THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF JOHN KEENE alias BOB BLACK, THE MURDERER OF
HARRY SLATER.
“Oh, my offense is rank; it smells to Heaven;
It hath the primal, eldest curse upon it.”--HAMLET.
The stern, yet righteous, retribution which the Vigilantes had
inflicted on the murderers and marauders in the southern and western
part of the Territory, had worked its effect, and little need was there
of any further examples, for a long time in the vicinity of Virginia
and Bannack; but the restless spirit of enterprise which distinguishes
the miners of the West, soon urged the pioneers to new discoveries,
creating another centre of population, and thither, like a heron to her
haunt, gathered the miners, and, of course, those harpies who live by
preying upon them.
Many others who had spent a roving and ill regulated life, poured into
the new diggings, which bore the name of Last Chance Gulch, situated on
the edge of the romantic valley of the Prickly Pear, where now stands
the flourishing city of Helena, in the county of Edgerton, second
in size and importance only to Virginia, and rapidly increasing in
extent, wealth and population. This place, which was then regarded as
a new theatre of operation for the desperadoes, is almost one hundred
and twenty-five miles N. N. W. from the metropolis of Montana; and
no sooner were the diggings struck, by a party consisting mainly, of
Colorado men, than a rush was made for the new gulch, and a town arose
as if by magic. As usual in such cases, the first settlers were a
motley crowd, and though many good men came with them, yet the number
of “hard cases” was great, and was speedily increased by refugees
from justice, and adventurers not distinguished for morality, or for
any undue deference for the moral precepts contained in the sixth and
eighth commandments.
Among the desperadoes and refugees who went over there was Harry
Slater--a professional gambler and a “rough” of reputation. At Salt
Lake, he would have shot Colonel W. F. Sanders, in the back, had he
not been restrained; and many an outrage had he committed. His sudden
flight from Virginia alone saved his neck, a mere accident having saved
him from summary execution, the night before he left for Helena, where
he met his death at the hands of John Keene formerly a bar-keeper
to Samuel Schwab, of the Montana Billiard Saloon, in Virginia, and
originally, as will be seen from the biographical sketch appended to
this chapter--from the “River,” where, as “Bob Black” he figured as a
first-class murderer and robber, before he came to the mining regions,
and quarrelling with Slater at Salt Lake City, roused again those evil
passions, the indulgence of which finally brought him to the fatal
tree, in Dry Gulch, where the thieves and murderers of the northern
section of the country have so often expiated their crimes by a sudden
and shameful death.
Slater arrived first in Helena, and Keene, who had signalized his stay
in Virginia by attempting to kill or wound Jem McCarty, the bar-keeper
at Murat’s Saloon, (better known as the “Court’s,”) with whom he had a
quarrel, by throwing large pieces of rock at him, through the window,
at midnight. He, however, missed his mark; the sleepers escaped, and
the proprietors sustained little more damage than the price of broken
windows.
Slater did not know that Keene was in town, and was sitting in the
door-way of Sam Greer’s saloon, with his head down, and his eyes shaded
by his hat. Keene was walking along the street talking to a friend,
when he spied Slater within a few feet of him, and without saying a
word, or in any way attracting the notice of Slater, he drew his pistol
and fired two shots, the first took effect over the outer angle of the
eye, ranging downwards and producing instant death. The murderer put
up his pistol and turned quickly down an alley, near the scene of the
murder. Here he was arrested by C. J. D. Curtis, and “X” coming up,
proposed to deliver him over to Sheriff Wood. This being done, the
Sheriff put him, for want of a better place, in his own house, and kept
him well guarded. As thousands of individuals will read this account
who have no distinct or accurate notion of how a citizen trial, in the
West, is conducted, the account taken by the special reporter of the
MONTANA POST, which is minutely exact and reliable in all its details,
is here presented. The report says that after the arrest of Keene and
his committal to the custody of the Sheriff, strong manifestations of
disgust were shown by the crowd, which soon collected in front of the
temporary prison, and a committee at once formed to give the murderer
a hasty trial. Sheriff Wood with what deputies he could gather around
him in a few moments, sternly and resolutely refused to deliver the
prisoner into the hands of the Committee, and at the same time made the
most urgent and earnest appeals to those demanding the culprit; but
finally, being carried by main force from his post, and overpowered by
superior numbers, his prisoner was taken from him.
A court-room was soon improvised in an adjacent lumber yard, the
prisoner marched into it, and the trial immediately commenced, Stephen
Reynolds presiding, and the Jury composed of Messrs. Judge Burchett
(Foreman,) S. M. Hall, Z. French, A. F. Edwards, ---- Nichols, S.
Kayser, Edward Porter, ---- Shears, Major Hutchinson, C. C. Farmer and
Ed. House.
No great formality was observed in the commencement of the impromptu
trial. Dr. Palmer, Charles Greer and Samuel Greer were sworn to
testify. Dr. Palmer started to give his evidence, when he was
interrupted by the culprit, getting up and making a statement of the
whole affair, and asserting that he acted in self-defense, as the
deceased was in the act of rising with his hand on his pistol, and had
threatened to take his life, and on a former occasion, in Great Salt
Lake City, had put a Derringer into his mouth.
A Mr. Brobrecker then got up and made some very appropriate remarks,
cautioning the men on the jury not to be too hasty, but to well and
truly perform their duty; weigh the evidence well, and give a verdict
such as their conscience would hereafter approve.
Sam. Greer then testified to being an eye witness of the deed. Heard
the first shot, did not think anybody was hit; told Keene to “hold on,”
when he saw Slater fall over; did not hear any words spoken by either
of the parties; did not know for certain whether the prisoner was the
man who shot Slater.
Prisoner--I am the gentleman.
Dr. Palmer said that when he made an examination of the deceased he did
not find a pistol in his scabbard.
Sam. Greer--The pistol was put into my hands, and placed behind the bar
by me, after the shooting took place.
Charley Greer (sworn)--I have been sick lately, and was too excited
to make any close observation; was not more than three or four feet
from the party killed, when the shooting occurred; thought the man was
shooting at some dogs in the saloon.
Charles French (sworn) says: Came down street, stopped first door below
Lyon’s barber-shop, at the clothing store of Barned; saw a man coming
up the street towards Greer’s saloon; heard some one cry, “Don’t shoot,
John; you’ll hurt somebody.” Soon after, saw the man shoot; thought
he was only firing off his pistol to scare somebody; but he saw the
deceased man fall, and the other go down street and turn into an alley.
Don’t know the man that fired the shots.
Q.--Is this the man?
A.--Cannot tell; it is too dark. (A candle was brought) I think it is
the same man; I am pretty certain it is.
Dr. Palmer again testified: The deceased was shot over the right eye;
never spoke, and died in three minutes after being shot.
James Binns, (sworn)--Was on the opposite side of the street; heard the
first shot fired; and saw the second one. Heard Greer say, “hold on,”
and saw the man fall over, and the other man go through the alley.
[Calls by the crowd for James Parker.]
James Parker, (sworn)--Keene overtook me, to-day, on the summit, coming
from Blackfoot. We rode together. He inquired of me whether Slater
was in town, and told me of some difficulty existing between them,
originating in Salt Lake City; Slater having thrust a Derringer into
his mouth, and ran him out of the city.
Prisoner here got up and said. That he had told Parker, he hoped he
should not see Slater, as he did not want any difficulty with him, or
some such conversation.
James Geero (Hogal) called for, (sworn)--[Here the wind extinguished
our candle, and being in the open air, before we could relight it, we
missed all the testimony but the last words.--REPORTER.] Know nothing
about the shooting affair.
At this moment a voice in the crowd was heard crying: “John Keene, come
here”--which caused the guards to close around the prisoner.
Mr. Phillips, (sworn)--Don’t know anything about the affair; but saw
Slater fall. Don’t know who fired. Know what Jem Geero says to be true.
Saw Slater sit in this position, (here Mr. P. showed the position
Slater was in when shot,) saw Slater sitting in the door; did not see
him have a revolver.
Prisoner asked to have some witnesses sent for; he said that the
original cause of his trouble with Slater was his taking Tom Baum and
Ed. Copeland’s part, in a conversation about the Vigilance Committee
of last year. Slater then called him a Vigilante ----, and drove him
out of town; this was in Salt Lake City. Then he went to Virginia
City, and from there to Blackfoot. Slater was a dangerous man; he had
killed two men in Boise. He said he had gone to work at mining in
Blackfoot, and came over to Helena on that day, to see a man--Harlow.
“When I first saw Slater, to-day, he smacked my face with both hands
and called me a ---- Irish ---- and said he would make me leave town;
I went and borrowed a revolver of Walsh.” He requested them to send
for an Irishman called Mike, who works on the brickyard, and who heard
the last conversation. He wanted Mr. Phillips to give a little more
testimony.
Mr. P.--I know him to go armed and equipped; saw him draw a weapon on a
former occasion; saw him make a man jump down twenty pair of stairs.
Motion of the jury to retire. Cries of “aye!” and “no! go on with the
trial.” A voice--“Send for Kelly, the man who was talking to Slater at
the time he was shot.” Cries of “Mr. Kelly! Mr. Kelly!” and “Dave St.
John.” Neither of these men could be found.
A motion to increase the number of the guard to forty was carried.
Prisoner again asked to have men sent for his witnesses.
Jack Edwards--I am willing to wait till morning for the continuance of
the trial, but the guard must be increased; I hear mutterings in the
crowd about a rescue.
A voice--It can’t be done.
Prisoner--I want a fair and just trial.
Preparations were now made for a strong guard, forming a ring round the
prisoner.
Objections were raised, at this juncture, to whispering being carried
on between the culprit and his friends.
A report came in that the Irish brickmaker could not be found at his
shanty.
A motion to guard the prisoner till morning, to give him time to
procure witnesses, was lost; but being afterwards reconsidered, it was
finally carried.
Judge N. J. Bond then got up, and in a short and able speech to the
jury, advised them to hear more testimony before convicting the
prisoner. He also proposed the hour of 8 A. M., next day, for the
meeting of the jury, and the hour of 9 A. M., for bringing in their
verdict. The latter proposition was agreed to, and the prisoner taken
in charge by the guard.
The dense crowd slowly dispersed talking in a less blood-thirsty strain
than they had done three or four hours before.
SECOND DAY.
The morning dawned serenely upon a large concourse of people, standing
before the prison and in front of the California Exchange--the place
selected for a jury room.
The jury met a few minutes past 8 A. M., and Mr. Boyden was sent for,
and the examination of witnesses resumed.
Mr. B., (sworn)--I have known Keene from childhood; know his parents
and relatives; met Keene yesterday on the street; did not know him at
first sight, until he spoke to me; told me that he was looking for a
gentleman in town, who had, as an act of kindness taken up some claims
for him; was walking up street with me; then stopped to shake hands
with a man named Kelly, who was sitting on some logs in the street;
when we left him. Keene walked faster than I did, and was a few steps
ahead of me; when in front of Greer’s saloon, I saw a man sitting in
the door, (Greer’s;) did not see Keene draw his revolver, but saw the
first shot fired, and heard Keene say, “You ----, you have ruined me in
Salt Lake City.” This was said after the shooting. Do not think Slater
saw Keene at all. Slater was sitting down; I was about five feet from
both men; John Keene was about ten feet from Slater.
Q.--Was Kelly with you at that time?
A.--No; Kelly never left the place where he shook hands with Keene.
Q.--Do you know anything about his character?
A.--I have known him for about ten years; he left Saint Paul about
eighteen months ago; know nothing about his course or conduct
since that time; he was considered a fast young man, but good and
kind-hearted; when I conversed with him yesterday, he spoke about a
man that had ruined him in Salt Lake City, but he did not mention any
names; I did not know anything of the particulars of his (prisoner’s)
former difficulties with Slater; never saw Slater and Keene together.
Michael McGregor, (sworn)--I saw Keene in the afternoon; he came to
me in the flat, (a point in the lower part of the gulch;) shook hands
with me, and then left for town; did not know of the difficulty between
Slater and Keene; Keene never spoke to me about it.
D. St. John, (sworn)--Don’t know anything about the shooting affair;
was fifteen miles from here when it took place. [The witness here
gave some testimony not bearing directly on the case, which was not
admitted.]
This closed the examination. The jury went into secret session.
At ten minutes to ten o’clock, the jury came from their room to the
place of trial, in the lumber yard, where preparations were made
immediately for the reception of the prisoner.
At ten o’clock, the culprit made his appearance on the ground, under an
escort of about fifty well armed men. A circle was formed by the guard
and the prisoner placed in the center. His appearance was not that of a
man likely to die in a few minutes. He looked bravely around the crowd,
nodding here and there to his acquaintances, and calling to them by
name. Captain Florman having detailed his guard, gave the word, “all
ready.” The foreman of the jury then opened the sealed verdict: “We,
the jury, in the case of the people of Montana versus John Keene, find
him guilty of murder in the first degree.”
A Voice--“What shall be done?”
Several voices in the crowd--“Hang him! hang him!”
The President here rose and said he wished to hear some expression of
the public sentiment or motions in the case.
Calls were made for Colonel Johnson. The Colonel addressed the assembly
in an appropriate speech, which was followed by a few short and
pertinent remarks from Judge Bond.
On motion of A. J. Edwards, the testimony of Messrs. Boyden and Michael
McGregor was read, and thereupon Judge Lawrence rose and said he was
sure Keene had all the chance for a fair trial he could have wished,
and motioned to carry the jury’s verdict into execution. Passed.
The prisoner here got up and said: “All I wanted was a fair and just
trial; I think I have got it, and death is my doom; but I want time to
settle up my business; I am not trying to get away.”
He was granted an hour’s time to prepare for his execution. The
committee fixed the hour of execution at 11¹⁄₂ o’clock A. M. Keene
remarked that he hadn’t any money to pay expenses--and was told that
it should not cost him a cent. The guard now took charge of the doomed
man, and escorted him to an adjacent house, in order that he might
arrange his affairs.
At 11 A. M. crowds of people could be seen ascending the hill north
of Helena, and not a small number of ladies were perceptible in
the throng. The place of execution was chosen with a due regard to
convenience and economy--a large pine tree, with stout limbs, standing
almost alone, in a shallow ravine, was selected for the gallows.
At 11 A. M., the prisoner, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. McLaughlin,
arrived in a lumber wagon. A dry-goods box and two planks, to form the
trap, were in the same vehicle. The unfortunate victim of his unbridled
passions sat astride of one of the planks, his countenance exhibiting
the utmost unconcern, and on his arrival at the tree, he said: “My
honor compelled me to do what I have done.” He then bade good-bye to
some of his acquaintances. The wagon having been adjusted so as to
bring the hind axle under the rope, a plank was laid from the dry-goods
box to another plank set upon end, and the trap was ready.
At four minutes to twelve o’clock, the prisoner’s arms were pinioned,
and he was assisted to mount the wagon. Standing on the frail platform,
he said, in a loud and distinct voice: “What I have done, my honor
compelled me to do. Slater run me from Salt Lake City to Virginia, and
from there to this country. He slapped me in the face here, yesterday;
and I was advised by my friends to arm myself. When Slater saw me,
he said ‘There is the Irish ----; he has not left town yet.’ Then I
commenced firing. My honor compelled me to do what I have done.” Here
he called for a drink of water, which was procured as speedily as it
could be brought to the top of the hill. He took a long, deep draught
of the water, and the rope was adjusted round his neck. A handkerchief
being thrown over his face, he raised his hand to it and said: “What
are you putting that there for? Take it off.” Stepping to the end of
the trap, he said: “What I have done to Slater, I have done willingly.
He punished me severely. Honor compelled me to do what I have done.
He run me from town to town; I tried to shun him here; but he saw
me--called me a ---- and smacked me in the face. I did not want any
trouble with him; my honor compelled me to do what I have done. I am
here, and must die; and if I was to live till to-morrow I would do the
same thing again. I am ready; jerk the cart as soon as you please.”
At seven minutes past twelve, the wagon started, the trap fell, and
Keene was launched into eternity. He fell three and a half feet without
breaking his neck. A few spasmodic struggles for three or four minutes,
were all that was perceptible of his dying agonies. After hanging half
an hour, the body was cut down and taken in charge by his friends.
So ended the first tragedy at Helena. The execution was conducted by
Mr. J. X. Biedler, and everything went off in a quiet and orderly
manner. Many familiar faces, known to Virginia men in the trying times
of the winter of ’64, were visible.
The effect, in Helena, of this execution was electrical. The roughs
saw that the day had gone against them, and trembled for their lives.
There were in town, at that time, scores of men from every known
mining locality of the West, and many of them were steeped to the
lips in crime. Such a decision as that now rendered by a jury of the
people boded them no good. They saw that the citizens of Montana had
determined that outrage should be visited with condign punishment,
and that prudence dictated an immediate stampede from Helena. Walking
about the streets, they occasionally approached an old comrade, and
furtively glancing around, they would give expression to their feelings
in the chartered form of language peculiar to mountaineers who consider
that something extraordinary, unjust, cruel or hard to bear, is being
enacted, “Say, Bill, this is rough, ain’t it?” To which the terse reply
was usually vouchsafed, “It is, by thunder; ---- rough.” Cayuses began
to rise rapidly in demand and price. Men went “prospecting” (?) who
had never been accused of such an act before; and a very considerable
improvement in the average appearance of the population soon became
visible.
A constant stream of miners and others was now pouring into the
Territory, from the West, and the consequence was that thinking portion
of the citizens of Helena began to see that a regular organization of
an independent Vigilance Committee was necessary to watch over the
affairs of the young city, and to take steps for both the prevention
of crime and for the punishment of criminals. There were in the town a
considerable number of the old Committee; these, with few exceptions,
gave the movement their sanction, and the new body was speedily and
effectively organized; an executive elected, companies formed, under
the leadership of old hands who had mostly seen service in the perilous
times of ’63-4. A sketch of their subsequent operations will appear in
this work, and also an account of the terrible massacre and robbery
of the passengers of the Overland coach, in the Portneuf canyon,
near Snake river, I. T., together with an account of the capture and
execution of Frank Williams, who drove the stage into the ambush.
As it was asserted by Keene that Slater had slapped him in the face,
and otherwise insulted him in Helena, before the firing of the fatal
shot, it is proper to state that such was not the case. Slater was
entirely ignorant of Keene’s presence in town; in fact, the other, it
will be remembered, had only just previously arrived there, riding
with the witness who swore he crossed the Divide in his company. It
is also an entire mistake to suppose that Keene was a man of good
character or blameless life. The following statement of his previous
career of crime, in the East, will be read with interest by many who
are under the impression that the murder of Slater was his first
offense. It is taken from the Memphis “Appeal,” of November 24th, 1865,
and, of course, was written without any intention of being published
in this work, or of furnishing any justification of the Vigilance
Committee. If such had been the intention, it would have been a work of
supererogation; for never was a case of murder in the first degree more
fully proven. The homicide in broad day light, and the evident malice
“prepense” were matters of public notoriety:
“Of the many strange circumstances born of and nurtured by the past
war, a parallel to the catalogue of crime herein given has been rarely,
if ever, met with.
“In this vicinity, near three years ago, the name of ‘Bob Black’
has, on more than one occasion, struck terror to the hearts of a
large number of countrymen, cotton buyers and sellers, whose business
compelled them to enter or make their exit from the city by the way of
the Hernando or Horn Lake roads.
“‘Bob Black’ came to this city about six years ago, bringing with
him a good character for honesty and industry and continued to work
steadily here until the outbreak of the war. At that time he desired
to enter the gunboat service, and for that purpose left this city for
New Orleans; and, after remaining there some time, he joined the crew
of a Confederate ram, the name of which has since slipped our memory.
While on his way up from New Orleans, he became enraged at some wrong,
real or fancied, at the hands of the captain of the ram, and being of a
very impulsive nature, seized a marling-spike, and with a blow, felled
the captain to the deck. He was immediately placed in irons, and upon
the arrival of the gunboat at Fort Pillow, was handed over to General
Villipigue, for safe keeping. A court-martial was ordered, and while
in progress, the evacuation of Fort Pillow became necessary, and the
prisoner was transferred to Grenada, Mississippi. In the confusion of
everything about Grenada at that time, he managed to effect his escape,
and passing immediately through the Confederate lines, reached Memphis
a few days after its occupation by the Federal authorities. Without any
means to provide himself with food or clothing, with a mind borne down
with trouble and suffering, and bereft of every hope from which the
slightest consolation might be derived, the once honest man was driven
to a career of desperation and crime which, if given in its details,
would cause the blood-thirsty tales of the yellow-covered trash to pale
for their very puerility and tameness.
“In this condition of mind and body he remained in the city for some
time, wandering about here and there; until one day, while standing
at the Worsham House corner, he became involved in a quarrel with one
James Dolan, a member of the Eighth Missouri Regiment, a large and
powerful man, while Black was a man of medium height and stature. Words
between the parties waged furious, and finally Dolan struck Black with
a cane which he had with him; but quickly warding off the blow, Black
wrenched the cane from his adversary and dealt him a blow, which so
fractured the skull of Dolan as to cause death within a short time
thereafter. Black effected his escape from the city, and with a couple
of accomplices, began a system of wholesale murder and robbery on the
Hernando road. The atrocity and boldness of these acts created the
greatest excitement in Memphis.
“Several parties were robbed of sums varying from one to as high as
ten thousand dollars, and, in one instance, a speculator was compelled
to disgorge to the amount of five thousand dollars in gold. Of
course, these rascals, of whom Black was the leader, often met with
men who would make resistance rather than give up their money; and
in this way no less than three or four fell victims to the fiendish
spirit exhibited by these scoundrels. It was finally agreed upon by
the military commanders of the district, on both sides, that means
should be taken which would insure their capture. Accordingly a squad
of Blythe’s battalion, of the rebel army, were sent in pursuit, and
succeeded in capturing, about ten miles out of the city, Black and his
companion, a fellow young in years, named Whelan. They were placed in
the guard-house in Hernando, we believe, and at a pre-concerted signal
attacked the guard, and mounting some horses belonging to the soldiers,
made off at a rapid rate. The guard immediately started in pursuit, and
coming upon Whelan, who was some distance behind Black, shot and killed
him. Black again escaped, and applied himself with more vigor than ever
to the plundering, stealing and robbing of everybody and everything
that came within his reach. He would frequently ride into this city at
night, passing through the lines at will; and, as an instance of his
audacity, on one occasion rode down Adams street, and fired several
shots into the station house. It was reported that he had accumulated
large sums of money, and the report proved correct. As his business
became either too tiresome or too dangerous, he came to the city,
disguised, and took passage on a boat for the North. Since that time,
and until recently, nothing has been heard from him. It seems that
after leaving Memphis, he went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and embarked in
the staging and saloon business, under his proper name, John Keene. His
restless spirit could not stand the monotony of such a dull business
(to him), and, organizing a band of some twenty men, he started for the
Territories.”