Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014, All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Early History of Idaho by Wm. John McConnell Pub. Caxton Printers, Caldwell Idaho - 1913 [100 - 111] CHAPTER XII. CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS AS SOON as the snow disappeared in the spring of 1863, many of the miners and prospectors who had been cooped up in Bannock (now in Montana) all winter, started out on prospecting trips. Other gulches containing rich deposits of placer gold were soon discovered. The entire district was in the Territory of Washington until April 3, 1863, when the Territory of Idaho was created. It embraced all the new gold discoveries in and around Ban- nock and Helena. (There were two towns, or mining camps, named Bannock in Idaho during 1863). Since the country at that time was not equipped with the machinery of government, the miners depended upon themselves to maintain local government. Each camp elected peace of- ficers, and laws were enacted to secure the rights, peace and safety of the inhabitants. It having been determined to elect one sheriff for all the camps east of the Bitter Root mountains, Plummer, the outlaw, became an active candidate for the nomina- tion on the Democratic ticket. With the support of the members of his gang, and with that of the sporting elements in the towns, he triumphed. Thus with the aid of hundreds of good men who voted the Democratic ticket on account of "principle," the vil- est and most cold-blooded murderer who ever polluted the mining camps of the northwest was made sheriff - a man whose trail for years had been marked by the graves of his victims. His position as sheriff enlarged his opportunities for evil until a long-suffering and forbearing public was aroused, which resulted in the forming of a vigilance committee, at whose hand he, and a dozen others of his partners in crime, expiated their sins on the gallows. Nearly all of those who were Plummer's associates in Lewis- ton, Florence and Elk City, including Charlie Ridgley, who was wounded while assisting in murdering Ford, found their way to Boise Basin, where we shall refer to them later. The next name on the roster of the lawless men who came to Lewiston in the early 60's is Bunton - stool-pigeon, horse and cattle thief, and murderer. He had killed a man at a ball near Walla Walla, was tried for murder, and acquited for want of suf- ficient evidence. Next, he killed his brother-in-law, escaping the officers by flight. He then located a ranch on Pataha creek, where he lived with an Indian woman. It was soon ascertained that his business consisted of hiding and selling stolen stock. The officers raided his ranch, but he had doubtless been warn- ed of their intentions and made his escape, disguised as an In- dian wrapped in a blanket. It was at this time that he entered Lewiston and soon became a member of the Plummer gang. As long as Plummer remained there, Bunton proved a valuable aid in all of his nefarious ventures, but when his chief took wing, he too became alarmed and fled to Rattle Snake Creek, where he was soon captured and hanged by the Montana vigilance committee. Next on the roster is Charles Ridgley, who took a prominent part in the murder of Ford at Orofino. Before this, however, he shot a man named Gilchrist in Walla Walla, and thinking that he had killed him, said "That takes a load off my shoulders." Gilchrist was badly wounded but he recovered. Ridgley escaped arrest by flight. Going to Lewiston, he joined the Plummer gang. After recovering from the wounds received at the time of the Ford murder, he went with Plummer to Elk City and later drifted to Idaho City and South Boise, where he distinguished himself as a friend of Ferd Patterson, a gambler gun-man, and political henchman of E. D. Holbrook. He finally disappeared from the eyes of the writer. Charley was a good fellow of his of his kind when the cards broke his way; his value as a poli- tical henchman consisted soley in his reputation of being a "gun-fighter," and a "bad man." The next undesirable citizen is Charley Reeves, who accom- panied Plummer and Ridgley to Elk City, whence he went to Ban- nock. While among the Bannocks in January, 1863, he bought from them a squaw, but she was so cruelly abused by him that she fled to her own people. Reeves and a friend named Moore tracked her to a tepee where she had taken refuge, and on her refusal to return with him, he resorted to violence, whereupon an old Indian chief forcibly ejected him from the tepee. Reeves and Moore, joined by a man named Wm. Mitchell, marched and countermarched by the place, firing volley after volley into it. The brave old chief was killed, together with a lame Indian, a papoose, and a Frenchman, named Cazette, who had entered the tepee to discover the cause of the disturbance. Two other cur- ious individuals were badly wounded. After the dastardly deed had been perpetrated the performers fled, but were captured the following day, brought back and tried by a jury, who brought in the verdict of "not guilty." While the prisoners were guilty, and everyone knew it, the jury was afraid to bring in a verdict in accordance with the facts, they being intimidated by the criminal class, who were in the majority, and who crowded the room where the trial was being held, brandishing revolvers and threatening to take life for life. This trial proved disastrous to the community, for it en- couraged the lawless element, far and near, convincing them that they held the upper hand and had the business and law- abiding citizen cowed. Emboldened by the foregoing result, and feeling that dis- guise was no longer necessary, the country was soon startled by a series of murders and robberies more brazen and shocking than any of the others that had preceded them. The difficulties heretofore encountered by those who would have gladly pursued drastic measures in order to secure a reasonable degree of safety for life and property, were chiefly found in the newness of the country, which precluded the people, who were gathered there from almost every quarter of the globe, from becoming acquainted with one another. Neighbors did not know one another, hence, as was wise, they hesitated to suggest an organization designed to oppose lawless methods, lest the man approached might be a member of the ban- ditti. There being no church nor society organization with which the better classes could affiliate, it was every man for himself. The road-agents had the only perfect organization, and it shielded its own. But a time came when conditions were altered. An old man who had come alone to the camp secured a claim. After building a cabin, he begun to work his ground. The hard- ships he was obliged to undergo were more than his enfeebled frame could withstand. Overcome by sickness, he abandoned his efforts when it was too late. Confined to his cabin and bed, he was given such treatment and care as the rough, kind-hearted men of the mountains are ever ready to bestow on the needy. It soon became apparent, however, that the end was near, and many of the young men who had left fathers at home when they came west, felt kindly disposed toward the suffering old man who had always been so gentle and kind to them when he was able to move around. He, too, realizing that the final summons had come, made known to his attendants that in his home village he belonged to the society of Free and Accepted Masons, and expressed a wish that if any of that Brotherhood could be found, he desired to be buried with Masonic rites. A notice was accordingly posted, calling for a meeting that evening at the humble cabin of the dying miner; all Masons who could conveniently attend were in- vited. When the time arrived, so large was the attendance that an adjournment to a larger building was necessary. The funeral of the deceased brother was conducted in due and ancient form, and as the members present, amid profound silence, marched forward, and one by one cast the sprig of evergreen upon the coffin in that open grave, each felt a de- gree of safety such as he had not known since coming to the place. All felt that at last they had found those to whom they could safely talk, and with whom they could safely act. Through the cemetery contiguous to Bannock had already assumed propor- tions surprising in such a comparatively small community, yet the foregoing death was said to be the first to come from purely natural causes. The subsequent organization of the citizens, followed by the uprooting of the outlaws and the restoration of order and safety, was not doubt primarily due to the meeting of the members of the Masonic Fraternity at the deathbed and grave of their departed brother. Had the conditions that existed up to this time been allowed to continue, the human mind is horrified at the contem- plation of what might have resulted; but the departure of a lonely old man on that mysterious journey which we must all, in- evitably take, was the means of bringing an end to the era of crime. "God moves in mysterious way His wonders to perform." The sudden departure of Plummer from the scenes of his former activities, Lewiston, Florence and Elk City, was no doubt accel- erated by the untimely but well-merited fate of three members of his gang whose names appear in the roster of notables hereto- fore given - Dave England, Nelson Scott and William Peebles. In October, 1863, a packer in charge of a pack train belong- ing to Neal McClinchey, after delivering a load to Florence, started on his return to Walla Walla, but before reaching Lewis- ton he was held up and relieved of fourteen pounds of gold dust, it being the amount received for packing in the load he had just delivered. As he transferred the dust to the hands of one of the robbers the latter remarked "That's right and sensible; if every man was as reasonable as you, things would go along smooth- er." A few days later, Joseph and John Berry having delivered a load at Florence, were returning to Lewiston, driving their loose pack animals ahead. When two days along on their journey they too, were held up by three masked highwaymen, who were doubtless the same ones that robbed McClinchey's packer on the former occasion. The Berry boys recognized the voices of two of the men who held them up - Dave English and William Peebles; and they ascer- tained from persons who had met the trio that the third member was Nelson Scott. The victims made haste to reach Lewiston, and when once there they lost no time in relating the particulars of their loss. Plummer and his leading lieutenants being absent, the members of his band remaining in Lewiston were too few to check the in- dignant citizens who immediately proceeded to organize for the capture of the road agents. The posse having satisfied itself that the wanted men had not passed through Lewiston, a search was begun up the river which established the fact that the flee- ing men had crossed Snake river above town, and had traveled in the direction of Walla Walla. Public sentiment was now thoroughly aroused, and clamored for the capture and punishment of the offenders. In the mean- time, several determined men who believed in action rather than consultation, had started in pursuit of the lawbreakers. The efforts of these men proved successful, the capture being made in detail - Peebles was captured in Walla Walla; Scott on Dry Creek, and English at Wallula, where he was ready to take the steamer for The Dalles. The prisoners were apparently much surprised at the temerity of their captors. The community had so long held them in fear, and had permitted them to pursue their unlawful trade to such an extent without hinderance, that they felt very much aggrieved and plainly showed that they thought interference by outsiders an outrage. Recognizing the futility of attempting to escape, they quietly accompanied their captors on the homeward journey to Lewiston, fully expecting to be liberated by their friends when they ar- rived there. But public sentiment had crystalized while the pursuit was in progress, and a citizens' committee had been or- ganized. The better classes of Lewiston's citizens had been worked up to a high pitch over the repeated crimes occurring at such regular intervals, and they now being at last in the majority, it was determined to try the prisoners by the com- mittee. The captured men were accordingly taken in charge by the people and confined in an unfinished building on the south bank of the Clearwater river - the building being strongly guarded. In order to complete the good work so auspiciously begun, and for the further purpose of ridding the town of a number of toughs hanging around the saloons, a committee was appointed to bring in for trial all suspicious characters found. News of this movement was designedly circulated, with the result that before daybreak the following morning all the birds of doubtful color had flown. As was to be expected, intense excitement prevailed. Busi- ness was suspended and men were seen in groups on the streets and in the alleys conversing in low, earnest tones. Every- one was heavily armed, all wearing revolvers, while many in addition carried rifles or shotguns. The final disposition of the jailed bandits was postponed until another day, a strong guard of well armed men being kept around the building in which they were confined. The town was thrown into a fever of excitement by hearing a fusi- lade of shots during the midnight hours. The shots coming from the direction where the guards were stationed, it was immediately surmised that a rescue was being attempted, and men, some of them only half dressed, came running from every direction to reinforce the jailers. The streets were filled as if by magic. The firing ceased as suddenly as it begun, and it was learned that a friend of Peebles, who was then keeping a hotel in Lewiston, had attempted his rescue, firing upon the guard and getting shot through the arm in return. When this was understood the people returned to their beds, leaving the guards to their dangerous vigil. The next morning almost the entire populace visited the building where the prisoners had been confined, but no guards halted their approach. Drawing closer, they discovered that the guards had departed, leaving the doors ajar. Timidly pushing them open, the most venturesome entered. Here they found hanging by their necks from the joists, the rigid corpses of the men who had been in life, thieves, road agents, murder- ers, and all-around "bad actors." "The wages of sin is death." It was told of a very humane attorney whose sympathies were known to favor the oppressed highwaymen and horse thieves, that he appeared at the door of the building where the prisoners were confined, during the afternoon after their incarceration, and asked to see them, but was refused admittance and told to come back in the morning, which he accordingly did. In answer to his second request to see the accused, he was told to step inside, and upon doing so, he came suddenly and without warn- ing upon the bodies of his clients suspended by ropes from the upper joists. It is needless to say that the learned barrister with the sympathetic proclivities, made a speedy exit. ===========================================================================