A Decent, Orderly Lynching: The Montana Vigilantes

by Frederick Allen

The deadliest campaign of vigilante justice in American history erupted in the Rocky Mountains during the Civil War when a private army hanged twenty-one troublemakers. Hailed as great heroes at the time, the Montana vigilantes are still revered as founding fathers. Combing through original sources, including eye-witness accounts never before published, Frederick Allen concludes that the vigilantes were justified in their early actions, as they fought violent crime in a remote corner beyond the reach of government. But Allen has uncovered evidence that the vigilantes refused to disband after territorial courts were in place. Remaining active for six years, they lynched more than fifty men without trials. Reliance on mob rule in Montana became so ingrained that in 1883, a Helena newspaper editor advocated a return to “decent, orderly lynching” as a legitimate tool of social control. Allen’s sharply drawn characters, illustrated by dozens of photographs, are woven into a masterfully written narrative that will change textbook accounts of Montana’s early days—and challenge our thinking on the essence of justice.

Genres: History, 19th Century, True Crime, Nonfiction, American History, Westerns

496 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Frederick Allen was an award-winning reporter and political columnist with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1972 to 1987, when he joined CNN as chief analyst and commentator covering the 1988 presidential contest. His essays for the program Inside Politics earned CNN a Cable Ace Award, and Allen was cited as best political analyst by the editors of The Hotline. Allen was a founding panelist on the Georgia Gang, a public affairs show on Atlanta television since 1982.

He is the author of four books. His history of the Coca-Cola Company, Secret Formula, was published by HarperCollins in 1994 and has been translated into seven languages. Atlanta Rising, a history of modern Atlanta, was published by Longstreet in 1996 and is taught at several colleges. A Decent, Orderly Lynching, Allen's account of the vigilantes of Montana, was published in 2004 by University of Oklahoma Press. His research into vigilante symbolism was cited by the Western History Association. Reckoning with Race is a firsthand account of race relations in America, a collection of eighteen essays exploring his ongoing efforts to understand the struggle of black and white Americans to navigate a shared history.

Allen graduated from Phillips Academy (Andover) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Linda, live in Atlanta and Cashiers, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Anne Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Montana history is full of rough characters. It was one of the last places in the Lower 48 where "civilized" society came, and that includes rule of law. The men of the vigilance committees - the 3-7-77 and related groups - took the law into their own hands out of a sense of exasperation that bullies, thugs, highwaymen, and rotten characters of all sorts ran the roost. People who worked hard to make good were robbed, intimidated, murdered. The vigilantes were - and still are- a revered group in Montana lore and included a large number of the respected founders of the state. But the vigilance movement went too far, as these kinds of groups do - which is why you need rule of law to begin with.

This is a thoroughly researched and fascinating look at Montana's long, long, long episode of vigilantism. The reasons it went on so long - political wrangling, overhanging Civil War divisions, and pure exasperation - are well explained in a great piece of writing. Great stuff.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having grown up in SW Montana and lived here for most of my life, I have often been intrigued by the history of the Vigilantes of yesteryear. Many times I've made trips to Viriginia City, Nevada City, and the Alder Gulch and been presented with the incredible history of these locations. It is fascinating, to say the least.

This summer a family member handed me this book, "A Decent, Orderly Lynching," knowing my love for history. I don't remember a lot from the Montana history class I took many years ago and, to my shame, as a youngster, I couldn't care less at that time about any history, not even history of my own state. It's water under bridge but if I could turn back the hands of time to my growing up years, I'd be much more in tune with the history of my state, nation, and world.

In this book, there is much to be learned about the Vigilantes, with a main focus, at least for the first 3/4 of the book being on Henry Plummer, the gold rush, the developments of towns like Bannack and Virginia City. I was so intrigued by Allen's writings, that my wife and I ventured over to Viriginia City, had some ice cream, found the place where five crooks were hung, drove up the hill where they were buried, and pondered the life of those in the 1800's who settled in that area. We then ventured down the highway, through Nevada City and on around to Bannack. Having read much of the book by this time, it was fun to picture the people (talked about in the book) and the life and travels that they had. Oddly enough, though having lived here for most of my life, I had never been to Bannack and it did not disappoint. They are doing a wonderful job of restoration and, because of this, it was easy to picture the various elements of the story line from the book as it was played out in the course of history. Building after building testifies to the character of the town in the 1800's.

The book was excellent and provided the necessary background for the growth of Bannack, Virginia City, and surrounding towns and cities, as well as the role that the Vigilantes played in trying to bring some form of justice (although the morality/ethics of such are much debated) to an area that was headed towards anarchy and chaos. It was great to read about the development of Montana into its own territory and the political gamesmanship that went along with this.

I loved reading this book and found myself intrigued by many aspects of what Allen has written. I highly recommend this book to those who love history and want to understand more of what makes SW Montana, and really, the state of Montana itself, as such an incredible and unique state.

[Nathan Dearing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating history of the early west. As lawlessness reigned, so did an uprising of vigilantes who insisted in a moral code. Those who were not prosecuted by the law received a death sentence from the vigilantes. Right or wrong, this was the history of early Montana. Thoroughly researched, pages upon pages of footnotes and references. Highly recommended reading.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you for this book! I loved it, you highlighted the "story" with very little bias and the book was well written. As an avid reader (of all genres) I found this one very enlightening. An easy read. I appreciate your thoroughness in your research. I look forward to reading some of your references I have not previously read or even heard of. THANK YOU AGAIN

[Kevin Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched challenge to some of the commonly used facts about the gold rush in Montana. It doesn't glorify or vilify as much as it reports on what happened and lets you make your own conclusion.

[Jeremiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having only read Thomas Dimsdale’s classic, but biased, contemporary account I wanted to know more about this fascinating period of history and was not disappointed. Thoroughly researched yet easy to read. Highly recommended for any western history fan.

[Sean Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good--very readable. The research and discussion of Thomas Meagher, however, is very thin. Given how well researched the rest of the book is, it's quite unexpected and surprising.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read: well written and documented. Leaves you with much to ponder. How much of the vigilante thinking still survives?

[Kevin Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched, in-depth, and balanced history of the vigilantism during the Montana gold rush in 1863-1865.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at the bookstore in Bannack, MT. While western film and literature are full of "lynchings", the reality was quite different. Except for a short period in Montanna history, when a vigilante committee formed and imposed a quick and efficient (albeit harsh) justice system. An interesting read, both historically and sociologically, it provides great insights into the causes of vigilantism, its initial popularity, and a popultion's fading enthusiasm for "efficient" justice as scope of punishment widens. A few interesting things from the book:
*Native Americans were revolted by hanging. Contemporaneous accounts describe Native Americans becoming physically ill at the sight of hangings, and taking wide detours to avoid places where lynchings were known to have taken place.
*Trials often took place in the center of town, with makeshift wagons and buckboards. Like today, there was a judge, prosecutor and defense attorney. Unlike today, the judge would decide on of a number of "jury" options: 12 person jury, like today; two or three 12 person juries, which would need a consensus vote; or (often) a "community verdict" where all in attendence would vote by voice on the guilt or innocence of the individual. The book contains a number of wild accounts of people sitting atop roofs and filling the streets during such trials. Verdicts were often carried out within the hour...
If you like Western History, or are interested in proto-legal developments in 19th century Western US, I think you'll enjoy this book.

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of the committees of vigilance and lynching in Montana which describes the vigilantes and their actions and the various groups that used and abused the lawlessness in Montana after the first gold rushes. He recounts the lynchings of Jose, 'the Greaser' Pizanthia, Harry Plummer and many more of the 55 other targets of the Vigilance Committees.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book that looks at the Montana vigilantes in the 1860's.