Three carriages entered the square, and as they halted before the jail door, the ranks of waiting men presented arms. Half a dozen men descended from the carriages \u00e2\u20ac\u201c William Tell Coleman and the other leaders of the Committee. They talked for a few moments through the wicket-gate \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and then they were admitted into the jail, to speak with Sheriff Scannell.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have come for the prisoner Casey,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Coleman told him. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We ask that he be peaceably delivered us, handcuffed at the door immediately.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Under existing circumstances,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d replied Sheriff Scannell, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I shall make no resistance. The prison and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contents are yours.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We want only the man Casey at present,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d One of the other Committee members added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For the safety of all the rest, we hold you strictly accountable.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Casey was taken to the Committee headquarters \u00e2\u20ac\u201c later, Charles Cora was also added to the Committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bag. Three hundred men guarded Fort Gunnybags, another hundred the jail, while the rest were relieved for the moment. The next day, Vigilantes patrolled the streets, and warned merchants selling weapons not to sell any such \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 for now. James Casey and Charles Cora were allowed visitors. On Tuesday, Cora was brought before the Committee and informed that he would be tried for murder. All the forms of law would be observed, and he would be represented by a lawyer. Who was one of the Executive Committee \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Cora provided a list of witnesses, who would testify in his defense, and they were all sent for; none could be found.<\/p>\n
That evening, word arrived that James King of William had died. Sometime that evening, both Cora and Casey were convicted and sentenced.<\/p>\n
Thursday at noon was the time set for King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funeral to begin. The nearby Unitarian Church where it was to be held was jammed to overflowing by mid-morning, and the procession with the coffin was said to have been two miles long. Mourners stood in the streets to pay their respects \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and in the street before the Vigilance Committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters there were also men standing; men in three ranks, in the pose of attention as they had stood in the square before the county jail on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
Just before one o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122clock, the tall windows on the second floor of the building were opened; from two of them, a pair of small wooden platforms were pushed out, and balanced on the edge of the window-sill. Above, from the flat roof of the building, a pair of heavy beams was set into place, just over the platforms; a noose of heavy rope dangled from the end of each beam. Then \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 silence again, although those who waited in the street below could hear the faint music of a church organ. The music seemed to be a cue of some kind. Charles Cora, his eyes covered by a white handkerchief blindfold was guided out of the window, to stand silently on the little platform. A few moments later, James Casey followed; he was not blindfolded at his request, but his nerve broke, looking down at the implacable faces below. He babbled, pleading that he was not a murderer, he had done nothing, he only responded to insult \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the words fell into grim silence.<\/p>\n
In that silence, the commotion at the door of the Unitarian Church could be heard clearly; James King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coffin was being carried out by the pall-bearers. From the steeple above, the church bell tolled a single note. Another church bell joined, and then another and another, as those men in the street presented arms. The platforms beneath the Casey and Cora dropped \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and justice as it had been declared by the Vigilantes was done. Three carriages entered the square, and as they halted before the jail door, the ranks of waiting men presented arms. Half a dozen men descended from the carriages \u00e2\u20ac\u201c William Tell Coleman and the other leaders of the Committee. They talked for a few moments through the wicket-gate \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and then they were admitted into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,30,74,24],"tags":[158,160,159,161],"class_list":["post-7543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aint-that-america","category-history","category-old-west","category-world","tag-committee-of-vigilance","tag-gold-rush","tag-san-francisco","tag-vigilantes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7544,"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions\/7544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncobrief.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nPostscript: the Committee did not disband, immediately. They went on adding members, conducting military drill, and doing business \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one item of which was the formation of a list. Those on it would either leave, or be charged and tried under the ordinary rules of law. Only two more miscreants were hanged, and thirty banished officially, although it was estimated that at least eight hundred left town voluntarily. The Committee formally dissolved in August of that year, with a grand parade and an open house of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fort Gunnybags.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nMany years later, a curious visitor to the city asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What has become of your Vigilance Committee?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Toll the bell, sir \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and you will see!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"