There was an incident in America recently involving a politician and a reporter. Nothing new in that you might say. But it happened in Montana and if it’s a case of history repeating itself, then there could be some interesting times ahead.
Greg Gianforte has made a name for himself in the States. He’s the new Republican Congressman for Montana and he got into a bit of bother recently after he “body-slammed” a reporter.
He pleaded guilty in court to assault and the judge fined him $385. He was also given 40 hours community service and 20 hours of anger management counselling.
This isn’t the first time that a politician has been involved in controversy in Montana. Back in the 1860’s, the citizens of Bannack, a mining town in Montana, elected Henry Plummer as their new sheriff. Little did they know how controversial that decision would turn out to be.
William Henry Plummer was born in 1832 in Washington County, Maine and at the age of 19 he headed to San Francisco to seek fame and fortune during the great Gold Rush. He worked in a book shop until he saved enough money to buy a mine in Nevada County. Fellow businessmen were impressed with the young man and they persuaded him to run in the election for the position of town marshal.
Plummer won and he quickly earned a reputation as a good worker. He captured Jim Webster, a murder suspect who was terrorising two counties and took him into custody.
His first controversy happened when he became involved in the marital problems of a local couple, John and Lucy Vedder. Vedder was a gambler who battered and abused his wife. On one occasion, a passer-by heard cries coming from the house and he saw Vedder beating her. When Plummer heard about it, he sent in the police and a lawyer to advise her about getting a divorce. She took the advice and decided to leave her husband.
Vedder was hopping mad and decided to kill the marshal. He didn’t exactly keep his intentions to himself and he went around the town asking people if he could borrow a gun. On the night that Vedder’s wife was due to leave him, Plummer turned up at the house to offer some protection. Vedder came home armed with a pistol and fired twice at Plummer. He missed with both shots but Plummer didn’t, and he shot Vedder dead.
Plummer, however, was charged with second degree murder and was convicted. The judge sentenced him to 10 years in San Quentin. By this time, Plummer was ill with consumption and his condition was deteriorating rapidly. It looked like he was going to die. A petition was sent to the governor with the signatures of more than 100 officials who felt sorry for Plummer and the Governor granted a pardon on compassionate grounds.
He didn’t die though, he made a full recovery and went back to Nevada City to return to mining. Even though he was no longer in the business of law enforcement, he soon got involved in the citizen’s arrest of San Quentin escapee ‘Ten Year’ Smith.
He then came across another escapee, ‘Buckskin Bill’ Riley, and tried to arrest him too. When Riley whipped out his bowie knife and slashed the ex-marshal across the forehead, Plummer shot him dead. He was arrested and locked in a cell where his wound was stitched up. The police decided it was self-defence but they knew he wouldn’t get a fair trial, given his previous history, so they allowed him to make a run for it.
While on the run, Plummer and some companions went to a brothel where they caused more trouble. The owner was a man by the name of Ford and he threw them out. When they went to get their horses, Ford followed them and tried to shoot them. Plummer returned fire and killed Ford. The dead man’s Irish buddies gathered a mob together to lynch Plummer but he managed to escape.
He headed for Maine but he obviously had a nose for trouble. While at Fort Benton waiting for a steam ship, the agent of a government farm rushed into the fort, begging for volunteers to help him to defend his family against an anticipated Indian attack on the small holding.
Plummer, not one to turn his nose up at the prospect of a fight, agreed to help. A man called Jack Cleveland also agreed to go.
The Indian problem never materialised so he resumed his journey to Bannack in Maine. Jack Cleveland travelled with him. In Bannack, they were in a bar having a drink when Cleveland tried to provoke him into a fight. Plummer fired a warning shot into the ceiling but Cleveland wouldn’t back down.
He drew his gun so Plummer shot him and Cleveland died. Plummer found himself back in court charged with murder, but Bannack was a thriving mining town by then and a miners’ jury acquitted him. He was so well regarded by the miners that they elected him sheriff of Bannack.
As a lawman, he wanted to abolish lynching and mob rule. Ironically, in 1864, an armed mob went to Plummer’s cabin and dragged him outside. They marched him to some pine trees, bound his hands, slipped a noose over his head, and hung him.
The lynching of Henry Plummer is one of the great mysteries of the Wild West. Some said that he secretly led a band of outlaws who stole huge amounts of gold from the miners and killed more than 100 citizens. Others disputed that and said there was no evidence to support the claim.
In any event, they lynched him and after all he’d been through, he was still only 32 when he died.