USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 13
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A very large majority of the early settlers, who found their way into what is now Idaho came from California, and with the recollection of the good done by departure from legal forms when the administration of the law proved a failure, started in various parts of Idaho vigilance committees, which, although never organized on an extended scale or with any considerable number of par- ticipants, still did a vast amount of good in clearing out the law-defying element and insisting on the laws protecting the property of persons being observed.
What is now the western part of the State of Montana, but which was origi- nally a part of Idaho, was inhabited originally in great part by men from the various mining camps, in what is now Idaho, and by many of those who came across the plains in 1863 and 1864 from the states east of the Mississippi. These two elements met and the law-loving portion soon became satisfied that the law- defying element that had come in such numbers from the mining camps to the West and had been reinforced by a multitude of desperados, including Jack Slade and a score of others of his class, who had served long apprenticeships in law- lessness on the roads leading from the Missouri River to the far West, must be firmly met and sternly dealt with if the decent element was to prevail, and so was organized the great vigilance committee of Montana above referred to which ruled the destinies of that territory for several years and which so effectually purged that community of its law-defying element.
LAWLESSNESS IN THE EARLY DAYS
In this connection it will be well to make some reference to specific criminal occurrences, and especially to a very few of the best known of the many serious crimes committed in the early days of Idaho, in connection with some reference to the men guilty of their commission.
THE MAGRUDER MURDER
The story of the revolting murder of Lloyd Magruder and those who suf- fered with him has been told repeatedly and no history of Idaho's early days would be complete without some mention of the affair. For coldblooded atrocity this crime stands without a rival in the annals of the western frontier.
Lloyd Magruder was a man well known in the mining camps of Idaho and what is now Western Montana. He was the owner of a pack train and exten- sively engaged not only in packing goods into the mining camps, but was a trader as well.
In August, 1863, Mr. Magruder left Lewiston with a pack train consisting of seventy mules laden with supplies for the mining camps about Virginia City, then in Idaho but now in Montana. The day following his departure David (commonly called "Doc") Howard, D. C. Lowry, James Romaine, Bob Zachary
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and three other men left Lewiston, ostensibly for Oregon. They soon changed their course and started in pursuit of Magruder. Knowing that his trail of 300 iniles or inore lay through a wild, uninhabited country and that a pack train of seventy mules would make slow progress, they traveled leisurely. It was not their intention to rob Magruder on his way east, but to wait until he had dis- posed of his goods and then relieve him of his money on the return trip.
A few days after leaving Lewiston they were joined by William Page, a mountaineer trapper, and the eight men overtook Magruder four or five days before he reached his destination. Howard, Lowry and Romaine all had crim- inal records, but of this Magruder knew nothing, and as the men made them- selves agreeable and helpful he gave them a cordial welcome. Upon reaching Virginia City, Bob Zachary and three otheres went to work in the mines. How- ard, Page, Lowry and Romaine assisted Magruder to dispose of his goods and in other ways maneuvered to secure his confidence. So well did they succeed that when he was ready to return, about the middle of October, he offered to pay them well if they would accompany him as assistants and guards, as he had about $25,000 as a result of his business venture. This was just what they desired, but they were disappointed when they learned that William Phillips and Charles Allen, miners, and Robert and Horace Chalmers, two brothers recently from Missouri, had arranged to unite their trains with Magruder's and all travel together.
The caravan started and nothing out of the ordinary occurred until they were more than half way to Lewiston. Up to this time it seems that Howard, Romaine and Lowry had not informed Page of their intentions. But as he was well acquainted with the mountain trails they realized that he might be useful to them in their efforts to escape. One evening, just before going into camp, Howard rode alongside of Page and told him that it was their intention to kill Magruder, Phillips, Allen and the Chalmers brothers that night, and offered him a share of the booty if he would keep his mouth shut, otherwise they would have to kill him, too. Although Page had been a reckless sort of character, he had never been guilty of murder, but, fearing for his own life, he acquiesced. That night, while guarding the mules some distance from the main camp, Lowry killed Magruder with an ax and then hurried to the camp, where he assisted in making away with the other four men. The bodies were wrapped in blankets and thrown over the precipice. One horse and seven mules were selected from the herd and the others were driven into a canyon and killed.
Their plan was to ford the Clearwater about fifty miles above Lewiston, make straight for Puget Sound and there board an outward bound vessel. When they reached the Clearwater they found it so swollen and filled with ice that they were afraid to undertake a crossing. There was nothing left for them but to go to Lewiston and take the stage for Walla Walla. Leaving their animals with a ranchman "to be kept until called for" they concealed their faces as much as possible with mufflers and by pulling down their hats and thus entered the town. One of them went to the hotel kept by Hill Beachy to engage passage for the four. Mr. Beachy's suspicions were aroused by the man's actions and by watching him for a little while recognized Lowry, Romaine and Howard as the other three men seeking transportation.
Before Magruder left Lewiston in August, Mr. Beachy had a dream of see-
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ing him robbed and murdered in the mountains. The sight of these men recalled his dream and with his suspicions came the conviction that they had killed his friend. A few days later he learned of the horse and mules that had been left with the ranchman. Going there to investigate, he recognized Magruder's fine saddle, which removed all doubt from his mind. He procured a warrant for their arrest, had himseelf appointed a deputy sheriff to execute it, and armed with requisitions on the governors of Oregon, Washington and California he started in pursuit, taking with him Thomas Pike to assist him in arresting the men and bringing them back to Lewiston. He found them in San Francisco, waiting for their stolen gold dust to be coined at the mint, arrested them and brought them to Lewiston early in December. At the first term of the District Court ever held in Idaho, which was convened at Lewiston on January 5, 1864, they were placed on trial. William Page was permitted to testify and was the most important witness for the prosecution. Upon his story and certain cor- roborative evidence Howard, Lowry and Romaine were convicted and sentenced by Judge Samuel C. Parks to be hanged on Friday, March 4, 1864. Thus ended the career of three of the most notorious criminals of Idaho's pioneer days.
Page afterward led a party to the place where the crime was committed and there was found abundant evidence to confirm the story he had told on the witness stand. The gold dust left at the mint in San Francisco was coined in due time and returned to Magruder's family.
THE FATE OF SOME OF THE BAD MEN OF THE EARLY DAYS
In considering the lawlessness of the early days, while specific matters can- not well be inquired into, except in so far as well known events intimately con- nected with the history of the territory are concerned, still it will be proper to specially mention a few of the so-called "bad men" who were part of the early. history of Idaho, and their actions.
Henry Plummer had a criminal career of greater interest, probably, than any other man who has ever been upon the Pacific Coast. Long a resident of the central mining counties of California, where he was highly respected by reason of his superior education and attractive manner and where he several times occupied high official positions, it became evident in the early '6os that he had been all of the years of his residence there engaged in criminal trans- actions and was, in fact, the leader of a criminal organization that had been guilty of many crimes against both life and property in that locality.
In order to escape trial which undoubtedly would have been followed by punishment, Plummer followed the example of many others of the criminals of that state, and very early in 1862 came to Lewiston. Among the early res- idents of that place was a German saloonkeeper by the name of Hildebrandt. Most of the buildings in Lewiston at that time consisted of a framework of poles covered with sheeting. Hildebrandt occupied a structure of this kind, which afforded but little resistance to anyone desiring to enter upon an unlawful errand. Plummer, after reaching Lewiston, soon gathered together some of the members of the gang with which he had been connected in California, and one night early in 1862 some of the members of this gang broke open the flimsy door leading into Hildebrandt's place, with the intention of appropriating the large supply of gold dust which the saloonkeeper was supposed to have on the
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premises. Hildebrandt and two friends who were sleeping with him occupied a large bed at one end of the canvas house. As soon as the marauders entered they opened fire in the direction of this bed and Hildebrandt was killed, but the other two men made their escape, taking the gold dust with them. While the outlaws searched the house for the gold, a considerable crowd gathered out- side. Failing to find the treasure, the murderers walked nonchalantly out through this crowd. They were recognized,. but no attempt was made to arrest them.
Several crimes had been committed in Lewiston before this time, but the cold blooded murder of Hildebrandt, who was a man with many friends, aroused the people to the necessity of action and the next day a meeting was held for the purpose of adopting some means of preventing a repetition of such a crime and to mete out punishment to the murderers.
This was the first effort made in Lewiston, and, in fact, in Idaho, for the punishment of crime and the protection of order-loving people.
At this meeting, Henry Plummer came into the limelight by making a plea, as one of the citizens of Lewiston, for law and order, beseeching those present to "take no steps that may bring disgrace and obloquy to our rising young city." It was known that Plummer was a gambler, but it was not suspected that he was the guiding spirit of an organized gang that even then had started to infest that section of the country. Plummer was a really eloquent man and very earnest when he talked. He used good language and showed the man of educa- tion. He completely deceived the men with whom he associated and his speech had the effect of preventing any organization at the time, and as a consequence the murderers of Hildebrandt went free.
Patrick Ford was at the time a saloonkeeper at Lewiston and also had a saloon at Oro Fino. He was present at the meeting and was considerably exer- cised over the failure of the citizens to assert themselves in favor of law and order. Taking the floor, he characterized those present as cowards and accused them of weakening in their efforts to punish crime. Shortly after, Ford went to Oro Fino to attend to his business there and was followed to that camp by several men who were afterward proved to be associated with Plummer. He was provoked into a difficulty which resulted in his death and the severe wound- ing of Charles Ridgley, who was one of the attacking party.
THE BERRY ROBBERY
Shortly after the killing of Hildebrandt, Plummer removed from Lewiston to Florence, that being a convenient point from which to keep those associated with him informed in regard to shipments of gold dust and the passing of trav- elers with property worth taking.
At this time, two brothers, John and Joseph Berry, were operating a pack train between Lewiston and Florence, a distance of about 110 miles. In October, 1862, they carried on their train a cargo of freight to Florence, delivered the goods, and collected about $2,000. After crossing the mountains and coming upon the Camas Prairie, on their return trip, the two brothers rode on ahead, leaving the men employed by them to bring back the train. Before they reached the other side of Camas Prairie, they were stopped by three masked men and robbed of their gold dust.
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The Berrys recognized Dave English and William Peebles, with whom they were acquainted, by their voices, and upon their arrival at Lewiston learned that these men had left there in company with Nelson Scott. It was expected that the robbers would return to Lewiston, but instead they avoided the town and made their way to Walla Walla, where, a few days after the robbery, their whereabouts was learned and they were arrested upon the charge of robbery.
At this time Idaho County had been organized, with Florence as the county seat and one of the district judges of Washington had been assigned to hold court. Jonas W. Brown, for long years afterward one of the prominent lawyers of Idaho, had been made clerk of the court. The two prisoners were brought to Lewiston under guard and apparently were but little worried over their appre- hension, as they fully expected that their friends in Florence would come to their rescure and that they would soon be at liberty. In Lewiston, however, they were fully identified by the Berry brothers and the citizens having formed a vigilance committee, resolved to take them in charge and try them.
Pending such trial the three men were confined in an unfinished building around which a strong guard was stationed and a committee was appointed "to bring in all suspicious characters." This caused a hurried exodus of the very men upon whom the three criminals depended for their release.
About midnight shots were heard in the vicinity of the building in which the prisoners were confined ; people rushed to the scene, some of them not more than half dressed, and learned that a friend of Peebles had fired on the guards, hoping to effect a rescue, and had been shot in the arm for his interference, and that the prisoners were still in the building.
Some of the friends of the prisoners had a consultation next morning and decided it would be well to employ an attorney, if one could be obtained. Among the recent arrivals at Lewiston at that time was George Ainslie, afterward a delegate to Congress for two terms from the Territory of Idaho and also a mem- ber of the constitutional convention. He was then a young man of twenty-four. He had been admitted to the bar in Missouri about two years before. He con- sented to act as counsel for the defense and went to the temporary jail to have a talk with his clients. The guards there courteously but firmly told him that he could not see the men until next morning. It was that night that the shooting above narrated occurred. The next morning Ainslie went back to the jail and found the building surrounded by a crowd but no guards in sight, and going through the door to make his promised call, he discovered his clients hanging from the joists of the unfinished building. Somebody had forestalled the cit- izens' committee in the administration of justice.
THE FATE OF PLUMMER
It was shortly after the hanging of English, Scott and Peebles at Lewiston that Henry Plummer and a few members of his gang returned to Florence. There they found that a vigilance committee had been formed with the avowed intent of punishing men guilty of serious crimes against the law, and they decided to go to Elk City. Upon arriving at that place, Plummer recognized several miners who had known him in California and were acquainted with his criminal record. This made another move necessary and a little later he appeared in the mining camps east of the Bitter Root Mountains in what is now Montana. There
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he met Miss Eliza Bryan, whom he afterward married, and it is said made a real effort to reform, but there were too many of his old criminal associates in that section who knew his record and who recognized his qualifications as a leader and made it impossible for him to sever his relations with them. He acted, however, with great caution and, as he had done in many other communi- ties, by his pleasing address and winning ways won the confidence of the law abiding citizens, although at the time he had the most efficiently organized band of road agents that ever operated in the West.
Plummer was extremely popular and in the first election held in the State of Idaho was elected sheriff of Bitter Root County, which was then a part of that state. The Territory of Montana was organized soon after, however, and a United States marshal appointed for the territory, who soon after went to Ban- nock where Plummer was then residing to organize his office. A large number of the leading citizens of Bannock united in recommending Plummer for the ap- pointment of chief deputy marshal. This incident shows how completely Plum- mer had deceived the good citizens of that locality, although he had been using his official position as sheriff to further highway robberies and other crimes.
Salt Lake City was the point to which the stage ran from that section of Montana, carrying passengers and express matter, including the large amounts of gold dust shipped at frequent intervals to Salt Lake City. Plummer usually furnished the guards for the outgoing stages and as a matter of course, they were always members of his gang, while other members of the same gang were frequently stationed at favorable places to rob the stage. This occurred a num- ber of times and large amounts of gold dust were lost.
After the organization of the great vigilance committee in Montana, two members of the Plummer gang were captured and finally confessed to being members of the gang, of which Plummer was the chief. These two men were hanged by the vigilance committee and Plummer began to realize his precarious position. He was preparing to leave the country with two of his trusted lieu- tenants, when all three were captured and hanged by the vigilance committee.
THE FATE OF OTHER "BAD MEN"
Ferd Patterson, one of the most notorious desperadoes who ever infested the country and who established his reputation on the way to the gold fields of Idaho in 1862 by killing Captain Staples in a hotel in Portland, Ore., will be fully referred to in Chapter XL, in connection with the murder of ex-Sheriff Pinkham of Boise County, one of the most sensational homicides that ever stirred any community in the inter-mountain region.
Bill Mayfield was another of the noted desperados of the West. He had killed a sheriff in Virginia City, Nevada and had been under death sentence for that crime, which was one of many which he had committed in that state. He had escaped from the jail in Nevada and a heavy reward was offered for his return, but he reached Florence in 1862 and resumed his relations with his old partner, "Cherokee Bob." He came to the Boise Basin in the fall of 1862 and lived at Placerville until the spring of the succeeding year, when, having had difficulty with a gambler by the name of Evans, whose life he threatened, he was killed by Evans, who hid in an unoccupied building and shot both barrels
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of a double barreled shot gun into Mayfield as he was passing. No one ever thought it worth while to attempt to arrest Evans for the crime.
"Cherokee Bob" was a noted bad man who had many notches on his pistol. and for whom a heavy reward was also offered in California, but, as was the case with Mayfield, no one cared to attempt to earn the reward. In the sum- mer of 1862, Bill Willoughby, another notorious desperado of the early days, was expelled from a dance hall at Florence, where he had gone with a notorious woman the night before, and he called upon Cherokee Bob, as his friend, to help him avenge himself upon Jack Williams and Rube Robbins, who had been the cause of his expulsion. A difficulty followed in which both of the desperados were killed and the thanks of a grateful community were extended to Williams and Robbins for having rid the town of two of the professional bad men.
Both Williams and Robbins were men of great courage and were exemplary citizens. Williams was killed the next year in Idaho City. Rube Robbins, how- ever, lived until 1908, and occupied many positions of honor and trust. He was universally respected in the southern part of the state. He was Chief of Scouts, with the rank of Colonel, in the Bannock and Nez Perce wars and his conduct in those campaigns was characterized by the same cool courage that had always carried him safely through when, as an officer of the law, he was dealing with desperate characters.
It would not properly be within the scope of a history of this kind to go further than has been done in tracing the careers of men of this stamp, as an illustration of the fate that invariably overtook them. Very few of these "bad men" of the early days died a natural death. Most of them met the same fate that often had befallen others through their acts, and died "with their boots on." Most of the remainder were either hung by the vigilance committee of Montana, or met a similar fate in other localities to which they escaped.
CURRENCY OF THE EARLY DAYS
The National currency, "greenbacks," first issued during the great Civil war, was not generally used as the circulating medium anywhere on the Pacific Coast. Gold and silver coin were the only money and "greenbacks" were at a heavy discount.
During the first few years of the history of Idaho gold dust was the ordi- nary medium of exchange. Business places of every kind, every miner's cabin and every place where anything was bought or sold had its gold scales. Every- body carried his "dust" in a buckskin purse. To "weigh out" meant to settle a score. The gold dust from the different localities was of varying fineness. In the Florence section it was worth $12.00 an ounce. In the Basin it varied in value according to the locality. On Granite and Wolf creeks, near Placer- ville, for instance, gold was worth a trifle over $16.00 an ounce, while on Opher Creek, about a mile distant, it was worth $19.00 an ounce. The same differences existed in other localities. Ordinarily the gold dust was regarded as worth $16.00 an ounce and it was the custom to pay it out at that rate. In some locali- ties a heavy yellow sand existed that resembled gold in some respects. Partic- ularly was this the case on hill claims above Centerville, in Boise County, and "Bummer Hill dust" became a by-word. People inclined to be rascally often
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imposed a large amount of this sand, mixed with their gold dust, upon the unwary.
Naturally this circulating medium gave the lawless element an opportunity for profit and a great deal of bogus gold dust was manufactured and imposed upon the community. People soon became familiar with this fact, however, and one well posted could soon distinguish the difference. Instead of a source of profit, this business soon became one of danger and those engaged in it found themselves either in prison or fugitives from justice.
Assayers soon located in the different mining localities and an important part of their business was melting gold dust brought to them for that purpose into "bars." These bars contained various amounts of gold and were of various sizes. They were stamped with the money value of the bar, the weight and the name of the assayer. These "gold bricks" were universally accepted in lieu of money and made a convenient circulating medium. The instances were very few anywhere in mining regions where anyone suffered by reason of accepting these bars in trade. During the first ten years of Idaho's territorial existence. a major part of the taxes levied and collected were paid in gold dust or in bars and this was accepted without question as being the proper method.
BANKING AND EXPRESS OFFICES
Banks were practically unknown in the mining camps during the first few years of their existence. Gold dust was plenty, but its owners, if miners, usually buried it in baking powder cans in or around their cabins. Those in towns were in the habit of depositing their dust or bars with the store or ' saloon keepers for security. When roads were established small safes became quite common and were generally completely filled with the purses, marked with the names of the owners, therein deposited for safekeeping. Especially was this true of the saloon. No safes were needed there in order to secure the gold as the saloons never closed and day and night were frequented by people engaged in gambling. In fact, nearly every saloon contained numerous gambling tables where every variety of game invited the devotees of chance to risk their earnings.
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