The Vigilantes of Montana, Part 2

The miners Courts (1863)

Each mining district had a miners court. The president of the district functioned as judge, and the court administered the rules of the district. These rules were designed to protect the claims, and addressed such issues as claim jumping (taking over another person's claim), the size of claims, the number of claims one person could own. When the court would be in session, the sheriff's job was to place notices around the district, bring plaintiff and defendant to the court, and serve writs. He was paid by the piece, often from the proceeds collected by the loser in the suit.

The Court Room

There was no court room. In an area in which people were in such a hurry to stake a claim to the gold that they might shelter in the wagons they arrived in, in caves, or in the most meager of cabins, they did not build a court house. One famous Alder Gulch trial was held in a wickiup, a type of shelter built by the local Native Americans, in the shape of a teepee but constructed of tree branches and brush.

Punishments

Because no jails had been built, there were only three punishments available to a miners court: whipping, banishment, and hanging.

The Jury

Punishments were voted on by the jury. Two types of jury were possible, the formal twelve-man jury, and the "jury of the whole." The jury of the whole was, in brief, the crowd.

Drunk or sober, whether they had heard all the evidence or not, anyone who happened by when the vote was taken for guilt or innocence could vote.

And vote again. When John Dillingham was murdered in early July 1863, three men were convicted and sentenced to be hanged. While on their way to their executions, some tender-hearted women and the defense attorneys so excited the crowd that vote after vote was taken until the men were banished instead of hanged. One man came back three days later and was rehired as a deputy, despite having been seen to shoot the victim by a hundred people. He and a second man were hanged for the crime six months later, while the third man traveled well out of the area and was himself murdered.

In the midst of this legal vacuum, in which people at the time estimated that more than 100 people were robbed and murdered, a particularly brutal murder incited law-abiding citizens to act.

The Murder of Nicholas Tbalt (continued)

 

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