It appears that an old man named Gallager, living in a log cabin on the
skirts of the woods surrounding Vernon, was supposed to have in his
possession a considerable sum of money. The old gentleman lived alone, was
known for his parsimony, and thought to be “a penurious niggard of his
wealth.” The plan of these young villians was to go to the house of the
supposed miser, disguised, pretend to be “lost chicken hunters in the
woods,” and induce the old man to come out and show the way. Getting him
into the woods they were to extort from him by threats the whereabouts of
his supposed hidden treasure, if threats failed, they were to have
recourse to torture, and that failing to murder!
O’Neil accompanied these scoundrels reaching the house of Gallagher about
2 o’clock. They enticed the old man out _a la programme,_ one placing
himself on each side of him the two others bringing up the rear. After
getting some little distance from the house, and as they were passing a
shed the one walking behind with O’Neil raised his fist armed with brass
“knuckle dusters,” and was about to deal the old man a stunning blow on
the head, when he was seized by the Sheriff, who was lying in ambush
within the shed. The three were conveyed to Mankato jail and locked up,
and subsequently committed for trial upon the evidence of Jack O’Neil and
the Sheriff. There are those who think the whale affair was a “put up job”
by the notorious Jack to get rid of the three men who were in his way,
_and this occurred an the morning of Tuesday, the 7th of September._