USA > Idaho > The history of Idaho > Part 8
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Then with the money and a small amount of provisions, they started, mounted on the best animals in the train, one of them on Mr. Magruder's fine saddle mule and his elegant saddle. They expected to ford the Clearwater River above Lewiston and keep down on the west side of Snake River, but they were disappointed in that. Cold weather had set in and there was so much ice in the river they feared to undertake to ford it, so they came into Lew- iston after night, disguising themselves as best they could. They left their animals with a stock-ranchman and took the stage for Walla Walla before day next morning, under fictitious names. On arriving in Walla Walla, a distance of eighty-five miles from Lew- iston, they boarded another stage for Wallula, a distance of thirty- one miles. Here they boarded a steam boat on the Columbia River,
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went to Portland, remained there a few days, and took the first ocean steamer for San Francisco, California.
Mr. Beachy was so firmly convinced in his own mind that the men who had come into Lewiston in the night and left in dis- guise by stage before day, had murdered his friend Magruder that he went before the proper officer and made complaint, had a warrant issued for their arrest and himself appointed a deputy sheriff to make the arrest, got a requisition from the Governor (who was then residing in Lewiston) for the men, on the Gover- nors of Washington Territory, Oregon and California, at any place they might be found, and would have started the next day after them, but many of his friends thought he was too hasty, and had better wait a few days more for news of Magruder, as it was not quite time for him to come in, from the last reports from him.
After a few days, Mr. Beachy heard of these supposed mur- derers having left some animals to be put out on a ranch. He had the animals and saddles brought into Lewiston for examination. As soon as he saw them he recognized Mr. Magruder's fine saddle mule and saddle, and a number of others also recognized the ani- mals as Magruder's. This removed all doubt and Mr. Beachy prepared to start at once.
Just before he started, some packers came in from the same place that Magruder had started from, and from them it was learned that Magruder had left three days before they had, to travel the same trail. They had not seen or heard of him on the trail. These packers also stated that Lowry, Howard, Romain and Page and four other men were with Magruder and that they all expected to come through with him to Lewiston. This with the silent evidence furnished by the presence of some of Magruder's mules and his riding saddle, seemed to remove all doubt and point straight to the four men who had brought the mules in and took the stage in the night, and to fully confirm in the minds of Mr. Beachy and many others that Lowry, Howard, Romain and Page were the men that had gone by stage to Walla Walla a few nights before, and that they were the men that had murdered Magruder and party.
Mr. Beachy engaged Tom Pike to go with him. They took a private conveyance for Walla Walla, changing horses several times on the road. From Walla Walla they went to Wallula, thence to Portland by steamer. Here they learned that four men answering the description of the men wanted, had been in Portland a few days, but had left by steamer for San Francisco the day before, and while in Portland they had been drinking and gambling and
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exhibited a large amount of gold dust, a few thousand dollars of which they had deposited in faro banks. At that time the steam- ers did not run but three or four times per month between Port- land and San Francisco, so Mr. Beachy left Mr. Pike to go down the Columbia River and search the small towns along the Washing- ton coast, for fear they might have gotten off the steamer, and if he failed to find them, to take the next ocean stamer for San Francisco, and he (Beachy) took the stage overland for San Francisco.
Mr. Beachy reached Yreka by stage after three days and nights' hard traveling. This was the northern end of the tele- graph line at that date, 1863. Here Mr. Beachy telegraphed a description of the four men to the chief of police at San Francisco, with instructions, if found, to arrest and hold them until he got there. Captain Lees, chief of police, soon located the four men, arrested and confined them in prison to await Beachy's arrival. In the meantime, Captain Lees had learned that these men had de- posited a large amount of gold dust in the United States Mint for coinage. This was a strong circumstance against the men.
After a few days Mr. Beachy arrived, almost worn out with fa- tigue and loss of sleep, but his courage had not waned in the least. The first thing he did on his arrival was to hunt up the chief of police, when he was informed by the police that he had the men safe. Beachy would not rest a moment until he was conducted to the place of their confinement, and the men were shown to him. He recognized them all as the men he was after. They also rec- ognized Mr. Beachy. They exchanged greetings and Mr. Beachy told the men that he had charged them with the murder of Mr. Magruder and others, and that he had come with the necessary papers to take them back to Lewiston, Idaho, to be tried for murder. Lowry, Howard and Romain protested that they knew nothing of the Magrudy murder, and even made some threats against Beachy, that when they got out they would get even with him for the trouble he was making for them. Mr. Beachy, with his accustomed coolness, replied that they would not get out of this scrape, but that they should have a fair trial. Page made some signs to Beachy, which indicated to Beachy that he (Page) would tell all about what they had done if he was given a chance to speak separate and away from the other three. This oppor- tunity was afforded him soon after, and he told the whole story of the murder of Magruder and others as recited before in this chap- ter.
These three murderers gave Mr. Beachy some little trouble by applying through an attorney to the court for a writ of habeas
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corpus to discharge them, but it was very promptly denied by the court. By this time Tom Pike had arrived, so Mr. Beachy en- gaged Captain Lees, and he (Beachy) Pike and Captain Lees brought the four men safely to Lewiston. They were met on the bank of the river near the town by a large crowd of good citizens who had become convinced beyond any doubt that Mr. Beachy had the men that had committed the murder, so they met them with a rope for each man, prepared to make a short job of dealing out jus- tice to them. But Mr. Beachy said, "No, gentlemen, I have given my word to the Judge and the Governor of California and to Cap- tain Lees, and also to these men, that they shall have a fair trial by a court and a jury, and I want to keep my promise." The voice of no man, save and except Beachy's, could have caused these peo- ple to halt in their determination to execute the criminals on the spot. But they all respected, loved and admired Mr. Beachy for the many noble things he had done, and especially for what he had done in bringing these men to the bar of justice. When Mr. Beachy finished his short but firm talk, order was restored and the people repaired to their respective avocations, satisfied that what Mr. Beachy said was right and they would not interfere in any way to obstruct the ends of justice to be dealt out by the courts. The men were confined and safely guarded.
Mr. Beachy arrived in Lewiston with his prisoners about the 7th of December, 1863, and the first term of the District Court held in the Territory of Idaho met in Lewiston about the 5th of January, 1864, Judge Samuel C. Parks, presiding. A grand jury was called. Wm. Page, the old trapper and miner, was allowed to testify as a witness. He told the story of the murders committed as related be- fore. Mr. Magruder's mules, saddle and the gold dust the prisoners had, all went to corroborate Page's testimony. It was shown by other testimony that Magruder and men left the mining camp after he had sold his goods for a large amount of money and had started for Lewiston, but had not arrived and had not been heard of, only what Page had told. With the corroborating testimony, it seemed there could be no doubt about the truth of Page's testimony. The reason that no attempt was made to go to the place where the mas- sacre took place was that before they learned of the location, the snow had fallen many feet deep and the trail was impassable. The following summer when the snow had melted, Mr. Beachy, Mr. Page and others went to the place where the murders had been com- mitted and found the skeletons of the men, mules and everything just as Page had described it.
The grand jury indicted the three men, Lowry, Howard and Ro- main. They were put on trial before a fair and competent judge
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and a jury of good men. They were found guilty of murder in the first degree. The late Milton Kelly, E. T. Gray and Wm. C. Rheam acted the part of prosecutors for the Territory, and the late W. W. Thayer of Oregon, and John W. Anderson, defended the prisoners. Over one hundred and fifty men were summoned for jurors before twelve men were agreed upon, and several days' time was consumed in getting the jury. On the 19th day of January, 1864, the jury was sworn to try the case. The trial was contested closely by both the prosecution and the defense and lasted four days. On January 26th, 1864, the prisoners were brought into court for sentence. We here give Judge Parks' talk to the priso- ners for the same reason that the Honorable Judge made the talk, namely, that it may tend to deter others from committing like or other crimes.
Judge Parks said:
"The duty which I am now called upon to perform is one of the most painful of my life. I am to pronounce a sentence which will consign to an early and infamous death three young men, each in the prime of life and strength. A few years since you left your homes, all respectable, all with useful and honorable occupations, all with high hopes and all the objects of the love of relatives and friends. You had more than ordinary energy and intelligence and might have made useful and influential men in your day and gen- eration, been respected and upheld by all good citizens. How dif- ferent is the picture you present today! You are degraded and abandoned, outcast, universally regarded as the implacable enemies of humanity. You have not only the Territory of Idaho, but all civilized society combined against you. I do not say these things to reproach you, but from a sense of duty. Punishment is inflicted even upon the worst of criminals, not in a spirit of vengeance nor to expatiate or atone for these crimes, but to prevent such offenses in the future, partly by taking away from them the power to do further mischief, but principally by deterring others by their ex- ample. In this regard it is right that your lives and crimes should be commented upon and your dreadful end held up as a warning to all evil doers. Your history demonstrates clearly the ruinous effects of idleness and bad company. You abandoned your occu- pations to hang around saloons, gambling houses and low haunts of vice. You became the associates of gamblers and then gamblers yourselves. As there is but one step from gambling to stealing, you soon became thieves, then robbers and then murderers, of course, and you have closed your career by one of the most awful trage- dies ever recorded, one which when it shall be known in all its hor- rible details, will cause the ear of humanity to tingle.
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What a warning is this to all men to follow respectable pursuits and to avoid the haunts of vice and the dens of the gambler. Upon all these sinks of iniquity should be written in letters of fire, 'This is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.'
"Another thing in your history illustrates and the lesson should not be lost upon all men inclined to follow in your ways it is that there is no security to any man in the commission of such crimes, no matter how wild or remote the place of commission. You vainly thought that by the murder of your fellow travelers you secured silence and safety. You burned the blood of Magruder that it might not reveal your guilt, but like the blood of Abel, it cried to God against you and the cry was heard and answered. Providence has not imparted wisdom to guilt and the very means employed by you to escape, led to suspicion, pursuit and detection. It is a strange coincidence that your conduct first excited the suspicions of one of Magruder's friends; that he followed and brought you back here that you have been tried and condemned close to the desolate home of the murdered man and in sight and hearing of his widowed wife and orphan children. The robber and the murderer may learn from your fate that there is no safety for them and that the way of the transgressor is indeed hard. If such men have expected immunity in crime here, let them know that the reign of law and order has commenced, even in this remote region; that where bad men array themselves against society, they encounter a power they can neither resist nor escape, and that the punishment of the law will be visited upon them.
"You have had a fair trial and been legally convicted and your punishment will be just. It is my duty to tell you there is no hope of pardon or escape; the law gives you but a few days to live. Let me advise you to employ that time in making what reparation you can for the evil you have done and in preparing for trial before that Great Judge at whose bar you will soon stand, whose laws as well as those of men you have violated; whose goodness you have abused and whose power you have defied; and it will be the prayer of all good men that in your final trial you may find a merciful Judge and that your crimes, numerous and great as they have been, may be forgiven."
The Judge then sentenced the three convicted men, G. C. Lowry, David Renton, alias Howard, and James Roumain, to be hanged on March 4th, 1864, by the neck until dead. These three men were duly executed in Lewiston in accordance with the sentence pro- nounced upon them by Judge Samuel C. Parks.
Mr. Hill Beachy saw to it that these prisoners were well guarded and well treated and that they had a fair trial and that they were
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properly executed and buried. The writer of this was well ac- quainted with Hill Beachy and can say from a business acquain- tance with him of several years that he was a man possessed with a high grade of intelligence and was the soul of honor, was untir- ing and undaunted in his efforts towards what he believed to be right. I never knew him to go wrong. In short, he was one of the noble works of God-an honest, industrious, good man. Had it not been for his brave, generous and untiring efforts to overhaul and bring those murderers to the bar of justice, they would most likely have all escaped.
In due coure of time the gold dust that had been deposited in the mint at San Francisco by these bad men, through the efforts of Mr. Beachy, was paid over to Mr. Magruder's widow and children.
Our first legislature was in session at Lewiston during the trial of these men and became acquainted with all the facts and the part that Mr. Beachy had acted in the case, and without any solicitation on his part, they passed a bill appropriating six thousand two hun- dred and forty-four dollars to be paid out of the Territorial treas- ury to Hill Beachy for services and for money expended by him in the pursuit and capture and return of these men. (See 1st Ses- sion Laws, pp. 625 and 626. Approved February 2, 1864.)
The Judge ordered that the expense of the keeping and trial of these men should be paid by the Territory, which amounted to $3,453.30, which amount was retained out of the Territorial por- tion of property, poll and license tax due the Territory from Nez Perce County for the years 1864 and 1865, and paid to the hold- ers of the indebtedness, making the whole expense of this outrageous murder cost $9,697.30. When we consider the great expense of following up these men to San Francisco, more than a thousand miles, and bringing them back to Lewiston and guarding them until tried, convicted and executed, and the high prices that prevailed in those days, the expense seems small.
William Page, the man who turned State's evidence, was allowed to go free. It is said that he was killed a few years later by some unknown person.
This closes the imperfect history of one of the most brutal and uncalled for murders that was ever committed by white men.
Hill Beachy for several years after this engaged in the stage business in Southern Idaho and Nevada and also in mining at Sil- ver City, Owyhee County, Idaho. He died in 1874, while yet in the prime of life. May he rest in peace from his honorable earthly labors !
In the latter part of May, 1864, Hill Beachy, in company with six other men, took Page and went to the place where Mr. Magru-
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der and the others were murdered. The following account of the successful search for the bodies of those ill-fated gentlemen was published in the Lewiston "Age" of June 11th:
"Editor Age: Sir-For the satisfaction of the reading public, we thought it proper to give a little history of facts in regard to a journey made in search of Magruder and party, or of what little remained of those who were once our dear friends. We left Elk City, 29th of May, made Red River Meadows and spent the even- ing with our friend, George Zeigel.
"May 30th .- Made what is known as the Mountain Meadows, where we camped. The snow had nearly disappeared, but we were obliged to tie our horses, as there was scarcely a vestige of any- thing green to be seen.
"May 31st .- Made a start at 4 o'clock in the morning; we made Little Salmon about 11 A. M., where we camped, and prospected for grass. In the afternoon we moved camp some three miles up the Little Salmon, where we camped for the night. Page expressed some uneasiness, for he hardly knew where he was, but he left camp and was absent some three hours. While gone, he discovered the little prairie where they camped the first night after the murder of Magruder and party; there he found the leggins they left, and he knew where he was.
"June 1st .- We made a start at half past 4 A. M. After some eight or ten miles travel, wet met a Mr. Adams on his way from Bitter Root, and, as he had the misfortune to lose his provisions in crossing the Bitter Root River, he was as much pleased to meet us as we were him. He returned with us to the fatal spot where Ma- gruder and party fell victims to the demons in human shape. We arrived at the spot after a long and tedious ride. About 4 o'clock P. M. we unsaddled our animals, and proceeded to search for the re- mains. The first thing discovered was the gunnysack of tin cups, coffee pots, etc., which all who heard the evidence of Page at the trial of Renton, Lowry and Romain, will remember as being de- scribed by him. The next discovery was the blankets which were wound 'round the bodies of the two brothers. The next discovery was the tent and blankets which Allen and Phillips were lashed up in. These we searched with care. We found in the pockets of Allen a portmonie, in which we found two twenty-five cent pieces, Ameri- can coin, a gold ring, a thimble and some needles. We also found Allen's watch. We found Phillips' hat; Holt knew it to be Phil- lips'. Page knew the pants to be Allen's, in which was found the portmonie. We also found pieces of skull bones in this particular spot, and some hair said to be, by those who knew, Allen's, also the under jaw of Allen or Phillips. We also found the under jaw of
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one of the brothers, or supposed to be, as it was near the blankets which once encased their bodies. We also found two blue jean coats, in one of which was found the memorandum book, which shows that the two brothers had $1,658.78 on their persons when they started for Oregon with Magruder and party. We found in camp, near the spot where Page saw Allen shot, a piece of his skull, supposed to have been blown off with the shot-gun. We found the quartz specimens which were taken from Magruder's cantinas, and thrown away by one of the villains. We found the rings, buckles, etc., as described by Page, buried in the ashes. We then repaired to the spot where Magruder received that fatal blow, or, we may say, blows, for we found several pieces of his skull which was literally hacked to pieces. Oh, what an awful sight! He was murdered nearly a half mile from the others. His coat and vest were somewhat torn by the wolves, but enough was left so that they looked quite natural. We then went with Page to the spot where he had thrown the guns. We there found Mr. Beachy's gun, the one he had loaned to Magruder, and found it to be loaded, but the caps had been removed. We also found the gun which Page said belonged to one of the brothers, also one rifle and the shot- gun which Page said was once Romain's. We found other relics and things much as described by Page. It makes the heart sick to think of this horrible tragedy. On our return, we went to the spot which had been described by Page, and found the remains of the slaughtered animals. We hope never to witness such a sight again.
(Signed)
"A. J. COFFIN, "DAVID REESE, "MATTHEW ADAMS, "HILL BEACHY, "L. O. HOLT, "JAMES SMITH, "JOEL D. MARTIN."
CHAPTER XV.
FIRST SESSION OF THE IDAHO LEGISLATURE.
The names of the members of the first session of the Territorial Legislature of Idaho are as follows:
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
E. B. Waterbury First District
Stanford Capps First District
Lyman Standford First District
Joseph Miller Second District
Ephriam Smith
Second District
Wm. C. Rheem Third District
A. J. Edwards Third District
President, Joseph Miller. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Joseph Tufts Beaverhead District
C. P. Bodfish Boise County
M. C. Brown. Boise County
R. P. Campbell Boise County
Milton Kelley. Boise County
W. F. Keithly Boise County
L. C. Miller East Bannock District
Alonzo Leland Idaho County
John Wood Idaho County
L. Bacon. Nez Perce County
James A. Orr Shoshone County
Speaker, James Tufts.
The first session of the Idaho Legislature met at Lewiston, Idaho, on the 7th day of December, A. D. 1863, and held session for sixty days, as provided by Section 4 of the Organic Act. (See p. 30, Ist Session Laws of Idaho Territory.) This brought the time for adjournment to February 4, 1864. During this session, the leg- islature made a general assortment of laws which, when printed, made a volume of 610 pages, exclusive of the index and a number of United States laws published in the same volume. Of these various laws enacted at this session, we will call the attention of the reader to a few, not with the intention of casting any reflection upon this honorable body of law-makers, but merely to show the reader that they were up-to-date men and were equal to any emer- gency in the line of legislation.
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The first we will notice is the creation of counties, and first in this line was the creation of Owyhee County. The boundaries were as follows: "All parts of said Territory lying south of Snake River and west of the Rocky Mountain chain, be and the same is hereby organized into a county to be called Owyhee. That the county seat of the said County of Owyhee shall be, until otherwise ordered, at such place as the county commissioners of said county may select.' This act was approved December 31, 1863. Soon after this, on January 22, 1864, an act was approved dividing this county by a north and south line and creating the County of Oneida out of the eastern portion of Owyhee, which division put into Oneida County all of what is now Oneida, Bear Lake, Bannock, Bingham and Fremont counties. The county seat of Oneida County was located at Soda Springs.
Next comes an act creating ten counties east of the Bitter Root or Rocky Mountains, and fixing the boundary lines; Missoula County with the county seat at Wardensville, Deer Lodge County, with the county seat at Idaho City (near the Cottonwood Fork of Deer Lodge River) ; Beaver Head County, with the county seat at Bannock City; Madison County, with the county seat at Virginia City; Jefferson County, with the county seat at Gallatin; Choteau County, with the county seat at Fort Benton; Dawson County, with the county seat at Fort Andrews; Big Horn County, county seat to be located by commissioners; Ogalala County, with the county seat at Fort Laramie; Yellowstone County, with the county seat to be located by commissioners.
These counties were all created and their boundary lines defined in one act, which was approved January 16, 1864. It is rather amusing to think what exeprts these first legislators were in cre- ating counties. They created and fixed the boundary lines and lo- cated ten counties in one act, covering less than four pages, giving one section of the act to each county.
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