A Decent, Orderly Lynching: The Montana VigilantesThe deadliest campaign of vigilante justice in American history erupted in the Rocky Mountains during the Civil War when a private army hanged twenty-one troublemakers. Hailed as great heroes at the time, the Montana vigilantes are still revered as founding fathers. Combing through original sources, including eye-witness accounts never before published, Frederick Allen concludes that the vigilantes were justified in their early actions, as they fought violent crime in a remote corner beyond the reach of government. But Allen has uncovered evidence that the vigilantes refused to disband after territorial courts were in place. Remaining active for six years, they lynched more than fifty men without trials. Reliance on mob rule in Montana became so ingrained that in 1883, a Helena newspaper editor advocated a return to “decent, orderly lynching” as a legitimate tool of social control. Allen’s sharply drawn characters, illustrated by dozens of photographs, are woven into a masterfully written narrative that will change textbook accounts of Montana’s early days—and challenge our thinking on the essence of justice. |
Contents
Introduction The Murdered Boy | 3 |
Chapter 1 Maine to California | 17 |
Chapter 2 A Seducer on Trial | 38 |
Chapter 3 Wooing Electa Bryan | 57 |
Chapter 4 The New Sheriff | 77 |
Chapter 5 The Dillingham Killing | 89 |
Chapter 6 CutThroats and Robbers | 109 |
Chapter 7 The Reluctant Chief Justice | 122 |
Chapter 15 One Hundred and Two | 254 |
Chapter 16 Slade of the Overland | 273 |
Chapter 17 The Wounded Man Recovered | 290 |
Chapter 18 No More Midnight Executions | 308 |
Chapter 19 Thomas Francis Meagher | 324 |
Chapter 20 Pax Vigilanticus | 345 |
Epilogue | 361 |
Targets of the Montana Vigilantes | 365 |
Chapter 8 A Rashomon Night | 135 |
Chapter 9 The Southmayd Robbery | 153 |
Chapter 10 The Ives Trial | 168 |
Chapter 11 Men Do Your Duty | 185 |
Chapter 12 The Vigilantes | 198 |
Chapter 13 Red Yeagers List | 217 |
Chapter 14 Five Hanged Side by Side | 233 |