Thos. J. Dimsdale

“ Gladly, indeed, we feel sure, would the Vigilantes cease from their labor, and joyfully would they hail the advent of power, civil or military, to take their place; but, till this is furnished by Government, society must be preserved from demoralization and anarchy; murder, arson and robbery must be prevented or punished, and road agents must die. Justice, and protection from wrong to person or property, are the birth-right of every American citizen, and these must be furnished in the best and most effectual manner that circumstances render possible. ”

“ We see the wagon containing the Judge, and an advocate pleading with all his earnestness and eloquence for the dauntless robber, on whose unmoved features no shade of despondency can be traced by the fitful glare of the blazing wood, which lights up, at the same time, the stern and impassive features of the guard, who, in every kind of habiliments, stand in various attitudes, in a circle surrounding the scene of Justice. ”

“ The effect, in Helena, of this execution was electrical. The roughs saw that the day had gone against them, and trembled for their lives. There were in town, at that time, scores of men from every known mining locality of the West, and many of them were steeped to the lips in crime. Such a decision as that now rendered by a jury of the people boded them no good. They saw that the citizens of Montana had determined that outrage should be visited with condign punishment, and that prudence dictated an immediate stampede from Helena. ”

“ Beneath the site of Pfouts and Russell’s stone building there was a corral, the gate-posts of which were strong and high. Across the top was laid a beam, to which the rope was fastened, and a dry-goods box served for the platform. To this place Slade was marched, surrounded by a guard, composing the best armed and most numerous force that has ever appeared in Montana Territory.
The doomed man had so exhausted himself by tears, prayers and lamentations, that he had scarcely strength left to stand under the fatal beam. He repeatedly exclaimed, “my God! my God! must I die? ”

“ Thousands of weak-minded people return, after a stay in the mountains, varying in duration from a single day to a year, leaving the field where only the strong of heart are fit to battle with difficulty, and to win the golden crown which is the reward of persevering toil and unbending firmness. There is no man more fit to serve his country in any capacity requiring courage, integrity, and self-reliance, than an “honest miner,” who has been tried and found true by a jury of mountaineers. ”

“ The stern, yet righteous, retribution which the Vigilantes had inflicted on the murderers and marauders in the southern and western part of the Territory, had worked its effect, and little need was there of any further examples, for a long time in the vicinity of Virginia and Bannack; but the restless spirit of enterprise which distinguishes the miners of the West, soon urged the pioneers to new discoveries, creating another centre of population, and thither, like a heron to her haunt, gathered the miners, and, of course, those harpies who live by preying upon them. ”

“ It had been abundantly demonstrated that but for the murder of Slater having occurred in open day, and before the eyes of a crowd of witnesses, Keene would have been rescued; and the moral effect produced by a public execution, among the hardened sinners who compose a large part of the audience at such times, is infinitely less than the terror to the guilty, produced by the unannounced but inevitable vengeance which may at any moment be visited upon their own heads. Such a power is dreaded most by those who fear its exercise. ”

“ Every one does what pleases him best. Forms and ceremonies are at a discount, and generosity has its home in the pure air of the Rocky Mountains. This virtue, indeed, is as inseparable from mountaineers of all classes, as the pick and shovel from the prospector. When a case of real destitution, is made public, if any well known citizens will but take a paper in his hand and go round with it, the amount collected would astonish a dweller in Eastern cities, and it is a fact that gamblers and saloon keepers are the very men who subscribe the most liberally. ”

“ Our own peaceful current of Territorial life runs smoothly, and more placidly, indeed, than the Eastern States, to-day; but in Idaho, one of their own papers lately asserted that, in one county, sixty homicides had been committed, without a conviction; and another declares that the cemeteries are full of the corpses of veterans in crime and their victims.
Leave us the power of the people, as a last resort; and, where governments break down, the citizens will save the State. No man need be ashamed of his connection with the Virginia Vigilantes. ”

“ It is astonishing what a wonderful effect is produced upon an angry mob by the magic sound referred to. Hostile demonstrations are succeeded by a mad panic; rescuers turn their undivided attention to their own corporal salvation; eyes that gleamed with anger, roll wildly with terror; the desire for slaughter gives way to the fear of death, and courage hands the craven fear his scepter of command. When a double-barrelled shot-gun is pointed at a traveller by a desperado, the feeling is equally intense ”

“ In every case where men have confessed their crimes to the Vigilantes of Montana, they dreaded the vengeance of their comrades far more than their execution at the hands of the Committee, and clung to them as if they considered them friends. ”

“ No matter what may be the proof, if the criminal is well liked in the community, “Not Guilty” is almost certain to be the verdict of the jury, despite the efforts of the Judge and prosecutor. If the offender is a monied man, as well as a popular citizen, the trial is only a farce—grave and prolonged, it is true but capable of only one termination—a verdict of acquittal. In after days, when police magistrates in cities can deal with crime, they do so promptly. Costs are absolutely frightful, and fines tremendous. ”

“ One of them dismounted, and throwing open the flap, entered with the amicable remark, “It’s a mighty cold night; won’t you let a fellow warm himself?” Seeing Red, he further remarked, “You’re the man I’m seeking; come along with me.”
The captive seemed perfectly unconcerned; he was as iron-nerved a man as ever leveled a shot-gun at a coach. He was told that he was wanted to go to Virginia; but he asked no questions. From his arrest till the moment of his execution, he seemed possessed with the idea that it was his fate to be taken then and there, and that his doom was irrevocably sealed. ”

“ Plummer engaged Dutch John and Steve Marshland for the job, and his selection was not a bad one, so far as Dutch John was concerned, for a more courageous, stalwart or reckless desperado never threw spurs on the flanks of a cayuse, or cried “Halt!” to a true man. Steve Marshland was a bold fellow when once in action; but he preferred what mountaineers call a “soft thing,” to an open onslaught. This unprofessional weakness not only saved the lives of several whom we are proud to call friends, but ensured his own and his friends capture and death, at the hands of the Vigilantes. ”

“ Many a guilty heart quaked with just fear, and many an assassin’s lip turned pale and quivered with irrepressible terror. The detachments of Vigilantes, with compressed lips and echoing footfall, marched in from Nevada, Junction, Summit, Pine Grove, Highland and Fairweather, and halted in a body in Main street. Parties were immediately detailed for the capture of the Road Agents, and all succeeded in their mission, except the one which went after Bill Hunter, who had escaped. ”

“ In every frequent street, public gambling houses with open doors and loud music, are resorted to, in broad daylight, by hundreds—it might almost be said—of all tribes and tongues, furnishing another fruitful source of “difficulties,” which are commonly decided on the spot, by an appeal to brute force, the stab of a knife, or the discharge of a revolver. Women of easy virtue are to be seen promenading through the camp, habited in the gayest and most costly apparel, and receiving fabulous sums for their purchased favors. ”

“ Life in the mountains has many charms. The one great blessing is perfect freedom. Untrammelled by the artificial restraints of more highly organized society, character developes [Pg 16] itself so fully and so truly, that a man who has a friend, knows it, and there is a warmth and depth in the attachment which unites the dwellers in the wilderness, that is worth years of the insipid and uncertain regard of so-called, polite circles, which, too often, passes by the name of friendship, and, sometimes, insolently apes the attributes, and dishonors the fame of love itself. ”

“ In looking at Ives a man would, at first sight, be favorably impressed; but a closer examination by any one skilled in physiognomy, would detect in the lines of the mouth and in the strange, fierce and sinister gleam of the eye, the quick spirit which made him not only the terror of the community, but the dread of the band of ruffians with whom he was associated. ”

“ There is not now—and there never has been—one upright citizen in Montana, who has a particle of fear of being hanged by the Vigilance Committee. Concerning those whose conscience tells them that they are in danger, it is of little consequence when or where they suffer for the outrages they have committed. One private execution is a more dreaded and wholesome warning to malefactors than one hundred public ones. ”

“ The executive officer then addressed the crowd, stating that the execution of criminals such as Dolan was a matter of public necessity, in a mining country, and that the safety of the community from lawlessness and outrage was the only reason that dictated it. He raised his voice, and finished by saying, in a manner that all understood, “It has been said that you will rescue the prisoner; don’t try it on, for fear of the consequences. What is to be done has been deliberately weighed and determined, and nothing shall prevent the execution of the malefactor.” ”

“ The dread of the “Vigilantes” was strongly impressed on every person, and though it is not easy to suppose that the nature of the desperadoes can be materially changed, yet it is tolerably certain, to those who have witnessed the effect of what the heralds would call “a noose pendant from a beam proper,”—that men of the worst morals and most unquestioned bravery—men whom nothing else could daunt—still maintain a quietness of demeanor that, under any other circumstances than the fear of retribution by the halter, would surely be foreign to their very nature. ”

“ The Vigilance Committee at Helena and at Diamond City, Confederate Gulch, were occasionally called upon to make examples of irreclaimable, outlawed vagrants, who having been driven from other localities, first made their presence known in Montana by robbery or murder; but as the lives and career of these men were low, obscure and brutal, the record of their atrocities and punishment would be but a dreary and uninteresting detail of sordid crime, without even the redeeming quality of courage or manhood to relieve the narrative. ”

“ If you give me a chance, I’ll clear myself.” “John,” said the leader, “You never can do it; for you knew of a man lying dead for nine days, close to your house, and never reported his murder; and you deserve hanging for that. Why didn’t you come to Virginia and tell the people?” He replied that he was afraid and dared not do it. “Afraid of what?” asked the captain. “Afraid of the men round here.” “Who are they?” “I dare not tell who they are. There’s one of them round here.” “Where?” “There’s one of them here at the wakiup, that killed Nick.” “Who is he?” “George Ives.” ”

“ While the final preparations were making, the prisoner asked how long it would take him to die, as he had never seen a man hanged. He was told that it would be only a short time. The noose was adjusted; a rope was tied round the head of the barrel and the party took hold. At the word, “All ready,” the barrel was instantly jerked from beneath his feet, and he swung in the death agony. His struggles were very powerful, for a short time; so iron a frame could not quit its hold on life as easily as a less muscular organization. ”

“ Those who have slept at the same watch-fire, and traversed together many a weary league, sharing hardship and privations, are drawn together by ties which civilization wots not of. Wounded or sick, far from home, and depending for life itself, upon the ministration and tender care of some fellow traveller, the memory of these deeds of mercy and kindly fellowship often mutually rendered, is as an oasis in the desert, or as a crystal stream to the fainting pilgrim. ”

“ The date of that document is not ancient, and though, of course, refused and destroyed, it was the deliberate opinion, on oath, of the Grand Inquest, embodying the sentiment of thousands of good citizens in the community.
Finally, swift and terrible retribution is the only preventive of crime, while society is organizing in the far West. The long delay of justice, the wearisome proceedings, the remembrance of old friendships, etc., create a sympathy for the offender, so strong as to cause a hatred of the avenging law, instead of inspiring a horror of the crime. ”