Oregon, executions recorded in county and statewide records, 1951, Undated

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THIRTY-ONE YEARS IN BAKER COUNTY. 35

We sometimes see a brief notice in a newspaper of some old
miner living in a cabin in the mountains all alone, apparently a pas-
Sive creature having no motive for either living or dying. If one
could learn his real history, how he left home and friends when he
was an ardent youth, with high hopes of obtaining the means which
he deemed necessary for a start in life, how he worked to accomplish
his purpose, expressing hopes of a speedy return in his frequent
letters to friends at home until the year or two years of his promised
stay gone and still no fortune acquired. Having left home for money,
he would not return without it, so year after year passed away with-
out a realizations of his hopes; letters were sent and received less
frequently; the desire to return to his old home waned as the years
of his absence increased, and finally he came to think there was no
place for him amid the scenes of his youth. Having held all other
hopes and ambitions in abeyance to the one desire of obtaining
wealth by sudden stroke of fortune, he finally came to consider his
opportunities gone, the best part of his life wasted and himself
unfitted for-any other mode of living. Such is a brief outline of the
life many a gold seeker, who, when all his aspirations had died,
was known to the world as a hermit or a tramp.

It should be borne in mind that it is not the miners who cause
anew mining camp to get the name of being a ‘hard place,’ a ‘rough
camp,’ &c. At the same time it must be admitted that the miners
are prone to indulge in rude jokes and boisterious mirth, and are
easily excited to lawless acts and when the mob spirit is once

thoroughly aroused no one can tell to what excesses it may lead. oe

In November, 1862 the people of Auburn were startled by the
report that two men had been fatally stabbed by a man called
Spanish Tom. All three had been gambling in a saloon when some
misunderstanding arose and hard words were exchanged between
the Spainard and the two men with whom he had been playing,
and they went out on the street to avoid further difficulty. The
Spainard followed and stabbed both of them just outside of the saloon,
and immediately fled.

The citizens offered a reward for his apprehension and two or
three days afterwards he was arrested at Mormon Basin and brought
to Auburn and delivered to the sheriff. At the session of the leg-
islature in September an act had been passed to organize the County
of Baker with the county seat at Auburn, and J. Q. Wilson was ap-
pointed county judge; S. A. Clarke, clerk; George Hall, sheriff, and
Mr. Able and Mr. Morrison, justices of the Peace.

Sheriff Hall put the prisoner in a room and placed gaurds over
him and took every precaution to keep him safely until the proper

—,

examination could be had before a justice of the peace. It was well |
known that there was a desire on the part of a great many, perhaps |

a majority of the people, to hang the Spainard regardless of the
forms of the law, and whilst the citizens who were in favor of strictly

legal proceedings in the case remained passive in the belief that the |

prisoner was in safe custody, there were others actively engaged in
a scheme tw get possession of the prisoner and hang him without delay.

A certain Captain Johnnson was called upon to head the crowd |

when the time came to seize the Spainard. Keeping their plan of
operations secret, they assembled in large numbers at the building
where the prisoner was held, and demanded that his examination
should be held outside of the building where all would have a chance
to see and hear what was said and done. On the hillside a little way
from where the prisoner was confined, stood an open shed, and to

BAKER COUNTY
one quasi-legal and one lynching.

’

22 THIRTY-ONE YEARS IN BAKER COUN1».

ber in 1862, which he says he will donate to the Pioneer > ie y of
Baker County.

D. B. Schofield came to Auburn in 1862 with a small stock f » ods
with Mr. Thompson as a partner. In 1864 they dissolved pa? ~ers:iip,
Mr. Thompson withdrawing from the firm and Mr. Schofiel. or *in-
uing the business for several years finally closed out and rerr.ve to
Baker City. He served as county commissioner four years «4d sub-
sequently was county judge for four years. Recently he ren.-ved to
Josephine County.

“In September, 1862, the citizens of Auburn were shockec st the
/ announcement that two men had been poisoned with strychnine They
lived together in a tent, having lately arrived from Colora:io, #:14i one
morning when eating breakfast, one of them was suddenls seize with
violent pains. The other one hastened to summon Dr. Rackerby «tid on

his way back, halted at a spring to take a drink of water wi: -t the
doctor went on to the tent, and immediately announced '!):! ti man
had all the symptoms of being poisoned with strychni: inc i-ked
Mr. Littlefield and two or three others who had been attr ..ec the

spot by the cries of the sick man, to hasten to the spris:v am! ivok
after the other man. Hurrying forward, they found him in © »nvuisions
lying in the spring where he had fallen. They carried him '> the tent
where the doctor administered anecodotes to the two men, tit was too
late to save the life of the one who was first attacked. The other one

recovered.

Some one took a piece of bread from the table and th +w it toa
dog standing before the tend door, and soon after eatin; :' he was
taken with convulsions and died in a few minutes.

The doctor examined the contents of a sack from which +>: flour of
which the bread was made and evidently been taken, and fot»; therein

some small crystals of strychnia. It was plain that the mer «dd been
poisoned with strychnine, and that the poison had been pu: ‘ito the
flour with murderous intent, and suspicion immediately fel: upon a
Frenchman with whom they had quarreled. The Frenhcman threat-
ening them with vengence at some future time. He was arrested,
and public opinion demanded that he be tried in Auburn. The only
legally organized seat of justice east of the Cascade mount-
ains at that time was The Dalles, two hundred and fifty miles distant
and it was apparent to all that the purpose of the law eould not be
served by sending him there for trial. The best citizens of the town
took the matter in hand and in a few days organized a court by appoin-
ting Mr. Able, judge, James McBride and W. H. Packwood associates
justices, Shaw and Kelley attorneys for the people, and George Hall,
sheriff, Pierce and Grey appared for the prisoner. A jury was em-
paneled and the trail conducted in accordance with the forms of law.
The jury returned a verdict cf murder in the first degree and he was
condemned and executed.

The ability and integrity of the court and officers could not be
questioned. The whole business from first to last, was conducted with
a deliberation dignity and fairness worth of any tribunal organized in
a strictly legal form. Had the same men been selected for their several
positions by the same constituency at a regular election arid a!l the

formalities of the law been observed throughout, their actien in the
matter could not have been different, and had there been a Jegally
constituted government with officers at hand to enforce the ‘aw, they

' would have been the last men in the community to attemp’ =: assiime

' charge of the affair in any manner in the least infringin. =» the
prerogative of the proper officers.

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36 THIRTY-ONE YEARS IN BAKER COUNTY.

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this some seats and a table were taken and preparation made for
holding the examination there. The officers did not know there
would be a premediated attempt to seize the prisoner, but Sherff Hall
had about forty armed men with him to guard against any sudden
attack that might be made. When everything necessary for the ex-
amination had been prepared, Justice Able took his seat at the shed
and ordere? the prisoner to be brought before him.

The sheriff with the prisoner surrounded by the guards, marched
up to the shed, and Captain Johnson gave the preconcerted signal or
order, and his men surrounded the sheriff’s guard and began to de-
mand possession of the Spainard. Mr. Kirkpatrick mounted s stump
and urged the people to desist and let the officers do their duty.

Captain Johnson mounted another stump and urged the mob
on; the noise grew louder and the excitement increased. About one
half of the sheriff's posse deserted him, but with the rest he kept
the crowd back and held the prisoner for a while when about half the
remaining guards deserted. It was now evident that the mob would
carry their point. Justice Able quitted his post, and Captain Johnson
slipped around to the sheriff and attempted to apologize and excuse
himself for the part he had played. Pressed as Hall was with the
duties of his position, he yet found time to administer a scathing
rcbuke to Johnson for his cowardice and perfidy. The sheriff stil] had
hopes of getting the prisoner back to the house where he could
protect him from the mob. The crowd pressed the guard closely
against the prisoner and some one stooped and seized the end of a
chain which lay on the ground between the feet of the guards, the
other end being fastened around the Spainard’s ankle. Others seized
the chain and began to pull whilst the sheriff and his men laid
hold of the prisoner and endeavored to pull him away from the mub,
but soon finding it useless, the Spainard himself telling the sheriff to
let him go, they relaxed their hold and the crowd snatched the pris-
oner away and dragged him to the street below, where they halted an
instant and fastened a rope around his neck. Spanish Tom called
on some Mexican friends to shoot him and a few shots were fired
inflicting a flesh wound upon one man, The rope was seized by scores
of excited men who immediately started down the stréet at the
top of their speed, dragging the Spainard after them. When near
the crossing of Freezeout gulch his head struck a log and his neck
was undoubtedly broken, but the crowd never halted until near the
lower end of town they stopped by a tree and threw the rope over
a limb and drew the body of the Spainard up and fastened the rope
and left it hanging there.

The following is a transcript of the only official record of the

affair:

The people of the State of Oregon)
VS Murder
Spanish Tom. )

Complaint filed the 21st day of November, 1862. Warrant tssued
of same date. The defendent brought into court the 22nd cay of
November, 1862. Kelly appointed for prosecution and McLa::zhlin
for defendent. Witness sworn and testified—mob seized the defendent
—dragged him through the street and hung his lifeless body on « ‘ree.

S. Able,
Justice of the Peace

Matt Bledsoe had been making threats, while the contest be-

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"HANGINGS IN GRANT ‘COUNTY, OR. ~

‘Hangings at Canyon City Recalled When Rope Bound cBy

E.P. Truesdell- -Canyon:' City, April ‘6.-A gruesome relic of
: "Canyon City's earlier and rougher days, namely a half inch
“rope with a blood ‘splattered hangman's noose at its end,

OO wag, according to the statement of the Hon. Jess Allen,

county | judge Of Grant county, and whose word, to date, has
~ not. been seriously questioned, uncovered in the course of

Uo the | excavation of the new basement under the county court

house at Canyon City, the past week,

Tom Sewell, who was born in Canyon City some sixty or

Rea years ago, is responsible for the statement that
this noose is the one that choked out the life of a man

named Sullivan, who was hanged from a scaffold erected back

of the court house in the year 1894, Tom says he was there
and ‘saw the hanging. That he also saw the hanging of a
Chinaman the year before; that the Chinaman did not bleed,
but that Sullivan did; that the rogéz- slipped and blood
_ spurted from Sullivan' Ss neck ‘onto the rope, and that this
vis the rope that hung ‘Sullivan.

ie ‘Dr. Je” Hs Fell, who still nractione his Sroressi ah in Can=-
yon City; remembers the hanging, but not the details. He ==:

“says he saw the Chinaman hung, and pronounced him dead. But |
: was called on a confinement case just before Sullivan mounted
the scaffold, and ‘cannot vouch for the bleeding.

ne However, the rope speaks for itself. It is the right length
for a hangman’ s rope. One end shows it had been cut, possibly

from a scaffold, on the other end is the orthodox hangman's

noose, darkstained in places and slightly decomposed. Apparen~

tly when it had served its purpose it was thrown under the

court house where it has lain, in the dry, for all these years,

to again see the light of day in the court of human events,

and remind us of the days When violence was met with vanlence,
anc a human A +f) more or less, was of little moment,

Previcded by

‘
& wtih Vereen of oot:
JAMIE JUSTICE

CN mae ee, Gane
eee Pare. Sa OU

_ HANGINGS IN GRANT COUNTY, OR.- Hangings at Canyon City...P2

Hei, In those days Canyon: City saw six or eight legal hangings.

fossil Grey was one of the earlier ‘sheriff' S and hanged a man

_ by the name of Pat McGinnis. Tom Sewell also stated that

~~ Bill Grey was nervous, that Pat was not, that Pat dressed
for. the occasion in striped pants, a dark coat with a flower
in the lapel. That Pat told Grey, "If you are too nervous,
ot can strap myself, but you will have to ad just the noose
and’ cap, I. might not get them right. :

co (odane dian sern ane Ohne Nan LenabRa banana’ 207 aenhnanngs

"For those occasions[ hangings] a small scaffold was erected

ee of the court house. On execution days the women of Canyon

‘would leave town, they did not like hangings. A shooting was
an avoidable incident to the life of a rough and (continued
on ‘page 3, Col 4—page missing) |
_ [Bast Oregonian, Pendleton, Or., Tues. April 6, 19373
Wei. L No. 14,343, P 1 Col. 7]

~ Provided by
+ JANICE JUSTICE
YOR ake bates }

__ HANGINGS IN GRANT COUNTY, OR.-1862-1892

OK search of the Circuit ‘Court records of Grant COME Oregon
"reveals the following information:

PETER | SULLIVAN: 2
. Convicted of murder in the first degree, for the murder of:

one John Bronkee which occurred April 1, 1889. Sullivan
was hanged at Canyon City, Oregon on November 15, 1889 at

“2300 Dem. ae We. P. Gray, Sheritt of Grant ee Oregon.

PATRICK McGINNIS1
' Convicted of murder in the first Jonson: for the murder of ©

one Robert Lockwood which occurred July 5, 1888. The case

-.WaS appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that "~~

the Court erred in allowing the said Patrick McGinnis to.

be brought before the said Court and Jury with iron shackles
on his feet and nippers on his hands.--"

Supreme Court affirmed the lower court and the said McGinnis

was hanged at Canyon City, Oregon on April 26, 1889 at 1:00
pem. by W. P. Gray, Sheriff of Grant County, Oregon.

MING HOW: (a chinaman)

Convicted of murder in the first degree, for the murder of

one Ah Foo, (a chinaman) which occurred September 26, 1891.
How was hanged at Canyon City, Oregon January 8, 1892 at

at 00 peme by O. P. Cresap, Sheriff of Grant. County, Oregon.

‘The search faiis to disclose any information On Barry Way, —
but does disclose that Ed Cain was convicted of horse steal-
ing but was not hanged,

[won Piveivalar. Co. County Clerk) to I,B.: Hazeltine
Sect'y,Chamber of Commerce) August 2, 1952]

EARSG 0 (Sipe ak

Phy rer bist tical Nuss wie

184 Harney County, OrREcon,

A shooting scrape occurred a week ago. at the P’Ranch . . . An old
grudge existed between Gus Harrison and Dick Cooper, which cul-
minated in an explosion . . . While Cooper was walking on a foot

log he encountered Harrison, who began shooting at him, which
caused him to fall into the water. In response to his exclamation,
“For God’s sake, don’t shoot me, Gus!” the shootist fortunately de-
sisted,

' SAMPLE OF PIONEER JUSTICE

A stranger passing through Catlow Valley paused at Wm. Shirk’s
long enough to steal a pair of spurs, lariat and chaparajos, etc. He
was hunted up Madedi’s gorge, soundly kicked and sent on his way.

The Harney region was stirred deeply when, on May 5,
James Bright, a quiet, well-liked young man, was slain 12
miles east of the town of Harney. Victim of a mysterious
robbery yielding several hundred dollars, his body was found
under a pile of stones a quarter-mile from his runaway team
and wrecked wagon. His body penetrated by a rifle bullet, and
with a lariat fastened to his feet, had been dragged by a
horseman, stated John Robinson, deputy sheriff, at an inquest
held by Judge Davis.

The hunt for the killer brooked no delay, but a baffled posse
uncovered little clamping evidence. Out of circumstances, an
Indian, Buckaroo Jim, was arrested and taken to Canyon City’s
jail. For company he had a young Irishman named Pat Mc-
Ginnis, charged with horse-stealing. They awaited trial. State
and federal courts had jurisdiction for punishment of crimes
of varying degree by Indians off or on reservations.

In the quiet of the evening of July 4, after a day-long
frontier celebration, an alarm spread that Robert Lockwood,
deputy sheriff, had been shot fatally in the head while locking
up the jail cells for the night. His body lay in the corridor and
under his leg was found his .44-caliber Smith and Wesson
pistol, two chambers empty. The prisoners had escaped.

Both were captured within a few days, McGinnis charged
_ with the murder. The Paiute, sole eyewitness to the crime and
speaking through an interpreter, accused him. He testified
that Lockwood, while unlocking his cell for a few moments,
had no fear of McGinnis and he put his pistol on a table.
McGinnis, in stocking-feet, he said, stole up from behind,

= —

AND Its RANGE LAND & 185

snatched the pistol and shot the deputy. One bullet missed
its mark.

When found not guilty of Bright’s murder at the November
term of court, Buckaroo Jim gained his freedom. In the same
month a jury convicted the Irishman for the murder of Lock-
wood, and he was sentenced to be hanged January 18, 1889.
After an unsuccessful appeal, the execution occurred Friday,
April 26, following. }

Phil Metschan reflects that McGinnis might have secured

acquittal if his influential uncle who lived about 50 miles from

Canyon City could have been contacted for help. Metschan
relates: | :

While Pat was in jail, and before the murder of Lockwood, I,
then a small boy, became quite well acquainted with him. He was
genial, good-natured, and I liked him. Much of my time was spent
at the courthouse in those days, my father being the county clerk. I
Saw Patevery day. ~

Many of. the old-timers who remember this trial, myself amongst
them, do not believe that Pat killed Lockwood.

The day that McGinnis was hanged in the courthouse yard,
wide-eyed Phil stood at the foot of the stairs up which the
sheriff led the ill-fated Irishman. Pat refused aid. He trotted
up the steps, the boy at his side. Metschan continues ruefully:

Just before Sheriff Gray adjusted the black cap over his head, he
looked over at me and said, “Hello, Phil.” Although young and
calloused, I couldn’t take any more. I ran down the steps.

On September 8, 1888, William H. Brown met death in the
Caldwell Saloon at Burns. Testimony revealed that, in an
aggressive mood, Brown threatened William Page with a
knife, knocking him to the floor. In a struggle to regain his
feet, Page fired four bullets that felled his attacker. Trial and
acquittal followed.

Ten days after the village’s unrehearsed drama, another
took the stage in Catlow Valley—the killing of James C. Isaacs
by David L. Shirk. In a preliminary hearing at Diamond
before H. M. Horton, justice of the peace, Attorneys Hudson
and Sizemore stood for the prosecution. State’s testimony

186 HaRNEY COUNTY, OREGON,

claimed that Isaacs and Archey Jordan, while examining the
Sam Crow timber culture claim, were accosted by Shirk, on
horseback, and accused of being on land of which he had
charge. The men, answering abusive language, denied knowl-
edge of trespassing.

Then, according to the state, Shirk produced a rifle at the
edge of a field and returned. Unarmed, the men retreated.
Shirk advanced, hurling an epithet. This caused the men to
turn, whereupon Shirk fired and Isaacs, hit in the head, fell.

Attorney Charles Parrish represented the slayer. James
Donegan notes:

The defense claimed that Isaacs had threatened Shirk’s life previous
to the shooting. Edward Lyons, who was grubbing sagebrush for Shirk
on the Crow claim, testified that in the quarrel before the shooting
Isaacs drew a pistol and told Shirk if he made a move he would kill
him. Lyons said Shirk moved away to the sagebrush and picked up
his gun and that at that time Isaacs had Shirk covered with his pistol.
When Shirk picked up his rifle he said, “You men have threatened
my life, now get off this land.” Jordan said, “All right, I will go,” and
he did go. Isaacs crouched down on the ground with his pistol pre-
sented. Shirk fired, Shirk was held to the Grand Jury in the sum of
$5,000 with John Catlow and D. H. Smyth as bondsmen. .. .

At the October term of court in 1889, the jury, after delib-
erating $31 hours, gave a verdict of “not guilty.” In April of
that year Cooper, who had dodged bullets on a log, was stabbed
to death by Ben Jones, a half-breed employed by the Sisson
ranch. Jones, captured quickly at Denio, saved legal expenses
when he shot himself. He and his victim went to graves the
same day.

While placidity seemed to be severely priced at times,
emulation of propriety prevailed. The women had their social
get-togethers, and they met polite men at dances. Further, they
had economic problems to solve, even as did Piute Charley.

The affable Indian sold sage-hen eggs on Burns’ streets at
two-bits a dozen in the spring of 1889. Barnyard eggs retailed
at 25 cents a dozen (20 cents at Harney), butter at 35 cents
a pound, and beef at 10 cents. On the other hand, no fruits
or vegetables or tea or coffee or sugar or salt were for sale in
the town in April. Irate housewives and impatient grocers
urged better freighting.

AND Its RANGE LAND 87

Teamsters took heed ere another winter closed in on

Harney Valley. The local editor announced in mid-November,
next:

One of the largest freight trains we have ever seen enter Burns at one
time came in from the railroad Sunday evening. It was composed of
the McKinnon Bros., Ivers and Allisons’ 8-horse teams, eight wagons -
loaded to the guards with merchandise for the already heavily stocked
stores of J. Durkheimer and N. Brown.

It proved to be good foresight. For three months in the
winter of 1889-90 the snow blocked the road between Burns
and Ontario. No mail came through except that carried by
the triweekly stage from Canyon City. It encountered schedule
troubles, too.

Daily papers from Portland arrived a week or more late.
Then folks eased off gruffness as they glanced at pantry shelves
stacked high and at an assortment of condiments in a corner.

In the mid-eighties Julius Durkheimer took over and -
improved the mercantile store that had been established by
McGowan and Stenger.

In 1887, Nathan Brown began construction of a gristmill,
which Harney County lacked. In that year, also, Paul Locher,
native of Germany, came to Burns and established that sec-
tion’s first brewery. In lengthy residence, he acquired consid-
erable residential and ranch property. He built and operated
a large hall for the town.

In 1892, Nathan Brown tried to encourage raising of wheat
in Harney County by proposing to erect a roller flouring mill
of 40 to 50 barrels’ daily capacity. Citizens were to subscribe
$3,000 to be repaid in products, grinding and so forth. Several
years went by, however, before the mill became a reality, as a
private enterprise.

Meanwhile, the town of Harney was having its heyday, with
a favorable postal business. |

- 4 ~
234 Harney County, OreEcon,

outfit and acknowledged an introduction. The fact that he was about
to entertain the Governor of his state made little or no impression
upon him. However, he agreed to my spending the night with him,
and directed me as to where my saddle animal be stabled, and where
I might wash up for supper.

The ranch house was large and roomy, but Bill’s bedroom, of
which I was to become a joint Occupant, was quite small—hardly af-
fording room for his double bed and a desk, which occupied one
corner. T’he latter was littered with, and surrounded by check stubs,
Such appeared to be Bill’s method of keeping accounts. . . . Bill’s
charge, on this occasion, was 50c for my supper, 50c for bed and 50c
for breakfast. A like charge was made for my saddle animal . . .

Frank M. Neth, who was employed on Brown’s ranch from
1914 to 1917 and knew Bill intimately, says: “Brown was a
very hospitable man and I have never known of his charging

anything for meals or lodging for travelers or guests, al-

though many of them stayed many days at a time.”’

Additions to his grazing kingdom made Brown possessor
of between 30,000 and 40,000 acres in Harney, Crook and
Lake counties; this meant control, also, of about 100,000 acres
of range land because he had secured the water holes. With
purchase of unused school and homestead acreages, and ex-
tensive holdings around Grindstone, were about 15,000 acres
bought from the Oregon and Western Colonization Company.
The peak was between 1912 and the 1920s.

Estimates of the number of animals Brown owned at any
one time varied, to as high as 22,000 sheep. Neth says Brown’s
holdings of sheep “were about 12,000 head when he owned
about the same number of horses.” He wore the label “horse
king” during World War I when sales were strong — 1,000
horses being sold, it is said, for $100,000. His wealth was esti-
mated as $500,000 by the war’s end.

“Bill Brown,” points out Neth, ‘‘never sold horses in small
quantities and always required them to be taken out of the
state of Oregon so that there would be no chance of an argu-
ment about horses remaining in the state bearing his brand
belonging to him.”

Sincerely, quietly over the years, Brown showed due ap-
preciation of goodness that could be wrought for others. With
a feeling of indebtedness to Oregon, he at one time gave $10,-
000 for a building at the old Pendleton Academy. He was

AND Irs RANGE LAND meet

absent from the dedication, and did not reply to the letter in-
viting him to be present. Among other donations, he gave
as much as $25,000 to the Methodist Old People’s Home at
Salem.

With the decline of the live-stock market after World War
I, Brown’s holdings began to shrink. The auto and truck and
motorized farm equipment spelled further doom for horses.
His herds fell off. Naturally, at first, cars were unwelcome on
the Buck Creek premises. Bill bought an automobile in due
time, but he spent little time driving it. He faced the changes
of the 1920s. By the next decade hazards were to be too nu-
merous. :

If the body politic kept substantially within the law, still
the range land at times had invasion by bad men. On the
morning of August 27, 1924, Arch L. Cody, forty-four-year-
old native of Portland, who had served time in the California
and Oregon penitentiaries, climaxed his horse-and-auto-steal-
ing career by killing W. A. Goodman, Harney County sheriff.
The fatality occurred at C. L. Pollock’s place, just over the
line in Malheur County, when the fugitive turned on his
pursuer.

A posse, bent on swift justice, overtook Cody in a running
fight. When he jumped off his horse and threw up his hands,
the captors found him armed “all over.’”’ He carried a .30-.30
carbine, a .32-caliber automatic, a knife and plenty of am-
munition. At first brought to Burns, the prisoner soon was
taken to Vale, in Malheur County, for trial. He was convicted
and executed by the State.

Funeral services for Goodman, held on the courthouse
lawn in Burns, were attended by the largest crowd to assemble
for such rites in Harney County. Every business house in
Burns closed as a tribute to the man who gave his life in line
of duty. His wife, Hester, daughter of W. W. Johnson, pio-
neer of Fort Harney days, was left with three children.

220 HarNEy County, OREGON,

Stable, on ground now occupied by the Arrowhead Hotel,
then next to the French Hotel. Both burned out in later years,
after conversion of the Red Front into a pool hall. In the fall
of 1900, John Sayer’s sawmill, on the Silvies River and im-
mediately north of the present highway out of Burns, was
reduced to ashes. The news account caustically referred to
incendiary fiends. ) |

John Devine, separated at last from the flocks and herds of
his Alvord Ranch, died in September, 1901. With-his passing
there faded many of the colorful aspects of ranching which
had been part of his yesterdays. Pioneers paused in tribute as
his body was interred in the Burns Cemetery. Around it was
the tall sage to vie with a mound of flowers.

Harney County had, in a decade and a half, performed
many official functions, but its first legal hanging of a man
waited until 1904. Harry D. Egbert, alias John Frost, was in-
dicted for the murder of John Saxon, deputy sheriff, on Oc-
tober 28, 1903. His trial was set for December 1. Convicted,
he was hanged at. the noon hour on January 29, following.
He had no known relatives and his body was turned over to
the dean of the medical faculty of Willamette University.

Of importance in reclaiming huge areas of arid land at
the turn of the century were: The Carey Act, approved in 1894
and expiring by limitation in August, 1904, and the National
Reclamation Act of 1903. After passage of the latter act, the
Reclamation Department soon sent into Harney Valley engi-
neer John T’. Whistler. He, with a state engineer, John H.
Lewis, studied the problem of irrigation from Silver Creek.
This project died aborning because government lands em-
braced in the districts were too few.

Of further steps, James Donegan wrote in the 1930s:

In January, 1904, water gauges were installed in the Silvies River
and have been in operation to the present time. Engineer Whistler,
in his final report, said, “The Harney project contemplates the irriga-
tion of land in the Harney Valley by means of water storage on Silvies
River or its tributaries. . . . The locality is remote from railroads
and the principal industry is stock grazing, At the present time there
is little demand for products other than those which can. be used for
stock feeding.” oe

Led by the Times-Herald the settlers and land owners in the Har-

AND Its RANGE LAND 3 221

ney Valley made violent objections to Engineer Whistler’s report and
final conclusions. .

William Hanley and others proposed, under the Carey Act,
to irrigate 65,000 acres of sageland from flood waters of the
Silvies River. A court decision dashed their hopes. Later,
pumps were employed to draw water from subsurface sources
for irrigation. . |
_ Other attempts were made to organize development com-
panies but the plans withered. Long a dream that failed of
achievement was to divert water from Malheur Lake to thou-
sands of thirsty acres. Big plans were made, and were derailed.

For some time the government had been looking askance at
the manner in which certain lands had been disposed. F inally,
airing came for what was called the “Oregon Land Frauds.”
These, wrote the late Professor R. C. Clark in the authorita-
tive Dictionary of American History,

were brought to light during the administration of President Theo-
dore Roosevelt. They were effected under the Homestead Act (1862),
under the Timber and Stone Act (1878) and under exchange of
state school lands for government timber lands. The device of secur-
ing state school lands of little or no value at a cost of $1.25 an acre
and exchanging them for valuable timber lands was in operation as
early as 1890. The system of dummy entries on homestead and timber
lands under which large lumber companies, often controlled by capi-
talists from Wisconsin, Michigan or Minnesoto, acquired immense
tracts of valuable timber land was extensively used in the period 1890
to 1904. The great increase in entries in Oregon under the Timber
and Stone Act (from 464.in 1901 to 4209 in 1903, and 3260 in 1904)
seems to indicate the height of the period of fraud.

. These funds were made possible by the connivance and assistance
of state and Federal government officials. They were exposed through
the investigations of Francis J. Heney and William J. Burns. Heney
secured thirty-three convictions out of thirty-four prosecutions. One
of those convicted was a United States senator.

The outcome was a huge and lasting benefit for Harney and
other counties in the setting aside of timber reserves. The
Division of Forestry, created in 1881, was given permanent
statutory rank‘in 1886, but it was not until 1905 that the for-

est reserves began to be administered by the Department of
Agriculture.

(1)

(2)
(3)

(L)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)

(a2)
(13)

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: : :

IEGAL EXECUTIONS IN THE OOUNTIES OF THE coe OREN,

Two Indians near Fort George, shot after trial before an equal number of gentlemen from the -.
Fort and the principal native men and LORD shot. for murder sigs * 1815. (quasielegal) ;

An Indian | at Astoria in late August or early Septenber, 18)0.

Tiloukait, Tomahas, Kiasumpkin, Klokomos and Isaiachalakis, all Indians, hanged at Oregon
City on June 2, 1850, for participation in the Whitman MASSACT ee

William Kendall, hanged in } Marion County on “April 18% 1851,
Creed Tues, hanged in Marion County in 1851 (need date)
Return William Everman, hanged at Dallas on May 11, 1852
Adam E. “imple, hanged at Dallas on Oct. 8, 1852.

Moss, hanged in Polk. County fn 1860 (need date)

Philip George, hanged at Corvallis on gine 22, 1860

Andrew J, Pate, hanged at Albany on May 27, 1862

A, Berry Wey, hanged at Canyon City, Grant County, on June ly 1863 hia ms a miners’ courte
quasi legal) , |

Zebulon Griffith, hanged Lafayette, Yamhill County, June 9, 1863

George Baker and George Pe Beale, hanged at Salem on May 17, 1865

(14) William Cain (or Kane)» hanged at Canyon City, August 3, 1865

(15)
(16)

(17)

Thomas Smith, hanged at Albany on May 10, 1866

Schonchin John, Kintpuash, Boston Charley and Black oe pee, hanged at Fort Klamath
on Oct, 35 1873. - |

Sevier Lewis, bite at Empire City, Coos County, on ‘Aneta 30, 1878

(18) white Owl and Cuit-it-Tumps, hanged at Pendleton, on January 10, 1879

(19)Aps, hanged at %MXK Pendleton on January 18, 1879

(20)
(21)

James Cook, hanged at The Dalles on Febs 8, 1879.

Eugene L, Avery and James Johnson, hanged at Portland on “Merch 1h, 1879

- (22)Kat Koo, Indian, hanged at Portland on May 5, 1879

(23)
(2h)
(25)
(26)
(27)

Edward Murphy, hanged at Pendleton on January 65 1881

Charles J, Rogers, hanged at Portland on January 28, 1885

Joseph Drake, hanged at Salem on Yareh 20, 1885

HMHAMIX Louis -----il, hanged at Jacksonville on March 12, 1886 (need his last name)
William cena hanged Pols ey. on sues 6, 1888

;

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| |

(28) Richard E, Marple, hanged at Lafayette on Nove ll, 1887
(29)Patrick McGinnis, hanged at Canyon City, April 26, 1889

(30) Chu Gong, hanged at Portland on August 9, 1889

(31) John Gilman, hanged at Empire City, Coos County, on Dec. 13, 1889
(32) Fred Zorn, hanged at Pendleton on August 19, 1892 ,

(33) John Reiter, hanged at Astoria on Dec, 1, 1893

(34) John Hansen, hanged at Astoria on May 18, 189;
(35) Lloyd Bryson Mink gomkeer hanged at Albany on Dec, 19, 1895 . :
KEXERX (36) Kelsey Porter, hanged at Union City on Nov, 20, 1897 .
(37) William G, Magers, hanged at Dallas on Feb, 2, 1900 a |
(38) Coleman Gillespie, hanged at Gold Beach on Oct, 5, 1900.

(39) B. H, Dalton and Joseph Wade, hanged at Portland, on Jan, 31, 1902
KUXWMEXRANAANE (1,0) August Schieve, hanged in Columbia County on July 2, 1902
(41) Elliott Lyons, hanged at Eugene on April 17, 1903

(42) Pleasant Armstrong, hanged at Baker County Jail on Jan, 225 190),
(43)Harry D. Egbert, hanged in Harney County on Jan, 29, 190)
(4)Norman Williams Hanged at fhe Dalles on July 21, 1905

Metadata

Containers:: Box 33 (2-Documentation of Executions), Folder 11
Resource Type:: Document
Description:: Unknown executed on 1862-09 in Oregon (OR)
Rights:: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Date Uploaded:: July 3, 2019

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