Name Henry Plummer | ||
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Other names William Henry Handy Plumer Occupation prospector, government bureaucrat, city marshal, sheriff, outlaw, road agent, criminal gang leader Died January 10, 1864, Bannack, Montana, United States | ||
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Henry Plummer (1832–1864) was a prospector, lawman, and outlaw in the American West in the 1850s and 1860s, who was known to have killed several men, some in what was considered self-defense. He was elected sheriff of Bannack, Montana from 1863 to 1864, during which period he was accused of being the leader of a "road agent" gang of outlaws known as the "Innocents," which preyed on shipments from Virginia City to other areas. In response some leaders in Virginia City formed the Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch, and began to take action against Plummer's gang, gaining confessions from a couple of men they arrested in early January 1864. On January 10, 1864 Plummer and two associates were arrested in Bannack by a company of the Vigilantes and summarily hanged. He was hanged without a trial, evidence or even a reasonable theory. One resident even noted, "...not one body can be found." Yet, the Vigilante Committee claimed Henry Plummer and his gang killed over 100 people. He was hanged by the neck, being pulled up rather than given the drop. He was strangled slowly to death. Ironically, the leader of the Vigilante Committee took control of many of the committees victims properties and holdings, including Henry Plummer's gold claim outside of Bannack. He was pulled out of bed while suffering from TB. He was hanged without due process. Plummer and the Vigilantes often argued over the tactics of the committee. They hanged at least 138 people in Bannack without trial, including a 17-year-old boy who stated Plummer was innocent after the committee had already hanged him. The Vigilante Committee always executed their victims late at night so the townspeople were never there to witness it and the only witnesses were committee members. They totally controlled the narrative. The accused never were given the opportunity to state their case, mount a defense or plead guilty or not guilty. Plummer was a Northern Democrat (anti-slavery) and the Vigilante Committee leader was a Southern Democrat (pro-slavery).
Contents
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- Stories of the century henry plummer complete show
- Early years
- Becoming an outlaw
- Life of a criminal
- The Plummer gang
- In popular culture
- References
The only trial Henry Plummer got was a posthumous trial held in 1993 which led to a mistrial. If that same trial had been held in 1864, Plummer would have walked out a free man. The jury was split 6-6.
Stories of the century henry plummer complete show
Early years
He was born William Henry Handy Plummer in 1832 in Addison, Maine, the last of six children in a family whose ancestors had first settled in Maine in 1634, when it was still a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony. He changed the spelling of his surname after moving West. His father died while Henry was in his teens.
In 1852, at age 19, Plummer headed west to the gold fields of California. His mining venture went well: within two years he owned a mine, a ranch, and a bakery in Nevada City. In 1856, he was elected sheriff and city manager. Supporters suggested that he should run for state representative as a Democrat. However, the party was divided, and without its full support, he lost.
Becoming an outlaw
On September 26, 1857, Plummer shot and killed John Vedder. As city marshal of Nevada City, California, Plummer had been providing protection of Lucy Vedder, John's wife, who was seeking to escape from her abusive husband. Plummer claimed he was acting in self-defense in the incident, but was convicted of second-degree murder. He won an appeal for a retrial and was convicted again and sentenced to ten years in San Quentin. But in August 1859, supporters of his wrote to the governor seeking a pardon based on his alleged good character and civic performance. The governor granted the pardon due to Plummer's good prison record, his attempts to convince a corrupt warden to improve conditions and his work assisting the prison doctor.
In 1861, Plummer returned to being a policeman after his pardon. Plummer carried out an arrest of John Fergason, who had escaped from San Quentin. Fergason changed his name to Jack Cleveland when he got out of prison.
Life of a criminal
Plummer headed to Washington Territory where gold had been discovered. There he became involved in a dispute that ended in a gunfight won by Plummer. He decided to leave the West and return to Maine.
On the way back east, waiting for a steamboat to reach Fort Benton, Montana on the Missouri River, Plummer was approached by James Vail. He was recruiting volunteers to help protect his family from Indian attacks at the mission station he was attempting to found in Sun River, Montana. No passage home being available, Plummer accepted, along with Jack Cleveland, a horse dealer who had known Plummer in California. While at the mission, both Plummer and Cleveland fell in love with Vail's attractive sister-in-law, Electa Bryan; Plummer asked her to marry him and she agreed. As gold had recently been discovered in nearby Bannack, Montana, Plummer decided to go there to try to earn enough money to support them both. Cleveland followed him.
In January 1863, Cleveland, nursing his anger at Plummer for arresting him in California for escape and his jealousy over Electa Bryan, forced Plummer into a fight and was killed. The altercation took place in a crowded saloon, and observers agreed that Plummer had killed his foe in self-defense. Cleveland was suspected of killing a man and stealing his gold the week before. Plummer, himself, caught Cleveland trying to steal Plummer's gold, but Cleveland was unaware Plummer only left out gold dust. He had buried gold in his dirt floor shack and poured water on the floor to hide the signs of soft dirt. Many miners and prospectors had been bullied by Cleveland and/or had gold stolen from them.
Plummer was viewed very favorably by most town residents and, in May, he was elected sheriff of Bannack.
The Plummer gang
Between October and December 1863, the rate of robberies and murders in and around Alder Gulch increased significantly, and the citizens of Virginia City grew increasingly suspicious of Sheriff Henry Plummer and his associates.
Notable criminal acts by alleged members of the Plummer gang included:
At the time Bannack and Virginia City, Montana were part of a remote region of the Idaho Territory; there was no formal law enforcement or justice system for the area. Some residents suspected that Plummer's road agent gang was responsible for numerous robberies, attempted robberies, murders and attempted murders in and around Alder Gulch in October–December 1863.
From December 19 to 21, 1863, a public trial was held in Virginia City by a miners' court for George Ives, the suspected murderer of Nicholas Tiebolt, a young Dutch immigrant. Hundreds of miners from around the area attended the three-day outdoor trial. George Ives was prosecuted by Wilbur F. Sanders, convicted, and hanged on December 21, 1863.
On December 23, 1863, two days after the Ives trial, leading citizens of Virginia City and Bannack formed the Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch in Virginia City. They included five Virginia City residents, led by Wilbur F. Sanders, and including Major Alvin W. Brockie, John Nye, Captain Nick D. Wall, and Paris Pfouts. Between January 4 and February 3, 1864, the vigilantes arrested and summarily executed at least 20 alleged members of Plummer's gang.
Shortly after its formation, the Vigilance Committee dispatched a posse of men to search for Aleck Carter, "Whiskey Bill" Graves, and Bill Bunton, known associates of George Ives. The posse was led by vigilante Captain James Williams, the man who had investigated the Nicolas Tiebolt murder. Near the Rattlesnake Ranch on the Ruby River, the posse located "Erastus Red" Yeager and George Brown, both suspected road agents. While traveling under guard back to Virginia City, Yeager made a complete confession, naming the majority of the road agents in Plummer's gang, and Henry Plummer. The posse found Yeager and Brown to be guilty and hanged them from a cottonwood tree on the Lorrain's Ranch on the Ruby River.
On January 6, 1864, vigilante Captain Nick Wall and Ben Peabody captured "Dutch John" Wagner, a road agent wounded in the Moody robbery, on the Salt Lake City trail. The vigilantes transported Wagner to Bannack, where he was hanged on January 11, 1864. By this time, Yeager's confession had mobilized vigilantes against Plummer and his key associates, deputies Buck Stinson and Ned Ray. Plummer, Stinson, and Ray were arrested on the morning of January 10, 1864, and summarily hanged.
The two youngest members of the gang were said to be spared. One was sent back to Bannack to tell the rest to get out of the area, and the other was sent ahead to Lewiston, Idaho to warn gang members to leave that town. (Lewiston was the connection from the Territory to the world, as it had river steamboats that traveled to the coast at Astoria, Oregon via the Snake and Columbia rivers.) Plummer was known to have traveled to Lewiston during the time when he was an elected official in Bannack. The hotel registry records with his signature during this period have been preserved. The large-scale robberies of gold shipments by gangs ended with Plummer's and the alleged gang members' deaths. Gang member Clubfoot George was hanged at about the same time with Plummer.