Butte County CA Archives History - Books .....The Criminal Annals Of Butte County 1882
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Book Title: History Of Butte County

THE CRIMINAL ANNALS OF BUTTE COUNTY.

   Crime is a gross injury done to the person or property of another, by an
individual, in violation of law. From an innate desire for excitement, borne by
all peoples, civilized or savage, the rehearsal of past incidents in criminal
lore seldom becomes tiresome to the attentive listener, and the written record
or history of such events is generally very entertaining reading. Perhaps this
strange liking is due to a latent barbarism, of which the most developed and
enlightened races never fully divest themselves; it may be a susceptibility to
sympathy for unfortunates far removed from them by time and death, which is not
barbarism at all, or it may be that violations of law are landmarks of the past,
by which history is the more easily remembered. Be it one or all of these, the
fact remains that man likes to read of crime. The history of Butte county has
more or less to do with her law-courts, and from among the voluminous lore of
dockets, journals and records, we cull a few of the more important
transgressions of law, together with what accompanying details can be
ascertained from brushing up the memories of the older settlers.

  In the earliest days of the county, the rapid and promiscuous immigration of
all classes and conditions of society gave rise to numerous disputes that were
sometimes settled by the assassin's bullet or the treacherous knife; and the
natural inefficiency of the law to ferret out the offenders; due to its very
recent establishment in the state, enabled many a criminal to go unpunished.
Likewise, an individual's mysterious absence was seldom noted, because of the
general tendency to move from place to place in search of richer diggings, each
man's principal business being to look out for number one, without troubling
himself about his neighbors. For these reasons, information in this direction is
very meagre during several years. Not that the state of society, at its worst,
was as bad in Butte county, by a long way, as it is at present in certain
portions of the United States; nor do we mean that the earliest, period was its
worst, for, considering the strange amalgamation of so many races under such
peculiar circumstances, the honesty and goodness of that period are truly
remarkable. Entering into and permeating the apparent lawlessness of the time,
were the undying principles of natural justice and natural law, which, as
substitutes for more regularly-organized codes, performed their mission with
wonderful effectiveness, and astonishing impartiality. Even the application of
the first statutes to the affairs requiring judicial settlement, was impregnated
with these principles, and we venture to say that more justice was obtained,
with less palaver, than even in these days of too much law.

    Among the earliest crimes brought to the attention of the courts, was the
homicide of Cassius Paris, at Fairfield bar, in June, 1851, by several whose
names or aliases indicate their Spanish extraction:—Appolonius Sanchez, Vivierno
Diez, Doratio Gonzales and Jose Martin. Their indictment for murder was the
first of the kind found by a grand jury in Butte county. The trial was held at
Hamilton, in the district court, Judge W. S. Sherwood presiding. The evidence
showed that Paris had both threatened and attempted to kill the defendants, and
that, after a certain mode of self-defense, they had bound the deceased with
ropes, and proceeded systematically to take his life. The trial jury found the
defendants not guilty of the offence charged in the indictment. An amusing
incident of the trial appears on the court journal:—"And now the sheriff reports
that one of the jurors in this cause empannelled, to wit: W. Henshaw, escaped
from his custody during the night. Whereupon the court, after hearing Mr.
Henshaw in explanation, considers that he is guilty of contempt of court, and
orders that he be fined twenty-five dollars therefor." Many of our readers will
remember Washington Henshaw, who so successfully eluded the watchful eye of
Sheriff Wilbur, that he might repose in the bosom of his family.

    In April of this year, Joseph Van Buren was shot at Lyon's ranch, and died
two days after. Joseph Cummings was accused of the crime, and held for
manslaughter by Thomas E. Gray, a justice of the peace, but was finally
acquitted. We will not attempt to note all of the crimes of a sanguinary nature
committed subsequent to this time, but allude briefly to only a few of the more
important: nor will we confine ourselves wholly to deeds of bloodshed.

    One of the first cases tried by the court of sessions of much importance,
was brought before Moses Bean, then county judge, in October, 1851, the cause
being the "People vs. Finley A. Campbell," indicted for grand larceny. The
offense of Scotch Campbell, as he was generally known, was a most henious one
for those days, being no less than the stealing of seven head of mules and seven
head of horses from Dutch Charley's ranch (now owned by D. N. Friesleben, of
Oroville), and driving them away. He was pursued and caught, and it was with the
greatest difficulty that he could be saved from lynching. Judge C. F. Lott
appeared in his behalf when the trial came on. Great excitement prevailed, and
as the extreme penalty of grand larceny in those days was hanging, it was
confidently expected that the jury, who had it in their power to fix the
sentence, would without doubt conform to the usages of the time and consign the
unfortunate Campbell to a perpendicular taking-off. But the arbiters of
Campbell's fate looked at the crime from a different standpoint, and only gave
him ten years in the state prison. The public was indignant at a verdict which
imprisoned a man for horse-stealing, next to stealing gold-dust the highest
crime in the early California code, but their wrath was of no avail, and Scotch
Campbell immediately went to work for the state.

    In the early part of 1854, while the seat of justice was at Bidwell, a
fine-looking man of polished manners and superior education and intelligence,
was incarcerated in the Butte county bastile. His name was John Harper. He was
charged with robbing a woman, Mrs. Evoy, while riding with her on the stage from
Shasta to Marysville, the act being accomplished in the neighborhood of Neal's
ranch. Mrs. Evoy had $1,800 in gold-dust in her valise, which fact becoming
known to Harper, he showed the lady many little attentions, all of which she
supposed were prompted by his natural gallantry towards the sex. Unsuspectingly
she left the stage on one occasion at a stopping-place, and while absent from
her treasure, Mr. Harper appropriated it to himself, replacing the weighty
substance with a stone. The robbery was soon discovered, and a search revealed
the gold in Harper's pocket. He professed surprise, and exclaimed, "I am
ruined!" On his defense he claimed that another passenger had performed the
villainous deed, and to escape detection had used his pocket for a hiding-place.
This failed to satisfy the jury, and they sent Harper down for a good long term.

    During the same year J. C. Martin, a young man eighteen years of age, who
had been arrested upon the charge of stealing a horse from a livery-stable in
Marysville, committed suicide by hanging himself to a stove-pipe in the jail
upon the third day of his incarceration.

    A stabbing affray occurred at Forbestown, July 24, 1855, between Jas.
Whitcomb and Henry Small, in which the former received a wound from which he
died. They were exchanging civilities with their fists, and Whitcomb had
severely bitten a finger belonging to Small, when they were parted by A. G.
Simpson. Smarting from his wound, Small stole quietly to where Whitcomb stood
and stabbed him in the left breast, and, as he turned, again in the back. Small
was taken before a justice, but no prosecutor appearing, he was discharged. The
examination was held before the inquest, which latter implicated Small to such a
degree that another warrant was issued for his arrest, but he had disappeared,
and could not be found.

    The next instance that is brought to our notice is the unfortunate case of
Herbert Keenan, who being unjustly convicted upon circumstantial evidence, ended
his life by his own hand before his innocence was established. On the
twenty-fourth of August, 1858, Mr. Wakeman Burr, a nephew of Aaron Burr, who had
been doing business in partnership with Keenan at Strawberry valley, sold out
his interest for $1,100 and started for Mooreville. The next day the body of
Burr was found half way between Strawberry valley and Brown's diggings, in
Mountain Spring township, murdered in a brutal manner, and his pockets rifled of
their contents. Keenan was arrested on suspicion, and upon being brought to
trial, the circumstantial evidence bore so strongly against him that he was
generally considered guilty. However, the jury failed to agree. Upon the second
trial he was convicted, but it was found that one of the jurymen was not a
citizen, and a third trial ensued, which resulted in a genuine conviction. Then
the case was appealed to the supreme court and that tribunal granted him a
fourth trial, which was to come off in February, 1860. On the fourth of
December, 1859, the poor man, worried to distraction by the long-continued
suspense, committed suicide in his cell. The act of self-destruction was
accomplished by means of his neck-handkerchief, which passed around his neck,
was then fastened to a bar of his cell door, and allowed his knees to nearly
touch the floor. The last act in the melodrama was the complete establishment of
Keenan's innocence one year after his death. A foreigner confined in the
Marysville jail for some misdemeanor, finding his end drawing near, sent for a
priest and confessed to having himself murdered Burr. The confession was also
made before Judge Goodwin, countv judge of Yuba county, and certified to in due
form, thus relieving the memory of Keenan from the horrible odium it had borne.

    A tragic affair happened five miles above Dogtown on the fourteenth of May,
1863. A man named Nick Johnson, having separated from his wife some time before,
waylaid and killed her within a mile of her residence. Her brother was driving
cattle near the place and heard her cry. When he came in sight Johnson had her
in his arms and was striking her with a knife in the side. He attempted to stop
him, but Johnson turning to attack him, he ran for help. On his return the poor
woman was dead, her head being nearly severed from her body. The neighbors
turned out in search of the murderer, and about half an hour after the report of
a gun was heard. On repairing to the spot Johnson was found dead, he having
placed his gun under his chin and nearly blown his head off.

    The fatal shooting of Philip Farrelly, which occured on the afternoon of
October 5, 1864, occasioned so much excitement at the time, and has been the
cause of so much discussion since, that -we merely allude to it as an incident
of interest in the history of Oroville. The night before there had been a
political meeting on the street, and, party feeling running high, a fight was
the necessary consequence, which was participated in by several combatants on
both sides, Mr. Farrelly among the number. The next clay, several parties were
arrested for engaging in the melee. Mr. Dan Hilton, then of Oroville, had come
to Justice Coughey's office to await his trial, which was set for two o'clock.
J. Armstrong, of Cherokee flat, one of the belligerents of the night before,
approached Hilton, and told him insultingly that he would prosecute his case.
After some severe passages between the parties, Hilton ordered Armstrong to
leave, when the latter attempted to draw his pistol. At the same time, Hilton
drew his, and slapped Armstrong with his open hand. Armstrong then ran across
the street, and again drew his weapon, but was deterred from using it by a stone
thrown by a by-stander. Hilton pursued, and Armstrong ran into Farrelly's
saloon. His pursuer followed, and, not seeing him there, supposed he was hidden
in a back room; but it has been ascertained that Armstrong ran through the
saloon, out the back way, climbed the fence into the alley, and went down Myers
street to Montgomery. Hilton was ordered to go out by Farrelly, and complied. By
this time, a large crowd had gathered at the door. Farrelly came from behind the
counter, and immediately three shots were fired from the crowd, one striking the
floor, another bullet passing through the bar-keeper's hand, and the third
entering Farrelly's back on the left side, and inflicting a wound from which he
died that night. The person who fired this shot was never ascertained. Several
men were charged with it, but the examination never elicited any testimony which
revealed the perpetrator. The guilty party, whoever he may be, had most
scrupulously kept his secret from the world, and probably the affair will always
be shrouded in an impenetrable mystery to all but him.

    About the first of June, 1865, a negro named Horn, living near Moretown, in
this county, had his cabin robbed to the amount of seventy dollars. A few days
later, as he was approaching his cabin, a Chinaman ran out, and, not obeying his
command to stop, received the contents of his rifle in the-mouth, the ball
passing through his cheek. Another Celestial immediately rushed out, armed with
his axe, and charged upon Horn, who drew a pistol and shot him through the
heart. The first one shot was not seriously hurt; the other died instantly. The
negro went to Forbestown and delivered himself up to Justice Smith, who examined
into the case and discharged him.

    In the August term of the district court, 1866, Jacob Smith was tried and
found guilty of the murder of Supervisor W. H. Hastings. The killing was done on
the seventh of October, 1865, at Hastings' residence on Pine creek. Smith was
the partner of the deceased. On the day referred to, both were in the field, and
a few words caused Smith to fire two balls from a Colt's revolver into the body
of Hastings, killing him instantly. The animus which prompted him to the
commission of the deed was never clearly established, which gave the defense an
opportunity, which they availed themselves of, to plead insanity on the part of
the defendant. District Attorney Rosenbaum prosecuted the case, and J. M. Burt
and J. O. Goodwin conducted the defense. On the third of August, the jury found
Smith guilty of murder in the first degree. Robert Eccleston was foreman.

    Judge Sexton, on the first of September, pronounced sentence of death upon
the prisoner, fixing for the day of execution the nineteenth of October. A
motion for a new trial was overruled, and an appeal taken to the supreme court,
where the judgment of the district court was reversed and a new trial ordered.
The court held that testimony tending to show the insanity of the prisoner,
excluded at the first trial, was admissible because no motive sufficient to
induce the killing was shown on the part of the state. Before the second trial
was held on the murder case. Smith was brought before the distinct court in
another role than that of prisoner. After the sentence of death had been
pronounced, the intensity of his feelings created the very malady his attorneys
were trying to prove him possessed of. He became crazy in his cell, and was
tried for insanity in the spring of 1867. The investigating jury, of whom H. B.
Lathrop was foreman, found him insane at that time. Smith was sent to the state
asylum at Napa, where he is still living.

    On the sixth of July, 1870, Thomas White, an old resident of Chico, was shot
during a horse-race at that place, by a crowd of desperadoes. Thirty-one bullets
were found in his body. Mitchell, alias Rattling Jack, and Lockwood, two of the
men arrested on suspicion, made a daring and successful escape from the jail at
Chico a few days after.

    A party of white men met at Boone's diggings, October 7, 1870, to attend an
Indian burning in the evening. Two men, named Frank Coyle and Mullings, had
previously quarreled about some affair, and during the afternoon they proceeded
to settle the matter in a summary manner. They were standing thirty or forty
yards apart, both armed—Mullings with a double-barreled shot-gun and Coyle with
a rifle. The only words spoken were by Coyle, for the crowd to "stand clear,"
when he raised his rifle to his shoulder and fired, the ball passing in close
proximity to Mullings' head. The latter immediately discharged one barrel of his
gun at Coyle, who had advanced a few steps. As he continued to advance, Mullings
fired again, when Coyle fell and died in a few moments. Mullings was examined
before Justice Dick, of Oroville, on the twelfth, and discharged, it being
considered a case of justifiable homicide.

    William Reese, a resident of Oregon gulch, on the second day of January,
1871, was found dead near his residence, with a wound in the back of his head
made with a pistol-ball. There were also evidences of a struggle in the house,
and a large amount of amalgam that was in the quartz-mill the day before was
missing. Several men were arrested, but no evidence could be brought against
them. It was afterwards believed that Robert Donald, whom Reese had befriended
and who was with him the day before, did the deed. He had disappeared. Seven
hundred dollars were offered for his capture, but aside from picking up two or
three of the same name, and not establishing their identity with the murderer,
nothing was accomplished.

    It was reported on the fourteenth of January, 1871, that C. E. Campbell, of
Thompson's flat, had been missing since the first of the month. At first but
little was thought of his absence, as he was in the habit of leaving his place
of abode without informing his neighbors of his intended departure. His
continued absence led to a search of his residence, where indications were found
that he had not contemplated a lengthened absence. The search was continued all
that day without success, but on the fifteenth his body was discovered in
Wardwell & Co.'s shaft, near the base of Table mountain. This shaft was
seventy-five feet deep, had thirty feet of water in it, and had not been worked
for some time. The body was swollen and decayed, and its presence was
ascertained by the effluvia arising from the shaft. A wound was in Campbell's
left side through the heart, and two wounds on his head. No clue was ever had to
the perpetrator of the foul deed.

    An extraordinary instance of juvenile depravity happened at Stringtown on
the thirteenth of January, 1872. E. S. Dickinson, an aged resident of the
county, who kept a store at that place, was brutally murdered by an Indian boy
of seventeen years, and two white youths of a far more tender age, fourteen and
eleven years respectively, sons of a Mr. Watson. The youngest boy went to the
store and told the old man that his horse was mired in the ditch some distance
below. While he was passing an Indian campooda, Mr. Dickinson was shot by the
eldest white boy, with a double-barrelled shot-gun, making fearful wounds in his
side and back. The young Indian fiend then ran out, smothered the old man's
cries, shot him in the head with a revolver, and cut his throat. The bleeding
corpse was then thrown into a turn of the ditch, where it was found. Returning
to the store, the boys robbed the safe of the money and gold-dust it contained.
Freddie Watson, the eldest white boy, and the Indian were tried for murder, but
the former was acquitted, while the latter was sent for a long term to the
penitentiary.

STAGE-ROBBING EXPLOITS.

    One of the most daring and successful stage-robberies ever accomplished in
the state, was that of the Marysville and Shasta stage, on the ninth of June,
1860. The place selected by the robbers was in the Butte creek timber, near
Lowery's ranch, on land now owned by C. F. Lott, of Oroville. The location took
the name of the Robber's gulch from this occurrence. At a spot where the road
crosses a dry slough, the robbers, four in number, had stretched a rope across
the road, which was made fast to a tree on either side. They then secreted
themselves in the slough, and as the stage approached on the south side,
presented themselves and ordered a halt. Had the driver attempted to proceed,
the rope would have brought the stage to a stand-still and exposed the occupants
to a murderous fire. Two of the road-agents then brought their pieces to bear
upon the driver and the express messenger, the third covered the coach and
passengers, while the fourth detached the horses from the coach, and then,
mounting the box, demanded the messenger's weapons. These being obtained, he
asked for the keys of the treasure-box, and removing the specie, which amounted
to about $16,000, remarked that "Wells, Fargo & Co. advertise a capital stock of
five hundred thousand dollars, and can afford to lose this little dab." The
driver requested the villainous-looking robber who had a gun pointed at his
head, to elevate his piece, a request with which he immediately complied. After
securing the treasure, they hitched the horses to the coach, neglecting to
fasten one of the inside traces. This was pointed out by the driver, when it was
immediately made fast. It was then suggested to the highwaymen that they could
treat on the operation, when they replied with the assurance that they should be
happy to do so, but had unfortunately emptied a bottle of cock-tails while
waiting for the stage, and had no more liquor about them. They then made a
proposition to tie the messenger, when McDuffie remarked that they had bettor
let him go, as he might be along that way again with more money. This argument
prevailed, and they took their departure. Their faces, from their eyes downward,
were covered with crape. Wells, Fargo & Co. offered a reward of $7,000 for the
recovery of the treasure, and $5,000 for the arrest and conviction of the
robbers. The former object was never attained, and the latter only partially.
Shortly after, a man named Oliver Gray was identified as one of the robbers, and
was tried at the October term of the court of sessions. He was found guilty and
sentenced to ten years at San Quentin. Judge Lott prosecuted the case for the
company. A small amount, $450, was obtained from the prisoner. A year or so
after, Frank Smith was arrested at Marysville for being concerned in the
robbery, and likewise served the state for ten years. Every means possible was
employed to find the treasure. It was believed that the brigands had buried it
near the dry slough but the investigations brought to light only a few old
clothes and a dirk-knife that they had buried some distance off. The ruse was
tried of sending a man to the prison on some fictitious charge, who became
intimate with Gray, but could not worm from him the secret of its hiding-place.

    Another daring highway robbery was committed, on the twenty-fifth of June,
1864, near Bidwell's bar, as the Quincy stage was going towards Oroville.
Charles Wykoff was driving, and had with him two passengers, O. W. Cherry and A.
F. Linden, besides Whiting & Co.'s treasure-box, containing $1,882 in gold-dust
and $220 in coin. Two men suddenly appeared in the road, one taking the horses
by the head and the other demanding the treasure-box, with cocked pistol in hand
presented at the driver. Wykoff responded that there was no treasure-box in the
coach, when they told him they knew a "d_____d sight better; hand it out, and
put on no airs." This brought out the desired article. The robber took it to the
side of the wheel-horses and broke it open. While doing so he dropped his
pistol. Wykoff was about to shoot him with his own weapon, when the passengers
discovered a third man in the brush with levelled pistol, and begged the driver
to desist. About this time Constable Brown, of Bidwell's bar, arrived in a
buggy. He was made to stop in the rear of the stage, while they went through
him, also. But as he only had six dollars and a half, he was magnanimously
allowed to keep it. They were about to rifle the baggage of the passengers, when
the chief brigand told his followers to leave the passengers alone. They then
held their pistols on the stage and buggy and told them to go, and not say
anything about the matter until they got to Marysville, and not to tell any
lies. The stage then proceeded to Oroville, leaving the robbers on the ground
where the robbery was committed. Pursuit was immediately instituted, and a party
of emigrants caught, who had an examination before Justice Coughey. There were
two women and five men, who gave their names as Sheridan, Stairs and Sims, but
changed them afterwards to W. S., U. T. and Charles Gassoway, J. F. Schuller and
John Shores. They were arraigned before Judge Safford, tried, convicted, and
sentenced to terms varying from three to ten years.

THE DEATH PENALTY.

    At the present writing there have been two legal executions in Butte. The
duty of sentencing a man to death on the gallows, and the duty of executing the
sentence, are about as unpleasant and disagreeable things to do as generally
fall to the lot of mankind. The first heat of indignation and horror has passed
away when the case comes to trial, and when the lease of life allowed by the
judge has terminated, these emotions are generally superceded by pity and
commiseration for the unhappy prisoner. Then ensue long petitions to his
gubernatorial highness for pardon, which, when unsuccessful, are followed by the
final act of the tragedy in the execution of the condemned man. Brief sketches
of these two affairs appear below:—

   On the night of December 12, 1855, George Brooks, a resident of Lynchburg,
entered the St. Charles saloon, on Myers street, Oroville, in a state of
intoxication sufficient to make him very quarrelsome and unreasonable. He was a
tall, powerful man, with a full beard covering the lower part of his face. At
the time, a great rivalry existed between Lynchburg and Oroville, and it
frequently required but the slightest provocation to produce a first-class row.
Brooks requested a man who was seated near the stove, by name Robert Stewart, to
play a game of cards. Stewart declined. Brooks informed him he could hit him
across the nose, and immediately went out into the street, expecting that the
nose of Stewart would follow, that it might be hit. It, the nose, failed to walk
up to the slaughter.

   Brooks re entered the saloon, and remarking that he could whip Stewart,
struck him a blow to convince him of his superior prowess. Stewart retaliated,
and crowded his opponent into a corner of the room. At this, Brooks drew a large
bowie-knife and made several passes at Stewart. Another man interfered with a
stool, which he broke over the head of Brooks. Finding himself closely pressed,
the valiant Brooks struck frantically with his knife at Stewart, but failed to
inflict any injury upon him.

    Albert Riesburg, one of the proprietors of the saloon, came in while the
fight was in progress, and fired at Brooks over the shoulder of Stewart,
striking the former in the left side. Brooks exclaimed "I am shot," and expired
shortly after.

    Riesburg, and Scholler, his partner, were examined before a justice and
discharged. The coroner's jury implicated Riesburg in a large degree, and as he
and his partner were preparing to leave town, they were re-arrested. A crowd
came down from Lynchburg, for the avowed purpose of exercising retributive
justice upon them, but as there happened to be four deputy-sheriffs in town, the
officers protected their prisoners from the fury of the mob, and succeeded in
getting them safely in jail at Bidwell, then the county-seat. Riesburg was tried
for murder in the district court, before Judge Daingerfield, who was then on the
bench, and, on the thirteenth of March, 1856, the jury, of whom Samuel Walden
was foreman, rendered the following verdict: "The jury in the case of the People
of California vs. A. O. Riesburg, find the defendant guilty of murder, but
recommend him to the mercy of the court." On the nineteenth of March, Judge
Daingerfield pronounced sentence of death, fixing as the day of execution the
twenty-fifth of April, 1856.

    Riesburg was a native of Prussia, and only twenty-six years of age. It seems
he had never seen Brooks until the night of the shooting, and, consequently,
could not have premeditated the killing, which should have been proven before a
verdict of murder in the first degree was rendered. Judge Lott, who assisted
District Attorney Kleine in the prosecution, tried to make it a case of
manslaughter. Riesburg averred to the last moment that he fired the fatal shot
because he thought a fellow-man was in danger, and did it to save him. It is
said that an opportunity was once given him to make his escape, after he had
been sentenced. The jail-door was open and a carriage stood ready to carry him
away, but he refused to avail himself of these means to escape the penalty of
the law.

    At a quarter of two on the afternoon of his execution, Riesburg left the
Bidwell jail for the scaffold, accompanied by Rev. Hobart and the sheriff, Peter
Freer, with a guard. He was very pale, but firm, and shook hands with those who
recognized him. Fifteen hundred persons witnessed the execution, among whom were
many women. Great commiseration was felt for the unfortunate young man whose
hasty crime met with such a terrible punishment.

    On Wednesday, March 12, 1862, the body of a man named Jurgen Jansen was
found on the side of Table mountain, near Morris' ravine. It was one of the most
horrible mutilations ever witnessed in the county. He had been murdered in his
bed, evidently with an axe. His head was literally chopped in pieces and nearly
severed from his body, hanging by only a few muscles and tendons. After the
murder had been committed, the body was carried a distance of eighty or one
hundred yards up the side of the mountain, and buried under some rocks. He had
been missed for several days, and the search that was made for him resulted in
the discovery of his hideously-mutilated body. Suspicion had already attached to
Adic Eckron, who shared his bed and cabin with the deceased at the time of the
commission of the murder, and in answer to queries as to the whereabouts of
Jansen, had stated that he did not know where he had gone. He was held to answer
to the court of sessions, bail being refused. In a few days the case was
transferred to the district court.

    Previous to the examination of Eckron, the body of the murdered man was
brought to Oroville and placed in the hall of the court-house. It presented a
sickening and horrible spectacle, and an immense crowd, full of curiosity,
thronged thither to view the remains. Four yawning gashes were visible-one where
the blade of the axe had been sunk into his forehead, one in either cheek, and a
fourth in the back of the neck, nearly severing the head from the shoulders.

    Eckron's trial was held in November, 1862, Judge Sexton presiding. Judge J.
M. Burt appeared for the prisoner, and District Attorney John S. Berry on the
part of the people. The evidence was wholly circumstantial, but so strong that
no one could doubt the guilt of Eckron. Eckron's axe was found covered with
blood, and the cot they both had slept on showed the marks made by the murderous
weapon as the fearful blows were rained upon the writhing victim. Other
circumstances were proportionally instrumental in establishing Eckron's guilt,
and the jury, on the third day of the trial, brought in a verdict of murder in
the first degree. On the ninth day of December, 1862, Judge Sexton pronounced
sentence of death upon the prisoner, fixing the day of execution upon January
30, 1863. The prisoner's counsel took an appeal to the supreme court, but the
judgment of the district court was affirmed. The execution took place privately,
in the jail-yard at Oroville, on the twenty-second of May, 1863, being witnessed
by only a few persons, who were admitted by permission of the sheriff, W. O.
Middleton. To the last Eckron protested his innocence. Both the murderer and his
victim were Scandinavians, and, as the former could not understand English, the
death-warrant was interpreted to him.

    Two Chinamen, Ah Lee and Ah Coon, now lie in jail, convicted of the murder
of Ah Lin, a Chinese merchant of La Porte. They were convicted in the superior
court in June, 1881, and their case is now before the supreme court on appeal.

CASES OF MOB VIOLENCE.

    Of Butte county it may with truthfulness be said that her people are
exceptionally law-abiding. Fewer instances of mob violence have occurred within
her borders than, we believe, any other county in the state, of equal age, can
boast of. Her officers and courts have generally performed their duties with so
much promptness and justice that disgraceful scenes of lynching have been like
the visits of angels in their rarity—no necessity existing for the people to
take the law into their own hands. The first instance of the kind occurred at
Bidwell's bar in 1850, when an Indian was shot by a mob. We have knowledge of no
other happening until the extraordinary affair of 1857, at Bangor.

    A wholesale demonstration of mob-law, whereby a number of victims meet their
fate simultaneously, is not of frequent occurrence. Mob-justice is generally
satisfied with one subject on which to wreak its vengeance, but Bangor can boast
the singular spectacle of three men dangling in a row, having paid the heavy
penalty of their crimes. The trio of unfortunates alluded to were Charles
Ringgold, S. R. Lake and J. N. Johnson. One of their accomplices, Charles Jones,
was taken with the rest, but spared the fate of the others because of his
readiness to confess his partnership in the rascality of his associates.

    In the month of March, 1857, several outrages were committed against
peaceable Chinamen in Oroville and at Bangor. A Chinese camp at the former place
had been robbed, while in the latter place robbery had been supplemented with
murder. The people took the part of the simple foreigners, and determined that
justice should be done them. On the thirtieth of March, the four men named above
were arrested at Long bar, on the Yuba, on suspicion of being implicated in
these crimes. The next day, Mr. Mooney, constable for Wyandotte township, went
to Marysville for the prisoners, and brought them back to Bangor, locking them
in a house. Having heard numerous threats of lynching, the officer began to fear
for their safety, and under cover of the night took them out of town and
endeavored to secrete them in the chaparral.

    About two o'clock in the morning, a band of men, all completely disguised
with blackened faces, rushed upon the constable and his prisoners, and, being
prepared with a wagon, took all of the suspected men into their own charge.
Under duress, with a horrible death confronting him, Jones made a "clean breast"
of the whole affair. As it appeared that he had never shed human blood, he was
spared for the slower operation of the law. The crowd then, proceeded to adjust
the ropes about the necks of the three others, they having been placed upon
barrels set in the wagon. They were called upon to make a confession, when they
replied that they "did not know" they were guilty. The prisoners then called for
brandy, which was given them, and each drank about a pint to steady his nerves
for the trying ordeal before him.

    The place selected for the execution was an old oak tree below the town. The
loose ends of the ropes having been made secure to a huge limb of the tree, the
wagon was driven away, and the mob had completed its work.

    In the morning, the bodies were taken down and an inquest held over them.
The verdict was that "they came to their death by strangulation, by being hanged
by their necks, upon an oak tree near Bangor, effected by the hands of persons
unknown to the jurors." Charles Jones, who escaped the noose, was sent to the
state prison for robbery.

    A long interim here ensued, broken by no act of mob violence until the year
1870, when the citizens again took the weapons of justice into their hands.

    On the afternoon of the twenty-seventh of July, 1870, two teamsters, named
J. M. Logan and Charles Olsen, were driving their teams along the Quincy road.
Being near each other, they carried on a kind of desultory conversation, both
being considerably under the influence of liquor. As they neared Jack's ranch on
their road, Logan accused Olsen of having burned the barn on that place, and
asked him why he did it. A few nights before, the barn had burned down, and
suspicion had fastened on Olsen as the man who did it. Olsen retorted to Logan's
charge with considerable earnestness, and the men quarreled as they drove along.
A short distance above they stopped to water their horses, and began to dispute
as to who should get to the water first. Logan, being invested with an
opprobrious epithet by Olsen, struck the latter over the head with his bucket.
At this Olsen drew his sheath-knife and stabbed his opponent to the heart. An
old gentleman who witnessed the affray stated that Olsen, immediately after
killing Logan, lay down by his side and went to sleep, the fumes of liquor
preventing him from realizing what he had done. Both parties had resided at
Bidwell's bar for eighteen years, and were generally considered industrious and
peaceable men.

    Olsen was arrested and brought to Oroville, where the preliminary
examination was held before Justice George W. McBride, and he was held for
manslaughter, his bail being fixed at $2,000. In default of bail he was
committed to the county jail to await his trial. A great deal of sympathy was
felt for the murdered man, which became more intense after the prisoner was
charged only with manslaughter and it became probable that he would receive but
a light sentence. On the night of the twenty-fourth of August, Joseph N. Vera,
deputy sheriff, who had charge of the prisoner and slept in the anteroom of the
jail, was awakened at one o'clock by the barking of dogs lying in his room. He
heard footsteps on the outside, and asked who was there. The answer, according
to the testimony afterwards given by him on the witness-stand, was in a familiar
voice: "Joe, I want to see you, I have business with you." Vera dressed himself
and opened the door, when a large number of men, some with masks and some
without, entered the room. They told him they meant business and it was useless
for him to resist. They wanted to get into the jail and demanded the keys. Vera
refused to tell them where they were, but after a short search they found them
and several entered the outside door of the jail. One of them came back and
insisted that Vera should go in and open Olsen's cell. Upon his refusal they
brought in a sledge-hammer and a small crow-bar, and began to rain vigorous
blows on the lock of the cell where poor Olsen was confined. Before the door was
opened the wretched man, frightened by these threatening demonstrations, uttered
loud cries for assistance. In a brief while the cries ceased.

    The men who remained with Vera threw a blanket over his head, saying, "Mr.
Sheriff, we do not propose that you shall see any one taken out of here." Olsen
was borne through the room to the outside, when the keys were given back to
Vera, and the men disappeared.

    Early in the morning the lifeless body of Charles Olsen was found dangling
by the neck from an arm of the derrick at the depot. An ugly gash had been made
in his throat, from which it was believed his death had been caused. In the cell
where he had been incarcerated, a pool of blood was on the floor. The coroner's
jury, which held the inquest over the body of Olsen, announced as its opinion
that he had cut his own throat while the lynchers were breaking in the door of
his cell, with a case-knife he was known to have in his possession, and that he
had come to his death by his own hand. Notwithstanding this view of the case,
there were many who believed, on very good grounds, that Olsen was still alive
when taken to the depot. Vera heard groans while the body of the victim was
being borne by him, as did also another party who witnessed the hanging. Whether
the man Olsen killed himself from fright, or whether he met his fate directly at
the hands of his captors, it matters very little. They intended to hang him, and
would have done it just the same if he had been borne unharmed from his cell.

    The grand jury, at its next session, examined several persons who were known
to have taken part in the affair, and submitted the following report: "The
breaking into the county-jail, and the taking therefrom the body of Charles
Olsen, was investigated upon the sworn testimony of Mr. Vera, under-sheriff and
jailor at the time of the occurrence. We agreed that no good to the public or
society would result by any action upon our part against any of the persons
engaged in the affair. To this we unanimously agree; yet we would much rather
see the law respected in all cases and under all circumstances by each and every
citizen."

    Probably no deed of blood committed within the confines of Butte; no heinous
crime, glaring with all the horrid, sickening details of fiendish malice, has
excited half the righteous indignation or the poignant sorrow and grief as the
terrible act of George Sharkovich awakened on the first of June, 1871.

    The victim, Miss Susan McDanel, was the daughter of Thomas McDanel, a
prominent citizen of Cherokee, who had died previous to this sad occurrence. The
murderer was an Austrian, somewhat above thirty, with black hair and eyes. The
cause of the murder was the refusal of Miss McDanel to marry him, or rather, the
certainty that she would not; for it is believed he had never been allowed to
speak to her on the subject. He brooded over the hopelessness of his case, and
informed others that she should marry him or die. Matters went on quietly for
one or two years. On one occasion friends of the young lady were alarmed at his
threats, and would have taken summary measures with him but for the
interposition of others, who thought it was mere braggadocio. Time proved with
how little certainty human actions can be anticipated.

    There had been a wedding at the residence of Justice Glass, which was
followed by a dance at the hall, fifty yards distant. Sharkovich had been at the
ball. Miss McDanel was passing from the hall to the residence of Justice Glass,
in company with Miss Glass and Dr. Sawyer. The three were near the gate, when
hearing some one approach, Miss McDanel turned and remarked to Miss Glass that
her father was coming. The latter looked around and said it was not her father.
A moment after Sharkovich readied them, when he seized Miss McDanel by the hair,
drew her head suddenly back and thrust a knife down into her neck until it
reached her heart. In a moment he had withdrawn the reeking blade and fled in
the darkness. The poor girl ran ten or twelve feet in the direction the fiend
had taken, and fell to the ground a corpse, Without a word or sigh. Several
shots were fired by the bystanders at the flying murderer, but he escaped in the
chaparral. This occurred at three o'clock Thursday morning. By daylight the town
was ablaze with excitement. A meeting for organized action in capturing the
murderer was held in the Cherokee hotel, and $5,000 were offered for his
apprehension. Parties sought him in all directions, Indians were put on his
trail, shafts, tunnels and every conceivable hiding-place were searched, but for
a time in vain.

     By the vigorous efforts of his pursuers, Sharkovich was surrounded, and it
was believed that by no possible chance could he escape the fierce vengeance
that all were prepared to mete out to him. His hiding-place was thought to be on
Bloomer hill, but though the public pulse was at fever heat, Friday, Saturday
and Sunday passed and still he was not caught. On Sunday night George McBride
guarded the Bidwell bridge, with I. R. Ketchum, who remained in the bridge
office. A party of horsemen were on the opposite side, scouring the ravines for
the fugitive. A man stepped on the north end of the bridge, and as he
approached, McBride told him there was a man in the office who wanted to see
him. He offered to pay his toll, but was ordered into the office. Before
reaching it, Mr. Ketchum came out and immediately recognized in him the
perpetrator of the foul deed at Cherokee. Sharkovich carried a Henry rifle, but
did not offer to use it. He entered the office and sat down. Mr. Ketchum leveled
his shotgun at him, and he gave up his rifle. Not being entirely satisfied as to
his identity, several questions were propounded to him. He said he was a
Frenchman going from Oroville to Downieville. They took him to Mr. Bendle's, and
preparations were made to keep him till morning. Mr. Bendle observed the man
fumbling about the breast of his coat, and determined to disarm him. He secured
the long, murderous knife that had been used with such fatal effect upon Miss
McDanel. He then demanded his pistol. Sharkovich, as he drew it out, attempted
to shoot himself, but the weapon failed to explode. Mr. Bendle grasped the
pistol, and Sharkovich releasing his hold of it, sprang away suddenly and began
to run. Three shots from the pistol he had relinquished, fired by Bendle,
brought the relentless fiend to the ground, where with a few short gasps he
expired.

    The body of the murderer was brought to Oroville on Monday morning, and then
carted on, accompanied by an excited crowd, to Cherokee. The funeral obsequies
were of a strange character. Two gallons of petroleum were poured into and over
the corpse, when it was placed on a pile of fire-wood and lumber from
Sharkovich's cabin, and consumed in a grand blaze. This disposition of the body
provoked much criticism and blame from the state press, but when the heniousness
of the crime is considered, together with the intense fury aroused in the
breasts of many by the sad occurrence, there is little to be wondered at in
their revengeful act, even though vengeance was wreaked but on the lifeless and
insensible clay.

    The last act of lynching performed by the people of the county, occurring
but a short time since, is so fresh in the public mind that we hardly need to
refer to it. The brutal murder of the cripple, A. J. Crum, by Tom Noakes, at
Chico, in a sudden fit of anger, was followed, three days after, immediately
upon his incarceration in the county jail, by his forcible removal therefrom and
his suspension from the limb of a tree on the ranch of his victim; all of which
occurred in the latter part of July, 1881.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA,
IN TWO VOLUMES.

I.
HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA FROM 1513 TO 1850.
BY FRANK T. GILBERT.

The Great Fur Companies and their Trapping Expeditions to California.
Settlement of the Sacramento Valley. 
The Discovery of Gold in California.
BY HARRY L. WELLS.

II.
HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY,
From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. 
BY HARRY L. WELLS AND W. L. CHAMBERS.

BOTH VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED WITH VIEWS AND PORTRAITS.
HARRY L. WELLS,
517 CLAY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
1882.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by HARRY L. WELLS, in
the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

FRANCIS, VALENTINE & Co., Engravers & Printers
517 Clay St., San Francisco

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/butte/history/1882/historyo/criminal239ms.txt

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