USA > California > Lassen County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 30
USA > California > Plumas County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 30
USA > California > Sierra County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 30
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" If this court chooses to place itself in contempt of the people," answered the spokesman, "it must take the consequences. In the name of the people, I now command you to adjourn this court, and not convene it again."
It was now supper-time, and the worthy justice adjourned court till ten o'clock the next morn- ing; but before the hour arrived he was seen ascending the mountain, his legs dangling on either side of a patient pack-mule. He had a seat of justice-in Onion valley, many feet higher in the air than the river, which he called his higher court, where he sat to hear appeals from his decisions in his lower courts. Here he continued the case without the presence of the defendant, and gave judgment, being unable to either enforce the judgment or collect the desired costs. At another time, he undertook to hold court at Rocky bar, but was compelled to hastily adjourn proceedings to his higher court in Onion valley.
He sent his constable, Tom Schooley, to Rich bar in 1852, to serve a summons and attachment on a certain miner. When Schooley found the defendant in the suit, he made known his business and read his papers. The defendant was surrounded by a number of fellow-miners, who one and all laid down their implements, and listened to the reading. When this was done, they told the constable, in the expressive language of the miners, to " git," to climb the hill without delay. After some hesitation he accepted the advice, but happening to drop some offensive remark, the sovereigns started after him with sticks and stones, and it is asserted that the best time ever made up Rich bar hill was made by Tom Schooley that day. This valiant constable was afterwards hanged at Victoria for murder. Squire Bonner's official career was brought to an end upon the organiza- tion of Plumas county. He wrote a history of the life of James Beckwourth (spoken of in the history of Sierra valley), and soon after left for more congenial scenes.
THE SLATE-CREEK TRAGEDY.
In the early spring of 1852 there stood near the head of Slate creek, just south of the line dividing Plumas and Sierra counties, a public house, kept by a Mr. Dunbar. There the weary traveler could find a night's lodging, something to eat, and a drink of the ardent. Transient sojourners were the only class accommodated at the place. Within a few miles were the mining camps of Chandlerville, Port Wine, Canyon creek, Hopkins' creek, Sears' diggings, Onion valley, and several others. Dunbar had no family, the only attache of the premises besides himself being his cook, Fillmore. One day when Dunbar was absent, inquiry was made of his whereabouts, and Fillmore replied that he had gone below to buy goods. Several weeks elapsed, but Dunbar did not return. In the mean time the cook carried on the business, and finally closed the house and went to San Francisco. The suspicions of the community as to the probable fate of Dunbar were aroused, and steps were taken to have Fillmore arrested and brought back. Upon his arrival he was examined before a justice at Gibsonville ; but no criminating evidence being adduced, he was discharged. He then took up his residence at Dunbar's house. The snow at this time, the first of
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May, was still quite deep. A guest at the house one day took his gun to shoot some wolves, and started across the corral after them. In passing through the snow, he stepped upon some bare ground, which gave way beneath him. An examination of the spot revealed the dead body of a man wrapped in a tent-sheet. He immediately made known his discovery, and the body was identified as that of the missing Dunbar. The news spread rapidly, and an intense excitement prevailed. Several hundred miners gathered at Dunbar's, a miners' meeting was organized, a judge elected, clerk appointed, and twelve jurors chosen for the trial of Fillmore. Among the many points of evidence brought out against the cook was the testimony given by a young man, who stated that he asked for work of Fillmore, and was told that he could cut down a trec that stood near the house, providing he could fall it in a certain direction, pointing to the spot where Dunbar was buried. The immense branches of the tree would have covered the grave; but the young man declined to do the work, as he was no axman. Fillmore was found guilty of murder, and sentenced to be hung. The frightened man volunteered a confession, in which he accused Harry Miller and Tom Parks of being the real murderers, and that the act was committed in his presence, he having had no hand in the affair, other than in the secretion of the body. Miller and Parks were summoned, and tried before the court. Miller was an intelligent, fluent man, and made an eloquent appeal in his own behalf. But the chain of circumstance was found complete, and the jury, after fifteen minutes' deliberation, found a verdict of murder in the first degree. A general vote was taken on the nature of the punishment to be administered, and the decision was unani- mous in favor of hanging. The judge then pronounced the sentence, and with the customary promptness of such tribunals, it was immediately executed. The doomed men were marched up the hill; and on reaching the first tree suitable for a gallows, Fillmore was strung up by the neck. Proceeding farther, another tree was reached, and there Parks was hung. The last prisoner, Miller, was halted beneath another tree, and there, as before, an opportunity was afforded the criminal to reveal his crime. He made a last eloquent appeal to be spared, but was quickly raised from the earth, as the others had been. Some one called out: "Let him down; he may confess." Instantly twenty pistols were drawn by the miners; and with terrible earnestness the avenging spirits shouted : "Let him hang, d-n him; let him hang like a dog. The man who lowers Miller dies with him." Nobody cared to do it. The bodies remained hanging until the next morning, when a committee returned and interred them near the places where they had atoned for their crimes. The subsequent developments never tended in the slightest degree to vindicate the characters of the victims.
THE GILSON-WILSON. TRAGEDY.
Sometime in the fall of 1853, a man named Gilson was keeping a boarding-house on Nelson creek, at a point called Henpeck flat, in which occupation he was ably seconded by the exertions of his wife. Women were a rara avis in the mountain mining camps at that time, and were the object of a great deal of attention and admiration from the crowds of the sterner sex who had so long been deprived of the pleasure of their society. Henpeck flat was no exception to this rule ; but be it remarked, that the utmost respect and propriety pervaded the feelings and actions of the boarders who sat about Mrs. Gilson's bountiful table towards the lady who placed the products of her culinary skill before them. There was one black sheep in the flock, a man by the name of Wilson, whose wiles and blandishments so worked upon the feelings of the lady that she left the house and committed herself to the care of the faithless boarder, and lodged no more under her husband's roof. This proceeding was not calculated to inspire peaceable feelings in the breast of
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the wronged husband'; and a few days later his wrath was excited to fever heat by seeing through the window of a neighbor's house the faithless wife and her seducer sitting together on a sofa. Taking his pistol, the outraged husband walked up to the window and fired from the outside, inflicting a wound upon the man within, which was supposed to be mortal, but from which the man finally recovered. A dozen of Mr. Gilson's boarders were witnesses of the act, but made no effort to prevent it. A tremendous excitement soon spread up and down the creek, and a miners' meeting was called, attended by nearly a thousand men, Gilson being held in custody. It was decided to try the prisoner ; and a jury of twelve men was selected, a man named Clownie appointed judge, and Charles Whitlock, clerk. The prosecution was conducted by William White, and the defense by Major James H. Whitlock, now postmaster at Quiney. The trial continued for three days ; and at its conclusion Gilson was acquitted, on the ground that he had but given Wilson his just deserts. The verdict failed to inspire Wilson with confidence in his future security, and as soon as he recovered from his wound he made a hasty departure for a more salubrious elime. Mrs. Gilson was from Michigan ; and friends of the family induced her to return home, her husband furnishing the requisite means. They were afterwards reconciled, and are now living together in conjugal felicity.
THE LEGGETT-MORRISON DUEL.
The mode of vindicating wounded honor by a formal combat with deadly weapons has happily gone out of fashion ; and the challenger, instead of exciting admiration among his sex for his bravery and high spirit, must endure jeers and ridicule, and is looked upon as a crank or a fool. Dueling is a relic of chivalry, and was formerly resorted to upon the slightest provocation from one gentleman to another, encounters happening between parties who had not the least enmity for each other. Though the practice had generally grown obsolete throughout civilized countries at the time California was settled up, yet it obtained considerably in this part of the country because of the heterogencousness of the characters that made the population of the coast. In many cases the result was a harmless meeting of the combatants, an exchange of shots from bulletless pistols carefully prepared against accidents by prudent seconds, and an amicable settlement of difficulties by handshaking after the bloodless affray. But all the duels fought in California were not so pleasant and peaceable, the unfortunate affairs of Gilbert and Senator Broderick being notable exceptions to the rule. Plumas county can also number one encounter of the kind that was not unattended with bloodshed and death. It occurred in the month of August, 1852. Some difficulty between William Leggett and John Morrison, both Englishmen, resulted in a challenge being sent by the former, which was accepted. The seconds were Horace Buckland and Washington Justice. The scene of the combat was at the head of Missouri bar, on the east branch of Feather river, and the weapons selected were Colts' revolvers. The duel was fought in the presence of several hundred spectators. Three shots were exchanged. At the last, Leggett fell, mortally wounded, and soon expired. His body was buried on the spot where it fell.
LYNCHING OF THE NEGRO JOSHUA.
A negro by the name of Joshua suffered the extreme penalty of Judge Lynch's court, on Rich bar, in July, 1852. The circumstances that led to the infliction of capital punishment are related as follows : On the trail leading from Buck's ranch to Smith bar, and other points on the river, was a public house owned and kept by a Mr. Bacon. He employed the negro Joshua to attend to
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the culinary matters of the house. Bacon had formerly mined on the cast branch, and had accum- ulated quite a number of valuable specimens of gold. He made no secret of the fact, having shown the articles to different persons, the knowledge of his possession being held also by his cook, as was shown by subsequent events. One morning in July a stranger made his appearance on the river, coming by the trail from Buck's ranch, and brought intelligence that was startling indeed to the miners there. He stated that on his way thither he had stopped at Bacon's ranch to rest and refresh himself. He had found no one in the house; the table was prepared as though for break- fast, but the viands were untouched. Upon examining the premises he found in the bushes near by the body of a dead man, his description answering for that of Bacon. The stranger, being further questioned, said that he had met, below Buck's ranch, a negro man going down the road. Suspicion at once fastened upon Joshua, the cook, as the guilty party, and the camp was immedi- ately in a furore of excitement. At a miners' meeting, R. E. Garland, Johnson Ford, and Frank Walker were selected as a committee to go in pursuit of the murderer. This same committee also had another job on its hands. The day before, a Mexican named Domingo had fatally stabbed a miner, Tom Summers, at Indian bar, and fled. In those days collisions between Americans and Mexicans were of frequent occurrence, every Saturday night that camp being the scene of more or less shooting and stabbing. This committee was in pursuit of Domingo, and, invested with its double mission, journeyed to the south. Joshua was closely pursued, and finally overtaken at Sac- ramento. The last bell of the San Francisco boat was ringing, and it was about leaving, when the committee stepped aboard. A hasty search resulted in the discovery of Joshua in the cook's room, exhibiting to the functionary of that department some very fine gold specimens. He was hurriedly taken from the vessel, placed in a carriage, brought to Marysville, and from there conveyed up the river to Rich bar. An immense assembly of miners had congregated, and a more excited crowd could hardly be imagined than that to which the fate of Joshua was about to be intrusted. During his trip from Sacramento he had maintained a dogged silence, without evincing the least fear or trepidation, and his courage did not desert him now as the end of his career was fast approaching. The crowd proceeded to organize a miners' court. Old Captain Kilcannon was selected for judge, and Rat Smith was appointed to the temporary office of the shrievalty, and instructed to summon a jury of twelve men, good and true. John R. Buckbee became the prosecuting attorney, and a very talented young man, Mat Powell (a brother of the celebrated artist), undertook the cause of the prisoner. The court was convened in a large saloon, called the El Dorado, and the proceedings were conducted in a very orderly manner. The jury being empanneled in due form, the counsel for the people presented his case in a very clear and dispassionate manner, after which the counsel for the prisoner arose and stated his inability to offer any defense, and admitting that the evidence, though circumstantial, was so conclusive that he felt compelled to retire from the case. The jury then retired, deliberated a very short time, and brought in a unanimous verdict of guilty. The judge then pronounced sentence of death by hanging upon the prisoner, to be carried out in a few hours. Every effort on the part of the prisoner's counsel to elicit from him a confession proved unavailing. During the trial he had shown a stoical indifference to what was happening around him. In the afternoon he was taken to the hill in the rear of the town, and hung to the limb of a tree. While the rope was being adjusted around his neck, he very coolly took from his pocket a plug of tobacco, placed a quid in his mouth, and was chewing it as he swung off. He was allowed to hang until the next morning. During the night a new pair of boots that were on the defunct Joshua's feet was stolen by some high-toned thief. The next day the body was turned over to the tender mercies of Drs. Cronin and Day, the former of whom cut off the top of the skull, cleaned it, and a few days later invited Mr. Whiting to eat strawberries therefrom. He declined.
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PIONEER PROBATING.
An instance of pioneer probating, in which the Argonauts took a short cut in settling up the affairs of a deceased comrade, happened in Plumas county in 1853. Daniel Price, a miner work- ing on Eagle gulch, had accumulated about ninety-nine ounces of gold-dust in working his claim, which was then considered worked out. Price expressed a desire to his neighbors to get from his claim one more ounce before abandoning it, and accordingly one day resumed his labor where he had left off some days previous. While engaged in excavating in the bank it gave way, almost instantly crushing him to death. The miners gave him a decent burial, and took charge of his effects. They held a meeting, at which, after an interchange of views, a committee of three respon- sible citizens was appointed to wind up the affairs of the deceased. They were F. B. Clark, Wilson S. Dean, merchants, and one Johnson, a fellow-miner. Notice was given the public by posting written notices, requesting all persons having claims against the deceased to come forward on a cer- tain day and present them. Such was done promptly. The accounts were properly investigated by the committee, and allowed or rejected as they saw fit. From the gold-dust held in trust by them sufficient was appropriated to liquidate the claims, and the balance was converted into gold coin, with which a bill of exchange was procured, and sent to the widow of the deceased in the east, the entire amount remitted being $1,800. Entire satisfaction was expressed by all parties con- cerned, with this prompt and efficient method of probating property, whereby the expense and delay common to law courts was avoided.
INDIAN TROUBLES IN INDIAN VALLEY.
In the fall of 1853 considerable trouble was had between some of the whites and red men, in the north arm of Indian valley, though no general outbreak occurred. In October of that year a horse belonging to A. C. Light was stolen by a couple of Indians, from his ranch in the north arm. The thieves were captured and taken to the ranch of Jobe T. Taylor, to be tried next day by the settlers. Both had their arms tied, and' were guarded in Taylor's bar-room by Light. Late in the night Mr. Light went out for wood to replenish the fire, when his prisoners took advantage of his absence, untied each other with their teeth, threw off their blankets, and ran. The alarm was given, . and Light pursued one, while Jobe Taylor and A. J. Ford followed the other .. Light emptied his revolver at the fugitive, but with no effect, and his man got away. The other one was overtaken, and, showing fight, was shot dead by Taylor. The Indian was buried by the settlers. Several " big talks " were had by his people about taking the body up, and burning it, according to their customs; but not long after, they adopted the civilized plan of burying the dead.
The old pioneer farmer, Jobe T. Taylor, early realized the importance of cultivating the good- will and securing the confidence of the natives in and around Indian valley. Accordingly, upon the first favorable opportunity that presented itself, he convened at Taylor's ranch (now Taylors- ville) representatives of the whites and Indians, to agree upon some amicable plan of adjusting difficulties. The settlers were represented by J. T. Taylor, R. D. Smith, W. T. Ward, A. J. Ford, and others. Among the Indians were Cheebeelicum, their chief (called by the whites Civilicum), and a large number of their principal braves. The meeting was held in November, 1853. An Indian boy, Jack, acted as interpreter. The boy had been to the Atlantic states with a man who lived in Little Grass valley. The result of the powwow was satisfactory to all parties concerned. The Indians of Indian and American valleys, according to their own statements, had long been
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subject to periodical incursions from neighboring tribes-the Pit River, Mill Creek, Hat Creek, and others-all of whom were denominated as " Pieas," or enemies. There and then a pledge was made, that the rights and wrongs of each class should be considered in common, and that equal justice should be meted out to white man and to Indian when any wrong had been done. But a short time elapsed before the good faith manifested in the treaty-making was put to the test by both races in two different occurrences.
On the eighteenth of December, 1853, George Rose, a blacksmith, entered Taylor's house and called for a drink. Jobe Taylor was behind the bar, and near the stove was seated an old Indian .. Perceiving him, Rose asked, " What business has that d-d Indian in this house?" Taylor replied that he was a good Indian, and only wanted to get warm. Rose walked up to the poor native, pulled his revolver, and shot him dead. The brutal murderer then mounted his horse and rode away. The next day a posse of settlers went to arrest Rose, and found him barricaded in his shop, three miles below Taylor's. When the crowd was within fifty yards of the place, Rose ordered them to stop. After parleying some time, Rose agreed to let Fayette Gibson advance alone and enter his cabin. In a few moments Gibson managed to get the drop on him, and made him throw up his hands. He was then disarmed and taken to Taylor's ranch, where preparations were made to try him. W. T. Ward acted as judge, and the following persons as jurymen : J. B. Pribble, Thomas Watson, M. Hussey, Fayette Gibson, Jackson Brown, M. A. Dunlap, R. Hough, S. P. Davis, S. H. Opdyke, J. Mckinney, Henry Ellis. The guardsmen of Rose were William Logan, Jobe T. Taylor, John Decker, Jackson Ford, and six others, who were instructed to see that the prisoner did not escape, and that the sentence be carried into execution. Following is the verdict :
INDIAN VALLEY, Dec. 19, 1853.
We, of the jury in the case of George Rose for shooting an Indian on the 18th inst., find the prisoner guilty of murder in the first degree.
[SIGNED.] J. B. PRIBBLE, Foreman.
Then followed the names of the jury. The order of the court, set down in writing, read as follows :
We, the undersigned, appoint the 20th inst., before 2 o'clock P. M., for the execution of the above-named prisoner.
W. T. WARD, President. GEO. E. R. ST. FELIX, Secy.
The sentence of the court was fully carried out at the appointed time. The other case referred to occurred about the middle of January, 1854. An Indian, son of the North Arm chief, Rattle- snake, stole all the eatables and blankets from the cabin of Isaac Hall and Howard Vandegriff, at the Hall ranch. He was pursued, captured, and taken to the house of W. T. Ward, where he was tried by a jury of six men, of whom J. B. Pribble was foreman. He was sentenced to be hung, and the execution was held between the ranches of Ward and Hall, on the north side of the valley. A number of Indians were present, who perfectly acquiesced in the proceedings.
NELSON-CREEK VIGILANTES.
Regularly organized vigilance committees were not so numerous in Plumas as in some of her sister counties in the early times. Miners' law was administered everywhere, but by special courts organized for the occasion, and not by an association of vigilantes, as was often the case in other places. One such organization as this existed on Nelson creek in 1853-54, for the purpose
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of protection against the rough characters that flooded the mines. In 1853 they gave notices to leave to a great many of these undesirable citizens; but as the warnings were considered salutary, and were quickly acted upon, no occasion arose for the display of violence. At one time, in 1854, a man named Peter Taffe was stabbed to death by John Baxter, under such circumstances that the vigilance committee, after due trial of the case, acquitted the defendant. They went a step farther than this, and aided the man who had but just been their prisoner to elude the proper officers of the law and make good his escape. This latter act failed to please the officials, who sought a means of punishing them. The committee took occasion the following winter to clear their com- munity of a few objectionable characters, and in the course of their proceedings committed some act that laid them open to a charge of robbery by J. J. Fegan, one of the men on their black-list. This was the opportunity the officials desired. Indictments for robbery were found in February, 1855, against James Sherwin, A. Hargrave, Jonathan Meeker, Captain Hardy, James Woden, J. S. Root, L. Cross, Ed. Sterling, M. H. Farley, M. Parker, Fred McDonald, and Sylas Aldrich, and the defendants were arrested and incarcerated in the Quincy jail. They were all quickly bailed out but Sherwin, who refused to give bonds. He lay in jail until April, when a nolle prosequi was entered, and all were discharged from custody. At the same time A. L. Page was also discharged, having been in " durance vile" on a charge of obstructing the officers when serving the warrants of arrest upon the vigilantes.
THE JACINTO ARRO CASE.
On the morning of November 1, 1854, four Chinamen, on their way from Elizabethtown to Marys- ville, were attacked by two mounted Mexicans near the head of Walker's plains, and three of the inoffensive foreigners brutally murdered. The fourth one, severely wounded, succeeded in crawling into the bushes. A short time after, Peter O'Ferrall and Louis Wagner, packers, discovered the dead Chinamen lying in the road, and as soon as possible notified Sheriff Sharpe of the murder. About dusk of the same day the Mexicans rode into Quincy, and as suspicion had already fastened upon them, the sheriff and his deputies were on the lookout. Perceiving their danger, they put spurs to their horses and rode away, closely pursued by the sheriff's posse. When a half-mile from town, the sheriff had almost reached one of them, when the desperado turned in his saddle, leveled his pistol at Sharpe, and fired. He missed his aim, but shot the sheriff's horse in the neck. Immediately after, the man was captured, but the other dismounted, and made good his escape in the bushes. In Feb- ruary, 1855, a grand jury was convened, and the first indictment for murder appearing on the records was found against Jacinto Arro, the Mexican. Bills were also found against him for highway robbery, and for assault with intent to kill. The case came on for trial in the February term of the district court before Judge Daingerfield. John R. Buckbee was prosecuting attorney, while P. O. Hundley was assigned as counsel for the prisoner. He was assisted by M. H. Farley and Tom Cox. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. An appeal was taken to the supreme court, and on the hearing before that body, a new trial was granted the prisoner. The case came up again, and a change of venue was granted to Yuba county, where the indictment was dismissed for informality, and the prisoner given his freedom.
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