January 26, 1870 – Helena, Montana Territory: Vigilantes Hanged A. H. Chow and Left a Warning Placard

A telegraphed report from Helena described the lynching of A. H. Chow, a Chinese man accused of murdering John R. Batzer earlier in January 1870. The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that Chow’s body was found “hanging on the celebrated hangman’s tree of the Vigilants,” with a message pinned to him reading, “Beware, the Vigilants Still Live” (Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 27, 1870). The staging of the lynching is part of the spectacle meant to warn and terrorize the Chinese community. It was a public warning that let the Chinese know that white vigilantes are in charge of administering “justice.” Established vigilante rituals used signage and spectacle to broadcast white power. Note that this is one of the earliest accounts of a Chinese lynching on the American frontier in an eastern newspaper. It is also reported in a Connecticut newspaper.