CHAPTER LI

RETROSPECTION

In the former chapters of this history, we have seen that the people of Montana did not adopt the Vigilante code until a crisis had arrived when the question of supremacy between them and an organized band of robbers and murderers could be decided only by a trial of strength. When that time came, the prompt and decisive measures adopted by the Vigilantes brought peace and security to the people. If any of the murderous band of marauders remained in the Territory, fear of punishment kept them quiet. Occasionally indeed a man would be murdered in some of the desolate cañons while returning to the States, but whenever this occurred the offenders were generally hunted down and summarily executed.

When the executive and judicial officers appointed by the government arrived in the Territory in the Autumn of 1864, they found the mining camps in the enjoyment of a repose which was broken only by the varied recreations which an unorganized society necessarily adopts to pass away the hours unemployed in the mines. The people had perfect confidence in the code of the Vigilantes, and many of them scouted the idea of there being any better law for their protection. They had made up their minds to punish all lawbreakers, and there were many who did not hesitate to declare to the newly arrived officers, that while the courts might be called upon in the settlement of civil cases, the people wanted no other laws in dealing with horse-thieves, robbers, and murderers, than the ones they themselves had made. This feeling, though not so general as was claimed for it, was quite prevalent at that time among the miners. As soon, however, as they found the courts adequate to their necessities, they readily conformed to the laws and their administration after the manner prescribed by the government, and the Vigilante rule gradually disappeared. In several extreme cases they anticipated by immediate action the slower processes of law, but this occurred only when the offence was of a very aggravated character.

Some of the leading newspapers of the nation, and the people of many of the older communities where the hand of the law was strong, and sufficient for the protection of all, have denounced the action of the Vigilantes as cruel, barbarous, and criminal; but none of them have had the perspicacity to discover any milder or more efficacious substitute,—though apologies and excuses for the murderers have been numerous and persistent. The facts narrated in these volumes are a sufficient reply to these hastily formed opinions. The measures adopted were strictly defensive, and those who resorted to them knew full well that when the federal courts should be organized, they themselves would in turn be held accountable before the law for any unwarrantable exercise of power in applying them. The necessity of the hour was their justification. Too much credit can never be awarded to the brave and noble men who put them in force. They checked the emigration into Montana of a large criminal population, and thereby prevented the complete extermination of its peace-loving people, and its abandonment by those who have since demonstrated, by a development of its varied resources, its capacity for becoming an immense industrial State of the Union. They opened up the way for an increasing tide of emigration from the East, to this new and delightful portion of our country. They sought mainly to protect every man in the enjoyment of his own, and to afford every citizen equal opportunity to seek for and obtain the hoarded wealth of the unexplored mountains and gulches in the richest portion of the continent. They made laws for a country without law, and executed them with a vigor suited to every exigency.

Not one of that large cosmopolitan community who faced the realities of brigand domination and aggression, ever complained of the means by which they were terminated. The change was as welcome to them as sunlight to the flowers, or rain to the parched earth. It changed their fear into courage, and their despondency into hope. It cheered them with the promise that their hard toil and coarse fare would eventuate in good, and that the star which had led them from homes of comfort to these distant wilds, did not,—

“Meteor-like, flame lawless through the skies.”

A marked improvement soon became visible in all classes of society. Pistols were no longer fired, and bowie-knives were no longer flourished in the saloons. Gambling, though still followed as a pursuit by many, was freed from all dangerous concomitants, and the hurdy-gurdy houses wore an appearance of decency and order that they had not known before. An air of civil restraint took the place of recklessness in personal deportment, and men lived and acted as if they had suddenly found something in the community worthy of their respect. This enforced reformation was only to be preserved by a rigid observance of the regulations which had produced it. There were hundreds of men in the Territory ready to take advantage of the smallest relaxation, to rush again into organized robbery and murder. The Vigilantes understood this, and that there might be no mistaking their intentions, they pursued every criminal, from the greatest to the smallest, oftentimes aiding the civil authorities, and suffering no guilty man who fell into their hands to escape punishment.

Nearly one-half of a century has elapsed since the United States Congress gave to Montana a territorial government. At that time it was the wildest and least inhabited portion of our national domain. A very small portion of it only had been reclaimed from the savage tribes which had inhabited it for centuries—the few whites who had gone there holding it by an occupancy so nearly divided between the lovers and the violators of law and order, that it was next to impossible to convert it into a peaceful, law-abiding community. There was nothing in the writings of early explorers to render it attractive for any of the purposes of permanent settlement. Captains Lewis and Clark, who explored this region in 1804–5–6, had told of its great rivers and valleys, its rocks and its mountains, and the numerous nomadic tribes which subsisted upon the herds of buffaloes, elks, and antelopes, that fed on its perennial grasses. Their story had been repeated in more, graphic form by Washington Irving in his version of Captain Bonneville’s expedition. Trappers and hunters belonging to the Northwestern and American fur companies, had told many thrilling adventures of their frequent conflicts with Indians and grizzlies; but no one had ever testified to the vast wealth of its mountains and gulches, the surpassing fertility of its valleys and plains, and the navigability and water facilities of its wonderful rivers. The possibility that it could ever become anything more than a field for fur-hunters, or a reserve for some of our Indian tribes, had never been seriously considered by any one. All the worst crimes known to the Decalogue stained its infant annals, until, roused by a spirit of self-defence, the sober-minded and resolute population visited in their might with condign punishment the organized bands of ruffians which had preyed upon their lives and property. These, as we have seen, were speedily swept away from the face of the earth, and the organization of the Territory was then complete. To-day Montana is the most attractive of all the States recently admitted into the Union. With a large and increasing population dwelling in the cities, agricultural and mining districts, it is rapidly growing into one of the most powerful States of the Union. Favored by nature with a healthful climate, and with seasons of heat and cold equally distributed, it cannot fail to give birth to a hardy, vigorous, and enterprising people. The development of its vast and varied resources has just commenced, yet, under its inspiring influence, large cities have sprung up, manufactories have been established, vast valleys subdued, great railroads constructed, and the work of a steady and increasing improvement made everywhere visible throughout its borders.

Many of the noble-hearted pioneers who placed themselves in the van of this movement have passed away. Montana, now a State of the Union, may well mourn the loss of such courageous spirits as James Stuart, Walter Dance, Neil Howie, John Fetherstun, Dr. Glick, John X. Beidler, and many more who have not lived to see her in her day of grandeur and triumph. A time should never come when the memory of these men should cease to be venerated. It should never be forgotten that Montana owes its present freedom from crime, its present security for life and property, to the early achievements of these self-denying men, and of their comrades who still survive; who established law where no law existed, spoke order into existence when all order was threatened with destruction, declared peace where all was anarchy, and laid broad and deep the foundations of a great and populous State amid the perils of robbery and bloodshed. Equal in degree to the sacrifices made by the brave soldiers of the war who saved our Republic, were the deeds of those who saved Montana from rapine and slaughter. Like them, the graves of the dead should be crowned with flowers, and the pathway of the living be brightened with the rewards of a grateful people.

Standing in the valley of the Mississippi, and beholding its marvellous development, we talk of the West—its cities, its agriculture, its progress—with rapture; we point to it with pride, as the latest and noblest illustration of our republican system of government; but beyond the West which we so much admire and eulogize, there is another West where the work of development is just commencing: a land where but a quarter of a century ago, all was bare creation; whose valleys, now teeming with fruition, had then never cheered the vision of civilized man; whose rivers, now bordered by thousands of happy homes, then rolled in solitary grandeur to their union with the Missouri and the Columbia;—a land whose rugged features, civilization with all its attendant blessings has softened, and where an empire has sprung up as if by enchantment;—a land where all the advantages and resources of the West of yesterday are increased, and varied, and spread out upon a scale of magnificence that knows no parallel, and which fills the full measure of Berkeley’s prophecy,—

“Westward the course of Empire takes its way. The first four acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day. Time’s noblest offspring is the last.”

THE END

INDEX

Abercrombie, Fort, 123

Adams, Thomas, 111

Aden, Joseph, 481, 482

Alder Gulch, discovery of, 206, 207; settlement of, 221, 222, 230

Allen, Charley, 320; murder of, 325

Allen, Jemmy, 394

Anderson, Resin, 111

Ankeny, Capt., 338, 339, 345

Arnett, William, 114

Ashley, ——, 497

Atkinson, Dr., 112

Ault, ——, 113

Bad Lands, the, 494, 501, 502

Bagg, Charles S., 299

Ball, Smith, 368, 369

Banfield, ——, 176–178

Bannack, 68, 122, 129–131, 134–136, 188–191; _see also_ Grasshopper Creek

Bannack Indians, 118, 120, 195–197; final destruction of, 199–203

Barlow & Sanderson, 525

Barnhardt, Martin, 437, 438

Beachy, Hill, 318, 328–348

Bear Rapids, 497

Bear River, Battle of, 199–201; lists of killed and wounded, 203–205

Beaver Head Diggings, 65, 118

Beidler, J. X., 284, 350, 351, 388, 463–470, 524, 541

Bell, William H., death of, 181

Benton, Fort, 66, 123, 126, 498

Berry, Joseph and John, robbery of, 59, 60

Biddle, Dr. and Mrs., 134

Bissell, Dr. Edward, 115, 176, 207, 212, 219, 249

Blackburn, sheriff of Carson City, 48; murder of, 49

Blackfeet Indians, 122, 124, 451, 498; attack of, 127–129

Blake, A. S., 112

Bledso, Captain, 478

Bledsoe, Matt, 56

Bond, Samuel R., 123

Bonneville, Capt., 520, 540

Bozeman, J. M., 279

Branson, Henry, 279

Bray, Cornelius, 124–129

Bridger, ——, 497

Broadwater, ——, 163–170

Brockie, ——, 45, 55, 56 Brookie, Major, 115, 213, 457

Brown, ——, 522

Brown, George M., of Plummer’s band, 275, 276, 312–315; execution of, 316, 317

Brown, James, 212

Bryan, Eliza, afterwards Mrs. Henry Plummer, 186

Buckner, Hank, 478, 479

Buffalo Shoals, 497

Bull, John, 439

Bullard, Scott, 469

Bunton, Bill, 24, 28, 233, 235–240, 242, 243, 270, 309, 315, 391; execution of, 392, 393

Bunton, Sam, 242, 243

Burritt, E. H., 123

Burtchy, ——, 297

Burton, Elijah, 76

Caldwell, Tom, 244–255

Carpenter, ——, 522

Carrhart, George, of Plummer’s band, 133, 134, 151, 177

Carter, Alex, of Plummer’s band, 252, 253, 287, 294, 309, 315, 395, 396; execution of, 398

Castner, J. M., 134

Chalmers, Horace and Robert, murder of, 325

Chapman, Arthur, 56

Charlton, David, 123

Chase, H. M., discovers gold in Washington Territory, 35

Chase, Lieut., 199

“Cherokee Bob,” of Plummer’s band, 24, 40–43, 47, 48, 50–51, 70, 71; death of, 72

Civil War, the, 22

Claggett, Hon. Wm. H., 464, 467

Clancy, Judge, 115

Clark, John C., slayer of Raymond, 482; execution of, 483

Cleveland, Jack, 24, 66–68, 131; murder of, 132, 133

Cline, ——, justice at Boise City, 482

Columbia River, Lewis fork of, 19; Clarke fork of, 19

Columbia River Steamboat Co., 338

Comstock Lode, the, 266

Conley, David, 429–432

Connor, Gen. P. Edward, 196–202

Contway, David, 167–169

Cook, A. G., 480, 481

Cooper, Johnny, one of Plummer’s band, 166, 168–170, 315, 395, 396; execution of, 398, 399

Copley, George, 143, 368–370

Courts, and processes of trial, among miners, 139–141

Craig’s Mountain, 26, 28

Crawford, “Hank,” 132, 133, 143–145, 148–157

Crisman, George, 249, 257, 258 Culbertson, ——, 497

Cutler, E. R., 212

Cynthia, mistress of Mayfield and Cherokee Bob, 50–52, 70–73

Dale, Virginia, wife of Slade, 450, 456, 461

Daly, Tom, 434

Dance, Walter B., 113, 114, 173, 231, 384, 541

Dance & Stuart, firm of, 231, 256

Daniels, James, 473; execution of, 474

Danites, or Destroying Angels of Mormon Church, 406

Dart, George, 259

Davenport, ——, 174; and his wife, 175

Davis, Alexander, 299; judge of the People’s Court, 457–460

Davis, Jefferson, 99; wife of, 207

Dawson, ——, factor at Fort Benton, 126, 156

Deer Lodge, gold placers on, 65, 66, 118, 121

Dempsey, Robert, 111

Dibb, Dr. W. D., 123

Dillingham, ——, of Plummer’s band, 207, 219; letter in regard to, 220; murder of, 211

Dimsdale, Prof. Thomas J., _quoted_, 146, 147

Dinan, ——, 521; murder of, 522

Dixon, John, 483; execution of, 483, 484

Dodge, ——, 207, 208

Donahue, ——, slayer of Patterson, 108, 109

Dorsett, James, 424

Dorsett, Rudolph, 420–423; murder of, 424

Dougherty, Patrick, 124–129

Douglas, Camp, 195, 196

Dowdle, William, 533, 534

Durley, Jefferson, 186

“Dutch Fred,” 82; murder of, 83

“Dutch John,” of Plummer’s band, 215, 216, 280–284, 286, 315, 349–359; execution of, 371–373

East Bannack, 66, 186

Eaton, Charles, 394

Edgerton, Judge Sidney, 257, 259, 275, 276

Elk City, 20, 36, 66

Ellis, ——, 172

Ely, John, 453

English, David, 45, 59, 60–62; execution of, 62, 63

Evans, ——, slayer of Mayfield, 72, 73

Evans, George, murdered by Cleveland, 131

Evanson, ——, 286

Express, pony, 29

Farrell, Tom, 332, 336 “Fat Jack,” 88; death of, 89

Fernandez, Charley, 525–531

Fetherstun, John, 351, 355–359, 371, 468, 524, 541

Field, ——, 76

Findlay, Francois, discoverer of gold in Montana, 111

Fisk, Capt. James L., 122, 123

Fletcher, William, 76

Florence, 20, 36, 53, 66

Floyd, Camp, 76, 77

Forbes, Charley, of Plummer’s band, 207, 208, 210, 211, 215, 216; trial of, 212–214; death of, 219

Forbes, Melanchthon, 279, 283

Ford, Patrick, a saloon-keeper in Lewiston, 36, 38; murder of, 39

Franck, John, “Long John,” 290, 292–294, 308

French, Ed, 255

Gallagher, Jack, of Plummer’s band, 207, 211, 271–275, 277, 278, 375, 376–380; execution of, 383–387

Gallagher, Major, 199, 201

Glick, Dr., 115, 129, 157–160, 175, 541

Godfrey, ——, 138

Goodrich, ——, saloon-keeper at Bannack, 131

Grasshopper Creek, afterwards Bannack, 119–121

Graves, William, “Whiskey Bill,” of Plummer’s band, 245–249, 294, 309, 315, 397; execution of, 398

Gridley, Leonard A., 275, 276

Grimes, ——, discoverer of gold on the Boise River, 66

Groves, Dr. Wm. H., 76, 77

Hall, Fort, 118

Hanson, ——, 463, 464; murder of, 465, 466

Harkness, ——, a butcher, 28

Harper, Charley, one of Plummer’s associates, 40, 44, 63, 87; removal, with band, to Salmon River, 45, 54; execution of, 88

Hauser, Samuel T., 113, 114, 226, 255–262, 518

Hayden, Dr., 454

Heffner, John, 424

_Helena, Mont., Herald_, 161

Helm, Boone; 74–86, 241, 315, 376–380; execution of, 383–387; story of the stranger about, 407, 411, 412, 416–418

Hereford, Robert, 111, 303

Hickey, ——, of Plummer’s band, 55

Higgins and Warden, store of, 174

Hilderman, George, of Plummer’s band, 240, 289, 290, 295; trial of, 307, 308

Hiltebrant, ——, saloon-keeper in Lewiston, 32, 33, 37

Holliday’s Overland Stage Line, 518

Holter, Anton M., 286–288

Howard, “Doc.,” 318–330, 342–347; execution of, 348

Howie, Neil, 230, 351–359, 371, 478, 479, 541

Hoyt, J. F., 143, 146

Hoyt, Samuel N., 197, 198, 200

Hughes, ——, 286

Hunkins, Col., 113

Hunt, William, 422, 458, 459

Hunter, Bill, of Plummer’s band, 151, 158, 315, 375, 376, 400–403; execution of, 404, 405

Hurd, A., 481

Hynson, Bill, 466–472

Idaho, originally comprised Montana and Wyoming, 20

Irving, Washington, on Captain Bonneville’s expedition, 540

Ives, George, of Plummer’s band, 132–134, 166, 168–170, 227, 244–251, 261, 280, 285, 294–297; trial of, 298–301; execution of, 302–304; life of, 306

Jacobs, John M., 111

Jernigan, B. F., 114, 115

Johnson, Dan, 454

Johnson, Frank, 478

Jones, M. T., 279

Kelley, ——, 421–428

Killman, Capt., 441

Kinney, Chief Justice, 197

Kirby, ——, a Lewiston gambler, 31, 32.

Knox, Robert C., 123

Lane, George, “Clubfoot George,” 61, 231, 256, 298, 315, 376, 377; execution of, 383–387

Langford, N. P., 123–129, 138, 142, 143, 173, 182, 219, 225–229, 255–265, 451–455, 485–491, 518–520, 524–536

Lannan, Pat, 435–437

Laramie, Fort, 447, 448

Lazarus, Izzy, 435

Le Clair, Michaud, a fur-trader, 116–119

Le Grau, robbery of, 175

Leach, John, slayer of Hanson, 465, 466

Leavitt, Dr., 115, 159, 228

Lewis and Clark Expedition, 492, 493, 540

Lewiston, capital of Idaho, 20, 22, 31–33, 225

“Long John,” _see_ John Franck

Lott, John S., 458

Louthen, Frank, 113

Lowry, Chris, 318–330,342–347; execution of, 348

Luce, Jason, 242, 243

_Luella_, steamboat, 503, 513

Lyon, General, killed in battle of Wilson’s Creek, 113

Lyon, Governor, of Oregon, 32, 478, 479

Lyons, Hayes, of Plummer’s band, 179, 207, 208, 210, 211, 216, 219, 315, 376, 380–382; trial of, 212–214; execution of, 383–388

McAdow, P. W., 112, 113

McCausland, ——, 521; murder of, 522

McClinchey, Neil, 58

McCormick, 279, 280

McFadden, Daniel, 233, 234–240

McGarry, Major, 198, 199, 200

McGranigan, ——, 76, 77

McLean, Captain, 199

McLean, Col. Samuel, 115, 118, 119, 266

Mackinaw boat travel, 492, 497, 498; story of, 499–516

Madison, ——, 234, 236–240

Magruder, Lloyd, murder of, 309, 318–326; trace of, 328

Maguire, Billy, 434

Marcus, Charley, 477

Marshall, discoverer of gold in California, 35

Marshland, Steve, of Plummer’s band, 244–246, 280–284, 315, 350, 389; execution of, 390, 391

Martin, John, 76

Martin, Peter, 392

Masons, first meeting of, in Bannack, 181; funeral services of W. H. Bell, 182–184; power of, 184, 185

Mayfield, Bill, 48–51; death of, 72, 73

Meagher, Governor, 473

Meeks, Jake, 111

Mendenhall, Jack, 113

Mers, ——, 521; murder of, 522

Miller, C. F., 182

Mitchell, William, associate of Reeves, 136, 138, 146; trial of, 144

Montana, originally a part of Idaho, 20

Monthe, Jake, 113

Moody, Milton S., 279, 282–285

Moore, Augustus, 131, 135–139, 141, 163, 164, 176–178, 219; trial of, 144–147

Moore, Captain, 244–248

Moore, Gad, of Plummer’s band, 315

Mormons, 258–265; fort of, at Lemhi, 113, 118

Mose, of the early pony express, 29, 30

Muchacho, 435

Mullen, Capt. John, 122

Munson, Judge, 473

Murieta, Joaquin, 45

Murphy, ——, 485–488

Neselrode, ——, 89

_New York Herald_, 528

Nez Percés Indians, 26

Northern Overland Expedition, 122

Northwestern Fur Co., 118, 540

Northwestern Railroad, 513

O’Keefe, Barney, 396

“Old Tex,” a brother of Boone Helm, 84, 85

“Old Tex,” one of Plummer’s band, 244, 245, 294, 308, 391–393

Oliver, Dr. A. J., 255, 256

Opdyke, David, 476–482; execution of, 483, 484

Oro Fino, 20, 37, 66

Overland Stage Co., 441–443, 484

Page, William, 319, 323–330, 343–348

Palmer, Dr., 268, 270

Palmer, William, 289, 290, 292

Parish, Frank, one of Plummer’s band, 240, 242, 315, 376; execution of, 384–387

Parker, ——, 521; murder of, 522

Parks, ——, murder of, 477

Parks, Charley, 522

Patterson, Ferd, 91, 95–108; death of, 108

Patton, W. H., 299

Payne, D. S., 225

Peabody, Ben, 351

Peasley, Thomas, 437, 438

Peel, Langford, 429–440

Pemberton, ——, 163

Pemberton, W. Y., 299

People’s Court, The, 457

Peoples, William, 45, 59, 60–62; execution of, 62, 63

Percy, ——, 234, 236–240, 242

Perkins, George, 151, 152

Perkins, Jeff, 131

Pfouts, P. S., 457

Phillips, William, 321; murder of, 325

Phleger, Harry, 132, 133, 149, 153, 171, 172

Pike’s Peak Gulch, 125, 129

Pinkham, ——, 91–95, 98; murder of, 99–101; results of murder, 102–109

Pizanthia, Jo, 368–370

Plummer, Henry, 23–27, 37, 48, 66–68, 130, 137, 138, 148–162, 171–175, 186–188, 213, 226, 242, 258, 261, 266–272, 276, 315, 357, 360, 361; execution of, 362–364; life of, 365–366

Porter, Deputy Sheriff, 42, 43

Post, Columbus, 115, 118

Post, Mark, 115

Powell, John W., 111; letter of, 78–81

Price, Captain, 199

Prickly Pear Valley, 123; Creek, 124

Purple, Edwin R., 365

Quinn, Lieut., 199

Ray, Ned, of Plummer’s band, 207, 251–256, 261, 311, 315, 358, 361; execution of, 362–364

Raymond, Reuben, 481, 482; murder of, 483

Reeves, Charley, one of Plummer’s hand, 37, 66, 132, 135–139, 141, 163, 176; trial of, 144–147

Reni, Jules, 444–449

Rheem, Wm. C., 144, 147, 226; _quoted_, 161, 162

Richardson, Edward, real name of Charley Forbes, 216

Ridgely, of Plummer’s band, 37, 39, 40, 43, 44, 66

Ritchie, ——, 298

Robbins, ——, a friend of Pinkham, 102, 103, 106

Robinson, ——, 430, 431

Rockfellow, John S., 279, 283

Romaine, Jim, 318–330, 342–347; execution of, 348

Rucker, ——, 429, 432, 433

Ruckles, Capt., 338

Rumsey, William, 234, 236–239, 241, 421, 423

Russell, Capt. Jack, 115–120, 176–178

Rutar, Dr., 212

Salmon River, 29, 30; discovery of gold in, 45

Sanders, Col. Wilbur R., 258, 267–277, 299, 304

Sapp, Dick, 176–178

Sarpie, ——, 497

Scott, Bob, 455

Scott, Nelson, 45–47, 59–62; execution of, 62, 63

Shears, George, of Plummer’s band, 315, 396; execution of, 397

“Shebangs” of Plummer’s band of road agents, 26, 27, 28

Shepard, Johnny, 154

Shoot, Littlebury, murder of, 75

Short, Mr. and Mrs., 134

Shoshone Falls, 20

Simmons, Andrew J., 498; letter of, 499–516

Sioux Indians, 122, 451, 519; attack of, 506–511

Six, Dr., 213

Skinner, Cyrus, 53, 134, 172, 178, 207, 315, 395, 396; execution of, 398

Slade, Joseph A., 441–460; execution of, 460–462

“Slippery Joe,” 190, 191

Sloan, William, 279, 281

Smith, Governor Green Clay, 478, 490

Smith, H. P. A., 115, 212, 216, 298, 406

Smith, Joseph, 262

Smith, Judge, of Walla Walla, 61

Snake River, rise of, 19

Southmayd, Leroy, 244–254, 295

Spillman, C. W., 114, 115

Spivey, Henry, 304

Stage Coach, the, 517–524

Staples, Capt., murder of, 97

Stapleton, Washington, 115, 207, 208

Steele, Dr., president of Alder Gulch, 209, 210, 212

Stevens, Governor Isaac I., 123

Stewart, ——, 525, 529

Stinson, Buck, 180, 207, 208, 210, 211, 216, 251–256, 261, 311, 315, 358, 361; trial of, 212–214; execution of, 362–364; life of, 365

Stuart, Granville, 111, 114, 119

Stuart, James, 111, 114, 119, 541

Talbert, Henry, real name of “Cherokee Bob,” 72

Terry, ——, a friend of Patterson’s, 99, 100, 102

Terwiliger, Billy, of Plummer’s band, 160, 315

Tetons, the three, 20

Thomas, Henry, “Tom Gold Digger,” 112, 124

Thompson, Henry, 421–428

Thurmond, J. M., 299, 406

Tiebalt, Nicholas, 289; murder of, 290–292, 294, 300

Tilden, Henry, 259, 275–277

Tipton, M. W., 396

Todd, ——, deputy of Virginia City, 211, 216

Tracy & Co., pony express of, 29

Trotter, Charles, 532, 533

Turner, ——, of Plummer’s band, 28

Union, Fort, 123, 512

Union League, 225

Union Pacific Railroad, 518

United States Geological Survey, 454

Vail, ——, in charge of Government farm on Sun River, 67, 186

Vigilantes, of Florence, 88, 89; first real activities of, 291; organization of committees, 309, 360, 367; of Virginia City, 374; justification of, 405, 406; mistakes of, 474, 475; review of, 537

Virginia City, founding of, 207; growth of, 222–224

Vivion, James, 352

Wagner, John, real name of Dutch John, 280

Wall, Capt., 351

Warner Creek, 20

West Bannack, 66, 186

White, John, 119, 420–423; murder of, 424

White Bird Creek, 30, 56

Whitehead, Charles, 259, 260

Wilkinson, ——, 234, 236–240

Williams, Charles, 470

Williams, Frank, 523

Williams, “Jakey,” 71, 72

Willoughby, Bill, 70–72

Wilson, Jack, 297

Winnemuck, chief of the Bannack Indians, 178–180

Wohlgamuth, ——, 534

Wolf Rapid, 497

Woodmansee, ——, 120

Woods, Governor, 407

Wright, Gen., commander of the Department of the Pacific, 343

Wyoming, originally a part of Idaho, 20

Yager, Erastus, “Red,” 269–274, 310–316; execution of, 317

Yankton, capital of Dakota, 225

Yellowstone River, 19; National Park, 19; travel on the river, 492–515

Young, Brigham, 262, 263

Zachary, Bob, of Plummer’s band, 235, 240, 245–249, 294, 315, 319, 396, 398

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. 3. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers. 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.