July 7, 1873 – Silver Creek (near Rocker City), Montana: Two Drunk Miners Lynched a Chinese Man “for Fun”

In July 1873, in Silver Creek, Montana (near Rocker City), two drunk miners accused a Chinese man of stealing a ring they had lost. According to the Ogden Junction (August 2, 1873), the two miners “proceeded to execute summary vengeance” for an “imaginary crime”. Almost 20 years later, The Anaconda Standard (March 1, 1891) recollected the lynching in an article titled “A Chinaman Hung for Fun.” The same article noted that one of the perpetrators, sentenced to life in prison, told his cellmate that “I thought I had done a great service to humanity.” The Silver Creek lynching highlights the senseless and callous nature of lethal violence directed at Chinese immigrants on the frontier.