and it ,yas no rare occurrence to see both kna ye
and fool \vritten upon the face of one single occupant
of the judgment-seat. Legislators ,vere like,vise to
be reformed. In the last legislature the San Fran-
cisco representatives ,vere far belo,v the countr
r
members in honesty and intelligence. The numbers

,vealth, influence, and energy of the \Tigilance COln-
mittee gaye it almost unlimited power, and to its
honor be it said, that po,ver ,vas al,vays used ,vith
calmness, mercy, and moderation. Punishment fol-
lo,ved closely the hoels of crime, and yillainy and
yagabondage slunk away. Some of the bad characters
sought health in the country; some turned honest
Ininers; Inan y preferred to put leagues of ocean be-
t,veen them and this ne,v species of justice. This
unheard of trampling on the rights of villains, this
closing of their time-honored avenues of escape, this
oycrthro,v of legal fogyism, and the application of
common-sense to the rulers of justice, ,vas like an
epidemic fatal to evil-doers. La"T and order, a fat
judiciary, and an inefficient police ,,-ere to theln far
preferable to a hand-to-hand conflict \vith aroused and
indignant virtue.
The action of the people in the execution of Jenkins
,va
generally sustained by the press and by the pulpit.
The Reverends ""'heeler and IIunt, uf representative
churches, both preached sern10ns upholding the vigil-
ant organization.
Says the Courier the 17th of June:

"To show how we are swindled out of our means by rogues, and how the
rogues escape punishment, we give the following instance: A man by the
nameof George Spiers manymontbs since was taken up for highway robbery.
The recorder considered the proof so point-blank that he committed him.
His case was carried before the grand jury, where he was indicted by the
clearest testimony. In fact he was caught in the act. His trial, however

was postponed session after session, until the witnesses left the city, if not

264

VIGILANCE BECO
IES A PO'VER.

the state. The consequence was that when he was brought up for trial there
was no one to testify against him. The district attorney, therefore, entered
in his case a nolle prosequi, and the prison doors were opened, and he left his
confinement to prey again upon the public.
"A few weeks since he 'was arrested on the charge of murùer. He was
placed in confinement on the most unquestionable proof of his guilt, The late
grand jury, which unfortunately has been declared as illegally impanelled,
indicted him for murder on the most reliable evidence. But this indictment,
it appears, will amount to nothing. The last steamer carried away the only
witness who can prove his guilt and convict him of the crime of murder. Of
course our grand jury can never find a bill against him, and he will be per-
mitted to run at large again. In this way felons escape, through the law's
delay, to rob and murder us, and burn down our houses for the purpose of
plunder. "\Vith all these facts staring us in the face we are told that we must
permit the law to take its course-let criminal lawyers make from these crimi.
nals all they can, and give the felons opportunity to escape. "\Ve trust the
people will be fooled and deceived no longer, but that they will execute with.
out delay summary vengeance on every man the moment he is caught in the
act of robbing, burning houses, or murdering. By so doing we will teach all
public offenders that we will visit them with immediate death, and the courts
that we have had enough of the law's delay."

"We should address ourselves to the task of puri-
fying the courts," ,vrites the editor of the He?"ald the
same day. "Surely no new country ever exhibited
such a judiciary."
"It is true," says the Pacific Sta1" of the 25th, "that
the po,ver claimed and exercised by this Committee
may be abused. So may all hUlnan po,ver. The courts
may abuse their po\ver; the police theirs; and yet
this is not a sufficient reason for \vithholding all power
from them. Our reliance is in the honesty and integ-
rity of the men \vho compose the Committee."
Again the Herald of June 21st panegyrizes the
people:
"We must declare that never have we heard or read of an organization
more thoroughly effective, an association of men so grandly successful in the
object of their combination, as have been the Committee of Vigilance of this
city. Pursuing their purpose noiselessly, earnestly, and unremittingly, they
have effected in twelve days what the courts during the whole of their
existence, armed with the thunderbolts of the law, have never been able to
accomplish. They have palsied the hand of the assassin and the incendiary,
and have encircled the criminals, who publicly defied the law, with a net-work
from which all their efforts will not enable them to escape. Their vigilance
never sleeps. Their investigations embrace all classes. Their agents arc

:\"""E',," Q U
-\.RTERS.

ü.3

invisible and ubiquitous, The cribs which have been the night1y rendezvous
and daily lurking-places of thieves of every description are all marked, and
have received or will receive notice that their nefarious practices will not be
longer tolerated. The most notorious scoundrels are ordered to leave the
country, and many more are being watched for the purpose of being more
thoroughly detected. Criminal correspondence and connection have been
traced to men hitherto occupying respectable positions in society, and their
exposure has been delayed merely to give time for the accumulation of proof
or for their departure from the country. In fine the association have con-
ducted their measures for the protection of the public safety with a cool
circumspection, an earnestness, daring, and energy, that must command
respect and even admiration. They now number over four hundred of the
best men in the city. One fourth of this force is constantly on duty day and
night, and each particular member seems to have devoted himself to the dis-
charge of his duty with an enlightened zeal that has produced the most sur.
prising results. The testimony already collected fills a large volume, and
has occupied the exclusive attention of one man in transcribing. The Com-
mittee commenced with making a notable and severe example. It had the
effect of proving that they were in earnest in the prosecution of the work
they had undertaken. Since that time they have been employed in bringing
to light the variOl1S places of resort of the criminals still at large. A large
number of these cribs, as they are called, have been discovered, and after
being duly warned have been closed."

..I t ,vill be noticed that the editor speaks at randoln
\vith regard to some of his facts, but in sentiment he is
right. Their quarters in Brannan's buildings, corner
of Bush and Sansome streets, being inadequate for the
accommodation of their increased numbers, the Com-
lllittee secured fron1 Bullitt, Patrick, and Do,,
, the
upper rOOIns of two large frame buildings on Battery
street, between California and Pine streets. These
were thro"Tn into one and fitted up for the meetings
of the general bJ:>dy, and separate rooms were parti-
tioned for the smaller committees. The cost of
alterations and furnishino- "'"as about one thousand
o
dollars, and the rent "''"as four hundred dollars a month.
The Committee began to occupy these rooms the 18th
of June, tbough the carpenters did not complete their
,york before the 25th. Of the sub-comn1ittee rooms
there were four, furnished ,vith tables,
peakers' desks,
chairs, and benches. Heavy bolts ,vere put upon
the doors, bell'3 hung, and ,vriting Inaterial, hand-

2GG

VIGILANCE BECO
IES A PO'VER.

cuffs, and chains supplied. There 'v ere also sleeping-
places for the ,vatchlnen arranged. The 18th of
September, ,vhen business had fallen off Inaterially,
the Committee, in order to reduce their expenses,
again removed to the corner of Sansolne and Sacra-
lnento streets, to the premises of John Middleton,
,vhere the rent was one hundred dollars a month. In
these rooms lllatting was put upon the floors, the walls
,vere papered, and the new quarters presented quite a
respectable appearance.
Signals ,vere no,v arranged, and a cOlllmittee ap-
pointed to ,vait on the foremen of the California
and J\;lonumental fire-engine companies to ask the use
of their bells for the purpose of calling the 111embers
togetller, to ,vhich request cordial assent ,vas given.
I shall speal{ at length hereafter of the cOlnmitteos
of vigilance, 1110delled after the San Francisco COl1l-
n1ittee, ,vhich \vere established throughout California.
At this time it ,vas difficult-so the defenders of
crilninals at all events l1lade it appear-to obtain
respectable jurors to sit in court cases, on the ground
of synlpathy with the vigilance movement. From the
stand-point of to-day it strikes one as a little singular
that the law should reject respectable Inen as jurors
on the ground of their sympathy \vith justice.
fore
particularly is the inconsistency of the thing apparent
when we reflect that by every blandishment the men
of vigilance had been urged to trust the courts, to
act as aids and auxiliaries to the courts, and that when
summoned to sit in judgn1ent on such cases as they
did leave to the courts they \vere told that they could
not render an Ï1npartial decision. That such objections
were made by the defence, rather than by the prose-
cution, is prima facie evidence that the objectors
sought safety under cover of the law's subtleties, and
for further defeating the ends òf justice.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ENTER JA
IES STUART.

The most stDrmy ebullitions of passion, from blasphemy ro murder, are
less terrific than one single act of cool villainy; a. still rabies is more
dangerous than the paroxysms of a fm g er. Fear the boisterous savage of
passion less than the sedately grinning villain.
La1:ater.

JA
IES STUART was a villain. À great villain. He
"Tas born a villain; he achieved villainy; and if vil-
lainy was not thrust upon him. he had 01 no hesitation
in thrusting it upon others. His childhood was in-
stinct \rith ll1isbeha,ior. Every ,vickedness the human

eart is heir to has its redeeming quality. Through
mismanagement on the part of nature all the virtues
intended for use in the manufacture of James Stuart
fell into the composition of some other mortal. There
are gentle knaves and there are scury'y knaves : James
Stuart was of the latter cla

. There are magnificent
scoundrels and there are mean scoundrels; James
Stuart belonged to the latter category. He ,,-as a
bunls noturæ of the sulphurous order. His rascality
was of the cold and calculating kind. ..L\.ll men were
his friends, and all his foes. He "Tould sacrifice a
comrade aR quickly as an enemy: ,
;ith the utmost
nonchalance he would see innocent Thomas Burdue
suffer agonies of torture, for crimes which he himself
had committed.
Often vice is only the decadence of some ,irtue;
but in .J ames Stuart obduracy and atrocity were
weeds of indigenous growth. Such was the alchemy
of hi
constitution that those ennobling influences in-
cident to every environment, "Then infused in him,
( 267 )

2G8

ENTER JAMES STUART.

putrefied and infected the atulosphere in ,vhich he
Inoved like a disea.se. Socrates had his Xenophon,
J ohnso11 his Bos\vell; but ,voe to the historian, aban-
doned of heaven, ,vho must needs dive into the depths
to chronicle the deeds of this'most graceless of mis-
creants! One becollles as tired of his Inalefactions as
\vere the Athenians of hearing Aristides called the
Just.
Between mala in se or intrinsic badness, and mala
lyrohibitcL or violation of conventionalisms, few make
proper distinction. Indeed, there are many good men
and ,vornell 'v ho ,viII forgive a crin1e against lnorality
sooner than a violation of good breeding. For the
saintly caitiff hides his nlisbeha vior beneath a fair
cOlnplexion; ,vith ill-gotten gains he buys honors and
influence, and ,vhile indulging in low immoralities
fails not to assume the character ,vhich \vill secure
him further grovelling gratifications. In all this
there is little of that ideal justice of which poets
sing, \vherein the good are al\vays happy and the
evil-minded unsuccessfuL Religion fails to enforce
correct conduct, and reason is not yet st.rong enough
,vholly to practise a utilitarian code of ethics. Differ-
ent men, and ages, and beliefs, derive their rules of
conduct from different sources. Conscience-making
as a trade the gods find dull as the vision of
science gro,vs stronger. We of to-day seem near
cOlllpleting the circle of morality, seem to be nearing
the point the savage started from, and referring back
all obligation to the la,v of nature. The divine law
of the ecclesiastic, the patriarchal la \v of the house-
hold, and the political law of society, ho\vever they
lllay retain their hold on personal conduct, fetter
mind far less than formerly.
Saint. Paul found hÏ1nself alnidst a whirlpool of
opposing forces, fleshly la\vs rising within hilll antago-
nistic to spiritualla\",.s, the law of his Inembers \varring
against the higher law of mind. J ames Stuart like-
wise found his un,vorthy craft buffeted by winds of

SKILLED VILLATh
.

2ûO

doctrine strange In Sydney. The la,vthat should hang
Burdue in his place he could understand; he liked
that. The regular course of things, the conlnlon statu-
tory currents and legislative trade-,vinds, he could sail
safely enough before; but these disinheriting guardi-
ans of political pets, of children of the corporation;
these lllen of vigilance, who interpose their uncivil
veto to the regular course of criminal la'\
, ,vhat shall
1e said of them? They ,vere, indeed, a flat irnposition.
Stuart was not only able, but talented. A very
mean man is seldom weak; more genius, more strength
of character is necessary in order to becollle a great
bad man than a great good man. The greater the
cunning of thieves, the greater the skill required by
the police. -LLÌ-s civilization seems to intensify and
render n10re acute absurdity and error, as well as
reason and right, so the tendency of organisms, as
they become lllore complex and refined, seems to in-
crease in their capabilities of catching and eating, and
in avoiding being caught and eaten.
" Early in July, before the Burdue-Stuart mystery
\vas fairly solved, the \Tigilance Committee of San
Francisco ,vrote the Vigilance Committee of
Iarys-
ville that in their opinion Burdue ,vas innocent. The

lar'ysville Committee could not believe it, and begged
the San Francisco Committee to take no steps ,vhich
lllight lead to the letting loose of a murderer upon
the cOlllffiunity. Thereupon the San Francisco Com-
mittee despatched a messenger to l\larysville to ask
suspension of further action until the case could be
thoroughly investigated. Francis Land, counsel for
the condelnned, proceeded to San Francisco for infor-
mation. These several investigations ,vere not ,vith-
out their effect upon the court. A new trial being
granted, a nolle prosequi ,vas entered. Burdue ,vas
discharged from the )larysville court and brought to
San Fr3ncisco in the early part of August. There
he ,vas lodged in prison. On the 25th of AuO"ust,
after the evidence of Stuart and "Thitaker had been

270

ENTER JAMES STUART.

given, Frederick 'V oodworth, George MelIus, Isaac
Bluxollle junior, and John F. Spence made affidavit
before Ned J\icGowan, judge, of the fact that Burdue
,vas innocent of the charges preferred against him.
Thereupon an order \vas made by the district court,
transferring the case to the court of sessions, into
,vhich Burdue ,vas brought the saIne day and dis-
charged from custody.
'Vhile Thomas Burdue was yet in San Francisco
undergoing trial for the robbery of Jansen, that is to
say, on the 28th of February, 1851, Frank M. Pixley
came forward and Inade oath that the prisoner was
not James Stuart., \vhom he had defended on several
occasions, and whom he ought to kno,v. Although this
did not satisfy the court and jury sufficiently to secure
Burdue's discharge, it made a mystery of the matter,
and so excited suspicions of the possible innocence of
Burdue that certain nlembers of the Vigilance Com-
lnittee determined to ferret the affair.
The shortest ,yay to this end ,vas to secure the
person of the Sacramento shop- breaker, the Foster
Bar murderer, the robber of Dodge, and the conyict
of the Sacramento prison brig-to secure the person
of him who bad committed these crimes, whosoever
that might be; for at the same time that J\fr Pixley
s\vore Burdue was not the Stuart of these exploits,
Dr Holmes of Foster Bar, officer Trueman of Sacra-
Inento, and others asserted that he ,vas. Clearly
amidst all this conflict of evidence the only ,va y to
solve the mystery was to find the real culprit. If
Burdue ,vas not the felon, who was he, and where
,vas Stuart1 Much depended upon the answer; the
life, perhaps, of an innocent man, and the escape of a
notorious offender.
J\fr Pixley seemed to be the only one in San Fran-
cisco ,vho ,vas Dositive that Burdue was not Stuart,
though at the.L second trial there were a number in
Sacramento ,vbo \vere sure of it; and yet the jury
convicted him. While Pixley did not scruple to clear

THE COURTS AWAKE.

271

the guilty if he could, for of such his law told him
,vas its kingdom, yet he would not ,vittingly see the
innocent suffer. Therefore, ,vhile he ,vould not say
or do anything ,vhich \vould implicate his client or
lead to his arrest, he did not hesitate solemnly and
positively to assure, not only the court but the Vigil-
ance Cornmittee,
hat this prisoner \vas not guilty of
the crilnes laid at his door.

Iean"\\hile the l\Iarysville \Tigilal1ce Com:IDøÍttee
\vere skeptical as to Burdue's innocence; yet after the
trial, and ,vhile he ,va
there lying in prison under
condemnation of death, the
Iarysville Committee
came out nobly in his behalf, and bet\veen the two
cOilllnittees no less than fifteen per
ons "Tere found
\vho said that, \vhoever the prisoner Inight be, he ,vas
not the renowned Janles Stuart. But the lav\-, roused
from its lethargy by the n1urmurings of the people, ,vas
determined on action. )Iany respectable melllbers of
the con1ffion\vealth, advocating capital punishment,
had banded in e\cry to,vn to execute it. N O\V if they
"anted hanging done, the la,v could do it. So said
its officers froln the beginning. The ,vhole country
,vas excited on the subject; it ,vas the thing to llo to
shed some blood. The autunln elections \vere ap-
proaching, and the hanging judge \vollld be the popu-
lar candidate. Here ,vas an opportunity too good to
be lost. This lnan has neither llloney nor friends;
even if he is not the guilty person, he ought to be
hanged for looking so 111uch like him and lllystifying
the court. \\Titnesses say that the real James Stuart
is five feet nine inches in height, \vhile the prisoner is
but five feet six and three quarters inches; but then
sorro\v and confinelnent are apt to cause shrinkage,
especially in one not guilty of the crime for ,vhicl1 he
is condemned. Besides, is it not better that an inno-
cent person should 110'V and then be put to death than
that no example at all should be made? Thus ,vithin
itself might the la,v have communed, judging from
its actions.

272

ENTER JAMES STUART.

The San Francisco Committee ,vere by this time
thoroughly conyinced of the innocence of Burdue, and
they detern1ined to redouble their exertions to !:nd
the real Stuart. They had his likeness in the unfor-
tunate Burdue; their police and patrols had but to
look upon him and then hunt Stuart. Country com-
mittees were placed in possessiorl of the facts, and
,vere begged to lend their imlnediate aid to save
the innocent and bring to punishn1ent the guilty. It
was probable that Stuart "vas in or near San Fran-
cisco. He could not have left the state unknown,
for every departure by ,vater was ,vatched, and he
\vould scarcely travel overland, as the men of Sydnoy
seldoln n1igrated far frolTI seaport to\vns. Besides,
where ,vould he find a better country, one richer in
stealings or more back\vard in punishment1 Then,
too, by this time the acts of Stuart \vere so notorious,
and his person so well kno\vn from Yreka to San
Diego, that the only place at all tenantable for him
,vas San Francisco. Therefore the sons of the Watch-
ful Eye were charged by their elders to find the villain.
Wonderfully intricate are the ,vays that lead to
sin1ple ends I Here is all the country hunting this
man, ,vhen one day he drops almost of his o,vn accord
into the ma,v of the ne\v patent crime-crusher, and
that for an offence ,vhich he did not comn1it. Honest
Inen wonder at the foolishness of shre,vd scoundrels;
but 111ay not scoundrels with equal propriety ,vonder
at the foolishness of shrewd honest men 1
Bet,veen ten and eleven o'clock 011 tho morning
of July 2d a house at the l\1ission ,vas entered and a
trunk abstracted. The owner, learning of his loss,
raised the alarm. J us-G then it \vas ascertained that
a tent on California-street. hill, near \vhere Grace
Church \vas after\vard placed, had been robbed. Three
or four lI)en set out in different directions in pursuit
of the thieves and for the recovery of the plunder.
They at once made theìr \vay up the hill and into the
chaparral. The bushy suburbs of San Francisco \vere

THE CHAP ARR.AL.

73

at that time infested ,vith thriftless and shiftless
human vermin. The to,vn "'"as not so large then as
no\Y, and it offered less security before determined
search. The suburban districts, \vith their sancl- hills
and hollo"s thickly nlattecl ,vith small trees and
bushes, beneath \vh1ch, \vith a pair of blankets, one
might safely and comfortaLly sleéP a\vay the summer,
"ere the favorite resorts of thieves, \vho found in
these quarters combined security and convenient prox-
imity to fields of enterprise. The quail and hare of
these parts were often surpri
ed, and so occasionall
r
,'?ere the thieves, although it ,vas a most difficult
place to hunt thenl in, as there ,vere large patches of
undergro\vth ,vhich neither horse nor lnan could easily.
penetrate, and the surest ,,?ay to in\estigate such spot

,yas by sending in a \vell trained dog.
Some\vhere near \vhat is no"
the corner of Po\vell
and California streets, some distance from the road
leading from the :JIission to the city, the o,,"ner of
the lost trunk came upon one ",.ho excited his sus-
picions. He "
as first seen standing on a knoll, look-
ing toward the city; he hesitated for a moment, then
turned and hurried a"ay in the opposite direction.
Calling to some carpenters "Tho ,vere at \vork on
the hill, the o\yner of the lost trunk briefly related
the circumstances and pointed to the stranger. To a
ca'3ual or unsuspicious observer it \vas an exceedingly
commonplace thing for ,vorkingmen of the ci(v
strolling in the suburbs to meet one \,ho from his.
dress lllight be a miner waiting for the sailing of the'
steamer or for the arrival of his \vife, or ,vho might
be a country trader, or a ranchero, or anyone of a
dozen other respectable callings. The town "'"a

al\,ays full of honest strangers coming and going..
paying their ,yay, and minding their o\vn busine:::'5
"
In this instance the person suspected ,vas wholly"
innocent of the theft; and yet there was that aboùt
him which assured the workingmen that they had
found the one they sought; and the \vanderer believed
POP. TRIB,. VOL. I. 18

74

ENTER JAJ."\1ES STUART.

that they kIlo\\'" him, believed that his dOOlll ,vas
sealed. But defeat is the last thing a politician or a
thief ,viII acknowledge to hirnself or to another.
Of medium height and sYlnmetrical figure, with a
Lright burning eye, hissing speech, and biting s1l1ile,
the stranger looked the acco111plished reynard, \vhich
indeed he ,vas, except \vhen called upon to act the
hungry hyena. Ovor a clean gray woollen Hhirt, cov-
ering also one of linen, he \vore au English-cut coat,
,veIl fitting light pantaloons tucked inside his boot-
top::;, and a llarro\v-brin1IIleJ round-top hat.
--'astcned
to his belt, and covered by his coat, \vcre a howie-
knifo and revolver of fine finish and in perfect order.
In his drùBs, carriage, and general appearance therè
"\vas that \vhich, to a villain-hunter, immediately
staillped hiln as his prey.
Witness thc \vindings of the game no\v played.
Here ,vas a thief; so far the Inan who had lost hi:-:;
trunk ,vas right. But this \vas not the thief he
sought; of this the present guilty one was not a ,vare.
Accompanied by one of the carpenters, the O\Vller of
the lost truuk aùvanced and called to the Inan, \vho
turned and ,valked to,vard then}.
"Good-day, Htranger."
" Good -day. "
" Do you Jive about here?"
H N "
1 O.

, What are you doing in this neighborhood?"
"I anl on 111Y ,vay frolll the }Iission to North
B h "
eac .
"This is not the road. Two houses have been
robbed near hy this morning. Where did you get
the clothes you have on?"
" \Vhat! the devil! 'Vho arc you 1" exclaimed the
"Juan, as his hand Hought hiH revolver. I
ut instantly
t\VO cocked pistols ,vcre at his head, and further Inove-
lllent of his hand behind him he \vell kne\v \vas death.
I t was the custom then for mechanics a
well as others
to carry pistols.

DtJPLICIT\

,,-
-
.

"J kllo\\' nothing of ) our roLb -'ry," said tho lIlaH,
a;:; h(, tItrc,," up his lland
. "rfh
sc clothc::, T ha\re
\vorn ever sin<; I l
ft 80tH ra. r
a" f,olncb }(ly \vith
a bundle hut a Hlotncut f->il1ce disa} )pear over YUJJder
hill. J tell you I aUl Hot tL... 011C Y u Be .k."
" ] Ji'3ten to Ill(;, lilY friend,"
aid the
[issioll THan.
"Y ou say ) OU h:1' e \vorn thè
c cloth\"s fr(}]Jl SnIJOra,
and that J ou have \valk('d SOU1C distauce thi" 111ornil1g-.
1'hat i" not true. 'rhe \veather is \\larln; tl}c l'oau-i
arc dusty. ''rour boots art, not HufficÎ('ntJ) tl'avcl-

tained, ) our liuen f-oihirt is ..Jecl.n, dud tht.) \vûollell ov
r-
fo'hirt you \\'ear ('arries Jet the creasc& ()f its original
folding. \"Pou rnu,;í eOUl \\rith U'" tu the rOOUlf:) f
the \Tigi]anc(; Cornluittce, and if you ar) an hOll .
t
Jllan you ha\c lluthing to fCd.!."
On the in<,tani thc 'ourse he shoulcJ aùopt fla'-jh 'd
upon the captured crirninal. 'fherl, arp rUOH1cnts
"hcn the future rise:-; before tho Inil1d Jike Aladdin's
castle; ,,"hcn the ordinar) l,aths of life are so hedg(;d
hy uutO\\ arù circuln
tancc
that
orne
upcrnatural
bound seeIns the only Incans (}f :0, 'J.pû. ::\lany \vt,r.
i'nplicated "ith hiIU, and these Inight raJIy to his
re5CllC. Uftentinlccs Lcforo he had SUl"Ulount..<.1 di1h-
cultics apparently superior to thi
, had Jain ill prj
on
condcrnncd to death, hdd btood 1)(>IJeath th ga}]O\\rH-
tree" ith the rope around 11Í'i neck, the central fib ure
of an illfuriat >d uluh; and.) c ]JO \vas alive, and but a
Ulûmcnt lJcfûrc free.
\.t
II evcnts his present court-;

,va') plain to him.
" 1 have often llcarù of your fawou'i VigiJanc

()lli-
luittcc,"
aid 11<.:, ,vith a srllilc of Harùonic 8\VC(,tllC
S.
"J an) anxious to se
sonlething of it, and \vill a -
rornpany ) ou "..ith pleasure."
.oL\.rrived at the cOlnn1Ïttee rOOIn he ga\re hili HaUl>
as Stcvens; after\\"ard he \\'roh.
it St .phens. 1'110.'
prescnt r cogni7e(1 iIIlITlediately th straI1gc likenübH
h
Lor to the conùemned lJurduc, and to the dc-

cription
of the infamous ,J aInes Stuart. )1 r ).. yran
'Va.
in attendalH'( , alld ht. que
tjonecl hiul. I>aYJ all

276

ENTER JAl\iES STUART.

prided hilllself on his catechetical abilities. He \vas
the Torquemada of the San Francisco Inqui8ition;
and although in the exercise of the holy office he
applied to his victilns neither fire, nor \vater, nor the
cord, .ret as a rule he Inanaged in the end to obtain a
true confession, as I have said before. Hi8 test of
truth ,vas only his o\vn shre\vcl COlllnon-sense, dis-
crilnination, and practical sagacity; and in his original
and searching anal.rses of crilninal character he had
acquired a skill \vhich seldon1 led hiln astray. It ,vaB
his custoln first of a11 to hold a private conference
\vith his prisoner, during \vhich he \vould talk \vith
ease and freedom on subjects such as \yould likely
1110st interest his listener, nlean\vhile \vatching his
countenance, noting his every \yord and action; and
thus he \voultl continue to feel for salient points, and
sound his deeper nature, until the responsive chord
,vas struck; and \vhen his victin1's tongue \vas loosed
he ,yould listen attentively, nlerely dropping no\v and
then a ren1ark to keep it going; and this unruly n1e111-
ber ,vas the rope ,vith \vhicll in the und the offender
\vas sure to hang himself. Different cases he \vould
treat differently, being governed severally by the
nature of the case and by circumstance. In this
instance he had a n1alignant subject; but such "Tere
his special delight. A first-class felon in a measure
commanded his respect; to convict such an one he
had tiule, patience, and money. A Inonster ruffian
was easier treated than a petty vagabond; large
crimes ,vere \vider known and Inore easily proven
than small ones.
The executive committee was then convened and
the prisoner put on trial. It ,vas a matter of no small
moment ho,v this case should be handled. The
greatest obstacle to the complete success of the
Comn1ittee was the confederate crust that shut fron1
theln the Inysteries of the class ,vith \vhich they were
at \var. One \vell ain1ed blo\v might shiver a score
of tenenlents, brittle with fragile guilt. Possessed of

BEFORE HIS JCDGE.

277

lltunbers, money, strength, it ,vas the earnest ,vish
of these busy n1en of Inerchandise to achieve s,vift
success and haye done ,vith it. Here ,vas one, if it
prove true, indeed, that he ,vas Stuart, than \vhorn
there ,vas not another on the coast as familiar ,vith
crime and criminals. This they knew from the reports
of his exploits, ,vhich came in from every quarter.
They had found sOlnething of ,v-hat ,vas called honor
among thieves. Jenkins ,vould tell them nothing,
splendid brute that he ,yas. But like many of our
Inost respectable lnoney manipulators \vho sail to the
lee,vard of la,,,', Stuart, perhaps, ,vas one of those great
rascals ,vho ,vas true to his confederates only so long
as it ,vas to his interest to be so. If the right chord
\\T[t s struck might he not tell all he kne"r?
\Vith this object in vie,v, the Committee determined
to use extraordinary care in their investigations. At
the trial John Sulliyan testified that he had \vorked
,vith the prisoner at Foster Bar and else,vhere; that
he kne"
him as English Jinl and Jin1 Stuart. The
prisoner flatly denied ever having seen the ,vitness,
and told of hilnself a far different story.
This John Sulli\
an ,vas no"r a boatman; he had as-
sisted at the capture of Jenkins, and had since joined
the \Tigilance Comlnittee. It happened that \vhen
Stuart \vas placed in confinement at the committee
rooms Sullivan had been appointed to guard him.
On taking his position, naturally enough he opened
the door of the room to see 'v hat sort of ,yickedness
,vas ,vithin. Crouching in the corner of the room, to
his astonishment he beheld his old employer.
"Ralloo, Jinl
" he exclainled. "Ho,v caIne you
here ? You needn't pretend not to kno\v l11e 1"
Shortly after )Ir Schenck passed by. "Do you
kno,v ,,
hom you have here'?" said Sullivan.
"'Vhat do you luean?" demanded Schenck.
"This i
no other than English Jim, or Jim Stuart,
in this roon1," replied Sullivan; "he ,,-ho nlurdered
the sheriff at Auburn. I ,vas present at the atten1pted

278

E
TER JA
IES STUART.

lynching at l\IarYRville, ,vhen the rope broke and he
d "
escape .
Fron1 another ,vitness was obtained a statement to
this effect: At Canlpo Seco early in 1851 had lived
a n1Ïner in a cabin alone. He had accumulated a
large bag of gold dust, and fearful lest his house should
be robbe\.-l, he had buried it SOIDC three hundred
yards distant in the chaparral. One morning about
five o'clock he heard a noise, and soon discovered a
IDtUl pro,vling about the premises. He ordered the
intruder off, cooked his breakfast, and ,vent to ,vork.
But thinking of the Inatter during the day, he becalne
tin1id, and asked a friend to \vhom he eXplaimed lllat-
tel'S to lodge ,vith him. The friend said: " No, lest
,ve both be lllurdered for your n10ney; rather COlne
you and sleep in my house." The Inan did so; and
true to his forebodings his cabin ,vas entered that
uight and the ground dug up botll in and around it,
Lut the robber found little to repay hinl for his
trouble. This miner seeing Stuart at San Francisco
pronounced hinl the luan whom he saw at his house
on the 11lorning nlentioned. The l\1ission man then
gave an account of the arrest; but this amounted to
nothing. Others ,vere exanlined on different charges
brought against him, but their evidence ,vas of a
character not satisfactory to the COllln1Ïttee, and the
prisoner, so far as these charges ,vere concerned, ,vas
evidently getting the better of the trial.
The Conullittee no,v retired for a time, and the
111atter ,vas left more directly ,vith Payran. Often
one 111ind in the 111anagement of an intricate case is
better than a score. In dealing \vith human nature
the greatest experts often act upon instinct, and are
unable to give a rcason for what they do.
Fortunately at this time there ,vere others in the
city ,vho had seen Stuart in SOlne one of his many
lllisbehaviors, and the condition of Burdue thrc,v
round the affair a lively interest,. for it ,vas no,v the
openly avo,ved opinion of many that the l\1arysville

THE IXQUISITOR GEXERAL.

2,g

judge had sentenced to death an innocent nlan. "Thile
talkino- no,v like a father-confessor, no"T as a judge, and
then again as a pleasant con1panion, the wily inquisitor,
unkno,vn to his prisoner, sent messages to five or six
of those ,vhom he thought able to thro,v SOlne light.
on the matter, requesting their immediate presence.
The calls were promptly antnvered; and as. these gentle-
men arrived they ,yere secretly admitted and sho,vn
into another rOOlTI.
Payran began again to talk ,vith the prisoner. He
,vas now prepared to give his questions a 1110re peremp-
tory tone. Up to this tinle the man of sin and his
interlocutor had carried on ,,
hat would appear to an
observer an ordinary conversation; yet each played a
deep game. The stake of one ,vas his life, of the other
the lives of his fello,y-citizens. Gradually nearing
his point, Payran pressed his queries concerning the
Jansen robbery, the Foster Bar murder, and the
31arysville trial. The prisoner ,vas at a loss to see
ho,v these renlarks applied to him; he was not Stuart;
his name ,vas Stephens. True, he had come from
Sydney; so had many another honest man. "Un-
fortunately," sighed Stuart, "there exists a strange
prejudice in California against emigrants from British
colonies. This is hardly just; there are bad ll1en in
all communities. The Pike county people, as the,y
are c-alled, that is to say enligrants fron1 the :\Iis-
sourian frontier, are as bad a lot as any from Au-
stralia. In intelligence they are little above the
beasts they drive across the plains; in filthiness both
men and "romen are far belo,," theIll. They t10 little
scientific stealing, because they haven't the ability.
Why, I have seen," continued Stuart warming, "I
have seen their skin-cracked, tangle-headed, bare-
footed, bag-breasted, and alkali-seasoned ,,"omen, "Tho
had driven their cow-tearfiS from Independence, take
from a store a ,vhole barrel of salt pork, just as if
they had bought it, carry it to their camp, and open
an.d eat it before the very eyes of the trader. It is

280

ENTER JA1\IES STUART.

blockheaded and base bunglers like these that bring
discredit on a country."
But this ,vas treading on dangerous ground, and
Payran failed not to note the enthusiasm of the ac-
COlllplished professional in the recital. The prisoner
,vas intelligent, of easy Inanner, ánd ,vas a fluent and
by no Ineans uninteresting or illogical speaker. He
persistently separated hilllself froln the felon Stuart,
and from all connection \vith ,vrong-doing; he had
engaged in Inining and trading in various parts ,vith
varying success, and ,vas no,v about to stock a ranch
which he o,vned in San Luis Obispo county.
Finally Payran squarely faced him and said:
'" Stuart, I am perfectly ,veIl a,vare that every ,vord
you have told l11e is false; but I shall get the truth
from you before I am through with you." Fronl the
prisoner's eye there shot that strange sulphurous
light peculiar to him. Upon the table near Payran
Jay a loaded revolver, and the inquisitor fancied he
sa,v the felon's hand llloving cautiously toward it.
Without appearing to notice hilll Payran took the
pistol and slipped it into the table-drawer by \vhich
he ,yas sitting. Fixing upon him the Inost search-
ing gaze, Payran said: "Do I understand you to
affirnl that you are not the man called J alnes Stuart,
and that you are not guilty of the crilnes of robbery
and murder 1"
U Most emphatically I do," ,vas the reply.
Payran then gave a signal to the sergeant-at-arms
attending, and the ,vitnesses, of ,vhosc presence up
to this tÎIne the prisoner ,vas ignorant, entered. In
spite of his effort at composure, ,vhell he sa\v himself
thus confronted the face of Stuart turned pale as
death. There ,vere standing before hin! George
Mason, ,vho had ,vorkeJ ,vith hÎ1n at Foster Bar,
and \v ho had testified at the l\farysvillc trial that
Burdue ,vas not Stuart; also Charles Hughes, ,vho
was present at Stuart's examination before Judge
Stidger for the robbery of Dodge and Compa
y;

EFFECTIVE TESTI
IONY.

281

also George Hunt, ,vho said he could identify him
by his speech alone.
"Stua.rt, do you know these men, or anyone of
them 1" demanded Payran.
" I do not," gasped the unhappy ,vretch.
"Did you never see this gentleman before?" point-
ing to one of them.
"
ever."
" X or this 1"
" "T\. T "

o.
Then turning to one of the witnesses the inquisitor
asked:
" Do you know this man 1"
" I do," \vas the reply.
" State where and under what circumstances you
have seen him."
" I sa,,'" him at Sacramento while undergoing trial
for house-breaking."
..L-\nother \vitness was examined who saw hin1 at
another place; then yet another.
Ieanwhile passion,
of" that sanguinary hue ,vhich defies control, mounted
to the prisoner's face, and ,vith glaring eyes and that
hissing voice of his thickened ,vith the throes of
emotions maledict, he cried:
"\Vell, then, may the devil damn you all, I am
J ames Stuart I N ow do your ,vorst 1"
Sinking back into the chair from ,vhich he had
risen, the prisoner ,vas an altered man. The gleam
of mingled assurance and defiance that so lately
played about his face had entirely disappeared, and in
its place sullen hate had settled. The last few "
ords
,,;-hich he had spoken ,vas as the yielding up of his
guilty ghost.
" Stuart," said Pay-ran, "you bave got to die, and
speedily. Of that you may be assured; no earthly
power can save you. It is in no spirit of revenge or
hate that ,ve
hall hang you. Bet,veen such as we
and such as you there must of necessity be ,yare If
all were vultures there ,yould be no victims; all may

282

ENTER JAMES STUART.

be good, but all
annot be bad. vVe do not mean
al,vays to live the prey of such as you. We must
defend ourselves. You have played your game, and
have played it. \vell; you kne,v the risks of it before
you took them, and up to this time you have been

elnarkably successful in your escapes. No,,: your
time has come. During your fe,v remaining hours in
the body everything shall be done that we can do
to minister to your temporal and spiritual interests.
Any letters ,vhich you may desire shall be ,vritten,
any business affairs which you may intrust to us ,vill
be executed more honestly, perhaps, than you \vould
attend to our business. One thing we ,vould like
from you-a full and free confession. This can be no
loss to you, while it Inay be a gain to society."
"But, sir," said Stuart, "this is no trial; you
would not dare to execute llle on the strength of this
unla \vful f[trce J"
" Sir," said Payran, ",ve, the people, are superior
to law; entertain no hope; rest assured you shall
never leave our hands alive. We \vill give you a
further trial if you ,vish it. You may have your
counsel, summon your \vitnesses, and prove yourself
innocent if you can. You kno,v ,vhether such a
course would avail you anything; we think it unneces-
"
sary.
vVhile Påyran ,vas speaking, and for a few moments
after, Stuart sat stooping ,vith his face buried in his
hands. FinaHy raising his head he said:
" Well, I ,viII do it, damn 'em; there are some of
them I \vill get even ,vi th an y,va y I"
Frank 1\1. Pixley, forlnerly counsellor for Stuart,
was no\v attorney for the city of San Francisco, and
he deemed it his duty to do something. First he
asked the supreme court to grant a \vrit of habeas
corp
lS to bring into court J alnes Stua.rt.. The writ
was issued, but, strange to say, the .sheriff seelHed in
no haste to make return. Then Mr Pixley rose in
court and requested that a rule on the
heriff be

FR.-ü.'X
I. PIXLEY.

283

issued to make his return, which ,vas done. This was
the 9th of July.
The same day the sheriff filed hi;:; return, endorsed
as served by leaving copies ,vith several n1embers
of the" icrilance Committee.
-\..gain rose Pix]ey in
court andObegged another habeas COJ]JHS writ to bring
thither certain members of an organization styling
itself the Committee of \Tigilance, to sho,v cause why
they illegally detained the bodJ
of James Stuart.
The "\\
rit was granted, and returned by the sheriff,
"ith J. L. Van Bokkelen, "T. H. Jones, À. J.
Ic-
Duffie, and other members of the Committee in
answer. These gentlemen filed affidavits that the
body of James Stuart was not in their possession,
and "
as not at the time of serving the writ; where-
upon
Ir Pixley made a motion to discontinue pro-
ceedings, which was readily granted, and the gentlemen
were discharged.
This ,vas well enough so far as it went, but it did
not satisfy )11' Pixley. He no,," filed an affidavit
ståting that, to the best of his knowledge and belief,
the perBon of James Stuart ,vas in the custody of the
Committee of \Tigilance, in the building then occu-
pied by th-em, and asked that a "arrant be issued to
bring Stuart into court. The "
arrant was issued
immediately. The sheriff set out upon his mission.
)Iembers of the Committee smiled upon him and
offered their assistance. The owner of the buildings
accon1panied him, thre,y open all the doors, bade him
carefully examine eyer.r nook and corner, and balle
hin1 search until his heart and Pixley's were satisfied.
.L-\..nd so he did, he and his deputies, but they found
nothing. There were the affable members of the
alleged Committee, reading, chatting, smoking, ap-
parently enjoying themselves as at a club. But no
James Stuart wa
forthcoming. .....-\..nd so the law's
messengers reported to their masters. _-\.nd Pixley
'ya'S angry. He desired to make the Committee re-

ponsible, but the court ruled that with the \Tigilance

284

ENTER JAMES STUART.

Comu1ittee, as such, it being an unincorporated body,
the law had nothing to do. Then ,vent Pixley for the
111embers again. l\fcDuffie's name ,vas not do,vn in
the ,vrit, so he was discharged. Jones like\vise ,vas
allo\ved to depart. Van Bokkelen s,vore that he had
not then, nor did have ,vhen the writ was served on
hinl, nor did he ever have, the custody or control of
such a Inan as James Stuart. Pixley lifted high the
arm of law to let it fall on Van Bokkelen, for he ,vas
sure that if he ,vould he could touch the spring which
should display the coveted carcass of the murderer.
But no; he would be magnanimous; he ,vould not
crush one man for the sins of many. Clemency en-
gelldereth complacency. Pixley ,vas pacified.
N o\v \vhat had done these men of work and mer-
chandise, to \vhom the habeas corpus was the most
holy of \vrits, and disobedience thereto more fearful
than the unheeded fuhninations of the Vatican to
ilnage-,vorshippers1 Nothing. They knew nothing.
It was their business just then to kno\v nothing, and
they did it ,vell. U n,villing to oppose that \vise pro-
vision of our constitution \vhich secures to every
citizen the right ,vhen arrested to be brought before
his accusers; unwinin
g to disobey any lnandate of
legalized authority,vhich they could consistently with
their predetermined course avoid, they did the best
possible thing under the circumstances-they Jelivered
thenlselves from temptation. They \vould not hesitate
a moment to deny the service of such a \vrit should
it be necessary, for they had staked their lives upon
the success of this crusade, but it \vas better not to
be obliged to do so. Kno,ving that the habeas corpus
man ,vas c0111ing, they sinlpl y spirited their prisoner
a,vay. Bluxo111e and Oakes took him first, and throw-
ing over hiln a long cloak and a slouched hat, they
thrust him into a carriage and drove a,vay, no one but
themselves at the time kne,v \vhither. The Inonlent
it became necessa.ry for them to kno\v nothing, t,vo
others as trustworthy as themselves were sent, having

EY ADL,G THE HABEAS CORPUS.

28.)

al,vays at their command guards t>ufficient for the
purpose, and instantly Stuart "",yas removed to a place
unknown to the first confederates; and so he ,vas
passed from one to another, the one having charge of
him to-day not kno""ying his whereabouts to-morrow,
until the ruffied dignity of the law was soothed; and
then they brought him back to the committee 1'001118.
)Ir Bluxome informs me that on setting out ,,"ith
Stuart t,,-o pistols were sho\\
n him, and he ""as told
that if he attempted to escape he \,ould be shot.
He ,vas first taken to the building of Endicott and
Oakes, on First street, bet"een
Iarket and )Iission.
)11' Endicott, then alderman, "",yas absent at the time.
'Vhen he came home and found there the well guarded
criminal, he proceeded to the comnlittee rooms and
said: t'This ,yill never do! I am a cit
r official, and
have taken the oath to support the government."
Reuben )Ialoney, a member of the first Committee,
then said: "I will take him." Among Reuben's mis-
cellaneous acquaintance was a female friend. In her
hoúse the prisonless criminal, still strongly guarded,
,vas lodged. But Aspasia became alarnled at her
position between the la""y, which she herself loved not
overmuch, and the facile object of its vengeance, who
might slip his chains, and murder and rob her at any
moment. She told Reuben that their guest must de-
part. So Stuart was taken else\vhere, and was kept
moving from one to another, as before stated.

CHAPTER XIX.

EXIT JAMES STUART.

So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em;
And so proceed ad infinitum.

Swift.

WHEN the time came for taking Stuart's confession
the prisoner seemed nlore eager and animated than
anyone present. To hinl there was no little gratifi-
cation in the thought that if he must die, he died at
least for sOlnething, and the world should kno\v it.
1\.t his last lifting, all the people should raise their
eyes and behold t.he greatest of scoundrels; the jour-
nals of tIle day should be filled with his exploits; the
common ranks of thievery should hang their envious
beads; and thenceforth all mankind should kno\v that
in the vocabulary of renown next to honest greatness
stands the greatness of dishonesty.
Stuart now regarded the making of a confession a
privilege. "I myself assisted," sáys Coleman, "as
one of the executive conlmittee, in hearing and record-
ing this confession; \ve sat through the night, and
until the morning sun shone in at the ,vindo\v, before
it was cOlnpleted. He ,vent through the whole range
of his many rascalities, gave vivid descriptions of his
adventures, entering with great zest into the details;
and it was curious to see his eyes brighten and
twinkle, and a smile play round his facile countenance,
\vhen describing his best successes. He thre\v off all
restraint, and recounted his jobs as if bringing to
light a brilliant record which had heretofore been
[ 286 ]

THE BA.'\D OF
L'\E.

::!S7

kept necessarily in the dark. His guilt being so plain,
and the volume of it so vast, it seemed as if the life
of one man was insufficient to atone for it all."
"It now came out," says Schenck, "that Stuart
,vas a member of a gang of nine, \vho had been con-
cerned in various robberies and assaults, composed of
T. Belcher Kay, who was port-warden at the time,
J ohn
Iorris )Iorgan, "hittaker, ::\IcKensie, Jack
Ed,vards, Jim Stuart, Benjamin Lewis, Jimlny-from-
To,vn, and one other, \vhose name I do not now re-
member. They had a plan to rob F. Argenti's bank,
and also F. "T. )Iacondray's store. Kay \\?as one of
the leading spirits, and by virtue of his office of port-
,,-arden he had occasion to visit frequentl.y )Iacondray
and Company, and he took these opportunities to
ascertain ,vhat money ,vas in the safe. The book-
keeper suspected something and advised a stronger
guard.; and there were fourteen personR there the
night the gang had appointed to rob the building.
The band at one time rented the Alhambra, corner of
Kearny and \\T ashington streets, opposite the El
Dorado building, a gambling-house which stood on
the south-east corner of the same streets. and opposite
also the building used for the custom - house after
the fire of )Iay, 1850, \vhich ,vas on the north-,yest
corner of the t-\VO streets, and in whose vaults ,yere
then t\VO or three millions of dollars. John )Iorris
)Iorgan, a member of the gang, was a brick-mason,
and had worked in the construction of the, aults of
the building to ,vhich the custom-house ,,-as removed.
The plan \vas to cut a trench, underneath the street,
from the ...\lhambra building to the cu
tom-house
building for the purpose of the robbery, and then carry
another trench from the custom-house across to the
El Dorado. After the proposed robbery had been
accomplished the first trench ,,?as to be closed up and
the other kept open to avoid suspicion." Of this
fraternity Stuart ,yas the leading spirit.
But I ,yill let the man speak for himself. His

288

EXIT J...\..
IES STUART.

career vividly illustrates the high-pressure principle
of crime in California during this reign of terror:
" I was born in Brighton, England, in March, 1820. "\Vhen I was sixteen
years of age I committed forgery, and was banished to New South 'Vales for
life.
Iy friends interceded and procured my emancipation. From there I
went to South Australia; finally reached Panamá, and shipping in the Ten-
nessee came to San Francisco in the spring of 1850. I immediately left for
Sacramento; then went to l\Iarysville, and next day to Foster Bar. There
I joined the Rock
Iining Company and worked with them for a month. I
hired Sullivan, the witness who appeared against me, and we worked together
for some time in various places. I bought a claim of a mining company for
which I paid $300; I also bought a life-boat for $400 which was used on half
shares as a ferry-boat by another company. I lent the Missouri Company
$300. Down the river I had a row with Colonel Prentiss, and left ,the place
for Foster Bar, where I determined to locate. From my ferry-boat I was
receiving about six dollars a day, and the claim fOF which I paid $300 was
yielding me from ten to twelve daily. At Foster Bar two of us made a
garden, and that paid us well. I built Inyself a house, where I had a store,
with nernard Feather, a German, as my partner. I also commenced building
the largest house in the place, for a boarding-house, but never finished it. I
was already tired of this quiet uneventful life. The
Iissouri Company closed
their business and left the place without paying me. Of one of the company,
Daniel Casey, I bought everything they had left. I searched their house, and
finding a trunk. open, full of clothes, I appropriated the contents to my own
use. I was afterward arrested for having stolen the trunk; an unjust accu-
:-;ation, for having bought all that was in the house I considered the trunk my
rightful property.
" The night after I took the clothing I went to Captain Dodge's house and
played monte, where I lost 8200. I felt that I had been cheated, and de-
termined that I would get even with him. I watched him closely that night
from an adjoining tent, and saw him put his money into a chest. Waiting
until they were asleep I entered the tent and carried off the chest. I found
'f,4300; there was one l)iece of gold worth $1568, another worth $738; the rest
was in dust, with the exception of about $600 in silver, I took it all home,
secreted the most of it in my garden, and resumed my work as usual. III
about ten days I was arrested for having stolen the trunk, and paid at once
the $300 bail. Three days after I was again arrested on a charge of grand
larceny for stealing the $4300, and was committed to jail in Marysville. There
was great excitement; the mob was determined to hang me, but the judge had
me safely guarded by sixty men. The next morning Captain Dodge came to
me and said if I would give him the money he would let me off and see that
I was not molested. I was uncertain what course to pursue; but when I was
told that his wife and children were suffering at home I concluded to give it
up, all but $150, which I said I had lost. During the remainder of the day I
stayed with the sheriff, Edward Barr; sold all my things immediately at auc-
tion, depositing the money, $170, with him. In the evening the sheriff went
out to collect some of the money. While he was gone his cook advised me to

COXFESSIOX.

9

leave the place at once. I told him I couldn't go without money; the cook
replied that if he was in my place he wouldn't risk delay a moment. I started
at once for Sacramento, walking three miles. I had no money to buy a horse,
so I stole one. The next day I sold it in Sacramento, where I remainerl a fort-
night. ',hile there I became acquainted with two or three Americans and
one Sydney man, whose sole business was to steal horses and mules, which I
would sell for them. I think I knew of every robbery committed in Sacra-
mento while I was there. The names of the horse-thieves were Dab, James
Peate, and Johnny Griffiths. 'Ve heard that there was a brig in the river
with about $20,000 on board; so Griffiths, Edwards, Brown, and I went on
board and got all the money, which was only about $1200. The next day we
agreed to come to San Francisco. A man came down with us called Jimmy-
from-Town. He had robbed a. Spaniard on the river of thirty ounces of gold,
which he divided among four of us. We came together from Panamá on
board the Tenne.ssee, and I stowed him away on the passage. The same night
we went aboard the J. Casket, Edwards, Brown, Smith, amI I, and robbed the
vessel. We had some hard fighting to do; the captain was desperate, and
we fought him until we left him almost dead. During the fight his wife
came out of the cabin with a sword in her hand, which I took away from her.
I acted as captain. We were all masked. 1Ve searched the cabin, and ob-
tained from the captain's wife all the money on board; also, at my request, she
gave me an Allen sL'(-shooter. The woman begged I would not tak8 her hus-
banù's life. I said I did not want to do it if he would be quiet. I was about
to take a splendid gold chronometer watch. Sh? hoped I would not take it
as 11Fr mother had given it to her. I said on those conditions I.wmÚù not
take the watch. The others kicked up a row for not taking it, but I told
theLl that I was master; that they had made me so and I would do as I liked.
Before leaving the vessel I tied the captain's hands behind him, shut him up
in the cabin, and told his wife not to speak for

o hours, as I should not
leave the ship. 'Ve foand that instead of getting $15,000 or $16,000 we had
got only $170. 'Vhen the captain's .wife gave me the money she said that
they had sent it nearly all home on a previous packet, or we should have got
it all without doubt. The captain advertised a loss of $900. We stopped ill
San Francisco for five or six days. I spent one night in Grayson and Guild's
store, where we attempted to get the safe containing the money, but found it
too heavy to move. Then I went to Sacramento alone, and stopped at ::\Ioore's
house, on L street. Did nothing but play cards, and I won a great deal of
money. I sold horses and mules, as they were brought in })y horse-thieves,
under the name of Campbell. :Moore died, and I bought his wife out for 8150.
...lll the goods stol
n in Sacramento were brought to this house. John Griffiths,
John Jones, Bill Kelson, and Old Jack were my boarders. A few days after-
ward Griffiths was arrested for picking a man's pocket of $800 in an auction
store. On
Ionday he was committed to the prison brig with his bail placed
at $1.300. They were kicking up a row in Sacramento and wouldn't go straw
bail, so to raise the money I took a team, loaded it from my house with stolen
goods, and started for
Ionnon Island, where I sold e\
erything. Then I re-
turned to Sacramento, 8.nd obtained an order from the sheriff to go on board
the brig and see Griffiths. I fountl that on the night before, in trying to
POP. TRrn,. VOL. I. 19

290

EXIT J
t\..)IES STUART.

escape with irons on, he had been drowned. While I was away my house was
robbed of everything: I did not think it worth while to open another house,
and went to live in a small house near the burying-ground. A few days
afterward I was arrested for house-breaking. I employed Mr Pixley, who
promised to get me out of the scrape for fifty dollars. I told him I was
guilty. Old Jack swore false, and I gave him twenty dollars. About a
week or ten days after, was arrested again for breaking into a house in a
lumber yard. I was very nearly shot there; a bullet went through my
hat at all events. I got taken and committed aboard the brig for trial.
.A night or two before,
Iat IIopword, from Sydney, or Big Brummy, as
we call him, robbed a house with me, where we got between eight hundred
and nine hundred dollars' worth of property. Employed Mr Pixley again,
and paid him fifty dollars, and gave him fifty more for getting off Big
Brummy, who had robbed a woman. Two days after I had beBn on board the
prison brig a constable came down from Auburn and identified me as the
murderer of Sheriff :Moore of Auburn. Two or three hours afterward two
more constables came on board, one from Foster Bar and one from Marysville,
and identified me as having murdered Charles :1\100re. One had a warrant;
they went to Judge Sackett, who gave them an order to bring me ashore. I
was taken to the judge's office; 1\-11' Pixley appeared for me, and would not
allow the judge to examine me. I was then sent on board the brig again.
The next morning the sheriff came for me, and. :\'[1' Pixley told him that his
warrant was not legal; that he could not take me without another warrant
from 1Vlarysville; so the sheriff went after it. I then gave Mr Pixley my bag
of gold dust to weigh out six hundred dollars, and an order for one hundred
and. thirty dollars, which he told me he had got and. would pay me next day.
The orders I gave Pixley,vere in the name of James Campbell. That night I
111ade my escape from the brig. I walked the next day to Dry Creek, half-way
to Stockton; when I reached Stockton I disguised myself and came to San
Francisco on a steamer; this was about the middle of December. I stopped
at :Edwards' house ill Sydney Valley.
"I never went out of the house during the day. .At night I went to Port
Philip House kept by 1\lcCormick and '''nittaker. At this time Jansen
lived next door to \Vhittaker, 'Ve heard that there was a safe in a butcher's
shop in Broadway with eight or nine thousand dollars in it, so \\l1Íttaker
and I, with Edwards and George Adams, took the window out, moved the
safe into the street, but could not get it any further. Our next attempt was
lVIinturn's; Belcher Kay said there was a great deal of money there. In this
mess there was a large number of us. Edwards, 'Vhittaker, George Adams,
Edwarc1 :McCormick, Belcher K::ty, Bob McKensie, and I took a boat, fall
and tackle,
1ade shears, put a feather-bed in the boat, augers and saws, and
all went pretty well armeJ. Three or four of us got inside the building anJ
moved the safe a little; made a few auger holes in the floor, intending to cut
the floor away; some one came to the door, a false alarm, and we had to run.
McKensie spoiled it all by not knowing his instructions; he gave wrong sig-
nals, and we jumped into the water and ran away. With such a big haul
we should not have stirred for one man or two. Belcher Kay watched out-
side. The next thing was a jeweler's shop; Belcher Kay had examined it;

COXFESSIO
,

291

he said there was twenty or thirty thousand dollars in diamonds there. Ed-
wards and I went at night and looked at the place; gave my opinion that we
could not do it; too much risk, as there were four or five men in the shop
below, and so we gave it up as a bad job. The next thing Belcher Kay got
for us was
Iacondrar's store; he had been watching it for a month, and he
told us that there were three safes and a vault with lots of money; as much
as we could take away in a boat. We came up in the night to do it, but some
of the men backed out; and considering there were eleven men in the building
we all gave it up.
"The next night'Vhitaker informed U3 of Jansen's place. He said that
when .Jansen moved h
h
d a bag which he supposed contained ten or :fifteen
thousand dollars; we agrced to go and get it. .Jim Briggs and J.
I. )Iorgan,
who had just come from )Ionterey, and '''11ittaker. Edward
IcCormick,
Billy Kewes, Belcher Kay, and I, who had been together for ten days, were
in this job.
fcKensie had had a falling out ,,,ith l\lorgan and Briggs, and had
to leave. )lorgan went into .Jansen's store :first; the rest stopped in the roaù.
T\bitaker and I stood at the window dui"Íng this time. I thought he ';"a3
too long and could get no money, so I went in to help him; I got half-way
up the shop, behind the counter; I heard .Jansen ask )Iorgan what he wanted
there; :\Iorgan said he wanted to look at some blankets. Jansen turne<l
around and saw me behind the counter, and I also told him I wanted some
blankets. He stepped about two yards to show me the blankets, when I hit
him on the head with a slung-shot and knocked him down. I then left
)Iorgan to look after him while I searched for the money. I only hit him
on
. I opened a desk and took out a shot-bag containing money. Both
)lorgan and I had cloaks thrown about us as a disguise. I carried the money
home to Sydney Valley. There was one thousand five hundred and sixty-
eight dollars in gold coin, 'Ye divided it among eight, making a hundred
and ninety-six dollars apiece. We went down town and spent a few hours
at
Irs Hogan's, on Sansome street; her house was a crib for stolen property;
she wears my picture, and knows all about our motions, but :1\11' Hogan was
innocent. The next day there was quite a fuss about town made over .Jansen's
assault and robbery. 'Ye did not COIDlnit any more robberies while the trial
of the men atTested for striking .Jansen was going on, as we did not wish the
men hung, kno'\"\ing that they were innocent. "\Ye would have shot fifty men
rather than have had them hung. 'Ve agreed that if those men were hung,
which we expected they would be, we would fire the town on Sunday llight
in several places.
"A few nights after we agreed to rob a bank kept by Beebee, Ludlow, and
Co., on :\Iontgomery street. In this we were to be assisted by Bob
IcIntyre
and Andy
lcCarty. They told us that whenever we were ready they would
take the watch off their beat. These police-officers used to know all we were
about those days. "... e tried two nights; opened the outside door by fal:
e
keys. Watched it two days, and concluded there was not money enough to
pay for attempting the robbery, as we observed the porter come each morning
from Argenti's with bags of money deposited the previous night.
" The next night we went to Young's Bank, next to EI Dorado, in 'Vashing-
ton street.
lorris
Iorgan helped build the money vault, and gave us the

2J2

EXIT JA
IES STUART.

information. 'Vent down EI Dorado steps, opened the door with false keys;
entered and found two beds; discovered too many people sleeping about there,
considered it too dangerous, and gave it up. Belcher Kay was an accomplice;
there were eight in the gang; Kay generally was outsiùe watching. 'Ve
have bad an understanding with police-officers
lcIntyre and
lcCarty for a
long time; they were concerned with us in the robbery of Young's Bank.
"The next night we stole a small safe out of Emerson and Dunbar's auc-
tion store; this was Sunday night; there was but twenty-four dollars in this
safe. Adams stepped out at the time of l\Iinturn's robbery.
"The following nigbt we stole a safe from Gladwin and 'Vhitmore; took
it up the sand-hills, but were discovered before we had broken it open. Here
we lost all our tools, which were worth five hundred dollars to us. Then I
went to
Irs Hogan's house. Bill Hewes went home that night. Not liking
to see the men go to the watch-house, I wanted the rest to come and free
them by force; but they refused, thinking that by employing
1r Parburt
and other lawyers they would be cleared. The next day 1\-forgan was ac-
quitted and Briggs committed to jail.
"The next day I went to Gold Bluff in the schooner B. F. Allen; I was
twenty-seven days on the passage to Trinidad Bay. I there saw Bob
fcKensie,
Dab, tbe horse-thief, andJem Peet; they came from Oregon. They said that
five horse-thieves had taken about sixty horses from Sacramento City to Oregon,
and there sold them. I found Trinidad to be a bad place for me. I played
cards with Dab, and won all his money, about three hundred dollars. I then
came back in the B. F. A llen, and paid the passage of Dab and Peet also to San
Francisco. We arrived in San Francisco on Sunday, when Dab threatened to
inform on me if I didn't give him money; so I gave him fifty dollars.
"I went to James Kitchen's house, and sent him on board the schooner for
my bed and blankets. The same day Dab and a policeman stopped me on the
street; the policeman wanted me to go to the recorder's 'with him. I drew
my pistol to shoot him, and he shoved off. There were many people around,
and I gave him one hundred dollars to quiet him. I then went to Kitchen's
to stop that night. I went to see
Irs Hogan, who told me that there was a
waITant out for Y\Tllitaker and Long Charley, for robbing a man in bel' house
of fifteen thousand dollars; she said she had secreted 'Vhittaker at the
Mission, and advised me to leave the town,
s the police were searching her
house.
"The next morning I hired a horse at a stable amI rode to l\Ionterey. At
this time I had just taken the name of Carlisle, having previously been known
as Campbell. I went to
ionterey on purpose to attend the trial of the men
arrested for robbing the J\Ionterey custom-house. I went to the watch-house
and saw the prisoners. The second night my horse was stolen from me. Dick
Osman was first put on trial. Parburt went ùown from San Francisco to de-
fend him, and I appeared as a witness in his favor. 'Yhittaker was also at
:Monterey; Briggs was then in custody; Kitchen arrived at l\Ionterey in the
steamer. 'Ve all knew the parties were guilty. Although they took thir-
teen thousand dollars down from San Francisco, all that was robbed was eight
thousand, though Randall saiJ that he haJ lost thirty t:ilOu
anù. Parburt,

lcDonald, anù Judge
ferritt were counsel for prisoners, and Colonel 'V eller.

COXFESSIO
.

293

Bolts, and Wallace for prosecution. There was a great deal of false swearing
and bribery. All the money was taken from the prisoners; the court charges,
amounting to one thousand dollars, were first deducted, and the balance,
twelve thousand dollars, was equally divided bet\\- een the prisoners and prose-
cuting counsel. The prisoners then paid their own lawyers. Randall received
one half and the prisoners the other half of the twelve thousand dollars.
Ryan, :Morgan, and Tom Quick were then in jail, but Osman was tried and
consented to the division. The sheriff of
Ionterey received seven hundred
dollars and a gold watch for packing the jury and for other services.
Iorris-
man, a juryman, received one hundred dollars from the prisoners, which was
paid after the trial. Dennis
IcCarthy, the constable, received one hundred
dollars from the prisoners for false swearing. He first swore for the prose-
cution, and then swore back in favor of the prisoners. Jim Carson, a jury-
man, held out for guilty; he was bribed by the prosecution. The judge knew
nothing about all this. Parburt told me to let the prisoners out of jail; I
broke the door down and they were free.
H Then I started on foot from
Ionterey for the southern mines. "Then I
reached San J osé I stole a horse, saddle, and bridle, but was captured near
San Joaquin. I got in a row with eleven
lexicans who took my gun and
said that I had stolen their horse; they took me back to Livermore Pass.
I gave them my watch and chain to release me, and started on foot for Sonora.
From there I went to Sullh-an's and worked about a week, but did not like
mining. Then went to
Iariposa where I worked for five weeks; there I met
two Americans who knew me; I did not think myself safe and started on foot
for San Francisco.
. "I arrived here on Tuesday night; I saw Kitchen in the EI Dorado r went
to his house where he used to live; all my things were left at Kitchen's, and
are still there. "7 ednesday morning I arose and went to the )Iission to see
an acquaintance who lives at the bakery; this acquaintance wished me to rob
a. Spaniard's house at the fiIission. I went into the
Iansion House, saw the
safe, and said I would see him again about it. I took the hills on the way
back from the
Iission to a void being seen, and was arrested on the sand - hill

doing nothing; I was on the way to North Beach.
"In coming from San José to San Francisco last January or February I
came in the steamer .J.Yew Star, '\\ ith one Smith, who was afterward shot in
Sacramento while robbing a house. 'Ve went from San Francisco to San
J osé on purpose to rob the churches of the silver and gold linages. ,,- e were
told that there was a gold image weighing ten pounds, but we could not find
it. "... e got stuck on a mud-flat on the passage. In the morning we were
called into the cabin and told that a passenger had been robbed of one
thousand dollars in gold dust. They took my gold dust, amounting to about
SL"\: hundred G.ollars, and that of another passenger; but I did not commit the
robbery nor know anything about it. Before leaving the h
ew Stær I threatened
the captain that I would report him if he did not give me back my money;
he was afraid I might make him trouble and gaye it up.
" On arrival here I advised robbing the New Star. I met Teddy
IcCor-
mick and John Edwards, and went down to the steamboat. I went on board,
opened the window, and robbed the desk of about two hundred and fifty

.

2D4

EXIT JA
.IES STUART.

dollars. I have worn a serape and have ridden horseback in San Francisco.
Jimmy-from-Town robbed Dow's safe and blew it up with powder. Have
heard hundreds remark that the day would soon come when this country
would be taken by the Sydney people. "

In addition to this story of guilt is the testimony
of Joseph Hetherington, who took charge of Mrs
Hogan's house at her husband's request ,vhile he was
at the mines. Whitaker boarded there during Mr
Hogan's absence. Whitaker gave him this account
of the murder of Moore, tIle sheriff: He said that
Stuart, with two Americans, ,vas travelling from
Nicolaus to l\1:arysville; they had but little money,
and they concluded that they might as ,veIl be dead
as to be ,vithout money; so they agreed to rob every
man they met until they secured t,venty thousand
dollars apiece for themselves. Sheriff l\foore hap-
pened to be the first man ,vho crossed their path, and
Stuart at once shot him. It ,vas for this murder that
Burdue was convicted before Stuart ,vas arrested.
Stuart's confession raised quite a commotion among
the fraternity. While the professionals, ,vhose sombre
deeds were lighted by the people and the press,
scattored, respectable malefactors as a matter of
course loudly proclailned their innocence. I do not
doubt that Stuart exaggerated 'v here he entertained
enmity, or tllat he lied ,vhenever it suited him. He
,vas bad enougll to do anything, and he was strong
enough to do Inuch. Yet in false charges there are
usually sonle facts. A lie seldoln rests on no founda-
tion; or if it does, the victim of it is indeed a sufferer,
for such is the construction of 111en'S lllinds that he
can never ,vllolly escape the effects of it. Evil is
never spoken of the innocent ,vholn the slanderer
does not know. Vice, like fire, is a dangerous play-
thing. When the clouds drop pitch, you 111ay look
for the white-robed at home.

Scarcely had the cloek told nine on the morning
of July 11,1851, ,vhen the MonUlnental bell struck

SEXTEXCE,

!)3

for the assemblin cr of the general committee at their
rooms on Batter)
street, and instantly the streets
""ere filled ,vith citizens hurrying thither. So much
time "
as occupied by the Committee in their grave
deliberations that the crowd, congregated in knots
about the building, became impatient. Those ,,"'ho
kne,," nothing of the proceedings "'\vithin began to
think it but an ordinary conference, and about noon
dropped a,vay to attend to their respective affairs.
The minutes of the general meeting, Selim W ood-
\vorth i:1 the chair, are brief and to the point. On
ll10tion the evidence in the case of Stuart ,vas read.
Question
"Tere then put, and it ,vas determined that
the prisoner was guilty of crimes ,vhich rendered him
liable to the punishment of death; that he should be
hanged; that a clerg
yman be sent for: that the exe-
cution take place at t\VO o'clock; that the executive
committee should make the necessary arrangements;
that no person be allowed to leave the room; that the
prisoner receive his sentence. Half an hour after, the
seI)tence of death ,,,"as pronounced upon the 'prisoner,
,yho during the final meeting, with inlperturbable cool-
ness. sat manacled in an adjoining room. Once or
t,rice during the R\vful three hours thus employed
he placed his fettered hands behind his head, ya,-vned,
and exclaimed, "This is damned tiresome; giye me a
che\\
of tobacco
" In this request he ""as indulged.
Being brought into the council-room to receive hi-:;
sentence, he displayed the same apparent nonchalance.
T,-vo hours of grace ,vere allo"ed him in ,-vhich to pre-
pare for eternity. Stuart received the clergYll1an,
)Iines, ,vith great respect; though at first sullen he
yielded to the influence of the hour, and at last ac-
kno\-vledged the justice of his fate, declaring that he
could die ,vithout resentment to"
ard anyone. ..:-\.t
the expiration of two hour:::; the prisoner ""as brought
out, bounel. He ,vas a man fi \"e feet nine inches in
height, ,veIl proportioned, about thirty-one years of
age; hi::; bail' "as brO'Yll; he Y.?ore a Inustache and

.

!)6

EXIT JA)IES STUART.

\vhiskers; his forehead ,vas broad and bis face had an
intellectual cast; he had an aquiline nose, compressed
lllouth, and slightly projecting chin. At the time of
his execution he ,vas neatly dressed in a dark jacket,
white shirt, bro\vn pants, and patent-leather boots.
During the time while the doomed n1an ,vas closeted
with the clergYlnan his four hundred judges sat in
the committee room like statues, solemn and silent.
Scarcely a word was spoken, and the gravity of un-
pleasing but inexorable necessity ,vas depicted on
every countenance. One of their number ,vent out
and addressed the people before the door, telJing thenl
that guilt of the deepest dye had been proven ,vith-
out a doubt; that this proof ,vas backed by the pris-
oner's confession, and that the sentence of immediate
death had been pronounced. The speaker then asked
if the proceedings met their approval. Affirmation
,vas promptly spoken, witll but three dissenting voices.
About half-past two the Committee enlerged fronl
their rooms ,vith the prisoner, bound and supported
by t,vo members. Arm-in-arm, eigllt abreast, ,vith
,veapons ready, they marched in platoons, ,vith slo,v
and measured tread, along Battery street to Market-
street ,vharf, ,vhere stood a derrick ready for their
purpose. When the front of the column reached the
wharf it opened, parted to each side, and the t,vo
hundred body-guard passed between the two lines,
,vhich in1.1nediately closed in the rear and locked arlns,
forming an impenetrable barrier between those per-
forn1ing the ceremony and the people, ,vho ,vere thus
prevented from crowding the ,vharf. The bravado
of the Ulan no,v left him. Many times he had re-
garded the approach of death, but never had the grin1
1110nster stared him in the face as no,v. For a moment,
as he looked at the gaIlo,vs prepared for hiln, and as
he felt the solemn hush pervading the assemblage, his
strong fraille shook like a leaf; but inlmediately re-
covering, he thenceforth acquitted hiu1self n1.anfully.
At his o,vn request he was not blindfolded; reiter-

.

SOLE)IX SCE::\

20;

ating a fe". words of penitence, and acknowledging
the justice of his sentence, he closed his eyes. One
end of the rope ,vas quickly adjusted round his neck,
the other thro\vn over the derrick and seized by
twenty hands, which quickly jerked the criminal in
air, \vhere he was suspended for half an hour, until
long after life ,vas extinct. Throughout the entire
proceeding the most perfect order preyailed, no re-
sistance being offered by anyone. The solemn still-
ness of the people, as the) stood with uncovered
heads, attested the grave importance attached to the
execution, indicating no feeling of revenge, but the
consummation of simple justice. In the harbor flags
on the vessels had been hoisted and cannon fired.
..A_s I have before remarked, there was no military
organization in the Committee of 1851, as there ,va"s
in that of 1856, but a police system only. At the time
of Stuart's execution the general committee resolved
itself into an inpromptu military association, con-
sisting of companies or squads under their respective
captains, in all about three hundred and eighty men.
Thomas J. L. Smiley, a tall, straight, fine-looking.
man, no less able in counsel than efficient in action,
comn1anded one company, with his business partner,
John :Jliddleton, acting as lieutenant. "\Vhile Stuart
,vas hanging, and before life was whoHy extinct,
Gallagher, the coroner, came in hot haste, elbowing
his ,,-ay through the cro,,"d until, reaching Smiley's
locked line, he paused, and throwing into attitude and
speech the half of Ireland's dignity, he cried:
"I demand pern)ission to pass I"
"Who are you 1" asked :l\Iiddleton.
" You kno\v ,yell enough who I am," said the
corpse-tender; " I'll1 the coroner."
"The devil you are I" replied :\Iiddleton. " Well,
)Ir Coroner, you don't pass this line until that fellow
is a fit subject for your administration."
As ,,-e have seen, all the
e proceedings were char-
acterized by sobriety and solelnnity. Yet peculiar to

298

EXIT JAl\IES STUART.

the people and to the time was that spirit of manu-
mission from ancient superstitions, so inseparable from
their acts, that ,vhile engaged in the lllost serious
affairs they could not behave otherwise than in their
natural Inanner.
I h
ve said that J allies Stuart was a great scoun-
drel-a mean scoundrel. Yet the more I investigate
his character the more I am astonished at his cool-
ness, courage, and ability. Had tIle stream of his life
been directed into honest channels he ,vould have
been no less prominent for good than he ,vas no,v for
evil. If in thc eighteen months' ,york, the account
of ,vhich he recited ,vith such vivid exactness, the
same energy and talent had been displayed in some
honest direction, as is al,vays true in the economy of
crime, the results ,vould have been no less beneficial
to himself and to society tha.n his actual course ,vas
detrimental. When one lays aside all hope of life,
and ,valks the street as already a dead man, there is
apt to be very little acted for effect; or if so, then
doing for effect is surely a don1inant quality of such
a one. Now \vhen Stuart kne,v his time had come,
villain as he ,vas, I can but admire his conduct; for
prominent in all his bearing were displayed in a re-
markable degree admirable qualities ,vhich many an
honest and good man lacks. He ,vas not defiant, like
Jenkins, but modest. Marching to execution ,vith
head erect, firlll step, and graceful carriage, he looked
less the villain then than at any tin1e before. Nor
was his coolness indicative of audacity or indifference.
It was simply the display of a natural philosophic
strength of mind, exercised unconsciously, or nearly
so. Yet he was an audacious villain, and every inch
a villain.

CHAPTER XX.

A BUSY MO
TTH.

The next in place and punishment were they
Who prodigally threw their souls away.
Dryden.

THE work went bravely on. Throughout the land
it was deemed the proper thing to do.
Ien kne,,"
that nothing- would cure the evil but hanging. The
wicked ones were so active, so cunning; like Antæos.
as long as their feet touched firm earth no Hercule

could crush them. Julv, 1851, saw town and country
all a..stir. Not of that outward no.isy form, visibfc
to the eye of the uninitiated, was the traffic of the
tribunal; but whosoever with spiritual yision might
penetrate the calm surface, or, better still, in bodily
. form step behind the already blood-begrimed curtain,
would soon hear the clatter of the morality-mill, and
witness the various processes of cleansing there applied
to soiled souls.
This wa
the busiest month in the annals of the
first Committee. The mass of accumulated material,
most of it of a secondary character lacking special
interest to the general reader, is over,yhelming. "\Vhat
a revelation ,vas that of James Stuart I and what a
,vorld of work it made!
Ieetings ,vere held daily,
sometimes t,vice a day, and correspondence ,vas opened
with rogue-externlinators and country committee

from Briti
h Columbia to
Iexico.
Hundreds of descriptions of suspected persons ,,,,ere
sent fronl one committee to another-instance the
[ 299 1

300

A BUSY MO
TH.

follo,ving, given by the Marysville Committee to the
San Francisco Committee:

"Charles A. Pitcher of Belfast, Maine, was whipped at Tolle's old dry
diggings, above
:1:arysville, about the 25th of June, for stealing six hundred
dollars out of a miner's tent. Previous to the theft he had passed under the
name of Silas Pacard. He is over six feet in height, broad-shouldered and
full flesh, but not over fleshy. \Vill weigh a hundred and eighty-five to one
hundred and ninety pounds; dark hair, cut short, and rather brown complex-
ion; black eyes, and heavy black eye-browa. He walks with a long, stately
step. He is about thirty years of age. \Vore about the 1st of July a call1iet
coat of black, skirts rounded like a quaker's, black pants, and a low drab
brush hat, with black band. He had a partner named Miller-a very respect-
able man-in the grocery business on Front street, Sacramento. His partner
quit business on suspicion of Pitcher's dishonesty. He has a brother-in-law
named
Iiller, of the firm of Pierce and Miller, in Sacramento City, J street,
between Seventh and Eighth, who is a very honorable and respectable
merchant. "

Criminals were caught and witnesses examined by
the score, involving the taking and writing of great
masses of evidence, "\vhich might or might not prove
relevant. Then there ,vas the sea to scour as well as
the land; on the arrival of every vessel from Au-
ptralia the passengers and crew ,vere overhauled for
disreputable characters; also passage to be secured,
and paid, for the exiled. There ,vas the hanging of one
and the getting ready of others to be hanged. There
\vere the ne\v quarters to make tenantable, rooms and
cells to arrange, and the accommodations of con-
stantly increasing numbers and requirements to be
provided for.
The organization had likewise to be remodelled.
Hastily arising from immediate necessity, adapted to
simple duties rather than to complex and perlDanent
affairs, there ,vas much to be considered and changed.
Besides the outla,vs there ,vere the la"Tyers, and la,v
officers, and prisons to look after. Suits ,vere brougllt
\vhich lllUst be defended, and ,vrits of habeas corlJ'lts
there were to be dodged.
In the archives of the Committee hefore IDe are
abstracts of the character of IDultitudes of those

CHARACTERS DESCRIBED.

301

then arriving here, of which the follO"\ying are sptci-
mens:
Jalnes Ogle, Irishman; left home in 1840 in the
elnirrrant sllip Champion for Sydney. Occupation a
lab
"er; kept a tavern in Sydney; thinks there are
no convicts on board this ship; has a wife and child
on board; kno\vs a )Ir Eggleston in this city.
Thomas D, Snodgrass, a Scotchman; left Liverpool
a
passenger in ship George Canning in 1828; kept a
sheep farm in
e\\r South 'Vales; has a cousin here
named Benjamin Sullivan.
'Villiam Luch, an American, born in Connecticut;
on ship's articles; has been on board about five
months; went to Sydney as steward in ship Christoval,
a ,yhaler, from Nantucket; ran away from ship; never
knew any of the passengers until he came on board.
David Rose, Englishman; left Liverpool for Auck-
land in convict ship carrying prisoners; remained in

e\v Zealand two years; came to California in ship
Johnson, arriving in
Iarch, 1850, with two hundred
passengers.
Helen Casey, Irish, single ,voman; arrived in Syd-
ney in 1820 in emigrant ship Premier; was ,vaitress
in an asylum at Sydney where she left her father; has
a sister on board.
'Villiam Butt ,vas taken before the Committee and
testified: "I was born in Southampton; left from the
Isle of vVight by the convict ship Lord Eldon, which
took two hundred and forty-five convicts from Ports-
mouth; I engaged \vith Captaip )fcCarthyas servant;
a person named Bolton ,vho resides here knows me;
I have never been a convict." He \vas discharged
from custody.
)'Iary Ann Banks, an Englishwolllan; left England
eleven years since in ship Sir Ecluxtrd Paget for Syd-
ney. No certificate.
Lists descriptive of suspected persons were carried
in the pockets of the vigilant police, of ,vhich I give
t\VO specimens:

:302

A BGSY )IONTH.

Russell, alias '1\10e the J e,v,' aged fort); lleight
five feet seven; black hair, s,varthy complexion, dark
beard, eyes dark-brown; mouth broad, and upper lip
straight; scar on right side of the chin; nose straight,
eyes sunken; not like a J e,v; very smooth and plausible
in his address; gives to his eyes a peculiar expression;
111arried, one boy two years old; round-shouldered,
but strongly built; chin round. Can be found in a
house on Sansome street, near Pacific.
Ben Sellers, aged forty-one; five feet eleven or six
feet; high cheek-bones, freckled, pitted by small-pox;
sunken gray eyes, bro,vn hair, no ,vhiskers; strong
and squarely built; active man; mouth very \vide;
married, no children.
On board the American ship Ad'irondaclc, arriving
froln Hobart Town in July, 1851, ,vith two hundred
and fifty passengers, one hundred of \vhom were
\VOlllen, were found two who \vere not permitted to
Jand.
Here,vith I give a copy of a bill of lading in the
shipment of an exile:
"JULY 17, 1851.
"Know all ]'fen by these P1.esents, That I, P. Jas. o. C. \Vhite, captain
of the brig Cameo, bound for the port of Sydney, New South Wales, am held
and firmly bound unto the commonwealth of Upper California, United States
of America, in the sum of two thousand dollars, upon this condition: That
I will deliver the body of one Alexander "\Vright, a convict, who has this day
been put on board of my brig by the citizens of San Francisco, and for whom
the Vigilance Committee have paid me the sum of one hundred dollars for the
passage of said Alexander Wright to the aforesaid port of Sydney, dangers
of the sea only excepted; and that I will present him to the authorities there,
and not return him again to California, nor land him during this voyage at any
intermediate port.
"Witness my hand, this 17th day of July, 1851.
"P. J. O. C. WHITE.
" In presence of A. Oaksrilithe and Robt. S. Lammot."

Here is the" Report of 537, V. C.":

" A man named McCurdy, who came passenger in the British bark P'I'in-
CUB RO'lJal, from London, has now in the United States Appraiser's Office 800
pounds of apparatus and false dies for counterfeiting the different silver and
gold coins of the United States. This man is accompanied by a man named

CO::\I)iITTEE RESOLUTIO
.

303

Walker. The dies, etc., will be shown to any of the Committee who may be
pleased to call upon the officers of customs at the appraiser's store, California
street; and they will also give a description of 1Ir )IcCurdy. "

)fr Payran
ellds in the following communication
the 7th of July:

" From information received from a reliable source I would present Yerba
Buena Island as being infested with a gang of thieves, and perhaps worse. It
appears that the cutter Polk lay to the leeward of the island yesterday, and
while there distinctly saw several men leave the beach for all instant and re-
turn again, armed apparently with rifles, seemingly, to all on board the Poll,
to prevent the landing of any persons from her. They also saw them packing
boxes and bales in great quantity. The party on board the Polk imagined
that the gang on shore took thenl for the Vigilance Committee. One gentle-
man informed me that he bas no doubt of the fact that the island is the rc-
ceptacle of a large amount of stolen property, as well as the habitation of several
felons. I therefore respectfully and earnestly call th
attention of the ex-
ecutive committee to the subject, and propose the following motion: That
the officer in command of the Polk on Sunday, the Gth, be respectfully re-
quested to come before our body and relate particulars touching the matter,
as well as inquire of him as to the gentlemen on the Polk who witnessed the
scene. "

The following, from the proceedings of a July
meeting, sufficiently demonstrates the sentiment of
the association at this time:

"WHEREAS, Seeming quiet, peace, and safety have attended our career of
vigilance up to this period, and the dreaded evils to be apprehended from
sudden outbreaks of the people have fallen short of the expectation of those
who were opposed to such measures; and whereas, The Committee of Vigil-
ance of this city has been the foster-father of all such institutions throughout
the state, whereby safety has been guaranteed to our brethren, and hundreds
of the evil-minded who were in _ our DÙdst have fled, whereby much danger
will be avoided, it now becomes us to EO arrange the basis of our association
that its labors may be lessened and our usefulness continued, and the future
present a bright scene compared with the past. Therefore '\\e would suggest
in its present form and in the following order: That the executive committee
continue to discharge their duties by meeting at a room to be selected, and
there receive all reports that may be offered; and should any case occur of
sufficient importance to call the general committee together, to then call them
by notice to be given through the public papers or tap of the bell; and in con-
junction" ith other associations throughout the state, to hold all public matters
under consideration, and report thereon; to hold the acts of all our representa-
tives subject to our examination, so that thereby some assurance may be had of
their faithfully discharging their duties. ,\ e would also suggest the pro-
priety of receiving all good citizens as members, who shall at their initiation

804

A BUSY :MONTH.

pay five dollars, with such monthly stipend as may be fixed upon; that there
shall be a stated meeting of the general committee, not oftener than once a
month, except in cases of necessity; that this association shall not lose its
identity, but exist in all its properties, liable to be called into action whenever
necessity may require; therefore,
" ResohJed, That the Committee of Vigilance shall sti!l continue under its
present organization; that the present order of business shall continue, and
no meeting shall be called of the general committee except on urgent busi-
ness to be determined by the executive. That the said executive or a quorum
of five meet e\Tery evening, at the place to be designated, alid there receive
reports and attend to such matters as may come before them. That the ser-
vice! of a sergeant-at-arms under salary be dispensed with; that the duty be
placed on one of the Committee, who may retain the man George, or some
other person in our employ, to take care of the room and attend the door.
That the proceedings of the present Committee shall be engrossed, and taken
charge of by them for such future action as may be taken. That the qualifi-
cation committee shall be merged in the executive committee, and that no
new member shall be admitted except through and by the executive com-
mittee under such rules and regulations as they may hereafter adopt. That
there shall be a finance committee, whose business it shall be to take or re-
ceive all moneys, and make disbursements on orders from the executive, signed
by a quorum. Also, that the executive committee shall have power to dis-
pose of all surplus property, the proceeds of the same to be paid over to the
treasury, and to fill any vacancies that may occur in their midst from the
general committee."
On another occasion it was resolved,
" That the deliberations of this body should be marked with dignity and
solemnity, commensurate with the nature of the subject before. them. That
all loud demonstrations of approval or disapproval are undignified and in-
compatible with the true spirit of deliberation, and are hereby declared out
of order in this Committee. That any person offering an indecorous remark
to a speaker engaging the attention of this Committee shall be forthwith
expelled from the room. "
It ,vas also resolved,
" That when a prisoner was deliyered oyer to the charge of the chief of
police of this association such prisoner should be considered the property
of this Committee, and should not be released unless by the action of the
executive committee or by a vote of the general body."

The black sheep of the fold ,vere soon detected,
summarily dismissed, and narrowly ,vatched. The
follo,ving, from the minutes of July 5th, sho\vs the
shape in ,vhich complaints against members some-
times came up:
"Received communication of 'Villiam C. Graham, No. 152, being a com-
plaint against 'V. F. :McLean, No. 53D, he not being considered a fit member

THE COUNTY JAIL.

303

of the Vigilance Committee. No. 132 states that this morning, about two
o'clock, found No. 53!) standing at the door conversing with two policemen,
and heard him say that it was a damned infernal shame, the action of the
Vigilance Committee in the case of Goff; it was a damned imposition,
md on

he would Dot submit to; and further stated that
IcLean said the day they go
to put their decision into execution that he would have the boys about and
release him."

Among the other excuses of delinquent justice, and
by no means one of the least reasonable, ,vas that of
ina.dequate prison facilities.
'V atkins, a genteel young man, sentenced by the
court of sessions to ten years' imprisonment for bur-
glary, openly boasted before Sheriff Hays that no
prison in California could hold him. His friend and
confederate, Brier, also thought his o,vn confinement
,vould not be long or severe. These dashing pro-
fessionals took a philosophic vie'v of chance, skill, and
result; if foiled in wise attempt, or if captured "Then
nothing more was undertaken than a fair business
risk, they submitted to imprisonment ,vith character-
istic good humor. Hanging more seriously inter-
rupted their occupation, and hence should be avoided.
In the earlier epoch of city government a large
, appropriation had been made ,vith ,vhich to build a
jail; but, as ,vas usual in such cases, it had all been
filched by official fingerings before it could accomplish
its purpose. A committee was appointed to investigate
these frauds, but they had been sufficiently well man-
aged to escape such detection as should fasten the guilt
in any responsible quarter.
The necessity of securing felons when caught "ras
daily felt more and more. In ::\ila:r and June the
escape of prisoners ,vas so frequent that the sheriff
,vas obliged to bring all his lodgers at night into the
main room of the building, and station policemen at
different points to ,vatch them. Under this arrange-
ment, in ll1any instances, a little money, or a bottle or
t,vo of brandy, ,yas the price of liberty.
On the 30th of June a large number of the Com-
mittee, by invitation of the sheriff, visited the county
POP. TRIB., VOL. I. 20

306

A BUSY MONTH.

jail, then in course of erection and partially occupied.
The COlnmittee expressed themselves as pleased ,vith
the general aspect of the place, and admitted the
urgent necessity of the speedy completion of the build-
ing. But the city, already bled to dryness, could not
do more. Money there was none, and prolnises the
builders had no faith in. Fifteen thousand dollars
,vere needed at once, and if this ,vas raised the citizenR
,vould have to do it. The Committee at this tilDe
numbered five hundred active members; the requisite
:11llount divided among them would leave to each thirty
dollars to pay. Or to achieve a quick practical result,
the fifty members of the executive, each assuming three
hundred dollars, could settle the matter in an instant.
At the meeting of the 5th of July it was resolved,

" That as the amount wanted by the sheriff to complete the gaol could be
made up by each of our members obtaining ten subscribers at three dollars
each, a committee of the whole take up subscriptions for carrying out this
object. "

Thus the much needed and long delayed work was
quickly, easi
y, and cheaply done. If all the affairs of
government to-day were taken from the great un-
"rashed, the illiterate, the dishonest, the irresponsible,
from selfish scheming professionals, and placed in the
hands of the few most interested in the true welfare of
the country, the matter of our governing, federal, state,
and Il.lunicipal, would not cost one fifth its present
assessIng.
Forms printed in the following words were circu-
lated for subscriptions:

" PROPOSED PLAN FOR COMPLETING THE COUNTY JAIL.

" We, the subscribers, citizens of San Francisco, hereby agree to pay to
the Committee of Vigilance, of said city, the sum of three dollars each, to
be appropriated by said Committee, and disbursed under their direct super-
vision, for the purpose of completing the county jail."

The money was paid over as the work progressed,
the last of it not being required until September, as
the accompanying order shows:

FAC-SI
IILE OF A
IONEY ORDER. 307

}1
,
If t

't

f

, t-
- .

.
f t

\. .

t

.

'

1' i
J
\ t
:l r

;.

f

t
r f

308

A BUSY
IONTH.

Early in July ,vas brought the first of those an-
noying lawsuits ::gainst Inenlbers of the \T
gilance
ConlnlÌttee of 'VhlCh there were so many durIng the
year succeeding the great ,york of 1856. This suit
,vas entitled l\1:etcalf rceT"SUS Argenti, Atkinson et al.,
and ,vas brought in the superior court of San Fran-
cisco, Justice Smith presiding
I t appears that one
Peter l\1etcalf, a carman, agreed for the sum of fifty
dollars to take charge of four loads of furniture and
,vearing apparel during the great fire of the 22d of
June. When called on to return the property he
produced three loads, excusing hinlself from not re-
turning the fourth on the ground of confusion and
loss during the exciting scene. Suspicion ,vas aroused
no less by the man's contradictory statenlents than
by the fact that out among the sand-hills ,vas found
a richly furnished house, containing some twelve or
fifteen trunks filled ,vith ne,v and valuable ,vearing
apparel, fire-arms, and other property, unquestionably
stolen during the fire.
The Committee of \Tigilance, on being inforlned of
the facts, set themselves at work to find the guilty
persons, and in accordance \vith their custom they
took the path that seemed before theln straightest to
the mark, and that ,vithout consulting custom or
asking permission of the la\v. Suspecting Metcalf,
they entered and searched his 110use. For this the
carman demanded before the court twenty thousand
dollars.
Owing to certain delays the trial was not begun
until the 1Gth of August, and it ended the 23d. At
a meeting of the Conlmittce, held the 5th of July, a
resolution was passed as follows:
" That a committee of three be appointed to wait on
Ir Metcalf, and on

Iessrs Lockwood, Tilford, and Ral1clolph, acting as counsel for the prosecution
in the case of
Ietcalf versus Argenti, Atkinson, and others; and they are
hereby directed to request those gentlemen to withdraw the suit and all
further proceedings in the matter."

At the same time was adopted the follo,ving pre-

THE TRIBù
AL ARRAIGNED.

309

amble and resolution, which appeared in the public
prints:
"It having become necessary to the peace and quiet of this community
that all criminals and abettors in crime should be driven from among us, no
good citizen, having the welfare of San Francisco at heart, will deny the
Committee of Vigilance such information as will enable them to carry out the
above object. Nor will they interfere with said Committee when they deem
it best to search any premises for suspicious characters or stolen property;
therefore,
"Resolved, That we, the Vigilance Committee, do claim to ourselves the
right to enter any person's or persons' premises where we have good reason
to believe that we shall find evidence to substantiate and carry out the object
of this body; and further, deeming ourselves engaged in a good and just cause,
we intend to maintain it.
"By order of THE COM::\IITTEE OF VIGILA.YCE.
" San Francisco, July 5, 1851. :N o. 67, Secretary."

In every large and promiscuous body of citizens
there are some whose judgments are ill-advised and
whose actions are too impetuous. The publication of
this resolution was certainly injudicious on the part
of the Committee. Its members would ha.ve known,
had they carefully considered the matter, that no
good could come of it, and much evil might be the
. result. The suit "as brought DY a poor carman
against members of a po,verful association, through a
prominent la"T firm, "yhose fee, almost of a certainty,
was contingent. Under SUCll circumstances any over-
tures on the part of the association could not but be
damaging to the defendant. As a lnatter of course
the client would be governed by his counsel, who if
they V\Tere gentlemen would give gentlemanly ansV\Ters,
or if blackguards they ,vould reply accordingly.
In this instance tþ.e reply of the la "r firln to the
appeal of the Committee for a dismissal of the suit
illustrates more fully than could any ,vords of mine
the character of the men composing it. Says the
la,vyer Lock\yood in the journals of the day: " Sundry
fools or knaves, perhaps both, styling themselves
the Vigilance Committee, have caused to be trans-
mitted to the firm of Lockwood, Tilford, and Ran-

310

A BUSY MONTH.

dolph, the follo,ving resolution [given above]. As a
member of said firm, my only answer to the aforesaid
fools or knaves, in addition to the verbal response to
the bearers of the resolution, is, I do defy, deny,
d "
spurn, an scorn you.
The formal reply of the firm displayed a spirit but
little more decent or truthful:

"SAN FRANCISCO, July 7, A.D. 1851.

, , GENTLEMEN:
" We have received with astonishment a communication through your
hands, purporting to be an extract from the minutes of the proceedings of a
certain association styling itself the Vigilance Committee, in which we are
requested to withdraw the suit which we have instituted in behalf of Peter
}'letcalf versus F. Argenti and F. A. Atkinson.
" "\Ve forbear to remark upon the folly, the presumption, the ignorance of
your own powers and of our character, and the entire disregard of the con-
stitution and laws, and the rights of your fellow-citizens, which that com-
munication betokens.
"You will, for our answer, say to those who sent you, that we need no
advice, and will submit to no dictation from the Vigilance Committee, col-
lectively or iu.dividually; and that they may rest fully assured that we will
prosecute the suit of Metcalf versus Argenti and Atkinson, and all other suits
of a similar nature in which we may be employed, with the utmost of our
ability and to the end of the law.
" \Ve remain, your obedient servants,

"R. A. LOCKWOOD,
"F. TILFORD,
"EDMUND RANDOLPH.
" To lr[esl
rs Sharron, Our tis, Bromley, and Spence, Committee."

The result of this trial was a failure of the jury
to find a verdict. Nine were in favor of a.cquitting
tIle defendants, and three held out for nonlinal dam-
ages. The case ,vas then taken to San J osé, \vhere
the jury found for the plaintiff in the sum of tV\TO
hundred dollars.
The speeches of the respective members of this
la\v nrnl on these two several occasions are models
of verbiage. Nothing could injure a cause more
effectually than such advocates. Listen:" Men and
brethren, awake from your false security r Heed not
those hireling and corrupt editors, who persuade you

PROFESSIOX.A.L RAXTL,G.

311

to surrender to the patriotic and disinterested \Tigil-
ance COIl1mittee the custody of your character, your
property, your libert.y, and your lives. Heed not the
crocodile lamentations and hyena ho,,-lings over petty
crimes, of those vampires who at midnight drain the
stream of life in
your midst, and at mid-day repeat
their horrid orgies ,,-ith triumphant demonstrations.
::\Iurder, Inurder ten-fold more damnable than fel-
OTIOUS individual homicide, stalks your streets; not
shrouding its hideous aspect in murky darkness; not
screening its blood-stained hand in secret lurking
places; but with brazen front, in the open glare of
day, defying and trampling upon your constitution
and la\vs, and laughing to scorn the solemn mandates
of your highest courts of judicature."
.L\.gain: "'Vhat have those mushroom noblemen,
those sweet-scented, starch-collared, counter-jumping
aristocracy, ,vho in one short night, by the foul
purchase of a goodly quantity of dirty ink and print-
ing materials, became suddenly metamorphosed from
cheating haberdashers and close-fisted, soulless n10ney
dealers, into an august body of patriotic noblemen;
in the name of sense, what gOO(
have they accom-
plished for the community that they thus, with
haughty and supercilious air, challenge for them-
selves the highest niche in the pantheon of our
plebeian affections?"
On the subject of domiciliary visits in this connec-
tion, the Herald of the 17th of July makes the
following pertinent remarks:

"Domiciliary visits constituted the bugbear got up as an argument
against the Vigilance Committee, and it was represented in proclamations and
charges to gcand juries as a tremendous stretch of power to search the crib of
a confederate of thieves for property stolen from honest citizens, a power e>..-
ercised in every state in the Union, and in every country in the world whpre
there is a police, and one which should be exercised by the police of this city
if they properly discharged their duty. By the exercise of this power" e
remember that one police-officer recovered after a fire, about six months ago,
sjmething like twenty thousand dollars' worth of property secreted in house

on the outskirts of the city. It is a power '\\ hich no honest man need dread,

312

A BUSY :MONTH.

and which has never been exercised by the Committee except for the detectiOl:
of crime or the recovery of stolen property. The stress laid on this thing by
1\11' Campbell and :Mr Brenham is therefore very gratuitous. They should not
have permitted themselves to give expression to such platitudes. But the
present bugbear is constituted authority. 1Vith the voice of a Cassandra and
the tears of a Pecksniff one of our contemporaries lugubriously deplores the
calamity that must follow a disregard of the sacredness of the judicial char-
actcr, to wit, a disregard of the sacredness of Parsons. The courts must not
be interfered with; they must be permitted to conduct business in the old
way, or the consequences to the community will be ruin and disaster. The
argument, in brief, is: The Committee must cease from the good work they
have in hand, or society will be thrown into chaos, and confusion and anarchy
will reign supreme. The old régime of the slung-shot and the bludgeon must
be restored in San Francisco in order that officials may live. The city must
be periodically fired, houses must be robbed, safes broken open, citizens mur-
dered in the streets, bribery and false swearing must be encouraged in the
courts of law, and villainy of every caste and character must be permitted to
run riot in San Francisco, else there is to be forsooth an upheaving of society,
and a prostration of all the fabrics of civilization and morality. The citizens
are called upon to show their respect for courts by sacrificing their lives to the
assassin, and what rCInains to them of their property to the incendiary and
burglar. We need not ask the Committee not to suffer themselves to be ca-
joled into breaking up their organization. They have no intention of so doing,
and least of all, in answer to such representations. The citizens do not wish
to be again abandoned to the tender mercies of corrupt and treacherous officiaJs,
or to have the city again swarming with miscreants of every grade. If the
authorities feel hurt that the citizens take the law into their own hands, let
them resign. They know they are thoroughly and heartily condemned by the
people. They whine about their power being trampled upon. We say again,
let them resign. Office in their hands has brought forth no fruits but im-
punity for crime. .An organization of criminals in our midst has been nursed
and fostered into growth and vigor by the guilty connivance of men in office.
Ample space and verge enough has been afforded the thieves to carryon their
extended and systematic schemes of villainy. That is what law has done for
us. Do the authorities imagine the people will suffer the city to relapse int

this condition?"

CHAPTER XXI.

OPPOSITION TO VIGILAKCE AIJillNISTRATION'.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Dr John8on.

I HOPE I shall not be misunderstood, or accounted
loose or la"\\Tless in my conceptions of constitutional
and statutory government, when I uphold, as I am
constrained to do, the people of California acting as
Committees of \Tigilance in their several emergencies.
Forms of government and rules for the regulation of
judicial proceedings are essential to civilized society.
Christ's millennial reign has not yet begun upon this
planet. Until that time, or until the curses of la"T
and government are no longer nec
ssary, I hold them
. in profound estimation, for they are the savior of life
and propert
r. Evils they are, and given us for our
sins; yet being necessary evils, should we not rather
call them blessings, and not evils at all? So, indeed,
,ye do call them when they are good; "\\Then bad, they
are the evil offspring of their grandam evil.
I say that I respect law and government, la"Tyers,
law-makers, and go\ernors-,vhen they are respect-
able. In law and politics there may be, and are,
honest men; just as in stocks, railroads, banking,
butchering, carpentering, and white-,vashing, there
may be, and are, dishonest operators. All the good
men are neither cro,vded in nor crowded out of
an.y one profession or occupation. As a rule the
judiciary of England and America are as able and
upright men as under the present economy their
( 313 )

314 VIGILAXCE AD)IINISTRATION OPPOSED.

Iaker can expect them to be. Alnong the legal
profession of my acquaintance there are those, and
Inany of theIn, as high-minded and noble Inen as ever
lived; men ,vho ,vould lose a right hand before it
should subscribe a lie, or a tongue before it should
counsel dishonor. These men, la,vyers, judges, gov-
· ernors, for their spotless purity of character, their
integrity and ability, I bow before. I lìonor thenì for
themselves, more than for the office they hold. Gold
is but gold, even though it be Inade into a calf
Furthermore, I can safely say that there never have
existed on the earth free governments better adapted
to their respective peoples than the governments of
England and America. And to these I am ever
ready to pay allegiance, as in duty hound. The good
luan is in duty bound to respect the goyernment
under which he lives, because by and for the righteous
element of the c01111nOn,yealth it ,vas established. The
virtuous citizen ,vill not overtlìrow the law, because
for his protection, as against vice and crinlinality, and
at his cost, it ,vas and is made and sustlained.
It was not law and government that the vigilance
Inen complained of, but the lack of these. In the
outskirts of our civilization it has ever been the case
that the restraining influences of governnlent are
necessarily \veaker than in central societies, ,vhere
forms are Inore settled, officers more ,vatchful, and
the nlachinery applied nlore perfect and smooth in
its running.
California committees of vigilance ,vere C0111posed,
for the most part, of Inen of good parentage and an-
tecedents, ,vho had not departed from the faith of
their fathers. They ,vere Inen of conscience. Respect
for their Maker and for his ministers, sacerdotal,
judicial, and legislative, had been early and continu-
ally instilled into their minds, nlade a part of their
being, and was their rule and ,yatchv{ord at the time
and in the Inidst of their Inost determined opposition
to crime as much as at any time before or since.

FOR
I AND SUBSTA...
CE.

315

They who opposed independent action in the emer-
genc
r ,vere such as in religion, politics, and society
respected form more than substance. They \yere
image-,yorshippers whose idolatry had long since
ceased to carry them beyond the symbol of their faith.
They were of the class to whom in the church purity
of belief and holiness of living ,vere of less moment
than time-honored tenets, formulated creeds, and
church ceremonials. From childhood, by precept and
example, their minds had been moulded into set forms.
Form ,vas ever uppermost in all their thoughts; they
could see only form, handle only form, and conceive
only form. Shadow, not substance, was the calibre
of their imaginings. From the soul of things their
souls ,vere forever barred by the skeletons of dead
maxims. They could not think beyond the crust that
interposed between their minds and eternal realities.
This, then, was the difference; one contended for
the supremacy of form ,vhile the other saw only the
substance. One ,vould see perish the substance if
only the form was maintained; the other would sacri-
fice the form, if need be, to the reality.
Bet"reen these t",.o parties waS- to be fought the
battle for the yindication of the right or principle of
the movement.
aturally enough ministers and bene-
ficiaries of the la,v regarded the interference of lay-
lllen ,vith an evil eye. Though powerless themselves
with their rusty machinery to protect society, anarchy
and annihilation should come rather than the fair form
of their ancient idolatry should be desecrated by the
polluting touch of the uninitiated, or the ermine of
the bench be soiled so long as its purity should be in
their keeping.
At this time it was the habit of those \vho favored
the '-
lgilance Committee to rendezvous informally at
the Union Hotel, "hile the la,v and order party held
their caucuses on the corners of the street in front of
some saloon. There they lneditated upon the Ull-
happy fa.te of a people ,,"ho had not such as they to

316 VIGILANCE ADl\IINISTRATION OPPOSED.

rule over theIn, and speculated upon the proba-
bilities of official profit and loss in these degenerate
days.
But so sudden and so strong ,vas the blo,v struck
by this organization of popular will, and so pusillani-
lnous the law and its officers, that at the first there
,vas but little opposition to the action of the C0111-
Inittee. However unpleasant the pill, they took it;
ho,vsoever they complained among themselves, few at
tbat time broke out in loud opposition. The governor
of the state, the mayor of the city, the sheriff, police,
and most of the la,vyers and judges, were silent as to
the proceedings of the Committee of 1851. Some
offered gentle opposition, protesting merely to keep
up an appearance; others ,vere earnest or obstinate in
the discharge of their obligations to the law; but all
,vere reticent, all guarded ,veIl their speech.
Like Cæsar prostrate ,vith disease, ll1ajestic lal\'
,vas no,v most humble; it remonstrated, but with
benignant mildness; it resisted, but so gently as to
invite rather than repel advance-for which con-
sideration the people ,vere devoutly thankful.
There is no special blame to be attached to the
better class of the law and order party, to those
,vho honestly believed that the interests of the state
demanded implicit obedience to. legislative enact-
lnents, and that the letter of the la,," ,vas paramount
to the spirit of the la,v. The several classes of this
party vie,ved the question fron1 totally different stand-
points.
Beginning at the lowest class: Criminals thenlselves
regarded la,v - courts ,vith favor, because they ,vere
their shield, their protector frOln popular fury, their
father-confessor and absolver. To the moneyedlnur-
derer the courts offered absolute in1l11unity fronl pun-
ishInent. Not only this, but trial ,vas equivalent to
amnesty; the jury's verdict ,vas the general pardon
that consigned to oblivion past offences. This is no
random statement; the fact is fully substantiated by

DISTORTED J"C"STICE. 317

the criminal statistics of the time. Says the Herald
of July 4th:

" It is now fourteen months since the district court went into existence,
and during the period from April 20, 1850, to )Iay 23, 18.31, the whole
number of persons committed for trial at that court amounted to one hundred
and eighty-four. It is a startling fact that of this number but nine remain
now in custody, pa)'ing the penalty of their offences. Seven have been dis-
charged by the grand jury, stx: have died, and two have been pardon
d.
Besides these nine some few others of the one hundred and eighty-four are
in prison awaiting trial; but of the whole number. nine only are in custody
under sentence. Forty have been admitted to bail, and doubtless will never
again be heard of. Sixty-one have been acquitted and discharged by order
of the court, and twenty-one have escaped and have not been retaken. "

Petty and poor offenders only were punished. Able
counsel ,vas secured by money, false ,vitnesses ",yere
suborned, and judges and jailers made lenient. I do
not mean to say that all officials, nor the half of them,
,v ere open to briber
r. There were some as pure
judges on the bench then as now. Yet money, if not
directly, then indirectly, ,,"'ould buy acquittal or pardon.
Looseness and generality characterized Jaw proceed-
ings. ::\Ioney",yould impanel a jury favorable to the
accused; if not at the first, then- the case would be
postponed from time to time, until characters suited
to the emergency of the case could be installed as
jurors. .L
ll the technicalities of court procedure
were employed for the acquittal of the accused.
Criminal cases "Tere held in abeyance until witnesses
could be spirited a,vay. So that criminals and all
those "Tho lived by crime, either as its defenders or
prosecutors, ,vere from the very nature of the case
opposed to any interference on the part of the people.
Then there ,vere the higher classes of various
grades ,vho opposed the vigilance rno"\ement from
principle. From their youth they had been imbued
by precept and example ,vith the importance of
forms, until the essence of things had beconle second-
ary. .And as ,veIl might ,ve look for ,vater to refrain
from seeking its level, as that class-bias, and party-

318 VIGILAXCE ADJ\II
ISTRATION OPPOSED.

bia
, and the bias of education, even in lninds learned
and discriminating, should lea ve opinion untram-
melled. I t is so easy to think ourselves honest and
intelligent in our beliefs where interest and pride of
opinion are at stake, that \ve should condemn only
'v here we are willing to be condemned.
In my dealings ,vith the la\v and order party I
hope I shall do theln no injustice. That I shall not
be influenced by feeling I an1 sure, for I entertain no
anilnosity toward them, or anyone of them. I have
many friends and not a single enelny in their ranks;
and while I ,vould not ,villingly ,vound the feelings
of any, I deem it IllY duty, here as every,vhere,
plainly to speak the truth as it comes to me-else I
cannot write.
Pet nalnes \vere given the opposition by the appre-
ciative people, who in this manner often come nearest
the true character of a Inan or measure. They ,vere
playfully called 'lav{ and disorder party,' 'la,v and
lnurder party.' The law party ,vas indeed without
order, and the order party without law; one ,vas "law-
less, but loving order; the other full of la\v, but lack-
ing order. To one of the judges of the supreme court
was given the sobriquet' Mammon,' and to another,
, Gamrllon.'
Several cases of poisoning came up about this time,
\v hich, from their nature and the inability of the
courts to reach them, called forth the folloV\Ting fro1l1
the editor of the Picayune, the 13th of June:

"To know that such a transaction occurs in the heart of the city, and is
let pass without examination, without investigation of any sort, is suffi-
cient of itself to drive an outraged and injured people to the wildest acts
of desperation. Numbers of persons condemn the action of those who on
Tuesday night hung a wretch, guilty of arson and murder in one continent,
and of burglary, at least, in another. For our own part we regret that the
trial was conducted in secret, and by persons who were not delegated by the
people to act as jurors; but when either the law is so imperfect or the ad-
ministration of it so lax as to suffer such deeds as the two recorded above to
be perpetrated, without net merely punishment, but investigation; when it
is known that within the past twelve months fifty-four murders have been

THE BRODERICK CRE'Y.

319

committed in San Francisco, we cannot wonder that honest men should be
driven into taking the law into their own hands, into constituting themselves
judges and jurors, and protecting themselves, when the law fails t.o do it, by
executing summarily persons detected in the coIIlID.ission of crime. .A great
outcry has been made about the danger of secret societies acting in the
manner in which the Committee of Vigilance did on Tuesday night. Certain
timorous gentlemen seem to fear that they themselves. though guiltless of
crime, will be suddenly hurried off some dark night to a lonely place in
Happy'.... alley, and without a. chance to spæk to friend or family be choked
to death by
Ir Samuel Brannan. Certain legal gentlemen, with an acute-
ness for which they are remarkable whenever their interests are endangered,
encouraged this belief; and the consequences are that a matter which should
have bepn dropped at once has been kept in agitation for several days.
The good effect which the lynching might ha'
e had on the rogues and
villains around town will all be dissipated, and the murderer and burglar
will walk around more daring than ever when they know that to the
sympathies of the scoundrelly they can unite the folly of a large portion
of the honest citizens. For our own part we do not stand in any very great
fear of
lr Brannan; we are inclined, too, to think :\lr Ward quite a gentle-
manly and quiet personage;
Ir Battelle we don't consider a desperado; nor,
in fact, in reading over the names of the Vigilance Committee do we see one
man who is quite as bad as Windred, Stuart, or Adams. In fact they are all
pretty decent fellows. Neither do we fear that this Committee is going to
prove an inquisition in the city, nor its members decemvirs. Such a. thing
will never be attempted here, and if it were, the gentlemen composing the
Vigilant Committee would be the first indignantly to frown it down. 'Ye
have no fear that an honest man is going to be hanged at midnight by them;
. and we confess the weakness of going to sleep with å. greater feeling of security
from the knowledge that some of the members may be under the 'Window.
The secret society which is dangerous here is not this association of respect-
able citizens, but the organized band of
ydney scoundrels who meet at the
foot of Telegraph Hill and in back alleys near Pacific street. These men we
dread; and we have some little fear, likewise, of those men who make a rule
of standing between justice and the people on nearly every occasion. "

There "'"as a strong opposition to the organization
of 1851, of ,,
hich Broderick and his political retainers
,vere chief; but so secret and so rapid \\
ere the move-
ments of the Committee that the men of la,,, and
order did not know when or where to strike. Had
it been known ho,,
few were act.ually engaged in the
execution of Jenkins he would probabl)T have been
wrested from them by" the officers of the la "r and the
movement crushed in its incipiency. Unlike the
more substantial and sedate organization of 1856,

:3
3 VIGILAXCE
\.Dl\IIXISTItATION OPPOSED.

,vhose strength lay in its nloral and intellcctua]
solidity, the 111aterial conlposing the COlll1nittee of
1851 ,vas S0111e\V hat nlercurial, though ,vily enough
to do its ,york and talk of the consequences after-
,yard.
David C. Broderick in the early part of his career
was a professional politician of the New York type,
rough and self-reliant; honest as a rule in his in-
tentions, but often erroneous in his opinions. Born
in vVashington in 1819, he ,vas taken by his father}
a stone-cutter, to N e\v York in 1825, where, ,vhen
gro,vn, he kept a drinking-shop, ran ,vith a fire-engine,
and nlanipulated primaries. Arrived in California
in 1849, ,vithout education, but ,vith nlarked ability,
he became a hard student and let fly his ambition,
\V hich carried him at length to the United States
senate. Possessed of Inany objectionable qualities,
he V\Tas not without redeeming traits. His ambition
was laudable, his perseverance indonlitable, and his
habits exemplary.
On the 9th of July a meeting ,vas held at the
house of the Saint Francis Hook and Ladder Com-
pany, ,vith Broderick, l\;IcHenry, Rice, Randolph,
and Duane as speakers. Resolutions 'v ere submitted
'v hich \vere to be presented to the city officials for
their signatures, pledging the signers, so far as lay in
their pOV\Ter, to prevent the infliction of punishment
,vithout due process of la,v, rallying to the support
of the threatened, and defending him with their
Ii ves.
At the autumn elections an independent ticket was
nominated by those ,vho regarded party distinctions
in the political contests of this coast as obsolete and
foreign to the interests of the cOlnnlonwealth. This
movenlent \vas charged by their opponents upon
111embers of the Vigilance Comlnittee, ,vho by thus
elnploying their organization for the furtherance of
their po\ver \vere said to be but fulfilling their chief est
aim entertained from the beginning.

POLITICS DECLIXED.

3:::!1

eyer \yas a statement more absolutely foreign to
the fact. All the interests and instincts of the cla

cOlnposing the vigilance association ,vere oppo
ed to
nleddling in politics. )Ioney was \vhat they ,yanted;
protection for their property, and that safety for
themselyes ,,
hich would enable them to increa
e it.
It 'ya
a lack of that ,yhich ,vas now charo'ed upon
them-interest in the affairs of the aove
nnlent-
that had brought all this trouble up
n then1. If
from the beginning the members of the Vigilance
Committee had done their duty as citizens, and yoted
honest and efficient men into office, there would haye
been no need of their organizing a special cru
ade
against crime. ..L
S it was, they utterlJ repudiated
the act and intention charged. At a meeting held
the 26th of .L
ugust the COlnmittee refused to recoo'-
nize the ticket in question, or any other ticket, a
d
resolyecl forever to abstain fronl any participation in
politics.
" "Thereas," said they, "it is ,vith deep regret that
we learn that a political ticket for the cODling county
election has been put forth pUI'Horting to emanate
. from certain members of this association; and be-
lie,-ing it ruinous to the objects of our formation for
us to recognize any ticket of a political character,
resolved, that this Comn1Îttee disaYo"
all participa-
tion in the formation of the said ticket, and ,,
ish it
distinctly understood that they ,viII in no manner
lend it their countenance or support as the Com-
mittee of ,-rigilance."
The 18th of June an inflammatory handbill ,vas
posted about the streets, calling an anti
yigilance 111eet-
in()' the follo,yin a Sunda"\T afternoon. It is relnarkable
ð L) J
neither for its logic, good taste, nor truthfulness:
")IASS )IEETL"\'"G TO SCSTAIX LA 'Y A...'\D ORDER.

" The people of the city and county of San Francisco, republicans one and
all, are called upon to choose now, ere it is too late, which they will serve-the
law and order power of our city, or the dictators anù anarchists who have
lately disgracecl our city by their lawless and criminal proceedings, anù are
POI'. TGID", YOLo 1. 21

3."''-")

VIGILANCE AD
IINISTRATION OPPOSED.

yet endeavoring to assume unlimited and unlawful power in the punishment
of criminals, Even now they are going from door to door, from city to city,

oliciting desperate men to join their secret Committee, with a view to transfer
the criminal jurisdiction from our legally constituted tribunals into their own
irresponsible hands, thus subverting all government, all law, all justice, as
made and provided by the United States and our own state constitution.
'Yill ye, lovers of law, and order, and social compact, longer tolerate such men
in their career of 111urdcr and subversion of the laws, among whom are those
guilty of the very crimes they profpss to punish? Shall it be said that our
police is not of sufficient force to arrest these murderers, and our city officials
shall wink at their outrages, thus perjuring themselves? Shall we tolerate,
in this enlightened age, a Danton, a Robespierre, or a }1'ouché, and all the
paraphernalia of a secret inquisition for the suppression of our laws and
criminal courts? Then to the rescue of law and order from the hands of a
secret inquisition, every good citizen, and without further invitation turn out
eJl mns.'Ie to a public meeting to be holden on the plaza, Sunday next, June 22d,
at three and a half o'clock, P. l\f., and there join in the general opposition to
the acts and further operations of midnight murderers; and let the civilized
world know that we can and will support law and order, and that our social
compact shall be as much observed by the wealthy criminal, public robber,
and law subverters, as by the lowly thief.

"MANY CITIZENS."

It is said that the mayor interposed his influence
to suppress this Inoven1ent, on the ground that no
benefit would corne of it, but that on the contrary
Ruch a proceeding would breed only greater confusion.

"In the official report," says the Herald of August 5th, "of the pro-
ceedings of the Young :Men's Democratic Association at their meeting on
Saturday evening, we find the following: '
lr Randolph offered the following
resolutions, which were seconded but lost:
" 'Rp8olved, That a true democrat must hold the constitution and the laws
of his country inviolably sacred, and scrupulously respect the forms of legal
l}l"Oceedings, whereby life, liberty, or property is to be effected. That we
will not give our support to any candidate for any office who individually or
as a member of any association has systematically and with premeditation
abridged any of the chartered liberties of the citizen, and especially who has
resisted or evaded the great writ of habeas corpus, or has hcld persons to
answer for capital or other infamous crimes, otherwise than on presentment
and indictment by a grand jury, or has denied them the assistance of counsel
or the right of trial by jury, which the constitution of our state declares
shall he secured to all and remain inviolable forever; or who has counselled
or approved, aided or abetted any other person in doing any of these things. '
"This places the question fairly before the people, and we wish nothing
better than that the issue may be made in the next election. The Star says
the resolutions were lo
;t, hut we hope the association will revive them, auù

THE )IA YOn.
PE_-\KS.

3
3

either repudiate or ayow e
plicitIy the principles thl'Y contain. Some of the
gentlemen on the democratic state ticket, among them )11' Heydenfeldt, the
candidate for judge of the supreme court, have approved and abetted the
course of the Vigilance Committee. '"\e desire now a distinct avowal on the
part of the leaders of the J.cmocratic party whether those gentlcmen are to
be blackballed by any porti)n of their own pdl'ty at t:lC next election for the
expression of their opinions. "

The mayor of the city issues hiB pronuncialuento in
terms follo,ving:

"TO THE CITIZEXS OF SA...
FRA...,CISCO.

"We have arrived at an important crisis in the chil an,1 social condition
and prospects of our city. A voluntary association of men has been formed,
under peculiar bonds to each other,
nd assuming most extraordinary and
irresponsible powers, and has undertaken to institute extra-juàicial 1.11" 1-
ceedings in forms not known to the laws. Thi
association claims an,l e
-
ercises the right to inflict penalties upon those adjudg
d by them guilty of
crime, eyen to the l,enaltyof death, and has publicly and boldly Ï1:9icted that
penalt
,- in two instan
es.
"They claim and exercise the right of domiciliary ,isit
, without any
accoun
ability, of a character not known under any other t!lan inquisitorial
governments. The great and 8'\cred writ of habecf-S corpus has been rendered
by the:n ineffectual, and the aathorityof the highest tribur..al of the state
disregarded. The circumstances in which the authorities ar
placed in con-
sequence st::em to demand of me, as the constituted chief magistrate, some
. action by which the views and purposes of the city gO\-ernment, over "Which
I have bepn called to preside, may be indicated to the citizens. t'> the country,
anf} to the world. The people of the "United States. of whom we are proud
to be considered a part, ha,e always attributed their eminence above almost
any other people in the scale of freedom and security in their rights to the
fact that they liye under a government of la"\\ s of their own yoluntary adop-
tion. The people of California have taken perhaps a more cOl1spicuous place
than those of any of the sister states, nnder a full recognition of that repub-
lican medium of puhlic authority and of common protection. Tbe several
departments of the only government which any man among us can possibly
acknowledge have been created by the constitution and law
. to which you
as well as the puhlic officers have given a common assent. These departments
have been committed to the administration of men taken from among yonr-
seh-es, and they have entered upon their tnlsts, doubtless, with a firm reliance
upon the loyalty of their fellow-citizens to the constitution :md laws for a
steady support in the exercise of their respective function::;. The obligation
of such a loyalty on the part of the people is m:cruestionably as imperath-e upon
them as any of the obligations of the laws can be upon those who are in-
trusted 'with their public administration; and the violation of obligation on
the one side is as disastrous to the community as the abuse or per\'er
ion of
official station can be on the other. The idea that any defects ill the la\\, or

32-1

VIGILANCE
ill
IINISTRATIO:X OPPOSED.

any incompetency of its execution, can be remedied by yoluntary associations
of citizens, assuming a superiority to the laws, is not only preposterous, hut
implies an abrogation of all law, and resolves society into a state of perfect
anarchy. The result is inevitably the same, ha-wever intelligent may be the
minds, l)ure the motive, or temporarily beneficial the acts of those who become
so associated. In a community like ours, where the institutions of govern.
ment have but just been established, any combinations of citizens for purposes
not authorized by law, and whose proceedings are not controlled by law or
subservient to the support of constituted authority, can have no other than
an insurrectionary tendency throughout the commonwealth, and must to au
absolute certainty inflict disgrace upon us in the estimation of our country-
men in other parts of the Union, and ruin the confidence which it is of first
necessity to our prosperity to secure throughout the commercial world. \Vith
these views I feel impelled, by the strongest sense of official duty, and by
every consideration for our common welfare and public character, to call upon
all citizens to withdraw from such association, and to unite in a common
effort to SUPPOIt the laws and to sustain a prompt and energetic administra-
tion of them in their proper application and action. In addition, I deem the
present a proper occasion to announce, in the most distinct terms, that I shall
not shrink from a prompt discharge of the duties which the statutes of the
state and the ordinances of the city have made imperative upon me; and that
there may be no misapprehension in respect to what these duties may be, I
have to call the attention of all citizens to the provisions of the act to regu-
late proceedings in criminal cases, chapter iv. I, however, appeal to the good
sense and deliberate judgment of my fellow-citizens to relieve me, and the
other public functionaries of the city, by their common submission to public
order, fronl the necessity of any application of the requirements of that act.
"C. J. BRENIIAM, },[ayor.

"Mayor's Office, July 11th."

Frolll the report of the grand jury for the special
July term I extract the follo,ving:

"There is another subject to which our attention has been directed by the
presiding judge, in his able charge, which has occupied much of our time and
serious consideration. It is well known that a large portion of our best and
most worthy citizens have associated themsl?lves together, and without the
intervention of our legal and constituted tribunals entered upon the investiga-
tion of criminal charges against several l)ersons, and executed sentence of
con(lemnation and death. "
hell we recall the provisions of the constitution
of our government, which it is the bounùen duty of every citizen to support
and maintain, that no person shall he held to answer for a capital or other-
wise infamous crime unlcss on a presentmcnt or inùictment of a grand jury,
1101' he l1eprived of lifc, lihcrty, or propcrty without due process of law, and
1iwl also the same proyision and languagc in our state constitution, we feel
cOllyiucC'd, tlouhly con\"Ìnced, whiie wc helic\'e t
lC mcmbcrs of that associa-
tiûn haxc becn govcrncd Ly no improper motives, that their proccedings are

THE GRL-\.ND JURY.

32;)

unlawful and in violation of the fundament.'lllaw of tlle land. We fear, too,
the powerful example of those proceedings may engender a spirit of insubor-
dination, or afford a pretext to other individuals or associations here or else-
where in our state, who may not be governed by the same honest moth-es, or
restrained by the same careful investigation of facts, for the perpetration of
deeds of violence, which may lead to anarchy and abuses dangerous to the
lives and property of citizens. When we recall the delays and the inefficient,
we believe that with much truth it may be said the corrupt administra-
tion of the law, the incapacity and indifference of those who are its sworn
guardians and ministers, the frequent anù unnecessary postponement of im-
portant trials in the district court, the disregard of duty and impatience
while attending to perform it manifested by some of our judges ha\ing crimi-
nal jurisdiction, the many notorious villains who have gone unwhipped of
justice, we are led to believe that the members of that association have been
governed by a feeling of opposition to the manner in which the law has been
administered and those who have administered it rather than a determina-
tion to disregard the law itself. Under institutions so eminently popular as
those under which we live, the power of correcting all these abuses is with
the people themselves. If our officers are unfit for the stations they occupy,
if the laws are not faithfully executed, if an arraigned criminal procures his
own friends to be placed on the jury that tries him, where is the fault, and
where is the remedy? If tbose of our citizens who are most interested in
haxing good and wholesome laws, and in seeing them purely administered,
will not giye sufficient attention to our elections to procure proper and sober
legislators, judicial and other officers, and neglect to obey the manJa,tes of our
courts when summoned as jurors and witnesses, as has been too often the case,
can they expect to see justice prevail? And is it not in the neglect of their
" duties in these important particulars they may find the true fountains from
whence have sprung many of the evils we have suffered? The grand jurors,
believing, whilst they deplore thei.r acts, that the association styling them-
selves the Vigilant Committee, at a great personal sacrifice to themselves, have
been influenced in their actions by no personal or private malice, hut for the
best interests of the whole, and at a time, too, when all other means of pre-
venting crime and bringing criminals to deserved punishment had failed, here
dismiss the matter as among those peculiar results of circumstances that
sometimes startle communities, which they can neither justify nor by a pre-
8entment effect any benefit to indidduals or the country, and with the
assurance that there is a determination on the part of all \VeIl disposed citizens
to correct the ahuses referred to by selecting proper officers to take the places
of those who have violated their trusts, and by performing each his part in the
administration of the laws. ',ben this is done, the axe will have been laiel
at the root of the tree, the proper remedy applied for the correction of the
grievous evils our city and county ha\-e so long suffered, and there will be no
necessity for tbe further action of tbat Committee. To them we are indebted
for much valuable infornlation and many important witnesses."

In ans\ver to this COll1es Levi Parsons, judge of the
district court, and asks the court of sessions to strike

3:!ß VIGILAKCE AD
IIKISTRATIO:N OPPOSED.

out that portion of the report ,vhich refors to the (1iR-
trict court. In his 111otion the learned judge indulged
in several assertions, to \vhich the jury took exceptions
in the follo\ving terms:

., The undersigned, members of the late grand jury, deem it due to them-
selves to COtTcct a few errors, wilful or otherwise, of the honorable Lcvi
Parsons, judge of the fourth judicial district, made by him in his motion
l)efore the court of sessions, to strike out certain portions of said grand jury's
l'eport. The assertion that the names of but two witnesses were endorsed
on tlD back of the indictment of Hall and Spiers is correct. The assertion
1ihat but two were examined, and that the jury had listened to outside evi-
dew is false; and they believe the honorable judge knew it to be so when
he uttered it, it haying been eXplained to him l)y one of the jurors, previous
to the visit of the honorable judge to Sacramento, that by some mista.ke-
easily made in the press of business-the names of the other witnesses were
accidentally omitted. He also stated that he had receiyeù a note from the
grand jury, disapproving of a certain or certain jurymen then trying the
above case. This statement is wilfully and unqualifiedly false, no com-
munication having been sent the honorable judge by the grand jury, either
otficially or individually."

The court of sessions denied the motion of the
distriet juòge holding that the grand jury possessed
the undoubted po,ver to exarnine the conduct of public
officers ånd to express their sentiments on all public
affairs.
lillmediately after the execution of Stuart a fresh
charge was given the grand jury by the court of
sessiont;. The charge fro111 \vhich I extract the fol-
lo\ving was 111ade by J uJge Campbell, an able and
upright man. And \vhat he
ays is true so Ütr as it
goes. He thro,vs off a 8eries of general proposition8,
but hardly touches the real points at it'sue. 1'0 charge
the people \vith Inurder \yas sÜnply judicial 11lUd-
ilinging; and to 8peak of liberty, constitution, anù
legal safeguards in the connection was but a little
lllore of that political fustian of 'v hich the people
\vere already too tired.

"The court deem it theÍr duty to call your attention to an event of the
most startlin,'.:{ and fearful character. \Ve are informed that, yesterday, 3.
I)CrSOll by the name of Stuart was taken by an organized association to the

Iarket-street whad, in this city, and there hanged by them; that a large force

C:aARGS OF .JCDG-E CA)IPBELL.

ó)-
tJ....,

guarde 1 t!lC w
1:1"f to prc,.cnt thc snccess of any attemrt which might l)c
made by the public officers or citizens to "indicate the law and rescue the
deceased. This outrage took place in the open day. It is wholly without
excuse or justification. The question has now arisen whether the la\\s maùe
by the constituted authorities of the state are to be obeyed and executed
or whether secret societies are to frame and execute laws for the government
of this country. and to exercise supreme power oyer the lives, liberty. and
property of our citizens; whether we are now to abandon all those principles
which lie at the foundation of American law, and are the birthright of every
citizen, which from the earliest period of
\merican history up to the present
time have e,-cr been cherished by the good, the wise, and the great. Are the
people willing to throwaway the safeguard
which the experience of age'3 has
proved necessary, to trample the laws and constitution underfoot, to declare
that law is
nconsistent "ith liberty, and to place life, liberty, property, and
reputation at the mercy of a secret society? If such be the disposition of
the people; if the
pani5h inf}uisition is to be reviv"ed here, with all and more
than all its former terrors; if without, or in defiance of, all legal process, by
the mere order of a committee, men are to be aITe
ted, secretly tried, and
suddenly executed; if the tap of a bell is to be the signal for hundreds of
armed men to a::;semble in::;tantly together, and to execute, in open day, thei.r
unlawful and trea
onable designs, it is time for eyery man who ,alues hi..;
life, safety, and honor, to shake the dust from his feet and seek out some new
home where he may hope to enjoy the hlessings of liberty under the la"\\".
But if, on the other hand, we have not quite forgotten the principles upon
which our government is formed; if we believe that the constitution and laws
of our country should be reverenced and obeyed, and that public order and
tranquillity should be preserved; if we believe that personð accused of crime

bould ha,-e an open. public, and impartial trial by a fair jury of lmpreju-
diced citizens, and should have a reasonable opportunity of making their de-
fence, of employing counsel and summoning witnesscs; if we believe that the
gooù name and reputation of our citizens is to be }u'otected from a secret
scrutiny, where accusations are made under the influence of fear, Ly person::)
of questionable character; if we believe that our houses are to be protected
from unreasonable searches, without color of authority, it is our solemn and
hounden duty to take immediate and energetic measures for the Imppression
of the spirit of reckless violence" hich oven-ules the la" s and sets the con-
stitution at defiance. "-hen
'ou first assembled, the court called your atten-
tion to the unlawful execution of a man namecl.Jenkins by an association of
citizens. "\\T e con
idered "Lhat act as greatly palliated by the circumstances
under which it ,vas committed; that the laws had been defective. and that
perhaps there had Leen some laxity in their administration; that the county
had no sufficient jail for the detention of prisoners; that crime had increased
to a fearful extent, and that a portion of the citizens, deeming that the la,-.;-
afforded them no protection, had ill that instance undertaken to execute what
they concei,-ed to he summary justice. in violation of the law. but with a sincel'e
de
ire to advance the public interests. 'Ye further stated that the law had
Leen amcnùeù in many r
spects, so að to
ecure the speeùy trial and C011-
,iction of offenllers, awl in SOl'...L
l'_:., Üh

'ea::'e the mea
urc of their

3
S

VIGIL
-L
CE AD
IIXISTRATION OPPOSED.

punishment; that the county jail had been put in a proper condition for the
safe-keeping of prisoners; and we expressed the hope that no further attempts
would be made to interfere with the legally organized tribunals of justice, or
to '''Test from them their just powers and attributes. From the time of your
assembling the court, the grand jury and all the officers have been actively
and constantly engaged in the performance of their duties. At the time when
they were making every possible effort to dispose of the criminal business of
the county, and when the court was in actual session and in the performance
of its duties, an association of persons, of armed and organized men, have
undertaken to trample on the constitution, defy the laws, and assume un-
limited power over the lives of the community. There is no excuse or pallia-
tion for the deed; it is a gross and glaring outrage; it seems to have been
done for the express purpose of hurrying on a collision between the courts,
and all fond of law and order on the one side, and the association referred to
on the other. If the deceased was guilty of any crime, he could have been
immediately indicted, and within a week, or at most ten days, tried, con-
victed, and sentenced. Public justice could have been vindicated without
infringement of public law. Every person who in any manner acted, aided,
abetted, or assisted in taking Stuart's life, or counselled or encouraged his
death, is undoubtedly guilty of murder. It is your sworn and solemn duty,
which you cannot evade without perjuring yourselves, carefully and fully to
investigate this matter, and to do your share toward bringing the guilty to
punishment. Upon your fearless and faithful discharge of the sacred trust
confided to you depends in a great measure the future peace, order, and
tranq uillity of the community."

C0111menting on ,vhich the Herald of July 14th
says:

" We would fain forbear commenting on Judge Campbell's charge to the
grand jury on the execution of Stuart, but its judicial character gives to his
speech on that occasion a gravity and importance that must render any
erroneous views he has taken exceedingly unfortunate. It would take much
of cxtrayagance to lessen in the smallest ùegree the great respect entertained
for :ßlr Campbell by his fellow-citizens. In addition to the warm personal
esteem with which he is regarded, the most implicit confidence is reposed in
his official integrity anù zeal; but in this charge we regret to say that he has
assume(l positions wholly unwarranted by any legal necessity, and wanting
that equitable and common-sense regard to the exigencies of society which
in every free country should mould and fashion the action of the judiciary.
The judge is reported to have stigmatized the execution as an outrage, with-
ou t excuse or palliation, and every person who in any manner acted, aided,
abetted, or assisted, or counselled, or encouraged, as undoubtedly guilty of
murder. 'Ve remember in this city many instancE's within the last year
wherein good worthy citizens, who had never offended against the law, and
were useful members of society, were foullyml1rdered for gold; we remember
when Captain Jarvis, than whom a more manly, honest, kind-hearted lUau
lle"er lived, was struck down by the knife of the assassin at his own door,

JUDGE CA)IPBELL CRITICISED.

329

with his infant in his arms and his wife by his side; the murderers "Were
never stigmatized by the presiding judge with half the rigor exhibited in this
charge of Judge Campbell against the Vigilance Committee for the public
execution, after a. fair trial, of a. desperado whose life from childhood haù
been a long series of bold anù successful crimes. X ow we "Will take these
two homicides, phrasing them legally, and we ask Judge Campbell if by any
process of reasoning he can satisfy any rational being that one is equally cul-
pable with the other? Again, the severest punishment which could be inflicted
on Stuart was death. The punishment of murder is death. But crimes de-
serying an equal punishment should be of equal atrocity; therefore, in Judge
Campbell's view, there is no difference in guilt between the member of the
Vigilance Committee, who never committed a crime in his life, but who was
present at the trial and execution of Stuart, and Stuart himself, whose soul
was callous with a thousand crimes. Can he prevail upon any grand jury to
entertain so extraordinary a proposition? But this is absolutely nothing to
the inconsistency which follows. "l e believe there are between eight and
nine hundred men in the Committee. Besides these there were at a low cal-
culation two thousand five hundred persons present at the execution. It is
quite safe to say that three thousand persons witnessed the occurrence. These
three thousand persons did not make an effort to arrest it, did not protest
against it, did not by voice or gesture or word or deed oppose it. They are,
therefore, accessories, and according to the judge's charge undoubtedly guilty
of murder. He adds that it is the sworn duty of the grand jury, a duty they
cannot evade without perjury, to do their part toward bringing those persons
to punishment-that is, to indict them for murder. If, then, it be the
duty of the jury to indict them for murder, and if they be guilty, as the
juùge solemnly pronounces them to be, it is not for the idle ceremony of an
indictment and trial, it is with a view to their punishment, that the grand
, jury are instructed to bring in an indictment against those three thousand
persons, and the punishment of murder is death; therefore it is the punish-
ment by death of three thousand citizens which the judge's charge in\.oIves)
or, omitting the spectators, of nine hundred men composing the Committee,
and all for such a man as Stuart, a thing of course never contemplated by so
kind-hearted and benevolent a gentleman as Judge Campbell, who, apart from
the discharge of his judicial functions, estimates, we have no doubt, as highly
as anybody the beneficial results of the Committee's action. The judge could
not then have charged the jury with the intention of havin3 inflicted on these
nine hundred men the punishment of death; and therefore his charge, so far,
could Dot have meant anything. But is it a fit time to make charges that
mean nothing, replete, too, with unmeasured denunciations of a large body of
citizens? \\?e have not space to take up all the points in the judge's charge,
but passing by minor things we come to this sentence: 'It seems to have
been done for the express purpose of hurrying on a collision between the
courts and all fond of law and order, on the one side, and the association re-
ferred to on the other.' And a collision would have in,?olved most probably
the loss of many valuable lives; and it is of this monstrous crime the judge
accuses the Committee! Can he entertain the belief that a purpose so fiendish
wonlù have been coldly detennined upon by nine hunJred of our most esti-

330

YIGlLANCE AD:.\lINISTRATION OPPOSED.

mablc citizens? But the judge charges the jUIythat such seemed to be their
intention, and according to the order of the charge the indictment would be for
wilful n1urder, with intent to commit a breach of the peace. \Vhat shall we
say of this charge but that we reject it as apocryphal, and that we must
believe the report to be inaccurate and unjust. After all, let us ask in all
candor what moral wrong has yet been done by the Committee? Society has
been freed by death from two pests who made a. livelihood by the death and
robbery of the citizens. Four men who kept places of rendezvous for mur-
derers, burglars, and incendiaries have been sent out of the country. Has
society lost by the occurrences? Is there anything c01Ulected with the lives
of those executed which can excite sympathy, or of those banished to cause
regret for their exile? The lives of those two men were long since forfeited
to the law, and any citizen would have been justified in killing them who
had detected them in the perpetration of any of the hundred crimE's their
han<.Ì::; were stained with. Had the law been administered properly they
would have long since died hy the hands of the executioner. \Vhat moral
wrong, then, has been committed? The law has been violated, it is answered.
Ay, the law; but the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,
and the citizen is not made for the law, but the law for the citizen; and when-
ever the law becomes an empty name, has not the citizen the right to supply
its deficiency? "That 1110re shall we say but that, though differing on every
point from the views belLI by Judge Campbell in his charge, we nevertheless
would not breathe a syllable to shake the confidence that is justly reposed in
him, and which he has already earned by his learning, industry, and in-
tegrity, and his freedom from all vices, faults, and defects which disfigure the
character of other members of the judiciary."

H. S. Bro,vn, associate justice of the court of ses-
sions, vie\ved the n1atter in a n10st sensible light. The
day after the execution of certain criminals by the
Vigilance Con1111ittee he sent in his resignation, and
for the follo"\ving pertinent reasons:

'" Notwithstanding scores of criminals have been tried, convicted, and sen-
tenced, and the criminal calendar nearly cleared, yet the people, without the
form of law, arrest, tIY, and execute their fellow-men. Twice, yea thrice, has
this been repeated while the court was doing all in its power to arrest crime
and bring offen<1ers to justice. On each of these occasions the cause assigned
has been the inefficiency and weakness or corruption of the courts. Now if
the people have lost all respect for those who !ill judicial places, believe them
corrupt, capable of being seduced by glittering gold, or if they expect that
courts, acting unJer the solemnity of an oath, can wilfully violate the first
principles of law, and disregard testimony, then I hold that it is the duty of
t
lO members of the \'arious courts to resign their position, that new ones may
be placed in their stead in whom the people have confidence, or elect those
who have no conscientious scruples in punishing those who may be charged
with crime, \\+ether cUllyicted legally anù in accordance with the tes
illlony or

GOVER
OR
IcDOUGAL.

331

not. After the scenes of yesterday, coupled with the avowals as to the cause
as they appear in our public prints, I would not longer occupy the position I
have had for the untold wealth of California. I trust, sir, the storm-cloud
may pass, that order and harmony may reign; but I tremble lest indiscretion
plunge us into scenes of bloodsheù and discord. "

John
IcDougal, governor of the state, being duly
informed of the condition of affairs, in conformity ,,
ith
his duty issued a proclaillation "\\arning all good citi-
zens to abstain from unlawful acts and froln unla,yful
combinations. But upon examination he seemed satis-
fied that the "
ork proposed by the Committee would
be beneficial to public interests, and that an armed op-
position ,,
ould be harnlful; and it "
as so agreed ,yith
the executive that the ,york should go on, and that he
,youlcl interpose no active opposition on the part of
the state so long as the operations of the Committee

hould be confined to the sphere indicated, unless some-
thing then unforeseen should compel him to adopt a
different course, in

hich event he ,vould gi,
e thell1
due notice.
.....-\.ccordingly, throughout the active e
istence of
the first COIllIDittee, the governor properly nlain-
. taiued the attitude of n0111inal opposition only, thu

to ID2.intain the dignity of the state, but found no
occasion to resort to active measures against the
Vigilance COlnmittee.
The governor ,yas severely reprobated as a generally
bad character by the press and people both of the
cities and of the country. Yet so far as his official
oj
acts and attitude to,,"ard the \Tigilance Committee are
concerned, I cannot see ,y herein hú overstepped the
bounds of lllagisterial propriety, unless, indeed, it ,,"'as
,,?hen he approved in "ords of the doings of the asso-
ciation and bade thelll God-speed.
I t was not, ho,vever, his pretended opposition to
the vigilance movement ,,
hich ,va
contenlptuously
regarded, but the ease ,yith "\\hich he pardoned
notorious offenders, convicted after great labor and
expcn:se.

332

VIGILANCE AD)II
ìSTRArION OPPOSED.

F ollo,villg is the governor's nlanifesto:

"EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, VALLEJO, .July 21, 1851.
"To the People of the State of Oalifornia:
"It has been represented to me that organizations of citizens styling them-
selves vigilance committees have been formed in various portions of the
state and assume powers inconsistent with the existing laws, and serious ap-
prehensions are entertained of collision between the constituted authorities
and the citizens thus organized; and it becomes my duty to take some step
by which so great a calamity may be averted. It is earnestly hoped that a
few simple and practical suggestions may serve to secure this desirable end.
No security of life or property can be guaranteed except the constitution and
laws are observed. Let these be forcibly dispensed with, their sacredness
violated, and submission to their authority refused, and we are reduced to a
state of anarchy more dangerous in ita tendencies and probable results than
the worst laws under our system can possibly be, no matter how corruptly
administered. "\Ve are just entering upon our career; our character is not yet
formed, and people from all climes and all countries are flocking to our shores.
It.then becomes us to take no unadvised step which shall retard our progress
now or prejudice our claims to a high and commanding stand hereafter.
But more than this, we owe it to ourselves to impress upon the strangers who
have settled amongst us, unacquainted with and perhaps entertaining preju-
dices unfavorable to the practical operation of our peculiar institutions, that
our government is a government of laws, and that though they may some-
times prove inadequate, sometimes operate oppressively or be administered
corruptly, the remedy is not in a destruction of the entire system, but is to
be secured by a peaceful resort to those constitutional means which are
wisely afforded to reform whatever abuses may exist and correct whatever
errors may have been committed. The occurrences of the past three or four
'weeks, the apprehension of individuals within the jurisdiction of legally con-
stituted tribunals, their trial, sentence, and execution, without authority of
law, by a voluntary associD.tion of citizens, who thus virtually place them-
selves above and beyond all law except that prescribed by and for themselves,
will prove sufficiently prejudicial to our interests abroad, commercial and
oth
rwise, if such organizations, assuming such unquestionably dangerous
l)owers, were now dissolved; but if continued there is no calculating the ex-
tent of the injury which may result to us as a state. The dangerous tendencies,
in other respects, of organizations of the character under consideration, the
excitement produced in the public mind consequent upon their action, resist-
ance to the constituted authorities, which must almost inevitably result, and
threatened collisions betwep.n themselves and officers of the law in the execu-
tion of their duties, cannot but be appreciated and deprecated by every right-
thinking and patriotic citizen of the state, and need not, therefore, be dwelt
upon here. Whatever may have been the exigency heretofore existing,
l'equiring, or supposed to require, the adoption of extraordinary measures on
the part of the citizen, it has now happily in a great degree passed, and
f-uch measures should, on this account if on no other, be at once aba.ndoned.

THE HER
-\.LD'S REPLY.

333

...-\.nother criminal code, with more efficient provisions, attaching adequate
penalties to the commission of offences, and directing a more prompt and
effecti\?e administration of justice, has gone into operation. Courts are now
enabled to try, sentence, and execute as the offence deseITes; safe and secure
prison houses are being prorided, and the officers, there is reason to believe,
are reacly and anxious to discharge the hi
h duty imposed upon them by the
people. I cannot do less, therefore, than earnestly recommend to my fellow-
citizens everywhere throughout the state to aid in sustaining the law, for in
thi
is our only real and permanent security. Associations may be organized,
but they should be formed with the ",iew to aid and assist the officers of the
law in the execution of their duties, and act in concert with the civil authori-
ties to detect, arrest, and punish criminals. By pursuing this course much
good may, and undoubtedly will, be accomplished, and all the dangers which
threaten unlawful assumptions of power thus averted. Inefficiency will not
then secure impunity to crimes, nor dangerous criminals be permitted to go
unwhipped of justice. It is my sworn duty to see that the laws are executed,
and I feel assured that all good citizens will cordially cooperate with me in
its discharge.

"JOHS )IcDoUGAL, GoveT/wT."

On this the Herald of July 23d remarks:

"This communication is styled a proclamation by the democratic organ,
but we presume this to be a mistake. It doubtless was not intended as such
by the governor, as it bears none of the marks or signs of such a document,
except that it is rather weak and is dated from the executive department.
The suggestions, for any practical effect. are as harllÙess as a bread-pill, and
. being emanations of the eX2cutive mind they will dåubtless be received by
the people to whom they are addressed with respectful indifference accord-
ingly. "e are by no means disposed to find fault with the governor for
putting these suggestions on paper and publishing them. It is not every
governor who has sufficient strength of mind to enable him to resist the temp-
tation the occasion throws in his way of uttering half a column of "ise saw
and modern instance ad\ice; and the fact that the premises on which this
counsel is based are erroneous, or rather that the necessity urged for its utter-
ance is ima 6 inary, but renders its promulgation the more innocuous. The
letter is a very mild letter, and in its tenor pointless and Pickwickian as could
be desired. If all Governor
IcDou6al's official and unofficial acts are as in-
nocent as this epistle, he will go out of office a very popular governor indeed.
The governor, however, as we have said, falls into a grave mistake. He
alleges that apprehensions are entertained of a. collision between the consti-
tuted authorities and the citizens, and declares his suggestions are thrown
out with the \iew of a\'erting this calamity. 'Ve assure the governor that
such apprehensions are wholly groundless, and the authorities, if they enter-
tain them, may set themseh?es entirely at rest as to the occurrence of such a
catastrophe. The Vigilance Committee have avoided it from the commence-
ment. They have treated the writs and other process of the courts with
marked respect and deference. The officers of the law have been recei\.ed

:
34

vnHLANCE AD:\U
I
TRATIOK OPPOSED.

at the committee rooms with signal courtesy, and no interferencc has been
attempted with the culprits already in the hands of the judges. If any effort
has been made to produce a collision it has not been made by the Committee,
and should any yet be made and be sucessful, it will be without their instru-
mentality. But of such a result there is not the slightest probability: and
indeed scarcely a possibility. The moderation which has hitherto character-
ized the course of the Committee will still mark their progress to the end.
Their prudence in the past is the strongest guaranty for their prudence in the
future, and the band of criminals which infested our community being at
length broken up, the functions of the Committee will by degrees assume the
character not only of a detective police but also of an organized censorship
of the courts. "\Ve cannot believe, then, that the authorities will seek a col-
lision with the Committee, as there will be no pretext for such a course; and
both parties strenuously avoiding it, the governor will see that there exists
absolutely DO necessity for his suggestions. It is needless, therefore, to go into
the merits of his advice. One impression of the governor we desire to set
right. He says there is every reason to believe the judges are ready ana
anxious to discharge the high duty imposed on them by the people. This is
but partially correct. The community have every confidence in Judge Camp-
bell; they have none at all in Judge Parsons, and so of others. Let the
obnoxious judges resign the trust they have abused, and there will be no nc-
cessity thereafter of executive pronunciamentos to uphold the dignity of the
ben ch. "

CIIAPTER XXII.

WHITTAKER AND
IcKENZIE.

"Arcades ambo," id est, blackguards both.
Byron.

HETHERINGTO
, in his evidence at the trial of Stuart,
gave one Sam 'Vhittaker the credit of being the
smartest thief in the gang. He had been transported
for life in 1836, and sent from England to Sydney,
thorp to figure as a gentleman and prince aillong the
convicts. Ho\\rever proud "Thittaker may have been
of his talents anlong friends, he did not relish their
discussion before the rogue-exterlninators, ,vith a
111anacled comrade doomed to death. standing by to
give particulars. So he thought best to take a trip
do"n the coast. Assuring the delectable l\Irs Hogan
that he would meet her at San Diego, he started on
his journey by land. But the vigilants ,vere soon on
his track, and the authorities along the route had
,yarning of his approach; he thereupon changed his
tactics and went north, to thro,," them off the scent,
still determined, ho\vever, ,vhen once he had baffled
them, to proceed south,vard. His movements ,,"'ere
follo-\yed, and )lcDuffie and others ,,"ere appointed a
conlmittee to go in search of him. They ,vent first
to Stockton, and thence to Chinese Camp. They
scoured the country round J anlesto,vn, Georgeto,vn,
and Sha,v Flat, hearing of hilll occasionally but \yith-
out further success. :b'r0111 the Stockton Conl111ittee
of \Tigilance they took a letter to the \Tigilance Com-
Inittee of Sonora, ,vhere every facility and encourage-
[335]

336

'VHITTAKER AND J\lcKENZIE.

lllent "Tas given them. Their search, ho,vever, ,vas
fruitless, and they returned to San Francisco and
reported to the executive committee the 19th of
July.
All the \vhile the game ,vas in the neighbor-
hood, eluding search. Hetherington ,vas right in
giving V\Thittaker credit for ability. It ,vas a Inost
difficult and dangerous feat, that of flitting from place
to place an10ng a con1n1unity of armed miners, every
one a self-constituted special police. But Whittaker
did not leave Sacramento until the 29th of July.
He then took a southerly course, and all \vent ,veIl
as far as Santa Bärbara. There he ,vas recog-
nized, arrested, and sent back by steanler to San
Francisco.
One morning-it ,vas the 11th of August-as
J alnes C. L. Wads\vorth ,vas sitting in his office, in
the old California Exchange, on Kearny street, Joseph
C. Palnler, of Palmer, Cook, and Con1pany, entered
and stated that Sheriff Hearne of Santa Bárbara
county had a moment before been in his office, nlis-
taking it for the office of Colonel Hays. He had
brought from Santa Bárbara a prisoner nan1ed Whit-
taker, ,vhom he wished to deliver to the sheriff
of San Francisco county. Palmer eXplained to hilll
his n1Îstake, directed hinl to the sheriff's office, and
tllen imlnediately stepped over and informed Mr
Wads\vorth.
Whittaker ,vas then on board the steamer Ohio,
lying at Long Wharf. Wads,vorth hurried do,vn, and
Ineeting on the ,yay James F. Curtis, induced him to
assist in taking IIearne's prisoner to the Con11nittee
rOOlns. Arrived at the steamer they found the captain
at breakfast.
"Captain," said vVadsworth, "you have Whittaker
on board."
"vVhat's that to you?" gro,vled the captain, In
affable basso J)}'f!fundo.
" "\Ve \vant hinl," said W aels,vorth, significantly.

BROCGHT TO B
\Y.

331

'Haye you authority to take him?') grinned the
captain.
" Yes."
" Go down in the hold and get him."
Descending, they found \Vhittaker with his legs
ironed.
" Get up and come ,vith us," said \Vadsworth.
"\Vhere to1" demanded \Vhittaker.
" Up to,vn to a safe place;' replied \\T adsworth.
\Vhittaker assented, but on reaching the wharf held
back.
" Where are you going
" said he.
"Come along; it's all right," was the reply. He
went without further opposition, hopin o ', yet fearful,
and was lnarched straight to the quartel
of the dread
Committee of ,rigilance.
\'Then \V ads,,
orth returned to his office the Santa
Bárbara sheriff was there awaiting him. Hearne ,vas
neither offended nor chagrined, but seemed to accept
,,
hat had been done as right and proper. He seemed
only concerned about pay for expenses incurred in
bringing up the criminal; and when-\Vads,vorth told
" aim if he would execute a ,,'"riting formally delivering
the prisoner into the hands of the Vigilance Com-
mittee he would pay the amount, Hearne unhesi-
tatingly did so, and Wadsworth immediately paid him
the money.
On the next page is given a jac-siraile of the bill
by the steamer Ohio for the passage of Hearne, his
deputy, and \\Thittaker.
.Another old offender, Robert )IcKenzie, or ::\fc-
Kinney, was caught and incarcerated, and )Irs Hogan
was made to attend the call of the executiye com-
mittee. )IcKenzie and \'Thittaker both made confes-
sions, each unkno,vn to the other. The confession of
each was submitted to the other, and both to :\11'8
Hogan; Stuart's confession ,vas like,vise submitted to
all, and all 'w'ere verified.
IcKenzie, who was arrested
at Sacramento, had taken part in the :Jlinturn safe
POP. TRIB.. VOL. I. 22

338 WHITTAKER AND :McKENZIE.

/.l.- ./7 . OJ'

I '1

.".,.-

;

J
I
f

.

." '

THE LA',," AROUSED.

339

robbery, and made the tour of Trinidad. A number
of persons about this time ,,-ere shipped out of the
country; one Otis, a horse-thief, ,vas convicted and
hanged by the people at )Ionterey.
There ,vere t,vo classes of the Sydney fraternity,
representing the brain and muscle po,ve
s respectively.
The former active, bright, and shrewd, skilful in plot-
ting and bold in executing; iT} conversation intelligent,
in manner affable, and in dress genteel. These ,vere
the leaders. Those of the other class were inferior
and born to obey. The former were gentlemen forg-
ers, high,va
rmen, and safe-robber
; the latter bruisers,
slung-shot strikers, and pick-pockets, of lo,v tastes and
brutal d.emeanor. To all these hOlueless and forlorn
rascal
California ,vas a godsend; a ,vorthy land; a
country fit to rob, and-be hanged in!
\Vhittaker, like Stuart, belonged to the knightly
order of ßcoundreli
lll; )IcKenzie ,vas base-born and
churlish. Ryckman bays: ,. :\IcKenzie I took to be
an lrishillan; he ,vas a miserable speciulen; a mon-
strous, co,yardly ,yretch. \Vhittaker ,vas as braye as
Cæßar; he \yas the only lllan ,vhose execution I re-

gretted.; he exhibiteJ so 11luch manlines
that he ,von
d . t . "
IllY a lllira Ion.
The Comlnittee no"
began to surrender its criminal

to the courts; and the alacrity ,,-ith ,vhich the la,,"
seized its prey sho,vcd present hunger and fear of
fan1Ïne, ",.hile the Be,," life infused into dry Lones and
the rapidity ùf lllovements under the stimulant given
by the COlllulittee, and the fear of ultimate loss of
occupation, \yas ,yonderful to see. Instance the case
of Jinully-from-To,vn, one of the Stuart brotherhood,
surrendered by thè Vigilance COlllnlittee to the sheriff
at one o'clock on the 1110rning of July 24th, 1851, and
by eleven o'clock the same day the grand jury had
found an indictment, and had the trial fixed for the
follo,,-iug day.
",,-
bout on(' o'clock on the lllorning of July
lst
Charles Duane, sonletÎ1nes called Dutch Charley,

3-10

"THITTAKER AND :\IcKE
ZIE.

I{night of the Bloody Fist, ,vith Ira Cole, his squire,
forced his ,yay into a dancing-roon1 on COlnmercial
street, and denoting his intention to kill a
Ir Ball,
\vho had called in question the purity of the shoulder-
striker's reputation on certain occasions, proceeded
forth\vith to attack that individual. After perrnitting
the n1an of injured honor to knock down and nearly
kill his enemy, the company finally placed him under
arrest. He ,vas tried and convicted of assault ,vith
intent to kill. But ,vas he punished? This ,vas an
aggravating case. Duane \vas an old offender; the
assault ,vas 111ade \vith scarcely any provocation. The
desperado, being angry, sought the shortest ,yay to
relief. He had caused the community and the Con1-
Inittee much trouble at various times. He was ar-
rested and tried; objections were made to every
n1en1ber ?f the Vigilance Comlnittee summoned to
serve as Juror.
The courts, though gladly accepting aid from the
COlnmittee in the capture of criminals, still regarded
its melnbers more in the light of outla,vs than good
citizens. Convicted at a tern1 of the court of sessions
of assault with intent to kill, Duane ,vas sentenced
to one year's imprisonment, but ,vas pardoned by the
governor. The pardon called forth several adverse
COlnments fronl the press, and the people at large
were disappointed. "Qui pardonne aisénlent invite
à l' offenser," says Corneille. But little cared Mc-
Dougal for abstract principle. Could he be governor
and leave a friend in prison? Says the Herald of the
10th of September:

"In the law intelligence will be found a report from the grand jury, pre-
sented yesterday to the court of sessions, censuring the executive for the
extension of a pardon to Charles Duane. Although we do not hold that the
governor of the state is bound on every occasion to "indicate his official acts
in the public journals, yet as Governor l\lcDougal has already, in one instance,
made a public statement in justification of his reprieve of Robinson, we think
he should, in justice to himself as well as to eviùence his respect for public
opinion, state publicly the reasons which have moved him to this exercise of
clemency, and the names of the citizens who signed the petition for this man's

PAYRA..., AXD RYCK)IAX.

341

discharge. "
e' think so, because there is a strong feeling of dissatisfaction
in the public mind at Duane's liberation; and in proof of the existence of this
feeling we would refer the governor to the report of the grand jury. This
city has recently passed through scenes of fearful excitement; the man Duane
committed an offence "Which brought down upon him the intensest popular in-
dignation. The measure of his punishment, one year's imprisonment, scarcely
answered the requirements of this indignation. That this period should now
be shortened by the interposition of a pardon, has generated, as we have said,
a feeling of deep dis
atisfaction.
"God forbid we should be supposed desirous of interposing, as the ad vocate
of unrelenting justice, between the acti,e exercise of humane clemency and
the man hurried by passion into uncontrollable excesses, and afterward con-
trite and repentant of his infraction of :he law.

'The quality of mercy is not 6trained;
It blesseth him th:J.t gives and him that takes;
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly POWH doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons ju
tice.'

"But here is a man regarded by the community as dangerous to its peace,
so constituted by nature as to be lillable to curb his own propensity to mis-
chief, and therefore most unfit to be flung into an inflammable society, where
even the voice of the courts, hitherto tardy in administering justice to the
culprit, has adjudged him incapable, without evil consequences, for twelve
months at least, of mingling freely with his fellow-citizens.
"The grand jury in their report say that 'the late act of the executive of
this state in pardoning a certain criminal after he had been tried and convicted
of a wanton assault on a citizen, whose only offence consisted in a desire to
discharge his duty to the public, is such a monstrous abuse of the pardoning
power as to cause serious alarm. If the prisons are to be thrown open at the
will of the executive to men of such character, the judgment of the courts,
while acting in behalf of the people, will be set at defiance; all protection to
unoffending and peaceable citizens will be withdrawn, and grand and petit
jurymen will have to protect themselves, not by the laws of the state, but by
force of arms.' "
hen asked to give the names signed to the pardon the
governor declined."

"Then 'Vhittaker ,vas brought into the Committee
room, Payran as usual began to examine. But the
arch-inquisitor on this occasion ,vas evidently not in
his usual happy catecbetical mood. The bloody
brothers, as against the world, ,yere most loyingly
united; but among themselves they enjoyed their o"
n
little infelicities. Sub 'rosa, :nIr Payran ,vas not in
possession of his fullinagnetic po,vers that day. .L\.P-
plying the loadstone of his ,vit to the porcelain surface

342

'VHITTAKER A
D :McKENZIE.

of the vers:\tile \Vhittaker, no sediments of sin ad-
hered to it. A short, hollow negative ,vas the only
reply he received to every question. To threats he
,vas as ilnperious as a steel-clad warrior to a shower of
feathers. Finally Ryckrnan took the inlpotent inquis-
itor aside and said: "Payran, this \von't do. That is
no \vay to exa111il1e this Ulan. You cannot intinlidate
him. Do you not see tha.t he is strong-,villed, fearless,
and of iron nerves t'
" Well," replied Payran, "exalnine him yourself, if
I . k "
you 1
e.
"Very ,veIl," exclainled Ryckman, "I will do it. I
think I kno\v 1nore of hUlnan nature than you do-
to-day, at all events."
These society-\veeders, sonle of them, entertained
no 111ean opinion of thelnselves. \Vith experience and
po\ver caIne pride of opinion, in \vhich garb they did
not al,vays appear to their best advantage. Ryckman
took a seat beside Whittaker and began:
" \Vhat is your nationality?"
"I am an Englishman."
" Have you a father living?"
" y "
es.
"A 1110ther?"
" Yes."
"Any sisters 1"
"T\yo," said the poor fello,v, already softening.
"\Vhittaker," said Rycknlan, earnestly, "what Inust
be tho feelings of your father, 11lother, sisters, \vhen
they learn of the a\vful acts and end of one they love:
convicted and executed for infanlous crimes in a for-
eign land 1 Think of it-misery, disgrace, death!"
"0 God I" he cried, as if no,v, \vith the tears that
Legan to flo\v, his soul was \vrenched fronl its fixed-
noss in sin, "I have been bad, very bad; but let me
tell you about it."
" Stop," said Ryckll1al1. "Listen to me. Do not
nlake any confession \vith the expectation that it will
Initigate the least your punishnlent if you are found

THE HEART OF VILLAINY.

34

guilty. I feel for you, but feeling and duty I divorced
before entering upon this mission. I ,viII leave you
no, v and return in an hour."
Ryckman sent hill1 a lllUg of ale; then he took a
position at an aperture in the partition where he could
watch him unobserved. The prisoner seel11ed Inuch
disturbed, and at times apparently suffered great
agony of mind. Solitude seemed unendurable to him.
Long before the hour had expired, the door-keeper
appeared.
"\Vhittaker says he nlust see you."
"vVhat is the matter, \Vhittaker?" asked Ryckman
as he entered the roonl.
":\Ir Ryckman," he exclainled, "you are the first
man ,vho has eyer touched Iny heart. The ,vorld has
hunted me as if I ,vere a nlonster; you alone have
spoken to Ille as to a human being. I must n1ake a
confession to you; if not, I shall burst."
This man and
IcKenzie ,vere tried by the Com-
mittee in the usual ,yay. But the great ulcer having
been opened through the medium of the arch-thief
Stuart, the later trials "rere void of interest or ex-
citement. The confessions are worthy of perusal by
those ,vho care to know" the character and course of
criminality in those days. \Vhat vVhittaker says.
of himself runs essentially as follows:
.

"I left Sydney about two years ago by the ship Louisa, Captain ::\Ialor; I
arrived in San Francisco in August, 1849; I got my freedom from Governor
Fitzroy; it was 3 conditional pardon. The first business I began in San'
Francisco was as steward in a public house kept by Cocksteill, on Broadway;
1 was in his employ about three months. After leaving him I bought a horse,
cart, and boat; employed men to work the team and boat for two months.,
Then I went to butchering in Happy Valley, and carried it on for a year;
afterward kept a public house on Jackson street, near Sansome, known as the.
Port Philip House, with
IcCormick; I gave it up at the enù of two months.
" .My name of Samuel'Vhittaker is assumed; it is the name under which L
was transported. I desire to suppress my real name for family considerations,
and as an act of humanity. I began my career of crime in San Francisco at

the time I formed my connection with
IcCormick in keeping the Port Philip.
House. Before this, while butchering, I used to ride my horse two or three.
times a week to the
Iission Dolores to purchase cattle. banchez offered In

.ð44

"THITTAKER A1
D
IcKENZIE.

a. splendid mare at one hundred and fifty dollars, which I refused to buy on
account of price. James Curry came to me and said the mare was his. Finally
I bought the mare, saddle, and bridle for one hundred dollars, and Curry came
in with me. I paid him, taking a receipt for the same, then rode the mare
around; while doing so a man stopped me and said the mare belonged to
Dutch Oharley, was stolen, and had been advertised. Finding this true I gave
up the mare and looked for Curry; found him, altered in dress, about to leave
town. I took him to Elleard's, and there charged him with stealing the mare
and demanded my money back; he gave me sixty dollars. Then I took him
to Dutch Charley; Charley knocked him down and took him to the station-
house. The sixty dollars was taken from me, to be handed back after the
trial.
"I was summoned; attended court; the trial did not come off. Jack Hays
put me on a jury to try a man charged with stealing a pistol; we found him
guilty, and he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for this trifling
offence. Court adjourned; I was again summoned to attend court. I did so.
Curry had been let off; his case was never tried. I demanded my money;
:the officials asked me how long since I had given it up. I said about sixty
days; they laughed, and said it was lost in half that time. I mention this
to show how justice is administered here. It seemed to me that a thief had a
better chance than an honest man. This took place in Levi Parsons' court,
who was the judge.
(, The first crime of which I was guilty was that of robbing a bear-
hunter, named Vyse, the other side of the J\iission. In that matter 1IcCor-
mick, McKenzie, Osman, Morris Morgan, and two Kings, were engaged. I
knew the bear-hunter, and J\IcKenzie also knew him. .1\IcKenzie took the
man into another room; l\Iorgan carried off the money, nine hundred dol-
lars or thereabout. 'Vhen the bear-hunter came back to the room he found
he had been robbed; we professed we knew nothing about it. The money
was carried to King's house, corner of Broadway and 1Vlontgomery streets;
but in coming into town one of the party stole six hundred dollars; when
the balance, three hundred dollars, was divided among us we only got
thirty-five dollars each. The money taken from Vyse belonged to Kelly the
fighting man; shortly after :McKenzie went to Sacramento and told Kelly
who it was that robbed him. Kelly came down from Sacramento on this
information, and had J\fcCormick arrested and put in jail; I was then at
1tlonterey. They threatened to lynch McConnick, and got from him some in.
strument by which they sold out the Port Philip House to reimburse the
loss. After this I went down to l\lonterey with Briggs and Osman; while
I was there T. Belcher Kay came down; Osman, Kay, and I went to San
José; there Kay had the delirium tremens. Osman went to San Francisco,
where he met McCarty and J\Iclntyre, who told him to bring Jim Briggs,
::l\Iorgan, and me from J\fonterey, as they had a house to do that would yield
forty thousand dollars. \Ve all went to San Francisco; I went in the Goliah;
.after receiving information as to which house it was, we all went to look at
it. Finding that Jimmy-from-Town was engaged, I refused to have anything
to do with it; Morgan and Briggs also refused. I think the house was that of
ßchloss Brothers; it was nearly opposite the old custom-house. At this

SO
1ETHIXG OF BURDUE.

34,:)

time T. Belcher Kay was interested in arranging the robbery of the jewelry
establishment and other places.
"After this we arranged the robbery of Jansen's establishment; Jansen
lived next door to me. :Many persons from the colonies frequented my
house, and on learning that the country generally wanted sovereigns Jansen
told me that he usually had them, that he would be glad to sell them, and
would be obliged to me to take them.
1organ went with me into Jansen
s
to buy some sovereigns; this first gave rise to the suspicion that Jansen
had a large amount of money. Jansen was about to move; Stuart, Edwards,

IcCormick, and I planned this method of robbing him: one of the party
slipped a linchpin out of the axle of the cart, on which the trunk contain-
ing the money was to be canied, expecting that by so doing the wheel would
come off, and on its falling we would seize the trunk. The cart was loaded;
Jansen's clerk sat on the trunk with a candle in his hand; the linchpin was
pulied out, but the wheel did not come off, and we were disappointed. Some
time afterward, Stuart, Briggs, Edwards,
1cCormick, Kay, Hughes,
1organJ
and I planned the robbery of Jansen again, when we had better success.
"'\\hile at the Port Philip House a man came in and asked me to trust him
for something to drink; I told him no, but I would give him a glass of grog;
he drank the liquor, after which he said to me, 'You are a damned clever
fellow,' and gave me three hundred dollars to keep for him. _literward he
called for the money; he was inebriated when I gave it to him. There was a
man present whose name can b8 found on the records, but which I forget,
who robbed the other fellow of his money and cleared out; on the Sunday
night following he came back to the house; I spoke to him about the money
he had taken from the man, and asked him '''
here is my share?' He told
me that he had left my part of it in the man's pocket for me to get. I said,
. , You wait until
IcCormick comes in. ' However he -and another man closed
upon me. I knocked them down and broke the jaw of one in three places.
He prosecuted me for assault and battery. I was an-ested, and cmployed
)Ir 'Yells; the case was tried; I was fined one hundred dollars, ordered to
pay the doctor's bills, and to be imprisoned ten days on the prison brig. I
had paid Wells
me hundred dollars counsel fee; I told him and Tilford also
that it was inconvenient for me to leave my business, and that I should like
to compromise. 'Yells said it could be compromi::;ed for two hundred and
thirty dollars, '\\ hich amount I paid. I state this case, also, to show the
manner in which the laws are administered, and the corruption. If it had
not been for the manner in which I had been treated, and had seen others
treated, I should not now be here.
"The next matter in which I was interested and will bring before you,
was that of 'Vindred and Burdue. They were tried for having robbed Jansen,
and convicted, but they had nothing to do with it. I e>..erteù mJ"self very
much to save them; I told Parburt they were innocent, but did not tell him
who were guilty. I had a long argument with )11' Theodore Payne about it.

tuart, and indeed all engaged in the Jansen robbery, and many others, de-
clared their intention to burn the city in case 'Vindred and Burdue were
executed; it was to be fired at night in four or five different places. It was
the only timc that I ever heard the colonial people speak of burning the city.

34G

'VHITT)LKER AXD )'1cKEXZIE.

" The next robbery planned by us was that of C.
Iinturn. Kay planned
this. Stuart was with us. I was not interested in the robbery of the ship
James Cash-to ""'e tried to rob
Iacondray's store, but it fell through. Kay
put up that job.
"Kay also put up a jewelry establishment in a brick building on Sacra-
mento street. I went through the premises and exauuned them, but declined
doing it, on the ground that to effect the robbery it would be necessary to
murder perhaps four or five persons. Kay is an ignorant man; he can scarcely
reaù or write; his real name is Gibson.
"
IcCormick, Stuart, anù I went together to shoot a man by the name of
O'Flaherty, who had testified in court that McCormick had robbed him in
the colonies; he was going to shoot him for it. It was a moonlight night; I
said to
IcCormick that it was too light, and that it would be better to wait
until some other time; so he gave it up. I did this to save the man. O'Flaherty
lived then in Bryant place. Since the
1ay fire Jack Arrentrue met me on
the street; he had frequently Leen told that I was a very clever fellow;
Arrentrue has been after me many times, and pointed out several places to
me; I never would engage in anything with him; he took me down and intro-
duced me to a man by the name of Earl. 'Ve drank together and then went
down to the custom-house; Àrrentrue described it to me; said therc was
eight hundred dollars there; we looked at the drain. Then we went to the
other custom-house; hc took me inside; Yie looked at the safe or vault that
was building; Earl proposed renting the house next door to the custom-house
and opening an architect's office ill it, and getting 'Vatkins, and we could rob
the Luilding from his office. This was practicable; we went to see Watkins.
Our l)lan, however, was not aCcOml)lished.
" Arrentrue and Earl l)roposed to me to rob the El Dorado; they urged
that the interest they had with the authorities would cover our operations.
I had got sick of all such work, and made up my mind to leave off, and took
no further notice of it. Arrentrue and Earl used frequently to come to my
place at :1\11' Hogan's, and dine with mc and play cards. Earl showed me a
pair of calipers that he had, and told l11.e they were very useful. Earl told
me what a vcry clevcr thing he had since done with the calipers. He said
that he opened a door, went into a man's room, took the money from under
his head, went out, relocked the door, and it was never discovered.
" I was at Marysville at the time of the June fire in San Francisco, but
camc down immediately. I lived with :ì\lrs Hogan as her husband for four
months, Juring' her husband's absence. I knew her in the colonies. I have
heard it said that l\1rs Hogan had been transported. I told :1\1rs Hogan about
Arrentrue and Earl's })roposition; she imagined that I was engaged in rob-
bery. To do
Irs Hogan justice, I must say she has done all in her power to
break up my associations and to make me load a different lifc. I paid her
twenty dollars a week for my board; I also gave her many presents, about
twenty-five hundred dollars in all. 1\11's Hogan knew all the men that I have
mentioned; they used to frequent her housc. I was in 110 business. I derived
the money thus: I won seven hundred dollars from Stuart at monte, and I
had fourteen or seventeCl' hUlldrecl dollars by me that I had saved while I was.
a butcher.

COXDEXSED C
-\.T_-\LOG{;E OF CRI
IES.

34;

" George ,Adams,
1cCormick, Hughes, and :McKenzie robbed Duzozo on
Sacramento street, below Kearny; it was on the south side, and was early in
the ev
ning in September or October; it is said they got about fifteen thousand
dollars. I was absent at the time.
" I won of Hetherington's companion six hundred dollars; his Dame 'Was
Dan; I won at thimbles. Edwards and myself had been associated; Jones,
who had made his escape from
Iarys\ille prison, wanted a share of it. As
Edwards, Long Charlie, and I had won it together, I objected; a man by the
name of Gallagher took up the matter for Jones, and went to my bedroom at
l\Irs Hogan's on tiptoe, with a drawn dagger, to look for me.
Irs Hogan told
him I was not there; there was considerable talk about his going around
trying to kin me. A day or two after Gallagher was found dead on the street by
Edwards' house; I think that Gallagher knew too much about Edwards' busi-
ness, and for that reason Edwards poisoned him. I was at the :ì\Iission, at Dr
Lambert's, at the time Gallagher was looking for me. :\11'8 Hogan came to me
with a letter from Judge Bowie to take to )Ionterey; it contained certificates
of money that Briggs,
Iorgan, and Osman have in the banks of San Fran-
cisco; I delivered up the documents to Parburt. The ::\Ionterey trial came on
that week; Stl1art was there; I think he came down to shoot me either for
my money or for jealousy. I knew all about the robbery at ßlonterey; I
loaned Osman, Briggs, and
Iorgan one thousand dollars. Quick put up the

Ionterey custom-house for robbery; Ryan was one of the party, and the only
one who received any benefit. I was not interested in any of the robberi{'s of
the jewelers; )IcCormick told me of the robberies. I believe, if you keep
quiet and do not publish, that the jewelry will be recovered. Osman bought it
for six hundred dollars, and I do not Lelieve he has sold it yet.
"I gave
Irs Hogan twenty-one ounces in gold for !ny board at one time;
I had loaned that amount to Osman, and he returned it. The last money I
got "Was twelve hundred dollars, which I gave to
Irs Hogan. This is the
"Way I got it: There was a miner came into :ì\Irs Hogan's house, on Sansome
street; Kay, Edwards, and I were there at the time. The miner laid do"n
a large bag of gold; Edwards and I took the money out; I secreted another
bag. Edwards and
IcCormick took the miner off; he had fi,
e or six hundred
dollars more, which they got away from him. I took the bag containing seven
hundred dollars, and divided it with Kay and Edwards, giving them each
two hundred dollars, and keeping three hundred for myself. The other bag,
containing eight hundred dollars, I diel not dhide, as they gave me no share
of the money that had been taken from the miner. The whole amount I ga\
e
to
1rs Hogan; she knew how I got it; she knew we were treating him to
champagne in order to effect this purpose. I told her what our plans were.
I also gave her about three hundred dollars which I won at gambling with
Dan; and the same amount paid me by Bri
gs of the money I had loaned him
I gave
lrs Ilogan. I exchanged watches with her; mine was the most
valuable. I also gave her a diamond ring.
"T. B. Kay, when port-warden, took
IcCormick on board a man-of-war
in the harbor; the captain possessed a yery yaluable gold lever watch with a
snake chain. 'Vhile the officer was a
leep :McCol'mick stole the watch; he
carried it with him when he went to London; I have no doubt it nught be

848

\VHITTAKER AND McKENZIE.

recovered. Kay knew that McCormick had taken it; he afterward was
sorry about it, as the captain said he wouldn't have taken one thousand
dollars for it, as it was a present from his father. If the Committee write to
Dan Forrester of London, or to the chief of police in Manchester, they will
. send :1\IcCormick and the watch back again.
" Old Jack, alias Mvrris Morgan, told me that Hughes did it with two flats-
robbed the Dupont-street jewelry store; Hughes was apprehended for it and
acquitted. I don't know where he is; he may have gone out of the country.
I was told that he took away all of that jewelry. One night it was stated
that some of the Vigilance Committee met him; Old Jack knocked them down
and jumped a fence. In doing so he said he lost some of the jewelry; amongst
it was a small watch, which was found in a hat next morning. Hetherington
and I were at
Irs Hogan's at the same time. Hetherington told me that his
partner, Antone, was a passionate man; he killed two men; I saw him kill
one; it was at the corner of the EI Dorado, at night and in a crowd; the
dagger stuck so fast that in drawing it out it pulled the man over. Two men
were arrested, but nothing was made of it; Antone was never suspected.
"Stuart and George Smith told me that they shot a man on the Stockton
road; the man had considerable money. He ran toward the house after he
was shot, and died nearly as soon as he had entered.
"I never knew of anyone setting a place on fire in San Francisco except
Billy Sweetcheese, whose real name is Shears. I heard that he set the United
States on fire on the Plaza at the time it was vacant. This is merely rumor.
After robbing the miner alluded to, at 11rs Hogan's, we met McCarty, the
1)0Iicem8_n who was always ready to help us. I gave McCarty three ounces,
one each for Edwards, Kay, and myself. I told McCarty that McCormick had
got some five hundred dollars, and he must get some out of him too. Brown,
in the police, was the man who did the dirty work for policemen McCarty and
:Mclntyre.
"Billy Hughes, John Edwards, and Morris Morgan are runaway con-
victs. They came from Van Dieman Land. There is no comparison be-
tween the convicts from Sydney and Van Dieman Land. The latter are so
bad they would not allow them to coem into Sydney.
"I got \Vindred away when he was under arrest with Burdue. I went
to the new jail with \Vindred's wife and Mrs Hogan; I sent the key in;
Tom Byrnes, the man you sent to Sydney, came to IllY house and said that
\Vindred was out; I got up and went down to the wharf at Pacific street;
George Adams and \Vindred were there; I told Adams to
o away by himself.
I took \Vindred to a stablc, got horses, and took him to Dr Lambert's, where
he stayed for two weeks; I paid his board. Dr Lambert is a man from the
colonies. At the enù of that time I engaged passage for \Vindred, and ap-
pointed a night to put him on board. I told Kitchen to stand by with his
boat, that I had a man to put on board. I gave \Vindred myoId cap, and
bought a new one for myself; I put him down a passage-way at Clark Point.
Mrs Hogan and Mrs \Vindred were in waiting; Mrs \Yindred in men's
clothes; in that disguise I had taken her frequently to see her husband.
Both women bade WinJred good-by, and I put him on board Kitchen's boat,
who took him to the ship. The vessel in which Windred was placed re-

CHAR)n
G ACQUAINTANCES.

349

mained in port a fortnight, 3.Ild I feared he would be apprehended again.
Windred sent for his wife to go with him, and she went on board, and sailed
with him the morning after the l\!ay fire.
"Kitchen is a rough, boatman-looking fellow, dirty, very dirty; he kept
a boarding-house near Clark Point; he is a stout man, about thifty, dark
hair, and heavy whiskers; he is a convict from Van Dieman Land. Kitchen
has a specimen, of the value of one hundred and forty dollars, that Stuart
took off the body of }!oore, whom he murdered at Auburn.
" Purcell, a police-officer, used to take money; he took money of Hughes;
he would take money from anyone. At the primary election for
Ialachi
Fallon I was solicited by Sweeney, :McCarty, and McIntyre, to aid in the
election; accordingly I did so, and got some twelve votes, all from men who
were convicts and foreigners. n

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CIRCUMVENTORS CIRCUMVENTED.

When in doubt, win the trick.
Hoyle.

AT length the la\v, long paralyzed and puny, awoke
,vith a spasn1 of energy. Election was approaching.
To be or not to be, was the question. The existence
of a popular organization for the suppression of crime
was a standing reproach upon the honesty and effi-
ciency of the authorities. And even in the minds of
city and state officials who secretly sympathized ,vith
the Vigilance Committee it seelned necessary to up-
hold the dignity and sacredness of law, lest this new
phase of liberty should degenerate into licentiousness.
Already given is the proclanlation to the people of .
the state by Governor McDougal, dated July 21,
1851, calling on them to discountenance illegal tribu-
nals and sustain the courts. At three o'clock on the
morning of the 20th of August Governor McDougal
and Mayor Brenhan1 rapped at the door of Sheriff
Hays and presented him a \vrit, issued by Judge
J\lorton of the Superior Court, based on an affidavit
made by the governor that t\VO lllen, Whittaker and
McKenzie, were detained \vithout authority of law.
The writ comn1anded the sheriff to take the bodies of
the two men and bring then1 into court, to be dealt with
according to law. The sheriff, ,vith a posse of depu-
ties, repaired immediately to the Comn1ittee rooms,
which they entered without resistance, and while
some guarded the door others advanced and called on
(350)

THE LA'V'S GRAND ACHIEYE)IENT. 331

the prisoners to accompany them, ,,-hich they gladly
did, and "7"ere soon comfortably lodged in jail. One of
the guard attempted to push back the officers; two
others, suspecting treachery, let themselyes do,vn from
the ,vindo\v and sounded the alarm on the bells of the
California and :\Ionumental engine companies. The
action of those in charge of the room ,vas bitterly
denounced; and such \vere the singular circumstances
attending the rescue as to raise serious question in the
minds of Inany if there \vere not collusion between
the officers of the la,vand the officers of the ComnlÎt-
tee. Daybreak found the streets alive ,vith excited
people pouring toward the Committee rooms, 'v here a
meeting was in session and the events of the night
,vere being discussed. Some \vere in fa VOl' of arising
and making an ilnmediate attack on the prison; other::;
held that in the justice of their cause they could
trust that the unholy sympathy thrown by the la,y
over t,vo notorious la\v-breakers could do the reform-
ers no permanent injury, and they should \vait. Thus
in every trying event good counsel prevailed; passion,
though aggravated by the chattering of apes, must
be laid aside, for this ,vas not an association for the
promotion of la,vle
sness, and the la\,,", though not
respectable, must in some measure be respected. There-
fore it was concluded to let the matter rest for the
moment, to permit the authorities to indulge their
innocent gambols over their little victory, hoping them
thereby good. In the eyes of the sober IDenlbers of the
Committee the affair ,yas but a little stratagenl, lllade
successful by the hour, and the laxity of the guard;
and the very fact of the la\y being obliged to employ
darkness and circumvention in the execution of its
nlanclates \vas the surest sign of its ,veakness. Even
no,v the authorities seemed half frightened at their
boldness, and almost panic-stricken at the peril of
their situation. Ho\v should they defend the la \Y'S
majesty against the blood
-rnindecl citizen? Turn
the guns of t.he Vincennes on the vicinity of Battery

3.)
THE CIRCU
IYENTORS CIRCU
lVENTED.

and California streets. Parley. Bring in ordnance
from the Presidio. Let the military be held in readi-
ness to ans,ver at a lnolnent's notice. Proclailn an
end of the reign of terror; an inauguration of the
reign of la,v.
Iean,vhile the members of the Con1-
Inittee ,vent about their business, apparently uncon-
cerned in all thi8 splutter and bOlnbast of the officials,
detern1ined that no provocation, ho,vever severe,
should tempt them to the performance of any action
\yhich should bring reproach upo'n them as la\v-abiding
citizens, or upon their organization, Inaùe for the pur-
pose of strengthening la,v and good governU1ent; and
in this moderation ,vas their greatest victory.
That same day appeared a second proclalnation by
the governor, calling upon all good citizens to unite
for the purpose of sustaining public la,,'" and tran-
quillity, to aid the public officers in the discharge of
their duty, and to discountenance any a.ttelnpt 111ade
to substitute the despotic control of a self-constituted
association in place of regularly organized govern-
n1ent; ,yarning those disposeJ to resist legal authority
that civil war in a.ll its horrors \vould be the inevitable
consequence. The force of this proclalnation, ho,v-
ever, ,vas rnateriaHy ,veakened by a card published at
the saIne time by the Vigilance Comlnittee, which read
as follo\ys:

"\Ve, the undersigned, do hereby aver that the present governor, Mc-
Dougal, asked to be introduced to the executive committee of the Committee
of Vigilance, which was allowed, and an hour fixed. The governor, upon
being introduced, stated that he apprO\Ted the acts of the Committee, and that
much good had taken place. He hoped that they would go on, and endeavor
to act in concert with the authorities; and in case any judge should be guilty
of maladministration, to hang him, and he would appoint others.
"G. E. SCHENCK,
"GEORGE J. OAKES,
"ISAAC BLUXOME JR.,
"S. PAYRAN."

The enemies of the reformers were triulnphant,
but their victory \vas achieved by the hUlniliation of
the country's best friends. Very early one Robinson,

THE 'V A.Y IT "'"AS DO:NE.

3.33

of the Adelphi Theatre, mounted a box, and in an
inflammatory and ill-advised speech urged an im-
lnediate attack on the jail. The cro,vd then gathered
separated for refreshments to the several hotels and
drinking saloons, and about nine 0' clock some t,vo
thousand men gathered round the prison. This, ho,v-
ever, "'"as but a mob; it ,vas not thus that the 'Tigil-
ance Committee did its work. About an hour later
the cro,vd dispersed, and thus ended ,,"hat at one time
threatened to be a serious outbreak.
At a special meeting in the executive chambers, at
8 o'clock A. )1., the prisoners \Vhittaker and )IcI{enzie
"Tere reported by the prison committee as captured
and then at the county jail, in cell No.5. Thereupon
a committee of fiye ,yas appointed to investigate the
charges preferred against the guard on duty the night
preyious.
leanwhile the chief of vigilant police ,vas
suspended from duty. The meeting then adjourned
till 4 o'clock P. :Y.
.L-\mong the general committee, as might easily be
imagined, there was no small commotion. Some pro-
posed to tear down the jail; others to -take possession
bf all the county offices. But the ,,'"iser ones rebuked
them sharply. "You ,vould eradicate your folly by
committing greater folly," said they. X evertheless
there "'"as but one sentiment, that the men \Vhittaker-
and :\IcKenzie should be recovered.
There ,,"as a mystery attending the seizure that the-
executive determined, if possible, to fathom. Indeed,
in common ,vith the people at large, they could not
understand how the men ,vere abstracted ,vithout
exciting more commotion. :l\Ir Bluxome states there
were a hundred members about the premises that
night, tenfold more than enough to have successfully
resisted the sheriff; t\venty-nine men ,vere on guard 7
and he was sleeping on a table in the ac\ioining
room. ..A. burly blacksmith, named Steele, stood guard
at the door, and ,vhen Hays and Caperton knocked
they were admitted ,,"ithout resistance sufficient to
POP. TRm,
VOL. J, 23

354 THE CIRCUl\IYENTORS CIRCU
IVENTED.

waken hin1. l\Ir Ryckman was not present, but Pay-
ran, placing the utU10st confidence in the guard, was
asleep in the executive room.
At the request of the Committee, John McDougal,
governor, appeared before them at their rooms and
stated that in the hotel at Benicia the day previous,
,vhich ,vas the 19th, it was reported that the Vigi-
lance Committee ,vere to meet during the night to
sentence Whittaker and McKenzie, and he deter-
mined to come do,vn and prevent an execution, if
" possible. On arriving at the Union Hotel about
noon he ,vas told by two men ,vho ,vere, or professed
to be, members of the Vigilance Committee, that the
prisoners ,vould be executed the follo,ving day.
On receiving this information he proceeded imme-
diately to Mayor Brenham, and asked his assistance
in rescuing the prisoners. Brenham acquiesced, and
the t\VO officials called upon the sheriff The next
thing necessary ,vas a writ of habeas corpus, which,
after some search for a judge, was finally obtained
from Myron Norton. The party then proceeded to
the rooms of the Vigilance Committee and knocked
at the door, ,vhich was opened. Caperton, deputy
sheriff, entered first, then Hays, the sheriff The
door closed, :i\IcDougal remaining at the head of
the stairs, and Brenhanl belo\v, outside the building.
In a few minutes the sheriff and his deputy returned
,vith the prisoncrs, \vithout having encountered any
resistance. On being asked \vho had given him the
information at the Union Hotel, he declined to ans\ver.
Mayor Brenham confirmed before the Committee
the statement of the governor, adding that prior to
the conference at the sheriff's office it ,vas their in-
tention to have appeared at the Committee rooms in
full force, with a writ of habeas corlJus, the following
Inorning at eight o'clock. The mayor was perfectly
certain that no member of the Vigilance Committee,
or any persons other than those who came, had cog-
nizance of their intention; nor was there any collusion,

INVESTIGATION BY THE CO:\I:\IITTEE. 33.3

directly or indirectly, bet,veen them and any members
of the Vigilance Committee.
Sheriff Hays stated that he was in bed ,vhen the
governor and mayor called. He at first thought that
duty did not demand of him interference, and asked his
visitors if they kne,v the men were to be executed
the next day. They ,vere sure of it. He then pro-
ceeded to serve the ,vrit, meeting with no resistance
on entering the room and but little on leaving it.
J. L. Van Bokkelen, chief of the vigilant police,
being s,vorn before the executive committee, said that
pursuant to the instructions of the Committee he had
proceeded to select a place for the execution of the
prisoners, and had reported to the Committee, who
instructed him to make the necessary detail of guards
and other preparations. In the exercise of this duty
it was necessary for him to leave the room t,vice.
He had given
IcKenzie permission to change his
linen and to shave; he had ordered the good spring
handcuffs ,vhich ornamented his wrists to be taken off
and poorer ones substituted, sò that the good pair
rmight not be lost to the Committee.,vhen the body
should be taken by the coroner. During the consum-
Illation of these arrangements the capture was made.
P. P. Hull, on reporting for duty that night, was
told to arm, ,vhich he did, and was then told to hold
himself in readiness for orders "\\Thich he never received.
While in the refreshment room he heard a scuffling
and call for the police. He ran out and found a crowd
about the door, and heard the sheriff say: "We are
too strong for you; ,ve have a posse outside." Letting
himself down by a rope, he came upon the captured
prisoners, and cocked his pistol, but refrained from
firing.
Some fifteen or twenty others ,vere examined before
the Committee, and among them Steele, the door-
keeper. This man testified that when the sheriff
applied for admittance he was cro,vded in by those
behind him, and that when the prisoners were brought

356 THE CIRCU:\IVENTORS CIRCUl\1VEXTED.

to his door on their ,yay out, ,vhile some placed their
back against it to prevent exit, those outside forced
it open, and in the lllelee that follo\ved the sheriff and
his follo,vers escaped ,vith the prisoners. The COU1J de
ntain ,vas so sudden that the guard became confused
and hardly kne,v ,vhat he did.
This evidence was given before a SUb-coIDll1Ïttee
appointed by the executive committee, and their re-
port ,vas in the follo,ving ,vords:

" The committee respectfully submit the entire evidence taken, and leave
the Vigilance Committee to judge for themselves of any culpability on the
part of those intrusted with the charge of the prisoners last night and this
morning. Your committee, while they feel it their duty to exonerate all from
the least imputation of bribery or connivance at the escape of the prisoners,
feel it their duty to say that there was a great want of their usual care and of
that caution which the importance of the duty assigned them required; and
that they deem the chief of police especially guilty of gross neglect, and
wanting in that energy and self-control which if properly exercised would
have prevented the escape of the prisoners, and thereby would have saved the
Vigilance Committee from the disgrace of neglect which must now rest upon
it. And your committee cannot conclude without expressing their condem-
nation of the course taken by those members of the Vigilance Committee
who were so estranged from their duty as to inform the governor of the in-
tended action of the Committee, which rendered it imperative upon him to
adopt the course he did, and which has so effectually checked the important
action of the Vigilance Committee. "

At the adjourned meeting the committee reported
according to the facts obtained. The chief of police
was instructed to keep a guard of t,venty men over
Whittaker and :\fcKenzie, then in custody of the
sheriff, lest either by force or connivance should escape.
It was resolved that the sentence of death pronounced
upon them should still remain in force.
On account of the strong feeling again
t him,
,vhether guilty of actual connivance at the escape of
the prisoners or not, Van Bokkelen resigned his posi-
tion as chief of police, and Oscar Smith was elected
in his stead. In this ballot, ,vhich occurred at a gen-
eral meeting on the 26th of August, James King of
WIn. received t,vo votes, and F. Argenti and J. W.
Cartwright each one vote.

Y A.RIED CO"CXSEL.

3.3;

The utterances of the pres
did not fairly represent
the sentiment of the more calm and thoughtful element
of the Committee. It breathed of the mob spirit,
".hich tended to retard rather than to accelerate the
movements of the Committee, and to impair the
quality of their ,vork. Doubtless it expressed the
feelings of a majority of the general committee, but
not of those who "ere trusted and obeyed as the safe
and ,,"orthv leaders of the movement. The authori-
oJ
ties were simply doing their duty, and the Committee
could not make up their minds, at this juncture, to
shoot them down while in the discharge of it. The
California Courier of the 21st of August writes:

" As soon as this wicked attempt to involve this community in excitement
and perhaps bloodshed, for no cause whatever, had succeeded, the bell of the
Vigilance Committee was tolled, and the members left their sleeping-cham-
bers for the Committee rooms. The excitement was tremendous. There are
Judases in the Committee's camp. bome one has betrayed them. Let the
Committee look to this. We shall not adrise them what to do, for they are
better informed, and will no doubt all act with firmness and discretion. The
authorities, however, who were engaged in this unnecessary attempt to pro-
duce a collision between the people and the authorities, haye dug for them-
selves a grave so deep that the hand of resurrection caIlD.ot reach them.
" "In the morning at an early hour an immense assemblage of the people
gathered around the jail, under the expectation that a forcible attempt would
have been made to break open the jail and seize the prisoners. Had they
attempted it and been resisted by the mighty men in buckram who were
pacing the roof of the jail, the people", ould have blo.wn them into fragments
sky-high, and made their flesh and bones food for coyotes and crows upon the
surrounding hills. "

The comments of the Herald the same day, though
more pertinent, are nevertheless not in exact accord
,,-ith the minds of the mysterious few which governed
an, and round which revolved the pas'Sion-seething
multitude:

")Iuch 38 we have admired the conduct of the Committee on other occa-
sions, we think their course yesterday, under the severe proyocation they re-
ceived, was more praiseworthy than any victory they haye yet achieved.
They regarded the affair as a very stupid piece of chicanery by which they
had been overreached in the discharge of their duty, but they preserved a
perfectly calm demeanor, certain that sooner or later justice would take its

338

THE CIRCU:\lYEKTORS CIRCU.MVENTED.

course. While the authorities were hurrying up and down in perfect amaze-
ment at their own desperate valor, issuing orders for muskets, cartridges, and
cannon, the members of the Committee were quietly pursuing their usual avo-
cations, wholly unmoved except to laughter at these warlike demonstrations.
" And the pygmies swarmed in the streets, and chattered, and chuckled,
and held conferences at the street corners about the wonderful victory they
had achieved over the Vigilance Committee and the cause of justice, unmind-
ful, these pygmies, that the same popular will which has broken up and scat.-
tered to the winds that criminal organization on which corrupt officials
fattened, could sweep them and all' their machinery of office, courts, and
law into the bay at a single effort. As for the vapid and meaningless docu-
ment called a proclamation, which was posted up about the city,.it is wholly
unworthy of notice. It has no point whatever."

And thus, the day follo\ving:
"These pets of the law, if we understand rightly, are in custody without
any legal commitment, and while so detained are an illegal expense to the
county. If they are turned loose again on society a stupendous crime will
be committed against the peace and lives of our citizens. The full measure
of their guilt is perhaps unknown; it is natural to suppose that men under
such circumstances will not confess the perpetration of very grave crimes;
but their own admissions show that their hands are raised instinctively and
by long habit against their fellows; and that to permit them to go again at
large would be to be accessary to murder. A lawyer can nevertheless easily
convince a court that against these men there is no proof sufficient to convict
them, and the question arises, 'Vhat will the court order? It cannot have them
detained, as there is no testimony against them. They will of course deny
their guilt and contradict their admissions. These admissions will go for
naught, and the grand jury cannot even find a bill against these men. See,
then, the position the law has brought itself into in regard to them. It is to
l)e presumed that none will deny their criminality; about that there can be
but one opinioll; and yet the law virtually declares such men must not be
punished. Law cannot punish them, and law will not permit anybody else
to punish them. The men who now presume, after permitting two criminals
to be executed without venturing to oppose the Committee, to thwart them
in their efforts to restore society to its just equilibrium, to restore energy to
the palsied arm of justice, to break up the criminal organization which has
l)ervaded this whole country for more than two years, an organization, too,
which has dealt in murder and rapine to an extent which has appalled the
hearts of our citizens, an organization which has perpetrated fifty-two mur-
ders in the precincts of this city within the last eighteen months, wE( say
those who now oppose the Committee in their efforts to break up this organi-
zation seem to forget that they themselves exist in their official capacity but
Ly sufferance, and that the labor of crushing them would be very light indeed. "

The night before they \vere to have met their fate
permission ,vas given the t,vo prisoners to shave and

THE LAW'S EXCL"SE.

339

dress in their best clothes. They were to have been
executed from the yard-arm of a vessel, in full yiew
of Telegraph Hill, round the base of which so many
scoundrels congregated. It may be interesting to
some to kno"r the intended proceedings on board the
shi p.
The chief of police ,vas to detail a guard of true
men, ,veIl armed, to procee.d to the vessel and make
preparations for the reception of the prisoners. A
clergyman should be allo,ved on boarú \vith the
prisoners. The bell should be tolled on shore. "Then
all ,vas ready the ,vater signal should be hoisted and
a gun fired. Then the executive should appear upon
the shore, and upon the ","aving of a handkerchief the
souls of the condemned should be launched upon the
eternal sea, and their bodies sholùd hang for the space
of one hour thereafter. But the Committee had for-
gotten that at the hour named the tide ,vollld be 10',.
Furthermore, the risk of failure would have been
greater in conducting an execution on board a vessel
than on shore; hence that plan would probably baye
been abandoned.
Four days pas
ed quietly while 'Vhittaker and

IcKenzie lay undisturbed in jail. Yet no one ,vho
thought upon the matter supposed that the Vigilance
Committee ,vould allow the affair to rest there. The
authorities well kne,v, or might have known, "hen
they seized the men that they could not hold them.
X either did the:r care to hold them, or to prevent the
Committee from exercising their soyereign purpose.
The men deserved to hang. X 0 one questioned it.
The Committee, through their ability and energy, had
broken up the organization. Let them complete
their work; it was better so. Certain base or blun-
dering members, by informing of the intended execu-
tion, bad obliged the authorities, contrary to their
inclination, to make the seizure. It no\y only re-
ill3ined to the Committee to repair the breach caused
bv their indiscretion and neo'lect. The 1110f11entary
.J 0 tI

360 THE CIRCU:\IYENTORS CIRCUßfV"ENTED.

victory of the authorities had strengthened the Conl-
mittee rather than weakened it.
Their ranks ,vere swelled by large additions of the
nlost respectable element of society. Money was
freely subscribed for the support of the organization,
and fresh impetus given to its vitality. People
were satisfied that if the two men Whittaker and
l\fcKenzie ,vere tried by the courts they \vould be
acquitted and turned loose upon society. Even in
face of the overwhelming evidence against them it
would be difficult for a grand jury legally to find a
true bill, or for a court legally to punish them. Should
law, then, prevent just punishment which it could not
itself inflict 1 The Committee \vere stimulated by
obvious considerations, and showed their decision in
the follo
ving order:

"CAPT. CARTWRIGHT:
"You are hereby authorized to detail a guard, such as you think proper,
and arrest two prisoners, to wit: Sam Whittaker and R. McKenzie, and
bring them into custody of the Committee of Vigilance.
" Done by order of Executive Committee, August 22, A.D. 185l.
"JAMES B. RUlE, Chairman.

"Attest: S. PAYRAN, Secretary."

Sunday was the time fixed upon for the recapture.
It was ascertained that there \vould be service on that
day, and it ,vas customary on such occasions to bring
all the prisoners from their cells into the main hall to
hear preaching. At that time the doors would be un-
barred; there \vould be no locks to pick, no cells to
break open.
On Saturday thirty of the Committee met in an
old iron building standing on the corner of California
and Leidesdorff street, and agreed among themselves
to recoy
r the prisoners or perish in the attempt.. The
first thing was to ascertain the condition of the jail,
by whom it was guarded, and what arms were in the
possession of its defenders. As it ,vould not do to
visit the jail in a boly, lots 'v ere dra,vn to determine

VIGILAXCE SPIES IY THE JAIL.

361

ho should act the spy, enter the jail, and bring back
a report. The lot fell upon Bluxome, who immedi-
ately set out on his mission. In front of the building
he found the sheriff himself, saddling a mule.
"Colonel Hays," began Bluxome, "you haveBurdue
yet a prisoner. His was a very hard case. Though I
have never met him I have had much to do in his
case, and I must confess to a curiosity concerning his
strange resemblance to Stuart. I would like to see
h . "
1m.
"Certainly; go in," said Hays, giving at the same
time the order to admit him.
Bluxome entered and found Burdue sitting on a
stone step. Entering into conversation with him, he
carefully marked in his mind the place and its con-
tents, and then walked carelessly about the prison.
The only arms he could discover was a rack of muskets
standing in the middle of the main hall. These might
be dangerous, and they might not; but how ascertain
if they ,vere loaded without exciting suspicion 1 Taking
a musket from the rack and turning to the officer in
attendance, whom he well knew, he exclaimed in a
. half playful manner:
"Lambert, you are an old infantry soldier; so am I.
Put me through the drill."
" 'Vha t drill?" asked Lambert.
"Loading and firing."
"All right, sir," replied the officer, complying with
the request. Presently Bluxome complained:
"This gun is not well balanced," and putting it
back he took from the rack another. And so on divers
pretences he examined one after another, and ascer-
tained that none of them were loaded. That was all
be wished to know, and he returned to report.
Ryckman determined to make a survey on his own
account. Going up to the jail, he found ready ad-
mittance. The triumphant authorities "Tere most
affable. The vigilance organization was a fine append-
age to a police office. ""T e don't 'v ant any trouble

362 THE CIRCUMYENTORS CIRCUMVENTED.

with you," said the smiling jailer as he admitted him.-
"There are many who entertain the same senti-
ment," was the caustic reply.
Ryckman examined the muskets, which were flint-
locks, and saw that they were not loaded. He was
less diplomatic in his visit than Bluxome had been.
He ,vas absolutely fearless, and ,vent more directly for
his object than some who were, indeed, no more cir-
cumspect than he. The jailer spoke truly. No one
coveted trouble with Mr Ryckman.
The visitor asked to be shown the captured prison-
ers. Whittaker ,vas in his cell, and on seeing \vho it
was he came to the grating and said:
"I hope you are not sorry to see me here, Mr Ryck-
man ?"
" Sir," ,vas the reply, "you were arrested through
the agency of the people; you were tried and convicted
by the people; you escaped, but you will as surely be
executed by the people as you no\v live. Entertain no
hope otherwise. Be ready. No po\ver on earth shall
"
save you.
This utterance can hardly be commended as discreet.
Ryckman then returned to the COlnmittee rooms and
busied himself in preparing for the intended under-
taking for Sunday.
At the rendezvous on Sunday morning only one
out of the thirty was absent. The t,venty-nine were
divided into three parties, one of thirteen and the
others of eight, and each placed under a captain.
G. W. White cOIDlnanded the first, and Mr Calhoun
and Oscar Smith the other two. The movement was
under the immediate orders of J. W. Cartwright.
Over a portion of the prison, at the time, there ,vas
no roof, and from a certain point on Telegraph Hill
could plainly be seen all that occurred in the main
room. One Higgins was stationed at this point with
instructions to open wide his arms the moment service
was over.
Meanwhile one party had taken its stand at the

RECAPTURE AND EXECUTION.

363

front door of the prison, and of the others, one at the
back door, and one in the area between the outer ,vall
and main building, ,vhere they could see Higgins.
The signal being given, every man made ready.
Immediately the front door ,vas opened, and a::; the
,vorshippers from without were making their exit, the
party there stationed crowded in. .L-\.t this juncture
a crash ,vas heard at the back door, "yhich fell with
loud noise beneath the blo,vs of a sledge-hammer. In
another moment two divisions ,vere together, ,vhile
the third rushed to the front and acted as guard. The
criminals, ,vho under guard had been attending seryice,
instinctively scattered to their cells like rats before
their feline enemy. The regular jail guard were at
their station on the top of the building, and during
the seizure they ,vere covered by a large pistol in the
hand of James B. Huie, one of the twenty-nine.
\Vhittaker ,vas taken by Bluxome just as he entered
his cell. This was about a quarter past two. At the
same instant, by different parties, }IcKenzie and the
officers ,vere seized. There ,vas some scuffiing be-
tween the officers and the vigilants, .and a few harm-
less shots were fired. Whittaker and
IcKenzie
struggled J.:1ard, but ,vere quickly overcome. The
two criminals ,vere bound, and hurried to a carriage
in waiting. The other inmates of the prison stood
trembling with fear, without offering the least resist-
ance, not knowing ,vhen their own turn might come.
N 0 sooner were the two prisoners thrust into the
carriage which stood in readiness round the corner
than the driver plied his whip, and the horses dashed
off at the top of their speed, up Broad,vay to Stockton
street, thence to \Vashington and through Dupont,
Sacramento, )Iontgomery, and California streets, to
the Committee rooms on Battery street. Not a
moment was lost. Over the doors of the second story
of the building projected two beams, fastened to ,vhich
,vere blocks roved ,vith ropes noosed at one end.
With their coats removed and arm
pinioned to their

364 THE CIRCUMVENTORS CIRCIDIVENTED.

sides, the ropes ,vere adjusted round their necks. The
next instant the two prisoners ,vere simultaneously
jerked from their feet and hoisted in air until their
heads touched the bealns above; then they were
lowered and again hoisted until life ,vas extinct.
Nothing of the plan ,vas known to any except the
executive committee and those actually engaged in
it. Even the preliminary arrangelllents, as ,ve have
seen, ,vere made outside of the Committee rooms.
Less than three quarters of an hour ,vas occupied
from the time of the attack upon the jail till the un-
fortunate men were swinging from the beams of the
Vigilance Committee building. Following is the re-
turn of order of arrest.

"EXECUTIVE COl\:n.UTTEE OF VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, }
"SAN FRANCISCO, August 24, 1851.
"Agreeable to your orders above, I detailed thirty (30) men, who pro-
ceeded in three divisions, under the respective orders of Col. G. W. "\Vhite,
Capt. Calhoun, and l\Ir Oscar Smith, and in the short space of five minutes
from the first charge the prisoners above named were on their way to your
head-quarters. " Respectfully,

"J. W. CARTWRIGHT."

While the vehicle containing the prisoners and their
guard was dashing through the streets the Monu-
mental bell struck the well known signal, but before
many members in ans,ver to its sumlnons could reach
the Committee rooms the deed was done. The execu-
tive committee were beconling proficient in the busi-
ness; all had been preconcerted, all was carried out
without faltering and without confusion. The execu-
tion over, the people were addressed by two lnernbers,
and the action of the Committee received their un-
qualified approval. At sunset the bodies were delivered
to the coroner, who held an inquest at the house of
the California Engine COlnpany.
The extraordinary incidents of the day, and of the
occasion, were never paralleled in any country. Glance
once more at then1: A law-loving but crill1e-ridden
people rise and do what the law fails to accolnplish,

SO
IE IXCIDENTS.

365

namely, seize and strangle villainy, and break up a
nest of crime. Their ,york not quite finished, inept
law, follo,ying its jealous necessity, snatches two of
their caught criminals, in order to punish them in
its o,vn way. The people recover and execute them.
"There else in history shall we find this pIa y of
battle door and shuttlecock bet,veen law, justice, and
the people

From their quiet devotions under the auspices of
law to that eternity of ,vhich they prayed, these mur-
derers found their s"\vift and natural way. There were
many incidents ,vorthy of mention in this connection,
but I can give place to but t"ro or three.
'Vhen the prisoners were bound, ,vith their hands
behind and the ropes round their necks, and all was
ready for the execution, \Vhittaker said:
" I "
ant to see
Ir Ryckman."
" "That is it, 'Vhittaker
" said Ryckman, stepping
up to him.
" You have never deceived me, and I will tell you
something. You are a doomed man. You will be
assassinated in less than ninety days. Reckless and
"determined men have s,vorn it."
"I am not afraid of them," said Ryckman. "All
the desperadoes this side of purgatory can never in-
timidate me in the discharge of my duty."
'Vhile the execution ,vas taking place the mayor,
Brenham, "ras noticed sitting quietly on a pile of
lunlber on the opposite side of the street from the
Committee rooms, regarding the proceedings appar-
ently as an idle spectator.
After the men had been hanging about fifteen min-
utes Gallagher presented himself, blustering for the
bodies.
"vVhat do you want
" asked Ryckman, stepping
for,vard.
" I am coroner of the city of San Francisco, and I
want these men!"
" You can't have them."

366 THE CIRCUMVENTORS CIRCUMVENTED.

"If you don't give them to me I will cut them
down !"
"Raise your hand to touch those bodies and you
are a dead man. Come, be quiet and take a drink-
that or the contents of this pistol, as you like."
The Irishman calmed himself and ' smiled.'
"When can I have them 1" he asked, no, v wholly
resigned.
" When the sun goes down," said Ryckman.
The day after the execution Hays, the sheriff,
meeting Ryckman, said:
" I am mortified to death, All my hopes of reëlec-
tion are destroyed."
"Colonel, don't be foolish," Ryckman replied.
"Seek the election. You have acquitted yourself
fully, Failure sometimes is more successful than
success. "

CHAPTER XXIV.

MINOR RASCALITIES.

They demen gladly to the badder end.
Chaucer.

THE revelations of Stuart gave many cause for
uneasiness. In the published confession some of the
names given by him were omitted and blanks inserted,
ánd many an undetected rascal in reading that report

a'v in fancy the letters of his own name Hanling
blood-red in blank spaces. Kno,ving, moreover, that
for every blank the Committee had the true and fit-
ting appellation, some who before regarded themselves
as fixed and settled members of the commonwealth
suddenly arrived at the conclusion that their health
..required a change of air. ·

Iore than .any other one person T. Belcher Kay
sat uneasily as he read that confession. He is said to
have been the instigator of the great fire of the 22d
of June. His assistants in that affair ""ere Jimmy-
fron1-Town, Dutchy Betts, Adams, and 'Vhittaker.
Kay promised to have the plunder properly divided;
they secured some eight thousa.nd dollars in all, in-
cluding three cases of valuables sent to a Sacramento
Je,v, who did business on the corner of J and Second
streets. Kay ,vas disgusted with the present turn of
affairfit. Things ,,,,ere coming to a pretty pass 'v hen, in
addition to the trouble caused him by the people, every
other man of them had turned thief-hunter; "hen a
comrade would not suffer himself to be hanged in
quiet, but must first tell all he knew and jeopardize
the lives of his former companions. Whoever heard
( 867 )

368

:MINOR RASCALITIES.

of such a state of things, when one could not fire a
fe"\v buildings \vithout causing such a commotion! It
\vas not fair. Why could not merchants and mechan-
ics mind their own business? What did they know
about la,v? Incendiarism, robbery, and murder were
Iuatters resting entirely bet,veen gentlemen of the
profession and the courts, bet"\veen ,vhich classes lay
the net-work of the la"\v, both manipulating it as best
they might according to their respective interests.
N ow, for the men of merchandise to interfere and
raise such a hubbub was infamous. The country was
becoming unfit for a respectable scoundrel to live in.
Everything seenled turning against him. The people
were patrolling and associates confessing. There "\vere
yet the courts, however. After all, the law had treated
him ,veIl enough, and legal technicalities were about
the safest covert for hunted rascality; there money
,vas money. He ,vas friendless no,v; there his stolen
gold dust ,vould buy him a friend into whose safe ear
he could pour his secrets, tell all his guilt, and secure
him able and active sympathy; for so kind law pro-
vided. l\foney would like,vise buy him ,vitnesses ,vho
would s\vear to anything his legal accomplice might
indicate. Money made \VarID the cold cell, soft the
hard couch, drove hunger and thirst to hide them-
sel ves; it opened prison doors, and n1ade even judges
benignant. La\v was the only safe refuge for the rascal;
to the law he ,vould go, and that ,vhile he \vas able.
At the time of Stuart's arrest Mr Belcher Kay
was in San Francisco, but urgent calls of conscience
took hinl to Sacramento. The outlook there was not
comforting. Everywhere he found too many people
earnestly intent on not minding their own business.
A Sacramento July was hot and withering, a San
Francisco July was cold and shivering; indeed, the
climate of California he believed to be changing. The
fact is, Mr Belcher Kay was unhappy. The vigilance
men were after him, and he knew it. There were
among them those whom the June fire, a most un-

THE NE"r HA.BEAS CORPUS.

36

fortunate kindling at this juncture, had for the third
or fourth time stripped of every dollar; and he kne\y
that, too.

0 tÍ1ne ,vas to be lost. To flee the country ,vas
impossible; every avenue of escape ,vas closely watched.
There ,vas but one refuge left, and that had never
failed him-his benign mother, the desperado's abna
'fn(ltel
, the la\v.
Assuming the costume of an elderly female, he
dodged a detachment of the San Francisco Committee
sent up to arrest hilll, cut across the country to Stock-
ton, thence to San J osé, and up to San Francisco.
Here, on the 16th day of July, he drove to court in
a buggy, still disguised as an old WOlllan, that he
might s\vear out a ,vrit of habeas C01]JUS for his
o,vn body beforc some one else should snatch it
from hiln.
:\Ir T. Belcher I{a y did not, ho,vever , arrive at
court a stranger. Before leaving San Francisco he
had taken steps to legally secure himself to himself.
On the 11th of July, the day of Stuart's execution,
one 'Villiarn Thompson Jr. appeared before Hugh C.

lurray, of inglorious falne, then chief justice of the
superior court of San Francisco, and s\vore, to the
best of his kno\vledge and belief, that T. Belcher
ICay,yas unla,yfully restrained of his liberty and im-
prisoned by a great nunlber of persons styling them-
selves the \Tigilance Committee, and that the said
persons \vere enclea voring to conceal the said T ..
Belcher ICay in order that he might not be reachecl
by legal process until they could strangle him; ,,'"here-
upon the said court, bo\vailing such a fate for a free
city-burner, directed Sheriff Hays to seize the body
of the said lCay ,vhenever and \vherever it might be
found, and to hold it safely for hin1self and for the
la,v. N o,v the truth of the matter is that the \Tigil-
ance Committee had never had the body of :1\11' lCa)"
in their possession, else the affidavit of 1\11' Thompson
\vould have been useless.
POP. TIUB.. VOL. I. 24

370

:MINOR RASCALITIES.

From SacralIlento the 13tll of July Mr Kay,vrote
the San Francisco Vigilance Con1mittee as follows:

"Being informed that certain grave charges have been preferred against
me by the man Stuart, and that you wish to try me on said charges, I now
state to you that I am ready and willing to meet the same, and will volun-
tarily deliver myself up the moment you may send for me, trusting to your
honor for a fair and impartial trial, and beg of you to secure for me as counsel
Geary Austin, Esq. "Very respectfully,

"T. B. KAY."

How l\fr Kay kept this promise ,ve have already
seen.
Comn1enting on the actiori of the court in Kay's
case, the Heralcl of July 24th says:

"\Vhen a writ of habeas corpus was sued out in the case of 'Villiam
'Valker, an honest citizen, whose sole crime was a conscientious discharge of
his duty, the applicant was knocked about from court to court like a shuttle-
cock, and seven days elapsed before he was restored to his liberty, while here
in the case of a man charged with felony, known to have been the companion
of thieves and burglars, and suspected of being their confederate, the portals
of justice open wide to receive him even before he knocks for admission, and
a process issues to restore him to liberty before he is known to be in durance.
All according to law, perhaps; but if it be so, then that law acts directly for
the oppression of the honest man and the immunity of the knave. 'Ve cannot
believe the law "vas ever intended for any such purpose. \Ve repeat, then,
that here is a case demonstrating the necessity of a Vigilance Committee and
disproving all the cant indulged in about the sacredness of the courts. These
institutions are formed for the purpose of dispensing justice, and if they do
not answer that purpose they are worse than useless."

)1r Tho1l1pson ,vas indicted by the grand jury for
perjury. 1\11' Belcher I(ay ,vas discharged by the
court on the 1st of August, and in1111ediately took
passage for the east.
Other minor Inatters claim attention. One Fran-
cisco Guerrero, on the 12th of July, \vas lllurdered at
the l\fission. The coroner's jury, ,vhose investigation
,vas Inade in the presence of the Vigilance Committee,
named Francis Le Bras as the murderer. The Con1-
lllittee, fronl the evidence, were not fully satisfied that
Le Bras was guilty of the crime; nevertheless they
Tetained him in their custody.

CO)[
IERCIAL TRAXSACTIOXS.

371

. The COlllmittee continued to take testinl0UY for
and against the prisoner all that day and part of the
next, without being able to convict. :\Iean,,
hile the
sheriff, ,,"ith a pORse CQ1n1'talus and ,vrit of arre8t,
knocked at the door of the \Tigilance Committee
rooms and demanded the person of Francis Le Bras.
The sheriff ,vas politely infornled that after the Conl-
mittee had acted upon the case they ,,"ollld deternline
""hat disposition to make of the prisoner.

t the same
time the Sub-colliruittee, to ,,,,horn the case had been
referred. recommended that no notice should be taken
of the ,vrit, and if it be thought advisable to submit
the case for trial at court by the authorities, to do so
of their o,vn free ,,,,ill, and mean\rhile to keep in CU8-
tody the prisoner. The executive committee concluded
finally to surrender the pri::;oner to the civil authorities,
taking frolu the sheriff a receipt for the delivery of his
person. Upon this action the Herald observes:

"The Committee's course in this matter sufficiently refutes the charges
that haye been made against them that they were anxious to assume supreme
powers and seize every opportunity of exercising judicial functions. As the
community will perceive, they have heretofore confiIted their action exclu-
.sively to cases where the guilt of the offenders was established beyond the
possibility of ca.\il or doubt; and so strictly have they adhered to this course
that, whatever other charges have been urged against them by their opponents,
none have been so reckless as to assert that they have ever punished an inno-
cent man."

Here,vith I give copies of receipts for prisoners de-
livered by the Vigilance COlllmittee of their O\Vll free
and deliberate ,viII to the officers of the la,,,,.

"SAX }'RASCISCO, July 23, 1831.
"Received of the Committee of Vigilance of the city of San Francisco the
following prisoners, handed over to the sheriff of said county by order of said
Committee: James Burns, alia.s Jimmy-from-Town; ...\insworth, alia& Round-
head.
" The above prisoners being sound in body and health.

"Received the above prisoners from J. L. Van Bokkelen, of the '
igi1ance
Committee, Wednesday night, July 23d.

"JOIIS C. R-\.Ys, Sheriff.
"WM. LAlIBERT, Keeper.

3
.-)
1-

MINOR RASCALITIES.

" Received of the Committee of Vigilance a prisoner named George Arthur,
accused of house-breaking.
"The above prisoner has been received from J. L. Van Bokkelen, of
Committee, Wednesday night, July 23, 1851.

"SA?t1'L C. HARDING,
"Captain 'l'hird District Police Station."

Jimmy-froDl-Town gave the Con1mittee quite a little
chase, but ,vas arrested, six days after Stuart's execu-
tion, near l\1arysville. His true name ,vas James
Burns. He ,vas convicted of various crimes, and sen-
tenced to ten years' Ï1nprisonment. Jin1my Round-
head \vas like\vise caught by the Vigilance Committee
and presented to the sheriff.
Again the tolling of the Monumental's bell an-
nounced the sitting of the Con1mittee in solemn
conclave. At ten o'clock in the lTIorning of the 6th
of August, 1851, hundreds ,vere seen rushing through
the streets to\vard the rooms of the COlTIn1ittee on
Battery street.
,
What's up
" asked everybody of everybody.
"Don't kno\v, unless Adan1s is to be tucked up."
Adams, a noted burglar and boon c0111panion of Stuart,
,vas found in a tent on the Arnerican River. He ,vas
arrested by the emissaries of the Vigilance COlnn1ittee
and brought to the San Francisco head-quarters the
19th of July. But Adams ,vas not to be 'tucked up.'
The Comn1ittee ,vere about to perfornl an act ,vhich
should lTIark the nobleness of their motives, the cool-
ness of their demeanor, and the teu1perate firlnness
of their character, Inore conspicuously than even the
hanging of Jenkins and Stuart. One of the fearful
ills \vhich should be fastened on society by this unruly
organization, predicted by the lovers of the courts and
court officials, ,vas an ever increasing thirst for po\ver,
,vhich should rise to intoxication and degcnerate into
licentiousness. Again \v'e see the ComlTIittee, \vho
had spent their o,vn time and lTIOney in the capture
of a notorious crirninal, and in gathering the evidence

LAW.BREAKERS GREAT AXD ð)!..d.LL. 3ï3

of his guilt, voluntarily surrender hinl to the consti-
tuted authorities, to be tried and sentenced in accord-
ance ,vith recognized forms of la\v.
"There they comet" shouted one, as Adams ap-
peared at the entrance between the chief of the
vigilant police and a deputy sheriff They n1arched
to"
ard the county jail, follo\ved by severaÏ menlbers
of the Committee and a cro,,
d of citizens. The
pirit
of justice ßmiled on her ministers that day, and the
court \vas not slo,,
in recognition. The lesson of alac-
rity had been ,yell inculcated; scarcel\
\vas Adams
lodged in prison before the judge had him out, tried,
and condemned. Eyen the anti- vicrilance oro'ans
were satisfied to have the Committe
act as a O de-
tective police, and signified their ,,
illingness that
the organization should continue on that basis-sug-
gestions in regard to \vhich the Committee \vere
profoundly indifferent.

)Irs Hogan secreted herself on board of a ship lying
in the harbor, but ,,-as seized by the \Tigilance police
and brought to the Committee rooms on the 19th.
She ,vas about thirty-five years of age and quite gen-
teel in appearance. Her carriage, one of the finest
in the city, stood at the door of the 'Tigilance Com-
mittee rooms on the day of her arrest, but at night
the lady did not dri,
e a,,-ay in it, although there was
not at present testimony sufficient for her conviction.
Thieves arrested by citizens at the great June fire
"
ere taken, as a 11latter of course, before the ''''-igilance
Committee. One \vas publicly ,,-hipped and ordered
to leav.e the city. Five thousand dol1ar
re\vard \vas
offered for the apprehension and conviction before the
Committee of any incendiary, and notice to that effect
appeared in English, French, Spanish, and German,
in the journals of the day.
Dab ,vas arrested one night on board the steam-
boat
-re1JJ TTTorld, en route from Sacramento to San
Francisco. Dr Kennecly,surgeon of the ship.fohnsfo}ie,

374

J\II
OR RASCALITIES.

,vas arrested for stabbing the captain-a systeln of
Rurgery practised even by sorne ,vho could not show
a diplon1a.
Sallluel Purdy, while candidate for the offi.ce of
lieutenant-goyernor, assaulted Mr Robb of the Stock-
ton Journal in such a manner as to call forth the
Reyerest COn1111ents of the press.
The captain of the brig HalloLvell ,vas taken into
custody by the Vigilance Committee on Sunday, the
24th of August, for having caused the death of a
boatman, but after exan1ination he ,vas surrendered
to the authorities.
Early in July a tent on the Middle Fork of the
.L\.merican River was entered and t\venty-three hun-
dred dollars stolen frolfi a trunk. Suspicion pointed to
one Han1Ïlton Taft, ,vho, having fled to San ]j-'rancisco,
,vas arrested at the Branch Hotel by t,vo members of
the Vigilance Comlnittee. The prisoner asserted his
innocence, but on being searched gold dust and coin
\yere found upon his person, and a portion ,vhich he
had thrown into a sink ans\vered to a description of
that ,vhich was lost. The Inan was then taken to the
Committee rooms, ,vhere shortly after he confessed
the crime. He was sent back, under a strong guard,
to be dealt with by the authorities at Auburn.
Arrentrue was indicted by the grand jury for at-
tempt to murder in the mines, and for assisting Wat-
kins to escape jail. Benjamin Le\vis, found guilty of
arson by the court, ,vas sentenced to t,vo years in the
state prison. This ,vas the highest punishlnent for
the offence as the law then stood. Two days after,
however, a. ne\v statute ,vent into effect which Inade
arson punishable by death. Lewis went happily to
prison, rejoicing in the promptitude of trials in Cali-
fornia.
Briggs, the 'Sydney duck,' mentioned in Stuart's
confession, was reported as being in San Francisco
on the 15th of October. All night men1bers of the
Con11nittee were on the alert, but the n10rning dis-

SO)IE ARE SEXT
-\.WAY.

37:>

closed the fact that he had left the day previous on
the brig General Cobb, or the British bark Francis,
bound for Australia. A committee "
as appointed to
\vait upon the collector of the port and obtain the
requisite authority to search the t\VO ves::)els. They
pursued the fugitive, pushing out through Goldeil
Gate in the stearner Firefly. Boardin o ' the Cobb,
they ascertained that Briggs \vas not there. The
brig Francis was a long \vay off; the steamer fuel ,vas
lo\y, and they ,vere obliged to abandon the chase.
John Goff ,vas inforlned by the Con1mittee that he
lllust leave the country, and many thought it an un-
just sentence; ,,-hereupon the Committee caused to
appear in the public journals the facts that Goff \yas
a convict, a bad character, and the boon companion of
burglars. In his possession ,vas found a conditional
pardon, given in Sydney the 1st of
Iay, 1849, by
Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, governor of
e\\? South
"Tales-the condition being that )Ir Goff lnight go
free in any part of the \vorld except Great Britain
and Ireland; there his pardon ,yould be forfeited if
he presented himself.
Ir Goff ,vas obliged to de-
. posit ,vith the Committee a sum of money as a guar-
antee that he \vould quit the country by the brig JTeto,
bound for Sydney.

Ir Hetherington, destined to yet higher inglori-
ous fame, "'
as at this time keeping a notorious den
at X orth Beach; being warned to lea ve, instead of
obeying, he applied to the courts for protection.
The days of grace expired; t"TO hundred men sur-
rounded his premises, arrested hilll, and placed hin1
on board a vessel in the harbor, there to a\yait the
first departure for Sydney. "T e
hall llleet this
gentlelllan again.
A youn o ' luan llallled Harrison, son of an honest
and highl)
respected ganlbler, J Ohll Harrison, one of
the oldest in X ew York city, ,vho ,vas ordered by
the COlllmittee to depart from these ::;hores, had
quite a strange career sub
equently. From Julia

376

)lINOR RASCALITIES.

Bro,vn, his prostitute mother, he inherited some
property. After favoring California ,vith his absence
he ,vent to Kansas. Walking along the streets of
Leavenworth one day, he boastfully counted on his
fingers to a companion eleven men "'''horn he had
killed. Suddenly he dre"r his pistol, exclaiming, "I
nlust have t,velve jurYlnen in hell to try me ,vhen I
go there I" and fired, shooting a Gerlnan cobbler at
,york on the opposite side of the street. lIe made
good his escape. Next ,ve hear of him at the head
of twenty-five desperadoes, pla
ying soldier in 1861.
Driven frolll the arn1Y for bad conduct, he fled to the
Indian Territory, raised a cOlnpanyof half-breeds, and
began a series of depredations on both sides of the
line. These bold measures ,vere kept up till one
day, in a to,vn in Arkansas ,vhicll he had robbed, he
,vas captured by the citizens, 'v ho killed hiln very
dead: first they hanged hin1; then they decapitated
hilll and placed his head upon a pole.
In the 111atter of S
nl1uel Gallagher, accused of
killing Pollock, the Vigilance COlnll1ittee declined to
act, on the ground that it ,vas not part of their pur-
pose to take cognizance of personal quarrels, but
rather to direct their surgery against chronic diseases.
Rapine, ,vith its attendant burglaries, incendiarislns,
and lTIurders, the C0111nlittee nlade it their 1110re special
duty to suppress, leaving to the la,y private anÎlnosi-
ties and minor questions of justice.
Strange freaks of human nature were seen at times
about this strange tribunal. A negro confessed to
having started the late conflagration, and ,vas arrested
by the Vigilance Committee. After exalnination, in
,y hich ,verc repeated confessions and denials, he was
discharG'
d. At another time a tHan rushed to the
door olf the Conllnittee rooms and attenlpted to gain
adlnissiol1. Stopped by the sergeallt-at-arllls, he in-
sisted on entering to receive punishn1ent for stealing.
He \\
as finally dl'ive
l a,va
v'. And yet neither of these

IR J
.uIES DOWð.

377

men seemed insane, though they may have been a
little bewildered by a bad conscience.
::\Iore fearful of vigilant justice than that of the
la", some offenders surrendered to the latter and
voluntarily confessed secret sins,-instance the case
of .L
lfred Edulondson, who \\alked into the sheriff's
office one day in July and stated that he had shot one
:\Icl{inley at a ranch thirty llliles dist.ant.
.J..
reform "
as noticed about this time in the pro-
ceedings of street encounters. The revolver's click
was less often heard, and in its stead the air reyer-
berated ,vith the ,,
hizzing of the cO"\yhide. Women
played this instrument as ,veIl as men; it was less
sanguinary than the old way, and more in keeping
"ith the hate of ',,"oman, ,yho loves best that method
,yhich inflicts the most punishment \vith the least
danger.

On one occasion ",.hen Selim \\7ood,vard ,vas in the
chair and the members in full attendance, the general
committee had before them on trial a )Iexican boy
charged ,yith theft. The evidence \\
a'3 in, conviction
.clear, and the only remaining question "
as the kind
of punishment. SOllle were for banishment, some for
"hipping, and others for something more severe.
Ir
J ames Do,,
es, then as ever a central figure for humor,
had already addressed the assembly t,,?ice, and ,,'"ished
to speak again, but the rule was rigid that no one
ShOlÙcl speak more than t,,?ice on the same subject or
occupy more than five minutes. Do,ves induced a
friend to secure the floor and then waive in his be-
half, and raising his long, lank form high aboye all
around, in that nasal t\\'"ang and ejaculatory delivery.
peculiar to him, he f'aid: "Gentlelllen, I do not ,,'"ish
to fatigue you; I beg merely to sa:r that it takes no
longer to hang a Ulan than to ,,'"hip one." The manner
of it ,vas n10re than the matter; the Committee
roared, and inlmediately released the boy "\vith a simple
reprimand.

378

MINOR RASCALITIES.

:1\Ir Do,vs, ,vho ,vas a fearless and vehe111ently un-
compromising member of both 'Tigilance COlnmittees,
during the ,vinter of 1850-1 kept a large liquor store
on }'fontgomery street, ,vhere }'lontgornery Block
no\v stands. Those ,vere thirsty days, and thither
flocked men of every caste and color to drink. Side
by side drank mechanics and lllurderers, honest men
and thieves, the latter looking and listening as they
quaffed their poison. One night, ,vhen 1\11" Do,\'s' safe
contained ten thousand dollars' ,vorth of gold dust, tho
burglars opened and e111ptied it; and next nlorning,
upon the spot, Iningling with others \vhom curiosity had
dra,yn thither, ,vere the thieves themselves, quietly
taking their beverage and cOlnplacently regarding the
havoc they had made. Jimmy-from-To,vn was chief
of this plot, and subsequently Mr Do,vs had the
pleasure of sitting in judgn1ent upon him.

..c'l.S a 11latter of course, it ,vas to be expected that
our celestial brother , John, should find occasion to
utilize this as ,veIl as other American institutions.
Ah Sing and Lip SCOlll for some reason desired that
Ah Lo and Ah Hone, ,vith t,vo \VOn1en of the neither
,vife nor Inaid species, should be sent back to China.
They ,vere bad Chinamen, said the almond-eyed, they
struck from the shoulder, kept a bad house, and be-
longed to the la\v and order party. All \vhich ,vas
not difficult of belief; but an10ngst Inillions of century-
smoked souls how distinguish one from the other?
What is the difference bet\veen a good Chinaman and
a bad Chinaman?
N overtheless, as the first two named spoke first
their accusation-\vhich if reversed ,vould have been
very llluch the same, either party answering equally
well for plaintiff or defendant-as they expressed an
anxiety to assist in purging the city in the latest
fashion, and by a 111ethod other than that of the stalHl-
ing Jackson-street emetic; and above all, as they
proposed to pay all the expenses of custody and

DO\VXCAST AL
rO
ì)-EYES.

379

passage back to China, the dread tribunal granted
their prayer. Indeed, they might empty every sub-
urban sink-hole in California on the same terms if
they liked.
But seriously, testimony of a sufficiently respectable
character to convict these flo,very offenders of arson,
of having drugged and robbed sailors, ,vas offered the
Committee, and they were compelled to depart. At
the same time charges were preferred by their coun-
trYluen against Ah Loh, Sin Co, and Ah Oeh; but
this the Committee voted a conspiracy, and made the
complainants understand that the order of exile in its
application was n-either universal nor permanent.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE INQUISITORS IN COUNCIL.

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.
Friedricll, Von Logan.

WE have seen that July ,vas a busy month, and
the accun111lated docun1ents sho\v that the n10nth of
August ,vas not an idle one. Aside from the stirring
affairs connected ,vith vVhittaker and l\fcICenzie there
,vere a score or more of the Ininor melnbers of the
no\v scattered fraternity to be looked after, corro-
spondence \vith country COlnmittees had to be kept
up, the significance of legal technicalities studied,
trials held, ,vitnesses examined, funds raised, and a
hundred other like duties performed. It is ,von-
derful to ,vhat a state of perfection the ne,v 111 a-
chinery \vas brought ,vithin the first three lnonths of
its running. Wonderful it is ,vhat men of sense and
skill can do when possessed of that po,ver "rhich
secures then1 absolute freedon1 of thought and action.
That political libertinism did not follo\v this deluge
of liberty is the strongest proof of the even balance
of their n1inds and the integrity of the hearts of those
who achieved this great Inoral victory.
At a general n1eeting on the 2d of August a
committee ,vas appointed to report on the use and
abuse of the \vrit of habeas C01]JUS. Devised in the
hour of oppression, observed the committee, as a
safeguard of liberty it is one of the most precious
rights of man. The intention of the ,vrit is to relieve
from unjust confinelnent a .person accused but not
[380]

THE QUALITY OF HABEAS CORPUS.

381

con victed of crime, on condition that he offer suf-
nci(\nt security to appear and ans\ver to the charge
,vhcn called for. The question in this connection is,
J\Iay it ever be disregarded? The \veakness of the
habeas (
OrpllS lies in the fact that to insure its rapil
action the right of granting it must be vested in many
officers. False testimony or an oath Inade on errone-
ous inforlnation 111ay in a:n instant ,vrest from the hand
of justice the crÏlninal 'Vh01l1 it has required much
labor and expense to secure, and thus this greatest of
civil blessings lllay in effect prove baneful. It is
against the abuse of the habeas cOl1JUS that the people
are called to rai
e their voice. A peculiar condition
of society may render the unrestrained use of the
,vrit dangerous to the state. Policy sometimes re-
quires its suspension-instance the "tars of the
J acobins, England during the reign of George I. and
at various epochs. Should the Vigilance Committee
deem it expedient to resist the ,vrit upon occasions,
it has the sanction of precedent. The existence of
this Committee, forlued as it is of the best material
of society, is proof sufficient of its necessity. The
,\yrit of habeas cor}JUS, alnong other nlechanislns of
the la\,"" has certainly been elllployed for shielding
iniquity, and it renlains either for the Committee
of Y"?"igilance to degenerate into a Inere detective police,
or to free itself frolll the fear of resisting the \vrit
\vhen they see it abused. They cannot afford to catch
crinlinals for habeas cor]JUS, or any other la\v trick, to
liberate. Such, and more of the sallIe tenor, the gen-
tlemen appointed reported to the Committee; account-
in0" it the riaht of the Conl1nittee to reQ'ulate the ,yrit
ð 0 '--'
of haúeas cO/"1YllS, or anything else affecting the \vel-
fare of the cOffilnon\vealth.

Prompted by their gratitude to those who had re-
stored safety to the city, t
le ladies of San Francisco
presented to the COllln1ittce of Vigilance a banner of
blue silk, emblazoned \vith a border of oak, olive, and

THE INQUISITORS IN COUNCIL.
fig leaves, enlblematic of strength, peace, and plenty;
inscribed on one side were the ,vords, in golden char-
acters:

382

"The Vigilance Committee of the City of San Francisco:
Instituted June 8, 1851,
For the Protection of the Lives and Property
of the Citizens and Residents of the
City of San Francisco.
Const., .Art. 1."

And on the reverse:

"Presented to the Vigilance Committee
of the City of San Francisco
By the Ladies of Trinity Parish, as a
Testimonial of their Approbation.

'DO RIGHT AND FEAR NOT I'
August 9, 1851."

Estimating the compliment by its cost, ,vhich was
nearly one thousand dollars, we may believe that the
gift ,vas fron1 the heart. The banner was presented
by Benjamin S. Brooks, in a neat and pertinent speech,
\vhich concluded as follows:

"This gift comes with peculiar appropriateness from the ladies. At the
time that this society was organized our situation was very different from
what it is at present. It is true that the strong man, with loaded revolvers
in his pocket and bowie-knife concealed in his breast, might defy the attacks
of the Sydney convict, and the refuse of all the world which infested our city,
but it was different with the weak and defenceless woman. She who sits
patiently at home waiting for her husband's return from his business, in every
noise about the house she fears the burglar and the robber. If she leaves the
house, a thousand fears beset her for the safety of her children; if the husband
is delayed beyond his usual time, a thousand fears, a thousand honid visions
of murder, and outrage, and violence come upon her heart, and fill her with
anguish and dismay. Such was San Francisco; but now we live in peace. \Ve
sit beneath our vine and fig tree haIJpy and secure, and woman's heart feels,
and this her gift expresses, her gratitude. Gentlemen, accept this gift, and
all your actions, in all the assaults which may be made upon you by those
who hate, or those who fear, or those who doubt, remember the motto which it
bears, 'Do right and fear not,' for in the end blessings will ever reward you
for your laborious vigilance for the protection of our lives and property."

DOXATIONS A.t.
CONGRATULATIONS.

383

Comn1itteeman No. 404, at the general meeting of
August 9th, offered the following resolution, which
,vas adopted:

"'\VHEREAS, There is a United States law inflicting a fine of one thousand
dollars upon captains of vessels for each convict that they bring from the penal
colonies of Great Britain to the United States, one half of which fine is awarded
the infonner; therefore,
"Resolved, That the executive committee be directed to lodge information
forthwith against the captains now in port who have been guilty of this offence,
and to prosecute the matter, and that the proceeds be appropriated to the ob.
jects of this Committee."

A letter ,vas received from l\Iessrs Flint, Peabody,
and Company, inclosing one hundred dollars. The
gift ,vas accon1panied by a letter couched in the fol-
lo,ving terms:

"Please find herewith check for one hundred dollars, which we ask you
to accept as a small token of our a pprecia tion of your efforts to punish and
suppress crime in our midst. We have sympathized with you since your first
organization. '\Ve appreciate your labors in behalf of this city; and knowing
that you have been at much expense, we deem it our duty to bear some share
of the same. "\Ve trust that in the present crisis your action will be charac-
terized by your usual prudence and firmness, anù that you will not entertain
a thought of discontinuing your efforts in so noble a cause."

During the month of September there "'
as a slight
fallincr off in the volume of business transacted; still
v
there was sufficient ,york to keep up the enthusias111
of the association. )Iany offenders ,vere captured
and delivered to the sheriff Between the COln-
Inittee and the authorities general good-fellowship
no,v prevailed.
The latter had vindicated the rutlled dignity of the
la,v in their futile attempts to baffie the ,viII of
the people; ,yhile the foriner, having achieved in the
accomplisl11l1ent of its purposes a proud success, ,vith
caln1 complacency held steady the reins of govern-
ment, bidding the la\v take heart and have no fear as
to the ultimate result.
The follo\ving report of the executive comnlittee to

384

THE I
QUISITORS IN COUNCIL.
the general COIDIIlittee exhibits the status and senti-
ment of the association at this tinle:

"EXECUTIVE CHAl\IBER, September 6, 1851.
"To the gentlemen composing the Committee of Vigilance of San PJ'ancisco:
"The executive committee of your body have labored arduously to accom-
plish the business committed to them, in the discharge of which they have
had but a single eye to the safety and prosperity of their fellows. It is with
much sincere satisfaction that they are enabled to say that the reports before
you embrace action in relation to every prisoner in their charge, and it now
only remains for your sub-committee to see the prisoners depart and not keep
them in duress.
"'Ve also have heartfelt pleasure in communicating the fact that many of
the prisoners not only are enabled to pay their own passages, but are willing
to depart in perfect satisfaction with the acts of the Committee; your com-
mittee have rendered them every facility that humanity and prudence could
dictate.
"Amongst the cases before us were two of husband and wife; those two
cases demanded our attention; your committee have separated the parties
for their own good, and by the separation may be the mean:::, of saving much
an:suish, Our labors are now completed, and so far peace and security have
attended our efforts for the public good; we earnestly hope that the blessing
of Almighty God may rest upon us; may the cessation of our labors be no
cause on the part of the vicious to renew their course of life to the injury of
the people. 'Ye trust that those in power at this time, anù those Who shall
succeed them by reason of the late election, may so learn wisdom that in the
exercise of their representative duties they may case the weight from the
shoulders of their constituents, and thereby honor their common country and
preserve their institutions unsullied. It will now become you to adopt some
action for the future, to so base the present institution that it may silently be
a terror to all evil-doers and a rewarder of all that do well; that it may be
the guardian spirit of the land. 'Vith feeling of high respect and esteem,
"Believe me, your obedient servant and well-wisher,
"S. PAYRAN."

Eighteen members were present at the Ineeting of
Septo111ber 27th, and thirteen the 30th of SeptelIlber.
Nine lnenlbers constituted a q uorUln froni this date.
At the forlner of these meetings Selin1 E. W ood,vorth
,vas elected first v!ce-president and G. '\T. Rycknlan
second vice-president. At the latter meeting Mr
Ryckman stated that there ,vas then a Mexican in the
city \v ho had cOIIln1Îtted seven 111urders, one of them
within a week, and lTIoved that he should be arrested.
After due discussion it ,vas decided that under their

REORG
ìZ
-\TIOY.

385

late reorganization the executive C0l11nlittce ,yere not
authorized to make arrests. It had been the hope of
the COllllIlittee that they ,\?ould be called upon to
lllake no lnore arre
tsJ but thiB \yas not to be. In any
cvent the sentiulcnt \Ya
worthy of them, sho,,"ing as
it did their honesty, good Rellse, anclulanliness. They
had no desire to cloci the ,vheels of governnlent or
thro\v ob
t:l,clcs in th8 ,yay of LIne a
hninistration
uf law. Though pos::-;e:.;sej of anlple p::nver they
\\yould u
e it only upon principle; they \yould not even
perluit thcluselves to stand before their fello\\?s and
before the \yorld a palpable and perrnanently organized
oligarchy. Anliclst the nlany broils and civil \yars
,vhich history lo\?es to paint, alnlost all of ,vhich are
purely for personal or party aggrandizement, it is re-
freshing to see able and honest nlen acting from motives
of unque
tioned purity.
Sub8equently, lllodified po\ver to 111ake arrests ,yas
again given the executive conllllÌttee by the general
cOlnrnittee, but no inlportant action should be taken
unless fornlally sanctioned by the general cOllllllitteo.
N e\v by-la\ys ,vere sublnitted and approved the
27th of September, organizing the body ane,y \yith a
president, t\yO vice-presidents, a secretary, treasurer,
and sergeant-at-arnls, aU of ,vholn should be elected
for a ternl of six nlollths. Stated lneetings "yere to
be held every \Vednesday. On the
d of October a
salary of one hundred ancl fifty dollar:-, a rnonth "
as
voted the sergeant-at-arU1s, ,vhose duties consisted in
keeping the rOOI11S and property of the COlnn1Íttee,
serving notices, and exercising supervision oyer the
prisoners, should there be any. The fol1ö\ving 11lect-
ing, held the 8th of October, yoted the secretary å
salary of one hundred dollars a lllonth.
These by -la ,vs read as follo\vs:

"There shall be electec1 monthly a president, secretary, and treasurer
of the Committee of Yigilance. There shall be appointed Ly the Cornmitteeof
Yigilance a sergoont-at-arms, a marshal, or chief of police, and five assistant
Inarsbals; also an executive committee of twenty members, the president of
POP. TRIB.. VOL. I. 2.3

3SG

THE IXQUISITORS IN COUNCIL.

the Yigi
a
ce Committee acting as ex o.f!ìrio president of the executive e
mr.1it-
tee, The remainder of the Committee of Yigilance shall be diyi<led into
squads or companies of twenty men each; each squad shall elect its own Ci
f'-
taill. The ohject of this subiliyision is to make members better acquaint/.Il
one with the other, and each captain with the whole of Ids llal'
icular C(Jl
l-
pany. At the pæsent timC' there will consequently he about thirty ca,ptainiJ.
The companies shall be numbered from one to thirty. It ,vill be the duty of
each captain to sce that the 111C'n under him attend properly to guan1 and
other duties assigned them. That thcy pay their fines r.nd dues when delin-
quent; and he shall report them for bad or suspicious conduct, as wcll as for
ne3lcct of duty, when necessary. Two squads or companies will furnish the
exact number 0f men requisite for the guard during the twenty-four hours;
and they shall ùe ordered to do duty by the sergeant-at-arms through their
captains in regular rotation-companies one and two one day, three and fonr
the next, and so on. Ji"'rom the companies not on duty the chief of police
or his assistants may at all times select such men as he may re(luire for police
duty, giving his orders to such men always through the captains of the
respectÌ\
e companies: as, for example: 'Captain of No.
!), I require from
yonI' company by twelve o'clock three men, who shall proeced'-
nd 80 forth.
After the chief of police or any of his assistants shall have taken or received
any prisoners, he or they shall turn them over to the 'f:ergeant-at-arms, p
'o-
yided he consider that the (luarters under charge of said sergernt a;.'e suffi-
ciently secure to keep them safely; but should he, the chief, t!
illk prcper for the
better keeping of said prisoners to remoye them to othe
(luarters than tho'Je
in the building used by the Committee of Yigilance, he may haye the pmycr
to do so. It is to be perfectly understood that until theYal'e so turnctl ovcr ty
t
lC chief or his assistants he, thc said chief, be responsihle for them; hut after
being place(l in the hands of the sergeant, then he, the sergeant, shall hecoffiP
responsible for the said prisoners, and the chief and his assistants sha!l have
no longer any authority to act in the llisposition of said prisoncrs, unless
notified to do so by an order from the executiye committee. Should it
happen, however, that durin:s the absence of a quorum of said exccuti'
e
committee the sergeallt-at-arm3 might think it neces<'ary to send prisoners
forth from tl1C huilding to more secnre quarters, then he may haye the power
to place such prisoners at such timc in the hawls of the chief or his assistants,
directing them to carry said p1Ìsoners to such quarters as he, the chid, may
think safe; and thercupon the authority and pO"\ver of said sergeant-at-arms
over f'ajc1 prisoner or prisoners shall cease, and the chief or his assistants
shall hecome responsi11le for said prisoners so remO\"ccl. It sl
an be the duty
of thc sergeant-at-arms to take all care amI charge of the prisoners in the
building occupie(l hy the Yigilallce Committee; to take proper means to pre-
vent the admission of any but meml)ers, witlles"es, 01' prisoners into said huild-
ing; also to see that the said lmilding is pr
perly cleanecl anlllighted, aIHI to
do such other duty in the way of sentling notices and advertisements as lllay
he or<1erc(1 by the executiyc committee or hy note of the Committee of
Yigilance. He shall, moreover, have the power, whcneyer in his jUdgUWIlt
nC'ccssary, to prevent dl comm:.mication Lctween memLers of the Committee
ùf Yi
ila
ce and ::;i.lch r"á.JO:lL;:3 ac
:'C ia hi3 ch
rgc, excepting the memLcl's

THE KE'Y BY-LA""S.

3S'i

of t
le excC':.lth-e committee, whose orders at all times, when emanating fro}>1
the chainnan of said committee, he shall obey, but not otherwise unless signul
l,y a quorum consisting of fiye of said executive committee. It is of courbe
understood that any order bsuing from the Committee of Vigilance by vote
of said Committee shdl be obeyed by the sergeant: The duty of the chief of
police and assistants shall he to detail all po...;ses for the purposes of arresting
rrisoners or guarding them when out of the building. They shall have the
p'Jwer of making such detail at any time when so ordered by the cxecuti
:e
committee or by general vote of the Committce of Vigilance; and all orders
given by said clÜef and assistants arc to be implicitly obeyed by the pUS.>:l,<;
so detailed. If at any time, while the executive committee or a quorum
of said committee are absent, it should be considered necessary for the safety of
prisoners, or for the parpose of carrying out any plan for the arrest of prisoners,
to detain all members in the room until said safety is insured or said prisoners
aITested, then the said chief or his assistants, and also the sergeant-at-arms,
shall have the power to close the doors so as to prevent the egress of any
member of the Committee of Yigilance.
"At any time that any prisoner is brought in during the absence of a
quorum of the executivc committee, it shall be the duty of the sergeant-at-
nrillS to notify a quorum of said committee of said fact, so that they 1l1
y
ir.1mcdiately go j,-..to an examination of the charges against said prisoncr. All
orders issuing Irom the executive committee, whether to the sergeant or to
the chief of police, or to other guards, shall be returned endorsed \\ ith the
report of the parties to whom said order or orders were issued. The sergeant-
at-arms and chief of police are to receive their orders from the exccutive
committee, or by vote of the general committee, and are to be parti
ula:1y
under the surveillance of said executive committee. During the absence of
..the marshal and his assistants their authority with respect to detailing guards
for any immediate duty or the execution of any order from tht executh-e com.
mittee shall devolve upon the sergcant-at-arms. The chief of police shall Le
allowed ingress and communication with the prisoners."

A cOlnmittee of flve ,vas appointed by thc execu-
tive cOlnmittee at their 11leetin cr of October 2
d to
-,
act as a judiciary COllullittee, \vhosc duty it \yas lliade
"to inquire into the acts of the various judges on our
benches. "
Jesse Selign1an clainls thirty dollars for a :::;i'\:-inch
Colt's revolver, and '\T Ill. C. Grahalll t\venty dollar

for a fi\Tc-inch revolver, the first lost in the arrest of
JolIn I(elly at the )Iis
ion, and the othcr \\ï'enchcd
fronl the o\vner's hand durin o ' the "TIÚttakcr and
ð

Ic I(enzie 'lnelee. The clainls \yere allo\\Tcd and paid.
On the 24th of Scptel1l1Jcr the cxecutive cOllllnittee
in sccrnt session appointed a COlllmittce of four tu \\Tait

388

THE IXQUISITORS IN COUNCIL.

upon the French consul and the collector of the port,
and froIn them obtain inforlnation concerning a French
ship said to be on her \vay hither ,vith five hundred
des peradoes.
The collector, T. Butler I\:.ing, expressed his entire
approval of the doings of the COlnlnittee, and pron1-
if
cd his hearty coöperation. 1\1. Dillon, the French
consul, ,yas like\v"ise gracious, but he ,vas sure the
report n)ust be false. lIe said:

"The government of France would not sanction the shipment hither of
any of its convicted felons. Such a course has ever been foreign to its purpose.
Cnder the existing constitution of the republic the government could not t.:"lke
such action without special legislation, of which there has been none."

The consul stated further t.hat on quitting France
the nan1e and occupation of every en1igrant \vas reg-
istered. lIe caned attention to the general good
character of the French population in California.
The committee then \vaitcd upon l\Iessrs Marziou
et COInpagnie, agents for the French clnigrant vessels,
"Thich 'v ere to bring hither five thousanù French-
111en during this ycar. These gentlen)cn assured the
cOlnn1ittee that the passengers by their vessels ,vould
be a valuable acquisition to the country, being COll1-
posed 1110stly of nlechanics, agriculturists, and honest
laborers. They promised further to instruct their
agents in France to eX
tlnine emigrants and pern1Ït
none of bad character to take passage on their
shi ps.
All this looked very fair upon the surface, but it
hardly tallied \\Tith the evidenee of John L. Hodge,
United States consul at Marseilles, 'v ho \vrites, April
28, 1851:

"In regard to passengers, a great many are of the very worst class of des-
peradoes in Europe. I have reason to believe some are sent at the expense of
the government. I should recommend your city authorities to impose a heavy
tax on all passengers from Europe, and to suffer nOlle to land who have not
regular passports from their respective govenmwuts, with the vi.sé of the
Uniteù States consul; it "nay be given gratis. If you permit all to land coming
from Europe, your country will be filled by a worse than Italian banùitti."

CERTIFICATE OF )IE
IBERSHIP.

389

.L\. special 111eeting of the executive COln111ittee ""as
called the 11th of N ovelnber in consequence of the
stabbing of one :JlcLcan by .L\.ntonio Gonzalez in the
1Iississippi House on Long "Tharf. Gonzalez ha(l
been arrested by the COlllmittee, but as it ,vas a quar-
rel in \vhich the plea of self-defence ,,"ould be stronO'ly
urged it ,yas decided to be a case for the courts rather
than for the COlTIlllittce. Àecordingly Gonzalez ,yas
handed over to the city 111arshal.
There "
as a special meeting of the executive COlll-
11littee X O\
elllber 25th to exall1Ïne a charge lllade by
Joseph "T. Gregory against one Sylvester, of Sacra-
111ento street, of having sent him a shipnlent of bogus
gold dust frolll X e\y York. The COlllmittee ordered
the arrest of Sylvester.
. The nlceting of December 10th ordered the city
to be districted, and collectors sent anlong the citizens
to gather fund::, for the liquidation of accrued indebt-
edness. .L.\. C0111111ittee ""as appointed at the sanlC tinlc
to prepare a suitable certificate of' ll1elnbership, that
each nlenlber by paying for his certificate n1Ïght con-
tribute to the treasury of the society.. On the next
l)age is a .fac-silal
le of the certificate.

rhe follo,ving, froln the .Lilla GYalifornin of the
2d
of Decelnber, though some\vhat ribald in tone, displays
the state of feeling at this tiu1e of the ultra-yigilance
party-I do not 11lean the executiye, the real po"
er
of the party-heated as it ,vas by the after-slurs of
la \v and court officials, and their organs, to \v horn the
ConlnlÌttee 'v ere ever n10Bt lenient and magnanimous:

" , The world is given to lying,' is a trite adage, if not a true one. And
of all the parties who can most justly repeat the saying, the Yigilance Com-
mittee and the press of
an Francisco bear away the l)alm. The gentlemen
of the Committee have bcen traduced and yilified as men neyer were before;
their motives have been misrepresented, their acts condemned as damning
crimes, and all those who have countenanced and abetted them haye been
denounced as cowards or hase panderers to depraved appetites for blood for
the sake of l)ecuniary gain. Kor ha,-e these attacks b('en confined to any
particular time and place. Duch newspapers as had the impudence have
giyen the slanders publicity up.:m the spot, while craven anù coward souls who

300

TilE IXQGISITORS IN COUNCIL.

I '
I

-iE=
j
r1ì tt c:Z #
.
'1fÞ)

(Ë..1

g Do

:1
.

E::i 0

) ' I
(
0
6-1

'

'} :J
,.

'
!t
. _.;\
I
(Ò )
III__
\.

!!. ....
\

'- '1:'ì
- i.. Iõ, é2i,.. ''':- ..4
..

ú\1:"
0 \ l"-lll' :

. =
1-

. -' r:'
"'.

.::f' Ü'

Þ!

- ' '.

'i Q
þ
. . -i'J \ '
..
\ .
\,

z:;;
.A. J

.

.

:. e
(; I '
; i

.

f

J
':,)
. !rg
i ·

g. a
.J
i

" ß f(
@. . : 'I

f2

. t.J

.

- I I

.
.
.

;:::
,,,. .

-..oaJ
-'

.

L...

F= I .' (\ I

. -..... _ -c ....... j
'\"<. ""
) = '\. +--:-... - /"'. '.

'-".;'
/
I

. ,\,,' Cj
.

" -

-'0
' r.r . 1 ,
. '''"' t -
'
I

f_J '/.., ":'Þ
-.. I \!) ;;.
/;

r;;..;
,,,.

;
\....-
.
;s"" ....
'.

) .
. '
'k
'.

V
G
,\ì

Þ' ...:.:
"
,
J
.

. '

.

" (ý,U

.,
; I

, CJ

..

. l
f

ALT
\. I
."YECTIYE.

2!H

dare I;lot open their f'nyenomeù lips herc ha.ye vented their malice through the
columns of Atlantic sheets, in order, like dastards as they arc. to disperse the
J)oison of their petty hate wherc it might do its work of evil without the fear
of contradiction and without that daager of public e
posure "hich should
ùranù them with the infamous title of liar. These palpabìe libels, thebe
bitter outpourings of hate, have been uttered in loud and confident tones in
bar-rooms and other places of public resort; and even the sanctity of our
courts-those courts for which these immaculate as.;ailers profcss so much
respect and regard-has been violated by the distempered ra,ings rrnd scan-
dalous asseverations of men learned in the law. It is pleasurable, though,
to find that the Vigilance Committee has outlived this storm of malicic.us in-
yective. Xay, more, it is a proud satisfaction to know that the gcod for
which they strove '\\ith such unusual anù deplorable means has b
en accom-
plished. Its effects are every",-here visible in the contìdent and successful
progress "hich our citizens are daily making, and in the decrease of crime
::.nd consequent increase of security which our political condition e,-inccs.
These facts are broad, plain, and undeniable here, and the Committee are
therefore generous enough to allow these s
anderers to discharge their volley
of ,ile mi::-siles as they slink away int3 congenial and ùeserved obsclrrit.r.
'Yell ùo we recollect the horrible predictions which wcre uttered with
reference to the Committee. The heavens were hung with black by the dis-
interested votaries of law and order; tears of purest ratriotism rained from
their unsmnched eyes as they beheld tàe future TIlin of their country; their
prophetic souls were torn with indignation at the enormi\.ies which the blood-
thirsty Committee perpetrated, anù their sensitive hearts were "Tllng with
agony at the inherent sinfulness of man! How ,-am, how foolis!l, hOll,- weak
were they all! Their gloomiest pictures have bcen proved but the silly cre-
ations of a childish brain, their stories of hobb'oblins have turned 01lt but
nursery tales, and their vauntetl and pretentious predictions of ruin have
shown themselves nothing more than the fantastic structures of a moody,
misanthropic, anù maudlin imagination! But we "ill not e.:\..ult O\-er a fallen
enemy.
"It is time, high time, that this wholesale denunciation of the press
should be ended. )'liserable pettifoggers. penny-a.-liners, and subscábers to
slanderous affida,its should bc told that they ,..-ill not be pennittetl to pursue
such practices with impunity. The public should understand that such
assaults upon the press are und
served and uncalled for. 'Vhy should that
portion of a community whose fortune it is to be the conductors of the press
be elUS overwhelnlcd on every occasion with charges of COlTuption and im-
proper motives? Are thcy not men of as much ,irtue, firmnes::i, talent, an,{
honesty as any other cla
;:,? 'Yill they not compare favorably with any other
section of a community, ill all the characteristics and qualities which consti-
tute the reputable and good citizen? And yet every pitiful dabster W110 call
flourish a pen thinks he ha3 a. sort of rig-ht di,-ine to malign, assail, anti
bespatter us with all the slime which a. filthy imagination can create at the
dictation of a wickcd heart. ,,- e cannot, and we will not, bear it. 'Ye owe
it to our position and to our self-respect that such vilifiers should be placed
in their true lióht be
oæ t!l'J pa
lic; a:}(l we m".lll to do it for t
lCm."

THE IXQUISITORS I
COU
CIL.
The school-nlast,cr ,vas early abroad, as the follo\v-
ino
cOlnnlunication sho,vs, and \\Tith his disci l )les he
(J
did not hesitate to illunlÌne the lnillds of Inen and
explain to the COnl111ittee thelnselves the llature of
the strange ,york in \vhich they ,vere engaged:

302

"To the Pre.<::.ident and ]'fem
crs of the Executive Committee of tlte Vigilance
Committec of San Francii:5co:
"GE
TLEðIEX :-To-morrow evening (\Yednesday) I propose delivering a
lecture on the 'Anatomy of Crime,' illustrated by the skulls of J enkills,
Stuart, l\IcKenzie, and \Yhittaker.
"Should you feel interested in the physiology and philosophy of the causes
of mental action which prompted these men to pursue an evil course in life,
I will be most happy for you to accept an invitation, which I no\y tender you,
to form part of my audience.

" Yours, etc.,

" Septc'Jrluer 9, 18:;1.

Ron. H. COLLYER."

Follo\ving are the forms in ,,,hich conlIDunications
'v ere presented to the executive COllllnittee by Inelll-
bel's thereof:

"Rp.<::.olvprl, That the sentence of death pronounced on the two men
'Vhittaker and lVlcKenzie still remain in full force, and that all necessary
means shall be resorted to to obtain possession of these men, and when taken
that they shall meet the punishment due their crimes, as the voice of the people
demands it. Adopted.

"No. .3fH."

"
lrs Bridges, lives in a brown colored house on Bush street, above l\Iont-
gomery, whose brother kept a tavern in Sydnüy, will give information in
regard to a female landed from the ship .AdironcZa,ck, whose house in
ydney
was a receptacle for stolen goods, and has been the means of leading more
into vice than any other female in that country. She has already taken a
house, and there is no doubt it will soon be one of the greatest cribs in Cali-
fornia.

"No. 152."

CHAPTER XX,"'I.

CLOSE OF THE FIR'ST CRGSA.DE.

That which turns out well is better than any law.
JIenander.

.AT the general n1eeting held the 9th of September a
COllllllittee of five \Ya
appointed to select t\yenty-five
or fifty naIne:; to be 8ubn1Ïtted to the Comillittee for
election a-, an executive eOl1lll1ittee, to holJ for six
11lOllth
, and ,,-ho
e duties should be to offer
uch
council and take such action as should best pr01110te
the interest of the ab
ociatiol1. One ,veek later the
committee reported a
folln\vs:

"The committee to whom was referred the subject of selecting the names
of fifty or a less number of gentlemen to constitute an executive committ
e,
who should hold their offices for a period of six: months, and to suggest such
other measures as in their adjudgment may be of interest to the association
and the community, beg leave respectively to report that they ha,-e selected
the following names of gentlemen in number as candidates for election by the
a..ssociation; that they recommend, upon the election of the cOlnmittee, that the
association adjourn SOlle die, and that the present acting executive committee
turn over to the newly elected committee all papers, books, and documents
emanating from the operations of the Committee since its formation; that
twenty members of this committee bhall hold their office for a period of one
:rear from the date of election, and twenty for a period of six: months, the short
and long tenn to be determined hy drawing; that they shall choose their own
officers, and shall hay'e power to fill any vacancies that may arise by re5igna-
tion or otherwise; that fifteen days before the e
piration of the si \: months
for which they are elected they shall call the a.-s.wciation together and submit
a report in writing of their proceeùings during the period of si'C months, an(l
the a.ssociation shall then elect twenty members to fill the yacancies of those
whose term of six: months has expired; that said e
ecuti,'e committee shall
take no action for the anest of criminals, or in any manner interfere with thE:.'
due course of law, but should an elnergency arise which in their jmlgment
[ 393 ]

3
'1

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CR"CSADE.

refluires again the action of the association, they shall criJ] the!11 together by
such si 6 nals as Illay be a 6 reed on; that this committee be instructed to watch
with vigilance the action of our courts having criminal jurisdiction, and also
all mcn in official statio
ls, and especially ob::;erve the operation of the laws
now in force; and should they deom it expedient to have SUC!l laws altered or
amended \dlCrehy greater facilities may be had to convict and punish crimi-
nals, they lllay be authorized to petition tIle legislature upon the subject and
use their exertions to have such amcndments carried. The association, be
licving that the community relies mainly upon them to shield it from the C\Tils
arising from the maladministration of the law, will hold this executive com-
mittee to a strict accountability in the performance of this duty."

On the 23<1 of Septen1ber the follo,ving ,vero de-
clared elected 111en1bers of the executiye C0111n1Ïttee:
\V. D. 1\1. I-fo,vard, Sanluel Brannan, W. T. Colelnan,
J an1es C. vVard, E. Gorhan1, B. C. Saunders, S. E.
\Vood,vorth, Jan1es ICing of 'Vn1., Janles Dows, H.
F. Tcschelnacher, Dr À. B. Stout, Jj-'. Vas sault, J.
S. Parrott, R. :\1. Jessup, Janles D. Huie, Joseph
Post, Chal,les Gris,vold, Stephen Payran, H. A.
Cobb, George 1\1. Gar,vooJ, G. 'V. Ryckn1an, TholIlas
J. L. Sn1ilcy, John W. C art"\v right, Willianl \tV.
TholI)pSOn, L. D. Kinnay, .L
. ICirchner, \V. II. White,
John Raynes, D. J alnorill, J al11eS :\1. S\vift, George R.
\Vard, H. :1\1. Naglec, VV. Burling, I. De Long, 'V. C.
Annan, L.
faynard, \tV. A. Darling, J. F. I-Iutton,
Sainuel De,vey, F. Argenti, E. Delessert, Charles L.
Case. Fred ,V ood,vorth, and Isaac Bluxo1l1e Jr.
Of these the follo,ving ,vere elected officers: Stephen
Payran, president of the executive C01l1 lTI ittce ; Selinl
E. \tV ood,vorth, first vice-president; G. \V. Rycknlan,
second vice-president; Isaac Bluxome Jr., secretary;
D. L. Oakley, sergcant.-at-arnlS; George R. \Vard, L.

la'ynarcl, E. Dclcsscrt, J aInes I(ing of WITI., .F. J.
L. Snliley, finance conl111ittce; Gary/ood, G. 'V.
Ryckn1an, Charles L. Case, J. F. Hutton, Fred A.
'V ood,yorth, qualification conl111ittee.
By the latter part of Septo111ber the general COlll-
n1Ìttee considered its present ,vork eOlnpleted. To the
ne,v executive cOl1llnittec ,vere turned over all books
and docUlncnts thus far accu111ulated.

Iu::onG

l Z
\.TIO
;- .1.XD rrr:
IOY AL.

3:):)

.L-\mong those elected to ser\
e for the tCJ:'1l1 of t'Yel\
e
Inonths ,vorc San1uel Brannan and Thonlas J. L.
Smiley, and alnong those elected to ser\Ve for
ix
e10nths "
cre J anle
I(ing of "....111., Stephen Payrnn,
,,-r ffi. T. Colen1an, and G. ,\
. Rycku1an.
:111' B]uxoll1e \vas authorizcd to collect delinqucnt
clues and fines, retaining ten per ccnt thereof for <':01-
lcction. ....:
COIDIl1ittee ,vas appointed by the president
to prepare br-la"Y
; for the guiJance of the e:s.ecutiye
con1n1ittce.
From the grand jury report made the last of Septeln-
bel' I extract the following:

"The grand jury cannot help noticing the marked diminution of crime in
the city and county of 8ån Francisco within thc last four months. Knowing
the anxiety felt by the people, and the disturbed state of t!le public mind
'which bas prevailed for the last five or SL'{ months in our city on account of
the numerous acts of arson, thefts, burglaries, and murders which havc been
committed, this announcement i
made by the grand jury "ith the highest
satiâaction. The strong popular resistance made by the people to their
criminality, the very commendable and deciL1ed action of our pr
dccessors,
and the efficient, firm, anù prompt action of the honorable the court of sessions,
havc haJ a powerful in!1uence in arresting the progress of crime, and for ,çivillZ
security and protection to thc lives anJ property of our citizens. As the
courts are the only lawful and constitutional tribunals to which the people
. can look for support and ele ,indication of their rights, vio!ence allJ partial
if not complete anarchy will follow where they fail or neglect to discharge
their duty without fear, faxor or affection. History proves that
-\mericans
are a law-confic1ing anJ a law-abiding pe(\ple, but where they cease to ha\-e
confidence in their public agents they "ill haye their rights and property
protected by tribunals of-their own establishing until the laws can be executed
in the spirit and letter in which they are written, through tribunals establishe
l
1'y constitutional authority. "
hile we regret the use of such means for self-
defence, there is some palliation for such a course in the willespread alarm
which prevailed lately in our city on account of the dangers that surrounded
us. Should the courts continue, as they are now ùoin 6 , to maintain intact
anJ inviolate the rig!lts of the people, under the laws and constitution of the
state, we feel satisfied that no future a-::tempt will be made on the part of the
pcople to supersede their authority. "-e say, should they continue to do this,
coclìdence "ill be restored, crime will be greaeyarrested, and the courts \.-ill
become the hope of the injured and the oppressed, and the peop
e their loyal
supporters anù defenùers."

..L
t the end of Septen1Lcr the executive comn1Ïttec
rel:1oved to thcir nc\\
and less expensi ye quarters oycr

3:)6

CLOSE OF THE FI:r..ST CRüSADE.

ßliddJeton and Sn1iley's auction rOOlns, on the corner
of Battery and SaCr[llnento streets. These roon1S
"'ere carp
ted and handso1l1ely furnished. At one end
of the executive charnber ,vas a rostrU111 ,vhere stood
the president's chair, and in front of a desk hung the
banner presented by the ladies of Trinity parish.
Behind the president's chair ,vas an elegant Inirror,
and in the centre of the 1"00111 a large table containing
books and \vriting materials. The \vindo\vs \yere neatly
curtained, and the ,yaDs adorned ",.ith Inaps and pic-
tures. In an adjoining rOOin ,vere stored the para-
phernalj
of the police, arillS, chains, ropes, handcuffs,
and the like.
The effects in the olJ quarters on Battery street,
no longer needed, ,vere disposeJ of by auction. I
give the inventory, as consigned for sale to l\lessrs
Cobb and C01l1pany, \vhich tends to fill a blank in the
picture of life in the COllnnittee roon1S:

3
::\lattresses.
41 Blankets.
14 Pillows.
20 Side lamps.
12 Candlesticks.
1 Dcmijohn.
1 Jug.
2 Empty oil casks.
1 Pitcher and basin.
1 'V ooden bucket.
1 Coffec-unl and lamp.
1 Coffee-pot.
1 Lot of crockery ware.
12 Spoons.

2 TaL
es.
G Small tubs.
2 Large tubs.
! Barrel hard bread.
! Tub butter.
1 Tin lard.
1 Trunk and contents.
ID 'Vindow-curtains.
2 Tin basins.
1 Smalliooking-gkss.
2 Tin oil cans.
1 Tin pan.
G Broken chairs.
3.3 Benches.

Quite a quantity of IUlnber had acculnulated, \vhich
,vas sold to Blackburn and 1"ho111pson.
At a Ineeting of the executi ye c01l11nittee on the
24th of Septelnber, thirty-five Inell1bers being present,
\yith l\Ir Payran presiding, a con11nittee of three \vas
appointed to procure counsel for 1\11" F. A. Atkinson
ill the case of l\lctcalf vs. .1\..rgellti, Atkinson, et al.

F"CRTRER n::G LL
\.TIOXS.

307

Subsequently, a change of yenue in this suit haying
been ord creel, the president of the San Francisco
C01l1rnittee "
rote the president of the COillll1ittce of
'--igilance of San J osé, requcstino- him to employ
e'
ery effort to gain the cause. ð ·
The Committee rooms shoulel be kept opcn day
and night, and no lnember should be adnlÌtted un-
les
his dues and fines ,yore paid. The quarters over
)Iiddleton and Smiley's auction r00111S ,yere taken, as
being central and less in price than other sin1ilar oncs,
though the n10nthly rental ,vas four hundred dollars.
At this l11eeting the treasurer, Eugene Dclessert,
offered to loan the association one thousand dollars
for sixty days ,yithout interest, in order that the out-
standing bills might be paid. The offer ,vas accepted
,vith thanks.
By the 2d of October the finance committee 'v ere
enabled to report all claims discharged, and S
36.2

..in the treasury.
In the daily journals of the 2d of October appeared
the follo,,
ing notices:

"\YHEREAS, An article has appeared in the E-æniJlg Picayune of this day
.stating that the Yigilance Committee had ceased acth"e operations, and in
consequence of the generál condemnation of the commercial papers in the
Atlantic States; therefore,
"Resolved, That the Committee cause to be publÜ;hed in the yarious papers
of this city that they hold themselves ready for action should the community
be again situated as at the time of the organization of said Conunittee, and
that no comments of any newspaper can drive them from a conscientious
discharge of their duty to their families and fellow-citizens.
"By order of the General Committee. S. PXíRAX,
"President of Executil'e Committee."
"Is..:L\c BLUXO)IE JR., SecretarlJ."

"XOTICE.-The Executive Committee of Vigilance "ill meet at their
chambers this evening at eight o'clock.
" By order of Committee.

"1. BL"L""XO}IE, Secretary.

"STLPHE
PX\"'R..-\.5,
President. "

Besides actincr as vern1in-extern1inators the Com-
o
n1ittee officiated in other capacities of scarcely less

3!)S

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CRUS...\.DE.

i
11)()rtance. N at only did they exercise a strict sur-
veillance over the courts and officers of the la \V, but
they kept \vithin bounds the eoullitions of the people.
}lobocracy they fJ'O\Vlled upon no loss than lcgal1iber-
tillisn1. Standing lnid \vay bet\veen popular extrelnes,
they ,vore tho grc2t balanco-,vhecl of the social and
political 11lachinery. On several occasions to\vard the
closo of their administration, and SOlne tinle after
chronic villainy in its n1Ïghtiest proportions had been
crushed, the COInn1ittec lent their aid to suppress
popular exceÐses as \yell as to bring \vithin the eln-
braces of the la \y all offenders 011 'v hOln they coulJ
lay their hands.
If further proof ,vere ,vanting of tho integrity of
the Vigilance Con1ulÏttee in its attitude to\varclla\v,
it 111ay be found in au event \vhich occurred about the
tinle of its disbandlnent,--I do not say disorganiza-
tion. It ,vas thought not a little strange by SOlllC of
its adherent3 that a popular uprising \vhich brooked
no dictation fronl any po\ver, and ,vhich had ranged
its dctcrn1inate forces against the existing courts of
la\v and fOr111S of justice ,vhenever such contrivances
interfered \vith its purpose, shoulJ upon tho first occa-
sion deenled n1eet in its o\yn oyes lend la\v a helping
hand and turn its froYiJn upon the people.
Yet this is only \vhat it professed froil1 the first,
llanlely, that the principles underlying tho vigilance
n10ven1ent ,vere no lTIOre 11lobocratic than revolution-
ary. These volunteers in the cause of social and
judicial lllorais \vouhl not allo\v statutes and court
formulas to prevent then1 doing the right; but they
,yere equal1y far re111ovec1 fron1 pern1itting their fello\v-
citizens to overturn the la\v or oppose it under trivial
or unnecessary causes.
In the SU111n1er of 1851 the clipper ship Cllallenge,
'Vaternlan 111aster, sailed fron1 N e\v York, and arrived
at San Francisco the last of October. The cre\v ,vas
C0111posed Inostly of foreigners, and those of the ,vorst
class. Before reaching Sandy Hook the quality of

C_-\.PT _\.IX ',A.TER
LL'1'.

399

tho crc\y ""as so clearly apparent that the o\yners
urgod the captain to put back and get ne\y 8ean1en.
"\Vaterlnan \\.as a boLl, deterulined mall, and thought
hilllsclf a 11latch for any kind of sailors. During the
yoy-age the crc\v 111utinied and caused 111uch trouble.
Douglass, tho chief Illatc, \yas stabbed ,,'ith a dagger,
and the c:1ptain narro\\'ly escaped seizure. ....\_111idln:Ich"
tribulation and danger t!le ship \vas brought.
afcly
into port.
But during the yoyage Captain \Vaterlnan had
beon SOyer8 and evon crael; ,yhether unnecessal"ily
so dOGS not appear. Tl1ree of tJle SealTIen had been
kllocl
ed oyerboard from the cross-jack yard ill a gale;
five died fron1 dysentery on the \yay and one fron1
epi
psy the day of arri \
al.
Ian y ,yere 111ain1ed by
the Llo\ys \vhich they had received durin?
tho yoyage,
and on landinci \yere sent to the hospitaf
Innnediately on dropping anchor the captain \vent
on shore. Shortly
fter it y,.as noised abroad that
'Vaterlllan aild Douglass h:1cl s!lamefully treated the
cre\v eluTing the yoyage, ul1111crcifully beating and
even l
illing SOlne of thea1. Boatmen and sailors \\
crc
.. especially incensed by the account, and \vhcn the
vessel hauled in to the "V,Tharf a largo nunib2r of long-
slloren1cn gather
d at the foot of Pacific stree
,
threatening to hang the captain and 11late tho 1110illent
they could lay ha:ads on thcn1. The ca:1tain decIDcd
it prudent to retire froll1 the city, nnJ Douglass, \vho
,yas then on board, slipped over tho bo'.
; into a boat

pulled round Rincon Point, and cßcapod ia the chapar-
ral. This ,vas the 30th of Octobeì. Sea
ch ,yas Inade
for 1l1astcr anclIl1:1te until h1tC into tho night, but \vith-
Gut success.
X ext day the disabled scan1en ,vere remoycd frolll
the ship to" the h
spital, and the sight raised the fury
of the crolrd to the highest pitch. T\yo thousand
belligerent men gathered in front of tho office of
\Jsop
and C01l1pany, consignees of the ship, and clen1anded
the persons of \VatCl"ll1an and Douglass. They ""ere

4
O

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CRUS
\DE.

i!lfoI'll1ed that those they souciht ,yore not there; but
this did not satisfy thenl. Six of their nunl
or ,vore
detailed to search the premises, out their efforts ,vere
unavailing.
J\Iean,yhile the n1ayor bestirred hilllself to quell the
exciteulcnt. He first apì)caled to the assen1blage
itself, but the Inob hooted hill1 and defied the authori-
ties. They fancied themsol yes already in posses
Úon
of the city, and ,vould listel1 to no terlllS ,vhich coun-
selled nloderation. The l1layor called upon the citizens
to assist in the preservation of the public peaco. But
in those days ,vhen all good men belonged to the
Society of Stranglers, ll1urdcrers as the court called
them, outla,vs as the mayor himself had said, ,vho
,vere the citizens 1 ·
Then it ,vas that the lnuch l11alignod Committee-of
Vigilance rallied to the rescue of the city's honor.

ehe officers of the Challenge Inight or Inight not
be guilty of atrocities; but in either event this ,vas
not the ,yay to detcrnlÌne the nlatter. This ,vas not
the ,yay the Conlll1ittee of Vigilance doalt ,vith offend-
ers. Nor "\vould they perruit the In01 spirit to dis-
grace thenl. or triull1ph over la\v. They thelllselves
had been cålled a 1110b, but never ,yore men n10re
Inaligned. They ha\l not a single elenlent of lnoboc-
racy in their con1position, except that they regarded
not, at all tirHes, the letter of the la,v. The 1110b ,vas
111obile, they ,vere BrIll; the n10b \vas passionate, they
,vere cool; the mob hanged first and tried after,vard,
they executed justice only after the lllost solenln
juclgnlcnt.
In this instance, ,vhatever the ]naster and mate
Inight Le, they ,vere not chronic criminals or la,vless
desperadoes, and therefore ,vere not fit subjects for
the secret tribunal. They were rGsponsible 111011, fol-
lo,ving a legitimate calling. I t ,vas a lllatter for the
courts only.
Then ,vent fortll the order frOlll the executive charn-
bers inforl11ally to disperse the rabble. Behold no,v

THE YIGILAXTS DISrr:nSE A
IOn.

4
1

\vhere centred the strength of this pcaple
X ot in
statutes, governor
, or Inanicipal po\vcrs, but ia the
citizens ,,
hom the 11layor had ùccried in yain. 'Vithin
five lllinutes after t
e ord
r ,va'3 given the
I
nu-
lllcntal b811 strucl
it-3 siglli5cant note, and on the in-
stant around that California-street cro\vJ the cry ""as
heard, "Attend yigilants r' ,. Fall into line I" "
Iarch
"
.i:\..nd they dicll11arch,-straight into the heart of that
cro\vc1, toLl the leadcr
to begone, told th8 enraged
langshorclllen to get thelll to their u\vn affairs in-

talltly, lest ,vorse betide them. ..L
nc1 they \vent; an
hour later and the street in front of' Alsop and Com-
pany "
ore its usual aspect.
Thus ended the affair so far as the Vigilance Conl-
n1Ïttee ,vere concerned. It is true that some tilne after
there "
as talk at Pacific-street \vharf of scuttlino- or
o
burning the ship; the captain "
as hanged in effigy on
the plaza, but no further yiolcnce \vas oft8red. The
United States ::\Iarshal boarded the ship and infornled
the sailors that they "
ere at liberty to enter complaint
ngãinst their officers, and they did so. Of lllurder and
l11altreatment they accused then1. Doubtlc
s these
,111cn dcseryed the punishlnent they receiycd; but it i-.;
the attitude and action alone of the Vigilance Com-
11littee that \VC are called Up8ll to llote in this con-
nection.
The follo\vin
letter, directed to sheriff Hays, shows
the feeling then existing bct,,"'een the Comnlittee and
that officer:

"EXEC"{;TI\-E CIL.nIBER OF TIlE C01DIITTEE OF YIGILAXCE, 1.
,.
_-L" FR.4.SCI'3CO,
-\ugust II, 18.)1. J
"To John O. flays, Esq.. High SllÆì'Üf for the Cl!! and County oj San FJ'allcisco:
"DE.AR SIR:- Permit me, on behalf of the Committee of Vigilance, to offer
you the annexed report: "\\ith the action thereon; and in their name I offer,
with the concurrence of my colle..Lf,rues, the than!i:s of the Committee for your
perseverance, skill, and assiduity in bringin6 the affairs of our county prison
to so happy an issue. ""'e regret much that you personally should have suf-
fered any pecuniary inconvenience in the prosecution of its financial affair
,
and E".-3.rnestly hOp L 3 that the pittance raised by us may sen'c to c.."lrry out your
s2
;uine exp2cb,tio
s a......1(1 subserye the p:lbìic safe
y. _\...; a p:Ib!ic ::;eryaat
POP. TmB., YOLo I. 26

402

CLOSE OF THE F:=:RST CRUSADE.

,ve haye m'.lch ill you to commend, and at all times as citizens win lend our
aiù to assist you in your legitimate course of office.
"
Iay you long survive to serve the state of your adoption and receive the
good wishes of your fellow-citizens.
"Very truly, your obedient servant,
"STEPHE
PAYRAN,
"pj'esident of the Executh'e COJ1wÛttee."

..A.Jter the relinquishment of authority by the first
Comlnittee there ,vas little thought of prosecution on
the part of any. Society ,vas happy in its deliver-
ance frol11 outrages against person and property; the
la,v ,vas happy in the assistance ,vhich had been
rendered in lifting it from lo\v estate and restoring
that rightful po,ver and place in the affairs of the
cOlllmon,vealth ,vhich had been denied it; and thieves
and assassins ,vere happy that heads \vere still loft
upon their shoulders, and that affairs \vere no ,vorse
,vith them. Hence it ,vas that grand juries, instead
of presenting indictulents against lnolllbers of the
Vigilance COl1unittee, praised thelTI in their reports,
,vhile lamenting the necessity of the organization.
The Alta California of the 25th of August speaks
,visely upon the subject. Its editor \vrites:

"Every Californian whose business led him into the Atlantic states last
year knows with what horror the action of our Vigilance Committee was
viewed there. Those who were not called t
lCre, who read the Atlantic news-
papers re:sularly, could judge something of the state of public opinion as
it found expression in them. For once all parties agreed. All classes of
society, the enlightened and the ignorant, the honest and the dishonest,
the business men and the men of leisure, the philanthropist and the pick-
pocket, every one, in fact, united in one universal shout of denunciation
against the Vigilance Committee of California. Everyone mourned the
fall of n, young sister state which had excited the wonder amI admiration of the
whole world as one who had fallen to the very lowest scale of anarchy. Re-
publican institutions for once had been overthrown by a lawles3 mob, who
defied the courts of justice. Law amI order were at an end. Lamentations
loud and deep were uttere<l; and for once the capacities of the people for sclf-
government were doubted. Anti-c:lpital punishment men exclaimed to those
who had opposed their cflorts, 'See the effects of your blooùy code! 13100<1 for
blood is no longer the cry; but blood is now demanded for a few paltry
dollars, or for a few g;)odd, all( I t
lat, too, without a trial before a judge awl jury!
The evidence i3 oñc::,cl t3 a n1:>L by a I:l0b! T!lCse are tho Leauties of the

A PLAL\ STATE
IEXT.

403

system yo:! 3,(h-ocate! How do you like it?' But such expressions c"licited no
rcply. X 0 man who had been an advocate of ca})itallmnishment would utter
úne wo
d in defence of his former opinions; but all concurred in the opinion
that. the institutions of California were irretrievably destroyed.
'" One of us was in the Atlantic states when this excitement was at its
hci.;ht, whcn c,-ery mail stea::ner brought ncws of trials and cxecutions by the
Yigilance Committee; but it was in vain that we remonstrated against the
abuse that was heaped upon this community, ill vain that we told the people
that the best citizcns of California composed it, and that they had league(l
themsch-es together for the protection of their lives and their property.
Against us they would say, 'If this Committee be composed of good citizen
,
why do they not allow the proper tribunals to try t
ose who transgress the
laws?' \Ye urged the fact that the most depraved wretches in existence,
guilty beyond a dispute of the crimes charged against them. had been allowed
to go at liberty times -without number after going through the farce of a
trial by our courts, until at last fo...-bearance on the 11art of our citizens had
ceased to be a ,irtue. The people had too much e,idence that our courts
had been corrupted; that the country had been overrun "ith convict::;
escaped from Van Dieman Land and other parts of the world, and the leni-
encyof our judicial tribunals was bringing new recruits e,-ery day. But no
()no would listen to us. People in the Atlantic states actually believed that
the l)re:::;s here supported the action of the Yigilance Committee only through
fear of haying their offices pulled down and their tYl)es and presses destroyed.
"But the Yi 6 ilance Committee neither heed cd the admonitions of their
law and order loying brethren of the Atlantic states, who undoubtedly meant
well in tendering their advice, which was worth about the same amount as
that commodity usually is when unasked, nor those who were crying for law
and order hcre, and who only wanted to escape the punishmcnt of their
crimes. But the Yigilance Committee were the real friends of law and order,
and they have succeeded in establi
hing such a state of quiet and safety as
ncycr could haye been accomplished by our courts had they been neyer so
good. The men who were powerful here only for e,il have suffered the just
reward of their crimes, or have eluded the argus eyes of el(> Yigilance Com-
mittee and fled to more congenial climes, the law and order 10'ing cities of
the \.tlantic states. The tides of human feeling, like the tides of the sea,
ha,-e their ebb and flow. They were at flood tide when our Yigilance Com-
mittee were doing their duti to the state, to society, and to themselves.
Since that time the tides have receùed. The tempest of abuse has been
succeeded by a long calm. Those people who expressed 80 much pity for
those who were hanged so unceremoniously here, now find a. fe" more left of
t!le same sort at their own doors, many of which are broken open 0' nights.
These poor persecuted people have sought an asylum where law and order
was the cry. In K ew York and Boston is this especially the case. llurgla-
ries ill those cities are of very frequent OCCUITencc, and in the former city
highway robberies are not at all surprising. A resident of Xew York had
been knocked down with a slung-shot in the night, but succeeded in attractinci
sufficient attention to draw the police to the spot, who captured the robbers.
The man was carried hO:lle, and took his b
ù. ".hen he was able to lca,-e his

404

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CRUSADE.

house be i!lquired for the robbers, and learned that they had been dischargerl
for want of evidence! The press of the city, without distinction of party,
denounces th(' city government for such laxity. Justice has been robbed of
its due there. 1\0 one at all acquainted with the facts doubts it. But who
hclicy.cs that justice there is robbed of one tenth of what it was here? No
one. Our juùiciary was in its infancy, theirs is in ripe manhood. TIut
llotwithstanùing this the people of that city have been talking of forming a
yigilance committee antI taking the execution of the laws into their own
hands! The New York Times, one of the most extensively circulated
journals in the United States, has actually threatened the city government
that unless they administered the laws better the people would do it them-
selves!
"Does anyone want any better evitlence that the sober second thought of
the people believes the Vigilance Committee here acted otherwise than for
the best interests of humanity?"

The correspondence of the London Ti1nes ,vrites
frorn San Francisco as follo,vs:

"Regarding this Vigilance Committee public feeling is divided. All in
authority and connected with the administration of the law arc against the
institution, while a large number, I think a majority, of t!lC better classes of
the people are in favor of it, and support it by voluntary money contribu-
tions. To understand the state of Imblic sentiment correctly it is proper to
add that, however anomalous such an institution may be in a free country,
the community on the whole entertain no apprehension from it, nor is it
feareù that it will exceed its professed limits of weeding society of its pests.
Although the existence of such a body in any other country would probably
produce a reign of terror and break the bonds of society asunder, no such
result is feared by us. The non-vigilance citizen is on as amicable terms with
the Vigilance Committee man now as ever. ....\S to its composition, it is, likl3
most large bodies, a mixture of good amI of bad men. Its effect has indubi-
tably been to diminish crime, and it keeps up an unobtrusive surveillance
over the suspicious members of the Committee."

In a petition signed by certain residents of San
Francisco, and presented in the California legislature
by
Ir Wood the 27th of January, 1852, requesting
that a man nan1ed Redlnond 11light be taken by the
citizens and hanged, ,ve reach the irony of the pop-
ular adlninistration of justice. The petition ,va
taLled.

In revie\ving the action and effect of the San Fran-
cisco Con1nlittee of Vigilance of the epoch of 1851,
one cannot fail to observo ,vith ho\v little punishu1cnt
a great reforln had been accolnplit;hed. No sooncr

A JIORAL YICTORY.

403

die 1 the po,yer of the organization begin to be felt in
its full force than criminality ,yas di
sipateLl. Des-
peradoes, kno\ying that sure and 8,vift punishment
,,
ould follo,,
their evil deeds, paused, then scattered in
e'
cry direction, glad to effect their escape. California
ceased to be the place for them. Thieying 'Y3
no
longer the safe anJ profitable occupation of f.Jrlner
da ys. Profit "
as not COIDlnensurate with the risk.
:
nd ,,
hat had the ''''-igilance Committee done to
effect this great and sudden change? I t "
as not in
the extent or magnitude of their punishments. They
had executed but four persons, ,,-hen four
core should
h[t\-c been hanged, if la\v had done it
simple duty.

-\nd fourscore executions couIJ ha ye occurred under
condemu3tion of the la 'v ,yithout exciting half the
terror caused by the::;e four executions by the people.
Evil-doers "
ere ,yoll acquainted ,yith the la"
. They
kne,,- exactly ,yhat to depend upon in regard to la,,-.
They kne,y ,,-herein they nlight expect the la,y to be-
friend thelll, and ,,-herein to punish; ,,-here courts
could be employed as protection, and in "hat re
pects
it ,yere best to ayoid then1. During this golden age
, of crime in California, like the lion anJ the lalllo
they and the la \v had often lain do,vn together. Courts
y,-ere the leo'itimate risks attelldin o ' their occu I )ation.
o 0
They had no quarrel ,,-ith the courts; but this ne,,- and
,yorE-e than infernal agency "
as their abomination.
Under the old 1"egirne each limb of the la,y ,vas as
,yell kno,yn to the professional offender as his o\vn
limb; but under the ne,v order of things eyery man
he met ,yas a spy upon his actions. Popular instinct,
that greatest of social influences, he felt to be ahllo
t
n10rbidly aliye, and the odds ,vere too great against
hin1.
The neces;:,ity for further immediate action seem-
iuO' no lOllO'er to exist, the Committee laid clo,,-n their
o 0 . 1 I
po\yer as gladly a'3 they had taken It up rc uctant y.
They did not di::;organize, rightly believing that
should they do so, and the fact becon1e kno\\-n, crilllc

406

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CRUSADE.

,,
ould instantly return and take courage, and the ]1er-
lllanent result of their labors prove of little yalue.
Adopting the \yisest course possible under the circunl-
Rtancos, they illforlned the courts and their officer

that henceforth, unless occasion secllled to require it,
they ,vould not interfere in thc regular course of jus-
tice; nevertheless they stood ready to aid tho In. \y,
Ly every llleans in their po,ver, in any elnergency.
AH late as l\Iay, 1852, the executive c0111n1ittee ,vero
still holding their 111eetings, Lut the records clos3
abruptly the 30th of June, 1852. There is nothing
to sho\v any extraordinary adjournlnent, disband111ent,
or ending of affairs. The chief concern at the late
n1eetings seen1S to have been to collect InOlleJ" an<l pay
the debts of the association. One year of toilsolne
duty at that tin1e ,vas no light Inatter; and the feel-
ing seen1ed generally preyalent that if there \vas
nothing 1110re for the COlnnlÍttee to do, further ex-
penditure of time ,vas useless.

CI-IAPTER XX\7JI.

BEFORE THE 'YORLD.

Things do not torment a man so much 3..3 the opinion he has of things.
JIon'aigne.

OFTE::\ in the most liberal governments there sprincrs
fron1 fanaticism an absolutism v.
hich rages as fiercely
as any ,,
hich fila)'" be found under lllonarchical de'3pot-
ism. In the midst of the yigilance mo'
enlent there
'
Tere promulgated by its opponents doctrines morc
extra\yagant, and sentinlents p...lore
lavish, than any
enunciated by \yorshipper:j of the British throne since
the days of King John.
It is very easy to judge the actions of other
, par-
ticularly 'v hen ,ye kno\y nothing about theln. Critic:-;
are so l1luch \yiser than the criticised, are so much
better inforllled than others, that no matter ,yhat a
man nlay spend his life in studying, he has at last
to a"Take to the disappointnlent of finding a hundre.l
,yho have never looked into the subject kno\ving much
l1101'e about it than hilllself.
The position assumed by" a journal has too often
little to do "yith the principle involved. The first
question a ne,yspaper proprietor a-sks in deterlnining
,yhich side of a proposition he shall e
pouse is, "Thich
,,
ill pay be
t? Clearly it ""as the correct policy of
the lIerald, ,vllÍch even at this early date enjoyed the
patronacre of the auctioneers and lnerchants, to sus-
o .
tain the popular 1110venlcnt. And so \Ylth the .Lllt(fJ
and the Cihron'icle. The San Francisco JIoruing Post,
ho\yever, sa\Y, or thought it sa"
, an opening on the
(407)

408

BEFORE THE 'YORLD.

other side. Therc ,vere too Inany vigilance journals.
Thcrc yçcre nlany opposcd to the \Tigilallcc Conlnlit-
tee, and naturally enough the scntilllent of la,v and
order ,youlcl increase ,\"ith tinle, so that no little bun-
cOll1be Inight bc indulged in by cOlnbating the cause
of vigilance. I nced scarcely say that the Chronicle
and the Post of that day ,yere not the journals bear-
ing the san1C nan1CS to-day.
The Post, the chalnpion of la,v and ordcr during
the year 1851, as a nlatter of course ,yarps all east-
ern intelligcnce to its o,vn ends. In- its issue the 1 üth
of Septenl ber the editor rClllarks:

"An intelligent gentleman who has just arrived in the .1VO thernp1' informs
us that in travelling throughout the northern states he founù but one pre-
vailing opinion ",-ith the class of men whose in
erests are connected with Cali-
fornian trade, and that was that this Committee, with its peculiar and eY

traordinary organization, had injured the credit [lnd standing of this city to n.
greater extent in the states than all the fires and other calamities we have
ever suffered. This organization was urged as an objection in New York to
any investments in Californian state and other securities emanating from here;
aad if the hanging of J cnkins on the old adobe had affecteù nothing else it
had driven Californian securities down some fifteen or twenty per cent in the
Atlantic cities. If our credit is tarnished by these proceedings it may be
c3.11ed croaking, or ,,,hat we choose, but it does not altcr the fact that the
merchants and bankers of the east will regard us all with distrust, as a country
without law, as a people ready to take life without legal trial, and as much
more likcly to repudiate any obligations, aud therefore not to be trusted."

Beginning ,vith the London Til1îCS of the 27th of
August., ,ve find ,vritten of California:
"Its moral condition from year to year has been apparently declining,
and in Illace of imperfect institutions we now see a deliberate supercession
of law. 'V ere it not for the current belief to incendiarism we should hardly
be warranted in drawing any positive inference from the extraordinary recur-
rence of general conflagrations in these distant parts. There certainly,
however, is no parallel in history to the combustibility of San Francisco.
The I)olitical age of the city is barely three years, and yet it has been six
times destroyed by fire--destroyed, we learn, so totally that scarcely a square
remained unconsumed. It has hvice suffered grievously from inundations;
it was horribly afllicted by the cholera twelve months ago, and its ordinary
climate is said to be destructive to European health. Kotwithstandillg all
this, San Francisco survives antI increases at a rate leaving London and
I..iverpool far behind. The point, howeyer, to which ,ye would bespeak
attention is the remarbtble 1l10ycment of opi:::lÌon, ill virtue of which what

LOXD8X A).ì) SAX FIL\:::-CISCO.

409

was once a barbarous process of Ycngea
ee or violence has been transfonned
into 3. recognized operation of popular justice. But it must be eyident to all
observers that an organized association, powerful enough to superseùe the law
of the land in open day, could ktye no possible difficult) in amending the
àdministration ùf this law, had they directed their efforts to such a l)urpose
instead of dispensing with law alto
ether. Very likely the jails were
dcfectin>, the police remiss, the assizes remote, and the general pros
cct
unsatisfactory; but,
e necd waste no words in observing that, L"'1 a commu-
nity pretending to some civiliZ3.tion, nominally well organized, and formally
admitted into such a federation as the American "Lnion, the e"'{ertions of t!le
citizens should have been turncli to supplying these deiiciencies rather than
to iustituting precedents of which no man c
m calculate the e,il. The English
reader may probably think it a super:!1uous consumption of argument to prove
tllat men should not be put to death by the agency of a mob or at the bid-
ding of a secret society; but the tenor of our correspondence docs really give
a gra,-ity and llllportance to th38e proceedings which such outrages would not
otllermse possess. It is not denied that the delinquents had what in Saxon
l)hrase is a fair trial, that they were most undoubtedly guilty. and that the
system is operating to the terror of offenders hitherto incorrigible. In fact,
the princlple avoweù is that of srdus populi ::5u}Jnma lex, and the inhabitant:::i
concur III asserting that the time for apI)eal to this ultimate resort was uncon-
testably come. TIut they must surely see, upon reflection, that no calamity
can be so truly formidable as the
u.b.3titution of force for law, and that if the
recognized machinery of justice be thus set aside, uncontrollable anarchy Inu
t
infallibly result."

COl1ul1enting upon this the editor of the Cctli-
- forlli " Couriej' rClnarks:

"The first sentence in the above exti'act is true in no one particular.
The London Time!) is remark
ble for its yindictiYe
ess and misrepresentation
of American institutions and character. Our true character as a pcople has
rarely been fairly presenteù by corrcspondents to journals in the Atlantic
states and in Europe. They llaye most generally sought to manufacture mag-
nificent stories, for the purpose of having their communications read and
spoken about. To this source we attribute III a great de
ree the many ab-
surd statements and unjust reflections upon the people, the institutions, and
the climate of our state. The Times i:5 radically in error in stating that
nn
F'rancisco has been twice inundated. It has ne,-er been onC0, and we ne"cr
expect to see it. The action of the Yigilance Commi ttee was the result of
high moral considerations. That Committee has not only arrested crime, lmt
it has saved life and stimulated honest industry. It has made an impression
that has penetrated and petmeated every portion of the commonwealth that
crÌIne cannot be committed \\ith impunity, that all men must secure a liyÜl

by the sweat of their brow, in an honest calling. 'Ye are not only thallkflÜ
for the good work of that Committee, but for the salubrity anLI purity of our
climate, and thf' proud carecr ",-hich i::; opening for our people <.laù the pOWC1'.
ful young state of their adoption. "

..

410

B::FORE THE "\YORLD.

.

Fronl far a\vay V ornlont therc COl1leS a gentle ,vail
,vhich 111akcs one fairly pity one's self for being of
California. Thus the Union TVhig:

"It appears that at present, her republican constitution having been
fOl
nd unsuiteù to the moral graùe of the people, California is governed by
t!le most terrible of all forms of despotism. Such is the only ground upon
which the l)resent measures can be even palliated. If the mass of the people
aæ so corrupt that no patience and vigor of constitutional effort on the part
of the l)roperty holùers can afforù a hope of imparting purity and certainty
to the operation of law, then indeed id society virtually resolved into its ele-
Juents, the constitution has ce:lseù to be, and some form of self-protection
must and ought to spring up adapted to the emergency; in other words,
S:)lUe form of despotism is the only alternative of anarchy for that people.
l\Iurderers unhanged, prisons and sheriff made the laughing-stock of culprits,
judges corrupted, and crime stalking unrebuked at noonday, these would not
persuade us that the state of things we have supposed had arrived. Patience
and vigilance may gradually remedy all these, if the majority of the l)eople
so resolve, in a constitutional manner. But this fierce impatience of delay in
a lawful remedy; this vengeful swiftness to shed blood; this unwillingness to
suffer for the sake of constitutional liberty ; all bespeak a people incapable of
self-government and ignorant of the first principles of freedom. The l)rob-
kIll for California, in the first place, is not so much whether her laws can be
made more stringent and summary for the emergency, her courts purified,
and her priSOIl:
fortified, as whether her people can be brought back to reason
and the constitution. This done, the former may follow at once."

And again the Califo'rnia CO'urier takes up the
gauntlet:
" In the outset the editor as'mmes that it had been discovered that the
republican constitution and laws of this state were found unsuited to the
moral grade of the people of California! Upon what information does the
editor found such an assumption? On the contrary, the constitution and laws
of California arc admirably suited to our wants, so far as criminal matters are
concerned. Had he been here and investigated the real state of affairs he
wo
ld have discovered that it was for want of the proper enforcement of these
laws that the services of the Yigilance Committee were brought into requi-
sition. But the writer talks about patience and constitutional effort to bring
about a remedy for the evils under" hieh we labored. Patience! Let the editor
have been placed in the situation of a Jansen, or of a brother of Reynolùs,
or of the sixty men who had suffered ùeath at t
lC hands of the assassin in
our city during the year previous, or of one of the thousands who suffered
from the torch of the illccnùiary, and reflect that in nu instance had punish-
ment heen inflicted upon the guilty perpetrators, anù then talk about
patience! His heart must be colder than the snows of his barren Green
:l\Iountains had it not leaped for joy when a few men nobly came fonvarù anù
established that terriLlc but just tl'ibm:al, the Vigi!i1llce Committee. There

CHATI.C I:S
ì) _L\"S"\.L:P..S.

411

is in the above extract a studied attempt to create the impression that ren
'nge
or the desire to shed blood wa:.; the motivc which actuated the fonnation of
the Committee and its subsequent conduct. This idea no one here \\ ho knew
elC men composing it or who sC1.nned closcl)r their action will for a moment
c:mn:enance. "
bat were the acts of the Committ
e? "\Yho did they lmnish?
Did any innocent man eyer suffer from thcir acts? By no means. On the
contrary. what ,voultl have been the fate of Burdue had it not been for the
a
Test, conviction, and puuishment of
tuart? The former had all the bene-
fit.3 of the cÌ\-il tribunals, and yet \\ a3 under unjust sentence for robbery and
murder on two distinct charges. But the editor has ma.de the discovery that
t
lC people of Ca!ifornia, who have been scarce two years out of the
\.tlantic
s::ates, and who hail from every portion of our great and glorious "'{;nicn, are
incapable of self-government! "-hat a discovcry, to be sure. Here we ar

with the constitution and laws up3et, incapable of government, trampling all
laws underfoot, and yet a tax-collector makes known that seventy-five thou-
sand dollars are wanting to meet the interest on the city debt, and in a
week double that amount is raised-more money than can be squeezed out of
the people of the whole state of Vermont in two years! The problem of
which the editor speaks has already been solved, we tru8t to hi8 sati
faction.
So soon as the nest of villains ,\ ho were preying upon us had been broken up,
and a disposition was evinced to carry into execution our laws, just that soon
did the Yigilance Committee cease to exercise its powers. But we can te
l
that editor, and all the world beÛde, that bhould the same necessity requir

it, they win resume their powers with twofold the numerical sirell,3th wi.:h
which they before existed."

Thus the Philadelphia Ledger:

" The news from California by the B,"otlter Jonath'ln is interesting. San
Francisco seems to be a. ci.:y of excitement. In the absence of fire to keep up
a pleasant popular ferment the citizens resort to a different species of amuse

ment. and hang a man under the lynch code by way of vindicating the laws
and enforcin3 moral honesty.
\. miserable wretch caught stealing ha:; been
seized and hanged by a mob composed of the most re3pectable indi\iduals-
respectable for what? :Sot surely for being good ci
izens, supporting the la"'9,
and abiding by its deci
ions" The fac
that they were respectable citizens
W
lO committed this act is mentioned, we suppose, to justify the outrage; but
it is time that respectability in California should be taught that the h1w
wa3 made for all, and that its authority should be respected by all respect-
able or otherwise. California. has made a. bad beginning in this respect; and
unless the real respec
a.bility of the place, the men who know that laws are
made to secure their rióhts and cannot be violated with inlpunii:Y by any mob
without injury to societ
-, unless these men should s
ep forward and put an
erld to such acts of outra
e and rebellion, by as:sistin ó the lawful authority
aad properly punishing those audacious enough to set it aside, greater ca!ami-
tics than baye befallen California will ensuc, and scenes of violence, destruc-
tion of property and life, will be the seq-:.:el of the matter. It seems that one
OL the prncipal pcrsoa3 who llgt:rcJ in this outrage i
not' cry rcmarkaùle

41:2

BE
orrL THE 'VO
LD.

for moral honesty himself, for an occurre:ace of very questiona,ble honesty in
:Kew York is related in which he is char3ed with bein
the principal actor.
'Ve see other names mentioned in the afi'air, of persons"", 110 may still haye
cr'editors L""l this part of the world who might be loatll to trust the public
integrity to their keeping exclusively. "

Groat ,vas the los8 to CJJiforllia that the Lcdger's
editor had not Lcen th
re. I t is so easy to sit in a
sanctU111 chair throe th8usand Inilos a,vay and tell ho,v
things ought to be! IIcaI' hiln again on the 18th of
August:

"This was a violation of existin3' law3, and rendered them technically
criminal in every proceedin
again3:' anybody's life, liberty, or property. 'Ve
do not justi[y such proceedin3s. They would be criminal in the last degree
in any other state of the Luion; and they are criminal in California so far
as they are needless. The honest portion of the people might form commit-
tees to detect criminals and to aid the authorities in securing them; and so
far as their Jaws were defective they might insist upon an immediate session
of the legislature to reform them; and if they "\vallted confidence in their
judges and sheriffs, public opinion, thorouGhly rous'Jd. might compel them to
reform or resign. 'Ye think that all the good done by these committees of
vigilance against law might h3.ve been done according to law, by coöperation
with, instead of opposition to, the ciyil authorities. nut considering the hor-
rible state of things in California, the result, Îil no small degree, of official laxity
Qì' dishonesty, much of which was imported from New York, we do not con-
demn their proceedin3s quite so severely as we should similar proceedings in
any other state. A self-constituted tribunal cannot be tolerated under a regu-
lar and free government without putting all rights at hazard. But under
these pressing exigencies in California we admit that a salutory terror has
Leen inspired among criminals; and we will hope th::1t all good citizens of that
state will aid instead of acting independently of the law;3."

Tho N e,v York IIerald of the 19th of Septen1ber
rOIl1arks:

"The prominent and by far the most conspicuous feature of the California
ne"\vs is the prevalence of what would be called on this side of the continent
the supreme authority of Judge Lynch. In San Francisco it is the e"'{ecution
of the decrees of the Vigilance Committee of fÌve hundred, not quite so
ceremonious as the old Venetian Council, in the l)rompt punishment of
criminals, and for the preservation of law and order. Strange as it lllliY souwl
in this longitude, these off-hand trials and summary executions are in good
faith designed for the preservation, or rather the restoration, of law antI onler.
The criminal may be a murderer, a horse.thief, a burglar, an incendiary, a
common shop-lifter, or a petty rogue, if the yigilance committee catch him
and cOllyict him he is in::itantly ca.rried. out and haat;ed. up at the nearest COll-

TIIE XE'Y YORK HEILtLD.

413

yenient tree, or beam, or rope and tackle. The crime, the pursuit, the ap-
prehension, the indictment, the trial, the judgment, and the execution, may
all take place the same afternoon. The whole business in the case of .J enkins
was done in the course of an evenin
, by moonlight; and in the case of Stuart,
another Botany Bay co
n iet, tried also as a thief, the interval between the
commencement of his trial and t 1 1e hanging \"as about fiye hours. In the case
of tl1e )Iexican woman at Downie\ille, who for fatally stabbing a miner wag
tried by the popular process in such cases established and con ,icted of
munIer, the blood of her victim was not yet cold when thc woman, having
heen tried, convicted, and condemned, was swinging lifeless in the air. The
Anglo-
axon institution of the rope, by no sort of wittena-gemote or commune
consilium, may be considered as pretty \reU established in California; but
the rapidity with which it brings the criminal to his quietus is somewhat
startling to a community acca::;tomcd to the slower formalities of la.w. This
quickness of the penalty is even more astounding to our preconceived notions
than the range of crimes which come under the death penalty by the new
California code. 'Ye have no nice distinctions between murder and man-
slaughter, nor between highway robbery and a petty theft; the sa,me judg-
ment of strangulation makes short work of them all. Truly this is a terrible
state of things, and is deeply to be deplored. But the people of California, it
appears, not only have reasonable e"Ccuse-3 for these summary and indiscrimi-
nate e"Cecutions, but their situation i
such as imperatively to demand them.
The Australian convicts of England, the most desperate and la.wles'3 vaga-
bonds from every nation under the sun, have he en concentrating elCir forcf>s
in Ca!ifornia since the golden discm
eries of 1848. They bave become formi-
dable, dangerous, and criminally mischie,'ous.
Iurdprs and robberies were
multiplying; San Francisco was in the power of incendiaries, and her citi-
7en'3 311(1 t
eir l)roperty at the mercy of thicves and assassins, The existing
HIWS were inefficient; they were so slow, and thB means of confinemcnt of
oiiellders so insecure that the chances were in favor of their escape. Such
was the state of thing;;; which led to the Yigilance Committee and its sum-
mary execution of the judgments under the new code. It appears that this
Vigilance Committee act as such without payor emolument, but simply to
maintain the supremacy of the rights of life and property. There may be
then no help for the existing state of thing::; in California. It may be that the
imperatiye necessities of self-preselTation have driven the people to these
extremities. 'Ye trust that law and order may soon be reë.stablished amI
assigned to some effective guarJianship under the regularly constitutc,-l
tribunals of the country. 'Ye have no doubt whatever that the active, honest
husiness community of California are laboring to tl1is end, nor have we any
doubt of their final success in attaining it."

n(l again on the
Gth of Septelnber with S01l1C-
,,-hat ll10re of sclf-co111placency:

" The news from California and Lower California is of a gratifying char-
acter. 'Ye are happy to find th:lt the popular tribunal at San Fm.llcisco, calleel
t
le Yigilancc Committee, has now surrendered to the legally constituted ad-

414

BEFOI:E THE 'VORLD.

mini3trators of the law the peculiar functions which belong to such oflìcers in
a!l civilize
l communities, 2nd that this body of men \\'ho haxe been forced by
circumstances to usurp legal authority, in compliance \vith a popular instinct
toward the preservation of life and property, are now no more than a force
cf voluntary police officers, such as are commonly found, though smaller ill
lluml)ers, in every village in the United States where circumstances require
such an organization for the protection of socipty against the lawless amI
licentious. It is to be hoped that other lynch tribunals in the sparsely settled
districts of California will soon be dispensed with, either by the issuing of
legal commissions or by some judicial means for bringing the offenders against
life antI property to justice. The execution of Greham at Greenwood Valley,
though conducted with extra-juùicial forms of law, and with exterior pro-
priety, is an event to be deplored, ho.wever necessary such examples may seem
to those who are beyond th8 immediate assistance of legal authorities, and
who are excited to make terrible the retribution of society in cases of wanton
crime. "

Tho N C,y York JOllrnal of C07nmcrce concludes a
long account of Californian affairs in these ,vords:

(( 'Ve invoke no sympathy for the victim. JIe was a man of crime and
b!ood, and his existence was incompatible with the safety of society. The
vinùication of pulJlic justice demanded his execution, but not by the infringe-
ment of public law. There was no risk nor peril to be apprehcnded from a
j
"!.dicial trial which the committee of seven hundred had not ample power to
avert, J uùge Campbell, in his charge to the grand jury, says that under the
hw then recently come into operation, so amenùed as to secure the speedy
trial and conviction of offenùers, the time requisite for the indictment, trial,
conviction, and sentence need not exceed a \vee!r; that ample provision ex-
isted for the safe custody of criminals; and that so far from there being 1axity
ill the execution of the bws and the administration of justice, the courts were
straining every nerve to dispose of the criminal business of the county. It is
1l1orally certain that if the Vigilance Com:mittee had surrendered Stuart to
the officers of the law when his guilt was established by confession or eyi-
dence his fate would have been the same, and the society would bave felt a
sense of security from the triumph of law which the violence of popular in-
dignation can never impart to it; or had it turned out that the confession was
extorted by fear, and the e\?idence did not justify conviction, the result would
have vindicated the justice of a public and impartial trial by a jury of un-
prejudiced men, and exhibited the danger to which innocence is exposed by
secret trials and sudden executions. The right of defence, the opportunity
of ('mploying counsel and summoning witnesses, which the law gives to the
accused, is a shield for the protection of innocence, and implies no sympathy
with guilt. The annals of jurisprudence in all countries and in
ll timcs
demonstrate the necessity of that security to the maintenance of right, and
that \vhere it does not exist the weak and simple-minded are exposed to be
made responsible for the crimes of the wicked and the strong. If the state
of society in California dcmands the cxi:::;
ence of a committee of vigilance,

OTHER
"E"'Y YORK JOrnXALS.

41.3

the action of that body should be in coÖperation with the officers of j:lstice.
ácting in defiance of the law, it perpetrates abuses more dangerous than
those which it seeks to remedy. The defenders of this association point to
i:s rapid increase in nnmber3 as an eridcnce of i
popularity. :So wOlld-.:r
t:tat people aspire t::> en!"o
l t
lemseh.e3 on its li::;ts. "no would not rather he
the IDa.ater than tàe sl:.we? It i3 the supreme power in the state. It3 control
i.3 unlimited. Life, liberty. propcrty, and reputation are at its mercy-, In
the lanó"uage of the local judiciary, it oveITides the laW"s and sets the cons
i-
tution at defiance. It... organization is extending itself by branches throuöh-
out t!le whole of California. At the labt adnces, placing full confidence in
the accusations of a murderer and ,il1ain whom it had just put to death for
his crimes, it "as scouring the state to secure the persons of those who we:.'e
80 unfommate as to be obno-x:ious to his denunciations, Its usurpation 1m3
no limit in extent of power, and it may be that its limit of duration may be
determined only when it arrin's at a pitch of insolence that calls for action
in nrtue of the federal constitution, which makes it the duty of the "Cnited
States to guarantee to eyery state in this "C nio:} a republican form of gOyenl-
ment. "

The X e\t" ì- ork .Lltlus obserycs:

"It seems th3.t the civil commotions which }'ave recently excited and
agitated
an Francisco and the state generaJIy have had the effect of crowd-
in
the steamers with passenger3 for the Atlantic portion of the rnion.
These men have become alarmed at the dangers which of late have beset
li,es and property on all silles. and haye in consequence made up their minds
to bid adieu to the Eureka state. But we think thc.y have acted hastily itl
. this matter. and that they re
e:ted it ere they reac!lCd our shores. The con-
,icts, who have succeeded by their darin
crimes in spreading con..sternation
among the honest portion of the community, "ill be expelled from the country
or suspended be
ween heaven anll earth in due time, ,..-hen orùer "ill a
ain
rei
'll in California. In place of those who return others \\ia emigrate froftl
the older states vho will take adyanta6'e of the opening thus made for new
enterprise and new men. These TIlen will reap the benefits which" oulù have
fallen to the older settlers who leave the country. 'Yhile all this is going on,
California" ill rise as rapidly in the rath of her destiny as though nothing
had taken place within her borders. In less than fiye years this young sister
of our confederacy of republics will rÎ\-al any state in the Lnion in most of
ewelements of greatne
and prosperi
)'."

In the
lSnl01teCln of the 15th of

ugust is ,,-ritten:

" The most prominent feature of the California news is the firm establish-
ment of the supreme authority of Judge Lynch. 'Ye \\ho are hitter op:1>O-
nents of capital punis!lll1Cnt in ch-ilize<.l communities deepJy lament thi3
teITible state of affairs, hut considering that California is OyeITUll not only
by the con,icts of Botany Bay and Xorfolk Island, but by the most desperate
and la"" les;:) ,illains frco cycry naticll l
ndcr thc .:;Ull, cannot but admit that

416

BEFORE TilE 'VORLD.

the summary execution of the judgments of the Yigilance Committee are
absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the supremacy of the rights of
life and property. Society in California, disorganized llY this yast accession
of marauders of eyery type and grade, becomes resoh-ed into its first
elements, when association or combination of the well disposed to repre
s
hy stern, terrific, and rapid punishment the acts of the "Tong-doer is not
only justifiable but praiseworthy, amI the men deserying of commendation
who stand in the gap to lJrave the senseless odium cast upon them by those
whu cannot or will not see the abyss into .which the community is plunged
by the folly and imbecility of the administration of the law, or the laxity
of the police regulations. It would be violent, mischievous, llay infamous
conduct, to assemble en ma,ç....e in the sb.te of New York ßnd overriJe the
ciyic and state authorities, to apprehend, try, and punish criminals ere the
sun had set on the day on which the offence had been committed, for:X ew
York has all the appliances of an efficient force to protect her citizens;
California has nothin3 approaching the same. She has named her authorities,
but they haye yet to gather the firmness necessary to make her laws efficient
and respected. The position of affairs is to be deplored, not to he won-
dered at. There are hosts of men there who would not willingly hurt a
worm; but when the incendiary and the murderer openly contemll the rights
of property and the value of life, their knowledge of the duties they o'\'e to
themselves, their families, and to the moral dignity of the great Union of
which they are a portion, compel them to stand forth in the breach, and
declare in the name of reJigion anJ law that by the unrelenting hand of
justice they will vindicate the outrages of the outlaw."

Says the N e,y York EJ:jJ1'ess of the lOth of Oc-
tober:

"The details of the later intelligence we puhlish this morning from Cali-
fornia are of a character not very pleasing, certainly, to contemplate. The
Vigilance Committee ill San Francisco have again had occasion to demon-
strate to the world that though California has on her statute-books la,vs as
salutary and stringent
s the oldest and best governed states in this Lnion,
she has nobody with moral courage or honesty enough to have them executed.
The Committee docs its work of death with a Eystematic celerity which
shows how exceHent an executioner it is become from long practice. 'Ve bad
indulged the bope that, for the credit not of California alone, but of onr com-
mon country, those terrible scenes in Sacramento and San Francisco .would
llot be reënacted. The nc-ws in our columns this morning shows how sadly
we are disappointed. The victims appear from their own statements to
ha
.
e heen miscreants of the most abandoned character, pardoned convicts
from Botany Bay, who had served a long apprenticeship to crime before
entering upon their career in California."

The Buffalo Express offers tho follo,ving pertinent
rClnark
:
"Lynch law upon the shorcs of the Pacific we take to be nothing more or

BLTF ALO SPEAKS.

417

less than the expression of an earnest demand for prompt, certain, and effective
justice upon v. rong-doers. It pierces through the hindrances, uncertainties,
and \\ eaknesses of the British common law, and comes right to its point, in-
exorable as logic, and prompt to a finish. 'Ybat need of alarm at the sight?
At the worst, an unconstitnted authority deposes the constituted authorities,
and taking cognizance of offences against the laws, punishes them in a fashion
not provided for in the criminal code. But ""hen it i
borne in mind that the
act is done by the representatives of the entire society; that this new and
summary justice is executed by those who make laws, and who appoint the
executors of laws; that it emanates from a power that is behind the law and
ahove the law, as the creator is above the creature, from a power that is the
source of cÏ\
il justice at the same time that it is the life of the state and the
state itself, we may dismiss all apprehension for the result. California will
be purer and stronger ftÞIr its suspension of the constituted fonns of criminal
justice by the code of Lynch. But we 4a,-e somewhat to do with the action
of our golden-locked young sister upon the Pacific waters. From the yigorous,
sensible, acti,-e state of California comes to the older states a hint and a sug-
gestion that they would do well to hped. She demands a system of summary
justice upon evil-doers. That is the upshot and final result of her lynch law,
that is all there is of it. She proclaims herself tired to death of the uncertain,
tedious, and inefficient processes of British law to punish and prevent crimes
against civil society. Rising superior to the whining nonsense of a philosophy
emt discoyers only nùsfortune in crime, and finds in cyery villain a brother,
she with good sharp sense says that the incendiary and robber are unfit to
live, that they are the sworn foes of a gooù society, and that she will have
nothing whate\yer to do Wiel them except to ascertain their true character
beyond a doubt, and then to string them up to the nearest tree. The reasons

bich impel her to this determination are conclusive. She cannot avoid them,
for arson and robbery defeat the whole object of life in California. That life
is transient. Its objects are as a general thing temporary. They must be
speedily accomplished. The citizens of that state mostly go there to get gold,
designing not to remain there, but to return to their homes in the east as soon
as they shall have got what they want. This as a general thing is their single
business. Now to a man who has gone ten thousand miles away from his wife
and bis children on this eager and feverish errand, and "ho has submitted to
cold, hunger, wearine
s, and sickness to accomplish it, what is the es
ence of
the offence of robbery? "
hat to him is the broad-backed lusty TIlffian from
Botany Bay who comes upon the sleeping miner in the dark to snatch away
the fruits of his labor and the reward of his suITerings? An unendurable
nuisance, as unendurable as fatal poisons, as untamable beasts, something to
be got rid of and abolished instantly. The emigrants to California do not go
there to establish society, and perfect ci\il and social character. They go there
to get gold. They have no time to
pend in theories of punishment, none upon
prison discipline: just as little time have they to wait upon the crawling prog-
ress of justice pursuing the criminal through a court of common law, "
ere
the quarter sessions of X ew York established upon the Yuba, with its adjourn-
ments on account of the heat, adjournmcnts to let a la" ycr get over a head-
ache, adjournments npon all sorts of lying a.ffiùa\ its introduccd to cheat justice
POP. 'flUB. VOL. 1.
j"

418

BEFORI: THE "7"ORLD.

anJ to screen scoundrels, we should consider its judgeship a yery unsafe berth,
3.nd should tremble for the gentlemen who practised 3.t its bar. 'Yhat a nuisance
the court would he, and how Bear to the truth would be the public judgmen

that the lawyers who conducted defences there upon the ".New York city model
\PJre the aiùers and abettors of rascals, hinderers of right amI aggra,vators of
c-,-il. The p
ople of California are in an intense hurry; their wealth is in the
most condensed and }10rtable form. A robber carrying off ill his hands the
SiJQils of five minutes' work hears away a fortune for most men, and instaney
beggars his yictim. The case is extr:lOrdinary all around; it cans for extraor-
diaary remedies, and it gets them. These, too, are efficacious. A thous:1ndfoll
hetter for the best men of the country to band together justly but inexorably
for the suppression of crime, to do it forthwith, spontaneously as it were, than
tu threaten a modification of the laws at the next session of thc legislature allJ
to stimulate a district attorney to an uncommon shedding of ink. The
fel
ns from Sydney and the outla,,,s. of the :\Iississippi Valley would gorge
themselves ,vith gold while dilettanti and fonnalists were drafting acts to
make felonies capital offences, and were checking off upon the alm:ulac the
laggard days that separated them from their next legislature. Our conùition
at the east is not that of Califon1Ìa. Our society is measurably settled; we
are not in a hurry; we haxe time to reflect and time to act. But it behooves
us to think if we cannot with great profit infuse into Ollr lU'esent criminal
processes a portion of California energy and California c('rtainty; to see if we
cannot with very grf'at a<h'antage incorporate into our theory of Pllnish-
ment a portion of the California maxim, that a healthy, well fed, vigorous
criminal is without excuse; that to let a lawyer shelter him under the plea of
lunacy, or on the ground of an omission to dot some legal i or cross some
common-law t, is on the part of the public a very co::;tIy stupidity, to see if our
recent mawkish sympathy with lusty wrong-doers has not engenùered crime,
and hurt the sense of rig
1t and wrong throughout our entire society."

The solid InOll of Boston, of 'v hOln there ,yore 111any
in the C01111nittce, found their action in the Inain fully
sustained by their hOtHe journals. For instance, the
Bù
ton ,Ju'U1"llal rcnlarks:

"To us, residing in the most perfect security under the operation of good
laws, faithfully administered, such proceedings seem violent amI perhaps UIl-
justifiahle. 'Ve cannot bring ourseln's to belie,-e that lynch law is nccessary
under any circumstances in a community where the people live under a code
of laws of their own framing, administered hy officers 'who arc responsihle to
public opinion for their acts. But we ar0 free to say that if e"e1' the occasion
justified the application of lynch law, the recent affair in Han Francisco i3
justifiahle. Such is the condition of society in California that there is no
security for life or property in the regular operation of the laws. V cnality
and hribery have crept into the administration of justice and shaken all con-
fidence in the majesty of the laws. Uncler these circumstances who will un-
hesitatingly assert that a scelle so terrible as that enacted in Portsmouth
Square v;ria not exert a s.llutary in!luence?"

DIVERS OPI
J:OXS.

419

And thus the OZiec Branelì:

"Taking into consideration that forty or fifty persons were burned to
death, and seven millions of dollars' 'Worth of property "as lost by the late
incenùiar-y fire, that attempts ha,-e been made a dozen times since to fire the
city, that citizens are attacked with slung-shots in their '?ery stores, in the
face of Jay, it is not surprising that respectable citizens and property-holders
should do something to protect themselves from these gangs of organized rob-
bers and banditti."

The Troy Post says:
"The news from California by the BrotlwT Jonathan presents a frightful
picture of the stãte of society in that golden state. J lldge Lynch, at the laf:t
accounts, exercise<<l snpreme sway in all departments of the government; amI
when we look at the rampant and reckless attitude of the perpetrators of
arson, robbery, and other crimes, we are almost forced to acknowledge that
the sway of the juùge is neeùed to make head against the surging flood of
villainy that threatens almost to annex the new state to the infernal regions."

The Richlllond Enql.lir()}' rellHlrks:
" The most prominent event in the California papers is the execution of a
robber by a committee of ,igilance, 'Which has causeù very great excitement,
as the verùict of the coroner's jUI'Y ,.. hich sat upon the body was considered
to reflect lll\idiously upon the conduct of this committee."

Says the editor of the X e,y York I
'{}l:
"'Ye deeply regret the occurrence of a case of l:ynch law in the city of
" S
Francisco. .At this distance from the scene we can form no proper idea
of the feelings excited on the part of the citizens of
an Francisco by the
high hand with which the deprayecJ and dissolute outraged life and property.
"llile we cannot approye the fearful act we ,,,"ouItl not say that it was done
without strong provoking causes. 'Ye had thought that the recent elections
would secure to San Francisco a more prompt and efficient administration of
the laws, but it would seem that there has been but slight, if any, change for
the better."

The Albany Argus thinks:
"There must be extraordinary laxity in the aclministration of criminal
justice in :O;an Francisco, and a still more extraordinary degree of depravity
among its population, to require the voluntary organization of such bodies as
the vigilance committee, with such summary and terrible power
as were
exercised in the case of .J cnkins. Both must ha,-e existed in a degree neycr
beforc known in a ciyilizcd community to excuse such means to correct abuses
or to punish crime. "

'The Boston Jlail COlllnlcnts a
folIo,,"s:

., The tcrrihle conflagrations which have destroyed
o much propertyan(I
several ,-alnable li'"es are Ldic,-cù to lJC the work of thc
c (laring atHI (!t;s"

420

BEFORE THE 'VORLD.

perate men; and when it is known that the laws h:lVe proved toblly in-

11licient to repress or check these outrages; that robbery, theft, and arson
were- on the increase despite all the efforts of the constabulary force, is it
strange that the people of San Francisco should have felt the desperate
necessity of making a demonstration outside of the courts of justice that
sllOuld carry dismay into the hearts of those who were preying upon society
aaù setting the statute laws at defiance? The people of Vicksburgh several
years since thought they saw a similar necessity in the violent extirpation
of gamblers; and although their action in the matter brought down upon
them the most violent denunciations, it was undoubtedly the salvation of the
tOWll. "

The N e,v York Sunday TÏ1nes thinks:

"The execution of Jenkins was of course a murder in the eye of the
law, and the punishment was moreover disproportioned to the crime; and
yet, taking all the circumstances into consideration, we can scarcely call the
deed unjustifiable. 'Vhere the law is powerless to protect a community, it
must protect itself; but we should be sorry to be one of a community so situ-
ated."

The Portland TranScTipt sides ,vith the Committee:

" This is the first execution which ever took place in San Francisco, where
more crime has been committed in the past year than in any other city of the
S;1me population in the Union, ,vithout one single instance of adequate pun-
ishment. "

The remarks of the Albany J{n'ickerbocker are at
once sensible and true:

"The news from California, though startling, is not unexpected. The
laxity with which justice is administered on the Pacific has given vice almost
a license for its depredations. 'Vhere prisons are scarce and villains plenty,
the law, to be beneficial, should be prompt and decisive. The slow form and
special pleading which may be tolerated in this and other older states are not
adapted to the wants and safety of such a people as make up the inhabitants
of California. That rascals should be hanged by the populace is to be re-
gretted-it is still more so to be regretted, however, that the inaction of the
courts and police render such hanging necessary. 'Yhether Jenkins 'H1ß
legally put to death is not of so much moment as whether he ,vas justly put
to death. For over a year San Francisco has been overrun by hands of
desperadoes from Sydney and other English penal colonies, villains who ha\'e
so reduced the price of life and property that heads and houses in California
are of but little more value than pebbles, Since 1849 San Francisco has been
burnt over some four or five times, and each time by incendiaries. Since lS<i9
over five hundred robberies and t\venty murders have been perpetrated in
that city; and yet, notwithstanding this frequency of crime and outrage, the
first man ever brought to the gallows ill San Francisco was the outlaw Jenkins
who was executed on the 10th of J tllle. If the action of the people is to be

THE XE'Y YORK TRIBL'XE.

421

regretted. it is only because they did not move earlier. Had 'Yithers, Daniels,
'Yindrecl, and "
a.tkins been promptly tried and pxecuted when they perpe-
trated their villainies, the necessity for lynching Jenkins would never ha,-e
arisen. To delay justice is almost as bad as to deny it. 'Yith such a popu-
lation as we find in San Francisco the tardy and corrupt movements connected
with the good old ,..ay of meting out punishment for crime is no more calcu-
lated to bring about a reformation than would the reading of the forty-secontl
1 salm. The action which the people have taken they were forced to take.
By no other means could they impress upon the rogues which surrounù
them the wholesome knowledge that vice i.s a short-lived accomplishment,
and that the ouly way to meet with public toleration is to give up pubEc
plundering. The position occupied by the Committee of Safety is not only
a necessary but a bold one. As they have placed themselves in opposition to
the courts, their action will probably lead to a collision. 'Ye shall await the
next arrival with some anxiety."

By far the 1110st candid and correct vie,v of the
nlatter is that of the N e,v York Tribune, ,,
hich on the
2Gth of July says:
"The summary proceeùings of the San Francisco Committee of Yigilance
irr the trial, condemnation, amI execution of the thief Jenkins are not to be re-
garded in the light of an ordina.ry riot, much less as an example of hostility
to the established laws heralding disorganization and anarchy. Seen from the
proper point of \iew it is a manifestation, violent, it is tnlC, of that spirit of
order which created the state of California; and while we regret the causes
which induced it, our faith in the integrity of those who perpetrated it is no
, wise weakened. There is no denying now that the laws of the state in their
present operation are inadequate to protect the li,Tes and property of her citi-
zens. The amount of crime has fearfully increased during the last few months,
and the existence of an organized band of desperadoes, covering a large portion
of the country, bas been ascertained. After seeing the fairest part of the city
laid in ashes by the hand of an incendiary, and the escape through some
quibble of the law of the culprit who attempted to repeat that dreadful Tisi.
tation, it is not to be wondered that tbe merchants of San Francisco should
take the admini::,tration of justice into their own hands. The names attached
to the declaration of the Committee of Vigilance are those of the most orderly
and influential citizens of the place, men who would not rashly T"enture on so
hazardous a course or lightly assume so awful a responsibility. San Francisco,
thcrefore, presents the singular spectacle of a community goycrned by two
powers, each of which is separate and distinct from the other. They cannot
come in conflict, since there is no aggressive movement against the law on the
}Jart of the Committee and no attempt on the part of the rpgular authoritie8
to interfere .with the action of the latter. Public opinion universally uphoh1s
the course pursued by the Committee. This course, under the circumstance
,
cannot be called mob law or lynch law in the common acceptation of the term.
It more nearly resembles the martial law which prevails during a statc of
sH'ge. It has been sugóested Ly tbe pre.jcnce of a. danger which thc ordinary

4:22

BEFORE THE 'VORLD.

course of law seemed inadequate to meet. Life and property must be protected
at all hazards; the country is at the mercy of as vile a horde uf outcasts as the
sun ever shone npon; and nothing but the most prompt and relentless justice
will gi'Te us security. These are probably the sentiments of nine tenths of the
citizens of California. At this distance .we will not venture to judge whether
the circumstances JemanJ so merciless a codt>; but we are snfficiently familiar
with the character of the men composing the CJmmittee of Vigilance to acquit
them of any other m")tive than that of m
tinb.ininJ public order and in-
diYidual security. 'Ye believe they will exercise the power they have assumeù
110 longer than is absolutely necessary to subserve tllOse ends, and that their
willing submission to the authority of the law, when the law shall be competent
to protect them, will add another chapter to the marvellous history of their
state. In spite of these violent exhibitions of popular sentiment, the instinct
of order, the capacity for self-government is manifested more strongly in
California at this moment than in any part of the world."

And again:
"The California news by the Prometheus has a strange and solemn in-
terest. To those who have traced the history of our first Pacific state through
all the marvellous phases of its short existence, the present time assumes the
nature of a crisis, in which order and anarchy, vio
ence and secu1Ïty are
struggling for the mastery. On the one hand we have a sickening succe
sion
of murders. robberies, and incendiary fires; 011 the other a rapidly increasing
list of trials, condemnations, and executions, perpetrated with relentless
severity by the summary action of the people. To those who are unacquainted
.with the difficulties under which California h3.s labored ever since the adoption
of her state constitution the latter alternative may appear even more terrible
than the former; and a course dictated in fact by the most awful necessity
which can be imposed upon any community may seem little else than the
lawless outbreak of unbridled popular passion. 'Ye IH1,'e been somewhat
sharply taken to task by some of our contemporaries for justifying the motives
of the San Francisco Committee of Yigilance, and the members of the Com-
mittee themselves haye heen made the subject of yiolent denunciation; yet
every succe
sive arrival from California proves more clearly the justice of
what we first asserted, that the lynch law now in operation is not mob law,
hut the result of u. universal sentiment of orùer, a conscientious belief that it
cannot be obtainf"'d by trusting to the regular authorities, and a sense of
l1anger which impellerl them to immediate action. \Ve have professed our
inability to judge at this distance whether other means might not have been
employed to enforce the laws, avoiding a course which must he always
hazardous to the future peace of society, even when the sternest exigency
compels it. The disclosures which we publish to-day show clearly the reality
of the dangers to which the Californians were exposed; they show how llf.arly
hopeless "vas the reliance to he placed on the ordinary operation of law. So
far as the evidence goes they prove at least that there have he en sufficient
reasons for the action of the Committee of Vigilance to exonerate them from
the violent charges which have been made against them on this side of the
continent. "

L

TEAC:a:ERS.

423

Thus speaks the Doston Trareller:

"The fact that San Francisco is so OYCITun with lawlcss and desperate
Yi:lains is sufficiently painful and alarming; but it is by no means the most
alanning .and painful fact communicated in thc letter. 'Ye confess that we
yiew with the utmost alarm a state of general morah which will allow, much
less sanction, such an organization as that alludt:d to. It indicates an utter
yitiation and corruption of the public functionaries of the city, and a general
contempt for the administrators of the law, v.hich is totally inconsistent with
the idea that anything like a wen ordered goyernment exists in the country.
Sure we are that if there is any such thing as law in San Franci
co, and if
there are men who:5e busincss it is to administer this law, tbe course adopted
by this' organization of citizens' must tend most directly to brea1. down this
law and to renJer powerless these officers of justice. If this or6a
iza.
ion can
be sustained there is in fact an end to ciyil goyernment."

.L
nd thus the X 8\1" York Cornrncr'cial Lldl'ertiser
conclqdcs a long article adycrso to the yigilanca
lllO\-eU1ont:

"Had the Committee confined themsclyes to operating upon the ministers
of the law, either by aiding and supporting them if they were willing to cn-
force the law, or by bringing such a combined }Juhlic opinion to Lear upon
them that they would be compelled to act promptly and impartia
ly, t
lCY
would haye done wisely and \
-ell: the effect would !l3.ye been immcùiate rond
IJerpetual, and the triumph of the great principle of self-gO'
ermncDt under
the restraints of law woald haye been complete. Y ery dim
rent is the case
now. However much the Committee m
y hereafter desire it, they cannot heal
the wountled honor of the defied law. They cannot at wia raise its prostrate
form, and reanimate it with authority and power. The Vigilance Committee
may make itself feared. but it will be at an expense of popular respect amI
homa 6 e to the law. :\Ioreover, a counter-vigiJance committee would be
quite as leg1.1 as that now existing, anù might lna
ie itself as terrible. Xor is
it improbable that such an organization will spring up, if every man who
steals a Lag of money, in the present case recoyered by his pursuer3, or com-
mits any felony is to be secretly condemned to death. A \-igilance committee
acting with such glaring illegality, and opcnly avowing it without shame,
may go to greater lengths of tyranny, thus proyoking counter-organizations;
and where ,rill the end bc? If there is, as C3.nnot be doubted, necessity in

:an Francisco for organization for self-protection on the part of the citizens,
let it Le Jone, not in defiance of cstablished law, but under its sanction. Let
respectable citizens protect themseh-es and their property by existing law, or
Ly amending the laws if thcy Deed amenJmeat.
\.n)' other mode of protec-
tiun must result ill anmchy and ruin."

In reply to the J.ldccrtiscJ', the San Francisco IIerald

4:!4

BEFORE THE ""'0 IlLD.

COBles out in one of the Blost able editorials found in
any journal upon this question:

"Among the newspapers of
ew York some are constantly progressive,
some moderately conseryative, and others possessed with a morhiù conviction
that unless they act as drags upon the onward movement of reform the
wheels of society ,,,ill go off the track and general desolation be the melan-
choly consequence. The hindmost of these is the Comuwrci,tl Ad'ocrti::>er, a

'cry rcspectahle paper in its ,yay, but never holùing an opinion that anybody
else holds, and fifty years behind the age, at least. If it can be regankd as
the representative of any class, it is of those who hold virtue to consist in
not picking pockets or otherwise rendering themselves amenable to the law,
who regard money-bags as a divinity to be worshipped with their whole souls,
and who worship them accordingly, with saactimonious and grave propriety,
at cleven o'clock every Sunday in the gilded and cushioned pews of Trinity
or Grace. That such a paper should comprehend the ùifficulties, the neces-
sities, the bitter experiences, of San Francisco is not of course to be expected;
but the people of this city had a right to anticipate that it would content
itself with expressing that opinion which was consonant ''lith its antiquated,
dull, and somewhat perverted instincts, without descending to ahsolute mis-
representation in regard to the scenes ,yhich took place in this city after the
execution of the man Jenkins. Touching the acts of the Vigilance Commit-
tee, the object of their organization, the extraordinary system of police
which under their auspices sprung into existence with most magical celerity
all oYer the land, the wonderful completeness ,vith which they have carried
into execution e\?erything they attempted from the beginning, the unerring
certainty with which they pounced upon the ,vorst characters ill the commu-
nity, without eyer making a single mistake in regarù to those' ",hm"!.l they
arrested and punished, their prudence and moderation in avoiding all difficulty
or conflict with the officers of the law, and the triumphant success of their
efforts to suppress crime in this city, we have alreaùy sl)oken many times.
Their whole acts may be summed up in this, that after a fair trial, and on full
eviùence of guilt, they exterminated four men whose h::mùs were stained
with many and terrible crimes, and who had maintained an incessant war
upon society in California; and further, that they have driven Lack "yhence
they came several others, convicts from the British colonies, who also warred
upon the community, but whose criminality was not so grave or so apparent
as to deserve death. No innocent man has suffered death or exile at their
hands, and the persons whom they have punished woulù have suf1'ered equally
had not the courts been inefficient or the ht,-.,s powerless. So much, brieily,
for the result of the Committee's bhOl'S. The Commercial, after sti6"n13tizing
as demoralizing, dehumanizing, and othenvise objectionable, the execution of
Jenkins, traces to the agency of the Vi 6 'Ïlance Committee the rush ()f the
crowd at the city hall to lynch Lewis for arson, and the scenes enacted in the
tumultuary assenlblages on the plaza on the two days subsequent to the first
eJ:ccution. In neither of these proceeùings did the Commit
ce interfere in
any manner. Scvcrd of the mcml)e
's were present at the city hall during

AXOTHER A...,S"
R.

4::!.3

the excitement about Lewis, but quite as many were opposed to the spirit of
yiolel1ce manifested on that occasion as in its favor. The Committee ùid not
participate in the attempt, nor did they contribute to th.. excitel\,1ent. A
ain,
in the meetin
s held on the plaza the Committee took no lx\.rt. Those as"'E:m-
blages were without aim or object, and anything that took place might with
as much propriety be attributed to the Coiltmercial itself as to the Yigilance
Committee. Xor can "e, and we regret to say it, refrain from belitving that
the charge of instrumentality on the part of the Committee in these rows. if
we may so call them, has been made by that journal with malice; for in no
California paper can we find aught tending to iùentify the Committee \\ ith
these act;:;. The simp!e circumstance that
Ir Brannan, a member of the
bod), was caned upon to address the crowd is too frivolous as te::;timony on
which to ground such a cha
g
br a journal so seriou3 in its character as the
Commercial. But is not thi> holy horror at a crowd assembled in San Fran-
cisco through a \\ ish to see justice dealt to a person deemed guilty of an at-
tempt to fire the city, af
er t"\\o tl1irù3 of it had been already consumeù,
together with twenty or more valuable lives, is not this holy horror sômr-.,r
at
pharisaical?

U · The flesh will quiver when the pincer3 tear-
The blood "ill follow where the :tui
c i.1 driven.'

"And mil not people complain and act whendriyen to the \erge of despair,
and heart-sick from the loss of property, and home, and friends, and even of
all prospect of recuperation? ,r e recoll
ct bein:; in X ew York some years
ago, when on a certain Saturday nibht a young man named John C. Colt sat
in the dock of the criminal court awaiting the deci
ion of the jury, "ho l\aJ
retired to an adjoining room to consult wheH
r he should live or die.
Through the open windows came the roar of an e
cited multitmle, "hose
loud and menacing voices penetrated even the jury-room, demandin 6 the
blood of the accused. That crowù was composed of men and" omen, anù
tin four o'clock on Sunday mornin
that hoarse cry still went up demanding
blood. 111Ïs hapr>ened in X ew York, where the Com1'l/ercial has heen estah-
lished we know Dot how many years, and where they }lave their Grace
Church and Trinity Church, their pe'Ws, rreachers, anù police, thcir courts,
officers, and laws, on the most approved system a lcngthened expericnce has
been able to shape. 'Ye do Dot r
melllber that the circumstance called forth
from that journal any unusual expression of displeasure; but there is no
measure to its indignation when a crov.-d of some few hundred per50ns in
San Francisco make a harmless demonstration of anger and e
citement against
a man who, if guilty. was tenfold more criminal than Colt. "
e rejoice that
so few of the A.tlantic papers have followed the example of the (ommeJ"cial.
Some three or four indeed, tbrou6"h spleen or stupilliry, seize the occasion to
read us a lecture on our lav.-Iessness. forg"tting or i;;noring the fact that v;e
have been lawless, that is without the Lcnefit of law, since we first aITiveù.
It is most gratifying to perceive, howc\er, that a laq;e majority of the
journals in the states take a liheral and enli
htened vic,\ of our diwc..llties,
and exhibit a candid apprecia
ion of the stern necessity that ir.1felled our
citizens to uphold the law
hy enforcing thcir e}.,cc
tiOIl."

4
G

BEFORE THE 'YORLD.

"Thilo certain journals ,vere thus raIsIng a great
outcry again
t the conduct of the people of California
in carrying irfto execution n1casures for the protectioa
of life and property, ,,
ithin fifty 11liles of :N e,v York's
capital ,yore acted scenes dastardly beside the ,vildost
1a ,y lcssness in California. Says one:

"The anti-renters in this state are getting troublesome again. A few
nights since a number of them, disguised as Indians, surroundeù the house of
a man named Shaw, who had served process on one of them under direction
of the sheriff of Rensselaer county. They took him out of bed, carried him
a distance of a mile, and then tarred and feathered him. One would have sup-
posed that his age, seventy years, would have saved him. from such indignity,
but it <lid not. Governor Hunt offers a reward of $300 to any of the partici-
pants in the outrage, to the llWllber of five, who will inform on the others."

Comn1enting on the above, the N e,v York l1Iirro1"
renlar ks :

"The Alta Califo'rnia, which has been compelled to follow the example of
the JIir')'or anù come out double occasionally, contains full particulars of the
lawless state of society in San Francisco, anù, we regret to see, vindicates the
resort to mob law. 'Ye took up our pell to combat the fallacies of the editor;
but then we thought of the anti-rent outrages in our own state. anù cOllchukù
to drop the subject. It is not two weeks since an old man of seventy \Vas
mobbed in attempting to serve a process in the state of K ew York, and Gov-
ernor Hunt has not calleù out thc police or the military to arrest the rebels!"

Even in staid c01111nunities it is in1possible al \vays
to crush illllnutable truth and justice beneath dead
forms of la,v,-instancc a case tried about this till1e
,vhich occurred at the Old Bailey in London, Lord
Chief Justice Tindal presiding:
George IIan1illond, a portrait painter, "I as placed
at the bar, to be tried on an indictnlcllt founcl against
hinl by the grantl jury for tho \vilful 1l1urder, \vith
lnalice aforethought, of George Balchyin, a rope-daneer
and 111ountebank. The prisoncr "
a8 a luan of lniddle
height but slender forlH; his eyes ,vere blue anclulild.
IIis ,,,,hole being gave evidonce of subdued sadness
and 111e1ancholy resignation. He ,vas forty-one years
of age; he had a soft voice, and his nUlllneI' and
appcarn nee barù testin10ny of his bcing a 111an of

A F
\.THER'S STORY.

4 0")-
-.

feeling and refÌnenlent in spite of the poverty of his
dress. On being called on to plead, the pri
oner
adnlÍtted that he did kill Bald\vin, and he deplured
the act, adding. ho\\-cyer. on hi", soul and con::;cience
he did not believc hill1self to be guilty. Thereupon a
jury. \Ya
ilnpanclled to try the prisoner. The indict-
Inent \va
then rcad to the jury, and, the act of killing
being adlnittcd, the g Jvernlnent rested their case and
the prisoner \yas palled upon for his defence. The
pri
oner then addressed hirnself to the court and jury:
,. :\Iy lord,"
aid he, "IllY justification is to be found
in a recital of the facts. Three year:-; arro I I.)
t a
. 0
daughter, then four years of age, the sole menlorial of
a Lcloyed ,,'ife, \VhOlll it pleased God to recall to hiln-
self. I lost IllY child; but I did not see her die. She
,,-as an angel: and beside her I had nobody in the
,yorld to loye. Gentlc111en, \yhat I havc buffered
cannot be described; you cannot conlprehond it. I
expended in advertising and fruitle;:,s
carch eYery-
thing I P()

c
scd, furniture, pictures, and cven lny
clothes. ..AJI hayc been sold.
' or three yoar:-3, on
foot, I have sought lny child in all the citic
and
all . the yillages of the three kingdonl
. A;:, SOO!l
as by painting portraits I had succeeded in gain-
ing a little I1l0ney, I roturncll to reCOl11Jncnce IllY
a(h-erti
eInents in thc nc\Yspaper:-,. ..L-\t length on
Fritlay, the 14th of

pril last, I cros..;cd the SnlÏth-
field cattlc lllarkct. In the centre of the 111arket a
troupe of 1110untebanks \\rere perforn1Íng thcir feat
.
..L
nlong thenl a child \ya
turning on it
h2ad, it

leg
in tho air, and its head f'upportecl hy a halbert.

\. ray froIn the soul of its 11lothcr nlu
t ha,-e pen-
etrated IHY O\Vll for lnc to haye recognized Iny child
in that (<ondition. It ,,-a:-;, indeed, Iny poor chilll.
Her lllother \yould haye cla
pcd her to her heart ha.l
she hccn there. I\.S for 1110, a yeil passed oycr IllY eye:-\.
I thrc,,- Iuyself upon the chief of tho rope-dancL'r
. [
kne,,- not ho\y it \;"a=-,: I, habitually gentle, l-'\-Cn to
\\.eal;:nc

,
l'izcd hiIll by the clnthe-:;; I rai

d hÍlu in

4
S

BEFORE THE 'YORLD.

the air and ùashed hinì to t.he ground. Then again.
lIe ,yas dead. Aftcr,vard I repeated 'v hat I had
done. At that InOlllent I regretted that I ,vas only
able to kill but one."
"These are not Christian sentin1cnts," replied the
chief justice; "ho\Y can you expect the court and
jury to 1001\: ,vith favor on your llefence, or God to
pardon you, if you cannot forgive?"
" I kno\v, Iny lorJ," continued the prisoner, "'v hat
"rill be your judgn1ent and that of the jury; but God
has already pardoned n10; I fecI it in n1Y heart. You
kno\" not, I kne,v not tholl, the full extent of the evil
that IHan had done. \Vhcn son1e cOlupassionate people
brought lue n1Y daughter in Iny pri
on she ,vas no
longer nlY child; .she w'as no longer pure and angelic
as formcrly; she ,vas corruptcd, body and soul; her
lllanner, hcr language, infanlous like those of the
people y\'"ith \vhorn she had been living. She dill not
recognize lne, and I no longer recognized her lllysclf.
Do you cOlnprehend n1e no\v? That Inan had robbed
111e of the love and soul of nlY child; and I have
killed hill1 but once."
The forclnan no\v spoke: "l\Iy lord, ,ye have agreed
1 . "
on our verc lCt.
"I understand you, gentlenlen," ans\vered the chief
justice, "but the la,v must take its courso; I 111USt
SUlll up the case, and then you ,vill retire to de] iber-
ate." The chief justice haying sUlnllled up the case,
the jury retired, and in an instant after returned into
the court \vith a yerdict of " Not guilty."
On the discharge of Hallunond the shcriff ,vas
obliged to
urrounJ hin1 ,vith an escurt. The cl'o\vd
of \YOlnen ancllnen \vas iUllllc1l8e. The ,vonlen ,vere
dcterrnined to carry hiln off in trilunph. The cro\vd
follo\ved hilll all the ,yay to his lodgings, ,vith deafen-
ing shouts and huzzas.

CHAPTER XX"\TIII.

EXTEXSIOX OF THE VIGILL,CE PRL,CIPLE.

In my mind, he was guilty of no error, he was chargeable wi:h no ex.
aggeration, he was betrayell by his fancy into no metaphor, who once said,
that all we see about U$, kings, lords, and commons, the" hole machinery of
the state, all the apparatus of the system and its varied workings, end in
simply Lrînging twelve good men into a box.

Lord Erouyhwn.

PL
\TO, in his Republic, defines justice as "the inter-
est of tho stronger;" and ho,vcver much of sophistry
lies hidden in the sentiment, ,ye find practically that
it is very near the truth. The stronger \yill have
their ,yay, and if their ,yay be not right or just, they
,,-ill not long be the stronger. ..A..s a n1atter of course,
by the strongcr is meant not that elolnent of the
n..ation ,yhich fi1ar be 1110111cntarily uppern1ost, or
,yhich 111ay happen to have another elen1cnt at a dis-
advantage, but the inherent and permanent d01l1inating
strength that underlies all the vital activitics of a
pcople.
In ..I-\..merican politics ,ye see strikingly illustrated
this self-rcgulating principle. Corruption i'3 insepa-
rable fro111 our forlll of governn1ent. The system of
short terlllS and rotation in office offcrs a standing
ro\\-arcl for neglect and peculation. Political parties
are essential to this systenl, not fro111 the principlcs
nclvocatecl, for the principles of either are good enough
if ,,
cl1 carried out, and there i;:; little to choose bct,,-cen
thcIn, but fron1 the necessity of keeping the pool
stirred in order to prcyent stagnation. The party in
po\yor 111Ust be driycl1 out, or the certain corruption
soon bCCOllles unendurablc; and so in this tread-nlil1,
[ 429 ]

.of

430 EXTLXSION OF TilE VIGILAKCE rRn
ClrLE.

fashion, Y/C 111Ust go on froln one clection to another,
y.
ith a reforIil party cycr at the heels of the party ia
office, the paranlount object of the one to COllie ,vithin
l'
ach of po\vel', and of the other to 111ake the 1110St of
opportunity. But neither in parties nor politics lies
the strength of the C01111110n\vealth. If it ,vere so,
GOll pity us! There the interest of the stronger has
nothing to llo ,yith justice. I t is the people, not the
politicians, in ,yhose interests lies justice; it is the
people, not the politicians, in 'v hOUl lies the nation's
strength.
Our governlTICnt is ,veak because the people are
strong. But Lecause a ,veak gOyC'rulnent is the kind
that suits us best dues not necessarily inlply that ,ve
are best ruled Lv ,veak I11en even thouO'h ,ve selùolll
,.1 , b
choose others. Decause a nlonarchy is the strongest
of gOyernn1ents, and an aristocracy the \visest, docs
not in)pl y that ,ve should change our republican for111
for another. To do so ,vould be retrograde; yut \YO
n1ight safely enough give up part of our ignorance
and ,yeakness.
rhe lnaxirn that the king can do no
,vrong has in our ùay LeCOlne literally true, for nOYl
the sovereign can do nothing except that 'v hich his
111inisters and parlialuent perulit hinl to do. Inherent
in pov{er is decay. ..L
nJ unless the govcrnll1ent is
constantly refi'esheù by a eleansing strealll flo,villg in
'froln the people, it soon beconles rotten. Therefore
reforlll the units of society if you \yould reforlll society.
vVickeJness in rulers i
tho correlative of ,vickeduoss
in the people.
COlllpare the la,vs of evolution as applied to gOY-
crnnlcnt ,vith the behayior of the n1ixecl popu-
lation of California ,vhen left \vithout govcrnnlent,
anù ,ve find the t\""O in perfect accord. Society as a
,vhole callnot act or even exist except through tho
ageney of son1e sort of iniluence enforcing obedience.

rltel'e are t\VO kinds of la\YR ,yhich underlie society,
natural la,v and artificial la\v; one arises fronl neces-
sities COI1l1l10n to alllnankind, and the other ,vaits on

...

SOGIETY A.."\""D LA'V.

431

fashion. Thc social state evolycd frolll the dOlllestic
statc Ï1
lplics property, Inarital relations, la\ys, an(l
general gOYCrnnlcllt.
As aillollg prilllÍtiyc pooples, so anlong the California
luiIlors, "
e seo a state ".i thOllt la \Y8, aggregations of
InC11 \yithout gOYCrnlncnt, oach ab
olutely froc, fre;ü in
though t and action,
u far a
3 he him
clf is concerned;
Lut let hÏIll Lc\\-are ho\y he touches anothcr.
ever
did danger so 2.ttcnd ,yrollg-doiug: "I caaght thi8
fello"T stealing IllY 111ules, and 1 shot hilll," \Ya
found
,,-ritten on paper pinncd to the brcast of a dead Lotly
lying by the roadside in 18.33.
In the absence of \yritten la". speechless sentÎulent
Lcconlcs a } )o\ycr keener stroll o'cr and 11101'C lllerciless
, 0'
than aHY of \yhich Inan stalldf:, in a".o. The la\ys of
God an
l the hnv8 of l11an conlLincd aro puny in their
cfi()rts at. curbing thc passions of \yilfu] nUlll as conl-
pared \vith tho opinion of his ncighbor. Giyo a Ulan
tho sYlllpathy of tIle COIll111Ullity ill "Thich he liycs,
antI the la\v cannot hert hilll; and, on the other hand,
let hilll be anathellla of his fello\vs, nnd no lay; l:3,11

aYc hilH f1'on1 their Yengcance.
ICeenly aliye and jealously sensitiyc are the l'ights
. of iIldiyitluals and of aggregationH of indiyiduals \rhen
intrusteJ to their o\vn l
ceping. I
Yery nlan has a
Y
?atch on cyery other Inan. III tho aL
",eneo of legal
and judicial professionals, 01' later, ill their inanity,
cyery 11181noor of the cOllullunity "
a::, sheriff, judg
"\,
and executioncr.
1 lence it \Ya
tlh:
e llliners ,yalkecl (.ircunlspcctly
anlOll O ' thclllsel vcs , each covetinQ' the
J'oocl O l >inion of
ü

his neighbor, eaeh at once seryant and llulstcr of all.

r() this ond thoy purified thcir O\Yll IHOtiycs \\
hilc
purging their canlp of crill1e. ..<-
lld to du right, one
l1lU::;t fcel riu-ht. Itin'ht feelillO' hCQ'ets ri
ht actioa.
'-' ,::, C

--'
The Ulan is surely an adept \vho can Le OIle thing and
throughout hi
lifc act anothcr, ".ho can ,,-holly
llL-
scr\'
ClllotÍOll to cognition, antl cognition to reaSOll.
LaY\.
,v ill not frighten Inon into right doing; rC\T,.arùs

43
EXTEXSIO
OF TIlE VIGIL.L
CE PRIXCIPLE.
,viII not entice theln. A society perfect in thought
and feeling needs no la,vs for its regulation.
Furthermorc,as in prill1itive cOlnnlunities despotism,
feudal, oligarchical, or monarchical, for a tinlc holds
rule, sho,ving the necessity of placing under restraint
progressive Ulan, so here ,ve finll a despotisln of de-
lllocracy. In the absence of visible fornls of la,v there
,vas the esscnce of la,v every\vhere; just as in the
progress of civilization \vhen Incn arise and thro,v off
superstition and despotism they only rivet the chains
of social tyranny the tighter.
Therefore ,YO Inay conclude that, properly regarded,
all the Inad pranks of these 111iners, all the social ab-
norn1Ïties that obtaincd along the Sierra Foothills
during the gold-gathering epoch, may be safely re-
ferred to sociological principles; just as all natural
phenolnena as soon as understood are found to be
governed by fixed la\vs, \vhen if not understood they
are rcgarded as the results of supernatural causes.
1\10n pray for rain because thc ht'vs of storlns are ill
defined; they ,vill. not pray that. a stone n1ay be turned
into bread, because they kno,v that brcad is not a
geological formation. So the la\vs ,vhich govern
social developnlent, 'v hen understooJ, ,viII be found
in no ,yise to run counter to the frec-,vill of lHan, if
lnan has free- 'v ill.
During the flush tilnes of California there ,vere
several phases of crill1e in the several parts of the
country. In the cities ,vere slung-shot strikers, house-
breakers, ,vharf-rats ,vho preyed upon sailors and
shipping, pick-pockets, sneak-thieves, safe-robbers,
gentle111en forgers, and first-class burglars. In the
country there ,vas more killing, that being the In ore
effectual ,vayof arresting pursuit; and as the penalty
for stealing ,vas the gibbet, no seyerer punishment
could l>ofall the 111urderer. I-ligh,vaynlen at intervals
infested the interior, and their organizations at tinles
assu111ed n1
6nificent proportions. IIorsc-thieves \vere
thick in stock localities. l\fillors ,yere n1urdered for

EABOARD .A...,"D :D
ERIOR.

4 <)<)
i,o>

their money; a dead body beside a solitary claim ".ag
not an unu
ual sight; and often the thief ,vas hanged
".hile the murderer e
caped. Then there ,,?as a large
migratory class, who when one place became too hot
,vent to another.

Following the example of San Francisco, popular
tribunals ,vere organized in every town of any impor-
tance throughout the state, and, a<:; they became
inhabited, in neighboring states. These "Tere of eyer}'"
grade, and of every degree of efficiency. In the larger
cities, such as Sacramento, Stockton, )Iarys\ille,
Sonora, San J osé, and Los Angeles, were standing
a
sociations of the best citizens, which, though neces-
sarily less in numbers, "rere wellnigh as cOlnplex in
their organization, and fully as eftèctiye in their action,
as the great committee of the commercial metropolis.
Indeed, these country committees, as a rule, had
"\\Tork enough to do. Though they "ere spared much
of that kind of ,vork incident to èl seaport to\\?n, and
to the prominence of the first and largest organization,
yet in certain directions the labors of some of them
oJ
e
ceeded those of the San Francisco Committee.
There ,,?ere fewer cases of exile in the country, but
more executions. For every criminal executi
n bJ
the '"T"igilance Committee of San Franci'3co there ".ere
at least t,yenty executions by the country commit-
tees-that is, including all of them in operati
n
throughout the state. In one year, that of 1855, there
were no less than forty-seyen arbitrary executions in
California; and of these, t".enty-fow" "yere for theft,
and nineteen for murder; the other four being for
minor offences.
Thus in the larger interior cities the comn1ittees of
vigilance ranked but little lo\\yer than the committee
of San Francisco. Des
ending the scale, ,ye haye
next those belonging to to,yns next in size and neces-
sity, ,vhich did not keep up pern1anent organization,
regular meetings, and acti,-e ,york, but ,,-hich ".ould
POP. TEIn., YOLo I.

434 EXTE:NSION OF THE VIGILANCE PRINCIPLE.

as occasion required come together, organize or reör-
ganize, and, after performing the business \vhich called
them together, disband. These inlprolnptu organiza-
tions were usually for the purpose of trying some crim-
inal caught before the organization was effected. Then
there ,vere many still less formal, until mobocracy in
its simplest and lTIOst repugnant form \vas reached.
In the organization of these various country COlTI-
mittees there was no concerted action, no general
appeal other than the publication of the follo,ving
notice in the journals of the loth to the 15th of
June, at the tilne of the first organization of the
Committee of 1851:

"To THE CITIZENS OF CALIFOR:SIA:
"Should the order-loving portion of the citizens of Sacramento City,
Stockton, the Pueblo de San José,
Ionterey, l\Iarysville, and all other towns
and cities of the state, find it necessary, they are invited to form themselves
into committees of vigilance, for the purposes set forth in the constitution of
the Committee of Vigilance of San Francisco. The object of these committees
is, moreover, for the purpose of corresponding with each other, so as to be able
to mark and notice the movements of all disorderly or suspicious characters.
By vigilance we may succeed in driving from our midst those who have be-
come so baneful and obnoxious to our communities."

Thereupon the course of the citizens of San Fran-
cisco ,vas endorsed by mass meetings held in Sacra-
mento, Stockton, and else,vhere.
In vie\v of these facts; in vie\v of their existence,
their universality, and their spontaneity, it seems
almost an insult to reason to argue their necessity or
their righteousness. And yet there are those learned
in the law lvho will tell you to-day that the thing
was unnecessary, the principle wrong, and the 111enl-
bers of these associations n1urderers. Strange that
lTIen fresh from the firesides of their boyhood, fresh
frolll the hallowed influences of home and the re-
straints of sober society, should so invariably and
unnecessarily demean thelnselves as to band as la,v-
breakers and lTIurderers the Uloment they arrived at
any point on the western slope of the continent!

GOVERN)IE
T L
EARLY TDIES.

435

As at San Francisco, so it ,vas ,vith these country
committees of vigilance. Swift and merciless ""as
their action; the most notorious villains were quickly
judged and hanged, the lesser ones frightened a,vay;
and then, after having used '\7ith dkill and modera-
tion, and for the public good, the moral power ,vhich
they had seized, they as promptly laid it do,,'n, gaye
California to the appointed authorities, and becaníe at
once and forever thelnselves the strictest observers of
the la,v.
At various times during the epoch of 1851 and
that of 1856 the question arose \vhether it ,vas ex-
pedient to form of all the committees of the state
one grand organization, ,vith the San Francisco Com-
n1Íttee as the trlmk and the interior committees as
the branches. Applications ,vere frequently made by
country committees to become a part of the San
Francisco organization; meetings ,vere held, and the
subject at various times discussed.
But ,vith their usual ,visdom and discretion the
San Francisco Committee declined all such combina-
tions. 'Vhile ,,"illing to act in perfect accord \vith

ll associations for the punishment and prevention of .
cri
e throughout the state, ,,?hile earnestly desirous
of giving and receiving every facility for the aCCOll1-
plishment of the purpose ,vhich called them into ex-
istence, the San Francisco Comlnittee ,vere un,villing
to assume any responsibility ,vhich could not at any
time be controlled ,vi thin the ,valls of their 0',11
council-chamber. A general organization might have
led to the "rildest excesses in the more remote quarters
and have made the central or parent committee re-
sponsible for deeds frolll the commission of which they
would have shrunk ,vith horror.
At an early day, long before the general uprising of
1851, in certain sections of the gold-fiolds the miners,
more particularly the English-speaking class, and
sometimes only citizens of the United States, met and
adopted rules by which to be governed. These rules

436 EXTEKSION OF THE VIGILA
CE PRINCIPLE.

governed the title to mining claims, and protection to
life and property.
At the llliners' meeting called for the purpose, an
alcalde, or justice of the peace, and a constable ,vere
chosen, and an official oath administered by the chair-
man of the meeting. In civil actions before these
courts the plaintiff or defendant could, either of thenl,
call. for six jurors to assist the judge, and in criminal
cases the accused ,vas entitled to a jury of t,velve
11) en. Process ,vas issued by the alcalde and executed
by the constable, or, as he ,vas as frequently called, the
sheriff All proceedings conformed as nearly as might
be to those of an ordinary court. Appeals could be
made from this court in criminal cases only to the
spectators at the tillle of execution, ,vIlo ,vere sup-
posed to represent the people ,vho gave the court its
authority. It ,vas simple, but extren1ely significant,
this ultimate appeal of the condemned, the nlOlnent
before his execution, to the highest earthly authority-
a most solen1n appeal, but too often lightly regarded
by those to ,vhom it was Inade.
Upon conviction in criminal cases tried before a
- jury the degree of punishn1ent was fixed by the
alcalde, and it might be death, for any offence. The
juror's fee "Tas six dollars for the case, and the alcalde's
sixteen dollars. The ,vitnesses and constable ,vere
also d ul y reC0111 pensed.
The lniners' court had its origin prior to the ad-
vent of la,v. Upon the legislative establishment of
courts, in lllOst localities the Ininers' courts gave place
to then1, but not al,vays. If the leading spirits of a
n1ining-camp 'yere satisfied ,vith their o\yn ju
licial
machinery they ,vould neither elect under the statutes
nor perlnit others to do so. l\1:iners' courts ,vere not
VI holly abrogated till after 1854. l\Iore particularly
,vas this the case in crin1inal trials, 'v herein the people
,vere provoked by the tardiness of constitutional courts.
I t ,vas suggested hy one that legal tribunals should
be established in the cities and throughout the country

LEGISLATIOX AXD LAW COURTS.

437

where justice could be instantly determined and exe-
cuted; or extraordinary po,ver might by special legis-
lation be delegated the courts to act ,vithout the usual
la,v's delay. Thus the chances of escape would be
lessened and the cost diminished.
About midsumnlor, 1851, there ,vas considerable
discussion, principally among the la,v and order
party, concerning the propriety of calling an extra
session of the legislature for the purpose of so modi-
fying the criminal code as to meet the requirements
of the present social crisis. Such a Inovement on
the part of the governor would have rendered him
yet more unpopular. Aside from the expense, which
for a ten days' session would have been about sixty
thousand doUars, the result ,yould have been produc-
tive of evil rather than of good. The disease was
altogether beyond the reach of the ph
ysician, and
further legislation would only have intensified the
trouble. The la,v "Tas well enough as it ,vas; and
further to complicate affairs by the propagation of
yet more inefficient and corrupt officials ,vas no ,vay
to cure crime. The people ".ere taking care of them-
selves, and that in the simplest, most direct and..
honest method in the ,,"'orld-by making punishment
to follow closely the heels of crinle.
In 1850 statutes ,,"'ere enacted, and the people
meanwhile administered justice by popular tribunals,
or surrendered their clailll to the execution of justice
into the hands of the legally constituted tribunals.

O'Y, thought they, ,ve shall have quiet liying; we
lllay no" pursue our several vocat.ions in safety ,vith-
out the harassment of hunting and hanging criminals.
But the people in their brighter prospect ,,"'ere not
alone made happy. The thief, the election trickster,
the murderer, these too rejoiced over a prospective
reign of la ,v, over an adulinistration of pretended
justice ,vhich should shield thell1 from their nlortal
enemies, the people.
Follo,,"'ing the great uprisings in San Francisco,

438 EXTENSION OF THE VIGILANCE PRINCIPLE.

there ,vas a general exodus of crimInals to the in-
terior. A San Francisco paper thus ßounds the note
of ,yarning:
" The recent hanging and banishing of the friends and companions of these
villains in San Francisco caused a stampede for the interior and southern
portion of the state, where they formed themselves into organized banditti,
robbing and murdering indiscriminately. Neither sex nor age were regarded
by these desperate gangs of marauders. Patience at last ceased to be a virtue;
the law was found to be inefficient to punish the bloody outrages which were
daily being committed; the people in the lower counties, in Los Angeles,
:Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and later still in Carson Valley, have been obliged
in self-defence to follow the example of San Francisco and mete out a sum-
mary but just punishment to all that fell into their hands.
"The result of such summary execution is that the desperadoes have
concluded that California has become too warm for them, and they have de-
termined to shUt their quarters to the new gold regions north, where the
people are not so united. In that comparatively unknown country they ex-
pect to have more facilities for carrying on their unholy business, and where
there will be less chance of detection. As there will be no chance of these men
being supported by political plunder in the country to which they have now
gone, the more desperate and dangerous will they become. Their organiza-
tion, it is now proved without a doubt. is complete throughout the coast;
they have their secret signs, passwords, and grips, by which they are recog-
nized. Their threats against the members of and sympathizers with the
Vigilance Committee is no idle boast. That they will attempt outrages is
l)eyond a doubt. Their friends and abettors in this city will keep them fully
-posted with the names and business views of all whom they consider will
afford a good show of plunder, and murder will prove their safety against
further recognition or detection; for, like Jack Powers and Pio Linares, their
motto is, 'Dead men tell no tales.'
""Under these circumstances what is the duty of the good, law-abiding
dtizens who have settled or may settle in the new mines? As to law, there
is none to be had there. If it were extended over them, none of that class
of so - called politicians who readily become the friends and tools of the
banditti would give up their prospect of making a 'pile' to fill offices of
responsibility. Our advice is for the miners to organize themselveG into
armed companies, keep up a strict volunteer police, and administer justice
whenever required, in a manner that will deter these villains from commit-
ting crime. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Danger to life and prop-
erty stares them in the face. Then let them be prepared to prevent it at the
outset. The gamblers should ùe shunned and scouted by all honest men;
the bully and the shoulder-striker should be admonished to keep quiet
and earn an honest living, or prepare to take up his traps and march. The
murderer and robber should be shown no mercy. At the first unmistakable
conviction of such an offence the murderer should be hanged as high as
Haman, and his body left to dangle as 3. warning to bis companions in guilt.
" This summary proceeding may sound harsh to the ears of such persons

l\ITGRATIONS OF CRDIL
ALS.

439

as have not witnessed the troubles in this state. We expect it will call forth
a howl of indignation from the venal press in the interest of gamblers and
thieves; but it "\\ ill be disregarded as the whistling of the wind. Those who
know the desperate character of these men, and .are acquainted with their
former rue deeds in this state, know full well that we recommend the only
means which will afford safety to property and life in the unprotected country
to which immigration is now pouring. Such organization of miners will also
afford protection against the bold savages who inhabit the north, and who are
hostile to the whites. To these savages will the desperadoes resort for pro-
tection and aid. It is the duty, therefore, of the miners to prepare for
trouble. Punish the offenders promptly, and the lives of many honest and
innocent men will be spared. Let them but get the start in crime, and many
a happy home will be made desolate. The safety of all consists in prompt and
decided action."

Throughout the interior, more than in the citJ,
arbitrary administration of justice ,vas regarded b
r
the people with greater favor than the regular pro-
ceedings of courts. The institution of vigilance ac-
corded ,vith the spirit of the times. I ts machinerJ

was unimpeded by the friction of forms; its sentences
,vere final and speedily executed. Then, too, it ,vas
more needed, if possible, in the country than in the
cities. The people were more scattered, communities
more isolated and self-dependent; they were more

xposed, less capable of continuous and concerted
action.
They had few jails, and thought that to stand guard
over criminals captured bJ their own exertions and at
their o,vn expense was paying too much deference to
crime; such procedure ill-accorded with their temper
or means. Quick let the bad cease to be, and then
each to his affairs.
So effectual ,,"'ere the workings of these organiza-
tions that, like all the institutions originating from the
necessities of the times, the frontiersman began to like
it, and to look upon it as a part of himself, his cate-
chism, his country. After civilization had set its seal
upon the to,Vll of Yankee Jim, a miner summÐned
as a juror in a murder case was asked by the judge if
he had any conscientious scruples against capital
punishment.

440 EXTENSION OF THE' IGILANCE PIUXCIPLE.

" Yes, your honor, I have," he replied; "that IS,
unless administered by a vigilance con1mittee."
The lIlodes of punishlIlent ,vere many and va
ied,
being al,vays such as should bring disgrace, and
usually such as should attach humiliation and pain.
Shooting was sonletimes employed, but not often.
Whipping and driving from camp ,vere frequent; but
the most COlnmon punishment ,vas hanging. For
what better purpose did the solitary oaks send out
their long, ungainly branches 1 It ,vas a simple
process, thro,ving a rope over the limb of a tree and
tying one end of it round the neck of the offender.
The rabble would then seize the other end of the
rope and run with it as far as the ascending body
would permit. Mexicans were sometinles hanged
from mules, standing on the back of the animal until
the rope was adjusted, when the mule, frightened by
blows and yells, jumped from under the victim, leav-
ing him suspended. At the outset punishment was
not so severe as later, when the executioners had
become more accustomed to the workings of the
system, and to scenes of blood.

CHAPTER XXIX.

COUNTRY CO:M
nTTEES OF VIG
CE.

Here is a mine of truth, which, however vigorously it may be worked,
is likely to outlast our coal.
George Eliot.

LET us no"r examine some of the more dignified
popular tribunals outside of San Francisco. It \\a

almost simultaneously, as soon as people began to
understand something of the nature of the organiza-
tion of June 9, 1851, that similar associations ,,?ere
formed throughout the length and breadth of the land.
The \Tigilance Committee of Sacramento was first
formally created the 25th of June, about a fortnight
after the organization of the first \Tigilance Commit-
tee in San Francisco. Two hundred and thirteen
members were enrolled at the first meeting, ,vhich
,,"as held at the Orleans Hotel, and thereafter the
number rapidly increased. P. B. Cornwall "Tas chosen
president, and the executive committee consisted of
)Iessrs )Iilne, Duryee, Rightmire, 'Vatson, Latson,
Chesley, Barker, )Ieeks, Leake, and Geiger.
Prior to this time, as we have seen, there had been
several summary arrests and punishments of greater
or less degree. But this was ha.rdly sufficient, in vie\v
of the rapid development of evcnts. When the best
men of Sacralnento saw what San Francisco "ras
doing, SR\V the immediate good effects of their unique
association, they obtained a copy of the constitution
and by-laws of the San Francisco Committee and
organized on the same plan.
In conlmon ,yith the entire countr), the City of
[ill]

442 COUNTRY COxE\IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

the Plains ,vas infected ,vith the leprosy of crime; and
as this landing was then the rendezvous for adven-
turers from San Francisco and else\vhere to the
northern mines, rascality here partook at once of
the character of that of the city and of the country.
Thither resorted commercial, agricultural, and mining
desperadoes; sailors and professionals from San Fran-
cisco, cattle-stealers and highway robbers from the
valleys, and gamblers and murderers from the mines.

We will glance briefly at Sacramento's infelicities
about this time. In April, 1851, Mr Lawrence,
editor of the Times and Transcrzpt, ,vas attacked by
certain political desperadoes then infesting the city.
A nlanifesto was issued, and within an hour five hun-
dred citizens pledged themselves, in ,vriting, to pro-
tect Mr Lawrence, and any other members of the
press, against ,vhich class villainy for the moment
seemed directed.
On the 17th of July follo,ving, as Mr Lawrence
,vas passing the court-house, J. Neely Johnson stepped
up and demanded whether he ,vas the author of a cer-
tain paragraph published in the Times and TTa'l7sc1JzJ.Jt
that morning, at which Johnson had taken offence.
Not receiving a satisfactory reply, Johnson seized the
journalist's nose and wrung it Inagisterially. Law-
rence drew a pistol and would have fired had he not
been disarmed by the by-standers. The reader lnust
kno,v that this was the same Johnson who afterward,
as governor of California, was so horrified at the doings
of the San Francisco Committee of 1856 that he was
ready, had he been strong enough, to deluge the streets
of the city in the blood of its best citizens. To
avenge a personal injury he did not hesitate to defy
the law; but when the people themselves, for the
preservation of society, laid their hand on law it was
sacrilege.
Four men ,vere caught robbing a citizen of Sacra-
mento on the 9th of July. The crime ,vas perpetrated

AFFAIRS AT SACR
IID-.
O.

443

in open day, in the suburbs of the city, and ,vas ,vit-
nessed by several persons. \Vhile the thieves were
being taken before the court of sessions the Commit-
tee of Vigilance convened for deliberation, and a
crowd of about one thousand persons collected before
the station-house and attempted by force to obtain
possession of the prisoners. A committee of three
was then chosen to "
ait on the officers and request
possession of the prisoners for hanging purposes.
This request the limbs of the lR\Y very properly de-
nied. Brought into court, the prisoners, by their
counsel, insisted on the time allo\ved by la\y for the
preparation of their defence, and the trial "
as conse-
quently postponed. This delay caused great commo-
tion among the crowd, and on putting the question to
vote it ,vas almost unanimously decided to hang the
thieves that day. Seeing the ominous aspect of affairs,
the prisoners' counsel consented to proceed to trial at
once. All were convicted; one was ordered away to
the state prison, and the others ,vere sentenced to be
hanged. This ,vas the first attempt at interference
,vith the regular process of law by the Sacramento
Vigilance Committee, and the result speaks loudlj

their moderation.
..About a ,veek before this a man named Franklin
Sanford, ,,
ho had been arrested at Daylor's rancho,
charged ,vith shooting cattle and selling the meat, was
,vith difficulty saved from the vengeance of the people.
He "Tas finally taken to Sacramento and bound over
by Judge Sackett in three thousand dollars bonds.
It seemed impossible for the men of Sydney to
keep their fingers from their neighbors' property.
.A..-\..bout this time, on the 8th of July, one of the fra-
ternity ",-rho took passage on board the Senator for
Sacramento "
as t,vice ,,
ithin an hour caught steal-
ing. The first time it was a pair of shoes from a
Chinaman -0 base- born son of
\.1bion! to steal the
,yorthless ,vooden shoes of a greasy Asiatic
X ext it
was five dollars in gold ,vhich a passenger laid on the

444 COUNTRY CO
E\IITTEES OF VIGILA.L
CE.

counter at the bar, and ,vhicll the thief took up. The
captain being infornled of the traffic, took the offender
for,vard to the ,vindlass, and after giving him three
dozen lashes put hinl ashore. The same day a thief
named Hodge ,vas arrested, ,vho regarded his execu-
tion a foregone conclusion, and manifested profound
indifference as to preliminaries.
The 22d of August, t,vo days before the execution
of Whittaker and l\IcI{enzie, there was great ex-
citement in Sacramento. Two high,vaymen, James
Gibson and John Thonlpson, convicted sonle tÍlne be-
fore, were executed by the sheriff; a third, Robinson,
received a respite of his sentence from the governor.
This did not suit the Vigilance Committee. The.r
demanded that Robinson likewise should be hanged,
and as the sheriff had no authority to do it they did
it thenlselves. When the hour for the execution
arrived the sheriff brought the three nlen from the
station-house, and after reading the reprieve of Rob-
inson ordered the t,vo who ,vere condemned to the
place of execution and the third to the prison brig,
but on their ,vay the guard of the latter ,vas over-
po"rered and the prisoner taken to the grove ,vhere
the execution of the others ,vas in progress. After
the sheriff had discharged his duty in respect to the
t,vo condenlned, and had washed his hands of wltat
,vas to follo,v, R,obinson ,vas mounted on the same
111achine by the Vigilance Committee and sent speed-
ily thence to follo,v his comrades. That nigllt a nlass-
lneeting ,vas held at the Orleans Hotel; on motion
the governor ,vas requested to resign, after ,vhich he
,vas hanged and burned in effigy.
Robinson's life fronl early boyhood was" a succes-
F;ion of crilne; he hesitated at nothing, ho,vever dia-
bolical. He ,vas a native of N e,v York city, and ,vas
thirty-t,vo years of age. While at school, and but
thirteen years old, he had forged the name of a
cashier of a bank at the suggestion of one Granstine,
,vho ,vas but a few years older, and who forged the

THE C...lliEER OF ROBL'\SOS.

445

president's name. They "
ere successful in this enter-
prise, drR\ying
4500 on the check. Granstine, Rob-
inson, and another accomplice, attempted a robbery
soon after of 87000, which Granstine accomplished
by the murder of a :young woman, for which crime he
'Y3S hanged.
_1.__
rriYed at the age of sixteen, Robinson ,,
ith the
aid of an accomplice robbed his o"Tn father of 8
500.
Then going to Pittsburg he obtained a place as caLin-
bo
r on boarJ a steamboat. ..A_t the instigation of the
stew"ard he stole from a passenger, ,vbile a
leep, $3000
in gold. Robinson met the ste,,?ard again in Cincin-
nati; they travelled together to X e,,," Orleans, ",-here
they engaged in new crimes. Robinson obtained a
responsible position in a hotel, ,,-here he remained
several months. Then with accomplices he robbed
the safe of $5000, for which crime he "Was arrested on
suspicion, but ,,-as able to make apparent his inno-
cence. :\Ieeting on one occasion in .....\lbany tw"o men.
Hunt and Edwards, by "yhom be "Wa<3 kno'TI1 as a skil-
,ful penman and a sharp rascal, they made bim their
partner, and expended $300 on him for dress and
je"elry, that he might pass as a gentleman.
-\.fter
due preparation he presented at a bank a forged
check for
2500, and obtained the money ,vithout
difficulty. In Philadelphia, ",-here they "
ent imme-
diately, he practised on one name for several days,
until he "Was able to counterfeit it so "
ell that on
a check $20,000 "as dra\\ll from the bank. Rob-
inson's share \\
as $6000. He sent to his mother the
larger part of it, telling her he had dra"\\n it at a lot-
tery. In Baltimore the associated scoundrels obtained
t'15,000 in the same ,yay. In Cincinnati another
check for S
O,OOO '\
as successfully forged anJ pa 3sed.
Ed"ards boasted bis contempt for sll1all thing
.. ....\..t
Louisyille the same amount "as obtained in tho sanle
"Way. Here Robinson, dissatisfied ,yith the divi
ion,
quarrelled ,,-ith and separated from his cOlllpanions.
From Louisville Robinson ,yent to X e"'
Orleans.

446 COUNTRY C01\lMITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

There he robbed the custom-house safe; a negro ,vho
,vas his accomplice ,vas arrested on suspicion and
,vhipped, but divulged nothing. On a plantation
,vhere he ,vas after\vard employed he opened a safe
and abstracted $4000. Thence Robinson ,vent to St
Louis. A United States officer ,vas his next victin1,
,vhose robbery yielded hÏ111 $7000 which bclonged to
the government. He coolly stood by and sa,v another
exeçuted for this deed. Robinson ,yas engaged in
thefts of greater or less magnitude constantly. In
travelling from one point to another his fello\v-
passengers ,vere his victims. For knocking a man
do,vn with a slung-shot and taking $1300 froIl1 his
belt, Robinson was arrested, but escaped by paying his
la,vyers liberally. In Cincinnati he and an accomplice
broke open a je,vlery establisl11Ilent, and his partner
in the crime ,vas imprisoned for seven years. Menl-
phis, Vicksburg, and Natchez in turn ,vere success-
fully visited by this prince of villains. He sent his
lllother nloney again, $2000, leaving in his possession
$800 in altered bills. Hogan, an accomplice in n1any
of his crill1es, ,vas hanged for murder in Cincinnati.
In St Louis Robinson obtained money by forgery,
and as a pickpocket achieved great success. In New
Orleans he ,vas six Inonths in the county jail for theft.
At various times he ,vas arrested, 'v hen false swearing,
bribery, and the skill of la,vyers cleared him.
After beconling notorious through the south and
east, ,vith detectives on his track, he came to the
Pacific coast. At
larysville he attempted to kill his
,vife, on account of her unfaithfulness; escaping froIl1
his pursuers l1e ,vent to Nevada. He followed his
profession successfully,vherever he ,vent; SOlne of his
stole!l goods he disposed of to Belcher l{ay. In
Sacramento he perpetrated Inany successful felonies.
But his rare luck at length deserted hiln. With t,vo
or three companions, ,vho had been drinking and gam-
bling at a certain place, Robinson started for a saloon:
One of the men, Wilson, was an acquaintance of but a

ATTACK OX JLl)GE WILSO
.

447

fe" hours; he "
as thought to haye some money upon
him, and as they reached some bushes in the road Rob-
inson and an accomplice threw 'Vilson on the ground,
and robbed him. Robinson ,vas soon arrested. All
this on the authority of the miscreant himself, w"hich
the reader may take with ,vhate,er allo,vance his
judgment dictates. Strange that in the heroics of
crime the tendency should be so marked for the vil-
lain to magnify his own villainies. And this "ras the
man the governor would pardon.

Henry Caulfield, who had been prominent in the
Sacramento squatter riots, and J ohn
lcKune, a
Sacramento la"')
er, "'"ere the personal enemies of
Judge \Vilson of the court of sessions. For some
fancied ,vrong they determined to obtain satisfaction,
and for that purpose loitered about the court-room
on the
orning of the 16th of June, 1852, until
adjournment. )IcKune then accosted \Vilson anrl
demanded his retraction of abusive language. \\TilSOll
replied that he never retracted anything that he said.

IcKune then raised a bludgeon that he held in his
hand and struck "Tilson, ,,
ho retaliated by thrusting
his sword-cane into his adversary's side. Deputy-
sheriff )IcDonald then disarmed 'Vilson, ,,,hereupon
Caulfield, ,vho had been watching his opportunity,
sprang foru
ard and fired at the judge. .L\.t that in-
stant :\IcDonald rushed bet,,'"een Caulfield and \Vilson,
and the ball which probably ,vould have killed the
judge passed through :\IcDonald's body. \'''lth blood
gushing from the ,,-round, he fell upon Caulfield and
,vrestecl the ,veapon from him. The by-standel's now
entered the arena, and shooting, stabbing, and striking
became general. :\IcKune ,vas carried a,,"ay exclaim-
ing, "I'm a dead man!" and Caulfield was arrested and
placed on board the prison brig, there to a"
ait the
result of the sllooting. The \
igiIance Committee
ll1et at the Orleans Hotel. Of this meeting the
citizens were notified by a man going through the

448 COUNTRY COM
IITTEES OF VIGILAKCE.

streets ringing a bell. When it ,vas ascertained that
the \vounds inflicted ,vere not likely to prove fatal, the
decision of the lueeting ,vas to leave- the matter in the
hands of the law.

One Conrad Sacksin, on the night of the 27th of
January, 1853, ,vas caught in the connnission of an
act too infamous for record; and the description given
of his punishment is scarcely more fit for perusal.
He ,vas taken to the levee, tried, and convicted. The
question then arose \vhat the punishment should be.
Rev. O. C. \Vheeler presented the case to the people
and put the question to vote. SOllie ,vere for hang-
ing and others for Inutilation. At last \vhipping ,vas
decided on, one hundred lashes to be the infliction.
Six respectable citizens ,vere chosen for the execution
of the sentence. Then ,vith sickening detail the
Inatter is discussed and the punishment described in
the account before me, which I \vill gladly spare the
reader.
These examples had a beneficial effect not only on
criminals but on the Sacralnento courts. Justice
there assumed a more determined tone. An evil-doer
could not al,vays buy off or beg off, nor could any
villainous la\vyer for money clear him. There is no
lilnit to the slaughter of innocents if ,ve may believe
the martyrs to nlurder. On the open plain near
Sutter Fort in April of this year three lnen \vere
executed by the sheriff for the killing, near the corner
of B and Tenth streets, of one John Carrol, kno,vn
as Boot-jack. Shrived by the Rev. O. C. Wheeler,
salvation they considered sure; and ,vhile in this
pious state of Inincl they humbly confessed that they
could not tell a lie, that they did not do this lllurder,
but that it ,vas done by a cunning child of perdition,
,vho made his escape; nevertheless they,vere hanged.
The position helJ Ly the Sacramento COllllnittee of
Vigilance during the past t\VO years lllade it incum-
bent on the courts to hang somebody.

STOCKTOX AXD VIGILA..,CE.

449

Stockton in early times stood in the same relation
to tho southern mines that did Sacramento to the
northern. To this point ,,-as shipped n1erchandise for
the districts of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Cala veras,
Tuolull1ne, and
Iariposa, ,vhich ,vas conveyed thence
by teams; and there, as in Sacramento, congregated
gold-hunters and traders on their ,yay to and from

ùuthern parts.
The destruction of the city by fire on the 6th of
:Jlay, 1851, t,YO days after the great San Francisco
fire, stirred the fury in the hearts of the inhabitants.
The firing of Stockton, like the kindling of San Fran-
cisco, ,vas the ,york of incendiaries. There ,vere then
confined in the city prison certain noted characters
\vhose deliverance their associates sought to accon1-
plish, so it ,,-as thought, by these means; but the
,,-ind changing, their plans ,,-ere defeatetl, though at
the expense of the business portion of the to",-n.
The detection of a party of horse-thie\es in the
vicinity of Stockton about the l:::;t of June led to
the disclosure of a brotherhood in criule extending
throughout all that region. This ,vas the band ,,-hich
under Joaquin )Iurieta had just begun its depreda-
tions, and ,,- hich ,,-as soon destined to become the
terror of the country. The first one of them captured
the people prepared to hang, but after undergoing the
preliminary acts of strangulation he "\Tas spared 011
turning informer. Some of the gang were surprised
at a fandango, and after being ,veIl ,vhipped they ,yere
turned over to the authorities. In court ,vhen the
informer ,vas called upon the ,yitness-stand he refused
to testify against his accomplices, ,,-hereupon the
cro\",cl made a rush upon him to complete the un-
finished acts of their tragedy, ,,-hen a conflict ,vith
the authorities ensued, in \yhich pistols ,yere freely
dra,vn, though no damage ,vas done. :\Iean,,-hile a
people's court assembled to try the keeper of the ren-
dezvous, ,,-ho ,,-as convicted, plunged into the river
several times, and after\vard stloipped, ,yhipped seyerely,
POP. TRIll., VOL. 1. 2

4.30

COU
TRY CO::\I
IITTEES OF YIGILA:KCE.

and ordered to leave the to,vn ,vi thin sixteen hours.
At his house 'v ere found all the ilnplelllollts of burglary
and lllurder. These tools \v'ere of the finest description,
such as ,vere used by tho Inost accoillplishecl villains;
the lnen \vere good looking and well dre

ed, and their
assaults, the cold atrocity of their crimes, and their
boldness and skill, luarked thcln as adepts long and
,veIl practised in every species of rascality. Thus the
tinles 'v ere becollling ripe for a more solemn declara-
tion against criu1Ïnals.
N or ,vas the sentiment by any Ineans discouraged
by the ne,vspaper press. Says the Stockton Journal:

"'Vithout war cry, we have an enemy in our midst whose signal is theft!
murder! fire! If an enemy should attack us from without, all would rise
and repel him. The laws are good for' peaceful times, but for such turmoil
as we now endure stringent measures are necessary."

Another writ.es, the 5th of June:

" The recent detection of a band of marauders in Stockton, and the watch-
fulness of the people both there and in this city, gives promise that, with
a united effort in cvery portion of the country infested by these scoundrels,
,,,'e shall soon be rid of their depredations, The systpm of rapine carried OIl
so successfully of late commenced some few months after the first discovery of
the mines; and it has continued ever since in different portions of the
country generally with impunity. In the northern and southern mines
the depredations have consisted in thefts of horses and cattle, In the
lower ranch country, murders, plunders of houses, and robberies of stock
have been from time to time committed; and in the cities the .warfare
has been conducted in the shape of burglary, theft, and assassination.
The papers discovered on the persons of the thieves in Stockton on
:Mollday last, as well as other developments previously made, lead to
the belief that there has existed all along an organized gang of Lrigand::;,
associated in crime, and conducting their Ishmaelitish war upon society ill
general from different points of the country. No doubt exists in the public
mind that this association planned and carried into execution the recent con-
flagrations in this city, Stockton, and Nevada: and the various atrocities
committed last summer and ascribed to the unfortunate )lexicans were unques-
tionahly the work of this band of miscreants. There is also reason to believe
that it is composed of some half-breed Indians, some ff
w l\Iexicalls and Ameri-
cans, and the larger portion of Sydney men. That they are well practised in
all manner of rascality is evident from the instruments they use in their
burglaries and thefts. Their mode of practise is pronounced by police-
o.fficers to be that of perfect adepts in tJle profession. Their assaults and

THE LA 'Y ARO{;SED.

451

murders exhibit likewise a cold atrocity which can only be acquired by years
of crime. It is full time some means were adopted to rid the country of this
organization ,!he commencement should be made in this city, and the means
are very simple. There are three or four gentlemen in this city "ho have a
thorough acquaintance witl1 t!le persons anù haunts of all the notorious
thieves and burglars. A committee of citiLens ;lIouId b
appointc(l, those
acquainted with them should be employed to point out the
" notorious
characters, a vessel should be chartered and victualled, and every man known
to the police to be implicated in crime should he placed on board aud sent out
of the country. Hanging would have an excellent effect ullque
til)nabl), but
hanging one or t" 0 will not rid the community of the remain(ler. Let a
general war be made on thue scoundrels, quietly and ,\ ithont bloodshed let
it be, but with the distinct intimation that should they ever return they
will be summarily dealt with. "
e believe that to send them out of the
country is the only effectual method of getting rid of these pests, and we
tnlst the method will be adopted."

The la"
being thu
pricked, a
"Tell by the y.jgil-
ance association as by the pre::,::" J ame
Wilson, a'irt.f)

Iountain Jilll, one of the party ju
t nlentiolled, "
a

con \
icted of horse-stealing before the Stockton court
of se
'Sions in October and "
a
adj udge( 1 tu die. \\Then
the foren1all of the jury deliyered the verdict, the
prisoner. ,,
ho ,vas lolling back in his chair looking
up abstractedly at the ceiling, quietly remarked, " I
expected a'-' much, by God!"

.L
t a meeting held in Stockton OIl the 13th of
June, 1851, OIle hundred and seyenty of those then
present enrolled themselves as a Citizen Police, ,,
hich
,va;:; preliminary to the organization of a cOllllnittee
of vigilanee. au this ucca
ion the to\Yll \Ya
divided,
and resident \vatchmen appointed for each district.
The lllunicipal council ,,-as then petitione<} to clothe
the a
sociation ,,-ith authority, ,,
hich being refused,
the people determined to act ,vithout authority.
Dr
IcLean, a member of the Stockton \Tigilance
COlnmittee, in July arrested a
Ie
ican for
tealing a
horse, and carried the offender beforu the cxecutiye
c01l1mittee. The officers uf the la"
, who
e \vits ,,-ere

olne'\That sharper than those of their San Franci
co
brethren, hearing of it, arrested )IcLean on a charge

4 _0)
J..

COUNTRY CO
I
iITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

of resisting the police. J\fcLean's resistance was in
refusing to give to the la\v a criminal he had caught
at his o,vn cost. He was forced to give bail for his
appearance at court in the sum of $3000, \vhich he
did cheerfully and ,vent his ,yay.
A package of papers in the pocket of the editor of
the Stockton Journal prevented the ball fired frolll the
pistol of Mr Gaugh, district attorney of San Joaquin,
Irom entering his heart. This ,vas in October, 1851.
There ,vas quite a chivalrous element in Stockton in
those days, at the head of which ,vas he \vho was
after\vard Judge Terry, of bloody men1ory. Mark
once more, the very men \vho most easily and natu-
rally broke the la\v when it stood in the \vay of their
bad passions \vere the first to denounce those \vho
broke the la\v \vhen it stood in the ,yay of principle
and COilllllon ,veal. I do not say that one should
never lift his hand to right a wrong or avenge an in-
sult; that is not the question. I only wonder that
those ,vho do this should talk so lnuch about our iU1-
lnaculate institutions, our sacred statutes, and our
holy la\vs.

rhe San Joaquin Rep
tblican, the first newspaper
published in Stockton, ,vas started by George Kerr
in 1850. Successors to Mr Kerr were Joseph Mans-
field and H. C. Patrick. Another of the earliest
Stockton papers was the Journal, at one titHe edited
by John S. Robb and at another time by John Tabor.
Journalists in those days, like the politicians, ,vere
pugilistic in their tendencies. Positive, plain-speak-
ing lnen, they often gave offence to those ,vhose con-
duct ,vas condemnable, \vhich ,vas too frequently the
case among those "Tho n1anipulated the elections or
,vho had the handling of public funds. Editors \vho
opposed each other in politics or public Ineasures like-
\vise collided.
Tho contest for governor in 1853 ,vas heated, and
brought out the '1'hole strength of the contending

.

IARYSVILLE CO)I)IITTEE.

453

candidates, John Bigler and 'Villiam "\Valdo. The
Republican and the Journal ,,"'armed into personalities,
until
Iansfield met Tabor one day and told him that
to assail his private character would not do. Besides
politics, there was trouble between these t,vo journals
as to certain spoils. To secure the public printing at
a large price, it had been agreed that the RelJublican
should put in t,vo bids, taking care that both should
be large enough, and that the plunder obtained in
consequence of the absence of fair competition should
be divided between them. All ,,?ent well until the
Republican refused to share the spoils with the Journal.
N ext day after the meeting above mentioned, ,,-bicll
was the
2d of June, 1854, the editors again encoun-
tered each other, when Tabor 'tvithout a ,vord of
,yarning drew a pistol and shot
Iansfield dead. :\Ians-
field ,yas a fat, good natured man, ,yith scarcely an
enelny in the ,yorId, and the killing of him was
deliberate murder. And so the jury regarded it, for
they found against Tabor, and he ,vas sentenced to be
hanged. But meanwhile John Bigler was elected
. governor-and should he see a man strangled for zeal
in his cause 1 By no means. Tabor was pardoned.
And the pardon ,vas in this ,vise: Forty thousand
nalnes asking clemency were attached to a petition;
but before it ,vent up to the governor the heading
,,"'as changed from mitigation to full pardon. Vigilance
slumbered.

:\farys,
ille stands near the junction of the Yuba
and Feather rivers, and ,vas once the head of river
navigation in this direction, and the distributing point
for the counties of Sutter, Yuba, Nevada, Sierra, and
Butte.
In cases of exile the interior comn1ittees, ,vho as a
luatter of course were unable to ship their criminals
to foreign parts, did the best they could. If cases
,vere chronic, and of a general character, they handed
them over, ,vith the evidence, to the San Francisco

434 CO
TRY CO
IMITTEES OF VIGILAXCE,

Conul1ittce. If local, or of a Inilder forn1 of the

courge, the vagabonds ,vere driven a,yay to prey on
others.
All along through the sunl1ner and autumn of 1851
the COl1llnittce of \Tigilance ,vhich had been organized
in l\Iarysville did good service, and were largely iu-
strlunental in rendering the upper country inhabitable.
In October the association resolved that a cOlnlnittee
of ten be appointed a
a standing COIl1111ittee, ,vho
Hhould have po,ver to call a nleeting at any tilHe, and
do and perforin such dutie8 as nlight be thought
necessary for the ,velfare" of the cOilllllunity. They
Hhould like,vise have power to adopt any rules ,vhich
tended to pron10te the efficiency of the general body,
and to fill any vacancies that might occur anlong their
o,vn nunlber. F. W. Schaeffer, J. L. l\IcDuffie, R.
A. Eddy, W. W. Slnith, H. Beach, L. Steinhart,
Charles Gleason, John G. Snlith, Charles Ball, and
E. Woodruff ,vere appuinted such conlnÜttee.

Early in Nuvenlber ,vord ,vas brought to Honcut
by t,yO travellers that four l\fexicans had been lnet
on the road a fe,v lllÍles fronl Natchez, one of 'v hOlll
was dragging a TIlan ,vith a lariat, ,vhonl they probably
intended to Inurder. 1'hey 'v ere po,verless to inter-
fere, as they ""vere not sufficiently arnled to resist the
:\Iexicans; ,vhen they reached Natchez they gave the
Han1e account to the authoritie
there. Parties froin
I-Ioncut and Natchez started at once to lllake investi-
gation. The Honcut party, after a little search,
found thc body of a lllan, ,yhich ,vas recognized as
George ::\Iather, frOlll B08ton or vicinity, ,vho had
becn engaged in transporting goods to the 111ines.
rrhis account they brought back to Natchez. The
others Hoon returned, having Inade a still 11101'0 shock-
j ng (liscovery, as they had found the bodies of t,vu
l11cn, Gardner and Jinkerson, ,vho had left II uncut
rancho 011 foot that 1110rlling for Natchez. They
probably hatl cndeavored to rc
cue l\Iathel' fronl the

.JO
\QLIX :\fCRIETA.

43.3

Iuxican
, and had lo
t their livés in the atten1pt.
'"'"{hen \yagon:-; ,yere sent uut for the Lodies it \Ya

found that they \vere lying but a hundred yard
apart.
Jinkerson had received seventeen stabs, ahnost any
of \vhich \vould have proved fatal; Gardner and
)Iather had their throat8 cut, and all of thenl had
Inarks of a lariat upon their necks, havin o ' been
.0
dragged out of the road by that Ineans. The pockets
of all three of the young Inen \\?ere rifled. There had
been seyenteen lllurder
eOllllllitted \\?ithin a fe\y day
,
aUlollg other
, several at Bid\vell Bar, ten or fifteen
miles up the river, and the people \yere intent upon
discoyerillg tho authors of these crimes and bringing
thelll to justice.
In the suburbs of 1IarYHville, at \vhat ,vas called
the Sunorian Calnp, \vas a band of )Iexicans, \y ho ,vere
strongly suspected as the guilty party. .L\... :Jlexican
thief, captured by the \Tigilallce COlnnlittee a fe\v
lla'y
before, håd confe

ed to the fact that the 80no-
rian Camp ,vas the retreat of 111ân'y ,veIl knO\Yll mur-
derers and robbers. On the night of the 12th R. B.
Buchanan,
hel'iff of Yuba county, accon1pallied bJ

a lJ{JðSC, proceeded to the can1p to lllake an arrest.
Hitching their horses a half nlile distant, they ad-
yallced cautiousl,-
the brio'ht 1110011lio'ht renderin o '
J' 0 0 0
their po
ition all the lllore dangerou
. Pre
ently a
large dog callie out at thenl, and though quickly

tabbed, it
bark had alarlllcd the canlp. .L\.S the
sheriff's party dre"
nearer they sa,,? standing by the
fire a :\Iexicall, richly attired and arn1ed to the teeth,
peering at then1 through the chaparral. It ,yas after-
\yard ascertained. that thi:::; Inall ,yaH no other than
the redoubtable Joaquin :Jlurieta, here encanlped \yith
hi::; banel.
Being thuH discoyered, the sheriff endcayorecl t:)
retreat; he ,vas fired upon by the roLbers, and re-
turned the fire. For a
hort tinle there \yas lJ.uite a
brisk c..:nga6'enlellt. The sheriff then fell back, but
\yhile cliInbing a fence ,va::; shot by )Iuric..:ta and

4.3G COUNTRY CO:MJ\IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

severely wounded. The city, already aroused, sent
out a large force against the robbers. The camp was
deserted, the l\fexicans having secreted themselves ill
the chaparral near by. The place ,vas surrounded,
but in the darkness nothing could be done. T,vo
shots ,vere fired by the Mexicans fron1 their hiding-
place, ,vhen the pursuers retired, leaving a guard for
the night. N ext day a merchant distributed arms to
t,venty-five more men, who ,vent to the chaparral,
,vhen it ,vas found that the night guard had deserted
their post, and the
Iexicans had escaped. There
,vas plainly apparent a lack of something, and the
Marysville Vigilance Committee at once reörganized.
About the same time a vigilance committee ,vas
ill session at Natchez for the purpose of ferreting the
Inurderers of John B. Gardner, C. Jinkerson, and
George Mather, such being the names of the 111en
killed the 11th of November. Eight hundred dollars
re,vard ,vas offered by the citizens for their capture.
The committee arrested several suspicious characters,
but accomplished little directly.
The san1e vleek six n1en ,vere murdered near Grass
Valley. A vigilance committee ,vas at once organ-
ized, arn1ed, and mounted, ,vith E. B. Lundy as leader.
An organization Qf the same kind was also formed in
Ophir. II
In July, 1852, three several attempts ,vere made to
fire the city of Marysville, in consequence of ,vhich
the Vigilance ComnlÍttee assenlbled and instituted
such diligent search for the felons that for a tilne
quiet reigned. This organization and its successors
continued for many years, for as late as 1858 we find
that through the influence or agency of the Marys-
yille Con1mittee of Vigilance, on the 8th of January
the captain of the police, by order of the city marshal,
\vas enabled to escort to the stean1boat landing five
desperadoes, SOllle of them notorious, others strongly
suspected of crime. Tho captives ,vere then com-
pelled to pay their fare and depart down the river.

)Lill )ILLE C-L
OX.

4,),;

T,,
ent:r lashes were given one }Iercer by the Shasta
"\ igilance Committee the 19th of September, 1851,
which work "Was the result of an investigation made
by them in the matter of a theft committed at the
St Charles Hotel the night before. It appears that
Pat Sullivan had given his purse to )Iercer to "
eigh
from it an ounce of gold dust.
Iercer stepped to the
counter for this purpose, and when he returned to
where Sullivan was sitting, as he appeared in no
haste to give back the purse, Sullivan demanded it of
him. }Iercer gave it him, but it "as lighter by more
than an ounce than before. Said Sullivan: "lou
have taken my monej." :\Iercer was searched, and
six ounces in loose gold dust found in his pocket.
Thereupon the ,-rigilance Committee whipped him;
for of such were their chastisements.
There "
as a place called )lad }Iule Cañon, in the
Shasta district, which name ,,"'as a libel on the
pecies
Clsinus beside the doings of men in that locality. Ono
day a man, made insane by his thirst for gold, mur-
dered his keeper and took from his belt a thousand
. dollar
in gold dust. He then attacked another and
cut him fearfully before he could be secured. To the
credit of the miners be it said that to comrades so
affiicted-and the cases "ere numerous-they mani-
fested the utmost leniency, and treated them "ith
every kindne
s, "Watching them with patient self-denial
night and day lest they should injure themselves or
others. The offenders met their just fate. But "Why
name a cañon from a mad mule when there were so
many mad men about?
A )Iissourian named Holt, having made a little
fortune in the mines at Weaverville, ,vas about ready
to start for home. "\Vhile making the necessary prepa-
rations he "Was murdered a short distance from tow'n.
Suspicion fell upon a man named )Iichael Grant, \\
ho
'\
as arrested by the sheriff: The Ininers seized the
pri
oner, and appointed froln their numbers those to
act a
judge, prosecuting attorney, and prisoner'::;

4:>8 COUNTRY CO:\l
IITTEES OF VIGILAXCE.

counsel. The trial \vas fairly conducted, respon::;iLle
,vitnesses exalnined, and Grant ,vas :::;elltenccd to be
hanged. .L
t his earnest requcst ten days 'v ere a1-
lo\yeù him to arrange his business, and to prepare for
ùeath; he protested his innocence, and said that they
\vould yet discover the guilty pef
oll. He received
the' nlinistrations of a Catholic clergynlan, 'v ho ,vas
\vith hilll at the time of his death, October 5, 1852,
,vhen he ,vas executed in the presence of a large con-
course of people at Weaverville.

The Chico Courant thus prays for a vigilanc
conl-
11littee in September, 1866:
"Robberies anù murders are getting to be every-day occurrences in this
state-altogether too frequent for the good health of the community. The
fact is, as much as we are inclillerl to 'law and ordpr,' we have about arri,"ed
at the conclusion that' law and order' is too slow a coach for these rascals.
vVe recommend that the people of the state form themselves into a huge
\igilance committee anù take the matter of wiping out these villains into their
own hands. Wholesome killing on a general plan is what is needed."

In 1853 thore \vas in Eureka a s111a11 unpainted
house, occupied by a J e\v as a clothing and shoe store.
The J e"
,vas a large n1an of forty, ,vho liyed \vith a
nephe\y of seyenteen, his only cOlllpanion. Aftar
severa.l years of successful business the J e,v sold
everything and prepared to ren10ye frolll the pla.ce.
Re \vas kno\vn as indefatigable in business and
close in his expenditures, and it \vas generally con-
ceded that he Inust have realized considerable 111oney.
This probability tenlpterl three burglars, l\icDonald,
Ca
osky, and another, to enter his store thç night
preyious to his intended departure, lllurder the J ev\'"
and his nephc\v, and secure the n101ley. Au hour or
t\VO later a young l11an in Duff and COlllpany's n1Ïll,
going through the hall 011 the ,yay to his rOOln,

tumbled over \vhat at first he supposed a bag of

hot, hut 011 exalnination proyed to Le gold. There
\vas a light in the next roon1,
IcDollald's, and he
hurriedly entered to sho\v his - treasure alldvask 1\le-

THE XORTHERX SEABOARD.

4.;!)

Donald ,,:-hat he suppo
ed it llleant. )IcDonald re-
plied, ,,"T e\-..e robbed the old Jew, and I must haYÐ
tlropp.ed one of his bags in the hall; giye it to Inc.)J
This led to further que-stioning and a di,
ulgencc of
the truth, that the J e"
had not only been robbed but
ki!led. 1IcDonald then acted like a 111an bereft of hi

sellse
. He eagerly told the
tory ho" Cano
ky, hiul-
belf, and another acco1l1plice entercll the store at n1Í<l-
night. The J c\y ;;at at a table \yriting, \vith hi
Lack
to them, and the llcphe,\ \\
as sleeping in another
roon1. "Tith a hatchet both the IHan anù the boy
,yere killed; then taking their gold a f li
tribution \\
as
lllade) and each man returned to his 0\"11 home ,,-ith
his treasure. The story
lcDonald told ,,-as repeatc(l
to the authoritie::;, and t,vo of the murderer
arrested;
and a
there \va
no jail in Eureka at thi;:; time they
"ere placed in a \\Tooùen building under guard.
There ,,-ab no yiolent den10nstration by the people,
Lut they acted according to their custonl in
uch ease
o\.
They l11Ct anù deliberated. The third yillain ,Ya
still
ê.
t large, and their first effort IllU'5t be to find hilll.

\.ecordingly they invited e\eryLotly fron1 all the
neighboring country to meet ,,
ith then1 at a (lc...ig-
nated tÎlne. Then they adopted thi
11o,el expedient:
They placed the 111urderer
in a po::;ition \vhere the
cro\yd should pas
t.hell1 singly, and if the)

aw their
accolllplice they should indicate \yhich he \,as. )Ian}-
au innocent person paled a
he passed under their
cru-
tiny, for
hould he be pointed out, to gratify a desire
for rcYenge or frolll any uther moti ,-e, he was a doomed
luaH. Their confederate, ho\yeyer, ,yas not aUlong the
llUll1ber, or at all events ,vas not dèsignated by the
pri
oner
, nor "
as he e'
er founel. IU11nediatelyafter.
\val'll )IcDunald and Canosk.r \\yere taken to a tal
pine tree, \\
here a cro,,-d gathereJ and "itne
se(l theiJ
execution. And the 'YaYe
still :jound their requien
on thl' beach \vhl're they "yere Luried.
Earl \T in July 1851, a ,i o-ilal1ce eonlnlÎttee \\-a-
.J '-' , ð
forillcd at X l'yada City, California. The attelupte<':

.

4GO

COUNTRY COl\I
11TTEES OF VIGILA..
CE.

robbery of F. A. Houghton ,vhile on the way froill
Grass Valley to Buena Vista Ran
h, together ,vith
other obnoxious doings, stin1ulated the act.ion of the
people. N 0 part of the country ,vas then safe apart
frorn popular measures offensive to crÏ1ne.
To sho,v the aim of the San Francisco Committee
in its intercourse with the interior, and the influence
,vhich must necessarily have followed from it, I give
the follo\ving letter:

"SAN FRANCISCO, July 28, 185l.
"To the Oommzttee of Vigilance, Nevada Oity:
"GENTLEMEN :-In the name of the executive committee of the Commit-
tee of Vigilance of San Francisco, and at the request of your friends, I en-
close you a copy of our constitution. So far we have acted under it with
success in punishing crime and bringing those in authority to a sense of their
duty. Our great aim, gentlemen, is to remove corruption from high places,
to advance the safety and interest of our adopted state, to establish justice
and virtue, without which our fall and ruin would be certain. To secure in
the future the great objects we have in view it would be well to look into the
character and principles of those whom we would elevate to office, to drag
out into light those who may be in office and guilty of corruption, who by
their acts have produced so much evil. It is an old and popular doctrine, that
it may be necessary to sacrifice the government to the people, but never the
people to the government. That your course may be marked with prudence
and justice, may God grant. Do not permit vindictiveness to enter into your
deliberations. Be calm and determined; swerve not to the right nor to the
left, but go onward in your pursuit of right. Be of one mind, and carry your
point. The might, majesty, and power of the people can overcome all im-
l)ending evils; like the thuD-del's of heaven it will shake to naught all cor-
ruptive influences, and drive its authors into oblivion. Let the motto of our
fathers be ours to sustain and perpetuate-Virtue, Liberty. Let us show
ourselves worthy of our origin, determined to sustain and support the blessed
privileges bequeathed by them to us. The Inoment we render up one tittle of
the sacred constitution uI1der which we were born, and which cost so much to
obtain, and permit a small and corrupt minority to prescribe, we lose our
caste, and our boasted institution will become the laughing-stock of the
world, I have much confidence in the virtue and integrity of our brothers
of the interior, that they will do what is right, and that in time. The blessed
influences once enjoyed by them and us at our Atlantic homes may be felt
and enjoyed throughout our Pacific homes, humbly trusting that the day is
not far distant when we may pass from the north to the south, from the east
to the west of our western possessions without fear or danger, and behold in
every man a brother. Carry with us, brethren, the holy objects we have in
view, and rest asslJXed that erelong the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and
the valleys will
come redolent with charms which will so much endear

P
.\. YRAK SOARS ALOFT.

4ôl

them to us that we will not separate or leave them until we shall be called to
mingle our clay with that of our loved and adopted country.
"'Vith deep consideration of respect and esteem, gentlemen, in the name
of my colleagues I subscribe myself,
"Your obedient servant,

"S. J. PAYRAK,
"p'J'esident Executive Committee."

Near Grass Valley in 1\Iay, 1857, on a hill ,vhose
side to,vard the setting sun ,vas sprinkled ,vith log
cabins and shingle shanties, in a pine forest where the
stumps of felled trees marked the progress of civiliza-
tion, a band of rough, bushy-headed men, in felt hats,
flannel shirts, and long boots, ,yere gathered in council.
After appointing by acclamation one to preside, a
speaker mounted a stump to explain the object of the
llleeting: "Certain n1en charged ,vi th having stolen
a bag of gold dust from a store in their to,vn are no"r
in the custody of the sheriff and are about to be COID-
Initted to the :\Iarysville prison for trial." A derisi \
e
laugh by the listeners, subsiding into a gro,vl, follo".ed
this ren1ar k. "Shall men suspected of crime be per-
mitted to slip from our fingers and gain their liberty
through process of la,v1" Those present manifested
their dissent. "Then let a committee be appointed to
lllove in the matter; let one of their nUlllber act as
sheriff, ,vho ,vith a chosen lJosse shall bring these
prisoners before us."
This ,yas done. The committee was appointed by
the president, "rho on these occasions can carry the
company about "There he chooses; a massiye, SYlll-
metrical figure, with broad bro,y and intelligent eye,
a splendid specin1en of a nlan-an An1erican 111iner,
fit for an American senator-stepped forth in ans,yer
to his nan1e and ilnn1ediately started on his Inissioll.
The people's sheriff confronts the la\y's sheriff and
demands the n1en. The la\v's sheriff resists as in
duty bound; indeed he 111ildly blusters, "Thereat the
people's sheriff slniles and likes hin1 none the lcss for
that. 'Vith the prisoners the people's sheriff reports

16
COUKTRY CO
I
lITTEES OF VIGILAXCE.

that the authorities opposing hÏ111 \yere finally uver-
conle by superior nU111bers; and all present in,vardly
declare the authorities good fello,v
, 'v ho kno,v so \veÌl
ho,y gently to oppose the people's ,viII, and then and
there resolye that they shall be reëlected.
A space is no,v cleared and the pri80uers are
eated
on the ground in the ring thUR lnade, \vith their cap-
tors still standing over thenl. A court is forlned, the
president of the nleeting acting as chief judge, and
the con1111ittee before Inent,ioned as a jury. Counsel
are nonlinated for either Ride, ,vho are paid by volun-
tary contributions one hundred dollars each for their
services. There arc prescnt officers of the la,y, ,vho
enter their prote
t, ,vhich is as idle ,vincI, and seat
thell1selves and socially enjoy the occa
ion as unin-
terested spcctators. Au old luan rises, al}(l ,vith gray
head uncovcred plainly tells the people they are doing
,vrong. The speaker is listened t,) respcctfully, ahnost
reverently, and then the ,york goes 011.
Witnesses for and against the prisoners are brought
for\vard. The trial lasts t,vo days; the prisoners are
found guilty. Then one of thCIIl rises frolll the
ground and confesses the criuIP. Having lost his last
clonal' at the Inonte tablc, he says, he drank to dro\Jvn
thought; and ,yhilc intoxicated that nUln-pointiug
to one of his fello,vs stilllyillg on the ground-tenlpted
hinl to rob thc trader's box. This the other stoutly
denies; but ,vhell the sentence is fixed at thirt,y-niut'
lashes he offers to discover to thenl the llloney if they
\vill relnit the sentence. Part of the punishment the
jury \,"rill reinit on the conditions nalneJ., but not the
\y hole of it; and 80 a cOn1pr0111ise is effected.
I t rains next nlornillg, and the \vind hlo,vs cold tOI"
}-\pring; yet the people's burly big-brained sheriff leads
out the prisoners, strips then1 to the \vaist, ties then1
to a tree, scourges theIn, then ca8ts the-In loose.
l?ainting they fall to the ground, curled Ly the \vhip-
ping, sick, and Inoanillg. They ,vere tender thicyes,
or else the hlo'v
,yere exceptionally heavy. ()ne,

TRCCKEE A..\D YICIXITY.

4G3

". ho had neglected to negotiate a n1Îtigation of his
penalty, dies. The others cra,vl a,vay, no one kno,ys
",. hither.

In every Californian to,vn not having died a natural
death there are al,yays a score or t,yO of stirring
business Inen of llloral ,yorth and substance. These
are the nuclei of country comillittees of vigilance.
These 1e
t men arè usually supported by a le

influ-
ential class, but five or ten of the kind first mentioned
are the life of every moveUlent.
Truckee in 18 ï 3 ,vas one of the livcliest to".ns in
California. The ne". overland rail,vay brought to it
money, merchandise, and actiyity; Lut it also brought
the bad element COllilllon to nc,v prosperous localities.
The good men ,vere thinking seriously of ban<ling to
drive out the bad ,vhen a strange incident occurred
,yhich relieved the to,vn on the instant of ty
."O of its
,,'orst characters. Jack "Thite and .L\.l1dy Fudgett
had quarrelled. :\Ieeting one. day upon the street
each emptied the chamber
of his navy revolver into
the Lody of the other. Both died.
This spontaneous combustion of crime ,vas a happy
circumstance and a ,yholesome ,,"arning. For a tinle
peace reigned at Truckee. But by N oyelnber, 1874,
yillaillY becallle unbearable, and the substantial citi-
zens felt obliged to resol ye themselve::; into a Com-
n1Ïttee of '-'-igilance. This they did, ,yith '601' as
their sanguinary symbol. Orders to leave \vere is::;ued
and for the lllOst part obeyed. T",.o, ho,yever, a Iuan
and a 'VOlllan, Bob
Iellon and Carrie Prior, alias
Spring Chicken, refused to quit the to".n. )Iellon
useù to boast of haying fought a duel in San Fran-
cisco ,vith bo,yie-kniyes, Spanish fashion, the left arnlS
of the c01l1batants being bound togethel"'. The fair
Carrie's hand \ya:-; not unstained ,yith hlUllan blood,
and many men had been foolish enough to cut and
shoot each other for her vi} e sake. Bo 1) and Carl.ie
111U::,t be l:ladc t . , u; so c: c lL
j -. ol'dcI'
\\Tere issued
...."'1

4G4 COUNTRY CO
i
IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

for the vigilants to llleet at n1idnight. Forelllost
in energy and respectability among the citizens of
Truckee ,vas D. B. Frink, a prominent lllelnber of the
COIlllllittee. vVriting C. F. McGlashen on that day
he says: "The vigilants have business on their
hands to-night. If resistance is offered, blood 111ay be
shed." It ,vas understood that the ,york in hand ,vas
serIOUS.
l\fasked in black cloth, covering head, shoulders,
and breast, ,vith coats turned inside out, the small
lllen padded to look large, and the large men, con-
tracting their breath and stature so as to appear
din1inutive, the society of 601 111et in the principal
hall. They ,vere \vell arn1ed ,vith concealed knives,
pistols, and quiet deternlination. Carrie felt the
approaching affray instinctively. She said they lllight
con1e on, that in Hay\vard's house, a place of bad
repute situated on a back street, ,vould be forty arn1ed
men to protect her. Mellon s,vore he would not be
tal
cn alive, and that he could kill at least a dozen
vigilants before they could kill hiln.
'Vhen all ,vas ready, silently the lllasked men left
the hall, passed through a saloon, and surrounded
Hay\vard's house. Four took their station at the
back door. Thirty entered the front door, and de-
n1andcd of Hayward the surrender of the house. No
opposition ,vas made. T,vo or three drunken strag-
glers found in the bar-roo111 ,vere permitted to go
their ,,
indil1g ,yay. Hay,vard ,vas then ordered to
open the door to every rOOlll. Closely at his heels
follo,ved the lllasked party. After exan1ining the first
floor they all proceeded through a narro,v hall to the
stair,vay, Hay"\vard being in front carrying a light.
The threats of Carrie and l\Iellon had led the party
to expect a certain attack, and their nerves \vere no"\v
stretched to their utlllOst tension.
Suddenly through a broken panel of the back door,
'v hich opened into the hall, a pistol ,yas thrust,
whose glittering barrel covered the "\vhole line of

)IOKELL
IXE HILL.

4:C.3

vigilants. It "
as black darkness ,vithout, and as the
vigilants ,vere momentarily expecting attack there
"as no time to be lost; so that almost simultaneously
with the appearance of the pistol-barrel shots "
el:e
fired from behind. Hay,,-ard and one of the men at
the back door fell dead. The search ,vas continued;
the town was cleared of its bad characters; but the
result of the night's work sent a thrill of horror
through the community, never to be forgotten, ,,,hen
it ,vas learned next morning that it ,vas the honored
and beloved Frink who was thus unintentionally killed
by one of hi'3 o\vn comrades.

.At )Iokelumne Hill ,vhen on the night of July 3,
1851, John
elson entered the house of one Hall and
shot him. The principle of vigilance \vas there, the
la,,," as
isting, though the miners faintly comprehended
the meaning of the term or its true significance.
However, all believing it desirable and right, the
legal judge and the miners en masse constituted the
court, and at the close of the trial the judge did not
scruple to ask of the cro"Td its yerdict. About that
time a case occurred at Y reka where a mob of miners.
attempted to take a sheriff's deputy from the jail.
The citizens arose, armed themselves, and entered and
defended the prison.
On the streets of )Iokelumne Hill a fatal assault
\\as made the following Christmas. .L\.. man namecl
James Campbell mounted a mule belonging to 3-
Chilean, and was riding off, \vhen a friend of its
owner, one
aides, stopped him and remonstratecl
in a quiet \vay, receiving in answer a blow from
the bully, quickly followed by a knife-thrust in the
Chilean's side, ,vhich caused immediate death, but
not, however, until he had thro,vn his knife at Camp-
bell, which, passing through the air a distance of ten
yards, stuck in the wall of the Empire House. Canlp-
bell took refuge in a miner's cabin, but ,vas pursued
by Chileans, who fired
eYeral shots, ,younding a
POP. TBIB., VOL. I. 30

4GG COUNTRY CO
IMITTEES OF YIGILANCE.

nU1l1Ler of by -
tanders. The cro,vd arrested Camp-
boll, gave him a hurried trial, and pronounced him
guilty of lllurder; but by a vote of the cro\vd he ,vas
to be delivered to the civil authorities. As the guard
,vas about to ren10ve hilll to the custody of the offi-
cers, another Illotion ,vas made, this tiln
to liberate
hin1, and he ,vas released. He ,vas after,vard arrested
by the authorities, but escaped, ,vhen the people in
their indignation formed a vigilance committee, de-
termined to see justice done.
This COffin1ittee on the 30th of 1\farch, 1852, caught
a ßfexican cutting open tents and stealing gold dust,
and thus argued: If handed over to the authorities
he lllight, perhaps, be con1n1itted to the Jackson jail,
,vhere if he rernained t\venty-four hours it ,vould be
because he liked the accommodations and had no fear
of being convicted; if \vhipped and turned loose, it
,vas kno\vn froln his previous bad character and vicious
propensities that he ,vould again resort to the saIne
course; it was known that he had served several
1110nths in the chain-gang at San Francisco; if hanged,
there would be one thief the less, and an a,vful ,varn-
ing thus given to others guilty of like offences. So
sentence of death ,vas passed upon the man. Carlos
Eslaves, for such ,vas his nanle, received information
of these proceedings with the utmost indifference.
I
eing told that his execution ,vould not take place
until the follo,ving day, he requested a good bed,son1e
,good brandy, a good breakfast, and a priest, all of
,vhich ,vere given hin1. The hour arrived, he lit a
.cigar, 111arched quietly to the place of execution, coolly
talked ,vith the people, confessed his crilnes, and was
launched into eternity. Within a n10nth thereafter
a murderer ,vas executed by the san1e Con1mittee.
A lnan arrested for murder in June, 1852, ,vas ex-
:.unined by the justice at Jackson and cOlnlnitted for
trial at the next term of the district court. The
Vigilance Committee had offered 8300 for his ap-
J)rehension, and having secured his arrest they were

)IARIPOSA AXD SOXORA.

467

"yilling the la" should take its course, Inean,vhile
keeping a sharp eye upon it that it should not be
subverted. This did not satisfy certain of the people,
who took the prisoner from jail and hanged him.
This is a fair illustration of the difference bet,yeen
a vigilance committee and a mob. Here in this
to\vn of Jackson \yere three several antagonistic
po,vers laboring to secure the same end-a regularly
constituted court of justice, a regularly organized
committee of vigilance, and a passionate, reyengeful,
irresponsible mob. The Vigilance Committee of
)fokelumne Hill, after having from an imperative
sense of duty executed one criminal, and seeing the
officers of the la'\\" sternly determined to do their duty,
reörganized for the sole purpose of assisting legally
constituted tribunals in the administration of justice.

Å vigilance committee YtTUS formed at :i\Iariposa
after the funeral of an old lilall had taken place "\vhose
violent death in l\farch, 185-1, had been caused by
Thomas Co"an, a gambler. The Committee ,vas com-
posed of fifty of the most respected citizens, 'v ho de-
termined that the prisoner should have justice ShO'VIl
him. ...:\.. mob collected and protested that they ,youlcl
break the jail and hang Co,yan; but the Vigilance
Committee ren10nstrated and promised that the right
should be maintained. A special grand jur.r found a
true bill against Co,vun, and the Committee remained
in session until the close of the trial.

The Sonora Vigilance Committee "as composed of
as good a set of fellows as e,er strangled horse-thief.
They ,vere diligent in search and terrible in sentences,
though some,,,,hat mild in their executions. Drink, it
is said, brings to the surface the natural qualities of
the man. I t intensifies momentary feeling like,vise.
The mild it mello,vs and the vindictive it makes makes
more hateful. ..Lt\..s fe,," country cOlllmÌttees of yigil-
ance long managed their business" ith parched throat
,

4G8 COUNTRY COMl\lITTEES OF VIGILA...
CE.

,ve may infer that the bark of the Sonora Committee
,vas sometimes "\vorse than its bite.
Of its Vigilance Committee the Sonora Herald of
July, 1851, thus speaks:

"Investigations of the most important character have been made, and
could we tell the good people of this community all that we have learned
they would approve even more heartily than now of the organization. It is
just what the necessities of the case require. Rascals having been driven hy
scores out of San Francisco, have taken refuge here in the mountains, and
were there no vigilance committees to telegraph to each other and describe
the outlaws they would commit a thousand depredations before our regular
citizens would know anything about their character. They are now, however,
under the special observation of an argus-eyed police, so numerous and so
admirably organized that more criminals can be detected in a week than by
the ordinary officers of the law in a month. It is gratifying to know that the
whole community have the fullest confidence in this Committee. Indeed we
know not how it could be otherwise. Composed as it is of the most orderly,
moral, anù intelligent citizens in the place, not a few in number, but nearly
the entire body, men against whom no one has ever dared to whisper a re-
proach, who have been marked by deeds of charity and mercy, and not by
Lloody acts of so-called heroism, everyone feels and knows that such a body
of men will do only what is right. They are cool anù determined, and united
as one man. The good of society and the paramount law of self-preservation
h.ave determined the path of duty, and they are men who never flinch where
duty calls them to act."

So busy ,vere the Sonora Vigilance Comlnittee fOi'
a season that their ,vhipped and banished averaged
one a day. Thoy had a brand Inade by a blacksmith,
H. T., ,vhich they burned into the flesh of the hip or
cheek, .according to the heinousness of the offence.
Beside branding, the Sonora COIDlnittee seemed to
possess a fancy for shaving heads or half heads. They
had a bad elelnent to deal ,vith. On the 15th of
,J uly a Mexican \vas tried before them for stealing
a horse. Most committees would have hanged him
instantly. The man ,vas large, muscular, and capable
of lTIuch endurance; an ordinary \vhipping would be
no Inore to him than the s,vitching of a big boy by
the school-mistress. The Committee thought it no
more than right for them to give according to the
prisoner's ability to receive. A hundred and fifty

SEVERITY MJ) )IODERATIOX.

469

lashes and H. T. to be branded on the cheek ,vas the
yerdict. The sentence, though they thought it severe,
seemed necessary. At all events they 111ight so far
fayor the culprit as to administer it in homæopathic
doses. So at the expiration of every t\vcnty-fiye
blo,vs they permitted the recipient to rest; and finally,
on his promising to quit the country, they remitted
the branding. At another time, after administering
one hundred and fifty lashes each to three horse-
thieves and then sha"\
ing their heads, they collected
a purse for them, that they' lllight be delivered from
temptation.
On the 16th of September the Committee tried
and convicted a Sydney convict for horse-stealing.
The condernnecl ,va'3 sentenced to receive on the
bare back one hundred lashes and to have one half
of the head shaved. The tender-hearted n1iners,
ho,vever, paused at the seventy-fifth blo,v and let
the sufferer loose. Shortly before the COffill1ittee in-
flicted s8yenty-five lashes and shaved the head of a

exican for stealing a six-shooter.
The Sonora Herald about this time, speaking
of the arrests by this tribunal and the punishment of
lashing, says:

"'Ve believe these are the :first cases before the Committee for a long
time; not that the diminution of crime is so great but that the courts
under the new criminal organization are fast superseding the 'Want of a
yigilance association. Rogues are now brought up and meet with spe\
dy
trials; justice is no longer tardy in its operations. 'Ve hope, now that this
desirable change in the administration of law has been brought about, that
the Committee will act as an adjunct to the authorities in the detection of
crime, and hand over all cases to the courts for punishment. "

At Tim's Garden, one mile from Col
mbia, in
October, an honest old miner nalned Cro,vning ,yaq
robbed of hard-earned gold dust to the amount
of $600. He had left it in the pocket of a coat
,vhich he had thro,vn do,vn beside his claim "\vhen he
,vent to ,york in the morning, and at noon on look-
ing for his coat it ,vas Inissing. Suspicion fell on one

470 COUXTRY CO:\I
IITTEES OF VIGILA...
CE.

,V. E. Conkling, ,vho had been seen hovering about
the spot during the forenoon. Search ,vas Inade, and
the man found at a lTIOnte table ,vith SOlne of the
dust still in his possession. He ,vas only speculating
,vith the funds of another, and ,vould have paid it
back if successful. He ,yas tried by the Vigilance
Comnlittee of the place and given seventy-five lashes.
Very 11loderate for Columbia in the year 1851.

In the sumnler of 1858 the to\vn of Visalia stood
upon the frontier, sonle,v hat relnote fronl tho more
settled portions of Calif()l"uia. Population ,vas sparso,
the courts poorly organized, and the greater part of
the inhabitants ,vild and la,vless. SOHle of then1 ,vere
follo,vers of the l\lormol1 prophet; others 'v ere en1Ï-
grants frolll the confines of ci vilization. There ,vað
not a jail in Tulare county. A rough shanty in an
oak opening constituted the court-house. In the
centre of the shanty, \v hose floor ,vas the solid
earth, ,vas the stump of a large oak tree, to ,vhich
,vas attached a ring-bolt. This stump and ring-
bolt \vas the county prison; for to it felons ,vere
cha.ined and a guard placed over then1. On the 27th
of July Sheriff Poindexter arrested one Willianl C.
Deputy, called by SOllle a bad character, on cOlllplaillt
of his nephc\v, J. D. Stapleford, ,vho alleged that
Deputy had defrauded hinl of lands and moneys
aillounting to the value of $30,000 or $40,000. The
sheriff placed Deputy in the jail and chained hinl
to the stulnp, a treatment irnposed upon all prisoners
charged ,vith a state prison offence. Deputy ,va
an
old man, and because he \yas a
lorlllon all the 1110re
people called hÍ111 an unprincipled villain, and he ,vas
shunnoJ and detested in the COllllllunity. They said
he held in his possession at the tillle of hi8 arrest, as
a confidential trust, property belonging to his nephe,v,
Stapleford, ,vhich he no, v persistently refused to recon
vey. A la,vyer ,vas. en1ploycd to cOlllpel the man to
disgorge the funds, but Deputy had concealed his

.A DISGR.-\CEFUL BUSIXESS.

471

tracks with such skill as to defy detection and d6feat
legal proceedings. Stapleford ,vas duped; the la,,"
could not help him to obtain restitution; nothing
would avail but to compel the Ulan to sign over his
ill-gotten gains. He stated his grievances to his
friends, and enlisted the 8Ylnpathy of the community.
They kne,y of but one "Tay to adjust the difficulty,
and in the thinly settled frontier counties it ,vas
a method frequently employed. They ,vould form a
vigilance committee, and ,yotlld compel the old man
to sign the papers. They believed Stapleford to be
right, and they ,vould help him to that justice ,vhich
the la,," could not give; and yet had not Deputy been
a )Iormon I doubt if such high-handed proceedings
would have been popular in a matter of property only.

evertheless the so-called 'Tlgilance Committee ,vere
impatient for the night, productive, as they antici-
pated, of a triumph of justice and right. To accom-
plish their purpose the best citizens sometimes united
,vith the worst. ::\len of intelligence and probity
,vere not unfrequently overawed and kept in circum-
.scription b
r the turbulent and irresistible element
,vhich so largely predominated in 'Tisalia. But now
their cause ""as made a common one, and there ,vas
not a single individual "Tho opposed the plan nlade
kno,vn to the assembled cro"Td that gathered and de-
termined upon action. That night bet,veel1 eleven
and t"Telve o'clock they marched to the court-house,
,vhere they found Deputy guarded by t,YO arll1ed men,
,vho presented but a slight obstacle to the pursuance
of their object. They entered the roonl, took Deputy
frolll the bench upon ,vhich he ,vas lying, and led hilll
out to the northern section of the to,,"n, 'v here he ,vas
placed beneath a tree, fron1 ,yhich a rope ,yas already
8,vinging. The rope ,vas then adjusted about his neck,
and he ,,"'as inforn1ed that his life ,yould be forfeited
unless he complied ,yith their demands in regard to
Stapleford's property. This he refused to do. T,yo
or three times he ,vas s"yung in the air and lo\\yered,

472 COUNTRY CO
rMITTEES OF VIGILANCE

until finally he promised t.o do ,vhat ,vas required,
provided that he should be released from custody and
from the charge of felony then pending against him.
This ,vas granted, when he made full confession,
promised restitution, and gave account of what he held.
He was then taken back to the room and again chained,
to await until morning the appearance of the lawyers.
The sheriff then placed a strong arlned force about
the prison to prevent further violence, and remained
with Deputy throughout the follo\ving day. The next
morning a notary was sun1n1oned, ,vho drew up a deed,
and asked Deputy if he cheerfully and willingly \vould
sign the paper. There were several persons present
who witnessed the proceedings, among others one
Douglass, a lawyer called a n1an of rectitude. He
talked with Deputy in a friendly ,vay, advising him
to sign the paper, which he did, and which Douglass
attested. The acknowledgment was then taken by
the notary, and his sea] affixed. Not the slightest
coercion ,vas used, it was claÎ1ned, the old rnan readily
assenting to whatever ,vas required. Deputy ,vas
then released, and all charges made against hin1 with-
drawn. Iuunediately upon his release Deputy went
to San Bernardino, and there appealed to the courts,
endeavoring to be reinstated in possession, but was
unsuccessful in his application.

The Ku Klux Klan organization, ,vhich achieved
such prominence in the southern states, seenlS to have
occasionally cropped out on the Pacific coast. On the
25th of August, 1868, the body of B. S. Templeton
of Visalia ,vas found hanging from a tree on the banks
of the Tule River, about thirty miles from his home.
The hanging ,vas charged to the Ku Klux Klan. At
the saIne tilne mention is made of depredations caused
by a band under this name in San1 Valley, Jackson
county, Oregon. Their operations seemed confined
to poisoning cows, horses, and other live-stock, and to
,varning one or two citizens.

VISALIA. AXD BAKERSFIELD.

473

To cut short the trickeries of la,y by mean
of
\vhich the brothers Thomas and "Tilliam Yoakum had
escaped punishment for one murder, and seemed by
new trials, change of venue, and other court diY"er-
tisenlents about to clear themselves from another,
seventy-five of the people of Bakersfield-some say
fOliy-on the 28th of )Iay, 1878, forced open the jail
door, covered the officers ,,
ith their guns, entered the
cells of the Y oakums, and hanged them there. There
was much shooting in this affair, one of the prisoners
receiving fi"Ve balls before he ,,-as hanged, and several
of the vigilants ,vere ,voùnded, unintentionally, by
their associates. Though chained to the bottom of
their cells, the Y oakums fought desperately before
yielding. T,,
o men, "Tilliam Johnson and Hamilton
J. Tucker, had been their victims, killed more than a
month previous on account of a quarrel gro\\Ting out
of mining matters.
On the 24th of December, 1872, Charles __L\..llen,
proprietor of a baloon in "\Tisalia, was shot by one
J anles
IcCrory, bet"Teen ,,-horn and hin1se]f an in-
i:inlate friendship had apparently existed, Allen having
sho,vn :ThlcCrorJ e"Very kindness, even to giving him

1 00 a few hours previous to his death. There was
not the slightest proyocation for the murder. Allen
asked 1.IcCrory what he and another man were quar-
relling about, when )IcCrory replied, "I ,,,"ould just
as soon shoot you as anybody else!" and immediately
levelled at him the revolvers ,rhich he held in each
hand. Allen implored him, "For God's sake, don't
shoot me: I'm unarmed I" but
IcCrory fired several
shots, until assured of his victim'
death.
IcCrory
,ras arrested by the sheriff and lodged in jail. He
"'"as a desperate character, and although upon several
trials for murder convincing proof had been presented,
he had al,,-ays been acquitted. The people \vere no\v
ull,villing to trust again to the la\v, and on the fol-
lowing morning the ,-rigilance Conlnlittee entered the
jail and forced )IcCrory to his place of execution, a

4ï4

COUNTRY CO:\f:\fITTEES OF VIGlLA
CE.

bridge in the vicinity. Before the cro\vd dispersed a
collection ,vas nlade to defray the expenses of the
burial. During the ,vinter of 1873-4 a ne,v Vigilance
Comnlittee ,vas organized at Visali,a for Tulare and
adjoining counties. O,ving to the ,vatchfulness exer-
cised by the inhabitants of the coast counties, hordes
of high,vayn1cn, horse-thieves, and cutthroats, ,vere
driven hack into the Tulare region, \vhich led to active
measures by the people of that vicinity. Follo\ving
this lllovelncnt, In any
1exicans, and indeed all of
every nationality,vho could not satisfactorily account
for thelnsclves and the method of their living, ,vere
directed to go, lest \vorse should befall them.

Very pron1pt to form and very efficient ,vas the
Santa Clara Vigilance COlnmittee, organized to act in
concert \vith the Committee of San Francisco. Herc-
,vith I give a copy of proceedings at their first
meeting:

"At a meeting of the citizens of Santa Clara, held pursuant to public
notice, :Mr J ocl Clayton was called to the chair, and 1\11' R. Bucknor appointed
secretary. l\fr Pierson addressed the meeting, and stated the object to be to
take measures to act in concert with and approve the proceedings of the
Vigilance Committee of the citizens of San Francisco, and offered the follow-
ing resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
" , Resolved, that we deeply sympathize with the citizens of San Francisco
in their losses sustained by the late fires; that as we believe the late disastrous
fires to have been the work of a regular band of thieves and incenJiaries too
fiendish and dangerous to be suffered to prowl about San Francisco; that as
we believe our interests are identified with the sustaining of that city, we
will heartily second and assist the citizens to detect, bring to justice, and
punish the scoundrels that infest that city; that we consiùer the hanging of
the notorious burglar and thief Jenkins entirely justifiable, and in our
opinion it is the shortest and only way to save the lives and property of
citizens; that we hereby call upon the Vigilance Committee of San Francisco
to transmit to the Vigilance Committee oî this place descriptions of suspected
desperadoes whenever they shall hereafter leave that vicinity; that ne call
upon the press of San Francisco to publish these resolutions, and assure their
citizens that if a vigorous effort should be made to free themselves from the
pest we will come to their assistance en masse if necessary.'
"
lr Gates then moved that ttose present form themselves into a Vigil-
ance Committee, which motion was unanimously adopted, and the chainnan,
Mr Clayton, elected president of such committee, and l\fr Gates secretary.

SA...
TA CLARA A}..TÐ SAN JOSÉ

475

On motion of )Ir Gates a committee of five, consisting of )Ir Pierson, Captain
Rush, )Ir Buckner, Colonel Davis, and )Ir Buffum, were appointed to draft
resolutions and rules to govern the action of the Yigilance Committee; where-
upon the meeting adjourned to Thursday evening, the 26th in
t.
"JOEL CLAYTO
, Ohairman.

"R. B. BrcKxER, Secretary.
"Santa Clara, June 25, 1851."

At a meeting held a fe"T days afterward constitu-
tion and by-Ia"Ts ,vere adopted, and the organization
,yas completed. Scarcely a single citizen refused tu
join the association. One of their first acts ,vas no
less unique than energetic. ..L-\.. notorious character ,vas
arrested for theft by the civil authorities and put under
bonds to a\vait his trial. The \Tigilance Committee
bailed him out, gaye him a thorough flogging, and then
returned him to the custody of the la\v.
..L-\.t San .José in October, 1851, t"w.o Hispano-Cali-
fornians, father and SOl1, arrested for cattle-stealing,
,yere tried, convicted, and sentenced by a people's
jur
y. to rec
ive t,yenty-six lashes each. The old
man's head ,,"'as white and his body bent with age;
the son "\\
as a manly fe 11 (HY , straight as a forest tree,
athletic, in the full vigor of manhood, with a bold
front and an unflinching eye. 'Vhen judgment ,vas
pronounced he rose to his feet and begged one boon
of his judges. For himself he asked nothing-but
that old n1an, his father: surely, if they were sons
thelnsel ves, and not bastards, they ,,"'ould let him take
the whole punishment, and suffer in the old man's
stead. The proposition of the son was considered by
the Committee, and a resolution introduced that the
sentence of the father should be remitted, and that
he should be handed over to the authorities. Nor
,,
ould the Committee take advantage of the son's
proposal to augment his sentence. 1'he trial of the
tllther in court, made with more deliberation and a
fullcr cocrnizance of facts, revealcd the truth that his
sentence\::) had been disproportiol1ecl to his crin1e, and
he ,,"as released ,vith only a fine of five dollars.

476 COUNTRY COM
IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

It ,vas an extremely difficult matter for the native
population of California to understand that it ,vas
very ,vrong to steal horses. That is one reason ,vhy
so severe a penalty ,vas inflicted for this crime. In
their early times they had been accustolned to catch
and saddle alnlost any horse running at large. It ,vas
the thing to do to return the horse or to leave another
in its stead, but the owners of ranchos were not often
particular about a. horse or t\VO more or less. Said
Derrasio Berryessa, when about to be executed by
the Vigilance Comnlittee of San José July 21, 1854,
for stealing horses," l\fy countrymen, you lllust all
leave here; it is no longer a fit place for you J"
In the spring of 1850 Mariano Hernandez, a Mexi-
can horse-thief and highwayman, was captured and
confined in San J osé jail. His arrest ,vas made on the
suspicion that he had murdered a man nalned John
Foster, who had lived in one of the upper counties,
and had robbed him of twenty thousand dollars. A

fr Savage had come to San J osé for the purpose
of having Hernandez taken for trial to the county
,vhere the murder had been cOlnlnitted. Savage ,vas
a neighbor of Foster, and had deposited money ,vith
him, ,vhich ,vas lost by the robbery. Before Hernan-
dez could be removed he must be brought before the
judge, and \vhile on the way he escaped. Savage ,vas
greatly incensed, and openly accused the sheriff arid
the judge of having accepted money fronl the prisoner
as a bribe to release him. The people talked of
hanging the officials. Savage threatened if sonlething
,vas not done he ,vould lead a band of armed Indians
against the town. In the mean time Hernandez ,vas
pursuing his villainous course in other sections of the
country, but at l\fonterey ,vas again arrested. He
,vas sentenced to be hanged, and narro,vly escaped with
his life; he ,vas suspended fronl a tree, but the rope
broke, and that circumstance, ,vith the tilnely inter-
cession of a priest, secured his pardon. IIo\vever, the

SA...
TA CRUZ
VD )IONTEREY.

477

reprieve served but little purpose, for at Santa Cruz
he ,vas seized by the Vigilance Committee for some
criminal act, and was hanged by them on the 20th
of J ulv, 1852.
On the next night this same Committee in Santa
Cruz hanged another
lexican. He ,vas taken from
jail, ,vhere he ,vas a,vaiting his trial for horse-stealing.
The prisoner made a confession just previous to his
execution in ,vhich he implicated others of his country-
men. Search ,vas immediately made for them. One
,vas captured-a hardened ,vretch, ,vho boasted of
having killed several Alnericans. Hi:j trial and execu-
tion quickly follo\yed his arrest. He exhibited no
fear, \valking ,vith a firm step to the gallows.
On the 11th of January, 1853, the Vigilance Com-
mittee of Santa Cruz ordered that three thieves should
receive from t\venty to fifty lashes, and be banished
the to\vn, and that should they return it would be
under penalty of death.
I t ,vas neither a profitable nor pleasing position,
.. that of member of the
Ionterey Vigilance Com-
mittee, for ,vhen they hanged a villain twenty other
yillains narro,vly ,vatched the hangn1an, s,vearing
vengeance.
Iore than one member of this associa-
tion in 1856 died out of his bed. l\furder had become
so bold, ho,vever, that there was no help for it. If
,ye may credit D. R. Ashley, subsequently United
States Senator fron1 Nevada, by actual count there
had been committed in and round )fonterey during
three years sixty-three murders, ,vithout one judicial
execution. Bullets fle,v from to\vn-houses and solitary
thickets. :\Iail riders were shot so frequently that
for once in the history of our country the service
,vent begging. .
In the early part of February, 1858, there lay In
the jail at )Ionterey, under sentence of death, a Span-
iard nan1ed Anastasia, ,vho had been convicted of one
11lurder and had confessed to another. The crime for
,vhich he was imprisoned ,vas the killing of an old

4-78 COIJNTRY CO::\I::\IITTEES OF VIGILA
CE.

man, \vhosc cabin he had feloniously entered with an
Indian. The old man was a Mexican sheep-herder in
Chalama Valley, Fresno county, and had in his pos-
session one hundl"ed dollars, for ,vhich he \vas Inur-
dered, being shot twelve times and his skull broken.
A jury, composed equally of Americans and l\Iexicans,
condemned Anastasi . to be hanged on the 12th of
February; but t\VO days before that tilne a document
,vas received by the sheriff from Governor vVoller
granting a respite from death for several days to one
Anastasi Jesus. As J osé Anastasi ,vas the only
person in the Monterey jail under sentence of death,
the respite ,vas clearly intended for him; at least such
was the conclusion of the sheriff The under-sheriff,
ho,vever, incited and sustained by a large number of
the most influential inhabitants, took a different vie\v
of the matter, arguing that the misnomer in the re-
prieve ,vas fatal to its legality, and that unless the
sentence of death should bo executed on J osé Anas-
tasi on the day fixed he probably \vould escape
punishment altogether. The under-sheriff therefore
assumed the responsibility of proceeding ,vith the
execution, and Anastasi \vas duly hanged. Governor
Woller ,vas greatly incensed, and 'v hen the under-
sheriff ,vrote him on the subject the governor re-
sponded in an angry and undignified communication,
denouncing the course of the deputy in the most
violent terms. The under-sheriff ,vas sustained by
the citizens, by ,vhom the whole course of the gov-
ernor ,vas strongly conden1ned. They felt that J osé
Anastasi was legally convicted and under sentence
of death; he had confessed not only the commission
of the murder for ,vhich he had been tried, but also
another one; there was a question as to the legality
of the reprieve, there \vas none as to the legality or
justice of the sentence; and lastly, had the day of
execution passed, pursuant to a document that was
null and void, there ,vere serious doubts as to whether
the prisoner could ever be executed under that con-

).IA.TTHE'Y RILEY.

479

viction, and the blunder Inight result in turning a
desperate criminal loose upon society. This is called
the first legal execution in
Ionterey county under
Anlerican rule, and in the minds of lllany there re-
mained the question ,,-hether this ,vas legal.
Says the Pajaro Times of February 13, 1864:

" The people of :Monterey county are in earnest about ridding themselves of
the thieves and cutthroats who infest that section of the country. Last week
in Natividad the citizens formed themselves into a vigilance committee and
tried three Californians-two brothers named Lopez and one man whose name
we did not learn. One of the brothers and he of the unknown name were
found guilty of '\arious robberies and depredations, and on :Monday last were
publicly ,vhipped and sent to jail. The elder of the Lopez brothers was ad-
judged guilty of murder and forthwith hanged, Beside several other murders
charged against Lopez, he killed a Chilean some months since for an old
saùdle and sack of barley. The whole family is said to be of a wicked nature.
The fatherwas sentenced to death and hanged some years since in this county. "

There ,vere many cases illustrating ho\v the spirit
of self-government \vavt'red bet\veen yigil.lnce and
mobocracy. On the desert border of southern Califor-
nia lived 1\Ia.ttbe,v Riley, "Tho along in the early fifties
'became quite fanlous as a leader of men and a lnanipu-
lator of po,ver. Sometiu1es the men "rere not all of
the best, and the power-,vell, while the quality of it
was not equal in purity and dicectlless to that engen-
dered by steam or electricity, it was no 'v hit below
,vhat is manufactured to-day for our governors and
presidents by thick-headed Africans and unwashed
Europeans. I t is scarcely fair to charge all wrong-
doing to the devil, and credit all right-doing to a
bigher power, because in the so-called special province
of the latter, we find poorly done, or left urldone, mat-
ters of which omnipotence can scarc(Jly be proud.

Iatthe\v Riley ,vas about five feet seven inches in
height, compacti y built, broad-shouldered, ,vith flesh
as solid as lead. He knew how to command men,
,vhether in the direction of business or fighting. To
the former he brought a fair education and average
ability, \vhich secured him a moderate fortune; as

480 COUNTRY COMMITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

auxiliary to the latter he had a score or two of men
of active and nluscular organisllls al,vays at his call,
,vith no end of political and office-seeking backers.
Thus it was that in any cañon or at any cross-roads,
no less than in court or ca.n1p, l\fat could hold a Lib-
erty Fair, or playa game of Eternal Justice, on short
11 otice.
By attending closely to his duties and privileges as
a favored citizen of a thrice favored republic, as every
true nlan, every intelligent and progressive lover of
freedolll, is bound to do, he had always on hand ready
for immediate use a large store of po,ver, social, polit-
ical, judicial, ecclesiastical, mechanical, or of whatso-
ever kind or quality \vhich nlight at the llloment be
in demand. Whosoever ,vent wrong Mat or his men
'-'
would set right; he \vho persisted in wrong-doing,
by Mat or his 111e11 ,vas quite certain to have his nose
or neck twisted. What was right and ,vhat wrong
-there ,vas sometinles a question; but not often.
'Vhat priest, or politician, or nlerchant is there who
fails to find right on the side of his bread that is but-
tered 1 J\;Iat ,vas a great judge. He was a judge of
111en, a judge of morality, a judge of justice. His
followers ,vere not all of thenl so clear-headed, and
several times brought themselves and their master
into trouble. They ,vould sometinles find themselves
at the wrong end of a legal sequence, though as a
rule, like the wise and ,vily ones of the present dispen-
sation, they found law too great and good a thing to
be ignored or crushed. So Mat and his lnen, like any
other of the kings who stalk about over this confed-
eration-money kings, piety kings, political kings-
used la\v \vhen it suited their purpose; if it did not
they coolly kicked it out of the ,yay-differing in their
way of doing it froiH our present legislators and jus-
tice-jugglers in this respect, that whereas these latter
are exceedingly sanctimonious in their \vorship of law,
are exceedingly circumspect in their position before the
la,v, taking care al\vays to avoid the risk of prison' walls

THE )lISCHIEF OF IT.

48J

in their rascalities, )Iat, ,vho made the men that made
the la\vs, could not understand why he should stand
un ll1uch ceremony \vith so cbeap, unstable, ,veak,
flimsy, and fickle a thing as law. And as for justice,
,vhat and ,yhere is it, in earth, heaven, or hell?
In due time the business of horse-stealing became
so bad that fe,v artists cared to follow it. It \vas easv
enough to gather in stock, but difficult to dispose
f
it. ßlat and his men could smell a horse-thief lniles
a\vay, so that the most of the unhanged in that vi-
cinity either reformed or llloved a\vay. They "\yere
-:ery efficient at any kind of detective ,york, five or
six of then1 being able at any time to accomplish more
in bringing criminals to justice, and in executing then),
than all the constables, sheriffs, Ia,vyers, judges, and
jails in three counties. True, this boomerang of
equity and material morality sometiuJes fle,y back and
killed a Inan or two, once even striking the chief;
but as a rule it \vas thro,vn true, and striking the
luark fairly brought do\vn its victill1 \vithout recoil.
.. It is a fact of ,vhich sensible, right-thinking ÂUler-
icans can scarcely be proud, that our Inost \vorshipful
and highly prized 111achinery for guarding life and
property, for making lllen and ,vornen llloral and keep-
ing then1 so, can so easily be outdone, a hundred-fold,
by a fe,v commonplace Jllen of practical ability. These
CUBl bersome contrivances, many of then1 relics of bar-
barism or of feudalism, are to a great extent mere
lllachines for defrauding the public, defeating the
right, and demoralizing natural and manly sentiments,.
and all under the name of justice. For the ad,ance-
ment of relígion men used to comn1Ît the rnost heinous
crimes. For the advancement of education lllen no,y'
gather each year a great fund, and after taking threo
fourths of it to fill their pockets, the rernainder, with.
much chattering, like learned monkeys, they emplo}-
in teaching children to follo,v in their footsteps. To
permit our children to grow up in ignorance, truly is
bad; but by daily example, if not indeed by precept

POP. TRIB.. VOL. I. S1

482 COUNTRY COl\i
IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

to teach them dishonesty, and bring thenl up to bribery,
trickery, and the Inany phases and colors of lllodern
rascality, is infinitely \vorse. There are 111anv cities
and counties in this republic, \vhere if a
lat '" Riley
and six men ,vere al\vays stationed, ready to seize and
hang any lawyer caught in perverting justice, any
judge s\vayed in his duty by fear, favor, or any social
or political desires, any legislator or lllember of a board
selling their vote or influence for coin, or any person
engaged in the rascalities of current affairs, would be
a great and ll10st efficient blessing, a benefaction to
soci
ty. superior to all courts, la\v-makings, and peni-
tentIarIes. In the end, l\1at Riley came to grief. It
}Hay be he killed too many, or not enough; in any
event, \vere he now living he ,vouId have plenty
to do.

On Tuesday. the 23d of August, 1859, at lnidnight,
t,vo men were executed in the ,voods of Santa Bár-
bara. They ,vere Francisco Badillo, aged eighty, and
his son, fourteen years of age. Their horse-thieving
achievements ,vere notorious, but the course pursued
Ly the nlob ,vas strongly censured. On the following
day the coroner and jury proceeded to the spot where
the bodies \vere hanging and received the testimony
of Badillo's sons, eleven and thirteen years old. An
excited cro\vd of native Californians had gathered,
and threats of vengeance \vere muttered against the
..t\nlericans. George Nidever, a crippled youth riding
by, ,vas suddenly pointed out by the younger of
Badillo's boys as one of the murderers, ,vhen the
enraged la\v-abiders stabbed, shot, and clubbed the
poor fello\v until he lost consciousness. Several per-
sons ,vere arrested for assaulting Nidever, but \vere
acquitted, as \vere also George and John Nidever,
and others arrested on suspicion of the death of
Badillo.
-The follo\ving report ,vas Blade by the grand jury
to the court of sessions September 17, 1859:

S
-\XT_\. B_\.RB_UL\.

183

"In the case of the people of the state of California versus J. XideTer
and others, charged with murder, there 'Were thirty \\-itneSSt3 sought for
and obtained in different parts of the county, and all the testimony that could
be brought to bear upon the case, either directly or indirectly, was obtained.
There were such number
of contradictions and alibis proven as rcnderel the
testimony in favor of the state entirely worthless; consequently there was 'no
hill found.' In the cases of F. Sayba, J. Guticruz, Lugo and R. Zuriba,
charged with assaulting and shooting George Xidever, there were' no bills
found.' The positive evidence given in respect to two of those cases by
Ru
sell Heath and James L. Ord was positively disputed in toto by the e\-i-
dence of J osé Dolores Garcia. The undersigned belie,e the testimony of
the first two
itnesses to be true; we also believe the testimony of the latter
to he false. The persons who a little more than a year since robbed and mur.
dered the Basques on their way up the country would not have been punished
but for the people of San Luis Obispo, who summarily hanged them by the
necks. Cases of horse and cattle-stealing, almost without number, have
"Within the last five
.ears been brought to the notice of our courts; yet in
almost every instance lmprincipled petit juries could easily be drummed up
who would not hesitate in bringing a verdict of not guilty, though the offence
had been so clearly proven that it did not admit of a single doubt. E,-en
those who seek office, with now and then an exception, absolutely humiliate
and degrade themselves, either by la,,,ish promises to the comlpt, who hold
the influence, or by panderin
to a set of ruffians. Our elections are a farce,
and an insult to common-sense; scores of hombres, of all grades and colors,
are brought in front of the polls, whose inteìligence and education would not
compare with the sla,-es of the southern state.3; yet these same hombres re-
ceive sealed "'Votes, either from the hands of the influential or their employés,
and without opening them. or e"{amining their contents put them in the
ballot-box. Since the sitting of this grand jury the foreman has had his life
threatened by outside vile ruffians. In conclusion, we propose to allude to the
state of society as it here exists in connection with the eÅecution of the
laws. In a republican government like ours, our system of j'iIrisprudence is
established on the broad supposition that at least the majority of the people
are notoriously honest, and alwa:rs ready to mainL."lin the supremacy and
majesty of the law, and to assist the courts in its execution. In most com-
munities such is the case. "e deeply regret to be obliged to assert that in
this county it is widely different. '''Ve are of the unanimous opinion, so far
as this cOlmty is concerned, that the courts, in consequence of the notoriou

bad characters that are frequently summoned and impanelled to serve as
petit jurors, are entirely powerless in punishing crime. Thieves and ,illains
of every grade have been from time to time upheld, respected, fostered, anù
pampered by our iní1uential citizens, and if need be. aided and assisted in
escaping from merited punishment due to their crimes. Characters similar
to those just named haye frequently been seen sitting beside the wealthy and
influential in their carriages traversing our streets, or mounted on the richly
caparisoned steeds of these same persons. The virtuous and tbe prostitute,
the cattle-thief and the influential, have been too often seen mingling to-
gether at parties and halls. In fact it is "With deep regret that we are com-

:1S4

COUNTRY CO
I
IITTEES OF VIGILAXCI:.

pelled to publish the fact to the world that the ruling population make
little or no distinction as to the character of their associates; if there is any
preference it is in favor of the vicious. Offences, thefts, and villainies in
defiance of the law, of every grade and character, from the horse and cattle-
thief to the highway robber and midnight assassin, have dwelt, to our knowl-
edge, for the last five years in our very midst. 'Vhenever those crimes llave
been perpetrated on the persons of honest, industrious, and gooJ citizens, the
tranquillity of the public mind, so far as the ruling population was concerned,
would not be disturbed.
"Only three years since, an American by the name of Moore had quietly
settled in l\Iontecito, had erected his humble cabin, and had industriously
engaged in fencing a field and sowing a crop in order to gain an honorable
support. He was basely murdered while asleep by having his throat cut
from ear to ear, and left to welter in his gore; yet the tranquillity of the
ruling population was not in the least disturbed. Neither they nor their
officers appeared to take the least interest in ferreting the perpetrators of
the crime and bringing them to justice; and had it not been for private
American citizens, who had him buried with their own means, so far as the
authorities are concerned he would have been left like a wild bea5ìt to rot
where he was murdered. One of the perpetrators of that crÎ1ne has since been
hanged, not by the actions of our courts, to which he {led for protection for
other crimes, but by the sovereign people of San Luis Obispo. Previous to
his execution he confessed to that and a number of other heinous crimes. 'Ve
could go on from page to page and enumerate the evils under which we
suffer; suffice it to say, good, independent, industrious, and honest citizenE
are not wanted here by the ruling powQrs. Could they accomplish it, they
would drive us from the country, unless we would degrade ourselves by
pandering to their wishes, obeying their orders, and affiliating with their
ruffians.

"CYRUB J\1ARSHALL,
"Foreman of Orand Jury.
"R. Forbush, A. M. Cameron, "\Villiam Brick, G. Abadie, L. Loomis,
Juan Hill, John M. Haskell."

This report ,vas published in the San Francisco
Herald, as the Santa Bárbara papers refused it a place
in their columns. Serious disturbances ,vere constantly
occurring, and the la,v seemed powerless to protect
the rights of citizens. The Santa Bárbara Gazette
says: "La,v there ,vas plenty, law-craft enough and
to spare, but organization none at all, save a shadow-
ing of that ,vorst of all organizations, suggested by
the example of righteous Los Angeles and la,v-abiding
San Francisco, a Vigilance Committee. The sheriffalty
was vacant. The mayor had resigned, assigning a

"'_-\.X Lrl:-- OBI:-\PO.

!3.3

bi
nlotive his incapacity to preserve order. :N 0 jus-
tice of the peace had qualified. ....\. county judge re-
mained, fully determined to maintain the law; but
not a constable ,,-as there to execute a ,,-arrant. The
treasurer and county clerk alone &tood over this uni-
vcrsal wreck of unfÙled office as fitting emblems of a
costly system of anarchy." ....
t this juncture General
Clark was called upon to bring a small detachment of
troops "With hin1 to Santa Barbara, the people urging
that the mere appearance of the military ,,
ould carry.
sufficient mora] suasion ,,-ithout resort to arms. The
request \,as complied with and confidence restored.

In the ab::;ence of legal authorities a popular tri-
bunal "\\a:, organized for the trial of one Sonorei'ío
in San Luis Obispo the 7th of July, 1851. J osé
Castro and ".... C. J one
,,-ere elected judges, C.
Freeman secretary and ",... J. Grave;:; prosecuting
attorney. It "
as agreed that one half the jur.r should
be natiye Californians and one half Americans. Thus
ol:ganizecl the tribunal proceeded to business.
The earl) clays of San Luis Obispo sho"\\ a bu;,y
schedule of crime. and a running sketch of some of
the chief episodes of it;:, history ,,-ill no doubt prove
interesting and instructiT"e to the reader:
In the fall of 1863 a band of eight or ten men
rode into town and made merry oyer the fact that
theJ' had just murdered a pedle
near San Juan and
appropriated his good
. They were pursued, one of
them killed,
everal hanged, and the remaining three
or four escaped. These were desperate times; not a
"
eek passed but that the bodies of murdered men "gere
found by the roadside, and many a cattle-dealer frOlll
the upper country met a secret and terrible fate in
that bloody land. Early in 1856 a man named George
Fearless caIne do,,
n from San Francisco ,vith seyeral
thousand dollars and ,vent into the !'tock busine
s
with a X e\y )Iexican nan1ed Jesus Luna, on a rancho
sonle fifty n1Îles fran1 to"9n.
\Jter a fe\y months

486 COU
TRY CO:\I)IITTEES OF YIGILAXCE.

Feal1ess disappea.red, and his
Iexican partner said
that he had gone to the states. Soon BeIJing out
their property on the rancho, Luna nloved to N c\v
l\Iexico, and shortly after his departure the body of
Fearless ,vas found concealed on the place.
N o\v read the next incident, then put the t\VO ,vith
t\venty other like deeds unrecorde[l, \vith lllatters
every day growing ,vorse, and then say if vigilance
comnlittees are ,vrong:
T",.o Frencillnon collected a band of cattle and
started north. They hired a native Californian nauled
Frolian as their vaquero; this nlan and Jack Powers
the galllbler sa\v a large- sun1 of lTIOney paid to the
Frenchmen. On Monday, the 30th of N oyenlber, a
horse-race took place at Santa l\Iargarita, t\velve Iniles
fro111 San Luis Obispo. Frolian .left the service of
the Frencllll1cn that day, and one Nieves Robles ap-
peared in canlp and asked perlnission to accolnpany
the cattle-drovers on their journey as far as San J osé.
The proposition accepted, that night he pointed then1
out a place to canlp near the Inouth of the river
N acinliento, a spot that has been baptized in the blood
of Inurderod nlen. In the 1110rning son1e horses ,vere
Inissing fronl the caballacla, and the Frenchn1en rode
out to hunt them. They never returned. Weeks
afterward the body of one of then1 ,vas found, the skull
perforated by bullets; the body of the other \vas never
discovered. Jack Po\vers and t\VO
lexican cunfrè'j'cs,
I-iinares and Rafael, attended the horse-race on the
.day before the lnurder, and that evening disappeared.
It ,vas after\vard knO\Vll that, in company ,vith Nieyes
Robles, they had killed the Frenchn1en, taking frOll1
one of theln the SUIn of thirty-five hundred clollal's.
They all returned to San Luis Obispo, \vhen Nieves
,vas arrested and tried, but finally discharged. N oth-
ing was done with the others at that tÏ1ne.

In l\fay, 1857, t,vo ITrellchmen, Bortolo Baratió
and M. Borel, came dO'Vll from Oakland to reside on

B
lliATIÉ AXD BOREL,

40;

the rancho San Juan Capistrano. )lacIallle Baratié
accompanied her husband, and they had t\\TO Califor-
nian servants. One evening eight men caIne along,
representing themselYe
as horse-runners, and ,,
ished
to buy food. The Frenchlnen generously supplied thenl
,vithout pay, and that night allo,ved thenl to sleep in
the building ,vith their ser\-ants. The next da v one
of the band, :ßliguel Blanco by name, came back
lone,
stating that hib partners "
ere running hor
es, and
asked the privilege of un
addling hi
horse, ,,
hich
\yas allo\ved him. The Frenchmen "
ere engaged in
cleaning out a \vell, and the servants ,yere cutting hay
a little distance a\vay, but out of ::;ight. Baratié left
his partner and caIne round to speak to the servants,
Blanco l'enlaining by Borel. Baratié soon heard firinO'

v ð
from the direction of the "
ell, and Blanco, having
shot Borel, canle running round a
the other lllurder-
ers rode up, and fired at Baratié, hitting hinl in the
shoulder. Driving Baratié and the ser\-ants to the
house at the muzzle of the pistol, they forced the
Frenchman to dis:clo
e the 'v hereabouts of his nlOlley,

bout three tho up-and dollars, ,yhich they imlnecliatei y
divided anlong the band. Baratié ,vas then o:;hot do,vn
before the eyes of his VtTife, and she her:5elf ,vas cal'-
ried R\Vay to a place of concealment in the 1110untain:-\,
,,
hence she after\vard escaped and returned to Oak-
land. The Californian servantb escaped ,yith their
lives and gave the alarm. T,,,"o of the n1urderers
were soon after\yard caught and hanged in San Luis,
making a complete confession of their dark deeds.
So bold had crime becolne in San Luis that villains
were often heard boa
ting on the streets of their Lloody
deeds, using such expressions as: .( Ho,y the dalllned
scoundrel fouaht for his life!" or, ""Thy, he fired three
o v
shots from his revolver after ,ye thought hinl dead
"
with reference to sonle one they had killed. )Iany
of the native Californians of the southern counties
"'''ere in league \yith the lllurùerers, and gaye thelll
aid and eomfort in every \vay, rendering it ahllo
t

4b
COUXTRY CO)l
IITTEES OF VIGILA
CE.

impossible for the ends of justice to be attained. The
robbers \",ere completely organized, with their signs,
grips, and pass,vords, and it was only the energetic
action of the people, striding over the tangled meshes
of the law, that finally broke up the powerful alliance
and restored a measure of safety to the persons and
property of the public.
In June, J osé Antonio García, one of the parties
concerned in the murder of the Frenchmen near the
N acin1iento, was hanged by the citizens of San Luis.
He made a confession on the gallo,vs, ilnplicating the
gambler Jack Po\vers in the crin1e.
Following s,viftly upon this event came another,
,vhich indicated that the people had at last becon1e
aroused. Several of the robbers who had been con-
cerned in the tragedy at Sa.n Juan Capistrano, the
Iniscreant Pio Linares at their head, being hard-
pressed by the Ålnericans ,vho were pursuing then1,
took shelter in a dense ,villo\v ,vood on the Osos
Rancho, near San Luis Obispo, and \vere surrounded.
The pursuing party atteu1pted to hunt then1 out, but
after having one of their nun1ber ,vounded by a shot
frolH Linares, ,vere forced to desist on account of the
approach of night. By the next night over a hundred
armed citizens ,vere on the ground, hemn1Ïng the
,vood with a cordon of sentries, and the next morning
began to beat the brush for the robbers. A battle
ensued, in ,yhich Pio Linares ,vas killed, and his t,vo
)Iexican cOll1panions, both of ,vhOln \vere participants
in the San Juan Capistrano lnurder, ,vere captured.
The citizens had one l11an killed and t,vo others
,y"ounded. The captured l\fexicans ,vere openly hanged
in San Luis the next day. Considering the reign of
terror that had so long existed in that region, and
the utter po,verlessness of the la,v to reach the red-
handeù assassins, these acts of the Vigilance Con1-
mitteo ,vere not only justifiable but el11inently worthy
of applause.
Nieves Robles ,vas finally apprehended and lodged

LOS A...,UELES ORGAXIZ
-\.TIOX.

4Sfi

in the jail at San Luis, ,vhence he "
as quietly taken
by the vigilants on the 27th of June 1858 and hanged.
He confessed his part in the Nacimiento Inurder,
and his statement ,vas fully corroborative of those
Inade by his accomplices who had preceded him on
the gallO"w's.
Soon after these occurrences the Vigilance Com-
luittee of San Luis Obispo disbanded, considering its
,vork accomplished.

Among the Los Angeles archives I find the fol-
lowing:
''.It a meeting of the citizens of Los Angeles held on the 13th of July
1851 at the mayor's office, to consult the public good by organizing a volun-
teer police, in accordance with the action of the city council, B. D. 'Yilson,
mayor of the city, was called to the chair and L. Granger appointed secre-
tary. The following is the ordinance passed by the city council:
"First, That Dr Hope be named chief of a body of police composed of the
inhabitants of this city who may yoluntarily think proper to form it, which
chief of police win be gO'7erned by the orders of the mayor.
"Second, Dr A. 'V. Hope, in connection with the mayor and the previous
consent of the persons voluntarily joining themseh-es to said police, will pro-
ce,ed to organize said body, naming the subalterns by the mayor and chief of
police.
"Third, The sole object of this police will be to guard the security of the
inhabitants and the conservation of the peace in conformity with the laws of
the state and the last part of Article I.
"Approved. B. D. WILSOX, .JIayor."

Then follow the names enrolled. .....-\t a subsequent
meeting officers "'ere chosen and the organization
\yaited orders from the chief of police. This 111ight
be called a vigilance committee organized under the
auspices of the law; for "We may be sure that such a
body \yould never let la,v stand greatly ill their \yay.
In July 1852 t,,,"o young An1ericans came by
steamer from San Francisco to San Diego, intending
to purchase stock. One ,vas nan1ed :\IcCoy and the
other Lud,vig. They had started on horseback for
Los ...\.ngeles, \v hen they 'v ere overtaken by Doroteo
Zavaleta and Jesus Riva
, :\Iexicans, ,vho entered into
conversation ,vith then} in regard to trading hor
es.

490 COUNTRY CO::\I::\lITTEES OF VIGILAXCE.

Proceeding on their journey, the l\Icxicalls gained the
confidence of their conlpanions, providing out of their
supply III eat for tho \vholo party, and apparently en-
tertaining the kindliest feeling to\vard then). But
the J\Iexicans' only desire ,vas to Inurder and plunder,
and one night they acconlplished their purpose. Riva

asked J\IcCoy for his knife, with ,vhich he cut t\VO
heavy sticks; then, encalnped on the banks of the San
Gabriel, tho Alnericans ITlade preparations for sleep.
Spreading a blanket upon the ground, they invited the
J\Iexicans to lie do\vn beside theIu. Zavaleta devoutly
replied that he J11ust first say his prayers. About t,vo
hours later the l\1exicans approached the sleeping
111e11 and each simultaneously struck one on the head
,vith a club, and beat theln until dead. They secured
throe hundred dollars, and their pistols, knives, horses,
and saddles. The bodies \vore left unburied. Zavaleta
and Riyas ,vere subsequently arrested at Santa Bár-
bara, \vith a companion, Carmillo, for horse-thieving.
After\vard suspicions of the truth \vere excited, and
an exanlination \vas made by a COllll1littee of t.he
people at Los .i-1-ngoles. Carlì1Ïllo turned state- evi-
dence and repeated \vhat Rivas had told hilll of the
murder of the Ainericans, and satisfactorily proved
his O\V11 innocence. Zavaleta ,vas next exanlined,
and after four or five hours of questioning and false
s,vearing, volunteered a full confession of the truth.
His testimony \vas afterward substantiated by his
taking a party of 11len to the scene of the lllurder,
and discovering to thelll the bodies. Rivas' contra-
dictory statelnentt; \vere also follo,ved by confessjon.
A people's 11leeting ,vas held at the court-house at
four o'clock on Friday afternoon, August Gth, to COl1-
sider 'v hat should be done. They appointed a jury of
twelve III en to hear and act upon the tcstÎ1nol1Y that
had been obtained by the previous COlllulittee, \v hich
was read to theln in English and Spanish. The jury
retired for a fe\v 111inutes and returned ,vith a verdict
of guilty of 111urder in the first degree. I t ,vas then

-\SSA

IX ATIOX OF BE
\X.

491

voted unanimou
ly that the accused be hano'eel the
follo\ving morning at eight o'clock. It ,va

lso de-
cided that Carmillo should be handed over to the
civil authorities. The sentence pa
sed upon the con-
demned ,vas executed at the appointed hour. The
gallows ,vas erected upon the sumn1it of Fort Hill,
",.here the men \vere conducted, betraying no emotion
of fear or contrition. After the priest had given the In
absolution, the prisoners addressed the people. Their
remarks ,yere chiefly angry accusations of each other.
Ri

a;::, advi5ed any "yho contemplated such crimes as
his, either to have no a
sociates or to select brave
men, and not co\,ards ,yho would betray them. At
the conclusion of their remarks the final prepara-
tions ,vere made, and in fifteen minutes their lifele
s
bodies \vere left to the care of their friends. Zavaleta
"yas respectably connected, and "
a
in the prime of
life. Hi vas \vas born in Sonora, and ,vas but twenty
years of age. v

)Iajor-general J. H. Bean, ,,-ho had served both
as alcalde and mayor of San Diego, and \vho ,vas
greatly respected and beloyed by the entire conllllU-
nity, ,vas assas::;inated late one evening in X oveulber
1852 as he ,vas returning home from bi:-: store in San
Gabriel. He ,vas riding horseback, \,hen he \va=, sud-
denl
r attacked by t,yO men ,vho w'ere a"
aiting his
approach. One sprang for\varJ, and seizing the bridle
jerked the horse back upon his haunches, "hile the
other pulled the general from the sadelle and thre\\y
him violently upon the ground. Bean was a po"
erful
man, and though his assailant ,vas upou him, he ro
c
to his feet and attempted to defend himself ,vith his
knife; but he ,va;::, overpo\vered by superior dexterity,
and ,vas stabbed se,"eral times by the ruffian. \Vhell
he lay dead upon the ground he was shot by the
,,-retch, \vho rejoiced that he had destroyed the
life of one \vhose influence and \vealth had been used
in attelupts to exterminatè the cIa!:'::, he represented.

492 COUNTRY COl\Il\IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

As soon as the death of General Beau became kno,vn,
rene,ved efforts \vere nlade to rid the neighborhood of
the high\vaymen infesting it. A band of desperadoes
,vas suspected, and determined efforts made to arrest
the leaders and break up the organization. About
this tilne the Vigilance Committee of Los Angeles
caused the arrest of several J\Iexicans belonging to
Salomon Pico's band, alnong other8 one Reyes Feliz,
a young fellow" fifteen or sixteen years of age. He
\vas convicted and executed on account of his connec-
tion \yith the band. Feliz made a confession of his
crimes, including the murdering of a 1\Iexican, but
professed ignorance of General Bean's death, or of
any person accessory to it. Upon the testi1110ny
of one Ana Benites, a member of Joaquin Murieta':-;
party, \vho "ras also arrested, the death-blo\v of Gen-
eral Bean ,vas charged to Cipriano Sandoval. Ana
asserted that Cipriano confessed the lllurcler to her
imlnediately after its occurrence, and she detailed full
particulars. 1-Ier testimony also ilnplicated Benito
Lopez, and both \vere tried, pronounced guilty, and
hanged by the people. Lopez confessed to several
murders, and disclosed the spot \vhere the bodies of
his victims \vere concealed. Cipriano Sandovallnade
a fe\v relnarks just previous to his death, protesting
to the last his innocence of the murder of General
Bean. Both Feliz and Lopez seemed to feel that
they had been betrayed by Ana Benites, and advised
their cOIIJpanions not to put their faith in women.
...\.t the time of the execution of Lopez and Sandoval,
another Sonoreño ,vas also hanged. Early that Sunday
nlorning, December 12th, \vhile ,valking \vith a com-
panion on the street, he had stabbed and instantly
killed him. He ,vas soon afterward arrested, tried at
once by the people, and executed \vith the other
crinlinals at three o'clock in the afternoon. As wað
stated, Cipriano Sandoval was hanged on the charge
of the nlurder of General Bean. Five years later the
sad revelation 1\ T as lllade that he ,vas not the lllurderel'.

LOS AXG-ELES I
1854.

4:93

The real criminal, shielded by rich and influential
friends, had died in his own home, but harassed
by the terrible secret, he had revealed the truth on
his death-bed, and the 111artyred Sandoval ,vas then
kno\vn in his true character, as a simple, ignorant,
and obscure shoemaker, ,vho had worked soberly and
industriously at his trade in San Gabriel. Though
the movers in this execution \vere n1en of sound heads
and good hearts, this fatal 111istake sho\vs the neces-
sity of the utlllost caution in the use of po,,-rer.
Insecurity of life, and immorality, prevailed to an
alarming extent in Los .Angeles in the year 1854.
The mission natives had retrograded since left to
thelllselves, and continually gambled, drank, and quar-
relled with each other; so that in the mornin a ,vhen
natives ,yere found dead in the streets the Omatter
,yas not considered of sufficient importance to require
investigation. There ,vere other classes scarcely su-
perior in many respects to the natives. Ganlblillg
disputes ,,?ere of nightly occurrence, and pistol-shots
a natural consequence. A resident of Los .L
ngele

for a short time, says that ,vhile he \vas there almost
every night one murder at least \vas committed, and
often t\\"o or three, and that the ordinary lllorlling
salutation ,vas, " 'VeIl, how many persons were killed
last night?" "Only four; three Indians and one
Iex-
ican," perhaps being the reply. ""\V e have received a
letter from a citizen of Los Angeles," says the San
Francisco Herald in November of this year, "de-
claring that it is unsafe to go out after dark; and SOlne
idea may be formed of the reign of terror that pre-
yails, from the fact that he requests us to conceal his
name, a
his temerity in even c0111plaining of these
things might cause him to be victimized. If the
authorities are so inert as to permit murderers and
outlaws to run riot, \vhy do not the people of LO:5
.Angeles establish a vigilance committee and make
SOllie examples 1 San Franci
co yras once quite as

494 COUNTRY CO
IMITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

unsafe as Los Angeles, and it ,vould probably be so

till but for the decisive lneasures taken by its citizens.
We see no other cure for the dreadful condition of
Los Angeles than the organization of an energetic
vigilance cOlnlnittee. One thing is certain: nothing
cou]d be worse than its present plight, and it ,yould
therefore be safe to make the experiment." The Lo

Angeles Star;' of the 30th of November adn1its the
truth of the statement as to the condition of the city,
but denies the necessity of a vigilance committee.
Having confidence in their officers, nothing ,vas
required of the people, unless it ,vere to help the
officials - ,vhich strikes an ilnpartial observer as
somewhat absurd; for why should anarchy and riot
reign in the midst of efficient officers and good gov-
ernn1ent 1

There ,vas one David Brown, who on the 13th of
October, ,vithout provocation, killed a c0111panion
named Clifford. He ,vas arrested, legally triad, and
sentenced to be hanged \vith one Alvitre. The people
during the trial organized a IneGting, deterlnined
thelnselves to try the case of Bro\vn, but "Tere dis-
suaded by the mayor, Stephen C. Foster, ,vho ,vas
anxious to give the courts one more chance for speedy
administration of the la,v, promising that, in case the
prisoner escaped by any quibble or trick, he ,vould
resign his office at once and join the people in the
summary punishment of Bro,vn. The citizens ,vere
satisfied \vith the action of the court, and a,vaited
the execution of the la\v. But on Wednesday the
loth of January 1855, an order fronl Judge Murray
of the suprelne court \vas received, staying the execu-
tion of Brown. On Thursday evening an ilnmenso
gathering assembled at the Montgomery Saloon, ,vith
Colonel l\IcClanahan in the chair. Several speeches
\vere lTIade, among others one by l\Iayor Foster, in
,vhich he unequivocally declared himself in favor of
hanging Brown and Alvitre together. The following

IAYOR FOSTER RESIG
S.

4!):J

fron1 the Southeron Califo1'nian is an extract froJn a
lengthy article read to the 111eeting and received ,vith
en th usiastic applause:
"Citizens of Los Angeles! ' Tis for you to say whether the gross and out-
rageous partiality shall be allowed; whether you will permit so flagrant and
glaring an evidence of the omnipotence of birth and condition to operate in
widening still further the breach that already exists bet,veen our native and
foreign population, so prolific of future disaster to the community."

In speaking of the trial of Bro,vn, the editor con-
tinues:
"Our own court has done its duty manfully, unshaken by and oblivious to
all influences save those of law and justice. The trials have progressed and
ended, and richly merited punishment awarded; and our citizens, gladdened
beyond measure at this evidence of a new order of things, were looking for-
ward to a future fraught with hope and better things. "

The next afternoon, Friday, the 12th of January,
Alvitre, accompanied by Sheriff Barton ,vith a large
armed force, w
s led into the jail-yard to the gallo,vs,
,v here at three o'clock he was executed, though the
poor fellow fell to the ground from the noose untying
hefore death ensued, and "
as obliged to have the rope
readjusted and to be again suspended. Thousands of
people ,vitnessed the execution, and there wa
serious
apprehension that resistance ,vould be made to the
sheriff, ,y ho refused to deliver Bro,yn. The cannon
had been spiked on the previous night and every pre-
cautionary effect taken by the authoritie
. After the
execution of Alvitre the scaffold ,yas taken do\\rn and
the armed force disbanded. The cro,vd then gathered
outside the jail, and addresses were made urging the
seizure and execution of Bro,vn.
Iayor Foster re-
signed his office, and incited the people to proceed.
Captrin Hunter then asked all in favor of the measure
to follo,v hin1. Led by Hunter, Foster, and ::\IcClan-
ahan, the cro\yd moved on into the jail-yard and to the
cell of Brown, ,,
here ,vith axes the door ,vas battered
do\yn and the pri::,oner brought out. Another mur-
derer, conllemned to be hanged in February, ,vas in
the saIne cell, but he ,vas left Unharllled. Bro,vn ,vas

496 COUNTRY CO)!)IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

conducted to a large gate-\vay opposite the court-house,
,vhere a rope ,vas suspended froin the cross-beanl, ,vith
a chair placed underneath. While Bro\vn stood on
this some,vhat novel platform having the rope adjusted,
he kindly informed the cro\vd that they did not kno,v
ho\v to hang a man, and requested they should pern1Ït
him .to sho,v them. His cool indifference ,vas Inain-
tained to the last, when he kicked the chair fronl
beneath his feet and ,vas quickly strangled. A fe\y
days later Stephen C. Foster ,vas reëlccted by a large
vote to the position of mayor, which he had resigned
to further, as he thought, the ends of justice.

At Los Angeles a great excitement arose from the
rash shooting of Antonio Ruiz on the 19th of July
1856 by a deputy constable named Jenkins, ,vho met
with some opposition in the service of a ,vrit of exe-
cution for the sale of Ruiz's property. Jenkins sur-
rendered himself and ,vas admitted to bail. N ext day
Ruiz died, and the Spanish population \vere indigna
t
that Jenkins, ,vhon1 they regarded as a 111urderer-for
Ruiz ,vas a quiet, \vell behaved man, and had not given
the officer sufficient provocativn to justify him in the
killing-should be at large. On application by the
district attorney to Judge Hayes, Jenkins was incar-
cerated, but the people had by this time become so
excited that they threatened the jail.
Ruiz's funeral ,vas the largest that had ever taken
place in Los Angeles. After the services ,vere con-
cluded, the Ílnn1ense cro,vd convened near the grave
,vas addressed by a Frenchman and others, ,vho threat-
ened vengeance on the Alnericans. Their threats
,vere of such a character that the citizens ,vere noti-
fied and active preparations made for self-defence.
The follo,ving extract from an affidavit, subsequently
made by Judge Willialn G. Dryden, sho,vs clearly
what apprehensions ,vere entertained: "About four
o'clock on Tuesday, July 22d, a Californian came to
Iny residence in the city of Los Angeles and told

THE CITY THREATEXED.

497

111e he had just learned that on that Tuesday night
after eight o'clock an attack 111ight be expected in
the city by the Sonorians, in connectioll ,,
ith the
French and son1e Dutch; that they 'v ere about six
hundred strong, and that if I ,vi shed to saye 1l1Y life
I had better take 111Y horse and conceal n1y
elf 011
SOU1e rancho; that they had just attempted to take
his horse, but desisted ,,?hen he told then1 it ,vas yery
tired, being just froll1 a rancho. Thi
Californian said
that the object of the attack ,vab to destroy all the
..L-1-ll1ericans; he said nothing about the attack on the
jail. He told 111e that he Inade this communication
because he felt to,vard Ine like a brother. For four
or fiye nights I could hear the
Ie
icans riding about
the street
singing their rrfroJì.es, the burdell of ,vllÎch
,vas of \var, repeating the ,yord ..ll}}
ericano; could fre-
quently also hear the ,yord i'cngan:a."
Ill1111ediately upon receiying the above inforn1ation
froll1 the Californian, Judge Dryden called on Judge
Hayes, and together they yi
ited a con1n1ittee repre-

enting the assen1blag-e at the cemetery. The judges,
accon1panied by thi
cOlnn1ittee, ,vent to the jail, ,y l1Ích
they found surrounded by :\Iexicans. The
heriff'

and the judges' pron1Íses quieted the people, and they
dispersed. On the follo,,"ing Il1orlling, J ellkins ,vas
brought before J udge Haye
for prelin1Ïnary exan1Ì-
nation. In \vTiting of this affair the judge says:
"Thirty 111en arn1cd ,yith muskets insisted upon guard-
illO
the court-house. Thus I had to sit on thi:.;
o
occasion \vith soldiers on the outside and this S
llne
cOIUlnittée occupying the jury-box, to see, as I under-
stood, that the judge did justice. ...1.11 other persons
"
ere excluded. The judge and prisoner, his attorney
and \yitnesses, one feature of the picture; soldiers on
the left, a con1n1ittee, to all intents and purposes, OIl
the riO'ht." That evenill0' after the fornlalitics \vere
ð ð
concluded, jUdgCR Haycs and Drytlen attelnptcd to
invcstiO'ate nlattel'S, yi;3itin o ' :\Icxicans for this l )ur-
ð o.
pose, but no inforlnation could Le obtauled. They
POP. TRIll., VOL. I. 32

498 COUNTRY CO
I
iITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

beaan to think the alarm \vas ,vithout foundation,
wl
en the bright moonlight suddenly discovered the
rendezvous, on the hill, of a large force. Only,vaiting
long cnough to secure for his family a place of safety,
,vhere already Inany families had congregated, J udgo
Hayes joined the citizens ,vho had armed and organ-
ized. All through the night the citizens \vere on the
alert; horselnen were galloping up and do,vn the
streets, carrying lllessages back and forth fron1 one
section of the town to another. They \vould not be
the aggressors, but were prepared to be lllerciless in
their retribution if once attacked. About midnight,
while ßfarshal Getman, ,vith a company of footlnen,
,vas riding near the hill, 'v here some t,vo or three
hundred of the belligerents ,vere assclnbled, he was
attacked and obliged to retreat.. Afterward four
Mexicans shot at hilll, and he fell; then they rode by,
firing at him as he lay upon the ground. The attack
having been n1ade, the military ,vere ordered to the
plaza, but, inefficiently organized, they ,vere some tillle
in reaching the spot. The insurgents in the lnean
time disbanded; their patriotic ardor and their vindic-
tive purposes seenled to have been sunk into oblivion
froln excessive drink, and there was no further delnon-
strati on Inade by them that night.
The citizens on the following day received reën-
forcements fron1 EI 1fonte, and strong nlÎlitary po,ver
,vas secured. There ,vas a feverish excitement for
SOlne days, but \vith the militia ready for action, if
needed, the fears of the people at last subsided.
The exalnination of Jenkins by Judge Hayes 1:e-
suIted in his being sent to the grand jury for trial,
\vith bail fixed at three thousand dollars. At his
final trial he was exonerated fronl blame and released.

For many months Los Angelos County was vic-
timized by organized banditti, probably one hundred
in number. They threatened the exterll1Ïnation of
the Americans, and a \var of races secIIled about to be

A LA.RGE BAXD OF ROBBERS.

499

inaugurated.
Iany ineffectual attelupts had been
made for the arrest of the leader
of the gang,

hich
was at last accomplished by the sacrifice of some of
the lives of Los Angeles' best citizens. In January
1857 one Garnet Hardy started for San Juan ,vith a
fine team of four American horses. He reached his
destination in safety, but ,vas told that the banditti
,vere in that vicinity and were more reckless than
ever, and that he could not return alive. Hardy
sent this information to his brother in Los ....\.ngeles,
\vhereupon a party "
as organized by Sheriff J. R.
Barton to start in pursuit of their much coveted prey.
\Villiam H. Little, Charles !{. Baker, Charles F.
Daley, Frank Alexander, and Alfred Hardy volun-
teered their services, and an unarmed Frenchman
acted as guide. In the mean time the banditti \yere
committing robberies and murders in a most defiant
manner. Seyeral instances might be given, but one
,viII suffice: They entered the house and store of
George Flughardt, 1vhere they at once brutally mur-
dered the proprietor, and then, 'v hile securing their
plunder, ordered Flughardt's assistant to serve them
a good supper, which they ate with a relish ,vhile the
body of their hapless victim lay outstretched before
them.
On Friday morning the 23d of January 1857, the
sheriff and his little force arrived at Sep(ùveda's rancho,
,vhere the Frenchman had been etnployecl many years
as vaquero. From the
Iexicans he learned that fifty
of the banditti \vere at that tilne among the moun-
tains, and that an attack upon them ,vould be sure
death to the Americans. Nothing daunted they
dashed 011, for they \yere cloHe upon their prey, ,,"hose
numbers they thought were undoubtedly exaggerated.
Having advanced about t\yelve miles, at a spur of
the San Joaquin Rancho )Iountains a man ,va
seen
galloping rapidly a,vay. Little and Baker rode for-
,varcl to keep him in sight, \vhen a band of tw"enty
men rushed out from bet,veen the hills and fired upon

300 COUNTRY CO
I)IITTEE:-:; OF VIGILAXCE.

and killed then!. Barton and the others rode quickly
for,yard, but ,vere at once surrounded. The four
charged valiantly upon the ro1)1>ors, ,vhose over,vheln1-
ing nUlnhers soon ended all resistance, not, ho,vever,
until three of the banditti had fallen. Hardy and
Alexander alono escaped; they recognized thcir dan-
ger, and o,ving to the superior fleetne
s of their horHÜ8
eluded pursuit.
Infornlation of the disaster ,vas at once conveyed
to Ell\Ionte and Los Angeles. On the follo,ving day
the bodie
of the four n1en ,verc found. Thcy had
evidently been fired upon after death. Their ,vatchcs
,yere gone an(} all their pockets clnpty.
Sheriff Barton ,vas one of the bravest and 1110st
conscientious of Los Angele
' officials. His life had
been endangered 111any tilnes, but his duty ,vas never
neglected on account of personal danger. Three years
previous, 'v hen Bro,vn ,vas in his custody, he valiantly
refused to deliver hÌ1u to the people, though froul hi

,vill, discovered after his death, it ,vas seen by the
date, January 11, 1854, the night previous to the
exccution of Al vitre, that he realized that his life ,vas
jeopardized. Barton and his associates ,vere eulogized
by the local press as al110ng the noblest and 11lOst
respected of their fello,v -citizens.
Deliberate action ,vas taken for the arrest of the
ruffians. I t ,vas deterillined that a large COTI1pany
should be fornled, an(l, divided into detaclllnents,
should attack the robbers in their ll10untain fast-
nesses. One division ,vas COIllposed of Ell\10nte Ulen,
t,ycnty-six in nUluber, cOlllluanded by Bethcl Coop-
,vood; another ,vas of native Californians under COIll-
Inand of Andrés Pico, ,vho, starting fro In Los Angeles
,vith nineteen Ulen, ,vas reöllforced at Pio Pico'

rancho and else,vhere, so that he had a COlnpany of
fifty 111ell in all. tIe also secured the yaluable services
of forty-five nativcf4, \vith their captain, l\Ianuelito,
Ly ,vhose aid the nlountain passes ,yere effectually
guarded. The third COlnpany ,vas under cOlnlllalld

SEÅRCH FOR B

L>ITTI.

:>01

of James Thompson, and nUlubered origillaIly t\vcnty-
seyen 11len; like,,-i
e Thompson received the coöpera-
tion of United States troops froln Fort Tejon, which
he
tationed most advantageously at San Fernando
Pas
, Simi Pa');:" S
orpioll Rancho, and on the luain
Santa Bárbara road.
The fir
t ::, tep taken hy ....\.ndrés Pico ,va
to send
native
p ies into the nlountain
to discover the hidinO'-
ð
place;:, of the robbers. Acting in concert ,,""ith EI
)Ionte men, their force nUlnbered over one hundred.
The spie
returned and reported the camp bituated at
the head of the Caílada de Santiago, and that if an
assault could at once be made the ,,
hole band ,,-auld
be captured. It being a dark night, they ".ere
obliged to ,vait until early morning, ".hen as they
,,-ere Jllaking an adyance they sa,y Juan Flores
,vatching their nlovements from an o\erhangillg rock.
He ,,-as beyond the reach of attack, and pruceeded
on farther and higher ,yith his nlen, of ,y hOlll all
but t\lro ,yere on horseback. The mountains in ,vhich
t1fe )Iexican
had taken refuge Y
-ere alnlo
t inaccessible
e,-en on foot, and ,vhile the .....-\..nlericans \yere follo,ving,
they "ere eluding pursuit hy nlost reckle
:.; daring.
Juan Flores, J esus E
pinosa, and Leonardo Lopez, on
mounted horses, :-,lid dO\Yll a precipice to a kind of
projecting ledge fifty feet belo,,-, ,,
here, abandoning
their animals, Ly the aid of bru
h gro,ving upon an
almo
t perpendicular ,,-all, they descended five hundred
feet. l'hen escaping into an adjacent nlountain, they
continued their course through den
e chaparral. Fran-
cisco ..L.\..rdillero and J nan SiIYa
, afraid to undertake
the de'-'perate yenture of their leaders, ,yere captured
by the guard"5. .
The trail of Flores and his con1panion
"
as di
co\--
ered. Seeing that they ,,-ere pursued, they concealed
thenlsel YC
in a cave in the CaÙada, but overpo\\
erecl
by nUlnbcrs they ,,-ere at last captured on SunJay,
Februar'
1 -.,t, aud taken to the rancho of Teodocio
Y orha, .;ix 11lilc:-; distant.

502 COU1\"'"TRY COM
nTTEES OF VIGILA.i
CE.

The glad ne,vs of their capture was quickly fol-
lowed by the exasperating intelligence of their escape.
It seems that, though bound and under guard, they
slipped away in the darkness of midnight, and not-
,vithstanding their flight was immediately discovered
they were once again free men.
The disposition of Thon1pson's party has already
been mentioned. On the following Tuesday, February
3d, a l\fexican searching for \vater was suddenly ac-
costed at Simi Pass by t,vo soldiers, who \yith levelled
guns ordered hiln to dismount, ,vhich he at once did.
His horse was a llliserable mustang, and the man un-
arnled. In reply to questions he gave his name as
Sanchez, from San Fernando mission, and said that
he ,vas hunting horses. Upon being taken into camp
he ,vas recognized as the redoubtable Juan Flores.
His companions escaped for the time, but retribution
eventually overtook lllost of the banc1. Flores \vas
\vounded in the right arm by his o\vn gun, ,vhich ex-
ploded ,vhen leaping over the precipice. Mr. Thomp-
son brought his prisoner to the jail at Los Angeles.J
attending hin), at his o,vn request, to his cell. The
sight of the assembled people seemed to destroy his
self-possession, \vhich. ,vas regained, however, ,vhen he
found hilllself in the hands of the law.
At the tilne of Flores' escape from the guard on
Sunday night, Andrés Pico becanle alarnled for the
safety of his prisoners, Silvas and Ardillero, and de-
tern1ined upon their immediate execution. They 'vere
hanged about t\venty n1iles from the place of their
capture. Many hardships ,vere endured by the vol-
unteer corps in their hazardous undertaking. They
\vere eleven days searching the country for the fugi-
tives. Fifty-t\vO Inen \vere captured and lodged in the
I-ioS Angeles jail, and these once formidablc banditti,
at last rendered po,verless, ,vere disbanded. All of
those arrested were tried, but little could be proved
against them, and the larger part of the prisoners
were di
charged for want of evidence. The lllost

WHOLESALE HAXGIXG.

503

prolninent among the criminals executed ,vas J uau
Flores. After a ,veek's imprisonment the people a
-
sembled to decide his fate. It ,,,,as proposed that he
should be immediately executed, to \vhich suggestion
the crowd gave its unqualified approbation. )Iean-
,vhile several persons mounted a platforlll and ha-
rangued the people, advising them to execute at the
same time three
Iexicans, two of ,vhom had robbed
a horseman in the Tejon, the third having attempted
his assassination. This proposition was subjected to
vote, resulting in a small majority in favor of leaving
them to the disposition of the courts.
The people no,y directed their ,,'"ay to the prison,
,vhere Flores awaited his fate. He was a young man of
prepossessing appearance, and but twenty-t\VO years
of age. Dressed in black coat, light vest, and \vhite
pants, and with aspect subdued, there was nothing to
indicate the formidable desperado of a fortnight ago.
He ackno\v ledged his blood-guiltiness, but said that
Pancho Daniel ,vas the leader of the gang rather
than he. Two priests accompanied the prisoner to
the scaffold, ,vhich was erected on the hill, a quarter
of a mile distant, ,vhere an immense crowd had con-
gregated. Companies of l\Ionte n1en, Californians
and Frenchmen, mounted and on foot, \vere prepared
to enforce order if necessary. Flores preserved a
calm demeanor to the last; he himself adjusted the
rope, which unfortunately was badly done, causing him
much suffering.

On the 2d of February a young felIo,," of but
eighteen, Jesus Espinosa, ,vas captured and executed
at Santa Bárbara. He ,vas one of Flores' confeder-
ates, escaping pursuit as before described. He freely
confessed to Father Serrano his guilt.
Another of the gang, one Berryesa, was also hanged
a day or t\yO later by the people. He had been exe-
cuted, a
,vas supposed, in Santa Clara County, and
his body delivered to his friends, who, ho,veyer, had

304 COUKTRY CO
I
IITTEES OF VIGILA
CE.

effected his resuscitation. Since then he had COlll-
luitted other 111urders. The ll1arks of the rope about
hiB ncck ,vere plainly vi
ible at the tilne of his final
execution.
On the 29th of January, l\Iiguel Soto and others
attacked Cyrus Sanford at San Gabriel l11Ï

:Úon.
Sanford returned the fire, shooting Soto in the thigh.
Soto then took refuge in the 111arsh near by, covering
his body ,yith ,,"eeds and mud. Several citizens no\\"
caIne to Sanford's assistance, and setting fire to the
\vecdB S0011 cxpoHed Soto to vie\v. He \vas at once
:-;hot. Hi
cOlnpanions \vere subsequently arrested.
They \vere nalned J ua11 Valenzuela, Pedro Lopez, and
Diego Navarra. These banditti 'v ere an10ng the fir
t
on \v horn fell vengeance for Sheriff Barton's death.
They \vere led out to be hanged, but the rope proving
too short they ,vere shot.

The citizens of Los Angeles ,vere no lesB surpriBed
than delighted to see the carcass of the notorious bandit
Pancho Daniel hanging in the gate-\vay of the jail-
yard on the lnorning of the 30th of N oveinber 1858.
By his band four of Sheriff Barton's l)osse, ill Ull-
dertaking their capture, had Leen killed ncarly t\VO
years before, as already (lescribed. A re,var<l of
t\venty-five hundred dollars had been offered by Gov-
ernor Johnson for his arrest, and fifteen hundred
dollars additional by the citizens. On the 1 !Jth of
January 1858 he. ,vas captured by the sheriff, \\Tho
found hin1 in a hay-stack near San J osé. After hið
arrest part of the tilne he was confined in prison and
part of the tilne at large on bail; he had undergone
three atten1pteù trials in the courts, anù the last
1110Ve ,vas a change of venue to Santa Bárbara; in
other ,vords, the la,v had concluded to let the robber
loose.
The patience of the people \vas exhausted. It \va:-;
Hilnply infamous, this prostitution of the la\v by its
lninisters for the su bseryience of their o,vn
elfish

THE C.à.SE OF P AXCHO DA..
IEL.

.305

ends. A hundred ù\vollings 111Ïght burn, a hundred
travellers 11light be stopped upon the high\vay, so that
the pettifogger secured his fee and the judge hi
sal-
ary. Of the greatest advantage to thieves was such
ac1nlinistration of 1:1 \v: better far for thenl than if
there had been no law. For if no la\v against stealing
existed all the \vorld \vollld turn thieves, and there
\vould be no ODe left to steal fronl. As it is, all the
robber nlust needs do is to steal enough, then divide
the plunder \\?ith his attorneJ, and he is free. The
exactions of the la,,?, bO far as he is concerned, are
only a protective tariff ,vhich secures him against
ruinous opposition in his business.
The people of Los Angeles concluded that the farce
had lasted about long enough; su one night about
t\VO hundred anJ t,,?enty of them 111et and resolved
that before the sun rose acrain the Pancho Daniel
ð
venue ,,"ould be changed to a point farther a\vay than
Santa Bárbara.
Luckily the sheriff \vas absent hunting Andl'és
Fontes, one of Daniel's band, ,,?ho had been seen
IlirkinQ' in that vicinity. ...A.ttention
eaerally \vas at-

v
v
tracted ili other directions. There \vas Banning's He\V
stealll yacht frol1l San Francisco, and quite a C
j
(ònurse
of people, accompanied by the brass band, had h. 'llt.; to
San Pedro to celebrate its arrival. An ellligrant train
had just conle ill. Then there \yore lllany st
'>allger
in
to\vn on their \vay to and fron1 the Gila luines, \\?hose
conversation dre\y attention to,vard that quarter.
Part of the t\yO hundred and t\venty thought they

hould enjoy sleeping in a corral near the jail; so they
tried it. The others, fascinated by the charnls of an
early sen1Ï-tro I )ical nlornincr, rose before the bl'eak of

ð
day antI strolled to\vard the jail, common attractions

cenlingly lying in that direction. But just before
reaching the spot ,vhither they tended, singulal'l
r
enough they all disappeared, vanished into thin air;
so that "hen the old luethodical jailer just at da\vu,
as ,vas his custom, appeared \vith his basket on the

506

COUNTRY COM
IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

,yay to market, not a soul was to be seen. Before he
had taken t\venty steps, ho\vever, froln the gate \vhich
he had just carefully locked, Inany \vere to be seen.
He thought he saw a thousand, but there ,vere only
t\VO hundred and t,venty.
The old jailer at once permitted himself to be over-
po,vered by nUlnbers, and the key to be gently ,vrested
from him by the courteous though resolute citizens.
The la,v loves verbiage, and this limb of it \vished the
outrage to be consummated in every particular, though
,vith whatsoever degree of gentleness and affability
the outragers should please. The t\VO hundred and
t,venty, ,vith the key in their hand and the jailer their
prisoner, had but to finish their \vork, ,vhich they did
so quietly as not to disturb the morning sleep of any
in Los Angeles. Commenting upon another case, the
Los Angeles Star of October 19, 1861, says:

"'Ve have ever been, and still are opposed to mob law; but if ever an
occasion can arise when the righteous indignation of a people will prompt them
to the instant punishment of an enormity whose hellish atrocity appalls the
stoutest heart and shocks the moral sensibilities of the most obdurate or the
most obtuse, the present is that occasion. Here is the story: A young man,
a Californian named Francisco Cota, living with his mother on Spring street,
was observed sharpening a knife, and in reply to a question as to its in-
tended use, he said he wanted it to cut up meat with. On the following day,
Thursday, he entered the grocery store of Lorenzo Leck, and gave an order to

irs Leck, who was alone at the time, her husband and his clerk being away
for the day. As she turned to obtain the goods, Cota stepped up and struck
her on the neck with his knife, almost severing the head from the body.
Then stabbing her again two or three times, he fled, covered with her blood.
Some few minutes elapsed before the murder was discovered, although perpe-
trated in the middle of the forenoon and in a populous neighborhood. The
alarm was given by a little daughter of Mrs Leck, but five years of age, who
ran into a neighbor's house, frightened and crying, with her baby-brother
clinging in terror to her hand. The child said her mamma was on the floor
with her head cut off. As soon as the dreadful truth became known thorough
search was made for the murderer. He was found in a house near the mili-
tary camp, under a bed j his knife was discovered, concealed between the
mattresses, and his bloody clothing marked his guilt. He was placed in a
wagon and conveyed to the jail, the greatest difficulty being experienced in
preventing his seizure by the people. A public meeting was held in the
afternoon, handbills having been issued asking the citizens to meet at the
Lafayette Hotel at three o'clock. A committee, appointed for the purpose,

IORE H.A,XGING.

;)07

waited upon the authorities, who promised an immediate examination. The
prisoner was at once brought before Justice Peterson, who, allowing him until
ten o'clock the next morning to procure counsel, ordered his removal to jail.
As the officers with the prisoner were emerging from the court-room, they
'Were surrounded and seized by a crowd, and hurried off to Alameda sheet,
meeting with some resistance on the way from citizens who undertook to
rescue the prisoner, repeatedly cutting the rope with which he was bound.
Their efforts were unavailing, as the lifeless body of Francisco Cota, suspended
from the cross-bar of a gate-way, soon attested. No reason could be assigned
for the murder, perpetrated coldly and with premeditation, upon a woman
who had never injured or even provoked him, to anyone's know ledge. "

John Rains ,vas a prominent resident of Chino, San
Bernardino County. He "Tas estimated to be worth
t\yO hundred thousand dollars, and owned the Comongo
Rancho. On the 17th of November 1862, as he ,,?as
travelling alone and unarmed, he encountered several
men, one of whom inquired "There he 'Ya
going.
Rains replied, "To town." "I think not; we'ye got
you no\\'" I" ,vas the rejoinder, and immediately he \yas
fired upon by the assassins, ,yho jerked him from hi

horse by one arm. As he ,,-as still able to make re-
sistance, they lassoed him and dragged him across the
róad into the bushes, "There his body ,vas after\vard
found, bearing marks of most brutal treatment, hi

clothing torn off, and one boot lost in the struggle.
The murder ,yas committed for the sake of plunder.
Upon suspicion of participation in this crime, Jlanuel
Ceredel ,vas arrested. Taken ill ".ith small-pox, and
thinking hinlself about to die, Ceredel disclosed all
the particulars of the conspiracy against Rains, in
consequence of "Thich several parties started in pursuit
of his confederates, arresting five or six, ,,
ho were
identified by Ceredel. Recovering somewhat unex-
pectedly, Ceredel ,vas tried and sentenced to ten years
in the state-prison, a decree that did not satisfy the
people. '\Thile in the hands of the sheriff, on board
the steamboat Cricket, en J"oute for San Quentin, the
prisoner ,yas seized by the \Tigilance COlnmittee of Los
Angeles and hanged to the yard-arm. After remain-
ing there for about t,venty minutes, the body ,vas

30S COUXTRY CO
L'IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

taken do\vn,
onle stones ,vere tied to the feet, and it
,vas thro\vn overboard. Bet\veen betrayed cOlllrade"s,

lnall-pox, state-prison, and vigilance, further residencp
011 t.his planet seen1ed for Ceredel ilnpossible.
()n the 5th of February 1864 Santiago Sauehez
\yas hanged for the 111urder of Manuel Gonzalez. He
adrnitted his guilt, but protested that his arrest and
execution ,vere to gratify the spite of AmeriC'ans
\v ho suspeC'ted hinl of the 111urcler of John Rains, a
charge of \vhich he \vas innocent. In June 1864 J o
é
Ranlon Carrino, ,vhile riding \vith a Californian on
the high,vay near the stage station Cucamongo, \vas
shot by a l11an in anlbush, \vIto escaped ,vithout having
been seen. The cause of the co\vardly assassination
"Tas attributed to the suspicion that had al \vays been
entertained that he ,vas accessory to the 111urder of
John Rains in Novelnber 1862. Although he had
t \vice surrendered hin1self to the authorities for trial,
hi
exalnination and release did not ren10ve the feeling
entertained by the friends of Rain8, and Carrillo had
felt his life endangered ever after,vard. His assassin
,vas never kno\vn.

On the 15th of N ovenlber 1863 an affray occurred
on the streets of Los Angeles, \vhen officer '-HeRter, in
endeavoring to 111ake an arrcst, ,vas brutally beaten by
a notetl high,yaynlall, Boston Danle\Vood, \v ho \vas
a
sistcd by his allies. The next lllorning the sheriff
\vith his l)osse arrested five desperate characters, but
in doing so \vas fired upon by their friends. In the
fight that ensued one of the ruffianH \va
kill
d and
another \younded. The n31nes of the priboners "Tere
Boston Danle"Tood, J osé Olivas, Chase, \V ood, and
Ibarra. Each had a history of crin1e. Daule,yood,
the Inost notorious, \vas at one tinle on the police
force in Los Al1O'cles. LeayinO' the l )rofessioll of de-
o ð
tecting crinlo for the 1110re alluring one of cOlnnlittillg
it, he proceeded to Colorado and there 111urdered a
n1Ïner, frolll \VhOlll he obtained a large SUll1 of 1110noy.

THE HERO \YILKL,S.

.309

..,A.t the time of hi
arrest a conlmittee from La Paz
"
a:5 appointed to bring hinl to their territory, \vhere
his cri1l1e could ea
ily be proved. The seconll in order
of vice "
as OliYa
, undoubtedly the murderer of one
John S.rl\
ester at Tejon seve
aI years before. He
\va:-: tried at the time, and though the circul11stantial
evidence again
t hin1 \\9as of the
trongest character,
he \yas acquitted. His
ub
equent career stalllped hilll
an unconscionable villain. The third, named Chase,
\yas a notorious horse-thief, \yhose arrest had been
long predetern1Íned. '\T ood and Ibarra \vere high-
,vaymen recently released from pri
on.
Judge Hayes receiyed intimation that the people
had threatened to take the prisoners from the jail anll
e
ecute theIne .L
ccordingly he i
sued a call for addi-
tional aid frolll the local and military authol'itie
.
Before his request could be complied ,,
ith the jail
"
a-; surrounded on the
1st of
ovelnLer by t\yO
hundred arillecl citizens, \vho forced the iron door:-; and
seized the five prisoners above nlentioned. Leading
tllen1 to the corridor in front of the old court-houðe,
over the beanìs of \v hich rope
had been placed, they
hanged them all.

John Sanford, a prominent citizen of Los

ngeles
County, -while riding in a buggy to his bheep-ranch
on the 6th of December 1863, overtook t\VO pede=---
trians, one of ,,
hom, Charle
""'lIkins, had been e111-
ployed for
everal nlonth
in the vicinity of Fort
Tejon a
sheep-herder. Sanford "'poke to "Tilkins, and
engaged his ser,
ices on the spot; taking hÜn into hi

buggy, he proceeded on hi
journey. After riding a
fe\\" miles Sanford stepped from the buggy, leaying hi

loaded pistol lying on the
eat. "Tilkins pi
kcd up
the \veapon, seemingly suggestiye of unprelueditated
crin1e, and \vhilc the o\yner's back \va
turned shot
hint dead. Then rifling his pocket
, he lllounted one
of the hor
es and rode off A \Yeek after '\Tilkins \va::;
captured at Santa Bárbara and brought to Los Ån-

510 COUNTRY Co
r
IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

geles ,vhere he '
as legal1y tried. He ,vas indicted
before a special grand jury; and \vhile being brought
into court for trial before Judge Hayes, a brother of
Sanford attempted to shoot him. Assassination failing,
\Vilkins pleaded guilty, and at the conclusion of the
trial, in \v hich he ,vas convicted of murder in the first
degree, the court-house \vas ordered cleared, and the
prisoner remanded to jail to receive his sentence the
llext morning. The people, apprehensive of his pos-
sible escape, Inade a rush into the court-house, and
taking the prisoner in to their custody, carried hin1 to
Banning's corral, where they hanged hiln at a gate-
\vay.
rhis ,vas the seventh n1an within a lnonth
\vho had been executed by the Vigilance Comlnittee
of Los Angeles. The confession made by Wilkin

soon after his arrest gives indubitable proof of hi

diabolical character. He said that he killed Sanford,
thinking he Inight have SOlne Inoney; he did not
kno,v that he had any, but took the chances, and se-
cured only t,venty dollar.s. In reply to the question if
his conscience troubled him, he said, "No; I have
killed eight other men, and think no more of killing a
luan than a dog." He stated that he was an English-
ll1an, and that his parents ,vere 1\Iormons, living at
Salt Lake. He ,vas but seventeen years of age \vhen
he committed his first murder. 1-1e was ilnplicated in
the l\fountain l\1eado\vs massacre, in which he ob-
tained several thousand dollars. After\vard he killed
one Blackburn, getting his n10ney and mules. Wilkins
,vas a noted horse-thief: He stated that he and t,vo
companions ,vere pursued by a party fronl Los An-
geles and San Bernardino t\VO years before, ,vho
follu\ved them through Cañon Pass, overtook them,
and recovered forty horses. His cOlnpanions \vere
captured and sent to the state-prison, but Wilkins
escaped to the mountains, and then ,vent in pursuit
of further prey. A series of crimes resulted in his
arrest at San Luis Obispo, and subsequent confine-
ment in the state-prison. He ,vas the leader of sev-

A NE". COJl
IITTEE FOR LOS A...
GELES. 511

eral in breaking from the prison, and helped to hold
Lieutenant-governor Chellis before the guns to pre-
vent being fired upon by the guard. He ,vas near
Yreka in 186
, ,vith a l\fexican ,vho had escaped from
prison ,vith him, ,vhen they met two men, one of
",,.hom ,vas a drover named Carr. These men they
proposed to kill and rob. \Vilkins said he ,yould shoot
Carr, ,vhom they supposed carried the most money,
for, he boasted, "I never miss IllY man." The )Iexi-
can bungled his job badly, shooting four or fiye times
and then permitting the man to escape. :N evorthe-
less they obtained three thousand dollars from the
body of Carr, and eyaded detection.
About six "reeks before his final arrest \Vilkins ,vas
at the Bella Union Hotel in Los Angeles, where he
stole a revolver and a knife, ,vhich he gave to a young
man named \V oods and told hin1 to go out on the
road and earn his living ,vith them rather than hang
about the dance-houses doing nothing. \V oods ,vent,
but his career was a short one; for he, ,,-ith an acconl-
pUce, Ibarra, was arrested by the \Tigilance COlliulittee
and executed with three others, as before Inentioned.

\Vhile
fichael Lachenai lay in prison for the
murder of Jacob Bell and other villainies ,vhich he
was kno,vn to have committed, the ,rigilance Com-
mittee of Los Angeles assembled at Sterne Hall to
the nUlnber of three hundred. This ,vas the Inorning
of the 17th of December 1870. It did not take thelll
long to agree unanirl10usly that Lachenai should be
hanged, and that inl111ediately. At eleven o'clock the
conlmittee proceeded in three divisions to the jail.
On their ,yay, as they luarched through the streets,
they ,vere joined by about a thousand citizens, \vho
encouraged them by their unqualified approbation.
A half hour ,vas consluned in battering do,vn the jail-
doors. Then entering the cell of Lachenai, they threw
a rope round his neck and led hin1 to a place t,vo
squares distant, ,vhere they hanged him. He ,vas pre-

51

COUNTRY COM
lITTEES OF '
GILANCE.

yiously allo\ved to 111ake a fe,v remarks, ,vhen he con-
fessed his guilt, but expressed no contrition. The
sheriff and his officers Inade all possible resistance,
but could not obtain the coöperation of any of the
citizens, as all ,vere in sympathy ,vith the Vigilance
COllllllittee. Thi
,vas the first iluportant action taken
by a ne,vly organized \Tigilance COll1mittee, ,vhich
,Y<1S fõrlned that month, ,vith Signouret as president.
Though at so late a date, ,vhen justice had been ad-
lllinisterecl in their courts for a quarter of a century,
it ,vas C0111posed of over five hundred of the best and
1l10St influential citizens in the place. In a card \vhich
they puLlished they defincd their position and pur-
pose in the follo,ving ter1l1S:

" Our object in thus associating together is not to inaugurate mob law, as
we most sincerely regret the necessity that compelled the organization. 'Ve
do, however, now that the society has been organized, intend to protect the
life and property of innocent persons to the best of our ability; and whenever,
in our judgment, after mature deliberation and without haste, any assassin
has been set free where the evidence should have convicted him, then, and
not till then, shall we meddle ,yith the course of the law. 'Ye are not
actuated by any blood-thirsty motives. Our actions are Lasea upon the
principles of humanity and justice, and we do not intend to depart from them;
and while we, as law-abiding citizens, are in duty bound to venerate the laws
under which we live, and be subordinated to the government, we callnot anù
will not submit to incompetency and imbecility in those who have been placed
in power to administer these laws; and in the carrying-out of those stern reso-
lutions we pledge our lives, our property, and our hOlloI'. "

Others took a very different vie,v of the lnatter, as
the follo\ving froln the Oakland T1"CtnScrÏjJt t.estifies:

"A communication in the Los Angeles .1Vews, in answer to the recent pro-
nunciamento of the Vigilance Committee organized there, thus comes out upon
the :Regulators: 'Is it ri 6 ht in the sight of God or man for any set of men to
l'mnd together to commit lllul'ller? If the committee ,,,,ished to bring offend-
ers to justice, they should have organized unùer the law, and in aid of its
administration. :l\loral reformers should not set all morals and all law, human
and ùi\-ine, at defiance. III thcir first manifesto the committee say in sub-
stance that they do not intend to tal.:e any further action unless, after trial
hy the courts, there is a failure of justice. Decidedly not! That is, after
trial in the district Hnd supreme courts a party is tried and acquitted of the
char::;e of homicide or other crime, a committee of confessed lllurùerers .will
sit in judgment of the case and reverse tile' decision) and hang the accused

LA \V M\ì) THE PEOPLE.

313

and acquitted ü the judgment of the courts does not square with their ideas
of right and law. Surely a blood-stained Daniel has come to judgment. If
an honest jury and learned judge mistake the law, is society any safer in the
hands of an ignorant association of green-grocers? If a learned judge en'S, it
is not very probable that he will be improved upon by a dealer in old clothes,
or that the old-clothes man will be any more honest than a S\Torn juror. It
was poor policy for the committee to court discussion in the public press.
They are tolerable stranglers but very bad logicians. The sooner they hide
themselves from the light of day the safer they will be. '"

These vie,vs accord with the opinion of a large and
highly respectable class in the community, but it seems
to n1e comprehensive and candid research points to
different conclusions. Situation and circumstances
are too often lost sight of. Setting these aside in
the present instance, and regarding the question in
the abstract, is it right to band to commit murder?
that is to say, to execute capital punishment? De-
cidedly yes. The judge upon the bench is but the
representatiye of men banded together to "commit
murder;" the jury, in this sense, band to commit
murder. The la,v is but a machine made by the people;
if it works ,yell, so much the better for all concerned.
Those "\vho made it rejoice in the perfection and effi-
ciency of their handi\vork as Inuch as anyone; if it
fails in its purpose it is folly stubbornly adhering to it
to the demoralization or destruction of society. In
order to the right comprehension of this subject, the
superstition of the fixedness and fatality of forms c:
la"
, amounting to unapproachable, untouchable neces-
sity, must be dispelled. Those ,vho made the 1 a,,"
have the right at any moment, formally or informally,
legally or illegally, to abrogate it. The necessity to
adopt extreme Ineasures is al,vays to be deplored, is
al \vays deplored most of all by those resorting to it.
But if they have not th.e right to thro,y aside 3,
worthless luachine, then the machine is greater, more
inexorable and divine than the maker, which i;--;
absurd. That district and supreme courts arc beyonù
the comprehension or control of the people is but
another form of the same superstition. Judges and
POP. Tnm., VOL. I. 33

514 COUNTRY COßi)IITTEES OF VIGILANCE.

juries are proverbially uncertain and liable to error.
The people, acting en 'fnctsse, are like,vise subject to
Inistake; but the people, being sovereign, are un-
restricted by forms which too often hamper judges
and trammel justice. If the people are sovereign at
all, they are sovereign al,vays; if they have the right
to make la\vs, they have the right to suspend or annul
them, formally or informally, if they possess the po\ver
and inclination to do so. The peop1 e arc sovereign,
yesterday, to-day, and forever. God invests then1 with
this authority, and that ,vithout intervention of pope
or potentate. I t is better to have a settled policy in
everything and ,vork up to it; if the policy is bad
change it, ,vithout interference \vith custom and habit
if practicable, but if necessary at once and arbitrarily.

CHAPTER XXX.

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

Like one that on a. lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, haying once turned round, walks on
And turns no more his head,
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

Coleridge.

N OTWITHSTA
DIXG the strength and dignity given
to justice by the more calm but no less determined
tribunals of the larger cities, n10bocracy ,,"as still the
almost universal remedy throughout the mining and
agricultural districts. :\Iuch machinery ,vas out of
p1ace ,vhere there ,vere no jail
, and there ,vas a
directness about the business most refreshing when a
criminal was caught, tried, and executed all within an
hour.
or "Tas it al,yays convenient or possible to
organize; hence justice continued to be administered
in various localities in the form and spirit of 111oboc-
racy. I will now continue the chronological record
of such instances as haye come under my obseryation
from June 1851, "There it was dropped in a former
chapter.
To the out
vard observer the lines between ,igil-
ance and the Inob spirit 'v ere not in every instance
clearly apparent. For example, ,vhen two Indians
and t,,"o ,vhite men ,vere publicly whipped at Benicia
the 15th of July 1851 for robbing trunkH and steal-
ing horses, the latter being like,vise branded on the
thigh, the actors mayor may not have been melnbers
of a vigilance committee.

( 515 )

516 ThTFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIOYS.

An Indian ,vho on the 1st of August attempted
to shoot a Mr Verro, ,vas taken to J ohn80n's rancho,
tried before a jury of the people, sentenced to thirty
lashes, and the punishment inflicted before a large
nUlnber of Ilis tribe there present. Considering the
circumstances the punishment was mild. In Inany
localities the firing at a white man would llave in-
volved the massacre of the entire ranchería of the
natives who did it. N ot,vithstanding ,vhich
if every
"\vhite lnan "\vho had unjustly or unjustifiably shot at
or shot an Indian had been given thirty lashes,
there would have been many sore backs in the great
,vest, to say nothing of the east, during the period of
its pacification, and subsequently.
At Ophir a Inan named Haynes was arrested and
tried by the people the 6th of August on the charge
of robbing a Ininer of four hundred dollars. The evi-
dence was wholly circumstantial, and the jury could
not conscientiously convict the prisoner. Without
intending to hang him, they thought possibly they
lnight extort a confession of guilt. Taking the nlan
to a tree near by, they thre,v a rope over the limb and
told Haynes to prepare for death. It ,vas a ghastly
joke. The poor fello"\v protested and prayed, and
finding they could get nothing out of hinl, his tor-
mentors finally let hi In go. A very moderate mob.
In the prison at 1\fonterey on the 9th of August
occurred a kiHing which approaches nearer to murder
than does even mob la,v. 'Villialn Otis Hall, alins
Bill Woods, had been adjudged to death by the
people the April previous for horse-stealing. Rescued
from the 1110b by the authorities, Hall ,vas lodged in jail.
)1aking his escape, he ,vas retaken, tried, and sentenced
by the court to four years' imprisonnlent. About Inid-
night of the date first named a party of eight lllen,
llu1sked, ,vith serapes thro,vn about them, broke into'
the jail, gagged and bound 1\1arshal Clapp, pinionod
the prisoner, then ,vinding a hide reata round his
neck they tightened it to his Jeath. This act ,vas

V ARIOUS P
SH)IENTS.

517

condemned by the entire press throughout the state.
From the evidence before me I am inclined to the
belief that tho perpetrators of this deed \vere not
citizens of the place, but accomplices of the prisoner,
"\vho adopted this n1eans to prevent confessions im-
plicating themsel,es.
On the loth of this same n10nth J ames Graham
and Alexander Leslie ,vent out prospecting and hunt-
ing in the hills near Greell'voocl Valley. Leslie carried
on his person six hundred dollars, of ,yhich circum-
stance Graham "\\-ras cognizant, and he determined to
obtain the money. Falling a little behinJ, Grahanl
pointed his gun in the direction of Leslie and fired,
the shot just grazing Leslie's hair. Graham hastened
to apologize, saying that he aimed at a squirrel. But
shortly after, \vhile Leslie ,vas stooping to pick up his
mining tools, Graham fired again, \vith better success,
the ball entering Leslie's body. Rifling the victilll's
pockets, Graham started for SaIl Francisco, ,,,here he
deposited the stolen gold-dust, \vith t\velve hundred
çlollars of his O\Yll. Leslie's absence excited the sus-
picions of friends, aDd they pursued and captured
Graham, \yho denieJ all kno\vledge of the fate of
Leslie. In the ll1ean time Leslie, though left for dead,
,vas not mortallJ" ,vounded, and revived sufficiently to
make his way after some days back to town. "Then
he confronted Graham, as denial ,yas no longer of use,
Graham eXplained that the shooting was accidental,
and supposing Leslie was dead, he thought he could
make as good use of the money as anyone. The ex-
planation did Hot satisfy the miners, and Grahan1's
death "\\
as at once determined upon. To use the lan-
guage of the times frolll the mouth of a by-stq.nder,
"They gaye him a big drink of brandy, set him on a
box in a ,vagon, ornamented his neck ,vith a hen1pen
tie, and sent him cro
s-lots to 'v here all murderers go."
Hugh l\Iorgan about this tin1e ,,,,as convicted of
robbervat Red
Iountain Bar, on the Tuolumne. He
oJ
,vas given twenty-five lashes and driven from the place.

518

INFELICITIES AKD ALLEVIATIO:YS.

At the Septelnber election of 1851 a cro\vd of
voters ,vas gathered in front of a Baloon at Granite
Basin, smoking, drinking, and entertaining each other
with rude jests and noisy laughter. SOIl1e\vhat apart
stood Aaron Bradbury, a hard-visaged, cross-grained
Inan, but \vithal honcst and industrious. He had
gained the ill- ,viI] of his fello\vs by his unsocial and
lllorose ll1anner rather than by any real \vrong-doing.
As the cro,vd becalne excited by liquor, their conver-
sation turned on Bradbury, and one story follo\ved
another, accusing hilTI of falsehood and of improper
intimacy ,vith a Inarried \VOlnan. Hearing his name
used, he dre\v near and demanded an explanation;
angry ,vords ensued. 'Vith or ,vithout sufficient cause
he dre\v a pocket-knife and stabbed one or t,vo n1en,
each of WhOlTI \vas n10re po\verful than himself, in-
flicting several ,vounds, but none of a serious nature.
Maddened at the sight of blood, the cro\vd rushed
upon hinl, thre\v hin1 do\vn, and kicked and pounded
hilTI until the lnost brutal nature should have been
satisfied. But this ,vas not enough. Binding him to a
chair, they hurried hilll off to hang him to the nearest
t.ree. Protestations ,vere of no avail; no extenuating
circulnstance \vould be considered; nor \vould they
listen to his prayer for trial by jury. Reaching a
suitable place, they released !lin1 froln the chair and
stood hinl beneath an oak-tree. Then tying round
his neck one end of a rope and thro\ving the other
end over a lin1b, t\venty strong n1cn took hold vlith a
,vill and a\vaited the signnl. At that criticalll10nlcnt
thrce nlen stepped for\vard. One dre\v a knife and
severed the rope, \v hilc the others faced the cro\vd.
There ,vas a quiet but bloody resolution in their eyes,
and the half-drunl
en hangnlcn sa\v it and \y"avercd.
For six hours they faced each other, those of the la\v
and those of la\vless passion, until \vith cooler brain
and restored reason the cro\vd gradually dispersed,
leaving the ]a,\V to dispose of the case in a less SUIll-
lllary lnanncr.

AT !\IOKELU:\IXE HILL.

519

During an all-night debauch at Weayeryille t,yO
men of Sydney, Hardgraves and SeYlnour, \valked
hither and thither, they kne,v not \vhere. In the
morning the former missed a can of gold-dust \fTorth
a thousand dollars, and accused his con1rade of the
theft. Accordingly Seymour ,va<3 taken to the historic
tree, and ,vas there t\vice elevated and tw"ice lo,,-ered.
Urged to confess guilt, he continued to declare hi

innocence. He was finally permitted to escape, and
shortly after Hardgraves found his gold-dust in the
chaparral ,,'"here he himself had dropped it.
On board the steamboat on the ,yay froln ::\Iarys-
yille to San Francisco in October ,vas a passenger, a
luan of Sydney nalIled Griffin, \vho stole a Colt re-
\-olver, ,vhich after diligent search ,vas found upon his
person. The bluster of indignant bravado which ::\11'
Griffin raised on being charged "Tith the irregularity
did not sa\-e hÎIn. On the spot a court \vas organized
by the passengers, before ,vhich the luan ,vas tried
and found guilty. There happened to be on board an
unfortunate Illinoisian, sick and penniless. ,yho ,va

on his ,yay to the hospital. It 'YDS ordered by the
court that the thief pay to thc sick ll1an the SUlll of
one hundred dollars, \\Thich the man of Sydney ,va::,
only too glad to do, trusting his liberty to see the
SUlll restored from the first unguarded dust upon
"\\-hich he could Ia v his hands.
J
One of those ,,-ild spaSlllS of di ,
ine right so fre-
quent in frontier comn1ul1ities occurred at Jlokelumne
Hill on thc 15th of Octobcr. The constable of the
to,vn, Donahue, for fighting arrested one Joseph
Alexander, an Israelitish Pole t,ycnty-fiye years of
agc, a nlan of considerable talcnt, ,yell educated, and
specially adept in speaking 1110dcrn languages. On
thcir \\Tt.ly to pri80n the Pule ,,,"as somo,vhat saucy, and
the constaLle, a good-hearted, ,veIl 111canillg, but pas-
sionate 111an, struck the prisoner \vith a reyol \Ter, \v hich
exploded, but ,,'ithout injury. .Another shot, acci-
dental or otherwise, tOJk effcct in the pri
oner's side,

520

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

\vhich caused death amidst the 1110st excruciating pain.
The people \vere profoundly ll10ved. Donahue ,vas
taken and tried by a jury of t\velve, ,vith t,vo citizens
as presiding judges, ,vith counsel on either side. It
,vas during the trial that the Pole died, ,vhich event
ter1l1inated the deliberations of the tribunal. Throuah-
ð
out the streets of the to\vn a gong \vas sounded, SUlll-
moning the inhabitants to assemble and deterlnine
\vhat should be done ,vith the constable. J\1any ,vere
for Ï1nmediate execution, but the Inajority favoring
lnorc lenient
ncasures, he ,vas delivered to the au-
thorities. Such action, often repeated, on the part of
the people showed at all events the presence of an
earnest desire to do right.
At l\fud Springs, near Placerville, on the 8th of

ovelnber an old n1an named Clark ,vas attacked in
his tent by Abner J. Dixon, a vVisconsin youth nine-
teen years of age, ,vho cut hinl fearfully ,vith a
hatchet, robbed him of t,vo hundred dollars, and left
hiln for dead. By the print of his footsteps in the
dalnp earth the felon ,vas traced to his o\vn tent, near
\vhich the old man's money ,vas found buried. Dixon,
\vho though young in years was old in sin, ,vas
prolnptly arrested, tried, and executed by the people,
protesting his innocence to the last.
The Ininers about Sonora ,vere greatly troubled
with robbers and cutthroats during the autumn of
this year. On the night of the 14th of November
there ,vas a regular butchery at Turnersville. The
brothers Ste,vard ,vere badly cut and shot. One
Boose ,vas killed on the :-;pot, and another, Olin, died
next day. One of the gang, DOlningo, was caught
and hanged by the people inl111ediately, previous to
,vhich he had confessed his guilt and exposed his COll1-
rades. Others of the band, ,vhich ,vas cOlnposed of
both 1\fexicans and Alnericans, ,vere afteryvard cap-
tured and executed. This ,vas the hot-beel of assas-
Bination and robbery, and for a tinle the la\v did not
pretenJ to interfere \vith popular executions. It \vas

OPEXL,G OF 1852.

321

simply a ,var bet\veen those ,,
ho lived by honest \vork
and those \vho followed robbery as a profession. A
party of four l\Iexicans out on the war-path in this
vicinity committed thirty murders within t,vo \veeks.

So much for 1851; now turn to 1852. For horse-
stealing at EI
Ionte and thereabout, a man calling
hilnself Smith was arrested on the 2d of February.
.After t"...o or three days' imprisonment in Los An-
geles he ,vas taken from jail by the people, who
gave hilll a trial and adjudged him seventy-eight
lashes. .L-\. singular popular freak attended the exe-
cution of the sentence. ....\.n Indian ,vas appointed
to inflict the punishment, ,vhen Slllith objected and
asked that a \,hite man should be substituted. Ten
dollars ,vas offered to anyone ,vho \vould perfornl
the repulsive task. The offer ,vas accepted by an
American, ,vhose dress betokened destitute circuln-
stances. No sooner was the ,,"'ork accomplished than
he ,vas seized by the cro,,"'d, placed in a blanket,
and tossed violently in the air. This ,vas repeated
several times, w hen the poor fello,v 'Ya
111ade to
fall so heavily on his head and shoulders as to se-
verely injure him and render him insensible. The
reason alleged for their brutal conduct was that any
American ,vho \vould offer to \vhip one of his o\vn
countrymen for money deserved such treatment.
It ,vas unsafe at one time for even a native
'Ì-meri-
can to steal in California; but men of dusky skin in-
dulging in such an offence ,vere almost sure to find,
at some historic tree, Apollo's best gift-death. In
the autumn of 1851, at N e,yton, a black man was
found guilty of theft and whipped; in the spring of
1852 he was found guilty of theft and hanged.
T,vo young men, supposed to be Americans, rode
into :\Iurphy Diggings the 8th of February on
horses that the people suspected ,,-ere stolen, and it
was deterlnined to ,vatch thell1 as dangerous charac-
ters. On that night three houses \vere entered and

50:)

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

robbed of five hundred dollars in lTIOney. The next
lnorning the suspected Illen attempted to leave to\vn
in different directions, but ,vere arrested and brought
before l\Ir Vanderslice, ,vho acted as judge for the
people's court. The guilt of the young nlen ,vas easily
proved, as the 1110ney "'"as found in their possession.
They received a trial and ,vere sentenced to death.
Neither ,vould reveal his nan1e or native place, and
they ,vere hanged without Inaking any confession.
One of then}, on being questioned a 1110111ent previous
to his execution, said ,vith an oath that he ,vould not
confess to anything. " But," he added, "understand
that I aU1 one of the brothers; you can put that in
your pipe and slTIoke it." It ,vas after\vard ascer-
tained that they \vere not Alnericans, but crin1Ínals
of the ,vorst kind fron) Sydney.
A poor tealllster canle off the plains ,vith a single
yoke of oxen, ,vhich he sold for one hundred dollars
in gold-dust to a person ,vho left the place iUl111ediately
after the purchase. The same day a purse containing
one hundred dollars in the saIne kind of dust ,vas
stolen, and the poor lTIan from the plains ,vas sus-
pected, arrested, tried, convicted, and deprived of his
purse, ,vith thirty lashes on his bare back. Burning
under the "rrong, no sooner ,vas the ,vhipping over
than, seizing a pistol, the teanlster placed it to the
head of the Ulan 'v ho first accused hinl: " You are the
11lan \v ho stole that nloney I" he exclaimed; "I kno\v
it. N o,v confess, and quickly, or as sure as there is a
God in heaven I'll scatter your brains as far as po\vder
,vill blo\v tholn I" The threatened IHan sa\v nlurùer in
the eyes of his accuser; there \vas no nlÎstaking it.
In truth he ,vas guilty; so he dre\v fronl his pocket
the stolen dust, "Thereupon the enraged cro\vd seized
and hanged hi1l1 to the nearest tree, and raising on the
spot a contribution of scyenteen hundred dollars pre-
sented it to the beaten tcanlster.
Sonle distance south of Stockton, on the San J 0[1-
quin River, a negress set fire to a hospital out of

rARYSVILLE IX
IARCH.

523

spite. As she was kno\vn to llave done it, the pro-
prietor and his friends ,yere about to hang her on the
spot, yet ,vhen she fell on her knces and confessed her
crime the sentence ,vas changed to ,vhipping; but the
,vhip being placed in the hands of a too vigorous
.L
nlerican, she died under its blo\ys.
The miners of Big CaÜon, ". ho lllissed several arti-
cles from time to time in :\Iarch, having discovered
some of the stolen property in the possession of a
certain person, arrested and tried the culprit, and sen-
tenced hÎ111 to receive t\venty-six lashes on the bare
back. The punishment being duly adll1inistered, a
committee ,vas then appointed to sho\y him the ,yay
out of camp. Procuring a Chinese gong, they pa-
raded him up and do\vn the street, calling upon all
the people to come and look at him, that they luight
kno\v him forever after; then they conducteù him
t",.o miles on his ,yay, and parted fr0111 him ,vith the
inj unction that should he eyer sho\v hinl
elf again in
that neighborhood he 11light expect to be hanged.
)Iarysville ,vas the scene of great excitement from
níne o'clock on the 11lorning of :\Iarch 20th till three
in the afternoon. The streets \vere thronged. Â thief
nalned Tanner, under arrest for grand larceny, at-
telnpted to forfeit his bail and escape \vith the plun-
der ,yhich he had secreted. He 'Ya
captured, ,vith
the proof of his guilt upon hinl. A people's court
tried and condelllned hirn, and deluanded his life.
The mayor endeavored in vain to restore quiet.
\t
last he produced SOlne little effect by bringing out the
distressed ".ife and children of the condenlued. Then
threatening to use force of arnlS, the authorities took
the prisoner and placed hin1 in a building, bcfore
,vhich Recorder \Vatkins stood \yith a cocked pistol,
intiInidating the near approach of any. 'Ihe build-
ing \vas surroundcd by the infuriated ero\"\ d, but
Tanner, securcly ironcd in jail, ,vas no,v Leyond thcir
reach, anti the nlultitude \vere constrained to disperse.
..,.:
cro\vd of miners, nUluLering t\yO or three hun-

524

INFELICITIES A
D ALLEVIATIONS.

dred, collected round the jail in Coloma on the 15th
of April and demanded the surrender of two prison-
ers, one Henry George frOlll Sydney, and the other
'Villiam
liller, a negro, ,vho ,vere indicted for steal-
inO' over seven thousand dollars. The sheriff was ab-
<::>
sent impanelling a jury, and the jailer ,vas forced to
comply ,vith the del nand. As soon as they had ob-
tained possession of the men the cro,yd hurried thelll
off to an adjacent tree, and ,vithout ceremony hanged
first the negro and then the ,vhite nlan. Then re-
turning to the jail they demanded Dougherty, another
prisoner 'v hose trial ,vas in progress at the time; in-
deed the jury 'v ere then deliberating over a verdict.
The n1iners sent word to the jury that they ,vould be
allo,ved fifteen Ininutes to bring in a verdict, as they
should hang Dougherty at the expiration of that
tiule. The jury soon pronounced a verdict of guilty,
and the prisoner ,vas sentenced to ten years in the state-
prison. "Then the sentence was announced the cro,vd
lnade a rush for Dougherty, but ,vere quieted by
Tholnas Robertson, ,vhose eloquent appeal induced
theln to disperse.
White Oak Springs ,vas the theatre of one of those
Inurder and lynching scenes ,vhich have been
nacted
in almost every to,vn in California. James Hughlett
111ade frequent and abusive attacks upon the character
of another boarder at the hotel, Abner Spencer by
nalne, ,vho on the 29th of April resented one of
Hughlett's renlarks, collaring hinl and thro,ving hilll
to the floor; 'v hile ùo,vn, Hughlett dre,v a knife and
stabbed Spencer so severely that he died. Hughlett
,vas arrested, tried by the people, hurried to a tree,
and hanged.
1\vo ]?renchmen ,vhile asleep were murdered near
Jackson, Calaveras County, in May. A l\1exican
nalned Cheverino ,vas suspected as one of the
nl urderers and arrested a fe,v ,veeks after,vard. A
prelilnil1ary examination was held before Justice l\1c-
Dowell, and the lnan was cOlnlnitted for trial. The

CATALOGUE OF 1852.

523

people, impatient of delay and satisfied of his guilt,
took him from the authoritie" led him to a tree in
front of the Astor House, put a rope around his neck,
and attempted to hang him. In their hasty prepara-
tions they had neglected to tie his hands. Catchil1 o '
the rope, he loosened it about his throat and they
,yere obliged to lo,ver him to the ground. He then
took advantage of the opportunity to retract his prot-
estation of innocence and to make full confession of
his guilt. Then he ,vas hanged in peace.
Four Indians attacked a man who was travellino'
o
from Do".nieville to
larysville the 30th of
Iay; they
shot him full of arro,vs and then clubbed him to
death. Next day the miners made a formal demand
on the chief, threatening to annihilate the ranchería if
the murderers were not delivered up. Four ,yarriors
,vere given the "\\-hite men, ,vho found guilty and
hanged three of them, thus inaugurating a ne\v sy
-
tern for the adjustment of Indian difficulties in these
parts; for in less than a fortnight thereafter, that
is to say on the 12th of June, ,,,,hen one Comstock
,vas killed with arrows between 3Iarysville and
Bridgeport, the chief, '\T emah, ".as tolJ. that he
must produce the murderers or be murdered himself.
Choosing the former alternative, he deliyered t,vo of
the tribe to the people of French Corral, who applied
the hempen remedy incontinently.
James Edmondson, commonly known as Jim Ugly,
,vas executed by the people at Yankee Jim in 185
.
Here as else,yhere during the grand carnival, fights
of every description in \vhich life ,vas freely risked
and often lost ,,,,ere of frequent occurrence. :N o,v
and then, when a killing occurred of a nature more
exasperating than usual, or if the slayer was a des-
perate character, a noted desperado, or a gambler, 01'
if the man killed was respected or popular, there
,vould be a trial and an execution; but if the COln-
batants \yere equallJ- Il1atched, and the fight fair, but
little notice ,vas usually taken of deadly results.

526

INFELICITIES At.
D A.LLEVIA.TIO:NS.

Early in June l\fr .!loofins, a valuable citizen of
Nicolaus, was lllurdereél by a negro named Rideout.
The n1an ,vas arrested and after a trial ,vas hanged
by the people.
John Jackson, from the upper part of Plumas River,
,vent on the evening of June 10th to the house of
one Baker and his ,vife, a Swiss couple in Yuba City,
and asked for food and a bed, ,vhich ,vere giyen him.
Next morning Baker ,vent to Hock Farm, leaving
Jackson in the house. Baker returned at noon, and
his wife was missing; he. was met by Jackson, ,vho
tried to shoot hinl, but the pistol missed fire. Baker
\vent after his pistol, but that was gone. l\Ieanwhile
Jackson took a horse and rode off. Baker took an-
other and followed, having first alarmed the neigh-
borhood. Jackson ,vas soon caught, and on hin1 ,vere
found thirty dollars and Baker's pistol. The body
of the woman ,vas discovered, ,vith marks on the
throat and three bullet-holes under the left breast.
A la,v jury sat upon the case; but ,vithout \vaiting
for its verdict, the enraged people threw a lasso round
Jackson's neck and hanged him to the nearest tree.
One night near Weaver Creek the apartment of
a Mexican gambler nalned Lopez ,vas entered by five
burglars. One of then1 kept a pistol at Lopez' head
,vhile the others rifled his trunk of its contents. The
robbers 'v ere arrested in the act. A jury chosen frolll
anlong the citizens sentenced them to thirty-nine
lashes each, which ,vere duly adnlÎnistered.
A l\1exican boy named Cruz Flores ,vas also tried
by the people at Jackson on the 11 th of June as a con-
federate of Cheverino. Guilt was not proved to their
satisfaction, so they turned hinl over to the civil au-
thorities. Several hundred Frenchillen ,vere present,
arlned ,vith double-barrelled shot-guns and pistols, and
,vhen the decision of the people'B jury ,vas announced,
the countrYlnen of the nlurdered lllan made a rush
for the p;iRoner, dernanding his life. During the
Dtruggle the boy's arln ,vas broken. After a half

CAT
lLOGrn OF 1832.

527

hour's contest the infuriated Frenchmen succeeded in
capturing the boy, and dragging him to a tree they
hanged him, one of them holding to his leas until life
. 0
was extInct.
.A man named 'Villian1s ,vas discovered takinO'
money from the clothing of a man who ,yas asleep at
the Placer Hote], P]acerville, at daybreak the 15th
of June. The boarders administered the punishment,
banishing hin1 from to\yn after having given him
kicks, blo"Ts, and t\venty-fi\e lashes on the bare back.
This ,yas the third case of the kind at Placerville
that spring.
A man nallled Dunn was arrested upon suspicion
of having stolen twenty-five thousand dollars from
Diggs and Anderson at Cache Creek on the 17th of
June. He "as taken to a tree and strangled a little
to extort a confession; a second and a third trial of the
same kind ,yere made, the last nearly proying fatal.
As he persisted in protesting his innocence and total
ignorance of the theft the torture "\"Va<3 discontinued
aI}d the prisoner liberated.
 Frenchman named Raymond deliberately mtu'-
ùered a Chinaman at Big Bar on the Cosumnes in
June. He ,,-as tried Ly a jurJ of twelve men and
\vas immediately hanged bi the people. Fe\v in-
stances of this kind are on record "There a ,Y
1Ïte ll1an
promptly receives his dèserts for the mGrder or 11lal-
treatnlent of a Chinaman or a native, and it speaks
volumes for the fair dealinO's of the llliner
of that
o
locality.
The 4th of July this year came on Sunday, and \Y3S
celebrated at Eure
a by chasti
ing a fello\v nanlecl
Francis Boyd, \yho ha
stolen a quantity of barley.
He \vas giyen a dozen lashes on the Lare back, and
,yarned to roll up his blankets and leaye the diggings
,vithin thirty minutes.
The to\Yll of Columbia has its Broad\vay, a
ha

eyery li1Ìning-C:11np by ,yhatever name called; and
gathered rounù a tree standing at the upper end of

528

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

this busy street on the 7th of July might have been
seen an excited cro,vcl ,vith SOlne object in their
midst ,vhich commanded their violent attention. It
,vas an old man, prostrate beneath the tree, half
strangled by the rope ,vhich encircled his neck as it
hung loosely from a lilnb. Every no,v and then his
tormentors would seize the rope and pull upon it until
the old man was lifted a fe,v feet from the ground,
,vhen they would let him do,vn again. Why ,vas
this? The miners were by no means a cruel people;
children and old age, next to ,vornen, con11Ilaneled
their tender sympathy. This seemed harsh treatment.
Assuredly it went against their feelings; but they
felt that crime must be put down at any cost, and sus-
picion pointed to the old man as guilty of crillle. It
appears that one Yetes, on his ,yay from his claiul to
the town, dropped his purse, containing twelve hun-
dred dollars in gold-dust. N ear the spot \vhere he
thought he must have dropped it the prisoner ,vas
seen to pick up something. On being questioned he
stoutly denied any kno,vledge of it; nevertheless the
lllagistrate committed him for trial. Speculation
then began to spread about the to"\vn as to the prob-
able guilt of the accused, until curiosity getting the
better of discretion they proceeded to the prison and
borro,ved the prisoner from the la,v until they should
satisfy themselves. For a time, between the short
intervals of his suspension, the old 111an continued to
deny his guilt; finally, fearing lest one of the up-
liftings should be a trifle too long, and being generally
uncomfortable under the treatment, he confesseJ, dis-
covered to them the money, and ,vas banished.
Mob la,v in its reckless course afforded opportunity
for the display of personal vindictiveness, and even
for shielding the guilty, the accuser sometin1es hiln-

elf being the criminal. Such an instance occurred
seven miles fron1 J\Iariposa in August, 'v hen l\foore
and Company's store on Sherlock Creek ,vas entered
and robbed of nine hundred dollars. Suspicion fell on

CAT.ALOGL
OF 18.'53.

3:;

an old man named Johnson, ,vho "
as at once arrested
by a mob instigated by a young man named Carrico.
Johnson ,vas taken to a tree some little distance aw"ay,
and being suspended, ""as strangled until life ,,,"as
nearly extinct, ,vhile Carrico and others denlanded
that he should tell ,,
here he had secreted the money.
The unfortunate man denied any kno,vledge of rob-
bery; though crueHy lashed, he ,vould not retract the
statement. Carrico then proposed that they should
lay him on a bed of hot embers, and at the same time
use other tortures too cruel to mention, but the cro\vd
refused to indulge him further and released the pris-
oner.
.A fe,v days after, Carrico left the place under cir-
CUlllstances that aroused the suspicions of the miners.
They pursued him, and upon his arrest discovered on
hi
person the gold for the theft of ,vhich poor J ohn-
son had been tortured. CaITico received a trial before
a legal court and ,,-as sentenced to five years in the
state-prison: a less punishment than his villainy seemed
t
deserve. If the same mob that had so unfeelingly
persecuted the old n1an had turned its vengeance upon
this callous ,vretch, applying to hill1 the treatment he
had himself proposed for another, the community ,,,ould
have synlpathized \\,ith them, and would have upheld
their proceedings.

Christopher Ferril, living in a cabin on :\Iurphy
Gulch, Calaveras County, was discovered on the 8th
of January 1853 to have considerable stolen property
in his possession. He "
as given t\venty-five lashes
on the bare back and dri ven from the place.
David Spence's rancho, on the Salinas River, "
as
vi
ited by some
Iexican horse-thieves infesting that
section. Pursued by the n1ayordomo and others, t\VO
)Icxicans "
ere caught hiding under the bushes bc-
t\veen Gilroy and Pájaro. They ,,-ere bound and
committed to the ßlonterey jail for trial; but the in-
habitants of San Juan preferred to see justice a,vardecl
POP. TRIB" \'OL. I. 34:

J30

I
FELICITIES AXD ALLEVL\TIONS.

at once to the scoundrels \vhose depredations had
cost them so dear, and taking them from the officerR
they 'v ere hanged on a gallo,vs the 8th of February.
Three Chinalnen ,vent into a store at J\1ud Spring

on the 11th of February for the ostensible purpose of
11laking SOlne purchases. 'Vhile the proprietor ,vas

ho\ving some boots to one of them in another r001n,
the others took the money-dralv"er and left the store.
The n1erchant soon discovered his loss, and had little
difficulty in tracing the ChjnalIlen to a tent, \vhero
they were found dividing the nine hundred dollars
,vhich they had stolen. They \vere at once arrested,
takcn to the n1ain street of the to,vn, and at the de-
n1and of the excited assemblage ,vere hanged.
N ear Shasta, at a place called Whiskey Creek, a
barkeeper in April became exasperated at some insult
from a fello,v-citizen and shot him. He was seized at
once by the peoplc and hanged \vithin a fe"r hours.
In April t\VO J\1exican horse-thieves ,vere arrested
near J\1artinez and hanged by a mob.
During the spring of 1853 there ,vas a gang of
Chilean desperadoes encalllped at a creek t,vo Iniles
belo,v the to\vn of Jackson. They pretended to ,vork
ill the Inines occasionally, but in reality depended on
robbery for a livelihood. A con1pany of Chinese
,vorked near the Chilean encampment. On thc 27th
of July the Chileans Inade a raid upon the Chincse,
killing one luan and stealing several hundred dollars.
One of the Chileans "'"as captured by the Chinese,
,vho sent to to\yn for assistance. Fifty armed lTICn
canle to the rescue; \vhen they arrived they found the
prisoner · being tortured by the infuriated Chinese.
The Chilean \vas taken to to\vn and kept in custody
untillTIorning, \vhen he was executed in the presence
of a thousand people. V cngeance extraordinary wras
directed against the Mexicans, Chileans, and Indians.
A cOlnplete catalogue of crime with the sharp, s\vift
vengeance of self-appointed justice, \vould fill a
volume. In the southern mines a week's record of

CAT.ALOGUE OF 1853.

.-:n

atrocities cOllling under the observation of one luan
consisted of three )Iexicans hanged on suspicion of
assassination; seven )Iexicalls shot in agaIn bling-
saloon on a charge of cheating at cards; t\yO
Iexicans
hanged for robbing a clailll; one man hanged for
lllurdcr, and a ranchería of natives lIlassacred for
killing and eating a stray horse-pretty lively butchery
for one locality. oJ
..L
quarrel occurred at ..L
merican Flat on the 23d
of l\Iay between a 1\Iexican and one Jeffrey Le\vis
over a game of cards. The men \vere separated after
an exchange of blows. N ext day the
Iexican ap-
proached Le\vis, and ,vithout a \vord shot him dead
and immediately escaped. .L\. party pursued hilll,
but failing in their attempt to capture him, ar-
rested t\VO of his evil associates. One of theln
nlade his escape, but the other was tried by mob
la"
, found guilty enough for all practical purpose;:;,
and hanged.
A Chilean yaquero at ::\Iokelumne Hill was su::;-
pected in June of having stolen stock from Joseph
ICirk and his brother, ranchers in San J oaquill, and
,vas seized and punished by them. 'Vith the assist-
ance of 1\IcICee Raney the Chilean ,vas subjected to a
severe beating, and his bare back, fearfully lacerated,
,vas exposed to the sun for several hours. He ".as
at last liberated, ,,
hen he returned to his home, \vhere
his story excited the synlpathy and indignation of his
countrynlen. They raised the sum of one hundred
and fifty ounces of gold-dust to defray the expense
of a prosecution, as they ,vished to see \vhat sort of
justice the courts adnlinistered. In the mean tinle
one of the ICirks appeared on the street in :\10-
kelulune Hill, and "
as recognized by a mounted
Chilean, \yho quickly thre\y a lariat over his head.
He ,,
ou]d have dragged hin1 to his death but for the
interference of the yaquero ,vho had been so brutally
treateù by hill}. The yaq uero insisted that his enelny
should have a fair trial before the courts. Thereupon

532

D1FELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

ICirk ,vas liberated, and though pursued, succeeded in
lnaking his escape.
-'"-
drunken fellow nall1ed Vivian assaulted I\Iarto,
a Spaniard, at Condemned Bar on the 4th of July,
,vhen J\Iarto in self-defence stabbed Vivian. The
Iuob spirit ,vas at once aroused, and though the
\vounòed IHall ,vag still living, the people deternlined
tha t the Spaniard should be hanged. l\Iarto, acting
upon the advice of Judge Peterson, \vho thought the
deed justifiable, attenlpted escape by plunging into
the river. Before he ,vas half across he ,vas shot at
and killed. A by-stanùer pronounced the proceeding
an outrage; he had no sooner expressed the opinion
than he ,vas killed by the 1110b. In their unreasoning
blood - thirstiness they talked of taking the life even
of Judge Peterson.
But very different ,vere sonle of their executions
,vhere cahllness, order, and philosophic coolness char-
acterized all their proceedings. A gentlenlan at the
diggings learned that a 111an had been arrested for
robbery in a neighboring calnp and ,vas to be executed.
I t created no excitell1ent, but as he ,vas curious to see
the affair he ,vall
ed over to the locality. Unacquainted
,vith anyone, he spoke to a 111an standing apart fron1
the others.
" \Vill you telln1e \vhich is the n1an to be hanged
"
" I believe it's I, sir," ,vas the reply, ,vithout change
of countenance. Half an hour after,vard he \yas
hanging from a tree, and the cOlnnluuity quietly dis-
persed.
John Clare and Andre,v Cracovitch, fishermen,
had a serious quarrel about their fish-tackle on the
IGth of August 1853. Clare angrily ,valked a,vay,
and procuring a pistol concealed hin1self behind SOI11e
IUlnber, ,vhere he lay in ,vait for Cracovitch. Soon
after Cracovitch passed, and Clare fired, killing hin1
instantly. Hu ,vas arrested and placed in jail, ,vhcre
he boldly ackuo,vledged the assassination. On the
follo,ving ùay the 1110b dragged hiln frOnl his cell, and

CATALOGUE OF 1833.

533

taking hinl to the place ,vhere he had shot Cracovitch,
hang-ed b im there.
Spanish Charley, a bull-fighter, convicted by a
people's jury of lllurder at Gibsonville in August,
,yhen brought forth for execution, thouerh he denied
that he "
as guilty, lllanifested not the
lierhest enlO-
tion. Binding the handkerchief over his 0 eyes \vith
his o\vn hands, ,yhen all was ready he thre\y hinlself
frolll the platform. In this trial and execution the
people of Gibsollyille ,vere entItled to praise for one
thing: frolD daylight until after the execution every
store in the place refused to sell liquor, and the con-
sequence ,vas that of the thousand men present but
t\VO ,vere intoxicated, and they ,vere in that condition
before coming upon the grou;d.
During the lllonth of October t,vo Irishmen made
a cOlllplaint against t\VO Frenchmen, ,,"'hom they
accused of having stolen fifteen hundred dollars froln
thenl. The Frenchmen were industriou
men of good
character, and ,yere not generally believed guilty.
Ho,yever they 'v ere arrested, and "ere bein er taken for

ð
trial to Sonora by the constable ,,
hen the3 ,vere met
by a ll10b of loafers and ganlblers that the Irishmen
had collected, and upon their demand the constable
,vas forced to relinquish his In"isoners. The IDob then
proceeded to a ]arge tree, ,,-here they suspended the
Frenchmen so that their feet just touched the ground,
hoping to lllake thelll confess. Other Frenchmen
stood by and urged their countrymen to admit their
guilt, but only received their reiterated assertions of
innocence. The prisoner
\vere at last liberated, but
not until their {i 1 iends had promised to be responsible
for the fifteen hundred dollars in case the lnen ,vere
found guilty after a fair trial. It "
as thought possi-
ble that the Irishmen's story of the robbery ,,-as ,yith-
out foundation, and that this method ,yas used in the
hopes of extorting lnoney from the Frenchmen.
During this
anl{
Inouth a Frenchnlan \\"ho ap-
peared not entirely in hi
right u1ind, at or neaT' Y reka

534

INFELICITIES AXD ALLEVIATIOXS.

cOlnmitted hOlllicide. He ,vas arrested and hanged
Ly a party frolD Greenhorn Creek, under circumstances
too disgusting to be described.
Sonlo Spanish desperadoes ,vhile in Alvarado on the
23d of N ovenlber TIred into a hotel; then proceeding
to the Catholic church they broke all tho ,vindo\ys.
.1\fter this lllischief they started for the nlountains,
and happening to llleet an AUIerican, ]-'rank Devol,
fired at him, t,vo shots passing through his coat.
Devol \vith son)e friends pursued the Spaniards, "rho
11lade a desperate effort to elude thenl. The Americans
finally succoeded in catching one of theln êLnd brought
hinl back to Alyaraclo, ,yhere a prelinlÎnary trial \vas
held. At midnight on the] 5th the citizens proceeded
to the jail, o\Terpo\vered the guard, and taking t.he
prisoner to Alanleda bridge, hanged him.
On a N oyelnber Sunday in a saloon at Columbia
an Italian invited an Anlerican to drink. The latter
refused; the Italian \vould force him, but in return
received a severe blu\v ill the face. Thi8 so infuriated
the Italiall that he fell upon the American \vith a
knife and killed hinl. The lllurelerer \vas imrnediately
arrested by a constable, but the excited ll1iners \vrested
the prisoner frolll the officer of the la,v, dragged hinl
by tho hair through the streets to a tree situated
on a hill, and hanged hinl. The lin1b breaking, ho,v-
ever, before life ,vas extinct, and the passions of the
people having cooled Inean,vhile, they thought better
of their course, formed themselves into a jury, tried
and convicted the prisoner, and then turned him over
for punishment to the civil authoritieH.
There ,vere good Chinamen and bad Chinamen in
those days-lnore particularly bad Chinarnen. John's
favorite rascality ,vas the robbing of sluice- boxes.
Sometinles the ll1iners did not clean up their vvash-
ings for several days or \veeks at a time, but left the
gold ,vith the débris at the bottoln of the sluices, and
these the Chinamen used to like to clean up thelll-
selves at night, ,vhen llO ono sa\v them. U nfortu-

THE CASE OF PETER XICHOLA.S.

-q-
J.>J

nately for thenl, six of their number ,,-ere caught at
thi
pastime one Saturday night on French Hill by
those ,,-ho had long been watching for them. T,vo of
thenl "ere brought to the post and giyell fifty lashes
each, and their queues taken from them; the others

lipped from the fingers of the avengers. This taught
both the good and bad Chinamen a lesson. The latter
"ere induced to be more circulllspect in their stealing,
or more especially in their oscaping, ,vhile the former
,v ere not back,yard thereafter in tying to a tree and
,,!hipping any of their own number ,,"heneyer occa::;ion
seemed in their eyes to (.1ernand it.

Sunday "'"as an uneasy day of rest for the minèr,
,vhose life ,vas di,-ided, not unequally in many cases,
bet"
een ,york and ,,'ickedness. Though not a ,yorking-
day, its sacredness had been left at hOllIe, and it ,yas
no,,," nlade the :scape-goat of all the other days. It ,vas
then that miners ,va
hed, baked, and mended; on Sun-
day those ,vho ùug at distant camps came to to'Vll for
their ,veek's supply. Their drudgery done, all hand

turned their attention to deviltry;
ome e,-ell neg-
lected distasteful duties that they might the more
,vholly consecrate the day to Satan. It ::;eemed almo:5t
a matter of conscience "\\-ith some to drink themsel yes
insane before nightfall, and supplement the day by an
eyening of tranquil inebriety.
Peter :Nicholas, an ..,..-\,.ustrian ,vorking at Columbia
in 1853, "as usually ready for his round::; before noon,
so that by three or four o'clock he ,,-as quite hilariou
.
Such ,va
his condition ,vhen, in the afternoon of

ovember 13th, ,,-ith t,yO companions he entered
the store of C. H.

l verdin O' , at the corner of )Iain
<::> .
and Jackson streets, and opened banter 'Ylth one
John Parote, a miner frolll Pine Log, "ho ,va::; there
trading.
"I say, mister, ,vhat's your name 1" began Pete.
Parote deigned no reply.
"\Vell, then, ,,
here do you live?" Still no reply.

53G

Il\"'FELICITIES .AND ALLEVIATIONS.

"Do you kno,v ,vhere you came from 1 What
country do you belong to?" continued Pete.
" I belong to all countries," replied Parote; "I am
a Californian."
" That ,von't do," persisted Pete; "I want to know
\vhat countryman you are?"
"All right-I'm an Irishman," said Parote; "does
that suit you?"
"N 0, it Jon't I" exclaÏ1ned Pete, seizing the other
by the collar.
"Let 111e go I" demanded Parote, endeavoring to
release hil11self:
"No, I \von't I" cried Pete.
Thereupon Parote struck his tormentor in the face,
struck hiul t\vice, and struggling to release himself,
fell back,yard over a bag of sugar, dragging his assail-
ant after hiu1.
"Hold hiu1!" cried one of the drunken man's COlll-
panions, springing for,vard. " Pete has a knife I"
The ,veapon ,vas secured, but not until the Austrian
had Inade three passes at Parote, ,vho at the last
thrust cried, "I an1 struck!" and fell back prostrate.
The Å_ustrian ,vas arrested, taken befcre Justice
Cardey tor exalnination, and committed for trial.
Colun1bia having thcn no jail, the prisoner's leg ,vas
padlocked to a staple in the floor of a rOOln adjoining
the justice's office, and a guard set over hirn.
J\fean,vhile inforrnation of the affair spread, and
soon n1Ïners 'v ere seen corning in fronl eyery direction
to Jctermine ,vhat should 1>8 done. Particularly 'v ere
those fronl Pine Log iuterested, for there the ,vounded
nlan had 111any friends in no \vise disposed to regard
lightly the stabbing of a cOll1rade at Colulnbia. As
day changeJ into night so darkened their 11100d; and
by next lllorning the Inatter \vas arranged. After
breakfast, quietly and openly a cOlnpany of Ininers,
the Inajority of 'VhOIll ,vere Pine Logites, proceeded
to the justice's office, pried ,vith a cro,v-bar the staple
from the floor, and despite the expostulations of the

OLO
IO:N THE SHERIFF.

537

guard took Nicholas to the gulch south-,vest of the
Broad,vay Hotel and there made ready to hang hiln
to a tree. The rope. was round his neck and over the
lÏInb, but before the word "
as given, the constable
and an assistant. \vere up the tree trying to cut the
rope, ,vhen the limb breaking, do\vn came all together.
It was an unlucky tree, and unfit for hanging purposeB,
now that the only good limb on it was broken; so they
cursed it, cursed the constable, and then \vent oyer to
the Gold Hill slope and chose a better tree.
By this time James 'V. Coffroth, a budding la,v-
tender, ,vas on the ground: Coffroth the cunning.
He too ,vanted the man hanged, he said: it ,vas the
duty of all good n1en to hang bad men. But for
the everlasting honor of our glorious republic, let an
things be done decently and in order. Parote ,vas
1l0"
dead. .,A..s a matter of course
icholas ,vould be
hanged; there \,as not a shado,v of possibility of his
escape. But for the credit of Colun1bia gi,e the Ulan
a trial; force not Pine Log to hide her head alllong
the nations for haying hanged an Austrian upon
,\
hose cause no Ininer sat in judgment.
Talkino- thus against time, as \vas his purpose, Cof-
froth 'vo
Presently the sheriff appeared. Sololllon
,vas his nan1e, and a yery good name, and a good
F-heriff. Judging fron1 out\vard expression and car-
riage, he too \vould delight in seeing the Austrian
hanO'ed. Solon1on's yocation ,vas hanging; for
uch
o .
he had been created. But a close observer 1111ght
have detected about Solomon's lTIouth that ,vhich Le-
lied his careless demeanor; a listener to the lo\y \vord
spoken here and there in the ears of the Jll0re intelli-
gent and stal\vart of the cro,vd ,vould surely have
detected it. Further, he ,vould have seen the Inen
so spoken to one by one slo"\yly edging their ,vay
to,vard the prisoner, and so far as possible unnoticed
form a firm belt of deterlllination round hilli. Then
opened Solon1on his mouth; ,yide he opened it, for it
'vas large, and by no means handsome.

538

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

" Gentlemen," he said, ,vithout offering to lay hand
upon the prisoner, "you will excuse me, but this man
is going to the Sonora jail, there to a,vait his trial by
la,v. I anl going to take him there. You are all
good lnen, acting from good motives; but believe 111e,
IllY friends, it is best as I have said." Sololnoll's
friends did not agree ,vith him, ho,vever, and makino-
. 0
a rush upon the prIsoner, they sought to rescue hinl
from the law. But the belt of bra,vny n1en they
found impassable. They sa\v themselves out\vitted;
such ,vas Solomon; and availing thelnselves of the
privilege of the beaten to s,vear, they swore, and
Nicholas slept that night in jail. But for Coffroth
and Sololnon, hades ,vould surely have been his
resting - place.
The trial came on in due forn1 the 25th of the fol-
lowing February, and the intelligent jury found Peter
Nicholas guilty of lllurder and reconllnended hilll to the
lllercy of the court. They did not thinl: he should be
hanged, yet he 111urdered; they could not deny ho n1ur-
dercd; but it ,vas in drunken fun, and they thought
imprisonlnent for life enough. Not kno,ving that ,vith
tho judge, ,vho has no discretion, Inurdcr Ineans hang-
ing, they Inake this Iness of it. Justice ackno,vledged
her obligation and the jury ,vas discharged; but as is
often the case, justice could have ,veighed out this
man's due far more equitably ,vithout the assistance
of t,velve ignorant and stupid lllen. The 7th of .Lt\.pril
1854 ,vas fixed for the execution of Peter Nicholas.
At this time the great question in political circles
,vas the location of the state capital. San J osé,
Vallejo, J\fonterey, and SaCralYlento each begged
tho honor and profit of it, and to the legislature \vhich
convened at Benicia the first Monday in January
1854 nUlnerous long petitions accolllpallieJ tedious
communications setting forth the relative advantages
of the several places, and \vhat their citizens \vould
give and do to settle the la,v-lllakers aillong thoIll.
The windy debates, and indeed everything coune..;ted

I'HE PIN
LOG PETITIO
.

539

,,
ith the subject became at length so tiresome that
the miners, ,vith their usual keen appreciation of
the ludicrous, turned it into burlesque by (lrawinO'
up a petition Inaking Pine Log the state capital
Entering into the spirit of the thing, everybody siO'ned
it, particularly the Pine Logites, though it never o ,vas
for\varded to the legislature.
vVe have seen that John Bigler often forgave the
freest \vhere the sin ,vas greatest; indeed his reputa-
tion for pardoning ,vas no"T notorious. He \vas
specially forgiving of the sins of his follo,ver:s. X O\V
Peter
icholas, the Austrian, when he killed John
Parote, did not kno\v there ,vas such a being in exist-
ence as John Bigler, nor did he care. He had that
,vhich ,,"'as n10re po\verful than governors, gold, the
master of John Bigler, the governor, no\v the faithful
servant of Peter Nicholas, the murderer. I t ,vas not
111uch; Pete had saved a little llloneyat ,york, but all
that a Inan hath ,vill he give for his life. Pete's
nloney bought him. a good la,vyer, an exceedingly
"good la"
yer, an able Ulan of easy conscience, not
overscrupulous as to the tricks of the trade, and very
expert in pointing the ,veapons of la,v against its
o,vn breast. In all seriousness, ho,vever, be it said to
his praise that he proyed a stanch adherent to his
cause. He could not clear Pete by la,v; even the
dolts upon the jury bench must say guilty ,vhell
they Ineant innocent; so he \vould try stratagem.
Temptingly upon a 111erchant's counter one day this
la,vyer sa \v the list of signatures to the Pine Log
capital petition. All hope to save his client's life by
other than desperate means had long since abandoned
hin1. Slipping the petition into his breast-pocket, he
retired to his room, tore from the signatures, coyering
Beveral pages of legal paper, the heading, ,vrote n
prayer to the executive begging C0111illutation of the
death sentence of Peter Nicholas, joined carefully to
it the list of signatures, Inany of ,vhich ,,?ere \vritten
by the san1e hands that helped adjust the rope around

540

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS,

the Austrian's neck, and for\varded it to John Bigler,
governor. It ,vas enough. Ten years of penitentiary
discipline ,vas n1ade the substitute of belnpen halter.
And this, by one of those starn pedes of state prisoners
fi"cquent in early San Quentin life, ,vas reduced to four
years, and Peter Nicholas, the Austrian, ,vas again a
free man.

On the 17th of February 1854 SOllle Inembers of a
band of 1\fexican and Chilean robbers entered a cabin
in Mariposa County, ,vhere they 111urdered and robbed
an old man nan1ed Nathan Pratt, of l\1aino. One of
the band "'"as in1mediately captured and hurried to a
tree in front of Pratt's cabin, \vhere he was hanged.
.L-\llother ,vas soon arrested, but \vas protected by hi8
countryn1en, \vho collected froln all parts of the coun-
try <-tnt! do]nanded that he should have a legal trial.
Upon this resistance the Alnericans banded in large
force, seized thè prisoner, and hanged hill1 beside his
cOlllrade.
During the latter part of l\farch a horse-thief, a
S,yiss nan1ed Sch\vartz, ,vas captured. and hanged by
a nlob at Jackson. The tree upon ,vhich he ,vas exe-
cuteJ had been used seven tin1es for a like purpose.
.L-\fter the executioll of Sch,vartz it ,vas suggested.
that an in1age of J ud.ge Lynch should be carved froll1
the tree. A 1\lexican ,vas hanged in July for horse-
stealing. Another l\1exican ,vho had stabbed his
brother-in-law ,vas hanged by the people, his request
that he n1Ïght be shot, although backed by tho en-
treaties of his Inany friends, having boen refused.
.Another and another punishnlent uf silnilar nature
occurred at about the san1e tinle and place.
S,veet Sononla, \vhose valley is too lovely to be so
disfigured, sa,v the horse-thief Richie hanging froll1
the tree ,,,,,here before trial the n10b hall elovated
hinl the 30th of .l\1ay. Richie had Leen arrested ill
Shasta City for stealing 111ules, and ,vas sent to Sonollul
City for trial under charge of a deputy sheriff and his

CAT_-\LOGGE OF 18J.!.

341

t,vo aids. The party stopped at the house of the
officer over night; in the morning they ,vere aroused
by an ilnperative den1ancl for Richie. Some fifteen or
t"
enty n1en stood outside the house, and the cOll11l1and
,vas perforce complied ,,
ith. Taking the prisoner,
they ordered the guarJ to remain ,yhere they \vere
until afternoon. Proceeding to an old adobe house
on Santa Rosa Creek, they held a long conference as
to their disposition of Richie; hanging at once or trial
by la\y ,vere in turn considered. Acting upon their
final decision, they brought the prisoner back un-
harnlcd to the guard, and told thenl to proceed ,vith
hilll to Sonon1a for trial. The prisoner urged a delay
until night before taking the journey, so that it "
as
ten o'clock before they btarted. Their apprehensions
of troulJle secll1ed groundless, for they \vere no,v,vithin
four 111iles of the to\VI1 ,vithout cncountering any op-
po
ition, ,vhen
uddcnly there appeared before thcn1
like an apparition, vciled in the thick fog, about forty
TIlCn, ,vho seized Richie and ordered the guard to
xctire. Possibly they ,ycre Richie's friends con1e to
release him fron1 the approaching trial; in the lnist
that obscured everything it ,yas ilnpossible to tell. ..,A.t
daybrcak the next morning the guard continued their
,yay to Sonollla; but they had not proceeded far ,y hen
they sa ,\
the body of Richie hanging fronl the limb
of a \vhite-oak. Although considerable excitell1Cnt
pre\
ailed for a ,vhile, it subsided in the belief that a
just. punishnlcnt had bcfal1en a horse-thief.
.A party of Incn froIn Contra Costa, ,vith George
Carpcnter as their leader, searching for stolen cattle,
found'soBle of thel11 on the night of .L
ugust
2d at a

Iaughtl:r corral o\vned Ly ..L\.nledée Canu, a French-
luan, and Pierre .L\..rchalnbault, a Belgian. Hides
bearing the o\vncr's brand "
ere also found concealed
about the place. The t\VO !llen ,vere arrested and
taken to San .L\..ntonio; the vote of the asselllbled
cro\\,d ,vas asked as to \\
hat disposition should be
111ade of thcn1. It ,yas detern1Ìned that they should be

.)4

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

given up to the authorities, which was done. During
the night the ranchmen for miles around gathered
at San Antonio and in the early lnorning forced the
prison, and seizing the men, hanged theln froln trees
in the rear of the l\fansion House.
At Iowa Hill Willialn Johnson, a noted desperado,
on the 24th of December stabbed one lVlontgolnery
under circumstances peculiarly aggravating. No hopes
were entertained of recovery. The assassin ,vas seized
by the sheriff, but \vas taken froln his hands by the
people, tried by a jury of t,velve, anù the next day
,vas hanged, two thousand persons attending. After-
,yard lVlontgonlery recovered. On the 5th of January
fi ve of the participants in the affair ,vere arrested by
the sheriff, ,vho came do\vn upon them ,vith a )Josse
of one hundred and fifty men, ,vhereupon tho bells
were rung, and the people rallied, s,vearing that the
accused should not be taken to trial. Thinking better
of it, and having, as they thought, nothing to fear,
seven others of the citizens who had assisted at the
trial and execution came for,vard and voluntarily gave
thelTIselves up in order that they Inight share the
penalty, if any, ,vith their friends. Thoy ,vere held
to bail in the sum of five thousand dollars each, but
,vere subsequently discharged.
About the saIne tinle at V olcano,in Amador County,
one l\facy stabbed an old Inan. In less than half an
llour after the comll1ission of the crime 11e ,vas executed
by the mob.

Heslep, acting treasurer of Tuolumne County, ,vas
lllurdered on the 18th of January 1855. A In an
strongly suspected of having committed the deed ,vas
pursued and executed by the people ,vithin t,venty-
four hours. About the saIne ti111e àn old Inan of
family at Jackson ,vas killed by a young man, and in
less than half an hour after the 111urderer ,vas s,ving-
ing from a tree without the aid of judge or jury. On
the 26th two Chileans and a l\Iexican were hanged

CATALOGl.""E OF lSJ.3.

,)43

by the people in Contra Costa County for cattle-steal-
ing. It ,,-as the nationality of these thieves that cost
then1 their lives. The sla.)
er of a man in a fight on
the Klamath ,vas found gUIlty of manslaughter by a
court of law. This not satisfying the people they
seized and hanged the prisoner.
Three banditti ,vere arrested on the San Joaquin in
January 1855, one of ,vhonl, Salvador Valdés, con-
fessed their connection ,vith a band of cattle-thie\cs,
and said that fifteen ,vere then on their way frolll
southern California. He offered to deliver then1 all
to the people if they would take him to the place
mentioned; but as Valdes had previously been arrested
and had made his escape, his captors ,vould not risk
the consequences of such an experiment. He boasted
of having taken the lives of seven men, and gaye
vivid descriptions of his successful depredations on
many ranchos. "A regularly organized band of horse-
thieves," says the Sonora Herald, "exists in Tuol-
umne County, \vho carryon their depredations \vith
.an astonishing degree of boldness." After a trial
by the people these desperadoes "yere convicted and
hanged at Smith and Johnson's rancho on the San
Joaquin RiYer.
-L
travelling Frenchman relates that on reaching
Ha,,
kins Bar he saw a
Iexican tied to the trunk of a
tree and surrounded by a cro\vd. The culprit was
stripped to the ,vaist, and a dozen men armed \vith
bridles and stirrup-straps \vere \vhipping him by turns.
His offence, they said, ,vas the murder of a bcdfello\\.
Though his back "yas covered ,vith blood and his face
\vas deadly pale, ,vith characteristic stoicism the

Iexican uttered no complaint, but helà bet"yeen his
clinched teeth the end of a cigar, as if in defiance
of fate. T\vo hours later, on entering a tayern, the
Frenchman \vas surprised to see the same luan at a
table with his executioners, drinking gin and \vhiskey.
He supposed the affair ended; but the same evening
he found the :\Iexican hanging from the branch of an

544

INFELICITIES AXD ALLEYIATIO
S.

oak. It appears that froln compassion his judges had
sought by the above 111eans to deaden suffering and
ease the exit.
On the 1st of February a cro,vd entered the jail at
Oakland bet\veen three and four o'clock in the lnorn-
ing, and taking out t\VO prisoners, named Sheldon and
Parker, brought them to a tree near the bridge on
the road leading to Clinton. Thore they executed
Sheldon, but released Parker on account of iuforn1a-
tion he gave inculpating others of the horse and cattle-
stealing fraternity. Parker, ho,vever, ,vas obliged to
witnoss the execution of his companion.
Upon the affidavit of one Willian1 Paine four no-
torious horse-thieves 'v ern arrested at Turner Pass
in
fay. They ,vere nalned Willial11 Watson, 'Villianl
Hand, Adolphus E. 1\100re, and Pole 'Vilkerson, the
t\VO fornler designated respectively as Big Bill and
Little Bill. Paine testified that these nIen called at
his house and nIade inquiries as to the stock and
money belonging to different persons in that vicinity.
He had been acquainted ,vith them for SOlno tinlo.
They told hil11 they had an easy ,yay of 111aking a
living, freely exposing their Inethod, and asked Paine
to become one of them; telling hin1 at the saIne tilne
that \vhen they had opened a secret so far to a Ulan
they ,vould kill hinl if he did not join then1. U pOll
the arrest of the Inen, they ,vere taken before a
people's court and the execution of t\VO of then1 de-
ternlined upon. They ,vero conducted in front of the
residence of the Rov. J. G. Johnson and placed on a
cart under a tree, \v hen the fickle cro",
d changed its
mind and let the constable have theln. Aftèr further
meditation upon the n1atter, late Sunday night a srnall
delegation took the l11en fron1 jail. vVatson ,vas
hanged and then shot; I-Iand ,vas placed on a barrel
for the purpose of hanging hill1, ,vhen he broke a,vay
and escaped to the authorities. .The fourth prisoner,
Wilkerson, effected his escape in the darkness. While
in prison and under conviction of death they alllnade

ALICE STERLIXG OF HA YIL...UI.

54.:)

important confessions as to the organization ,vith
,vhich they had been connected. ,'T atson, or Big
Bill, stated that the gang consisted of three hundred
men, and ,vas completely organized under a constitu-
tion and by-laws, and that it extended from the Colo-
rado to :\Iarysville. Brown was captain of the banel.
Renewed effort ,vas no,v lllade for the arrest of other

implicated by these confessions. Bro,vn ,vas at la
t
oyertaken stealing cattle from the Tejon, ,vas pursued
and captured, ,vith t,vo of his men, and all three "
ere
hanged.
Havilah when newly settled had in it a large quar-
relsolne element; so that street fights and saloon
braw Is were of daily occurrence, and Inany a life ,va::;
there ruthlessly destroyed "Tithout a thought of retri-
bution. One evening during this year, at the Casino
saloon, a desperado named Bill Hammond ,vas ganl-
bling ,vith one Fred Ste,vart, w'hen a dispute arose
"\vhich led to Hammond's shooting Ste,,-art dead. The
assassin left the rOOìll, and the friends of the murdered
man attended to the remains. The thought of pursuing
Hammond was not entertained until John, the brother
of Fred Ste,vart, returned from "....hiskey Flat, ,,-here
he ,vas at the time of the affray. He started at once
,vith six others to overtake the lllurderer. In the
mean time Fred Stewart's funeral took place. Among
the mourners the most sincere seemed a young woman

Alice Sterling, ,vho ,vas a llliner's daughter and the-
fiancée of Stewart. Long after\vard daily she would
carry flo,vers to his grave. Suddenly she "
as missing,
and after unsuccessful search the conclusion was that
she had died by her o,vn hand. In John Ste,vart'

pursuit of Hammond the desperate character of the-
outla,v was fully evinced. His hiding- place ,vas dis-
covered in the Greenhorn :\Iountains. The pursuing
party divided and ascended the mountain on either
side. As Stewart ,vith one companion, Gore, ap-
proached Hammond's retreat, a shot from behind a
tree, follo,ved quickly by another, laid both 111en dead..
POI'. TRID., VOL. I, 35

fJ-!G

INFELICITIES AND AJ.JLEVL\. TIOXS,

vVhen the others canle up and sa\y \vhat had been done
they abandoned pursuit. It \vas but a fe,v days after
this that Alice Sterling had disappeared. Three years
later, Hamn10nd was in a saloon in Pioche at a card-
table, \vhen a won1an entered and unperceived by hÏIll
stepped behind his chair, dre\v a revolver, and shot
hinl dead. Then pointing the pistol to her o\vn head,
she fired and soon after died. The ,yoman \vas Alice
Sterling, and the foul murder of her lover, \vhich \vith
the killing of t\VO others of their number the pusil-
lanilllous to,vnsmen of Havilah had permitted to pass,
,vas thus avenged.
Extra judicial associations did not al,vays confine
thenlselves to the punishment of crime; instances are
on record \vhere Inisfortune unattended by blame ob-
tained recognition. On the 4th of March at Sonora,
California, the banking office of Adams and Company,
,\Those doors \vere closed in San Francisco nine days
previous, ,vas entered by a Inob, the sheriff then in
possession ,vas driven out, the vault containing the
treasure ,vas broken open, and paying tellers appointed
,vho paid it out as fast as checks \vere presented.
After thus sumn1arily liquidating the liabilities of
this branch office, t.he reillainder ,vas handed back to
the sheriff and the mob retired. Like atteulpts \vere
n1ade in other localities, nlost of "\vhich failed through
the firmness of the officers of the law and the gradu-
ally increasing love of order and good behavior arising
in the cOllllnunity.
In August six Americans \vere found n1urdered
near Jackson. The Mexicans ,vere accused; thirtv-
six \vere arrested, and son1e advocated the executi
n
of all of them. Several \vere tried, and three hanged
on one tree.
At Snelling in September some l\Iexicans were
caught ,vith stolen mules. One was hanged and
another shot, the sheriff being blindfolded and n1an-
ftcled at the tin1e that he Inight not interfere. While
the coroner's jury, sUIDlnoned by the deputy sheriff,

)IARTHA OF COLL
IBL\..

.í17

"
ere holding an inquest, shots \vere fired into the roon}
by
Iexicans, and several "
ounded, one fatally. The
officer ""as taken prisoner but after\vard released.

In all the southern nlines there ,vas no lovelier to\yn
than Columbia; but during the reign of bo\vie-knife
and pistol it \vas the scene of many an unlovely per-
formance. Bright the sun and beautiful the hills;
s\veetly sang the ,vaters, and s\veeter still the bird
;
fresh the air, which every morning freshened the
delyer's ardent longings often faint \vith \vaitinO'.
..L
h, "That a fair ,yorld this Inight be but for the u
-
restful heart of man! Give me for companions rocks,
trees, and flo\vcrs; or if of blood and sine\v, then
beasts, and birds, and fishes; or if of species kindred
to my o,vn, then savage
, sylvan men and \vomen for
whom centuries of cultivation have not provided mul-
titudinous arts as ministers to their passions; for my
soul's light give me the sun, and whatsoever more it
shall please my maker to let me know, but deliver me
froll1 the coarse brutalities of civilized men.
" Columbia was fair I say; not so was !Iartha.
:N ature in her happiest mood had fashioned the hills,
and overspread them with lov"eliness; had filled the
echoing cañons ,vith s,veetest melody and laid on all a
heaven of palpitating light;
Iartha's heart was acrid,
and her blood like the clear babbling stream muddied
by the miners, was turbid with the flow of the soul's
in1purities.
Therefore :}fartha ,vas no saint; neither would she
have been ,velcomed into the sisterhood of those im-
Inaculate dames whose yirtue shines brightly only
\y hen placed beside black vice. )Iartha kept a saloon:
\vhat that Ineant in a mining to\yn in early days the
reader \vell kno\ys. SOllle call then1 dens, but I do
not; everybody \yent there, and she ,yas as respectable
as the l11e11 \yho ,,"'ere glad to sit on her bofa and talk
to her because she \vas a \,,"on1:1n; furthermore, )Iartha
was Inarried: Inarricd to a Inan.

548

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

John Barclay \vas his name; and he \vas not a bad
man, though a gan1bler, married to a prostitute, and
finally hanged. He ,vas not a bad man, though the
'VOll1an he married brought him for a do,vry \vhat
Helen brought to Troy-desolation. He ,vas not a
bad Ulan, Inorally measured, as men go; I would rather
have such a one lilY friend than many \vho make
broad their phylacteries and sit in church pews, than
lllany who count their ,vorse than gamblina' gains
by nlillions. He ,vas honest and open-hcar
d, Hot
mean; he gau1bled, and so did those for \vhom he
dealt, the class that pretend to abhor gamblers, those
who sit on one side of the table, condelnning the no
nlore guilty ,vho occupy the opposite seats. True,
the ,von1an he lllarried ,vas one at ,vhom those ,vho
had Inade her ,vhat she ,vas threw stones; and he her
husband ,vas hanged, but it was for that which any
n1anly 111a11 \vould have done under the CirCU111stances,
nalnely, for shooting one ,vho ,vas striking his wife.
Let those \vhose rnorals cover no irnpurities, \vhose
religion hides no hypocrisy, denounce the openly bad
as in every particular \vorse than themselves; for 111Y-
self I see llluch to excuse in the professionally ,vicked
that I cannot pass by in the lllore refined rascalities
of the prudish and the puritanical.
But in the tongue of current morals ]\fartha ,vas
bad; and so ,vas Barclay. The loth of October 1855
they had been married less than two 1110nths. The
event ,vas celebrated \vhile 1\fartha was absent at an
agency of hers at Chinese Canlp. It ,vas there that
Barclay first met her, and their short acquaintance
ripened into a sort of \VOrn1-eaten affection.
John II. Sn1ith \vas a 111iner, not necessarily better
or ,vorse th
n Barclay; but the \vorld in its Inoral
technicality agreed, by reason of his occupation, in
calling hin1 better; though so far as the record goes,
the only difference between thelli lay in the fact that
Smith drank to drunkenness at the counter from
behind ,vhich l\fartha served the poison, and gambled

)IARTH_\'
HrSBA
""D.

34:9

sitting at one side of the table while Barclav sat at
the other side. "
On the date before mentioned Smith dropped his
pick and entered Columbia on a rousing spree. ""Thile
in )Iartha's saloon he accidentally broke a pitcher
,vhich was standing on the counter. A fistic skirmish
follo\\-red the high ,vords arisino- from the accident.
'-' ;:::> ,
but the male being the superior brute,
Iartha \,as
getting the worst, of it, ,,
hen Barclay entered, dre\va
pistol, and shot Smith dead.
The miners were furious, as they had reason to be.
Barclay had no right to kill Smith; he should be
banged for it, and the miners ,,"ould do it if the la"
would not. Coffroth \\'as there, and stirred their
passions in a moderate speech, partly to see then1
simmer and partly to sugar-coat his o"\\-'"n popularity.
Coffroth ,vas becoming very "Tise. TW"o years back
he ","as ready to fight for the la"W. And he still thought
the la,," a good thing ordinarily, but in this instance-
the murdered man had been a friend of his.
. Jack Heckendorn, editor of the Columbia Ctlipl)el
,
was non1inated judge, and a jury of twelye appointed.
The sheriff and his subordinates were easily over-
po\\"ered, the jail doors "
ere beaten in with axes and
crow-bars, and the prisoner was brought forth. Bar-
clay "Well kne"\\ the meaning of it all, and on reaching
the jail door made a de
perate effort to escape. But
on him, all at once, fell fift
r men amidst horrible im-
precations and cries of "Hang him I" "Up \vith him I"
"Put him through 1" "S\\Ting him up I"
Beneath the ominous beams of the Tuolun1l1e '\T ater
Company's flume ,vhere it crosses the Gold Springs
road the turbulent tribunal asseluLled and sat. Here
a ring was formed, and the prisoner ,vit.h John Oxley,
who had been appointed his counsel, placed ",.ithin it.
There "Were also the judge and jur
r, "ith Coffroth as
prosecutino- attorney, though he \yould gladly ha \'e
seen BarcL'1Y free. Little prosecuting the poor pris-
oner required, surrounded as he \vas by the thousand

530

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

flaInes of consluning vengeance blazing in the breasts
of those ravenous for his blood. As ,veIl n1Ïght Oxley
stand beneath the high Y oselnite and argue to the
,yaters the folly of their falling.
And to Barclay, ho,v sudden and ho,v strange 1 It
,vas like the deliriulll of a drunken drealn. But an
hour or t,vo ago he ,vas free and happy. The sun
then shone for hin1; the glorious panoralna spreading
from ,vhere he sat, and soon to be rolled from his re-
ceding gaze, ,vas then breath-inspired for hin1, attuned
to the melody of his life. He had harbored no ill to
the man he had kil1ed, never before had seen hint, did
not even kno,v his name. Instinctively he had raised
his hand against hin1 ,vho had raised hiB hand against
his ,vife. What dellloniacal ho,vler of thcln all ,vould
not have done the same 1 And all for a broken
pitcher. Oh, 1110st danlnable 1
John Ward Inoved that the jury be s,vorn, when
the cro\vd shouted, "No humbug I" "Go ahead I" In
this instance the cro,vd ,vere right; ,vhat had s,vear-
ing to do ,vith it 1 There ,vas not a j urynlan there
but kne,v his verdict ,vould be that of guilty; he dare
not give another. Nevertheless the jury \vere s,vorn;
and probably the consciences of SOlne ,vere eased
thereby. It ,vas the irony of the jury systen1 and
of judicial procedure, these Inob tribunals, ,vith their
judge, counsel, and jury, and the verdict already before
the trial. S,vear in God's nalTIe, if there is any relief
in it; but no ,yonder the cro\vd cry "No hunlbug!"
The ,vitnesses were then called, but ,ve ,viII not
follo,v theln. The evidence is all before n1e, and is as
I have stated. It ,vas a very silnple case: Snlith ,vas
drunk, and l\fartha, angry that he should break her
pitcher, applied abusive epithets, \vhereupon SInith
seized and handled her roughly, and Barclay entering
at that mOlTIent shot hinl. The \vhole affair, so says
the testimony, did not occupy five minutes. Coffroth,
the prosecutor, testified to the respectability of the
prisoner prior to his rnarriage.

'YOL '
ES IX JIEX'
CLOTHIXG.

jjl

)Ieall,,,hile the cro\yd \yere noisy and impatient.
l\Iartha Barclay \yas called by the defence to testify.
Then the mob began afresh, "X 0, no 1" ,,""'"-
\yay "vith
her I" "Off I off I" "Put her a"
ay I" "Bring a "hyena
to testify!" And these great American justice-loyer::;
\,ould not let the hated object come near the rin a .
"---hen the husband shot the man that as
aulted tl
e
"oman, then she ,,!as not his ,,
ife, and hence anath-
ema. "Then the ,voman \yished to tes tify, then she
"as bis ,,
ife, and hence anathenla.
Heckendorn, the judge, then asked if there "
ere
any "itne::,ses from Chinese Camp, Barclay's fariner
place of residence, ,,
hen the cro,,-d yelled, ,,\'"T"hat in
hell do ,ve "
ant ,,,ith Chine
e I" "Send him to hell
for ,,-itnesses I" ")Iake a prayer and let's haye hinl ["
"Don't "
ait: the sheriff ,,-ill be here directly:" To
"hich last remark the judge replied \,ith grayity,
"There is no danger the sheriff \,ill get through thi8
cro,,
d." The ans"er "a
, "Giye him to ust" "1Tp
\yith him I"
Heckendorn, fearing the cro,vd ,yould become
frantic, then announced that the counsel on either
side ,,-ould address the jury. "Cut it short I" caIne
fro1l1 the rabble. " One minute apiece r' "Quick I"
" Short t"
Coffroth, for the prosecution, opened and \"as li
-
tened to ,,-ith attention and applause, for though the
prisoner "as his friend the eyes of the "orld "ere
upon him. Oxley, for the defence, could scarcely be
heard at all. He beao'ed them to consider 'v hat thev
ðð .J
were about to do. ,- Enough I" "Enough:" \,as the
reply. He spoke of the la\vs, \vhen he ,"vas interrupted
,,-ith "Damn the la,ys:" "N 0, no
up \\?ith hÏ1n I"
"Gi ve bim to us
" This last \,as the most horrible
cry the prisoner had e,er hearJ. There ,vas lllore of
the huncrry \yolfishness ill it, more of that insatiable
thirst fo
human blood, than could be found in oceans
of current blasphemy. The judge asked tl
at t
e
coun<sel for the defence lnight b
heard, but III valll.

,"';;)2

IXFELICITIE
AXD ALLRYIA TIONS.

It ,vas no,v dark. A large fire ,vhich had been
kindled blazed near by, casting its crinlson glare upon
that terrible tribunal which struggled so hard to give
the color of justice to their ,vildly insensate proceed-
ings. I t was a ,veird and ,voful spectacle.
While Coffroth ,vas writing a letter home for
Barclay, and just as the jury ,vere about to retire,
J an1es M. Stew'art, the county sheriff, rode up and in
the name of the la,v den1anded the person of John S.
Barclay. He then attempted to seize him, but the
mob in its fury easily caught up both Barclay and the
sheriff, and carried them separate ,vays. In an instant
Barclay was beneath the flume with the inexorable
hemp about his neck. Ste"\vart nlade a desperate
effort to save hÏ1n. Breaking froln those ,vho held
him, he called upon the people to assist hin1 in the
discharge of his duty. With ahnost superhlunan
strokes he beat do,vn the rabble bet,veen hinlself and
Barclay, and ,vith a knife attelnpted to cut the rope
,vhich held hÌ111, ,vhen he received a severe blo,v froln
a pistol upon his head, and was caught and dragged
back into the cro,vd.
The ren1ainder of this disgraceful tragedy I ,vill not
,vrite, but \vill give it in the ,vords of an eye-,vitness:
"The hanging scene ,vas one of the 1110st terrible and
brutal ever ,vitnessed by man. The rope had been
lo\vered from the flulne above and haltered around
Barclay's neck ,vithout the hun1ane precaution of
pinioning the 'v retch's hands and arn1S. A dozen
men hauled a,vay on the rope, and as the ,vrithing
body ,vent up, a yell broke forth fron1 the n1ass of
men belo,v. The ilnprecations ,vere horrible, and the
gesticulation brutally expressive. The Inob was no,v
frantic, murderous, mad. As the howling delnons
above hauled on the rope, Barclay in the intensity of
his despair grasped the cord over his head ,vith both
hands and clung to it for a fe,," ll10ments ,vith the
tenacity of desperation. Those ,vho ,vere hauling at-
tempted to shake BarrlaY'R grip by raising the rope

THE YEAR 1856.

553

and letting it fall suddenly, and one of his execu-
tioners, a man named Terri leaned over the edge of
the flun1e and shouted, 'Let go, you damned fool I
let go!' Finally one hand ,yeakened and fell to his
side; then the other gave ,vay, and a few convul-
sive quivers ran through his frame as his breath ,yas
strangled by the tightening cord. Then all was still,
t
e body hanging motionless forty feet aboye the
surging mass of men beneath. For an instant an
awful calm fell upon the mob; they seemed to realize
the full extent of their horrible work, and men spoke
in "\1"' hispers as they gazed up,vard at the shape
dangling bet"\1 r een heaven and earth. Then the reac-
tion came; the swinging body lost its interest, and the
hoarse yells broke forth once more. 'To
Iartha's I'
'To :\Iartha's!' they yelled. 'Let's rip the house
do,vnl' 'Do,vn with it!' 'Hurrah, boys!' and away
,vent a large number of the 1110re blood-thirsty mem-
bers of the mob. Arriving at l\Iartha's, they broke
the ,,
indo\Ys. only. They then proceeded to a place
called Pike's, and after behaving like a pack of ll1ad
tools, shouting and dancing, performed in the same
insane manner in front of what was known as the
'China Houses,' one by one the surfeited 1l10b dis-
appeared, and shortly after nlidnight all was quiet in
Col urn bia. "

The year of the Grand Tribunal opens \vith the
apprehension of two Chileans near Coulterville in
:\Iarch, charged with robbing Chinamen. Tried before
a magistrate, they \vere acquitted. The people, how-
eyer, ,vere not satisfied. Robbing Chinamen ,vas a
common thinO'-no Yer)"'" great offence as \,ickedness
went-and il='the culprits had been Americans it is
probable no further notice would have been taken of
the affair. But the miners never missed a chance
of hano-ina- a 'g:reaser.' So these t,vo Chileans 'v ere
o ð <.J
seized again, tried b
r the people, and one of them
hanged.

554 INFELICITIES Ar\TJ) ALLEVIATIONS.

Four persons, three J\Iexicans and one Indian, \vho
had been incarcerated on rather slight proof at l\fon-
terey to await their trial for murder, on the 17th of
l\fay 1856 ,vere taken from the jail by the lllob and
hanged.
At Deep Creek on the night of the 23d of June
Solomon Brundridge of Surprise Valley \vas killed
by one A. J. Goff, who claimed to have committed
the deed in self-defence. The ,vife of the In urdered
man ,vas the cause of the difficulty. Goff boarded
at Brundridge's, and the husband ,vas jealous.
'Irs
Brundridge ,vas a sinner. Goff told \\That he had
done; but not finding that expl'ession of sympathy in
the eyes of his listeners \vhich he deenled essential to
his safety, he attempted to escape, \vhereupon he ,vas
arrested. The inquest over, the people concluded to
hang Goff. Prisons ,vere insecure, and trials expensive
and uncertain. Whatever conclusion the la\v might
arrive at, Goff ,vas none to good to hang. So on the
night of the 27th, fifty TIlen uf Surprise Valley, armed
with guns, presented thenlselves before the house
,vhere Goff ,vas confined and demanded the murderer.
The limbs of the la\v bristled ,vith bravery. Particu-
larly Judge Bowmer felt himself called upon to lay
do\vn his life for the constitution of his country.
Knowing that there ,vas not the slightest danger of
their firing on hin1, the judge placed his back against
the door, and \vhile a dozen open-mouthed guns re-
garded him threateningly, he loudly declaill1ed that
they should Inake him like unto a piece of honey-
comb before he yielded to their unhallowed demands.
Shoving the good judge aside they entered,- brought
out the prisoner, and conducted him to a gate \vith
tall posts and a cross-bealn. A rope was thro,vn over
the beaul, one end of ,vhich Goff adjusted to his neck.
While these preparations \vere going on he took oc-
casion to relnark that he ,vas a dead-centre shot ,vith
a revolver, that he had killed more men than one,
that he always said he should die \vith his boots on,

EXGLISH)IL

ì) SPA),LARD.

355

and that if he might kill three more men in the valley
he could die happy. Then climbing the rope to the
cross-beam, he jumped off, launching his soul rudder-
less into space.
C. Colebrook, an English sailor living at -,-\.nO'el
Carrlp, in the afternoon of September :26th went Oto
the cabin of one ..A.Tnlstrong and plunged a knife into
his heart for haying called him a hog-stealer. Ar-
rested, Colebrook ,yas taken before a justice of the
peace, and his trial began. But the people did not
fancy the slo,y illO\
ernents of legal machinery. They
kne\y a better ,yay, they saiJ.
-\n unhanged brother
of this murderer roamed at large, ,vho, had his just
punishment been given him, might have deterred this
deed. The murmurs of the dissatisfied grew louder,
and the judge sent to San .L.\.ndrés for help, the
to"
ns-people of ....
ngel refusing him assistance. Xight
came on, candles ,,-ere lighted, and still the trial con-
tinued. SudJenly a man rushed into court and ex-
claimed aloud that the sheriff was coming ,,'"ith a jJosse
()f men to shield the prisoner, and that now or never
"as their time. Immediately all was uproar. The
lights were extinguished, judge, clerk, and constable
seized and firmly held, ,,
hile the prisoner "'as hastened
to the nearest tree and his black soul let fly bat-like
into the blackness of the night.
The resort to the s,vift and summary process of
lynch la"T for righting the \vrongs of a community is
al\vays hazardous as an experiment, and frequently
results in the grossest injustice. As "
e have seen, the
operations of the \Tigilance Con:
ittee of San Fran-
cisco encouraO'ed other con1IDulllties to throw off the
restraints ofOthe la,y, and furious American mobs
,v ere occasionally guilty of acts of yiolenc
\vorthy of
the ,,
ildest barbarians. In October of thIS memora-
ble year of 1856 some Spauiards suspected of hor
e-
stealing camped. on P
j
ro Riyer ,vere
ttacked by
a party of AmerIcans, cItIzens of 'Vatsonvllle, and the
,vhole party killed or captured. About six o'clock

556

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

next IDorning six or seven Spaniards came riding
through the to,vn, and ,vere attacked by the same
party of Americans. A fight ensued, in which one
Spaniard was ,vounded, ,vhile the others rode a,vay.
The \vounded man was brought in and tied to a flaO'-
staff, and a mob jury was hastily ill1panelled. While
this tribunal ,vas in session a discussion arose among
the citizens as to ,vhether the man should be tried by
the irregular jury or turned over to the authorities.
It was finally concluded to submit the Inatter to a vote,
,vhen the sentiment appearing to be in favor of turn-
ing him over to the authorities, he ,vas secretly let
loose. Then a hue and cry ,vas raised, and the ,vhite
1110b launched out in pursuit, firing some fifty or more
shots at the culprit before he \vas recaptured. He
,vas brought in ,vith a rope around his neck and ti
d
to a post like a horse. Then, having been allo\ved
tilDe to smoke a cigarette, he was hanged ,vithout
further cerelDony.
Precarious is the path of horse-thieves. At White's
rancho, near Watsonville, in October labored a native
Californian suspected of intimacy \vith a band of ma-
rauders infesting that vicinity. Arrested and brought
to to,vn for trial by the people, certain of the 1110der-
ate sort prevailed upon the hotter-headed to deliver
the offender to the la,v. Next day, no one appearing
against him, he ,vas discharged frOlll custody. When
those ,vho had made the arrest heard that the la,v
had loosed their victim, they pursued and recaptured
hin}. While arranging for his trial the slippery fellow
broke from them and ran. Shots ,vere fired, \vhich
failed to bring hin1 do\vn, but he \vas finally taken
for the third time. The \vork was becoming too long
and too ,varm; so quickly they hanged hin1 to a tree,
thus making sure of the execution, though failing in
the trial.
The people of Happy Camp, in Del N orte County,
arrested t,vo ChinalDen suspected of the murder of
one O'Meara and of the robbing and burning of a

SELL:lliG O

'S HEAD.

557

store belonging to a man named Gazquet; the China-
men confessed the crime and 'v ere hanged.
An American at a certain mining-camp, who doubt-
less ,vas in haste to change his place of residence,
appropriated to himself a horse belonging to one of
his countrymen, and ,,
ithout saddle or bridle rode to
Calaveras, some thirty miles distant. The o\vner on
discovering his loss armed himself, mounted his horse,
and follo,ved the thief. The latter was takinO' his
repast at the Empire Hotel in Calaveras \vh
n he
felt a hand laid on his shoulder and heard a voice
say: ""\Vell, IllY friend, did lllY horse suit you? It
,vas not the best in the corral, for you see I have
overtaken you." 'Vithout apparent concern the other
ans\yered that the horse ,vas in the pasture, and offcred
to fetch it. A ride of thirty miles had made the
o"'ner hungry, so he sat do\yn and ate beside the
thief. The meal finished, the two ,vent to the sheriff
to have the matter settled. There had been several
thefts in the county lately, and the thieves had es-
c
ped; here was an opportunity to make an example.
A jury "as quickly convened, and by their verdict
the offender ,vas sentenced to be hanged. The con-
demned, a young man of some t,venty-five years,
tried to plead in his o"n behalf, but the verdict ,vas
,vithout. appeal.
He then resigned himself to death, merely asking
that he lllight be shot instead of hanged, a favor
,,-bich ,vas granted him, as good shots "''"ere plentiful
at Calaveras.
The physician of the place, ",
ho ,vas a soi-clisant
phrenologist, noticed some peculiar traits about the
head of the prisoner, and offered him ten dollars for it,
The offer ,yas accepted. The condemned enclosed the
piece of gold in his tobacco-pouch, together ,vith a
lock of, hi
hair, and asked the sheriff to send it to his
mother in
Iissouri, at the same tin1e begging him not
to inform her of the cause of his death. The sheriff
promised that he ,vould simply tell her that her un-

538

I1\TFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

fortunate son had died from the effects of a horse-race.
Standing up before the riflemen, the fellow bared his
breast to them, asking them not to ainl at his head, as
he \vould not wrong anybody in his last mon1ents, not
even the physician. The corpse was yet ,varnl ,vhen
a dispute arose between the doctor and the sheriff,
because the latter insisted that if, the former ,vanted
the head he must take the body \vith it. The doctor
,vas obliged to yield. He severed the head fron) the
body and carried it a\vay in a sack, s\vearing that next
time he ,vould expressly stipulate that he ,vas to have
the head only. The body he threw into an old mining
shaft and covered it ,vith stones.
One Hight in a certain 111ining-calnp a sailor ,vho
had deserted his ship stole t\VO bags containing about
five thousand dollars' worth of gold, and seized a third
containing half dollars in silver. The jingling of the
coin a,voke the o,vner, ,vho gave the alarnl, and the
thief ,vas captured. A jury of t\velve miners, ,vith a
man nan1ed N utn1an officiating as judge, tried the case.
The sailor ,vas found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.
I t ,vas finally thought best, ho,vever, not to take his
life, but to give hiln one hundred lashes on the bare
back, cut off his ears, and shave his head, so that he
should be recognized as a felon \vherever he went.
The sentence ,vas carried into effect, and the fello,v
kicked out of camp. Stealing the first mule he came
to, he rode to Calaveras Diggings, \vhere the anin1al
,vas clainled by the owner. Again he ,vas tried, and
sentenced to be flogged, but when laid bare his back
,vas found so cut by stripes that there was no place
left to \vhip. The miners had compassion and drove
him out of the district unpunished.
In the case of an An1erican and a Mexican, ar-
rested at Knight Ferry in September 1856 for horse-
stealing, froln the cro,vd assen1bled the prisoners ,vere
allo,ved to select t,vel ve to act as a jury in the trial.
Before proceeding, the people decided that a majority
of the jury should be sufficient to rendcr a verdict, and

THE YEAR lS.3j.

G39

that such verdict should be carried out, ,,"hatever it
Inight be. The decision of this jury, for a lynch
court, ,vas somewhat singular. The prisoners were
found guilty and ordered to be given over to the
legally constituted authorities for trial.
The people of )Iokelumne Hill thought Henry
Lorenze had taken Hopkins' money, but they could
not prove it. One Sunday evening-it was the 4th
of October 1857-Smith invited Lorenze to drive
w'ith him. Jogging along happily in a buggy, sud-
denly five masked men sprang fronl the roadside,
seized Lorenze, and carried him up to a flunle, where
they nearly strangled him. Repeating the process
of lifting up and letting do,vn, ,vith intervals of rest
for confessional purposes, for about two hours, Lorenze
,vas pern1itted to depart, nothing having been choked
out of him. It is needless to say that his friend Smith
did not ,vait ,vith his yehicle for him.
One of the 'V olfskills, of Solano County, in October
1857 lost a horse, which was supposed to have been
ßtolen. One day the animal returned of its o,vn accord,
but ,vith a saddle on its back. After due inquiry a

Iexican living in V aca Valley was pronounced the
guilty person, ,vhereupon a party of the horse owner's
friends called upon the
Iexican, ,vho, seeing theln
handle with such grace and looseness the ominous
hen1p, thre"l' hin1self upon a horse and fled. The
others were instantly after him, and they finally suc-
ceeded in running hin1 down in the vicinity of the
Potrero Hills. Then they hanged him in due form;
but before life was ,vholly extinct, on ascertaining
that he ,yas not the man they had taken him for, and
no horse-thief, they lowered hiu1 gently and begged
his pardon. COlnlnenting on a sin1ilar incident, the
editor of the :x ew York Democrat, "
riting 'hung' for
'hanged,' 'vigilance committee' for 'll10b,' and, per-
haps, 'Illinois' for' California,' says:
"Lynch law is tolerably effective, but it b38 its faults.
Iistakes arc liable
to occur. The other day in Illinois a vigilance committee hung a man because

560

IKFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

he looked like another man who had stolen a horse. The mistake was dis-
covered after the man's neck had been twisted all out of shape and the
breath of life had been permanently removed from his body. He naturally
felt a little cool toward that committee, and no amount of apology 011 their
part could restore him to a proper sense. The lynch-law men should be
sure they are right before they go so recklessly ahead."

The Argonauts of California were not much given to
vexatious civil suits, but had their o,vn ,yay of filing
demurrers, enjoining trespassers, perfecting titles,
. etc.; and it certainly had the advantage of economy
and despatch. In the SUlnmer of 1858 a con1pany
of miners ,vere ,vorking a bar-claim on the Stanislaus
River, near Peoria Bar, using a \vheel for raising the
\vater into their sluices. T\vo Frenchmen \vent to
work belo,v theIn, \vith a vie-\v of fluming the river,
and ,vere putting in a dam, ,vhich had attained such a
height as to force the ,vater back on the \vheel of the
other company, ,vhen the latter remonstrated. An
angry altercation followed, the cañons for a tin1e rever-
berating ,vith the sonorous 111aledictions of Missouri
111ingled ,vith the trilling r's of France. Then the
Frenchmen, issue having been thus legally joined,
\vent to their cabins and came forth with shot-guns,
and opened fire on the others, ,vho \vere unarmed,
soon stretching three of them upon the ground, one
dead and two mortally ,vounded. The
Frenchmen,
taking their arms, left the place. Some miners,
headed by a man named Pike, followed them across
. the Stanislaus River and up into the Chaparral
J\Iountains, \vhere a fight ensued in ,vhich Pike ,vas
slain outright and one of his follo\vers, Charles Ken-
nedy, mortally \vounded. The victorious Frenchmen
then continued their journey, but probably soon found
their "last call1p,'' as all the miners of that region
were on the lookout for thenl..
A l\1:exican gan1bler named Pansa stabbed a Ger-
man at Sutter Creek. The miners selected a jury
and tried the l\1exican; the jury found him guilty,
and the verdict ,vas seventy-five lashes, as the Ger-

TO'VX-BLl:LDL,G ..lXD HA.....'GIXG.

3m

man ,vas still living ; but :::;hould he die, Pallsa ,vas tu
be hanged. The lashes "1"ere given ,,-ith a ,\-ill. The
next day the German died; the
Iexicall 'Ya
then
executed. The justice of the verdict ,vas cOl1eeded
even by his o,vn countrymen. The ,vhipping in ad-
dition to the hanging ,vould not have been required
had the German died outright; but "Then the suftering
of his victiln for t\venty-four hours is considered, the
sentence seems to present
ome shades of equity finer
than those often distinguished by the la,v.
Xine thousand tlollars "ere stolen from the ex-
press office at Fiddleto\vn on Sunday night, the 1st of
Fcbruary 1857. Five Inen, notorious as gamblers and
thieves, \vere arrested and lodged in jail on suspicion.
Unable to obtain the facts in the affair, t,yO of the
prisoners the Tuesday follo,ving "
ere taken out and
lifted by ropes round thei
necks, but were lo"ered
Lefore life "as extinct. They "ould confes
to nothing,
and ,vere set at liberty. On Friday another, Step-
perfield by name, having displayed much Lravado
tq.roughout the affair, was brought out, pinioned, and
hanged to a tree, but ,vas rescued by the sheriff, ,,-ho
removed hinl to Jackson jail.
The people of Bangor, Butte County, it appears did
not approve of the ill urder of Chinalllen, even by,\' hite
people. On the 2d of April 1857 four men, "ho had
escaped the sheriff holding then} on a charge of killing
a Chinaman, "ere pursued and captured by the people, .
and three of thenl instantly hanged. Before the ex-
ecution the criminals confessed their guilt. The.r
belonged to a gang of about fifty outla ,vs.
Gold ill tempting quantities being discovered on
Butte Creek in the early summer of the same year,
the treasure-hunters assenlbled to adopt measures for-
laying out a town. First the spot must be christeneJ.
'Goatsyille' one suO"aested for a name; another 'Hu-
00
bersville,' another 'Shaclerville,' but 'Dianlondvillc'
carried Ly seven majority. Hanging seemed next in
order; that is to say, let an èxanlple be made, and so
POP. TIUB., VOL. I. 3(;

.
ò2

IXFELICITIES AXD ALLEYL-\..TIOXS.

secure
afety. The victin1 ,vas a Chillalnan seen roh-
bing the sluice of one Tin10thy O'
Iera at 111Îdnight.
The heathen ,vas detected by a ,vatchlllan and shot,
once, t,vice; not,vithstanding the leaden increase of
,vcight, John ran t,vo hundred yards, ,,
hen he fell and
,vas captured. Serr1Ï-strangulation ,vas resorted to ill
order to ascertain the ,vhereabouts of plunder pre-
yiously taken. John ,vas firm. Off came the pride-
sustaining queue; still John spoke no ,vords. Finally
even his Chinese stoicism gave ,yay, and the poor
Celestial prolllised if his tornlentors ,vould take hiru
to the teut of a countryn1an he ,vould pay t\VO hun-
dred dollars, \vhich ,vas the amount said to have been
taken. Unable to walk, the luiners carried hinl; but
arrived at his brother's, alas! he kne,v him not. Dis-
tress severs the affections even of Chinalnen. SOlne
,v ere no\v for hanging ,vhat remained of John upon a
tree. But others said No; ,vhat advantage should
accrue froln extinguishing the little light left in that
unhallo,ved lalnp 1
Entering Auburn by a certain road early one morn-
ing in February 1858, one nlight have seen, perhaps
,vith some surprise, a black body pendent froIn a tal]
pine about half a lnile fronl the to\vn. The negro's
nalne ,vas Aaron Bracy, and he ,vas placed there, at
some monlent selected from the silent hours of the
night previous, by the citizens of Auburn, ,vho took
bill1 from the custody of the la,v, to ,vhich he had
yoluntarily delivered hÎlnself after the Inurder of a
lnuch respected inhabitant of the place.
It is not often that a Chinan1an kills a ,vhite ,vornan
in California; yet there ,vas such an occurrence at
Cooke Bar, near SaCrall1ento, the 18th of Octobe!'.

frs Sarah Neal, a respectable Irish 'v oman ,vith
four or five thousand dollars, kept a store at the tinle
and place above rnentioned. Shortly after mid-day,
during the hours of business, ,vhile the "'.Olnan hap-
pened to be alone in the store, a Chinaman entered
and \vith a knife cut her to death. The ChiHalnan

THE YEARS 18;)8-9.

.ïC:1

"ras innnediately hanged by the people. The cause of
the killing is not kno\vn; John's \vays are 111ysterious.
Harrison :Jlorgan and Richard \Vallace \vere ar-
rested the 30th of N oyember 1858 on suspicion of
the nlurder of John Leary, constable of Collunbia.
The prisoners \vere lodged in jail at Sonora, and on
the 2d of DeCelllber \vere taken to Columbia for ex-
alnination. 'Vallace confessed to numerous thefts. but
denied the nlurder; against
Iorgan there ,vas stro
ger
evidence of guilt. )Ieanwhile the cloud of popular
opinion blackened \vithout. The officers sa\y the
con1ing storm, and \vhen ready to remove the prisoners
ordered the court-room cleared of spectators. The
sheriff's buggy "
as standing at the baek door; and as
all seemed quiet, although the assemblage ,vas large,
he did not anticipate danger. Sedg\vick, the sheriff,
and )1 ullan, the marshal, _ took 'Vallace, \v hile the
deputy 8herift' and a constaLlù conducted )Iorgan. .L\.s
the party passed out, a rush ,vas made by the cro\vd
for the prisoners. :\Iorgan's keepers struggled rnan-
fyIly to hold him, and )lorgan struggled manfully to
be held by them; but the mob ,vas too Inany for theIn,
and a,vay he \yent to his death. The sheria', ,yhen he
sa \v one prisoner lost, shoved 'Vallace back into the
court-room. There \vere no\v conlparatively fe\\
people
about the place, most of thelll having follo\yed
Iorgan.
Yet there 'v ere enough to give the sheriff a severe
struggle before he succeeded in placing the prisoner
in the buggy beside the driver, and sending hilll as
fast as the horse could run, \\Tith the lnob ho\vling at
his heels, to,vard the Sonora jail. Night caIne on
apace, cold and \\7 indy. 'Vith the departure of the
sun the feverish passions of the multitude subsided.
The llliners scattered to their homes; and "There so
lately the infuriated n10b had stirred the dust \vith
their \YrestlinO'
and rent the air ,vith cries of veng-e-
o
J
ance, quiet reigned. Along the dusty road that
leads fro III Gold Springs came roundly racking a
dusky child of the :Flo,ycry Land. À basket of fish

5ü4

INFELICITIE8 AND ALLEVIATIONS.

,vas on his head, and round his heart played feline
strains of hOlne. Just as he ,vas passing under the
Runle that crosses the road near the to,vn his head
canle in contact ,vith a long swinging object, ,vhich
sent his basket of fish flying into the bushes. Look-
iug up he sa,,," dangling about his head the griln corpse
of l\Iorgan the Inurderer, left hanging thero a. fe\v
hours before Ly his rolentless executioners. John's
breath came ,vheezing; his coppery face assumed an
alnber hue; his ahnond eyes gre,v round; the very
tail of hin1 rose and pointed back,vard to\vard the
objoct of his consternation as he alnbled s\viftly into
to,vn.
As late as 1859 pistol-carrying obtained at Mari-
posa. To see rational, civilized hun1an beings mingling
friendlilyor passing back and forth bet\veen neighbor-
ing to,vns \vith huge six-shooters strapped to their
,vaist, as if to kill and keep frot11 being killed consti-
tuted an Ì1nportant part of each elay's econonly-it
,vas interesting. There ,vas a ,vhole volulne of un-
evolved sociological science in it. It \vas n10st kind
in 1\11' Colt, just as gold ,vas discovered in these parts,
to furnish Californians ,vith such beautiful cla,vs as
God had forgotten to give tholn. All aninlals but
Ulan have \veapons forged for then1 by nature; no\v
man has his, and the ,york of creation is cOlllplete.
Cla\v, cut, shoot, kill, thou n10re than ,vilel beast I for
the brute docs thus for food or safety, and under the
influence of instinct, \vhile soul-endo,ved intellectual
Ulan kills for nothing, oftentillles for the more pleasure
of killing.
The body of a lllurdered luan named Shields ,vas
found near Pine Grove, Sierra County, in the spring
of 1860, and one John O'Donnell ,vas suspected of
the crime. Shields ,vas kno,vn to be the seducer
of O'Donnell's \vife, and Ly the better portion of the
conl111unity the hon1icide \vas considered justifiable if
porpetrated by the luan \vhosc h0111e had been thus
destroyed. Shields' friends, ho\vevcr, deter111ined that

THE YE_\RS 18GO-G.

,jG.3

O'Donnell's life should atone for the Inurder, and his
arrest \,as demanded.

legal trial "
as instituted,
,,
here the conflicting testin10ny n1ade it probable that
the jury \,ould acquit him; but in case the jury di
-
aO'reed , O'Donnell ,vas to be transferred to the
v
DO"Tnieyille jail. thirty miles di
tant, to a" ait further
Înyestigation. The sno" "as deep at the tilne, and
the Shield
party expre

ed fear that O'Donnell
ll1ight escape the authorities ,,
hile being transferred.
To ren10ve all uncertainty as to acquittal or e::;cape,
the rough elelnent banded, nurnbering about one hun-
dred and forty men, and disguised, marched, to'\
ard
n1idnight the
d of

pril, to the hotel ,,-here O'Don-
ncll in the custody of a con
table was taking
upper.
Surrounding the building, they a"aited the signal,
t\'"O pistol-shot
, \\Then the n10b ru
hed for\vard,
entered the roon1.
eized O'Donnell, and ,,-ithout
allo\ving hin) any time for preparation, led hin1 to
Pratt's li'Tery-stable, \\
here they improyised a gallo"T

and executed hin1, lea\-ing the body to disclose the
deed, but nothing to indicate the authors of the
tragedy.
In the spring of 1861 at the mi
sion of San
Gabriel crin1e assumed atrocious proportions in the
frequency of abusive attacks by men upon their ,,-i,-es.
"Tithin a \yeek or t\\-O no less than three Californian

had been arrested for inhuman treatment of 'YOn1eU,
one of ,,-hon1 had been sentenced to the
tate-prison
for fiye year:-:;: another \va::; in jail a\yaiting sentence,
,,-hi Ie tho third,
-\J,
itre, receiyed iU1111ediate punish-
ment by the people, as the follo".ing account details:
J osé Claudio Alyitre. a hard-drinking man
ixty year

of acrc , li,ed ,,-ith his ,,,ife at the old 111ib
ion. They
o <-
had a family of t"el,.e children, the n10
t of thenl
gro\\-n up a
d a \yay fron) h0111e. The old lllall \y hen
under the influence of liquor ::,eemcd to haxe an al-
most insane de
ire to abu
e his ,,"ife, for \yhich oftence
he had recently been iInprisoned for four n}onth
. On
the 5th of :\Ia

. after drinking freely, he detern1Îned

566

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVLL\.TIOK8.

upon taking lllore severe lneasures than ever, and
gi ving errands to his several children, ,vas left alone
,vith his \vife, \v hOll} he stabbed several tinles, causing
inl1nedia.te death. As soon as the fact \vas luade
kno\vn a cro\vd gathered about the house, and seizing
Alvitre, took hirn to a tree, "There his countrYlnen
had nlade prelil11inary preparations for his executioll.
l
he cireul11stances needed no investigation; there \yas
no doubt that the \V0111an had been lnurdered by his
hand. Accordingly he \vas placed on horseback be-
neath the tree, a lariat thro\vn over a linlb, one end
noosed about his Hock, and the horse driven fronl
under hinl.
Bet,veen Elizabeth Lake and Fort Tejon in March
1862 some travellers discovered four bodies suspended
from troes. They had engaged in cattle-stealing \vith
inlpunity for some til11e, Lut at last, overtaken by the
o,vners ,vith the stolen cattle in their possession, they
] lad been executed \vithout trial, and their bodies left
unburied as a "yarning to others.
The 2-!th of August 1863 at Gilroy an Indian \vas
arrested for the murder of a teal11ster. The culprit
\vas cOIDlnitted for trial by the court, but the luob
took hinl from jail and hanged him frol11 a tree in the
street. I t ,vas only a poor native; he had no lnoney;
vvhat \vas the use of trial?
Charles Barnhart and vVilliam Riggs, the 22d of
June 1865, at Susanville, ell r;'o'Ute for Chico, quar-
relled about a piece of rope. The shortest \vay to
settle the difficulty \vas for one to kill the other, and
this the forlner did. The shortest \vay to justice was
to hang the hOlnicide \vit.h the salne piece of rope,
and this the passengers inlmediately did, erecting
apparatus for the purpose from the trams of their
\vagons. Ergo, of the three subjects to the contro-
versy, Charles, Willian}, a.nd the rope, there remained
only the rope.
On the 19th of Novelnher 1866 the store of John
N c\vhouse in Chipps Flat, Sierra County, ,vas robbed

THE YEARS 1867-9.

.j67

of good
and provisions. The follo\ving night X e\v-
house ,vent alone to search the pren}ises of SOlllC
Chinamen \yhOnl he suspected of having c0111n1Îtted
the robbery. ..As he did not return, his friend
becalne
alarlned and ,vent in search of him. After visiting

everal Chinese Call1pS to no purpose, there appeared
enough suspicious circuillstance
to justify then1 in
arresting a China111an called "Thalebone. Proulising
no harm should befall him if he ".ould confe::,
,,
hat
he had done ,,'"ith )Ir N e\y house, he led thelll to a
place ,,-here the body lay. The Chinese had cut it in
t".o, that they lllight the more easily dispose of it.
The body ,vas rernoved to Chipps Flat, and "....ha1e-
bone ,vas brought before the justice of the peace, ,vho
began a legal inquiry. The report of the ll1urder having
spread, a cro\,
d of t\VO hundred miners gathered round
the Inutilated corpse, the sight of \vhich so exasperated
then} that, in spite of all the officers could do, they
burst into the court-roon1 and took the trelnblin a
ð
"Thalebone and stoned hin} to death; then hanged
the body to a limb of a tree. After that they \ycnt
through the Chinese camp and levelled every cabin
to the ground. It \vas only by the utmost efforts of
officers and the better portion of the cOllilllunity that
a general destruction of all the Chinese property in
the county "'"as prevented.
Another execution at San Juan is recorded as
ha ,-ing occurred on the 16th of :\Ia y 186 ï . One
Elder TholIlpson, \vorking for F. Ross, a

aulted )11'8
Ross in the absence of her husband. Thompson ,vas
arrested, and \yhile being taken to jail to a".ait the
action of the grand jury, the stage in \\Thich he ,,-as
riding ',-as brought to a halt by a band of masked
men, ,,-ho, seizing the prisoner, dragged him to a tree
and hanged hin1. The neighbors found the body
there the next day and Luried it.
Estévan "-a
a bad Indian; and ,yhen under a tree
in the alalneda of San Juan on the morning of the
21st of Augu
t 18Gï the body uf 'Villialll Fit7gerald

568

I1\"'FELICITIES A1\ì) ALLEVIATIONS.

,vas found dead, suspicion fell on Estévan, for he had
been seen to leave the to\vn that IDorning. Pursued
and brought back, he ,vas regularly tried by the people
and executed beneath the same tree \vhere lay his yet
unburied victÍ1n. His guilt "
as clear, son1e of the
dead IDan's clothing being on his person \vhen ar-
rested. Like a martyr, like a Ronlan, like anyone
"T ho n1anifested the utU10st indifference to fate, sighing
110 sighs, groaning no groans, praying no prayers, ask-
ing no fayors frolll God or man, Estévan died; and
yet he \vas only a poor bad Indian. For this no one
sings Estévan's praises; \vhy then so laud the great
and good \vho die serenely?
At Greenville, PluIDas County, a reckless fellow,
'Vebb, stabbed and killed all unoffending citiz0n named
Gephart on the 30th of l\farch 1868. Webb yças
arrested by an officer, ,vho 'vas obliged to surrender
hinl to an incensed cro\vcl and see him executed that
evening \vithout tria] or tilHe for preparation.
Considerable suffering ,yas caused the settlers round
Clear Lake froll1 the overflo\v of waters, \v hich they
believed came fro111 the daIll thro'Vll across Cache
Creek hy the flour and sa\Ylnill company. Failing to
obtain redress frolTI the courts, three hundred 111en,
arnled to tho teeth, aSHcmbled at the Inills on the 15th
of N ovelnber 18G8 and Legan the ,york of destruction.
The sheriff \vith his assistants appeared, but not only
\vere they unablc to control so po,verful a force, but
were themselves taken prisoners. A request \vas sent
the governor for troops, but it dil1 not reach hin1 until
after the mills ,yere burned and the dam torn away.
A gang of l\fexican horse-thieves was pursued by
Sheriff Bourland and his lJosse, of Tuoluillne County,
ill ..L\ugust 1869, and overtaken between Hornitos
and Lab'rallgc. The officer, lneeting ,vith resistance,
fired upon the :\fexicans, killing three. They cap-
tured one n
lIned Robbcs, ,vho \vas taken to the sheriff
of Snelling, l\ferccd County, ,vith orders to be sent
by hiln to Sonora. _ \ deputy Hhcriff started ,vith hiIn

THE YEARS 1870-5.

509

in a buggy, but was stopped on the way within a fe\y
111iles of Lagrange by four 111asked men, ,vho seized
the prisoner and hanged hin}.
From the calaboose at Watsonville three men, com-
mitted for the nlurder of one Indian Bill, were taken
by a mob to Pájaro bridge and there hanged on the
night of the 1Gth of )Iay 1870.
In the jail-room of the Oroville court-house on the
n10rning of the 24th of August 1870 C. Olsen lay
confined for the killing of
I. Logan. Before day-
break about forty Inen surrounded the pren1ises and
posted their sentinels at each corner and at the en-
trance. A party of them then entered the jailer's
roon1, in the basement of the building, and seizing the
under-sheriff, Vera, ,vrested from hin1 the keys of
the jail. Noone present kne,v ho\v to u
e thelD ex-
cept Vera, and he refused to reveal his kno\vledge.
The jail door "as then battered do\vu, and the cell
entered ,vhere Olsen ,vas confined. Dark hints of
bloody acts done \vithin those narro,v ,valls \vere
thro\vn out, but nothing definite is kno\yn. That Olsen
,vas shortly after\vard taken to a derrick near the
railroad stàtion and hanged ,vas a fact palpable to all.
At Bakersfield on the 6th of Septen1ber 1870 Juan
de Dios Sepúlveda, of Los Angeles, was tal\:cn fro111
the custody of the sheriff to a cotton-,vood trce near
by and hanged by the people. During the day the
great number of native Californians ,veIl arlned and
most of then1 mounted had been relnarked. These
had leagued ,vith the \vhite citizens of that vicinity
to rid the country of bad characters. Sepúlveda had
been before J ustice Jones for exaluination, and 'v hen
he ,vas brought out, one of the horsemen rode up to
the officer as if to speak to hilll. vVatching his oppor-
tunity, he suddenly seized the prisoner; the cro\vd
pressed round to his support, and hurrying the un-
fortunate Inan a\vay, they accomplished their purpose.
In El Dorado County SOllle je\yelry "Tas stolen
during the \vinter of 1872, and suspicion fa
tening

570

IXFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIOXS.

upon a Chinaman, he ,vas tortured by strangling three
tinles, to extort a confession as to the hiding-place of
the valuables. As he reiterated to the last his inno-
cence and ignorance of the theft, he ,vas liberated.
There ,vas an arbitrary execution in Cholalne Valley in
1873, and several bad characters were expelled froin
Gilroy and Salinas.
George Blanchard ,vas a young man from N e,v
England, twenty years of age, enlployed on a rancho
in 1874 by a l\1r Wild at San Luis Rey. Patrick A.
Graham, a neighbor, brought to the rancho a horse
belonging to Wild, \vhich he said had strayed upon
his land. Grahanl told Blanchard there ,vas fifty
cents to pay, \vhich he \vould call for the follo,ving
day. Accordingly he \vent to Wild's house, and ,vas
met at the door by Blanchard, \vho shot and instantly
killed hi111, neither having spoken a ,vord. On Satur-
day, the 14th of February, Blanchard ,vas found on
the banks of the San Luis Rey River hanging fronl
a tree, the rope looped at the back of his neck and a
,vooden gag tied in his mouth ,vith a buckskin string.
Nothing ,vas ever discovered in explanation of ho\vor
by ,vhom the hanging ,vas done.
At Silver l\;lountain one Reusch shot a lnan nalned
Ericcson in the back of the head. SOlne of the citi-
zens banded, believing that unfair 111eanS \vould be
used to clear Reusch. On the night of the 17th of
April 1874, ,vhile deputy sheriff Davidson, accom-
panied by eleven \vitnesses, was conveying the pris-
oner to Bridgeport, l\fono County, he \vas lnet by a
body of vigilants near Johnson's bridge, who forcibly
took Reusch froln the \vagon and ordered the others
to proceed to the turn of the road and ,vait there ten
lllinutes. An inch rope was at once placed round the
prisoner's neck and the other end fastened to the
bridge. Piteously the ,vretch begged, "!Iy God t
what can I say? 0 lny father! Iny poor mother I \vill
no one save 111e?" The lnercy he had denied his in-
nocent victinl could not be granted hinl. A InOlllent

A LATTER-DAY OUTR
-\GE.

5iI

later and a piercing shriek broke the a,vful stillnes
;
the fall, twelve feet, ,va
so great that the rope broke
and the body fell a distance of t\venty feet. C. P.
Goff, counsel for Reusch, and :\lrs L. C. Brittan ,vere
,yarned "by an outraged community," as the order
\vas signed, to leave the county \vithin thirty days.
.At "Tind
or, Sonoma County, t,vo \\ell kno\YI1
farmers nan1ed Ro\vland and Charles "T. Henley had
ranchos adjoining. A feud had existed bet\veen thelll
concerning their land rights, \vhich Henley brought
to a crisis on the morning of the 9th of :\Iay 1876,
,,
hen, in the rniù
t of a quarrel, he raised his shot-
gun and discharged SODle bird-shot into the body of
Rowland, \vho fel1 mortally "ounded. Henley at once
started for Santa Rosa, \v here be delivered himself to
the authorities and stated the facts. He said that
he had acted in self-defence; but as there were no
,,
itnesse:;, the case in court \vould prove doubtful.
Henley "
as a ,vhite-haired Inan of fifty-five, and
married; Ro\vland \yas ten years younger, and un-
married. X aturally a trial shoulJ follo\\" and j us-
tice be adnlÏnisterecl. But at midnight on the 9th of
June a force of one hundred ll1asked and armed nlen
took possession of the jail. They had cut the bell-
rope of the engine-house to pre-vent an alarm, had
captured the "
atchman near the prison, and had en-
tered Sheriff "Tilson's house, obliging him to dress and
come ,vith them to the jail, leaving a guard of eight
or ten to see that the "
omen should not lnake kno\vn
their plans. Arriyecl at the jail, they surrounded the
sheriff, and \vith pointed pistols ordered the various
gates and doors to be opened, their men stationing
then1selves in positions designated. Then "\Vilson "Tas
told to unlock Henley's cell. There lay the prisoner
sleeping peacefully. Suddenly a,vakened to the a\vful
reality, he exclainled brokenly, "Oh Lord, boys! my
life I"
ot a word more, for be \vas gagged, bound
hand and foot, and hurried out of prison. The cro\vd
moved on, leaving ten men to guard the "
atchman

572

INFELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

and sheriff, ,vho after a ,vhile \vere told to Jock the
prison, extinguish the lights, and enter a \vagon,
\vhich they did. Thoy were then driven to a place
kno\vn as Gravel Slough, \vhere they \vere released
and allo\ved to ,valk home. They illllnediately notified
the authorities, \vho proceeded to look for Henley,
\yhom they found hanging fron1 the lilnb of an oak
,vithin one hundred and fifty yards of the spot
'v here the sheriff ,vas released. The press condenlned
the proceedings in strong ternlS. The SOlloIna Demo-
CTctt of June 17th says:

" For the first time in its history Santa Rosa has been outrageously dis-
graced by the violence of a mob. 'Ve do not hesitate to denounce the act as
a dastardly outrage on the law and on common decency. There can be no
excuse sufficient for overturning and bringing into contempt the majesty of
the law which protects the life and property of every citizen."

Says the San Francisco Post:

"One of the Inost reprehensible cases of lynching that has ever occurred
in this state took place at Santa Rosa on Saturday morning. Howsoever
guilty he may have been in this one act, he was not a desperado, not a man
dangerous to the community, where for many years he had lived an inoffensÏ\re
life. lIe was led a"\vay from the even tenor of his course by extraordinary
circumstances, and was -awaiting in jail the punishment which the courts
lllight inflict. Under such circumstances he is ruthlessly seized by a mob and
hanged. Public sentiment must condemn such an act, and no effort should be
spared to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice. The era of vigilance
committees has passed in this state. There is no longer a shadow of excuse
for their action, and the heinousness of such an offence is as much greater than
ordinary murder as organized crime is more deplorable than individual viola-
tion of law."

I t ,vas a gay \vedding, but it \vas the dance of death
,vhich follo\ved. The ceremony of uniting Tholnas
Flanagan and
lary Pina ,vas perforn1ed by Judge
Harrison at Sanel Valley the evening of the 20th of
Decelnber 1875. Among the honored guests was
Willianl Grangene, a rcpentf\ut thief, \vho had served
a tern} in the state-prison for grand larceny. While
this lnan ,vas standing on a box near the "Tindo,v a
hall fired from without came crashing through the
glass, came crashing through the ex.-convict's skull,

DOIXGS AT S&,TA. CRCZ.

573

liberating the crime-concocting intelligence therein
contained, liberating mysterious life, and leaving only
the carcass prostrate upon the floor. J osé Antonio
Igarra, once of \T asquez' band, ,vas suspected and
arrested, but ,vhile the exa
ination ,vas proceeding
Lefore Justice Dooley at Hopland, a band of undis-
guised men entered the court-room, took thence the
prisoner, and hanged hinl from an oak in the street
three hundred yards distant. Grangene had lately
giyen eviùence in court "7 hich Igarra did not relish.
X ear Clo\-erdale in December 1876 one Joseph

Iurph.r ,,-as taken by masked men from the hands of
the constable ,vhile on the ,yay to Santa Rosa ,vith
the prisoner, ,,,,ho ,vas accused of horse-stealing. Con-
ducted by his captors a little distance fronl the road,

Iurphy ,vas gently elevated in the attitude of in-
tended strangulation three se'
eral times for the pur-
pose of enforcing a confession as to v. ho \vere his
acconlplices. But Joseph told nothing, and so ,va

handed back to the officer, ,vho had been mean,vhile
guarded by men1 bel's of the party.
.z\..t Santa Cruz, the 3d of ::\Iay 1877, from the cros
-
beanls of the upper San Lorenzo bridge, \vithin three
hundred yards of the spot ,vhere he "7as born, at the
age of t,yenty -one J osé Chan
ali;:, "
as hanged b
y
about forty Inasked men. Francisco Arias, born near
Pescadero
thirty-eight years previous, "
as executed
at the saIne tinle and place. l'he t\VO men had becn
arrested a short time before for the Inurdel' of De
Forest, and had confessed the crime. Challlalis had
served a term of three years in the
tate-prison for
the roLbery of a '"I.-ido,," named Rodriguez. Arias had
served the same time for the rnurder of a sheep-herder
in San Luis Obispo, and t\VO years for robbing the
house of P. )Iurphy of \Vatsonville. The t\\O jail-
birds ,,-ere t.hen free. The circus conling to Santa Cruz,
they desired to see it; during their long residence at
San Quentin they had not enjoyed a
ingle evening's
amusement of that character. But they had no llloney.

5i4

IN_FELICITIES AND ALLEVIATIONS.

" Never nlind," said Arias, "we ,vill get some." So
De Forest cOIning along, Arias fired at him; but fail-
ing to bring hiln do,vn, he fired again, this time ,vith
fatal success. Eight dollars ,vere secured by this
achieveulent, and the no,v happy pair ,vent to the
circus, and no doubt enjoyed it hugely.
All ,vhich doubtless was very exasperating to the
neighbors and friends of the slain Ulan and to the
people of Santa. Cruz. For circus -Illoney to kill an
unoffending lllan 'v hile quietly ,valking the road, and
then almost to boast of it, exhibited a hunlan deprav-
ity of lo,ver depths than language can reach. The
lllen should die, and quickly; of that there could be
but one opinion. But the Santa Cruz of 1877 ,vas
not the Santa Cruz of 1853. Either ,ve 111USt have
laws and obey them, else not. If the friend
of De
Forest 111ay break into jail and hang two very bad
men who are surely guilty, and so save the state Inuch
trouble and IIloney, lllay not the friends of the next
Ulan slain seize and exeCGte the slayer, 'v hen it ,vas
not sure he was deserving of death 1
The necessity for forty 111en to blacken their faces,
secure the jailer, break open the prison, seize t,vo
prisoners, place them in a wagon, drive them to a place
of execution, halter their necks to a beam, and then
drive the ,vagon fi
om under them, ,vas no nlore neces-
sary at this time in the quiet and respectable young
city of Santa Cruz than in San Francisco, Boston, or
London. In the one place, as in the others, the prison
,vas secure, the officers faithful, and the judges just.
There was no shado,v of excuse for passionate SUillnlary
execution. In the ann21s of punishlnent upon this
coast I have not 11let an instance so utterly inexcusa-
ble. There are many lllore brutal and unjust, but
none BO uncalled for. What these forty lllen did was
simply this: They defied righteous law, brought com-
petent justice-dealing courts into contenlpt, and COlll-
n1Ïtted murder. Life and property are little less secure
in the midst of a rabble ready to avenge one crime by ,

VERY BAD CASES.

373

committing another than in a society ,,
here every
nlan is his o,vn judge and executioner.
Good men ,viII alw'ays laulent the unnecessary re-
sorting to popular means for the punishment of crime.
The duty popularly to punish crime in the absence of
adequate government has not been usually a pleasant
one. Gladly did the people here ,yelcome good gov-
ernment ,vhen it came; gladly, as a rule, did they
leave punishment to the law when the law was honest
and capable. When it ,vas not, it is U1Y pride to say
they were not slo,v to detect it; they ,vere not slow
to see, to think, to act. Of one thing ,ve may be
sure, namely, that no more in the Pacific States than
else\vhere in America is there a disposition to ad-
minister popular justice. For every case in California,
like this of Santa Cruz, during the last decade "Te
might cite ten else,vhere: like the hanging of Steven

and Andre,vs at \V arren
burg. ::\Iissouri, the
l
t
of :ßlay 1867; and that of I(eunedy and others at
\V yorning; and Evans, Hall, 2.11d \Vhi te in Alabama;
Qr even the threatened organization of a vigilance
committee in our federal capital.
"I feel devilish and must kill somebodyl" exclaimed
Justin Arajo as he sat in a store at San Juan, :\Ion-
terey County, about noon the 12th of Ju]y 18ï7.
Going to the door he sa,v some one
tanding by the
post-office. "That man's my meat," he Haid, and
drawring his pistol, shot him through the breast, killing
him instantly. Arajo then atteulpted to fly, but ,vas
caught and incarcerated.
Ianuel Butron ,yas the
name of the victinl. As night came on, sleepy justice
aroused itself and shook out its 11lusty robes. About
one o'clock nlasked nlcn overpo"Tered the jailer, took
fron1 hinl the key, entered the prison, and taking the
villain to a ,vi II 0 "'" - tree on the alameda did him to
death. N ever again "Till Justin

rajo feel devilish in
this ",'"orld; he is no,y " here he nlay enjoy devilishness
in a world ,,-ithout end.
Christopher )lutchler attempted to fire Hagerrnann's

b76

INFELICITIES ...lliD ALLEVIATIONS.

saloon in GerlnantO\vn, Colusa County, on the night
of April 30,1878, and ,yhile so cngaged receivcd thrce
shots in the thigh fron1 persons then in the house.
The incendiary ,vas arrested, but no one appearing
against him he ,vas discharged. Fearing violence
from the citizens, ,vho threatened him, l\futchler at-
telnpted to leave to,vn, but found exit barred, even
the stage n1en refusing to carry him. Nevertheless
he 111anaged to drive a,vay in a private conveyance
during the night, but ,vas soon arrested and brought
back on charge of having threatened the life of J.
Kelley. Not long after, fourteen masked men en-
tered the place \v here 1\1 utchler ,vas confined, dragged
hirll into the street, and shot hinl to death. l\1utch-
leI' had n1oney; the prosecuting attorney had none;
the judge had but little. After an int8rvie,v ,vith the
incendiary, on his first arrest, the prosecuting attorney
declared there ,vas no case, and the judge dischargcd
the prisoner; then the prosecuting attorney absconded
and the judge resigned.

Thus we see ho\v the ,vork goes on, even to the
present day; and \ve may be very sure it ,vill continue
untilla\v courts cease to be but a mockery of justice.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE DOWKIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

Souls made of fire, and children of the sun,
\Vith whom revenge is virtue.

Y olln[J.

I T was a rare thing in California, extrelnely rare,
for rough mon to lay their hands upon a 'VOlnan.
About the only sentiment of youthful memories
\vhich \vith time and distance had not only remained
but had beconle softly intensified, \vas that of home
hallo\ved by the tender influence of 1110ther, sister, or
that nearer, s,veet other self, ,vife. So ,voven among
the fibrcs of the heart ,vas it, so n1ingled ,vith the

ensuous blood, so "Trapped ,yithin the folds of pas-
sionate ilnagination, that, like ash-covered coals, the
drearier the aspect without, the \varmer glo,ved the
fire ,vithin.
They could cut each other ,vith knives-these
nliners, riddle enelny or friend ,vith bullets and slnile
at it; they could 8trangle a sluice-box thief, snap the
neck of a Chin
unan by a t\vist of his pigtail, ,vhet
their appetite for breakfast by the butchery of a
rancherÍa of natives, but injure a child, ill-treat an
olJ Ulan, or do violence to 'VOlnan, they could not.
They "tore n1en, every inch of thenl men-coarse
and brutal in SOlne respects, but still men. They
could do \vickedness Ly the caìíonful, but it Inust be
Inanly \vickedness done ill a Inanly ,yay.
\V OUlan ,vas thcir ,veak point; the memory of
WOll1an the only tl1Ïag 111ello\v about then1. Since the
day \vhen chivalry lifted her frolH feudalistic abase-
POP. Tnm,. VOL. 1. J7 (577)

578

THE DO'VNIEVILLE TRA.GEDY.

111ent, endo,ved her ,vith charnlS and graces hU111an
and divine, fought for her on the fields of knight-
errantry, and adored her as the iUllllaculate lllothcr
of God, ,voman has not been so idolized.
A 'VOluan to a lllining-camp brought the odor of
..L
raby, brought the bun shine of Eden. The atn10B-
ph ere ,vas mello,ved by her influence; the birds sang
s,veeter for her con1Íng, the ground ,vas softer to sleep
on, the pick ,vas lighter, and ,vhiskey less Inagnetic.
Fair ,vas the forln of her, radiant her presence, thrill-
ing her touch. Her dress \vas as the drapery \vhich
shrouded the Inysterious holy of holies, and sacrcd ,vas
the hen1 of her garment.
It l11attered not so n1uch to theln ,vho or ,vhat she
was; she lnight be chaste and fair or as ,vicked as
J ezebel, she ,vas tho Ï1npersonation of their fancy-
ridden brain, the expression of their innermost ideal
of the beautiful and good. Possessed in all things
else of physical affinity ,vith debaselnent, the thought
of her ,vas the sister of their solitude. Open their
hearts, and there alnidst the débris of a thousand
crushed longings her ilnage alone relnained unbroken.
Then ,vilù indeed IllUst be the fury that Inaddened
them against a 'VOlnan; and never ,vas insensate
,vrath 1110re Inanifest than alnong the Ininers of the
Yuba for nlÍles on either side of Do,vnieville ,vhen,
on the n10rning of July 5, 1851, it ,vas kno,vn that
a cOlnrade had been slain, butchered \vith a long sharp
knife, and by a 'vonlan. The matter of sex ,vas sud-
denly lost sight of, s,vallowed in the gulp of passion
which left nothing to the Inind but the abominable
bloody fact.
Joe Cannon kil1ed! Cut to the heart, and by a
,vornan! The ,vords ,vere confusing. The breath that
uttercd then1 can1e labored; thick it ,vas, and lnurky
in its significance. The blood, receding froln the heárt,
clogged in the veins, and respiration ,vas ,veIl nigh
throttled hy the lncsscngers of the brain. Joe ,vas
the favorite of the canlp, the finest fello\v that ever

JOE C....\.
-XOX.

3';

s\\
uncr a P ick or dislodaed a bo\vlder. He ,yas oyer
<::) 0
six feet high, straight a
a poplar, ,yith limbs as clean
as those of a ne,yly barked llladroño. In ,,?eight he
fell not far short of t,vo hundred and forty, and it ,,?as
all muscle; llÍs chest ,vas like that of an ox, and the
arlllS of Hercules llung from his shoulders. And yet
he ,yould not harm a fly; his heart ,yas as tender as
his sine,ys "
ere tough. Joe gone! Stabbed to death,
and by a 'VOlnan I
He ,vas the soul of honor, ,vas Joe Cannon. He
kne,v not the lneaning of the words cheating and
chicanery. He ,vas not very learned; bingle and sin1-
pIe were his thoughts, and double-dealing found no
place in his accounts. He liked his occasional frolic
.
The strongest need a respite; one cannot al,vay:j ,vork;
but though he could laugh and carouse \vith the Le
t
of thenl, he ,yas kinder in his cups, if po
sible, than
out of thenl. There ,vas no poison in his heart that
tho most fiery liquid could bring to the surface. Iu
nobleness only he was a giant; in guile he was a child.
Joe Cannon dead! Stabbed in the breast, and by a
woman!
Slo"ly as ,vith its fullest force the fact ,vas realized,
at last it settled on then1 that it "?a
true; and fr0111
the friction of the ebb and flow of heart and brain
tides there sprang a heat ,yhich, increasing ,yith the
whirl of thought, glowed all the fiercer from being
smothered beneath stifled emotions.
All along the 111Uddy Yuba, and up its muddy trib-
utaries, the accursed tiJings sped like an electric Ine
-
sage, telegraphed froln claim to claim, until for mile

round Do,vnieville ,vere heard the cries of ")1 lll'der I"
"J oe Cannon killed I" "Cut to the heart by a 'VOluan 1"
Then dropped pick, pan, and shovel a
froll} palsied
hands; water ,vas left to run to "
aste, and the gold
un,vatched in. the bottom of the
luice-boxe
; antI froll
up and do,vn the muddy Yuba, and do\\
n it::; muddy
tributaries, ::;trealllS set in, streanl
of angry n1Încr::;,
silently flo\ying, though hot \vith Inelted emotionH.

380

THE DO\YNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

Five thousand ll1en and 1110re gathered in Do,vnie-
ville that day. Thronging the streets ,vere traders,
packers, and prospectors, gan1blers, prostitutes, and pol-
iticians, professional rascal8 and rascally professional
nlen, besides the miners fronl the thickly studded line
of clainls that 111utilated the river beds, and banks, and
gulches all up and do\yn the foothills.
At ten o'clock the deed ,vas clone, and at eleven,
surrounding an unfinished tenement of split-boards
into ,vhich the unfortunate nlan ,vas carried 'v hen
stricken, was a donse throng. 'Vithin, just 'v here he
was first laid on a slightly sloping puncheon floor, lay
the dead miner. No, not yet quite dead; life seems
loath to leave a rnechanislll so perfect and of such fair
proportions. The breath comes light and fitful, though
fronl strong lungs stil1 struggling to perforln their
functions. A broad stream of blood has clotted for
itself a channel fron1 the breast to the extre111ity of
the floor. Standing round the prostrate form were
half a score of llliners fresh from their ,york, ,yith
their ,voollen shirt-sleeves rolled up above the elbo\vs,
and their overalls tucked into the tops of their pon-
derous and ll.luddy boots; silently and solemnly they
stand ,vit.h their grizzly heads uncovered and slightly
bo,vüd, while round the contractod bro,v and COln-
pressed lips sorro,v and anger struggle for the lllastery.
Silence "\vithin and silence \vithout, until at length
the slaughtered n1Ïner ceased to breathe; then fronl
the ùeep stillness there rose a 11lurnlur, at the first
ahllost as L'1int as had been the dead nlan's breath,
but gradually incre:tsing into a lo\v deep buzz, \vhich
evcry border 111al1 in an angry 111ultitude instantly
recognizes as significant of blood. Expressive to the
last degree and deadly olllinous is that sound, eorning
as it ùoes fron1 a silcnt lllultitude, breathing all Ull-
spol
en vengeanc0 1110re terrible than the loudest
trulupetings or passjon.
Soon nlCH bC6'an to speak in ,vords. Fresh arrivals
canlü pouring ill. Strangers asked, ,rvho is he? Who

POOR JU...-\.
l:TA.

581

killed hiln 1 Where is the murderer 1 Presently the
centre of the mass from standing groups and pur-
poseless indirection began to surge in a definite direc-
tion, signifying all too plainly that it ,vas time for
f'ome one to prepare for a sudden and decisive change.
Pregnant enough ",
ith purpose ,vere no,v the miners.
Y ou could see it in their eye, in their step, in the
movement of the hand; their pipes snloked of sul-
phur, and ,vith their tobacco-juice they spat fire.

Iost significant of all, however, ,vas the aln10st
silent buzz, \vhich ,vas the lo"T purring of the blood-
thirsty beast about to spring upon its prey.
It ,vas a little woman; .young, too-only twenty-
four. Scarcely five feet in height, \vith a slender sym-
Inetrical figure, agile and extremely graceful in her
movenlents, \vith soft skin of olive hue, long black
hair, and dark, deep, lustrous eyes, opening like a
,vindo,v to the fagot-flames ,vhich, kindled \yith love
or hate,
hone brightly from ,vithin.
Iexico "
as her
countr)'"; her blood Spanish, diluted \vith the aborig-
iual American. Her nallle ,vas Juanita. The man
she killed, ,yith one hand could have picked her up
and tossed her int.o the Yuba River. He ,vas an
Englishnlan and an .L
ustralian colonist, but not a luau
of Sydney in the sense then current.
Though a stal\vart Britisher, yet he could not let
pass the iuullortal Fourth ,vithout assisting at its
observances. True, it \vas not a memorial of his coun-
try's greatness; but \vhile the Yankee celebrated
America's successes might he not join him and cele-
brate England's defeat 1 vVhy should \ve call to lllind
our glorious gains antI not our no less valuable losses?
The lesson ,vas profitable to England, and surely her
.L-\..ustralian colonist might properly ackno\vledge it.
Though in truth Joe Cannon thought more of the
potation part of the performance than of the patriotic.
Any day was Fourth of July to him and ,vorthy
celebration in ,vhich his comrades ,vould turn out and
carouse In company.

582

THE DO'VNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

And this time they had Inade a glorious night of
it. Joe Cannon, ,vith the rest of theIn, ,vas very
drunk, and consequently very happy. ]j-'rom store to
f
tore, from house to house, up and do,,"'n the streets
and through all the streets they ,vent, rapping up the
inmates, cOlnpelling the Inaster of the house to treat
and then to join then1. It was rare fun.
Passing the prenlises of a 1\Iexican Inonte-dealer,
Joe Cannon kicked at the door. As he ,vas not in
condition to stand steadily on one foot and carefully
to ,yeigh the force of the other as it ,vent against the
door, he may have given it a little harder blo,v than
he intended or than ,vas necessary. As the door ,vas
secured only by leathern hinges, it fell in. At least
so the boys told hinl next morning-that he had
kicked in the
Iexican's door.
That ,vas all right, said Joe. He knew the monte-
dealer ,veIl, and had often bet an ounce or t,vo in
passing his table; the dan1age could not be great; he
,vould go arounù after breakfast, pay it, and apologize.
True, there ,vas the ,,,,ife, or she ,vhon1 the man lived
,vith as ,vith ,vife: she luight not perhaps appreciate
the foreign patriotism ,vhich so disturbed rest-but
she ,yas a bashful, retiring little thing; no one thought
of her. Besides, they ,vere l\Iexicans, and their foot-
ing "l'as not by any means too secure in the con1111UIl-
ity as it ,vas. A man, a 111iner, a big burly favorite,
,vhat were fifty l\Iexican ganlblers and their Inis-
tresses to hilIl
Nevertheless no man should be able
truthfully to say that Joe Cannon ever did him wrong,
drunk or sober.
Approaching the house, Joe found the door still
do\vn. The
iexican ,vas \vithin; and placing a hand
on either door-post to steady himself ,vithal, for hiH
head secn1ed no,v as big as a barrel, and his legs ,vere
a little shaky, he beg
n talking to the man in broken
Spanish as best he could. Suddenly fronl a corncr
,v here she had lain concealed, quick as a flash the
little 'YOlnan sprang up, thre,v herself upon the strong

DOO)IED TO DEATH.

583

Inan's breast, and buried her knife in his bosom. It
,vas all done in an instant, and he ,,-ho had come to
make reparation for a trivial injury cOillll1Ïtted in a
lnoment of frolic, he, the picture of physical perfection,
the pride of the calnp, lay as dead.
"Thy did Hhe do it? Did thi
lnan visit her house
to insnlt her? Had they ever n1et or had intercourse
at any tilne; and ,vas there ill-,,-ill existing on either
side? No one kne,,-. 'Vho shall fathonl a ,voman's
heart? .-<-.\.11 those 11liners kne,v or cared to kno,y was
that for so slight a thing a
sbe it "WaH a monstrou

blo\\T. The bo\vie-knife ,vas large and sharp, and to
send it into his gigantic frame, through his shirt and
through the breast-bone clear into the heart, that
little arnl nlust indeed have been ten1perecl by 1110St
murderous pasRion.
And no\v, ,,-hen the enraged miners ,,"ith a blow of
the fist burst her door and stood hefore her, Juanita
man ifested not the slightest fear; and yet she kne\y
that she Blust die. It ,yas not defiance, nor brazen
impudence; she assulned no character-she acted only
the prilnary sentilnent of her nature, and that ,,-a:-;
stoical submission to inexorable fate, or III ore silllply,
cool courage. ·
She knew that she must die, and there \vas an end
of it. "Tithin range of pistol-shot ,,-ere two thou
and
nlen, each Olle of ,vhom, if standing alone, harbored
that mOlnent determined purpose sufficient to insure
her death, and she knew it; the very certainty of the
result seeu1ed to disarm death of its sting. Every
one of the vengeful t,vo thousand no\y arrayed against
her ,yould soon die; she nlust go no\y. "Tell! ,viII
anyone of them have a more gorgeous exit IH::nce
than she?
Hastily putting in place SOlne scattered article:-;,
and glancing carefully at hcr dress-she \yas already
attired in her best-she signified her readines
to go.
The blaze of angry eyes, the forest of fro\yning faces
throuo'h \vhich ble\V' deadlv lllurulurinas were all
o J 0'

584

THE DO\VNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

lost on her; she ,vas thinking of her o,vn affairs,
thinking should she send sOlnething to her friend
,
thinking about her household, and ho\v her husband
\vould do in her absence. Of course they would hang
her; as for the paraphernalia of trial it Inight be some
gratification to them, but it ,vas nothing to her.
There yet stood near the centre of the to'Vl1 a large
pavilion, \vhich had been erected for the celebration
ceremonies the day before; there ,vas a raised plat-
forln, \vith chairs and table, just the place for the
occasion, and there the dark-eyed bashful little lnur-
deress ,vas conducted by her guard of t\VO thousand.
T,velve 111en responded eagerly to the call for a jury;
happy he ,vho should have any part in this gentle
strangulation. Glancing at each other and at the
miners round theIn, they seeIned to say, "All is safe
and settled; WOlnan or no \VOl11an, she hangs." La,v-
yers for the defence were back,vard in presenting
themselves; there \vere plenty for the prosecution.
Probably in the history of Inobs there never was a
forIn of triallllore farcical than this. Had they hanged
the \voman immediately, our respect \vould be greater
than ,vhen \ve see a crilninal so absolutely and uni-
versally prejudged and sentencêd before trial. Never
11ave I met an instance ,vhere so nlany nlen, or a
tenth of theIn, were so thoroughly ravenous in their
revenge. It ,vas ,vholly unlike them. It seemed that
on the instant they had not only thro,vn aside their
usual chivalrous adoration of sex, but that now they
\vould ,vreak their relentless disaffection on the object
of their abhorrence in proportion to their strength
and her ,veakness.
That there ,vas so little of this little WOlllan to
pulverize and scatter seerned to exasperate them. A
hunlane physician, Dr Cyrus D. Aiken, 1110unted the
stand and testified that she was not in a fit condition
to be hanged. \Vhat such testil110ny had to do ,vith
the case nobody kne\v or cared. A howl of disap-
proval followed; the good doctor was driven froIll the

TRIAL BY JURY.

58.3

stand, driven from the to,,"n, and dared not return
or show himself for several days. .J>-
)Ir Thayer of
Nevada attempted a speech on behalf of the prisoner,
as there ,vas not a la\vyer ,,,,ho had the courage to
stem the tide of unpopularity in her defence, but he
,vas beaten off the platform-ay, kicked from the tri-
bunal; and on reaching the cro\,d ,,-ithout, ,,-here a
passage-,vay was opened for him, he ""as kicked alonO'
this gauntlet out of to\vn, being glad to get across th

river ,vith his hat and mule behind him.
John B. \V eller, then running for congress, was at
the hotel overlooking the tribunal. He \vas besought
to go out and speak to the mob, but he bad no arnbi-
tion that way. He was not of the stuff of ,,"hich
martyrs were made. There were times and places for
all things: a time for advocating la\v and order, and
a time for refraining from such advocation; and clearly
this, in the eyes of John B. Weller, country-server,
was one of the latter times.
So Juanita ,vas tried; but the trial was a sad, one-
sided affair, in ,y hich there ,vas a total absence of
that love of fair-play so characteristic of the .J>--\..merican
Ininer. Noone dared to say a good \vord for her; no
one ,vas allo,ved to defend her. In so far as she \vas
small and ,,"eak, and they were many, and great, and
strong, in so far did their insensate fury intensify ,vith
the progress of affairs. For the moment the lnen of
that region seemed baptized by Satan for the execu-
tion of a ,york of infernal grace.
\Vhen the verdict ,vas formally declared, Juanita
gave a quiet little laugh, as if to say, Ho\v drollt
These great American lnen think in this aping of
ancient forms they have given their pri
oner a trial.
Stroke conscience the right ,yay and you can do any-
thing ,,"ith it.
In the four hours allowed her before her execution,
Juanita 111ade her ""ill yerbally, arranged her affairs,
and gave her fe,," effects a\vay. During it all her
heroism carried her far beyond the usual stolid forti-

586

THE DO'VNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

tude of her ra.ce. At a time when meu trelnble and
pray she ,vas her natural self, neither gay nor sad.
She ,vas as far froul looking lightly on the n1atter a

giving ,yay to senseless sorro,v.
The builder of the bridge that spanned the Yuba
had left at about the middle of it t,vo uprights ,vith a
bealn across, as if for the express purpose of hanging.
It ,vas just the place for the occasion, though from
that point, with the flo,ving river underneath, and on
either side ,vith the rolling hills in front, and in the
background the purple-misted mountains glo\ving in
the light of the almighty sun, it \vas too beautiful a
"\vorld for a young, free, light-hearted \VOnlan to wish
to leave.
With a light elastic step, surrounded by her friends,
chatting ,vith them quietly on the ,vay, Juanita ,valked
ùown to the bridge. She shook hands ,vith theln all,
but not a tear, not a tremor was visible. By means
of a step-ladder she mounted to a scantling ,vhich had
been tied for her to stand on bet"\veen the uprights
underneath the bealn, took fronl her head a man's
hat ,vhich had been kindly placed there by a friend,
shied it ,vith unerring accuracy to its o,vner, lllean-
,vhile sn1iling her thanks, then with quick dexterity
she twisted up her long black tresses, smoothed her
dress, placed the noose over her head and arranged
the rope in a proper lllanner, and finally, lifting her
hands, which she refused to have tied, exclainled,
Adios, señores! and the fatal signal was given.

The Do,vnieville Vigilance COilllnittee \vas not or-
ganized until after this affair, as the follo,ving letter
indicates:
"DOWNIEVILLE, July 27, 1851.
"To the Vigilance Committee of San Franci8co:-
"GENTLEJ\1EX: The citizens of this place have organized a vigilance com-
mittee for the purpose of protecting life and property. At one of their meet-
ings they passed a resolution instructing me as their corresponding secretary
to communicate .with the vigilance committee of your city, with the vie.w of
eliciting what information you may he disposed to favor us ,vith in furthpr-
ance of the ohject we have ill devy-. It is thought by keeping up a commu-

"\VORSE THAX :M:OB JURY.

587

nication between the committees of the different points we might be of
mutual assistance, by keeping each other advised of the movements of noted
and suspicious characters. Any information, therefore, you may be so kind
as to favor us with upon this subject will be both thankfully received anù
reciprocated by us. Our organization is quite complete, and we d,=,sign to keep
our doings a secret, except such as are from the nature of the case public.
Therefore if you communicate with the committee of this place, please address
your letters to me in my private capacity.
"I remain, gentlemen, your humble servant,

"A. :\1. BROCKELBA..'lK."

Commenting on this tragedy, the Sacramento TÍ1ne.'l
a Jl d TranSCT ijJt says:

"The act for which the victim suffered was one entirely justifiable under
the provocation. She had stabbed a man who had persisted in making a
disturbance in her house and had greatly outraged her rights. The violent
proceedings of an indignant and excited mob, led on by the enemies of the
unfortunate woman, were a blot upon the history of the state. Had she
committed a crime of a really heinous character, a real American would have
revolted at such a course as was pursued toward this friendless and unpro-
tected foreigner. We had hoped the story was fabricated. As it is, the
perpetrators of the deed have shown themselves and their race. "

This editor goes far out of his way both to distort
the facts and then to draw from them false conclu-
sions. The \\
oman ,vas not a friendless foreigner, nor
"'
as her act justifiable. The man she murdered offereJ
her no yiolence, and she had no right to kill him. The
people \vere right tó hang her, but they \vere \vrong
to do it madly and in the heat of passion.
But bad a
""ere the miners of Do\vnieville in their
dealings \yith crilllinal
, they \vere not so bad as the
<.1yerage Sau Fl'ancisco jury. I say far above the
action of the la\y ill a noted female-lllurder case \yhich
the San Francisco courts bungled nearly t\venty years
latel, is the course of the Do\vl1Ïeville miners to be
excused. Th(. case
are only partly parallel. In
both the
layer8 \vere ,vornen; but one killed a lllan
because he invaded her home, and the other because
he preferred his O\VIl \vife before her. One ,,'as act-
uated Ly revenge, the other by jealou
.r; one
le'v
her victiul becau
e he had treated her ill, the other

588

THE DO'VNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

because he had treated her ,veIl. One killed a miner,
and the n1iners hanged her; the other killed a la,vyer,
and the la 'v let her go free.
If beforc this California, or the ,vorld, needed further
evidcnce of the eccentricities of la,v, the trial of Laura
D. Fair for the murder of A. P. Crittenden offers
ample illustration.
l\Iarried at the age of sixteen to a Mr Stone, with-
in a year she ,vas a wido,v; next for six months her
husband ,vas Thomas Grayson, ,vho freed himself by
divorce; then she married William D. Fair, who in
1861 \vas said to have comn1itted suicide. At Sacra-
Inento ]\frs Fair kept a lodging-house for a time; after-
,yard she appeared upon the stage at various times in
Sacralnento and San Francisco. With the discovery
of silver in Nevada, she went to Virginia City and
there kept the Tahoe House, ,vhere in September
1863 J\1r Crittenden took rooms. The acquaintance
there forn1ed soon ripened into quasi affection.
Arrested for threatening to shoot her partner ,vhi]e
placing the national flag upon the hotel, Mr Critten-
den defended her. Subsequently she married one
Snyder, but ,vas in less than t\VO months divorced.
Before and after this marriage she was on intilnatc
terms ,,-ith Crittenden, and their intinlacy ,vas by no
means private. At the tilne of the murder Mrs Fair
,vas about thirty-five years of age. She was a woman
of extraordinary aptitude, ,vith sufficient acquiren1ents
to nlake dangerous her attractions; in the eyes of some
she ,vas even beautiful.
Alnong the talented and cultivated of California,
none ranked higher than Mr Crittenden. The la,v
firm Crittenden and Wilson, of which he ,vas senior
Inember, was pron1inent among the fe,v called first in
the profession. He ,vas a graduate at West Point,
nephe,v of J Ohll J. Crittenden, United States senator
from I{entucky, and brother-in-la\v of Tod Robinson,

upreme court reporter. lIe ,vas no less gentlen1anly,
generous, warnl-hearted, and honorable than he ,vas

A. P. CRITTE
""I)EX.

589

able and distinguished. He ,vas the husband of an
an1iable, loving, and accomplished ,,-ife, and the father
of an interesting and intelligent family. He ,vas about
fift.y-eight years of age at the time of his death.
The nature of this anomalous attachment was,
on the part of :ßlr Crittenden, it strange infatuation
rather than reasonable affection. All the ,vhile he
loved and respected his ,vife; all the ,,?hile she loved
and respected him; all the ,,? bile he "'"as a father to
his children, protecting them, guiding them, loving
them. During a part of the seven years of this
unholy intimacy :\Ir Crittenden's family "\"\1'ere at the
east, but the family relations "'"ere never severed.
'v"Tbile sensuous fancy obscured the path of duteous
decency and made him wanton for a while, his true
self was then, as ever, ,vith the right.
In speaking thus I do not mean in any "'"ay to
mitigate his wickedness or gloss his insane folly.
'Vhen an amiable, intellectual, chivalrous gentleman
so far forgets his duty to himself, his fan1il y, and to
society as to descend into the depths and there ,,?allow
In s,vinish lust, tenfold more condemnation is his due
than merits one less favored. Nor ,vould I thro,v the
blame upon his paramour. Though she played never
so cunningly by her seductive charms upon his iUl-
pressionable nature, it was no excuse for him; if the
lo,y, the poor, and the unfortunate lllay not pload
temptation in mitigation of their crimes, surely the
more favored of fortune should not be permitted to
do so. As to relative blame, in thi:5 caso as in nlost
cases, the fault "\\?as lllore the man's than the,volnan's.
That she, a notorious Y
?Onlan of the ,vorld, should
strain her soul to ,yin hin1, is loss abhorrent to our
sense of morality than for him, for her embrace, to
doscend fron1 his high station, besn1car his fair nalHC,
and cruclly crush the hearts of loving ,vifo and
children. '''T cre she as mad ,vith loyo for hiln as
Dido for Æncas, or Cleopatra for ..L.l.ntony, the fall
beneath her fascinations opened to his vie\\r, and to

590

THE DO\VNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

that of his friends, a ,yeak, gross, baneful streak in an
other\vise spotless character.
Returning sOlne,vhat to rea
on after this long in-
dulgence of his baser self, 1\11" Crittenden resolved to
sever his connection \vith tho siren, and sent for his
family. The evening of their arrival, \v hich ,vas the
3d of November 1870, he crossed the Lay upon the
Oakland ferry-boat to meet them. On their return,
'v hile seated outside the cabin bet\veen his ,vife and
daughter, 1\Irs ]j-'air, closely veiled, approached hiln,
and drawing a pistol fired, the ball penetrating the
left breast. Supported by }\{rs Crittenden, he dropped
back in his seat and gradually sank to the Hoar.
Dropping the pistol, a four-barrelled Sharp shooter,
l\Irs Fair hurried into the cabin and lllingled \vith
the other passengers. Parker Crittenden, a son, \vith
a policeman \vho happened to be on board, went in
search of her. They soon found her, ,vhen the son
said, "That is the 'VOluan; I accuse you of lllurdering
my father." The ,vornan ans\vered, "Yes, I don't
deny it. I admit that I shot him; I don't deny it.
He has ruined Ine and my child. I \vas looking for
the clerk to give nlyself up. Take Ine. Arrest ]ue;
I am ready to go \vith you." 1\{r Crittenden lingered
for three days, \vhen he died. Mrs Fair ,vas in ap-
parent delirium for several days.
In due time the trial ,vas begun. l\{rs Fair, pale
and ,veak, appeared in court arrayed in black silk and
veiled, accolnpanied by her ]l1other and daughter, a.
beautiful child of nine years. Having abundant Ineans
at her cOlnmand, t\VO expert crinlÏnal la \vyer$ ,vere
engaged, and seated in a rocking-chair bet\veen them,
and attended by her physician, the prisoner took an
active interest in the proceedings. To the charge of
111urder the accused pleaded "Not guilty," and set up
in defence insanity.
For thirty days the jury ,vere kept toget.her, and
forty lninutes aftor tIle case ,vas 8ublnitted to them
they returned ,vith a verdict of "Guilty of 111urder in

LOVELY LA.URA FAIR.

591

the first degree." A motion for a new trial on the
ground of incompetency of jurors and for other rea-
sons ,vas carried to the suprelue court and granted.
A t the second trial the prisoner ,vas acquitted on the
ground of insanity and given her liberty.
:1\Iany years have no,y elapsed since this discharge,
during ,vhich time
Irs Fair has often appeared upon
the streets of San Francisco apparently no more insane
than others ,,
ho have not killed their man. She does
not clainl to have been insane long before the killing
nor long after. Just ho\v llluch ,vonlan's love and
wonlan's hate, fired byalchelnic passion into the lnetal
jealousy, is sufficient to place the female lllind outside
itself let doctors and la\vyers determine. But to dis-
cuss the question is idle in the extreme. No unbiassed
mind of average intelligence for a moment doubted
that this \VOlnan ,vas guilty of the crirllc of murder,
such as that for \vhich the la,v intended those conl-
Initting it should die. The people ,vere disappointed,
indignant, that the tigress should be let loose upon
them; but patient and plodding as they are, they \vere
ño\v beconling accustomed to unquestioning obedience.
Nevertheless they could but feel humiliated under the
issue of the affair. Yet there is nothing unCOlnlnon
about it; ,vith numberless quibbles and technicalities
interposing between crin1e and punishment, \vith a
profession 'v hose members glory in their dexterity in
clearing the guilty, with judges so blindly bound to
form as to be senselessly indifferent to the righteous-
ness of a cause, and ,vith juries COlllposed of 111en
picked indiscrinîinately from shops and ,varehouses,
'v hose lllinds are unaccustomed to ,veighing evidence,
and \vho are easily s\vayed by their sympathies and
influenced by their prejudices, ,ve lllust expect that as
a rule the guilty poor only ,vill be punished \yhile the
money of the rich buys pardon. E,
ery appearance
of this 'VOlllan upon the street is a cOllllnentary OIl the
injustice and incompetency of our judicial systen1.
"\Vhen little Laura ,vas in
hort dresses and playing

592

THE DO'VNIEVILLE TRAGEDY.

with her dolls in
lississippi, being then t,velve years
of age, 'Villian1 D. Fair and A. P. Crittenden ,vere
sitting together in the san1e legislature, being the first
in California. One killed himself and the other she
killed. Broderick, murdered duellistically by Terry,
,vas also a lTICnlber of this legislature. Lightly laughs
Satan: innocence, legislation, la,v, and suicide; woman,
law, and murder; lightly dances Satan!

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE POPL"LAR TRIBUX
\LS OF UT..llI AXD XEV_illA.

Iark what unvaried laws preserve each state,
Laws wise as nature, and as fix'd as fate.
In vain thy reason finer webs shall draw,
Entangle justice in her net of law,
And right, too rigid, harùen into wrong,
Still for the strong too weak, the weak too strong.
Pope.
,,"?" ERE any ever disposed to praise the :Jlormons, or in
any "ise to do them justice, then n1Îght the lover'S of
law and order, the opposers of the vigilance principlc,
give thelll credit for living ,yithout Blobs, ,,-ithout any
popular, or legal, or other tribunal save those sinlple
forln
,,
hich lead ,vith the lea
t po
sible time and co
t
to justice. Did the advocate of ,-igilance reforul
desire to prai;:,e them, he n1ight point to the fact that
here existed a society in ,,- hich the regretted necessity
,vas "
anting. How they dealt "ith their enen1Ïef',
the enemies of their religion, is another lnatter. "
e
do ours all the injury ,ye can, and that ,,-hile the false
prayer is on our lips that God will bless theln.
In Carson ,"?" alley., near the Carson River, on the
Deseret road, the bodies of six persons, supposed to
have been n1urdered by banditti, "ere exhulllell in the
autumn of 1851; concerning ,,
hich )11' Jailles F. Tyffe
thus ,,"rites to the Sacramento Tintes and Ira 1,scriIJ[:

" :\Iy own observations, while over in the valley with the mounted men
in July and August, '\\ith the information obtained from the settlers, led me
to coincide with the opinion e'"\:pressed by the emigrants, vÌZ.: that there is a
band of lawless and desperate men in Carson Valley, and the citizen"J, in peti-
tioning the governor for a small mounted force for protection, had an eye to
these gentry, although nothing at that time could he prO\-ctl of sufficient im-
portance to warrant their atTest. "
POP. Tnrn., VOL. I. 38 ( 593 ì

594 POPULAR TRIBUX ALS OF UTAH AXD NEVADA.

Lucky Bill ,vas a good fello,v if he ,vas a villain,
and cverybody liked hin). He o\vned in 1855 one
of the best farnlS in Carson VaIlcy. Other fine tract

of land he o,yned else,v here, besides great herds of
cattle; indeed Lucky Bill for the tÏ1ne and place ,yas
rich. But like nlallY another to 'VhOlll ,vealth has
hrought froill friend
and neighLor
no adllitional re-
spect, as Lucky Bill's riches increased, his reputation
for honesty antI intc6'rity dilninished. Like 11lany
another ,vho having achieved a reputation for superior
ability or skill spoils it all by SOUle act of iusensate
folly, so Lucky Bill after enjoying a long career of
the 11lost fortunatc good fortune, ,yl1Ïch secured hilll
houle, fan1Ïly, fricndB, and evcry eOlnfort, di::-ìHipatcd all
Ly one, to hilll, 1110St. unlucky deed.
Iany of his prac-
tices ,vere looked upon as sonle,yhat 1110re than sharp,
anlong ,,-hich to buy stolen cattle, and to appropriate
all straggling stock upon ,vhich he could lay his band,
,vere al110ng the least.
1\1 urad the U nlucky fanci
d all the ,vorld against
hinl; Salaùin the Lucky gre,v in self-confidcnce
through the inspiration of hi8 IUUllC. So it ,yas ''lith
,vicked 'Villianl Thol'Tington, for that ,vas Lucky Bill's
true naIne; successful in little yillainies, he undertook
greater ones, until he gre\v so hold in his unla\vful
acts that sad grief at last ovcrtook hill1. During his
palnlY days, surrounded by ,,,ife, and chilùrcll, and
ii"ienJ8, thero \verc none so happy and joyial as he.
I-lis little irregularities he regarded as gooù jokes, and
oftcn rccounted the story of a trick played on SaIne
passing entÏgrant by ,vhich he had gained a ,vagon
and its contents, or a fine horse, or several yokes of
cattle, ,vith the sanlO apparent satisfaction a soldier
tells of his shootings. -6-
nd as the nlan kept open
house anJ ,vas by no n1ean:-s niggardly ,yith the prop-
erty he had taken frotH others, it ,vas a long tiU1C be-
fore his neighbors ,vould allo,v thelIlselves to be \\Torried
by disparaging runlors concerning binl. At last, 110\V-
ever, hi8 avarice
o far acquired the ascendancy as to

THE STORY OF LLCKY DILL.

5ü::;

lead hin1 into the conlu1Ïssion of a lTIOst horrible and
inexcusable crinle. It happened that in thi
year
1855 a ]?renchillan \yas herding Californian cattle at
the Truckee River. Thorrington had plenty of good
grazing land, and coyeted the cattle, but the Frenc!t-
luan "
anted S01110 conlpensation for theIn, and Lucky
Bill never paid for that \vhich could Le lllore easily
obtained hy stratagelll or crin1e. There are Inany
lucky Bills about; lucky in that they escape hang-
ing. ås Lucky Bill Thorrington did not.
Thcre \yas a friend of Thorrington's, one Ed\vards,
,vho like\vise "
anted the cattle, and \,,!to had visited
tho Frencllll1an for the purpose of buying hin1 out,
but as they coulclnot agree upon the price the effort
was unsuccessful. Ed\yards often stopped at Thor-
rington's house; and one day during a conycrsation
on the subject, Thorrington coolly proposed that they
should kill the Frenclunan and di yide the
poils. Ed-
,yards consented. Again yisiting the Frencllll1an, on
sonle plausible pretext he decoyed hill1 SOITIe distance
fron1 his call1p, and then shot hill1 and hid the body.
A forged bill uf sale nlade Ed,yardB the apparcnt
o\vner of c\
eryt!ting, and the Frenchrnan's property
,-ras duly divided by the conspirators. Lucky as eyer,
thought Bill, as the tilDe passed quietly Ly after this
last adroitly In an aged affair. But the eyil-lllinJed are
neyer perlnancntly lucky. Eyen if thcy confine their
rascalities ,,
ithin the lin1Ïts of the la\v and so escape
legal punishn1ent, that for ,yhich they sell their souIs,
ease, gratified an1bition, happine

, they neyer get.
The devil is a shre\yd paYIU:lster, feeding foreyer his
devotees on the pas
ions ,yl1Ïch first brought thelu
into his ser\
icc. The lTrenclullan's friends in Cali-
fornia, nci ther seeing nor hearing froll1 hinl for so
long, fcarcd some e\-il had befallen hilll, and instituted
investigations ,,-hich led to the finding of the Lodyand
the discoyery of the foul play attending thc French-
ulan's death. The settlers \vere arou:-;üJ. Forn1Ïng
thclllsclve
into a conlmittee of vigilancc, they ar-

596 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH A
ì) KEYADA.

rested Thorrington, his accol11plice having escaped;
then electing officers and organizing a tribunal, they
tried the prisoner, convicted hin1 of Inurder, and sen-
tenced hill1 to be hanged. Unlucky Bill.
l\Iean,,
hile the Vigilance Comlnittee earnestly de-
sired to secure Ed,vards, and lnost villainously did they
undertake its acco111plishment. The 111an rrhorring-
ton had a son, a bright, frank, honest lad of sixteen
years, ,vho little kne\v how bad his father ,vas. It
,vas thought that he, as ,veIl as his father, kne\v "There
Ed\vards lay concealed, and that by pronlÎsing the boy
his father's life the other felon 111Ïght like,vise be
brought. to justice. It ,vas a hazardous undertaking;
Ed\vards ,vas a po,verful, ,veIl arlned, desperate nUll1;
even settlers feared to attack hin1 in his retreat, and
the boy ,vas not only to discover to thenl the crilninal,
but to bring him out and lead hiln into a trap \"here
they could catch him. That they,vere a co\vardly sct
I do not deny; but that ,vas not the extent of their
baseness. It ,vas a desperate undertaking; Ed\vards
,vas almost sure to suspect treachery, and that sus-
picion \vould cost the boy his life, for the n1an, already
doomed, ,vould not hesitate a Inomcnt to slay one \vho
kne,,, and ,vould divulge his hiding-place. But ,vhat
\vould not a noble, high-spirited lad do to save a
father's life, a father unjustly condel11necl, as the boy
,vas made to believe, and for another's crillle?
At night, alone, behind the mountains ,vhich rise
,vest of Genoa, young Tharrington ,vent to a secluded
cañon ,vhere the murderer lay concealed. Ed\vards
did not kno\v that Thorrington had been captured,
and this fact the boy kept carefully to himself. Ho
said his father, hotly hunted, desired to see hin1 at a
certain house to conccrt Ineasures for the safety of
both. Fron1 the first, Ed \vards seemed to feel that all
,vas not right; \vhether it ,vas the boy'
too eager
Inanner, 'v hose father's fate one un,veighed ,vord of
his might sadly n1ar, or ,vhatsoever it ,vas, there ap-
pearcd to Ed\vards an air of unrcalityabout it that

I

.A)IOLS
IEáSLRES.

:>97

111ade him hesitate.
J\.t first he flatly refused to go;
said that each could take better care of hinlself apart
fi
oln the other ; that there \yas nothing to be gainell
in being together, and llluch to lose. But ,yheu the
boy cahned, and, made discreet beyond his year
by
the burden of a father's life, reasoned \vith hi In, begged
hinl at least to see his father, assuring hilll that noth-
ing ill could come of it, he finally yielded, at the sanlC
tÍ1ne saying to the boy if he played him fal
e his life
should surely be forfeit. Concealed in a herdsman's
hut near the forks of Carson River, on a lonely rancho
o"
ncd by Thorrington, the party of settler
a\vaited
the murderer, and thither from his coyert the boy
conducted hilll. It \yas long after 111Ïclnight \\? hen
the}
dre,v near the place, Ed \\
ards advancing àlonO"
cautiously ,vith his gun raised, and other arn1S i

readiness, \",-atching narro\rly eyery nlOyement of the
boy, ,,
ho 111arched silently before hinl. On reaching
the house he beckoned young Thorrington back, and
f'tepping to the door listened attentively for a llloment,
then cautiously opened it. Darkness and death-silence
"ere yçithin; but this \Y:1S nothing strange, as Thor-
rington ,yould hardly dare to burn a light in one of
his o\yn houses, even in this lonely distant one, when
justice ,vas so hounding hinl. He ,youlù enter; he
\yas not afraid. Scarcely had his foot crossed the
threshold ,y hen thud t a po\verful blo\v from an unseen
lland feUed hin1 to the floor, and the vigi]ants "
ere
upon hill}. Bound by his captors, he \vas taken before
the same tribunal that doomed to death Thorrington,
and there in like Inanner ,vas tried and found guilty.
It ,vas ahnost al\vays a question in a new comnlunity
ho"T the first death-sentence should be carried into
effect. Silllple-illinded "\\-ell meaning settlers are loath
to turn hanglnen; nevertheless neces
ity often ilnposes
un\velcome burdens. In this instance there was ll1ueh
di ycrsity of opinion on the suLject. SOll1e ,vero in
fayor of finding, if possible, a shado\y of la\v and there
laying the condclnned; others thought that the pron1Ïse

598 POPUL....\R TRIBUNALS OF UTAH A
D NEVADA.

giycn to the boy should be st,rictlyobserved; others
,,'ere in fa VOl' of sunullary anti inlnlediate execution.
These last outnulllbcred the rest; and at Clear Creek
Rancho, ,vith a coolness and courage ,vorthy a better
cause, the t,vo Incn Inet their fate. But ,,"hat shall
,ve say of thoBe conscienceless n1en ,vho, to accon1plish
their purpose, so cruclly played upon the n10st sacred
affections? Poor boy I ,vhat teachings ,vould so luako
!lirn a child of hell as the treacheries of these self-
constituted exall1ples of good eitizenship. For n1yself,
I ,vould aln10st as lief have the father's sin upon IllY

oul as this vile nleanneS3 of the son's deceivers.

Prior to 18 G 2 Carson Valley had for SOln8 tilne
served as a hiding-pJace for stock stolen in California.
Rell10te and practically inaccessible to sufferers by
these depredations, it afforded a safe retreat. After
recruiting in this valley, the stock ,vas driven to Utah
or sold to cllligrants. FroIll cattle-stealing to the
robbing of en1Ïgrant trains and overland stages ,vas
but a step. Gradually the valleys round Carson City
,vere occupied by respectable settlers, ,vho regarded
thcse outrages \vith disfavor. But so strong at that
tinle ,vas the illlpurc clcll1cnt, that out of this action
of the reforn1ers gre\v nUlnberless faetions, ,vhieh kept
those valleys in constant turnloil, often attended by
personal encounters and blooJy party strifes. Though
the action of the Vigilance C01l1n1ittee, au absolute
necessity in itself, ,vas productive of the greatest good,
active in reprehending crilninals, and punishing \vith
coolness, hanging fc\v but Lanishing lnany, yet there
,vere there, a8 in California, thuse \vho opposed it,
SOUle frolll principle, SOHle fronl petty priùe, but far
lllore fro1l1 personal an<l selfish interest. An auti-
vigilance or la,v anù order party \vas forlned, \vhich
carried the issue into politics, and did ahnost as 111uch
to\vard retarding the progress of settlen1ent and elouù-
ing the prosperity of the country as the Inalefactors
themselves.

...-U30"GT C
\.RSOX CITY.

fjO!)

.At Lane and Johnson's rancho, "T alkcr River, some
tin1e in the ,,
inter of 1855-6, Jiu1, an Indian boy
raisetl froln infancy on the place, killed J ohnso11 Lo-
cause he threatened to \vhip hÏ1n if he ,,-hipped the
sheep. The boy, ,,-hen he sa\v ,,-hat he had done,
1110ulltecl a. horse and fled. Lane ,,
ith a party
tarted
in pursuit, caught the Loy in Sierra ,Talley, and hanged
hilll at Car
un Ri \Ter, near Rud Station.
L\.t '\ìillian1s Station, sixty llliles belo\v Genoa, in
)Iay 1860 there ,,-as an outbreak of the nativcs, pro-
voked by gross outrages on the part uf tho superior
race, in \vhich four \vhite 111en lo
t their lives. It ap-
pears that the arLitrary lnethod of redressing injuries
is not applicable to savages as to civilized lnen. "Then
the red Ulan suffers \vrong he Inust go to his great
father at ,,-r ashington and there lodge his cOllIplaint,
but be 11IUSt not lift a finger, \,hen attacked, in self-
defence. I t is a precedent too dL} ngcrous for Indian
indulgence. Should one dare to do so, ,yhite InC11 are
justified in extern1Ïnating the tribe. It \ya:,; sOlno\yhat
so in this instance. Certain of the n10re hUlnane set-
tlers proposed to visit tho outraged tribes, to deilland
frolll their chief.-.; the individuals outraged, and to hang
thelll, for it \"as these ,,
ho haù conln1Ïtted the Critlle
of retaliation, ,vhich pri\
ilege Lelongcd only to des-
peradoes \v hite of skin ho,vevor black of heart. This
surely \vas punislnnent enough for these dusky vigil-
ants, OIle ,youlcl think; Lut so did not the silver-seck-
el's. Filled \vith pitchy \vrath, they rose and thrc\v
thenlsel \
es upon these naked defenLlers of their fire-
sides, and a most unholy and unnecessary three
nlonths' \var \vas tbe consequence.
)Iidsun111Ier 1860 sa\v luuch n1Ìschief afloat in and
around Carson City. "Tith a scattered population
of say seven hundred, there \ycre \yithin a period of
six "
eek8 no lef-;
than five lllurders reported. ..L
(LI
to the
e lllunbcrless as;:;ault
, shootings, cuttillg
, and
beating
, and the l1lCaSUre of brutality is \vell filled.
In the absence of theatricals, and of the lllorc refined

GOO POPuLAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

representations of life and character, t.he inhabitants
fell back upon their native resources anù acted their
o,vn tragedies. In the ft-Lsence of piano, flute, and
guitar, lllingling ,vith the lllany-voiced harnlollies
of nature, the sil,-rer-toned brooks, and the concert of
LirrIs, ,vore the pistol's gentle click and sharp report,
and the shrill laughter or 11101"0 paSt;ionate cries of
ragefullnen.
So remarkable during this carnival of yiolcnce ,vas
a lnonlent of quiet that people and the press all noticed
it. Says t.he Territorial EnterïJJ
ise of the 1 Gth of
Juno 1860:

"It is noticeable that for the last week we have not had a murder or
shooting scrape in our city, while within the same period several desperate
and disreputable characters ha,?e quietly slipped off to California. On
londay
last Judge Cradlebaugh, United States judge for Utah, opened his court; ancl
there are those having causality largely developed who think they can detect
in this series of events the relation of cam;e and effect. "

.1\ singular case occurred at Carson City in Juno
1860. A Gerrnan couple, 1\11' ancll\Irs IIessc, charged
ono l\fanuel, a l\Iexican, ,vith having atte111ptecl to
break into their house and take their lives. l\Ianu<..:l
,vas arrested and exaulined before Judge Cradlebaugh,
'v ho held hiul to ans,ver before the proper C8urt.
During the exalnination the ,vonlan s,vore that the
l\Iexican had 111ade ilnproper proposals to her. Ho,v-
ever this may have been, it ,vas generally believed
that the \VOITlan ,vas as bad as the nlan. Yet 'v ben
inlnlediately upon the close of the exaulination 1\lrs
Hesse dre,v from under her sha,vl a cocked pistol,
and placing it against the head of the prisoner fired,
causing his instant death, neither judge, sheriff, nor the
people made any atten1pt to arrest her, but pernlitted
her to return to her hOllle in peace, as if she had COll1-
lnitted a meritorious act.

In l\farch 1860 the ranchmen of Carson Valley 111et
at Genoa and made pledges of mutual protection.
]'orcbodings of disquiet seelned present in the lnind

of all. The unsettled titles both to D1ininQ' and to

VIRGI
l:A CITY.

601

farming lands ,vere the cause of Inany disputes and
bloody affray
; add to this the absence of competent
courts and the presence of the yery \yorst clement
from California and clse\vhere, and the outlook for
social order \vas not very encouraging. If the galll-
blers and desperadoes ,,-ould confine their shootings
and cuttings to their O\Yll class no one "Tonld cOlllplain,
but it is contrary to nature for bea<sts of the
anle
species to prey on each other. X ot\vithstanding all
prognostications, prosperity attended the developillent
of the natural \vealth of the territory. )Iost luckily
\Tirginia City escaped for nearly three year8 those
s\veeping conflagrations ,vhich ,vith their crushing in-
fluences had so often laid young San Francisco in
ashes. Several at.tempts at incendiarislll ,yere dis-
coyered both before and after the great fire \,-hich
occurred at '"Tirginia City about the 1st of Septelnbcr
18G3, but this fire, it "Tas generally conceded, ,vas the
result of accident. .L
t this tilDe ,,-here four years
before there "
as a canlp amidst the sagebrush con-
sisting of t\yO rude stone houses, and six or eight
tent
and Lrush shanties, occupied by a score or t\yO
of S trao'o'lin cr adventurers , there \vere no\v \vithill an
00 0 -
area of three 111iles square t\venty thousand inhabi-
tants, ".ith houses, roads, Inills, gas and \vater \vorks,
,vith schools, churches, theatres, ancl all the concon1-
itants of civilization. But all this tilHe the progress
and prosperity of "\Vashoe, as X evada ,,'as then
popularly called, "
as n1aterial rather than lllora!. Of
all places on the planet, i t "
as then the paradise
of evil-doers, as California had been in her day. FrolH
the frequency of a
saults, assassinations, and robber-
ies, together ,vith the Inany lllinor mi
demeanors and
suicides, one \yould think that 'Vashoe \T alley had
become the \yor]d's moral cesspool, the recopta('le of
prison offal frolll every quarter. Like\vise there as-
selllbled ,vere 111ultitudes of political yagrants and
pettifoggers such as "
ait on rascalit} and derive their
sustenance fron1 vagabondage, ,,,hose presence in the

602 POPULAR TRIEUKALS OF UTAII A1\
KEY..:illA.

110\V nlore refined atmosphere of public sentin1Gnt in
California \vas not tolerated as fornlerly. Bloated
dissipation sunlled itself upon the strect-corners, and
lust and Ie,vdness flaunted their gay attire along the
thoroughfares. l\fingling ,vith the ,vhiskey-stained
yi
ages of the llolninant race ,vere the black and
yello\v-skillned eleulcnt found in every iI11portallt to\Vll
upon the Pacifip coast; anù seasoning the Inass \vith
infernal relish \vas \V0111an of evcry shade of influence,
frOln distraught \vives seeking rclease frolll un\velcon1o
bonds, and grass- ,viclo\vs panting for ne\y allianco8, to
the opcnly profane and gaudily decked professional.
" I n fact," says one, "'V a
hoe is no\v to California
,vhat the latter \vas at one tÌ1ne to all the "Torlel
bcside-a receptacle for the vagrant, the vicious, and
the unfortunate, "Tho hasten to find in the exciteu1cnts
and
ocial license incident to frontier life a condition
congenial to thcir perturbed spirits and blasted hopeR;
and it l11ay be, if indeed there is not reason to Lelievc
it ,vill happen, that this country, this cOIning state of
vVashoc, \vhen it shall have had the age of her sister
California, ,viII be able to boast as nluléh public intel-
ligence and virtue, and to Inake as Ütir an historic
record as she."
The settlers in vVashoe Valley during the \vinter
of 1863-4 felt the necessity of banding and organ-
izing for mutual protection against 'land-junlpers' or
squatters on land previously elainled.
Aurora had its Citizens" Protective Union, ,vhich
assurned the forln of a Inilitary organization. On the
9th of February 18GJ, at t\Ycl,
e o'clock, noon, the
l11elllbers forilled in line, Inarchcd to the county jail,
and taking thence four prisoners, charged ,vith the
Inurder of W. ll. J ohnbon a ,veek previous, 11lounted
thenl upon a
caffold eTcGted in front of Arlnory llall.
The lnilitary, \vho \vere one \vith the Citizen
' Pro-
tective Union, held the to\vn, and though there \\T(lS
a great concourse of people, the strictest order "TaB
preserved. The doorned \verc then pcrn1i tted to speak.

THE TO"\\X OF AL"RORA.

603

The first, nall1ed Buckley, assured his hearers that he
and one of the others, Daly, alone \yere guilty; that
)IcDo,vell and ::\Iasterson, ;::,tanding there \yith theIn,
'
"'ere ,vholly innocent of the criu1e. Dalv confÌrll1ed
,yhat BuckÌey had said. Johnson had ldlled Daly's
partner, and Daly only regretted that there ,vas hut
one J ohn80n to kill in return. :\Iasterson simply a
-
serted hi:s innocence. :\IcDo,veIl rayed, called hea\"'en
to ,vitne
s his innocence, and ,,"'arned the people not to
do 111urder by taking hi
life. He appeared under the
intluence of liquor, and Daly \vas, if anything, \vor
e.
Just Leforo )IcDo,vell "Ta
pinioned he bade good-by
to all, and then
uddenl y dra \ving a derringer and
pointing it at his breast he pulled the trigger; but it
snapped \vithout exploding, \"hen he dashed it to the
ground \vith a curse. Buckley ,vas cool, brave, rcspect-
fbI, and tenlperate. In neither speech nor denlcanor
did he Il1anifest the slightest fcar. About half-past
one the four 111en ,,"'ero placed in position, their hands
tied and eyes bandaged; the signal-gun "
as then f1red,
and earth ,yith its luateriality sank beneath four dis-
én1 bodied souls.
It appears that this rich and fanlous nlining di&-
trict "
as then infested ,vith desperadoes, ,vho, like
noxious vern1in, filled the settlen1ents and Iuado rank
the air by their presence. For nearly t\VO years a
reign of terror had existed, until \vith the incorpora-
tion of the to,\"n of

urora the evil eleu1ents organized
and entered politic
. Filling the offices ,vith their
fello,ys, they had prostituted the la,\'" to their o\\
n
base purposes. The. nUlnerous gan1bling-housos \vere
cro,vded night and day, and bullets and bo\vie-kniyes
,yere constantly opening fresh channels for the flo\y of
Llood. The quiet to,vns-people "
ere alu10st afraid to
appear upon the streets; Ininers ,yould hurricdly
transact their Lusine

and hasten a,vay ,vhile they
,yere able. Pending- tbe decif'ion of the courts in suits
inyolving title, lllining cOll1panieB had held po
ses::;ioll
of thcir claÍIns Ly the as
;Ìstauce of hired rGffi
as.

G04 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH .AND KEVADA.

Life had hung upon a popular ,vill as passionate and
capricious as that of the Itolnan runphithcatl'e, "There
a gladiator's fate ,vas decided by the spectatorB, ,vho,
if they desired he should live, held their thlUllbs
do,vn, and if they ,vi
hecl hÜn to be slain, pointed their
thunlbs up,vard.
Upon the election of a ne,v Inarshal adverse to the
reign of the roughs, the latter had detCl'lllined to
strike a signal blo,v; and the lllUl'der of Johnson, an
orderly and respected gentlernan, ,vhose only offence
,vas a conscientious discharge of duty, ,vas perpetrated.
Then follo,ved the execution of the four ruffians already
ll1entioneel.
The follo,ving reasons ,vhy Johnson ,vas killed are
gi'Ten by a Carson correspondent of the Virginia City
Uniun:

"It will be recollected that about a year ago a man named Sears, while
passing on foot by Johnson Station, mounted a horse standing saddled at the
Jour and rode off with him. This was at 'Vright's bridge, on the west fork
of 'Valker River. The horse belonged to a neighbor ùf Johnson, a poor man,
who deplored his loss severely. A young man nameil Rodgers, stopping at the
station, mounted another animal and went in pursuit of the thief, and over-
hauling him at the Sweetwater, called on him to halt, threatening, if he did
not, to fire on him. Scars, however, instead of stopping, attempted to make
good his escape, when Rodgers fired and killed him. The excuse of Rodgers
was that he feared Sears might shoot him. if he came to close quarters, and
that he would get ofT with the animal if he did not. The killing might be
regarded in part as the result of chance, seeing that it was effected .with a pistol
and the parties were a long way from each other. After the killing Rodgers
proceeded at once to Carson and surrendered himself to the authorities, had
an examination, and was discharged. He was advised, however, to lcaye the
place, as John Daly had threatened to kill him, Sears having been a friend or
companion of the latter. Rodgers thereupon callle back to Johnson's. A
s!lOrt time after, Daly and Jack :McDowell, alias Three-fingered Jack, came to
Johnson's and demanded to know where Rodgers "vas, as they wished to ar-
rest him. Johnson refused to inform them, knowing that they would kill him
if t
lCY got him in their possession. He told them, howc,-er, that he knew
,,,here Rodgers was, and that he would inform them if they came authorizecl
with a proper warrant for his arrest. Knowing that they could not procure
this, they left in a rage, and have frequently since been known to threaten
J ohnsoll for the part he took in Lefriending Ho(lgers. In order to allay sus-
picion, howC\'er, they let the afi'air rest for a ,vhole year; nor docs it appear
tll3.t J olmson was apprised of their purpos(' or aware of the threats they had
made. The day prior to the murdçr Johnson, it appears, went to Aurora for

CAPTTJRE OF nUCKLEY.

603

the purpose of disposing of a lot of potatoes, when this gang at once set their
wits to work to plan his death in a manner that would be least likely to draw
suspicion on themselves. To this end one of their number, affecting a great
friendship for Johnson, induced him to take a ,vall
'" ith him, and finally to
visit several places about town, in which Jvanner, having kept him up till a
late hour, he finally decoyed. him into a somewhat obscure locality, where,
secreted behind a wood-pile, his companions lay in wait to despatch their Ull-
suspecting victim. Arrh-ed at the spot agreed on, Buckley felled Johnson by
a blow over the head with a pistol. John Daley then shot him throu;;h the
head, when a third one of the party, but whether
IcDowell, or :\Iasterson, or
some other one of the gang, is not knov.ìl, cut his throat. His pockets having
been rifled, he was left lying on the spot where he fell. The assassins then
separated, Daly going to a saloon near by, where he shortly after told those
present, with affected nonchalance, that there was a man lying in the street
dead a little way off, designating the spot. These parties at once suspected
that Daly was himself the murderer, or knew something of the matter, and
keepin] their eye on him, soon after procured his arrest. _\. fellow known as
Italian Jim, who it seems overheard the murder planned, or v. as in some way
privy to it, becoming alarmed, took the stage early in the morning and left
in the direction of Carson. Officer Pine having been despatched, overtook
the stage at 'Yellington's, on the 'Yest 'V all
pr, and conducted him back.
Jim, in order to save himself, made a
onfession, revealing who were the
guilty parties and the manner in which the diabolical crime was committed.

orroborating evidence haying been obtained, the murder was fastened upon
these men beyond any doubt, to say nothing of the confessions of Buckley
an
Daly."

The Esmeralda Stal" gives the following account of
nlurderer Buckley's capture:

"Buckley fled from the town on 'Vednesday, the day after the murder.
Parker, Gilman, and Fagan had also fled on horseback and gone, as supposed,
which afterward proved to be correct, to the Adobe )Ieadows. Various
rumors were flying through the town that Buckley was hid in some one of the
many hundreds of tunnels and shafts on Last Chance Hill. A thorough search
was made e\eryw-here to find him, but it all proved to be a fruitless task. On
Friday evening Sheriff Francis returned to town with Parker, Gilman, and
Fagan, who were taken at the .Adobe )leadows; from them infonnation was
given that a man answering the description of Buckley had passed
Iackay's
rancho on foot, which is about twelve miles from this place; he bad stop
d to
get a drink of water, but when he saw Parker and his companions riding up
he secreted himself, supposing them to be a party sent in pursuit of him.
\.s
soon as they had left he started for .:\Iono Lake, and from thence was intend-
ing to make his way over the mountains the best way h-3 could. The sheriff,
hearing no further tidings of him, left on Saturday morning for the .Adobe
:Meatlows. determined if be did not find him there he would go on down to
Ûwenfn-ille, whith('r he supposed he had fled. Captain Teel also w('nt out,
taking with him
Ir Augustus Lake and John Burns, and went over toward

COG POPULAR TRIllGX.ALS OF UT.AH ML> XEYAD.A.

lIono Lake, ha;dng started one day ahead of Fra'aeis, They hunted l
ili-
gently, riding eatirely round ,Mono Lake on a very dark night, and a portion
of the time without any fOOll. The wcather was piercing collI, and they
c:une near freezing their ears, hands, and feet. They finally had to stop
and build a fire to 'warm themse
ves hy. They then mounted their horses
aad hunted a long time Juring the ùay for the fugiti,-e, and then returned
to to'Vll.
., On
lon<lay morning Deputy-sheriff Teel felt confident he eouhl be found,
provided Ted had enough men to assist him; and on
Ionùay last, at about
eleyen o'clock in the fore:103:l, he started out for
Iono Lake with l\lessrs
Lake, Shreves, Dekay, Patterson, .Jackson, Staatz, and J03eph Richardson, in
company. 'Vhen they arrived at ':Mono Lake, on the northern side Captain
Ted ùidded his forces into two parties. He sent Shreves, Jackson, Patter-
son, anù Dekay around the cast end, and took with him Richanls.nl, Lake,
and :::;taatz to go around the west enù of the lake, and all would arrive at Le
Vining's old rancho within about fifteen minutes of each other. The party that
went around the east end of the lake rode very fast until they came to Rush
Creek, which empties into the lake; they ùashed in aeross the creek and eame
to Le Yining's 01.1 house. The ùoor was open, and the party demanded of the
men ,vho were there if they had seen anything of Buckley, and one of thelll
replied, 'He is not here.' The dog belonging to the house l,,-ept up a foolish
Larking, and seemed to Le watching something in the sagebrush, and would
occasionally make a dash toward it. This attracted the attention of Jack-
son, and he thought he saw something moving ia the sagebrush, aIHl he also
thought there was a little chip or somethin
thrown tow
trd the ùog to drive
him away. He brought his gun to his shoulder and said, 'Patterson, I've got
something; let us see what it is.' The rest of them brought their guns to
their shouhlers and covered the object also. while Patterson went on foot
tmvard it, and when he had got within a few feet of it lluckley rose to his
feet and said, 'Boys, you ha,re got me this time,' and immediately surren-
dereù. They brought him to the house, and in about fifteen minutes Deputy-
sheriff Teel arrived with his party, they having dismounted a little way off
in order to come in on foot and surround the honse, expecting to take him
that way.
"Remonnting their horses, the party all rode back together, passing by the
house of 1\11' Boomershine, who did not expect them until morning, and had
made every preparation to greet them with a fine breakfast of wild ducks
and geese, and every hospitality he could bestow, but Teel's party arrived
too soon for him; but it was not lost, for Sheriff Francis and party arriving
at the hour set made it all right. Teel and his party pushed on toward
home, and some of their horses gave out, but as a good providence would
hêtYe it, as they were trudging their way along slowly in the middle of the night
a bawl of horses came up to them; one of the party saiù "Yhoa!' and they
stopped awl allowed four of themselves to be saddled and Lridled without
any difficulty, and the party thus being mounted on fresh horses they were
enabled to reach home about five o'clock in the morning of Thursday with
their prisoner, who was at once put into the county jail.
"Buckley informed them that ,dlCll Ted and his party were out the

D:C'YI:.rS:I
L.-\.CHIX:::RY.

60;

flrst ti:nc, duri.:l3 t
}e night he saw their fire and could hear them talk, and
"hen they mounted their horses again they came on se, fast that they O"-er-
took him, and that he laid down in the sagebrush and came very near being
stepped on by
Ir Lake's horse. He had travelled around the lake several
ti:nts, which is about thirty-fh'e miles in circumfercnce, and finding himself
closely pursued, he struck out into the open wild sagebnlsh plain for the
A,lobe
Ieadows. On nearing this place he got a glimpse of Sheriff Francis
and posse, and started hack again oyer this long distance, through t!lis wild
sagebrush desert, to the alkaline waters of )Iono Lake again, and wandered
around its shores, hiding in the sagebrush until almost exhausted. His cap-
ture soon followed in the manner above stateù, and he was brought to towil,
declaring thd: he would rather be lmnged than suffer as he had for tho:5e last
three or four (lays and nights from hunger and cold; anel being worn com-
plete!y out, he founel that escape"\\ as impossible, and haTIng suffered so much,
quietly su bmitted to his fate, which explains to a
reat def,1Tce the cause of his
cheerfulness and composure when ()n tbe scaffold."

The goycrncr, on entering Aurora shortly after-
v.?ard to inquire into this arbitrary state of afrair
,
Ea\y the grim frau1e,vork "There the culprits had been
executed ,yith the four fatnl ropes still dangling from
the cross-beanl, and turning to the sheriff exclaimed,
"Ha'
e that deyilish Inachinery inlmecliatelv relnoYed
"
The sheriff hesitated, fearing the po\ver "'behind the
tlu'one; but \vhen the gO\Tcrnor threatened to do it
hiln
elf if he did not, the sheriff nlustered the requisite
courage and had the gallo"Ts tal
cn do,vn. Tho .A.-\.u-
rora. TiJnc.,: of the Jth of
Iarch sho\ys that not\\?ith-
standing the return of peace secured by the people's
organization, there \\?ere those ,yho "
ere rest]esð for
then} to di
band, kno,,
ing that to practi
c the arts
of their profe::;sion \\Tbile the \vatchfuJ eye \\-a:5 on thenl
,vas not safe. Says that journal:

"The followin 6 petition i.s being circulated through to'\TIl for signatures.
Last cvening 'We saw one list containing over fifty names. The movement
shows that there is an opposition to the Citizens' Safety Committee in our
midst, to "hich its protracted se::;sion is giving strength. ",Ye ha\-e no desire
to see Aurora declared in a state- of insurrection; no wish to ha\ e troops sent
here. As set forth yesterday, the effect would be most injurious to the in-
terests of the city. If the con:mittee 'Would get through with thcir business
and dbband at once, the opposition now manifesting itself would fall to the
grouncl and amount to nothing. The danger of a bloody colli
ion hetweL'll
the oLJ.cers of the law anù the committec, which threatens hourly to w:ne

GOS POPLLAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

about, is by no means a pleasant subject to contemplate. The petition reads
as follows:
"To his Excellc1U'JI James Hr. Nye, [lovernoroftlw TC1'ritoryof Nevada, Carson:
"Your petitioners, residents and citizens of Aurora, Esmeralùa County.
T<:>rritory of K evada, would most respectfully represent: That there is now
an armed organization in our midst, acting in open defiance of the law and
constituted authorities; that this organization, without even the pretence of
legal right, is continuing to arrest citizens and residents among us, and com-
pelling them, by an overwhelming force, to leave and abandon a place where
they have seen fit to come and live. These proceedings arc being carrieù on
by an armed multitude, overpowering the legally constituted officers, upon
the pretext of charges that are preferred in secret against parties protesting
thcir entire innocence, anù "\vho are denied the oPl)ortullityof defence, of con-
fronting their accusers, or even of knmving who they are.
"'Yithin a yery few hours one of these orders to leave has been issued and
enforced by this organization at the imminent peril of the safety of our town,
and the lives of the officers of the law and a large number of citizens called to
theh
aid, but rendered powerless from the fact that all the public arms are in
the hands of the organization referreù to.
"But now, in addition to all this, another blow is levelled at every prin-
ciple of law and sentiment of justice in the arrest of our fellow-citizen John

L Prendegrast, who has come under the ban of this organization, falsely
styled the People's Safety Committee. This man we have knO\vn long. He
is an old resident and a large property-owner in this place, and has held and
now holds upon our staff of police a position which he has ever filled with
fiùelityaud sobriety. ".'!thin the last twenty-four hours, in the midùle of
the night, this man has been arrested, without ,varI'ant, without knowing for
what cause, has been held in close custody, a mock investigation rcported to
have been held, and without the aid of counselor friends, or the privilege of
calling witnesses in his defence, he is ordered to leave the place which he has
Inade his home, and where, by his industry, he has accml1ulateù a handsome
l)roperty, and obtained the respect, hitherto at least, of the ,vhole community.
"'Ve, therefore, your petitioners, earnestly urge upon your excellency to
adopt some measures by which our society may be held and protected within
the law, the imminent danger of a disastrous outbreaI;: and bloodshed be
avoided, and the rights of all be protected and securJd.
"And your petitioners will ever pray, etc.
"A urora, J,I arch 3, 1861;."

The grand jury, reporting a 111auth Jailer, thought
differently. They say:

" Having cOTIsidered the homogeneous character of our population, isolated
as we arc and removed from the influences of older communities, and the
great difficulty and expense of procuring witnesses, which detcr persons
of limited means from prosecuting amI bringing to justice the perpetrators of
crime, and the fact that within the last three years some twenty-seyen of our
citizens have comc to their death by the hand of violence, and the delays and

t\.UROR
-\. AFFAIRS.

60!)

inefficiency, and we believe also the indifference of those who were the sworn
guardians and ministers of the Jaw, and the unnecessary postponement of im-
portant trials, whereby many notorious villains ha\Te gone unpunished, we
are led to believe that the members of the vigilance association have been gov-
erned by a feeling of opposition to the manner in which the law has been ad-
ministered rather than by any disregard of the law itself or of its officers."

Says the San Andrés Register of the 27th of Feb-
ruary 1864:

"Since the organization of the Vigilance Committee at Aurora there has
been a general skedaddling of murderers, gamblers, and thieves from that
locality. It seems that a regular system has been adopted by this class of
gentry for the murder of persons who might become obnoxious to them,
from any cause, and great concert of action existed when they marked each
one for slaughter. A man named Finley, who was interested in several
valuable mines, was thought by them to have too good a thing, and his death
resolved on; ascertaining which, he quietly sold out and left for the east.
Dr :Mitchel was also doomed, because he was a most important witness in the
Pond and Del Rorte suit, and saved his life by the greatest watchfulness.
Johnson was killed for his money."

The Stockton Independent, noticing the refusal of
the grand jury of Lincoln County, Nevada, to indict
Barney Hood for killing Thomas Coleman at Pioche,
gives the follo,ving history of some ruffians ,vith \VhOlll
Coleman ,vas associated:

"In 1867 Edward Lloyd shot and killed a teamster named Thornton at
Oroville. After two or three trials he was sentenced to ten years in the
state-prison, but through some decision of the supreme court finally escaped.
He and his two brothers, George and Thomas Lloyd, kept the :Mountaineer-
saloon in Sacramento in 1861-2. In the last named year, if we are not mis-
taken, the great fight occurred at the foot of K street between the steamboat
runners. Both drew pistols and commenced firing simultaneously. Lloyd
was reënforced by his brother George, his cousin Patsey Callahan, and :Mc-

lpine, who has since earned a wide reputation as a prize-fighter. Coleman
was supported by Joe l\icGee and F. N. Smith. The Lloyd party was armed
with but one pistol and one knife.
IcGee stood a short distance off and fired
with a revolver, wounding George Lloyd in the right shoulder and :McAlpine
in the wrist. In the heat of the conflict Smith approached Edward Lloyd
from the rear and shot him, killing him instantly. Smith remained in the-
county jail about six months, when the grand jury ignored the charge against
him. George Lloyd had by that time recovered. "lthin fifteen minutes of
the time Smith was discharged, George Lloyd shot and killed him, inflicting
four bullet-wounds. Lloyd was tried several times, and finally acquitted.
A year or two later, Patsey Callahan was stabbed anù killed at the Bank
POP. TRIB., YOLo 1. 39

ûlO POPCL.A.R TRIBL"X.ALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

Exchange in
acramento by Thomas Sherman, George Lloyd went to Nevada
and Thomas Lloyd to Idabl). 'Vhile in Sacramento George Lloyd had a
rough-and-tumble fight with Johnny Daly, which was the subject of consid-
erable talk among their friends. The silver excitement took over to th{'
yicinity of Aurora, George Lloyd, Johnny Daly, Jimmy Sears, and the other
Thomas Coleman, who was a brother-in-law of the Lloyd's, but who had
nothing to do '\vith the steamboat business. Sears soon afterward, while
travelling on foot on the Aurora road, jumped on a horse in front of Johnson's
hotel and rode off. He was pursued, shot, and killed,
"A short time afterward Daly and Coleman engaged in a bar-room fight
with George Lloyd concerning mining claims, the respective parties haYing
heen retained as fighters by the conflicting claimants. Several shots were
fired and Lloyd was killed. It was generally believed that the fatal shot was
fired by his brother-in-law Coleman. Soon after this occurrence Johnson the
hotel-keeper visited Aurora and was murdered in the night. The proof was
conclusi ve that he had been murdered in revenge for the killing of Sears. A
vigilance committee previously organized arrested, tried, convicted, and
hanged Dalyand threé others for the Johnson murder. The Thomas Coleman
who was recently shot and killed at Pioche by Barney Lloyd is, we believe,
the brother-in-law of the Lloyds.
"One evening, perhaps in 1863, a man whose name we have forgotten,
while in a saloon in Carson was shot and killed. The assassin fired through a
window with a shot-gun and escaped. Suspicion rested on IVlcGee. Precisely
-a year afterward, at the same hour in the evening, McGee while in the same
saloon was shot through the same window and killed. The same gun was
found on the ground, having 1een used as on the first occasion. The a8sassin
also for a time escaped. Thomas Lloyd returned from Idaho to San Francisco.
About eighteen months ago he shot and killed a man. named Barry at Seventh
:nul Stevenson streets, and is now serving out a ten years' term in the state-
}wison for the offence. 'Ve understand the Coleman who fought the duel
with :Mulligan to be the steamboat runner, who still resides in San Francisco.
:l\Iulligan, while under the influence of delirium tremens at the St Francis Hotel
in San Francisco, resisted the efforts of the police to arrest him. An immense
crowd gathered around the hotel. J\Iulligan fired and killed two men in the
.crowd, and was himself shot and killed by a policeman. This is indeed a
..dark chapter in the criminal record of the coast. The only instance of pun-
ishment by law, in connection with this entire list of crimes, is that of Thomas .
Lloyd. "

About three weeks after the execution of the
murderers of Johnson, Aurora ,vas agitated by the
threats of Masterson's brother, \vho on hearing of
the hanging canle over fron1 Carson City to settle the
rogue's estate. Little attention ,vas paid hiJn until
he began to utter menaces against those ,vho had
slain his brother. Hearing these, the Union deter-

THE )IIXERS' LEA(.;.L'E.

In I

mined upon action. The signal-gull ,ya... fired; the
sheriff offered
Iasterson the protection of the jail,
of ,vhich hospitality he eagerly a\-ailed hÏInself. In
less than t,,-enty minutes after the signal- shot four
companies ,,-ere under arms. The armed guard which
the sheriff had stationed to keep the prison ,,-ere in-
sufficient for it'S protection.
Ia
ter::;on then agreed
to quit the place instantly if permis
ion should be
giyen him. Thi
\\-as agreed to by the military, ,,-ho
escorted him beyond the precincts of the town.
Bet,,-een the ranchmen and the land-jumpers on
the Truckee River on the night of the 17th of Feb-
ruary 1864 there ,,-as a bloody fight, in ,,-hich one
Ferguson "Was
hot to death and two- ,vounded. The
ranchmen then a::,sociated and declared war.
A man by the nallle of Doyle had been killed by
one Lynn, "Tho for the offence was confined at Dayton,

X e,-ada, for trial.
t\.bout three o'clock on the lnorn-
ing of the 10th of .L-\ugust 186-1 a lJosse of the Dayton
, igilance Comn1ittee entered the apartn1ents of the
stleriff, ,,-horn they bound and gagged, and taking the
keys they opened the jail} took thence Lynn} ,yho
begged piteously for his life amid:-;t loud shrieks for as-

istance, and hanged him in the jail-yard. There wa

little excitement attending the execution, fe,,- kno,v-
ing of it except those present until some time after all
"'Was over.
X ear the sink of the Carson on the night of the
31st of October 186-1 one Ed\\-ard Hale ,vas shot by a
negro, ,,-ho was soon afterward caught and hanged by
the people.
BesiJes the several committees of vigilance organ-
ized at different times and places in X e\ada, there
were many Í1npromptu tribunals for
pecial cases, a

"Tell as mobs and Indian-figbting companies.
\.n a<;-
sociation ,yas likewise formed under the denon1illation
of "The
Iiners' League," which ,,-as not always tem-
perate in its counsel nor beneficial to society in ih;
operations. There is a vast difference in the asso-

G12 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

ciating of the best eleu1ent of a cOffilnunity, actuated
by no personal ambition and possessing no political
aspirations, banding for the support of social 1110rality
and good order, for the upholding of la,v and govern-
ment in so far as law and government can sustain
themselves, but never harboring designs of their over-
thro,v-there is a vast difference, I say, between such
organization and the leagues of disaffected laborers,
secret political societies, and the coalescing of lawless
desperation.
Jan1es W. Nye, governor, and superintendent of
Indian affairs of Nevada, writes from Carson City
Septenlber 25, 1864, to J. P. Usher, secretary of the
interior at Washington, informing him that "for the
last five \veeks this territory has been in considerable
turmoil and commotion, owing to apprehended raids
from avowed disloyalists from California and this ter-
ritory on the principal towns of the territory on the
one hand, and riotous and unla\vful proceedings of
persons composing ,vhat is here called the Miners'
League on the other. On t,vo occasions I found it
necessary to order out the Inilitary from Fort Churchill
to the to,vns of Virginia and Carson, to be in readiness
to suppress or prevent these anticipated troubles. A
force of nearly three hundred cavalry is no,v on duty
at Virginia, ready to llleet any outbreak of the rioters.
I have also had to form companies of home-guards in
every town in the territory, and arnl them to suppress
and subdue unla,,
ful violence."
And again five years later ,ve read in the Sacramento
Bee of the 30th of September 1869:
"Yesterday afternoon about three hundred and fifty members of the

Iiners' Union at Gold Hill, Nevada, Inade a raid upon the Chinese laborers
on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. They drove the Chinamen away from
their work, but did not attempt any personal violence. The sheriff of the
county and officers were present, and cont
nted themselves with reading the
riot act and watching the exploits of the guerillas."

In April 1867, following the Virginia Trespass,
matters stood thus:
"The fracas in the Highbridge saloon, Belmont, on the 18th has been

THE CASE OF VAIL.

613

the means of impelling the people of that place to the resort which new com-
munities so commonly adopt for security from ruffianism. A vigilance com-
mittee has been organized and is now making efforts to overtake those who
took part in the outrage which resulted in the death of Bodrow and after-
ward of Dignen. A jail has been constructed, and two men who participated
in the abuse of a mining superintendent on the night of the 17th have been
incarcerated, Russell and Bender. Eight mounted men, a patrol appointed by
the Committee, are traversing the surrounding country in quest of others
who were engaged in the riot. Great excitement was occasioned by the im-
prisonment of Russell and Bender. .Armed men were seen on every hand,
some to resist the rumored hanging, others with the determination to stand
by the Committee. "

One Vail, arrested for the murder of his partner,
Knox, 'v hi Ie in custody of the sheriff of Lincoln
County in July 1867 on the ,vay to Hiko, was seized
by a company of men, tried before a jury -of twelve,
condeu1ned, and in an hour and a half thereafter
hanged. Of this affair the same journal of July 19th
says:
"We learn from
Ir 'Valsh, who arrived here from Belmont last evening,
that the mail-carrier between Belmont and Pahranagat arrived at the former
place on
Ionday evening, bringing the news of the hanging by the people
on the previous Thursday of S. B. Vail, the alleged murderer of Robert \Y.
Knox. Vail, it will be recollected, was arrested a few miles from Austin by
our city marshal, "-. H. Knerr, on the lOth of June, and delivered to the
custody of Sheriff :Matthews of Lincoln County. The prisoner was taken to
Belmont, and while there steps were taken to prevent his being carried to
Lincoln County, but he was finally delivered to Sheriff )Iatthews, who suc-
ceeded in taking him to where the foul murder was committed.
"Vail was taken from the sheriff at Logan Springs and carried to Hiko,
ten miles distant, the county seat of Lincoln, where it appears they gave
him a trial after the manner of Judge Lynch. He refused to make any con-
fession of the murder of Knox, asserting that he believed he was in Prescott,
Arizona. \Vhile he persistently denied the murder, he confessed that he wa"
a horse-thief. He was condemned to be hanged. A piece of timber was run
from the upper window of a building, to which a rope was fastened; a wagon
containing Vail was driven alongside the house; the rope was placed around
his neck, and at a signal the wagon was drawn away, and in a few minutes
the career of a bad man ended."

In every spot of the Pacific States ,vhere precious
metals have been found, thither have flocked like vul-
tures desperate characters, ,vho stirred up strife, ex-
cited turlnoil, and caused the honest and industriou

GI4 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH .AND NEVADA.

llluch anxiety. And this was continued, gradually
gro,ving ,vorse, until they ,vere driven out by the
order-loving element; for the right-minded of every
pern1anent comn1unity are stronger than the evil-
lllÎnded. The White Pine district proved no exception
to this rule.
During the \vinter of 1868-9 the roughs and out-
la\vs directed their attention chiefly to driving fronl
their ground those "\vho held possession of mining
claims. So unbearable becalne the evil that the citi-
zens of Hamilt.on and Treasure City \vere obliged to
forIll protective associations.
I t ,vas exceedingly difficult for the miners to 8ub-
Init to the rulings of courts ,vhich ,vrought inj ustice
to any of their nUlllber. They loyed equity 11l0re
than la\v. The people of Treasure Hill, White Pine,
had not long been favored ,vith a district judge before
they placed their \vill in determined opposition to his.
()ne Stanton in .L-tugust or Septell1ber 18G9 sued and
obtained judglnent for certain land "\vhich had been
bought and ilnproved by innocent third parties. Of
this land a l\1r Fulton had bought a piece and built a
house upon it, at a cost, for land and building, of some
fifteen hundred dollars. Fulton ,vas ,villing Stanton
should have the land if it belonged to hin), but he
thought the house by rights belonged to hilnself. And
so thought his neighbors; for one night forty of theln
proceeded in a body to the place, rolled the house
across the street, and placed it upon ground which
did not belong to Stanton. The latter \vas present
,vith friends; shots ,vere exchanged, but the Fulton
party was the stronger. .
On the Egan and White Pine road robberies be-
came so frequent that the inhabitants of that vicinity
on the 27th of Septelllber 1869 called a 111eeting and
organized the "Egan Cañon Propcrty Protection
Society," by 'v hich lneans they hoped to curb the
gro"Ting evil. J. Riley and J. O'Dougherty in behalf
of the peopl
} of Egan subntitted the follo\ving rcso-

PROPERTY PROTECTIOX
OCIETY.

613

lutions and rules for the gOyernlnent of the
ociety,
'v hich ,,-ere adopted:

"WHEREAB, The discoyery of rich mines of silver in the 'Yhite Pine dis-
trict has attracted to eastern Xe\?ada a large population, and among them,
unfortunately, many of the reckless and criminal adventurers who float habit-
ually from one scene of mining excitement to another, and who, when they
find their wild hopes of sudden acquisition disappointed, betake to theft,
robbery, and murder as a means of support; and whereas, from the exposed
position of many districts and the sparseness of settlements upon the prin-
cipal highways in this county, there exist here peculiar facilities for the per-
petration of robberies and the escape of robbers, while the supineness anel
inefficiency of the executi\Te officers of the county are such as to giye, prac-
tically, full license to crime; therefore,
"Resolz:ed, That the condition of this county calls imperati\yely for a de-
fensive organization of its citizens for the protection of life and property, and
for the prompt adoption of all proper means to excite, ana if necessary to
compel, the executive officials to an actin" efficient, rigid, and persevering
discharge of their duties.
"Resolved, That as tbe first step to the pre\ ention and punishment of
crime, it is necessary that the law-Ioying and la\\-abiding citizens shallmani-
fest, by such organization as ours, their own interest and determination in
regard to the arrest and conviction of criminals, these organizations to cor-
respond and coöperate for the accomplishment of these objects; and that
until the state of things \\ hich now exists shall be corrected, all honest men
should unite, \\ithout re.3pcct of party, to sustain and applaud those officers
who honestly and satisfactorily perfonn their duties; and to defeat the re-
election, and when po
_,ible effect the removal, of those who are indifferent,
corrupt, or inefficient.

"R{;"LE
ASD REGULATIOXS OF THE
OCIETY.

"First, This society will be called 'The Egan Cañon Property Protection
Society.' It \\ill be established for the mutual protection of the person and
property of each individual member of the community against the outrage

of highway robbers, horse and cattle thieves, and dishonest persons.
econd,
Each member Oll joining the society" illl'ledge himself to abide by its rules
and perform what they demand of him. Third, The officers of the bociety
will consist of a president, vice-president: secretary', ana treasurer. These
will constitute an executive committee. Fourth, It will be the duty of each
member to give prompt information to the executive committee, or to the
president or secretary thereof, whene\"er he hears of the commission of all
outrage in the district, or when he has reason to Lelieve that unkno'WIl per-
sons are prowling about under suspicious circumstance. Fifth, It will be the
duty of the executive committee, the president or yice
president thereof, to
place themselves in immediate communication with the local authorities, and
in coöperation with, or acting under them, to use every exertion and employ
every means to bring the perpetrator of such outrages, or such suspected per-
sons, to justice. Sixth, "-hen such information
hall haye been tlUl::; properly

616 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH AL"\""D NE\Y ADA.

brought before the constituted authorities, it will be the duty of the commit-
tee to choose by ballot a certain number of members from the society, who on
their part will be bound by their pledge to accompany the law officer or offi-
cers, and to coöperate with them in every step that may be found requisite to
detect or apprehend such suspected persons, Seventh, If any property shall
be recovered through the exertions of the society, the owners shall be required
to refund to the society a certain sum, proportionate to the value of the prop-
erty, toward defraying the expense incurred in the recovery of such property.
Eighth, No person shall be a member of the society who has not some legiti-
mate business or calling in the district; and when admitted to membership
no cause other than sickness or absence shall exempt any person from any of
the duties of membership. Ninth, There shall be no admission fees, but to
pay the expenses of pursuing and prosecuting offenders. the executive com-
mittee shall levy an assessment on the members when occasion shall arise.
There shall be no special days of meeting of the society, but the members will
be convened by the president, or any member of the executive committee
acting for him, when their services shall be required. No habitual drunkard
or person of bad moral habits shall be a member of the society."

Upon the telegraph poles of Promontory one Sun-
day morning in November 1869 there appeared posted
a notice, signed by the COIDIIlittee of Vigilance, \varn-
ing all loafers, pimps, gamblers, pettifoggers, thieves,
and cutthroats to quit the town ,vithin t\venty-four
hours, or to prepare to be hanged each upon a tele-
graph pole. The suffering towns-people had been
obliged to resort to this means to rid themselves of
a class \vho were sapping society of its prosperity.
Having just organized as a permanent committee of
yigilance, they ,vere determined to cleanse their town
of its moral impurities or decorate with a swinging
carcass every telegraph pole \yithin the town limits.
N either trees nor lumber ,vere plentiful in that vicin-
ity. The many who availed theillselves of this per-
lIlission, men who suddenly discovered urgent business
calling. them to the east or to the west along the
road, some of thell1 unsuspected hitherto of carrying
guilty consciences, it was wonderful to see. A com-
lIlitte
of three was appointed by the Vigilance
Comnlittee, charged \vith power to convene the entire
body at any moment. The tin1e having expired, the
Comn1Ïttee next day visited every saloon and all dis-
reputable houses, and \varued the proprietors against

YIRGIXL.\. A
-r> GOLD HILL.

617

harboring any suspicious persons, under penalty of
themselves being driven from town.
The following incident is one of cold-blooded and
unprovoked murder: Arthur Perkins Heffern1an in
)Iarch 1871 approached one William Smith, ,,-ho "Tas
standing by a cigar store in Virginia City, and dra-\ving
his six-shooter asked him what he wanted. Smith
replied, " I don't kno"r that I want anything." "How
do you want it?" was Hefferman's rejoinder, at the
same time firing his revolver, the bullet penetrating
Smith's left eye and coming out at the top of his head.
"I fetched him t" Hefferman exultingly exclaimed as
Smith fell. Then suddenly, as if the possible conse-
quence of the deed had all at once flashed upon him,
he added, "
Iy God! I didn't mean it!" Upon his
arrest he said to the officer, "1 give myself up to you;
I have killed a man; it was an accident; I didn't mean
to kill him." He ,,-:as taken to jail. On the morn-
ing of l\Iarch 25th, at one o'clock, a delegation of
the Virginia \Tigilance Committee numbering eighty
armed men proceeded to the jail, and entering the
room of the sheriff, demanded the key to Hefferman's
cell. Thi
,,-as refused, and the vigilants forced open
the door. Hefferman was led out with the ayenging
hemp round his neck, taken to the Ophir ll"line, and
hanged from a beam that extended from one of the
bu.ildings. The sheriff was exonerated, and the public
were generally satisfied with the night's work.
This man was born on board the ship Perl
ins, ,vhich
sailed from N e,,- York the 26th of September 1846,
carrying a portion of that scaly cre,v, the N e,," York
Volunteers. The captain's name ,,-as Arthur; so this
villainous spa"Tn of villainous antecedents was dubbed
Arthur Perkins, and his origin and end were alike bad.
His father was corporal of Company F and his mother
a sister of the notorious robber Jack Pow-ers, who ,,-as
also a member of the same Company F. It-is said that
during the year 1871 fifteen persons "''"ere driven from
Virginia and Gold Hill by the \Tigilance Con1lnittee.

GIS POPULAR TRIBUNAL8 OF UTAH AND NEVADA.

George B. Kirk, a native of Fayette County, J\Iis-
souri, came to California at an early day. He ,vas a
desperate character, having killed his uncle before he
left home. For five years he was in the Nevada state-
prison on a charge of burglary; during an outbreak
the ,varden, Alexander Hunter, was ,vounded, and
Kirk was believed to have shot him. After,vard he
lived at Virginia City, where his cabin \vas head-quar-
ters for roughs and vagabonds; he seen1ed to have no
legitimate business. At the tin1e of the hanging of
Hefferlnan by the Vigilance Committee, he, ,vith sev-
eral other desperadoes, was warned to leave; he did so,
but returned. Warned once again, he left, and again
returned, threatening to get even ,vith the vigilants.
This was his last visit, for on the evening of July 13,
1881, he insulted one, a stranger to hinl, but \vho
happened to be a member of the Vigilance Comn1ittee.
The vigilant notified his associates. ICirk ,vas fol-
lo\ved to a saloon, ,vhere he ,vas captured; he ,vas
then taken quietly to a trestle-work at the Sierra
Nevada nline and hanged. Beyond their little circle
nothing was kno\-rn of it until it was all over.
During the sumlncr of 1871 crin1e becanlu ralnpallt
at Pioche, Nevada, so that it ,vas deelned necessary
to organize a committee of safety. The con11nittee
numbered about three hundred, and Henry rifles \vere
obtained \vith \vhich to arm then1selves.
Indians as well as Chinamen follo\ved closely. on
the heels of the audacious white man in the arbitrary
extern1Ïnation of the ,vicked. Buffalo Bill ,vas a bad
Piute. He drank to drunkenness; then ,vith a pistol
he shot another Piute, so that he died. Thus he
was becoming quite civilized; so also were his brother
Pi utes then fringing Virginia City, for on the 31st
day of December 1872 they organized among thell1-
selves a tawny, reptile-eating comlnittcp of vigilance,
and seizing Buffalo Bill they killed hiln very dead as
boys kill snakes.
About eleven o'clock on the night of June 3, 1874, .

Th
.AMOLS CO
ì)CCT TO'Y_illD XATIYES. 619

thirty men entered the jail at Belmont, X evada, bound
the Rheriff and his deputy, and hanO'ed t\VO prisonerH
named "... alker and :\Iclntyre. Acc
unts of organiza-
tions and executions might be greatly multiplied in
this narrative, but further illustration of the \vorkinab
o
the institution in this vicinity appears to me u
-
necessary.
At Behnont,
evada, in 1874 there "Tas a popular
demonstration, of ,vhich the Belnlont Courier of the
6th of June gives the particulars:

"Between twelve and two o'clock on Thursday morning, Jack "\\r alker
and Charles )IcIntyre were hanged in the county jail, with a slip of paper
pinned on each of their backs bearing the inscription' 301.' Before the
execution took place Sheriff Caldwell and P. C. Turner, his deputy, each
occupying separate rooms in the court-house, were securely tied, hands and
feet, and guarded for a time, perhaps ten minutes, after which they were left
in that condition, unable to move. Shortly afterward, however, night-
watchman Gates, noticing movements that aroused his suspicion, repaired to
the court-house, and found the light usually kept burning in the court-room
turned dO\TI1. He then went to the doors of the sheriff and deputy, and after
some little difficulty succeeded in gaining access, and found the two officers
securely tied and destitute of arms, Gates released them, and the three went
below and found ',alker and
IcIntyre, each suspended, with ropes round
their necks, to the upper floor.
IcIntyre had been tried on
Iay 6th for
drawing a deadly weapon, not in self-defence, for which the justice at the
time imposed a fine of two hundred dollars, or imprisonment at the rate of
two dollars per day until the exhausting of the amount aforesaid. \Valker
had been taken into custody for the shooting of H. H. Sutherland on the
morning of the 6th of Jlay, for which offence he was held to appear before the
next grand jury. The two TIctims, \Valker and
IcIntyre, escaped from jail
during )Ionday night, and were captured and lodged in jail again on Wednes-
day. From all accounts these two had taken the liT"es of many men in
different parts of the country, and had the reputation of being desperate
characters. Between the time of their commitment and hanging it appears
they had made threats to take life and destroy property. Once they were re-
leased from custody, and from the peculiar framing of the present jury law
their chances for acquittal were quite probable. It is not our purpose to
justify the hanging of these men, but in all reasonable probability to avoid
their threats being carried out, together with the certain knowledge of their
previous history, they were thus summarily disposed of. \Ye trust that all
other desperadoes will take '\\ arning, if there are any in our midst, and profit
by the example made."

T,yo native::" Tempiute Bill and his brother, wel'e
arrested by the Shoshones in Janual'Y 1875 and

G20 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF UTAH A},ì) NEVADA.

brought to Belmont. There the sheriff took them,
and while on the way to Hiko one of theIn, Bill's
brother, broke away and escaped. Bill was then
taken from the sheriff by the people and conducted
to Hiko. He confessed to many murders, one of
,,-.hich implicated a savage called Moquit.ch, who was
sent for, and the t,vo hanged. This \vas not the
,yorst of it; this is not the disgraceful part of the
story. Full of rage and vile drink, after the hanging
of the two aboriginals the people of Hiko went to a
camp nea.r by and massacred seven natives, some of
whom \vere guilty and some innocent. This was
most dastardly; and had the diabolical deed been
perpetrated by savages upon whites, all the \vorld
would have lifted its hands in horror, and a regiment
of soldiers would have been sent by government to
annihilate the nation to which the murderers be-
longed. How fortunate to be born white!
At Cherry Creek, Nevada, in September 1875 a na-
tive criminal \vas taken from the sheriff and executed
by the people.
At break of day the 17th of December 1875, as
two men were passing Carson cemetery they saw
swinging from the gate frame the figure of a man.
Returning horrified to town, they told what they had
seen, and soon crowds were pouring along the road in
that direction. It was ascertained the body was that
of a noted desperado named Samuel Burt. The om-
inous number "601" pinned to the breast showed that
the dread Vigilance Committee had been abroad the
night before. RÐbbery and incendiarism had been
prevalent of late, and in all large villainies Burt was
chie:f. He had been frequently ordered to leave town,
but had refused to go. Those who hanged hilll were
disguised. They took him from the Emory engine-
house, where he had been accustomed to sleep for
some time past. He made no disturbance when
a\vakened by the fearful summons, "Get up quickly
and dress yourself; you are ,vanted." He seemed to

\VIKXIDIUCCA.

6:!1

realize all in an instant, and did as he was bade in all
things, quietly and quickly. It was a good desperado
at the last.
About the 1st of July, at "\Vard, Nevada, a native
having attempted violence upon a white girl eleven
years of age, the citizens told his countrymen they
must attend to it, whereupon they took their erring
brother and hanged him; and the little white girl ,vas
pacified.
As late as midsummer of this year, 1877, both at
Winnemucca and Virginia, as well as in other parts of
Nevada, the Vigilance Committee was still in active
existence. At "\Vinnemucca early one morning in
July a robust ruffianly figure was found suspended
from the limb of a dead tree in the burnt district 'w.ith
the cabalistic "601" pinned to his back. Between the
good and the bad there is eternal antagonism.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF OREGON, WASHINGTON,
BRITISH COLIDIBIA, AND ALASKA.

Justice, justice: woe betides us everywhere when, for this reason or for
that, we fail to do justice ! No beneficence, benevolence, or other virtuous
contribution will make good the want. And in what a rate of terrible geo-
metrical progression, far beyond our poor computation, any act of injustice
once done by us grows; rooting. L,gelf ever anew, spreading ever anew, like a
banyan-tree, blasting all life unc1er it, for it is a poisonous tree! There is but
one thing needed for the wor:d; but that one is indispensable. Justice, jus-
tice! in the name of heaven give us justice, and we live; give us only coun-
terfeits of it, or succedanea for it, and we die!

Oarlyle.
PASSING north,vard oyer the forty-second parallel,
,ve encounter in some localities new phases in judicial
affairs. First at Fort George, Astoria, ,vere the Pacific
Fur Company; then for a time the N orth,vest Com-
pany ,vere master in all this region; after,vard the
Hudson's Bay Company; and finally Alnerican nlis-
sionaries and settlers. ·
It ,vas customary for the fur companies to arrest
and try offenders. Sometimes a native crinlinal ,vould
be handed over to his tribe for trial; or a jury of lllen
about the fort ,voulcl be fornled; or a n1ixecl jury of
,vhite 111(\11, half-breeds, and Indians. Often of their
o,vn accord the chiefs ,vould bring to the white men
for trial an offending member of their tribe; or the
parties to a quarrel ,vould leave its settlement to the
,vhite Inen, confident of their integrity. In all these
tribunals Indian testimony was taken even against
,yhite lIlen. This would scarcely be regarded with
favor in the United States; and yet if ,vi thin all our
border there could be found red men or copper-colored
,vho could surpass in lying lllany of our ,vhite ,vit-
( 622 )

ù
TDER FUR-CO
IPAXY RÉGIME.

6:?3

ne

e
, particularly those about the Indian agencies,
,vho are Inost frequently called upon to testify against
the Indians, they ,vere indeed adepts in the art. Sir
George Simpson, as head of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, in crossing the continent in 1828, and at other
times as he ,vent from place to place, ,vould hear and
decide cases while en r01.lte.
In )Iay 1813 the Pacific Fur Company ,vas robbed
of a silver goblet at Le"ris River. The chief of the
tribe promised to look for the offender, but did not.
The next night the fello,v ,vas caught stealing. A
temporary gallo,vs was erected, and the Indian ,vas
hanged before the tribe, who agreed to his execution,
as the culprit was a kind of outlaw among them.
A half-,vitted American named Judge was found
,vith his skull cleft, near Fort George, in 1\Iay 1815.

ative chiefs were summoned and a reward offered. A
Clatsop pointed out the murderers
there were two of
thenl-at Killamook Village, and they were captured
and brought to Fort George. A jury \vas formed of
gentlemen of the fort, and equal numbers of the prin-
éipal native men and ,vomen. Witnesses showed that
the deed ,vas in revenge for a ,vound given to an
Indian robber some t-\VO years before by one of the
party to ,vhich Judge ùelonged, the natives ,vrongly
blaminO' him. The Indian "\\romen exhibited more
ð
acuteness in cross-examination than the chiefs. The
prisoners "'"ere found guilty and condemned to be shot.
They objected strongly to being tied and to having the
cap dra"
n over their eyes, but they were cOlnpelled
to submit. Twenty-four men "
ere selected by ballot
to shoot, but the culprits "
ere merely ,vounded at the
first fire, and had to receive the COUl) de grace. The
relati yes took a way the bodies lan1enting; and the
promised re"
ards ,-rere paid the natives.
The unity, energy, and ,v
alth of the. Hudson's Bay
Company gave them great Influence \vlth the govern-
lnent, and often procured immunity from crimes com-
mitted by their officials and
ervant
.

624 OREGON, ,V ASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, ALASKA.
Peter Burnett ,vrites from Tualatin November 2,
1844, to the Indian agent for Oregon that he had
"attended the last term of the circuit courts in most
of the counties, and found great respect shown to
judicial authority every\vhere, and did not see a soli-
tary drunken juryman, or ,vitness, or spectator."
So few were the serious litigations in Oregon that
'v hen the first circuit courts ,vere held in the four
counties only one case of assault appeared, the punish-
ment being a fine of twenty-five dollars. The highest
charge brought before an Oregon judge or justice up
to 1845 was for fighting a duel.
Jacob, a Russian renegade who had mutinied on
board the schooner Colonel Allan, ,vas left a prisoner
at Fort George, but escaped and joined the natives
to rob the ,vhite 111en and attack the fort. Tired of his
pranks, and afraid of his organizing more serious
movements, forty of the Fort George men surprised
the native village, carried off Jacob, and sent llim in
chains to Honolulu.
Mr Hubbard, of Champoeg, Marion County, had a
native ,vife. A neighbor threatened to take her, and
entering through Hubbard's cabin ,vindow for the pur-
pose, the latter shot him. Rev. 1\ir Leslie presided
as judge, and the jury returned a verdict of justifiable
llomicide. Petitions circulated at this time stated
that theft, murder, and infanticide \vere alarmingly on
the increase.
Some time in December 1853 an Irishman in the
service of General Adair, collector of customs at Asto-
ria, Oregon, robbed the safe of three thousand dollars.
The collector had left his office for a fe\v moments,
,vith the key in the safe; the Irishman was there
at the time, and there could be no doubt that he
took the money. Accused of the theft, however, Pat
stoutly denied it. As there ,vere no ,vitnesses in this
instance, he regarded a lie ,veIl adhered to as much
better than the truth. What should be done? The
la,v could not make him disgorge, for first the offence

TRIAL BY THE nOPE.

t:!O.
v_J

must be proved, though thero ""as, perhaps, circun1-
stantial eyidence sufficient for that; but then Pat
could afford to lie in prison some time for three
thousand dollars. Butler Ânderson was there at the
tin18, and he told the collector that he ,yould 111anaO'G
it. Taking ,vith hinl a number of assistants, he CO
1-
ducted the Irishn1an a short distance into the \yoods,
tied a rope round his neck and thre\v one end of it
oyer a liulb, dug a graye, dre,y o'
er the culprit's face
a black cap, and then told him to say his prayers, if so
great a thief as he \vithout a priest could pray. Pat
,vas sceptical as to the sincerity of their intentions,
and \vhen Anderson intimated that information a'3 to
the 'v hereabouts of the money nlÍght stay proceedings,
Pat felt sure that he ,vas safe, and protested his inno-
cence 1110re loudly than eyer.
"The thing 111USt be done," said Anderson. "Hoist
a,vay, boys I" And up "
cnt the Irishu1an.
"Stop r' cried Anderson; "let him dO\\Tn a mOD1ent."
\Vhen Pat could balance hil11self upon his feet ____\.n-
derson asked hill1, "-L-\.re you sure you cannot tell us
\\There the money is t'
"Oh Jasus!" cried Pat; "oh holy Inither of God

I'n1 sthrangled I As I hope to be sayed, I kno"T nothing
of the money. Oll! plase, )Ir Anderson, let IDe go I"
" K 0 use," said Anderson as if talking to hin1self;
"I thought perhaps he ll1ight like to liye. String hilll
. "
up aga1l1.
Again Pat's feet left the firn1 earth; again that hor-
rible sensation; thick blackness, phosphorescent light,
the hot blood rushinO' in torrents to the brain, an un-
certainty aH to "T hether the neck' "
as yet unbroken-
all this as the Hibernian ,vent up and do,,
n again.
The joke \yas becoming serious to the sufferer. Eve:l
if they did not 111ean it, the fun ,,-as not plea:-
ant;
and then they miaht hold hin1 up a n10UJent too long.
Already he had tl
ought llluch of his 1110ther and si
tcl',
\v hOlll he had hoped to 111ake rich in the s\ycet Ell1eraLl
I
le; already his neck and head felt very queer, anJ so
POP, TRlB., VOL, 1. 40

G
G orr:LGOX, "
.ASrrIXGTON, BRITISH COLU:\lBIA, ALASKA.
hot, and heavy, and sore. And then his soul: to go
hence a thief unshriven, ,vhat \vould becon1e of hirn?
lIe ,yould not risk it a third tin1e for three thousand
dollars, much as he covetcd the llloncy. So he told
Anderson ,vhere he had hidden it, and. ,vas released
fron1 the hernpen relnedy.

Prior to 1852 justices of the peace elected by the
people held ahnost unlin1Îte(l jurisdiction, there being
in Inost localities no available court of appeal. Before
January of this year there ,vas no county organization
south of the Calapooya
Iountains; and although in
the SUlnn1er of 1852 rich gold-diggings ,ycre discoyered
on Jackson Creek ,yhcre no,v stands Jacksonville, no
higher court than the lo,vest ,vas he1J. in that region
until the year follo,ving.
The Ininers of Oregon ,vero in no \"'.Tise behind those
of California in brightness of intellect and resource in
cases of elnergency. The offer of freo lands to actual
settlers by the govern111ent in 1850 dre\v thither frolli
the \vestern border anù fronl the N c\v England statcs
a hardy and independent population, l11oro staid and
substantial, if anything, than the n1crcurial gold-
h un tel" of Califoruia. These, on the discoycryof gold
on Jackson Crook, flockod to tho no\v lnines to fill
their pockets.
A justice of the peace had been elected for this
district just before tho discovery of gold. Rogers ,vas
his nanle-a lean, crabbed, sinister-eyed Inau, ,vith
neither discernnlent nor honesty. He did \vell enough,
ho\vever, \yhen there \vas no business to be brought
before him, and for a timo after the congregating of
tho 111incrs he passed 11luster, that is to say, until ho
\vas needed and kno\yn.
A case arose in the autulnn of 1852 ,vhich brought
judicial affairs at Jacksonville to a crisis. T,yo nlÎncrs,
Sprenger and Sims, appeared before Rogers in a suit
for the settlen1cnt of partnership in a nlÎning claiul.
It appcars that ,vhile Sims ,vas aLscnt at IJortland

L"LTljIATE APPEAL.

C''"}-
U_I

purchasing supplies ,vith partner
hip fund:1, Sprc!1gcr
lllet ,vith an accident \yhile ,yorking the claim, l'.yhich
laid hilll up. "Then Sims returned, finding hi;:, part-
ner a helple
s cripple, and likely to be a burden upon
him, he arbitrarily dissolved the partncrship and ap-
propriated the property to hinlself; and. lest hiB part-
ller should recover his rights in court, he ,yon to hi

,yay of thinking the only lllagistrate in the district,
and so felt secure. Sprenger sun1ll10ned to his aid a
fello\V-llliner named Kinney, \vho presented the case
before Justice Rogers fairly and ,,
ith no little skill.
La,,- and equity ,vere both in fayor of his client, and
this ,,-as made plain by Kinney; but the eyes of justice
,ycre dinlmed by Sims' gold-dust scattered before theIll,
so that they could not see. Sprenger lost his case,
and a ne,v trial "
as denied hill1; the poor cripple in
his distress talked to his friend Prilll about it, \vho
being some\vhat of a la,vyer, consulted scveral tiules
\vith ICinney. Prinl, though a n1Íner no,y, ,vas after-
"
arcl chief-justice of Oregon.
. "It is all "
rong," said ICinneyon one of these OCCQ-
sions; "I believe in simple straightfor,vardness in legal
lllatters, and in the court of original j uri:::;dictioll Leing
like,vi
e thc court of ultimate appeal, but this open an(J
barefaced rascality shakes 111Y faith in the
ries."
"There is no such thing on this earth as ultirnate
appeal," replicd Priln; "that is found alone in the 08-
yond. The farthest back \ve can go is to the sourCe
of la\v, the 01l1nipresent po,ver of the people. That
po,ver is here, as indeed it is in every society, the
central idea and cohesive force."
" All right," e"'\:claimed ICinney, half in jest and half
in earnest, "lct us appeal to that po,ver in this casc."
"'Ve can do it-,ve ,vill do it!" replied Prim, \yaxing
,yarn1. ""Tho nlade this scoundrcl judge? The people;
and if the people po
scss the po,yer to appoint one
111an to hang another, lllay they not n1ake a court
high enough to hang, if Heed be, another court ,vhich
they have luadc? I tell you, I
inlley, \vithin t,vellty-

Ü2S OREGON,"\V ASHINGTOK, BRITISH COLU
I:3L\., ALASKA.

four hours I \vill have here such a court of appeal a

\vill teach Oregon and the ,,'orld a lesson throughout
all agc8-a le
son inscribed in tho beginning upon the
hearts of n1en, but \yhich is just no\v beginning to be
read, that ever before aU statutes and constitutions is
the un\YTitten la.,,- of n1an."
Thi
,vas Saturday. The lTIOrrO\V \vould Le the day
of all others for the organization of the novel tri-
bunal, the court \vhich ,vas to try a court. Sprenger
,vas notified by his t,vo friends of the course deter-
1l1ined upon, and directed to SUn11110n the people. This
\vas done by posting on a tree standing in the ll1ain
street of Jacksonville the follo,ving notice:

"\Vhereas, the justice of the peace for the town of Jacksonville has ren-
dered against me an unjust decision, I hereby give 110tice that on Sunday
morning next at eleven o'clock, at this place, I shall carry an appeal to the
supreme court."

Like,vise during the afternoon of Saturday Sprenger
took occasion to visit the several clai1l1s and carnps i
1
the vicinity, requesting the attendance of all on the
follo\ving n10rning to decide a luatter of right and
\vrong in \v hich he ,vas involved.
Sprenger's caso \vas ,veIl kno,vn to the 111iners, a:Jd
the present appeal of the unfortunate cripple ,vas Ly
no Incans in vain. Long before the appointed hour
111eH ,vere seen c0111ing in fron1 every direction, anti
soon a vast cro,vd had gathered round the tribunal
troe. Approaching the notice, they read it, then
looked around in ,vonderlIlcnt. l\iore can10, until over
a thousand had gathered there. Presently Spronger
lllade his appearance.
"\Vhcre is your snpren1e court?" asked one of
Sprenger, l)oginning to think tho affair a joke.
"Thcro I" said Sprenger, ,va,-ring his hand beforo
the assclubled host, "there is the SUprel1l0 court of
Jacksonville. "
Kinney and Prin1 then canle for\yarcl anll cOllfirlllcd
,vhat Sprenger had said. They ,vere honest, 111allly

.A COL
T TO TRY A caunT.

(j
3

men, these t,YO n1Ïners, educated and thoug-htful, and
they,vere no,v ,vorking for no pecuniary fee. In theln
the 111iners had the utr..lost faith, and united they
could carry alnlos
any point
hey pleased, for thcy
pleased to do nothIng but the rIght.
" Yes, gentlen1en," said Prim, as he called thc
meeting to order, "you are the suprenle court. Y Oll
have here in Jacksonville la,,,", Lut not equity. SenteJ
in the judicial chair ,yhich you have 11laJe, ill the fair
semblance of truth you haye cheating and corruption.
If after seeing ,vhat ,ve shall place before you thi

day, \vith all substantial proof, your rnao'istrate re-
mains in office another hour, you are not v the lnen I
take you to be."
ICinney then proceeded to organize of those present
a tribanal of jU3tice. Hayden, a genuine Connecticut
Yallkee, subsequently fJr t,venty years recorJ.cr i:l
one of the chief to\VllS of southern Oregon, ,vas calle]
to preside; a sheriff and a clerk ,,"'ere like,vise cho.scn,
and the people \ycre ready for business.
. Fir:st Rogers ,yas orùered to appear and ans\ver
to the charge of malefeasance in office. This he re-
fu
ed to do, not recognizing the authority sUl1ullonin 6
hinl. 'T ery ,yell; for the present they \vould get
alvng \vithout hilll. He might be glad to pleall to
that tribunal before the day ,vas past. Sims ans,vered
inunediately the first call; he kne,v too ,yell the
tenIper of his fello\\?-miners to atten1pt to trille ,vith
them. He felt the po,ver of the popular tribunal,
though the stubborn Rogers affected not to realize it

,veight.
.L--\. jury of t
.vel ve ,vas selected; witne::,ses ,,-ere
subpænaed, and the case of Sprenger regularly re-
opened. Sin1s, ,yith his henchman Jacobs, a promi
ing
young la\yyer from )lichigan, and subsequently chief-
justice of \\7 ashington, fought the e\?idencè inch L.'

inch, as if their lives depended upon the issue. In that
as
enIblage they ,ycll knc\v that hnv and legal \-er-
biage had little ,voight; they must come do,vn to the

ÔJO OREGOK, 'YASHIXGTON, BRITISH COLU
IBIA, ALASKA.
principles of silllple truth and justice, in ,vhich co lll-
lllodities, unfortunately, their side ,vas lacking.
The evidence over, an eloquent appeal on oither
side, and the case ,vas subnlÍtted to the jury. In his
charge the president instructed the t,yelvo that they
n1Ïght divest the subject of tho legal technicalities in
"7 hich the counsel for the llefence had atten1pted to
cloud it, and judge it purely upon its Inerits, being
goyorned only Ly the sacred principles of right.
There ,vas not the slightest difficulty in finding a
yerdict for Sprenger; tho trouble ,vas \\7 hat to do
,\'"ith Sinls and 110gers. SOJlie \vere in favor of hang-
ing both of then1, 'v hile others ,yere satisfied ,vith
banging one, although upon the question of ,yhich
should be that one there ,,"as a division. Finally
Sill1s \vas let off by 111aking full restitution and rein-
t;tating Sprenger in all his rights. But this n1Ïld
punislul1ent only tended to concentrate "\vrath against
Rogers, the unjust judge. Louder and louder gre\v
the olliinous nlurnlur that presages popular outbreaks.
IIayden sa,v it c0111ing; so did the thre8 attorneys.
The scale of Rogers' destiny ,vas ready to turn upon
a feather's ,voight. His life ,vas scarcely ,vorth a
pe,vter dollar. Already cries of "Hang the SCOUll-
d I ," S . 1 .
" 1 I . 1
1'e! "trlng lUll up
,vere learc on every Sl( e,
and tho cro,vd began their dreadful surge in his direc-
tion, '1"hCI1 PrÏ1ll, Hayden, Jacobs, and Kinney, all
,vith one accord thre\v thc111so1 vcs into the no\v deeply
agitated 11lass of hunlanity and begged thenl not to
111aI' tha.t fair day's ,york by so foul a crill1e. They
,ye1'e successful; the unjust justice's life "'"as spared,
but only on condition that he should innllediately re-
sign, ,vhich ho ,vas but too glad to do.

One day in Novcnlber 18G2 John Desmond and
'Villian1 Lybia, Alllericans, ,vere sitting at a table in
a saloon in the to,vn of Auburn, Oregon. Tonl the
Spaniard, a desperado ,,'"ell kno,vn throughout the
Po,vder River region, entered and proposed a game

TO
I THE SP
\)'LARD.

G31

of poker. The .L
n1ericans consented, but on dealing
the cards the Spaniard had not the money ,,
here,vith
to ante. The .L\..nlericans then rose from the table;
the Spaniard applied to them abusiye epithets, to
"hich the others retorted. Quick as a flash the
Spaniard clre"'
a knife, stabbed one to the heart, and
then attaC'ked the other. After a prolonged scufilc
the Spaniard like\yise stabbed this Ulan to death, and
then departed. The barkeeper, the only ,,
itncss of
the affray, seemed in no ha
te to spread the intelli-
gence, and the sheriff did not kno\v- of it until next
day, so that the 11lurderer had every opportunity to
escape. X eyertheleðs the sheriff, ,,
ith seycral parties
of citizens, started in pursuit. After t\VO days' search
the SpaniarJ \yas arrested by t\yO 111e11 from :\Iorn1011
Ba
in and Lrought back to
\.uburn. The tluestioll
then aro::,e ".hat should be clone \yith him, and grad-
uallyarniù.st 11luch luke\v-arln:üess and some opposition
they c011cludeò that the liall shoulù be hanged. The
sheriff confined the prisoner in a saloon, antI \yith a

trong guard ,,"ithin and ,,
ithout, declared he \yould
keep his charge at every hazard. Thus passed the
Hight after his capture. N ext morning 11liners fronl
the surrounding canlp
began to come in, and gradu-
ally the friction of ideas produced con:-;iderable cxcitc-
luent, the result of \vhich ,vas a strong deterlninatioll
on the part of the people to haug the prisoner ill-
stantl}
. At cight o'clock in the 11lorning. the throng
about the saloon 'Ya
dense. One I(irkpatrlck mounted
a stunlp anù addressed the people, adyocating the
side of la"
and order. He ".as follo"Ted by a )Ir
Johnson, "ho argued that the la\\"' could not or \,yould
not puni
b, and that the people should. Others fol-
lo\v-cd, sustainincy him.
Iany of those in the a:-;
en1bly
,,
ho \vere unarl;ed ,yere no,y seen proceeding for their
rifle
, and the fate of the Spaniard fast assuu1ed fixed-

ne::ss.
Justice
\.bell that day held court on a hill-
idc
,vest of the to\Vll in the open air. A strange 11lix-

G32 OREGOX, WASI-IINGTOX, BRITISH COLUßIBIA, ALASKA.
ture of la,v and disorder ,vere some of these border
trials. The la,v,vas not strong enough to do luuch;
and ,vhilc the people caIne to the assistance of lay
r,
they could not bring thenlselves to do things in the
legal fornlal ,yay. They could get along very ,veIl
through the forn1s of trial, tho taking of evidence, and
the deterlnining the guilt or innocence of the prisoner.
That ,vas necessary
that ,vas only fair-play. But
\v hen it ,vas decided that a nlan ,vas guilty, they could
not see ,vhy he should not be exccuted
and ,vhen they
had anything to do ,"";
ith it they usually conden1ned
and executed. For that purpose had they left their
,york. Thus it ,vas in this instance. The péople of
Auburn had a justice of tho peace, and they ll1Ìght as
,,"ell use hinl
but ,vhatever should COlne of the justice
of la\v, this nlurderer should hang. On this hill-side,
\yith a big bo,ylder for a speaker's desk and a slnaller
one for the clerk's, justice held her court. Before ALell
the prisoner ,,"as brought, a!ld the llluititudc gathered
round. As the evidence \yas heiug taken it \vns
,vritten Ly the clerk and then read aloud to the a:J-
se111blage. The people present then appointed a jury
to decide frolll the evidence the guilt or innocence of
the accused. Their verdict ,vas "Guiltv of lllurder."
"Shall the prisoner relllaÎu in the hands of the civil
authorities 1" ,vas then asked.
" No I" was the reply, in a terrific yell, 'v hich rever-
berated alnong the hills.
Then arose the sheriff and said that he should de-
fend the prisoner, and recommended those present to
hehave in a. manner becoillillg good citizens. He was
folIo,ved by G. C. Robbins; and the calnlness ,yith
,vhich he ,vas listened to as he advocated mild 111eaS-
urcs encouraged the lovers of law in the hope that
the company ,vould disperse ,,"ithout doing violence.
But it ,vas only the lull before the storm.
Suddenly a rush ,vas Inade for the Spaniard. The
sheriff and his Illen closed round hiln, and the struggle
became hot. It is "\vorthy of remark in all these COll-

A FnA,TCRXITY OF CIU)IE.

633

flicts bet\yeen the officers of the la\y and the people
that great care is tali.en on both sides to ayoid seri-
ously injuring each other. I{nivcs and pistol
"
ere
not the ,veapons used in seizing a prisoner; that is to
say, the use of deadly ,veapons \
Tould be the last ro-
sort. Thus it ,vas that '\Thittaker and )IcKenzi0
'\
ere pern1itted to go ,yith the sheriff of San Fran-
cisco. The people had no desire to hurt the authori-
ties for doing their duty.
or did the sheriff, as a
rule, blalne the people or question their right to do
as they did; only the la,v, his 111i::;tress, was a jealous
jade, and 111Ust be ,yo oed coercively.
In this instance during the mêlée there "
ere heard
cries of " Shoot!" "Don't shoot!" follo,ved bv seyeral
shots. The result being that three nlen 'Y
re shot,
but not seriously, by friends of the prisoner. One
)Iexican after firing took to his heels, follo\ycd by
t\yenty or thirty Inen, ,y ho shot. hin1 dead. Then as
the dense n1as
surged anJ parted, the prisoner ,vas
disco\
ered in the hands of tho nO\\T llladly infuriated
people, \yho, seizing hin1 by the chain attached to his
ánkle, ran dO\YI1 the hill, dra6"ging hin1 after theine On
reaching ::\Iain street a rope w'as thro\yn round his
neck; a hundred 111en laid hands on it, and ran \yith it
about half a 111Île farther to a tree, ,vhere they pulled
hill1 up; but the man ,vas dead long before the body
,yas hanged.

The officers of Yamhill County, Oregon, in the
spring of 1865 boasted their hundred thieves' dis-
coyery. The ,veakness of these outla'ys "?a
horses.
Desperate oaths bound thelll; though ,vhat iB ,yorth
hi
oath ,vho steals? Grips and pass\yords nlade
then1 kno'\
n to each other. The haunts of thib fra-
ternity \yere along Rogue River and the U lllpqua anll
"Tillamette yalleys froln California to Idaho.
Georcre Fry, livinQ' on the G Inatilla River, ,vas
o "

subject to periodical fits of insanity. 'Vhile
uftèring
se\erely from an attack of typhoid pneun1011ia he \vas

ü34 OREGOY, 'VASHIKGTON, BRITISH COLU)ffiIA, ALASKA.
seized ,vith the fancy that his brother-in-la,v, vVillianl
Stoughton, a kind-hearted and highly respectable
111an, at 'v hose house he ,vas carefully tended, had
poisoned hinI. So strongly possessed
f this halluci-
nation ,va
he that he insisted upon his removal froln
Stoughton's house to the residence of Doctor
Iar-
quan, his physician, ,yho in1111ediately exanIined hinl
and pronounced hinl poisoned. "If I aID poisoned,
Stoughton has done it I" Fry cxclain1ed, "for he is the
only one ,vho has given n1e llledicine." Thereupon
l\Iarquan circulated the report throughout the neigh-
Lorhood that Fry had been poisoned by Stoughton.
On the night of the 23d of ]j-'ebruary 18G6 -fifteen or
t\venty persons took Stoughton froln his house and
hanged hirn upon a tripod forn1cd of three rails takon
froIH a fence Bear by. Several persons ,vere indicted
for the 111urder after it had been proved beyond ques-
tion that not a particle of poison had been adlllillis-
tered the insane invalid.

The t,,
o ,vorst thieves and murderers ,vest of the
Rocky :ßlountains ,vere perhaps O,vhi and Qualchien,
father and son, chiefs of the Yakill1a tribe. :b--'or years
they had kept the ,vhole country in confusion, and
had great influence over tribes accustonled to revolt.
On the 24th of Septe111ber 1853 Qualchion ,vas guideù
by an oneIn)'" into the hands of the troops at Spokane,
and ,vas speedily run up to the branch of a treo, be-
having so co,vardly as to be diso,vned by his father,
,y ho "'"as also a prisoner. The latter ,vas shot ,vhile
trying to escape.
The grand jury of 'Valla Walla, reporting in N oveIll-
ber 18G2, regard ,vith evident satisfaction their un-
conlplotcd though occupied jail. "The building stands
on tho public square," they say, "in a pleasant por-
tion of the city, and has all tho natural advantagcs of
a fino eirculating atll1osphcre. The prisoners say they
are ,veIl fed and properly cared for, and express on-
tire satisfaction \vith their trcatn1cnt." Altogether a

WALL...-\. W
\.LLA.

G O)..
ùJ

pleasant place in ,,
hich to spend the summer; only
the accolllffiodations are inadequate for the rapidly
increasing nunlber of guests. Ànlong its other ad-
yantages the TT"ras!"Ùtgton StateS1ìlCl h of the 30th of
:Jlay 1863 assures felons at large that" prisoners con-
fined in this ðtructure have ne\
er had any trouble in
lllaking' their escape froD) it ,vhen they ,,
ished to do
so." Hence it is not surprising a 11lonth later to find
the farms of Coppei and Touchet stripped of their
horðes, and seven thieves sending theIll "ord frolll
Snake Ri yer that ,,
ith three revolvers each thev
stand ready to defend their ney,
ly acquired propert;:.
'
igilance associations had been formed in every
et-
tIenlent and Inining can1p of eastern Oregol
and
\Vashington and "
estern Idaho and :\lontana-cf all
that region affected by the Boisé n1Ïnes-cxcept '\"1" alIa
"lalla ,.... alley, ,,,here there ,yas no organization. As
soon as it "as noised among the brotherhood, they
s\yareJed like locusts in this vicinity. :\Ieditating
upon ,,
hieh the Inon of Coppci and of Touchet, banded
for purposes of \var on criu1e, and dignifying their
. COIn pact by the term yigilance connnittec, started for
Snake Ri\-er. There the o\vners recovered their
horses, Lut the only braves of the t\ycnty-one re-
volvers then present 'v ore \Villiam Bunton and Club-
foot George, and these made good their escape.
.L\Jter\vard Bunton rode boldly into 'Valla "T alIa, and
althouO'h the authorities kl1e\y"hill1, and knc,v hinl to be
()
there, they permitted hinl to escape, \y l
ere.at the 111el1
of Coppei and of Touchet ,yere very Inchgl1ant, and
opened a fire, roo-ardless of gran1ll1ar, through the
colun1ns of the St
tesnl((n, to \vhich the sheriff replied
in current sIanO' no less refined.
û
"Then Fort ,\
alIa 'Valla \vas the centre of a savage
,,-iIderuess all \vas orderly, and as a rule peaceful and
safe. "Then near the fort the 11011108 of settlers began
to cluster and the ad J ' acent yalleys \vere dotted ,vith tho
, oj
,vhite ulan's cabin, the advantage of bloody cncountor

anlOI1O' hUlllall heiuO's "
a
not recoQ11Ïzed. But ,,-hen
o ö ,...

C36 OREGON, 'YASHI
GTO:N, ERITISI-I C8LU:\lBIA, ALASKA.

the 11lines of Idaho and l\Iontana opened a route to
that region by ,yay of the Pacific Ocean and up
Collllnbia River to vVallula, and Fort vValla \ValIa
bccalnc a point of departure for Boisé and Le,viston,
and an clltrepôt for nlÏners'
upplies, the gold-god then
a8SUl1lecl his sovereignty, and ,vith attendant fiery
drink and deadly ,veapons \vrought hate and bloody
pandellloniul-:l. Patrol and vigilance organizations
follo,ved as a 111atter of course. I-Io\v should a gov-
crnll1ent capable of holùing in check three or fi ve
thousand drinking, blasphelning adventurers of un-
harnessed te111perS rise in the forests or drop upon the
plain!
During the first half of 18G5 the city and yalley
Y1Cre lllore than usually infested by thieves and
vag3,Londs. The jail ,yas ,veU nigh useless as a place
of incarceration, and the layv ,vas utterly inadequate
to protect lifo anJ property. The people ,vere di vicled
as to the right or necessity of the vigilance organiza-
tion then existing. U pOll the affidavit in .1\pril or
one Duteh Le\vie, ,vho a5rlllod that he had been
taken fro111 his bed by vigilants and partially hanged
in order to Jnake hÏ1n tell 'v hat he did not kno'
T, and
confess to ,vhat he had not done, five persons \yere ar-
rested, four of \vho111 \yere iU1111ediately discharged and
the other held to ans,ver the charge of assault Yvith
intent to do bodily injury. Again about the sarHe
tiu1e a half-drunken, Loastful vigilant 'vas seized by
the opposing party, caning thelllselves la,v anù order,
perhaps in irony, taken to a roonl, and, a handker-
chief tied round his neck, chuked in the endeavor to
extort the nanles of the ulembers of the Vigilance
Con11nittee.
During the Y/inter of 18G4-5 the residents along
the V\T alIa 'Vana River callle together as one n1an,
and organized a yigilance association, so that they
nlÏght rid theillselves of those that preyed upon then1.
..A.Jllong other regulations the 111ajestic red n1an \vas
ordered not to loaf in that \Ticinity. To his kennel,

"\TIIOLESALE HAXGIXG.

637

the reser,.ation, he ,yas directed to go by
his latter-
day liberty despot, and there to eat the crulnbs uf ciy-
ilization and dreaI!l of the tilDe ,,
hen he too ordered
stragglers off hi
parks and hunting-ground
. This
COllllllittee began by requiring all ba.d character
to
leave. Those that di:-3obeyed they hunted to the death.
One Goudron \yas requir
c1 to de}Jart. Charle
Fancy,
a half.:.breed, \yas caught, and the question being put if
he should be banged, a majority of three yotca in his
favor. He ".acs not long in quitting those parts ".hen
freed. -'"-
horse-thief,yas follo\yed into the Blue :\Ioun-
tains, near the source of the U n1atilla Ri\
er, in April
1865, "yhere he ""as captured and hanged.
The actions of the "r alIa ".,. alla Conlll1ittee ab8ut
this time S p eak for theillsel \
es. Sunday nlorninO',
... ð
the 16th of .L-\.priI1865, a cattle-thief, 1IcI(ensie, \yas
found just belo,,
the to\yn, near the race-traek, hang-
ing to a tree. On )Ionc1ay, the 17th, Isaac Reed an(l
"Tilliam "Tills ,vere found hanged at the "... aUa ,\
n l1a
RiYer. These TI1en ".ere caught and tried by the COlll-
111ittee at '\T al1ula for stéaling horses. They
onfe
sed.
to seyeral thefts; to hayinQ.' horses then secreted on the
Colull1bia Riyer above "
allula, and to haying killed
one of their oyçn nU1l1ber in a quarrel at their ren-
dezyous. N ext day, Tuesday, a negro call ell Sliln
Jilll ".as found hanging to a tree aLout three quarters
of a n1ile east of the to\yn. He had stolen a horse,
killed a colored nlan in the Boi
é Ba
in, furni
hed
t\\
O crinlinals illlpleinents to break jail, and serycd a
terln in the Oregon penitentiary: enough to deter-
1l1ine the fate of the black Ulan just then, thopgh at
another tin1e he 111ic r ht have ]iyed on and haye doubled
v
his cataloO"ue of c\Til deeds. The Portland O/oe JJniUIL
of the
l
t uf .-t-\.pril COllles out in an editorial, "begin-
ninO' "Fifteen lien hancred at "T alla "T ana." Dro l 1-
v 0
I JinO' ra p idly in the nUll1ber of executions it. finaU\.
v " &
asserts that its infornlant kno\ys of six I Such is
the reliability of report; and this \yithin so short a
di:-3tance.

6:;
OREGON,"
ASHIXGTOX, nRITISH COLü
IDIA, ALASK.A.

The follo\ying appeared in the 'Valla 'v"" all a Stutes-
rnCln of June 15, 1866:

"YIGILANCE CO
E\IITTEE NOTICE.

"EDITOR STATES::\IA
:

" 'VALLA 'VALLA CITY, June 0, 1866.

""
ill you give notice through the medium of your paper that the Yigil-
I1nce Committee has been organized over a year, and during that time has
not been entirely idle; but whethC'r it has accomplished any good or not, the
public are the judges. And the committee further give notice that they
have made some am('udments to their fonner plan of organization, which
enables them to act more expeditiously, and with greater certainty in ferret-
ing out the perpetrators of crime; and the committee stand ready to rf'dre'3s
all crimes, and execute summary justice between the perpetrators of crime,
no matter of what grade, and the interest of all good, well disposed, and law-
abiding persons; and we make no distinction between officer and private,
rich or poor, or vigilant and anti-vigilant. All are subjects for our action
in the way of crime, and will recei,.e equal justice at our hand.
" By order of the

"VIGILANCE CO:\DIITTEE,':

At Clear\vater bridge in October 1871 onc Jack
l\Ioran ,vas hanged by the people for enlarging son1C-
body's l1louth and cutting off his ears.

"That business N ê'V Dungeness, a little landing-
place on the vVashington side of Juan de Fuca Strait,
has to talk about yigilance con1n1ittees is beyond
ordinary c0111prehension. With a good territorial
governlnent, a staid population, and no great influx
of unruly strangers, it lvould seenl that a handful of
fishern1en and traffickers n1Ïght exist ,vithout resort
to henl pen justice. And yet I find recorded that on
the 13th of June 1864 t,yO 111811, Gould and Tucker,
deserters fronl one of her nUljesty's ships at \Tictoria,
and ,y ho had been the terror of the country for sonle
time previous, ,vere shot by those calling then1selves
a vigilance con1111ittee.
Further than this, a regularly organized vigilance
comn1Ïttee, ,vith its officers, SUb-co1l11nittecs, No. 54
secretary, hanging-n1aster, and all the appointn1ents
for efficient ,york, ,vas forIned, expatriating and exe-

A...
EVIL ASSOCIATION.

639

cutillg ad na useam.
leave:

Here is one of their orders to

"To J OSE?H CLIFFORD:

"KEW Dú:XGEXE::-S, July 10, IbG4.

"Bc it known to you that the Vigilancc Committee of this place haye
arriycd at the conclusion that you or your scrvices are not wanted in this
country any longer than this next week, for the reason of the threats made
by you; and if you are found in this country after the lûth day of the present
month you may c""pect what your fate will be.
" By order of thc Committee, Xo. .34, Secretar!l."

Tucker, aboye nlentioned, had received such a no-
tice, to "" hich he paid no attention, and death follo\vecl
di
obedicnce.
T,yo others received notice to depart about the Gth
of
Ia'y 1864. Says the Victoria (}hronicle:

"They were ordered to leaye the country for (as they say) being republi-
cans, and the Yigilancc Committee, being composed of democratic copperheads,
wished to get rid of their yotes and opposition at the election, the leader of
the vigilants being a candidate on the copperhead ticket. The sentence was
death should they return to that countr)". On Friday last our informants were
on their way to Port Townsend from Yictoria to attend court, when the
canoe in which they were was blown ashore on Diamond Point, abo\9c Dunge-
ness. They put up at a settler's house on t"!1e beach, and in the middle of the
night were awakened by nine ,igilants, all of whom were armed with guns
and revolvers. They pinioned the two men and took them back to Dungeness
in a plunger. On )Iontlay the Yigilance Committee, to the number of forty
or fifty, gathered together and trie(l the prisoners, who told them that they
were on their way to Port Townsend to see the "\igilants when driyen ashore
by the wind. The committee talked of hanging the men up forthwith, but
the members were diritled in opinion on the matter, the parties who opposed
the hanging denying that the prisoners had en'r committed a crime which
would justify their execution. The men be
ged and prayed for life, and
finally, on the promise that they would never return to "\Yashington Territory,
nor enter any suit against their prosecutors, they were liberated. They were
allowed three days to sell their farms, which was effected at a ruinous price,
and they left, arriving here yesterday. The Vigilance Committee have sworn
to drive out or hang several other settlers, who at present are absent from the
COUll try, on their return."

Clifford anlI George La\vrence, ".ho ".ere favored
,yith like notice to leayc, ".ere
ai(l to haye been
nlen of good character and long residcnce in ,\-r ash-
ington Territory. If \ve lllay believe C.
I. Brad-

640 OREGO
, 'V ASHINGTON, BRITISH COLU
IBIA, ALASKA.
sha,v, ,vriting from N o,v Dungeness to the OlYlnpia
IStandnrd the 11 th of July 18G4, though the organiza-
tion ,,-ras ,viJe-spreac1, extending into the adj oinillg
counties, it ,\-ras a bastard association, and ill no ,vise
entitled to the nalne of vigilance. "Do not be de-
ceived into the error that this 1l10b is the people of
this con1ll1unity," he says. "vVhell it ,vas gotten up no
notice ,vas given, no invitation to the public ,vas held
out to C0111e in, but it \vas organized privately, only
certain ones that they ,vere sure ,vere bad enough
to do any act, ho\\-rever unla,yful or bad, being in-
vited to join; and up to this tinle they have no
11len1bers but democrats and copperheads, and every
111an they have assailed thus far has been for the past
t,YO years a Inelnber of the union party." l\fr Bracl-
sha,v ,vas in error regarding its being a political
organization \vith no union n1en in it. There \ve:oe
good 111en of both parties 111enlbers of this association,
Lut their 1110de of execution ,vas sinlply co,vardly
1l1urder, being to lie in anlbush and shoot those ,vhOln
in secret they had found guilty.
A bad element hung around Port Ludlo,v during
the SU111nler of 1865, and the people determined to be
rid of it. The 14th of August t,vo villains in open
day knocked a Inan senseless and robbed hill1 of
sixty dollars, and thon fled to the ,voods. T,vo friends
of the robbers seeking to shield theln ,vere soized,
,vhipped, and Jriven a\vay by the people. Search ,vas
made for the robbers Ly the sheriff, ,vho apprehended
thenl and brought them before the justice of the
peace. The citizens fearing escape, took thelll froln the
authorities and tied them to a flag-staff, ,vhere they
confessed their crilTIe and returned a portion of the
1110ney; then giving theln a dozen lashes each, they
placed theln in a skiff and set thenl adrift, ,vith a
,varning never to return.
In July 18G6 the body of an lrisillnan ,vho had
been hanged by a 1110b 'vas found under a tree near
the WalIa \VaIla River.

L
ì)-JL
IPERS.

6-t)

A-ndre"'" Inkster, or, as he was generaIly called,
Charles Aclanls, according to his o\vn statenlent ,vas
the first discoverer of gold. on Fraser River. In
1858 Inkster, then living near the mouth of Fraser
River, "\yas called upon, rifle in hanel, hy Charle;

)IcDonald to pay a debt tlue one
IcCa\v of Steila-
COOli.
" I shall not pay it," said Inkster.
"If you don't I'll shoot you," )IcDonald replied,
rai
ing his rifle.
"Shoot and be danlned I" returned Inkster, reaching
for his re\
olver.
..L-\nd )IcDonald did shoot, sending a bullet straight
through lnkster's heart. Pursued by governnlent
officer
, the lllurderer fled across the line and reached
the Â.lnerican side in safety. Soon after he appeared
at Steilacool11, ,,
here he figured as a desper
te char-
acter for several years. Becollling virtuous, or de-

irous of nlonopolizing 111urder, in 1861 he gathered
a ll10b, vrhich he dignified by the nanle of yigilance
cqn1nlittee, and clro\
e Charles "Tren, accused of crilllc,
from his land near Steilacoonl and took possession of
it binlself. ::\Iuch trouble ,vas then experienced by o\vn-
ers of land, caused by 'jlunpers,' as they ,yere caneel,
seeking forcible possession. Thus 111atters proceeded
\vhen in January 1870 ::\IcDonald, gro"\yiug bolder,
leagued ,yith certain bad IlJen, Bergh, Gib
on, and
others, to jlunp S0111e of the best farnling land near
Steilacoonl. The people sa,,'" that the ti111e for action
had COIne, that they n1ust prepare then1sclyes to bo\y
before villainy or oppose it. So bold had the claiul-
jumpers become that they openly a Yo"
ed their pur-
pose to resort to violence and 111urdcr if necessary to
the accon1plishn1ent of their purpo::,e, and on several
occasions settlers had been shot at fr01l1 thicket
, and
notices embellished ,yith a death's-head and coffin
,yere found in the post-office directed to citizens in
various parts, threatening thenl ,vith assas
inatiol1 if
they refused to vacate their land. Forty of the set-
POP. TRIB.. YOLo I. 41

642 OREGON", 'V ASHINGTON, BRITISH COLU
IBIA, ALASKA.
t1ers no\v banded, armed, and started in purRuit of the
clain1-julnpers. l\IcDonald and Gibson hearin o ' of it,
started for ,V fen's clailll to join Berg. The nl
b con-
sisted largely of the old seryants of the Hudson's Bay
Conlpany, _French trappers, and half-breed fur-hunters,
,vho had their o,vn ,yay of doing things, \vhich, if bor-
dering on brutal savagery, "C'as honest and direct.
Justice, hunted and vengeful, had sought the thick-
ets and there issued her yerdicts in the shape of bul-
lets, ,vhich ,vhizzed past the 8ars of those n1arked for
punishll1ent.. Seeing the desperadoes c01l1ing, the set-
tlers hid, and as they approached fired upon theill.
Gibson fen, pierced ,vith t,yO balls. l\fcDonald, slightly
,younded, leaped into the thicket and 8tarted for Steil-
acoon1, about five Iniles distant. Gibson ,vas placed
in a ,vagon and conveyed to to\vn, \vhere the settlers
found l\IcDonald, ''lith his ,vound dressed, ready to
fight. S01l1e of the a
sailing party advised hin1 to
disarll}, \vhich he did; but lllcalHvhile the cro,vd had
consulted and determined to kill hin1. When l\IcDon-
aId heard of it, he asked for tin1e to arn1; they told
hi In to do so, but as he turned to take up his gun,
the ,vord ,vas givcn to fire, and bang! bang! follo\ved
in quick succession. The \vretch ran shricking into
a billiard saloon, but 800n he ,vas fatally struck.
Gibson, reviving, seized a revolver and discharged t,vo
shots at the onen1Y, "Then he \vas riddled \vith bullets.
These people delighted in hunting; hanging ,vas not
their forte.
During the autUITln of 1870 incendiarism \vas fre-
quent at Olyn1pia, ,vhen the Tribune suggested the
organization of a vigilance COl111nittee "to hang the
first Inan or nlCl1 caught settillg fire to property in
Olynlpia." The Standard opposod the Ineasnrc.
Considerable excitelllent prevailed about this tiule
in regard to land-ju111ping, particularly in tho southern
part of the territory and along the line of the pro-
posed railroad, ,yhere laud had suddenly assu1l1cd
fictitious value.

AFFAIRS .AT SEATTLE.

643

At Port Ganlblc in ::\Iay 1871 robberies round the
n1ill canlp becoming frequent, some Chinamen "
ere
suspected. COll1plaint ,vas lllade and
everal arrested,
Lut all denied the theft. Thi
did not
atisfy their
accusers, \y hOlll the sheriff finally told to do ,,
ith the
Celestials as they pleased. I t seems they pleased to
hang t,vo of thenl to a derrick until they ,,-ere nearly
dead, \vhen unable to obtain a confe
::;ion they drove
thenl frolll those parts.
:\litchell, a half- breed, for kil1ing an Indian at
Tacoma the 17th of Àpril1873, ,vas hanged by the
people. Ten days later at the same place a native
called Jilll Shell killed Louis
loroe, a Canadian.
The n1urderer \vas arrested, but ,vas taken from the
sheriff by the people and hanged.
Since the days of the California Inferno there ha

been no
nore pronlpt or thorough display of popular
ju
tice than that ,vhich occurred anlong the staid
citizens of Seattle so late as the 17th of January
1882. The occasion of this display \vas the killing
f
George D. Reynolds, an estiIllable young man, by tw'o
fóotpads, James Sullivan and \Villianl Ho,,
ard. In-
stead of thro,ving up his hands as ordered, he at-
tenlpted to reach for his rev()l\
er, "Thereupon he ,va

shot, and died in t\VO hours. The people of Seattle
\vere very angry; ,vithin t\\
O hours after the murder a
con1111ittee ûf safety ,vas organized and officered, and
after t\VO hour8 1110re the villains \yere arrested and
delivered to the authorities. Brought into court the
next Inornin a , at the end of an exanlillation "Therein
they had bee
remanded to the custody of the sheriff
for trial, the inmates of the court-roon1 rose in a body,
and ,vItile SOUle seized and held the
herifr, judge, and
other officials present, others hurried the pri
oner
to
their death. Lying in jail at this tinle ,vas one Payne,
convicted of the l1lurder of Officer Sears, ,,
honl likè-
,,-ise the citizens hanged. .L
coroner'H jury found in
each case that the deceased "c
nne to hi
death by
han0'ino- , but froIll the evidence furnished ,ve are Ull-
o 0

ü44 OREGOY, W ASH:G;-G TOX, BRITISH COL U:\IBIA, ALASKA.

able to find by ,vhose hands. 'Ve are satisfied that
in his death
subst.antial and speedy justice has been
subseryed."

The N orth,vest Coast had its halcyon days, ,vhen
the fur con1panies found it to their interest to treat
the red Ulan kindly. Theft ,vas then almost unkno,vn.
In their traffic ,vith the natives, store-keepers ,vere
accuston1ed to give them credit; and it ,vas found
that ,vhen the savage ,vas properly treated and trusted
he ,vas as honest as the civilized nlan. Justice Beg-
bie, returning froln a circuit along Fraser River, re-
ports to governulent in Apri1185!:> that there ,vas on
all sides a submission to authority, a recognition of the
right, ,vhich he had not expected arnong so n1Ïxed a
popuJation, ,vith so large a predominance of the Cali-
fornian element. There ,vere fe,v eODlplaints of any
kind, and none of violent crimes; and this ,vhere la\v
,vas little kno\vn and justice seldon1 sat in sedate
robes. British Colunlbia, for the lnost part, has en-
joyed fronl its earliest occupation a good governnlent,
llluch bet.ter than usually fell to the lot of the border
cOlnrnunities of the United States..
In the SUilllTIer of 1842 Sir George Silnpson, then
at the head of the Hudson's Bay Company in A111er-
ica, caIne froln Red River .to Vancouver, ,vhence he
proceeded to Fort Wrangel, on the. Stikeen, near
Alaska, to investigate the Inurder of John l\fcLough-
lin junior, son of the chief factor ,vest of the Rocky
l\Iountains. The deed took place in April of that
year. Silnpson arrived at the conclusion that the
nlurderers, servants of the company, had been excited
by l\fcLoughlin's cruel and overbearing conduct. 'They
had nerved then1selves by stolen \vhiskey on the night
of the 111urder. Every person in the establishn1ent
appears to have been 111utually bound to kill hiln, so
that no disinterested testinlony could be obtained ex-
cept to sho\v justifiable homicide of a drunken, quar-
relsome, aud cruel nlan. But this ,vas not satisfactory,

A
lOXG THE Fl7R-TR.ADERS.

(J4.1

and James Douglas ""Tas thereupon sent to search
deeper into the matter. One man testified that every
eUlployé had signed a \vritino' ao-reeinO' to 11lurdcr
"'\ L I . 0 0 0
.....\1c ough In, ,vho seenled a\vare of his end, and \vho
had affirnled to his \,ife that he "ould die like a n13U.

IcLoughlin fired first; his shot ,vas returned, and
after a respite the bullets of the 111utineers stretched
him 10""T. )IcLoughlin's servant seems to have kept
hinl informed of the plot, and "Tas constantly on the
,yatch for the attack, though the man confessed he
\\Tould not defend his lnaster.
IcLoughlin had floo'aed
'-' ðð
the nlen, kept thenl frolll going ,,-ith other nlen, and
,vas suspected of intrigue \,ith a trapper's \vife.
The officers and 11len of the Hudson's Bav COln-
pany \vere bound by strict agreement to subs
rve the
interests of the cOlllpany; they could acquire no per-
sonal or real e
tate outside their pa.y, and ,vere subject
to such punishnlent for neglect as the officer in charge
n1Ïght iUlpose, having no appeal.
By 1845 the English governlllent had extended the
ci,-illa\ys and jurisdic>tion of Canada over the X orth-
west Coast, and had cOlllnlis
ioned J aIlles Douglas,
Angus )IcDonald, and )11' \V ork as justices of the
l )eace in civil cases involvin o ' not over t\VO hundred
ð
pounds. In crin1inal cases, if the magistratè found
sufficient cause, he might send tbe accused to Canada.
In all luinor matters the Hudson's Bay Conlpany's
\\Till ,,-as absolute. Their lllen ,vere bound. to oLey
officers like soldiers. FloaainO' "as a COllln1011 l )un-
00 0
islullent inflicted by all, from governor dO\Yll to petty
clerk.
An Indian shot )Ir Black, the chief trader at Fort
ICanlloops, in revenge f0r SOlne injury. The fort ,va

closed aaainst the tribe, and no trade allo\ved till the
o
Illurderer ,,-as given up and hanged.
JIr
IcI(a'y had been killed by a native at the
11louth of the Colunlbia River in a drunken bra,yl.
An expedition set out to punish the tribe unle
s the
murderer ,yas surrendered. He "
as given up and

646 OREgON, 'VASHINGTOY, BRITISH COLU
IBIA, ALASKA.
hanged after jury trial. All the ,vhite Inen present
hoisted hilll up on the gallo,vs, strangling hilll, ,vhieh
proceeding filled the natives ,vith horror.
In another case of the n1urder of a servant of the
eompany by a principal chief, l\Ir Douglas ,vent al'Jne
tú the lodge of the chief and shot hiln dead. The
,,'"hite 111en ,vere fe,v, and none had dared to gain the
re"
ard offered by Douglas. These cases sho,v the
absolute s,vay of the fur cOlnpanies ovcr the natiyes.
In August 1846 a Inan jUlnped the clailll of a
Hudson's Bay COlnpany's servant near Vancouver.
Douglas, ,vho ,va.s justice of the peace an
county
judge, gave the sheriff a "\varrant of arrest, and the
111an ,va8 put in irons. An Anlerican advised hin1 to
decide the case againRt his O'V11 people, or the luan
,vould bring suit for false ilnpris01111lent. The luan
accordingly appears to haye received SOlne con1pcnsa-
tion and to ha YC Leen released.
The gold excitcn18nt had attracted fron1 Californi

a 1110St reckless set of n1en, ,vhose nanles had been
duly recorded by the \Tigilance Conllnittee of San
Francisco. The police had only beeu established at
v'ictoria since July 1858, and consisted of SOlne d.ozen
untrained Inen, ,ylÚle uo troops existed nearer than
ES(luilnalt. A riot had causcd a call to be l1lade for
troops to Victoria, ,vhich, ho,v8ver, ,vere required
Ine1"el y to arrest a drunken llliner.
By the Gold Fields Act of 1859 the acJ"ing gov-
ernor of Briti
h Colun1bia ,vas authorized to 111ake
la 'vs for the regulating of 111ining districts. Actual
settlers on agricultural lands ,vere placed in fee-silnplc,
under certain conditions, of one hundred and sixty
acres of land. Beside
lllagistrates for the respective
districts a gold conllnissioner ,vas appointed to look
after the lnines.
One day a blustering Yankee came to the goyernor
and asked pern1ission for a nUlnLer uf Americans tc
settle on SOllle lantl. His request ,vas granted on
condition that they \vould take an oath of allegiance.

LjUQLìTODS KED.

647

(C Well," said the Yankee, "but suppose '\ve came
there and squatted?"
" You ,yould be turned oft
"
" But if ðeveral hundred c
n1e prepared to resist 1"
"'V e
hould cut thenl to mince-nlcat, Rir I"
This saIne g-OyerllOr, Douo'las , ,,-hile in charO'e of a
'--' l) b
trading-post, ,,-as one day illforlued by his officer that
insubordinate l1fitiye::, ,yere forcing their ,,:ay into the
fort, and the officer

ked if he should Ulan the ba '3-
tion. Douglas coolly replied: "Give then) a little
bread and treacle." ....\nd indeed this \yas effecti\-e.
It "Tas the proyince of California to ble

and to
curse. She ha
111ade many rich and has dropped
happiness into lllfiny a distant hOl11e; she has ,,-rung
the very souls of those ,,-ho courted her, and scattered
health and hope to the \vincI. In like n1anner
he has
done her neighLor
good and ill; good in assisting
thenl to develop their resources and in giving thenl
the benefit of experience, and ill in sending thenl the
refu
e of her population, cursing then1 ,,'"ith the yery
eleillent \yhich cur
ed her fir
t attelupts at nationality.
There \vas :Xed )IcGo\yan, judge, gaillbler, and
shoulder-striker of San Francisco, and refugee of yigil-
ance, ,,-ho, ha,-ing done as nluch \\-ickecIness as Cal-
ifornia was "Tilling should go unre\yarded, ,,-ent to
British Columbia, ,yhere ,ye find hill1 in the \\yinter of
1858-9 still btirring disturbance anlong IHen at Hill
Bar, t,,
o nlÍles froln Yale. There he planted hiulself
upon a n1Ïning elainl and gathered round hiln a cro,yd
of reckles3 in1itators, so that in January the goycrn-
Inent ,,-as obliged to send troops to restore order. At
Hill Bar one ùf the Blost intelligent of the llliners
,,-as lllade resident Inagi:-strate; at Yale \yere t\YO, one
of ,yhOlll beino' a rascal ,yas disllli
sed, "hile the other,
thouO'h honest, \yas unfit for the position. The three
judo
s '\"ere at constant yariance. Each laying clailn
to
certain case, the HiB Bar JHan s\yore in special
constables, and renloyed the pri
oner by force to his
jurisdiction. Of these special officers
lcGO\Yall ,vas

648 OREGO
, 'YASHIXGTO:Y, BRITISH COLU]\IB
A, ALASKA.
one. Bèing indiscreet in the use of his authority, to
put the Blatter Inilclly, it ,vas thought necessary
to cha.sti
e hiln; but so gentlenlanly and entertain-
ing ,vas he at the approach of punislunent that he
,vas only fined, ,vhen a seyerer sentence nlight havc
nlore evenly balanced his irregularities. N cd ,,"'as
by thit; tinlc at home any\vhere in tIle environs of
justice.
The only t\VO 111en ,vho up to 1863 had attenlpted
high\vay roLbery ill British Colulnbia failcd to escape.
"
rhe extraordinary rarity of crilDcs of violence," say
J\lilton and Cheadle, "is o,ving, ,ve believe, in great
Ineasure to the yigorous adn1Ïnistration of the late
governor, Sir J allIes Douglas, and the stern justice
111cted out by 1\11' Justice Begbie, but also ill part, no
doubt, to the nature of the country." Shut in by
ahnost ilnpassable nlountain barricrs, there ,vas sUlall
chance for criminals to escape.
Thc Haidahs enca111ped near'Victoria had been very
troublesoll1e for SOlne time, and at last fired on a
schooner. The chief of police sent a body of 111en to
dCII1anJ the surrender of the culprits and of all their
arins. This \vas refuseù, and the governor scnt
rnarines to surround them, \vhich had the desired
effect. The offenders ,vere brought to \Tictoria and
publicly flogged-a great disgrace in their eyes-and
all arnlS secured till the tribe should depart. A nlis-
understanding a few days after caused the arrest.of
t\VO chiefs, Captain John anll his brother. On reach-
ing the police station the chiefs drc,v their knives on
the officers, and 'v ere inlnlediate 1 y shot.
At 1\Ietlacatlah n1Ïssion, just south of Alaska, the
nlagistrate had organized a native police, ,vho are said
to have been well di8cipljned and effective.
rhere "Tas
a s111all calaboose of logs ,vherein the disorderly ,vere
confined.
In May 1864 the Chilicoten tribe near Bute Inlet
robbed and nlurdered fourteen out of seventeen lllcn
\vIlo were building a road there. Shortly after a

GA)IE PRESERYE AXD GOLD FIELDS. G49

trading party n1ct the saIne fate. The governnlent
pursued and hanged several.
The execution of a native called I-Iarrv for the
slaying, "hile intoxicated, of a mClnber ot. a neigh-
boring tribe out of reyenge for 80111e ancicnt ,yrong
,vas denounced as a lcgal n1urder, opiuion being t.hat
he "ho sold the liquor should ha ye suffered in the
Indian's .
tead. There \vas conlparatively little high-
,yay robbery in British Columbia. The cause is ob-
yious; first there \vas less upon the high,,-ay to steal,
and second, as \ve haye seen, there ,vas less chance of
escape. There ""ere SOlne robberies round Cariboo,
ho\yever; one, that of a Danish packer nanled George
Gibson in 18G6 ,Yhile on his ,yay across Bald )Ioun-
tain frolll Cedar Creek. He ,vas shot in the head, his
t,yenty-fiye pack anilnal
"Yere scattered, and a large
aillount of gold-dust "hich he carried "as taken.
Before the ægis of goVel'lll11ent oYel'
pread "Tild
Horse Creek and the neighboring gold-fields situated
in British Colulubia near the Rocky
Iountains, just
north of the l7"nited States boundary, life and property
began to be so in
ecure that the miners found it ncce
-
sary to band anù n1ake la,ys for Jllutual prot.ection.
"rherever gold is there is discord. Agricultural and
pastoral societies can li\.e harll1oniously ,yithout la,,-s
for years; but once discoyer rich gold-diggings and
the vultures of ayarice fly ill frol11 afar and ,yrangle
oyer the prey.
In this ,rilù district there arrived one day in 1864
a collector of re\Tenue. "Tith hinl as as:s
::;tant he
had out onÐ constable, and there ,vere there fifteen
hundred 111iners, ,yho had conle in from the adjoining
territories, nlany of ,,"hOl11 \yerc kno\\Tn to be regard-
less of order. l"he ofþcer found no difficulty ho,yeyer
in executiua his cou1mis:sion. Tho
e ,,
ho had as-
sumed auth
rit y O"ladlv resia-ued to hilll; and in six
b . 0 .
"yeeks after his arriyal a code of la\\Ts, nlcctlll
the
1110re salient exigencies of their condition, \ytlS in force
and all dues paid.

e:>o OREGOX, 'Y ASHIXGTOX, BRITISH COLU
IBIA, ALASKA.
As in all the peltry-producing parts of the N orth-
,vest Coast, Alaska up to the tiu1e it canle into the
possession of the United States ,vas governed by
officers of the colonization and fur con1panie
, ,vhose
'ÙJse dixit, except in certain cases of the higher order,
"
as la,v. Indeed the country ,vas not then open to
en1Ïgration and settlelnent, so that there ,vas little op-
portunity for the display of free thought or action by
the servants of politico-coIlllnercial 11lonopolies. The
nati yes ,vere treated ,vith the utUlost severity by the
Russians; they ,vere l11ade to work like slaves, and if
disobedient or refractory 'v ere ,vhipped or shot at
pleasure.
In June 1802, in revenge for killing certain of their
countrynlen by the Aleuts in a quarrel, the l(oloshes
rose and took the fort at Sitka. In due tilne they ,yore
overCOllle and again placed under subjection to their
fornleI' nlasters. Hundreds of such instances appear in
t.he history of the pacification of the coast, and the only
ju
tice adn1Ïni
tered in the settlenlent of difficulties is
that of the stronger arnl and nlore po\verful ,vill. Retal-
iation "
as the la\v of the Europeans; hUlllble subjection
the necessit.y of the conquered. And for a sman offence
there nlust Le great punishnlent. A hundred l(oniagas
for the life of a Russian sailor \vas deenled about fair;
though if the Koniagas happened to be good seal-
catchers justice ,vould be satisfied ,vith a nluch less
l1UDlber, or even perhaps ,vith the lives of the ,VOlnen
and children of the offending tribe.
A fe,v incidents ,viII tend to illustrate the quality
of early justice administered in these partH. At An-
clreaffski in 1866, a deserted fort, there ,vas once a
Ekogn1ut village, ROIHC of ,yhose people ,yorked at the
fort. One day 'v hen but. t\yO Russians ,vere left in
charge of the fort, an(l the
e ,yere cOIning naked fronl
a bath, the natives attacked and sle\v thenI. The
Russians of Saint
Iichaels being inforlued of the
tragedy, sent oycr a
n}aIl force, ,vho slaughtered
cycry one ill the village; since ,vhich tilDe the natives

RUS
IAX .Jt;STICE.

6.31

of the lo".er Yukon ha,e ne,er dared to lift hand
aO'ain
t their n1erciles
111asters.
ð
For the killing of one of their nU111ber,or other injury,
the natives of Alaska required paVlnent in Inonev or
nlerchandise, and the gOyernn1ent ll u
uan} recogn
ized
their CUSt0111. In January 1869 three natives,a Chilkat,
a I(ake, and a Sitkan, \vere in SOllie \vay killed at Sitka.
Obtaining no sati
faction, either pecuniar

or other-
\vi:-5e, the Rakes killed t\yO \yhites in retaliation. "Tar
follo,yed, in ,,
hich the I(akes of that ,icinitv were \vell
nigh exterlliinated and their village burnecl
So llluch
for the I(akes. Five 11lonths later the Chilkats boarded
a \és
el and denlanded 1110ney or life.

guarantee
for the paYlnent of nloney \vas given, and on the
refusal of the con1111ancler at Sitka to recognize
the claill1 the Indian agent paid the amount and
0
secured peace. At this tilDe there "
ere l110re drinking-
saloons than private d,Yelling
in Sitka. .L
court-
lllartial \vas held at Sitka the 1st of April 1869 for
the trial of J
unes Parker for killing a nati\
e \"ho had
done sonle dalnan-e in a btore in ,yhich the honlÏcide
o
,vas clerk. The yerdict \Ya
that the act \vas not
justifiable. Se\
eral soldiers \vere clrullilued out of
service in X oveillber 1869 for robbing a Greek church
at Sitka.
Eight lliurders ,vithin the three years ending Octo-
her 1870 seelned a larO'e number to slo\y and
par
ely
o .
settled Sitka. The saIne anlount of
laughter In
)Iontana ,,-ithin a 1110nth ,vonld hardly haye
ufficed
for o'ossi p ,,-hile it \\yas beinO' done. 'The
\..laskans,
o ð
ho\Ye\
er did not like it that each lllurdercr of
,
eight,
aYe one ,vho 'Ya
then in the nlÌlitary guard-
h011se a\vaiting trial, should ,valk aw'ay unpunished.
The sayacres did better justice than that. ""..,. e haye
seen \von
n and childrcn," "9rites one concerning n1Ïli-
tarv rule in 1870, "knocked dO\VIl in the street hy an
arl{lY officer and {T nited States postal agent; \ve haye
seCll these t\'.yo officcr:-5 on the
àme day knock do\\'n
poor inoflèn
iYe Russians, and the arlll)"p" ufficer hand

(.32 OnEGO
, 'YASHIXGTO:Y, BRITISH COLU
InIA, ALASKA.

the postal agent a pistol to kill an Anlerican. \Ve
have kno,yn arlny officers to force their ,yay into
private Russian house8 and atternpt to take liberties
,,,ith the \vornen inmates that in any other country
but Alaska \yould have cost them their Ii Y"es. '"\T e
have seen t\yO conlpanies of soldiers stationc(J right
in the city, Dlany of ,vhoul "Tere not fit to run at
large or Ii ve outside the ,valls of a state-prison, and
,,-110 forced therllselves into Russian houses as though
it ,vas a part of their duty; and \yhat has been the
result of all this? Simply that all the refined and re-
spectaLle portion of the Russian population have left
our territory heartily sick of and thoroughly disgusted
\vith the very name of an AU1erican. AntI \vilo can
Llan1e then)? vVho 'v ill not blush \vhen he read
that
out of a Russian population of five or six hundred
in Sitka there are not over three young girls of tho
age of thirteen years ,vho are not prostitutes? And
in n}aking thi
assertion ,ve challenge contradiction.
The soldiers, stationed in the heart of the city,
\ycnt around spreading contalnination, disease, and a
state of dClTIoralization only surpassed hy that ,vhich
existed at the tiUIC Sodom and GOll1orrah ,vere de-
stroyed by an avenging God. We r(\gret to say a fe,v
of the arnl y officers also acted l110re like blackguards
than officers.
In February 1870, at the club-house in Sitka, a
quarrel arose bet\veen Lieutenant-colonel Dennison
and a discharged soldier nanlcd 'Villianl Bird, \vho
dcnlanded five Jullars for playing the banjo at a party
giyen Ly Dennison. Finally Dennison gave Bird tho
lnoney, ,vhich \vas elnploycd in the purchase of fiery
liquid to feed the Inusician's already inflalned te111per.
Bird then fell into a h Ul1l0r for slaughter; so 111aking
ready his pistol, he iuforlned Dennison of the bent of
his desire, ,vhon that officcr gallantly slapped the
soldipr in the face and directed hÏ1n to a less h yper-
borean clinlate than that of Ala
ka. Birll's reply
,vas a bullet ain1ed at Dennison, but 'v hich took effect

S
\ILOR A
1) SAVAGE.

G.33

in the body of Lieutenant L. C. Go,yan,
tanding
near, killing him instantly. Bird ,yas arrested, but
,,
hile the constable "
as taking him to the guard-
house the cro,vd seized hiID and undertook to hanO'
oJ
him. It was a poor lllob, a disgrace to the lynching
profession. "That did this refuse of battalions and
,,'haling-yessels know of artistic hanging? First they
thre"
a rope over the culprit and attenlpted to drag
him through the streets. Then, as if fearful the
T
Inight do something rash, they unloosed him, and
taking him to a place proposed for execution, they
fumbled a rope, as if ,,
ith boneless fingers, until the
Inayor appearing alone and unarmed took the lllur-
derer by the collar and led hilll a\vay, unmolested by
the nerveless rabble.
At a Sitka bar-roonl in June 18'ï
a soldier broke
SOllle eggs in the basket of a I
olosh, ,y ho ,"vas offering
them for sale. 'V or(l'3 follo,,;-ed; the savage slapped
the soldier, and the soldier kicked the savage. I(han-
ahkich, brother of the egg-seller, took up the quarrel,
and at the head of a party opened hostilities, and
fired several shots.
Iajor Allen, conl111anding, threat-
enetl the refractory natives ,vith his big guns. The
reply "Tas, "Shoot, "Te are ready for you I" IT proar
follo,yed. To the clamor of the soldiers for perrnission
to retaliate \yere added the insults of the I
oloshes,
\yho, ".hen they failed to see the big guns belch de-
struction on their village, cried, "Boston tyhee is a
co,yard t" At length the disturbance ,yas bloodlessly
quelled, and great credit is due ::\Iajor .Allen for his
humane moderation in the affair.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

Quel pouvoir inconnu gouverne les humains;
Que de faibles ressorts sont d'iHustres destills!
roltaire.

LITTLE ceren10ny attended the conviction and execu-
tion of horse-thieve
in Idaho. To sit upon a stolen
horse ,vas dangerous at one tÎ1ne, as the position ap-
peared to be evidence sufficient to ,varrant the o,vner
in firing upon the person occupying it. T,vo horses
,vere stolen froll1 one Henderson, living at Boisé, in
N Oyeillber 1863. Starting in pursuit, Henderson over-
took the horses at Can1as Prairie, each having on its
back a rider. As soon a8 he can1e ,vithin range Hen-
derson raised his rifle and fired, 'v hen one of the men
dropped dead. The next shot brought do,vn the other
,vounded. After all, retributive justice finds nothing
so speedy a
a leaden bullet. Leaving the t,vo n1en
lying lvhere they fell, IIenderson took the horses and
returned to Boisé, giving inforlnation of 'v hat he hall
done at jj-'rench Rancho, "Those people in1nlediately
proceeded in quest of the bodies, though they did not
find then1 until after dark. The thief killed ,vas
Hitchcock, alias Johnson; the '.vounded rnan ,vas
like
Welch, ,vho after disclailning any kno,vledge that the
horse had been stolen, died. Henderson's conduct,
even if such arbitrary 111eaSUres ,vere necessary, ,vas
that of a desperado.
Probably the most notorious affair in the criminal
annals of Idaho ,vas the murder of one Lloyd 1\la-
gruder of Le,viston, Idaho, and the capture, trial, and
( 654)

THE )IAGRL"'DER CASE.

Gj.j

execution of the assassins. It \vas one of the fe\\'" cases
in ,yhich the people rallied to the bupport of the la\y,
bolstering the fledgling by their pre
ence and in-
till1Ïdating it into the perforlnance of its duty; ðO that
after all it ,vas an arrest and execution by the people,
but done under covert of the la\r. Left to officers
of the la \r, there \vould haye been no arrest; left to
the court alone, there \yould have been no con ,-ic-
tion. The people of Idaho in thi
ca
e seelned de-
tern1Ïned that the la\v, if possible, should fulfil its
functions, and in so doing are entitled to praise. They
\vere but just no\v under la,,'"; and like the boy ,,
ith a
"\\'"ooden donkey harnessed to his \vagon, he could pull
the load n1uch Letter alone, onlv he ,,-a:--: bound the
donkey should go. U nfortunateÌ y such patience and
111agnanimity is ordinarily too nluch for "'"eak hUlnan-
ity. The la\\'" \Ya
inadequate for the purpose, and the
people soon found that theirs \vas the short and quick
,va y.
Ìn this instance the 1a\\'" did \\'"ell; it did its be'5t.
The inchoate condition of territorial affairs and the
"ab
ence of judicial implen1ent
rendered court tria]
,
to say the least, but little better than play at hl\Y;
and to lnake luatters still n10re elnbarra
sing, thi-:; \yas
the first court trial (Jf any kind, civil or crin1Ïnal, ,,-hieh
had been held in the territory of Idaho. The gov-
ernor in X O\l'eillber 1863 had di\-ided the territory
into judicial district
. and had assigned judges to each.
On the 4th of Decélllber the legi
lature had con\-ened,
and had prescribed by !tHV territorial di
tricts, reas-
siO'ninO' J o udo'es thereto. A special tern) of court \va

<:) ð <:) .. "' 1 1 . J
ordered held at Le\viston the first _\ one ay III (luuary
186-1. Yet the trial óf )IaO'ruder's lllurderers \Va3 a
é'
nlodel piece of court proceeding, and for the caUbes
aforesaid.
The staten1ent of the case is as follo\\-s: Lloyd
::\IaO'rucler ,yas a popular trader and packer living at
Le\
i
ton Idaho , but duino- Lu
ine

al
o ill )lon-
, 0
tana. Tn August 1863 .:\Iagruller de
patched a large

636 THE POPULAR TRIBUXALS OF IDAHO.

pack-train \vith Inorchandise from Lewiston, Idaho, to
Virginia City, :i\Iontana. Taking a short cut across
the 1110untains, h.e selected a favorable spot in the no\v
Inines, pitched his tent, and on the arrival of his train
opened his stock. B.y the 1st of October fourteen
thousand dollars in gold-dust had taken the place in
his affections of the goods and sonle portion of his
pack-Inules, and flushed \vith success the packer \vas
no\v ready to return to I..Je\viston.
l\.Ioan\vhile it appears that a gang of scoundrels had
detern1Ïned his destruction. Cyrus Skinner pronlpted
the deed, and 'v hen, at first, fear \vas expressed for
their o\vn safety, Skinner reassured thenl by saying
"Dead 111en tell no tales." He hilnself did not ac-
conlpany the expedition. Chief among the villains
,vas David Ho\vard, falniliarly called Doc Ho\vard,
an intelligent and eJucated lnan, brave beyond ques-
tion, and skilled in the practice of his profession. In
all affairs of the high,vay he \vas looked up to by his
conlrades as their leader. Christopher I-...Jo,vry stood
next in evil eminence, being as ready, as he expressed
it, to kill a Ulan as to kill a calf. Then there ,vere
James P. ROlnain, an apt scholar of Chris Lo,vry;
Willianl Page, timid but useful, as bold and con-
scienceless a Cl'e,v as ever cut throat or dashed out
brains for money.
It ,vas arranged that they should gain l\Iagruder's
confidence \vhile in \Tirginia and assist him, and under
SOlne pretext, after he should have turned his gooùs
into gold-dust, returp \vith hiln, and as opportunity
offered kill and rob hin1.
Doc I-Io,varcl planned the can1paign, and, as the
seq uel sho\ys, carried it to cOlllpletion \-rith conSUlll-
lnate nerve and ability. SOllIe of the nlen ltiagruder
had lnet ca
ually at Le,viston and The Dalles, but
as none of theln as yet ,vere notorious for thcir
crilnes he kne\v nothing bad of thenl. It \,Tas the
special business of Ho\vard and his party to ll1ake
theJllselves agreeable to l\iagruder, and they so far

THE DEP.ARTGRE.

63j

succeeded that he took them all into his service "" hile
in \Tirginia. This \vas a great success for the yil-
lains. The packer had need of ten1porary as
istance
in the disposal of his stock, and Ho\yard and hi
C0111-
rades becalne the n10st affable and efficient of 5e1'-
Yal1t
. The chief and his lieutenant acted as clerks in
the store, and very careful \vere they that none of the
du
t handled in that capacity
hould Dtick to their
fingers. \Vas it not all their 0"4n? Page looked
after the
tock, and Romain acted as cook. Thu3
the days \vent by; in due tilDe the business ,yas
finished and the packer ready to return. It hap-
pened that four friends of :\Iagruder, Charles

l1ell,
"Tilliau1 Phillips, froll1 near :\Iarysville, and Horace
and Robert Chahners, t,,"o
Iissourians, brother
, \yere
about starting for Le\viston, and it \Ya
arrangeJ that
they should travel in con1pany. Doc Ho,,"ard and his
cOlnrades pretended concern in finding their occupa-
tion gone. They did not fancy \vorking in the n1Ínes,
they said; prospects for honorable elnployn1ent ,vere
not very flattering, and they \yould bv no 11leanS en-
tertain any other.; they believed they could do better
at their old stamping-ground, The Dalles.
'Vhereupon the artle
s packer
aid to then1, " Join
us; you shall be ,velcoI11e; your journey sh'lll cO:-Jt yo:!
l1othinO'; you shall each haY8 a fat 111ule t I ride, and
your l
oorer one can be turned out along ,-rith tho
stock; your presence \vill be additional protection."
)lephi
topheles himself could not haye plotted and
performed better than Doc Ho\\
ard. \'rith yillainous
gratitude the cutthroats accepted the packer's prof-
fered kindne

. All beino- in readine
s the l )arty.
ð

set out fro1l1 \Tirginia City in high
pirit
the 3d
of October. Besides the fourteen thou
ancl Jollar;-;
in gold-dust, the proceeds of his stock and part of
his pack-train, )Iagruder had relnaining t\\"enty-
ix
l11ules, ,yhich ",.ith six lllules and eight hor
eð LL
long-
ino' to Allen and other lllembers of the I Jartv, Inaù.o
ð

forty anin1al
.
POP. TBID.. VOL. I. 4.2

6J8 THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

All ,vent ,veIl until the eighth day frOlTI Bannock
City, at ,vhich tilne a point ,vas reached in the Bitter
Root l\Iountains one hundred and ninety nliles froll1
any scttleluent, being ,vest of the divide
nd bet,veen
the Clear,vater and Bitter Root RiYers. It ,vas here
Doc Ho\vard proposed to Blake his stand and execute
hiB bloody purpose. The two Inonths' counterfeit of
honesty to these 111en ,vas becolning irkson1e; phan-
tasnlS of throat-cuttings and skull-crushings had
played ,yith the imagination these 111any days, until
the cliaLolic deeds them
el ves had beconle fan1Îliar,
had been acted over and over n1any tinles, so that
,vhen the real acting of them came there \vas a cool-
ness and precision about all they did, an audacity in
the scope of their proj ect, a fearlessness of conse-
quence, a hellish abandon, an absence of race sym-
pathy and hUlnane feeling, unsurpassed in the annals
of crilne.
It ,vas bright starlight overhead, though round the
blazing camp fire the night ,vas thick ,vith dark de-
sign; ,vhite-sheeted ,vas the ground ,vith sno,v, but
black enough the hearts that harbored thi
so foul
treachery. Earth and sky sparkled in their purity;
stygian stench caIne lningled "\vith fair ,vords fronl
hUlnan breasts in ,vhich burned infernal fires. The
custom ,vas for t,vo to be on guard during the night.
The guard ,vas relieved at t"velve o'clock. It is no\v
ten, the hour appointed for the slaughter. T,yo tents
are pitched, and not far distant blazes the calnp fire.
Just over the hill the lnules are bro\vsing. In one
tent sleep the t\VO l\1issourians; in the other, Phillips,
\vith ROlnain as a bedfello,v, Allen a little apart, and
Page, 'v ho petrified ,vith fear lies buried in his blank-
ets, for he is inforn1ed of that 'v hieh is at hand, though
by reason of his sunken soul he is excused from active
participation in it. J\fagrudcr and Lo,vry are on
guard. Ho\vard lies hidden in the bushes near the
anilnals. As if returning fro1l1 the stock, Lo,yry ali-
proaches l\1:agruder, ,vho is seated by the calup fire,

)ICRDER
IOST FOUL

6,)9

and inforn1S hiln that the anilnals are restle

, and
suggests that a brush fence be thrown across the trail
to prevent their ,vandering. )Iagruder rises, takes up
his gun, fran1 ,y hich the caps have been ren10ved, and
starts off \\-ith Lo,,
ry, ,vho carries only an axc.
"Then near ,,
here Ho,vard i
, Lo\vrJ" stops and beains
to cut brush for the fence. )lagruder stoops to gather
the brush, ,vhen Lo,vry raises the axe over hin1 and
bringing it do\yn buries it in his brain. Ho,,"ar(J
rushes out, haying al
o an axe in his hand, and gives

Iagruder's head t",yO or three additional blo,vs.
Ho\vard and Lo,yry then proceed to the tent of the
t,,
o
Iissourians, and each ,vith his axe slays one.
Taking then their guns, they enter the other tent,
,vhich is the signal for Ron1ain to strike. The cry of
Phillips, as Ron1ain's axe cleaves his skull, rouses
Allen, ,vho is in1mcdiately shot by HOl\-ard, and thi

lllost belluine of butcheries is finished.
The next thing to be done "
as to cover all traces of
their foul 111urder, that it ll1ight not be too quickly
discovered, that the country n1ight not be aroused
before they should have tilne to escape it. For that
this blood should cry to heaven to be avenged, they
did not dreanl of aught else; but let 110"" the rocks
and IDountains fall on the gory evidence of their
guilt until they should make good their flight.
\..s it
,vas, eyen the sno,," and starlight "
ere painful to them;
for all nature, gro,vn satanic, seelned no,v to laugh anù
dance as in derision.
"7 rapping the bodies of the murdered Inen, son1e
in blankets and some in tents, the murderers carried
them to the top of the ridge and rolled then1 over a
precipice; ,rhen, returning to calnp, they built fires
oyer all the blood-bespotted ground, one out ,yherú

Iaaruder ,vas struck, and others over the tent floor::;,
but olil\:e the blood of 111urdered .Abel, the danlllÎng
evidence would not hllf
h. Though they nlade great
fires ,,"hich should conSUlne all lnaterial things con-
nected ,,,ith that night's \vork and thrc,y into thcm

G60 THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

the can1p equipage, pack-saddles, bridles, ropes, cook

ing utensils, and provisions; and though they after-
\yard picked fronl the ashes the pieces of iron \v hich
,yould not burn, and putting thenl into gunny bags
carried thenl do\yn tho hill and hid then1 behind a log,
thro\ving the superfluous guns into the bushes; and
though they like\vise "Tashed their bloody hands, and
buried their bloody axes, and burnt their bloody
clothes, and scattered the ashes, so that in the 1110rn-
ing scarcely a vestige of the canlp relnained; and
though they eyen thre\v off their boots and nlade
llloccasin tracks all round the place and on the ridge,
thus atteulpting to lay their accursed deed at the
door of that scape-goat of border ruffianislll, the 111uch
lllaligneJ savage-yet the all-seeing heavens \vould
not cease to cry it aloud, nor the Ï1npregnated air to
,vhisper it \vherever \vinds ble\v.
Driving the aninlals 80nle distance fron1 the trail,
across a strean1 and upon a slnall prairie, they shot
all but cight 11lUlcs and one horse. Then taking the
gold-dust \vhich they had picked fror11 the po
kets of
the 111urdered 111en, and \vhich, as is usual in such
cases, \vas not as ll)uch as they had expected to find,
they rode on to Le\viston. Entering the to\vn about
nine o'clock on the night of the 19th of October, they
put up at the Hotel de France. Foul 'll1ules they
had dropped on the ,vay; the rel11ainder of the ani-
111als, accoutred as they \vere ,vith saddles, blankets,
('ooking utensils, and guns, they left \yith a friend, to
be called for. Page then proceeded to the stage office
at the Luna House and engaged seats for four pas-
sengers to \Valla \Valla, registering the lUtlUeS as
SUllth, Bro\vn, Perkins, and Clark.
As Inight have been expected, these foolish pro-
ceedings on the part of the robbers did not pass un-
noticed at Le\viston. Page had beell recugnized by a
,yatclullan \vhilc disposing of the anilnals; and at the
stage office next 1110rning the four Ulen alls\yering to
the four cOIlln10npiace nan1es \yere closely regarded

.

HILL BEACHY PURSuES.

GOI

by Hill Beachr, the staO'e ao-ent , and others. After
.., .J 0 0
they had started the staae-driver noticed that theY
.., ,::) "-
carried considerabl
gold-du
t. Continuing their jour-
ney to San FrancI
co, ,,-here\
er they
topped they
a

unled ne\y naines, and frequently depo
ited their
gold \"ith the hotel clerk for safe-keepinO" durin<T the
night. Arl'i \-ed at San Francisco, Pacre ð and L
)\YrY
took lodgings in a priyate hou
e, \yhil
Ho\\.arù all
l
Iloinain ,vent tu the Lick Hou
e. The gold-du
t
they depo
itecl at the 111Ïnt for coinage.
)Iean\yhile the people of Le\visto11 ,,-onder ,,-here

Iagruder is. and \y hy he does not Inake his appear-
anCe. ]'ro111 the Beayer Head country IHen ar1'i\Te
saying that the packer's party had left t\VO days be-
fore thenl and should no\y be there. The staO'e-driyer
ð
returning reports certain peculiarities of the four pa
-
senger
. Closely follo\\-ing the surrni
es hence a1'-
ri ying COllle tidings of the - dead bodies of Allen aUll
Phillips, kno\Yl1 to haye been of the )Iagruder party,
aud the air round Le\viston become::, thick \vith bU:-O:-
pIClon.
Taking the affair fro1l1 this point, \y hat follo\ys
forcibly illu
trates the difference bet\\
een the aLility
and energy of court official
and the average n1an of
bu:-,iness in ferreting crin1inals and bringing the III to
punishu1ent. Eyery thought and action of the one i

han1pered by forln, \yhile the other is free to ell11'loy
hi
\yit8 and to follu\v theln. A IDost diabolical nlurder
has been conullittecl; th
bodie
of
lain citizen
are
lyinO" in the n10untains \"hile their butchers are riot-
" 0
ing upon the procèed
of tlJeir crinle in the city. And
there la\\T \yould leave the Il1atter iUlpotent to a\"'engc:
but so \vill not Hill Beachy. True, interest and
friendship unite to spur the stage agent. There i=-,
a large aillount of n10ney involved; reports of
uch
,\-holcsalc slaughter alung the lllain line of travel in
Idaho circulated about the \yorld can Lut bl) clanl-
a<-1'ino- to his bu
illcss, by deterring inlllligratic)ll;
)lag
uder is a man of faulÌly, a per
onal fi'iend of

.

662 THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

Beachy. But if our system of public service and
our court enginery ,vere \v hat they should be, ,vere
"That those \yho live by thel11 affect to believe thenl,
surely there should be senne means of lnanufacturing
ellthusiam in the breast of a public officer.
Going round \vhere the anin1als \vere stabled, Hill
Beachy recognizes the hor
e anlI one of the lnules as the
property of l\Iagruder; like,yise a saddle and canteen,
the forIner ,vith blood upon it, he kno\vs to have been
l\Iagruder's. Further investigation fixed the iJentity
of the four pal:5senger8. The stage agent no\v reU1elll-
bers their presence and departure east\vard about the
tilne
fagruder \vent a,vay. As if by inspiration the
'v hole plot flashe8 upon hinl. l\lagruJer is n1urdered
for his 1110ney, and the four 111en are the l1lurderers.
'Vith scarcely a lllolnent's hesitation the stage agent
deteru1ines to follow' the assassins and bring then1 to
justice. vVithuut difficulty he tracks thorn to San
Francisco and secures their arrest.
Says Page in his confession: "Lo,vry stopped \yith
In8 at this private house on Dupont street; ,ye \vere
arresteJ by Captain Lee8 of the police at this house;
the other t,vo ,vere at the Lick House. When ,ve
,vere first arrested ,ve ,vere put into a private 1'00111
and guarded closely. IIo,vard ,vas acquainted ,vith
the captain of police; there ,vas an arrangeluent to
get out a ,vrit of habeas corpus; the captain ,vas to
have all but one thousand dollars; after this ,ve \yere
all put together so ,ve coul(! tell one tale." The at-
ternpt to release the prisoners under a ,vrit of habeas
corp'Us failing after ooveral hearings before the court,
the four Inell ,vere delivered to the stage agent, 'v ho
had been s,vorn in as deputy-sheriff, and ,vith the as-
sistance of t\VO Inell ,vho had accolnpanied hin1 frOnl
Idaho the prisoners 'v ere brought back to Le,viston,
,vhere they arrived 011 the 8th of Decen1ber, stopping
at the Luna House.
In other times, before and since, these n1en ,yould
have been seized and hanged by the people before

TRL\L AXD EXECUTIOX.

663

ever they had reached Le,,
iston. \\Tithin the year
the Le\viston ,Tigilance Committee had executed
three men for a tithe of the present vil1ainy. On this
occasion, as if by con1n10n consent, it "
as resolyed to
let the la \v do the "
ork. They haù a ne,v goyernor,
a ne\v judge, and bright unu
ed court machinery;
of all ,y hich they ,yere \
ery proud. They "
ere tired of
stringing and strangling, and "
ere only too o-lad that
their great and good uncle at ", ashington l1ad sent
then1 these thief-traps and rogue-exterlninators, and
no\y they ,vere curious to see them in operation.
Hence it "
as ,,-hen the four prisoners entered to\yn
there ,vas no violent demonstration, and they \yere
allo\ved to remain in the stage agent's hands, as a
deputy-officer of the la,y, during trial.
Previou
to the trial Page Inade a fun confession,
,,'hich rendered the ,york of the court easy, aud for
". hich he \\ya s excused fron1 being hanged. It 1s another
of the oddities of la,v that the puni
hn1ent of one
of the vilest ,inain
of the gang i
mitigated as a re-
,yard for yet 1110re dastardly meanness, enticed thereto
by the la"T in the hope of saying hinlself at the ex-
pen
e of his comrades. Tried and cOl1dcnlued, though
denying the truth of Page'
staten1ent, Ho\vard,
Lo,,-ry, and Romain \yere executed at Le,YÍ:3ton the
4th of :JIarch 186-1. Page ,yas shot by a lo,y charac-
ter at Le,,-iston the 25th of December 1866 and in-
stan tl y killed.

\Vhen in ::\Iay 186-1 the Iùaho ,Tigilance Cornnlittee
su
pended active operations they summed up the \vork
accoll1plished, and found the result to be t\venty-seyen
thieves and murdercrs hanged and a gang of desper-
adoes broken up during the year previous. These
had murdercd nlore than a hundred 111en, be::;ides COlll-
rnittinO' nUlnerous minor J'obberÍe
.
The o COlllnlittee at this tiu1c did not disorganize
nor eyen di
band; they luerely rested for a tillle.
But this rest "yas of ::;hort duration. Crinle, intill1Ï-

Gû4 THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

dated for the lllOITlent, broke out ane,v, and the Conl-
luittee found it an absolute necessity again actiyely to
take the field. T,yo years later \ve hear froin thenl
in the follo\ving incident:
The grand jury reporting at Idaho City in l\lay
1864 found nine bills for lnurder and thirty for assault
\yith deadly ,veapons, \vhich for the la\v \vas doing
ycry wrell in a t(nvn so ne\v as to have nl'ither church
nor school, and, as in the ruby days of California, \v here
large anù brilliantly lighted ganl bling sa1uons \yere in
full blast day and night \vith loaded tables, revolvers,
and bands of 111usic.
A vigilance C'Olllll1ittee \vas formed at Payette ,T al-
ley in the \vinter of 1864-5 for the purposo of clearing
that neighborhood of the nUHlerous horBe-thieves and
gold-dust counterfeiters. A den of these counterfeiters
\vas broken up about the 1st of January, their ilnple-
nlents being seized. These consisted of a n1Ïll in \vhich
they grouuù their bogus dust, a lot of spolter, and
80nlO crucibles. Five 111en \vere captured. There \vas
an inlluediate scattering of the fraternity in every
direction. Sonle fled to Auburn, others \vent over
into the Grande Ronde Valley, and others crossed the
11lonntains to vVana WaHa. In boldness and duplicity
the desperadoes of the region round Payette anù
Burnt rivers equalled any in the Pacific States. Pack-
trains \vere frequently \vaylaid, such of the 11ler-
chandi
e taken as the robbers could use, and the nlules
driven off High\vaY111en and cattle-thieves often
dressed as Indians and took special care that the
ground about the scene of an onslaught should be
\vell covered "J'ith llloccasin tracks. In one of their
caInps ,yore found by a surprise party all the para-
phernalia for Indian in1Îtation, bo\vs, arro\vs, tOlna-
ha\vks, skins, scalps, and the like.
In Idaho at this tinle politics ,vas a sentiment ,vhich
affected local interests about as 111uch as an Alaskan
north \vind affects a norther of the l\Iexican gulf. In
the sunnner of 1865 a gambler, Patterson, a secos-

TilE GA
IBLER PATTERSOX.

G6.3

sionist and den10crat, shot an ex-sheriff, Pinkhan1, a
union luan and republican. The forlner saved hin1sclf
froin popular fury Ly iUllncdiately deliycring hilU-
self to the lay\'". The grand jury "?a
in se
:--,ion at the
tin1e, but failed to inJict hiln, and he '\?a
held for
another grand jury. :\Iean,,?llile the people thought
they sa,,? JllOre politics than justice in the proceedincrs,
and organized a vigilance comn1ittee for the purp
o.;e
of taking Patterson fron1 jail and hangin u ' hill1. The
authorities, la,y and order Incn, and f'ec
s
ion f'Vll1-
pathizers rallied to the protection of the prisoner, "'and
gathered round the jail to the nUlllber of one hundred
and fifty lnen, ,veIl arrned ,,'ith rifles and revol \?er
.
Opposed to thell1 gathered three hundred arn1ed
citizens. Each side dre"r up in battle- array. The
citizens occupied the streets leading to the prison and
the hills adjacent. After three days' lnanæuvring,
attended by no little In'HtuIn fulnlcH, the people ,yith-
dre\" their forces, leaving the felon-\vor
hippèrs lnas-
ters of the situatioll. Party Bpirit ,vas the actuating
1110tive on either side rather than sin1ple love of
justice, and firing on('e begun, a bloody battle ,,?oul
l
have been the inevitable result. In due till1e the case
,,-as brought to trial; the prisoner ,\?as found not
guilty, and, ,yith the congratulations of the judge, ,vas
disc harged.
Says the Boisé City StatesJì
ctn of the 3d of Sep-
telnber 18G5:

"'Ye doubt if the legal annals of any country on the continent can present
a parallel to this state of things. People have ceased to feel that life is pro-
tected by the law; they have ceased to feel that punishment follows crime;
and hence good men, who would gladly let the law take its course if it could
be enforced, feel that they must either protect themselves without the forms
of law or they will be a prey to a legal lawlessness worse than mob rule itself.
'Ye knO\\ that this is a bad state of things. "... e can realize why men feel
drÏ\yen to the desperate expedient of lynch law, and while we do not approve
we feel hardly able to denounce it.
" There should be no excuse for such things. If men in authority did their
dtÜy there would he none. It is the abiding con,ictiol1 of many of the hest
men in lloisé County that the machinery of the courts i::; but a farce to ena.ble
criminals to escape. It is not a thirst fot' blovd on the part of good dtizcliS

666

THE POP"L
AR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

that leads them to encourage vigilant organization, but it is a desire for justice,
a wish for l)rotection, and a belief that there is no other means for attaining
the end. "
hen men like Patterson are surrounded by a crowd of roughs who
evince a ,-letermination to l)revent a fair trial according to the form of law,
then the better class cease to respect those forms. It is notorious that Patter-
son, instead of being treated as any otheJ;' person charged with crime, is the
recipient of the finest hospitalities that the jail affords. A fine room, fitted
up in the best style for a gentleman, not inside, but outside the prison, is his
house. He is surrounded by guards whom many honest men belieye unsafe
and untrustworthy, who they believe intend simply to l)rotect him from his
enemies, and not enforce the law if it should be against him. He walks the
street "\vith a single man at his side, and from whom if he chose he coulù
escape at any moment. Now if he Le entirely innocent, we tell the authorities
it is no way to enforce the law. You bring discredit on yourselves by this
conduct if you are acting in gooù faith. Treat all criminals alike; show a dis-
l)osition to enforce the law against all in the same just way, and no one will
suspect your integrity. Show to the people that though a man may have
friends by hundreds banded for his protection, the law shall have due
course, and they will cease to complain and organize to execute the law for
themselves. "

Up to this tin1e, if ,ve may believe the district at-
torncy, \vithin the lilnits of Boisé County there had
occurred SOlne sixty deaths by violence ,vithout a
single conviction of n1urder in the first degree. So
late as January 1866, there ,vas no territorial prison
in Idaho and no prison facilities for the safe-keeping
of territorial prisoners other than tho provisons that
the county jails of Boisé and N cz Percés should be
considered such ten1porarily. Every l1e\v C0111111unity
is obliged at an early date to provide lodgn1ent and
food for its evil-doers; and among the first contribu-
tions the people are called upon to Inake are those for
the building of some structure, perhaps the 11l0St inl-
posing in the state, as a caravansary for crilninals.
Thus it is that, ,vhether at large or under confinclnent,
thieves and IIlurderors subsist at the expense of the
honest and industrious. It is little ,yonder, theu, that
Í1npatient border men should favor short shrift for these
troubleso111e and expensive verlnin. It i::j a sad COln-
lllentary on human nature that the cry of penitentiary
is heard as anlong the first nccessities of association.
Punishlnent constitutes the prÏ1nary pleasure of gov-
crnlllent.

BOISÉ VIGIL...-L.,CE.

667

David C. Updyke, sheriff and tax-collector of Ada
County, \vas arrested on the 28th of September 1865,
charged ,vith defrau?ing the revenue and for failing
to arrest \Vest JenkIns. Alfred Slocu1l1, trea::;urer of
Boisé County, \va
arrested in January 1866 for de-
falcation to the aillount of about eight thousanù dol-
lars. Updyke ,vas soon at liberty, under bonds, but
they "
ere bonds \vhich "
ere easily broken.
The Ada County \
olunteers, of \vhich Reuben
RaYlTIOnd and John C. Clark "
ere melTIbers, had re-
cently returned fronl a raid upon the natives. The
2d of .April18GG a case concerning transportation for
the company "as before the court, in \vhich RaYlnond
testified. X ext lllorning about nine o'clock, \vhile
RaY1110nd and another \yere disputing about the facts
in the evidence, Clark came up, joined in the quarrel,
and soon Rayn10nd gave hin1 the lie. Thereupon
Clark ru
hed upon Ra
rn10nd, \vho dodged and dre\y
his pistol. Clark then dre\\T. To SOlne by-stander3
"Tho no\v attempted to interfere, RaYlllond said,
" Don't be afraid; I an1 not going to shoot."
" Shoot I" cried Clark, "I'll} going to fire."
" I don't ,vant to shoot," returned Raymond; "I'll
give you the first shot."
One ,vould think so 111agnanin10us an offer ,,"ould
have disarlTIed any but a venonlOUS reptile. Taking
deliberate aiin Clark pulled the trigger. The cap
snapped ,vithout exploding the charge. .....\gain he
repeated the operation, this time ,,-ith fatal effect.
RaYll10nd made no attenlpt to shoot; he roceiyeù
Clark's ball in the abdomen, and next day dietl.
Cark 'V3S committed for murder.
On the niaht of the 7th of -L\.pril, Clark ,yas taken
frolll the gu
rd-house at Boi
é City Ly some t\ycnty
Inasked lTIen and hanged ju
t outside the to\Yll, upon
3 giLbet constructed ,yith three pole
. Pinned to one
of the poles "
a
the follo\ying notice:
'- Xo. 1.
"Justice has now commenced her righteous work. This suffering com-
munit
.) which has alreaùy lain too long u.nder the Lan of ruffianism, shall

6GB

THE POPULAR TTIIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

now be renovated of its thieves and assassins. FOl'bearance has at last cease;l
to be a virtue, and an outraged community has nlost solemnly resolved on
self-protection. Let this Elan'S fate be a terrible warning to all his kinù, for
the argus eye of justice is no 1110re sure to see than her arm will be certain t()
strike. The soil of this b8autiful valley shall no longer be des
crated by t!le
presence of thieves and assassins. This fatal example has no terror for the
i;.mocent, but let the guilty beware, and not delay too long, and take warning.
" XXX, "

Says the Carson L-11J]Jeal of the 28th of April 18GG:
"It will be remembered that Clark was recently committed to answer to
the charge of murdering Reuben Raymond. He was deemed guilty of wilfùl
murder, and the citizens prevented his living long to enjoy the achievem';nt.
He waB forcibly taken from prison and executed by men in disguise. Parties
who condenmed the act and actors soon found their occupation gone. The city
was threatened with fire, and everybody thus warned is prepared and will
pæveut incen(
iarism. :From all we can learn, if a certain behavior is notice-
able, there will be considerable work for the coroner, undertaker, and se>...ton
at the capital. 'Ve hear it stated that this is an extension of the
Iontana
Committee, and that all the through and cross stage lines are favorable to the
organization; also that leading citizens lend their smiles. In view of the
pro
pt and scientific manner of execution just adopted i
l Idal1O, l!.wn of ille-
f;itimate occupations would do well to reform or nnigratc. Eovlcver wrong
the method of punishment, facts must not be ignored. 1 t dOll't change the
rC:l1 state of facts to charge the vigilants 'with the commission of the same
crime of which tllCir victims were guilty. The Boiséites have others in view,
or why label th
s subject No. I?"

On Saturday the 14th of April 1866 the body of
D. C. IT pdyke ,vas discovered at Sirup Creek, hang-
ing in a shed bet,vcen tw'o houses, ,vith the follo,ving
notice pinned to the Lody:
" DAVE UPDYKE,
"The aider of murderers and borse-thieves.

"XXX. "

N ext day a fc,v n1ilcs dO\Yll the creek the Lody of
Jall1es Dixon ,vas found hanging to a tree. l\fonJay
luorning, posted on l\lain street, Boisé City, ,vrittcn
by the san1e hand that ,vrote the notice fastened to
the s,vinging Lodies, ,vas the follu,ving:
" DAVE UPDYKE,
" Accessory after the fact to the rort N euf stage robbery.
" Accessory and accomplice to the robbery of the stage near Boisé City in
18G4. .
"Chief conspirator ill L.t1rning property on the ovelland stage line.

UPDYKE, DIXOX, CLARK.

CG9

"Guilty of ai'ding and assisting ""est Jenkins, the murderer, and ot!J.er
criminals to escape, while you were sheriff of Ada County.
" .Accessory and accomplice to the murder of Raymond.
" Threatening the lives and property of an already outraóed and sufrerL.'g
community.

"Justice has overtaken you.

"-Xxx. .,

" J ARE DIXON,
"Horse-thief, counterfeiter,
nd road agent generally.
" A dupe and tool of Dave Upd}-ke.

" XXX. "
"All the living accomplices in the abovE:' crimes are known through
Cpdyke's confession, and will surely be attended to.
"The roll is being called.

" XXX. "

Commenting upon the execution of Clark, and on
affairs in general, the Idaho Statesnlon of the 2
d of
rl.pril says:

"For something more than two years this territory has been ridl1en and
ruled by both organized and unorganized bands of men, who have maùe high-
way and private robbery, burglary, and murder when necessary for that pu
-
pose, their profession; juries and officers of the courts have been terrified by
their threats from a discharge of their duties, and in some instances they ha,-e
succeeded in being elected to offices of trust only to betray the too confiding
public into the hands 'ðf their bloody confederates, or to assist criminals to
escape rather than to discharge their duty by bringing them to justice. Bur-
glary, robbery, and murder were of almost daily occurrence and defied detec-
tion. And when there was a faithful officer to take the track of an offender,
he soon found his prey so well guarùed by confederates that capture was all
lJUt an impossibility. .And when, as it sometimes happened, an arrest was
made, witnesses, jurors, and prosecuting officers were threatened with sj1eedy
death if they dared to go 011 in the discharge of their duty. to such an extent
that criminal trials have become a mockery. Good citizens have trembled for
their personal safety for ha,ing ser,-ed on a grand jury. The express anù
stage companies haye been obliged to conduct their operations v; ith the utmost
secrecy to ayoid robbery by yillains whom they knew to be daily in their
offices and on their stages watching for opportunities of plunùer. If a mer-
chant intenùed to leaye town on business he used every precaution to conceal
the time of his departure, so as to lessen t!le chances of being rohhed. It is
useless to state what is so notorious a fact, that a multitude of the foulest
murders haye gone entirely unpunished. To such a degree has this state of
things
xistecl that the law seemed to present no check to whatm-er outra
cs
the yillains that habitually prey upon society choose to commit. It is true
the territory had laws, but a reign of terror prevented tlwir e
ecution.
pace
forbids us to mention the numerous atrocities that make up the lon
list COl'l-
mitted here in Boisé City, The last one was the deliberate mllrùer of TIay-
mond, because he testified to the truth in a court of law. Before his almost

B70

THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

lifeless body was remoyec1 from the place where he fell, D. C. Updyke stepped
up to a prominent citizen of this place and significantly said, 'That affair
grew out of the lawsuit yesterday, and there will be many more like it,' The
whole tenor of the preliminary examination of Clark gave the assurance that
the same means that had defeated justice so often before were to be used to
their utmost in this case. That Clark was committed to await trial, and after-
ward seized and executed, is well known. Updyke was most ferocious in his
threats against several citizens, whom he charged with having a hand in the
execution, and finally as he left town announced his intention of returning to
pay Boisé City one more visit to get even, or to that effect. He has been ex-
ecuted, as also a confederate who went away with him. As to the terror that
has reigned for the last two years, it has come to an end. Good citizens and
peaceable men walk the streets and go about their business in comparative
safety. The grand jury that is now in session, when their labors are done,
may disperse without danger of being assassinated for the discharge of their
duty. There is no alarm in the community and no terror for anyone except
those who prey upon society aud their fellow-men. Such is the exact conùi-
tion of affairs to-day."

The Idaho TTTorlcl, printed at Idaho City, ,vas the
la,v and order, delnocratic, and anti-vigilance organ of
tho day. The Idaho StateS11'LCtn, printed at Boisé City,
favored tho vigilance party. One sa,v evil in every
popular 1110venlont; the other only good. The death
of P.
1.
Ic]\Ianus, reported as the result of the
accidental diseharge of his O\Vl1 pistol on the night
of the 8th of August 18G7
is charged directly by the
TVorlcl upon the Vigilance COlnnlittee as a murder.
All in due time it can1e round, ho,vever, that 111ur-
derers ,vere porlnitted to pursue their avocations in
peace; so that ,,
hen, on the 31st of 1\Iarch 1868, J.
l\larion J\Iore, the discoverer of Boisé Basin, ,vas
kil1ed, the TVorld cOlnplilnented the people on their
good behavior. The killing of 1\Iore grc,v out of a
dispute bet,vcen the Ida ElInore and the Golden
Chariot Inining con1panics, involving the boundary
lines of the respective clainls. In the dispute l\Iore
had acted on behalf of the Ida Elnlore clainl. l\Iat-
ters ,vere satisfactorily adjusted bet\veen the com-
panies; and it "'
as in an after discussion, n1Ïngled
,vith fiery potations, that the killing occurred.
JimnlY Powers, JimnlY Reed, and Jack O'Neal
'vere taken from prison at Bear River City the night

LAXITY OF LA 'V.

6il

of the 10th of N oyelnber 1868.
ext morninO' the
bodies ,vere found suspended from a bealn of the build-
ing ,vith a notice pinned to each to the effect that
other garroter::) of that or other bands if cauO'ht ,,?ould
be sinlilarlv treated. 0
Chung, KUIn, and Fung, each with an Ah before
his nanle, seized a fourth Ah at Grimes Creek in Oc-
tober 1869, ,,
hom they clailned had spirited a,yay fiye
hundred dollars of their earnings, kno,vledcre of the
,,-hereabouts of ,,
hich they hoped to reacl1 hy the
')Ielican proce
s of strangulation. A butcher happen-
ing to pass, notice ,vas given of the affair; the China-
Ulan in chancery "
as released anJ his tormentors
conllnitted.
In 1870 the Idaho Statesnlctn thus revie,vs the
annals of criule in that territory for the eight previous
years:

" Four men haye been shot to death in Idaho during the last two weeks.
And something like two hundred bave been hurried into eternity during the
last eight years at the bands of violence, a large proportion of them downright
murders. Five murderers only have been hanged by the courts in the same
length of time, three of them the villains who killed
Iagruder, the fourth
Sim 'Yalters, who killed Bacon, the fifth one Anthony
IcBride, who mur-
dered a Chinaman three years ago.
Iany of these murderers have gone to
other territories, and in turn got killed or hanged; some have died, some are
scattered about, and the remainder are still in Idaho running at large. One
or two, we belieye, by some mismanagement are in prison, but will no doubt
be released at the term of court being held at Idaho City. The ratio of
bloody crime is increasing anù will increase until the law is more rigorously
enforced. "

James )l."\V ood had lain in the Le,viston jail some
six nlonths for the murder of Thomas Duffey, and
had been tried and convicted, ,,
hen Governor Ballard
conlnluted the death sentence to inlprisonment for
life. The people, ho"rever, from the first had deter-
Inined the Inan should die. About four o
clock on the
n10rning of the 13th of January 1870, a body of
armed l11en disguised as Indians approached the
prison, and ,vhile some of them quieted the jailer ,yith
their displaJ
of pistols, others took the prisoner to

672

THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF IDAHO.

the junction of the Clear,vater and Snake rivers, and
in an unoccupied building hanged hin1 until dead.
This action 011 the part of the people ,vas not the re-
sult of 11101nentary excite111ent, but of 1110nths of cahn
reflection. They felt that a great crilllc had been
COlllluitted, that the luan \V ood had had a fair trial,
a.nd that the verdict of the jury ,vas just. They could
not therefore see justice roLLed by a ,yeak or corrupt
official.
Reyie,ving the past and surveying the present, the
editor of the Idaho Stctles7nan the 25th of Juno 1870
,vri tes :
" In all newly settbd countries we naturally expect for a while a laxity in
the enforcement of laws and an undue prevalence of crime. Illaho cannot,
or at least should not, be classed under this head. 'Ve haye Leen an organ-
izell territory fer over seven years. During that period .we have enjoyed
everything allowed by the central government to a territory; we bave our
schools, churches, ch-ic societies, and newspapers; we are within prompt and
early communication with the commereial marts of trade and centres of iute!.
ligence, rcEnement, and. civilization. \Ve have our courts of justice,
n able
and intelligent b:1r, jails, and. a penitentiary for the reception of malefactors.
But not-withstanding all this, if asked. if crime is lJunished, we are compelled
to answer in the negative. Since the organization of the tBrritoI'Y there have
been but two legal executions in the counties of Ada, Boisé, Alturas, and
Owyhee. :Murders have been so numerous during the same period that ,,>;-e
are unprepared to give the list without consulting the records. \Ve will take,
however, the past year, commencing with July 4, lSG9: In t!le cities of
Silver, Boisé, and Idaho, in a little o'.e1' eleven months, eight murders hayc
l)een committed. Of this number four of the perpetrators were acquittetl;
one is still confined in jail, trial having been postponell on the plea of insanity,
which, as we all know, is equivalent to acquittal; one was convicted of man-
B
aughter and sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, but pardonetl after
about two months' confinement, on the petition of numerous citizens of
Owyhee, it having been represented hy them to the executi\Te that he haù
shot the wrong man, therefore no crime was committed, and the killing was
lawful. Another case, a Chinaman, upon being convicted of murder and sen.
tenced to be hanged, committed suicide, showing that he concurred with the
verdict of the jury. Shooting and stabbing affrays have also occurred during
the same period, not resulting in death, too trifling, howe\'er, to attract the
attention of the people. How does all this appear abroatl? Is it calculated to
encourage immigration? Can we expect our fertile valleys to be filled with an
industrious class of farmers, our cities with intelligent mechanics and arti-
sans? 1\0; such people only emigrate to places where laws are enforceù,
peace and quiet prevail, and life and property are protected.
"\Vherein does the remedy for these evils lie? Chiefly wi
h the court.

"-ALTERS
-\.XD
L\I
IS.

CJ;3

A judge bhould go on the bench firm and impartial, with the courage and
learning not only to vindicate the majesty of the law, but also to do justice to
the pIÎsoner, whoever he or she may be. ,\ e can relate at least one criminal
trial, of very recent occurrence, in which the unmistakable and unwarrantable
bias of the judge, David Xoggle, had the effect of creating in the mind of the
jury a determination to acquit. Again, another evil to be done a\\ay \\ith is
the reckless and unthinking manner in which petitions are gotten up in behalf
of convicted felons. A morbid feelin
of mistaken friemlship in a few awakens
in the breast of the many a sickly sentiment which wrongfully assumes the garb
of mercy, thus indirectly briving encouraóement to the further perpetration of
acid of crime. Thi;:, subject will bear referring to again, and we shall do it
until the people have awakened to the necessity of a strict eniorcement of the
law against those who shed human blood so recklessly."

.At Idaho City, at eleven o'clock the 21
t of July
1870, the prisoners, seven or eight in number, took
forcible possession of the jail. The keepers ,vere
driyen ,,?ithin the grating and confined there; the
prisoners then ßeized the arms and partially rnade
their escape. The citizen
quickly rallied and cap-
tured all but one, 'Villiams, frOITI O\yyhee. There was
considerable firing and three -were ,younded.
There ,vas a man named 'Valters lying in the
Lewiston jail, "Tho, according to the terms of his sen-
tence, should have been executed the 9th of June
1871, but to the indignation of the people the sheriff
tàiled to perform his duty. Hence it ,vas the Indian
disO'uise "
a
ao'ain assumed by the Committee, and
u 0 L
on the night of the day on ,vhich 'Valters "
as to
have suffered, the jail ,yas forced and the prisoner
executed. It seems that the prosecuting attorney had
persuaded the sheriff that the sentence "'"as illegal, and
that it was his duty to disregard it. .The gallo,vs had
been erected the day before the executIon, but had been
subsequently taken do,,'"n by friends of the prisoner.
Simms, a resident of Payette Valley, ,vas hanged
by the people in
Iay 1874 on a charge of fraudu-
lently concealing cattle helonging to a l\Irs Ray.
POP. TRm,. VOL. I. 43

CHAPTER XXXV.

POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF MONTANA.

Tender-handeò stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.
'Tis the same with common natures,
Use 'em kindly, they rebel;
But be rough as nutmeg graters,
And the rogues obey you well.
A a"'on Hill.

MONTANA, that is to say montafía, or mountain,
dates its territorial organization l\lay 1864, prior to
,vhich time it ,vas part of Idaho, fronl tho north-
eastern portion of ,vhich territory it ,vas 1110stly taken.
The region is rich in agricultural resources as ,yen
as in Ininerals. 1\lore than a quarter of a century
ago the Jesuits founded a nlission on the Cæur d'Alêne
River, and there taught the savage tribes the gentle
precepts of the Christian faith.
In the spring of 1862, in Deer Lodge VaHey and
on HeH Gate River, gold ,vas first discovered ,vithin
the limits of this territory. Silver \vas -first found at
Rattlesnake Creek opposite Argenti, and shortly after
at Prickly Pear Creelc The Bannock City or Grass-
hopper Inines, on Grasshopper Creek, 'v ere discovered
in July of the sanJe year. In Fair\veather Gulch, a
rich Inining district through ,vhich flo,vs Alder Creek,
a tributary of the Stinking Water, are situated the
.."ioi-disant cities of Virginia, the capital of l\Iontana,

evada, and SUIDlllit. North of Bannock and Virginia,
at the Prickly Pear nlining district, is the to\vn of'
Helena. At the Rattlesnake silver mines on Rattle-
( 674 J

PLU
I
IER THE SHERIFF.

ß7.")

snake
reek, ten miles north-east frolll Bannock City,
is :\Iontana City , founded in 1865. For a "Tilderness
v ,
whose largest settlements can boast no better town
than a huddle of log and board huts, this is a \vonderful
country for indigenous cities.
Sheriff of
Iontana in 1863 was Henry Plullliller,
chief of the road agent band. )Ian.r and contra-
dictory are the versions given of his early life. He
caIne to California in 1852, settling for 3 fe\y years in

eYada City, where in 1856 he was made marshal.
Before his tern1 of office had expired he ,"vas conyicted
of the murder of "\T edder, a German, fronl \vhom he
had alienated his "Tife, and \vas sentenced to ten years'
iUlprisonrnent, but on the plea of ill- health was par-
doned by Goyernor "Teller. Another murderous a
-
:,ault, \y"'hich ultinlately proyed fatal, and a ::;tage
robbery follo,,"ed; for the latter he ,vas tried but
acquitted. No,," his record of crinle beconles rapidly
lengthened; he breaks jail, and assisting in the escape
of :\Iayfield, another murderer, eventually reaches
Bannock, ::\Iontana, \vhere his career ends. He had

luded pursuit on his "Tar thither through notices
that he hinlself had published in California papers of
his execution in "T ashington Territory.
Henry Plummer \vas not only a most daring nlan,
but a leader \v ho carried everything before hilli. In
spite of his established character he secured the elec-
tion for himself as sheriff not only of Bannock but of
Virginia, and the appointments of his road agents
as deputies. Bannock llO\Y became the heall-quarter

of a noted band of cutthroats and high,,-aYlnen.
For a time this worked adlnirabl.r for the rough-:;,
as they cOlùd rob and lllurder ,vith ilnpunity. ....\.Jter
they had killed over one hundred and t\yenty citi-
zens, and plundered stages, express shipnlent?, and
private individuals, no one dared to leave ""lth or
send money or dust out of the country. Anyone
\yho dared to demur to this order of things or sug-
gest that the robbers "Tere other thall honest men

G7G POPULA
R TRIBUNALS OF )10XTA
A.

and gentlemen, did so at the inln1Ïnent peril of life
and fortune.
U nrIer such conditions travellers ,yere entirely at
the nlercy of the band, and ,,"'hile I give some fe,,'"
details of their crirnes, many atrocities ,,-ere COln-
u1Ítted \vhich are unrecorded and unkno,vn. Their
Hystem of stage robbery ,vas lllOSt cOlnplete, as is
illustrated by the follo,ving incident: In October 1863,
as Peabody and Cald,vell's coach ,vas en 'route for
Bannock, carrying considerable gold-dust and several
passengers, difficulty ,vas experienced in obtaining
horses; t,vo or three tin1es it \vas found that the
corrals ,vere elnpty, and Inen ,vere despatched to hunt
the lnissillg
t.ock. At Denlpsey Cotton,vood Rancho,
a rendezvous tor Plun11ner's band, they took up as a
passenger Dan l\fcFadden, better kno\vn as 'BUII1-
Iner Dan'; at Rattlesnake Rancho, ,vhich ,vas not
reached till evening, o,ving to the delay, they found
that here also the horses ,vere turned out. Another
delay of several hours. and then ,vith ,vorn-out teanl

the heavy load \vas again on its '\
ay. All this delay
,vas in furtherance of the plans of the road agents.
Bill Bunton no,v Illounted the driver's seat, ostensibly
to assist ,vith the ,vhip. Before long he left the
driver, Runlsey, to Inanage the horses alone, and
entering the coach sat beside Bun1nler Dan. In less
than five n1inutes the coach came to a stop; t,vo men,
Illumed in hoods and blanketB, ordered a "halt," and
,vit.h raised rifles and the dialect of a Dutchlnan told
the driver to "thro,v up his arlTIs." At the same 1110-
lllent their accolllplices in the stage Inanifested the
greatest terror, by ,yay of exarllple to the other pas-
sengers; and at the cOlllllland of the high,vaymen
all got out of the stage and thre,v up their arlllS.
Bunton begged piteously for life and gave. them his
purse, as did also BUII1mer Dan, ,vhile the other pas-
sengers ,vere searched, offering no resistance. In this
robbery t,venty-eight hundred dollars \vere secureù
by the lxuHl. Frank Parish and George I yes ,vere

A
L
T OF THE
I.

G;7

the two high\vaynlen in this instance. 'Vhen the
stage reached Bannock notice ,vas at once given at
Peabody's express office, where George Hilderman,
another accomplice, was in ,vaiting to ascertain ,yhethcr
anyone ,vas suspected or recognized. V{hile no lllUl'-
tIer ,vas at this time cOllinjtted, it \vould have been
done if there had been any provocation.
Other stage robberle
follo,ye(l through the 1'8-
]uainc1er of the YC-'[ll', inyol,
ing the loss of life and
property to a lllost alarnling extent. The cuhninatin o '
deed ,vas the murder of one Xichola
Ibalt, on th

13th of Deceulber 1863. \vhu had brouaht one hun-
ð
dred and fifty dollar:-; to Denlpsey's rancho, ,,
here he
"
a
to purchase u}ules for hi:, enlployers. Hi
body
,,-a::-. discovered uya hunter namell Pahne r , ,vho shot a
prairie-chicken, ,;hich fell al11011g some ,yillo,y" on the
hanks of a streaUl near Denlpsey'R rancho. Palnlcr,
pursuing his prey. to his surpri
e and horror
tunlble(l
over the body of Ibalt. I t \va
brought to X t'yacla
and identified. There \va:o; great exciteillent oyer the
tidings, and the first vigilance conlnlittee of
Iontana
\vas organized that yery night, it'S first ,york being to
:-5earch for the perpetrators of this crime; and at ten
o'clock t\Yenty-fi\
e lllen, ,vho had f:;ubscribed to arti
le

of agreement, left
evada intent on the capture of
the villains.
Suspicion had fallen on t\yO herders ernployed by
Delllpsey, \vho hall assisted Ibalt in
tarting, and
\vho, bJ reason of their a

ociate
, did not enjoy' a
very good reputation. They liyed in a little hut
about t\VO miles froll1 the house occupied hy )1 r
Dempsey and family" On yisiting this h
t of tht>
herder:5, there ,yere found Long John, or a,; lll
lllothel'
\\-ould say, John French, George Hilderman, "
hiskey
Bill, Texaq Bob, George I \.e
, and ..L-\Jexander Carter:
a full nest of them.
All "
ere al'ested and taken to X evada City,
Ioll-
tana, \vhere on the 19th of Decen1Lcr a ne\v tribunal
\Ya
organized. C0111po:--;cd of t\vcl,.c reprc
cntatiYe
,

GiS POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF
IONTANA.

all from Junction City and Nevada districts. The
regularly appointed judges, Wilson and Byaln, of the
two districts ,vere called upon by the Ininers to pre-
side. ..L
ccording to Ininers' logic the lllen ,vore Inade
judges by the lIliners, the office they filled, if not the
judges thelnselves, belonged to the Ininers, and they
lnust ubey the lniners or abdicate. But the judge

had no thought of taking exceptions to the action of
the people.
T,velve from each district \vere selected to act a

jurors, and the trial of George I yes began. l\Iessrs
Sn1ith, Richie, Thurillond, Colonel Wood, and l\fr Alex-
ander Dayis ,vere I yes' hnvyers, ,,
hile Colonel Sanders
and Charles S. Baggs conducted the pro8ecution. John
French turned state-evidence, and the others, \vith
the exception of Hilùerlllan, \vere released, an action
\v hich the people ever after regretted. During the
trial, ,vhich ,vas conducted ill the open air and COll-
tinued t,yO days, the sale of intoxicating drink "
as
prohibited throughout the to,vn, a \vise and praise-
\yorthy Uleasure.
A t\VO days' trial \vas a long one for the inlpatient
Ininers, 'v ho had their o\vn affairs to attend to; and
\vhile they ,vere desirous eyerything should be done
in a la\yfullnannel', they 'v ere beginning to tire of dis-
putatious fornlalities. ProceeJings \vere narro\vly
\vatched by the officers of the Vigilance Committee,
and during the second day they quietly inforlned the
court that at three o'clock the trial lllust be concluded,
and directed the court to instruct the counsel 011
either side that in their arguments before the jury
they ,vould be restricted to one hour each. After a
half hour's consideration the jury reported t\venty-
three for hanging and one for acquittal.
Ives \vas a man of about t\venty-five years of age,
\yith blue eyes and light hair. IIis Inanner \vas
sprightly and dbsolutely fearless. N O"T, ho\vevcr,
confronted \vith the dee( Is uf his past life, and Jeath
iUllllinent, he begged for tinle. "Ho\v l11uch tinle did

_-\. FOR
IID_-\.BLE BA.).j).

tiï9

you give the Dutcilluan f' inquired Colonel Sandér
.
By this time day had departed, and silver light had
superseded golden. The prisoner had many friends
among the attendants, and these \yere belligerent on
bearing the yerdict. :\Ienacina fornls and sco\ylin o '
visages cast weird, Ï1nperfect sh
do,,?s on the disturbed
ground, and pistols, guns, and knive
gleamed in the
moonlight. But all \yas of no ayail.
In an unfinished house the scaffold ,vas erected, a
large box ans\vering a
platform. This building,
\vhich had only the fralue standing, ,vas \yithin ten
yards of "yhere the trial had been conducted; alHl
here the sentence \yas executed.
Hilderluan's trial \yas soon over. He ,yas an old
luan, evidently a tool of the band, \yithout courage
to diYlllge ,vhat he kne,v, equally in terror of his con-
federates and of the Vigilance ConHnittee. He \\'a

considered SOlne\vhat Ílubecile, and his sentence ,vas
banishment fì
om :JIontana.
J Ohll Frénch ha,-ing turned inforlnant, and having
.given
ufficient evidence to \varrant the conviction of
I Yes, \Ya
set free. His testimony 'vas corroborated
by Hildernlan. I Ye
protested, even on the scaffold,
that he did not commit the crime of ,yhich he \yas
accused, charging it on one ..AJexander Carter; but
his assertions carried little ,,?eight. Even if truc
there
,,?ere yet unatoned sins enough at hi
door to \var-
rant abode in airy space-so thought the COllllnittec.
Nevertheless the ,yords of the departing Ives did not
fall on heedless ears. that is to
ay. so far a,-, the ap-
prehension of further villainy \yas concerned. During
their ilnprisonment they inforn1et1 their captors that
their orO'anizatiol1 at that time, 1 \)64, llunlbered one
hundred ð and thirty, ,vho had killed and robbed oyer
one hundred men, principally bet\yeell Salt Lake City
and the :\Iontana n1Înes.
T\vo la\vyers, Snlith and Thurmond, ,yere driven
fron1 the territory by the exasperated people for at-
telnpting to clear the banditti \vhen arrested. Dinls-

680 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF MOXTANA.

dale, writing of them, says: "They were employed as
counsel of the road agents, and ,vere banished. Thur-
mond brought an action at Salt Lake against IVlr
Fox, charging him with aiding in procuring his ban-
islllnent. After some peculiar developments of justice
in Utah he judiciously viithdre"r all proceedings, and
gave a receipt in full of an past and future claitns on
the vigi]ants, in 'v hich instance he exhibited a ,vise
discretion." It seenled to the people sufficicnt that
the road agents should be perlnitted to acconlplish
their vile purpose unrestrained by la"
, without having
the la,v interposed between then1 and justice by re-
leasing then1 as fast as caught. That jurists should
be obliged to admit the necessity, in criminal juris-
prudence, \vhich makes it the duty of the counsel to
clear the guilty if it be possible, certainly augurs ill
for the systen1. At all events it is a practice ,vhich
border comnlunitie
cannot afford to indulge in.
The Vigilance COlnmittee ,vas no\\
Ktrong enough
to excite in Plulllnlcr's band fears for their lives. It
,vas understood [unong thell1 that pursuit was to be
l1lade for I ves' cOlnrac1e::-;; and brave in(leed \vere the
t\vellty-four citizens 'VIlO undertook this perilous duty.
)1:r Din1sdale, ,vriting of this expedition, !-Jays: "The
volunteer:::; forlnetl a nlotley group; but thel'e ,vere
men enough alnong them of unquestioned courage,
,,,,hOlll no difficulty could deter and no danger affright.
They carried generally a pair of revolvers, a 8hot-gun,
blankets, and sonlC rope. Spirits '"ere forbidden. On
the 23d of December 1863 the party, on horse and
mule back, ,vent by ,yay of Stinking "\Vater to the Big
Hole, and over the di yide in the llutÏn range. The
vveather ,vas very cold, and there ,vas a large quantity
of snow upon the ground. Fires could not be lighted
when ,vallted at night, for fear of attracting attention,
and the men were but ill prepared to face the chilling
and storlny blast \vhich s\yept over the hills and val-
leys crossed by thelU 011 this arduous journey. Fe,,,"
kno,y the hardships they encuuntered.
'

PLU
I)IER'S BAKD.

681

On Deer Lodge Creek, Erastus YaO'er, O'enerally
R ð 0

known as ed, "-as encountered. He \yas one of the
band, but preseryed his incoo-nito so "yell that he
threw the vigilants off their tra
k, and had abundance
of tin1e to notify his conlrades of their approach; so
that when they reached Cotton\yood their prey had
escaped. For t\yO days it sno\ved heavily. "The cold
became fearfuL" says
Ir Dinlsdale, "and the
ufter-
ings of the party "ere intense. Some of the
tock
stampeded to the cañon out of the way of the storm.
It \vas no sUlall job to hunt up the runa,yays."
On reaching Rattlesnake they surrounded a rancho,
\yhere Plun1n1er's n1en, Stinson and Ray, \\-ho \yere
deputy-sheriffs, had Red under arrest, a::; they
aid,
for horse-stealing, but \vould no\y release hinl on hi:--;
promise to return to Bannock City. The vigilant.:;
pursued and captured him, and took hiIn OIl to Den1p-

ey's rancho, ",.here a portion of their force a"Taited
theill. Here they made a second arrest of one Brown,

ecretarY of the association. He \yas held to a\yait
Red's t;ial.
The nlen \yere taken to Lorraine's, ",.here they ar-
rived during the afternoon. At ten that night the
trial cOIDlnenced. Red turned illfoI'rner, and fullr
described the w'hole organization of the road agents.
He said that Plummer \vas chief of the band and
Bunton "yas second in cOlllll1and; that the Inen1ber

were Cyrus Skinner, George I Yes, Steyen:5 )Iarshland,
Dutch John, or John 'V agner, ..L
leck Carter, "Thi:-:;key
Bill, or Bill Graves, George Shears, Johnny Cooper,
Buck Stinson, X ed Ray,
Iexican Frank, Boone
Helm, Club-foot George, or George Lane, Haze
Lyons, Bill Hunter, George Lo,,-ry, Billy Page, Doc
Ho,,-ard J em Ronlaine, Billr Ter,,-illigcr, and Gad
, .J ,

Ioore. They had as a pass\vord 'Innocent, ,,-ore
lllustache and chin \\Thi
kerH, and a sailor's knot as a
necktie.
The t\VO lllen, Red and Bro\\n, ,vere taken to a
tree on Lorraine'
rancho aud side by side "
ere
\Yung

682

POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF MONTANA.

into eternity. Previous to his execution Red had
implored that the rest of the band should be punished,
,vhich ,vas readily prolnised, and the pledge kept.
He also said, "You have treated me like a gentlelnan,
and I kno,v I ani going t,o die; I am going to be
hanged; it's pretty rough, but I merited this years
ago." And with the rope around his neck his last
,vords ,vere, "Good-by, boys; God bloss you I Yon
are on a good undertaking."
The bodies. ,vere left suspended for their cOlnrade::;
to care for. On one ,vas fastened the label "Red,
Road Agent and l\1essenger;" on the other, "Bro,vn,
Corresponding Secretary."
Says a resident in relation to recent affairs ill

Iontana:

" The aforesaid excitement began at the Stinking 'Vater mines, but soon
extended to this place, and men are going and coming all the time between
the several mining localities, as well as between Deer Lodge, Big Hole, Hell
Gate, Bitter Root Valley, and Gallatin. I hope not to be understood by the
word excitement alone, that those men have been hanged by an excited and
unruly mob. I will say to their credit, though myself a lover of lawanù
order, that a more sober, quiet, and determined assemblage of citizens with
the law in their own hands I never saw. At one time in Bannock, just after
the killing of a worthy citizen and wounding of another, while trying to
arrest the Spaniard Frank, well known arounù Camp Douglass, the crowd
were so exasperated that they tore to the ground the house in which Frank
was found and killed, carried it away from the other buildings, threw the
Spaniard on top of it, and burned all together. The people had an especial
dislike for the house, as it belonged to Henry Plummer, and was occupied by
Buck Stinson. It was there the Spaniard secreted himself, and killed a good
man and wounded another while he was being arrested. The Spaniard ",as
killed on the llth. George 'V. Coply, who was shot by the Spaniard, died
on the 12th, and was followed to his grave by almost the entire population.
Smith Ball, who was wounded at the same time, is out of danger. "

These fileD Coply and Ball \vel'e lllen1bers of the
Vigilance Comnlittee, and \vere shot by the Inall
whose capture they 'v ere attelnpting. He is spoken
of else,,"here as Joe Pizanthia, "the greaser," \vhich
\vas probably his name. It \vas a lllob, not the Vigil-
ance Committee, which in a frenzy executed its venge-
ance in this ,vay.

EXECUTIOKS.

683

The next arrest ,vas that of John \Vagner, or
Dutch John. He ,vas brought into Bannock and
imprisoned in an empt.r cabin until his fate should
be determined. A vigilance comn1ittee ,vas at once
organized, and none too soon, as a communication ,,,,a;::;
brought thelll that very night by four trust,vorthy
citizens froln the Virginia vigilants ,vith an order for
the arrest and execution of Plunlmer, Stinson, and
Ray. These ruffians were then in Bannock, ,vhither
they had COlne preparatory to leaving the country.
The cOlnmittee kne,v there \vas no tinle to lose, and
arrested the Inen, \V hOlll they found in different houses,
apparently unconcerned about their fate. They ,vere
taken ,,
ithout delay to their place of execution, ,vhich
,vas a cross-beam in an unfinished building. Their
cries and curses broke the stillness of the night.
The great leader, Henry.Plummer, begged hard for
his life, cried Eke a child, asked to be chained do,,
n,
offered to leave the country forever, and declared
that he ,vas tl/O ,yicked to die. In his possession \VaB
f'Ound a paper describing the band, giving an acrount
of their lllovements and their future plans. This
doculnent contained the ll
Ulles of eighty menlber
of
the foul fraternity whose externlination the COllunittee
"
ere earnestly at ,york to acconlplish. Pllunrner ,vas
the Inost notorious of
Iontana desperadoes, .and his
organization the most po,yerful of early tilnes.
The rase of John vVagner ,,,,as no,y considered by
the COllln1Íttee, and it \va
unaniIllously decided that
he should be hanged as a high,vaynlan and robber for
his villainies of the past four years. A conullittee
of one "'"as appointed to notify hÎ111 that he \vould be
led to execution ,vithin an bour. At first his trepi-
dation ,vas extrenIe; he begged that they ,yould
punish hilll in any other ,yay. "Cut off lilY legs and
arDIs," he said, "and let me go; you kno,y 1 could do
llothin o ' then." His natiye courage did not descrt hilll
ultimately, and the bravery he exhibited ,yhen on the
gallo,\'s excited the sympathy of his executioners. He

684 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF )IOXTAXA.

,vas led to the building ,vhere his con1rades had been
executed, anll f-:a,v their stiffened bodies rcady for
burial. He gazed at then1 stolidly; a fe"T hours later
and he ,yas laid beside then).
On the n10rning of the 14th of January 1864 the
vigilants of Virginia "\vere to be seen fully armed and
stationed in all direC'tions so as to prevent the egress
from the place of anyone; at the same tilne volun-
teers fran1 tho neighboring vicinity ,vere gathering in
the Inain streets. Boone HeInl, Jack Gallagher, Frank
Parish, Haze Lyons, and George Lane, or Club-foot
George, ,yhose arrests had been accomplished, were
pinioned and brought in front of the \Tirginia Hotel
and arranged in a ro,v. They each confessed sepa-
rately to crin1es, but none of then1 gave any full con-
fession. They ,vere taken to a building just being
erected on the corner of Wallace and Van Buren
streets, where the Inain bean) running across the build-
ing ans,vered adnlirably the purpose of the Committee.
Here the five ,vere executed. Haze Lyons and Stin-
son, ,vho ,vas hanged at Bannock, had been tried in
Virginia by a legal court in June 1863, on the charge
of the lllurder of Dillinghanl, and \vere acquitted.
Lyons confessed to this murder no\v.
At their arrest and execution their various charac-
teristics 'v ere freely displayed. Jack Gallagher ap-
peared to treat the matter as a joke at first, but "Then
fully satisfied as to its rcality, cursed vehen1ently.
'Vhile standing belo\v the gallo,vs he used continually
the most profane language. His last ,vords ,vere, "I
hope that forked lightning ,viII strike everyone of
you." Boone HelIn, looking at the 111 uscular contor-
tions of Gallagher, said, "Kick a,vay, old fellow; I'll
be in hell ,vith you in a 11linute. Every U1an for hiH
principles. Hurrah for Jeff Davis I Let her rip I"
Other incidents are rccorded in regard to the last
hours of all these men, but they are too revolting to
repeat.
Boone HeInl had emigrated from 1\fissouri in the

BOOXE BEL)!.

68.3

early part of 1850. lIe had committed a n1urder there,
and had been pursued and brouc,.ht before a court.
..L
fter the third postponement of lÚs trial he ,vas set
free, and coming to (\tlifornia is said to ha ye killed a
dozen men on these ,vestern shores. He "
as about
forty years of age at the tin1e of his e
ecution. He
seen1ed to be one of the 1110st hardened of these des-
peradoes, ,vithout one redeen1Ïng quality. One of the
first incidents ll1entioned of him in the territories i

""hen, at Salt Lake City in the sprin a of 1858, he
. . 0
was In company "
lth one Po,vell ,vho had been
trading ,,
itl1 the Flatheads. IIehn left The Dalles
the autullln previous for Salt Lake in company ,vith
seven gamblers, carrying aU the necessary implements
of their profession, and a race-horse ,vhich ,yas to beat
anything in Utah. I t "
as a short cut to that land
,,
here no strangler;:; are, and all of t
leln reached it
on the ,yay except I-Iehn. After four da,ys' fight ,vith
natives a snow-storm set in, in which six of the villains
perished, Helm shooting the last one, ,vho had become
.sno\v-blind, for food. Soon after reaching Utah, HeItn
joined Johnson and Harrison's band of horse-thieves,
made raids into California, and stole animals from the
overland company and the military. At Locli the
quartermaster, recognizing and attempting to arrest
him, received a ball in the head. Next ,ve find HeInl
at Los Angeles, where he robbed a store-keeper;
then ,,"e hear of him at the Salmon River mines
shooting a man one Sunday afternoon for refusing to
drink ,,
ith him. He then escaped to Cariboo, 'v here
a life of violence soon made the country too hot to
hold him. Bet,,"een the Quesnelle and Antler Creek
he assisted at the killing and robbing of three tracler
.
Then making bis ,yay to the Bannock mines, he COll-
tinued his evil course until the people in self-defence
rose and hanged hiln.
On the 15th of January t\venty-four men left
Nevada intent on the arrest of the remainder of the
band. The first day's lllarch brought them to Clarke'

GSG POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF
IONTANA.

rancho, ,vhere Steve l\farshland ,vas found in bed
and captured. His feet ,yere frozen and he \vas
,vounded, as the Com'lnittee already kne\v fron1 the
confessions of his associates. He ,vas brought out of
his hut and hanged immediately. On the next after-
noon, at Deer Lodge Creek, another halt \vas made,
and Bill Bunton ,vas next arrested. He attel11pted
resistance, but ,vas unable to cope \vith his plucky
captors. He ,vas taken to a house in the neighbor-
hood, ,vhere the vigilants passed the night and break-
fasted. Another detachlnent arrested one Tex. ..L\S
Bunton's guilt ,vas unquestioned, he ,vas speedily ex-
ecuted not t\VO hundred and fifty feet fronl the house.
Tex ,vas banished from the country, though after,vard
testin10ny enough against him ,vas obtained to have
cost hin1 his life.
Skinner and Alex Carter ,vere next secured at Hell
Gate. Carter ,vas stupid from drink; 'v hen he recov-
ered his senses and ,vas told of the convictions and
executions he said, "..LL\.1l right; not an innocent rnan
hung yet." These 111en ,vere taken to Higgius' store,
,vhere after an exanlination of three hours sentence of
death ,vas passed on thel11. Both of these nlen ,vere
noted crirninals. George I yes had accused Carter of
the lllurder of Ibalt. Carter denied that charge, but
said he ,vas accessory to the cril11e, and told ,vhere
the n1ules ,vere ,vhich belonged to Ibalt.
It ,vas said of Carter that ,vhen he left the east it
,vas ,vith an unblelnished reputation; that he had been
trusted in money transactions, and deserved the con-
fidence of his cnlploycrs. Here in l\fontana all was
different, and evil associates sealed his doom.
Skinner ,vas of a very different stan1p. He ,vas a
saloon-keeper in Idaho, of a blood-thirsty tempera-
Inent, and had al\vays had a bad reputation. He
cndeavored to run from his captors in order to be
shot rather than hanged, .but his object ,vas easily
th ,varted.
A small detachulent started off for Bitter Root

)IORE CAPTURES AXD EXECL"TIOXS. ü"'7

,-r alley in pur
uit of Bill Graves or 'Vhiskey Bill.
He ,yas captured ,vith but little difficulty. Placed on
horseback, "lith a vigilant in front of him, he ,vas
taken under a t::ee, ,vh
n he "
as given an opportunity
to make confessIon, ,vhlch he refused. The rope beinO'
adjusted, the v.igilant suddenly put spurs to the hors

and as the anImal plunged, Bill Graves "
as thro,vn
from his seat, and quickly s\vung lifeless in the air.
Skinner and Carter ,vere executed at IIiO'o'ins'
00
corral. The people had dug their grayes, and at n1Ïd-
night ,vitnessed the execution by the fitful liO'ht of
their torches. Johnny Cooper, a lieutenant
f the
band, ,vho had been ,vounded by Carter in a recent
quarrel, unable to walk, was brought in a sleiO'h to
his place of execution, and hanged on the sam; spot
,vhere his cOlllrades had expiated their crimes.
Eight men ,vere sent the same night in pursuit of
Bob Zachary and George Shears. As one of the
vigilants entered the house 'v here Zachary ,vas, he
found him sitting up in bed, and thro,,
ing himself
upon him, held him do\vn until the others ,vere able
"to pinion him securely. George Shears, although
armed, nlade no resistance, and fronl the time of his
arrest nlaintained the utmost indifference to his fate.
On the authority of Dimsdale, "Shears addressed
his captors at the time of his execution in the follo,,
-
ing unique phraseology: 'Gentlemen, I am not used
to this business, never having been hung before.
Shall I jump off or slide offt Being told to jump off,
he said '.All right!' and leaped into the air ,vith as
nluch sangfroid as if bathing."
Zachary was also executed, \vithin an hour after his
arrest.
At the tilDe of the execution in \Tirginia of Boone
Helm and four others, another criminal, Bill Hunter,
,vas a lnarked luan, but he effected his escape for the
tillle beinO'. X O'Y ,vas his capture detern1inell upon,
and after
eYere exposure and ulany difficulties he \yas
fnund in a cabin about t\yenty 111Ïle
fron1 the Inouth

<388 POPCLAR TRIBUN
\.L
OF )fO
TA

-\.

of the Gallatin, 'v here he had taken refuge fronl a
heavy sno,v-storm. During the intervening time he
had kept himself concealed during the ùay, seeking
food at night. He was immediately executed, the
3d of February, on a lone tree near the cabin, ill
full vie,v of travellers on the trail, so that his asso-
ciates n1ight find his body and take ,yarning. This
,yas the last execution of any of Plummer's band.
The reign of terror ,vas no, v over.

In February 1864 the Montana Vigilance COlll-
mittee comprised over one thousand members, exer-
cising s,vay over the country round the settlements
of Virginia, Bannock, and Nevada City, and far be-
yond.

,..AJrnost everyone of the several hundred embryo
cities of the ,vestern coast, at sonle period of their early
history, and Inany of them at 111any different tilnes,
have been cursed ",ith a to,vn ro,vdy, who, full of
bravado and fiery drink, heavily arlned ,vith bo,vie-
knife, six-shooter, and gun, usually ,vith a fe,v fol-
lo,vers at his heels, stalked the streets, luaking day
disagreeable and night hideous. He is not such as
life - insurance agents seek as a risk; for once. filled
,vith the arnbition for acquiring villainous distinction,
his career is usually of short duration. He is the
foolish miller of the 111ining to,vns, who flutters for a
moment in the polluted light of self-extinguishing
vice, then drops besotted into the RaIne.
Such a one ,vas J. A. Slade, ,yen known in Vir-
ginia City, Montana, in the spring of 1864; a man
,veIl conditioned so far as the ,vorld goes, for he had
a good ,vife and a fine rancho on the l\1adison branch
of the l\lissouri River. He had lived for lnany years
in Clinton, Illinois, respected on account of his fam-
ily and for his o,vn good qualities. Subsequently his
character changed; and ,vhen he caIne ,vest it ,vas as
à fugitive frolll his native stat.e, for he had killed a

L..illE THE DESPERADO.

t

man in a quarrel, and ,,-as pur:,ued by a ::;heriff fer
several hundred mile::;. In ,Tirginia he gave little at-
tention to business, for he \vas t\yO thirds of his time
in to"\\n, \v here he \vould drink and carouse "yith hi

companions, to the neglect of family and property.
His boldness in crime intimidated the officers of the
la\v, for be openly defied then1. Once ,vhen he \ya":).
kno\vn to be sober the ,Tigilance Comn1Ïttee sent hint.
,vord that unless he better regarded the public peacc:.
\vhich should be preserved at all hazards, he D1USt
suffer the cOllsequence
of hi::; evil \yays. 'Vith hi

usual fool-hardihood he disreQ'ardetl the ,,"arnina antI
'--> 0
continued his practice of abusing law-abiding citizens,
in several instances going so far as to even slap thelll
in the face, and threaten in his expressive language
"to bore them through" if they offered to oppose hi

playful \vickedness.
On the 8th of )Iarch t\yO houses kept by women
,v ere entered at night by Naylor Thol11pSOn, Harden,
Slade, and others, \yho appropriated ,,-hatever they.
çould make available, maliciously den10lishing eyery-
thing else. The proprietor of one of the places"
called
Ioll Featherleg
, brought a suit before Judge
Davis to recover damages. The suit \yas prosecuted
by the best talent, and a jury of t\velve miners formed,
,vho feared not to act upon the testimony On the
morning follo,ving these depredations, Slade and hi::;.
companions \vere unusually combative. They \yere
frenzied ,yith liquor, and defied anyone to prosecute.
them. Slade ,,"alked the streets ,,-ith his comrade
,
freely using the most abusi,:e language to an)"" ,yith
whom he happened to come In contact. An attempt
was made to arrest them, but seizing the \yarlant;o;
they destroyed them, and roan1ed and roared ab usual
until other ,,"arrants could be obtained. Threatening
vengeance to the court, Slade called at J udge Dayi
.
office, flung at him insulting epithets, and told hill1 in
a most insinuating "yay that some men's days \vere
numbered. Then he \yalkecl a\yay and entered 8
POP. TRIB., VOL. I. H

()üO POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF :MONTANA.

certain house. He had been there but a short tilne
,vhen it ,vas surrounded by a cOlnpany of three hun-
dred Inen, In embers of the Vigilance Committee.
They ,vere all armed, and acted with preconcerted
111ethod, placing a guard about to\vn, and fully pre-
paring for resistance. This ,vas about four o'clock in
the afternoon; business generally ,vas suspended, and
though no excitement was exhibited the streets ,vere
filled ,vith people in a hushed state of expectancy.
Fe"r knevy \v ho ,vas to be arrested. A strong force
then entered the building and took Slade prisoner
,vith but little resistance. He was nlarched dO\Vll
the street to a ravine, \vhere to his dismay he sa,v a
ne,vly erected gallo\vs prepared for him. As death
stared hill1 in the face he ,vas coweù; his defiance
,vas now changed into piteous supplication; he ner-
vou
ly glanced a.bout hin1 only to behold the hins,
street
, and hou
e - tops covered with nlen, 'VOlnen,
and chilJreu, \yho to \vitness his execution had thus
COlne together. The prisoner begged that he lTIight
see his \vife; this request ,vas denied, and he was
ordered to 11lount the scaffold. Ten Ininutes were
then given him in \vhich to prepare for death. He
asked permission to speak ,vith Judge Davis, la,vyer
Sanders, and others. Judge Davis responded, ,vhen
the prisoner begged most beseechingly that he would
entreat the people to believe in his innocence, and
that instead of taking his life allo,v him to leave the
country, and he ,vould go any\vhere they directed.
Judge Davis told hin1 that he \vas po\verless to help
him. Again he urged that he should be allowed tinle
to see his beloved \vife before he died. A 111essage
had been sent to her an hour previous, but of thi

fact the Comn1ittee was ignorant. The rope \vas ad-
justed, and feeling confident that his death \vas no\v
certain, his face turned deadly pale and his trembling
legs could scarcely support him. His cries for his
,vife now became Inore vehen1ent; he must see her, he

aid, to arrange some business matters. Again as his

ARRIV AL OF
lR

L
illE.

G!n

arms "
ere bound he cried, "For God Almighty's
sake, let me see illY beloyed ,vife I" The cro,y.d became
greatly excited; the strongest eillotion ,vas exhibited,
and cries of "Let him see his wife
" emanated fronl
every quarter. A rush for the gallows ,vas imminent,
and a fight \vas only prevented by the sudden levelling
of three hundred guns upon the turbulent mass that
no\v tossed like an angry sea. A subdued quiet.
quickly, followed, broken only by the continued appeals
of the prisoner, \vhich \vere no"
unavailino'. His
ÏInmediate execution ,vas determined upon
for if
they relented and allo\ved him extra time he might
be rescued by his friends. 'Vith eyes unblinded the
trap ,vas sprung, and the man fell thirty inches, the
toes just touching the ground. After hanging for
half an hour the body ,vas taken do"rn and con\Teyed
to the \Tirginia Hotel.
The cro\vd ,vas slo\y to disper
e; no conlplàint

,vere uttered aloud except by X aylor Thompson,
Slade's late companion in iniquity, "Those threatenings
of vengeance ,yere silenced by the guard, "Tho nlarched
him to the gallows and \yould have executed him but
for the remonstrance of the by-standel's. He \yas lib-
erated ,vith the understanding that he should be ban-
ished from the country.
The excitement consequent upon his arrest and
release had scarcely subsided \vhen )Irs Slade drove
up to the hotel, and alighting "Tas conducted to the
room ,,-here the body of her husband lay. It ,vas
scarcely half an hour since he had been carried fronl
the gallo,vs, and not until )Irs Slade entered the
apartment did she receive kno"
ledge of his death.
Her grief seemed overpo\vered for the monlent in
thinking of the manner of his taking-off, and she
prayed that God's vengeance \vould descend upon the
lnurderers of her husband. She asked \yhy sonIC
one did not shoot him instead of suffering him to die
a felon's death. The sympathy of the cOlnmunity \va

,vith her, for she had al,Yay
borl!e an excellent repu-

G!)2 POPUL.AR TRIBUNALS OF )IOXTANA.

tation anlong a large circle of acquaintances. At her
request the body ,vas temporarily interred in the vil-
lage cemetery, and afterward removed to Illinois.

Dimsdale, ,vriting of Captain Slade, says, "There
are probably a thousand individuals in the ,vest pos-
sessing a correct kno,v ledge of the leading incidents
of a career that terll1inated at the gallo,vs, ,vho still
speak of Slaà
as a perfect gentlenlan, and 'v ho not
only lan1ent his death, but talk in the highest tern1

of his character, and pronounce his execution a mur-
der. One ,vay of accounting for this diversity of
opinion regarding Slade is sufficiently obvious: Those
,vho sa\v hin1 in his natural state only, ,vould pro-
nounce hin1 to be a kind husband, a lllOst hospitable
host, and a courteous gentlelnan. On the contrary,
those \vho 111et hiln ,vhen 111addened ,vith liquor and
surroundetl Ly a gang of armed roughs ,yould pro-
nounce hill1 a fiend incarnate." Again he says, "Cap-
tain Slade ,vas the idol of his follo\vers, the terror of
his enen1Íes and of all that "
ere not \vithin the
charll1ed circle of his ùependellts. In hill1 generosity
and destl'ucti veness, brutalla,vlessness and courteous
kindness, Brlll friendship and vclcanic outbreaks of
fury, ,vere so 111ingled that he seen1cJ like one born
out of date. He should bave lived in feudal times.
In modern times he stands almost alone."
Tinie ,vas ,,
hen a stage arriving in safety ,vas a
matter for general congratulation. For a traveller to
run this gauntlet of high\vaynlen ,vithout disturbance
one ,vould think ahllost an unusual occurrence. But
the ,val' of extern1Ínation was conducted \vith vigor.
Jall1eS Brady, early in the SUll1n1er of 1864 living at
Nevada City; shot one l\lurphy, ,vhon1 the physicians
declared could not live. The people argued in this
,vi::;o: If ,vith 111alice prepense Brady points a ,veapon
at ßfurphy and fires, is not Brady equally guilty
whether the shot proves fatal or not? The la,v said
no; the people said yes. Murder ,vas in the heart, in

.

'YHIPPIXG AXD IL\XGIXG.

()!)

the mind, in the eye and fino'er of Brady, and he is
every whit a murderer as m
ch \vith
Iurphr living
a
".ith 1\Iurphy dead. Certain absurdities are essen-
tial to la,v. .And this is one of them: that if the ball
strikes a rib and so is turned from its deadly errand,
the crime is called by one nallle; if it strikes but a
trifle higher or lower, the crin1e is called by another
nalne. Yet the purpose ,vas one, and the puni
hn1ent,
if the la,v \yas perfect in its action. ,yould be one. The
la"
, ho\vever, is obliged to judge intention
ti-'onl rc-
Bults; and herein the la\y i
deficient.
Brady ,vas proprietor of a drinking-saloon. 'Vhen
he :-;a,v \vhat he had done he thre\v a"
ay his ,veapon
and. fled, but "
as soon overtaken bJ officers of the
\Tigilanc8 Conlmittee and brought back to to\yn. The
next nlorning he "Tas tried by the people and sentenced
to die. Fiye thouf'and persons \vitnessed Brady's ex-
ecution. He ,vas n)arched to the gal1o,ys just outside
the to\Yll by a guard of t\VO hundred yigilants.
J el11 I(elly. Brady's barkeeper and assistant in the
shooting, ,vas present at the trial and execution of his
friend, and \Ya
himself adjudged deserving of fifty
lashes on his bare back, \vhich punishn1ent ".aR iu-
flicted in an unfinished house near by. ->-
fter,vard
I(elly took to the road, and, as \vill be seen. pursued
his eyil career. In July a coach ,vas robbed bet\veen
'Tirginia and Salt Lake. .A party of :\Iontana vigil-
ants set out in pursuit of the robbers. Learning that
Kelly ,,"'as implicated in the robbery, and that he had
been indulO'inO" in other irreO"ularities, they finaU \.
o ð 0 01

succeeded in catchino- hint on Snake Riyer, and after
ð
a trial he ,vas hanged. His chief regret seellled to be
in having to suffer two punishments, \vhipping and
hanging.

At Salt Lake City in August 1864 one John D
lan
,vas brought before the provost ll1arshal for exanuna-
tion on a charge of ha\
ing stolen SOll1e
even hundred
dollars from James Redmond of Virginia, ::\Iontana.

694 POPGLAIt TRIBUN...-\..L
OF
IONTA:XA.

The prisoner had been arrested by John I\IcGrath, an
executive officer of the l\Iontana Conllnittee of Vigil-
ance, then embracing nearly all of the better cla
s of
inhabitants of the territory.
As a matter of course, the lnan had been arrested
,vithout process of law; McGrath had no "
arrant for
his custody. He ,vas present at the exaulÏnatiol1,
as ,vas also Featherstone, deputy-sheriff of ßladison
County,
Iontana. After hearing the statements of
both sides, the provost nlarshal decided that he had
110 jurisdiction in the Inatter. There had been no-
,,?here filed any affidavit alleging offence. No "Tarrant
had issued froln any legally constituted body. He
sim pI y found hinlself in charge of a Inan against 'v hpnl
110 proceedings had been taken, If the prisoner had
conlmitted any offence, continued the judge, either in
this or in an adjoining territory, the proper course
,vould have been to have taken him before the ciyil
authorities, ,y ho upon application ,vould have issued a
"
arrant for his arrest and transportation to the proper
place for trial. Such proceedings having been neglected,
the provost Inarshal decided that he had the.authority
neither to hold the Ulan nor to deliver hin1 to either
uf the applicants for his custody, ,vhich applicants
,vere the civil authorities of Madison County and the
'Tigilance Committee of ßfontana, by their respectiye
officers. I t ,vas therefore ordered that John Dolan
oe discharged from the custody of the provost guard.
This ,vas done. The la,v ackno,vledged its inlpo-
tency, and let loose one of a class ,vho ,vere preying
upon the vitals of a large and ,videly scattered com-
munity. Not so the Vigilance COlnmittee. There
"vere more menlbers of the association at that time
in Salt Lake City than 1\IcGrath. Dolan had not
proceeded far from the precincts of the la,v which
bad treated him so kindly, ,vhen he ,vas seized and
thrust into an out,vard- bound stage, ,vhich carried
hinl back to the scencs of his irregularities and to the
custody of those less trannnelled by forms of justice.

DOLL.
,
LATER, KEEXE.

(j!).)

They arriyed at
eyada on the 1 Gth of
eptelllLer.
His trial \vas a lengthy one, but his guilt \\'a
cOllelu-
sively proved, so that his confession \vas only in con-
firmation of ,,-hat ,va;:, already knO\Vll. He offered tu
make good to Redmond his lo
:; if the ViO'ilance COln-
mittee would relea8e hilli. Three hundred dollar
had
already been recovered. The sentence pronounced by
the Comlllittee \Ya
death by hanging, and \yas carried
into effect at ::;undo,,'u of Saturday eyenin cr , the 1 ïth
OJ <:)
of Septelllber, in the presence of thou
and
uf peuple
as
em bled fr0111 neighboring districts. Immediately
after the ex.ecution of Dolan the relllaininO' Bunl of
{:)
four hundred dollars \\a
collected and handed over tu
Redmond, so that by the death of the Ini
creant he
should not be defrauded of the money. "
-\.n act ()f
scrupulous honesty, probably neyer before paralleled
in any citizens' court in the \yorld," bays Dimsdale.
Before the arre::;t of Dulan letter
had been re-
ceived inforn1Ïng the COllllllittee that he \vas an a ...
u-
ciate of Kelly \yho \\Tas hanged at Snake Riyer, alH l
i!-ccessory to nlany crillle
.
I-IenrJ Slater \yas a rough of reputation. In {;tah
and Nevada he \yas ,veIl kno"-ll, too \vell kno\\"n for
his o\vn comfort; so \vhen diggings "'ere ùiscovered
at Last Chance Gulch, on the edge of Prickly Pear
'....a II ey , near \yhere 1l0\V is the to,vn of Helena, he
,vas the first to cast in that camp his evil lot.
.L\.t Salt Lake he would haye shot liolonel ,\
. :F.
Sanders in the back had he not been pre\-ented Ly
by-standers. For this and Inany other ûutrage
he
\vould have died had he not saved hi
life Ly ßud-
den f}i o'h t from \Tirainia.. John Keene \ya", like\vi:-.e
o b r -'f 1
a bad mall. He was once barkeeper lor
anlUe
Schwab at '.....irginia. He too canle to Helena, not
for the purpose of curbing hi
evil propen::,ities, but
that he micrht the 11101'8 unrestrainedly inùulge then1.
Bet\veen Slater and I{eene a feud had long.... existe(l.

either kne,,- that the other \vas in to\yn, \y hen OlHJ
day a'3 Slater \vas sitting in front of a
aloull \yith his

(JOG

POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF
i8NTANA.

hat dra,vn over his face Keene came along, looked at
hilll sharply for a moment, and then ,vithout a word,
dre,v his pistol and planted t\VO balls in Slater's body,
'v hich ended forever that desperado's career. Keene
,vas arrested, and in the absence of a jail, the sheriff
confined him in his house. A crowd gathered. PrOJll-
inent arnong its expressions of feeling ,vas that of
disgust. Taking the prisoner from the sheríff the
r
nlarched hinl into a IU111ber-yard near by, appointed a
jury, and proceeded to try hilI). The trial lasted far
into the night, a strong guard lnean,vhile being kept
round the prisoner. Finally he ,vas found guilty and
executed. Thus the can1p ,yas cleared of two of its
luost venOlllOUS inhabitants.
This ,vas the first execution in Helena; the prisoner
,vas hangell froln a tree in Dry Gulch, ,yl1Ìch after-
,vard served that purpose repeatedly for thieves and
murderers in the northern part of the country.
John 1(eene ,vas also kno,yn as Bob Black. In the
l\Ieu1phis A1J1Jeal of N ovelllber 24, 1865, is an article
giving an account of aIi unparalleled catalogue of
crirne, of 'v hich Bob Black \vas the hero. After" a
career of desperation and crinle, ,vhich if gi ven in its
details ,vould cause the blood-thirsty tales of the
yello,v-covered trash to pale for their very puerility
and talneness, he escaped from l\lelnphis, and ,vith a
couple of accolllplices began a system of ,vholesale
lnurder and robbery Oll the Hernando road. The
atrocity and boldness of these acts created the greatest
excitelnent in MenlphiB." L\..fter leaving that city
· Kelly ,vent to ßIinnesota under his o,vn name. Be-
fore long he organized a band of t,venty n1en and
transferred his depredations to a ,vider sphere through-
()ut the territories.
'V riting fronl l\10ntana one says:

" A few rods south of Helena, and just west of the prescnt overland stage
road where it crossed Dry Gulch, and directly in the gulch, there stands a
venerable pine, whose massive lower branches of wei['d and fantastic growth
extend twenty feet or more from the gnarled and moss-coycred trunk, Years
since it lost its foliage, and no"\\ it is gradually yielding to decay, and ere long

THE HISTORIC PIXE.

G!J-;"

clod of ,-egetable mould will alone remain to mark the site of the famoui
hangman's tree. Could the old pine spe:lk. what tales it could tell! But perhaþ:l
'tis best that speech is not given, and that with the life of the old tree should
pass the recollectIon of those early days" hen, forbearance having ceased to be
a virtue, a short shrift and a hempen cord became necessary to rid the country
of the desperadoes that infested it, and thus secure long needed protection to
lives and property of honest citizens. Sow law and order reign throughout
the teITitory, and justice is attainable and administered through regular
channels, and it is to be hoped that never again will circumstances call for or
justify the formation of such an organization as was that of the Vigilance
Committee. "

During a long and successful career of t"el ve
vear
' duration, Jacob Seachriest, sometimes called
:r ake Silvie, had practised brigandage. He counted
his 111urders at the rate of one a year, that is to Hay
t\yelve in a1l. Shortly after Keene's execution Sea-
chriest 'Ya
arrested at Diamond City upon divels
eharge
, \yhich, -when his arrest \yas kno"
n at Helena,
,,-ere greatly multiplied. The Helena yigilant
then
took the matter in charge, brought the prisoner to
to,,-n, and confined him in the same cabin ,vhere
I
eene's last night was spent. Thence he "as taken,
.after trial and condemnation, to the historic tree in
Drv Gulch.
"Then Seachriest found denial of guilt "
as of no
avail, he unburdened his mind by a full recital of
atrocities committed. Previously, ho\ve\-er, he had
begged for a minister, and appearing repentant 'Ya

baptized.
Three horse-tbieyes \vere hanged by the Committep
of '
iO"ilance of
Iontana on the loth of .June 1866
o . .
near Helena, and the Committee \yere then In pur;-;ult
of others. ThrouO'hout all the more thickly settled
portions of the t
rritory ,vas posted the follo\\-ing
notice:
" Beware! The Yigilancc Committee is in session! Beware of the careless
use of fire-arms!
" By order of the Co
IIDTTEE OF V IGlLA...
CE. ."

The
ïth of September 1865 t\yO hor:se-thieye,,>
nan1ed .J onec; and Collins, but calle(l re
pccti,-ely .f ack-

698

POPULAR TRIBU:NALS OF MONTANA.

son and l\forgan, \vere executed by the \Tigilallce
Committee. The occupation of la\vyers and judges at
this tin1e and in these parts was extremely restricted.
T,vo months later, that is to say the 28th of N ovem-
bel', George Saunders ,vas found hanging upon the
old Dry Gulch tree ,vith the follo,ving inscription
pinned to his back:
"This man was hung for robbing A. Slane of $1180, and for some smaller
stealings. "

There too, upon the saIne Dry Gulch tree, perished
in l\farch 1866 James Daniels, tried, convicted, and
imprisoned by the law for the murder of Andre"

Gaitley, but pardoned by the governor. Says the
1J1.ontana Post of the lOth of March of this execu-
tion :
"The judge, as in duty bound, forthwith ordered the arrest of the liber-
ated criminal, and then returned to Helena with the acting marshal's order to
his deputy, John Featherstone, to secure the runaway, who had fled, it was
supposed, to that vicinity. There was no such intention as flight in the mind
of Daniels. He went there to revenge himself on the witnesses, as he had
threatened. At Duston Hot Spring Rancho, fifteen miles from Helena, a
reliable man informed judges Munson and Strickland that Daniels had told
him, when he passed in the coach, that he was going to Helena to attend to
one or two jobs of men who had testified against him. A fit subject for mercy
was Daniels, surely. This news arrived in town almost as soon as he did. He
seemed to feel intuitively that something was brewing that boded no good for
him, and he went to Featherstone, who was yet without orders, and asked his
protection. He was permitted to stay at the office, and at night that officer
accompanied him to the place where he was going to sleep. At Daniels' special
request Featherstone went around town to see if he could gather any infor-
mation of a suspicious kind as regarded any proposed attempt on the person
of the culprit. No symptoms were discovered, and he returned to inform
Daniels that he was safe. On arriving at the store he was apprised of his
having been taken away by parties unknown to the owners of the store, and
in the morning his lifeless body was found suspended from the murderers' tree
in Dry Gulch."

Charles J-ewett met an ancient enemy at Diamond
City the 4th of February 1866.
"How are you getting along1" asked the ancient
enemy.
"I ,viII sho,v you!" exclain1ed Jewett, ,vho there-
upon dre,y and fired; but failing of its message, the

A THIRSTY SPOT
EED.

G99

bullet entered the breast of another \",hose name ,vas
Fisher, "rounding him dangerously. The la,,,, examined
Jewett, and the sheriff took him to Gal1atin, where he
lived, and placed oyer him a guard of two. )Iean-while
as the facts became noised the people pondered. J e,vett
was not a lovely character. That he ,vas not no\v a
murderer ""as through no fault of his; that he \vôuld
be one if left at large ,vas certain. In common ,yith
all nlen he ill ust die; follo,ving the course of the
,yicked he must die soon. Is it not better he should
die quietly no,,-, than after further uproar and a pro-
miscuous scattering of bullets 1 As the result of these
meditations and 11lurmuring8 Charles J e,vett ',a

found hanging next day in full vie"
of Gallatin City.
Like,vise not far distant ,vas found suspended another
unfortunate, of "That name, by \vhom so placed, or for
,,
ha t wickedness, no one seemed to kno"
.
The 'ValIa 'Valia StatesuLan, commenting on affairs
in
Iontana in April 1866, offers the follo\ving strong
testimony in favor of the ::\Iontana Comlnittee of
. Vigilance:
" A circular issued by the vigilants of
Iontana says that the organization
is still in active existence, and that all offences against persons or property will
be summarily punished. The practice of drawing deadly weapons is repro-
bated, and those who thus offend are warned that punishment will surely follow.
As a rule '\igilance committees are objectionable, but in the case of l\Iontana
it is doubtful whether honest men could have remained in the country had it
not been for the Vigilance Committee. As it is, life and property are as well
protected in
Iontana as in any country in the world, and all because the
people have taken the law in their own hands."

T,vo miners at German Gulch, J. L. Goones and
Hugh Do,vd, li,"ed together all ,vinter, \vorking by day
and sleeping at night. All ,vent ,yell until one day
in April 1866 the t,vo men drank and disputed.
Goones stabbed Do,vd, and the people hanged Goones,
thouah Dowd ,vas not then dead.
D
y Gulch again; June 1866. 'Frenchy' he ,vas
called, but his right name was John Crouchet.
e
,vas thirty-five or thereabout and came from the BOl:::;é
country to these parts. Frenchy 'Ya
a sort of limb

700 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF MONTANA.

of the la,v, ,vhich circumstance led him to the limb
of the hanglnan's tree. Elevated to the post of night-
,yatchman, he stole seven hundred dollars froln a
drunken Inan: a very Inean thing for even an officer
of the la,v to do. vVith four hundred dollars of it he
l11ade hin1self first interesting, then roaring. 'Vhen he
could- drink no Inore, being under confinenlent, repent-
antly he returned three hundred of the dollars. U pOll
the back of ,vhat ,vas Frenchy his epitaph ,vas posted:
"No.7. A robber, perjurer, anù one who tried to swear away the lives
of innocent men. An old offender caught at last."

Then began Inen's consciences to question thenl:
Had they ever robbed or s\vorn ,vrongfully, and should
they too some 1110rning awake to find ,vhat remained
of themselves hanging upon the classic tree?
T\venty of the best citizens of Argenti banded the
28th of Decelnber 1866 for protection against crÏ1ne,
unable longer to endure the glorious uncertainty of
the la"v.
Fat cattle ,vere Jim 'Valter's fancy; though Jim
\Valter was his ,york-day nan1e only, ,vhich he em-
ployed as one puts on a suit of soiled clothes for dirty
,vork.
'\rrayed in respectability, and James P. Staley
,vas his name. But ,vhatever his nalne, he had a
fondness for fat cattle. He ,vas not particular 'v here
they ,vere fatted, on the l\fissouri or in the valley of
the Gallatin, but the 1110re convenient they ,vere to
his unpretentious slaughter- house on Willo,v Creek
the better. There ,vas a good market for the llleat
in that vicinity, too. This ,vas at IIelena, and early
in January 1867. Presently the stock-raisers began
to miss their finest cattle, and Staley ,vas charged
,,
ith having stolen them. He concluded, all things
being ,veighed, that it ,vas best for him to leave that
place. Opposed to ,valking, he took a horse that ,vas
not his and rode a,vay. A body of cattle-raisers ,va8
f-\oon after him. Staley ,vas forced to quit the road and
plunge into a thicket. Night coming on, the pursuers

LAST OF CHARLES 'VILSO
.

701

built a large fire, "Then their game was discovered
lying flat upon his breast pointing his pistol at theln.
To an order to come out he replied by disGharaino-
his "Teapon. The party then fircd simultaneously,b and
the fello\y "Tas riJdled ,yith bullets.
Fronl a tripod forn1ed of three fence - rails twel Ye
feet in length the body of Charles 'Vilson ,vas found
dangling one 1110rning in September 18G7. It was Ly
the stone-quarry near Virginia. The body ,vas fully
dressed, the hat upon the head, the pockets untoucheJ,
and on the ground lay a blanket. The feet just
touched the grass, and the single \yord "\Tigilants"
labelled the back. \Vilson had been a c01l1panion of
Slade's, an elllployé of the express company, a n1enl-
bel' of Inilitia company D, and helper on the overland
railroad. Last üf all, his occupation ,vas that of rO[Jd
agent. It appears that a secrct a
sociation had re-
cently been organized, l1unlbering thirty-five active
agents, ,vith over a hundred supernumeraries, ,,-ho
stood ready as occasion required to assist, shield, and
cOlnfort .melnbers of the brotherhood. The purposes
"of the organization were robbery, and ,vhen deelned
expedient, incendiarisll1 and 111 urder. The thirty-five
"ere to do the ,york; the one hundred to assist escape,
or if any ,vere captured to act as juror
, \vitnesses, and
bondsmen. The overland treasure sluplnents ,yere to
hav.e their especial attention; like\visc the burglary of
certain stores in Virginia. Several pronlinent citi-
zens, \vho objected to spend their lives in planting fùr
others to reap, "Tere also marked for 111urùer. All
this and n10re ,vas imparted by one \vho had recently
been sworn in as nlcmber; but what he told the Vig-
ilance COIDlnittee they already kne\v. Thus after a
respite in this quarter began anG\V the work of exter-
ll1ination. One Douglass, a cattle-thief, escaped frol11
the IIelena prison, and falling into his old \vays again
,vas caucrht and executed by thief-hunters.
For
ome tilDe past the \Tirginia Committee had
remained passive, leaving to law its opportunity.

702

POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF 1YIOKTANA.

During their former exercise of power they had suc-
ceeded in intimidating crime, and a period of quiet
follo\ved. But the discovery of the existence of a ne,v
and po,verful criminal organization awoke them to the
necessity of rene\ved action, and the execution of
vVilson was the beginning of a ne,v régime. The re-
vival of actiyities on the part of the Vigilance Com

111ittee called forth much discussion. There was less
partisan spirit Inanifest now than forll1erly. N o'v
a1most all the Montana journals without regard to
politics, unite in awarding the highest praise to the
vigilance organization. Says the Helena Gazette, the
leading democratic paper in the territory, in October
1867:

"With many of our good citizens, we have deprecated the existence of
such an irresponsible body in 1Ylontana as a vigilance committee, but chiefly
deprecated its, at times, necessity. That this organization brought order
out of the most bloody anarchy in Montana, at a time when law was power-
less, its executive officet; being in the hands of villains, no one at this ùay
ùoubts. That many cold-blooded murderers and daring robbers have gone
unwhipped of justice since they ceased to take cognizance of such matters is .
also true, and has been lamented by all good citizens who wished to see the
law predominant."

A. !{. J\icClure, ,vriting' from Montana in the autull1n
of 1867 to the N e,v York Tribune, says of the vigil-
ance organization:
"Of the brave men who inaugurated and openly sustained this movement,
no one can justly be awarded exclusive praise; but there is one who figures
as conspicuously in the history of the vigilants as did Plummer in the reign
of terror. Some twelve years ago I was accustome<l to meet on the streets
of Chambersburg, Pa., a young man named John X. Beidler. His frugal
wants were supplied by the manufacture of brooms, and finally he mixed the
best of cocktails and juleps at a neighboring summer resort, He was as
amiable and unoffending a lad as the community could furnish, and his jolly,
genial humor made him a favorite ,vith all who knew him. Although he had
attained his majority, he was scarcp.ly five feet six inches in height, and was
far below the average of men in physical powers. He finally wandered west
in search of fortune, and soon after the advent of Plummer came X., the only
name by which he is universally known in l\Iontana. Thus the hane and the
antidote were close upon each other. Strong in his inherent love of honesty,
a stranger to fear, not powerful, but quick as thought in his actions, and firm
in his purpose as the eternal mountains around him, he naturally entered
promptly and earnestly into the effort to restore order and safety to society.

JOIIX X. BEIDLER.

70:J

That little was expected of him when he first cast his lot with the stern re-
fonners is not surprising, but his tireless perseverance, unfaltering courage,
anù singular skill in thwarting the plans of the common enemy, soon made
him the chief pillar of the organization and the unspeakable ten-or of every
desperado. This diminutive man, without family or property to defend, has
llimself an-ested scores of the most powerful nllains, and has executed, in
open day, an equal number under the direction of the wonùerful fountain of
retribution that was unseen but was surging around the hasty scaffold. So
expert is he 'with his faithful pistol that the most scienced of rogues have
repeatedly attempted in vain to get the drop on him; quick as a. flash his
pistol is drawn, cocked while drawing it, and presented to the doomed man
"\\-ith the stern demand, 'Hands up, sir!' and the work is done. .At one time,
without aid
he arrested six of the most desperate thieves in a. body, all well
armed, and marched them before him to prison. 'Hands up, gents!' was
the first intimation they had from him that he had business with them, and
submission was the only course of safety. Had anyone of them attempted
to reach toward his belt he would have fallen that moment. There were
citizens close by, and how many of them, Ü any, were sworn to protect and
ready to aid Beidler, he knew, while the prisoners did not. This indefinite,
unseen, immeasurable force seems to have ever stricken the most courageous
thieves and murderers nerveless, when its sudden and fatal grasp was thrown
around them. They would fight scores of men for their lives in any ordinary
attempt to arrest them, but they were invariably weakened when the citizen
confronted them in the name of public safety. Ko formalities were known.
:So process was read bearing the high sea;l of the courts. 'Yhen or where the
- dread summons of the great unseen tribunal would come none could conjecture.
The sleeping companion of the desperado in some distant rancho would prob-
ably drink and breakfast with him, and then paralyze him by the notice,
, You're wanted-business at Virginia!' In no instance did any of the many
lawless characters an-ested by the ,igilants e,er fire a pistol in their own
defence, even when they knew that death was ine,itable. In most cases the
opportunity was slight, but under all ordinary circumstances the nan-owest
chances would be taken to effect escape. From' X' no criminal ever got away.
To have attempted it would haY"e been but to hasten death. So much did the
desperadoes respect as well as fear him, that most of them, when conùemned
to die by his hand, committed their last requesta to him, and with him they
have been sacred. Order and public safety have been restored, but he still
lIas employment in his fayorite line. He continues to act as the chief detec-
tive of the territory. He comes and goes, and none but himself knows his
errand. '\Yhat'g up, X?' is a query that is generally answered, 'After tra
ks;'
and 'Don't know,' is his usual reply to all questions as to his route or time
of departure. He has traversed alune every highway and settlement of

Iontana, prospected many of the unexplored regions, and is ever ready, with-
out escort or aid, to pursue a criminal wherever he may seek refugc. His
career has indeed been most remarkable, and his escape, unharmed, through
his innumerable conflicts with the worst men seems almost miraculous. He
has recently been appointed collector of customs for the port of Helena, but
while there is a thief, a defaulter, a murderer, or a savage to disturb the

704

POPULAR TRIBU:KALS OF
IO:NTANA.

peace of l\fontana, he will remain the most efficient messenger of justice kno\"nl'
in the mountain gold regions. He has lost none of his genial, kindly nature-
by his long service as the bearer of relentless retribution upon the lawless,
anù wherever he goes he is welcomed by every lover of order and government..
'Vhen he is upon the war-path, 'it's no for neathing the gled whistles,' and
crime has no escape but in timely retreat. Fully three thousand perfectly
organized men are at his back. They have their companies, officers, minute-
men, and messengers in every settlement, and he can rally in an instant
scores or hundreds of true men to his side. "

In connection \vith this fresh display of popular
po\ver there sprang up a ne\v and strange organiza-
tion, called by son10 anti-vigilance, though I should
tern1 it rather an opposition vigilance committ
e, as it
seenled to oppose certain lTIethods of proc"edure in the
n1ain organization, and not the principles then1selves.
They objected not to popular trials and executions,
but t.o dark doings and secret executions by night..
The lJIontanct Post, al\vays a strong upholder of vigil-
ance, vouches for the honesty and respectability of
tho reforn1atory association, and expresses the opinion
that the IÐen1bors thereof ,vill resort to extreme .lneas-
ures for the fulfihnent of their purposes. Here is one
of their ,yarning cries; to say the least, it opens a
nevv phase in the annals of vigilance:
"'Ve now, as a sworn band of law-abiding citizens, do hereby solemnly
swear that the first man that is hanged by the vigilants of this place, we will
retaliate five for one unless it be done in broad daylight, so that all may
know what it is for. 'Ve are all well satisfied that in times past you did do
some glorious work, but the time bas come when. law shoulù be enforced..
Olù fellow-members, the time is not like it was. "\Ve had good men. with us;
but now there is a great change. There is not a thief comes to this country
but what 'rings' himself into the present Committee. 'Ve know you all.
You must not think you can do as you please. '\Ve are American citizens,
and you shall not drive and hang whom you please.

"FIVE FOR ONE."

It is seldolTI \ve see a citizen ironed by the authori-
ties for participation in a popular moven1ent. Jack.
Varley \vorked for a J\1r GuezaIla at Deep Gulch.
The master had made money enough and had con-
cluded to leave the country; the n1an thought he
would like that money, and so deterlDined to rOD

PET NA
IES FOR IL

GIXG.

';03

}'lr Guezalla on the road, which he did, and ,vas pur-
sued and arrested for it by the citizens of Deep Gulch
and Beartown. After the people had accon1plished his
,york for him, the Bearto,vn sheriff came for,vard and
demanded the person of Varley, but ,vas told that
while he ,vas at large he Inight have taken him had
he been so disposed, but llO'V all his countrymen de-
Inanùed of him ,vas that he should stand asfde. The
sheriff ,vithdre,v, nettled; and encountering one of the
vigilants,
IcGee, alone anJ unprotected, under some
frivolous pretext he arrested and ironed him, telling
him mean,vhile that if he ,vould use his influence to
have Varley delivered to the la,v he,
IcGee, should be
released.
IcGee indignantly refused. FinaHy the
people tried and executed Varley, and )IcGee ,vas
released on bail.
, Necktie sociable,' 'strangulation jig,' and many
such euphonious names thë people of )Iontana had
for hanging.
An incident is given of a young man, son of a re-
spectable citizen, \vho in 1\Iarch 1868 ,,-as travelling
from Bannock to Salt Lake, and ,vho, overtaking a
man with several horses going in the same dircetion,
naturally joined him. It appears that the stranger
with the animals ,vas a horse-thief of ,vholn the l\Ion-
tana Vigilance Committee ,vere then in pursuit. They
had not travelled far together ,vhen they ,vere over-
taken, arrested, tried, conden1ned, and hanged together.
One day in August 1868 as'Villiaul Hynson ,va::)
standing in the street near the post-office in Benton
he ,vas accosted by one of the citizens of the place:
"There is a m
n to be hanged, Bill, and we want
you to help us.". ,.
""That's his nalne? what IS he to be hanged for?
asked Hynson.
"N ever n1ind that, I have no time to talk; get (J
good strong rope and help me rig it, ,vhile the Com-
mittee brina' tne fellow out."
Hynson
beyed. As long as he ,vas not chief actor
POP. TRIB.. VOL. I. 45

706 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF
IONTAKA.

in the tragedy it ,vas a pleasure rather than other,vise
to be of service to the 110ble men who ,vere exercising
so healthful an influence upon society. The rope ,vas
brought. Soon a rude scaffold ,vas ready, in the
erection of ,vhich Hynson assisted with alacrity.
"Can't you tell me ,vho the man is1" he asked
. "
agaIn.
"N 0, no; fasten that end of the rope strong. You
,,
ill know all about it presently."
Coming up by t\VOS and threes, a crowd soon gath-
ered, when Hynson ,vas ordered to take his place
beneath the gallows ,vhich he had helped to erect,
for he ,vas the Ulan for ,vhOln it was erected. He
had stolen a rifle froln l\lr Clagett; he had murdered
a China\volnan, valued Ly her o,vners at six hundred
dollars; he hail knocked down and robbed a freighter;
he was a bad man, and he must die. Hynson did not
like it at all; but forced to comply, he took his posi-
tion and ,vaê> soon dangling.
N ear the eastern boundary of Montana in Sep-
ten1ber 1868 Harvey vVent\vorth, Andy Wineniller,
and vVilliam Thon1as ,vere arrested for horse-stealing.
Those ,vho kne,v the nleD could scarcely believe thel11
guilty; nevertheless the first t,vo ,vere hanged. Thomas
escaped.
SOI11e time during the ,vinter of 1869-70 J. M.
VV ood, ,vho had been tried and condel11ned for the
nlurder of Thornas J. Duffey and pardoned by thè
governor, was hanged by the people of Lewiston.
The jail at Diamond City ,vas forced the night of

larch 12, 1870, and VV. C. Patrick, confined for the
lllurder of John Bensel', ,vas taken thence by a conl-
mittee of citizens and hanged.

I ,viII no\v give the proceedings of a popular tribu-
nal ,vhich for coolness and precision of judgment can
but recommend itself to all lovers of justice. Its
occurrence ,vas during the latter part of April 1870.
Even at this comparatively late day the people of

THE CASE OF LEXHART.

707

l\Iontana seemed to regard this nlethod of adn1inister-
ing justice as the natural and proper ,vay, being lllore
sure, speedy, and economical than courts of la,v, and
in the main dealing more even-handed justice. The
place \yas Helena, never without a thoroughly organ-
ized and efficient cOlnmittee of vigilance, and \vhich
by this tÏ1lle had had much experience.
George Lenhart, an old man, useful, respectable,
and kind-hearted, was found by t",.o trayellers near
Helena, on the morning of the 28th of
\..pril, lying
in
ensible in the road, covered with blood. The sheriff
,vas notified, and medical aid provided, though slight
hopes were entertained of his recovery. Regaining
consciousness, the old man stated that as he "'
as riding
homeward the night previous he \vas overtaken by
two horsemen, one of ,vhom shot hin1 in the thigh ",'ith
a pistol, and \v hen he had fallen frorn his horse beat
him on the head to insensibility. Then \vhen they
thought hiIn dead the t\VO lllen rifled his pockets of
t\VO hundred and t""
enty-five dollars; and there he had
lain all night. Then he described the appearance of
the men and the horses they rode. Soon it ,vas ascer-
tained at the livery-stable that t\VO l11en had engaged
horses shortly before the attack, which they had
rnounted and ridden in that direction. After due
search t,vo persons corresponding to the description
given by Lenhart and by the stable-keeper ,vere ar-
rested and lodged in jail. Their names were Joseph
'Vilson and A. L. Compton. The men and the horses
"
ere then taken to the house \V here Lenhart no\y lay.
One of the men and one of the horses he recognized;
the others he could not positively identify.
On the eyening of the 29th the citizens held a
llleetina to talk the matter over. There was little
o
doubt by this time as to the guilt of the prisoners. A
good man long and favorably kno\vn :ullong them
bad been villainously assaulted. The In w "as tedious,
expensive, and uncertain. Lenhart might recover,
and court proceedings thereby becollle obtuse. Three

708 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF :MONTANA.

thousand or four thousand dollars could easily be
spent in the trial of these 11) en. If cleared, anyone of
them might be their next victirn; if found guilty, and
Lenhart should recover, there ,vas little probability
they would be condenlned to death, in ,vhieh event
three or four thousand dollars IDore rnight be spent
feeding, clothing, lodging, and ,vatching them during
confinen1ent. l'he men ,vere not ,vorth it. They
,v ere not citizens of that place accused of crin1e, but
they ,vere birds of prey, vultures, flying hither and
thither, circling round and round, hungrily ,vatching
an opport,unity to dart upon the defenceless. That
they ,vere robbers and murderers ,vas .certain, or at
all events could easily be made certainø I t ,vas of no
consequence at all to minds tempered like theirs
,vhether Lenhart lived or died; these Inen ,vere mur-
derers, and very brutal ones, ,vhether he recovered or
not. It ,vas ,veIl enongh for the la,v ,vith its IDoun-
tains of precedents, its profounder insight into this
and that, to distinguish bet,veen killing a nlan very
dead or only killing hiIll a little, if it ,vished. 11"'01'
theIn, law and learning to the contrary not,vith-
standing, it was enough to kno\v that a citizen had
been shot, beaten senseless, and robbeù; to kno,v
that the persons doing it ,vere ,vorthy of death, ,vere
not ,vorthy of long and expensive talk about it. Thus
argued the meeting. And the Inore these coarse prac-
tical brains revolved the matter, the more sure of
right their o,vners ,vere.
They ,vould sleep on it. The n1eeting adjourned
to ten o'clock next day. An hour before the tilne a
thousand men had gathered at the court-house, ,vhich
,vas the place appointed. The asselnbly ,vas called to
order and Harvey English appointed to preside. ]\fr
English stated the purpose of the nleeting in a some-
,vhat lengthy speech, as every rnan kne\v ,yhat he
,vas there for. He rehearsed the circu111stances of
the old man's treatlnent, and stated that the perpe-
trators of the deed, if found, should be punished.

'VILSOK AXD CO)IPTOX.

'iO!>

Suspicion pointed at t.hat moment to t\yO Inen lyinO"
in the jail, and in order to avoid the law's delay and
uncertainty, he proposed that the citizens should re-
lieve the law which they had Inade, and the officcrs
of the law whom they had appointed, from the burden
and responsibility of trying these men, and that they
should be brought before a bar of the w' hole people,
that they should be inlpartially tried, and if found
guilty, executed.
Thereupon the speaker took his seat, ,,
hich con-
sisted of a chair on the landing of the court-house
steps. There ,vas not the slightest excitement visible
any,vhere; all ,vas as quiet and orderly as at a canlp-
meeting. A ,yell kno,vn merchant of the to\\Tn lifting
hi::; hat then Inoved that a cOlnmittee or jury of tw
ent.r
citizens be appointed to obtain evidence, to listen to
accusation and defence, and declare to the assenlbled
people the guilt or innocence of the persons charged
"\VTith the criule. The motion passed; the comnlittee
\\
ere chosen, and retiring to a room began at once their
task. They appointed a marshal, Joseph \V oolulan,
and a police force to ,vait upon instruction::--. T\yo
witnesses, J. Lo,vry and \V. B. )Iorris, \vho accom-
panied the prisoners to the place ,vhere lay Lenhart
for recognition, 'v ere examined; then the stahle-ulan,
and after him many others.
Up to this time the t",.o Inen Wilson and COlnpton
lay in jail unnlolested. Now the committee haying
need of them ordered their officers to produce thenl
Olle at a time. The mar
hal detailed a posse of nlell,
and ,vaiting upon the sheriff made kno,yn to hÌ1n the
,vill of the cOlnnlittee. The sheriff refused obedience.

Iean,vhile \Vilson sent 'YOI'd to the connnittee, say-
ina that if they desired it he ,,,"ould make a staten1ent
and throw himself on their mercy. The marshal in-
creased his lJosse aud dernanded from the sheriff the
prisoners. Again he ,vas refusclI; \v hereupon the

heriff and his deputies ,vere seized and search Inade
for t.he keys. Thoy 'v ere not on the person of :lilY.

710 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF l\IONTANA.

but ,vere soon found in the jailer's room. The officers
of the law were then locked up in a room by then1-
selves, and a guard placed over thenl. The prison
door ,vas opened, a double line of cit.izens forlned froln
the jail door to the comnlittee roon1, and Wilson ,vas
brought forth. He expressed his readiness to lllake a
full confession; but as he stated he should in1plicate
others, the .colllmittee ordered all spectators fron1 the
room. Wilson then told everything, entering into
particulars of that and other crilnes not necessary
here to repeat. Next Conlpton ,vas brought before
the cOlnmittee; and in short the guilt of the t,vo nlen
,vas clearly proved. They confessed to everything,
disclosed the stolen money, and requested a priest.
There was no need of further deliberation; the COll1-
Inittee presented themselves before the assenlbly, and
one of their nUlnber, Mr La,vrence, read the follo,ving
verdict: "The conlmittee to ,vhom ,yas referred the
charge against Wilson and COlnpton report that they
find, from the evidence and the confessions of the
parties, that on the night of the 27th of April 1870,
in the county of Le,vis and Clarke, A. L. Compton
and Joseph Wilson shot, ,vith intent to kill, George
Lenhart, and then and there robbed hinl of one hun-
dred and ninety-three dollars in currency and about
t,vo ounces ill gold-dust."
At this juncture the district judge appeared before
the assembly and requested to be heard. Perlnissioll
being granted, he entered a strong protest against
popular interference ,vith the civil authorities. In
this instance particularly, he said, these unla,vful pro-
ceedings on the part of the people ,vere uncalled for
and inexcusable. There might be conditions under
'v hich popular adu1inistration of justice ,vould seenl
,varrantable, but such conditions did not here exist.
They had courts ,veIl appointed and cOlnpetent; their
prison ,vas secure. Such conduct ,vas a reflection not
only on the integrity of their officers, but on their
\villingness to abide la \vful governnlent. The judge

SOLE)IX EXECüTIOX.

;u

\vas listened to patiently and re::,pectfully. He \Ya
a
good man enough, but they had heard
ilnilar arO'u-
ments fifty times before. Pron1i::;es were fair; l
r-
formance slach.. There \vas sOlllethinO' radically \vrona
in the system that failed so signally to punish crin1

and to protect life and property. Statutes, consti-
tutions, and courts ,vere doubtless all very well, but
they could not sit calmly under the shado\v of such
paraphernalia and see good men shot clo\vn and robbed
upon the highway day after day and year after year.
.J..-\J.I they proposed to do \\?as the ht\y's duty. Experi-
ence had taught theIll if they \\
anted a thing done, to
do it themselves; if not, trust it to the la\y.
Finally the vote \vas put by the chairman: ""
hat
shall be done ,,?ith the prisoners?" "Hang thenl
"
,vas the response. .J..-\.gain and more carefully the
question ,vas put: "I
it your decree that the pris-
oners, Joseph Wilclon and A. L. Compton, shall be
taken to Pine Tree, in Dry Gulch, and thero hanged
by the neck until they are dead 1" "It is; that's
.the verdict:" can1e frolH almost every person there
presen t.
I twas no\y half-past t\yo.
\. Illotion preyailed
that the prisoners be given until four o'clock to pre-
pare for death, at \v hich hour their execution
hould
take place. Throughout the entire proceedings there
,vas manifest the utmost decorunl, and even solemnity,
amonO" the cro,vd, -which had no\\?
\Yelled to three
thous
nd souls. _\..t no tinle during the day \\
a
there
any loud talkinO', boisterous demonstration, or bra-
vado; even the c
ercion of the sheriff and his deputit:'

,vas unattended by violence. Their duty compelled
them to resist, yet they kne\v resistance to be u
ele
::,.

\.t the hour appointed the famous gulch pre
ented
the appearance of a vast amphitheatre. The side
and
hills acljacent "yere dense ,,-ith people on foot, on horse-
back and in carriaO'es. The town ,va
de
erted.
.\..t
, ö
half-past four the t\yO n1en \Ve1'8 taken froni the roon1
in \v hich they had been confined and placed in a \\"agon.

'jl
POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF }IONTAN.cl.

Father In1IDode sat beside COlllpton, and the Reverend
S. G. Lathrop acconl}!anied Wilson. The doomed were
calm, and apparently intent on gaining if possible the
future salvation promised. There was that about
the whole proceeding impressive, a,ve-inspiring. A
stranger fresh from the fossilized formalities of staider
parts could scarcely believe this to be what ,vas so
hooted as mobocracy, lynch law, the ,york of the in-
furiate rabble. Nor \vas it.. It was the deliberate ex-
pression of sober popular \vill, as deliberate and sober
as ever citizens displayed in the performance of their
duty. Under the shadow'" of the fatal tree the ,vagon
halted. The noose was adjusted; the ropes s\vung;
prayer was said; the horses started, and all was quickly
over.

T,vo hundred of the men of Bozeman,
10ntalla,
about eight o'clock on the evening of the 1st of Feb-
ruary 1873 proceeded in a body to the county jail
and demanded from the sheriff t\VO prisoners called
Stearnboat Bill, that is to say John W. St Clair, and
Triplett, the foriller having \vantonly shot to death a
Chinawoman, and the latter having stabbed to death
a saloon-keeper. The sheriff refused. The people
proceeded to break open the jail door, and the
sheriff hurried off to Fort Ellis for troops to slaughter
the citizens slaughtering the imprisoned slaughterers.
Killing ,vas king at Bozeman. The COIDll1anclant
gave the sheriff a squad of soldiers, but luckily for
the soldiers they did not arrive in time to be killed
by the people, as the hanging ,vas all over before
they came up. Tho s,vinging carcasses of his whilom
cOHlpanions ,vere pointed to one Scotty, and he ,vas
told to leave. He left. Triplett ,vas an old fisher-
man ,yho brought trout from the Yellowstone. En-
tering a saloon one day and taking a drink he ,valked
off without paying for it; the keeper followed hinl,
\vhereupon the ancient fisherman turned and stabbed
him.

-\ DIS
IAL FARCE.

7J3

The lffontana JIounta1'n of the 17th of June 1875
is responsible for the follo,ving:
"The spirit of the early days has not yet died out in :\Iontana, but once
in a while manifests its liveliness even in these slow-going times. The other
day in the lively little mining-camp yclept Trapper City the report of se\'eral
pistol-shots fired in rapid succession spread consternation among the peaceful
inhabitants of that quiet burg; and the rumor that the village had attained
to the dignity and honor of a 'man for breakfast'soon attracted the major
portion of its denizens to the place whence the sounds proceeded. The
excitement was raised to fever-heat when on entering the house a man was
discovered lying on the floor weltering in a pool of blood which had trickled
from his right ear, and breathing heavily, as though in mortal agony; and in
one corner of the room stood a man with a brace of navy si'\.-shooters in his
hands, and glaring upon the crowd like a hound at bay. Of course the situa-
tion was comprehended in a moment; a horrible murder had been committe(l ;
the bleeding victim lay in the throes of death upon the cabin floor, and his
murderer stood in the corner prepared to deal death and destruction upon
the assembled crowd, A cry for" engeance arose from a score of throats, anf!
some essayed a mO\-ement upon the man in the corner, when the' navies,'
Lrought to a horizontal position upon a level with their eyes, warned them
that such a proceeding would be attended with some danger, and they pru-
dently retired, After a little, one of the crowd was induced to see if anything
could be done for the dying man, and approached him for that purpose, when
the man in the corner yelled out, 'Get out of that, or I'll blow the top of
your damned head off! That's my meat!' and as he spoke he emphasized his
remark ",ith a shot from the six-shooters. The humanitarian stood not upon
the order of his g;:>ing but lit out with remarkable celerity, and as he made
rapid transit through the street he was saluted by the confederates of the
murderer with a volley of pistol-shots which made him think a battle of
artillery had bepn turned loose upon him, and lent wings to his flying feet as
he departed from such uncongenial scenes. By this time a battery of pistols
was unmasked in the \ icinity of the murder, and he saw unless he got out of
that he would be a riddled member of the community, and, with levelled
pi:5tols, made a dash for life and liberty. The crowd gaye way before the
deadly-looking weapons, but a dozen pistols were discharged at him as he
rushed out of the house and succeeded in gaining the cover of a friendly
stump, where he turned. and discharged his weapons
ith such rapidity that
the crowd scattered with an alacrity that denoted a positive dislike to a salu-
tation of that charactpr.
"During the excitement consequent upou these proceedings the fact that a
man was wounded, and perhaps dying, had been entirely forbottcn, but now
some of the terrified citizens turned their attention to his necessities. )Ies-
sengers were despatched for surgical assistance, and some went into the house
to render aid to the bleeding yictim of ruthless murder. He was still insen-
sible, but yet breathing, and the boWest of the men turned to look for the
wound. It could not be found! The bullet must ha\-e entered the drum of
the ear and lodged in the head, and Bothing cou}(l he donc until thc mTI\7al

714

POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF
IONTAKA.

of a surgeon. A committee were detailed to capture the murderer, and were
about to start on their mission when a shout of horse-laughter from the crowd
at the door apprised the excited citizens that there was something wrong, And
there was. A closer examination disclosed the fact that a huge 'sell' had been
perpetrated; that the wounded man was dead-drunk; that the artillery had
all been loaded with blank cartridges, and that somebody was minus a bottle
of brilliant carmine writing fluid, which had been adroitly used in represen-
tation of the clotted gore. The humanitarian referred to returned to town
next day, somewhat the worse for wear and just a little hot over the situa-
tion; but he can find plenty of men who will wager a silver mille that he can
run ten miles an hour for ten consecutive hours under similar circumstances.
And now, if you want to see a genuine expression of intense disgust, ask a
Trapper City man if the Vigilance Committee have caught that murderer. "

Of the Cheyenne Vigilance COlnmittee one hun-
dred went to Dale City in January 1868 and captured
and hanged three men, Keith, Shorty, and Jack
Hayes. On the night of the 20th of March the
Cheyenne Committee did some hanging at home; they
executed Charles Martin and John Morgan. The
former was one of a band of horse-thieves of ,vhich
McLaughlin was captain.
The Cheyenne press approves of a new form of
notification to leave introduced into the practice of
vigilance by the Committee of that place. Says the
Star of the 22d of January 1868:

" We think this public notification the best method: No person will be
notified to leave this territory except through a public newspaper of this place,
and if said notified parties will not leave within twenty-four hours, the Com-
mittee will no longer be responsible for their safety. George Brown, Neil
Murphy, Cocke, at :New Ideas, Jack Bristol, Thomas Campbell, Eugene Debon-
ville, Frank St Clair, Al Cunningham, Slippery Bill, and Dave :Mullins: The
above parties will leave this territory in twenty-four hours.
"By order of the VIGILANCE COMMITTEE."

Often the danger attending border life is Inade the
plaything of ruffians, ,vho for the pleasure of stealing
a horse or indulging in a drunken frolic ,viII risk cap-
ture and death where the chances of escape are almost
closed against theine
I have here one incident of this character, ,vhich
happened in October 1877 in vVyonling, and another
about the saIne tin1e in Arizona: Wil1ialll Ro\ve and

FATAL FROLICS.

715

a comrade named Jones, kno,vn in V\Tyoming for sev-
eral years as desperate characters, stole some animals
from B. F. Hatch, a freighter, and escaped ,vith them.
The thieves, though shre\vd, were easily follo,ved,
and in recovery of the animals Jones ,vas shot dead
and Ro\ye captured. The Arizona tragedy ,,?as sin1ply
the result of a reckless frolic. Two noted despera-
does, Tullos and Vaughn, entered Prescott and beg.an
alnusing themselves by shooting dogs and presentinO'
their loaded revolvers at the breasts of people, threat

ening to let daylight through them if they opened
their mouths. Then lllounting horses they rode do,vn
through )Iontezuma street at full. gallop, yelling and
shooting like demons. As a Inatter of course, the
officers and citizens \vere obliged to put an end to such
proceedings, and in doing so one of the ruffians ,yas
shot to death and the other nearly killed.
 young fello,v named Ryan, living from boyhood
in Cheyenne, and one Babcock \,ere brought into
to\vn the 8th of X ovember 1877 for robbing the
outh-
bound Black Hills coach almost under the yery '\all

of Fort Laramie. Ryan had been t"ice in the peni-
tentiary before, but this time he ,vas placed there for
seventeen years and Babcock for fifteen. Two Dick
Turpins, Blackburn and 'Vall, \vere brought in frOll}
nU111erOUS alleged stage robberies about this tillie, in-
cludinO' one ,vhere the ßum of fifteen thousand dollars
o
,vas secured from the treasure-box. One of them was
badly ,,""ounded in his capture.
..L
t Central City, t\\
O and a half miles from Dead-
wood, in the Black Hills, was located the Hidden
Treasure llline. During the summer of 1877 there
,yas trouble as to the o,,?nership of the mine, \vhich
resulted in homicide and litio-ation. In
oveu1ber
forty men \yere at ,york on on
of the shafts, and fail-
ing to receive their pay they took possession of the
mine. .Armina themselves ,vith Sharp rifles and re-
yolvers, and la)Ting in a plentiful supply of a
munition
and provisions, they "rere prepared for a sIege. The

716 POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF
IONTANA.

sheriff ,vith his posse on their arrival found the en-
trance to the tunnels and shafts barricaded, ,yith rifle-
barrels gleaming through the apertures. The l1line ,vas
,vorked at the tinle by a contractor, and although the
yield ,vas good, he neglected to pay the nlen, ,vho, as
they claimed, took" peaceable possession of said I{eats'
ll1Ïne in order to get our pay, 'v hich has so long been
due, and of which we and our fanlilies are sadly in
t " t.I
,van .
As Sanford S. C. Dugan, a native of Pennsylyania,
t,venty-three years of age, ,vas being conveyed {i'0111
the Larimer-street prison in Denver, about the 1st
of Decenlber 1868, to the city jail for greater safety,
the ,vagon ,vas intercepted by one hundred citizens
and driven to a cotton-\vood tree on Cherry street,
,v here a rope ,vas arranged round his neck and over
a lill1b. The poor ,vretch begged piteously for his life,
saying he had never robbed, and had kil1ed but one
Inan, and that in self-defence; but the proofs of guilt
,v ere so satisfying to his judges that the fatal order
,vas given to drive on, ,vhereat ,vagon and soul each
wended its ,yay, leaving the body dangling. Fifty of
the nlost quiet and respectable citizens of Denver but
a fe\v day before this, nanlely on the 23d of N ovem-
bel', took L. H. J\1usgrove froID the jail and hanged
him. The nlan had been in the habit of disguising
himself as an Indian and comn1Îtting depredation:;;;
in ya.rious parts. As he ,vas brought from prison
a cro\vd gathered, to whom the vote ,vas put if he
should be hanged, and a unanimous' ay' follo\ved. He
was placed in a wagon and driven under Cherry Creek
bridge, ,vhere he \vas al1o\ved time to ,vrite some
letters, \vhich he did, smoking a cigarette in the lllOst
nonchalant manner. When the ,vagon started he
crouched lo,v and made a spring in order to secure a
better fall.
T,vo thousand citizens on one occasion, the 12th of
June 1880, appeared upon the st,reets of Leadville to
quell a miners' mob; and they quelled it.

DOIKGS ABOUT LAR
fiE.

il7

Kid, a nice Y oun g man ,,,ithout, but rao-aed in-
'"'0
warclly, h
ving a fanc
T for drugging his victilTIS be-
fore robbing them, ,vlth a hempen cravat adornin o '
his neck and gentle zephyrs playing fantastically ,-rith
his rayen locks, as the Cheyenne Leader expresses it,
graced a telegraph pole of Laramie in AuO'ust 18G8.
This warning sufficed for three months onl,
In N 0-
vember H. C. Thomas drugged a Ulan at Bryan and
robbed him of t",.o hundred and seventy dollars. At
Laramie he shortly after attenlpted the saIne exploit,
,vhen he ,vas arrested and committed to the calaboose.
Five cocked pistols pointed at the keeper's head by
five masked men a night or t,vo after produced the
key, "\vhich, after taking Thomas a,vay and hanging
him, they ,,"'ere careful to return to the jailer.
Three hundred men or thereabout comprised the
vigilance organization of Laran1ie in the ,,"inter of
1868-9. It ,vas no sinecure, membership of this corps.
In their encounters ,vith the desperadoes of the nlonn-
tains bullets often flew freely, and death ,vas the re,vard
Qf bravery. Three Inen ,vere hanged by them one day
in October 1868, and before the bodies ,vere ren1o''"ecl
a fourth ,vas added to the ghastly ro,v. Asa 1\Ioore,
Con 'Veiger, and Ed"Tard Barnard ,vere the names of
the three disgraces which "'"ere raised into iUIIDortality
by reason of their sins. Arnong others granted per-
mission to leave that place ,vith their feet still touch-
iner earth was Steve Y ounO', Long Steve he ,vas called
fo
short; but disregardi
g the kindly ,yarning he
attended the elevation of the immortals blusteringly.
"N 0 damned stranO'lers shall drive n1e from to\YH I"
ð
he said. Again he was affectionately ,yarned to be
quiet, and to depart in peace, if he didn't ,vant the top
of his head blo"Tn off Stephen defied the vigilants
the second tilne, and even the third; ,vhereupon he
,vas elevated thence by the stranglers ,vhom he had
so delighted to dishonor.
The Laramie oraanization in its operations extended
as far as the weste:'n end of the U nioH Pacific llailroall.

718 POPULAR TRIBUXALS OF 1\10NTANA.

In October 1868 they hanged five men at Gilmer,
then a recent railroad town, among \vhon1 ,vere David
l\Iullen and a notorious villain named J\forris. At Bear
River a riot occurred among the graders the 20th
of November 1868, growing out of the hanging of
three men nine days previous. It was a \var bet\veen
crilne, its supporters, and honesty-loving citizens. The
latter arn1ed, and the lllOb after burning the jail can1e
upon them, when they fired, killing six and ,vounding
twenty. Po,vers, O'Neil, and Reed \vere the three
men hanged, and their crime was garroting and mid-
night robbery. O'Neil's brother was \vorking on the
grade, and he succeeded in rousing the rough element
to retaliation. Patsey Marley ,vas the leader of the
rioters, and besides burning the j ail they dcnlolished
the Index office. The fight continued until fourteen of
the rioters ,vere killed and thirty-five wounded. Only
one citizen, Mr Armstrong, ,"''''as killed. Mr Freelnan,
editor of the Index, against ,vhom the rioters \vere in-
censed on account of the support given by him to the
Vigilance Committee, was seized by the rioters, who de-
Inanded the names of those \vho hanged their friends.
"Hang him I" "Shoot him I" they cried. "Death to
the chief of the vigs I" But escaping through a saloon,
Freelnan made his \vay to Fort Bridger, ,vhence troops
were despatched and the riot quelled.
A pedler ,vas robbed of some je\velry, and another
person of a trunk. Suspicion fell on three ill-looking
loafers, whom a company of citizens tracked to their
rendezvous, where part of the plunder was found and
identified. One of the trio escaped; the other t\VO
after trial were hanged at North Platte, March 1870
being about the date of their exit.
Three horse-thieves, Le\vis Curry, James HaH, and
.L\. J. Allen, were caught near Deadwood, Dakota, in
June 1877 \vith t,vo horses, stolen from the stage com-
pany, in their possession. The men ,vere incarcerated
at Rapid City, but at night the jail was broken open
and the three thieves hanged by the people. At

A LARGE ORGAXIZ
-\TIO
.

719

Leayen,yorth, Kansas, in August of this sallie year
Robert S?ruggs was executed by the people for killing

asper Ohphant and
Ir Graff under very aggravating
CIrcumstances.
Fron} the mountains and valleys to Huérfano,
Colorado, in July 1877 came seventy-five men, ,,"'ho
seized
Iarcos Gonzalez while on trial for the murder
of the Bro,vns, husband and ,vife, at a rancho near La
\-r- eta, and hanged him to a telegraph pole. During
the progress of the trial the guilt of the prisoner had
been established beyond a doubt, and the patience of
the people being overcome bJ their "
rath, theJ rO'3e
up and terminated proceedings arbitrarily.
For fifteen years prior to 1877 there had existed
in north-\vestern Illinois, south-western Io,va, and
north-eastern
Iissouri a secret order, with numerous
branches, known as the _
nti-Horse-thief Association.
I t was no part of its purpose, except in cases of ap-
parent necessity, to quarrel with the la\y; at the same
time it did not profess very great respect for an insti-
tution which failed to accomplish the purposes for
,vhich it was created. Spreading into Kansas and
:N ebraska, the organization became a great power,
,vith its lodges and its annual meetings, and all the
paraphernalia for the detection and extinguishing of
crime, not alone such as its name indicated, but of all
kinds of robbery and murder. It was composed almost
exclusively of respectable farmers, ,vho stood ready, to
the number of eight thousand, to hunt rascality to the
death.
)Iany of the outrages in early times on emig
ant
stages and overland trains were charged to the IndIans
,,"'hen in reality they ,vere committed by bands of out-
la ,vs.
Troops stationed at the respective forts throughout
that bleak interior ,yere by no means fit to cope \vith
these desperate characters. Like too many of our
government servants, they ,vere lazy, careless, indiffer-
ent, and stupid; laborious days and
leeple
s nights

720 POPULAR TRIBUN
\LS O
' MONTANA.

\vere less attractive than comfortable quarters and
regular potations. There ,vas little glory in catching;
besides, the soldiers ,vere no match for thenl, either
in activity or intelligence. If sheriffs cannot catch
rogues, assuredly soldiers cannot. In 111echanical
slaughterings soldiers do very well; if ,veIl trained,
they have not intelligence and ,viII sufficient to flee
danger \vhen they see it. This is all as it should be
for posts, to shoot and be shot at; but as detectives
they are of little value.
En1igrants in crossing the plains ,vere accustoilled
to travel in parties of greater or lesser magnitude for
mutual protection. Stages frequcntly carried a guard
of soldiers, 'v ho, together with the armed passengers,
generally succeeded in intinlidating attack. Under
such circulnstances it required a larger force than ,va.s
usually found in one company of lnarauders success-
fully to rob a stage; nevertheless hundreds of stages
\vere robbed and llundreds of emigrants ,vere killed
by these border desperadoes during the years of ox-
tean1 and stage travel.
With railroads came n10re refined robberies. There
,vas the gentlelIlanly pick-pocket in the' sleeper' and
the cut-purse in the 'slIloker;' three-card n10nte lllen
entertained the passengers and added variety to the
gan1bling games ordinarily played. The large freight
traffic led to a ne,v system of pillage, and it ,vas found
necessary for servants of the railroad companies and
others to organize, and the Rocky Mountain Detective

t\..ssociation of 1876 ,vas the result of this necessity.
In January 1877 at !(it Carson an inlportant arrcst
,vas lIlade and a gang broken up ,vhich for the past year
had been pillaging the trains of the ICansas Pacific
Company. Not only did they break into freight trains,
anù abstract groceries and dry-goods, but they also
stole fronl the cattle-cars horses and llluies. A large
quantity of their plunder was on this occasion dis-
covered, and some fourteen persons taken iato custody.
The affair of the brothers J arnes-Frank and J esse-

FRfu
K .A....\D JESSE J _-\)IES.

;
l

in )Iissouri, in some respects exceeds any occurrenco
of the kind on the Pacific coast. Beginning their
career of crime àt the ages of eighteen and sixteen
respectively, as men1bers of a guerilla band durino-
the civil "Tar, they "Tere soon at the head of a O'an

.. b ð
wagIng "ar on Its own account. .After keepin a the
states of :\Iissouri and Kentucky in a state of fe
r for
fìye years, they escaped the several parties organized
for their capture, and came to California and spent
six months at the rancho of a relative at Paso Robles.
recovering from their wounds. Retùrning to )Iis-
souri, killing three or four men at Battle ßlountain,

evada, on their ,yay, they gathered their retainers
and spread yet greater terror on every side, Every
county organized a party for the capture, and large
re,vards \vere offered; but it was not until after nego-
tiations by the authoritips ,,
ith Olle of James' band
that anything "
as effected. In his o,vn house at St
Joseph,
Iissouri, in April 1882 Jesse James was shot
to death by Robert Ford, who ,vas tried for the mur-
der, pleaded guilty, sentenced to be hanged, and ,vas
thereupon immediately pardoned by the governor and
gi ven a re,yard of fifty thousand dollars.

POP. TBIB.. VOL. I. '6

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE POPULAR TRIBUNALS OF ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO,
AND MEXICO.

Der blinde, unbeholfcne Koloss, der mit plumpell Knochen anfangs
Gepolter macht, Rohes und Niedcres, Nahes und Fernes mit gähnendem
Rachen zu verschlingen droht, und zuletzt-über Zwirnsfäden stolpert?
Schiller.

JUSTICE along the boundary line between
Iexico
and the United States was a scarce cOllllnodity in
early tirrlcs, and it iH only by ,yay of eOJnparison that
the Inentiol1 of that locality has any value in this COll-
lleetion. The ,varlike an( I predatory tribes that in-
fested those parts gave the thinly scattered settlers
enough to do to keep their lives and property froll1
the natives. They ,vere border ruffians and ,vhite
desperadoes ,vho preyed alternately upon savage and
civilized as best suited time and convenience; but
these ,vere killed by their eneillies as one kills a \vild
beast when att.acked, and little more ,vas thought
of it.
The southern overland stage and emigrant travel
first attracted desperadoes along the line. Station-
keepers ,vere killed and plundered, and horses stolen
1y
fexicans and ,.A..paches. As settlers began to
occupy attractive spots and gather round them a
little property, vultures \vhite and dusky disputed
fur the prey. There were lllen enough to steal the
1110ment there ,vas anything to be stolen. Besides the
111Ïgratory border ruffian, there were organized bands
roaming throughout the entire region of Sonora,

()uthern California, and such parts of Arizona as
( 722 )

THE GALLAXT GLAXTAX.

72:1

offered plunder. One of these pitched calnp in 1851
on the Colorado wher
no"
ib Fort Yuma. There
'Y
re bet\veen thirty and forty in this gang, and as
tIllS was before the establishment of the fort, they had
things all their o"
n ,vay. Woe betide the luckless
emigrant \yho fell into their hands. After having
travelled a thousand ,yeary miles, after havincr endured
privations and sufferings indescribable, the
ttacks of
savages, the buffetings of sand-laden ,vinds, huno-er,
thirst, and sickness, this final scourge finished m
ny
of them.
.L-\.fter a sojourn here of several months some of
the band began to tire of it. Times \vere too tame;
the country "
as too poor for them. The road \\ras
too straight to perdition to encourage increase of
travel. Son1etinles there would not pas
anything fit
to rob for a fortnight; a
ld these villains actually
began to be n,shamed of themsel veb, thirty and lllore
of thenl sitting there and doing the work of about
three.
" Their leader, Glantan, ,vas of that opinion; at all
eyents he ,vanted the others to go, and encouraged
them in the thought. He had a little scheme of his
o\vn ,vhich he proposed to ,vork out, provided he did
not bave to share the profits \vith too many. He \Vas
a first-class buccaneer, a chif-d'æu'vre of the devil, this
Glantan. His plan was to start a ferry across the
Colorado after the others had gone, and he did it.
Then he took toll of whatever caIne that ,vay. Charon
,vas a sympathetic saint besid e hinl. His charge for
crossing was whatever the traveller had that he
"'
anted' and the charO'e ,vas the
an1e \vhether the
,

traveller crossed or not. One of his rule
\Ya
ne\-er
to rob a man until after he had crossed and had paid
the ferriage, otherwise that "Toulcl be robbing the
ferry.
Early in 1852 an opposition ferry ,vas
tartecl belo\,,"
Glantan's. \Vhat audacity! "That villainy t TrlH',
thp COlllpetition \yaR fair; the busine
R "
as conJucted
.

724 ARIZOX A, NE'V MEXICO, AND :l\1EXICO.

on the same economical principles, chief anhong ,vhich
,vas never to kill a man after robbing him unless the
interests of the business seemed to demand it, the idea
being that if all the n1en ,vere killed there \,,",ould be
none left to rob. The ne\v proprietor was a dis-
charged soldier ,vho had been living for several years
\vith the YUll1as. Seeing ho\v ,veIl Glantan ,vas
doing, ho\v easily he amassed property, the honest
soldier and the sin1ple-minded savages could not resist
the temptation. Together they built the ferry and
agreed upon the toll; the Y umas ,vere to have the
patron's clothes, and the soldier his money. The
business ,vas very profitable, but it interfered ,vith
Glantan's schelnes, and he determined to close out his
neighbor's business. Accordingly, ,vith his usual de-
lTIoniacal impudence, he went to his rival's house, and
after a fe,v friendly words deliberately dre,v his re-
volver and shot him dead. The Y umas retaliated by
going to Glantan's encampment and killing him and
all his band save t,vo.
An agreement having been 111ade bet,veen the
United States and J\fexico for the establishment of
Fort Yun1a, General Heintzehnan arrived shortly
after the massacre of Glantan's band ,vith t,vo conl-
panies of United States troops, and fulfilled the agree-
Inent. In 1853 one Hartshorn obtained a contract
from the government for carrying freight to the
mouth of the Colorado River. Captains Wilcox and
Johnson becalne connected ,vith hinl ill the business,
the result being the opening of a line of ocean and
river steamers. In 1854 a store ,vas opened on the
east side of the river for the soldiers at Fort Yuma.
Gradually small adobe houses ,vere built around the
store, enclosed by the rudest of brush fences, until
the place assunled sufficient importance to be digni-
fied \vith the name of Arizona City.
In January 1861 a Texan named Mateo, of Spanish
descent, stopped one night at the camp of t\VO wood-
choppers, on the Colorado River, where he asked for
.

C
-\.TTLE -:";TE
\LIXG.

....'")-
1-.)

food and to be a
com
odated for the night: a request
cheerfully comphed ,vlth. In t.he night he arose, and
taking an axe killed both the men. Then he secured
the effects ,vhich he sought, and placed them in a skiff,
with the clothes ,yhich he had stripped from the men
,vbom he had murdered, and ,vhose bodies he threw
into the water. Jumping into the skiff, he pushed
do,vn the river, feeling that his detection ,vas a most
iU1probable thing. The follo,ving day some Indians
visited the ,vooel-choppers' camp and at once suspected
foul play. Fort Y un1a ,vas on the opposite side of the
river, in that vicinity, \vhere information of their sus-
picions ,vas, at once brought by the Indians. Soldiers
sent in quest of the murderer discovered
Iateo and
handed him over to the citizen
, ,vho summarily exe-
cuted hÍlll. )Iateo ,vas ,veIl kno,vn in Los Angele
,
having been employed a., a teall1ster bet,veen that
place and San Pedro for S0111e months.
I t "as an easy and not uncon1n10n thing for .L-\mer-
ican renegades to cross the frontier, alight on a haci-
enda, lnurcler the keepers, and drive the stock across
the line into United States territory. Again a
Iex-
ican "ould engage his services to an American farmer,
gain his confidence, and at the proper time his COIll-
padres ,,
ould appear, kill the people, plunder the
premises, and flee into
Iexico. Probably the greatest
depredations Vt
ere committed along the Texan side of
the upper Rio Grande, ,vhere were pasturell countIes::)
herds of cattle, guarded by a fe,v men, the o"
nerb
living at a distance from them. Early in 1872 it ,vas
stated in congress that in Tanlaulipas,
ue,o Leon,
and Coahuila, cattle bearing Texan brands ".ere
old
cheaper than in Texas, it costing less to steal than to
raise them. )Ioonlight nights ".e1'e generally sele
ted
by cattle banditti, who avoided as much as possIble
encounters with the o,,-ners, though upon occaSIon they
did not hesi tate to murder. .
While the people of the United States ,yere urging
the bi t terest conl ] )laint-.; alrainst
Iex.ico,
carcelv any
<=' " ...

7
G ARIZONA, :KE\V :MEXICO, AND MEXICO.

attention ,vas paid to the punishnlent of crilne on the
Texan side of the Rio Grande. It ,vas stated that up
to the autU111n of 1877, not,,
ithstanding the fearful
prevalence of murder in that locality, not a single legal
conviction or execution had taken place. Both people
and property ,vere too erratic in their habits. ..L

drover ,vith his
tock ,vould be here oue day and a
hundred 111iles hence a week after. Only llol11adic
justice and drl1l11-head law could follow crime in such
a society.
By stipulation of the extradition treat.r bet,vecn
)iexico and the U nitell States of the 11 th of April
1881, neither of the contracting parties 'yere bound
to n1ake delivery of their citizen
to the other; so
that Sonorans could kill and roL in Arizona, antI
Arizonians in Sonora, and escaping over the line sit
do\vn quietly and snap their fingers in the face of
justice. On the 24th uf December 1870 three men,
Reid, Lytle, and Ollivel', \vere 111urdered at
Iission
Camp by three
lexicalls, 'v ho inll11ediately escaped to
Sonora. The 2d of January follo\ving, Governor
Safford sent au agent for thenl. They ,vere found
,,-ithout difficulty, but the governor of Sonora, Pes-
queira, declined to give then1 up, and referred the
Blatter to the
ecretary of state, \vho i
sued a circular
to all prefects to l1ave the crilninals arrested if found,
but not to deli vcr thelll out of their hands.
A man nalned Baker, living at Bluû Water Station,
in Arizona, drove a 8tage bet\vcen that place and
Tucson. He ,vas a peaccaLle citizen, ,ve11 and favora-
hly kno,vn. On the night of the 21st of Dûcember
1871 his home \Va8 entered by l\Iexican
, and Bakcr,
\vith all his falnily, Inast;acred. The 111urder ,vas
discovered a fe\v days later by a travellcr, ,vho, en-
tering the house, sa,v the ren1ain::; uf
Ir and :1\lrs
Baker, their little son, autl an infant. Iuul1ediatcly
upon reporting the case a re\vard of one thousand
(lolIars \vas offered for the detection of the ruffiall
,
l)ut the CaSe \vas ahant10ned upon hearing that the

)lEXICA....,;o:; AXD ...DIERICAXS.

-.)-
,-J

)lexican:-5 had reached Sonora and Were under the
protection of the
Iexicall government.
On one occasion Goyernor 1IcCormick, in speaking
of the border troubles, relnarked that \vhen the Blue
'Vater and
Ii

ioll Calllp murders "erp c01l1mittecl
he reported the same to the authorities at "Tashinff-
ton, saying that should such thinD's continue the
e
"ere strong probabilities that an a
'n1ed force \vould
invade :\Icxico and retaliate. The Inatter \va::, then
brought before the :\Iexican governnlent, and the
reply ,vas that they ,vere unable to guard their fron-
tier, and that they could not be held responsible for
the act::; of their people LtCrO
s the border.
John H. TatnUtll "a'S killed at Tuc
un in )larch
186 ï. He ,vas fur
evel'al Yèar
resident of .Arizona,
and at one tilne a Inen1 ber uf the California legisla-
ture frolll )Iaripo
a County. I t ,vas rumored that in
a gambling dispute he killed a soldier, a
lcl that hib
o"
n life \yas taken in re\Tenge by the comrades of the
nlurdered IDan.
Says the
\.rizona. JIincJ' of the 14th of J anual'Y
18i1 on the state of affair
at that tilne:

" The alarming frequency of deeds of yiolence in our community, and the
tardiness with which justice is meted out, win, we fear, judging from the
ominous mutterings of the people, culminate in a vigilance committee, the
self-constituted arbiters of justice so conunon to the frontier, or whereyer laws
are not promptly and strictly enforced. Although society has been outraged,
and murder and homicide perpetrated ,,,ith unprecedented and reckless indif-
ference by lawless and desperate men, yet we hope the necessity for a vigil-
ance committee, the existence of which aU law-abiding citizens must e,er
deprecate, may not arise."

The futile appeals lllade to both the :\le
ican antI
American governn1ent
for protection, and the pro-
longed delay in an adjustnlent of difticultié:;, cOlllpelle.d
the citizens to ayenge their o,,'u \yrollgs or tû subnut
unprotecteJ to continued outrage
.

\. station-keeper named \"rilliam )IcFarland, an
honest and re::;pected Ulan, enlployed at Sacatoll, on
the Tuc
on road, in :\Iarch 18ï2 had occa
iull to go

728 ARIZONA, NE\Y l\IEXICO, AND ßfEXICO.

through Florence and Sanford to Gándara's ra.ncho,
after leaving which he mysteriously disappeared.
Search was made, and a re","ard of t,velve hundred
dollars offered for information which should lead to a
solution of the mystery. The nlassacre of the Baker
family, previously mentioned, and many other murders,
stimulated the people to action. Accordingly a large
party of Alnericans ,vent to Gándara's to make inves-
tigations concerning the disappearance of l\fcFarland.
Upon ascertaining that Gandara was at home, Bodel,
one of the party, started to go into the house, ,vhen Gán-
dara accosted hin1 with "Adios!" and drawing a con-
cealed weapon killed him. Gándara then undertook to
escape, but ,vas riddled ,vith balls within t\venty feet of
his house. The Americans returned to Sanford breath-
ing vengeance. On the follo,ving day, Sunday, they
. started in pursuit of Manuel Reyes, ,vho had threat-
ened to kill four Aluericans in revenge for the death
of a comrade. Reyes took refuge in a house \vhere
there ,vere several ,vonlen and children. At an early
hour a cro\vd collected about the place and ordered
aU the inn1ates but Reyes to leave the house. As
soon as the order ,vas obeyed an onslaught ,vas made,
and amid general shooting Reyes ,vas killed. An
hour or t,vo before, Aguilar, another }'Iexican, was
shot from his horse. Fears were entertained of a
general uprising of the J\Iexicans, and places of busi-
ness in Sanford and Florence were closed, the citizens
holding thenlselves in readiness to act if necessary.
Governor Safford soon after made his appearance; a
body of troops was stationed in the vicinity, and peace
was finally restored. McFarland's body was shortly
afterward found buried a fe\y Iniles fron1 Gándara's.
King S. Woolsey, ,vhóse rancho \yas at Stanwix
Station, had a :ì\Iexican boy, whom he had brought up
with the kindness of a father. A
Iexican desperado
formerly in his elnploy met the boy one day and told
hinl he was going to the rancho to kill Woolsey. The
boy replied that he \vould have to kill him first; and

)IARL;\"''\O TISXADO.

729

after some further discussion the man did shoot the
boy so that he died. :i\Iexicans in 'V oolsey's employ
caught the murderer and determined to take his life.
He ""as guarded by his countrymen durinO' the niO'ht.
"T oolsey advised them to act calmly. On o the fol
w-
ing day, August 8, 1872, the boy was buried, and the
nlan led out and shot beside the boy's grave.
.L\.t Kenyon Station, on the Yuma road, Ed,,"ard
Lumley,yas killed on the 18th of August. 1873 by
Lúcas Lugas and :\Ianuel Subiate. He was beaten,
stabbed, and shot; and the frequency and brutality
of these outrages induced extreme measures for the
arrest of the guilty ::\lexicans. On the 318t of the
month Lugas ,",as found in a thick underbrush, ,yhere
he ,vas shot after a vain attempt to kill his pursuers.
Subiate ""as also captured the same day and placed in
the Yuma County jail. His denial of complicity ill
the ]llurder was rebutted by strong circumstantial
evidence, as he ,,-as on one of
Ioore and Carr's stage
horses taken from Kenyon Station, and had the
clothing and dog of Lugas with hinl. On the 8th of

\.ugust four lnen ,vere hanged for murders committed
the previous nay. This prompt and deterlnined action
of the people "as necessary to saye the lives and
property of the scattered population.
.L\.
Iexican named )Iariano Tisnado was arrested
for cattle-stealing in Phænix, Arizona, and strong
suspicions ""ere entertained that he ""as accessory to
the recent murder of :àlr Griffin. I t ""as announced
that his trial would take place the 3d of July 1873.
Early that morning there ""as an unusual influx. of
farmers coming froill every direction, ,yell arnled,
quiet, and resolute. At six o'clock they a
senlbled at
the court-house square. Half an hour later a stranger,
just arrived, observing several groups of people talk-
ing on the street-corners, stepped up to one of them
and inquired, ""That is the exciteluent 1" c. X otbing,"
,vas the reply, "it's all over no'v," at the same tilHe
P ointinO' siO'
ificant]y to )lonihon's corral. The inter-
o ö oJ

730 ARIZONA, XE\Y )IEXICO, A.J.
D )lEXICO.

locutor ,valked to the place indicated, and there ::;a,y
the body of l\lariano Tisnado suspended froln the gate
of
lonihon and Starrar's corral, on Cortés street.
The farlners had eÀecuted Tisnado, as they feared
that the result of his trial \vould be his acquittal.
About midnight on the 3d of August 1873 a l\fex-
ican couple, Vicente Hernandez and his ,vife, ,vere
murdered in their home at Tucson ,vith knives and
clubs by Leonardo Córdoba, Clemente Lopez, and
Jesus Saguaripa. The lllurderers ,vere arrested on
the follo\ving Jay, anJ a confession obtained from
CÓl'doba ackno\vledging the participation of each iu
the deed. He also disclosed the place ,vhere the
plunder \va
buried. The follo,ving day the funeral
o("('urrecl, and so indignant ,vere the people that after
the services they convened on the court-house plaza
and advised as to the course to be pursued ,vith tbe
n1urderers. The confession made by Córdoba was read
in Spanish and in English to the assenlbly, and an
expression of the Ineeting called for. The unaninlous
demand ,vas that the lTIurdcrers should be executed at
once. There had been Inuch to aggravate the people
in the disregard of justice, particularly in letting nlUl"-
derers go unpunished. At the ::\1arch session of the
court t,vo noted criminals ,vere given their freedolu,
though it was well kno,vn they had taken the lives
of innocent lllen. There ,vas in the jail at thp tiule of
the pre
ent excitenlent another 111urderer, J ohn v'Tilli

by uaIne, ,vho it was determined should be hanged
,vith the three l\Iexicans. Accordingly the 111eeting
adjourned until the following nlorlJing, August 8th,
,vhen at an early hour the jail ,vas 8urrounded and
the prisoners demanded. In the mean time t\VO forked
posts ,vere planted in front of tho jail door and a pole
placed on them. ]'our ropes \yith nooses \vore then
suspended from the pole. A Catholic priest ,va

HUUlITloned and allo,ved sufficient tilue for his llJÏllis-
trations. The prisoners ,vere then led forth and
hanged. 1'he report of the inquest i
interesting, as

EXPLOIT OF JOHX \VILLIS.

731

sho\\
illg the feeling entertained by the COIJ1Illunity at
the tÏ1ne:

" 'Ye, the undersigned, the jurors summoned to appear before Solomon
'Yarner, the coroner of the county of Pima, at Tucson, on the 8th (lay of August
1873, to inquire into the cause of the death of John \Villis, Leonard Córdoba,
Clement Lopez, and Jesus Saguaripa, find that they came to their deaths on
the 8th day of August 1873, about 11 :30 o'clock in the morning, in the court-
house plaza, in the town of Tucson, by hanging; and we further finù that
said hanging was committed by the people of Tucson en 1iWA38P; and we do
further say that, in view of the terrible and bloody murders which were
committed by the three :\Iexicans named above, and the tardiness with
which justice was heing meteù out to John Willis, a murderer, the extreme
measures taken by our fellow-citizens this morning in vindication of their
lives. their property, and the peace and good order of society, while it is to be
regretted and ùeplored that such extreme measures were necessary, seem to
have been the inevitable results of allowing criminals to escape the penalties
of their crimes. "

The grand jury in O<:tober spoke of this action of the
people as having been taken at "a mass meeting of
the citizens of the to'Vll of Tucson, numbering
eYeral
hundred, and composed for the mo::;t part of the best
aud most influential citizens of the to\vn. The hanging
\yas clone en ,uasse, calnlly and deliberately, belieying
it ,va
for the best interests of the community at
large. The verdict of the coroner's jury held on" the
day of the hanging accurately expres
e
the sense of
a ver3T large majority of our lllost ðubstalltial, peace-
able, andla,v-abiding citizens."
The man John "Tillis, ,\7 ho ,vas executed ,,,ith the
)Iexican
, is credited ,vith the following
allguinary ex-
ploit: One night in November 1872, at ..A..damsyille,
Arizona, Colonel Kennedy ,vas slain Ly J oho Roger
.
The body lay yet unburied \vhen B?b S,voope
leard
of it. Bob ,vas at Sanford at the tIme, and beIng a
warm personal friend of the oolonel, he ,,-as deeply
moved on receipt of the sad intelligence. To ha \
e
killed Roaers, even though he ,vere a descendant of
th
In
rty
, ,voulel. have afforded him. some r
lief; ?ut
thIs beIn o ' ImpractIcable, he took a drInk. StIll feelIng
l)adly, heðtook another drink, ,vhich opened the \vay for'
a third, anel
oon BoL ":'"a
sorro,vfully drunk.

732 ARIZONA, NEV\T MEXICO, AND :MEXICO.

" I 'v ill go to that funeral if it kills me," said he to
John Willis, whom he Inet ,vhile in this ultra-emo-
tionallllood.
" I reckon not," replied Willis.
"I tell you I shall go I" exclaimed Bob, waxing
,varm.
"Oh no you won't I" retorted Willis.
" I'll bet I do I" cried Bob, nlore ,va.rmly.
"I'll bet you don't I" said Willis, as he drew a
revolver and shot his friend through the heart.
Willis was arrested and indicted in March 1873, but
his trial was postponed until May. On the 24th of
the month the jury pronounced a verdict of guilty
of n1urder in the first degree, but the sentence of the
judge that Willis should be hanged ,vas issued without
naming the day for his execution, whereupon the
case ,vas appealed to the supreme court. The grand
jury, reporting upon the affair, says: ".L
fter an ex-
haustive, fair, and impartial trial of about one week's
duration, at great cost to the county and some sacri-
fice to the trial jurors, John Willis ,vas found guilty
of murder, and as his case had been appealed to the
supreme court upon some trivial excuse, a general
belief prevailed that it ,vould end as did that of An-
thony Dorman and others, and that he ,vould event-
ually be set free or make his escape, to further prey
upon the people, as has been the case in all other
cases of murder since Tucson has been under the
jurisdiction of the civil law." This is a continuation
of the report previously quoted, exculpating those
who at last assumed the responsibility of ridding the
community of four dangerous characters.
G. R. Whisler, a man fifty years of age, keeper of
Burke Station, on the Lo,ver Gila, ,vas n1urdered at
noon on the 7th of July 1874 by a Mexican named
Ventura Nunez. Threats had been made by border
bandits to murder all the station-keepers from Gila
Bend to Yuma, and the discovery of Whisler's violent
death exciterl intense apprehension. Governor Saf-

o TE
lPG8 FER.-LX RERL""")I!

';33

ford inaugurated a plan, ,vhich worked very success-
fully, authorizing responsible parties to offer suitable
re,vards for the apprehension of criminals. Accordinaly
'V oolsey, of Stall,vix Station, nine miles belo,," Burke
immediately offered five hundred dollars for 'T entur

Xuñez, dead or ali,
e. Three men started in pur-
suit, and overtook the )Iexican, ,vho, havinO' ridden
do,vn his o,vn and a stage horse, "'
as on fo
t. He
,vas captured near the copper mines, sixty miles south
of Burke Station, after having about twenty shots
fired at him, one of ,vhich penetrated his leg. He
,vas searched and SOlTIe of the stolen property found;
he acknO"\vledged the crime, and ,,"as brought back on
the 11th of December to the scene of the murder,
,vhere there was a large assembly of men from the
various stations, ,vho took the man from the authori-
ties and hanged hilIl. This decisiye action, it ".as felt,
,,"ould be efficacious in dèterring these ruffians from
the commission of such crimes, for love of life is strong
,yithin them, though they hold in light esteem the
r lives of others.
Oliver P. ::\IcCoy on the 3d of .August 1877 near
Safford, Arizona, discharged both barrels of a shot-
gun loaded ".ith fine and buck shot into the body of
J. P. Le,vis, ,,
ho was attending to some irrigating,
killinO' him almost instantly. ::\IcCoy gave himself
up, a
d ,vas examined by a justice, before whom he
ackno,vledO'ed the crilne. N ext day he ,vas to have
been sent to Tucson, but that night he was taken by
the people and hanged.
:N othino- ,vas created in vain; even desperadoes
serve a g
od purpose sometimes. Along the Amer-
ican border durinO' the past century they have done
far more toward the execution of justice in killing
each other than ,vas done by all the law courts in the
land. 'Vhat a O'odsend it is to a community for fi \-e
or six of their r
ffians to kill each other, leaying only
one survivor for the people to hang. On the morn-
ing of the 18th of Decen1ber 1877, at Hackberry,

'734 ARIZONA, NE"\Y :MEXICO, AND :MEXICO.

Arizona, Boh White attempted to shoot Frank
fc-
Niel, a stranger, after a few angry ,vords over a trivial
nlatter. 1\IcNiel disarrned White, and led him into a
saloon to his friends, as he had no wish to quarrel,vith
the fellow. Shortly after\vard Charlie Rice, one of
White's friends, approached McNiel and shot him,
causing his death. The citizens turned out en masse,
and capturing Rice, hanged him. In the mean tinle
'Vhite, attempting to escape, was pierced with bullets
and fell dead.
L. V. Grimes and C. B. Ha,vley, confessing to cer-
tain robberies and murders, were hanged at Globe,
Arizona, by thirty citizens, early in the n10rning of
the 24th of August 1882.

The greatest sufferers from the lax administration
of justice in New J\Iexico ,vere foreigners, especially
citizens of the United States, against whonl there
,vas no little prej udice.
Notwithstanding the general perversion of justice
in New l\1exico, capital crimes ,vere rare, though petty
thefts ,vere frequent. Doubtless fear of the savages
prevented the high,vay robbery ,vhich so long and
so mercilessly oppressed nlany parts of 1\iexico.
eo
leave an article exposed was not safe for a 1110nlent,
and though thievery was so comrnon it ,vas difficult
to catch rogues, for few would inform.
Very different ,vas the rnanagement of affairs uncler
royal régime, as the follo\ving incident testifies: In
1815 a soldier nalned Cora stole a fe,y articles of no
great value from the public storehouse at Santa Fé,
then in charge of Lieutenant Don Valentin l\Ioreno.
Cora was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced
to be shot; nor did the solicitations of some of the
nlost influential men in the province save hin1 fron1
death.
The insurrection of 1837 ,vas something more than
an Indian outbreak. The pueblo natives, semi-civil-
jzed when first found, were but little lower in the

VERY LARGE )IOBS.

735

scale of hunlallity than the ::\Iexicans theillsel veR.
The territorial government, by act of the :\Iexican
congress, had just been erected into a departmental
governlnent, and Perez, in Januarv 1837, appointed
goyernor. His rule ,vas regarded "by the Pueblos as
arbitrary and unjust. ..L
mong other oppressive Inea8-
ures, a tax had been laid on tobacco; and further con-
templated ilnpositions were feared.
In July 1837 the Pueblos rose in rebellion, San
Juan taking the lead. About the beginning of AUCTust
a great l11ultitude gathered at La Cañada, a
ong
,vhom ,,,,ere the chiefs and principal warriors of the
Pueblos. Perez issued orders for the musterinCT of
the militia, but not more than one hundred and fifty
could be found. With these he marched against the
insurgents,- but ,vas repulsed, many of his force going
over to the enelllY, With about twenty-five officials
and friends he fled south"ard, fearing to return to
Santa Fe; but they \,ere overtaken and driven back
to the suburbs of the city, \vhere Pcrez ,vas killed.
Jesus l\Iaría Alarid, secretary of state, and Ramon
.Abred, prefect of Rio Arriba, were also slain and their
bodies ill u tila ted.
Anarchy follo\ved. At a ll1ass meeting held at
Santa Fé, resolutions opposed to the Percz policy
,vere passed and a provisional goyernment adopted.
T\vo thousand insurgents pitched their calnp before
the capital the 9th of August, and the horrorR of a
saquéo were feared, but no outrage ,vas attçnlpted.
::\Iany of the insurgents remained in and about the city
for t,vo da y
s durincr \y hich time one of their leaders,
, ð
J osé Gonzalez of Taos, honest but unlearned, "Tas
chosen governor, and Antonio Domingo IJopez lieu-
tenant-governor.
At Ton1é on the 8th of Septelnber ont
::\Ianuel
Armijo pronounced against the insurgent
.
Ien
gathered to his standard; and after havIng pro-
claimed himself governor, he llla:chcd, tl
e 13th of
September, \vith a large body agaJnst the Insurgents,

736 ARIZONA, NE'V
IEXICO, AND lvIEXICO.

primarily the Pueblos, but now increased by discon-
tented ,vhite men to a formidable organization. Gon-
zalez prepared for battle, but persuaded by a priest
to capitulate, 11e was first confined, and on the 25th
of January 1838 ,vas hanged at Santa Cruz ,vith
Lopez. Arlnijo for his service and successes was
confirmed as governor by the authorities at the City
of Mexico.
This Armijo, in comlnon with rulers and magis-
trates of his day, employed singular methods in
determining guilt. In January 1840 two foreigners
returning from the mines to Santa Fé had the misfor-
tune to kill a Mexican lad by the accidental discharge
of one of their guns. Carrying the body into to\vn,
they at once reported the circumstance to the au-
thorities. The chief alcalde consulted \vith Armijo
as to ,vhat should be done. After due deliberation
and with a little gravity, although there had been no
examination or fornl of trial, it was determined that
the strangers should be imprisoned for nlurder and
there kept until they should prove their innocence.
In time the absurdity of the thing became apparent
to the people, and their manifest disapprobation at
length induced the judge and governor to give the
men their liberty.
The manifestation of feeling against foreigners was
frequent, such as the capture in 1841 of the Santa
Fé expedition, the beating to death in open day t)f a
dumb creole at Taos, the entering and robbing of
Rowland's store by a mob led by the alcalde of San
Miguel. At the same tinle no little excitement pre-
vailed at Santa Fé, \vhere an attack was made on the
United States consul, Manuel Alvarez. Backed by a
band of sans-culottes, one l\fartin, nephew and confiden-
tial agent of the governor, approached the consul's
house with murderous intent. Drawing a large
knife, he told the cro\vd to keep b"ack until he called
them; he entered the house secretly and attacked
Alvarez, cutting hill1 severely in the face. The consul

TRIAL BY ROPE A
D DRU)I-HEA.D.

73;

narrowly escaped \rith his life, and the nephe\\" \vas
promoted for his pains.
During the spring of 18-1ï the Santa Fé roaih) \vere
infested \yith Pa"
nee
and COlllanches \,-ho fear-
,
lessly attacked the government train
, beat ùo\yn the
escorts, drove off the cattle, and often killed Inany
people. One of these cases occurred near the Grand
Arkansas on the
2d of June, ,,-hen a larae body of
natives attacked a returning governuJent h'ain, o;yel'-
po\vered the teamsters, and captured eighty yoke uf
oxen. Lieutenant Love's convoy, \vith three hun-
dred thousand dollar
in specie, \vas attacked four
days after near the ....\.rkallsas by about five hundred
native ,,'arl'iors, \yho took one hundred and fifty yoke
of oxen. Pursued by t,venty of Love's lllcn, they led
them into alnbush and cut off their retreat.
\. fierce
fight ensued, but the \v!lite 111en finally. forced a p
-
sage and 111ade good their retreat. The nati ves lu
t
t\yenty-fiye killed and many \,ounded
",
hilè the killed
and wounded of the white men numbered eleven.
. On the 28th of June 1847 Lieutenant BrO\Yll aUtl
priyates )IcClanahan and Qui.senbury \vere 8ent \vith
a l\Iexican guide in pursuit of some )Iexican
,,-ho a.
day or t\\o before had stolen the hOl"ðes belonging to
Captain Horine's troop near Las 'T ega:::;. .After several
days had elapsed \\ithout inforlllation froll} the party,
it ,vas conjectured that they had becn murdered.
This ::;upposition seemed conf1ro1ed Ly a -;tatelllent
made to
Iajor Edmondson by a )Iexi<..:ali lady, ,yhu
affirlned that three Americans and Olltj )Iexican had
been killed near Las 'T e cr a'3 and their bodieb burned.
. 0 .
Three :\Iexlcans, ,,-hose appearance had excIted bU:,-
picion, \",ere brought into camp, and an attelnpt madc
to obtain inforn1ation on the subject ti'OID thenl: as
they ,vould lnake no di
clo
ureò:), one of then1 \va::>
hano-ed until nearly dead, ,,-hen on being lu\yered the
third time he ad;nitted the truth of the l\Iexican
lady's
tatement. )Iajor Edlllondsoll at once nrJcred
a detachment of t,yenty-nine cavalr\y antI thirty-threl'
Po
. TRIB.. YOLo 1. 4ï ' "" .

73b AR.iZOX
\, XE\\Y :MEXICO, A:XD )lEXICO.

infantry ,vith one ho\vitzer to Inarch at once on Las
Vegas. A charge was made, in "Thich ten Mexi-
cans were killed, fifty taken prisoners, and the re-
Inainder driven from the place. Tried by drum-head
court-martial at Santa Fé, sentence of death \vas
pronounced upon six of the prisoners, and on the 3d
of .August in presence of the army they ,vere exe-
cu ted.
After the defeat of the l\lexicans, search was made
for the remains of Lieutenant Brown and his com-
panions. The body of the fornler was found concealed
among the rocks; it had not been burned out of rever-
ence for the cross which lay upon the breast. The
ashes of the others ,vere discovered, and their \veapons
and clothes found in different houses. The larger
portion uf the to,vn \vas burned by the soldiers, as
were also the lllills belonging to the alcalde, ,yho \vas
kno\vn to have sanctioned the murder of Lieutenant
Bro\vn's party. ..
There \vere on the 19th of January 1847 t\VO
Pueblos confined in the prison at Taos, and, as their
towns-people thought, unjustly. At all events they
determined on their release, and a deputation was sent
from their village, t,velve rnileB a\vay, to Taos to make
the del nand. I..Jee, the sheriff, sa,v the approaching
storm and recomnlended tolerant measures, but the
prefect, a l\fexican, forbade him to release the prisoners.
Thereupon the deputation killed both sheriff and pre-
fect, and opened the prison doors.
The villagers then Il1arched to the house of Governor
Bent, \vho arose, dressed quickly, and sought to gain
the street, but before he could escape he was shot.
District-attorney Leal \vas like\vise shot; also the son
of Judge Baubien. The sallie day seven Americans
'vere killed at the Arroyo Hondo, two at the Rio
Colorado, and civil \var ensued.
At the tin1e of the n1urder of Governor Bent,
general alarm spread through all that section of
country. The outrages that preceded and follo,ved

TCI1Ll
Y
\XD IllS
IEX.

73!)

added proportionate anxiety. ....\. lllan of ,v(.alth aud
pron1Ïnence named Turley ".a
,yarned that his life
"'a
in d.anger.

listenell fearles.sly to the intinlÏ-
datIon, his unsusplcIOU::; nature refu
lno' to belicye that
Inalice could be cherished tow.ard him. 0 Generous ,vith
his ,vealth, he never refused a :\Iexican ,vho applied
to him for aid; the hungry were supplied from hiH
granaries, and poverty "as relieved by his bounty.
Turley o,yned a Inill and distillery adjoinino- his house.
..L.\.t the solicitation of his men they 'Yer
permitted
to fortify thell1selve
against pos
ible attack, their
little garrison being composed of eight ,vhite men,
Americans, French Canadians, and Englishmen, ,yell
supplied ,vith arlns and amu1unitioll.
These precautionary lnea
ures ,vere scarcely COIll-
pleted before a large force of
Iexicans and Indians
appeared and demanded Turley's surrender, at the
sanle tinle guaranteeing the safety of his life. Turley
_ refused to surrender his house or his men. A
hort
consultation bet,veen the 1Iexicans follo,ved this reply,
"and then they cOlumenced an attack. Their force ,vas
composed of five hundred men, ,vith numbers hourly
increasing. Secreting themselves among bushes and
crouching behind rocks, they kept up an ince

ant fire.
The .Americans had blockaded and loop-holed their
,vindows, and with their rifles they no" picked off
every man who in the lea8t exposed hilnseif. Xight
brought quiet, but the next day the fight 'Ya
vigor-
ously rene,ved. In the mean time some of the
Iexi-
cans had gained possesbion of the
tables
eparated
but a few feet from the n1aÎn building. An atteillpt
,vas made to cross the narro,,- space, but \v hen it ,va

discovered Turley's nlen quickly prepared for theln.
\.
Pueblo chief attempted to cross, but a shot dropped
him in the centre of the
pace. A \varrior darted out
to recover the body, but another
hot stretched hÏ1n
beside his chief. 'Ì\vo others met a :-5imilar fate; at
last three rushed to the spot, and had seized the body
when three sharp cracks froln as n1any rifles added

í-!O ARIZOXA,
E'V :MEXICO, AND :MEXICO.

their lifeless bodies to the number already ::;tretched
upon the ground.
Unerring ainl had beconle a necessity, for their
alnmunition ,vas nluch reduced. The attack ,vas no,,-
rene,ved more fiercely; the assailants poured in a yol-
ley, and t\VO of the defenders fell mortally ,vounded.
..<-\. still greater danger no,v threatened then}; the Inills
\yere discovered to be on fire, and the flalnes lllust in-
evitably cOinnluni
ate ,,"'ith their o,vn building. T,vice
they succeeded in extinguishing the fire, only to see
it break out else,vhere. Though the Inill ,vas but par-
tially burned resistance "
as useless, but rather than
surrender they deterlnined if po
sible to effect their
escape during the night.
At dusk John Albert and a cOlnpanion, t,vo of the
besieged party, rushed buddenly froin the building
and discharged their rifief:; at the foe. Albert then
thre,v hiIllself upon the ground, and cra,vling beneath
a fence, relnained there until dark, ,vhen he started
for the Greenhorn, undi:scovered by the enemy, anlI
reached the place in an exhausted condition. His
companion was discovered, stabbed ,vith knives and
lances, and shot.
Turley succeeded in eluding the enemy and reached
the Inountains in safety. There he Inet a
Iexican,
,vho expressed great conlilliseration, and sYlnpathiz-
ingly offered him assistance if he would reIllain con-
cealed until his return froIn a certain place 'v here he
,,,"ould go for horses. The l\Iexican then ,vent directly
to the mill and reported Turley's place of conceal-
Inent. A party of l\fexicans at once 8tarted out,
found Turley, and shot hin1 dead. The remainder of
the number ,vho had so valiantly defended Turley and
his premises succeeded in reaching Santa Fé in safety.
The mill was pillaged by the
Æexicans, and a large
aU10unt of money taken.
At a fandango in Socorro
ome ruffians in 1851
killed As
istant-quartermaster Clark of the boundary
cOlllmission, stabbing him ,vith bo,vie-kniyes. An ar-

THE TEXA_, BORDER.

';41

rest \vas lllade of eight or ten persons thouo-ht to be
inlplicated in the crime, 'v ho ,vere tried befo
e a jury
composed of six
fexicans and six comn1Ïssioners.
The trial lasted t\yO days, resulting in the conviction
and execution of three of the criminal8. A re,vard
of four hundred dollars ,vas offered for the arrest of
Young, the leader of the band, ,vho ,vas soon captured,
and after a trial and a full confession of his guilt ""a

hanged upon the same tree ,,"hich had been used for
the execution of his accolllplices.

Of all the to\vns of N e,v )Iexico nOlle enjoyed a
greater notoriety for lo\v morality than :\Ianzana,
,yhere about the year 1853 appeared to rendezvouR
desperate n1en and vile "Women of every description.
The follo,ving incident, illustrative of the cunning
of the gentle savage. occurred at Fort Defiance in
1854. The Nayajos had Inurdered a nlan near the
fort, and at once an imperati '
e order \yas sent thenl
by
fajor I{.endricks to deliver the Inurderer to him.
____\fter a little parleying, the chiefs sa,v that no COlll-
pro111ise could be effected, and consented to the hanging
of the lllurderer, only stipulating that they them-
sel yes should be permitted to execute him. This ,vas
allo,ved. At the hour of execution the troops \vere
clra,vn up in line and witnessed the fulfihnent of the
ao-reement, as they supposed; but sonle tirne after-
,,?ard the revelation ,vas nlade that instead of the
murderer a J\Iexican captive had been executed.
..L
mong stock-raiserB inhabiting the \vestern terri-
tory the depredations of Conlanche and other cattle-
stealers ,vere conducted on an extensive scale. It
,vas estimated that one hundred thousand head of
cattle had been stolen from the north-,yestern part
of Texas bet
"een 1853 and 1873 and that they had
been sold in N e"

Iexico. A rich stock-raiser in
Palo Pinto having lost heavily in this \yay, follo,ved
the natives and at O'reat trouble and eX l )ense recoy-
, 0 .
ered several thou8and head from
e"T )Iexlco. fIe

74

ARIZONA, :NE"V !\IEXICO,

ND
IEXICO.

reported a great Inany persons in the territory a8
directly and indirectly abetting this traffic, bv ex-
changing arlllS and clothing for stolen cattle. 01 The
<:olnlnissioners of the
Iexican frontier complained
that cattle stolen froln that country ,vere also in N e,y
:\lexico.
Great as was the sorro,v of the times in these local-
ities, ,vhen we read in the Galveston .iVC'LVS of l\Iay
1875 that in three counties of Texas in a single day
seventeen lllen ,vere arbitrarily executed, ,ve may
hide our lllodest heads that our annals show so fe\v
such takings-off.
The cries of "Death to the Gringos!" and "Viva
l\Iexico I" \yere raised by the l\fexicans in the to,vns
of Isleta and Saullizarco, on the Texan border, the
Gtllof October 1877. ]'our hundred armed Mexicans,
one hundred of them from the }Iexican side of the
river, took possession of EI Paso, Texas, clailning that
territory as a part of
Iexico. Judge Charles H.
Ho,vard ,vas llladc prisoner by the nlob and bound
\vith ropes. The seizure of the. officials of the entire
county ,vas effected. General Escobedo ,vas tried at
Bro,vnsvil1e, Texas, for violation of the United States
neutrality la,vs, but ,vas acquitteù, as it could not be
proved that the arlned men in calnp \vith hilll actually
intended to invade Texas. Lieutenant-general Sher-
idan, in his annual report dated October 27th, giving
a detailed account of border troubles, said that cattle
ran loose by thousands on the Alllerican side of the
river, and l\fexicans and Indians used to come over
and steal them.
N o,vhere have I seen more boldly displayed the
irony of Christian outla,vry than on this Texan fron-
tier, \vhere drinking, ganlbling, cattle-stealing, duelling,
prize-fighting, c[unp-meeting, high,vay-robbery, throat-
cutting, pron1iscuous shooting, and psalm-singing are
so simultaneously rampant, 'v here representatives of
Christ and Belial turn bruisers and batter one another
in lTIOst ungodly fashion, where piety anù infernal dis-

THE HISP A
"\'"O-CALIFOR)'
,S.

;-13

cord are bO indiscriulinately mixed as almost to defy
identification. Among specimens of nineteenth-ceIÎ-
tury United States ignorance, of blind brutal biO'otry,
the sentiment contained in the follO"\vino- notice found
nailed to a tree gro,ving out of the holyOsoil of Texas,
,vhere a man "Tas \vhipped in the name of Christianity,
as
uredly should be placed first: "This is to certify
that on Saturday night, the 6th of October 187ï, the
Reyerend Doctor Russell \vas called to see a mover's
,vife, canlped at this lJlace, anJ on the doctor's arrival
three other men came out and captured him, and hit
11im a hundred licks ,vith a leather strap, and let hirll
loose on condition that he n1ust not lecture or debate
un infidelity any more in this 'country. X ow a "Tord
to X unnely, Po;:;ey,
Iar
hall, and in fact to all the
leading lllen of the infidel club: If any of you take
hi:; place "Te \vill burn J
U out of house and home, and
hang you until you are dead. If any lllan in thi

county is injured on account of ,yhat has been done,
,ve ,vill burn you all out. 'Ve haye got fifty men tu
back us. Gents, ,ve mean business; infidelity has got
. to stop in this county as ,yell as stealing."

Returnino' for a moment to California, as a fair and
o
truthful historian I cannot close this yolume ,vithout
laying before the reader the credit.side of law. 'Ve
cannot deny that la, v does something; let us see what
it accomplished during our earlier years, that the
charge of prej udice may not lie at our door. In
God's name let us have the truth. Let us frankly
ackno\vledo-e our indebtedness to la"T8, la" court
,
o
J 'udaes and la,vyers, for what they haye done and
o '.. J
are doing for us.
But first let us glance at ,vhat the Hispano-Califo
'-
nians did before the institutions of the great republic
were thro,vn over the country, and compare theil
doings with ours; for "e are inclined to regard our
ways superior to theirs.
The legal executions in California prior to 1847

'i -1-1 ARIZOX
-\, XE"'"
IEXICO, AND :MEXICO.

,,-ere as foll(nvs: First, under the Spanish adn1inis-
tration of Felipe de Neve, at San Diego April 11,
1778, Aarán, Alcuirín, Achíl, and Taquaqui, Pan1ò
chiefs guilty of a conspiracy against the lives of the
,,-hites, and who in consideration of future gÖod con-
duct had in 1776 been pardoned after conviction of
participation in the revolt of the Pl'evious year, ,vere bJT
order of Con1andante Ortega shot to death. During
the adn1Ïnistration of Diego de Borica, at Santa Bár-
bara J an nary 10, 1795, Ignacio Rochin, murderer,
,vas shot to death by sentence of the "1'"eal audiencia
of (}uadalajara. .L
'VOlnan ,vho ,vas his accoll1plice
,vas sentenced to six years' domestic service without
,vages.
Under J osé de Joaquin de Arrillaga, at Santa Bár-
bara on the 11th of February 1801 José Antonio
Rosas, native of Los Angeles, soldier of the Santa
BárLara presidial c
n1pany, eighteen years of age,
,vas condernned for the CrilTIe of bestiality ,vith a
111ule on the 20th of June 1800. He ,vas sentenced
by the a
tdito'r de guer1YÆ, in accordance with royal or-
dinance, to be hanged till dead, and his body then to
b,.j burned \vith that of the beast. The sentence ,vas
confÌrlned by the viceroy. As there ,vas no hanglnan
at hand the young soldier \yas shot, and the sentence
otherwise carried into effect.
Under J\fexican rule, during the adlninistration of
Luis Antonio Argüello, at :ThIonterey the 6th of Feb-
ruary 1824, POlnponio, neophyte of San Francisco
111ission, a noted outla,v guilty of lTIany lllurders,
rapes, and robberies, ,vas shot to death by order of
court-lnartial. At La Purísima Concepcion, l\farch
25, 1824, seven Indian rebels, Baltasar, PacífÌco,
Estevan, Gines, Antonio, Felipe, and J osé ..L
ndrés,
,vere shot to death by order of the court-n1artial for
the murder of Dolores SepÙlveda and three com-
panIons.
Under the adlninistration of Manuel Victoria, at

Ionterey April 26, 1831, Atanasio, an Indian ser-

RIGID JUSTICE.

';45

vant eightee
years of age, was shot to death in
accordance wIth the sentence of the asesór, confirmed
by the governor, for stealing a gross of military
buttons. He was suspected of havinO' robbed the
storehouse on various occasions, probably to the ag-
gregate amount of two hundred and fifty dollars
otherwise his punishment for the theft of the but

tons might have been less severe. J osé SaO'arra, ex-
privateersman of Buchard's expedition of 1818, and
Simon Aguilar,
Iexican servant, were shot to death
in l\fonterey l\fay 28, 1831, for stealing articles 'of
insignificant value from the warehouse of Carmelo

Iission. At San Francisco in 1831 Francisco Rubio,
alias EI Coyote, a soldier of the 'San Francisco pre-
sidial company, was shot to death for outrage and
murder committed on a little girl. Shortly after his
execution it was clearly proved, as some say, that he
,vas innocent of the crime.
At
fonterey April 7, 1840, Diego Féliz, soldier,
was shot for the brutal assassination of his wife. He
,vas executed by order of Castro, approved by the
governor, three hours after he had committed tho
bloody deed. In
farch 1841 three ßlexicans, Va-
lencia, Linares, and Duarte, ""ere under sentence of
death at Los Angeles for robbing and murdering the
German trader Nicho]as Fink. :\lean,,
hile the vaga-
bond class had broken into and robbed a tavern, and
committed other violent acts. Thirty-three citizens
petitioned government for a prompt execution of the
trio to serve as an example. On April 7th they were
executed, a stronO' guard of citizens remaining under
arms for three d
ys to repress any outbreak in favor
of the prisoners. Although the excitement was strong
no disturbance occurred. It was through the exertions
of foreign residents at Los Angeles that t
ese. ill:n
were brought to justice. They confessed theIr gUIlt In
open court. The judge of the first Instance condemned
them to death, and Governor Alvarado approved the
sentence and ordered the comandante at Santa Bár-
,

746 ARIZONA, NE\V MEXICO, AND MEXICO.

bara to carry the same into execution within three
days after the receipt of the order. De Mofras says
that the foreigners intimated to Alvarado that if the
government did not execute the sentence the people
would; but what this dogmatic Frenchman says on
any subject must be taken cum grano salis.

The }uez de primera instancia, Manuel Dominguez,
informs the prefect of the second district that on the
7th of July 1842 Samuel Fagget ,vas shot to death.
Manuel Gonzalez, a Peruvian, and sacristan of the
presidial chapel, was shot at Monterey July 27, 1842,
for killing an Englishman. lIe was sentenced by the
court of first instance; the sentence ,vas confirmed
by the superior tribunal, and its execution ordered by
the governor.
During Pio Pico's administration Juan de Dios, an
. Indian, formerly neophyte of La Soledad Mission,
murdered t\VO ,vomen and a servant in the suburbs of
J\fonterey. In the absence of all civil authorities,
Alvarado, Comandante de la linea del N orte, submitted
the nlatter to a }unta de oficiales, and the murderer
,vas shot to deatll July 13, 1845. Under the admin-
istration of R. B. l\Iason, Pedro Gomez, who had
murdered his wife, was shot at Santa Cruz August
16, 1847, having been tried by the alcalde and a jury
of t\velve Inen.
Drop the curtain. Let a lively interlude be sounded;
then raise it again.
It was a proud day for the law, the loth of De-
cember 1852. True, it was only a Spaniard who ,vas
hanged, J osé Forin, and for the murder of a Spaniard,
but then it was the first legal execution San Francisco
had ever seen, and the young metropolis was very
proud of it. High on Russian Hill the gallows was
erected, on the topmost pinnacle, \vhere all the town
might ,vitness the triulnphant CerelTIOny, though at the
suggestion of certain ones ,vho had no eye for the beau-
tiful in public strangulation, the machine \vas moved
west\vard over the hill a little \vay, so that the per-

YOU:KG SAN FRAKCISCO.

747

formance might be conducted somewhat more mod-
estly. About half the to,vn turned out; so new a
thing it was for the law to punish a murderer. The
poor prisoner thought it unfair to begin with him'
the la"\v had liberated so many hundreds of ,vorse men

he thought the la"
,vas the friend of criminals, and
though be protested his innocence to the last, the law"
was b:ave
nd hanged him up right manfully. It "ras
a glorIous sIght! True, the poor fellow was a :::;tranO'er
without money, friendless, and unable to speak th

English language. I did not say that for these he
was hanged; true, hundreds more deser\;nO' of his
fate stood gaping by, thinking ho\v. a"ful it ,
as, how
righteous the la"T that punished him ,vho sinned-
and was caught at it. It was a happy sight, I say,
this hanging of the moneyless, friendless Spanish
stranger; it set so splendid an example to other
poor friendless strangers of every nationality. Of
courße, to ,veal thy and respectable criminals the spec-
tacle taught nothing; but they did not dislike it.

hveet to those ,vho escape just punishment is the
just punishment of others! It ,vas a gala day in San
Francisco, this 10th of December 1852. Russian Hill
"
as thronged ",
ith a great concourse of people. The

Iarion Rifles and the California Guard ,vere out,
flaunting their gayest attire. The streets "ere lined
with carriages; husbands brought thither their ,,
iYes,
and mothers their children, to "itness the rare enter-
tainment. Three or four clergymen with attendant
interpreters assisted at the exodus of this soul; thcre
must be an example, but let it be luade suaL'iter in
modo. Finally, ,,
ith arms pinioned, legs bound, and
black cap drawn over the face, a blow from a hatchet
cut the rope that held in place the platform, and the
friendless unfortunate dropped into eternity.
X ot until a year and a half after was there anot.her
legal execution in San Francisco. This lllade punIsh-
ment by law very infrequent ,vhere crime ""as so com-
mon-not a sinO'le le cr al e
ecution durin o o ' the first fi" e
o '::)

'; 48 ARIZONA, NEW 1\IEXICO, AND
lEXICO.

years of law and government round Yerba Buena
Cove, and then so long an interval without another
,yarning. It was no wonder assassins regarded killing
free to all. July 28, 1854, \V3:S the date of the second
extreme example. William B. Shepherd worked for
Henry C. Day, and was betrothed to his daughter.
Day ,,"ithholding his consent to the union, Shepherd
stabbed him to death, and was hanged for it in a little
valley near the Presidio, ten thousand persons being
present as spectators. Another long interval, and
early in 1856 we find Nicholas Graham hanging in
the jail-yard for lulling J osepll Brooks, a firenlan on
a bay steamboat.. Nearly t,vo years now elapsed be-
fore another legal execution, which was that of Henry
F. N. Meuse for the murder of Peter Becker. De-
cember 10, 1858, ,vas the date of this last punish-
ment. The machinery no,v ,yorked a little nlore
evenly. Tipperary Bill, \vhose true nalne \vas Will-
ianl JYlorris, was hanged the 10th of June 1859 for
the killing of Richard H. Doak. The 30th of Sep-
tember 1860 Jalnes Whitford was banged' at the
.county jail for the n'lurder of Ed,vard Sheridan. Then
follo\v Frank Bonney and Albert Lee of the same
year; John C. Clarkson in 1861; Barney Ol\vell and
Antonio Sassovich, Thomas Byrnes, and Chung Wong
in 1866; John Devine, surnanled The Chicken, and
Charles A Russell in 1873; and Chin Mook Sow in
1877. Sixteen executions in thirty years, dating from
1847, the opening year of Yerba Buena's aspirations.
These, ,vith the four hangings by the Vigilance COln-
mittee of 1851, and four by that of 1856, comprise
the catalogue. Millions of money had been paid by
the citizens to keep running crin1inal courts and police
regulations these thirty years, and hundreds of lHen
,vere all the time at large \vhom the la,v pronounced
guilty of death, and only sixteen capital punishments I
Says the SacrarÏ1ento Union of the 28th of May
uf the citizens composing the Committee of 1856:
"They have calmly stood by and seen and heard of

IMBECILE LAW.

749

some fourteen hundred murders in San Francisco in
six years, and only three of the Inurderers hung,
under the law, and one of those was a friendless ßlex-
. "
lcan.
I have given in this volume many examples of
Popular Tribunals, but the half has not been told.
It is safe to saJ that thus far in the history of these
Pacific States far more has been done toward righting
wrongs and administering justice outside the pale of
law than within it.
Out of five hundred and thirty-five homicides which
occurred in California during the year 1855 there
were but seven legal executions and forty-nine in-
formal ones. Of the latter ten occurred in the month
of January, not one of which ,vould have been con-
summated if left to the machinery of la,v. So it ,vas
in Nevada ten years later: to one hundred and fifty
homicides there were but two legal executions. It
was the Augustan age of murder.

1

"

-"

,;..tIJ' ''1'_

, , .
,,
.

'
.. ..

.-

.
.

'. ..

I!'

'.
e.. ." .. .......: ..:

. .....

,. .....

..

.
. .

. -.!...

.
,

. :.:
.
..
....

"'.:
...
.: .'

-I
'. ../J' #'

. .
-, .."

:'-
'.

. '.';.'

.,

.,.

'.:
'";'.
- ,
.. ..

,.
....

WoO ... J
...

: ,:... .

- ,.

':
. ". '"--

,
'\' ....

..

,.:. 'III.

,.C
"." þ
".. ....

:
:'1

-:..
....

;,.

:--

....

<t.

'.

w

--:.

..

. .

.
. '\ ..,

...

'1.

..

.... :.,
.... ..
.f
...- ..

.. '... .:
.'".. I
. '"

...

!.

..1

. ...
".:
". ..;.

...

,

..
l'

,
. , .. ....
: .
.
,
,
.
....
-0.:"; "..

..' .
.
;
.-
., .

..

.-

.
.

.JIJ'.

.' J.

.

'.

,....
;.t ..,

.........:....

.. . .

.',;'

'10

- t :.
..--.....
..:- .",

..
'. .

.'... .e

..
.

..... . .........: ;.:-. .
: .. '". . ..I...... .. . .:\'
. . -t' , ' . ..... ..

lit.
-: . ,:: , : . :..-
.
-.

.. ..J" ,
I ..";.
.. a. .011:" . ..
." '

."
r,

..

. ....
. :.:.

..-, "-
....; M.'

. '.
.

.... ."
'.=' ::
-
:t" -. .....
.
I .. .;

. ... ... ..
.,. . t
,,' .,
.
.

.. .
'.;...
.. 11(
.. .

..,
S:."

. '.

.
..,

, '.

. .....

r .."!'i ....

"
.

'"0 . .
.

.'
'-. >'.

." :.

. ,-

D'

.

.'

. .

-W

.W.
.;.. ...
.

.
.
'.
.

.....
.' , .
"
. .. :.

. .
e. .
. .:
. '" '!.
. .
: r

'.

...

-....

.-

..
.,
os
, ' ,

,
. /!fto.'

..

..
:,.

i.-

. oJf"

9fIa.-. ..
-. :
.:
: \:,.
'
, '.

"""".
"-
'-
.. ....

,

,!

f

...

..... ..

.'
.

_. -!;
J,
..'

. ...

,.
e.,. ..
.. '. ._
,

0'

..
...'"

,.

.,

'.. .

"-;1 ..

,
... .

. ,

'C!

.. .

",:.1 .'.. .

",

. .

. i
. ...

':" .
'.
.
.

;,):.: '" ..
. .....,. .:.
".':' . . ',.
.' .' :
".: ,:;
-'fl ,.;

:
.." ....

.. ....

. '..

;
-:-; . :<:,
: it:
t.
...,-. :.

.

. . J
... .
.......

.."

. .,

- .....

,

,'
'.
, '" .
. .

"

.. ...

,.

."..

.:Jß .e.:.-
."'::0-""

. "

..

.

to
.

4

.- C"-

. .
.
,

..

."

O'W

. .

-,

..:
.... .." -
'r'.. . -
. ..

..

. ... ..
. -.:,þ :. ....

;a
- ..

:.

. I' ::' .

'

... .

- ,.

Jo.-'
.' '. ..
ö ..
.

..:" :..

.

.. ,

.
.

"!

'..

.'-

"'".

,9.

..

r

,.
.
. ...

.. ... ..,
. .
.. ".
.
"'

".
;.
..

.-. .

,.

.. ..-

. W.

. ...
";'.... . .. - .

"

.
. .
"

..l!i..

\..

,.

.'"

.'

. .
"ti"1 .-

.. e,
','
.._

",...
..
\

.
. .

..'.

..

t:

:

;...
.

,.

."

:'" -.,

,.... .

'II
I
. f;
\. -'

. . .:-- ....
\
.i
.. -.. ,;...
'
. .' .
:r

.. ..

'..

-';,

.... .. . \f,

..
.:

.

"'.
.

... .
.;

... :
. ..

'. ,,;

... ..

J:
..

!,

.. .

.'..111 .....:_..;.

,.

,.

....

.

....

.. .

-.'

.
..
. .:.'
- .:. #:

rI'

.

.'

. ..

..
',.

,... .. :...,

....
'.

.
1\ " " -III'

".."'<1'

'!
. .

.,' C
.

. oI!:..

. ..
.i:

.

. ,.
4',i .

. .,

,
.:;f.

.:::: .-: I'
, ß .
:

;:
:: '. ..::-'.

"..'

. .

.
i .-a.

. :..

,.7..

...

. .

"

.

.. ..

..

..

.i

W.

. .

\,