Ice came Monday here along the
Missouri, now snow falls. The prediction: snow and very cold. North
Dakota in wintertime. Time to curl up with a good book (I've got
about two dozen to get to) and read the days away.
An editor at the Bismarck Tribune sent
me a book to review which was published in the paper last Sunday:
Murdering Indians. When I “googled” my name, I saw the
review showed up online. The happenings surrounding the murders and
the subsequent lynching weren't all that long ago. People took
things into their own hands if they didn't like the way it was
developing.
The picture shows how tough things got in the winter of 1886-87. Charlie Russell, the painter, was asked to describe how things were in the severe winter. He responded by painting this picture. The year before things were pretty tough, too, at least for one guy.
The March 31, 1885 issue of Sheldon's
newspaper carried a long story about a lynching at Pierre, SD. It
started with: “The Bell murder trial has been carried to a higher
court where venue is never changed and continuances are unknown. The
last set of this drama in real life was enacted at 2 o'clock
yesterday morning. A masked mob of twenty-five men entered the town
from the east early yesterday morning, proceeded to the jail, took
from thence the murderer, J.W. Bell, and hung him to a flag pole in
front of the court house, the whole transaction occupying less than
fifteen minutes. Some time ago Bell was arrested for the murder of
Forrest G. Small near Harold on December 4, 1884. The evidence
against the accused was chiefly circumstantial.”
(The underline is mine.)
Further
on in the story, “Bell begged and prayed for his life, but to no
purpose, after which he began screaming 'murder' at the top of his
voice, fighting every step of the way to the hasitly improvised
gallows. Residents in the neighborhood were awakened by the noise
and viewed the proceedings through the darkness. Arriving at the
flag pole, which is about fifty feet in front of the courthouse a
cross bar was nailed at about fifteen feet from the ground and one
end of the inch hemp rope was swung over the bar, and in a twinkling
the alleged murderer was paying penalty of his crime.”
The
writer even told us about the rope “about twelve feet long, one
inch in diameter, and brand new. The knot tied is the regulation
hangman's knot prepared by a skilled hand.”
A
few hours before the lynching the accused said, “If they hang me,
they would hang an innocent man... I can establish my innocence.”
The mob never gave him the chance for a trial.
...
Sven and Ole were sipping their beers when a truck went past loaded up with rolls of sod... "I'm gonna do dat ven I vin the lottery."..."Do vat?" asked Ole... "Send my lawn out to be mowed."
...
Quite a stir occurred on local tv this past weekend. Ron Burgundy, otherwise known as Will Ferrell, came to Bismarck and sat beside a weekend anchor gal for the whole half hour and brought a few laughs.
Sven and Ole were sipping their beers when a truck went past loaded up with rolls of sod... "I'm gonna do dat ven I vin the lottery."..."Do vat?" asked Ole... "Send my lawn out to be mowed."
...
Quite a stir occurred on local tv this past weekend. Ron Burgundy, otherwise known as Will Ferrell, came to Bismarck and sat beside a weekend anchor gal for the whole half hour and brought a few laughs.
