Record 23 of 75
A Citizens’ Court Voted 19 to 18 to Hang a Chinese Man
Narrative
In October 1871, a Chinese man accused of stealing several hundred dollars from a store in Henderson Gulch was tried before a self-appointed “citizens’ court” and condemned by a vote of 19 to 18. The Anaconda Recorder and New Northwest reported that the sentence was then “carried into effect,” but also argued that those responsible should be “held to strict accountability before the courts, which are now adequate to a strict enforcement of the laws, and summary executions must be stopped.” The case is a vivid example of pseudo-legal frontier vigilantism masquerading as justice.