Bryant Mining District's unsavory underbelly. This page is riddled with Crime.  

October 1,1877
Lawless proceedings at Trapper:

Some three or four weeks ago, Rafella, the Spanish woman who is known in all the towns of the west side, insulted a lady living in Trapper by applying to her some very offensive epithets and using  very course and vulgar language. For this,  Rafella was waited upon at 11o’clock the night following by four masked men, who first gagged her and then led her to a tree at some distance from the village, where they declared she was to be hanged for the offense of the day before. They so far carried out their threat as to put on the rope and to draw her up two or three times to the low hanging limb over which the rope was thrown; then they accompanied her two or three miles down the creek and told her to leave without returning to Trapper. The next morning, when she made her complaint before the magistrate at Glendale, the mark of the rope around her neck could be distinctly seen, as well as the traces on her wrists of the cord that had tied her hands. Upon her accusation, four young men living in Trapper were arrested, but upon examination before the justice were dismissed, there being no other evidence against them except the oath of the complainant. Since the trial, it has transpired that the treatment Rafella received was witnessed by one person not having a hand in it, so the case will probably go before the grand jury.

November 13, 1877
Quite a sensation was caused here today by a fight between two boys, the mothers finally taking it up, one of the said mothers flourishing her little revolver and threatening to put a bullet in the other’s cranium, but concluded not to do so until she had practiced sufficiently to be able to hit a barn at ten paces.

 

October 26, 1879
Considerable anxiety is expressed by the residents of Glendale as to the possible fate of A.M. Madison, whose trial for the killing of John Hannifin was to have taken place at Bannack some time during the past week. Mr. French left Glendale yesterday morning, up to which time the case had not been brought up. Mr. Madison has long been a resident of Beaverhead County where his kind disposition and many sterling business qualities have won him a host of friends, upon whom his late calamity has cast a heavy gloom.

A crime committed at Lion City
The following is an early day account told by an historian in her personal writings: Those were the self sufficient days when, if something didn't meet with a man's approval for instance, to many aces in the deck or the wrong kind of grub he arose and did something about it. The proprietor of the Lion City boarding house substituted olemargerine for butter.He somehow got the idea that the miners couldn't smell the difference, Now the olemargerine of early day was not the prototype of the mild and palatable butter substitute on the market at the present time, Even the hardiest miner at the Lion City eating house quailed when the olemargerine was placed on the table. The boarders suggested gently but firmly that the proprietor throw the synthetic butter down the hill or poison the mountain rats with it. But the thrifty man instructed his Chinese cook and waiter to continue serving the olemargerine. Just before the next meal, the gleeful Chinese cut a generous slab of the vile stuff for each plate. The miners came to eat, took one look at there plate and the grinning celestial, and went into action, Each miner took his turn at massaging the "Chink's" face with a piece of the offensive butter substitute and the half strangled cook was rolled down the mountain. The proprietor, needless to say, laid in a stock of butter at the first opportunity. 

MAY 06, 1882
HOMICIDE AT GLENDALE: Joseph Kessler kills David Eckery:
On last Sunday evening, about 9 o’clock, Joseph Kessler killed David Eckery at the point close to the lower bridge at the crossing of the creek at Glendale.  Kessler used a revolver, it is supposed, and fired but one shot, at very close quarters.  There had, it is presumed, been some difficulty between the men about Eckery’s wife - at least that is the report.  Kessler, in company with two men named Cop and “Red” had concealed themselves on the evening of the homicide in the willows near the bridge, apparently laying in wait for the coming of Eckery.  About 9 o’clock that night Eckery emerged from a house near by where it is stated his wife was stopping, and on approaching the place where the three men were concealed Kessler stepped our of the covering and stopped Eckery with - “You have been threatening to kill me and I want you to take it back,” when Kessler fired.  The ball, which was of large caliber, entered Eckery’s left breast above the nipple and passed through both lungs and the fleshy part of the right arm.  Eckery died almost instantly.  Kessler does not deny the shooting, but says he done it in self-defense.  Eckery had no weapons about him.  A Coroner’s jury found Kessler guilty of feloniously shooting Eckery.  The preliminary examination of Kessler as principal, and Cop and “Red” as accessories, was going before Justice Thomas yesterday at Glendale, the result of which we were unable to obtain.

 

December 2, 1882  
Throwing Rocks:   
Deputy Vinson, of Glendale, brought down on last Wednesday a prisoner who was sentenced to serve thirty-eight days in the County Jail.  The defendant hit a Chinaman with a rock, which is contrary to the peace and dignity of the Glendale precinct, and he was sent up for that offense.  This recruit will keep the jail from becoming mildewed from emptiness and disuse.

 

January 06, 1883
At one of the fashionable dances recently, two Glendale ladies arrived at a serious misunderstanding, but happily it terminated in an outburst of feminine “sass,” and the difficulty was adjusted without hair pulling or a knock down.

January 06, 1883
The Murder of Davidson by Jessrang
One of the most sensational crimes committed in the vicinity of Glendale was the murder of Victor Davidson by  John Jessrang, an ex -convict, in the winter of 1883. Davidson, who was employed in Hecla, came down to Glendale where he exhibited a sizable roll of bills amounting to $600 or thereabouts, A man named Jessrang had worked for a short time in the Galena Camp and had became friendly with Davidson, whom he accompanied to the smelter town, In Glendale lived Mr. M who had served time in the "big house".  This man recognized Jessrang as a former fellow convict, and being aware of the latter's intentions, apprised Davidson of Jessrang's unsavory record. Mr. M¬also advised Davidson not to go out alone with Jessrang. 

But Davidson started drinking and became susceptible to Jessrang's blandishments, Davidson decided to visit in Butte and planned to go there via Melrose, the road from Brown's to the smelter town was a continuation of the old Gilmer and Saulsbury stageline which ran through Glendale and down Canyon Creek, to avoid the Big Hole canyon (Maiden Rock). crossing the river below Divide. What malevolent influence Jessrang exercized over Davidson will always remain in obscurity. But, at any rate, the two men went on foot down Canyon Creek. Jessrang knew a family that lived above what is now Maiden Rock. This family including several woman, was said to be of the same doubtful character as Jessrang . It is thought by many that the ex-convict entice the befuddled Davidson down the old road with prospects of "wine, woman, and song" 

When Davidson and Jessrang did not return to Glendale, the uneasy Mr. M- made his suspicions public and a group of citizens went on the trail of the missing men. They discovered Victor Davidson’s partially burned remains near the road on lower Canyon Creek. Davidson had evidently been murdered by his companion. It is not known what implement of death the murderer employed, but he dragged his victim down to the creek and endeavored to incinerate the body after covering it with brush, There was 18 inches of snow on the ground, the snow around davidson's body was trampled and branches had been frantically wrenched from the alders along the creek, Jessrang was found near Divide with his feet frozen and was brought to Glendale for medical treatment, He had no money on his person and refused to talk. But the cold weather, the tracks in the snow near the slain man, and Jessrang's frozen feet completed the evidence of the ex-convict's guilt, It is believed that his associates at Maiden Rock robbed him of Davidson's money. 

A committee of Glendalites volunteered to take Jessrang to the Beaverhead County jail in Dillon where he was to be lodged, When the party reached Melrose the prisoner was treated to a preliminary hanging on the Utah and Northern water tank. Jessrang's tormentors hoped to elicit a confession of guilt, But none was forthcoming and the murderer, stoical to his last breath, cloaked himself in a black silence. Jessrang did not remain long in confinement, A crowd of masked men advanced on the Beaverhead jail on the night following the criminal incarceration and hanged him.

Februrary 10, 1883
A FOUL MURDER
From a letter from Glendale, dated the 8th, we learn some of the particulars of what is supposed to be a cold-blooded murder committed at a place on Canyon creek, known as “Wunderlich’s fence,” near the Big Hole river.  The name of the murdered man is V.H. Davidson, and the murderer is Chas. Merrell alias John A. Jessrang who was lately pardoned out of the Penitentiary.  The circumstances related by our correspondent are as follows: Both men came down from Lion City.  Merrell registered at the Avery House on the 3rd and Davidson on the 4th.  On the 5th Davidson showed Browne, at the brewery, a large sack of money, stating that there was $1,300, and that he didn’t need to work in mines.  On the same day Browne loaned Jessering some gun powder.  On Tuesday both men left Glendale together.  On Wednesday Jessrang returned with his feet badly frozen that his boots had to be cut off.  He told one story about being to Lion City after his blankets, and another that he left his companion (Davidson) at Butte.  These stories aroused the suspicion of Andrew Madison and he went over toward the Big Hole, and on the way he came to a place where the snow showed a struggle had taken place.  Blood was scattered around, and a trail, made as by dragging a body across the snow, led down to the creek.  Madison followed the trail to a place where a fire had been made.  On examination he found what he supposed to be parts of human bones, and a few pieces of clothing.  Returning to Glendale Madison and James Bateman arrested John A. Jessrang alias Chas. Merrell, and swore out a complaint before Justice Bert Storrs.  Jessrang waived a preliminary examination and the constable brought him down to Dillon yesterday, Friday, and he is lodged in jail to await the action of the Grand Jury.  Jessrang is the same man who escaped from the Penitentiary and for whose capture Sheriff Reinhardt received $200 reward.  Jessrang, it is reported, admits that Davidson froze to death and that he burned the body.

                                  
March 10, 1883
JESSRANG JERKED
THE MURDERER AND CREMATOR OF DAVIDSON
Hung by Masked Vigilantes in the Beaverhead County Jail.
Dillon was greatly excited on Wednesday morning when it was publicly made known that the vengeance of the Vigilantes had been wreaked on the prisoner Jessrang.  On Tuesday night between 11 and 12 o’clock John A. Jessrang, the prisoner confined in the county jail and indicted for the murder of V.H. Davidson, was jerked into eternity by a band of Vigilantes. On last Saturday the people of Glendale were aroused and intensely excited by the  bringing into that town of portions of the remains of the murdered Davidson.  A party had visited the scene of the murder and cremation and found, buried in the snow, parts of the body, the hips and lower part of the body and inches of the backbone, the heart and a part of the kidneys were found.  It was a fearfully cold night when the murder was committed, and the murderer did not have time, it is supposed, to burn the body of his victim up before daylight dawned by a fire made out of willow, and what remained of the foully-murdered Davidson was shoved under the snow, which is deep at the place of cremation.  The excitement on the exhibition of these parts of the body of Davidson grew greatly in Glendale.  The sequel to that excitement, presumably, ended in the county jail by a midnight execution - the swinging up of Jessrang.

On Tuesday night, the 6th, between 8 and 9 o’clock, quite a number of men rode into Dillon, coming from the north.  The men came riding in twos, and no particular suspicion was attached to their motions, except that it appeared an unusual thing for so many men to come into town on horseback at that hour of night. About the hour of 11 o’clock that night vigilantes, supposedly  to the number of fifteen to twenty, scaled the high fence surrounding the jail by the way of the shed, and entered the kitchen wherer Deputy Mikus was sleeping.  Two Vigilantes - or lynchers - stood up over Deputy Mikus with drawn revolvers to keep him quiet, while the rest proceeded to the work of hanging Jessrang.  Having secured the jail keys from Mikus’ pockets execution exercises commenced.  The two other prisoners in the jail were guarded in their cell, and these men say the hanging was done without undue confusion.  The Vigilantes experienced some difficulty in unlocking Jessrang’s cell, but finally the right key in the bunch was found and they got at their man.  They worked almost noiselessly and did the job quickly.  A rope was put around Jessrang’s neck and passed over the iron bar over the door of the doomed man’s cell.  Jessrang was drawn up and left hanging, and he passed into the eternal custody of his God without a prayer for the forgiveness of the horrible crime for which he was lynched.  The Vigilantes, still masked, remained in the jail for a time and having commanded Deputy Mikus to remain quiet and give no alarm for one hour, they departed, but not until the victim of their vengeance was dead and beyond the resurrecting power of mortal man.  Held an hour after the lynchers had left, Deputy Mikus wakened up Sheriff Reinhardt and reported the lynching.    

The death of Jessrang having been produced by unlawful violence, in accordance with the law, Coroner Hirschman summoned a jury, who investigated the case and returned the following verdict:

VERDICT OF THE CORONER’S JURY
THE TERRITORY OF MONTANA,

County of Beaverhead: An inquisition held at the Dillon jail, in the county of Beaverhead, on the 7th day of March, A.D. 1883, before me, Charles Hirschman, Coroner of Beaverhead County, upon the body of John A. Jessrang, there lying dead, by the jurors whose names are hereunto subscribed - the said jurors, upon their oaths, do say the said John A. Jessrang came to his death by being unlawfully hung by a mob of masked men between the hours of 11 and 12 o’clock, p.m., of March 6th, 1883, in the door of his cell in the county jail of Beaverhead County, Montana. Chas. L. Thomsen, Alvin M. Baldwin, George Sears, Chas. Morton, Chas. E. Cox, Goodwin T. Paul

After the Coroner’s jury had concluded the investigation the body of Jessrang was placed in a coffin.  Rev. Mr. Drummond, in the presence of the jury and a few others read a portion of the Episcopal burial service and made a few appropriate remarks.  Coroner Hirschman took charge of the remains, and in the potter’s field adjoining Dillon, John A. Jessrang sleeps the sleep that know no waking.

 

LYNCH LAW
The lynching of the prisoner, John A. Jessrang was a violation of the statutory law - in law it was a murder.  The evidence against Jessrang was circumstantial, but so strong, and connected together, link by link, so closely and clearly that there is no reasonable doubt he was guilty of one of the most horrible crimes known in the catalogue of criminal offenses.  Many cold-blooded murders have been committed in Beaverhead County and the murderers escaped the gallows.  When the machinery of the criminal law, for years, fails to punish  men who have been guilty of committing murder, the statute law is supplanted by lynch law.  This is the experience all over the country and Beaverhead County has no proven an exception.  When Grand Juries ignore crime from that of foul murder down to petty larceny.  When Courts administer law for the benefit of criminals the Courts sink into contempt among the people and the result is that lynch law asserts its supremacy and the  law in the statute books is paralyzed.  It may be said that the recent lynching was an outrageous violation of the law of the land.  While this is true, the verdict of nineteen out of every twenty men in the county will sustain, if not applaud, the work of the lynchers, which was done in the dead of night.  The execution of the prisoner, Jessrang, was swift and destitute and every thing that resembled a mite of mercy.  If he committed the heinous crime of which he was accused and for which he was indicted, no punishment at the hands of his executioners was too severe - but it was, nevertheless, illegal.  It is the duty of every good citizen to uphold the laws and oppose, by words and actions, any violation of the law that is made for the protection of all.  The recent work of Judge Lynch will be ensured simply because it was a violation of the law.  The actors in the lynching tragedy, while guilty of breaking the law, will, probably, rest satisfied that their deed was justifiable, and it seems that public opinion is overwhelmingly in their favor. The hanging of Jessrang, considered as an economic measure, probably saved Beaverhead County $5,000.  County Commissioner Lovell at midnight, it is reported, declined to cut Jessrang down.  This is the only instance of record in which Commissioner Lovell was not in favor of “cutting down.”

​

April 7, 1883
No Sense of Humor:
At Glendale, a tempest was turned loose over an April Fool sell.  The worthy postmaster of the bullion burg was the victim and the druggist-telegraph-operator the perpetrator.  Our reporter learned that the matter would be amicably settled without shedding of gore. At Dillon the whistle of the yard engine, shrieking the fire alarm, caused a number of citizens to roll out in their shirt tails.  Aprils-fool jokes, in order to be appreciated, should not be too severe.

 

April 28, 1883
DAMAGE SUITS
That Glendale April fool joke is liable to end in a heap of trouble yet.  Complaints in the District Court, in three separate suits, are being filed by D. Crocket Stevens, Byrnet and Williams, plaintiffs.  The complaints were as long as a Bishop’s annual sermon and are against Joe C. Keppler, Ed R. Alward, Judge Thomas and Deputy  Vinson, charging the latter with conspiring together to deprive the plaintiffs of their liberty, by getting up a farce of a law suit in Judge Thomas’ court, at Glendale, wherein the plaintiffs were fooled into serving on a sham jury, this depriving the said plaintiffs of their liberty until 12 o’clock of a certain night.  The complaints are ponderous citations, setting forth minutely showers of allegations, the most serious of which is the one mentioned.  Plaintiffs demand, each, $1,000 damages, from which it would appear that they do not propose to be held in custody on a sham action at law unless they are liberally paid for the inconvenience sustained.  Robt. B. Smith is attorney for the plaintiffs.

 

April 21, 1883 
Homicide at Lion City
On last Sunday night, at Lion City, Ed Tindal, a man who did not bear a good reputation for being a peaceful citizen while under the influence of whisky, met his death at the muzzle of a shotgun, in the hands of Mike Kutt the keeper of a saloon.  It appears from accounts that Tindal was on a spree and attempted to capture Kutt’s saloon,.  Kutt defended his property and killed Tindal.  Acting Coroner Tarbell summoned a jury on Monday, who investigated the matter and from the testimony rendered a verdict that the killing was done in self defense.

 

The following is the finding of the Coroner’s Jury:
CORONER’S INQUEST
Territory of Montana County of Beaverhead.

An inquisition held at Lion City, in the county of Beaverhead on the 16th day of April, A.D. 1883, before me, George E. Tarbell, a  Justice of the Peace and acting Coroner of said county, upon the body of Edward Tindal there lying dead, by the jurors whose names are hereunto subscribed, the said Jurors upon their oaths do say, that the deceased came to his death from the discharge of a shotgun in the hands of Mike Kutt while acting in self defense and protecting his property.

In witness whereof the said jurors have
Hereunto set their hands the day and year aforesaid.

A.M. Morrison
John . Crocket
Jos. Murphy
J.F. Todd
Nick Bergstorm
John Jacklin

 

July 28, 1883
Bobby Graham, better known at Glendale than at any other place in this county, “changed in his checks” at Maiden. Bobby, when a boy, was a race rider, but developed into a sport, and followed the fortunes of cards.  In a row with one Doane “Bobby” received a pistol shot in the abdomen, from which he died in five hours.  For one of his years he played a lively game with chances for life, and at Glendale, on one occasion, he came near inciting his own death

 

 

September 29, 1883
Wednesday evening, a Mongolian named Hing Lee, on being put out of Fang Kee’s wash house, became somewhat indignant at such treatment, and to vent the same he out with his “didn’t know it was loaded” and shot through the window.  The ball went through the board shutter, breaking the glass, and passing over another Mongolian’s  bed, passed through another board partition over the foot of another bed, where a log stopped its further progress.  A warrant will be sworn out for the arrest of the shootist.

 

 

October 20, 1883
Judge O’Mit Imus is anxious to have the naughty fisherman, upon the Big Hole, handed in for using giant powder and seins all of which are contrary to the law in such cases, under and provided, etc.

    

 

November 3, 1883
Last week a criminal case, for disturbance of the peace, was tried before Judge Thomas with a jury of twelve good law-abiding citizens. The defendant was a cowboy named Carbot, from the Big Hole.  The jury found him guilty and the court fined him $25 and trimmings. Total $86.90.  He paid up and remarked that the jury’s decision would “separate me and Jane.”

 

Februrary 23, 1884
On the 19th while John Devine was coming down the Atlantis tramway stairs, at Lion Mountain, he slipped when near the top and fell to the bottom of the tramway, a distance of 400 feet, breaking both of his legs and otherwise smashing himself.  There is little hope that he will survive. On Wednesday, the 20th, a fatal snow slide occurred at the Atlantis tramway.  It started from the above mines on Lion hill. Mike Evers had just drove up to the wood pile west of the boarding house, when the slide buried him and his team.  When found he was under ten feet of hard-packed snow and dead.  Deceased was a teamster in the employ of the Hecla Co.  It is not known yet whether any other person was injured by the slide.

 

March 1, 1884 
John Devine, the victim of the Atlantis tramway accident, died Feb. 21st and was buried on the 22nd, together with Michael Evers, who was killed by the snow slide.

 

March 29, 1884
The Peterson Brothers get even!

THE KNIFE AND CLUB AT GLENDALE
The cutting and clubbing scrapes at Glendale last week did not result fatally, as at first reported.  W.Y. Fisher, wagon boss for Murphy & Co. discharged John and George Peterson.  The Petersons held a grudge against Fisher for discharging them.  The brothers attacked Fisher, cutting him in the arm and inflicting a deep wound in his back, pointing toward the spine. Joe Shepherd was present and separated the men. Shortly after Shepherd was quietly standing in the street when he was assaulted in a cowardly manner from behind by Tom Blakely, who used a heavy club, striking Shepherd on the back of the head and felling him to the ground. These are the facts, condensed from accounts furnished by correspondents at Glendale. 

The Peterson brothers were arrested and a preliminary examination has been progressing before Justice Thomas this week.  C.W. Turner appears for the people and Robt. B. Smith for the defendants.  Tom Blakely skipped and has not been captured yet, but officers are searching for him.

A Glendale correspondent writes of the condition of the wounded men as follows:  “Joe Shepherd is still in the land of the living, but there is not much hope for his ultimate recovery.  Wm. Y. Fisher is getting along as well as can be expected.  Erysipelas has set in on his right arm. The stab in the right shoulder is back of the blade and four inches deep and about one and one-half inches wide, slanting toward the spine.”

 

July 26, 1884
The Thompson Falls Index - run by one Legh Freeman, who infested Glendale five years ago and invented and propelled the Glendale Atlantis to the sorrow of the people of that town - is too dead to skin.  It is reported that the remains of the dead Index will be removed to Butte to establish a Sunday morning paper, in which case Butte, wicked as it is, is to be pitied

 
November 15, 1884 
John Sullivan, a miner in the employ of the Hecla Company, was accidentally killed while at work in the Cleopatra mine at Hecla City.  On the 7th inst an inquest was held over Sullivan’s body by acting Coroner Geo. E. Tarbell, at which the jury rendered the following verdict: “That the deceased came to his death by a spread of ore while at work in the Cleopatra mine; that we consider the ground safe and exonerate the mining management from all blame.”

March 21, 1885 
L.V. Millard met his death last Sunday by being thrown from a freight train on the Utah and Northern a short distance above Melrose.

Deceased had only been a few days in the employ of the railroad company.  It is supposed he fell or was thrown from the train, and striking on his head, produced concussion of the brain.  He came from the Oregon Short Line to the U. and N. branch, but was for several years a conductor of the Michigan Central Railroad, and his home was at Jackson, Mich.  He was a member of the Knights of Pythias, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.  The reamains were brought to Dillon on Sunday, and taken charge of by the Knights.  On Tuesday the body was forwarded to Lawton, Michigan for burial.

March 28, 1885 
Two house breakers were brought down from Glendale and lodged in the county pen.

 
September 5, 1885 
An absolute crime! 
A BRUTAL OUTRAGE
A Villain Outrages a Little six-Year Old Child at Lion City

Monday night a constable brought to Dillon and placed in the steel cage at the jail on Tom Roberts, of Lion City, this county, charged with the commitment of a rape upon the little six-year-old daughter of Thos. Smitheram, of Lion City.  The assault was made on the 26th of August, in the cellar of an old house, where the girl, Martha, was enticed by the offer of candy.  The fiend tied a handkerchief over the little one’s mouth, to prevent her screams from being heard.  After accomplishing his purpose, Roberts left the weak and suffering child to find her way home as best she could.  When she did get home, she told her father what had befallen her and said that Roberts was the one who did it.  To make sure, all the miners at Hecla got together and placed in a line, and the girl carried out to identify the one that committed the rape.  She quickly pointed to Roberts as the one.  A warrant was got out and he was taken before Justice Tarbell, at Lion City, and waived examination of the charge.  He was then ordered held in the sum of $1,000 to await the action of the Grand Jury.  In lieu of bail the prisoner was brought to Dillon and given in charge of the Sheriff.  To prevent violence to the prisoner, he was taken a roundabout way over the mountains of Melrose, thence by train to Dillon. Great excitement prevailed at Lion, Glendale, and Dillon, on receipt of news of the capture of the wretch, and there was some grave threats of lynching indulged in. In fact, several determined men came down from the scene of the outrage and had there been  any show for getting the prisoner our of the hands of the officers, he would probably have gone to join Jessrang. Roberts is a fairly intelligent-looking man, but has a hard look about the eyes.  He is about twenty-five years old. The fanciful account of the bold attempt made by the Dillon mob to lynch Roberts, as published by the Inter Mountain, is very refreshing reading to Dillonites.

 

                       

October 10, 1885 
GENTLEMEN IN JAIL
The following is a list of the gentlemen in jail awaiting the action of the next Beaverhead Grand Jury with the offenses, with which they are charged:  Thos Roberts, for rape; Ho Hio, an Indian, for murder; John Hazleton and John Winters, for assault with a deadly weapon; Richard Donnelly, Thomas Murphy and Busby, for grand larceny;  Thos. Norton and John Seaton, cheating and defrauding; Cal Cramer for selling whisky to Indians.  In addition Frank Chapman is in for sixty days for petty  larceny, and Allen, the egg merchant, is in for misappropriating eggs and beer.  The Territorial prisoners confined in the county jail are John Brophy and Charles Charlton.

 

October 10, 1885
The Glendale Hotel was leased on the 1st of the month by Henry Neill, of Helena, and he will with his accomplished wife as hostess do a good business.  He fired the Celestials.  His motto is - “No Chinamen need apply.”

 

 

December 12, 1885
MORGAN IN JAIL
Sheriff Tom Jones returned by last Sunday evening’s train from Victoria, British Columbia, bringing with him Winslow D. Morgan, who has been indicted by the Grand Jury of Beaverhead County for the killing of Frederick B. Haining.  Our readers will remember the circumstances connected with the case to be that on the morning of the 5th of last July while Haining and a party were returning from the Fourth of July dance, on Birch Creek, a terrible tragedy was enacted in which Fred Haining lost his life and a little child was crippled for life.  Winslow D. Morgan was charged with the crime, and a large reward was offered for his apprehension.  Morgan was captured in British Columbia and returned as above stated.  A Tribune reporter visited Morgan in the county jail, but he declined being interviewed in regard to the case.  Morgan is looking well and appears to be in excellent spirits.

 

 

December 12, 1885
Former Lion City Saloon keeper Andrew Mose Morrison killed at Dillon
TERRIBLE TRAGEDY-THE WORK OF THE PISTOL
On last Tuesday morning the citizens of Dillon were shocked on learning of a terrible tragedy and suicide which was enacted in this city about 3 o’clock on that morning.  The pistol of a jealous man was turned loose and the weapon of destruction dealt its deathly work.  A. Mose Morrison, Frank Crowell and “Hy” Perry were in the Nevada saloon, which was run by  Morrison & Dittmer.  A. Mose Morrison proposed to the others that they would go round to the Magnolia restaurant on Center Street and take a plate of oysters.  Morrison, Crowell, and Perry proceeded to the restaurant, and when the party reached the alley adjoining the restaurant, one of the girls familiarly called “Frankie,” put in an appearance.  Mose Morrison asked the girl to go around and take a cup of tea.  The party went to the restaurant.  “Hy” Perry entered with the party.  When the party were seated at the table Perry approached and said, “I have a notion to kill you both.”  Mose Morrison got  up from the table and went to the door of the restaurant remarking that he was not heeled.  Words passed between Morrison and Perry in which each indulged in calling each other sons of female dogs.  Morrison, being unarmed, retreated to the front door of the restaurant, when Perry pulled his gun and fired.  

The shot from Perry’s pistol, a self-cocker, struck Morrison in the head, producing a wound that caused almost instantaneous death. Perry then turned his weapon loose on the girl “Frankie,” shooting her through both arms, and shattering one of her arms so badly that it had to be amputated. Perry having accomplished his work of death and mutilation, put his pistol to his head and shot himself.  These are the condensed facts elicited before the jury summoned by Coroner Dr. Pickman.

 
On Tuesday morning the usual quiet of Dillon was broken by the curious to see the dead bodies of the men who had became the victims of a terrible deed.  The bodies were taken from the Magnolia restaurant into the Nevada saloon, and were stretched our on the faro and poker tables in the saloon.  The ghastly appearance of the dead men, reposing in that sleep that knows no waking, made strong men shudder and exchange whispered opinions.  “Tow men for breakfast,” was something new for Dillon, and the best citizens of the city shrugged their shoulders and indulged in remarks full of meaning. The Tribune, acting as a conservator of the decency of the city, has often pointed out the necessity, expediency, and urgency of removing from the city and undesirable element.  This fearful tragedy is the outgrowth of having certain institutions run in the center of the city, which have been a disgrace to our city and a reflection on the descent people of the community.  It the center of a town is devoted to houses of ill-fame tragedies of this character are liable to be enacted every day in the week.

A. Mose Morrison, the victim of Perry’s pistol was well known throughout Beaverhead and Deer Lodge counties.  He had been a citizen of Beaverhead County for a number of years.  He had been a resident for years and was formerly a member of the Board of County Commissioners and he was at the last election the Democratic candidate for County Assessor.  He had many warm friends in the county who will sincerely regret that he met with his death under circumstances that are needless to refer to a greater length. “Hy” Perry, the man who did the shooting has been around Dillon for some time past.  Usually Perry had conducted himself soberly and decently.  There was something connected with the woman “Frankie” that made Perry jealous of her actions and the companions she received at her house.  It is believed he slaughtered Morrison on account of jealousy and intimacy between the two.  “Hy” Perry has been in several shooting scrapes before this one.  At American Forks, at Shoshone and Blackfoot, in Idaho, Perry had engaged in shooting scrapes, but while in Dillon, while up to the time of the tragedy, he had generally conducted himself in a respectable manner.  He was a gambler by profession.

“Frankie” Riley is somewhat noted.  She has been living in the city for some time past.  With one arm amputated and the other crippled she is an object to be pitied now.  She will, probably, recover from her wounds and pass the remainder of her life in a crippled condition.

The funeral of Morrison took place on Wednesday afternoon.  The Masons of Dillon and Glendale paid the last respect to the memory of a dead brother.  In the long funeral procession following the Masons many of the friends of the deceased marched to the silent city on the slope of the hill, where the body was interred with all the solemn and impressive ceremonies of Masonry.  The proper name of the deceased was Andrew Mayze Morrison.  He was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and came to Montana in 1864.  He was about 43 years old.  His aged mother resides at Columbia City, Indiana.

 

May 23, 1886
Stage driver George Ferguson shot!
The day began as usual for George Ferguson on May 23, 1886.  He awoke and arrived at the livery stable at Glendale, where he hitched his two horses to a stage coach.  He loaded his passengers and luggage, and proceeded to Melrose.  There, his passengers disembarked and he warmly greeted his fares seeking transportation on the return portion of George’s round trip.  Those passengers included Narcisse Ledoux, Glendale tavern owner; Thomas Merchant, a commercial traveler; a man named Blackburn and two young Miller girls, Effie and Lizzie, and one unidentified girl.

The stage departed on time with Mr.Thomas Merchant sitting on the bench beside Ferguson, LeDoux and Blackburn sitting behind Ferguson.  The money constituting the H.C. payroll for the month and amounting to $25,000 had been sent up previously by freight in a nail deg, The hold up occurred during an April evening in a lonely spot along Trapper Creek a spot overlooked by bare, inhospitable hills. About 2 miles from Melrose, they were stunned when a person appeared in the middle of the road in front of them.  Suddenly, a masked man ordered the driver to halt, firing the fatal shot simultaneously with the command. According to old timers, Merchant was a man whose excitability verged on hysteria.  As soon as the shot was fired, the salesman cried" I'm shot, I'm shot! The frenzied horses bolted and LeDoux leaped to the front seat.  Ferguson, his torso riddled with shot, was sprawled lifelessly across the boot. He would never again urge his horses over the marrow, old state road. 

The bandit, no doubt appalled by the unexpected denouncement of the holdup ,made no attempt to search the stage and had vanished on horseback, Two masks and a mule loading shot gun with one barrel discharged and the other loaded with wadding which were found in the brush near the scene of the holdup, signified that there may have been two highwaymen, and that intended to frighten and not to murder the driver. The stage arrived in front of Ed Alward’s Pharmacy and the victim was removed to the inside, where he was pronounced as no longer alive.  Merchant immediately offered a $25 reward for information leading to the capture of the brutal attacker, and that reward amount eventually grew to a sizable $700. In less than an hour, a posse was formed to find the killer.  Dr. Jones, J.B. Losee, James Bateman and A.L. Pickett were a few of the highly respected citizens, whom were part of the group.  The group searched throughout the night with hopes of finding the assailant that took the life of one of Glendale’s citizens. They scoured the area from Trapper Creek to Birch Creek, and returned the next morning with a couple of masks and a double barrel shotgun, which were found near the scene of the crime. 

On the evening of the crime, Ed Harrison came down from Soap Gulch, a few miles northeast of Melrose, Harrison was on his way to Glendale but missed the stage, So he decided to walk to the smelter town. By this time the Glendalites were combing the road and surrounding hills for Ferguson's murderer. Consequently, Harrison was taken into custody, After the party reached the Melrose Hotel with their prisoner, the flighty Merchant, having heard Harrison's voice, cried, "That's the man. That's the man. I recognize his voice" The suspect was indeed on the spot but he was soon able to repudiate the salesman's false testimony proving his (Harrison's) whereabouts at the of the shooting. Melrose and Glendale citizens state that if a man had been hanged each time Merchant thought he recognized the murderer's voice there would have been a wholesale execution.

The search continued and a tipster reported the sighting of two suspicious men in the Frying Pan basin.  The posse’s efforts began to focus in that region.   It was learned that the two had helped themselves to food from one of the cabins in the area before eluding their followers.  The murderer and his partner was tracked to the Point of Rocks, Twin Bridges, through Pipestone Pass and into Silver Bow County.  Sheriff Sullivan of Butte notified Sheriff Jones of Beaverhead County that the two had been captured and were being held in jail until they could be sent to Dillon.  Jones immediately traveled to Butte, interviewed the two and decided that they were not the pair in question.  They were released. The shot gun was the evidence that led to the arrest of Thomas Harding in Butte. The gun proved to be one which Harding had borrowed from an old prospector in the Butte area, Harding ,28, was a native of Cohoes New York and had recently come to Glendale. Two other men, Kennedy and Gregory, were also new arrivals and had immediately fraternized with Harding. Charlie LaDoux, proprietor of the Old Timer's Saloon in Glendale, was robbed of $600 shortly before the state holdup and strongly suspected the three newcomers of the theft. With the help of a witness in the case, the Beaverhead County law man then arrested Thomas Harding while still in Butte.  He was questioned and then taken to be imprisoned in the Dillon jail.  A preliminary hearing was scheduled to present the circumstantial evidence against Harding, evidence that would show jurors that it is quite probable that he pulled the trigger.

The proceedings at the county Court House were presided by Justice Schmalhausen, of Glendale.  W.S. Barbour, a Dillon attorney conducted the examinations of the witnesses for the Territory of Montana, while the defendant, without counsel, represented himself.  The evidence was presented and it was decided that there was enough to send the man and the case against him to trial.  Harding maintained his innocence and stated that he was mining during the time that the brutal attack occurred.  Justice Schmalhausen concluded that there was reason to hold Harding without bail and wait for the action of the grand jury. Paradoxically enough, Merchant was the star witness throughout the affair. The two Miller girls, Charlie LaDoux and Blackburn were not called to testify, even during the trial. Thomas Harding protesting his innocence, was sent to the gallows by circumstantial evidence for the murder of George Ferguson.

Before a trial of his peers, Thomas Harding was convicted of the crimes charged against him and sentenced to death.  March 25, 1887 was his last day to live.  Up until the last minutes before his appointment with the hangman, Harding’s counsel, Mr. Duffy, tried to convince the governor of the Territory to save the man’s life, but without success.  Harding was served his last breakfast at 9:00 A.M. and was then taken to the barber shop for his last shave.  At 2:30 P.M., the convicted Harding was removed from his cell and taken to gallows.  His final remarks were ones of innocence.  He was then hung and when his body was completely lifeless, it was cut down and buried in the local cemetery. George Ferguson was buried in the Glendale Cemetery.  His head stone still stands in tribute as a memory of a life which was taken before his time. George Ferguson came to Glendale from his home in Missouri when he was but a youth, and got a job waiting table at the boarding house in the Ore Camp. He was extremely popular with everyone. Young Ferguson’s parents were dead, but he had a brother  Roland and a sister back in Missouri and a brother living at Divide. George sent for Roland, who, a bewildered tenderfoot lad of fourteen years of age, came to make his home in Glendale. The boy, at first lived with Jack Reynolds and later with Dr.Schmalhousen. Roland took his brother’s place in the ore camp boarding house and George was appointed to drive the stage between Glendale and Melrose where he was soon to meet his untimely death. Roland Ferguson, now a resident of Butte,Montana says that when he first set foot n the smelter town it was a wild camp or so it seemed to him. He tells this story,”One day when I was indulging my curiosity about the smelter, I saw a company official enter a small shed, The shed was the bath-house but, not being aware of this, I thought I'd just look inside and see what the man was doing, The pompous official indignantly declared that I was spying on him and made a great fuss, even threatening arrest, I still remember the terrible fright I had. I could almost feel the hangman noose around my neck. Glendale was a wild, western town and I was certain that I would be hanged for my misdemeanor".

 

 

May 29, 1886 
The following article is taken from the pages of the Butte Inter-Mountain 
MURDERED BY A ROAD AGENT
A Driver Shot On His Seat - Escape Of The Murderer And The Pursuit.

Last Saturday night, the 23rd inst., while the mail wagon was going up from Melrose to Glendale at about 8 o’clock, a cold-blooded murder was enacted, which is perhaps without parallel in the history of Montana, not expecting the days of terror when the road agents were wiped out by the Vigilantes.  At the crossing of Trapper Creek, a man suddenly appeared in front of the team, with a shotgun in his hands, and commanded the driver, George Ferguson, to stop.  The command not being instantly obeyed, the man shouted - “Stop, you s--of a b---h,” and immediately discharged one barrel of his shotgun at the driver.  At short range the buckshot took deadly effect and young Ferguson fell forward onto the double trees of the wagon, from which position he was taken by Thos. S. Merchant, a commercial traveler, who was one of the six passengers on the spring wagon at the time of the tragedy.  The crack of the gun frightened the horses and they ran away for a mile or so up the road before they could be stopped.  Ferguson never spoke after receiving the fatal charge of buckshot in his forehead and face, and breathed his last in a few minutes after his arrival at Glendale.

The Glendale community was immediately aroused, and preparations for the pursuit of the murderer were quickly made.  A large posse of armed men were soon at the scene of the murder, and in pursuing the man, scoured the country from Trapper Creek to Birch Creek.  Sheriff Jones, receiving a dispatch, proceeded to the Birch Creek section after a posse to intercept the murderer should he try to escape that way.  On Sunday, three boys, engaged in driving horses, saw two men in Frying Pan Basin, about eight miles from Birch Creek, with two horses picketed and the saddles laying on the ground near by.  The two men are described as follows:  One a tall, slim man, light mustache, black coat, and blue overalls; the other man was medium sized, compact build, and dark complexioned.  The two horses were afterward captured and brought to Dillon and proved to be the horses stolen from Dovespeck & Eustis, butchers in Butte.  The pursuit was kept up by a large force of armed men in the mountains northeast of Argenta.  Two men answering the above description stopped at the log cabin on Cat Creek - eight miles from Frying Pan Basin - over night.  These men got bread and bacon at that cabin next morning and left, taking to the woods.  Parties are still on the search, and the range of mountains from Bannack to Dewey’s Flat will be thoroughly gone over.  The description of the men is meager, which will make their identification uncertain. Liberal rewards, amounting in the aggregate to $700, have been offered for the apprehension of the perpetrator of the murder.  Young Ferguson was buried at Glendale, where he has lived for a number of years.  On the scene of the murder a double-barreled shotgun was found with one barrel discharged, and the presumption is that more than one man made the attempt to rob the mail wagon.

LATEST - The Butte Inter-Mountain, of the 27th, contains an account of the capture, by Sheriff Sullivan and Deputy Contway, of two men answering the description of the two men seen in Frying Pan Basin and at the log cabin on Cat Creek.  The two men were tracked to Point of Rocks, Twin Bridges, through the Pipestone Pass, and on to Blacktail, where they were captured and lodged in the Butte jail.  Sheriff Jones went to Butte to help to identify the men from the descriptions obtained by parties who saw the men with the horses, and at the log cabin on Cat Creek.

 

June 5, 1886 
THE GUILTY MAN
Sheriff Jones went to Butte to help identify the two men captured by Sheriff Sullivan of Silver Bow County, who were supposed to be implicated in the murder of young Ferguson, the stage driver, near Glendale.  The two men held on suspicion were not identified and they were turned loose.  While in Butte, Sheriff Jones, aided by a man who will testify in the case, arrested a man named Harding.  The circumstantial evidence against Harding is very strong, and his positive identification as the man who committed the murder is quite probable.  Harding’s preliminary examination will take place in Dillon, owing to the feeling manifested in the case will here by next Monday,  when the examination will be held.  Harding is securely held in the county jail.  He keeps his own counsel and has nothing to say about any connection with the murder.

 

June 12, 1886 
HARDING HELD 
The preliminary examination of Thomas H. Harding, charge with the murder of George Ferguson, the Melrose-Glendale stage driver, on May 22nd, was held at the Court House on last Tuesday before Justice Schmalhausen, of Glendale.  W.S. Barbour conducted the examinations of witnesses on the part of the Territory, and the defendant being without counsel, conducted his own case.  The evidence elicited at the examination strongly pointed to Harding as the man who did the shooting.  In fact, some of the evidence was positive, while the chain of circumstantial evidence was very strong and well linked together, and of a decidedly  damaging character to the prisoner, whose appearance in court was not prepossessing.  As is usual in all preliminary examinations of defendants much irrelevant evidence was taken down which in a trial in the District Court would be excluded.  But as it is only the province of a committing magistrate to examine  and find out whether there is probably a sufficient cause to hold a defendant, latitude is given in this class of examinations in order to bring out the material facts of the case.  The evidence on the part of the people points strongly, but not erringly, to Harding as the perpetrator of the murder.  Harding made a statement in which he endeavored to account for his whereabouts and for his absence from Butte at the time of the shooting, by stating that was at the time prospecting on an iron lead.  His statements was  considerably mixed up, and was contradictory in many respects.  It is not the intention or purpose of the Tribune to try, convict and condemn the defendant.  That will be the duty of a higher court and a jury to  perform.  On the conclusion of the testimony Justice Schmalhausen held Harding, without bail, to await the action of the next grand jury, and the defendant was committed to the county jail.

 

November 5, 1886
In the case of the Territory vs. Thomas H. Harding the jury rendered a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, and this evening Judge Galbraith sentenced the prisoner to be hung on the 22nd of December.  Mr. Merchant identified Harding as the murderer, and the evidence was complete and thorough

 

January 7, 1887 
THE HARDING CASE: The hearing in the Harding appeal case came before the Supreme Court this morning.  The following points were offered to sustain a demand for the reversal of the judgment in the lower court:

First.  That the grand jury that indicted the defendant was not a legal one, for the reason that one member, Lambert Eliel, was not a citizen of the United States, consequently not competent to act as such juror.  Further, that such juror was made and became a citizen of the United States after the finding of the indictment against said Harding.

Second.  That the indictment was not signed by district Attorney Pemberton as required by law, and that the court erred in permitting the appointment of United States District Attorney Robt. B. Smith to prosecute the case, and by whom the indictment is signed as prosecuting attorney pro tem.  Further, that the court had no authority in law for making such an appointment.

Third.  Errors in refusing certain instructions offered by the defendant, to go before the jury.

Fourth.  For denying the first application of the defendant the right of continuance on the grounds of absence of important witnesses, much to the detriment of his case, and only allowing him twenty-four hours in which to plead, and about forty-eight hours thereafter in which to proceed to trial.

We have not yet heard whether the defendant’s cause has been remanded for a new trial or not.  Those familiar with the law say that the first two points made by Campbell, Harding’s counsel, are strong ones.

 

January 14, 1887
HARDING TO HANG. The Supreme Court Refuses the Murderer a New Trial.
As announced in the last issue of the Tribune, the appeal case of Harding, the murderer of Geo. Ferguson, the Glendale stage driver, was argued before the Supreme Court Thursday of last week.  The points upon which Harding’s counsel asked for a reversal of the decision of the lower court were as follows:

First.  That the grand jury that indicted the defendant was not a legal one, for the reason that one member, Lambert Eliel, was not a citizen of the United States, consequently not competent to act as such juror.  Further, that such juror was made and became a citizen of the United States after the finding of the indictment against Harding.

Second.  That the indictment was not signed by district Attorney Pemberton as required by law, and that the court erred in permitting the appointment of United States Attorney Robt B. Smith to prosecute the cast, and by whom the indictment is signed as prosecuting attorney pro tem.  Further, that the court had no authority in law for making such an appointment.

Third.  Errors in refusing certain instructions offered by the defendant, to go before the jury.

Fourth.  For denying the first application of the defendant the right of continuance on the grounds of absence of important witnesses, much to the detriment of his case, and only allowing him twenty-four hours in which to plead, and but forty-eight hours thereafter in which to proceed to trial.

The case was taken under advisement by the Supreme Court, and on Monday the decision of the lower court was affirmed by Chief Justice Wade and associate Justice McLeary, associate Justice Back dissenting.  The sheriff will carry out the execution on Friday, Jan 21st, unless the governor of the territory exercise his right of pardon.  Wednesday morning J.H. Duffy, of the firm of Campbell & Duffy, counsel for Harding, went to Helena to see the Governor to endeavor to obtain a respite of 60 days to enable them to bring the matter before the Supreme Court of the United States on motion for a new trial. We have not yet heard whether the respite  has been granted, but it is highly improbably that the governor will under the circumstances interfere.

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